NEW JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Since I cannot sleep at the current moment, I figured I would update my blog. A few new things have happened over the past few weeks. As of last Monday, I am currently an employed teacher of the Lexington/Richland School District 5. I will be teaching 6th Grade Math this year. I am BEYOND excited about my job! I started school last Thursday and my kids come this Thursday. The past few days have been very overwhelming but I am really excited about this school year! Below are some pictures of my classroom before and after. I have not taken any recent pictures of my room but I will today and add them soon!!




When I first walked into my portable this is what it looked like. I had to get all of that other stuff out before I could set up my stuff.



Now here are some pictures of my room after I got in there.





I have been working in my room like crazy this week. I will update soon :)

Rambo

The day after I graduated I went and got a puppy. His name is Rambo and he is a black/tan dachshund. We have another dachshund that we got when I was in the 6th grade. His name is Rocky. :) I have always wanted another dachshund and my parents said that I could get one after I graduated from college. However, they did not realize I was going to be so literal and get on the day after graduation!! The past few months have been very trying on me mentally, physically, and emotionally. Rambo has been such a blessing and allows me to love him unconditionally! Below are some pictures of him!



He loves my brothers dog Boone a lot!! They are the best of friends. Anywhere Boone is, Rambo is sure to be there soon!

Change

"Change. We don't like it, we fear it, but we can't stop it from coming. We either adapt to change or we get left behind. And it hurts to grow; anybody who tells you it doesn't is lying. But heres the truth: The more things change, the more they stay the same. And sometimes, oh sometimes, change is good. Sometimes, change is everything."

This quote pretty much describes the last four months. I began student teaching in February and that was a huge change within itself. I had to adjust to being at the middle school every day and not have the "college life" so to speak. I was used to being at Erskine all day every day with classes and such and then all of a sudden that stopped. But I eventually adjusted. Then May 15th I graduated and yet again that was a huge change for me. It is still weird to think that 4 years of college has come and gone. So now I enter the "real world" and for once in my life I do not already have a set in stone plan. When I graduated high school my next step was attend college. Now that I have graduated college, I plan on getting a teaching job but right now with the economy...jobs are not readily available. Plus I do want to go to graduate school to start earning my masters but my application is not due until July so I will have to wait to find out if I get in. So right now I patiently wait and see what the Lord has instore for me!!

As a side note: I am in Tennessee this week on vacation with my dad's side of the family!! My aunt and her husband rent a huge cabin for the week and the WHOLE family comes up and stays!!! I am so excited for this week! Everyone started arriving today. I will try to get better at updating my blog so my goal is to try and update each day of vacation :)

God's Beauty

I love to take pictures! When I have a camera in my hand I get picture happy and snap tons of pictures. My favorite thing to pictures of is the sky. I am obsessed 100% with the clouds and the shapes they make. Last year I was at the park and took a picture of a cloud that was shaped like a heart. This was by far the coolest thing I had ever seen. Below is the picture:

Yesterday, I went down to Lake Murray to take pictures of the sunset. The sunset last night was breathtaking! I had never seen such a beautiful sky as I did last night. I was mesmorized and captivated by the beauty God was showing me. I love the clouds in this picture! I think the clouds really add to this picture. They are dark but gorgeous.

This one is my favorite picture that I took!!

I did not notice the sailboat at first but I think that it added to the picture!

I wish I was on that sailboat so I could see the sunset closer up!

Halfway There!!

So tomorrow I finally get to go home for Christmas break! I am so excited and so very ready to be home!! Tomorrow will be my last Fall semester at Erskine!! I will not have to be back at school until the end of January. I am an elementary education major and I will be certified 2-6 grade but hope to teacher 3rd or 4th grade! But with jobs being the way they are I will not be picky about what grade I am offered. Next semester I will be student teaching and I cannot wait! It is hard to believe that I will be graduating in a semester and starting a whole new chapter in my life, but I am ready for the adventure!!

Thanksgiving Traditions!

I love family traditions!! I know I said in my post about that beach that if you could describe my family in one word it would be tradition, well that it still very true. Holidays is when our traditions become more and more big! For Thanksgiving every year, we go out to eat for dinner. When Grandma Florence (my mom's mom) was alive, she used to cook Thanksgiving but when she passed away my grandfather did not want to cook. Therefore they decided to start going out to eat. We started going to Morrison's Cafeteria every year ever since I could remember. Then Morrison's turned into Piccadilly's and we continued to go. Last night we decided to go eat at Lizard's Thicket because we could go later. It was wonderful! I have always wanted to cook on Thanksgiving but decided that it just would not be the same. Tonight my dad and I will put up our Christmas tree. I usually put the tree up, daddy puts on the lights, and I decorate it. Christmas is by far my favorite season and I think Christmas Eve is hands down my favorite day of the year!! I will post our Christmas traditions soon. :)

Davey :)

So a few weeks ago I went to Florida to pick up Davey for my boyfriend, Daniel, for his birthday!! I know it is kinda crazy to just randomly go to Florida one day to pick up a dog but I did not go by myself, Sara and Kaitlin went with me! He is a bulldog/lab mix and is the perfect dog for Daniel. They are so much a like it is crazy! One similarity is they are both grumpy when they first wake up and take FOREVER to actually consciously wake up. But I love them both nonetheless :) Below are some pictures of Davey. I will be adding more when I put them on my computer.

The ride home to see Daniel :)


playing with moo-moo

sleeping while Daniel ran in to the USC Volleyball game. He can fall asleep instantly!

This one is definitely my favorite! I love how his tongue is sticking out :)

He really is a great dog!! He is sweet and the BEST nap time puppy!!

Davey came over to play with my dogs one night and he decided to corner Rocky under my dresser, Rocky was not too thrilled. I hate not being able to see Davey and Daniel everyday because I am away at school. BUT, I only have a few weeks until the semester ends and then I will only have one semester left until I GRADUATE!!! I am very excited about graduating but nervous at the same time.