Something to Write Home About....

I’ve noticed that the last few blogs have been a little lengthy so I will try to not be so verbose this blog around. Sorry for the length, but lots happened! This week alone, I thought I was going to Vegas for a workshop and that my school was paying, then I found out that I don’t get to go to Vegas. I’m really okay about not going. It will be much more fun to go to Vegas with a group of people for a weekend or something than by myself to a workshop. Plus it would have been a short trip and I would have missed part of pre-camp. So I’m currently investigating another opportunity for a make-up workshop that could involve a nice Fall trip to South Texas! So stay tuned South Texas Residents!
I guess I can say this next thing out loud now, but I signed my contract today for the 2010-2011 school year to be a teacher at
Holy Cross Catholic Academy! Sorry I had to drag it out a little bit! I was looking for some other opportunities to make more money and I thought that meant going to a public school. Well I was kindly reminded that I don’t make the plans!! Fortunately, I am being taken care of in other ways. Not only will I save more money moving in with 2 amazing friends, I will also be taking on more responsibilities at school which means more money, at least enough to replace my current second job. Now that I know what my plans are for next year, I can focus a little easier. I’ve started to get excited about next year, which is CRAZY, I KNOW! But I’ll be teaching a group of kids that I taught or at least saw everyday! And I’ll know what the heck I’m doing, so it will go much, much smoother- which can’t be a bad thing cause this year was pretty dang smooth! I also requested this week to teach GEOMETRY next year, which I’m excited about. My Geometry teacher was one of my LEAST FAVORITE MATH TEACHERS! I had the most fun but it was the lowest math grade I’ve ever had! So this will be like my second chance at Geometry!
Well, there’s not much more going on! I put in my notice at the Funeral Home which means camp is getting closer!! There are only 5 regular school days left, a Mustang Fun Day and then 4 half-days of Semester Tests! You’ll probably get one more blog from me before camp starts, but I hope all the teachers out there have a wonderful end of school year festivities and such! IT’S ALMOST SUMMERTIME!!

Car full of laughs

Alright, so we are currently in route back home from Michigan. I think we are a few hours away from saint Louis, where hopefully we will be staying near a casino and the arch....not sure yet. It'll mean a little longer driving tomorrow but we all have Monday off from work. And the only thing I would like to be in town for is too early in the afternoon for me to be able to make it at all. Which actually brings me to some sad news before I get onto this weekend. My school was saddened to learn this week that a student passed away. Unfortunately this is the second student that I will have buried in my short teaching career. Deann Campos was a bright happy 7Th grader whom I rarely saw without a smile on her face. She was out all of last week and on Wednesday we learned of her death. The autopsy came back on Friday and it turns out she had a fast growing tumor that even if it had been detected, a surgery would have been unlikely and could have possibly caused permanent brain damage. So I am thankful that she did not have to suffer through the pain of surgery or the fear of death. She will be deeply missed but she has a wonderful school community that is praying for her and I appreciate everyone keeping Holy Cross in your prayers as we close out our school year. Unfortunately the rosary is this evening (Sunday) and the services Monday at 3. I think that my school will be having a memorial service at some point though. Plus I think staying home from this trip to go would have been a mistake. So let me tell you about it. We, being me, mom, Bobby and dad, left Thursday evening around 6.30; we stopped somewhere in Oklahoma for dinner and then drove on through stopping for breakfast in Saint Louis, Illinois :) then the next like 9 hours were SOOO long. It seemed like we were close but it was like waiting for water to boil, it just didn't seem that we would ever make it to Grand Rapids!! But we finally did. After washing off the previous 20 hours and getting all dolled up we made our way to the rehearsal dinner, where I got to see my cousins whom I haven't seen in 8 years!! Which after making this trip, I can't blame them. It's a looong drive!! We got to catch up a little. I got to meet my like second cousins, at least I think- they're my cousins children. I had met Caleb before, seeing as how mom and dad are his godparents, but Nicholas I had never met, along with Hailee, Ty and Amy whom I met the next day at the wedding. Along with a whole slew of people that if I listed here you would get bored, but if any of you happen to read this, know that it was great to meet you so please don't feel slided. Also know that I hope to see you again soon. I can't wait until I get to post all of my pictures up on facebook. One cool thing, there were a few so this is just one, is that at the reception, someone put together a slide show that had pictures of Katie and pictures of Duke and then pictures together and I was in one of Duke's pictures! It was us hanging out at nanny's house when I was about 9 or 10. It was really a cool moment for me but also the moment that I lost control of my emotions. After this week of school and then being around family, I knew I would lose it if I ever got close to the edge of my emotions. A part of that, too, is that I couldn't help thinking right before the wedding that nanny was there, enjoying the moment, sharing her own stories and memories with whomever she wanted up in heaven. Sorry. I know I was going somewhere else with that but I got a little emotional and had to take a minute to compose myself. The reception last night was a blast, I had some of the best dance partners there and took LOTS of pictures!!! Oh, and this morning we all met for breakfast at Big Boy, even the newlyweds, which was great!!! All I know is that we have to find ways to get together more often. Maybe we can meet somewhere in between that way our round trips are the same instead of one person taking like two days vacation to travel. So, if you're reading this aunt Dee, which I know you are, let's think of some place we can meet in the middle and have a goal of meeting there sometime in the next year or two. Maybe Saint Louis or I don't know where, but I'll do some research. Anyway, let's make it happen!! :) oh, and some of you asked about the big decision I asked for prayers for, and they worked! Lol, so I'm just going to say for now that MY mind is made up, so I'm going to ask you to keep praying that some important people make the right decision :) hopefully, I'll have an announcement to make soon. Sorry to be so mysterious, I just don't want to jinx it, but if You're really curious you can send me an email and I may tell you :) well I can't decide if I want to end this blog for now or just pause and finish the rest on Tuesday at school. I think I'll finish it later....

So that was all written on Sunday afternoon in the midst of a road trip. It's now Tuesday evening and it's been edited, but now you meed to hear the rest of the story. So we ended up staying the night at Hotel Lumiere that is connected to a Casino. I have to say that I haven't seen Bobby THAT excited in a LONG time! At one point when Mom and Dad were trying to decide where to stay, Bobby sent Mom this text "just make up your dang mind please before you have [two] dead bodys in the backseat from anxiety" which made us ALL laugh, which actually happened ALOT of the time in the car! We may have been cramped, crowded and exhausted, but we had fun. It's another family memory that I'm grateful to have. There may not be pictures or specific stores to share but I have lots of memories of laughter. So back to St. Louis- None of us had ever been there before so after we checked in to the hotel, we walked to the Arch, which I knew was known as the "Gateway to the West" but didn't know why it was in ST. Louis. Well, luckily for us, my dad knew and educated us on the background of the arch. Then we went back to the hotel and ate in the nice Italian Restaurant. On our way back to the room, Bobby said "Well, this trip has not only been fun, but also educational" HAHAHAHA! That kid! We drove by Busch Stadium, unfortunately they had an afternoon game so we didn't get to see the Cardinals play. BUT I'm okay with that CAUSE..... I'm going BACK! In our hotel, our suite had 2 Queen Beds, a pullout Sofa in the living area, 2 TVs, a Pool, a Gym and it's connected to the Casino. That room cost $140 for the night. With 5 people in a room that's less than $30 a night!! You don't need a cab cause it's close enough to walk to alot of the bars and even the stadium. Buy yourself some baseball tickets, bring some gambling money and you're good to go! So when this trip happens depends on a few things, but I know I'm going to need to at least recover from my trip to Alaska first. It needs to be during baseball season, sometime. So anyway if you're reading this- know that you're invited to come along, in fact I hope you do. The more, the merrier, right? In case you couldn't tell, I think I've been bitten by the travel bug! I'm really motivated right now! I really had a FANTASTIC, PHENOMENAL, AMAZING, SUPER weekend! (couldn't decide on just one cheesy adjective) A BIG THANK YOU AND A BIG HUG TO ALL INVOLVED- especially Dad for driving the majority of the time! Oh and Duke and Katie for getting married! :) Be sure to check out the pictures on facebook :)