Pinning Ceremony

    I think that over the past few months I have talked so much about my student teaching experience and the upcoming pinning ceremony that I should at least follow through and share some pictures.  This past Saturday we had our pinning at the Hawaii Pacific University Windward Campus which is gorgeous and set facing the Ko'olau Mountain chain.  Here are a few pictures from the day!

Dr. Linda Wheeler placing my Pi Lambda Delta Honor Cords

With my classmate Jenny

After the ceremony with Luke, Eloine, and Jenny

Graduate Elementary Candidates (Kelly, Hazel, me, Diana)

I am now a highly qualified teacher!

Program Defense

     Just a quick refresher: my program is broken up into two parts.  There is the teacher licensure program and then the second part is the masters program.  The bulk of the masters program is the licensure component, but not all of the students go on to get their degree.  Ok, that being explained, last night I had a presentation and a defense of my work in the program.  We presented our work in the program to a panel of 6 professors from the education department.  Following our presentations the professors discussed whether or not to recommend each of us for state licensure.  I am happy to say I successfully defended my work in the program this Saturday I will go through a ceremony during which I will get my honor society cords and a teacher pin. 

Cinco de Mayo

     This past Saturday I celebrated Cinco de Mayo with a great group of friends, old and new.  I hosted a taco night in honor of Cinco de Mayo.  We had a taco bar with plenty of options, festive music (sorry, no live band), and delicious treats.  I made margarita cupcakes and my friend Katie brought over homemade cayenne pepper truffles and fruit salsa.  We ate yummy food until our stomachs were full and visited even longer.  It was really a great night and I loved having friends over.  Thank you to everyone who came and helped celebrate.

     With all the fun I forgot to take pictures.  I just have one which is of the margarita cupcakes.  They were tasty and pretty!

Saying Goodbye

     Friday was my final day of student teaching.  I have been anticipating this day for weeks.  Not because I had a difficult time but mostly because it brings about change in my classes and it marks progress towards my ultimate goal of a degree.  I now only have a paper between me and my diploma, as opposed to student teaching and a thesis. Anyhow, I thought I was looking forward to this day.  However, when it finally came I was sad to say goodbye.  Shauna, my mentor, has been fabulous and I feel like I have learned so much from her.  She is a fantastic teacher for only having six years of experience.  I consider myself very lucky to have learned from her.  My students were amazing, sweet, kind and intelligent children.  I loved getting to know them and building connections with them over the past few months.  In preparation to say goodbye I made funfetti cupcakes for my last day.  That doesn't even compare to the sweet surprises they had waiting for me! 

     Class started pretty typically, although I did notice a few funny glances from the students.  It didn't take long to figure out why.  Two students, Joby and Erika, presented me with a paper lei that they had made for me.  They also handed me a book of notes and cards the students had written for me.  I read them and they made me laugh, tear up, and get sad over leaving.  I was thinking that was it but actually, there was more in store for me! 

     Later in the day, as students were working quietly, all of the sudden one student ran to the front of the room with a paper with a large M and "makes us smile."  Several more students followed suit until they had a long row spelling out "Mrs. McKenzie."  Apparently the students were excited to write a poem about me and present it on my last day.  It was so sweet and a great surprise.  I felt very special and thankful to have spent the past semester with an incredible group.  This truly was a perfect introduction to teaching.

With my class on our last day together

SATEP Complete!

     Any of my Hawaii Pacific University friends will be familiar with the phrase SATEP.  SATEP is our state-approved teacher education program.  This is a 33 credit program through HPU that includes coursework, student teaching experiences, as well as state required testing.  Following the completion of our SATEP, we can apply for state licensure.  The final 9 credits of my MEd program (not all candidates in my cohort are degree-seeking) consist of writing a master's thesis.
     I am so happy to announce that I have completed my SATEP and after paying the licensing fee I will be a licensed, highly qualified teacher in the state of Hawaii!  Yay for hard work paying off! This feels pretty surreal and I can hardly believe I am finally at this point in my program.
     You might be wondering what I will be doing with all of my free time now... There won't actually be much of that in my near future because starting on May 15th I will be writing my master's thesis which I anticipate completing at the end of August.  I am looking forward to this undertaking and this next step in my educational journey.   It will be nice to not commute an hour every day for school and it will be especially nice to write from the comfort of my home; whether that be my comfy bed, the cozy couch, or the sunny lanai.

A Day of Anniversary Celebrations

     I don't think there has ever been any question that my husband is amazing, loving, and spoils me to no end.  Even deployed, an ocean away, Doug managed to make our anniversary special and to remind me of how loved I am.   I also have very sweet friends who stepped right up to help where Doug couldn't be there.
     My morning began with a card from Doug and a voice recording he had left me to wish me a happy anniversary.  So sweet! 

     So I was off to school for the day, typical day.  I opened an email from Joy to find this:

Thank you Joy for the laugh!

After school I got home to a package:

I opened my nicely wrapped gift to find a present from Doug.

    The traditional third anniversary gift is "leather" and Doug ordered me a leather bound book embossed with our name on the front.  There are journal prompts for us to write about our life together.  It is very sweet and a really nice book.  I can't wait to start writing!

Also delivered to our house:

Gorgeous bouquet of pink roses and lilies

     This gorgeous bouquet of flowers arrived accompanied by an anniversary balloon and a little stuff hedgehog (Beatrice didn't want to feel left out).

     Up until now I was feeling very loved and downright spoiled.  However, the night was not over yet! 

     I ended the night with dinner out with a group of lovely ladies.  Joy, Emma, Caitlin, Ashley, and Katie joined me at the Old Spaghetti Factory for a celebratory dinner.  We had a great time and I really enjoyed visiting with friends.

     I think that I mentioned I have an amazing group of supportive friends!  These ladies helped me to celebrate even when Doug couldn't be away.  Emma, Caitlin, and our friend Alyson also gave Doug and I a very thoughtful anniversary gift.  They had a photographer friend in Charleston go and take several photos of the Angel Oak Tree (where Doug proposed to me 4 years ago) and they gave me a print of one of the pictures as well as a CD of the rest so that I can have one blown up on the wall.  This was such a thoughtful gift that really touched me.  I have been looking for nice pictures of the Angel Oak for the past few years and finally have several! Thank you ladies.

Angel Oak Tree- Charleston, SC - Doug proposed to me here on July 19, 2008

     I also want to thank our parents and grandparents for the anniversary cards and mail!  I am very blessed to have such an amazing husband, friends, and relatives.

Third Anniversary

     Happy third anniversary to my best friend and man of my dreams!  I never would have imagined that I could love him even more than I did when we said "I do."  Every day my love seems to grow even more and more.  Although we are apart today, I still want to reflect back on our wedding day.

     It was a beautiful spring day in Vancouver, Washington. 

 The trees were in full bloom....

Doug and I met on the grounds of the George Marshall House on Officer's Row.


George C. Marshall House - Fort Vancouver Officer's Row



Doug and I had an amazing day celebrating our marriage with family and friends alike.

Following our reception Doug and I said goodbye to the guests...

 

And we headed off in a horse-drawn carriage. 

It really was my fairy-tale wedding and everything I had every dreamed of for my wedding day.  Similarly, Doug is the most amazing husband I could have asked for and I feel blessed for the husband that God blessed me with. 

With my last breath, I am yours.