Mom's Bday

On Wednesday night, before Thanksgiving, we celebrated mom's birthday. Mom and dad, Grandma, Tim and I went out to eat at Outback Steakhouse. After church we went back to Grandma's to open a few more presents and collect the pies for Thanksgiving! Adam and Andrea got home later that night and we celebrated again! Here are a few pictures....

Mom modeling her beautiful new scarf from the A-team

Grandma and I modeling the infamous "dickey"!!! Don't we look stylish? :)

A new jacket!! What a soft inside!

The sibs at Outback celebrating mom's bday

Mom's stained glass window painting from Tim!

TURKEY DAY!!!!

I seem to post on my blog when I'm procrastinating. Tonight is no exception. As I struggle to focus on my 2 papers that are due tomorrow (only 2 pages each, don't feel bad for me), I find myself thinking about the joys that are to come within a few short hours.... Having been abroad for Easter, I am extra excited about Thanksgiving. YUM YUM. Plus, it will be great to see my favorite dancing elves (see the A-team blog), the Tim-inator (get it? terminator, timinator), ma & pa, Grandma G. and all of the rest of you!!! Mary Crocker Barnes' blog has been heightening my palette as to the culinary creations that we are going to savor..... ahhh, what a holiday. 

New cube

I'm moving up in the world. I'm going to have a real, life-size cubicle at work. Well, Yusra and I. We (your handy dandy Telemarketing Mail Coordinators) are currently stationed at a make-shift space, having not yet achieved the status of full-time cubicle occupants. But NO MORE!!! We are moving into a cubicle very soon, maybe even tomorrow. This is success. Real, life-changing success. 

Teach for America

I got a final interview with Teach for America!! I'm excited- I wasn't sure if I would make it through because it's so selective, but I'm one step closer! For those of you who don't know, Teach for America is a program that places college grads in low-income areas around the country to teach for 2 years in some of the nation's poorest performing schools. I'm putting Denver down as my top choice of location. I'm debating on what to put down for other top areas. I want to utilize my Spanish, but that could be almost anywhere.... Just think, if I get accepted and go to Denver you could all come visit me in the snowy mountains :) 

My interview is around December 10th, and is a day long, intensive interview. Part of it is teaching a 5 minute sample lesson plan. It can be on anything... any ideas? I'd like to teach Spanish since that's my area of study, but am not sure how to do that. What could I teach in 5 minutes? I want to use the model of I teach, we do it together, then they do it alone. Ideas I've heard of are: the primary colors, fractions, greater than/less than, Lewis & Clark... it should be something fairly concrete. 

One idea is to teach 1-10 in Spanish, or the colors. I could have the "students" (fellow interviewees) repeat with me, or do some type of interactive activity... but then I need a way for them to demonstrate comprehension.

Thoughts?? I'll be practicing this on willing people over Thanksgiving and until December.... 

Proposition 8

The head of the Family Social Science department sent this YouTube video to all of the students in the department. It's a very passionate news commentary about Proposition 8 in California. 

Follow this link:

www.youtube.com/watch?v1HpTBF6EfxY

OH HAPPY DAY

I am simply amazed and grateful that we have elected Barack Obama to be the 44th president of the United States. I feel that he truly is a transformational figure, and I am prouder to be an American now more than ever. I am so excited to see how he changes our country and the way the world sees us. I feel inspired by his leadership, and am eager to take part in changing this nation!!!! Just incredible..... I think this election is a crucial turning point in American history. GO PRESIDENT OBAMA!!!

Update!

Happy November 1st!! It's daylight savings right? That means an extra hour of sleep tonight!!!! 

This week: 

- I lead a breakout session at the study abroad orientation for the students going to Ecuador next semester. It was so much fun!! I loved sharing my experiences, and got joy from answering their questions. I'm the 'student consultant' for the program, so I'll be answering their emails and questions until they leave for Quito in January.

-I taught two very successful Spanish classes. Successful in the sense that the kids had fun, I wasn't exhausted at the end, and everybody learned something!! At one of my schools the principal approached me to introduce himself and let me know that they'll be hiring teachers in the next few years for their Spanish Immersion program. I was flattered that he took the time to talk to me, and wondered if it was a sign that maybe teaching is for me after all.... I'm still exploring.

-Today I went to Loretto, MN to a YMCA camp for a day retreat. I've been attending a 10-week class with 2 friends called Seek at a church in Minneapolis, Mercy Vineyard. Today was 'Holy Spirit Day', and we all went to this camp. It was a gorgeous day and a beautiful location. We had 3 different talks given by leaders of the church, as well as time for discussion, worship and prayer. It was a really great day and I felt really close to God and the people in my group.

-Last night I was a chef!! We went to Dinkytown for a bit to celebrate Halloween and see all the costumes. There were a lot of Sarah Palin's.

ok that's it for me!