Boston, MA

*Edit: I started this blog on November 11th, after returning from Boston. I finished the Blog on December 31st, so the details are little spotty towards the end*

October is always a busy, crazy month for teachers, and what kept me motivated to get through it strong was the Boston trip I had planned with my college room mates Lisa, Cassie, and Amanda (honorary roomie). The trip also included Lisa's boyfriend Michael, and their high school friends, Kristin and Matt. It was a really fun group to travel with, and many memories were made!

Cassie and Amanda live in Nantucket, MA, and ever since they moved out there I've been wanting to take a trip out to visit them. We finally came to the conclusion to meet in Boston and just have a fun weekend together. Lisa and I were lucky and found some super cheap, non-stop southwest tickets, and we ended up getting a groupon for our hotel. Our hotel was the Omni Parker House, and it was in an awesome location in downtown.

I took off work on Friday and Monday for the 4 day trip. and Lisa and I were lucky to have some easy traveling experiences. Everything was so seamless getting there. We got to the airport, went straight through security, got a starbucks, and it was time to board! I was able to get some homework done on the plane and we sat with a girl that gave us some good tips for visiting Boston. Once we got off the plane, we got our bags almost immediately, walked out the door as our bus was pulling up, easily figured out the "T," got on a train to our hotel stop and it was a quick walk! Boston is by far the easiest city to navigate that I have traveled to.

Once we arrived and checked into the hotel, Lisa and I had a few hours to ourselves before the rest of our crew arrived. We had a late lunch/early dinner that consisted of clam chowder and steamed mussels. We were shocked at how dark it was at 4:30PM. Our only plan for that night was to go to a Boston Celtics game. They are some pretty intense fans, as you would see at any sporting event. Lots of pride for this city.

Saturday, November 7th
This was a full day of exploring and adventure. We started off on a mission to find delicious Breakfast. We went to Masa, but it didn't open for another 45 minutes. We stumbled upon Blackbird Donuts and I still think about my maple peanut butter deliciousness. Maybe not the best decision before brunch, but it was so worth it. We enjoyed our Masa brunch and it fueled us for a good portion of the day.

We walked the majority of Freedom Trail, and it was a trek. We started off in Fanneuil Hall, which is the middle of the trail, and we hit all of the stops up until the USS Constitution/Bunker Hill. Even if it wasn't that interesting of a site, I wanted to check all of the spots off. Our original goals for the day were pretty ambitious, as I wanted to complete the Freedom Trail, but we were pretty beat after going to the USS constitution and climbing to the top of Bunker Hill. We probably covered 2 of the 2.5 mile trail.

After more walking to a metro stop, we made our way back to downtown to meet up with some of more of the Klein Collins Crew for dinner. This is where I had a delicious Lobster Roll. After Dinner and a few drinks at the Tavern (I forgot the name), we headed to Prudential Skywalk to get a view of the skyline at night. We then made our way to Cheers! Bar for another drink.

This night turned out kind of crazy with a liquor store stop and then an Uber adventure to "Southie." We were pretty tired when we finally made it back to our room around 3am.



Sunday, November 8th
After a full day of activity and lots of walking during our first full day, we took a little bit easier on this day, but still saw a lot. We had a quick breakfast of a bagel and coffee and made our way to the metro to go check out Harvard. Amanda and Cassie made their way to the Fine Art museum and said it was amazing, so I'll definitely have to put that on my list for next time. Cambridge was pretty neat, and I still couldn't get over how accessible everything was in Boston, and how easy it was to navigate for a directionally challenged person such as myself. After checking out Harvard, we had a quick lunch and checked off the last few spots of the Freedom Trail. We were also able to sneak in some shopping on this day. Primark had just opened in September, and so far Boston was the only location. Everything there was so cute and cheap, like H&M, but EVERYTHING was cheap. It was 4 stories too. If I had taken a larger suitcase, I would have purchased a lot more. UniqLo (Sp?) was another cool store we shopped in that we don't have in Texas.

Lisa's boyfriend had to head back to New York, and we had planned to do a dinner in the North End. We went to a tiny, cash-only, no reservations place called Giacomo's Ristorante. SO GOOD. After our fabulous italian dinner, we went to Mike's Pastry for Cannolis and other delicious treats. Our night time activity consisted of packing/organizing, and getting our plan ready for the final day. Cassie and Amanda had to prep for their journey back to the island which consisted of a metro ride, a bus ride, a cab, and a ferry.








Monday, November 9th
Our final day in Boston, Cassie and Amanda had to be on their way around 10am, while Lisa and I stored our luggage at the hotel for one final adventure. We rode the train and saw Cass and Amanda off at South station, while we headed out to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library. It was a little longer train ride, and then we had to catch a shuttle to the museum. Going on a Monday was probably smart because the entire place was empty except for a class of 4th graders on a field trip. I really enjoyed JFK's Presidential Library. It was the perfect end to a fabulous trip with, great weather, and wonderful friends!

Fall Update!

Wow, I can't believe it is November 1st! Time is definitely flying by this year! I just wrapped up another grad school course 2 weeks ago and am in my FINAL class!!! In 6 weeks I will have a Masters Degree in Educational Leadership!

A lot is going to happen in between now and then too, so I am sure I will just be flying by the seat of my pants!

This week my Observation window is over, and once that is done I will be able to breathe a little bit! It will be over just in time for my trip to Boston this weekend! I leave on Friday morning and come back on Monday evening! I will definitely soak in the 4 day trip and two 4 day work weeks! Thanksgiving Break will be some welcomed rest as well!

Once we get back from Thanksgiving break, we have a week of school, our 5th grade Pine Cove Trip, and then another week of school before Christmas break! Once Christmas break is here, I would have completed the final grad school course, and run another half-marathon!

I will also be anxiously awaiting the birth of Nephew, Carson Scott Conn! That will certainly be a Winter Break to remember!!

I am loving every bit of the opening year of Norris Elementary! I just wish time would slow down so we can really take it all in!

Massive Update

Seems like I've let too much time pass between my last blog, and even that was just a DIY blog. I'm going to attempt to sum up my life activities in just a few paragraphs, and then maybe I can start updating this thing on a regular basis again.

Summer Re-cap
I must say that I enjoyed my summer of zero grad school and some mini-trips here and there. I road tripped it to Memphis with some friends, and went to Vegas with my mom! Both were filled with great times, more notably: Civil Rights Museum, Graceland, Britney Spears Piece of Me Show. I also indulged in lots of delicious food. Memphis was a binge fest of BBQ and fried chicken. I had wonderful meals in Vegas of course, Eiffel Tower Restaurant being the fanciest meal of my life, and Wicked Spoon being the best buffet I've ever been to. I took advantage of Dallas's Restaurant week (that actually lasts for 3 weeks) and went to Capital Grille, Kenny's Wood Fired Grill, and Silver Fox. I have transformed into a major food snob, and am willing to try anything. I also went on some nice dates, and took advantage of some interesting spots in the Dallas area. Perk of the dating game I guess...

The moment I was able to move into my classroom, I did. I moved my classroom stuff from Cynde's house to Rachel's house, where it was stored for 3 weeks, and then my mom helped me move into the classroom. I spent a lot of time up at school for a week or so, but it didn't take as long to set up as my first classroom. Going into a blank (clean) slate was really nice. I also now know what I like, and I gravitated to areas that were similar to my Christie classroom set-up. I feel like it looks like my Christie Classroom, but updated! Clean carpet, clean walls, new furniture, updated technology, pretty colors. It's just really nice to go to work in such a beautiful facility!

Norris Elementary
Opening a new school has turned out to be such a joyful experience. The faculty is so enthusiastic, and everyone is coming from different schools, districts, states, and levels of experience, so the ideas that are presented are AWESOME. I am on a team of 3 teachers and am serving as team leader again. My team mates are both new to the district, but they are such go-getters, I don't stress about much! We also made a change to have a 3-way rotation, and I teach Math ONLY. I love being able to see every student in the grade level, and focus on my strength. Our class size is also pretty low for our opening year, so I am able to meet with all of my students in math workshop. Since this is the second year of the new math TEKS, I am able to take things to the next level with my small group instruction, and I am utilizing more technology (Google Classroom) for enrichment. These students are SMART, and I want to make sure I am challenging all of them! I also have really great PTA and parent support so far, so this year is just shaping out to be wonderful!

Grad School Update
I'm taking my final 2 courses and will have completed the program this December! Although I will have my Masters degree, I still have to go through an internship program and take a test in order to obtain my Principal Certification. This will take place in the Spring of 2016 and will be a 16 week program where I work closely with Principal (like student teaching) for 160 hours and will have a supervisor from UNT. I can't believe it is almost over! I think teaching only math this year is such a blessing and I am able to put a lot of energy toward growing as a leader.

Running Update
Didn't do much running this summer. I hate the heat. However, I am running the Dallas 1/2 Marathon in December, and the New Orleans Rock and Roll Marathon in February, so I have taken baby steps towards training again! I just run better when I have a partner!!!

Travel Update
Here's what I have on my radar so far, but am not opposed to adding more:
November 6- 9 Boston, MA
Got some cheap flight tickets for this trip! It extended the trip for an extra day, and I am spending some time with my college friends! Love them and can't wait to explore this city!
December - Oklahoma
I can't wait to meet my little nephew that is due on Christmas!!!
February 27 - 29 New Orleans, LA
The purpose of this trip is to run a Marathon, but I am sure to see some amazing sights in the 26.2 mile jaunt! It will be great to eat at "Mother's" after the marathon, cafe du monde, obviously, and some Bourbon and French Quarter action.
March 6-11 Seattle, WA and Vancouver, Canada
Spring Break! Off to see my friend Cynde and explore Seattle while staying with her, and the plan is to take a few days to go to Vancouver and do some ziplining!

I'm sure I'll have to take a mental health trip after STAAR testing! I'll have to get with my friends to figure out where we're going to go!!!

DIY Chair Project

This is probably the most difficult project I've done to date. It was a collaborative effort between myself, my gran, and grandad. I could not have seen my vision through without the knowledge and resources they were able to provide along the way. 

Last summer I purchased this chair off of a facebook garage sale from a photographer who used it for props. I paid $40 for it and have this as my only true, "before" picture. 

It looks pretty clean and has good lighting, but this was a dingy chair. It was perfect for the project I had pinned online a very long time ago. I was finally able to start and finish it! 

 

Looks pretty good right?! Not as good of quality as the photographer that sold it to me, but trust me it looks a lot better! There were lots of mistakes made along the way, but a fun adventure. 

My sister and I took out most of the nailhead trim upon receiving the chair. Once we started taking out the upholstery, we were shocked to find that the seat was constructed with old foam, STRAW, and Copper springs that were died together and held up by the burlap straps seen in the before picture. 

We thought the hard part was going to be getting all of the nails and staples out of this very old, yet very well constructed chair. Definitely wrong. Sanding and painting was next. My Gran has a stash of sample paints that she buys for cheap, and she had already told me that she had a pale gray color. Sweet! Then, my wonderful grandad was able to cut out the perfect piece of plywood for me to use as my seat. There was no way I was going to be able to stuff straw back into that chair!

 

We spent a long time trying to figure out which kind of foam to use, how much to use, and how comfortable this chair really needs to be. We had cut open an old couch cushion my gran had and used that foam, but at one point I had glued foam around the edged, stuffed it with the couch foam, and then wrapped that with egg crate foam. We were starting to worry that I didn't have enough fabric, and were really starting to stress out. We had already cut the fabric, and my gran was wanting to sew pieces on to it... uhmmm NO. I decided that we were letting this foam boss us around too much, and that this was a decorative piece, not a lounge chair. We downsized on the foam, and it turned out okay! 

Notice the bulk in this photo.. that's not how it turned out in the end. 

We got the seat situated finally, and then started on the "back" section. This is where I learned how to use a nail gun attached to air compressor. It was lots of fun. There were two downsides here though. 

#1. The fabric I bought was in the home decor section, but it was more than likely intended for curtains, not a chair. That said, the fabric would pull and the nail gun tore it at times. 

#2. There wasn't a lot of wood down the sides of the chair back. There were many times the nail gun got too close and split the wood. Gran and I freaked out every time, but Grandad was able to fix it and make it look like new again, every time. He is a miracle worker!

 

We put the back insert on the chair and then used the nail gun on the top and bottom of the fabric to cover the insert, and then used glue down the side. We weren't about to split the wood with the fabric and insert on it! 

The final touch to this piece was putting new nail head trip around the perimeter of the seat and back. The wood of this chair was very hard, and we went through a whole box of nailhead trim because the nails kept bending. We started using a nail to start the hole, and then hammered in the nailhead piece. At the rate we were going.. we knew we would be working on this chair FOREVER, Grandad had a better way of course. Enter, the second power tool I learned how to use: The electric drill. I would drill the hole, stick the nailhead in and 3 taps it was done. We were moving and grooving with this method. 

 

There were a few times where I broke the bit of the drill, so my grandad would have to come in and fix it or give me a new one. There were also some areas that the drill made me nervous, so we used an old DART as a punch to be more precise with our nail head. It was more effective than a nail. At this point, I had been at my grandparents house for 3 days, and we were out of nail head trim. I went back to Frisco for a few days bought 5 more boxes of nailheads, and went back with my mom to finish off the seat.

My grandpa was able to get the nail head around this part of the chair with ease. He is seriously amazing. 

The seat didn't take nearly as long to finish the nail head trim. We did have to touch up paint, but over all I think it turned out well! My gran wanted to "distress" the chair with dark gray paint to bring out the detail, but I was against it. If it's going to be distressed I would have rather had it natural. I like the matte done of the gray with the fun fabric. 

Summer Time, and the Livin's Easy

Well June has come and gone, and so did the first part of summer break. The hardest part of summer break that is, so it's all sunshine and rainbows from here on out! Or so it seems. I don't have any summer grad school courses, I have already met my professional development hours, and the summer school that I taught was only for 12 days, so I have zero responsibilities right now.

I'm not one to just sit back and chill for a month and a half, even though that has taken place here and there. I am a big planner of the future, and I like to keep busy, so here are some things I have going for me right now:

1. Seeing friends that I don't get to see during the school year.
2. Organizing/purging items from my apartment
3. Eating clean(ish) and prepping for Marathon #2 training
4. Planning ahead for opening Norris
5. Booking/planning trips of course!

I get more and more excited about moving to a new school every day! I can't wait to get my things moved into my brand spanking new classroom! I am happy to have been named the 5th Grade Team Leader for this opening year at Norris Elementary. Some sad news has come about though. My friend Cynde, who was going to be transferring from Christie to Norris with me, is moving to Seattle. Her husband got  a job offer there, and I definitely can't blame her for taking on this adventure. On a positive note, I have a new excuse for more travel!

Trips on my radar:

July - Memphis/Nashville, TN roadtrip with friends
August - Vegas (potentially)
November - Boston, MA with friends
February - New Orleans, LA (Marathon)
March - Seattle, WA/Vancouver Canada
(maybe Portland, OR... we'll see)

The biggest struggle will be keeping my finances in check over the summer. I have so much time and do so many fun things that cost money!!! I'm glad I was able to teach summer school so that I can at least break even by the time that September paycheck comes around.

Washington D.C. Trip

Within 24 hours of Melissa and I booking our San Francisco Trip, she saw southwest flights to Washington D.C. for $54 each way. For $108 roundtrip, we counted ourselves in for an another long weekend adventure.

Thursday, May 28th - Arrival
on Wednesday, May 27th, we had our Christie Staff End of the Year Party. As soon as I got home, I was cleaning and doing laundry for this trip up until 1:30am. I had a full day of work, a meeting for summer school, and I immediately went to Melissa's house to pick she and her sister up. Our flight took off around 8PM, and we landed in DC around 11:45PM. We took an Uber to our hotel, the Westin City Center (not a hostel this time!), dropped off our bags and immediately walked the half mile to the White House. By this time it was about 1am the next day, aka, my 26th birthday.

Friday, May 29th - Day 1
We started this day with our walk to the white house after our flight, and I had to get cash out. Luckily there was a Wells Fargo right by the white house, and I took out $160. Can I just add that those bills were the most crisp dollar bills I have ever had. This lasted me the whole long weekend and I used my credit card a handful of times. As soon as we got to the hotel, we showered and I didn't even have to try to fall asleep.

We had planned to wake up at 8 am, but slept until almost 9. Woke up, put on work out clothes, and asked Siri where we should get breakfast. She found us a Crepe place near our hotel. We didn't have a set itinerary like I had for San Francisco, so we just made a list of things we wanted to get in. We went to the White House Visitor Center, the Capitol Building, the Supreme Court, the National Archives Building, and the White House again.

I had requested a White House tour from my congressman about 3 months ago (the day after we booked the trip), and about 2 weeks ago we found out we couldn't get in due to a peak in tour season. Apparently you need to request this 6 months in advance for it to happen. The White House Visitors Center was pretty cool though, and you can walk in whenever, for free.

Rachel's Brother Coleman works for a Congressman and gave us his own tour of the Capitol. It was nice getting to bypass some crowds/lines, not have to worry about navigating, and getting to see some things you wouldn't see on your typical public tour. He was able to take us to the House floor, and this was my favorite part of the day. I've watched my fair share of State of the Union Addresses, and I couldn't get over how intimate this room felt after thinking it was like an auditorium. I wasn't able to take my purse or camera in with me, but I definitely soaked it in.

After the Capitol we walked over to the Supreme Court, explored, sat in the courtroom and heard some interesting things about it. Lunch came from, We the Pizza. We had dinner plans to meet with my friend, Sara, and we needed to check more things off our list AND get back to the hotel to changed. We walked to the National Archives Building to see the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, and Bill of Rights. Again, we couldn't take pictures, so I was soaking it in in my brain. It was cool to see in person, and sad seeing how faded the signatures were. The Supreme Court and Archives building were 2 things I never got to do on my 8th grade trip.

We booked it to the White House to see it in the Daytime (front and back), took our pictures, and were on our way to change. We were absolutely exhausted at this point, but the showers and change of clothes gave us a new burst of energy. We had hoped to hit up a museum every day, but we just couldn't get one in on this day. We met my good friend Sara and one of her friends from law school for Dinner at Capitol Brewing Co. We drank some yummo beer, caught up, reminisced, and I got a free birthday brownie.

After dinner we wanted to see some monuments at night. They were about 2 miles away, but we walked anyway. We saw the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, and MLK Jr. Memorial before calling an Uber to go back to the hotel. Sara came back with us for a slumber party.

When you include the late night White House walk, and all that we did on this day, my iphone calculated that I walked 17.36 miles on birthday, and my phone was dead for about an hour of walking... It was a good 26th Birthday!

Saturday, May 30 - Day 2
Again, we were shooting to wake up at 8am, but managed to slowly get up closer to 9. We were super tired from our walking adventures and knew that on this day we would Uber/Metro a lot more, and had planned to use our bike and roll groupon. We had breakfast at a cafe near the hotel with Sara, before she had to get back to her weekend plans.

We started our day later than planned at the Holocaust museum. got there around 11, but couldn't start going through the exhibit until 11:45. We were there for 2 hours. Lots to take in. We then took an Uber to the place where we needed to rent our bikes. It was right by Union Station, so we got to see that (super underwhelming after New York) and grabbed a smoothie to hold us over for biking.

We biked all the way from Union Station through the National Mall over to the Jefferson Memorial, hitting up all of the major monuments/memorials along the way.
After returning the bikes, we took the Metro to Chinatown and had an early dinner there. We saw more monuments/memorials by foot, headed back to the hotel for an earlier bedtime. We were up a little later packing and planning our final day's activities.

iPhone said we walked 9 miles on this day, and we think we biked about 8 or 9 miles.

Sunday, May 31 - Day 3
We wanted to leave at 7:45 this morning, but left at 8:30 instead. It is hard going up an hour. San Francisco had early rise times because we were behind 2 hours and it was a noisy/bright hostel room. We ubered to the Iwo Jima Memorial, took it in and took some pictures, walked through Arlington Cemetery to see the Changing of the Guard, and JFK's gravesite. Then we walked to the Metro and took it over to the Newseum area. The Newseum was on my list and was the only activity that we had to pay for (other than food).

I had found a place near the Newseum that I thought would be good for brunch, but while we were walking there we stumbled across a different place that had a $27 fixed menu of 3 courses, and for $10 you could get unlimited mimosas, bloody marys, and bellinis. DONE. I was super stoked to be getting in our "fancy" meal for the trip. Everything was DELICIOUS. Probably the best brunch I've ever had. Central Michel Richard is what it is called, and I highly recommend the Sunday Brunch. You have to go hungry though, because we were definitely hurting before course 2 was over, but course 3 was too delicious to stop eating. I also had a lot of coffee, water, mimosa, bellini, and bloody mary refills throughout this brunch. It's hurting me thinking about the end of that meal as I type this right now.

Melissa and I were a wee bit tipsy as we went to the Newseum. We walked in around 1:15, and shut the place down at 5pm. We didn't even get to explore the second floor :(. This was the coolest museum EVER. I have watched more news than your average twenty-something. My mom and grandparents have always had it on at home when I was little, and when I was in college I was engulfed in the 2008 Presidential Election, and have just always kept up with politics on my own since. This museum had some incredible artifacts and exhibits to look through, and I have to go back to do a more thorough job next time. 4 hours wasn't enough!

Our flight was pushed back from 7:55pm to 9:05pm, so we picked up our luggage and hung out at the hotel lobby for a bit. My phone needed to charge and I graded some papers. We ubered to the airport, had an airport sandwich for dinner, and landed in DFW around 11:20. My sister picked us up from the airport, I dropped the girls off at Melissa's apartment, and I found myself at home around 12:15.

The next day back at work was rough, but it was good to have another successful trip, and summer right around the corner!

San Francisco Trip

Thursday, April 30th - Arrival

After school I picked up Melissa, drove to my Mom's, and she dropped us off at the airport. Our southwest flight was pleasant and we got an entire row to ourselves, SCORE! When we arrived in San Fran, it was 9:45pm their time, but it felt like 11:45pm to us. We followed the signs and found our way to the BART rail. It was another 30 minutes before we got to our stop, and then it was a few blocks away from our hostel in downtown. By the time we checked-in, it was 11pm PST. The hostel experience is a lot like a college dorm room or going to summer camp. We had a female only room with 2 sets of bunk beds and an ensuite bathroom. The room was empty when we got there, but one bed was occupied. After Melissa and I made our beds we passed out. At some point in the night, our mysterious roommate showed up, but we never heard her (creepy). I saw a figure standing in the room at one point, and Melissa referred to her as "blonde bun." She took off before the sun rose anyway.

Friday, May 1st - Day 1

We had a wake-up call by a car alarm around 5am, which felt like 7 am to us. We were able to stay in bed for a bit but eventually got up around 7 am PST. Getting ready was a breeze everyday because we planned this out to be a "working" vacation, with lots of activity! The biggest perk about the hostel was the included breakfast! Delicious bagels w/ cream cheese and coffee every morning. We planned to start our day by biking the Golden Gate Bridge. We opted to pick up our bikes near Fisherman's Wharf rather than by our hostel to avoid biking in the streets. When we mapped the location and saw that it was only 1.6 miles away, we thought, "Okay, no big deal. We can totally handle this and walking is free!" Walked outside our hostel and Oh. My. God. Those. Hills. Are. No. Joke. We wondered what our booties would look like if we had to endure hills like that daily. 

Once we got our bikes we biked 4 miles to the start of the bridge, across the bridge (1.7 miles) and back, and then had to make a decision as to where to go next. Looking at the map, Golden Gate Park didn't look so far away, so we started on a journey down the coast. Did I mention the HILLS were insane?? We got a little bit lost, and someone asked us if we needed help with directions. When we told her we were heading toward Golden Gate Park and not the bridge, she looked at us like we were crazy. We took that as a sign to stop our trek and start a new journey back to the Wharf to return the bikes considering our bummies were in a considerable amount of pain. When we looked at the distance between our location and where we needed to take the bikes, it was quite daunting. Clearly we made a poor decision when going towards Golden Gate Park. So much for not biking in the streets of San Francisco... Since we had to go east, we went a little out of our way to see the Full House house, ate at a random pizza shop, and saw the Painted ladies. At the painted ladies, we were 3 miles away from the bike place and felt like crying. We even called an Uber driver to see if he could fit 2 bikes in his car. No such luck. We started our journey of painfully riding the bikes, but mostly WALKING the bikes up ridiculous hills on the sidewalk. I was also terrified of riding in the traffic, so even when there weren't hills, we walked the bikes on sidewalks of busy streets. Looking back on this now it is funny... but at the time it was painful. Also Melissa got "brushed" with a car door while riding the bike in the bike lane, thus confirming my fears in riding bikes in the street.

It was a joyful feeling to get rid of the bikes, and we had a couple of hours to kill before our Alcatraz tour. We walked around Fisherman's Wharf, found a random street outlet to charge our phones for a bit, checked out the Sea Lions on Pier 39, then grabbed some coffee at Pier 33 waiting for our Alcatraz ferry. Melissa also scored a free muffin. The Alcatraz Night Tour was pretty neat, but we were really chilly. We didn't take too many photos here because we were just taking it all in. I like to learn things when I am on vacation, and now I am interested in checking out some documentaries on Alcatraz. 

According to my iPhone we walked 16.25 miles, and are unsure about the distance we biked. Needless to say we took an uberPOOL back to the hostel. When we arrived we were able to shower and get in bed before meeting our two new roomies for the remainder of the trip. Wendy was from China, traveling alone, and one lady who talked A LOT was from Philadelphia. We couldn't remember her name, but she was traveling to San Fran for a work trip, and chose to stay a few extra days by herself to see the sights. I wish I could travel for my job. Melissa and I had no issue passing out on this night.

Saturday, May 2nd - Day 2

Once again, we were awakened by a car alarm going off ridiculously early, and decided it was best to just get up and get day 2 started. We had breakfast around 8am on this day and the hostel kitchen was much busier at this hour. I seriously could not get over how delicious the bagels were. We talked about the main places we wanted to see on this day, and had a general idea of which direction we needed to start walking.

1.     Union Square – just a lot cool buildings and shopping. We checked this place out for a hot 5 minutes and took off for the next destination.

2.     Civic Center – I really wanted to check out City Hall, but the way the iPhone took us to get there was pretty shady. Don’t walk down Golden Gate when visiting San Francisco because you will be gawked at by the homeless. There is a BIG homeless problem in San Francisco… City Hall was pretty. Too bad it was the weekend because I would have loved to go inside.

3.     Mission District – We had a groupon tour to do in the Mission district later in the day so we took the opportunity to check out this vintage store called, “Stuff” recommended to me by a friend. We didn’t walk out with any treasures but loved looking around the store. We were in there for about an hour. We also took a tour of Mission Dolores.

4.     Castro District – Of course I loved the rainbow flags and all of the pride I saw. We walked down the street and looked around in some shops our short time here.

We then walked back to the Mission District and ate lunch at a place called The Grove. It was yummy and we were close to where we had to meet for our Mission Distrcit “Drunken History Tour” that I bought on Groupon. We chilled for an hour at a dog park without a dog. We did the lamest tour known to man from 3-5pm. Groupon has already heard about our unfortunate experience. We ‘uber’ed it back to our hostel because I promised Melissa she could get a nap in on this day.  It was nice to take a quick shower and rest before our next plan. I had purchased a pub crawl groupon and was promised heavily discounted beverages at 4 different places. We got to our location, checked it out, and ditched it. After our Mission tour, we weren’t about to waste our time when we can explore the city ourselves.

We walked to Chinatown and had a late dinner. As we were leaving Melissa spotted a frame with pictures of the President in it with the staff and I geeked out over it. Then we walked to Lombard Street. We stopped at a bakery in North Beach for a Canolli and Nutella Latte (YUM), and hiked up some massive hills on Lombard street. Once we got to the top of the street we took in the view for a while. This was Melissa’s favorite part of the trip. Our Pub Crawl Groupon didn’t go to total waste because it came with 2 $10 vouchers for Lyft, a service like Uber. We lyfted back to the hostel for the night.

iPhone reported that we walked 12.75 miles on this day.

Sunday, May 3^rd – Day 3 and Departure

We woke up at a decent hour and had our final bagel in the hostel. We went back to the room to do make-up and pack so that we could check-out. Keeping our things in a locker forced us to stay organized, so packing was a breeze. We had to take our linens down with us as we went to check out. I forgot to mention that we stayed on the 5^th floor, and the elevator never worked, so we got to haul our things down 5 flights of stairs. After check out we were able to leave our luggage at the hostel for no extra cost. It was a good experience and I would definitely lodge in a hostel again.

We strolled down Grant street so that we could take in Chinatown during the day. We also walked through North Beach again because we were headed toward Coit Tower. It was only 1.2 miles, but again… THE HILLS. Once we got to Coit tower, we had to walk up a lot of stairs to get to the entrance. We got there at 9:53, and it opened at 10 am. We were the first ones in and totally didn’t plan it. We took in the pretty 360 views of city and reflected on how much ground we had covered in our short time there. It was a nice way to cap off the trip.

Our flight wasn’t until 5:30pm, but we didn’t want to waste too much energy bustling around like we did the last 2 days. We took this time to walk to Mama’s on Washington Square, a restaurant that was highly recommended to me by my friend Brad. His blog said something along the lines of, “When you go to San Francisco, you will go to Mama’s, you will wait in line, and it will be worth it.”

He was right, the line was long, and the restaurant was small. Our wait to get inside was 2 hours. It was a good thing we had time to kill. When we started to stand in line we weren’t that hungry, but when we go inside we were ready. We each got a plate of Monte Cristos (Brad said it would change my life). I got the Mama’s Cristo, and Melissa got the Famous Cristo. We really wanted to try the French toast, so we shared a plate of that. It was all so delicious that we could not stop eating until it was all gone. We inhaled 3 entrees between the 2 of us. All of those calories burned came back to us at Mama’s. WHEN I go back, I will get the French toast again (seriously soooo good) and I want to try some eggs benedict.  Melissa and I collapsed in Washington Square across the street to let our food babies settle. We laid down for bit in the park before taking another “Lyft” back to the hostel.

We got our luggage, charged our phones for a bit, and called an uberPool to take us to the airport. Because I sent Uber to Melissa, she had a $20 coupon, so our trip to the airport was FREE. We got through security right on time, and only had to wait for our plane for about 20 minutes.  

We flew Virgin America back home, and it is currently my favorite airline. I rented Selma to watch on the flight back and Melissa looked at me like I was crazy as I cried over this incredible film.  Go rent Selma if you haven’t seen it yet!

My mom and dad picked us up from the airport; I dropped Melissa off at her place and was finally home at midnight. AMAZING trip. It was rough having to go back to work the next day, but I would do it again in a heartbeat! Melissa is quite the travel pal!

And there goes April....

Well another month has passed since a blog update. I feel like I say every month is crazy, so the reason April is crazy is because it is the month of STAAR testing. Usually, the 5th grade math test is at the beginning of April or end of March. This year though, it was on Monday, April 20th. So the month was dedicated to getting in the rest of our curriculum, and planning a thorough review of the TEKS. Once the testing was over, we had a professional development day, and I got to meet the staff at my new school!

I continue to go between sad and excited about the change happening in my career. I have started organizing things in my classroom and moving the things I don't need for the rest of this year. So far I have just moved all of my books out, which was a lot. My colleague Cynde is letting my store my things in her guest bedroom closet until our building is open. Again, I am sad to leave the people and the place I have called home for 3 years, but excited to have a new facility and new opportunities.

I am typing up this blog post on a plane to San Francisco right now. I thought I had homework that was due, so I paid the $8 for wireless internet, but then when I logged in it turns out I DONT have homework due until May 10th. So I guess I better get my $8 worth!

My friend Melissa and I will be in San Francisco tonight, April 30th through Sunday, May 3rd, and then we get to wake up and go to school on Monday, May 4th! This is a much needed trip that we planned about 6 weeks ago, as we knew we would both need it after the STAAR craziness. After we booked out flight to SFO, within 24 hours we saw flights for Washington D.C. for $108 roundtrip on Southwest. How do you NOT take advantage of that?! Melissa and I will definitely stay travel buddies.

Stay tuned for a San Francisco blog! One of these days I will get around to finishing my New York Blog and my Las Vegas Blog.

Changes in 2015

I've always believed that things happen for a reason, and it is all a part of a master plan. The past 3 weeks have been a whirlwind for me, as I am now looking ahead to the next chapter in my life. 

I've accepted a position to be the 5th Grade Math and Science teacher at Norris Elementary. Norris Elementary is currently under construction, so it will be an exciting challenge being a part of opening a brand new school in Frisco ISD. 

Many people didn't even know that this was in my immediate plans, and to tell you the truth, it TOTALLY wasn't. I LOVE Christie Elementary, and the people that work there are so dear to me. I truly love going to work. I've always thought, "why leave a place that makes me so happy?" Due to the 3 ice days we had in Texas, HR extended the transfer request window, and over Spring Break, after talking with friends, I decided that I would just put the transfer into the system. I've always known that eventually I wanted to open a new school, and there will be 8 opening before 2020, I just didn't know when I would take the plunge. To me this was just giving myself the option, and if it was meant to be it was meant to be. 

My colleague Cynde had an interview with the principal, and she found out there would only be 3 5th grade teachers, a math/science teacher, a reading/writing teacher, and one teacher that taught all subjects. With this being a new school, it will be small the first year or two. This is also the ONLY new school opening this year, so I figured that there were many people requesting to transfer over, and that I for sure wouldn't get it. Cynde waited 2 weeks until she got the call that she had the job. In her phone call, she mentioned my name. Because she did that, I had to send an e-mail. 

On Wednesday I sent her an e-mail inquiring about a possible interview. Thursday after school, I had the interview. Interviewing now is totally different for me than it was 3 years ago. I got rejected a LOT in my year and a half looking for my first teaching job. In the interview, she asked me the first 2 questions on her sheet of paper, and then she went rogue. We just had a conversation about my professional goals, and what I would envision in opening a new school. It went really well, and on my way home I was flooded with emotions. I loved the vision that this principal has for the new school, but I love the people and kids at Christie. I told my team that if they offered me the math/science job, I would take it, but if they offered me the self-contained position, I would say no, because that would be too much on my plate with finishing my Masters in the fall. On Friday, I got the call for math/science, so I said yes.  

Going back to things happening for a reason, I got the call when I was with Cynde. It is comforting to know that she and I will continue to be on the same team in a school filled with new people we don't know, but will get to know. We went to the construction site and walked around after I got the call, and it is going to be a beautiful school. I can't wait to see it when it's finished! 

Ever wondered how elementary schools get their names? Here is the namesake for my new school:

Armetha Norris Elementary School 

Armetha Norris was a respected parent and nurse when she approached the Frisco ISD School Board proposing a District health and school nurse program during the late 1970s. At that time, Frisco schools had no written health policy and no school nurse. Superintendent Justin Wakeland and the School Board took her proposal to heart and hired her to develop a school nurse system and a school health program in 1978. The program she developed established an immunization program, a records keeping system, a school health policy manual, vision and hearing testing for students, health rooms in each school, skin and head lice testing and education, a referral program for children with health problems, blood pressure testing for employees, a migrant children’s health program, support of health and science teachers, and a nurse volunteer program. That program is the foundation of the current school health and nursing program. Armetha and her husband, Bob, an educator with Dallas ISD, moved to Frisco in 1961. They brought up three children here, became active members of the First United Methodist Church of Frisco and PTA. She was involved in diabetes and hypertension community education early on, helping develop a screening program in Little Elm. All three of their children, Robert, Mari (Fugere) and Cheryl (Staats), graduated from Frisco ISD and Cheryl followed in her mother’s footsteps to become a school nurse. Mrs. Norris graduated from Dallas Methodist Hospital School of Nursing in 1950 and she earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology in 1967 and her Masters of Science in Community Health Nursing in 1978, both from Texas Woman’s University. As she brought up her family, she also worked as a nurse at the now-defunct Collin Memorial Hospital and helped as needed in the offices of Dr. D.G. Harrell in Dallas and Dr. Erwin G. Pink of Frisco. She was employed by Dallas ISD as a nurse for seven years before being hired by Frisco ISD. Mrs. Norris led the FISD School Health program for seven years. During that time, she also served as Secretary of the District’s Community Education Advisory Council and was a member of the board of the Collin County Red Cross. Mrs. Norris is a life-time member of PTA and was once nominated for School Nurse of the Year with the National Association of School Nurses. 

http://www.friscoisd.org/news/2014/09/09/school-names 

First Quarter of 2015

I haven't blogged in so long and so much has happened in 2015!!! Every month so far has had a trip and a running event! I've been super busy, so here is a quick re-cap:

January - Started the year off great with a 24 day challenge, a trip to Houston for my friend Caroline's son's first birthday party, and a trip to Austin to run the 3M Half-Marathon. 

February - This was a CRAZY month. the first 2 weeks were very stressful with meetings, lots of homework for my new grad school class, and more meetings. I did get to run in the Hot Chocolate 15K for free thanks to a friend that had registered for the run but couldn't go. It was a lot of fun and I would definitely do it again! and I have an unfinished blog of an overly detailed trip I took to New York with friends! That was by far the hi-light of the month! 

March - We're still in March, but I am wrapping a Spring Break where I went to Las Vegas with my Mom, sister, and her best friend Jesse, to celebrate Katie's 21st Birthday! Vegas is always a good time. This next Sunday I will be running in the Dallas Rock & Roll Half Marathon. 

When I returned from Vegas, I was feeling depressed about not having a trip on my radar. I've been able to go on some awesome get-a-ways on the cheap! I have a bucket list of pretty much all of the major cities in the U.S. in which I would like to travel to, and San Francisco has worked it's way up to the top. After scouring through some plane ticket prices, and talking to my friend Melissa, we decided to book San Francisco for the end of April/beginning of May!!! I've already started pinning all sorts of stuff to do in San Francisco! 

Looking ahead, there are only 12 weeks left in this school year! In 5 weeks, my students will be taking the STAAR test, so I am sure that these weeks will fly by. 7 weeks from now I leave for San Franciso, which will be a very welcomes break after STAAR testing and before gearing up for end of the school year activities. May always flies by with Teacher appreciation, field Day, end of the year fun stuff, and my birthday. Then one week of school in June and it's summer time! 

Hopefully I can get around to finishing my New York blog, and write my Las Vegas blog before I go to San Francisco! 

Oh and I finished another grad school course! I start the next one in a week, and that one will be finished in May. After that I have 2 classes left to take in the Fall and I will be a Master of Educational Leadership!