Graduation

I will always remember graduation weekend.  Both my parents, my Grandma Larkin,  my in-laws, and my husband's grandma came to help celebrate.  It was extra special too because my sister graduated as well.  My parents came on Wednesday and surprised my sister by bringing my Grandma from Mexico.

Thomas and I made our favorite cajun chicken pasta and we all had dinner together and played Guitar Hero.  Thursday Thomas' parents and grandma came.

We met them in Idaho Falls for dinner at Applebee's.  On Thursday I attended the job fair on campus for future teachers.  There were tons of recruiters from Utah and I actually had two interviews.  One of the principles who interviewed me said he would like me to come down this week to see the school and to have a second interview.  I was really excited about it but after thinking about it for awhile I realized it just isn't realistic to leave for a day while I just started student teaching.  And then I would start my training the week after student teaching ends (middle of June).  Our apartment lease ends in October and our plans are for Thomas to start Boise State University in August.  So I'm flattered but I have to decline the offer. I just hope that I can be as lucky for finding a job in Boise for this next fall. 
After the job fair my Mom and Grandma came over to help Thomas and I pack.  I was really surprised how quickly it went.  We had saved all our boxes from our previous move so there was no stress trying to find boxes.  It only took about four hours with four of us working to get basically everything packed.   There are perks to being poor college students, you don't have lots of junk to have to pack. 
Friday was my last final and our families met for lunch at a little teriyaki place right near campus.  It looks like a dump inside but the food is great and you for $6 you get enough to feed two plus leftovers.  After lunch we walked around campus and showed our parents the new BYU-Idaho center which has ten basketball courts and an indoor track and a huge auditorium.  We also stopped by the bookstore.  Thomas got me the cutest purple BYU-Idaho hoodie for a graduation present.  That night we spent at our bare apartment playing games with my in laws and grandma in law.  So much fun! We love monopoly deal.
Saturday was an early, long, wonderful day.  Briana and I met to line up for commencement services.  They had signs in the gym with our departments and Bea and I's were in the same line.  Bea made a comment that we looked like we all should be in a Harry Potter movie with our black gowns on.  It was true.  I loved walking into the huge BYU-Idaho center and having the pomp and circumstance being played on the organ.  All the proffesors lined the hallway as we walked in and clapped for us while the audience was standing.  There were a few speakers and a choir that sang that was amazing! After commencement we found our families and then took pictures in the gym and then headed to the Hart Auditorium for convocation.

  At convocation is where your department has a speaker and where you actually walk across the stage and get your diploma.  After convocation we headed to Bea and Ivan's for lunch before getting professional pictures taken.  The same photographer who took Thomas and I's one year pictures took the pictures for us.  Saturday night we had a party at one of the buildings on campus.  We had pizza, kansas dirt cake, peanut butter balls, muddy buddies, and chi wow wow bean dip some of our family favorites.  And we had a Bunko party.  Our families were there and some of our friends Kelsey and Brandon and Will and Justin. 
Sunday we got up at 6am to get ready to move.  Our friend Justin was going home to Yakima so we got him to pull a trailer for us so that we didn't have to pay $400 for a U-haul truck.  Thomas drove with Justin and Thomas' Grandma drove with me.  She kept me entertained the whole way with stories, it was really fun.  Our new apartment is really nice and we are pretty much all unpacked.  We are enjoying having a hot tub and workout room and the awesome weather.  We have gone on a nice four mile run together and kept exclaiming how beautiful the weather is and the neighborhoods.  Thomas walked me to school this morning and it was so nice! We are going to make it a little routine to have him walk me to school.  More to come on my first day of student teaching :)

Practicum Happiness

This week I had my last formal observation by my professor.  I was nervous because I was sick over the weekend and still not feeling well.  He observed another math lesson and it went really well.  I love being creative and finding fun ways to teach math.  There are some lessons were it's really hard to find manipulatives and real life examples to help teach the students but this lesson had some good hands on activities that I used.  My professor said he has been impressed with my lesson planning and teaching.  I still need to work on using less teacher talk and working on my questioning techniques so that students are answering their own questions instead of me just "telling". 
I was so happy this Thursday when I witnessed a small miracle with one of my students.  This particular student has selective mutism.  So he has such bad anxiety he can't talk in public.  There are 18 people that he will talk to including his family.  And when he is in public he will only whisper (to those selective people).  Thursday morning he was in the classroom with his mom before class.  His mom asked if they could talk with me, so my cooperating teacher had all the other students leave so this student wouldn't be so scared.  I guess he had a goal to be able to talk to me :) And he DID!!!! I was soooo happy! He told me about his two hamsters and a little about his family as well.  He did whisper but in a louder than normal whisper.  I asked him if there was anything I could do to help in not feel so anxious and he said not really but we made a deal that when I am teaching math if he doesn't understand something I will go and ask him one on one if he has understood everything (he won't raise his hand in class).  I had made a personal goal to make him for comfortable enough that by the end of the semester he spoke to me and he did :) That made my week.  That is what teaching is all about. 
This weekend we have plans to go snowboarding and I can't wait to get out of town and have some fun with my lover :)

Workouts and School

I am very proud of myself this week.  My goal to workout an hour every morning was a success.  Thursday and Friday morning were tough but I found something to tell myself that helps me get my booty moving.  I just say "I may not want to wake up but I DO want to workout".  And after about 5 minutes of working out I am so happy that I made the decision to do so.  I got an extra workout in this week too by going to Zumba with my friend Kelsey.  I had actually totally forgotten we had planned on going Wednesday night till she texted to ask when she should pick me up.  I was very happy to get to have an added workout and Thomas was working that night anyways so it saved me from being home alone most of the night.  It's really amazing how much happier I am and how much more energy I have when I workout in the morning rather than sleeping in the extra hour. 
I'm starting to feel more comfortable planning math lessons for my 6th graders.  I don't have to spend hours on the lessons anymore now it's just like an hour or so.  I try to plan all of my lessons the weekend before so that they are ready to go and I don't have to stress about them along with other homework during the week. I just looked at the list for when my proffesor would be observing me again and it wasn't until March.  There were openings in February though so I switched it so I can just get it over with.  I'm very lucky to have a lot of my assignments in different classes overlap so that I have less work to do.  For example in my Social Studies Methods class we have to create a unit, and fortunately I am teaching a unit in my practicum class.  As part of this unit I naturally will need a test and this will fulfill a requirement for my Assessments class. 
Next weekend we will be headed to Boise so I can take my spanish praxis exam to get certified to teach spanish!
Today there was a pre-placement student teaching meeting! It's all becoming real to me.

Why men die before woman

I love some of the things the kids at school say, sometimes it's really hard not to laugh.  There is one boy who loves to ask questions, especially during social studies time.  The other day the class was discussing demographics and population.  The topic came up of death and how men usually die earlier than women.  One of the students suggested that was because men were naturally more stressed out than women because of their jobs. I don't think that's the case with Thomas and I.  Poor guy, I think every day I come home and tell him how stressed out I am. In fact the other night laying in bed I could not fall asleep because I was worrying about all the things I needed to accomplish that week.  When I get stressed to a certain point I have this half sob/ half cry.  It starts as a wimper because my mind and body hurt cause of the stress but then turns into a laugh because the wimper is so funny.  Thomas massaged my neck and gave me a back rub to prevent an all out breakdown.  Anyways, my cooperating teacher began to talk about how men hold in their emotions while women talk about it and cry and let it out.  Our question loving student then seriously asks "Well what about gay relationships?" Mr. Bates just let him know we wouldn't be going into that now or any time in the future. 
This past Thursday I taught four out of the five classes.  I find that the day goes by much more quickly when I'm teaching.  I also find my feet hurt big time at the end of the day :) I'm really grateful I have a teacher who allows me to teach a lot.  We are in the third week of our practicum and there are some students who only get to teach one subject a day and then spend the rest observing or making copies for the teacher and grading papers.  One student even told me that this week she has just sat there all day while their teacher has played three movies.  I'm really glad for the chance to teach so often. 

First Observation

I taught my first 6th grade math lesson on Thursday and was observed by my professor and I'm happy to report that it went very well :) I was so worried and prepared for the worst.  I spent a ton of time on my lesson plan.  I guess that is normal for first time teachers but I can't imagine having a life outside of teaching my first year if it takes so long to plan lesson/units. It probably takes me two hours per lesson.  So multiply that by the four or more subjects an elementary teacher teaches each day and that's a lot of time! I'm starting to think it's a smart idea to teach at a middle school so you only teach a couple of subjects.  I really enjoy teaching sixth grade and will now be happy to teach whatever grade I can. 
My lesson that was observed was about adding and subtracting fractions with uncommon denominators. I had lots of partner work and the kids loved that and were really successful with it and using the manipulatives.  Afterwards my professor complimented me on the organization of my lesson and lesson plan and how methodical my teaching was (he acted like that was a good thing so I took it as one).  Suggestions were that when I ask the kids a question I need to give them more wait time.  I agree with this, I get nervous waiting and so I just fill in the silence with my own talking rather than letting the students hypothesize and voice their ideas.  Also, we have to have a language objective along with our content objective but I totally forgot to have the kids do the language objective (i.e. write in their math journals what they had discovered). I was really happy to get that observation done.  Next week I will be teaching two of the grade level math classes and will start the social studies unit I am making on the Aztecs, Incas, and Mayas. 

I got to spend time with this little cutie yesterday after class.  He was tuckered out after a long day and just fell asleep on me while watching Grey's Anatomy.  He was so funny and didn't want to have his coat taken off.  I finally got it off him so that he could eat but then he still had to have it right next to him tucked in between him and his high chair.  As soon as he got done eating he grabbed his coat and carried it around with him the rest of the evening.  He also loved banging on the drums for Guitar Hero.

I heart sixth grade

Thursday was my first day at the middle school where I will be doing my senior practicum.  I was so relieved when my old roommate Tiffany let me know that she knew the wife of my cooperating teacher and that she was way nice so she assumed he would be too.  And he was :) He is really laidback and manages his classroom well and the kids really like him.  My first day I kind of just observed and got to know how the classroom runs as well as introducing myself to the students. 
There are six periods in the day and we teach five of them, one is our prep hour.  The first two periods are math, one grade level the other advanced, then there is social studies, another grade-level math class, and then another social studies class.  All together there are about 70 students that I will need to learn names for.  I can't believe how huge class sizes are! 31 students in one class!?
I was nervous about teaching older students (6th grade) but I already really love the kids.  They love to talk and to get to know me. First thing when I walked into the classroom a group of 3 or 4 girls come up to me and were excitedly asking if I was their student teacher.  The first thing one of the girls said to me was "You are really pretty." :) Being a teacher is a huge self esteem booster. I'm telling ya, you feel like a rock star going into a classroom full of students.
My cooperating teacher teaches math and social studies.  Next week I will start teaching math and will have my first formal observation from my proffesor and then the following week I will begin the unit I make on social studies.  I've started planning the unit and already feel a little overwhelmed.  I want the information my students learn to be pertinent to their lives and not just memorizing facts about the mayans, aztecs, and incas (that's what the unit will be on).  There isn't really a teacher textbook to get ideas from it's just whatever what I want to teach.  I like the ability to be creative but there is just so much information, it's hard to know what to teach and what not to.  I'm super excited though to practice my lesson planning and teaching:)
Thursday was a long day because I spend from 8:30am-4:00pm in the school and then head to the college for a seminar from 4:30pm-6:00pm.  Even though my days are long I've been feeling great cause I have made sure to exercise in the mornings, seriously that helps me be alert and have energy all day long.  Plus I go to bed at like 9:30pm every night.  This weekend will be a long one because of Civil Rights Day on Monday and Tuesday is teacher inservice day at the middle school so that means no school for me :) Lots of time to lesson plan.

Middle School

I found out today where I will be teaching for my senior practicum. First of all it will be at a middle school! WHAT?! I totally wasn't expecting that since I'm an elementary ed. major.  And my coordinating teacher is the 6th grade math teacher.  And it is a male.  I just have to laugh at my luck because I have NEVER had a math teacher that I have liked.  Let's hope this guy is the exception :) I am excited though because I thought I woudl be placed in Idaho Falls which is 45 minutes away but the middle school I'm teaching at is just about a mile away from our apartment.  That will save a lot of time, time that I can spend doing lesson plans :)
I remember in 6th grade at my elementary school we had a student teacher.  His name was Mr. Morita and I was in love with him.  He played football at Idaho State University and was so fun.  I cried the day he left and I cried when he came back to visit. Hopefully I can have that much of an influence on my students. 

I got this picture off of facebook.  I guess he is the football coach at UAlbany.

Start of the school week

Today was my first Monday of the semester and it went great. It was kind of hard waking up to workout (Jillian's No More Trouble Zones) but of course 5 minutes into the workout I felt good and was happy with my choice.  I hope all Mondays can be this good.  It seemed like each of my classes went by super fast.  I had class from 9am-3pm with a break from 1-2pm for lunch.  I brought a lunch from home and just ate it in the student hub area and did a little homework at the same time.  I love multi-tasking. 
My spanish methods teaching is really funny.  I saw him on campus last semester and mentioned I was taking a class from him and he let me know it was a boring class but he tries to make it interesting.  Today he was talking about different foriegn language associations we can join as teachers.  After awhile he said "I see you guys are getting bored.  I'm going to tell you a story and it involves sex."  He paused and then said "I knew that would wake you up."  His story was just a funny story about him being at one of these foriegn language associations' conferences and he got stuck in the elevator with two drunk texas women who were half dressed and how they followed him to his room and to get them off of him he told them "Well I have to meet a couple women now *wink wink*." And he left them at the door. 
In my P.E. methods class we signed up for the subject we wanted to teach coming up and I chose yoga.  I'm pretty excited about that but apparently the big burly basketball player girl next to me wasn't because when the teacher called out my name and I said I would be teaching yoga she groaned really loud.  She of course chose ball handling skills.  I now vow to work that girls booty off so she never groans again when the word yoga comes up.  I'm guessing she thinks it is a sissy workout.  I'll show her otherwise :)
Last night we had a fun time at Bea and Ivan's house.  They invited us over for dinner and games to thank us for watching their cat while they were gone for the latter half of christmas break.  Ivan grilled ribs and they were delish! I love me some ribs! We played Yahtzee and Apples to Apples and a little bit of Wii bowling, cycling, and table tennis.  I can't believe that in the two weeks that I haven't seen Alex he has grown so much :( He says cheese so perfectly it's adorable.  Love that little guy.

Class Review

So far so good on the school front.  Here is what I am taking this semester and a little review.
Senior Practicum- We had a 4.5 hour seminar on Thursday and it was okay although I think it could have been shortened to like two hours.  This is the professor I'm not too fond of and he was actually super nice.  He told us that he has coached tennis for years and he never yelled at a player til he started coaching his son.  When he realized what he was doing he told his son that he could just say "Dad, cool it!". He told us that sometimes he gets a little overzealous and we can tell him to cool it.  I'm thinking it has something to do with the fact that he made me bawl my eyes out last semester and I think it's nice that he is aknowledging that he can be over the top and mean and that he wants to be told if he is.  Although I don't know if I'd have the guts to confront him again.  Hopefully there won't be any problems.  The one thing I and the other students don't like about his class is that it's not clear what assignments are due when.  It makes life a little more stressful when you don't have a list of assignments and due dates and you just have to look online to find what is due and hope you found everything.  Our school uses something called Brainhoney, where each class has their own little page that has all the class information and where you can submit assignments and take quizzes.
Spanish Teaching Methods- I have taken a class from this professor before and I really like him.  He has a very similar teaching philosophy as I do.  In fact today a lot of the class we talked about how the two most important things that effect a students education are a positive self concept and a positive student/teacher relationship.  I know that students will become who you believe that they can become.  I became an A student and a hard working athlete because I had teachers and coaches who believed in my abilities, so I believed in myself in return. Too many teachers think that just because they know the subject matter makes them a good teacher.  I think by knowing your students you become a good teacher.
Assessment and Evaluation- I really like my teacher in this class too.  Here were learn how to make tests.
Social Studies Methods- The teacher seems pretty funny.  It's a guy teacher so I'm afraid he won't be organized (I've heard rumors he's not). One thing we talked about today was the importance of teaching social studies through stories and not through dates and locations.  We all remember a good story, so if we want our students to remember history we need to make it interesting through stories.
Since I missed Wednesday I still haven't gone to my Old Testament class (a certain amount of religion credits are required) or my P.E. Methods class. I'm excited about P.E. methods in the syllabus it says that if we want to opt out of taking the final we can just teach a P.E. lesson at a local elementary school.  Heck yes!

I forgot the first day of school!

So tonight around 7pm I am looking at people's status updates on facebook and one of my classmates had written "Survived the first day of classes." WHATTTTT!!!!??? I thought classes started tomorrow.  So I hurry and call my sister who also attends school here and ask her "Did classes start today!?" Yep they did.  I cannot believe that I didn't realize it.  For some reason I had it in my mind that they started on Thursday.  Thomas and I even went on campus today to check out the new fitness center and indoor track (amazing by the way).  We both commented on how it was so weird how many people were on campus with backpacks.  I just thought they were picking up their books and parking permits.  I honestly can't believe I slipped up like this.  It's like a nightmare where you miss a big test or race or something.
I e-mailed all of my teachers and looked online at the syllabi so that I could get caught up.  But darn that counts as an absence and most teachers don't let you miss more than twice or you drop a letter grade.  Let's hope I stay healthy. 
Right now I'm okay about it and not freaking out too bad.  I had a fun day at home with Mr. Lover Boy and missing the first day isn't the worst day to miss.  At least I didn't miss a final. 

Story Time

Funny story: Yesterday I was watching my nephew for a bit while his mom took a final.  He is super sick with a fever, sore throat, and an ear infection.  Normally he doesn't like to be just held cause he wants to be moving and playing, but because he's so sick he just wanted to be cuddled and held.  He is normally really smiley and you can get him to laugh pretty easily but while he's been sick he has the saddest little face.  Right before he left my sister was telling me that he was touching her boobs so she told him "Those are mommy's boobies." He got this big smile on his face and said "boobies!".  So I turned to him with his sad little sick face and said "Boobies!" and he broke out this huge smile and laughed.  Such a boy :)

Happy Story: I'm done with classes this semester!! Last night I got done with my last final at 8:45pm.  YES!!! Just one more semester here on campus and then student teaching in the spring.  Next semester is going to be soooooooooo killer! I hope I don't turn into a monster. I will be taking 18 credits and I will be in school most days from 7:45pm-6pm.  But right now I am just enjoying the fact that I have one more semester done. 

Happy/Sad

What makes me happy:
I passed the PRAXIS exams!!! In order to be an elementary teacher you have to take two tests, Elementary Ed. Content Knowledge and Principles of Teaching Learning.  I passed the content knowledge test with a 182/200 and they sent me a nice little certificate saying I was in the top 15% of test takers :)

Too bad they didn't give you your money back as a little prize :) Those tests are pricey.  I had felt pretty good about the PLT test but when I found out how I did on the content knowledge which I hadn't felt that great about I started psyching myself out.  But I am happy to report I got a 198 out of 200 on the PLT!!!! Yay! We are going to eat mexican food tonight and frozen yogurt to celebrate and then watch the season finale of The Biggest Loser.  Can't wait.
Thomas and I did a little Bob Harper workout today.  On his cardio DVD there is a 25 minute Butt and Balance workout.  It get's a good bod burn going.  Then we did a little ab ball workout.  Feeling good :)
What makes me sad:
I got to my car today after class and there was a parking ticket! It was only $10 but I was ticked.  The reason why was because the decal was attached with some tape.  We got a new car a month or so ago so we switched the decal to the new car.  I had made sure to go to the parking services office and switch the information to the new car.  The guy was going to charge me for a new decal but I told him we still had the other one and he said okay.  Well apparently you can't tape the decals on.  I was sooooooooo mad! So I find that same guy at the office and kind of angrily explain to him what happened.  And then I start to cry.  I have no idea why! Okay maybe it's becuase it's finals week and that was just one more thing to add to my stress.  But the guy felt really bad and started telling me how one of his teachers brought a guitar to class and sang Free Falling while the whole class screamed and how that really helped.  Haha. But what made me stop crying is when he told me he'd take the fine off my account and he gave me a temporary parking pass full day of the semester.  This school thing makes me an emotional person.  For like the last 10 years I have seriously only cried twice every year.  Now I have cried like three times in the last three months. I will say that it does feel good to just cry and get the emotions out rather than stew over them.

Boise Women's 5K

School is crazy! I have been managing my time wisely though.  6am I wakeup and excercise (Just got Bob Harper's new workout DVD's AMAZING!! I'm so sore.) And class from about 7:45am-12:30.  I watch Alex my nephew till about 4:30 everyday after class.  He's getting so big.  He walks everywhere now, it's his preferred method of transportation.  He still cries everyday when his mom or dad drops him off.  That makes me a little sad, I swear I'm nice to him.  Thomas had a shift change schedule so now he gets off work at 2pm (has to be there at 5am though) that really helps cause he can play with Alex while I do homework.  Thomas has pitched in so much around the house.  He makes dinner pretty much every night and does the dishes and cleans up. While I sit on my bum on the couch reading textbooks and typing lesson plans/papers.  So that is my excuse for not blogging.  I'm writing papers and on the computer for like 8 hours everyday doing homework and just don't have the energy to do more. 
Thomas and I had such a great weekend in Boise.  We went there for two reasons: #1 so that I could run a 5K with my good friend/old roommate Tess #2 So that Thomas could meet with the head of the MRI department at Boise State. 
I knew it was going to be an awesome weekend when as soon as we pulled up to Boise State campus Thomas got a call from the hospital saying that they wanted to offer him a job as an ER tech! Finally!
The Dept. head was super nice and sat down with us for an hour looking through Thomas' transcripts and explaining things to us.  We thought for sure he would need to do a year of pre reqs to be able to qualify for the MRI program.  But the dept. head gave us hope that he can do some pre reqs online and maybe get in for this next fall.
After our meeting we headed to the Women's Expo.  There were a ton of vendors.  There were food booths, health booths, gym booths, just everything imaginable. We came back with a couple bags of coupons and freebies.  We stopped at the Subway booth and saw Jared from the Subway commercials.  Nice guy. He seemed kind of bored of greeting people and smiling.

After the expo we got sandwhiches and headed to a nearby park called Camel's Back park to eat them.  Boise has such wonderful parks! This one had a huge sand hill that you can hike to the top and then a bunch of dirt trails that wind around for miles.  Perfect for running. 



Tess and I at the start line




Tess, Me, Ariana, Crystal



Saturday morning a couple of Tess' friends came and met us at her house and us girls drove together to downtown Boise where the race started.  I was so surprised that there were no lines for the porta potties!? That is unheard of in running race world.  The race had a buch of different waves.  First were the wheelchair participants, then the elite, and then our red wave which is the competitive wave.  Before the gun went off they have music blasting and even teach you a dance.  They sung the national anthem and we couldn't hear a word, also as the lady is singing a big helicopter flew over so that didn't help.  When the gun went off we were ready to go.  It took only about ten seconds to cross over the start mat and as soon as we crossed over the mat there was no hold up or dodging really.  At first I was just going to run easy and wasn't going for time but I knew once I started I needed to just push myself.  I started focusing on people ahead of me and telling myself to stick with them and then pass them.  There was an 11 year old girl whose headband fell off.  I wanted to pick it up for her but she looked back at it and shrugged and kept moving.  Then there was a lady pushing a stroller booking it.  I stuck with her and then passed her on the hill.  The first mile was flat, second mile uphill, and third mile downhill.  I loved it.  At the top of the hill they have these old men playing bagpipes to greet you.  At the top of the hill is an old train depot, really beautiful building.  And we started in front of the state capitol building.  This race had me the closest to throwing up then I have ever gotten while running.  I think what started it was at the top of the hill there was a strong smell of food.  Talking about food or smelling food while running just sends me over the edge.  So gross.  So my goal was to for sure get under 9 minute miles and throughout the race I was running a little over an 8 minute mile.  The last quarter mile or so is a straightaway and it kind of fools you because you are running on the left and there are people going towards the finish line on the right plus there is a balloon arc halfway through the straightaway but it's not the finish line is the start of "tuxedo row"  where men in tux tops and short shorts high five you.  Once I got to tuxedo row I just sprinted and made it through.  Official time 24:16 (and the Garmin showed that it was exactly 3.1 miles). 

We finished!!

The Smith family

Oops forgot to take the sunglasses off. 

All four of us girls ended up being split apart but I think we all really enjoyed the run.  We met in the park that we finished in and got our goodies.  I loved that they hand you a sack with all the food afterwards instead of having to stand in a million different lines to get what you want.  Post race food included an apple, cheese stick, chocolate milk, yogurt and berries cup, cookie, and ice cream bars.  There were more vendor booths in the park to look at too.  Ryan (Tess' hubby) and Thomas met us at the park after the race.  They had gone to Boise State football stadium where ESPN was hosting College Game Day while we were running.

The beauty of the blue field.

Go Broncos!

 We laughed cause they were going around town with Graham (Ryan and Tess' 11 month old son) in his stroller and it was probably funny for people to see two men and a baby walking around.  We couldn't have asked for better weather for the weekend.
Saturday night Tess and I went to a dinner and then the broadcast of the genereal relief society with her mother in law.  I love that President Monson talked about not judging other people by their outward appearances.  This past week I had to do some simulation activities for my special education class that I'm taking.  One of them was to be in a wheelchair for four hours.  People were super nice and helpful but I could also tell that they talked down to me a bit, like I was a child and mentally handicapped. When I mentioned to one girl that I was married she acted totally surprised, like a person in a wheelchair can't get married.  I was amazed at how people get around in a wheelchair.  I have a lot of my classes at a building at the top of the hill.  Going down a hill in a wheelchair is scary! You try to break but it hurts your hands.  I ended up rolling into a patch of grass and couldn't get out so had to ask for some help.  This nice girl took me all the way down the hill to my class.  I entered the building on the second floor, somebody showed me where the elevator was and got in only to realize it doens't go to the bottom floor! What!? So I had to go out the building again and go all the way around looking for an entrance to the basement floor.  It was a tiny little side entrance.  I was late for class.  Then I had to go back up the hill.  There was no way I was going to make it on my own.  My arms hurt just from wheeling around on flat ground.  Luckily this super nice guy offered to take me up the hill even though he wasn't going in that direction.  Poor guy, he was sweating like crazy by the time he got me up there. 
The next day I had to where four different eye masks that simulated different visual impairments like being cross eyed, tunnel vision, and only seeing form one eye.  People were so rude about them.  Actually only guys were rude and made comments.  Do people really think I'd just walk around wearing an eye mask because I think it's cool? But serisouly, what if I had just had eye surgery and had to wear these masks, why would you make fun of somebody?  By the end of the day I was fed up with it.  So when I walked past a guy and his girlfriend (who I always see making out in the hall next to my class)  and he laughed when I passed and said "did you see that!?"  I turned around and was like "Do you want to know WHY I'm wearing a mask?" He was shocked and didn't respond but his girlfriend said yes.  I found that I would much rather just have someone ask "what happened?" then to have them stare and talk behind my back.  Anyways I think this was a wonderful activity and definetly made me feel more compassion for those who live their whole life with these disabilities. 
Back to Boise, Saturday night we watched the Boise State football game and then Sunday morning went to part of church with Tess and Ryan.  We had so much fun hanging out with them and can't wait to move to Boise and be able to hang with them even more. 
On our way home Sunday evening we stopped in Pocatello where I spent most of my childhood and had dinner with the Larsen's my childhood friends family.  Her mom is such a wonderful cook! We counted all of the different food dishes she made and it came out to like eight or nine! I haven't been in their home for like 12 years so it was great to be back and catch up. 
We love our little getaway weekends and are so grateful for our amazing friends. 

Class Schedule

School, school, school.  That is my life right now.  I am happy to say that I've been getting up every morning at 6:30am to work out.  This makes it a little less stressful later in the day.  Every day this week I've done a Jillian Michael's video.  Apparently Bob from Biggest Loser has just come out with some videos too and they are killer! I really want to get them and try them out.  This next Monday free excercise classes start at the gym on campus, I can't wait for that. 
I really am enjoying my classes.  Here they are:
Literacy Practicum- I'm assigned to a first grade classroom and so far what I've done is work with them in small groups on literacy skills like ryhming and intial sounds.  The kids are adorable and so well behaved.  My cooperating teacher is super nice and young and very nice to talk to.  I'm so glad I feel so comfertable around her and the students.
Science Methods- This class I learn how to teach science.  My teacher is amazing and makes it very interesting and applicable.  Yesterday she let us do an experiement on how to split an atom using water, rubbing alcohol and vegetable oil.  She pointed out how if we as college students loved this activity so much imagine elementary kids. 
Hispanic Civilizations- This class we learn about the history of different hispanic countries.  We have already been put in groups to start researching the countries we have been assigned.  I am assigned to Venezuel and Columbia.
Exceptional Students- This class is taught by another wonderful teacher.  Here we study the history of special education.  Right now we are getting into the laws concerning special ed.  I really like this class it is so interesting to me.
Weight Training- I am partners with a girl from Russia.  We have so far maxed out on bench and squat.  I remember doing this in high school and I was a lot stronger! We also took all of our measurements calves, thighs, waist, shoulders, chest, forearm, bicep, and neck.  I'm excited to see improvement as the semester goes on.
Math Methods- is learning how to teach math. Every day we come prepared to teach a math activity in a small group.  I love being creative and modifying math activities to better suite students. 
Religion- this class is online so I thought it would be super easy but it takes up a lot of time.  It's crazy how technology has changed.  There is something called Adobe Connect where you can meet with your classmates and teacher online for meetings and video chat, IM, and voice chat. 
I'm really glad that I enjoy the classes I am taking, it makes it a lot easier to get up in the morning, go to class, and then come home and do homework til 9pm. 

School update and Jon Schmidt Concert

An update on my first two days of school.  It's going fantastic.  I have gone to my Thursday classes which include Literacy Practicum (where I go into a local elementary school and work with kids on reading), Science Methods, and Hispanic Civilizations.  So far so good there.  Turns out one of the girls in my Lit. Practicum class also lives in our apartment complex and her and her husband go to church with us.  She also is in my Science Methods class and in one of my Friday classes :).  Friday I just have one class, Exceptional Students.  I love now that I'm in my senior year I am taking all classes that interest me and have to do with my career.  It helps so much in my motivation to do my homework and go to class when I know the material will be applicable to my career. So far I've done well managing my time.  I watch my nephew Alex after class and try to sneak in a little homework before he gets here and since he loves being read to I'll read to him from my textbooks :) He's going to be one smart cookie.  Getting homework done seems to be a lot easier now that I'm married, no social pressures to go out with roommates or go on dates. 

Although speaking of dates, Thomas and I went on a fun date tonight.  First, we stopped at Coldstone.  I got a cup of Peanut Butter Cup Perfection and he got the Founder's Favorite.  Both excellent choices.  Then we headed to a concert on campus.  Jon Schmidt a wonderful piano player performed with cellist Steven Sharp Nelson.  So awesome! There video on YouTube of them mixing Love Story by Taylor Swift and Viva la Vida is really popular.  Thomas really liked the concert because not only do they play awesome songs but they also mix in humor.  Jon will lay on the piano bench and have his head under the piano while he plays.  I love piano music and I loved the mix of modern and classical songs. 

My sweet boy came home from work a little late Wednesday night.  I had called him around 5:15pm cause he's usually home by 5pm and asked if he had stopped to fill up on gas and he said yes.  When he walked in the door though he had a beautiful bouquet of sunflowers and tulips for me and my favorite chocolate Reeces' peanut butter cups and some sour skittles.  He told me he wanted to tell me that I'd do great in my classes and that the last year of marriage has been amazing and that the next year will be just as wonderful.  What a sweetie!

Back to School and Workouts

I've been loving doing whatever workout I feel like doing. Monday was fartleks with Thomas. Tuesday was level 3 of Jillian's 30 Day Shred, today was 5k with about 1.5 mile of it uphill.  I read in my new Runner's World that once you have been running for awhile, in order to increase speed I need to speed up at the end of my runs. So the last mile I really tried to pick the pace up.  Overall I averaged like a 9:15 pace. Yikes, I need to be going like a minute faster than that.  But I'll give myself credit, half of it was uphill. 
School starts tomorrow!! AHHH!! I already recieved an e-mail from one of my professors with an assignment for the first day.  It took me two hours! That stressed me out a little bit. I'm afraid I'm not going to be juggle everything school, working out, work, making dinner, keeping the apartment clean, etc. But the good thing is that I really think I'll enjoy the classes I'll be taking.  They are mostly practicum classes which means I'll be doing lots of lessons and even get a chance to be in a classroom doing reading interventions in a local elementary school.  And I'm starting my application for student teaching.  I'm hoping to do it this spring or next fall in Boise.  I was going to post my rough draft of my letter of introduction but I made even more changes and still want to fix it up a bit.  Wish me luck!

My name is Lindsey and I am a scheduler

So I would totally love to have a blog schedule. I know I love reading blogs that are super organized, with certain topics blogged about on certain days. So here is my ideal blog schedule, although it will probably have to wait until we have consistant internet.
Monday- Running/Training update
Wednesday- Meal Plan
Friday- Humorous work stories
Sunday- Getting to Know You Sunday
Soon I hope to be able to offer my few and faithful followers a steady routine. Don't you just love routine!? It makes me feel so secure and in control I love it. I love my planner. I love having the dinner schedule for the week posted on the fridge. I love having my running schedule written in my planner AND posted on the fridge. I love writing things down in my planner just so I can check them off when they are done (even if I've already done themJ). I get really anxious and kind of cranky when my plans are disrupted or there is a big change in my routine.
We have a big change coming up in the near future that I'm really excited about but I also know that the closer it gets the more anxious I will be. We are going to be moving to Rexburg in July so I can finish school. This past week when I went down to visit my lil' sis, I went to the advising center to get my class schedule figured out (see I love to schedule things!). I am so close to being done! I have two semesters of classes and then one semester of student teaching. Crazy! This time next year I'll be who knows where taking over a class of 25 little ones! I'm excited as you can see by all the exclamation marks. Also nervous. Even just being on campus again when I went to schedule my classes with the advising center made me anxious.
Things that make me anxious … finding a new place to live (we are currently in the process of filling out applications) and finding jobs (I hope to work on campus and Thomas is looking for openings for an x-ray tech). Things that make me sad… leaving our families and friends. I am especially sad to leave my running buddy Haley. She's been the greatest running partner anyone could ask for. She totally pushes me beyond what I could even try to push myself, she's great to talk with, vent with, gossip with, and just an overall awesome girl! I just really doubt I'll ever find a running partner like her again L But I totally plan on scheduling a run with her whenever we come back to visit so I can see how in or out of shape I've gotten.