Water for Elephants

I've been super busy with school, but a friend of mine lent me the book Water for Elephants and I couldn't put it down. I read it in just a couple weeks, staying up past my bed time because I wanted to know what happened next. The movie just came out and I went to see it with my husband and brother. Neither one was excited to see the movie, but both knew that I wanted to see it and there really wasn't much else playing, so they reluctantly went with me. As we were exiting the theatre, they both told me that they liked it a lot and it wasn't as bad as they thought. I have to agree, though like many movies that originate as books, the book was much better. I highly recommend reading the book and/ or watching the movie. Christoph Waltz played another creepy badass character and he was perfect for the role of August. Robert Pattinson is not the best actor in the world, but we all knew this going in so kind of expected it. Reese Witherspoon played a great Marlena. This is not just a book about circuses and what a rip off they are, it is a book about how to make your life better and how you can choose a better life for yourself. Jacob (Robert Pattinson) is pulled from his exams in med school to learn that both of his parents have died. He can either mope about it or move on. He decides to move on and jumps on a train on impulse. That train happens to belong to the Benzini Brothers circus. While working at the circus he meets Marlena and August who are married but dont have the best relationship in the world. I'm sure you can probably guess who ends up together but it's not a chick flick I swear! Read the book- watch the movie- you'll like it!

Bad TV

This weekend it was cold and rainy here in NC. Not typical weather for this time of month down here. It was the perfect for weekend for some mindless, bad TV. We had to watch some mindless entertainment. What better show than Dawson's Creek? The show was filmed in our state, in Wilmington, where we've been and love. The kids talk like 35 year old adults instead of highschoolers. It's like Beverly Hills, 90210 without all the messed up situations, like Dylan's dad getting blown up, or Kelly getting burned in a house. It was the perfect remedy to a lazy rainy weekend. I think sometimes it's good to watch some bad TV. It's mindless entertainment that gets you away from reality. Thursday nights I stay up way later than normal so that my husband and I can watch Jersey Shore. Worst show ever. There's domestic violence, drunken nights, and horrible tans. We sit on our couch together and laugh at the stupidity. I'm always super tired Friday when I was up, but it's worth it to have quality time with my man watching bad TV. While we watch Jersey Shore, or even Dawson's Creek, I'm not thinking of all the lesson plans that I need to write or the impending EOGs or what grades my kids are making or my grad school work or the other million things I think about every other minute during the week. We both work pretty high stress jobs, so it's nice to just veg out and watch some really bad TV. Try it sometime. I bet it makes you forget your problems for the time being.

Married Life

"How's married life treating you?"

I get asked this questions all the time, especially since I got married just this past August. "It's great" I'll reply. "Does it feel any different" they'll ask. "Not really" I say. I think that this reply always throws people for a loop. They think that because I say I don't feel any different it must be going bad or I must not be enjoying it. The truth is: I really don't feel different, but everything in my life is amazing right now. I think that it's normal to feel the same after being married, especially when you've lived together for 4 years.
My husband and I started dating in the summer of 2005. I moved into his NC apartment in the summer of 2006. We got engaged in the summer of 2009. We got married in the summer of 2010. By the time we got married, we were used to each other's routines. We had already lived together, shared bills together, gone grocery shopping together, decorated the apartment together, and did all of these wonderful things together. Now that we're married, we still get to do all of those things together, but we now share the same last name, and we both have wedding bands on our pictures. Oh, and the Goodfellas picture that was above our mantle has now been replaced with a wedding picture- though I'm not sure how happy he is about that one :)
The truth is, I'm still absolutely crazy about him. I still get excited to go home to him, I'm still excited to wake up next to him, I'm still excited to go on our weekly movie date, I'm still excited to go to concerts with him, I'm still excited to take a walk with him, I'm still excited to cuddle on the couch with him, I'm still excited to eat dinner with him, I'm still excited just to be with him. So if you ever ask someone how married life is, and they reply with it's the same, don't think that there's something wrong with them. I feel so lucky to have the life that I do. My husband and I both found jobs that we love in this difficuly economy, and we support each other's professions. We both come from great families. We are saving money, and still have a great time. We still go to concerts (hello DMB in Atlantic City!!) and to the beach and have an amazing time together. Sorry if this was mushy, but it was on my mind because I do get asked that question all the time!!I love getting asked it, because I love being married, it's just as wonderful as when we were engaged, and it's just as wonderful as when we were dating.

Parents

I think that I have some of the best parents out there. And I believe that they had a big part in making me who I am today. My husband and I both come from families without divorce, which is not common in today's society. I believe that his parents had a big part in making him who he is today, which is a man who is amazing and who I love with all my part. We're both very lucky to come from such great families and to have such great parents. Our recent wedding made us realize just how much our parents do for us, in the past and the present. We're very lucky.

But what about the kids who are growing up without great parents? In my profession, I come across a lot of kids who don't have that role model of a great parent. There are many parents out there who don't value their child's education, spend what little money they have on themselves, and who push their children to the side. It's sad that this happens, but it does. I've seen the impact a parent can have on a child, both in my life and in the lives of others. I've seen what a parent's love and attention can do, not only to a child's attitude but their academics as well. I've also seen what inattention can do to a child's attitude and academics.

I'm not a parent myself, and do not know how hard it is to be one, though I can only imagine. I only speak from what I grew up with and what I see. I think that being a parent is one of the most important jobs in the world, and I'm thankful that my parents took that job seriously.

bad kids??

I have been getting calls to substitute more lately, and for one class in particular. I do not enjoy going to this class for many many reasons. The school that it is at is the bad part of town, where there is a lot of poverty, drugs, and violence. This is not a good neighborhood for kids to be growing up in, and I'm sure they don't have a lot of good role models to look up to on a day to day basis, let alone a good parent figure that is there giving them the care and love they need daily. This may be a reason why these kids act out the way they do.
I've always believed that there's no such thing as a bad kid. All kids want to be good and get approval from the people that they look up to. The kids in this class, however, have made me doubt my beliefs because there's really no other word to describe them than bad or mean. They go up to each other and call each others mamas gay or call each other fat or say one is too dark or too light for no reason at all. They would do this while I was teaching a lesson. When I would tell them to sit down, they would smack their lips and roll their eyes at me and all I was thinking in my head is what in the world?!?! I would NEVER treat an adult like that, and these kids have no reason to be this mean to each other! Every other person in the school told me that they are the worst kids they've ever seen, there's no hope for them, they will not pass third grade (yeah, they're in third grade calling each other gay, bith, and flicking each other off), and that they're a bunch of bad kids. There were several kids that were in in school suspension the four days I was there, and they told me they're always in there. How are they supposed to pass if they're not in the classroom learning new material???
It's a sad situation to say the least. Poor Matt has heard me vent about them constantly when I come home, but he's sweet and gives me advice on how to handle them and listens to me when I'm complaining. I realize that these kids act bad and mean and tough, but I'm sure what they're really looking for is some attention. Unfortunately, they get negative attention because of their behavior, but don't seem to care because it's still some kind of attention. I kept one student near me while walking down the hall and during lessons because he got into less trouble that way and knew it, and he was fine like that for a while. Which confirms my belief that there's no such thing as a bad kid. They want to do good, it's just the environment that they're in that unfortunately can shape them into a trouble maker. I hope that the teacher of that classroom can have a positive affect on those kids, and I hope that people start believing in them. That way maybe they will pass third grade and go on to become something great, instead of a drug dealer, criminal, wife beater, etc. lifestyles that people in that neighborhood have fallen into.

Time Slips Away

Right now I'm taking classes online full time, working at a restaurant part time, substituting occasionally, and planning my wedding. Even though this is a lot of stuff to be doing, I sometimes feel that I am wasting precious time. I think that there are a lot of things I could be doing with my time rather than sitting on the computer looking at random people's Facebook status, or watching reruns of Friends and the Office. I always wanted to learn the guitar, so why not start now? I want to read a lot of different books, so why not start now? I think that a lot of times we take the time that we have for granted, and don't put it to good use. I know that I will not always have all day to stay at home, and work just a couple hours at night. I think that when I look back on these times where I do get to sit at home all day, I'll ask myself why I didn't do something more productive with my time. I'm going to try not to take advantage of my time anymore. The main reason I stay home all day is because everything outside of my home costs money. I have been exercising more and doing a lot of school work, but a good portion of my day consists of Facebooking and watching tv. I'm going to try to spend more time doing enjoyable things that aren't a waste of time. I'm going to try and do more school work during the day than not school work, so that I can finish before the semester is over. "Time wastes our bodies and our wits, but we waste time, so we are quits." ~Author Unknown

Ch-ch-changes

The last time I wrote a blog was February 2009. A lot of things have changed in my life since then. A lot of GREAT things have happened. First, I graduated from college with a B.S. degree in elementary and special education. It poured during the ceremony, but that made it all the more memorable. I was accepted into graduate school, and have just completed my first week of classes. I should have a master's degree in a year and half in elementary education. It's going to be hard work but it's going to be worth it. We've been to a bunch of concerts, including Dave Matthews, Billy Joel and Elton John, and Paul McCartney. We've been to Washington, D.C. where I've never been before. I got a tattoo. We've been to a bunch of baseball games, including the Phillies and Yankees. We've spent a lot of time with friends and family.

The biggest change that's happened is that I'm now happily engaged to my wonderful fiance. He proposed to me on June 11, 2009 in Saratoga, NY. It had been almost 4 years to the day that we had our first date. He took me where we went that day and said the most beautiful things to me, got down on one knee and popped the question. It was absolutely perfect- I couldn't have imagined a better way to do it.

Right now we're in the middle of planning our wedding. I'm so excited to get married and to see what other changes happen in our lives. By this time next year, we will be married. He will be finished grad school and will hopefully have a job in substance abuse counseling. I will be in my last semester of graduate school. Who knows where we'll go from there? I don't, and I like it that way. Change can be a scary thing, but in these cases it's a great thing.