Wow I am a terrible blogger

Wow, have I really been that busy? Yes I have. It is sad, I start a blog and then barely have any time to manage it and keep it up to date. So in the posts to come, there will be updates about what has been going on in my world. I will try to recap what all has been going on in my life for the past month and a half. Let's see how I do.

Salt Dough Maps

Oh the drama! Wow what an afternoon. It all started last week when my mentor teacher Julie asked me to make salt dough so that our students could make awesome maps of Alaska. I got all excited and of course agreed. Well yesterday I went to the store with Charlie and we got everything we needed. Flour, salt and plastic wrap. I looked like I was picking up stuff to build a bomb. We also had some very sturdy boxes donated from Carrs to create the base for the maps. So we headed back to Charlie's house and I got set to work on making to dough and he cut out and painted all the bases (such a sweet guy for helping me). I made enough dough for the kids to be able to complete their project and still have some left over to take home. I have to say I was pretty excited about this project. Although I almost broke my back trying to get all the dough from my car to my classroom (the box was really heavy). But anywho, on with the story. It came time to make the maps and the kids were really excited, that is until they found out that the dough was soft and sticky. They freaked. Immediately complaints started popping up about how they couldn't do it and how their hands were getting all messy and gross. I have to say I had little sympathy for them, I worked with that dough for a good 2 hours the night before and was a sticky gooey mess. I loved it! But my kids didn't feel the same. The project took a very long time and drove me a little crazy in the process. Anyway, I have learned my lesson, make a little thicker salt dough so the students don't complain.

The Week at School Before Halloween

Oh my goodness! What a crazy week we have had! (We being my mentor teacher and myself). I have discovered fast that the week leading up to a holiday is insane. Much more so when it is a fun holiday in which kids get to dress up and eat a crazy amount of candy that make dentists cringe. Yes I am of course speaking of Halloween. This week has been a very loud one in the classroom and has exposed a new challenge for me, patience! I am being tested this week to see if this really is what I want to do. What is getting me through and what gives me encouragement is that this week will soon be over and we can send the kids home to their parents to work off the sugar high they will get at school tomorrow. I cannot say how happy I am that Halloween is on Saturday this year. We won't have to see them and try and teach them the day after the sugar high. Thank goodness. I just hope that next week settles down a bit.


As for my internship experience, I am continuing to learn a ton. We successfully went through parent teacher conferences. And I am slowly taking on more and more responsibility in the classroom. This week I taught math every day, 2 back-to-back reading lessons and 2 back-to-back health lessons. It was a very full week, but a fun one teaching wise. My mini-residency is coming up and the more practice before then the better!

It has been too long...

Oh my goodness, it has been far too long since I have posted anything. I hate to pin that on anything, but my crazy busy schedule hasn't given me much time to blog. But I just wanted to let everyone who checks this that I am still alive and surviving my internship and second to last semester of college.

I am loving my internship! I am learning so much from my mentor teacher, and I think we make a pretty good team. I learned a valuable lesson the other day. It is possible to be too enthusiastic about a lesson. I was teaching a lesson on adding by 9s and I was having a lot of fun with it. But my mentor teacher especially noticed (one of the benefits of being at this for 20 years) that the kids got a little too jazzed about the lesson and weren't focusing very well on what I was saying. So next time I am going to practice being enthusiastic, but scaling it back just a little.

I am pressing on with school, and thankfully my methods classes are going to be wrapping up soon. They are pretty intensive at the moment, but one of the benefits is that we get done sooner, and get to spend more time in the classroom at the end of the semester! YEAH FUN!

There are two other interns in my building who are a ton of fun, and who I don't get to see nearly enough of. I am downstairs on one side of the building and they are upstairs on the other. They did a great job of separating us. Well I think that is all for this post, I am doing well and am still kickin'!

Oh and here is a picture of my wig:

Missing My Dear Friend

My dear friend Cathryn just relocated down to Virginia. She is working with a pain specialist down there, and saving up enough money to get a place of her own. I am so proud of her for doing this for herself, but I miss her terribly. I know that this is where God wants her to be, and it will take a while for me to get used to not seeing her every Sunday. I love her so much and cannot wait to see what God has in store for my dear friend in Virginia. You go Cathryn!

Charlie Fishing

My boyfriend Charlie loves to fish. I caught a few pictures of him showing off his fishing skills at the Eklutna Tailrace. I am looking forward to learning how to fish from the "expert"! Should be a highly entertaining experience that is for sure.

Mitchel and Emily

The beautiful bride Emily and her very happy husband Mitchel.

Congratulations Mitchel and Emily! I am so happy for you both! Well for those who don't know or who weren't able to be there, Mitchel and Emily got married today! It was so beautiful, beautiful decorations, smiling people and one GORGEOUS bride (yeah that was Emily for sure). I am so blessed to know these two amazing people, and I am so glad they found each other. They both have a love for life and the Lord, it is so refreshing to see two people running after God full speed. They truly are amazing and I am blessed to be able to call them friends. Here are some pictures of the wonderous day!

Their first kiss as husband and wife, so special!

The girls: Diana Ryan, Natalie Greenstreet, Mayerly Fischer and Charlotte Brown

The guys: Mitchel, Drew Tracy, Dan Bruzas, Luke Fischer and Drew Bacon.

The bride and groom's first dance together! (well as a married couple that is)

The couple got an amazing present from Emily's brother Joe. A two seat bike!

Mitchel and Emily trying out their new bike! LOOK OUT!

We found out that the bride and groom were going to "sail away" into their new life together. The sail says, "JUST MARRIED Mitchel & Emily" accompanied by a picture of the couple.

Mitchel and Emily getting ready to sail away together.

Sailing off into their new life together!

Mitchel and Emily, you two are some of the most amazing people I have ever met, I wish you the best together. I love you both and am so happy for you. God is going to great things in your lives and bless you to no end. Have a great time in Hawaii! See you when you get back.