Happy Thanksgiving and Snow

It's been a great week full of friends and play time. Wednesday I went skiing for the first time this season. It was a bit crowded and only a few runs were open, but it was fun. It took me a while to get my ski legs back and remember how to turn and stop, but I succeeded. Thursday was of course Thanksgiving. It was the first time I was away from my family for the holidays. I missed them, but had a great time getting together with a large group of friends for a big Thanksgiving feast. They are like family to me. Friday I stayed home, cleaned, and put up my Christmas decorations. I should have gone skiing. I decided instead to go skiing on Saturday even though "a little" snow was in the forecast. It started snowing Friday night. Saturday morning was beautiful. I took some pictures from my balcony. I planned to take more, but . . . keep reading. I was hesitant to drive up to the mountains to go skiing, but I thought I would give it a shot. It was no longer snowing in town. I figured if the roads were bad, I would just turn around. Well, the roads got bad. However, I could not turn around. So I drove all the way to the first ski place and decided not to ski. It was snowing pretty hard and the roads were just going to get worse as the day continues. So I headed back. At one point these guys in front of me got stuck and one of them jumped out and started pushing. I thought, that would really suck if I got stuck. Then, right at that time, I got stuck. Right in the middle of I-70 with tons of cars,and oh yes, a news truck! Luckily I got moving again pretty quick and made it home safely. Sooo, no more going to the mountains when it's snowing. And, I've finally made my decision, I'm getting a new car with 4WD.

3 more weeks until Christmas break, the end of Semester #1, and Texas bound for the holidays!

Winter is approaching

I have decided that I am going to have a love hate relationship with winter. This weekend it got pretty cold. I refused to turn my heat on. It got down in the upper 30's but seriously, it's October; no heat! So Friday night I went to bed in a long sleeved t-shirt, sweat shirt, sweat pants, and socks. I actually stayed pretty warm. The next day I curled up in a blanket, turned on my fancy fireplace, and watched some football. It was like 62 degrees in my apartment, but no heat! Then I left to run some errands and came back cold. So around 5 pm I gave in. My heat has been running for 3 days now. So sad; I went w/o AC or heat for like 5 weeks.

I bought all of my ski equipment last weekend. I just heard that one resort opens Wednesday. I'm not sure how that's going to happen due too so little snow, but I guess those fake snow makers are working. I'm pretty psyched about having my own stuff, especially boots that will be molded to my feet and not the gross rentals. (this is the love part of the story)

Here is the hate: I got rid of lots of clothes before I moved up here, and I am realizing that most of the those clothes were winter wear. I have very few warm clothes, and have been cold b/c of it. We had our first freeze last night. This means that I did not want to get out of bed at 5:30 a.m. b/c I was warm, and outside of my bed was not. So surprise, surprise, I was running late this morning. Then I get to my car and it is covered in ice. I quickly realized that my gloves were something else that I had gotten rid of b/c they were getting holey. So I had to scrape ice with no gloves while running late!

So hopefully this weekend I can go shopping for new clothes and maybe a new car, who knows.

Texas bound in 4 weeks!

It's Fall

My parents were here again this weekend. We drove around and took pictures of the gorgeous fall colors. The aspen trees are turning yellow, and they are beautiful. The pictures don't do them justice as to how yellow they really are. I can't believe October is already here. Time is flying by. Soon snow will cover the ground, and I will have to get used to living with that. Apparently it always snows on Halloween. I can't wait to see my friends in Texas in about 5 weeks! Enjoy the pictures!

Isn't Levi cute!?!

Beautiful Weekend

There's nothing like waking up on Saturday morning to a clear blue ski after it had been cloudy and rainy all week. To top it off, the temperature dropped last week and the high country got snow. So, there was also fresh powder on some of the taller mountains. It was a beautiful sight to wake up to. I decided to try out a new trail around Golden. It was pretty secluded with mostly mountain bikers and some horses. I don't think I saw a soul for about an hour in the middle of my hike. It was pretty peaceful. When I stopped to listen, the silence was only broken by the birds in the bushes. It was a pretty sweet sound. It is hard to find times of complete silence during our ever so hectic and noise filled lives. I decided to run the last third of the trail back to my car. Trail running is way more exciting than just running on the streets, especially when you go downhill! On Sunday I went with my friends to Eldora, the closest ski area to Denver and Boulder. It's a small place, but by far the closest. We hiked around the snowshoeing and cross country trails and then up to the top of some of the runs. It got us really excited about ski season. I am planning on buying equipment and season passes soon. The first snow will probably happen within the next 6 weeks. Crazy!

Things

Labor Day weekend is one of the best holidays of the year. After a week and a half of starting school, it's a nice sigh of relief and a much needed break. I went shopping on Saturday, hung out with friends on Sunday, and went hiking on Monday. I totally exausted myself and got a sunburn. It's funny how so many times we need an extra day to recover from our days off. School is slowly getting easier and I am getting used to everything. But I am working harder than I have in a long time. I'm enjoying the cooler weather. It's been in the 50's in the mornings when I leave for work. All in all, things are going well.

Year #4

So I can't believe that I have started my forth year as a teacher. I feel like I graduated college just a year or two ago. Looking back to my first year, I never thought I could make it this far. I'm not sure if I like this idea that life goes faster as you get older. The first week went ok. The first day was incredibly long and I was completely beat by the end. The next two days slowly got better. I had my first walk-through yesterday already! That was a little nerve racking just because I am not comfortable with the curriculum yet. But I think it went well. I've been fairly impressed with my kids so far. They are coming in with a lot of prior knowledge and are well behaved, at least so far (they usually are the first week). I can't help but laugh at some of my little 14 year old boys who are just in that awkward developmental stage. I have some girls who look like their 12 and others who look 17. I am looking forward to getting to know them better as the semester continues.

I'm getting ready to go for another hike. After being stuck inside all week, I'm craving the outdoors. I really enjoyed getting to sleep in this morning after having to be up by 5:30 everyday. For those who know me well, you can imagine the struggle. To all my teacher friends in TX, good luck this week as you start a new year!!!

Cold

So I am sitting here in my sweats because it is definitely 53 degrees outside! It's like winter in TX. There has been a steady drizzling rain since Thursday night. I went to my first day of in-service yesterday in a sweater. I've yet to turn my heat on, but it's tempting. Crazy stuff!

School has started. I get most of my kids on Tuesday - freshman orientation. The official start is Wednesday. I'm not ready just yet, but I'm sure I will be come Tuesday. Everyone has been very helpful. This being my third time to be the new person (out of 4 years), I've learned not to stress. Everything will fall into place.

It's August

With August comes a new start to the school year. I found out what my teaching schedule is today. The first semester I will be teaching 3 block classes of Math 1 (I teach the whole course in 1 semester). It will be a class primarily of freshman. I will see them everyday for 80 minutes to 115 minutes depending on the day. Most classes have around 30 students in them. That's a lot of freshman in one room for a long period of time!!! Hopefully I will adjust and all will go well. Then, second semester I will teach two Math 2 block classes. They both meet in the morning, which means I get done teaching for the day at 11 am.! That's going to be nice. I will definitely need the extra time for planning. I don't totally have my own room; I'm not sure anyone does. I will meet in the same room for all 3 classes the first semester. I meet in two different rooms second semester, but they are two doors down from one another. All the teachers have a desk in the teacher office where we can keep all of our stuff. So, as of August 20th, school will be in session.

I'm officially a Coloradoan. I have changed my plates and got a new license. I have mixed emotions losing my Texan identity off my car.

The rents were in town this week. We did a lot of exploring and just hung out. It's always good to see the "old folks." Some of our pictures are below:

Teaching Stuff

So this past week I went to a training on the new curriculum that I will be teaching. It's totally different than what I have gotten used to teaching in Texas in lots of ways. I like it b/c it is very student centered and has lots of activities that students can do to find meaning and engage in learning. I don't like it b/c it does not allow the students to master basic mechanical skills needed to solve math problems. I think it's going to take an awful lot of planning time on my part, but I am hoping my fellow colleagues will be nice and guide me through this first year. I only have about 2 weeks left this summer. It has definitely flown by and I feel like summer has just begun. Although I enjoy having time off from work, I am looking forward to the fall and winter. I can't wait to experience 4 seasons. I think that the fall here is going to be gorgeous and the winter, well, I like to ski. We have been close to record breaking heat b/c of the consecutive days over 90 degrees. I laugh at that. I thought it was normal to be in the 90's everyday. But, all is well here and I am loving it. I was just thinking the other day about how this is probably the easiest move I have ever made. I attribute this to the fact that I already had a network of friends when I got here through my church. So I haven't had to put much effort into meeting people so far.

Well that's it for me right now. Talk to you soon!

Sunday

So I finally got to do what I have wanted to do for a very long time. On Sunday morning, I hiked up a mountain, found a really big rock, and sat and read my Bible. It is so peaceful being able to sit atop a mountain, and get still and quiet in God's beautiful creation. The church here does not meet on Sunday mornings, but instead on Sunday evenings. It's a way to try to cater to the culture here and give people who normally don't go to church on Sunday mornings another alternative. So this past Sunday morning I got to have church with just me and God. I hope to do this quite often.

Pictures

The view from my balcony

Garden of the Gods

Garden of the Gods - Balanced Rock

Garden of the Gods

Garden of the Gods - Siamese Twins

Top of Pikes Peak

Top of Pikes Peak

Rocky Mountain National Park

Rocky Mountain National Park

Rocky Mountain - Mills Lake

Hiking through snow in July!

Rocky Mountain National Park

More Snow!

Rocky Mountain - Odessa Lake

Hello! I have made it to Colorado. I am all moved in, and for the most part, all unpacked. I've had a lot of fun so far. Jennifer was here for a week to help me get unpacked. We went hiking a lot of the days that she was here. I am loving the mountains. We went to Eldorado Canyon, Garden of the Gods, Pikes Peak, and Rocky Mountain National Park. My friends Jana and James were here this past weekend and we went back to Rocky Mountain National Park. We first hiked to Andrews Glacier and then the next day, well... We were thinking we would go on a 5 hour loop, but it definitely turned into 7.5 hours! We were beat by the end. But, everything was really pretty. We hiked through snow on both days. Snow in July! I've uploaded a few pictures that you can check out. I miss my Texas friends, but I am enjoying it up here so far.