College Football

Over the past couple of years my boyfriend has slowly been making me get more && more into sports. I never would have imagined that I would be the one who is eagerly counting down the days until college football but guess what, I am! The countdown is finally down to one with my college team playing their season opener tomorrow. I was in marching band for all four years in college so you could say I'm pretty invested in my team. Sadly the team isn't quite so invested, going 1-11 my freshman year and being pretty dismal in the three following that. Needless to say, even though we lose...a lot, I still love them.

There are so many things to love about football, being surrounded by friends, wearing school colors, the delicious food! It is always a good time. Tomorrow we are getting together with friends to watch the game and I can't wait! Even though I'm not too hopeful for the outcome, it's all about the experience. ((you can tell i've gone to a losing school for way too long :P)) Hopefully I'll be attending my homecoming game in two weeks! We will see if I can afford to party like a college kid for a weekend when I will probably be drowning in lesson plans and papers to grade.

Are any of you avid football fans? What's your favorite thing about football?

Now I know you were all wondering....

GO COUGS! 

warm welcome

Today was the first day of training with our entire school staff and I absolutely loved it. So many of the teachers welcomed me back and were so kind in telling me that they were happy to see my hired on full time. I feel like my response was always, 'I'm so excited!' But really...I am SO excited.

One of the things that our leadership class does is make signs for all of the teachers. Even though they do it for everyone sometimes they are a little more special than others. I got one last year for student teaching and so I knew they were coming and I was really excited for mine. Well, it did not disappoint. Personally, I think I got the nicest one I've seen. I like to think that a student who really liked me wrote it, not that they just made it all up. haha. Regardless it made me feel good about myself and I wanted to share. I hope your schools do something kind to recognize you and all of your hard work!

Teacher Talk Intro

 I am so excited to be starting this link up, thanks Nicole and Jamie for organizing this!

Alright, lets get down to the nitty gritty. This will be my first year teaching and I will be teaching high school science and agriculture. I majored in Agriculture Education because I was involved with FFA in high school and it totally changed my life. If you know what FFA is, then you probably think of country kids at fairs chasing around their animals. Some of my students are exactly like that but I was in FFA for three years and never raised an animal. I was involved with the leadership aspects and Environmental Sciences/Natural Resources. I could talk about FFA for hours but I'll stop here, moral of the story being that is why I chose Agriculture. In my school that falls into the science department so I'll be teaching 2 periods of 9th grade general science, 1 period of horticulture, 2 period of remedial science for juniors who didn't pass the state standardized test in biology (but passed the bio class). It should be an interesting mix but I'm up for the challenge.

I've known I wanted to be a teacher since about 6th grade. I had a really awesome 6th grade teacher and I really looked up to her. In high school I was in a class called 'Teaching Academy' and it solidified that it was the right profession for me.

I live in Washington State and love it here...despite the rain. haha. I was born and lived in New Jersey for 10 years so I'm an East Coast girl at heart but Washington is now my home.

I was blessed to be hired at the school where I did my student teaching so I am actually not that nervous about the beginning of the school year. The admin team is SO supportive and all of the staff has been so welcoming. I loved my student teaching experience and I am confident that teaching there will be just as wonderful. The school has a culture like you wouldn't believe, everyone is so supportive and kind to one another. It's almost unreal. I couldn't ask for a better place to teach.

I'm most nervous about discipline and planning for my three preps/running a greenhouse/being a club advisor, but i'm up for the challenge!

-J

what's on my camera roll.

I am a picture taking addict && with my iPhone it's just too easy! I was trying to back it up to iCould yesterday and I had 2000+ pictures so it wouldn't work. After going through and deleting some I still have over 1,600...clearly i have a problem. Here are some recent ones to see what's been happening in my life.

Sunset over the lake. I took my FFA Officers on a retreat and the place that we went camping had the most beautiful lake in the middle of the mountains. They wanted to go watch the sunset since we were in the mountains you couldn't see the sunset but the moon started to come out and it was such a pretty sight. I sat and relaxed on the rocks while the kids were doing their own thing, it was such a serene and relaxing place.


My closet! In preparation for the new school year I thought it was imperative that I organized my closet so that I could get rid of non school appropriate clothing and make things more accessible. My best friend helped me and I ended up with this beautiful color coded closet. I'm in loveeee && yet I still feel like I have nothing to wear. Please tell me I'm not the only person with that problem.


I am the maid of honor is my best friend's wedding and we had a little get together for all of the bridesmaids yesterday. We kept it simple and just had a few yummy snacks && some wine but it was such a blast. I hosted it at my house but she did all of the work so I can't take credit for anything. I don't really know two of the other three bridesmaids but we had a blast and all laughed like we have known each other for years. The wedding isn't until next summer but I can't wait for the rest of the fun times that we will have in the months leading up to the wedding. If anyone has any good maid of honor tips feel free to share. This is the first wedding I've ever been in! 

Can't wait for my first Teacher Talk post tomorrow!

five on friday.

Happy Friday! Today I'm choosing to talk about five things that I need for starting my first year of teaching! 12 days until the first day!

1. A school bag! My mom bought me this amazing Coach bag for Christmas last year and I have been waiting all this time to be able to use it! It's HUGE and will definitely fit all of my papers, supplies, lunch, && random other stuff I bring back and forth every day. 

2. My tumbler. Every morning I bring a tumbler filled with crystal light and it's my drink choice of the morning. I don't drink coffee but I like to have something that isn't just plain old water in the mornings. There is always a tumbler on my desk and I am really good and breaking them so I get new ones all the time. My newest one is a pretty starbucks one that was part of a gift that Starbucks gave to all the new teachers at my school. Thanks Starbs! 

3. My planner. I think most of us can relate that if we lost our planners we might lose our minds! During my student teaching I just used a small personal planner and I didn't have a big plan book, I just wrote it all in a notebook, but this year I got a real teacher plan book. I feel like it's still new and beautiful and I'm a little afraid to mess it up but it's about time I started writing in it! I personalized mine with scrapbook paper (it's not the one in the picture) and I really love how it turned out. 

4. Black flats. These are my go to shoe that I end up wearing all the time. I am pretty tall so I feel uncomfortable wearing heels or wedges so I usually stick to flats. I do have some in fun colors like bright red and zebra print but I find that my black ones and the ones that I end up gravitating to the most. Right now I'm struggling between deciding if I should buy expensive ones that will last or if I should just keep buying cheap ones like I normally do. #poorteacherproblems 

5. Cardigans. I am lucky that I already own cardigans in almost every color but that doesn't mean that I'm not always in the market for a few more. :) I always seem to be in classrooms that feel like the arctic and therefore I make sure that I always have a sweater to put on. On those cold winter mornings I love wearing a cardigan and a scarf because I am so cozy and it looks professional! Talk about a win, win! 

Those are my top 5 back to school items! What would be on your list? Happy  Friday! I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend. 

bad hair day.

my mom was off today && she decided that she wanted to get her hair done and she asked if i wanted to get mine done too. free haircut and highlights? of course! i was excited and decided that since i always get typical blonde highlights i wanted to mix it up a little and try an auburn color. i have medium brown hair so i thought doing something dark would be pretty and a good fit for fall. well...it didn't quite turn out that well.

we went to the local beauty school which my mom had been to before so she said it was fine. i also have been to similar types of places so i felt fine about it. then when i sat down i found out that girl that was doing my foil had never done it before, so that was nerve wracking. there were two people who were watching her and giving her tips so i felt a little better about it. but still. if you've never been to a beauty school one of the downsides is that it takes FOREVER. it seriously took almost two hours for her to just get the foils in my hair. my mom came over when they were washing it and she was like wow, thats bright! so that made me nervous. when she finally blow dried it i wanted to cry. it looked terribleeeee. it's so bright and looks like it was dyed, not like they were just highlights. i told her the word 'subtle' like ten times and it's anything but that. with school starting in two weeks i feel like my confidence is totally shot. i know it might just take time to get used to but i'm really not feeling to good about it. i got in my car and seriously had to try not to cry.

alright, that's my hair rant for the day. we'll see what happens.

changing my heart.

Sorry for being gone for so long, the month leading up to school has proved to be pure craziness and I'm sure it will only get crazier as the school year approaches. We don't start school until after labor day so I still have a couple weeks before I finally get to meet all of my kiddos. I cannot wait!

I went on a camping trip this weekend and I was sleeping in a tent on my own. I am not a camper by any means and I am also scared of the dark, this meant that it was a pretty scary time. I found myself awake in the middle of the night freaking out because I thought I heard noises outside and instead of just crying or trying to sleep I started praying. I asked the Lord to keep me safe and he calmed my nerves and helped me get back to sleep. I love being able to turn myself over to the Lord and know that he controls my life. He has it all planned out for me and he will keep me safe.

I have been meeting with my small group for a few months now and I am loving the relationships that we are forming. I'm so thankful to have a group that is helping me to grow in my relationship with the Lord as well as providing me with friendships.

I know that I keep saying it but I will have some classroom pictures soon! I want to wait until everything is perfect though I'm sure that will never happen.

Happy Wedesday!

teacher talk.

I am going to join this monthly link up with Nicole and I wanted to share for any other teacher readers. If you haven't read her blog, Bloom, you should definitely check it out. It's one of my favorites.

So speaking of teacher things, it's been a busy week for me! I have been in my classroom preparing for the year and even though it seems like my list is endless, I'm starting to feel as if my room is my own. One of my friends stopped by today and I told her that if school was starting tomorrow I would be okay with my room, and I think that's a good sign. We still have 29 days until the first day of school so I have plenty of time to adjust things and make my final preparations.

I honestly can't believe that I'm a teacher. I have always wanted to be a teacher and the fact that it's happening right now blows my mind. I work at an amazing school with a supportive staff, I am so thankful.

Worth

For a long time I have been wanting to serve in the Nursery at Church and today was my first day! I was a little nervous since I didn't know what to expect but it was a lot of fun. I miss when I used to nanny and take care of little kids so it was a blast to be able to read them stories and play with them. I think it will be a highlight of my week. But before I volunteered, I listened to a sermon that rocked my world, and that's what I want to share.

Today at church we talked about value and how people measure their worth. Our pastor made an analogy about the fact that something is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. Remember in the 90's when we all bought beanie babies because they are going to be 'worth' so much? Well right now those are all sitting in my garage gathering dust. Anyways the point was that our value is in Jesus. He came to this Earth for us. He was betrayed, abandoned, mocked, beaten, tortured, wrongly sentenced, and eventually killed, for us. Jesus really loves us, all of us.

Jesus died for me. I am a person of great worth.

Jesus died for you. You are a person of great worth.

When you are feeling sad, alone, discouraged, or just having a bad day, try to remember how much you are worth. You are on this earth for a reason, you have a purpose, and you were given this life by our great creator.

FIve on [[a fit]] Friday!

I'm linking up with Darci today for my Five on Friday!

I'm trying to eat healthy and get myself in shape at the gym so today I'm going to talk about my five foods that are my keys to eating well. If I was able to stick to eating these five foods then I probably would have a lot easier time losing weight. It's all those other pesky things that sneak ing (ice cream being the worst) that ruin it for me!

1. Apples! There is nothing like a crisp, juicy, apple. For the past couple of years I have eaten an apple almost every single day and I give that credit for why I don't get sick often *knock on wood* and generally am pretty healthy. You've all heard it, an apple a day keeps the doctor away! My personal favorites are Pink Lady and Golden Delicious.

2. Tillamook Light Yogurt. Very Vanilla! I am a weird person when it comes to yogurt and I only will eat vanilla. I don't like the little pieces of fruit in yogurt and I know that they are TINY but they still gross me out and I can't eat them. So I stick to plain old vanilla and it's delicious. I like Tillamook because it's nice and creamy and I think that they don't use aspertame, so that's always a plus. We know I get enough of that from my diet coke. :P

3. Fiber One 80 Calorie cereal...chocolate! This is a great snack for any time of the day. If I need something to satisfy my desire for chocolate this is a great go-to because I can have a whole handful for only 80 calories! I do sometimes have it with milk and then you end up with yummy chocolate milk. It's not super filling so I usually need something else with it for breakfast but it's still good.

4. Baby Carrots. Let's be honest, I don't actually like carrots. I make myself eat them because I know they have little calories and I feel like they have to be good for me...right? They have the convenience of being small and easy to eat pretty much anywhere. I heard on biggest loser once that if you aren't hungry enough to eat your vegetables then you aren't actually hungry, for me carrots are always the test for that. I save them for after school when I'm starving && then I actually eat them.

5. Luna Bars. These aren't the best and usually if I am counting calories I don't eat them as much just because they have more calories and not a lot of protein. When I'm serious I will stick to 'pure protein' bars but if I want something that tastes a little better then Luna Bars it is! I personally love the Nutz Over Chocolate and Peanut Butter Cookie. Chocolate caramel brownie is also a winner.
That's my fun down on my five favorite healthy foods. What are your go to healthy snacks? I'd love to hear some suggestions! -J