I spent all last week preparing my classroom for a busy year. I am starting out with 10 students, 8 of which are new incoming kindergartners. 10 is a pretty high start number for me as I am usually use to about 7 or 8. It’s going to be a busy and challenging year, but I am excited to be challenged! Here’s hoping that between work, wedding planning and EMT classes. I will be able to stay afloat!

After almost two years of dating, Adam and I are engaged. Adam proposed during a hike at Silver Creek Falls outside of Salem. We are both very excited and have lots of planning to do. We plan to launch a wedding website soon to update our friends and family.

Every year, Santa Clara Fire District does a chicken BBQ as the major fundraiser for the volunteer district. The BBQ has been happening for the past 53 years…talk about a tradition. Even though the BBQ was only on Saturday, it was many days of prep work and clean up, which made for a long weekend. Saturday was a long 6am-6pm day as we cooked and sold 1500 half chickens. Also as part of the tradition, some one had to get in the chicken suit to help create some PR…although one may argue that me dressed up as a chicken dancing in front of the fire station is bad PR. Oh well, it’s for a good cause.

For the past nine months Heidi, my friend and former roommate, has been carrying a little bundle of joy in her belly. The past week, we had hung out and gone walking together to help move the baby along. Just the day before, we were out walking hills around her neighborhood. Very early on Thursday morning, Veronica Jane Larwick was born at 12:16am, weighing 6lbs 15oz and 19 inches long. Adam and I got a chance to see the precious angel today. She is absolutely adorable! I can’t wait to see her grow!

Today, Adam and I participated in Relay for Life, which is an annual 24-hour walk to support American Cancer Society. Thanks for wonderful family members, I was able to raise $500 to support cancer research. Even though I was the one doing the fundraising, Adam was kind enough to walk with me. Instead of walking all 24 hours, we all take an hour shift, and luckily I was not in the middle of the night. I was part of the team, Fire Fighters of Lane County, which was comprised of fire fighters and medical personnel in the Eugene/Springfield area. It was amazing to see how many people were out walking, and how many survivors were out there. It’s really moving to see people come together to support such a good cause.

The day before the walk Adam commented, “I don’t support hate groups, but I would join a hate group against cancer.”

Pictures here

Summer is here…and is going a little too quickly for me. But nonetheless, I am enjoying my summer break.

Summer school is going well and I am thoroughly enjoying teaching half days. I really enjoy having the afternoons off…although I wish I said I was being productive with them, but I mostly ended up just taking a nap. Oh well, I will just enjoy it while I can.

The fire district work is still the highlight of my weeks. Some people would cringe at a 3+ hour weekly meeting, but I love every minute of it. In the past few weeks, I got to cut apart cars with some hard core tools and got to experience what it’s like to be a patient strapped to a backboard. Every time I go on a call or a drill, I learn something new. Recently, I saw my first deceased person, which is a first for me. It’s not as scary as I thought. But if I am going to continue in this field, I need to experience everything.

I applied this month to the EMT-B (emergency medical technician-basic level) program at Lane Community College. The program would add seven hours of classes to my week but I am excited for the opportunity to learn something new. In order to be an EMT-B, I would need take two terms of classes then take a practical and written exam. Sure it will add to my already busy schedule, however, this has been something I have always been interested in doing.

I am also back playing soccer again. My original plan was to wait until fall however my team needed a sub for the rest of the season. I was nervous my first game back but took it slow and I am playing without pain. My lungs were not ready for soccer but I was happy that my ankle held up well.

The rest of the time is spent with friends, family and Adam before I head back to work at the end of August.

We spent the weekend over at Black Butte with both my family and Adam’s family. The weekend was filled with hiking, biking, swimming, walking, talking, relaxing, eating and drinking. I could have used a few more days of relaxation…but it’s back to work for us. Adam and I hiked Black Butte, which Adam had never done before. Even though I am not a fan of up hill hikes, it is a gorgeous hike with spectacular views. My ankles held up really well and I was injury free…..until I fell down a few hundred yards from the bottom of the butte. So no broken bones, but a scraped up leg and some sore muscles. Still waiting for the day I can do an athletic task injury free. Oh well!

This past weekend was full of celebrations…so much fun, food and laughter!

Friday was my birthday BBQ. Adam arranged for a wonderful BBQ which included burgers, turkey burgers, chicken and sausages! And if that wasn’t enough, for dessert he got a Sweet Life strawberry cheesecake….mmmm! We ended the night with some telepictionary! It was the perfect birthday evening…even though it was five days early.

Saturday was our “4th of July” celebration on July 3rd. I have come to learn that family makes holidays, not dates on a calendar. Adam and I drove up to Adam’s parents and met my parents, grandmother and aunt there. We snacked on appetizers and played badminton before dinner…watch out, Glen is quite good. Then we had a wonderful BBQ dinner (again, but no complaints here). And if I didn’t eat enough cheesecake the day before, we had a wonderful berry torte! After two days of good eating, I was ready to get back to normal eating.

On Sunday, I headed out to Harrisburg (about 20 minutes outside Eugene) for the morning. The Harrisburg Fire Department helped us out with our benefit breakfast, so I went out to help them with their event. I spent the morning greeting customers and helping out with various tasks. After the breakfast was completed, I hopped on top of our fire truck and was in the 4th of July parade. I was pleased to see many familiar faces from the Santa Clara fire district and from work, including one of my students. I was so amazing to see the expression on little kids faces when they see a fire engine! There is something so magical about a smile from a child.

This was my first time out in Harrisburg during the 4th of July, and I had no idea it was a day long event where the whole town, as well as neighboring towns came out for the celebration. It was so cool to see a community come together like this….and the community being basically the entire community. I think I will be returning to little ol’ Harrisburg in the future to partake in the old fashion 4th of July celebration!

A few weeks ago, Santa Clara Fire District put on an event for one our own battling cancer. I was at the station and bright eyed at 6am ready to help out. My task for the day was to greet people and give balloons to the kiddos…it was a tough job, but some one has to do it. The event was a huge success at we raised about $6500 to help our ‘brother’. My mom was down, so she attended with Adam. And being a good mom, she took pictures of the event.

She also got a private tour my responding station and took pictures in my gear and on my rigs.

Well, it’s the start of summer and I just had my first week off of work, and it was completely packed with things to do! Hopefully the next few weeks will be a little calmer before I start summer school.

School ended but I was not ready for it to end. The past few months of school had been really nice and thankfully, pretty easy for me. I had a great group of kids who were extremely successful in my class as well as the general education setting. Next year, I am fully mainstreaming three of my kiddos into a 3rd grade class. I have had all three of these kids since kindergarten, so I have seen them grow immensely over the past three years. I am having a hard time letting them go…I feel like such a mother bear. I have developed a strong attachment to them, and it’s really hard for me to see them go, even though I know its for the best. Thankfully, their classes will be in the same pod as my class, so I will get to see them off and on!

Probably another reason I didn’t want them to leave was that in the fall I will be having eight kindergartners in my class, in addition to my two returning students. Most years, I only have a few new students so it doesn’t quiet feel overwhelming having to learn the habits of a few students. But eight new students, with eight new sets of a behaviors is feeling like a little much right now. Throughout the past four years, I have been able to keep the same structures, schedules, programs, etc. However, it takes much more effort to run a half day kindergarten program within a full day program for my 1st and 2nd graders. And now I have two kindergarten programs to run. The task is a little daunting, but I know I will be able to accomplish it with some hard work and creativity.