What I got out of BYU...

I know I haven't posted for a while and I have no excuse. I have been chillin in Arizona with no work and no school! I'm trying to take advantage of it because it is coming to a close pretty dang quick!

Being a fresh college grad, I was trying to think of exactly what I got out of my four years of college.

For starters, I got a husband out of it! I can't believe Joey and I started dating the summer before BYU. I sure feel lucky to have had him throughout every step of the journey and to always have a best friend to share every new experience with.

A great education....

A job I loved.... With awesome friends there....

The cutest friends I met in my major....

Lots of little friends...

Lots of different roommates...

Fun times with my family and friends...

And the list goes on! I'm definitely happy to be done with school for a while but sad to leave Utah and all of the people we love there!

Student Teaching and Birthday

I seriously can't believe that I am done with student teaching, which therefore means done with BYU. I was in a 2nd/3rd grade class for the first 8 weeks and a 6th grade class the last 6 weeks. For 5 of those 6 weeks in 6th grade, I taught all day, everyday and these cute kids definitely felt like my own. We had some really good times together to say the least. I never knew how much I could really love a bunch of random kids until I started teaching. I find myself praying for them at night and thinking about them on weekends and after school. It was hard getting observed a bizillion times and having people critique everything I did but I honestly feel ready to teach and have my own classroom.

But, I am ready for my house to not look like this anymore....
(Teacher Work Sample days. Love the full circle around my blanket spot)


Look at this cute class...
(Notice my autistic friend in the front throughout each picture. I could take a whole blog post just about him.)

We were supposed to be making ugly faces but apparently I was the only one doing it!

Some of the many random gifts I got on my last day.

My super cute mentor teacher. She is the most amazing teacher and I learned so much from her! Best way to end my semester.
ALSO, I had a birthday in the mix of all of this. I spent most my day teaching (we had a huge dance party to celebrate) but that night we went to dinner with some family. I woke up to so many fun gifts from my cute husband and got lots of fun things from cousins, family, and friends. Thank you!


Best cake ever from my cute cousin Brittany.
Longest post ever! Stay tuned for graduation in a week and a half!

We love...

JELLY BEANS!!

What have we been up to? Oh, besides school, work, and teaching we manage to eat at least one of these bags of jelly beans EACH DAY. These are a few of our very favorite. They are in stores for three more weeks so go try them if you haven't... maybe if you buy them they will be sold out so we can't eat anymore. Happy Sunday and conference!

Arizona, here we come!

So, it is official. Joey was accepted to University of Arizona on Wednesday!! This was by far our top choice for so many reasons and Joey was convinced there was absolutely no way he was going to get in (they NEVER accept white, BYU students). He was already making big plans for Virginia: calling people there, looking for jobs for me, finding housing, researching everything about the medical school etc. But, for some reason, I didn't feel like it was where we would end up. It is beautiful there and it would be a completely new experience living on the East coast but I still never felt convinced.

Even though we won't be living somewhere that looks like this anymore...



We are fine with it because this is what we have lived in our whole lives (Mesa might be a little prettier than Tucson).


Best things about it:
Two hours away from our families (dream come true)
Less than 1/3rd of the cost as Virginia, or some of the other schools
I can work for U of A and Joey will get FREE MEDICAL SCHOOL!
I can get my masters right away if I want
Cost of living is nothing compared to Virginia
Amazing medical school

Just thought I would share our very exciting news with everyone! If anyone ever decides to visit the very beautiful town of Tucson, Arizona, you have a place to stay :)

Goodbye

So apparently this is how my students see me. No big deal, I still love them.

Thursday was my last day with my little friends. I start teaching 6th grade on Monday! I'm a little nervous but I'm ready to switch things up. With that said, I am sure going to miss my 2nd/3rd graders after 8 weeks together. Let me show you just a few of the many good times we had together...


Valentine's Day at an elementary school beats anything. We even had a full blown dance party.


Countless pictures, drawings, and notes....everyday.

Yes, I am the big puppy and he is the small puppy.

Art projects


And much, much more....

Check out some of these great poses.

Stay tuned for life with the 6th graders!

Lucky

I am spreading myself very thin. As a 2/3rd grade student teacher, I say this sentence and my kids yell out "IDIOM!" because I am not really spreading out my body very thin. They think it is hilarious to think of me squished flat though. The thing is, they think everything I say or teach now is an idiom because I taught a lesson on idioms once. Maybe it is just a fun word? They draw me pictures all the time of someone breaking their leg or a person on top of the world.



I do feel this way though. Teaching 8 hours a day, straight to work till 8 (next week later), then home to plan lessons, get ready for observations, and work on this crazy teacher work sample due in two weeks. Oh yeah, and say hi to my husband.

The truth is, I am so lucky. No matter how hard it is to have the energy to teach these little kids everyday, it is so rewarding. It can be such a wild, crazy day with kids talking back to me and not listening and all it takes is one little kid to come give me a rainbow picture of Mrs. Nelson or a random drawing of a fat king with a cookie on his stomach to make my day.

Starting work again has been crazy with Valentine's Day madness. But, I am lucky to have some of the best friends in the world there. I feel more at home at the flower shop than almost anywhere. I am surrounded by people who love me and make me feel good about myself. I am around beautiful flowers.

And, I am so lucky to have the greatest husband. Seriously, there could not be a more positive, uplifting person in the world. I have never even seen him in a bad mood! (Probably because I am grouchy enough for the both of us.) I sure lucked out marrying him.

The point is, I start to feel pretty sorry for myself some days when I feel like I have so much to do and can't possibly do it another day. But, I look at all of the wonderful things that take up my busy days and realize I am lucky to have my life, even if I am spreading myself very thin.