North to the future

I'm sure that as an informed citizen of the USA, many people would assume that I've researched everything there is to know about Seattle and the various stops in Alaska. And in truth, I have at least read the information given to me by the cruise line and the few things that Uncle Don sent to us. But I think that sometimes, the best things to see in a place are the ones that aren't advertised or promoted a whole lot. My plan is to get off the boat at every shop and just walk around the different towns, do some shopping, eat some food or drink some drinks. The only thing that I HAVE TO SEE in Alaska is the Totem Pole collection!! I've always had a slight fascination with totem poles, not one that is very dominant or anything. I don't like research them or know a lot about them, but if one's in front of me, I will look at it. And of course, I'm hoping to see LOTS of Wildlife!! A few weeks ago, I purchased an 8 GB SD card, and with mom's camera, I can take up to 4000 pictures!! I'm sure you're saying "YOU are taking pictures with your mom's camera??" Well, you're only saying that if you haven't seen mother try to take pictures....HAHAHA! sorry mom, there's lots of things that you do much better than me, but we all know that photography is not your strength! My 5Th grade pictures include absolutely NO HEADS, it's like I went to an alien school where everyone was headless that year.... anyway- I'm sure like everyone I've told this to before you're thinking "FOUR THOUSAND PICTURES?!? IS THAT A TYPO?" or "I'm not sure that I want to look at 4,000 pictures..." And don't worry, I don't really plan on taking that many pictures, but the girl scout in me would rather be over prepared for this situation. I mean what happens if I can only take 400 and the 401st picture is like a whale or bear or something bad ass like that....I mean WOULDN'T THAT SUCK!! OH, something else that I'm looking forward to is Seattle, maybe it's because we're going to be there for several days so we're actually making plans, but we're going to a Seattle Mariners game, the only disappointment is that a week or two before we're going, they're playing the Yankees!! But that can't be helped. So I'm missing a few things on this trip. I'm missing Staff Party at Camp, which I'm kind of sad about, but when you compare it to Alaska- I mean...sorry camp staff, but it just doesn't compare. so enough about the trip already....
I've moved out of my apartment!! YEAH!!!! I'm so glad for several reasons: 1) I HATED those apartments, sure they were close, but ugh- I HATED THEM! 2) I know have TWO FANTASTIC ROOMMATES!! (of course, I'm sure some of you are laughing at me, especially since I've never had roommates that weren't related to me, or that were temporary (camp) but I'm pretty pumped about it.) 3) I just feel like living alone was not good for me, it's not good for most people, but if I find room for all of my crap I'll really like it- I may have to sell most of it...
I'm also missing some school stuff, but my principal knows about it and is cool with it. One thing I'm nervous about missing is a meeting at Amarillo College, cause instead of teaching Calculus as originally planned, it looks like I'm going to be teaching Dual Credit College Algebra. I'm unsure of this. Honestly though, I was unsure about pretty much everything this year and I made it through that, so I'm going to work really hard to make sure I do well this year. You can't screw up a thing like college Algebra, but maybe since it's through the college, it'll be better than I thought. Well, I will more than likely NOT post a blog before the trip. I may write one during the trip and post it afterwards but you know for a fact that there will be one at the conclusion of the trip!
9 days until the cruise
3 days until my birthday
Thanks for reading guys! Happy summertime!

Look what I can do!

Ok, so to start of, if you've never seen my Stewart impression, then I'm very sad for you. In case you don't know who "Stewart" is, he is a character from MadTV, and in high school/early college I did a pretty good impression, haven't done one lately, so I'm not so sure how great it would be these days....

On with the blog now, I'm sorry it's been more than a whole month since my last blog. School ended and camp started with a whirlwind. Camp is busy, but I really couldn't imagine not spending my summer out here. First I have some cool/good news. You guys all now that I've been working to get in shape, and I'm still working on it. I haven't been as dilligent as I would like to be, but I'm still trying and working and NOT GIVING UP! So looking on my camp computer, I found last year's staff picture and I happened (ugh) to be in the front row.... so the "Salmon" shirt is me in last year's X-Large staff shirt. And I've worked really hard to get the size I am now. First of all, when I put on last year's staff shirt a few weeks ago, it did not fit- it was way too big!! So a picture of me in this year's yellow shirt (which is a Large...) is also attached. I think you can tell that there's been process, mostly in my legs...so let me first say a big thank you to everyone who motivated, encouraged, pushed me to work hard this year. Also to those of you who called/texted/invited me to work out with you. I REALLY APPRECIATE IT!! A LOT!!

I need to say a few things before I forget. I have a new address now, well I will very soon at least. I'm in the process of moving, but I'd rather not post that on the internet, so send me an email, text, letter (at camp) or carrier-pigeon and I will let you have my new address. In case you don't have the camp address (hint, hint. cough, cough)

802 N. Girl Scout Road

Amarillo, Tx 79124

for those of you who have written me, this week is a shorter week so HOPEFULLY I will get a chance to write you back this week! Some other cool news, Speedo and I looked at our numbers for camp this season SO FAR and we are at 498!! So CLOSE TO 500, WITH ROOM TO GROW AND 3 MORE WEEKS OF CAMP!! :) We are all a little excited around here!! If you have daughters, nieces, granddaughters, friends, cousins that are going into the 3rd grade and up, send them to camp!! :)

so I have to cut this short, cause it's late and I HAVE TO GET UP IN THE MORNING- but I'll close with this 25 days until the cruise, 18 days until my birthday!!

I'm sorry I went past my 10 minutes, Speedo! :) I have more to blog about.....but it'll have to wait, keep you all in suspense for the next edition :) thanks guys!

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 :)

the final (not really) countdown

Alright so first things first, WITH SEMESTER TESTS, I only have 23 school days left!!!! I'M PRETTY PSYCHED ABOUT THAT!!! It would be 25 if it weren't for item #2...
I'm also pretty stoked about next weekend! My cousin Duke is getting married!! It's been WAY TOO LONG since I've seen them, so I'm very excited to get to spend a couple of days up there in Michigan....not excited about the 18 hour-both ways-road trip with my mom, brother and dad...but I'm assigning a vocabulary project so I should have some grading to do. :) plus I've got the iPhone and a portable DVD player so I should survive...hopefully. If not, this could be my last blog..just kidding :) So some of you may have read from facebook or heard it from me, but I'm moving out of my apartment this summer!! No, not back to mom and dad's...(ugh- love you guys)... a friend of mine has a house and two empty bedrooms, so Teresa and I are moving in! I'm pretty stoked about this as well. I've never really had roommates, with the exception of girl scout camp, but that doesn't really count cause we had to share a living space. The other thing that this has inspired is a case of puppy fever!! I can't currently have a dog in my apartment, so it has even been on my radar, but when Teresa brought it up with Paula the other day- something sparked. Then I went to Midland to visit my wonderful friends (I'll come back to that) and my wonderful hosts, Karrie and Jason, had the cutest little Maltese dog, Grace, that completely stole my heart. So once we get moved in and everything, I anticipate having a conversation about a getting a puppy/dog :) So as I said, last weekend I drove down to Midland to visit my amazing, wonderful teacher friends! Friends really isn't the right word. They really were my second family. They took me to the doctor, they brought me food when I was sick, they laughed, talked, shared pretty much everything with me! They're really the most amazing group of teachers EVER! I was a little disappointed that some of them couldn't make it, some of them already had plans or children to be responsible for, or..something. But at least we have Facebook! Is it weird that part of me is worried that after a year, they're not going to want to be my friends anymore? Just like a year after college, I started talking to most of my friends from college less, I'm worried that's going to happen. It was a very bittersweet drive home. If you're reading this Midlanders, know that I'm truly blessed to know all of you and I thank you for a wonderful evening last week.
I don't remember what number we're on, but there are only 45 MORE days until CAMP STARTS!! (I'm sorry if that freaks you out Natalie, but I'm stoked and let me know if I can help do anything else..) This is a pretty big year for me- this summer will be my TENTH SUMMER to be on Staff at Girl Scout Camp Kiwanis!! That's pretty dang cool, don't ya think? Sure that only adds up to like 20 months or something, but still TEN SUMMERS!!
I actually think that's just about it, except don't forget to donate to my March of Dimes Walk this weekend! www.marchforbabies.org/teddyzzil
Every little bit counts and I'm getting closer to my goal! Thanks to those who've donated- and if you know anyone that wants to donate, just send them my link! It'll be much appreciated! Also, sorry for the 1990's surfer dude vocabulary, I guess I need to look up a couple of synonyms for "stoked" and "psyched." Well, I'll hopefully I'll get to see you all someplace other than the Cyber-world, but until then! HAVE A GREAT DAY!
--DON'T TAKE MY WORD FOR IT :)
(Kudos to my sister for getting that reference a couple of blogs ago)

My march of dimes Card!

Click here to help me reach my goal!

Chalk dust

First, let's start with some good news!! In case you haven't heard, I passed my high school math certification test!!! YEAH!! I was concerned mostly because it's been a long time since I've taken Calculus but it didn't matter. Second, I don't do this very often, but I may be having to make a decision about something soon and I would very much appreciate your prayers. I'll share more as it happens, but I'd rather not share anything publicly until I know something. Thank you in advance for that. OK, now onto "the blog"
So, it's kind of weird that I was inspired to blog today while at school. I use mostly the chalkboard at school for teaching and such. I was using the overhead at the beginning of the year, but the chalk board is just so much better and fits with my big handwriting. I also learned from my high school Physics teacher, who did the same thing, that a rag or cloth erases the board MUCH better than an eraser. So I bought a pack of washcloths from Walmart and they work GREAT! Unfortunately, I also use colored chalk, which creates more chalk dust while erasing with more ease than the white chalk. I know that's probably alot more than you ever wanted or needed to know about my chalkboard use, but it will help with the story....well at least I think it will. Anyways, on Friday after school, I decided to clean my board because our cleaning people only vacuum the dust from the tray. So I cleaned it with water and a towel. I used the chalkboard in all 6 of my classes today and I have to say that my chalkboard still looks pretty clean. Which made me think "mistakes are easier to fix with a clean start." This sentence has many meanings for me and I'm still pondering it. So, I'm not going to elaborate on my little insight anymore, I'm just going to let you ponder on it.
I would also like to take this opportunity to say thank you to all of my "loyal readers," and even my "unloyal readers" or "occasional readers" I'm very thankful for the Internet and facebook and this blog for allowing me to stay in contact with my family and friends, many of whom live far away. Frankly I think that's pretty cool. Just like in the "old days" when people would write letters to their family members to let them know what was going on. I kind of feel like that, just a modern day version, mostly cause you don't have to wait 2 weeks to get the letter. Any who. Those are my thoughts as they stand today. I hope your April is just AWESOME!! :)