My Mountain is Waiting

Alright...in case you were wondering, I did NOT go blonde.  But I did take the liberty of creating you some examples of what I would look like if I was blonde...or a mermaid....or Hannah Montana (pre cray cray)

Scary right?!  Being a blonde was just never in the cards for me *sigh*

Annnnnyyywho on to more important matters, like the reason I'm finally blogging after almost a whole year!  I've got big new friends!

Big

BIG

news

After a year of teaching in Jerome I was feeling a push to try something new. Brand new.  So I began applying for jobs outside of the Magic Valley.  After lots of stressing, frantic phone calls and a few interviews I am so so happy ecstatic to announce that I will be teaching 2nd grade in Boise this August!

I had an incredible first year of teaching at Heritage Academy and I am going to miss the staff a crazy amount.  I became awfully attached to my kiddos and I couldn't have asked for a better class.  I am gonna miss those stinkers so much it hurts.  I also have a funny feeling that I won't be receiving love letters from my secret admirer anymore. 

 Like what you see? Curious about what else my mystery man has written me?  Click on the pictures to check out some of the other notes I found throughout the year :)

So that's my big news!  I can't wait to start this new adventure in Boise and I am incredibly grateful to all those who offered words of encouragement and prayers while I searched for my new place in that big 'ol city.  

Anything but Hufflepuff

My roommate Sarah is a Hufflepuff. . . .and she's not a fan.


So a little background may be necessary:  All four of us in room 320 are BIG Potter fans, especially Sarah.  But she never joined Pottermore (well it is basically harry potter heaven online) simply because she refused to be a Hufflepuff. Here is a video that explains what she thinks being a Hufflepuff is all about.

 It should be noted that she has concocted an incredibly elaborate story of being an exchange student, too bad that's not accepted on Pottermore.  Anywaaaaaaaaays. . . we finally got her to join Pottermore and it didn't place her in a house!  Huzza!!  So she explored the website till the wee hours of the morning.

So I know what you're thinking. . . or at least what you should be thinking.  "Geeze Rachel, so if she wasn't sorted, why the blog? "  Well my friends, here comes the goods.  

While out and about in town and I get a phone call from an extremely distraught Sarah, and she had been sorted into Hufflepuff.  The only other woman in the store heard something along these lines. . . 

"Hey, whats up?!"
------
"Oh my gosh Sarah, I am SO SORRY, how did this happen?" 
---------
"Really?  But you tried so hard to fight it, I can't believe that happened to you!"
--------
Sarah, I am so sorry, do you need me to get you anything?"
------
"Okay, I will.  And don't worry, you'll get through this"  

Now if you were some stranger and you heard that, what would you think?  It's okay, let your mind wander a little, I think you can get pretty creative.  She did end up asking me to get tortillas and if there was any Hufflepuff chocolate I should get that too.  I WAS INSPIRED!!  So I raced home and starting working on Hufflepuff chocolate. . . how marvelous is that?!   Here are my final creations, please, go ahead and marvel :)

Then came the big reveal!!  She was ecstatic to get her Hufflepuff chocolate, and I am happy to report that she is finally coming to terms with reality and is learning to live day by day.

my first real "teacher" moment

What a whirlwind these past four weeks have been!  Student teaching has been an incredibly challenging and gratifying experience already and I have only been doing it for 19 days (technically) cheesy cheesy but all too true.  To be honest, at first I felt hesitant, because I didn't want to step over the imaginary line I created of how involved I could be.  Oh that imaginary line, I found that I put that darn thing in places I really shouldn't.

 I will get better, it'll just take some time, and a whole lot of courage.

Sometimes I really psych myself out when it come to taking risks. . . if you've known me long enough you have seen this lovely trait of mine rear its dreadful head.  "If you're going to doubt something, doubt your limits".  How inspirational!   Maybe I should start taking this approach in my life, starting now. Okay. . . we'll see how this goes.

Now onto my original thought for this blog, my first real teaching moment.  It happened during the fourth week of school.  Jane (my master teacher) had to go to a webinar for the first 40 minutes of school so I was in there with the guest teacher a.k.a. substitute, but I was the one teaching.  We went through the beginning routine with the pledge and announcements and we started into the work.  No prompting from Jane, no anything; it was just me and the kids, teaching and learning.  It was exhilarating and awfully exciting, but I was rather nervous!  She trusted me to teach these kids something. . yikes.  But I did pretty great if I do say so myself (and I do).   So yes, my first real teacher moment was a smashing success and I look forward to many more great moments, and even some learning moments and everything else in between. 

Name Tag Tutorial

Oh boy!!  My first tutorial! 

So for Gifted Institute we have to make name tags for all of our camper's doors and I was inspired to make these puppies for my girls!!  So here we go. . if I left something out feel free to write it in the comments and I will fix it lickity split.

First off. . . materials
Tulle*
scissors
needle/thread
paper
letters
glue

*I bought a little over a yard to make 13 name tags and I had enough leftover to make +3 more.

Start off by cutting the tulle into long strips.  mine were 3in wide and the length depended on the size of the name.  But a general rule is a little more than an arms length.  After that, tie loose knots to separate the little flags. ( Make one knot for every letter in the name plus one more).

Next, you are going to cut out little flags (triangles) to put all your letters on.  I made a template and traced it on all the paper I wanted to use.  My flags were 3in long x 3.5 in tall, and I found those were just perfect!

Woohoo!  Halfway there!  Next you'll glue your letters onto the flags, I just used a glue stick because I will only need these for a week, but if you want these to last a little longer I would use modpodge or something similar.  You can use stickers or letter from a cricut, which is what I used since I needed to make so many.

Now for the fun part.  I really didn't know how I would go about connecting my pieces together, and finally I decided to use a needle and thread.  But I suppose you could use some strong double sided tape or hot glue.. . whatever you feel most comfortable doing!  (I only did two little tacks on each side of the flag)

Tada!  You name yourself a name tag to hang on a door or a wall or where ever you want to put it!

I plan on doing a whole bunch more of these fun tutorials from my adventures in crafting. . so stay tuned :)

Adventures in the Great Wide Somewhere

GAH!

I have so much to tell you!  And by “you” I mean anyone who reads this little wee blog of mine.

For a while I didn’t think that anything in my life was blog worthy *hang head in shame* but but but now I feel like there are things worth blogging in my life.  Now, stay with me, it’s gonna get a little crazy!

I have been watching WAY too much Netflix since Jess and I put it on our Wii, and one of the shows I have watch constantly is Hoarders. Today I saw a few too many similarities between me and those on the television; I spent the next 4 hours cleaning and purging my belongs, and I must say I really keep a whole bunch of unnecessary clutter with the mentality I may one day need it.  In the end I got rid of enough junk to fill the trunk of my car (both trash and donations).  And as always, about halfway through my project I realized I should have taken before and after pictures. . .oh well, you’re just going to have to take my word that the change was significant.  Now on to other business.

As summer quickly draws to a close I am confronted with the fact that there are many things on my summer bucket I have yet to complete.  Some things are simple, like buy the movie Peter Pan.  Others are bigger commitments, like going to the ghost town or visiting friends in Laurel.  But what can you do? With only a few weeks left of my summer, I’ll do what I can and fit the rest in during the school year.  :)  

Okapis. . . have you heard of them?  They look like a mix between a giraffe and a zebra (how that happened I don’t even want to know) but I find them unpleasing to the eye.  Okapis look like someone cut and pasted different parts numerous animals together.  Nonetheless, well, I don’t know where I was going with my rant about okapis, but there it is.  And a picture, behold an okapi.  

Oh boy, I am dreading Thursday and I can’t wait for it to come!  On the up side, LIZ is coming to visit before Gifted Institute, and on the flip side, we both take the Praxis II.  Once we are finished with our test, it’s off to the fair for the both of us to get in some quality grownup girl bonding time!!  Those of you who don’t know. . . Liz is one of my very best friends and I have missed her terribly these past few weeks.  Going from living with someone and having almost every class together to not seeing them at all was tough! I’m pretty sure I was having withdrawals when she first left.  Do you have friends like that?  Oh, I hope you do, because I think best friends are marvelous.

So. . .That’s pretty much it, were you expecting some bigger news?  If so, I’m sorry to disappoint but my life isn’t all that thrilling at the moment.  But really, that’s okay.  Things will happen when they are supposed to, even if I feel the constant need to rearrange the timeline of my life :)

p.s.  Choose to shine

With an Attitude of Gratitude

There’s nothing like Independence Day to remind you that we have so much to be thankful for.  Not only do we live in a remarkable country chalk full of opportunities, but we are FREE.  Free to practice our beliefs and express our opinions, an indulgence many around the world do not have.  I was also filled with gratitude yesterday while spending time with an amazing group of people I am privileged to call friends.

  I spent the first part of the 4^th with my roommate and her boyfriend having breakfast for lunch and eating a scrumptious fruit pizza that I was inspired to make at 1a.m., and the rest of the day was spent at Hauser Lake with another wonderful group of individuals. We had a marvelous time eating way too much food, riding the Jet Ski and I got to drive the boat!!  It was an extremely liberating experience to not have to stay in one lane or use a turn signal, but do not fear, I was the epitome of caution.

                                See. . . it DOES look scrumptious doesn’t it?  

I am grateful for friends and family not only here, but all over that bring such joy and excitement to my life.  I am grateful for my jobs and the opportunities I have been given that brought me to this very moment.  And now I’m now asking you, what gives you an attitude of gratitude?  

My Stint with Chili’s

Many of you may know that I took a job at Chili’s Grill and Bar the beginning of May, and I was super excited about it.  I never really had much experience with the food service industry so I was looking forward to getting some new skills under my belt. I felt very confident this job would be a great fit for me, I love working with people and I think I am a pretty talented multitasker.  Training alone took two weeks but after that I was a server.  I must add that I admire all those in the food service industry, they have multitasking down to a science.  I felt so overwhelmed my first night by myself, but all of my coworkers were incredibly helpful and got me through it (: .   But every day I still dreaded going into work, and I mean dreaded.  The anxiety would start to build and I would start daydreaming of excuses I could use to get out of work (Of course I never did use them because I would have felt so incredibly guilty my stomach would have eaten itself).  I also had these crazy recurring dreams about Chilis, I’m talking 4 or more a week.  I dreamt that I mixed up orders or came in wearing the wrong clothing.  I began to wonder  maybe this job wasn’t for me.

I decided that before I resigned, I needed to have another job lined up, so I set up a profile on Care.com, but none of the jobs would fit my existing schedule.  It just so happened that last week Connie posted a tutoring job outside her office and I just thought “this is it, this is my sign, my indication to go to another job”.  So blah blah blah, Thursday came and I turned in my letter of resignation to Chilis, and what a peace I felt!!  It was an incredible feeling, although that feeling quickly faded when I called and discovered that there was no need for a tutor anymore because the family had decided to go with a different organization.  

Well, nuts.

Now what was I supposed to do?

Oh me of little faith.

Moments later, I get an email on my phone, it’s from Care.com! Mrs. K. has found me and asked me to call her; she was interested in hiring me to watch her two little girls. HALLELUIA!  So I met with the K family on Friday and we really hit it off!  I am beyond excited that this opportunity came about, it is going to be such great practice and will keep me on my toes.  Now, even though I no longer work at Chilis, I am still so grateful for the opportunities I had there. I met so many wonderful people and learned so much.  But I am even more grateful that this job came at a time in my life when I didn’t need its income to survive.  I already had the Admission office job and really, that would have been enough to get me through the summer if I hadn’t found the nanny job.  I really don’t give God enough credit, but I’m working hard to change that.  I heard on the radio the other day that events that seem to happen just in the nick of time are right on schedule for Him.  They aren’t early nor late, they happen exactly when He planned, so from now on I plan to worry less and trust more, because timing is everything (: