Ten on Tuesday!

I'm FINALLY able to pull my life together enough to make one of these, so here goes!

1. In what is obviously the most important part of this post, I am officially a proud alumna of Oklahoma State University!!! Hooray! After four years of hard work, many sleepless nights, and enough memories to fill a lifetime, I have a Bachelor's degree, and, even better, a job awaiting me! I'm beyond happy to be done with school, at least for the moment. Yes, I will be pursuing a Master's, just not sure when, where, or what program yet. I'm tempted to start whittling away at a degree within the next year, but I really want to be sure that I'm able to pour myself into my first year in the classroom, so that's the main reason I'm holding off right now...also, see my previous reasoning of not knowing where I want to pursue it and (most importantly) what program I want to complete. At the moment, I'm torn between finding a program strictly for secondary math or pursuing something more related to the special education career path. A Master's in SPED with a Bachelor's in Secondary Math Ed and Math would basically open up any job to me, seeing as both of which are HIGHLY sought-after degrees. We'll see where life takes me! :)

2. Of course, my graduation was punctuated by some random speed bump. The week leading up to graduation was filled with rain and severe weather all over the state, in typical early-May Oklahoma fashion. At the beginning of the week, our meteorologists forecasted a "severe weather event" of Brobdingnagian proportion, or something like that. They talked it up as if it would be the "be-all, end-all" of severe storms in the history of ever. (Maybe that's a bit dramatic, but so are our local weatherpeople these days, if you ask me...) So I really shouldn't have been too surprised when I received a call and email blast from OSU telling me that my previously-scheduled 9:30 AM graduation was moved to 8:00 AM because of the impending doom forecasted for that evening. I think this was God's way of keeping me from being too lazy on the day of my last event for my undergraduate career! Nonetheless, I had to remember who I sent invitations to and attempt to guess who might possibly try to attend the ceremony so I could inform everyone of the time change. I spent about an hour or so calling, texting, emailing, posting, and messaging to get people on the same page. Thankfully, I didn't receive any reports of family members or friends who arrived to graduation 1.5 hours too late, so I think I did a good job of informing people! The real shock was when I realized that I had to be on campus by 7 AM, which is just wonderful when you're not a morning person! Thomas and I ended up leaving my trailer around 6:15 AM, just to be safe. I left like a crazy woman, bringing a travel mug of coffee to slurp down so I could be alert, nail polish to paint my nails because I procrastinated hardcore on that part (and had already committed to it), and trying to ensure that I didn't forget some part of my regalia for the morning. Whew! It was a sprint, but it was all worth it in the end :)

3. Besides walking the big stage, the best part of my celebration was the party my parents had for me that night! Because of the aforementioned rain, we were a little bit leery of who would show up for the party since basically all of the surrounding roads were in deplorable condition. Thanks to lots of divine intervention, we received almost no rain on Saturday, so while the roads were still sticky and gross, they were at least passable! Praise God!!! As it turned out, we had loads of people come over to celebrate with us! It warmed my heart to see so many people who wanted to wish me well! Being the youngest and never really having many opportunities to celebrate events in my life with massive amounts of people, this was still mostly uncharted territory for me! Some highlights of the evening were getting to see Tonisha, who so sweetly drove in from Wichita for the event! Thomas's parents drove up from Dallas just for this, which meant that our families were finally able to meet for the first time! I'm overjoyed to report that everyone got along smashingly and cannot wait for the next time we can all get together! To cap things off, three of my dear St. John's friends, Roz, Andrea, and Maria, all came over! They LOVED being out in the country and took loads of pictures of the scenery. There's something about seeing all of the people I love most all together in one place, mixing, mingling, and hitting it off that makes my heart happy! Side note: My family (and Thomas) were the real MVPs of that weekend. They worked tirelessly to prepare food, clean, AND leave at 6:00 AM to make it to my graduation ceremony all whilst dealing with muddy roads, last-second changes, and a backed-up sewer at Mom & Dad's. They rock. I love them immensely and couldn't have made it without any of them! They are seriously the best, ever! I couldn't have asked for a more awesome celebration!

4. One of the highlights from last week was that I was asked to come visit my future classroom and meet a few students/learn their favorite activities. It was an interesting day, to say the least, and perhaps a bit of a reality check. I'm really old enough to teach high schoolers. Also, it is going to be a huge transition for many students. I'm coming to terms with the fact that I probably won't be well-liked at first by many students, if only because I'm a new face and a drastic change from what they (and their families) are used to. I'm building thick skin now, because there are LOTS of changes in store, and I'm anticipating lots of backlash in some form or another. (Note: The changes I'm making aren't anything controversial, just different from what everyone has grown used to.) In some regards, this is a downside to replacing a retiring teacher. This is a hard thing for me to cope with, because I'm a people-pleaser, and I constantly seek to be well-liked by those around me. I know that I won't be universally liked as a teacher, and a math teacher at that. Even so, this will be a transition for me as well. People never talk about this side of teaching, but I'm certain that God has called me here, so I'm trying to not be too premature with my assessment of everything. God will carry me through this transition, so here goes!

5. Let's talk about something a little more positive, why don't we? Guess what Thomas is doing this summer? In a total fluke, he got a job in Hennessey! It came down to the wire, but he received notice of this opening through a mass email from a professor. On a whim, he inquired about the position and was hired on the spot! It was a huge relief to him, and it was welcome news to me! I'm ecstatic to have him nearby this summer and go on fun adventures with him! I can't wait!!! Even better, he will get to stay at Mimi's now-vacant house, which totally trumped his prior plans to live in a dorm on campus and commute every day. I say this all the time, but seriously guys, God is so good! It has been amazing to see how he has provided for me and all of my loved ones so generously! I'm also excited for him to get a better look at the place that has been such a huge piece of my life! Thanks be to God from whom all blessings flow!

6. So what are you up to this summer, Amanda? For once in my life, I have plans to visit a few places and do a few things! This will be my first summer in at least four years that I haven't had a "job", and I'm so excited! Granted, I have tons to do to prepare for teaching, but I can't really progress much on that stuff until I get my classroom keys/sign my contract/receive my teaching certificate in late June. Thus, I have a few weeks that I don't feel quite so pressured to be doing school things yet! My first trip that I'm planning is to travel down to Dallas for a few days to get to be with Thomas's family. I love the fact that Thomas is practically a fixture in my family, but I don't want his family to feel neglected AND I want to continue to build a great relationship with them. In a fun twist, instead of willing my almost twenty-year-old pickup to drive to Dallas and bracing my nerves to deal with the stress of navigating Dallas on my own, I'm taking a train down there and riding home with Thomas, who will be coming back then! I've never traveled via train, but I'm excited to do so! The other exciting thing on my agenda for this summer is a trip to Omaha with the long-lost Rebecca, who has been studying abroad in France this past semester! We're going to Omaha for my graduation present, tickets to an Imagine Dragons concert, one of my favorite bands!!! I'm pumped! It'll be a very short trip, basically there and back, but I'm still excited to visit another new place with one of my best friends!

7. This weekend I have the pleasure of getting to be a small-group leader for the TEC retreat! This will be my third time to be a part of this retreat, and my first to hold a leadership position, of sorts. The TEC retreat has had such a big impact on my faith life over the past 1.5 years, so I'm excited to be able to give back to it! Another highlight will be the fact that I'm giving a talk at the retreat about love in the context of the Holy Trinity. I think my talk has turned out well, and I'm praying that it'll be good for those attending, too!

8. As I mentioned previously, I'm now in the transition time of getting myself physically and mentally prepared for this school year, which means that I have tons of lesson planning awaiting me, along with deciding how I want to run my classroom, how I want to take grades, and how I want to organize/set up everything. I have lots to do, but I'm trying to keep all stress at bay!

9. Here's some awesome fun news: I sold my trailer that I've lived in for the last 2 years! Even better, I sold it to Gina and Jeremy, so I can take my time moving some stuff out and leave most everything else there, like dishes, non-perishable food, the TV, etc. This was a HUGE and welcome relief, as I hadn't received many serious offers after having it on the market for almost a month. I am so happy at how this played out! Once again, see my thankfulness for God's providence! I'm incredibly blessed!

10. The last bit of fun, much more random news is that I'm going to buy myself a new pair of glasses this summer! I need a new lens prescription in my current frames, and I've come to the realization that they just don't work as well for me as they originally did. I say this because I am horribly near-sighted and the lenses are a little too narrow for current needs and leave me with more blind area than I'd really care to have. Thankfully, larger frames are in vogue, so it shouldn't be too difficult to come across a nice pair of stylish frames that fit and suit me well. (Honestly, I really could care less if they are in style or not because I've already decided that that's what I want. Even so...) I'm hoping that once I get my new frames with updated lenses, I'll actually want to wear my glasses more often than I currently do, which is almost never! Here's hoping, and here's to this summer!

Happy Tuesday, everyone! Enjoy!