Catch Up!

It's not like I have any followers, but sometimes it is nice to just write down the things that have happened in the past few months so that I can remember how much I have to be thankful for. Time goes by so quickly, and I am so relieved that so many things have ended in my life and so many things are about to begin!

First of all I finished my student teaching at my first placement and moved on to Ridgeland twelfth grade. My first week I made a spectacular impression by getting horribly ill. I don't know what it was but my eyes and nose were watering like crazy and my head felt like it was about to explode. So my second and third day I went home sick and my fourth day I called in and skipped class all together. That was horribly embarrassing, but I definitely think my teacher understood. But after Spring Break I came back healthy as ever and learned a lot about the students. Wow what a difference from the seventh grade. I really liked Ridgeland, especially the teachers. They were absolutely crazy and wonderful. I feel like I learned more from them than I actually did teaching the students. The twelfth graders were...interesting. I am far too young to teach students in the twelfth grade. Give me a few more years and then we will see. The students were semi respectful, but I feel that they did really like me, nor did they want to be there. This made it really hard to teach them, but fortunately I only had one group of twelfth graders a day so it was nice to observe my cooperating teachers other classes during the periods I wasn't teaching seniors. That came to an end in May and I was so thankful to be finished, but so thankful to my cooperating teacher for all of her insight and patience with me as a young teacher. She was wonderful. :)

May 7 was the best day so far this year! I graduated from college! Finally! I had calculated in like February that I had to get all A's this semester to graduate with honors from MC. Well I did not know how hard my supervising teacher was grading me, so I stressed out each time she came and about every log I had to turn in making sure that they were perfect so that I could get my honor cord. Lame I know.
Well graduation came, and I picked up the program to look for my name under the honored students but I wasn't there. My heart dropped. I couldn't imagine how I had missed receiving honors because I knew that I had received all A's for the semester. Well I've been told that I don't have to be smart because I'm beautiful, ha, but lucky for me there was another page on the program that I had not looked at, and Praise Jesus, there under Honored Students was my name Grace, Middle Name, Middle Name, Maiden Name, Last Name. YAY! I got a honor cord! My mom, grandparents, aunt and uncle, cousins and second cousin were there from my side of the family, and Travis' parents, sister and grandparents were there to watch me graduate. I love my family. :) After graduation we rushed to P.F Chang's for a scrumptious graduation lunch. It was wonderful. The only thing bad about May 7 was that I had to say good-bye to another best friend. I have this habit about making wonderful friends and then they all move on me. I don't get it. But Elizabeth went home to Indiana that day and I am sad without her. :( No more sushi, OEC, cake balls or her fixing my terrible grammatical errors in multiple papers. (I giver her credit for my A's the last few semesters. Without her I would have been lost.) But we are graduated and I guess moving on with life is what you do after college.

The next logical thing to do after graduating from college is to get a job. Before graduation I had interviewed at Richland, Florence, Puckett, and Northwest Rankin but I heard nothing and was utterly at my wits end about what to do for a job. Little did I know that most schools don't start calling for interviews until the summer. Because the phone calls flooded in. I got offered a job at Richland, Puckett and Northwest Rankin. Puckett offered first and so I accepted the position, and I know that God has me here for a wonderful purpose. I will be teaching seventh grade. Heaven help me, and them!! So far I have met a handful of the faculty and staff and they all seem like absolutely wonderful people. The teacher before me retired so I inherited all of her accumulated goods over the last twenty or so years. Needless to say I have a lot of stuff to go through! I did acquire really great posters and teaching ideas and I can't wait to put them to good use! Send up a prayer for me every time you think about me though because only God is going to get me through my first year of teaching!! Feel free to send me chocolate and Loft clothing size XS to brighten my day though...then again the clothing may not be a good idea if the chocolate keeps rolling in. You may have to roll me out of my classroom at the end of the year like Violet in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

So student teaching, graduation and new job all in the last few months. What on earth could possibly come next? Well we just moved into a new apartment! Our old apartment was in Clinton, and it was in TERRIBLE condition. Not because of us though. Last June we were bringing over stuff and setting up our furniture before the wedding and it started raining. Well I never mind the rain, but when it starts leaking down the wall into my newly rented apartment I have a serious concern! We called the landlord and they informed us not to worry because they would fix the problem right away. We figured that they would keep their word, but not. I do not know what they "fixed" but since June 2010 rain has consistently dripped down the wall in our living room. At first it was not a big deal, but then the ceiling began to dip and eventually a gaping hole became apparent. A little squirrel noticed it too because his foot came shooting through our ceiling a few months back. So we have lived with a hole in our ceiling for the past year and heaven only knows what kind of creatures have had access to our apartment. Well when I accepted the job in Puckett I knew that we would have to move closer to there because it takes a good fifty minutes to get from Clinton to Puckett one way and a two hour commute daily was not going to work for me. Travis and I went to one complex in the area and absolutely fell in love. The apartment practically look brand new and everything seemed like it would work out perfectly. The only thing I was worried about was the price tag. It seemed high for the are and the staff seemed a little shady. Well Travis and I thought about it and because he loved it so much I went to sign the lease and make a deposit on our apartment. Well when I got to the complex not a week after we had looked at it for the first time they had decided to raise the rent a good thirty dollars. I'm sorry but changing the rent from week to week may be what's economically sound right now, but for me charging another thirty dollars to the already high apartment cost broke the deal for me. I went home and Travis and I went apartment hunting again. We discovered another apartment complex about a mile away that was more than two hundred dollars cheaper and almost as nice, just a little bit older. Automatically we knew that we had found our new home. We didn't even have to think about it. So on Friday and Saturday we moved! YAY! Now we have a beautiful two bedroom apartment with no holes in the ceiling and a rodent free attic! I am so excited, and it even has a pool! I still have a lot of unpacking to do, but it is almost a pleasure to unpack because I love the apartment so much. Word to the wise though, if you plan on moving in the next few months go through stuff and throw away what you don't need! I never realized how much stuff Travis and I had crammed into our 600 square foot apartment but it exploded all over the place come packing time! I couldn't get everything packed and it only took 100 trips to get everything out of the new place! I am in the process of going through stuff and getting rid of the things that I do not need and packing up the things that I like but have no use for right now because there is no way that I am ever going through a move like that again! Clutter free is the way to be! Regardless of the clutter I love our new apartment! We are even considering the idea of a puppy. I am  a bit skeptical on this because of all the training and vet bills but Travis and I are such dog people that we talk daily about getting one. It's going to happen sooner or later. Hopefully sooner!

Well that is the last few months in a nut shell. I am not grand at blogging and probably won't write for another six months but I am so grateful for all of the things God has blessed me with. A wonderful student teaching experience, graduation with honors, a wonderful job, and a new apartment. This year is going to be the best year yet.

Student Teaching

     Well the eight of January was the last time I wrote, but hey I've been just a little busy. January 24, 2011 I started a new adventure. I started student teaching! I have had the pleasure for the past five weeks to teach and care for a group of rambunctious, hormonal seventh graders, but I have learned so much! The obstacles have been great, but I have learned a lot about prayer and patience.
    I had the pleasure of being the youngest child growing up, so I never had the opportunity to watch anyone younger than me go through changes. Well, I know now the patience it takes to understand the students. One can't simply say something once and expect the little ones to get it, so I have learned to talk slowly, and repeat often! I have heard and and learned things I never even knew existed, and I have seen the hurt and neglect that so many of the children suffer. My words aren't eloquent, and I can't offer them much, but hopefully my patience and kindness will give them a little glimmer of hope and love that so many are missing at home.
   Not only have I learned how to eliminate run-ons, but I have also learned about stringy sentences, how to form a paragraph, and what makes up the parts of a persuasive essay, maybe a little to much on that one. Now don't judge my blog for these things, because I only preach them, I don't practice them. :) JK! But seriously. Next week my first placement will end and I will move on to the twelfth grade. It will be interesting to see the differences in socioeconomics, but also in attitude, and maturity. Too bad I am getting my twelfth graders six weeks prior to graduation, that should be fun for both of us!!
   I can't wait to find a job and have my own classroom. I have made resumes and plan to hand more out very soon. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Couponing!

Okay so one night over Christmas break, Travis and I watched a television show that truly inspired me! " Extreme Couponing" was the name of the show and it was based around three people that had learned to work the system at grocery stores and essentially got thousands and thousands of products for pennies on the dollar. So being the tight-wad that I am, and just because it's super smart to learn how to shop wisely and economically I have decided that I am going to start couponing as well. I cut out lots of coupons from the Sunday paper, but I haven't really learned how to work the system yet, so I only saved 5.49 with coupons this time around, but hey 5.49 is still saving money! I truly hope that I can learn how to save lots of money, and get things that we truly need as a young, broke couple! If anyone has any tips for me I am welcome to any advice!!

Fall Festivities!

The fall semester started quicker than we wanted, and man were we busy when it rolled around! Travis and his nursing school schedule kept him super busy during the day, and between my work at the library and my hectic night classes it felt like we never saw each other! We enjoyed our weekends together though, and watched far too much television and ate so much food. I discovered a new obsession for crab sticks, from Kroger, the Wal-Mart ones are disgusting, and I also developed a new obsession for goldfish crackers, no I promise I'm not pregnant, crab and goldfish are just delicious!! My friend Elizabeth and I also learned how to make sushi. Well, she actually already knew but she taught me. It sure is nice being able to make my own sushi and not paying $25 dollars everytime that I want something delicious to eat. Travis passed the semester with flying colors, and thoroughly enjoyed his clinical experiences, while I on the other hand, too passed with flying colors and am completely ecstatic to be finished with all of my English classes. Now I just have to ponder over from where to get my masters. Amongst sushi making I also carved my very first jack-o-lantern at Halloween, again with the help from Elizabeth. I have to say I have no idea how so many children make their own pumpkins. I for one will never let my children play with knives!
We visited Starkvill one weekend to see Marissa and Tyler, and we attended our very first Mississippi State football game. Entering the stadium was an adventure all in its own because Travis and I did not have MS student i.d.'s so we all had to be sneaky and pull a fast one at the gate to pass over i.d.s. Cowbells are quite the noise maker and that's all I have to say about that. :)
The Fall Semester ended and we were able to enjoy three full weeks of break, thank God because I needed it!

There's No Place Like Home

After the honeymoon we settled down in Clinton in a small, and when I say small, I mean tiny apartment and began our life as a married couple. With every first home there are little malfunctions and our apartment did not fail in the malfunction department! One day we were sitting in the living room and we heard a huge crash come from our bedroom, and when we ran back there we discovered that our closet had collaspsed. The rails that hung all the clothes, and the shelf above it had torn out of the wall and on our closet floor all of our clothes were covered with sheetrock! Well we got that fixed asap!
The next adventure that occured was a squirrel loose in the apartment. One day we again were sitting in the living room and we heard a crash in our water heater closet. When I opened up the closet a little squirrel was peaking his eyes up at me. Who would have thought that a squirrel could get into our water heater closet? Well it so happens that there is a hole in the apartment roof and we can hear squirrels running back and forth in the ceiling, lol, oh joy! Well Travis protected me, because I absolutely HATE rodents and although we tried to leave a trail of apples to the door to get the squirrel out he eventually just crawled back up the closet wall and out of the hole. We had the maintenance man patch up that asap too!
Amongst the other lovely mishaps in our apartment the biggest issue has been a hole in our living room ceiling. Little squirrels like the put their little paws through the hole, and rain especially enjoys leaking into the ice chests we've positioned under the hole to save our carpet.
It sounds like I am complaining, complaining, and complaining some more, but in reality I love the little place and enjoy having crazy mis-haps add spice to our lives.
I have especially enjoyed learning to cook delicious dinners for Travis, and only wish the counters were a bit bigger so I could spread out my ingredients a little more. Some of our favorite recipes are crawfish etoufee from scratch, stuffed bell peppers and asparagus talapia!!! People always say you get fat when you get married and I'm afraid that's true! I'm okay with it though!

                                                This is Travis protecting us from the squirrels!

                                                      Our cute little Christmas decorations!

Honeymoon

For our honeymoon we jetted off, well more like sailed off to a delightful week on a cruise. During our cruise we visited Nassau, Bahamas, Free Port, Bahams, and Key West, FL. In Nassau we wandered around the little city getting harassed by enthusiastic tour guides interested in only our money, but interestinly enough as fresh as we look, we are experienced navigators and found all the attraactions in the city on our very own and for free! The Queen's Staircase was a very interesteing staircase made out of stone, and carved by slaves back in the day. After a very warm walk around the city we visited our go-to travel destination restaurant, Hard Rock Cafe and ate a delcious, yet over-priced meal and bought his mother a shot-class, not that she's a drinker, she just collects them :)

The next stop on our cruise map was Freeport, Bahamas. In Freeport we spent the day relaxed on a beautiful beach! Free food and beverages, well kinda free, kept us full and refreshed all afternoon, and if it hadn't been for a pesky bumble bee as we were leaving the day would have been problem free. Instead of finishing off the day as relaxed as we had started a bee  ruined my ending and stung me right on the hand. Gladly, it was me instead of Travis though, because he's deathly allergic. Yikes!!

Our final destination was Key West, FL. This was by far my favorite destination and if anyone hasn't been it is a must see! We took a trolly ride around the city and learned all about the wonderful city and the most southern point in the USA. We ate at a cute little restaurant and ate delicious crab and artichoke dip for an appetizer. After that delicious appetizer I didn't even want my huge burger! We ended the day shopping for Christmas ornaments, which I collect, and drank a refreshing, yet again over-priced Key-Lime Pie Float.

Wedding

July 23, 2010 came and went, and with the end of that day Travis and I were man and wife. The wedding was absolutely beautiful, and my wonderful mother was able to work her butt off and pay for it all on her own. What a great mom! Travis and I originally planned to get married May 14, 2011 at Vintage Court in Covington, LA, but after much thought, and lots of open doors we decided that a July wedding fit our lives perfectly! We were married at University Baptist Church and held the reception at The Lake House.  Melissa Mohr and Haley Higgins served as my Maid of Honors, and my attendants were Whitney Clement, Marissa Lucas, Kayla Braddocck, and Katie Honea. My wonderful uncles arranged all of the flowers, and a lovely friend Katy McDermott took the photos with another fellow photographer. For those of you who may have missed the big day, here are some photos from it!