Finally Here!!!

So we finally have made it to the Valley aka 1820 miles from Milwaukee aka Phoenix. The drive out here wasn't too terrible since there were two of us to "split" the driving (I say that Evan did more driving than me but oh well!). We left Milwaukee on Tuesday which was really difficult for me. I wasn't emotionally ready to make the jump and ended up crying a lot that day. It got a little better after stopping in Dubuque to visit some of best friends who just recently got married, but overall, it was a pretty bad/sad day. The drive itself was fairly uninspiring and long. But we made it today!!!! Yay!!! We're currently staying in Evan's aunt's house, which is located a bit north of Paradise Valley, until we can find an apartment closer to Tempe so Evan can easily get to ASU. Evan's aunt used to live in Phoenix, but recently moved to Wisconsin to be closer to Evan's grandpa. So we're borrowing her house so we didn't have to sign an apartment lease site unseen or stay in hotels until finding a place. Definitely really lucky! Although it is hot here, it's not all that bad as long as you're not doing any hard work outside. And by hard work, I mean unpacking a car full of stuff. We both felt like we were dying when we finished. After stocking up on groceries at the local Fry's and grabbing lunch at a cantina, Evan and I stopped at Target to get a few necessities. And of course, I have been reading about all the awesome Dollar Spot finds that teachers have been getting so of course that was my beeline. I think I got some pretty cool stuff!

I already have a few pocket charts, but couldn't resist a purple one! I got a yellow notebook to take with me to inservice next week. I seriously wish more companies would make more yellow things! It's always such a struggle to find. I also got some name labels for table spots and two pails for my sharp/unsharp pencils. My favorite thing I got were the puzzle pieces. I think on the first few days of school, I'm going to give each kid a piece to write their name and decorate and then we can put the puzzle together and hang it on the wall to show that we fit together even though we're all different!


And since I've been so busy this week, I haven't had time to accept an award from Jenny at Luckeyfrog's Lillypad (one of my favorite bloggers too!) It's the Versatile Blogger. Yay! So the rules for this award is that you have to pass it on and list 7 random facts about yourself. I'm going to pass it on to:
-Sandra at Sweet Times in First (who probably already got it but oh well)
-Teresa at 2nd grade Pig Pen
-Ashley at That's So Second Grade!
-Heather at The Busy Busy Hive
Now for the random facts about me:
1. When I was younger, my sister and I were going to buy an old red barn and become farmers together. Obviously, we decided against it...
2. I love playing board games - any board game - with anyone that will play with me.
3. My favorite color is yellow for two reasons: the first one is because it is such a happy and sunny color, and the second reason is because I feel like so many people ignore it for a more popular color such as pink or blue.
4. I love to cook and bake and am always excited for new recipes.
5. I love a good bargain, and will rarely buy anything full price. I also love thrifting and finding treasures in looked over locations.
6. I have traveled quite extensively for someone my age. My parents both love to travel and whether I liked it or not (I always did though of course!!) took me all over the place on family vacations. One of the most unique places I have been is Russia and Estonia!
7. Although I have been taking Spanish since the 6th grade, I'm still really terrible at speaking and it is one of my vows in life to get better at it. So hopefully living in Phoenix will help!

And I just linked up with the Newbie Blog Hop at Grade Three is the Place for Me! So if you're new to the blogging world, go and check it out!!

If you link up, there are a few questions about yourself to answer so bloggers can get to you know a little bit more! Here they are:

1. What state you are in

2.  your current teaching position

3.  your teaching experience

4.  when you started blogging

5.  share a blogging tip / blogging resource

So here are my answers! 
1. I'm from Wisconsin but just arrived in Phoenix, AZ today!
2. I am currently [going to be] a first grade teacher.
3. Pretty minimal; just student teaching and practica.
4. I started blogging a few weeks ago!
5. Always comment when you get freebies! It lets the teachers who worked so hard to make them know that they are appreciated!


Well that certainly was a super long post... thanks for sticking with me! Next week marks my first week of inservice! I'm a little nervous but mostly super excited! I hope everything is great since at my student teaching placement, I tended to loathe professional development. We'll see...