I am the worst at blogging.

And I actually do things...so it's not like I don't have things to talk about. But the fact that those things are TWO jobs, and attempting to get back into shape through a boot camp, and wanting to hang out with my husband and kitty means that I have no desire to write anything.

But about those jobs. Last time I wrote here, I'm pretty sure I was jobless after turning down a kindergarten job at the school from last year. Up until the beginning of August, I had no prospects. It was stressful. I cried, a lot, about being a failure and how I was just using all Tom's money and not contributing to our life. Then, I got a random call about a 2nd grade opening at a school in a small town south of Norman. I'd heard nothing but good things about the principal while in undergrad, and so I agreed to interview on a Friday morning. I didn't prepare for the interview, but I did wear my favorite interview outfit. (Clearly, I am nothing but professional when it comes to job interviews.) Let me point out that this school started classes in a week. SEVEN DAYS. In fact, back to school night was on Tuesday, so I'd have to have a room ready by then. So I knew I'd hear soon. 2 hours later, I was back in that town signing a contract to be their newest second grade teacher, then spent the rest of the day and weekend at my school preparing my amazing, beautiful classroom. I am in love with my school, the staff, my students, the culture of working hard and playing hard that everyone has, and I feel like I finally fit into a place. I am totally exhausted, but it's the good kind, where I know I'm working for good and putting everything into it.

This is before I added decorations. Let's just all admire how big it is and that I have windows.

My cubby area. Because I somehow lucked out in the classroom department and get these too.

I have no pictures of classroom/school life right now, but it is going well. If I've done anything, I've taught my kids to greet me and each other by names with handshakes, fist bumps, and hugs. We celebrate each other, and take time to talk about how we make others feel good. We learn, we play games, and we smile tons. I am beyond blessed with the 13 boys and 8 girls I get the privilege of teaching, and I cannot wait to see how far these kids go. I don't know what I'd do without my daily hugs from my boys who aren't too cool to hug a teacher, the compliments from my girls comparing me to Barbie, and the announcements that I am the best teacher EVER. 

Although, these kids somehow assumed that their teacher wasn't game to play like they do, so when we had our Rock and Run obstacle course with a giant slip-n-slide, they were SHOCKED that I was up for it. I ended up covered in mud, soap suds and grass, but I made their day. Evidence below:

muddy shoes, dirty legs, and soaking wet shorts

You can't see the dirt, but it's there.

Dirt/Grass and our neon yellow school shirts.

And as for my other job, I'm now coaching a USS club swim team 5 days a week. I'm head coach for the Dolphins group, which is both terrifying and awesome. I've learned a lot, and my kids are getting better. I co-coach the begining Minnows group which is mostly a group of 6 year olds who are more excited to play in the water than swim. It's chaotic all the time in both groups, but pretty awesome. I'm waiting on a certification card to come in so we can send it off to the state people, and then I'm officially a USA certified swim coach. Oh, and I should probably mention that I started coaching 5 days and working on my certification the same time as I started teaching. It was insane and I have no idea how I did it.

Tom and I love our new house, and Liz Lemon (the kitty) loves it too. She's currently the boss of everything, and we spend way too much time laughing at her "tricks." I highly recommend a kitty to everyone who needs a laugh. Our is still obsessed with golf balls, has become strongly attached to her fabric mouse Mousey, and FINALLY learned the joys of jumping in and out of boxes. She's still a cuddly kitty, but mostly when she wants food.

I put my kitty in a playpen. It was a brilliant idea.

LL + scratching post = TL4E

Somebody doesn't quite fit.

Tom is good. He's still the rational one in the family, which was confirmed when we went to look at cars and I almost fell for every sales pitch ever because I want people to be happy. Thank god for someone who can be strong and not fall for that. He's also the best cook I know, which is probably the reason I've gained way too much weight in 10 months of marriage.

Tom grew a beard, and I learned to wear pink lipstick. 

Finally, I feel like I am where I'm supposed to be. I am so happy with this life we've made here, and all I could ask for would be more people to play board games with us. Seriously people, why do you all hate board games? They are wonderful and so much fun.

Oh, and the workout program I'm doing? Bootcamp lead 3 days a week after school by our custodian. He made us run hills one day and I died. But he's awesome and supportive and tough and knows what he's doing, so I'll keep going. I've already noticed my work ethic is getting better, and I'm able to tough it out through all of a circuit interval.

Oh hey....I forgot I exist.

Dear blog,

Apparently I forgot you exist. The more likely scenario is that I knew you existed but couldn't find the energy to update you on things that have happened since July.

So, I survived job searching. I am currently teaching 2 half-day PreK classes in a school that is the polar opposite of the preschool I taught in in Texas. We have homeless kids, kids from broken homes, kids who've dealt with more bad things happening in their lives by age 10 than I have ever. It's both heartbreaking and inspiring. Which means I am totally exhausted. First year teaching is hard anyway, but I accepted this job a week before teachers reported back to work, and in that time I moved to Oklahoma, so my prep time for it was pretty much nonexistent  It's March and I'm just starting to get into the swing of things, which speaks volumes about how this year is going. BUT, I will survive, and I will send my 35 kids into the world familiar with school, routines, and how to get along with others and hopefully with recognition of all their letters, colors, and shapes. So hopefully they'll all be a little further ahead in Kindergarten than they would otherwise.

 Boyfriend and I are FINALLY married.

And married life in our apartment is pretty much exactly what I hoped for. We (I mean Boyfriend) cook, and I try to bake, and we watch way too many seasons of TV shows the whole way through. Eureka and Warehouse 13, I'm looking at you! And we've developed a love of board games and game nights. I'm so proud of our Tabletop inspired collection, and we've made both of our families play at least 1 game from the show. Also, GO WATCH TABLETOP. I heart it so much.

The wedding was beyond awesome. From the beginning, I wanted it to feel like a family reunion, and it totally did. Everything, and everyone, came together so well and we had the most fun we've ever had. I ripped my wedding dress multiple times, ended up barefoot and covered in sweat from head to toe and loved it all. Seriously, I highly recommend getting an awesome DJ and amazing photographers to capture what happens. I've never been to a wedding with SO MANY PEOPLE dancing all night.

I owe you a post about how everything came together, but all you need to know is how happy I am to have ended up with this life. And how incredibly lucky it feels.

U-S-A!!! U-S-A!!

The Olympics start tomorrow night (Finally!!!) and I will be as glued to my TV as I possibly can be with all the crazy changes happening in my life right now.

In summary, since I don't want to jinx things, I applied for my dream job, got passing grades for my certification tests, and got called about interviewing for a teaching job that would start SO SOON. It's been a crazy five days.

But, to get all of you who aren't already completely stoked about USA swimming excited for the Games, here's my new favorite video EVER.

Brendan Hansen and Lochte are my new crushes. Phelps, sadly, wasn't in the video enough :( On a side note, I can't decide if I want Phelps to dominate at the Games or if I want Lochte to kick his ass in everything. This is totally normal right?

If you do decide to watch all these awesome swimmers show the world how awesome the team is, I will be here ready to cheer with you! After all, I need to put all those years of training for swim meets to use somehow.

PS: I have a major obsession with the Olympics suits you can order. I have one from the 08 Games and I love it. Who wants to get me Team USA swim gear this time around?

PPS: I'm totally excited for the relays. I usually watch them while jumping up and down and screaming.

Two weeks and two days....

I move to Norman on August 4th! I am so excited and ready to start our lives together, but it's surreal that this summer is almost over.

To date, I have:
-Worked 4 weeks of camp with 20 kids each week. That's 4 weeks of learning astronomy, petting animals, 4 trips to see the insects and butterflies, 12 million rationales for why we don't have magic in the US daily life,   getting nipped by an iguana, holding a prickly stick bug, making "potions" and troll boogers until I've memorized the best ratios for success and no mess, and some of the cutest kids I've ever seen. So blessed to have this as my job.
-Put 1000 miles on my car in 2 months. (Houston to Norman and back, Houston to Dallas to Athens to Houston, Houston to Austin and back, and my daily commute downtown)
-Met with the hotel wedding coordinator, planned the reception menu, met with the florist and DJ, taken bridal pictures, had 2 cake tastings, decided on a bakery and flavors, and gotten my hair and makeup trial done.
-Been to my couples and bridal shower! So fun and I can't wait to move all our wonderful presents into our place!
-Moved a carload of my stuff to Tom's place.
-Taken all 3 certification tests.
-Had absolutely zero luck with the job search.

I still haven't:
-Seen the museum's Titanic exhibit
-Gone out downtown
-Seen the new baby giraffe (OMG!!!!) at the zoo
-Figured out what exactly I'm taking to Norman
-Booked a UHaul

I should probably do those things....when I'm not doing everything else. Blogging will resume when I move to Norman, especially if I am jobless. If I get a job, blogging will resume after the wedding and I recover from the inevitable mental breakdown.

Staying Alive...

I apparently forgot all about this blog with everything else going on this summer!

I've been home just over a month and in that time I have:

• Started my summer job teaching summer camps. Hooray for Harry Potter camp all summer for the 2nd year in a row.
• Taken all 3 certification tests for my OK teaching certificate in a week! Now I'm just waiting to see if I passed them all.
• Had a couples shower and a bridal shower thrown for me!! They were both wonderful, and I need to post pictures of them!
• Gotten 2 fittings for my wedding dress done!
• Moved a carload of stuff to Tom's apartment.
• Had way too much American food to eat.

I'll try to update this more next week since it's a break from camp and I'm not super busy everyday!

It's the final countdown..

...until I go home! I've made it through all my classes without losing it, and gotten some pretty awesome goodbye cards and presents from my classes. I even got my first "teacher pen" from Ana so that I can remember her, but there's no way I can forget her, or this year. I've had some amazing teachers, and some not-so-amazing teachers, one of whom told me that I wouldn't be able to give kids the same grade if I was an actual teacher. (That's a whole other post, but I am so frustrated with how she ignored my explanation of why and tried to tell me I couldn't do that if I was a teacher. I've tried, and succeeded with never saying things like that to teachers here because I understand there's a difference in how we teach, and she apparently doesn't get that.)

6th grade bilingual science

I've gotten to know some really awesome teachers and staff who care about my life outside of school and Spain, so I can't wait to keep in touch with them and keep updated on what's going on in Las Marinas. Hopefully I'll be able to send them some good job news, and they're all excited about seeing wedding pictures.

First grade art class. How precious are they?

I finally got my very own Indalo today! It's a symbol that was found in a prehistoric cave, and is now the symbol of the Almeria region. He brings you luck, prosperity and happiness if he's given as a gift, and I got one from my teachers!! So excited, and I hope he brings me lots of luck with everything I've got going on. I also got a sweet card from them, a memory book of the classes/school, and a card from the secretary, Elli, for her daughter's class. I love it!!

Second grade science

Goodbye Las Marinas!!

Going on a bear hunt....

I taught my first grade English the words and motions to We're Going on a Bear Hunt, and it took them a while to get used to it, but they like it. I think they mostly like watching me make a fool out of myself, but I'm fine with that if they love it. This would be such a fun unit to do in preschool, especially if you start off with the book like we did!

To go along with it, their teacher found some awesome activities, including a time line that they can use as we tell the story! I definitely want to do this in my classroom- now I just need a learning skill to match with it!

The beautiful example I made. I love my bear- he's so cute and not scary!

Maestra Ana, my first grade teacher, y yo at my goodbye lunch.