Weekly update

Looks like that is all I am going to have time to do for the next few weeks. My life is chaos... I'll try to give a quick rundown of my week:

Monday- Woke up early and drove to El Paso. It was a four hour drive, plus stopping for lunch. Jason's parents drove me, so I didn't have to do the trip on my own, thankfully. We got there about an hour early so we drove around the UTEP campus (weird) and had some ice cream before my test. The test was ridiculously difficult. On top of having a cold and having to drive 4 hours, it was a 3.5 hour test! There was reading, writing, listening, and speaking parts to the test, all in Spanish, and I have absolutely no idea how well I did. I thought I would find out last week, but I didn't, so I just have to keep waiting. I am honestly not sure whether I passed or not, but I figure I have a really good excuse if I didn't: I was sick! Hopefully I passed because I don't want to have to pay the money to take it again. We drove back right after I was done with the test and got home around 11 pm. It made for a really long day.

Tuesday- I got to sleep in a little bit, which was nice because of the long day that Monday was. I didn't do nearly enough productive things on Tuesday, but I did a few. I got the window on our campershell fixed, finally. It broke this summer and we never got it fixed before I went to Lubbock. After that I was able to meet with my supervisor for my student teaching split here. She is super nice and has a very convenient connection... to the principal at the school that I want to teach at when I graduate! Apparently they are really good friends. It is an all-bilingual school that just opened in Albuquerque and my supervisor is sure they are going to want to expand next year. I am so excited about it because she got so excited about it! I will keep you posted on any developments. After meeting with her I went and spent some time with my new niece. She is just precious.

Wednesday- day 1 of student teaching in NM. I am with Jason's second grade teacher. It is really different because the schools are sooooooo different. I had 13 students in TX, but in NM I have 25. That is not the only difference, but it is one of the biggest. I am looking forward to learning from my cooperating teacher and to getting to know the school.

Thursday- Day 2 of student teaching. I felt much more comfortable Thursday than Wednesday. The kids are getting used to me pretty quickly, which is nice, so I know it is only a matter of time before they start asking me things and pushing my buttons to see what the limits are with me. I just hope I can get used to having so few resources in this school compared to TX. They aren't even allowed to make copies! I don't get it, but something is working because their test scores are pretty good. I am going to learn a lot.

Friday- I had planned on being really productive Friday as well, but it didn't happen. I did fill out a job application, but that was about it. I spent time with my sister and her kids while Paul was out running errands. It is nice being around them so much and getting to know Shelby while she is little. I wasn't around Jordan much when he was this small, so it is kinda nice. I started working on Shelby's baby blanket for Christmas, but I ran into a roadblock, so not much got done. That is all that happened on Friday, though, but it was a pretty good day.

Saturday- Another lazy day. Though I did put a box away, work more on job applications, and cleaned the house a little bit. I spent a lot of time with my family again. We went to lunch with Jason's parents as Jason and Ken took a break from working. Then, I went to town with my mom while Jason was working on pulling out our old fence with his dad. I had a really nice, long talk with my mom (that's another post...) and it was a good afternoon. We took the puppy to "puppy class" and ran a couple of errands. Then, Saturday night, we went bowling with my parents, siblings, niece and nephew. Paul even came. Me, Paul, Lauren, David, and Sam played lazer tag while Jason and Jordan played together and my parents watched Shelby. The boys had never played before, so that was fun. Then we all bowled together. I have no idea who won, but it was so much fun seeing everyone play and helping Jordan. I think we all had a good time. Lauren spent most of the time feeding and holding Shelby, so she didn't get to bowl much, but I think she still had a good time. It was a great day.

Sunday- Today we went to church, Home Depot, lunch, then came home so I could do homework, in that order. We went to lunch with my parents and Jordan, which was fun. I got most of my homework done and I filled out another job application. I am always curious as to whether I filled out the application completely right, so that is hard, but I just have to trust myself. After doing homework we went to a house warming party for Jason's cousin. It was nice to spend that time with Jason's family and extended family. They are hillarious. And after that we went to hang out with some of Jason's friends to watch Sunday Night Football. We don't get to spend all that much time with them, so it was nice to see them. Then, we came home and I have been doing this ever since.

I know that was a really long update, but I had to write about my week because so much stuff happened! Tomorrow I get to get back into the classroom and learning more about teaching! I'm excited to see what this coming week holds and I will keep updating when I have time. Take care, and I hope you enjoyed reading about my incredibly crazy life.

New babies and sickness

My sister had her baby on Friday! Little Shelby Grace weighed 6 lbs. 14 oz, which is way bigger than they expected her to be, so we were all very thankful about that. Apparently she was born after 3 pushes, so she practicaly walked out. She was healthy and went home yesterday evening. I met her today. I have a cold, so I had to wear a mask while I was holding her, but it was totally worth it. She is precious and I am looking forward to getting to know her. Paul was there with them when we got there this morning, and we know it will be only a matter of time before he moves in with them, but we are hoping they don't rush into anything. It appears to be Paul's baby, which I think we are thankful about, but he had decided he wants to be the dad no matter what which is mature of him. I still don't think my sister understands how hard it is going to be to have two kids on her own, but she has a lot of help so I think she will be OK. At least I know the kids won't suffer.

So as I mentioned I am sick. I had a temp of 100.3 earlier, which isn't the worst fever I have ever had, but it certainly doesn't feel good. I have a terrible headache and a stuffy nose, but hopefully my fever is gone and I won't have to deal with it tomorrow when I go to El Paso.

Yep, El Paso... I have to take my last certification test in El Paso tomorrow, and thankfully my in-laws are going to drive me down there so I don't have to make the trip alone. I am nervous because I am feeling sick, but hopefully I will pass it the first time and not have to worry about it any more. I'm sure God didn't let me take the test earlier in the year because He knew how much practice I would get during my first split of student teaching, and that would prepare me for the test. I just have to pray that I don't have any kind of mental block and that I use the skills God has given me to pass the test. Pray for me!

So close I can taste it

I am almost halfway done with student teaching! I can't believe that my 8 weeks in Lubbock are already over! It seems like just the other day I was pulling into the driveway with my truckload of stuff to unpack and start my adventure here alone. Now BAM! I am done with Lubbock and headed back home! It has been wonderful, crazy, and a definite learning experience. I am so excited to put into practice all the things I have learned already. Not to mention, I get to meet a whole new class of students a week from tomorrow and I get to learn abot teaching 3rd graders! I know they are going to be quite a bit different from my 5th graders, but at the same time they will still be independent and I will be able to joke around with them a little bit. I really think I am going to like my teacher. I have heard really great things about her. Hopefully I can get into contact with her tomorrow and we can introduce ourselves and get some of the logistics figured out for when I start. It is going to be great to be home!

On the flip side of that, however, I am going to miss my friends tremendously. One in particular, whom I have seen at least 3 times each week since I have been here. We always joke about not being able to be friends anymore because we don't want to get close and then me have to leave. Yeah, so much for that. If anything we hung out more, lol. She is a huge blessing in my life and these past 8 weeks would have been absolute torture without her. I am praying we will be able to keep our friendship just as strong, even while living 300 miles apart.

It feels really weird to be leaving Lubbock. Don't get me wrong, I am going home, to my family and my husband, but I'm not ready to leave behind all my friends here. Plus I know I will not be coming back here until December when I graduate, which is a really long time from now! I hope I can keep in contact with everyone but I know that is not really all that realistic. God has a plan for all this and I have to be open to it, I just hope His plan keeps my friends in my life. Meeting new people back home is going to be difficult. Very few people I was friends with in high school are still in Albuquerque, so I am going to have to make new friends. Our church is so big that it is hard to meet people there unless we join a home fellowship or something, but that means stepping out of our comfort zone, which we are not terribly excited about. We also want to work in the children's ministry at church, but we aren't entirely sure we will have time. All of these things are riding on how demanding my schedule is once moving back. I'm not sure I am ready to grow up quite yet!

Speaking of growing up... my sister is going to have her baby on Friday, if she doesn't have her before then. The doctors are going to induce sometime on Friday. That makes things very interesting because I will be coming home on Saturday and my sister has already asked for my help this weekend. I told her I will do what I can, but I have a certification test on Monday that has to take priority. This stupid test is in El Paso (ick) because they are not offering it in Lubbock. So Jason's wonderful parents are going to drive me down there so I can take my test, however long that takes, then they are going to drive me back home. I wouldn't be able to do it without them and I am so thankful that they are willing to do that for me!

OK, gotta go to bed. Please pray for my sister. Things are about to get really tough for her, and I'm not convinced she knows what to expect, no matter what she says. She is going to need the Lord more than ever starting on Friday, and I would ask that you pray that she would recognize that sooner rather than later. Also, please pray for me: moving home, certification test, meeting friends, and settling back into my life in NM. Thanks and if I can ever pray for you just let me know! Take care and God bless.

Less than two weeks!

I can't believe that I am already going to be moving home in less than two weeks! It is crazy! I feel like I just got here and that I am finally settling into the routines and getting used to living with the amazing couple who have opened their house up to me. But no, in 10 days I will be headed back to my home, my husband, my family, and my puppy! I'm so excited to be going home, but at the same time I am not quite ready to say goodbye to all my friends here. Next week is going to be pretty difficult, and I am sure it is going to go by really quickly.

I have handed back basically all of the subjects I have been teaching and I am pretty much back to just observing. I teach some here and there, but mostly I just watch and help out where I can. Next week I am going to be observing in other classrooms and I am very curious about how that is going to work. I may spend half of the day with another class and then half of the day with this class, just so I don't completely ditch my teacher. We will just have to see how it goes, though.

Anyway, I am completely ready to go home and completely not ready to say goodbye to everyone here. It is a very strange way to feel and I hope I can figure it all out before I leave or I am going to feel very incomplete and confused. Pray for me!