I just finished my first 3 weeks of being a teacher, and man, am I having a blast!  I am so glad that I chose this profession, and even more glad that I stuck it out, and achhieved my goal of being here. 

 I was thinking the other day about how this is the first time I can remember that I have set a big goal like this, worked hard for it, and then achieved it.  I’ve set smaller goals in my life.  I’ve set big goals that really weren’t a lot of work.  I’ve set big goals and given up on them.  But this time, I set a big goal, I worked by butt off, I was ready to give up so many times and didn’t, and, with a LOT of help, I made it.  It feels so good. 

So, as you may guess, my encouragement to you is this:  Set goals, big goals, and work hard at them.  It is so worth it!

 For the first few weeks of school, the Desert Sky staff decided it would be a good idea to teach on some life-topics.  One of the lessons that I got to teach my students was goal-setting.  For the lesson, we read part of the goal-setting section of 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens.  It was good stuff!  It was helpful, and it made sense, and it talked about how to set goals, and achieve them.  I’m not going to do into all of that detail here, but if you want some help setting goals, come talk to be, or find that book in the library.  BTW, I haven’t read the whole book, but the parts of it I have read make me think that the whole thing is pretty good.  Might be worth a read. 

Happy goal-setting and happier goal-achieving!!

9.  Blogging isn’t as fun as laser tag was.

8.  I’m still recovering from a disappointing 8th place finish at Day Camp.

7.  I have to pack for CIY! Colorado, baby!

6.  My laptop is starting to melt.

5.  I just did my nails.

4.  I have to wash my hair.

3.  I got on the computer, but then got distracted playing online DOND.

2.  It took me a while to figure out what DOND meant.

1. Nobody reads this blog, anyway!

3/4 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup shortening

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 1/2 cups flour

1 12-oz package (2 cups) semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°.  In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and shortening with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds.  Add the brown sugar, granulated sugar, baking soda, and salt.  Beat until mixture is combined, scraping sides of bowl.  Beat in eggs and vanilla until combined.  Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer.  Stir in remaining flour.  Stir in chocolate chips. 

2. Drop dough by rounded teaspoons 2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake for 8 to 9 minutes or until edges are light brown.  Let cool before eating.  Bring some to Sarah on Wednesday or Sunday. 

We call it Norwegian Golf, and it is played like this:

Set-Up:

There are two ‘ladders’ on either side of the yard, made out of PVC pipe.  There are three rungs, each about 12-18 inches apart, and about 2 1/2 - 3 feet wide. Also, you’ll need four pieces of rope or cable.  You’ll have to drill and hole in some golf balls and tie them onto either side of the rope, so that it ends up about 12 inches long.  You can buy a set, or make it yourself!  

Now, to play:

Each team has two people.  One person on the team stands by one ladder, and the other person stands by the other ladder.  Then, the first player tosses two of the golf ball-rope-things to the other ladder.  If it catches on the bottom rung, it’s worth one point.  The middle rung is worth two, and the top rung is worth three.  Then, the second person throws his golf-ball-rope-thing.  If the second player’s rope lands on the same rung as the first player’s, then those points are cancelled out for both teams.  Now, the two players on this side of the yard get to toss the golf ball-ropes back.  The team who scored highest during the last toss throws first. 

Anything goes.  Bounces count.  If the golf ball falls off, or gets knocked off a rung, the points are gone. 

How to win:

The first team to 21 wins.  However, if your team goes over 21, you fall back down to 11 points. 

Good Luck!!

1. Write down your goals for the rest of the year.

2. The school year is coming to a close.  Write about how this past year went.  What stuff did you learn? ( I know you learned something!)

3.  Who are your friends? Write about each of them and what they mean to you.

4.  Write some of your prayers down.  A bonus is you can write more when they are answered!

5.  Write a story!  If you can’t think of anything, try this: Write a story that is as boring as you can possibly make it!

6. What changes have you noticed in yourself? Have you grown as a person in the past year? Write about it!

7.  Where do you see God in your life?

8. Write a movie review for the last movie you saw.

9. Write a script for your own TV show. 

10.  Write an alternate ending to a book or movie you like.

11.   Write some song lyrics.

12. Write your biography up to this point.

13.  Write your biography as you want it to be from this point on. 

14.  Describe something–your personality, your style, your house, whatever. 

15.  Write down your dreams, literally.  When you wake up in the morning, write down everything you remember what what you dreamt.  I read that by doing this consistantly, you will begin to remember more and more of your dreams!  And, believe it or not, you dream every night! 

Happy Writing!

Buffalo Wild Wings

Dairy Queen Brazier

Firken and Friar

Fuddrucker’s

La Salsa

Little Anthony’s Diner

Mama’s Pizza 

Nico’s

Old Chicago

Olive Garden

Outback

Panda Express

Quizno’s

Texas Roadhouse

I felt that this was a good message for me right now.  I really liked when Mike was talking about enjoying the season of life that we are currently in, instead of spending so much time looking towards the next thing.  Like Mike said, there are times when I am so unhappy about the way things are, and I can’t wait until God changes my current situation.  And there are other times when I am really enjoying life, and I don’t want God to change things.  But, in either case, God ultimately has control, and He knows best.  Life can’t always be easy, and life won’t always be difficult, and I trust God to balance those aspects in my life. 

God knows me so well. He knows my heart, He knows my strengths and weaknesses, He knows my future.  He knows what I am struggling with.  God knows how to bring out the absolute best in me, and how to form me into the person He wants me to be.  He specifically puts me in certain situations, and brings certain seasons in my life to make that happen.  Who am I to disagree or complain?

I like this list because it is challenging.  Every time I read it, it’s like a gut check.  It never fails that there is something or other on this list that I have been doing very poorly.  The bluntness makes the passage very effective.   

I like this list because it is powerful.  I can’t exactly pinpoint what it is, but when I read this passage, I can just sense the authority and the potency behind the words. 

Last night, in my small group, my girls spent some time evaluating ourselves on the commands in this list.  We decided, as a group, what our bottom 8 were:

Do not be proud.

Do not be conceited.

Do not repay anyone evil for evil.

Do not take revenge. 

Bless, and do not curse. 

Honor one another above yourselves.

Be willing to associate with people of low position. 

Be patient in affliction.

We prayed about these commands, and challenged ourselves to focus on following them this next week.  I am looking forward to hearing stories about how it went. 

I am hoping to do this again in a few months, to see as a small group where we have grown, and where we still need to grow. 

Officially, Pi Day is March 14th, or 3/14.  If you don’t get it…think about it.  But, we celebrated Pi Day at school this past week, and in honor of that, I would like to share some of the fun pi facts I learned! 

So, here goes:

First of all, the definition: pi is the ratio between a circle’s circumference and diameter.  Basically, it means if you measure the distance around a circle, and divide it by the distance across that circle, you get pi.  No matter the size of the circle. How cool is that!

Pi is an irrational number, which means it can’t be written as a fraction.  It is a decimal that goes on forever and ever, until the end of time, without repetition or a pattern. 

For the Pi Day festivities, we had students memorize digits of pi.  The current Desert Sky champion, Nathan, recited over 230 digits of pi. My sources tell me he is up to 430 digits.  This year’s champion, Becca, recited about 120 digits.  The world champion, Hiroyoki Gotu, has memorized 42,000 digits!!

The earliest known reference of pi is on a papyrus scroll, dated around 1650 B.C.

π is the Greek letter p.  It denoted the number 80 in ancient Greece, and was first used as it is today in 1706. 

In 2002, frantic Japanese mathematicians used a supercomputer to accurately compute pi to 1,241,100,000,000 digits. That is 1.2 TRILLION digits.  Unfortunately, the most accurate approximation of pi that scientists would ever need (as far as they can tell) is only about 43 digits. 

Although pi is inherently a part of the geometry of circles, the number randomly appears in some suprising areas of higher mathematics. 

Wow.  I am inspired to give you guys a challenge.  If you can recite to me the first 20 digits of pi, before the end of May, I will have a reward for you!!  I’ve posted the first 1,000 digits of pi.  Well, 1,001 if you include the three

Also, can anyone tell me the time of day on March 14th that Pi Day is officially celebrated?

 If you want to know the first million digits of pi, check out this page: http://www.exploratorium.edu/pi/Pi10-6.html

3.
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 What do you call a grizzly bear with no teeth?

 A gummy bear!

Hahahahahahhahahahaha!!! LOL! ROFL!! That is SOOOOOO hilarious!