the book of mormon / tws

#1

we were getting ready for lunch today and my sweet little new boy comes up to me with his Book of Mormon and says, 

"{Student's name} says he doesn't read this that much." 

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah.  I read it every night.  I'm in Alma now!"

"Awesome, that's great!"

"Yeah, I love reading this book."

and then he put it back in his backpack.

my heart melted.

how tender is that?

i totally agree.  i love reading that book.

in fact, steven and i read from it every night.

#2

remember yesterday when i was complaining about my stress?

well...

my teacher work sample is complete.

okay, actually i have to put my appendices together, but i have a week and a half to do that now.

i won't have it looooooming over my head any longer!

i was hoping that'd make my hives go away and my eye turn back to the normal white sclera it should be, but that is not the case.  my eye is still red.  and i'm still itchy.

hopefully after this nice, long weekend in california everything will be better.

sunday. Christmas.

Sunday.  the Sabbath.

my favorite day of the week. always.

today was especially wonderful.  Sacrament meeting was so good.  i think every week i walk out of my sunday meetings saying, "wow, that was a really good meeting."  

Each year I come to realize the true meaning of Christmas just a little bit more as my testimony of my Savior grows stronger and stronger.

This year i am focusing more on Him.  It's difficult, especially with all of the hype the 2nd graders have.  One way to help is by reading the Christmas story; the story of Jesus Christ's birth.  He came to this earth, born in a manger.  He lived a perfect life.  He performed miracle upon miracle.  He led the way.  He suffered.  He bled.  He died.  Then, He was resurrected, and because of that, every person living, who has lived, and who will yet live on this earth will too be resurrected.  How grateful I am.  It's not easy for me to express in words my love and gratitude for my Savior and His sacrifice.  I have faith in Him.  I trust in Him.  I follow Him.  I know He lives.

read the Christmas story here

 view inspiring Christmas videos here

watch one a day.  or all of them today.

take some time for the Savior.

this painting hangs outside my parent's bedroom.  each time i see it, i reflect on my Savior and His humble birth. love, love, love.

3 good things from today

1) my kids beg me for yoga now, balancing poses in particular
every time i say, "alright we need to stand up and..."
"yoga!"  "can we do balancing?"  "let's do the tree one!"


2) we had a class meeting this morning.


i told the kiddos that i already started listening to christmas music (even a few times before halloween, nbd) and how it is socially "unacceptable" to listen to it [i didn't use those words] but that it wasn't fair that we can only listen to christmas music for 5 weeks of the year and listen to everything else every other day. 


then i told them we'd be taking a class vote: christmas music now or wait a couple of weeks until after thanksgiving.  well, before that i also told them of all the fun christmas music i had from the polar express, home alone, and other fun stuff.  they were pretty pumped about all of that.
and so we voted, like in a real democracy, and the results were in: christmas it is.  actually, every single kid voted for christmas music.


3) my dad is hilarious.

that was the ending of our gchat conversation tonight.


goodnight moon is a book we read when we were little.






grateful:
this beautiful earth.  i am so obsessed with the colorful leaves floating in the breeze and littering the pavement. [kinda poetic, eh?]
em bem. she was accepted to UVU and is moving in with tedi right below me in january!!! [and her room will be like $60 cheaper than mine, the same room. boo.]
fleece blankets.
yoooooooooga. so healing. i think it has greatly contributed to my happiness lately. but what contributes to my happiness the most?
    family      the Gospel [Book of Mormon, my testimony, my Savior, my loving Heavenly Father]   the temple      the plan of happiness  [see all that here]

the sunday morning post, 37th ed.

so, i tend to be long winded. i can't help it. i have a lot to say, always. and i can type super fast. so the combination just means a lot of writing. and i think it and read it fast so it doesn't seem like too much to me until i look at it. i'm doing it right now!! anyway, the goal is to write less. i'll just face it: no one really cares or wants to read it, anyway!

highlights of the week!

monday

stats final = NO MORE STATS EVER

road trip home with katie!!

tuesday

home!!

family beach day

farmer's market on main st.

wednesday

kayaking with em, dana, paparupa

downtown disney for disneyland fireworks

thursday

breakfast

reagan library

friday

beach day with dana

eat pray love

[liked it/loved it. there were things i didn't care for from a moral perspective, however, it made me evaluate some things in my life. plus, i loooove the soundtrack. and i bought it. harvest moon by neil young was in it and i love that song so when it came on in the movie i was so happy. except, i already had it so that's not why i bought the soundtrack. i bought it for the nice and easy joao gilberto and bebel gilberto songs. same reason i love the soundtrack from the movie "a good year" with russell crowe--another good one. rent it. watch it. love it. buy the soundtrack.]

saturday

lazy day--

budget with mom [aka, "how poor am i really?" oh, poor.]

planning schedule [9 days til school starts! yikes!]

bank

target with dana

[it took every ounce of my being for me to not buy any tshirts or blouses or skirts. instead i bought some cool teacher stuff from the dollar bin!]

ipod

[bought some new stuff, got some new stuff from the fam, made some playlists, etc. will post on new favorite music selections soon--you will not want to miss it.]

just dance on the wii with em. first time. spice girls fo liiife. and mc hammer can't touch this. i'm good. real good.

family movie time. + popcorn.

sunday

favorite day of the week!!

church

then grandpa and grandma's!

then g.ma's for dinner

then paaaarty! [that means t.b.d. (to be determined)]

and now for the long awaited, much anticipated photo shoot pre-eat pray love with em.

i fell asleep.

?

n, p.

sisters!

this is what i studied/thought about this morning:

ether 12:27

27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.

then alma 26:11-12

11 I do not boast in my own strength, nor in my own wisdom; but behold, my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God.

12 Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever.

and moroni 10:32

32 Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.

angels & tender mercies

two things to share. some good news, then some really good news.

first, the good news.

i worked so hard in my classroom yesterday.

don't worry, the swamp cooler in my room was turned off because it was absolutely unbearable and humid. and the humidity caused some mold to develop on the floor and the desks to leave little rust marks on the carpet. why don't schools get more money!? (ahem, and teachers too.)

here are two of the things i accomplished yesterday:

calendar!

includes: weather, birthdays, straw count (for the days of school), and the days of the week.

will also incorporate patterns and time and money as we learn about them.

check-in!

the back of that fishbowl has magnets on it. then i made a bunch of little goldfish that will have each students name on it. and there are magnets on the back. and when they get to school, they find their fish and slap it in the fishbowl. awww, so cute.

my classroom will be COMPLETELY done tomorrow. thank goodness. right now it looks like a tornado hit it.

and now, for the really good news.

i got b's on my first 2 stats exams. and i was totally fine with that. given my stats history/situation, i just want to pass it and be done with it. i was pretty sure i was going to get a c on exam 3. and that worried me because i will probably do the same on the final (which i am taking monday at 1 and then jetting home! thank you nice professors that let us take things early so we can go to the beach). and then i just had this horrible feeling that i wouldn't get a c. and i don't want a c anyway. by "i just want to pass and be done with it" i mean, "i want to pass but i want to pass with a b (since i'm obviously not working for the a)." alright, enough of this. I GOT 100%! whaaaat!? yeah. i saw that screen and called gabe immediately. he has been tutoring me. and last night he studied with me for a little bit but i had been going since 7 am and my brain was not on. and i thought i'd get a c. and i didn't really feel like i knew the material. okay please ignore my long-windedness.

two things come to mind:

1. The Tender Mercies of the Lord, Elder Bednar (here)

2. The Ministry of Angels, Elder Holland (here)

3. O Remember, Remember, President Erying (here)

The Lord has truly blessed me. Lately I have been stressed, tired, overwhelmed, and feel like nothing is getting done. I have been the recipient of much service and haven't been able to give any (which is also stressing me out). But the Lord has blessed me tremendously. He has put all of these angels, my friends, in my path that have been helping me and tutoring me and talking with me and praying for me and more. He has blessed me with many tender mercies--those little miracles--day after day. I am reminded of President Erying's talk (O Remember, Remember)--it's a favorite of mine. He urges us to remember and recognize God's question. Ask yourself the question: How have I seen the hand of God blessing me today? As he promises, doing this and writing the thoughts and feelings and impressions, my testimony has grown--of the Savior and His Atonement. And I too have become "more certain that our Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers." He certainly has been answering mine.

"I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up."

D&C 84:88

the sunday morning post, 34th ed.

good morning. today is the Sabbath. Sunday is my favorite day of the week.

we'll start off this Sunday Morning Post, 34th ed.

[can you believe it's been nearly a year? and i have missed a few too...]

with a quote from our beloved Prophet, President Thomas S. Monson

"I testify to you that our promised blessings are beyond measure. Though the storm clouds may gather, though the rains may pour down upon us, our knowledge of the gospel and our love of our Heavenly Father and of our Savior will comfort and sustain us and bring joy to our hearts as we walk uprightly and keep the commandments. There will be nothing in this world that can defeat us. My beloved brothers and sisters, fear not. Be of good cheer. The future is as bright as your faith."

-from this talk

And now for my week in pictures [and words. please, like i would just put it in pictures! i have too much to say.]

{one}

it's been really really hot here.

skirts every day.

but that's not really anything new for me in the summertime.

{two}

i've been stressed beyond belief this week.

{three}

the Provo Temple has been closed for almost a month.

no fear, it will reopen on July 26th.

i'm counting down: 8 days.

this means that i have to go to other temples in the valley.

so wednesday i went to Mt. Timpanogos Temple.

beautiful.

so thankful for temples.

[watch this: why mormons build temples]

[from my phone, a little crooked. whoops.]

{four}

thursday and friday i attended

BYU's Symposium on Books for Young Readers

aka: Children's literature conference.

LOVE.

David Shannon, Patricia MacLachlan (author of Sarah, Plain and Tall--a Newberry winner),

Elizabeth Partridge, and Kadir Nelson [i fell in love with his illustrations. oh, and him.] were all speakers there.

i left with tons of ideas to do with my second graders!

and also, i want about 235 books now.

donations accepted. i'll send you a list.

i used my credit card rewards to get an amazon.com gift card and once that arrives in the mail i will be ordering many many books for cheap!

but you can still send donations.

fun fact: david shannon wrote a book called "No, David!" when he was like 5 years old. his mom found it and showed it to him. so he wrote one, for reals. published. and now there's a whole "No, David!" series. super cute.

{five}

INCEPTION

go see it!

it will blow your mind.

it is so trippy and just so mind blowing!

leo, you were amazing.

[remember when you were in titanic?]

{six}

katie loves me.

she also loves doing projects.

she is so crafty!!

she made this for my classroom door!!!

is that not the cutest thing ever?

i want to keep it and put it on our door here.

{seven}

speaking of my classroom, it's coming together.

little by little.

and i mean little.

the room is a mess.

there's cut outs and letters and posters and things everywhere.

it caused me much stress this past week.

still is, but the weekend has allowed me to calm a bit.

also, a few of my friends have helped me.

especially katie.

she works til 6. then friday and saturday we went to my classroom at 7pm after she had been at work allll day.

i gave her a project.

well, i told her i needed her help with my reading corner.

those pictures are the inspiration. but i want mine better. fabric. tulle. bunched up. wave-like. little creatures. shells. it's going to be amazing.

katie wanted to take it upon herself. she kept saying, "can this please be my project? can i do it?"

"Um, yes please. it's me doing it as fast and neat as i can, or you taking your time and using your amazing skills and making it fabulous."

pictures to come--it will be done tuesday! before we go to the....

{eight}

River!

i am so so so so so so so excited.

a few of us will be road tripping down to katie's river house at the colorado river on the az - ca border wednesday night/thursday morning.

i am so excited!

my family is meeting us there!!

i am so excited!

wakeboarding. jet skis. boooooooat. movies. removal of the shoe and tank tans. family. fun. friends. fun. sisters!!!! fun. fun. fun.

i am so excited!

unfortunately i have work to bring--posters to make for my classroom. but mom is going to help me. and katie's sweet mother is bringing her cricut machine to help, too {um, those things are amazing. want.}. more help will be good! i want my mom here so badly to help. i shed a few tears over that this week. it's okay, life is good now.

i am just so excited.

3 days!

[hey, did i mention i am so excited?]

pictures from last year's river trip.

and now i am going to shower. because i didn't last night after our little 4-man, super fun, ghost story, fire dancing, marshamallow roasting bon fire up the canyon. [before you get too disgusted, just know that i did wash my filthy feet afterward and my face. just my hair smells so smokey!] it was my first bonfire not at the beach or a campsite. love.

the sunday morning post, 33rd ed.

they're here! pictures from our camping / hiking experience!

here's the story.

katie, rudy, and i left as soon as katie got home from work, around 7pm wednesday.

we hit the road.

i made a totally random, fun playlist for us

with lots of "sing-a-long" songs.

so katie and i sang a lot for rudy.

i was driving.

get off at exit 27.

ummm, it's closed--construction.

"katie, call ian!" i shouted, half panicked.

"he didn't pick up. i'll call..."

"call brad!"

brad says, "exit 27's closed? okay, get off on the previous one."

"uh, brad. we already passed it."

and we laughed.

and we laughed some more after she got off the phone.

so we got off, we got back on and back tracked.

closed on both sides.

pulled over and talked to the construction workers.

got off, got back on.

got on a road.

got on the right road.

we got there around 11.30pm.

set up our little tent.

washed up.

katie and i had some tent time:

chatted for a few minutes,

read scriptures,

and hit the sack.

it was super windy.

and i was excited.

and uncomfortable.

really uncomfortable.

and i laid there.

and i laid there.

and i checked the clock: 2.33am.

and i laid there.

and i checked the clock again: 4.40am.

really?

finally sometime after 4.40am i fell asleep.

then at 7.03am my alarm went off.

greaaaat, 2 hours of sleep before a 6-7 hour hike!!

so we woke up.

got ready.

ate some granola bars.

cleaned up the camp site.

and hit the road for the subway.

and then it began.

the first part was just a nice little nature walk.

then we were walking down giant slabs of granite {as pictured above}.

and then we were making a steep decline and

plop!

there we were at the subway part in the canyon.

SO neat! pictures just don't do it any justice. it was absolutely gorgeous!

we climbed,

we bouldered {climbed up and over huge rocks, aka boulders}.

we waded through water.

we climbed down logs leaning against waterfalls.

we repelled.

we had to jump in and swim.

sometimes dive down and swim under a little tunnel.

{actually, that was optional, but it was fun. and i almost lost a contact.}

{i'm sad my eyes are closed here because i love this picture!}

we stood under waterfalls.

then both cameras died. and so we couldn't take anymore pictures.

but.

the remainder of the hike

[after the waterfalls, swimming, repelling, bouldering]

went as follows:

walk through rocky river, it was shallow.

no more than 3 feet deep in some parts.

then the last 30 minutes went straight up!

it was a climb!

and i loved it.

the whole thing was SO fun.

can't wait for our next camping/hiking adventure!

which is another reason why i need to have a super productive week!

Happy Sabbath! My favorite day of the week.

i'm teaching today, too. about this. or here. so grateful for the Atonement of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Alma 7:11-13

"11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.

12 And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.

13 Now the Spirit knoweth all things; nevertheless the Son of God suffereth according to the flesh that he might take upon him the sins of his people, that he might blot out their transgressions according to the power of his deliverance; and now behold, this is the testimony which is in me."