I am super attractive right now. Yep.

Who can deny my attractiveness? Being sick for 6 weeks now, it's not too hard to believe the beauty that has become me lately.

Check me out. Hubba-hubba.


Who doesn't love...

• A raspy cough
• Swollen eyes
• A rash above my lips (from blowing my nose so much)
• Mucous being randomly spat out (sorry to be explicit)
• Dry boogers in my nose (I know, explicit again)
• Chapped lips
• A broken out face
• Plugged nose and ears which makes me hard of hearing.
• A sore throat to keep me mute
• Hair that hasn't been blow dried and styled for ages
• Eyebrows that need revisiting (yes I should pluck them)
• Kleenex still stuck to my face. Oops, forgot to peel it off.

What is the evidence of my blooming beauty?

• Students telling me I look like Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer
• Co-workers who say that I look just plain horrible
• Friends that say that death may be looming soon
  
• Men that tell me that they have seen better and hotter Susies.
  

Well, there you have it. I am attractive. See above.

Now, who wants me for eternity?

Srsly So Blessed

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, I definitely feel the need to share with everyone the many blessings that I have in my life. Even if Thanksgiving wasn't happening on Thursday, I think I would still share my thoughts; for I have been thinking about how I need to be more grateful for all that I have been blessed with. Seriously, I have been so blessed. Ha.

So here it goes: If you read this whole thing, gold star for you.

• My students who teach me A LOT about what it means to be a teacher and a future parent someday.
• The atonement of Jesus Christ for allowing me to change, repent, be better, and be happy
• Cheesy Hallmark and BBC movies. What would we do without your morals?
  
• Heavenly Father and His mighty wisdom and plan for me that I still have no clue about.
• Institute and my calling to serve on the council.
  
• My dad and his disability that taught him a lot, which is in turn teaching me a lot.
• My mother for being willing to listen to my same ramblings over and over again. Her service, faith, and dedication to the Gospel. Also, for still giving me Christmas presents when I am indeed 26 years old. :)
• My siblings: Kathryn, Julie, Chrissie, John, and Stephen.YOU ALL ROCK MY WORLD. They are my best friends and so good to me in every way. Thank you for listening to me and caring about my life. Oh, and thanks for all of the laughs and inside jokes..."Martha."
  
• My in-laws: Mark, Sam, Scott, Karla, and Jenny. Thanks for being great parents and for making my siblings happy. Oh and thanks for caring about me, too.
  
• My mission. It's been a while since I went, but I am still grateful for the lessons I learned and the person I became while serving in Canada.
• The conference issue of the Ensign
• The fact that I ran a half marathon. I am grateful that I have a body that actually did that. Whoa.
• DC fall. Wow, beautiful. Mild weather. Beautiful leaves. No snow.
  
• Christmas music. It makes me happy.
  
• My roommates. They are Uh-mazing.
• Personal revelation.
  
• MJ playing the Ukulele to "Baby" by Justin Bieber
• Sarah laughing at the lamest Youtube videos ever.
• A roof over my head and a warm bed. Oh and I'm grateful that my bathroom is inside my room so that I don't have to go too far....
• Shoes and scarves.
• The scriptures that allow me so much perspective, insight, and revelation.
• The peace of the temple.
  
• Dance parties. And people who are willing to dance with me at those parties.
• Hometeachers who really care.
• My visiting teacher, Miranda, for being so freakin' awesome and consistent
• Clint and KA for caring about my life even though they are engaged and could forget about the rest of us singletons.
• Melissa for asking me deep questions and for listening to the deep answers
• My nieces and nephews. I just love you...all 26 of you: Nicole, Adam, Olivia, Ben, Spencer, Bethany, John, Anna, Megan, Thomas, Michael, Emma, Joseph, Isaac, Josh, Caroline, Matthew, Sam, Thomas, Lizzy, Evan, Charlotte, Amy, David, Kassie, and Hannah.
• The Relief Society.
  
• My job and the opportunity to work in DC. It's hard but I am learning a ton. I am grateful that I like it and that it challenges me.
  
• GAP jeans. You make me look good.
• Blogging. It relaxes me.
• Old friends that keep tabs on me.
• The UK. I love London and cannot wait to go back someday.
• The opportunity I have to travel places and experience new things.
• Men who are gentlemen.
  
• A prophet on the earth today. Thanks Thomas Spencer.
  
• My ward and the incredible people that go to it.
  
• DC. The memorials. The people. The history. I love you.
• Chapstick.
• Good food.
• Chocolate and peanut butter. I love the combination.
• BYU. Thanks for a great education and foundation.
  
• You for reading this whole list.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING. I hope you remember your blessings this year.

CHOMPED on then SPEWED out.

Here's a random thought for a Friday night:

Have you ever felt like you've been chomped on then spewed out?

Or in other words, have you ever felt needed, loved, wanted, desired, attractive, useful, admired, and worth it for a period of time and then suddenly...

Bam.

You're spewed out.

Not needed, not wanted, not loved, not desired, not attractive, not useful, not admired, and not worth it anymore.

Yah. It's a bad feeling. I don't like it. At all.

On a positive note, I am grateful that Heavenly Father never makes me feel that way. Thanks to my God and to my Savior, I know I will always be savored.

Hope you enjoyed that vivid analogy. Done.

Having a Ball in Boston

Yep, so I went to Boston. Just because. My friend, Ashley and I ventured out to Beantown, visited my ole' buddy Andrea, and basically had a ball.

First Stop: Dunkin' Donuts. I have never seen so many in my life within one square mile of eachother. Dunkin' Donuts in Boston is as the LDS chapel in Utah County.

We first headed to Salem. As a history teacher, a historical site is a MUST. However, the Pioneer village was closed. Lame sauce.

I took some pics from the outside...

And we saw this creepy bird. It fit into the scene so well.

Beautiful Fall.

Fashion show.



Old friends from London. Andrea is basically the bomb.com

We found this slide/sled thing...not sure what it was. Getting this picture was miraculous.

Park fun.

Salem happenings. A lot of witch stuff going on, of course.


A creepo manikin

The best picture I got in Boston by far. Show off your stuff, Ash.

I took a tour of this place and got my 30 minute history lesson. So fascinating.

We saw a reenactment of the Salem Witch Trials and visited the Dungeons.

New England clam chowder. AMAZING.

We then headed to Harvard and walked around. Pictures didn't come out too well.

The Charles River (?)...

Post-church...
...with strange expressions.

Freedom Trail happenings.

Speaks for itself.




Narrowest house in Boston.


Hi-five Paul Revere.

And one more time...


Boston Massacre site.

And yes, we bought Harvard t-shirts. Now I can tell people that I bought a really expensive shirt at Harvard. It's a lot cheaper than tuition.


Fun times in Boston, yet, I will admit it: DC is the best.

Ramblings of a high school teacher.

• Using kids to cut, glue, sort, staple, put up posters, and basically do all the grunt work you don't have time to do=pure genius.
• Even though I teach 5 classes of the same subject, World History, DOES NOT mean that I can use the same lesson plan for all 5 classes. Boy, am I learning that one the hard way.
• Educational movies are good to use in class. Not only do the kids remember things from the movie that they will continue to talk about but it gives me a huge break. We all need some time to zone out every once in a while.
• Allowing students to eat in my classroom during lunch has meant that my classroom has turned into a cafeteria. Gross. I picked up some cucumbers and chicken today.
• Getting to work 2 hours before class begins is way more effective than staying after school for 2 hours. (Though I still do it).
• Turning on Pandora during a work period in most cases, enables more effective work ethic.
• Isn't it ironic that my "problem" students last year are the ones coming to me this year and telling me that they miss my class, they hug me, they check up to see how I'm doing, etc..? Yah, ironic. My good students from last year could care less how I'm doing this year.
• Working a 50-60 hour work week is becoming too familiar. Sad.
  
• Fights breaking out in other places besides my classroom is a wave of relief. Knock on wood.
• The best teachers in this world our parents. Without strong parents, it is near to impossible to mold a student in becoming strong themselves. Note to self: be a good parent.
• If you fail to plan you plan to fail. Word.
  
• Becoming tight with the Dean of Students (aka the discipline person) is the best person I have made friends with this year.
  
• Kids go crazy when vacation is near. Teachers go crazy too.
• Have I mentioned that teaching is hard?? Well it is.
  

The Giving Tree

I won't lie. Tonight I kind of had a break down. Sometimes I feel like I am constantly giving...all the time. I know, you parents out there are thinking, "Suz, you don't even know what it means to give of yourself so completely and selflessly." And you're right, when I'm married and have kids this giving business will go up to a completely different level, but for now I want to just complain for a second.

So...teaching. It's going well. So much better than last year. The kids are better behaved. I'm more organized and "in the know." I feel like I have a better handle on a lot of things. But teaching 9th graders wears me out. I feel like I am always giving.


Examples:

• Here's my apple because you forgot to bring lunch.

• Here's 30 minutes of my prep period so that we can talk about your grade and how your boyfriend (who's freakin' 14) broke up with you.
• Here's a pencil for you since you forgot yours at home.
• Here's my weekend so that I can grade your test corrections because you didn't study for the test.
  
• Here's my sleep so that you can play a fun review game tomorrow.
• Here's my money so that you can buy a metro pass this month so that you can get to school this week.
• Here's my jacket so that you won't be cold in class anymore.
• Here's my sanity so that I can be a prepared and effective teacher.

And the list just goes on...

I know these examples may seem trite, but honestly I just think, "Can you at least appreciate me for all that I give you??" And I guess that's where it starts bugging. I don't mind giving...it's more that I hate feeling like I'm not appreciated for all that I do. Kids that age don't understand and I don't really expect them to, but still the wish is there, albeit idealistic.

Then I am all of a sudden I am called to repentance. Who has given me everything? Who has done so much for me and yet I remain ungrateful? Who has given completely of himself (physically) and continues to give of himself (spiritually)? Who is there for me when I shun him? Who forgives me so easily for my mistakes? Who is quick to show me increased love when I refuse his?

The Savior. He is the ultimate giving tree. And here I am complaining about how my students don't appreciate me. What a lamo I am.

It's been one of those nights. I was upset, bitter, frustrated, outraged even that I have "given so dang much" and within a half an hour I am feeling suddenly humbled by Him who is the ultimate giver of life.

I hope I can remember this lesson tomorrow morning when I am-again-asked to give of myself for another full day of work. I pray I can do it. With his help, I can.