journey

End of School

2009-05-17T21:13:00.002-05:00

The end of school is drawing to a close. There are only 2 full days left with the students and then 6th Grade Graduation on Wednesday morning. 6th Grade has been fun, though their attitudes get old. They are also very concerned with boyfriends and girlfriends and could care less about school. We had some good drama the other day do to a break-up. As this job comes to an end, its time to start looking toward the future. I will be calling Lee County tomorrow to schedule an interview. I haven't been able to follow-up with other schools I have applied to, since I have been a little busy during the day. I hoping to get a job at Beulah. After this week is over I will be able to focus my attention and energy to finding a job.

i got a job, i got a job, i got a job, hey hey hey hey!

2009-04-05T20:00:00.002-05:00

Yep, that right I got a job! I am long-term subbing at Beulah in 6th grade. The teacher (who is younger than me) is pregnant and has 2 months left in the pregnancy but is already having contractions, so she had been put on bed rest. I subbed all last week for her and then found out Friday that she would not be returning. I will be teaching math and science and reading, spelling, and grammar to the homeroom class. Right now the students are taking SATs so there isn't much teaching going on right now. Its going to be quite an adventure.

J-O-B

2009-03-25T15:38:00.002-05:00

I sat down today to get things together to apply to various schools. And by "things" i mean resumes, transcripts, copies of my teaching license, letter stating I Highly Qualified according to NCLB standards, SS card, and reference letters. So far I have officially applied to Mountain Brook and Hoover. I have talked to other school systems but these are the 2 systems that actually have openings in elementary education. I am also applying to Homewood, Baldwin County, St. Paul's, and St. Luke's.

This is a very daunting process, especially when you are applying for the first time and I hate having those awkward conversations when you have no idea what to say. I wish I could skip this whole process and just have a job. To bad it doesn't work that way. I think more than anything I am ready for a change and getting out of Auburn is the start. It would also be awesome to know where I'll be in the fall so I could I get settled in new surroundings before school starts.

Ode to the Economy

2009-03-22T22:58:00.003-05:00

Well its Sunday, another week has passed and my life has gotten duller, if thats possible. Its a good thing its March, March Madness!! Its crazy, its madness (haha), and it keeps me entertained. Plus, Auburn is in the NIT and have played 2 games here and have made it to the third round, which will be here as well against Baylor. Its nice having post-season games to go to, although it will all come to an end on Tuesday. If we win on Tuesday the next round is played in NYC. Maybe I should go back...haha!

I am still looking for jobs...constantly, all day long. I had a lead recently back home in Baldwin County. It was for a long term sub position in 4th grade. I made lots of phone calls, jumped through hoops and got no answers. Found out that the school was possibly going to be closed next year so there was a lot of tension with in the school and the community. I decided that I did not want to put myself in that situation and that it just wasn't meant to be. So, now its just a waiting game till contracts our signed by current teachers for next year and pick slips have been handed out. Its going to be slim pickins thanks to the economy.

Well back to sports. Its spring, basketball season is almost over, so that means that baseball season is just weeks away! I am watching Fever Pitch and getting really pumped about some CUBS baseball. Hopefully this summer i'll be making a few trips to the ATL to watch them play.

Thats my life in a nutshell right now...dull and boring.
Sorry that you wasted your time reading.
I can't sleep, so that's the only reason why I wrote this.

South Carolina

2009-02-23T21:56:00.003-06:00

Last Monday I drove to South Carolina to check out the area where I am trying to get a job. I stayed with a family friend, who is also trying to get a teaching a job. I had a screening interview with one district Tuesday afternoon. This was a generic interview to feel out the applicants and then the district office passes applicants to the principals. Its also a way to feed out all the crazies. That interview went well, but there are no openings right now in that school system so its just a waiting game. The rest of the week I helped my friend out with her 3 children and we looked at houses/apartments/townhouses during the day while the kids were at school. I feel in love with the area and found a townhouse I want to buy. I had a awesome time with my friend and her family. I usually only get to see them once, maybe twice a year. I spent the most time around her 3 year old who is a trip. The kid LOVES High School Musical. And when I mean LOVE, I mean the kid and sing all the songs and quote the movie. Her favorite song is "Fabulous" and she can sing it without music. Its crazy and highly entertaining. Her mom had to bribe her with HSM3 so she would participate in swim lessons. So when we took her to Wal-Mart to get it she is walking through the store saying quite loudly "High School Musical 3! Its my favorite!" Combined I think I saw 2 and 3 a dozen times. The week got more exciting when her oldest son, who is 9, broke is arm Thursday night. He stopped himself with his hand from running into a wall at basketball practice. We didn't realize how bad it was until he was x-rayed Friday afternoon. We didn't even think it was broken at first. Lets just say he had to go to the hospital on Saturday to have it reset. Saturday was also the day of a job fair in another school district. My friend and I went and we were thinking that we were going to be interviewed. Well when we got there we found out that all we were doing was introducing ourselves to the principal/assistant principal of all the schools. None of the schools have openings that I am available for, so again its just a waiting game. None the schools have given out contracts for next year cause they are all waiting on state budgets. So I probably wont know anything till April or May. In the mean time I think I might go crazy. I really need to get out of Auburn.

Its that time of year again.

2009-02-11T13:28:00.003-06:00

You know when we can't walk into a store without seeing reds, pinks, balloons, flowers, and tons of different candies. Its appalling to me that people get so worked up over this and "define" their relationship on what their significant other got them. Seriously? It makes me want to scream!! And people wonder why marriages fail. It seems that most people in this country don't know how to have a relationship and show that they love their husband/partner through out the whole year. What's the point? I know I am not the only person with this opinion, but I would much rather receive or give something on any other day of the year BUT Feb. 14th because I know the gift isn't being given out of love but rather because everyone else is doing it. Sooo cliche!

I came across this article on CNN today and it hit the nail right on the head.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/11/martin.valentine/index.html

It can be summed up with the last few sentences:

The people who plan their lives around Valentine's are like those who spend more time planning their wedding day rather than planning their marriage. The day is nice and wonderful, but what makes it last is what you do on the "non-special" days.

I felt so relieved when I read this! Its good to know that there are other people out there that agree with me.

SNL material

2009-02-06T17:00:00.003-06:00

http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/02/06/cloned.puppy/index.html

We are in an economic crisis and these people spend $105K on a cloned dog. They also got this opportunity through an auction...strange. I know its sad to loose a pet and I know I would be devastated if anything happened to Taylor. You'd think with that much money they could help the county out or something.

Might be a little cynical, but just seems a little crazy to me.

2009-02-04T16:39:00.003-06:00

I have decided to apply to teach in South Carolina. We have family friends who live in a small town that is just south of the NC border. The school district where their children attend school is opening 2 new schools in the fall. I am also looking at 2 other school districts near by. Lately I have been trying to get everything together so I can post my application and mail my resume and cover letter to a bunch of schools. I am going to be visiting the area in less than 2 weeks. I am hoping for some interviews while I am up there. I will also attend a Job Fair for a school district, one of the ones that is close to where my friends live.

Other than that I have been subbing at Beulah (where I interned). So far I have only done 4th grade (including the class I interned with), so I know all the kids. I don't think my kids where to thrilled to have me back. Well at least one wasn't. I guess I wasn't as nice as before. Oh well.

Here are some pics from Auburn Basketball games:

This is at the Women's game. They are ranked #5 and have only lost 1 game (stupid dawgs). As I was taking this picture I got hit with a t-shirt. As the starting line-up is called the girls run to the center and throw a shirt into the crowd. The shirt is signed by all the players too.

This was the halftime entertainment at one of the men's games. It was hilarious because none of the mascots could see where they were going, except for Aubie and few others. If they got the ball they just threw it in the air, having no idea where it was going. The Bay Bear's head fell off at one point. HAHA. And the mouse you see is the Alabama Dept. of Health mascot. Ok? Not sure what thats all about. The mascot from the Atlanta Falcons (Freddie) was by far the coolest. The guys in front of us kept yelling "Air Ball" at him, so he would come over and act embarrassed.

Auburn after college...

2009-01-14T14:08:00.002-06:00

isn't so exciting. Its actually quite boring. My days consists of cleaning, organizing, decorating the den, cooking, Friends marathon, and reading. Its like I am a house wife without the husband and kids. For fun yesterday I went to Hastings for like an hour, although I find Hastings entertaining wether or not I am bored to death. Its been the highlight of my week! At least tonight I am going to the men's basketball game Florida.
I got all my paperwork in to sub at Beulah (where I interned), now I am just waiting on them to call me. $60 sure would be nice. Today I was looking for teaching jobs that were available now and came across one in Atlanta. I decided to investigate even though the school is part of Atlanta Public School so I was just assuming that the school would be in the heart of Atlanta, which would not be where I would want to start off teaching. Well much to my surprise the school is located in Buckhead, the nicest part of Atlanta. We have some close family friends that live in this area and the school was very close to their house. What are the chances! So I called and talked to my friend and then called to school to see if the position was still open, but of course it had already been filled. So I got all excited for nothing. Oh well, life shall go on.
Though this whole process I have decided that I don't want to stay in Auburn. Its not the same anymore and I have nothing here excepts a few friends and lots of memories. So after all the excitement from the Atlanta job, I decided to look some more. Alabama isn't looking to promising for jobs since the economy blows and plus its Alabama. So, where to look? There are thousands of schools in this county. My method of searching was to find a city first, so I started with a top 100 best small towns. Nothing promising, so basically I have no idea.

More Moon Pie hooplah

2009-01-08T14:04:00.002-06:00

This is the political cartoon from Mobile's paper today. J.D. Crowe is a genius! I love his work.
You know, the so called Moon-Pie looks more like the Krispy Kreme Hot Sign. HaHa.

Moon-Pie Poetry? REALLY!

2009-01-07T14:22:00.002-06:00

This sounds like a perfect topic for "Really! with Seth and Amy" a segment on SNL, however Amy is no longer on the show.
How more ridiculous can this Moon-Pie hoisting get? Councilman Clinton Johnson was so inspired by the event that he wrote a poem! How sweet!!! And I thought the whole leprechaun siting was the worst this city has seen.

"A Moon Pie Over Mobile, a sight for all to see,
"I stood in the crowd that night while thousands watched with me.
"A crane it took to hoist the pie, with lights flashing very bright,
"It startled all as they looked on this cold, cold New Year's night.
"Chattanooga Bakery was on the scene with the World's Largest Moon Pie,
"RC Cola was there as well, when the electric pie lit the sky.
"Mobile is now the City of Dreams, the Moon Pie confirmed this fact,
"I'll await this event next year, when the Mobile Moon Pie comes back.
"I commend you Mobile for this joyous event, don't let them steal your story,
"Keep raising your Moon Pie for years to come — watch the Moon Pie bring you glory!"

New Adventures

2009-01-01T17:37:00.002-06:00

Well as my college career has now come to an end, it time to impart on a new chapter in my life. I am not ready to "settle down" somewhere and start a career. I am to young for that. My friend Kami, who was one of my roommates from Italy, is currently teaching English as a second language in S. Korea with plans of returning to Italy in 2010. I am hoping to join her 2010. I feel the experience will be useful one day in the classroom with the increasing number of students in our schools who do not speak English. As a classroom teacher it wouldn't be my responsibility to teach them English, but I could help them and I would be able to be more understanding of where they are coming form. I would have to be trained, but I might be able to do it online since i have a teaching degree. Otherwise, I will have to go somewhere to be trained. This is all "up in the air" right now, so I will just have to wait to see how things unfold. But if I am not planning on going anywhere till 2010, then I am going to need a job. I am not sure a teaching job would be the best since I know I will only be there for one year. Thats a lot of time and effort for only one year. I don't think it would be right going in knowing I would only be there for one year. We shall see.

Susnset in Florence and Fun with Friends

2007-07-12T04:40:00.000-05:00

Cinque Terre

2007-07-10T10:51:00.000-05:00

This past weekend we went to Cinque Terre, which is 5 towns (hence the name) on the West coast of Italy. We only spent Saturday there becuase we couldnt find anywhere to stay. It is defintely a place I would love to go back to some day. It is absolutely gorgeous, as you can see from the pictures! You can hike between all the towns, but I choose to go the beach all day. The beach as lots of rocks and pebbles, so it is quite painful getting in and out of the water. The water is really deep right after you get in, so we learned real quick that once you got to a certain point in on the shore you just dove in to avoid anymore pain. Getting out is a different story. We were probably entertaining to the locals! The sun was very intense and hot, so after being the sun for a while jumping in the water was very refreashing becuase it was so cold. It wasn't freezing though. A nice break from the hot water back home.
It is the second week of class and already time for mid-term. I have to right a paper on "Primavera" by Botticelli, so that what I am going to be doing tomorrow. I dont have class tomorrow because we are going to the Uffizi Gallery tonight (the famous meseum here in Florence). There is a lot of renaissance art there. I am really excited!
The others pictures are of some moutains we saw on our train ride back to Florence and the night time pictures are of Florence taken from a piazza that I went to last night with some friends.

Pictures from Como

2007-07-04T11:06:00.000-05:00

The first picture is from Milan. We had a lay over here on the train and we didn't want to go far, so we ate at McDonalds!

Como

2007-07-04T10:48:00.001-05:00

Sorry it has been so long, but between finding the time and actually being able to long in has kept me from posting. Last weekend my roommates Robin, Anna, Rachel, Meredith, and I went to Como, Italy, which sits on Lake Como. Como is in northern Italy very close to the Swiss-Italian border. It is absolutely beautiful there. I would love to got back someday. It was nice to get away from all the crazy tourist here in Florence. We took an hour ferry boat ride around the lake where we stayed. Again, it was gorgeous! The lake is huge. You can take a ferry to the opposite side, which would take 5+ hours and you would end up in Switzerland. There is a villa in another city, that was 2 hours from where we were, where they shot the wedding scene of Anikin and Padme and they also shot some scenes in Casino Royale. I don't know which ones, since I haven't seen it. We wanted to go to this villa, but it was to far away to make it back in time for our train.
Class started on Monday. I am taking Renaissance Art in Florence and Italian Regional cooking. The art history class is really cool, because we walk around the city and actually go and see what we are talking about. So far we gone to the Duomo, the bapistry, and the museum to the Duomo. While we walking through the museum we entered this one room and there stood Donatello's Mary Magdalen!! I had no idea that it was there. Its one of my favorites pieces of art. Today we went to Santa Croce (a famous church here in Florence), which is beautiful. The cool about this church, is that Michaelangelo is buried there. There are other "graves" and monuments for other famous people, such as Galileo. My cooking class is only on Monday nights. It is lots on fun cause after we are done we get to eat! The chef who is the instructor is hilarious. I helped cooked the dessert, so maybe when I get back I can impress yall with my skills..haha!

oh yea....Happy Fourth of July!!!

Pictures

2007-06-28T12:13:00.000-05:00

The First Set: Trevi Foutain, Spanish Steps, Colosseum, Peter and Paul's jail cell
The ones with the last post: School of Athens (Vatican Museum), Petà (St. Peter's), Dumo of St. Peter's, the altar in St. Peter's, St. Peter's Basilica

2007-06-28T12:07:00.000-05:00

Florence...

2007-06-28T11:57:00.000-05:00

We made it to Florence! This is only the second day and I absolutely love it here! It's a lot more laid back than Rome! Our apartment is right near the school, the river, and everything else you could possibly need. Its HUGE! We have 5 rooms that sleeps 2 people, so there are 10 of us in the apartment. We have a kitchen, dinning area, den, 4 bathrooms and 3 showers. Sleeping last night wasn't the best since Italians like to stay out all night and out bedroom window looks out over the street. It will have to be something to get use to.

Ciao From Rome

2007-06-27T03:05:00.000-05:00

Sorry it has been so long, but Rome has kept us very busy and in return we have been very tired. Monday we went to the Vatican City and saw the Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel, and St. Peters. We also ealked across a bridge that had angels on it that were sculpted by Michaelangelo and each one was holding a piece of the crusifixtion. Monday night we saw the Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, and Panthenon. We also had our fist taste of gelato. Yesterday, we did ancient Rome. We saw the Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, Capitol Hill, Peter and Pauls jail cell, and the colosseum. Last night we went to a piazza and had dinner and more gelta, which had nutella in it.Very delious. Sorry it there are any spelling mistakes, but the computer is it Italian and itsnt very helpful. We are leaving for Florence today, so hopefully I will be able to post pictures soon.

Foggy Day in London Town...

2007-06-24T04:52:00.000-05:00

Well we made to London! Our flight doesn't leave for another 3 hours, so we have lots of time to kill. The flight over was long and with not much sleep. But thats ok because the sunrise was amazing. When we got over London we weren't able to see the city becuase of all the clouds. That was a real bummer, but we are looking foward to flight from here to Rome!!
Ciao!

Travel Update

2007-06-13T23:46:00.000-05:00

Here are a few pictures from Guatemala. The boy I am with in the pictures is who I fell in love with 2 years ago and it was the biggest blessings to get to go back and see him. I loved being able to go back to a place that I had been before. I am looking forward to more visits to Casa and it possibly being a permanent place for me one day...in a year and a half (still praying about it). There is tons more stories to tell about my time there and not enough space to type it all.

It is now time for next adventure...ITALY! I can't begin to explain how excited I am. This has always been a dream of mine, so you can imagine yourself how it feels when a dream comes true! I have 9 days left and tons more to do, well at least that's how I feel. Robin and I have meet for hours and accomplish nothing, although when we meet its all work and little play! Next week is going to be packing week for sure!!! I hope to keep this updates as possible while I am there so that yall will know what I am up to. I can't wait to see what God is going to show me while I am there. This is my first trip out of the country that isn't a mission trip so the trip has a different feel to it already. I know that this opportunity is a gift and I can't wait to experience it!!

Guatemala

2007-05-06T15:13:00.000-05:00

Last Wednesday I found out that I will be going to Guatemala with my college ministry back home! I went 2 years ago and had an awesome expereince! I am so excited that I will get to go back. I am looking foward to seeing the children that I meet 2 years ago, especially Moises (the boy who stole my heart)! We will be at a children's home called Casa Para Ninos. It is similar to the ministry that we were with in Honduras, except that Casa is like an orphange. However, most of the children at Casa are not orphanges. The children are placed there by the courts becuase of abusive situations, their parents are unable or don't want to take of them, or the children come there voluntarily becuase they know that they will get 3 meals a day, an education, clothes, and a place to stay. While we are there we will do any kind of labor or maintainence work that needs to be done around the campus and we may have the opportunity to go into a community a build a pastor's home (there maybe more concrete in my future). I think that through the Honduras mission trip and now Guatemala, God is preparing my heart for missions. I can't wait to see where He leads me. Please pray for our team while we are there (May 12-18)!

Preparation

2007-02-10T22:59:00.001-06:00

In a little over a month I am going to Honduras with a team from Grace Campus. I am really excited and looking forward to the plans that God has laid out for me. I don't know many people on the team yet, only those that I knew before. I am eager to meet them and make new friends. I can't wait to share this journey with them. While we are there we will be at a private school helping with maintenance and interacting with students who live there. These students are chosen each year to attend this school, because the Honduran government only pays for education through the 5th or 6th grade. This school allows the students to continue their education, however each student has to reapply each year. The students who are in desperate need to attend are the ones that do.
For this summer I am planning to study abroad in Florence, Italy. I will be going with a groups of girls from Auburn. I finally meet with an adviser from the Study Abroad office on Friday and got a better feeling of what I needed to be doing to get all my paperwork in order. Going to Europe has been a dream for so long now, that I can't believe that it is actually happening. I get so excited just thinking about it. I am looking forward to learning about a new culture and gaining a new prospective on life and the world around me. God created this Earth for us and I want so much to see and learn all about it. I know that some how he will use this passion inside me to bring praise to his name. What an exciting gift to have!!

Got Jesus. . .

2006-10-04T23:07:00.000-05:00

Where do I begin? God has been doing so much in my life since the beginning of the year! He has given me awesome roommates and opened the doors for new friendships. God has been showing a lot about myself over the past few weeks through the relationship series at Encounter. I can't wait to see where he is leading me. His journeys are always so adventureous (not sure if I spelled that right). My Community Group is awesome like always! We talk about Matt talks about on the previous Thursday. I am so thirsty for the Lord right now it overwhelms me. I can't get enough of him right now. Thursday nights are the Highlight of my week!!

School is so less stressful than last semester. Though, still tough, I enjoy my classes a lot more. I found out today that I won't graduate until Spring 2009. Give it up for 5th year Seniors!! The most exciting part about that is another year of Auburn Football as a student. I could graduate in Dec. 2008 but that would mean that I would have to stay in Auburn this summer and take classes again. I plan on going Abroad this summer. If that doesn't work out then I will be working at camp.

Auburn vs. Arkansas: This weeks match-up. We better show up and play like the #2 team!

PASSION 07 Jan. 1-4, 2007
Where will you be?