It’s been awhile since I’ve written. I’ve been really busy with school, so I neglected this blog. The good news is that the semester is nearly finished, so my workload is slowly getting to be less and less. I only have three classes, but two of them are related to my major and we have many projects to do in those classes.
My Methods class is really going well. I only have 2 more times that I need to go to the school. I really cannot believe it. The class has been so great with welcoming me into their classroom. I have been reflecting on some of the things I’ve done over this semester, and I really have enjoyed teaching them. The experiences I have will help me in student teaching.
Speaking of which, I am placed in 3rd grade at Mt. Caesar Elementary in Swanzey, NH. It is about a 10 minute drive from here, which is great. I have yet to meet with my cooperating teacher; I called him today and left a message, so we will see what happens.
Much has happened since I posted last. As I mentioned before, I found out my student teaching placement. I also went home for Veteran’s Day weekend and got spoiled by my mother. Honestly, I love being in college because when I come home my mom will make all the things I love, no matter how much time it takes to make them. I had a whole schlew of food, including home made bread, cookies, and whoopie pies. My brother and I went shopping. I also took the Praxis II, which seemed easier than I thought it would be. Let’s just hope that I passed; I really don’t want to spend the money or go through the effort to take it again. I got to see an awesome live band at a local club and relax with some friends. I also managed to watch up to season 5 of One Tree Hill, and read the book Twilight. I also completed various projects and assignments for class. Yep, November was a busy month, but it’s hard to believe it is almost over. This really is going to be my last November here at Keene.
This coming week is very exciting because it is Thanksgiving. It is my absolute favorite holiday, and it has been since I can remember. I would always get up, watch the Macy’s Day Parade with my mother while decorating for Christmas. After I would get ready for Thanksgiving and go to my aunt and uncle’s to eat some delicious food. It still hasn’t changed. I think I like it because it’s all about family, not about presents or anything religious. Plus, it is the start of the holiday season, which makes me absolutely happy in every way. My mom puts up the Christmas tree, and goes all out with decorations for Christmas (seriously, she has like 5 bins just devoted to Christmas decorations). I find Christmas music very relaxing, and after Thanksgiving I can listen to it without feeling like a weirdo. Plus, I get to practice gluttony and not feel guilty about the disgusting amount of food I eat on this day. It really is great! I even have my own Thanksgiving pants- really big jeans that I used to wear before I lost alot of weight. They are great; they are like 5 sizes too big and are perfect for eating!
I will try to post next week after Thanksgiving, especially since it is closer to the end of the semester. My time here is winding down; it really is scary.
Happy Early Thanksgiving!
Yesterday was Midnight Madness. Midnight Madness is a really big pep rally that begins the beginning of basketball season. Lindsey and I started lining up at 9:30 even though the doors didn’t open until 10:45. We sipped on coffee and hot chocolate to keep ourselves warm. Finally, the doors open and we all rushed to get our shirts. Seriously, college kids will do anything for free shirts. I was glad they had a small, usually they only have big sizes that are too big. Anyway, we were quickly joined by more friends, and we started dancing and getting crazy. We really wanted shirts, but we didn’t have the good fortune to catch a shirt to get us to play games. We still enjoyed ourselves, though. Supercuts was there throwing out free samples of hair care stuff. I was lucky enough to be behind my two tallest male friends, so they caught a bunch of stuff for us ladies. It was great, I got two small bottles of Redken shampoo and conditioner, which is my favorite ever. We also got samples of Tea Tree, which I have always wanted to try. Of course, we stayed behind after to collect more stuff that people had left behind. We also watched the dance team perform, which is always fun. After Midnight Madness I headed back and stayed up a little to chill and relax before going to bed. Usually I volunteer to work on Saturdays for tours, but I figured I needed a break since I’ve done almost every one since the semester started. I loved sleeping in late and relaxing. Lindsey and I made a pizza, but it was a learning experience for us, because we learned we dont need so much dough to make pizza. It was still good though nonetheless. I also dyed my hair back to its natural color. I realized it was too much effort to maintain every month. I like it, it will be so much easier to take of. This coming week should be fun; it is Pumpkin Lobotomy followed by Pumpkin Fest.
Remember in my last post I said I loved fall? Yesterday, my parents and brother came up to visit me and drive around to leaf peep. We ended up heading northwest, to the Green Mountain forest in Vermont. We took a nice scenic drive; looking at all the leaves were so gorgeous. On the way back to Keene, we stopped to take pictures of this diner because it said “Dam Diner”. Well, actually we had to stop because my mother needed to stretch her legs, but it was an appropriate place to stop. We posed by the sign and cracked a few jokes, then headed on. Further on down the road, we saw the actual dam, as well as a steel bridge. We got out, and my mom walked along the bridge, followed by Brian. I decided to follow suit. There was such a nice view. My mom actually was the only one that walked the full length of the bridge, I was too lazy and went half way. Brian and I took photos of the scenery. After about 10 minutes of exploring, we headed back. We stopped further down the road because there was a covered bridge, and everyone knows how much those are my favorite! We all got out and walked once again. I stood at the entrance of the bridge and posed for a photo. Once again, my mom went exploring and hiked down to the river front, followed by Brian. I decided to stay up, especially since Brian stole my camera. He actually took decent pictures. After exploring for awhile, we headed back to Keene. It was a nice day trip, and the leaves were gorgeous. Back in Keene, we ate dinner at Margaritas, and as always, it was so delicious.
This coming week is Midnight Madness, followed by Pumpkin Lobotomy the following Friday. Many exciting things are happening!
Aaa, how I love Keene this time of year. Back home the foliage isn’t as beautiful as it is here; Hudson is very flat and the leaves are only certain colors. Here the leaves are gorgeous around this time of year and the mountains add to it. Fall isn’t my favorite season, but I love Keene this time of year. Even in the winter it’s beautiful, even if I don’t like the cold weather. Lindsey and I went shopping on Friday and I bought a nice fall coat that is so adorable. I love it AND it was on sale. My male residents thought my jacket was cute but they can’t understand why anyone would pay as much as I did for this coat. I also raided the $1 rack at Target, which has come to be my favorite shopping place lately. We also made a stop at Panera, and I tried the vegetable soup which was amazing. This weekened I was on duty and it was uneventful, which is always good, even if does make for a boring weekend.
Tomorrow I have an exam in Art History. Now, I think this class is interesting, however I think it is way too advanced for a 100 level class. I am studying for the exam and finding that even though I absolutely despise multiple choice tests, I would honestly rather have one than have one in which I have to write essays, such as the case in this class. Seriously, I hate it because if we right too much, he doesn’t like it, but if we don’t write enough he doesn’t like it. It really irritates me. I should have taken it with Friedman when I had the chance.
Today my family came up. My uncles and aunts, cousins and grandmother came up to visit. My parents are coming up next weekend. They went apple picking in Walpole and brought me back some really nice apples. We also went out to Olive Garden, where I had a ball of course. I had the never ending pasta bowl, and hit a record when I got 2 bowls of never ending pasta. Keep in mind that before this, I had several breadsticks, a wine sample, and some soup. It was amazing and hands down the best food I ate this year so far (even better than Panera).
Meanwhile, I am absolutely freezing in Huntress. Yesterday I woke up freezing and even though it was sunny, I decided wearing my winter coat was the best way to go. Anyway, I looked like a complete fool when I went to brunch because it was a nice fall day (in the upper 50s) and I was wearing my furry winter coat. My room is colder than the weather outside. Being in Fiske right now is so nice because the heat is on. I don’t think the heating people anticipated needing the heat this early on in the year, but we do. Seriously. Of course, once the heat comes on they will probably regret it because I blast the heat in my room. The good thing out of all this is that I am extremely clean because I shower 3 times a day to warm up. I wish they had a free dryer available to students who just want to warm up their clothes before they wear them, because that would be sweet.
I also really hate the new NH license. It’s ugly AND the people at the DMV didn’t give me any restrictions on my license, so technically I can drive without my corrective contacts (although to do so would be disasterous). Anyway, as much as I don’t like dealing with them (thank goodness I only have to do it every 5 years) I should go back because technically the information on my license is not correct. The woman working there used my old license as a guide, which had the restriction. I don’t know if the temporary one did or not, but it should have one.
I just ate my leftovers from Olive Garden, and it was delicious. Now I must get back to studying!
I can’t believe it is almost October. I turned in my intent to graduate form to the Registrar, and by my calculation I only need 12 credits to graduate. I still need to apply for student teaching, I have to find where I get course subsitution forms, because they require that. Today was senior photos, and I was done and out in about 5 minutes. It actually took me longer to wait than the actual picture taking. I can’t wait to see the photos; I probably won’t order any, but I like to look at them. Senior year is creeping up on me, and I will be finished before I know it.
I am also excited because I got my new cell phone yesterday, and after being on hold with Verizon for almost 2 hours, I got my phone all set up! I love it, there are actually a few other people I know that have the same phone.
I am such a bad influence on people. I enjoyed studying away so much that I encouraged Lindsey to study away, and she is almost positive she will be studying away next semester! That makes me so excited to know that for once I have a positive influence on people, and that my talking is actually good for something.
Speaking of studying away, the photo contest will be in the student center next week, and I am very excited! I submitted 6 photos but I probably won’t win, because I never win anything! But, its nice to at least try, and I have so many photos I figured why not.
It’s been awhile since I’ve written, I actually forgot I was still linked to the admissions page! Tours started this past week, and I trained two sets of tour guides Friday. The student involvement fair, which occurs every year in September is where we get most of our new tour guides. It was fun to train them and meet them. I also worked at the national and international study away fair, which is great. Lindsey is actually going abroad next semester to England and it was all my doing! Speaking of Lindsey, we are a bad influence on each other and shouldn’t do things together. We went shopping on Saturday to Colony Mill marketplace because I wanted the new Vera Bradley clutch wallet thing. Lindsey already has something similar, but once she saw how nice the new one was, she had to get it, even if it wasn’t cheap. Being the friend that I am, I encouraged her to get it, rather than telling her to save her money to study away. Then, we went to get her a fish, but she decided to get two fish, and she bought the same tank that I have for my fish. Pretty neat.
I also taught my first lesson in my methods class. I actually didn’t think it went that well, but my cooperating teacher and my methods teacher both thought I did phenominal. My lesson plan was even amazing, which is surprising considering how much I dislike doing them. It was a pretty great start to the methods year. This coming Thursday I am teaching the class my choice lesson, which happens to be on the water cycle, which will be a prerequisite to my lesson about clouds. I know these won’t be as good because science has never been my strong subject.
This weekend was pretty cool. Dinner on Thursday was amazing, the DC had caesar salad in a taco shell bowl, which other than a bread bowl, is my favorite type of edible bowl. They also had amazing cupcake frosting. So, I was pretty excited. I went to staff meeting, at which I ate lots of sugary snacks. Now, I’ve been avoiding junk food for some time now, so I’ve been eating less sugary snacks. So, when I had sugar, I went crazy. I hung out with Lindsey, and we were taking random pics with her camera and just being really hyper. Her boyfriend then decided it was a good idea to bring over a cheesecake, to which I gladly had a slice, which once again made me hyper. A few hours later I started to crash, which was good because it was getting late and I had to work early the next day.
This weekend nothing exciting happened. Friday I went out to Margs and didn’t pay a cent, I sat in the lounge with my friends and ate chips and drank water. Quite amazing. My cousin came up on Saturday and we bonded. She stayed the night. Whenever I have a sleepover, we never really sleep. We stayed up for awhile, and needless to say I am running on empty. If I wasn’t on duty tonight, I would totally be in bed right now. It also doesn’t help that Carla has made it her mission to get me hooked on One Tree Hill, so I’ve been watching the episodes all day, and I think I am hooked.
I am also very excited because I am getting a new cell phone very soon! It should be arriving any day now!
I really love the weekends. I can sleep in as late as I want to. Today happened to be one of those times. I rolled out of bed at noon. This weekend is Welcome Back Weekend, so there was lots of fun stuff to do. Last night, my friends and I went to Bingo, and although I didn’t win anything I still had fun. It was nice to be able to talk without having old ladies yelling at me. Today I was walking to breakfast and I happened to run into some friends, so I stayed and had some fun at the events. They had a BBQ sponsored by Price Chopper. The burgers were amazing, so beefy and round and delicious. They also had a speed pitch area, so you could see how fast you throw. I threw about 30mph, but in my defense, I am a girl, and I never pitched when I played softball. You could also make your own aquarium, but since I already have a fish, I didn’t decide to do that. They did have these amazing trampoline stunt people, and as it turns out they were finalists for the Olympics. I didn’t even know the trampoline was an Olympic event. Then I went shopping for a few shirts to wear when I am in the classroom for methods. It was a pretty boring day looking back on it.
Thursday night I ended up in a friends apartment and played a little Wii baseball, which I am terrible at in case you were wondering. After that, I met a couple of friends and we went to Margaritas. On Thursdays, you can get Margaritas for $3.50 after 10 o’ clock. So, I had a strong strawberry margarita, followed by sangria and we had about 4 plates of nachos. It was fun to just get out and socialize and take the stress out of life, even if for a bit.
I have yet to renew my license, and apparently liquor establishments have little faith in the US government issued passports, because everywhere I go I always need to show 2 IDs. Speaking of which, one of the stupidest things I have ever seen is those alcohol sites that make you input your birthdate before entering, to check to see if you are of age. Yea, so I’m 21, but if I wanted to, I could be 25 or 26 and they would never know.
The weather here is terrible, it is raining. At least it held off long enough that I could shop during the day. I think I am going to put in a movie and just relax for a bit.
Hello all! I have to say that I had a kick ass 21st birthday! I actually didn’t get that much sleep; I desk attended until 3am and then was woken up at 8 by the construction. I decided to make the most of it and go to the gym and get a good workout. I basically lounged around like a lazy bum. I took a trip to the store to buy wine though, which was fun. After, my parents came here and took me out to Margaritas. I had a Russelrita, which was amazing. After, I got ready to go out with my friends. We went to Lab N Lager first, where I had the chocolate cake shot on the house, followed by a grape flavored drink, then a Sex on the Beach. After that, we met up with Dan and went to Vandetta, where I had a Swedish Fish shot on the house, followed by a Sprite and Stoli. We actually met up with several other people we knew there, which was pretty cool. We also sang to the songs playing on the jukebox. We were going to go to Railroad, but I was starting to feel the drinks hit me, so I thought it best to head back to KSC. My amazing friends walked me back and made sure I made it safely into my room, which I did. Today I only had a little bit of a headache, and slept in to about 11. I once again took it easy, relaxing when I could. I made spaghetti and had a glass of wine. I realized that I really like blush wine, even more than I like white wine.
It still feels weird to be 21, though I don’t know why. I think it may because I spent last semester in a country where I drank every weekend, and once I came back, I drank for special occasions. I actually found out today from the liquor store people that NH actually has a clause that stipulates that drinking can be done underage in a private setting with parents permission. For example, if you are at a wedding, or your family is having a get together with alcohol, you can drink underage provided that your parent/guardian allows you to. I never knew that! It really is neat. Too bad I didn’t know that before (though my parents probably wouldn’t have believed me anyway).
Anyway, I really had an awesome birthday, and now I am once again desk attending. It’s all good though, I will have a big paycheck this week for all the work I am doing.
I seem to have misplaced my camera cord, but once I find it, I will link the pics of my 21st birthday. They aren’t too crazy, I promise!
Happy 21st birthday to me!!! Here’s how I spent my 21st birthday: Well, my RA staff members brought me a cake after staff meeting tonight (which was delicious), then my Lindsey gave me my present, a KSC shot glass and a Victoria’s Secret gift card, then I had desk attendant duty from 9-3am. Fun. It feels weird to be 21, I don’t know why it does, it just does. Maybe it’s because when I studied away I went out almost every weekend, so not having done it here yet makes me curious. It’s like a special club in a way, like a secret society. Anyway, tomorrow night I am going to go out with some friends, so it should be fun. Saturday night I am desk attending again, from 9-3am, but at least it won’t be my birthday.
This first week of classes was really stressful. I had so much work to do. It’s funny, because this week is the long weekend and I really don’t have that much to do, yet during the week the teachers pile on the work. I would rather have work over the weekend than work over the week. I am doing the best that I can, but I am sleep deprived and losing my voice. I need sleep. Amanda told me I was grounded and that I can’t go out to the bars until I get sleep. Haha.
I had an ice cream social today, and it went pretty well. Alot of my residents showed up, which is great.
Now I feel kind of sad that my birthday is among me, because from here I only get older.
So classes have officially begun!!! Move in weekened was pretty stressfull for all of us, we had so much to do. Plus, we RAs in Huntress had to move from Huntress to Fiske, so that added to it. RA training kept us busy, that’s for sure. I was without internet for a bit, and while it was hard, I realized I can get so much done without it. I was quite proud of myself, although I was almost dead from boredom. Anyway…
Classes seem to be going well. I mean, it’s only the first few days, so it is really hard to tell. Monday I had my Intro to Art class, which I thought would be totally uninteresting. My professor is very interesting, he makes learning about boring, ancient art fun! He tells us about the culture and history of the country in which the art originated from, so we have a better understanding of the meaning behind certain art works. He really makes it interesting.
On Tuesday, I had my first ESEC Methods class. This is essentially a course in which I will be writing and executing lesson plans in a real classroom. It meets from 8-3, but we had about an hour break for lunch, which was nice. Thursday we are starting at 8:30, so I can sleep in a little! Tomorrow I have art again, plus another ESEC class. I am looking forward to it!
In other news, I am sick with a cold. It is rare for me to be sick this early, so it is just bad news all around.
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