First Day of School

     Yesterday was our first day back to school with our students.  Whew, we are exhausted!  Both Andy and I had successful first days.  We have been warned that this year's freshman class has quite a few heathens in it.  Usually, they act a little better simply because they're terrified about being the youngest on campus and being new to campus.  So... we'll see how long their good behavior lasts.

Our First Day of School!!

 

Don't be jealous... We're probably the two hottest teachers!  LOL

 
     Andy's cross country team is already in full swing.  His first cross country meet is this weekend in Bridge City (it's always the first meet).  I am very excited for Andy about this season.  His star runner is back, and she spent the entire summer at a running camp in The Woodlands with Dan Green (who has like 10 State Cross Country Championships... um... yeah... he's a bada**).  I am almost sure she will win our District and possibly place high at Regionals.  His boys teams and girls teams should both be decent, and both should hopefully make it to Regionals again this year.  I am very proud of Andy for having one of the two most successful programs at our school.  He is an amazing coach, and his kids love him.
     On a completely different note, I apparently have gray hair.  The last time I had my haircut, my stylist told me that she had found some gray in my hair.  FREAK OUT!  Not ready for gray hair.  I feel too young to have gray hair.  Seriously people... I just turned 27... and I have GRAY HAIR!  Eeek!  Well, the other day I found two of them in my brush.  You can see the proof for yourself.

I am getting old... :(

Hi-ho,hi-ho... It's off to work we go!

     Andy and I had our first day back to work on Monday.  It's has been non-stop busy ever since!  It's tough going from practically stress-free to tons of stress.  We had our typical all-staff breakfast first thing Monday morning.  Our Superintendent has stepped down and is working elsewhere.  It was sad to see him go, but hopefully good changes will come of this.  Then we had our faculty meeting to go over calendars, the teacher handbook, etc.  It's always so nice this week without the students because our lunch break is an hour and a half!!  Once school starts, we're lucky if we get the full 30-minute assigned lunch time.  Our principal is awesome since he allows us to work in our rooms in the afternoons.  Unfortunately, I haven't had much time to work in my room... I was asked to be our co-CCL (campus curriculum leader) for the Math Department.  This year will kinda be like a "training" year, and then next year I would be on my own.  I'm not sure I should have signed up for this additional job... lots of meetings already!  But hopefully it will go smoothly and my co-workers will accept me in my new role.
     Andy found out that he will be teaching a section of World History!  YIKES!  Actually, he's pretty pumped up about it.  He will finally be a part of a department.  When he was just teaching health, he was always by himself since he was the only teacher.  He also had the option to move upstairs with the rest of the history department, which he decided to do.  Once again, he'll finally get to be a part of something.  I am excited for him and think he will really enjoy teaching a new subject.
     Our students have already been back on campus to pick up their schedules.  Definitely not ready to see them!  But... ready or not... here they come!  Monday all of the kiddos will arrive back to school - seniors who rule the school, juniors who want to be the best, sophomores who could care less, and freshman who are scared out of their minds.

 

 

We're so cute! :)

Crafty and Creative

     So, this week Andy and I have been pretty crafty and creative.  Andy has finally completed his custom fishing rod!  He and his dad made one in June, but that was for his dad.  I haven't watched the entire process, but it's quite intricate and time consuming.  Andy added a marble finish on his and custom threading around the eyelets.  I must admit... it's quite fancy!

Marble finish

Intricate detail of the eyelets

     I, on the other hand, haven't made any fishing poles, but I have cut out some words with my cricut for my classroom.  The old ones definitely needed updating.  I still need to make a new classroom rules poster.  I have also made a ribbon board (still working on the second one).  My students (yes even though they're in high school) make or draw pictures for me.  Up until now, they were just taped to the wall behind my desk.  BORING!  Now the "good" pictures will make a new home on the ribbon board.  The second board will consist of actual pictures of my seniors that I've had.

 

     My next two projects, other than the classroom rules poster, consist of making a ribbon board for my kitchen and a wreath for the house.  My cousin made a super cute Aggie wreath for her door to her office at work, so I am thinking about doing a similar one.  I haven't decided if I want to do an Aggie one, since football season is quickly approaching (WHOOP!), or if I should just do a general one with our last name.
     Wednesday I had a workshop with my fellow Algebra 1 teacher, Tamara.  She is so awesome, and I am so blessed to work with her!!  I am very happy that we decided to use the same curriculum that we did last year, just tweek a few things.  This will be the first year since I've started teaching that I haven't had to "create" a new curriculum.  Hopefully, that will give me some more time to focus on my AP Calculus class. 
     Andy spent several days at the golf course, lessons and just practicing.  He has been working really hard on his golf game, and I am very happy to see him improving (and quickly).  Today he is fishing with his new rod of course.  Friday seems to be the fishing day of the week, but... he has cross country practice every other morning.
     I am especially looking forward to tomorrow.  Date night!!  We probably haven't had a true date night since we took our trip to Fredericksburg back in June.  Sure, have we gone out?  Yes, but usually we tag along errands to our trips to Humble or The Woodlands.  Saturday night is just for us, no errands! :)

Andy's first attempt at ribs...  They were delicious!!

My OttLite for my craft table.  Love it!

I made the cross country cake
for Andy's "Meet the Coaches" night.
Milk chocolate cake with strawberry filling
and chocolate buttercream icing.

One More Week

     We have only one more week until we are officially back to work full-time.  I am not ready for summer to be over; it feels like it just started only days ago.  Looking back though we've had quite a productive summer.  We took two fun trips, we rearranged and repurposed two rooms in our house (which I still need to submit that blog), Andy has done a lot of fishing and golfing, I visited my family for the 4th of July, my BFF from college came to visit, and I am sure there's much more.
     This past week has been busy as well.  I think the closer we get to school starting, the more we start packing into our week.  Andy had cross country practice every morning at 6:00am (ugh!), I worked on my scrapbook... a lot, we shopped for school clothes Wednesday, we had workshops all day Thursday, Andy took a fishing trip on Friday, I helped Andy's mom with her embroidery business on Friday, and now it's the weekend.
     So, shopping... Thankfully, Andy found some dress slacks at JcPenney's.  I would have never thought to look there, but it was the store we went into from the parking lot.  He found some immediately!  He is quite the picky shopper (like me), and it has to fit perfectly and must absolutely love it in order to buy it.  We bought 2 pairs in the store and ordered two more online.  I didn't find anything within my budget at the mall, but I found some cute shirts at Target and bought my typical khakis at Old Navy.  Overall, pretty successful day!
    Andy and I both had a Google Docs workshop on Thursday, which ended up being pointless for me.  Andy was able to create an online form for his coaches to fill out when they register for his cross country meet.  I ended up working on my school website instead.  Check it out:  https://sites.google.com/site/mrsricesclassroom .  I have worked pretty hard on it and am pretty excited about it.  I have had it for the past two years, but I made some major changes this year and love it!  Andy stayed at the workshop for only the morning.  He had an all coaches meeting for athletics and CPR training in the afternoon.
     Friday morning Andy woke up early (3:30am - eek!) to go fishing with his friend Sonny.  They (well, technically Sonny) caught four red fish.  Andy hooked several fish (red and flounder), but they got away when he tried to put them in the kayak.  Now, we will be purchasing a net from Academy the next time we go!  I worked with Andy's mom on her embroidery business.  It started as just a hobby several years, but she's purchased some very expensive equipment and is very good at what she does.  We decided to set up a Google Site for her to show off some of her designs, and we have learned that she will be able to sell things via her website using PayPal.  Once the site is fully up and running, I will share it... in case you need some custom embroidering or monogramming done!  She's definitely very affordable!


Yummy red fish!!

     

My scrapbook pages so far...

Lonestar antagonizing Maddie... This is what they do!



Andy's 10 Year Reunion

     This past weekend we attended Andy's 10 year class reunion.  Well, technically, it was 11 years.  Last year his classmates tried to plan a pretty cool shin-dig, it was just too expensive so people lacked interest.  This year they decided to do something more informal which in my opinion was much better.  We "partied it up" at Papa's on the Lake in Conroe.  I had never been there before, and my gosh, their burgers were delicious or I was just really hungry!  The margaritas weren't too shabby either.  I didn't know most of the people, but there were a few familiar faces.  I had an enjoyable time, and I think Andy really enjoyed seeing some of his classmates as well!!  Next year is my ten year reunion, and I am looking forward to it more after attending Andy's.

Restaurant on Lake Conroe

Just arriving...

Ryan, Tim, and Parker
I love that Parker; he's so stinkin' cute!

Faith and Sonny

Andy and Sonny
Kayak fishing partners!

A Week in the Neighborhood

     It's been another week in the Rice neighborhood.  Nothing terribly exciting; simply enjoying the little time we have left before another school year is in full swing.  I finally got back into a morning running routine this week.  If I am out the door by 7:00am, I can usually withstand the heat and actually enjoy my run... err... jog.  After 8:00am, it's not worth the heat.  Andy started back to work this week.  He had drug testing for the athletes all day on Monday and Tuesday, and official cross country practice started Wednesday morning at a lovely 6:00am.  He was supposed to have CPR re-certification and a coaches meeting on Thursday, but that was cancelled and moved to next week.  Needless to say, he's been pretty worn out by the end of the day since we're not in "school shape" yet.
     I have been absolutely obsessed with watching the Olympics!  To be honest, I have never really gotten into the Olympics before.  I don't know if it was my age and a lack of appreciation or that my parents really didn't watch them.  Either way, I'm addicted this year!! 
     I enjoy watching the "prime time" events in the evenings because those are focused on the USA teams, but I have LOVED the morning and afternoon sessions because of the different events.  Let's see... I have watched archery (teams and individuals), table tennis (a glorified name for ping pong - lol), mens/womens beach volleyball, mens/womens volleyball, mens/womens water polo, mens/womens kayaking, mens/womens rowing, equestrian, and of course gymnastics and swimming. 
     I think the most fascinating sport to me has been water polo.  It just amazes me that those athletes tread water while fighting off the opposition from punching them, dunking them, kicking them, and not to mention controlling and throwing a ball.  I knew the sport was tough, but gee, it's vicious.
     Today was the official start of the track and field events!  I am super stoked about these and can't wait to see some records broken.  I am especially looking forward to watching Shalane Flanagan run the marathon.  I know it's a marathon and sounds boring, but having run a half marathon myself, I feel little connection with her.  Hahaha! 

Go Team USA!!

     I did some more cardmaking this week while Andy worked on his custom fishing rod (pictures to come when it's complete).  I have really enjoyed making cards because there's a quick final product.  Andy's mom is eventually going to set up her own craft booth, and I may just happen to sell some of my cards.  Here are a few of my creations...

My new favorite!

     Thursday Andy and I went to the golf course.  I drove into Humble to do a little shopping while he played the first nine holes, and then I rode in the golf cart for the back nine.  There are times that I really think he should have pursued a golfing career instead of a teaching one.  But he is where he is for a reason.  Today I went to The Woodlands with my friend Joy, and we went by the new Teacher Heaven store.  Oh my!  It's fabulous!  Teacher stores are never as good for the high school teacher as they are for the elementary, but nevertheless, it's still "fun" to look at posters, pens, bulletin board borders, etc.  Tomorrow evening we have Andy's class reunion (yes, it's a year behind) at Pappa's on the Lake.  I am very excited about seafood, and Andy is a little indifferent about seeing some of his classmates.  Either way, I think we'll have a good time.

School is approaching...

     ... Too quickly.  Two more weeks of summer break, and then it's back to work.  One work week without the kids, and the first day of school on August 27.  I really (quite desperately actually) need to begin lesson planning, re-organizing my classroom, creating videos for my Calculus students, etc. before my work week.  However, I have absolutely no - none, zero, zilch - desire to do anything for my job.  I find it very saddening because I remember when there was a day that I was excited about teaching and prepping for my students.  What happened!?!  What is even worse, so many of my fellow educators are getting out of education.  Someone once told me that recently the teacher survival rate is about 5 years - eek!  (I don't know if that statistic is true...)  I could get on my "soap box" about teaching which would explain why so many young teachers are getting the heck out of education, but.... I won't bore you with my opinions.
     Last school year was an extremely rough year for me... and Andy too.  We had never been so emotionally, mentally, and physically drained because of our jobs.  There are advantages to working with your spouse, and seeing each other throughout the day is not one of them.  However, Andy and I bear each other's burdens way too much which is so easy to do since we know everyone and every detail of our frustrations.  Definitely a huge negative.  I would be mad at people at work simply because they said an ill word about my husband or just coaches in general.  Same with Andy towards me.  It's very difficult.
     So, I have found some verses to help us through this upcoming year...

Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain.    Philippians 2:14-16

Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity.   Ephesians 4:26-27

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.  Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.   Ephesians 4:31-32