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!

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.