A heart full of love

Fellow blog readers,

I have one of those moments that I just want to express love for my dear friends and family members. Obviously not all of them follow my blog, but I won't hold that against them. :)

As many of you know, I have these random outbursts of love. When I have them, I embrace them and quickly share them with those around me.

Tonight my heart is so full of love. And I want to thank you for the love that you show to me.

Albeit impersonal, I can't help but share the following:

Thank you for your prayers on my behalf
Thank you for your vote of confidence
Thank you for spending time with me
Thank you for your friendship; the conversations, the tears, the hugs, the advice. Truly, I am overwhelmed by your goodness.
Thank you for your examples and for emulating Christ-like characteristics. I want to be a better person because of you.

I love you and hope that you know that I am here for you whenever you need it. I pray for many of you. You are not far from my thoughts.

Most of all, I love you and I know that God loves you. <3

Suz

Gearing up for Guatemala

So it's official. This summer I bound for Guatemala. I was just accepted to be volunteer in one of their villages; building homes, teaching, and helping in whatever way possible to build the community and teach life skills.

To say I'm psyched would be an understatement. I am ecstatic to do this. I have always dreamed of having an opportunity to use my time, money, and talents to aid those in need. Also, after teaching about the Mayas, Aztecs and Incas, I actually get to go to their place of heritage. So so cool.

Yay for service. And yay for summer vacations that allow me to leave for a period of time.

More updates to follow, I'm sure.

In case you forgot where Guatemala is, here ya go. It's the country in the light pink. ;)


Service that I'll be participating in. Woot.

Cute kids to meet and serve. So exciting.

This will be awesome.

Yep,

I still love DC. In case you were wondering...

That's My Boo.

This is what happens when you run a half marathon with 3 other girls and bring along a token boy. Yep, we start calling him "Boo" and now we call each other "Sister-Wives." And to prove the hilariousness of the joke, we now have this creepy picture that actually looks like the real thing.

(BUT it's NOT)...so don't start worrying.

At least I'm wife #1...

Feudalism Fun!

Who knew Feudalism could be so much fun?? Do you even know what it is? Go look it up.

As many of you know I am teaching World History this year (not my favorite), but what I have been looking forward to ALL year long is the simulation that I came up (with the help of my awesome student teacher, Aimee) that would bring the students back to the Dark Ages. With the simulation, students were given roles: serfs, knights, nobles, and king and would role play their status in Medieval Europe. We discussed how feudalism changed as a result of the Crusades, Black Death, and Magna Carta. It was a blast. Students were stoned, and killed off by the Black Death. The King forced the students to dance in front of the class and to open his king size Snickers bar. Not only did I get to become a Pope and Aimee a monk/Muslim for the simulation, but I also got to use my horrid English/Aussie accent and say to my students things like: "Shush, serf, you are the scum of the earth. Your opinion means nothing to me or to God." It was awesome to be so dramatic and the students got into it.

Here is the Pope and the Monk. I know, I do look horrid in this picture, but I only share for memory sake. Don't judge me on my teacher looks...


And we did get a picture of one of my students who came DECKED out as a knight. He told me later that he has never had so much fun in history class before. My heart melted...

If I teach this class again next year, you bet we are doing the simulation, but it will be new and improved since I'll know how to make it better.

This is what makes teaching fun. Hooray for feudalism! Even if it was a wretched existence...

Perpetual Bench Warmer

One of the biggest tantrums I have ever thrown was in the 9th grade.

Ok, I probably threw way bigger ones as a small child, but lets face it: I can be emotional.

It was after a basketball game. I was frustrated that I never played. You see, that year I made the JV squad which was awesome, but the awesomeness wore off long after it boosted my fifteen year old ego. It was a frustrating time. I liked to play basketball. I was good. I was aggressive. I had a decent shot. And more than anything I wanted to play in the game, not just be a spectator.

Unfortunately, my luck did not change. Tenth grade followed in the same manner with not much playing time, eleventh followed suit, and twelfth ended with a big bench warmer bang (like the alliteration?). I was a bench warmer through and through.

Lots of times I feel like the bench warmer curse hasn't ended. Even though I rarely play basketball, it feels like in other aspects of my life (cough, dating), I never really get to play the game. I see other people in the game: getting asked out, dating boys, going to meet the parents, etc...I see the blood, sweat, and tears. But me, my bench warmer self, has not really had many opportunities to participate in the game of dating. It's a tough experience, always wanting to jump in, only for the coach (aka God) tell you, "not yet, Suz, it's not your time." I beg the coach to play, but he doesn't give me many minutes.

No, the blood, sweat, and tears for me happen on the other end. Wanting to play the game so much that the tears come at home, on the phone with mom (right?? :), or at night when no one else is around. The bench warmer syndrome is a tough business.

I don't share this to sound miserable or even to provoke a comment that says, "Suz, hang in there, you're awesome and the right guy will be so lucky when he comes along." No, I guess my point is to share that regardless of what "game" we are in, there are many times that we are sitting on the sidelines, waiting for our turn to play. It could be with unemployment, inactivity of a loved one in the church, not being able to have kids, health, etc...my bench warmer "sob" story probably lacks in comparison to many of yours.

Yet, what I love about this analogy is the lesson my mom taught me as a little 9th grader right after this tantrum occurred:

Susie. Make the best of it. Have a good attitude. Be cheerful. Work hard. And the outcome will result in something far greater than being a regular starter.

So that's what I'm trying to do. And sometimes I have to write a blog post to remind myself that regardless of being a bench warmer or a starter, I can still choose to be happy. And you can too.

That's it. I'm going to make dinner now.

Proud to be a BYU Cougar

And I'm not just saying that because everyone is getting "Jimmered."

Nor am I just saying that because BYU took a stand for truth and righteousness right before some vital pre-NCAA playoffs.

I am proud of both of those things, but here's the real reason:

I love that having attended BYU brings a good name and impression. It seems like in the last few weeks people have asked me where I have gone to school and of course, mentioning BYU automatically leads to a discussion about the Church. Like today, one of my colleagues pulled me aside and asked me about the honor code. He was amazed what I told him and had more admiration when we parted ways.

Sure, we didn't win the Conference. Sure, we probably won't win anything big in the NCAA playoffs (though I would like my faith to move that mountain.)

Yet, I am glad that as I associate myself with BYU, I am also associated with being a Mormon. And I like being a Mormon (go to www.mormon.org).

So, go BYU. Even if we never win anything, thank you for winning over some of those folks who may learn a thing or two about the Gospel as a result of the Jimmer nation.

Go Cougs!