Sooo Much To Post.....Sooo Little Time.....

Chicago was great! I had such a great trip with my sis and mom. We did almost everything that could possibly be done! It was AMAZING! It makes me realize just how much I enjoy traveling! =) Completely looking forward to more trips. I'll post pictures and more stories here later.

School started this week on Monday...and I truly can't believe the week is already over! I've moved to a new school, Floyd Elementary, from Hafen Elementary. I'm also teaching 5th grade instead of 3rd and I must admit, "I LOVE IT!!!" Although I am very worried about my students, I'm thinking 5th grade is a FANTASTIC age!!! I've been busy the last few weeks preparing my classroom and I will soon have beautiful pictures to post. I'm starting the year with half of my class from Hafen. It's so fun having kids I know already. We have bonded and I feel they are really liking my class. I have such sweet kids this year, it's been a blessing. They are sooooo funny though. Today I was carrying about 20 notebooks when I went to pick my class up from lunch. Well, "T" thought it would be nice to help me, so this 3' little guy takes these notebooks out of my hands and attempts to walk with them. As he approached the line, the notebooks crashed to the floor. Luckily "I" picks them all up and helps out "T." "I" begins to ask, "Why am I carrying these books?" I of course laugh and reply that he can hand them to me. In response he scoffs and says, "I couldn't have a young lady like you carrying these down the hall!" Of course in my head I'm laughing...but really thinking, WOW! I hope these kids keep these manners and only get more and more well mannered and thoughtful as they grow.... =)

I also have the opportunity to work with a very special child, who is a kleptomaniac (sp?). It's crazy! He's already stolen from me. I feel so completely violated. But I am learning to forgive. I guess I realize, I really need to forgive this little kid if I ever expect God to forgive me for all the stupid things I've done in my life. I've been especially reflective on my life lately and I'm trying to change. I'm going back to Church. I'm getting new hobbies. I'm trying to be who I thought I'd be when I was 12. Looking at life from a 12 year old really puts things into perspective. I feel I might have been more insightful as a kid than I am now. LOL. And definitely less vain and materialistic. Regardless I am back on the path to finding myself. And the funny thing...well, I guess not funny, but interestingly enough, even though I just spent 4 hours cleaning up after my dog...I am the happiest I've been in a long time. I feel so much peace in my life and I can only hope it will begin to get better. It's like a story I once heard about life. We each are carrying a backpack through life....and every time something happens to us that is negative, we sin, we do something to someone else that is unkind, or we don't forgive, we put a different size rock in our backpack...and on the path to where we go we continue to carry them...if we don't let go and stop those things and forsake them...we will be so weighed down that we can't go any more and our lives become stagnant. I feel like I'm on the road to taking out my stones and I can finally walk forward once again. =)

Anyhow, I'm currently up too late...I've been cleaning up after my poor dog. He had an accident....somehow he ate something that did NOT agree with him and needless to say, I've been cleaning the carpet for the last 4 hours. BLAH! So good night for now....pictures to come, of everything else, not my carpet!