Thankful heart 2012

It's that time of year again. I really enjoy the whole holiday season and the reminder that it provides to reflect on the blessings that I have been given and the things that I am thankful for inmylife. So here I go.


Nov.12: I am grateful for my sisters, my eternal sisters, my forever friends.

Nov. 11: I am thankful for those who are serving, or have served before, in order to protect their fellow Americans, or to forward the cause of freedom and liberty around the world.

 

Nov.10: I am grateful for the color red. It makes me happy.

Nov.9: I am thankful for music, and the power it has - like nothing else- to affect my mood, motivate me, and make my heart dance like a fool.

Nov. 8: I am thankful for friends, old friends and new friends. I am not a real outgoing person like I was as a kid, and I don't socialize too much- even with people I know. There's a lot behind it, but I was grateful for a kind parent who shares a mutual friend with me, who invited me to dinner, along with our mutual friend and her daughters. I got to see her beautiful home, watch her spirited kids run and play together, and chat with some great ladies. ♥

 

Nov.7: I am thankful for the comforting peace that comes through prayer. There is no power like it on Earth. When darkness surrounds me and threatens to swallow me completely I can always turn to the Lord through a quiet prayer and His love engulfs me. Through prayer, I was able to calm my troubled soul and get the rest I needed in order to deal with the fear, frustration, and dismay after the election turnout last night.

Nov.6: I am thankful to live in a country where I have the right to vote for the person who I feel best represents me and my faith, morals, and what I stand for. 

Nov. 5: I am thankful for my beautiful nephew, Jude. I have always felt like we share a special connection. I love being around him and he makes me feel so important and special.

Nov.4: I am thankful for fall, the greatest season of all. I love the colors, the flavors, the smells, the weather, the clothes. 

Nov. 3: I am thankful for the moments of motivation that I occasionally get when I feel so overwhelmed that I think I will never accomplish all the things that my ADHD raddled brain wants to get done. I have spent the past few days finally getting a lot of cleaning done that I should not have put off, but I love how I feel once I get so much done, and I love the feeling of a really clean house.

Nov. 2: I am thankful for my little kitty, Lucy. She has saved me. She came along at a time when I was very lonely and still suffering from broken friendships with people who I was very close to. I love when she sleeps with me and crawls right up to my back and lays there. I love how she tags me with both paws as I walk by. I love how much she enjoys just sitting and staring out the window. I never thought I could love a cat as much as I do. She truly is my baby.

Nov. 1: I am thankful for my job and how much fun I get to have every day. I get to make a difference in the lives of so many children and I am so grateful for the love that it has brought to my life. I get hugs, high fives, and "I love yous," every day, and that makes me so grateful for each child I have had in my classroom.

Check out my other blogs

dses3rdgrade.blogspot.com For all the happenings in the classroom
believingisseeing365.blogspot.com For my 365 day photo blog from 2011

I am still alive

Well a lot of things have been happening inmylife, over the past year and a half or so, since I last blogged, but I just have not had time to keep up in the blog world. I spend my time on Facebook, so people keep up with me there, but I feel like I want to keep more of a journal again in the form of a blog. So here I am back on INMYLIFE. So, I guess that is all I have to say. Put me back on your "Reading List" and enjoy reading the adventures of my life as a teacher, a friend, a sister, a daughter, and the best auntie in the world.

BID #4 Yankee Stadium

I love the Yankees, mostly in a historical sense, but I would love to make it to Yankee Stadium sometime inmylife!

Pho sho!

"She's a Pho Pro!"
~ Cousin Jo (that's me, not sure why though)

A. Rogers July 2011

Ok, so I have heard of Pho befo' but I have never had the chance to try it. Pho is a Vietnamese soup with really super long noodles and then different kinds of meat or shrimp, etc. So, Chantelle and Brooklynn love pho, so they had to take me to their favorite pho place, The Bamboo Cafe. Pretty good stuff.

Zuma Beach

SMILE! You're at Zuma!

On Saturday, I started my California vacation off perfectly! My cousin Chantelle and her daughter, Brooklynn (6), along with Chantelle's friend, Cindy, and her little girl, Katie (4), all went out for pedicures early in the morning. Cindy treated us all to mochas and smoothies from Dr. Conkey's coffee and candy. She brought me a super yummy strawberry banana smoothie! Chanti got her toes painted bright pink with little flowers for her anniversary cruise, Brookie and Katie went for a bright gold, Cindy got sparkly blue, and I chose a bright purple with sparkles. There's nothing quite as wonderful to start a summer vacation to the beaches and sunshine, as a perfect pedi!


Shortly after arriving at the beach, we noticed a large, dead jellyfish lying next to the water! I have never seen one before in real life. We made sure to stay back from it, because they can sting you even after they are dead. Some kid decided to go tell a lifeguard and guess what the lifeguard's response was... he said, "So." Seriously? What kind of lifeguard says, "So." Anyways, the jellyfish was quickly washed back to sea where he was given a proper burial closer to his home.

Haha! Look how scared Brooklynn looks!

I was sooooooo excited to see dolphins jumping all over the place not too far out. In fact I could probably have swam out and actually touched them! They were just out a little past where the waves were breaking. I love that I caught this picture of such a great memory.


Brooklynn is such a cutie! She didn't want to get to close to the water at first. She wanted to sit way back from the water and she kept trying, in vain of course, to keep the sand off of her feet, her lounge chair, and her towel.

Brooklynn getting sunscreened. haha. I love her face all scrunched up!

She loves the camera!

I love, love, love the happiness on her face right here.

Such a supermodel!



We also enjoyed flying kites . . .

and building sand castles!

I look forward to going back again sometime soon.

Independence Day- Lake Powell style

On Monday, July 4 and Tuesday, July 5, Mom, Kelly, and I went camping at Wahweap at Lake Powell. I have not been back to Page since I left 6 years ago! I can't believe it. It was very strange to be going back.
When we got there we all worked in the heat to get the tent up. Mom and I both had snazzy cots and Kelly used Mom's awesomely huge air bed. All three of our lovely camp beds fit in the tent nicely and I was glad to have cots, because actually, it provided more room than other times we've camped because we were able to store our bags below the cots. After getting everything set up, we took a trip into Page and went to RD's and enjoyed some amazing hamburgers, corn dogs, and ice cream! A local tradition that is unmatched.
I got a terrible heat headache and when I get these, they are hard to get rid of. We went down to the lake, and it was terribly crowded with locals. We stayed a short time, then went to the resort and went swimming. After that, I was hoping to be rid of my headache, but I wasn't so I slept through dinner. Later, I ate so melon, but that was all. We decided not to go into town to watch the fireworks. It was such a warm night (although very windy) that none of us even needed to use any blankets, but we did get a small sprinkling of rain in the early morning. It felt good with our tent windows open and small drops occasionally slipping through.
On Tuesday, we tried to head out to Antelope Canyon to go on a tour of the slot canyons, but were disappointed to see that we had to pay $6 EACH for parking, even though we were all in the same car (explain that one to me, please) + $25 each (cash only) for the tour! We were very bummed, but went back to the lake and enjoyed the much less crowded beach almost to ourselves.
Wednesday morning, we woke up, tore down camp, and headed back to St. George. It was a short, but wonderful break and fun to get away from town without having to drive too far. I was a bit disappointed to not have the time to see people who I had not seen in a while, but I intend to make another visit sometime in the fall if I can swing it.

More notes!

Well, today was the last day of school so, of course, I got plenty of notes. Thought I would share a good one.

Dear: Miss Rogers I'm going to miss you. I learnd things that I didn't now. You are a great techer. You are so so so nice becuse you let us have fun things and lerning things to do. I didn't now how to multiply before but now I now how I'm going to tell you the answer of 8x7=56 and 8x8=64. I'm going to miss you.
Your BFF Best Friend Forever
From Miriam

(Followed by a beautiful sketch of Miriam and Miss Rogers. We sort of look like twins.)

Happy summer, everyone!

Another year has come and gone,

Like a downhill train without its brakes.

So now we are writing a fancy song,

About our year, the good times and the aches.

Wearing shiny, new uniforms, in August we trudged

On to Dixie Sun eager to learn a lot of stuff

And every day, that ‘form we wore – and though begrudged

To tuck in our shirts, we did with a huff.

Miss Rogers, our teacher, worked us to the bone.

She laughed when we cried, “Are you serious?!?! AND IN CURSIVE, TOO!”

She chuckled when we would whine and groan.

But, we knew she loved us when she said, “Here, let me give you a little
c l u e….

And, “Yes, you can. Yes, EVEN YOU!!!”

Treasures was a BLAST!

And did you know that I just used onomatopoeia.

Well, I did. And if you asked

“What is that?” I would smile and say it’s used in poetree-a.

Another totally awesome writing tool is “PER-SON-I-FI-CATION.”

A really long word, for a trick we dig, especially in “Nacho and Lolita,”

Our favorite story, where Nacho is in love and uses SONG-I-FI-CATION

To make Lolita fall in love with him and come to his casita.

Science was the best- we all had so much fun!

Bill Nye rocks and made us laugh about so many strange things,

Gravity, Ecosystems, the Moon and the Sun,

Our hearts, brains, skeletons, and Saturn’s rings.

We got our creative juices flowing with writing and art,

Using different styles and genres made us kinda scared

“What if mine is ugly?” “It’ll be great, just get a start!”

We all are creative, smart, and brave- BECAUSE WE DARED!!!

So, now it’s time we wave good bye,

To José, Mr. P, Miss Rogers, and all our pals at Dixie Sun

True, it’s sort of sad, and some might cry,

But come August, we will be back for another year of fun!

Another awesome "love note"

Haha! That is what I call notes that my students give me. This is the one I got today.
"To: Miss Rogers From: Sam
open ---->
Dear Ms. Rogers
Thank you for teaching me it was really fun we made crafts watched movies learnd about native americans and it was fun. I am happy that the ether kids get to have the same amount of stuff the we got to do. and I am going to miss you alot and I hope we get to see each other agin. And I hope 4th grade is as fun as you.
from:
Sam"

I think this is the best part of being a teacher!

My favorite picture

E.Watts 2011

This is my new favorite picture of me and my sweet little niece. She was talking to me, which is something she is just learning how to do. She sticks out her tongue as she tries to pull the babbles and coos from deep in her tummy. It is so sweet to feel the words work their way almost from her toes up to her little lips. I don't think I have felt anything so amazing inmylife, as the genuine love I have for these babes and they have for me.

Dress up

Last night, my sister wanted to play dress up with little Lolo and take some pictures with my camera. After we got Bubs to bed we had fun dressing her up in a tutu and pearls, but she was not completely cooperative and it was a bit difficult to get some good pix at first. These are some of the fun ones that we got. Erin took most of them, but I love them! So they are going on here!!! P.S. My new goal is to post to this blog once a week and update you on what is happening inmylife. I am focusing mostly on my daily blog which you can check out by clicking here if you haven't yet.

E. Watts 2011Haha, with her little cap on, she looks like a Puritan baby!
Erin and I happen to have the same quilt. We must be sisters.

E.Watts 2011Grandma's pearls look so beautiful on her!

E. Watts 2011And look at that tutu!

A.Rogers 2011All snuggly in her swing.

A.Rogers 2011Nakie girl... :)


E.Watts 2011Grandma lovin' up the babe!

E.Watts 2011

Happy MLK, Jr. Day!

As you celebrate your day off today, take some time to think about the freedoms and rights that you enjoy. After all, Dr. King didn't just fight for the rights of his people, he fought for the rights of all people who were not treated fairly. That includes you, me, and our neighbors of all races, colors, and religions.

Playing at the river

On Friday afternoon, I took my nephew, Jude, now almost 17 months old, to the river. It is a short walk from their house and the minute we turned out of the driveway and crossed the street, he knew exactly where we were headed. He started chanting excitedly, "Bafta, bafta, bafta!" (bathtime). I reminded him of the sign for water and he started to use it.... as we were leaving to go back home. The whole time we were there, it was "bafta" this and "bafta" that, "bafta" over here and "bafta" over there. I love this little boy and I am so thankful to have him inmylife every single day.

Sunrises

"I believe in Christianity as I believe the sun has risen. Not because I see it, but because by it, I can see everything else."

~ C.S. Lewis