Happy Friday!

This sounds like the perfect day right now... as long as there is sunshine streaming in my window and a tall glass of iced tea next to me.
This kind of day won't be coming for a bit though. I have 2 big finals due on Monday and my final student teaching observation as well. Two more weeks of student teaching and then I'm done! I am so excited!
Have a wonderful and relaxing Friday.


Listening to: "Today Was a Fairytale" Taylor Swift
Thought of the Day: "Slow down, calm down, don't worry, don't hurry, trust the process." -Alexandra Stoddard

{Image via LeLove}

Checklist

Do you ever feel like you made an ass out of yourself and want to tell the other person how you feel, but can't because you can find the words or don't have time? I wish I had one of these slips on me every time so I could quickly check the boxes and apologize right then and there.

{Images via: Images I <3> }

Thought of the Day: "Our true identity is to love without fear and insecurity. Our highest potential finds us when we set our course in that direction. The power of love and compassion transforms insecurity." - Doc Childre
Listening to: "Solo" Iyaz

April Adventures

{being a dork enjoying the weather in Forest Park - I don't act my age}

I cannot believe it is April already. This means that I graduate from college in a little over a month. Holy cow. I seriously don't feel old enough to be done with college or to be in the real world or to have that many responsibilities. Good thing I'm not quite there yet and because I'm going to be doing a volunteer program next year (almost 100% sure of this) I will sort of delay reality for a bit longer. But in the mean time, here's what April means for me:

- my last sorority events as a collegiate (including formal!)
- turning in all of my final class work (like my Professional Portfolio)
- finishing up student teaching (only 24 days left!... not that I'm counting... and only 14 more days of actual teaching of all the classes)
- Praxis teaching certification test
- "Senior Experience" events through SLU
- applying for summer positions (possibly at summer camps!)

Some other things I want to add in there include: some Cards games, nights out with my friends, frolicking in Forest Park and bbq-ing, try a soul food restaurant in St. Louis, stressing less, living every moment to its fullest and without regrets...

Reality still hasn't hit that May 3rd is my last day of school ever as an undergrad. Wow. Time flies when you're having fun!

{Bid Day 2006 - little did I know these girls would become my some of my best friends}

{Senior Pub Crawl 2010 with my sisters - 4 years later}

Listening to: "Champion" Kanye West
Thought of the Day: "Do not go where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Little Paper Hearts

I love looking through Esty at the variety of smile-inducing pieces of creativity to hang on your wall. My latest finds are these beautiful and delicate heart collages. Sad thing is though that they're all sold out. Major bummer... but hopefully Sarah and Bendrix come back soon!





Listening to: "When I Look to the Sky" Train
Thought of the Day: "The pursuit of happiness is a ridiculous phrase. If you pursue happiness, you'll never find it." -C.P. Snow

{Images via Sarah and Bendrix}

Escape

I want to escape to a place this serene.

Today in the lunchroom, one of the science teachers said there's some new research out that found that people who are frequently stressed are actually doing permanent damage to the frontal cortex (I think?). If this is true, I think this part of my brain will be kaput in the next few years. I'm usually a patient and practical person, but right now I'm neither.

As a way of calming down and taking a step back, I've been trying to use this meditation that one of my professors at SLU introduced me to a while back:

"Following the Breath"
-Thich Nhat Hahn

Breathing in, I calm my body.
Breathing out, I smile.
Dwelling in the present moment,
I know this is a wonderful moment!
Breathing in I know I'm breathing in.
Breathing out, I know
as the in-breath grows deep,
the out-breath grows slow.
Breathing in makes me calm.
Breathing out brings me ease.
With the in-breath, I smile.
With the out breath, I release.
Breathing in, there is only the present moment.
Breathing out, it is a wonderful moment.

Listening to: The Script "Breakeven"
Thought of the Day: "Follow your heart, but be quiet for a while first. Ask questions, then feel the answer. Learn to trust your heart." -Anonymous

{Image via Mandr}

Standards

Ok, so I usually don't like comedy that makes fun of other people, but for some reason, I really like these. I ran across DEALBREAKER the other day and its compilation of turn-offs continues to crack me up. Two of my faves: "You haven't read a book since high school" and "You steal books from the Public Library." The blog authors are coming out with a book next year, but until then, I might have to check out Undateable which comes out in 2 days.
Here's a couple of their promo e-cards.




Thought of the Day: "This is your world. Shape it or someone else will." -Gary Lew
Listening to: "Ridin' Solo" -Jason Derulo

Gettin' Some Culture

When I decided to go to SLU during my senior year of high school, my favorite history teacher teased me that I would return from St. Louis wearing Baby Phat clothes and high top Nikes. I laughed it off obviously, thinking that my conservative self would never give into the urban culture. And now as I student teach in an inner city high school, I can see how far I’ve come from the uber conservative self I was, but at the same time, I’m still in a total culture shock.

Yesterday, my cooperating teacher and others in the department were told that they need to create a new SMART goal for the month and they’ve decided the new goal would be to increase my “hoodness” by 5%. To start with, they decided to write up a list of movies I need to watch, songs and artists I need to listen to (I got over a gigabyte of new music today from them!), and TV shows I need to watch. This is the important stuff they forget to teach you in college. Professors always say you need to connect with your students, but they never give you insight on how. Hopefully this education helps because I definitely need to improve my understanding of my kids. I wonder what my high school teacher would say now.

[Proven example: last night I watched “The Bad Girls Club” on Oxygen and while it was painful to watch some of the stuff they do and say, I came to a better understanding of why the girls at my school get into cat fights over boys and hair that end up getting them suspended for 10 days. I can’t believe that people act like that on TV and are ok with portraying themselves in that manner, but it explained why girls behave in the ways they do.]

Movie list so far:

-Get on the Bus (or anything Spike Lee)

-Rize

-Kings of Comedy

-Soul Plane

-CB4

-The Wash

-Rosewood

-Krush Groove

Music includes:

-Gucci Mane

-Public Enemy

-Beastie Boys

-Dr. Dre

… and if I’m really good and show my 5% improvement, I might even get a nickname!

Listening to: "Gangsta's Paradise" Coolio

Thought of the Day: "We all live with the objective of being happy; our lives are all different and yet the same." -Anne Frank