May Update

Hello again! Here's what I've been up to since last time!

On the work front, I am starting my first teacher summer!! I have arrived in the promised land! I think everyone was beyond ready for summer, both teachers and students. As of last post, we were on the cusp of prom night, which came and went without a hitch. Of course, Thomas was my date, and we had lots of fun dancing throughout the evening! From that point, my teaching turned into a swirl of EOI prep. On one hand, it was easy for me because I mostly took participation grades and had minimal prep work to do. On the other hand, it was tedious, mind-numbing, and somewhat demoralizing. Such is life, I guess. I finished testing in all of my classes! I had pass rates ranging from 70% to almost 80%. I'm not sure how great that is in the grand scheme of things, but for it being my first year and going into some of it kind of blind, I was pretty pleased with my students' performance! As excited as I was to see my students pass (and even score 'Advanced'), I was equally crushed to see students score 'Limited Knowledge', which is right below passing (Proficient). So many of those students were a handful of points short from passing, but didn't. It's heartbreaking, if only because many of those students were the hardest workers whose effort didn't always correlate into grades/test scores. That's what I hate most about testing--seeing students being reduced to mere numbers on a computer screen. I hate it, but it is what it is. From there, the rest of the year was pretty simple, complete with multiple projects in my classes. Joan, the former math teacher was gracious enough to step in and commandeer these projects! I'm beyond grateful for her assistance/guidance! Finals and my first awards assembly went off without a hitch. The last days of school were filled with lots of craziness, hugs from students, and a sweet note from a student thanking me for all I did as her teacher. Wow. For all the bad days, tough times, and stress this year has provided, there were still lots of grace-filled moments showing me that I was exactly where God wanted me to be this year. My co-workers were beyond amazing, something I worry that I won't find when I leave next year. My family and Thomas were supportive and a good soft place for me to land after the worst days. Now I'm a second-year teacher, and hopefully it will look up from here!

On to happier thoughts of my beloved, Thomas is now a proud alumni of OSU! He graduated bright and early at the 9:30 ceremony. I may or may not have been a little bitter that his graduation wasn't tampered with at the last minute like mine was, but I guess that's life. I know he's equal parts excited and nervous about the upcoming changes in his life. I'm beyond proud of everything he's accomplished at OSU, and I can't wait to see what he'll do at JB Hunt!

One of the high points of Thomas's graduation weekend was having the opportunity for my family to meet his extended family! His uncles Ross, Jay, and Mark, as well as his aunt Jean made the trip to OK, along with Steve and Diana. My parents and both of my sisters' families were in attendance. Oh yeah, our friend/best man, Nick was there too! (You can't forget about Nick!) All in all, everyone got along smashingly! We couldn't see any reason as to why they wouldn't get along, but even so, it was a huge relief to us that everyone meshed well! We had lots of laughs and great conversation! There was a little snafu at the restaurant that put a damper on Saturday, but all in all, it was a pretty great weekend!

Photo Credit to Diana

Thomas with his parents

My parents and me with Thomas

The three amigos--Bertels, Nick, and Thomas

The Best Pals, Thomas and Cole

Thomas and Cody

Thomas and Kyle

Thomas's Texas graduation cap that I decorated for him!

Have I mentioned lately how amazing Thomas is? A couple of weeks ago, we both had a really tough week, but he pulled out the stops to make it a lot better! For starters, he was able to handle/tame my craziness, which definitely takes some doing! I had planned to visit Stillwater a few weekends ago for his baccalaureate Mass, but wasn't going to be able to leave until a little later than I hoped on Friday. Out of the blue, he decided to come pick me up for the weekend! When he arrived, he came with some beautiful yellow daisies!!! (In case you're curious, my favorite flowers are "just-because" flowers!) As if that wasn't enough, on Tuesday he surprised me by coming over to attend my students' band concert! Then a little later in the week, he came over to see me! What an amazing man!!! I have seriously hit the jackpot!!! Just another of the infinite reasons I love that man so much! :)

On a different note, Cody experienced his first Tri-State Music Festival! He played concert band and marched. They received straight 1's in both, which added to his excitement! He's over-the-moon excited about band! Here's hoping he keeps it up, as musical knowledge is quite valuable! In other exciting news, my mom found a dress to wear to our wedding next summer! It's beautiful, fits perfectly, and she loves it! I'm so happy she said yes to her dress :) Have I mentioned that I'm excited about looking for my dress in the coming months??!! I totally am! I feel like it'll be the shopping trip of my lifetime! I'm trying not to get too wrapped up in it til it gets closer, but still! I can't wait!!! 

Now, I'm gearing up to make my first-ever solo drive to Dallas next week for Elizabeth's graduation. I'm equally nervous and excited. Anyone who knows me knows that I'm not a huge fan of big-city driving, so this is huge for me. I've settled on a route that shouldn't cause too much stress for me, God willing. Just say a couple prayers for me, if you would! To help with this trip, I also bought my first PikePass, so I can easily traverse the turnpikes! I'm moving up in the world! Not long after this trip, I'll be going over to Arkansas to help Thomas settle into his new apartment. Lots and lots and lots of driving in my future...hooray, I guess? 

I came to the realization a few days ago that the wedding is now less than 14 months away! That's exciting news! It's going to start getting to the point that I'll actually have to start doing things to prepare instead of thinking about it. Wow, it's starting to get real!

Alright, I'll end it here and try to get better about posting throughout all of my adventures this summer! Have a great day!