(no subject)
Hooray, it's been over a year!!! I REALLY should think about journaling more. I have so much to say but don't always feel like putting everything down. Plus I have no time. I'm 3 months out of college, still awaiting my sub license from ODE (the Ohio Department of Education) and Goddard and Janie, the most amazing boss ever, were kind enough to hire me back as a sub and give me a really big raise. Nice. They're offering a full-time job there, but I really like the flexibility with scheduling that being a sub offers. It means I don't necessarily have to go into work at 8:00, 8:30, or 9:00 every single day, and I like that. I enjoy mornings where I can sleep in and then wake up and be lazy and get stuff done.
The idea of subbing always freaked me out...I had thought obviously that I'd be doing it by now. But having to walk into all these new foreign classrooms at Goddard has really helped me with my management skills. You can't just go in and be their buddy, because sure they'll like you, but they'll walk all over you. You have to decide what your limits are (or find out from the regular teachers what the usual limits are), let them know, and be consistent. I went into the school-aged room, laid down the law, had one kid who just pushed and pushed, but we went outside and then I became a little more playful and lenient (not gonna lie....we played tag outside on the playground, lol.) So the experiences at Goddard thus far have helped me to feel more confident about my future subbing job. Who knows, I'll probably end up subbing all next school year too, since Matt and I probably won't have our plans set in stone until late in the summer.
Went to Chicago last weekend since my baby was competing in the Collegiate National Curling Championships. It really bothers me that people knock curling all the time. It doesn't look difficult, but it certainly takes skill. It's a lot of strategy, which is hard enough, but then to actually execute each move is difficult. I'd gladly offer up to pay for any doubter to have a session on the curling ice at BGSU's Hamilton Ice Arena. Sure, it bugs me that synchronized skating isn't on TV more and it isn't an Olympic sport yet. But it should probably bother people more that ESPN airs a whole ton of poker and fishing, hich might take some sort of skill, but I don't think they exactly qualify as sports. I'm not gonna judge since it irritates me so much that people are so quick to judge curling without taking the time to become informed about the sport. But they took 2nd place in their division, which was really great, I was a very proud fiance! Plus Matt's mom and I got some girl time and we shopped A LOT and dropped some cash. I don't typically like spending money because I don't see the point to blowing cash on materail objects, but some things I just couldn't resist. I just make sure I can justify everything I purchase instead of impulse buying. I also make sure I can immediately go online and pay off that amount on my credit card. Very fun trip!
A lot of my thoughts right now are going towards wedding stuff....or at least as much of my mind as I can afford to give to that area of my life. Still no reception hall. It hasn't been mentioned since all the drama happened last month, which has been really nice since it was this big dark cloud hanging over our heads for a long time. But we have to bring it up and discuss it and make a decision about it eventually, and I think we're both really dreading it, big time. But on the bright side, we have my dress ordered (I don't get it in until next April...hmph), my mom's dress ordered, the photographer booked, I just selected our videographer this week (http://www.2ndmileproductions.com), we know where the ceremony will be (no deposit), we've met with lots of reception halls and 3 florists, and we have picked out our invitations (we've also picked out several save-the-date options that we like, and we'll be ordering those probably mid-August.) I also am pretty sure I found the dresses the 7 girls in my bridal party will wear. Yes, 7. I know who 5 of those 7 are, and I'm waiting to pick the other 2. I'm sending the girls to David's for their dresses, which I really struggled over since I've heard lots of stories about ordering dresses from David's. The bottom line is that they have a good selection, I like the dresses I have picked out for the moment, and since a lot of my girls are really scattered around the country (California, Chicago, and Virginia Beach), it just works. We're having a little issue right now with communication with all the girls, which is a little frustrating for me, but we'll find some way to work it out. Cindi has been amazing though, she's gone above and beyond already for the wedding, and it's still a year and 4 months away. So she gets brownie points. And a gold star. :)
I finished my first year of not competing in skating in over 15 years. What's a little odd though is that I didn't miss it. Last season was very inspirational and I loved that team because we represented absolutely everything that the concept of teamwork means and stands for. But really, it burned me out. I channeled all of my creative energies into taking more dance classes at BG and after I graduated, I went back and started helping coach 3 of the 7 teams that the Cleveland Edges (my old team) had this year. I got to re-bond with Rachel Kuhn, which has been totally awesome. Depending on where we end up next year, I might find myself back in skating again. I think I needed a year to regroup and deal with all the changes my life has taken, but there is a possibility that we will end up back in BG in the fall. I have to admit, the idea sounded a bit odd at first, but I realized how awesome it would be. Colleen and a bunch of my friends will still be there (Coll will be in med school up in Toledo, which is fine since she's still in the area), we love BGSU anyway so we'd get to be there again, I could start my grad school program (hopefully I'll have time to find and apply for an assistantship so I have a little part-time job plus they'll pay for tuition...score!), I could sub in the BG school district which is great since I've already had experience at 2 of the elementary schools there. And finally....the 1 hour commute up to Dearborn, MI seems a whole lot more doable and appealing. Long story short: I'll probably end up skating for the Crystallettes next season with Rach.
Okay I think I've rambled on about enough for one entry. I'm really going to try hard to update here more (I used to write everything in my MySpace but it's really public, and I don't want to be one of "those people" who blocks all my stuff...it seems so wimpy and sheltered.) The rest of my friends from the Fab Four all joined Live Journal like a year ago but none of them got past writing 1 entry, haha. Not like I can complain about it....it would be very hypocritical of me to do so since I can't manage to get back here to write much either.
Well, off to bed...work at 9:00 is going to come very quickly!!! :)
<3~ Ari
The idea of subbing always freaked me out...I had thought obviously that I'd be doing it by now. But having to walk into all these new foreign classrooms at Goddard has really helped me with my management skills. You can't just go in and be their buddy, because sure they'll like you, but they'll walk all over you. You have to decide what your limits are (or find out from the regular teachers what the usual limits are), let them know, and be consistent. I went into the school-aged room, laid down the law, had one kid who just pushed and pushed, but we went outside and then I became a little more playful and lenient (not gonna lie....we played tag outside on the playground, lol.) So the experiences at Goddard thus far have helped me to feel more confident about my future subbing job. Who knows, I'll probably end up subbing all next school year too, since Matt and I probably won't have our plans set in stone until late in the summer.
Went to Chicago last weekend since my baby was competing in the Collegiate National Curling Championships. It really bothers me that people knock curling all the time. It doesn't look difficult, but it certainly takes skill. It's a lot of strategy, which is hard enough, but then to actually execute each move is difficult. I'd gladly offer up to pay for any doubter to have a session on the curling ice at BGSU's Hamilton Ice Arena. Sure, it bugs me that synchronized skating isn't on TV more and it isn't an Olympic sport yet. But it should probably bother people more that ESPN airs a whole ton of poker and fishing, hich might take some sort of skill, but I don't think they exactly qualify as sports. I'm not gonna judge since it irritates me so much that people are so quick to judge curling without taking the time to become informed about the sport. But they took 2nd place in their division, which was really great, I was a very proud fiance! Plus Matt's mom and I got some girl time and we shopped A LOT and dropped some cash. I don't typically like spending money because I don't see the point to blowing cash on materail objects, but some things I just couldn't resist. I just make sure I can justify everything I purchase instead of impulse buying. I also make sure I can immediately go online and pay off that amount on my credit card. Very fun trip!
A lot of my thoughts right now are going towards wedding stuff....or at least as much of my mind as I can afford to give to that area of my life. Still no reception hall. It hasn't been mentioned since all the drama happened last month, which has been really nice since it was this big dark cloud hanging over our heads for a long time. But we have to bring it up and discuss it and make a decision about it eventually, and I think we're both really dreading it, big time. But on the bright side, we have my dress ordered (I don't get it in until next April...hmph), my mom's dress ordered, the photographer booked, I just selected our videographer this week (http://www.2ndmileproductions.com), we know where the ceremony will be (no deposit), we've met with lots of reception halls and 3 florists, and we have picked out our invitations (we've also picked out several save-the-date options that we like, and we'll be ordering those probably mid-August.) I also am pretty sure I found the dresses the 7 girls in my bridal party will wear. Yes, 7. I know who 5 of those 7 are, and I'm waiting to pick the other 2. I'm sending the girls to David's for their dresses, which I really struggled over since I've heard lots of stories about ordering dresses from David's. The bottom line is that they have a good selection, I like the dresses I have picked out for the moment, and since a lot of my girls are really scattered around the country (California, Chicago, and Virginia Beach), it just works. We're having a little issue right now with communication with all the girls, which is a little frustrating for me, but we'll find some way to work it out. Cindi has been amazing though, she's gone above and beyond already for the wedding, and it's still a year and 4 months away. So she gets brownie points. And a gold star. :)
I finished my first year of not competing in skating in over 15 years. What's a little odd though is that I didn't miss it. Last season was very inspirational and I loved that team because we represented absolutely everything that the concept of teamwork means and stands for. But really, it burned me out. I channeled all of my creative energies into taking more dance classes at BG and after I graduated, I went back and started helping coach 3 of the 7 teams that the Cleveland Edges (my old team) had this year. I got to re-bond with Rachel Kuhn, which has been totally awesome. Depending on where we end up next year, I might find myself back in skating again. I think I needed a year to regroup and deal with all the changes my life has taken, but there is a possibility that we will end up back in BG in the fall. I have to admit, the idea sounded a bit odd at first, but I realized how awesome it would be. Colleen and a bunch of my friends will still be there (Coll will be in med school up in Toledo, which is fine since she's still in the area), we love BGSU anyway so we'd get to be there again, I could start my grad school program (hopefully I'll have time to find and apply for an assistantship so I have a little part-time job plus they'll pay for tuition...score!), I could sub in the BG school district which is great since I've already had experience at 2 of the elementary schools there. And finally....the 1 hour commute up to Dearborn, MI seems a whole lot more doable and appealing. Long story short: I'll probably end up skating for the Crystallettes next season with Rach.
Okay I think I've rambled on about enough for one entry. I'm really going to try hard to update here more (I used to write everything in my MySpace but it's really public, and I don't want to be one of "those people" who blocks all my stuff...it seems so wimpy and sheltered.) The rest of my friends from the Fab Four all joined Live Journal like a year ago but none of them got past writing 1 entry, haha. Not like I can complain about it....it would be very hypocritical of me to do so since I can't manage to get back here to write much either.
Well, off to bed...work at 9:00 is going to come very quickly!!! :)
<3~ Ari