La la la!

Today in my special education class we were going over reading stuff for slow readers, but I've already taken 3 whole classes (3 semesters) of reading stuff, and I knew everything she was talking about. So I kind of went off to daydreaming. Ok, not kind of, I did.

I was thinking about what I want to do when I go to Kenya for the summer in 2 years. I imagined what might happen, thought about what it'd be like if I went by myself for the whole summer or if certain people went with me for the whole summer, I thought about conversations I'd have with people there, and more. Then a girl at my table pulled out her new iPad which I think is awesome, and I was distracted by that. I thought about the pros and cons of getting one for myself, but then how often would I really use it? It's too big to put in a purse. And when I should buy it if I did or not, etc.

I finished watching the last season of Friends tonight! Season 10. The end of shows (series finales) always make me sad because not only is there no more new shows to watch, but I know it's also goodbye to the real life actors who play the people. Tear! I think it ended in 2005?

I also watch Flashforward and it comes on Thur nights, so I watched it tonight. And Glee started back a few weeks ago, I watch that too.

Tomorrow I have a meeting for information about our part time student teaching we'll be doing this fall! I'm excited about it! Saturday is our big Kenya Connection festival with BBQ, music, booths, yard sale, inflatables, etc. and I get to take pictures again! Yay! It's a fun day. All the money goes to the orphanage we helped build and support in Kenya.

Only one week of classes left and then some finals the week after! Whoo! I'm looking forward to learning Swahili on Rosetta Stone. The computer program cost $200 but it's really in depth and LONG and is supposed to teach you fluently basically. So I'm starting now in hopes that in 2 years I will know a lot. But it's weird to think that in 2 years I will be done with college, hopefully done with my first year of being an elementary teacher, and who knows where I'll be!

My weekend!

I had a good weekend - sounds crazy but I like the busy ones sometimes. Then other times I like the ones with nothing going on so I can stay at home and get some things done.

I went to my friend Tiffany's bridal shower. I've known her for 9 years, since i was in 8th and she was in 7th grade, and it's been great to be able to keep in touch with her. Her wedding is in a few weeks. (click on any picture to see it bigger.)

Then we had a surprise b-day party for my dad, he turns 50 tomorrow.

Sunday was a dedication and lunch for the opening of a new building at Mars Hill church.

I took some pictures Sun night at youth group (at Northwest Christian Church) as well becuase we were outside and it was nice.

So, since this post is long with pictures, I'll just make this a picture post today. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then you've got millions right here. ;-)

Books!!!

Yesterday there was a scholastic book fair at my college, for teachers to buy books, and all books were half off as they are each year! I buy some each year so I can build up my library for my classroom. Well it is SO exciting for me to get the books! I was seriously so excited. Since I don't know what grade I will be teaching yet, I've just gotten all ages of books, including middle school books. I know that if I teach 4th grade, there will be some kids reading books like Harry Potter and high school books (I've seen it, it's impressive), and then some who are still on a 1st grade reading level. So, I'm prepared for them all.

When I was in elementary school, going to the library when I finished my work was something I really looked forward to. You could only check out two books at a time, and I always got mad when they'd make me pick out books just on my reading level or above, because sometimes I liked the books below it too. In the summer I'd go to the library, and whatever the limit you could check out (it was like 10 or something), I always checked out that many! At home I would take all the books I had and put them on my bed in stacks, and pretend people were shopping for books or checking them out at the library, and I'd pretend to be different people amazed at the selection of books that were offered. :-) In middle school I usually carried a purse big enough to keep a book in, and if not I always had one in my bookbag. I always read it when I was finished with my work or before class started.

Sadly in college I've only gotten to read books I want during the summer or Christmas break. There's just no other time otherwise, and if I try I end up reading it instead of doing homework and that never has a good outcome! I wonder if when I'm a teacher I'll be able to read more? I also don't read as much now because I am busy, and during my it is taken up with the computer or TV a lot of times. I still love to read, I just don't as much. When I worked at a Christian bookstore for a little over a year, I spent so much money on books!! I'd be putting them out and go, "OH! I want to read this!" and I'd buy it, so I have a lot of books that I haven't had time to read yet that are sitting on my shelf! But working in the bookstore wasn't as great as I thought it'd be.

There's a lot of activities and new stuff coming up with the youth group at my church, and I'm excited about it! I get to help plan it and input ideas and stuff. It'll be good!




Otherwise, lots going on lately, and a lot coming up.

Last night

The middle schoolers went an hour away to a conference yesterday and today, and came back to spend the night at the church. Since the youth pastor (Jason) and his wife were the only chaperones, and they have a 3 year old girl, the wife went home with the little girl and they needed someone to stay with the other girls at the church. So Jason called me yesterday and asked if I would stay with them. So they got to the church at 11:40 PM. There were 12 girls and 2 boys - the boys and Jason stayed in one of the sunday school rooms and the girls stayed in the bigger open area. Jason had questions for them to answer which were in fortune cookies - some serious ones and some not. That lasted for about an hour and a half. At 1:30 they started the movie, "Enchanted" and at 2:30 he turned it off and said it was time for bed since they had to get up at 7 AM. The girls were planning all these pranks they wanted to do and tried to pull it off but it didn't work. At 3:00 I had to be the mean one who went into the bathroom and told them to go to sleep.  "But I'm not tired. I stay up all night all the time. One time I even went skiiking the next day and I was fine." Why is it that it's pulling teeth to get people under the age of 18 to go to sleep? So I said I don't care, they would just have to lay there then. So they did. When I got up at 7, I hung around until Jason's wife came and then I went home and back to bed. I was back in bed  at 8:30 AM, and woke up at 12:30 PM.

However, being middle school girls that they are, there is always maddness going on. I will spare the details, but lets just say some things they did made me REALLY MAD!!!!
Ah, the joys of working with middle school girls.

College thoughts

In college, there are two types of classes in the way of learning. One - the information in class is something you're tested on, so even if there's not an attendance policy, you better be there or you'll miss a lot of information for the test. Those classes are hard for days when you are sick or traffic happens, or whatever. Two - you do a lot of outside work such as papers, projects, observations in the field, online discussions and quizes, group work, etc. but the info in class is not tested on and just for your own knowledge. In that case, if you miss a class you don't really miss anything important, but those classes often have attendance policies so you don't just stop coming. I have both types of classes every semester usually.

Also, here are my thoughts on reasons you could fail a test or class:

1. You were lazy and didn't put the time into it
2. You were a procrastinator who waits til the night  before or day of to do the work or study
3. You tried really hard but didn't understand the material (like math)
4. You tried really hard but couldn't remember all of the material (like econonomics, history, science)
5. You were easily distracted so even though you had good intentions you still didn't put your best effort into the work
6. You had something else going on in life that was important that was getting in the way when you tried to study such as planning a wedding, a death in the family, a new job, a new baby, a full time job, etc.

Now the thing is, you can't tell the reason for this when you look at other people! The only person who knows why they failed was the person who did, unless they told someone else. I think a lot o times people assum that 1 or 2 is the reason people fail, and that they should just get their act together and try harder, but honestly there are people who try really hard and can't get it all to stick in their head or can't really understand it all. That's mostly me when it comes to tough information.

Also, there are two guys in two different classes I'm taking this semester - one looks late 20's and one looks mid 30's - and they're the kind of guys who say stuff just to get a reaction out of people or make people mad and they think it's funny or they just want the attention. It baffles me that they act like 8 year olds still when it comes to that. For example, guy 1 put all this awful stuff on his "about me" poster for our art class at the beginning of the semester that I don't even want to write on here. Another time he talked about how if he saw a dead body he'd poke it with a stick. All this absurd stuff. In my special ed class we're learning about how to include special needs kids in the regular classroom and affectively teach them, and the teacher gave us a scenario saying one girl had a learning disability in a group, and wanted to see how we could keep her up to speed and have the other group memebers help her. Guy 2 says, "Well I wouldn't let her work with the group because she'd just slow everybody down, and if she hasn't gotten it by high school, well then she just ain't gonna get it. I'd just put her in a group with the rest of the slow kids or something." The teacher's eyes got huge and everybody freaked out. "She's not lazy, she has a learning disability!!!" I said. Everything he said went against everything we've learned all semester. At the end of class I even heard a girl say to him, "It's funny how everybody gets all mad about what you said, geez." Ok it's not funny, and if you want attention don't be a jerk to get it!

One thing that drives me crazy is when a bunch of people say, "Oh yeah, that geometry class we took was SO easy " and I"m having the hardest time in the class just passing. And I even have a good teacher. I'm not the only one in my class having a hard time with it, but it gets on my nerves when other people say, "Yeah, I didn't even have to study for that class!" and I study a ton for it. Bah. And by the way, I've heard some people say they hardly studied or did homework in college at all and I think, how is that possible!? What is wrong with you?! I have to put soooo much time into because either it's something that is due to turn in, or I don't get the information and really have to study it. Well congrats to those who don't have to study, but boy some people do! Including me!

It's so true that in college you learn "Why" most of the time. Why things happened, why they work the way they do, etc. Most of the time that's frustrating because I don't care why, I just know that's the way it is. For example, in geometry yesterday we had to go over why the formulas for area and volume go for each one. Instead of just plugging in some numbers and solving the equations, we had to know where the equation came from, and why it worked. And it's not just for cubes, because that's easy, but also for pyramids, prisms, spheres, etc.

Summers!

It's the same day but I'm writing again!

For as long as I can remember, I either baby-sat all summer or worked at a job. I've had youth trips, mission trips, and family vacations thrown in there as well, and the past 3 summers I've taken a summer class too. This summer I'm baby-sitting full time again. Next summer I'll probably have to work again.

I have to teach in GA for my first 2 years and I'm trying to sign on for another 2, but some day I'd like to live in Savannah and/or the beach somewhere, like Myrtle beach or on the coast of GA or something.

Oh, and some time in the next few years I want to go to Disney World again - I went when I was 10, but don't remember anything about it sadly. :-( And I've never been to Epcot, MGM, etc. so I want to go to those, and back to Islands of Adventure because I've been there twice on youth trips and LOVED that place!! It's so neat because of all the cool stuff there - it's more than just roller coasters like six flags is.

Say cheese!

Sometimes we develop interests and hobbies as a kid, and sometimes we grow into them later. With photography, I think it started off when I was really little, but I enjoyed it a lot more when I was older.

I had a littl black plastic camera when I was little that really did take film - you had to open up the back, line up the film just right, and turn the wheel after very time you took a picture so the film would advance. :-) That sounds so funny now. Then I'd take it to the store and have to wait 2-3 days before it would come in. I remember bringing my camera to the last day of school in 2nd grade and only taking like 2 pictures because I was worried that cameras were toys and the teacher would take it away from me.

When I was in middle school, I brought the disposable cameras everywhere. They were always green. You still had to turn the wheel to get the film to advance, and then turn in the camera when you were done, but by then you could pay extra to get them done within a few hours. I always paid the extra with my baby-sitting money because I was so excited to get the pictures back. I mostly just took pictures when I went on youth group trips. Of course there were always pictures that weren't good because we couldn't see them like a digital camera.

In high school I just copy and pasted everybody else's pictures onto my computer - a lot of people had digital cameras but I didn't, so I took the pictures others had taken. My parents had one, so if they were around I could use it, but I wasn't allowed to borrow it because it was a big deal. My senior year in high school I got my first digital camera for Christmas - that was Dec 2005 - and that's the one I still have. It's small, and the megapixels aren't as good as the newer ones are, but it still takes great pictures. For the longest time I only had an SD card that held 100 pictures, and I didn't like deleting the pictures even after I put them on my computer, but finally got one that holds a few thousand when I went to Kenya last summer.

Since my senior year in high school, I've taken my camera  alot of places and now that I have a bigger purse I usually just keep it in there and take pictures whenever I feel like it. Sometimes it keeps me really entertained when I would normally be bored, and sometimes if I leave my camera at home for a big event then I'm really sad about it. Some day, after I've taught for a few years, I want to take pictures for a side job. Not weddings, but for things like events, senior pictures, engagement pictures, family pictures, etc. and get paid for it. I'd of course need a nicer camera! But that would be a lot of fun.

I especially like seeing old pictures of people when they're little - seeing how much they've changed or how buildings have changed. It's so much fun to me. I used to get my elementary year books and compare each person to their middle and high school pictures, to see how they changed over time. Yes, it was a rediculous, time consuming thing, but it was so fun! Especially when I had my 5th grade year book and didn't see those 2nd grade kids until I was in 12th grade and they were in 9th. To comapre their pictures was so fun because people just looked so different. I was always happy to see the dorky kids get prettier / more handsome.

By the way - who came up with "say cheese!" because I don't like it. I never say cheese for pictures, I just smile.

Some spring pictures I've taken recently (click on them to view them bigger):

Candy, Easter, laundry, etc.

I hate when I'm tired but shouldn't take a nap because I have other things to do or not enough time to nap. It's hard not to give in and just sleep!!

So when I was younger, maybe 11, my mom got me a Nancy Drew computer game for some holiday (Christmas? birthday?) and I thought, "What? Mom, I'm too old for that!" but I played it and LOVED it and it was a hard game! Well they make 2 new ones every year, and have 22 now! I still buy them and play them and they're AMAZING! Call me crazy, but they're super hard and I always have to look for walkthroughs online. You get to do tasks and go through the whole story, find clues, solve things, talk to people, walk around and snoop, etc. I can't even explain it, but it is so much fun. I just bought the newest one this week. I've also been watching, "Friends" still, all the way from season 1 on up, and am at the beginning of season 9 right now. There is 10 total. I'm borrowing them from some friends at church.

Today is Easter! It's always fun when church is full, the singing is loud, and you get to see people you don't normally see. I wore my Easter dress from last year that I've only worn on Easter and will wear at my roomate's wedding in July. There's just not any other occasions where we where dresses anymore. I used to every Sunday when I was in elementary school because that's the kind of church it was, where you always dress up. But not anymore. I love to get dressed up sometimes, but these really cute shoes I have gave me blisters and it hurt!! On top of that, it's dissapointing when you look really nice and you want somone specific to say you look nice but they don't, and they just barely say hello to you.

I've found Cadburry eggs (the chocolate candies) to be really good this year. I never really had them much before, but have bought a ton this time. And I feel like I've gained 10 pounds in the past 2 weeks because of it, haha. All of our holidays are so centered around candy and sweets - Valentines candy, Easter candy, Halloween candy, Christmas candy- and big meals - Thanksgiving, Christmas, 4th of July, Birthdays, etc. No wonder our country is obese. Maybe if we focused it more on healthy food! hahaha. Fruits for Easter, vegetables for Thanksgiving......come on people, let's start a new tradition of healthy food at the holidays so we don't all become as big as a barn! :-)

I don't know why I hate doing laundry so much. In other countries they don't have washing machines and dryers - they have to wash it by hand in a basin or the river, and then hang them on the line to dry. For me it's not even the washing and drying I hate most, it's the putting the clothes away. I only sometimes fold clothes that go in my drawers, but it's also frustrating when they don't all fit, there aren't enough clothes hangers....here I am complaining that I have TOO many clothes for the amount of space I have and yet I'm tired of most of what I wear. It puts things in a different perspective when you go to a 3rd world country. It makes you catch yourself more when you complain about stupid things or just how much stuff we have.

Last night I was shaving my legs and cut the back of my let near my ankle, and it just stung a little but I didn't think much of it, until a minute later I looked down and the water was red because I was pouring out blood. Geez! You wouldn't think your legs would bleed that much when you can't even feel it! I couldnt' make it stop, so I qiuckly finished and got out, putting pressure on it, and it took forver to stop and had to put a bandiad on it so it wouldn't start up again. It was crazy.

So yes, this is how my brain works - it jumps from subject to subject without a connection. :-)