I Have a Confession...

My mind is completely, 120% in summer mode.  It is taking everything I have in me to peel myself out of bed, put on clothes, and go to school.  Is anyone else with me?  Then when you add all the testing, final concepts I need to teach, paperwork to fill out, final IEP meetings... it all seems to be piling up as the days go on!  The end of the year is becoming a massive monster that's towering over me and casting a shadow on every day.

With all that stress, exhaustion, testing, and paperwork I find myself continually counting down.  "Only 3 more weeks!"  Just ask me any day, and I can tell you how many school days left. *It's 15 and a half.*  Whenever my kids start to get on my nerves I find myself thinking, "I can't wait to finish this year and move on to the next!"  And from talking to the other teachers, this seems to be a theme as the end of the year draws closer.

A few days ago I was listening to the radio and heard something that was definitely meant for me.  A teacher called in to the station and said that a friend called her out on this attitude that she had been experiencing.  When she posted the number of school days left on Facebook, a friend commented and reminded her that her 25 days until freedom were also the only days she had left to minister to her students.  Wow!  Talk about a shot to the heart.  Isn't that one of the main reasons we become teachers?  To change lives and make an impact?

Now don't get me wrong, I am still looking forward to summer.  Lord knows I need it after this crazy, stressful year.  And there are a million things I want to do differently next year.  But what would the rest of my year look like if I adjusted my attitude to cherish every single second (yes, the good and the bad) with my students?  What could I do with those 15 days I have left?  

Throughout my first year of teaching I have found it is easy to constantly look ahead.  From next week to next year, we are always planning for the future.  I need to constantly remind myself to not let my planning make me miss the opportunities I have today.  So my challenge to myself (and my fellow teachers) is to spend a little time every morning asking God to change our attitude so that we look at our day as a chance to be His hands and feet.  And hopefully I can enter next year with this attitude.  If I do, I think next year will look very different.

Date Nights!!

Happy Monday!  I am so glad the first day of the week is over.  This is the only day of the week I don't have a pull-out so the day always seems to go on forever!  Doesn't it seem you NEVER get as much done as you think you can?  I planned to stay at work a little late to get some work done, and the next thing I knew someone had stopped by to chat and I was leaving school at 5:30 with half the amount accomplished I wanted to get done.  But that is life.  We get up, we work, then we do it all over again the next day.  It's a crazy circle.

I thought I'd share a little something with you that I made a few months ago.  Sean's birthday was approaching and I was searching high and low for an idea.  When I turned to my trusty friend Pinterest, I found the idea for a Date Night box.  I knew I had hit the jackpot!  Sean and I try to make sure we have date nights, but many times we end up simply staying at home and watching a movie or favorite show.  Now don't get me wrong, I absolutely love our nights in and impromptu plans.  But I thought I could mix it up a bit and plan some unique nights for us.

Introducing the Date Box!  Inside the box are 12 envelopes, each with a pre-planned and pre-paid date night.

The first explained what the box was and how it all would work.  At the beginning of each month we get to open up the envelope and see what's in store.  It's so much fun!  So far we've had a Harry Potter movie night and this past weekend we made a fort and watched Lord of the Rings while planning our London trip this summer.  So far it's been a success!  It's lots of fun waiting to open the envelopes, and I've already forgotten which date is in each month so it's a surprise for me too!

To shift gears for a quick moment, I've been thinking a lot lately about an orphanage I got to visit in Kenya.  Several things have been bringing the experience to my mind, and I've been feeling God leading me to do something about that experience.  Later this week I'll be writing about something I'm going to be planning for this summer.  For now, please pray for me!

Delicious Desserts and Seussical Support

I made the most delicious dessert on Sunday!  Really.  It was delicious.  Lick your plate delicious.  What was it you ask?  Mini Pear Pies with ice cream and caramel.  I found this recipe on Pinterest that made the pear pies with blue cheese and walnuts.  I altered it by taking out the cheese, adding caramel, and substituting toasted almonds for the walnuts.  And voila!  This is what we got:

As I said, it was delicious and deceptively easy. 


This week our 3rd-5th graders are beginning testing.  I am SO glad my poor little children don't have to deal with this.  At our school the administration assigned each lower grade class a buddy class to encourage during the testing period.  On the first day of the week we decorate their door and deliver letters from our class to encourage the kids.  Then we deliver candy for the kid each day.  I don't have to decorate my buddy's door until next week, but I wanted to get it ready tonight so it's one less thing to deal with next week.  I was racking my brain for an idea and decided to draw inspiration from our Dr. Seuss week.

It turned out so cute!  And I love the trufulla trees and the color they add.  My kids are going to write notes and we'll attach them to the door the first day.  Yay for Dr. Seuss!

It's Been Awhile...

It's been awhile since my last post!  Ok... more than awhile... but this girl has been busy!  With a new job teaching, moving, and being newly married I haven't had much time to blog.  Or exercise, but that's another matter.  So today, I have a special treat!  In celebration of having all my observations done and being (almost) finished with conferences, I decided to take some time and show off my room.

It has hit that point in the year where we're all feeling DONE.  The kids are feeling it.  I'm feeling it.  Even Paka is feeling it!  As much as I hate to admit it, we still have another 2 and a half months of school left.  So I decided I needed some change.  The way my room was set up was not working.  Our library was growing and we didn't have it very neatly organized.  I've been wanting to create a reading area for awhile, and when my Promethean Board was threatening to not work last week I realized I had NO empty board space if it ever decided to die on me.  So I took advantage of my free time during conferences to change up my room and I am so excited about it!

 

I forgot to take a before picture!  Here is my classroom mid-move. 

My library was in that bookshelf by the door and was always a MESS!  Kids would stack books on top of the others instead of putting them in sideways.  They were falling out all the time.

So I completely moved everything around.  Library went to the back of the room, desk to the front.  And voila!  Here's my new desk area and library/reading area!  A parent came in today, saw what I was doing and said, "We have a beanbag that would perfect for that area!"  Yay for supportive parents that love to help me build my room!

Library/Book Area

Teacher's Desk Area

Labels

 I put labels on my bins to help my kids know where to put everything back.  They have color dots that will match the ones I put on the front of the books.  I know, I know... wishful thinking to hope they will put everything back perfectly.  But a girl can try!

Small Group Area

I also moved my small group table to the middle of the window.  I put a bookshelf with my manipulatives behind it so I have easy access when doing math small groups.  Moving my room around made it look a lot more open and makes me feel like I have a fresh start!  Now tomorrow it's time to buckle down and plan the next few units.  Have a happy Friday everyone!

Desk Transformation DIY

Well, it only took me a few days and I am FINISHED!!  The desk is done!  When I get excited about a project I get a little one track minded and just want to get to the end.  Now before we get into specifics I must preface this post by saying I honestly had NO idea what I was doing.  The paint was probably wrong, and I probably didn’t sand it down as much as I should have.  BUT I had free supplies and they worked and I’m so happy with how it turned out. 

To begin, let’s look at a before and after shot. :)

Before

After

I started by sanding down every part of the desk.  As I always do when I have a DIY project, I called my dad.  He’s my go-to guy for all things DIY!  He said to sand it down so the gloss was gone, so that’s what I did.  Then I put a coat of primer on it and let it dry for a little while.

 

Sanded, primed, and ready to go!

After the primer dried, I painted the desk with my mint green paint.  Once the first coat was on I realized it doesn't look as green as I thought it would.  A second coat probably would have fixed this, but I’m impatient and I also liked the vintage look with only one coat so I left it.  

My mint green (sort of) desk!!

It needed something more so I went to my other DIY go-to…Pinterest!  That’s where I found a lovely bird silhouette that I loved.  Since I’m poor I decided to skip the stencil and just freehand it.  I think it turned out pretty nicely!

That’s it!  I have some improvements I want to do later on.  I think these drawer pulls would look great on the desk!

And this stenciling would look really cool in the recessed boxed areas of the drawer if I got a darker mint green.

For right now, I am a poor soon to be newlywed and must stop myself before I go spending more money.  Don’t you hate when that gets in the way of projects?  When I’m working and have an income I might make those changes to the desk, but for right now I am enjoying the fruits of my labor.  Now to just get a classroom to put it in!

Long Time, No Blog

Hello friends!  It's been awhile since my last post, and I'm feeling so bad!  Fear not.  I am back with PLENTY to update you about.  Since I saw you last I went on a road trip with my family and got to practice my photography skills.  My skills have improved but I have a long way to go.  Until I can set up a montage of my favorites, this cute face (and one of the pictures I'm proudest of) will have to satisfy your curiosity.

Things have been crazy since I came back to Albuquerque.  With a wedding approaching, showers to attend, and an apartment to move to I've been busy as a bee.  This past weekend my lovely future mother-in-law (pictured below) threw me a bridal shower.  It was beautiful!  I am so grateful to be marrying into such a wonderful family.  We were showered with gifts and felt so loved.  I think my little apartment is going to burst!

With the preparation to move to the new apartment this weekend, I've been trying to figure out what to do with everything.  Some stuff is going with me, some will be given away, and some may be thrown out (hello 2 year old receipts!).  However there is one item I have chosen for a special project.  Presenting...

My new DIY Project!!!!

A family from my church gave me this desk when I moved out of the dorms and in to a house, and it has served me well.  There won't be room for it in the apartment, so I've decided I'm going to give it new life and move it into my new classroom...when I find out what I'm teaching of course.  I cleared everything out today and took out the duck contact paper which won't quite fit the style I'm going for.

Tomorrow I'm going to sand the desk and give it a coat of primer.  The plan is to repaint the desk with some mint green paint I got for FREE when I was student teaching, get new hardware for the drawers (maybe some unique stuff at an antique store?) and then paint the top of the desk with chalkboard paint.  Perfect for a classroom!  It will be good for writing notes to myself so I don't forget things.  I can't wait to see how it turns out, and it's not going to cost much because I got a lot of the supplies for free!!  Woohoo!!  I'll keep you guys posted on the progress and post when I'm finished.  Hopefully it will turn out how I'm imagining in my head! Until next time....

Food and Fun

What a week it's been!  There's been some good and some bad.  The bad first.  I ate sweets!  I know, I know.  Tisk tisk.  The reason for my lapse in resolve was a Chopped Challenge Party.  Here's the short version:  Everyone makes a dessert that includes 4 required ingredients.  Our required ingredients were blackberries, wonton wrappers, caramel chews, and bacon.  Sounds crazy, right?  We had three competitors and the results were fantastic!  Sean and I entered the competition together and came up with our own recipe.  We were incredibly proud of ourselves.  We mixed blackberries, cream cheese, powdered sugar, and cinnamon together with some bacon.  Then we wrapped it in the wonton wrappers, fried it, and melted the caramels to drizzle over the top.  Delicious!!

My goofy guy cooking away

The three desserts.  They were fantastic!

Us with our creation.

Since Sean was out this week we went to Yosemite to see Half Dome and the waterfalls.  This is where the good comes in.  I got to work on my photography skills!  Well, I took some pictures.  I don't know if it exactly qualified as working on my skills, but a girl's gotta start somewhere!  Here's some sample shots.

I can't wait to work on my photography skills some more!  I also got to (almost) finish the DIY project I'm doing with dad for the wedding.  We have the frame built for the picture display and all I have to do is thread the rope and add pictures.  I'll post a photo when it's all put together.  Dad's also using his awesome laser cutter to make our cake topper and I can't wait to see the finished product.  A big thanks to my incredible dad for making my day even more special!

The side boards for the frame.

The prototype for our cake topper.  How awesome will that look?

Hopefully this next week I'll be better about my sweets.  Hope you all have a blessed week!