Kittens

Well, now that I can FINALLY put pictures on my computer again, I'd like to show you a couple of pictures of the litter of kittens I rescued this summer. They were living under the foundation of a house down the street, and I would go over there to feed them a couple of times a day. They were very ferile (wild) and didn't trust me very much. You could tell the mother had been someone's pet at one time because she was friendly, but VERY protective of her kittens.

When I called the landlord of the house, he said that they were going to seal the foundation that day. So, I asked him if I could try to catch them so they wouldn't die. He had his construction employee bring out some live traps and we caught all but one (the most shy of the litter). Here is a picture of all the kittens in my bathtub. They were terrified!



So, for the next 3-5 weeks, I tamed the kittens one by one, and gave them away. It wasn't until about a week after catching these that we finally caught the last kitten. She was the most beautiful, but also the most terrified of them all. It was hard work socializing her. I didn't want to give her away to anyone because I knew she would be too scared, so I kept her until she was the only one left. By the end, she would sleep on my lap in the living room and BEG to be petted. It was such a fun and rewarding experience. Mindy ended up naming her Kalena, and I brought her to Virginia with the rest of my pets. Now she adores Mindy and is loving her new life.

This is one of the bravest kittens of the litter



another one of the more adventurous ones...I actually had to dig this one out of the foundation of the house after being stuck for 2 days. MY knuckles were bloody, but I felt good to have saved its life.



This one stole my heart quite a bit. She didn't like to be held much, but she loved to be petted, and was quite the talker. It was really hard to give her away.



I do have pictures of Kalena, but they aren't accessible right now. I'll have to put them on later.

In other news, Nathaniel and I are now living in Honduras! Today we are traveling to our temporary house in Siguatepeque. It should be exciting! I will post about that later, when I have more pictures.
We love you all!

Graduation!

Well, it finally happened! May 9th, 2009 I finally graduated from Ball State with my Bachelor's degree in Music Education. Yay! I can say, that although it took a while and was not without it's bumps in the road, I learned so much about myself and life, and I would not trade any of it for the world. It does feel really good to be "done" though. I say "done" because I only have my initial practitioner's license which expires in 2 years, I still have to take 5 credit hours every 5 years to keep my license current, and I have to renew my CPR certification every year. Whew! I guess education will always be a part of my life. Isnt that what being an educator is all about?

Here is a picture of me walking in during the full outdoor ceremony.



And here is me afterwards.



In other news, I currently have 6 kittens living in my bathroom. they are adorable, and as soon as I get the camera dock working again, I will post pictures of them. I have found homes for 2 of them, but I am still looking for homes for the rest (Any volunteers??).

Love you all!

Almost there!

Wow, what a crazy couple of months it has been! I am finishing up student teaching at West View. Only one more week! I can hardly wait for graduation on Saturday, May 9th. I just hope it doesn't rain, because it is an outdoor ceremony, and I would just be in heaven sitting outside with all the beautiful flowers, the sun shining, and finally accomplishing one of my dreams. For spring break, we visited mom and dad in california. Here are a few pictures from that lovely trip.

One of our first days there on Long Beach...


Me and Nathaniel at the top of a big hill where we had just visited a glass cathedral.


Nathaniel chillin on some rocks at low tide in a town that I can't remmeber the name of. Im fairly certain it started with "San" though. There were dolphins out in the water that day.


A bridge at the Botanical Gardens. This one was in the Japanese Gardens


And the beautiful Chinese Gardens...


The three of us in the gardens


After seeing an article on the news about the continuing California Gold Rush, we were inspired to go out panning for Gold. So, we went to a state park up in the mountains (the drive was BEAUTIFUL) and took our measley shovels and plastic lids. Needless to say, we didnt find so much as a flake, but it was still fun. Dad was the most determined. I got burned out pretty quickly, but he kept looking until the park was almost closed. It was still fun though


I'm sure you'll be seeing pictures of me in my cap and gown soon, so keep your eyes peeled!

Jasmine in the Springtime

I have some really cute pictures of Jasmine outside in the front yard, but before I show you those, I want to give you the results of my Native American Class that I was telling you about in the last post. The fire I built looked like this:



I put a couple of fake flickering flames in the fire. Here is what it looked like with the lights off:



The kids really liked it, they had a great time. Here are a couple pictures of them:





Now, on to Jasmine. I finally get to take her outside on a regular basis again now that the weather has warmed up. She loves it so much. Here she is sitting on top of Nathaniel's video game TV. She loves to sit there and stare out the window. She looks thrilled to have her picture taken, doesn't she?



Here she is looking ready to pounce on something.



my little princess...



I thought this picture turned out really cool.



I guess 72 degrees is a little too hot for a long haired black cat



More to come soon!

My School

I wanted to share a couple of pictures of the school at which I am currently student teaching. The experience has been very positive so far, and I am having a lot of fun. This first picture is of my classroom.



This picture is of my desk. (It doesn't usually look this clean)



And this is a picture of my hallway. It is the 4th and 5th grade hallway, but also has the art and music rooms. My room is the first one on the left.



Right now I am doing a Native American unit with my 2nd graders. We have had a lot of fun learning dances and culture facts, etc. For my next lesson, I am planning on building a fake fire in the middle of the room, turning the lights off, and having some mood music playing when they come in. I will teach them a Naive American game that goes with a song, and I can't wait to see the looks on their faces when they come in the room!

honestly, I have always looked forward to student teaching, but i never knew it would be this fun and rewarding. You really know you're making a difference in these kids lives when they give you hugs and open up to you about their lives.

More to come soon!

Destino Del Reino

Well, I wanted to take a few minutes to post some pictures from the place where I will be teaching when Nathaniel and I move to Honduras in June 2009. I'll be teaching music for 1/2 the day, and assisting in the adult ESL (English as a Second Language) class for some of the staff, etc. who want to learn English. Here is a picture of most of the school students.



This year, there are about 150 students in all. The lady who runs Destino also runs an orphanage next door to the school. The orphans that she cares for also come to the school when they are old enough. This is a picture of the road that leads to Destino.



This is a picture of the school itself. It is such a beautiful place, especially for a country like Honduras. Rhonda (the owner) has been so blessed by God to have such a nice place to raise future missionaries that has things like running water and other modern things that we take for granted in the states.



This is a picture of the Kindergarten classroom.



This is a picture of their outdoor sanctuary.



this picture is of the actual orphanage. I'll probably spend quite a bit of time there too.



And this is inside the orphanage.



the boy's room.



And finally, some cute little kiddos that I'm looking forward to meeting.

Virginia Memories and Winter Wonderland

I know it has been a while, but I wanted to share a few of the pictures I took while spending time with Mindy and the Boys in Virginia. Most of these pictures are of us in a little pizza joint (that ws really good, by the way) in Williamsburg.

This one is on the way, and Ryin had fallen asleep with a straw in his mouth. It was pretty funny. eventually, the straw drooped down, and drool was dripping out the end. Yuck!!



when we got to the restaurant and got our food, Adan quickly stuffed 2 pieces of pizza down, then informed us that he didn't feel good. Nathaniel rushed him to the bathroom, where it all came back up. This is a picture we took right after. Obviously, he felt much better.



A quick shot of Mindy...



For some reason, Ryin didn't want me to take his picture, but I sneaked one in. He's looking rather bashful...what a rare moment.



Adan is always a good cuddle buddy



and then of course, there is Nathaniel.





And now, more recently, we have had our second winter storm of the year here in Muncie, Indiana. the first one brought a lot of ice and rain and yuck, but this one brought about 13 inches of snow. Believe it or not, we got the light end of it. Down by Indianapolis, they got a lot more.

this is a shot from our back door.



And this is out our front door.



This is a shot of the house across the street. I thought it looked pretty



Since it has gotten cold, I have not taken Jasmine outside. Sometimes, she sits at the door, meowing at me to take her. So, I thought today would be a great day to take her outside. she was thrilled! But then she realized that all that fluffy, fun looking white stuff was wet, and she wanted nothing to do with it. She made a bee-line for the snow as soon as i opened the door, and this is the shot i got of her stopping dead in her tracks. She doesn't look too pleased, does she?



and this is her cowering at the door begging to be let back in



Well, that's all for now. Love you all!