The latest happenings in the life of Me

It has been about a month and a half since I last blogged and there has been SO MUCH going on since then that I am now about to catch all of you up on. I have pictures, stories, and news to share so lets get started shall we? I will pick up from when I last blogged. Last all you bloggers knew I just graduated and had a birthday celebration... well, about a week after graduation a few of my friends and I had a LOST party. This may not seem a big deal to most of you, but to us...it was the end of a chapter of our lives. haha. McCabe, Bryan, Cassie and I all have watched LOST faithfully and it was the season finale. To celebrate we got together at my house and watched the finale and had Dharma Initiative food (for those of you who know what that is) and I made this LOST cake to go along with the theme of the party. I thought it turned out pretty good.

That very same week I got a very exciting phone call. I had interviewed for a teaching position for a preschool run through the school district that I had really wanted and I got it! They called me and offered me the job and I accepted right away! The preschool is called Even Start and it is a preschool for kids whose parents are learning English. While their parents are at school, they are at my school learning their ABC's and 123's. I have met some of the parents and kids and I am so excited. I think there will be some challanges (as every job has) but I really think I'm going to enjoy it. These people are so humble and thankful and really hard working parents and I can't wait to help make a difference by helping to teach their kids! The preschool is at North Elementary and I have been going in almost every day this month trying to get my classroom ready and set up...it is ALOT of work. You see, the teacher before me kinda left this program in chaos and I swear some of these cupbords haven't been cleaned out since the 1980's ... So I have spent a lot of hours there and a lot more to come but it will all be worth it!

Along with getting my class ready I am taking some summer classes... I know, I'm crazy. As soon as I graduate college I go straight back to school. BUT it is a great deal and I would be stupid if I passed it up. I am getting my ESL (english as a second language) Endorsement. If you get this you are "more qualified", keep your teaching license updated, and your salary will raise automatically by having this endorsement. Now that I have this job with the school district they have this program where instead of paying ridiculous tuition they will pay everything but the class fee's (which is about $45 per class). So for 3 weeks in June I have class from 8 in the morning til 4 in the afternoon everyday. One week down and two more to go! It is actually not to bad...I love learning all this information but sometimes I feel like the picture of this girl below. I just want to get out and be having fun in the summer, not be in class all day. But hey, it will be good for me in the end.

Now...for all of you who know me I am a MAJOR dog lover. They are my favorite animal and I just love them. I had a dog all growing up but when I was about 16 he died. Ever since then I have been wanting to get another dog but my parents won't let me. I was really itchy to get a pet though...so instead I got the lowest possible mantience pet I could think of...a turtle. Everybody meet Duncan...

At first he was pretty camera shy and wouldn't come out of his shell... but once I got him out walking around in the grass he was fine.

Why the name Duncan you may ask? Well I looked up some names online for some ideas and I had a list of them that I liked...Bryan helped me narrow it down and we both liked Duncan the best. Bryan was so nice...he came and helped me pick out the turtle, then built him a cage, and made it a good home for the little guy. This is the picture of the cage Bryan built Ducan. (The only sad thing since getting Duncan is he bit me one day...I guess I was holding him too much...but let me tell you what...it was PAINFUL. I never wish anybody to get bitten by a turtle. We were reading and some box turtles have up to 2 tons of pressure with their jaw during bites. Yeah... it hurt pretty dang bad. I was screaming and crying and my neighbor heard me and thought I was dying. Duncan is a little guy but he sure can be fistey. He was grounded to his cage for awhile after that but I forgave him. And I learned my lesson.)

And last but NOT least.... our trip to Vegas. My cousin works for the Blue Man Group. He does all the lighting for them. I was asking him about it and said how fun it would be to go so he got me 2 free tickets to go see them. So last night Bryan and I took a trip to Vegas to see The Blue Man Group. It was a ton of fun to see them and we had a lot of fun. Thanks David for getting us those tickets! I highly suggest going to The Blue Man Group someday to all of you have thought about it. It is a lot of fun! Here are some pictures of us right before the show next to The Blue Man group poster.Well like I have said I have been keeping pretty busy going into my classroom this summer, as well as summer classes, and I still teach piano on top of that so I keep really busy but I have fun too! That is my life the past month or so and I will update you again soon!