Thursday, June 9, 2011

Summer Wedding!

So, updating this for the first time in too long! Hopefully we can keep up on this :)

A few weeks ago, we went to Aaron and Becky's wedding! And it was a blast!

The 2 of us!

Shull Hall, reunited!

and finally...
Mr and Mrs Aamodt with the guys and I!

It was a great time! 

Hopefully we will post more on here during the summer, since there's been like a 4 month dry spell of posts! 

-A

Saturday, March 5, 2011

It's March!

It's the beginning of March and it's off to a great start! I had a lot of down time last week which was really nice because I got sick on Monday with a sinus infection. I've been feeling a lot better since Thursday.

Yesterday morning I headed back to Cedar Rapids for a haircut! Yes, a HAIRCUT. And did I ever get it cut.. Over the last 10 months I have been growing out my hair and it grew past my shoulders. But, I learned after getting my haircut short for the first time senior year of high school, I can never let my hair grow past my collar bone again without having an itch to chop it. So, goodbye long hair, hello short hair!!

As with plans for the weekend and for next week. I am watching Xavier's Xtravaganza show choir competition for Middle Schools on 9.2 tonight. I'm really excited and I'll get to see Chad perform his show for the last time this year. Other plans will be writing a midterm paper, preparing a Visual Literacy presentation over ethics and morals, and reading "The Heart of a Chief" by Joseph Bruchac.

~ Emily

Thursday, February 24, 2011

The Band Perry Concert

Waiting patiently for the concert to start... 15 minutes!!



And.. AFTER! We met Thompson Square! Everyone Listen to these 2 sometime! They were AMAZING!!
Watch the video below for the #3 hit, "Are You Gonna to Kiss Me or Not"

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Motivation and Focus....

So what has school been like for the past week and a half?
Start Rant
So the past few weeks I have had a heck of a time getting to my homework and taking less than 2 hours to complete any paper. I don't know what it is, the weather, being SICK of writing papers over educational ideals (or even worse, observations in a classroom), not entirely liking any of the classes I'm in right now to the extent that I've enjoyed my other classes, or just a combination of all the above, but I just can't seem to motivate myself to stay on task and focus!


As I'm writing this, I have 2 math papers (yes, papers, not problems out of a book, but papers over problems in a book and scoring tests, etc) open on my computer. I feel as if I'm sitting in front of my computer for hours on end, doing busywork just so a professor can give me a grade. How are all these papers going to help me teach if it's midterm and I have yet to actually try any of these techniques I write about? Words on paper only mean so much.
End Rant


...Anyway! Do any friends or family that read this have any recommendations or ideas as to how I can remedy this sudden case of ADHD? And no guys, more Call of Duty is most definitely not going to help!

On a better note, I think I'm going to start running again! I know, I know, I say this EVERY spring and do nothing about it! Well after how my calves felt after the Dance Party downstairs last Thursday (the same feeling I used to get  after running 10 miles) I've decided it's time to get back at it!

Speaking of dancing, I FINALLY got to do the Interlude at halftime of the Mens BBall game last Saturday! Which was awesome! Here's the video! Don't know what this Interlude thing is? Click that link above and you can dance it too! ;)

Oh, and in case you missed me..... here's where I am...
How could you miss that? ;)

Well, I think this little rant describes how the past week and a half has been with school! Tuesday's just about over, which means my week is half done! Cross your fingers for smooth sailing from this point on!

-Andy

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Valentine's Week!

Monday- Valentine's Day!
Andy's V-day Present!
I had another great Valentine's Day. I had night class until 8 so Andy and I decided to celebrate after. He surprised me with hearts on my dorm door and then made spaghetti. Yes, he made dinner! I am so proud of him. We also rented The Social Network movie and I still don't know what to think of it...i may need to watch it again when I'm not stressed out. Therefore, we called our night early and wrote papers for our classes.

Tuesday- Day 1/2
Today was day one of two teaching a lesson in the 2nd grade classroom. It went really great! We didn't get through much of the lesson but it was a great start. 

Wednesday- Day 2/2
I taught my second lesson today. It was a little rough partly because the students were not focusing and therefore didn't understand what I was trying to teach them. I stayed for a half hour more and wrapped up the lesson. After teaching, I was absolutely worn out and disappointed how the teaching went. But, it was a learning experience and I know what I need to improve on.

Thursday- Group Work
Today was a rough day! Even though my teaching is over there is still a lot of work to do. I met with a couple groups today for projects due next week so I have a head start. Shull hall hosted the "Rave for Hunger" tonight from 8:30-10:00. We didn't have a great turnout but it was a blast being with everyone who came. I definitely danced all my worries and stress away of the week. Oh and I ate a couple cookies, mmm..

Friday- Last day!
Today was the last day of observing in PLS. After observing, Andy picked me up and I treated him to Scratch Cupcakery off of Main St. in Cedar Falls. There were so many to choose from, we left there with 1 peanut butter cup cupcake, 1 wedding day cupcake, and 2 fresh lemonades. It was delicious and we can't wait to try ALL of them. A few hours later, our group of friends attended the Waterloo Black Hawks hockey game and had a movie night with food and Despicable Me. 


This weekend I am home seeing my grandpa who just recently had surgery and my grandma as well. I am so glad to be home with the family again!


~Emily

Saturday, February 12, 2011

My First Post. 2/12/11

What an eventful week and COLD one too!

First off, this was my third week of field experience with my 2nd grade class at PLS. I am in the process of completing the second portion of my TWS and making 2 lesson plans for when I teach next week. I'm really excited! I have decided to teach the students about how to write paragraphs by first creating a web map. In elementary school this mapping strategy helped me to visually see my ideas and I still use it today.

Second, projects, projects, projects! I have many of these coming up in my literacy classes as well as educational technology in the next few weeks. After my field experience is completed here in this next week I'll have more time on my hands to get a lot of these done.

Because this week has been stressful I haven't had a lot of break time. But, I got to spend some time with the girls on Wednesday going to ColdStone :) Mmm... And of course eating dinner and just clearing my head of school with Andy.

Lastly, Home Sweet Home! Leslie picked me up yesterday from UNI and the family is all together. I have been waiting for this weekend forEVER and I'm loving every minute of it. I was at a show choir competition ALL day today and we left tonight with 1st Place (Congrats Eddie Chad ;)

Tomorrow will be back to reality again but I am ready to conquer it all! Hope you have a great week and Happy Valentine's Day <3

~Emily

Thursday, February 10, 2011

My Week in Pictures 2/11/11

Hey guys, it's Andy!

So this week has been... long...

Here's why:


Saturday/Sunday
Call of Duty weekend with the guys!

Monday/Tuesday
Close to 12 hours of finishing my health Health Methods folder...

Wednesday
I think the look on my face says it all

Thursday
Thursdays always make me tired... No idea why!

And that's been my week in a nutshell! Hopefully next week will be a little more exciting, if not more eventful than 12 hours of Health Methods homework! 

Now time for bed for a (hopefully) relaxing Friday! TGIF!!