School so far...

Is busy. Between classes, volunteering, work, and homework, I have no time to breathe. Or sleep. It's a good night when I get 5-6 hours of sleep. Being busy is sometimes really great but lately I've been feeling really overwhelmed...and I'm SO tired. Don't get me wrong, I love the things keeping me busy...I just don't love the result.

Anyway, school is great otherwise. I love my classes (except my composition class). I am taking 4 classes this semester: Gender in World Literature, Composition (Writing in Education), Spanish, and Literacy and the Learner (which is kind of like three classes in one because there's a lecture, lab, and recitation). The Literacy and the Learner class is a lot of fun. Every week I go to a middle school here in Fort Collins and work with a group of 6th graders on Literacy skills. Each week, I prepare a short lesson and activity to teach them a literacy skill. I was TERRIFIED at first but now I love it! It's challenging and a lot of work but incredible practice and it's really rewarding when the kids respond and participate. I also love my Gender in World Lit. class. We've read some really great books this semester. We just finished the Kite Runner. Loved it! The only class I really don't care for is my composition class. It's so boring and we did this awful group project at the beginning of the semester that didn't go so well. ugh. It was terrible. Anyway, it's just not my favorite class at the moment. At least it's easy though. Ha.

I've also been volunteering at two elementary schools (3x a week) because I need 20 hours to apply for the school of ed. It is so much fun. At one of the schools I work with 4th graders and at the other I work with kindergartners. :) The 4th grade teacher has me do a lot of clerical work so I don't get to work with the kids as much, which is disappointing because I WANT more practice with the kids. The kindergarten teacher though, she's amazing, and actually lets me work with the kids. They are so fun and so cute! I get to do all kinds of fun stuff with them. Sometimes it's just reading them a book, working on learning to write the alphabet, or helping them learn their address and phone numbers. Last week we went outside and took pictures of the different parts of the trees. So fun! :) I hope that I can still volunteer with them next semester.

I've been working in the kitchen at the Tolkien House. I only have three shifts a week but it's an extra $100-ish every month, which is nice since I have to buy groceries now. I really like working in the kitchen but it's a little crazy this year because we have a new cook, who doesn't have a lot of experience. So, a lot of responsibility for keeping the kitchen running has fallen on Ashley and I. Ashley, because she's the kitchen crew chief of staff...and me because I am her roommate. Haha. I kinda fear for the fate of the kitchen next year when we're not here...

Oh, and the fish drama. Our fish Pico died a couple of weeks ago. :( We don't really know what happened to him, other than he had some sort of infection and the antibiotics didn't help. Now Sharkbait, my betta that I got during my first year of college, is sick. He has a disease called Dropsy, and even though I've been medicating him, he probably won't make it. I think he's just too old. :(

So anyway, that's my life lately. Thanks if you're still reading this incredibly long post. I'll try to be more consistent with my blogging.

Peace Out. ;)

We've been havin' fun all summer long...

I haven't blogged in awhile because it's been a fun/busy/eventful summer. I've loved (almost) every minute of it! In June my grandma had hip replacement surgery and stayed with my Aunt during her recovery so I've spent a lot of time either at my grandma's, my aunt's or my house. I spent a lot of time with my uncle's new puppy, Oakley. He's a BLAST! And waayy too adorable for his own good hehe. ;) I spent a week with my best friend in Loveland, which was also a lot of fun. The only thing that really sucked about this summer was when our apartment got broken in to and my laptop was stolen. There was a lot of hysterics and tears that day. Luckily, I had a back up of all of my pictures, music, etc but everything from the last 6 months was GONE. D: Very sad!

I'm really looking forward to this coming semester of school. I will try to post about the first few weeks when I get a chance. In the mean time, here's some awesome pictures from this summer. :)

My uncle's "side of water" from Chili's. Haha. :D

My friend Ashley and Paul (he lived in the same house as us last year) doing some improv on stage with a comedy group in Old Town Fort Collins. Ashley and I went to a friend's wedding over the summer and met up with people that lived in the house last year. At the time, there was some sort of festival going on in Old Town so after the wedding we walked around and listened to the live performers, watched the magician, and this comedy group. Lots of fun! :)

Ashley's puppy dog, Ginger :)

A toad that Ashley and I found, while I was staying in Loveland! :)

Ashley and I

Our heart shaped banana cookie. :)

After making banana cookies haha

Mr. Oakley :)

Who you gonna call?!

I went to the mall today with my friend Jacob and as we were walking out we saw this piece of work parked right across from his car. Too funny!!

SUMMER!! :D

School's been out for two weeks and so far summer vacation has been pretty great. I have had time to relax and catch up on sleep. I've been able to see friends and family again and look for a job. I'm hoping to get closer than I did last summer. I had two interviews but no job offer so this year I am hoping for an interview AND a job offer. :)

Grades were pretty stinkin great. I got an A in my Education class and in my Animal Bio class. I got a B+ in literary criticism and Spanish and a B in my Animal Bio lab. That lab still makes me mad. It was really ridiculous. Anyway, I'm glad school is over. I really need the break. To celebrate the end of another year and my awesome grades I thought I'd list some of the things I have learned this year. Some are funny...some are serious...

1. It’s ok to piss people off occasionally. It’s only a problem when you’re pissing everyone off, all the time.

2. Don’t be afraid to stand up for what you believe. Even if it means people will make fun of you or be jerks.

3. Never, never, never, take an 8 am class!! There will be plenty of time to be sleep deprived after college.

4. Don’t be afraid to stand up for others. Especially those who can’t defend themselves.

5. It’s ok to correct people when they are wrong. Especially if they’re being jerks.

6. God gave you passions and talents for a reason; use them.

On a sadder note, our fish, Arianna (the new one we JUST got) died the day after school ended. :(

New Friend

We adopted another fish. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know...we don't need another one. But I couldn't resist! She was so pretty and needed a good home! :) We used them in my Animal Biology Lab and our TA let us adopt them after. We now have a female Betta. Her name is Mindy Arianna Sapphire. Nala or Ari for short. We couldn't pick a name so we combined our favorites. Haha.

A little of this...a little of that

Well…it’s been a while. Too long.

There’s not much to say. School is going really well. Classes are pretty great this semester. I am really enjoying my education class. It is a lot of fun and the issues we explore and discuss are really interesting, too. I’m struggling with my Animal Bio lab. I think it’s pretty lame. The TA is a really terrible grader. She’s way too strict and makes the class a lot harder than it should be. It’s way too much work for a one credit course. Other than that mess class, my other classes are great.

I had jury duty a couple of weeks ago. That was an interesting experience. The jury selection took two days so I had to go back. I didn’t get selected, which is good because the case was a criminal case that would have lasted 8 days. It would have also been a very hard case to be a part of.

My fish, Sharkbait, has been sick on and off for the past couple of months. He had “popeye,” which would go away after treatment only to come back days later. I think he’s finally cured now, though! :)

I've been back at school for two weeks now. Classes are great! I'm really enjoying them thus far. I am taking Principles of Literary Criticism, Spanish, Schooling in the United States, Animal Biology, and an Animal Bio lab. My Literary Criticism class is actually pretty interesting. It sounds really gross...but it's not too bad. It also doesn't hurt that the professor is funny and pretty relaxed. Spanish is also going well. My teacher speaks entirely in Spanish and I usually don't have trouble understanding her so I'm glad. :) I wasn't too sure about this Schooling in the United States class at first but I'm really starting to like it. I wasn't sure about it because it was really overwhelming. Our final grade in that class will based on four major papers and class participation. For one of the papers, we have to shadow a teacher for four hours and interview them about the purposes of schooling. Also, we have to "co-teach," one of the class sessions. I was a little overwhelmed by the class at first and I wasn't sure that education was something that I really wanted to go into. But, after a few more classes and after doing the reading assignments for the classes I'm really enjoying it. I think I'll stick with it. :) Animal biology is fairly easy but incredibly boring. Haha. The lab kinda sucks too. It's almost three hours long! Mess! But, at least, this is the last science class I ever have to take!! Yay!

Well, that's really all I have...nothing terribly exciting. :)