Getting Chilly!

Well it is most certainly getting chillier by the day here on the Rez.  This morning, woke up to a brisk 17 degree chill - but it does feel good actually!  There is nothing like a cold fall morning with that wonderful fall SMELL.  It even exists here in Arizona.  Anyways, another week in the books with the students.  

Last weekend as I mentioned before we ran in the Duke City Team Marathon in Albuquerque.  What a race it was too - we all did great and finished with a total time of 3 hours and 44 minutes which placed us 25th out of 63 co-ed teams.  Not too shabby!  We also had the chance to make stops at Best Buy, Target, Olive Garden, and an Irish pub for the Packer game while there which was quite the treat!  The little things are what counts! :)

However, the weekend did take its toll on me and I think I am just fully recovering from a pretty nasty cold.  It was a little tough teaching on a few of the days though - But, Tuesday was the 6th grade retreat  in Ganado (about 35 minutes away) so I didn't have to do too much that day.  It was a pretty neat day for the kids with the chance to hike on a hill by the parish.  Neat stuff

Parish in Ganado

Anywho, turned in report cards on Thursday for the first quarter so we are full fledged into the 2nd quarter now.  And, Mr. D. is kicking it up a notch with the sixth graders in particular.  No more messing around!  Time for book reports, US state reports, etc.  I have come to realize the one question that will stump middle school teachers worldwide :  How do you get the students to care about other students and the class as a whole?  Even when they know that their own behaviors are costing the class certain privileges?  haha..I'm still searching for an answer..

Last night, our house put on a little get together for fellow co-workers and teachers and was quite fun.  Some good costumes including these Three Blind Mice that kept bumping into people all night...It was a fun night to say the least!  On to watching a little football later tonight and constantly checking my phone for updates on Cotter football in the section semifinals!  Go Cotter!

Remember Window Rock?  Climbed up the back yesterday!!!

Only three weeks until Thanksgiving break already! Crazy!  Alright, peace!

Where has October been going?

Hello!  Today marks the official end to the first quarter of teaching at St. Michael Indian School! Wow. Pretty crazy how fast that went by.  The students have really started to come around a little bit lately - or maybe I have backed off?  haha I'm not sure...we will have to see how the second quarter goes now.

Good news in regard to the classroom, however, is that I finally have a vga adapter for my mac so I have a somewhat functioning projection and Smart Board to work with!  Used it today with my science classes and they loved it....that could really help from here on out!!!! Woohoo

Anyways, I wanted to quickly catch you all up on a few things:  First of all, I don't know if I ever stated that the hot air balloons didn't even go up two weeks ago when we went to Albuquerque....it was "too windy" apparently.  Let's just say that turned into a little bit of a disappointing trip but we made the most of it and hit up the balloon museum and a secondhand book store!  I did hear that there is a miniature balloon festival in Gallup (25 minutes away) the last week in November too, so we might be able to get a little taste there.  Oh well!

Last weekend as I stated we took a nice hiking trip to a place only about 30 minutes away and enjoyed the fall weather and scenery as best as we could.  Here are a few more pictures from the top of the mountain that Mary Rose and I made it up - apparently there was a path, but we chose (unknowingly) to simply go straight up....and it was quite the hike...but the views were astounding:

Now, on to this coming weekend where we will be heading to Albuquerque once again for the Duke City Marathon!  We (Mary Rose, Stacy, Dan, and Mary) are running in the team marathon on Sunday morning so we are heading to town tomorrow sometime and staying overnight in a hotel!  I am getting quite excited for this because I have actually been training quite a bit - trying to get my stamina up to 5 miles instead of the normal 3.1 miles (5k) I have always run before.  Hopefully, I surprise myself a bit, but then again, I don't know if I will be able to put up a time like the little bro (TIMMY - 19:40 - wooooohooo! - 5k...but still!)  After the marathon, we plan on heading to some sort of pub and grill and treating ourselves to a nice lunch and perhaps PACKER GAME?  Speaking of, they need to pull it together.

Well, I think that's all for now.  We are headed off to Basha's (grocery store) to get our pictures taken! haha...NaShia and I got scammed into some sort of customer appreciation picture package!  But hey, look for a nice picture of us all sometime in the future.  Should be fun!

The days are flying by here in AZ and I just try my best to take it all in every day (even the tough ones).  The experience is something else - colder weather is definitely on the way so preparing for that as well!  Alright perhaps I'll check in from Albuquerque this weekend!  Keep checking and sending prayers - always welcome.  PEace

Last week of the quarter

Well it's the last week of the quarter! I can't believe how fast this first quarter has flown by! Now hopefully the students can just turn in everything missing in the next few days....I can wish right??

This past weekend was exciting! We had the opportunity to take yet another short Hiking trip to a place about 45 min from our house! It wa here that we had the chance to see some TREES with beautiful leaves...a real taste of fall! It was beautiful of course and just the changing of the air itself is really quite amazing...in the morning it's only about 25 degrees and by mid afternoon it's back up to 75! Pretty crazy...well I'm off to bed...thought I'd check in From my new sweet blogpress app before bed... Work pretty well! Pictures to come soon from past couple weeks and surely from the upcoming weekend when we head to Albuquerque for the team marathon!!! Peace to all from the Rez!!





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Location:Oljato Dr,Window Rock,United States

Looking towards the balloons!

Well, almost complete with another FULL week on the Rez.  This week, much of my time after school was taken up by the Transitus of St. Francis play that was put on at the Mission last evening.  Mary Rose and I were asked by Noel, one of the postulants, to help act in the depiction of St. Francis's life (whose feast day was today!).  Needless to say, after the couple nights of practice, we nailed it and the audience loved it!  I was told I made a pretty darn good soldier and an even better bishop...haha - with the mitre on my head I had to be close to 7 feet tall so I had a "commanding presence" according to Fr. O'Connor.  haha!  It was a great show and really provided for an opportunity to reflect on the life of quite an astounding man as I have learned the past week - go St. Francis.

Anyways, school this week has been kicked up a notch by Mr. D.  The sixth graders have probably been wondering what all this new work is that I'm throwing at them, but really - it's time for them to get going...For the most part, they have taken it in stride and are really turning in to a fun class (most days). However, I am extremely grateful that tomorrow is Friday.  The weekend is needed right now!

And quite a weekend it has the potential to be - we are headed to Albuquerque tomorrow afternoon for the Hot air balloon festival!  Apparently, it is going to be spectacular and from the pictures I have seen, I would have to agree.  The plan is to stay at a faculty's house tomorrow night for a few hours before getting up at 3:30/4 AM to get into the festival grounds for the "Dawn glow" in the sky.  I'm pumped.  Then, we are heading back tomorrow afternoon - going out to eat for the fifth grade teacher (and former mercy volunteer) Ann's birthday!  Sunday = Packers.

Should be a good time - I believe the Cotter football team has a big game tomorrow night as well - Go Johnny boy!

Norbs folks - miss ya greatly!

Alright peace! Off to bed!