Tampa (part 1)

Wow! Its been a couple of weeks, we've been all over the country, and have been so busy! So lets catch up on whats happened. (Unfortunately I might not be able to remember all the little details or just won't take the time to cover everything)

This was my first trip to Tampa since my family moved there in January. Its on the gulf coast (west coast) of Florida and its more in the central part of the state. It basically looked like it was a part of the South, like Georgia or something with all the spanish moss and the ocean didn't have a tropical feel. But it was nice to be with my family. Dad picked up me and Blaine from the airport on his way home from work and we stopped at Papa Johns on the way home. After pizza we had a nice homemade moist chocolate cake ready and waiting to be devoured. After a brief singing/piano playing session, we played some basketball in the driveway and jumped in the pool! Here are some highlights of that week:

Austin had football 2-a-days and was disciplined about going to bed early. I was impressed!

Aaron had some football too and we even took him to quarterback training one day. (Blaine's in his coaching outfit)

But lets not get ahead of ourselves. On our first day, I went with Mom and Alivia to their school to help my mom set up her new classroom. It has a cute tropical/under the sea theme.

Then that evening, we went over to tour USF's athletic facilities. Abbie even said she wished she went there because the campus is so beautiful.

The practice football fields. They play their games at the Buc's stadium.

Our All-American track athlete :)

Then we saw Dad's office, complete with nice big windows

The next couple are of the Sundome where basketball plays. The inside looked like Oregon's that we saw last month.

After USF, we went to Tijuana Flats for some dinner at a new Tampa family fave.

The whole place was covered in color!! And the walls were covered in pictures of famous people eating here.

Room is Ready!!

Yesterday we flew to Tampa, which meant my classroom had to be all ready by Monday. So Blaine and I spent 6 hours on Monday cleaning and organizing my classroom. First we had to move all of the current stuff out, then sweep out the floors (and big dead bugs!), and then set up all of my stuff... well my stuff, as there is not much.

Because they don't give us any money for our rooms, I had limited funds to decorate with. But at least it looks clean and nice. I found my flowers from the dollar store and made the vines and leaves out of paper at the school. Blaine made my bulletin board perfect, since he is my perfectionist :) He is also solely responsible for the cleanliness of my floors. I also brought a picture of us from home with a frame I already had, and made myself a cute little flower arrangement for under $5.

There is a lot of blank space on the walls, but as Blaine reminded me, it doesn't have to be fully decorated at the very beginning of the year. With time and money, we'll make it fabulous. You saw the before pictures, but here's the after photos:

I also found this little gem while cleaning out the math stuff. I kept it :)

View from my desk 

That sign on top says "Be Your Best Self," which I printed out myself :)

I also made this sign, which is my favorite feature of my room. Maybe I'll make a bigger version soon. Its at my front door to set the tone of the class :) 

This is an example of the emptiness I need to fill. I have ideas. Just no money.

Now we earned our trip to FLORIDA!!
(but its gonna be a rough, rude awakening when we get back)

McLoud, Oklahoma

Last Tuesday, I had to go to the new teachers meeting in McLoud to sign up for direct deposit and get all the insurance and school information and forms and all that. I was a little late because I didn't know where the building was, so finally I went into the library and asked and found it immediately. This is what the outside looked like:

After that, I headed over to the school to check in on my room. This is what the outside of the school looks like. The high school and junior high are on the same plot, which is good since I'll have to be running back and forth between Pom practice 1st period at the high school, and then everything else back over at the junior high.

Should we have a tornado during school, this is where we'll go.

 And now... here it is!! My classroom, #4 :)

View from the door

The door is to the right of that chalkboard

View from the back of the room

The principal got me this nice bookshelf

the outside of my door (on the right)

Hallway. I'm standing at the exit

It's still early so it looks like a mess, but because I'm going out of town, I have to get my room all ready before I leave. So Monday I have another meeting with the secretary, but then after that, Blaine and I are dedicating our day to getting everything cleaned, organized, and decorated in my classroom. Thats right, Mrs. Baker's classroom - Room 4. As of now, I will be coaching the high school pom squad during 1st period, then teach leadership during 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, and then coach PE for 5th and 6th, and then free period 7. I think it'll be quite an enjoyable and pretty easy schedule... once I settle into my routine. I'm still working on my dance routines, but I feel good about my preparation for my class. 

Like I said, it's a junior high elective called Leadership, but its basically like a life skills class. I get to make up my own curriculum, which has been exciting. I just hope it pans out the way I've planned. This week I have officially created my 5 units and planned them out over the calendar to determine when each unit will begin and end. Now I'm just trying to nail down individual lesson plans for each day. But I have a lot of ideas I'm excited about. 

So stay tuned, and hopefully I'll have some spectacular "after" photos of my classroom on Monday. Unfortunately, I don't get a budget for my room or anything, and Blaine and I haven't gotten a paycheck in months now, so it won't be too decorated for a while. But we'll still make it look nice. 

And then off to Florida on Tuesday!! And then a week later, off to California for Alexis' wedding!!

Done with Summer Term!

Not much happened this week. Blaine studied a lot and took his last test on Friday. He won't find out what grade he got until Monday, but he thinks he did well (which I'm sure he did). And that means he is officially done with his first summer semester of dental school!! So last night we went out with 2 other dental couples to celebrate with all-you-can-eat tacos at On the Border.

And then the celebration continued today with a BBQ feast at Leo's BBQ. It's just a little hole in the wall place by our house that has been featured on Food Network's Drive-Ins, Diners, and Dives with Guy Fieri. It was us and 2 other couples-- one of them has a little girl with a baby boy on the way, and the others have 2 little kids. We ordered the famous "Eight the Hard Way" for $99.99 and split a bunch of meat and sides and their famous strawberry banana cake. Complete with strawberry lemonade. It was a feast. Between last night and today, we won't be eating for a while. I guess its convenient that its Fast Sunday tomorrow.