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!! :)