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!

Dear October...

Dear October...

I hope for some sunshine or at least a rain-free afternoon when we take our engagement pictures on the 12th. I'm really hoping our outfits come together and that I like the pictures. I can't wait for these pictures so we can finally do save the dates.

I am taking (along with another teachers and chaperones, of course) 18 students across the country for a National Convention. I pray that things go smoothly (since I'm the one in charge and planning the trip) and that there are no major hiccups. Also if my kids could win a National title, that would be pretty cool.

Please may my students remain nice to me. I seriously love them and they are so sweet, fun, and entertaining. I am building good relationships and a positive classroom environment and I hope that this month I can continue to cultivate that.

I need to get back into the bible. We are in an awesome series at church about the life of David and I need to start reading it daily and making that a priority. I know how much better my life is when I choose to do that so this month I need to put effort into it.

Those are my hopes and goals for this month, what are yours??

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!