Update from the Hastings

Hello dear family! I thought I'd write a quick note to report that we have survived our first week of the semester--me with student teaching and Jon with a new, tough schedule. What an adventure seventh grade is! I forget how awkward and painful that age is, what with trying to figure out who you are and who you want to become. I'm just grateful that I'm an observer this time and not a participant! You guys will remember that my experiences in seventh grade greatly contributed to me skipping eighth grade and trying to escape junior high as soon as possible. Well, now I'm back! The kids are so sweet though most of the time, and I have a lot of empathy for the hard stage they are in. They're squirrly that's for sure, but absolutely hilarious at the same time. I'm finally getting used to the schedule of a teacher--waking up at 5:45 and going to sleep early. Last Friday it was actually easy to wake up when my alarm rang! Progress! My relationship with my mentor teacher has been so good, and she's really supportive of all of my ideas. I think we're both praying for this experience to be a positive one, and so far the Lord has answered our prayers. One perk of the school I'm teaching at is that they open the student weight room to teachers after school, and Sue and I have started working out together. It's a fun time to get out of the classroom and just chat, whether about the students or just about life.
Jon finished his first week of classes and has a tough semester ahead of him, but nothing he can't handle. :) This semester he started a TA job for a drafting class, and every Wednesday night he teaches a lab. It was so funny to hear how college students and seventh graders aren't all that different in their classroom behavior! Jon commented on how many times he would have to explain something, both to the class and to individual students, and all I could think was "welcome to my world." He's been super busy as he and his team finish up their project to send off to the judges next week, and I'm so proud of the hard work he's been putting in. He's been so supportive of my student teaching, but we're both so busy that we don't see each other much during the week. I was telling Dad today that we treasure our Sundays where neither of us have to be at school or work and we can just spend time together. We miss Carl and Steph a lot and have been pretty reclusive socially since they and Steven and Lauren moved away.... :) But we understand the need to grow up and get out into the "real world" and can't wait until its our turn. We love you so much and keep you all in our prayers, especially the Rogers at this time.