Friday, August 22, 2008
Updated Pics
I FINALLY just put all my pics from the past year up!! I added my Alaska, cruise, Europe, and summer pictures to my picture website. So, check it out!!
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Work is definitely starting to pick up more now. Last week we had our staff retreat and were given our tentative travel schedules. Now I can start planning out the schools that I will visit and I know what college fairs I will be going to. Looks like I will be traveling a week in the U.P., and week or two in the lower peninsula, 4 days in Ohio, and another 1/2 week in Indiana. It is already less than 3 weeks until I fly to Cincinnati! Time will fly by from now through the end of the school year. Once I got to schools and fairs, then I have students that I will be working with throughout the rest of the year, until they arrive on campus as freshmen. I am excited to start the travel season and am really happy that I will get to visit my grandparents, brother and mom and dad while I am doing it! The college pays for my plane tickets or provides a car and pays for the gas, the hotel, and 3 meals a day when I am on the road! Sweet deal. And I have a laptop and Blackberry for traveling too. Can't complain. We also started moving students in today. It is so awesome to watch the incoming freshmen as they move all of their things into the dorms. Kind of makes me wish I was starting college all over again. It is weird to think that I would be at teacher in-services right now in Alaska if I were going back for another year. Even though I loved the kids, I think I made the right choice. I am still enjoying the sun too much to be back up there!
This past weekend, my friend Megan came to visit me. We had an awesome time. I had only seen her 1 time since we were in New Zealand together. Friday night we looked at each other's New Zealand scrapbooks and caught up on life. We were up until 2 a.m. when we decided we should probably go to bed. Saturday, we got up and drove North up the shore to Friendly Valley beach. It was gorgeous and Lake Superior was actually bareable to stand in! You know the water must be "warm" when people are actually staying in it rather than jump in and jump out. It was perfect! We then drove up to Bayfield to get some ice cream and check out the little shops. I love Bayfield. It reminds me of a bigger version of Copper Harbor, near home. While we were up there, I talked Megan into going with me to get my nose pierced. I have wanted to for ages, but thought I probably shouldn't as a teacher. I told myself that I would do it when I got a new job. Well, I still hadn't done it yet. So I called the tattoo place and they were open for another 1 and 1/2. We hopped in the car, drove back to Ashland and I did it!! I am extremely needle-phobic, but it wasn't bad at all. It is still a little sore, but I am really happy I did it!
Saturday night, we just hung out and watched a chick flick. Sunday morning, we got up pretty early, bought muffins at the grocery store and headed to the beach again. I wish I had more beach time. But I was so thankful to have had 2 great days to spend out there! It was a wonderful, hot, sunny weekend! I have to get out and enjoy them while I can!
This past weekend, my friend Megan came to visit me. We had an awesome time. I had only seen her 1 time since we were in New Zealand together. Friday night we looked at each other's New Zealand scrapbooks and caught up on life. We were up until 2 a.m. when we decided we should probably go to bed. Saturday, we got up and drove North up the shore to Friendly Valley beach. It was gorgeous and Lake Superior was actually bareable to stand in! You know the water must be "warm" when people are actually staying in it rather than jump in and jump out. It was perfect! We then drove up to Bayfield to get some ice cream and check out the little shops. I love Bayfield. It reminds me of a bigger version of Copper Harbor, near home. While we were up there, I talked Megan into going with me to get my nose pierced. I have wanted to for ages, but thought I probably shouldn't as a teacher. I told myself that I would do it when I got a new job. Well, I still hadn't done it yet. So I called the tattoo place and they were open for another 1 and 1/2. We hopped in the car, drove back to Ashland and I did it!! I am extremely needle-phobic, but it wasn't bad at all. It is still a little sore, but I am really happy I did it!
Saturday night, we just hung out and watched a chick flick. Sunday morning, we got up pretty early, bought muffins at the grocery store and headed to the beach again. I wish I had more beach time. But I was so thankful to have had 2 great days to spend out there! It was a wonderful, hot, sunny weekend! I have to get out and enjoy them while I can!
Monday, August 11, 2008
Livin' in Ashland
So...
Living in Ashland has been interesting in some ways and really great in others. I'll start with the interesting.
A few weeks ago, I was sitting in my living room on a Sunday evening around 10:30 when I heard a really loud BANG. It freaked me out so bad that I almost fell off the couch. About 30 seconds later another BANG, this one not quite as loud. Because I had my curtains open and my windows face right into the street, I jumped up and turned off my lights and peeked out the window. I could hear a big group of people talking just below me, one building over, but I couldn't see them. Not 3 minutes later 2 cop cars come flying down the street and park in the middle of the road. One cop gets out and yells, "Show me your hands!! Show me your hands!!", to the whole group. Then he says, "which way did he go?" and the group gave a description of a man and pointed in another direction. It was interesting to watch, but I didn't think a ton of it. I was telling my co-workers about it and joked that there was a shooting under my window. They all laughed and said shootings don't happen here. Well, the next day in the paper, there was a story about a 17-year-old who fired 2 shots at a group of people right on my street. Crazy! I guess I live in a rough neighborhood! Gotta be careful!
Other than that, Ashland has been nice. It is so great to be close to home (3 hours, which is much closer than Alaska) and to Duluth, where I went to school. I have been home a few times already and have been to Duluth three times! It has been so wonderful to catch up with friends.
A few weekends ago, my college roomates and I got together for our first "Christmas in July" party. We camped at a friends cabin and caught up on all the excitement in everyone's lives. Then two weekends later I had another girls weekend. This time with my teaching girls from college. We met in Duluth, caught up and went on some great hikes.
This past week, I went to New Counselor's Institute in Ripon, Wisconsin. It is like a 3 day conference for new admission counselors. It was really fun! I met some great people and am much more excited to hit the road this fall now that I know people who will be at the college fairs. Tomorrow we have a staff retreat with everyone from our office. This is when we will learn where we are going to be traveling to and we can start planning out the fall. Yeah!!!
I also got to go camping this weekend and checked out some great beaches along the way. It was a blast. I think I can get used to this "living in the lower 48 thing" again!
Living in Ashland has been interesting in some ways and really great in others. I'll start with the interesting.
A few weeks ago, I was sitting in my living room on a Sunday evening around 10:30 when I heard a really loud BANG. It freaked me out so bad that I almost fell off the couch. About 30 seconds later another BANG, this one not quite as loud. Because I had my curtains open and my windows face right into the street, I jumped up and turned off my lights and peeked out the window. I could hear a big group of people talking just below me, one building over, but I couldn't see them. Not 3 minutes later 2 cop cars come flying down the street and park in the middle of the road. One cop gets out and yells, "Show me your hands!! Show me your hands!!", to the whole group. Then he says, "which way did he go?" and the group gave a description of a man and pointed in another direction. It was interesting to watch, but I didn't think a ton of it. I was telling my co-workers about it and joked that there was a shooting under my window. They all laughed and said shootings don't happen here. Well, the next day in the paper, there was a story about a 17-year-old who fired 2 shots at a group of people right on my street. Crazy! I guess I live in a rough neighborhood! Gotta be careful!
Other than that, Ashland has been nice. It is so great to be close to home (3 hours, which is much closer than Alaska) and to Duluth, where I went to school. I have been home a few times already and have been to Duluth three times! It has been so wonderful to catch up with friends.
A few weekends ago, my college roomates and I got together for our first "Christmas in July" party. We camped at a friends cabin and caught up on all the excitement in everyone's lives. Then two weekends later I had another girls weekend. This time with my teaching girls from college. We met in Duluth, caught up and went on some great hikes.
This past week, I went to New Counselor's Institute in Ripon, Wisconsin. It is like a 3 day conference for new admission counselors. It was really fun! I met some great people and am much more excited to hit the road this fall now that I know people who will be at the college fairs. Tomorrow we have a staff retreat with everyone from our office. This is when we will learn where we are going to be traveling to and we can start planning out the fall. Yeah!!!
I also got to go camping this weekend and checked out some great beaches along the way. It was a blast. I think I can get used to this "living in the lower 48 thing" again!
Monday, July 21, 2008
Life in a Nutshell!
Well, obviously I have been extremely bad about keeping up on my website. The last time I wrote was 3 months ago! Ahhhhhhhh!!!!!! Guess you can tell that life has been a little crazy, huh?
Let’s see here… I think the best way to catch you up on my life would be to do this in sections. So here it goes.
Let’s see here… I think the best way to catch you up on my life would be to do this in sections. So here it goes.
Summer and Job Hunting!
After over 2 weeks in Europe, it was great to see my family!! I had not been home since Christmas and missed them so much!! I spent the next 2 weeks catching up, showing them my pictures, playing with my dogs, catching up on sleep, seeing friends, and looking for a job. I applied to a few but didn’t have any luck. My mom and sister and I drove to the lower peninsula of Michigan to visit my grandparents on both sides. During our trip I got a call about a job interview. They wanted me for a phone interview the next day. So I did my phone interview from the bathroom of my grandparents’ assisted living center!! The job was as an admissions counselor at Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin. At the end of the interview they asked me if I could come to the college the next week for a campus interview. We got back from my grandparents on a Sunday night and Tuesday I drove to Ashland for the interview. Well, it went great and I was offered the job that day and was asked to start work on a week!! So I stayed the night in Ashland with my mom and we found an apartment, drove back that night and bought a car, the next day I packed and bought a cell phone and 2 days later I moved!! It has been crazy!!
I have now been in Ashland for just under 2 weeks. I like my job and know I will like it even more as I get busier working with students. Summer is a slow time in the job and I am adjusting to working in a cubicle. But it is nice to be only 3 hours from home and only 1 hour from Duluth, where I went to college.
It has been a wild few months, but I think I covered the big things and will try and be better about keeping up!
I have now been in Ashland for just under 2 weeks. I like my job and know I will like it even more as I get busier working with students. Summer is a slow time in the job and I am adjusting to working in a cubicle. But it is nice to be only 3 hours from home and only 1 hour from Duluth, where I went to college.
It has been a wild few months, but I think I covered the big things and will try and be better about keeping up!
Trip to Europe
In the middle of May, right after school got out I went to Europe for over 2 weeks! It was amazing!!! I loved it all so much! My friend Sean and I had been planning the trip for a few months and I didn’t really feel like it was actually going to happen until we hopped on our flight to Dublin. We had so much to catch up on and were so excited about our trip that the flight went by quickly. We arrived in Dublin for our 7 hour layover. At this time Sean’s mom met us at the airport (she lives in Dublin). We hung out there and caught up with her and then hopped on our next flight to Valencia, Spain. By the time we got there it was like 1 a.m. and we were exhausted. We had a few issues finding our rental car using the very little bit of Spanish I know, but we finally figured it out. We drove the hour drive to Denia and checked in to our hotel. The apartment we rented was really nice and our view of the pool court yard below was fantastic. We spent the week relaxing in the sun, testing out the Spanish cuisine, catching up on much needed sleep, going to the shops in town, and swimming at the beach. The week flew by and before we knew it we were headed out to the airport for the second leg of our journey.
Here is a good story for you. So, we left our hotel at around 4 a.m. and drove to Valencia. Once at the Valencia airport, we grabbed a light breakfast to hold us over until we got to Madrid; I had a muffin and Sean had a mayo and ham sandwich. We then flew to Madrid, took a bus to the other terminal, which was a 15 minute ride away, and had to wait an hour and a half before we could check in. Because we were there so early, we were the first in line and wanted to make sure we could make our flight from Athens to Heraklion with a one hour layover. When the desk opened Sean handed the lady our paper work and he got his ticket. I handed her mine and she said she couldn’t find me on her computer. She said there was no record of a ticket for me. She then asked me to stand to the side while her manager came to help her and pretty soon 4 other people had the same issue. Funny thing was, we all had last names that were at the end of the alphabet. Apparently, the second page of passenger names was never put into the airport computer! The lady at the desk showed me where the cut off was between people who made it one and people who didn’t. Sean was the last person to make the flight (his last name is Wall) and I was the first to not make it! So… after all this, we finally got my ticket, but only as far as Athens and once there I would have to check in again to get my ticket to Heraklion. We were both really frustrated and freaked out that we wouldn’t have enough time at the airport. But we got on the plane and made a plan to run through the airport, get this ticket ASAP and sprint to our gate. We touched the ground in Greece and followed our plan. Things went smooth and we made it to our gate just when we were supposed to board. Luckily, we had a 10 minute delay, so we could sit and catch our breath. At this time, Sean said he was feeling sick and I told him I was sure it was all the stress and running around and to sit back and relax. Well, he ran to the bathroom and had his first experience with food poisoning! He threw up in the airport and the whole flight to Crete. Once we got our bags and rental car in Heraklion, we learned it was almost a 3 hour drive to our hotel!!! I drove and Sean slept. I was so worried about him and knew the sooner we made it to the hotel, the better it would be. Well, after about 2 and ½ hours of driving on dark, winding roads Sean woke up and asked if we were lost. I said “of course not! We’re almost there.” Well, not so much. I guess I had missed a turn and somehow we ended up on the north tip of Greece instead of the south. Opps! So, I turned around and headed another 45 minutes back to where the correct turn was. Sean, fell back asleep and I was exhausted by this point. We were only 30 K from our hotel, when I saw flashing lights ahead and a man standing in the road. The closer I got I realized it was a police officer. He points me over to the side of the road and comes over speaking Greek. I shook my head and said that I don’t speak Greek. He switched to English and asked if I had been drinking anything. I said no ( I hadn’t had so much as a drink of water in 4 hours!). He made me take a breath-a-lizer test and when I passed it he said, “alright, have a good night.” And that was that! I guess they have a lot of random check points around the cities on Crete. FINALLY, we got to our hotel at about 1 a.m.! I swear sometimes, I have the craziest luck!
Anywho, Sean was sick for the next few days. So I explored town on my own and laid by the pool in between checking on Sean. Greece was fantastic!!! I absolutely loved it there! I went to a Greek dancing lesson, laid on the beach, went on an herbal hike, had a huge traditional Greek meal and hiked around the beaches. It was a dream and the food was awesome! I think I was Greek in another lifetime. I could live there! After another wonderfully amazing week, and with Sean in recovery, we headed back to Ireland to spend 3 days with Sean’s mom. We stayed in Dublin for the 3 days and did sight-seeing. We saw a Shakespeare play at Trinity College, went on a double-decker bus tour, toured the Guinness Brewery, went on a ghost bus tour and did some shopping. After 2 and ½ weeks of travel, we were spent by the time we flew home. We had one day in Boston (where Sean lives) before I headed back to see my family. It was the trip of a lifetime!
Here is a good story for you. So, we left our hotel at around 4 a.m. and drove to Valencia. Once at the Valencia airport, we grabbed a light breakfast to hold us over until we got to Madrid; I had a muffin and Sean had a mayo and ham sandwich. We then flew to Madrid, took a bus to the other terminal, which was a 15 minute ride away, and had to wait an hour and a half before we could check in. Because we were there so early, we were the first in line and wanted to make sure we could make our flight from Athens to Heraklion with a one hour layover. When the desk opened Sean handed the lady our paper work and he got his ticket. I handed her mine and she said she couldn’t find me on her computer. She said there was no record of a ticket for me. She then asked me to stand to the side while her manager came to help her and pretty soon 4 other people had the same issue. Funny thing was, we all had last names that were at the end of the alphabet. Apparently, the second page of passenger names was never put into the airport computer! The lady at the desk showed me where the cut off was between people who made it one and people who didn’t. Sean was the last person to make the flight (his last name is Wall) and I was the first to not make it! So… after all this, we finally got my ticket, but only as far as Athens and once there I would have to check in again to get my ticket to Heraklion. We were both really frustrated and freaked out that we wouldn’t have enough time at the airport. But we got on the plane and made a plan to run through the airport, get this ticket ASAP and sprint to our gate. We touched the ground in Greece and followed our plan. Things went smooth and we made it to our gate just when we were supposed to board. Luckily, we had a 10 minute delay, so we could sit and catch our breath. At this time, Sean said he was feeling sick and I told him I was sure it was all the stress and running around and to sit back and relax. Well, he ran to the bathroom and had his first experience with food poisoning! He threw up in the airport and the whole flight to Crete. Once we got our bags and rental car in Heraklion, we learned it was almost a 3 hour drive to our hotel!!! I drove and Sean slept. I was so worried about him and knew the sooner we made it to the hotel, the better it would be. Well, after about 2 and ½ hours of driving on dark, winding roads Sean woke up and asked if we were lost. I said “of course not! We’re almost there.” Well, not so much. I guess I had missed a turn and somehow we ended up on the north tip of Greece instead of the south. Opps! So, I turned around and headed another 45 minutes back to where the correct turn was. Sean, fell back asleep and I was exhausted by this point. We were only 30 K from our hotel, when I saw flashing lights ahead and a man standing in the road. The closer I got I realized it was a police officer. He points me over to the side of the road and comes over speaking Greek. I shook my head and said that I don’t speak Greek. He switched to English and asked if I had been drinking anything. I said no ( I hadn’t had so much as a drink of water in 4 hours!). He made me take a breath-a-lizer test and when I passed it he said, “alright, have a good night.” And that was that! I guess they have a lot of random check points around the cities on Crete. FINALLY, we got to our hotel at about 1 a.m.! I swear sometimes, I have the craziest luck!
Anywho, Sean was sick for the next few days. So I explored town on my own and laid by the pool in between checking on Sean. Greece was fantastic!!! I absolutely loved it there! I went to a Greek dancing lesson, laid on the beach, went on an herbal hike, had a huge traditional Greek meal and hiked around the beaches. It was a dream and the food was awesome! I think I was Greek in another lifetime. I could live there! After another wonderfully amazing week, and with Sean in recovery, we headed back to Ireland to spend 3 days with Sean’s mom. We stayed in Dublin for the 3 days and did sight-seeing. We saw a Shakespeare play at Trinity College, went on a double-decker bus tour, toured the Guinness Brewery, went on a ghost bus tour and did some shopping. After 2 and ½ weeks of travel, we were spent by the time we flew home. We had one day in Boston (where Sean lives) before I headed back to see my family. It was the trip of a lifetime!
School/ Rose Urban Exchange:
The last few months of school flew by like the rest of the year. I took part in the Rose Urban Rural Exchange at the end of April. Five middle school students from Wasilla, AK came to Saint Paul Island for the week to experience life in a rural part of Alaska. I was in charge of organizing and planning the week. We had lots of great hang out time where the kids from Wasilla got to meet our students. We had a wonderful Halibut and King Crab dinner for students and host families. We even had a traditional dinner with Sea Lion meatballs! The students got to see all the different areas of life on our island and what it was like to go to a small school. One week after they came to visit us, I took four of our middle schoolers to Wasilla. It was such an amazing experience! Watching my students have one eye-opening experience to another was indescribable! They got to go to school in Wasilla where there are 800 kids in the middle school. That’s double the population of our island! We also got to go to Martin Buser’s Kennel. He has won the Iditarod on numerous occasions and told us all about it. We even got to hold his puppies. One of my students had never pet a dog before (we don’t have them on our island)! We went to a farm and got to see baby calves and even spent a day in Anchorage checking out a movie, dinner at a restaurant, a water park and native youth Olympics. I even saw a few moose! In fact I almost hit one!
The last few weeks of the school year are a blur. They sprinted right in front of me. And after having completed my first year of teaching and A LOT of thinking, I decided not to accept the contract for the following school year. Although I can honestly say it was one of the best experiences of my life, I was ready to be closer to home. It was a really hard decision to make, especially when I looked at my students. I truly cared for them so much, but I knew it was not fair to them, if I knew that I couldn’t give them all they deserved. So, I entered into one of the scariest moments in my life… the unknown. I had no clue what I was going to do, where I was going to live, when I would find a job! But I knew that I made the right decision and that something, somewhere would work out. I finished out the school year, cleaned my classroom, said a teary good-bye to my wonderful students and awesome school staff and headed once again for the lower 48.
The last few weeks of the school year are a blur. They sprinted right in front of me. And after having completed my first year of teaching and A LOT of thinking, I decided not to accept the contract for the following school year. Although I can honestly say it was one of the best experiences of my life, I was ready to be closer to home. It was a really hard decision to make, especially when I looked at my students. I truly cared for them so much, but I knew it was not fair to them, if I knew that I couldn’t give them all they deserved. So, I entered into one of the scariest moments in my life… the unknown. I had no clue what I was going to do, where I was going to live, when I would find a job! But I knew that I made the right decision and that something, somewhere would work out. I finished out the school year, cleaned my classroom, said a teary good-bye to my wonderful students and awesome school staff and headed once again for the lower 48.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Catch-Up
So... the last update I did was in an airport and I didn't get to finish due to the fact that I had to board the plane. So here we are again.
February and March flew by. In all my classes we finished novels and have been preparing for standardized testing. It has been super busy and has gone by so fast.
The most exciting thing to have happened was my spring break!!! For spring break, my Nikki, Mel and I decided to go somewhere warm. Our principal, Jamie, her two daughters, her sister and niece also joined us. We headed out to Anchorage for the weekend where we shopped for some summer clothes. From there we flew to L.A. and got on our Cruise Ship!!! The first night on the Carnival Cruise we checked out the ship and relaxed on the sun deck. That night we ate in the ship's restaurant. It was very fancy. They even put your napkin on your lap for you! Nikki and I hit up the dance show that night, which was more like a cheesy Saturday Night Live skit! But it was still fun. The second day of the cruise we docked in Avalon on Catalina Island, CA. It was gorgeous!!! We took at brief tour of the city and hit the shops and a nice little restaurant by the sea for lunch. We had to laugh during the restaurant when the guide was trying to tell us how "small" the island was. He told us that the school only had 700 students from grades K-12. Haha! Only 700?! that is double the population of our whole island! He also said "here is our hospital. And yes, we only have 1 doctor." We were like, "sweet! You have a doctor?" That day after we explored Catalina, we went back to the boat to throw our swim suits and bask in the California sun. It was heaven! About 75 and blue skies! Our second day of the cruise took us to Ensenada, Mexico. We first got on a bus that took us through the city. The city itself was very dirty and smoggy. Traffic was heavy and tight and there were random dogs all over. Then we took another bus that lead us to the famous "blow hole". There are only 3 natural blow holes in the world. One is in Hawaii, one is in Australia and the third was there in Mexico. A blow hole is like a geyser that happens right on the ocean's edge. Our tour guide was great! She was hilarious and really knowledgeable, so she showed us all the key points in town along the way to the geyser. Once we got off the bus, she took us through the market place and showed us which shops were sold "the real thing" and which shops to stay away from. It was crazy there! There were people everywhere, and men that kept saying "pretty ladies, I have deals for you" and "hollywoods girls, come in and take a look." It was kind of creepy actually. We walked right through the market, which was probably about half a mile long! We wanted to see the blowhole before we did anything else. So we went to were a crowd of people stood by this cliff overlooking the ocean. You could see the waves coming and all of a sudden you could hear this gurgling noise that got really loud and then the water shot up through the rocks and high into the air. It was really cool! Then we hit up a real Mexican restaurant for lunch before attempting the market. I really liked the market. The prices were cheap, once you knew how to barter. It was so fun! I got a guy to go from $265 on a sterling silver bracelet down to $30! I didn't even buy it, I just wanted to see if I could do it! We only had a few hours there before we had to hop on the bus again. Once we got back to the boat we took a nap and got all dazzled up for the formal dinner night. The food was soooo great!!! The final day on the ship we were hoping to soak up the rays and relax. We had the whole day on the boat. Well, we woke up to temperatures of about 55 degrees and rocky waves. But we bundled up and attempted to at least get a little face tan! HAHA. It was really windy and cool. It was also hilarious to watch people try to walk around when the ship was rocking. We went to lunch and then checked out a few of the shops on the ship. At one point, one of the clothing racks on wheels went rolling to the other end of this hallway. It was rocky!! I started to feel a little sea sick, so I went back to the room to take a nap. Much to my surprise I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror back in the room and realized I had gotten some sun that morning. Even when it was that cool out! Actually my face was fried! AND... I had worn some big sunglasses that day, so I had some sweet raccoon eyes! The next day we had to catch our flight from LA to Anchorage, but we had about 5 hours to spare, so we decided to hit up Hollywood! Why not, right?! Jamie sweet-talked taxi cab guy to take us there for $50 total (he had been asking for $120!). We couldn't resist and hopped in the van. It was a creepy ride, to say the least! The driver was on the phone the whole time, weaving in and out of traffic, yelling at someone about his phone bill and saying he "had business to take care of". We were all very grateful to get out of the van back on Hollywood Blvd. It was great! We walked on the Hollywood walk of fame and saw all of the stars with the names on them. Then we hit up a pizza place for lunch in the Hollywood plaza overlooking the famous Hollywood sign. After a quick couple of hours there, we needed to find a way back to the airport. So, the subway seemed like the best option. That was a whole different adventure! The subway took us to the ghettos of L.A. We went through some pretty shady neighborhoods where all the windows and doors in the houses were barred. The subway stopped at Compton, which is where we had to get off to get on a different subway. Compton is one of the well-known rough gang areas of LA. It was quite the experience for sure! Finally we got on the plane to head to Salt Lake City and then to Anchorage. AND...the best part of the flight was that Robert Redford was on the plane with us!!!!!! Of course, he was in first class, but I did see the back of his head and his body guard.
Then it was back to Anchorage and finally back to Saint Paul. The 2 weeks since break have happened so fast. It consisted of test-prep for this weeks standardized tests. I also got a nasty cold that I have been fighting. Now only about 7 weeks left of the school year!
February and March flew by. In all my classes we finished novels and have been preparing for standardized testing. It has been super busy and has gone by so fast.
The most exciting thing to have happened was my spring break!!! For spring break, my Nikki, Mel and I decided to go somewhere warm. Our principal, Jamie, her two daughters, her sister and niece also joined us. We headed out to Anchorage for the weekend where we shopped for some summer clothes. From there we flew to L.A. and got on our Cruise Ship!!! The first night on the Carnival Cruise we checked out the ship and relaxed on the sun deck. That night we ate in the ship's restaurant. It was very fancy. They even put your napkin on your lap for you! Nikki and I hit up the dance show that night, which was more like a cheesy Saturday Night Live skit! But it was still fun. The second day of the cruise we docked in Avalon on Catalina Island, CA. It was gorgeous!!! We took at brief tour of the city and hit the shops and a nice little restaurant by the sea for lunch. We had to laugh during the restaurant when the guide was trying to tell us how "small" the island was. He told us that the school only had 700 students from grades K-12. Haha! Only 700?! that is double the population of our whole island! He also said "here is our hospital. And yes, we only have 1 doctor." We were like, "sweet! You have a doctor?" That day after we explored Catalina, we went back to the boat to throw our swim suits and bask in the California sun. It was heaven! About 75 and blue skies! Our second day of the cruise took us to Ensenada, Mexico. We first got on a bus that took us through the city. The city itself was very dirty and smoggy. Traffic was heavy and tight and there were random dogs all over. Then we took another bus that lead us to the famous "blow hole". There are only 3 natural blow holes in the world. One is in Hawaii, one is in Australia and the third was there in Mexico. A blow hole is like a geyser that happens right on the ocean's edge. Our tour guide was great! She was hilarious and really knowledgeable, so she showed us all the key points in town along the way to the geyser. Once we got off the bus, she took us through the market place and showed us which shops were sold "the real thing" and which shops to stay away from. It was crazy there! There were people everywhere, and men that kept saying "pretty ladies, I have deals for you" and "hollywoods girls, come in and take a look." It was kind of creepy actually. We walked right through the market, which was probably about half a mile long! We wanted to see the blowhole before we did anything else. So we went to were a crowd of people stood by this cliff overlooking the ocean. You could see the waves coming and all of a sudden you could hear this gurgling noise that got really loud and then the water shot up through the rocks and high into the air. It was really cool! Then we hit up a real Mexican restaurant for lunch before attempting the market. I really liked the market. The prices were cheap, once you knew how to barter. It was so fun! I got a guy to go from $265 on a sterling silver bracelet down to $30! I didn't even buy it, I just wanted to see if I could do it! We only had a few hours there before we had to hop on the bus again. Once we got back to the boat we took a nap and got all dazzled up for the formal dinner night. The food was soooo great!!! The final day on the ship we were hoping to soak up the rays and relax. We had the whole day on the boat. Well, we woke up to temperatures of about 55 degrees and rocky waves. But we bundled up and attempted to at least get a little face tan! HAHA. It was really windy and cool. It was also hilarious to watch people try to walk around when the ship was rocking. We went to lunch and then checked out a few of the shops on the ship. At one point, one of the clothing racks on wheels went rolling to the other end of this hallway. It was rocky!! I started to feel a little sea sick, so I went back to the room to take a nap. Much to my surprise I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror back in the room and realized I had gotten some sun that morning. Even when it was that cool out! Actually my face was fried! AND... I had worn some big sunglasses that day, so I had some sweet raccoon eyes! The next day we had to catch our flight from LA to Anchorage, but we had about 5 hours to spare, so we decided to hit up Hollywood! Why not, right?! Jamie sweet-talked taxi cab guy to take us there for $50 total (he had been asking for $120!). We couldn't resist and hopped in the van. It was a creepy ride, to say the least! The driver was on the phone the whole time, weaving in and out of traffic, yelling at someone about his phone bill and saying he "had business to take care of". We were all very grateful to get out of the van back on Hollywood Blvd. It was great! We walked on the Hollywood walk of fame and saw all of the stars with the names on them. Then we hit up a pizza place for lunch in the Hollywood plaza overlooking the famous Hollywood sign. After a quick couple of hours there, we needed to find a way back to the airport. So, the subway seemed like the best option. That was a whole different adventure! The subway took us to the ghettos of L.A. We went through some pretty shady neighborhoods where all the windows and doors in the houses were barred. The subway stopped at Compton, which is where we had to get off to get on a different subway. Compton is one of the well-known rough gang areas of LA. It was quite the experience for sure! Finally we got on the plane to head to Salt Lake City and then to Anchorage. AND...the best part of the flight was that Robert Redford was on the plane with us!!!!!! Of course, he was in first class, but I did see the back of his head and his body guard.
Then it was back to Anchorage and finally back to Saint Paul. The 2 weeks since break have happened so fast. It consisted of test-prep for this weeks standardized tests. I also got a nasty cold that I have been fighting. Now only about 7 weeks left of the school year!
Catch-Up
So... the last update I did was in an airport and I didn't get to finish due to the fact that I had to board the plane. So here we are again.
February and March flew by. In all my classes we finished novels and have been preparing for standardized testing. It has been super busy and has gone by so fast.
The most exciting thing to have happened was my spring break!!! For spring break, my Nikki, Mel and I decided to go somewhere warm. Our principal, Jamie, her two daughters, her sister and niece also joined us. We headed out to Anchorage for the weekend where we shopped for some summer clothes. From there we flew to L.A. and got on our Cruise Ship!!! The first night on the Carnival Cruise we checked out the ship and relaxed on the sun deck. That night we ate in the ship's restaurant. It was very fancy. They even put your napkin on your lap for you! Nikki and I hit up the dance show that night, which was more like a cheesy Saturday Night Live skit! But it was still fun. The second day of the cruise we docked in Avalon on Catalina Island, CA. It was gorgeous!!! We took at brief tour of the city and hit the shops and a nice little restaurant by the sea for lunch. We had to laugh during the restaurant when the guide was trying to tell us how "small" the island was. He told us that the school only had 700 students from grades K-12. Haha! Only 700?! that is double the population of our whole island! He also said "here is our hospital. And yes, we only have 1 doctor." We were like, "sweet! You have a doctor?" That day after we explored Catalina, we went back to the boat to throw our swim suits and bask in the California sun. It was heaven! About 75 and blue skies! Our second day of the cruise took us to Ensenada, Mexico. We first got on a bus that took us through the city. The city itself was very dirty and smoggy. Traffic was heavy and tight and there were random dogs all over. Then we took another bus that lead us to the famous "blow hole". There are only 3 natural blow holes in the world. One is in Hawaii, one is in Australia and the third was there in Mexico. A blow hole is like a geyser that happens right on the ocean's edge. Our tour guide was great! She was hilarious and really knowledgeable, so she showed us all the key points in town along the way to the geyser. Once we got off the bus, she took us through the market place and showed us which shops were sold "the real thing" and which shops to stay away from. It was crazy there! There were people everywhere, and men that kept saying "pretty ladies, I have deals for you" and "hollywoods girls, come in and take a look." It was kind of creepy actually. We walked right through the market, which was probably about half a mile long! We wanted to see the blowhole before we did anything else. So we went to were a crowd of people stood by this cliff overlooking the ocean. You could see the waves coming and all of a sudden you could hear this gurgling noise that got really loud and then the water shot up through the rocks and high into the air. It was really cool! Then we hit up a real Mexican restaurant for lunch before attempting the market. I really liked the market. The prices were cheap, once you knew how to barter. It was so fun! I got a guy to go from $265 on a sterling silver bracelet down to $30! I didn't even buy it, I just wanted to see if I could do it! We only had a few hours there before we had to hop on the bus again. Once we got back to the boat we took a nap and got all dazzled up for the formal dinner night. The food was soooo great!!! The final day on the ship we were hoping to soak up the rays and relax. We had the whole day on the boat. Well, we woke up to temperatures of about 55 degrees and rocky waves. But we bundled up and attempted to at least get a little face tan! HAHA. It was really windy and cool. It was also hilarious to watch people try to walk around when the ship was rocking. We went to lunch and then checked out a few of the shops on the ship. At one point, one of the clothing racks on wheels went rolling to the other end of this hallway. It was rocky!! I started to feel a little sea sick, so I went back to the room to take a nap. Much to my surprise I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror back in the room and realized I had gotten some sun that morning. Even when it was that cool out! Actually my face was fried! AND... I had worn some big sunglasses that day, so I had some sweet raccoon eyes! The next day we had to catch our flight from LA to Anchorage, but we had about 5 hours to spare, so we decided to hit up Hollywood! Why not, right?! Jamie sweet-talked taxi cab guy to take us there for $50 total (he had been asking for $120!). We couldn't resist and hopped in the van. It was a creepy ride, to say the least! The driver was on the phone the whole time, weaving in and out of traffic, yelling at someone about his phone bill and saying he "had business to take care of". We were all very grateful to get out of the van back on Hollywood Blvd. It was great! We walked on the Hollywood walk of fame and saw all of the stars with the names on them. Then we hit up a pizza place for lunch in the Hollywood plaza overlooking the famous Hollywood sign. After a quick couple of hours there, we needed to find a way back to the airport. So, the subway seemed like the best option. That was a whole different adventure! The subway took us to the ghettos of L.A. We went through some pretty shady neighborhoods where all the windows and doors in the houses were barred. The subway stopped at Compton, which is where we had to get off to get on a different subway. Compton is one of the well-known rough gang areas of LA. It was quite the experience for sure! Finally we got on the plane to head to Salt Lake City and then to Anchorage. AND...the best part of the flight was that Robert Redford was on the plane with us!!!!!! Of course, he was in first class, but I did see the back of his head and his body guard.
Then it was back to Anchorage and finally back to Saint Paul. The 2 weeks since break have happened so fast. It consisted of test-prep for this weeks standardized tests. I also got a nasty cold that I have been fighting. Now only about 7 weeks left of the school year!
February and March flew by. In all my classes we finished novels and have been preparing for standardized testing. It has been super busy and has gone by so fast.
The most exciting thing to have happened was my spring break!!! For spring break, my Nikki, Mel and I decided to go somewhere warm. Our principal, Jamie, her two daughters, her sister and niece also joined us. We headed out to Anchorage for the weekend where we shopped for some summer clothes. From there we flew to L.A. and got on our Cruise Ship!!! The first night on the Carnival Cruise we checked out the ship and relaxed on the sun deck. That night we ate in the ship's restaurant. It was very fancy. They even put your napkin on your lap for you! Nikki and I hit up the dance show that night, which was more like a cheesy Saturday Night Live skit! But it was still fun. The second day of the cruise we docked in Avalon on Catalina Island, CA. It was gorgeous!!! We took at brief tour of the city and hit the shops and a nice little restaurant by the sea for lunch. We had to laugh during the restaurant when the guide was trying to tell us how "small" the island was. He told us that the school only had 700 students from grades K-12. Haha! Only 700?! that is double the population of our whole island! He also said "here is our hospital. And yes, we only have 1 doctor." We were like, "sweet! You have a doctor?" That day after we explored Catalina, we went back to the boat to throw our swim suits and bask in the California sun. It was heaven! About 75 and blue skies! Our second day of the cruise took us to Ensenada, Mexico. We first got on a bus that took us through the city. The city itself was very dirty and smoggy. Traffic was heavy and tight and there were random dogs all over. Then we took another bus that lead us to the famous "blow hole". There are only 3 natural blow holes in the world. One is in Hawaii, one is in Australia and the third was there in Mexico. A blow hole is like a geyser that happens right on the ocean's edge. Our tour guide was great! She was hilarious and really knowledgeable, so she showed us all the key points in town along the way to the geyser. Once we got off the bus, she took us through the market place and showed us which shops were sold "the real thing" and which shops to stay away from. It was crazy there! There were people everywhere, and men that kept saying "pretty ladies, I have deals for you" and "hollywoods girls, come in and take a look." It was kind of creepy actually. We walked right through the market, which was probably about half a mile long! We wanted to see the blowhole before we did anything else. So we went to were a crowd of people stood by this cliff overlooking the ocean. You could see the waves coming and all of a sudden you could hear this gurgling noise that got really loud and then the water shot up through the rocks and high into the air. It was really cool! Then we hit up a real Mexican restaurant for lunch before attempting the market. I really liked the market. The prices were cheap, once you knew how to barter. It was so fun! I got a guy to go from $265 on a sterling silver bracelet down to $30! I didn't even buy it, I just wanted to see if I could do it! We only had a few hours there before we had to hop on the bus again. Once we got back to the boat we took a nap and got all dazzled up for the formal dinner night. The food was soooo great!!! The final day on the ship we were hoping to soak up the rays and relax. We had the whole day on the boat. Well, we woke up to temperatures of about 55 degrees and rocky waves. But we bundled up and attempted to at least get a little face tan! HAHA. It was really windy and cool. It was also hilarious to watch people try to walk around when the ship was rocking. We went to lunch and then checked out a few of the shops on the ship. At one point, one of the clothing racks on wheels went rolling to the other end of this hallway. It was rocky!! I started to feel a little sea sick, so I went back to the room to take a nap. Much to my surprise I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror back in the room and realized I had gotten some sun that morning. Even when it was that cool out! Actually my face was fried! AND... I had worn some big sunglasses that day, so I had some sweet raccoon eyes! The next day we had to catch our flight from LA to Anchorage, but we had about 5 hours to spare, so we decided to hit up Hollywood! Why not, right?! Jamie sweet-talked taxi cab guy to take us there for $50 total (he had been asking for $120!). We couldn't resist and hopped in the van. It was a creepy ride, to say the least! The driver was on the phone the whole time, weaving in and out of traffic, yelling at someone about his phone bill and saying he "had business to take care of". We were all very grateful to get out of the van back on Hollywood Blvd. It was great! We walked on the Hollywood walk of fame and saw all of the stars with the names on them. Then we hit up a pizza place for lunch in the Hollywood plaza overlooking the famous Hollywood sign. After a quick couple of hours there, we needed to find a way back to the airport. So, the subway seemed like the best option. That was a whole different adventure! The subway took us to the ghettos of L.A. We went through some pretty shady neighborhoods where all the windows and doors in the houses were barred. The subway stopped at Compton, which is where we had to get off to get on a different subway. Compton is one of the well-known rough gang areas of LA. It was quite the experience for sure! Finally we got on the plane to head to Salt Lake City and then to Anchorage. AND...the best part of the flight was that Robert Redford was on the plane with us!!!!!! Of course, he was in first class, but I did see the back of his head and his body guard.
Then it was back to Anchorage and finally back to Saint Paul. The 2 weeks since break have happened so fast. It consisted of test-prep for this weeks standardized tests. I also got a nasty cold that I have been fighting. Now only about 7 weeks left of the school year!
Monday, March 10, 2008
Busy Busy
Sorry! It has been WAY too long! Can you tell I have been busy?
Life is going swell. It has been over a month since the last update. I cannot believe how fast everything has gone by since Christmas break! Here we are and it is Spring break already! I have added a new class to my list of classes I am teaching. I now also have all the juniors and seniors. It is a nice refresher from middle school, but also a big change. They challenge me a lot, which keeps me on my toes. I have also taken on the extra duty called Rose Urban Rural Exchange. I will be taking 5 of my middle school students to a city on the mainland for a week on April and 5 of the city kids come to Saint Paul for a week. It is a lot of extra work, but I am really excited about the trip. I am also enrolled in a college class through University of Anchorage Alaska. Busy!!!
Life is going swell. It has been over a month since the last update. I cannot believe how fast everything has gone by since Christmas break! Here we are and it is Spring break already! I have added a new class to my list of classes I am teaching. I now also have all the juniors and seniors. It is a nice refresher from middle school, but also a big change. They challenge me a lot, which keeps me on my toes. I have also taken on the extra duty called Rose Urban Rural Exchange. I will be taking 5 of my middle school students to a city on the mainland for a week on April and 5 of the city kids come to Saint Paul for a week. It is a lot of extra work, but I am really excited about the trip. I am also enrolled in a college class through University of Anchorage Alaska. Busy!!!
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
It's been awhile!
Hey everyone!
Sorry it has been awhile since the last update. A lot of crazy things have happened in the past month or so.
Let's start with Christmas break. Well, it was quite the adventure to get home. Let's put it that way.
We were due to fly out of Saint Paul on December 19th. The plane cancelled due to bad weather. Apparently we had a tsunami warning early that day. Who knew? So we had to call the airlines and reschedule our flights; not just from Saint Paul, but we would also have to reschedule our flights from Anchorage because now we would miss those too. Well, after about 2 hours on the phone with the airlines we learned that we could not be guaranteed a seat until the 25th or later. They said it was best to go on standby from Anchorage on. We were rescheduled to fly out of Saint Paul the next day, but of course that flight also cancelled. So it was back to the phones to call the airlines. One of the other teachers went to the airport here the next day, the 21st to see if we could fly out on the cargo plane that morning, but they didn't have seats. So, that was a no-go. We finally got out of Saint Paul in the afternoon of the 21st. Once we arrived in Anchorage, Nikki, Steve, Mel, and I got on the standby list. At 9:45p.m. they said they had one extra seat. None of the other three wanted to travel alone, so they sent me off. From there I flew to Minneapolis. I waited on 3 or 4 standby flights at that airport. I was there for 14 hours trying to get on flights home. Then, the flights to Houghton started to cancel due to bad weather there! The ticket people said it was a fat chance of flying home before Christmas! Finally at like 6:30 the night of the 22nd Nikki and Mel made it to Minneapolis. So, we booked a hotel and decided to wait for Steve to fly in, who had now been stuck in Anchorage for 2 days, then we would rent a car and drive the rest of the way. Only problem was, there were no rental cars in the whole airport!!! Flights to Iowa, Michigan, and Wisconsin were cancelling, so everyone else had the same idea we did! We asked at the ticket counters about a bus, since there were a lot of Michigan people stranded there. They told us that the airport had no bus drivers left, since there had been so many cancelled flights! We figured we might as well go to the hotel and try and relax, get sleep and wait for Steve. We did however have a free hotel shuttle to the Mall of America, which was awesome! Finally Steve came in the next morning at 5 a.m. and we happened to snag a rental car online. We went to pick our Jeep Commander and we headed towards Michigan. Only problem was that there was a blizzard and the plows had been pulled. For more than 2 hours of the trip the highway wasn't even plowed! You could hear the snow hitting the bottom of the car! It was nuts. What should have been a 6-6 and 1/2 hour drive home took 9 and 1/2 hours! Let just say we were very thankful to make it home! We even got there before Christmas Eve. What about our luggage? Well, that's a whole other story!
Once we got home, break was good. Did a lot of relaxing and family time. I even got to see my friend Lora from high school which was awesome. Some friends from college were supposed to come to visit, but they also ran into weather problems and couldn't make it. :( I also did LOTS of shopping! You have no idea how much I missed going to stores. So, when i finally could, I went hog wild! It was great to chill out and spent time with my wonderful family. I had missed them so much.
Coming back to Saint Paul was no sweat. We had few difficulties with our flights home. It was good to see the staff at the airport and to catch up with them. We have no been back for a just over a week. I must say, I actually missed me students! It was good to get back in the swing of things and my students have been really good and are refreshed again and ready to learn. Who knows how long that will last! :)
Sickness has also swept the island. When a few people get sick, it spreads fast here, considering there are not that many people and everyone is related. We have just over 100 students and over 20 were absent today alone. We also have had many teachers get sick, including myself. But we are short on subs, so it is hard to take a sick day! I have been taking Vitamin C drops like they are going out of style and drinking so much water it isn't funny.
Other than that life is going swell! We are half way done with this school year!
Sorry it has been awhile since the last update. A lot of crazy things have happened in the past month or so.
Let's start with Christmas break. Well, it was quite the adventure to get home. Let's put it that way.
We were due to fly out of Saint Paul on December 19th. The plane cancelled due to bad weather. Apparently we had a tsunami warning early that day. Who knew? So we had to call the airlines and reschedule our flights; not just from Saint Paul, but we would also have to reschedule our flights from Anchorage because now we would miss those too. Well, after about 2 hours on the phone with the airlines we learned that we could not be guaranteed a seat until the 25th or later. They said it was best to go on standby from Anchorage on. We were rescheduled to fly out of Saint Paul the next day, but of course that flight also cancelled. So it was back to the phones to call the airlines. One of the other teachers went to the airport here the next day, the 21st to see if we could fly out on the cargo plane that morning, but they didn't have seats. So, that was a no-go. We finally got out of Saint Paul in the afternoon of the 21st. Once we arrived in Anchorage, Nikki, Steve, Mel, and I got on the standby list. At 9:45p.m. they said they had one extra seat. None of the other three wanted to travel alone, so they sent me off. From there I flew to Minneapolis. I waited on 3 or 4 standby flights at that airport. I was there for 14 hours trying to get on flights home. Then, the flights to Houghton started to cancel due to bad weather there! The ticket people said it was a fat chance of flying home before Christmas! Finally at like 6:30 the night of the 22nd Nikki and Mel made it to Minneapolis. So, we booked a hotel and decided to wait for Steve to fly in, who had now been stuck in Anchorage for 2 days, then we would rent a car and drive the rest of the way. Only problem was, there were no rental cars in the whole airport!!! Flights to Iowa, Michigan, and Wisconsin were cancelling, so everyone else had the same idea we did! We asked at the ticket counters about a bus, since there were a lot of Michigan people stranded there. They told us that the airport had no bus drivers left, since there had been so many cancelled flights! We figured we might as well go to the hotel and try and relax, get sleep and wait for Steve. We did however have a free hotel shuttle to the Mall of America, which was awesome! Finally Steve came in the next morning at 5 a.m. and we happened to snag a rental car online. We went to pick our Jeep Commander and we headed towards Michigan. Only problem was that there was a blizzard and the plows had been pulled. For more than 2 hours of the trip the highway wasn't even plowed! You could hear the snow hitting the bottom of the car! It was nuts. What should have been a 6-6 and 1/2 hour drive home took 9 and 1/2 hours! Let just say we were very thankful to make it home! We even got there before Christmas Eve. What about our luggage? Well, that's a whole other story!
Once we got home, break was good. Did a lot of relaxing and family time. I even got to see my friend Lora from high school which was awesome. Some friends from college were supposed to come to visit, but they also ran into weather problems and couldn't make it. :( I also did LOTS of shopping! You have no idea how much I missed going to stores. So, when i finally could, I went hog wild! It was great to chill out and spent time with my wonderful family. I had missed them so much.
Coming back to Saint Paul was no sweat. We had few difficulties with our flights home. It was good to see the staff at the airport and to catch up with them. We have no been back for a just over a week. I must say, I actually missed me students! It was good to get back in the swing of things and my students have been really good and are refreshed again and ready to learn. Who knows how long that will last! :)
Sickness has also swept the island. When a few people get sick, it spreads fast here, considering there are not that many people and everyone is related. We have just over 100 students and over 20 were absent today alone. We also have had many teachers get sick, including myself. But we are short on subs, so it is hard to take a sick day! I have been taking Vitamin C drops like they are going out of style and drinking so much water it isn't funny.
Other than that life is going swell! We are half way done with this school year!
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