I love surprises!

This wonderful man that I'm dating, that I'm so crazy about, sent me the most wonderful belated Valentine's gift.  I was so excited when I unpacked this beautiful Lagos bracelet.  

I wore it to class tonight and the best part was thinking of John every time 

I saw it on my wrist.  

I love you John!

Best Day EVER! (in the classroom)

Today was by far the best day I've had in the classroom, EVER!

Ask me why?

Okay, I'll tell you. It was the best day ever because I was 100% completely present. Now by present I mean in the moment; mentally and physically in the moment. It was so AWESOME!

So, the next time I complain about how out of control my kids are, what a bad day I'm having or how I want to throw in the towel... Remind me of this day.

My blog grows up.

My blog got a make-over and grew up in the process. I'm so excited at how great it looks, thanks to Masto Mama Designs!

Oh the love!!!!!!

I haven't had the best track record with Valentine's Day. I'm not one of those people who hate the holiday or think it's totally commercial and therefore unwarranted. I do agree that it's a very commercial holiday but how great is it that we have at least one day a year where we go out of our way to tell just about everyone in our lives how much we love them?

I think that's fantastic.

Being the love addict that I am (yes, I'll admit it) I have dreamt of flowers and boxes of chocolates, jewelry and grand gestures since I was a little girl. The true Valentine curse didn't strike me however until...Justin Hill!! Sophomore year, Timpview High School, I met a boy and I was never quite the same. He was of course WAY out of my league as I was nothing more than a chubby swim team nerd and he was smoking hot and played the drums in the band and had long hair. To add to his mystery he had transferred from Provo High and of course all the popular kids accepted him into their ranks.

Justin Hill, you could never just call him Justin, somehow ended up in my Math class. This is strange to me now as I was never that bright at math and he was a year ahead of me. Once Justin Hill joined my math class my grades dropped significantly as I spend my hour day dreaming and drooling over the Adonis that graced our presence. I spent countless hours writing his name and writing mine and drawing little hearts around them. Needless to say I had my first significant crush.

As February approached I began to make plans for the big love day. I was going to confess my love and I was certain that he would share my feelings and we would be together forever. Looking back I'm certain that I must have known that I was heading for heartache but I guess at that age you just have to hope. The night before the big day I drove to the store and bought several balloons, candy and a card and drove to the Hill home. I tied the balloons to his mailbox and stuck the treat inside with the card and made a hurried escape. I could barely sleep as I waited with anticipation of what would happen the next day in class.

Well...Nothing happened. Well, nothing good happened. Justin did his best to ignore me and I was certain that as soon as I walked away he was laughing and making fun of me. Needless to say I was heart broken and humiliated. I spent the next three months avoiding him and licking my wounds. Thank goodness my parents decided to move us to Albuquerque that summer and I never had to see him again.

The Justin Hill incident set a precedence for many Valentine's Days to come. It has only been in recent years that I have experienced that feeling of chocolates, flowers and such.

Today was an exceptionally good day. I feel loved and spoiled by my boyfriend, sisters (we decided to be each other's Valentine's) and my amazing students. I am truly blessed and have officially broken the curse of St. Valentine!

How time flies by...

Today is the second snow day in a row and as I sat in bed (I'm literally under the weather) I thought this is a perfect time to post an update.

I had made it a New Years Resolution to be a better blogger so I think I'm doing well since it's only Feb. 2nd.

Let me just update really quickly:

- still living at home which has been an experience all of its own. I have learned to be so much more patient and to try to think before I speak. I have not moved out yet despite the fact that I have a job teaching. The problem with this is that I am a short term hire and get a pink slip at the end of the year. This of course means that I am not sure I'll be able to find another job here in Abq due to tremendous budget cuts. So I am stuck for now until I find a job next year that will be permanent. I still would love to move but teaching jobs are difficult to come by everywhere these days.

- still in school. I am finishing my last semester of graduate school and should be graduating, barring any unforeseen bad grades, this May. The entire experience of working on a masters degree and teaching my first year has been the hardest thing I've ever done. It is a constant balancing act and one thing is always lacking. While I am looking forward to May and being done I am actually considering starting my Doctorate of Education in August. Crazy I know, but exciting at the same time.

- I love teaching. I took over a 2nd grade classroom 2 weeks into the beginning of the school year. Every moment of the last 2 years has been worth it. The first year of teaching has been such an amazing experience. While I am devastated by the failure of our education system as a whole (I'm sure I'll have lots to say about this shortly), I am reminded daily of the power that learning can have on a child's self-esteem.

- My relationship. John and I are still officially together. I had considered breaking it off but have decided that standing by someone you love and care about when they are in their darkest moment is what I would want from him. While I don't think I should say too much I will say that depression is a terrible daemon to fight alone and it can rob you of your desire for living very quickly. The strange thing is that I myself suffer from depression and have been on medication for 20 years. I know what life is like when I don't take my medication and I allow that daemon to take over. But despite the fact that I am intimately acquainted with how John is feeling I still took it personal. I thought that because my love wasn't bringing him out of it that he didn't care for me. I was wrong! Now that John has agreed to take medication and start dealing with his past I know he will once again be that amazing man I fell in love with.

So that's about it. I wish I had fun and exciting hobbies to report on but really I have so little time. I will start posting some of the fun things from my classroom as that is where all my creativity is going.

I'll post some pictures as well. Just for the fun of it. Because who wants to read all that and not see pictures, right?

This is my class on Halloween. We had a party and watched "The Witches". The kids absolutely loved that book and were so excited to see the movie.
Here we are in our costumes. It was a "storybook parade" and we all had to dress up as a literary character. I of course was Pippi Longstocking!
This picture was taken at Thanksgiving. How I love my gorgeous sisters!!!

John and I this past September. I'll post a more current one when I transfer it off my iphone.