A wave of gratitude

Since summer vacation started, I have had a lot of time to get projects done. It's been awesome! My main project so far has been working on organizing my childhood, high school, BYU, mission, and young adult years. It's been a lot of work. I have enjoyed reminiscing and reviewing past journal entries, letters, yearbooks, and other artifacts that were so near and dear to me at that time.                                                   The overwhelming feeling I have received while doing this has been so much gratitude! I am so grateful for the life I have led and the experiences I've had. I would never want it any differently. I know I have said this so many times, but I'm saying it again: I am glad that marriage and family was not in the cards for me in my early 20s as I had hoped. The trials, friendships, professional experiences and opportunities I have had has shaped me into the person I am today and I would never want to give those things up. 

So yes. God knows best. He knows I needed some extra time under my belt to be single and to grow in different ways. And I am so, so grateful. Thank you, Lord, for seeing the bigger picture.

Arch ya something?!? #friendtrip2015

This was a trip of firsts:

• First road trip with a boyfriend
• First trip to Moab (which includes Arches and Canyonlands)
• First trip with a selfie stick. Yep, I'm one of those people that bought one from Amazon. I like to be trendy. :)

Nonetheless, it was a fun 3 day adventure. Here are just some highlights. And btw, many of the pictures look the same because they include red rock and Brad and I in our selfie stick pose. Whatevs...

Beautiful Canyonlands!

Mesa Arch. A very famous picture. 

We like to do silliness at Canyonlands. :)

First day at Arches. My hair was still down at that point. Pretty soon it would go up!

Another great selfie stick pic.

One of the arches. A lot of Asian tourists behind us.

We believe in shade!

A double arch kiss!

And let's get a legit one. I just became that girl that posts a picture of a boy kissing me. Sue me. 

We made it to Delicate Arch. Not pictured: Very sweaty backsides. 

The hike here was brutal (for us non-hikers) but so worth it!

Where's Susie? I had the arch all to myself!

A majestic sunset in Moab over the Green River. No filter!

That's where we stayed. In separate bedrooms. ;)

Landscape Arch

Another fun little one over there :)

We had a great time together! It was hot but otherwise the weather was beautiful. I loved being with the BF for 3 days, too. I loved our #friendtrip2015--and yes, we are much more than friends. 

Peace. 

ps. The selfie stick rocks in case anyone is contemplating getting one!

rolling with the punches

It's been a stressful spring! Although this is my 6th year teaching, somehow the spring ALWAYS stresses me out. I think it's a combination of the warmer weather, being burned out, feeling indifferent towards my students, and having ZERO motivation to grade or lesson plan. Needless to say, it's been crazy and I am definitely ready for summer vacation!

One lesson that has stuck with me my last few years of teaching is to just go with the flow, especially when it comes to certain students and classes. For example, I have this crazy 6th period class of mostly boys. In my early years of teaching, I would have done everything in my power to have them do what I wanted and to get my way, no matter what. Typically, some of these kids are troublemakers in other classes, but for me they are pretty good. Why? I think because I give them a bit of freedom and I simply go with the flow. "You want to do a Battle of Bull Run reenactments as a class? Sure!" Or, "you want to do a cheer every time we open up our chrome books? Why not?!" Normally, I wouldn't want to deviate from "the plan" (aka, my plan), but rolling with the punches and being flexible in my lessons has enabled me to develop a good class culture with these students.

Having this realization about teaching has helped to implement the same philosophy in my own life. I am the kind of person the likes to plan and know what's ahead of me. The reality is, I don't quite know. So many things are up in the air. So in the meantime, what am I doing? Rolling with the punches.

10 more days of school…but who's counting?! :)

#30

I have 30 nieces and nephews. It became official this past week when #30, a little boy, came into our family. It's still exciting and exhilarating. I am so happy for my brother, Stephen and my sister-in-law, Jenny.

#30 and I am 30. It's incredible! Welcome to the world little Philip!

Goin' Shootin'

I never thought I'd ever shoot a gun but this guy gets me to do things I never wanted to do. That whole thing called "opposites attract" is legit.

On a beautiful spring day we headed to Hobble Creek Canyon and shot some guns. Yep, I shot a gun. It's still kind of weird to admit but it happened.

Brad knows his stuff. And he knows how to shoot without standing up. Not too shabby.

And yes, this is MY target. Not too bad, right? I got a few almost bulls eye. I am proud of myself.

Glad to be expanding my horizons. And glad I get home safe and sound after a day of goin' shootin'!!

Getting some closure

For spring break I returned to my beloved east coast. First, I stopped in NYC to spend a short 1.5 days with Kathryn and her family. Here, bellow are the 3 girls donning some winter gear for a chilly NYC day.

Good news, though. We stopped at Max Brenners Chocolate World and got some delicious food, like this incredible peanut butter and chocolate and banana crepe. Yum.

It was a short trip in NYC then I headed to DC and enjoyed walking around the tidal basin and seeing my old stomping grounds.

I loved catching up with some of my besties. Love these girls. 

It was such a fun trip! I got plenty of catch up time with my favorite people. As I visited, however, I got a strong feeling of closure. Although I miss DC, I know that my life path right now is the right one. My 5 years there were beautiful but it was the right choice for me to move on. 

I love DC but I love Utah more because I know it's where God wants me to be.  👍

Easter Time, Family Time

One thing I love about being in Utah is being able to see my family on a regular basis. Like this little girl. What a cutie! We ventured up to my aunt's house for her annual Easter Egg Hunt. It was good to see the little ones get so excited about finding some eggs.

And we still like to be silly…and we are even rubbing off on all of these nieces and nephews of ours. They are getting so big!

We like to smile, too. :)

And this guy came with me. He even paid the boys to get him a bucket full of candy. They responded and he paid up later. Lol.

Happy Easter!