Homecoming 2012

     A couple of weeks ago we celebrated homecoming week at school.  It's always a very crazy week but also a very fun week!!  I thought that I would post some pictures from the week.  Since I am the yearbook advisor, I make sure my yearbook staff takes a ton of pictures.  Considering that students are in almost all of them though, I am only posting a couple of students who I teach and received permission from to post. :)  

 These two girls dressed up for "Favorite Character Day."

 Pajama Day is always a favorite dress up day for the teachers!!

Zombie/Monster Day...lots of scary costumes this day!!

Career Day...I think our counselor is hoping/wishing for a new job at Caribou!!

Of course...here is our traditional Blue and Gold Day.

 Our "office angels" as we call them have school spirit!! :0)

A Sea of Pink

    A team of us from Curves joined together to participate in the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk sponsored by the American Cancer Society this past Saturday.  I was walking for my friend and co-worker, Jenny.  One of our group members, Diane, is also a breast cancer survivor; she was a great inspiration too!!

Our Curves team

 Even Blizzard, the SCSU mascot, wore pink for the occasion!!

     These bras were on display as part of a design competition.  Each bra was intricately designed and creatively named.  There were about thirty bras on display.  So many creative people in this world!!

 This one was very pretty, and I loved the name: "My Cup Runneth Over."

"Where the Wild Things Are"
(The paintings were amazing on each "cup.")

 My friend, Shelly (on the left) was the chairperson for this very successful event.

 Barb and I are sporting our pink ribbon tattoo.

     To begin our three mile walk, current breast cancer survivors walked one indoor lap and then led us outside to the trail.  This was an emotional moment!!

 Check out this vibrant beauty on our way to the trail!!!  Incredible!

Even this Dodge Charger is pink!!

Sunny San Antonio

     As I stated in my last blog, I recently visited sunny San Antonio. It truly was a piece of heaven!! When I left Minnesota, it was 79 degrees, and the next day a cold front moved in for a few days and left Minnesota in the 40s with lots of wind. The five days that we were there were 93, 92, 88, 85, and 80. Obviously, I left just in time for my vacation!! :0)
     Typically, my trip with my sister to her fall convention is over MEA, but this year it was earlier. I have really enjoyed going with her on these trips, and so far, each trip has been in a location that I haven't previously visited. It's very gracious of her as she picks up the tab, and I just have to bring spending/shopping money!! However, I always buy her beautiful new pieces of jewelry and make her a scrapbook to commemorate our trip.
     I relaxed in the sun, took a daily walk along the RiverWalk, and shopped while my sister was in her meetings. Since we stayed right on the RiverWalk, everything that we did was easily accessible. It was such a joyful trip with lots of laughter between two sisters.
     I have spent a lot of time creating my thank you scrapbook for my sister, so I thought that I would share it on my blog. My niece, Rachel, says this is cheating, but it saves me some time!! Plus she was giving me a bad time about "slacking" the past few months with my blog, so I had to appease her and start posting more often. Happy, Rach?! :)

 

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Swimmers

     This past Saturday I attended the true team swimming sections at Sauk Rapids High School.  I was there to cheer on our Big Lake swimmers.  They were so happy to see a former teacher there and even asked if I would take a picture with them.  Some of the girls were in the locker room, but all of the girls shown in this picture are former students of mine.  

     Their "team photographer" is a super substitute of ours and a parent of one of the swimmers.  She e-mailed me this photo, so I thought that I would share it.  Kim joked that either one particular individual had been somewhere warm/tropical recently, or these girls need to see some sun/get out of the pool more often!! :)  So...I will be sharing photos soon on my blog from my recent vacation to sunny San Antonio!!

Danny and Paige

     I spoke of my nephew's engagement when they first got engaged in Disneyland in May.  Well, here is their official engagement picture!!!  Congrats, Danny and Paige!! We're looking forward to the wedding in June!!! XOXOXO  Love you, Aunt Lulu and Uncle D

Team Jenny

     This week we are having our annual wellness fundraiser for breast cancer awareness.  If staff would like to participate, they make a donation to the American Cancer Society. The advantage is wearing jeans for the week. :0)  Otherwise, we only wear jeans on Fridays.  Today we wore pink, and some of us wore our "Team Jenny" shirts to show support for one of our teachers currently undergoing breast cancer treatment.  We have another teacher in remission, another undergoing treatment for ovarian cancer, and, unfortunately, one staff member who passed away this past spring from ovarian cancer.  “Get up every day, love God, and do your best. He will do the rest!”  Joyce Meyer

Down by the River

     Our annual river day for school was held on a beautiful fall day last week.  The students completed a hands-on science assignment guided by our science teachers. Here are some of the highlights:

Mr. Trutna stopped long enough to master the "thinker" pose.

Poor Emily!! She couldn't find any waders that fit her!!  She was a good sport though!! :0)

Mikey stopped and enjoyed a massive turkey leg for lunch.  He didn't even share though!! ):

Mr. Pintok (AKA "Master P") worked one of the water density stations.

The teachers always really enjoy this day with the kids!!

Juicy Lucy

     Ever since I moved to Minnesota, I have heard about the infamous "Juicy Lucy" from a variety of friends and co-workers.  Well, it's only taken me 15+ years to have one!!  It was definitely worth it.  No worries, dear brother, Bob, I am going to explain how to make one next summer!!  You are such a grill master, I can't wait for you to make us these!! :)

Open House 2012

     Is it really that time already??!!  Open House was held almost two weeks ago.  It's been so hectic that I haven't had a chance to upload my pictures from that night. ): It definitely feels like going from 0 to 50 in a matter of seconds!!  This year we all have Hornet Pride shirts, so it was kind of fun to wear those all at the same time!!  We are wearing them on Fridays for a while too.  It was very hot that night, so it was great to have a reason to wear shorts and a t-shirt.  :0)

All of us gathered together :)

Just joking around in this picture - very fun!!

This is the 8th grade team of teachers.

Some of the English teachers: April, Meg, Me, Paula, Alison, and Barb.

One of my best buddies, Alison

After open house was over, we headed to a local establishment for appetizers and cool beverages.

Jeff, Vandy, and Me

Alisha and Mark (also our volleyball coaches)

Kris, Brenda, and Claud

Holly, Simona, and Deb

Becca, Bridget, and Me

Mike and Jeff

Jill and April

Renae has become our new scheduling queen.
She was very happy with that drink in her hand!!

Meg and April 

(A fun fact about these two: both are members of the Screen Actor's Guild.)

My good buddy, Holty, transferred to the math department at the high school, so it was great to catch up with him.

Catching Up...

  

    Before school resumed, we had an end-of-the-summer gathering.  It was nice to catch up on everyone's summers and watch Ingrid, Stella, and Wyatt with their kid sized fishing poles.  Oh, to be young again!! :0)

Ingrid...what a cutie pie!

Wyatt was so excited to tell us that he was going to kindergarten this year!!

Simona, Ingrid, Wyatt (such a big smile), and Nancy (his beauty of a mom)

Ingrid was having fun with Mona.

This was such a fabulous appetizer!!  It included mozzarella slices, freshly sliced garden tomatoes, and cilantro drizzled with balsamic vinegar.