Highlights of 2012

Wow, last day of 2012. 

Each year I have recapped my year by month on the ol' blog, but this year I wanted to change things up. Instead of summarizing each month for you, I have compiled a list of my favorite highlights from this past year.

I really had a phenomenal year and I can safely say it has been one of my best years yet! Thirty is treating me just fine and if this is any indication what my thirties will be like, well, sign me up!

As a person I grew personally, physically and professionally and I have never felt better about myself. This year I did everything from wrap up classes for my Master's degree to running my first ever long distance race to meeting someone special and opening up my heart. In no particular order, here are what I consider the highlights from 2012....

• New Friends! In 2012 I met this girl and this girl. Yep, two local bloggers here in Des Moines have completely won me over and I have not stopped marveling at what wonderful and fun friends they are! Manon and Chandra are best friends that use Twitter as much as I do, and naturally we all ended up following each other. As conversations became more and more frequent through those 140 characters, we naturally ended up hanging out in person and quickly grew to be IRL friends. I have never felt so blessed to have such amazing new friends in my life!

• A new relationship. Along with meeting new friends this year, I also met a new guy that has completely stolen my heart and I can safely say I am head over heels for this funny guy! We met online (shocking, right?!) and we first got to talking about running. Quickly we found out that we had a lot in common and in person we clicked right away (so important for me). He has made the last half of 2012 incredible for me and I have never felt so smitten! We spent the holidays together and I pray that we spend many more together.
   
  
• Wrapping up my Master's degree! This year I finished all of my classes and accomplished my goal of maintaining a 4.0 while in grad school (my heart flutters a little bit every time I see 4.0!). All that is left is my student teaching experience and then I will be a fully licensed K-8 teacher! I am so thankful that although I have an undergraduate degree in something other than education, I am still able to pursue a career in this field while also receiving a degree in higher education. I have never felt so blessed and so happy in a career!

• Babies! There are five girls in my close group of friends and we've all been friends for about a decade now. One of us finally decided 2012 was the time to create a new life! Our good friend Katie gave birth to baby Dylan at the end of October and he is such a cutie!

• Reading over 70 books. Yep, this year I was able to make time for something I love to do. Reading. In 2011 I set a goal for myself about halfway through the year and I was looking forward to see what I could accomplish in 2012 if I set a reading goal. Having a concrete goal really pushed me to read more and I could not be happier or prouder!
  
  
  
  
   
  

  
     
  

  
        2012 Reading Challenge
     

  
         
  

  
           
         

  
       
  

  
          Amber has
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• Running. This year I took running to an entirely different level. I always dabbled in running and would occasionally work on Couch to 5k, but I never really tried that hard or pushed myself. After my friend Emily urged me to sign up for the Dam to Dam 20K, I thought, "what the hell, why not??" I signed up for the race, trained and ran my first ever race on June 2, 2012. Yep, you read that right. I consider D2D to be my first real race. I had participated in 5Ks before, but never with a clear goal in mind (besides make it to the finish, but I usually walked). Since Dam to Dam I have completed a half marathon and various other small races. Currently I am working on a sub 30 minute 5K! 

• Blogger weekends. This year I only had one blogger meet up, but it was a memorable one! Back in January I met up with Lisa, Becky, Lesli and Donna in Chicago for a weekend of fun and it was amazing! It is crazy to me to think that I met Becky IRL for the first time in 2012, it feels like I have known her for years and years. Ahhhh, the joys of blogging. :)  I think about this weekend a lot and hope that we can do it again someday. 

• Vacationing in Washington D.C. Becky graciously invited me to stay with her and her husband and she put together the most memorable trip for me in our nation's capital. I got to spend some great quality time with Becky and I finally got to meet Mandy!! I quickly fell in love with the city, its rich history and my time there. I have no doubts that I will be back someday to see even more!

• Working with the I Have A Dream Foundation here in Des Moines. Through a blogging connection, I met Brianne, who works for the IHAD foundation and she asked me if I would be interesting in helping with an after school program at a local middle school in the school district that I grew up in. It took me about 1.2 seconds to say YES! and although I had *way too much* on my plate this semester, I enjoyed every Wednesday I worked with these special students. 

What a wonderful year! 

Book Club Friday

Hi! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! Mine was fantastic, probably the best I have ever had and I cannot wait to share all the details with you later!

I am sure I am not the only one feeling this way, but today does NOT feel like Friday! We got back from Spencer yesterday after spending Christmas in the boyfriend's hometown, and all day yesterday I was confused on what day it really was. I have to keep reminding myself what day NYE falls on, because I just cannot keep it straight! That is what you get when you work the *oddest* hours ever!

Good thing it is Friday though, because Friday's mean book club! Today I am linking up with Heather for her weekly meme where bookish bloggers link up with their reads for the week.

For my local book club, Books 'n Bars we are reading Wild by Cheryl Strayed. I have been itching to read this since it was released and was really excited when it was so well received when I suggested it for our December read. We do not meet until January 2nd to discuss the book, and I am so excited to talk about it!

Wild is a memoir about a woman that hikes the Pacific Crest Trail. Alone.

Cheryl Strayed hikes over 1000 miles over a 3 month time period from the Mojave Desert to the Oregon/Washington border by herself. She had no experience with long distance hiking and decided to embark on this journey as a way to pull herself out of a deep depression and drug addiction after suffering from a divorce and getting over the death of her mother.

What I enjoyed the most about this book was reading about Cheryl's determination and her drive. This book was so inspiring because she decided on a goal and she set out determined to finish it. NO MATTER WHAT. The obstacles that she encountered were life threatening and this made many parts of the book so gripping for me. I could not put it down and I just had to know how each day went for Cheryl. It really made you stop and marvel at how much we really are capable of in life.

I also really enjoyed learning about the PCT and I have officially added "hike a day on the PCT" to my lifelong bucket list. People that take up long distance hiking have such a unique culture among them and I really loved learning more about the sport (or hobby?).

If you are a fan of memoirs and enjoy inspiring books that make you feel like "I can do anything!" this is the book for you!

What book did you read this week? 

2012 book review + Snowpocalypse 2012!

Late Wednesday night and early Thursday morning, Iowa got hit with "Snowpocalypse 2012," getting dumped on with 13 inches of snow accompanied by some crazy winds. All of the schools shut down and many businesses had a snow day as well. I spent the entire day inside reading and watching Christmas movies, except for the few times I had to let the dogs out and when I went to use the apartment complex's gym. It was kind of heavenly. After a crazy busy semester I am welcoming down time with open arms.

Also, I am loving that I am able to keep my blog up to date these days, I have missed writing and all of you lovely readers these past few months. I am still unsure of the fate of this blog once I graduate and begin teaching full time, but I promise I will always keep everyone in the loop.

Last year after being inspired by Lisa and Stephany I posted my top ten books read in 2011, and I just had to do it again. I loved looking back on the books I read in 2012! There were some definite similarities and trends from both years, mostly in the amount of YA I am consistently reading.

The rest of this post is pretty "bookish" so if you're not interested, stop here. ;)

On Goodreads, I made a goal for myself to read 60 books. I quickly blew that goal out of the water before the fourth quarter of the year began and then I changed it to 70. I am reading 68 and 69 right now, listening to 70 in the car and Little Women will hopefully be 71, which is our pick for #twookclub this month. Now that I am on winter break, I am a reading machine and am prepared to blow my revised goal out of the water! It is crazy how the simple act of setting a goal can completely change the outcome. My interest in reading has always been the same, but with a goal for a number of books I wanted to read, I was motivated to read even more! (Now, I just need to apply this theory to running... The boyfriend thinks my goal of "finishing a race with a smile" is not a good enough goal. ;) )

So, what did I end up reading in 2012?? Here are my top 10 picks of 2012.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

 

Looking For Alaska by John Green

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

The Violets of March by Sarah Jio

Blackberry Winter by Sarah Jio

Room by Emma Donoghue 

Bungalow by Sarah Jio

 

Loving Frank by Nancy Horan 

On The Island by Travis Garvis-Graves 

What were your favorite reads in 2012? 

Today I am linking up with Blond Undercover Blonde for Book Club Friday.

Wine & Canvas Girls Night Out

About a year ago I read a post about some bloggers in Houston that got together for a Wine & Canvas party and I thought it sounded so cool, but I quickly discarded it as anything that I could do. My sister got the artistic talent (although she vehemently denies it. She’s wrong) and I got the love of words and language. Art and painting was never something I had a natural talent for, but I did still enjoy it, I just did not enjoy not being good at it.

I’ve never considered myself a super creative person, I would be lost without Pinterest and sometimes I think I will make the worst elementary teacher because my room will probably not be all cutesy homemade crafts all over the place (well, except for what the kids do!).  But, what I can do is follow a model (I’m a pro at tracing!) and follow directions.  I may not be able to come up with the idea or see the vision in the first place, but I can sure copy what you do! (Ha.)

When one of my good friends asked me if I wanted to do a Wine & Canvas party, I was kinda skeptical. What if my painting looked terrible? I don't know if I can paint those pretty pictures I always see online. Well, I was dead wrong when I thought I could not do it. Someone asked if I could follow directions and when I said yes, he told me that I would have no problems.

And, you know what? He was absolutely right!

Last Thursday night about 25 people showed up to Mimi’s Café in West Des Moines for a night of wine, painting and fun. I went with three close friends of mine and, like the teacher’s pets that we all were (not) we sat right up front and (im)patiently waited for the hosts to get started so we could paint this:

Cue nerves. 

You want me to paint that?? You are not serious. I thought we were painting a tree? I can do trees. My sister and I practiced “happy trees” with Bob Ross all the time back in the days when the only channels we had were on basic cable. I don’t remember doing “happy flowers” …

Luckily, my friend was right, and after about 2 hours of following directions I ended up with this: 

 

Do my flowers look happy?? :)

Wine & Canvas really was as simple as "following directions" and as long as you paid attention, you were fine! Also, they use all acrylic paints and couple that with the canvas and the paint can be pretty much "erased" with water and paper towels if you make a mistake. I actually had to do that once, because one of my brushes was too wet and it dripped across my painting and spread! I cleaned it up and voila! I was fine. 

In addition to great directions, the artists used measurements such as the brush handle or fingers instead of inches. This made it much easier to gauge where to begin painting. 

 

The four of us hard at work on our masterpieces!

But, besides all the painting stuff, we had the best time giggling over flower petals that looked like inappropriate male parts (we’re immature) and drinking $5 wine flights (score!) we all left declaring that we wanted to do it AGAIN and SOON. 

 

Another shot of us hard at work. 

Wine & Canvas just started in the Des Moines area and I highly suggest you GO. I guarantee you will have a great time and you will leave feeling like the next Picasso! Wine & Canvas would be great for a girls night out or a date with your husband or boyfriend (I swear, guys would enjoy this!). There was a couple sitting near me, and at the end of the night, the woman looked at her boyfriend and said, "If you had done this for our first date I would have married you by now!" I cracked up!

Read other reviews of Wine & Canvas DSM here and here.

 Cannot wait to do this again!

Never forget.

Life isn't fair.

Friday morning as I was sitting in a Family and Consumer Science classroom substitute teaching and the students were working on their sewing projects, I was casually scrolling through Facebook. I noticed a friend of mine's status was something along the lines of "Shooting kindergartners?? Really?!"

My entire body went cold and I just knew it was bad.

I then went to Twitter because I knew I would get the most up to date news there and that is when I found out the horrible news. I looked up and one of the kids looked back at me, and I must have looked pale because he asked what was wrong. I just smiled meekly and said nothing. A few minutes later everyone in the class was aware of what just happened due to their own phones buzzing on their desks. These students were older of course, all sophomores, juniors and seniors. They have seen bad things happen, many directly to them. I did not address it with the class, I just allowed them to take a break from their assignments to watch You Tube videos, text loved ones or scroll through Twitter and Facebook.

I got left off easy.

But, what will all the kindergarten teachers say to their kids tomorrow morning? How can this possibly be explained? My heart breaks for all of the families missing their loved ones right now. My heart breaks for the family of Adam Lanza. My heart breaks for the children who are undoubtedly terrified to return to school tomorrow. I picture the kindergarten students I will be working with next semester in my student teaching placement and I consistently have to fight back tears. Obviously God has plans, but this just is not fair. Life is not fair. I can only take solace in knowing that the 28 people that lost their lives Friday morning are in a better place and at least those young children were able to go to heaven together. 

As I sat in that classroom looking around at the students I just met that day, I wondered what battles they are fighting. Do they have everything they need? Obviously Adam Lanza did not. I am not pointing fingers, but clearly someone dropped the ball here. To be able to commit such a heinous act, you have to be completely out of your mind. To give in to the devil so terribly, so horribly gruesome and heartless your mind is no longer yours and is in the possession of something much more evil. But, on the other hand, could it have been prevented? Absolutely. What mental help was he receiving? What was he not receiving? We have come a long way in treating mental illness, but we have so much further to go.

This school did everything right. There was nothing more they could have done. The office staff was clearly very smart and they saved lives by turning on the intercom so the entire building could hear what was going on in that office and take cover. What else needs to be done though? I have wracked my brain and gone as far as saying every school needs metal detectors. Every school needs security and weapons. Is that really what we have come to?

And clearly, yes, we have. We live in a scary world. 

Book Club Friday

TGIF!

What plans do you have this weekend? I have big plans of seeing The Hobbit (at the Imax theater, woot woot!), laundry, perhaps some wedding dress shopping (no, not me! My best friend is getting married next year!) and just overall relaxing! Not to sound all high and mighty, but I deserve it. It's been a hectic semester!

 Aaaanywaaay... 

I cannot believe I am succumbing to this AGAIN, but today for this edition of Book Club Friday I am talking about the second installment of the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy, Fifty Shades Darker by E.L. James.

I know. I see you shaking your head.

Or nodding enthusiastically.

;)

Same as the first book, I did not love it, but I did not hate it. I do want to know what ends up happening so I have decided I might as well finish the trilogy. I am also enjoying the parallels with Twilight. Considering this book is fan fiction (and I saw the interview with E.L. James and Barbara Walters where she did admit it was fan fiction!) it makes sense that there are a lot of similarities and it is kind of fun reading them.

If I could give this book 2.5 stars, I would. I ended up rating it 2 stars on Goodreads and after seeing the author's interview last night, I have to say I am kind of intrigued by her. I love how confident and nonchalant she was! I do not think that sexual lifestyle is normal, but I am also the type that thinks, "Whatever floats your boat...," what you do behind closed doors is not my business!

Here is the summary from Goodreads:

Daunted by the singular sexual tastes and dark secrets of the beautiful, tormented young entrepreneur Christian Grey, Anastasia Steele has broken off their relationship to start a new career with a Seattle publishing house. But desire for Christian still dominates her every waking thought, and when he proposes a new arrangement, Anastasia cannot resist. They rekindle their searing sensual affair, and Anastasia learns more about the harrowing past of her damaged, driven, and demanding Fifty Shades. While Christian wrestles with his inner demons, Anastasia must confront her anger and envy of the women who came before her and make the most important decision of her life. Erotic, sparkling and suspenseful, Fifty Shades Darker is the irresistibly addictive second part of the Fifty Shades trilogy.

I am very curious how they will do this movie. I am sure there will be a lot of inferring and drawing your own conclusion because there is way too much they could not show... even in a rated R movie! Guess we'll find out...

Have you read this series or considered reading it?

Dear Santa,

Dear Santa,

Here is my Christmas wish list. Please and thank you.

• Nike Fuel band
• I think these are so cool.  These bands track all of your movement, kind of like a really advanced pedometer! You can set daily goals for yourself and monitor your progress. All the data also syncs up with your phone so you can also track calorie intake as well. A good friend of mine has one and she loves it! 

• Owl bookends from Etsy

• I just love these! My books have overflowed from my two bookshelves to my desk and it is really out of control. I'm in desperate need of book ends to keep them all together.  

• Running pants
• Most of my running pants are capris, which are not helpful for outdoor running. I really need another pair of full length running pants for those extra cold days! If you have tips on which pants are the warmest, please fill me in...  

• Mug holder from Etsy 
• My parents had this exact mug holder when I was a kid, I could really use something like this. Our cupboards are so full of coffee mugs and it is ridiculous! I'm just waiting for one of my favorite Fiesta mugs to fall out and break, so this is practically a necessity!  

• BOOTS! 
• I could really use a new pair of Ugg boots. They're so comfy and cozy, but the only pair I have are too big and I hate wearing them. These are really cute and would go with everything! 

• And of course my Christmas list would not be complete without .... BOOKS! Discovery of Witches, My Year With Eleanor, and MORE.... I could keep going in this category, but I'll stop for now. :)

 What's on your Christmas list this year? 

Test time

 via

It is finals week for me and today I have two finals, then tomorrow and Thursday I have one each day. I'm not worried about them, but it is still that looming anxiety that I cannot seem to shake. I just want the test to be over!

I really hate testing. Yes, strong enough to use the word hate. They are a horrible way of showing skills and, in my opinion, they do not tell the instructor that much. Not near as much as you learn through formative assessment. Also, I am a horrible test taker.

But, the other day, I found myself piping up in class about how some high stakes assignments and tests can be good. My justification was these types of situations teach kids what it is really like in the real world. Most of the time we only get one chance to nail a presentation or make a killer impression at a job interview. High stakes IS real life and some high stakes is good. But, a lot of high stakes, like what kids have these days, is NOT good!

Are you one of those mythical creatures that is good at taking tests? What are your favorite ways to prepare for a high stakes situation?

Weekend Play-by-Play

I have missed you all so much! I have so much to do in preparation for finals this week, but considering how much I have thought about blogging, I knew getting a post out of my head and published would do a lot for my mental clarity!

So, here goes! This isn't deep, so set your expectations low... I figured I would give you a peek into my somewhat low-key weekend!

For the rest of the year I picked up overnight shifts on Thursday and Friday nights, so Friday after getting home from work I decided to stay in and just take it easy until 10:30 when I had to head to work. The money is so easy and I just cannot resist overnight shifts. I usually take a Tylenol PM or extra melatonin and I sleep relatively okay.

Saturday morning I was scheduled to work at another site, so I left the house I did the overnight at and went to straight to working with another lady for 5 hours. Luckily, she wanted to go to the YMCA and she is very independent so while she walked on the track for 30 minutes, I was able to run on the treadmill. Paid to run? Yes, please!

I still hate the treadmill though. The only good thing about the treadmill is I can read while running. If I didn't have that, I don't think it would even happen.

After leaving work at 1:30 I headed home to bake some cookies for a cookie exchange on Sunday. Side story: Once a month my grad school friends get together and watch a 90s movie (it all started when we realized only two of us had seen Heathers), eat brunch, drink mimosas and have glorious girl time. It is heavenly! This month we decided to incorporate a cookie exchange in honor of the holiday season and, I have to admit, at first I was a little panicky. I don't bake! I don't think I have baked since I was a kid and mixed up sugar and salt! Luckily, Pinterest came to my rescue and I baked these adorable peanut butter cookies and chocolate covered M&M pretzel rods. They were a huge hit!

And, there was only one casualty! (I went to pick up the cookie when it was still too warm and it broke in half)

Oh, and the movie we watched this time around was Clueless. Seriously, this is the best monthly brunch EVER! Next time, which will be the first weekend in February, I am hosting and we are watching Romeo and Juliet - the Leo and Claire version. Can. Not. Wait!

So, after I baked the cookies, I lounged around for awhile before heading over to the boyf's house to stay in and watch a movie. Neither of us felt like going out so we opted to stay in. He had a race to run in the morning and I just plain didn't feel like it. I have been very anti-social these days. I blame finals! We watched Finding Forrester and I cannot believe I have never seen this movie! I loved it and want to watch it again soon.

Sunday our brunch went spectacularly! We all had some good laughs at how obsessed we were with Clueless in the 90s and we ate some really yummy food and cookies. My reindeer cookies were a big hit and I just might have been bitten with the baking bug... I'm going to have to scope out some healthier versions though because my waistline cannot take it!

Late Sunday afternoon and evening I spent the time studying and reading (dragging my way through the 2nd Fifty Shades book - ugh!) with Redzone on in the background - my Fantasy Football team is kicking butt this week! I dragged myself away from Christian Grey, my textbooks and football just long enough to make a huge pot of chicken tortilla soup packed with veggies. I wish I had snapped a picture of it! But... I didn't. So, instead I will leave you with this picture of plum brandy that a grad school friend gave me for Christmas. She made all her gifts this year and I was so shocked when she gave it to me! It is really, really good!

WHOA!

I am about to wrap up my last semester as a regular graduate student and on January 28th I will begin working side by side with my mentor teacher(s) in my student teaching experience.

All I can think is... "Whoa." (said in a Joey Lawrence voice of course)

Reflecting on this prompted me to go back and look at what I wrote about when I first began this graduate school journey back in the fall of 2010. Here is the post from the first week of classes. It seems like so long ago! I cannot believe how much has changed since then and how much I have changed!

For example, in that post I complained about my classes being with undergrads and grads in the same class. Looking back on that complaint now, I feel bad. Yes, it did surprise me, but now that I have spent so much time working with some amazing undergraduate pre-service teachers, I am grateful I was in classes with them! Many of them are so much more mature than I was at ages 19-21.

I also talked a lot about work and the struggles of being in charge of a management team of four adults and then a staff of 20-50 and theeeeennn managing a three million dollar store. Oh, gawd, I SO DO NOT miss that at all! I am very much looking forward to only managing classrooms of children for the rest of my career and I have no desire to be in administration and manage adults AGAIN.

Adults are way worse than children.

I digress.

Last weekend I got my student teaching placements and I will be with a 3rd grade teacher in a suburban district for the first 8 weeks and then I will be with a special education teacher in K/1st grade (omg) in a urban district for the last 8 weeks. I am so excited and I feel extremely fortunate in my student teaching placements! I had originally requested to be with a specific teacher, but that teacher will be out on maternity leave, so that did not work out and I did not have any other suggestions, so I basically told the student teaching coordinator, "I trust you. Place me with someone who is a good fit." I'm pretty sure she did!

I have not met the teacher at my second placement yet, but I met the teacher at my first placement today and I am almost positive we will get along great! First of all, she is from my boyfriend's hometown and they know each other! Small world, right? In addition to that, she's also my age, which I really like. I have seen enough "veteran" teachers to know that I don't get along very well with inflexibility or people that do not adapt to change well.

(Then again, when I'm older, I probably will not adapt to change very well either!)

So, in the past 2 1/2 years I have learned so much and have met so many really wonderful people. With each step towards being fully licensed to teach elementary school, I am even more certain that I made the right decision to switch careers!

If you could switch careers and realistically do something different, what would it be?

Hello, hello!

Hiiiiiiiiii!

I have missed blogging so much and I cannot wait to be back on a regular basis.

In the meantime, if you are a still reading and would like a Christmas card from me, please fill out this form!

Thank you and I will be back very soon with a lengthy update!