Sweet Goodbyes

After the Memorial Day holiday, I only have four days of school left. I think it has been slowly sinking into the kids' minds that I won't be their teacher anymore. Just Friday I was sitting at my desk filling out some paperwork, and the kids were working at their desks. Normally I'm out roaming around checking their progress, but I explained to them that I have some things I need to do for them so they are ready for second grade, so they should stay at their desks and work so I can stay at my desk and work. Well, we were wrapping up and one of my students comes behind my desk and asks me some questions about the end of the year and going to second grade, then proceeds to hug me for a long time. One of the boys in my room notices there is some hugging action he is missing out on so he adds himself to the hug. We are now in full group hug mode, and we're just sitting there hugging each other, and more students are starting to gather around looking hungry for a little hug action, so I stand up and walk over to the front of the room where we were supposed to be meeting. The kids who hadn't been a part of the group hug walked up and hugged me one by one as I walked to the front of the room. This is just one of many things that has happened; I think we've just been saying our goodbyes.

Here is another conversation about me not being their teacher next year:
"Miss Armijo, when we finish 1st grade and go to 2nd grade, will you move schools?"
"No honey, I'll be right here teaching first grade again."
"Oh."
"So, you'd better come see me all the time."
"Okay!"

At this point another little boy pipes up, "Yeah, and we can hug her too!"

To which I replied, "Yes, you can hug me. Hug me as much as you want."

Hello?

Hello....hello...hello...hello...to anyone...one...one...who still reads...reads...reads...this blog...blog...blog...

I just thought I'd post a quick update! I moved into my new condo on February 16th. This is the first time I've lived alone as many of you know, and I'm still alive! I've even hosted a bunko party for school and a brunch for my Bible study!

Yes, life is good.

We only have 19 days of school left too! I feel so proud of what we've accomplished! This group feels more ready for second grade than the group I sent up last year. So yay!

What else? Hmmm, I feel like I'm leaving something out. What could it be? Oh yes! I will be up to Nebraska NEXT WEEK for Jenny's wedding! So, if you didn't know, now you do.

If anyone out there is still reading this ol' thing, I'd like to see you when I go up to the Midwest.

Home Sweet Home

Remember last year when I wondered if I'd crossed the threshold of adulthood when I bought my first car?

Well, surely now I have: You are reading the blog of the owner of a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom condominium in Glendale, Arizona. I just signed the contract today, and I close on the 16th of February, which, incidentally, is my half birthday.

24 and a half on the day I assume ownership of a piece of real estate.

I think now would be a good time to thank God for His provision, protection and love. He has been so good to me by guiding me through this process and keeping it virtually painless. When you buy something as big as this, everyone involved looks up all your history. You feel very naked and can only hope you haven't made any huge financial mistakes. As it turns out, God in His great foresight provided me with parents that taught me about financial responsibility, so I'm able to take these, my first steps into the world with confidence.

Pictures to come as I begin the nesting process!

14 days, 14 minutes

The effects of a two week Christmas vacation are without measure. The class I left in December is composed of the same students, but they are now very different people. They have lost teeth, grown taller and their faces have changed somehow. When you're six everyday makes a difference. Not only that, but they are able to do things they weren't able to do when they left. It's like all the information they took in before break was on simmer on the back burner in their minds.

Two weeks can do a lot for a teacher too. I was able to get back to basics and remember what it is I want to accomplish with my class. I remembered how I want to treat them and how I should require them to treat each other. I remembered what we were striving for and how close we are getting. I came back with renewed energy and passion. Everyday I've enjoyed just being with them. I mean, don't get me wrong, there are still some pistols in there, but you know... There have been some great moments. One just happened yesterday.

I don't know how many of you have gotten a chance to sit and read with a child, but it is something awesome to behold. For a child to go from illiterate to literate is quite a transformation. It really opens their mind and increases their self awareness; reading unlocks other worlds to them. So, yesterday I was sitting with a little boy in my class who isn't very academic, and up until yesterday I thought of him as a bit hyperactive and disorganized, and yet there is still something very winning about him. We were sitting right next to each other, he had one half of the book on his lap and I had the other half on my lap. He sort of leaned against me and started reading. The book he chose was one he's been practicing at least half the year, not all the time, but he keeps going back to it. As he was reading I noticed he was using a lot of the strategies I've been teaching him. Going back and rereading sentences so they are fluent and don't sound robotic, guessing what words are based on context, etc. We struggled through it and his reading wasn't perfect, but I realized in that small moment in our day together we had bonded over reading a book. I realized how much he looked forward to reading with me, and how he really was listening to me when I was coaching him in how to read. Looking back, I should have realized that this time would matter a lot to him. He was one of the first to notice he could read a book that was full of beginning words, and he told his brother after school, "Gabriel, I read!"

It was like yesterday I discovered Freddy for the first time. A sweet boy who won't ask or beg or demand my attention, but will cherish what he gets. Who wants to learn, and is starting to harness his disorganized mind.

People, this is why I got into teaching. Kids are so real. There is no mask, there is no pretending. Everything about who they really are is right up front. God fasioned each one in my room. And sometimes, and I say this at the risk of sounding too saccharine, if I take a moment and I have my wits about me, I get to see God's handiwork.

This is what two weeks can do.

I Heart John Krasinski

So, I've been watching Season 2 episodes of The Office, and I even bought all the new Season 3 episodes that have been aired (yay itunes!). And my latest celebrity crush starts now.

Anticipation

We spend most of our lives waiting. Waiting for the next big stage, the next big promotion, the next big thing. I have come to consider learning to wait a discipline that will take a lifetime to master. And waiting happens in such small increments. I feel every five minutes I have to remind myself to wait on the Lord. To live in the moment and not in some projected moment in the future.

The last thing I want is to finally reach the point I have been waiting for and look back with regret at all the empty days I just spent waiting.

I want to live every moment, fill everything out so there is no space left, learn all I can, try everything I dare, and learn to trust the Lord.

Someone Else's Thoughts

I wanted to post something deep and spiritual. But my thoughts are not all together on what I've been thinking about with God lately. So I leave you this link, where you can read some thoughts on the Gospel through the eyes of a Kansas City seminary student. I thought it was something good to share.

Facelift

I was getting bored of looking at my blog. So, I changed it. I wish I could design my own templates. That would be tres chic.

Also, I just saw the new Bond movie. Whew. Action packed. To say the least...

Where the Heart Is

I just finished reading Lauren's blog and remembered that I too had promised friends I would write about my travels to Nebraska.

It was great to see the familiar terrain: the stark branches, gray skies, crisp leaves. These are some of the things that are indelible in my mind. They have permeated my senses. More than one of you has heard me say, when it is October in Arizona, I know what it should smell like. It should smell like fallen leaves, but it just doesn't. Now I know why I was drawn to the author's of the great plains honors courses I always seemed to find myself in. The authors seemed to express in words more poetic than I ever could, what it is really like in the great plains. Stark, beautiful, life-giving, life-taking.

And now onto the people.

It was so good to see old friends and catch up on their new lives. We really are going places aren't we? Last year, Jenny asked me if I had thought of going to my 5 year class reunion. I said I hadn't even thought of it. When she asked why, I said because I'm not who I want to be yet. One year later, I think I have a little more to offer. I think that is true for everyone I encountered on my trip. More people are married and learning through a whole other person in their lives. More people have jobs that are interesting or allow them to do interesting things. We are living our lives. I felt so grown up!

It was so encouraging and heart-warming to catch up with friends that are near and dear to my heart. It was also a great blessing to celebrate with a good friend his wedding day. Congratulations Tom!

Coffee

Yesterday I went to that movie, you know? When I was out with the girls one of them thought of someone I should meet. He's 25, and I think she said he's an investment broker.

So, he called me today and I'm meeting him for coffee.

Just thought you all would be interested to know... ;)

The Prestige

I just saw The Prestige with some girlfriends. It was good. It is also an illustration of what can happen to people when they look to things other than God for life and significance. People sell their souls for meaning, power, and what they think is life. It is a hopeless place to be in.

But a good movie.

A Little Change of Scenery, A Little Change of Scene

It is about 11:00 here in Arizona, and I am going to get ready for bed soon. I just wanted to post something. I'm not sure what... Oh! I know! I'm going to be in Nebraska in a little less than two weeks! Which also means my friend Tom is getting married in a little less than two weeks!

I am excited, and I can't wait to see old friends!

My Call to Duty

I report for my first ever jury duty tomorrow.

Hopefully it will be okay. I had to make sub plans and everything. I always worry if they will know what to do and if the kids will behave.

Meanwhile I have to go to downtown Phoenix. Maybe I'll meet someone interesting. A teacher told me today that when she was summoned she watched movies for the morning and they let them go by lunch time so she went out to eat with her mom and enjoyed the day off.

Now, today was the first day back from a weeklong break, but I'll do my best to do my duty.

My Day at the Phoenician

Today I had brunch with a new friend and her family at this restaurant. I must say it was quite the experience! They unfolded our napkins and put them on our laps and refolded them everytime we left the table. The champagne flowed freely and was very yummy. It was buffet style for brunch. Some of the things I tried on my first trip were: grilled salmon, breakfast sausage, a custom made mini-omlette with mushrooms; peppers; spinach and cheese, french toast with fresh blackberries and raspberries, a blueberry pastry and honeydew juice. Seriously people, everything was freshly made and with the greatest care and attention to detail. On my second trip I tried sushi (I am no longer a sushi virgin!) and french toast with bananas foster. Yum! Then, for dessert I tried chocolate covered strawberries, carrot cake, a fresh chocolate souffle with gran marnier sauce, freshly made mint chocolate chip ice cream and phoenician crunch (which has heath bars crumbled in it) and this amarretto parfait.

The word for the day was opulence. Opulence. I don't think that list does justice to the experience I had this afternoon. There was just great care taken to see that we had everything we needed and the food was rich and overflowing in abundance. I mean, this is how people dined when the feasted in the old days. We ate for, like, two hours. And I don't recommend doing that all the time because it is easy to go to far into gluttony and sloth (and greed, for that matter), but there is some serious value in taking time to savor something rich! Today I got to suck a little marrow out of life. I am grateful for the experience.

What Are Friends For

Yesterday I was able to talk to Jenny on the phone as it is both of our fall breaks. We talked on every subject at great length, and at one point I found myself giving a particularly long monologue on the social implications of websites like facebook, myspace and things like cell phones, text messaging, chat rooms, online dating, etc. At one point I asked, "Are we losing our social skills?" Jenny gave a brief reply and off I went again on the social ills that are knocking at our door because we can't/won't interact anymore on a face-to-face level. I took a pause to listen for comfirmation that my audience was tracking with me. Alas, the slightest noise of affirmation was not made. After an awkward silence, I timidly asked, "Hello?" To which Jenny replied, "Hello...what? Did you go somewhere?" No, I had not gone anywhere. What could explain this curious breech in unspoken rules of verbal communication? Finally an explanation dawned on me. "Jenny, did you fall asleep?" She denied it at first, but I already knew the truth. You see, she had already fallen asleep during the two times I had clicked over to the other line (it was my family's phone line, so I wanted to at least take messages), and explained how tired she was prior to this. So, I could figure out what had happened during that silence where stars were born and died, and entire universes came into being.

Jenny had fallen asleep.

What are friends for but to keep you humble?

I'm Tired

One of the consequences of your life filling out in about as many areas as a person can have (Spiritual, Pleasure, Employment...um, there probably are more) is that there just aren't as many hours in the day as I need.

I have been running around so much lately. To School, to Bible Study, to Dance, to Church. I am tired, tired, tired.

It makes enjoying the fact that I have people and places in my life now a little bittersweet.

I am trying to have a good attitude about it though. I mean, this is what I wanted.

Anyways, it's 7:40 and I'm about to go to bed.

Nighty night.

Pictures for Profile

Big Hair

For the past few days I've been using a diffuser to blow dry my hair. This has resulted in really big hair. Which I love. I mean, it's tastefully big, but still very large and in charge.

This new big hair of mine has caused a male teacher to ask, "Hey, have you been doing something different to your hair the past few days?" Not wanting to reveal too many hair secrets to him, I cooly replied, "Ummm...uhhh...yeah, I've been using this new.....thing." He volleyed back with, "Well, it's a good thing."

What! What! Little Rachel is involved in interoffice(campus?) shenanigans?!? Not really, but it is nice to be noticed. Wouldn't you agree?

Todabor Day is Labor Day

Well, not really, but practically everytime I hear the words Labor Day, I think of the Homestarrunner cartoon where he sings a song with the above title. So, yeah.

Anyways, for Labor Day I'm going shopping with my mom, and I'm getting a massage in the afternoon, because I got a certificate for a massage for my birthday. Then me and my family will probably grill out on our new grill and go swimming. Maybe I'll take some pictures and post 'em. Happy Labor Day to me.

I hope you all out there have a restful weekend and get to spend time with people you love.

And a 5-6-7-8

These are some pictures from my dance competition last weekend. It was more of a mock competition, but it was still fun. I had humongous false eyelashes, dance costumes and a good time. Yay dancing! Here is a picture of me and my teacher doing a Samba.
This is the beginning pose to another Samba I did with another teacher.
This is me getting ready to do a Tango with a friend of mine from the studio.
More of the same pose for the Samba.