A Great Blessing...

So...The Georgia law, before this year, states that educators must be given a contract, if they are a returning teacher, on or before April 15th. Our governor- Sonny Perdue- passed a law April 10th giving school boards an extension on the final date. This year it has been changed to May 15th, because school boards needed more time to re-work budgets. I was a little concerned, but realistically I knew the school could not afford to lose a Spanish teacher.

Anyways, today I got my contract. It really made my day! I didn't go to my box until late in the afternoon because I was a little scared...but it's all good now!

This week has been extremely tiring! I am so ready for the weekend. Tomorrow night I have to go to a meeting on the changes for my certification program...so I won't be getting in bed until late AGAIN!

Anyways, not too much new... haven't been exercising much, because I'm too tired and busy and I have so much to do!

Day 1- the "Jalk"

So I stayed true to my word and started the running today...I have decided to call today the "jalk". It was mostly walking with 5 -1minute intervals of jogging. I took Chloe along...she did rather well. She prefers to jog, so I guess that is good motivation. I exercised a total of 45 minutes. My goal for tomorrow: 6 - 1 minute intervals of jogging. I also made another goal for myself on the way home. The park is .7 miles from my house, then 1 lap around is .73 miles. Today I only went around the park 1 lap. By the end of school I would like to be able to go around the park 3 times and back and forth from home in 45 minutes. 5 weeks to accomplish this goal. I think I can do it.

I would also like to lose about 10 pounds in that time period. I'm pretty sure I can accomplish that. I have been eating very healthy this week. I cannot think of one thing that I have eaten that was bad....not even sweet tea (a drink, but still)!

I have so much to do. Tomorrow I've got to call Georgia College about getting my masters. The teacher certification program I'm in right now is very expensive and I can get paid to do my master's in Spanish....so as long as they'll take me, I'm ready to jump right in. Tyler is also considering starting his master's this fall. His parents are willing to help out with costs, so I told him I think he should go ahead and do it. We would both finish the year after the wedding and be making $6000 each per year more....sounds good to us!

I am so excited about Spring break, but I really need to find someone to stay with or take Chloe. Tyler's mom is allergic to dogs, so we can't take her with us. Before my roommates have watched her, but they're going out of town for the weeknd. It's really frustrating. I don't want to kennel her, because when I adopted her, she had been in a kennel at the shelter for a couple months. I don't want to put her through that again...plus they have to pee in their kennels, and I do not want her to start peeing in her cage or in the kitchen.

Anyways- I hope I can stay motivated to run every day! Tomorrow maybe it will be more of a "Jolk" than a "Jalk"....hehe...

2 days until Spring Break!

And guess what they are????

TEST DAY (tomorrow)

and

MOVIE DAY (Friday)!!!!!!
I have found a cute Spanish soap opera sort of thing for my kids to watch. It's on the discovery education website. It is about an American teenager who goes to Spain and meets up with 2 Spanish girls (one was his pen pal) and a Spanish guy. It's super good. Most of it is very easy to understand, but other times I have had to pause it. We've watched one and a half episodes. This time we'll probably get to watch two episodes.

I'm exhausted and I'm so ready for this break! Tyler and I are going to have our engagement pictures taken over the break (we hope). His cousin sent us some examples of what she was thinking about. We're so excited, because it's not your traditional shots. We're also going to look at a few places to have the wedding over break....so that will hopefully be something fun to do!

Oh, and prom is on Saturday! I have to go, even though it's technically during Spring Break. It will be fun though. I need to try on my dress to make sure it still fits.

I'm going to start running for real....like probably tomorrow and just run every day. I had a running program on my i-pod, but I think once I just start I'll be fine...just taking it slow...but I have got to get some pounds off before summer!

Anyways- I'm off!

April Fools!

Oh my did I get tricked.

So my friend Mark (the one my mother was convinced I was supposed to marry a few years ago) moved to Korea about 2 years ago. He is teaching English there and really loves it. About a month ago he called and we talked for a while, but I wasn't able to see him while he was in the states.

I haven't heard from him since he had gotten back until yesterday. Yesterday he sent an e-mail to everyone (friends, family, etc.) telling us that he was engaged and getting married this weekend! His facebook status even said he was super excited that his mom had ordered a plane ticket.

Well, I was upset yesterday because I thought he would tell me in a different way and I thought he would have at least told me he was dating someone when I spoke to him a month ago. He even posted 100 pictures on his picture website of him and her dressed all up, and said in Korea it is totally normal to do all the picture taking before! I was so convinced, so I sent him a message telling him I hope God blesses both of them and their new lives together.

Yeah, today he sent a message to everyone, "April FOOLS!" I was like "you have got to be kidding me!" So yah, apparently I am totally gullible.

I just want to scream!

So since I moved out of my parents house, I have moved 6 times for various reasons. That is a completely different story....but this time was a rather odd move. I really love living by myself and having a place to myself, but it scares me, which is why I haven't done it anymore.

This move was REALLY stupid. I did it to save some money, so my roommate could be closer to campus, and so that Chloe could have a fenced in yard. Well, the only catch was that we had to get two more roommates. Honestly, I love my two new roommates. I hardly ever see them, because our schedules are so different, but they are nice, have morals, and are clean.

Really, I should have moved without my previous roommate...then I would be on cloud 9. She is a smoker...booo...and smokes inside the house CONSTANTLY....we're talking at least 2 packs a day...she never puts one down. I have talked to her several times about this and she continues to do it in her room with the windows open. This winter has been extremely cold in Georgia, so she has put her heat up really high to stay warm while smoking. Needless to say, our power bill has been through the roof! Now, we do live in an old house, so we do not have central heat or air, we just have window units that soak up a ton of power. Well, I managed to stay warm with extra clothes and 15 minutes of use every 2 hours. The new girls, after our first bill of $333 decided to do the same, but our bill only really went down $30 because someone in our house never turns her air off. Also, she has yet to give me the money for the bills. So far, she owes me $170, which is ridiculous.

Also, she is not clean at all. This week was Spring Break for the college, not for me, so the girls knew I would be here. Well, my older roommate left dishes, with stuff in them!, all over the kitchen. I did not wash them, I just rinsed them with hot water and set them aside.

Last night I decided to put a note on her door. It said "Elena, you owe me $170 for bills: electricity and cable. Please pay me this week. Also, please wash the dishes you left over spring break. Thanks! - Wendy"

So, I write this to get it off my chest what I'm going to tell all my roommates when they come home. I think I'm going to tell them that we all need to talk, because it wasn't just Elena (the older roomy) that left dishes. So, I think I'm just going to tell them that they need to ALWAYS wash their dishes, because it only takes a few minutes. That way no one else is left to wash your dishes. Bethany (one of the new girls) and I have had to wash other peoples dishes every week in the house and we are so sick of it. Also, I'm going to tell them that they need to be VERY concious about the power and try not to turn on the air at all since the next 2 weeks are supposed to be in the 70's. And, I'm going to tell them that I can't afford to pay the bills if they do not all give me the money. I think one day of me turning off the power will scare the crap out of them, but I don't really care at this point. We're about to get our bills again in the next few days, and it would be ridiculous for me not to have the money again.

Anyways....drama drama drama, I cannot wait to move out of this place, but that will be in 15 months!

What a boring week!

So this week has been filled with testing for my kids. They're taking the state high school graduation tests this week, well my 11th graders are. Since half my classes are 10th and the other half 11th graders in all of my classes, I decided to go easy on them.

Monday was a good day. My students know nothing about geography, nor do they care. But their previous teacher skipped the unit on geography, so I decided to take this opportunity to do some geography stuff. One class was only able to name 5 of the 27 countries in Latin America. It was kind of sad.

Tuesday was an okay day. We watched a couple of clips from discovereducation.com about Latin American history. Some classes had better discussions than others.

Today and tomorrow we're watching either Shrek or Finding Nemo in Spanish. The kids said they wanted those two movies, but they don't want to watch them in Spanish. I was even generous enough to put the English subtitles on for them....still whining..Oh well!

Friday will be good though, because we can move on! Testing will be over and I will be oh so glad!

The end is in sight! 42 more days of class and we will be finished for the year! Spring break is in two weeks, and I cannot wait! I think Tyler and I are going to go camping...well that or go see my sisters....not sure yet.

So lots of exciting things have been happenig in my life, but I can't really talk about them yet...Let's just say there will be a new twist to this blog :) I'm so excited! I just wish this whole process would hurry up, but apparently I need to be EXTRA surprised.

It's been far too long!

Where do I even start?

Well, I guess we could start with school. I started teaching and I am loving it! It is definitely challenging some days, but I am determined not to let the kids get to me. Most days I come home and I'm too tired to even think about cooking meal. This week was a little better. My kids are pretty funny most days though. However, I have learned to treat them like they are in kindergarten. There is no other way to do it.

For example- on Friday we played vocabulary bingo to begin reviewing for out test on Tuesday. I bought a bunch of colored beads to use as the markers. Well, my first class was ok, besides the fact that half of the girls were fighting over who got the hot pink and who got the neon green. I thought 15 and 16 year olds could handle these things a little better, but apparently not. Then a boy in my 3rd class of the day threw a bead at a guy but it accidently hit a girl in the face. Crazy! Anyways, then my last class of the day, after I explained that these were not to be thrown, "accidently" slipped out of your hand, put in your mouth, etc., a boy swallowed 25 of them. Yes, that's right, a 15 year old swallowed 25 beads. You know the beads we used to use at VBS for the bracelettes? Yeah, those.

So that's school. Lots of planning...and lots of work, but overall I love it! My students are good most days.

Now, my certification classes....Let's see. I hate them. They are the biggest waste of time and money. I have to go every Tuesday for 4 hours and 2 Saturdays a month for 8 hours each time. It is absolutely miserable. The majority of the people in the class are retired military, know nothing about teaching, and are extremely closed minded. They want stable, secure jobs, so they picked teaching. I know I would have hated every minute of their classes. Most of them do not have teaching jobs right now. They are just getting a taste of teaching by taking this class in hopes of finding a job for next school year.

Ah, on to life in general...Everything is going fairly well. Chloe (my puppy) is staying at Tyler's apartmet because he has more time to take care of her than I do. Plus I don't want my roommates to feel responsible for her. She seems to be doing really well, although she does not like to poop in front of Tyler, so that has been somewhat of an issue. I think she's doing better though. I take her some, because she sits in front of the door and cries whenever I leave. She is truely a big baby.

Ok, well I'm off to try to get some things done! Need to do some laundry and some cleaning up on this lovely Sunday, then off to bowling with friends!