STRIVE Prep

I'm already 3 weeks in to teaching 8th grade.  Hard to believe!  We had training for the 3 weeks prior to the first day with students too.  I must say it has been a long 6 weeks.  So much has happened in that amount of time that it feels like it must have been longer than that.
The good news is that I'm really enjoying my new job and new grade level.  It turns out I like working with middle schoolers.  Who would have thought?!?!  I may be bias, but I think I have a pretty incredible group of 8th graders.  I wish you could all meet them and hear the way they talk.  They have big dreams and goals that I love to hear them talk about.  They're motivated, working hard, and getting ready for college!  Sure they're still 13 and 14 year olds with a lot of attitude, but it keeps the job entertaining and interesting every day.
The school itself is such a nice change from previous teaching experience.  My administration is supportive.  That's hard to find!  I look forward to having them in my classroom.  I already feel like they've helped me become a better teacher.  My fellow teachers are also so much fun to work with.  They too help me become a better teacher because they are all great teachers themselves.  Everyone is there because they want to be there and they care about our students.  What a great environment to work in every day.  Sure we still work way too much, but at least we are having fun together.

A new sign for our new name.  We were formerly
West Denver Prep.

We share the campus with North High School

My desk with a good amount of space and a window that lets
me wave at everyone as they arrive :)

The rest of the office from my desk.  We each have our own
cart to carry all of our materials to our classrooms.
It's pretty funny to see us all strolling through the hallways.

The first day of school was August 13th.  Our dress code is professional.  Guys wear dress shirts and ties.  Women are suppose to wear the equivalent.  I decided it would be important to set a serious tone in the beginning, so I went with my most professional look.  I did not want them to take me lightly.

1st Day of School 2012

Ms. Eastup - 8th Grade Algebra Teacher

I love that I only teach math every day.  Algebra is so useful for life and I'm excited to get to show that to my students.  Each teacher also gets to teach an Enrichment class in the afternoon.  Students get to choose what they want to do and it is like their PE elective.  This 6 weeks I'm teaching ZUMBA!  It's a great break in the day where we get to just dance away.  My girls were a little shy at first being a little self-conscious that other people are seeing them dance.  But they're starting to get into it, and we're having a blast!  On Thursday they actually asked me if they could perform a dance in front of the rest of the school.  We'll see where that goes.
I have also decided to bring a little happiness and fun to the office by celebrating as many random holidays as I can.  So far we've had S'more Day, Just Because Day, Toasted Marshmallow Day, and Trail Mix Day.  They're all actual holidays on the calendar.  It's amazing to me how little things can make such a big difference in someone's day.

Homemade marshmallows

I'll work on getting some more stories to share because I daily have stories to tell.  Look forward to more from 8th grade soon!

Boulder Fun

When you make the drive to Boulder, the first thing you will probably notice is the Flatirons.  They are quite an amazing view as you top the hill to come into town.  I get to see them out my window every day, but a few weekends ago I got the chance to hike the Flatirons with some new teacher friends.  We decided to make it a whole Boulder day!  I was told it would just be about a 30 minute hike, really casual, so I didn't really prepare for a hike.  It turned into a couple of hours or more and some pretty good blisters on my feet. It was worth it though.  The trail was nice, the views were magnificent, and I was not going to complain about some good outdoor time after being trapped inside for training for 3 weeks.

A little bouldering - my favorite type of climbing

Kyrsten & Doug

A cool side view of one of the flatirons

Checking out the view from one of the outlooks

While sitting here at this outlook, a couple of guys came rock climbing up the side.  The man then proceeded to do a photo shoot of us.  Apparently we made some nice silhouettes.  Haha!

We also had a little furry friend join us.  He had obviously been around quite a few humans.

We continued on up the the 1st flatiron for some more views.

Standing on the 1st flatiron, with the 2nd in the
background

Aren't rock formations amazing?

Everyone told us that the 2nd flatiron was just a little further up the trail.  Of course if we had already made it that far, we figured we should finish and make it to the top of the 2nd.  On we went!

Mike & Doug at the top

Me & Kyrsten enjoying the top

We decided next time we should bring food
and have a picnic up there

Beautiful!

By the time we made it back down we had worked up quite an appetite.  Since it was Saturday, the Boulder Farmers' Market was going on.  It's quite an impressive setup every weekend with a lot of local and organic farmers.  Plus local restaurants set up in the middle and serve some great food.  It was just what we needed! Delicious food outdoors with live music.  There's certainly plenty of fun things to do in Boulder.  We have already decided there will be many more Boulder days.

Then a couple of weekends ago I had a friend come up from Colorado Springs to run the Heart & Sole Half Marathon.  It's a really cool race that raises money for a cause I care about, so I decided to sign up for the 10k and join him.  It's way more fun to have a friend around, plus it gave me an excuse to run a race :)
The afternoon before we did packet pickup and experience a Boulder favorite - Dushanbe Tea House.  I had heard about it from so many people, so I was excited to finally go.  Boulder is known for its chai, and I would definitely say it was tasty.  And the tea house just has a fun atmosphere.

 The pre-race meal is quite important.  What's better than some homemade pizza?!

My work of pizza art

Aaron's pizza creation

Tie-dye and race number on - ready to run!

A perfectly brisk morning at the Boulder Reservoir

The half marathoners are off!

We had a great race and finished strong

The reason we run - the post race meal!  Yes Texans, that's
Blue Bell being served :)

They were also giving out COCONUT water!
Makes me happy! :)

Thinking of coconuts and island life...I got to see Mike from Pohnpei!  He was traveling through Colorado visiting friends.  We went to my favorite restaurant in town.

Sherpa's Nepalese food

It's crazy for Pohnpei life and state-side life to come together.  But it was a lot of fun to catch up on life post-Pohnpei.
Boulder is a fun place to share with people.  I'm slowly discovering all the fun myself.  So come out and visit so we can find even more fun Boulder things to do!

Grays and Torreys

One of my favorite parts of living in Colorado is, of course, being so close to the mountains.  Ever since I got back I've been itching to get into the mountains.  So when Nikki asked if I wanted to hike a couple of 14ers last weekend, I didn't hesitate a bit to say YES!  The chosen mountains: Grays Peak and Torreys Peak.  These two peaks are side by side with a saddle in between.  They are also the most crowded trails of all the 14ers in Colorado because of their location and opportunity to summit two mountains in one day.
We loaded up with all our gear early in the morning to avoid afternoon storms.  We were not early enough to avoid the crowd, however.  The road was already packed with cars and hikers, but we were so thankful to have Gabe's 4-wheel drive Spartacus to get us up the rough terrain to the trail head.  Most cars, including the brand new Porsche in front of us, had to give up and park long before the actual trail head parking.  We had a great group of hikers, and we were ready to hit the trail as soon as we got there.

Here we go!

I love the streams for their beauty and their
peaceful trickling.

Quite a crew with quite a backdrop.

Almost unreal

Back in the land of cairns!  Oh how I enjoy them!

They so nicely guide you along the trail
and affirm that you are in the right place.

The peak is in sight, but still quite a climb
ahead of us.

What a goofball! A serious picture with the two of them is
hard to come by.

Another beautifully sunny day to warm us up along the way.

We summited Grays Peak first at 14,270 ft.  Like I said, this was by far the most crowded 14er hike I've ever been on, so there was quite a crowd hanging out at the top.  We happened to make friends with a guy at the top who turned out to be a photographer.  He so kindly offered to do a little photo shoot for us.

Our tough and serious look

We did it!

Yippee!  Throw your leg in the air!

And it has become tradition for Nikki and I to have our signature summit picture.

Of course we spent a little time just taking in the incredible view all around.

You could see the ski slopes off the the west.

The crowd at the top

 I did not forget the mango either.  This time I brought chips and mango salsa.  I think I might make this a standard.  Chips and salsa taste amazing after a hike up the mountain!

Mmm, mango!!!

We couldn't dilly dally too long if we wanted to summit Torreys before the clouds built up to much.  So off we went to go down the saddle and up the other side.

More cairns to guide us up the other side

There's still snow up there in July

I even got to hold some!  It had been quite some time since
I had touched snow.

 Within an hour we were standing atop Torreys Peak at 14,267 feet.  This one had a register to record that we had been to the top.

It's official and on my dad's birthday!

My fascination with cairns and Grays in the
background.

All smiles

More picturesque views

Another crowd at the top, but great for getting other
people to take pictures for you

After a little rest and taking in the beauty of creation, it was time to head down.  The clouds were building before our eyes.

Down we go!  Stay strong legs!

No marmots today, but these cute little pikas chirped
at us along the way

This was certainly another great hike with great people.  It was a "just right" trail - not too hard and not too easy.  The weather was ideal.  The views were beyond words.  There's just nothing quite like spending a day in the mountains enjoying the great outdoors.