If You Are Going To Be A Teacher, You Have To Get A Teacher Car!!!

Picture this...
My alarm goes off at 6:50am and I roll out of bed, eat breakfast and through on my clothes for work. I grab my big teacher bag full of graded papers and my purse before I rush out the door. The driveway is icy so I slide to my car door. I grab the handle and give it a tug only to realize that It is not going to budge. My fingers are stiff as I fumble for my keys. I thought I unlocked the door but maybe not. I turn the key again and give the door another tug. No luck. So I run around to the passenger side and voila, door opens! I through my bags inside and reach over to get the ice scraper. I run around the car to start scrapping the windows and I think "oh I should have the car running so it will be warm when I get in." I run back around to the passenger side and reach over to turn the car on. Then it is back to scrapping. Finally I have the car all cleaned off so I climb in the passenger door and shimmy my way across the center consul. I drive to work, park and as I start to climb back over the seat to get out I see two of my co-workers peeking in at me. I climb out straighten myself and say "Good Morning" as I run into the building.

Now anyone who knew the old Kia Optima knows that I was itching for an upgrade. My plan was to drive the Optima back to California after school let out and sell it ASAP. Then I would take the money I got from the sale and purchase a car there in Cali. My parents had agreed to help me out with a loan to get a car I really liked and so all I had to do was live with the Optima for a few more weeks. Don't get me wrong the Optima was a good car as far as getting me from place to place. I didn't even come close to loving it but I was OK with driving it until I could get my sweet new ride:) That was until... the door latch broke and I was no longer able to enter the car from the drivers side. I was just glad I was able to be the comic relief for my co-workers at school!!

When my family came out for Graduation they came to understand why I had been complaining about my car. My mom had a rash on her arms from climbing into the car from the passenger side. After my last softball game I came to learn that my father had been looking at the local car dealerships. I hadn't been expecting to purchase a brand new car but was pretty excited about the news. My dad had looked at a couple good cars and so the whole family went to look this time and even take a few out for test drives. I had narrowed my options down to a few but we still couldn't get the price we were looking for so after 4 hours of car shopping we went home to sleep on it. The next day we again drug the whole family out to look at cars again. Grandma Jo was an especially good sport sitting in the car to wait for the whole ordeal to be over. Brandon threw in his opinions here and there and was the official space tester (what with his long legs and all). My mom was moral support and a voice of reason and my dad of course was the business manager (wheeler and dealer). Buying a new car was not the best experience but driving my new Glacier Blue 2008 Honda CRV off the lot, PRICELESS!! I love love love my new car and it fits my new teacher persona perfectly.

I MADE IT!!

I can't believe I am a college graduate! I must say it doesn't feel any different. for most people graduation means that they are through with school. As for me, graduation means going back to the 3rd grade:) On April 25th I walked across the stage and moved my tassel to symbolize that I will turn from student to teacher.

Graduation was a great experience but the best part was that my family and friends were all there to support me. There are pictures of my friends from school who also graduated in elementary education. After spending everyday for 2 years together we all became quite close. There are also pictures of my family who flew out from California for the occasion.

After 2 long ceremonies and all the pictures, it was time to get some grub:) All the family and some friends got together for a picnic lunch in the park. I am so glad to have such wonderful people in my life and I want them to know that I couldn't have done it without them!!

My Last Athletics Banquet

Every year all the athletes gather together and have a big awards banquet. The past 3 years have been sit down dinners with a little awards ceremony. This year the soon to be UVU pulled out all the stops. Our awards banquet was set up like the Grammys. There were rows and rows of formal dressed athletes listening to our peers and coaches tell silly jokes from a teleprompter. When an award was announced the nominees were shown on a big screen in the middle and two smaller plasma flat screens on the sides. There were round lighted steps to walk up and receive your award, a spotlight, and the UVU royalty to present each plague. Not having a sit down dinner was regrettable but they made up with it by having comedians perform between some of the awards and a couple chocolate fountains at the end.

Unfortunately I was not nominated for any of the awards this year and so I never won. I did however get to go up on stage to receive my senior blanket for graduating. I took lots and lots of pictures with full intention to blog them. I was so sad when I got home and as I tried to transfer the pictures to my computer found them to be missing. To this day it is still a mystery as to where those pictures have gone. Overall the athletics banquet was a big success and it was kinda nice to shake things up for my last one.

My Very Own Classroom

After going to school to be a teacher for 4 years I finally have my own classroom. I completed my student teaching at Scera Park Elementary in Orem. I spent 10 weeks in a first grade classroom there and I thought I was so busy trying to keep up with all that had to be done to make a classroom run. Little did I know, there was much more work ahead. I was almost to the end of my student teaching when a rumor started to circulate the teachers lounge about one of my fellow first grade teachers leaving mid-year. She had just gotten engaged and rumor had it that instead of finishing out the year she was moving to Arizona to plan the wedding. I didn' t think much about this until the principal approached me in the teacher work room and asked if I would meet with him after school. Well to make a long story short I was offered a job as the long-term substitute for that same first grade class that was losing their teacher. I was overwhelmed and excited all at once. I was to start my new job on March 5th.

I had ONE weekend to set up my entire classroom. The whole school chipped in to help. The office ladies helped me punch out, laminate and cut bulletin board sets, My cooperating teacher and new friend Janeal Nuttall put many many hours into helping staple and cut and glue and copy items for my new room. Kyle put in tons of man hours and man power to get my room looking sharp and everyone who saw me in the halls wished me good luck. I probably spent 15 hours that weekend getting everything ready for my new kids. luckily THEY LOVED IT!! My theme was frogs and my students were all Hoppy to see their new and improved room:)

Blog-o-sphere, Here I Come!

Welcome to my Blog!! These last few years of college I have laughed, I have cried, I have learned, I have danced, I have made jokes, I have made new friends and kept in touch with some old ones, I have played in several hundred softball games, and much much more. With all that has been going on, I have been awful with keeping in touch. Now I am making no guarantees, but I am hoping this will be a better way to keep everyone caught up with the goings on in my life. So here's to keeping in touch.