Time flies when you're having fun! And I have been having a good, relaxing time off track, well except for good old school and homework that I have to do...but I guess I have to have something to keep me busy! :)
As far as the "relaxing" part goes, oh man...I am now a Vampire Diaries monster! For my birthday, my mom ordered me the first season of the Vampire Diaries because I had watched a few scattered episodes of it on TV, but never really understood what was going on because I would miss so many episodes in between. So, I finally got around to watching them on my break and I LOVE them! I am even going to go so far as saying that they are MUCH better than the Twilight movies...and I love those as well! Maybe I just like to look at the "evil" vampire brother Damon Salvatore too much in these, but the story line has so many twists and turns in it, you can't help but want to watch the next episode! Needless to say, I am all caught up on even the season 2 episodes and religiously following them on TV now. I even have my family hooked on them...yes, even my brother and Dad! :) So, if you like story lines with hot, blood-sucking vampires in them...I highly recommend these!
I also did some reading, finally getting to the third book of the "Hunger Games" series called Mockingjay. Wow! I pretty much read it in about 3 days! I had heard that some people didn't like it, but I thought it was great! It was just as suspenseful as the first 2 for me and I did like the ending as well, because Katniss, the main character, ended up with the guy I wanted her to! (I won't give it away for all those who want to read it still!)
Sadly, I haven't picked up any more juicy reads like that since because of all the reading I have to do for school. I guess it is back to late night and Saturday homework-doing starting next week! BOO! I do have one more book my dear mother got for me that is the most recent book of the "Tennis Shoes" series by Chris Hiemerdinger, an LDS author. Yes, call me a geek, but I own that whole series and LOVE them as well! I haven't read them since high school though, so I might have to read through them all again before I start this one!
Anyway, that pretty much sums up my life at this point...I know, pretty bland, but it will be changing quite a bit in December because I am moving out. Yes...you heard right...MOVING OUT! Yes this is a big step for me, seeing how I have had the same "roommates" for 25 years of my life (love you Mom and Dad) and they are wonderful roommates, but I don't think that at this point in my life it does me good socially to say, yeah...um...I live with my parents... Awkward silence. It has been SOOOO nice to save my money up a bit though and be able to pay for college for my bachelor's and my master's! So for that I am ETERNALLY grateful!
I am not moving far though...just 5 minutes away (once 11400 South goes all the way through)to a very cute townhouse my friend Sally purchased. It is still being built at the moment, but will be done in December. It is also closer to my work, so that will cut down on my driving time! I am very excited! So, I will keep you posted on when the big day happens (yes it is a big day for me...if you know me!).
For now, back to the real life I guess...for the last couple of days I have been in panic mode already trying to plan lessons and gear up for teaching next week...my cute little class of 27 will be waiting for me Monday morning and Parent/Teacher Conferences in 2 weeks! Phew...here goes nothing! :)
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Off Track Fun!
My how time flies! Yes, it is already time to be off track...and I am loving it! I am always ready for it and then I am always ready to go back to work again when it's over with. Kind of strange how that works, but I really don't know if I could ever go to traditional school! I think I would burn out very quickly! Don't get me wrong...I love my job, it just takes a lot of energy and it is nice to be able to "re-energize" every once in a while!
I got off last Wednesday, due to Fall Break last week and on Friday, I left with Sally to go to Capitol Reef, Arches, and Canyonlands National Parks. I have NEVER been to a national park, and we wanted to do a not so expensive trip, so that is what we chose to do! We went to Capitol Reef first and were "wow'd" by all the beautiful rocks there. We even saw a pioneer school house and farm house and some indian petroglyphs! I would say the highlight of that park was the Hickman Natural Bridge. We had to hike a mile to see it, but it was definitely worth it!
After visiting Capitol Reef, we drove to Richfield and stayed overnight there. Then, we were off to Moab to visit Arches National Park. Boy was that fabulous!!! There was a whole lot of arches there! One of my favorites was definitely Delicate Arch. It was by far the hardest hike as well! We hiked 3 miles round trip and that was even climbing a HUGE, STEEP hill...but oh was it worth it! It was breathtaking to turn that last corner and see this:
We also saw many, many other things there including the Twin Arches, the Double Windows, the Courthouse Towers, Broken Arch, the Fiery Furnace, and Balanced Rock. All were incredible! We were definitely BLOWN away by all of it!
After exploring Arches, we stayed in Moab and the next day went to Canyonlands National Park and Dead Horse Point State Park, which is only about 30 miles away from Moab. Dead Horse Point was SPECTACULAR! It was just so peaceful there and the view was amazing!
The views from various places in Canyonlands were equally as spectacular!
We were definitely tired of driving and hiking when we were done, but WOW, we saw some pretty amazing things! Hopefully I can visit the rest of the national parks soon!
As for the rest of off track time, I am doing LOTS of catch up on homework for my Master's classes and just relaxing. Oh the JOY! :)
I got off last Wednesday, due to Fall Break last week and on Friday, I left with Sally to go to Capitol Reef, Arches, and Canyonlands National Parks. I have NEVER been to a national park, and we wanted to do a not so expensive trip, so that is what we chose to do! We went to Capitol Reef first and were "wow'd" by all the beautiful rocks there. We even saw a pioneer school house and farm house and some indian petroglyphs! I would say the highlight of that park was the Hickman Natural Bridge. We had to hike a mile to see it, but it was definitely worth it!
After visiting Capitol Reef, we drove to Richfield and stayed overnight there. Then, we were off to Moab to visit Arches National Park. Boy was that fabulous!!! There was a whole lot of arches there! One of my favorites was definitely Delicate Arch. It was by far the hardest hike as well! We hiked 3 miles round trip and that was even climbing a HUGE, STEEP hill...but oh was it worth it! It was breathtaking to turn that last corner and see this:
We also saw many, many other things there including the Twin Arches, the Double Windows, the Courthouse Towers, Broken Arch, the Fiery Furnace, and Balanced Rock. All were incredible! We were definitely BLOWN away by all of it!
After exploring Arches, we stayed in Moab and the next day went to Canyonlands National Park and Dead Horse Point State Park, which is only about 30 miles away from Moab. Dead Horse Point was SPECTACULAR! It was just so peaceful there and the view was amazing!
The views from various places in Canyonlands were equally as spectacular!
We were definitely tired of driving and hiking when we were done, but WOW, we saw some pretty amazing things! Hopefully I can visit the rest of the national parks soon!
As for the rest of off track time, I am doing LOTS of catch up on homework for my Master's classes and just relaxing. Oh the JOY! :)
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Back to School...Again!
Good-bye summer...hello Fall! Yes it is that time again...back to school! I forgot what that phrase really meant for the last two years...now that I am actually a student again I remember! :) I forgot about buying hundreds of dollars worth of books and then actually having to read them! I have forgotten how to write papers too. I am so hoping that I can learn a lot to help me in my classroom though...I am already reading some interesting concepts that I am eager learn how to apply to my classroom to change for the better. Even though I am only taking 2 classes at a time, I have not experienced working full time on top of that (and it is only the beginning of the semester) so I am trying to find a balance between work, school, and "me" time and it is hard! You think that because I am a third year teacher that I have all that worked out anyway...well I am still trying out new ways of teaching so I still probably spend way too much time doing work stuff! I can't help it though...I just am trying to be on top of my game!
As far as teaching goes, I can't believe 3 weeks my school year have already flown by! My class is so good! They are very different from last year as far as dynamics go. To start off with, I have 19 girls and only 10 boys and they are all so cute! The boys are so different from last year's boys...they are more polite and well-behaved, whereas last year they thought they were just too cool for school! My girls are just sweet and helpful to me and to everyone else. They are excited for school still...so I hope I can help them keep that attitude up!
I actually had a student move already though, because her mom is the speech teacher at our school and she got a job at a military base in Korea to be a speech teacher at the school there. Crazy...I know...so I found out last Tuesday that they were leaving and their last day was Thursday. What an adventure! I hope it all works out, but for me...this is bad to say...yehaw! One less student! That makes a total of 28...phew...still too many I think...but I love them all already, so I will try my best to teach them! We have already done some fun projects, so here are a few pictures of them:
These are what I had my class do the first day. They made their faces out of paper plates and then put yarn for their hair. They are too cute! :)
And yes, I did Salt Dough Maps of Utah with my class again this year. It is just so fun for them and I did have a few parents help out with it. They are actually painted now, I just have to take some pictures of them. This is one of my favorite things to do with them because there are so many different types of landforms in Utah and it is a good way to help them remember their geography of Utah!
So, that pretty much sums up my life right now to this point...I did have my birthday last week and I am in disbelief that I am 25! I remember seeing other people that turned 25 when I was little and thinking they were so old...now here I am...25 myself! And I don't feel that old yet...it actually feels good. I am enjoying being 25! :) I celebrated my birthday with my kids at school, by playing a game and passing out doughnuts, then my mom came and brought me lunch at school, so that was very fun! Then Scott and Kim and the kids came down and we all went to the Olive Garden for dinner. Yum-Yum! After that, I invited some friends over to play games and have cake and treats and it was all just way too fun! I am so grateful for good family and friends! They make all the difference! No pictures of the day, but one of my favorite gifts was a U of U Snuggie from my parents! I have used it several times already and I am sure I will use it many more times!
Oh and another gift I got was this weird little U of U gnome guy (yes, my mom bought a gnome to give me as a present! Haha!). When I opened it up and showed it to Lexie, we asked her what it was and she studied it really hard and said, "Hi-Ho?"...LOL...we were cracking up! She is really into Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and that is what she calls them..."Hi-Ho's" :) What a clever little girl! Never a dull moment with those kids!
As far as teaching goes, I can't believe 3 weeks my school year have already flown by! My class is so good! They are very different from last year as far as dynamics go. To start off with, I have 19 girls and only 10 boys and they are all so cute! The boys are so different from last year's boys...they are more polite and well-behaved, whereas last year they thought they were just too cool for school! My girls are just sweet and helpful to me and to everyone else. They are excited for school still...so I hope I can help them keep that attitude up!
I actually had a student move already though, because her mom is the speech teacher at our school and she got a job at a military base in Korea to be a speech teacher at the school there. Crazy...I know...so I found out last Tuesday that they were leaving and their last day was Thursday. What an adventure! I hope it all works out, but for me...this is bad to say...yehaw! One less student! That makes a total of 28...phew...still too many I think...but I love them all already, so I will try my best to teach them! We have already done some fun projects, so here are a few pictures of them:
These are what I had my class do the first day. They made their faces out of paper plates and then put yarn for their hair. They are too cute! :)
And yes, I did Salt Dough Maps of Utah with my class again this year. It is just so fun for them and I did have a few parents help out with it. They are actually painted now, I just have to take some pictures of them. This is one of my favorite things to do with them because there are so many different types of landforms in Utah and it is a good way to help them remember their geography of Utah!
So, that pretty much sums up my life right now to this point...I did have my birthday last week and I am in disbelief that I am 25! I remember seeing other people that turned 25 when I was little and thinking they were so old...now here I am...25 myself! And I don't feel that old yet...it actually feels good. I am enjoying being 25! :) I celebrated my birthday with my kids at school, by playing a game and passing out doughnuts, then my mom came and brought me lunch at school, so that was very fun! Then Scott and Kim and the kids came down and we all went to the Olive Garden for dinner. Yum-Yum! After that, I invited some friends over to play games and have cake and treats and it was all just way too fun! I am so grateful for good family and friends! They make all the difference! No pictures of the day, but one of my favorite gifts was a U of U Snuggie from my parents! I have used it several times already and I am sure I will use it many more times!
Oh and another gift I got was this weird little U of U gnome guy (yes, my mom bought a gnome to give me as a present! Haha!). When I opened it up and showed it to Lexie, we asked her what it was and she studied it really hard and said, "Hi-Ho?"...LOL...we were cracking up! She is really into Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and that is what she calls them..."Hi-Ho's" :) What a clever little girl! Never a dull moment with those kids!
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Summertime Fun!
Don't ask me where the last four weeks have gone! Crazy how time flies! I am really enjoying not doing a whole lot because I know I am going to be so busy in a couple of weeks! :)
Here are some crafts I have been working on:
This is actually an Upper Case Lettering sticker that my friend, Candyce, gave me for Christmas last year and I found it the other day and decided to get crafty! My original idea was to find a cute wooden board, paint it, then put this on, but when I couldn't find one my clever mother told me to get a piece of tagboard and fabric and modge podge the fabric on the tagboard. Then I put the sticker on there and found a cute frame, which I spray painted to match it. It is now hanging in my room and I love it! Thanks Candyce! :)
Up next is the quilt I started in April. I got all the blocks done in April and I just pulled them all out again this week and I have become quite the sewing maniac (Sorry mom and dad that the house is a sewing mess!). I still have one more border and the backing to sew together before it is quilted, but it is coming along nicely! I hope to have it ready to quilt by the time I go back to work!:)
This is the material I am using for the back of of the quilt. Nice and bright like the front! :)
And what do you think I am going to do next? You've got it....ANOTHER quilt! :) I already bought the kit at Material Girls while I was there last week and am soooo excited to start it! It is tooo stinking cute! I have become quite a quilting monster!
Oh and I have these cute little charm packs that my mom got me from Florida in March....what to make out of them??? HMMM...
Here are some crafts I have been working on:
This is actually an Upper Case Lettering sticker that my friend, Candyce, gave me for Christmas last year and I found it the other day and decided to get crafty! My original idea was to find a cute wooden board, paint it, then put this on, but when I couldn't find one my clever mother told me to get a piece of tagboard and fabric and modge podge the fabric on the tagboard. Then I put the sticker on there and found a cute frame, which I spray painted to match it. It is now hanging in my room and I love it! Thanks Candyce! :)
Up next is the quilt I started in April. I got all the blocks done in April and I just pulled them all out again this week and I have become quite the sewing maniac (Sorry mom and dad that the house is a sewing mess!). I still have one more border and the backing to sew together before it is quilted, but it is coming along nicely! I hope to have it ready to quilt by the time I go back to work!:)
This is the material I am using for the back of of the quilt. Nice and bright like the front! :)
And what do you think I am going to do next? You've got it....ANOTHER quilt! :) I already bought the kit at Material Girls while I was there last week and am soooo excited to start it! It is tooo stinking cute! I have become quite a quilting monster!
Oh and I have these cute little charm packs that my mom got me from Florida in March....what to make out of them??? HMMM...
Friday, July 2, 2010
Hallelujah!!!!
I'M DONE!!! You have no idea how excited I am to be done with this school year. WOW! It was one crazy ride, but I wouldn't change it because I learned so much about teaching and managing kids in the classroom. When it comes down to it, they are all just kids and I really did like all of them, it just was crazy when they all got put together! I am so ready to start fresh again in August.
This last week was full of craziness and fun, but I would say the highlight was going to the sneak peek of Eclipse on Tuesday night with my family and a big group of friends. SUCH A GREAT MOVIE!!! I loved the first two movies in the Twilight Saga, but man, this movie blew them out of the water! A lot better acting and great, cheesy lines that made me bust out laughing. Not to mention it was just fun being with all the people I was with! I also ended up making a shirt to wear to it, so I do have a few pictures of that night.
This is a picture with all of us with our vampire teeth that we recieved as a door prize for going. If you can't tell, my shirt has a wolf howling at the moon and the back of it has "Team Jacob" on it. So nerdy but fun! :)
Since I have been a horrible blogger lately, I will give a little update from what happened since last time I wrote. I passed the PRAXIS test I took in April and even got a fancy certificate in the mail saying that I placed in the top 15% of all test takers. WAHOO! :) Who knew? My job is also safe and I will be teaching 4th grade D track again at the same school. Yeah! I will be starting a reading endorsement/master's degree as well, in August, that is through the University of Utah and is a lot cheaper and closer to home than all of those other places I was looking at. The only downfall is that it isn't online, might take longer, and I heard that the U is harder than other places. Oh well! It is worth a try! So my life just might get a little crazy this next year, but I might as well get some more education while I can! :)
As for my 6 week summer, I don't have a lot planned, but I am excited just to sleep in and relax! I get to take care of the class hermit crabs (oh joy!) and am looking forward to finishing the quilt I started in April and reading a few good books! I may go to Jackson Hole or someplace like that with some friends and also to Wyoming with my family the first week in August as well. Oh so much fun! :)
This last week was full of craziness and fun, but I would say the highlight was going to the sneak peek of Eclipse on Tuesday night with my family and a big group of friends. SUCH A GREAT MOVIE!!! I loved the first two movies in the Twilight Saga, but man, this movie blew them out of the water! A lot better acting and great, cheesy lines that made me bust out laughing. Not to mention it was just fun being with all the people I was with! I also ended up making a shirt to wear to it, so I do have a few pictures of that night.
This is a picture with all of us with our vampire teeth that we recieved as a door prize for going. If you can't tell, my shirt has a wolf howling at the moon and the back of it has "Team Jacob" on it. So nerdy but fun! :)
Since I have been a horrible blogger lately, I will give a little update from what happened since last time I wrote. I passed the PRAXIS test I took in April and even got a fancy certificate in the mail saying that I placed in the top 15% of all test takers. WAHOO! :) Who knew? My job is also safe and I will be teaching 4th grade D track again at the same school. Yeah! I will be starting a reading endorsement/master's degree as well, in August, that is through the University of Utah and is a lot cheaper and closer to home than all of those other places I was looking at. The only downfall is that it isn't online, might take longer, and I heard that the U is harder than other places. Oh well! It is worth a try! So my life just might get a little crazy this next year, but I might as well get some more education while I can! :)
As for my 6 week summer, I don't have a lot planned, but I am excited just to sleep in and relax! I get to take care of the class hermit crabs (oh joy!) and am looking forward to finishing the quilt I started in April and reading a few good books! I may go to Jackson Hole or someplace like that with some friends and also to Wyoming with my family the first week in August as well. Oh so much fun! :)
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