Now I can exhale...

Steve and I were in a pretty bad car accident today. Thankfully, we both came out mostly unscathed. I have a couple of pulled muscles in my neck/shoulder but that's pretty much it. We are both pretty shaken though. Thank you Lord for keeping us safe today.

We were not at fault... we were actually cut off by a car trying to make a left turn when they didn't have the right of way. The impact was pretty hard and we both were pretty scared when it happened. Both airbags deployed and when that happened it shot dust into our faces. The impact was so hard that my head snapped forward and I couldn't hear or see for a few seconds. It probably all transpired in 30 seconds from impact to the time the Steve was getting out of the car to help me... but in that instant it felt like it lasted forever. I was absolutely terrified. I've never been in a situation where I truly felt like I was in danger of being seriously hurt. I was so afraid for Steve. I felt relieved when I looked over and saw that he was awake and alert.

The paramedics strapped me to the board and took me into the hospital just to be safe. I have a lot of neck pain and I'm on some meds... but all in all I don't feel that terrible. I'm going to have a terrible bruise across my boobs. The seat belts really saved us from what could've been much worse.

Again, I am thinking of how God kept us safe today. That accident couldn't been much worse than it was.

My white Corolla is totalled... still waiting from the final word from Geico... but the odds are we'll be car shopping again in about a week.

What a bad run of luck I've been having lately!!!

Things that I despise

Okay, well I know before I abandoned blogging in the past month I was focusing on the positive. But I literally had the week from hell and I am allowed to wallow in self-pity for a bit.

- Feeling behind. Missing work for a week has left me completely overwhelmed. I haven't even gone back yet and my mind is spinning. I am going to need a super-sized Xanax by Monday at 3pm.

- Feeling helpless. I felt like a big bag o' crap all week long. I couldn't even get off the couch and clean my house which drove me crazy!

- Frustration. The kids that I teach leave me feeling frustrated for most of the day. How can I break through to them? Some days I feel like I am standing at the front of the class, waving my arms, screaming practically - all for nothing. They just don't get it. School is a drag and they don't care what I say... it'll never change their (or their family's for that matter) opinion.

It's been a while...

School started and I literally have not taken a moment for myself...

I'm just getting over strep throat (thought I had the H1N1 virus but that came back negative), and I missed a full week of school.

Anyone that is a teacher can tell you just how horribly stressful this is. I had three different substitutes in my room within five days... it's a mess.

I'm not looking forward to this coming week.

Things are just not coming together how I imagined. I feel like I have a tenuous hold on my class this year - like at any minute they are all going to go ape shit and run screaming out of the classroom. I know that this is me perceiving it through my perfectionist eyes... but it's stressful nonetheless.

Still not pregnant, but keeping my fingers crossed for this month.

The weird thing is that I don't feel that sense of urgency that I did back in June or July. It's like our "deadline" already passed... so at this point whenever it happens it happens.

Right now my life is just work and stress. Which probably explains why I just spent the past week sick out of my mind.

I need to get back into blogging and spending some time doing the things I love... or I'm going to burn out on this school year by October.

Grace in Small Things 10/365

It's been a while... but I definitely feel like I need to start this back up again. School has started and I'm exhausted and feeling the stress and pressure coming on. This year I'm more aware of it though... I'm really trying to manage it. Anyways... here goes!

1. This picture:

Make your own caption...

2. My husband bringing me roses yesterday to congratulate me on my first day of the 2009-2010 school year!

3. The promise of tapas and sangria tonight at Ceviche!

My hope

This year my goal is to be a more FUN teacher. It sounds simple but it's really a hard task with all the challenges and time constraints that we're faced with. They want teachers to teach in a box... do exactly as the other teachers are doing... and lose most of our creativity. One of the things that I love about teaching is the ability to be creative. The teachers that I remember the most from my school days are the ones who took teaching to the limit. They challenged us to be creative and never settled for less than our best.

My favorite teacher was my 5th grade teacher, Ms. Neuenschwander. She was fabulous! I remember doing a "Hall of Famous People" for Social Studies. We each picked a historical figure and acted out a small skit pretending to be them. I was Clara Barton. I dressed like she would've and my sister Jessica was my "patient." I still remember sitting on the stage and performing for the other students. I remember really learning about the characters that were represented. She made me love Social Studies. Up to this day, I am a history nerd.

When we were learning about money we did a "Checkbook Study." We each got old checkbooks and Ms. N set up a store in the classroom. We were allowed to shop daily as long as we filled out the checks properly. This is where I learned to fill out a check properly - in the 5th grade!

I want to thank her for instilling a love of learning and making me into the teacher I am (or will be).

My first two years teaching have been a transition for me. I've figured out the classroom management and the paperwork nightmare. This year I want to bring more of myself into the classroom. I want each and every child in my room to know that I care about them and I will not allow them to fail. I want them to see the magic that lies between the pages of a book. I want them to see that they are important to someone.

I love teaching.

Thanks for the memories

Looking at old pictures from my Delta Gamma days really makes me nostalgic. It is amazing how much has changed in the 4 years since I graduated. There were definitely ups and downs to being in a sorority. I didn't get along with everyone and there were some sisters that I never really had a conversation with. But I can tell you that it was all worth it for those few sisters that truly became my sisters.

I think that the hardest part of becoming an adult is seeing your friends grow and move on with their lives. Nothing stays the same. It's sad but inevitable.

The consolation is being able to look back on the sweetest times and feel your heart swell.

Pura Vida! - Part One

Arriving, Arenal and a Very Long Hike

I'm back from my lovely vacation in Costa Rica with lots of pictures, stories, and beautiful memories. My first impression of Costa Rica was that the people were extremely accomodating and friendly.
We arrived around 10:30pm on a Thursday night and were met outside the terminal by a very pleasant man holding a sign with my name. I felt like a VIP. They took us to the car rental agency where the friendly staffed filled us in on the details of our rental. We signed and headed out by 11. Our first attempt at driving (with me behind the wheel) was a little scary. Apparently red lights are optional for Costa Rican drivers at night. We put the GPS on to lead us to our hotel and it took us to the wrong hotel. After pulling over and getting my nerves collected, we finally managed to find a McDonald's to ask for directions. It just so happens that a bike messenger was headed in our direction and said we could follow him. It was just a block or so farther and we found our first hotel, Rincon del Valle. It was super cute and extremly cozy.


The next morning (after a lovely and free breakfast) we headed out on our first major driving experience to Arenal. Arenal is not really that far away from San Jose but it takes about 4 hours to drive there. A drive that distance in the states would only take 2 hours at the most. It's the quality of the roads that really make it a challenge. We had to take winding and sometimes unpaved roads pretty much the whole way. Thankfully we had pretty decent weather and a 4WD SUV, so it was easy going.



On the way to Arenal, we stopped in Zarcero. A small little blip on the map with an interesting looking church and some topiary gardens. We had hoped to find a public restroom but unfortunately the water had been our for three days in the city so we were out of luck. We got a few pretty pictures of the church and we were on our way.






The roads in Costa Rica weren't as bad as I imagined they would be. For the most part they were paved, and even the ones that weren't paved were pretty tightly packed dirt and easily drivable. We even got to drive through a few clouds.


Our hotel in Arenal was fabulous. It was about 19km from the tourist trap of La Fortuna. At first I was kind of disappointed that it wasn't on the main strip down there... but I grew to appreciate that fact. It was quiet and relaxing at the Tilajari Resort and we loved it.

View from our balcony

That first evening in Arenal, we decided to check out the hot springs. Because Arenal is situated at the base of an active volcano, there are numerous hot springs that you can visit. Before we went I did a little research. Most of them are overpriced and crowded. Some charge almost 100 bucks for a few hours (including dinner). I ran across a great review for Ecotermales, a family-operated hot spring that only allows a max of 100 people on the premises at a time. They space let in about 15-20 each hour so it rarely feels full. For $45 we got admission and a very large dinner. Ecotermales tends to fill up pretty quickly during the high-season, so if you plan on going there definitely book in advance. If they're full there's also Tabacon or Baldi springs - but both have no limit on the number of guests they'll let in. They are more expensive and you won't get that intimate and relaxing feel like we did at Ecotermales.

This is where we had dinner. They served us rice, beans, grilled fish, tortilla, salad and dessert! I almost sunk to the bottom of the hot spring after eating.

Ecotermales was really one of the most gorgeous and serene places I've ever been. They have a large pool that's divided into different areas depending on the temperature of the water. There's also a couple of bars and you order drinks based on the "honor system" - just let them know how many at the front desk when you leave.

It was a great way to start off our trip. We drank a bit, laughed and toasted to the amazing week we just knew we had ahead of us. I joked around with Tara and Shelly and told them that when I'm feeling stressed and overwhelmed at work I'm going to think of Ecotermales and how incredible it felt to relax like that. For someone who is so tightly wound and stressed all the time... it was absolute heaven.

The next day, we decided to go into La Fortuna pretty early and book a horseback riding excursion. It was a 4 hour trip through the hills around the base of the Arenal Volcano eventually ending with a swim in the La Fortuna waterfall! But first... while we were waiting for the trip to leave we spent some time fooling around in La Fortuna. We found this man with some snakes and I decided that I wanted to play with them. Wow, that sounded wrong. I wanted to play with a man's snake. lol

The snake seemed pretty pleasant at first... and then it started to cozy up to my neck. Then the lovely man decides to inform me that it's a Boa Constrictor. I had to yell at the guy to take the damn thing off of me before it strangled me.

Finally it was time for our horseback riding trip! The first thing I noticed was that our horses were looking a little rough around the edges. Not happy and plump horses like the ones I rode in Jamaica. I kept hoping the poor thing wouldn't collapse with my vacation-plump ass on top of it.

We rode for about an hour and then arrived at a lookout where we could see the La Fortuna waterfall in the distance. It was gorgeous and surreal. Here I was standing in the middle of the cloud forest in Costa Rica. And I had ridden a horse to get there! Who would've thought this city girl could do that!

After spending a few minutes at the lookout it was time to make the hike down to the waterfall and go swimming. When we booked the tour they told us that it was an 100m hike from where we left the horses to the waterfall. LIAR! It was more like a kilometer. Which is close... but you have to factor in that we were literally descending the side of a mountain. The ground was uneven and trecherous. And there was this little hanging bridge that terrified my travel mates. This was the first of many ocassions during this trip where I thanked god for my lack of fear of heights.


We had a little guide dog taking us down the mountain. He was absolutely precious and probably the happiest dog I've ever seen. His name was Dolar and I wanted to steal him and take him home to play with my puppies.


After an exhausting hike down, we made it! Totally worth it. The water was refreshing (COLD!) and beautiful. I jumped right in and cooled off. Another surreal experience. We took some pictures and hopped out to start our hike up the mountain. I discovered that if I ran up the path it made it less painful and quick. Once we reached up top we were honestly ready to get on those horses and call it a day. The guide asked us if we'd like to stop by a Maleku indian village on the way back. Despite our exhaustion, we all agreed that we shouldn't pass it up!





They told us a little bit about their tribe and served us a drink made from fermented corn. It was delicious! They had some handmade crafts and we did a little shopping and hopped back on our horses. By the time we arrived back in La Fortuna, I think we were all ready to collapse from exhaustion.

We called it a night back at the Tilajari and got ready to depart to Monteverde for part 2 of our fabulous adventure. I will get into that in another post... coming soon!