Christmas Wrap Up

Hello from Phoenix's airport! There's free wifi here and I have some time before my plane leaves, so it's the perfect time for an update! I've been in Arizona since the 19th. I got in just in time for my dad's 50th birthday which we celebrated at Don Shula's steakhouse right after I got in.

His actual birthday was the next day which we spent watching football and eating cheese fondue for the Packers even though they lost. He did beat me in our fantasy football playoff game though, so that was some constellation especially as the Packers are in the playoffs now and the Dolphins are not. Alas.
Christmas was good. I got new luggage, a Vera "weekender" (which I'm currently sporting as my carry on,) some Irish jewelry, and many other nice things. We hot tubbed on Christmas and made it feel sufficiently Arizonian. Other trip highlights included going to the Cavs/Suns game,

seeing Corynn and Jake,

going to the zoo,

and of course eating the New Year's cake.

We each pull three fortunes out of the cake. I was the prophesier this year which was fun. My fortunes for the year include that I will see a celebrity, make a new recipe, and win the lottery (but maybe not the big jackpot). We'll see...
As always the time goes fast, but as life seems to be going fast, I'm sure it will feel like I'll see everyone again soon!

'Twas the Week Before Christmas

It's almost Christmas, but I still feel like it's October! You'd think singing Christmas songs at school would do the trick, but I've been trying so hard to get myself in the Christmas spirit.
Our school concerts were last week. It's a busy couple days, but things turned out pretty well. I got some super cute pictures, but I can't really post them here...
Everything else is going well. My apartment is decorated and our tree is filling up. We're doing Secret Santa at school this week too which I really like. On a sad note, Book and Bean, my favorite coffee place in Berea is closing. It was such a part of my college life! I can't imagine how the Con is going to function without it's caffeine! Val and I went for one last mocha with a shot of vanilla on Saturday morning...

Happy week before Christmas!

Turkey Wrap Up

I can't believe I'm writing a post Thanksgiving wrap up already! Tomorrow is December! Woah! Anyway, Thanksgiving break was good. On Thursday morning we hit the road, my first Starbucks holiday drink in hand, and drove to Columbus. My cousin Mark and his wife Sandi live there and they had a new baby, Jacob, in September. My aunt and uncle (Mark's parents) were also there as was my cousin Monica and Sandi's family. It was nice to see everybody. Malachy and I even won at bid pitch!

Me, Monica, and Jake


Uncle Dave and Aunt Anna Beth. It's so funny they're grandparents!


Friday was pretty low key. It seemed like their was a lot of hype for Black Friday and I finally gave in and went out and got a little shopping done in the afternoon. Well actually I didn't get any shopping done for anyone; I bought a lot of stuff to craft and I spent the rest of Friday making a tree skirt, an advent wreath, and a wreath for my door.
On Saturday we went to Dr. Collins', one of our professors from BW, house for dinner. It's always funny to see what teachers houses look like. It's nice so many BW professors have had us over over the years.
Sunday brought the last day of break and lunch with Malachy's best friend, Andrew, and his wife, Jamie. Andrew is doing his masters in music ed at the University of Buffalo and is student teaching at my old elementary school next semester! Such a small world.
Now we're officially on to Christmas season. Mackenzie is loving my tree this year and has made this her perch...

Thankful ABCs

I haven't blogged in like a million years. Things have been good, busy, but nothing out of the ordinary. School has been good. The winter concert is coming together well. I've started this new classroom management thing and it works amazingly. I have had almost no problems since I started it.
Last night Malachy and I went to see the national tour of "Wicked." It was really good! I've had the soundtrack for along time, but it was really fun to see the staging. It was funnier than I thought. The leads were great. The girls roles much be such fun to sing.
I saw this in someoneelse's blog and thought it was cute, so since it's almost Thanksgiving here is my ABC list of what I'm thankful for....

A good year
Baldwin-Wallace College
Church choir
Discovering new places
Evening walks to the beach
Family and Friends
Gym
Hensberries
I love yous
Job
Kinyons
Learning
Mackenzie
Nights at home
Our fantasy football league
Pictures
Queen of hearts? I like to play cards??
Reunions with friends
Students
Time to myself
Using my personal days to go to Disney World
Volunteering
Water kickboxing
Xylophones...my new ones at school!
Yummy things I attempt to bake
Zzzzs on the weekends

Feeling Like Fall

It's November! I think this school year is going even faster than the last one. Halloween at school was fun. The kids brought their costumes to school and had a parade and parties at the end of the day. Mark and I walked around in our costumes too which was really fun.


This past week we had parent-teacher conferences on Wednesday and Thursday night, and then had the day off on Friday. Malachy and I went to Cat's Meow in Wooster, Ohio. Cat's Meows are wooden replicas of buildings around the country. Each piece also has a black cat hidden in it. My parents and some of my aunts collect them and I have a few too. There was a "Mewseum" and a store with lots of them, so I acquired a few new ones...


my whole shelf...


Have a good weekend! Enjoy the last of the leaves if they fall off where you are :)

Disney World!

Disney World was great! I met up with my parents on Thursday afternoon in Orlando. We had a fancy dinner at Don Shula's restaurant and walked around the boardwalk area a little. The next morning my mom and I hit the parks. We did the Magic Kingdom on day one. It seemed like there were kind of a lot of people, but we didn't wait more than 20 minutes for anything, so we got on a lot. I liked a lot of things there--log ride, hall of the presidents, tea cups, etc...On day two we went to Hollywood Studios (MGM). The Tower of Terror was really good as was the Beauty and the Beast show. There is also an animation studio where they show you how to draw a character which was cool. On Sunday morning we hung out at the hotel pool and I got some sun. When I got back to school yesterday all the kids kept asking me if I was hot; no, just sunburned.
I took like a million pictures of course, but here's a little sampling...

The castle


Mickey!


Mickey ice creams!


Dad was at business meetings all day, but he snuck into a picture

Coughing Up Wedding Dresses

Hello. I've spent most of the last couple weeks coughing. I thought I was getting better, but then I wasn't, so I finally went to the doctor on Saturday and I have bronchitis. I've got antibiotics now, so hopefully things will be clearing up soon.
On Friday night I went wedding dress shopping with Val and her mom. It was really fun. There's so many different types of dresses. This was a poofy princessy one that wasn't a favorite, but was fun to see...

She narrowed it down to two, and she seems pretty sure which one she's going to go with. I ordered my dress too, so that'll be fun to see too!
Now I just have three days of school between me and Disney World. It's supposed to be mid 80s which sounds awesome. It's just the right time for a little vacation.
Happy 100th blog entry too!

Music Ed Night

6/10ths of our music ed class came to Berea this weekend. It was so nice to see everyone! It's crazy how we saw each other every day, all day for four years and I hadn't seen some of them in months, but yet it didn't seem it had been that long. I love that when you know people well, once you get back together it's not weird, it seems like you're just picking up where you left off. I love our class. I hope we always continue to stay in touch :)

Fall

Fall has definitely arrived here. Last week it was mid 70s and beautiful, this week it's been 50s and gross. And I sound like an old person talking about the weather. While manning my post as door holder yesterday morning, I was watching the safety patrol kids outside in their lime green ponchos, seemingly unnoticing of the fact that it was nasty out there. I realized I don't ever remember having bad weather when I was in 5th grade on safety patrol either. Of course we did, but I don't think it matters so much as a kid.
Annnnyways, the cooler temperatures have inspired me to decorate for fall. I made this fall wreath the other day.

I like it a lot. I'd never tried to make anything like it before, but now I'm thinking I need one for every season.
Last night we also went to a party at Mark's, the band director at my school, house, so I broke out one of my Halloween dessert recipies.

Halloween allows for the most fun desserts, I think.
And another sign of fall, tonight the Cleveland Orchestra season starts back up with my favorite--Shostakovich 5!
Have a good weekend :)

23

I'm 23 :) My birthday started with breakfast with Val in Berea which was really nice. After that I went to the mall to try to spend some birthday cupons with no luck, so I went and got my free birthday ice cream from Cold Stone. After that I came back and got a few birthday phone calls before Emily and Malachy showed up with birthday cakes...

They seranaded me and then we went out to my favorite little town of Chagrin Falls.

We had dinner at this little Italian resturant I like, then we went to see/Malachy played "Man of La Mancha" at a little theater in town. It was a nice day :)

Happy Birthday Mom!

Have a great day! You're now my favorite number :)
In related family news, I'm meeting up with my parents at Disney World at the end of October. My dad is going to be there on business, so my mom and I are going to do the parks. We're definitely going to go to Magic Kingdom one day. Any recommendations for the other? My parents are going to Epcot on Monday after I leave, so that's the only one that's out...
Have a great weekend! Yay football season!

The Goings On

Well the kids have been back for two weeks now. Things are going well. Tonight is open house so I'm just killing some time here at school instead of going home. Last night we had band recruitment. Five kids (out of the 20 new ones) are going to play horn. I may have talked it up a little :)
Recently I've also started volunteering at a home called Maggie's Place. It's a house for pregnant women who are homeless. I like it a lot. There can be up to nine girls and there are six live-in staff members. It's a nice place. I miss houses. Apartments aren't the same. Malachy and I are also joining the church choir/we're playing horn and trumpet, so once that starts up plus with Maggie's Place, and water kickboxing, I'll be going every night of the week. Somehow I still haven't gotten used to the fact that it would be ok if I had some free time. Ohhh BW music ed....
Speaking of that, Dr. Marshall (BW prof) e-mailed me yesterday and asked if he could send kids to me for field experience. I have really been wanting that, so I was psyched when I got his e-mail. When I talked to Dr.Marshall last I thought I was going to be doing 4th grade band, but that didn't end up working out, so the BW students are really going to be coming and working with Mark, the band guy, but we share a room, so it will still be fun.
Well I think that's about it for now. Hope things are good with you :)

Mackenzie's Birthday!

Today was Mackenzie's birthday! She's lived with me for one year today. She got a covered litter box, a new toy, and I made cat shaped cookies. She's a lucky girl :)

Surprise!

Malachy's birthday was this past Wednesday. He was in Texas with his family, so I threw a surprise party when he got back yesterday. I picked him up from the airport after school and we went back to my apartment. I told me we had dinner reservations for later that night. Meanwhile, the guests were congregating outside and they arrived and surprised him. It was a fun night. We've been watching the show "Cake Boss" and as his gift I got him a trumpet cake.

Music Room v.2

Hello! I've been back at school since last Monday, but I've been waiting until today to post with pictures now that my room is all set up....



Welcome to music!



front view


the new curtains that I made! I guess they're hard to see, but they have music notes all over them.


my new froggies



I love the cheerfulness of our building. All the rooms are painted different colors. Today the kids could come in and find their classroom and meet their teacher. It's so fun to already know everyone this time around. I already got a lot of inquiries about if we're going to do Recorder Karate again. Tomorrow starts year two...

And now the end is here...

Well the last day of summer vacation has arrived. I can't believe I go back tomorrow. It's been a really good summer though. I kept busy, but did lots of fun things too with trips to Arizona and New York, Orff, Kevin's visit, Val and Roger got engaged, 4th of July in the middle of nowhere...
This past week was one of only two out of the whole summer that I didn't have definite plans, so I fit a lot it...

Last Saturday night we went to Blossom where the Cleveland Orchestra plays in the summer with Val and Rog. It was one of those very summer-y nights.


Malachy and I went to the zoo and had a lot of fun!


We made homemade ice cream with Emily...


and played putt putt. I got a hole in one on the last whole and won a free game!


I fit in a few trips to the beach, some sewing, shopping, and reading too. It has really been a great summer and I hope my second year of teaching is just as much fun :)

Two Years

Yesterday was mine and Malachy's two year anniversary. We went to Wallace Lake

and rented a paddle boat.

It was a gorgeous day and it was fun to do something different. For dinner we went to E. 4th St which is this street with a bunch of trendy restaurants and went to this nice Mexican place. The chef was a finalist on Iron Chef.

It was a nice day :)

New York Trip

I spent this past week in Lockport and had a really nice trip! My mom flew in on Monday and I met her there. We saw lots of Kinyons, had dinner with the Goehle's where Jenn asked me to be a bridesmaid in her wedding next October :), breakfast with my Girl Scout leader Mrs. MacIntosh, time down at my Uncle Dave's cottage on the water, and some Western New York staples like Bye's popcorn, Tim Hortons, and a Buffalo Chicken Finger Sandwich. I kept my mom up talking til like 2am every night, but that was really nice too. Val went to her parent's house in NY this weekend too, so we rode together which was also nice. There's so little time that I have with just her anymore. All in all it was a very nice weekend :)

Roller coasters and Rings

I can't believe we're to the end of July already! I kind of have to go back to school soon.
Things have been good here. My brother, Kevin, came to visit this week.

We had a good time. On Tuesday we did stuff around the area. I showed him my classroom, shopped, and went out to dinner and bowling with Malachy and Emily. On Wednesday we went to Cedar Point. It rained the whole morning and we got soaked, but we had fun. We got on a bunch of roller coasters. Mackenize gave her approval too. As soon as he got to my apartment, she crawled right onto his lap.
Last night Emily and I threw a surprise engagement party for Val and Roger. We had dinner at Bucci's and then went to Mike's. It was a really fun night. Emily and I made them a framed scrapbook page for an engagement gift, so we did a little photo shoot down by the lake to get a good picture to put in it...

Beaches

So the big news of the weekend is that Val is engaged. I'm still kind of in shock. On Friday night I was getting ready for bed when I got a picture text. They're on vacation in South Beach, FL and I was expecting a picture of the beach or them in sunglasses and instead it was of her engagement ring. I flipped out for a good while. I don't think anyone (including Val) was expecting a proposal this weekend. She sounds really happy though. I'm picking them up from the airport tomorrow afternoon, so I've been bragging that I'm the first one that gets to see them :)
Tonight Malachy and I went to the beach. When I moved to Lakewood I had plans to go all the time and yet somehow that hasn't really happened. We walked all along the beach and watched the sunset from the pier. It was so nice. I love being by the water.

Orff-y

I am now Orff Level 1 certified! Yay! Class finished up well. The second week went much faster than the first. The days were long, but I feel like I got a lot out of it. I definitely feel like I can do more with the Orff instruments I have at school and I feel like I know how to build multi day lessons and performance pieces much more effectively now.
This afternoon we had a little concert where we sang, played recorder, danced, did barred instrument ensemble pieces, etc. Malachy came and got a few pictures...

The concert started with a big recorder ensemble. I played the tenor recorder. I want one now.


We split into groups and created a dance based off a piece of art. I had to try so hard not to laugh during this. I knew Malachy would be cracking up and Mrs. Joss (my college music ed professor) was in the audience. There was something kind of hilarious about dancing in front of her.


We ended with a folk dance from India called the Raz that is done at weddings and is a lot of fun.


and ta da, my first completed graduate course...

Being the Student

This week I had week one (of two) of my Orff class. Orff is an approach to teaching general music. There are three levels of certification and I'm doing the first. It's been ok. I think I was expecting a lot going in. The teachers are good and we cover a lot. I think mostly since it's at BW I was expecting that I would know people, but I'm the only even semi-recent BW grad there. It's weird to take a music ed class without my class :( I am getting a lot of materials I know I'll be able to use though. Also it's cool because we observed one of the instructors during our general music methods class in college, as well as another woman in the class who is my all time favorite GM teacher. It's funny to see their non-teacher personalities and call them by their first names.
Not too much else is going on. It's been kind of a bummer to get back to having to watch the clock and get to bed on time in the evenings. I'm glad there's still about a month left of vacation. Fun things are coming up this week though with Emily's birthday and Harry Potter 6!
Have a good weekend :)

Independence Day in the Country

On Friday night, Malachy, Emily, and I were having a late dinner after a concert and we got to talking about Emily's town and how it would be nice to go there some weekend. Then we decided we mine as well go this weekend, so at about 11:30pm on Friday night we drove two and a half hours to Richmond, OH which is a town of about 730 people right across the Ohio River from West Virginia.
It was a really nice, relaxing weekend. We had breakfast at this little diner, fished a little, played kickball and water volleyball with Emily's cousins, lit some fireworks in her backyard and then layed in a corn field and watched some from surrounding towns.
I forgot my camera, but Emily's mom bought me a disposable camera, so I could still take my pictures!

Enjoying the pool


Malachy had never ever fished. He literally threw the line out and instantly got a bite to get his first fish.


Ridin' the tractor


The hammock was so relaxing


Tree swing!