TEACHER WEEK: WHO?!

HELLO!!!  IT'S ELYSE JAHNKE HERE FROM THE BRANKE BUNCH BLOG!!!  I am so excited to participate in my first BACK TO SCHOOL link party!! :-)  Here is the agenda for the week:

So today is...

My name is Elyse.  I always tell people to remember it by thinking "A LEASE" as in "A LEASE ON A CAR".  Then... just picture me on a car! :-D

(MAN... I love PicMonkey!)

This is my 7th year teaching (HOLY COW), and my 5th year in 5th!!  

FAMILY:

I have the best husband in the world!  Although we have just been married for four years, we just celebrated our 12 (I think?!) year anniversary of when we started dating!  (We are high school sweethearts!)

Here is us at our wedding:

...and here is us a little less fancy!

I also have the most amazing parents!  They just celebrated their 30th Wedding Anniversary!  They taught me everything I know about true love!! :-)  Both of them are still always there from me.  They are why I could never move away from Michigan... I need having them 10 minutes away at any given moment!

I grew up with two siblings -- a brother, Eric, and a sister, Jamie.  I am the oldest.  My brother is 25 and my sister is 21.  My bro is living in New York now... MISS YOU!  My sis is going into her senior year at the University of Michigan.  I love them both beyond words!!!

Here is my whole fam together including my brother's gf and sister's bf:

I also L-O-V-E, LOVE my inlaws!  Like I said before, my hubby and I are high school sweethearts... so I have known my inlaws since I was a kid!!!  THEY ARE AMAZING!

Here is me with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law:

Here I am with my hubby and little brothers-in-law:

Here I am with my father-in-law, step-mother-in-law, and brother-in-laws:

Friends

I love that I have a group of friends who I have known since I was a little girl!  Most of my best friends are people I went to grade school with!  Although we live all over the country now, we still have a blast every time we are together!

Here are my bridesmaids.  I know these girls from various parts of my life.  I love them all so much!

Then I have my teacher friends.  These are my friends who I see more than anyone else.  These are the friends who understand my day-to-day problems.  These are the people who are there for me every single day--in and out of work!  I am so lucky to have the best work friends in the world!!!  VIKING LOVE!!!

Things I LOVE

DANCE

I grew up as a dancer.  I L-O-V-E, LOVE to dance!  I now lead our school dance group and the staff dance group for talent show. I also DANCE MY TAIL OFF at weddings! :-D

SHOES

I LOVE SHOES!  I'm known at my school for my shoes.  The higher, the better!  :-D  Here are some of my favorite shoes that I have:

BOOKS

I LOVE BOOKS!  More specifically... I love buying books.  Even more specifically... I love buying books for my classroom.  It's kind of an obsession.  I love having the best classroom library in the school.  I love having the hottest books on the market.  I love that my obsession rubs off on my kiddies!!!  Here's a small peek into my classroom library:

COOKING

I LOVE to cook!  I love to EAT, too!  Food channel is my favorite channel!  I love making plates look pretty and hosting parties!  :-)  Here is a collage of some of the meals or dishes I have cooked:

TEACHING

I love lots of things... but of course, I LOVE TEACHING!  I love being with the kids, I love creating, I love education!  I LOVE IT ALL!  I wrote this poem to express why I love teaching so much:

Well that's enough about me for now!  I'll be back tomorrow to tell you more about WHERE I teach!!! :-D

CHECK OUT MORE BACK TO SCHOOL POSTS AT BLOG HOPPIN'!!

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WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT ME?!?!?  Check out my "MEET THE BLOGGER TEACHER" post!