Life is Good.

Life is Good. I have been teaching now for about 2 1/2 months and I'm still alive! It has been so hard - it is a lot to do teaching 670 kids - but I absolutely love it. I'm still working on getting all of their names, but other than that it's just perfect. And by perfect, I don't mean perfect. I really do have the best job, but it's not easy by any means. I have some...troublesome students, and there are some days that go better than others. But life is so Good.

Halloween was fun, I helped to MC the Halloween Parade. This is where all the classes line up behind each other and walk around the school showing off their costumes to each other and the parents that come and watch. Man, those kids are too darn cute in their little costumes. I saw about 15 million Rapunzels and a surprising number of Yodas. One of my favorite costumes was a little 1st grade boy who was Harry Potter. There were quite a few of those, but he dyed his hair black and insisted on speaking in a British accent the whole day. CUTE!

This week I started talking with the Kindergarteners about Thanksgiving coming up and I told them a little bit about the Pilgrims. I mentioned their ship that they came over the ocean in. One boy raised his hand and shouted out, "Oh yeah, the cauliflower!" It was so hard to keep from laughing! I told him he was close, that it was the Mayflower, and that cauliflower was in fact a vegetable.

It seems that the holiday season is coming up quickly. I can't believe we're already there in the year. It seems like we just started. Is this where my life speeds up to an uncontrollable pace and before I know it I'll be 75?

DC Pictures

enjoy.

Why I am kinda tired

In 7 days...

Washington DC:

• Lincoln Memorial - I read every word
• Washington Monument
• Jefferson Memorial
• FDR Memorial
• Vietnam Memorial
• Korean War Memorial
• WWII Memorial
• US Capitol
• random secret alcove on Capitol grounds with ultra secret rainforest view
• Ulysses S. Grant Memorial
• Supreme Court
• National Archives
• White House
• Folger Shakespeare Library
• Smithsonians
• The Castle
• Museum of American HIstory
• Museum of Natural History
• National Gallery of Art
• indoor waterfall
• Air and Space Museum
• Freer Gallery of Art
• Peacock Room
• Hirshorn Sculpture Garden
• National Sculpture Garden
• Old Post Office Tower
• Smithsonian Folklife Festival
• Colombian boat-making, net-weaving, drum, xylophone, guitar and harp-making, authentic music, dancing and singing, somewhat understandable Spanish
• Rhythm and Blues Q&A with Fred Wesley, a top-notch trombonist
• Peace Corps 50th birthday, displays of projects around the world, West African food
• limeade
• The Merchant of Venice set in 1920's New York
• Library of Congress
• rode the Metro
• Japanese Cherry Trees

Alexandria:

• Thai food - delicious curry
• Alexandria's birthday celebration
• fireworks
• community orchestra - 1812 overture, Harry Potter theme, ET theme, and more
• really cute kids - Moema, Mila, Luna, and George
• Alexandria Torpedo Factory - converted into a huge mall of artist studios
• really weird sculpture/waterfall/stone face thing
• the tiniest lighthouse ever
• swimming with really cute kids
• watched Sherlock - if you haven't, do it!
• survived a couple of really really crazy thunderstorms
• went to the singles ward that PBS just happened to be filming (with permission from SLC) for "Religion and Ethics Newsweekly" that will air in August - I might be famous!

Roadtrip to Palmyra:

• Smith Family Log Cabin
• Smith Family plank house
• Sacred Grove
• Martin Harris Farm
• Gradin Printing Press
• Alvin Smith's grave
• Hill Cumorah Visitor's Center - air conditioning and more
• Hill Cumorah - the climb
• Hill Cumorah Pagent - complete with waterfalls, earthquakes, lava, and explosions of fire

For next time:

• Arlington National Cemetery
• Tomb of the Unknown
• Iwo Jima Memorial
• Bureau of Engraving and Printing
• National Museum of African Art
• National Zoo
• National Aquarium
• Georgetown University
• National Geographic Museum
• Get a library of congress library card
• Voice of America Studio - what is that? I just found it on the map.

This blog post made possible by Celia - the bestest aunt ever!

Chains

I recently read a children's book that I really really loved and I thought I'd write about it. So here.

It is called "Chains" by Laurie Halse Anderson. It is the story of a young slave girl who is owned by a Tory family in New York right at the beginning of the Revolutionary War. It was quite an eye-opening story as most of my reading about slavery talked about cotton fields and such down South. It drew a different perspective especially surrounding the events of the beginning of the war including the Declaration of Independence. It touched on some of the apparent hypocrisy of the Patriots who declared their own independence from the oppressive British, but refused to extend the same independence to the blacks.

The writing is very good. I'm not very eloquent in expressing why I like someone's writing, but the book just drew me in and I couldn't stop reading it. Disclaimer: the book does not sugar-coat much of anything. There is violence in this book. However, it is not written in a gruesome or graphic manner. I still wholeheartedly recommend this book. That actually might be why.

I am a firm believer in accuracy in historical fiction. I also believe that there is a balance between raising children under a rock with no exposure to hard things and throwing them to the wolves. Of course we have to be careful and protect our children, but I don't think no allowing them to see or read anything that involves violence or hard topics is the answer. Of course I have no children now, but I think I would like my children to read this book if they would like to. There is my rant, and my own book review.

"Friends"

Last week my family watched a great movie called Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium. Dustin Hoffman was fantastic in this movie and it really got me thinking about friends. In the movie, several friendless characters are touched and changed when someone calls them their friend.

It got me thinking about facebook. We ask people to be our "friends" whom we have met for a few days and maybe will never see again, but there they remain on our list of "friends". Have we become too floosy with our words?

Who among your facebook friends would you call if you had a flat tire? Who would you call if your boyfriend just broke up with you and you needed to talk, or if you just got a great new job? Who would you hope would call if one of these happened to them?

I don't have an answer, just a thought to send out to the void. I guess, in a way, I should scold myself for opening myself up to the whole world - should I just reserve my thoughts for my real friends?

Blast.

The Mysterious Benedict Society

Apparently I'm on a posting blitz. That is all.

I just finished a book that I wanted to recommend. It is called The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart. I actually listened to the audiobook, which in and of itself was a treat. The narrator, Del Roy, was very good, and I'm picky about my narrators.

The book is a children's book, and thus somewhat predictable, but what I really liked about it was that the children in the book were very smart, but not too smart. I've been reflecting on Harry Potter recently and I am frustrated with how...dumb Harry can be. I love the world J. K. Rowling created, but Harry himself is kind of dumb (Don't hate me, Potter club). But in this book, the children figure real riddles out. I'm not sure if this makes any sense, but if you know a middle schooler that is needing something to read this summer, check this book out from the library. I liked it.

I bought a piano

Yep. That's right. A real live piano. No, not an electric one, a real one with strings and hammers and wood.

How, you may ask? Well, let me tell you.

Once upon a time, a broke newly graduated teacher took a job as a mover to help teachers move their stuff out of a school that was going to be torn down. She saw a few pianos sitting in the surplus area and asked about them. She was told that they were going to be auctioned off online. She scurried home, found the website, and after much hemming and hawing, bid on the piano and ended up winning it.

That is the story. Today I made some cookies, bribed some manly friends of mine with muscles and a truck and moved it from the school to the house I'm going to be living in in the fall. (Did I mention I'm living in a HOUSE in the fall?)

So that's the story of my piano.

Student Teaching

Recently, I was reprimanded because I haven't written on this in a long time. I never know what to say! Well, today is my second to last day of student teaching. HOORAY! I've made it through this incredibly and sometimes unending era of my life. I had to say goodbye to most of the kids today though. That was really sad. They were so sweet and cute about it. In the third grade class we taught today we played a game where they sang a goodbye song in a language that I don't actually know. The cool part was that as they sang, I sat in a chair in the middle of their circle and whoever wanted to could come up, give me a grain of rice or a bean for good luck and prosperity and whisper something in my ear about luck in the future or something they liked about when I taught. It was the sweetest thing and almost made me cry! I'm going to miss those kids so much!

A Night Hike

Last night, I went hiking. IN THE SNOW. I was quite skeptical at the time of starting a hike at 9:30pm in the very very cold, especially when I realized just how much snow was up in the canyon. But I must admit, I had a great time and recommend night-snow-hiking to anyone.

We just went up Rock Canyon a ways. I think it was maybe a couple miles each way. We had planned to find a cave that a few of us had been to before, but the last little bit of trail to the cave had a couple feet of snow that hadn't been touched before. Jason tried to walk a few steps in it to see if it could be traversed. He quickly fell down and we had to drag him back out to the less-fluffy snow. So, we just hiked back down the canyon. Even so, I had such a good time! We had a lot of fun slipping and falling and sliding and falling and running and falling in the snow.

I think the best part of the night was just the fact that we did all this hiking in the middle of the night with no flashlights. The moon was almost full and the snow reflected the light everywhere. It was a really fun night. I just may have to go night-snow-hiking again.

So Grateful

Tonight I was at a friend's house who has cerebral palsy. She is so independent and very high-functioning. She asked me to change the roll of toilet paper in her bathroom to a new roll. I was so struck by the realization that she can't do this for herself. This little thing. It made me so grateful for everything that I have. I really do have a wonderful life!

A Goal

I did make new year's resolutions this year. I haven't for the past few years, I'm not sure why. But this year I've decided if I don't reach any higher, then I definitely won't grow. I'm not sure if that makes sense, but it does in my mind.

One of my goals this year is to read more. I came across this challenge on a website called "Books I Should Have Read in School but Didn't." There are so many books I shoulda-coulda read, so this year I'm going to read 4 of them. I know it seems like a small number, but I'm going to be so busy this year and hopefully I'll be reading a lot of other books too.

you should check out the site and sign up too

Do you make any New Year's resolutions? I'm not sure who I'm talking to, but I'll ask anyways...

home again, home again, jiggity jig

So I've spent the last two weeks at home. It has been such a great time. It has been funny to think back as to how long periods of time with my family used to be. It used to involve a lot of poking (real, not on facebook) and disagreements and "Mom, Michael is touching me!", but no longer. We have (mostly) grown out of that and it's kind of amazing to see how we turned out.
These last two weeks have been so fun!
* We were in a Hallelujah Chorus flashmob (I think you can hear Elise and I singing on this video - we were right behind the video-taker)
* Michael and I dressed up as Santa and Mrs. Claus for Rochelle's piano recital * I learned how to knit and knitted 1.5 scarves* We cleaned up and performed 3 a capella pieces for a performance for the West Linn Lions club

* For almost the whole time, us 4 girls have slept on the floor of one of the bedrooms, all of us sharing 3 mattresses (yes, by choice)

* Two of my sisters got me this awesome cross stitching kit that I've had my eye on for years. I finally get to do it! I'm guessing it will be done in approximately 12 years.

* On New Year's Eve, we spent an hour and learned a whole new a capella piece - just for fun. It's the version that sounds like this.

* The three college kids got to go out to lunch with our Grandma at The Spaghetti Factory. We left a little sunshine for our waitress.

you don't see it? try now:

Yep, it's been a crazy two weeks. I'm really glad I got to come home for Christmas, but I am still pretty excited to get back to school and teach some kids!

The Beginning of the End

So, the end of my college career is looming ahead of me. I don't graduate until April, but starting in January, I will be student teaching and so will not be on campus much at all. My time at BYU is coming to a close. Before I start to get all sad about all of this, let me tell you how excited I am! I cannot wait to be a teacher. This is what I've been waiting for. Just let me at those kids and I'll show 'em... everything! I have loved the little tastes I've gotten through my practicum experiences and I can't wait to have a class of my very own. On the other hand, BYU has been really good to me and I've really had a wonderful time in this little bubble within a bubble within a bubble... The people are so nice, the grounds are so beautiful, there is always free food to find (I got lasagna today), the possibilities are endless. I will be sad to leave this community, but onward I go into the unknown and I couldn't be happier.

It Amazes Me...

I am in a teacher education program. You would think that those entrusted to teach teachers how to be teachers should be the best of the best of the best - especially here at BYU with such a big education department. Yet I continually am amazed by how much busy work and poor instruction I come across here. I consider myself a teacher - I have taught for 3 summers at a day camp, I helped to teach 1st grade for a month last year. While this is not a lot of experience, I am not just a student trying to impress the teacher into giving me a good grade.

As graduation looms ahead of me, the most important thing to me in a class is no longer the grade - it is information that will help me in my own teaching. Making me jump through hoop after hoop of junk will not make me a better teacher. Making me do an assignment 3 times, once in a whole group with the teacher, once with a partner, and once on my own will not help me when the assignment is so simple I could have done it on my own the first time is not efficient. Filling time with useless activities is not helpful. Making a class hard, full of bunk, because "teaching is hard, so we're trying to get you used to that" is just plain stupid.

ok, I'm done ranting.

In the Library...

So this semester I have become much more acquainted with the library on campus than I have in past years. I got a locker for the semester down on the first floor and keep all of my textbooks down there. After classes and work every day, I come down to this basement of all basements (no cell service = no less distractions) and do my readings and homework, then drop everything in my locker and go home with a light backpack and a lighter conscience. It's been working pretty well.
I realized something today as I was going to my locker to drop off my books. I have developed a personal attachment to my corner where my locker is. There was a library stool (you know the ones I need to stand on to reach the shelves) out of place and I felt like someone had messed up my newly made bed. That was a weird feeling.
Also, I made a discovery. There are a lot of weird books in the social studies area of the first floor. I came across a whole section of books on clothing and makeup. There were books on wedding dress around the world, why we where uniforms, and womanly adornments. Wow. Who knew people wrote books about all these things, and that people bought them?

Life!

So I was recently informed that someone checks this blog semi-regularly hoping for an update and they are constantly disappointed. Well, I don't want to disappoint my friends anymore...SO my life. It's quite exciting.

I'm working full time during this spring and summer here in Provo. It's an interesting little office in the basement of the administration building where we scan tons and tons of documents and I data enter the numbers attached to them. You know, dream job.

It's really nice to not have homework when I get off. I punch out and then my time is mine to do with what I will. Because of this I've been able to have some really fun times. Becca and I have ridden our bikes down to Utah Lake a few times which is a really pretty ride. And we always have all kinds of adventures. We had a bonfire last weekend and I tried my very first roasted starburst - they are so good! We go to social dance club on Tuesdays and dance the night away, and we have started a book club on Wednesdays - we're reading The Giver which is much better than I remember it being, and we have a dinner group on Thursdays and Sundays - it's really fun to eat together as a big group (yesterday's group was 9 people). We're basically living the dream.

One thing I don't like about just working all day is that I don't actually accomplish anything. Most of the time we don't have enough work to keep us all busy and so I am left to waste away the time. The fact that I could be doing something worthwhile with my time, but I'm not drives me a little crazy. But you know, a job's a job, until I get my degree and get to teach! THAT will be fun. Really difficult, draining, and sometimes frustrating I'm sure, but I'll be doing something worth doing.

But other than that, life's great. So there, now I've updated. That's all.

Isn't it ironic

I am in all of these classes for education. I really like the classes, but they keep assigning me all these hugely massive readings that are so boring and dense I can hardly get through them, least of all interpret them. The funny part is that most of these texts are telling me that in order to be a successful teacher, you have to go beyond the evil "traditional" teaching style, that is ingest and regurgitate, and teach dramatically! Teach creatively. Teach with passion. Teach with excitement. Teach differently. One book even quoted Aristotle saying that a person has to be entertained to really learn.

Does anyone else see the massive disconnect here?

Testimony

I and some other college students home for the summer were asked to bear our testimonies on a subject that has been on our minds or we had studies recently. So we gave our "talks" last week.

I bore my testimony that the church was true and that scripture study will bring us close to God and will teach us more about God and His son so that we can love Him and revere Him more. I said that as I studied regularly for my New Testament class, I grew to know and love the Savior more than I ever have. Also, our agency is the only thing we can actually give to God and so when we do, it is a sign that we really have been converted. And when we give up our worldly wants or wishes to stop and study the scriptures, that is showing who is really first in our lives.

I don't actually remember exactly what I said, this is kind of the jist of it. I had prepared by looking up scriptures on some subjects and writing down some phrases and truths that I came across, but when I stood up to the mic, I really believe I was led by the spirit to say what I said. I just talked and I was surprisingly eloquent, knowing myself. I also noticed that I was smiling the whole time I was speaking and I didn't know why, but I was so happy. This was a testament to me that the spirit and the gospel bring joy and reaffirmed my testimony as a whole. Anything that can bring that much true joy is worth following no matter the price, and for me right now, the price is small and for that I am grateful. But even when it gets harder, it is worth it because it is Good and True and brings Joy.

There's No Place Like Home

So I haven't posted in a while. Oops.

I got home on the Friday the 19th and started a drama camp 11:00 Monday morning. Before that time I had to write a play with three musical numbers, find songs to go along with the plot, choreograph dances for the three songs, find costumes for everyone, oh, and help my family clean out all the stuff from the floor of the barn so we could perform there. It was an eventful weekend.

The camp went well, we had 9 students and we did a play about a little stowaway who wanted to be a pirate, but they wouldn't let him until they found out what a lovely singing voice he had (they needed him to win the annual pirate singing contest - the prize was a bottle of rootbeer). Thursday's runthrough was a distaster. No one knew their lines - Michael was playing prompter and he read more lines than anyone on stage did. The two littlest campers were having problems staying on stage and the dances just weren't coming together. I made them all promise to practice Thursday night, and Friday morning...it was exactly as bad. I was so worried! But the final dress rehearsal started to go better, and the performance for the parents was better than I'd ever seen them do it. It was kind of a miracle.

the cast plus Michael and me - aren't they cute?

So now I have a couple weeks of no camp - just advertising for the next ones in July. Last weekend I went to the Lake Oswego Farmers Market to advertise. We ran the "Kids Corner" - Christine and I painted faces and hands (mostly hands - you can hold those still on the table as you paint them) and let the kids dress up in our pirate costumes and swordfight - very carefully. It was a good success and I think we got some good publicity. AND at the end, Christine and I found out that the booth just a little ways down from us was a Cheesecake man and he sold little gourmet cheesecakes in all different flavors. We got a chocolate caramel one (I had to pay her somehow for her time) and it was SO good.

mmmm, so yummy!

So...that's my life right now. Drama Camp. ooh ooh ooh! Except yesterday we went to Powells. I love that place. And I've decided that this summer I want to explore downtown Portland more. I've kind of avoided it growing up because it was loud and big and scary - we're kind of country people, but I think Elise and I will have to go check the whole thing out (ok, maybe not the whole thing, ... or maybe we will).

So...that's my life. I really like being back in Oregon. I always forget how green it is until I come back. I like it. Even though it seems I'm allergic to all of it.

Antelope Island Adventure

So on Saturday, Stephanie, Mark, me and Mark's cousin, Scott went on a little excursion to Antelope Island up in the Great Salt Lake. We left in the morning and after a few stops on the way, we crossed a very long bridge/road/thing that took us to the island. We drove up to "the ranch" where they had a bunch of old fashioned cowboy stuff. That particular day there was a cowboy poetry and song festival and we listened to a lot of interesting stuff. Mark and Stephanie also tried their hand at cow ropin':

After we had absorbed as much cowboy literature as we possibly could, we went on a little hike up a hill. There were some pretty cool views from up there, but unfortunately there are no pictures. my bad.

We then ventured down to the beach. Yes, there are white sand beaches on this little island in the middle of Utah. It was so cool. We rolled up our pants and waded into the water. It stayed shallow for a long time so we got out pretty far. Even when me and Mark were in as deep as we wanted to go, Stephanie and Scott kept on going and got out really far:

Pretty far, huh?

the whole gang

After we had gotten very salty, me and Stephanie espeically because she was positive something bit her ankle and screamed and flailed around accordingly, we went back to the beach and played some croquet in the sand. Yes, that was an awful run-on sentence. First we played a round on the sand that was covered in a layer of hard, crusty salt. Stephanie made an amazing comeback from last place to winning the game. Then we played a round in the very soft sand. This one proved to be much more difficult. At one point, Stephanie's ball needed to go around the wicket before going into it. She was really having trouble, so we decided to help her out and made a path for the ball to go (see below). They even dug down deep to find some wet sand to make the barrier stronger. Even with these fortifications, it took Stephanie a few tries for it to work, but we didn't make fun of her...much.

Overall, I think it was a successful trip. It was good to get out of Provo and even see a buffalo!