GRADUATION!

I can't believe I'm finally done!! It was a super quick 4 years, and I'm going to miss so many things...amazing friends that I won't see everyday, beautiful Bellingham, not living with my parents, etc.... :) At one point I had thought about not walking for graduation, but I am so glad I decided to! The actual ceremony wasn't all that fantastic, but getting ready for the ceremony, waiting around with friends before, and going out with friends afterwards was amazing! A highlight of the day was getting my name card before the ceremony and finding out I was graduating Magna Cum Laude...eek!!! :)


Woodring's elite hanging out before the ceremony :)


Sarah and I with our wonderful (and empty) diploma holders!

My family helped me out so much in the past 4 years...I owe them so much thanks for all they have done!


Out on town with the beautiful ELED ladies! I will miss seeing them everyday!

Subbing

I am officially a substitute teacher! Since the Evergreen School District wouldn't allow me to get an Intern Sub Certificate (apparently they've never heard of it...), I was able to finish up my final evaluation early and get my real sub certificate in time to sub for my teacher while she was out prepping for her wedding! So far I've subbed 4 1/2 days and I get to sub one more before school is out on the 21st. It will be so nice to have money! Woohoo!!!

The kids and I had a lot of fun while my teacher was out! We made our Christmas presents for our parents and made cards to congratulate Ms. Robinson on her new marriage! We took a picture to put in a frame and signed the mat...it is super cute!

Aren't they cute?! (especially the one with the off centered mohawk! :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends and family!! I love you all so much and I don't tell you nearly enough. With the recent loss of a friend and of a family member, I am reminded not to take anyone for granted. I am thankful to know you all and have you as part of my life. I hope you have a wonderful turkey day! I love you all!

Full Time Teaching!

I started full time teaching this week and it is fabulous! We have 3 days of early release for conferences this week, so it makes an easy transition for me into full days. :) I love being full time and planning everything I want to do! We are doing a bunch of fun stuff this week and next for the fall and halloween season! Last week we created crazy/silly/monster people and today we wrote stories about them...the kids wrote some really creative stories. Next week we are doing some estimating and measuring with pumpkins! I'm really excited! Hopefully I'll remember to take pictures and I can post them!

My class!

Isn't my class adorable?! This was on picture day, so everyone is here and they are all dressed up and looking cute! :)

Crabbing on the Oregon Coast

The last weekend in September we went to the coast with the Gibbens as sort of a goodbye party for Michael, who is leaving soon for the Marines. We had a lot of fun...even with all the rain. We went crabbing, a first time experience for the Gibbens! We found a nice little spot on a pier in Garibaldi. We were there for hours and then finally we caught one "keeper." We also hit up the Tillamook Cheese Factory. We sampled the many yummy cheeses and had a delicious scoop of Tillamook ice cream!

The boys were so scared of those little baby crabs...

Dennis is not a fan of the crab...

Any crabs down there?

Dennis still wouldn't touch a crab...this is as close as he would get! :)

Harvest Festival with the Rods!

The weekend of September 21-23 Mom and I went north to visit family. It was my Grandma's birthday, so we celebrated by going out to dinner with everyone. That weekend was also the Harvest Festival in Stanwood and I got the opportunity to hang out with my cousin and her beautiful baby, Craig. He is such a cute little guy. We also went with their friends "Mame" (Amy) and Gogo (Logan). We had soooo much fun digging potatoes, running through the grass, and going on a hay ride!

Craig picking potatoes!

Karen and Craig with their box of potatoes! :)

Grandma Jojo and Craig walking along the rows of potatoes.

Amy and Logan!

Picking dandelions in the tall farm grass!

Craig and Logan...such good friends!

Bulletin Boards!

In my two weeks of student teaching I have made 2 bulletin boards! It has been so much fun being creative, I just wish there were more time to spend making them even cuter...I guess that's just a teacher's life.

This one is the welcoming bulletin board I made for Open House and the first day of school. It says, "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Look Who's in Our Room!" Thanks for the wonderful idea Sarah! :)

This board is a combination of my class and another 2nd grade class. I don't know if you can tell from the picture, but the board is HUGE!


I've also created a plan for takeover in my classroom (muhahaha...just kidding). I will take over one subject at a time until I have control of the classroom. I'll be full time teaching for 4 weeks, and then I'll give back one subjet at a time until I'm done with student teaching! Here's the plan:
9/17 - Science
9/24 - Math
10/1 - One reading group
10/8 - Two reading groups
10/15 - Writing
10/22 - Full time!
10/29 - Full time!
11/5 - Full time!
11/12 - Full time!
Then I'll slowly give back control of the classroom.

Visiting the Rods

On Labor Day weekend, my parents and I headed north to spend the weekend with my grandparents, aunt and uncle, and cousins in Stanwood. We had so much fun with little cousin Craig - he is such a cute, funny little boy! Here is a glimpse into our adventures! :)

We explored the farm and saw all the cows!

We picked apples in Grandma and Grandpa's backyard!

Craig LOVES to read and LOVES tractors even more, so we read a lot about tractors!! Here Craig is looking at a tractor magazine with mom.


Craig is searching this barn book for animals and tractors...Grandma JoJo is helping him!


We spent A LOT of time on the floor reading and playing.


Craig is checking out the tractor book with my Dad...aka GUS (Great Uncle Steve), we'll see if it catches on! :)

Student Teaching

So far I am loving student teaching. The kids are adorable and overall, they are a really good class! Although I am very nervous to take over and teach on my own. Right now it seems so scary, but I'm sure as we get into more of a normal routine I'll feel more comfortable.
On Friday, we had an assembly with a ton of animals. It was really cool and the kids loved it. At the end they had all the teachers come up and stand in a line, and then they draped a snake on us! Eww! They put one in our arms and one on our shoulders...it felt sooo gross. But we did get to see some cool animals...they brought wolves, an eagle, a giant tortise, some baby cougars, and a bunch of other animals. It's so cute to see how excited the kids get to learn...I love it!

Family Vacation

After camp ended, my parents and brother flew out to meet me at camp. We traveled from the Poconos to Gettysburg to the Amish Country in Lancaster to Philly and finally up to NYC. It was a fun trip, even though we almost killed each other in the car. We saw A TON of history and were able to travel to 6 states (Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virgina, Virginia, New Jersey, New York). It sounds like a lot, but it took us probably an hour to go from PA through Maryland and West Virginia to Virginia where we ate dinner! :)

Happy car times with my mom...


In Philly we rode the duck! It was a tour of Philly from land and water! So much fun...

The only family picture from the whole trip. In Philly on the oldest residental street in America!

Scott and I in New York...

My Summer Job...

I spent this summer working at Camp Canadensis in Pennsylvania! It was amazing...although I might not have said that if you asked me while I was there! :) It was exhausting, but overall an amazing experience. I worked with the Junior Girls (7-9 years old). I have a ton of pictures and will show you ALL of them if you'll let me! :)
Here are a few:

My girls as soon as they got off the bus...along with my two co-counselors! We had an amazing bunk!

Some of the Junior Girl Counselors on Visiting Day! (We got pretty for the parents!)

A usual occurence at camp...it's my fault though, I had an empty lap! Haha! Can you see me under there?

My first Day off in Philly! I saw soooo much history!

Third day off in Atlantic City! It was a beautiful day!

Third day off in NYC! It was amazing...I DEFINITELY need to go visit again! :)

The Beginning...

So here is my attempt to start a blog. We'll see how it goes with updating it and whatnot...but I'll try to stay on top of things so that I can keep you (my fans) updated on my life and current happenings! :) Love you all!