Water your own grass!

This is post is literally about something that I have no experience with. But that's never stopped me from having an opinion so here goes...

A few days ago, I saw a picture of a high school friend with another friend. Now, I must not pay enough attention to facebook because I was under the impression these people were married... To other people! So I texted my best friend and she informed they were both divorced now.

What the heck is wrong with people?! How have people become so accustomed to divorce? What happened to vows and all that crap?! Now, I'm definitely not the first to join the marriage bus, because I think people forget that it is partially a business deal (disagree if you want). But I also believe that when you get married, you have to work at it. Right?! It's not easy, it's not for the party, it's not to appease people nor should it be something that is a quick decision.

My unfiltered opinion is that technology has helped ruin the sanctity of marriage-- not in the way you may think. I also believe that parents help mold their children into the type of spouses they will become (stick with me...).

My generation (okay like 35-18 years old) has been ultimately spoiled rotten with new inventions, new technology and the luxury of instant information. This, in my opinion, has been to our demise. Where on earth would people learn about "sticking with" something in our age of instant information and new gadgets?

"Oh, your cell phone has a cracked screen? That's okay we will go get you a new one, even if we don't really have the money for it"
WHAT?!?
Why on earth would you buy a new phone for someone who didn't take care of it in the first place???

I feel this type of attitude has trickled into marriages. If something is broke-- that's okay, get a new one! Uhhhhhh no! You work to fix it. And you start in the beginning by taking care of it.
So many people my age rush into marriage. Not knowing enough about the other person, whether it's handling conflict, raising kids, career changes, dealing with deaths, or even just getting through holidays is where it starts. Then two years later they wonder why they are unhappy, don't have anything in common and start looking other places for love and attention.

Parents have such an impact on their children and I think marriage is one of the areas they spend the least amount of time talking about. Parents who indulge their children "just because", are not helping. You are creating future adults who are too spoiled to share, discuss difference of opinions or even some who refuse to be content with what they have. Creating people who always ask "What if..." or those who always are looking for more, better or bigger. To be real with you, you are creating a$$holes, just stop already... Teach your children to take care of what they have, save up for new stuff and create some appreciation.

Now, I'm not saying all marriages are doomed or any crazy shiz like that... I do believe that people sometimes just make it work... LIKE THEY SHOULD! But it takes work, time, effort, compromise, compassion and nurturing.

 I know there are always some extenuating circumstances for people to get divorced and I totes get that. But if more people spent as much time and effort into being married as they do working, eating, tweeting, crafting, facebooking, shopping, watching TV, reading, exercising, sleeping or whatever else, there would be far fewer divorces.

Just my 2 cents... Okay maybe fiddy cents.

For every marriage... Take some time to water your own grass

I try not to be negative but occasionally this pops into my head... People-- stop rushing it!! 

Summer Excursions

I just got back from our chapter officer retreat... For those of you that don't know what that is it's a FFA officer planning trip -- simply a couple of days where they do teambuilding, plan the upcoming year and learn more about each other so that they can work as a more effective team. 

It's the first time that a newly elected officer team, really has the ability to sit and work out the culture of the chapter, how they are going to manage the leadership team and become what I call our "FFAmily". Fortunately this year I was able to work with two other advisors to create an officer retreat for all three of our chapter officer groups. 

This was without a doubt the best idea! We were able to delegate some of the operations and leadership activities that were conducted during the retreat and have our students build new friendships with members in other chapters. Not to mention it was really nice to be able to build our teamwork activities into little competitions between the chapters. Also we broke them up into separate groups, not with their chapter, to conduct other business. Because there were three chapters we were able to bring in outside facilitators for a few workshops on a wide range of topics to help our kids get more information, more experience and gain more skills. 

This retreat reminded me of why I am so lucky to be in such a great profession. Working with other advisors in our section to create something that not only helps us, but really provides a unique experience for the kids. I just read an article on Facebook, ya know one of those trending ones that people share?? It was all about how as a student going through your teacher credential program you never are told about this baby secret, that there's never enough. 

Never enough time. 

Never enough work completed.

Never enough feedback. 

Never enough support. 

Never enough one on one. 

Never enough assignments. 

Never enough checks for understanding. 

No matter how good you are, how great you are in the classroom or outside, even though you may work your tail off there still is never enough being done. And I wholeheartedly agree that no matter what I do, it's still never going to be enough to appease my brain (and some parents). So it was really nice to work with other advisors and chapters to help us all get closer to making the experience for our kids more than enough. 

Although Ag teachers are told all the time to be careful, for fear of burnout (which I can totally understand). I sometimes feel like it's more important to give everything I have, to the kids I have right now. Because right now I can give them all my focus and time and energy. I might not be able to do that forever (let's be real-- it won't last forever) but I don't really want to pace myself. I feel like if I do, I will constantly think that I'm not doing enough, because I know in my mind I can do more. 

Thank you Grant, Felicia and Linsey for helping me do more for my kids!  

Speaking of more... Off to State Fair to watch kiddos! 

First Day! 

Planning time! 

Setting goals...

Team Building... A little competition never hurt nobody! Haha

Ready to head home...

Summer Conference

Meetings, food, familiar faces and more meetings... This may not sound like the ultimate fun bus but if you happen to be an Ag teacher, this may sound pretty similar to our CATA Summer Conference. 

For me, it's my favorite trip ALL frickin year... Mostly because I live in the North Coast Region and that means I live about 300+ miles from my credential class peeps (yeah we're still friends and hangout). While I'm not a huge fan of driving to Cal Poly to see my Fresno State friends, I'll do just about anything to see these amazing people. In all seriousness, at the conference, we attend professional sessions learning how we can do more as Ag teachers. 

The trend in Ag Education seems to focus on how we can maintain profession sustainability while planning for the future.  How can we continue to plow (haha pun intended) through the education hold ups and politics to reach kids and make a difference? What else can we fit in to a 24 hour period to go big, both for ourselves and our students? How can we serve others? How can we collaborate to work together and work smarter not harder? 

Fortunately, I was able to be part of a program this year to figure out how we are going to plan for our profession in the year 2030. It was a really great experience, meeting with teachers of all levels of experience, from all over the state. It's interesting to see how we separately have individual wants and needs and expectations but as a whole those desires become so similar and uniform. During conference today, there were reports of the 2030 group and how we have progressed towards goals set back in December. We also did an instant survey after the report with results projected. The results were kind of surprising to me. The 2030 group looked at four main areas: Curriculum, Mentoring, SAE and Funding. One of the questions of the survey asked if there are issues in our profession that are not being addressed by those four areas. There were numerous live result answers that included "leadership" "working together" and "ethics". Here we are sitting in a conference put on by Ag teachers for Ag teachers in a professional manner encouraging others to do more in the profession and people are questioning leadership, teamwork and ethics?! What the heck? 

I feel like this conference is the epitome of leadership and teamwork and by attending the conference you're kind of setting stage for the whole year as an Ag teacher. What could be important to impact our profession in a state wide capacity? I have always felt that by attending conference, I'm working to take a leadership role. Not only for myself, my section and my region but also my students. If I'm not willing to put myself out there and try new things and do more in a leadership capacity, why should they ever try? What type of role model and what message am I sending to them if I don't? My favorite part of the conference is the camaraderie among Ag teachers. Everyone sticks together, whether it's by the alumni lunch you attend or the regional meeting you sit in-- there's a spot for everyone. 

I've had the luxury of teaching in three different regions. From student teaching, to a year of long-term subbing to my current position. I think this has profoundly impacted the type of experience I have a conference.  I feel like I know more people than I can even say hello to in a day. I try to stop and chat with as many as possible but there's not enough time. I think that's what our profession needs more of. Time to sit around and hang out with other people, who do the same thing, know what we are going through and who can empathize with the amount of work that we put in for our students. 

I love sitting and catching up with the girls that I went through the credential program with.  People probably think we're a little nutty because we still see each other, hang out, talk, eat lunch and dinner together, go to the bar together and whatnot.  But we developed bonds during student teaching and the credential program. We all understood that we were there for each other and we know that we are always still just a phone call away. 

Our guest speaker today made a statement about how if you don't love it or if you want to complain about it then get out. She was referring to our profession.  And I couldn't agree more with her. The people who are negative or complain about everything that we do suck the life out of everyone... Don't be a Debbie Downer or Negative Nancy! 

We have a great profession that provides great opportunities and we need to appreciate that more on a daily basis!! 

Just in case you didn't know: 

Building a Story

I just came from a funeral... Funerals are not my favorite thing whatsoever but I've been to my fair share... Like maybe 3-5 every year since I was like 5 years old. 

Today was slightly different. Yes it was very nice, family spoke, the priest sang, music was played and so on... The difference was there was a band! In the mortuary, there was a band set up. 

Carmen was an extremely lively woman who had an extreme passion for dancing, hence the band. I had known her since birth. She worked at the Mendocino State Hospital with my grandpa and they all went dancing on a regular occasion. My mom always thought very highly of her and her family. It was a very nice service, listening to her sons and granddaughters speak about her and her life and all the really neat things that she did. 

My favorite parts were their stories about the dancing. Carmen met her husband one summer dancing, she danced late every weekend even when she had to work early, she even organized dances at our senior center later in life. The music played today was fun, old, good, solid music. And it reminded me so much of when I was a little kid and my grandpa was always dancing. It got me thinking about all of the traditions in families and communities that are lost over time. 

Dancing... How many of us can dance?? I don't mean rubbing up against each other and twerking... I mean actual dances, 10 step, waltz, old fashioned dancing?? So many of the stories today were about all of the fun times that were associated when Carmen and her husband and friends would go out to dance. 

Nowadays when kids or early 20-year-olds go out with friends all they do is drink. Is that really the tradition that we want people to remember? I've never been a big drinker, so for me it's not a huge deal. But I know so many people that can't go out with friends and have a really good time without changing themselves, so to speak. 

I think there are so many things that we are missing out on because we are infiltrated by cell phones, social media, alcohol, drugs and whatnot. We're missing those traditions to carry-on to children and friends because we're "so busy" rushing through life...  

Those stories of good times with others are what people remember... It's good to slow down, take some time, be with each other and enjoy that time... Because once it's gone, we never get it back. 

Make it a good story! 

Picture story: Remember when we went to the giants game and got hulk hands?!

Picture story: Remember at National Convention, it was Halloween and we walked to Joe's Crab Shack and we waited two hours in the rain and the kids learned to line dance in a downpour?!

Summer... A Blessing and A Curse

It is officially summer! Woohoo! Right?!

Now, I may be the only one who feels this way but summer really isn't my thing. I am definitely a creature of habit and routine, so summer kinda screws with that. People always say don't you get tired of the commute, late nights and endless phone calls and texts from kids? Uh not really...

I thrive on the routine provided by the school year. While occasionally, I could pull out all my hair from the stress, piles of paperwork, countless meetings and endless student questions. I completely love it. My days are planned, productive and predictable. I like that shiz.

I've been out of school for just over a week now and my life has been anything but planned, productive or predictable. For starters I've been San Francisco 5 of 10 days... For both good and not so good. Spent last Saturday and Sunday at the Healdsburg Relay for Life with my kiddos. I have been at school a couple of days, cleaning and meeting about the building of my new classroom. I will say, last week I cleaned my house top to bottom and that was EXTREMELY productive and much needed. haha...

Summer is complete chaos. So many things going on with no really structure. I'm still in the Master's program at Chico State, so keeping on top of classes without planned time has become a struggle. I have a couple weddings coming up, a conference in SLO next week (completely pumped) and a couple weeks of laid back relaxation in the future.

I guess I will manage, but I feel like I waste so much time during summer. Maybe it's because I read most nights till midnight and then find it difficult to get up at a reasonable time?

In the last 10 days, I have gone to 2 SF Giants games, so that can totally continue...

 With my kiddos, Top 20 Trip on Thursday

 Met my Bestie on Friday night at the game...

Gotta love how fancy Club Level is!

Cheers to Summertime!!! Before we know it, school will be back in session... I better get things started if I plan to complete them before August 12th.

P.S. Thanks to everyone for the messages, calls, comments and concern about my mom... She's home, doing good and we are watching (and listening to) lots of baseball.

 

Happy Fathers Day to all the great dads out there!!!!



Especially my dad... He's a badass... And a complete pain in the booty! Love ya Grumpy! 

My least favorite C word

So as I sit at UCSF waiting patiently, I finally am able to decompress and reflect about the last 3 weeks and the change that has now impacted my family forever.

About 3 weeks ago (prior to fair), I had a regular day, on my drive home made my normal phone calls, including one to home to let them know I was on my way. Now, yes almost everyday I call my parents to inform them that my day was good and I was headed home-- my dad is crazy about this, even for my older brother who also drives a significant distance to work.

But this day was different. When I pulled up to my driveway, I could see my mom's car parked in front of my house. When I got out and started grabbing my stuff to take inside, my mom and brother got out of the car. This was kinda strange considering my brother and I have a stressed relationship and talk rather infrequently. I looked at him and gave him a "WTF?" look and he just shrugged his shoulders as he had no clue what he was doing there.

I casually said, "What's going on?" My mom replied, "I have something to tell you guys but wanted to tell you together". Growing up, this was my mom's go-to phrase before handing out bad news. She always says, "I have something to tell you," always without fail and this time was no different. So we went inside and she proceeded to tell my brother and I that she had been diagnosed with cancer. She went through all the details-- without telling too much as she was still waiting on some tests and what not.

For those of you that don't know, she's adopted. This means, she's never had any medical history. Because of this, she has always been extremely proactive about her health and seeing doctors and making sure that she's on top of things. Fortunately, that means she hopefully caught it early. Another positive is that doctors don't think it had spread to other organs but would not have real "stage" information until after surgery to remove it and it goes through the labs.

Now, we have had many friends and family diagnosed with cancer. But this process has given me an entirely different perspective. I'm not sure why considering both my grandparents, on my mom's side, died at older ages from cancer. But they were both smokers and so to some extent I expected that. That is probably a harsh way to look at it but when you abuse your body, sooner or later, something is bound to happen not in your favor. But there are so many people lately in my life that have been "healthy" and then diagnosed with cancer. I guess God works in mysterious ways and I may never know a WHY for many things in life. But I do know that my mom is the strongest person I know. She has put up with my father for almost 40 years-- that's enough to kill ya! Has my brother and I, which have never been "easy" children. But she makes the best of everything-- hell she cooked outside with no oven or stove for almost 6 years before getting the kitchen remodeled. But she is pretty blessed too... I mean I am her child so there's that... Just kidding!

In all seriousness, the list of people I have to call after she's out of surgery in the next hour or two is pretty lengthy. There are so many people that are like family because my mom is a great lady. People love her... She knows so many people and I don't know of any that dislike her. It's probably because they've met my dad or I and they feel bad for her and how nice she is-- you just can't help but like her!

It's a weird thing to sit in the pre-op room when like 6-7 doctors and nurses, separately visited to check different things and make sure she's ready to go. They were very good at explaining things. My dad and brother just sat reading magazines. Mostly because I know some of the things were over their heads. I also know that they both were about two steps from passing out when the nurse put in her IV. My favorite was when they were telling her about one type of treatment for after, that is a shot that has to happen everyday for four weeks. She got a little nervous when they said she could do it herself. The doctor pointed at my dad and suggested maybe he could do it and we all started laughing because there is NO WAY he could do that without passing out. I volunteered.

It's still a surreal thing... My mom has cancer... Really? WTF? Nawh! She's good right?

Hopefully after today, it will be gone... Only time will tell... CANCER SUCKS!

 

End of the year reflection

The last week of school begins tomorrow. It's crazy how fast this past year has flown by... I guess time does fly when your havin fun! 

On Friday we had our FFA banquet. It was amazing that most of the kids had never really been to a banquet or received a plaque for their efforts. It got me thinking about all the things that were firsts for many of the students I had this year and the progress that was made by so many. It also made me remember about how far I had come in the past year. 

Who would've thought, in a year that I could go from being angry, bitter and unhappy to being where I am now? I didn't... I also never dreamt that I'd be at a school that could make me so excited to be a teacher and advisor. This year has included many adjustments but for the most part has been unwaveringly successful. I have students with limitless potential, administration that is supportive and parents that show up for their kids. With all these blessings, how could I possibly be anything but estactic for the future. 

I feel so fortunate to be surrounded by so much potential. And the thing I love most about my kids? They like eachother and support eachother and work together! Not many FFA chapters have that luxury. Our banquet on Friday congratulated achievements of kids but it mostly highlighted the achievements of the entire chapter. 

I cannot wait for our upcoming activities and next year! It's going to be great! From Relay for Life next week to the Officer Retreat in July, we are only just beginning this path to greatness. Everything in time, of course. 

2013-2014 Officer Team (top)

2014-2015 Officer Team (bottom)