Good Things

Hey friends!

I have some exciting news to share:

1. I passed the GACE!! Which for those of you who don't know, it's the certification test for teaching in Georgia. So I'm officially a certified K-5 teacher! Now all I need is my degree.

89 days until graduation. Say what?!?!

2. I'm officially going back to Italy! I happily accepted a camp counselor position in Modena in June. I'll be going back with my friend Rachel and hopefully we'll be traveling around Europe for a few weeks before the camp. I'll keep you posted!

Rachel and me in Firenze. Eating food, of course.

So that is what's been going on with my life.

I have something else in the works that I'm super excited to share. But it will have to wait a little longer.

Anything exciting happening for y'all?

I am just now catching up on blogs from the past three weeks. Oops!

Student teaching has taken away my social/social media life.

{secretly I'm not too upset about it}

Happy Weekend!!

Faith Restored

Another week of student teaching has come and gone.

I cannot tell you how much I am enjoying it.

Before this semester, I was seriously debating 

whether I wanted to teach for the rest of my life.

If you knew me, you would know that was serious.

I have wanted to be a teacher since I could talk.

I know that sounds cliche, but it's the truth.

I just knew it was what God had called me to do.

After my past two field experiences, however,

I was seriously reconsidering my decision.

But y'all.

This semester has completely restored my faith in teaching.

You don't know how happy I am!

My mentor teacher just keeps getting better,

the other first grade student teachers are awesome,

my students are so precious,

and I'm just loving that I get to teach them everyday.

All of that to say,

week two was wonderful.

I picked up morning meeting, number corner, and reading groups

this past week.

Next week I'm picking up math.

(Ahhhhh!)

I'm a little nervous for that one.

Good news: Monday is MLK.

Which means a shorter week!

Which in turn means a longer weekend!

I get to sleep in for three days!!

(And by sleeping in, I mean waking up at 8 am. 

Apparently it's impossible for me to sleep in now 

that I'm used to getting up at 5:30. I guess I'll take it.)

Sorry about the lack of pictures on the past few posts.

I'm horrible about documenting my life with a camera.

Hopefully this week I'll have some school-related pictures to share!

Have a great weekend! Happy MLK Day!

First Week: Check!

My first week of student teaching is officially over!

I am absolutely loving my little first graders; they are so precious.

And my mentor teacher is amazing.

I'm so thankful to be placed in her class.

She is soooo awesome with the kids and I can't wait to learn from her.

So far, I have been called:

Ms. Burt

Ms. Burn

Ms. Bird

and my personal favorite, Ms. Burger.

{as you can imagine, they thought that was hysterical}

Favorite conversation so far:

Student: Do you have a mom and a dad?

Me: Yes ma'am.

Student: Still?

Me: Well yes.

Student: They're still alive?!?!

Me: Ummm yes...I'm not that old.

Oh children. They slay me.

268 Generation

It's that time again.

Time for Passion!!!

It's my last year as a college student to go to this incredible conference.

I've been the past three years and each time has been so great.

This year, my cousin is going with me.

I'm so excited!

It started last night and runs through Friday afternoon.

Annnnd it's in the Georgia Dome.

Woohoo for a big venue!

If you want to follow along,

you can watch the sessions online here.

I definitely recommend it.

Let me know if you decide to watch any of it!

Or if you're actually going!

Images: 1 2

One Word

Can you believe it's 2013? It feels like just yesterday it was 1999

and people were worried the world was going to end.

Hmmm...sounds a lot like this year now that I think about it.

Anyways.

I've been following Nicole for a while now.

She is so sweet and I've enjoyed getting to know her a little through blogging.

At the beginning of 2012, she posted about choosing one word as a theme for the entire year.

I loved this idea but I didn't really do anything with it.

However, I've been feeling like the Lord has given me a word for 2013.

There's something to be said for working all year on one specific thing.

To look back over how far you've come

and what all you've learned.

Over the past couple of weeks

I've been noticing something I need to work on in my life.

I waste a lot of time.

Not on bad things.

Just on pointless things

like twitter or watching t.v.

Things that I enjoy but aren't a priority.

At this point in my life,

I have been given the gift of free time.

Now that does not mean I sit around for hours with nothing to do.

I'm actually quite busy with school and work.

But I don't have a family to take care of

or any other pressing matters many people face.

So for 2013, my goal is to be:

Intentional with my time, 

my attention,

my relationship with the Lord,

how I love others,

how I serve.

This year will bring about a lot of changes for me.

Graduating college,

getting a real job,

potentially moving away from home.

Those things are huge.

At the end of the year,

I want to look back with no regrets.

With no wasted time.

Hopefully a year from now

I'll be able to say I was successful.

I'd love to know if you do something similar.

What are your 2013 resolutions?

Staying Alive

{Please tell me you are now singing that wonderful song by the Bee Gees}

No worries...I'm still alive.

It's been almost a month since I posted!!

Slacker slacker.

Anyways, I'm just stopping in to say hello.

I have been so lazy over this break.

Enjoying time with my family, crocheting, reading

Just relaxing.

I'm trying to get all the rest I can before I start student teaching.

Because I just know those first graders are going to wear me out.

I can't wait!

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas.

Enjoy this time with family!

Go Dawgs!!

This week has been crazy busy!

It was my last day of teaching for the semester yesterday.

Annnnd it was my birthday!!!!

But today.

Oh today is important.

It's the SEC Championship game.

Between my beloved Bulldawgs and Alabama.

At the end of the day I'm hoping for another win and to be able to say

Dawgs on Top!

Go dawgs!! Give me a win for my birthday!!

{my cute roommates and me}