The Week's List

Moments I enjoyed this week:

• Playing Twister with over 20 people
• Eating the dinner my fiance cooked for me
• Running outside
• Looking at the freshly fallen snow
• Seeing a full moon
• Eating Cadbury Mini Eggs
• Going to the Flash game with my dad and brother
• Having the day off on Friday
• Seeing Ally and Amy at the gym
• Watching Planet Earth
• Writing in my journal

P.S. (Isn't that photo GORGEOUS?! Photo courtesy of Rachel Ruekert)

I'm a Believer

I believe that one day I won't have to scrape ice off my windshield

The bottom of my pants will remain dry after being outside

One blanket instead of three will suffice at night

My gloves will not longer be in my purse

I believe in spring!

Julie Said It Best

When work is a nightmare,

or I have 100 things to do all at the same time,

or it's snowy and gross outside (like it is right now)...

I look at this picture.

In the words of Julie Andrews, "And then I don't feel so bad!"

A Thing or Two to Do

As of today we have officially been engaged for one month! Let me give you an idea of our wedding planning progress thus far. First, here is what we "should have done" up to this point (courtesy of http://www.utahweddings.com/)

-Select rings and order engravings
-Set wedding date and time
-Consider hiring a wedding coordinator
-Determine budget
-Decide on formality, size, and location of the wedding
-Make arrangements for wedding ceremony
-Select and order wedding gown, veil, accessories, and bridesmaids' dresses
-Select and reserve location for reception
-Select caterer; plan menu
-Plan reception, including color scheme and music
-Arrange for any necessary equipment and decorations
-Arrange for photographer, videographer, and flowers
-Book musicians and/or entertainers
-Register for gifts
-Order invitations and thank you cards
-Draw up guest list (including addresses)
-Have mothers choose and coordinate their dresses
-Have engagement pictures taken
-Make final arrangements for reception; pay deposits and sign contract
-Order cake and candies
-Make appointment with doctor for complete physical
-Enlist people to help at the reception
-Make arrangements for transportation
-Plan how to handle traffic and parking at reception
-Plan honeymoon; make travel arrangements
-Address invitations and announcements (these are different???)
-Plan accommodations for out-of-town guests
-Arrange for time off from work
-Begin apartment or house hunting

Now, here's what we have done:
-Set wedding date
-Arranged for ceremony
-Planned honeymoon
-Found photographer
-Registered for gifts
-Determined budget
-Started apartment hunting

Yep, that's about it. We haven't even decided if we're going to do a reception or not, for Pete sake! (Although we have a location should we choose to have one). See, I told you I'm the lamest bride to be ever. Truth be told all I care about is having the ceremony, pictures, a honeymoon, and ok- I'll be honest- some gifts. So at least I've got the stuff I care about covered, right... RIGHT???

Poor Reception

This afternoon a friend and I went to look at a couple reception sites. Both were garden wedding venues. Stone walk ways, colorful flowers, and luscious greenery adorned both sites. Both were absolutely lovely. So then why, oh why does planning my reception seem about as fun as figuring out my taxes?

While most brides-to-be would be picturing her majestic cake under the exquisite ivy archway, I was picturing my adorable four year old cousin picking the bright pink and orange flowers to, "make her own bouquet." I'm hearing the deafening crash of that beautiful garden statue as the little boys accidentally knock it over playing freeze tag. Don't get me wrong, I cannot even imagine having a reception without kids. I would even trade out some of the adults I want to invite before I'd eliminate the kids. I've just attended too many family reunions with 40+ kids to be naive about what happens when parents are chatting and breakables are around.

Then there were the things not included. Neither included a caterer, meaning coordinating the food is up to me. Pass the aspirin right now, please. And the one that didn't include linens- well, I almost eliminated it on the spot.

However, I've come to a realization. No one is going to remember 90% of the details of my reception. What they'll remember is some sort of signature feature. You know- a photo booth, a particularly entertaining DJ, an out-of-this-world cake... something like that. So what I need is a signature feature! Any ideas??? Seeing as how I'm the lamest bride-to-be ever, I'm very much open to suggestions.

P.S. Yes, I know- I shouldn't get bogged down in the frivolity of it all. It's about the people at the reception who are there to celebrate the happiest day of my life with me; the people who helped me get to this point in my life. Believe me, that is the ONLY reason I am doing a reception in the first place!

Can You Keep a Secret?

I am perhaps the LAMEST bride-to-be EVER. No, really. I never ran around with a pillowcase on my head in a veil-like fashion as a little girl. I never day dreamed about arriving to my reception in a horse drawn carriage with people wiping a joyful tear as we, the perfect couple, arrive. Even in recent years as countless friends have been bit by the marriage bug, and I listened as they told me (sometimes in more detail than I cared to hear... I was just politely asking) their wedding plans, I'd apply what they said to my own future wedding to about the same degree I'd apply organic chemistry to my own life.

So now I'm lost- drowning in a world of linens, color swatches, and cake fondant. However, I'm engaged to the most incredible man ever, so I'm happy... so very happy.

P.S. I plan on updating this blog as I fumble my way through this whole engagement thing... so stick around! It's going to be a bumpy ride!

I Heard the Bells of Christmas Break

I survived my first semester teaching language arts and art. Wahoo. Hip-hip hooray. Congratulations to me. Sort of.
At our school, teachers are required to shred any work with the students' names on it. Client confidentiality, security purposes, etc. etc. Throughout the semester I kept students' past work in a nice, unorganized heap on my desk. I was too afraid to shred any of it before this week. In my mind's eye I could just see it- I shred the student's work only to discover the next day that the school's computer based grade system crashed, all my grades lost somewhere in the graveyard of cyberwork past. Yet I'm far too unorganized to actually develop a filing system. So there the work sat in a completely chaotic, haphazard pile for months.
The end of the semester at long last has come, so I trotted on over to the teacher workroom, smiling all the while because I can count on one hand the days until I get a blessed week long break. I plopped down on a chair next to the shredder and got going. Before I gave the students' assignments the final kiss of death, I looked over it, wanting to reminisce on the things I so wonderfully taught. BIG mistake.
I could feel my peppy smile drooping, being replaced by a pained expression as I looked over what I so "wonderfully taught." First is was the grammar test I gave. We spent three weeks, THREE WEEKS going over parts of a sentence (complete subject, complete predicate, direct objects, etc.). I wrote examples on the board. We did practice sentences. I had them make falsh cards with their own made-up sentence on one side with the particular part we were studying that day underlined and a picture of the sentence on the other side. Audio learning- check. Visual learning- check. I was particularly jazzed about the card idea because the students could use their cards as study aides before the test- creating their own studyguide in essence. Brilliant... in theory. The day of the test came. I was more nervous than I'm sure any of the students were. They turned them in. I graded them. 4 got A's the rest failed. I don't mean Bs, Cs, or even Ds. I mean FAILED.
Then there was the compare/contrast essay. We did a two week unit on the short story, The Most Dangerous Game complete with inclass discussions and multiple activities to enhance story comprehension. As a culminating assignment, the students were to write an essay comparing and contrasting two particular characters. To make sure everyone understood what it meant to compare and contrast, I explained the concept in detail, had them practice comparing and contrasting familiar items then discussed them as a class, and had them write a practice essay. Students all set to go, right? The due day came (I use due date in the loosest sense of the term. All it really means is that it's the ball park figure for when I'll be expecting-well, hoping- for their work in the somewhat near future). I skimmed through a couple, cringed, and put them to the side to grade a few days later when I have the heart to bare it. Many were merely plot summaries- not a sentence of comparing/contrasting information to be found. Those that did manage to compare and contrast made exactly one point: "Both characters were hunters. One hunted humans. The other did not. The end." My personal favorite was the one I got that compared and contrasted U.S. and World History. Yep, I, a language arts teacher, assigned a comparing/contrasting essay on a The Most Dangerous Game; I got an essay examining U.S. and World History. The kicker- that essay got the highest grade.
Finally, there was the short story project. Some of the students were really excited about the idea of writing their own short story- a rare phenomenon and a promising sign, I thought. I wanted this final assignment to be something each student could turn in with a proud, shining smile, patting themselves on the back. So I went to work to try and help them create their sure-to-be-amazing stories. Thank the stars for Google! I found some excellent ideas, especially for developing character. The day arrived to turn their stories in. Surprisingly, the stories (for the most part) actually came. So come to find out, rather than spending time talking about how things like catch-phrases, family dynamics, and dress style all implicately give character detail, I should have been teaching them what a story IS. That is to say, I should have explained that in order to be a story, something must HAPPEN; that it was not just about describing a person. Silly me.

So in despair I bowed my head
There is no peace at work, I said
For the assignments are wrong
and mock the song
Of peace in class
Good grades this term.