New Year's Letter

Endrit and I did not get around to writing a Christmas letter this year so I decided that I needed to blog a New Year's letter.

2010 was a year of change.  It started with Rachel student teaching in an 8th grade science class and applying for graduate school.  Endrit's PhD research chugged along and he was able to make some real progress, enough to become first author of a scientific paper to be published early 2011.

Rachel finished her student teaching and got a job as a permanent substitute for the rest of the year 2 days later!  She had a fun time being in charge of her own classroom, even if it was a business class she was teaching.  During her teaching she found out that she was accepted into the Instructional Design and Educational Technology graduate program.  She registered for 2 summers worth of classes to take her first semester of graduate school.

Rachel spent the summer making her own flash animations, learning Photoshop, Illustrator, 3-D animations, and building her own website.  It was a fun summer for her!

Rachel interviewed for teaching jobs around the Salt Lake valley.  It came down to the wire but she ended up with a job at the school she student taught at.  With the obligations of being a first year teacher she decided to forgo going to graduate classes.  She plans to go back to school eventually but with everything that will be changing in 2011 it is best she doesn't continue for now.

Endrit is doing amazing.  He loves his research but doesn't like writing.  He would rather be playing with chemicals making new things every day.  He is still working with molecular magnets.

Endrit was told by his professor that he should prepare to graduate in May and be completely done with his thesis before August.  Although this is amazing news, it has put added stress on Endrit.  Obviously his professor thinks it is possible.

Another thing that we changed this year is where we live.  We bought our little house in Salt Lake during the summer.  It is a duplex so while we moved into the front of the house Endrit's parents moved into the back.  It has been mostly good to have them so close and when we move later next year it will be good to have them here to take care of the house.

2011 seems to be a year that will change almost every aspect of our life!  Endrit should graduate and get a job somewhere in the continental US.  Rachel will finish up her first year of full time teaching.  We don't know if she will be working next year on the account of moving.

It has been a good year for us.  We have enjoyed our time together and the learning we have been able to do this year.  Now on to next year.  Here is a wonderful New Year's message from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

SCUBA

Endrit and I did our last open water dives today.  Rick has pictures on his camera that Endrit and I will get from him later that I will put on here.  We have had so much fun diving.  It will be so nice to be able to go diving where we go on vacation.  I can't thank Rick enough for him being so patient with Endrit and I.

Things you may not know

While going through school, all of my school if I read things a lot I would get confused.  I was NOT very good at math.  The numbers were crazy.  When I got into University I tried to do my classes without needing to do the required reading.  I hate to read.  I absolutely abhor reading.  This is because I can't read well.  It is a constant struggle.  I don't like to read blogs that are long.  I don't read newspapers...I can't read the small print. For a few years I have wondered if I have a reading disability.  I honestly would need to read paragraphs several times before I understood it if I read it.  If I heard it, I got it.  It is the visual reading.  I have been working with a special educator at my school all year.  She asked if she could try something with me.  She handed me some clear sheets of plastic that were tinged different colors.  She wanted me to look at text in a book through different colors.

It may not seem like much to some.  But it was like night and day to me. The pink, nothing changed.  The blue nothing changed.  The green nothing changed.  With the yellow sheet of paper everything changed.  I could SEE the words better.  I didn't have to concentrate on each word to be able to see it clearly. It was almost stunning to me that I could see it so clearly.  It isn't my glasses.  It isn't my poor eyesight.  It is how I read.  I have changed the background of my computer to have a yellow tint and I can see what I am writing a million times better.  I am going to be getting another set of glasses with stronger yellow tint to them.

I honestly can't even tell you how much it means to me that the teacher thought to have me do this.  I am beyond amazed and happy.  Maybe I will be able to get above a 10th grade reading level.

Oh Christmas Tree

WE voted!

As is our duty every election, we voted.  The only difference is that it is WE instead of I voted.  Endrit hit a milestone today!  He was able to vote for the first time in his life!  Since becoming a citizen over a year ago we have been waiting for this day.  It was so much fun being there as he cast his vote!

Graduation

I was super surprised this afternoon when I called Endrit after I got out of school.  Endrit told me that his professor told him to go to the graduation office and plan on walking in May!  He will probably finish his degree during summer but he will be walking in Commencement May 7, 2011.  One day less than a year after I graduated.

Congratulations Endrit!!

early birthday present

When Endrit and I got home from work today I saw a large envelope in the mail.  I am expecting something so I thought it was going to be it.  Well, it was addressed to Endrit.  I didn't know that he ordered anything else.  So, he let me open it today as an early birthday present.  It is a shirt folder.  I have always wanted one.  That want grew as I saw Sheldon off of the Big Bang Theory fold his laundry with one.  When I saw it, it was so much fun! Endrit knows me so well.

Thank you so much Endrit!

Hospital Stay

If there were any day that my blog should be in need of an update, today would be the day.  The middle of the day on Friday, I had some worrying signs.  I ended up going to the emergency room and getting a substitute.  I got into the ER room less than an hour in the waiting room.

TMI Alert!!!!  If you don't want to read this, then just skip to where it says TMI over.

So, in 2005 I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis.  The doctors were concerned that I was having a flare.  So, I stayed in the hospital overnight and prepped for a colonoscopy. My second in my short almost 25 years of life.  They told me that they wouldn't do a whole one if there was a lot of flare up.  The prep was...well if anyone says that it isn't horrid, they are lying.

They ended up doing a whole colonoscopy; including the start....or finish of my small intestines.  The inflammation was focused close to the exit.

TMI over.

They took a lot of biopsies to confirm or deny the ulcerative colitis diagnosis.  I go and see the gastroenterology specialist in 2 weeks for the results.

So yeah, I spent the weekend in the hospital.

Endrit was such a sport.  He is so protective of me and such a sweetie.  I love you honey!

Blankie

I wrote in my last blog that I was making a blanket for my friend that is pregnant...yeah I am still not saying who! My mom gave me a whole bunch of stuff to start out my collection of sewing stuff.  I don't have that picture with me as I am at my parent's house right now.  So, here is the finished product.

I don't do fleece blankets.  This is full on fabric with peco edges.  I hooked it to my mom's professional quilting machine and went to town.  I had a lot of fun with this blanket.  I started it last night and I finished it about 30 minutes after I got to my parent's house.  

So, I am pretty excited about this.  I was going to tie it, but the quilting machine was free and it looks really cute.  I will send her the yarn so she can knit something cute out of it.  

Best Husband of the Year Award goes to.....

Endrit!!!!!

If you don't understand the significance of this gift, I am sorry.  I am the daughter of a quilter. I too enjoy quilting.  I brought my sewing machine to my house for the first time since I actually have a place to put it.  My best friend is pregnant right now and so I am making her a baby quilt.  I got all of the supplies that I needed except a rotary cutter.  My mom gave me one but it didn't work well so I decided that I wanted a new one.  Well, tonight Endrit and I went to Joann's and he decided that I deserved Ginghers!!!  And not only Ginghers, but awesome and cute Ginghers with my favorite color!  I love my husband.  Thank you so much Endrit!!!

Teaching

I am a teacher.  I love being a teacher.  It is not always fun, or easy.  I actually had a mini breakdown yesterday.  I mean really.  I had to call for a substitute and just go home.  It was a complex situation.  I won't really get into that.  But, it has made my classes better for sure.  They are figuring out that I am human with the same feelings that they have.

Sorry

It has been forever since I have posted a blog.  I used to be so good at it.  Well...

Adoption hasn't gotten any further.

I started teaching which eats ALL of my time away.

Endrit is still doing well with his PhD work.

Dexter and Jimmy are as adorable as ever.  I love my little kitties.

The house is getting done the way we want it...the basement looks almost like a new place all together.

Endrit takes me shopping because he is a sweetheart.

Alex and Brydie moved and gave me all of the nursery stuff they weren't moving...oh I need to water the plants...They gave me plants too :)

Next Friday is midterms.

Phillip leaves for Iraq soon

Most of my classes are good kids...some I want to strangle.

Endrit has a toe infection and is on a heavy regimen of antibiotics.  I am glad I talked him into going into the doctor.

I don't have health insurance but I will October 1st.

I can't believe that it is already September...and September 11th at that!

I am remembering the significance of this day.  God bless America!

That is about it in my life.  There is most likely more but I am either not sharing it or can't remember it.  I have crates of grading to do.

I HAVE A JOB!!!

I start TOMORROW at Northwest Middle School in the Salt Lake District as an 8th grade science teacher!  I am in shock.  Students start school on MONDAY!!  I have SO much to do!!

Nope

I still do not have a contract to teach.  I did not get the job at the school that I wanted to teach at.  We have absolutely no idea what that means.  We have no idea what I will be doing.  School starts in 2 weeks.  It will be hard to get a job at this point.  So, right now....I have no clue.  That is my answer to almost everything right now.

Waiting....

There are things that I want to talk about.  Like the wonderful thunderstorm that is dumping rain and making my house cool and my grass green.  It smells wonderful.  But all of that beauty is being overshadowed by the fact that I do not know if I have a job.

I know I only interviewed today.  I shouldn't expect a call so soon, but it is hard to not have a call because on Wednesday I interviewed at the same school and I got a call that day to tell me that I didn't get the job but they wanted me to come and interview for another job that was available...the job I REALLY wanted.  It is still over a half an hour away from the time that I heard the news on Monday.  I got the call at exactly 4:01 pm; right when I was preparing for my class.  So, I sit and I wait.  Today has gone by the slowest I have ever had a day go by.  I can't believe it has only been 5 hours since the interview.  It seems like ages.  I didn't want to post because I didn't have the news, but I have to type things out so that I don't go out of my mind!!  I am an odd one, but that is who I am.  I still have faith and hope so that is all I can do right now.

Job Interview

I go in for an 8th grade science teaching position tomorrow.  I am quite hopeful that I will get this job.  If I don't. sign me up for substituting because I don't think that I would be able to get a job with school starting so soon.  This is honestly so nerve wracking.  I do not do so well with the unexpected.

My classes are over TODAY!  I literally don't have anything to do after today.  I am planning on the lessons that I will be doing.  I am starting to plan my first days of school just in case.

New Hobby

Because of all of the techy stuff that I have been able to learn this last summer I have found a new hobby.  I know how to make blinkies.  If you don't know what those are, that is okay.  I didn't know what they were until I made it into the message board world.  This is an example:




It isn't much.  It is just layering things within Photoshop and making a little movie out of it.  I think that it is really fun to be able to make these.  This is the one that I made today.




I think that it is cute for being the first blinkie that I have ever created.  I am starting to build up my digital library of trinkets, stitches, paper clips, papers, etc.  I am really glad that I have an external hard drive just for me.  I would fill up my computer far too fast if I didn't have it.  I am having fun.

Adoption Update

There are many things that I have not been talking about with my blog because it has been a sensitive issue.  Not the least of these is Endrit and I becoming parents.  We want to become parents.  We really do.  As far as actually trying we haven't been trying 100%.  We have gotten pregnant twice in our married life.  One of those times was a couple of weeks ago.  I have never been able to carry a pregnancy for more than a few weeks.  I have never even made it to the doctor before I miscarried.  It is miserable.  That is why when Endrit and I went to the temple and received the directive to adopt we were excited about it.  Then came the costs.  It seems impossible that we will be able to afford the adoption.  We know that we are adopting internationally from Albania.  We have children there waiting.  I feel that with all of my heart.  That is why I was surprised when we got pregnant.  We are now at the choice of waiting to adopt and having our biological child first, or biting the financial bullet and adopting before we have children of our own.

I honestly don't want to make my children wait in Albania for us to get the funding.  We have gone too far in this direction to disregard all of our experiences and switch gears.  We have thought about it.  We have even planned for it when we got pregnant.

So, we step forward with faith.  It is right and that is all that we need to know.  We pay tithing and have faith.  That is all that we can do.

Two Sides To A Coin

As I go into teaching, I have to think about my personal philosophy of teaching.  I have worked at a struggling school with a struggling demographic. While there I have learned to love teaching that demographic of student.  I sometimes wish that there was a little bit more, but there are some things that you learn more from and that school was one that taught me many great lessons.  

There is a school that I interviewed at is in almost every way the opposite of where I have been teaching.  Although it may sound like a dream job to some, it has me questioning if it is a good fit for me.  In one way (my personal philosophy of teaching) it is NOT for me.  In another way (my gaining of knowledge) it is PERFECT for me.

I have to be able to think of the future.  What I do now will either help or hinder me in my future career goals.  If I stay at one type of school I will not learn how to teach in different environments.  If I teach in polar opposite schools, I have the learning, but not necessarily the enjoyment.  I would LOVE to get a job at a school that is a nice happy medium between the far extremes, but I am not so confident that I will be able to find that kind of job.  

So, If I get the job, do I take it and learn from it as much as I can, or do I pass it by and stick with my teaching philosophy?  I am still unsure as to what that answer is going to be.  If I don't get the job the answer is easy, keep looking.  If I get the job...it gets a little bit harder.  I know that the school will be wanting an answer that day.  I have to decide what I am going to do.  

house pics

The front

The side

The other side.  We have roses.

Home Owners

Well Endrit and I signed for the house today.  Once the money gets transfered tomorrow, we close and get the keys.  We are 1 day away from being home owners!  I am every excited about it.  Endrit is very excited about it.  It will be an interesting weekend with moving and everything else that is going on.  We are going to go to Home Depot today and get some necessities that need to go in first before we move.  Like blinds.  Whoot!  We are now home owners.

Time

  Well, regular semester school is out so I am relishing the 3 days that I have off between that and summer school. It is nice to just have to go to school at night.  It is nicer that I don't have to go to school in the morning.  Granted that will end on Monday.

  I am trying to get all of the lessons that I will be teaching during summer school.  I know all of the stuff, it is just what I think will be the most challenging for them to understand in the regular school year.  I  need to have a first day of school getting to know you bit. I have decided for the sake of me learning biology and that it is hard for the students to understand.  We will be working on osmosis, semi-permeable membranes, genetics...I think that it will be fun.

Books

It is nice to see that so many people are excited that Endrit and I are adopting. We couldn't be happier than to be starting this process. I told a lady at school that we were accepted into the adoption agency and another lady over heard. Who would have thought that the one person that overheard would have been the one who had worked in adoptions for 20+ years.

We had a great chat. I asked her how to prepare and what I needed to do and she was so helpful. She suggested only getting our marriage certificate and waiting to see what else the agency needs for a home study.

She also suggested to read, read, read. Read about attachment. Read about the country. Read about toddler adoption. Read about anything that interests me with regards to adoption.

So, I got online and reserved a couple of books at the library. I got my first book today. I have started reading it and it is wonderful! It is pretty much a psychology textbook, but I am okay with that. I will only read books with scientific references at the back and an index. I don't want any joe shmo's writing on their adoption process. Everyone is different.

With each new thing that reminds me that I am going to be a mother in a relatively short time I get more excited. While reading the book today I got chill bumps and started tearing up.

Right now I am reading "The Connected Child" By Karyn B. Purvis, David R. Cross, and Wendy Lyons Sunshine. 2 of them have Ph.D.s in child psychology. They have done specific adoption research for many years. I am excited to read the rest of the book.

Agency

It has been crazy trying to find an agency to work with for adoptions in Albania.  With Hague convention code and Albania only working with a couple of agencies, it has been a little bit of a struggle.  We were able to find the loophole.  Since Endrit IS Albanian we bypass a lot of agency hokum.  We are slowly but surely moving forward with adoption.  It is really exciting for us.

public humiliation diet.

My friend Brittanie posted about the public humiliation diet and I found it intriguing.  I find that it is hard for me to loose weight because I can just do what I want while I am at school.  There is no accountability!!  So, I started another blog that I will be posting my weight daily.  My measurements weekly and a summary of the foods that I eat during the day.  I don't care if you read it.  I know another friend that does the same thing and has for a long time.  She is awesome.  So...that is it.  I will be writing my weight on my white board every day too.  Good luck to me.

4 day weekend/description

Today is my Friday for this week and I have Monday off.  This means that I get a 4 day weekend.  How will that weekend be spent? Grading.  With starting school I have not done my grading responsibilities.  I am so far behind!!  It will take hours upon hours to finish, but I have a long weekend so it isn't the end of the world.  

The house sale is coming along nicely.  My brother Phillip (Fred, Warren, Sargent, Boss, whatever name you prefer to call him) was able to go over to the house yesterday and look in the windows because the sellers had taken the keys from the key box.  I think that he liked it.  He sounded like he liked it.  

    On a side note, I got the cutest jewelry from Nicole and clothes!  

I guess I haven't said much about the house.  The front apartment that is closest to west temple is the 2 bedroom that Endrit and I will be living in.  It has a wall mounted tv place that we will utilize!  It has new paint, new carpet, and the bathroom is through the master bedroom.  I guess Endrit and I will have to keep our bedroom clean.  The back yard is completely enclosed with a tall wood fence.  There are mature rose bushes and iris plants that are in full bloom right now and are gorgeous!  The entrance to the 1 bedroom apartment that Endrit's parents will live in is in the back yard.  It is just a regular apartment with new paint and carpet as well.  Between the 2 apartments is the laundry room and the entrance to the basement.  The basement is quite large.  That, I think, is the biggest upgrade from the apartment that we have now.  We don't have to store all we have in the apartment.  That is awesome!  

So we will have a guest bedroom as well as a bed in the front room as a upgraded sofa bed that is a lot more comfy than normal ones.  Since we will live right next to the Bee's Stadium if anyone wants to go to a game and then crash at the house, you are more than welcome to come.  I am super excited for it to close in a couple of weeks.

That is life as it stands right now.  Pictures will come....I promise!

Grad School Project

In one of my classes I have to make several websites.  The first one is just a practice one.  Here is the link to the one that I am working on right now.  It is a work in progress for sure, but I still think that it looks pretty cool.

http://www.uensd.org/class_pages/edps6447/rshurdha/projectone/

job interview

And just to add another wonderful thing to the list I have a contract teacher job for a middle school science teacher on Monday!

Home

Endrit and I have been looking for a place to buy for a few months now.  It has been disheartening at times because of the low budget that we have to be able to buy a home.  I have been periodically looking at the listings in the area that we were willing to look in and there was just nothing that we really liked and were willing to place an offer on.  That all changed 2 days ago.

I found a cute duplex in our price range in our location range too.  That is unheard of.  We went and looked at the property that day between me teaching and my class.  We placed an offer on it that night after my class.  We allowed the sellers to accept or reject our offer by 5 pm last night.  Well, we heard just after noon that they had a counter offer that we would accept.  

So, last night we accepted the offer and we are under contract.  We should close by June 20th.  It has been interesting to go from not many things to being in the middle of financing a house  and graduate school.  

It is a really cute duplex.  It is green!!  (as in the color green)  We seem to like green places to live as we haven't lived in a place that wasn't green since we have been married.  

That is life as it stands right now.  We are getting all of our inspections done this week on the house.  We are finally entering the real "adult" world.  

Pictures as Promised

It is early in the day.  The sun hasn't broken the horizon yet.  Endrit wanted to drive again...I let him.  Here is Trinity!

Trinity Ki

Endrit's dad finally got his drivers licence so it was time for them to get a car.  We were going to go to Ogden to get them a Corolla when Endrit finds a Prius that we could use.  So, we sold Stella (our Corolla) to his parents and got the Prius.  Her name is Trinity.  It is too late to take pictures so those will come tomorrow.  It is a 2006. It is a really great car.  I love driving it!!

Summer

This summer will definitely be busy!  I start graduate school on the 17th; aka next Monday.  I got my programming book for one of my classes and it will be interesting.  I also have the potential to be a summer school teacher this summer.  I would teach 2 different kinds of classes.  One would be a class that the students would have to pass in order to get credit.  The other class would be an enrichment computer class.  It isn't the perfect job, but it will pay for my graduate school.  So, starting next week I will be super busy!!  I am busy now, but I will invite more things to do.

Outstanding

I got an email from my department today telling me that I needed to go into the department and pick up my luncheon tickets.  While I was there I was stopped by my last Geology professor and he asked me how everything was going.  I told him about my job at the middle school and he was really excited for me.  I also found out which award I received from the department; even though I had a suspicion that I received the award that I got.

I got, for the second year in a row, the outstanding earth science teaching major award.  This came with a gift card because it was for 2 consecutive years!!  Anyone that knows me knows that I like to be the best at academics.  I don't care about sports or health, but academically, I try to blow people out of the water.  This award means a lot to me.  It means that I am doing a good job as a teacher and as a student.  It means that my department appreciates me.  I feel bad that I didn't go to the awards banquet, but I couldn't miss work in order to do that.  I don't want to miss out on that much work with my students.  It makes me really happy.

It is my final capping achievement as an undergraduate.  I am not sure if they do awards in my Masters program.  It has just been a really good day and I thought that it was time for a good update.

Update

It has been a while since I have written on here, so it is time for an update. This last week I got a full time teaching position.  It was sudden and unexpected, but, I am very grateful for it.  I teach full time at the school that I student taught at.  I don't teach science.  I teach keyboarding and Career Technology Education-business (CTE-business).  I am happy that they liked me enough to keep me at the school.  I will end up being certified in 3 extra things besides my degree by the end of the summer.  It is awesome.

That is the biggest update I can say, and it is the reason why I am extra busy and I am not online as much.

A Possibility / A Certainty

So there is a possibility that Endrit and I will be placing a bid on a condo in downtown.  The market is low enough that we feel like we will be able to buy something.  We have at least 2.5 years in SLC so it is time to take the plunge!  It is a good starter condo.  2 bedrooms, 1 bath.  We are excited that we might have something of our own that we live in. One of these years we might need that second bedroom. ;-)

Don't announce on facebook but it will get around at some point.  Endrit and I are going to be adopting at some point.  We don't know the time table, but we need to be in a more stable place when we do our home study.  I know that we don't need to be rich, but we do need to be more stable and have 2 bedrooms.  We are adopting from Albania.  That is another portion of what we are doing.  I have been talking to some of the international adoption agencies in Utah and communicating with the US embassy in Tirane.  It is going to happen.

I didn't know when I was going to announce this openly, but, for the few readers of this blog, I think that it is okay.

Endrit and I decided that today would be a good day to go and take my graduation pictures.  I chose a couple of places around the university and we took pictures.  I thought that Endrit did a really good job.

Dislocated Knee Cap / Graduation Announcements

On Monday my right knee started hurting.  It was in the afternoon and it wasn't horrible.  That night I couldn't sleep really well because of the pain.  Tuesday I had to go into school because I had to substitute for Ms. Frison.    I sat down most of the day.  I got a wrap from the school nurse and it was still really really painful to walk on it.  I called the doctor and got an appointment for today.  Going into the appointment I automatically got sent to radiology for x-rays.  It showed that my knee didn't have much wrong with it.

Knowing that, the doctor examined my knee more.  He concluded that the muscles on the outside of my leg are stronger than the ones in my inner leg.  This discrepancy caused my knee cap to dislocate.  It only shifted a little bit but I have to do some physical therapy maneuvers to try and put it back in place.  If that doesn't work I go in next week for an MRI.  I hope that it gets better soon.

As for graduation announcements I got them in the mail on Monday.  I have gotten them all ready to go minus the photo that will accompany them.  Endrit has to take a picture of me in my graduation stuff.  I am SO excited to walk across that stage.

Samoan Fire Dance

There is amazing diversity in my classes.  White students are the minority by quite a large margin.  One of the bigger populations in the school is Polynesians.  I am one that doesn't really like extra credit.  If I see a parent, I am more inclined to offer extra credit points.  That is what I did for the students at parent teacher conferences.  I offered to have people write papers, or do whatever they wanted to do.  I had one student that wanted to perform a Samoan Fire dance because he needed points on his rock cycle test.

I got the DVD today and I am blown away at how much time not only he invested in the assignment, but also how much his parents let him do.  It was literally a fire dance.  It is amazing how much that 14 year old can do.  I am glad that I can take into consideration that science is not for everyone.  If someone wants to dance and play with fire to earn credit for my class, just as long as they can connect it to the material that we are studying I am fine with it.  I offered some people to make a drawing if they wanted to.

The best part about it is that I am able to be culturally sensitive to my students.  I am able to see a talented young man display pride for his culture for his extra credit.  It really does make me feel happy that I am able to do that.

Longest day of my life!

Today I had the opportunity to go to soldier hollow and ski the cross country ski course.  It was really fun.  I had a great time.  The ride up on the bus was boring because my MP3 player died within 5 minutes.  The ride up wasn't so bad.  I had so much fun trudging through the snow for the avalanche safety training.  I learned about different kinds of wax and the chemistry behind it.  It was fun.  I skied a few laps around the course, got a good sunburn, and I fell...a lot.

The first time that I fell, was when a 6th grader plowed into me because he didn't know how to stop.  I have a bruise the side of Texas on my left thigh where the kid hit me.  But that wasn't the worst part of the day.

The worst part...the drive home.  It took SO long!  There was an unfortunate 3 car pileup needing air lift and everything. We were stuck in traffic for hours.  I was the only teacher on the bus from my school.  It was interesting when I had to make sure the students got home.

I had a student tell me that I am a great teacher.  It was a great end to a really long day.

Not so nice things I wish I could say

If you don't like swear words, don't read this post.

There are some words that I hear every day that I would love to be able to use to tell some of my students.

Lyrics to In One Ear :
They say that we ain't got the style,
We ain't got the class,
We ain't got the tunes that's goin to put us on the map
and im a phoney in disguise,
tryin to make the radio,
i'm an anti-social anarchist dyslexic so and so,
they say i'm just a stupid kid,
just a crazy radical,
rock and roll is dead i probably should've stayed in school,
another generation X who somehow slipped up through the crack,
they'd love to see me fall but i'm already on my back

And it goes In One Ear,
and right out the other,
people talkin' shit but you know it never bothers me,
In One Ear,
and right out the other,
people talkin' shit,
they can kiss the back of my hand

Now i know i'm not a saint,
i been a sinner all my life,
i ain't tryin to have no buds,
i'd rather keep them in the line,
they wanna criticise you now,
cast another stone,
burn me at the stake and see them watch it from the dome,
they say the devil is my pal,
i do alotta drugs!
the crowd will only like me if they're really fuckin' drunk,
they think they know my thoughts,
but they don't know the least,
if they listened to the words they'd find the message that's beneath

And it goes In One Ear,
and right out the other,
people talkin shit even though they never bother,
In One Ear,
and right out the other,
peopl talkin' shit don't ya know they never bother and...

Here's the moral to the story,
we don't do it for the glory,
we don't do it for the money,
we don't do it for the things so all the critics who despise, just go ahead and criticise,
it's your integrity that drives us, addin fire to the flame and it goes

In One Ear,
and right out the other,
people talkin' shit but you know they'll never bother,
It goes In One Ear,
and right out the other,
i'm only playing music cos you know that i love it, it goes
In One Ear,
and right out the other,
people talkin' shit but you know we'll never bother,
It goes In One Ear, and right out the other, people talkin shit well you know they can kiss the back of my hand 

Graduate School

I am a little bit late in posting this, but I am still excited.  I officially got into the Instructional Design and Educational Technology or IDET  Masters program.  I will start the program this summer.  I will be graduating with my Masters May 2012.

The Simple Pleasures

There are a few things that I can find pleasure in.  Once of those things came in the mail today.  No matter the economy, I get credit card offers.  I get my kitties to come and snuggle when I have a bad day.  I get good grades.  I found out I like asparagus today when it is boiled.  The little things add up.

Choices

Another Haircut

Knowing that my sister in law has wonderful abilities to cut hair, I take advantage of that to try out the kind of hairstyle that I like. I decided to have a hairstyle that I have wanted to try for a while.  Short in back, long in front, like a reverse mullet.

I think that it turned out cute.  I also kept the bangs. 

Side view...

Back view.

I guess it is a little bit hard to see in pictures, but I love it.

New Lappy

I got my new laptop today.  It is adorable and lime green.  Endrit let me get the lappy that I wanted.  I am in love  with it.  It has a lot of memory, separate volume control for everything.  That is good when you are voice chatting and listening to music at the same time. So, I am still learning about all of the gadgets that the computer has.

Sweet Potatoes

I have never been a fan of sweet potatoes.  So, when Bountiful Baskets had 2 weeks with sweet potatoes in them I had to figure out the way to prepare them so I would enjoy eating them.  The first week I made sweet potato mashed potatoes for Shepard's Pie.  It was really good.  This last week I was at a restaurant and on the menu it had sweet potato fries.  So, I went home today and for dinner I made a couple of my sweet potatoes into fries.  They were really good!!  I am starting to be a fan of sweet potatoes.  It is good to have things thrust onto you so that you can learn to like what you receive.  At least I am willing.

If you want to see a grown woman cry...

Send her to watch the last test of the solid rocket boosters for the space shuttle program.  I literally bawled for 20 minutes after I saw that.  All of my childhood dreams were summed up.  The space shuttle is on its last leg. I shook the hand of a man that was orbiting the Earth less than a year ago.  To see the huge flames from 2 miles away and feel the ground shake beneath my feet and the roar in my ears makes me want to sing!  It makes me want to fly to Florida and actually see a real launch.  I have no great words to explain today, I just stand in awe.

A couple of pictures

The first picture that I have is of Jimmy.  He still sleeps on his back.  I think that it is adorable!

Last night my kitties both wanted to snuggle so I made Endrit take a picture of it.  They are so fun when they are snugglie.

Writing Tests

I had to write my own test for motion, speed and acceleration.  It really is harder than people think. I open up the chapter summary.  I have to write a paragraph summarizing all of the concepts and then making sure that I can delete the vocabulary words in them and it still makes sense.  There was a graph that had to be made.  It is really time consuming, but once it is done, it is done.  That is the great thing.

So, I have 2 versions of the test written.  There are gimme questions and there are questions with extraneous information to really test how much they know.  There is vocabulary and knowledge of units testing.  I personally think that it is a well written test.  My site teacher thinks that it is pretty good too.

It is always interesting to be able to move onto the next thing that I need to do to learn how to be a teacher.  Everything that I do is fun in the end.  I really like teaching the math.  I think that I am okay with it.

I have to admit that I thought I knew how to teach.  I am glad that I have the mentors that I have because I learn a new thing every day.  I love it.

I can't believe it!!!

This is referring to my previous post about my voice.  Since I knew that I needed to change my vocal habits in school by the instruction of my teacher, I decided that I would test it out today.

So the set up of my class is that they come in and they have a question on the board that introduces what we will be talking about that day.  Today's question had 3 sentences in it.  I always read the ATB to the students just to get them on the right track.  After I read the 3 sentences, a female student in my class raised her hand.

"Ms. Rachel, are you happier today?  Your voice sounds so happy."

Jaw drops to the floor...not only did the change get noticed by the students, it was a big enough change that they felt the need to tell me about it.

"I like your voice today" another student says...a male student.

The smile grows wider on my face.

"Ms. Rachel, how did you change your voice so much?  You shouldn't just be able to change your voice like that!"  More students chime in agreement to the question.

"Ah, if you are quiet, I will tell you".

"SHH!!"

I proceed to explain how I have been in theater and choir from a young age.  I have taken vocal lessons for many years.  I am currently taking voice lessons.

"Ms. Rachel, can you sing a song for us?" another male student asks.

"If we can get through the review and there is extra time at the end of class, you pick the song and I will sing it if I know it."

The review went wonderfully.  They were very well behaved.  They participated and asked questions.  There was 5 minutes left at the end of class when we were finished and the suggestions of songs came in like a throng.

The consensus was between "I'm a little teapot" and "Amazing Grace".  The latter won...and I sang it.  Yay for me, the students were impressed...impressed enough to ask me to sing "The Star Spangled Banner".  I obliged.  Whispers were around the room that I wouldn't hit the high note...I hit it and I had most of the boys (who are the singing people in the class) gave me a standing ovation.

It isn't the first time we have sung in class.  A few weeks ago a male student sang a song in class for the daily incentive.  Everyone thinks a duet is in order for another incentive.

The students were happy to learn a new thing about their science teacher.  I sing.  I sing pretty well.  They got to hear it.  They participated in science to hear it.  I hope they remember me for it.

It was all because I changed my voice because my University supervisor said I had a boring teaching voice. Thank you.

Over Trained

Going to voice lessons again is interesting.  I keep on getting untrained from what I was told I needed to do in high school.  With all of the voice training that I have done I have excellent control over my voice.  Surprisingly enough, that is bad when you are a teacher.  I teach in a very different voice than I converse in.  My range is smaller in my teaching.  I need to untrain that as well.  I need to teach in a more conversational voice.  After all those years of carefully using and controlling my voice, it trained me to have a bad teaching voice.  Who would have thought?  More things to think about when I teach.

My Passions

I know that I am a very passionate person.  I learn new things that I love and I really try to stick to them.  I think one of my heavenly gifts is passion.

Passion can come in many shapes and sizes.  Endrit has a passion for Chemistry.  It is amazing the things that he goes through to learn more about it as well as his constant head in the clouds thinking of ways to use Chemistry to make the world better.  He has a passion for technology.  Anyone who has met him knows that.  He can sniff out technology deals and predicts new technologies that will be out like no one else I have ever seen.  It is really fun to listen to him talk about what will be out in 5 years.

My passions are a little bit different.  I have a passion for technology, but it is the use of technology.  This is blogging, texting, Smart Board, ELMO, website design, etc. I like to use it but not actually research it.

One common thing with my passions is that I like to involve other people. I love to teach. I love to organize.  I am excited to be able to be paid for some of my passions.  I am excited to give my time for other passions that I have.

Another passion that I have gained in the last several years is that of adoption.  It really is an amazing system.  I am an advocate for home birth.  I love natural family planning.

Passion is a great thing to have if it is in the right avenues.  There can be not so great passions.  It is all sorts of fun.

Bountiful Baskets

There is a resource out there that is called Bountiful Baskets.  It cuts out the middle man of the grocery store for fresh produce.  Each basket each week costs $18 initially and $16.50 each week after that.  As with anything I am the person that says if it sounds too good to be true then it probably isn't good.  Well, let the picture speak for itself...

Pardon the smudges.  I didn't clean the lens before I took the picture and didn't look at the pictures before I put the food away.  This is after Endrit and I ate a banana and a strawberry. I think I forgot to put one more pomelo in there also.

I am a completely satisfied customer.  I am looking forward to see what I will get next week in my basket.  It is like Christmas morning every week.  You never know what you are going to get.

BOUNTIFUL BASKETS WEBSITE check it out for yourself.  It is in Idaho, Utah, Arizona, and Washington.

Passport

Endrit and I have known that we needed to get him a new passport ever since July when he got his citizenship.  The one thing that has prevented us from getting it is his parent's family union case for them to get green cards.  Well, we decided that we needed to just go and get a passport.  Well, the passport people now have Endrit's official Naturalization paper and we are left with the notarized copy of it.  Well, to our surprise, his parents get their court date in the mail today.  April 1.  April fools day!  What a day to have court.  We should have his paper back by then, but what are the odds?  Crazy.

So, Endrit is getting his blue passport in the mail soon.  He is excited to think he has 2 passports.  I told him he can only use his red one when we adopt from Albania in a couple of years.  It was funny.

So, passports and court dates.  What more can one day have in it?

Yoga

I think that I get more granola every day.  It starts with me needing to change things because of medical issues to me being 100% on board and getting more hippie every day.  I have started to take yoga.  I started a few weeks ago.  I really like it.  Today I went to a free class at a yoga studio.  It was so nice.  It was a lot of stretching.  I finally got past my toes in the stretches today. The instructor was really great.  I will be going tomorrow as well.  So, I do yoga 3 times a week now.  I would recommend it to anyone.  Fun times.

Happy Birthday Endrit!! + misc stuff

Endrit turned 27 today.  He is a sweetheart and it has been a good day.

As for the miscellaneous stuff I had my graduate school interview today.  They all but told me that I got into the program.  I will know for 100% sure by the end of March.  When I get in I will start taking classes this summer! I am very happy about it.  I will be busy, but I am excited.

On Thursday I am going to some mock interviews and I am talking to the administration to show my interest in the jobs that are opening up at the school I student teach at.  It has been an interesting couple of semesters.  I am planning lessons and I think that I really like it.

So things are going well.  This year will hopefully be a really good year.

Guess what was in the mail today...

The advertisement from the University to buy my graduation announcements.  I am filling out the personalized graduation announcement and here it is!!!

The Board of Trustees,

the President, and the Faculty

of the

University of Utah

are pleased to announce that

Rachel Eileen Shurdha

is a candidate for the degree of

Bachelor of Science

in

Earth Science Composite Teaching

at the College Convocation Ceremony

Friday, May seventh, Two thousand ten

Eleven-thirty in the morning

Film and Media Arts Auditorium

Salt Lake City, Utah

So, wow. I am so close to being done with my first degree.  So, May 7 and 11:30 I will be walking.  I am beyond excited.

Science Fair

The Northwest Middle School Science Fair is this Friday.  Endrit and I get to be judges for it.  I am excited that I get to do this.  It is interesting how much I am being integrated into the school.  People come to me with questions.  I have talked to the administration a lot.  They all know me by name; and that is a good thing.  I feel like I should be getting paid.  I have to get Endrit prepped to be a judge. I was one that explained some of things that the judges are going to be looking for with the students so I am ready.

Fun times coming up this Friday.

Yoga

I decided that I needed to have one thing for me.  I went to yoga a couple of weeks ago at the ward and I love it.  I got a yoga mat and I am trying to do some of the yoga poses for at least 20 minutes every day and an hour 2 days a week with the instructor.

Endrit tried to do some yoga with me today and he quit after 5 minutes.  I thought that was funny because he always thought that yoga was easy.  Now he knows better.

So, that is the thing that I have for me.  I guess that Endrit and I are getting on our health kick right now.  Hopefully it will be a lifestyle change.

Haircut!!!

Phillip's fiance, Nicole, came over and gave me the first real haircut I have had in a long time.  I really, REALLY like it.  I like the bangs too.  I just wanted to share.  Thank you Nicole!

Voice Lessons

I have turned into a quiet person to talk to.  With no one to talk over, I haven't needed to project my voice.  Well, now I have to project being a teacher so I decided to pick up voice lessons again.  It really is amazing to me how out of shape my voice really is.  I know that it will get better as I practice my vocal exercises every day. I learned that I don't resonate enough.  I am now aware of it so I know how to position my mouth and tongue better to resonate.

I am taking the lessons from a nice lady in the ward.   She has a degree in music so she really knows what she is doing.  It is nice to be able to sing again.  My voice is SO out of shape.  That is why I have gotten teacher voice.  But what I wanted to say was that she has 2 kids.  I know that the older one thinks I am okay.  He is a great kid.  They also have a little girl.  She is a little over a year old.  She is adorable.  Today she decided that I am friends with her.  She looked at my ID for school and pointed to the picture on it and said "that's you!"  It was adorable!  When I was texting Endrit, she said "text". At the end of the lesson I was sitting down and she gave me all of the toys that she had and insisted on sitting on my lap.  The greatest thing about it is that little Kate doesn't do that to anyone.  I am the first stranger that she has gone to ever.  I feel privileged to be the one that she likes.  I have a new little friend.

Great Day at Church

We are starting a new manual in Relief Society and Priesthood.  It is the Gospel Principles. We learned about God the Father today and it was amazing.  It is always nice to have a specific reminder of the principles of the Gospel.  If you were unable to go to church, or if you don't know about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, here is the LINK to today's lesson.  I will be posting the lesson each week that we learn about.

We also learned about the book of Abraham and the predestination possibilities of the noble and great ones in Sunday School.  I loved learning all of these things.  Today was a great day at church.

Spoiled

Endrit does a good job of spoiling me.  It isn't a bad thing.  I don't get everything that I want, but if it is in our budget, I can usually get it.  Today Endrit was nice enough to get me all of the things that I needed and wanted.  I am starting to get a little bit more girlie.  I like earrings.  I like dangle earrings.  I saw a pair that I really like and Endrit got them for me.

I think that they are absolutely beautiful.  Nice orange and purple.

I also was able to get a little woman's wallet, an umbrella, and a yoga mat; all in lime green.  I have the best husband.

Coolest Website!!!

I know that I say that I have found the coolest website and I post about it, but I think that I have found the official coolest website ever.  It has something for everyone!!  I am in love with this website.  It is wolframalpha.com/examples. Endrit found out about this site through someone from work.  It just has to be explored.  You can make barcodes.  It literally has something for everyone.  It has stuff that I can schedule a day in the computer lab for my students and have an online lab.  Please go and check it out.  It is worth the time.  Put in your birth date and birth city and you can find out the weather on the day that you are born.  It is awesome!

New Year 2010

I have hope that 2010 will be a good year.  I will be getting my bachelors degree in May.  I am beyond excited for that.  I will know if I will be in graduate school for the next 2 years hopefully next month.  I am 99.9% sure that I will be in the program.  I will get a job, pay off our student loan debt, and continue to grow our savings account (hopefully for a house).

The things that I would like to better about myself this year is my patience with life.  I think too far into the future and I need to look at what I have now and how well my life is turning out.  I couldn't have planned a better life for me. It isn't for everyone, but I really like the way my life is.  I need to be able to appreciate the life that I have in this moment.

I know that this year will be better than last year.  Last year was rough.  I am loving being in my classroom.  I can only imagine myself in my own class where the students have only seen me as the authority figure.  It makes me really happy.  I am to the point that I like being in the school teaching more than I would being at my house reading a book or watching a movie during that time.  It is a really rewarding job.

I got a much needed boost from a friend from high school that I helped to get the initial understanding of economics for her.  I am so glad that I was able to help.  I can only hope that I will have some impact on the students that will be in my classes.

Now I need to buckle down and grade the 70 tests from 2 classes I taught today to prepare for the 70 more I will need to grade tomorrow.  I love it.

First Day of Student Teaching

Today was the official start to my student teaching.  I taught 4 classes and it wasn't as very difficult to transition because I have been transitioning the whole time.  The students know me and expect me to be in the class.  Now they will know that I will taking over the class on a more permanent basis and I didn't get any uprising against that.  They seemed to welcome me as the teacher.  It will be interesting to say the least.  I will be even more excited when I am able to do my own lesson plans.  I don't like doing other people's lessons that I can't plan ahead of time.  It will be interesting for the next 3 weeks.  After that, I give all of my lessons to the teacher and she will teach off of my lessons.

I am so ready to be a teacher.  I was truly born for this profession.