I am grateful for...

Today, there's not something specific that I am grateful for, I'm just grateful for today, and everything that it encompassed :)

I had a good heart-to-heart with one of my students, and I feel like we actually reached an understanding; I actually went to the bank and asked about getting pre-approved for a loan (didn't actually get very much information, but hey! I made it to the bank!); I went and hung out with some friends that I haven't seen in a while, and a nice, cute guy came and sat next to me :)

All in all, I came home smiling today, which has been a rare occasion lately

I'm grateful for sleep and for friends

So yesterday I fell asleep at 5:30 pm...so I didn't get to write

But I did get to sleep for about 12 hours, which actually really made a difference in my teaching today...I should really get more sleep in my life!

And today I am really grateful for my friends :) I've had a rough go at life lately, but I'm so grateful for my friends who I can talk to, and they understand and sympathize

I'm grateful for technology

This year marks 10 years since I graduated from high school...which also means that, minus a few months here and there, its been 10 years since I've live at home! I love my independence - I love doing my own thing, making my own decisions, being in charge of my life, but!! I am so incredibly grateful that I can call my mom whenever I want :) I'm grateful that, even though I live hundreds (maybe even thousands...?) of miles away from my parents, I still have the ability to call them, or contact them in various ways, and they can still be my parents, and help me in ways that only a parent could.

I'm grateful for the priesthood

I am sure that, several times, over the course of however long I post the various things that I am grateful for, I will post something that is related to the gospel - possibly several times, and for varying reasons, depending on the circumstances that I find myself in over the course of my life.

But, at this current moment in my life, I am grateful for the priesthood - I am grateful to have a father, and brothers who hold the priesthood, who are worthy do act in God's name here on earth, to do the things that He would do if He were here. I'm grateful for the peace that comes from being able to access the priesthood power in my life. I strive to always have access to the power of the priesthood, and to be worthy to be able to partake of such a gift and blessing.

What am I grateful for?

I've decided to use my blog to post what are the various things that I am grateful for - 1 thing, every day, for...as long as I can keep it up :) 

What am I grateful for today? Today is April 20, 2014 - Easter Sunday 
Today (and for many many days in the recent past) I am extremely grateful for my family; along with that, I'm grateful to know that we are an eternal family. Because Jesus Christ was willing to suffer in the Garden, and die on the cross, and was resurrected again, I have the opportunity to be with my family, not only in this life, but for all eternity. My family is always there for me - when I'm up, when I'm down, when I'm sideways. This year has been rough, and long, and my family, even though they aren't here in the town that I live in, I know that they are only a phone call (or even a 20 min car ride) away. This has been what I've been most grateful for recently, and I have no doubt that I will continue to be immensely grateful for them all for many days, months, and years to come. 

 

FACS

Just as kind of an FYI :) FACS stands for Family and Consumer Sciences; no, it's not missing a T in there to stand for truths, and no, there's not an X at the end instead of a C and an S, so I'm not certified to teach children how to send faxes :) I am certified to teach Family and Consumer Sciences - basically, home ec :D

And the best news of all - I got a job teaching FACS :) I will work for Kearns Jr High in the Granite School District up in Salt Lake City. I get to teach foods (my favorite), teen living, and FACS exploration (its gives the students a taste of the various areas of FACS). It's only part time, but when I think of still getting to teach, and still being able to help these young teenagers learn and grow, and become better people, I'm totally ok with it being part time (at least for now).

For me, that's what teaching is all about: loving the students, helping them to love learning, and helping them prepare to be better people. I know that sounds a little bit funny, but these kids will grow up and join our community of adults, and they need to be able to contribute in a positive way. As parents, teachers, and church leaders, we get to help them reach that ultimate goal.

Ok...I know I'm a nerd, but I love teaching! I love getting to help and guide and care about other people. Just thinking about my classroom and my future students just makes me so happy and so excited! :)

 In ancient times, God spoke to His children through prophets such as Moses and Abraham; today, He still speaks to His children thought prophets. Check out lds.org to find out more

2012...already?!?

When I was a child, time seemed to go by so SLOWLY!!! It felt like forever in between my birthdays, Christmases, and summer vacations. The age old question of a child, "are we there yet" definitely applied to me. Now I cannot believe how quickly time is going! Seriously, wasn't it just Christmas of 2010? Now Christmas of 2011 is over, and it's about time to bring in the new year of 2012! How did I get soo old?! I was born in 1986 (this makes me 25 for all who are wondering...), how did we get out of the 80's, 90's, and the first decade of the 2000's??? Well...here are some highlights from this year:

January - I bought my last textbooks for college!!!
April - My little brother, David, left to serve a mission for the LDS church in Manaus, Brazil; took my last college finals!!!...but still, I have not graduated...
May - my mom and I got to go back to visit my mission :) we went to visit the Enriquez family, the first family that I taught and they got baptized - they are doing so amazingly well!! The son didn't get baptized while I was in that area, but he got baptized a short while later, and his father was able to baptize him; now they are preparing to be sealed together as an eternal family :)
June - my little sister - the youngest in my family - graduated from high school! It was a cool, but weird experience to watch my little baby sister walk across the stage in a cap and gown. For graduation, all she wanted was for us to go on a family vacation to Florida! Sweet! We got to go back and visit the neighborhood where we used to live, eat at our favorite restaurant, and go to Disney World and Harry Potter world!
July - I turned 25, and the final Harry Potter movie came out :) I love Harry Potter! I love magic! I've always thought it would be the coolest thing ever to be able to be able to fly and do magic; reading Harry Potter allowed my imagination to explore those thoughts and make them a reality in my head. The movies were good, too, but definitely not as good as the books.
August - I began my student teaching at Ecker Hills middle school in Park City, Utah; I was afraid to go to the middle school at first, but it turned out to be the best thing ever! I love middle school!!!
October - I finished at the middle school and switched over to Copper Hills high school in West Jordan, Utah; the high school was a totally difficult and more challenging experience, but I learned a lot.
December - I finished my student teaching, turned in my Teacher Work Sample, and graduated from BYU! I was pretty sure that I would never see the day that I was done with college, and could say that I am a college graduate, but it has come! It's definitelly exciting, but it's also really scary...now I have to get a "big girl job" as my friend, Emily C. would say; I know that I can do it, but that still means that I have to convince somebody else that I can do it, and that they should hire me; hopefully I can do that part :)

2012 will, undoubtedly, bring many challenges, many lessons, and many blessings. On my mission, I loved looking at my new planner at the beginning of a transfer and imagining the people and the experiences that would fill it; that's kind of how I feel about the coming of the new year - I don't know what's coming, but I'm excited to find out!
Happy New Year!!

October

October was a bittersweet month...

In October I finished my student teaching at Ecker Hills Middle School up in Park City. I always thought that I would be a high school teacher when all was said and done...middle schoolers made me nervous. But I truly loved the middle schools and teaching those kids! There were so warm and loving, so excited about learning, and at least they were excited about life. I was very sad to leave.

The week right before Halloween, I started at Copper Hill High School out in West Jordan. I'm teaching interior design, clothing1 and sports sewing, and this week, I'll pick up adult roles/financial literacy, and Foods 1. The high schoolers are so different from the middle schoolers - a lot more apathy, less warm and waaay less excited about life and learning...and all that has been really difficult for me. I've decided that I would rather have to discipline the middle schoolers and calm them down a bit than motivate the high schoolers.
Don't get me wrong - there are some high schoolers that are super cute, and sweet, and I guess I should just focus on those ones and make the next 3 1/2 weeks focused on them, and life will be better.

Halloween was fun; I really wanted to be Elphaba from Wicked...I actually wanted to be her last year, but I couldn't find any green tights, so I settled for being a Christmas tree (I know...kinda lame...); but this year, I found the green tights!!!! I was sooo excited!!!! So excited actually, that I forgot to really pay attention to what size they were... :/
We had a stake Halloween party for my YSA stake, and so I curled my hair, put on my clothes, and then put on my tights...only to realize that they weren't long enough - they only went to about my butt...but it was the night of the party, and I didn't have time to go find another costume, and I really wanted to be Elphaba, so I found some safety pins, and pinned the tights to my other clothing and set out the door. This might have been fine...until I had to sit down in my car to drive to the party...and then the party was a dance, and the jumping around was...well, definitely not good for my situation...needless to say I only stayed for about an hour, and then I left and promptly took off the tights.
I did get to dress up for school, but I wasn't going to risk my tights falling down in high school...so I got footie pajamas instead, put my hair in pigtails and went as a little kid. It was fun - I really like that costume (which is why, in the last 7 years, that's been my costume for 3, and the 2 years I was on my mission, I didn't dress up...)

In other news, in 3 1/2 weeks, I'll be a college graduate!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm soo excited!! Mostly I'm excited to be done, and that I'll be able to say that I did this, but the idea of getting a "big girl" job is VERY frightening to me...I'll keep you guys posted; hopefully by the next time I blog, I will have applied to a few jobs...

Wish me luck!

Great plan...failure

So I had this great plan to update my blog once a month, and share what I did that month; so all throughout July (since June was the last month I blogged in) I took awesome pictures of the things that I was doing; but then life happened, and before I knew it, August was over, and now September is, and I'm just getting around to this :/

July was a pretty good month; my brother, sister-in-law, and I did a 5k for the 4th of July (I know, I never thought I would have the motivation to do this either...) It wasn't too bad; I had great plans to train for it, but that never happened, but I did the 5K! I finished it! It was also my birthday in July! I love birthdays :) We went and saw the final Harry Potter installment for my birthday - if you haven't already seen it, you need to!! It's sooo good :)



August was a fast month - I moved up to Lehi, started my student teaching (not as nerve wracking as I heard, but still very busy), and my sister came to college!! It was a good month :)

September has been kind of a catch up month; student teaching has been very busy, and very occupying of most of my time.

Well, hopefully October will be a fruitful month, and I'll actually write about something fun and exciting :)