Have a cupcake

If you have never been a teacher, I am not sure that you can fully understand the stress that often comes with a class birthday.

Parents show up, sugar loaded cupcakes are given, Capri Suns are stabbed (after several attempts) and chaos ensues. My once quiet obedient little rule followers begin talking with their mouths full, making ungodly messes and look at you with teeth and tongue icing stained smiles. Chaos.

And today we had a birthday.

In all fairness, this one really was not bad at all. One of my sweet and precious little girls turned 8.

{Side note: this baby girl is such a cute little "Stepford Student". Her favorite day of the week is Monday because she gets to come back to school and she hates Fridays because it means she has to stay home for the weekend and miss school. This is not a suck up tactic, these feelings have been verified by her mom. I love her.}

So anyway... most parents are kind enough to consider teachers in their cupcake head count and while it is always appreciated, as often as I can I try to practice self control and say thanks, but no thanks to the sugary sweets. When I was offered my treat today, I politely said no thank you and informed Mom (who I know well) that I was trying to be good and not cheat with the unhealthies. As I was saying this, a child who generally does not pay attention to me, must have turned her hearing up over Spring Break because this was her speedy interjection,

"Ms. Steel, you need to loosen up. Have a cupcake!"

Haha loosen up. I know it may not be as funny to some as it is to me, but this is stuff you just could not make up. Out of the mouths of babes.

More than a pot of gold

Since we won't be in school on St. Patrick's Day, I used today to do all those cute little Pinterest ideas (also know as killing time until Spring Break).

So anyway, instead of talking all about it I'll just show you.

Here are just a few of my favs.

I have to admit, I am a little partial to the one about me. I mean, I didn't even ask them to write about me and look at how fab that drawing is... not quite sure what happened to my legs, though. But, I think if we're being honest, the Jesus one takes the cake. How cute is that kid? I texted her mom that picture with the caption, "Good job, Mom". Ohhh these babies :)

Pretty every day

So there's this girl in my class...

She's the little one that's so enamored with teachers. She can be very, very clingy at times, but let me tell you... that kid is one big, fat confidence booster.

Even on the days when I'm too lazy to finish drying my hair or don't go for the full face of makeup, this one cannot stop herself from giving a compliment. Some days they are more like compliments on work ethic and character: "you're doing a really good job teaching us" or "you are very kind" (her words, not mine). However, most days, in fact, pretty much every day they are more along the lines of this: "you're the prettiest ever", "you're pretty", or my personal fav "you look very beautiful today". No, I'm not lying.

Like I said, these "pretty" comments come at least once a day. And while they are very sweet, those days where my hair is in a rat's nest and my makeup is half rubbed off, her compliments seem to become a bit insincere and undeserved. So today, while feeling rather unbecoming, little girl comes chirping up to my table. "Miss Steel, I just want you to know you are very pretty today." Usually I would respond with a generic "thank you" or "thanks, please go sit down", but today I chose a different approach. I looked at little miss upon her compliment and said, "Thanks sweetie, but you say that every day"... to which she lovingly replied, "Well I know, but you are pretty every day". Cute.

So what's the point? None, really. Just thought it was cute. And hey, who am I to judge her opinion? If the kid thinks I'm pretty every day, why should I rain on her parade and lead her to think otherwise? :)

If you are ever in need of a good compliment, stop by our second grade classroom. My little cheerful child will be more than happy to help.

Back to whaaat??

How is it time for this already!? I could have sworn I had just signed 22 daily folders and sent 3 kids home mad at me yesterday. It is simply not possible that 2 months has flown by and these horrible "back to school" ads are everywhere.

On that note, seriously, these stores need to CALM DOWN. Not everyone is pumped up about school starting back- in fact, I'm pretty sure the only people that are truly excited are the parents. I don't want to see flashing lights and signs and arrows when I walk into Target that point to the school aisle. I wish the school stuff was hidden. Honestly. Like in the back (back) room. And if you're wondering, yes, this is what {denial} looks like.

Don't get me wrong, I like my job. I am excited to get a whole new bunch of babies and actually surprisingly anxious to see my kiddos from last year... but right now I need to mourn the passing of my summer. Sigh.

So that trusty [and rude] internal clock now knows that it is August 1st and all I can think about is school. Who are my babies? Will they like my room and me, for that matter? What fun things can we do? What do I need to change from last year? What else do I need to buy? Ahhhh so much to think about, it's exhausting.

Thankfully, I am about to squeeze in some sweet friend time with some school time. Heading down to Nederland tomorrow to spend some time with my NEWLYWED BEST FRIEND, Mrs. Kristin Deitz, to help setup her new first grade classroom. Truth be told, I'm a teensy weensy bit jealous that she gets first grade babes. I love 'em.

Okay, that is more than enough whining from Miss Steel. I need to get it all out of my system while I can because pretty soon I am going to have 22 little monsters (term of endearment, I promise) whining to ME. Say your prayers, everybody:)

Mr. Mayor

A few weeks ago the mayor came to visit our group of 2nd graders. He did a pretty good job with his little spiel; he talked about his daily duties and the job requirements and also about different community helpers. However, at the end of his speech he made a choice I might have advised him against (had he asked me). Yeah, you guessed it... he opened the floor to the hoard of questions coming from a group of 7 and 8 year olds. So I thought it would be nice to share of few of their little gems- from the mouth of babes.

When he asked them for their suggestions to help improve our community, responses include:

• Build grocery places for the homeless people
• Build hotels for people to live in that don't have no home
• Lower taxes (yes, that came straight from the mouth of a 7 year old girl)
• Lower gas prices
• Put in more stop signs

And this one was by far my favorite...

• "We need 'mo churches 'cuz people be bein' bad."

**Please note that all the atrocious grammar is not coming from me, but done to provide the words of the kiddos rather than my paraphrase.

Oh kids do say the darnedest things, don't they? And on that note, tomorrow's edition of "2nd grade crazy" includes a trip to see the movie, Rio, and an afternoon at the state park... I should have been in bed 2 hours ago. Say your prayers for us. :)

This has got to stop

Sooo I have this little girl in my class. She is an absolute hoot & bless her heart, she has no idea that I find her so funny. I am positive that if she knew that I was laughing so much on the inside, she would be irate. She obviously provides me with many funny teaching stories, so here is a pretty good one.

Last week I asked her to move her clip down one time because she was being disrespectful and was giving me loads of attitude. For those of you not familiar with "clips", allow me to explain - clip systems are often used for classroom management to enforce discipline on a daily basis. Clip charts are a teensy bit controversial at the moment because some people say they hinder a child's self esteem and do very little for classroom management. In order to use a clip chart in a not-so-embarrassing way, I came up with these clip levels: Super, Good, Okay, and Sad. So see, my clip chart really isn't so bad and I don't use colors, but instead really cute designed plates.

Okay, so back to my little friend. After the massive amounts of attitude {eye rolling, and exasperated groans every time I spoke- yes, this happens as early as SECOND GRADE}, I kindly asked her to move her clip from "Super" to "Good". Now, in most places and with most children, this would not be the end of the world... but she doesn't exactly go by the standards of "most kids". This is where things get interesting- while on her way to the clip chart, she makes a b-line for my desk. She approaches me with her finger pointing in my face and demands, "THIS has got to STOP." And if you are wondering, yes, I almost died from attempting to stifle a laugh. I tried to very quickly gain as much composure as possible and I made sure to use that all-powerful "teacher look" and simply told her, "You are right, this behavior does need to stop. And when it stops, I am sure your clip will not need to move." As you could imagine, she did not appreciate my answer but she figured out pretty fast that I was not going to budge. She starred me down for a good 30 seconds before marching, or stomping rather, over to the chart and dramatically snatching her clip and briefly holding it in the air (I guess as some sort of protest) then finally shoving it onto the correct level.

Now, if you have read this far I feel the profound need to apologize. I just realized that this story is probably not so interesting to anyone but me. It might be one of those "you have to know the kid" stories in order for you to get the full effect. Any who, I am sorry to you, my 3 readers. I will try to beef up the story selection next time. :)

Dodgeball Lesson Plan

Oh my goodness, this guy is too funny. Cannot get the embedded link to work on the blog but it is worth the click of the link! If you don't want to watch the whole video, start at about 2:33- Dodgeball. I am still laughing :)

Long time, no see

Oopsie, I did it again- almost a month without a post. Not really a whole lot to report, which explains the posting hiatus. The only thing I have really had going on lately has been my classroom. I got in last week to start working on things and decorating. So here is a little sneak peek at a few before and after pictures- however, it is still a work in progress and not 100% complete, so keep that in mind :)

BEFORE:

Still waiting on my American Flag and the cart in the middle of the room will be for my ELMO- fingers crossed that they are going to give me a projector in order for that little ELMO to actually work haha! One more thing, I have a cute banner to add in that awkward blank space in between the number line and alphabet strip.

AFTER:

BEFORE:

The table below the window is still a working project- hopefully it will hold student mailboxes at some point. The little squares under the "Welcome to 2nd Grade" will have their names and pictures!

AFTER:

BEFORE:
Hi Mom :)
Still have a few spots to fill in on my calendar wall but this is where we will have our little morning meetings! Carpet area will also be used for comfy reading times.

AFTER:
Sooo that's all for now! Starting all of the super fun in-service meetings bright and early in the morning. Real excited. Or not :) But I am excited to meet my kiddos and get the year going. Honestly, I am just ready for it to be about October- we will all be in our routine, everybody will know what to do and how to act and I will feel a teensy bit less like a neurotic worry woman... well, at least the routine part might be ok by October, not so sure about the rest! Start saying your prayers for me now, friends :)
Love you,

Out of the mouths of babes

5 days of school left and my kids still never cease to amaze me. The things they say, I'm telling you, it's just ridiculous. Here's the latest:

So I am finally telling my students that I am moving and will not be at the school next year. The 5th graders could not care less since they are moving up to middle school anyway, but the 3rd and 4th graders seem to be surprisingly bothered by it- which is kinda' sweet, actually. So anyway, today one group was asking me why I was leaving and it went a little something like this (and please note: in order to provide the full effect of the conversation, I try to get as close to word-for-word as I can, so these horrible sentences are not my own)...

Kid: Miss Steel, is you leaving to go get married?

Me: Nope, just going to a new job.

Kid: Well you should probably go get married.

Me: Why?

Kid: So you can have kids.

Me: Kids!? I'm too young to have kids.

Kid: Miss Steel, you not gonna' be young forever.

Wow, thanks for that insight, kiddo :) My babies are just enthralled with the details of my personal life, it's funny. However, I'm sure they wish their teacher was a little bit cooler, haha poor kids.

For all my teacher friends

Dearest little teacher friends,
Good luck Tuesday, Wednesday,
and Thursday (for all my 5th grade friends).
There is a light at the end of the tunnel, we are almost done!
Enjoy :)

Life update

Ok, so here it is: an actual update. I can't promise it will be interesting and it will mostly likely include quite a few typos, but I know some people are little Curious Georges (and I don't blame you, I do it too), so for those people who wanna know, here it is...

Well let's start from the beginning, in case you don't know what I have been doing since graduating from A&M in May.

After I graduated with my undergrad in Education, I decided I wanted to go on to graduate school for Speech Pathology- a wonderful field with really exciting opportunities. So, off I went to Baylor. {Big 12 rival school, I know. What was I thinking, I don't know.} Grades were good; actually ended up with 2 A's and 2 B's, which I guess isn't bad for starting out in graduate school in a field that you have never had experience in. Met some really sweet girls. Had precious little roommates. All in all, it was not awful... but something was off. I don't know how to put it without sounding like a Debbie Downer, but I just wasn't happy. It took a lot of soul searching (about 2 months worth) to figure out what was wrong/what needed to happen next. The one thing that I kept coming back to was the kiddos. I missed teaching. Oh my goodness. If it's a surprise to you, don't worry, it was to me too.

See, all throughout my undergrad and thousands of dollars worth of education classes, I just told myself "I don't want to teach. I won't be happy in the classroom." Hahaha wrong! I realized that not one day had passed that I hadn't missed being with a class full of rambunctious and completely ridiculous little people. So where do I go from here? I was stuck... hence the 2 months time of thinking, and re-thinking, and over-thinking. Yeah, lots of thoughts floating around in this little mind of mine. I had never quit school before so I was navigating myself through some uncharted territories. Not gonna lie, some days in Waco were pretty miserable and it was tempting for me to quit on the spot, and just walk out... but other days were okay and then I was back to all the thinking. If I stayed and finished the 2 years I had left in the program and still hated it in the end, I couldn't even bring myself to think about the absurd amounts of debt I would be in. [It was a LOT]. I am babbling and so let me just make the long story short: I quit.

But I should clarify: by quit, I mean I finished out the semester, actually studied for my finals and didn't blow it off. I called financial aid and canceled my package for the spring, talked to a little exit counselor, & badda-bing badda-boom, no more school. It was a hard decision to make because it was difficult for me to get past the "quitting" stigma. In the end, I had to make myself understand that it was less of a quitting situation and more of a necessary career decision that would make me happier. That's what matters, right? Yeah.

Now, fasssst forward! What am I doing now? Well, friends, never say never. Can't tell you how many times in my adolescent life I whined "I will never come back to Palestine". And again I say, hahaha wrong! I came home, for lack of a better plan, and started the next chapter: the job hunt. Started filling out all kinds of applications for teaching jobs pretty much all over different areas of Texas. Had a job interview in the Tyler area that went really well and got a lot of encouragement from the principal and grade level team, but they went with someone who had a double certification in education and special ed. So, back to square one and where things get kind of funny and coincidental...

I emailed one of the administrators at good ole' Palestine ISD to ask about getting on the sub list. & another long story short: instead of a sub job, they offered me a teaching job.

I am now a 3rd and 5th grade Title I Math teacher at Story Elementary (which just so happens to be where I went to school). I pull 3 groups of 5th graders and 3 groups of 3rd graders a day to work on their math skills. We review, we refresh, we relearn. I work with these kiddos to hopefully instill a bit of confidence and get their little minds prepared for that dumb TAKS test.

And now that this has been the longest blog post ever, I am done. I apologize to those of you who are still reading at this point. So, that's the story. My little life update. There ya go :)

Study break

This post is completely out of necessity- if I don't have a study break, I'm pretty sure I will have a mental break. I am so overwhelmed. It's nice to be able to send all of this out into that cyberspace void; to voice my stresses and worries and get them out. It's like blog therapy.

So I have a test Friday and I am frazzled. I hate the class. Yeah, I know, it was probably not two weeks ago that I blogged about how great my classes were and all my profs, and la-ti-da... well, that's over. I just can't get a grip on this class. In 4 years of undergrad I don't think I ever really had a class that was this upsetting to me- I feel like I am learning nothing, which is very disheartening as a graduate student. The quizzes that were supposed to be preparation for the test have all been tricky and I only did ok on them because we had two attempts, not because I know the info. I sit in class and really try to listen but it is like a foreign language. Yeesh.

You know that feeling where you don't want to cry but you can feel the water coming up in your eyes- you have to will it back down... I have been fighting that feeling all night. I don't have time for a break down right now. I have class at 8, an interview for a job that I really could use at 10:30, then class at 12:30 which is going to include a quiz that I am completely unprepared for right now, then my Audiology test at 9 Friday morning. I do not have time for a break down. Maybe if I keep saying that it will hold off until Friday afternoon. If it could just wait until then, I would be ready for a good cry. I am a firm believer in the therapy of crying, sometimes you just need it.

If you have now read all the way to this point, please allow me to apologize. No one should have to read silly things like this. I just use this blog sometimes as a sounding board to get my thoughts out of my head. If you have read this far, I will reward you with one of my new finds that I am a little obsessed with...

Super excited about the movie version of the book Where the Wild Things Are! I love all the previews, but even more, I think the music is going to be amazing. This song is by Karen O and The Kids and is called, All is Love. Favorite line: L-O-V-E, it's a mystery. Sooo good!

I love a rainy night

Oh Eddie Rabbitt/Alvin & The Chipmunks, your words could not be more true for me, I do love a rainy night. I was planning to do a quick life update so hopefully I can because right now it is pouring outside and I would love nothing more than to curl up in bed with a good book and fall asleep... might just do that- nothing to really stop me, I already decided I am not looking at anything school related tonight because I fear that I am dangerously close to a burnout.

I still love school (especially my sweet new friends), but I'm just a little overloaded. I mentioned before that all of my classes are not only in the same building, but also in the same room, so it's just a little mundane after a while. Besides that, I was on campus from 7:20 this morning until about 6:00 tonight. Love it. I'm sure today was just a preview of what is to come in the rest of my semesters when I am doing therapies and working with clients and lesson plans and all that jazz... which is almost enough to make me reconsider this career move. Oy vey. I start thinking all those kind of thoughts and then get overwhelmed and my teeth start to grit and yeesh, I have to stop. I know this is what I wanted to do and I feel like it is what I am supposed to be doing so I need to just calm down and have the faith that I'm going to be able to do this. Happy thoughts :)

Not sure if I have anything else of interest to add. I still miss my girls, no surprise there. I hate that I hardly get to talk to Amber and Morgs and just hold the thought that one day, hopefully sooner rather than later, we will have a sweet reunion haha! I wish I could just bring them with me everywhere I go.

Oh, I am very passively job searching. I know I NEED a job, it's just a matter of finding one that works for me/school/my stress levels... yeah, good luck there. I am interested in one but the application has been a little laborsome. Hopefully something will just fall in my lap soon because sadly that bank balance is fading fast. I hate being the drain on Mom and Dad. Gross feeling.

Okay, that is all. I don't want to make this too long or no one will want to read it- haha, who am I kidding, no one really reads this anyway! But, as an add-on I will include two links. One because I love a rainy night and two because I am obsessed with really good covers and this one fits that criteria! Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fcr39VlkSCE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmXgHnRDpW8

Ps. Just got the mail from today and almost cried. My sweet best friend, Kelley, sent me real mail! I get this cute card with a ladybug and a daisy and am just excited for that, but then open it to see both sides completely consumed by her handwriting. Real, meaningful mail like that is just such a simple joy. My heart is full. Love you, Kell!

Quick update

It's Tuesday so I have officially been to all of my first graduate classes. So far, so good! It's going to be a lot of work, but I am actually really excited about it because I know this is what I want to be doing. It's a good feeling to be in classes that feel applicable and are interesting.

All my profs are sweet ladies, it seems, so that is comforting. I love the size of Baylor. I am so excited about the idea of forming close relationships with the faculty and staff of my department- it's so different from what I'm used to in a much larger university. I absolutely adore the graduate program director/head of the department, he is a precious little man. Yesterday he came into our meeting talking about how a previous discussion we had led him to get hooked on the Twilight books hahaha, love it! He wears his cowboy boots with his dress clothes. He's going to be great!

I have all my books (after having a rather frustrating convo with the operator at Barnes and Noble) and actually just submitted my first discussion post as a graduate student! Life is good :)

First day of school, take 22.

Wow, this will be my 22 first day of school. 13 years of elementary, middle, and high school; 4 years, 2 semesters each of college; and now graduate school. I have done this 21 times and it doesn't get easier. My nerves are shot.

I am a little sad to be starting this chapter of life because a part of me really just wants to be back in the past. I have thought a lot about my kiddos from last year today. I wonder which of my babies got which second grade teacher. I would so love to be a fly on the wall in that second grade hall tomorrow. I wonder who got my teeny tiny little girl who was the most eccentric, but completely precious 6 year old ever. Who will be the next person to handle my little runaway? If my schedule ever allows this semester, I'm dying to pop in for a visit and just see how everyone is. I miss those kids, and I miss my first grade team! It was so bittersweet to leave that experience and I am missing it terribly right about now.

Today my sweet old prom date, Ted, took me for a quick little guided trip through campus. Apparently I have become direction impaired here. I can't figure out this place. Maybe because the lovely street system of Waco seems to have been built in triangles, instead of grids. Perfect. Anyway, Ted is such a sweet friend, I owe him. I now know all of the potential parking lots that are close to my building. And yes, building, as in singular. For this semester I will be spending ALL of my time in one building, but even more than that, I will be in the exact same classroom. Neill Morris 226 will be my life, it seems. On the bright side, once I find where I am going I don't really ever have a reason to get lost. Here's a quick pic of where I will be spending all of my time:

I have to admit that I am a slight bit disappointed in the building itself. One thing I love about Baylor is the gorgeous buildings... this one, not so much. It's not bad at all, it's just lacking in grandeur (haha look at the GRE word) compared to most other campus buildings. So tomorrow, at 9:05 I will be sitting in my very first ever graduate school class. That scares the beegeezus out of me!

So anywho, besides it being my first day of school tomorrow, it just also happens to be the first day for so many of my precious teacher friends! Three of my bffs will all be third grade teachers, small world! Amber will be at Whitehouse, Kristin in Huntsville, and Morgs down in Victoria. My math genius, Megan will be starting the new school year with a new last name and in a new school district as a high school geometry teacher. Not only do I have those 4 sweet girls to think of, but about half of the Facebook status updates I read today where all about my teacher friends starting school. I am just so excited for them and know they will all be amazing. Cannot wait to hear all the precious stories- I am really going to miss not having those experiences this year. I mean, it's going to be a weird year if someone doesn't repeatedly call me "Miss, Miss, Miss!" or if I don't have to hear taddle tells or tie shoelaces. How will I cope?! Oye.

Okay, it's almost 10:40. I should have already been in bed, darn it. Say a prayer for luck for me! Tomorrow is completely new to me and I'm hoping I don't feel in over my head completely. Stay tuned... I am sure I will be updating this week!

Webcamming attempt uno

What happens when you're in a new town, your one friend isn't here yet and you are bored... you blog more than once a day. So here we are. Good news is, my new little computer baby has a fun webcam. I can now join the rest of the world with video chats and Skype and what not.

Do you think it is considered rude to take a picture gigging 'em while living in Waco? Hmm. Hope not!

I still have some adjusting to do, not quite used to the idea of being at Baylor. I have not bought anything that says Baylor on it yet... except of course my semester bill haha. I'm taking baby steps, I mean, almost bought a t-shirt today. I even got brave and attempted to navigate my way through campus, well halfway. I still have no clue about parking or where the main buildings are but I did manage to find the building that I think all my classes are in and I saw the bears on campus. Yes, that's right, bears. Real live ones. If you are not familiar with Baylor, it's mascot is a bear so guess what... there is a bear habitat on campus! Now, I am not completely dumb, I knew Baylor had real bears I just didn't know they lived on campus! So that's neat. Haha. And P.S. there is a sign that says something to the effect of "Please stay on path, bears will bite." Hmmm.

On another note: my sweet, smart, employed friends are all getting closer and closer to their first day of school!! As I type I am anxiously awaiting pictures of my Morgs' classroom and I'm dying to hear how Amber's "Meet the Teacher" went! I am just so proud and excited for them! I Facebook stalked this week and saw pictures of Megan's high school classroom, it looks great! I can't even imagine how I would be feeling if I were suddenly responsible for 20 something babies on Monday. Actually, I am pretty sure I would be going through bottles and bottles of my trusty Tums. But, I know that these girls are going to be amazing and every one of their students is going to be bragging about how they have the pretty teacher, yeah, kids are shallow haha :) More importantly their kids will brag about how they have the best teacher! So, good luck girls, love you!

I moved. Ohhh my gossssh...

So here's a run down of my life in the past day or so:

For about a month now I had been planning on moving to Waco on Thursday, August 2o. Problem was, I was supposed to be at Graduate Student Orientation on Wednesday, August 19. I made an attempt to talk my apartment people into letting me move in early but was not successful... so I was just going to suck it up and deal with it and drive super early two days in a row (which would total 4 hours of driving each day). Wellllll, here's where things get interesting- so my mom calls the apartment people, having decided that she just does not want me driving back and forth. I told her "Mom, I already asked and they said no", hahaha well the joke was on me. Moms must have some kind of power that non-moms do not because guess what- she fixed it. They basically told my mom "Sure, come anytime on Tuesday, August 18!". Not what I got. Cool. Soooo it's all fine and dandy, right?

Except not. See, I had been planning all along to move on Thursday, so on Monday morning I was still thinking I had those few days to think about what I wanted to take to and pack it all up. After Mom talked to them Monday she called me at about 11:30 and that's when the stress set in. If you know me at all, you know I am a huuuuge stresser. I get anxious and upset about the tiniest things, it's a problem, I know. So I sat there for about 2 minutes trying to decide if I was going to start packing, or do laundry, or just cry. Got a little flustered then decided I should speed pack. So the past two days have been crazy. Being a heavy packer in most cases, I tried as hard as possible to think like a minimalist. Ha. I had to do about 4 loads of laundry (one of which included my giant bedspread that I was practically begging to dry), dig boxes out from the garage that had been there since my College Station move (sad), and make about 1329 trips to WalMart. I hate moving.

Fast forward to Tuesday, in Waco... Get to my lovely little apartment after about a 2 hour drive and guess what is on the office door... "Closed early, open at 8:30am" hahahaha I kid you not. We're on the phone trying to call someone and of course, just getting an answering service. While Mom is on the phone Dad decides to go with the more invasive method-- knocking on the door repeatedly. At this point we are thinking I'm going to have to get a hotel and unload all the stuff in Mom's car, aye yi yi. But, after about five minutes of knocking (more like banging now) on the door, the office people opened! Ta Da! So long story short, I moved in.

Stay tuned for later posts which will most likely involve my excursions in Waco, i.e. getting lost over and over. I haven't been here for even 12 hours and I swear I've been lost 9 times. Oh, and I HATE the Garmin, I think now I will call her Helga or something horrible. She gets mad and yells "recalculating" at me every 2 minutes. Although, I know I probably shouldn't blame her because we haven't updated the maps in forever, oops.

Going to bed, because I have to be up at the crack of dawn for orientation. I feel like a baby freshman again, except I'm an old lady. Yep, a 22 year old old lady. I will be very disgruntled if they make us do silly team building things or awkward ice breakers. Crossing my fingers for a no to both of those.

On the plus side... look how pretty my new school is (don't confuse that comment, A&M is still my home!)

Au revoir

Au revoir, aloha, adios, ciao, and goodbye College Station. After 4 very good years, I packed all my bags and moved out of my beloved little town.

I cannot believe how time flies. 4 years, 3 homes, and about 10 roommates have meant a lot of amazing times and precious memories! I can't help but feel a little nostalgic, thinking about all the time spent in College Station and at A&M. 4 years of Education classes with the same group of girls (well, 99% girls) is an experience I will never forget- after all, without those classes I would have never met my little soul mates, Amber & Morgan. Of course, there were ups and downs- 4 girls sharing one dorm bathroom says a lot; a few good dates and some very, very bad dates; 3 hour long dinner dates with my favorite girls discussing our student teaching woes; pulling horrible all-nighters for tests; standing through entire football games in the 468 degree weather... and those are just a few...

I have loved my life in College Station and am a little hesitant about the next chapter outside of the Brazos Valley bubble. I am so thankful for the time spent, friendships made, and things learned, I cannot even begin to put into words how much I will miss this part of life. But, it's on to new things and to Waco and Baylor graduate school for me, so I'm sure there are all kinds of experiences waiting for me in the next two years!

Au revoir, College Station!

Let's try this again...

So I think I have probably attempted to blog maybe once or twice, never quite stuck with it- but hey, maybe third time is a charm! We will see... I apologize in advance for the terribly uninteresting and uneventful blogs that are inevitable...

Let's see, where to start... graduated college almost a month ago- and wow, that is weird to think about! I remember wanting the 4 years of high school to go by as fast as possible, but in college all I wanted was for those 4 years to last forever. It's so strange that A&M is part of my past now. I love that place and it's going to be hard to leave and have no real ties to College Station. Moving to Waco in August and am having doubts about it every single day...

I know that graduate school is an amazing opportunity for me, and it's not so much school that I am anxious about, but it's the whole process of basically starting all over again from the beginning. When I went to A&M I went with about 6 close friends. We all lived in the same building, we were mere floors apart from each other. I was able to meet new people, but at the same time stay very secure with my little blanket of friends from home. This time, however, I'm going off completely alone. And not only that, but now all of my closest friends are starting to spread out across the state. I realize that we are 22/23 and that growing up and the real world are all part of life, but it is still a little difficult. I hate the fact that I will probably never be in the same place at the same time as all of my friends, like it has been the past 4 years at A&M. Amber is off to Dallas soon, Morgan in Victoria, Megan in Tyler, Kristin going to Huntsville, and then there are some of my sweet friends who will still be in CS. But with all that said and all whining aside, I know everything will turn out fine, and good friends are good friends for a reason- if they are good, they will stay that way! :)

I love the Cranberries and the song, "Dreams" seems to perfectly sum up life right about now: Oh my life, is changing everyday, in every possible way!