State Testing, Meltdowns, & RV Parks

There is nothing good about state testing: crazy schedules, long proctoring hours, meltdowns, and the remnants of brains.  The freshman have been testing since Monday and I'm not entirely sure what their brain capacity is on a scientific level, but I can tell you that it is officially gone after today.  And there is nothing like standing, meandering around, and staring at the back of their heads for four and a half hours to make the day feel lightening fast.  My poor feet have been enjoying sandals for about three weeks in a row now, and I had the nerve to shove them into ACTUAL shoes to make the standing not feel so bad; update: my feet are on strike because I made them wear real shoes (insert eye roll here).

This is Max summing up my feelings of testing week...I also wanted to hide on the couch and bury by head in the corner

The thing about my students, is that they are very schedule/routine oriented; and for the past three days, we have done nothing but mess that up.  Freshmen were testing and all other grades had their classes relocated (we used classrooms for the testing) and so that meant that no one knew where they were going and did not like the fact that they weren't going to be in their normal classrooms.  Cue different meltdowns of different magnitudes.  On the bright side, tomorrow and Friday are normal schedules and we are almost at Spring Break (keep breathing, only two more days, keep breathing, only two more days, etc)

Phil and my father officially arrived in OK yesterday evening after a two day trip from Western New York.  Phil and I were not super excited about paying for two households while he was in OK for Captains Career Course, so we thought, "Hey, what about living in my parents RV?" and my parents graciously lent us the Winnebago for Phil's time in OK.  So my dad is driving the Winnie, and Phil is driving his truck and they convoyed to OK.  Now with any good road trip, something unexpected always happens: in their case it was when the back bumper of the Winnie decided to fall off while they were rolling down the highway.  Luckily it didn't hit Phil and they managed to put it back on....but boy was I ever happy to miss out on that little endeavor!

Phil is now a resident at Buffalo Bob's RV Park in OK...something tells me he's going to fit right in!

Also a super cool plus:

Look how pretty the budding leaves are!!

Have a great week everyone!

Linking up with Kristin!

Photos of the Week

This week has blessed us with high 70* weather!  Which means that I wore sandals to work EVERY SINGLE DAY!  My toes were so happy!  I love sandals, sunglasses, and sunshine; and this week I managed to have all three.

Max was able to survey the water again on our walk by the creek, we even licked at it!

Then it rippled, hit our nose and we ran away...but we made actual water progress and I feel like that qualifies as a win!

I also displayed my creative talent for my students this week (this is an overview of Camp Green Lake from the novel Holes...just in case you couldn't decipher what was happening in this beauty)  Note: my students were not impressed, but they said my house had potential...thanks guys

My husband got inked! I think its pretty cool and I am also a fan of his plaid boxers....

Max and I started our Sunday with a beautiful morning hike in one of our favorite spots!  Max has finally mastered those stairs that are carved into the rock...I was a very proud mama!

This week is going to be a busy one with state testing and its the week before Spring Break (HALLELUJAH!) so it is going to bring with it a good amount of craziness!  So for now, I am going to bake some cookies (testing motivation for my co-workers) and watch a little Lord of the Rings to get me in the right frame of mind!

Have a great week everyone!

Linking up with Bianca! 

Caffeine, Dog Walks, & Cereal

What a week! Normally, after school I rush right home, let Max out, change my clothes, and we are out the door to hit the trails!  We are on a mission to get a good walk in before we lose the sun.  What a difference Daylight Savings makes in our day now! There is still some hurry up, but now I can let us mosey a little bit more on our walks, versus dragging Max along when he wanted to pee on every branch/leaves/bush (do we REALLY need to pee on that branch again??).  But now, all is well!

However, my alarm in the morning is hitting me like a ton of bricks....I know my clock says 5am, but it really looks like midnight.  I am not the only one who thinks so either:

Therefore, my caffeine intake has been a little higher than normal, but I feel like that is a necessary increase (insert sweet tea cup EVERYWHERE in my life)

Phil has been visiting our families in NY (state, not city) before he reports to OK for Captains Course, and has been enjoying the bitter cold and lots of snow, courtesy of the snow storms this week.  He sends me snow pictures and I send him sunny photos from CO since it is been 75* this week (shorts and t-shirts!), I think I win that round.

With this week hitting the crazy quota with energy levels, I have been giving up on actual food for dinner and eating cereal like its going out of style.  Plus it goes great with my post-walk couch cuddles that Max and I partake in....so that's not weird right??

Have a happy week everyone! Almost weekend time!

P.S: who is going to see Beauty and the Beast this weekend?!?!  I cannot wait!! :)

Linking up with Kristin!

Photos of the Week

I feel like I am starting to become a real person because I have actually started to take pictures of the things I've done, things with Phil, and of course my handsome little man, Max.  This has been a recent development for me; I made a goal around a year ago to start documenting life a little more than I had been (a caveman documented life more than I had...I told you it was bad!).  So, I decided to try this type of post because I don't always use the photos I take and I really enjoy re-living moments I had from earlier!  Let me know what you think!

This one is one of my favorites from last weekend: cruising around with my husband, listening to tunes, hand in hand and just chatting (note sweet tea cup: it's an addiction, I admit it and am okay with it :) )

Monday was a ruff one...

How pretty was this?!?!  Beautiful way to begin a morning...breathe in the beauty and exhale the negativity

Friday night feels...you can't see the sweet tea cup, but it's there, trust me, it's there

Saturday Motivation at the Warrior 5K....in full disclosure, we walked with our friends, BUT we sniffed and peed and made new friends, so life was good.  Actually there were so many dogs there that it was basically Doggie DisneyWorld, so life in fact, was AMAZING!

Max and I are currently back cuddling on the couch from that adventure, one of us is snoring...who could it be??

Is it weird that the chronicles of my week are heavily based on my dog?

Enjoy the weekend everyone!

High School, Hormones, & Love Notes

So Monday morning Phil left bright and early and like any self-respecting woman: I cried and hid under the covers for another 30 minutes before getting up and going to school.  It went surprisingly well, after all, this isn't a deployment and we can do crazy things like talk on the phone and text (yay!).  I came home from school to find the SWEETEST note in the entire world:

My heart melted and I hugged Max while I cried a little more.  Max was so supportive: he licked my face over and over and then grabbed his ball and shoved it in my face (yes, a game of fetch is clearly the answer in this moment).  

I then let Max sleep on the bed with me that night and Tuesday night....but that's fine right?

As every other teacher in the world, you have lesson plans and goals for your classes: things you want to accomplish and need to get done.  I am armed with my English lesson and ready to rock and roll....and then my kids throw me an audible: they really want to talk about relationships.  They start asking all different types of questions: breakups, their breakups, feelings, hormones, trust, being single, and sex (I didn't cringe, but I wanted to).  So instead of doing my English lesson, we talked about life and how to stay true to yourself; when they are on a roll, you go with it.   I loved the fact that my students were so comfortable to talk about this stuff with me!   It can be hard to get high schoolers to open up and really express their thoughts and feelings about topics like this one. Teaching Win!  But I think I am good with the sex talk for now...

Max and I are starting to settle back into our routine: walks after school, sweet tea, dinner, and couch cuddle time....Max is a pro at the couch cuddles part

I have also found a mantra for this training period from one of my favorite puppies: 

But there also might need to be a new pair of shoes or two in my future to cope....maybe this weekend I'll add  a pair to the collection!

Happy Mid Week Everyone!

Linking up with Kristin!

The Art of Saying Goodbye

One of my friends made a request that I talk a little more about being an Army wife and some of what that entails.  With Phil leaving for Oklahoma and Captains Career Course, it gives me the time to reflect on what it means to say goodbye to the one you love.  Now this time is COMPLETELY different! I'll be able to call, text and video chat Phil whenever I want (that is a luxury of being apart that we have not known before).

Phil and I met in college when we were both seniors: he was in ROTC and I was an Education major. He left for BOLC in Oklahoma a week after graduation.  This was our first time learning how to deal with separation.  If I am being quite honest, it wasn't all that bad: he was in Oklahoma which was an hour behind me time-wise and I was working my summer job and preparing for grad school in the upcoming fall.  I went and visited him a couple of times (that's also where we got engaged) and it was good!

When he PCS'd to Colorado, I met him out here shortly after he got set up.  In that short amount of time, we explored some hiking trails and got a puppy all before he deployed for the first time to Afghanistan.  This was a whole new experience for both of us: the unknown, the nerves, the fear, and the pride all wrapped up in a very interesting bow.

Baby Max

Pre-deployment photo (I actually managed to smile...I was proud of that!)

After he returned in November of 2014, we actually had a year together!  And in that time, we got to plan our wedding and get married! Then in February of 2016, he deployed again and this time was doing ten months in Kosovo.

Saying goodbye is never easy, it hurts and it's tough.  But, it has also taught me many things: how to be independent, find my way around places ( I am geographically challenged), I will never be a good electrician, rely on friends and family, and how to be happy without Phil.  As we prepare to say goodbye again tomorrow, I feel those familiar heavy sigh type feelings, but I also remember that I will see him in a few months and that I am proud of him and all of the things he/we have accomplished at our first duty station.

I think Dr. Seuss said it best: "Don't be sad it's over, be glad it happened" and I think that is key for saying goodbye: don't dwell that it's over, relish in the time you had.  Time is one of the most valuable things we have, and why waste the time we have being sad?  Appreciate the time you have and the time you spent.

Have a Happy Week everyone!

Linking up with Bianca!

"Miss! You're Back!!"

That was what greeted me when I went back to work on Tuesday, and I must say, it warmed my heart and tickled me pink.  It's always nice when your students miss you!  They asked all about my Wedding/Alabama adventure and I told them all about it; including photos.  They thought it looked like a fun weekend and it was!  They then asked me what I was up to this weekend (their guesses were: practicing my ninja skills, traveling, walking my dog, and jumping out of an airplane...apparently I am really cool in their eyes), and in all actuality, it's not going to be anything as exciting (except the dog walk part, that's a must!).  Phil is leaving for Oklahoma for Captains Course on Monday and will be gone for 6 months, so we are packing him up (booooo).  And do you know what they responded?? They were bummed that they wouldn't be able to meet Phil this year after all...how were they going to meet him?  Was I supposed to bring him in for show and tell?  Not too sure on that part...

It has been a super fast week!  When I wasn't recapping my Wedding Weekend, nagging the students to get their missing work in because the quarter was ending (bring on 4th Quarter!), or seeing if they had any cool suggestions of what I should eat for dinner (sometimes thats a difficult decision), I was hanging with Max and Phil.  We have been blessed again with decent weather this week, so we were able to enjoy walks outside where we sniffed and peed on all of the weeds and caught lots of Pokemon (nerd alert!)

Max likes to survey the water....but he doesn't go in it because he's a huge chicken, but he makes sure it's still there and doing it's thing.

And Phil decided to get even with me and all of my insisted selfies and take a photo of Max and I

I should show this picture to my students....but then I would crush my coolness (if that actually exists)...this was also taken sometime between 8:30-9:30pm...the wild life of a high school teacher and her vicious sidekick.

I would like to give a quick shoutout to my friend Angi who redesigned my blog and made it look pretty!  Her computer/design skills are amazing and mysterious.  You are awesome!

Happy Friday everyone!