Mass Texts!

So yesterday when I had a second to check my phone at school I noticed I had about 6 unread text messages! I went to the first one and it read "USF ALERT! Tampa Campus: Armed intruder on campus. Stay Inside. Lock Doors. Emergency Personnel Responding". Well, it seems to happen once every 2-3 months, and even though I'm two thousand miles away - I'm still notified because I don't know how to get my number off their list. Anyway, there were a few more texts saying the same thing about where the intruder was, but about different places until I got to a REALLY random one. I mean I had to laugh.. even though I was hoping everything was okay back at home. The fourth text read: White male subject seen in the Cooper Hall area in a black tank top, cowboy hat, carrying a black puppy, and a large hunting knife. What. The. Hell!? Really? Only in Tampa... I am hoping he wasn't planning on skinning that poor puppy.

Everyone on Facebook, of course, had something to say about it on their status... I guess everything ended up being okay because the last text I received later in the day was "all clear!". Someone mentioned they did arrest someone, but how freaking crazy!!!

In other news... my observation went great! She used words like "impressed!" and "amazing" to desrcibe my lesson plan and my instruction! The only negative thing was that I talk too loud... sooo I guess I'll have to work on my tone! LOL. I've always been loud, but I'm going to work on it!

Tonight it's breakfast for dinner night and that really excites me! We were supposed to have it last week, but Z didn't want to so I'm pretty much forcing it on him tonight since I made his favorite last night! Hehe.

-Ashley

Baking Hiatus!

Before I get into my bakingbreak I want to talk about SCHOOL! This week went really well!! On Monday I had the class in my own hands.. COMPLETELY! since my teacher was on her way home from her trip. The substitute showed up an hour after school had started, but didn't say a word to the class the whole time and to my surprise the day went AMAZING! I left with such a big smile on my face and the confidence boost I desperately needed! This group of students are not a piece of cake and to be able to control them just makes me so happy! lol. My mentor teacher showed up about 15mins after the day ended to stop by and see how things went and I could tell she was happy for me too. :) Wooo! The rest of the week I taught on and off, but next week I made EVERY single lesson and she'll have no part in anything for those five days... and I also have my last observation with this class - cross your fingers for me!

Okay, enough school stuff! The rest of my week was literally filled with BAKING! I baked TWO giant cupcakes for Holly (codyandhollythrasher.blogspot.com) - I don't know how to link it and I really don't feel like looking around for the right button, but you should visit her anyway - and 15 regular sizes cupcakes... and then I did another batch of cupcakes for a luncheon that was held at school on Thursday! Not to mention I have a giant cupcake to bake for someone at Z's work by tomorrow, but after that I think I'd be okay if I never saw another cake again! haha. It's fun to do, but it does take a lot of time and on Thursday night I was sent home with a blank lesson plan book that needed a full week of plans, and also two cakes/15 cupcales that needed decorating. I ended up burning half of the candy melts for one of the bottoms so Z took me up to a Wal-Mart that DIDN'T have any... so by then it was dinner time so we decided to stop and grab a bite to eat and then go to the other Wal-Mart (and let me tell you doing any shopping here by the base is INSANE on the 1st because it's every soldiers pay day so EVERYONE! is out). I eventually made it home (stressed to the max) after 8 to finish the cakes and start my lesson plans. Luckily I had most of my grading done, but I went to bed way late. Everything turned out great though! I was so happy Holly liked the cakes and I hope her guests do too!

****Happy Birthday LUKE!!!! Today is his party and I hope he has so much fun!!*****

I want to also make a shout-out to my AMAZING! husband who kept me from crying at one point - I was stressing myself out that bad - BUT he helped me out SO much and was such a trooper! He also cleaned the house on his first day off AND took the dogs to the vet to get their shots so I didn't have to go through the pain of watching them in pain (or see a needle) AND . I love him to pieces!

Z was having a BAD day on Monday so I called my dad and got his amazing chicken parm

recipe and surprised Z with a super yummy dinner! He really enjoyed it :)
Cupcake number 1!

I let them sit in the fridge for a few mins before I add the saran wrap so it doesn't stick!

Cupcake number 2!

All of Holly's cupcakes! :)

We got a NEW! fish on Thursday.

The class named "her" Sparkle yesterday...

Well, I hope everyone has a great weekend! I have a lot to do including catching up on TV shows, football, laundry, HW of course, and other random things!

-Ashley

Oh no! Who fell?

... were Zach's words when I told him I wanted to "blog about the fall". He thinks he is SO funny! (okay, I totally chuckled when he said it!) lol. Anyway, this week we've had some super nice weather! Waking up and going to work with it in the 50's and then only reaching low 70's by the end of the day (and without any humidity it feels like 65 in Tampa) is SO nice! I was cooking the other night and the kitchen gets pretty warm when the oven and stove are both on so I opened up some windows. The breeze coming through surely helped and felt amazing! The dogs love to just layout in the sun or run around like crazy when the weather is like that. It doesn't just feel like fall but it smells, tastes (pumpkin spice latte anyone!?!), and will hopefully start looking like it outside with some orange, red, and yellow leaves pretty soon! This will be my last REAL official fall for awhile... since there are only two seasons in FL: hot and hotter... so I'm going to try to be out and enjoy it! Since OK actually has a fall we have FALL BREAK! from Oct. 15-16, then it's the weekend. Who doesn't like 4 day weekends?! Unfortunately Z works all four of those days, or I'd make him take the dogs and I out for a hike or something. Oh well.

They were running around and playing and enjoying the weather so much!

LOVE the way this makes my house smell!
Okay, peanut butter cookies don't really scream FALL, but the Reese's Pieces on top surely helped!

Just enough breeze to cool down the hot house (and I had the door open)!
I can officially say HAPPY FALL (just stay on both of your feet)! and I hope everyone has a great one! :)

-Ashley

"Oh to be in Elementary school again...."

So today I had to make another run to C. Elementary to drop off a giant cupcake for a teacher there and I wish I could go back. Life is so simple at that age. In first grade the kids were decorating cookies to look like pigs. It looked like they were all having so much fun. I have to go back to work tomorrow, which means I have to be there at 530 to go "behind bars" and help the other soldiers on my shift babysit grown men. I can not wait to get thru these next 18 days of work and be done babysitting. I am getting so anxious to be done. I didnt think these five years would ever end but the end is defenitely in sight. I have also decided to re-enlist for three years in the US Army Reserves. My unit will be the 320th Military Police Company- Combat Support based out of Pinellas Park in St. Petersburg Florida. I will be in training for two weeks so that I can be qualified as a military police officer and not just a corrections officer. I am excited about starting this next chapter of my life and being able to spend time with friends and family in the Tampa area. I love being a "tamponian"!!!! LOL. Wish me luck, but also say a prayer for my sister, LA, who is having her baby on Oct 14 maybe, two weeks early, because he is half the size of Shaq already. I cant wait to meet this little sucker!
~Sechrist Out

The Last Two Weeks in Pictures!

Before I get to the pictures I'd like to ask all 7 of my readers (lol) if they have ever heard of anyone having a TENpm curfew... at the age of TWENTY FIVE! Well, it's true. Zach's entire unit is on a curfew. They have to be at a residence from 10pm-4am. Seriously! They had enough, pardon my french, jackasses with DUI's, bar fights, and other stupid things that they punished EVERYONE! If you are caught out after that, unless it's a medical emergency, you could get into serious trouble. Absolutely ridiculous!! Not like Z and I ever have late nights, but occasionally if we want to see a later movie, or go to a football game - ten is a little lame!

Also, Z has a decision to make regarding the Army. It's either go into the IRR (I think it stands for inactive reserve something) ... or the Reserves! He has to do either one for three years to finish the eight years you're required.. since he was Active Duty for 5 years. The Reserves Recruiter offered him $5k, school loan payoff, and TWO of the three years stabilization (which would be in Tampa). He would have to go to trainings one weekend a month and for 2 weeks during the summer. We could pay to have the same insurance we have now (which is amazing), and that is that. I'm not sure which I prefer, but I think I'm leaning more towards him doing the reserves... even if that third year means he could be deployed. Hmm. Pros/cons about both!

Now onto the pictures...

Kahlua walked into the house with TWO bones in her mouth the other day.
She doesn't like to share. Poor Lace... Lua is a female dog. Haha :)
(Lua has her own couch she doesn't usually let Lacey on!)

All of the alligators I used for my lesson on Tues. :)
(Unfortunately their eyes kept popping off...)

This picture may look familiar... but notice the fish is GONE!
RIP Goldie Jr...

Lacey enjoying her doggie ice cream.
Spoiled mutts... :)

I looked outside last night and Lua and Lace were running around the backyard.
When Lace needed a break she'd go in the pool because Lua is too scared to go in it!
(It's totally empty and is now deflated!)

Well, the USF vs. FSU game just started! GOOOOO NOLES! I went to both schools, but grew up dreaming of being a NOLE and they will ALWAYS come first!!

-Ashley

Is That Your Boyfriend?

Zach came to school yesterday to bring me lunch and hangout, and the first thing one of my students asked me was "is that your boyfriend?!". I let her know that he is my husband, not my boyfriend, and she replied with "weird!". My mentor teacher explained that it might be weird to her because most of the students just know of their parents having a boy/girlfriend not a husband/wife. Sad, but true!

The "BF" and I enjoying Moe's. :)

Anyway, once it was time for recess Z left and the same girl had another question. This time she asked if I had ever kissed him. I looked at her like she was crazy and said "no! of course not!". She quickly replied "THAT STINKS!". Lol. Third graders make me laugh... Another student asked me how long we had been married and I told him just over three years and they were ALL like WOW!! One of them even said that's like 300 days! And I explained how many days are actually in a year and did a little adding. Too funny!

Since the awful day Monday the rest of the week went really well. Zach was off Thurs/Fri so we went to Outback for dinner Thursday night. It had been THREE weeks since we went out to dinner so it was definitely needed. I am a little nervous about Monday though. I'm going to be COMPLETELY in charge because my mentor teacher is going to be out of town. There will be a sub in the room, but they are just going to sit alllll day. A day without the "real" teacher might lead to crazyyyyyyyness, but I'm going to do the best I can!

-Ashley

AMAZING!

... is one word to describe today! Thank you Lord for such a great day at school! The kids were awesome, my lessons rocked, and I am just so thankful it went the way it did because if it was another yesterday I'd be SO bummed!! I have to be back at school in an hour for a PTA meeting that's from 6-7:30, but I just had to write a few words and say how happy I am! Woooo :)

Tomorrow is my first official observation! The lesson plan is written and at 9:30ct I'll be playing with my alligators! Think of me and cross your fingers that tomorrow goes just like today did!!

-Ashley

Practice Makes Perfect?

.... if that's the case I hope the rest of this internship goes better than it did today! I mean I guess it could've gone worse... a LOT worse, actually, but it wasn't good! Today was my first full day alone in the classroom. In the morning my math lesson went pretty well. I guess because they are all still half asleep!? lol. Anyway, as the day went on the crazyness in the classroom grew. One student didn't take his medicine and that really changed the vibe of the class because every two minutes I was having to deal with him. I, again, feel like a failure and it's just SO frustrating I can't get through anything without stopping 100,000 times! I feel bad for the students who are doing the right thing and listening because I know it has to be annoying!I've tried everything I've been taught the past FIVE years in school and these kids really just don't seem to care. I almost cried when my mentor teacher was talking to me after. I know she's frustrated with me that everything isn't going perfectly and that I don't have total control, but I really am honestly trying my best! She gave me some ideas and I'll try them tomorrow.

I usually go to the library after I leave the school for about 30mins. to get stuff done, and right after that I called my mom. She has been teaching for 33 years and of course she let me know it's okay and I'll get better. :) I love my mom! She also gave me some ideas to use because she is in a Title 1 school just like I am and knows how these kids are.

Well... I'm done ranting! lol. I just opened a bottle of wine so it's time to wind down a little bit and grade some papers... Here's hoping tomorrow is a better day! ( my fingers are crossed!)

-Ashley

Not so Artsy ... or am I?!

Being a teacher I think you are expected to have at least a little bit of creativity. I, however, got the short end of that stick! lol. As a kid my dioramas and other "artsy" projects were never very detailed. I didn't have any great ideas on how to do this, or how to do that.. and my mom didn't either. (No offense, mom, but we both know neither one of us are very crafty - haha.) Back in grade school the same select kids always had projects that looked like they should be in a museum somewhere, but it also looked like their parents did the whole thing... which wasn't the case for me. I usually enjoyed working on it WITH my parents, but I did do the most work! My dad can draw/copy pictures really well - so when it came to projects that needed drawings he was the one I'd go to. He has many funny stories that involve him and my older brother staying up all night working on art projects. (Justin was quite the procrastinator and he'd always tell my dad about it the night before it was due!!)


Anyway, I have my first observation on Tuesday. My supervisor is coming in during math time and it just happens to be the day we start "greater than/less than". She wanted the first lesson she watched to be short and sweet, with an activity. I decided it would be fun to make each student an Al the Alligator clothespin. Al will always eat the bigger number, and that will help them remember which sign is which: > or <. Zach spray painted them for me (thanks, hun) and I am going to glue the eyes on. It's not very crafty, but I hope the kids get it and use it to help them!

Al taking a bite... lol.

Another funny thing happened with my dogs the other night. I couldn't figure out what the heck Lacey, my beagle, was barking at. She was on the edge of the couch looking into the dining room and growling/barking. I looked over and saw the table and a closed window and then realized I had placed a puppet that I made in a class last Spring on the table and it was standing up. The puppet has no eyes or ears now - I guess I'll have to do some surgery if I ever use it in my class, but I guess she saw the shadow! haha. Maybe I am a little artsy after all! Even my dog could figure out what it was! :) We had to pick a character from our favorite childhood story and do some sort of paper mache and it had to have attachments that didn't fall off when it was turned upside down. We also needed a prop. I chose to do Grandpa from "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" and I made a plate of yarn spaghetti with painted Styrofoam meatballs. Artsy?! I think so!!

This is before his ears/eyes fell off in my trunk!

Next week I start "Total teaching"!! I'm a little nervous, but I think it will be okay. She will be leaving me alone starting on Tuesday and I'm just hoping my classroom management only gets better from here! She said she thinks her being gone the whole time will help because it will look like I'm really in charge since she's not there watching me and chiming in with certain things. We shall see! My mom sent me a really cool book called The Tough Kid Toolbox that I got a few ideas out of and two other teachers even borrowed it to get some ideas for their class. (2 brand new teachers teaching two Kindergarten classes with 80% of their students having NOT gone to pre-k... I don't know how they do it!)

Yesterday I spent 3 hours of my life taking my LAST certification exam (well, until I get to FL) the OPTE. It went alright, I think. There were 75 multiple choice questions - which a majority of them were answers like "A. I and II B. I and III... etc" those SUCK! lol. At the end there were three essays and by the end of that my head AND hand hurt... what a crappy way to spend my whole Saturday - it started at 12:30.

Anyway, I better get to work. I can't believe I didn't post once throughout the week, but I'm just so busy with school stuff and after that 's done I'm always exhausted and in bed. lol. Today I have a LOT to do so my Sunday will be busy! Enjoy your week! :)

P.S. GOOOO NOLES!!! They beat (#7)BYU 54-28! Hopefully we'll be ranked again after that WIN! ... They play USF next week (the other school I went to) - I'm just hoping we can somehow watch it!!

-Ashley

Boomer Sooner!!

The forecast was absolutely accurate yesterday! Rain, rain, and more rain, but that didn't stop us from having a good time! We left the house around 2 and with the crazy weather we didn't make it to Norman until about 3:45ish. I was happy/surprised that there wasn't much traffic until we hit the campus. I was expecting delays on top of the rain, but it was pretty smooth sailing! We did stop at Wal-Mart to see about getting Z an orange poncho, but they didn't have any. When we were there I went to the bathroom and broke the seal because before we even made it to Norman I made him stop at a gas station so I could pee again! lol. TMI? :) Oh well!

When we got there we drove around trying to figure out where we should park. We weren't sure where the stadium was, but we found a house that was only 10$ so we decided to park there. After we got out of the car we just followed the crowds. We walked around and eventually made it into the stadium after walking through "fan fest". We found our seats and Z finally wasn't the only one in orange since we were sitting in the visitors section! lol. Since there was over an hour until game time we decided to walk around the stadium. I grabbed a pulled pork sandwich and went back to our seats to eat it. I had to use the foil to keep it covered because it was raining so hard. Who wants a soggy sandwich!? Zach was starting to get pretty wet when he overheard someone talking about them selling ponchos at the front entrance so he left to grab one for him and the people sitting right in front of us. About 30 minutes later he returned. He said the line was insane, which I'm sure it was. Lucky for me Z bought me one when he exchanged my white shirt earlier in the day! :)

The game was fun. OU won, of course, 64-0 or something crazy like that. Through the first half ISU had negative rushing yards! lol. Sadness. Zach just wanted ONE first down - and they actually gave him that so he was happy! lol. After the first quarter I was unable to take anymore pics because the rain was coming down so hard... but these are a few I did get!

Tailgating at home! lol.

ISU vs. OU! :)

No sun in sight!

Being silly in the car! I love my white zin. (just like my mom!) :)

So happy to be dry! lol.

I kept thinking of Oregon Trail...

The jumbo-tron was HUGE!
Wet!

Wetter!!

Wettest!!!

I'm currently watching the Bucs lose to the Cowboys 6-0, but hopefully we'll score soon! It's still the first quarter and I'm just happy I'm able to watch (and be DRY!!). Next week I won't be able to! :( DirecTV has every NFL game on today for free as a trial to their Sunday Ticket package. We pay to get every MLB game, but adding on NFL too would make our monthly payment incredibly high, unfortunately. Last year Zach got the NHL package, but since we'll be out of here in December that won't be necessary! (darn!) haha. He actually has Lightning season tickets and is SO excited about being able to go to the games starting in December!

Well, I have school stuff to work on. I can't believe tomorrow is already Monday! ICK! Have a nice week everyone!

-Ashley

There's About to be a SQUIRREL fight!

Okay... my puggle Kahlua isn't the brightest dog. She may be super cute (in my opinion) and oh so loveable, but sometimes I feel like she has rocks in her head instead of a brain! lol. (and yes, I think that way about some of my students too... hehe) Kahlua is always doing stupid things that make Z and I laugh! Well, yesterday after the kids were let go I finally got a chance to check my cell phone and noticed like ten missed calls from Zach. Sometimes he does this when there isn't really any reason, but I immediately called him back and didn't get an answer. When I got home I noticed Lua's crate by the door (usually it's in our bedroom), but she and Lacey happily greeted me and everything seemed normal. Zach was taking a nap so I woke him up and asked him why he felt the need to call me so many times and he said there had been an emergency! Kahlua had gotten in a fight with... A SQUIRREL! The squirrel either bit her or scratched her, but she was bleeding like crazy on her paw he said. I then noticed the deep scratch on the top of her paw... He had found the squirrel dead in the backyard and he said both dogs were guarding it like it was theirs. CRAZY! He said the squirrel wasn't bleeding or anything, but they must've somehow ganged up on it. Only Lua would have battle wounds though! lol. He was calling to see if he should take her to the vet, but he wrapped it and put neosporin on it and she seems to be okay now. My poor baby! When he told me this I couldn't help but laugh. It's not really that funny, but this would ONLY happen to her. Haha. Gosh that dog brings me so much joy/pain! :)

Anyway, the weather this morning has been blahhh! Usually I'd enjoy a rainy day, but it's GAME DAY! I bought a white shirt last night from Wal-Mart, but I think I'm going to go exchange it for a CRIMSON! one. I'm not trying to be in the wet t-shirt contest tonight - lol. I'm in college, but my crazy college days are over! ;)

I woke up craving some coffee and have been reading other blogs about the Pumpkin Spice Latte so I had Z take me to Starbucks and I tried it for my first time! It was soooo yummy!!!

"Tall PSL"

Have a nice weekend! I'm sure I'll blog about my first SOONER experience tomorrow!

-Ashley

"Now Accepting Debit and Credit!"

... is totally a sign I saw on the way home today ... at SUBWAY! It's like welcome to the new millennium Oklahoma! lol. Honestly though! Who really carries around any amount of cash these days?! I think I have a dollar in my wallet, but probably not! How they have stayed open for business is beyond me. I'd be one of those people that walked in, ordered, and then not been able to pay because they didn't want my plastic! But anyway...

This week has been 1000 times better than last week! My second math lesson went really well and they loved the game on Wed.! :) Today every third grader had testing to see if they would get into the gifted/talented program, but I'm not sure if any of them will qualify. I guess we'll just have to wait and see! It took up all morning and part of the afternoon - poor little ones! We had to teach them how to use a scantron and almost all of them were confused at first! One kid had 3 bubbles bubbled in on one line! LOL.

Zach is off Thurs-Sat. On Saturday we're going to the OU football game. He actually went to Idaho State (the team they're playing) for a year and a half before he decided to join the Army (so RANDOM, I know!) His dad lived out there so it's not THAT random. lol. He and I both know that ISU will get their butts kicked, but I'm sure it will be fun to go and attend an OU game (they are crazy about football there!)! ISU's mascot is the bengal. Bengals are orange and black. I hate orange and won't wear it or cheer for a team that's orange... therefore, I'm an OU fan on Saturday!

TGIF tomorrow!!

-Ashley

Pointless Post #2!

Last night South (Zach's UM friend) and Vander Molen (the "40 yr old virgin" - pshh) came over to watch the game. I made a dip as an appetizer and we had some chicken pasta.. and cupcakes for dessert, of course! It was fun having them over! As for the rest of the night... it was such a BUMMER!! Why do the 'Noles always have to break my little heart? The game was amazing though - both teams played really well! I definitely couldn't fall asleep.. I stayed up all night (well, until 11) and the game went back and forth, but it ended 38-34 with a UM win. We had a chance to score a TD in the last 90 seconds, but totally blew it... Booo!

Today, however, was a great day at school! I woke up SO sleepy, but had to get moving! I did my first full lesson and my mentor teacher had a lot of good things to say! It was such a relief after how bad that one day last week went! Her only complaint was that the lesson was too long... which meant they didn't have a lot of time to work on their independent practice worksheet. Oh ya, and I didn't have an activity to get them moving around - which lead to a few not paying attention at the very end. Tomorrow I have a fun game planned for the beginning of the lesson so that will help keep their attention - wooo!

The finished product of giant cupcake #3!
She'll pick it up from the jail tomorrow.. hope she likes it!!!

Only three more days of school this week - Yay for 4 days weeks! :)

-Ashley

GAME DAY!! >>--FSU--->

Just wanted to write a quick post and sayyyyyy: GO 'NOLES!! Three years ago today I was a sophomore at FSU and I was partying and getting ready to head to Doak to watch the Canes vs. Noles game with my BFF Brittany! (which I remember we WON!)... oh the good old days!! I remember it was Labor Day and I don't think I made it to class the next morning since it was played on a Monday night, but we had a great time and I miss those crazy days and all of my friends!

This was my first game EVER freshman year...

Britt and I sporting the beautiful GARNET and GOLD freshman year!

I hope to watch the whole thing... that is one good thing about being in the central time zone! The game will start at 7 here, not 8, which gives me an advantage!

Beat those Miami Hurricanes!!!

F-L-O-R-I-D-A S-T-A-T-E... FLORIDA STATE, FLORIDA STATE, FLORIDA STATE! WOOOO!!!!

EDIT: Zach just texted me and said he invited over his friend to watch the game with us tonight... who just happens to be a big Miami fan! YUCK! I was about to put the extra cupcakes from the giant one in the oven when I decided to add red and yellow food coloring to half of the cupcakes... nothing like a little festive dessert for tonight (and I'll be sure he gets one)! hehe. I hate the color orange and any team that wears it... especially Miami (and Florida).

-Ashley

Pro Baker?!

When I took SFC Heizer his giant birthday cupcake a couple of weeks ago EVERYONE at the jail saw it... and everyone thought it was pretty cool/AMAZING! lol! Most people took it upon themselves to tell Z when their birthday was so I could make them one (ya right!). One lady in particular was serious ... Zach came home and said she offered to pay me to make one for her daughter's birthday! We both decided she should just pay for the supplies and we'd call it even! That's a lot of pressure on me to make it look and taste good, but it's my third one so I think I've got it down to an art! She wants pink icing and funfetti cake and needs it by Tuesday (thank goodness I have tomorrow off because it takes forever to finish the whole process). I need to go back to WalMart and get the candy melts, but we have everything else ready to go! See you tomorrow kitchen!!

The first one I did - Z's 25th bday cake!
(I used icing for the bottom - didn't look as cool as H's)

Wish me luck - I hope her daughter likes it!!

-Ashley