Time has flown so fast in the last 4 months!

4 months ago at this very moment Adam and I were walking around amidst sparklers and smiles as we said farewell to our wedding guests at the end of the reception.
 

 So much has happened in the last four months that it feels in some ways like it has been much longer!!  Due to a huge dinner, we're too full to eat our monthly wedding cake as we did in June, July, and August so maybe we'll have some leftover wedding cake for breakfast tomorrow who knows!?

Last night, when I couldn't sleep thanks to yet another coughing fit, I lay in the bed thinking about the wedding day.  It occurred to me that I never asked my family or the girls what it was like before my parents and I got to the church?  I know when my Dad and I entered the whole family was gathered in the back of the church and the doors were already shut waiting for our families to process into the church.  I wondered last night if the family and children were all milling around in the back of the church as the guests arrived?  Did folks get to chit chat with one another as they made their way into the church and pews?  I hope it was a low key and laid back entrance to the wedding as we all anticipated the start of the wedding mass!  I also hope the guests were able to enjoy the lovely singing voice of the talented Kim Kalman who was one of our wedding singers after a family friend, Laura, played some instrumental songs.

I wasn't able to hear all of the music or songs due to my late arrival to the church and the shut doors but we had selected as the instrumental preludes "How Great Thou Art" since it was my mother's dad's favorite song and "Canon in D" for Adam since he's such a classical music lover.  That was actually to be a surprise for him but he discovered this tune during our final music meeting in late April when we were in Boston.  Can't get anything past that guy!  Then, it was Kim's turn to provide the tunes for the vocal preludes.  We opted to go with "I Will Follow" which reminds me of our road trip across the country last January and the fact that wherever each one of us goes from here on out we will follow in God's will for our lives and trust His plan for us is greater.  Finally, Kim sang, "This is the Day" which I had hoped would be our responsorial psalm but we had to rearrange it and place it in the beginning instead which still worked out beautifully I'm sure.  It's an upbeat tune and hopefully helped to set the mood and also is my niece's favorite Kim Kalman song but unfortunately she missed it since were out in the lobby or narthex of the church.  However, something I didn't know until tonight was that Fr. Jack and Adam walked out to that song according to Adam!!!  How awesome!

This was right after Dad and I entered the church and were greeting the family just before the wedding mass started.  Mason and I were admiring our matching flowers when this photo was taken as Mason's and my bouquets were the only ones that had a little bit of all the colors of the other bouquets combined in them.  Isn't she just the cutest?!

Unfortunately I don't have a photo of the oh so talented Laura on piano in addition to this one of Kim's lovely vocals in action.

After the preludes, it was time for the members of the wedding party to enter the church walking into the beautiful tune, "Surely".  The girls did a great job of letting each member know when it was time to enter the church.

Lyrics to Surely

In the midst of God's children the Lord said, "I will be"

It doesn't take very many it can be just 2 or 3
and I feel that same sweet spirit that I've often felt before
surely I can say I've been with the Lord.

Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place
I can feel God's mighty power and grace
I can hear  the brush of angel's wings  I see glory on each face
Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place.

There's a holy hush  around us as God's glory fills this place
I've touched the hem of his garment 

I can almost see God's face
and my heart is overflowing with the fullness of his joy.

I know without a doubt I've been with the Lord.

Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place
I can feel God's mighty power and grace
I can hear  the brush of angel's wings  I see glory on each face
Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place.

This is probably the only time I will be able to "make" my brothers wear these lovely bright colors.  ; )

 

It's hard to see but my sister-in-law and the youngest nephew in this family are behind my brother.  Nick got sidetracked by the fountain.  Lol!

 

Love the Teenage Mutant Ninja turtle strapped on to little Tegan's belt of his pants!

Love the bright pops of color!!!

Our two ringbearers, Adam's older two nephews, and Mason, the only niece at the time, was our flower girl.  I like how you can see two of the three girls in blue in the doorway.  They were about to shut the doors and seat themselves at this point!

My FH (future husband!)  =)

I love the expression on Adam's face here as he awaits my Dad's & my entrance and our beloved Marci is in the background but I don't know if I want to know what Fr. Jack just said here...ha!

 I can't believe it's been four months since we walked into that church and partook of this holy and beautiful sacrament!  In some ways it feels like it just happened but in other ways it feels as if it's been much longer than only four months.  Time is definitely passing by very quickly and even faster it seems than the days leading up to the wedding.  I remember counting down each month and it seeming like forever and now it's already 4 months behind us.  Don't blink y'all and cherish every moment since we never know what will come in the next second!

Connection to a saint!

In March 2014 I spent my Spring Break in California with Adam.  This was the trip I was on when I met Adam's immediate family for the first time, was when I truly envisioned a future in the "real world" for real and without fantasizing about it with him (and thought about having the wedding in CA for a split second), and was also when I got the call that Franciscan wanted to hire me for the following school year!  I also learned about Blessed Junipero Serra for the first time.  During one of our many day and side trips, Adam took me to a beautiful mission called San Juan Capistrano that was about 90 minutes from him.  Earlier in the trip we hiked up Mt. Rubidoux in Riverside.  Adam showed me his old apartment complex at the foot of the mountain and at the top of mountain, we enjoyed the view and solitude. 

I immediately recognized this scene when we came around the bend since Adam had sent me this image when he took a similar hike on Christmas Eve '13.  At the time of receiving this picture message, my parents and I were enroute to my favorite church outside Baltimore, MD from home to attend Christmas Eve mass with my little brother there who drove in from Delaware!

 At the top of the mountain was when I first learned of Blessed Junipero Serra since the Serra Cross perched atop Mt. Rubidoux is named after him.  It turns out Serra was instrumental in the Catholic faith in this area of California.

Later, we went to San Juan Capistrano and enjoyed the grounds of the Mission, we saw a statue of Serra, and learned that the Mission at San Juan Capistrano is home to the oldest building in California still in use.  This building is a chapel that was built in 1782 and is also known as "Serra's Chapel" and "Father Serra's Church," and is the only extant or currently standing and existing structure where it has been documented that the padre Junipero Serra celebrated mass!

So why am I thinking back on this trip?  Well, today Padre Serra was canonized by Pope Francis who is currently in DC for his first visit to the U.S. as pope!!  This makes him the first saint to be canonized on U.S. soil and to read more about today's historical event, read more, including the controversy surrounding the new saint, here:  http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/23/us/pope-junipero-serra-canonization/ .  In any event, I think it's pretty neat to have a small connection to a saint!  :)

Teaching: It's in my blood you could say!

I was reminded last week why I'm doing what I'm doing.


When people ask why I became a teacher, I sometimes am struck speechless.  Those of you who know me well are probably thinking, "Speechless?  Yeah right!"  Hear me out on this one.  For as long as I can remember, I've always wanted to be a teacher.  Sure, there was a time in 3rd or 4th grade when my top three career choices (in no particular order) were:  lawyer, secretary, teacher.  Underlying all of those were to also be a mom.  Having had a mother who was a teacher before and after having us four kids (once she did return to work), it never dawned on me that I couldn't have children with my husband while also pursuing an occupation in which I was so passionate about...but again, having grown up with a mother, and to an extent, a maternal grandmother and also an aunt, who had the same schedule as her children, it was almost assumed on my part that this is how I would want to do it too when the time came to have both children and a job.  I'm really lucky now, at the higher education level, that I am afforded some more flexibility (being on campus 3 days a week) than when I was teaching school-age Monday through Friday from the start of the school day to the end of it.  So back to the "Why did you become a teacher?" question.  I always knew I wanted to do something with children in the future as is evident from the years and years of babysitting, coaching, volunteering, daycare providing, mentoring, camp counseling, student teaching, and finally teaching of all ages and ability levels.  If I wasn't a teacher, I would probably work in some sort of babysitting or daycare provider service (Hello Babysitter's Club books from elementary school!) or some other sort of caretaking service.  I don't think I have what it takes to be a nurse (way too squeamish around needles, blood, and other bodily fluids) but my hat is off to you who are in the profession!

Some of the biggest influences in my life (other than my parents) are thanks to teachers.  From Ms. Bednar (5th grade) to Miss Brown (9th/12th grade English/Journalism) to Drs. Klein and Compton at the higher education level, I know the kind of teacher I strive to be.  At first, I thought I just wanted to be a preschool teacher but quickly learned during my student teaching placement 13 years ago, that I enjoyed the older children too.  After my time at IUP, where I obtained my undergrad degree, a seed was planted in wanting to emulate Dr. Klein someday.  My advisor and well-respected professor for many of my classes within my small major of Education of Persons with Hearing Loss at my university, left quite an impression.  I thought to myself, someday a long time from now, after I retire, and the kids (meaning my own) are grown, I will go back to school, get my doctorate, and finish out my teaching career as a gray haired professor sharing from all my years and years of teaching.  That was my plan back then at any rate.  My second teaching job after college that brought me back to my beloved home state of Pennsylvania led me to York and found me working with all ages/grade levels/ability levels but I was particularly drawn to 5th grade and the middle school grades.  Then, over time, as I acquired my Master's degree, I felt settled and had the time to really work on perfecting my craft.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not and never will be perfect but I do cherish the seven years I had of teaching with LIU #12 in York and Adams Counties because I gained so much experience and have grown from the relationships formed from my time there in so many ways that are still manifesting themselves now five years after I have departed from that organization.  The reason I left in Fall 2010 was because I was given the opportunity to get a head start on the PhD while my hair was still not gray (well most of it anyway) and long before there were my own kids or a husband was in the picture for that matter.  Eight years of teaching in the "real world" pales compared to my expectation of a life-long career before retiring to go back to school to begin working on the PhD.  Remember, people plan, God laughs, so just wing it!  ; )  Once I let go of what I thought were my plans to follow God's will, I found myself in North Carolina of all places!

Fast forward to today, Fall 2015, as I have embarked on my second year of teaching at the higher ed. level with a husband, two furry babies, and whatever else is in store for our growing family as it is all in God's timing.  Why am I doing what I'm doing?  Last week, on Marathon Monday, I was reminded of the answer.  Mondays are already pretty challenging enough in that well, they're Mondays.  Second, I teach all four of my classes on that day meaning I leave for campus around 9am or so and don't finish teaching until 8:40pm followed by Adoration from 9 - 10pm then possibly dinner before I'm home by say 11ish.  Yes, Mondays take a lot out of me but then I get to finish by 5:15pm on Wednesdays and a whopping early time of 2pm on Fridays so each semester I say I'll put up with this schedule one more time and then again...and again...and again.  So in the midst of a crazy busy Monday last week, I wound up counseling three students after one of my classes in the classroom over disappointing test grades to the tune of "I didn't study because......"  Then, in my office after class, I spoke with two other students individually who were equally upset with their performance.  Once the afternoon arrived, things had calmed down somewhat before a student unexpectedly knocked on my door and ended up visiting with me in my office for 45 minutes.  Finally, a former student swung by in the evening between my night classes looking for advice on student teaching and motivating her students.

Yes, in this one day, conversations ranged from study techniques and habits that were or were not successful, what we can do differently, working styles, collaborating and communicating with others, how to live our faith in difficult times especially when society or others will hate us for it, navigating friendships/the waters during these turbulent times of political vs. religious times, prayer, family issues, missing home/being so far from the familiar, wondering what God's will is, not giving up on dreams in spite of hurdles/poor test scores, and following our calling.  I joked with Adam when I got home that night that I felt like I was either in Confession or counseling all day as I administered to these various students and their needs.  This is why I'm here.  This is why we ended up in the Mid-West and not in California (for now).  This is why I wasn't able to go back to York (my home away from home that I so desperately tried to cling on to) and this is why I'm in teaching.  I want to make a difference in any small way I can.  I want to help others and to grow and learn from my students and those I work with each day.  I want to continue reaching out to the children in our future and right now am doing that through the teachers who will soon be welcoming them into their classrooms.  This is why I sometimes don't know where to start when trying to answer that question.  I was born to do it.  Teaching, which borrows traits from other professions, encompasses so much.  We also can't forget our first teachers:  our caregivers/parents!!  I want to be that nurturing mother figure as Dr. Compton was for me.  I want to be the no holds barred tell it like it is yet respected professionally kinda professor Dr. Klein was for so many of us at IUP.  I want to be the kind, passionate, and dare I say it quirky yet firm teacher Ms. Brown was in high school who also lived out her faith in spite of teaching in a public school and lastly, I want to know my students in a meaningful and up close and personal type way as Ms. Bednar did for us as 5th graders.  Plus, she wore cool outfits and was pretty.  What?  These things matter when you're a girl and the only girl at that in your family or did for me anyway.  So, you know what?  Bring on tomorrow's Marathon Monday!

One of my favorite spots on campus!

Lazy Sunday (for some)

Yesterday, after a rough night of tossing and turning, I stood outside with the pups in the morning sunshine rubbing the sleep from my eyes.  I mistakenly thought the dogs needed to hurry because Adam and I would need to get ready to go to church soon.  Then, two minutes later, I suddenly realized it was Saturday morning and not Sunday!  Oh joy!!  We had one more day to the weekend and Marathon Monday was not just around the corner as I had been previously dreading! 

The rest of yesterday was spent grading, preparing for lectures on Monday, and doing some small chores around the house while tending to a sick hubby.  Poor Adam has been fighting a cold since Tuesday morning.  Now it is my turn to fight it as I fear that I woke up with it today.  I'm currently willing for this throbbing headache and tickle in my throat to disappear and am taking it easy this afternoon while still trying to enjoy the sunshine and breeze coming in through the windows.  It looks like we're going to need to stock up on the orange juice and chicken noodle soup I had bought for Adam last week when we run to the grocery store later today.  Last night brought with it about four hours of sleep between my tossing and turning and Adam's coughing.  I think it's time I invest in a body pillow to help with the sleepless nights that have been plaguing me over the last several weeks.  Have any of you experience with body pillows?  If so, do you have any recommendations?  

While our Sunday has been a pretty quiet one trying to will ourselves to get better and thus far of going to mass, out to breakfast, then coming home and relaxing/watching football before heading back out for our weekly grocery run, on the opposite side of the country Adam's brother, wife, and their son, Tegan, have been having quite a non-lazy Sunday!  Why is that?  Well, it's because our new niece is here! Hip hip hooray!!!  Riley, the first niece and granddaughter on Adam's side of the family, came this morning at 5:33am (Pacific time) and I'm happy to share that everyone is healthy and happy. Now we're even more excited for the trip to CA in t - 3 months (as if that were possible)!!  

Can't wait to meet the newest addition to the family and of course to see all the family as well!  

Happy Birthday Riley!  We can't wait to see who you become in this beautiful world!

Introducing......Snack Crafts!

Here is one to file away in the "Don't Take it Personally..." folder.  I found out tonight that three students dropped my Monday night class after our initial class last week.  This is a first as I've never had people drop classes and usually have to add people to an already closed section of the course.  One of the three who left my class did email me saying that she looked forward to taking the course in the future when she wasn't so busy which was very kind of her.  It's nice she took the time to give me a heads-up and tell me. On the plus side, this means I will have my smallest class yet at my current job of only 14 students!  I'm definitely looking forward to the smaller class size especially considering I had an oversized class last year of 28 in one of my courses!

While it will be nice having a small class size.....it's hard to not take folks dropping it personally.  However, I'm very excited for the ones who do remain as we have a full and busy semester ahead of us.  In addition to creating games and lesson plans, designing bulletin boards, perfecting our use of Reader's Theatre, teaching within the community at a new collaborative field experience, diving deeper into theories on play and creativity, and much much more...I'm super duper excited for something else.  Something new I'm incorporating into this particular course this semester is that we're going to make "snack crafts" this semester.

Check out what's on tap for the first couple activities I have planned!

 

Topic:  Fall/Nature/Seeds, Leaves, & Trees

 Topic: 

Birds/Habitat/Animals