morning view

I could only pick one picture for my 365 Project today.  It was really hard to not chose one of these, instead of the construction one I used.  When I arrived at school for my favorite day of the year (teacher work day: no students, no meetings), I saw this beautiful sunrise sight.  Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

New school

FHS is in the middle of construction.  All year, we have somewhat patiently been watching the construction, which up till this week looked very skeletal.  Tuesday, however, the wall frames and roof were going up and we could see our building.  Dave, my principal, took me over this afternoon to get some pics of the new building.  Here are a few of my favs of our new digs.

The new community weight room

Hallway to the locker rooms

Girls coaching office.  I'll be hanging there a lot!

We're keeping the original gym, but they've added skylights to the roof for natural lighting

Miss this place.  Our JV basketball/volleyball games will play here.

The monstrosity that is our new gym.  There were actually three trucks parked in there today.

The new multipurpose room/stage

the lockers are going in the recessed alcove, and everything on the otherside of the red beam is the first floor offices and classrooms.  Excited for large hallways!

Our new building is two stories, with classrooms upstairs.  Dave said the beams will be exposed in the rooms.

The hallway between the new gym and the old gym.

because Katie made me

My sweet sister has been begging me to send her some of the pictures of Lucy I had taken this week, so I figured why not blog about her adorable pup?  Here are a couple of our girl making herself at home.

Getting into grandma's knitting

Trying to distract her mama from teaching her any manners

Queen of all she surveys: clearly, Lucy won't be kept off the furniture

Love this face!

Favorite new chew toy.  It has world's ugliest face!

Lucy

Katie surprised me today with a new puppy, Lucy. It's no secret that I have long held out from having a pet, mostly because I'm NEVER home and don't think that would be fair.  However, I agreed that Katie could have a dog once she could afford the pet deposit.  After assuring me that she has the money, I quickly became enchanted with our newest resident. She is so cute!  Here are a couple pics I took today.

Lucy attacks Grammy's knitting.

Love this picture of Lucy attacking Katie's hand. 

 I had a Katie gritting picture also, but alas, it was a bit blurry.  I'm sure it won't be the last one I take!

Chaperoning

Last night, I was talked into chaperoning Freeman's Winter Formal.  I actually have a lot of fun at the dances.  Our students are pretty good, and it's nice to see them out of their element.  My friend Matt, who is home for a bit from South Africa, agreed to join me on the adventure, so we made an evening of it (and confused a bunch of my students)! Katie, Matt and I went down to Raw for Sushi and had a lovely visit.  Then we left Katie, and headed out to the elementary school which was the site of our dance since we are currently HS-less.

The kids were so fun, and Matt and I had fun watching them, with our fellow chaperones, and getting our dance on.  So glad that he could come with me! For the record before you all get too excited, Matt is one of my best friends, but only that.  This lucky fellow met an amazing girl while in SA, that he will hopefully be reunited with soon (school and jobs providing).  Funny though to watch my students try and figure out who the stranger-danger was cause I never bring dates to anything.  One of my tennis girls actually cornered me at one point to find out.  So funny!  Here's a picture of the seniors posing for a class pic.  They look like such nice youngsters, all dressed to the nines.

Sean

My friend Sean lost the battle last night.  As my faithful readers may remember, Sean was struck with necrotizing faschitis last September.  He actually was winning the fight and having a lot of success with his physical therapy, and looking at heading home soon.  Of course, when it rains, it pours.  The doctors found some growths on Sean's pancreas a couple months ago that looked cancerous.  Sean underwent surgery a few days ago to remove them.  Last night, he had some abdominal bleeding which the doctors couldn't fix and passed away.  Please keep his wife Dawn and their children Fiona and Finley in your prayers.  And hold your own spouses and loved ones close tonight.  You just never know.

Love you all! Pia

Pep assemblies

Generally, I hate pep assemblies. They are usually disorganized and a waste of classroom time at Freeman, but this year has proven to be surprisingly different. Our ASB officers have come up with some truely unique competitions to keep us entertained. Today, was no exception. They created a partner game where the boys had raw eggs capped to their heads by a pair of panty hose, and the girls tried to smash the eggs of the other competitors using a raw fish...yep, I said a raw fish. It was disgusting and hilarious. One of my students managed to get his eggs down the leg of his hose, don't ask me how, and I got this awesome picture. Let's just say that the strategy didn't work for him! Oh the joys of high school games!

Best Sister EVER!

So today wasn't one of my greatest days.  It started with a parent meeting which actually went well, and then sort of went down-hill from there.  Perhaps my highlight was when I went to grab my backpack from my car so I could get on the bus to go to my basketball game.  Just as the door clicked shut, I realized that I had locked my keys in my car, and had no time to figure out how to get them out.  My amazing, head-tilting sister Katie was kind enough to leave the house on her day off to drop off my spare.  I got back to the JH at 6 pm to find it waiting for me on top of my passenger tire.  I owe her for sure!  Thanks for making my day a bit brighter sis.  I sure do love you!

TEC

I am one tired girl this morning.  I am helping chaperone our church youth event, TEC (Teens Encountering Christ).  But no worries, I have a triple-shot latte in hand and am ready to go.  So far, things have run very smoothly.  Friend Carol and I even got to sleep on our comfy youth room couches last night, so really not too much to complain about.  We are heading to church now, and get to enjoy more Marshall McLean music today! That man is so talented.  Seriously! Find him on iTunes and give him a listen.

Manito Park shoot

I'm really having a lot of fun with my 365 project.  Today, I stopped at my favorite park, Manito, on the way home from school to get a picture of the tree that sits in the center of the pond.  I was delighted to discover the pond completely iced over and ready for walking.  I only get to put one photo on 365, so I decided to put a couple other of my favorites on the blog.  Enjoy!

The photo I chose for 365, some leaves trapped in the ice of the pond.

The tree that brought me to Manito Park.

A waterdrop clinging to one of the branches.

This beginning of some growth was jeweled with droplets.  So beautiful!

The sun started to thaw the ice drops while I was there.

Last picture of the day: 2 leaves suspended in ice.

Cooking 101

Mom bought a london broil a couple of days ago, and found a delicious recipe for it, so I decided to do the cooking for dinner tonight! I've been watching a lot of food network today, so I felt like I should go all out with my presentation.  

Picture 1: The finished steak after being broiled.

Picture 2: All carved up

Picture 3: The finished dish on my darling new plates!

Listen to my 2009 Playlist

I figured out how to actually post a player with my playlist. I couldn't get Marshall's songs on it, but here are the rest. Enjoy!

2009 Playlist

OK Megs, this one's for you.  My cousin, Megan puts up a blog post at the end of the year with a little challenge: create your playlist/mixed tape for the year.
Rules:
-The songs do not have to be released in the particular year that you are making the CD...rather they are songs that have been discovered or rediscovered and have been particular meaningful or enjoyable or worth listening to that year for some reason.
-no repeats from year to year (this prevents the CD from being an all-time favorites album).
-you can include as many songs by one artist as you want.
-songs are limited to those that fit on a standard 80 minute CD.
 
Here is my playlist for 2009; these songs have made tons of appearnaces on my iPod this year.  They aren't listed in any particular order.  There are some rediscovered, and some brand new ones.  Hope you all like them! Join in the fun and post your own!

Pia's 2009 Playlist
1. Misguided Ghosts by Paramore (I love Paramore.  Her voice is awesome, and this song is haunting)
2. She Is Love by Parachute (I want someone to sing this about me! My only complaint: the song is way too short)
3. Cowboy Cassanova by Carrie Underwood (Carrie can't do any wrong in my book, and I love that she calls men out in her songs)
4. History in the Making by Darius Rucker (who knew the man could sing country? It's a far cry from Hootie and the Blowfish, but the man can carry off some twang!)
5. Closer by Kings of Leon (Discovered Kings of Leon this year thanks to Katie, before they became hot.  This is my favorite right now)
6. Vanity by Marshall McClean (A local singer I can't get enough of.  His songs are haunting.  Check him out on iTunes stat!)
7. Toes by Zac Brown Band (Katie's future husband.  One listen and you can see why she loves him.  Although, I discovered him first...)
8. Chicken Fried by Zac Brown Band (I couldn't pick just one song by Zac.  This one is a favorite cause it's so cute, and my friend Mikey directed the music video)
9. Here I am by Renee Sandstrom (I'm embarrassed by this one because it came from a Disney movie soundtrack, but I love the lyrics.  They speak to me and my own need to stand up and be me.)
10. Lucky by Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillet (Perhaps my favorite duet of the year.  Sadly, overplayed on the radio, but a lovely song)
11. 21 Guns by Green Day (I don't know why I love it, but I do.  Catchy tune, deep lyrics. I have to turn it up whenever I hear it)
12. Friends by Band of Skulls (One of my go-to songs when working out.  I love the drumbeat; gets my feet pumping faster on the bike)
13. Still by Tim McGraw (Tim's new CD, Southern Voice is awesome.  This is my favorite by far.  A sweet song)
14. No Sound but the Wild by Editors (A new band to me.  I love the lead singers voice, so full of emotion and need)
15. Satellite Heart by Anya Marina (Song off the New Moon soundtrack, I couldn't get it out of my head when I heard it.  Heartbreaking.)
16. Such Great Heights by Iron and Wine (I think this may be my all-time fav I&W song, a hard choice for sure)
17. Poker Face by Lady Gaga (I will never hear this song again without thinking about AJ Frye and his version of this during Boom-Chick-A-Boom at campfire.  Just one more reason to love this crazy woman)
18. Breakeven by The Script (I can't get enough of this song.  The newest edition to my list, I had to add it to my iPod as soon as I knew who sang it)
Bonus Track: Hands by Marshall McClean (I feel every CD should have a hidden track.  This song has one of my all-time favorite lyrics: "Come on faith, get some bruises.   You blushed when I told you, you're the currency love uses.")

HP Scarf

My mom made me this amazing, crazy scarf for Christmas.  It's called an illusion scarf.  When you look at it head on, nothing.  But when you look at it from an angle... AWESOME!

Project 365

I discovered this site when I was on Ravelry called Project 365.  The challenge is to create a photo journal by uploading a picture and comments every day for 365 days straight.  I figured I love photography, and that it would be a good way to get me motivated to use my camera more.  I started mine yesterday.  I may post a few of them here, but mostly it will be on the 365 website.  You can check it out at http://365project.org/pia_irene/365.  I'm pretty excited for the new challenge.  Here's my post for today:

Mango time

2 / 365

Edit

Katie, Curtis and I went out to Red Robin tonight for dinner before seeing Avatar (well, we didn't actually make it to the movie...). Katie got a mango margarita in a really cool looking glass. Here's a picture of her delicious drink.

Happy New Year!

2009 has been a year of adventure and fun. I've had lots of travels including meeting up with Cara and Tony in the Bahamas. I've had great times with friends and family. I spent time in LA and at camp this summer! And of course, I've had tons of fun with my fav roommate, Katie. Thanks for all the love and joy this year. I pray 2010 finds you all healthy and happy.
Love, Pia