Mesquite Four-Wheeling

As a graduation celebration, Dave and I went down to Mesquite with my family for a few days.  Here are A LOT of pictures from our four wheeling adventures.  Enjoy.....there are many.  :)

 Just a little dusty!  :)

 These teeny tiny flowers were everywhere.  They're only about 1/2 inch tall.

 Group for Day 1:  Aunt Shar, Uncle Leonard, Grandpa, me, Aunt Sue, Uncle Brent, Dad and Carlie.

(Dave wanted to stay back at the condo to read and soak in the hot tub).  :)

Group for day 2:  Aunt Sue, Uncle Brent, Grandpa, Uncle Leonard, me, Mom, Dad and Carlie.

 

I TOLD you there were a lot.  You didn't believe me, did you?

Graduation Memories

 Of course, I HAD to have a picture of the last link on my paper chain countdown.  ;)  YAY!

 Me and my good friend Lindsay from the Teacher Ed. program

 Waiting for commencement to begin

 Just some of the graduating class in Elementary Ed.  It's going to be weird when I don't see these guys every day anymore.  I've probably spent more time with them than I have Dave for the past two years!  :)

 Woot!  All graduated! 

My parents, me and Dave.  

HOLY COW!!!  I'M DONE!  Thanks so much to everyone who helped me through school and for supporting me through student teaching.  The past four months have been super difficult and I'm so glad it's over.

Now, just wish me luck that I'll be able to find a teaching job!

4 years and I'm DONE with school forever!

Dave and I celebrated our 4th anniversary last week on the 12th.  Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures (I know, you're so disappointed).  BUT,  I have a funny story to share.  We got a gift card to PF Chang's a few months ago, and decided that we would use it on our anniversary.  Neither of us had ever been to the one in Salt Lake.  So before we went, I looked up the address online and wrote it down.  Off we went.  We start driving into Salt Lake (and if you know me at all, you know I HATE driving around in downtown Salt Lake), and we end up at this deserted road up by the Capital.  So, I look down at the paper "300 North 174 East"..."Oh, I think it was 300 SOUTH 174 East" (Dave is getting mildly annoyed at this point.  He hates driving around in Salt Lake more than I do)... So we head down to 300 S and find a parking spot (and pay for said parking spot of course).  There is no PF Chang's in sight, but we decide to walk around and see if we can find it anyway.  No such luck.  Dave ends up calling the restaurant to get their address (just a little annoyed now).  It was 300 South 174 WEST.  How I managed to write down the wrong coordinates TWICE ceases to amaze me.  It's good Dave loves me.  :)  SO....we headed west, found another parking spot (which just so happened to be free "YES!") and enjoyed our meal.  And yes, Dave will proudly be the navigator from now on.  Oh, and just a little side note here:  If you go to PF Chang's, you must get the Banana Spring Rolls for dessert.  OMG.  It was quite literally the best dessert I have ever had from a restaurant. Amazing.  

Moving on to school now.  I finished my student teaching last week as well.  I miss my class, but I can't tell you how happy I am to be done.  Here are just some of the fun art projects I did with my class from the past few weeks.  (I'm mostly posting them here so I can refer back to them in future years).  

 Scratch and Sniff rainbow paintings

 Water Color Easter Eggs

I finished ALL of my course work this past Tuesday and am now waiting to graduate TOMORROW.  Here's my little paper chain as of today:

 It feels AMAZING to be done.  I'm sure I've annoyed everyone around me (Dave...), because I can't stop talking about it.  :)  But seriously, college was the hardest thing I've ever done and if you've graduated you know exactly how I feel.

This has been a forever long post, so here's a lovely end to it.  I just love my Spring decor.  I really do.  Don't you just love those little chicks?  I got them at Ben Franklin Crafts (now Bennion Crafts, I think).

Have a wonderful day!

A month long gap...and I'm almost done!

So, I realize it's been awhile.  I didn't know if you knew, but my life has kind of been SUUUUPER crazy busy the past little while.  Student teaching kicked into "Make you wish you were never born" mode.  :)  JK, but in all honesty, this has been the hardest thing I have ever done in my life.  (I know, I have a privileged life...).  As of today, I only have 7 official days of student teaching left.  I'm not done yet, but to be this far feels amazing.  I finish out this week, have a week off for spring break, and then just go back for three more days.  I'm not sure if you can tell, but the excitement levels at my house are at an all time high and only continue to grow.

I know you're probably sick of seeing these paper chain comparisons, but boring pictures are better than no pictures, right?

And now....

 How could you not just be totally happy inside when you look at those!?!  It's impossible!  AHHH!!!  :)

Half Way Done!

 I finished up my first student teaching placement a week ago and am happy to say that I am HALF WAY DONE!!  AHHHHH!!!!!  :)  I'm so SO happy to be to this point.  I started teaching 2nd grade this week and I miss my 4th grade class SO MUCH.  I know that I'll love my 2nd grade class too, it's just so sad to get to know all of your students and then all of a sudden have to leave them.  Anyway...here's a comparison of my paper chain countdown to graduation.  YAY!   

...

and now.

 

Oh, and I finally got around to taking a picture of my short hair.  I cut off A LOT of hair, but I love it.  So does Dave, which is always a plus.  :)

Only 5 more weeks until Spring Break and then three more days of student teaching.  Holy cow!  I'm excited!

4 weeks down...Holy crap...4 weeks down!!!

Student teaching is getting better and better.  It's still exhausting and yes, I still have those days where all I want to do when I get home is cry.  But, after talking to my fellow student teachers, I am NOT the only one.  So I feel my breakdowns are warranted.  I've survived the first four weeks of student teaching and that feels so GREAT to say.  I know I have a long way to go, but it's nice to see a huge chuck of it already done.  Plus, comparing these two pictures just makes me so happy inside.  

 

I know I'm the biggest nerd ever, but this chain seriously helps boost my mood and confidence.  Only 3 more weeks left in my first placement and then it's on to 2nd grade!!  I'm already getting sad thinking about it.  I'm going to miss my class so much!

Lesson Plans, Cough Drops and Strep...

So, amazingly, my students didn't say anything funny last week.  I was baffled.  Anyway...I've been sick.  AGAIN.  I'm telling you, I have the WORST immune system ever.  

My life as of late consists of writing lesson plans...lots and LOTS of lesson plans.  Student teaching is so straining.  It's like an octopus spreading it's tentacles and squeezing and squeezing all avenues of your life until there's nothing left. 

I've been living off of Cold Eeze for the past week now.  I woke up this morning and had had enough.  I felt awful and just couldn't make it in to the school today.  NOT good.  Missing days during student teaching is highly discouraged.  But alas, it just wasn't going to happen.  I finally just dragged my butt to the doctor only to find out that I have strep.  Lovely. 

On another totally unrelated note, I finally got enough courage to cut my hair, and cut my hair I did.  I'll post pictures later because I'm looking pretty gross at the moment.  Get excited!  

Also, I made myself a paper chain countdown for graduation.  Oh yeah, I went there.
 

If you haven't noticed, I'm still working on this whole "stay positive" thing.  I'll get there...

Out of the Mouths of Babes: Week 1

Well, I survived my first week of student teaching.  My last post was pretty bleak, but I'm happy to say that I felt much better about the whole situation as the week went on.  It's still going to be a busy few months, but I know I'll survive.  Here are some of the memorable things that my students said this week.  Hopefully I'll be able to post these on a weekly basis.  After getting to know my class this week, I don't think I'll have a hard time doing that.  :) 

1.  "Mrs. Bland, how old are you?  I think you're 27."  Hmmm....not sure what I think about that.  :)

2.  Weirdest question:  "What is your biggest fear?"  This was just so funny to me because the student that asked this had the creepiest look on his face when he asked.  Haha.

3.  My students do timed multiplication tests every week to pass off their multiplication facts.  One of the students has been working on their 12 times tables and tested on those.  I was grading the test and had to chuckle when after the 3rd problem the student had written in huge letters:  "It's just too hard."  Haha.  I wanted so badly to give them a few points for that answer.  All I could think was "Yes they are sweetie.  Yes they are."  Poor kid.  :(

4.  "Mrs. Bland, my Mom says that she's smarter than you."  OK...

5.  AND....saddest thing I heard this week: "I'm dumb.  My Mom told me that I'll never go to college."  Isn't that the saddest thing you've ever heard?!  I wanted to cry!

2012-Starting Out A Little Blue...

Christmas is over.  New Years is over.  I find this to be incredibly depressing.  Dave and I had a wonderful Christmas and a very relaxing few days in Mesquite with my family.  Oh how I wish I was in the hot tub again....right now...sigh.  The break from school was great.  I did exactly what I wanted to do...TRY my best to NOT stress about the upcoming semester.  I actually feel like I did a really good job.  (Dave would disagree, I'm sure).  But really.  I felt great about the Spring 2012 semester.  I was excited.  Student teaching...my LAST semester.  And then, it actually came, and to be completely honest, I'm struggling. 

Today was my first day of student teaching and so I realize that I'm feeling very overwhelmed simply because of the fact that everything is "new" again.  I know I'll get into a schedule and it will eventually be over and I'll look back and laugh at my stress.  But today, right now, it's all very fresh and exhausting.  In case you didn't know, I HATE change.  It's really one of my biggest fears.  (Which is NOT a good fear to have at this point in my life).  I feel like my life just underwent a complete 180 and it's seriously taking its toll.  (One of my goals for this year is to learn to accept change and look forward to it, rather than fear it.  We'll see how that goes.  I anticipate A LOT of change for this year so I better start now!) 

Basically, I just needed to get my thoughts out because it makes me feel better.  It's funny.  I knew that this was going to happen, I'm just embarrassed that it happened so quickly.  I don't usually go through my "breaking point" until at least halfway through the semester.  I made it two days....HA. 

My house is a mess, the dishes need to be done, the laundry washed and folded...AND, our Christmas tree is still up (and will most likely stay up until I graduate....Dave and I have this whole thing going...don't ask).  But, I've decided that all that matters right now is that I stay focused and committed to my teaching and my job.  Yeah...did I mention that I'm teaching 40 hours a week (for free mind you) as well as continuing to work???  I shouldn't complain because as mentioned previously, being able to continue working while I student teach has been the biggest blessing for Dave and I.  We need it and are very grateful.  I think I just get overwhelmed sometimes. 

SO, to end this incredibly long rant, what I'd really like to know is....HOW do you all do it?  I know I'm not the only busy person out there.  I need some organization tips people.  I'm being completely serious.  Also, any tips on getting a good night's sleep?  (I'm fairly certain that 99.9% of my frustrations today stem from the fact that I'm running on little to no sleep). 

I feel better.  If you actually read all that, congrats to you.  Now, I'm going to go to bed, wake up tomorrow, and impress the crap out of my principal and cooperating teacher.  Cuz I'm Ashley Bland, and that's how I do!*

*grammar and spelling errors are on purpose for those who were shocked by that last sentence.  ;)  I really CAN teach people.  :)