Who knew?!

Apparently it's still winter...

New Home



View from the dining room window



Here's the lake from a nearby park, bit of a cloudy day...



Hello friends...well, God came through again just as He always does.  Contrary to my last post, I am now actually already living in Kent.  God provided me with a place to live just as I was about to set into panic mode - gotta love His timing right?! I'm living in Kent, close to Covington and only about 10-15 minutes from the elementary school where I will be working.  I am living with the pastor and his wife from the local Vineyard church here - they are great people and completely opened up their home to me, so generously.  They are friends of the pastor of my parents' church in Port Angeles, and actually had a brief encounter with my parents (through church-planting) about 20 years ago.  Amazing how God works! Needless to say, I've spent the last couple days getting acquainted with this area and getting used to living in someone else's house and adjusting to their schedules.  It is a bit of a weird place to be in, but I am very grateful for it.  Also, their house is very close to Lake Meridian, so from the upstairs (I'm living in the daylight basement) there's a great view.  I took a picture with my phone, so it's not the best quality. (see above - for some reason I'm having trouble with pics on the blog lately, so take them as they are...)

Student-Teaching

Hey friends, most of you know this already, but I finally got my student-teaching placement! Yay! I'm going to be at Park Orchard Elementary in Kent, WA. You can check the website out here: http://www1.kent.k12.wa.us/ksd/po/PAGES/STAFF/staff_directory.htm
I'm going to be working in a second grade classroom with a teacher who has never had a student-teacher before.  I did an interview with her last week and it went very well.  She is pretty young and enthusiastic, so I'm excited to work with her.  Almost half of her classroom is ELL (English Language Learner) students - a majority of them are Spanish-speakers, so I will be doing some translating.  Although the students are learning English, many of the families do not speak English, so hopefully I can bond with the parents through translating.  Also, I'm pretty sure that this is why I was placed at this school - because of the Spanish connection, so it's all starting to make sense!

I'm currently in the last week of my job and I need to move into the Kent area ASAP.  I went and looked at places to stay on Tuesday.  I went to 3 different places and none of them will work out, unfortunately.  The parameters of my living needs make it very difficult to find somewhere...but I'm doing my best to have faith that if God wants me at this school, He will find me a place to live! I'm not very good at being patient though...who is?!?  If you happen to know anyone that might have somewhere I could stay, here's what I need....

A room in the Kent/Maple Valley/Auburn area.
Month-to-month lease (or possibly a 6 month lease, but even that would be a stretch, because I will probably only be there for 4 months)
No cats! (I'm allergic, and every place I looked at yesterday had cats...:S)
$400 a month or less (I will have no income during student-teaching and will be living just off of my savings/emergency fund)

I have already asked my friends, my church members, 3 churches in the area, and friends of my parents...so if anyone else has any great ideas, please let me know! Thanks :)

What My Phone Has to Say...

While cleaning out the pictures from my phone memory the other day I came across a few to share....

On Thanksgiving I made my first ever angel food cake from scratch! It turned out excellent.  I added my own cranberry glaze, that I made like you would make a normal glaze and then added some cranberry jelly and strained the glaze to get the jelly lumps out.  It was pretty.

Around Christmas time, I made snowman mints.  Do you believe those are actually mints? Yep, they're awfully cute, but they are also tasty - to me, they tasted like "After-Dinner Mints" (if you've ever had those..they're kind of old-school).  My Grandma refused to eat these, or even try one...perhaps they were too cute for her, who knows.  I had fun making them...they'd be great for a kids' Christmas party.

Gorgeous morning at John Wayne Marina the other day....this is one of the places I will miss when (if) I move in the next couple of months...speaking of which - my last day of work is a month from yesterday, wow.

My cat (Boo) likes to "help" me with homework...she rubs her head against my laptop. Thanks kitten. She also demands lots of petting...as shown in this picture.

That is all for now....

Happy New Year!

2 months have passed since my last update...that's funny because one of my goals for my Christmas "break" was to write on this blog when I had "spare time" and fewer responsibilities.  However, the urge to write seems to hit me more often when I have other things that I really should be doing..and don't want to.  It is as the they say..."my room is never cleaner than when I have a paper to write or an exam to study for." 

 


Turkey Trot in the snow...so cold, my sweat became frost on my headband!

 



After the Reindeer Run with my medal, it was chilly.



In the last couple of months I have...done a few things.  Mainly, I finished up my fall quarter at SPU...it was by far the toughest quarter I've had yet.  I enjoyed my break...although, I must say it feels significantly less like a break when you still have to go to work, but it was nice.  I did a 5k Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving with my dad...I had a bit of a rough time in that race because it was snowy and I also forgot to tape up my arm beforehand.  I did a 10k Reindeer Run right before Christmas and performed much better - even taking 3rd place for my age group!

*An update on my shoulder problems - for those of you who haven't heard, I won't be going for shoulder surgery, as I was originally worried about, for now.  I may have to go in for it in the future, but for now, I am simply trying to do some arm strengthening exercises.  Apparently, my shoulder bones are too close to my nerves....go figure...Here's something that may make you laugh...my physical therapist recommended that I use the ShakeWeight....yes, you heard me right, that rather obscene-looking device...I now own and use one...laugh away*

Christmas around my house was pretty quiet this year.  Fortunately my brother was able to traverse the snow-covered roads and visit from Idaho. That was a blessing...although it turned out I am allergic to his dog and broke out in a terrible rash :( I think I will be more careful before petting unfamiliar dogs in the future - I grew up with a dog that never caused me any allergies, so I must only have trouble with certain breeds.

The biggest news is really that I STILL don't have my student-teaching placement....I will begin my internship in a little less than 2 months and I don't know where I am going! Although I am somewhat comforted to know that about half my cohort is in the same boat as myself...it is still frustrating...especially for a Type A person such as myself.  I keep reminding myself that God is trying to teach me patience...something I desperately need to learn...but it's hard! haha.

I have given my notice at my job though...knowing that God WILL provide somewhere for me to student-teach, starting on March 1st.  My last day at the church will be...February 14th! Yes that's right, the all-exciting Valentine's day.  I figured that would be a good note to go out on...lots of love...or whatever that holiday is really all about.  I will be sad to leave this job, I adore the kids here...however, I am ready to move forward in my pursuit of a teaching career and it's really time...They are conducting interviews for my position...and that is a little weird...but I'm sure there's a great person out there to fill my shoes.

If any of you out there are praying people, pray for me in my patience as I wait to find out about my student-teaching placement and along with that, that when I do find out where I'm going, that God would provide somewhere for me to live.  Because the internship is 4 months, and I will have no income during that time, it would be virtually impossible to sign a year lease on an apartment...again, I'm trusting that God will provide...but it is definitely more in my nature to worry....

One thing I am sincerely hoping is that if I get placed in the Seattle area (which is highly likely) I will be able to reconnect with Seattle friends...if any of you out there still read this, that means YOU! :) I am also hoping that I will finally be able to actually GO to a church again without working on Sundays...working for a church has been great in many regards, but I miss being in a service and not working a service for sure...

That's all for now...probably until the next time I have a looming deadline....haha.  Happy 2011 everyone!

Aren't you a little young for that?

Yesterday in Sunday school, my little buddy J says to me...
J: "Teacher, I have groin pain!"
Me: "You have what?"
J: "Groin pain."

I ignore this for a while, until it comes up again later...

J: "Teacher, I can't color cuz I have groin pain!"

I look to see him point at his shin....where his "groin pain" was....yep, you guessed it - he meant GROWING pain!

That makes more sense...that guy is never-ending entertainment.

Who is Booty??

I've been a little lax in my kid-quoting lately...well, I've been posting them on facebook because I know my fellow teachers-to-be appreciate them probably more than any of you...but anyway, here's a few that stuck out/entertained me lately...

At church yesterday (Halloween) I was asking the Sunday school kids what they were going to be for Halloween...

Kid #1: "I'm gonna be Aurora, and (my brother) is gonna be Buzz Lightyear, and Daddy's gonna be Booty!"
Me: "...Booty?!"
Kid #2: "Yeah, Booty!....no wait, WOODY!"

hmmm....

The other day at school I was orally testing some of the students in math when the principal walked by. One of the students cringed and had a terrified look on his face.  Knowing that he was a pretty good student and rarely ever gets in trouble, I asked him...

Me: "What's wrong buddy?"
Him: "It's Mrs. B...."
Me: "Yes...so?"
Him: "She FIRED one of the kids at the school!!"

I don't know what that means...but it kind of reminds me of the story about the nasty substitute who was as mean as a witch...can't remember the name at the moment, but I'm sure you know what I'm talking about.

Last night (Halloween) I helped my parents hand out candy.  We enjoyed messing with the kids by adding rubber rats, dog cookies, and cloves of garlic to the candy....One kid who was probably 8 years old, picked up a dog bone and went to put it in his mouth, until his friend looked at him and said "Man, that is an epic fail." haha. These kids are beyond their years!

Here's a picture from last night...don't mind the demon eyes...that always happens.