Kyle and I met way back in 2007. It's crazy to think we have been together for over 8 years!
Sometime in May (or was it late April?) of my Senior year in High School (2007) I went to a dance party at my friend Brian's house. We were the "good kids" and really just enjoyed hanging out and dancing with a fun group on the weekends in High School. Holt's dance parties were epic! My best friend, Caroline, and I were inseparable at the time so I'm assuming we went together. I ended up dancing with another friend, Ashlen, since we didn't have dates with us and we got pushed into a corner and joked that we were dancing on the TV. Ashlen knew Kyle and I guess he joined us at some point. Ashlen decided we should grab QT drinks and cool off so the three of us headed there. I didn't think anything of Kyle at the time, but I could tell he was a nice guy!
BABIES!!!
Danielle, Ashlen, Me, and Tyler
Flash forward a few days/weeks and I started running into Kyle EVERYWHERE. The mall, the valley, school stuff, etc. It was pretty funny because I never remembered him before the dance party and then we kept seeing each other in the most random places. We started to joke that we were stalking each other :)
Prom came along mid-May and being the Senior girl I was, I wanted to document everything so I was asking everyone to take a picture with me. I ran into Kyle and we got these pictures together:
Our first official picture together!
Dang I needed to lay off the sunless tanner!
Late May, Kyle asked me out on a date! I'm pretty sure I squealed with excitement!!!! He asked me to go bowling which worried me big time. I am NOT a good bowler. He remembers that I wore a polo and matching socks. We went bowling then to see Blades of Glory (don't ask). After that we were having so much fun hanging out together that we ended up driving down Highway 100 listening to Rascal Flatts. We sang at the top of our lungs and had a blast. I knew I liked him right away!
He officially asked me out soon after our first date and May 18th became our dating anniversary! We had one amazing summer and decided to try out the long distance thing as I went away to Mizzou for my freshman year of college and he started his senior year at Lafayette. He came to visit me ONCE. How we stayed together I have no idea! We made it through that year and a lot of ups and downs that a college relationship with two independent people brings. He supported me as I applied for a million executive boards, and he made one heck of a fraternity president! We had an amazing college experience together. That's probably a separate post! Some of my favorite pictures of us from the first summer we were dating:
Last Thursday marked the official start of SUMMER BREAK for me!
What's a girl to do on her first weekend off? Head to the Lake of course!
We decided to invite our cousins Adam and Abby. They were married about three weekends ago, but Kyle couldn't attend since he was in China. We LOVE Adam and Abby and are so excited to have them in Lee's Summit with us. Abby is a 4th Grade Teacher, and Adam is an Engineer so we have a ton in common from that alone. They are both awesome people and a lot of fun to hang out with. We are so happy to have family 5 minutes away!
We picked them up Thursday morning bright and early to get there in time to spend the afternoon on the dock getting some sun. That plan went out the window as it started to downpour! I am pretty type-A and tend to plan ahead, but I definitely didn't see that coming. I have an awesome North Face Rain Jacket and cute pink Hunter Wellies, but NEVER seem to have them when it rains...first world problems, huh?
Charlie snuggled up with Abby the entire ride.
He looks pretty happy to me!
We got down to the condo and headed to the outlets! No Lake trip is complete without a trip to my favorite stores! It's pretty funny that Kyle and I seem to have outlet shopping down to a science. First, we hit up Polo. I found an oxford for $20 but didn't but it. I'm pretty proud of myself for resisting! Then we went to J.Crew my FAVORITE! I bought a navy top and Kyle bought some dress socks. We went to the rest of our typical stores and I found some $25 tennis shoes at Nike. Woo Hoo! I also bought a new Nike Golf Polo and a teacher dress from Loft.
We left the outlets and headed to our favorite restaurant, Lil' Rizzo's.
Awesome food, great company, beautiful weather, and a nice view = FAV!
Saturday we got up and headed for donuts at Sunrise. It's another Lake must. We spent the day at my Aunt Linda's Lake house hanging out on the dock and keeping track of Charlie. He had so much fun running around with her neighbor's Wheaten Terrier, Mosby, and Linda's new lab puppy, Cocoa. I was a nervous wreck he would fall off the seawall and drown, so I made him wear his puppy life jacket. We may have gotten some grief for that. We brought Buffalo Chicken dip that mysteriously disappeared thanks to Cocoa. Linda grilled Chicken Wings and made pulled pork sandwiches for dinner. She is the ultimate hostess and keeps us well fed. Love her!
My awesome Aunt Linda and I!
I love this picture of Kyle.
He's wearing the Mizzou fishing shirt I found for him at Sam's Club of all places. I think he pulls it off well!
By Saturday night we were all pretty exhausted (Charlie mostly) so we headed back to the condo and sat on the deck. The Lake is my happy place. It is so peaceful at night just sitting watching the lights reflect on the water.
Sunday we started the monumental process of cleaning the condo. My Dad and Step-mom are clean freaks so it's always a fun challenge to get it back in tip top shape. We rake the carpet to keep the vacuum lines and everything! I even take pictures of the 100 throw pillows on the bed so I can be sure to get them put back perfectly! HA!
We went back to Linda's and convinced my Uncle Mike to take us out on his Bad A** boat. It's the fastest boat I've ever been on. We headed out to a fun Lake bar, Frankie and Louie's for lunch.
Adam was a little burnt.
Frozen Pink Lemonades were AMAZING!
Please ignore how pale I am. I'm working on wearing sunscreen this year which has led to me being super pale. My cousin Drew didn't like the sun in his eyes!
Such a fun place to eat and hang out! They had a band going and the weather was perfect!
We had a BLAST and I can't wait to do it all over again this weekend for the 4th of July!
I guess I will start at the beginning. Our story began in January 2014 when openings were posted for a new school in our district. I wish I had been blogging back then and could see this unfold, but I'll have to go from memory.
I had attended EdCamp that January and met the AMAZING Kellie. She is everything I wanted to be as a teacher when I "grew up." We instantly connected and spent several sessions excitedly sharing our stories and ideas for innovation in the classroom. She filled me in on the new school I had only heard rumors about here and there. EPiC is essentially the future of education. It is a project based learning pilot school with 1:1 ipads and macbooks in each classroom. To say I was excited was an understatement. I WAS THRILLED. THIS was what I had hoped, dreamed, imagined education could be. It seemed too good to be true. I knew then that I had to go for it. We decided to lead a session later that day together, and the principal that was selected for EPiC happened to attend. I interviewed for the position two weeks later and then had the excruciating wait to find out if I was selected to teach there. I found out that I was selected and would be co-teaching Fourth Grade with Jeni. Best. Day. Ever.
We met in April (I think??) and I walked away from that first meeting so excited for what the next year would bring. Jeni and I share a very similar vision for what teaching and learning can look like. She is the peanut butter to my jelly. We have such similar strengths, but we also compensate for each others weaknesses so well. We are a team.
How to describe EPiC? Hmm..The video does a better job than I could:
We met all summer and had week long Professional Development sessions to prepare for the upcoming year. The EPiC Creative Team is made up of 12 of the most incredible, talented, innovative, and creative teachers I will ever have the privilege of working with. We challenge one another, build each other up, and constantly work to make each day better than the last. I'm definitely not the best with words on the team, but I'm trying to reflect from my standpoint so here it goes:
The past year was the most challenging year of my teaching career thus far. I have grown so much over these past months that I hardly recognize myself as an educator. It was also the most rewarding year. I can only compare it to running a marathon. We began on a high with excitement and creativity flowing. Everything was running full steam ahead and our students were doing amazing things. With innovation comes a wall. We hit that wall around November. Jeni and I had planned during the Summer and had everything ready to go. That planning ran us to November and we hit our first obstacle. We had been working each day and then going home and planning over facetime each night for 3 hours. Every Sunday from 12-4 we facetimed and planned as well. I think it's hard to keep up with that level of performance. We began to second guess each other and our communication fell flat. This was a rough time. Jeni was my "work wife" and pretty much my other half. It was hard to go through that period of time. Fortunately, we emerged stronger than ever and learned to communicate better. The workload evened out and we got into a new groove. That was the mid-marathon point where you realize that you are half way there! Wait, only half way?? HA! We had a lot of other inspiring moments along the way, and some potholes as well.
Our classroom is centered around student led learning. Our kids schedule their own day and get to pick who they learn from. It's pretty different, and pretty awesome. To explain everything we did this year would take a book. I think it would be best to slowly blog it. Anyway, I sit here today completely exhausted. I just ran a marathon...a non stop year long marathon of teaching, learning, creating, building relationships, pushing the limits of innovation, and building kids capacity for 21st century skills. WOW. We had 50 wonderful kids that made this journey with us. THEY are the ones to write about. I think the biggest thing this year is that it wasn't about the teachers. It was about the kids. The kiddo's were the center of everything we did. Man did they do big things. They emerged from this year so independent. They built, they created, the learned, they told stories, they changed the world. We made incredible gains. Several kids came to us 2 or more grade levels behind grade level. 95% left reading on grade level, and 97% left us on level in Math. WOW! They are the future, and I am so confident that the world will be a better place in their hands. We made an impact and made a real difference in our community.
I leave this year tired, yes, but in mostly in awe of the growth that took place. These kids and this school were my life for the past year. I had to learn a work-home life balance. I had to learn a lot of humility. I had to learn to let go and let kids take control.
The things I learned this year:
1. Flexibility is KEY
2. Kids will surprise you. Never underestimate them.
3. Teachers need to move out of the way and let students take the lead.
4. Build relationships with kids. Get to know them, their dreams, their goals, their learning style.
5. GET MESSY! Our room was a disaster zone at the end of each day.
6. Learning looks like a lot of different things. It is LOUD, it is messy.
7. Kids shouldn't have to sit still. In our classroom they MOVE.
8. Structure doesn't mean doing the same thing each day, it means letting kids know what to expect.
9. Set expectations, but know that kids need different things to be successful.
10. Set goals, work towards them. Don't give up, just adjust.
11. Be willing to be silly.
12. You can't do it alone. Two heads are better than one. Teamwork is essential.
13. Be open to new ideas.
14. COMMUNICATE!!!!
15. "Treat them like adults, but let them be kids." (Jeni)
16. Tell your story.
17. Reflect, reflect, reflect.
18. Don't be afraid to have a crazy idea. And don't be afraid to try it.
19. Get outside, break through boundaries, push limits.
20. Pilots never learn to fly planes by doing worksheets. (Another Jeni-ism!)
I loved this year.
Beginning of the year:
50 kids, 2 teachers, 50 ipads, one broken cabinet, 25 explosions, a stained table, hundreds of pictures, 50 bags of goop, one stellar parent helper, some flexibility - creativity - innovation, 4 very full trash cans, buckets of safety goggles, lots of hugs, and a VERY supportive community = an EPiC first day of school. Here goes nothing! I can't wait to see how these kids change my life and the story we get to help write. I'm a happy and blessed girl!
Mid Year: "Q: What happens when you give 50 fourth graders a powerful driving question, ability to explore curiosity and the tools to create? A: The makings of an amazing product while Katie and I stand in the corner of the room speechless with tears in our eyes, our kids are incredible! Sneak peek into our project coming soon!"
Jeni summed it up perfectly to End the Year: "Last day of school for EPiC and words do not even begin to explain how I feel. We started the year back in June and worked all through the summer, had a little over 72 hours to move into the building and set up our classrooms before students arrived, and have been running non-stop ever since. From letting go and letting our students amaze us with their abilities & knowledge, to inspiring other teachers to make small changes in their own classrooms, this year has been exhausting, energizing, challenging, and empowering all at the same time. I am looking forward to a month off but excited that this journey is still only starting for me! Happy Summer!"
A Happy Summer it will be. See ya in 5 weeks EPiC!
The school year comes to an end on Thursday. This year has been full of ups and downs. It's crazy to think about the learning and growth that has happened.
What I'm Loving:
Summer weather FINALLY! It rained here 25 out of 30 days last month.
What We've Been Up To:
Enjoying normal time together as a little family. Having Kyle back is wonderful.
What I'm Dreading:
Saying "see ya later" to some incredible kids on Thursday. It was a crazy year, but I will miss these kids.
What I'm Working On:
Jeni, our school's Blended Learning Coach, Susan, and I are presenting at Google Summit in July. We have been building our presentations together and are working on cleaning them up. I'll post on this later!
What I'm Excited About:
Summer. In three days. Finally!! This year-round school year thing is going to take some getting used to!
What I'm Watching/Reading:
We just started Season 2 of Prison Break on Netflix. It's intense! I just finished The Girl on a Train, but I wasn't in love with it.
What I Am Wearing:
Living in sun dresses :) Summer is HERE! I'm drooling over THIS dress right now. Any Lilly will do though! Please Kyle?!?
What I am Listening To:
Sweet little First Grade Reading. I am tutoring the cutest little girl and loving helping her sound out words.
What I'm Doing This Weekend:
Heading to The Lake with our friends/cousins Adam & Abby! They recently moved to a subdivision 5 minutes away from us and we are so excited to have them so close! We all have Friday off, so it will be a nice 3 day weekend.
What I'm Looking Forward to Next Month:
We have a 2.5 week trip to Marco Island, FL, Charleston, SC, and Hilton Head Island, SC!
My family in Marco Summer 2013
What I'm Doing the 4th of July:
LAKE again :) This time with Laura and Kyle! This will be our third year bringing them down and we always have a BLAST! Looking forward to boat rides, lounging on rafts, jet ski rides, BBQ, and the cove's annual drink contest.
{Thursday}
Kyle's flight back from China came in about 2pm on Thursday of last week. You better bet I was there waiting to pick him up! Three weeks was crazy long. Can I take a second to profess my love for Kansas City's Airport? Love, Love, Love. It was built long before security checkpoints so you essentially enter the airport at your gate, go through security (at your gate!), and pop on your flight all in 10 minutes tops. It couldn't be simpler. Now if only we could convince the city to keep it that way instead of going to a one terminal plan...
Anyway, I decided to leave work early on Thursday to pick Kyle up. I love my building because we co-teach which meant my lovely partner, Jeni, managed the class for the last hour of the day. Thanks girl!!! I had a great time chatting with Megan while waiting outside the terminal. Her husband, Tyson, went with Kyle on the trip. BUDDIES! They are some of our favorite people in KC.
We headed home from the airport to begin an AMAZING WEEKEND! Kyle requested Papa Murphy's for his first dinner. back in the states You can't beat cheesy bread and a pizza for $6!
Our reunited family picture. Can you tell Charlie was excited to see his dad?
{Friday}
I absolutely love our gym. It isn't the fanciest, but it works for us. I headed to a morning class while Kyle attempted to sleep off his jet-lag. I have always worked out in some form or fashion, but I really started putting in more effort back in January. November-December were tough months work-wise and I needed something to get me out of my funk. It's true that it definitely takes a while to see change. I am stronger than ever, happier, and more content. The gym really is part of my routine and I hate missing it.
When I got back, Kyle and I worked in the yard together cleaning up flower beds and declaring war on the few remaining weeds in the yard. My man is passionate about his yard! We washed both cars, and wow did my Jeep need it!
We headed to the Royals game Friday night to meet up with some teacher friends. I am so blessed to work with such amazing people. The game was ok...I'm definitely STILL a Cardinals fan.
Kyle + The China Beard and I
We stopped for Dairy Queen after the game. NOT a good idea.
{Saturday}
Kyle was asked to play in a Flag Football Tournament for Corporate Challenge so he left at 7am. I went to the gym for my favorite class of the week! David's Bootcamp class is unreal amazing! I ended up at the pool for most of the afternoon. We cleaned up and headed out mattress shopping. Kyle likes firm, I like plush. I lost. That's going to take a lot of getting used to! Afterwards we headed to Jose Peppers and then to see Jurassic World. It was SO good! It's weird to be driving home at 9:30 at night and it is still light outside.
{Sunday}
Church + Lunch at Pi Five + Golf = Sunday Fun-day!
We played with Laura and Kyle (our best friends in KC). The Kyle's had a cart together and surprisingly Laura and I played extremely well for not having played in about a year! With the exception of my hitting a golf cart....oops. We only played the front 9 and decided to hang out chatting as we followed the guys as they played the back 9. The weather was perfect for golf.
We love hanging out with Laura & Kyle! I just wish our schedules lined up better.
Awesome weekend all around. I'm glad I can document it :)
I’m playing along with a post I saw on East Coast Chic!
Thanks for putting this together, Natalie!
I have been toying around with the idea of starting a blog
since my husband and I got engaged in 2012. I had hoped to document the wedding
planning process, but between planning the wedding and working on my master’s
degree it never happened. Why not start now? I want to record this wonderful
season of life and be able to look back on these memories years from now.
A little about me: My name is Katie. I married my amazing husband,
Kyle, in May 2013. We just celebrated our 2 year anniversary and are enjoying
life with our Wheaten Terrier, Charlie. I’m 26 and currently live in a suburb
of Kansas City. We are both from St. Louis, MO (Where’d YOU go to High School???).
We are High School sweethearts and graduated from Mizzou GO TIGERS! Kyle is a
Chemical Engineer and spends his days designing gas plants, and I am a Fourth
Grade Teacher at an amazing pilot school (a post itself for another day!).
1.Favorite food:
Italian. More specifically, St. Louis Italian on
THE HILL. Two words for you: Provel Cheese. Oh. My. Word. Amazing. We can’t
find anything that compares in KC.
I’m not a coffee drinker. I pretty much stick
with water!
5. Road trip must have
snack:
Water in my camelback, and whatever snack Kyle
brings out of the gas station.
6. DIY or hire it
out?
I am so blessed to have married such a handy
husband! He is amazing and can easily take a Pinterest project and bring it to
life. So far we have renovated our kitchen, painted and refinished several
pieces of furniture, redone most of our landscaping, and we have plans for a
future bathroom renovation.
7. Top 5 TV shows:
SCANDAL!, The Backlist, Prison Break, One Tree
Hill, Friday Night Lights
8. Favorite Book:
I love to read and can’t even begin to pick a
favorite book. The teacher in me still LOVES the Harry Potter Series. My Kindle
is jam packed with every genre.
9. Favorite Form of
Exercising:
I’m a cardio junkie and have been making my way
through the Kayla Itsines Bikini Body Guide. I also enjoy classes at the gym,
and working out with my motivator, Amanda! We just started the journey into
lifting weights YIKES! The gym is my happy place.
10. How tall are you?
5'4”
11. Do you try something
new at restaurants or stick to your favorites?
I typically have one or two favorites that I
stick with. Occasionally I’ll try something new though.
12. One make up item you
can't live without:
BB Cream! I discovered it two years ago and love
how lightweight it is!
13. What's on your
nightstand?
Engagement pictures, iphone, ipad, kindle, water
bottle
14. What's one thing
motherhood has taught you?
No kids yet!! I guess I’ll come back to this one
in a few years? I have learned plenty as a teacher though…
15. Music that reminds
you of high school:
Rascall Flatts…so many memories
16. If you could live
anywhere in the world besides your current city where would you live?
This is tough. I think I’d like to live in the
South. These Missouri winters are tough! I have loved Nashville, Dallas, and I
think I would love Charleston!
17. Tell us something
about you we might not know:
I am pretty OCD clean, but through teaching I
have learned to be flexible. I love to plan and organize, but in the last two
years I think I’ve been much better at going with the flow. I have the opposite
of ADD and can hyper focus on things and completely block everything else out.
Hmm…I am pretty darn blind and probably shouldn’t be driving at night. I guess
you’ll get to know me more as I continue to blog. Stay tuned!
18. Websites you read/browse
(besides blogs):
Reece and Nichols (Real Estate Website for
KC), Pinterest, I love news websites, facebook, etc
19. Morning person
or Night owl?
I am 100% a morning person! I can jump out of bed
and be ready to go for the day. I love my sleep and would be in bed each night
by 10 if I could.
20. Favorite Breakfast
meal:
I am a creature of habit and get into a groove
where I eat the same thing for months at a time. It started as oatmeal until
they stopped selling it at our grocery store, then I switched to Nutrigrain
bars. In the summer when I’m off work I typically do smoothies!
So tell me something about you that I might not
know!
