Me...Teaching?! Already!?

This has been the craziest week of my life.

Friday night there was this teacher fair and like 15 districts/schools from Utah were there, waiting to reel all innocent and naive students into their schools. We got chocolate bars, water bottles, seeds to make gardens, lunch boxes...I had a bag full of goodies when I left. There were a few school districts that really impressed me with how much they pursued me. I mean, even ones I never considered working with, which is surprising because some of them were the closest ones. I interviewed with one district but that was crazy because two schools were interviewing me at the same time! "Now which job would you prefer?" uh...whichever school wants me? It was rough, but I did just fine. Another district interviewed me only to call me a few hours later and say "Come work with us!" Well. I had to see some schools. I went to the elementary school I interviewed with first. So, indoor schools are just not my thing. I never went to one and have never really been a fan. They smell, you feel trapped...but this school! Oh man. It was so cute. It smelt good, the principal was fabulous, and I would have a part-time teacher to work with! IDEAL for an internship. Needless to say, they called me a few hours after I left and I now have a job for next year.

I AM GOING TO BE A SPECIAL ED TEACHER! I will be working with kids between 3rd and 5th grade. I am so excited.

VEGAS. Year Numero Dos. And I am STILL Alive.

So, for two years now, my annual MWC Tournament trip to Vegas has brought my roommate and I close encounters with...well, accidents that could have been quite serious.

Last year we were driving home Saturday night, after the championship game (which we lost). I guess we weren't in the greatest of moods and people were telling us that the weather was really bad up by Cedar City. We did not want to hear that. The game got out at 8ish and we just wanted to get back to Provo. Just to be safe I texted Tommy Barnum and asked him where he was, if it was ok if we spent the night with his family. He said it was totally fine, of course, but by then Aubrey and I decided that really the weather wasn't that bad and that we could make it. So I just told him we were going to drive through. We were about an hour to St. George when Aubrey was decided that maybe we should just stop. She went to text Tommy and tell him we changed our minds when she saw that my last text to him never sent anyway - he was still planning on us stopping. Coincidence? Definitely not. Did we take that as a sign to stop? You better believe it. It was so nice stopping and it is always fun to be with Cliffy and Lynne. They made us cinammon rolls and stalked us up with apples and oranges. We made the trip safe...until about 20 miles south of Provo. We were going through gas way too fast and before I knew it I could hardly accelerate before my car just revved and revved. For some reason AAA in Salt Lake was closed (it was Sunday...but really AAA?) and a cop came and pushed us off to an exit. We sat there for 2+ hours (no joke) and to make a long story short, when the tow truck man started talking to us he made us realize how lucky we were we stayed in St. George the night. I guess the snow was horrible and cars were stuck in snow all night. We would have been stuck out there, waiting in the freezing cold.

OK - and this happened just TODAY!

I had been driving all weekend inVegas and once again we were not the happiest as we lost in the semis. Plus, for those of you who are curious, my voice has not yet fully returned, and I am still not feeling so hot. Aubrey volunteered to drive to go pick up the boys driving home with us and take the first shift. We all stop to stock up on gas and soda and Aubrey walks back to the car and asks all the boys if they want to drive. I was confused and told her that if she really don't want to drive - I so can. But Brandon volunteered. We were on the 15 for no more than 2 minutes when we hear the squeal of tires. Just a few hundred feet in front of us a big trailer has come unhitched from the truck and is sliding across the three lanes and towards us. None of us have time to scream. Brandon kept control of my car and we stop maybe a foot from the trailer. We were stuck between the median and the trailer. The trailer stopped less then four feet from the median. None of us could move. I remember checking my review mirror and being shocked that in this traffic, no one had been behind us and we were not in some huge wreck. The ginormous RV next to us was smoking at the tires from stopping so quickly. We had to reverse to continue our drive to Provo. Aubrey told us then that when she got into the car to drive she knew she wasn't supposed to. Brandon said that he had said a prayer just minutes before that happened and that he watched as the trailer came unhitched and slide towards us.

I am so grateful that we recognize promptings of the spirit and are in direct and constant communication with our Heavenly Father.

Overall Vegas was warm, but sort of a bust considering we didn't do so well in the tournament. I guess there is always next year :)


<-- The drive to Vegas. Luckily Brandon joined us for the trip home.

I'll be your voice

This morning I went down to Payson High School to do some transition/academic observation in their special ed program. I have been sick the last few days and my voice is pretty close to gone. One of the sweet girls in the class was talking to me about what she wanted to make to eat. When I started to respond she stops and goes, "What's wrong with your voice!?" I just went ahead and told her that it had disappeared. Her reaction was adorable. "It disappeared? I want to find it." So she placed her hands on my neck and then looked in my mouth. "Do you see it?" She told me that she couldn't find it but she said, "I'll be your voice."

The more I have thought about it, the more amazing the experience seems to me. She offered to be my voice. I can still hear her saying that to me. She, who can only communicate minimally, offered to do something that I was having trouble with. Her life has to be much more difficult than mine, yet she wanted to help me. Last semester I took a class all about augmentative and alternative communication devices to use in my classroom. We stressed that we are going to be their voice. It was such an eye opener to be on the other side of the situation. I was just reminded once again how wonderful my students are and how much I can learn from them.

Kelly's Wedding!

I remember the first time I met Kelly. She moved to San Marcos from Minnesota but she had only lived there for like 6 months and was really from Washington. She has fire red hair (absolutely beautiful!), big blue eyes, and a beautiful smile. She lived a five minute walk away and I had a new friend in my ward. Then she was in my bio class! We did everything together. Concerts, lifeguarding, beach, road trips, dance, make music videos, TP wars, KPFM...really, everything. We became best friends almost exactly 6 years ago and on Saturday I watched her get married.
Friday was actually Kelly's birthday. We went and got our nails done and ate a delicious lunch at P.F. Changs. Later that night we reunited at her Grandparent's house for cake and ice cream. It was nice to be with the Larsens again. I just love that family. I spent almost all free time at their house. Once, Lauren and I spent that night at their house because we knew they were driving home from Utah and would be there at like 3 a.m. It was my second home all through high school.
Saturday was the big day and can I just tell you how made for each other they are?! Oh my gosh. He completely adores her. They walked out of the temple and there was this excitement and peace all at the same time. So much happiness. Kelly looked beautiful. Her dress was stunning. We jumped around and took pictures at the temple for awhile and then we went to a chapel for a lunch.
During the lunch we watched the slideshow Eric put together. At the end there was a special little message for Jason and Kelly. Andy had recorded a little video message for the bride and groom. It was absolutely adorable and everyone enjoyed seeing some Andy. The lunch was delicious. Apples with caramelized goat cheese (interesting but I actually enjoyed it). Pasta and breadsticks. Salad. Artichoke dip. I mean - all the essentials.
Then it was off to the reception hall. I think it was called the Ivy Mansion and it was simple and beautiful. They had it decorated so nicely. It was just fun just sitting in the brides room, all the girls, talking. So many people came to see Kelly and Jason. I never really got emotional until I watched them drive away. I don't know what it was...but it all just came out then. He was taking Kelly. She has moved on to the next stage in her life and I am so happy for the two of them and I really look forward to getting to know Jason better.

<<<----This is us...we did everything together. Every Friday night was spent at Killer Pizza. We plotted and we conquered together. John got home from his mission just in time for the wedding and it was an exciting reunion.

COUGAR VICTORY!!!

Yesterday, was a HUGE day for BYU basketball. The Cougars defeated those Utes 63-50. It was some comeback after the half and I sure am happy to be such a fan!

<----This was Friday night. I was wearing spandex and sweats under those jeans with 4 pairs of socks. I even went home and put Aubrey's UGGs on. I wish you could have seen the line of tents behind us. We counted 49 tents at about 7ish Friday night. The tents literally went halfway around the Marriott and I am sure it got even longer. I know that by Saturday the line did wrap around the Marriott and turned to go up the street. CRAZY. I was so happy we were in the front. A wait well worth it. Aubrey and I hung around with our friends and tent until about 1 Friday morning when we happily went home to get some sleep in :) We took Thursday night in the tent and we went to the Draper Temple open house Saturday morning. At one point we had speakers out and we were blasting music. Yes, dance party! Some girl walked by and even called us "the fun tent". We played like a million rounds of Nertz, drank delicious 7-11 hot chocolate, had a bbq...I mean, we did everything!
GAME DAY. We were so anxious to get in!

4th ROW!!


COSMO LOVE: so Cosmo came and joined us for a little bit. I got all sorts of attacked/mauled. No joke - I think he watched the game with us for 5 minutes. We screamed and jumped and enjoyed the game with our favorite cosmo the cougar.

Now, if you did not see the game, let it be known that the Cougars won!!


rise and shout, the Cougars are out...