Pompeys v. Nature Part 2: Mountain Biking

Wow! This was something we were not prepared for. On our first full day in Tahoe we wanted to take a bike ride around the lake. I was looking for a nice flat paved path and somehow we found the exact opposite. A lady at an information desk told us we should try the Flume trail. She said that it was super easy, downhill the entire way, and gave the best and most beautiful views of Lake Tahoe. Sign me up! When we got there we found something much different. It was a 15 mile ride, the first four miles up hill, the trails were narrow and rocky, and it was just so hard! We were at 7,500 ft elevation and that 4 mile climb was brutal. Although I felt like I was going to die, the downhill ride was worth it. It was such a beautiful ride and view! I must admit that I wanted to give up a couple of times, but my wonderful husband kept pushing me to continue, and we did it together. It was an amazing experience that I won't soon want to repeat. I do not know how those mountain bikers do it! Here are some picture from the ride.

This is when the path was nice and wide. Not too hard yet.

The first lake we reached after the challenging climb.

We turned a corner and there was Lake Tahoe!

What a ride

These are my students!!!!!!

Moorpark High School, where I work, has an amazing Academic Decathlon team. This competition is like an Olympics of the mind, and our always changing team never wavers on one thing, their determination and drive to be the best. These students, and their amazing coach, spend hours upon hours, studying given material, writing and practicing speeches, and working with one another to be the best. This dedication has won them their fifth National Championship in 10 years! This year one of the perks of being National Champions was meeting OBAMA!!!!!! They met Obama!

That is my Marlena in the blue shirt right by his side. And I had Sol and Scott, that are all the way to the right in the picture. It was so amazing for me to see this picture! They are truly extraordinary!

Dinner is getting boring

I cook dinner almost every night. It is something I really like to do, and now that I have the time I want to try to do some new things. I have about 10 go to recipes and dinner is getting a little boring! Last night I tried a new garlic lemon chicken recipe from Bobby Flay and it was great. If anyone has some good, relatively cheap to make, healthy recipes, lay 'em on me!

Pompey's v. Nature Part 1: Whitewater Rafting

Chris and I have been away for a few days on quite an outdoor adventure! We drove up to the American River near Sacramento and started our Adventure with Whitewater Rafting! We stayed in an adorable cabin right on the river (thanks Jo and Tim), and the next morning woke up pretty early to raft. I was so scared before we got on the river, but it ended up being so amazing. We rafted the middle fork which had level four rapids. We rafted an 18 mile stretch of the river and were out there for 6 hours. We had never done this before, but why start small? It was a big adventure and a great way to start our trip before wee headed to Lake Tahoe. A professional photography company took some pictures of us on one of the biggest rapids. Take a look below!

Sunday-Stress day

During the school year, Sunday is anything but relaxing. It is usually the day that I get back to work. I grade, and think about the upcoming week's lessons. Even if I decide to do something non school related, my mind is usually preoccupied with school related things. That is how my Sundays usually go, but not today. Today I slept in, did a little cleaning, took the puppies for a walk, had a bbq with friends, watched the Laker game, and celebrated their win with some drinks, and i didn't think about school one bit. It is amazing how light and relaxed I feel. That feeling never occurs during the school year becasue I am in costant work mode. What a great day it was! And tomorrow, hanging out with Kate and Zach, I can't wait!

Summer plans

SLEEP


Cook some yummy barbecue

Paint a couple more rooms in the house

Hit the open road

And find somewhere to relax.

What is everyone else doing?

School's out for Summer...

...School's out forever!

I am so excited! I am done! Today has been a weird day, but mostly I am excited to take a much needed break, and I am proud of what I have accomplished! It has been a sad day as well because I have spent this afternoon saying goodbye to a lot of my friends. I think that it is no surprise that the budget situation in California is horrible, and because of that, public education has been abused. I will really miss my friends, especially Carly and Nevis! It is hard for me to imagine what this campus is going to be like next year! I am not sure I want to think about that right now.

Presently I am sitting in my classroom (I am done but I still have to stay for graduation) thinking about this past year. I accomplished so much and I am really proud of myslef. This was my forth year teaching and in one school year I:

*Ran the AVID Program
*Taught 130 Students
*Organized Prom
*Organized Senior Picnic
*Was Advisor to three different clubs
*Organized the MECha Talent Show
*Planned and went on 3 different fieldtrips
*Went to workshops, meetings, and various other school events
*Graded about 1,500 essays (that is not counting all of the homework, group presentations, etc)

AND

Acted as counselor, teacher, and parent to quite a few kids.

Not to mention, I did this while moving into our first house, and dealing with all of the medical issues I have had this year. I guess it might be in poor taste to go on about what I have done, but I am really truly amazed by all of the teachers that do their job well, because I know so many of them work as hard as me, or harder.

Congratulations fellow teachers, and have a great summer!!!!

Need a laugh

Every generation is influenced by pop culture. I like to think that if you asked my generation what the go to show was on Saturday mornings they would say the one and only "Saved by the Bell." If you agree, you have to watch this video of Mark Paul on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon". I could not stop LAUGHING!

People amaze me

It always amazes me when I find out new and exciting things about people. You just really never know all of the things people have done, and places they have been, and really getting to hear those stories from people is exciting. For example a few of my students have lived in places I could only dream of going. I just found out that one of my students moved here form Indonesia! Indonesia! Another lived in Japan, and another was born in Germany. I am also always amazed by the careers some of my teacher friends have had before they started this profession. One of the science teachers at our school used to be a sniper!! I didn't even realize that people actually did that! Also, another lady that I teach English with was a dancer in the Michael Jackson "Thriller" video. I mean how cool is that?

I guess the reason I bring this up is because I was talking to a lady in the science department today that I never have really got to know and I asked her what she was doing this summer. After a few minutes of speaking I found out that she has her own Baby clothing business! Where do these people find the time? I really found it amazing because I could only wish to be so creative and talented. I checked out her etsy store and there was come cute things but this was by far my favorite:


I could just see little Zach rockin' this one! Check out her website at kamikat.com if you get a chance.

I love weddings!

It is so much fun to attend the wedding of someone you truly care about! I have been to some great weddings and the one this weekend was just perfect! It is just such a happy occasion, and every wedding I attend makes me feel so much closer to my husband. It brings back the memories of our special day and gives me little firework feelings inside :) My friend Becca got married this weekend and I have known her family for quite awhile. We went to high school together, worked at Dominicks together, and her father was the man that married Chris and I. At the beigining of the ceremony after she walked down the isle, her dad, cousin, and uncles had a suprise. They sang "My girl" and appropriately changed some of the words to be specific to Becca. It was so amazing and we affectionately referred to it as her "Love Actually" moment. If you have seen the wedding scene in that movie you know what I am talking about. It was such a lovely, funny, heartfelt ceremony. Then at the reception, it would not have been Becca and Scott if they did not do a silly first dance. They started very serious and then the music changed and they went nuts. They are a beautiful, silly, affectionate couple and I know they will have a wonderful life together. I am just so thankful I could take part in their wonderful day. Ok, who's next ? :)With the Beyer Girls right before the ceremony

Gettin' down to their first dance. It was so cute!

Party Animals!