Glimpse Of Motherhood

Today as we made our Mother's Day gifts at school, I got a glimpse of motherhood and realized how all mothers rock! I stamped over 75 handprints, I had a student pee his pants, I was followed and tapped on to get my attention, I tied shoelaces that I would end up tying again and at the end of the day I felt like I got nothing done. All I wanted was to come home and get in my pjs and just do nothing. Checking the mailbox before I got home, I thought, gosh today would be a great day to just get a letter from someone since I felt so alone and unappreciated. Nothing... Then I walked up to my apartment and sitting there was a little package. I don't know how my mom does it!!! My mom is truly the best mom ever!! She had sent me a package and in it was a framed picture of us two in Italy. I can't wait for that day I can make my daughter's day like my mom just did for me. Love her so much!!

We Don't Need Someone Else To Make The Jump

April 25, 2015

My dad came into town for my birthday. He came in on Friday night. I had told him earlier that week how it would be fun to go skydiving for my birthday. He responded with "I'd have to think long and hard about that". 

Thinking we weren't going skydiving I threw out other suggestions, but skydiving keep coming back into my mind. A few days before he came, I called my dad saying how I really, really wanted to go skydiving for my birthday. I had looked up the costs and where we could do it. It was all a go except my dad didn't really like the idea of jumping out of an airplane. He finally agreed that he would take me, but he wouldn't jump. Nothing was going to stop me from doing this. I would jump even if I didn't have someone to do it with.

The night before I jumped, I will admit I was a little scared. I not afraid of heights or even death, but something got to me. People around the world put this on their bucket lists and overcome their fears with someone. Many people skydiving with friends, siblings or a spouse. They jump out of a perfectly good plane to conquer the unknown questions that go through your mind. If you can jump together, you know you can conquer anything else the world throws at you. 

The night before I guess it came down to I was scared I would be doing this alone. Of course I would have a stranger strapped to me and I would be putting all my faith in that person to open the parachute, but that didn't scared me. It was that I wasn't doing it with a friend or boyfriend or whoever. I was doing this crazy thing by myself. When I gave my dad the idea I told him how here in Vegas I am trying to find my own independence. I'm not really dating and I am still trying to find friends. It's hard moving to a place where you don't know anyone. When I thought of the idea of skydiving the first thing that popped in my head was how fun would it be to do it with my boyfriend or husband someday. Then I thought, waiting for a man to come into my life isn't living at all! If I want to skydive, I should go skydiving. A part of being independent is to do the crazy and scary things that life throws at you. If you can do it alone, it will be some much easier to do them together. 

As my dad was arriving into town, he called saying how he needed to go to target or somewhere to get a sweatshirt. I asked him why and he said how he didn't bring one for skydiving and how it would be cold 15,000ft in the air. I responded that he probably wouldn't need one because it wouldn't be cold on the plane and he wasn't jumping so it didn't matter. Then there was a pause on the phone and out came oops! Then my dad explained how he changed his mind and how he was going to jump with me. What?! I was in shock! My fear turned into excitement. I wasn't doing it alone.  

On my birthday, we woke up early drove to Boulder City airport. It was a beautiful morning. The sun was rising and it was partly cloudy. It was a perfect day to make the jump. As we got to the airport we signed in and did a quick training before gearing up in our suits and harnesses. We were both excited! I meet my stranger that I would be strapped to and would be putting my full faith in. Geoffrey and I become friends really quickly because we had to trust each other. Our group of eight crammed into a tiny plane. Flying up to 15,000ft, Geoffrey kept asking me if I was ready. I was completely calm. I knew I could make this jump. I wasn't afraid. As the door opened and I was hanging outside of the plane I saw the Earth below me. We were so high up and all I could think was I can do this! Free falling was my favorite part. I was doing something many people dream about, I was flying. It was a short five minutes and we were back to the ground. 

That short five minutes taught me a lot. Even though I did have someone to jump with, my dad, I jumped by myself and for myself. We must remember WE DON'T NEED SOMEONE ELSE TO MAKE THE JUMP. Find your own happiness. Find who you truly are. We can't wait around forever for the "right" time to do something. NOW is the right time to go out and do something with your life. Live your life with no regrets; I know I do!

That Time I Drove 6 Hours...

March 27-30, 2015

Another trip I took during my track break was driving to Utah to see Michael and Jenny. And I drove... let me repeat... I DROVE. If you don't know me I do NOT drive. I think the farthest I've driven is around the block to go to the store. Even though I have always hated driving I have actually enjoyed it lately and decided that I could drive 6 hours to see Michael and Jenny.
I drove during the day and got there around dinner time. Michael and Jenny had chicken curry ready for me for dinner. We watched Scandal while we ate our dinner. Which was so amazing to actually watch it with them. They got me into the show, but I had never really watched it with them. So it was fun to sit with them and actually talk instead of text them to chat about the show. Since they had work they next day we went to bed shortly after the show.
The next day they went to work and got off earlier so we still had our Friday night to hang out. Since it was such a beautiful evening we decided to go to play mini golf. We got free tokens and we played some arcade games too.

All I can do is laugh with these two!

Playing some Skee ball at the arcade.

That Friday night we made pizza and these two introduced me to Gilmore Girls... and yes, I now have another show I love. 

The next day was Saturday, where all the Saturday errands happened. Running around town I keep seeing the beautiful pink blossoms. Every tree I saw I had to stop and take a picture. We don't have blossoms in Vegas so I had to soak them up while I had the chance. 

Within our errands we did stop at the wood store to make some crafts. While watching the Women's Conference we made some Easter crafts. 

With being Sunday the next day, we decided to go to Music and The Spoken Word. Michael and I had never been. It was beautiful to hear the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sing. And I was very touched by the message given teaching us not to be afraid of failure, but to just try and keep practicing. It was exactly what I needed to hear that Sunday morning.

Inside the Tabernacle {If you look closely you can see the hot man from Sweden ;) }

After the performance was over we walked around Temple Square and took pictures of the beautiful flowers. I can say I've been to Temple Square in every season and Spring is by far my favorite to see. 

This was pretty much the highlights of my trip. It was short and sweet and way worth driving 6 hours to see Michael and Jenny! I miss them already!!

MOMtana

March 12-22, 2015

For the past month I have been on track break for school. During this month I got to travel, relax, and organize my classroom. I'm liking this whole all year around schooling since I get a break to reenergize.
My first trip I took was to MOMtana. Since my mom just moved to Montana, I wanted to see what all the excitement was all about. So I got a ticket out for about ten days to see the beautiful state or Montana. Ok....Wow.... If you haven't been to Montana, I definitely suggest it to be on your bucket list of places to see. It is beautiful!
I got there late Thursday night, so I didn't really get to see the scenery because it was dark. But, I did get to see a pretty sunset from the airplane.

After landing we went out to dinner and then headed to my mom's cute little house. I got a tour of the house and then it was off to bed.
The next morning mom had to go to work so I got to sleep in for a little bit before I went to the hospital to see mom's new work. I met a few people she worked with and then she had to go to a meeting. I snatched the car for the rest of the day which was fun to explore the small town of Kalispell. Well it really isn't that small. I could live there... they do have a TJ maxx!
After exploring I picked up mom from work and we had dinner and waited up for Kev, Bailey and Nora to come into town. They arrived late so once they got there it pretty much was bed time.
Waking up the next morning was fun because we had Nora to snuggle with. For about an hour my mom, Nora and I all snuggled in the bed with reading her new books I got her, Frozen books. Nora is at such a fun age. She is at the exploration age where everything is fun! She is giving me kisses in this picture :)

After all waking up and getting ready we headed to Glacier National Park. We couldn't go far in the park because it was snowed in, but it didn't matter. The views that we did see were amazing!

Part of Lake McDonald

A dock looking out on Lake McDonald

Taking pictures of all the scenery Nora wanted to join in 

With driving all day in the park and exploring we were very hungry so we went to dinner and headed back home.

The next day was a lazy sunday. We had another cuddle session with Nora, asking her where her eyes, nose and belly button is. 

That Sunday was hard to say my goodbyes because I won't see then now till summer. Living away from family is so hard. Thank goodness for facetime! 

I got to stay there for another week. I will admit there was a lot of sleeping and catching up on my shows during the day time, but every night after mom was home from work we would always try to do something. We went to the movie Cinderella (such an adorable movie), a Relief Society birthday dinner, a rodeo, up to the Canadian border and "shopping" (remember it is Montana people). We also found a new pizza restaurant  in Kalispell and Cafe in Whitefish that are both very yummy.

Oh yeah.... and it was St. Patrick's day when I was there so we had to do our St. Patty's day tradition... getting shamrock shakes!

Twins....I know. I get my good looks from her!

Montana is such a beautiful place and I'm so happy for my mom and moving there. I'm happy to call this place "home"... Home is where mom is. So MOMtana is home.  

Reading Week

A few weeks ago at school it was reading week. There was a theme everyday. It was like homecoming week, but in elementary school. It was fun to see the kids excited for the day, all dressed up and ready to learn. They got to dress up each day in a different theme. There was a  crazy socks day, dress up as your favorite book character day, a twin day and superheroes day. 
Throughout reading week I thought about my own struggle in my life with reading. Many don't know my story and it's taking me a few weeks debating if I even want to write it to all of you. But I thought I would share it because it is a huge reason why I became a teacher. So here it is... 
As children we learn our letters and sounds in kindergarten. The alphabet is the first step to learning. These symbols put together make sounds and then words. My brain saw these symbols and memorized them to pass the "test" to get into the ABC club, meaning I got my picture on the wall with all the other students that knew their letters and sounds. They were put in my brain for a short time and forgotten very quickly, which shouldn't happen. Learning the alphabet didn't really stick and moving onto the next grade was very difficult because we were now using the alphabet to sound out words and reading. If I didn't know my sounds, how could I possibly start sounding out words? This was a challenge for me. 
In second grade my teacher noticed that I wasn’t processing the concepts taught, but memorizing the facts to get me through the tests. Instead of passing me on to the next grade, my teacher took the time to figure out what was occurring. She, along with my parents, were committed to correct the problem before it was too late. With many tests and assessments we concluded that I had a disability called Audio Processing Disorder (APD). APD is where students can't process the information they hear in the same way as others because their ears and brain don't fully coordinate the information. It took me more time to process all the information we were learning. For example, lets think of running. Someone super fast can run a mile in five minutes. And then there are the normal running people that will run a mile in ten minutes. The fast runner will run two miles in the time the normal person will run one mile. The fast runner gets more miles done in the same time. This is like me and learning. My wonderful brain takes twice as long to fully understand and process what I am learning. 
Many people know I hate reading aloud. This is because if I get to a word I don't know it takes my brain twice as long to look at each letter and then think, "ok what sound is this?" And then have to continue this for each letter. By the time I do that someone has already told me the word, with others chuckling around me. I know now people probably don't chuckle, but I guess I'm scarred from middle and high school. Teenagers can be mean! 
This disability will live with me for the rest of my life, but it doesn’t define who I am. I just have to work twice as hard to finish that mile. I can't say this weakness is a strength just yet. I'm still running that mile. But I guess that is a good thing because that means I am still learning nice things everyday. With this whole process I have realized I want to help those children that need extra help. I want to be that teacher that makes a difference in my students’ lives, like my teachers did for me. During reading week, I think I heard at least three times a day, "Ms. Dill, I love school!" Every child should want to learn and should love school. I want every student that enters my classroom to feel safe and comfortable with learning. Kindergarten is a time for exploration and finding new things. 
Pondering on my story was eye opening on how important reading is for children. Reading is in everything. You start learning letters that turn into words that then make sentences. This is all reading. Someone that has struggle their whole life with reading, I know how important it is to learn at a young age your letters and sounds. Not knowing this basic concepts you can not move to the level. It's like building blocks. You first learn the basics and build upon them, line upon line, percept upon percept.
As a teacher I see some students that don't get the extra help they need at home. A lot of people think that teachers can teach children all they need to know. Realize we are only given a small amount of the day to be with your child and on top of it we have 20 more students that are all on different learning levels. There just isn't enough time to teach your child everything. There is 1 of us and 20 of them. As future parents or parents now realize how important you can be to your child. Simply reading to your child at a young age will allow that child to start recognizing the alphabet. A standard in kindergarten is for a child to know that print is read from left to right. This standard may seem super simple and it is! By reading to your child and pointing to each word from left to right can teach this standard to your child. Reading to your child can start as young as the child is born. I have seen my little niece, only 20 months old, become familiar with books. Being a teacher, this makes me so happy. A child that isn't even two yet can open a book and know human do something with this book. Learning doesn't have to start in kindergarten. Start with you children as soon as possible. Letters are all around us. Next time drive to the store, look around and see how many letters you see. They are everywhere! Practicing letters with your child will only help their future educational journey. 

 We had a special guest come for Dr. Seuss's birthday, Cat In The Hat. 

I dressed up as Pinkalicious for favorite book character day. 

Easiest Enchiladas Ever!

I love being in the kitchen. From cooking to baking and then eating... I just love food! Being single it makes it hard to cook everyday because recipes usually make way too much and there is always leftovers... and I am not a fan of leftovers. So I don't cook as much as I would like to. Anyways... On Monday I was driving home from work and thought, I have a taste for my delicious enchiladas. I thought I would post the recipe for you all. 

 Ingredients:
2  cans of chicken
8 oz cream cheese
*cumin
*oregano
1/2 onion chopped
10-12 tortillas
1 bag of cheese
1 can of enchilada sauce (green or red)

*sprinkle in for taste

Directions:
In a frying pan put cream cheese to melt. Add in onion and chicken. I shred the chicken with a fork before sticking in the pan. Mix the cream cheese, onion, and chicken together. Sprinkle the oregano and cumin. I just guess how much I sprinkle. Add more cumin than oregano. Taste and add if more is needed.

Once the chicken mix is done remove from heat. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Move to an area where you have space to spread and roll the enchiladas.

Spread a thin layer of enchilada sauce on the bottom of a pan. This helps the enchiladas not to stick on the pan when cooking.

Next your ready to spread and roll. Spread some of the chicken mix on a tortilla. Then add some cheese and a small spoonful of sauce. Roll tortilla and place in pan. Continue till chicken mix in gone. The more chicken you add in a tortilla, the less enchiladas you will make. It makes between 10-12 enchiladas. 

Once enchiladas are rolled, pour the remaining sauce on top of the tortillas. Sprinkle bag of cheese evenly over enchiladas. Put in oven for about 20 minutes or till cheese is melted. Dish up and eat!

And there you have it Easiest Enchiladas Ever! Serve with spanish rice and beans.  

Choose a Job You Love

Last Friday I had a really cool experience in my classroom. I was showing my students my library and how to treat my books. My library is organized into bins with different topics. Each book has a number on it telling what bin it belongs in. As I was going through the bins and sharing all the topics, I came across the book, "Carl and His Box", a book I wrote in college for an assignment. I thought I would read my students this story as they would think it was cool how I am the author and illustrator. As I read the title and who the author was their eyes widened.
"Ms. Dill, you wrote this book? And you wrote the pictures?" They were so cute. "Yes", I told them. They were so amazed and so excited to hear the story. They sat there crisscross applesauce with their hands in their laps. They were ready to hear the story.
As I opened the book showing them how to turn the pages and how to treat my books with care, I turn to the dedication page. I forgot I had wrote a dedication page. As I opened to the page it read, "To My Future Students". I looked up at my group of students, I was touched. This was my first future students! They didn't even realize how much this little moment meant to me. I had written this book over a year ago and forgotten about it.
The Lord works in mysterious ways. It's the little moments that matter the most. I have only been teaching for three weeks now and there are days I feel overwhelmed with it all. But us teachers teach for those small moments. These small moment are reminders of why we become teachers. Everyday we must find the good and find a little moment that matters. When we do this life won't be so hard, but easy and enjoyable. "Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life." Well said Confucius, well said.