day 57

I think I've mentioned before that my kindergarten class is studying Football right now. Today I got my friend who plays for the Maryland football team to come in and be their "football expert!" They asked him tons of questions - from legitimate things like, "Where did you learn how to play football?" and "Have you ever scored a touchdown?" to some more off-the-wall things like "What's your mom's name?" and "Do you have pajamas and a bed in your locker room?"

He handled all of the questions great, though, and the kids were so happy he was there! (Plus I got some bonus points with the teacher for bringing in the football expert!)

I think the next sport they want to study is ping pong. That won't be nearly as exciting!

day 56

This morning I woke up to a plate full of delicious pancakes made by my roomie :) Thanks Christine!

day 55

let the jack pictures continue =]

chocolate pumpkin cupcakes anyone?!

day 54

We all took a trek into D.C. today to take Jack to the Building Museum, where they had a super cool exhibit on Lego's. There were replicas of all of these famous buildings and monuments made out of legos, and a whole workshop full of tables, stools, and tons of legos to build with. I'm not sure who enjoyed it more, me or Jack!

(The picture is of Jack outside of the museum, striking a pose!)

day 53

My sister Janet and nephew Jack arrived in Maryland on Thursday night - they're staying at my cousins' house in Bethesda. I hadn't seen them in forever - Jack is almost 4, going on 14. He's so smart, so sweet, so sassy, and sooo cute! I could just eat him up =]

day 52

The kindergarten room that I work in is studying sports, and this week they're focusing on football. Today I got to go on a field trip with them to the UMD football field and team house! (Should I be embarrassed that I was as excited as they were? Because I was really excited!)

Anyway, we walked to the football field while all of the kids yelled "GO MARYLAND" and sung the Maryland victory song that they just learned. We got a tour of the team house, got to watch a highlight tape set to the opening scene of the movie Cars, got to color football pictures in one of the private tutor rooms, read a story in the locker room (that's what the picture is of), and eat lunch in the dining hall!

It was so cute - the kids were obsessed with the football players, and I think they thought the kids were pretty fun too :)

(ps. sorry for the crappy picture - of course I forgot my camera today, so I had to take one with my phone! and here's another picture!)

day 51

The way my schedule works out, I have to pack a lunch for myself 4 out of 5 days a week. Today's picture? My lunch bag :) It's actually a shopping bag from a supercute store called lululemon, but I turned it into my lunch box.

It has all of these cute quotes and thoughts all over it...some of them you can read in the picture, but let me tell you some of my other favorites!

"the conscious brain can only hold one thought at a time. choose a positive thought!"

"the pursuit of happiness is the source of all unhappiness"

"stress is related to 99% of all illness"

"that which matters the most should never give way to that which matters the least"

day 50

This was my view for about 5 hours today - from a table in the library. I had a midterm today and two papers due Thursday - yuck! At least they repainted the second floor so it's doesn't feel like you're in an institution anymore...

day 49

Before my dad caught a plane back to Orlando on Sunday, we met my cousins for breakfast!

(Although I'm still having trouble calling it breakfast - it was actually Chinese food! It wouldn't have been a true visit with my dad without eating Chinese, and as my cousin Mike put it, "Only when you eat Chinese for breakfast do you have the opportunity to eat it 3 times in one day. And that would just be the best day ever!")

Anyway, the food was great, the company was great, and I bought a cute pair of shoes after breakfast! What a perfect morning!

day 48

On Saturday morning, I "graduated" from College Park Scholars. They held a little ceremony for us and our families, which included a fun 3-piece band, some delicious food, and some really nice words from the director of the program, Jim. He had something nice to say about every single person in the program as he handed them their certificate.

I'm incredibly grateful to have been in Scholars for two reasons. The first is that it focused my experience in my first two years at Maryland so much. It made a huge university seem small enough to manage, kept me engaged in community service and activities, and gave me supportive faculty members who knew my name and who I was from the time I was a freshman. Not many people can say that about their experience in their freshman and sophomore years at a University with 35,000 students.

The second, and more important reason that I'll be forever indebted to Scholars is because it's where I met those pretty ladies in the picture up there! The fact that, because of Scholars, I got to live with, learn with, and become best friends with the five of them (plus a few more who weren't there on Saturday!) is amazing to me. That's not to say that I haven't made other great friends outside of Scholars, but I couldn't imagine my life without these girls, and know that without the program, we never would have met.

Oh...! And here's two more pictures of some pretty important people who were there that day :) There were too many good pictures to pick just one for today!

day 47

My family came to UMD for family weekend and my scholar's graduation, and I got to have a sleepover with Jack and Maddie in my apartment! We went to yogiberry, visited Maggie, watched Saturday Night Live, and then passed out.

[It must have been fun, because Jack said, "I can't WAIT to go to college." ...I'm glad he's easy to impress :) ]

day 45

such a beautiful fall day! check out that orange tree!

(and my cute friends studying for our EDHD425 midterm....)

day 44

Today I'd like to extend my sincere thanks to the state of Maryland and College Park Towers for deciding it was necessary to create and implement a law stating that all heating systems must be running by October 15th. (aka, time to turn off the A/C!!)

What about when it's 84 degrees on October 12th? Can't we make an exception to the law!?

We officially live in a sauna, and the giant martini glass filled with dark chocolate reese's peanut butter cups is slowly melting before our eyes. Let's hope it cools down soon!

day 43

What may seem like a boring picture of an e-mail on my computer screen is actually much, much more than that.

This is my flight confirmation to go to Honduras on January 8th for a week-long service trip with an organization called Students Helping Honduras (SHH).

I've wanted to go on an alternative winter or spring break ever since I was a freshman, and heard about SHH through my good friend Sam, who started the chapter here on campus. He went last winter and couldn't stop talking about what a life-changing experience it was, and has been planning a trip back ever since. His passion and excitement about the trip, the village, and the people he met there was contagious, and I decided this was an opportunity I couldn't pass up on.

Now that the flight is booked, it's official! Now comes the fundraising and planning to make the trip as successful as it can be. I can't wait :)

day 42

Today was the christening! Bobby was a pro - didn't even cry once! It was a beautiful mass, and great to see so much family.

Obviously today's picture was going to be of Bobby, but this one was too cute not to add too. Here's my super-cool cousin Conway rockin' a pair of sunglasses :)

day 41

One of the reasons I was home this weekend was for my newest cousin Bobby's christening. I got to hang out with him on Saturday though, before the big day.

He's the happiest guy in the world - even with a terrible cold going on. It's pictures like this that make me want to go home more often!

day 40

home sweet home

after a 4 hour drive home on Friday (which was only supposed to take 2 1/2) I finally made it back to this place for the first time this semester :)

day 39

poor Ruby =[

I got rear-ended, was pushed into the car in front of me, and smashed Ruby's front light to pieces. This is one tough car...

day 38

In my Reading Development & Language Acquisition class, we have 20 minutes in the middle of class to "free read" and then reflect on what we've read. Today, I started this book, and so far I love it. This is a paragraph from the first page:

"Ask yourself this: Have you ever lost someone you love and wanted one more conversation, one more chance to make up for the time when you thought they'd be there forever? If so, then you know that you can go your whole life collecting days, and none will outweigh the one you wish you had back.

What if you got it back?"

day 37

love this campus :)

day 36

On Mondays I have an Honors Education Seminar from 4:15 - 6:15, and I'm obsessed with it. We talk about educational policy, which has pretty much turned into research and an ongoing conversation about what's going on in the world of Education today. Every time I leave that class I feel so sure that I picked the right career. I feel proud of my choice, I feel discouraged by everything that's working against the education system, I feel inspired and hopeful that I can make a difference. (That's a lot of feelings for 2 hours...)

Today we had a speaker - the superintendent of PG County School System. He gave us so much valuable information and gave us a printed version of his PowerPoint, so my notes (above) are just snippets of things he said that really struck me. Here's what a few of them say, in case you can't see.

"WHAT IF... every student was told it was their role to prepare him or herself for college, and every school adopted this as their vision?"

"teaching does not equal students learning"

" low performing doesn't equal low ability"

"kids don't care that you know until they know that you care"

day 35

first library homework session of the semester. ugh.

but on the bright side, I found the section of the library where alllll of the education books are! (It only took me until my junior year...) Love that dewey decimal system.

day 34

Kelly came from Bucknell for the weekend and brought 2 friends :) We had so much fun! They bought Maryland shirts and here we are before the Terps vs. Duke game (which we won, by the way!)

day 33

On Friday my mom came down to Maryland for the College Park Scholar's award ceremony! It was so great to see her, and the award ceremony was really nice. Here's me and Katlyn after the ceremony.

day 32

Today was the first time during this picture-a-day challenge that I had the "ugh! I wish I had my camera with me," thought. It poured all day, but then around 4 p.m. when I was walking to work, the storm was clearing and I saw the coolest looking clouds moving through the sky. oh well, you'll just have to picture that one in your head. Instead of the super-cool sky I saw on Thursday, here's a sneak peek of the work-in-progress wall in our bedroom that we worked on all thursday night....the goal is to cover the wholeeee wall with fun things.

day 31

first official night at chevy's :) check out those tips! when all was said and done I think I ended up with somewhere between $35 and $40...not bad for a first night with a small section! it can only go up from there...

day 30

just one of the many posters on Christine and my wall :)

(notice the strategically placed hearts)