My week in the classroom

The winter semester finished off and I had a week break. So I finally had time to do my week of teaching for Seminary Teaching. From 10:50 to 11:55 I was at Rexburg Jr. Seminary teaching for Bro. Brown's class. In a movie called 500 Days of Summer there is a scene where it simultaneously shows someone's expectations and what really happens and how they don't match up. That is how I felt my first day in the classroom. One problem was that there was no computer so there went the PowerPoint presentation that I had prepared with all the quotes that I was going to use and from there things didn't go the way that I wanted them too. The next day was about the same but I was getting evaluated. I had planned an object lesson but didn't have time to get everything ready so it didn't work out. It wasn't my best lesson ever and I just wasn't having any fun. The message of the week is that when you teach a lesson you need to take your own agenda out of it and use the materials given to you. Before I was trying to use things that I thought up but I decided to change the way that I prepared. I used the manual more and the scriptures more and focused on the message and take myself out of it. The rest of the week went really well. I got evaluated on Friday again and the teacher said that my lesson was night and day. The students seemed sad to see me go and I was sad that I couldn't keep teaching. I will find out within the next few weeks whether I will be hired on as a student teacher. If I am then that's awesome and if not I enjoy video work and will focus on that. I have experienced the good and bad of teaching and so I am fine either way.

Giveaway

So my friend started up a website and is giving away a cool baby carrier. I know some of you have adorable babies that would look so cute in it or are planning on having one sometime in the future. So if you're interested, feel free to hop on over to aroundmybabyblog and leave a comment for a chance to win a free baby carrier for your little bundle of joy! There are not very many comments right now so your chances of winning are pretty good.

P.S. I don't want you all to think I'm pregnant or anything by posting about this, just supporting a friend.

More fun

As most of you all know, I have the best husband in the world! He is so kind and always makes me laugh. He's a hard worker and is always spoiling me. So I shouldn't have been surprised on Valentines' Day to come home to this:


We had both been really sick with the cold and I didn't think David would be up for anything this year. I was a little sad but knew I wouldn't love him any less. But he picked me up from work and took me out to dinner. Then I came home to this. I love symphony bars and the roses were beautiful. The bread is Great Harvest bread that has a pink heart shape on the top. It was way cute. I love my husband so much!

My nephew, Zach, performed in his high school play "Oklahoma." He was Will—one of the lead boy parts. He did such an amazing job and has a beautiful voice. It was fun to see him dancing around on the stage. Great job Zach!!


He even got his first kiss (not really since it's just a stage kiss). When my nephew, Tanner, saw Zach kiss the girl, he leaned over and told his mom, "Smoochy, smoochy, Zach's in love!"

Way overdue

I've been meaning to post about what we've been up to the past few months but just haven't had the time. (More like I just didn't feel like it) I'm usually gone 11 hours every day during weekdays and our weekends have been packed full of family activities or just enjoying some free time together. David is getting closer to finals and he has been gone a lot for group projects work. I miss him but I'm glad he loves what he's doing.

I'm really enjoying my job. I work with some fun people who always make life entertaining—even when we're in the middle of press week. I just found out that the Melaleuca magazine has a circulation of 275,000!! That's incredible. That's how many people read my work. Pretty cool, huh? :-)

So, the past few months we...

Decorated our new apartment. (Here are the pictures I promised you, Kimberly)

Our Kitchen—part of it at least. Laurie was nice enough to give us her dining set and we love it. It's perfect for our cozy little apartment. Thanks Laurie!


Bathroom. We have a huge vanity that I absolutely love. And we also have our own washer/dryer room. It's so nice not having to go to a laundromat or waiting till we visit our parents.

Our front room. David loves our recliner. It's way comfortable and just what every man needs.

We love our retro couch from my grandma. It's awesome and totally works in our apartment.

This, by far, is our favorite room. Our media room. Yes, that is a 27" imac—David's present for getting a full-tuition scholarship this semester. It's bigger than our tv so we just put our tv in the closet and use this. It's awesome. And, as we all know, every true media room has to have a love sac. We spend most of our time in this room watching movies, working on projects, or just hanging out. We love our new apartment. And, for those of you who saw our last apartment, it's definitely an upgrade from our last one. :-)

New Beginnings

It's official. We have moved back in together and are happy to have our own apartment again. We've been busy painting, unpacking and decorating. We don't have any final pictures but here are some pictures of the process.

This is a picture of the apartment before the paint job. If you look close enough, you'll see the stains on the wall. It looked liked that throughout the whole apartment.

David enjoyed taking pictures with his new camera. He actually did most of the painting because I had to work. It was a lot of work but it was definitely worth it.
Our friends, Kylee and Aaron, came over to help us out. They helped us out a lot.

We had a lot of fun.

Before I got married, I had no idea how to cut a boy's hair. I know it's supposed to be way easy but how was I supposed to know? I'd never done it before. So when David and I got married, I started paying attention to how his mom cut his hair. She taught me a lot but I was never brave enough to do it myself. What if I messed up and shaved a bald spot on his head? But I promised my mother-in-law I'd start cutting his hair if she bought me a kit. And guess what I got for Christmas??? So I decided to give it a shot. And this is how it went:

Before:

After:

It's amazing how a simple haircut can make someone look so different. But no matter what, he's still my handsome husband.

Absence really does make the heart grow fonder

I finally feel it’s time for me to start blogging again! For the past 4 months I haven’t really felt up to it. After our vacation, David and I separated…

But only so he could complete his internship for the Mormon Messages. I have a great job in Idaho and knew I probably wouldn’t be able to find a better one in the area so I moved in with Mel and Tom. David moved in with his parents.

We took turns visiting each other every weekend and I learned how to get rides to Utah by using the BYUI bulletin board.

David loved his internship and helped make some amazing videos like the recent Christmas message Look to the Light. They even started paying him halfway through. He made some great connections that will hopefully help him when he graduates and starts looking for a “real job”.

I enjoyed spending more time with Mel and her family. I learned how to make Christmas stockings and cook healthier. I also discovered how fun and entertaining FHE can be with two little kids like Ashlynn and Brogan around. (My favorite is when Melanie showed us a picture of Jesus and the Leper and Brogan said Jesus was with a Leprechaun. Then when asked what a leper is, Brogan again chimed in with “Isn’t it like a cheeta?” — Classic!) Thanks for the laughs and helping me find joy in the hard times!

David and I had a great Christmas together in which David received a special present:

Needless to say, we’ll probably have more pictures on the blog soon. He loves playing with his new toy. It’s a Canon 60D that can shoot HD video.

And… after resolving our differences (in location that is), we came to an agreement that we could move back in together. We found an amazing apartment for a great deal. It’s so much bigger than our last apartment (which wasn’t difficult to find since it was a studio apartment). Our manager paid us to paint our apartment and after spending two nights on the floor, David’s parents finally were able to bring us our bed. The rest of our furniture is still on its way. But we are so happy to be together again and will be posting more about our new adventures together soon!

Ultimate Vacation Part 1

After months of planning, saving, and almost canceling the whole thing once or twice, we finally went on our "Ultimate Vacation!" It was a 2 week trip starting in Idaho and ending in Philadelphia. We spent a lot of time in the car but it was fun because we listened to some books on tape—like the Hunger Games series and Harry Potter. Our friend, Kaity, was nice enough to let us drive her car to Philadelphia for her. It was so much fun and I wasn't ready to come home, but you have to face reality sometime or other. And we're already planning where we want to go on our next vacation!

Days 1 and 2 were driving days. We drove from Pocatello to Kansas City.

Liberty Jail

Adam Ondi Ahmen

Day 3 we went to Liberty Jail, Independence Jail, the Far West Temple site, and Adam Ondi Ahmen.

Nauvoo Temple

Day 4 we went to Nauvoo and saw the sites there. We also saw Carthage Jail. We wish we could have spent more than a day there because there's so much to do and see, but we just didn't have enough time. We did do a session in the temple. It's so beautiful.

The Buckwalter Family at Isaac's baptism

Days 5 through 6 we visited the Buckwalters. We planned it just right so we'd hit Isaac's baptism. We were so grateful to get to be there for Isaac's big day. He's such a great kid. We really enjoyed our time with the Buckwalters and were sad to have to say goodbye.

Kirtland Temple

Day 7 we went to Kirtland to see the church history sites there. We planned this trip at a perfect time, right after the busy season, so we were often the only ones on the tours. That made us feel special. And we were able to relax and feel the spirit while we were in these wonderful places.

Cedar Point

And what would the "Ultimate Vacation" be without the thrilling amusement park? We went to Cedar point on Day 8. It was a blast. We went on some scary rides. One shot us 400 feet in the air at 120 mph! I had my eyes closed the whole time. But it was a lot of fun and we went on the rides till we felt sick.

Sacred Grove

Whitmore Home

Day 9 we went to Palmyra, New York and saw the Sacred Grove, Hill Cumorah, and the printing press. I enjoyed revisiting the Hill Cumorah Pageant. I kinda wish we'd been there during the pageant so I could show it to David but I'm glad we came when it wasn't so crowded. We also visited the Peter Whitmore home.

Harmony/Susquehanna River

That same day we went to Harmony, PA to see the birthplace of Joseph Smith. There was only a sign there that said he'd grown up there. No home. No tours. But it was still cool. And then we went to the Susquehanna River. It was a beautiful evening and we skipped rocks for a while. It was such a peaceful place.