drama, drama, drama

after a VERY drama-rrific day, i went and walked along the Rillito. it was lovely to reconnect with the wash and God, to see all the lovely wildflowers in bloom, and to just be. there also a guy flying a really cool, bright yellow kite - very fun to watch.

i then went to humane society, which is right across the wash. that turned out to be a terrible idea because when you have a huge headache and are very sad about the state of the world in general, the last place you should go is to see very cute animals caged and unwanted :(

i really, REALLY wanted to adopt this BEAUTIFUL dog. a grey, blue, and brown Australian Shepherd with two different colored eyes. i have always wanted a dog with 2 different colored eyes. and he was jumping around and rubbing on the fence as i went by! so endearing...

i know moriah, i know :) don't worry, i left him there...

and this song felt like today -



i couldn't find the official music video, not sure if there is one, but this was kinda cute and creative

day from the past

So instead of going to school today and being the teacher, i went back to UofA today as a guest speaker in my old teacher's class.

Brendan (who some of you know by association - the guy i'm doing some research with) asked me to share about my experience during my 1st year of teaching, so I slept in, went to my old class at 12:15, and then watched a movie! :)

And to top off the day, i even filled in for a shift at the Raging Sage this evening. it really was a day just outta college! sadly, i have to get up at 6 am tomorrow, which isn't like college...

my walk consisted of walking around campus, and i played my harmonica a little and also figured out what key the song "Miss Me" by Joe Purdy is in :) finally!!!!

forgotton youtube videos

i saw this for the first time my freshman year of college and i haven't watched it much sense.

but oh so funny!!! i love the random creativity of it (warning: a little strange and has some morbid-ish "Kill Bill" like scences, but in cartoon)

oh the craziness of being a teacher

after Moriah had an INSANE day (seriously, every teacher should write a book about all the things that happen to them during their career), we decided to celebrate life with a 4-pack of goodness from the Plaza.

My walk consisted of walking to take out the trash while chatting with her, then we realized we forgot the mail key, so we walked back to the house, grabbed the mail key, and went and got the mail...all the while drinking out beers (not illegally! just in our little complex!)

fabulous end to the day [except it wasn't the end to the whole day, just the sun going down]

wohoo

love this song - wish i could sing it, but it's hard to do a round with one person :(




ps - walked to take the trash out today and played my harmonica for the first time in public tonight at church! it was super fun playing with a full band :)

amazing harmonies

Check out this interview with The Living Sisters from NPR

sad to be missing avett brothers tonight

so the Avett Brothers are playing tonight at the Rialto, and for the sake of repenting of spending too much money, i didn't buy a ticket.

a good decision, but now i am very sad to be missing it...

here's a video of one of my favorite songs by them at a show. i LOVE the lyrics and the line "decide what to be and go be it" - it's giving me courage as teaching is feeling SO discouraging and disheartening. (i feel like i'm running to the top of a sinking, erupting, volcanic island. still above water, but it's crazy and dangereous, and eventually i will go under)

makes me feel like i was kinda there, but still sad i'm not...hopefully you can enjoy it too :)

Posted on the Star's website

I'm glad I'm not the only person who has been thinking this state has gone to hell in a handbasket...


"Arizona has been getting a lot of national media attention this week because of the controversial immigration bill and the so-called “birther” bill.

The White House dismissed the effort, with spokesman Bill Burton saying, “I can't imagine Arizona voters think their tax dollars are well served by a legislature that is less focused on their lives than in fringe right-wing radio conspiracy theories.”

Here’s a roundup of other reaction:

• Comedy Central said Arizona passed some “groundbreaking anti-brown person legislation” only to follow up with the bill requiring presidential candidates provide a birth certificate before getting onto the state ballot. “I guess this means that Arizona is gonna start forwarding all of us every crazy conspiracy email it gets, and we'll all be nice for a while and just quietly delete them until we can't take it anymore and end up responding angrily to one of them. And then Arizona will act all mad at us on Thanksgiving.”

• Wonkette had Arizona winning “America’s Dumbest State” contest. Calling Arizona “America’s Wingnut Paradise for half a century,” the site notes even Barry Goldwater was too subtle, so Evan Mecham became governor and moved to kill the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. “Then a lot of other ridiculous stuff happened: Walnuts McCain releasing Sarah Palin upon the nation, the sheriff of Phoenix running pogroms against Latinos, the state officially endorsing racial profiling to finally clear its territory of Mexicans. What could come next? Oh yeah, birthers.”

• Politico’s David Mark noted “A couple of buzz-worthy news stories have emerged from Arizona in recent days — appalling or admirable depending on your opinion, or somewhere in between.” Borrowing a characterization by Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, he asked readers to weigh in on whether Arizona qualifies as the laughingstock of the nation.

• Robert Schlesinger, opinion editor at U.S. News and World Report, wrote on his blog that “members of the Arizona state House have made a strong bid for this year’s coveted “nuttiest legislative body” award, voting to enshrine birtherism as state policy (would that make it the state's official neurosis?).” Before Arizona’s bold move, Georgia appeared to be leading the pack, he said, for their efforts to stem microchips being involuntarily implanted in people. While “the Arizona House is blazing a trail into the fringe,” he noted similar legislation has been introduced in a few other states."

it's official

i'm obsessed and they have become my favorite band. they're competing with joe purdy, but the vocals and instruments throw them into first place these days...ENJOY, cuz they're dang amazing

this comic was on the Star's website today

im so sad about how true this really is here...

another angle

neptune in bloom

neptune is the breed of the rose - ironically named as im an astronomy teacher :)

i really enjoyed taking these shots. i love the lighting made by the lamp (thanks for the lamp Hailey!) and the texture and contrast it produces in the petals.

remembering

the reason i started this blog was to be a little creative haven amidst the craziness and brokenness in my life.

as i sit here at my dining room table, looking at the afternoon sun pouring in through the window, i realize i have lost sight of finding beauty this semester. this semester has been much more stressful than i anticipated, but im sad for losing sight.

however, i don't want to just try really hard to see more. so instead i will pray and ask Jesus to change my thinking, how i deal with things and bring light and healing to the brokenness in my life.

so to begin that...

i bought several rose plants after going to a free class at Harlow Gardens, and they're blooming! I'm amazed that God has kept them alive and that they're so dang beautiful. And smell so good!

I have two red climbing roses as well as a lavender and a peach colored hybrid tea roses. Here's a pic of the first lavender bloom in the house. i'll post some over the next few days...

random evening

So I went to a benefit concert tonight out in Vail. it was for a family going through some rough medical, and therefore financial, times and the town was rallying to raise some money for them.

my mentor teacher was the one who set up the event so i went to show support and to watch his kids as his wife and him were very busy with the event.

the concert was of several Christian bands and to be completely honest...i don't like Christian music. as awful as i feel like that sounds, a lot of their music just sounds the same! the same chord progressions, the same acoustic-y-ness, the same high female vocals and wannabe rock guitarists. in general, just so dang cheesy and christian-y that anyone who isn't a christian would never, ever want to listen to that kind of music. yes, i am aware i am being harsh and judgmental, but you have to admit some of it's true...

so given that, tonight i was shocked (and then ashamed at how shocked i was) when God actually used the random christian singer to speak lots of truth, grace, and love to me tonight. to the point where i actually cried. true story.

she had a lovely voice and sang with her husband who played the guitar, and she played the harmonica! perhaps a summer project...hmmmm...her name is jj heller.

this week was just so crazy with finding out i'm getting laid off, students protesting, AIMS, discovering i don't like oceanography, spring break being over, Laelia and i playing at the Sky Bar - to name a few things - that i hadn't realized how much stress, anxiety, and just how much stuff i've been carrying. not only for myself but my students...i was so touched and grateful for how God surprised me in my prejudice to speak his goodness. i shouldn't be surprised, i know, but i was and it was lovely.

ps - i got to spend a lot of time with 3 of my old students whom i love DEARLY and it was so absolutely wonderful to see them :)

This week's craziness

So I haven't had the energy to be posting much. Here's a video from Tucson's Ch. 13 News to explain why...


My student is the boy in the red shirt in the middle!


And to get the facts a little more straight - 320 teachers in the district are being RIFed, and only 200-250 are going to be asked back. Please God...

What they didn't say is another student who I love organized the Walk-Out, which the admin team ended up calling "an assembly". He called the news, papers, and the kids did an amazing job of organizing a protest of firing all 1st, 2nd, and 3rd year teachers (half of my school's staff) and thereby increasing class sizes to 40 students a class.

But it was so cool to see the kids stand up for their own education! I'm so proud of them! They were also very cute in saying, "MISS! We love you!! You have to stay!!!" It was really, very endearing :)

i wish i could use this...

i need to figure out a way.