Challenge Update & Other Goings On

SOOOOOO sorry that I've been MIA!!! These past few weeks have been super crazy busy and have flown by.  So what have I been up to you ask? Or if you even care, lol.....I started my student teaching on 10 January.  I was kinda nervous at first not knowing what to expect from middle schoolers, but ya know, I absolutely LOVE it!! They are so fun, yes ok they do get on my nerves at times, but they're young enough that they still love silly things like getting stickers on their papers and funny stories and they're not too old and think you're a complete idiot like high schoolers do.  My mentor teacher is awesome too!!! I could not have asked for a better one.  She's super fun and really loves teaching the kids which is obvious in the way she interacts with them and puts so much effort into fun learning activities. 

I've learned a lot in these past three weeks than in my whole past year of online classes.  How to manage the kids, teach lessons, do activities, etc.  I've designed and taught three lessons so far, and the students really seem to love them.  Now, you wouldn't be able to tell by their assignments....that's another story for another day, but how hard is it to fill in the blanks during the lecture when I emphasize words like ten times... anywhoo....The kids really seem to like me and we have good interaction while I'm teaching, so that's always a good sign :-)

Even though I'm staying up til like 11pm every night planning and grading papers (and getting up at 5:30am to make it there by 7am), I've never been less stressed or happier.  My Momma said the other day when we were talking about this, that when I was a kid I loved playing school and grading papers, haha.  I remember that too! Even though I was all about the medical field and wanting to be a doctor (and then changing to a nurse practitioner midway through college), I always had the most fun playing school growing up! My Momma and aunt and cousins always asked me about teaching when I entered college thinking that I'd be good at it, but I went ahead with my premed and nursing.  Well the road finally wound back around when we got stationed in Tucson with the opportunity to be in a Post-Degree Teaching Certification program.  And now.....I'm finally where I belong, and most importantly, where God wants me to be.  I'm finally feeling that I'm doing something that I was meant to do all along.  It's not just a job to make ends meet or to get experience, it's a job I'm passionate about.

In other news, I've pretty much decided that I'm officially tired of being the president of our base's enlisted wives club.  We had our yearly planning meeting last week, and it was pretty bad.  One girl on the board resigned and said some really ugly mean things toward me and the other girls.  She had no leg to stand on because the things she said have no evidence to back it up, but anywho....Along with that, my friends on the board voiced their disinterest in the club anymore too.  It's just so completely frustrating to pour our heart and souls and time and energy into this when wives at this base do not like to be involved (which is another soap box for another time).  So, I'm ready to have my life back, even though I've thouroughly enjoyed all of the priviledges I've had to make friends in real high places and been to things most military wives never get to go to, it's exhausting when I'm basically the one running the show without much help.  Which that part's probably my fault because it's just easier to do it myself than explain what to do to others.  The officer's wives club on our base is struggling with the same issues, so we're thinking about joining together.  A lot of bases around the world are joining their enlisted and officer wives clubs.  Anybody have any thoughts or experience with this???

Last night we went to some good friends of ours house.  It's a guy my hubby works with in his squadron, his wife, and their adorable twin 1yr old girls.  They live like 5 minutes from us too :-) We have tons in common and always have so much fun together! The wife is most definitely a Millie Sister for life :-) We stayed over until like 2am, she and I just talking and laughing while the guys played their video games.  It was fun to finally have a good couple friend where both of us like both of them, and vice versa.  I was like, finally, something that I'm not obligated to go to/do because of my wives club and we can talk about something other than the wives club and still have lots in common.  That, among other things I've already mentioned, make me want more and more to get my stress free/drama free life back....

So, on to the challenges update:
 Challenge #1: The KLOVE Challenge.  Well I did pretty good to start out, I was only listening to Christian music, but then one afternoon I came home and wanted to hear some music instead of the tv while I was doing my lesson plans.  Well, KLOVE doesn't get good reception where we live, so I turned it to the classic rock station and listened to it.  Really I don't feel so bad about it.  I don't see why that music can't allow you to feel good either.  I still listen to KLOVE in the mornings on the way to school so that I start my day out with a bang and have good worship time.  So doesn't that count?

  Challenge #2: Weight Watchers.  I've done immensly better on this challenge! I've been able to stick to my points of 29 per day....ok, so the first week and a half were harder to do that, but I'd only go over like 8 points or so each day.  Which that really adds up, I know! But after that, I learned my portion sizes and got more used to what I could and could not eat and the points of things.  I even took a tip from my Momma to add up points when you get a food, and write it on the box/bag so that everytime you eat that food or want to, you immediately know how many points you'll be having.  I definitely feel better, and hungrier!, lol, since I've been able to keep within my 29 points per day.  I think I have a bad scale because it doesn't say I've lost weight, but my pants are a bit looser which is a good sign! So, mark this as a success with keeping up this challenge :-)

Sorry for the crazy long post.  I'll try to do better about posting more a little bit each week instead.  Have a great weekend ya'll!