School's Out for the Summa!

I made it (again)! This time, one ENTIRE school year! It is a relief to have some more experience under my belt. Teaching truly does get easier with time, but there is so much to learn still.

Here are my goodbyes from the academic year 2010-2011...

My coworker, Dan. He is moving back to Utah...no, not a BYU boy at all, but a great friend and coworker. He will be missed next year.

My Period 1 students: responsible, hard working, and definitely my best behaved class. I will miss our pre-1st period dance parties...


My mentor teacher, Camille. She guided me through our Socratic seminar, feudalism simulation, field trip, and so much more! She is a a great pal and listener when I needed to vent. I hope to work with her next year too...heaven knows, I still need a lot of help!

Day1 Period 3 kids. They were a rowdy bunch, but had a lot of personality. They were the only class that got the "farwell dance" by me...what is the farewell dance? Oh, well dancing to The Black Eyed Peas 'Dirty Bit.' Yah, they had no idea Ms. Baer has so many moves. I'm pretty sure they posted my dance on facebook. Good thing I'm not running for president...


3rd period students...

Day 1 Period 2 kids. My best participants by far. I told them a lot about my life because they were always so interested to know things about me. They had a lot of spunk and personality. We struggled at the beginning, but they became one of my favorite classes by the end of the year.


Day 2 Period 3. My smallest class. We had a lot of heart-to-hearts and really enjoyed the small, eclectic class of ours. I was relaxed in this class. I loved it, so did they.

Day 2 Period 4. My biggest class. They had their crazy and their apathetic days but a lot of bright students who desired to learn and succeed.

My freshman social studies "team" minus Dan (from above). Jamie and I collaborated a ton and managed to do less work between the 2 of us...Mark was there for some of the meetings. It was fun to be on this team of people. Great educators and a lot to learn from everyone.


Ms. W. She was like my mom at school. She is so soothing and kind. She is a professional developer and gave me great advice for my classroom. Her vote of confidence in me and my abilities was incredible. I am happy to work with her next year and continue to grow in my knowledge of literacy and skillful teaching next school year.

My friend, Ashley, who will be teaching Special Ed history next year so we will be collaborating a lot in the future. Such a great person!

And yes, I wore the robe at graduation on Saturday. Hard to believe I am considered a faculty member who molds students' futures. Yah, did I ever think I would be doing this job? No. But it's right and where God wants me to be. I am so grateful to be a teacher.

Yet, I am SO grateful for summer vacation!

Goodbye students for 2 months!

Hello, summer vacation!

WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!

Memorial Day: Duckumented

I have procrastinated on posting my Duck Beach pictures because I don't have all of the pictures I want. So I am going to do this in 2 rounds. Round 1 with the pictures I currently have and Round 2 with the pictures I have yet to get...

And here we go with Round 1!

OMG! Duck Beach with 800 LDS YSA ...nothing will ever compare to this! (do you sense my sarcasm??)


Playing in the volleyball tournament...we lost both games. Oh well.

My team: Ryan, Kathryn, me, Ian

Us girl folk on the beach.

This picture doesn't even begin to explain the amount of people that were there.

More ladies.

I don't love this picture but it makes me laugh. More so because it looks like something a lot of my non-LDS friends would post on facebook. Here I am with my can of rootbeer.

Skewer making. We had a ton of people in our house and we delegated like crazy to make it all happen.

Friends.
Spencer and I had a moment with the water bottle...

And arm wrestling...


Beautiful NC!

Wright Memorial with the Fab 5

My current FB picture. My brow is furrowed, not out of anger but out of sheer contemplation.

The Duck Beach planning committee: Ryan, Kathryn, and myself. Sarah was an honorary contributor.

A long, platonic, walk on the beach with Ian. Every girl's dream.

Cookie making and eating.

Our house!


We had a pool and a hot tub too!
Food line up. Homemade Cafe Rio!

Lance was the chef behind this fantastic dinner. Check out the Guac!

Pretty happy with the dinner.

Dance party after dinner

Dance party after breakfast.

My kind of weekend! Friends, fun, the beach! It was phenomenal!

Duck 2012? Possibly. Would prefer a husband with me though!!!

Alma, I, and our allotted acreage

Me, like many other humans, get caught up in the things we don't have. We can have a million blessings, but if we don't have one, we get caught up in the self-pity trap. I know I am not alone in entangling myself in this snare of Satan's. Yet, this self-pity thing can be difficult to overcome.

I have a lot of blessings. A ton. I could start naming them off, but that would get boring, and you'd probably skip them anyways. However, my hold up, and my ultimate "thorn in my flesh" is men and the lack thereof...

Currently my "allotted acreage" is to live in DC, work, and be single. It's really not a bad life at all when you think of it. Yet, my heart yearns for greener pastures; and to ultimately expand my acreage so that a husband and family might be included.

I often feel like Alma in the Book of Mormon as he desires to proclaim the Gospel to every unrepentant soul.

In Alma 29, he exclaims:

"O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth and speak with the ^atrump of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people!"

Yes, in this context he is discussing his desire to convert the world to team, Gospel of Jesus Christ. I remember feeling that way on my mission. My greatest desire now, however, is to "convert" a man to team, Susie. I want to be that powerful dater and man-magnet. You know, get asked out on all of the dates and to shake the LDS dating scene by storm. But if you know me and my life, that certainly is not the case. Haha.

What I learned this morning is that Alma went through a transformation. He ultimately proclaims:

"For I ought to be content with the things which the Lord hath allotted unto me." Later on he shares, "yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance; and this is my joy."

Alma went from desiring to convert the entire world (figuratively) to desiring to bring just one person to the Gospel. How did this transformation occur you may ask?

Well, earlier Alma testifies:

"I ought not to harrow up in my desires the firm decree of a just God, for I know that he granteth unto men according to their ^adesire, whether it be unto death or unto life; yea, I know that he allotteth unto men, yea, decreeth unto them decrees which are unalterable, according to their ^bwills, whether they be unto salvation or unto destruction."

Alma understood that God knew the desires of his heart, and he was content with that knowledge. Suddenly, it wasn't about him converting the world all at once, but it was about him, humbling himself, and being content converting just one soul. And that was joyous to him, which is remarkable to think about.

Alma, if we continue reading, goes on to share that his joy is more full for his brethren who are finding success in his missionary efforts. And, as the chapters progress, Alma does find a lot of success with his missionary efforts and converts many to the Gospel.

It is interesting to note that during his service, he still had to come to the knowledge that his joy, regardless of the numbers, could still be full knowing that he brought one soul to the knowledge of the Gospel.

So, Suz, what have you learned from all of this? I'm dying to know...

Well, a few things...

The numbers don't matter. At all. It doesn't matter how many boys have liked me or have asked me out. I don't need to count marriage proposals, either. In the end, I can be content with my allotted acreage: single, working, socializing in DC. God knows the desires of my heart, and he will bless me with those desires as I stay faithful to Him and His commandments

There is a lot for me to do in my allotted acreage. And I am going to make it beautiful, even if it small. I can serve, reach out, love others, and become a better disciple of Christ, without feeling the need to sorrow for what I lack. Or feeling sorrow for others' alloted acreages.

The great thing is that I will be blessed, just as Alma was. I will have success through my efforts and with the Lord's help in bringing "a man to Susie."


ps. So if you're wondering where I got this "allotted acreage" lingo, it's not me, it's Elder Maxwell. Check out his talk, "Content with the Things Allotted unto Us." See (http://lds.org/general-conference/2000/04/content-with-the-things-allotted-unto-us?lang=eng)

Also, thanks to my brother, Stephen, for referring me to this talk. We can be happy in our allotted acreages together, Steve!