Wherever the Wind May Blow

I have five days left of student teaching.

Five.

I'm super stoked for summer.

Not only will I no longer be spending all my time working at school and Target, but summer is going to be a time of change.

Great change.

Mostly with health.

I am determined to change my diet habits.

And my exercise.

And I'm hoping the free time of no longer student teaching will give me the time, energy, and motivation to make the changes I desire to make.

I may be skinny, I may not need to lose weight, but just because I'm skinny doesn't mean that I am healthy or fit.

Because I'm not.

First step I took in my changes was to eliminate soda.

Well, just dark soda...

...baby steps, right?
I drink far too much soda.

At least a can a day.

And I want to cut down, so first I stepped down to crisp, clean sodas like Sprite and Sierra Mist only.

And I'm down to maybe 3 cans a week.

A [big] improvement for me. 

Now that it's summer time, I want to be eating so much more fresh food.

Fresh fruits, fresh veggies.

That's the best part of summer, right?
Home gardens.

Farmers' Markets.

I love it!
I'm going to try cutting fast food out of my diet.

Start eating the right food.

I've decided it doesn't matter that fast food and junk food don't affect my body - - It's still not healthy. I need to change. 

I also want to start exercising. 

I'm hoping now that my body is on an internal clock where it's virtually impossible for me to sleep past six or seven, I'll be able to get up and workout every morning...or at least most mornings...

I fell in love with Zumba while I was at Skyview, and I really want to get back into doing that. It's a {fun} way to workout. 

As a side note: I've started looking for careers outside of teaching.

I just don't feel hopeful any more.

I feel deflated.

I've decided I need to start exploring other options.

I can't put all my eggs into one basket. 

It's been two months and a dozens of applications, and not a word from anyone, so I just don't feel hopeful.

I used to have this fire burning inside of me, so excited to teach, and it's been blown out. 

I'm not going to stop applying, because teaching is my passion, and I dream to have my own classroom of students someday, but I'm starting to search other avenues as well. 

Maybe I'll find out teaching just wasn't in my cards.

Maybe I'll find out God had something else up his sleeve.

And even if I don't teach this year, I still plan on applying again next year for positions. 

I guess what I'm saying is I'm going to stop trying to control my life, and just see where the wind blows me. 

That's the Way the Cookie Crumbles

Well, the school year's winding down, and with each passing day, instead of getting more and more excited, I seem to be getting more and more discouraged.

I've sent out about fifteen applications and not a single nibble yet.

No calls. 

No interviews.

Just emails saying we don't want you.

It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't have to see my friends posting on facebook about their jobs they've gotten for teaching next year...the same jobs I've applied for.

It's disheartening.

I tell myself I haven't heard anything because God's got something else out there for me. 

That the positions I've applied for aren't meant for me.

But, I'm getting tired and discouraged.

And so much of our future depends on me getting a teaching job this fall.

We need this to get a house.

To start our family.

To get a puppy.

So for now I guess I'll just keep chuggin' 'em out.

On a much different note, Thomas is gone.

*le sigh*

Thomas left Sunday morning for a week long roadtrip out to BYU-Idaho.

He's going with some buddies of his, and they're going to visit a bunch of peeps out there. 

He'll be back next Sunday evening.

I'm feeling blue.

It's gonna be a long week.

It's times like this where I could really use a dog.

A cuddle-buddy replacement.

I'm used to going to bed without him, but man, it's only been one morning and waking up without him in the bed is a million times worse than going to be by myself. 

*le sigh*

It's gonna be a long week...

But! We had a big date day Saturday before he left.

It was a lot of fun.

We made a huge breakfast together (stuffed french toast with strawberry cream cheese and strawberries...an amazing recipe from my pinterest collection).

Then we went to the humane society in Coon Rapids to play with the puppies.

I was totally against it at first.

I did not want to go and not be able to take one home. 

And to have to see them all stuck in the cages breaks my heart.

But in the end, it was a lot of fun.

And yes, I fell in love with a couple that I wanted to take home with me. 

There was Nana, my favorite. 

I adored her to pieces and definitely spent the most time with her. 

She was this adorable, sweet lab mix. 

White with a pink nose.

And eyes that made me want to cry!

She'd just lay there staring at me while I'd pet her, and if I started to move away, she grab my hand with her paw.

Gah! Heartbreaking.

I wanted her.

And there was Luck.

This fun spunky husky puppy with one blue and one brown eye. 

He was adorable. And fun.

After the humane society, we went to the Mall of America and did a scavenger hunt, which was a hoot! But got cut short.
Thomas got frustrated and quit...haha.

We couldn't take pictures in most of the stores,

people wouldn't take fun pictures with us (or for us half the time),

and it was really frustrating, so we gave up.

But not before we got some good pics!

Check 'em out:

A dance with a mariachi man.

A giant Hello Kitty

An oxymoron
(Gangsta Love)

777

A pregnancy picture without stuffing something
in your shirt.

A crazy outfit.

I Just Don't Understand

I can't wait till summer.

Aside from the fact that it's summer, and basically the greatest time of the year, I can't wait to have a life again! 

Only one job is going to be a [breeeeze] after this semester.

And it'll give me more time to blog.

I miss blogging.

So many times I'll have moments where I'll think to myself, "I'm going to blog about that..." but then never get the time to!

Soon enough, I'll be back to my old blogging self...


Anywho, I don't have to be at school today because of a workshop on campus later this afternoon, so in the meantime, I shall write you a blog.
Well, that is until I'm going to meet my hubby for a nice lunch date. 
Anywho, my story...


We start every class day by talking about current events.
On Mondays and Fridays, we watch CNN Student News - a ten minute online clip that runs through the daily news, geared toward...you guessed it...students.
The kids really enjoy it.
So it's a Friday, and we're watching Carl Azuz give the daily rundown. 
At the end of the show, they do a quick "Before we go" segment that's usually uplifting and funny. I guess to lighten the mood for those days where all the news is depressing.
Well, on this particular day, they talked about an art auction that had gone down, where a painting broke the record for most paid for it or something like that. 
Wanna know how much some crazy person paid for [one] piece of artwork??
Brace yourself.
One. Hundred. And. Twenty. MILLION. Dollars.
$120 million.
A HUNDRED AND TWENTY!!
{MILLION}!!
For a single painting. 
Previously, the record was $39 million.
Another ridiculous amount, but not nearly as ridiculous.


So, naturally, after that clip was done, what did I do??


I got on my soapbox, of course.
And preached to the class about the anger stirring in my gut.
You see, a previous news story on that particular show was about the slums of Manila. 
Where people are living in cardboard boxes, walking in feces, and eating out of garbage cans, rotting food from days ago.


It makes me so incredibly {angry} how unfair and imbalanced the world is. 
How there are people who can, without hesitation, drop ONE HUNDRED-TWENTY MILLION DOLLARS on a single flippin' piece of artwork, while there's people living in such extreme poverty. 


Why doesn't that person spend their $120 million on something {worthwhile} and {life-changing}  like giving that money to go towards helping the slums. 
Why don't billionaires do more?
Why don't millionaires do more?


I don't understand why people who have more money than they know what to do with don't do something beautiful with their money.
Why don't they change the world?
Because they have the [power] to.
The world runs on money - use it in a positive way!!
Fix the balance!
If billionaires and millionaires lived modestly, and gave their money to more important things, pieces of this world could be better.
I'm not saying give all of it, just part of it.
Who really needs all that money?
Do something better with it!!!!


Don't call me naive.
Don't call me a dreamer.
I understand the realities of the world.
But the realities of the world make me angry. 


Like war.
I will never understand war.
When two politicians of opposing governments are ticked off at each other, they send thousands of other men to go fight to the death for them.
Stupidest idea on the planet.
The leaders should have a duel.
Like back in the good ol' days.
Let's reenact Hamilton and Burr.
They had a disagreement and did they have thousands of men fight their battle for them??
NO!
They had a duel.
Let's have duels instead.
I will never understand wars.


Anywho, that's enough ranting for the day.
Time to go beautify myself.
I'm meeting the hubby at his work for a quick lunch together before my meeting on campus.
It'll be a nice day.