Saturday, February 26, 2011

What Makes Me Happy

When I was in college I kept a happiness journal.  I still have that journal and here is a list of a few of the things that made me happy back then:
fresh cut flowers
washing th car while barefoot
Cool Water cologne
french fries with ranch dressing
Monster Margaritas
Denny's
My badge
sleeping in
beer and Oreos
hammocks
Basset Hounds
roaming the halls
sunrises and sunsets
water fights
drinking beer and shooting pool
formal dresses
window seats

Now some of the things that make me happy:
my husband
my beautiful children
my dogs
supper club
a glass of wine
a quiet house
a noisy house
planning birthday parties
my dogs
having a screened in porch with a fan
seeing my students graduate
my mom's Rice Krispy Treats
sunsets
wrap around porches
window seats
my children's laughter
having a tidy house and all of the laundry done

My list could go on and on...maybe I should start recording this in a journal again.

What makes you happy?

Friday, February 18, 2011

My Life as a Student

OK...I am home today with a sick child and decided to catch up on my blog.

Today's topic comes from the Fall 2010 Blog Challenge.

My life as a student was a good one.  I loved school and never went through an extended period of time when I did not want to go.  School came pretty easy for me.  My love in school came in reading and social studies.  I loved learning how to read and write when I was young and then as I got older I thoroughly enjoyed history classes (even those AP History classes - for any high school friends out there reading this you know what I am talking about!).  Math and science were a different story.  I struggled through all of the algebra and science classes - getting a B in those classes was a lot of work.

Socially I had my few good friends that stayed with me through middle and high school.  I always easily found my place in school and felt quite content with my life.

I think the most defining moment in my life as a student came the summer between my junior and senior years of high school.  I had what I consider my first true boyfriend and my two best friends and I spent the summer at the SC Governor's School for the Arts.  To be honest I was quite surprised I got in.  I went for creative writing and while I enjoyed writing I was never was into the creative aspect of it...at least not as much as the other people who were in my program.  I definitely was not the brooding author the rest of my group was and always ended up hanging out with the actors in the drama program.  That program actually made me finally decide that becoming a teacher was the career I wanted and not a journalist.

That summer was my transition from being a teenager to becoming a young adult.  I had my first major heartbreak that summer and knew I was ready for college.  I think that summer made me more independent.  I was ready to be on my own.

Now my life as a student is more through the professional development I go through as a teacher - the classes I take and the books I read.

So I think I wandered off topic a bit.  What do you remember about your life as a student?