Zip-lining, *NSYNC, and grad school, oh my!

Zip-lining
Last weekend I got the chance to do something I have never done before. Zip-lining! It was a fun time. Some of my friends had done it last year and asked if any of us wanted to go with them this time around. A bunch of us said yes because we had never done it before and thought it would be fun so we made plans to go.

We traveled to Dubuque, IA where the YMCA Union Park help the zip-lining challenge. There were nine zip-lines to face and wooded hillsides to hike up during the tour. During our tour the tour guides told us the park used to be a Theme Park of some sort back in the late 1800's early 1900's. Each zip-line we traveled to they would point out certain points in the woods and say, "That is where a roller coaster used to sit," or "You will be traveling over where the Mammoth Theater used to be." It was kind of neat.

The zip-lining itself was pretty easy. It was a little scary knowing that little thing that takes you across the zip-line could hold your weight. After the first couple lines the fear goes away. The guide told us how to steer so we wouldn't be twirling around, but it was kind of difficult to do. I'm not going to even try to describe how to steer so I'm just going to say it was difficult. There were two lines that I really liked. One of them they had a game for us to play. In the middle of the line there was a red bucket sitting on the ground below and we had to try and throw a beanie baby in it. If we made it we got a free t-shirt. Before we went we all grabbed a beanie baby from the tub they had at the beginning of the line. I really did not want my boyfriend, Jared, to make it in the bucket because he can be kind of cocky at times and I didn't want him to rub it in our faces the rest of the tour. For some odd reason I had a feeling I was going to make it in but I kept doubting that feeling. I asked the tour guide how many people usually make it in the bucket and he said one out of sixteen. Hmmmm. I was one of the last ones to go and no one had made it in the bucket yet. I made sure to start out slower this time so I could think about when I would let the beanie baby go. I was coming up on the bucket and I knew that if I let it go right above the bucket it would go past it because of inertia. I decided to let it go before I got to the bucket. I watched it bounce off the side and go in the bucket. "Ooohhhh!!!" I yelled and threw one hand up in the air for victory, but made sure to keep the other hand on the rope (one of the rules). I looked up to see everyone on the other side with their hands up yelling as well. It was so cool! I rubbed that in Jared's face. Ha!

The other line I liked were the dueling lines. There are two lines and you pick a person to race against. I ended up losing but it was still fun. The last line was the highest and fastest which was pretty cool. Overall it was a neat experience. We got to zip-line and hike in the woods and it was pretty scenery, but I think it would be cool to do it in another state where there are mountains and lakes around. I would recommend zip-lining to anyone who is up for it.

*NSYNC

When I heard 'NSYNC was going to reunite for the VMA's this year I was SO excited. They were my group back in the day when I was in elementary and middle school. Yes, I liked the Backstreet Boys as well, but 'NSYNC just had a special place in my heart. My room was filled with 'NSYNC posters growing up. I was a Justin lover and my best friend was a JC lover. We would listen to their CD's constantly and dance to their songs. We would stay up late at night watching the BOX (anyone remember that channel?) just to see one of their videos play. I was lucky enough to see them in concert in sixth grade and it was amazing. I'm surprised I didn't lose any of my hearing after that concert because it was so loud with girls screaming. I just remember it being loud and the boys danced the ENTIRE concert. They were awesome and are still awesome to this day in my eyes. If a reunion tour happens I am going to see them no matter what. I could barely contain myself when they performed for five seconds on the VMA's. At the age of 26 I jumped off my couch and stood in front of the TV jumping up and down with excitement during their performance. Justin, JC, Joey, Chris, and Lance, you guys rock my world and that's all I gotta say.

Grad school
After my first week of grad school in the School Counseling program at Iowa I can honestly say I am excited for what is to come. I have never seen professors so motivated and eager to teach us how to become successful school counselors. They legitimately made me feel that I am going to be a great School Counselor by the time I am done. My class is small and I really like my cohort so far. They only accepted ten into the program and all of us go through the program together. That is why we are called a cohort. We take the same classes and help each other out all the way through the program. I really like it so far. I will say that after writing all the due dates on my calendar (part of my OCD) for this first semester that October may not be my favorite month this year :( Too many assignments due. Ugh. Oh well........I can do it!

"Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back..."

First of all, I hope you SANG the title of this post. I love John Travolta so I thought throwing a little Welcome Back Kotter in there seemed fitting given the events of the day :)

Today was the first day back at school for me and the kiddos! Well, I guess it was the first day back at work for me. My first day back at school is on Monday. Blaaahhh. Don't want to think about that yet so we'll talk about the first day back at school with the kiddos. It was a satisfying one :)

During our assembly in the 90 degree gym with more than 1,500 kids, the keynote speaker said something I can relate to. To give a little background first, the speaker was a part-time English teacher who works in the building. She teaches the first half of the day then goes home to spend time with her three children. I have had the privilege to be in one of her classes with a student and she is the most entertaining teacher I have ever met. She throws out dance moves, sings, tells stories about her children being little turds, messes up her hair (which somehow always gracefully falls back into place), raps, beatboxes, and does Jersey impressions (she's from New Jersey) all the while teaching. She makes learning fun and exciting. She connects with each and every one of her students and I can tell that connection makes them feel special. I can see it on their faces and in their body language. She has a huge impact on the students in the way she teaches and her relationships with them. I can honestly say she is an awesome teacher to have around the hallways of City High School and I wish I would have had her as my English teacher when I attended City High back in the day. Dag nab it!

To get back to my point, she said something in her speech this morning that I can relate to. She said when she leaves her three kids after having a wonderful summer with them she doesn't feel bad leaving them (maybe a little) because she is going back to her second family at City High. Walking into the doors this morning she said she was greeted by so many uplifting faces. Whether it was, "Hi, Ms. Fettweis!" "Hello! How was your summer?" or "Sup?" she said it was very welcoming. She was back with her second family and I feel the exact way when I walk through those doors as well. Whether it is one of my track athletes or volleyball players saying hi, one of my coworkers, or a teacher, it just feels uplifting. The relationships you develop working at a school is just awesome. That is all I can say and I couldn't be more confident in my decision to become a School Counselor.

Newbie

As a requirement for one of my grad classes I was instructed to create a twitter account and a blog. I was a little sad about the twitter one because everyone has one and I still wanted to be one of few that didn't plus it just looked confusing and I like using facebook, but this blog thing I am actually kind of excited about. My brother has been writing a blog for a while now and I enjoy reading his posts. He mostly writes about the different types of beer he tries and the events going on in his life. In his blog he gives his friends and family nicknames. Can you guess what mine is? Yep, you guessed it. The Loud Sister. When I read a post that had 'The Loud Sister' in it I asked (mostly yelled) my mom, "Is he talking about me?!" Her response was, "Well duh. Who else would he be talking about?" I was offended for about ten seconds then shrugged my shoulders and agreed with it. His blog is called The Quiet Man so it only makes sense for me to give him his nickname of Quiet Man on here. So there!

I am excited to see what the professor wants me to do with this new blog I have created. If any of you are wondering what type of class it is for the class is called Introduction to Multiculturalism in the Helping Professions. It is a required class in the School Counseling program here at the University of Iowa. I start this fall and am both nervous and excited about it. Excited meaning I want to learn more about counseling in schools, new theories, and the types of kids/parents I will encounter. I currently work as a para educator and have dealt with a number of Special Ed kids and have loved it. They are so interesting and unique. When I say I am nervous I am referring to I already have one MA and it was A LOT of work/essay writing. Luckily I have some people to help me out in case things get rough, but I am excited to start this new journey.

Until next time!