Let’s get praisy.

So there’s this blogger I follow—Jami Nato—and she’s absolutely hilario. She speaks truth like a gangsta. And she’s really creative. So she came up with this thing she hashtagged on instragram called #letsgetpraisy. Basically you take popular secular songs and find the gospel in them. Genius! The link to her post about it is here.

She started a competition to see who could come up with the best #letsgetpraisy quotes. I took part with this:

It’s based on Romans 8:37-39, where Paul states that we are more than conquerors through Christ. There may be stuff like, oh ya know…life, death, angels, demons, the present, the future, crazy powers, height, depth…but because of Christ we are like Titanium and are pretty much bulletproof. Nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ.

So if you would like to vote for this little creation, it’s here. You can also check out all the other entries…they are awesome! I will never think of radio the same way again.

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!

Living life.

I’ve realized lately that I’m really bad at watching TV. And talking on the phone.

I think I my attention span is shortening. It could have to do with the fact that usually I try doing these things after a full day of wrangling 5-year-olds, but I think there’s more to it. My personal theory: modern technology has shortened the length of time I can focus on one thing. I’m naturally a multi-tasker, but with my smartphone I can be texting, uploading photos to instagram, playing Words with Friends, checking the weather, and more all at once. I think my brain is used to being over-stimulated, or something. When I can’t see a person’s face while talking on the phone, I have a hard time focusing on only what they are saying. I try to do so many other things because I feel like I’m not being productive, and then I end up with a lot of “uh-huh”, “mmhmm”, and the like. The same goes with watching TV- I feel like I have to be doing something else while I’m watching it that I don’t really pay attention. I guess that’s not as horrible, though, because no one’s feelings could get hurt. Just some thoughts.

Here is a snapshot of my life, currently.

On any given day at work, you will find me with:

* some color of ink on my hands

* at least 5 pieces of gum in my pocket for my kiddo who constantly needs to chew

* at least 2 paper cuts

* enough hair bands, head bands, hair clips, and jewelry on my desk to open an accessory shop (all confiscated from fidgety kids)

* Songs like this or this stuck in my head

At home, you will find:

* a mountainous pile of clothes on my floor. Why do I even have a dresser?? I should be cleaning that instead of posting this, probably.

* me listening to Sia. Her music is like crack. There hasn’t been a day the past week that I haven’t listened to her…seriously addicted. Why has no one told me about her before?! She is weird and beyond wonderful.

* dessert. Always. Once the chocolate cake was gone, there was peach crisp, and then root beer floats and brownies, and now chocolate chip cookies. My roommate and I clearly have our priorities straight.

* a pile of poop on the sidewalk near our door. We thought it was bear poop, because it definitely didn’t look like it was from a cat or dog…and a week later it’s still there. Lovely.

* a pumpkin, ready for carving this weekend! It was strange going to a pumpkin patch other than Vala’s, but fun nonetheless. I know Vala’s doesn’t have that view in the background!

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!

Statistics show…

So yet another milestone in my life. My first year of teaching.

Not only am I the youngest teacher in the whole school, I am also the least experienced. Not sure how that makes me feel.

During our new teacher training for the district, they showed us a line graph explaining our emotions about teaching from right now on through the future. Apparently, this point in our lives is the most excited we’ll ever be about teaching. This is the peak. From this point on, we face reality, and the graph shows a significant line drop. The honeymoon stage will be over, and things will get really tough. The graph shows that it’ll eventually get better, but it will not be nearly as high as right now.

On one hand, it’s nice to know that people who have gone before us can explain what we should expect. But also, it was kind of a downer looking at that graph. Really? That’s what we have to look forward to? How hard is this going to be??

As always, I’m trying to enjoy my life right where I’m at. So I guess I could explain that as “relishing the calm before the storm.” I don’t know what lies ahead, but I know I’ve got lots of support at my school, a great roommate, and lots of friends a phone call away.

So bring on the unknown. Maybe I can defy the odds, but if not, I know I’ll be making a difference.