Graduation Update :)

I graduated!!! I am now a UMHB alumna! :)

Nice ;)

Exciting events...

So I have one more final exam tomorrow and then I am finished with my BA degree!!! Woo-hoo!!!! So far I have two As, and am hoping for a 3rd :)

I also have a JOB INTERVIEW (again) on Wednesday! This one is going to be a little different though- I'm interviewing for a technical writing position in San Antonio. I really want it! I would love to say, "Oh, I'm a writer" when asked what I do for a living. I mean, really. How AWESOME would that be???? :) I'll keep you posted!

On Saturday I receive my diploma and then go home to SA! Russell and I are spending Christmas with my folks and I'm super pumped about that. We'll be there for about a week and then we are driving to Tennessee for New Years to spend it with his mom. So it will be a fun month!! Then, I come back to the REAL world. Eeeeek. Maybe I'll stay in Tennessee a little longer... ;)

12 days...

until I graduate! woo-hoo!

I didn't get the job in Burnet :( But that's okay. It really was in a town kind of far from everything and I think it's a blessing in disguise that I didn't get it. I'm still applying to jobs. If you would like to pray for me I would be very grateful. I would love to start a real job as soon as possible. :)

Everyone should go to Lauren's blog (link on the right) and read her latest post! We had a garage sale yesterday and did really well! Sine we're moving out, we had to get rid of a lot of stuff! It was a good thing :)

Wrapping up is kind of sad, but I'm also happy in a way. UMHB has been a very good time in my life and I know I will miss it tremendously, but I am so thankful for the time I have had here. I have really learned a lot and feel like I've matured very much. And of course, I made some life-long friends here, and I am so excited about keeping up with everyone. It's bittersweet, but it is good.

:)

Happenings...

Yesterday I interviewed for a position in Burnet, and it sounded so perfect! The district sounded absolutely wonderful- very student-centered, and that's what I loved most. It just seemed to fit with my "philosophy" of education, and I am very hopeful that I get hired. Plus, Burnet is such a beautiful town, it would be very fun to live there. I don't find out until Tuesday, but I've decided that whatever the outcome, I will be happy.

Today I completed my pedagogy training through A+ Texas Teachers, and I am really happy with the program as a whole. I really do feel like they prepared me to do well in my classroom. My UMHB classes also helped me out, but it was different experiencing this training in a non-classroom setting.

Russell and I leave for Tennessee on Tuesday! I'm pretty excited. It's going to be a good 17-18 hour drive, but I haven't been out of state in a few years, so it will be fun. We're going for Thanksgiving to spend it with his family. It should be fun!! :)

Oh, and I graduate in 27 days!!!

"i see a light... it's so beautiful!"

Do you recognize that Bug's Life quote? :)

I got really excited today. I was officially approved for graduation, got fitted for my graduation regalia, AND picked out my college ring. Craziness- I graduate in 60 days!!

This semester's been good- even though I'm only taking 9 hours, I've earned an A on everything I've done, including my midterm for American Lit! Right now I'm focusing on a presentation I have to give for that class on Thursday. 10 minutes long, over Walt Whitman. There is just not enough research on the topic I'm doing.... but it's almost over! After Thursday, I will be 100% happy girl.

Well, not much is new... job fair next Tuesday! Maybe I'll get hired? :)

sleep-drive-learn-drive-sleep!

It has been a loooong day. I didn't think driving to Austin for my alternative teaching certificate for 2 months would take quite the toll on my body. :( I started it last week with an 8-hour introduction to the profession of teaching, and today we had an 8-hour session on Lesson Planning & Development.

It was really good that I went even though I've already taken the education courses here at UMHB and have prior knowledge to the lesson-planning cycle. It was still very informative! I'm preparing my portfolio over the next few months before graduation- I'm going to include my unit plan that I did for high school English last semester (which I got a 98 on, by the way- and yes, I can brag because I'm very happy about that!), a few recommendation letters, and the like.

It's hard for me to believe that in about a month and a half, I will be looking for a job and possibly teaching. Seriously.

After I drove back from Austin, I went to Russell's and we talked for a while about books and his writings that he's working on. I was so pooped that I feel asleep on his couch for about two hours! He worked on homework and I slept. It's so typical of me, having senioritus and all. ;) So now I'm up at one in the am... I need to get to bed though. Long day tomorrow- full of researching, reading, writing...

it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...

a beautiful day! :)

So, please forgive me for my long absence! I have been a horrible blog-keeper. :( Thank you, Stephanie, for unknowingly inspiring me to blog again! :) (I saw your blog and the cute background and thought to myself, "Self, you should make your blog all cute and updated!" So I did.)

Well I guess I'm long overdue for an update.... ;)

What's new you may ask? Good question! I shall tell thee.

I graduate in 80 days!!! I will be done with school for(ever?) a long time!! Over the length of my absence, I decided that the wisest financial decision for me right now is not to dig myself into a deep debt hole of student loans and the like, but to get a job with my Bachelor's degree and start paying some loans off! So I'm applying to teach English in January. I'm pretty confident in my ability to do this- except the plan is now not to teach high school (because I look like a high schooler still...), but to teach middle school. 4th-8th grade sounds like a pretty good grade level for me. :)

Since graduation is coming up, I would like to invite my readers to my graduation party! I graduate on December 20th (a Saturday) and will be having my party the day after in San Antonio. I'll send out invitations to both my graduation and my party as the dates draw closer.

Russell and I are still doing great! :) He's graduating in May and applying to grad schools near San Antonio. I'm really excited about this! And not to sound too lovey-dovey... he makes me really happy and I'm really looking forward to the next year as we transition from undergraduate life to adult life (also known as "the real world")! Eeeek! It will be fun. :)

Home! :) and a little randomness!

So I'm home now. I can smell the lovely scent of my mom's Apple Cake. How will I survive until tomorrow without biting into it?! :)

It's nice to be home. I'm just sitting in "my" room and relaxing. I'm acknowledging this because I do not want to take for granted the time I have now to rest... next semester won't be too bad... I don't think. I'm taking Advanced Grammar, which is supposedly the hardest class for English majors. I am still excited about it because I know there is so much about grammar that I don't know, but I've always wanted to. I'm also taking Advanced Rhetoric, Curriculum Methods, Classroom Management, and an easy one- General Psychology. I also find out where I will be student teaching. I'm not sure if I want Salado or Belton yet... so I will probably be observing in both districts to get a better idea. I think next semester's going to be fun, also! :)

Guatemala notes: I start fundraising next semester!! My Guatemala trip will be set for sometime June or July this summer... I get to choose the dates. It will be a prayer/relational ministry and I am very excited!! More updates to come... I will probably make a Guatemala blog, too. My adopted mom, Shanon, will be teaching Spanish classes at church for the Mexico mission trip, and I'm going to go to learn more for Guatemala :) It's very exciting!

Well, I guess I'll leave you with a quote that I read a couple days back:
"May your presence fill the nonanswers, empty glances, and lonely times of my life. Amen." - Robert Wood

Finals Week

So I'm almost done! I only have 2 more finals left! It's crazy for me to think that these are the last finals I will take in the fall-- this time next year I will be graduating. Wow, does time fly!

The week really hasn't been bad at all. I even got to go Salsa dancing on Saturday night- on of my hobbies! I've been attending a Salsa dancing class on campus this semester and we had most of our class go to a place called "Copas" in Austin together to dance. It was a really fun experience and definitely worth it. I never knew I would like dancing so much, but I do- I think it really has a lot of benefits, too. Not only is it a great work out, but you make a lot of friends when you all have an interest in the same thing :) And how cool is it to know how to dance? :) I'm pretty happy!

So yeah, that's all right now. Other than finals, I'm just enjoying good ole Belton and my last days of the semester. It's quite nice! :)

*whew!!*

So, I haven't posted in a while, right? Wow, sorry about that!

I'd be surprised if anyone still checks this! ;)

Well, let me update you on a few things:

After about 2 months of long practices throughout the week, pageant finally came and went! Our theme was "De'Masque," which means "Unmasked". It was an awesome experience! Here it is through some pics (there's a lot!):

This is at our banquet the night before pageant. We ate yummy food and each of our sponsoring organizations had a beautiful place setting waiting for us at our seat!

The first night was talent night and I performed a pantomime skit about true beauty. It turned out to be a huge hit! ;)

Julie and me before we went on stage to perform our dance on the second night!

Beautiful girls!

This was during evening gown walk- I wasn't nervous at all!

Stroll!

I made top 10!!

Then I made top 5, which is crazy! I answered my questions without an ounce of anxiety in me! God answered my prayer!

My proud, proud parents with me at the reception afterwards. It was so much fun and I wouldn't trade the experience for anything else. By the way, I made 4th runner up!! :)

Life after pageant has been pretty busy, surprisingly. I thought I would be bored without having practices to go to, but I got a new job (my third one!) and I'm still keeping up with classes- mainly writing and reading a LOT. More than the average student, I'm sure! haha :) I hope you enjoyed this post! It was due!

"All the world's a stage..."

My favorite class is currently Shakespeare. Just thought I'd share :) We had our midterm today and I think I made an A. I get advised for my last semester of classes next Monday. I will have MWF off, so I'm thinking of a job that I could take.. possibly subbing. I'm pretty excited!!

Lately God has been teaching me more about being real. And that's mainly why I'm writing about this, because I want to be obedient to what He is telling me, and be completely real and not cover anything up. So here goes...

He really had to break me down a couple nights ago... I was babysitting and the kids had gone to sleep and I was pretty tired because I was re-reading some Shakespeare. I got a phone call from one of my guy friends on campus, a fellow English lover, and told him that I couldn't go to a Shakespeare play with the group we had planned. Anyways, a mutual girlfriend of ours was in the background... we hung out earlier this semester, but not so much lately.

You may be thinking, "Yeah, so what's the big deal?" Well, small things usually surface larger feelings. And just so you know, I in no way have any feelings for this guy. But for some reason, God used a simple conversation and realization that my two friends were hanging out without me, and told me that I wasn't being real in my relationships with people. I don't know when this behavior started, but I'm thinking when my dad was deployed. I had told myself that I would not dwell on all the emotion that came with my dad being gone. I knew that I would be strong. But now I know that there is no winning with that battle. You have to deal with your emotions.

I was upset because I don't know these two people in that way. I feel like I haven't been real with anyone in a long time. I haven't told you that sometimes, or most of the time, I don't always have it together. I get stressed out. I compare the way I look with other girls. I'm not always happy with who God made me. But He's teaching me everyday. He's teaching me through pageant, and other things. But I never discuss these things with anyone.

I could sit here and say "Woe be me because I don't have a significant other to share things with and be real with." And I'm not going to make this one of my posts about being single, but God does call us to relationshipS (that's plural) with one another where we carry each other's burdens. I'm tired of hiding the fact that I fail sometimes.

So here it is in all caps: I MESS UP. I AM NOT PERFECT. I HAVE TO LEAN ON MY HEAVENLY FATHER, AND RELY ON MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS. WE ALL HAVE TO. LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

I'm just tired of the superficial, acquaintance-type relationships. So lets go beyond that and actually talk to each other. I'm not going to worry about whether or not I would be revealing too much, because I don't reveal enough at all, and instead, I put up a mask of perfection.... which I hope people have seen through.

Is anyone with me? Does anyone else get bogged down with the false standard of everything being together? Because I am. And I hope that I made you think. Because it's been on my heart lately, and I'm trying to break down walls that I have put up.

I want to be real with you.

*Siiigh* :)

I thought I'd post a picture since I haven't in a while. This was during our first week back at school. I'm standing with all of my "nieces" in my welcome week family from this year. That was our 80s night- we had a dance and everything! It was pretty fun!! :)

I'm listening to Canon in D and decided it was good music to blog to :) Well, this week has been going well. I had my first test today in Creative Writing over Catch 22. I'm not sure how I did, but I guess I'll find out soon enough!!

Last night was our first official pageant practice. We started out with our talents. If you've been reading, you know that I'm miming. I'm pretty confident that I'm going down in UMHB history for that one- I'll have to do my research to be sure. I was 2nd to last in order of performance for practice, so I had a good hour for my anxiety to increase. But, I got up on stage and performed to "I Feel Pretty". People laughed at the right parts, which is a good sign. I was really nervous and did everything so quickly and ended before my music did... so that will be something to worry about :) But everyone said they liked it- so that's good!! Tomorrow night is "evening gown night" so we are all wearing our heels and learning how to walk gracefully. We'll see how that works out!!! :)

I hope everyone is having a good week!

Very glad, with a smile spread across my face... :)

Wow. That is all I have to say. By changing my major to teach high school instead of middle school, I have made a great decision. My classes are so in depth and I am loving every minute of them. My favorite class of the moment is Advanced Composition. We have been reading nonfictional stories lately, and then submitting our response journals online. At first, I felt as if everyone else besides me was somehow above me in their writing, analytical and reflective skills. Today was a major turning point for me. In our class, we are randomly chosen to "teach and take over" the class by our professor. Wouldn't you know it, I was called on today. :) I was nervous, but I came prepared with a list of questions for our reading Independence Day, by Lisa Chavez. At first I was discouraged because I felt as if I didn't clarify my question enough... as if people were just staring at me and blinking. Then, my teacher interrupted and pointed out that the metaphor I had thought of was one he had never heard of and wanted to research more. He told me that I needed to speak up more in class and be more assertive. How's the for a boost of confidence?! I was so excited because I felt as if the only person in the room that I really needed to approve of my question actually really loved it! I'm also thinking that his method of teaching, in allowing us to teach, is the best preparation I could have for student teaching, which is where I will be in one year.

My other classes are interesting, too. In Creative Writing, we are reading Catch-22 and writing poetry. In Shakespeare, we are reading Richard II, and giving oral presentations, as well as writing a very big research paper. In World Literature, we are teaching a lesson geared towards the grade we want to teach that deals with a piece of world literature and current events. In British Literature, we are reading the classics, like Beowulf. Can you sense the excitement I have as I write this? I know that I get overwhelmed with the busyness of it all sometimes, but I do enjoy it. I enjoy reading about peoples' lives and learning their stories. I'm also becoming so much more confident in my own writing, because I do have good experience in that. I had some of the best English teachers you could ask for back in high school. (Those classes kept me going in a way at Judson.)

Needless to say, I am very content. I am enjoying where life is at right now and I couldn't ask for it to be any other way. My parents (yes, plural- my dad is included!!)are coming on Saturday to move in some furniture to the house. I am so excited about our house! It is the cutest little house you will ever see! :)