THE teacher vest

Korbin kept asking me what I wanted for graduation.  I kept telling him that I didn’t want anything…I just wanted him to come to graduation!

I should have known better.

Being a teacher, it is inevitable that you have to sport a teacher vest at least one time in your life. There are always the lovely holiday ones with huge snowmans, hearts, and jack-o-lanterns.  Then there are the more subtle ones with beautiful embroidered flowers.  Well that’s what Korbin Blunck got me for my graduation.

I can recall  one night at the beginning of the school year we were talking about the way some teachers dress.  Korbin said, “You cannot wear MOM jeans (that come past your belly button and make your buttox look like the size of Texas) and you definitely cannot wear those vests that teachers wear!!!”  I told him that it had been a “teacher dream” to wear a teacher vest at least one time in my teaching career.  He begged me to never get one nor wear one.

That sneaky boy went to DI and looked through all the women’s clothes to find this gem. He specifically told me “Now Abby, you don’t HAVE to wear this to school, OK?” Oh, one day I will have to sport it.

Check it out.

Thanks Korbin! I agree with you, I definitely earned the beloved teacher vest!

A BYU Graduate (April 2012)

check that off the bucket list!

I was so happy that Mom and Korbin were there for my graduation.  I’m sure it was long and boring for them, but it meant a lot to me that they were there!

2011 (in April!)-better late than never, right?

January: I rang in the New Year with Mr. Blunck

February: Skiing with my family…and the time Korbin asked my Dad to marry me :)

March: ENGAGED!

April:  Kyle graduated from BYU, Mom came to Utah, I interviewed and got a teaching internship in 2nd grade, and Becca came back from New Zealand!

May: Finished up classes at BYU and got ready for the prettiest wedding you’ve ever seen!

June:  said goodbye to the single life

July: 7/9/11=best day ever, Carter left on his mission, we were honeymooners, moved into our “cute, little” house, had a reception in Utah

August: Became a teacher, Korbin started school, and I turned 21.

September: I was in full swing teaching them youngins and Korbin was learning stuff that I don’t understand, but he does!

October: Pretended to be back in the 70s and went to Conference.

November: was great! We had Thanksgiving Dinner at the Blunck House! (need to find those pictures still!)

December: Went to the Salt Lake Temple and saw the lights, decorated our first Christmas tree, and spent Christmas in BAMA

I have had this written since February (still late, I know!)…better late than never!

Next posts-Teacher vest and graduation!

i’m on a roll!

Two posts in two days?!?! That hasn’t happened much lately.

A peek into my green and leprechaun filled classroom…

I found out that the Cricut is my new best friend.  If you look closely, you will notice that all their names are cut out.  I questioned my sanity while doing it, but it will all be worth it when I send those portfolios home!

(Loved the leprechaun idea I found on What The Teacher Wants!)

I filled out a lot of report cards.

Made a few contracts…oh second graders!

Just met with every student about each topic, wrote a few with a little help from students :) and  bound 25 animal reports (in my free time ;)) I was so proud of everything they did.  It was so fun to show them and give them to their parents at parent teacher conferences.

I chalked the cutest leprechaun but it didn’t save on my phone.  Be on the look out for it!

Happy Thursday (it’s a Friday for me! no school for me tomorrow!)

If I had a pot of gold…

It’s 7:00 on a Wednesday night, and yes I am still at school! Since I have a break between parent teacher conferences and my brain continually thinks in Elementary mode (Just look at my pinterest :)) I decided I would write a little bit about gold.

My kids have written a lot about gold since it is almost St. Patrick’s Day. But if I found a pot of gold, I would…

First, bribe our renter to let us get a four legged friend :)

And then I would buy children’s book.  Yep. I’m a teacher, for sure.  It’s like Christmas morning when a Scholastic book orders come in. (Thank goodness for those teacher reward points!)

Here are some of my top picks that I would like to collect for my little library.

Along with a list of many, many more that I have listed in my to-do list book (that I treasure so much and would be so lost with out) including Madeline, How Big is Foot?, Stephanie’s Ponytail, Pig Pigger and Piggest, and The Rainbow Fish. 

Dr. Seuss

I don’t remember my Momma reading Dr. Seuss to us kids, therefore he is not my favorite since I didn’t grow up with him like I did The Rainbow Fish, Madeline, and Stephanie’s Ponytail.  

Friday was his birthday. My kids had to memorize a part of a Dr. Seuss book.  The whole second grade learned “There’s a Wocket in my Pocket.” Unfortunately, I had to take a sick day on Friday and couldn’t see them perform it with their cute little actions.

I do love this quote by Dr. Seuss…it’s true. We are weird and I love every bit of it!

“We’re all a little weird. And life is weird. And when we find someone 
whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall into 
mutually satisfying weirdness—and call it love—true love.”

HE’S HOME!

His counts shot up to 560 today so they were able to release him from the hospital for a little while! I am so happy for him. He is looking better than ever!

love me, love my dog.

While I was in Birmingham visiting Kyle, I got to meet Lilo (also known as Nacho!). She is the cutest thing.

I want a dog so bad…I don’t think this wish will convince the lady we rent our house from to let us get a dog, unfortunately! Since we can’t have a dog right now, I find myself looking at pictures of dogs on Pinterest quite often and telling Korbin, “We HAVE to have a dog like this one day!” Since we can’t have a dog right now, I will drool (ha no pun intended!) over these pictures until I can snuggle up with my own!

tough as a 2 dollar steak.

That is a Bess saying right there and it’s exactly what Kyle is…tough as a 2 dollar steak! 

Korbin and I were so lucky to get to go see Kyle last weekend.  We flew out early Friday morning and got back to Provo Tuesday morning (2:00 a.m. to be exact!).  It was so worth it.  It made all the difference for me to see Kyle.  He was the same Kyle.  Funny, cute, and still watching Sports Center.  I loved it.

As many of you know, I have what my mom has termed as “hospitalphobia.”  I know I was getting help from above while I was in that HUGE hospital at UAB.  I even stayed with Kyle on Friday night! I didn’t even feel like I was going to faint the whole time I was there…with IV poles and all! (maybe one day I can have a baby! hahaha) To say the least, I was very proud of myself.  I was so glad I could stay there. I wish I could be there and stay there more!

Daddy (Dr. Bess) has given strict instructions for Kyle to walk around the hospital a lot.  Mom, Kyle, and I took a nice little “jog” through the hospital.  Kyle was cracking me up.  He is not letting this cancer get to him.  Here is he jogging through the hospital floors with his IV pole in one hand and a Mountain Dew in another.  It was definitely one of the highlights of my stay.

For daily updates on Kyle, go to http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/kylebess.

Thank you again for all the prayers and support you have given my family.  My angel of a mother has been staying with Kyle almost every night at the hospital.  In the last 2 weeks, she has slept in a bed 3 times! The others have been on the slippery, slidy chair right next to Kyle’s bed.  She says she has slept better there than she has in a bed! We are seeing so many blessings throughout this trial that are not only helping Kyle battle this cancer but helping our family be comforted and at peace during this time.

CaringBridge

First, thank y’all so much for all the thoughts, prayers, texts, calls, and comfort you have given to my family this week.  It has been a rough and exhausting week, but we all have faith and know that everything is going to work out.  Kyle is strong and is so optimistic.

Mom and Mekelle have started a little blog/journal to keep friends and family updated.

                 http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/kylebess

President Summerhays, a wonderful family friend, that served as mission president in the Florida Tallahassee Mission shared this quote with me on Wednesday. It has given me a lot of comfort.

 ”In my ninety-plus years, I have learned a secret. I have learned that when good men and good women face challenges with optimism, things will always work out! Truly, things always work out! Despite how difficult circumstances may look at the moment, those who have faith and move forward with a happy spirit will find that things always work out.”

Thank you again for everything. Please keep Kyle in your prayers.

Abby