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.