100th day of school!

Today is our 100th day of school!

I can't believe that it has been 100 days already--time is flying. I look back at my students and myself and I see so much growth that is taking place---its unbelievable. My students are learning new skills daily and I'm learning new teaching skills as well as things about myself.

So now I am challenging myself to think of 100 things/experiences I have enjoyed since being in Quinhagak--here goes: these are in no particular order

DISCLAIMER: Individual people did not make the list because well that would take up too many spaces! Everyone in Quinhagak has touched my life in some way shape or form and that is what I am thankful for!

1. Learning to play cribbage

2. Friday naps

3. Family movie night on Fridays with Steph and Jim especially when we make Jim watch girl movies

4. First ever steaming experience and on the way home when we thought we were being chased by an animal

5. Riding next to a dead caribou

6. Locking myself in the arctic entry at 1:00 in the morning

7. first time dumping the honey bucket, now we have quite the system of spraying and dumping, its nice

8. dance parties with Allison (we talked tonight, I think this is where we first bonded)

9. Water games with Allison

10.Trips to the post office--even when she tells me no

11. Making puppy chow and various other baking experiences

12. Toasting marshmallows on the stove--and making make shift Smores

13. Walking to the Bering Sea--at first not wanting to walk that far simply because I don't like to exercise--but now it is quite the peaceful walk with friends

14. Bonfires at the Sea--Taking the random jumping picture at the sea which took about 30 tries

15. The salmon run---I ran it (only the 1/2 mile), thought I was going to collapse, but was fun to do with the kids.

16. Watching Tucker and Riley and when Al shut Tucker into my room and he kept me up ALL night

17. Ani running away from us at 10 at night--and getting super mad

18. My students coming to my house for all turning in their homework and having a spaghetti dinner

19. Coaching Speech

20. Craft night at Dennis and Marshas

21. Driving a four wheeler for the first time with Allison

22. Berry picking and just laying down because I felt ill

23. When Jim makes us watch things he thinks are very funny and we do not agree

24. Going on an 8 mile bike ride and practically dying

25. The numerous times our heat has stopped working, we didn't have lights, our sink leaking, etc

26. The time I thought Gill had died and we had a sleepover at Steph and Jim's

27. Art retreats

28. Taking the school bus at age 24 with all my friends in the morning

29. Having nail painting parties

30. Baking with Steph for Thanksgiving

31. Burritos at Steph and Jims

32. Glee and Jersey Shore Night

33. All 16 of my math students

34. When you are walking down the road and children are screaming hi Miss Weaver, but you can not see them anywhere

35. My intense online shopping

36. Mystery gifts from Moosejaw

37. When I lost my keys and Al and I had to walk on opposite sides of the road to find them

38. When the couch ate Al's wallet

39. Al getting a real live Christmas tree in the mail

40. Gill

41. Cooking tacos (the one thing I am good at)

42. Kool-aid

43. When Al cooks dinner and then I wash the dishes (a typical night)

44. playing three games of basketball and not being able to move

45. When Al and I tried P90X and we were just rolling on the floor laughing

46. Getting packages from my friends

47. Attending feasts for birthdays

48. My first throw party.

49. Winning a beaver fur at the Christmas gift exchange

50. Creating a Christmas card with Al instead of doing separate ones

51. First time ever eating fish

52. GOing fishing for the first time ever--Al catching three me catching none

53. Catching my first fish ever, and then Jim letting it go without taking a picture

54. The view of the mountains when there is good visibility

55. My students making progress in the reading program and hearing them become better readers

56. Having pep rallies

57. The halloween contest "clap for him"

58. My first Thanksgiving in Quin

59. Weekends in Bethel

60. Cooking breakfast on weekend mornings

61. How sometimes when Al and I cook, we turn on the wrong burner and then are wondering why it hasn't cooked.

62. When Steph, Jim, and I hid under the house and scared Allison then did the same thing to Al and Jon.

63. Seeing a dead bear for the first time

64. Being chased with a dead mouse in our house

65. Our numerous dinner parties

66. Sunday afternoon trips to the school

67. Laying in different continents on Steph's floor on Fridays

68. Making a cake for the bake sale, eating a piece out of it, and then selling it

69. Creating a picture to hang in our house on our first Saturday

70. Watching the lunar eclipse

71. watching hunting shows and having people quiz me on the different animals

72. Eating Caribou (not something I would have done before this)

73. The friendly waves we get when walking to and from different places

74. My new Quinhagak family who is always there if I need something

75. Fashion shows when Al and I get something new

76. How Al and I ignore the knocks on our door and sometimes when the kids scream "We know you're in there

77. Allison (she says she must make the cut of 100 things)

78. The fact that I have lived here for about 6 months and still can't tell Steph and Jim's dogs apart

79. "Just having a Friday"

80. All of the Quin teachers

81. When we tried to make popcorn and had a little fire on our stove

82. Learning about the culture and having an open mind about new experiences

83. When Flat Stanley visited

84. When one of my students who struggles was able to read something with no mistakes and you could see their excitement

85. The support here (teachers, friends, community members, etc)

86. Decorating our house for Christmas

87. The fact that it is the 100th day of school and up until earlier today my calendar says October

88. Allison's love for onions. I even got her a picture of onions for Christmas

89. Cuvs

90. When I sat in a building for 3 hours with a French pilot determined to fly to Bethel and only getting stuck

91. Al and I creating poems for birthdays, boss's appreciation and other holidays

92. When Al's parents visited

93. Tank Top

94. When we first got our span Alaska order and we had corndogs, chicken nuggets, pizza rolls, and hot pockets

95. Slushies at Sammy's

96.The squatter dog that has now passed

97. When Jim makes us chocolate chip cookies and brags about how delicious they are

98. OB

99. Watching the beautiful sunsets/sunrises while walking places or at school

100. Just having the privilege to live and work in such a beautiful place and meeting some of the most down to earth friends and people ever.

101. When I freak out about things and Rachel has to calm me down

Here's to looking forward to having 100 more in a few months when it is time to reflect on the year.

I challenge some of you to think about where you are and think if you can come up with 100 things about that to love. It was great to reflect on all the funny things that have happened here in Alaska.

Hope y'all have a fantastic Tuesday and rest of the week =)