An ESL Christmas :)

I am incredibly thankful that my students are ALL awesome this year. I don't have one "Bad one" in the bunch. This is my best year ever as far as cooperative, lovable kids. We are a great team of 17!
This year was the first year that I decided to have a Christmas party for the kids after school. We planned it for Monday, to make Monday a bit more bearable. Plus, we have no school Friday! So it is a nice short week.
I was so grateful to have BOTH of my sisters there to help me with the craft stations and my mom came to help out, too. So much easier than trying to monitor 15 teenagers at a party alone.
We had 6 pizzas, soda, decorate-your-own cupcakes, clementines, and then a bunch of ornaments and crafts the kids could make to take home as gifts for their parents. We helped them wrap them up and they were so happy to be able to give their parents and siblings something little for Christmas. Here are a few pictures from the afternoon:


Samuel eating pizza! Kayla & Nini painting ornaments



Tha Dah Ler & Fairy making snowball ornaments.




An awesome group of young girls.

Superior Weekend

Last weekend was AWESOME!!!!!!!

Well, most of it. The only downer was that I had to work tirelessly on my paper to finish it up and got very sleep.
But, finishing the paper was one of the reasons why this weekend was awesome!
It came to 38 pages. Plus 52 pages of appendices and references. Total: 90 pages! Death paper. I was in tears over it all weekend. Like seriously crying at times.
Corey was also paper writing until 3:30 AM both nights. So we didn't get to see each other much. I can't wait until Christmas break where we can do things that are not academic.
So here is my list breakdown of why last weekend was awesome:

1. Paper done. Now 50% finished with my Master's classes! 20 credits down, 20 to go!

2. Body massage. I had scheduled this thinking my paper would be finished but it wasn't so I was kicking myself for going. But, it was wonderful. She was able to put my left shoulder back in place! No more pain! And I got a lemon oil foot treatment.

3. The family Christmas tree was chopped down from the farm. :) And I got to go along with the family to help pick it out.


4. My sister graduated magna cum laude from Millersville Sunday.

5. Despite missing the Eagles game, they won and it was so amazing that in the restaurant parking lot after graduation I screamed and jumped up and down and people were staring. I also cried. 4 touchdowns in 8 minutes. Jackson is my hero.

6. I had a wonderful dinner with my parents, sisters, grandparents, and Aunt Nance to celebrate Julie's graduation. I had delicious pork barbecue and fries and cinnamon baked apples and corn bread. So yummy!



7. Sunday night I played Santa Clause and went over to two of my students delivered presents to them. They are going through some terrible times. The 4 children were smiling so big and it was beautiful.

Fashion Help

I love getting new clothes. And I love constantly changing my style. I think my style lately has been a mix of Far East- Asian style and Western. Weird. It used to be way more Bohemian. I always hated colored jeans. YUCK. Well last night I got my first pair of black jeans. They were only 25.00- my rule is never pay more than 45.00 for jeans. I really like them. They do not look punk or rock or whatever and I will be able to wear them to work I think because they are almost dressy-ish. So my problem- as with everything I want to wear- is that I don't know what to wear with them.

I know what pieces of clothing and accessories I like but cannot put anything- shoes, tops, bottoms, etc. together. So I need a personal outfit coordinator for me. Someone to tell me what to wear.

So what do you wear with black jeans? Ideas?

Fair Warning...

This is your fair warning that at any moment I could have a nervous breakdown caused by extreme stress.

Life is SO busy this time of year. And during this time of year who has time to sit down and write a 30 page research paper that is worth 80% of a course grade.
NOT I!

:(

NYC

After seeing my beau only once in a 6 week time span, we decided to take a nice day trip and get away. We were planning on Cape Cod (would have been the whole weekend) but that fell through because he had a job interview so it would have been too late to leave, etc. So we picked NYC.
It turns out that you pay a lot to get there (if you don't drive) and then you just walk around. There is so much to "do" that there is nothing to do...I know that sounds like it doesn't make sense but it does. You don't have time to do everything so you end up just walking around and seeing things. But, it's fun all the same.
Our weather was AMAZING for a mid-November day. It was so warm that I was too hot in my coat and had to carry it all day. And it was warm enough that we could eat dinner outside!! With no coat on at 7:30 PM!

Our agenda/highlights:
-We started at Fordham because Corey wanted to visit his alma mater. We walked around the beautiful campus and then ate lunch in the caf. It was cool being a college kid for the day. Being Saturday around noon, they were still serving hot breakfast and everyone walks in in their sweats hungover and looking like freaks from the night before. It was supposed to be 11.00 per person if you were not a student, but Corey asked about an alumni deal and the lady let us in for 5.00 a piece. NICE! So we had an endless buffet for 5 bucks. They have pretty good food. Their oatmeal cookies are to die for. I used to have Corey bring them home for me on breaks when he was there. This time, since you can't carry food out, he got me a "to-go" cup of coffee, but the coffee cup was filled with cookies. ;) It was sweet.


-Then we went to Columbus Circle and looked at all of the stores that we can't afford to shop in. I tried on 100.00 leather gloves and we pretended to be rich as we shopped with people that brought their dressed-up puppies with them. Weird. Corey took me to Williams Sonoma, but wouldn't let me make a wedding registry. Whatever. I say "it's never too early to plan ahead." Apparently, it is.

-Then we sat outside of Central Park and met up with my cousin, Jim, who is awesome, BTW. :)
With Jim, we walked thru Times Square, saw Rock. Center and the tree (not lit up yet), and the ice skaters. It was nice that we got the cool "Christmas-y" feel but it was like 65 degrees!
Then we saw a wedding at St. Patrick's Cathedral.


-We went to Jim's place and saw the Statue of Liberty.

- I saw a movie being filmed. Very neat.

-Then we went back to Times Square and Corey and I ate dinner at Junior's Cheesecake Place, which I had been wanting to try. Super healthy meal. 10 oz. cheeseburgers, fries, 2 onion rings that were like donuts, and a ridiculously amazing piece of strawberry shortcake cheesecake. All for less than 40 bucks!!!! In Times Square! We definitely did New York on a budget! Getting there was the most expensive part. Then we went into Toys R Us so I could check on dad's store. It looked busy! :) That's good!


It was a great day and it was so nice to see Corey for a whole day.

Faith in Humanity

There are still nice people in the world! People that will take time out of their day to help a random person...ahh, how refreshing. Also a good reminder of how important it is that you try to do at least one nice random act of kindness each day.

I was running late for work today- but at least I looked good ;-)- and was running out the door with my baggy of banana bread and my cold Starbucks mocha drink to indulge in at work, so my hands were full. I get down to my car and notice it is covered in stupid ice. Grrrr. So I start scraping the ice furiously so I can get on the road and this man that works at the law office next to my building gets out of his car and (in his suit) offers to use his icescraper to help me get the job done faster. How sweet is that!?!?! So he scraped the back and I did the front and he did the left side and I did the right and then we both went to work. :)

This made me happy. Help someone out today!! It feels good!

Connected Again

I haven't had the Internet at my apartment since April. It's a long story but anyway- not having the internet means having to pay my online bills at work, wait to go to my parents house on the weekend to post pictures, and let's say it makes it hard to do your school work and research. So I am back now! It feels so good!!
I had my iPhone so that I could keep up with e-mail and FB but now everything will be easier. That tiny phone screen gets old.

So first- a Seoul update:
I put my pictures (most of them) up on Facebook.
Here are some of the things I did/saw:

-When I first got to Korea I hated it. HATED it. Partially because I was on a cramped plane ride for 18 hours next to some girl who was sobbing because she was leaving home for the military for a year, I bought a ridiculously expensive egg sandwich (which was so small) and then dropped it on the plane floor; I stepped on my glasses because I fell asleep and they came off; I got on the wrong bus at the airport to go to my house for the week; I couldn't find the guy I was supposed to meet up with....yeah, everything sucked. On Monday I just got on the metro alone and wandered the streets lost and scared. BUT THEN...

- I met amazing people. The people on this trip were so fun to be around. And once the conference started I was surrounded by people that do what I do- teach ESL or EFL. That was SO nice, since where I work I am the ONLY one and I am isolated like a little island. :(
Monday night I ended up meeting up with a girl from PA over there- Sara- and this guy from Alabama who is living in Tokyo teaching English-Josh. We met up at this HUGE mall and then went exploring together. Josh had lived in Seoul for a year, so he knew where to go and a bit of the language. So I spent the first couple days touring with them.

-I toured palaces, secret gardens, temples, went up in the tower and saw the changing of the guards. I went shopping and tried new foods. The food was not my favorite and it made it difficult that I am allergic to shellfish since they put that in everything. But the good thing was that Josh was craving American cuisine since in Tokyo it is too expensive, so we got to eat Western food a few times. And once we ate Mexican! :) Yum!

-Once Thursday rolled around and I knew I had to get up early for "school" I was bummed. BUT it turned out that "school" was awesome. Apparently people came from all over to hear my professors speak. They are the top in the field and I was so happy to be able to meet them. The first 2 days of the conference it was only my University classmates, then they opened it up to the public. I met people from all over the world and the sessions were informative and interactive. NOT BORING! :) There was this panel discussion and we had to submit questions to be answered and they selected the questions for the next day and mine was one of the 5 questions they chose and there were like 60 people there! So I was so thrilled they picked my question!

-Every night after "class" we went out- there was about 40 of us? But we usually split into 2/3/ or 4 groups. We went out for dinner and drinks and had a great time. Friday night we went to this rooftop bar where they had music playing and a bonfire. We thought the place was going to burn down, but we had a great time. And a great view of the city at night!

-Saturday night we had a big farewell party at a pub and we surprised our Prof. with a birthday cake. He was the President of TESOL and awesome! He kissed me on the cheek! :) haha. Then since it was our last night, everyone went off to do something and I headed off with a group of 6 to go to a dance club. Best. time. ever. Seriously, I felt so far removed from my work life and I could just relax and have fun and dance!!! Since there were 6 of us, 3 guys/3 girls, we all had a dance partner. We stayed out til about 3 and then I took a cab home. I got in at about 4 AM and then had to pack for the airport and be up at 6 for class. HAH. What a joke. No amount of coffee could have helped.

-Despite being sleep deprived, the trip was worth it. Getting back was rough- flights delayed and got in at about 3 AM and was at work by 7. Also a joke- I was a zombie all week.

I felt so independent on this trip. I had to navigate subways and walked all around this huge city every night (after I left my friends) alone so I felt free and adventurous. I cried on the plane coming home. I didn't want to leave my friends. Since we are all spread out, I don't know if I will ever see them again. :(

There is something incredibly freeing and eye-opening when you experience a trip alone like this. I was able to think about so much and really have a time of self-discovery, as cheesy as that sounds.
So here are some of my favorite pictures from the trip:
Sorry that I don't know how to format the pictures so they look nice on a blog. These are some of my favorites, but you can check out facebook for more!

Also, I hope everyone went out to vote today! I made sure I voted to cancel out my boyfriend's vote. ;) Haha.

Hope to be blogging more now that I have all-access to the web!

Seoul

I have been absent from the blog world. I apologize. I am planning on doing a catch up post soon. But I am just popping in to say that my week/8 days in Seoul, Korea, was most likely the best week of my entire life up to this point. I felt amazing and enjoyed it to the fullest. I will update with pictures this weekend. :)
Let's just say...it is rough to be back. Responsibility- what's that?

What's New

Greetings Blog World! I realize it's been a few weeks...
Here is what's new-

Work is going pretty well. I got three new students within the first 3 weeks of school- one from Puerto Rico and two from India. That has been exciting.
School is going well- my school, not work-school. I have almost completed my fourth grad. class towards the Masters program. It has been challenging, but I am learning SO much.
Perhaps the biggest news is that in 9 days I will be departing for Seoul, South Korea. I am going to a very big conference over there that will count towards my Masters degree. Basically, I attend all these seminars with the people that "write the books" on ESL, so I am really, really excited to meet the professors. I will also meet all of my fellow classmates that I have been working with "online" since January. That will be fun, too. I am going a bit earlier than the conference dates, because my work is off on Columbus day so I figured I might as well get there and do some touristy things, since it will be my 1st time to Asia! I am not staying in a hotel (too much $) so I am "couchsurfing" as it is called. The guy's couch that I will sleep on is actually from Pen Argyl/Bangor, so that is weird! He teaches English over there. A few things to pray for- safe travels (never done a 17-18 hr. plane ride before) also safety while I am there- do I have an itinerary? Nope. Just heading over by myself, walking off the plane, and trying to navigate my way thru a HUGE city until I hop on a bus to try to get to the couch I am staying on. Also pray that I do not get sick. I am so afraid of getting a cold before I go- my mom and sister are both sick. :( And I have to go to my parents this weekend to pack and do some errands. I am also worried I will get sick while there. So please keep me in your prayers! Finally, pray that I get all of my work done before leaving- I have to prepare lesson plans for the sub for a week which is so challenging in my field since it is very varied and also I have to write a paper for my grad class this week...all while packing! :)
Also, one prayer that was answered...my school is graciously giving me a few days to attend the conference, so that I don't have to use ALL of my personal days. It is also a blessing that my boss and the superintendent talked and felt that they would pay for the conference in full- not the plane ticket, etc. but still...this is a HUGE blessing. God is faithful.
So, even though I stink at photography, I will try to take lots of pictures (quality may be poor) and then post away when I get back.

Back to School!

The time is here! I have now had three full school days of the 2010-2011 school year. So far:

-My Middle School students are sooo stinkin cute! One boy comes up to like my hip- he is so tiny!
-I have a student named Honey Dew and she is a doll!!
-2 of the boys (grade 7) called me Mr. Palmer today. Totally innocent.
-I got my first paycheck since June! Woo!
-I LOVE all of my classes!! (A lot of the annoying kids moved or exited the ESL program!)
-Today was free donuts/muffins/coffee at the Middle School
-Free dress down day at the High School -you should have seen the looks I was getting from the MS teachers. They probably hate me now because they thought I was breaking the rules.
-I got back to the gym two out of three days. I haven't really worked out all summer and last night Simon, my trainer, obviously wanted to get revenge. I can barely move now, but it's all good.


I have never been so excited to go to work. I HATE waking up early (that is my only complaint!) and my sleep schedule is wayyyy off- I needed naps after school everyday. But, I really am excited for this year. I know it sounds crazy, and I am sure I will get tired of the routine in due time, but this year I just feel like I know what I am doing and I have such a desire to teach these kids! I will post class pictures soon, I hope.

AND seriously the best part about this time of year: FOOTBALL! Eagles game Sunday and I get to watch it at my parent's house with my dad! :D

Traditions

2007

2008

2009

2010

Well, I finally made it to the beach this summer...last Saturday for the day and it was glorious! I love everything about that place....the ocean, the sand, the pizza, the Johnson's popcorn, the memories of Girl's Week with my sister and cousin, learning to read for the very 1st time and buying a book a night on the boardwalk, daddy-daughter mini golf/ice cream dates, the Wonderland Pier (rides), etc. etc.

Even though Nannie and Pop-pop haven't been able to get a house there for the summer, I have been blessed enough to take a day trip down for the last 5 or so years. One day, I hope I can take my family there for summer vacations.

I forget when we started the ferris wheel boardwalk picture, but it was either 2005 or 2006. I can't find the pictures from that on this computer because it is newer, but I posted 2007, 2008, 2009, and our latest- August 21, 2010 (we went the day before our 4 year dating anniversary!) :)

If I Were a Chef...

....I wouldn't have to be thinking about my back to school lesson plans. I wouldn't have to wonder how I will decorate/clean TWO classrooms at TWO different schools in like 4 days and I wouldn't have to be taking Masters courses and doing work all of the time for them. BUT If I were a chef....then I would probably be forced to try a pickle. I would probably be very fat. I would probably work long hours and sometimes get up at like 4 AM to bake bread and bagels for the morning commuters.

All I know is that this week has been a BLAST cooking and baking up a storm for my family. I will share my menu below:

First-last week Courtney got her wisdom teeth out so I made this sorbet from scratch- strawberry mango. It was so freaking delicious (and healthy!) that everyone ate it that night. I had to make more the next night and it was all gone then, too.

Monday: Tator Tot Casserole- my family's favorite meal I think (and Corey's)
Tuesday: Apricot Glazed Shrimp Kabobs on the grill with Pineapple and Sweet Red Pepper. Side dish of Green Beans with Cashews in a teryaki sauce. Since I am allergic to shrimp, I made myself a homemade Chicken Club pizza (which my whole family tried too). Dessert: Mixed Berry Cream Tart
Wednesday: Cheesy Rigatoni Bake with Salad and Garlic Breadsticks
Thursday: Margarita marinated Chicken on the grill and mashed potatoes

I love cooking when Corey is home and this is/was his only week home all summer. He tries whatever I make and that means a lot. I used to date a boy that only ever ate chicken nuggets and pizza and Oreos in milk....basically the diet of a 5 year old destined for early onset diabetes. :( Not that my family is a bunch of health freaks, but I try and cook healthier or low fat options when possible.
One dream of mine: to have a couple sons one day that play football and I cook for the entire football team. Pasta dinners at my house, guys! :) :)

Back to reality on Monday when Corey starts law school again...part of me is happy because it is the LAST year he will have to go back to school. Then it is crunch time for me to get ready for school and keep up with my grad. class. By December something, I will be half way done with my Master's degree! (Then I will need to write my thesis).

I could do BAMA

My only vacation of the summer was going to Alabama for 4 days for a wedding that Corey was in. I always thought AL was kind of backwards (which is funny since I live in the sticks, too) and last time I went (about 4 yrs ago) it was fun but definitely deep south-ish. This time we went to Huntsville, which is really very nice. They have this shopping center that is amazing. These huge outdoor style shops with pretty fountains and Orange Tree (this self-serve frozen yogurt place). At Orange Tree you pick whatever kind or kinds of yogurt you want and put as much in as you want- 45 cents an ounce. Corey warned me that that could get expensive and an ounce is not very much so watch out. Then you go pick your toppings which were unreal- huge blackberries, blueberries, kiwi, Oreos, nuts, anything you want. So I stocked up on fruit like I was the Chiquita Banana and Corey put his on the scale and it came to like 4 bucks and change (not too bad) then he told me to put mine on the scale. Mine brought the total bill to 13 and change. Ooops. I felt so badly. Then I went outside where it was 110 degrees (no lie) and it melted so quickly and Corey just kept saying "Will you hurry up and eat your liquid gold?" Anyway the stores included: J.Crew, Banana, Old Navy, Apple, Anthropologie, Ann Taylor, NY & Co., Francesca's Boutique and more...I loved it! They had great eating places too- P.F. Chang's, the Melting Pot...we didn't get to go to either because my boyfriend picked a gross Chinese buffet downtown that was yucky so he could get all you could eat Crab legs.

I found the houses to be huge and beautiful and way cheaper than up North and the churches were very nice, too. I liked the way that the Southern ladies all wore their hair perfect and lots of pretty jewelry and makeup (even though I am not a very big fashionista). I like their Southern drawl and the way they say "ya'll." I could definitely live down there for awhile if I had to. I even didn't mind the heat. I hate snow, so it works out. So if God decides that I should practice teaching in AL, I will go. :P Even with the mosquitos (which I did not enjoy-I counted 26 bites on my legs alone).

Also, I have not been to one single beach all summer long. This kills me inside. Maybe this Saturday!!! I hope!!

Philadelphia Visit

It's amazing how much free time I have in the summer...yet, none of it seems to be free. I mean I feel like I am filling days with busy little stuff (so far nothing too substantial) that the days are going by too quickly and before you know it, I will be setting my alarm at 6 AM Monday-Friday to go teach for 7 hours. Oi. That thought just made me a bit sick feeling. Notttt ready yet!

I am computerless for 10 days. I hate it. This is particularly rough when trying to finish up an ONLINE course and write a paper and take a final exam on the computer and make forum posts everyday and and and... I am adopting Courtney's or borrowing it now. And last weekend borrowed Corey's. It never occurred to me how used to your keyboard you become. Why are all keyboards so different? So, I had to give back my school computer. And I should quit complaining because next week I get a brand new MAC. I will even sit happily through the 4 hour "training and care" class because the computer is free. FREE!

This past weekend I went to Philadelphia. It was the first place I have gone all summer. Wow. I'm so exciting I want to pee myself.
Staying in a house with 5 guys is interesting...and terribly gross. First of all, there was no toilet seat on the toilet. I felt like I was going to the bathroom in an African watering hole. Secondly, they are having mice problems. Also, they live in the ghetto. I had to wear shoes in the shower. Another weird thing: this random chick from next door crawls through the top floor window whenever she wants because she used to date one of Corey's roomies. Now she just sleeps with him on occassion and I think she was in the house more than he was and it was weird because she would just pop in, use the bathroom, walk around and then leave without saying anything. Oh and kittens live on their roof! They meowed a lot and looked starving. I felt badly for the skinny cats in the neighborhood so we tried to give them salami. Saturday was Philly Zoo day and I had so much fun! I will try to post pictures when I get my own computer. I don't think Courtney wants me to upload them all onto her computer. We were the only dorks at the zoo who went around reading the info signs on EVERY animal and looked for typos. We did find one. They spelled mammals with 3 m's. After the zoo we came back to Corey's and took a nap because we walked a million miles in 97 degrees. Who goes to the zoo in 97 degrees? We do.

Our LATE night dinner adventure was delicious but I had to walk for it. After a creepy subway ride we then had to walk a mile to get to our cheesesteak destination. Once there, we waited in line for an hour. Then I was so hungry that I ate too fast. Then I walked a mile back. Then another creepy subway ride. Then the way through Temple/ghetto to Corey's house. Best cheesesteak ever though!!!
Three hours later, we were back from dinner and watched Away We Go with John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph. Good movie. Slightly crude in parts, but funny and touching.

Tonight I went to the farmer's fair down the road. Oh brother-that could be a whole separate entry! :)

A Low Key 4th

My parents went away for 8 days, leaving me and the youngest (plus dog plus cat plus rabbit) at the homestead. I was going to go with my parents since this has been our family vacation for over 20 years, but I was politely uninvited when my sisters both declined. They probably thought that 8 days of just their 1st born would be tragic.

On Saturday (Court's birthday) we had some company from Massachusetts-my second cousin and my great uncle Donnie. We went to Cici's to unhealthily binge on pizza. At night Corey made a fire and we roasted marshmallows/made S'mores.

I really wanted to have a somewhat festive 4th of July so I made homemade "fried" chicken-which came out so juicy and delicious and my bacon ranch potato salad and some blueberry dessert with marshmallows. It was just Corey and I all day so it was kind of quiet and relaxing. We did bring his 4 year old niece over to swim in the afternoon. Then in the afternoon we watched an Indy Car race, because what is 4th of July without that!?! (HA!) At night we took a walk around the neighborhood with Murphy trying desperately to see the pathetic little fireworks through the pine trees that were being set off by random people. Apparently Nazareth's fireworks are at the end of July. This makes no sense to me.

I loved having a long weekend with Corey! On Monday we were big dorks and went to see Toy Story in 3d. Corey insisted on wearing his 3d glasses for more than just the movie. It was a cute movie. I think you should go see it. :) But it is weird being in that theater. I don't go there much but when I do I am reminded of how we had our first kiss there 10 years ago while watching "Summer Catch" with Freddie Prince Jr, which was after our first date there to see "Big Momma's House." 10 YEARS ago. I feel like I am getting so old. And time is moving too fast.

Here are some pictures of our 4th of July Weekend-and sorry I have no idea how to format them:
Regretfully, I do not have a picture of my boyfriend in his stylish 3d glasses.

Lazy

Is it seriously July 2nd already?!? 2010 is half over! Why does time feel like it speeds up the older you get? I need to go to bed now, but I was just reminding my blog that I haven't forgotten about it (completely). Will post an update of my thrilling adventures or lack thereof soon...

Blog Clog

Sorry for the lack of blog posts lately. This mostly has to do with the fact that I don't have internet at my house anymore. So my available times to blog (until I go to my parents for the summer) are very limited.
We won't get into why I don't have internet anymore, but it is frustrating.

So what's been new with me?
-Well, I passed my last grad class with an "A."
-I have started a new grad class that seems like it is going to be ridiculously time consuming. It will go until August 1. :(
-I am ready to lose my mind at work. The students are "done" learning, which makes it difficult to do anything. I have to CREATE 4 finals still, and the task seems daunting.
-I am trying to coordinate our international fair, which is going to be held this Saturday. The ESL students from all 6 schools in the district + their families are attending this event. I am on my own for planning and executing, except for 1 elementary teacher who is helping me. My dad can't help because he will be in Canada. My mom (who was supposed to be in charge of the food-she volunteered herself in January) is taking Courtney (who was supposed to do an African display at the fair) to North Carolina for a sorority conference for the weekend. So everyone bailed on me. AND to make matters worse, my aunts/cousins/sister are going to OCNJ for the weekend and now I can't go because of this fair. That leaves my loving and caring boyfriend to help me set up, cook, decorate, haul crap, and entertain over 80 kids/people! :) God bless Corey.
-I went to Florida for my 2nd cousin's wedding. She looked beautiful! Congrats to Jaimie and Nick!! I had a blast and even though the visit was super short, I got a bit of a tan. And I got sunburn in only one place! My butt. Ouch.
-My 2nd cousin (Jaimie's brother) and his wife had a baby yesterday! Welcome to the world Tristin Blake! I can't wait to meet him, but he lives in Tennessee, so I think I will have to wait awhile.
-June 18= Freedom! The kids finish the 16th and I am finished the 18th! I can't wait for summer. This summer seems to be shaping up to be uneventful, just like last summer. But, at this point, uneventful sounds fine. I just want to sleep and soak up sunshine. And, bummer to Corey living in Philadelphia all summer. :( But good for him for getting some paychecks at an internship.

I think that is the latest run-down on my life!

Cinco de Mayo Loco

I wish I got credit for blogging here instead of on my grad school discussion forum because I am rocking my blogging frequency here...and not so much for my school DF. :(

Now..on to what this post is dedicated to: Cinco de mayo (or Cinco de mayonnaise because that is what I always think of when I read this word). I have a few Mexican students and so we had a fiesta. The problem was that I have them from 8-9 AM, so it was more like breakfast time. Here is the good thing: 7th and 8th graders don't care and will eat and/or drink whatever in the morning. We had a complete fiesta that was so much fun! I was really getting into it. Not as much as Daniel though- the Russian boy who took his shirt off (when I went to get paper towels) and was shimmying with a sombrero on to some Mexican song playing on my CD player. We had music, dancing, streamers from the ceiling, refried beans made by a Mexican grandma, fresh guacamole that one of my 12 year olds made this morning in front of us, Russian chocolate wafers, Buffalo Ranch Doritos, European Aloe Vera juice, and....of all beverages to serve at 8 AM to teenagers: one girl brought in Moutain Dew Volt or Voltage or something. Side note-can you tell from that list that most of my students don't shop at Giant? It is usually from some ethnic market so we get a nice mix of food. I brought in Hot Tamales-those spicy candy things like Mike and Ikes. I thought I had cups, but only had those little bathroom ones..so..I had to pour drinks like every 10 seconds. You can fit like 1 oz. in those cups because of the soda fizz. Mt. Dew was everywhere and I am pretty sure the janitors will hate my classroom now. They were toasting to "ESL class forever." I love them. Although when we were toasting with those little tiny cups, I am pretty sure it looked as though I was handing out shots of Tequila or something. I promise, I wasn't. Here is one pic I snapped with my phone this morning. This is one of my 7th grade girls from Taxco, Mexico. :)

We had a lot of fun and then at 9:30 I had to rush them off to hear a Holocaust survivor speak, which was very sad. Talk about a change of events!

Favs

Currently, I am hooked on 2 things:

1. Starbucks Dark Cherry Mochas. I have a problem when I have too much caffeine. It interferes with medicine I take and I shake and get obnoxious. I remember when I had my first coffee freshmen year in college during fall finals. I was up all night in the library and I was so jittery that my writing looked like a 3 year olds and I was on the verge of having a panic attack. So I haven't had much coffee in my life. BUT, I had a dark cherry mocha the other day because I didn't think I could make it through work without falling asleep. WOW! My students thought I was insane. They loved my energy. And..it put me in a really good mood. Plus, it tasted fabulous. Sweet, but good.

2. Train. I got their new CD from my parents for Easter. I could listen to it over and over again and never get sick of it. Totally recommend the entire CD. I love the songs: Save Me, San Francisco, I Got You, Soul Sister, and Marry Me. They are playing with John Mayer in Hershey July 25 I think. I REEEALLLLY want to go, but I have no one to go with and the tickets are kind of expensive.

Superlatives are Sexy!

I was just grading some papers from the High School. Let me give you a background of the assignments...Lesson: Comparative and Superlative Adjectives. On an index card walk around the room and write 7 sentences comparing you and your classmates in this ESL class now. Sample sentences given: Sam is tall but Roman is taller. Sebastian is the tallest in the class.

Ok-so I am reading the cards this morning and this is what I find on one of my sophomore boy's:

#5. Dah Ler (girl in the class) is sexy but Miss Plamer is sexyest in the room.

Note: incorrect spelling of my NAME! and sexyest. Ugh. High school boys!!! Totally were not supposed to use the teacher in your examples. And stop sitting in the front row staring at me. Thanks, creeper kid.

And then, while grading the advanced classes essays about a book and character collage they had to do...
One of my junior boys, when asked why he put that specific item on his collage, in his WRITTEN essay, he writes: "I chose this picture because it was my favorite part in the book. The girl had big boobies and I love boobies."
That was his concluding sentence and then he turned it in for his final project grade. What are these kids thinking? Nevermind. I don't think I want to know.

Good News!

Grad school has been kicking my butt as of late. Mostly because I find it hard to strike a balance between doing work for work and doing work for school. Whenever I work on one of those two for an extended period of time, I feel guilty like I should be doing the other one.

I have had the same Prof. 2 classes in a row now. I thought the guy hated me. He is seriously one of the most intelligent people I have ever conversed with, but he is so blunt it borderlines being rude. Let me give you an example of one of his messages to my (small) class of like 15 people:
Please do not email me with questions or problems. I get too many emails in one day and don't have time for yours. Send your queries to Stephen and he will contact me. Only do this on Thursday evening and I will get back to you at my leisure.


I turned in my paper the other day which had basically been consuming my life the last 2 weeks. And...I shall brag a bit because [it's my blog] I worked hard!!!! I got an "A." Considering the last course he refused to give me an "A", I think this is a great accomplishment. I really want to tell people, but no one really cares about my paper about Options in Grammar Teaching. :( The stupid paper is worth 50% of my entire grade. So this is good news for me. Now if I can only survive until the end of May................

New Life

I can't get the formatting to work right whenever I put more than 1 picture in my blog. But, these are two pics of the newest member of the family...Samantha Rae McCracken. She was born this morning at 1:12 and weighed 6 lb. 4 oz. and she was 19 inches long. She is definitely a cutie. The entire time I was there she maybe cried once and it was this soft cry that was almost soothing in a way. She was very content and slept a lot...most of the 4 hours that I was there. Watching Ryan with her was just precious. He will be such a great dad!!

It is so strange to think that my cousins are now having kids!!! Like a whole new generation. I am starting to feel old. But, it is kind of good I guess. I think you appreciate God's blessings more. It just amazes me to look at something SO tiny and intricate and think that some people don't believe in a Creator. The whole miracle of God creating every limb, cell, tiny feature...is precious and I think that God's love is seen so clearly in the eyes of a newborn!

I love spending time with my family. I can't wait to watch Sammy grow up. Good job and congratulations, Abbey and Ryan!

Mr. Roger's Neighborhood

I was really excited because I was getting a new neighbor-and by neighbor I mean we share the same house (split in two) and walk up the same stairs and have the same porch, so it kind of matters how I like/dislike the neighbor. My old neighbor was apparently there for 4 or 5 years. He was very nice-30 years old, polite enough-but not very social and it was just kind of a bummer. Because I have no friends in this town, that's why. My old neighbor was the brewmaster for the entire PA Rennaissance Faire and well..yeah.

Ok, now that I brought you up to speed, my new neighbor arrived this past weekend. It is now mid-week, and I just met him now walking in from work.

Now think about a balloon when it is filled with air. That is how I felt because I was praying that my new neighbor would want to hang out sometimes, maybe watch sports together or talk on the porch or even jog around downtown with me. What happens to a balloon when you let the air out? I am that balloon. All hopes abandoned.

I waited for the guy to walk up the sidewalk and I shook his hand which was awkward enough. Then the guy didn't even say anything so I said, "Hi. I'm your neighbor, Bethany." And he said, "Ok." AWKWARD MOMENT! Then I asked him where he was from-he said this town, surprise. Then I asked what he did and in a barely audible voice he said he worked at a nursing home kitchen. Ok. I apologized for not meeting him before and he said his friend met me the other night while his friend was out having a smoke. FALSE. I didn't meet his friend. Then before we were even done the "conversation" he walks up the steps. I am pretty sure this kid has ZERO personality. Other notes about him-he drives a very old Buick. I think he is 23 years old (I think my landlord told me that). He carries large black garbage bags to and from the trunk of his car. I have seen him do this 3 out of the 4 days he has been here. I am hoping one day my body won't be in one of them. I mean, I am willing to give the guy a chance, and by that I mean not judge him completely and still say hello if I ever see him. BUT, I don't see us EVER hanging out. The dude is so socially inept. And I am used to Corey who is kind of socially inept as well. This is a whole different ballgame. My words do not describe the weirdness that just went down.

I wish I lived in Mr. Roger's neighborhood. They were all so social and friendly and very, very helpful. Remember that little trolly they had? I want that too so I would have transportation.

Emeril's Delight

A few weeks ago, Corey and I both went "home" and enjoyed a rainy weekend with my parents. We all went to the new SANDS casino in Bethlehem (for dinner, not the slots) because I had been dying to try Emeril's new restaurant. He doesn't have any other "Burgers And More" restaurants in the country, so it was very new and exciting. Burgers and More is supposed to be called BAM! for short, since that is what Emeril always says. In case you can't tell yet, I'm a huge fan! Pork fat rules! Ok...so my restaurant critique is as follows:

1. Only waited about 10 minutes on a Saturday night to be seated. +
2. Create your own burger-write on a paper what you want and hand your paper to the waiter. +
3. Quality of the burger- AMAZING! Big and juicy! +
4. Sides- we all got something different. I got the classic fries-they were good, but small. +/-
5. Dessert- THE BEST PART. Corey and I split a Bananas Foster Milkshake. I never tasted anything so good.

I wish that I could be a food critic. There isn't anything better than a quality burger, fries, and a shake! YUM! I really recommend going to the SANDS for BAM!

Make A Baby!

Facebook ads keep getting creepier, folks! Why is it that EVERYDAY when I log into facebook I have the same ad for the newest weird craze listed as number one? The ads are supposed to randomly change but I always get MAKE A BABY!
Despite being totally creeped out, I clicked on the link to see what it entails. You have to PAY 10-20.00 $ and upload a pic of you and your mate and see what your child will look like. Tell me this: are people that impatient/curious/vain to pay that money to see a computer generated picture of their future offspring? Would they even generate an ugly baby picture? Maybe they would - to deter people from reproducing. Maybe it is some group's scam and their aim is to not overpopulate the earth. Also, you can cross your pic with Brad Pitt's or Chris Brown's to see what your babe would look like if you did it with a celeb. There are so many questions that I have about this site/idea. This is probably what my baby would look like if I mated with Ronald McDonald:

To Think I Limited Him to Fishsticks!

The other week Corey came to visit me over his spring break-which really didn't turn out to be too exciting because I was working and he had work to do. He came up Wed. and we left Fri.
On Wed. I took care of making him a nice dinner, mainly because food is truly the way to Corey's heart. But, also, because it is SO nice to cook something for someone and not heat up a frozen microwaveable dinner, which have become the grim standard.
Then, on Thursday, I had a conference outside of school all day, so I was getting home late and then I had fitness class at 6:45, so I asked Corey to take care of getting dinner. My first thoughts: a ready cooked chicken, frozen pizza, ready cooked fried chicken, spaghetti. I told him I had to eat early so I wouldn't puke at the gym. He didn't have anything ready. Alas, he went to the STORE at 6, which I was OK with, and just grabbed a bar before the gym.
Here comes the cute part of the story. It took him forever to shop. I came home at 8:15, and the ENTIRE table was covered with an amazing spread of food he had cooked-amazing, since I thought he couldn't do it. AND the majority of the dishes were done, dried, and PUT AWAY!

The meal: Chicken Francaise (even garnished!!!), Rice, Garlic Caesar Salad, Biscuits-in a Tupperware bowl lined with a napkin-very cute, and Cranberry sauce. Not only did it look good, it was absolutely delicious!!! I wanted to blog about this because 1. I want to remember this. 2. Corey doesn't usually do this "romantic" stuff, so it is very sweet. 3. I hadn't blogged for many weeks. Sorry!

My First Utterly Embarassing Teaching Moment

I flashed my students. This sounds awful...and was definitely unintentional. Yet, it happened.

I will try to explain it but it happened so quickly. I was bent over leaning forward reaching under my desk to get some treats for my students. I wore a knee length big poofy skirt today. My skirt got caught in my ID lanyard around my neck and I didn't notice it when I whipped myself up holding the treats. I didn't even feel it. The skirt was so far up it was up around my chest. The ONLY way I knew was because in one instant my students' jaws all dropped open and they gasped. One girl pointed- and yelled: Miss! Your dress is up!
I just about died. I had to compose myself and still manage to teach through that class and the next one which had 3 of the same students in it. Of course, they told everyone else. I am pretty sure they saw from my belly button down.

I don't recommend doing this, no matter how well you want your students to get to know you. I think I took it too far.

This is also why I am going to bed at 9 Pm instead of my usual 11 PM...just one of those days.

You are not a supermodel.

I have been enjoying looking at the Facebook profile pictures during this celebrity doppleganger week. Apparently, doppleganger is a German word mean "look alike" or "double." I thought you were supposed to post a picture of a celeb that you look like. Well, I know that celebs wear way more makeup and glamorous clothing, but even without the makeup- you do not look like ___________. Now, in some cases, I have found the pictures look very close to the actualy person. For instance, my college roommate Mary posted her pic of Rory from Gilmore Girls. I totally thought it was her. What gets me is when people post pictures of Jennifer Aniston. No, you do not look like her.
I found a site that lets you upload a pic of yourself and it actually traces who you look like. I got a pretty funny list. But- the picture I used was old and I had no glasses on and my hair down, and I must say it was kind of accurate as compared to the pic of the celeb they gave me. But then I googled the lady and she was a supermodel and in all her pics she has long brown hair and is half nekked. Um, no- I am not posting her pic as MY profile pic on FACEBOOK!

OK- so this is why I am truly annoyed...let's say an ex is dating a girl and she puts up her pic as a Jennifer Aniston. No you do not look like her. Have some humility.

I would like to thank Punxsy Phil groundhog for making me cold for the next six weeks.

What I Have Learned from 7th Graders

It is amazing how much info I learn from these 12 year olds. I find myself constantly trying to remember back to when I was in 7th grade and comparing the "cool" things. Here are some of the few things I have "overheard," seen, and learned recently from these little darlings. I have translated it from their lingo and compiled it into a list for your pleasure.

1. It is so cool to kiss a girl behind a shed.
2. The Twilight series is the best series of all time. If you don't read it, you will die.
3. As a follow-up to #2, you have to apparently pick a team. Half the girls in my class are Team Edward. The other half are Team..uh, Jacob is it?
4. If someone calls your cool 8th grade gf "ugly," you should beat the crap out of them. True story. Cops came and all...
5. The word "duhhh" is still around.
6. You can still say, "But she (he) did it first!" to justify getting revenge on someone.
7. The lower your pants are (for guys) the more gangsta you are. And gangsta is cool. You should also have a solid handshake to greet your "dudes" with.
8. There is an AWESOME brand of makeup called E.L.F. (eyes lips face) and each piece is only a dollar. They sell it at Target, and it is the best brand you can buy. You should also bring your compact into class and apply it there.
9. Becoming a woman (if you catch my subtle hint) is something to be proud of. At least to some cultures. You should announce it and the fact that you have feminine products in your purse. Who cares if your brother is in the same class?
10. Coloring each fingernail with a different color Sharpie is the new thing.
11. Guys can now write notes to other guys. They can also draw all over their notebook hearts in different color highlighter and write "Marissa" inside each one. (This note now proudly is displayed on my desk!)
12. Jonas brothers = soooo last year!
13. You wake up in the mornin' feelin' like P.Diddy. My girls have a dance to this song. It is absolutely hilarious. If we get all of our reading done, I play the song and let them dance.
14. It is still impossible for a girl to go to the bathroom alone.

Who says teachers can't learn from their students?

Socks

I have been having an awful time with socks lately. Let me give you three scenarios:
1. I am at work sitting at my desk, cross my legs, and look down to find out that with my gray dress pants, I am wearing ONE light green and gray zebra stripe dress sock (very cute) and ONE thick white with lavender trim Adidas athletic sock. Dang it! I had showered the night before, and since I have the attention span of a flea, I must have put on one sock and started to do something else. I wonder how many co-workers/students noticed. Hmph.
2. I got to work last week and my toes started to feel very UNCOMFORTABLE in what typically is the softest sock I own. Look down to find this:

And I discovered this in period 1. I had to survive 7 class periods with this.
3. On Friday, I realized on my lunch break that I was wearing COREY'S dress socks. I kind of thought they were extra thick and extra long and extra huge when I put them on...but was exhausted Friday morning, so whatever. At least they weren't hole-y.

I have had to throw away 3 pairs of socks lately because of scenario #2. My toes are so long and they just peep on through! Why do we wear socks again?

Two Thousand Ten OR Twenty Ten?

Which is it? I like twenty ten--faster, more efficient.
I had plans to blog more over winter vacation, but I didn't. I really didn't do much over my break except get up at noon most days and not get dressed until 3 or 4.
I didn't make New Year's Resolutions either, mostly because I would have too many and only about 3% would be achieved.

Instead, I have some things I would like to predict will happen in 2010-kind of like resolutions, but a different term and mindset, if you will. No pressure, just thoughts.
1. I will complete several graduate classes towards my Masters degree in TESOL (which is Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages if you didn't catch the acronym)...hopefully this will be successful, and I will still have somewhat of a checking account after all is said and done?
2. I will try to visit another country this year. I'm thinking Asia. I need to do graduate work there anyway.
3. I will not make any resolutions about exercising. Obviously, you try and exercise. If it happens, good job and if not, you feel lethargic and that's that. You feel worse if you set yourself up for failure.
4. I will make more of an effort to work harder at my Entertaining at Home business...need to be more aggressive with setting up parties, so forth.

I have a few other blog thoughts that will need to be reserved for a new post. My lunch break is over.
Upcoming Blog: -last week's "walking disaster" episodes, including the sock story.

Happy 2010 to everyone! :) May it be a GREAT year for all of you!