new !

I did want to add another update for those of you who did not know.  Although, I'm pretty sure you all know and it hits another one of those words for 2012, NEW!

Ed got a NEW job in Colorado at the University of Boulder.  So we moved to a NEW state that we have never lived in before and only visited once.  I am looking for a NEW job here.  We have a NEW apartment that's pretty nice and we bought a NEW couch from IKEA, because we're cheap like that.  Ed will also be teaching a class in the fall, which will be a NEW experience for him.

Dealing with the altitude is not exactly a new experience since we visited in may and got a taste of it.  Although, dealing with the altitude sickness and bronchitis at the same time is in fact a NEW experience for me.

annnnnd now that our little family (me, Ed, and Ebba) is reunited, we plan on making a NEW addition to the family!   At some point this year we would like to welcome a new fur-baby!  I've been going back and forth on breeds from lab to husky...to lab to husky...and then I found the Alaskan Malamute and right now, I'm stuck on them.  I even contacted a breeder in the general area.  Ed first said maybe in August, but we shall see...

Is this pup adorable or what!?

From the Breeder I found in CO

a not so cute update

Well it’s been a long time since my last post.  I was either too tired to write or too afraid that someone would find what I wrote and I would get fired.  Ranting about your job does not give one positive recognition in the workplace.  Speaking of positive, I need to check off some more of the words from my words from 2012 and give some new updates.

Hope, Believe, Persevere, Inspire, Growth, Joy, Cherish, and Positive.

Those are the words from my list of 2012 words that I’m going to write about. Some of them are going to be very short in description…and probably sarcastic.

So as the 2011-2012 school year continued (after my last post), I hoped that it would go by more easily than the first half of the school year.  I ended up moving to Vicksburg and living with a fellow teacher.  The commute was sooo much better (this is one of the positive points) however, as many of you know, that didn’t end well either.  I’m not going to post about that here out of respect for my roommate.  She was a great roommate and if you really want to know, I’ll point you to some newspaper articles or tell you.  But I’m not posting about it for the interwebs to find. 

I also hoped that he school year would end more quickly.  It did not, but it did eventually end.

I believed that I would make it through to the end of the school year without killing someone…and look! I’m not in jail! Success!  Although, on the last day of school, storming down the hall with a writing utensil in my hand, I walked into a fellow teacher’s classroom, blinded by furry, and said in a very loud voice, “I’m about to stab a bitch with a pencil!”  Lucky for her, it was a pen in my hand.

So yeah, throughout the trials and tribulations of the school year, I did persevere.  Hopefully, and I believe I did, I inspired a few students to do better and make more of themselves and get the fuck out of that town.  We shall see.

Growth.  I have definitely grown, both professionally and personally.  I learned that Ed and I can handle a lot.  Although difficult and painful, we managed to survive the past 10 months apart (more perseverance!).

I have also grown as a teacher.  I have learned some boundaries, some new methods, and I now know more about what I should and should not do as a teacher. I also realize now how to handle certain non-teaching related, yet school related, situations.  All of which I will not discuss.

Joy.  I was overflowing with joy when the school year finally ended.  On a more positive note, I did really enjoy teaching a few of my students.  Some of them were really great and I will actually remember them, probably forever.  And along with joy, I will cherish good memories that I made with them during my first year teaching in a normal school situation, although that school was anything but normal.

So to stay on a positive note, even though this year was pretty awful, it was a learning experience.  I do believe that I learned a lot and that this experience has better prepared me for future endeavors.

Much more has happened this year, both positive and negative, and even some mixed reviews in there as well, most of it very personal.  This was basically just a gloss over and I will eventually spill everything…….maybe.

On some other 2012 words: change, learn, prepare

From the list of words for 2012, come the words change, learn, and prepare.

I’ve already begun to make some changes.  This weekend I am leaving Clinton and moving to Vicksburg.  This comes with some happy and some sad.  Happy that I no longer have to commute and will have a full two more hours in my day.  Sad that I’m leaving behind the wonderful Boyd/Boyte family who took me in and let me stay with them for almost half a year, even though the original plan was 1-3 months.  So a big “thank you” to them!  I’m sure there will be many more changes this year, but that’s one to start with.

My other word for this post, learn, will also be featured more than just this once, I’m sure, because there are millions of opportunities to learn.  Currently, I am using much of my free time to teach myself and learn more about photography (all aspects of it).  I buy books, read them, use them as workbooks, play with my camera as I read them, etc.  I feel like this could be a never-ending process, but I also feel like I’m learning so much.

I’m also learning so much about teaching, being a teacher, school administration, and the world of education in general.  It’s one of those learning situations where you’re not sure if it’s helping you or hurting you.  What I mean by this is, the more I earn about the education system, the more I’m not sure if I want to be in it for the rest of my working life (or at least not in public/high school).  Part of working at a high school is really making me want to go back and get my PhD.  However, I think about the current job market and there are so many people out there (believe it or not) with German PhDs that I don’t think I’ll ever get a job.  Maybe I should consider another area…maybe international studies? Administration? Anything else?  But what I have learned is that I’m not sure this is the job oath for me.  And I guess it’s good that I’m learning this now, so that I have the option of changing my path before I get stuck in it.

Which brings us to the word prepare.  By learning all I can about every aspect of photography, I feel like I’m preparing myself for the eventual launch of the website that I’ve been working on for too long now.  The more I learn and work towards that goal, the more confidence I have in my photography and self as a photographer.  I feel that there are a few more things that I need to learn/master and put into place before I feel most comfortable, but I’m well on the road to where I need to be.  Even if it is slow and at my own pace, I feel that it’s moving along.

As I mentioned before, these words will have many definitions, and throughout the year these will change again and again.  Maybe I’ll fumble and have to reroute, but here she goes for now!

Words for 2012

I know today is already the third day of 2012 and how you plan to start something new should have already been thought about.  But I didn’t.  New Years Eve, one of our gracious hosts, Matt Ludlum, kept asking everyone in our party our predictions, goals, etc. for 2012.  Even then, I didn’t really take it seriously. 

It wasn’t until our drive “home” from Austin that I really began to think about 2012.  Some of the questions that Matt asked kept going through my mind and I began to think about what I wanted in 2012.  Some of my answers on New Years Eve remain true.  To live in the same town with my husband.  To get a job that I can enjoy.  But those were for 2011 as well.  Ed and I talked a lot about some of the things I want for 2012, mostly to do with photography.  We were able to set a 2,000$ a year “budget” for my photographic needs.  This year’s was easily “spent”: Photoshop, Logo, new lens.  However, I still wasn’t really thinking toooo much about 2012.

I was perusing facebook and someone gave the prompt: Give one word for 2012.  It wasn’t until I read the words, that I really felt inspired.  Below are the ones that spoke to me the most.

Flourish

Sparkle

Joy

Hope

Believe

Positive

Adventure

Nurture

Courage

New

Commitment

Growth

Persevere

Cherish

Change

Prepare

Listen

Inspire

Learn

I think over the next few whatevers, days, weeks, months, the year 2012 (when I have time), I’m going to pick one of these words, “define” it for me, and find it for 2012.  So rather than making New Years Resolutions, I’m making a 2012 bucket-list of sorts.

So, for starters, I’m going to go with Adventure and Commitment.

Adventure:  After visiting Austin I realized that I needed to see more of the world.  As the world isn’t exactly affordable at the time, the United States will do.  I’ve been saying for years that I need to travel more in the U.S.  So our first adventure of 2012 is already planned.  Ed has been there already, but I have not, so it still works for me.  Colorado in March!

Commitment:  Now this can go many ways, and like I said, I’m defining this for me (although I still have multiple venues to commit to).  First, I commit to making me a better, healthier, happier person.  Part of that is doing all I can to be back with my husband, find a job that I can say I love, and getting healthier.  Now that’s a big task, so if it takes a little longer than just the year 2012, that’s fine.  But as lone as I keep working towards that, I’ll consider it met! 

My talk with Ed on the way back to Austin also made me realize that I want to give my photography a bigger commitment.  A commitment to learn more, better my photography skills, and did I mention learn more?  I want to learn as much as possible and lose the fear I have of screwing it up. 

I think if I can do these two things, I will have already knocked off a few more words on the list!