Pulling my hair out...figuratively (I like my hair)

It has been one of those weeks...

(Yes I feel like this!)

I have been teaching this entire year, a much less stressful year than last year. Remember last year? Yah, I thought I was going to die...literally.

However, this week has proven to test me in so many ways. My patience is wearing. My creative juices aren't flowing. I want to scream at my students for things that I am usually nice or lax about. Not this week. I am stressed out...to the max.

I've done the typical things most girls do when they're stressed:

I've eaten ice cream (well, skinny cows)

I've been running

I've been sleeping

I've cried...twice

I've called my mom

I've prayed

And I still feel like I may not make it. What is the solution people? Oh I know, go to the beach.

So one more day till the weekend. And even though Duck Beach is in 24 hours all I can think of right now is: "What the heck will I teach tomorrow?"

Yes, we do deserve our summer vacations!...And a huge raise!

The Latest, Lamest, and Greatest

I feel like my blogging life has been so blah lately. I want to post, but I have been swamped with so many responsibilities that talking about the daily grind of life just seems, well, so...blah.

Regardless, here I go in telling you the latest, lamest and greatest. Sorry if it's blah.

The Latest:

• I have 4 weeks of school left. Yes, it's still that much longer. Maybe this should go into the lamest category?
• I have been spending most of my evenings grading and lesson planning, so not much of a social life for me. Again, maybe this should be in the lamest.
• I went salsa dancing last week in DC. It was a lot of fun to make up steps and dance with old Latino men.
• Institute is crazy busy. We have a big event Tuesday night to kick off our summer semester and my friend and I made up a game for it using old school seminary movies. Hope it will be fun!
• We have a new chapel that is only 5 minutes away from where I live. Awesome. It will serve 3 of the singles ward in this area. Happy to save on gas.
• I am running a lot and eating a lot of salads and skinny cow ice cream.

The Lamest:

• I was sick last weekend which meant that I had to drop out last minute from my Ragnar race in NY. It was such a bummer cause I had been training for it and was mentally prepared. But I am feeling better and I am glad I had the extra time to recuperate.
• My students are doing a research paper right now. Note to self: NEVER assign a research paper 4th quarter. I am now grading 125 papers and I have absolutely NO motivation to do it and neither do they! lame.
• I am totally stressed out. Which never does anyone any good. And I still have 4 weeks of this craziness.
• Church is at 3pm. Lame. But I am sure I will get used to it...
• Pirates 4. Don't see it. Save your money.
  

The Greatest:

• Today's weather has been phenomenal! So sunny and warm. The trees and flowers are in full bloom and I am loving life with nice weather.
• Duck Beach is next weekend. Duck Beach is like LDS spring break down in NC. My friends and I have planned a house with 35 people and I am excited for some socializing, volleyball, and the beach. Awesome.
• I am visiting one of the Mayan ruins in Guatemala this summer!
• I really like my hair right now.
• I have lost 20 pounds. 20 more to go!
• Road tripping it to Florida after school is out. Woot.
  
• My broken heart has mostly been patched up...it feels good to be whole again.
• God's forthcoming miracles. I can feel em' coming...
• Making dinner and eating with my roommate, Heidi. She has been one of my best confidantes lately.
• My girl friends. There are so many good women out here. I am so blessed.

That's a wrap for now. I will definitely post some pics of Duck Beach after next weekend.

Calling Down the Powers of Heaven

Alright People.

I have set yet another goal for myself. And I am determined. I am currently working on one major goal and I am accomplishing it with a fair amount of success. Yay! Now, I have set yet another goal, in a different aspect of my life. And I need your help to achieve this goal.

Am I being vague enough for you??? :)

Even though I thrive on being open, this is a little too personal to share on a public blog, so I will keep it to myself. However, I still need your help.

On my mission, one of my ward mission leaders referred to a talk entitled: "Drawing on the Powers of Heaven." He used this talk to encourage us missionaries to exercise our faith in God to achieve our righteous desires; or to find people who desired to learn about the Gospel. I took the challenge to heart and prayed that our desires as missionaries to find people who would be receptive to the Gospel (see mormon.org) would be fulfilled. It was beautiful to see the fruits that faith wrought as a result of asking for God's assistance.


Going back to my vague goal. Tangent: I do feel a little bit selfish asking the blogosphere to help me in this, but not enough to stop this post. So here I go...I have a very strong righteous desire. And I am recruiting you all to pray for me as I strive to achieve this by calling down the powers of heaven to aid me in this undertaking. Please pray that I can accept God's will for me, that I can be the person that I need to be, and that through some mighty miracle, this goal can be brought to pass.

So, if you have no clue what I'm talking about then ask God any of those things stated above...if you want to know more, call me, and if you have a good idea, then your idea is probably right.

I know that God loves us and desires to answer our prayers and that sometimes we just have to show more faith to see those blessings come to pass. I know that as we "call down the powers of heaven" he can provide miracles for us. And I also know that as we fast and pray for others, our love and faith grows too.

Thank you all for your help! Let me know how I can call down the powers of heaven for your benefit, too!

Tribute to Mom

Why I love my mom:

1. She is responsible, reliable, and consistent

2. She is service-oriented and thinks mostly of others.

3. She puts on a cheerful, happy face even when she's not feeling that way.

4. She has strong faith and has taught me to trust.

5. She is an advocate of "enjoying the journey" and "being happy where you're planted."

6. She keeps going, even when the going is tough.

7. She laughs at my crazy comments. And has a delightful sense of humor herself!

8. She listens to the same conversation that I have with her every other phone conversation. Yes, she is an amazing listener.

9. She loves the Lord and her family and would sacrifice anything to for them.

10. She is beautiful. She emulates the love of the Savior as she tries to follow him daily. I want to be more like my mom.


Thank you for giving me life, mom. And thank you for helping me throughout my life! I love you so much.

ps. Remember when we served missions at the same time? And we were in the MTC together? Yah, that was cool. Muah.