What I learned my first year of being a real adult.

1. There is an exhilarating feeling of being independent and moving to a new place!

2. When one is "grown up" and begins to pay for insurance, rent, utilities, etc. there is a feeling of accomplishment accompanied by a feeling of depression. All that money described in your salary schedule suddenly doesn't stretch very far!

3. When it rains, it pours. (Referring to medical expenses now that I can pay for my own insurance).

4. I have no advice to give on avoiding a tear to your Anterior Cruciate Ligament...it can happen anytime, without warning- so watch out.

5. Be careful when buying things on Craigslist. You might not find yourself in a dangerous situation, but it could be very, very embarrassing. (There's a reason we refer to our coffee table as the "lesbian coffee table"...if you want the story, just ask! Not one of my finer moments.)

6. It's important to find a church right away, and get to know people as soon as possible.

7. Make sure you find out if an apartment complex requires written notice of a lease non-renewal, or you will pay for it.

8. Sometimes you can get a dining room table and chairs in exchange for a 12-pack of Shiner Bock!

9. Your coworkers probably won't take you seriously if they have kids your age or older.

10. Even though a 1991 Oldsmobile is not glamorous by any means, if you are living on a teacher's salary you will appreciate no car payments!

11. There's a chance you might become a bigger Husker fan when you move out-of-state. Suddenly there's something about you that makes you stand out, rather than being the norm!

12. Make sure you have cash when parking in a parking garage in the evening, especially if there are cars behind you and you can't turn around and leave...

13. Always, always, ALWAYS keep an extra set of car keys with you. If you take them out of your purse for even one day, you WILL lock your keys in your car. Hopefully it's not running if you do (that also happened to me this year).

14. There are some days where Kindergarten cuteness > neediness, obvious questions, snot problems, pouting, etc. And there are some days where that is not the case.

15. Although the cost of living here is higher than Nebraska, Colorado is fabulous. =]

Labor Day camping south of Canon City

Olympic Training Center with a Nebraska friend :)

   Crazy Sock Day!                                   Halloween shenanigans 

 Pretty Christmastime

 Fixing the injury!                                          Lotsa concerts 

Colorful Colorado                                             Fun ski trip!        

Beautiful sunset

New friends!

Oscars Party 2013

In years past, the Oscars have been viewed in my living room (or dorm room), usually pajama-clad. This year standards have been raised. New friends, great food, and dressing up were all part of this past Sunday evening.

The wonderful hostess and I :)

Everything was cute and perfectly themed. And downright delicious-- have you tried the popcorn from Costco??

Everyone brought themed food from the movies nominated for Best Picture. I was intrigued by the "crabby snacks" that were mentioned throughout Silver Linings Playbook, so I decided to be adventurous and try out this recipe. Here we are posing with our "crabby snacks." They were actually so good!

"Crabby snacks" from Silver Linings Playbook

Homemade hummus and pita bread, inspired by Argo

Cajun Jambalaya, inspired by Beasts of the Southern Wild 

Two versions of "Life of Pi" punch, both very cute.

French bread, brie cheese, and red wine, inspired by Les Miserables

Oscar-themed wall decor

Of course, a red carpet!

And the art skills of a friend were on display with the little Oscar :)

I was not very accurate with my guesses for each category, but it was so fun to fill this out and have a little friendly competition during the awards!

These two ended up tying with the most correct guesses, so they shared the Oscar. We encouraged them to Hunger Games it out to decide who would keep it, but they were too nice.

So thankful for new friends :)

Real problems.

It was the 100th day of school today, which, for kindergarten, is a huge deal. I had lots of fun stuff planned! It was going well until lunch. I checked my voicemail, only to hear the words “…complete tear of the anterior cruciate ligament…” over my teammate’s chatter.

I envisioned myself becoming this hardcore Colorado person when I first moved here. Skiing, hiking, whitewater rafting, rock climbing, the like.

Next month my roommate and I are moving to a townhome. We’re gaining 1 1/2 bathrooms, 500 extra feet, and…stairs. Perfect timing.

It’s also tough to realize that 18 out of 19 facebook friends who commented on my status with a concern live far away, not in this state. It’s hard not having many friends here yet.

I’ve seen ACL replacement surgery recovery when my sister went though it, and it’s pretty extensive. Apparently you aren’t back to being fully active for 9-12 months. Just when I got back into advancing my skating, too. It’s also my right leg, so driving will be gone for a long time.

It’s hard to find the positives in this, but I’m super thankful for insight I’ve gotten from Sia. It’s simple- some people have real problems. Like no rice or no legs. The album art for her record even shows this: a girl getting rained on is unhappy with life, while a girl with no legs still keeps on smiling. The irony. We think we’ve got it bad, but some people have real problems.

There’s also a random video from Sia ages ago on youtube that shows this, too!

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I think that’s gonna be my mantra through all of this. There’ll be some greater good.

The year has begun.

So most bloggers write a really self-reflective post on January 1st or shortly after thinking through what the previous year has brought, and what they would like to see come out of the new year. Welp, we are already halfway through January (like 1/24 through the whole year actually!) and I still haven’t produced one of those posts. But I should probably try. Here’s a break-down of 2012…

January- Began student teaching in 3rd grade and moved back in with my parents.

February- Learned about the chaos that is Valentine’s Day in an elementary school setting.

March- Started my second student teaching placement in 9-12 ESL

April- Applied for a gazillion jobs! Played the waiting game.

May- Graduated! Got a job! Found out I was moving to another state!

June- Started teaching summer school (3rd grade & K-1st drama).

July- Went to every garage sale in town. Did the Color Run! Went to the farmer’s market every week.

August- Started teaching a new grade level (Kdg) in a new state (CO). Met all new people. Made new friends.

September- Went Colorado camping for the first time ever! Hiking, too.

October- Turned 23. Had my first parent-teacher conferences. Learned how to party it up Halloween-style in Kindergarten.

November- Deepened my new friendships. Tried new things.

December: Went Colorado skiing for the first time ever!

 

It’s funny the things that stick out to me as I sit here typing this. I feel like these were the “big” things in my life this past year, but really? A lot of times it’s the small things that are bigger. So while I may have summed it up with a couple of grander events, a lot of the in-between things helped make 2012. Things I like to record on this blog, whenever that is.

I still hold to my (un)resolution of a few years ago, here. I can’t say I’ve excelled, but the least I can do is renew my resolve. To seek God more and ask him the hard questions.

And soon enough I’ll be back to feeling the pressures of new year’s/determination/resolutions/reflections, to post again while looking back. I just hope I do that oftener than January 1st. Here’s to 2013!

Weekend.

Last weekend I had one of the most enjoyable weekends I’ve had since moving to Colorado. Seriously, almost everything about it was perfect. That is rare! No school work involved whatsoever. Friday night I hung out with a group of friends and played board games and ate food. It was so good getting to know more new people! Games are just about the perfect activity because they require talking and are fun…I’m not so much of a movie watcher (I think I have movie/tv ADD), but I’ll play games anytime.

Saturday morning I slept in and didn’t wake up to an alarm! It was glorious. I cleaned my apartment which is pretty therapeutic, at least for me. Then I got in my car and just drove and stopped wherever looked interesting. I found so many good sales. I had fun shopping for prizes for my Kindergarten treasure chest, including awesome stuff like fake moustaches and  glasses and glow-in-the-dark aliens. The only downside to the afternoon was that I found out my car is leaking antifreeze/coolant, so I was “stranded” at the mall (how awful, right?) while I waited for my car to cool so I could check things out. I ended the evening at some friends’ where they found my radiator leak and calmed my worries. We partied it up with a little Fruit Ninja on the tv and I woke up with ridiculously sore arms the next morning. :)

If you don’t really care to read about my weekend events step-by-step, you just go ahead and close the page now, peeps. I want to record it, sort of like a journal, so I can look back and remember the wonderfulness. It was so good!

Sunday my roommate and I went to breakfast at a cute little cafe with another friend and then on to church. I asked around to see if anyone wanted to go skating with me that afternoon, but I had no takers. I guess people aren’t as passionate about it as I am. ;) So I just went down the road about a mile, where all the Olympians in this city train, and checked out the public skate session. It was one of the most fun and relaxing practice sessions I have ever had, not even kidding! It was cheap and not crowded; there were people of all ages and levels there, also. Back in Omaha I always felt judged when I would practice because I’m kind of old to be learning new things along with the little bitty kids. But here there were old grandpas learning three-turns along with the toddlers and everyone in between. I forgot how much I missed skating. I am certain that an old dog can indeed learn new tricks…so I have decided I am going to start taking lessons again! I am way beyond excited. :)

I wrapped up the weekend with homemade tacos at another friend’s house, probably the best tacos I’ve ever eaten. This weekend was such a blessing. It’s amazing how God knows exactly what you’re needing and delivers. He can dish up a weekend full of sweetness better than I could, or anyone else.

People.

Moving to a new place where you know no one is interesting. I’ve liked the anonymity, the chance to be free from obligations besides work. I can explore my new city at my own leisure without seeming anti-social.

It’s been so nice, too, having a roommate who is in the same boat as me. We are both first year teachers new to the district, let alone the state. We are actually very alike, which is crazy for being set-up without knowing each other! Both of us love hiking and the Colorado outdoors. We both like beer, but hate bananas and tomatoes. Neither of us is super extroverted, but we like going out and staying busy. We are perfectly content to both sit on the couch after school, but not talk at all. It’s not awkward, because we both need non-people time to recharge. It’s good.

It’s always a process when getting to know someone new. My roommate have reached several levels of “closeness,” if you want to call it that. It’s okay now to take each other’s laundry out of the dryer if the other person needs it. We occasionally eat each other’s food without asking, too. But we aren’t so close that we pee with the bathroom door open yet. Not sure if that’ll ever happen. I’m okay with it, but she might be too classy. :)

My teammates at work are so great! Seriously, I can’t imagine my first year teaching anywhere else. They laugh with me, sometimes at me, too. I keep them updated with all the lessons I’ve learned since moving here. We even hang out on the weekends, that’s how much we like each other. These fun people make me excited to wake up and come to work!

I’m glad I have my Nebraska people to stay in touch with, in addition to all this new people craziness. (Thank goodness we live in the days of texting and facebook.) One of my best people is even coming to visit at the end of this week! Excitement!

What up!

I feel like I should update something on this blog of mine. I always say it’s a way to record important things in my life, or even just small everyday things…but neither one of those things have happened since August 18.

I tried to find one of those questionnaires to help me structure this post – you  know one of those “name 3 things currently in your freezer, 3 things pet peeves, 3 goals you have for your life in 10 years, etc." – one of those kind of things. I couldn’t really find anything quality, though. They were all junior-high-myspace-esque, i.e. Who do you have a crush on? Do you usually sleep in a bra? Ummm…no thanks.

So not sure if this post will make any sense at all. I just thought I’d write down some current thoughts!

1. Kindergarteners make me laugh. And test my patience. All. The. Time. I’m a pretty patient person, but they make sure that I am every single day! Good thing they say cute stuff every day, too. Like the little girl who pointed to a big pumpkin in our book today and said, “My mom is fat just like that pumpkin.” Too funny!

2. I have come to actually like my snaggletooth. Really! It’s unique. Just making the best of Dr. Driscoll messing up with my braces…

3. I haven’t been skating since like…May. I need to go soon. Good thing the rink is only a mile down the road (the same place I saw Johnny Weir with my own two eyes about a month ago) :)

4. Colorado this time of year is PERFECT weather for outdoorsy things. Hiking, biking, and running are all so good!

5. Scarecrow decorations, apple cider, and visiting the pumpkin farm are things that make it seem so much like fall. I really do miss fall in the Midwest! Driving down the road and being able to see combines harvesting crops isn’t something I can do here. I do have the mountains, though, and I am amazed at how they look different at every time of day! So beautiful.

6. I could really go for a philly steak and cheese sandwich right now.

7. It’s probably past my bedtime.

8. Trying to get to ten things on my list…

9. I give up! Nine is good enough. I’ll just leave some pictures on the bottom of this post.

Work it.

Colorado will tell you whether or not you’re in shape. Straight up.

Also, skinny ≠ in shape. Just to clarify.

I can balance easily on skate blades, which is definitely part of athleticism. But I think my lungs need to catch up. The air up here is so thin and when I went on a run today I just couldn’t feel satisfied anytime I took a breath. A couple of years ago my lungs were in excellent shape; in marching band we were constantly doing breathing exercises, including ones where we had to take in all the air we could, hold it, and then take in more sips of air on top of that. They told us the point of it was to tear our lungs a little so they could become capable of holding more air. Not sure if that was true, but it felt like it!

So I’ll be working on it.  The Manitou Incline is beckoning!