Always an Adventure

My attempt at keeping friends and family informed about my doings . . . boring or exciting, it will all be here!

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Summer has begun!!

As I sit in my parents house in Colorado, it is slowly beginning to sink in that summer has officially began. After school got done on Wednesday, I finished some house maintenance stuff (snow machine care, dog care etc.) and got on a plane Thursday morning. I was fortunate to have Elaine, my friend in ANC that came out to visit this spring, to pick me up at the airport. I didn't fly out of ANC until midnight, and being in town at 1:30 left me nearly a full day to fill. Being tired from my week, for the first hour in town I took a nap back at Elaine's house. I love naps :) After that we headed out in the beautiful afternoon sun to take a little hike through the woods- it was a great walk. We even got the chance to take off our shoes and walk through the spring overflow areas :) - a cool and refreshing pedicure, Alaskan style :) For the first time ever while on a trail, we came upon an unseen bear! It appeared to be a black bear, a few years old perhaps. Quiet a surprise! We back tracked and decided to return to the car via the road. Not always a nice place to walk, but not a few corners further did we run into two moose! What a trip for wildlife :) We ended the day with a trip to a Korean restaurant, Barnes and Noble and then the airport. It was a great way to spend the extra long layover in the city :) and a great way to start my summer off :)

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Graduation


Graduation happened last weekend. Hard to believe another class has come and gone. It's funny how the more years you teach, the less significant they seem to become. Does that sound bad?!? I don't mean it to- it's just odd, how you think, "Oh, here's graduation again." It doesn't make the seniors that graduate any less important or significant, it just seems like another thing on the list to check off as another year ends.

Here they have a rose ceremony. The graduates hand out roses as thank you's to those that have helped them throughout the years. To my sheer surprise, and heart felt appreciation, I received 11 roses this year. Wow. What a statement it makes from the kids... it made me feel so good.

This years graduation was well done. It seemed well rehearsed, and organized. Decorations were perfect, and everything went smoothly. Congratulations Seniors! You did it.

Prom. . .


This year we were in charge of prom. We being the junior class, and the class sponsors (myself, and an english teacher, Jannelle). We've been planning since January, and it is quite the process to get 14 juniors to get stuff done. It's great to see them take leadership rolls, and to step up to the task at hand. We spent nearly $4,000 for a one time event- makes me sick to my stomach to be honest. And I haven't been shy about sharing that opinion with the kids. We were able to save some decorations- maybe to be used at future dances, or graduation next year. That helped redeem the situation a little. Very little.

Preparation took from Friday 4-10pm and then Saturday 11-4. And then it was all cleaned up in less than 6 hours. . . craziness.

The prom itself went off without a hitch. I ended up making the cake, I guess I should say decorating it. It has been a long time since I made a cake, and it reminded me of being home and helping mom with all of her cakes back in the day. It wasn't anything fancy, but it did the trick, and the whole cake was eaten before the night was through- so I guess it was okay :)

Here is Karis and I at prom. . .