Teaching

I wish i could post of video of my every day teaching life. Its comedy. Its comedy as long as you can keep yourself from crying.
I'm not sure there are many other jobs besides teaching where you get yelled at on a daily basis by teenagers and you get to break up one argument after the next.
It is draining.
It is amazing what teenagers will do for attention. Amazing!
There are little rewards that go with this job that are turned in to HUGE rewards to keep a teacher motivated.
I get excited when a student passes a class. I get excited when they make public apologies at community meetings in front of the whole school. I get excited when my students push in their chairs and I don't have to spend ten minutes cleaning up after them. I get excited when I get homework turned in on time. I get excited if I get through a class without hearing the f-word. I love when my ESL students begin to use English and can communicate with English-only speaking students.
If students knew all the work a teacher puts into teaching them I wonder if that would change their attitude and effort in the classroom.
I have taken the Zen approach to teaching this year (thanks to the incredible examples I have at my job from other teachers). I have not yelled while teaching (I am not counting my advisory group.......they are just unruly and on the way to being labeled "annoying")
I am trying to create a peaceful place in room 228 at the Kurt Hahn school. I'll let you know if it works out in June!

Its time for some thanks

Tis the season to be thankful....fa.la.la.la.la.la

There are so many things in my life that I am thankful for.

I am thankful for my job. Its the hardest thing I've ever done, ever. It is worth my time (and i give my job some serious time) and effort. I'm not sure I would be happier doing anything else.

My family. Its good to have some solid people in the world who have known we forever and love me so much!

Charlie. I'm so very thankful for him. I love being with him and learning and growing together.

My friends. I am one lucky girl. I think I have the best friends anyone could ask for. Its good to know I have people around me who I trust, learn from, and want to be like.

so rock it......tofurky like!

yes, we can!

Its surreal. The campaign that had so much heart and soul behind it.

I rode my bike to work yesterday. I passed by three schools that had really long lines out the door at 8:00 a.m. At my high school people were hugging and talking into cell phones, "this is your civic right, get down here and vote"
Teachers that have taught at my high school said they have never seen so many people come out to vote.
People came out to vote cause they believed in something. They saw and supported Obama's vision for our country

It took Christine, my roommate, 4 hours to vote. She waited and she voted.

Brooklyn was moved last night! All the bars, restaurants, and coffee shops that had TVs were packed with people. The energy in Fort Greene was amazing.

In my first period class today I had them write a reaction to a part of Obama's acceptance speech last night. We were discussing their reactions and I told my class, all students of color, "you are living in history right now, your children and your grandchildren will ask you if you remember this very moment. This moment when America elected the first African American president. Our country has seen so much change in the last 100 years. You are part of something new!"

I felt so honored to discuss this with my students. They get it.
They get that opportunities are now open to them. We get that more change is coming.

The Fall

In the full swing of school. September and October are gone. I feel like all I've done since Aug 28 is school stuff. But that's not true, some really great things have happened since summer ended.

I turned 27. I celebrated with a few friends with a little Brooklyn brunch. I like 27. Its a good age. I like that I am in my late twenties.

I was out dancing a fews weeks ago cause my friend Kayla was in town and a few of us met up in the Lower East Side! But it was 11:30 and we all wanted to go. It was "late". Maybe it was "late" cause most of us are now in out late twenties. 11:30 sure wasn't late a few years ago.

Yesterday was the marathon. The NYC marathon. It was awesome!Awesome! 40,000 running 26 miles. I loved it so much. I loved that the streets were full of viewers and encouraging New Yorkers! Liz and I cheered and screamed for about two hours straight!
After the marathon I made pancakes for six friends and just hung out. Now that's a nice Fall afternoon.

Tomorrow is the big day! Lets hold our breath and cross our fingers!

my home land......ireland

i could write pages and pages from our two weeks of adventures in Ireland! Wow it was one good time. It was more than I even hoped it would be. I was told by many that Ireland is amazing and so pretty and the people are great........and they were right!

The Wicklow mountains were amazing. It was our first day in Ireland and we did this amazing hike. We saw a ton of sheep and goats on this hike. The picture to the right is of us at the lake before we hiked the mountain. This next picture (below) is from the top of the mountain.

After wicklow we went down to Waterford and camped almost right on the beach! We hiked a waterfall and of course.......we went swimming! Waterford is known to be the "sunny part" of Ireland. I think my definition of "sunny" is quite different. It was a cold swim, but not too cold. The picture below is of us after the swim. (not too sure what is up with Charlie's hair)

We did so much and I'm trying to just pick some great highlights so i dont bore you, my faithful readers. ok so the next really cool thing we did was we biked all around Beara pennisula. It was one of my favorite places. Its little motto is "the undiscovered pennisula." It was beautiful. We just kept stopping to take in all the beauty.The short little video below shows the view from the top of this hill we biked up (i think i would like to call it a mountain we biked up cause it was hella high)

Another one of my favorite days we spent in Killarney National Park and hiked Torc Mountain and saw this really amazing waterfall. (really amazing because it had been raining so much) This picture doesn't really capture its height or beauty so well.
The top of Torc mountain was really incredible! I'm running out of adjectives to use to describe Ireland. Nice, pretty, amazing.....well you get the picture.

we camped for 13 of the 15 nights. We really liked most of the campgrounds we stayed at. It was fun to stay with other campers. our tent was by far the smallest tent. These campers had some serious tents and camping equiment. we had a little dome tent, tarp, and a campstove that is smaller than a fist. It rained everyday. It rained like some sort of record rainfall we heard from the locals. They said rain is normal in Ireland but not this much rain. (even though it doesnt look like that at all in our pics. i guess we only tooks pics when the sun came out for its daily 30 minute viewing.) Two of the nights we stayed inside. One night we were really fancy and we stayed at this hotel called lake house hotel it was REALLY REALLY nice. This picture is the view from outside our room window.
There was this AWESOME outdoor hot tub too! It was for sure cold enough in Ireland to spend some quality time in there!

And a last little memory to tell you about are the Aran Islands. We were told that the Aran islands were one of the most beautiful place in the world. So we bought us some ferry tickets and planned to have a little island time before leaving Ireland. The night we got there it was raining so hard and it felt like we had to walk so far to our campsite. And when I say "campsite" I mean it was someone's field and it had toilets and sinks. So our wet soggy selves got to the campsite and we were pretty cold and hungry kids. We cooked some food in the lady's room, set up our tent, and slept. Slept for a few hours......... until some high schoolers came back to there tent and make so much noise. Oh....... the Aran Islands. We rented bikes the next morning and rode for about an hour until we were so wet we decided to return the bikes and pack our tent and return to the mainland of our beloved Ireland by ferry. That ferry ride is a whole other story. All I have to say is "have you seen a the movie A Perfect Storm? Ok well I almost lived that movie" (I can hear charlie now "jes....now I think your being dramatic, it wasnt that bad.......) The picture below is a view from our bike ride. It was really pretty. It was. I think we were just too wet and cold to see it in its beauty! Ireland.......... It was wonderful! It was beautiful and one day I will return to see it again.

England and Millay

I spent seven wonderful days in England, all over England, with my good friend Millay. We both treasured every minute. Just not knowing when we'll get to see each other next.

Millay and Andy live in Manchester and i really liked the area. We visited Liverpool. London. Oxford. I fell in love with Oxford. It was beautiful AND...... C.S. Lewis wrote The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe when he lived in Oxford. Now how cool is THAT!! I saw the lamp post and a creature that looked like Mr. Tumness. (Maybe I've seen this movie ten too many times) It was rated G and my parents allowed this movie, so of course I've seen it and have it memorized from my childhood days.

And now.......Back to my visit.......... it was just good solid time with a friend I know I will have for always.

We took a walk up the Peak district and here is a little pic from the windy top.

After out walk we stopped in a local pub and had tea and chips. England is one FUN place.

We talked and talked and enjoyed being together!

I feel like I saw so much of England.

The last place we went was London and it was raining pretty hard and so we found a little cafe in Soho and drank soy hot chocolate and ate pitas.

A great trip to England. And my journey continued when I flew Ryanair for like $25 to meet Charlie and explore Ireland.......... (stories are coming soon)

Summer fun!!!

I'll give a quick little update on my summer so far......

Newest family member
Meet my baby niece, Maiya Adisen. She was born on July 2 and she is precious!!!

I watched my nephew haven while Jen and Dave went off to bring another little life into the world. Things went well and jen, dave, haven, and maiya are all doing well.

Brooklyn

I have officially moved to Brooklyn. I really like my new apt. Its spacious and the neighborhood is a lot more chill than the East Village. We had one little set back last Thursday night while we were sleeping and woke up to our neighbor banging on our door yelling, "there is a fire, the apt is on fire." We're fine and our stuff is fine. It was scary. I bought renters insurance the next day.

Travels

Charlie and I drove up to Vermont the beginning of July for a wedding. A beautiful wedding.

we stayed up in Vermont for an extra four days to hike some on the long trail. It was a great trail. Hard, really hard. But it was so nice to be in nature and the woods and in silence.

More on travel plans.....I am leaving on Monday to go to England to visit my dear friend Millay for a week and then flying over and meet Charlie in Dublin to travel around Ireland for two weeks!
Changes

Two very dear friends, Sarah and Kenneth, are moving to the Midwest next week and I am going to have to say goodbye to them. I am very thankful to have had them in my life here in NYC.

Work

If you wanna see what I did at schools last year a video that captures a lot of what we did is up on this site:

http://www.kurthahnschool.org/

Brooklyn or bust

As Jay-z would say in his song 'Hollywood'....." I got a place in Manhattan, but going back to Brooklyn to escape the madness"

That's right.....I'm moving to Brooklyn on July 1. Christine and I found this apt (well really just christine, I have only seen pictures of our apt)

It is near Fort Greene Park and closer to work, to friends, to trees, and hopefully more chill than Manhattan!!!

It has a washer/dryer and closets, which, if you live in nyc you understand how incredible this is! CLOSETS! like real ones...not the ones you bulid from Ikea, but real closets with doors and door knobs and a place to hang up clothes!!! ROCK IT!

Last weekend Christine and I tried to go see the movie Sex and the City at 8:00 in our neighborhood. It was sold out until the 1:00 Am show. The three other movie theatres close by were all sold out too. We decided to get bubble tea (my fav) but the place was too crowded to sit....we had to take it to go. Too many people. Too fast.

I loved manhattan for the last three years but I'm ready for some chill BK time!!!

A May wedding

Liz's wedding was on Saturday, May 31, 2008!

It was so super FUN!!!! We all had a great time!! I loved that I was a part of it. It was a catholic ceremony.....and that my friends is no joke. When you are raised in a church that meets in a barn with hippie parents and hippie pastors church is easy, easy.

Catholic services are not easy.

We went through the entire ceremony twice at the rehearsal and the whole bridal party was still lost. Walk up the aisle.....meet your partner.....bow to the priest....take a seat in the front pew....all the way at the end of the pew.....wait till your called upon and walk out the other side of the pew and meet your partner....bow....go up next to the alter.....form a circle (kind of).....listen......sweat, cause it was hotter than hell.....then..... after they are announced as married people....take your partner's arm and walk back down the aisle.

ok maybe I got.

The ceremony went well. Liz was beautiful. beautiful.

The reception was a BLAST.

great music and dancing

a photo booth

air hockey

art galleries to walk through

food and drinking

and of course a choreographed dance by the bridesmaids and liz to "sexy back"...that's right! bring it!

It was one happy day!

sisters

I am so thankful for sisters.
Sister power. sister love. sister talks. sister laughs. sister cries. Sisters really put the skip into life.
When I was growing up our Dad would tell us......"one lies and the others swears to it"
One thing the three of us know really well is sister stick together. They have to......it just makes life make a bit more sense.
Jen...... I admire her strength and her continuous positive attitude towards whatever place she finds herself. She is a breath of fresh air for me.
Bec has always been herself. She doesn't try to change who she is for anyone else. I am very challenged by the confidence she has in herself. It is incredible. She is so determined. I've always been a bit jealous of how smart she is!
Growing up with friends who share your last name is AWESOME! I feel completing blessed to have these two in my life.
I wouldn't trade you two for the world!

kick'n it back to elementary school days!

Some things are just so funny when looked back on.

This is one of the many memories I have from my childhood.......................

I went on a field trip when I was about eight years old. When I say field trip I mean I was on a trip with my mother, the teacher, my two sisters and brother, my classmates. I was home schooled. My mom took us to a field trip to the Betsy Ross house in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. We were crossing the street when my younger sister, Rebecca, about three at the time, tripped and busted her lip open. OPEN. Blood was everywhere. My mom grabbed her and we all ran to nearest bathroom. I remember the bathroom was in the basement of whatever place my mom had rushed us all into. All five of us went into the bathroom. When you are home schooled it is very “normal” to do everything together. Everything. So there we were…… a mom with three healthy looking kids and one bleeding kid.
I remember my brother saying he felt nauseous. I told my mom I felt light headed. As a family, we are not good with blood. Our mom told me to sit on a toilet and put my head down and in the same breath told my brother, Darin, five at the time, to sit by the other toilet if he thought he was going to throw up. My mom was giving all these directions while trying to get my youngest sister’s lip to stop bleeding. My older sister, Jen, nine at the time, was just trying to help out.
I passed out and fell off the toilet (as I am told….I of course do not remember this) and Darin started to throw up.
Some time later…..the throw up was cleaned up, I was scrapped up off the floor, and the lip had stopped bleeding. As a family we exited the bathroom.

Keeping it real….spring break 08 style

I love the mountains. I have and still have a very special place in my heart for beaches. The sound, smell, and heat at the beach are unlike anything else. I must say though, that my love for the mountains grew last week. We might soon have a tie for ‘Jes the mountain lover’ and ‘Jes the beach lover.’
Anyway…..right….. the mountains. Charlie and I went to the mountains all last week and just paid our respects to the great outdoors.
We rode our bikes. I have a new (and very cute) green and gray helmet. Don’t laugh…..safety first people. So we rode, in our helmets of course, all over the Catskill Mountains.
We hiked around and then accidentally littered. We littered the day before earth day. It was a plastic fork and we (when I say “we” it was all Charlie) tried to fish the fork out of the river for quite some time. He even thought about diving in to retrieve it from the FREEZING waters. I was his supporter…..the dry and warm one. There was no diving, there was no success at fishing it out, no saving of the plastic fork. Sorry mother earth. But good news……we found a sock and managed to pull that out and thought of it like a trade off. Fork for sock. Trying to do something for good ol’ earth day.

cause thats what friends are for......well at least Micheal W Smith says that

This is why I love my friends

• Bekah - because she called out of work to watch the last episode of Felicity on DVD
• Millay - because she let me buy $25 air conditioners for our apt and fill our lungs with who knows what all summer long
• Lindsay - cause she played the baritone horn in a home school band
• Liz - cause she can do 80's hair like no other
• Smalls - cause she plastered her wall with backstreet boys, NSYNC, and Britney Spears poster when she was younger
• Dave - cause he had (maybe still has) pink shorts
• Kenneth - cause his Karaoke skills rock like no other
• Jen - because she played a drunk in the play Our Town before we even knew what alcohol was
• Sarah - cause she is so good at laying out in the hot, hot sun
• Gabrielle- cause she loves Mari ah Carey
• Charlie - cause he wears spandex shorts when he rides his bike
• Christine - cause she owns everything a girl could ever want
• Collin - cause he dated a cheerleader
• Kayla - cause her dance moved are like no other!
• Darin - cause he was a skater and listened to classical music
• Mers - cause even though she came to NYC and didn't bother to stop over and see me.....at least she owned a red festiva
• Andy - because he put me on quality control to ensure Millay wore a dress for her wedding

update - spring 08

So its been a while......
I'm in california and so so tired cause its 10:30 at home, which is WAY past my bedtime. But only 7:30 here so I'm trying to stay awake.
I see that I haven't written since december and I must say I've done really well for myself in getting through the winter. This may have been one of my favorite winters.
Maybe because.........
- I helped celebrate Liz's engagement and am helping her plan her wedding
- Went to my nephew's first birthday
- Celebrated Millay's last birthday in the city
- Laid on the beach in Punta Cana with Sarah
- Actually enjoyed the cold (from the inside of my heated little car)
- And maybe my very favorite part of this winter was falling in love (I'm still falling)

So I've decided to have more time for life and not be so busy so hopefully that helps my writing more. I love writing.

Friends
So I had to say good-bye to my dear friend Millay last night. We just sat on her couch in brooklyn and I tried to pretend it wasn't the last time for BK couch catch up time. We cried. We hugged and we know we'll be friends forever. I burst into tears when I got into my car. My tear stained face was just telling the world I am very lucky to have a friend like Millay.

Family
Last weekend Charlie and I babysat my nephew, Haven. We were exhausted when we got back to ny. He was a blast and made everything ten times more fun. We sat by a stream and it was so fun because Haven just stared and was so into it, like he'd never seen it before. Well maybe he had never seen it before.

Love
Charlie is my boyfriend. We like being together so much. Its great. Its really great! He is one of the kindest people I have ever met.

Work
I am still enjoying it. Quiting my job in East New York was one of the best decisions I've ever made, ever. It was just sucking the life out of me and now I am so happy at my job. I feel like its where I am suppose to be.

Spiritual
It's steady. Things have always just made sense in this area of my life. Simple. Truth is simple.
I was hurt pretty bad by the church in January. Most Christians would say, "who hasn't" and to that I would raise my hand and say, "I hadn't.....before January" Church has always been a safe and very comfortable place for me. Always. It's where I go for my peace. A great place for me to reconnect to what my being is in tune with. I'm looking for a new one of these places. I miss it so, so, so, so much.

Future
So next summer I'll meet my new baby niece.
I am planning on visiting Millay in England and then meeting up with Charlie in Ireland.

......ok, so there is an update. I will try and not take so long in writing again. And if I can keep up with it I wont have to write so much. But congrats to any of you that made it to the end of the novel.