Done?!

I did it, I graduated from Boise State University! I officially hold a bachelor's degree in Elementary Education...can you believe it, because I can't!! It doesn't really feel any different. I think that's because I haven't taken classes for a year, so I feel like I've been done with school and in the work force for a year already-though I haven't made any money...

I'd like to brag that I'm one of the lucky few people to graduate and have a full time job right away. I am so excited and ready to start making money again and have a job that stays in the office and doesn't come back home with me. I'm still applying for teaching jobs, but due to the current status of education and the economy I'm very doubtful I'll be hired.

I'm still waiting to hear if I got a G.A position so I can do grad school. That is the only way we can afford it-if it is free! They are making their decisions this week, so I should know soon!

After reading a friend's list of goals for herself, I feel compelled to do the same thing. What a perfect time in my life to do so-just graduated from college and starting a new job! I will be working on that list throughout the week and hope to have it up and available for you to see soon!

I'm off to work-have a wonderful day!

Where Am I Headed?

Being in my last semester of college, heading into my last 8 weeks of student teaching I have NO idea what I am going to be doing 9 weeks from now for a job.

NOT.
A.
CLUE.

I'm OK with not knowing, because I DO know that Phil and I will be taken care of because we put our faith in God and allow Him to make sure everything works out for us.

BUT, I also know that I need to have as many doors available as I can to be opened by Him.

a) I decided to hold off on grad school. Most of my reasons for wanting to do grad school were financial-holding off on paying loans, and making more money once I'm teaching. However, in the financial state of our economy, many districts are not going to be paying for extra education or experience. So why would I spend another $12,500 for my masters to get paid the same amount of money if I didn't get my masters?!

b) I have been in contact with two managers about possible job opportunities (part-time while I'm in school and full-time in the summer)

c) I have officially enrolled in the ABCTE (American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence) program to become fully endorsed and highly-qualified in math and English; allowing me to teach middle school or high school math or English. This is opening up more than double my job opportunities. At this point, I am hoping to get hired on a provisional certificate as a high school teacher for this coming school year (2011-2012). Please keep this in your prayers!

So-those are the steps I have taken and are continuing to take to give God the chance to bless our lives through a job, and hopefully the beginning of my career. Where am I headed? I have no idea, but I am content with not knowing just yet. =]

UPDATE on weight loss...

drum roll please.....


19.6 pounds! SO close to my goal for spring break....really hoping I get there! Then watch what I eat while I'm in Florida so I don't gain it all back...

Well-I'm off to study for my exams! Have a great Sunday!

Some thoughts...

I haven't blogged lately, mostly because nothing very exciting has gone on.

Some of you have been curious about my diet and weight loss. I just finished week 2 of my HCG drops diet and am feeling GREAT! So far I have lost 13.8 lbs in just 14 days! It sure has been an amazing journey, not super fun, but not horrible. The worst part of this part of the diet is the lack of variety in what I can eat. Here is a normal day for me:
Breakfast-coffee with 1 tablespoon of whole milk and 2 Stevia sweeteners
Lunch-4 oz. steak and a handful of veggies (either broccoli, cucumber, or asparagus)
Snack-apple (at school and only sometimes)
Snack-Melba toast (at home)
Dinner-4 oz. steak and a handful of veggies (either broccoli, cucumber, or asparagus)
I generally only drink water, but I sometimes get an iced tea from McDonalds since a large is only $1.06 =]

I have had 2 cheat days. This week was a very slow drop in weight (relative to last week) and many people that are on or have done this diet suggest a cheat day if you plateau in your weight loss. So on Friday my mom took me out to Baja Fresh and I had steak fajitas. It was SO good, I had tortillas, sour cream, guacamole, and chips.. mmmmm It did help restart my weight loss. Then today we had people over for lunch and they were all having Jimmy John's-so naturally I had one too. I'm hoping it'll give me a great start to my last week of taking the HCG drops.

I am 10.6 lbs away from my spring break goal (6 weeks away) so if I lose half a lb a day, which is less than what I am averaging now, I should get there! I'm really hoping I can reach this goal, as it is only half way to my full goal at the end of the summer!

On to something else....

Friends.
It is so hard as a married woman that doesn't go out to bars, clubs, or girls night to find and keep friendships. This is something that is really getting to me right now. I've been pretty bored lately on the weekends and week nights and would LOVE to hang out with people, but it just doesn't seem to work out.

I'm not writing this to make anyone feel guilty or feel bad for me because I don't want that. I'm simply stating my frustrations with my current situation.

Why is it so hard to find women around my age in a similar place in their lives in such a 'nice' community (nice as in generally nice and kind people)? I don't have an answer and I don't expect anyone to give me an answer-again just venting.

Well, I need to get back to finishing my valentine's for my precious students. Have a wonderful Valentine's Day filled with love and appreciation!

My week

WOW-what a week.

First off-I started my diet, no-I started my new lifestyle. I have done amazing, I'm so proud of myself. I have not cheated once and have lost weight! (I'm waiting until the week mark to publish what I've lost so far). I don't think I have ever been this successful and this determined to be healthy. My goal is to lose 40 lbs by my birthday-July 27, I think it is TOTALLY do-able!! Phil is even losing weight! He isn't doing exactly what I'm doing, not nearly as strict, but he is doing a great job!
The first day SUCKED-big time. I was so hungry, my stomach hurt; it was BAD. But, the next morning, the scale gave me inspiration to keep going. I haven't been hungry the rest of the week, and have actually had to force myself to finish my meals. I'm so excited to see how much weight I lose at the end of this 'diet' and then continue to lose and then maintain my ideal weight.

Unfortunately, my mentor teacher's father was sick in the hospital at the beginning of this week and passed away on Tuesday evening. She has been out of town the entire week so I have had the privilege of subbing and running the class. Luckily, I already make all the lesson plans and teach all day so the only thing that was really different was that my mentor wasn't physically there.
It was a good week! We had some issues, but there will always be SOMETHING that's not perfect. I'm so grateful for the experience of 'having my own classroom' I only wish it was under different circumstances. We aren't sure when my mentor will be back at school, it could be the middle of next week or the following week. So I will be subbing and on my own for at least part of next week-good for experience AND for my wallet!

The worst part of the week is that I have barely seen Phil. He has had mostly night shifts at work- so I get home from school, see him for about an hour (maybe) and then he heads out to work. He is at an UnderOath concert tonight-his favorite band-with his best friend. I'm glad he's able to do things with his friend!

I will fill you in with my exact weight loss on Sunday! Have a great weekend!!

Revelations

No, not talking about the book in the bible. I like to think-a lot. I enjoy planning and figuring out the details to anything and everything!

Teaching
This past week was the first week that I have truly considered not teaching and questioning the last 5 years of college. Teaching is no longer the fun, creative process it used to be. Don't get me wrong, it is still fun most of the time and you still need to be creative-but in different ways. You have to plan your lessons around the curriculum chosen for you, there are kids that don't have parental help or support, you have to progress monitor a handful of kids, pull kids out of class to test them on reading and math skills, kids are going in and out of class for interventions....the list goes on.
It has taken some reflection and talking with Phil to realize that teaching is what I'm supposed to do-even if it isn't the 'funnest' thing all the time. =]

Grad School
Grad school was never in the plans for me. I never planned on continuing my education, I figured 5 years of college was enough for me. Another reason I didn't want to do grad school was that I didn't like any of the programs I knew BSU had. Last week I started doing some research and found out that BSU offers a masters of educational technology. After reading up about the program I knew it was for me. Not only can I get my masters, but I will also be a certified technology integration specialist.
Grad school isn't super expensive on it's own-but on top of my massive undergrad loans, it is just outrageous. After doing some number crunching, I have realized that
A. I can't afford to NOT do grad school. We won't be able to pay student loans right away, even if I got a teaching job right away. I have to stay in school to keep my loans in deferment. Once I have my masters degree, I'll make more money-leaving me able to pay my student loans.
B. Though I MUST do grad school, I canNOT PAY for it. As I already mentioned, my student loans are HUGE. Let's just say my monthly payments will equal to paying on a really nice, expensive car...I will be applying for scholarships and grants to pay for tuition (if you know of any good scholarships, please let me know). I have also applied for a graduate assistantship position. As a GA I will get a tuition waiver (AKA free school) and get a nice stipend for the year. We are hoping and diligently praying that I will be offered a full-time GA position for 2 years (the time it will take to complete my degree). If this happens, I will also be looking for a part-time job to help pay my bills. The stipend will then be used towards my undergrad loans, leaving my loan payments MUCH more do-able.

Weight
If you have read my older posts, you'll see the post about how I have let myself go since moving to Boise. I have a plan set in place to get myself back into shape and more importantly, healthy.
I will begin the HCG drops diet next week (if everything goes as planned). This is a strict diet, only allowing 500-550 calories a day. The good thing is that this only lasts for 3 weeks. After the 3 weeks, you are allowed 1400-1600 calories a day. I should finish up this diet right around spring break.
After the diet is over, I will continue eating right (hopefully my appetite will have changed and I won't want the bad food anymore). I will also be working out very hard.
Here are my goals:
-Lose 20 lbs through HCG by spring break (end of March)
-Lose another 10 lbs by graduation (May 14)
-Lose the last 10 lbs by my birthday (July 27)
Yep, you read that right, I want to lose 40 lbs in the next 6 months. I believe I can do it, and I really hope I can stick to my plan.

That's all for now.

Looking forward to 2011

After 2 full weeks of 2011 it's been a pretty good year so far! There are so many exciting things going on this year! If you know me-you know that I am always looking FORWARD to the next thing (and usually the thing after that, and maybe even the thing after that =]). So, I figured I would share with anyone who reads this about our plans for 2011!

January: We have already celebrated both our dad's birthdays and I have begun my last semester of college.

February: We plan to celebrate Valentine's Day at the same restaurant that Phil proposed to me at-on Valentine's Day-Barbacoa. The Valentine's dinner there is SUPER expensive, so we are planning to go either the week before or after V-day.

March: The first week of March I'll switch back into 4th grade for my last 8 weeks of student teaching. For spring break we are going with Phil's family back to Orlando (where we honeymooned). While we're there we're going to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. While we're there, we get to go to THE WIZARDING WORLD OF HARRY POTTER!!! We're hoping to get to go to Disney World's Animal Kingdom and Epcot too!

April: Phil will be 24 this month! I can't believe my hubby is going to be 24-sounds so old. hehe =] Our brother will be 21 this month as well!

May: I will finish my student teaching the first week on this month! Hopefully, I will have some sort of job by this point to help with bills. On May 14, I will be a COLLEGE GRADUATE! I'm kinda excited. =]

June: In June Phil and I will both be working-a lot. We will also celebrate my parent's anniversary and my mom's birthday!

July: We are hoping to go out to Vegas for our good friend's wedding! Kayla and Rey are getting married on July 23-I'm so happy for them! Then, on the 27th-I'll be 23! =]

August: By this point, I am hoping to have a teaching job secured. We will most likely be going to work for Miss American Starlet the second week of August in La Quinta, California. Then, at the end of the month-I am really REALLY hoping to be preparing to begin my first year as a teacher!

September: School (or work) will be in full force. I think this is one of the months where we don't have anything special going on (YET!)

October: This month we will celebrate our 2nd anniversary on the 17th. We stayed at The Grove hotel in downtown Boise on our wedding night and for our first anniversary-we're hoping to stay there again (in the same room!)

November: We get to celebrate our nephew, Talon's, 2nd birthday! Maybe this year we can celebrate in Vegas with them (or wherever they live at that point). Then, 2 days later, it's my sister (and Talon's mom) Amy's birthday! We will probably be celebrating Thanksgiving with my family this year, so we will be in town!

December: Finally December, one of my favorite months! This month will be really cold-then nice and warm! If everything goes as planned, we will be celebrating Christmas and New Years with the Eastman's in...Hawaii! We will be on the island of Kauai-we're really excited, neither of us have been before and we know it will be a great time!

Well, there's 2011 in a nutshell. Looking forward to seeing what else it brings our way!

Seattle 2010

Phil and I decided to take a trip to Seattle for our Christmas presents to each other. I think this was the best Christmas present I have ever received, we had an amazing time together in an awesome city. Here is a recap of what we did!

We stayed in the Mediterranean Inn in the Lower Queen Anne area. This was a great downtown location. It technically wasn't in downtown Seattle, but it was 2 blocks from the Seattle Center and a short monorail ride into the heart of the city. It was nice because it wasn't super busy and loud but still felt like the city. We really like the city life and feeling the city so that was awesome.

We got to town around 10:30 am so we couldn't check into our hotel quite yet. We dropped our bags and headed for the Pacific Science Center in the Seattle Center. While we were there we saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 in IMAX which was AWESOME, then we headed into the Harry Potter traveling exhibit. Seattle is the last stop for the exhibit so it was cool to get to see it. You weren't allowed to take pictures inside, but it was amazing to see the props and costumes from the films. Everything had so much detail, it was so cool. The chess piece that Ron uses in the first film is featured in the IMAX building so I got to take a picture.
After being Harry Pottered out, we went into the regular exhibits. At this point I was starting to get tired of looking at things so we kind of rushed through.

We took the monorail, which is super fast by the way, and ended up at Westlake Mall-which was awesome. I hope to get to actually go around the whole mall and shop next time we are there. There's also a Nordstrom's and Macy's buildings across the street in the front of and behind the mall building. From the mall, we walked down toward the harbor and ended up in Pike Place Market. We quickly walked through Post Alley to get down to the waterfront so we could eat at Phil's favorite spot-Ivar's. At this point it was raining and a little chilly so we ate in the heated building instead of on the pier to feed the seagulls. The shops were closing down by the time we were done eating, so we decided to head back to our hotel to relax.

The next day we slept in. It was great!

Then, we had Starbuck's for breakfast (of course!) and headed to the monorail to get into the city. We walked down to Pike Place Market and walked through the whole market-which is huge-there are 3 or 4 levels of it! There were so many cool things to purchase in there that I was glad we didn't have room to bring anything extra home in our bag. We got to watch the famous Pike Place Fish Market workers throw the fish around which was sweet.

We had lunch at Ivar's again. I just couldn't say no to my hubby, he loves it too much! This time it wasn't raining so we sat on the pier and fed the seagulls most of our fries. They are not afraid of humans, they got so close-I ended up hugging the wall while I was eating my food, but it was super fun to toss fries at them.

After lunch we went on an Argosy Harbor Tour. It was an hour long, 8.1 mile boat tour of Elliot bay, which leads out to the Puget Sound. We got some great pictures and footage of the city and the surrounding areas during the tour. The guide had lots of information to share and we learned a lot about Seattle as well. This was probably my favorite part of the trip.

After the tour we went to the Seattle Aquarium. They pride themselves on having NO trained animals in their facility. They have done research to support this choice and I completely back them in their efforts to save the oceanic animals from being abused. (Watch The Cove documentary on some information about trained animals) There were many super cool animals to look at and we spent a while in there. We also got to see two octopus being fed.

I had to make sure we went to the original Starbucks while we were there-so we found it and went inside. It was really cool to see the original store and see the old logo. We got drinks there and I also got a travel coffee mug.

We went to dinner at the Crab Pot that night with the Niz family from Starlet. It was a great time getting to know them and dinner was yummy!

Unfortunately we couldn't stay long, so the next morning we headed home. But, we did have an amazing time and it is a trip we will never forget. We will be headed back in spring of 2012, and if I have my way, we'll be going back before then as well. Phil filmed our trip on our new Flip video camera and once he is done editing, we will post it on here. In the meantime, here are some of my favorite pictures from throughout the trip! Enjoy!