Janae Says...

From Audrey: -A cute headband From Kara: -A cute hat From Aaron: -A cute hat From Rachel: -Two pair of Christmas socks -A red scarf -Giant Mr. Goodbar From Pam: -Fuzzy socks From Kelly: -Coach wallet From my cousin Brenda: -A recipe book of my late grandmother's handwritten recipes From Carmen: -A ceramic mug plate -A half apron -A recipe book of appetizers From Jared: -A Relaxation Fountain From Jake: -A really cute mini easel and canvas with a bead bracelet From Jason: -Lots of cuss words and hostility and violence and drug addiction and drama From my parents: -An arm band for my iPod -Newest Radiohead album -Lots of candy (dark Dove chocolate, dark chocolate with almonds, 60% Ghirardelli squares, candy cane Kisses, Holiday Tic Tacs) -Petit Ecolier cookies -Bahama & Co. Scented necklace -Loofah sponge -Drain snake -Zit extractor -$10 Target gift card -A darling black coat -Mascara -Clinique Happy -A makeup bag and Clinique mak...

I just switched my Facebook over to the Timeline style profile. And what a timely switch that was! I clicked on map and could see my check-ins for this year. I have had 112 check-ins at 24 Hour Fitness since January 4th of this year. Considering that I didn't even check in every time I went to the gym, and considering that often times if I didn't go to the gym, I exercised at home with a DVD or Netflix video, I have exercised on more than one-third of the days in 2011 . This makes me feel really accomplished! I may not have worked out super hard every day. I may not have stuck to a routine or regiment for specific days. I may not have even lost weight. But I have been consistent . And for my health, that is what matters. In the past I have gone through phases and spurts of working out, especially during the summer and tapering off in the colder weather. The kind of consistency I have demonstrated to myself this year in exercising is something I needed to see t...

I had the privilege of going on yet another date with the handsome  Aaron last night. We went to Planet Play, where he had a $20 certificate to spend on games and activities. We also ate at the pizza buffet. I'm not sure either of us was super impressed with the food, but we were hungry, so we really didn't care a whole lot. When you walk in, there's a big area to the right for parties. Up on the left there's the buffet. There's a dining room off to the right where we ate. Then the whole back area was where you "play." We did lots of arcade games. Aaron beat me at the car race. We played football and basketball arcade games--yep, even ME! We did a target shooting game which was fun. The gun was super heavy though. Yikes. We played a round of mini golf where someone saved us like $3.50 by giving us an extra golf ball, so that was awesome. We also did mini bowling, which was really fun and very different. I liked it. We just took turns playing on that one...

I'm making cake right now. The box is from Western Family. On it, the directions say, "Cake is done if toothpick inserted in center comes out clean." Yep, so far so good. Pretty normal. Then it says, "Do not test for doneness by touching with finger." Wow. Thanks for that, Western Family. What n00b messed that one up?

On Sunday night, my good friend Aaron invited me to his company's Christmas party. Aaron works for Zagg, the company that makes InvisibleShields. Naturally, I accepted the invitation. Who doesn't want to go to an awesome resort in Park City, dress up all pretty, eat free food, and be on the arm of an attractive man? Well, I just can't say no to that. We stayed at The Chateaux . We arrived at about 5:30 and checked in. Our room was on the first floor. It was pretty small, but really nice. The bed was amazing. There was a fireplace. It was lovely. I thought Aaron got pictures of the room, but he didn't. So here are some other ones he took. It took me a really long time to get ready. I triple barreled my hair, which is about down to my waist. So it took a while, but I am thinking it was worth the trouble. We're cute, aren't we? So we headed to dinner about ten minutes late thanks to my beautifying process (in my defense, he picked me up 20 mi...

This is yet another one of those weeks. I seriously can’t believe these keep happening to me. I feel like there was a point not too long ago where I watched a lot of TV episodes on Netflix because I had no other way to spend my evenings. Here’s what Janae’s life looks like: Monday -Work 7:15-3:45 -Gym 4:30-5:30 -Quickly throw two dozen cookies into the oven for Sub 4 Santa auction -Shower -Heat up some canned soup. Inhale it real fast. -Go to Family Home Evening to see how much my cookies go for -Stay for one hour of a ridiculously slow moving auction -Find out later my 24 cookies sold for $11! -Skype with a cute boy -Watch two episodes of Arrested Development instead of sleeping -Sleep 12-6 AM Tuesday -Work 7:20-3:20 -Drive 45 minutes to Orem for class -While driving, call supervisors to get Visiting Teaching reported for tomorrow -Grab a huge fountain Coke Zero at the gas station due to exhaustion -Class from 4:45-7:00 PM -Ice cream date in Orem at 7:30 -Drive...

I've lived in Utah for six years and three (almost four) months now--since August 2005. My parents and brothers came up for Thanksgiving and just left today.  My youngest brother said countless times, "I just don't know how you live in Utah." I think Utah and I have long since made peace and come to terms on our differences. For example: I like it hot. Utah likes it cold. Really, though, I have decided there are a lot of things I like about Utah. I frequently make mental note of all the things I'd miss if I left. Here are some of them... - Cafe Rio (I guess I could drive 30 minutes to it from Glendora) - Hole in the wall restaurants, big restaurants--so many options! (Nicolitalia, Tucano's, Hogi Yogi, Lone Star Taqueria, Red Ginger sushi, Happy Sumo, a million other sushi places, Guru's, Communal, Pizzeria 712, Vinto, Five Guys, Smashburger, Peiwei, Blue Lemon, Faustina, Einstein bagels, Mimi's Cafe, Noodles, Rumbi, etc.) - Dessert ...

With 11 days between posts, I think it's pretty obvious how crazy my life has been. Some of it has been good crazy, and some of it was continuing in the pattern of my last post, where I'm just doing too much play before work. That lifestyle really doesn't suit my overly responsible and highly anxious personality, but I kind of figure I should be taking advantage of all the random fun that comes at me while I can. It really is nice only worrying about myself and doing whatever I want to do. Obviously some nights get old, and I really want company and get tired of being so self-involved. But for the most part I enjoy living my life the way I do. Now, one of the activities that filled my time pretty recently was a "Why Not?" dinner through my ward at church. Granted, I put my own name in this box along with someone else's. But as a disclaimer, I was under the impression that it would be a small group of people. If you know me at all, you know I don't ...

I like being busy. I am a checklist girl. I organize my time, but this week has been just a little too much. The term ended... I spent all day Saturday and Sunday grading narratives. I got grades submitted on Sunday night. Monday I worked all day, went to the gym for half an hour, and went to Rachel's family's house for a little Halloween shindig--not getting home until late. Tuesday I worked all day, went to a school district novels committee meeting from 3-5, and did lesson plans until 8:30 at night. Wednesday I worked all day, went to the gym for an hour, and then went on a spur of the moment date to Macaroni Grill, then watched Benny & Joon. Instead of that stuff, I needed to do laundry and clean my apartment. Little things like that, that need to be done, really hang over my head and stress me out. Today I worked all day, went to the gym for an hour, read one chapter for my homework while on the elliptical, did dishes, have a load of laundry (that has taken t...

So the past couple of years I have had a huge struggle with how many of my kids couldn't pass my class. Even with grade weights in their favor (as in, all you had to do to pass was CLASS WORK!), I was getting about a third of all my kids failing. As I described in previous blogs, I have made some changes to help my kids just by building in a little more structure. If you recall, I pondered whether it would help student grades. Well, term 1 grades are posted. The verdict is in. I have 63 out of 192 students with an A grade . That's 33%! A third of my students have an A! I think I had maybe two or three students per class last year with an A. This is amazing! I have 20 out of 192 students with an F grade . That's just over 10%. Most of my classes only have two or three Fs. My 3A and 4B have 5 and 6 Fs, respectively. There's just not much I can say for these kids when I handed them a detailed grade printout and told them to come talk to me--and with many of them, e...

Aren't teachers pretty much on every student's side? I mean... I plan entire terms... I give out rubrics... I model what I expect... I write lesson plans... I grade papers... I accept late work... I reach out to the kids who are failing and try to intervene... So why, then, do parents insist on making a teacher the enemy? My friend Cody shared this comic on my wall... The thing is, that it's not really a comic. It's not funny. It's the truth. We've even talked about it extensively in faculty meetings: Gen X parents! They're freaking insane. I have to write this blog because I have 5 more classes' narratives to grade, and I cannot concentrate because I am too upset. I had this student who pretty much did nothing all term. I'd explain directions two and three times, and he'd be doing something totally different. Or he'd be doing nothing at all. Or he'd be sleeping. Here in the last week of the term, comes mom to the rescue. ...

OK, so I am no health freak. Baking is one of my most favorite hobbies. And while I don't binge on the cookies, cakes, brownies, or other treats I make, and although I often throw out some of my junk food that has expired, I do have quite a sweet tooth. I try to exercise a little self-control and eat just a little of something sweet instead of a whole candy bar or several servings of something else. Depriving myself of what I wanted never did me any favors in the long run. I consider myself to be a pretty well-balanced person and believe in moderation in most things. While I may not have the best self-control and love splurging sometimes on an In-N-Out burger or some onion rings at Red Robin from time to time, I have a real interest in all things health. It wasn't always that way. While my mother is a fabulous cook, and while I have grown up loving vegetables, healthy meal and snack options were not the preference of anyone at home. Soda was consumed in mass amounts (not by...

Zoooooomclank! ZooooomCLANK! He was pushing his Craftsman drawer in and pulling it back out with all the force and frustration he could muster. Zoooooomclank! I watched as he took a totally different approach to a problem than I might have taken. It looked to me like a tool had angled itself in such a way as to make it so the drawer would not open. Kind of like the middle drawer of your dresser not closing because of the clothes popping up from underneath. Just calmly move those clothes out of the way. Or in this case, the tool. But heaven forbid a young woman offer a rational suggestion to a logical man twice her age and wisdom. I said nothing. In the middle of his violent “solution,” he looked up at me, red-faced and angry. “Don’t have kids. They’ll ruin everything you own.” At some point he took a deep enough breath to calm down and figure out that that was, indeed, what was going on: a tool was in the way. He finally got the drawer open. I stood there, watching him realize h...

“I used to run six miles every day!” she’d say. “My measurements were 34-24-36!” I never knew how to respond to that. I could tell she was proud. Nothing I could have responded with would’ve changed that. But there was something else in her tone besides pride. I have never been able to put my finger on it. I never could find the word for it. One day, when I was around 14, I had a lot of energy. Have you ever felt that? Like you had to do something physical or all of your limbs might explode sparkle-dust energy everywhere? So before I exploded said dust everywhere, I put on some comfy clothes and shoes. I told my mom I was going to go for a run. She beamed, “Oh! Great!” I almost wished I hadn’t told her. A few days later, I overheard her telling someone with such pride, “I think we may have a runner in the family! Janae likes running. She’s going to take after her mommy.” I really wished I hadn’t told her. Now there was this expectation. Running never had been my thing. It w...

I love General Conference . It feels like fall officially is in. I was good and spread my homework throughout the week so I could focus on Conference on Saturday. I finished the last of my homework about 15 minutes in to morning session. (I had three chapters of reading, plus part of an article, plus a reaction paper to the reading, plus my first case study report). I listened to conference. While listening, I got a lot done: I did laundry I made pumpkin spice cookies I loaded all my Scentsy burners with Pumpkin Roll scented wax I decorated for Halloween (I put up spider webs and some Halloween figurines, and a trick-or-treat bag) I did dishes/cleaned my kitchen Between conference sessions I went to the gym I vacuumed I cleaned my bathroom After Conference was over, I went to the mall to pick up a new screen shield for my phone. Then I had a date that included Happy Sumo and wandering around the Gateway, Glee, some Halloween decorating, and conversation. Lots of fun...

Well, I offered extra credit to my students for having their parents come to conferences. I'm not sure if it's that, or the fact that I have mostly 7th graders, which caused such a big turnout. We have a really difficult area with very low parent involvement. So when I have 125 parents of 195 students come, that's pretty awesome! I didn't really have any difficult or defensive parents. All were very supportive of my policies and comments and seemed to want their kids to do well. I think one of the best parts of this conference was how many positive comments I received. I had two or three parents tell me how their kids come home and talk about my class, telling their parents how much they enjoy it. Some of my students told me my class is their favorite. Several kids (especially 8th graders--we're reading The Outsiders) told me that they love the book we are reading. Add onto this how many visits I've gotten in the past 5 weeks from my old students, ...

I don’t get angry very often. Honestly, I don’t. Right now, I am angry. Really, really angry. And when I take an honest assessment of myself, I know for a fact that I do not feel this way very often. I don’t get angry because I don’t like feeling angry. I don’t like the heat and sweat and increased heart rate, and the frustration and the cloud that comes over my brain. I am, however, a really passionate, opinionated person. Sometimes this gets mistaken for anger. There’s not really a whole lot I can do about that. If my blood pressure is perfectly normal, but I’m just expressing an opinion in my “Janae” way, people think I’m angry. Then they tell me to “relax.” That’s the thing that gets me angry. One guy in a text conversation the other night was telling me to relax. Um? I am relaxed, first of all. Secondly, don’t boss me around. Thirdly, you’re basically telling me not to say what I want to say because it’s putting you off. Get over it. Now, for the reason I am angry today, let’s s...

Well, my first impressions of my classes were all good. I wish I had actually made a detailed account of my first week of school so I could remember my exact thoughts, but here’s what I can recall. My mom came with me on day one and took care of some of my dirty business—making folders for those who were absent, alphabetizing work, etc. I’m so glad she was there because I’m not sure I would have functioned the next day without her. She got the ball rolling so that I could have a productive rhythm by the second day when she wasn’t there. She gave me a feel for what I needed to get done. I’m trying out all new and/or revamped procedures this year, and so far they seem to be working wonders for the students’ grades and for my stress level. I’m structuring everything very highly--babying them, if you will. I never realized how little you can trust junior high kids to keep something with them and to bring their stuff to class until last year. This year, they’ve all been provided with ...

I was supposed to have plans tonight, but they sort of fell through. So I just did my own thing, including going to the gym, eating dinner, watching The Office, running to Costco (not because I needed a hand-dipped ice cream bar with roasted almonds), and writing an article for some extra dinero. Tomorrow I have work, then I visit Brianne, then class from 4:30 to 7. I might go to my cousins' house after to watch Glee and/or The New Girl. So it will be a late night. On Wednesday AND Thursday I have work, and then more work. You guessed it: parent-teacher conferences, till 7:30 both nights. I think if I'm going to get any exercise in, it will have to be before work. If you've ever done PT conferences, you know there is no mental (or physical) activity going on afterward. At least we get Friday off as a comp day. I also have a date on Friday night, so that's something to look forward to after three nights of chaos. I still have a lot of things to blog about, but I...

I just want to say that I think men move way too fast, as a general rule. I don't want to make the mistake of Dicto Simpliciter here. But really, as a whole, I think guys need to just lay off the physical aspect. Like since when did first or second dates become "make out time"? Or spooning time? Or whatever-else-it's-too-soon-for time? Nothing has happened recently. I've just been thinking tonight. And I don't know. I think I'm just increasingly uncomfortable with the notion of being even slightly physical with someone if I don't know I'm really into them and feel safe with them. I just want someone take the time to get to know me before they decide they want to kiss me! I want it to be more than what it is for 99% of people. Is that weird, to become more resistant to physical interaction over time? Well, whatever. If that's how I'm going to weed out the crappy ones, I'll do it. Find me a patient gentleman, and I'll love...

And now, for an episode of "From the Desks: Messages that Students Write." Message one , received on Facebook from one of my 9th graders last year: "Dear Ms. Balibrea This is your old 9th grade student Erika from last school year. I just wanted to say thanks for everything you taught us. It helped a BUNCH in High School. Today in Language Arts 10, I answered almost all of the questions my teacher asked. I felt pretty smart cause of all of the things you taught us last year. I honestly miss being in your class, even though it was pretty boring at times. High school is allot different from Jefferson, But I'm started to get use to how it is. Sincerly, Erika Lopez (P.S. I hope that you think my writing has improved, I've been working on it)" Message two , received in an after school visit from my most frequent 9th grade complainer last year: Student: Hi! :) Me: Hello! What's up? Student: I just came to say thank you. Me (confused)...

Well, I promised that lots of blogs were on their way, but I probably can count the number of free hours I've had recently to do anything that I want to do on just one hand. In that same entry, I mentioned how I have too much to say about everything. It's weird and sad interesting how much my lack of expression affects my state of being. It's like if I don't get my thoughts down somewhere, they're just rolling around in my brain waiting to be released. Consequently, I'm feeling terribly psychologically unbalanced as of late. And in order to fix that, I know that I can do two possible things. One is that I can write (in this case, on my blog), and the other is that I can go to a shrink. Ideally, I'd do both. But I don't have money to go to a shrink. This is a contributing factor to my psychological imbalance. Here are some other contributing factors that I can think of: Men Things men have said--or I guess what they've said makes them boys, no...