Thankful ItsThursday

Well, after a long LONG week, we are finally on the home stretch! I turned in my lesson plans and took a quiz this morning, and now I am going to take a deep breath and relax. The stress is subsiding and I can finally think about the weekend as though it is actually coming. Today was a big day. About two weeks ago we were assigned a group project with five members in our group, each of us specializing in teaching different things. We were told to create a unit for students incorporating all five of our specialties...WOW was that a chore. We had Spanish, English, P.E., Math, and Ag Ed. Could you get any more different!? Finally, we decided to do a unit on Don Quijote de la Mancha and a camping trip with the same theme....wow was that complicated. Last night as we were supposed to start putting it together, when we realized one of our group members was out of town. That left us to pick up the slack....I worked until 12:30 this morning to finish lesson plans, and this morning we put it together. It all came together in the end and I am so thankful that its over and the weekend is coming. After I make it through my night class I will be able to relax. What lesson did I learn from all this? I don't know...I am too tired to reflect on it any more. What I should have learned is not to procrastinate (Dad that was for you), old habits die hard though.

This is Ty's contribution to the blog for the day. For everyone who likes Geico commercials this Spanish Phrase of the day is for you!  

Spanish Phrase of the Day

Más vale pájaro en mano que cien volando.
Literally means: A bird in the hand is worth more than 100 flying.
The English equivalent is: A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

Icky, Icky Day

It rained and rained today...the wind was so overwhelming and I just wanted to go home and curl up with a cup of coffee and watch T.V. But reality is slowly sinking in, its not the weekend, and its time to buckle down. There are lesson plans to be written and sentences to transcribe for Spanish Phonetics. There are chapters to be read for Methods of TESOL and after all that, there is class in the morning and group meetings to boot. College is so fun! Its been a long long day...To add to the fun, we received our financial aid award and it looks like we CAN'T have BOTH of us go to Mexico. Now, I must go it ALONE. Ty will stay behind and try to take a J-term class to help him get done a little faster.  He is a little disappointed, but I think I am more disappointed. Its been a dreary day literally and figuratively. Oh well, tomorrow maybe the sun will come out (figuratively, the weather is only supposed to get worse). Tomorrow is Wednesday which means soon, it will be over halfway through the week and one of my many group projects will be finished and we can come home and see many of the people we love. Looking forward to the weekend, and hoping it will come soon. 

Spanish Phrase of the Day

El sol se levantará mañana y quién sabe lo que traerá la marea?

Translation: The sun will rise tomorrow and who knows what  the tide will bring. 

Sunday: Game Day

Well today is Sunday and has been a very fun-filled day! We celebrated my Mom's b-day this weekend and today is her actual birthday! Happy birthday momma! I love you. 

This has definitely been a busy weekend, but a fun weekend. I woke up Saturday morning and headed to the Community Closet to work with Hannah, because Ty had to work this weekend. Then after that since all my sisters were home, we went to the Bent and Dent in Augusta and afterward went to the Woodshed. My mom got to do whatever she wanted all day. Hannah and Matt Riley tagged along with us and we were able to get some great deals at the bent and dent on cereal and other fun non-perishable food items. If you haven't been, you should get directions from Ty to get there and go! Its a great way to save money and see a very different culture living among us. After we drove back to Eau Claire and went to Pier One while my dad went to "run errands" as he called going to buy my mom's birthday present he had forgotten about. 

The next stop was Sammy's Pizza! My mom LOVES Sammy's Pizza. She thinks its the very best ever made. we filled up on Pizza and then it was time to go home for presents and cake. It was such fun to have everyone home for a weekend. As my mom would say, "I love it when the house is full again." After playing a game of Scene It, it was time to open presents. YAY! Mom, never gets new clothes so we got her a gift card to her favorite store, Coldwater Creek. After accidentally dropping the ice cream cake in the freezer, we sang Happy birthday and gorged ourselves on the best cake for birthdays.

Per mom's request, it was game night the rest of the night playing Taboo and Scattergories, and a game we like to call Smart Butt. Mostly I just watched, but Ty had a blast playing games, it was hard to get him back to Perrenoud's to sleep that night. Then Sunday My mom's parents made the trek from Rochester, MN to see everyone on one of the few times a year when they are in one place at a time. Now that things have settled, it is time to hit the books. I am writing lesson plans for a unit on Don Quixote de la Mancha. What a fun night...NOT! Oh well, at least I will be in good company with Hannah Riley! (thanks for letting my use your computer~)

 

As I am sitting here writing this Ty is getting pretty pumped. The Packer/Viking game is going to be starting soon, and he is there. What a day, what a day! He was so excited that he could hardly wait to leave and drive over to Green Bay. Now, I wait. Hope the games is fun and we will be driving home afterward. Pray for safe Travels....its going to be a late night!

Spanish Phrase of the Day

No tiene dos dedos de frente.

Translation:He's not the sharpest tool in the shed

Literal Translation:He doesn't have two fingers of forehead.

Happy Happy Friday!

This has been a Crazy week! From taking tests and working on group projects to Observation Hours and birthday shopping, we have done it all! Now the time has come for the weekend and we are PUMPED! This weekend my whole family will be home for Taylor and my Mom's Birthday extravaganza and on Sunday we are driving to Green Bay so Ty can watch the Packers play the Vikings at Lambeau. All in all, this weekend will be a GREAT time. While he goes to the game I will just be getting some much needed lesson plans done...I need like 5 or more. Its going to be a long weekend. Anyone know anything about Don Quixote de la Mancha? Thats what my lessons are about. Its going to be good. Well...that's all for now. Ready to head home and see some of your lovely faces.

So Excited to see Miss Mia too!

Spanish Phrase of the Day

Esperamos que tengas buen fin de semana

Translation: We hope you have a good weekend

HELP!!!!!!!

Alright all you creative people out there reading my blog, its time to get your thinking caps on and HELP me out! I am working on a lesson plan where we have a group of 7th grade students coming from an inner-city school. We are spending the whole day showing them the campus and helping them see how cool it is to go to college. One of the things that my group is doing is to find companies that might donate free things that we can give away in their gift bags. Here is where you come in...I need you guys to help me come up with places to check for all sorts of free things. It can be something as small as a pen or a piece of candy. Any ideas are much appreciated.  This will be happening in November, but the sooner your ideas come through the better. I know this is a boring post but all that is on my mind right now is this project and another one that is due very soon. I wish there was more to say. Thank you for your help. PLEASE leave a comment with any ideas!

Spanish Phrase of the Day

Me estás tomando el pelo.

Translation: you are kidding me 

Literally Translated:You are taking me by the hair

Busy busy weekend!

Well, a lot has happened since my last post! On Monday Last week we found out that our car was having some major problems...We took it in to have them look at why the heat wasn't working. It didn't take long for a very seemingly small issue to become a HUGE problem. It was the head gasket. Apparently, our car was 1 gallon low on antifreeze and we didn't even know it. Then there was the other issue it was in for, it sounded like the wheels would fall off when we turned. A friend later told me that he knew what it was and they would eventually fall off...CRAP! That meant it was time to make a decision. Do we wait and see if the wheels fall off or the engine block cracks or we could cut our losses and try and trade it in...BIG decision!

We thought about it all week and looked online like crazy! We found a car that we both agreed we liked! It was a 2007 Toyota Yaris Sedan. It had only 63,000 miles on it. They wanted 10,495 and we were able to get it for 7400! It was such a blessing to find something so quickly. We were driving Ty's dad's car and if we couldn't have found a new one quickly, we would have been driving it until we could. Apparently we were driving a car that we didn't know wasn't safe! Now it is going to be cheaper to drive home with this puppy getting 39 mpg on the highway!

Not the actual car, but you get the idea!

With that taken care of at the beginning of the weekend, we were able to go to see Carter and Jack's last soccer games, go to the Bent and Dent and have dinner with Hannah and Matt Riley on Saturday! We had a blast just chatting the night away at the Olive Garden. Its always fun to hangout with friends.

Sunday was a quieter day, hanging out with family and watching the Packers losing in overtime. Ty was overjoyed to see the Vikings squeeze out a win while the Bears and the Packers lost. While he and Brooke watched football, Hannah and I took Annie to Aldi's and Walmart. Yay for our fun shopping Sunday! Annie was an angel at the store. After I dropped her off with Brooke I headed off for a little quality mom time. It was fun to see everyone! 

Alright, after a long winded post, I am going to get back to work! Hope everyone else had as great a weekend as we did! Now its back to work! 

Spanish Phrase of the Day

Manos a la obra

Translation: Get to work

Literal translation: Hands to the work

Where has the week gone!?

WOW! Its Wednesday already and I can't believe it. What happened? Yesterday I spent about three hours in Special Education classrooms helping students with homework. The first thing I did was work with a student with Aspergers. I helped him with his algebra homework. I realized just how much math I have really forgotten. Then I went to a different classroom and read a test to a Hispanic student. That was cool, I was able to speak with him a little in Spanish. At the end of the school day I read the Cask of Amontillado to a group of 10th graders. After all of that, I was ready to be home and relax. Yesterday we finally got our passports in the mail so we can officially go to Mexico!

Speaking of Mexico...we have begun classes every other Tuesday night where we are learning History, Culture, and about the many places we will visit. In my next few posts I will let you in on where we will be going and give you some idea about what we will be seeing when we are there! Our first stop....Mexico City, Mexico for 4-5 days!

When we are in Mexico City this is where we will be staying

When we are there we will see all sorts of fun cultural things here are a few pictures of where we will go.

This is the Pyramid of the Sun, an Aztec Pyramid that we will climb to the top of

This is called La Plaza de Tres Culturas ancient Aztec ruins in the middle of the city

Basilica de Guadalupe

We will also Visit the Anthropology Museum in Mexico City

There is SO much more that we will see, so I will let some of that be posted when we have been there and we can tell you how we liked it! 

Spanish Phrase of the Day

Cuando menos se piensa, salta la liebre

Translation:Good things happen when you least expect them

Literal translation:when it is least expected, the hare jumps out

A Weekend in River Falls

This was one of our first weekends where we did not come home at all. It was a time we needed to just relax. We were still able to see family and friends, but we were also able to be home and get things done. I haven't posted for awhile, so here is what we were up to since Friday....

On Friday after class we made our way to Woodbury and bought Leslie's (Tyler's mom for those who don't know) early birthday present. Then we headed back to Hudson for a good meal at a friend's house. Jared and  Alyse were friends of mine from when I had come to River Falls as a freshman and were just married this summer. They invited us to their home for some GREAT homemade chile and delicious elk turds (for those who do not know what they are, its like monkey bread...not really turds ;). It was a great evening to chat and reminisce of all the times we had been together at River Falls and talk about all the things we loved (or what our spouses did that drove us crazy) about being married. 

In the morning it was time to get up and get moving. We were off the Pleasant Valley Pumpkin  Patch where we met Regan, Carter, Jack, Treyton, Brooke, Annie, Leslie and for a brief time Jeff while he dropped off his car for us to use while ours was getting fixed (thanks Jeff!). We quickly realized how expensive this place had become so Ty went to play with Carter and Jack while the rest of us looked in the shop and at the Pumpkins.

She wouldn't stop pushing the wagon...My shins may be a little bruised today

Happy Pretty Girl!

Happy Cousins Sitting in the Wagon!

I love Wagons!

Here they are playing so nicely...

It didn't last long!

Jack is loving the bouncy toys!

Cousins playing so nicely! Too much sugar today I think!

 After a trip to Culver's, it was time for homework, supper and then bedtime. Sunday was cleaning morning and watching the Packers lose in overtime. The we were off the the Cities and the Cheesecake Factory to see Tay and Jason.

We had a great meal and even better dessert. Tiramisu cheesecake is AMAZING! We sold some of Ty's books at Half price books and received about half of what they were worth. After that we went our separate ways and headed to bed early! WOW! Long post! Hope it wasn't too boring. I guess that's what happens when I don't get around to posting.

Spanish Phrase of the Day 

Te extrañamos

Translation: We miss you

Busy Busy Week

This week has flown by. Its already Thursday and I feel like I have done a horrible job updating the blog. We have been busy with class and are looking forward to the weekend here in River Falls. We decided its going to be a crazy month of October and we will be in Chippewa almost every weekend for one thing or another and decided that this weekend we were going to rest up and do some homework. Its sad that we won't see some of the familiar faces on Sunday, but we are excited for the time to get caught up on homework. I will try to update more often. Well...its off to Night class! Yippy! (not really)

Spanish Phrase of the day

Gau, Gau

Translation: woof woof

Even dogs speak Spanish

Miercoles!!! Feliz Cumpleaños!

Today is miercoles! In Spanish that's Wednesday. It has been and will be a long day. Today, I was up and moving at 6 am, to some that's not too early, but to me that is ridiculous. I had to observe in a Special Education classroom for 4 hours. It was a good time, but I was ready to leave when it was time. I have to go back for 6 more hours and then I will be all done. Then I have class at 2pm and again from 5-7:30pm. I am exhausted just thinking about it. 

In other news, Ty is THRILLED to see that the Vikings have once again signed Randy Moss. He couldn't bare the excitement, it was almost the first thing he said to me when I called him after observing. He is hoping with Brett Farve throwing to Moss, his fantasy football may be looking up. 

Today is also very special because it is Taylor's Birthday! HAPPY 21st Birthday sister! You are so loved! Hope its a great day!!

Spanish Phrase of the day:

Feliz Cumpleaños!

Translation: Happy birthday  

Back to work

What a great weekend. Apple orchards, family movie night at McDaniel's, and a great dinner with Hannah and Matt (thanks for opening your house) and Heather and Spencer (thanks for the great conversations). We couldn't help but enjoy the weekend, but it's Monday and time for class, homework, group projects, and tests. All we can do is look forward to seeing friends and family again soon. This week will be interesting, tonight we are going to pick up Leslie's birthday present and sell all the books that are cluttering my trunk. After that I will be coming home to work on a project while Ty watches the Monday Night Football game and anticipates the outcome of Fantasy Football. Tuesday will be a full day of class and after we have a little break, we are off to another wonderful meeting about our trip to Mexico! What a great time, learning about the history of the Independence of Mexico. I will likely enjoy it more than Ty, but I hope he can get excited about it too. Well, that's all for today. I am sorry its so boring, but not much is going on right now. Hope everyone is having a good Monday!

Spanish Phrase of the Day:

Cuesta un ojo de la cara

Literal translation: It costs the eye on my face

Similar to: It costs an arm and a leg

Here is a visual for you!

If there are any phrases you want to know, please comment. I would love to make this feature useful. So far, i am just finding ones that I am learning in classes. I would be happy to translate things you want to know!

Finally, Friday!

This week has been a long week filled with late night classes, homework and studying for tests and quizzes. Friday could not come soon enough! This week I received my  placement for classrooms to observe in, and by the end of the semester I will have completed 35 hours. This week was also the start of a project for my education class called Gear Up Get Ready. 

This is a program that brings seventh grade students to the University who come from a very diverse area. We create a lesson plan and use the whole campus to teach the students. There are 9 people in a group and each person must include their content area. This is a project that is bigger than anything I have ever taken on and I am the group leader. This means that I am responsible for the planning and success of our lesson. No pressure, none at all...(sense the sarcasm).

All in all, I have set up one meeting to observe in Baldwin at the high school in a Special Education classroom on Wednesday, planned the preliminary components of our lesson plan, and am trying to work on getting ready for a trip to Mexico! We are looking forward to coming home and relaxing a little before things get too crazy next week. Can't wait to see you all in Chippewa. 

Spanish phrase of the day: Gracias hoy es viernes! 

Translated: Thank goodness its Friday!