Snow Day

Omaha got two snow days this week, lots of snow, lots of cold weather.

Nicaragua had heat, dust, wind, lots of sunshine... and also a little snow.

Last year I surprised my students with some fake snow. It was a huge ordeal and they claimed it was one of the highlights of their year.

When I was home for Christmas my dad bought me some more fake snow for my students. It got lost in the shuffle and it never made it back with me. When I went home for the figure skating championships I meant to grab it, but forgot again. Before I left for the skating I told my students that if they behaved for the sub I would bring back the snow with me and we would have a snow party. They were a little disappointed when I arrived back to school empty handed. However, my mom mailed the snow for me, and I promised my students that it was on the way. Just like last year, the students were unsure about how the snow thing was going to work. Was I somehow bringing real snow? Was it going to fall from the sky? Wouldn't it melt in the mail?

The snow arrived in the mail the day before the snow hit Omaha. My mom suggested we have our snow party on the same day as the Omaha snow. Sounded like a great plan to me.

That morning I described the weather situation in Omaha. Some needed a better explanation about what a snow day was. "You mean you don't have to go to school if it snows? LUCKY!"

I brought out the cans of snow and explained how it was going to work. They were unsure that two little cans could produce enough snow for them to have fun with.

We headed outside in the 90 degree weather and watched as the cans produced snow. The snow was pretty impressive. It wasn't too powdery or too wet.

Watching and waiting for the snow to appear

The students each received two handfuls of snow. Most immediately ran inside to put theirs in a bag for safe keeping.

Next came the tough choice: should they throw their snow at each other or keep it? Most thought it would be a good idea to throw snow at their teacher. Who taught them that?

In the end, there was just enough snow left over for me to get a couple of handfuls for myself, and get my snowy revenge on my unsuspecting students.

Mission Incredible

Last weekend we had our Upper Elementary Retreat:

60 + students
10 + adults
6 high school helpers
2 days

Theme: Mission Incredible

I will be sending out a newsletter devoted to this event, but I will give you a quick picture update to tide you over.

The retreat always focuses on three main areas: academic, spiritual, and physical.

Academic focus: SCIENCE!

Activity: Egg Drop
Using common house hold supplies, students made a space shuttle for their egg. The shuttle and egg were then dropped from a water tower.
Goal: create a space ship that will keep the egg safe upon landing.

Activity: Solar Ovens
Students learned about the sun and created solar ovens using pizza boxes.
Goal: see how long it takes to warm up hot dogs. 

Activity: Assemble and launch rockets
After a lot of reading, cutting, gluing, stuffing, and preparing, students assembled Estes rockets.
Goal: See which group's rocket would go the highest and which group could retrieve their rocket the quickest after it landed.

Spiritual focus: The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. (Psalm 19:1)

We had a very dynamic and funny speaker share with our students about how incredible God is.  He talked about how much God loves us (enough to send his son to die for us), how he has given the Bible as a map for us, and how he is always there for us. He encouraged the students to live for Jesus and to make a difference in the world around them. 

Physical focus: swimming, games, capture the flag (in the dark!)

Pool time!

Cannon balls!

Ultimate frisbee with a great volcano view

Hours of planning, tons of food, buckets of supplies = one successful retreat & very tired teachers 

Indescribable, uncontainable,

You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name.

You are amazing God

All powerful, untameable,

Awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim

You are amazing God

-Indescribable lyrics, Chris Tomlin

Laura's Dreams Come True Part Two

I have done some planning for school and can now finish with my figure skating story. Scroll down and read Part One first if you haven't already.

.........

One day I moved to Nicaragua and my parents and brother (thank you thank you thank you!) bought me skating tickets for my birthday/Christmas. A year went by. The time approached. I realized I was more excited for figure skating then for Christmas. I made sub plans and left my students. I flew to Omaha. Nationals had arrived!

I know no one wants to read a blow-by-blow account of my adventures (except Suzi), but I will write them anyway. I am sure one day I will appreciate them. 

By the way, I had a couple of goals for Nationals. 

1) Have the best time ever.

2) Meet Kristi Yamaguchi (I knew that a lot of past National champions normally attend the event to watch, do commentating, or mentor the skaters. A couple of days before the competition, I read an Omaha World Herald article that said Kristi Yamaguchi, Scott Hamilton, Brian Boitano, Sarah Hughes, and many others were at the event.)

3) Meet Evan Lysacek (2012-2013 was going to be Evan's comeback year after he took some time off after the Olympic win. A couple of days before the competition, I learned he withdrew due to an injury. My plan was foiled! I had a small hope he might go to watch the competition, but with my normal string of bad luck, I figured it wouldn't happen.)

Thursday

I had no competitions to attend that day, but I had the itch to get to the rink. Nationals was going to be my first live competition! I headed down to the rink by myself and thought I would just watch some of the free practice sessions. My plan to stay for an hour turned into four hours, and I kept having to move my car from the two hour parking spot. From afar I saw Tara Lipinski! There was Scott Hamilton doing an interview! Jeremey Abbot was a few feet away on the practice ice. This was the real thing! I may have called my mom four times and texted Suzi and Shannon to update every couple of minutes. Soon I met Brian Boitano. Snapped a picture. Left the rink quite happy. 

Friday

Shannon and Suzi joined me for the competitions. We saw the ice dance and men's short program. I love watching skating on t.v., but it was a million times better in real life. Speed, artistry, quads! As we were watching the men competition, some people sat down in the seats behind us, and we overheard some of their conversation. We quickly realized that someone famous was sitting behind us. We didn't want to just turn around and look and be obnoxious. So we waited and later realized Sarah Hughes, the 2006 Olympic Champion, was sitting right behind us! My only question: Where was Kristi Yamaguchi? We saw some pretty decent competition that night, with my favorites to win, Jeremy Abbot and Davis/White in the lead. Left happy again. 

Jeremy Abbot starting his short program

Saturday

Saturday brought a very long day of competitions, and after a couple of outfit changes, I knew that I needed to wear my red pants (aka the party pants). If there was ever going to be a party day, eleven hours of figure skating was definitely going to be it. I donned the red pants, and let me tell you, things happened that day. 

A few minutes after arriving at the practice rink, the event happened: Kristi Yamaguchi walked in! Suzi, Shannon, and I beelined in her direction, and a few minutes later, we had a picture and autograph to prove the event. The best part was that Suzi cried. She was so happy for me that she was literally crying as we walked away. Thanks for loving me, Suzi. 

You know that is Kristi's autograph on my American Girl skate!

Competitions hadn't even started for the day and I was content. Goal #2 was completed! We headed to the competition rink and watched the championship programs for the ice dancers and pairs skaters. Suzi kept covering her face thinking the skaters were going to fall on all their throw jumps. It certainly looked more dangerous in real life than on the t.v. Meryl Davis and Charlie White, the Olympic silver medalists and our favorite ice dancers, were spectacular. I had seen them at shows, but never in a competition. Go youtube them if you haven't seen them. 

As soon as the competition was over, we skirted over to the autograph line to meet some of the top men competitors. Suzi and I were going through the line when Max Aaron (the up-and-coming skater who would win the gold medal the following day) striked up a convo with Suzi. Suzi, although she had no idea who he has until the day before, was slightly star struck and nervous. She was talking so fast that even I couldn't understand her. Suzi has always been a fast talker, but this was at a speed I had never witnessed before. Blab-blah-lalala-Davis and White-I love figure skating-blah-blab was all I heard. I am sure it would have won some sort of record. Anyway, we didn't know it, but we were meeting the man who would be coming the champion. 

Suzi with her nervous face, me with my red pants, and Max Aaron signing autographs. 

That night was the ladies competition. The crowd was packed. The ladies competition always draws the most fans. Not my personal favorite, but I was ready for four hours of exciting competition. It turned out the actual competition would not be the best part at all. An hour or so into the competition, the seats directly behind us filled up again. This time Brian Boitano was occupying one of the seats. Not long after Sasha Cohen (2006 Olympic Silver medalist), Kristi Yamaguchi, and Michel Weiss (3-time National champ) filled the seats behind them. We decided that we had purchased excellent seats! Suzi was trying to get a picture of Sasha Cohen on her iphone when Brian B. purposely stuck his head in the photo. Conversation ensued. 

Suzi: "Hey, do you ever run into Evan Lysacek?" 

Brian: "Oh yeah. I just saw him last night."

Suzi, grabbing Brian's hand like they are best friends: "Last night? Are you saying that he is here?"

Brian: "Yeah, we were doing some promo event last night."

Suzi freaked out. Not just a little freaked out, but shaking/hyperventilating freaked out. Goal #3 (meet Evan) might happen after all!

Suzi, still grabbing Brian's hands: "You don't know where he is sitting, do you?"

Brian: "No, but I'll ask." Turns behind him, "Hey Sasha, do you know where Evan is sitting?"

Sasha: "No, but I'll text him." 

So we had figure skating celebrities on the job of finding Evan for us. It wasn't enough for Suzi. Her hands were shaking with excitement. She forgot to watch the competition. 

There was a break in the competition while the zamboni went to work. All of a sudden Suzi punched me in the arm. Suzi doesn't have a hard punch, but this one was pretty good. 

Me: "WHAT?!"

Suzi: "I think I see him. I think I see Evan!"

Me: "WHAT?!?"

Suzi points: "Up there! It's him! No it isn't! Yes it is!"

I looked. It was him. Evan Lysacek was in the building. The same building I was in. In the same seating section. Only one problem: he was up in the box seats. How were we going to get to him? 

Suzi started to blow up facebook with excited posts. She believed the world must know that we had spotted Evan. 

We formed a plan. We made our way up the stairs. There was no way to get to him. Too many people. A wall. 

We headed back down. Suzi had officially lost her cool. She was crying. Again. 

We finished watching the competition. Well, I watched, Suzi had a nervous breakdown. There was some exciting performances. If you want to see the future of U.S. women's figure skating, go look up Gracie Gold. She earned a standing ovation and a very close second place finish behind the repeat National champ, Ashley Wagner. 

The competition ended and Suzi and I knew that we couldn't leave the building without meeting Evan. Thankfully Shannon is my best friend and was willing to put up with our ridiculousness. As people cleared out, we realized we could climb up on the chairs and could possibly meet Evan that way. We climbed. Shannon was ready with the camera. We may have created a little scene. We shouted. Evan came down, met us, shook our hands, signed autographs, and took pictures. Suzi talked just slow enough that I could make out what she said, "Evan we love your skating so much you have no idea Laura and I have followed you for years we went to Kansas City and Chicago and here and -" I had to cut her off or I knew I would never get a word in. Looking back, Suzi doesn't even remember me cutting her off. 

Here it is. THE PICTURE. 

When we finally went back to our seats, we immediately called my mom. Suzi was crying. Again. We decided that it was officially the best day ever. We saw three championship competitions and met Kristi and Evan. Goal #1, 2, and 3. Check, check, check. The red party pants had indeed been a good choice.

Are you bored yet with this story? You do not have to read on. 

Sunday

Suzi barely slept the night before from so much excitement. She also came to the conclusion that our picture with Evan (see above) was not flattering. She had been crying, and it was a weird angle. Any guesses on what Suzi wanted to do to solve that problem? You got it. She wanted to find Evan again and get a new picture. 

We went to the competition early so we could get in the autograph line for the ice dancers and ladies champions. We met Ashley Wagner and Gracie Gold! We met Davis and White! Suzi made them a sign and they put it right in front of them. It later ended up on their facebook page. Go Suzi! 

The men's free skate was next, my favorite competition. I was focused on the skaters. Suzi was on the look out. Her hard work paid off. Evan was spotted in the same seat as the night before, and this time the seats in front were not occupied. We went up and explained our situation to him. He said that he was glad we found him again so that we could get our picture. Suzi is much happier with these ones. Also, she has asked me to mention that she was much calmer the second time around. Indeed she was. Clear sentences and no shaky hands! 

The men's competition was a blast. Max Aaron won and Jeremy Abbot, the reigning champ, came in third. We were able to see some beautiful quads (four rotations in the air!) and some new skaters on the podium. 

Max Aaron after winning his Free Skate

That night we returned to the rink for the gala. No judges, just fun competitions by all the winners. Shannon and I both caught t-shirts that the skaters threw into the crowd. I never catch t-shirts! 

So that's the story of when my sister, best friend, and I went to the U.S. Nationals. I hope you didn't get bored. 

A couple of shout outs:

Thank you Mom, Dad, and Billy for the tickets. 

Thank you, Shan and Suzi, for going with me. 

Thank you, Jesus, for the opportunity to live out a dream, for money to travel, and a school that lets me take time off to have fun. 

It was the weekend of a life time, and one I wont forget. 

Much love,

Laura

Laura's Dreams Come True

The poor blog has been much neglected over the past couple of weeks. Sorry, dear blog! I have much to share and am not sure where to start. A lot has been happening in my classroom, but I also took a trip back to Omaha for a fun time. My sister, Suzi, has been pestering me to hurry up and write about what we call THE BEST WEEKEND EVER, so I will indulge her wishes and my happy memories. If you do not want to hear about figure skating and my little girl dreams, please stop reading and check back next week. Seriously.

My mom recently asked me how this whole ice skating obsession started, so I will take you back in time for a Laura History Lesson.

I honestly don't know how it started, but I remember as a little girl seeing figure skaters on t.v. Of course the women skaters were my favorite, and Kristi Yamaguchi became my favorite sports star. I remember watching the 1998 Olympics on t.v. and seeing Tara Lipinksi win the gold medal. The front newspaper article the following day showed her screaming as her scores were announced.

Sitting on my grandparents back porch, I used to draw these pop-up pictures of me skating with the audience in the background. I had a Kristi Yamaguchi Wheaties box and a Tara Lipinski poster hanging in my room. Fast forward to Christmas time when I was around nine years old. A couple of weeks before Christmas Day a very large box appeared in the living room addressed to me. I had no idea what was in it, but even more baffling was the fact that it didn't weigh anything. I would pick it up, shake it, but nothing moved inside. Weird. Christmas morning came. The big box was the last one to be opened. I started unwrapping, and inside was..... wait for it.... another wrapped box. I unwrapped the box, and inside... you got it! Another box! This went on and on. To me, it felt like a very long time, although I am sure it was not. How slowly time moves when you are little! As I unwrapped and unwrapped, I became a little irrational. I thought maybe it was a joke. Maybe there was nothing inside! Finally, I came to an envelope. Inside were two tickets to Stars on Ice featuring Tara Lipinski, Kristi Yamaguchi, and Scott Hamilton. I cried. I think it was a mixture of happiness and relief at getting to the bottom of the gift. Later that year, my mom, Aunt Cathy, and I went to the Civic Center in Omaha to see my favorite skaters. We were up in the nose bleeds, but I didn't care. The next year we went again and got better seats. I was hooked.

As the years have gone on, I have jeopardized the t.v. on Sunday afternoons to watch competitions and have annoyed my family by asking them to tape the shows when I am not at home.

My tastes have evolved over the years, and now I love to watch the men and ice dancers the most. For who knows how long now, Evan Lysacek has been my favorite ice skater. Suzi, like in most things, follows after my excellent taste. Propelled by many cheers and screams from Suzi and me in the living room, Evan became National, World, and then Olympic champion. The night of the Olympics I skipped my classes and parked myself on the chair in front of the t.v. My mom fell asleep during the excitement. HOW?!?

Moving on. Suzi and I developed a new life goal: meet Evan Lysacek. Evan joined Stars on Ice that year, and as I had been going more or less regularly in the past, I wanted to keep going, especially with the thought that I could see my favorite skater in action. Wouldn't you know that Stars on Ice wasn't going to go to Omaha that year. So Suzi and I took a little road trip to Kansas City. Evan was also competing on Dancing with the Stars that year and didn't make it to our KC show. Bummer. The next year Stars on Ice didn't even go to KC. We traveled to Chicago. We signed up for the meet and greet hoping to get to meet him. No luck.

About two years go I decided to move to Nicaragua. Plans were almost finalized. Someone came up to me and told me U.S. Figure Skating Nationals were going to be held in Omaha in 2013. I didn't believe him. Nationals haven't been in Omaha since the '70s. If Stars on Ice doesn't come here, there obviously isn't much of a market. I checked the internet anyway. My informant was correct. NATIONALS WERE COMING TO OMAHA. And then it hit me: I wasn't going to be there. I was moving to Nicaragua. It seemed like a serious blow. I move out of the country and Nationals comes to Omaha! My hometown! 10 minutes away! After some moments of despair, and a chat with my parents, we decided that tickets could become my birthday and Christmas present. I decided not to fly home for Christmas so I could use the plane money later.

Oh my. I haven't even told you my main story yet and I have written half my memoir. I need to do some school work and then will continue this story...