costa rica

Many of you know that I taken part in a mission trip to Costa Rica...well I've actually been on the trip three times!! My church sends a team every December and I have been so blessed to be able to GO and serve on this trip three different times. Each of these trips have been incredible and life changing!!!

One of my best friends, Conway, is currently serving in Costa Rica for the entire summer. He has led the team from my church and spent a few weeks there last summer. This summer he was fortunate enough to spend 3 months serving alongside the Christian Light Foundation with our missionary friends down in Costa Rica.

Conway has developed such a heart and passion for the people in Costa Rica. He has worked countless hours of manual labor for the church we work with. He has developed close friendship with many of the kids there and actually spends many, many, many hours writing letters to his pen pals throughout the year.

I am so proud of him for committing to spending an entire summer sharing the love of Christ....you definitely should check out his blog and see what God is doing in Costa Rica..and to see pictures of all of the things he is going to be able to be a part of this summer!!

www.conwayrobinson.blogspot.com

communication=a learning process

Sometimes things you never expected come your way. You’re faced with situations and scenarios that you never thought you would have to deal with. These things can be both positive and negative. These situations and scenarios will cause you to grow in ways you probably never imagined you would. This growth isn’t always fun or easy but its good. It’s hard and uncomfortable. And who really likes to do things that are hard or uncomfortable?

The last few months I have found myself in this growing process. It has required me to be a good communicator. I am not one. I am learning how to communicate in a healthy way. These newfound communicating skills are being used in all of my relationships in life. Since I have decided that this is “the year” I have chosen to be intentional about becoming a better communicator. I haven’t always been successful and am still learning how to communicate. I still experience failure in how to communicate my thoughts and feelings. I have to fight through the failure and keep pushing. I have to acknowledge my growth and the times I communicate well.

28

well this is a month or so late but the big 2-8 has happened. I kinda freak out when I think about 28 because 28 is pretty close to 30. I don’t know why 30 freaks me out but it does.

In order to not freak about 28 I have decided that 28 is “the year” I am embracing all that this year can be. In order to make it “the year” here are a few of the things i have decided to do this year:

-be honest. Sometimes brutally honest. But mostly honest in love

-take time to journal, blog, read for fun

-be more intentional about my relationships

-become a good communicator: learn what it means to communicate healthily

-love me. Do things for me.

-get in shape and healthy. I want to start running and teach myself to enjoy it haha

-have less of a passive, people-pleaser attitude

-speak my mind

-be a more effective and creative teacher

now of course there are many more things I want to do this year…these are just a few…but basically this year is “my year” and I just want to embrace it.

i whip my hair back and forth

i dont even know where to begin....

let me just start with the excitement that is the holiday season...the cousins are here (well almost all of them) and the fun has begun. tonight is the first cousin night...elf and christmas cookies :-)

well this blog is going to be dedicated one of my cousins...well not necessarily him...but his HAIR.

DREW WALKED INTO OUR APARTMENT WITH A PONYTAIL.

yes you read that right...a ponytail. like he has more hair than i do and can actually pull it back into a ponytail.

and not just a ponytail but bangs that he can tuck behind his ear.

i was baking cookies in the kitchen and came into the living room to see drew whipping his hair back and forth. it was at that point i decided i would write a blog devoted to his ponytail...with a little poem:

He Whips His Hair Back and Forth Now

i have a cousin who is a friend true and true

he goes to college in virginia and his name is drew

drew is funny and nice as can be

he loves to go on the houseboat and drink grandpas tea

he has bad luck when it comes to cars and parking violations

he loves to longboard and would probably board across this whole nation

he once road his longboard for like 9 days straight

he is pretty awesome so dont hate

he came home for the holidays

and he looks different in may ways

he has a new addition to his style

some may not like it but he rocks it all the while

he has a tail of a pony

it is real...not phony

he wears his hair pulled back with a rubber band

to pull that off you have to be a real man

he has bangs that he tucks to the side

he rocks his hairstyle with pride

i wish he would use shampoo

and that is my cousin drew

my feeling of failure today

I feel like I am in a losing battle in my classroom. Specifically with one student. I don’t know what to do with him anymore. I end up yelling and being negative with him 9 times out of 10. I just get so worked up and so frustrated that nothing I try works with him. I know I need to be loving and supportive but I just cant seem to do that. I know he needs love and support since he probably doesn’t get that at home. I feel like I fail because I am not giving him what he needs. Today was another day where I lost control and ended up yelling at him. I mentioned it to another teacher in the staffroom and shortly after returning to class, she called him to her office. I know it wasnt her intention, but i still feel like someone else has stepped in and handled my business because I cant. This also screams failure at me. I know she is probably just trying to help. But I just feel like since I am not doing a good job of getting through to him and someone else needs to come in and do it, that I am a failure. This struggle and these ideas are so overwhelming to me. I cant seem to focus on teaching now. Ugh

football

i come from a pretty sports oriented family. i grew up playing soccer and one awful year i had to play softball. my dad was a high school basketball coach. i attended sporting events for my cousins, my brother, my uncles...so i knew quite a bit about sports. basketball and baseball are prob the two most watched and followed sports in our family.

funny story..my grandparents dont have cable but you can guarantee that come basketball season and laker time they will be out to eat in a restaurant...in the bar area of course so they can watch the game...

anyways i have never much cared for football. my brother played but i wasnt interested really. my sister was a cheerleader but i went to the games just to watch her cheer....

well all of that changed this year...at work, they have a fantasy football league. i have never been interested to play but this year my friend trish convinced me to join. and i am so competitive i thought it would be fun.

also my new friends are HUGE football fans...so i have been introduced into all things football..like they are crazy. :-)

i have actually attended my first college football and nfl game in the last three weeks.

i look forward to sundays/monday night football.

i have learned how the game works. i have learned about the players.

i stress about how well my players do so i can beat my opponent in fantasy football.

so i (have a newfound) love football

beginning

I love blogging. Not just writing them, but also reading them…or as I like to call it “blog-stalking” haha I wish I blogged more. I am thinking about making it a goal to blog 5 days a week... but I am not sure I am ready to commit to that…

But I think I will make myself do it.

The new school year has begun for me. This is always a stressful and kind of chaotic time for me. If I don’t establish my classroom to run the way I want it to run in the first few days…it is near impossible to get it the way I want it. Well day one came and went. I had a cute first day of school outfit (this might be the only thing I like about the first day of school). I have 25 students in my class…majority being boys. Most of them seem like good kids. I have a few that have the potential to be a handful..but nothing I cant handle J

Day two came….and was rougher than I would have liked. The day was going as I woyld have wanted it until one of my potentially challenging students (we are going to call him J) had a bit of an episode. I had asked him to stop makin noise (which I learned later…that he believed I had falsely accused him of making noice). Well after my telling him to stop a few times, his whole demeanor changes and he yells. “f@*! You!”

I have NEVER in my life been told that. Let alone by a 10 year old.

I would love to say that I handle the situation with poise, maturity, and control.

I didn’t. I freaked out. I yelled. I kicked him out of my classroom.

Once I had him in my “office” (which is what we call the ramp outside my portable) I proceeded to “talk loudly at him” (or yell) and he immediately shut down on me. I realized part way through this, that things weren’t going as I had planned. Typically I can talk to a kid out here and get the situation handled. But since he shut down…nothing was happening. So ultimately I made sure he understand how disrespectable and inappropriate his behavior was. I made sure he knew that I would not allow such behavior. I explained his consequence of referral and detention with me. He understood, came back inside and just sat there until recess.

Once I talked to him one-on-one I got a better understanding of him. (he comes from one of the roughest home-life situations..ugh…breaks my heart) I learned he does not respond to me getting in his face. He responds to one-on-one, CALM discussion. He is a bright kid so this dialogue approach works well. He eventually apologized for his behavior and we had a great rest of the day.

I know it has been only 3 days, but I feel like J is going to be one of my favorite students ever. I am excited to see all the opportunities I have to help him grow over the year.