I CAN'T wait unitl Saturday night!

Ok, so I posted a few weeks back about my fave group New Kids on the Block...this Saturday is the concert here in Las Vegas at Mandalay Bay. Well my oh so awesome mom sent me money for my birthday to buy a ticket to the concert. I know my mom completely rocks! Well, I have been hesitant to buy my ticket... for one I would have to go ALONE... and as much as I LOVE the New Kids, going to a concert such as this alone would not be the coolest thing to do. I mean I would be all excited, and would have no one to share it with...not cool. (All my friends are poor student teachers!) So I have been watching concert clips on YouTube that have been recorded by other people... thank you digital cameras! Here is a clip (or 2) for you to enjoy!!!


Seriously, what is up with Joey's smiley face jacket???


Now, seriously, these video clips are better than what I would see from the seat I could get. SO... I made a pro/con list to help me decide to buy a ticket or not.
Pros: HEllO! It's NKOTB!... The new cd rocks and I have a few old faves I would hear them sing

Cons: ALONE! ... $85 for nose bleed tickets and I would need binoculars ... loud, seriously girls screech when they scream, I know, I am guilty of it ... did I mention I would have to go ALONE????

Well, I decided cons out weighted the pros... sad I know, but my roomie Jenn from Judson College has front row seats to the Atlanta concert and promised to send me pictures.. I am cool with that.

Also, I have amazing friends here, Sariah, Nicole, Cat and I had planned on going to Mandalay Bay on Saturday to try and catch a glimpse of them ... this is stalking and could lead to jail time if we are not careful.. we decided it was worth the risk! And besides we are all pretty stealthy.

UNTIL.......a little bird told me that NKOTB were hosting an after party at LAX night club at the Luxor.... SWEET! We are already on the VIP guest list and will get to see them without risking jail time. even better! Now I get to get up close and personal with them as I will maneuver myself to where they are in the club ... OH YEAH! or so that is the plan. So, now I have to go buy a new outfit!
YAY shopping!

Yay for sun and heat!

I am so thankful at this moment for being in Las Vegas! One of my friends still in Rexburg told me they are expecting snow this weekend. The temperatures there are in the 40s (high) and the 20s (low). I am happy for low to mid 80s with a nice breeze... even when it gets into the mid 90s still! YAY heat!

Worst Music Video EVER!!!

Sariah told me to watch this video. After seeing it, I could not let yall go through life without watching it too. It really is the WORST music video EVER! And the words to the song are not much better! Enjoy!!!

A Night at the (Wax) Museum

Since Friday was a staff development day, the girls and I decided to have a bit of fun of Thursday night. It was nice not having to plan lessons. Well, we had 2 for 1 coupons to Madame Tussauds at the Venetian. You've gotta love 2 for 1! The other girls had never been to a wax museum and were a bit hesitant. I had to reassure them that a good time would be had by all! When in the end everyone was happy they had gone. We got there about 2 hours before closing and there was hardly anyone there...oh so nice! Most of the time it was like we had the whole place to ourselves! Here are some pictures from our night at the (wax) museum... luckily we weren't there after closing to find out if they would really come alive!
Getting ready to go out
Sariah and Cat in the car
Cat, Nicole and I waiting to leave

I am getting a little tired of this greeting me everytime I open a door
Sariah, Matthew is a taken man now...that really isn't appropriate!
Nicole loves Johnny
Sariah loves Oprah
Me not so much

George is a VERY lucky man in the next couple of photos:
Mrs. Clooney
A kiss for the groom...I had already changed from my gown....
Sariah loves being Mrs. Clooney
Another Mrs. Clooney

Shootin hoops with Shaq...he had nothing on me
I never thought I would ever play ball with the Babe

No Tiger the putter would be better than the 9 iron...Nicole giving Tiger golf pointers
Two is better than one ... beat that Evil Knievel
We have found Simon's replacement....Cat McCauley!
No Lenny, I said to play this note! Why do rock stars think they know EVERYTHING??
Nicole getting the King's autograph
Michael is looking a bit jealous that Sariah can do his moves better than he can
I would love to dance with you Tony, but my Nana will be jealous!
My new BFF... Old Blue Eyes himself... Frank Sanatra!
Nicole tasting what Lucy was cooking up
Cat LOVES G.W.
Wow the founding fathers were tall....
Give me some knuckles Abe
Our first trip to the moon
Posing with the Kennedy's
A new look we picked up from Elvis
Well, we TRIED to do the lip thing....we will leave that one to the King
Me and Cat on the Balcony at the Venetian

October is here.....

October is a fun month. My students are already buzzing about Halloween...and there are still 30 days to go. For the last two days during reading centers, I gave them a craft project to break up the usual routine and a little bit of fun. And I needed a new bulletin board for outside the classroom. Here is the result....



It is so cute when the wind blows and the bats "fly"! I am not bragging but it is the talk of the school about how cute it is!!!

My Golden Year

So, yesterday, September 30th, was the 5th anniversary of my 25th birthday. Yes, this means it was my golden birthday. I am in denial of getting older so I am eternally 25. However even though I am not getting older, I am still getting wiser. It was an ok day. I am sick and my voice was scratchy. My cooperative teacher, Mrs M, did bring me a mini cake, as pictured below, and one on my students brought me Ghirardelli chocolate yummy! I also received some fun teacher stuff from Mrs M. And the office ladies gave me a Kesterson Coyote personal planner. I receive many (and I mean 11) birthday cards from my mom, some were in the mail and some were by email...but they all made me happy! I brought my class rice crispy treats to celebrate the day and they each gave me 3 hugs...that is 48 hugs in all! And I loved every one!!! My roommates and Nicole took me to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. Oh so good. Then we came home and had chocolate pie.

My cousin Jenn started texting me 4:30 in the morning... some people forget I am 2 hours earlier than they are....but I am not mad. She told me to enjoy the first of 365 golden days of my golden year...I am taking her advise and celebrating everyday this year. It is going to be a good year, I can feel it.

Here are some pictures from the day....

Narrowing down...

Well, the past few days have been full of extensive pondering on my part. In my last post I told yall how my principal had inquired if I would stay in Vegas if offered a job. On Friday, Ms. D told us she had an interview on Tuesday for the ELL committee (English Language Learner) job she was asked to apply for with the district. Mrs. M then was taking to me about how if Ms. D is offered the job, the principal could get a long term sub for Ms D's room and I could just move across the hall after Thanksgiving. There is option 1... I know the school, staff, some of the kids, Ms D would leave her room as is and I wouldn't have to set up a room...

Option 2...Saturday night while in good ol Wally World, Cat, Nicole and I ran into Nikki, a girl from BYUI who did her student teaching last semester and is now teaching at a school in Henderson. She told us her principal is looking for 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th grade teachers starting after Thanksgiving. Hmmmm... the school is only a year old, it is in a nicer part of Henderson, possible $2000 signing bonus...

Option 3.... Arizona...the Mesa/Gilbert/Scottsdale/Queens Creek area.... Nicole has a cousin that works there and said they are desperate for teachers. New area, can say I have lived in another state, I have never been to AZ (I don't count hanging at the airport waiting on a flight), a little closer to home

Option 4.... Houston.... close to home, FANTASTIC pay (who can say no to starting at the upper end of $40,000????), close to the water (I miss the beach), cheap housing...

These are my 4 options. I am not sure what I really want to do, except teach. I am so ready to have my own room...not that Mrs. M hasn't let me have free range of hers to do as I please, but it isn't fully mine. I really hate decisions. I do know that I need a roommate where ever I go. Several of the girls have been leaning towards Arizona, but I am comfortable here in Vegas, not that I wouldn't become comfortable where ever I go. Hmmm... I need to ponder and research some more on the districts I am looking at...I will let yall know what decision I make or what is being taken out of the pool!

I really feel like a teacher now...

So tonight was PTA night at Red Robin... yum! So Nicole and I decided to go to support the Kesterson PTA. We called Cat to come join us for dinner....she thinks it is cool that our PTA does stuff...the one at Hal Smith, where she teaches, doesn't do anything fun or cool. Sad.

Anyways, we were there at dinner and a couple of my kids were there so I went over to talk to them and their parents. Then we talked to some of Nicole's kids and some of the other teachers. The Red Robin is in the mall, so we decided to do some shopping...always a good past time! Well, I really felt like a teacher when we were in a store and I heard "Hi Ms Mason!" So cute!

Well, I just wanted to tell yall how being a teacher is starting to feel real and not like just a class I am taking. I am teaching full time now and am doing all the lesson plans for the week. My cooperative teacher allows me to do as I please and helps me where I need it. Most of the time she is out of the classroom helping other teachers or doing whatever. I am now referring to the class as "mine"...today I was going to pick the kids up from PE and I ran into another teacher and they asked where I was heading in such a hurry (I didn't want to be late!) and I said "to get my class".

Oh and my cooperative teacher had her one on one beginning of the year conference with the principal on Wednesday... and she said Ms Woolridge, the principal, asked how I was doing and Mrs Morrill said fantastic. Then Ms W asked if I would stay in Vegas if I was offered a job. Mrs M said that I wasn't ruling out Vegas. However with budget cuts I figured the only job here I could get would be in the ghetto... if they had any openings. Well, Ms D, one of the other 1st grade teachers, was asked to apply for a better job with the district as the head of some project committee. She has applied and if she is offered the job there will be an opening in 1st grade at Kesterson! I am not saying I will be offered the job but it could be a possibility!

Well, that is the skinny on what has been going on this week! More to come soon...

Countdown

It seems in the past recent months my life has been filled with countdowns....to the end of my last semester in Rexburg, graduation, until I moved to Vegas, the days I was able to spend at home, etc...

Well, here is my latest countdown...

My days left until I am an official college graduate!

Days left: 70

I will be finished exactly 10 weeks from today! WOO HOO!

Saturday Night Adventures

Last night, Andrea, Daisy, Nicole, Sariah and I took off to Fremont Street. Fremont Street IS Vegas. It is the original. Lights, glitter, history. Fremont Street had the first telephone installed in Vegas, it was the first paved street, had the first stop light in town, is home to the first high rise and is home to the first building in town to have an elevator and air conditioning! To me this is Vegas...this is the place that made this city what it is. What everyone considers Vegas... the Strip... is nice, fun, and expensive... it contains anything and everything you can imagine. However old Vegas... it is different. A different feel, a different group of people. Now it reminded me of a cross between Bourbon Street, Mardi Gras and a street fair. There were vendors set up selling things and food, two bands ... one playing old school and the other was a punk band that covered everything and I mean everything from Sir Mix A Lot to Green Day to Cindy Loper. They were fun to watch and dance in the street to... which we did! The big thing to see is VivaVision... it is a HUGE t screen above the street. Here are some pictures of our adventure last night.

Sariah, Nicole and Daisy in the back seat
Andrea and I just before Andrea got out of the car at a stop light and danced in the middle of the street on the strip to the song 'Walk It Out'
Here we are on Fremont Street
The Fremont Casino
Some of Las Vegas finest
Who knew there were two Elvis's???? Well we have proof there are!
The rockin band we watched
A showgirl
The Golden Nugget!
A cowboy all lit up

Oh so the highlight of our evening was when we were walking down the street and these very waxed, very oiled up half naked Chippendales grabbed us to take a picture with them...a little awkard but we all enjoyed it! haha! At least I got to hug up on what I thought was the cutest of the three!!!

New Kids... FOREVER!!

Ok, so I know I am a dork, but I am ok with it. Those of you who know me really really well and know me from back in the day (aka my family) know that I was a big, no a HUGE New Kids on the Block fan, back in the day. I mean my walls were completely covered with their pictures. And I did have all the tapes (this was before CDs), dolls (like Barbie), pins, trading cards, t-shirts, member of the fan club etc... you get the picture, I was die hard fan. I don't think I ever told yall, but my freshman year of college my roommate and a large group of our friends formed a NKOTB fan club. Well, my love of NKOTB never really left, I just suppressed it over the years after they broke up. It was something I had to do to hide the pain of my favorite group breaking up... and losing my dream of being Mrs. Joey McIntyre! haha!!!

Then...


Now...


Anyways, I know you have all heard me talking about the most exciting new I have heard this year.... NKOTB reuniting, recording a new CD and going on tour!!!! WooHoo!!!! This fantastic news was sent via text early one morning by my cousin Jen. I was a bit grumpy for being woken by a text before my alarm went off, but when I read it I basically jumped out of bed and started singing and dancing. This made my day, week, month and year!! It was almost as exciting as when I found out they were going on tour and were coming to Vegas while I am living here...which I am hoping to get a ticket to the show (I am going to try to win one on the radio and if I don't I will have to eat ramen noodles for the rest of the time I am here so I can buy one - Have I ever mentioned I hate being a poor college student... but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and a paycheck! YES!) I have to say too that I am jealous that my roommate from my freshman year of college at Judson, Jenn has front row tickets to the show in Atlanta! I am oh so green with envy.



So, their new CD is out...and it is pretty good. I haven't bought it yet, but I did download it for free on Ruckus (a music thing for college students but you can't burn it or put it on an IPod - but it is like having a radio on your computer and you pick your own playlist). I have to say I was impressed with it. There are only a couple of songs (like 4 out of 17) that I am not 100% thrilled with, but the rest I practically know all the words already!! Oh and they have out two videos out right now...one for Summertime and the other is for Single. Here are the links to the videos just in case you want to take a peek at them! :)

Summertime ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25qiZy7vmqY

Single ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-fy9zVWFnE

Oh and they filmed the video to Single here in Las Vegas at the Jet Nightclub at the Mirage...I found out it was filmed the weekend before I flew out here....bummer!!!

So that is my little rant on New Kids on the Block. I know as I said before I am a dork, but its ok. :)