A Tiny Getaway

Where did the summer go?

2007-08-25T18:25:28Z

So the wedding and all the activities that went into it were sooo fantastic. And the honeymoon was paradise (even though I was sick on our travel day, ugh) I have a bagillion pictures! Then on August 7th I went to Quincy, IL with my parents and Kyle to move him to college up there. I cried when we drove away ...

Preschool week flew by and so did the first week of school. I am teaching two sections of Algebra 2, one section of Algebra 1, and one section of Intensive Algebra 1. I have fewer total students to keep track of this year because Intensive is two class periods of the same 15 kids. That will be my biggest challenge, seeing them every day after lunch for the 100-minute block. The Algebra 2 classes are huge, but the kids have been soo good so far. Why can't they stay scared & intimidatable all year? :) And the new dress code policy at Gardens has been going SO well. The kids look amazing. And I must add that being a second year teacher is 10 times easier than last year. PLUS I was somehow blessed this year with planning during fifth hour ... this year will be soo much different than last! Love it!

Here's something fun that my dad sent me:

"Mudcats starter Chris Volstad - the top prospect in the Florida Marlins organization according to Baseball America - outdueled fellow giant Sam Narron for a 3-2 win in front of 3,931 fans at Joe Davis Stadium.

Though Narron's only mistake resulted in a two-out, three-run homer in the third inning by Carolina center fielder Jai Miller, that was one too many.

Volstad allowed only three hits in seven sterling innings.

"Look at him," said Stars catcher Lou Palmisano, who touched Volstad for a second-inning, first-pitch homer. "He's like 7-10 or 8-feet tall on the mound. If he's hitting his spots, he's hard to hit."

At times, it seemed almost impossible to put a good swing on the prospect.
Volstad looked like he was worth every penny of $1.6 million he signed for two seasons ago.

Though the 20-year-old's motion was smooth and easy, his fastball rushed out of his right hand in the low-90s, and he had a terrific biting curve ball. "

Some people think Chris will be called up BEFORE the next season starts. That would be insane - I don't think my mom or I could handle that, we'd be too nervous. I miss Chris though, I feel like I've barely been talking to him all summer!

Here comes a rainy weekend. Loving married life, btw ... doing laundry and hanging out with my husband all afternoon :)

xo

Nine days til the wedding!

2007-07-13T03:44:18Z

So I'm on Facebook playing hangman with Kyle ... on our WALLS! It's reached a new low. But it's hilarious! And the answer to the hangman is what I wrote as my subject line for this entry. He's not very good at this game ... I always win ...

Tonight we saw the fifth Harry Potter. It was SO GOOD! I want to go and see it again. Holy special effects! We got there super early so we had the best seats. I still want to see Ocean's Thirteen and I'm pretty sure Shawn and my brothers are going to make me see Transformers with them. Summer movies make me happy. So does summer television on USA - Burn Notice is the hottest show ever!

Today I went to a luncheon at the Abacoa country club hosted by a women's club in PBG called The Exchangettes. Every month they sponsor a teacher and they chose me during last school year as their teacher of December. I got a healthy check from them to spend on classroom materials back in December and was honored today at their luncheon ... there were like 8 teachers there and we all spoke about ourselves for a few minutes. Randomly, I sat next to this sweet old lady named Barbara Harris, who we figured out was my sixth grade PE teacher at Duncan!!! So weird! Those ladies were so cute. The Exchangettes is kind of like a sorority and I could totally see myself doing that when I'm like 70. They have general meetings, committee meetings (everyone has to be on one), exec meetings, charities they help and volunteering. I wonder if they have drama like we did in TBS? lol!!

Nine days and counting :)

Save the last dance for me ......

2007-06-19T23:00:06Z

Love that Michael Buble song :) Shawn and I are taking dance lessons now for the wedding (love!!!) and that is one of the songs we're learning to dance to. And our first dance of course. These dance lessons are really something that we've wanted to do socially regardless of the wedding, so it's been super fun. We'll see if we get frustrated at all- our next lesson is tonight :)

Summer break = heaven. I've done tons of wedding planning and this week I've been going to an algebra workshop. We get a stipend and $500 worth of classroom materials! It's amazing ... plus there's 3 of us from PBGHS so we've been carpooling and making it fun.

In more news, Shawn and I decided on a place to live :) We are meeting in a couple days to sign the lease and I'm sooo happy. It's perfect for us: 3/2 townhouse, fully furnished, great view on the 3rd floor, pool, clubhouse with a gym. Our lease starts on July 1. Shawn has been talking with his boss about transferring from the National City Bank in Ft. Pierce to the one in West Palm to be closer, and he found out last week that it's happening! July 1st he's going to transfer for good down here with a little bit of a promotion too. Ahhhh nothing has gone wrong yet with everything - it's unbelievable. I always knock on wood when I tell my friends these stories because there's bound to be a snafu somewhere right!? We'll see what kind of post I have right before the wedding :) I'll probably be so excited and anxious etc etc.

This weekend is going to be AWESOME btw ..... finally get to hang out with Meg and Jeff and Kyle down in Ft. Lauderdale and go to our good friends' wedding. I miss our college friends!!!!

Time to get my dancin' shoes on :D Ciao!

One more Monday left ...

2007-05-14T22:55:49Z

I am so sleepy!

Only one more regular Monday left of the school year. The Monday after that is Memorial Day, followed by a post-school planning day. I like planning days a lot, prob because I like organizing and fixing up my classroom but not having to see the kids all day. Plus we always go out to lunch and make it fun.

Today was the first day at school with all of the seniors gone. Seriously, my fifth hour class went from being my dreaded class to my favorite. I lost 12 seniors in that class alone and am left with 16 kids. Beautiful. We learned stuff today from bell to bell. They asked questions and were interested in what we were doing. There's a shocker. My other classes each lost somewhere between 4 & 8 seniors... not as drastic but still nice. The smaller volume of papers alone makes it feel like my job is half as hard.

I miss Chiefs so much. Every once in a while I will read an old journal of mine or listen to one of the CDs and I get sad thinking how that chapter of my life is completely over. So dorky, but so fun. Listening to the Bones or Screech jam out always gave me goosebumps.

Twelve more days of school left ... and that includes exams!

Finally......... it's raining :)

Tomorrow is Friday

2007-05-03T20:02:57Z

Shawn is coming down to meet up with the whole group for happy hour after school tomorrow ... I can taste it already.

Last night was another one of Chris's games to pitch and it poured down rain. The lightning was actually pretty scary! They canceled the game so he only pitched 2 innings. He did well though while it lasted. And he was on the cover of the little Jupiter Hammerheads magazine with the Cardinal's first rounder. There was an article in there about him as well as an interview. Pretty neat.

I am so effing ready for summer. My students are so unpredictable and bipolar ... some days they are amazing and fun and well behaved and compliant. Others- I seriously have to restrain myself from being mean and sarcastic to everybody. Today was one of those days in 5th hour. Sometimes it makes me act like a person I don't want to be. I really really don't want to become a cranky, grouchy veteran teacher. I'll move into administration before that day comes.

Time to grade a million quizzes ......... ciao!

It's rare that you have a really good Monday ...

2007-04-24T01:08:48Z

The wedding invitations came in the mail today! They are so perfect! Love them!!

I had a major breakdown last week. Everything finally caught up to me... frustration, punk high school kids, being tired, missing college, missing Shawn, blah blah. So I cried for like 2 hours. It wouldn't stop!! Haha I seriously tried to stop but couldn't. Amazingly I had a great day today; it hardly ever happens on a Monday.

Volleyball season is over... JV that is. The varsity team has playoffs and senior night and lots more practicing. I'm going to help out, but it isn't the same b/c I'm not in charge of the team or anything.

This weekend we went to Outback with Chris & Hillary- my dad's way of saying thanks for getting Kyle the volleyball scholarship to Quincy University. It was so fun. I'm going to miss them when they move to NY. Hillary's like, you better expect some phone calls because I need help planning my wedding! So yeah Kyle is going to Quincy, Illinois for college, to play volleyball and football. His scholarship was trifold actually; academics as well. Nuts huh. He's going to completely freeze his tail end off! Nothing like living in the "shadow" of your two younger brothers who just get handed money for being athletic. Psshh it's rubbish!

14 school days til the seniors leave. PEACE OUT! :)

Back to the grind...

2007-04-12T01:00:26Z

So weird that there's less than 2 months of school left. Just taking a quick break ...

Some of my favorite quotes of this year:

My brother Kyle, after he got an 'A' in AP stats: "You know, school is so much easier when you pay attention in class and do your homework!"

... No sh*t!?

An adorable junior in my sixth hour Algebra 2 class: "I always used to hate math, I never did it good before. You must have motivationed me, Miss Volstad."

(Obviously he needs to have a talk with his English teacher.)

A ditzy sophomore in my fifth hour Algebra 2, arguing against the uniforms next year: "How do they expect us to work in art class if we're all dressed the same?"

A very ethnic African American senior girl: "Miss Volstad your brother is hot, how would you like it if we were sisters?" One of her very ethnic friends: "You think Miss Volstad wants you coming in disrupting her quiet, white home with your loud Unk music?!"

A senior in my sixth hour, in the middle of class, on Valentine's Day: "Wow Miss Volstad you are in a great mood, what are YOU getting tonight??" (She was completely innocent, I am sure of it.)

Sometimes on quizzes I'll have an extra credit problem that asks for the definition of one of our new vocab words from the chapter. One of my Algebra 2 juniors told me he loves words of the day and thinks that everyone should learn them. He said I need to be more aware of the culture at our school, so today he explained to me what it means if someone calls you "green."

My students and I have a love-hate relationship ... I love them when they're not IN class. Next year I'm sure I will love it if they come by to visit me. They just drive me nuts when I have to get them to shut their mouths and listen.

Spring break was a delicious taste of what summer will be like. Shawn and I got tons of wedding planning done, too. I got to read a novel that was gathering dust in my closet. I got a little bit of a tan. I had lunch with an old friend and went to the gym five days in a row!

Tomorrow night our volleyball match is way out at Seminole Ridge HS. Next week is our last week for JV ... yes!! I can have my afternoons back :) Bill Weed is now trying to convince me to take over the volleyball program next year because the head coach is moving to New York. I don't think I have ever answered "no" so quickly in my life. Haha I will coach JV again, but there's no way I'm ready to be the main event. Some days I still feel like I have no idea what I'm doing at school ....

Okay it's bed time, you know, almost 9:00 pm. :) Ciao!

Spring break!!!!!!!!!!

2007-03-30T21:45:54Z

Yeah I realize all of you have already had spring break, but now mine is here!!!

A few things...
-I'm still super sick and got lots of sympathy from my kids this week
-I'm buzzed from happy Friday at Abbey Road
-My little brother, who still goes to PBGHS, came to pick me up and take me home ... how freakin funny is that!
-Big plans this weekend ... and lots of beach time this week. :)
-I miss Meghan

That is all. Din time!

Happy Hump Day

2007-03-21T22:44:41Z

For some reason, once Wednesday is over, it feels like the week is basically over. Tomorrow is Thursday and I love Thursdays because of Grey's, AND because I know the next day is Friday. I'm such a kid.

Speaking of which, I counted that there are only 31 days left until the seniors are done at school. That means the HELLIONS in my classes will be g-o-n-e gone forever! Well, I should say the hellions in my fifth hour. The rest of my seniors really aren't too bad. Once their gone, I'll have the chance to really help the other kids get ready for the final exam. Sometimes I wonder what the heck I am doing as a high school teacher. Was I nuts when I decided to do this?? Why didn't I decide to be a photographer, or an oceanographer, or a supermodel, or just travel and write? Part of me thinks I wouldn't be so stressed out all the time, or pissed off at all the backtalking and rudeness. At least now the 4th nine-weeks has started and the school year is coming to a close. A lot of other teachers are asking me how it feels to have my first year almost finished. It feels pretty damn good.

My boy's volleyball team has been doing pretty well. We have another game tomorrow night. We've lost one match and won a match. Chris is finishing up spring training with the Hammerheads and he's going to be starting on opening night in a couple weeks for their season! Can't wait. Kyle has been getting a zillion packets in the mail from small colleges around the U.S. for football and for volleyball. He might go to Quincy in Illinois (it's a catholic college) for both sports, almost a full ride. I'm pretty sure I could never do that, seeing as it gets freezing up there and he'll have basically zero free time.

Wedding planning is coming along great ... surprisingly, there's been no bumps in the road (yet). We decided on flowers and tuxes and have booked the honeymoon to St. Lucia in the Caribbean. :D

July is going to be here before we know it!!

Go Marlins!!

2007-02-28T00:44:52Z

Chris's first big-league spring training game went SUPER! He pitched the first 2 innings and did great. He said he was really nervous. He gave up 2 hits, had 2 strikeouts, walked nobody, and gave up no runs. How awesome! My mom & I took lots of pics so check them out on facebook if you want to see some of the big boys on the field.

Two days of FCAT are over. Next week we just have FCAT Science and FCAT NRT. Then we'll be officially o-v-e-r. It's so weird that everybody has spring break at FSU next week (and I'm 100% jealous of those of you going on the cruise!) because I don't have mine until the first week of April. And how weird is it that daylight savings begins on March 11th this year?! Crazy.

So this past weekend I was in Vero with Shawn and we got some serious wedding planning done. We met with his mom's friend who is going to donate orchids for our wedding (yayy!!) and got the guest list finalized. And ......... we decided to add more bridesmaids & groomsmen to the wedding party! It was pretty random how we decided. We were just reminiscing about college and Shawn realized how much he misses his boys ... and said he wishes he could have had more groomsmen, his college buddies. So we just looked at each other and were like, why didn't we have more?? It's not too late right? Haha! So I asked my cousin Allie and Jessi from work and they were super duper excited. :D Shawn asked Jeff & Kyle Manners who also agreed. It's going to be sooooooo much fun :)

Tomorrow's Wednesday already ........... more volleyball practice & I'm testing all my algebra 2 kids through Friday! Have a great week!

Hello 4-Day Week!

2007-02-21T00:12:56Z

Mmmmm ... my mom made chili for dinner tonight :D

My day off yesterday was ah-maze-ing. We had four 5-day weeks in a row and so this long weekend felt like way more than a day off. I love President's Day ...

I got a handful of things done that I'd been meaning to do, and I talked to Meghan for almost an hour. That hadn't happened in forever! :)

So I'm coaching boy's JV volleyball now with Karyn. I'm super excited - I have wanted to coach all year but the girl's basketball season was just at the most inopportune time. Homecoming events, floatbuilding, master's degree, getting engaged. Lol ... now that everything is much slower and I don't feel so overwhelmed with teaching, I'm ready to coach. This season will be less than 2 months and there's only like 10 matches, so I'm sure it won't be too much. The varsity coach is really helpful and another plus is that my brother Kyle is playing on the varsity team. :)

Well, there isn't a new episode of House on tonight so I think my mom and I are going to watch the beginning of season 1 on DVD tonight ... I have to see House at least once a week, even if it's not a new episode.

Can't believe February is more than half over! Where does the time go!??

Ciao ~~~

Deal or No Deal?

2007-02-13T01:42:55Z

My fam is watching Deal or no deal, and I just don't get the drama of it.

Another week is upon us. We have like 9 school days until FCAT testing and I can really feel the pressure. My kids are getting all stir crazy because we've had four 5-day weeks in a row and everybody's buzzing about FCAT. I don't blame them, I'm going stir crazy too. I'm so sick of talking about grids and extended response and test-taking tips. Just a couple weeks til it's all over.

Then I'll have a count down until spring break which isn't until the first week of April.

Then finally a count down until summer.

I keep hearing that your second year of teaching is better, easier, more relaxed. I'm getting so sick of some of these kids. But the majority of them are great and I love their sense of humor. I want to take another trip to Tally this spring, maybe in April. Maybe at the end of my spring break or something so Shawn and I can catch a baseball game and I can go to a TBS meeting.

Shawn and I have been looking at townhouses hard core ... we found several cute ones in Abacoa for a price we can handle. I hope it works out that we can both work in the same town. Whatever is meant to happen will happen! He and I are meeting in Stuart on Wednesday for a Valentine's Day steak dinner. :) Woo hoo

I'm sooooo sleepy ......... g'night at 8:45 pm :)

The weekends get me through the week

2007-01-18T00:59:25Z

This past weekend was a freaking blast. Shawn's parents threw us an engagement party and almost my whole family made it to Vero for the festivities. I found this adorable red dress to wear and some other new clothes for when we went out ... and oh man did we go out. Meghan, Josh, Jeff, and Ashley drove down from Tallahassee & we made the small quiet town of Vero Beach our bar-hopping playground. Things happened that night that I will only know because of the pictures & this supposedly hilarious video on Ashley's camera!! Can't wait to see it! The only person who couldn't be there for the party was Haley :( which was sad, but I understand. Shawn's stepmom is so amazing, she was the mastermind behind the engagement party. Our families ended up loving each other, which was surprising because you know how every family has a few members that make you worry. I guess we were just lucky :) I felt so spoiled all weekend!! Jen & I got some great pictures together. I love it that she's my maid of honor and I am hers. Next weekend I am going to try on bridesmaids dresses for her wedding!! Just wait until the summer starts and everything really begins.

This week hasn't been bad, just tiring and sooo much work. With FCAT like 6 weeks away, things are getting nuts. I teach math and FCAT reading now. But like I said, the weekends get me through the week. My kids ask me what I did on the weekend every Monday. This time when they asked, I just smiled and thought to myself, "you'll never know..." This weekend Shawn's coming down here, and on Friday night we'll all probably go to the boy's basketball game. Our team is still ranked #1 in the state, and we're playing one of our biggest rivals on Friday. Ross & Renee, Jess & Noah, Bill, Arty, Steve, etc all said they'll be going. On Saturday if the weather is nice, Shawn & I want to go running on the beach ... then that night Renee invited the 6 of us to have dinner at their house. I love my teacher friends :) Maria do you want to go to the game at the high school on Friday??? Maybe we can go out and get ice cream afterward or something.

I'm not used to it being so warm during these winter months down here. I said that about it being cold in Tallahassee when I first went off to college. Now I'm back and I half expect it to be 29 degrees when I wake up to go to work .... using my debit card to scrape the ice off of my windshield. I don't miss that about Tally!!

Lovin' life :) Ciao ~~~

Monday Monday

2007-01-08T22:37:58Z

First day back to work ... Teacher Work Day. No kids, which is always fun. I am actually ready to move on to 2007. I was in a big funk the past few days because I always get down after the holidays are over. January and February suck. But then I realized maybe this year they won't because Shawn and I have lots of exciting things coming up, and I'm not in Tallahassee anymore. The weather up there this time of year is what makes it suck so bad. The past week has been heavenly weather in SoFL - breezy, sunny, 80 degrees.

I got my wedding dress over the break :) But my feet never really healed. I think I might need x-rays if this keeps up all semester. Heel pain since August BLOWS!

This is silly, but why not

~~2006~~

[] stayed single
[X] got kissed
[] kissed someone new
[X] made out
[X] made out in a car
[] kissed in the snow
[X] kissed in the rain
[] had my heart broken
[] broke someone else's heart
[] had a stalker
[X] lost a friend
[X] had a good relationship with someone
[] questioned my sexual orientation
[] came out of my closet
[] got pregnant
[] had an abortion
[] got married
[] had a divorce
[] kissed someone of the same sex
[X] met someone that I will never forget
[X] did something I regret
[] lost my true love
[] lost faith in love
[] kissed under mistletoe
[] got a promotion
[X] got a pay raise
[X] changed jobs
[] lost my job
[] quit my job
[] dated a co-worker
[] dated my boss
[] dated my boss's son/ daughter
[X] got straight A's
[X] met a teacher who I became friends with
[X] met a teacher who I really don't like
[X] found the subject I love
[] failed a class
[X] cut class
[X] skipped school
[] got in a fight with a classmate
[X] did something I was proud of
[X] discovered a new talent
[] proved myself an idiot
[X] embarrassed myself in front of the class
[] fell in love with a teacher
[X] was involved in something that I will never forget
[] painted a picture
[X] wrote a poem
[X] ran a mile
[X] listened to music I couldn't stand
[X] double dipped
[] skinny dipped
[] went to a sleepover
[] went to camp
[X] threw a surprise party
[X] laughed till I cried
[] laughed till I peed my pants
[X] flirted shamelessly
[] visited a foreign country
[] visited a foreign province
[X] cooked a disastrous meal
[X] lost something important to me
[X] got a gift I love
[X] realized something new about myself
[] went on a diet
[] tried to gain weight
[] dyed my hair
[] came close to losing my life
[X] someone close to me died
[X] went to a wild party
[X] drank alcohol
[] drank alcohol underage
[X] got drunk
[] got arrested
[X] read a great book
[X] saw a great movie
[] saw a movie so scary that it made me cry
[] saw a favorite band live
[X] did something that I want to tell everyone
[X] experienced something new
[X] made new friends
[X] found out who your real friends are
[X] lied to your parents
[] snuck out
[] got in trouble with police
[X] kissed in a pool
[X] kissed under the stars
[] smoked
[] did illegal drugs
[X] went to a party
[X] had the time of your life
[X] danced
[] fell out of love
[X] had a crush on someone
[] changed your sexual preference
[X] swam in a pool
[] made a snowman
[] went snowboarding
[] went skiing
[] went sledding
[] slept in past 2pm
[X] held someone's hand that you care about
[X] got wasted in a public place
[] got wasted in Mexico
[X] told someone you like them as more than a friend
[X] gone on vacation
[X] gone on vacation with a friend
[X] driven a car
[] played strip poker
[X] danced in the rain
[] got in a car accident
[X] seen someone get in a car accident
[] got in a fist fight
[X] laughed until you couldn't breathe
[X] had an amazing year
[X] missed someone
[] got hit by a car
[] sent someone to the hospital
[] got a new pet
[] saved a life
[X] enjoyed this year overall

Happy Friday!

2006-12-23T04:18:16Z

Reasons why today was amazing:

-FSU grades came out: I finished my master's with a 4.0
-Today was the last day of school for the semester ... I now have a full semester of teaching under my belt
-I got paid today, even though I was paid last Friday, and this paycheck was bigger
-We went out to Waterway tonight and since it was Bill's birthday, he bought us drinks at happy hour
-Christmas Eve is in 2 days
-Christmas is in 3 days
-I have two weeks off starting NOW!
-Shawn and I can do some hardcore wedding planning also starting now!

I'm sooo so happy for this Happy Friday :) Going to bed, dreaming sweet dreams .....

Ciao!

beachybear21 @ 2006-12-07T22:01:00

2006-12-08T03:01:21Z

I'm so annoyed with Kyle right now, so I'm watching a Grey's Anatomy rerun in my room by myself. Stupid boys hogging the big TV and talking loud ... we'll see how nice I am next year when I have my own place and he wants to come and stay with me. I don't think so!!

2006
** JANUARY **
1. Who kissed you at midnight? Shawn :)
2. Did you have a new year's resolution this year? Not really, I never do.
3. Does it snow where you live? Nope.
4. Do you like hot chocolate? Oh yes, lots of marshmallows please.
5. Have you ever been to Times Square to watch the ball drop? No, but I have been to Times Square before.

** FEBRUARY **
1. Did you have a Valentine? Oh yes it was Shawn (2 years in a row actually) and it was sooo fun this year. Copied from Meg: Jeff, Josh, and Shawn made Meg, kali, and me this giant homemade dinner while we watched chick flicks. It was amazing and so freaking delicious.
2. When you were little, did you buy valentines for all of your classmates? Yep, the funny ones with Bugs Bunny on them.
3. Do you care if the groundhog sees its shadow or not? Yes!! Haha I hate it when he doesn't see his shadow, that means there's 6 more weeks of winter and winter is NO fun in February.

** MARCH **
1. Are you Irish? Not in the slightest.
2. Do you wear green on St. Patty's Day? Yes I do, but not a lot.
3. What did you do for St. Patty's Day in 2006? I think I went to an FSU basketball game.
4. Are you happy when winter is pretty much over? Yesssss I'm DYING for the sun & beach by March!

** APRIL **
1. Do you like the rain? Love it ... but not when I want to do something outside. I just love laying in bed and hearing it on the roof.
2. Did you play an April fool's joke on anyone this year? No ... but last year my kids played jokes on me when I was an intern at Chiles HS.
3. Do you get tons of candy on Easter? I used to when I was little. :) I loved Easter!
4. Do you celebrate 4/20? What's so special about the 20th? I don't smoke.
5. Do you love the month of April? No, but it's not bad.

** MAY **
1. What's your favorite kind of flower? Roses
2. Do you like the spring? Yes because I love spring break, love trips to the beach after winter, and I love the excitement for the summer.
3. Finish the phrase "April showers": bring May flowers! Duh.
4. What is the first color you think of when you think of Spring? Pink .... then I think of yellow & baby blue.

** JUNE **
1. What year did/will you graduate from highschool? 2001
2. Did you realize nothing special happens in June? Wrong! Awesome summer beach days, the end of the school year, Father's Day, and usually a fun summer trip somewhere. :)

** JULY **
1. What did you do on the Fourth of July? I went to Tom Brown Park with my roommate, her boyfriend, and a group of her friends to drink beer and watch fireworks. I was sooo tired though b/c I was teaching summer school.
2. Did you go on any vacations during this month? I drove to Ocala for a weekend seminar (not vacation) but then went home for a week which felt like a vacay. :)
3. Do you blast the A/C all day? Probably not, but a little while.

** AUGUST **
1. Did you do anything special at the end of your summer? I moved back home which was so exciting!! Then I got all excited about the school year starting and bought lots of teacher stuff.
2. What was your favorite summer memory of '06? The weekend Shawn visited me in Tally ... it was a crrrazzyyyy weekend ... and talking about drama with Meghan (hahaha)
3. Did you have a sunburn? Right now? No way, it's December ... I definitely had a couple during August though.
4. Do you go to the beach a lot? Oh yes.

** SEPTEMBER **
1. Did you attend school/college in '06? Yes, grad school at FSU.
2. Who is your favorite teacher? Dr. Kunkel was my favorite professor in grad school, Dr. Hsueh was my favorite undergrad professor (haha I had him for Oceanography), Mrs. Evans was my favorite high school teacher (math!!), Mrs. Thompson was my favorite middle school teacher, and Mr. Y was my favorite elementary school teacher ... I had a massive crush on the guy when I was in 2nd grade. LOL but now ... Jessica, Lora, Beth, Bill, Arty, etc are my favorite teachers because we work together and drink together!!!
3. Do you like fall better than summer? Not a chance. But I am always excited for fall by the time it comes.

** OCTOBER **
1. What was your favorite Halloween costume? I was a hula girl once, that was fun. Looking back at old pictures, my favorite was when my best friend and I were a pair of dice. Our moms put white paper over these big boxes, put black dots on them, and we actually wore them around the neighborhood :P
2. What's your favorite candy? Chocolate. And Sour Patch Kids. Yummmm.
3.What did you dress up as last year? Little red riding hood. And Shawn was the big bad wolf :D

** NOVEMBER**
1. Whose house do you go to for Thanksgiving? My Grandma's on my mom's side ... it's tradition.
2. Do you love stuffing? Yep.
3. What are you thankful for? My family, my fiance, my friends, my job, etc.

** DECEMBER **
1. Do you celebrate Christmas? Yes.
2. If not, what do you celebrate?
3. Have you ever been kissed under mistletoe? Yes. :)
4. Get anything special last year? For Christmas? I got tons of special gifts. :)
5. What do you want this year? Umm not so sure yet. I guess we'll see what Santa brings.

P.S.

2006-12-05T01:29:14Z

I found out this past Tuesday that I PASSED my portfolio defense. I got a "high pass" to be exact. What a huge load off!! Now I'm ready to hand in my last research project and receive my master's degree .... in 2 weeks. :)

Christmas time is here ...

2006-12-05T01:26:32Z

Listening to my dad play the piano ... The Peanuts Christmas theme, actually. Hence the title of this entry.

I just made delicious peanut butter Christmas cookies. Mmmmm fulllll ...

I'm sooo tired. Monday nights always do that to me. It's like I'm not totally recovered from the weekend. I spent most of it in Vero with Shawn, which was sooooooooo fun. Not seeing him all week just makes it even more exciting to see him on the weekends. Plus we did lots of wedding stuff. We walked around Bed Bath & Beyond for over an hour, with one of those scanners, and added things to the registry. It was a good freakin time!!! We had so much fun just beeping the scanner on things we wanted. :) Our house is going to be the cutest in history. We will even have a banana hanger in our kitchen! Hahahahaha

Thanksgiving break was amazing. I miss my cousins and aunts & uncles during the year. I wish we could see them more than just once every year. We did tons of shopping and went to Kyle's football game on the Friday after Thanksgiving. Too bad we lost though... no state tournament this year. Oh well now he's playing basketball so we have those games to go to. It never ends.

I signed up to play on the teacher's team for the "Gatorball" tournament this week. It's an SGA fundraiser, basically a dodgeball tournament between teacher & student teams. I'm on the female teacher team. Let me just tell you that it's going to feel SO GOOD to throw those rubber balls as hard as I can straight at the students. You know, let it all out, because I have to be all sweet and professional in the classroom when sometimes I really want to smack someone across the face. Like today for instance in sixth period.

Anywaysssss I miss college. Even after reading everybody's entries about being ready for the semester to be over and stressing about finals. I mean it's going to be the b.o.m.b. handing out a final instead of taking a bunch. And we have 3 different faculty parties coming up and we're all going to get tanked. Shawn's going too :) BUT I miss the college parties and being irresponsible. That's the main thing, I think. I have to be responsible basically 7 days a week now!! It's not nearly as fun as being a college student and sleeping through class when you just don't feel like going!

Chris is out of town, in Texas actually, for a good friend's wedding that actually was just called off. The guy just couldn't do it. So all the boys still flew out to Texas to go hunting with the ex-groom-to-be. Yikes.

Kyle's been contacted by a couple more colleges who are interested in him playing football for their school. By the end of next July, Kyle will be going to college, I'll be married and moving out, and Chris might be moving out. What a change.

It's almost 8:30 ... that means .... bed time.

Tomorrow's Tuesday, but it's really like Friday

2006-11-21T02:01:26Z

And I am so amazingly happy about that. Finally, I am feeling that glad-to-be-a-teacher-for-the-holidays thing. I'm going to get paid for the rest of this week and I won't even be at school!! I guess all the extra time I put into it makes up for the time off that I get paid for.

I'm soooo excited for Thanksgiving. I miss my mom's side of the family so much! I see my grandparents a lot but not my uncles, aunts, or cousins. We have a bunch of cheesey traditions that I'm totally looking forward to. Shopping on Friday at the Gardens mall (with everybody else in PB County) and lunch at Ruby's. :)

Our PBGHS football team won last Friday in Orlando against Dr. Phillip's High School!! Their team was awesome but we were better! It was freezing cold that night - imagine us all huddling together under blankets. It was soo fun to sit with Bill Weed and Arty Falk, screaming "First Down!" like they would normally do over the loudspeaker at our field. Plus Kyle is all better now so he could play during the game. Since we won, we play this coming Friday at HOME! It's the regional final game. If we win that, it's to states again!!!! We'll see! State champs 2 years in a row??

SOoo my weekend in Tally a while ago was amazinggggg! Meghan had me, Shawn, Chris, and Haley all bunking in her room. And she made pancakes on Saturday morning! She is the BESTEST ever!! Game day was very fun except for the fact that the actual game was horrible. It poured rain during the first Q and then got really freakin cold and windy during the rest. Miserable! And we were shut out 30-0. Yuck. But I must admit it was sooo fun being able to tailgate before the game and drink lots of beer and do whatever I wanted during the game ... instead of playing and wearing the uniform etc etc.

My camera died though so I only got like 3 pictures. :( Haley & Meg got a bunch though.

So Maria and I have been trying to hang out for over a month. It's funny, I talk to her mom every other day at school but hardly ever talk to Maria!! We're just tooooo busy.

I miss college ... but I don't miss the freezing Tally weather. And reading some other posts about going to class and stressing about various things isn't something I miss. Oh wait, I am still stressing about college. :/ Just a few more weeks and I'll be officially DONE with my master's degree!!!!!!!!!!! I'm defending my portfolio on November 27th so PRAY for me. I'm nervous ... and then just one last online final exam and it'll all be over. College, master's degree, spending a bagillion dollars on tuition & books ......

Shawn has been so understanding on the weekends when I have to spend hours doing assignments and working on the sections of my portfolio. He just hangs out with my brothers and watches football or whatever, while I sit there with my laptop typing away. Or while I grade mountains of algebra tests. By the third week in December, this will all be over and we can really start planning our wedding!! Ohhh but yesterday we went to Linens-N-Things and signed up on the wedding registry. :D Ahhhh sooo funnnn!!!!

Okay it's 9pm, so that means it's my bedtime. Loooser!! :)

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!

beachybear21 @ 2006-11-07T17:55:00

2006-11-07T22:55:05Z

Yesterday was freakin amazing. I was really focused at school during my planning and so I was finished with everything by 3:00 pm. So I went home!! It felt so weird being "done" that early. I took a nap, went to the gym, got my nails done, watched tapes of my shows from last week, wrote in my journal ... ME time!! It's amazing what you can get done when you don't have 8 million obligations.

Today wasn't as relaxing ... I'm exhausted. During my planning period today I had to cover another teacher's class who was absent. There aren't enough subs in Palm Beach County so the other teachers end up covering. It sucks! I have tests to grade, junk to do for the meetings on Thursday. This afternoon after I got home I went with my mom to Olivia Hoffman's viewing and funeral ... you wouldn't even imagine how sad it was. She died of an annurism, a freshman at Dwyer high school. Her and her brother, Parker, were in my summer camp group a few years ago ... our parents have known each other since we were born. I can't believe she died so suddenly. It was heart wrenching to see all the pictures and kids and parents and teachers crying ... I can't imagine what her parents are going through.

On a much happier note, Jen and I are goin crazy with all this excitement being engaged. She's going to be my maid of honor and I'm going to be hers!! We're going to be helping each other plan our weddings ..... so exciting!!! Her and Jason were meant to be. After years of drama look how happy they are :)

3 days and counting til Tally!!!!!!!!!! I'm sooooo excited! Chris, Shawn, and I are driving in Chris's truck ... oh man I can't wait. We're goign to play some beer pong and have a freakin blast at the game! And I get to hang out with Meghan and eat Moe's!!! :) AND I took the day off Monday after we get back! Woo hoooo!!!!

Happy Halloween :)

2006-10-29T17:28:27Z

We are going to carve the pumpkin we got from the pumpkin patch yesterday ... I haven't been here to do that with my family since 2000. Should be fun. Shawn's still here too. :)

This weekend has been nuts with floatbuilding and getting ready for Homecoming week. I will be so glad once this week is over. We're going to be dead with all the stuff going on after school and in the evenings. This past week was a short week but really busy with all the stuff that had to get done. Chris had his wisdom teeth out so you know how that is ... then on Friday at the football game Kyle got injured pretty badly. He caught a long pass and landed awkwardly on his shoulder, then the defender fell on top of him. My uncle was there, he's an orthopedic surgeon, and said that Kyle's clavical was jostled from his sternum. Basically his collar bone is sticking out funny and his chest looks all lopsided. He has to wear a sling and can't play football for 2 weeks ... including his senior homecoming game. :( I think the scariest thing was watching him writhing in pain on the field and grasping his chest. The wind was knocked out of him so he was gasping to breathe. I think my mom, grandma, aunt, and I all had tears in our eyes. :P My dad didn't stop rolling the video camera though!!

That night Shawn stayed at our house wondered if he'd be sleeping in the infirmary too, LOL. Even though my brothers were both on pain killers, Shawn still decided to ask them then if they would be groomsmen in our wedding. :) That cheered them up a lot - it was adorable.

Shawn and I have to buy football tickets today. I can't wait til we go up to Tally to see a game!! It's going to feel like a huge vacation ... plus Chris is driving us in his truck so I won't even be driving! Yeahhh!!

I'm in the process of setting up a personalized website at TheKnot.com so once it's up and running, I'll put a link out and everyone can check it out. :) We talked to the organist at church this morning and he said he'd be glad to play at our wedding in July. :)

So happy! Tired ... but happy. At least we got an extra hour of sleep last night!

Have a great week! :)

I can't believe it

2006-10-22T21:14:54Z

I can't believe Shawn and I are engaged! October 13, 2006. Luckiest Friday the 13th of my life! This diamond ring on my finger amazes me every day. It sparkles in the sun like you would not believe. I can't stop smiling! My students have been so cute about it and everyone I've talked to is so excited for me. This is definitely a dream come true.

I can't believe how awesome my family is. Wedding planning is going to be so fun!!!!!! Today's my Dad's birthday and yesterday was my birthday. We had a super fun combo birthday celebration last night with the whole fam & got some fun presents.

Last thing I can't believe ... the first quarter is over at school! It makes me happy because I still love doing it and have grown through the stressful & annoying times. Homecoming starts in a little over a week and once that is over, things will be less crazy. Float building is fun but definitely a pain. And next semester I might say no thanks to tutoring every week.

I'm engaged ... I have a fiance ... it's still sinking in :) We'll have to create one of those tie-the-knot websites once more decisions are made :)

Yeahhhh

2006-10-08T13:56:55Z

Relaxing Sunday is on my agenda for the day ... we decided to skip out on church so I slept in until almost 9am! That's really late for me nowadays.

Going to Yoga at 11am and getting a pedi with mom at 3:30pm ... I think that will help to make my feet feel better. I stand too much. At least that heel spur is going away.

Our Gardens Gators football team won another game (randomly rescheduled for Thursday night instead of Friday) and Kyle caught another TD pass. So exciting. It's going to be very different next year when he's graduated.

Freshmen class float building is starting up on Monday night, and in 2 weeks the girl's basketball tryouts start. I'm going to die if I try to do both!! I think I'm going to have to stay "unofficial" as a coach and just go to help at practice when I can. Tutoring after school takes up a lot of time. PLUS my last research class is getting hectic. It would just be too much to try and coach full time now, too. Maybe in January when float building & Homecoming are over ... and my action research project will be done by then.

My kiddies have been stressed out because the first 9-weeks is ending soon, so that means lots of attitude, whining, and complaining. This week I got mean. If you are going to become a high school teacher, be ready for the girls' attitudes. They are the ones that cause the most trouble. I really got irritated with them and lost my patience with it. I sent a handful of them out. It's funny how some of the older girls get mad at me when they don't understand something, and then the boys yell at them for yelling at me in the middle of class. "Stop yelling at Miss Volstad! Just pay attention and stop whining!!" It kind of just handles itself ...

Living at home is the b.o.m.b. Shawn came down here for the weekend and we went running on the beach yesterday morning. My legs are freakin worked. It was beautiful weather (finally autumn is coming) and not very crowded at Juno Beach. We watched a little college football but I was so frustrated after our NC State game that watching Clemson, UF, and Miami all win their games made it worse. Blah!

Let's hope my kids don't drive me crazy at school this week ... and wish us luck building that float for Homecoming b/c none of the freshmen sponsors have done it before! Haha!!

I miss Meghan!

Chillin

2006-09-19T21:58:18Z

Oh boy a monster storm is on the way. Love it. I can just relax and stay off my feet and enjoy the thunder & lightning. Today was kind of annoying because all of my kids were totally wound up ... fifth hour is always nuts but they were especially crazy today. I don't know why but it's like there's a full moon outside and a bunch of them come to class all crazy! I had a girl crying all during the class, and she didn't want to talk about it or leave the class or do anything but sit there and cry. Another girl said she was so angry she was going to explode so I let her sit in the hallway and do nothing while everyone else did an FCAT practice thing. I don't remember being THAT bipolar when I was a teenager!

This week is going great though ... post-observation conference with my favorite assistant principal, getting ready for testing my alg 2's again, another home football game but this time on Thursday, freshman class fundraiser coming up. I swear the days fly by so fast they seem like a blur. School started over a month ago! Going to the freshman class meetings and tutoring make the days even busier. I'm at school for 11 hours every day ... I think it only would be longer if I was the band director or something. I don't know how you guys do it. :)

I miss living near Shawn and having dinner with him every night. I miss getting Moe's and being silly with Meghan, too.

My dad and Chris went down to Bill Rose's house tonight for dinner and to watch the Yankees game on his massive TV's ... then they're going to a Marlins game in Miami in a week. Chris is doing mini camp now but it seems like he's doing absolutely nothing but sleeping, playing poker, playing golf, and every once in a while going to the stadium to pitch. What is that about. I hope I don't start hating him for having such a luxurious & fun life when I'm making scraps for working my tail end off. At least there's Kyle, normal like me.

Okay dinner time then House is on at 8! AND Law and Order is premiering tonight!! Yessss!!!!!!!

Heyyyy

2006-09-13T22:01:30Z

I'm so tired I feel drunk! I didn't tell my kids that today even though it prob would have been hilarious.

Reading everyone's LJs about the game and parties and college life makes me miss it like CRAZY. Please, promise me you will enjoy your time and live it to the fullest! Go out every weekend and have fun stories to tell and talk about for years! Don't let one test or one class "ruin" your semester. Don't let one person control you or your feelings - your college career is so much better than that. I look back & wonder why I let certain people get under my skin. Why did I let one crabby professor influence how I did in the class? The college years are too short! I'm sooo glad I stayed for 5 years and learned some lessons before I left. I miss feeling "soo old" and like the big fish on campus ... it was like no matter where I walked around on campus during the day I'd run into some people I knew. Chiefs people, TBS sisters, math friends, profs, people working in the computer labs or bookstores. Now, I def know a lot of people around the high school campus, but I'm a little fish in a big pond. Isn't that ironic? I was the big fish in that very same high school just 6 years ago, and now I'm back as a teacher; a little fish in a big pond from a completely different prospective. Hah. I have everything to learn. I love my job and love the excitement that teaching high school brings ... but I'm so tired I feel like I could just sleep for 48 hours straight. I think I'm gonna go to bed tonight right after dinner.

Dinner time! I love living at home!!!!!!! :)