"Adulting"

This past weekend I moved into my apartment (you will get another post with some pictures next month once I am fully settled there). The weekend was crazy and busy, but everything went really smoothly. I will not be living there full time until the end of the month because I am still working a little in my hometown. In this post, I wanted to tell you some of the things that I have found out are different when you become an adult. I have been "adulting" pretty hard as I have been preparing for moving and getting ready to start my teaching job.

Things that happen when you need to start "adulting":
1) You see fun things you want to buy and then you remember you now have to make sure you can buy boring things like rugs for your bathroom and food. This is still exciting to buy all these things, but I have become a lot more thoughtful with the things I am buying.
2) Keys!!! I used to think it was so weird that my parents had so many keys. Since I have finished college I have begun to acquire keys. I have keys for my car, parents' house, work, apartment, mailbox, etc. I also have to remember what doors all the various keys open.
3) Talking to people on the phone. I was getting my internet set up this weekend and I had to talk to various people on the phone about boring adult things.
4) Dealing with boring adult things like getting my insurance set up and making sure all my bases are covered.
5) Bills! Now I have to keep track of when things are due and I have to spend money on things I do not necessarily want to spend money on but I have to. Things like ant traps, insurances, and other bills that my parents always just made sure were taken care of.

I am sure I will find more things and these are just the things that I have thought about in the first week. Even though there are all of the things about "adulting" can be fun too. I know have a space where I get to make decisions. I have a place where I can be independent and choose things. It is exciting to begin working on things for my classroom (it was weird not having to type future classroom). You can expect a post hopefully in the next week (fingers crossed) talking about the first day and a half that I spent in my classroom. If you have any "adulting" tips or tips about apartment living please let me know. I have found part of "adulting" is asking questions and letting people help you.

Dear Little Brother

Dear Little Brother, 

I can honestly say that I do not remember life without you. You came into my life when I was two and a half. When mom was pregnant everyone used to ask me if I wanted a brother or a sister. I can honestly say that I only ever gave one answer and that was a sister. At two and a half I wanted someone to play dress up with and have as a mini me. Then you came along and I was so excited the first time I got to meet you I happily announced that I was the big sister. Then three weeks later I told mom that maybe we could take you back because I really wanted a sister. I am so glad that my two and a half year old self did not have control over this.

Little Brother you have been a huge blessing. We fought and we yelled, sometimes it probably seemed like we barely liked each other. As we have grown up we have gotten closer and I am extremely thankful for that. We can joke around and we can have serious conversations. I love that you ask my opinions about your life.

Some people would say we are extremely alike and they may be right, but I have always thought we are the perfect balance and you have made my life better.

You were rugged, when I was a princess. Because of you I have tried to play street hockey, rolled around in the grass with a air soft gun, I have had countless light saber and nerf gun fights, I have tried to jump my bike on a homemade ramp. I will never forget these memories. You pulled me out of my princess world and I had fun.

You were fearless, when I worried. You pulled me out of my shell. You helped me try new things because when I was younger there is no way I could be out done by my little brother. As I got older I knew you would be there right by my side to catch me if I fell.

You were fun, when I was too serious. You have always known how to make me laugh. There have definitely been times in life where I have needed you to lighten the mood. No matter what mood I am in you have make me laugh.

You have been my shoulder to cry on. I know that you try to put on a front. I also know that when I have been crying you have been there to give me a hug. You try to fix my problems and if you cannot do that you listen.

Because of you I have been to more baseball games than I could ever count. I have spent countless hours in bleachers and lawn chairs cheering you on. I have cheered you on in your achievements and even cried tears of joy in your successes. I have also cried at your losses and wished there was something I could have done to change the outcome.

Oh Little Brother, I want you to have the best life ever. I want you to enjoy life and be happy. I want you to be successful and never truly want for anything. I know this may not always be able to happen, but I want you to know I am there no matter what. I am there to listen and give advice if you want. I am there to bounce ideas off. I hope we never drift apart. Any advice you give to me I know comes from a good place and I can trust you because you always tell me the truth.

Little Brother, now looking back I cannot imagine having a sister. I am so thankful for you. Even though you are younger than me I look up to you. You are so good at connecting with people, you make friends easily, you are smart, you can let go and have fun, you are athletic, you are a hard worker, and people love you. I am so proud of the person you have become.

I love you, Little Brother!

Love,
       Your Big Sister

Exciting News!!!

So, I know I have been M.I.A on here, but student teaching had been going well. I will post again soon and tell you all about my student teaching. But, I have news that is more exciting than anything I could say about student teaching. I have known for about a month, but things have been crazy.

I have a teaching position for next school year! I will be teaching some amazing second graders! It is so crazy! I have been dreaming of having my own classroom and it is finally real. When I first accepted the position it was exciting to know that I had a job, but it also did not feel completely real. This week the school has been sending me a few things to look at for next year. This makes it feel so much more real.

This summer I plan to post quite a bit as I am getting things ready for my classroom. That is so exciting to say!

That is all I have time to write tonight! If you have any advice/resources for a first year/second grade teacher please comment below. If you have any questions about student teaching please leave those in the comments to so I can answer them in my next post which will be coming this weekend.

I cannot wait to share more about student teaching and my first year of teaching with you.

Black Friday Shopping

So, I was planning on writing a post about what I bought on Black Friday. I was planning on doing a decent amount of shopping for clothes and other things, but then my Black Friday plans changed. I am student teaching next semester and during my placements, I have to film myself teaching. Everyone I have talked to said the easiest way to do this is using an iPad. I do not have an iPad, but I had been trying to figure out what I wanted to do. So, in the morning I was browsing deals on iPads and found a pretty good deal on an iPad Air 2. I took the plunge and bought it because I know this will make my student teaching less stressful. This major purchase changed some of my spending a budget plans for the rest of the day.

I still got a few things that I thought I would share. I mainly got presents for other people so, I will not be sharing those on here just in case anyone stumbles across it. I got an iPad case since I shelled out my money for an iPad I wanted to make sure as soon as my iPad shipped to me I would have a case to keep it safe. I got the Griffin SnapBook case. This case is nice because you can snap the iPad and part of the case out of the cover, this will make it easy when I am setting it up to film. I will not have to worry about the case getting in the way. 

The only other things I bought were Bath and Body Works candles. Since they do buy 3, get 3 free every year I stock up on things I need or want then. I still have other things to use from last year so I got gifts and candles this year. I ended up not getting any of the holiday scents which surprised me. I got a Mahogany Teakwood candle, which is the one I have currently been burning and I also bought a Peach Bellini. These two scents are amazing and I may be addicted to them both after I am done burning them.  

Let me know in the comments what deal you got for Black Friday and what apps I need to download that you cannot live without! 

Thankful

With Thanksgiving coming up I thought I would make a post about the things I am thankful for. The first thing I am thankful for is my faith. It has always been something I have been able to lean on. I love that faith is something personal and something that is not done for other people. I get to take the time to study the Bible and think about the things that are done. I am also thankful for my family. I love them and they have always been there for me. I am thankful for the crazy friends that I have. They sometimes drive me nuts, but they also make me laugh. There are endless memories and happy moments with them. I love the professors I have had the opportunity to work with. I have learned a lot from them and have had endless opportunities to better myself as a teacher. I am thankful that my last semester of actual classes is about to finish and that next semester I will be in a classroom working with students every day.

I challenge you to take the time to sit down and think about the things you are thankful for. I would love to hear the things you are thankful for.  

Wishlist

Merry Christmas! I am sure some of you are thinking this lady is crazy it is not even Thanksgiving. I know that Christmas is still over a month away, but I have been getting into the Christmas spirit. I also know that I have had people asking me what I want for Christmas and I have not really had many ideas to tell them. I thought I would create this list and it could give you ideas that you can tell people or give you ideas for someone you know around my age.

Here it goes, these are a few of the things I can think of:

1) Kitchen Stuff- In the next year I will probably be moving into an apartment on my own so it would be nice to have some of the kitchen basics. Earlier this year I got myself a dish set so it would be nice to receive some utensils or pots and pans. Maybe, even a cookbook.

2) Bible- I also want a small Bible that is easy to take with me. I have a Bible that is big and has study notes and I love it! But, I would also like a Bible that is easy to travel with and take to Bible Studies.

3) Bible Highlighters- I also found a set of pens and highlighters that are made for your Bible. I think this would be awesome because I am always worried about things bleeding through my Bible pages. If you click on the title I have linked where you can get the set I like on Amazon. 

4) Jewelry- I also am always in need of simple earrings I can wear. So if the person you know liked Jewelry this is always good. 

My last pieces of advice are to try to listen to the person when you are out together, they may point something out and say they really like it. This is your opportunity to remember that and go back and get it for them. Finally, the older I have gotten I like things that are practical and I can use. So you can always think of life events that are coming up for them and what they might need for that. 

Please leave comments below of what you want for Christmas because I need more ideas to give people and really do not have anymore. So I would love to know what you want for Christmas. 

Life Update

Last weekend, I had Fall Break which was fantastic, but it also feels like it was a super long time ago. This past week has been crazy busy and exciting. A lot of progress was made about the Student Teaching that I will be doing next semester. My school was finally able to hire the person who is going to place us. I met with her and she is very nice. She also told me that my advisor had already told her where my placements should be which is extremely exciting. I trust my advisor completely, so I am looking forward to finding out where I will be teaching next semester.

I also met with my advisor. She was meeting with the six of us in my program who are student teaching next semester. She told us about Portfolio III, which is a project I have to complete before the end of the semester. I am not worried about it because it is mainly just putting together projects that I have already completed in my college career. She also talked to us about EdTPA. That is a huge project I have to complete during my first student teaching placement. I am nervous for that! It is a huge project and it is the last major thing I have to pass to get my teaching license. She also gave us our start date for student teaching. I start student teaching on January 9th. That is absolutely crazy, nerve-wracking, but mainly exciting. I cannot believe that in a little over two months I will be in a classroom every day as a teacher. I know that next semester is going to be crazy and I am going to learn more than I could ever think possible. I am crazy excited and would also welcome any prayers you are willing to send my way. If you have any questions for me to answer about anything, please leave them below.