Start Acting My Age: I'm Alive!

I have been on a student teaching hiatus for who knows how long. I have had complaints of my absence so I thought it was time to give the people what they want.

This is a picture from the weekend. Kevin, Brian, and I met a girl Kevin works with and her friend downtown at a Zombie street party. A local Cedar Falls band played so that was reason enough for going. Further reason was people dressed as Zombies for the opening of a new restaurant Zombie Burger. It was a lot of fun! I really like this picture of Kevin and I, so I'm posting it. I think we look like an actual couple. Like not just two people. You know what I mean? Like we're one. That sounds ridiculously corny. I'll stop now. Kevin thinks this picture makes us look like grown ups which makes me sad. I don't want to GROW OLD and START ACTING MY AGE. :( So, I'll keep going to Zombie festivals to keep me young. We then went to a karaoke bar. If you want more details you will be forced to read the entirety of this rambling blog.

I have been busy busy with teacher inservice and students coming back to school. I have been working diligently on my Teacher Work Sample as to not get behind and stress myself out. For my student teacher friends (this will not make sense to anyone else)... So far I have written my contextual factors, learning goals, and have defended my goals. I have my assessment plan mapped out and it will be finished up tomorrow! 10 pages of TWS bliss are waiting in Kevin's inbox to proofread :). 40 (ish) pages to go! It has been MUCH easier than expected. Tonia and friend Katie (who teaches here in DSM) have graciously sent me their TWS to reference and it has been very helpful.

Onto the good stuff... I LOVE STUDENT TEACHING! My class is great, I love second grade. I feel comfortable and jumped in right away. The days have been long and I have come home exhausted. I usually get home around 4:45 and I always take a little "me" time to check e-mails, Facebook, blogs, and listen to music. Maybe I can work in a little blogging time of my own in there. Then I eat supper, get my second wind, and start working. I'm hoping to get as much of my TWS done now as I can so I can put my full energy into creating lesson plans in the next few weeks. I know these next 8 weeks are going to fly by.

I wish I could be posting some crafts or fun things I have been doing. I think I may venture back home this weekend with my boy. I'm hoping for a family day of floating the river, relaxing, getting some sun, and having a few drinks! Some more sad news to report-- I have been forced to take a hiatus from boot camp. There is just not enough time in the day and I'm not always able to leave school in time to make it there. I want to put all my energy into student teaching, so for now, I will be taking a break. I'm very sad about this bc I was making fantastic progress and eating fabulously. I'm probably eating better now that there is hardly any time in the day to eat much, and I'm on my feet 8 hours a day. Which reminds me... I need to invest in better shoes!

I do have one exciting piece of news since I posted last... I'M MOVING! I am moving in with Kevin and his current roommate, Brian. We were going to wait until I was done student teaching and had an income again, but, rather than them splitting a more expensive place 2 ways, I'm moving in early and I will split the difference between the new place and their old place. It's a win-win for everyone. I'm tired of packing an overnight bag to go stay at Kevin's. I am always afraid I'm forgetting something important. In just ONE month (Oct. 1) we will become one happy little family. Brian will serve double duties as love child/relationship counselor (NOT that we need it) :).

The place is SUPER nice and cheaper than any rent I ever paid in college! Here is the website (Timber Hill Condos). It's classified as a "condo" but I'm not sure what the difference is between that and an apartment except it's nicer. It's located about 5 minutes from where I am now in Urbandale. It's further west than we wanted but we found a nicer place for less money, so we had to compromise. It's got 2 bedrooms and 2.5 baths. Each room has its own bathroom (Kevin and I have two different vanities, which I'm sure will eliminate many arguments about cleanliness issues!) We have a big walk in closet and Brian has a big closet of his own. The half bath is off the living room. The kitchen overlooks the living room and has granite countertops, wood floors, and TONS of cabinets (I've been watching too much HGTV... can ya tell!?) It also has a fireplace and patio. We're on the ground floor, so it feels like we have more outdoor space with the grass right there. It also comes with a garage that we're giving to Brian, who has the nicest car :). My car wouldn't know what to do if it was in a garage.

Clearly I am very excited about this and I'm sorry for the rambling. Most people think I'm crazy for living with 2 guys. Brian is overly clean and Kevin is OVERLY messy. I am OCD in the fact that I like things a certain way (example: the toilet paper has to come from the top, not from the bottom). This will be eye-opening for Kevin I'm sure. Hopefully with a place this nice he will be motivated to keep it clean. I offered to do the cleaning (WITHIN REASON) since I'm paying substantially less rent until I'm done student teaching.

I'm excited to decorate and use my new crafting finds to spruce it up. That being said, I realize I am living with two boys who won't appreciate any of it. So, visitors welcome! Kevin has a bunch of vintage beer signs (that I secretly like) that he is excited to find a new home for. So it won't be all girly.

That's what's going through my mind now. Here are 5 facts to make this post a little more interesting:

1. I had my first puker today. His dad didn't believe he felt sick this morning. Thanks a lot!

2. I made my first solo karaoke debut this weekend to the song below (pardon the apparent seizure). The karaoke guy was jokingly going to sing it and I told him I could rap it. So, I did. He sang the loud parts of the chorus with me. The place was a dive bar in the East Village downtown. Not too many people there, so we all got to since a few times. I amazed myself that I was brave enough to do this. I even amazed Kevin. He was proud. I got a standing ovation from the crowd :) One of the cooler moments of my life.

3. Today is my aunt's 20 year wedding anniversary with her late husband. I looked through their old wedding album with her. It was bittersweet but their love was more than evident in the pictures and the way she recalled their wedding day. Keep her in your thoughts (and prayers, if you're into that kinda thing) and count your blessings today.

4. Tonia and I are seriously contemplating flying to New York to see Brand New perform on my birthday. However, I don't have the funds for this. :( I welcome being talked into sucking it up and doing it (or funds.)

5. The kids can't say my name. Here are some variations: Spenzley, Springley, Spinley, Springer, and even Mom. And, of course, they put "Mrs." in front of all of these variations. Someday I'll be "Mrs. Clark" and things will be boring. I'm enjoying being Mrs. Spinlie while I can.

FINALLY. This song was popular when I was in Italy and this video is pretty bad ass.