Bark, the Harold Angels Sing.

Christmas is my absolute favorite time of the year. Being in south Texas, I definitely miss the possibility of having a snow day or two like I used to when in north Texas. I listen to Christmas music all year long, struggle to wait to put up my Christmas decorations until the day after Thanksgiving, and buy any and all candles I find that remind me of Christmas. I. AM. OBSESSED. I'm also desperately trying to pass along said obsession to everyone in my life. (;

He's Not Allowed.

During class today, our professor had us work on "black-out poems". I had never made one before, and I really like how mine turned out. If you're lost, a black-out poem is where you take an original piece (poem, story, etc.), highlight the phrases, words, or sentences that stand out to you, and then 'black out' the rest of the words. Literally. You mark through the rest of the words with a black marker and leave only the highlighted ones standing. 

The original piece that we worked with was the book Freedom Summer by Deborah Wiles. After working through the black-out process, here is what I ended up with:

He's not allowed.

He's not allowed,

no matter what color.

Our feet felt stuck;

I know this job has made him angry.

I want to do everything you can do.

I want to see this town with John Henry's eyes.

I want to pick it out myself.

We look at each other,

then we walk through the front door together. 

Equal enjoyment.

Freedom Summer.

That was the summer I began to pay attention,

this story grew out of my feelings.

 

57 Days, by the way.

My parents came in for a couple of days. I haven't seen them in months! It made me think of my very first day of preschool being dropped off by them. My mom set me down, I took off into the vast amount of toys and same-height people and never looked  back. 

I missed them. I missed them so much and I'm so happy that I finally got to see and hug them. I'm already counting down the days until I get to see them again! 

(57 days, by the way)

Til the Very Last Sip.

I used to be uncoordinated. Used to be. For years I have considered myself quite coordinated. I was able to participate in sports, dancing, and other activities that required some serious hand-eye coordination. 

but,

not on Friday.

On Friday, I was in a great mood. The day before, in my fourth grade classroom, I really connected with many of the students which is such an important quality in a good teacher. That morning I was getting ready for work while jammin' to Tswift's new song (yes, I'm obsessed with Taylor) and simultaneously trying to keep my pup entertained. I headed out the door, shockingly ahead of time, and headed to treat myself to some coffee from Joe's down the street. I had to walk up some stairs but, no big deal, right? I've been coordinated for years, I can handle stairs.....right?

WRONG.

I. ate. it. bad. 

I slammed down onto concrete steps, sliding my elbow along the edge. My left knee is cut up and my right knee looks like it has a purple baseball growing on top of it. Buuuuuuut, I still got my coffee and it was completely worth it.

til the very last sip.

Something To Pray About.

I'm so torn. 

The more I learn about the Teacher Fellows Program through Texas State University, the more I want to apply for it. I think that having my Master's Degree would be very helpful throughout my teaching career as well as having a mentor to assist me throughout my first year of teaching because Lord knows that I am going to have so many questions. On the other hand, there is this summer camp that I learned about through a friend that I would love to be the counselor at. I don't think after I get into the swing of things with my teaching career that I will have the opportunity to do either of these again. 

Both of these opportunities would greatly help me. A Master's Degree will help expand my knowledge of educational matters and the potential of expanding my career if I were ever interested in administrative positions at a school. At the same time, being able to work with kiddos for an entire summer at a camp full of outdoor activities and disconnect from the busy world would help me connect deeper to the teacher that I strive to be. 

This is something that I definitely need to spend more time praying about. In the end, whatever happens, happens.

Can't Scratch This Itch.

I've been itching for a hike; I haven't been on one in what feels like a lifetime. Life has been keeping me so busy lately that I haven't been able to even consider the possibility of taking a hike. I'd even be down to take the hike that I've taken a million times at Purgatory, rather than finding the new trail that I'm longing for. But, nonetheless, I simply can't find the time.

Regardless, my dog is supposed to be resting her hurt leg for an entire week. I’ve been making her rest for the past three that she’s been limping, what’s another week, right? An entire month of no hikes, no walks, no dog park. The guilt would eat away at me if I went without her. After this week is up and Lyla is all healed up, we’re going to hike until we drop!

Side note: My roommate and I are planning a short weekend trip to Big Bend in November, though. Neither of us have ever been and I am so excited to take on this adventure. I can't wait to see all of the beauty that God has poured out in the form of cliffs, stars, and breathtaking views that go on for miles.

Better Check Your Work.

The fourth grade class in my field base block was working on long-division today. I can't remember the last time that  I had to use long-division to figure out the answer to a problem instead of grabbing the closest calculator to me. The teacher asked me to do a few examples with the class while she dealt with a boy that needed to call home for behavioral reasons. 

I made up a few problems and we worked them out, the kids got them right every time! Fourth graders are so insanely smart, it blows my mind more and more everyday. We used multiplication to check our work and make sure that we did the math correctly. The kiddos knew exactly how to do all of this and they just learned how to do it with larger numbers TODAY. Like, five minutes before. I'm telling you...crazy smart kids.

Fourth Grade Gossip.

I have been thinking of this moment since I left my field-base block for my undergrad:

I am in a fourth grade classroom twice a week for about four hours each day. On Thursday, I sat with a group of the girls in my class during lunch. We were talking about usual 11 year old girl stuff and then - the boy talk! The gossip about which girl had a crush on which boy, tragic break-ups, and flirting tips (naturally, all of the tips were for me to follow). They shared their secrets with me and, for the first time, I started to think about how much fun teaching an older grade would be.

I have had my heart set on teaching second grade for as long as I can remember. However these fourth graders are already tugging on my heart strings and I've only been in their classroom for a collection of less than twenty hours.

I can already see the enormous impact that these students are going to have on me as a future educator!

Limps.

My sweet puppers has been limping for three days now and I still have no idea what she has done. Leaving her this morning, knowing that I would be gone from 7am until after 5pm, was insanely difficult for me. I didn't stop worrying about her - until I got into the classroom with 22 fourth graders all whispering "yay" when I walked in (they were supposed to be silently reading). 

I am in my field-base blocks for my undergrad as an ECE generalist and today was my first "real" day (I was able to go and spend a couple of hours with them last week) in the classroom that I have been assigned to for the semester. These kids are so happy to have me in their classroom and they deserve my full and undivided attention for the short time that I'm there. Worrying about my puppy's limping wouldn't help her from thirty minutes away, anyways.

We ended up getting out extremely early so I was able to rush home and be with my sweet Lyla, limps and all, but I already miss those kiddos and can't wait to see them again on Thursday!

Spy Glass.

The amount of hiking trails and natural areas in the ATX area that I have yet to uncover and explore continues to baffle me. This week, I took on the Spy Glass entrance of the Barton Creek Greenbelt with my friend and our pups! We hit the trail after class and were set on finding a body of water for the dogs to swim in. A mile and a half in, the only body of water found was an oversized puddle covered in a green layer of gunk. Nevertheless, both dogs took of running and jumped on in. Thankfully, the dogs were both dry by the time we hiked the one and a half miles back to the car.

As usual, we were both starving by the time the hike was all said and done and took off for ABGB (best pizza around!). The beer is great, the pizza is incredible, and the atmosphere is to die for. The outside seating has Christmas lights hanging and best of all, dogs are allowed - thank you, Austin! If you haven't been to ABGB (Austin Beer Garden Brewing) you need to! You won't regret it.