Accepted

I was accepted into the SUU M. Ed program. It starts in June. Here's to hoping I can actually do the thesis option and get it completed in a year! :)

When Plans Change

I'm not one for plans changing. In fact, I hate to change. I know that it's part of being human to resist change to a certain degree, that's why there's usually a messy transition period when feelings are changing from the old normal to the new normal. I cry and try to assimilate, but it is so hard. And then after some time, I adjust.

These past few months plans have changed and I think I'm on the other side of the transition period where I have successfully (for the most part) adjusted to the new normal.

In the old normal this was the plan for the next few months:

• Cody would have applied for grad schools and we would be finding out where he got accepted about now
• I would be preparing to leave Barnett Elementary at the end of this school year
• We would be getting ready to move across the country, most likely

In this new normal, this is the plan:

• Cody will take the GRE again this summer and apply to grad schools in the fall
• I've applied to the SUU M.Ed program that they're doing with my school district and will be finding out in the next month if I've been accepted
• We're moving to a different apartment within our complex and still in our ward at the end of July
• Getting ready to be at Barnett Elementary in third grade for another year

Some of the positive side effects are:

• I'm settling into my classroom at school more. I've been thinking even more seriously about the environment that I've had so far this year and what I'd like to change for the rest of this year and the changes I'd like to make to my classroom for next year.
• I'm having my parents ship out my bike so that I can ride it around all spring, summer, and fall
• I'm not freaking out anymore by the changes because enough time has passed since November when we started making these decisions

Running

You know how everyone has that one thing that they do that just makes them feel better?  Mine isn't running because I don't always feel better after doing it. However, there are times when it is just the thing to help lift my spirits.

I woke up in a pretty lousy mood today, for multiple reasons, not the least of which was that I had to wake up at 5:38 to use the bathroom--only an hour before my alarm went off--and it was soooo hard to go back to sleep again.  However, while I tried to put that mood off all day at school, though not the most successfully at times, I'll admit, it just got worse on my ride home from school.

I called my mom and she helped me talk things out. And then of course talking with Cody helped me to feel a little better and get rid of some of my negative feelings. But what cinched the deal between my head, my heart, and my emotions was going for a run.

After changing into my running clothes, I started out with a destination in mind to help my legs prepare for the Rex Lee run next Saturday.  After reaching it, instead of doing an out-and-back, I ran a little bit further than I was planning on and when I got home I felt so much better (I'm pretty sure Downton Abbey helped too).  There's nothing like feeling your muscles working, breathing hard, and just feeling alive to help boost your spirit.

Family History Work

I've been sucked into doing family history work the past eight months, but especially the past week.  I signed up for a two week free trial with ancestry.com and I'm trying to take advantage of that resource before I have to cancel it.

Not only have I been able to put correct fathers and mothers with their children (which sometimes gets confusing when cousins marry in the 1700s and 1800s), but I've felt more of a connection with Cody's family.  I feel like I'm a part of that whole line now since doing family history work for them, and then taking some of their names to the temple when we can.

Mostly what I've been grateful for with doing family history work is a feeling of peace.  I've really needed that feeling to guide me the past eight months, but especially the last three months.  I've been confronted by people that I am related to who have been patiently waiting for someone to find them and link them to their parents, spouse, children, siblings, and I've tried to be more patient myself.

During a Scout Campout

What do I do during a Scout campout?

1. Start a new book
2. Clean my house
3. Take a bath in my newly cleaned tub
4. Give myself a pedicure
5. Make a video of my students' Sharing Day today
6. Write an article for my school's website about Sharing Day
7. Email students' parents
8. Almost start working on taxes but then realize I don't know what my husband's "occupation" is now that he isn't a student anymore...mine is easy: Teacher.
9. Read in bed until I go to sleep (probably 9:45 so I can pretend that I'm getting extra sleep before waking up at 6:40 on a Saturday for orchestra)
10. Try to get warm in bed

Tomorrow's adventures include orchestra practice, working on school stuff, going to see La Jetee at International Cinema, and then hoping Cody gets back (and cleaned up) in time to go to the Museum of Art at BYU to see the Sacred Gifts exhibit.

The end

Today is the end of The West Wing.  Since we started it this past summer when we were living in Washington DC it has been a wonderful reminder of that place we live; of getting involved and staying abreast on what is happening in local, state, and national politics; and it has been the topic of many conversations.

And now we're on the last episode of the last season ever.

I never thought this day would come.  Yet now that it's here, it makes me a little happier, because now I can watch it whenever I want and not have to wait for Cody to come home.

In other news: I get to sleep in on Monday. After discussing Martin Luther King Jr and his impact on the world, my students had a writing assignment to describe what their dream is. This is one of my favorites:  "I have a dream that one day my brothers will leave me alone! I cannot get in trouble. I can go everywhere! I will go to the pool, Disneyland, and space! I love space!"

The Christmas Spirit

I liked this video reminder of what Christmas is really about:

Sometimes I feel like the odd man out because I'm not a big gift giver.  The gifts I like to give are ones that I know will last because of their thoughtfulness--pictures, letters, memories, a hand-made blanket, a purse for the friend whose mom passed away years before, 12 Days of Christmas, etc.--or that are needed and practical--church shoes, candle warmer, etc.  I would rather spend time with someone or give them shoe laces, than give them a gift that they'll use and break, throw away, or shove in a back corner (kids are excepted from this--they break toys all the time, but they still "get" the magic of Christmas giving; every gift is--or should be--exciting because it's new).

I realized that this Christmas season. I was having a difficult time getting into the gift-giving mode of Christmas and I couldn't figure out why.  Well, it's because I couldn't figure out what people closest to me needed or needed. And while I probably am still giving out some perfunctory gifts that came from someone's wish list, at least it shows that I love them, because I do.

But...

I did get some great gifts for my parents and Cody.   My parents' gift is no secret. My sister and I are paying for family pictures, since the last ones we took were when I graduated from college and Cody and Westley weren't in our family yet.  We get to do that today (hopefully, if planes arrive on time...).  And Cody's gifts...I don't want to give away any surprises, but I know that he won't be surprised by the loving practicality of some of the gifts, since I gave him shoes for church last year. However, I do know that there is at least one gift that he will be surprised by.

Thorvaldsen Christus

I'd like to close this Christmas message with a quote that I always have displayed in my room:

"However dim our days may seem, they have been a lot darker for the Savior of the world.  As a reminder of those days, Jesus has chosen, even in a resurrected, otherwise perfected body, to retain for the benefit of His disciples the wounds in His hands and in His feet and in His side--signs, if you will, that painful things happen even tot he pure and the perfect; signs, if you will, that pain in this world is not evidence that God doesn't love you; signs, if you will, that problems pass and happiness can be ours."  --Jeffrey R. Holland, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles