A Walk Down Every Lane

Sunday Sean and I spend an amazing day wondering the streets of downtown Portland, Lloyd Center, and Cascade Station. We decided since it was such a beautiful day out that we'd spend our day wondering around going where ever we decided to head. We spent some time trying to find various shops that I remembered seeing at one time or another. We walked down to the Pearl District and stopped for something warm to drink. This was the pole that was outside, or rather the artwork they used to cover it. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera so I just snapped a picture with my phone. It's not as easy to see with this picture exactly what it looks like, but it's essentially a totem pole. There are three basic "faces" one in white, which is a cyclops, one in black which is an angry face and the sides in red which is again a cyclops only this time semi-angry. There was just something about this artwork that made me want to stop and take a picture. There was lots of interesting architecture throughout this area that amazed me. I would love to live in a place like this. Just for fun Sean stopped to grab a flier from a reality company and the cheapest place was +500 a square foot!!! There was also an area that actually had a boardwalk. What a boardwalk was doing in a place like downtown Portland I'm not quite sure, but it was interesting to walk on. The landscaping was beautiful as well. It was a part of Portland I'd never really seen before so this was definitely a treat for me.

There was a major down side to this neighborhood. One that just couldn't be overlooked. While walking we discovered that more than one tree was being put up downtown. Of course there is the beautiful main tree in Pioneer Courthouse Square, but there was also a slightly smaller one being erected in Jamison Park. When I say erected I'm being quite literal. As you can see by the picture here, the tree is quite PERFECTLY shaped. Nothing like the one in PCS. Well I decided that we had to take a closer look because I just wasn't sure that it was real. (Mind you we started on the other side than from this point of view) When we walked close by it we discovered much to my dismay that it was in fact a fake tree. IN OREGON. I MEAN SERIOUSLY, ON DISPLAY OUTSIDE AND THEY'RE GOING TO USE A FAKE TREE, THAT'S A DISGRACE!!! When we'd walked past I quickly turned around think that this needed to be documented only to find out that there was a door to the tree. You can see it in the picture by the shadow created. It's also where the garland is disturbed. It reminds me of the story "The Christmas Tree That Ate My Mother"

Well from here we wondered back towards the Max and got on the Trolley and headed to Lloyd Center and wondered there for a while. I did a little bit of my shopping and we again headed out this time for Cascade Station. After a stroll through there we grabbed some dinner and decided to call it a night.

I'm headed to Tri-Cities tomorrow, off to spend Thanksgiving with my mom. Since I wont have computer access while I'm here (Not quite sure what I'm going to do.) I figure I'd get a jump on what I'm thankful for this year.
I'm thankful for my friends and family.
I am thankful for a God who has a plan even if I have no idea what I'm doing.
I'm thankful for those I've lost this year, not that I've lost them, but rather that they are still with me.
I'm thankful for the amazing man in my life who has brought me so much joy this past month.
I'm thankful for the lessons I've learned and those I've yet to learn this year.
I'm thankful for my father who has become a man I can respect and look to for advice.
I'm thankful for friends who have my back no matter what comes our way.

These are just some of the things that I'm thankful for.

Bit by the Christmas bug!!!

Ok, so on my way home today I was mysteriously bitten by the Christmas bug. I was drivin' along minding my own business when all of a sudden I had the urge to listen to Christmas music and think about what I could do for the special people in my life.

Maybe I was inspired by a clip I had recently seen for How the Grinch Stole Christmas. That's how I felt last year in the wake of Papa's passing. This year for some reason I'm ready to get the jump on it. I feel like I have enough spirit for the entire family. I feel as if Papa's watching over me knowing that I always have a hard time getting into the swing of Christmas. I think I'm ready to handle the stress that will undoubtedly accompany this holiday. I'm diving in this year with not only my whole body, but my whole heart. Knowing that this is Papa's holiday, and it's something that I can still share with him.

I love you Papa, and it's with you in mind & heart that I attack this holiday with more spirit than I could ever imagine!!!

So many things... so little time.

I know I've been neglecting my duties as a blogger in terms of keeping this all up to date. Loads of stuff has happened in the recent past.

Let's start with a few weeks ago. I started dating a wonderful guy named Sean. We met through a "dating site" yes I know they're not always a positive thing... but you don't ever know what you'll find unless you put yourself out there. This particular site is nice because it "matches" you up with people based on your response to certain questions. Sean and I started talking and after a 6 hour phone conversation we decided that we should go on a date and see how it all played out. He ended up picking me up at Gramma's house and we went to Shocktober Fest at the Hillsboro County Fair Complex. It was a really fun night full of laughs and scares. I determined that I was completely terrified of chainsaws. After the haunted attractions we decided to go see a movie. We saw Quarantine and lemme tell you that was one messed up movie. He dropped me back at Gramma's after our 7 hour date.

The next weekend we went to see Saw V, I've finally found someone who will go see scary movies with me!!!

On the 31st of October Sean came down to see me in Monmouth. That night we officially became a couple. We've worked out seeing each other on the weekends and know that we both have busy workweek lives. He's a employee and student at Concordia University and lives in Vancouver, Wa.

Let's move on to the best weekend EVER!
I bought us tickets to the Oregon State vs Cal game on the 15th of October. My dad and Sheri picked us up in the morning and we hung out with them until the game started. I quickly learned that I LOVE watching football with Sean. He had no problems teaching me the things I had yet to figure out about football. I mean I had been watching football for years, alone, with my dad, with Papa, but no one had ever taught me what the downs were. I mean seriously I had no idea what a first down was and why it was important. I knew from watching it on TV that you wanted your team to make it past the yellow line that the people drew for you to know where the line was. That's it. Now I know exactly what it is, why it's important and I can enjoy watching football in a whole new way.

I know that there are people who are worried that I might be "rushing" things or whatever. But I can honestly say that before I met Sean I was a happy person. I felt whole and knew that no matter what I would be happy with my life. Now that I've met Sean I'm only happier. He treats me like a princess, better than anyone outside of my family ever has. I've done a lot of growing since my past relationships and this one is different than all of those before. I'm not with Sean to make someone else jealous, I'm not with Sean so that I'm not alone, I'm with Sean because I want to be and because I like him.

I have a lot of stress in my life right now, but I'm sure there's a reason for all of it. I know that as long as I continue to look up and remember that God's on my side I can do ANYTHING!!!

Using web 2.0 in my classroom

**Note to readers** This post is for a class. I didn't see the point of creating a whole new blog for just one post for an assignment.

The only way I can currently see using any web 2.0 tools in my classroom is as a teacher. I am currently placed in a second grade classroom with 80% being ELLs. I don't see how any of the tools we've been shown would truly benefit my students. I could see in the future when working with older students, that wikis could be useful when having students work in groups, but truly more likely would be for late middle/high students. As a teacher I could see using the social bookmarking as a valuable resource. I do use the concept already, but the old fashion way, by sending my peers an email with the links in it. I already make pretty good use of RSS by subscribing to the blogs of my friends who are also teachers. I'm sure that as my RSS subscriptions grow I'll find use of the aggregators, but until them I'm quite happy without them.

If I were in a high grade, and had students who had a decent command of the English language I would consider using blogs for my students.

Surprise...Surprise

Go figure, once again I'm on the outside. I love my family don't get me wrong, but so often I find myself sitting alone, or sitting with them like I'm invisible. Sometimes I feel like I'm 10 again and fighting for attention from my cousins, or fighting just to fit in and belong. During the drive to the movie tonight I tried to talk to Gramma about what dad had to say about Sean and how he brought up what happend with Mike and she told me once again that I was a completely different person, and not a good one at that. That or they're afraid that I'm "rushing into things". Seriously, I'm fine. I have to put my heart out there sometime or I'll end up alone. Besides, that's not really what I meant when I said that dad brought up Mike. He was refering to the fact that Mike broke my heart. I'm sure four years is enough time to get over it. More than enough likely. It wasn't like Mike was the love of my life. Yes I loved him, yes I was even in love with him, but I've moved on.

Then there's the fact that I was faced with a new realization and it sucked. For as long as I can remember, when ever I felt overwhelmed, uncomfortable, left out, or whatever not great feeling I had I could ALWAYS go over to Papa, curl up in his lap and he would make it all better. Last night when I finished my original post on here I went outside, in this enviornment the computer just wasn't cutting it. I walked out to the side of the house, I felt lost. I sat on the curb and instantly realized where I needed to be. In Papa's arms being told that it would all be ok, that I just needed to put myself out there. I tried to think of all of the places that I could feel close to him and they were limited. I knew his chair was where I really wanted to be, but it was in a room full of people and already had an occupant. So instead I sat on the tailgate and cried. Cried for all of the things that I miss, for all of the things he'll miss. I got dragged back in for dinner, and as soon as people started leaving I curled up in his chair with my iPod and cried. I cried for a long time. When everyone had gone home I talked with Gramma. It made it better, to be able to talk to the one person who could possibly understand just how it feels to miss him like I do. I'm not saying that her and I miss him the same, but for us it's close.

So accomplished.

I've haven't felt this accomplished in so long. I can't believe the amount of work I've gotten done today. While I know that I spent much of the morning slacking off and doing lots of nothing I still got quite a bit of stuff done tonight. I managed to get almost completely caught up on my notes for one class and finished an entire lesson plan. *Caution confession coming* I've finally written a lesson plan all on my own!!! The idea and everything, all mine. No one can take any bit of credit for it. I still have a lot of work to get done. Including, but certainly not limited to a paper that's due Friday morning at 9 am.

As for other exciting news. I actually assisted in teaching for the first time in my class. There was an incident which required my teacher to step out to talk with the principal and she handed me the class. It was completely scary I wont lie. Lucky for me it was at the end of the day and the second easiest thing we do. It was a math lesson on doubles and neighbors (2 & 2 and 2 & 3). All I had to do was ask the students to tell me what went on top of our number sentence and what went on bottom. It felt really great that she trusted me to just completely take over the class, and to actually be teaching not just monitoring their abilities to work on a worksheet.

Lets see... what else is new? Well I guess an update about Sean is in order. In the words of Izzie Stevens, "We're going steady." lol There's just something about that statement that is so old school, aside from the fact that it's a term from the 50s. He lives in Vancouver and we only get to see eachother on the weekends, but I actually think that's likely a good thing. With him working during the week and me at school/in class during the week I'm way more focused, knowing that if I'm going to be responsible I have to get my work done before the weekend. Espeically since I don't do any homework on the weekends anyway. Never really have, well Sunday nights aren't really the weekend, just like Friday nights aren't really the work week. It's a nice trade off.

I... I don't know what else I really have to say, I've said alot tonight. :)