One last post!

Hello All! I just felt the need to share with everyone, because I'm sure you all feel the same way, that I have finally finished all of my projects for this class! It's a great feeling knowing that all my hard work has paid off and I have completed everything. It's such a relief! I'm so excited that classes for this semester are over, because let's be real, it's been a tough semester. I am extremely nervous for finals because I need to do very well on them to get a decent grade. I have had a rough semester and my grades are a reflection of that. I am not proud of that but I can't change was has happened, so this next week will be very stressful, but I know in the end it will be worth it! I wish you all the best on your finals and I hope you all enjoy your summer! I'm living on campus next year so I look forward to seeing you all when we get back! Thanks for making this class a fun one!

Yours Truly,
Missy

Keep it up!

Hello everyone! I just wanted to remind everyone that we are almost finished! All of the hard work and stress has finally paid off! Next week is finals and I just wanted to wish everyone good luck! Keep up all the hard work! We're almost done! This is probably my last post for the semester, so I just wanted to tell everyone to have a fun, exciting, and happy summer and a big CONGRATS because we made it through this tough semester! My birthday is quickly approaching! It's on Monday and I don't have any plans! Suggestions?! Thank you! I hope you all enjoy the rest of the day! See you tomorrow :)

Yours Truly,
Missy

Where do I begin?

I'm sure everyone can agree with me when I say "Where did the time go?" I cannot believe that the end of the semester is rapidly approaching. It has finally hit me that finals are almost here and I have so much work to get done and barely any time to do it! I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to finish it all. I was speaking with a few people today at lunch and we all agreed that for many people, regardless of age and year here at Caldwell College, that they are all having a very tough semester. I have never struggled so much with classes and grades. I'm not really sure why this is happening. I'm finding it very difficult to stay motivated. I still don't have my schedule set for next semester. Basically, all I can say is that I have way too much to do and not nearly enough time to do it. Today after I'm done with classes, I think it will be necessary for me to write out when I'm going to do each of these projects, papers, tests, studying, and such, so I can try to help get rid of some of this stress. I'm on overload right now and I am not getting anything done at all.

I hope everyone is having a better "end of the semester" than I am!

Yours Truly,
Missy

A Weekend Away From It All!

This past weekend was a much needed weekend away from everything! I went on a retreat with my other sisters in DPhiE at Frost Valley in Claryville, NY. Many people were not fond of the living conditions because they were not used to living in a cabin and being out in nature and there was no cell phone service but I thoroughly enjoyed being there. I'm probably the only person, but I really enjoyed not have the cell phone with me the whole weekend because it allowed me to get away from all the stresses back home and worrying about everything else that was going on. This way, I was able to enjoy myself and the activities planned for us. The first night we were there, we took a hike to the waterfall. With my foot not being in the best condition that it could be, the hike was a little much but it was worth it! the water fall was beautiful! The following day was even better. In the morning, we were all split into groups and did smaller group activities. After lunch, we played a game and following that we climbed trees and basically jumped out of them. The first one was called the leap of faith, which is when you basically climb to the top of a tree, then jump out of the tree and try to hit a ball that is hanging in the middle. The next one was where you climbed up a tree and then had to walk across a beam toward another tree. Finally, my favorite of them all was the zip line. Again, you had to climb to the top of the tree and then you went flying down the zipline. I think everyone would agree with me when I say that climbing the tree was the scariest part! Later at night, we played a few games in the cabin all together. I can honestly say, I have not laughed that hard in a long time. On the last day, we did a big group activity which really taught me a lot. This trip taught me a lot about my sisters. I got to bond with people I barely even knew. Most importantly though, I learned a lot about myself. I need to take time every now and then for myself to get away from the things that are bothering me. I had an amazing weekend with amazing people! I wish I could go back!

Yours Truly,

Missy

Exciting Weekend!

I honestly had an amazing weekend! I had off all of Friday. It was the first day I've had off to do absolutely nothing. I really needed it! Then on Saturday, it was initiation for DPhiE! I absolutely love being part of a sorority! I have already become so close with so many of the girls and I love them all! I am so honored to be wearing my letters today. Then on Sunday, I did my first event as a sister of DPhiE. I went to an MS Walk with a group of girls from the sorority to support one of our sister's mothers who has MS. It was a two mile walk and even though I messed up my foot the day before and I was in a significant amount of pain, the walk was well worth it and it was for a good cause! We all walked together, with our sister's mom, and it was a great day for each and every one of us. I am also looking forward to next weekend because it is going to just as fun and exciting, if not more! We have retreat for the sorority! I get to spend Friday, Saturday, and Sunday with my sisters and I could not be more excited to do this! I'm so glad Danielle got me to join DPhiE, because it has had such a positive impact on my life already and I can't wait for it to continue to!

Here is a picture from the MS walk on Sunday!

Yours Truly,

Missy

Busy, busy, busy!

          Everyone's been talking about it... we've all been so busy! We just got back from Easter break and I didn't even have a chance to relax! I've had so much homework, stuff going on at home, projects to work on, and  tests and quizzes to study for, that I haven't had a chance to do much more of anything. I make cheerleading bows and over the break I had to come up with five or six different bows and mail them to a team in Texas to pick from! It's my first "official" order and I am so excited! I enjoy doing anything that has to do with arts, crafts, and creativity! Now that break is over and I'm back to classes, I'm still busy, especially this week! It's that time of year, which most people dread... registration time! I met with my math advisor today and we figured out what classes I have to take during every semester for the remainder of the time I'll be at this school! On Thursday I will meet with my education advisor to figure those classes out!
          Some good news is that I have initiation for my sorority on Saturday! I am so excited to be becoming part of a sisterhood! I am already so close to many of them and I can't wait to be an "official" part of the sorority!
          All in all, these past few weeks I have learned that I have to do what makes me happy and what will be best for me! I always put everyone before myself, and although that can be a good thing at times, it is bad when I completely neglect my own needs! I'm glad I'm finally realizing this!

Enjoy your day!

Yours Truly,
Missy

So much going on!

     Everything has been so crazy these past few weeks. Between midterms, exams, projects, and other problems outside of school, I feel like I haven't had much time to enjoy myself. Although, I did make some time to get see The Hunger Games for the midnight premier with Danielle. I read all three books and was pretty much obsessed with the series, so I needed to see the movie. As expected though, I loved the books way more, but the movie was still really good! The one thing that drives me nuts about movies based off of books is that they leave out some information that I feel should be in the movie. I just wish that the whole book could be turned into a movie without leaving so much detail out.
     Moving along to school. Does anyone else feel that they have had so much work due and assigned these past few weeks? More than normal? I feel like I'm swamped with all of this work and it's never ending! Hopefully when this week is over, it will be the end of the huge amounts of work due!
     Not much more to talk about today. Enjoy the rest of your day!

Yours Truly,
Missy

Things aren't always what they seem to be.

I am not going to use any names or any specific details but I just feel the need to share that things are not always what you think they are. For the longest time, I had so much trust in this one person and all of a sudden it has all diminished. It amazes me that someone can view another person in one way and then you find something out about that person, and you realize that what you thought was true is completely a lie. It's a shame that I didn't know this person as well as I thought I did, but at least I know now who they really are. I'm hoping to get through this with the help from my friends and family, because I am completely upset and devastated.

Yours Truly,
Missy

In the Classroom!

Finally I have been able to actually interact with the students in the classroom that I am observing in. The first few weeks all I did was sit there and literally observe what the students were doing, their interactions with each other and the teacher, and watch the different techniques that the teacher is using in her classroom. On Friday though, the teacher let me work directly with the students both as a whole class and individually. In the morning during math, we had a review game in order to help prepare the students for the test they would be having the following week. We played multiplication bingo which worked on their multiplication facts. I called out the multiplication facts and they had to find the product of the two numbers on their bingo board. When the students won, they were able to get a prize from the prize box. Then, for language arts, the students were working on writing a book review for the book The Cricket in Times Square. In this book review, they were required to answer the questions who, what, where, when, and why. Once they wrote their rough drafts, the teacher, the classroom aid, and I worked with students one on one to correct the content, the grammar, and spelling. Once the review was "teacher approved" the students got to write their final copy and then draw a picture that they would like to have as the cover of the book. Finally, the teacher assigned two questions that went along with the reading for The Cricket in Times Square and the students were required to answer these on the classroom wiki. Once the students finished up their own work, the wiki was projected onto the Smart Board where a few students read their responses from. I found this really interesting and beneficial. In class we have been talking about the use of wikis in classroom but I have never used one when I was in school and I have never seen one in the classes that I observed. The kids loved it! They were so excited to share with me what they had worked on. They even took me on a tour of their wiki. Later on, I looked at the wiki from home and found that not only were the students doing their work, but they were also commenting on each others work. I saw comments such as "I love your opening sentence!" as well as some constructive criticism like "I think you need to do a spell check" or "Why don't you try re-wording the last sentence so it makes more sense?" I love the interactions between the students as well as the drive and excitement they had with working on the wiki.

Yours Truly,
Missy

On Cloud Nine...!

These past few weeks have been very stressful and full of bad news, BUT the past few days have completely changed everything around! I got my bid to be part of DPhiE on campus and I couldn't be happier! I've never had a sister and this bond that is already being created with the rest of the sorority is amazing! I also commute so I go to class and then go home. I don't know many people here on this small campus, so I'm looking forward to getting to know many other people here! Since I have received my bid, I have spent the past couple of days with these girls and they have put me in such a better mood! On top of all of that, last night I went to dinner and the movies with my boyfriend for our two year anniversary! I just love him sooo much and I am soo lucky to have him in my life. He keeps me grounded and stable when I feel like life has thrown too much in my direction. He constantly reassures me that everything will be just fine. I don't know what I would do without him and I am so thankful that I got to spend my day with him yesterday! All in all, I hope everything continues on this path and all of the bad news has come to an end!

Yours Truly,
Missy

I've never been more sure...

Last week during my observations in a fourth grade classroom, the teacher invited me to spend the whole day there today. The things that I observed and experienced in just one day in the classroom truly amazed me and reinforced my passion for teaching. From all of the students yelling "Hello Ms. Kelly!" as I walked in the door, to working with students in a group, to seeing an entire class cheer on their fellow classmate with special needs until that student was able to accomplish a particular task, to other teachers offering to help me with anything and lending me materials at any time, and finally to the students all saying goodbye and that they will see me next week! I love that the students look forward to me coming back and that they greet me every time I walk in! I just love everything about teaching and I cannot wait until I have a class of my own! It's where I belong... I know it!

Yours Truly,
Missy

Ever have one of those days?

I feel like everyone experiences these kind of days every so often and let me just say, I hate when it happens. Today I have just been in a bad mood. It's not that I am angry about anything, but I kind of just feel upset. There's nothing in particular that happened, it's just that kind of day. I think I may just be extremely stressed out with everything that is coming up, all of these due dates, and making sure I understand what is going on in all of my classes along with everything that needs to be done at home. The only thing that seems to help when I feel like this is curling up in bed and reading an awesome book! Reading is the only way that I completely get things off my mind. Before I can do that, I need to work on my homework and study for the upcoming tests and quizzes!

On a positive note, I've been attending physical therapy for the past week and I am glad to say that I am already making some progress! When I go there, I start off with a little heat followed by multiple exercises. My physical therapist moves my foot around trying to force it back to where it should be. Normally I work on the flexibility and balance of my foot. I have to pick up a bunch of marbles with my foot and place them in a cup. Let me tell you, I thought this was going to be simple, but it isn't as easy as it seems especially when my foot and toes do not bend well. After that I have to stand on this balancing mat. The mat makes it extremely difficult to balance even for a person who has good balance. Finally, the session ends with icing my foot. I can already see that my foot is moving more, I am able to balance a little longer each time, and I am finally starting to walk on my foot flat! I'm trying to remain positive through this whole experience and hope that my doctor will eventually tell me that I can return to gymnastics and cheerleading!

I'm really getting the hang of this blogging experience I think. I really enjoy it because it's kind of like a diary that everyone and anyone can read. It's my way of venting and talking about things that I don't want to keep to myself but don't know who to share it with! I hope all of you continue to read my posts and are enjoying what I have to say. Hopefully many of you can relate or understand where I am coming from! Thanks for reading!

Yours Truly,
Missy

Elevate it & ice it!

So as many of my followers know, because they saw me hobbling around on crutches for many weeks during the fall semester, I had surgery on my foot. This has been a long healing process and unfortunately, I am not too happy with my progress (neither is my doctor). With that being said, he sent me to physical therapy and Monday was my first day. I learned many exercises that I can do at home and my physical therapist helped me as well while I was there. Let's just say, I was in quite a bit of pain after my first visit because I was using muscles and bones that I neglected to use since I got my cast and boot off. I am having a hard time walking on my foot flat, I have lost the ability to balance on my right foot alone, and the whole left side of my foot will not bend as well as it being numb. Now, walking has become such a conscious effort, because I have to think about each and every step I take, making sure I am walking normally. I never thought I'd have to learn how to walk all over again. Thankfully our campus is small and I don't have to walk too much! I am writing this post while I have my foot up and I am icing it after doing my required exercises. My next physical therapy appointment is on Friday. Hopefully, I will slowly begin to see some progress! I cannot wait until my foot is back to normal... except I am having surgery on my other foot in May! This is going to be a long road, but in the end, it will all be worth it! Thank you for taking the time to read about my surgery. Enjoy my x-rays so everyone can better understand what I had done!

Yours Truly,
Missy

Enchanted Evening!

My amazing boyfriend of a few years surprised me this evening! Daniel told me to get ready because he was going to take me somewhere. I was surprised because usually we just hang out at home, but that's not what we were doing tonight apparently! He took me out to dinner. It was so nice to be able to go out just with him and spend time together not worrying about anything at all. Before we left the restaurant, he got my jacket and helped me put it on. It was actually rather cute. It's something that you see in the movies but rarely in real life (or maybe it's just never happened to me... who knows!) Then we came back to my house and turned on Netflix. We found a cute movie that we both liked, well actually a movie I liked, and we watched it together. I'm not really sure why tonight felt so enchanting but I loved it! Maybe it was the fact that this was unexpected and he was just reminding me that he loves me or maybe it was the fact that we got to spend time together without talking about all the stresses and difficulties in both of our lives. It felt like the rest of the world was blocked out and I loved it! Honestly, after a overwhelming week back at school, this was a perfect way to finish my day. I am so grateful that he is part of my life and I couldn't ask for a better boyfriend and best friend! Ahhhh, such an enchanted evening!

Yours Truly,

Missy

Back to Reality!

Today's the first day back to classes after an enjoyable winter break. It was so difficult getting up this morning. I am NOT a morning person... at all! So I'm sitting her in my Instructional Technology class and we were required to start this blog. I have never had a blog before, so this is going to take some getting used to. While I'm attempting to get used to blogging and simultaneously working on my delicious page, I just wanted to say hello to all of my followers (and future followers) and to welcome you to my page! Have an awesome rest of your day!

Yours Truly,
Missy