Back to the Grind...

Well, it's true...summer is over and life has moved on. I have been back to the grind for 4 weeks already and I'm in trouble, because I am already tired! :-0 I have good reason to be tired though..I started out with 31 kiddos and had that for the first week, but then one got accepted to a charter school and left...BOO HOO (YEHAW!). So, now I'm left with 30. And they are pretty good kids at that...they are growing on me as I come to know them and their fun little personalities.

As I mentioned before, I had to move classrooms and I had to do it all the Friday afternoon before the first day of school on Monday (August 20th). Let's just say I had serious flashbacks of my first year, when I was in the same boat and was very stressed on the first day, because I really wasn't all "put together" as far as my room went. Good thing the kiddos didn't really know that! :) So, I survived and 4 weeks later, I am going strong and getting used to my new room, even though it is so small!!

I did enjoy my last few weeks of summer though, spending a weekend in Park City, going on Trek with my singles ward (walking 14 miles in one day...phew!!), watching the Olympics (GO USA!!!), and enjoying the last few rays of sunshine! I also got to celebrate my 27th birthday on the 27th of August. I can't believe I'm that old! My mom came in and brought treats to my class. Then I spent the evening with my awesome family at Sizzler and had some homemade cheesecake for dessert! MMM....thanks Mom!

Anyway, I thought I would leave you with some pictures of the Park City girls weekend. Enjoy!

Oh...and it is official...I am a MASTER!!! :)

Summer Happenings...

Okay, so an update on summer so far...EUROPE is booked for October 27th through November 10th!!! AHHHH!!! I am SO excited! It is going to be tour style and we will hit Rome, Florence, Venice, Lucerne (Switzerland), Paris, and London! We are even going to stay a few days extra in London to see all there is to see! :) As you can see, I cannot wait!

For the first time, I am tutoring a little girl in math two days a week for an hour each time. She just finished second grade and struggles with math. My dad works with her grandpa and that's how I got the job. She is a DARLING little girl and just "chatters" away and is so excited to do whatever I have her do! It is really refreshing to have a kid be excited about stuff I am doing with them! Of course it helps that a week and a half ago, I got a new iPad for work and have been going to trainings on it. There are a lot of fun apps that I can download for free that have good math games she can play to get better at some of her math skills. I am excited to incorporate some of those awesome apps into my classroom as well!

As you can tell, I am (sadly) already thinking about next year's class and the things I am going to change for the better, but I am a LITTLE freaked out, because as of last night, I have 31 students in my class!!! AHHH! That is FOUR MORE bodies than what I am used to from the last couple of years! AND it ends up that I have to rotate rooms once again...yes, that's right, I gave up my beloved portable that I THOUGHT I was staying in to another 4th grade teacher that needed it more than me...tear. :( Needless to say it will be QUITE the adventure next year moving to a new classroom every nine weeks and trying to fit 31 little bodies in the tiny rooms I will be in!! Wish me luck and I will try to keep you updated.

Last Saturday I went on a hike with my family to Timpanogos Cave. It was my first time hiking that hike and seeing the caves! It was very fun, although I will admit, I was a tad bit sore in the hips from going DOWN the trail. Ironically, I would much rather go up than down because going down means you have to use a lot of muscles to keep yourself from going too fast! Oh well, I survived and had a blast doing it! Here are some fun pictures of that day:

Last week I also CUT MY HAIR REALLY SHORT!!! This is the shortest I have ever had it (besides when I was a tiny babe...)! It also got dyed ALL blonde! Here is a close-up:

It is really fun and easy to do! :)

Anyway, Girl's Weekend in Park City is coming up this Thursday through Sunday! I am sure I will have an update on that! Until then, happy summer!

I Love Summer!

Summer vacation is in full swing here! After a very BUSY couple of months finishing up my last semester of school for my master's program (YES!!!) and saying good-bye to my cute class last Friday (I am not going to lie and say I didn't have a few tears in my eyes, because I did), I am so excited to get some MUCH needed rest and relaxation...and boy am I doing just that with a trip to the pool to lay out, sleeping in, reading books I actually WANT to read, celebrating the 4th with my family and friends, and planning a tour in Europe for October! I am also excited to go to Park City with my mom and Kim for a girl's weekend in a couple of weeks AND the Olympics the end of July! Oh so exciting! I LOVE SUMMER!! :)

Bring on the Summer!

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that it is getting warmer! This is my FAVORITE time of year! I can't wait for my six weeks off of work too! I have 20 more days with this cute class of mine! It is bittersweet, because I am so ready for summer, but at the same time, I want to just keep this class forever because I have loved teaching them!

Next school year is going to bring some definite changes though. A few months back, my school's boundaries changed because another school south of us was getting too big, so our school has received about 200 more kids from them for next year. The fourth grade team alone, is adding 2 more teachers to accommodate, not to mention other grades getting more teachers too. Therefore, we are going to be busting the seams of our school and have to rotate rooms again. BLAH! We have been really lucky these last 3 years with our numbers down and not having to move rooms. Well, all good things come to an end! Luckily for me, it looks like I will be staying in my portable and won't have to rotate, but my teammates inside the building are, so I will be helping them move every time there is a track change. :0

The 2 new teachers that got added to my team are from the school that my new principal came from. We have met them, and I think that I am going to like them. One of them actually retired last July to secure her retirement money and now is coming back to work, but has never taught fourth grade. The other one just finished her student teaching in fourth grade and this will be her first year teaching. I am now no longer the youngest and least experienced teacher on my team!! YEA!! :) By the way, our new principal is GREAT!! I have really enjoyed him so far. He is more relaxed about things and is very fair to everyone, so all is good in that department!

Anyway, other news....I PASSED MY COMPREHENSIVE EXAMS!!! I found out the end of April and boy was I so happy and relieved! This letter is now on my fridge:

I also walked at graduation on Friday, May 4th. It was a blast! It was slightly anticlimactic though to have to go back to my last semester of school the next week! :( Oh well, I now only have 2 more weeks of that semester and then I will officially be DONE with my Master's Degree! Yahoo!!! Here are some pictures of graduation day:

Sally and Candyce came to my graduation ceremony!

Me getting ready to walk into the ceremony!

Some of the ladies in my cohort that have been with me from the beginning of the program!

My cute parents and me after the ceremony!

Showing off my fancy (but weird) hood I had to wear that symbolized that I am a MASTER!! :)

Posing with the cool "U" prop they had on the campus!

Graduation dinner at The Cheesecake Factory with the whole family and Sally...who we consider family anyway! I LOVE my family!!!


What a fun day!! Can't wait until I am officially a MASTER!!! Woot, Woot!!

Happy Spring!

I love when it starts to get warm again...except when Mother Nature decides to be cruel and dump snow in the middle of spring, but still...bring on the warm! :)

So it is my first day of Spring Break and off track time...and what have I done? Well, not a lot! I do have a lot planned though...I have a couple of projects/papers I need to write for the end of the semester for school, a gum graft on the left side of my mouth (yuck!), shopping, sleeping in, planning a trip to Europe, anxiously awaiting to hear the results of my 30 + page comprehensive exam, bike-riding, swimming, Easter, friends, family, and whatever else may come up! In the meantime, I will finally put up some pictures of my cruise in January and update you on everything else that has been happening.

As far as the cruise went, I loved the time I had to relax and get away, see places I hadn't seen before, and spend time with the girls! Here are some highlights of the cruise I went on:

The view of Long Beach, CA while aboard our "hang out" spot on the Queen Mary!

The view of our cruise ship from aboard the Queen Mary!

A morning nap aboard the Queen Mary! A 6:00am flight will do this to you while you are waiting to get on your cruise ship! :)

Walking the "plank" to our ship! Yea!

The view of the Queen Mary while aboard our ship.

As I was exploring the ship, I saw this sign...uh, really?! Haha!

Our first night aboard the ship!

Catalina Island Pier

Our mode of transportation on Catalina Island!

We found this beautiful beach to lay out on, but despite our attempts, it was MUCH too cold to lay out and get a tan! :)

You could see our ship docked out in the ocean all over the island!

One of the beautiful views on Catalina!

One of the many cute little shops on Catalina...apparently Lloyd is a famous name! :)

Our golf cart on Catalina Island!

Formal night on the ship!

Shopping in downtown Ensenada, Mexico!

One of the beautiful views of La Bufadora, Mexico!

One of the many sprays of water that came up from the blowhole at La Bufadora, Mexico!

This was Sally and me at the flea market in La Bufadora, Mexico.

Our waiters did much more than wait on us at dinner, they provided the entertainment as well!

One night we decided to venture out and listen to the karaoke...no, we weren't brave enough to actually get up there and do it!

Sassy ladies playing mini golf on the "Fun Day at Sea"! As you can tell...it wasn't too warm! :)

Andrea and me at the final show on board the ship.

This is the last night of dinner on the cruise with our waiters.

Chilling at the airport while waiting to go home! I think that was the only time we actually got some sun on us that was warm! :)

Well, it still looks like we will be planning a trip to Europe as well sometime later this year...we are thinking either July or October, depending on what we decide to do! Looks like it is going to be expensive...but it will be very worth it!

Off the topic of trips, and onto the topic of work, it looks like I will get to stay teaching 4th grade and on D track for next year! I am excited that I get to stay doing what I want to do! I just hope I get another great class, like this year! I have really enjoyed my class and can't believe the year is almost over. I only have 2 more months with them and a LOT to cram into them before testing begins! OH MY!

On a different note, in the last couple of weeks, my principal, Luann Leavitt, has decided to take a job at the District Offices and has already left us! We have a new principal, Kevin Pullan, coming to take over her position. He starts next Tuesday, but I am off track and will not be there, so I probably won't meet him until I go back in May. I have heard good things about him, so I hope all goes well working underneath him. I am not going to lie, I was on pretty good terms with Luann, so I hope I can do the same with this guy! :) Here is to new starts!

And one final note, the hermit crab saga. Yes, there is more to it! Kermit the Second has died...worst of all...he died WHILE AT A STUDENT'S HOUSE! I felt so bad because the girl was traumatized by it and thought everyone would hate her because he died while in her care! Fortunately, she calmed down and no one hates her! :) I got yet another one last week, because I could get one more for free, but so far I have just left him at my house to see how he does. I want to see if it is the changing environments too much that is killing them, or the store's crabs they are giving us, because this is CRAZY! So far, Kermit the Third, as I am calling him, is still alive! I will let you know how it all goes, but if this one dies, I think I am done with crabs.