Faux grad

I have one more semester of class.

No, that's not true.

I have one more TERM of class. Summer TERM. At least, that's what I think it is. I can't really find the official name for it. But I like "term" better than "semester." It sounds shorter. Also, now that I've used the word "term" 3 (and now 4) times in one paragraph, it's starting to look weird to me. Term. Weird.

Anyway, since the end of my classes happens to clash horribly with the time when I am supposed to be pushing a baby out, I thought it might be more practical to "graduate" in May.

I pretty much told everyone that I was doing this because there was no graduation ceremony in August. I do not actually know if this is true. For all I know, there may be a graduation ceremony in August! But I highly suspect that there is not.

Basically, all this is to tell you that I faux graduated this month. Am I a legit teacher with a diploma and a certification? No, not yet. Did I get to wear a cap and gown and hood (A HOOD!) and have my name read and make everyone think that I'm a legit teacher with a diploma and a certification? HECK YES.

Yes, I am now going by Master Katie. Please address all future correspondence to me in this way. Thank you.

If I was able to explain to you how hot/sweaty I was in the period of time following the ceremony, I would do it. However, current words are not available to describe. Therefore, you will have to use your imagination to determine these things.



Also, these people have put just as much work into my degree as I have. Dallin is amazingly supportive (even with the prospect of student loan debt hanging over our heads), and can pretty much talk me through any slump. My mom has babysat like a mad woman. She rocks!

So, there you have it. A few pictures from my "graduation." Too bad classes start again tomorrow.

My mom is awesome because...

what she really wanted for Mother's Day was a gift certificate to go skydiving.

We obliged, of course.

You go, Mom.

Happy Mother's Day to my fabulous momma!

And happy Mother's Day to all women out there. Whether you've birthed a child or not, it's still in your heart to be a mother.

Just breathe

So...in case you haven't read between the lines....or haven't read the lines themselves...

school is killing me.

It's been especially tough this past week or so, when I've...

-had so much I wanted to do and just haven't been able to do it all-

-been trying like crazy to play catch up with all things school-

-been pretty upset with myself, realizing that it's my own fault that I have to play catch up-

Seriously, part of me feels like I should have been working insanely hard to do a better job of keeping up with all aspects of my life.

But then the other part of me reminds me that working any harder could have easily resulted in my death, and possibly the death of a few innocent bystanders. Honestly though, I don't think I'd be happy with myself if I had put any more time into school and taken time away from other things. My life would be way off balance, and I wouldn't be cool with that.

I've been stretched to the breaking point on so many levels, and I'm r.e.a.d.y for it to be over.

And then I remember that it is almost over...

and I decide that I'm just going to...


-have some chips ahoy and milk (baby's favorite snack) before bed-

-wake up early and exercise (you read that right)-

-tackle tomorrow, and then the day after that...and repeat-

-insert positive thought here-

35 Things: April Update

To say that April has been a crazy month would be an understatement. So much time, so little to do. Strike that, reverse it.

BUT I was able to keep up on my stuff that I'm supposed to do every month for my 35 things, including (#7) making a meal plan (even if it included pizza/take-out for two days that week...ha!), (#12) baking a new cookie (yummy oatmeal chocolate chip, adapted from the amazing Emily's recipe, found here), and (#35) completing an act of service.

I also did...

14. Donate old clothes to DI: Hoo-freaking-ray. This has needed to be done forever. I expanded my donation to include shoes, books, etc. It felt so nice to de-clutter a bit. I swear I'm totally nesting. I want my house to be an clean, organized dream. Sigh....baby steps.

25. Read 30 books: added two more books to my list. Not as much as I would have liked, but one of them was by Cormac McCarthy, so you gotta cut me some slack.

-The Road by Cormac McCarthy: Hard to get into, hard to read, pretty disturbing. Very...different. Also very...depressing. Also very...3 stars.

-The Maze Runner by James Dashner: The story kept me going, the writing didn't. What happened to character development in this book? Did it even exist? The answer is no. I didn't so much care about any of the people. Any of them. That's sad. I'm usually a pretty caring person. Thanks a lot, James Dashner, for making me not care. I've heard the second book (The Scorch Trials) is better. True? False? Anyone know? I'll probably read it. But this one gets 3 1/2 stars.

Can you believe it's MAY already? It blows my freaking mind, I tell ya.

Happy Not Good Friday

I don't have the day off because it's Good Friday. I have the day off because it's "Spring Holiday."

Either way, I have the day off from student teaching.

I know I've told you absolutely nothing about my student teaching experience, and for that, I apologize. Let's just say it's been a roller coaster. Some days I feel like I would love love love to have my own classroom and teach little kiddos all day. Some days I feel like I would rather...not.

But hey, I'm five weeks into it. Three more to go.

And I have the day off today.

And it's Earth Day. Fun fact.

Since we didn't have school today, I talked to the class about Earth Day yesterday. Here's how our discussion started:

Me: So who knows what we celebrate on Earth Day?

Little girl who is pretty much the cutest/sweetest child in the class, with a lovely little smile on her face: It's to celebrate when Jesus died on the cross for our sins!

Me: No. Anyone else?

HAHA. Ah, me. Looking back on it now I probably sounded a bit rude to her. I just tried to avoid her answer entirely. But I still have no idea how I should have handled that. I probably should have said something like, "Well, sweetie, I think you're thinking of Easter, which is also this weekend, but we can't talk about that in school because there might be one or two children in here whose parents would be extremely upset if we did. They're the same ones who insist that we call tomorrow "Spring Holiday" instead of "Good Friday" or "Easter Break." I like to call that 'insisting on political correctness to the point of stupidity,' and it's a problem that a lot of people have. But you are right that that is what we celebrate on Easter, which 75% of Americans celebrate, so good for you! Now, who knows about Earth Day?"

Hmm...not sure how that would have worked out either.

The point is, I don't have to go in today. Which means I can tackle my ever growing list of stuff that I have/want to do. Which is awesome.

Finally write a blog post after a three-week hiatus: check.

35 Things: March Update

Aaaaand....go!

6. Try a food I've never tried before - I'm a pretty picky eater, so I was moderately worried about this one. I also had to decide what qualified as "a new food," like, something I'd never ordered before at a restaurant wouldn't count. I had my mind set on trying guacamole (nope, never tried it), but then when I was presented with the opportunity to have a hot dog with some sauerkraut, I went for that instead.

Verdict: I didn't hate it, I didn't love it. It wasn't nearly as flavorful as I had always thought it would be. I don't know what I was expecting, considering the main ingredient is cabbage (fun fact), but I found that it added more texture than taste. And I didn't love the texture. But hey, I've tried it now. I still kinda want to try guacamole.

7. Create a meal plan - at least one week every month - yep yep.

12. Bake a new cookie every month - In honor of St. Patrick's Day/Girl Scout cookie season, I made some homemade thin mints. I really liked them! Recipe found here.

**Side note: Oh, and for the love, please don't use super dark chocolate. I dipped a few cookies in 85% cocoa content chocolate and whoa. Too much. Sometimes I just don't think things through. Of course it's going to be bitter, Katie! Sheesh. Side note over.**

25. Read 30 books - added three more books this month, bringing my grand total up to 10.

-The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls: This book pretty much gave me the creeps. I just wrote a pretty long paragraph as to why, and I just deleted it, because you probably don't want to read it. If I decide it needs to be said, I'll make it its own post. Deal? Okay. So, the creeps. 3 stars (good writing and fascinating (but creeps-inspiring) story).

-Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale: This was a quick read that had a lot of good things about it. Writing was a little juvenile in my opinion, but the main character was young and it's told from her point of view, so I can't really dock points for that. I liked it! 4 stars.

-The Princess Bride by William Goldman: I don't give 5 star reviews lightly, but wow, did I love this book. I can't believe it took me so long to read it, because so many people have been recommending it to me for so long. But I really enjoyed it. Don't be like me. Read it now. 5 stars.

35. Complete an act of service every month: done.


So, this month was mostly just keeping up with the stuff I do every month. I'm going to have to change that if I want to make it through this list! But with my student teaching in full swing, it's going to be tough. Stay tuned.

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