Moving Day.

Today was moving day. I dressed appropriately...

I had that lovely feeling in the pit of my stomach as I drove to Thompson--you know, the one you get when something is just not ok. I prayed and shed a few tears and geared up for what was ahead. My mom drove in a separate car (already packed with stuff from home to take to Warren), and we met Sam and Wes at Thompson. Unfortunately, my principal from last year was away at a meeting, but I got to say hi and goodbye to my secretary, VP, and counselor. It was quite difficult.

Luckily, the district had already moved most of my stuff, so we just had a few things to load into our cars before saying our final goodbye...

(Bye, bye Thompson :/ )

We caravanned over to Warren where I met my new secretary and custodian and got my keys. Good news, folks, I got the classroom I wanted (that was a bright spot in the day). We unloaded the cars with the help of my custodian (he's awesome--he already moved all my other stuff into my room for me) and moved all the stuff into my new classroom. To say that I was overwhelmed would be an understatement.

(Before picture)

I seriously just stood there because I had no idea what to do or where to start. Insert awesome custodian again--he just started pulling down desks and lining them up and moving things around for me. As you can see in the picture above, the front two bulletin boards already have blue paper and border up--works for me. 

Sam started cleaning out some drawers, Sam and Mom unloaded some workbooks and notebooks and put them into a cupboard, Wes and I started opening boxes and taking stock of all of what I had. The bulletin board back by my desk was not covered, so Mom and I went to the office to get some paper and we covered it. I put a few things up, but we didn't stay too long because Mom has one of those lovely summer colds. 

We got a few things done, but it's still a huge mess and there's still SO much to do. Hopefully I'll put a good dent in it tomorrow and not remain too overwhelmed. 

Here's the bulletin board Mom and I put up today and the few pictures I arranged by my desk.

The dark blue bulletin boards were already there--the desks are now down. 

 

Still a MESS!

 I need to unpack ALL of these boxes....uggg.

Of course, I had to bring the giant Rainbow sandal even though I no longer have a beach theme. 

Tomorrow I shall unpack, arrange, hang posters, and try not to freak out. I'm pretty good at freaking out. 

I Like Taking Pictures :)

I would never say that I'm a photographer...but I would say that I love taking pictures. I'm a big fan of my little Cannon point and shoot. Unfortunately, a few months back, about 2-3 years of pictures got deleted off of my computer (a few tears were shed over that), but I still have a few gems I'll share with you here.

Presenting...a few of my favorite pictures (in no particular order):

 Bubble Gum Alley in SLO

 San Clemente (I love the clouds in this one--and those are my fav. palm trees)

 4th of July in San Clemente

 Nastia Liuken (when they went on tour after the 2008 olympics)

 Puerto Vallarta--love this place!

 More Puerto Vallarta

 Up on my grandparents' ranch

 The camp up at the ranch

 Sunset up at the ranch

 The Buda Castle in Budapest

 What's wrong with this picture? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? 

 I had a lot of fun taking this one. :)

 Crook Hall in Durham, England

 Notice the moon on the bottom right--love it!

 Cabo sunset 

 Alaskan sunset (my favorite by far)

 Garden in Victoria, Canada

Water drops in my front yard 

Which one is your favorite??

I Can Cook? Well, I'm Trying to Learn...

After visiting Nicole this summer, I was inspired to start cooking more. My mom and I are big fans of Trader Joes already made goodness--our schedules are never the same, so cooking for one is difficult. However, I need to become more domesticated if I ever hope to be a wifey one day. ;)

I decided to start practicing. Last night I made this delicious bit of goodness:

I got Trader Joes garlic and herb pizza crust, mixed together some pesto and alfredo sauce, added artichoke hearts, sundried tomatoes, olives, and cheese, and out came this!! It was YUMMY! It's not exactly "made from scratch," but I'd say it was a good start.

Then tonight, I made these bad boys (my favorite food I might add):

Chicken Enchiladas! I know it just looks like a glob of cheese, but there really is a lot of goodness down in there (I'm saying goodness a lot, aren't I? Sorry). Nicole made these when we were in Durham, and I loved them! I asked her for the directions a few days ago and I actually did it! My house smelled delectable all day long as the chicken and salsa bathed together in the slow cooker awaiting their fate in the enchiladas. I quite enjoyed them, and I'm sure I'll be enjoying them for days to come--I love leftovers!

I probably won't be cooking tomorrow since these bad boys will last me a while, but I'll keep you posted about any more cooking adventures in the future.

AND, any easy and delicious recipes you want to share with me would be MUCH appreciated! I'm  serious...see that comment button down there? Click on it, write down your favorite recipe, and imagine a big smile coming to my face. If I can actually make it, I'll write about it on here and you'll be famous! Imagine the possibilities...

Progress!

Update on the big move:

I'm ALL PACKED!

Thankfully, Sam joined me this afternoon and we finished sorting, packing, taping, labeling, and arranging.  Thanks Sam!

On Monday (hopefully) the dudes from the district will come move the boxes and some furniture. We'll move the rest.

 Here's the stuff that we'll have to move--yup, the giant Rainbow sandal is coming with me!

 Here's the stuff that the District dudes will move for me (thanks guys!)

 "Move to: Warren" Still seems strange...

My room looks so different... bye bye pretty room

Let's all hope the moving, unpacking, and redecorating goes well! 

The Big Move...

Every time I see this in the stores these days....

....my stomach does a bit of a flip flop (or a big flip flop). It's hard to believe that July will be over in three days.

A couple days before I left for Europe I got word that I'd be moved to a different Junior High this fall--Warren (I was at Thompson). I'm not sure I can explain all of the emotions that I experienced with that news: shock, fear, intense sadness, anxiety, burden, hope, slight excitement. I cried for quite some time because I absolutely loved Thompson. I had such a deep love for my students, and I couldn't imagine not seeing them next year or being able to say goodbye to them. I was burdened with tearing down a room, packing up all my stuff, moving it all, and setting up a new room. I was anxious and fearful of getting to know a new staff and new procedures. I was worried about having to "prove myself" all over again.

Yet, over and over, God gave me slight glimpses of hope and He continues to do so. For example, I have known the principal and the librarian for years and they are both wonderful people. Small things like that help me to get more and more excited about the move (I wouldn't say I'm jumping for joy, but I'm not completely dissolving in tears either). Warren is an amazing school, and I am sure I will love it once I get everything together and the year is in full swing.

After I found out about the move, I left for Europe and it was fairly easy to ignore. When I got back from Europe I went to Mexico and it was still pretty easy to push aside. Now, however, I am back home and I need to get moving on...well....moving....

That leads me to today. I decided to go back to Thompson for a while this afternoon to begin tearing down my room and packing up. As I drove over there, I couldn't stop thinking about my kids, and I lost it for a few brief minutes (ok, I know I just said that I wasn't still dissolving in tears, and I'm not, this was different--haha). When I got to school, I found our amazing janitor to open my (old?) room, and I held it together pretty well as I went in and turned on the air.

I'm really going to miss this beautiful place...

(I took some stuff down before the end of the year, so it did look even cooler--just sayin')

I was pretty overwhelmed as I just stood trying to figure out where to start. I decided that music was the way to begin, so I untangled some cords and got my phone hooked up to my speakers--now I was getting somewhere (thanks Pandora)! I also knew I had to clean up some files on my computer, so I took care of that next. Fortunately, one of my teaching partners from last year, Diane, and her three girls came shortly thereafter and it was much easier to just be on "work mode" and forget the emotion behind what I was doing. 

We cleaned and sorted and took down and organized. If I stopped to think about what I was doing, I would have lost it, so I didn't stop. My room began to look less and less beautiful...

 (No more flip flop board...)

 (I couldn't bring myself to take down all my pictures yet.)

(What a mess...)

Diane and the girls stayed for a couple of hours before leaving for track practice (thanks so much for your help!). I stayed and worked for a while on my own, but became completely overwhelmed at one point and just had to leave. My room is still a wreck, but it's coming along. Sam agreed to come help me for a while tomorrow afternoon--thank goodness because I'm not sure I can face it on my own. 

Have I mentioned anywhere on here that I hate packing? Well, I hate classroom, emotional, overwhelming, not-wanting-to-go packing even more. Lord, give me strength. 

Before I close, I need to say a few things:

1. I am completely sad to leave Thompson because I love the school and the kids even more. 

However,

2. I am so grateful to have a job.

3. I totally trust in God's sovereignty and I know this is exactly where He wants me to be. 

4. I had been praying about a potential move since the end of last year (knowing that it was an outside possibility), asking God to put me where He could use me the most. 

5. I'm sure I will come to love Warren and be all about the Wildcats, but I also know that it's alright to be sad right now. 

Back to work tomorrow....there's much more to be done. I'll keep you posted with pictures and stories as the process of packing and moving continues. 

Your Team!

I really have no idea how this "game" originated, but it's been going on for quite some time. My brother and his friends began putting odd people they'd see out and about on each others' hypothetical "teams." This, my friends, can be quite hilarious. Since it's gone on here for years, I thought that creating a European team would be no less than epic. So, I (as candidly as possible) snapped shots of candidates that I put on my brother's (and my friend Aaron's) team. When I returned to the states, I developed said snapshots, put them in a nice neat album, and presented my brother and Aaron with their team, European Edition. I'll share some of the gems with you here:

 Mr. Overalls

 Mr. and Mrs. Short Shorts and Puffy Hair

Mr. Buck Tooth Tourist

 Mrs. Dressed from Head to Toe on a Hot Day

 Mr. Mullet Boy

 Ms. Make my Hair Match my Leggings

 Mr. Brightside

 Mr. Mismatch Mania

 Ms. Blue Hair Weird Tights

 Mr. Ghost Sun Bather on a Cool Day

 Ms. Panties on the Wrong Side of the Pants

 Mr. Bag Pipes gone Wrong

 Mr. Whoopie Cushion on a Train

 Ms. Inflatable Head

Ms. I Like to Show the World my Bra

There's plenty more where that came from--I'm pretty sure the "team" had over 60 people on it. :)

Life goal: Never make it on anyone's team!