New Location

Today I will be turning in my school laptop. That has been the computer that I have been able to upload photos onto this blog with. For some reason, my phone won't do it. So, my #100daysofhappiness will continue, but I will be uploading them to my Facebook account instead!

Enjoy and I hope you all find joy in the little things. Remember, don't worry, be HAPPY!

#100daysofhappiness Day 31

This happened yesterday, and I had taken the picture, but forgot to post. One of my students brought me flowers on the last day. He has blonde hair and freckles. When he gave them to me he was red in the face and smiling from ear to ear. It was the sweetest thing!

Don't worry, be HAPPY!

#100daysofhappiness Day 30

Today, I was so excited to write my final morning message of the year. :) It made me super happy knowing that in two days, my summer vacation will be starting. That means more time with family, friends, and good things! Excited for what this summer will bring!

If you can't read it, the most important part says Happy Last Day of School!

Don't worry, be Happy!

#100daysofhappiness Day 29

I had such a great day today. After school I zoomed up to Big Lake to meet my new Kindergarten team for next year. Can I just say they are awesome? They are all around the same age as I am, and they are hilarious. My cheeks kind of hurt when I left. I didn't take a picture of this, but it was definitely my happy moment for today.

Don't worry, be HAPPY!

#100daysofhappiness Day 28

I always call Ben when I'm leaving work. Today I called him and asked him if he remembered to get milk he said yes and that he got something else. My immediate thought was PICKLES. Now hear me out, I'm not much of a pickle person, but when my father in law introduced me to peanut butter and pickle sandwiches. I mean, DANG! Stop judging and go make yourself one. So, today when I ate this...I was SUPER happy.

Don't worry, be HAPPY!

#100daysofhappiness Day 27

Today my nephew Kieran was baptized. This event brought all of my family together. Kieran is usually ALWAYS smiling.

Don't worry, be HAPPY!

#100daysofhappiness Day 26

I remember watching this show as a little kid and now I found it on Netflix! Nothing better than watching this show on a stormy night!

Don't worry, be HAPPY!

#100daysofhappiness Day 25

I'm not going to lie. I was tired and a little crabby, but seeing my kids get so excited about colored shaving cream made me happy.

Don't worry, be HAPPY!

#100daysofhappiness Day 24

When I got home from work I was absolutely exhausted. However, when I was pulling through the alley I looked over and saw the garden all tilled and ready to go. So, now is all we have to do is plan it out and figure out all that we are going to plant. It makes me so excited!

Don't worry, be HAPPY!

#100daysofhappiness Day 23

Today was an absolutely gorgeous day! However, my current classroom does not have any windows and it is ALWAYS cold. So, today, I took my kiddos outside for about 10 minutes to play some good o'll fashion duck duck goose. I'm glad that this game has not gone away.

Don't worry, be HAPPY!

#100daysofhappiness Day 22

Last Wednesday I had an interview at Liberty Elementary for a Kindergarten job. Today I got offered the job. I'm so happy and relieved to hear that I have a job next year! I didn't know how to take a picture of this, so I took a picture of the Big Lake School District website! :)

Don't worry, be HAPPY!

#100daysofhappiness Day 21

Because rootbeer floats are the best summer treat.

Don't worry, be HAPPY!

#100daysofhappiness Day 20

Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would have moose antlers in my home. I do though, and I love them! Every day when I walk in I look at them and smile.

Don't worry. Be HAPPY!

#100daysofhappiness Day 19

Today, I was feeling rather sluggish. I think it was because I had such an eventful day yesterday. Anyway, I finally got around to cleaning the house. One of the best things I did today was put on our summer bed spread. I just love it!

Don't worry, be HAPPY!

#100daysofhappiness Day 18

Today, my good friend who also happens to be a teacher in St. Paul and I took a personal day at work and decided to go to Stillwater. Although, when we went to Stillwater, we thought....why not go to Duluth, so we hopped back into the car and headed north to Duluth where we spent the day walking, riding a bike, and eating ice cream! It was perfect! It made me happy in every way possible! So, here we are in our matching sweatshirts.

Don't worry, be HAPPY!

#100daysofhappiness Day 17

2 more weeks left of school. Can I get a yahoo? YAHOO!!! There has been someone at the school who has been SO helpful to me. She is one of the nicest people that I have come across. Anyway, I went to a retirement party after school today for a coworker. They put on a fashion show of the "decades" that this aide has been apart of at Montrose Elementary.

Needless to say, it made me smile and was cleverly done.

Dont' worry, be HAPPY!

#100daysofhappiness Day 16

I remember when I was in high school and would sleep in until 11:00 every weekend, my grandma told me she used to be the same way. Now she and my mom for that matter wake up ridiculously early...on their own. I told my grandma that would never be me. However, that is exactly how I am now. I'm almost to the point of not setting my alarm, because I'm usually up by...

This morning as I was reading and praying and watching the birds, I had to smile when I looked at the clock and realized that it was only 5:40 A.M. There is something about the quietness of the morning that I so love.

Don't worry, be HAPPY!

#100daysofhappiness Day 15

I have an interview tomorrow morning for a Kindergarten position in a different school district. My current principal has been SO supportive of me and today was no different. My kiddos and I were doing reading groups and my principal came in and gave me a page of tips for my interview. The list was just some things that he looks for in candidates and so on. I hope it works! So, today, this kind gesture made me super happy!

Don't worry, be HAPPY!

#100daysofhappiness Day 14

So yesterday you saw Ben talking to our neighbor. Well, Ben was talking to out neighbor about his (very run down) garden. Our neighbor said that we could do what we wanted with it because he won't have time this summer! This made me SUPER happy even today as I was looking out on a rainy day. I'm hoping that we can turn that garden around and grow some fruit and veggies!

Don't worry, be HAPPY!

#100daysofhappiness Day 13

I'm looking out the window and Ben is talking to our neighbor. If any of you know Ben, he doesn't really care how he looks. He usually turns to me to ask if something goes together. Today, he didn't ask me. He has plaid shorts and a striped shirt on. This isn't Ben's first rodeo. Both his mother and I have gotten after him about this before. However, I'm still so in love with this man even if he has a hart time putting clothes together. It made me smile today.

Don't worry, be HAPPY!

#100daysofhappniess Day 12

I'm sorry I didn't blog yesterday. I would say that I failed at the #100daysofhappiness, but I simply can't say that I failed because I had such a great day that I simply didn't have time to blog. I was busy from the time I woke up to the time I went to bed. My day started with a bridal shower for a friend of mine who I lived with in college. Right after that I met up with one of my best friends from high school. We sat at Panera for 3 hours. It was GREAT! Then, I went over to my brothers and got to hang out with their family for awhile. This little boy changes every time I see him. He now has 6 teeth and him and his sister make me so happy!

Don't worry, be HAPPY!

#100daysofhappiness Day 11

Because I eat them like candy.

Don't worry, be HAPPY!

#100daysofhappiness Day 10

I haven't had much of a green thumb or had any desire to have a green thumb until Ben and I became home owners. Now I'm that girl walking through the green houses thinking of the possibilities of what veggies I could grow or what flowers would go good together. Yep, I have the gardening fever. I LOVE sunflowers. I think they are beautiful! So, I started planting some! So, this morning while I was watering, I just smiled and reflected on how my life is always changing!

Don't worry, be HAPPY!

#100daysofhappiness Day 9

I LOVE getting to watch the Today show for a few minutes before I leave for work. It makes me happy and I like knowing what is going on in the world. Kind of hard to tell, but my TV is of the Today show.

Don't worry, be HAPPY!

#100daysofhappiness Day 8

All through growing up, my mom always needed coffee to start her day. I knew of a lot of people who were like this. I actually didn't start drinking coffee until I lived in Alaska. I now know what my mom was talking about. Sometimes when I go to sleep at night I get excited because the next morning I get to have this:

Don't worry, be HAPPY!

#100daysofhappiness day 7

I have had a long day today. Aren't Monday's always long? Although, now that this Monday is about over, that means there are only 3 more Monday's left of school and then it is SUMMER! Yahoo! Anyway, Ben came home with some AMAZING berries. All you Cub Food people out there....raspberries and blackberries are 3 for $5!!! Yeah, AMAZING!

So, here is my happiness photo. I think I appreciate fresh fruits and veggies after living in a place where we didn't have a whole lot. What we did have was usually soft and mushy by the time it made it to Alaska. So, here is what made me happy today.

 

Don't worry, be HAPPY! 

#100daysofhappiness Day 6

When I was growing up, chances are you could find me outside playing basketball. Yes, I was a bit of a tom boy. I didn't wear dresses, I didn't play with dolls. I played tackle football with the boys in the neighborhood and played ditch-em with the best of them. I still love shooting hoops. I actually find it relaxing, yet I end up sweating in the end. Pretty good deal I think. Anyway, today, my husband and I went out and got this:

I was SO happy. I shot around for a long while and totally didn't care that I'm a 28 year old shooting around. It made me SUPER happy!

Don't worry, be HAPPY!

#100daysofhappiness Day 5

Today and almost every day I take Moose on a walk. Every day we walk by this:

This is not a church. This is someone's house. I believe it was once a church though. Anyway, I would have gotten closer, but I didn't want to get caught taking a picture of her house. I have always LOVED this house. I've walked in the alley in the back as well and have noticed some beautiful Siberian huskies. Also, in the winter there was a figuring of an Eskimo dog musher. I had never seen the owner of this house until a few days ago. I didn't even get her name, but she was talking about her huskies and how she does some dog mushing. If any of you know me, you know that I'm slightly OBSESSED with the Iditarod and dog mushing. I hope to see her again though and talk about mushing and her BEAUTIFUL house. Anyway, every day this house makes me happy!

Don't worry, be HAPPY!

#100daysofhappiness Day 4

In Alaska, things are still very brown in color, if not white. I believe last year when I left Alaska in late May, it was snowing. I loved coming back to Minnesota because things were usually very green! It felt like I was going from winter to summer in just a short plane ride. This year I have been so amazed at how fast the fields and grass has turned green. Granted we had about a week of straight rain, I was still impressed. So, today even though it is gloomy outside, I love driving to work and seeing all the green!

Don't worry, be HAPPY!

#100daysofhappiness Day 3

As I drive to and from work each day, I have to have the radio on and it it usually on Cities 97. I absolutely LOVE music. I love how it can turn a crummy attitude into a good one, I love how it can make my speed in my car jump 10mph, I love how you can relate to it so well. I love how at Christmas time, Christmas music make everyone more jolly. I just love it! So, today I"m posting:

Here I have a picture of my computer playing Pandora. I listen to it every morning while I"m getting ready in my classroom. It is usually stationed on Mumford and Sons, Amos Lee, or Jack Johnson....because who doesn't like banana pancakes?

Don't worry, be HAPPY!

#100daysofhappiness Day 2

Today the Kindergartners took a field trip to the Children's Museum. It was an awesome field trip and the kids all had a blast! As we were walking into one of the exhibits I kind of shrieked with excitement and my coworker was like what what. And I pointed to this:

As much as I try to live in the here and now and try not to think too much about the past or the future, I get reminded of things or places that have helped make me who I am. As many of you know, I miss Alaska on a daily basis and think about it all the time. I'm honestly trying to get it out of my head and appreciate what I have here in Minnesota. However, this little sign stopped me in my tracks and made me happy!


On a side note, there were quite a few things that made me happy today. One of them being that when I got home from work, Ben and I drove to St. Cloud and ate Sushi. YUMMY! Great date night indeed.

Secondly, when in St. Cloud, Ben and and I were at a stop light and there was this big bellied man without a shirt wearing a cap acting like some kind of super hero. It was one of the weirdest and most disturbing things I've seen in a long time, but it made Ben and I laugh pretty hard. :)

Don't worry, be HAPPY!

#100daysofhappiness Day1

Alrighty folks,

Here it is, day one on May 5th.

Today when I got home I was greeted by:

Ben and I got Moose 3 years ago when we were getting ready to come back from Alaska for the summer. Moose was born in Mountain Village and we were able to get him for free. Moose is one of the most dramatic dogs I have ever met. He talks whenever we talk to him, he knows when we are packing for a trip, we have to tell him that we are going to work whenever we leave the house, otherwise he just whines. 

One night Ben and I had a disagreement and Ben and I were both just kind of sitting in silence and were both visibly upset to Moose. Moose would come and sit by me and put his head on my lap and then a little bit later go over to Ben and put his head on his lap. He would go back and forth. 

Moose is such a great dog though. Our nephews and nieces will chase him around, pet him, poke his eyes, and practically sit on Moose and he will just take it.

So, today, when I was greeted at home by Moose, it made me happy.

Day number 1 goes to Moose.

100 Days of Happiness

A coworker of mine posted on Facebook the other day a challenge. It was called 100 Days of Happiness. Basically for 100 days you find something in each day that makes you genuinely happy. It can be the littlest thing or a milestone type thing.

I've decided to take this challenge and blog for 100 days about something that makes me happy. I will be taking a picture and posting each day. Keep in mind, this isn't for me to brag about how happy I am. As stated on the 100 happy days website:

#100happyday challenge is for you - not for anyone else.

It is not a happiness competition or a showing off contest. If you try to please / make others jealous via your pictures - you lose without even starting. Same goes for cheating.

Here is the link to see what I will be doing:
http://100happydays.com/

I will start tomorrow on Tuesday, May 5. Enjoy and I challenge you to be happy for 100 days with me!

Keep calm...and be HAPPY!

Anne

God is in control

Hey All,

So, here is my to be continued post from, "Where I've Been." I just want to explain a little bit more about how I landed this job and was "rejected" by other job opportunities. So, let me explain. Ben and I left Alaska in May and left a big chunk of our hearts with it. For the first few months of being back in Minnesota, I felt so uncomfortable. I felt lonely, wondering what was going to happen in the future. Would Ben and I ever find peace in Minnesota again? I think for Ben it was a little bit easier because he had a job lined up. He knew exactly what he was going to be doing. However, in September and October we were still missing Alaska quite a bit and ended up meeting with the president of Alaska Christian College. We talked to him and sort of day dreamed for awhile of what it would look like work at ACC. We started praying about it and realized that at this time that answer was a no. Not to say it might not come further down the road. We love that school and what it stands for. For right now is all we can do is support and pray for the kids who go to college there. So, I kept subbing, kept applying for long term sub jobs, para professional jobs, etc. I never heard anything back and kept thinking, "what is wrong with me?" I started to doubt my abilities, I started getting anxious about really silly and ultimately uncontrollable things. It was in that moment that I was ready to hand things over to God. I couldn't bare to do it on my own anymore. As much as I always knew that is what I needed to do, sometimes you just have to be stubborn before you can surrender.

So, let us fast forward about a month. I had a dear friend in Mountain Village who was struggling with alcohol and I just wanted to be near her. Help her, love her, and was almost willing to just go there and live life alongside of her for a month. Then, another one of my friends from Mountain Village had her dad get really sick and she needed to be with him in Anchorage. She was with him for a long time until he eventually passed away. In the middle of that though, I had emailed the principal in Mountain asking if they needed a long term sub and she said what a great idea, I will send your info over to HR. I thought, "HOLY COW" this might actually happen. I might get to go back to Alaska. Well, I never heard back from her, but I did hear from a retired Bush teacher saying that she was going to Mountain Village to fill in for "H." I kind of felt like I had been slapped in the face, but it didn't take me too long to realize that there was probably a reason for that. So, I had a pity party for about a minute and started praying about where God would have me. Then, about two weeks later, the position opened up for Kindergarten. Well, you already know that I did indeed take it.

When I moved back from Alaska I really didn't want to teach again because I didn't think I could love students the way I did in Alaska. Let me tell you, I was WRONG. I absolutely love my kiddos here. They are fun, funny, loving, smart, and energetic. They need hugs just as much as my kiddos in Alaska did. God has called me to work with children of all settings, whether it is in Alaska, Minnesota, or kids of my own someday. In the end, God is in control-ALWAYS.

Where I've Been

Hey Everyone,
  It has been awhile since I've blogged and for that I apologize, however my absence has been for good reason. Towards November I was starting to feel unsettled about subbing. I didn't like not having my own class, my own classroom, my own school, etc. I'm very much a person that needs a schedule, I think that is why teaching Kindergarten works for me. Those little buggers need schedule just as much as I do. They need consistency and so do I. I started praying that if God wanted me to be subbing, I would do it faithfully and not complain about it. I also prayed that God would help me accept change or trying new things to get me out of my comfort zone. In my head, that meant helping Ben with projects around the house. I'm not very handy, but Ben really likes it when I'm at least around. So, that is what I had in mind. I have been trying to do those things, but here is where I get to my point.

During the month of December I applied for a few different positions. One at a pre-school, another as an Extended Kindergarten Teacher in the Buffalo Hanover Montrose School District, and several long term sub jobs in the area. I got a call to set up an interview for the pre-school position. I was STOKED. It meant a full time gig and I would know exactly what I was doing every. single. day. So, I set up an interview and through talking to the director, I knew I had a pretty good shot. However, I wasn't sure if there would be benefits, and so I was a little leery. Well, the day before my preschool interview I got a phone call from Montrose Elementary School for the Extended Kindergarten Job to set up an interview. So within 24 hours I set up two interviews for the same day. Let's jump ahead to the next day. I interviewed in the morning for the pre-school position and found out there were no benefits. wa wa wa. That afternoon I had an over the phone interview with two principals in Montrose. This was kind of like a preliminary interview and it went SO fast. He asked about 25 questions like rapid fire. I hung up the phone and had no clue what I had even answered. They told me they would call to set up an in person interview if I made it to the next round. Well, about an hour later I got a phone call and we set up a second interview for the next day. After the interview (I was the last interviewee) the principal hired me on the spot and gave me a tour of the school. We set up my orientation for the next day at the district office and then I would be able to come in and start working over Christmas Break. Oofta! Talk about overwhelming.

So, I got hired on Wednesday, had orientation on Thursday, and came in on Friday. Friday was the last day before kids got out for Christmas break. I walked into my new classroom on Friday and much to my surprise, there was nothing but a few tables, chairs, a desk, and empty as can be shelves. What am I suppose to put on my walls? Where do I get markers? Where are the books? Do I have curriculum? And honestly, I thought to myself, "what in the hell did I get myself into." Sorry for the language, but it is the honest truth. In the meantime I got called to set up an interview for a long term sub job, and I rejected it with joy.  Teachers came in throughout to introduce themselves and that was fun. But I spent the next couple of weeks getting geared up to be a Kindergarten teacher again.

I'm the luckiest Kindergarten teacher in the whole world. I teach an intervention program Kindergarten. The kids who qualified had only been going to school for half of a day. Now they get to go the whole day. 1/2 the day is spent with their primary teacher and the second half is spent with me. I have a morning and afternoon group. I have 11 kids in the morning and 9 in the afternoon. I have almost complete flexibility to do what I want with these kids. I have a para to help me out for most of the day. I get 80 minutes in the middle of the day for lunch/prep. Did I mention that I'm the luckiest Kindergarten teacher ever? I get to do all the fun things that teachers WISH they could get to, but can't because of time.

I have already written a lot, but that is where I have been. God has truly humbled me in this position and I will touch on that in the next post. TO BE CONTINUED....