Adjustments

Don't you just love having to get adjusted to things?! It has to be one of my least favorite things ever. Okay, so it's really not that bad, but I do not adapt fast to things. This past week was my first week in the world of teaching real-life style and man was it something that I am going to have to get use to! Getting up early...really early for me... does not work well with me at all. Then I realize that Oh crap..this is going to be my life from here on out. Getting up at 6 AM (or earlier), going to work, coming home, planning lessons, doing dinner, clean the house?, get ready for the next day, go to bed, and repeat. I think that should go on a bottle of something, like it's on shampoo: wet, lather, rinse, repeat! That would take a large bottle! Sorry got off track..let's get back on. This week Sam and I have been getting adjusted to the new way of our lives. He is still in the state of adjustment with his new job. He is driving a lot longer and getting up a lot earlier than he use to. There have been a whirlwind of emotions and frustrations and excitements and so many others this past week for me, but MAN it is taking some adjusting!

I did have a great first week student teaching for those who are wondering. There is a lot of stuff that I have questions about, but it has nothing to do with actual teaching, just the formal APSU stuff. I am excited about getting to actually teach real lessons that I plan. If they bomb, then they bomb and I will make changes to try again. That's what happens in the real world. If its great, then its great! Everything can be changed and adjusted as needed and that is what I like. This week I will be teaching about World War II. I have been running ideas in my head like crazy for the past week and am finally going to put them to action this week. It's nice to know that the aggravation that I have been through was well worth getting to be at the point that I am now. That does not mean that the chance for aggravation is over, but it is worth it that.

Sam reminded me the other night of why I am doing what I am doing because to be quite honest I was just not feeling it at all. He wanted me to try and forget about everything that I have been through with this thing called college and remember why I decided that teaching was for me. I remembered...

Sam and I were sitting in a classroom at his parents church 3-4 years ago. At the time, the church was meeting in a school building while their church building was being built. I remember sitting there not paying a lick of attention to the class (cause it was way over my head) and staring at the walls. I looked at the posters, the signs from the students, and everything else in that room. I felt at home. I felt that this is what I am suppose to be doing. I sat in that room and thought back to the teachers that influenced or put a mark in my life. That's when I knew that I wanted to be that teacher. I wanted to be a teacher that one day a student thought back to while sitting in another class and say "Man, she was the best teacher! She taught me so many great things and influenced my life!" I want to make a difference in childrens lives even if it is in the smallest way possible. This is what I have to remember. I have to forget all the frustrating lesson plan formats, the tears of anger from being so frustrated at it all and remember that this is what I have to do to one day make a difference to just one child. That is why I chose to be a teacher and that is why I WILL get up early, I WILL go to work, and I WILL get adjusted. (and then get the summers off! ;)

Getaway to Gatlinburg

This past weekend Sam and I decided to take a little getaway before I start to student teach. He had Martin Luther King Day off, so we decided to go to Gatlinburg for the weekend and came home Sunday to enjoy a relaxing Monday off. We met up in Nashville and took off for our weekend retreat. We rented a cabin that was very secluded from the rest of the world.

The name of the cabin was
I found this really cool since that is the song that we walked out to at our wedding! Sam picked out the cabin it was a really nice surprise..even if he didn't do it on purpose. :) It was complete with a hot tub and wood burning fireplace!


Sam immediately made a fire as soon as we got there, but had to be creative due to the lack of matches. He used the oven to light paper and then make his way back to the fireplace. It was pretty fun to sit back and watch actually. We enjoyed a day of shopping in Tanger Village, got a little relaxation time in the hot tub, and then went out to dinner that night.

We went to Calhoun's which is somewhere that I will not be returning to for awhile. My food was disgusting! (just a side note) We shopped a little more on Sunday on our way back from Gatlinburg. Sam had some great finds, but I wasn't so lucky. We have been enjoying our day off today, but tomorrow starts a new adventure! I am very nervous, anxious, and excited about it all, but this weekend was a great way to start off!

Start to the End

Today I woke up for the last first day of my undergraduate classes and it is an overwhelming, wonderful feeling! I drove to APSU for the first of only a very few times I will have to be there this semester. On Tuesday, I start student teaching. This is what I have been waiting for. It has not been an easy road to say the least and I know the road ahead will not be either, but I can see the faint light at the end of the tunnel. This semester I will be doing something that I feel that I will love. I am putting what I have learned these past few semesters into practice and I am nervous and excited all at the same time. Today was the start to the end of this college career, but it is a beginning to my real career! How exciting! :)

Bringing in the New Year

Sam and I celebrated the New Year with our friends at my sisters house this year. It was blast to get together with a lot of our friends and just spend some time together. The boys watched football and the girls chatted in the kitchen for awhile. We had A LOT of food, at least it seemed to be a lot of food since that is what we ate the entire next day! We tried to play some board games, but the guys would never come and join us. The girls took it upon ourselves to play the game, even though we didn't really play it the right way! It's called Encore! and it is one fun game. If you haven't ever heard of it, you should look it up. It involves singing, so of course it makes for a funny game! . When it got close to the time for the ball to drop, we all gathered in the living room and started our countdown! 5...4...3..2...1... HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! We had so much fun this New Years! Thank you Mike and Regina for opening up your home to all of us! Sam, Steve, Amanda, and I even got to stay the night and watch football at their house the next day..and watch Elaina take some steps all on her own! Now on to see what 2010 has in store for us!