Substitute teaching and Jambalaya

Is it possible to be completely exhausted but still refreshed at the same time?

Because I totally am.

It's so nice to be excited to get out of bed, drive for 30 minutes, and go to 6 hours of class a day. :)

(My classmates and I have gotten to the exhausted-delirious-giggly-weird stage of our program, which has made it extra fun.)

We had to summarize a chapter of our book yesterday, so my group decided to re-write "Some Nights" by Fun. My contribution mostly comprised of jazz-hands.

I got thrown into subbing at the last minute on Thursday, which was pretty terrifying. But I made it through the whole day without getting upset, the kids learned something (or at least seemed to), and I learned a lot. So all in all, it was a win!

Outside of school in all my free time (ha!) I have been really lazy. B and I have had a few much needed date nights which were so great. He's such an awesome support and my biggest fan throughout all of this hectic craziness. I don't know where I'd be without him. (Probably going crazy and eating nothing but candy for dinner.)

Last weekend I took the train back home for one of my best friend's baby shower (hurry up and come out to meet us, Baby R! We're all so excited to meet you!). It was really nice to be back and in the company of my great friends and some of my family, but it also reminded me why I'm doing what I'm doing; I needed to be reminded of why I'm working hard to live elsewhere. I owe a huge thank-you to the people who make visiting worthwhile, but it's really a downer place to live.

Through all the craziness this semester has brought, B and I have been trying hard to eat somewhat-healthfully. We have some days where it's really not possible, but we try. Usually I get my recipes from pinterest/vegetarian pages I find on Facebook, but I realized this morning that I have about 8 vegetarian cookbooks that I hardly ever look through. So this weekend I'm going to make some jambalaya from one of those cookbooks to keep in the fridge for the week, and I thought I'd share the recipe! I'll update with any changes and our opinions after we try it. :)

Jammin' Vegetable Jambalay

From The Vegetarian Meat & Potatoes Cookbook

by Robin Robertson

Makes about 4 servings.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large yellow onion, chopped

1 celery stalk, chopped

1 large red bell pepper, seeded and chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

One 28-ounce can diced tomatoes, with their juices

1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme leaves

1/2 teaspoon minced fresh marjoram leaves

1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups water

8 ounces vegetarian sausage links, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 1/2 cups cooked dark red kidney beans or one 15 ounce can, drained and rinsed

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley leaves

Hot cooked long-grain rice

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, bell pepper, and garlic. Cover and cook, stirring a few times, until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, thyme, marjoram, Tabasco, salt, and water. Cover and simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, heat the remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons oil in a medium-size skillet over medium-high heat. Add the vegetarian sausage and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned all over, about 5 minutes.

3. Add the sausage to the tomato mixture, along with the beans and parsley. Cook, uncovered, for 10 minutes stirring occasionally. Add more water if the jambalaya becomes too dry. Serve over hot rice.

What I learned in middle school today...

Today was my first day back with my 6th grade kiddos after two weeks of missing their hilariously sarcastic, sweet, and brilliant little selves. I don't think most of them knew I was coming back today, so it was awesome to see the surprised looks on their faces when they walked into the classroom! I got so many hugs and "You came back!"s. It reminded me exactly why I'm doing what I'm doing. :) Even though I'll only be with them one day a week for the next 3 or 4 weeks (and then 4 days a week until winter break! *happy dance*), I'm ecstatic that I'll be seeing them every week now.

In the eight hours I was at the school today I learned a lot:

1. Sixth graders will let you know when you're being unfair, intentionally or not. Having to field questions like "Why does so-and-so not get "homework opportunity" when you gave me "homework opportunity" for doing the same thing?!" really allows you to take a look at how your actions are perceived.
2. Not all teachers are always nice or tolerant.
3. A lot of teachers are, though. I met and worked with so many kind, giving, and helpful teachers and faculty members today.
4. Students will over-share.
5. I will have to bite my lip to keep from laughing quite a bit.
6. I will let myself laugh even more.
7. Sixth graders can be more thoughtful than you could ever imagine.
8. This is going to be so. much. work. Success will not happen easily, but it will happen.
9. I am so ready for this challenge.
10. Teaching young adolescents is certainly a labor of love, one I accept gladly.

As I lay on my couch eating my weight in chocolate resting and relaxing after a long day, my heart is so full of love and joy that I'm finding it difficult to contain myself. Today was not perfect, nor was it full of only happy experiences. There were difficulties. But it was exactly what I wanted, and so much more. :)

I Am

I am open minded and big hearted
I wonder about the impact I will make in our world
I hear something calling me to try to improve lives in every way I can
I see myself being a mother in the future
I want to travel to other countries
I am open minded and big hearted

I pretend to be a ballerina when I’m listening to classical music
I feel more feelings than I know what to do with
I touch the minds of authors when I am lost in a book
I worry that we are destroying our planet and our communities with selfish desires
I cry for the suffering of the helpless
I am open minded and big hearted

I understand that music enriches lives
I say that love can truly help us overcome anything
I dream of owning an old house surrounded by a big garden and filled with a big family
I try to be on time, even though I’m not always successful
I hope to always be learning and growing
I am open minded and big hearted

Salsa chickpeas and local brews

This past week has flown by in a complete whirlwind. I'm officially a week and a half into my credential program, but it feels like it's been months. I mean that in the best possible way -- I'm having more fun than anyone should be allowed to have at school, and I'm meeting some wonderful people -- but everything has blurred into one exhausting-but-thrilling memory.

In spite of school work (so. much. school.work.), my classmates and I have been trying to stay sane together. Last Thursday we did happy hour at a brewery down the street from school. It was such a cool atmosphere, in a giant (but unconditioned...) warehouse with brewery equipment everywhere and people actively working to make the beers right in front of you! The tasting room was mostly just a bar with standing room only and about a zillion beers on tap. I'm really excited about being introduced to this place, and I'm hoping it will encourage me to branch out and try other local breweries. Apparently northern San Diego county is full of great local breweries, which I had no idea about! I feel like I've done absolutely nothing in the almost 3 years that I've lived here. Hopefully this is the beginning of me making up for lost time and experiencing what North County has to offer! :)

Cheers to surviving the first week of school!

B and I have been trying to make the most of our weekends together since our schedules suck over the week, but I usually have about 10 hours of homework each weekend. Yesterday all I did was homework after we had a brunch date, but today we spent the whole day together homework free. We went out to breakfast (again!) and I had the most divine banana-nutella-crêpes. Unhealthy? Yes. Worth it? Totally. I figure I'm allowed to be unhealthy once in a while. My attempt at healthy lunches has been really successful over the last few weeks, so that's my excuse to eat an entire bag of chips and crêpes in one day snack in very appropriate portions every once in a while. ;)

Here's my latest favorite excuse to eat like crap over the weekends healthy lunch recipe. Let me know if you try it and how you like it!

Vegan Fat-Free Salsa Chickpea Lettuce Wraps

Originally posted on The Happy Herbivore

Ingredients

10 whole lettuce leaves (I use Romaine)

1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and diced

1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
12 ounces salsa (I use Fresh & Easy's Hot salsa)

15 ounces chickpeas, drained and rinsed

Instructions

Combine chickpeas and salsa in a medium sauce pan. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until all of the liquid has absorbed and the chickpeas have taken on the salsa’s color, about 8 minutes. For best results, refrigerate over night. Spoon chickpeas into lettuce leaves and top with chopped bell pepper pieces. Serve chickpeas at any temperature. (Makes about 8 wraps)

Firsts

Let me start this by saying that I am so lucky and blessed to be where I am in life right now. I have a wonderful, supportive husband, I'm living in a gorgeous location, and I'm part of what I think is the greatest group of teacher candidates around. But, with that being said...

...The past few weeks have been overwhelmingly full of firsts for me.

A few weeks ago, as part of my teacher credential program, I began shadowing a 6th grade math teacher who works at the middle school down the street from my place. I got to experience the whirlwind of beginning of the year planning and prepping, compounded with the stress of switching to Common Core State Standards...without text books for the students or teacher editions for the teachers! So not only was it the first time I've seen the teacher side of the beginning of the year, I was also seeing several veteran teachers try to cope with adjusting to new materials and curriculum standards. I'm so thankful I was just there observing and helping, I think I would have cracked under the pressure if it was my livelihood on the line!

That experience also gave me the opportunity to work with 6th graders for the first time in my life...and I'm so glad I did! They're great! They have the sweet innocence and respect of younger kids, but they have the wit and intelligence of older kids. Perfect combination! I'm used to working with 7th-12th graders, but now I'm seeing I would be perfectly happy with any grade, which is a reassuring feeling. :)

I had to flip the switch from teacher to student on Thursday for my first day of actual classes through the university, which was great too. There are 25 of us in the cohort and I can honestly say I enjoy the company of all 24 of my classmates! My classmates are great, my professors are great, the experience is great... and we're part of the only middle level credential program in the entire state of California. Others who want to become middle school teachers have to go through either an elementary program or a single subject program, but we get the opportunity to have specialized middle school level training! Cha-ching!

CSUSM's Middle Level Teacher Candidates -- Cohort 22! :)

Other than all the school-related firsts, everything else has been pretty routine around here. B (the husband) just started his last year at his community college and has a new wonderful outlook on his schooling. He's going to start applying to transfer in the next month or so, so this time next year we'll be off on our next big adventure wherever he chooses to transfer!

The last few weeks of summer we tried to spend on the beach as much as possible. It's so wonderful living a few blocks from the beach... I don't even want to think about having to move away from here! But that won't be for about a year, so I'll try not to stress about that. :)

Instead of making you read about our summer, I'll try to sum up some of the highlights with some photos:

Spending some much needed relaxation time on the beach together

Always managing to smile together -- one of my favorite things about us. :)

Graduation with my "little" brother, who is 15 and is 5 inches taller than me.

She's been one of the biggest blessings in my life since middle school. She came all the way out to California from Arkansas to be with me for my college graduation. Talk about a wonderful friend!

I got to catch up with a lot of friends over the summer, which was awesome. I've known and been best friends with this gorgeous gal for 18 years now!

Being 4 months pregnant didn't stop her from coming down to celebrate my graduation with me -- and conquer her fear of the ocean! I love this lady (and her two beautiful daughters) so very much!

And of course B got to catch up with one of his besties during one of our visits to my hometown over the summer. :)

And of course we spent much of the summer laughing, exploring, imbibing, and relaxing with these two. Unfortunately we had to say "see ya later" to them about a week and a half ago, but we're very excited for them as they embark on their next adventures together!

We celebrated Shark Week this year by visiting the Birch Aquarium at Scripps in La Jolla, Ca. It was so cool!

I decided to start a blog for several different reasons. I can already feel this time of my life completely flying past me. I've already been working in the credential program for about 3 weeks and it feels like I just started yesterday, and I don't want to forget these experiences. I've also started realizing how much I love writing and getting all my thoughts down, so I'm going to try to use this blog to a) keep me accountable, and  b) try to find my "voice" as a writer. Hopefully I can get a few regular readers who will help me do those things. :)