Christmas Trees... Past and Present

As an update to my last post let me just say that the Lord is always there for you. I think I wrote that post in a last measure of desperation to make the pain go away and it worked! I'm happy for him and haven't really given him much thought in the past week or two. There has been too much going on. Everything is hunky dory and life is kinda fantastic right now, minus the fact that I haven't seen my students in almost a week. Darn you Thanksgiving break. I miss them!!!.

Now onto the newest chapter of the Story of My Life. This past week was Thanksgiving (obviously) and so the next day inevitably involved...

Putting up the Christmas tree!

If you thought I was going to say shopping then you must not know me very well. I am not against the whole Black Friday thing, I'm just not an avid participator.
Back to the Christmas tree... I have been the owner of a REAL Christmas tree every year since living on my own. Said Christmas trees have also been named and loved like a pet. Let's go back and reminisce...

ALEXANDER '08

This fella came from the side of a mountain near Holden, Utah. Kaylie and I stomped through mud for hours to find him and chop him down. And then we epically got lost carrying him down the mountain and came out of the clearing a mile too far. It was a lot of work but sooo worth it. He turned our house into a home.

JAMES (JIMMY) '09

My new roommates and I couldn't find a time to go tree huntin' all together so we decided to hunt for one at a nearby lot instead of the mountains. It was only fitting that since our house was the Peach Palace, we name him James (as in James and the Giant Peach). But just for kicks and giggles we called him Jimmy. He was quite the looker. You can read more about him here.

DARLA '10
Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of Darla :'( This is due to the fact that some young men (I will allow them to remain anonymous) decided to break into our apartment, kidnap her, and drag her across the parking lot into their own apartment, ornaments and all. They didn't even have the decency to water her. Needless to say she didn't survive very long. We still kept her until Christmas but she was dead as a doornail.

HAROLD '11

Harold (Hark, the 'Harold' Angels Sing) is my smallest tree yet and most expensive (darn you rising prices) but I still love him. For the first time every I am reusing decorations. These were all from Darla but seeing as she didn't use them much, I decided to save some money and reuse them. The finishing touch on this little guy would be the Welcome sign. The Lehi Reams is closing :'( and I found it on sale for $5. I had to get it. It has been sitting in my room with nowhere to go for a while now. After Harold was decorated my roommate and I began the search for a tree topper. What to my wandering eyes should appear, but a welcome sign ready to sit up top here. It works perfect and adds the perfect western touch. I love it!
Yes, he doesn't have lights on him yet, but don't you worry. I'll get those on once my parents bring out their decor and excess lights. I know, it's backwards. But when do I ever do anything in the right order? :)

Yay for Christmas lights, Christmas smells, Christmas sounds, and Christmas trees!!!

I'm Going To Be Obnoxiously Open About My Life

I'm writing this not because I want pity, not because all I ever talk about is the drama of my love life (because thus far, I've steared clear of that topic). I'm writing this because unfortunately it has been the story of my life for the past little while.

The Summary:
I dated a guy pretty seriously for the past 5 months. Serious enough that we were talking about getting married. The more we talked about it, the more I felt Heavenly Father's disapproval and my own disapproval stronger and stronger. So right before Halloween I ended it. It was one of the hardest things I have ever done. How do you explain to someone that you love them but you get a bad feeling about being with them. Those are two contradicting statements! Amazingly however, I felt really good afterwards. As much as I missed him, I finally felt the peace in my life that I had been missing for so long. Note to self: Your first year of teaching is the wrong time to decide to get rid of your only social life. You don't get much of a chance to meet new people when you spend all day with second graders and all night with your laptop planning lessons and such. Needless to say, I've been a loner for the past little while.
I thought I was going to get lucky and would squeak by with a somewhat easy post-break up. The peace I felt made everything so easy. Then I found last week (3 weeks later) that said old boyfriend is now engaged to the girl of his dreams. My life has been a wreck ever since. Remember when I said I loved him? That didn't just go away because I didn't feel right about us. I still love him. At first, I was upset because I was in love with someone who was engaged to someone else. That felt so wrong! Then I was upset that I was still in love with this guy and it was affecting me. I'm an independent person and I hate admitting that something or someone can bother me. So here I am world, admitting that something is affecting me and I'm not as strong as I wanted to be. It sucks. Big Time. Luckily for me, I have some great family and friends who have helped me ignore everything that I have been feeling inside lately.

The Cure
My biggest distraction: School. I am loving it more and more. My students are starting to give me proof that I am actually teaching them something!!! The average score on our last math test was 8 out of 9!!!
I have also learned the application of the following quote:
“When we treat people merely as they are, they will remain as they are. When we treat them as if they were what they should be, they will become what they should be. ”
― Thomas S. Monson, Pathways to Perfection: Discourses of Thomas S. Monson
One day I wondered why I didn't seem to have any of those sweet, angelic students I hear about and then this quote came to mind. So I have been treating my students as if they are angels and it's working! They have turned into the sweetest little class ever!
I have another meeting with the other interns all day tomorrow and I am seriously depressed. I don't get to see my students AND I had to write sub plans. Seriously, the worst.
Can I tell you how glad I am that I chose this profession? It's the best! The teachers I work with are so much fun and the students are adorable. A few precious examples:
- Last week I had a little girl bring a figurine of a woman she made with beads. "Miss Wood" she said, "It's you! I made it for you!" Yep, it made my day!
- I also had a parent come in last week to pick up his child and told me that his son never stops talking about how much he LOVES his teacher. How cute!
- Today, I was finally organized enough to send math homework home for the first time in a week and one student said, "Miss Wood! Do we have math homework tonight?" "Yes," I replied. Her response: "Yay! I love math homework!" Three students nearby heartily agreed with her.
I think I just might be doin' something right :)

Some Thoughts on the First Day of School...

After the shortest month of August I can ever remember, school started up yesterday. I wish I could explain the anxiety and anticipation I was feeling Wednesday night and Thursday morning, but I don't think it's possible. Let me just say this: imagine every knot you have felt in your stomach, every important job interview you have had, and every twist and lurch in your stomach as you entered the world's wildest roller coaster. Times that by ten and you come close to what I was feeling.

I have never put my life so wholly into something before. It finally feels good to see it start paying off. Let me just say, even after two days it has started paying off. I have already received four thank-you/love notes from students and numerous small gifts and hugs from them as well.

It hasn't come easy. That's for sure. Before school even started I had a couple emotional breakdowns over silly things as some of my accumulation of anxiety and stress revealed itself.
No sane person breaks out in tears because they forget about cleaning checks or because their car overheats for the first time.

One of the hardest parts about the first day of school is most definitely back-to-school night. I had numerous parents enter my classroom and give me 'the look', the look that means they think I am way too young to be teaching their child and they want to know why their child got stuck with the teacher that doesn't even look old enough to be done with high school. For most interns this isn't a problem because they are married and they have the pleasure of sticking a Mrs. before their name. For Lauren and I (the other 2nd grade intern) we are stuck with the youthful Miss in front of our name leading parents to believe that we aren't old enough or experienced enough to be their child's teacher. Lucky us. (I had some students ask me today if I was in high school or college. I asked them why they thought that and they said it was because I wasn't married. They said if I was done with college then I should be married and have kids. I told them my mom sometimes tells me the same thing).

Having said that I must say that I love the parent community of Heber City! ALL of the parents are involved in their child's education. They all want to help out in any way possible and they want to help you help their child. Not in a pushy, hovering way but in a "let's work together to help Johnny succeed" kind of way. It's soooooo helpful and encouraging. I have a great group of kids and an even better group of parents.

Halfway through the first day of school, I finished reading a story to my class and looked around the room for their teacher to let her take over teaching her class. Then I realized I was the teacher. A little frightening and intimidating? Yes. But do you know what brought me back to reality? 22 little faces staring at me like I held all the answers to the universe.

Note to self: Sometimes hot is too hot. Our school doesn't have an efficient A/C. By 10:00 a.m. we are all sweating even with the fan on. By 3:20, no one has any energy to move. I never thought I'd say this but autumn, please come soon!!!

Many people have asked my why I am working in Heber and still living in Provo. Long commute they say, scary winter driving they say, but I say THERAPY. Driving through Provo Canyon is therapeutic and it's only going to get better as the fall comes and brings it's blankets of red, orange, and yellow. All summer while driving up, Lauren and I have discussed stopping to smell the daisies. K, really it's the wild sunflowers (or whatever they're called) and we don't want to smell them, just take pictures with them. So we decided our first day of school was the perfect day to do so.

My Classroom:
It doesn't look like I did much, but this, my friends, is three weeks worth of spending all day decorating, laminating, cutting, stapling, designing and everything else in between.

Morning Calendar

Library

Desks

Star Student Board/My Desk

Birthdays/Job Chart

Please Excuse My Absence

I have done some back-to-school shopping like you've never seen it done before. I would love to tell you all about it, but every time I sit down at a computer my to-do list runs through my mind and I get deterred from my blog because school starts in LESS THAN 3 WEEKS!!!

Who knows when I'll have time again. Hopefully it will be sooner than later.

Some Folks to Share My Summer With

The 4th of July was so much fun to celebrate with the Haymore's again. Last time they were here Garrett was just a few weeks old.

What is my favorite part about my neice and nephews? The fact that they are so darn stinkin' cute! My sister really knows how to dress her kids. Here is Evelyn sporting her independence outfit during the parade.

With the upcoming school year approaching, my to-do list has been getting bigger and bigger and so the time came for me to quit my job to allow for more time. I have never been so sad to leave a job. I have been working at MultiLing for over three years now (which is a lot for a college job) and have been so blessed. It was the perfect student job: professional, flexible, non-stressful (most of the time), and a decent salary. I count my lucky stars (k, really I just give thanks to my Heavenly Father) for blessing me so much. Here are a few of the lovely ladies that have been my support and friends during my time there. Thank you MultiLing!

Speaking of jobs, Christi stopped in Utah for a little bit and so we got together with Charisse at the good 'ol Creamery! Can't believe that was three summers ago that we all worked together. Unfortunately Jacqui has dropped off the face of the planet (moved to Minnesota) and could not join us but it was good to catch up on all of the good times the four of us had not only while working but also at our weekly Girls' Nights.

Remember how my dad and I go to country concerts more and more often? We decided to go to some more. The Scera Shell is the best place to find good country concerts for way cheap! Last year we went and saw John Michael Montgomery. This year there are/were two fantastic concerts lined up: Mark Wills/Mark Chesnut and Sawyer Brown.
Since the tickets are so cheap we got some amazing ones: second row, front and center (I know, amazing, right?) What a night! Ugh, I hate trying to blog about concerts because there are no words that can describe a good country concert and what it makes you feel. I'm not going to even try so let me just direct you to the words of Kendra (who was so kind enough to join my pops and I on such an enjoyable evening) to help explain what a good country concert can do... click here. Okay, really. You have to click there so that you can read about the awesome picture we got that could only happen if you were on row 2!

Mark Chesnut & Mark Wills

Mark Wills

Me & Kendra LEANING ON THE STAGE!!!

Some things I have loved about having the Haymores back in Utah: EVERYTHING!!!
I'm so sorry that none of you can have nieces and nephews as cute as mine because they ARE the cutest. We are all enjoying being able to play with them again including Grandpa (my dad). He is Garrett's favorite toy. My dad was always a tough guy when it came to raising kids. Bedtime was bedtime. No exceptions. Unless your name is Garrett. Now my dad turns into a big soft marshmallow around bedtime and would do anything for that little boy.
The other day he got his four-wheeler out and became the boys' new best friend as he took them around for a ride.

What else do we love about having the Haymores back? Messy faces.
This particular afternoon's artwork was a conglomeration of Cheetos and cotton candy. Yum!



Oh, and this is a random picture I took of the sky on campus because it was just too blue to not get a picture of it. No photoshop folks, that was really what the sky and mountains looked like.

Reflections

My bestest friend, Lindsay, invited me to go wedding dress shopping with her yesterday. It was so much fun and caused me to reflect on how we had gotten to this point...

Let me explain.

There are 6 of us...

Lindsay - Kaija - Amelia - Kaylie- Steffanie - Me

These girls are my heart and soul.

I met Lindsay first. The second semester of my sophomore year of high school we had P.E. and dance together right after each other. I distinctly remember Amanda Bench introducing me to her friend Lindsay. On the first day, Lindsay came up to me and said, "Hey! You're Amanda's friend! We have two classes together right after each other! We are going to be great friends!" At the time I thought she was the craziest, friendliest person ever. I was right. She is. :) What a girl! She has been there and listened to every boy story I have ever lived through. She was there listening and understanding when things between my dad and I would get rough. She asked me to do a duet with her and invited me to be in my first piano recital ever. And together we conquered the wild on a camping trip that will go down in history. Every day she urges me on to new limits. I love her!

Next came Kaija. I don't remember the moment I met Kaija. She was just always there! I think she had a ballroom class with my friend, Katelyn, and that's when I started to get to know her better. But then there was that moment I found out her favorite movie was "Spirit", she had the soundtrack, and her room was decorated with horses. Yep, we became instant friends. Her dedication and organization in life amazes me. She is literally the person that has kept us sane all these years and kept us out of trouble. She is the mastermind behind planning everything we do. I don't know how she puts up with us, but I'm glad she does. Kaija was the one who inspired me to finally move out. She offered me a room in her house in Provo where I made some of my best college memories that will never be forgotten. When I found out a close friend had passed away, she was the first one there to hug, comfort, and listen to me cry and cry and cry. Kaija is also my fellow cougar. She saved my life freshman year when she took time out of her schedule to meet up and eat lunch with me. I love her!

Amelia came next. We had P.E. together with Katelyn my junior year. It was a class of 20 guys and about 5 girls and I remember how all she talked about was boys. Haha, that is still all she talks about. We got along great but didn't become close friends until Kaylie started dating her cousin during our senior year. That's when she became the last missing piece to our sisterhood of the six. Amelia is never afraid to meet new people. In fact, she loves it and she's so good at it! Amelia is my fellow dancer: Always willing to go to zumba or dance classes together and willing to spend nights cramped in our front room choreographing a duet just for the fun of it. Amelia knows what she wants and doesn't settle for less. I love it! She is dedicated to her family and the gospel. She has been the best example of attending the temple on a consistent, regular basis no matter what. I love her!

Kaylie. What can I say about Kaylie. I had never met someone so friendly, so caring, and so dedicated to the gospel. Even though she is the youngest she was always the mom of the group. Taking care of us, feeding us, and making sure we were alright. But she has the sense of adventure of a four year old. Everything was exciting to her. Oh, how I miss those days driving around in the green van all over town. And our days together at the peach palace? They were epic. Including (but not limited to) puddle jumping, tree climbing, late night pudding snacks, all-nighters and so much more. Kaylie is a great listener. She will listen and will sympathize with you but then will always tell you what she thinks. I love her! Kaylie suffered through summers of 7 peaks supervisor responsibilities with me and who can forget our Friday night sleepovers? Every Friday for a year. Yep, she's the best. I love her!

Last, but certainly not least, comes Steff. To be honest, Steff and I were good friends but I never got really close with her until we were roommates. Then, I discovered what I had been missing out on for so long. In her quiet, sweet way, Steff lived and loved the gospel in a way I had never witnessed before. She has been a better example of Christ-like love for others than anyone I have ever met. She also taught me what it means to be clean. She put up with so much from me and with the biggest heart ever. She stood by my side through everything, and was always there for me even in the trials that seemed minuscule and pointless to everyone else (and most likely were minuscule and pointless). She is a great example of staying healthy and being self-reliant. She motivated and trained me to do my first triathlon-ish. She even helped my mom start training and getting into running (My mom just ran a marathon). Steff loves learning and is always trying to better herself however she can. Learning doesn't come easy to her and yet she still does all she can to learn as much as she can. What a girl. I love her!

I can't even think of mentioning these girls without mentioning their parents. Truly and literally I have 6 sets of parents. How lucky am I? This was actually super beneficial in high school when I got sick of my own parents. These 6 sets of parents have loved me, guided me, and supported me in the choices I make.

Really, could anyone ask for more? I look back at the moments in my life where I was frustrated and feeling down because things weren't going my way and I was feeling like I deserved more blessings than I was getting and I think to myself, "HELLO!!! You are so blessed!!!" Because of these girls, I will never feel alone. I will always have someone there for me and I will always belong somewhere. I had a recent discussion with someone about whether or not it is possible to have more than one best friend. He debated that it was not possible. That you may enjoy your friends a lot, but you can only have one that you are more close to than anyone else. I disagreed. I feel like together, the 6 of us make one complete person. I can't love one more than the other. Yeah, there are times when I see some of them more than others but we are all still just as close to each other.

So where are we all now?

Lindsay just graduated from USU with a bachelor's in Elementary Education and will be getting married in November.

Kaija has been married for two and half years now. (Wow, that flew by fast!) Her and Josh have a little (sorta) German Shepherd named Maya.

Amelia just got married in May to Nate Riske. (our friend from high school whom she hadn't met til this January). Except for the summer time, she teaches preschool.

Kaylie has been married for a year and half to her high school sweetheart, Spencer and they now have a little baby boy, Sterling. What a cutie pie!

Steffanie is serving an ASL mission in Nauvoo, IL. She gets back mid September and will be studying deaf studies at UVU.

In a nutshell... these girls are my heart and soul.

Visitors!

Joseph came into town for a couple days to do some job searching and test taking. We were so excited to have him come but realized we would be even happier if he could bring one of the kids with him! Garrett is still young enough to be a lap rider and old enough to handle life without mom so the two of them packed their bags and headed to Utah!

They came right in the middle of midterms and projects so unfortunately I didn't get to see them as much as I would have liked. I did, however, get to pick them up from the airport so I got to see them on Sunday! I didn't even recognize Garrett when I saw him. He has grown so much since I last saw him in July!

In even better news, Joseph's army paperwork went through faster than expected. THEY ARE MOVING BACK IN A WEEK!!!! Steph, I can't wait to go shopping with you again, and come babysit the little ones, and talk about life, and do everything else that we haven't been able to do for a year and a half!

Garrett's slam-dunk (with a slight assistance from Dad)

Garrett's favorite toy at Grandma's was still there... the old truck

And as a side note, I can't help but show the amazing talent that my sister, Becca, has. She 'doodled' this on the drive down to Holden this weekend.

Garrett and Joseph Are Coming!!!

I just found out and I'm at work so I can't scream out loud. This is me screaming out loud:
YYYYYYYYAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Joseph is coming out for a job test/interview of sorts this Sunday and HE IS BRINGING GARRETT WITH HIM!

I just can't wait!!!!!

That is all.
:)

System Overload

I had my first intern meeting last Friday and I'm so excited!

Pretty much they just dumped everything on us that we need to have done by August.

A little overwhelming? Most Definitely!

A little exciting? Most Definitely!

I met with all my advisers for next year and they are sweethearts! I love them all! I can't wait to work with them some more and get to know them real well.

I was a little nervous about being an intern next year and not being prepared or ready for it. After meeting with everybody, I feel so much more prepared and equipped to do this. They are going to be there every step of the way and they are going to make sure I am prepared. To start me off on the right foot they even sent me home with all this stuff!!! I feel just a little bit more than blessed right now.

A couple good reads for new teachers,
example writer's workshop notebook,
ideas for classroom community, and notebook/pen gift


File folder holder AND all the teaching resources
you could ever ask for all filed away!


Compliment/concern buckets (that we got to make),
talking stick (that we get to decorate),
big eraser (for really big mistakes),
and sticky notes (you can never have enough)


A pre-made literacy game to be used for centers!!!

I definitely feel a lot more prepared and ready to handle this internship now. I still have A LOT to do this summer and A LOT to learn, but I feel ready to take on the challenge.

For the first time ever I will also be spending my summer on campus. I am going to school full time both semesters and thus far I am swamped with too much to do and not enough time to do it. Oh well, I guess that's the story of life and I've heard it doesn't get much better. Might as well learn to cope with and enjoy it now.

On a side note, I just had to include this picture. I came home from school the other day to find that all my horses had been stolen right out of my room! (Yes, I still decorate my room in horse figurines) That night, these girls came riding through our front door to Rascal Flats returning the items that they had taken to 'play' with. Oh how I love my neighbors!!!

please note that they ARE wearing my
smaller horses tied around their necks

New Favorite Radio Station

I don't know how I stumbled upon it but I happened upon the church's new radio station: radio.lds.org. I love listening to it at work! It has all kinds of music, programs, and good thoughts that help lighten my day at work. They do a lot of interview programs that involve interviewing people about things they do or experience in their life that can encourage us (the listeners) in our lives. It has done so much to draw me closer to my Savior and constantly help me refocus my life. What a great blessing it is to be able to have so much at our fingertips!

Cool Story:
While listening to the program, "Enduring It Well", I heard them begin to tell the life summary of their next guest for the program: Harold Wood, born in Holden, taught math, son of a postman, works in the Jordan River temple... and I thought to myself, "Hey! I know that guy! It's my Great-Uncle Allen! (My grandpa's brother) How cool is that!?! So I listened to the program as they interviewed him about coping with loneliness. It was great to be able to hear him talk about being single and elderly and staying involved in the gospel. He's such a great example.

For those of you that would like to listen to his interview, you can find it here.
It is Episode 13 - We Travel Not Alone - Harold Wood

Ready To Be Done

Today was the last day of classes.

For some of the girls in my cohort it was their last day of classes. Ever.

Oh, how I long to be in their shoes. Unfortunately, I still have 13 credits worth of classes to take care of during the spring/summer :(

While my fellow cohorts are closing up their last semester of classes, I look forward to two more terms during the summer :(

Isn't life miserable?

No, not really.

As I was pondering upon why I have to go to school spring and summer while my peers are done I thought back to the classes that I have taken. Do you know what I discovered? While my friends were all taking care of flex classes (classes to be taken any time during the El Ed program) I was busy taking dance classes. That's right. My extra semester of school in the summer has been caused by the opportunity I had to do something I LOVE. Looking back now as I face one more semester of school, I am glad I made the choice to continue in dance. I don't regret it and I would have done it again in a heartbeat.

Oh, how I wish I could dance still. Darn you, busy schedule! :(

So thus are my ponderous thoughts as another semester comes to a close.

George and Reba (Oh yeah, Lee Ann too)

I GOT TO SEE THEM!!!

I really have no words to describe the awesomeness of this concert. All I can say is if you took every possible moment of good music and extended it to be four hours long. that might come close to what my Saturday night was like.

The entire show was perfect. Reba is quite the character. You can tell she loves performing and she is soooo good at it. She plays around as she sings and enjoys herself. I loved it! For "Does He Love You" she brought Lee Ann back onto stage to sing it with her and it was indescribable, sooo incredible, and unrepeatable. Right before singing "Survivor" (the theme song for the show 'Reba') Barbara Jean came running onto the stage wearing a George Strait shirt and a Utah Jazz cape. It was HILARIOUS. They interacted with each other on stage just like on the show and it had everyone laughing. Reba's ultimate shining moment was her last song. She left the stage quite abruptly without warning while the beginning of the "Fancy" music video played. All of a sudden a big, plastic taxi was driving towards the stage and out stepped Reba in her red dress. I couldn't believe she was able to change so fast! It was the perfect ending to a perfect performance.
Then came King George!!! Augh!!! It was just ________________ (no words to describe it). Couple things about this concert compared to the last:
1. He seemed in a better mood tonight. Two years ago he stood on the stage and sang the songs. Saying only enough to introduce the next song. Saturday night he was joking and laughing and being a lot more animated when he sang. I can't decided which version of him I like better. Oh wait, I know. BOTH! No matter how entertaining he feels like being, his music is just down right AWESOME!!!
2. He spent a lot more time singing songs from his new album. In fact, he sang all but four of them, I think. Sorry, not really important info. Just goes to show that all of his songs, new and old, are the classics! His all-time best song, hands-down is from the movie, Pure Country: I Cross My Heart. It's a favorite in our family, so as soon as he struck the first chord of it, I called up my mom (it was 11:00 at night) and everyone back home gathered round as they all listened in on speaker phone. They were all waiting up to hear it. I hope everyone enjoyed listening.

So I can't continue talking about my weekend without mentioning General Conference.

It was kinda incredible to have two of my favorite events going on during one weekend. This conference was just as great as the others. Although there were a lot of good talks, my favorite part of conference was just the spirit that comes with it. I have to admit that it was a little difficult to go to the G&R concert because I knew the spirit wouldn't be there (NOT saying it was a dark and scary place, just saying that listening to G&R is a different spirit then listening to GC). Up in Salt Lake, my dad and I ran into a lot of priesthood-meeting-goers and it made me remember how incredible the spirit is when you are walking around temple square during conference.

Do you know what the absolute best part about conference is? Unlike, the G&R concert, I can go back and listen to it anytime I want to! I love that the very next day, the entire conference is posted on lds.org and I can listen to it all over again while I am at work or doing anything else. It is a good feeling to be able to go and listen to anything I missed or didn't get the chance to really appreciate.

Introducing.... Miss Wood

Hello Friends,

This is a photo of my new home for next year. Say hello to JR Smith Elementary in Heber, UT. Guess what folks, I GOT AN INTERNSHIP!!!

I'm so excited and nervous that I don't know whether to shout for joy or hide in a hole so that they cant' find me. Can you believe it? Me, a teacher, in my own classroom, with my own students, listening to their new teacher, me. AUGH!!!! I'm only slightly afraid of ruining these kids lives permanently but the other side of me is so excited to finally have my own classroom where I can figure things out for myself and just love the kids.

So here's the story:

After learning that I wouldn't be able to teach in Orderville, my life became full of questions and options. What do I do now? I could still apply for an internship or I could do student teaching. Here's the difference: an internship is teaching your own classroom all year long earning half of a teacher's salary. Student Teaching is, well, being a student teacher. You are in another teacher's classroom for a term learning how to be a teacher and then you go to another teacher's classroom and do it again for another term.

There were so many factors going into this decision. There were finances, graduation dates, transportation, housing, student loans, ability to work, and other things. Way too many to process at one point. So, I hit my knees and I prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed. I didn't think I was getting any answers and my time was getting short. I had to sign up for an interview on Monday and still no answer. I figured I would just interview and then decide afterwards. Now came the question as to which district. I had two mind: Nebo and Wasatch. As I was flipping through the district information packet, something about Wasatch just felt like home. So I signed up for an interview there.

Last night I started to get sick with anxiety. I have never been more nervous in my life. Why was I nervous? I wasn't even sure if I wanted to do an internship yet. Here's why I was nervous: I am afraid of failure. My whole life I have made up excuses to avoid admitting to people that I have failed at something. I was afraid of admitting to people that I wasn't as good as my peers who got internships. Ridiculous, right?

So there I was, sick to my stomach (which was empty because it couldn't hold anything down) and sitting at the end of a long table with four principals smiling back at me and asking me questions about my strengths and weaknesses of teaching. Surprisingly, I felt pretty good about how it went. But that was just my opinion. I could have been talking gibberish the whole time and getting weird looks from them and would have had no idea because I was so nervous!

After leaving the building, I should have regained my nerves, right? WRONG!!! All of a sudden, the thought ran through my head: "What if they actually gave me an internship? That would make me a teacher. Am I ready to be a teacher? What if I fail as a teacher and they are stuck with me all year?" The nerves came right back and I wanted to throw up again.

Around 3, I got the call. My phone rang and it was a '435' number. My stomach did about ten flips and I answered the phone. It was Mr. Brown, a principal, asking me questions about what kind of horses I like to ride. Seriously!?! Now was not the time to be talking to me about horses, now is the time to put my stomach at ease!!! (Don't get me wrong, I do appreciate his efforts to be friendly and interested in my life) Finally, he got to the point of the phone call. He told me that he wanted to offer me a position teaching at his elementary school, J. R. Smith Elementary!!!! It was at this point that I realized that my prayer had been answered. I definitely knew that I couldn't have done what I did during my interview on my own and I would never have picked Wasatch so quickly on my own.

So that's it folks, that is the story of me and my new teaching career. Actually, there are more details to the story but I realize that my engagement level at this point is quite low so I'll leave you with just this.

New Meaning to Ups and Downs

I have heard from numerous el ed teachers that teaching is always full of ups and downs and you learn to savor the few, precious moments that occur... much like motherhood. I believed them. I believed that teaching could be difficult and there would be times when I would ask myself why I am doing this because I would be so frustrated with the students. Haha, I was so naive. I had no idea what they were talking about.

For the past month I have been teaching in a 6th grade classroom. My teaching partner and I have been responsible for the education of 34 twelve year olds for four weeks now. Augh!!!

After teaching first grade, I thought this would be so easy. I have a twelve year old sister so trying to connect with the kids would be no problem. As far as I was concerned, I would make them think I was extremely "cool" and get them to follow my every command. (I'm having a hard time not laughing out loud as I write this) Let me just say, it doesn't work that way. I have learned the power of fear and respect. I have quickly learned that you cannot earn respect from 6th graders, you have to demand respect from them (especially the male gender).

So I spent the first two weeks of my teaching demanding respect from the students and making sure they knew that when I said something they better do it. After two weeks it was coming but not very well. (What else could 'stop talking' possibly mean other than don't talk!?!) Then one day, I found the missing ingredient. I taught a lesson on brainstorming ideas for their next writing assignment, an event with a family member. For the lesson I wrote all of my family members names up on the board and told the students they could ask me anything they liked about any family member. By the end of the lesson, I had all the students pretty much eating out of my hand. They wanted to hear every detail of the George Strait concert that my dad and I went to. It was great and I was loving every minute of it.

The next day, my management improved tenfold! I had established my expectations and the need to respect me, but I had shown them that I was an actual person with a life story and I wanted to share that with them and have fun in the process. This, my dear friends, was the upside of teaching. I was so excited that I had figured out how to be a teacher and I was actually getting good at it. I had finally rediscovered my desire to be a teacher again.

Well, apparently I needed a lesson in humility. The next week I got sick and had to miss school for one day. When I got back the students had done a complete 180. Or maybe it was me. I'm not really sure. All I know is that before I was sick, I was on a teaching roll. When I came back, the students had lost all and any respect/relationships I had earned/built with them. And here comes the downs again. I have now spent the last couple days battling with my students and myself to get back to where I was. It is so hard!!!

The moral of the story: Teachers and mothers are right when they say you have to cling to EVERY good moment that you have. Every time I get discouraged and want to give up on teaching I have to remind myself of that small window of time when the students and I were getting along and all was working out well.

As a side note, I got the sweetest note from one of my students today who told me how sad she would be when I leave this week and how much she wants to be a teacher just like me. Just one more 'small moment' to hold onto.

A Slight Catastophe

I had all these pictures to upload from my birthday to help you all see how fantabulous it was, but when I went to take my memory card out of my phone it was gone!!! I've dropped my phone multiple times in the past couple of days and I am assuming it fell out one of those times. :( So I have lost my photos, my videos, my ringtones, a few numbers, and other such things. :( This includes my favorite video of Benjamin dancing and saying"mmm, mmm, mmm" and all my photos from my birthday. :( Yes, this is just a slight catastrophe, :( And yes I am quite sad over it. :(

So I guess I will rely on your visualizing reading skills and my imagery writing skills to see if we can make this work...

Pretty much my birthday consisted of everyone spoiling me and showing me how much they really know me.

I woke up early to a breakfast of delicious waffles with strawberries and whipped cream from my lovely roommates. They also stayed up late the night before putting a birthday sign in my bathroom and decorating the kitchen with balloons and streamers. My favorite part was that they drew pictures on the balloons that represented me: such as a horse, boots and a cowboy hat, a ballerina, and a good lookin' cowboy winking his eye at me. How fantastic!!! To top off the morning, my dear sister, Heather, arranged to have our entire FHE group write me cards and sweet notes the night before and she put them into a larger card. Some of the notes were so fantastic, I just have to include a few...

- "I am not a grate writer, sew eye will just list pertinent things: watching you and Heather argue/have tiffs/admit you love each other, forgetting to resond to my texts, being the best co-chair ever..."

- "You have been such an example to me, probably more than you know (even thought you are opposed to having dogs in the house)..."

- "I have been informed that today is the anniversary of the day that you came into this world. How happy I am that this event transpired.."

- " I just want to say I'm glad that you were born. Welcome to being 22!"

- "Dear Terry/Terri/Tessie, I love you, even though you wouldn't rub my head while I was brain damaged. You're officially 4 years older than me."

- "A wise man once said something that was very inspirational and changed many lives. I am not that man and this isn't that inspirational message but I would like to leave you with a thought or two. Watch your top knot. Keep your powder dry. If your horse goes down, don't go down with it..."

Can you tell we all have great times together?

While I was teaching, the best surprise of all occurred. My dear, sweet mother entered my classroom with a big balloon, doughnuts, a huge bouquet of flowers, and a poster. She knew I was teaching a lesson on the different types of nouns that day so she made sure my card/poster had some pronouns, common nouns, and proper nouns and then she put some sticky notes on it for the kids to label each noun. Yep, she was definitely a teacher too. :) The kids were really excited to eat doughnuts and sing happy birthday to Miss Wood.

My dad blew my mind that night when he presented me with a gift wrapped in a towel and masking tape (surprisingly difficult to unwrap actually). Inside was a framed poster of George Strait and our tickets from the concert two years ago. Okay, I have to be honest, I wasn't really surprised at this gift. Lets just say I may or may not have dropped some hints that I wanted our tickets framed. I knew he still had our tickets and I knew he had bought a George Strait poster when we went to the concert and I knew he had already done something similar with Stephanie when they went and saw a play together. So I may or may not have prompted him to do this. Either way, it is the most fantabulous thing ever! It sits right above my bed and is a constant reminder that we get to see him again in only 6 days!!!

Aren't these dolls the cutest ever!?! My dearest friends Brittany and Oscar gave them to me in honor of my red hair and western ways. I absolutely love them!!!

My birthday ended with a most amazing dance party hosted by the most amazing girl ever: Jenesis. I haven't danced that much since, well, last years birthday party, dance bash. A birthday is just not a birthday without dancing!!! Thank you to everyone who came and made it so much fun!

The Important Things in Life

When I see things like this I have just one thought:
Who needs to know Algebra, Chemistry, or Spanish when you have these sweet skills!?!

A Night Out With the Ladies

So, I'm not the only one who deserved/took a vacation this weekend. My parents took a long needed, quick vacation up to Logan on Friday night to go to join Jake and Kylee for dinner and a Bryan Regan comedian show. That left me with a Friday night of fun with the little girls!!! (I guess I can't really refer to them as the 'little girls' anymore seein as Becks is taller than me and Andrea is now 12!)

There are just some things that you have to do as females on a Friday night. Yep, we dressed up all fancy and headed to the Pizza Factory for dinner. Yum!!! The splendid evening then finished with watching an episode of Bones and having a slumber party and falling asleep to Pride and Prejudice. I'm so glad I got to spend some two-on-one time with my favorite girlies! Thanks for the memories!!!

Here are the successful pictures from the evening:

And here are some candid shots :)

Rested and Relaxed

Wake up, classes, work, study, go to bed, wake up, classes, work, study, go to bed, wake up, classes, work, study, go to bed...

Do you see a pattern here? Thus is the story of my life. Taking 16 credits (8 classes) and working 25 hours each week is pretty crazy, time-wise. On top of all this I am trying to get my recommended 8 hours of sleep. The craziest part about all this is that I have actually been doing it! How? Well, I ask myself the same question... It could only be done with the creation of some coping strategies:

- four calendars to organize my agenda

- never taking a moment to stop and think about anything until I go to bed

- living my life at full speed ahead and allowing my mind to do the same

- driving like a maniac to get to me next location as fast as possible so as to not waste any time

- etc.

Yeah, I have 4 calendars... One at work to remind me of appoinments I have going on after work. One on my phone so that at all times I can know my schedule and schedule things for any time in the future. One in my school notebook to tell me when each homework is assignment is due for the entire semester, and one in an agenda to allow myself to plan when I will study for what and on which day. It's ridiculous but it helps SOOOO much!

Getting 8 hours of sleep was a little more difficult than I thought because when I lay my head on my pillow at night, my brain uses it as an opportunity to do all the thinking that I didn't give it time to do during the day. Not so easy to fall asleep with.

Okay, I know this is getting boring and I'm dragging on so I'll get to the point.

I saw president's day weekend as an opportunity to catch up on some thinking so I packed my bags and headed down south... south to Holden!!!

It was the best weekend ever! I came back feeling like I had taken a trip to the Inner Soul Spa.

I drove down Saturday night and spent the evening chillin' with my grandparents and watchin the news. How relaxing!!!

Sunday was even better. First, I had some extra time before church started and took a little drive around the town. Only took me about 2 minutes but I was able to see all around one of my favorite places on earth! Second, church in a small town is just plain fantastic! All the men have white foreheads, red cheeks and noses, and boots. Everyone is oh-so-friendly and, well, it's just plain hard not to feel like ya fit right in. Lastly, I had no meetings or anything after church and I spent the whole day relaxin and not thinkin bout anything. I had time to read a few good books including Return From Tomorrow. This book was so good and sparked an interest in so many other books. I highly recommend it to everyone. It's a quick read and very excellent! What a peaceful day!!!

Monday started out bright but not so early cuz I didn't wake up til 8:30! It felt so good to sleep in. I woke up to the smell of my grandma making me pumpkin spice pancakes with homemade syrup. The best! After breakfast I pulled out my books and started chippin away on homework. I continued to work on it til about 5 pm and got sooo much done. I didn't get stressed or restless at all cuz I didn't have a deadline and there was nothing to distract me from it. Totally relaxing! Crazy, right? Well, about that time some cousins of mine showed up and I got the chance to play with them (and, unfortunately, tell them I won't be livin with them in the fall) and have some good girl talk with Angelique and Jessica. I can't believe how grown up those two are gettin. About this time it was gettin late and I had to head back to real life but no worries cuz I was heading back with my head cleared and my homework done.

When I laid my head down on my pillow Monday night something was different... Something didn't feel right... I wasn't thinking a million miles a minute! My brain was relaxed and I had nothing to stress and think about! Weekend vacation... success!!!

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for taking care of me this weekend! And thanks for the shoes Amber. :)

P.S. I'm even drivin slower. I hope y'all realize what that means as far as the changes that took place this weekend :)