My Top Five Proudest Moments

In order of when they happened:

Winning First Place in a writing contest in my local newspaper

I entered a portion of a short story I wrote into a contest for the Simi Valley Acorn Newspaper, and I won First Place in the Under 18 division! This was the first time I'd ever entered any of my writing into a contest, and even though it was just a local thing and I probably wasn't competing against many others, I felt SO PROUD! If you want to see the article and read the piece that won, click here!

Graduating with an Associate in Social & Behavioral Sciences AND another in Humanities from Moorpark Community College

I wasn't happy about staying home for the first three years of college, since I always planned on going straight to BYU-Idaho after high school. But in those three years, I took enough classes to get me TWO Associate Degrees in two very different fields, which sets me apart from a lot of others not only going into teaching, but going into the workforce in general. It was worth it in the end!

Getting my endowments

What exactly is an endowment? The best way I can describe it is a special spiritual blessing for members of the LDS church. Think of it sort of like communion in the Catholic church, only you receive your endowment when you're much older than that. Most people get them before they go on their LDS mission, or before they get married.

Getting married

This one pretty much speaks for itself. Every girl thinks she'll never end up finding someone who wants to be stuck with her for so long, but I lucked out and found a keeper! Jake and I were married in the LDS Los Angeles Temple on August 30th, 2014. Want to know why we had a temple marriage? Click here!

Student teaching position offers/acceptance

From the conversations I've had with several of my classmates who are going to be student teaching around the same time as me, I am extremely lucky to have received the offers that I did. Several people interviewed locally and NO ONE wanted them at all, so now the school is scrambling to find them a place to teach. Several others are ending up having to move to Ogden or even farther out to do their student teaching, because those are the only schools that were interested in working with them. And many people only received one offer, whereas I had TWO schools that were interested in working with me. I feel bad for my friends that are struggling and anxious about figuring out their futures, but it also makes me feel extremely grateful and proud of myself for how I conducted myself at my interviews, and for how hard I've worked over the past few years to be able to reach this point.

The Beginning of the End

My last First Day of School! As a student, at least! ;)

This week was the beginning of Spring semester here at BYU-I, my LAST semester of college before student teaching! My classes are going to be a lot of work since they're all upper-level, but they're also going to be SO MUCH FUN for me because they're all in areas that I'm passionate about. I'm already up to my ears in homework, but I know I can handle it!

Zoe has really NOT been happy about me going back to school. She's been spoiled for the past few months with having me working from home, so for me to be gone so often during the day has really put her in a funky mood. When both Jake and I are home, she's ALL OVER us haha! Climbing into our laps while we're trying to text or read and shoving her face in ours, licking us even more than usual, and waiting outside the bathroom door when one of us showers. She's keeping a close eye on her momma and dad!

Our little weenie sure keeps us laughing!!

Fun in the Sun

The weather here in Rexburg has been SO DREAMY the past few days!! Zoe and I have been really enjoying it. We'll go out into the grassy area near our apartment and just have fun playing, or I'll relax reading a book and Zoe will sniff around and attack insects haha. We're definitely loving the nicer weather!

On Thursday, I drove out to Idaho Falls to pick up a friend from the airport. We did some shopping and had lunch while we were out there, and it was so much fun! I haven't been shopping for clothes in a long time, but I decided to go to Ross while I was in Idaho Falls, and I SCORED! I got a top and two skirts for $25!

This was my last week of break before classes start again on Monday. I'm really happy to be going back to school because I always miss it when I'm on break, but I'm also extremely nervous for my last semester of college! I may only be taking 12 credits, but my classes are already super demanding and going to take a lot of work. I'm going to need a LOT of brain power, energy, and perseverance to get through this semester!

When I Knew I Was A Writer

I don't think there was ever a set defining moment when a pillar of light shone on me and I just knew that I was a writer. Ever since I could write, I've loved it. I have a memory of getting a worksheet back from my teacher in 1st grade, where we had to color in a Raggedy-Ann-type doll and then write a few sentences about our creation. My paper had the comment "GREAT adjectives!". So really, it's been that long.

I wrote my first real short story in 5th grade. All I remember about it was that the story was set during Colonial times, and it was about a girl and her slave, who was her best friend. I wrote it and illustrated the pages myself, and was pretty proud of it. I wish I still had that little stapled, lovingly-created story because I'm sure it would give me lots of laughs!

During the end of my sophomore year of high school and the summer before my junior year, I was working hard on my first attempt at a full-length novel. I entered some of it into a writing contest in my local newspaper, and won first place for the Under-18 division. That was when it actually occurred to me that I might be good at this. 

I still work on the novel from time to time, and I've named it Seashells. I used it as my critique piece in both creative writing classes I took during my years at community college, but aside from my classmates very few people have read it. It's just one of those things that I doubt I will ever attempt to publish, because it's a very personal piece and I love it dearly. Too dearly to have an editor rip it to shreds!

It's my love for writing (and reading, of course) that led me to pursue a career as an English teacher. Writing is a skill that many--kids and adults alike--struggle with, and find to be very frustrating or unpleasant. But if you can really learn how to do it in a way that works for you, it is an incredible tool! I'm hoping that I can teach my students about the power of words, and how anyone can create a story with them.

A Rough Week for Zoe

On Monday we got some rain, and I spotted a rainbow for the first time in a long time! It was so fun! Tuesday Jake had an evening shift again, so we spent the morning at the temple and then enjoyed the rest of the day together at home with Zoe. 

This week was a pretty rough one for our poor little weenie. On Thursday, Jake and I took Zoe on a walk, and we had quite an adventure! A BIG dog ran out of a nearby house and tried to attack her, but Jake kicked it and I scooped Zoe up before she could get chomped. Zoe let out quite a few angry/scared yelps, and once she was safe in my arms she started barking as though saying "go away! My momma and dad will BEAT YOU UP!" No physical wounds were dealt, and Zoe handled it like a champ. But we found out that apparently we aren't the first ones in our neighborhood to experience this, so next time we go on a walk and find that person's door open, Jake is going to go up and tell the dog's owners that the next time we come by and see their door open and their dog unleashed, we're calling animal control. Just because the weather is nice doesn't mean you should leave your front door wide open and your dog not controlled!

In the middle of the night on Saturday, Zoe threw up. Which wasn't too big of a deal, but Jake and I weren't exactly thrilled about it. In the morning when we woke up, we discovered that Zoe was having some kind of allergic reaction to something: her head was COVERED in hives, and her cheeks were swollen up like little squirrel cheeks. We hurried her over to the vet, and were told that Benadryl would help clear up the hives. A few hours after we gave her the medicine, her face had cleared up a lot but now the hives had moved to her back. Jake brought me the car and went back to work, and I took Zoe over to the vet again. She got a cortisone shot, and then we headed home. Jake was able to get off of work early to come be with us, and we spent the rest of the day cuddled up on the couch. After a few hours, the cortisone seemed to really be helping. We gave her a few more doses of Benadryl throughout the day, and when we woke up Sunday morning she was as good as new! We're so glad that our little girl is feeling better. The hives itched her a lot, and she just looked miserable for so long that it was breaking our hearts. We love our fur baby!

Road Trip Memories

Since many of my friends are making their way either to or from BYU-Idaho this week, it's made me think back on the many road trips I've been on throughout my life. Growing up, every single vacation we took involved long hours in the car. Driving from California to Utah for family reunions, going camping in the Sequoia National Park, or trips to Disneyland or the beach. Those all seem like a really long time ago, since it's probably been about ten years since my entire family took a trip like that together. Lots of fun memories!

The road trip I remember most clearly was right after Jake and I got married, when we made the long drive from my hometown in California up here to Rexburg, Idaho. We were exhausted after an amazing wedding day, and still sick from the colds we'd both gotten on our honeymoon, so that definitely didn't help make the drive go any more smoothly. What should have been an 18-hour drive ended up being about 20-22, because we were towing a very heavy trailer behind us filled with all the furniture we'd been so fortunate to be able to take from my grandparents' old house. We drove all the way to Salt Lake City in one day, and stayed at Jake's aunt's house for the night. I remember falling asleep in the car, and apparently when we were getting fairly close to Jake's aunt's, I started getting really grouchy. ...While I was still asleep. Apparently I even tried to open the car door so I could get out right then and there, and nearly gave Jake a heart attack since we were on the freeway haha. Poor guy! We'd only been married about a week, and Jake had NO idea what he was getting himself into!!

On the first day of our drive, we passed through a tiny corner of Arizona. So beautiful!

We made it to Rexburg in one piece (obviously, since we're both alive today) and that was the end of that. But I think the road trip I'm going to hate the most is going to be happening within the next 18 months, hopefully! Jake and I plan to move to Northern Texas once he has his AA, and that will be an even longer drive. We'll also be taking Zoe with us of course, so we'll have to stop more often to let her get out and stretch her legs and go to the bathroom. Zoe does NOT like long car rides, and insists on sitting in my lap every time we go anywhere, so that trip will be VERY long. Ugh!

April 2016 General Conference Notes

These are my notes from this April's General Conference sessions! Some of the Goals I've blocked out because they're private, but I've left visible the Counsel, Topics, and Notes sections for each talk! I also have a summary page for the entire General Conference weekend that I'll be sharing soon, once I finish compiling my favorite pieces from each talk into it.

Genealogy + General Conference

This week I had a pretty cool genealogy experience. Monday morning I was doing some work on my dad's father's side, and ended up stumbling across a line of our tree that had been missing for AGES. My uncle had hit a dead end working on that branch years ago, and I ended up coming across it totally by accident! When I added it to my tree, something amazing happened: I discovered how far back the line had been worked on. Whoever it was that had been working on this line was INCREDIBLE, because they had worked the tree back to the year 100 A.D. Yes, you read that right. 100 A.D. I'm related to King Louis II from France, Charlemagne, and many more other amazing people!! I could hardly believe my eyes as I was looking over the huge chunk of family that my little discovery had added to our tree. Family history work is AWESOME!!

Zoe is just SO CUTE. I can't handle it!!

Tuesday morning Jake and I went to the temple, which was another special experience. On Wednesday, however, the day started out a bit rougher than most: Jake accidentally elbowed me in the eye HARD. I thought I was going to have a black eye, that's how bad it was! Thankfully my eye was just a little swollen for the day, but I definitely teased Jake about it quite a lot.

On Friday Jake got off early from work, and we discovered that we had received our tax return in the mail! It was perfect timing because we've been needing to go to Idaho Falls for a few weeks, but haven't had the money to make the trip worth it. Not only did we have the money now, but we had the time to go, since Jake was off work earlier than usual. We scrambled to get ready and headed out the door. Zoe wasn't too thrilled about being left home alone for several hours, but it was well worth the trip! 

General Conference this weekend was AWESOME! 

Saturday morning I made homemade cinnamon rolls (check out the Kitchen Adventures tab for the recipe) and settled in on the couch with a notebook and pens, ready to have my questions answered and to learn more about why the gospel is so wonderful. My favorite talk from Saturday was Elder Bednar’s; it was just so cool to hear all that doctrine about baptism and the Holy Ghost being linked to the sacrament. I’d never looked at things in that way, or known all that stuff. So cool!

Jake watched the Priesthood Session that evening and I tuned in a bit, and caught some of Brother Owen’s talk and I’m so glad that I did, because something he said is my all-time new favorite quote about Christ, and probably my new favorite quote from General Conference:

"Christ is the greatest leader because He is the greatest follower." 

Not only is this an awesome thing to learn about Christ, but I’m planning on applying this into my life as a teacher. If I want to be a great teacher, I need to be a great student, and show that to my students. I need to model for them how I learn, to show them that not only is it possible to learn from the books we read and the writing we do, but that you should be learning throughout your life, even after you're done being a student in school.

Sunday's sessions of conference were amazing as well of course, and I'm really just so grateful that I had the opportunity to hear from our church leaders and really absorb their counsel. I tried a new method of taking notes this time around, and I really love how much it helped me truly listen to what was being said! My favorite talks from Sunday were President Uchtdorf's and Elder Holland's, which is really no surprise because they are always incredible speakers.

 I'll be sharing my notes from General Conference in another post, so stay tuned!