It's a wonderful life!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and was able to feel the magic of Christ's love with family and friends. It's been so wonderful being home and getting to see friends and family. 

Every Christmas for the past couple of years, my family has started the tradition of watching It's a Wonderful Life. If you've never seen it, I highly suggest it! It's the BEST Christmas movie, and I would consider myself somewhat of a Christmas movie expert. It's a great movie that reminds you how important family is and it also shows you how much of an impact you can make, even if everything hasn't gone according to your plan. This movie never fails to make me tear up and appreciate the important things. 

I'm updating this blog after Christmas ( shh...sorry to let the cat out of the bag). Anyways one of the teachers I work with was asking me what I got for Christmas. I got lots of great things (boots, giftcards, clothes, money) but when she asked me that, what popped into my head wasn't the most expensive gift I received, nor was it the prettiest. Instead it was a small little assortment of Marzipan shaped into little fruits. Marzipan is an almond paste that is actually pretty tasty and it can be molded into different shapes, usually used for decoration.

Well, when my GrandMary was alive every Christmas we would make a cake together. One year in particular we decided to get fancy and make some sort of Yule Log cake that called for Marzipan for the decorations on top. We could not find it anywhere. We called one of the local bakeries , sure they would be able to help us out, but then when my grandmother called and asked if they had any Marzipan, the employee responded, "Uh...Sorry ma'am we don't have that kinda pan here." She was putting marzi-pan in the same category as bunt pan, cookie pan, frying pan. We laughed about that for years and it's one of my funniest memories of my GrandMary, so when I unwrapped that small gift this year, it really made me smile. I ended up making a blueberry lemon cake that my GrandMary used to make and I was able to top it off with a little Marzipan! To me those little things are what make Christmas so special! ( Don't worry, Jesus being born is pretty special too) :) 

It's beginning to look at lot like Christmas!

So excited to get back to Texas, but I had a lot of fun with my fellow City Years before heading to the Lone Star State! Between ugly sweater parties, finding a puppy at school, and looking at beautiful Christmas lights and hitting up downtown Sac, it was a great way to end 2013 in California and get excited for Christmas!

Check out the awesome lights in the middle of my collage. Near Trader Joes, my favorite grocery store, there are several streets that ban together to put out killer Christmas lights! One street hung up lights across the canopy of the street, while others all wrapped their trees with candy cane lights! And on one street a man got creative and had a theme with his house and both neighbors on either side of him. He called it Christmas past, present, and future. I didn't get a shot of Christmas future, but you can see where for Christmas past he tried to replicate the house from "A Christmas Story", all he's missing is the leg lamp in the window. And then for Christmas present he has a man trying to put up Christmas lights, falling down with a firetruck there to help him down. For Christmas future he parked his smart car in front of the house and attached wings to make it look like it could fly! So cool!

For our Rosa Parks Christmas party we had a really fun white elephant gift exchange, where everyone fought for the blanket I brought, everyone avoided getting the dish soap someone brought, and where I ended up with a really cute penguin coffee mug. Our team leaders also gave everyone handmade bracelts with a word or something that reminded them of us. Mine reads "mini- Lindz' because I remind Eric of Mrs. Barber, the teacher I work with! Which is great because I aspire to be like her in many ways!

YAY CHRISTMAS! 

Christmas Cheer!

           

T'was the night before Christmas break when all through the apartment,

 not a creature was stirring, except for a Sammie, 

she baked cookies for so long that her hands got clammie (nothing good rhymes with Sammie)

After making cards 'til the early morn, to spread Christmas cheer,

She never expected what she would hear, 

for she was not the only one planning a surprise,

when she got to class, she couldn't believe her eyes!

So basically, I work with the best English teacher ever. Also City Year is out every other Friday for corps wide meetings at the office. Last Friday we were out, and that's when Mrs. Barber decided to do the "apple" project. I kept hearing things about the "apple" project, but wasn't really sure what it was. Then today, in first and second period they presented me with a cute box full of sweet, sweet notes my students had written me, and gifts a few of them had brought in for me. It was so touching. I cannot stop reading the letters and am sure they will serve as a source for motivation as the year goes on. I love every single one of my students so much.

Here's a few I'll share:

                                

Hmong New Year!

Hmong New Year was one of the best nights serving at Rosa Parks this year! After school the Hmong Club hosted a Hmong New Year celebration complete with a talent show and tons of delicious Hmong cuisine. During my time in Sacramento I've learned so much about Hmong culture and tonight being able to watch so many of my students dance and sing in the talent show, representing their culture was amazing! My team member ,Lao, even shared his family's traditional Hmong clothing with some of us for the event! The clothes are so  delicate and sometimes are sewn and worked on for a year or more before they are ready to be worn.

 Earlier this week the choir and band put on a performance during school, so between that and the performances tonight, I have felt like a proud mom! There is one student who is super sweet, but very timid, and in both the Hmong New Year celebration and the choir shows, she had solos and performed with confidence and a sparkle I hadn't seen in her. Now every time I see her, I make a huge deal out of how amazing of a singer she is, and I always get a giant smile from her. Tonight was just one of those nights where I know I'm where I'm meant to be.

kuv hlub koj ( I love you!) 

Instant Aging

If you ever want to feel instantly older repeat these words to someone:
 "Look at me when I'm talking to you."

In the past four months, I  feel like I understand what parents go through so much more than I did before. And with winter break fast approaching, I find myself having to have more and more "Get it together" talks with my seventh graders. Get it together....start doing you're homework, stop trying to "get by" and instead, get busy, I don't want you to get kicked out of this class because you're not doing the work, .....ect. The best is when you're having one of these conversations with said seventh grader and not only are they not looking at you, but they also have ear buds in their ears....REALLY? Really they do. lol I just want to yank them out. haha Luckily, there are more kids in my class that are trying hard to finish out strong than there are that need to "get it together".