From "Miss" to "Mom"

(This picture was taken a month ago . . . my stomach is twice that size now)

Friday was the last day of school and my last day of teaching. I feel so lucky and grateful to be able to stay home with our little guy next year! 

The past three years of teaching have been a serious roller coaster. My two years at Taylor have been good ones overall, but any teacher (high school teachers in particular) knows that teaching is a love/hate kind of job. I love all of my students . . . I don't always like them. And I'll be honest, sometimes I may have hated them just a little bit. At my lowest moments I would go home and vent in frustration to Matt--"I'm tired of investing so much time and energy into kids who just don't care! The apathy is killing me!" And then I would get a note from a student (this just happened on Friday) telling me how much they really do care and that they are grateful for me, thanking me for caring so much about them. Ups and downs people!

So, here are a few things I'll miss, a few things I won't miss, and a few things I have learned.

I will miss . . .
- Having an excuse to geek out over things like figurative language for six hours a day (nerd alert).
- The occasional student admitting that what we're learning is actually pretty cool.
- All of the amazing teachers I've been blessed to work with.
- Standing in the hall to welcome current students and say hi to past students as they walk by.

I won't miss . . .
- Telling the boys to pull their pants up, turn their pornographic t-shirts inside out, and fold over their drug socks.
- Excessive eye rolling and dramatic sighs from the girls.
- All of the whining about assignments and classwork. ("Miiiiisssss why you always have us be doin' too much?")
- Grading persuasive essays and "short answer responses." Adios STAAR!!

I have learned . . .
- How to pretend like I have super hearing powers and have heard an entire conversation even if I only caught a couple of words.
- A lot of new words and phrases (including, but not limited to "finna," "turn up," "dip," and "roachin").
- To master my death stare.
- Patience. Still working on this one, but I've gotten better (example: A couple of weeks ago, after a month of reading Fahrenheit 451, someone answered "Julius Caesar" when I asked who the protagonist of the novel was. Patience. Lots of deep breaths.)

On to my new job! Only a couple more months before I'm a full time mom. I can't wait :)

Washington DC Part 2

Sunday: We caught an early church meeting, then went to lunch at Ben's Chili Bowl--the kind of famous place that's been there forever and is covered in pictures that boast of all the celebrities who have eaten there. I was so excited, as you can tell by the picture. I'll blame my chili dog enthusiasm on the baby . . . But seriously, they are famous for dumping delicious chili on delicious meat. What's not to like?

The National Archives was next, and was one of the many times on this trip when I thanked my lucky stars that weren't there in the summer. It was already so crowded! Lots of those "read every sign and then stand and talk about it with my family while people are waiting for me to move" types. Luckily Matt and I are good at weaving through the masses, so we saw the popular exhibits first--Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, Magna Carta, then moved on to the other rooms. Definitely a must-see if you're visiting the area. And can I just say, there is no way that National Treasure's ancient document heist could ever happen? No way. There were security guards everywhere.

The Air and Space Museum was Matt's must-see Smithsonian. I wasn't quite as excited for it, but my low expectations meant that I was pleasantly surprised! There were lots of planes, rockets, and space shuttle type things that I didn't know much about. But most importantly, there were really good informative displays that actually taught you what everything was. I especially liked learning about the Wright Brothers and seeing one of Amelia Earhart's planes. Matt was very impressed by the space command modules from the Apollo missions, and the Messerschmit ME62 of course.

The coolness of our dinner locale requires a little back story. Our ward at church has a weekly tutoring program that Matt and I participate in. This year we were assigned to tutor some kids who just moved here from Africa a little over a year ago. They are from Eritrea, which is a tiny country on the eastern side, located right next to Ethiopia. So imagine my excitement when I find that one of the top restaurants on Yelp was an authentic Eritrean place not too far from the National Mall! We hailed a cab and rushed over there to make it before they closed. The food was delicious, and it was so fun to come home and tell the kids about what we ate. As far as I'm concerned, there's no better way to learn about a different culture than with a good meal.

Washington DC Part 1

Matt and I have been so lucky to have our spring breaks line up two years in a row! Last year we went on an awesome road trip; this year we decided to splurge a bit and go to Washington DC for the week. Since this was our last big trip without a carseat in tow, we decided to go all out and make the most of it. We ran around like crazy and saw as much as we possibly could! It was a little tiring but still relaxing enough to feel like vacation.

The trip kind of fell into four parts I'll be breaking it up into multiple posts so I have room to give a little more detail and avoid overloading you with pictures . . . 

Part 1 would be our first two days in DC. We started out early each morning and made very good use of our metro cards to see the tourist sights but still find the good local places to eat and explore (You'll notice through these posts that the food was a highlight for me--all of my "food pictures" have turned into a running joke at our house).

Natural History Museum--our first Smithsonian of the trip! Man, this place was impressive. They had everything here, from mummies to aquariums to dinosaur bones. I imagine it gets pretty packed here in the summer, there were lots of kids and families, but I would say its worth it.

National Museum of American History. You guys. I was so excited for this one. (Nerd alert) Julia Child's kitchen is on display here!! We also saw some other cool stuff like the flag Francis Scott Keys saw as he composed our national anthem, a great exhibit on the presidents and first ladies, Dorothy's ruby slippers, an original bar from a Civil Rights sit in, the original Sesame Street puppets, and the first Apple computer. Pretty random, huh? We loved this museum just for that reason.

After the museums we hopped on the metro and made our way to Eastern Market. I had read about this place online and was excited to go on a Saturday when all of the vendors and stands were set up. We found an amazing El Salvadorian restaurant here--Tortilla Cafe.

We finished up the afternoon walking around the National Mall to see the monuments and memorials: Jefferson, Washington, WWII, Lincoln, Korea, and Vietnam. We enjoyed the beautiful weather and loved watching the sunset on the Potomac. Those memorials are so beautiful all lit up at night!

Christmas!!!!

(Note: I wrote this a couple of months ago and forgot to post it . . . better late than never?)

Looks like my blog has fallen to the sad state of blog disrepair which entails only posting for holidays and major events. Sad. In my head I want to be the kind of blogger who finds randomly interesting things to post about regularly--you know, the everyday kind of stuff you would normally forget. Oh well. On to Christmas!

I love Christmas.  Everything about it. This Christmas was no exception! We spent a couple of weeks in Utah being spoiled by the Scotts with lots of good food, good company, movies, and adventures. We saw an exhibit of the Dead Sea scrolls, Olympic Speed Skating trials, went sledding, made a quilt (Sarah), watched about 2 million hours of football (Matt), finished 2 books during said football watching (Sarah), got together with old friends, spent some time with extended family, saw Christmas lights on Temple Square, went to Elf the Musical . . . it was quite a party! We are so grateful for them and always look forward to these holiday reunions.

"Ode to Mrs. Scott"

An ode is a poem written to celebrate a person or thing. Before our Thanksgiving break, I had my classes write one on something they were grateful for. Here's my favorite (transcribed as written):

Ode to Mrs. Scott

Thank you Mrs. Scott for teaching us the success

You are teaching me the secrets for the tests.

And you are teaching me the best

So I would be great and not be mess.

Giving us alot of work and tests every day

But if we don't do it we throwing the chance away.

We got to pass your class and STAAR but without help

None of us would be passing we will melt.

In all honesty, it has been a really tough term so far. I often feel frustrated about the increased testing in my school and the way it affects my already discouraged/apathetic students. Even without all the testing the holidays are a crazy time; it's so hard to keep the kids focused. Last Friday was no exception, but this little ode made me smile. As long as those kiddos know I care and don't want them to "be mess," I can feel like I'm doing my job.

We're Back!

Back to the blogging world, that is. It's been a busy few months!

July: Matt came back from his Officer's Training Camp on July 4th. It was the BEST day. Our last 4 weeks in Hawaii was perfect. We spent a long weekend at a vacation rental on Sunset Beach, went to the beach every single day, and did a lot of fun things with my family--sailing, beach days, snorkeling, hikes. It was nice to get back home to Houston after being gone for so long, but we are counting down the days until we get to go back!

August: Happy Birthday Matthew! We had a quick weekend in Utah with Matt's family, and also got to be there for my cousin's wedding. Mom and Dad Scott came to Houston for a few days to enjoy the lovely summer weather. And for Matt's birthday we took a trip to Dallas for a little Rangers baseball and trip down memory lane to see his old neighborhood--he hadn't been back there in 15 years.

September: School started. Stress started. But it was also my birthday month! So it all balanced out :) Matt treated me like a princess all month long, and I threw my first dinner party. Best birthday ever.

October: September was when the stress started; October is when it morphed into an uncontrollable beast. I'm being dramatic, per usual, but it really was a busy month for us. Matt had 2 weeks of block exams and everything with my teaching just seemed to pile up so that I was always feeling behind. Lucky for us, October is over, and we are both feeling caught up as November begins. There was plenty of fun mixed in though; Dad Scott in town for the BYU vs. UH game, BYU winning the UH game, a few get-togethers with friends and neighbors, and Halloween of course!

Now it's only a couple more weeks and then THANKSGIVING. I love the fall.

A trip to the Big Island

A couple of weeks ago I got to travel to the Big Island of Hawaii for a couple of days with my Dad. We had such a great time! He has traveled there quite a bit, but it was my first time. We drove around the entire island, seeing the dramatic cliffs of the coastline, wide expanses of lava rock, and beautiful jungle. One of the major highlights was watching the sunset from 3,000 feet at the top of Mt. Mauna Kea. The pictures speak for themselves :)