Cali Trip and 30 Before I'm 30 Update... Over Halfway There!!

I just had the most amazing trip to California! It was incredible! I got to spend 2 weeks with my best friend, Katie, and see a lot of the fun things Cali had to offer! We always go hard when we are together and this trip was no exception! We started off by going to an Angels game as soon as I got there!



This was ballpark #14 of 30! I really liked Angels Stadium. It was really nice and had a cool rock sculpture and waterfall in center field!

We were able to get a cheap kids meal there which was great! We didn't stay for the whole game which was kind of a bummer, but it was chilly (a lot colder than in TN) and Katie's friends, Griff and Ericka, had work the next morning so we needed to get back.


We went to Disneyland the next 2 days. They have 2 parks. Disneyland and California Adventure. I liked them. They made me miss Disney World. So the big question everyone kept asking was "which one was better? Disney World or Land???" I'm here to put the question to rest. Disney World is MUCH better in my opinion. Maybe it's cause I grew up going there or maybe cause it really is better...

Anyway, Disneyland's castle was way smaller, their fireworks weren't near as good. They did have an AWESOME water show called World of Color which was INCREDIBLE! Best show ever. Several of the rides that are at both Disneyland and Disney World were actually better at Disneyland but I guess that's just because it was the first park. Here are a few pics from those adventures...

Even though I didn't like Disneyland better than Disney World, me and Katie had an awesome time together as we ALWAYS do at Disney!!











The next day we hiked to the back of the Hollywood sign and also found a really cool observatory that we got to explore. We explored LA and I also had my first In-N-Out burger experience. SO yummy!

That night we went to the Dodgers game. That stadium wasn't as exciting as I'd expected. It was just old. We wound up having to walk FOREVER to get to our seats because they only let you into the park according to where your seats are (and we bought cheap seats). The Braves got shafted that night by crappy calls by the umpires, but I cheered them on regardless! That helped me reach the half way point of my ballpark tour across the country!

The official picture at Dodger Stadium!!

 After the game we explored Hollywood Boulevard. Interesting to say the least! We didn't get out, but we drove down the road and it was pretty neat. I'd like to go back and walk it at night sometime.

The next day we went to Knott's Berry Farm which is this old time family theme park with sweet roller coasters. However, a lot of them weren't working and so it was sub-par. That night we got to her house in San Diego and I got to meet her family for the first time!! It was good to just relax after some crazy days going nonstop! The next few days Katie had a trip to Hawai'i so I just hung out with her sister and got some homework accomplished. Kristin showed me around some which was fun! Oh and Katie got me hooked on the bachelorette which is AWESOME!! (Sad to say I've given in...) Once she got back, our days were filled with relaxing and the gym and sleep and smoothies and lots of ice cream and food! We also went to a Padres game which was ball park #16 on my list!! I got to see a friend from high school while I was there: James! The game was fun and I really liked Petco Park. They had really good fans! Braves lost again though :(

It seems like everything about San Diego was amazing! The weather was great! The people were nice! The beaches were amazing! It was a great time!! I loved my time there but I was glad to get home! Can't wait to go back. Here are some more pics from my adventure!

Miss my best friend and can't wait to see her again! Also ready to hit up more ballparks! Glad to be past the halfway point on my ballpark adventures! Hopefully I can also hit up Houston this summer! Yay for ballparks, best friends, and trips!

Rainy Days

Last week was a crazy terrible emotionally draining week. Today I got up and it was raining. I had a dentist appointment and my dentist called me before my alarm went off to see if I could come in earlier... ugh. Not a good way to start off parent-teacher conference day when I was supposed to get to sleep in! I went in early to the dentist and got that over with. I came home and my roomie had pancakes made! That was a step in the right direction!! I had a good workout after that. I decided to check facebook while eating lunch before heading to school for p-t conferences. I had another sweet message on my wall from a student in my physics class last year who is also at UT Knoxville. Here's what it said...

So... today in Planetary Geology Lab, we dealt with impact craters. And we have to go home and calculate the impact velocity of all these planetary bodies as they are hitting planets and satellites. We are ignoring drag. WHAT DOES THAT SOUND LIKE? Ms. Duncan's class. So, I'm a boss, knocking out these problems and feeling overall awesome, talking about Thermodynamics like a champ. All thanks to you. I'm just loving physics right now, and who thought I'd be saying that?! Thanks, Ms. Duncan, for making an English major's life a thousand times more magnificent. (I had a lot of coffee this morning...)

So talk about a boost to my morning!! It really makes me feel like my physics class last year wasn't a complete and absolute fail. After a bad week last week and a rainy day today, God knew just what I needed to hear to brighten my day. I praise God in the storms of life for little moments where he reminds me of his promises with rainbows!!

Blessed by the rain,
Katelyn

Precious Teaching Memories

Year 2 of teaching has commenced. I've been teaching for about 2 weeks now (I think). I have all freshmen this year in algebra 1. They are awesome! I had this same group of kids when I student taught at ER middle school. It's cool to see how they've matured and who they've become because when I had them as 7th graders, they had no clue who they were!

So I have a boyfriend now. He's one of the football coaches at the high school. That being said, I have a lot of football players in my classes. They are always asking about him and talking about me and him. It's hilarious! One kid told me that if Dallas ever hurt me that he'd take care of him. I love that my kids are so protective of me :) They're presh.

Today was a really crappy day so I want to just document a couple of fun memories I have already had these first two weeks...

1. As I was talking about negative numbers one day, I don't know why, but I said "negative numbers have to be protected by parentheses... they are like pregnant women! You have to protect the pregnant bellies!" So one of my kids said, "so negative numbers are pregnant women?" Hahaha it was hilarious! But my kids will never forget that they are supposed to protect negative numbers with parentheses... always.
2. I had a student offer to buy me a milkshake. Well actually I messed with him last year about owing me one and he randomly came up to me this year with money saying he was going to buy me one finally. I told him it was a joke and he continued to say that even though I have a boyfriend now that he'd really like to buy me a milkshake... oh my.
3. I had a student dub me as the "duncanator". Not so sure how I feel about that nickname.
4. This year I have a service learner in one of my classes and a kid that hangs out in my class 4th block just because. Both of them keep telling my students how great a teacher I am and how much they loved my classes last year. It just really makes my heart warm because I know that I made an impact (maybe). Or at least I hope so. Hunter is one of the kids and he literally tells them every day how much fun he had in physics and how they all need to take it when they become juniors and seniors. One day he even said, "Miss Duncan's class is the only class I ever learned anything in... like ever." Now even though that makes me question the quality of our school (yikes) it does make me happy that I am doing what I love and maybe even doing it somewhat well.
5. One of my freshmen today told me that my class was his favorite class and that I was his favorite teacher. I joked with him saying "I bet you say that to all your teachers" and he got real serious and said "no Miss Duncan, like really. I do love this class." Again. These are sweet things God knew I needed to hear on a day like today.
6. When I got home today, I had a facebook post from a girl I had in physics last year. She is at UT Knoxville this year as a freshman. Now Jessie has a pretty funny sense of humor so her seemingly sarcastic post made me smile, because I knew she meant every bit of it. Here's what she said... "Ms. Duncan, I would just like to tell you that stupid manipulating equations thing that I was sure was an epic waste of time just helped me figure out a Chemistry 120 problem. I was about to give up when I decided to make it into a formula and then manipulate it. If it wasn't for you I would've never gotten that question right!" I started tearing up when I read this.

I just know that God is working through me and even though I get frustrated with my kids and they drive me a little batty, we do have fun and I enjoy the memories I get to make with them every day. I just really hope I am having a lasting impact on them.

Thankful for days like today,

Katelyn

Kansas City 40 hour road trip!

I have no idea what we were thinking when my friends John, Brooke, and Nathan decided a 40 hour road trip to Kansas City was a good idea. It was definitely a quick weekend! It really was a good weekend despite the total 19 hours of driving... yuck! It was the last ballpark of the summer for me. I was so relieved to finally have reached that last trip for the summer! It went by so quickly! I feel like summer just began and it's already almost over.



So about Kansas City... I had a blast! The ballpark was really cool and I loved the fans! They were passionate. I mean I guess you have to be when there is really nothing else out there in the middle of nowhere! We had a good time. They had some delish frozen custard at the park and there were these amazing fountains behind the outfield that really added to the unique atmosphere of the park!

What was really cool was the fact that they had just hosted the all-star game! They a lot of cool all-star game stuff left! Banners and everything we still hanging up too!

It was also really fun to get to know some of Brooke's friends. We stayed with her friend Emily. Brooke is from KC so I'm really glad she got to go back home. That's always a good feeling. This was a good trip to end the summer baseball extravaganza!

In the end I have to say that I really liked Kauffman Stadium! It had a really fun baseball town type feel to it. I was surprised. I didn't think Kansas City would really be a baseball town, but I think it turned out to be one of MLB's hidden treasures... to me at least!

I'm thinking Philly, D.C., and NYC next year?? I guess I have plenty of time to plan that out!

Til then,

Katelyn

Cleveland and Pittsburgh ballparks... CHECK!

I took a trip last week up to Ohio to visit one of my best friends, Heather! I flew into Cleveland and we walked around part of the city! It was so fun! We ate at the Hard Rock and had a blast just hanging out and catching up! Later, we went to see a Cleveland Indians game. We went and watched them play the L.A. Angels. It was cool. I tried to get a ball at batting practice before the game, but these stupid kids kept yelling at one of the players and he wouldn't throw anything to us. The field wasn't my favorite, but it was a cool atmosphere. We had pretty good seats too. They were in the corner of the left field line. After the game there was a cool fireworks show in downtown Cleveland! We went and watched it. It was fantastic!

The next day we went to Pittsburgh to watch the Pirates play the Astros! We had amazing seats on the first base side for this game! We even got to eat Hibachi at this game for dinner. It was good! I really liked PNC park. It was super nice! We really had a good time at this park! I just love baseball so so so much! We had an interesting time driving back in a massive thunderstorm, but we made it back safely!















The rest of the week was fun! We had a great 4th of July celebration and enjoyed time with Lindsey and David as they came and visited with us. I am thankful that I got to spend time with such amazing friends!

I only have 1 more summer trip left on my ballpark tour. I'm heading to Kansas City this weekend! I'll update as soon as I return from that trip!

Katelyn