My intention in blogging is not to use it as an outlet for my frustration and annoyance...but I'm annoyed and need to talk about it for a sec. I am a girl who has a Bachelor's degree. I have no teaching job. Therefore, I am a substitute teacher. Subbing means I'm not on contract. Snow days mean no school. No school means no work. No work means no money. No money means using savings. And that stinks. So, snow days can suck it!
Okay, done with that! Yay! Last week was my first week of subbing and it was pretty interesting! I subbed in two second-grade classes, a kindergarten class, and a HS English class. Being as my degree is secondary, stepping into those elementary classrooms was a whole other world! A fun one, most of the time, but still SO different! I've definitely said the following phrases more in a week than ever before: "Bottoms in your seat, all four legs on the floor!" (to which I got "but we don't have four legs!! Hahahahaha"), "No, you may not go to the bathroom; you just went ten minutes ago," "eyes on me, lips still!," "do you need to move your color or can you handle following directions?" "criss cross apple sauce," and so on. Despite all that, they really are pretty cute and hilarious! They say the silliest things and it's so funny! And they love me, so that helps :) The kids I subbed for Monday were not the same as Friday, but at recess the ones from Monday remembered me and ran up to hug me! I love feeling loved! They are all so diverse and full of personality; they are fun to work with. On the other hand, I like that with secondary I don't have to hand out Kleenex's for snotty noses all day, haha. Also, in kindergarten, I had to make a boy move his color to yellow, and he started crying. When I talked to him about why he was crying, he said that because he was moved to yellow the day before, his mom took away his Xbox, and if he got in trouble today, she would take away his TV. He cried for about 15 minutes, and I felt pretty bad...but I couldn't go back on it or I'm a huge softie!
Sidenote: Heather and I have had more stupid jokes the last few days than normal...not that I'm complaining :) And we started saying "totes" a lot, haha.
Another sidenote: I finally got some James Dean up on my wall! I feel like my room is finally pretty much decorated, and oh my my what a beautiful face to wake up to every day :) And I did it for pretty cheap; I found a James Dean calender at WalMart for like $2, cut out the ones that are my favorite (I chose 5...it was hard to narrow it down!), matted them on black paper and just hung them up! I love it!
So K-State finally canceled school for the first time in like 4 years, so my roommates were pretty excited, haha. Heather and I made a WalMart/gas run at 7:30 this morning and had a fabulous time sliding around outside on the ice before we left! I decided I really should be a snowboarder at some point in life, so I was working on sliding around on the ice rink that was our parking lot working on my balance :) It was more fun than it should've been, I think! That's okay! We're supposed to get somewhere between 8-10 inches of snow over the next 36 hours or so, so that's fun...bah. I'm really looking forward to my trip the Bahamas this summer right about now (minus the large amounts of working out I need to do between now and then!).
Okay well, I'm out of fun things to talk about for now, but I hope all of you are being safe through the crazy winter storm that we're supposed to be getting and having fun in your homes! Try to make it enjoyable and not go stir crazy! Go play on the ice and slide around! When we get snow, go play in it! Love today!
--Taren
Monday, January 31, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
My Half-Moons are getting better!
Those of you who read my last blog entry...don't worry, this one is actually going to be about something! I feel like there's a million things I want to write about, but I'll try to keep it from getting too lengthy! (And PS in case you didn't catch it, the title is a yoga reference.)
Sunday at church, Kevin Ingram, the president of MCC, gave the sermon. I tell you what...he gives a fanTAStic sermon! The man knows how to teach and humble everyone all at the same time. He talked about how possessions and work rob us of our time with God, and it was pretty convicting. It made me think of something this last semester that fell through the cracks because I was so busy. It had to do with spending time in the Word and spending time with God, and I let my busy schedule get in the way. What's hard to deal with is that I know we need God the most when our lives do get super busy, and I used being busy as an excuse instead. I need to work on that, and am thankful that Kevin Ingram reminded me of that!
Another little lesson I got during church wasn't even given to me by the sermon, but by a guy sitting next to me. When the sermon began, he pulled out his iPhone. I automatically judged him and couldn't believe he was about to text or play a game or something in church! Luckily, my nosiness worked for good when I sneaked another glance over at his phone and lo-and-behold...he was taking sermon notes and looking up the verses we were going over on his Bible app! I immediately felt guilty and couldn't believe I had jumped to so negative a conclusion about him. Shame on me...but I learned that I need to not be so quick to judge because I never know when someone could be doing something productive, like taking sermon notes.
Well, it has been quite a weekend! Simple, and a bit lazy, but nice regardless! I've been house/Petee sitting at the Brown's! They went on a skiing trip and needed someone to watch the pup, so of course I wanted to! Petee is a sweetheart. He may be ornery, but he's so great!
Some funny things I've learned about Petee:
1. At first he didn't like the snow, but now sometimes he wants to find the deepest snow he can and romp around in it, thus making me have to be ready with a towel when we come back inside, otherwise he'll get everything wet!
2. He likes yoga! Or, rather, he likes it when I do yoga because my face is close to the ground a lot, making it easier for him to lick me! He may not be good for concentration, but he's great for making me laugh when I'm about to fall over in pain!
3. He likes to play with his treats before he eats them. I tell him to sit, he does, I tell him he's a good boy then give him a treat, then he sets it down and pounces around on it for a little while! Precious!
4. He must be able to sense that I'm leaving soon, because he has gotten extra affectionate tonight! (AKA humping me. So not a good kind of affectionate, haha)
5. Dark holes scare him. We were on a potty walk earlier (it was dark), and he walked by a dark hole that he couldn't reach or see into, growled, and jumped back in fear! Then he creeped toward the hole again, peeked over the edge, jumped back and growled again! I died laughing!
6. He likes to know what I'm up to (I'm sure he does this with Han, too). If we're hanging out on the couch, or he's laying around or playing somewhere and I get up from wherever I am, he gets up and follows me to wherever I'm going. He's so curious!
I'm really going to miss this little turkey when his Mama and Papa come back tomorrow! I won't miss his 5:19 am wake-up-I-needa-go-potty calls, but I'll miss everything else about him! The snuggles, the pouncing around, the playing chase with himself in the mirror, the taking pictures of all the goofy ways he sleeps, and so on! I need a puppy now, haha. I'm so glad Hannah and Nick wanted me to watch him :) And don't worry you two, I know he has missed you because he scratches your bedroom door several times a day! He will be so excited to see you again!!
Sunday at church, Kevin Ingram, the president of MCC, gave the sermon. I tell you what...he gives a fanTAStic sermon! The man knows how to teach and humble everyone all at the same time. He talked about how possessions and work rob us of our time with God, and it was pretty convicting. It made me think of something this last semester that fell through the cracks because I was so busy. It had to do with spending time in the Word and spending time with God, and I let my busy schedule get in the way. What's hard to deal with is that I know we need God the most when our lives do get super busy, and I used being busy as an excuse instead. I need to work on that, and am thankful that Kevin Ingram reminded me of that!
Another little lesson I got during church wasn't even given to me by the sermon, but by a guy sitting next to me. When the sermon began, he pulled out his iPhone. I automatically judged him and couldn't believe he was about to text or play a game or something in church! Luckily, my nosiness worked for good when I sneaked another glance over at his phone and lo-and-behold...he was taking sermon notes and looking up the verses we were going over on his Bible app! I immediately felt guilty and couldn't believe I had jumped to so negative a conclusion about him. Shame on me...but I learned that I need to not be so quick to judge because I never know when someone could be doing something productive, like taking sermon notes.
Well, it has been quite a weekend! Simple, and a bit lazy, but nice regardless! I've been house/Petee sitting at the Brown's! They went on a skiing trip and needed someone to watch the pup, so of course I wanted to! Petee is a sweetheart. He may be ornery, but he's so great!
Some funny things I've learned about Petee:
1. At first he didn't like the snow, but now sometimes he wants to find the deepest snow he can and romp around in it, thus making me have to be ready with a towel when we come back inside, otherwise he'll get everything wet!
2. He likes yoga! Or, rather, he likes it when I do yoga because my face is close to the ground a lot, making it easier for him to lick me! He may not be good for concentration, but he's great for making me laugh when I'm about to fall over in pain!
3. He likes to play with his treats before he eats them. I tell him to sit, he does, I tell him he's a good boy then give him a treat, then he sets it down and pounces around on it for a little while! Precious!
4. He must be able to sense that I'm leaving soon, because he has gotten extra affectionate tonight! (AKA humping me. So not a good kind of affectionate, haha)
5. Dark holes scare him. We were on a potty walk earlier (it was dark), and he walked by a dark hole that he couldn't reach or see into, growled, and jumped back in fear! Then he creeped toward the hole again, peeked over the edge, jumped back and growled again! I died laughing!
6. He likes to know what I'm up to (I'm sure he does this with Han, too). If we're hanging out on the couch, or he's laying around or playing somewhere and I get up from wherever I am, he gets up and follows me to wherever I'm going. He's so curious!
I'm really going to miss this little turkey when his Mama and Papa come back tomorrow! I won't miss his 5:19 am wake-up-I-needa-go-potty calls, but I'll miss everything else about him! The snuggles, the pouncing around, the playing chase with himself in the mirror, the taking pictures of all the goofy ways he sleeps, and so on! I need a puppy now, haha. I'm so glad Hannah and Nick wanted me to watch him :) And don't worry you two, I know he has missed you because he scratches your bedroom door several times a day! He will be so excited to see you again!!
Well I guess that's it for now (I know it was plenty, haha)! Hope everyone has had a great long weekend and is excited for the semester to begin! Me, well I don't have classes, but I get to start subbing soon; As soon as I get my TB test taken I can start making money!! Yay for paying bills!
Until next time...
And so, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience
Colossians 3:12
Until next time...
And so, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience
Colossians 3:12
Monday, January 10, 2011
Californiaaaaaa!!
No, I'm not about to announce a vaycay with my roomies to Cali for the week (sadly...), but I have been watching The O.C. every day for about a week now, so that almost is the same...right? Wrong, I know. Bummer, dude. (Tapping into my inner surfer-guy...is it working? I think I can pull it off with a little Bieber haircut and some board shorts. Who am I kidding, these legs are much too white for shorts right now and I could never, ever, pull off a Biebs cut. Cuh-ray-zee.) Cali would be nice right now, what with the 8 inches of new snow outside my apartment door (it's actually really pretty and not awful yet...it's so fluffy!!!!!) but alas...not happening. Anyway, wow that was a dip out of my infinite pot of randomness with a really long ladle. What is wrong with me? Every time I type a sentence I shake my head and chuckle at myself a little. Well, in my head, anyway; two of my roommates are in the room and might think I was a little crazy if they saw me do that. Who am I kidding, I am crazy; have you read the last paragraph?? Nuts.
Now, I have no idea what to write about, because I feel it should be serious after all that lunacy. How about those Ducks? Or Tigers? Or whatever your particular flavor of National Champ you might be sampling?
Okay, nevermind...serious isn't going to happen tonight. I'm too...weird. Or something. :) Still happy though. I like being me, weird or not. Yay!
Until next time...
Psalm 32:11
Rejoice in the LORD and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart!
--Taren
Now, I have no idea what to write about, because I feel it should be serious after all that lunacy. How about those Ducks? Or Tigers? Or whatever your particular flavor of National Champ you might be sampling?
Okay, nevermind...serious isn't going to happen tonight. I'm too...weird. Or something. :) Still happy though. I like being me, weird or not. Yay!
Until next time...
Psalm 32:11
Rejoice in the LORD and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart!
--Taren
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