Last year, around this very time, I began reading the book "Eat Pray Love." After about page 30, I stopped reading because I am not a huge fan of reading about people leaving their husbands to go live their own life. Those "Eat Pray Love" people: don't freak out or start defending the book now, or explaining to me why she left her husband, I am just saying the first 30 pages made me kind of mad at this woman for being so selfish. I never finished the book.
Before Christmas, Beth, Brittany, Ashley, Carrie and I watched the movie version of "Eat Pray Love" and I hated it, all except one part. There is a part in the movie where Liz is talking to her new friend Richard and telling him just how much she misses her ex husband, David. The clip is relatively short, but it was touching to me. What I liked most was Richard's response to her and then how after he left her alone Liz (Julia Roberts) listened to his words and basically 'emotionally let go' of her ex husband.
Maybe I loved that part because I was letting go too, but either way I thought that this part in the actual book had to be at least 70% better than the movie part. So last week, upon remembering this scene (don't even ask why I even thought about this stupid scene recently...), I decided to look this part up in the book. My opinion about writing always being better than movies was true. This part in the book is just beautiful to me.
I love it for many reasons. I love it because I think Richard is just a great friend to Liz, and he reminds me of a few of my friends. The kind of friends who tell you like it is and force you to realize certain things. I love this part because allow me to let you in on a little secret: love isn't always so clean cut or easy. I love this part because I don't believe in soul mates but after reading it I do believe in the kind of soul mates Richard is talking about. I love it because Richard basically tells Liz it's okay to feel what you are feeling. That is so true because in life we can't not feel what we feel. And finally, I love this part because I think it is just good writing, plain and simple. You can just feel the hurt of letting go when you read it, and it makes you feel sad, which is just what good writing should do: make you feel what the author is writing about.
Here it is, the long but beautiful words from the book "Eat Pray Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert. It begins with her friend Richard talking :
“What’s got you all wadded up?” he drawls, toothpick in mouth, as usual.
“Don’t ask” I say, but then I start talking and tell him every bit of it, concluding with, “And worst of all, I can’t stop obsessing over David. I thought I was over him, but it’s all coming up again.”
He says, “Give it another six months, you’ll feel better.”
“I’ve already given it twelve months, Richard.”
“Then give it six more. Just keep throwin’ six months at it till it goes away. Stuff like this takes time.”
I exhale hotly though my nose, bull-like.
“Groceries,” Richard says, “listen to me. Someday you’re gonna look back on this moment of your life as such a sweet time of grieving. You’ll see that you were in mourning and your heart was broken, but your life was changing and you were in the best possible place in the world for it – in a beautiful place of worship, surrounded by grace. Take this time, every minute of it. Let things work themselves out here in India.”
“But I really loved him.”
“Big deal. So you fell in love with someone. Don’t you see what happened? This guy touched a place in your heart deeper than you thought you were capable of reaching. I mean you got zapped, kiddo. But that love you felt, that’s just the beginning. You just got a taste of love. That’s just limited little rinky-dink mortal love. Wait till you see how much more deeply you can love than that. Heck, Groceries – you have the capacity to someday love the whole world. It’s your destiny. Don’t laugh.”
“I’m not laughing.” I was actually crying. “And please don’t laugh at me now, but I think the reason it’s so hard for me to get over this guy is because I seriously believed David was my soul mate.”
“He probably was. Your problem is you don’t understand what that word means. People think a soul mate is your perfect fit, and that’s what everyone wants. But a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that’s holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life. A true soul mate is probably the most important person you’ll ever meet, because they tear down your walls and smack you awake. But to live with a soul mate forever? Nah. Too painful. Soul mates, they come into your life just to reveal another layer of yourself to you, and then they leave. And thank God for it. Your problem is, you just can’t let this one go. It’s over, Groceries. David’s purpose was to shake you up, drive you out of your marriage that you needed to leave, tear apart your ego a little bit, show you your obstacles and addictions, break your heart open so new light could get in, make you so desperate and out of control that you had to transform your life, then introduce you to your spiritual master and beat it. That was his job, and he did great, but now it’s over. Problem is, you can’t accept that his relationship had a real short shelf life. You’re like a dog at the dump, baby – you’re just lickin’ at the empty tin can, trying to get more nutrition out of it. And if you’re not careful, that can’s gonna get stuck on your snout forever and make your life miserable. So drop it.”
“But I love him.”
“So love him.”
“But I miss him.”
“So miss him. Send him some love and light every time you think about him, then drop it. You’re just afraid to let go of the last bits of David because then you’ll be really alone, and Liz Gilbert is scared to death of what will happen if she’s really alone. But here’s what you gotta understand, Groceries. If you clear out all that space in your mind that you’re using right now to obsess about this guy, you’ll have a vacuum there, an open spot – a doorway. And guess what the universe will do with the doorway? It will rush in – God will rush in – and fill you with more love than you ever dreamed. So stop using David to block that door. Let it go.”
“But I wish me and David could —“
He cuts me off. “See, now that’s your problem. You’re wishin’ too much, baby. You gotta stop wearing your wishbone where your backbone oughtta be.”
Happy Wednesday.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Capturing Hearts
Today was a beautiful snow day. If I were back in Michigan today for sure would not have been a snow day, but I am in Huntington County, Indiana, and the common phrase is always, “You have to remember it’s county wide.” People keep saying this to me whenever I am shocked that my elementary school was canceled. It really is different from home though. Huntington County Community School Corporation does cover the entire county, most of which is all farmland. This indeed does mean that most of those roads leading to the students’ homes don’t hardly get plowed. And, let’s be honest here, Indiana is not exactly amazing at plowing. But, alas, today was a snow day.
Nothing exciting, just more planning and ordering my graduation cap and gown, and of course, I was able to chat with my roommates, which I haven’t really been able to do for a couple of weeks. As I was telling them some stories about my students, I suddenly felt this sadness. I have noticed that this student struggles and does not have many friends. I have watched situations unfold and felt frustrated. I think we all understand or can remember what it was like back in school, or even today maybe, when we feel alone or unwanted by people. I know the moments I have felt that way I always know that I can call my mom or spend time with my family and they will remind me that life isn’t as bad as it seems at that moment. This student does not have that. Just last week this student had a meltdown right after one of my lessons. As I had the rest of the class line up for art, I sat back with this girl because something inside of me felt the need to reach out to her.
I let her cry for a second, because you know what? I think sometimes when we are sad or upset we just need to have someone who will let us cry. And then I chatted with her. I explained in one of my great teacher prepared speeches that we all have rough days and we just need to start over. Yeah, easy for me to say, right? Then, in between her soft sobs, she exclaimed, “But it’s never a new day! It’s always the same day over and over again!” No pre-memorized speech fit the criteria for that line, and no class really taught me how to respond to something like that. I think for the first thirty seconds I just sat there watching her cry some more and replaying her words in my head. What a hopeless feeling to feel like there is never a new day. In that moment I wish I had my mom or another really experienced teacher there to walk me through this, but I looked around and I was the only adult in the classroom.
In that moment I discarded logic and textbook replies and decided this kid’s heart was hurting and she has no one; and maybe I could be her someone. I explained to her that I, too, understand what it is like to be insulted or hurt. She seemed surprised, and I explained that sometimes even students have recently said things to me that were hurtful and that she needs to watch how I handle the insults. As we sat talking, she began wiping her eyes off and collecting her things for art.
The next day, another student made a nasty comment (all in fun…I think, hah) about my art work on the board. She saw this and ran up to me and said, “I think your artwork is beautiful, Miss Abel” and I couldn’t help but smile because you know what? Even the people who are harder to love need to be loved, and sometimes those people can be the ones who have your back in the end anyway.
Before my student teaching I prayed that God would put students in my path that I could make a difference on. There is no doubt in my mind that there are students I need to reach out to and capture their hearts, but I forgot just how much some of them are capturing mine, too.
And even though lately some things have been difficult, and I have found myself placed in some students’ lives and it hasn’t always come easily, I just keep reminding myself that I am really doing it for Jesus. Sure, it is my job, but in the end it is really between me and Him.
“Those who give one of these little ones a cup of cold water because they are my followers will truly get their reward.” –Matthew 10:42
Sometimes things can seem overwhelming and currently life just seems a little that way, and I am reminded of these words:
“People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, alterior motives: be kind anyway. If you are successful ou will win some false friends and true enemies: succeed anyway. If you are honest and frank people will try to cheat you: be honest anyway. What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight: build anyway. The good you do today, will often be forgotten by tomorrow: do good anyway. Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough: give your best anyway. You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God. IT was never between you and them anyway.” –Mother Teresa
Nothing exciting, just more planning and ordering my graduation cap and gown, and of course, I was able to chat with my roommates, which I haven’t really been able to do for a couple of weeks. As I was telling them some stories about my students, I suddenly felt this sadness. I have noticed that this student struggles and does not have many friends. I have watched situations unfold and felt frustrated. I think we all understand or can remember what it was like back in school, or even today maybe, when we feel alone or unwanted by people. I know the moments I have felt that way I always know that I can call my mom or spend time with my family and they will remind me that life isn’t as bad as it seems at that moment. This student does not have that. Just last week this student had a meltdown right after one of my lessons. As I had the rest of the class line up for art, I sat back with this girl because something inside of me felt the need to reach out to her.
I let her cry for a second, because you know what? I think sometimes when we are sad or upset we just need to have someone who will let us cry. And then I chatted with her. I explained in one of my great teacher prepared speeches that we all have rough days and we just need to start over. Yeah, easy for me to say, right? Then, in between her soft sobs, she exclaimed, “But it’s never a new day! It’s always the same day over and over again!” No pre-memorized speech fit the criteria for that line, and no class really taught me how to respond to something like that. I think for the first thirty seconds I just sat there watching her cry some more and replaying her words in my head. What a hopeless feeling to feel like there is never a new day. In that moment I wish I had my mom or another really experienced teacher there to walk me through this, but I looked around and I was the only adult in the classroom.
In that moment I discarded logic and textbook replies and decided this kid’s heart was hurting and she has no one; and maybe I could be her someone. I explained to her that I, too, understand what it is like to be insulted or hurt. She seemed surprised, and I explained that sometimes even students have recently said things to me that were hurtful and that she needs to watch how I handle the insults. As we sat talking, she began wiping her eyes off and collecting her things for art.
The next day, another student made a nasty comment (all in fun…I think, hah) about my art work on the board. She saw this and ran up to me and said, “I think your artwork is beautiful, Miss Abel” and I couldn’t help but smile because you know what? Even the people who are harder to love need to be loved, and sometimes those people can be the ones who have your back in the end anyway.
Before my student teaching I prayed that God would put students in my path that I could make a difference on. There is no doubt in my mind that there are students I need to reach out to and capture their hearts, but I forgot just how much some of them are capturing mine, too.
And even though lately some things have been difficult, and I have found myself placed in some students’ lives and it hasn’t always come easily, I just keep reminding myself that I am really doing it for Jesus. Sure, it is my job, but in the end it is really between me and Him.
“Those who give one of these little ones a cup of cold water because they are my followers will truly get their reward.” –Matthew 10:42
Sometimes things can seem overwhelming and currently life just seems a little that way, and I am reminded of these words:
“People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, alterior motives: be kind anyway. If you are successful ou will win some false friends and true enemies: succeed anyway. If you are honest and frank people will try to cheat you: be honest anyway. What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight: build anyway. The good you do today, will often be forgotten by tomorrow: do good anyway. Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough: give your best anyway. You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God. IT was never between you and them anyway.” –Mother Teresa
Sunday, February 20, 2011
My Quote Book
It must be obvious that I am pretty busy considering I have not updated in a while. I really should not even be writing now but I am so sick of cutting and gluing and printing off lesson plans that I need this break. Okay, actually, I have thoroughly enjoyed my cutting and gluing and lesson planning, not going to lie. Perhaps that is slightly geeky, but I am just so thrilled that I have 100% realized that I can see myself being a teacher after college. Kind of a big relief. I truly enjoy doing classroom work, but let me tell you, being a student teacher is no easy task. And that is why I have not had time to post.
This doesn’t mean that I haven’t written recently, however. In fact, I wrote three blogs that I meant to post, but my life has been such a rollercoaster ride lately that as soon as I finished a post, circumstances in my life changed making the post slightly irrelevant. No big deal. A lot of my friends say that my life would make a great movie. Honestly, it probably would.
In the midst of all of the craziness, I have learned so much in the past five weeks. I have learned the challenges of teaching and how to overcome those challenges (which I will write about later). I have learned what hard work is and not quitting until it is done. But something that has become ever so present in the past five weeks is relearning how to have faith.
Here is the thing with faith: it is easy to have it and use it when life is one easy path. When things are smooth and there are no big choices to make faith is simple. Faith is easy. But that sort of faith isn’t really developed. I once heard a quote that went something like, “faith that hasn’t been tested can’t be trusted.” I think it is safe to say that my college years have brought me some major events that have tested my faith. But the funny thing about us sinful humans is that even though we can walk through something painful and trust God, we sometimes so quickly forget how He brought us through it and then we almost start back at Faith 101 all over again.
During my sophomore year, after I lost someone so special in my life, I felt this awful sort of pain. It felt as if it would never go away. In the midst of feeling such sadness, I heard this still, quiet voice saying to me, “Erica, trust me and lean on me. Your life is going to be better than you can ever imagine if you just rely on me.” So I did. Relying on Jesus then was the easiest thing in the world because then it felt like He was all that I had. During that time, I trusted that I would get through it and I knew that someday I would remember the pain I felt then. I wanted to be sure that I would remember how because of God, I was brought through. In November of 2008, I started a quote book. I put in uplifting verses, poems, quotes and such that seemed to calm my broken spirit. I wrote in the beginning of the book this, “I also know God will get me through this pain – I don’t think the sadness will ever go away – but I know God has a plan for me. I can’t see it now, but in my future I will look at this book and will be reminded of this precious time where I grew closer to God than ever and see how He has brought me through this and I will be able to praise Him.”
Sure enough, He did get me through and taught me so much. My quote book has expanded, and I often look at it during all times of hardship and joy and whenever I do, I am reminded of God’s goodness and how I completely surrendered everything to him then.
At this moment in my life, there are so many decisions I have to make personally and professionally. I am excited for what is to come, but I am scared. My student teaching experience is showing me that college is ending and it is time to begin moving on to the next phase. I am willing and open for wherever God leads me, but it is scary to totally surrender all of my dreams to Him. I know that what He has for me are bigger and better than what I could plan for myself and that is why I have to let go of what I want and let Him. But tonight, I feel like I am in the grey area of confusion. My life in May could go in a billion different directions. Just this week I got two phone calls for interviews with two totally different job positions miles and miles and miles away from home. Exhilarating? Yes. Scary? Oh yes. And then there is the part about leaving people behind and I find myself again at the crossroads of deciding who I just can’t leave behind.
These past months I have struggled with my feelings verses my logic and trying to control situations. Completing student teaching successfully, ensuring things are ready for graduation, graduating, saying goodbye to best friends, mending hurts and renewing relationships, struggling with goodbyes, looking for a job, moving away, earning money, and the list goes on and on. Suddenly I felt God just tell me to give it up to Him once and for all and let Him take care of it. Sure enough, as soon as I did, I could start to see Him work. And I have learned that I am not going to ever be able to predict what is in store tomorrow or even today, and that’s okay. Learning to have that faith is hard at first, but once I surrendered it all again, such a peace came over me.
Tonight I feel a certain amount of weight on my shoulders about making important decisions with relationships and my future, so I pulled out my quote book and read what I wrote back in November of 2008. God brought me through so much, so surely these times of uncertainty now is nothing. So once again, I surrendered it all to the only one I would want controlling my life and knowing what will be will be.
“Trust me in your times of trouble, and I will rescue you, and you will give me glory.” –Psalm 50:15
“Is life more important than food and clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap…and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” –Matthew 6:25-26
“Lift up your eyes. The heavenly Father waits to bless you in the inconceivable ways to make your life what you never dreamed it could ever be.” –Anne Orthlund
“Never dwell on the tomorrow; remember that it’s God’s and not ours.”
This doesn’t mean that I haven’t written recently, however. In fact, I wrote three blogs that I meant to post, but my life has been such a rollercoaster ride lately that as soon as I finished a post, circumstances in my life changed making the post slightly irrelevant. No big deal. A lot of my friends say that my life would make a great movie. Honestly, it probably would.
In the midst of all of the craziness, I have learned so much in the past five weeks. I have learned the challenges of teaching and how to overcome those challenges (which I will write about later). I have learned what hard work is and not quitting until it is done. But something that has become ever so present in the past five weeks is relearning how to have faith.
Here is the thing with faith: it is easy to have it and use it when life is one easy path. When things are smooth and there are no big choices to make faith is simple. Faith is easy. But that sort of faith isn’t really developed. I once heard a quote that went something like, “faith that hasn’t been tested can’t be trusted.” I think it is safe to say that my college years have brought me some major events that have tested my faith. But the funny thing about us sinful humans is that even though we can walk through something painful and trust God, we sometimes so quickly forget how He brought us through it and then we almost start back at Faith 101 all over again.
During my sophomore year, after I lost someone so special in my life, I felt this awful sort of pain. It felt as if it would never go away. In the midst of feeling such sadness, I heard this still, quiet voice saying to me, “Erica, trust me and lean on me. Your life is going to be better than you can ever imagine if you just rely on me.” So I did. Relying on Jesus then was the easiest thing in the world because then it felt like He was all that I had. During that time, I trusted that I would get through it and I knew that someday I would remember the pain I felt then. I wanted to be sure that I would remember how because of God, I was brought through. In November of 2008, I started a quote book. I put in uplifting verses, poems, quotes and such that seemed to calm my broken spirit. I wrote in the beginning of the book this, “I also know God will get me through this pain – I don’t think the sadness will ever go away – but I know God has a plan for me. I can’t see it now, but in my future I will look at this book and will be reminded of this precious time where I grew closer to God than ever and see how He has brought me through this and I will be able to praise Him.”
Sure enough, He did get me through and taught me so much. My quote book has expanded, and I often look at it during all times of hardship and joy and whenever I do, I am reminded of God’s goodness and how I completely surrendered everything to him then.
At this moment in my life, there are so many decisions I have to make personally and professionally. I am excited for what is to come, but I am scared. My student teaching experience is showing me that college is ending and it is time to begin moving on to the next phase. I am willing and open for wherever God leads me, but it is scary to totally surrender all of my dreams to Him. I know that what He has for me are bigger and better than what I could plan for myself and that is why I have to let go of what I want and let Him. But tonight, I feel like I am in the grey area of confusion. My life in May could go in a billion different directions. Just this week I got two phone calls for interviews with two totally different job positions miles and miles and miles away from home. Exhilarating? Yes. Scary? Oh yes. And then there is the part about leaving people behind and I find myself again at the crossroads of deciding who I just can’t leave behind.
These past months I have struggled with my feelings verses my logic and trying to control situations. Completing student teaching successfully, ensuring things are ready for graduation, graduating, saying goodbye to best friends, mending hurts and renewing relationships, struggling with goodbyes, looking for a job, moving away, earning money, and the list goes on and on. Suddenly I felt God just tell me to give it up to Him once and for all and let Him take care of it. Sure enough, as soon as I did, I could start to see Him work. And I have learned that I am not going to ever be able to predict what is in store tomorrow or even today, and that’s okay. Learning to have that faith is hard at first, but once I surrendered it all again, such a peace came over me.
Tonight I feel a certain amount of weight on my shoulders about making important decisions with relationships and my future, so I pulled out my quote book and read what I wrote back in November of 2008. God brought me through so much, so surely these times of uncertainty now is nothing. So once again, I surrendered it all to the only one I would want controlling my life and knowing what will be will be.
“Trust me in your times of trouble, and I will rescue you, and you will give me glory.” –Psalm 50:15
“Is life more important than food and clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap…and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” –Matthew 6:25-26
“Lift up your eyes. The heavenly Father waits to bless you in the inconceivable ways to make your life what you never dreamed it could ever be.” –Anne Orthlund
“Never dwell on the tomorrow; remember that it’s God’s and not ours.”
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Snow!
Blizzard! Yep, Huntington, Indiana is officially being hit as I type this. Well, actually, we started getting it two nights. This all meant that today my school was cancelled and I already saw Huntington County Community Schools Closed roll across the TV for tomorrow! Nice little two day vacation.
Speaking of school, student teaching has been amazing. I love my supervising teacher and I could not have asked for a better fifth grade class. Roanoke Elementary has been so welcoming to me and I truly look forward to going in every morning. I am so glad for this because it has really validated the fact that being a teacher is something I would love to do. It has also been thrilling because it is challenging and being able to watch the fifth grade team of teachers pull together awesome Revolutionary War units and teach math in an exciting way has been great. As of now, I am just slowly phasing in, so I am still observing and helping students when I can. But, so far, this experience is showing me how to go from being a good teacher to a great one.
The fifth grade obviously takes up most of my time, considering I am there all day. The days of living the college life are really in the past now, and let me be the first to tell you it is a hard transition! I am very ready to be a ‘grown up,’ but it is always hard to say goodbye to an era so precious as the one I was just in. It is also a bit difficult to force my body and mind to go to bed by 11 every night! The good thing is that I am too busy right now to even have time to think about graduating and saying goodbye to people and places I have come to love with all of my heart. You can bet that these thoughts have been on all of our minds lately, and I will most definitely be writing about this more. But for right now, I am just very relaxed and don’t even feel like opening up that thought too much right now. So, I will let you in on some funny things that have happened recently.
-Bachelor Nights. Every Monday night, Liz, Rae, Sara, Kristen, Lauren, Margo, Dorina, and I meet up to watch the Bachelor. Pretty much we reduce ourselves to nasty human beings who make fun of all of the strange situations on this show. I seriously look forward to these nights every week. Lately, we have been going to Liz’s house. She has three cats, one of which has legs that do not function very well and another one that is a kitten with a ton of personality. We laugh a whole lot and eat all of the great food Liz’s mom makes for us. This past Monday night is when we started getting all of the snow, so Liz and I kept checking to see if Huntington schools were giving two hour delays yet; it’s practically like being back in school ourselves we still get so excited. Liz lives out in the middle of nowhere, basically drift city. After the show, we all went out to our cars and started backing out. We couldn’t tell the difference between the road and the grass, so guess who got stuck in a ditch? Yep, me. But, it was all a good memory.
-Snow. Yesterday, I had my alarm set as usual for 6:30. I kept waking up in the middle of the night to check if my school was canceled so that way I would know. Every time I checked Huntington was not listed. Finally, at 6:15, I got the text saying we were off! All yesterday I did not do much, so this means that today I need to start to get crap done. Then last night at dinner, I got the text saying we were closed today again! And sure enough, even Huntington University closed everything on campus today, so all of my other friends were pumped. Last night, we all enjoyed the fact that a blizzard was hitting us and we had nowhere to go the next day. We made snow ice cream and Susanne and I ran down the road at midnight in shorts, boots, and our coats. We heard sleigh bells when we got to the end of the road, and it totally freaked us out!
-Modern Women vs. Betty Crockers. So our friends next door cook all of their meals. Like, good meals. Their cupboards are filled with cooking supplies. Us over here prefer buying our meals, getting the food from school, or just putting in frozen meals in the microwave. This shows our personalities so well because the four of them over there we always joke will have kids right away while us over here will be all over the world doing who knows what. That is where the nicknames come from. The four of us here are the “modern women” and the four of them over there are the “Betty Crockers.” Naturally this morning we could all smell breakfast from our apartment. Who was it but the Betty Crockers making themselves pancakes, eggs, bacon, and sausage. After we smelled and saw that, Susanne said, “Well, I have some frozen waffles in the freezer.” So, we toasted some frozen waffles with raspberries on top and made coffee. Boom.
-Today we plan on playing in the snow pretty soon and make a giant snow man and then get back to our homework and lesson planning. I am pretty sure it is going to be a great day!
Speaking of school, student teaching has been amazing. I love my supervising teacher and I could not have asked for a better fifth grade class. Roanoke Elementary has been so welcoming to me and I truly look forward to going in every morning. I am so glad for this because it has really validated the fact that being a teacher is something I would love to do. It has also been thrilling because it is challenging and being able to watch the fifth grade team of teachers pull together awesome Revolutionary War units and teach math in an exciting way has been great. As of now, I am just slowly phasing in, so I am still observing and helping students when I can. But, so far, this experience is showing me how to go from being a good teacher to a great one.
The fifth grade obviously takes up most of my time, considering I am there all day. The days of living the college life are really in the past now, and let me be the first to tell you it is a hard transition! I am very ready to be a ‘grown up,’ but it is always hard to say goodbye to an era so precious as the one I was just in. It is also a bit difficult to force my body and mind to go to bed by 11 every night! The good thing is that I am too busy right now to even have time to think about graduating and saying goodbye to people and places I have come to love with all of my heart. You can bet that these thoughts have been on all of our minds lately, and I will most definitely be writing about this more. But for right now, I am just very relaxed and don’t even feel like opening up that thought too much right now. So, I will let you in on some funny things that have happened recently.
-Bachelor Nights. Every Monday night, Liz, Rae, Sara, Kristen, Lauren, Margo, Dorina, and I meet up to watch the Bachelor. Pretty much we reduce ourselves to nasty human beings who make fun of all of the strange situations on this show. I seriously look forward to these nights every week. Lately, we have been going to Liz’s house. She has three cats, one of which has legs that do not function very well and another one that is a kitten with a ton of personality. We laugh a whole lot and eat all of the great food Liz’s mom makes for us. This past Monday night is when we started getting all of the snow, so Liz and I kept checking to see if Huntington schools were giving two hour delays yet; it’s practically like being back in school ourselves we still get so excited. Liz lives out in the middle of nowhere, basically drift city. After the show, we all went out to our cars and started backing out. We couldn’t tell the difference between the road and the grass, so guess who got stuck in a ditch? Yep, me. But, it was all a good memory.
-Snow. Yesterday, I had my alarm set as usual for 6:30. I kept waking up in the middle of the night to check if my school was canceled so that way I would know. Every time I checked Huntington was not listed. Finally, at 6:15, I got the text saying we were off! All yesterday I did not do much, so this means that today I need to start to get crap done. Then last night at dinner, I got the text saying we were closed today again! And sure enough, even Huntington University closed everything on campus today, so all of my other friends were pumped. Last night, we all enjoyed the fact that a blizzard was hitting us and we had nowhere to go the next day. We made snow ice cream and Susanne and I ran down the road at midnight in shorts, boots, and our coats. We heard sleigh bells when we got to the end of the road, and it totally freaked us out!
-Modern Women vs. Betty Crockers. So our friends next door cook all of their meals. Like, good meals. Their cupboards are filled with cooking supplies. Us over here prefer buying our meals, getting the food from school, or just putting in frozen meals in the microwave. This shows our personalities so well because the four of them over there we always joke will have kids right away while us over here will be all over the world doing who knows what. That is where the nicknames come from. The four of us here are the “modern women” and the four of them over there are the “Betty Crockers.” Naturally this morning we could all smell breakfast from our apartment. Who was it but the Betty Crockers making themselves pancakes, eggs, bacon, and sausage. After we smelled and saw that, Susanne said, “Well, I have some frozen waffles in the freezer.” So, we toasted some frozen waffles with raspberries on top and made coffee. Boom.
-Today we plan on playing in the snow pretty soon and make a giant snow man and then get back to our homework and lesson planning. I am pretty sure it is going to be a great day!
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