I'm Back

                           Yay! 

I know I know it's been TOO long. You can blame all things school related. I really needed to buckle down and focus the last two weeks of the semester. I even stopped playing Words with Friends temporarily.

I am so close to being done. I am thrilled yet in disbelief because I only have one semester left! And it is student teaching! Ahh! But there will be plenty more freaking out posts about that later. For now lets do a quick recap on what's been going on...

Last we spoke my methods unit was due. Happy to say I got an A on the assignment... WOO. See, I don't mind putting in the effort and stressing when you get a grade afterward that makes it all worth it.

Thanksgiving was fun!!! Anyone see me? 

COLD it was, but it was so worth it!

Massage on the go came to my school, another reason why I love SJC.. free massages!

I've tried a couple of new workouts over the past few weeks. I have felt sore in places I never felt sore before. I found this treadmill workout from Lauren Conrad...

This week I tried a new Boot Camp class followed by a much needed Yoga. I loved that it was snowing out during the Yoga class.. it gave it all the more Christmas/Zen feel. And we all know Kim loves Christmas.

Yesterday I got to attend another event with my pal Santa at JFK. 4,000 children from all over the city were brought to the airport and Santa and his elves arrived via a Delta jet. A fun day! 

I have a new sister, Trixie...

Overall I just have been really enjoying my favorite time of the year. Lots of exciting stuff despite some hard finals... but I am happy to say I write to you as I just completed 2 finals today and they went better than expected. 3 classes down and my last 2 finals for methods on Monday.

Looking forward to getting back into posting more and including a new section for each post.. "Some of Kim's Favorite Things"

Practice Makes Progress

Well yesterday was the much anticipated day of the semester. I taught my first mini lesson in methods and it went well I'd say! After multiple practices throughout the week and one more an hour before teaching the practice paid off. The first run through earlier in the week was a little choppy, but I think it helped to get all of the kinks, stutters and stumbles out. Except for walking RIGHT into the podium as soon as I started (lol), I am happy with my first of many lessons to come. Once I was up there and getting into the lesson it was actually fun! 

I wound up scoring a 36/40. The professor gave some great comments and feedback so hopefully I can improve based on the comments. Without practicing I doubt I would have felt as comfortable as I did come time to perform.

This past week consisted of a few more lows than I would have liked (remember that 45, yikes). I am still figuring out the right mix of Symlin and Humalog, but there is always an element of unexpectedness with T1D. Over the past month I began recording my numbers again. When I was first diagnosed with T1D I was really diligent about writing everything down. Over the years I strayed away from it just because it is a lot to record everything and it becomes really overwhelming. It is helpful to see patterns, but at the same time it is discouraging to see numbers that you don't necessarily like especially when you try your best. I started using the MySugr app on my phone and recording as best I can.

 Hopefully by practicing this again it will be good for something. Ideally progress on my next a1c. 

Some other snap shots from the week:

ThinkThin and I are bffls!

Lol

Feels nice to relax on this Saturday afternoon after a long week and tutoring all morning then staying to work on my own assignments. 

Happy Saturday! 

So looking forward to seeing some very special people tonight who I have missed soooo much! 

Xo

Celebrities, School on a Saturday and A Spin Class Dream.

Wow that is a lot in one title. Lets begin...

Where I work is pretty cool. Cool people, customers, food and an even cooler hostess. It's always nice though when a "celebrity" comes in. Rapper Lloyd Banks popped in for dinner! He has been there before and has always been very nice. So I got to take my picture with him once again. Yay because I like the way this one came out better. :D

Beamer Benz or Bentley...Beamer Benz or Bentley...

Sorry Mary Ellen, please don't be mad at me. At least you got to say you sat next to him.

Saturday morning I had to tutor at school for my commitment to math honor society. Everyone must volunteer 3 Saturdays throughout the school year. Local high school kids come in for math tutoring from 10-1. I try to grab all of the Algebra kids since that's my strongest math area. I was happy to say I got through it and knew MOST of the material. :) It is hard because although we are all math majors, we have not seen this material since high school. After going through Advanced Calc it gets a little blurry.

I even helped with some Trig. It is good practice for student teaching next semester. It's still going to school on a Saturday, but it wasn't ALL that BAD.

Sooooo since I was already there, I decided to stay and be productive. I wrapped up most of my next lesson plan due tomorrow which felt good. I was the only one in the computer lab which helped me focus. What I didn't realize about the lab at SJC is that the lights are on sensors. So after awhile they would shut off and I would be sitting in the dark lol. Oh well.. I had bar time to look forward to after I got out.

This HUGE salad was for dinner, yum!

I guess all of this Spinning has now got me dreaming about it too. I stayed up late looking at different spin profiles trying to get some ideas for this weeks class and just fell asleep with spinning on my mind.

 I had a dream that I had a packed class and all of the bikes were taken, even mine! (wasn't too happy about that), but hey that must be saying something if people are fighting for a bike. Every spin instructors dream is to have zero empty bikes...one day! 

Back to school work it is. Two midterms this week, yikes! I am looking forward to having off next Monday for Columbus Day!

So Long Summer

I can't believe my summer vacation has come to an end! In a way I am ready to get back to SJC and into a routine. (Haha ask me if I feel the same in a week.) It was a great summer to say the least. I got to travel to a bunch of great places:

relax, challenge myself in ways I didn't think I could and of course, start this blog! Running my first 5k and completing the process of becoming a spinning instructor were two goals I set for myself and I accomplished both of them. 

Also turning 21 was an exciting part of the summer! I had a great birthday dinner with the best surprise being my best friend, Tanya! :)

Although not much has changed in my social habits it has been more of a mental change. I am an adult and time is only going to get faster so cherish every minute! 

I also learned a lot about myself and others this summer. Goals can be accomplished when I set my mind to them. It is important to get comfortable with being uncomfortable in order to succeed. 

As I enter my senior year of college and begin to feel stressed and overwhelmed (because I know I will) I will try to reflect on the goals I accomplished this summer. If I ran to the finish line, spun til I had nothing left, surely I can get through what is going to be the most important year of my college career. Forty hours of observations to complete for my methods classes in the fall, lesson plans, math courses and in the spring...student teaching. In addition, trying to manage my blood sugars as best I can and keeping exercise as a priority even if it means early morning wake ups. I will look at this upcoming school year as a spin class. In the beginning I never know exactly what the class will bring, I have an idea that it will include some flat roads, hills and jumps... but I don't know the exact combination. How long are the hills? Are the jumps double time? Is there a sprint at the end of the ride? I have an idea of what senior year will entail, but I don't know exactly what it will be like or how things will turn out.

Although this summer included many ups, there were also a few downs. I learned that although I am big on being honest, most people aren't. There were disappointments, a few good cries and frustrations. However I always picked myself back up and didn't look back. (With the help of a good GREAT Mom). :) Why is it that people can appear great on the surface, but can so easily disappoint you? I guess I will never know, but it has taught me to never get too ahead of myself and always keep focused on what is truly important in life. 

Tomorrow is the beginning of the end of a great chapter in my life. As quick as Senior year came I know it will pass just as quick. In a year I will be in the "real world" with a "real job" (hopefully). Overall my schedule is pretty good. Except for the fact that for the first time in college I  got stuck with a Friday class. :( This will be my feeling every Thursday night... 

        At least I am off Wednesdays! 

But "for reals" thanks to those who have read my blog this summer. It meant so much when I had people tell me "I read your blog and..." Although it wasn't a lot, the few times I heard that made me smile. It's been sort of like therapy for me and hopefully it has educated readers the way I intended it to. 

Xo