You're Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone

I've been back in Indiana about 8 days.  Count 'em EIGHT days!!! I know I can't believe it either.  I'll use this post as a way of letting future rural teachers know the ups and downs of being a "world traveling" teacher.

Letting Go
When you spend 2 years of your life putting roots down it's hard when you have to make the move back home.  I didn't expect my leaving to make such a fuss, but there were several tears and not from my students but from adults and teens in my village.  My last few days were spent getting rid of junk and cleaning.  Lots of helpers walked away with free stuff because let's be frank here... I am not spending almost $20 to send home EVERYTHING in my house.  The night before I left I was invited to the dance sponsored by the village.  I have never had so much fun dancing like a fool with 3 year olds to 60 year olds.  The day I was leaving I had two little girls walk me from my house to the airstrip and gave me presents to remember them by.  I am tearing up just thinking about those girls right now. 

I will not forget my experience in the village because it has definitely had an impact on who I am today.  I will not forget the kids I worked with or the families that opened their arms to me.  I can't forget the tears and hugs I gave away during those last few days.  Will I ever return?  Never say never!

Flight Back Home
Alright so my trips take 24+ hrs to get from my village all the way to Indianapolis.  God must have been watching out for me because I was picked up on my last bush flight by a caravan, which is like the limos of planes and ran into other teachers leaving their villages at the same time.  When I got into Anchorage I managed to find a comfy spot to do a bit of reading and relaxing during a 10hr layover.  About 4 hrs in I got a call from a colleague asking if I wanted to do dinner in the city.  And finally when I got on my overnight flight, I had a row to myself.  (I repeat:  A ROW TO MYSELF) Yours truly managed to get an uninterrupted 6 hours of sleep on a plane!! 

SURPRISE!!!

 

Have I mentioned before I am blessed with a pretty rocking boyfriend?  He showed up at the airport an hour early with my favorite color of roses... kissed me in front of complete strangers and managed to plan surprise party with his family.  I walked into his house after being a complete pill complaining that it wasn't fair we weren't going to my favorite restaurant (arrival tradition) and saw his sweet family all yelling surprise and a huge banner with balloons, cake, and presents.  Yeah I'm pretty sure he loves me.

 

CURRENTLY: I will always come right back to you

Linking up again with the infamous Farley for her Currently Link Up.  It might be my favorite post I do all month.  :)  I love the teacher blogging community.  I'm super mad I never joined up in the fun last year.  Oh well... se la vie!

• Listening:  Where We Left Off by Hunter Hayes, might just be the quintessential long distance song.  Found it this weekend when I was in one of those ready to be home with my S.O.
• Loving:  TPT/Blogger are my two favorite things to check when I come into the school daily.  Since I live so remotely, I go over the school for more than just work purposes... and some how these two websites end up being part of my fun time.  No complaints here. :)  I love teaching stuff even when it's the weekend.
• Thinking:  GRADES will be due soon and I've completely been dropping the ball.  Grr.  Don't you hate when you are doing so many engaging and relevant lessons that it becomes tedious to grade?  Oh well... That's what my netflix and spotify accounts will be useful for these next 6 hours.
• Wanting:  I think there is a pattern  here.  I NEED MY DIET COKE FIX.
• Needing:  Mother's day is only a week away.  This year I will not only be buying for my own mother, but also for my little sister.  She's expecting her first bouncing boy in August.  What to do when you 4000  miles away?!
• Summer Bucket List:  
• First and foremost I will be participating in the Color Run 5K that will be taking place at Downtown Indy.  I'm super pumped to do it, since my best friend and I LOVED it last year.  It's also part of another goal for the summer, which is to drop at least 20lbs.  I'm not obese by any means but a good portion of self discipline wouldn't hurt my health. :)  
• Second goal, but is my first priority, find a teaching job in Indiana.  I'm super excited to be making the transition  back home, but would feel even better if I knew I was going to be teaching in the fall.  PRAYERS, TIPS, and SUGGESTIONS are welcome!
• Finally, I can't wait to spend time with my boyfriend.  Yep! 2.5 years together and 20 months of that have been spent 4000 miles away... we're done with being the Long Distance Couple.  Ready for some QT with my cutie.  (Terrible pun, I know!  But I just couldn't resist.)
  
  

Babe You're Not Lost

The little things:
I can't tell you how good it felt to put  my feet on the ground in Indiana. Or how exciting it is to be able to hug my best friend instead of listening to her voice during her night shift because I'm living in a timezone 4hrs behind hers.  I also can't truly explain the butterflies that took flight in my stomach when I realized I would be seeing Nate for the first time in 5 months.

It's about a 23 hour trip altogether I believe and I did that with only 45 mins of napping to get home, but it was worth it.

I was picked up by my best friend at the airport, complete with squealing and hugging.  We drove into Indianapolis for a quick bite and a stop at the hair salon where Miss Wilson got a much needed and overdue new hair-do.

Now, it must be said we were on a time crunch because one of my Christmas presents was surprising my boyfriend with a 60 min professional massage on a Sunday when most places are closing early.  After my hair cut, Shelly and I rushed to get me changed and ready to meet Nate at Monument Circle, a place with lots of meaning to our relationship.  We managed to get there with perfect timing and my best friend took these truly sweet pictures.  So many people have told me they look more "professional" and "very engagmenty".  Thank goodness for iPhone technology and an awesome best friend with amazing photo reflexes.  It'll also helps I have such a cute boyfriend.  I'm so lucky...

Break was spent mostly with spending time with friends and family.  There was presents, traveling, and a great deal of hanging out with people I have truly missed.  Sometimes I forget how wonderful life can be, but I think that's what holiday breaks are for. 

Half of my heart....

Thank you The Blogger First Grade Parade! 

With Election 2012 being such a big current event I wanted to do something to make it more relatable for my class.  I had them watching videos and reading articles about the real candidates but it wasn't nearly as engaging or applicable for us out here in rural Alaska. So I found the awesome Pint-Sized Presidential Fun Math Literacy Mini Unit to help bring it to my kids level.  They loved the books.  They loved the reading response activities.  They ADORED the election activity!  I took some great shots of what my kids created and the final results.

In other news, there is a national holiday coming up.  It's almost my birthday!  Oh and Thanksgiving too.  :)  What is on my schedule for Thanksgiving break this year?  Well, start with the crew of friends from last year, add 3 new teachers to the mix, and blend them all together in an Aliaska ski lodge.  That's right, yours truly will be spending the holiday break with non-other than awesome teacher friends and maybe even some winter sports.

Finally, the countdown has definitely begun!  As of tomorrow, I will be "Back Home in Indiana" 39 days!  Yes I did just make a reference to my state song.  I know I'm lame don't rub it in....  Anyways, I'm excited that time has flown by this year.  It's incredibly difficult to spend so much time away from friends, away from family, and away from... you guessed it, Nate!  

 

Have you ever thrown a fist full of glitter in the air?

Wow.  I have sorely been missing out on posting on here.  I apologize.  I don't know how many people follow my blog... so I hope I'm not letting anyone down.

What's happened...

• Pen pal letters.  My kids have been working for about 2 weeks on friendly letters.  You'd be suprised how long it takes to pound out a nice response letter to friends in a different state.  They will finish and send those today.  I'm pretty excited!
• Interview the principal.  My kids were learning about questions and statements.
• Finishing a unit in math!  :)  Last year took me 3 months to complete a unit in math.  I'm excited on our progress.

What's going on...

• Midterms!  :/  I dread this time of year.  It's like crunch time for teachers.  How do you balance your students needs, parent's beliefs, and your curriculum all at once? 

Picture taken from Pinterest

• FEA Club Advisor.  I signed up at the beginning of the year to take on a position as the Future Educators of Alaska Club Advisor.  I knew, and still know, very little about the club.  But I can say with much certainty that I'm VERY excited about this year.  I've got a group of 5 young ladies all really excited about the club.  We've got lots of ideas for activities, fundraising, and service opportunities. 
• Tutoring.  This year I've decided to once again to take time after school and work with my students on skills they're not getting enough of in class.  Thankfully this time I have experience and a club full of kids that want to be part of this.

What's in store...

•  Election Time.  November 6th!   I'm going to be honest with the blogging world and say I've not figured out how to vote here yet... but I'm hoping to figure that all out this weekend.  Wish me luck.  AS FOR THE CLASSROOM... I'm excited to begin a mini unit about elections with my class.  I've accumulated a bunch of resources to use to try to make this next month and the weeks leading to election time as interesting and tangible to them as possible.  Hopefully the time the ballot boxes are being tallied my students will understand the political parties and what it's all about.
• +/- Strategies.  Yay.  I get to teach my kids 4 different ways to get the same answer.... :/  Hahah but really this next unit is all about adding and subtracting.  Wish me luck.
• Halloween:  This holiday is my 3rd favorite of the year.  Christmas is of course my first.  Then the 4th of July.  I love Halloween because it's just another excuse to be silly and creative.  I've already picked out my costume this year.  :) 

On a personal note...

TODAY IS THE 731st DAY OF DATING MY SIGNIFICANT OTHER.

 

 

This wonderful guy has seen me through the ups and downs of the past 2 years. As a couple we've gone through 11 months (yes we've counted...) of separation.  We've worked together at two different jobs.  We have gone on countless dates, silly, romantic, and everyday.  We've had our fair share of disagreements, and frustrations.  We've had our moments where the world stops spinning too.

But above all else this guy has taught me two major life lessons.

1. I deserve someone who thinks the world of me.  Who believes I am beautiful whether I'm dolled up with a fancy dress and make up on... or in his old tshirt and a pair of jeans.
2. Love > than distance...

One Day When The Sky Is Falling, I'll Be Standing Right Next to You

 

My mister was here only 2 weeks ago. 

He flew 4000 miles to stay with me for 6 days.

I literally was dancing around when I saw his plane land.  

I ran and jumped into his arms when he came into the airport.  

I couldn't believe he was really part of my world out here.  

I felt like laughing, crying, squealing, and dancing.

We snowmachined him around the big town of Bethel and all the way back to Atmautluak.

We spent a glorious week of pancake mornings, stir-fry dinners, and movie nights.  

He got to meet the village.

He got to see my class.

He read with some of my struggling readers.

He now really understands what I'm going through.