Books and Bikes and Basil

Assorted history/arts/literature

Since graduation (yes! I graduated with a Bachelor's of Science in Elementary Education!) I've been taking classes to finish up my reading endorsement. During the two weeks after I graduated, I read 40+ books for the literature classes I needed to take (fun, but SO much reading & studying and projects in a short period of time!) and this week has been a week of Catching Up At Home.

fiction, blank journal, history, political

I've worked on exciting projects like organizing our spare room, sorting through Stuff that had accumulated, and generating quite a pile of boxes of things to send on. It feels so good to be dealing with things I just haven't had time to take care of during the school year!

We've been bike-riding lately and I'm discovering muscles I apparently do not use otherwise? I'm hoping that the more we bike the less my legs will ache :/ This morning I decided to try a new trail and ended up getting sort of turned around! I was glad to have a maps app on my phone so I could figure out where I needed to go to get back home!

Old and new Latin books

Reprints of etiquette books, parlor games

Old fiction books

My current Major Project is going through books and deciding what I'm ready to send on, then get them posted so (hopefully!) I can sell some of them. Book-buying has been my weakness for years now, and I have 3 full totes of books that I'm ready to send on.

In high school, I was sure I would write an amazing novel set during the Civil War era and I bought SO MANY BOOKS about the Civil War so I could be a good researcher before writing my novel! The novel is no longer happening (I was more interested in the history and didn't have much of a plot!) and it's time for most of my research books to find new homes. I also thought it would be a fabulous idea to buy lots of older books, so I did. And, since I was studying Latin, I bought older Latin textbooks, plus newer text that was translated into Latin so I'd have more interesting things to practice reading. They're all just sitting around and I have so many other books already, it's time for these to go!

Vision Forum, facsimile reprints, etc

To accommodate our need to store our bikes somewhere in the garage-less space at our disposal, my husband humored me and we moved around furniture to make room for my bike along one wall of the apartment. With how odd our "spring" weather was, I had winter and spring/summer clothes out. Now that it feels like summer has indeed started to move in, I put away sweaters and coats and gloves and scarves and hats, and made room instead for light jackets and our bike helmets. Everything feels so light and free!



With the spring/early summer weather officially here and frost warnings past, we finally picked up plants, potting soil, mulch, and rocks (for good drainage in the pots) and planted our assortment of flowers and herbs and tomatoes! We have 4 kinds of tomatoes (1 compact cherry, 1 black cherry, 1 yellow, 1 stripey heirloom); 3 basil plants; 1 cilantro plant; 1 rosemary plant; 1 rose; 1 bunch of chives; lots and lots of moss roses and a few petunias and a bunch of verbena! It is so satisfying to see the pots of growing, thriving life. Already, I've harvested abundant basil. For supper tonight, I'm going to go pick some basil, chop up a tomato, slice up some mozzarella cheese sticks we just aren't eating as a snack, drizzle it all with a little olive oil, and let the flavors meld a little before dishing it up. The fragrant basil makes everything happier :) I love this post-grad life...

Changes

Last day!

15 short weeks later, I'm done with student teaching and instead sitting at home wrapping up my portfolio and planning details for my graduation party! To say that I'm thrilled is an understatement :)
The pic to the left is of just some of the cards the class of 1st graders I was working with made for me. Love them, and I miss the kids. A lot. However, I am so ready to graduate and move on to actually getting paid to do something with the things I've been studying. I loved student teaching, but the lack of a paycheck and still needing to pay tuition diminished a bit of the charm of it all ;)

In other news, my husband started a new job and is now in welding school! It's pretty sweet and he's loving it! Happy husband = happy wife.

Yep, mine's red too!

My brother ordered a VitaMix for us like this one here so I've started making some fruit/veggie smoothies. They're all turning out pretty intensely green thanks to the kale I've been stuffing into the mix, but if it means we're getting more of those "leafy greens" into our diet, I'm all for it! My smoothie today is a tad tart, though - Instead of using the juice from just 1/2 a lemon, I put all of the juice from one lemon into my smoothie-for-one (along with a green apple, some cucumber, kale, frozen strawberries, and a little fresh ginger). That's a lot of tart! It's all good, though ;) It's been fun to experiment and I'm looking forward to making some excellent blended coffee drinks this summer! Vitamixes are the BEST! :D
We watched Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead with my parents (after my brother introduced them to it) and decided that we would really like to start eating more raw veggies and fruits, and between this VitaMix and the Breville juicer my brother also sent to us, we're equipped to revolutionize our eating habits. Definitely watch the video and check out the site - it'll change the way you think about food forever!

Yep, definitely a fan of red...

During the last week of student teaching, my car- an old '94 Chevy that has gotten me all the way through school- finally gave up the ghost, so we are borrowing a bike so my husband can bike to work. Before that could happen, though, we visited a bunch of stores so we could pick up necessary Bike Gear and ended up working with the most awesome guy at a bike store and leaving with everything else we needed from there! So, now the bike is equipped with new brake pads, new tires, lights on the front and back, a nice cable combination lock, and we have a helmet and spiffy biking gloves too! It's fab, and it makes me want to get my bike all fixed up so we can go biking together :)

So basically, lots of change and transitions and new going on in our lives, and I think it's all change for the better! We're still in need of a second car, but God knows and for now we can get by with just one car. And that's life lately :)

Student teaching at last!

All these years of college and summer classes and homework and studying are finally paying off :)

I'm now midway through Week 3 of my first student teaching placement in an amazing 4th grade classroom!
Lesson planning, unit planning, getting to know students, teaching lessons, watching the time and getting us to specials on time.. I'm honestly loving it all.
My body, however, would appreciate significantly more sleep!
Things are starting to come together, I'm beginning to find a routine, but I still have so much to learn! Love this chance to learn a ton from my cooperating teacher and sad to think that we're almost halfway through my time with this class of 4th graders :(

Love this post: 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teachers- Lots of details I'm learning to put into practice already!

Summer! Weekend! Busy!

It's been forever, yes? :)

Since I last posted... I finished up another year of school, took 3 weeks of summer classes, and am currently trying to figure out some semblance of summer routine. Not there yet!

This is my least favorite part of the week. Sundays are SO wonderful, but end far too quickly :( My husband had the day off of work today, so we erranded a little and I stopped by Target to pick up some things to use for the 30 Day Journal Challenge. I don't feel a need to catch up, I'd rather just take my time and finish when I finish. I like the idea of a creative outlet each day. I'll possibly post some pics here once I get started :)

I'm playing for a friends wedding next weekend, so free time lately has included practicing prelude/postlude music, as well as working out details in the music during the ceremony. I'm loving how it's coming together.

Over the weekend we acquired a portable dishwasher, which involved reworking the kitchen a little and... now we have a dishwasher!! I'm thinking it will prove to be quite handy, especially during particularly busy periods of life.

I hate how sweaty and gross summer feels. Our forecast for tomorrow is 95. In early June. 95°?! >.< Bleh. I hate how anything I do to look cute and presentable feels instantly melted away as soon as I step outside.

One of my favorite things in life is coming home, especially after a long, busy day. The moment the door opens, the bright coziness of the living room welcomes me- white wood blinds on the windows, airy white curtains framing the window, greenery and houseplants here and there and a bouquet of yellow tulips accenting a violet table end table, dark charcoal couches and casually arranged violet and gold and white pillows... It just feels so happy and relaxing and serene. (Plus! It is so much cooler than outside :) Anymore, that is a definite JOY factor too!)

Here, have a picture:

Those are the flowers I potted for my mom for mother's day :) They smell AMAZING! :D I have no idea what they are.

Linkage:

Stuff :)

- I am in love with plan metal folding chairs done this way. LOVE them! :D

- Personally, I am not a Nicholas Sparks fan! However, these Notebook-inspired engagement photos are pretty sweet.

- Wooden Scrabble Letter Tiles = fridge magnets in my world :) I'm still plotting the details, but aren't these fantastic?!

- This idea is a reminder to be intentional in how you spend your time. I <3 the aesthetics of this project, though I think I'd modify the container itself (hers is to... frou-frou-y :) Take Time To...

Break!

It's here- At last, it's here! :D

Spring isn't, actually- today, it's snowing. But spring break is here, which is good enough for me :)
As a teacher-to-be-in-training, there are myriad projects to complete and expectations to be met, so rather than a really-truly break, this week is more like "Spring-Diminished-Workload!!!" :)
Instead of having classes every morning, today I got to sleep in a little bit and get things done around the apartment instead of flying off to class. Today, instead of being in classes, I'm headed off to get some observation hours in with my cooperating teacher in her 3rd grade classroom. This afternoon, instead of working on homework, exactly, I'll be writing the lesson I teach tomorrow in the same classroom. It's a math lesson about making change (money!) so I've been pondering fun way to teach and practice the concept.
Tomorrow, I'll be teaching a lesson, getting the last of my observation hours in, possibly administering some perception tests and some reading tests, and writing about my findings and about how my lesson went.

Over the rest of the week (between time with my husband and hours at work), I have a journal article to read and review, a theology paper to write, and other projects to catch up on. Spring break is, more than anything else, a quick breather- a chance to try to catch up on everything that wasn't happening amid the Busy of the rest of Regular Life.

Here's hoping for a productive, restful, recharging break... 'cause after Friday morning, it's basically Life As Usual again!

Wishing for Spring...

Our apartment was still decorated with greenery and light blue and white and silver and sparkles and snowflakes. Last week, in a fit of longing for spring (and perhaps a much-needed break from homework!), a friend and I headed to Michaels to check out their new merchandise.
I had an idea of what I was looking for, but not a specific list :)
1) florals for a new arrangement
2) maybe wreath-making materials
3) possibly some other spring-ish decor

Here's a taste of what I came away with:

Some decor for the windowsill behind the couch...

And a new spring-ish arrangement! I LOVE the combination of colors in the arrangement + the color of the table- SO much ♥

Aaaaaand... a grapevine wreath, a few spring florals, plus a butterfly = a cheery spring wreath to brighten up the hallway and make the return home even cheerier :)

Yesterday and today, it snowed. However, I would like to believe that spring will still come... someday! Until then, I'll pretend from inside my apartment that winter is on its way out :)