First Day of School Picture

It's a tradition to take a first day of school picture. Well, at least when I was in elementary school, middle school, and high school it was a tradition. I decided to bring back the tradition and take a first day of student teaching picture! Only...the picture was taken today--the day before my last day at Emporia Middle School. OOPS! Better late, than never, though, right?

This is what I lugged to school every day. (Typically, I also had a "lunchbox" along.)

I think my back has permanent knots in it from the weight of all I carried!



I absolutely LOVED my cooperating teacher and my students at EMS. I will greatly miss them.

Surprise, Mom!

Erika and I wanted to plan something special for Mom's birthday. With Mom and Dad leaving a week from Monday (October 3), we decided it would be best to do something this weekend. Mom has always wanted a pedicure, so we kidnapped her in Wichita and took her to Tips and Toes to get our nails done. We all three got pedicures and then Erika and I took her out to eat.

Dad and Mom were at a reception in Wichita and I had arranged it with Dad to drop Mom off at Panera, where Erika and I would meet her! She was surprised!!!



None of us had ever had a pedicure before, so we were excited! Mom was a little nervous! Since none of us had ever experienced professional pedicures before, we weren't quite sure how everything worked! The chairs had these buttons you could push that would massage your back in different ways and places. It was the weirdest/coolest chair ever! I'm the sure the salon ladies were greatly amused at us (not our feet!). We kept giggling! What fun! Next time we'll know how to act like pros!







For supper, we feasted on Mediterranean food! Scrumptious!



A big THANK-YOU to Melissa and Andrew who helped pay for Mom's present!

Labor Day Weekend (a few weekends late!)

Okay, I know Labor Day Weekend was about a month ago, but I have been beyond busy, so am just now blogging about my phenomenal weekend!!!

Friday night, a couple of my friends and I camped out a local Christian coffeehouse to work on homework. We decided, the only way to make it not lame was to order pizza. So, we did! Let me tell you, there is something truly rebellious about ordering pizza when it goes against my budget, body, and overall good sense! It certainly made a memory, though!

Saturday, we decided to scout out a little bake-shop I had heard about from my French teacher. One of my previous French teachers owns a European Bake-Shop in Hartford, Kansas.Hartford is a super small town situated about 20 minutes Southeast of Emporia. Upon our arrival, we (Sherlynn, Gowoon, Doh, and myself) step out of the pickup and start walking toward the bakery when a lady calls out from across the main street, "Welcome to Hartford!" I'm assuming the sight of two Korean girls was not a common one!

Madame O'Connor (my ex-French teacher and owner of European Bakery) has always had a talent and passion for baking and she calls her bakery, "A little taste of French in the land of Oz!" The place is tiny, but super cute. The food is genuine and authentic. In order to make our trip worth it, we ate a late breakfast there, then lunch a few hours later, and then dessert! We all brought stuff along to do and took up most of the seating area!!!












What a fun day of eating, pleasant conversation, and some French-speaking between Madame O'Connor and myself!

Sunday, after church in Empo-town, we (the same) drove to my house to spend the afternoon, night, and part of the next day. The weather had turned cold, so we watched some TV, slept, ate, went on a walk, and enjoyed a nice relaxing mini-vacation!