May showers (and U2)

May has seemed to come and go quickly... but not with the promised May flowers that you hear about so often.  We've had rain.  And I'm talking heavy, constant, depressing rain.  It's pretty rare for us to get so much in Colorado, but I suppose the ground is happy for it.  And the skiers up at A-Basin are happy for their snow too (they are staying open til July!).

But for me, the past few weeks have been up and down, aided in gloominess by the gray skies and thunder claps.  I don't want to dwell on it too much, because I basically had enough self-pity in the past week to last a lifetime.  Thankfully, yesterday was the first day that I wasn't holding back tears or praying that the pain would just go away.  A broken molar last year led to a temporary fix by my dentist last Fall.  Knowing I'd need a crown at some point, I never thought much of it because he said it'd last about 6-12 months.  That was until about 9 days ago when I started feeling like maybe May 21 really was going to be Judgement Day! (Ok, so maybe that is an exaggeration...)  Essentially, I could barely open my mouth without immense pain, and slowly but surely I couldn't sleep, I couldn't talk, I couldn't exist without needing to cry (nevermind that I was subbing all week on top of it!).  I was a MESS.  Desperate attempts to get an appointment with my dentist failed, and finally a miracle through the venue of Facebook led to getting an appointment with an endontist who performed an emergency root canal (partially - I have to go back again!) and informed me that it was extremely infected (yuck and OWW).  Long story a tad shorter, it was one of the worst days in memory (including a tearful visit to Walgreens to pick up my Vicodin and Antibiotics complete with mascara running down my cheeks).  And the following days weren't a ton better... but today, I'm almost back to normal, and for that, I am SOOO grateful!!

On day 2 of my recovery, I needed to really suck it all up, because come hell or high water, we were heading to the U2 concert at Mile High Stadium.  Matt did his diligent, U2 fan duty of arriving at 2:30pm to get us in line, and thankfully the people were not mad when I showed up shortly before 5pm to sneak in with him and our friend Mike.  Yes, I made fun of him for going so early, but when I learned that one of our pastors from church arrived at 9:30am for a spot in line, I felt less silly... and when we got our AWESOME spot on the field right in front of the catwalk, all jokes were forgotten.  It was the best concert we have ever been to.  Seeing the Fray open up for them was awesome, and seeing Bono and the guys up close and singing some amazing songs was simply amazing.  I can't even put into words how incredible it all was.

That's it for now - I apologize for missing some other fun things we've done this month (like a surprise party for Joe/Keri's make-up birthdays, a visit by my mom, the Derby, Club Hutch, celebrating with classmates, band practices, working on our "yard".... all fun times!), but this should suffice for the most recent adventures in Larsonland.  We have many more great ones ahead this summer, so be sure to stay tuned.  The first one of which will be all of Matt's siblings visiting next week!!  We absolutely can't wait to have them here.

Oh yeah, and of course there's that little thing about Matt being on JEOPARDY! this Monday!!  Be sure to tune in - it was one of the greatest experiences of his (and my) life - and we look forward to reliving it with some friends at the watch party Monday evening.  See you all again soon!

Some pics of the times I'm too lazy to write about:

Farewell

It's always been hard for me to say goodbye.  It's probably my least favorite thing to do.  I hate missing people, and I hate missing all the fun things I did with those people that will never happen again.  And yesterday, I hated saying goodbye to my very first students.  My first semester of interning/student-teaching is over, and even though I'll be back a few times to sub before the end of the year, it was really sad to say farewell.  These things helped make it a little easier:

*One student (I think I mentioned him in the last post) actually did bring me a pie.  And no, thankfully, he didn't make it.  But he was so sweet to think of me and bring it to me before school started.  I'll never forget it.

*"Miss Larson, do you have Facebook?  Can I friend you?  Will you accept my friend request?" (to which I replied with a smile, "Um, I'll think about it...") :)

*"Miss, can you please stay?  Where will you be next semester?  Can I transfer there?"  (sorry, I'll be teaching middle school in the Fall - don't think you want to do that again!)

*I had a great "pep talk"/goal-setting session with one of my favorite students.  He's been failing all semester, but for the past two months, he and I have worked hard to get his grade to passing.  And wouldn't you know it, last week he finally hit 62% in the gradebook!  This student is an ELL (English Language Learner) who has one of the sweetest demeanors I've ever come across.  Sadly, he has zero confidence in himself and can easily mold to whatever his friends are doing (which is why he ditched a lot of classes in the beginning of the semester).  The growth I've seen in him over the last two months is tremendous... he proudly shows me his work, comes to study with me during advisement periods, and hasn't ditched a class in who knows how long.  I am honestly beyond proud of him.  So, you can imagine how I felt when he came up to me yesterday to say, "Miss, I don't think I can do it without you.  I mean, you're the only person who pushes me...and believes in me."  And of course, I fought back tears.  So for about 20 minutes during his lunch, I sat and talked with him trying to build up his confidence and reminding him that he CAN do it.  And despite what anyone tells him, being bilingual is an absolute asset for people (and to not let anyone tell him differently).  I wanted so badly to promise him that I'd be there for the rest of his high school career to keep pushing him and encouraging him, but I did my best to tell him that he'll need to start doing that for himself because he is worth it.  When we finally said goodbye, he said, "Miss, I really want to thank you for everything you have done for me.  I would be failing without you." 

*And lastly, thanks to a suggestion from a friend on facebook, I asked a couple students I had worked closely with to think about possibly writing me a quick/short letter of recommendation for whenever I start looking for jobs.  I didn't know if they'd be up for it, and I certainly wasn't expecting much/anything.  But when I checked my email at the end of school, this was in it from another of my ELL students (copy and pasted from her email - I didn't edit anything):

To whom it may concern,

Mrs. Larson had always been a great leader. She was also always such a great help.
She has a way of teaching that was always helpful to me. She knew how to help me
understand complicated situations or questions with stories that I could relate to. She
had used vocabulary that I was use to and really made sense to me. She kept at her
work and is very passionate with her work for learning and the study of government and
our rights. She made the learning of government very exciting and interesting to me. I
had many questions for her and she had an answer for every single one of them. I was
never doing very well in class at the beginning of the semester. I was also very shy and
didn’t like to ask questions. As I met her, I had become more myself in class and I was
always comfortable asking her questions. If I still didn’t understand, I was able to have a
conversation with her to fully get my answer or understand correctly.

She’s a fun and outgoing person who I, honestly, look up to. I’ve never met someone
who had experience in Congress or things that were government related. It really made
it a joy to have her in class. I was more than content to have her in class every time
she was there. She was also a very neat and organized teacher. I never had problems
understanding her work or power points. I do think she would make an awesome
teacher. She has really helped me to bring my grades up and feel better about learning
in class. I am now more interested in government because of this class and the way she
had presented the learning of it. I am now very sad to see someone as admiring and as
great as her leave. I will always remember the joy of a smart, strong, thoughtful lady in
my government class that I am now succeeding at. She is a wonderful woman who will
be more than amazing for the position of a teacher.

Sincerely,
xxxx

I am so happy to be doing what I'm doing. 

Grateful

So the wedding of the Spring (no, not Will & Kate) came.  And went (boo).  And we survived.  It was an amazing few days with the Campbells and their celebrations.  More on that in a bit (and pics below).

Life is great currently.  I mean I-could-maybe-sing-a-song-on-the-escalator-at-the-mall-great.  I have many reasons to be happy today, probably more than I can list in a blog post, but I am thankful for the moment or two to reflect on how blessed I am.  First of all, teaching is going fabulously.  I only have two days left with my high schoolers, and I will MISS them.  Seriously.  One boy, who doesn't speak up much in class, has long dyed yellow hair, and is basically an awkward, gangly 14 year old, came up to me at the end of one class and said, "Miss Larson, what kind of cake do you like?  I'm going to make you a cake."  Which of course led me to smile from ear to ear before saying "Connor, you really don't need to bring me a cake!" (or, in reality, I was trying to say..."please don't make me anything", because the unspoken rule of teachers is to never eat something made by a student... these kids don't really have a handle on hygeine :))  Either way, the moans and groans I heard when I announced that I'll be leaving next week reminded me just how right this decision was to up and change careers.

Don't get me wrong... as I was putting together a slideshow of "DC things" for my kids in government class, I teared up seeing old faces and places that I spent so much time with and amongst in what now feels almost like my former life.  Do I miss walking the halls of the Senate?  Catching the train from the Dirksen Building into the Capitol?  Attending fun events and talking about politics?  Living in a city so rich with history?  Wow.  I sure do.  But having spent the last 8 months learning about the true value of education and how I can impact the future of the children in our city who are far too often doomed to failure or marginalization, I have a new passion.  Will I make money being a teacher?  Most certainly not.  Heck, will I even be able to find a job?  Probably not for awhile.  But will I feel like I am making a difference in a world full of injustice?  I sure believe so.  And ultimately, I am grateful for that.  Wow, sorry for the rambling!  All of this was to say that I now know where I'll be spending a majority of my student teaching (goodbye Arvada West High!)... this Fall I will most likely be interning at Denver Center for International Studies (DCIS).  Though this isn't a traditional "urban" school (it's actually a magnet school), it is in the Denver Public School District, and I couldn't be more excited.  Nevermind the bonus fact that it is literally four blocks north of our house!  I'm so excited.

Anyway - life is also great because I have been finally taking some much needed time to focus on my health.  I have always been jealous of the people in my life who seem to be able to live life as they please and slip into a size 6.  That just isn't my life, and it never has been.  But, making some small changes, I have finally lost about 21lbs and am hopefully on the path to even more.  As I was jogging today (an activity I absolutely loathe), I set a goal for myself to run around Washington Park.  In the past, I have only been able to run for 5-7 minutes before needing a walk break.  (In reality, I judge the time by song... how many songs can I make it before needing a walk... at that point, I could barely make it more than two full songs).  Well, today, despite my extremely painful (and I mean painful) planters faciatis and sore knees, I actually made it around the entire inner loop without stopping (the inner loop is about 2.3 miles).  Let's ignore the fact that I jog at the pace of a swift walk for most.  And let's pretend that 2.3 miles is more like 9 for most of you.  And while I was sweating and being cheered on by my trusty sidekick Lincoln, I turned on Kanye West's "Stronger" (my favorite song to play when I feel like I need to give up), finished the loop, and let a few tears of joy fall happily down my face.  Baby steps.  Baby steps.

And the last (well, not really last) reason that I am a happy lady is that I (we) have some pretty amazing friends.  This past weekend was a wonderful celebration (combined with a little manual labor on behalf of me and Rachel) for our dear friends Andrew and Kristyn.  They were kind enough to include Matt and I in their big day, and everything was wonderful.  The ceremony was beautiful, and the reception was a blast.  I honestly couldn't ask for better friends to scream sing "Firework" to, and I don't know of a better group to dance to "DJ's Got Us Fallin In Love" with.  Many more fun times to come.

For now, I have only started editing a handful of my many, many pictures from the weekend.  Here's just a taste:

A video I made from the nail salon visit:

Matt playing during the ceremony:

Matt leading the end of the reception attenders in "Lean on Me":