Linking up!

In an attempt to start connecting with other teacher bloggers out on the internet, I'm linking up to Fabulous 4th Grade Froggy's upper elementary linky party!  I love reading other teachers' blogs to find new ideas, or a fresh approach to any given subject topic that I probably wouldn't have thought of on my own.  Such a fantastic idea to have a central place to connect teachers of similar grade levels!  So... come find me here, or I'm sure I'll see many of you on your blogs too! :)

My first "Currently"

Yay, my first Currently!  I've spotted these all over the teacher blogs that I follow, and now I get to participate too!

Check out Farley's post at Oh Boy 4th Grade to see everyone else's!

And NOW I think I am finally ready to get some sleep!  Lots done on my blog today, and hopefully more to do tomorrow!  Buenos noches!

All moved in, and my first DIY

After a crazy weekend of moving to my new apartment, I'm pretty much settled in now!  The weather was interesting, but I'm so glad it cooperated with the move!  This is what the sky looked like on Friday:

Needless to say, I packed my car up pretty quickly!  Thank goodness the rain only lasted the duration of the drive, and stopped by the time we were unloading!  And then Saturday was clear, but the crazy storms on Friday night definitely did some damage around my new apartment building - huge branches down all around, and even tore off a section of the roof of the building next to mine!  Yikes!  

So here I sit, in my new home.  Libby kitty is alternately running around and hiding, trying to figure what on earth is going on.  But she'll get used to it soon enough!

ANYWAY, time to show you my first DIY project!  I had some help with my grandma for this one. :)

For my classroom this fall, I want to try to stay closer to a theme that only uses a few colors.  I have a small cart with three plastic drawers of various colors that I like based on its functionality, but was not excited that each drawer was a different color: 

I know the lighting quality is poor in this picture (it was taken outside at dusk) but one drawer is pink, one is blue, and one is purple.  I decided that I wanted all of them to be the same color, and wanted them to be black.  So I went to the hardware store in search of this spray paint that I'd heard of specifically for plastic, and picked up a bottle, color black.  And here is the finished result, after it has dried and the drawers are back in the cart: 

So much better!! :)  And even had enough spray paint left to do two small flower pots and a candy dish (or whatever it is - both were violent shades of orange, of which I was not a fan!)

So hooray for spray paint made specifically for plastic! You are a hero in my eyes. :)  And hooray for being all moved in!  Now hopefully I can start posting some of the teacher-y projects that I'm working on this summer!

Shiny and Brand New

Buenos dias!  I'm back in the blogging world... I kept a blog when I did my student teaching semester, mostly for the purpose of being able to remember everything that happened and reflect on my teaching, and also to let my family know what I was up to (because I attended an out-of-state college).  Got my first teaching job, and intended on continuing with blogging, but didn't even make it past orientation week when I got busy and forgot about my blog.  But here I am, about four years later, and figure it's a great time to pick it back up again!

This fall, I'll be starting in a new district, and a new grade level.  This week I'm in the process of packing up all my belongings and moving them to my new apartment.  So much to adjust to!

My poor Libby kitty is really nervous lately, as she watches me slowly take everything out of my current apartment, and then I have to leave her alone for hours on end while I transport each load to my new place.  But I'm sure she will be excited to have a new apartment to explore, and new favorite hiding places to scout out!

A little bit about me:
*This fall I will start my fourth year of teaching.  I taught bilingual second grade for 2 years, and bilingual first grade for 1 year.  Now I'm moving up to bilingual/ESL 4th grade, and am absolutely thrilled about it.

*The above picture is my Libby kitty!  She just turned 2 this month.  She loves to eat, sleep, and chase her tail in circles.  I thought maybe she would grow out of that, but nope.  She persists.  But she is adorable and I love her bunches!

*Some of my favorite hobbies include reading, photography, riding my bike, and laminating things.  No, really.  I bought myself a little laminator finally this year, and it's pretty much my favorite thing ever.

*I'm hoping that with this blog, I can keep in touch with some of the teacher friends I'm moving away from (here's looking at you, Mrs. Manalli), make some new teacher friends, and share ideas with everyone!

That's all for this morning.  Moving one more load of stuff today, and then renting a truck tomorrow to haul the big items, and then that's it!  After tomorrow I'll be all moved into my new apartment.  I'm looking forward to decorating my new space...and, in a month or so, moving into my new classroom!  Oh the fun! :)