Time for an update?!

Guess it has been a while since I have posted anything here... life has been crazy- school is finally out and I have survived my first year of teaching!!! WAHOO!!! I also survived the surplussing at my school- so yes, I still have a job next year! I will be teaching Geography, US History and Italian. I get to start an actual Italian program at my school which I am totally excited about. It is going to be a lot of work over the summer but it will be well worth it (I hope!). I still have another 2 weeks until I can really start my summer break- I have been taking a few classes for my ESL (English as a second language) endorsement. Thank goodness they only last 2 weeks cuz I don't think I could last much longer than that!

Even though I have been taking classes I have found time to get out and have some fun- hanging out with friends- Karaoke night, dancing, the Air Show at HAFB, and Pride. Rather than update everything, I'll just post a few pics!

Maria and I

:) Saif and I :)

Kaden and I at the air show

My favorite pic from the air show- like father like son! Lovable goofballs!!

Love the face Mony!!! :)

Photo Story Friday

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity of taking my cousin's bridal and wedding pictures. It was the first wedding I ever really got to play photographer. I had a blast and I'm so excited about how the photos turned out!

We ventured up to Memorial Park for a fun outing of bridal pics. We spent a few hours and had a blast! A few weeks later, the couple got married in Ogden. It was pouring rain which made for an interesting experience but at the same time, it was a lot of fun! And I'm pretty happy with the outcome!

Burn Out and Surplussing

Only 28 days left of school... not that I'm counting or anything.... I can totally tell it is the end of the year- spring is in the air, my students ALWAYS want to have class outside, and we are all more than ready for a nice long break- also known as summer break!!

The past few months have been pretty stressful with the economy taking a dive and everyone- including teachers- being totally stressed about having and keeping jobs. My school had to surplus 5 teachers because of boundary changes and being a first year teacher, I have been on edge not knowing if I would have a job next year. Friday morning I was in the office meeting with a parent and when I was done my principal pulled me aside and told me that "as of right now she has a schedule for me" for next year!! I was so excited. She told me I would probably have to "stretch" what that means exactly, I don't know. I'm guessing that either I will be teaching 7 class periods instead of the normal 6 (which would be nothing new to me, I've been doing that all year) or I will be teaching 5 different subjects (again, this would be nothing new to me- hell, I can make up a new curriculum in 1 day!) In either case, I am excited to stay at my school. It has been a crazy year but I have loved it!

Hypathetically speaking, of course

Imagine you are a 1st year teacher and you have just started the 4th quarter, today actually.... Part of your course load includes a 7th grade exploratory class that changes every term- so you teach the same thing every term just to different students... Oh, and you teach at a school that is on an A- B block schedule (meaning 4 classes one day, 4 other classes the next) You check your email as you are getting ready to start your 2nd period class and see an email from the 7th grade counselor and it's about your 7th grade exploratory class that you will meet for the first time tomorrow. You read the email (duh! Isn't that what you do with email?!) And you find out that your class is not rotating. You will have the same students for another term. AND they want you to teach something completely different.... giving you only ONE day notice. What in the HELL do you do?!?!?!? You have to have a lesson ready not only for tomorrow but for the rest of the term- not to mention the lessons for the other 3 curriculum's (or is it curriculi?!) you are teaching at the same time?!?!?!?!?!?

Ok, so this isn't really a hypothetical situation. It really happened to me today. I was so stressed out about it that I gave into the temptation and had a Dr. Pepper... (Damn Lent! That's what I get for trying to go without Dr. Pepper my first year of teaching... ) I was ready to scream I was so frustrated with having ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA what to do for this class... But it came to me as I was getting ready to start my last class... Teach them maps- I know, sounds corny but you would be surprised how many kids these days don't know where Wyoming is or even the Great Salt Lake! I figure this will better prepare them for when I have them for Geography in 9th grade. Hopefully it works!!

And since we are on the topic of school/work, I can't believe the 4th quarter has already begun. This year has gone amazingly fast- sometimes it felt like it would never end but now that they end is so near it seems so surreal that I am so close to a summer break! Not that I am excited or anything.... Ok, I admit it, I think I am more excited than my students. It has been a good 4 years at least since I have had any kind of a break- I can't wait!

Inked!

One thing that I have always wanted to do was get a tattoo.. I remember back in high school thinking of all the different tattoos I could get and have always admired the artistry and personal meaning that many tattoos have. I always knew I would get one... I even remember having conversations with my Grampa about them. He always told me not to get them saying I would regret my decision. But my thought has always been- if I have wanted one for over 10 years, and still want one, I should just do it. I took my time getting it mostly because I knew it had to be something VERY personal that I would mean something to me for the rest of my life. I had no desire for a random design picked out of a book. I wanted something personal- something that was mine and only mine! I started thinking seriously about getting one about 2 years ago. Had a basic idea of what I wanted 1 year ago and after a year of adjusting and redesigning, looking for a good tattoo shop and artist, I finally did it!!! Today I went in with the intention of putting down a deposit and making an appointment. But after I got there and spoke with a few people, I knew I had to just do it. The suspense of waiting would KILL me! So, I showed the artist my idea and he took it back and drew up a sketch and we got started. It wasn't as bad as I was expecting- don't get me wrong, it hurt- at times it felt like someone was just taking a razor blade to my foot... but I was so focused on not moving that it didn't bother me much. It was kinda fun to tell the truth. It was really cool watching him work his magic on my foot!

The sketch of what I wanted. I went in with the quote and the font I wanted and told him I wanted a few "frilly thingies" (I don't know what they are called- but he knew what I was talking about!)
Here he is hard at work!
And finally.....
The finished product
The quote says: Non molare mai, credi in cio che fai. It is a quote I found written on the side of a bus stop when I was living in Torino. It means to never complain (or give up) and believe in what you do.

Playing photographer

This weekend I got to play photographer and had a BLAST!!!! My cousin asked me to take her bridal pictures- I was very surprised because I have never done bridal pictures before. But I do have to say, it was so much fun. She came down to Salt Lake and we went to Memory Grove Park which is up in the Avenues. I just love this park. It is the perfect place for pictures. So many fun things to play around with- a bridge, trees, a stream, a pond, buildings with columns- you name it. About an hour and a half and probably 250 shots later, we were done. When I got home I immediately took the memory card out of the camera and downloaded all the pictures. I was a little nervous but when I started looking at them I was pretty excited. They turned out so well! I'm excited for her to see them. Hope they are what she wanted! She asked me to take pictures for her wedding- which I would love to do.. but they are getting married on a Tuesday... so I guess we will see if I can get a day off work.
This is one of my favorite shots.

Hello again!

Things have been pretty crazy lately so I haven't had much time or much want for blogging. Tonight I am sitting at job #2- the hospital- and have a bit of downtime and taking a break from lesson planning so I thought I would at least give a little update on a few things....

Teaching is still going well. I have survived yet another round of parent teacher conferences. It is always interesting seeing my students and their parents... it answers a LOT of questions! I do have to admit I am glad that I don't have to think about them for another year! YAY! And there are only 2 weeks left this term- it is really flying by. It is kinda fun now that I am getting the swing of things I have actually been leaving work on time the last few days. It is actually very strange. I'm so used to staying so late coaching one thing after another or just working on lesson plans or grades... It is nice though!

Other than work not a whole lot is going on. During the week I work and attempt to get all the other stuff that I need to done so I can play on the weekends... Sometimes it works better than others. Weekends the last few months I have spent hanging out with family and friends in Layton. Good times!

I have decided that I do need to get out and take more pictures. I have kinda left that hobby by the roadside when I started teaching... so I guess we will see how it goes!

Anywho, I'm sure that was long and boring but I hope you all are doing well and hopefully one of these days I will have something a little more exciting to report!