Hola from Barcelona! We are staying at the Diagonal Zero Hotel and it's a really cool place. It scored major points for having an incredible breakfast spread. The hotel restaurant is very nice and the food included in the buffet breakfast is far superior to others we have had in our travels. There is an entire spread of fresh fruit that is already cut up (pineapple, cantaloupe, strawberries, and watermelon). Also a bowl of other whole fruits like apples and bananas. Usually the fruit options are not that great with not a lot to choose from or less than ripe choices, but it's great here. And, the fruit is just one section. There is also a spread of cheeses and meats, which is typical of a European breakfast, two sections of hot trays with eggs prepared different ways, bacon, sausages, some kind of cooked tomatoes, and Spanish tortillas. Another table has crepes with a divine chocolatey sauce. Yet another table has an assortment of breads and rolls with doughnuts and even some cakes. There is a fridge with yogurt and they even had Greek yogurt (my favorite!). YUM! And this is only breakfast people! We had some paella last night at a restaurant by the water last night that was seriously amazing. It took us about an hour to find the place and we were starving upon arrival, but it was so worth it.
We also enjoyed the hotel gym yesterday before we headed out to see a few sights and Mr. Sneaker is scheduled for a deep tissue massage later today at the hotel spa. Life is good. I am not really big on massages so I am going to hit the gym again while he gets in a little relaxation. I am reading a really interesting book about reading instruction so that makes the elliptical time go by pretty fast.
Today we are headed to a chocolate museum that tells the history of chocolate and has art pieces made of chocolate. Free samples? Yes please! Then we'll head to the Picasso Museum, which I am excited about. I am discovering that I am not huge on museums unless I have a decent amount of background knowledge on the subject matter, so Picasso should be fun and interesting. Yesterday we went to Parc Guell, which was designed by Gaudi and it was very cool. He does a lot of mosaic work in his structures and in a little shop nearby the park, I found some cool mosaic tiles with all of the letters of the alphabet. I got tiles with the letters of my last name for a sign to put outside my classroom. It will be a nice little reminder of our European adventures.
We are enjoying a variety of tapas (of course vacation food always ranks high on things to share) and I am excited to take in a few more cafes and sights today. I will post some pics when I get back so stay tuned!
Looking Back
I just realized that right around this time last summer, I was getting ready to leave my husband.
Well, not like that!
I was getting ready to return to Portland for the school year, while he stayed behind in Germany.
I am so glad that is over.
Thinking back, I can remembering practically bursting into tears every time I even thought about being apart from Mr. Sneaker for 10 months. Not to mention I was getting ready to start teaching at a new school in a new grade level--Kindergarten, which added to the fear/uncertainty/worry of being away from my man.
What I didn't know was that...
Living with Janine would create a special friendship that I am very thankful for.
Being apart from Mr. Sneaker would actually bring us closer together as a couple.
Teaching Kindergarten is actually quite awesome.
I would complete my first half marathon.
and
I would fall totally in love with a dog (given my tendency to not really like dogs all that much).
Don't get me wrong...it was a hell of a crazy year with lots of husband missing, paper writing, stressing, and working what felt like all the time, but following with the theme of this summer, time felt like it was on continual fast forward (and not just the one arrow fast forward, I'm talking the super speediest three arrow fast forward!).
When I think about what I did--what Mr. Sneaker and I did--I think we must have been crazy. Yet, I don't regret it. It was such a productive year that meant the difference between moving back to Portland in a few weeks and having a classroom and a job to return to and being out of work. Had I not returned and kept my place in the district, I guarantee I would not be able to find a job upon returning because they are very scarce. It meant the difference between being DONE with my core defense/year 2 of classes and just starting those classes this fall. Can I get a woot woot for being done with those classes?! If I hadn't gone back, I never would have gotten to know and work with Mrs. Bee (and that would be tragic!).
I am so happy that this year, although once again I am preparing to move back to Portland, Mr. Sneaker is coming along this time! It requires a lot more effort on the moving front, major furniture and life possession moving compared to just packing my own clothing to bring along, but I am so excited to re-establish a life in the US with my husband. Our house is still being rented and the tenants' lease goes until April, so we will probably not move back in until the school year is out (moving mid-year just doesn't sound fun). That means we are going to get an apartment in a fun area for the meantime and enjoy a new area.
Before we choose our new place, we will have temporary housing, and we just found out that one of the choices is the building Janine moved into a few weeks ago. I couldn't be happier that she and I (and Bailey!) will get to be neighbors for a few months. Her building has a fitness center and a really nice movie room with a movie theater seats and a huge screen that you can hang out in or reserve if you want to have friends over. It also has great views from the rooftop, so Mr. Sneaker and I are excited. He already has some travel back to Germany on his schedule in early September, so I see some major girl time in with Janine and our other friend Jill in the future. I can't wait to reunite with my girlies!
I feel like my life has involved moving every 9 months to a year since I started college. The task of selling furniture has come again. The pressure to eat all the non perishables that have accumulated in our pantry is back. I told Mr. Sneaker that tonight he will have a choice of boxed mac and cheese, canned chili, or frozen pizza. But, soon enough, our little European adventure will be over, so despite the stresses of once again having to move, it's probably better just to soak it in while I still can.
P.S. We leave for Barcelona tomorrow!
Well, not like that!
I was getting ready to return to Portland for the school year, while he stayed behind in Germany.
I am so glad that is over.
Thinking back, I can remembering practically bursting into tears every time I even thought about being apart from Mr. Sneaker for 10 months. Not to mention I was getting ready to start teaching at a new school in a new grade level--Kindergarten, which added to the fear/uncertainty/worry of being away from my man.
What I didn't know was that...
Living with Janine would create a special friendship that I am very thankful for.
Being apart from Mr. Sneaker would actually bring us closer together as a couple.
Teaching Kindergarten is actually quite awesome.
I would complete my first half marathon.
and
I would fall totally in love with a dog (given my tendency to not really like dogs all that much).
Don't get me wrong...it was a hell of a crazy year with lots of husband missing, paper writing, stressing, and working what felt like all the time, but following with the theme of this summer, time felt like it was on continual fast forward (and not just the one arrow fast forward, I'm talking the super speediest three arrow fast forward!).
When I think about what I did--what Mr. Sneaker and I did--I think we must have been crazy. Yet, I don't regret it. It was such a productive year that meant the difference between moving back to Portland in a few weeks and having a classroom and a job to return to and being out of work. Had I not returned and kept my place in the district, I guarantee I would not be able to find a job upon returning because they are very scarce. It meant the difference between being DONE with my core defense/year 2 of classes and just starting those classes this fall. Can I get a woot woot for being done with those classes?! If I hadn't gone back, I never would have gotten to know and work with Mrs. Bee (and that would be tragic!).
I am so happy that this year, although once again I am preparing to move back to Portland, Mr. Sneaker is coming along this time! It requires a lot more effort on the moving front, major furniture and life possession moving compared to just packing my own clothing to bring along, but I am so excited to re-establish a life in the US with my husband. Our house is still being rented and the tenants' lease goes until April, so we will probably not move back in until the school year is out (moving mid-year just doesn't sound fun). That means we are going to get an apartment in a fun area for the meantime and enjoy a new area.
Before we choose our new place, we will have temporary housing, and we just found out that one of the choices is the building Janine moved into a few weeks ago. I couldn't be happier that she and I (and Bailey!) will get to be neighbors for a few months. Her building has a fitness center and a really nice movie room with a movie theater seats and a huge screen that you can hang out in or reserve if you want to have friends over. It also has great views from the rooftop, so Mr. Sneaker and I are excited. He already has some travel back to Germany on his schedule in early September, so I see some major girl time in with Janine and our other friend Jill in the future. I can't wait to reunite with my girlies!
I feel like my life has involved moving every 9 months to a year since I started college. The task of selling furniture has come again. The pressure to eat all the non perishables that have accumulated in our pantry is back. I told Mr. Sneaker that tonight he will have a choice of boxed mac and cheese, canned chili, or frozen pizza. But, soon enough, our little European adventure will be over, so despite the stresses of once again having to move, it's probably better just to soak it in while I still can.
P.S. We leave for Barcelona tomorrow!
keep on keepin' on
It's officially starting to scare me how fast time is flying by. I was working on our itinerary for Barcelona earlier and when I looked up at the clock I realize an entire hour had gone by in what felt like no more than 5 minutes.
Jeesh!
Yesterday one of the new teachers who will be joining the staff at the international school where I used to work came over and bought a ton of our stuff as she recently moved to Germany for the new job. I sent a list of the items we wanted to sell to HR at the school to send out to new teachers and it worked out really well because this teacher needed a whole lot of stuff. She bought our guest bed, two cabinets, one set of bathroom drawers, the vacuum, hand mixer, iron, and ironing board. We are still trying toget rid of sell some more stuff, but aside from new teachers who just moved here, I don't know a lot of people who are in need of furniture. We get a 40 foot container to move our belongings back to the US, but we are shipping our car in that, so we only really want to bring back the furniture we originally brought with us in order for the car to fit. We are willing to part with most of the IKEA stuff we bought here, but it always sucks to sell stuff for a fraction of the price we paid...
The apartment is starting to look like a disaster zone because in order to sell cabinets, I had to empty them which makes for a lot of piles and bags of stuff sitting around not having a home. I can't stand the clutter and it's starting to stress me out. Not to mention, I can't even vacuum because I sold it. haha. The movers come next week on the 10th, so I only have to endure the clutter for a few more days (since we'll be away this weekend enjoying the sun in Spain). Once our stuff is moved out, we are moving into a different place for our last week here. One of Mr. Sneaker's friends is out of town working for the time being, so we are going to stay at his place.
I just got a new 10 punch card for the gym (which was easier than restarting my membership for just two months). I pay €50 for 10 visits to the gym which isn't awful, but since I got a brand new card on Sunday, I now have to hit the gym daily until we move to the next place because once we are there the gym is too far and I don't have a car. I am really not feeling up for a workout today, but I feel like I should go and make use of my daily punch! Hubs and I are supposed to meet up with a couple from the states who are considering making the move to Germany, so hubs will actually be home early from work today. That gives me about three hours until he is home in which time ideally I would like to workout, shower, and work on my paper. That's not gonna happen.
Ever since we got back I have been off the one a day bandwagon and haven't worked on my paper at all. Major fail! I have been reading a lot and some good ideas are floating around, but I have just been off and haven't gotten it done. I am going through a phase with the mindset--it will get done when it gets done and I want to enjoy my last few weeks in Europe. But, I know once I get back to OR I have to hit the ground running in order to get ready for school, so I am hoping that I don't fall really far behind. Right now I have six pages, so I feel like I need to at least double that before I go back. Maybe once I get back from Spain I will change my MO to 2 a day....that way I could get 22 pages before I leave in addition to the 6 or so that I already wrote--not bad. There was something really serene about only feeling obligated to write one page a day and that was helpful. Now that I am behind I feel pressured and that makes me feel stuck in a rut.
Anyway, it's time to do something because I can't be lazy all day.
Jeesh!
Yesterday one of the new teachers who will be joining the staff at the international school where I used to work came over and bought a ton of our stuff as she recently moved to Germany for the new job. I sent a list of the items we wanted to sell to HR at the school to send out to new teachers and it worked out really well because this teacher needed a whole lot of stuff. She bought our guest bed, two cabinets, one set of bathroom drawers, the vacuum, hand mixer, iron, and ironing board. We are still trying to
The apartment is starting to look like a disaster zone because in order to sell cabinets, I had to empty them which makes for a lot of piles and bags of stuff sitting around not having a home. I can't stand the clutter and it's starting to stress me out. Not to mention, I can't even vacuum because I sold it. haha. The movers come next week on the 10th, so I only have to endure the clutter for a few more days (since we'll be away this weekend enjoying the sun in Spain). Once our stuff is moved out, we are moving into a different place for our last week here. One of Mr. Sneaker's friends is out of town working for the time being, so we are going to stay at his place.
I just got a new 10 punch card for the gym (which was easier than restarting my membership for just two months). I pay €50 for 10 visits to the gym which isn't awful, but since I got a brand new card on Sunday, I now have to hit the gym daily until we move to the next place because once we are there the gym is too far and I don't have a car. I am really not feeling up for a workout today, but I feel like I should go and make use of my daily punch! Hubs and I are supposed to meet up with a couple from the states who are considering making the move to Germany, so hubs will actually be home early from work today. That gives me about three hours until he is home in which time ideally I would like to workout, shower, and work on my paper. That's not gonna happen.
Ever since we got back I have been off the one a day bandwagon and haven't worked on my paper at all. Major fail! I have been reading a lot and some good ideas are floating around, but I have just been off and haven't gotten it done. I am going through a phase with the mindset--it will get done when it gets done and I want to enjoy my last few weeks in Europe. But, I know once I get back to OR I have to hit the ground running in order to get ready for school, so I am hoping that I don't fall really far behind. Right now I have six pages, so I feel like I need to at least double that before I go back. Maybe once I get back from Spain I will change my MO to 2 a day....that way I could get 22 pages before I leave in addition to the 6 or so that I already wrote--not bad. There was something really serene about only feeling obligated to write one page a day and that was helpful. Now that I am behind I feel pressured and that makes me feel stuck in a rut.
Anyway, it's time to do something because I can't be lazy all day.
Have you been to Barcelona? Any tips on fun things to see or do would be greatly appreciated!
Vay-cay
Mr. Sneaker and I got back from our trip to Austria and Italy on Friday evening and we have been enjoying a very lazy weekend. I spent the day yesterday doing a lot of laundry after being away for about 10 days and I finally got in a workout after carb loading and indulging in daily gelato. It is so nice to be home and there is nothing better than falling asleep in my own bed, despite the charm of all the cute little hotels we stayed in.
We had such an amazing time touring some new cities and it was wonderful to have so much uninterrupted time with Mr. Sneaker. We are moving back to the states on August 20th, so life is about to get pretty crazy. I am so glad we had time to just have fun together. And, we'll do the same in Barcelona this weekend!
Best. Summer. Ever.
The only problem is that it is flying by way too fast. I can't believe it is almost August and school is just around the corner! I am really excited to embark on my second year as a Kindergarten teacher, but with organizing, packing, moving, paper writing, and settling in a temporary place in Portland once we return--there is just a lot on my mind!
So vacations are nice for some happy denial time.
Here's a short recap of our trip...
Destination 1: Salzburg, Austria
What we did/saw:
Eagle's Nest
Sound of Music Tour
Hohensalzburg Fortress
After enjoying the Sound of Music Tour in Salzburg, Austria, we posed for a picture with Tuc Watkins who plays Bob on Desperate Housewives. My eagle eye spotted him as soon as I got on the tour bus and hubs and I had fun sneaking peaks as we visited all the famous spots from the movie. The tour was great, but meeting Tuc was really fun. Mr. Sneaker was super cool and chatty and I was a little starstruck.
Have you ever met a celebrity? What did you say?
I am sixteen going on seventeen...
Von Trapp house
Church where Captain Von Trapp and Maria got married.
I don't actually remember the children dancing in the garden with these guys in the movie, but we had some fun posing with them and imitating their actions.
We also took in some amazing views at the Eagle's Nest.
Destination 2: Venice
What we did/saw:
St. Mark's Square
St. Mark's Basilica
Correr Museum
Doge's Palace
Gondola Ride
Murano Island
We took a water taxi to another island called Murano where they make amazing blown glass. They had tons of little shops selling all kinds of glass creations. I got two rings and a necklace (which I am wearing in the picture). I think I have one of the rings on too, but you can't really see it.
Riding the gondola was so fun and romantic. It wasn't cheap, but well worth it and a must do when visiting Venice.
Destination 3: Verona
What we did/saw:
Teatro Romano (from the outside)
Nutella gelato (am. a. zing!)
On the way to Bellagio, we stopped in Verona, which is the city that inspired Romeo and Juliet. We had lunch while we were there, had the best gelato of the trip and walked around a little bit. Juliet's house is one of the big tourist attractions there, but we really didn't stay long and didn't see much.
a rose by any other name...
Destination 4: Bellagio, Italy (Lake Como)
What we did:
ate
slept
ate
slept
read
Once we got to Bellagio, we pretty much did a whole lot of nothing--unless of course you count eating, sleeping, and relaxing. It was the perfect way to end our trip. The view from the room was supreme and the food was yummy!
Quality resting and reading time.
I slept a lot on the way home, but we did see some beautiful sights when we drove through Switzerland.
Now, it's time to kick my butt into gear and make up a lot of missed time on paper writing! Tomorrow is going to be intense!
Pure Bliss
Hello bloggy friends! I am posting from the very beautiful Hotel Bellagio in Bellagio, Italy and I couldn't be happier or more relaxed. Mr. Sneaker and I spent a few days in Venice but we didn't have Internet in the room and for some reason my iPad wouldn't connect to the wifi in the lounge, so I wasn't able to post from there. We had a lovely time seeing the sights, eating delicious food, and riding water taxis and a gondola. I have tons of pics, but I will have to wait and post them when we get back this weekend.
So far we have been pretty lazy in Bellagio, but that's what vacations are for, right? I enjoy sightseeing and learning about new cultures and places, but I also like to just chill and hang out sometimes. And relaxing is good for me because I had some good classroom ideas and ideas for my paper.
I was thinking about what to do with the kiddos during ELD time this year which is when some of the kiddos are pulled out for English Language Development. We have strict rules about what we are not allowed to do during that time--basically we are not allowed to teach anything new that those children will miss, which I completely understand and agree with, but at the same time with our very short day, we want to use all the minutes we have, so that time of day is always difficult. Anything I do with the remaining kids, I wish I could do with all the kids...we are allowed to practice skills, review, etc., so last year I did a mixture of things. I had high hopes of activity stations, which started out as choice time, but then I felt like I wanted more structure during that time.
This year, I know I want to be more organized with the use of this 30 minute chunk of time. So I came up with what seems like a reasonable routine.
Math Mondays-I will have the kiddos work on the great Marcy Cook math tile games that I have. They are individualized and awesome. The kids love them and they are great for math practice.
Travel Tuesdays-going with my love of travel on this theme, I want to make each child a little passport to use as they circulate three table activities. Upon completion of each station, they will get a stamp on their weekly passport page. I am hoping to put together some activity boxes that will be easy to just set out each week. I will train the kiddos on what to do, so I will be free to circulate around. I was thinking of a reading station where I would include the leveled readers that go with out reading program and additional books as the kids get more proficient in reading. I will include some stuffed animals, whisper phones, and fun glasses, and silly fingers/pointers so the kids can practice reading to themselves, whisper read, read to a stuffed friend, and then read to me. I was thinking of having another station be the sight word station where the kiddos will make the sight word with wikki sticks, write the words in sand or salt, form the word with stamps, and maybe even some fun art supplies like pom poms or colored tiles. I am not sure what the final station will be, but probably something more art related or science related.
Words on Wednesdays-On this day I will have the kids work on picture and word sorts from Words Their Way. I will start the year with picture sorts and then move on to the initial sound sorts. I think I will start by precutting the pictures, but eventually I'd like the kids to cut, sort, and glue their sort. When they get really good, I would love to see them write how they sorted or at least tell me so I can write it.
Thoughtful Thursdays- I think this will be my favorite day of the week. We are allowed to do our Second Steps lessons during ELD, as if certain kids don't need to learn social skills, so on these days I would like to read some stories that make us think. I don't want the other kiddos to miss out, so possibly this will be a time to re-read and extend certain stories. Also, I want to focus some energy on doing kind things for others during this time. Maybe we will write letters or draw pictures for loved ones, make coupons for nice things we can do for friends or family, or brainstorm helpful things we can do around school. I would love to do some service learning with the kids this year, but I haven't thought that throuh yet.
Flexible Friday- This day will be for catching up, finishing other projects from the week, assessing, etc.
I feel like I have a lot to do in order to make this plan work, but I am so excited for it...especially the passports.
It's almost time for a yummy pizza dinner, but stay tuned for pictures later in the week!
So far we have been pretty lazy in Bellagio, but that's what vacations are for, right? I enjoy sightseeing and learning about new cultures and places, but I also like to just chill and hang out sometimes. And relaxing is good for me because I had some good classroom ideas and ideas for my paper.
I was thinking about what to do with the kiddos during ELD time this year which is when some of the kiddos are pulled out for English Language Development. We have strict rules about what we are not allowed to do during that time--basically we are not allowed to teach anything new that those children will miss, which I completely understand and agree with, but at the same time with our very short day, we want to use all the minutes we have, so that time of day is always difficult. Anything I do with the remaining kids, I wish I could do with all the kids...we are allowed to practice skills, review, etc., so last year I did a mixture of things. I had high hopes of activity stations, which started out as choice time, but then I felt like I wanted more structure during that time.
This year, I know I want to be more organized with the use of this 30 minute chunk of time. So I came up with what seems like a reasonable routine.
Math Mondays-I will have the kiddos work on the great Marcy Cook math tile games that I have. They are individualized and awesome. The kids love them and they are great for math practice.
Travel Tuesdays-going with my love of travel on this theme, I want to make each child a little passport to use as they circulate three table activities. Upon completion of each station, they will get a stamp on their weekly passport page. I am hoping to put together some activity boxes that will be easy to just set out each week. I will train the kiddos on what to do, so I will be free to circulate around. I was thinking of a reading station where I would include the leveled readers that go with out reading program and additional books as the kids get more proficient in reading. I will include some stuffed animals, whisper phones, and fun glasses, and silly fingers/pointers so the kids can practice reading to themselves, whisper read, read to a stuffed friend, and then read to me. I was thinking of having another station be the sight word station where the kiddos will make the sight word with wikki sticks, write the words in sand or salt, form the word with stamps, and maybe even some fun art supplies like pom poms or colored tiles. I am not sure what the final station will be, but probably something more art related or science related.
Words on Wednesdays-On this day I will have the kids work on picture and word sorts from Words Their Way. I will start the year with picture sorts and then move on to the initial sound sorts. I think I will start by precutting the pictures, but eventually I'd like the kids to cut, sort, and glue their sort. When they get really good, I would love to see them write how they sorted or at least tell me so I can write it.
Thoughtful Thursdays- I think this will be my favorite day of the week. We are allowed to do our Second Steps lessons during ELD, as if certain kids don't need to learn social skills, so on these days I would like to read some stories that make us think. I don't want the other kiddos to miss out, so possibly this will be a time to re-read and extend certain stories. Also, I want to focus some energy on doing kind things for others during this time. Maybe we will write letters or draw pictures for loved ones, make coupons for nice things we can do for friends or family, or brainstorm helpful things we can do around school. I would love to do some service learning with the kids this year, but I haven't thought that throuh yet.
Flexible Friday- This day will be for catching up, finishing other projects from the week, assessing, etc.
I feel like I have a lot to do in order to make this plan work, but I am so excited for it...especially the passports.
It's almost time for a yummy pizza dinner, but stay tuned for pictures later in the week!
Sneaker Teacher Loves Shoes!
Quick post from Austria as I am enjoying The Sound of Music in our hotel room. Mrs. Tabb from Just Another Day in First Grade is doing a giveaway on a unit all about shoes! At the Sneaker household we are all about fun shoes, so I was in love when I saw Mrs. Tabb's cute work. She is giving the unit away for free to anyone who posts about it. Check it out! I am not able to link up directly to her site since I am on my iPad and it's giving me some issues when I try to cut and paste the link, but if you look in my blog roll you will find her! This unit looks like it will be great for working on sorting and comparing and contrasting with my kiddos.
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