Excited!

*Disclaimer: I still don't know why my blog isn't showing my separated paragraphs and is making it one big chunk. Anyone have any idea how to fix this? Anyways...hey everyone! I know many people don't read this since I don't link/post to Facebook/give the address out anywhere, so sometimes I feel silly giving updates. However, I would like to give a shout-out to my Grandma, Bopi, who always emails me and comments on things that she read in my blog! It always makes me feel special! :) I will list 5 things that I am really excited about right now and then give an update on some of my projects (yes, I have become a crazy project lady because there's not much else to do right now!) 1. I am SO excited for school to start. I NEVER thought I'd say that. However, I'm feeling really excited and happy about my decision to switch jobs. I am actually excited to work at a bigger school and to be at a high school (don't get me wrong, I love middle school kiddos and miss mine more than words can express!) I found out a bit more about my schedule this week. I will be teaching one ALS (academic life skills-my position) math class, one ALS English class, and I will do inclusion for one period. The teacher who I am replacing also taught a Dyslexia class, but unfortunately I got hired too late to go to the training for that, I would have loved it. He also coached bowling, which I will NOT be doing, haha! However, I am going to help another teach with homecoming for the freshman class. Also, I am talking to another Special Education teacher and we are considering starting a Circle of Friends club. This is a group that works with the students in Special Education at the school. It's something that Mitchell and I were involved in in high school and one of the things that made me want to be a Special Education teacher. Having COF also made a huge impact on Emily since she was in that class. There is still so much information that I don't know that I'm a bit worried about, but that's just my type-A personality. Overall, I can't wait! 2. This one is pretty awesome I am going to dinner at the Former President George W. bush and Laura Bush's house next month! AHH! I am so excited. They invited the 2010 TFA alum corps members still teaching in the Dallas area. Hopefully it should be a smaller group of us, so I'm hoping to get to meet and talk with him. Unfortunately I can't bring Mitchell with me, but I was so excited I pretty much screamed when I opened the invitation. I had to give them my social security number to RSVP, haha. 3. I am running two 5K races in September! If you know me at all, this is pretty humorous. My family likes to crack jokes when I mention something like buying a pair of tennis shoes or doing anything that would require them. However, much to their surprise, I've been running for almost two months now and am really enjoying it (eh, most of the time). It's just been so hot out! I just signed up for the Lewisville rec center after being appalled by the price of gyms, and it was $20 for 6 months, woohoo! Anyways, I am running the Color Me Rad run in Ft. Worth and the Vineyard Run in Grapevine. Can't wait! 4. We're going to Oklahoma this weekend! I can't wait to spend some time with the in-laws, sweet friends, and hang out on the beautiful OU campus. It should be a good time! 5. Okay, this is a stretch. However, I might be going to London in the Spring! My cousin is going to be studying abroad there and my Aunt already lives there. This got my Mom, sister and I thinking how it would be the perfect time to visit. I've never REALLY left the country (I don't really count getting off of a cruise ship on our honeymoon), so I'm hoping it works out. We could stay with one of them so all I would have to pay for would be airfare and food. As you can see, there is a lot to be excited about. And here are some recent projects of mine: 1. Mari and I made some teacher signs for our classroom doors. We had a lot of fun! Thankfully, Mari already had the paint and ribbon, so the project only cost about $10 total. We were pretty proud of work!

I also made this sign because I had an extra wooden thing and some paint leftover from something else. I think it looks a bit tacky, so I may not keep it up.

2. This is one of my favorites! We made super desk organizers (we saw it on Pinterest). This project cost about $17, the cost of the organizer at Home Depot. It was really fun and an easy project!

3. This is not a project, but this is the outside of my classroom door! They have been waxing the floors all week so I haven't been able to set it up. However, I will be sure to post pictures whenever I get everything ready. The second picture is another Pinterest project I found.

4. Lastly, this is a simple thing that I made today but love! I found a bunch of free printables for subway art online. I used a frame I had sitting around and some paint I already had, so the project was free! I hung this in our laundry room:

That's all for now. If you made it this far, thanks for reading. I hope everyone has a fantastic week! :) Katherine