Summer 2012 in Review

In lieu of a long post, I wanted to make a top ten list of all the lovely things I got to do/not do/enjoyed this summer.

1.       Did not teach summer school. (The $ was nice last year, but the days were too long.)

2.       Slept in until 7 most days this summer.

3.       Got the nursery readyish. (Still have a few minor things to do, but for the most part, it is ready.)

4.       Hung out with my parents who moved to Texas the end of June. (Didn’t realize how much I missed seeing them!)

5.       Attended the second Gateways to Technology Training. (This should be the last two week training I have to go to for a few years…or so I hope!)

6.       Went to Florida with the hubby’s family.

7.       Found out we were having a girl on June 11, 2012. (That helped kick Team Pink into gear!)

8.       Finished lesson plans from the start of the school year through Christmas break. (This was a major goal since I am going to be out from the end of October through the holidays.)

9.       Saw lots of movies, some better than others.( What I can remember seeing: The Dark Knight Rises—Good, Ted—Not Good, Magic Mike—Good, The Campaign—Eh, The Amazing Spiderman—Pretty Good.)

10.   Got to see my Aunts and Uncles and celebrated my Grandpa’s 80^th Birthday.

I would say this summer was pretty successful and quite fun. It went by fast, but I got to rest and relax. I am ready to begin my 7^th year teaching. Can’t wait to meet all of my new students! (Oh, and Ms. Kedzie!) Bring it on 2012-2013 school year!

Where have the nine years gone? Happy Anniversary to my hubby across the miles...

June 28, 2003…Nine years ago, I was 21 years old. It was a dreary day in Michigan, and it was our wedding day.

Today, is our 9 year wedding anniversary. Sadly, I am almost 300 miles away from my hubby. I know it is just a day, and I will be home this weekend, but it is not the same.

This is actually the second anniversary I have missed for my job. (This is for people who thought teachers had so much time off in the summer…yep, teachers still work in the summer!) This year I have training in Tyler, Texas.

One of my favorite pictures from our wedding day.

In 2006, I missed our three year anniversary as I was here in Texas. I was working summer school and trying to find a teaching job.  My husband was preparing our house to sell and was planning on coming to Texas at the beginning of August.

In 2003, when, we got married we were living in Michigan. I was working almost 60 hours a week for Enterprise Rent-a-Car, and my husband was working for a promotional company that has since gone out of business. I actually picked June 28^th because, one, I wanted a summer wedding and, two, I had such a limited amount of time off from work, that I needed every day I could get. The 28^th would allow us to get an “extra” day off for the 4^th of July.

We went on a honeymoon to Hawaii. It was awesome! My parents gave us a hotel room at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Oahu. We drove about 2 and half hours the night of our wedding to get to the airport in Grand Rapids…because it was cheaper to fly out of Grand Rapids. We got about 3 hours of sleep before our plane took off.

If you would have told me nine years ago that I would be living in Texas, that both my husband and I would be teachers, and I would be pregnant with our first child—I would have told you, you were crazy.

It is amazing how life changes in nine years.

Even though I can’t be with my hubby today, I am one of the happiest girls in the world.

I am so blessed.

I am so thankful for my wonderful, amazing, smart, funny husband. There is not a day that goes by that he doesn’t make me laugh out loud. I am so proud of him—and I can’t wait to see what the next year holds in store for us, and then the next 60+ years after that.

I guess the best way to end this blog post is….To be continued. I know the best is yet to come!

Of course, I didn't think that bite was as big as it was. He still gives me a hard time about that!

How I spend my summer vacation: Gateways to Technology Specialization Training-Week 1

Do diodes mean anything to you? What about DC motors? Electromagnets? How about airfoils?

Do you know how to use a drill press?

I am not an engineer, electrician—nor do I work in the field of aerospace.

These topics are what I have been learning week at Project Lead the Way—Gateways to Technology Specialization training.

I have already learned a ton. I would say in four days, we went through about 20 weeks of material that we would teach in our classrooms.

Oh, and I learned how to use a drill press. Yep, I was scared at first--even one of the shop teachers in my class complimented me on how I "drill like a professional."

Our training goes from 8-5 everyday. Today at about 4pm, my brain was DONE. I absolutely could not think about any more circuits.

Thankfully, it has been so much easier than last year’s training--Gateways to Technology Foundations training was brutal. (The hardest part was learning 3D modeling. My brain simply did not work that way. It required a lot of patience for me to learn Autodesk Inventor.)

I have not had a ton of homework. (We have been warned that Monday will not be fun.) But, I will say, I have actually been in bed most nights by 11. My pregnant body is thankful for that.

I am adding some pictures of projects we have made this week.