Good Ole' Southern Hospitality

I am back! Boy it feels great to be home. I had a fabulous spring break. Many memories were created, many treats consumed, and many sites were seen. I did so much, I don't know where to start! Freak.

So without further ado, here goes my extensive tale of the South. You ready for this?

On my trip to the South I...

Sat in a car where tampons were easily seen through the back window.


Ate one healthy snack in the car...and they were caramel rice cakes. The rest of the stuff was junk. I am planning a one week fast.

Kristen, me, Colleen


Visited really ghetto places like South of the Border (the border of North Carolina and South Carolina) and felt like I was in some kiddie park nightmare.

Carolyn, me, Kristen, Amber, Wendy


Sat on a wanna-be Clifford dog at South of the Border.

Me, Amber, Colleen, Kristen, Meggie, Wendy




Wore sombreros and partied it up like it's 2009.

Colleen, me, Amber


Pretended like I was a mermaid with Colleen.



Visited beautiful Savannah, Georgia.



Ate some real Southern fried chicken. With pecans too! Mom, you would've been in Pecan heaven!


Went to a Pirate House! For reals though...this place has existed since 1755 or something crazy like that. And pirates drank it up here. We drank water.



Realized that grits are a true and vital characteristic of the South...so much that there was a Grit store! ps. Grits are nasty and I am glad that I did not grow up on them.



Rode in a hearse for a Savannah Ghost Tour. In reality, we got free sugared pecans, heard a couple stories about people's experiences with ghosts, and told the hearse driver about the LDS Church. Definitely one of the most memorable spring break experiences!



Amber, Colleen, Meggie, Suz, Kristen



Stumbled upon the first African American Baptist Church.

Meggie and I


Brunched it up with Amber's friend, Megan. Note the shark behind us.

Amber, Megan, Kristen, Meggie, Carolyn, Colleen, me, Wendy


Was in awe of the beauty of the South. Picturesque.



And to add more beauty to your eye...



Took a stroll down a beautiful southern neighborhood and stumbled upon my dream home. Check out the porch!



Learned about Manatees from teacher Amber.



Pretended to sit in the original Forest Gump bench. However, the actual bench is in a museum but the movie was filmed in this park! It's like the seven benches of separation.



Found a random sign with Kristen that I never would've associated with the South.



Kayaked in a gator and manatee infested river. Location? Tallahassee Florida. I think my biceps grew a few inches.

Colleen and I...

Discovered wildlife. I felt like I was in National Geographic. We also saw a duck eat a fish!



Jumped in the McCullough river, with the risk that we could be eaten by an alligator.

Wendy, Carolyn, Colleen, Meggie, yours truly


Thought of my brothers. haha.


Experienced the South in Apalachicola, Florida. Totally southern hospitality.



Bought Oreos at a Piggly Wiggly! Yes, Piggly Wigglies are for reals.

Kristen, Amber, Colleen, Meggie, me


Stayed in a mansion of a beach house! Holy! This place sleeps 14 and costs $6000/week. We stayed the night for free. Location? St. George Island, Florida. Right off the Gulf of Mexico. Beautiful!



Slept in a king size bed at this giant of a beach house.



Watched a little TV...


Slapped myself for NOT taking a dip in the jacuzzi (we all got a little sunburned and we were exhausted).



Walked with God along the coast and saw my initials in the sand (I didn't have my camera with me when I saw my initials...oh snap).




Avoided grits for breakfast and went for the traditional French toast in Albany, Georgia.




Made a new best friend...sacreligious, I know.



Played with our mascots of the trip: Fran, the Flamingo and Marvin, the Manatee.



Enjoyed the Coca Cola factory in Atlanta, Georgia.

Wendy, Meggie, me, Colleen, Amber


Felt temporarily transported to Disneyland for Coca Cola 4D!

Colleen, Wendy, me, Amber



Dumped out the Coca Cola that I did not like...there were 64 flavors to try and some were absolutely disgusting!



Helped Wendy's boyfriend, Justin via t-shirt, partake the goodness of Coke.



Laughed at Wendy's nose job. She actually had to get surgery because she broke her nose. Nonetheless, her taped nose provided endless entertainment. Doesn't she look like some sort of Muppet in this picture? haha.



Watched Wendy get water spilled on her by manger, Scott, of Tacomac (white guy) and heard some outlandish remarks from waitress, Shirley (black lady). Due to this restaurant "disaster" Wendy got a free t-shirt (shown), a free meal and a free dessert. I would've been jealous but it was her birthday the next day so she deserved it! And when you have a nose like that, who wouldn't feel sorry for her???




Hung out with a bunch of random friends from Amber's past and jealous that she has so many boys that adore her. This was just one of many times that we met up with some of her amigos.

Friend 1, Colleen, me, Meggie, Amber, Friend 2



Got bored in the back seat of the car on the way back to DC from Atlanta. I took many self portraits on our ten hour drive home.



And lastly, I developed a southern twang (started to say ya'll) and developed a grateful heart for the amazing southern hospitality we experienced! What a trip!

I am not alone

I am still on spring break but I thought I would take the time to tell you all about an experience I had yesterday.  Don't worry, updates and pictures will come very soon!

We went to the beach yesterday at St. George Island in Florida.  It's off the Gulf of Mexico and so beautiful.  It was basically empty all day long so we practically had the beach all to ourselves.  

After dinner last night we had some extra time so I took a walk down the coast.  Having a lot of time to think, I have been contemplating my life in the present and what my life holds for me in the future.Honestly, I've been feeling a little down about some things.  So my walk served many purposes.  I haven't had much alone time, so it was a good time to reconnect with Heavenly Father and tell him what's on my mind.

During one thought process I explained to Heavenly Father that I felt very alone in my life. Without going into too many details, I asked Heavenly Father for a confirmation that He was aware of my life and that others do think of me.  Right at that moment, I looked down and etched in the sand were my initials "SB" with a heart.  Immediately I felt the Lord's love consume me and it brought me to tears.  I have no idea how my initials happened to be in the sand, but it proved to me that He uses others to answer prayers.

I know that this sounds like a cliche Ensign story, but the tender mercies of the Lord were definitely revealed to me.  I am so grateful for that manifestation that I am remembered even all the way out in Florida.  I know that Heavenly Father is aware of me and is aware of all of us.  

We are not ever alone, for He is constantly there to answer our prayers and show us His love.

My hand doesn't always need to be held

Metaphorically speaking. I mean, it would be nice to have it held by a boy every once in a while but that's not the topic of today's post.

Teaching has taught me so much. Yah, that is kind of a rote statement, but I feel like I learn more from my students than the other way around. In my classroom, my students are often afraid to try new things when we introduce new content or skills. They often say, "Ms. Baer I just don't get it," or "Could you help me? You know so much more than I do?" Or the infamous, "I don't want to do this, so can you just do this for me?" The answer: Heck no, techno.

In other words, they want me to hold their hand through the learning process. They're afraid of writing down the wrong answer or saying the wrong thing. They're afraid to make mistakes.

So I just tell them to put forth their best effort and when I see that they've tried, I will guide them to the next step. I can't hold their hand through every project or paper because their learning will be hindered.

Does this make sense? Does this sound familiar to anyone else besides me? Even as I am writing this I am getting a spiritual wake up call from God who is trying to teach me the same lesson.

He can't hold my hand through every step of my life. Granted his hands are always there to help me and guide me through life's travails and choices, but oftentimes He lets me struggle. He lets me mess up and make mistakes. He lets me choose the direction that I want to go.

Especially at this point in my life, I feel at a complete loss as to what I am supposed to do next. In some ways I think that I just expect that Heavenly Father will hold my hand through this post-graduation process, but I have to remember that He lets me walk by faith and not by sight.

So currently my hand is empty. But I know it will all work out. And if I make the wrong choice, the Lord's hand will be there to pick me up and push me in the right direction.

The countdown is on...

Not like I am excited for my semester in DC to be over, but I can't help but think that I am almost done with student teaching!

I have only 14 days of student teaching left. That may seem like a lot of time still but really it's nothing.

Here's my schedule:

March 16-20th: 5 days of teaching and TWS due on Wednesday. The teacher work sample is my main project this semester and it's a huge undertaking. I will be so glad when it's over.

March 21-March 29th: SPRING BREAK. My first in 6 years. We are taking a road trip down to Florida and planning to soak up some sun. Yah baby.

March 30th-April 3rd: 5 days of teaching just one class, World History. We give AP back to Brooke. Hooray!

April 6-9th: 4 days of student teaching but mostly just observing and helping out a little bit.

April 11th: Leave for NYC to visit the Newmans

April 15th: Leave for Utah

April 23rd and April 24th: Graduate from BYU. Surreal.

April 25th to Eternity: ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
(just don't ask me)

I have mixed feelings about this all coming to a close. I love living here in DC. It has definitely been an incredible experience. I am not looking forward to going back...sorry mom.

Yet, the countdown is on and I can't stop it.

Tick.

LDS "Youth" Dance + Naval Academy= Awkward night in Annapolis

While everyone was together in Utah, I was here in DC exploring new things and reliving past memories that I never thought I'd ever relive.

Saturday night we all went to Annapolis (cute city by the way...) to go to an LDS dance at the Naval Academy. The thought of being with Navy boys appealed to all of us...not like we really thought that we'd fall in love with any of them. But, hey, this dance was a once in a lifetime opportunity so we took advantage of it!

We all got dolled up; mostly to procrastinate working on our lesson plans. Here are some glamor shots of us, taken by yours truly.

Meggie, girl next door. Who wouldn't want her for steady buddy or date?


Kristen, the 21st century Duchess. Sorry Kiera Knightley. Out with the old and in with the new.


Amber, mysterious and blonde (but NOT a ditz)

Carolyn, athletic goddess


Wendy, red-haired fireball.


Colleen, classy enigma of the semester


And now for what you've all been waiting for...Susie, winner friend, winner hair.

Before I go on can I just say that I have GORGEOUS roommates?? Yah, I'm always blessed/cursed with them. Dang.

Now for the dance in Annapolis. We were all psyched cause we figured that the dance would be filled with Navy men galore. We dreamed of beautiful uniforms, bulky bodies, and white teeth. Well those are they myths and here are the realities:

1. Beautiful uniforms; check
2. Bulky bodies; if you consider a buck fifty a bulky body...but I don't. We weren't even sure if these guys were old enough to drive! They were so little!
3. White teeth; check. Yes, they had nice smiles. However, they had no idea how to use those teeth to talk to us. They may need some lessons on social skills besides Naval training.

So in the end, this dance reminded me of my Stake youth dance days. There were a million more girls. The guys couldn't dance at all. I danced with my girlfriends. I didn't get asked to dance. I got cute for nobody besides myself. The music was terrible (hokey pokey really?).

But like I have mentioned before, I chose to have fun and so I did. We all had a blast together. We danced it up and I am so glad I went. It's a funny story if anything...

Here are all the ladies. I took the picture.

And since it was my camera, they decided that I should probably be in one of the pictures. We just finished getting down and dirty (no skankiness was involved, I promise).


Ahhh...the memories.