Picture a Day 1

Kristen made beautiful pillows for our apartment. Here's a close up. She's amazing.

Super Tuesday Party

You read it correctly. We had a Super Tuesday Party. And people came. Lots.

What is Super Tuesday? 

According to Wikipedia, "In the United States, Super Tuesday, in general, refers to the Tuesday in February or March of a presidential election year when the greatest number of states hold primary elections to select delegates to national conventions at which each party's presidential candidates are officially nominated. More delegates can be won on Super Tuesday than on any other single day of the primary calendar, and, accordingly, candidates seeking the presidency traditionally must do well on this day to secure their party's nomination."

What is a nerd?

According to Wikipedia, "Nerd is a derogatory slang term for a person typically described as intellectual, socially-impaired, and obsessive who spends inordinate amounts of time on unpopular, obscure, or highly technical pursuits, or relating to topics of fiction or fantasy, to the exclusion of more mainstream activities." See also, Amber Anderson. 

It's ok. I love it and WE love having parties. 

 I offered my students extra credit for watching the elections, then proceeded to tell them about the party we were having. They perked all up and were certain that they were getting an invite to my party for extra credit. I realized they were getting a little too excited and had to explain that they got extra credit for watching the news, NOT for coming to my home. They were a little hurt.

 The above flag belongs on my classroom wall. When they asked where it was (yeah, it's still hanging up at my house days later...) because all these posters are strategically posted around it and it's just missing, I automatically responded, "above my couch over Jesus." We should probably allow Him back into our living room. They won't let me live it down. Every day, "Miss Anderson, is our flag still covering up Jesus?" Whoops.

 We cast our own votes for the individual states.

 The results live.

We love America. I hope you do as well.

Family

I'm really fortunate to have the family I have. Year after year, they have taken such great care of me. My grandma is our constant. She is loving and charitable and so kind. We would all be a mess without her (salmon balls, burnt "test" cookies, late night delirious chats, and all). 

 Grandma: "Oooohhhhh, I feel like I'm drunk."

 As for these two girls, we've had some interesting times over the years. From our "dancing" days in the back yard and summers together, now we pretty much settle for a good conversation. I'm excited to see where our lives take us.

 My Uncle Jay and Aunt Lorie have especially been taking me under their wings. I am so grateful to them. They always make sure I am included, "blessed," and part of a local family. For these things, I owe them the world.

Sundance 2012

 There is a really great story behind this...but you'll have to ask. 

We went to Sundance Film Festival (which apparently is a really big deal if you're famous and/or artsy) and had a wonderful time celebrity spotting, enjoying great conversation at The Red Bano (you might know of it as the Red Banjo), and begging some random guys for parking passes after realizing that parking is 20 dollars and we are all credit-card-only-carrying-girls. It was a great time.

Baby Time

My best friends are all having children. I love it. I'm still waiting for the marriage stage of life, so I'm not exactly extremely jealous of their adventures yet, but I'm sure it will come. As for now, I love adoring them from afar.

 Cecy's little one 

 MRW and A

The brilliant distractor we call the iPhone and Coralie's J

Quotable Quotes (As usual...)

Student 1: Miss Anderson, what are were those movie things called in the olden days?
Me: What do you mean?
Student 1: You know, those movie things.
Me: Eight tracks (9? tracks? Were those even for videos?)Video cassettes?
Student 1: Yeah. Them things.
Student 2: What were they called DVHs? I hate how you have to wait for them to rewind...
Me: VHS? Guys, that wasn't really THAT long ago. That was during our lifetime and I'm not that much older than you.

Isn't that INSANE!?!

Love Them

I just LOVE my students. Two of them just left my class. They are little stress cases. I just gave the biggest pep talk for the upcoming AP exam. I love how grateful and happy they are. They try so hard and I give them so much homework. SO much homework. For some reason, they are just all smiles anyway. How does that happen?

In other news, today, during our activity period, I had my AP kids come in to watch a ridiculously boring movie about supranationalism, devolution, and apartheid. When asked (sincerely) how one gets AIDS, I responded that it can be transmitted by blood transfusion, sharing needles, and "sleeping together." This kid got the BIGGEST eyes and said, "You can get AIDS by just sleeping in the same room as someone!?! Breathing in the same room?" Oh man. I love my job.