Grad school begins...and fall is finally on its way (that just means the temperature is under 115)!

Well, although I would like to say that we spent labor day weekend working around the house, cooking out, and relaxing like most people would on labor day weekend...we didn't. Unfortunately Santi had to work all weekend, and I was stuck working on things for kindergarten AND grad school which started yesterday (yes, on labor day). I am really looking forward to the day when Santi and I aren't BOTH in school and working. It is so hard to spend time together. Not to mention with his current job he works a lot of weekends. Hopefully in about 2 more years we will both be finished with school!
Because of our crummy labor day weekend, we decided that we might do a short little getaway during my upcoming fall break the second week of October. Due to no snow days in the desert, I actually get a week for fall break! Last year it was two weeks, but they cut it down to allow for an earlier summer release next year. I will take one week over none any day. Because I LOVE fall and we don't experience anything really "fall-like" here in the desert, we are thinking of going up to Prescott or Pine Top. Both are in northern Arizona in the mountains. We thought it would be fun to get a little cabin and take the dog with us. I hope we can scrounge up enough money to make that happen. I think it would be delightful:)
Speaking of traveling...I am headed to Indiana the weekend of Sept. 13th. I am in Amanda's wedding and looking forward to it! I am not looking forward to getting behind on all the work to be done here, but I will be glad to go home and see friends and family as well as escape the heat. Santi and I were joking as we walked the dog tonight that we could tell "fall" was approaching because it was under 110 on our evening walk. I must say, the sunset was gorgeous tonight. Nothing compare to an Arizona sunset over the mountains. Living in the desert just like anywhere else has its ups and downs. I do miss water and the seasons....but I will trade those for the beauty I experience every day here. It is magnificent! If I REALLY miss the seasons or water, Prescott and Pine Top are only a couple of hours away.
Well....I should get busy on some grad school reading, I am sure it will be riviting.

Is it fall break yet?

I know, I know, I have only been in school for less than 3 weeks. It feels like 6 months already! WOW is kindergarten exhausting! Not to mention ELD kindergarten. I have spent the last few weeks in the midst of back to school madness. Meetings, parent night, and this week curriculum night. It seems like no matter how early I get to bed I am still just as tired the next day. Tomorrow the kiddos don't have school because it is a teacher in-service day...but I get to sit in meetings all day. I think I would rather be with the kids:) I feel like I just can't get caught up with all of the paperwork and things that must be accomplished to get the school year rolling. Basically every week I get maybe 20 minutes of prep time (total) during school. The rest comes before or after school, which means I am there before 7 usually and stay until after 4:30....add in Phoenix traffic and it makes for a LONG day. If you work in a school fortunate enough to have teacher's aids...be thankful!!!! So...kindergarten ELD...honestly I love it. The first 2 weeks we really just focused on rules and procedures...but this week they are really catching on. There is still the language barrier but they are learning new words in English every day and we PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE. They are really good kids. I am concerned with some of them academically and developmentally, not so much with English language development ironically. Most of them did not attend preschool and a lot of them came in very behind developmentally. Of course I also have a few who are ahead of the game and I am scared of holding them back. 5 year olds are great...every day is fun and interesting. I had one kid today burst into tears because his tooth came out and he was in shock...he had no idea they were supposed to come out. It's funny....none of them really knew that except those who had already lost teeth. I also was reading a story today that mentioned "freckles", and a kid who had lots of them. Well...because they are learning English I make them repeat new words constantly. So....when I asked them to try to say the word "freckles"....it came out sounding like something completely different (think bad word)! Ha ha ha. You just don't realize all of the little things you have to work on them with that you wouldn't work on in regular kindergarten. For example simple things like asking to go to the bathroom....they don't know how to say it in English. Everything must be taught to them new. Ahhh...it's going to be an interesting year. On top of being swamped at work.....I am starting grad school Sept. 1st and planning a trip home for Amanda's wedding the 11th. I must be crazy. I just hope I can keep all these balls in the air. I really worry sometimes that I am taking on too much. Well...instead of rambling I should be working on the application to renew my Arizona teacher's license...by the way, can you believe they make you pay $120 for that?! Ridiculous.

Summer's end is here...

Okay, I know it's been awhile since the last post. These past few weeks have been VERY busy! After enjoying some nice relaxing "me" time in June, things really picked up in July. We started off the month enjoying a Fourth of July fireworks celebration at Tempe Town Lake. This being our first 4th in Arizona, we weren't quite sure where to go. We had heard that Tempe Town Lake was the place to be, so we decided to check it out. There was a huge crowd with lots of food, live bands, and the local news. We enjoyed some dinner and then sat by the lake and watched an amazing 45 minute fireworks show on the lake which was done to music. It was by far the best fireworks show we have ever seen! We also got to check out the Mill Ave. District which reminded us a lot of Kirkwood in Bloomington. Because ASU is in Tempe, it is very much a college town. It kind of felt like home:)
At the beginning of the month we also joined what is called a "Home Team" through our church. It is basically a Bible study. There are probably over 30 Home Teams throughout the west valley of Phoenix. It is really quite amazing that so many people are involved in weekly Bible studies. We decided based on our schedule to join one that meets Friday nights. We noticed that one of the Friday night options also happened to be a Spanish-speaking group. We decided it would be a great opportunity to connect with other Hispanic families, not to mention I could use the practice with my Spanish. It turns out they are trying to get a Spanish ministry started at our church, and the Home Team is pretty big. They are a great group of people, and although we have only been a couple of times, we really enjoy going. We are hoping to get involved with the mission of creating a Spanish ministry and eventually a Spanish service at church.
Just last week my parents came out to visit, see the new house, and help with painting. They arrived last Saturday and spent 5 days here. It was so great to spend that time with them. It is hard being so far away, but it also makes the time together that much more special. On Sunday we took them to see the Diamondbacks play the Dodgers. We were up the whole game until our closing pitcher blew it in the last inning. Even though we lost, we had a great time. It is nice to have so many pro sports teams so close. Going to games is a lot of fun. I think my parents enjoyed themselves too. They love baseball. On Monday we spent all day painting the living room, kitchen, entryway, and hallway. My dad also hung up two ceiling fans and he and Santi put together our frames and paintings from Ecuador. On Tuesday they finished up with the painting and then we all went up to Scottsdale for the day. We went to the mall and rode the trolley around Old Scottsdale. On Wednesday Santi had work and class so I took mom and dad shopping at the outlet mall. Before we knew it, it was time for them to head home. It seemed like their visit flew by! Hopefully next time they come out we won't have work to do on the house and we can do some more traveling and exploring. I really want to take them up to the Grand Canyon. We really appreciated all their help though. I will be home in September for Amanda's wedding, so I am looking forward to seeing everyone soon.
This past week or so I have been in and out of school and the teacher store trying to get my classroom ready. I feel like it is still a mess! I have so much to do that I don't even know where or how to start. The beginning of the school year is always a bit overwhelming, especially since I am teaching a new grade this year, not to mention I am teaching ELD (English Language Development). We are all still unsure how the new ELD program is going to work, so it will be challenging. I am looking forward to September when our routines have been established, I know my students a little better, and we are really in the thick of learning! I am also hoping that our new principal can really help us turn our school around this year. He seems great.
On top of all of that, I am applying to start grad school September 1st at Grand Canyon University. I will hopefully be getting a Master's in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages).
Well, that about sums up my summer! Tomorrow I have to be back at school officially. We are swamped with meetings this week, back to school night Friday, and then next Monday is the first day!

Long Summer Days...

It's summer in the desert, and it's HOT. Well, what else would you expect? Santi and I have been living in Arizona almost a year now. It's amazing how time flies. As we move from June into July...I am hoping my summer heats up a little, and I don't mean the weather! I know, I know, I said I wanted a boring summer. Well, I enjoyed being lazy for most of June. I am now getting a bit restless. I am actually missing those Indiana summers. Not the humidity of course, but just missing having friends and family close by, fishing, the smell of fresh cut grass, barbecues. Right now Santi is busy working, most of my midwestern teacher friends are traveling, and to be honest we still haven't met a lot of people.

The Green Monster

Well, we have been in the new house several weeks now and we are slowly getting settled in. We are continuously working to make it reflect us and our personalities. So far we have painted the master bedroom and bathroom, and yesterday we decided to paint the office since Santi had the day off. We really wanted to paint the office green because we thought it would look really nice with the black furniture. We picked a green that looked almost like fresh green grass. We all know that paint never looks the same on the sample as it does on the walls. As we opened the can it was a shock of bright lime green. We went with the assumption that paint always dries darker, so we went for it and started painting. As the paint went on we went from "ooooh it will look nice when it is dry", to "it looks like a leprechaun threw up in here". We went ahead and finished, deciding that a second coat would help. After the room was finished you needed sunglasses just to step foot in it. We went to bed and decided maybe in the morning with the sunlight it would be better. Morning rolled around and Santi asked if I wanted to go check on "the green monster". We peeked in, and surprisingly it wasn't as bad as we had remembered from the night before. Our textured walls had absorbed so much of the paint that it was in definite need of at least one more coat before it looked decent, but it definitely wasn't the green monster from the night before. We are planning on completing the second coat on Wednesday, so hopefully it will turn out with the look we were going for!