Comeback Queen

I realize that I may not have any blog readers left after taking almost a month hiatus from this thing. I know I warned you guys from the very beginning of this semester that there could be days without a post, but I don't think I realized just how busy these final few weeks of student teaching would be. Lesson planning, unit planning, grading papers, attending job fairs, applying for jobs, and trying to squeeze friends, YoungLife, exercise, eating, and sleeping into all of that made for a very crazy few weeks. 

The Hills YoungLife on Placement Night 2014 

Anderson HS new leaders!

BUT as of this past Thursday, I have officially completed my student teaching semester. All that's left is graduating and finding a job, and that's just crazy. Remember my apprehension 13 weeks ago? I truly had an incredible student teaching semester and it still hasn't hit me that it is actually over. I already miss the students so much, and though they often times drove me absolutely insane, each one of them meant so much to me, and I am already looking forward to substituting up at Westwood so I can see them again.

And my sweet teacher sent me off with a copy of the starfish story - reminding me that not every day will be a good one, but if you can impact just one student, it's all worth it. And that is certainly something to remember as I begin my own teaching journey.

And some of you might be wondering where that journey will begin. Don't worry, I'm asking myself the same question. I have read and re-read over my resume, making sure I am using the perfect action verbs, learned what a cover letter is and wrote one of my own, emailed principals, attended job fairs, talked to recruiters, and even agreed to get my bus driver certification in order to make myself more marketable. Just take a minute and picture that one. Realistically I know that I probably won't know where I am teaching until sometime this summer, but I will keep you guys posted every step of the way. Because I promise now that I have more time, I will actually keep up with this little blog of mine.

I am actually sitting on my bed at home as I type this, as I made a trip home for the weekend in order to attend a job fair. Everything is happening so fast these days, but I was able to slow down on Thursday night when Dylan and I both found it appropriate to skip our Thursday evening classes to bring back a rare Thursday night dinner date. I guess the successful completion of student teaching warrants that, right? And a huge shout out to him for putting up with me and my schedule this entire semester. What a star!

Anyway, we went to a restaurant called Jasper's in the Domain, and I can speak for both of us when I say that it was absolutely incredible. We were seated in a comfortable booth, and we had a very personable waiter who made the experience all the better. Dylan ordered the chopped wedge salad to start off his meal, and I think the onion ring on the salad really stole the show.

For our main dishes, I went with the Texas Pecan Crusted Rainbow Trout, substituting the brussels sprouts for Chinese broccoli (nothing against brussels sprouts, but they were covered in cheese), and I ate every bite. I was really impressed (and intrigued) by the Chinese broccoli, which to me seemed like a combination of spinach and asparagus.

Dylan went with the Lonestar Tenderloin/Brisket Bacon Burger, and as a direct quote from him, "it may have been the best barbecue burger he has ever had." That's a pretty big claim, but it looked pretty great, so I'll take his word for it. And I would love to show you a picture but I have this bad habit of deleting pictures off of my phone before they actually make it to my computer. My apologies!

There wasn't one thing on the dessert menu that I could have, so while Dylan enjoyed a Butterfinger Creme Brulee, our kind waiter brought me two samples of some Port wine, and I can't give you any more information than that because I just can't remember where he said they were from. They were a little sweet for my taste, but I happily finished them off, touched by the gesture.

After walking around the Domain a bit, enjoying the beautiful spring weather we have been getting, we made a pit stop at Berry Austin for some frozen yogurt. You didn't think I could complete the milestone that is student teaching without celebrating with some frozen yogurt, did you? It hit the spot, and I think Dylan and I will both agree that the blackberry flavor stole the show.

Obviously I was not going to give you a minute-by-minute update of my past month, as you can probably guess what I have been doing, right down to the scrambled egg whites I have been eating for breakfast. I am heading back to Austin tomorrow morning, and I start work at my beloved SRD on Tuesday, so there will be plenty of time to blog. And so begins the countdown to graduation!

Here's to hoping I haven't lost too many readers!