Why I teach....

I am sure that each and every one of us has woken up and dread the thought of having to go to work. For several years I was that person. I hate my job! I would spend most of my day at work looking for a new job- ANYTHING other than what I was doing.

Now, I wake up and smile because I GET to go to work! Teaching is such a rewarding job. I sure don't do it because of the pay and I don't do it for the wonderful hours and having the summers off (however, it is nice- I am not going to complain), I do it because of the lives I touch. It is so amazing to see the child who finally understands a concept that they have been struggling with for a long time. It is the card that you find on your desk just because you are loved. It is the letter that comes in the mail from a student that you had two years ago that still misses you and loves you. It is the children who make my job so amazing! I am so fortunate to be able to touch their lives as much as they touch mine.

Here are some of the many reminders of why I love my job:

Happy Birthday!

It's funny as a child I remember thinking- Wow 50 is so old. Maybe it's because I am not that far away from turning 30 myself, but I have a new found view for age. I look at my father who just celebrated his 50th Birthday on the 12th of this month. However, he does not act old and he sure doesn't look it either. In fact, I think he looks better today than the day I was born, and that was over 27 years ago. I honest believe that you are not old until you start to act it. Maybe that is why when I look at my Grandpa Monte I do not see someone who could possibly be old enough to have a 50 year old son. He, like my father has lived life to the fullest!

Last night was my Dad's 50th Birthday Party. It was an amazing night (beautifully planned by Debbie) filled with family and friends. I really enjoyed listening to my Dad talk about the all things that he knew at 50 and the things he still hoped to do throughout his life. He has lived an amazing life, one that I would be blessed to live myself. I hope that I am as accomplished, as knowledgeable, and as LOVED as he is today. I am truly blessed to have such an amazing Father! Happy Birthday Dad!!!!

How the time flies...

Once again, I find myself amazed at how long it has been since I last blogged. I normally at least find time once a month, but apparently August slipped right on by. So I figured I would update everyone as to what I have been up to for the last month or so.

I finished up my LAST summer course at Rockhurst with an A in the course. It was a technology course to teach us how to incorporate technology into our classrooms. Very interesting!!!



I also had to take the Praxis exam back in July that I was EXTREMELY nervous about! It is similar to the ACT, but for pre-service teachers. For those of you who know me pretty well know how much I struggle with standardized testing. Not only do I have horrible test anxiety I have no self confidence and typically go back and forth between answers and always seem to manage to pick the wrong one. Well, I found out last week that I successfully passed it on the first try!!! I had already signed up to take it 2 more times assuming that I had passed it. So I am quite excited to say the least!



The same day I got my results back from the Praxis, I found out that I got asked to join the Education Honors Fraternity- Kappa Delta Pi. I go this week to begin the process. Invitations are only extended to students in the top 20% of the program. Again- very excited!

Outside of school, Chris and I have been traveling almost every other weekend to Omaha for wedding showers, parties, and a wedding. Here are a few pictures from the party and the wedding.

Last but no least, I have also started working again! I am now working at Pembroke Hill, which is a private school in Kansas City, Missouri. I am a kindergarten assistant and absolutely LOVE it!!!! I work with a fantastic teacher and have a great group of kids. The picture posted is a picture of all of the kids with their gold medals that they got just like the Olympians for an outstanding quality that each one of them possesses.

Update...

I am not really sure where the time has gone. Since I last blogged so many wonderful things have happened. First off, Chris and I celebrated our 4 year anniversary. We had a nice dinner at one of our favorite Italian restaurants called V's. It was fantastic.

I also completed another semester of grad school! Even better, I found out that I got a 100% in the class. So for all of my classes my average grade has been a 97%. Why couldn't I have done this well in school all my life??? Oh well!

I also was able to find some time to go out with my friends. One night I went out to dinner with some of my friends from school. We went to a sushi restaurant downtown called Nara. They said it was really good, but I am not a fan of sushi therefore I wouldn't know. Then later we went to the Power and Light District. While we were there we even ran into Pedro from Napoleon Dynamite.

Then a few weeks ago I met up with some of my old coworkers and we decided to go back to the winery in Odessa, MO. It was great to see them and couldn't have asked for better whether to sit next to the beautiful pond.

Now, back to the present. Last week I started another grad class. I am taking Technology in the classroom, which I think will be quite interesting. After this I will only have one more grad course and 1 undergrad math class- then I am DONE!!!! I am also going to be extremely busy over the next few weeks as I prepare to take the Praxis exam, which is a test comparable to the ACT that I have to pass in order to student teach. I am a little nervous, as I am not good at test taking. I will keep my fingers crossed! So back to studying. :-)

Halfway there!

I am almost halfway through the 1st semester of summer!!! I am taking a research course and it is very demanding! However, the first assignment I did was a cultural autobiography which allowed me to find out so much about my heritage. I was so amazed with how much information I found out about the Pearson side of the family dating back to the 1700's. Julie Ann has so much great information that was so beneficial and extremely fascinating!

Last weekend Chris and I went to Lebannon, MO, for a float trip. We got there on Friday afternoon and woke up on Saturday morning ready to float and then they told us that we couldn't because the water level was going to get to high. So, we spent the day hanging out on the edge of the water. Some of the braver people decided to just float down part of the river with nothing. I enjoyed watching from the edge of the water. :-) No thank you!!!

Back to school...

So, tonight is my first day back to school in a few weeks. I sure could get used to that life style of doing nothing, however, I did find myself rather bored at times.

Well, last Friday I went in for my interview at Pembroke Hill and was offered the job after only being there for 15 minutes. I am very excited!!! I start orientation on August 11th and will be the assistant to the Kindergarten teacher that has been there for 25 years- so I will have a great mentor! If you would like to check out there website the address is: http://www.pembrokehill.org/index.cfm

On Saturday, Chris and I joined Grandpa Monte, Sue, and Kevin at the Heartland Summer Nationals Drag Races. It was incredible!!!! I thought I was prepared for what was going to take place until the Nitro Dragsters and Funny Cars came out and the literally moved me. Therefore, it made it quite a challenge to take pictures. However, being someone who loves loud and fast cars- I was in heaven!!!! Then we went over to Nitro Alley (the pits) and met a few of the drivers. The first person we met was Rod Fuller from Rodgers, Arkansas. Grandpa Monte actually knows his father. Then we headed over to see the Force Family. We got autographs and pictures taken with my favorite driver- Ashley Force. Overall, it was a fantastic day, even with the heat. I can't wait to go back next year.

Time to breathe

Once again, I have done a horrible job of updating this thing. It was pretty crazy up until last week with school, but I am finally DONE for the semester!!!! I am so excited if you can't tell. However, the best part is that I just found out yesterday that I managed to get all A's in my four graduate courses! So as of right now I am sitting at a 3.92 GPA, however, I am going to see about making it a 4.0. I took a class last summer where the teachers grading scale was different than any other professor I have taken and in any other class I would have had an A so I am just going to see what I can do. I am still pleased with a 3.92!



I also celebrated my 27th birthday a few weeks ago with my friends from school one night and my friends from my soccer team another night. Both nights we went down to the Power & Light District here in Kansas City. One evening we went to "Howl at the Moon," which is a dueling piano bar and the other we spent at McFadden's. We had a great time. Here are a few pictures from both evenings.

So during my free time I have done a whole lot of nothing. I can't remember the last time I did that. It felt great for the first few days and now I am getting a little sick of it, but I better enjoy it while I still can.

Last night Chris and I went to see Wicked at the Music Hall. I can't begin to tell you how much I enjoyed it! It was absolutely fantastic! I think it is now one of my favorites. I loved the story and the woman who played the "Wicked Witch" was incredible! I definitely recommend it- it is not just signing- it was very funny too!

Well another weekend gone by and it was a good one too. Friday night Chris and I went to Chris's college roommates wedding. The reception was held at Club 1000 downtown. It was very beautiful and it was great to see all of our friends from college.

Saturday, I spent the day with the ladies I used to work with. We started off our day by getting pedicures. After that we went to this beautiful little winery in Odessa, MO. Then we headed to dinner at On the Border. It is always so good to see them.

This morning we got a phone call from Chris's sister who is in California on vacation. She called to tell us that she got engaged last night. Chris and I had know for several weeks now. It has been so hard keeping the secret! Since Jayne has been on vacation we have been watching her dog, Opal. I thought it would be cool to send her a picture of Opal telling her congrats. So here it is.

Update

It is amazing to me how fast the weeks fly by when I am in school, however, that is a great thing too! School is going well. Last week I had to do the most challenging assignment in all of my course work thus far. I had to get up in front of the class and do a Dramatic Text Presentation. So, I choose to act out part of Amelia Bedalia. For those of you who know me presentations are not on my list of favorite things to do let alone getting up in front of my peers dressed as the character and reenact part of the book. Let me just tell you I am SOOOO glad it is over. I am even happier now that I got my grade back and got a 100%!

So, last weekend was definitely a busy one! Friday night two of my old roommates from college were in town from Phoenix and St. Louis. We ended up going to several different bars in Westport and then up down to Martini Corner.

On Saturday Kevin came over and spent the night with Chris and I. Kevin had been asking me for several weeks to take him to go see the a movie that the parents did not want to see. Now I understand why. He told me it was a scary movie, which I enjoy. However, this movie was more gory than scary. Not my cup of tea. Therefore, I do not recommend seeing the "Runis."

Then Sunday on Sunday, we had our final soccer game of the session. We were playing for 1st place and shot the game tying goal as the buzzer went off and unfortunately it did not count. So we ended up coming in 2nd. Oh well, it was a fun game.

Well, I had better go get ready for school. I am teaching a lesson on Kickball tonight in class. Hopefully the rain will hold off so we can play outside.

We are the CHAMPIONS!!!!

Another close game on Monday, but we pulled through!!!! What an incredible ending! After the game I met up with Dad and Kevin and went down to Lawrence to celebrate with the rest of the fans on Mass. Street. It is definitely something I will never forget! There were so many people there, and unfortunately none of my pictures could really show that. The streets were packed all the way across from Centennial Park all the way down to the end of Mass. street by the bridge. People were chanting, dancing, giving high fives and even hang out of the windows. It was unreal! Rock Chalk!!!!!

ROCK CHALK JAYHAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!

What an incredible game!!! We played the best I have seen us play in the first half of the game! However, I got a little worried in the beginning of the second half, but we finished strong! Now lets hope we can win more on Monday!!!!

Anyway, so I know it has been a while since I last updated my blog, so here goes. So, Chris and I went to see Rent several weeks back at the Music Hall. It was fantastic! We started off the day getting a couples massage- which we both needed! Then Chris took me to get my nails done. Then from there we went to dinner at my favorite restaurant- Cheesecake Factory, and then off to the show. It was a great day spent together.

I have also gone out a couple times over the last few weeks with my friends from school. Once was for my friend Lalita’s birthday and the second one was for completing a huge project for my Curriculum Method’s course last week- which we got an A on!!! It was worth 60% of our grade. I was a little stressed about it, but it turned out wonderful and my teachers were very impressed with my work. Here a few pics of me and my classmates.

This week was kind of sad one for Chris and I. One of our good friends, Chris Gumbs, who has worked with Chris at Gap, Muzuma, & Hallmark, is leaving to move to Omaha, NE. He is now in the process of trying to convince me to move to Omaha too, since my Chris is already on board with the move. I don’t know what it is about Omaha. I think there is a magnet force pulling people there since in the last month I have found out that 3 of my good friends are moving there within the next year. There is nothing wrong with Omaha except for the fact that it is COLD!!! I do not like cold! J So, to celebrate Chris’s new job in Omaha we went to the JP Wine Bar & Nara in Kansas City.

Last, but not least. Yesterday, was our first ever time being able to participate in the Llama Camo Party. If you are unfamiliar with the Llama’s that is the name of one of our soccer teams. The people on our team come up with the craziest events for us to do. For example, last night we dressed up in camouflage and played Lazer Tag and then went and hung out at one of our friends house. It was a great time!!! Here are a few of the pics from last night.

I know, kind of a lengthy post. I will try to do a better job of updating this more often. I only have 5 more week of school!!!

Wow it has been almost a month since I last posted anything. I have just been so busy with school I haven't had a whole lot of time for anything else. Thank goodness I am done with this semester in 62 more days. As I was working hard on homework this afternoon I got up to get a drink and noticed how hard my two cats were working. Some
days I wish I could just be them. Aren't the pathetic???

Well back to homework. :-)

So yesterday, Chris and I celebrated Valentine’s Day together. I thought he had plans to take me to dinner, so when he got home I was still upstairs getting ready. So he let me be. When I came downstairs he greeted me at the bottom of the stairs to "Cafe La Chris." When I sat down to he asked me what I would like to eat. Inside the picnic basket were my 2 favorite meals from Cheesecake Factory- Lemon Herb Chicken & the Chicken Jambalaya Pasta. We shared them both and it was wonderful! He even had my favorite Cheesecake to top it all off- Godiva! After dinner Chris took me to the Improv comedy club up north to see Robert Schimmel. We had a great time. Then when we got home he surprised me with a card with a print out in side of March 14th. He has an entire day planned out for me- starting with a manicure, pedicure, massage, dinner of my choice, and then off to see Rent at the Music Hall. I don't know what I ever did to deserve such a wonderful and thoughtful husband! I couldn't be luckier!

"Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance." 1 Corinthians 13:4

This quote makes me think of my wedding day and the promise I made to love Chris unconditionally for the rest of my life. Fifty years ago to this day my Grandpa Monte & Grandma Mary made the same commitment to one another. The love that they shared with one another was special. I am so thankful that I had an oppurtunity to see the love that they had for one another and be inspired to have that kind of love in my life. I know that even though she is no longer with us, their love will never die becuase it will live on within all of us who were blessed by their prescence!

The Love of the Game!

It is amazing how fast the weekend goes by when the weekdays seem to drag on forever! Chris and I had a great weekend. On Saturday we went to the KU basketbal game. For me there is nothing better! I don't know what it is about Allen Fieldhouse, but it brings a smile to my face that I can't erase! I think it is for numerous reasons. I have so many fond memories there. I don't know if I have ever missed a year not seeing at least one game there. I remember being there at Senior Days, seeing Wilt Chamberlin have his jersey retired, running to the Fieldhouse in the snow from Lawerence High with Dad, pushing our minivan out of a the snow after a game, and numerous wins! To me it is a magical place. I have so many wonderful memories and look forward to many more to come, but most of all to carry on the tradition I had with my father with my children!

To finalize our weekned, Chris and I had my Dad and Kevin over for dinner while Debbie is out of town. We had BBQ beef, Cowboy Potatoes, and salad. Then after dinner we played Nerts-where we narrowly got beat. Then onto a game Chris and I could do well- Wii bowling. I scored my record high of 210, needless to say the one girl beat all the boys. :-)

Hard Work Pays Off!

Yesterday, Debbie came over and we spent the day remodeling my guest bedroom. Not only did we paint the walls,but we also decided to paint the trim and doors-which I hated!!! So I thought I would share some of the before, during, and after pictures (apparently not in proper order, but it's not my fault). I think it turned out wonderfully! We sure had a great time even though I think we are both in a lot of pain. Oh well.

Well, I have to run. Chris and I are going to see the KU basketball game today, therefore I have to get moving since we also have to run a few errands out in that area too. Have a great day and GO JAYHAWKS!