It's about time!

A lot of you already know, but I wanted to make sure! :)

I FINALLY received my Missouri teaching license in the mail on Wednesday! YAYYY!!!

It had officially been 12 weeks since they told me my certificate was printed and ready to be mailed. I am still trying to figure out exactly how long it takes to put a piece of paper in an envelope, address it, stamp it, and send it out. Apparently, in Missouri, it takes 12 weeks. I'm sure they were very backed up, but I just can't imagine it taking that long to get caught up. Oh well, at least I finally have it now!

The next step is to take my Human Relations class (which I am already signed up for) and send in my application for an Iowa license! My class does not start until January, though, so it will still be awhile before I am completely and officially licensed to teach in Iowa.

Tiny Update

I thought you all might appreciate a little bit of an update on things, although I really don't have a lot to update you on!

The biggest thing that I'm waiting on right now is my Missouri teaching license, which if you remember, was going to be mailed to me in 2-4 weeks from July 20. Well, obviously it has been more than 2-4 weeks and I still haven't received it! I finally emailed someone on Monday and I was extremely disappointed to learn that they are EIGHT WEEKS behind in mailing paper certificates. Sigh....so the waiting continues!

In the meantime, I have still been working at Culver's as a manager and actually last week I was promoted to the next manager level. Previously, I was called an "in-store trainer" and now I am called a "crew chief". I also received a small raise with the promotion! Oh, and I just heard today that the owner wants to give us a bonus for the first half of the year, so I will be getting that, too! Yay!

That's really pretty much all I have for now!

CLEARANCE!!!

No, I'm not talking about shopping when I say clearance.....

I received a letter in the mail yesterday that states "your FBI/Missouri Highway Patrol criminal history background clearance was granted on the date of this letter." YAY!!!!! This is what I got fingerprinted for....well one of the things I was fingerprinted for. I also got fingerprinted for Iowa, but I have not heard anything from them yet.

For those who may be wondering....no, there was not any doubt in my mind that I would get cleared in the background check, but I am excited because this is one more step that has been completed in this long process of getting certified!

Next step....receiving my Missouri teaching license, applying for an Iowa license, and GETTING A JOB!

Fingerprints, Class, and New Car

Well, I told you all I would update you on how the fingerprinting process went. Last Thursday, my mom and I ventured to the police department so I could be fingerprinted. I had two fingerprint cards that needed filled out, one for Missouri and one for Iowa. We were both totally unsure as to how long of a process this would be, but we were surprised! We walked in, I paid the required $10 and we sat down for about 5 seconds until a police officer came out to help me. The process, for both cards, took all of 10 minutes (yay!) and we were out of there. When we got home, I made sure everything was filled out correctly, found two manilla envelopes, inserted a fingerprint card with corresponding payment in each, and headed to the post office to mail them. So now the continued waiting begins. This should be the last step I need to receive my Missouri teaching license....YAY!!

I still have yet to find a class that works for the human relations component for my Iowa license....at least one that is not going to cost me $1200. That seemed a little steep for just the one class...

AND....the other big news this past week....I BOUGHT MY FIRST CAR!!!! Last Wednesday, my dad and I headed out for our second day of car shopping for me. We had already looked at all the interesting things in Cedar Rapids, so we headed down to Iowa City. The first place we stopped at was Toyota of Iowa City. Funny story....so it was about 11am by the time we got there, and we had brought some snacks with us, so we pulled into the parking lot, parked, and then sat in the car for a few minutes and snacked a bit. Almost as soon as we parked, a car salesman stepped out onto the sidewalk and proceeded to stand there watching us, waiting for us to get out of the car. And, as soon as we did, he was right there by us, asking if he could help us find anything. Haha. But yeah, actually he was really nice and not very pushy or high pressure, even though those first few minutes we thought he might be. The very first car he showed us was a 2005 Hyundai Elantra with a little over 33,000 miles on it. It had been owned by a single woman, who bought it new in '05 and traded it in simply because she wanted to try a Toyota. It was in prime condition....and looked very, very interesting, so we told him we wanted to test drive it. .......I fell in love with it. I ended up test driving a Nissan Sentra also, but afterwards I knew I wanted the Elantra. By the time we started the process of buying the Elantra, it was a little after noon. By the time I got home from Iowa City, it was about 3:30pm. Yeah....it was a long process....but I am so excited about my car!! It's perfect for me! Small, pretty color, drives great....oh, and it has cruise, the air works, and the radio/cd player works!!!! (the neon, what I was driving, has no cruise, the air doesn't work, and the radio is temperamental and doesn't always work).

Anyway, I thought you all might enjoy some pictures of my new car, so here they are!

And so the long, tedious, expensive process begins...

As you all know, I graduated in May with an education degree. However, some of you may not know that I have not received my Missouri teaching license yet. This is because I first need to get fingerprinted and have a background check done. Ok, no big deal right? Well, first I had to make sure that I could get fingerprinted in Iowa after I got home from college. That was fine--no big deal. Ok, next step...making sure the Marion Police Department would fingerprint me. Again, fine, no big deal....except that they only fingerprint on Thursdays, and I called on a Monday. Ok, now I at least know that it can be done and when I can go. Oh, did I mention it is going to cost me over $50 for the Missouri fingerprinting/background check....and $10 to just get fingerprinted at the police department? And that's only the beginning....

Ok, so I have that part figured out, right? Well, not so much. I had read a couple of places that if a person needed blank fingerprint cards, they would send them to that person. Yet they fail to mention how a person knows if they need the cards. (Did I mention how confusing the government can be?) So, I was planning on going today, Thursday, to get fingerprinted, but I thought I should call and double check on the fingerprint card thing before I got there and felt stupid. It's a good thing I called because the police department does not provide blank fingerprint cards. Sigh....so I had to call and have blank fingerprint cards sent to me. And now I wait again.

So, I think I have all of that figured out. For now, anyway. The next step is to get certified in Iowa. Wow, who knew it could take me 6 months to finally figure out what I am supposed to do to be certified in Iowa?? (Did I mention how confusing the government is??) I started looking online, trying to find anything that would tell me what I am supposed to do. For a long time, the only helpful thing I found was an application for an Iowa teaching license. From what I could tell, it looked like I only needed to send that in. Wow, was I wrong. I was trying to find more information online and found a website that was saying I needed to get fingerprinted, have a background check done, take a class, take some tests, and pay lots of money! I was like, whoa!! Not cool! (Oh, I forgot to mention that at the beginning when I was having problems finding information I tried contacting someone....who, in turn, emailed me the application I had already found. Big help, right?) Anyway, I tried contacting someone again (this time a different person) and asked a whole bunch of questions on the class I needed to take, any tests I needed, if I had to get fingerprinted again, etc, etc. This lady was sooo much more helpful! She answered ALL of my questions this time....and it actually MADE SENSE. And....I found out I do need to take a class (ugh), but I don't need to take another test (yay!), but I do need to get fingerprinted again (yuck) and pay more money for the fingerprinting/background check (yuck, this time it's over $60).

Whew! What a process, right? The worst part, I think, (besides forking out a ton of money) is the waiting part. I feel like I have it figured out now, but I'm nowhere near being done with it all! I do feel better about it though. Those of you who know me well, know that I don't like not knowing what is going on. It has been hard over the past few months not knowing myself what I am supposed to do and also having to answer a whole bunch of questions with...."I don't really know yet." But I am glad I seem to have it figured out now! By the way, this is why I haven't posted anything recently because I did not know what to post!

Hopefully soon I can update you all with how the fingerprinting went!

Graduation

Well, it's official! I have graduated from Culver-Stockton College with a Bachelor of Science degree in Early Childhood and Elementary Education!!!!

Here are some pictures from the day....

My friend Angie and I.....after graduation

My diploma!!!!

Processing in with my fellow graduates....

My friend and sorority big sis Jessi and I....before graduation

Sigma Kappa Seniors with Mom Char....before graduation

My Last Day

Today was my very last day of student teaching. It was pretty strange walking out the doors after school, knowing that I will most likely never see any of those students again! :(

My second grade teacher and students were sweet enough to get me a good-bye present. She ordered an organization tote, with my name on it, and all the students brought in something to put in the bag. I received pencils, pens, paper, sticky notes, dry-erase markers, highlighters, stickers, and paper clips, along with much more! Each student also drew a picture for me and the teacher bound them into a book. How cool is that?! I tried to upload some of those pictures, but for some reason, blogger keeps turning them sideways and so it's hard to see them. But they are super sweet! I have included pictures of my bag and some of the things in it, along with pictures of a card that I received from one of the girls.

My way cool, super cute organization tote, complete with my name, "Miss G", on it

All of the stuff that was in the bag spread out on the ground...it's alot!

Another picture.....

I also received this cute plaque....

This is the card that one of the girls made for me....the front is not shown because blogger wouldn't load it right, but the front says, "Good bye Ms. G! You taught me alot! I'll miss you because..."

The other side of the inside of the card....super sweet, right?

Anyway, that is that!! I am excited to be done, yet it is weird also! Tomorrow and Friday I will be finishing packing up everything and then Saturday I graduate! Can't wait to see all of you that are coming! :)