Hello, November.

I can't believe October is already over, I knew that it would be quick since I was so busy, but it still flew by. 

Now that it's November all that I can think about is CHRISTMAS! It is my favorite holiday by a mile and now I feel like I can start Christmas shopping and putting a little more thought into it since it's not that far away. I have a couple presents already and I don't even feel bad about it. I like spreading out the shopping so I don't feel like I'm spending a ton of money at one time. 

I spent the last week in Kentucky at the National FFA Convention and it was a blast. The best part of these trips is watching these students experience new things and having once in a lifetime experiences. We ate a lot of delicious food, saw some great sights like Churchill Downs and the Louisville Slugger Factory, and got to go to a Maddie and Tae + Jake Owen concert. It was fabulous. 

My goals for this month:

1. Be able to run 3 miles without stopping. (I ran my 5k in October, but it wasn't great and I am running another one in December)

2. Bake pumpkin muffins 

3. Spend more time reading my Bible, make it a daily habit 

Back to reality tomorrow. I'm excited to see all of my students again and get back into the swing of things. Along with counting down to Christmas, I may or may not be counting down to winter break... :) 

Nationals Bound!

My alarm clock is set for 2:30am and I will be heading to school to meet my students and then we are off to Louisville.

We will be hanging out with 60,000 friends at the National FFA Convention. 

This is always one of my favorite weeks of the year, let's hope this year lives up to my expectations. 

Weekending: Lack of Sleep

This weekend was crazy and I have very little pictures to prove it.

Friday night we had an auction for FFA to raise money for our students going to Nationals. We are taking 13 students this year and this year's auction was a hueg success. We raised enough money to cover the rest of the trip (flights, hotel, registration, rental car) for all of them! We made over double what we did last year. As I was counting the money I could not stop smiling. The parents and booster group have worked so hard to put this auction together and all of that work was totally worth it.

After the auction ended, we got in the car and drove 3 hours to Eastern Washington to where my husband is from. We arrived around 2am. Thankfully one of his friends came with us and they stayed up and chatted while I crashed in the backseat. I didn't sleep much, but I didn't have to feel guilty after not walking to talk the whole way. I was drained.

We spend Saturday at a marching band competition. There were a ton of great groups, saw a lot of C's friends, it was a fun time. We were in the stadium or walking around with groups warming up from 10am - 10:30pm. It was a marathon day.

We drove home pretty early on Sunday which was great so then I could clean up the apartment, do laundry, and relax on the couch. I needed a restful afternoon after the busy weekend.

I don't have too many meetings this week so I am really excited, we also don't have school on friday. Woo!

Linking up with Meghan! && Bianca!

Five on Friday: October Favorites!

I am so excited about this month! There are so many fun things going on that I have to look forward to. 

1. Halloween fun with friends! 

One of my friends asked if we can go to the corn maze and have a Halloween-y party and of course I agreed! I am not a huge fan of scary things, but as long as we go to the corn maze during the day time I am totally down. Plus, who doesn't like a reason to get together with friends?

2. WSU Homecoming!

My husband and I are heading back to our college town for the homecoming football game in the middle of the month. Both of my roomates are also going with their respective significant others, as well as a few other friends. Even though we graduated 3 years ago it feels like no time has passed and I am looking forward to the hitting our favorite places in town and cheering on out team. 

3. FFA National Convention

As part of my job I am an advisor for our school's FFA chapter and I have the privilege of taking 13 students to Louisville for the National Convention. They are all competing while we are there so that is stressful, but also so rewarding. 

4. Growing in Faith

I am in a bible study group and we just had our third meeting and I am really enjoying it. I was in a small group before through my church, but this is a little more challenging and I like being with a new group of women. I also am meeting with my Pastor next week to talk about being a leader for a teen group which is both intimidating and exciting. I'm just praying for guidance and that if it is meant to be, I will be a good fit for those girls. 

5. Wedding Planning.

If you've been reading my blog you know that my wedding has already passed, but I am a bridesmaid in 3 weddings over the next year so there is still plenty of planning to be done. One of my friends has her first dress shopping appointment this month and I can't wait for that and all of the other fun things that will be coming up.

Linking up with Amanda!

Weekending: See ya, September!

Can anyone believe it was the last weekend of September? Holy moly, this year is flying!

Friday night I took some FFA students to a leadership camp. I was in charge of the group who was running it so it was a little stressful but it went really well. All of the students (about 60) seemed to have a great time and I had some quality time with the advisors. Sleeping in a cold cabin isn't my favorite, but we woke up to a beautiful sunny day so that was lovely.

That afternoon I went to a marching band competition with C. His group did awesome and he was super happy. I love music and marching band, so it was a lot of fun being at the competition. The first of many this year, you'll be seeing a common theme for my Saturdays until November. 

Sunday we went to the horse races with my mom and her boyfriend. It was a lot of fun and we all won! I left with like $30 more than I went with and my brothers girlfriend won $50 on a 10 cent bet, it was super exciting. We usually go a few times each year but this summer with the wedding we were so busy that we only went once. It was nice to go one more time before the season ends.

This week isn't too busy so I am looking forward to it. I need to start running because I'm supposed to be doing a 5k at the end of October. Let's see if I can find the motivation. 

Linking up with Meghan! 

Year Three.

I started my third year of teaching and officially completed my first full week last week! I am teaching four periods of freshman Biology and one period of upperclassmen in Environmental Science.

I am really excited for this year because I want to be more dedicated to my teaching and focus on making my classroom more engaging. Last year I was working on my masters and planning a wedding on top of teaching and all of my duties as an FFA advisor so I was stretched pretty thin. This year I am married, my masters is complete, and I can focus purely on my teaching and FFA program.

I've already made a couple of changes and my biggest one was enforcing my cell phone rules. No phones in my classroom, period. Before the bell, in the last minutes of class, not at all. I was afraid of more push-back but so far the students have been respecting the rules. As long as I don't cave, I think it's going to be a great change. I want my students to interact with each other, as opposed to turning right to their phones when they have a few minutes to spare.

I haven't been on this blog often since the wedding, but I'm going to try and do better as well as start working on my Wedding Wednesdays to recap my special day.

Weekending: Sunshine & Soccer

I had a fabulous weekend! We didn't have too many plans which always makes it that much better since I actually have time to relax. Here's what we did!

Friday night was our FFA end of the year banquet. The kids did an awesome job recognizing everyone for their accomplishments this year. They also announced the officer team for next year and it is a great group, I am excited to see what this next year brings for our chapter.

Saturday morning C and I went to help my mom with yard work. Her and her boyfriend have been spending the last few weekends completely transforming the backyard at her (my childhood) house for our rehearsal dinner. It looks AMAZING. We went and helped them move bark which was the final step. I am praying for a sunny day so that they get to show off their hard work. I will be so devastated if it is rainy but I can't even start thinking/stressing about that.

I spent the rest of Saturday finishing and stuffing my invitations. They are going in the mail today! 

Sunday C and I went up to Seattle for Sounders Game. This was my first professional soccer game and it was a lot of fun. My cousin lives in a building near the stadium and we went up there to BBQ and hang out before the game. It was a great day, perfect weather, and they won!

Back to school tomorrow. Only two more full weeks! I'm so ready for summer.

Linking up with Meghan! 

Five on Friday: Looking Forward

Spring break is over! :( I'm so sad, but I am going to make this day great and enjoy the weekend. Instead of being negative I am going to think about five things that I'm looking forward to this spring. 

One. 

My bridal shower! 

This is happening in June and I can't wait! My MOH is the best and I know she is planning something wonderful. Also, the mother of my flowers girls was actually my 6th grade teacher and then I was a nanny for her girls and she is almost like a second mother. I know that she wants to spoil me so it is going to be a wonderful time. Plus I will get to see all of my friends and family, I'm so excited! 

Two.

Memorial Day with my best friend! 

One of my best friends lives in Oregon and is attending graduate school so I am going to spend the long weekend with her while C goes and teaches drum corps. We are planning lots of shopping, a day trip to the beach, and probably seeing a movie. I can't wait to just hang out with her and spend time together. 

Three.

State FFA Convention

Myself and my partner teacher will take about 30 students to our FFA State Convention in May. We will be staying in the dorms and the kids will be competing over the span of 4 days. It's high stress, but also high energy and so rewarding. I love watching the kids get excited for FFA and have fun running around a college campus for a week. The lack of sleep and stress is so worth it. 

Four. 

Celebrating our Anniversary

*us on 5/30/09

C and I will celebrate our last 'dating' anniversary in May. 6 years and going strong. I think the date will always be significant to use even after we get married. LOVE LOVE LOVE. 

Five. 

The Last Day of School! 

I feel like a terrible teacher saying this, but the last day of school is going to be a GREAT day. I love my kids and I love teaching but I have so much to look forward to this summer that I'm so ready for it to be here. 

Happy Friday, Linking up! 

Update!

I've disappeared off of the blogging radar the past month and I wanted to do a little update on things that have been going on.

Wedding: Wedding planning is great! Things are coming together and I am as excited as ever. My spare room is exploding with things that I have been buying and it's pretty much all I want to talk about. The countdown is at 132 days! I will be sharing more on Wednesday and the Wednesday's following.

Grad School: I am working on my capstone! I will be walking at graduation on May 2nd which totally blows my mind. I might not be completed done with my paper by then but I should be getting close. I have to have it submitted by the middle of June. I can't believe I am actually going to have completed my Masters Degree in a year.

School: Teaching has been great! My kids are only driving my slightly crazy but thankfully we have spring break in a week. My FFA students have been working hard and we have our district competitions this week. After those we will be preparing for State Convention in May. Even when I am exhausted and swamped with life I am so thankful for such a rewarding and fun job.

Healthy Living: I have been failing miserably at eating healthy and working out. I can do so well for a month and then I totally fall off the wagon. I am going to start again (for real) either this weekend or next week when spring break starts, and I will be making myself work out daily. I'm down to 2 months before my dress fitting so there really isn't any time to mess around. I don't need to lose a ton of weight but since I'm going to hawaii for my honeymoon and planning on running around at my bachelorette party in a tutu, I want to be feeling good about myself.

That's pretty much it. I'll try to be more consistent with writing, but thanks for stopping by to catch up!

National Champions.

I've been gone for a week because I was with my students at the National FFA Convention. We had 15 students who were competing in the National Agriscience Fair with their research projects based in various areas of agriculture. We also had a team of four students who were competing in Environmental and Natural Resources. I was the coach of that team and they are really special to me. We've worked so hard had put many hours into winning the state contest. That gave us the opportunity to represent Washington at Nationals and they came here and blew everyone else out of the water. This team made up of all students who qualified in their sophomore year of high school, competing against seniors and fist year college students came out on top.

The joy on their faces when they were announced as winners was priceless. I cried tears of happiness. They fought through exhaustion, stress, near freezing temperatures, and they won. I could not have been more proud.

The memories that these students made during this convention will last a lifetime. This is only my second year of teaching and I just coached a team that won Nationals. Some people say that this means all of the future years will just be disappointing but I see it as a chance to instill that drive in all of my students. I believed in these kids and look what they did. If I keep believing in my kids, who knows what the future holds.

Rainy Retreat

I spent the past two days leading a retreat for our FFA chapter officers. FFA is a national student leadership organization that I am an advisor of and we have 6 officers who lead the chapter. The officers get to pick where they want to go for the retreat and while we are there we work on planning the upcoming year, goal setting, and they have the chance to bond as a team and have a little fun.

First things first, I'm not a camping kinda girl. I'd much prefer being in a hotel, enjoying a day on the beach, or sitting in the sun. The weather was a little sketchy and we ended up being covered in mud, soaking wet, and huddling under tarps most of the trip. Here is a look at the campsite, notice the high amount of tents for only 8 people. The girls had a 'sleeping tent' and a 'changing tent' ...they didn't even sleep in the 'sleeping tent' since it was raining so they slept in the suburban, maybe they aren't campers either.

Our entertainment for most of the time there was playing cards, our favorite game was spoons. The kids even decorated their spoons because they were that bored.

We had the craziest thunderstorm I've ever experienced and I was a little scared for my life. The thunder didn't just boom, it was rolling thunder that lasted quite a while. Not to mention lightning strikes that completely lit up the sky, and this went on for about three hours throughout the night.

Needless to say, I'm happy to be home, warm, showered, and dry. It's going to be a lazy day on the couch.

Nationals Update!

I am home from Nationals and I must say, it was an amazing trip! It was everything that I hoped for and more. The kids had a blast, I had a blast, and we all left with smiles on our faces. I am going to update you based on the 'hopes' that I posted before the trip.

-We had no issues in the airport and the fact that we flew Southwest was kinda cool because the kids could sit by whoever they want and change on each flight. Our last flight coming home we had some crazy turbulence and one of my students threw up when we got off the flight but thankfully we made it home safe and sound.

-We made it to the hotel easy-peasy! The airport shuttle driver was hilarious and told us stories the whole way there.

-We didn't lose any kids! The first day my partner teacher lose his briefcase (thankfully nothing super important was in it) so the rest of the week we joked that it was my job to not lose the kids. I succeeded and we didn't even have any near disasters. Thank goodness for kids to meet you where they are supposed to, when they are supposed to.

-We had two teams place FIRST in the nation, which means I have four students who are National Champions. We blew the goal of one student in the top 3 out of the water. Each student was in a different division (they take the top 1 per state) so they weren't competing against each other, only students from other states.  I am so thrilled for those students and that accomplishment. Our other students finished 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th in their respective divisions. Not too shabby!

-I'm not sure if it was the time of their life but I think that they all had a wonderful time and based on the conversations we had on the last day, the are all inspired and ready to start working on their projects for next year. It's pretty exciting. :]

I am so thankful to have been able to go on this trip and have this experience with the kids. I can't believe how blessed I am.

Back to school tomorrow, I'm excited to see the rest of my kids!

Dear October...

You are my first full month of school and I hope that you are kind to me. Please help my kids to not be totally hyped up on sugar or totally zombies from lack of sleep as we move into the year. This is the time that 'fall' really hits and I'm excited to see the leaves change color but not excited to see our days dwindle down to nothing. Clearly I'm conflicted on how I feel but here are some of the things I'm looking forward to this month.

1. FFA National Convention! Even though it is only my first year teaching I get to go on a trip to Louisville, KY with 11 of my students who qualified for Nationals! I am absolutely thrilled! Since I student taught and helped many of them last year I don't feel bad about the school paying a ridiculously high amount of money to send me. I went to Nationals as a student and I can't wait to see my students experience it.

2. Homecoming...high school style! My school has homecoming this month and I'm excited for all of the hoo-rah that accompanies it. I love participating in Spirit Weeks and being silly with my kids. It also will be the first home football game I can go to, FINALLY! It will be a fun week.

3. Marching Band Competitions. My boyfriend teaches drumline for a couple of high schools and October means marching band competition season, which means he will be traveling closer to me more often and I get to see him almost every other weekend. :]

4. Fall clothes! I am wearing my first outfit of leggings and a sweater dress today and I love it. So comfortable yet it looks like it's actually cute. I also have been wearing quite a few scarves and my boots with skinny jeans. All of these are total wins. Now I just want to go buy some new boots!

5. Corn Maze & Pumpkin Patch adventures! I am going to go to the corn maze this weekend with some of my friends and I haven't done that since high school. Nothing says October like a pumpkin patch and corn maze!

I hope you all have some equally wonderful things to look forward to this month!