March

Look, it's March!  I have successfully been writing every month, now let us see if I can do it twice a month?! An update on February's post:  that friend, turns out he's not so great of a friend as I thought he was.  Also, I quit! I did it and I quit ShopKo! My last day was February 22 which was great!  I love, love, love having my nights to myself and being able to spend them however and with whomever I want it the greatest part of my life recently.  I have made a few new friends in my singles ward which is such a great blessing.  They are Blair, Colin, and Olivia.  Olivia I have known for a while, but we just recently started truly talking.  Colin and Blair are funny!  They make me laugh and include me in activities as much as they can.  I am truly blessed to have them in my life and I think I like one of them ;) bet you can't guess which one...(if you truly do want to guess, comment below)!

I've been doing a lot of thinking recently about my future, mainly about my career, and it scares me.  Now it's not being a teacher and having to teach 30 or so kids that scares me, it's the uncertainty of not knowing when I will get a job.  Will it be for this next school year?  Or will I be stuck as a substitute for next year?  That is scary and I'm afraid to just be stuck in a rut where I go from class to class each day.  I want at least a few things in my life to be stable and consistent, it would be nice if a job was one of those things.  Anyway, we'll see what happens and I'll let you know! 

Well, It's February

Well, I've written once a month so far and I would say that is pretty good.  The most wonderful thing I have today is that I got a long term substitute job that starts in the middle of March!  It is for a 4th grade teacher who is having her baby, and instead of taking the normal 6 weeks off, she is taking 11 weeks off!   I am so excited to have one classroom to deal with and one group of 30 instead of it being a new class everyday, it get's old.  This means that I will be able to feel more confident about quitting ShopKo.  I just have to gather my courage and give my two weeks notice... this is a scary thought for me.  I also have made a wonderful new/old friend, although I wish he would be more than my friend ;)  But with time we will see how that goes and who knows, maybe I'll have a Valentine this year?  With all that is going on with everyone else I feel like I should have more to say, but I don't.  That's all for this week (or month) ;)

The Beginning Of A New Year!

"It's a new day, a new start." Sorry again that I don't write often... Well that's a New Years resolution, write here more often. I have officially graduated from Utah State University and am an official teacher! I finished my student teaching on December 5th and I loved every minute of it! I was in a fifth grade and third grade classroom for my two blocks of teaching. I was so blessed to have such wonderful cooperating teachers who were understanding and very willing to help me with the things I didn't understand. My students were also very patient and loving as I was learning new ways to teach them. I truly miss all of them and hope to visit soon.

I am still working at ShopKo and hope to only be there for another month or so. I am also a substitute for Jordan and Canyons school districts and I am having a great time wih the many assignments I have received. It is hard to work 8 am to 11 pm, but we gotta do what we gotta do.

At church I attend the singles ward which is not Bly favorite place to be. I don't always feel welcome or like I belong there... I try to. Be social and go to activities, but it is hard when you don't have friends in your ward. I am the organist and I am starting to enjoy that a little now that I am less stressed about school work.

My New Years resolutions forth is year are to blog more often about my life, start saving my money, be a healthier person, be more social and outgoing, be closer to Christ, and to let things from my past go ( I don't need them holding me back). It will be a long and hard process to accomplish these things, but I will be a happier person in the end.

The End of Another School Year

Well this has been one heck of a school year.  For all of you who talk to me regularly know how hard it has been.  It's hard to believe that I graduated from high school three years ago and started driving and dating almost five years ago...it seems like only yesterday.  I am however proud to say that I am finishing my last full semester before student teaching and after that I will graduate and move into the big world of adults.  I am terrified to be honest although I have no doubt that it will be a great adventure that awaits me.  I begin my student teaching at Crescent Elementary School in West Jordan at the end of August.  I am very glad that I have been placed in a 5th grade classroom and then a 3rd grade classroom which are the exact ages where I want to be teaching.  I left my 4th grade class at Mountainside Elementary School on Friday and it was hard to say goodbye to those wonderful children that have taught me so much and made me feel so welcome in their classroom.  This summer I will be working at ShopKo doing lawn and garden again which won't be my favorite thing, but it will be fun and I'll get a great tan. ;)  I said goodbye to my co-workers at the Logan ShopKo on Saturday and it was a hard thing to do.  I have never loved the people I work with so much and felt so much like I belonged and was loved at a job before.  It truly is amazing how the people in your life can mean so much to you when you never thought they could.  It will be hard to go back to the West Jordan ShopKo and leave them all here and rarely see them.

My last day of class they were kind a took a serious picture for me :)

This is my fourth grade class in their tie dye shirts that they made for their field trips!

And then we got to take a silly picture haha I never know what to do for silly :P

The Updates of My Life

Here comes the update.  I am almost done with my last semester of college classes and in the fall I will be doing my student teaching.  I will be doing this in the Salt Lake valley.  The guy I was previously dating broke up with me and mostly it was because he couldn't handle being an adult and discussing things that had been bothering him about our relationship and he didn't want to be the one who got left behind if we didn't work.  He was very nice about breaking up with me and very respectful, but still.  The guy I was dating before him is now engaged... I have wonderful friends who keep me going strong and keep me smiling when times get tough.  Without them I truly do not know how I would survive or where I would be in this world. 

That's all for now!

Erin

Home For The Holiday

This Christmas break has been pretty wonderful! I spent one week of it in Logan with a few of my friends and had a pretty great time. For Christmas we did the usual and I my favorite gifts were my zebra purse and my iPod :) The pictures below are of the Christmas house I made the past two days. It was a lot of fun! I hope you all have a great new year!

Christmas Time in the Apartment

Hey! This is the update of my Christmas time for now... We decorated our apartment with snowflakes, stockings, lights, tree and a paper chain! It was so much fun to decorate! Also my room-roommate moved out to go on her mission so I'm in my own room and there is a picture of what my side looks like.  I hope everyone is having a great Christmas season! These are the updates of my life.  Oh I also have two fish.  That I love, they don't have names yet... I love you all!

Funny Story...: This is Carly. She decided one day that she wanted to cook a potato so she wrapped it in tin foil and then in that apron and put it in the microwave for five minutes.  I was doing my hair and I hear this little voice from the kitchen say, "It's on fire..." very calmly.  Then our neighbor Karli said, "You should probably take that outside...".  When I walked out there this is what I saw. Silly Carly, you can't put tin foil in the microwave.

This is the same story.  Now this apron hangs in our apartment as a memento.

Our cute little tree that Brianna cut down for us.  The ornaments are pictures of attractive men :)  The star I made out of ribbon! :D It was super fun.

The lights in our window.

My paper chain for counting down til Christmas.  The star says, "How many days til Christmas? It's just so hard to wait! This countdown chain will tell you when it's finally time to celebrate. Each evening when goodnights are said, take off one link and hop in bed. When the star is left alone to shine, then you'll know it's Christmas time!" I modified it a little bit and made the last link really pretty for Christmas day.

This is the whole apartment with snowflakes and all! Oh there is also mistletoe over the door.

This is Carly.

This is Brianna.

These are our stockings. Mine is the silver one.

This is Jogal and Herbert.  They are firebellied toads! Carly and Brianna found Jogal on the Institute grounds and Herbert is for Carly's sister, Bailey, as a Christmas present.  Jogal is the darker one and Herbet is the brighter one.

This is my room! :D

INST 4015 MPEG Assignment

This is a tea bag rocket experiment!

INST 4015 Picasa Assignment

My mom and I at the color festival, 2011

Melissa and Erin 2011

Erin at Multinoma Falls Washington

The Awesomeness That My Friends Are! :D

This week has been the best week in the past month! I came home on Monday night because I didn't have classes for the rest of the week and I spent the whole time with my family and friends.  On Tuesday I just hung out and did a lot of nothing.  On Wednesday I spent most of the day with my good friend Laura.  We spent the day running around Sugarhouse and buying Halloween bell earrings and then got lunch and went to Gardner Village.  It was so good to see her and spend time with her.  Then on Thursday I just spent time at home again until seven when Kim and Bryson(her fiance) picked me up and we went to the corn maze.  Kim is a wonderful and amazing friend who truly knows how to make me smile.  She is amazing! They decided to set me up on a date with their friend Justin.  After the corn maze Bryson dropped the two of us off at Kim's and we played Jenga and just talked.  On Friday I spent some more time at home, was called by Justin to ask me on a date and then around eight I went to the movies with Darien and Phil.  We went to see Footloose which was pretty amazing!  I haven't laughed and smiled so much since Michael broke up with me.  It was a great thing for me.  Then today I went to my friend Jessica's baby shower and spent time around the house after that.  At nine fifteenish Justin picked me up for our double date.  We went to the haunted corn maze and listened to Kim scream her head off :) We love her! After we survived the haunted section we decided to go through the regular corn maze and just have fun.  It was great talking to Justin and just being on a date, even if it meant nothing and is going no where.  I'm so blessed to have wonderful friends.  After the corn maze we went to Village Inn, Kim was hungry, and we got shakes and whatever else everyone wanted.  We talked and laughed and all had a great time :) I hope it can happen again.  This night has been the best for me in moving forward and learning to love life again.  I love you all and hope you know how much I appreciate all you do!

A Lil' Update..

Hey Everyone,
I thought I'd update you on the latest happenings of my life... Michael broke up with me, sad and true.  I honestly thought he was someone I would be with forever, but it turns out that's not the feeling he got.  So I'm slowly trying to move on and be happy with what I have.  I also have wonderful, wonderful friends who are always and constantly there for me when I need them and sometimes, even when I don't.  They are wonderful!  I guess this means I will be trying to come to the Salt Lake Valley for my student teaching(if that can be arranged)...and I sure hope it can.  Anyway that's all for now.  I know I am truly truly blessed with all I have.
Erin

Blogging Assignment

This assignment was interesting and will hopefully help me throughout my teaching career. The three blogs I found on teaching gave information on how to organize you classroom, how to keep your classroom calm, challenges of teaching and technology tips. They are a great tool for lesson plans and activities to help my students learn.  They will also be a place where I can go if I am having a problem and see if any other teachers are dealing with the same things. These blogs will be very helpful to me in all aspects of my teaching. the blog at http://learningismessy.com/blog/  is about different activities you can use in your classroom to help you get to know your students and them you and innovations for the classroom.  The blog at http://www.brokenairplane.com/ talks about why and how we can use technology in our classroom.  It just has a lot of resources for using technology in and for our classroom.  The blog at http://weblogs.pbspaces.com/mrskolbert/ talks about different activities her class does throughout the year.  She also has her students take a turn and write on the blog about the day. The next URL's are the two blogs I am subscribing to via Google reader: http://blogs.scholastic.com/classroom_solutions/ , http://teachingchallenges.blogspot.com/ .

New Blog

Hey everyone! I made a new blog because this one is not connected to my gmail account and the email I used for this one has been deleted so here's the new blog.... http://new-eringrace.blogspot.com/

Hey Everyone!

Since I deleted my old email address it has become hard for me to use my old blog and since it's not connected to my gmail account it was a pain.  SO... I started a new blog.

This is a link to my old blog so that you can all still see what has happened in my life if you wish and I may or may not post some of the old entries onto this blog.  Lots of Love!
http://eringracenelson.blogspot.com/

Recycling

Recycling is a big deal! Quite honestly I believe that if more of us would recycle it would help to keep our planet healthier longer. There are three parts to recycling, it's not just putting cardboard and plastic into the bin. The other two parts are reduce and reuse. If we were to reuse the same glass all day instead of putting it in the sink and getting out a new one each time we wanted a drink we would run the dishwasher less and save water. If we simply turned off the lights when we weren't home or didn't need them and opened the window we could save energy and money(Heaven knows we all need more money)! I hope this was inspirational to someone :) Please click on this link to help me possibly win a scholarship! http://www.castleink.com

HOOORAY!!

For those of you who don't know I applied to Utah State University's teaching program, the school of teacher education and leadership, on March 1st. Today my mom called me with the news that I have been accepted into the program for next fall!!! Now I can finally plan my life a little better!! I just wanted to share this oh so exciting news with you all!

I Passed!

Yesterday I got the results of my Praxis II Exam that I took on January 15th. I PASSED with 173 which is 23 points above the 150 that you need to pass! I don't know what it is out of, but hey does it matter? This means I only have to get my background check and finger prints done before I apply to the Elementary Education program at USU and then after I apply I have to have a group interview to finish it all up! One less thing to worry about :) I'm so happy to have passed. In congratulations my roommate Melissa and neighbor Alex got doughnuts! There was a great time had by all after class! Have a great day and I love you all!

It's Been A While

Hey all I know it's been a while so here's an update on my life... I am still at Utah State University and this will be the end of my second year. I am hoping to apply to the Elementary Education Teaching Program this March! That's mostly what's been happening... Not too exciting I know.

I discovered an amazing website where you can edit photos.. It's called picnik.com and I love it! Here are some pictures I edited.

Christmas Houses!

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This year since we did not go to Washington for Thanksgiving we made Houses out of graham crackers! It was a lot of fun and I believe we all enjoyed it very much. We are having a contest to see which one people like best if you could please look at the pictures below and vote for your favorite one. The poll is on the right hand side of the page :) Enjoy!

The Start of My Summer

Well finals went well I got decent grades and still have a 3.6 GPA and get to keep my scholarship! I finished my song and here's the link if you want to listen to the final thing... http://www.noteflight.com/scores/view/8a6bfb0c84058024e0e2ce4bbcd7c5ef57581d08 So in the past weeks I've been looking for a job and today it finally paid off! I got a job at Michael's in West Valley. It's not the best location and it's part time, but at least it's a job!! I am so happy about it! :D Well that's all for now :D