New experiences...

Wow...where to start??? I have just a "few" updates for ya.

1.) Settled in with complete independence 
2.) Dated someone for a while and lost my VL card... but it didn't                  work out
3.) Got a new job
4.) Found out about what I have to do to certify to be a teacher in         Texas 
5.) Became an official teacher with a salary paying job and all

Number 1: I am now no longer paying my parents for anything and they are not paying for anything of mine. I have all my own bills and benefits. It is a wonderful feeling! Although I have to tell you that it is depressing to see all my money disappear so quickly when all those bills are due at the end of every month...yay adulthood...lol.

Number 2: I am going to be brief on this one because I don't want a drama filled blog. Pretty much I started dating this really great guy at the beginning of the summer but things just didn't feel right so we decided it was best to break it off. If you want to know more you will just have to ask me...

Number 3: As I was working my nanny job the school that I worked for a couple of summers ago as a prek/ kindergarten summer school teacher called me and asked me to be an aid teacher for their prek 3 class. They told me that if they were to have a couple more students enroll then they would split the class and I would be a full time teacher with a salary and benefits. After thinking about it for a bit I decided to take the job. So I began my job as a private school prek 3 aid.

Number 4: Ukkk the process of getting certified in Texas is ridiculous and expensive! Let me break it down for ya. I had to apply for the Texas board of Education to review my Idaho certification test and scores. Which is a cost of ridiculous proportions. I then received an answer to my review and it said that for my two tests that I took in Idaho I would have to take 5 here!!!! Idaho: Theatre/speech 6-12 and Math 6-12= Texas PPR, Theatre ec-12, Math 4-8, and Math 9-12 and Speech ec-12.... I was like what?!? So I sucked up my pride and decided I would forget about certifying in speech and that would leave me with 4. I signed up for the PPR and Math 4-8 on Nov.17 and the theatre test in the beginning of January and and the last math 9-12 at the end of January! Therefore I will be done with all this nonsense at the end of January!!!! I really hope that I pass the first time because I don't think I have the money to take them all again!

Number 5: About 2 weeks ago we had two more wonderful children enroll into our class and so the split was planned. They gave me an empty classroom and said to make it pretty and useful. I decided that I would do a bright star theme and I started decorating my class. Let me tell you something....there should be a class just for learning how to decorate and fill a classroom well. I was so overwhelmed but my co teacher was super helpful and we took our holiday and went to a teacher store stocked up and got to work! Here is a glimpse of what we accomplished:

                                 Circle time/ Calender board

               
                                     Carpet for circle time

                                        White board area

In the "lounge" with my cute stars [there is a double meaning in that ;) ]

                    Kitchen center where they like to play "house."

Whatever happened to me....

Wow I have not posted since I left Vegas. Sheesh well it is now June and officially summer! I have been working my nanny job for about 8 weeks now...I love it! It is a very fun and rewarding job. Going to his therapies and learning how I can help him progress to being able to walk and talk is interesting stuff! As I am working this awesome job I have been searching for the "actual" job. I officially got my Idaho certification for teaching secondary math and theater! And there has been a lot of people who have been helping me, referring me to their bosses and friends. I have had one interview already but it was for an art/theater teacher. It would have been cool because it was at my old junior high but they went with someone else. The interview was a good learning experience! It was my first interview that I was turned down...hmm not the greatest feeling. But I am good! I would have felt like a fake teaching art when I have absolutely no background with it. There are some other prospects and referrals that I am hoping will pan out. So that's that...

What else? Oh health!!! O my goodness I am so annoyed with my body right now! The reason why I have time to even post on my blog is because I have this killer cold, that is killing me right now. But that is not the only thing that has attacked me health-wise. A couple of weeks ago I woke up feeling that wonderful feeling of having a sour stomach...if you know what I mean...It seemed like not a big deal so I got ready for work and got on my way. Well my lunch break I decided to go officially pay for my newly rented apartment (hmm I still need to tell y'all about that...lol) so as my sister and I are sitting there in the office my stomach starts feeling worse. I get really hot all of a sudden and I know that I need to find a bathroom. Well my apartment has a public bathroom in their lobby that is just like a bathroom you would see in a home...so that was comforting. So without getting into the gruesome details I was stuck in there for a while. The office lady tried to come back to see if I was ok but apparently I didn't respond. Next thing I know I am in a dang ambulance and I crapped myself!!! I was like what the heck?! I remember them trying to ask me questions and me trying to answer them but not being able to. So long story short they took me to the hospital tested me for everything (I even had my first cat scan) they decided it was a stomach viral infection...i think....they used a lot of big words...but they sent me home like 8 hours later with 4 prescription orders. So I took the stuff and I seemed to be fine. The last day I forgot to take the last bit of my medicine but I felt all better so I figured it was no big deal. Well one week later my pregnant sister bled a bit so I took her to the same hospital (our parents were out of town) and after spending all day with her I decided to go home to sleep and it was a good thing I did. I woke up the next morning with the same feeling I had the last week it was back so I went to the bathroom. During this stuff my little brother knocks on the door and tells me Jess is on the phone and she needs me. I try to respond but my mouth is a little busy he then says she is having contractions and wants you there. He finally figured out what was going on...poor kid. Well skippin back today Jess is back home after a week in the hospital and she is officially on bed rest until they stop her meds at 36 weeks (so like 6 more weeks) and I have this cold. I seriously never got sick before and now all of a sudden my immune system sucks!!!! BLEH!

So the apartment thing... I know the plan was to stay with my parents to save money...well that obvioulsy didn't work out...how to put this...there was some uh disagreement and ...contentious circumstances that caused my sister and I to rent a 1 bedroom apartment. Well now that she is on bed rest we decided it would be best for her to stay at the house so that my mom can take care of her. But one thing came out of this mess that is positive. My best friend Ashley is going to take her place. We have been talking about moving out of the 'rents home and into our own apartment together since we were roomies in college. And she said in a couple of weeks this dream shall be a reality!!!! Yay!

Anywho I think I am going to go try to get some more sleep so I can beat this dang cold! Latas!

"I Have Been Blessed With So Much More Than I Deserve!!!"

I am so incredibly content with life right now! I am just seriously happy and feeling this high from life. I have been so blessed and I really feel like I have not done anything to deserve this out pour of  blessings. What blessings could make me feel this natural high you ask? Well, let me tell you...first off what I have been working for, for 7 years, the last "test" to pass...I passed this week! The end of next week I will be done with student teaching, officially done with college and have my bachelors degree! Kind of a big deal, right? ;)

I was blessed with amazing cooperating teachers that taught me so much and not just about teaching. I became good friends with both and I am going to miss their guiding influence.

I was blessed with awesome roommates that were patient with me and how busy I was, who are great people that I could talk to for hours! ;)

I was blessed by getting an awesome job that I get to start a week after I get back home! I am going to be a nanny for an awesome family. I get to use my sign language and teach a child that has developmental problems and therefore can't communicate verbally what he wants to say, to use sign so he can communicate. All the while getting the benefits of a M-F/8-5 FT job getting 500 a week!

Last of all I was so blessed to meet some AMAZING kids while student teaching and working in the Silverado theater!

So therefore I shall close with lyrics from one of my favorite country artists:

I have been blessed 
And I feel like I've found my way 
I thank God for all I've been given 
At the end of everyday 
I have been blessed 
With so much more than I deserve 
To be here with the ones that love me 
To love them so much it hurts 
I have been blessed!!!!

The Deciding Moment!!!!

Well this is it! This week I will be judged by a group of people that can decide my fate and future, it is the deciding moment! On Tuesday I will bring my portfolio in and try to prove to these unknown people that I can in fact teach and help the future generations improve!

How do I feel about that? Honestly, I am not sure...I think more than anything I am relieved that this pressure will finally be done with! There is also some undermining fear and anxiety peeking in because if I fail this interview thing than I fail student teaching which is like failing all of college for me because being a teacher has been what I have been working up to. And then all those people who don't believe I can do it or think I can't accomplish it will be right. Man I hate those people! Unfortunately I have someone that is like that, that is very close to me. That is my biggest fear failing and then having this person rubbing it in my face! Uh I don't know if I can live with that.

But with the amount of time and energy I have put into this student teaching thing, I really feel I have done my best. If the way to pass was to just show all you have learned in an essay I am pretty sure mine would be longer than most. Because not only did I work in two different realms of education (math and theater) but I also helped direct, choreograph, discipline, design, build, paint, tech, stage managed, focus and patch. The list can go on and on! I worked from 7 am-5:00pm everyday with an hour of break when most student teachers were home by 3 or if they started an hour later 4. My cooperating teacher for math asked if I was required to do all I was doing in theater and I told her no and she said "then you are going over and above what you need to do and I hope they realize that!"  I hope so too!

Anywho enough of that! I am so excited for this all to be done! I am excited to go home finally for good! But I am definitely going to miss my kids especially the theater ones! This experience has really been awesome and just an amazing learning experience!

Just a bit of Nostalgia...

I am usually someone who makes anywhere I am at my home. My friends say I acclamate well...not sure what exactly is meant by that but lets go with it! But Sunday all of a sudden I got a case of homesickness not for Texas where my fam and friends are but for BYU-I!!! Sunday we had a fireside broadcasted from there and I had sort of had a flash of pics of really good times that I had there stream across my mind! I thought of all the awesome people who are still there and my amazing experiences I had there. I honestly miss that frozen place! Weird huh?

And then yesterday for FHE they did dancing instruction (very, very, very basic). My roommate looked at me and said "you really do love to dance" and "you seem really... high on life right now." Man I miss dancing! But most of all I just miss BYU-I!!!!

March...OMGoodness! It is March!!!

My last month of student teaching is here! Wow I feel like February was a REALLY short month! Tomorrow  my students have auditions for "Hairspray". Which I am excited to help with but it is another realization that my time here is almost up since I know I am not going to be here when they perform it. I feel like how I felt at the end of my mission. Mixed feelings of excitement and sorrow for leaving. Except I spent  a lot more time in my last area on my mission. It is amazing how attached and comfortable I can become in such a short amount of time! My worries now are to finish my portfolio so that I can prove to a panel that I should be a teacher. I have most of it finished and now I just need to make it organized and pretty! But after all this craziness I am moving back home and then...I seriously shudder when I think of the unknown abyss my future seems to be to me. I got to be an adult, get a good steady job, start paying for everything that I have been taking for granted that my parents have taken care of for me for so long, find an apartment! Oy! LIFE! "It's a crazy game!" Buzz says in Rebel without a Cause. I am beginning to see what he meant...lol. Anywho, I am just rambling now and I should probably get to bed. Tomorrow is going to be crazy because my coop teacher for math has to be out of the class all week helping others take their state test....therefore I will have all the students on my own...It is going to be interesting to say the least...I am sure I will have some stories to report to y'all! But for now I will leave you with that cliffhanger that is my life! Gnight!

Rule breaker? Meh maybe a little....

So Rebel is now done! Crazy how so much time, energy, and work can just...end..and so abruptly!

I have never been one to want to break rules but at the same time I am definitely not just a letter of the law kinda girl...but I have broken a lot of the...um...guidelines...for example the rule that you should not pick favorites........ya completely failed! Below are pics of my fav students that I got to work with during the show!

Theater = Addiction!!!!

This week my student's play opened!!!! I find theater is an addiction of mine, no matter what facet of theater I am involved in there is a feeling that comes that is addicting. Growing up I got addicted to the rush of adrenaline that pumps into your system when the lights hit you and you become/portray another person while acting onstage in a play.

HS performance of "Damn Yankees"

 In college I discovered the addicting feeling of watching something you work on come to play by being a technician and working on the set.

Working as a technician in college for a university production.

Working as a sound designer for student production in college.

Now I have discovered a new addiction! The feeling of watching your students work hard in rehearsing and then succeeding in performance! Watching them feel that feeling I discovered growing up from performing is a whole new rush of awesome feelings! Their eyes get the glow and their countenance beams with their new found confidence...they have a look.... that you can tell they are thinking that they can now accomplish anything! Now THAT is an addicting feeling!

The Famous and Very "Ambitious" MGM Lions

HAIRCUT!

New haircut pics! My hair was still a broken tangled mess from when I had staples put in my head and yesterday I finally cut the tangles and breakage off!

I think it makes me look younger but the hair person said it made me look older. What do you think? Keep in mind that I have no makeup on...so younger or older?

UPDATE!!! and reflection...

Alrighty! Well I have been urged to update my blog. It is so easy for me to slip out of doing something. I do things well for a bit and then I just stop so the urgin is appreciated! :) So to help motivate me I am going to update part of my blog as a reflection of my student teaching that I will use in my portfolio at the end of the experience that is suppose to prove to some big whigs that I taught my kids well, they learned something, and that I should be a CERTIFIED teacher (well in some places...some places I have to take more tests...like Texas! Fooey!). So some parts of this blog is not going to be very entertaining but I will be sure to separate and indicate what parts are reflection and what parts are fun stories and such. 

Limbo and Accents!

Well I had a funny story from school but I forgot it because I was too lazy to write in my blog yesterday....drat! Today I realized I am stuck in a limbo. I went out to lunch with a group of teachers in the math department today. Good Thai food but extremely awkward situation! I think the main thing is the other teachers besides my cooperating teacher were not acknowledging my existence. The only time they talked to me was to give me their name when Ms. N introduced me at the beginning. The conversation consisted of talking about the test they just gave out today and about their current significant others. I would try to say something or ask a question, being the not shy person that I am, but someone kept over riding me and so my question or comment couldn't be heard. So as I was sitting there eating my good Thai food and observing these very "modern" (if someone recorded our lunch and gave it a rating it would have been R from their "colorful" language) teachers I had some good time to ponder on my situation. I decided I am stuck in a limbo being almost an adult but not quite there. I felt like I outgrew my University so I was ready to leave but I don't feel like I am ready for the next step and thus I have put myself in a limbo stage where I am trying to figure what the heck I am doing.


 I am not a fan of this because I am the kind of person that likes to have a plan and goals to accomplish. But I don't know what should come next. I know I am going to be a teacher, but where? People have asked me if I want to stay here and get a job. I have been saying that I am keeping that door open but that is just because I don't want to have any doors closed. I feel like I don't not want to teach here, but I don't want to either. Does that make sense? This is the point of where I wish that Heavenly Father would just tell where my path goes and I will follow whatever he would want me to do would be right and I would do it. But alas the Lord knows me well and knows that I need to learn through the struggle of deciding. I just don't like this limbo. But I made a sort of commitment today. Ms. N told me that in order to teach here in Nevada I have to take a certain class on Nevada Law and constitution and then pass a test on it. So I am going to look into it, I haven't committed to anything more than that.... but I will look into it!


Oh I remember the story now! I guess I just needed to get that off of my chest to clear my mind. Yesterday, I was asked to help these girls with their monologues they would do for their midterm exam and so we went into another room to do so. The first monologue was the overdone but good final monologue of Emily in "Our Town". I mainly just helped her to understand what was going on so she could make more solid decisions of how she was going to say things and how she was going to do her blocking. The second monologue though the girl was struggling with I think she said it was from the play "Warnings" I had never heard of it but the scene was a very dramatic one. Her husband just told her that he was going to quit his job. Her scene is an explosion of a southern temper, an outburst of emotion that has been stewing for a while. Well she wasn't letting it free she was holding it back so after trying many different things I showed her how I would do it. After my mini performance she just looked at me and then asked, "How long did it take for you to learn that accent?" The funny thing was I didn't even try to do an accent! I just laughed and told her that I am from Texas and it usually shows more when I am angry. She told me she wanted to do an accent and how she could learn to do it and I told her to watch "The Help". 


Ha ha so ya that was that! If you have any advice for me in my limbo stage be free to comment! Thanks! Come again!

Red rock hiking!!!!

Really kids? Really? You think I am that dumb?

Hahaha wow! So today my math kids were taking a test and my cooperating teacher left the room. As soon as she left I noticed this girl with HUMONGOUS hoop earrings looking at this boy and then looking at me really quickly over and over. So I decided to slyly watch her. It was easily done since she was sitting pretty much right in my view and behind her was the clock so I could just pretend to look at the clock. 


Well she tries the 'very discreet way of communicating' by putting a hand over her mouth (really did she really think that I wasn't going to see that!?) and the boy shakes his head and says I don't know. I shush them and give them the teacher look of death that says: "you talk again and your going to get a zero". So the girl starts making body language that meant "come on, help me out" and I am thinking "really after being caught?!" Because this girl was a very attractive big hoop wearing girl the boy rips a bit of his scratch paper and starts drawing a 'picture'. Now at this point he is really exaggerating the I am drawing a picture kind of thing and I am not sure if he is just weird or yet again thinking I am stupid and that he could trick me. So I decided to test my theory. 


I decided to look away and see if he does anything with his 'picture' and right when I turned my head I saw movement and so I turn back and he freaks out and drops it. I say out loud for him to pick it up and throw it away. He says can I finish drawing my picture (Seriously?!?) and I told him no and to throw it away. He does. 


2 minutes later I swear the girl was at it again and the boy now being caught just kept shaking his head no. BOOM, thats right! So moral of the story kids you are definitely not as sly as you think you are and your teachers (well most of them) are not stupid! Thank you! Come again!

Student teaching! Oy Vey!

So I have survived a full week of student teaching! My school is a VERY diverse school...and I love it! I am now student teaching for two teachers. We will call big D for theater and big N for math. They are almost completely opposite of each other and yet pretty similar too. D is this kooky 60 something year old theater teacher/performer/owner of community theater. She is tired of kids and has flat out told me that she hates them! Lol! But from observing her the last week I can tell she enjoys this job and is just sick of those punk kids who love to push her buttons! Which I think I can understand! Most students respect and sometimes fear her enough that they don't cause problems but there are those few who just drive her crazy! She teaches two acting and two tech classes and she told me that she wants me to teach the tech classes. I think I am going to teach sound design to the tech classes because she said they don't know anything about it and that is what I have the most experience in.

I am going to be teaching pre-algebra to freshmen with Ms. N. I just met her today so I don't have much to report but some of my theater kids told me that she is awesome and a really good teacher, in fact one kid said that she was her favorite teacher ever! So I am excited to work with her!

So funny thing of the day: one of the students said that she is going to use my name (Ms. Mutz) for a cat that she will have when she is old...I was like thaaanks???