Cheesy Socks and Fancy Cheeses

I decided I wanted a big party for my 30th. I gave Nathan some theme ideas and guest list and he made it happen. The king of trivia that he is, Nathan looked up trivia about big hits that coincided with my milestone birthdays.
                    Top Song                                           Top Movie
Born 1981 - "Physical" Olivia Newton John                          Raiders of the Lost Ark   384 Million

On my 16th - "Candle in the Wind" Elton John                      Titanic 1.84 Billion
On my 18th - "Smooth" Santana                                           Star Wars Episode 1 924 Million    
On my 21st - "Complicated" Avril Lavigne                   Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers 925 Million
On my 25th - "Sexy Back" Justin Timberlake                       Pirates of the Caribbean 1.06 Billion
On my 30th - "We Found Love" Rihanna                             Harry Potter #7 1.32 Billion

To be clear, these are not my favorite songs/movies, rather they are the top rated of the year. However, I will say that life seemed "Smooth" @ 18 and "Complicated"@ 21.  I must say, I brought "Sexy Back" @ 25. WOOT! And thanks to Nathan I can say, "We Found Love" (I do not really like Rihanna).

There was the cheese portion of the night. We had brie, Cotswold, cheddar, pepper jack, Flagship, blue cheese, and many more. It was so yummy. One of the most popular items at the party was the homemade macaroni and cheese. Nathan took care of everything. Homemade macaroni and cheese from scratch. The recipe is from allrecipes.com Chuck's Favorite Mac and Cheese.

We all had some fun socks on, and I got many new ones to add to my collection. I also got some other really great gifts. Yeah, I'm 30 years old, but I still wanted the Taylor Swift perfume Enchanted (thanks Nana). Thanks to everyone who came to celebrate!

Thanksgiving 2011

November is a sweet time of year for teachers. We get Veteran’s day off and three days off for Thanksgiving. At this point in the year, I really needed time off to relax.

My mom went to visit Jennifer and Richard for Thanksgiving this year. Nathan and I decided to host a small Thanksgiving at our house this year. So I made Thanksgiving dinner for the Davaz family (Dennis, Nick, Nathan and myself). 

With mom out of town I was thankful for technology. I had to call mom so she could talk me through making gravy and stuffing.  Everything turned out great. I had prep-help from Nathan (my sous chef) and from Dennis mashed the potatoes. 

We used the special occasion dishes to make the meal look even better. When it was time to eat, Nathan carved the turkey and we had a wonderful, relaxing meal: green bean casserole, candied yams, stuffing, mashed potatoes with gravy, rolls, turkey and cranberry sauce (a must have).  After dinner we slipped into food coma and watched a movie while we digested our exorbitantly high calorie intake…AKA make room for dessert.  When we could eat no more, we divided up leftovers and called it a day. So many things to be grateful for this year; I’m thankful for an amazing family, including the in-laws!

October 2011

Halloween was fun. We went to the ward trunk-or-treat party. There was also a delicious chili cook-off. I used Nathan’s dad’s recipe and thought it was a shoe in to win a prize. Sadly our family chili did not win. Word through the grapevine is that the judges thought it was too spicy. Fine! Wusses!

We still had a great time with our friends from the ward. We carpooled with our neighbors, Super Man and Kryptonite, and combined our efforts to make an awesome trunk for the treaters: Angry Birds! We used Jenga blocks, ping pong balls, and a sling shot to try to recreate the phenomenon. It was a big hit. We had kids lining up, and not just for candy.   

“Couples costumes” are a common theme for Nathan and I. Typically we’ll pick characters that make sense when they are together. Past examples include House and Cuddy, or Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson. Basically we look like regular people… So this year I wanted to dress in a costume that people would know who I was even if Nathan wondered off or wasn’t right by my side. This is what we came up with, and I think it was a big hit! Nathan borrowed the mask and paws from his dad, and I borrowed my costume pieces…Together we had one great couples costume!

 

While we were eating, one little boy in the ward couldn’t take his eyes off Nathan. At one point he leaned over to his mom and said “I think he’s a werewolf.”  His mom assured him that he wasn’t a werewolf; he’s just wearing a costume. But he insisted “No I think he is a werewolf.”

School Update

September was a very busy month. Nathan and I had to adjust to my first teaching job. With the job came many opportunities to learn and grow professionally. It was a test of endurance for sure, but the experience reconfirmed that I love teaching. It was a busy year and I missed out on a lot of fun with friends and family. Now that it is summer I intend to live it up, trying to make up for lost time.

“[Teaching] is what gets inside you. It’s what lights you up, you can’t deny that…. It’s supposed to be hard. If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. The hard…is what makes it great.” 

Teaching is hard. Countless hours of lesson planning and grading. Emailing parents and meeting with counselors. Weekly staff meetings… It’s worth it when they tell me that mine is their favorite class. It’s worth it when I see they’ve really learned something they can apply to their lives. It’s worth it when the students succeed. The hard is what makes it great.

I taught several long, and many short, units as well as daily mini lessons. Some of the texts we covered in ninth grade included poetry, short stories, novels, and nonfiction articles.

·         Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck

·         The Lottery – Shirley Jackson

·         Fahrenheit 451 – Ray Bradbury

·         Romeo and Juliet – Shakespeare

Tenth grade

·         Through the Tunnel – Doris Lessing

·         Scarlet Ibis – James Hurst

·         Lord of the Flies – William Golding

I learned a lot and I look forward to the next opportunity I have to teach. I have applied to many district “teacher pool” positions. I have also applied to a couple specific positions. I have great recommendations from the administrators at MTHS, so I can only hope they go a long way to help me get a job for the 2012-13 year. I will update as I have more news.