Big News!!!

Drum Roll please.......  :) This upcoming year, I will be student teaching in.. CASPER!!!  Yay :) I am so excited.  As exciting as this is, this was an incredibly tough decision.  I can't imagine not going back to Laramie for my final semester before student teaching (since I'm placed in Casper, I will be taking my methods classes in the fall there as well so I can be in my student teaching classroom all year long.)

 

This decision was super hard because there is so much that I love and couldn't wait to go back to in Laramie.  Some of my wonderful friends are still there, the amazing fellowship with FCA, and just the familiarity really.  I think that's part of why Casper scared me so much.. because it's new and a HUGE change.  The great thing about Casper though is that right now, it's my ideal place to live (God willing).    It's super close to home, yet a different town, and has more of a city feel compared to my 6,000 population town. :) It's also a wonderful school district, and I get to be with my same mentor teacher for the entire year instead of just a semester.  This also gives me a greater chance of getting hired in Casper because they will get to see me all year long and see how I would work and know if I'd be someone they'd like in their school system.  Another thing is since I've been taking my Practicum there, I feel like I've received an immensely better education than I did in Laramie. 

Now, don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVED my time in Laramie and wouldn't trade it for the world, but these last three semesters are crucial in preparing me to be a licensed teacher.  (I had really been freaking out while still in Laramie because I thought I had no clue, and wouldn't have a clue on what to do when I finally got into a classroom.  I did have a few great instructors though).  This way, I won't be in a Laramie classroom part of one semester and then come in new halfway through the year wherever I'd get placed.  Now I get to go in a week before the school year in Casper starts, help the teacher set up the classroom, be there on the first day to meet the students, and be in that same classroom with the same kids all year long so I'm able to build greater relationships with them, which then allows me to be a more effective teacher.  (Wooh! How ya like that run-on? ;) 

(My feelings exactly! (teddy bear and everything :)  Definitely want to be back in Laramie, but I need to be in Casper.)

It was incredibly hard to finally come to this decision though.  I had a few in depth conversations with some great friends about the pros and cons, and had a lot of prayer with God.  When this situation presented itself to me, I had less than a week to decide.  However, it really came down to the conversations I had with my dear friends Katie and Chelsie.  They were so great about pointing out how God had let everything fall into place.  Why did it turn out that I'm in Casper right now?  I wouldn't have even thought about this as a possibility had things not worked out where they are now.  The UW advisor in Casper told me I could give her my application without submitting a petition since I had gotten my Laramie one in on time and really convinced me on the pros of doing residency in Casper.  Those are just a few, but He made so many things just fall perfectly into place.  This was definitely the harder decision, so I knew it was the right one. 

Anyways, just wanted to fill you all in on the new news.  Big change!  Super scary, but I'm ready for this new adventure!  

Banana Bread Oatmeal

Yummy recipe to share!  Those of you who know me know I'm a super picky eater :P So, I'm super excited that I've found a MOST delicious breakfast, and SUPER healthy at that!  It's also über quick and easy, so great for those of us running like mad women in the morning.  Here's what you'll need:

* 1/2 cup dry oatmeal

* 1 scoop vanilla protein powder (I use EAS whey protein)

* 1 spoonful ground flaxseed meal 

* Original almond milk (can substitute regular milk)

* Banana

* Chopped Walnuts (optional)

All you need to do is put the banana in the bottom of the bowl.  Smash it until it's mush.  Pour in the dry ingredients, then cover with the milk of your choice.  Microwave for 1-2 minute.  I always go about 1:20 because I like mine a little more milky and not quite as "bready."  I used to make it with skim milk, but finally tried it with almond milk and it makes it way more sweet, so it's the perfect start for my sweet tooth.  It's clean and high in protein and fiber.  It keeps me full for quite a while.

In order to make it even quicker, about once a week I'll put my oatmeal, flax seed, and protein powder in a ziplock.  Then, in the morning, I'll just smash my banana, pour in the ziplock, cover with milk and microwave.  YUMMMM!!  -Enjoy :)

Kindness is Contagious

Kindness is so contagious.  I got to see this in action on an airplane of all places.  This is the place where I am LEAST likely to ever talk to the person next to me.  It's already awkward enough that those poor souls get to watch me sleep (hopefully with mouth closed!).  Well, on my way back from Houston this weekend from the Passion conference (post on that coming soon!) I went back to row 28 to sit down.  Now, normally the person already sitting in the row would not make eye contact until I stood there for a few seconds, then they realize I'm sitting by them, they'll move, we'll make ourselves comfortable and that's that.  Well, on this lovely Sunday, I got back to my row and the sweet lady sitting there made eye contact and asked, "are you here?"  I told her I was, she smiled, and I sat down.  I smiled back and so we both new we were friendly people and it was okay to talk to each other.

We started talking by her asking where at in Wyoming I was from (I was in my pink Wyoming sweatshirt so everyone and there dog of course new where I was from.  The gentleman letting me on the plane even started calling me Wyoming! haha)  I told her and she told me how thankful she was to just be on the plane.  They were on their way back from Costa Rica and with all the crazy weather lately, it had been a struggle to find connecting flights to get her and her husband and friends back to Bozeman.  We then had a whole conversation on her trip to Costa Rica.  It was super interesting.  I've been learning in my education class that people speak in stories and they also LOVE to tell their stories.  I WAS super interested, and wanted to let her tell her story, so I just kept asking questions. :) FUN FACT: I learned that the only monkeys who can actually digest bananas are chimpanzees.  It actually wrecks all other monkeys' digestive systems and most of them know that they can't eat them, so they avoid them and eat mostly berries and nuts.  Pretty cool since when we think of monkeys, the next thing that usually comes to mind is banana!  Anyway, she shared how amazing her whole trip was (next spring break maybe? anybody?) and then the flight took off.  I put my headphones in and proceeded to take my usual plane nap.

This trip, I forgot to take my dramamine (which I NEVER do) and so I barely kept dozing off, and then woke up right in time for the snack and drink cart!  Coincidence?? Maybe :)  Anyway, the little guy in front of my got the last mini jar of pringles. :( I was kind of sad, so I had to splurge and get a whole snack box, out of which I was going to eat about 2 things (for those of you who know how picky of an eater I am hehe :) ) Well the lady who was in the window seat, (I was in the aisle, and Montana in the middle) asked if she could use her food voucher?  The flight attendant told her know that it was only for food vendors in the airport.  Well the lady in the window seat was being rude (obviously had had a bad day) and so the flight attendant gave in and then told her that she'd accept it.  So the lady starts looking at the menu, finds nothing to her liking, and says, "don't you guys have any fruit or anything?" The flight attendant told her that they didn't, just the snack boxes.  So then after all that, the lady had complained, got her way, then decided she didn't want anything.  Really?  Come on now.  It's free food, just grab something!  So she ended up not getting something.  At this point I had went through my snack box, found the few things I was going to eat, then looked at what was left.  There was a little package of dried fruit.  I offered it to her and she accepted after thinking about it for a second.  Then, when I had finished my snacks, I had a few other things left and offered them to Montana, letting her know that I was just going to throw it away.  So she took the cheese and crackers.  Well, I had some beef sticks left, so I offered those to the window seat woman.  She refused and started to explain that she bloats when traveling in the air and so she'd just wait for a banana in the airport because that helps her swelling to go down.  Well at this point, Montana ended up having a banana in her bag that she had grabbed at the hotel earlier that morning.  She was then able to give window seat the banana because she had already had cheese and crackers from me.  Window seat then lightened up at this point and started talking to us and letting us know her story.  She had been through hell and back (in all traveling sense) like many other people.  Poor thing had hardly any sleep, got put up at the Econo Lodge (she wasn't real thrilled about that), cancelled and missed planes etc.  Everything you can imagine... Thank you snow!!

Anyway, long story short, a little kindness can go a long way and can have a wonderful snowball affect and make others days just a little bit better.  Be kind, even when you don't think you need to, you never know the kind of day someone is having!