Money money money!

I (FINALLY) got my first paycheck!!!!!! Wahooooo!!!!!

I've never seen my account that high :-) But, alas, in a mere several days it will be back to normal.

...rent...food...gas...bills...ya know, life in general.

I don't feel so much like a student teacher anymore. Yay! :)

Prince Charming

Once upon a time I was sitting on my bed sobbing because I felt so huge and flabby and disgusting. That night, my Prince Charming said "tomorrow after school, you are going to Gold's and getting a gym pass."

And guess what?

I did.

It has been the BEST thing ever. I have not worked out, danced, exercised, nothing for about 6 months (yikes!) and my body NEEDs exercise. I cannot tell you what it feels like to be back in a gym, lifting, running, kick boxing and crunching. It is AMAZING! (and painful) I feel like I can leave work, stop by the gym and work off any and all frustrations I have about how the day went. The I come home tired, sore, sweaty and hungry and crave things like rice and veggies or salad. It is amazing.

THANK YOU PRINCE CHARMING! You truely are the BEST and most amazing man in the world! I love you!

p.s. I took turbo kick on Monday....it kicked my butt. ...and my thighs...and my arms...and my back...and everything. Then I took Zumba tonight. Hip hop meets salsa, samba, cha cha and lindy. Yes? YES! I love working out :-)

I am officially a licensed teacher!

So it's official!!!! I just downloaded my teaching license! I am officially graduated and a certified teacher in Utah. YAY!!!!!!!

snaps for karissa :-)

too bad it cost like $55 bucks...

I like Mondays? Whoa!

So I actuallly like Monday's now...

Monday's are early out days, so we get done an hour earlier. Plus, every other Monday we do rotations so I don't have to teach every 3? weeks. It's awesome! I had my Monday off this week and next week is a holiday. I'm not looking forward to all the testing coming up, but at least I'll get a REALLY good idea of where my kids are at!!

I absolutely love teaching. It's what I was meant to do. I felt alot last year that I hadn't found my niche in life and I was feeling pretty crummy. Now that I have my OWN room, with my OWN class, I feel right at home. It's not easy, but man, it is SO rewarding! I LOVE getting hugs from my kids and hearing "you're the best teacher!" Hopefully as I get the hang of it I'll be able to have even more fun with my class.

Life is good.

Plus, being home at night means I get to COOK! And I've definitely "experimented" a little already. Both things have been pretty good, and different. Scott tells me even when I mess up it's not really messed up...it just tastes not as good, but it's definitely not bad. He's sweet. I do feel like I have a knack for cooking, which is awesome. And I like it :-)

Can't wait for more exciting things in the future! I'm getting impatient... Someday :-)

...I may post pictures some day...it's just hard when the laptop with the camera card connection has no internet...getting frustrating. Oh well.

I Will Survive!!

This has been my theme song this past week. Teaching is HARD!!! They don't really tell you everything when you're student teaching. They just kinda let you "figure it out" when you get hired. Seriously I have learned more this past week than I have my whole semester as a student teacher!!

I absolutely LOVE my kids! They are SO dang, stinking cute! And I can tell they need some tender loving care, and that's what I'm here for...AFTER I whip them into shape ;-) They're struggling a bit with listening and following instructions. I've had to really bring my fist down and get pretty stern. I DO NOT like it, but it is necessary right now. I am struggling with a couple of my kids, but I think it will get better.

I absolutely LOVE the school I work at! I have the best principal and vice principal, team leader/mentor (and she has a student teacher right now!), secretaries, fellow employees, etc. Everyone has been SO nice and friendly! The first day I had about 5 people come in my room at some point to see how I was. It's great. I absolutely love it. I couldn't ask for a better school to be at.

Each day keeps getting better! The more stable the routines, the better. It's great! As tired and worn out as I am, when I sit back and think about it, I LOVE MY JOB! And I am truely living my dream :-)

And now, for you fellow student teachers, here are some things they don't teach you!

-how to deal with kids who are complaining about feeling sick and want to call home (are they really sick? or bored? or just want to leave?)

-how to set up your classroom (it really takes alot of thinking!!)

-how to set up centers and rotations and how to record it and make it go smoothly

-how to organize things such as: newsletters, turn in boxes, return home boxes, take home folders, school boxes, all your personal stuff, assessment records, student records, incentives, centers (how do you store them?) et

-how to set up your calendar so it runs smoothly and is effective

-how to set up a morning routine

-how to transition smoothly without music or noise instruments (on my to-do list to get some!)

-how to get papers out to the students last minute when 12 other things are happening at once

-how to sort through everything in your room and build a curriculum you want to use from what is required and what is optional

-how to set up homework...where does it come from? When is it passed out? When is it due? Is there a reward?

-how to move your class from one place to another quickly (believe it or not, it's hard without them being trained. most mentor teachers already have established rules before you come in)

-how to use a purchase card and balance your budget...or even find your budget. And what money goes where? What things that have been bought stay in the room? What can you take with you? How do you fill out records after you purchased? Oh, and you MUST get everything without tax. Not optional.

-And last, but WAY NOT least, how to set up your daily schedule. It takes a few hours, trust me.

..oh yeah, and DRA testing, math testing, how to get a sub, and how many meetings you have to attend outside of class (or during class). Not to mention that teacher development days are NOT days off, they're actually lots of sitting and more training.

And that is definitely not everything. Just a peek at what I've had to learn and do this past week! Wow! I can't wait to get a paycheck :-)

Our life as of lately

Well, life is good.

Christmas was wonderful. Aside from almost sliding off the canyon, we had a great vacation. It was really nice to be so relaxed and lazy. My two favorite gifts this year are my black bear paw boots and the knife set Scott got me. I've been wanting one since we were married and he surprised me with it. They are goooood knifes too! He was excited about new basketball shoes and a new razor (I think?) It was the first year neither of us have gotten some cool technology tool.

New Years was okay. We saw Sherlock Holmes with my sister and bro in law. We also played with their puppy who is SO cute! Then we ate at Chili's. Scott and I stopped by a friends party later. Mostly there were single people there though....that's not really our crowd anymore. But sometimes it's funny to watch :-) Then we came home and crashed.

This whole week I've spent hours working on my classroom. It's finally all CLEAN (it was so dirty!) and organized. Now I just have to figure out what I'm going to teach!!! My brain is so tired of thinking, but I can't stop. I'm getting more anxious and nervous as each day flies by. Day after tomorrow I start! Good thing Scott is so sweet and he sits me down and reminds me of what is most important for a teacher to do-- love the kids.

To say the least, my break hasn't been much of a break (this past week). But I am excited. Other than that, life is chill and good. I still can't believe that I am literally living my dreams. It's incredible and such a blessing!