My dear brother Michael is heading off to the very warm Botswana on January 10th! He just left us here in Alaska last night. I am going to miss that boy so much! He isn't going to be coming back to Alaska till next December. This summer he is planning on either Interning at a hospital (his number one choice), or will be taking summer classes. He wants to finish his degree in four years, which will mean getting in as many classes as possible whenever he can. Go brother go!
I think this is a funny picture of Michael. What a face!
About Botswana though, Michael is going down there for 2 weeks. He is going down with members of his school in what is called a "Go Trip" down at Union. There are a total of 7 students going (Michael and 6 peers), and two adults (a professor and his wife). Their goal while they are down there is to spread the Word of God to as many people as they can. They are also going to be focusing on making sure the people down there know the truth about God. There may be many individuals who have false beliefs about God. The team wants to make sure they leave there, knowing that people have a real idea of who God really is. Ashley Brown, a pastor at our church, gave Michael 13 Bibles to take down to Botswana with the team. I am sure those will put to great use!
Now for those of you who, like me, have no idea where Botswana is, I am including a map!
Oh and the capital of Botswana is Gaborone. Michael says its pronounced Haboroni. I said that is sounds like a cross between Habanero and Macaroni. Mom and Michael laughed at me!
So I am now back in the swing of things. I have been taking college classes all week long. In the mornings, I have had a 4 hour long creative arts class, then in the afternoons I have a 3 hour long health class. It has done quite the number on my brain. I have yet to get back in the classroom to see my kidos, that will be on Tuesday. We have a professional development day on Monday, so it will just be the staff there. Next week the college classes continue. I have two days of intensive science class on Monday and Wednesday. And I also have a regular class on Tuesday nights that will continue throughout the semester.
I will start my residency soon. I get to be "teacher in charge" for 30 days (6 weeks). Which means I am the one who writes lesson plans and is the teacher in the classroom. My mentor teacher, Julie, will be at school (I think), but I am going to be the one in the class. Last quarter I had a good amount of time practicing this, Julie would leave the room for periods of time to let me get used to teaching by myself. I am really looking forward to my residency, but I am also pretty nervous. I hope it all goes well.
This Christmas I was blessed. We as a family have decided to shrink Christmas down in our house and focus on the miracle of Christ's birth rather than presents. We do still exchange presents, but not the volume that we used to.
On Christmas day Michael got me up at 6:40 in the morning. I wasn't too thrilled, but he said it was "tradition". Hopefully I can break him of that habit over time. We all then opened presents and cooked breakfast (I let the sausage get a little crispy). We then packed up what we needed for the rest of our day and headed off to my uncle's house in Eagle River. We spent the afternoon there with my family enjoying munching on goodies (cookies and sandwiches), and playing with my two little cousins (Aiden and Nathen are sooooo cute!) We truly had a great Christmas!
The next day I went into Anchorage for my Christmas with Charlie. When I got there we exchanged gifts and had eggs and bacon for a late breakfast. We spent a very relaxing day together (if you exclude trying to put an erect-a-set together and failing miserably). It was another great day, perfect for the day after Christmas.
I love spending holidays like this, enjoying the company of the ones you love! Nothing is better.
Wow, I love the holidays! Well I love any time I get to hang out with people I love and care about. This holiday season I have been blessed with time with both family and friends.
Michael (my dear brother) is home from school until the 7th of January. It has been great to hang out with him and spend some time together before he goes back to the states and then Botswana.
This past week we as a family have been able to hang with all of my Alaska family, my aunt, uncle and cousins here in Wasilla and my Grandma, uncle, aunts and cousins in Eagle River. We have also been able to spend time with friends. Yesterday we spent a fun filled say with our neighbors, the Hunners. We don't get to spend near enough time with them and it was a great time of fellowship yesterday, plus amazing food and a crazy game of Guesstures (I don't know how but I got Mom to guess "larangitis"!) And tonight we went over to our dear friends the Grindles, where we enjoyed wonderful food (cooked by Michael), games (Farkle) and conversation.
My life would be so dull without these amazing people to spend time with. Friends and family bring so much color and meaning to my life, that I wouldn't know what to do without them. I love having time to hang with them and spend quality time together. I wouldn't trade that special time for anything!
It is amazing to think that Charlie and I have been together for a year now. We had our one year anniversary on the 30th of November and it was a great evening. After class Charlie and I got dressed up and went to a movie (New Moon), and then to Simon and Seafort's! (YUM!)
So let's see, what has gone on since I last posted in November? Here we go:
Well the week of November 16-20th, I had my mini-residency. This was a time in the my internship classroom in which I would have control of the class for a week (well almost). I have to say that leading up to this week I had a bit of a breakdown at school. I had been having a hard time keeping the class quiet. I have been assured that this is a common theme with new teachers. Well, the day of my meltdown, my mentor teacher, Julie, noticed right away and we had a little chat about what I could do to gain more control over the class. I found that when I say something, I really have to mean it and sound like I mean it, otherwise students will think it is optional (not good). With the tips that Julie gave me tucked away, I was able to go into my mini-residency with confidence and effectively teach the students throughout the week.
Since then I have been able to take on more and more responsibility in the classroom and my mentor teacher has been able to step out with confidence that I will get stuff done.
Here are some amazing pictures of Michael's trip to Botswanna!
Michael helping out in the kitchen. The church provides a meal every day for the orphans there. Awesome program!
My brother playing soccer in flipflops! Go Michael!
A beautiful cheetah that the group got to see.
Michael's battle wounds from the cheetah!
