My Life Lately

I know I have been missing around here and I could go into ALL the gory details about  the crazy that is my life right now, and I am sure at some point I will, but at the moment I need to catch my breath and try to get back on track.

However, this picture represents my life lately...

...yes this is my car as I was trying to leave school Tuesday to go grab a bite to eat before I had to be back at school for my choral concert.  This car is over so far you can't even see the white line.

Nice.


More Later

- A Ro

Sweet Sami

A VERY belated birthday blog for my adorable neice Sami.  I hope that you'll forgive me for missing your birthday.

A Sami Birthday Poem:

Sami's as sweet as sugar and spice...

 And a snuggle bug princess is she...

 Maybe she'll give you a kiss if your nice...

And a great mommy someday she will be ...

Now when JoJo's around, some fun you will find...

Though a dull moment is not what you'll get...

 However, she is nice and she's good and she's kind...

 And will grow up to do great things, I'll bet
   
Happy Birthday my sweet girl!!


I love you.


More Later


- A Ro
 

Project 365 Week 10

Well the crazy season is officially in full swing at the A-Ro household...this is evidenced by the following:

1. I am late posting my Project 365
2. I will not be doing any sort of Weekend Highlight Reel...due to #1 above
3. My house didn't get vacuumed this weekend.
4. I turned my February calendar last night (March 6th) to realize that I have TOTALLY missed my neices birthday (March 2)

Sami...I am terribly sorry.  I will make it up to you by sending you a BIG package in the mail and find some really adorable pictures of you to post on my blog.  It isn't her fault that she is the first birthday of the year in our family and that her aunt can't remember that February even exsited.   You are still my very special goo (girl).

This weekend was over in an instant.  Speaking in instants...it is amazing how life can change in one.  It reminds me that we cannot take one second for granted.  I have a renewed sense of that today.

Here is My Week:  (When I preview this post the Project 365 button ends up at the end of the blog...however, as I am typing this the button is sitting right above...maybe that Blogger for Dummies book needs to be read)

Sunday February 27:

My Sunday BFF

Didn't get a picture for today (further evidence of the crazy that is my life at the moment), but this was what I did today. 

Monday February 28:

Justin Beiber-ites

Today is Justin Beiber's birthday and let me tell you what, it was celebrated here in Sixth Grade.  Girls had pieces of tape taped to their backs saying Happy Birthday Justin, they wrote on their shoes, and talked about him ALL day.  Wow. 

Tuesday March 1:

Lunch Bunch

I have a group of kids that come into my room during lunch to play games.  They play Sorry and Apples to Apples mostly.  It is nice to have them in here.

Wednesday March 2:

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!!!

I won this great prize from Tori at Yoder Yada Yada.  Now the real prize is this lovely pot from Mud Love.  Now you really need to check out his site because all of his pottery is just wonderful and he gives a good portion of his profits to a clean drinking water project in Africa.  The really cool thing is Tori remembered that I wanted an ricer to make my gnocchi...so she sent me one!!  Now I can really make my homemade gnocchi (which I haven't made since the last disaster with trying to grate the potatoes).  Thanks so much Tori!!

Thursday March 3:

My little Giveaway

I had a little giveaway on my blog today...it really isn't much, but go here to enter and check out the wonderful websites of some places I visited while in Pasadena.\

Friday March 4:

And the Oscar Goes To

Bella was on of two Fifth Graders in our High School's production of The Glass Menagerie this weekend.  She played a little girl who interacts with the characters and places key phrases up on the wall behind her.  Se, obviously, didn't want me to take any pictures, thus the "Stop it Mom" look.  She was so cute and was on stage for the ENTIRE play.  She really enjoyed herself and loves all the attention from the High Schoolers. 

Saturday March 5:

 He Just Needs to Stop Growing

Andrew's first home baseball game was this afternoon.  He just looks so dang grown up.  I must say I couldn't believe this was my little boy.  They won and he played really good baseball.  I was very proud of him.

In Summary:  Phew...what a week.  It looks like I am in for many more baseball games and theaterical shows.  My students are in for a lot more fun in my classroom, and my family is in for some homemade gnocchi!!

More Later

- A Ro



Friday Fun

This week's Friday Fun is courtsey of my brother Ryan's family.  His wife sent me these pictures this week and they cracked.me.up.

Enjoy!!

I love the expression on his face...I love the fact that he plays along...I love my brother!!

Don't forget about my little giveaway...it is going until Monday to get in on the giveaway go here.

Have a Great Weekend!!!

More Later

- A Ro

The One With a Little Ker-prize at the End

 Very sorry for the double post...not sure how this posted at an earlier date...I really need to read my blogger for dummies!!

I know you have heard a couple hundred times that Rich and I went to Pasadena a couple of weekends ago for a walking food tour.  I know you have heard a couple hundred times that we had an amazing time.  So I wanted to tell you a couple hundred more things about that amazing day.  I hope that if you live in or are planning to visit Southern California you might consider taking one of these tours, and if you don't you might visit some of these vendors websites.  I must claim that I am not getting paid by any means to support these businesses I just really dig them, and think you might too.

The company that puts on the tours is called Melting Pot Tours and they have the Pasadena tour, one in Santa Monica, and one in Boyle Heights that focuses on Latin food.  You get put into tour groups of no more than 15 (we had 13 on our tour and Rich was one of two men and one of one man over the age of 25).

You have a tour guide that takes you on the tour and gives you lots of tidbits about the area, the restaurants, and local history.  This was our wonderful tour guide Summer...and as it turns out she went to the school I teach at...yeah, small world.

We tasted so many good food and visited so many great restaurants.  All locally owned and operated and all committed to the city and community in which they reside.  I ABSOLUTELY love that!!

Some of the restaurants that I really enjoyed were a Peruvian restaurant, a Oaxacan Mexican restaurant, and an Asian fusion restaurant.  We had a couple of sweet treats along the way too...an Italian gelato counter, a chocolatier, and a bakery.

After the tour we went for a cup of coffee at Intelligentsia Coffee Shop it was such a neat shop and we enjoyed our coffee.

This was Rich's drink...nice and manly huh??

We also ate dinner at one of the stops on the tour, an Asian fusion restaurant called Equator.

Isn't that place just very cool...It is located in the original stables for the police station.

We had the pad Thai and the basil Mignon...oh.my.goodness.  The atmosphere was also wonderful.

Three of our stops were specialty shops and these are the ones that I would like to highlight and encourage you to visit their websites.

The first one was a specialty olive oil shop called Beyond the Olive.   

It is an olive oil and vinegar shop that we just fell in love with.  This shop is owned by a married couple it is very clear that their 10 month old daughter is a very important part of this family as they have a little play yard for her and most of their business is done with her on a hip entertaining the customers.  I loved the fact that they love what they do and We tasted two olive oils and two balsamic vinegars.  I loved the White Peach Balsamic Vinegar and the Olive Oil...and purchased them for a vinegar and olive oil salad dressing.

The second shop I would like to highlight is called Bird Pick Tea and Herb.  I didn't get a picture of this place as it was POURING rain when we went back to buy some tea.  They know there teas.  They have all different kinds of teas and tea accessories.  I had fun tasting and smelling all the tea. 

The third place was call The Soap Kitchen.

It is a soap speciality shop owned by a young lady named Dali who does all the soap making in the back of the store.  Her parents run the shop and I got to meet her mom.  They are delightful people and the soap is amazing.  All natural and pure.  We purchased a couple of bars and I love them.

So in honor of all the stuff I got I would like to do a little giveaway.  I mean LITTLE...Just a sampling of the three shops I highlighted.  You will get some soap samples, some tea samples, a small bottle each of the white peach balsamic vinegar and the olive oil, and a melting pot tours bag.  All you have to do is live in the United States and leave a comment and tell me something that you splurge on.  Do you splurge on expensive coffee instead of Folgers?  Do you buy good teas instead of Lipton?  Do you enjoy an expensive pair of shoes or is Payless just fine?  Do you go for the expensive soaps or does Dove live in your shower? 

I really hope if you like good teas, soaps, and olive oil you will stop at the above sites and support a local business.  If not then think about the local businesses in your area and give them a shot.

I'll have my Bella draw a winner on Monday Evening just before Chuck and I'll post the winner on Tuesday.

If you enter, I'll stop talking about my trip to Pasadena...deal?

More Later

- A Ro

The Hodgepodge Hears a Who

It is time to March in this weeks hodgepodge (do you see what I did there??)  Now you just march on over to Joyce's blog and join in the fun.

Here is my go at it:

1. March 2nd is Dr. Seuss's birthday so I'm wondering...do you like green eggs and ham? Okay-how about this instead...how do you like your eggs? Or don't you?
I like my eggs poached, and scrambled.  I'll take 'um green if you want to go to all the trouble.

2. Is March coming in like a lion or something less ferocious where you live?
It is really cold here...and when I say cold I am talking about upper 30's in the morning and upper 50's in the afternoon.  Didn't want you to worry that we were in some sort of arctic freeze here in California.  So really it is all relative.

3. Do you work better or worse under pressure?
I work better under pressure.  For me work will always take up the amount of time that I have.  If I have 5 minutes to get something done it will take 5 minutes and if I have a week it will take a week.  In other words, I don't always get things done with time to spare, but I always get things done. But this question reminds me of my students singing Under Pressure...so I included it. Please ignore the bouncing 40 year old... 

Untitled from Amy Rolniak on Vimeo.

4. March Madness-are you a fan? It's college basketball in case you're wondering. And if you're outside the USA tell us-is there any sort of 'madness' taking place during March in your part of the world?
March Madness FAN!!  First of all I really do enjoy college basketball, when I have the time to watch.  My family takes March Madness very seriously.  Andrew, his dad, my sister, Rich, and my brother-in-law do research and fill out their brackets.  I pick my favorite schools and teams and fill out my bracket.  Bella figures out which mascot she likes better and fills out her bracket.  Sometimes all that research does NO good...just sayin'.   If March Madness brings out anything it is the upset.

5. Under what circumstances do you do your best thinking?
When I need to think clearly I must be silent.  I am pretty good at tuning out all things.  Some people talk things out, but I just need to be quiet and concentrate.  Those of you who know me are now thinking that I must never need to think clearly because most of them have never seen me silent. :)

6. What item of clothing from your wardrobe do you wear most often?
I have this black and white sweater that I wear often...in fact I am wearing it now, and in this picture.  It makes me very happy...not too hot as the holes are quite big, but it is very heavy and it has pockets.  I love this sweater.

7. Do you use sarcasm?
I teach middle and high school...sarcasm is the language I speak.

8. In Summary:
I do like green eggs and ham (scrambled or poached please) I do like them A-Ro I am.  I do like them in my sweater, I do like them in cold weather.  I do like them with time a ticking, I do like them when bracket picking.  I do like them when silently thinking, I do like them when my sarcasm is sinking.  I do like green eggs and ham I do like them A-Ro I am.

More later

- A Ro

Silver Linings

Nothing really ever came easy to me with regards to music.  I had some talent which I attribute to my mother being very musical.  My mother taught piano and sang, and I remember music being a huge part of my childhood.  I also had great music teachers and musical opportunities as a young girl, and was one of the top singers at my high school.  So it really wasn't a surprise that music became my vocation...but it wasn't an easy peasy lemon squeezy journey.  I went from being the big fish in a little pond in high school to being a little fish in a big pond in a very large music department at the University of Iowa.  In college everything was bigger and harder and more competitive.  My music classes were very hard and the people in my teachers studio were very talented.  My freshman music theory class started out with 80 people and ended up with about 40 at semester. 

It was an 8:00 am class everyday so that might have had something to do with it. 

I was not deterred.  I worked hard, practiced hard, and used my brain to acheive not just my talent. 

I auditioned for many MANY things.  I got picked for VERY few.  I learned that success wasn't just about getting the part, but it was about not giving up, tackling problems, and finding solutions.  I had opportunities to teach as an undergrad and I enjoyed it very much.  I enjoyed sharing my solutions and work ethic with others in hopes it would help them with their journey.

I loved my student teaching experience.  I enjoyed working with elementary school kids and high schoolers alike and when I was done I was faced with a choice...go to grad school or take a newly opened teaching job.  One required me to move 1500 miles away from the only home I knew and the only people I loved and the other allowed me to stay right where I was.

I decided to follow my dream and go to grad school with the hopes of being an opera singer.  I got a scholarship to the University of Arizona, packed a U Haul, said good-bye and set off with my dad and brother to another adventure.

I auditioned for many MANY things.  I got picked for VERY few.  I worked hard and learned all I could from the vast amount of talented people around me. 

I, however, was not a very good opera singer.  I found out I was a very good teacher as I enjoyed sharing my knowledge, passion and problem solving skills.

A week or so ago I had this student who was very upset about not getting something he auditioned for. As we talked for about 20 minutes I realized that I would not have been able to help him if it weren't for the numerous auditions that I didn't get. I realized then, that I am a good teacher not because of my successes but because of my failures.



I know what it feels like to work hard and achieve.

I know what the heart ache feels like when you don't get the part you wanted.

I know how to sulk about it, and brush myself off and keep going.

I know what it feels like to not be the most talented.

I know how to find the silver lining in any situation.

I know how to empathize.

Everything happens for a reason and that reason might just be the gift of empathy.

More Later

- A Ro