Wedding and whatnot

Well, it's been so busy around here with the fall semester of teaching and my masters and family etc I've not had time to post anything. I've got lots of thoughts about school but I'll spare you right now. I'd like to show you a pic from our wedding, Sept. 13th. Check it out!

Summer is rolling by...

We've had a busy and wonderful summer. Lots of firsts for our son. His first roller coasters, first camping trip, first sparklers & fireecrackers, he learned our phone number (safety, safety-you know). It's been amazing. In the midst of the craziness of Rob taking on a new direction in his career, we've still managed to maintain a very happy little family. Pretty awesome.

Backtracking to the "Me to We" discussion I started in an earlier post, I moved to a new house in a new neighborhood (very different from my old neighborhood) and decided to have a community garage sale. This was my attempt at having the "Me to We" outlook and trying to benefit my community. I made fliers to advertise the event and request donations to the cost of a newspaper ad. I did get a few donations and several neighbors participated. In fact, I had several neighbors who did not participate come by my garage sale simply to introduce themselves and say what a nice idea they thought the garage sale was. I met neighbors, their families, and even some extended families and neighbors from several blocks away. How does this relate to the betterment of my community? Well, what do you think? I think that now I have fostered some trust among some of my neighbors and that, overall, we are a somewhat safer community (even if it's just our little block) because of that. That, at least, is my hope.

I think with the "Me to We" philosophy, it's easy to get taken advantage of. I'd like to talk more about that concept and how to walk that line without crossing it but, for me, it's bed time.

Love and Peace,

Kim

This is the first of many pictures to come from our recent trip (still in progress) to Cleveland and Cedar Point.

Me to We

If you haven't yet picked up a copy of "Me to We: Finding Meaning in a Material World" I'd say it's worth taking a look. The book discussing many personal causes and the idea that building your family, your local community, and your global community through small steps (smiling at neighbors) or big steps (starting a not-for-profit organization to benefit your cause) can provide a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction that cannot be found through wealth or the gain of "things".

I would love to talk more about my thoughts on this and how it relates to teaching and the classroom culture as well as my new little community (we've recently relocated). However, I am late for a road trip to Big Sky. I will share my thoughts on community-building next time I check in.

Peace to all!

Learning as I go...

I am learning as I go here. I NEVER thought I'd ever have a blog. I don't know yet how I intend to use this blog. This whole technology journey began with an online class at MSU-Billings and a teacher whose assignments are more interactive than I ever knew an internet class could be. So here I am trying out a blog as part of an assignment for my class on technology for teachers.

As I don't yet know what to say or what purpose I should use this space for, I'll share with you what I saw today. I went to www.youtube.com and searched for "Free Hugs Campaign" because I saw on Good Morning America that the Free Hugs video on youtube was "sweeping the nation" and causing lots of people to hug. Well, I am a bit of a cryer, and the tears poured as I watched Juan Mann share free hugs in New York City. Some people needed a hug so badly that they ran to him even though he was a total stranger to them. I thought it was beautiful. It made me want to start carrying a sign that says Free Hugs, too. Generally, my hands are full, though, so I'm considering just making a T-Shirt that says that and wearing it regularly. What do you think?