Savannah Olive

This is my brain on caffeine...

2009-11-09T23:01:00.009-07:00

I am supposed to be working on approximately 17.35 million things right now, none of which include updating my blog. So, naturally, that is what I'm doing... [And on caffeine to boot! Oops...] I'm putting up a bunch of pictures. And they are amazing. And they detail aspects of my life recently... Or, not so recently. Whatever. And they're all terribly out of order and random and crazy - but that's my life for ya! :)

On a completely unrelated note, and before I start in on the pictures, I'd liked to just state for the record that my new favorite thing is the bump in the middle of University Avenue as you're crossing it on Bulldog. While it's rare for me to catch the bump when I'm running late to school or when I'm coming home, because of traffic (you have to hit it going strong to make it the funnest, you can't have been stopped at the light), I'll catch it good when I'm going to campus in the wee small hours of the morning... And I love it. It's rather like a small roller coaster. And this evening I maybe even raised my hands in the air and let out a little holler as I went over it. I'm cool like that.

Tonight for FHE we played Ultimate Frisbee in the church parking lot. I'm an FHE mom again this semester. Have I told you that? It's pretty much super fun. I got a new husband yesterday, and we met for the first time tonight. Sweet. And don't even worry about how I made several of the scoring catches for our team. It was a good night, and I'm happy about the little things that can make life a little more bearable.

Anyway... Pictures! Keep in mind that these all come from my cell phone. Awesome.

Here's one of my favorite oldest younger brother, who is leaving on his mission (Brazil Porto Alegre North) soon! I can hardly believe it! This was taken last Christmastime. He's wearing his helmet, so we don't need to worry. This picture makes me giggle every single time I see it.
And...oh, here's a picture of the shadow that our front door makes on the wall sometimes. Isn't that kind of creepy and awesome? It's left over from pre-Halloween shenanigans. Heh heh heh...

Oh! My fantastic roommates and neighbors and I went to dinner on Friday night at Pirate Island. They had a [cute-as-all-get-out] balloon guy there, and he made me this monkey. Pretty sweet, eh?

This is what happens when your neighbors leave their door unlocked while they're out... Yes, that is their coffee table, in our living room, and, yes, that's broken glass. Ha! I hate it when pranks come back to bite you in the butt. But apparently they didn't like the table anyway...so we really did them a favor...

Oh, more Halloween shenanigans. It's not real blood, I promise. But it is really my handprint. Meliss and I are so tricksy.

Another bit of the fake blood. And my handprints. Yum!

Oh, and there's me. This was taken at some obscene hour of the morning. Doesn't the 'blood' look real? I love it.
Here's my neighbor, Seth, at the ward Halloween party. He dressed up as a Ghostbuster. He had his backpack all decked out, and his laptop was in it... He'd attached the mouse to the vacuum hose (of his terribly attractive and rather fantastic and lovely babe-neighbors), and set up a fancy schmancy little powerpoint so that it played different sounds when he left-clicked and right-clicked. So, you know, he could aim his little sensor-thingy-majig at us and see if we were safe or not. Solid.
Here is my fantastic roommate, Beck.br. She decorated this cutie-patootie little jack-o-lantern cookie. Also solid.
This is what I sometimes do in Maple when I'm bored with doing my Algebra exploration on the factorability of (a^n-b^n). The expression maybe matches my feelings at the time...
This picture is of me and my neighbor, Kevin, when we went to go see his roommate, Daniel, in Jekyll and Hyde (Or...Hekyll and Jyde, if you're Beck.br) up in Lehi. It was an awesome performance, and we had a rockin' time. We also had seats in the front and center. Be jealous.
Another shot of our Jekyll and Hyde night. Please believe me when I tell you that I have some of the greatest roommates everrrr.
Point proven.
Here's a shot of our melting pumpkin just days before Halloween. He almost made it the whole time. But he was pretty soggy and leaking a bit by the time we had to dispose of him...
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. I love Andrew. This is his sporting his true colors. At Corner Pocket, no less. Which, you know, may or may not be my favorite guys' apartment ever.
And...let's see. Here's a picture of the mountains. Which I love. This is my favorite time of evening, during one of my favorite times of year for the colors on the mountains. [Though, snowy season is coming up, which means it's almost time for one of my favorite games: Find the Y! I'm so good at that game it's not even funny...].
Rainbow! Outside our apartment. There were some pretty fantastic rainbows during late summer and early fall this year.
Our cute little pumpkin before he melted into oblivion.
And...my artistry with the pumpkin guts. My favorite is the nest. I'm pretty sure that's all I ever used to build with play-dough, too. I just really love the motion my thumb makes when sort of hollowing out the inside of the nest. Plus, when you've got pumpkin seeds for eggs, you can't go wrong.
Me and Nate. Again, L-O-V-E the Corner Pocket boys.
My fantastic and studly former home teacher. And the Corner Pocket tire swing in the background.
Yeah. That's me.
Yeah, that's also me. More of a true-colors me though. :) Don'tcha love it?
Ha! Andrew again. He makes me laugh.
Check this out. It's a Program spotlight for Response [the service program I work with]. See those three little pictures at the bottom? The ones that say Program Directors of the Month? Well, those are pictures of the super amazing David Gelder and Steven Gale, along with me [a picture of me posing next to a picture of me? Fantastic.]. Remember how this is in the Wilk, right by the ballroom? And remember how it's been up there since April? I'm pretty much famous at BYU right now is all I'm tryin' to say...
This is Kristina. She is one of the other program directors for Response. This is on our Fall retreat, and getting very few hours of sleep at Springhaven. Haha. She's so great!
I love my roommate.
Kaylee! I love my niece. This was taken a few days after she was born.
Sacred Grove. Have I posted this picture before? Maybe. But that's okay. It's one of my favorites.
Also one of my favorites: me with my cousin, Reagan. Yeah, that awesome open-mouth smile runs in the family.
I don't know why I'm still awake... This is bad news. I need to get back to preparing my lessons for tomorrow morning and writing my papers and get some sleep. Peace!

2009-10-26T23:56:00.001-06:00

I definitely compared myself to MC Hammer tonight. Then bust out in "Can't Touch This."

Please be jealous that you were not there to witness...

2009-09-01T06:47:00.003-06:00

Guys. I had a dream last night that I went to class today and had an emotional breakdown in front of everyone. So I left for 15 minutes to compose myself. On my way back to the classroom, after I had cried my eyes out, I found a free 64-count box of Crayola crayons. I pretty much thought it was the best thing ever.

I also had a dream that I was watching the Northern Lights, and they were pretty sweet. And another dream that Owen wrote me a $70 check on which the memo line read, "Tuna fish."

I'm blaming it all on the caffeine. That stuff is bad news.

2009-08-07T01:01:00.003-06:00

Life has been great lately.

Pageant was absolutely one of my favorite things this summer. I love my family and I love the Hill Cumorah and I love sharing the gospel. :)

I get to go to Vegas in two weeks to pick up two of my very favoritest sisters ever! And I get to play with my cousins for the brief time that I'm there! I LOVE my family!

I also want to roadtrip to Oregon at some point. I probably won't be able to make it happen until February or March, at the earliest, but I think it would be so fun! Hmm...Maybe President's Day weekend? That would be awesome. Anyone who wants to join me is totally welcome!

And...I've had Cliffs of Dover stuck in my head for the past two days. I'm blaming my [total babe of a] boyfriend for leaving his Wii/Guitar Hero at my apartment.

I promise I'll provide a more detailed update soon. With pictures! And fun stories about rodeos and birthday cakes and Chuck E. Cheese!!

2009-07-02T21:14:00.002-06:00

I'm back home! My flights on Tuesday were great, and I made it home in one piece.

Yesterday, I went on a bike ride with Madison. We stopped at the post office, then swung over to grandma's house to visit with grandma, grandpa, Erin, and Ella. My niece is so beasty cute:

While there, we decided to go on a walk while the weather was still nice.

On the way home, we stopped by the High School so I could get a picture. Haha...

And then, halfway home, it started POURING rain and thundering and lightning. It was awesome! I got soaked:
Pageant starts tomorrow! Yeehaw! :)

Sometimes...

2009-06-30T02:27:00.002-06:00

Sometimes I'm awesome. Like when I fit everything I need for a 3-week vacation home in a carry-on bag. With room to spare.

Ooh, that just makes me feel real good.

2009-06-24T17:31:00.001-06:00

I realized today that I graduated from high school exactly 4 years ago. That probably shouldn't make me feel so old, but it does...

Also, I'll be home in 6 days! :D

Things, and stuff...

2009-06-11T14:42:00.002-06:00

So, I got an email yesterday informing me that some spots had opened for Summer NSO (to be a Y-Group Leader). I'm excited because, A) I love freshman, B) free t-shirt!, and C) when I applied, I was originally waitlisted for Summer NSO and I have my own orientation at the end of August so I wouldn't have been able to do Fall NSO, so I thought I was out of luck. But the stars aligned and my prayers were answered and I get to be a Y-Group Leader at the end of next week! Hooray!

Also, this Saturday I'm volunteering with the Utah Valley Marathon. You know what that means? Another free t-shirt! Ha! :) And, you know, tons of fun and waking up WAY too early on Saturday morning...

This afternoon, Melissa and I drove up to Lehi to pick up tickets for the Lehi Round-Up Rodeo! We're going on the 25th of June, and I can't wait! We went two years ago, and it was so much fun. I can only imagine how awesome it will be this year...

And, lastly, I got an email this afternoon with my teaching assignment for this fall. I will be a TA for 3 sections of Math 112 (Calculus 1). Yikes! I haven't taken that class in 4 years... I will definitely have to brush up on my skillz, but I'm super excited! Have I mentioned that I love math?! I know...I'm weird. Whatev.

[19 days until I'm home!! Yay!]

What's Up, Doc?

2009-06-09T18:02:00.002-06:00

In 3 weeks I'll be on one of these:On my way to see these people:
And get in on a little of this action:
I'm pretty much way excited! :) I haven't been able to stop smiling all day!! Also, this weekend, I'm going to see this [and I'm rather excited about it, too... ;)]:

Updates

2009-05-18T22:46:00.002-06:00

Hey all! It's been awhile... A lot has happened since I last wrote. First off, it snowed during reading days. Haha. This picture is just the aftermath - it was a lot worse at about 3 am. I only know because I may have been at Zac and Sarah's playing Tetris until that obscene hour of the morning. :) Because, you know, that's what college graduates do...

I also had my 22nd birthday! It was a LOT of fun. The day was beautiful, church was great, and we had a rockin' celebration that evening. Many of my friends came which was AWESOME. Thanks all! The guys made a yummy homemade German chocolate cake, AND they somehow managed to get a copy of Savannah Smiles for me! I hadn't seen that movie in so long, so we popped it in and had a great time watching it. Love you guys! :)

And...I graduated!! [Everything is officially official now - I got my diploma in the mail today!] It was a BEAUTIFUL day, and we were able to get some awesome pictures. We heard from Elder Nelson and President Uchtdorf. Sarah and I had to stifle our laughter during commencement as we watched a graduate in front of us struggle [in vain] to stay awake...When he finally conked out, his tassel was hanging over his lips and he was, like, eating it. Ha! Anyway, it was great to have family in town for graduation and catch up with everyone [Thanks mom and grandma and Aunt Karen and Uncle Art and Bev and Sheila and everyone else... I love you all! :)].
Now that it's spring and beautiful, I love spending time outside. I'm working as a research assistant on campus, preparing for the research I'll continue this fall as a grad student. I'm doing a lot of reading and thinking and drafting different documents. It's really quite interesting and fun stuff. :) In my free time I'm doing a lot of reading and playing and rocking out. I love Provo in the summer months - everything is so much more relaxed!I'm planning on roadtripping home and back in the beginning of July. Hopefully things will work out with that. Elizabeth has expressed interest in coming along, too, which will be a lot of fun. I want to see Pageant while I'm back home, then stop in Kirtland and Nauvoo on the way back. Hopefully I can catch a night of the Nauvoo: City of Joseph Pageant, too.

Anyway, I'll try to keep y'all updated on any fun happenings in my life... Peace!

Reflection

2009-04-12T22:43:00.004-06:00

HAPPY EASTER, EVERYONE! And HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Mathieu! [You're a whole quarter of a century old - Yikes!] I have had a pretty amazing week. And my weekend has only been the cherry on top of the cake!

General Conference last weekend was amazing! Elizabeth and I had the awesome opportunity of going up and being in the Conference Center for the Sunday morning session. AND, I accidentally got rockstar parking underneath the Church Office Building right across the street from the Conference Center. I love General Conference - I feel so blessed to be a member of this wonderful Church, to be able to feel of my Heavenly Father's love for me, and to hear the message of hope that the Gospel brings. :)

On Monday evening, we played Mad Gab for FHE. That game is so fun, and we were all cracking up by the end.

On Tuesday and Friday, my teacher was out of the classroom all day [Tuesday she was away at a conference; Friday she was called, right as first period was starting, to be an emergency sub for the Spanish teacher], so I got to teach every period except 2nd and 3rd, when Tara taught. It was a lot of fun! I really do love teaching!

Tuesday evening, I got to go help move a friend, Mary, into a new apartment. A few other members of Response [the service program I volunteer with] were there, and I brought my friend Spencer along to help out, too. It was really a lot of fun! I really do enjoy getting out into the Provo community and remembering that there's a world out there other than campus. Ha!

Wednesday was a long day, but still pretty awesome. I stayed up really late Tuesday evening [read: 4 am] finishing what turned out to be a 37-page Teacher Work Sample. Needless to say, I grabbed a Dr. Pepper for breakfast that morning. BUT, I got to turn in the TWS right after school, and I went to an accreditation meeting for the Teacher Education programs at BYU, and I stopped by to see Mike at the library, and I went to a first-year teacher information meeting, and it was just a generally great productive day!

I don't remember much of Thursday. I vaguely remember having a headache from exhaustion. But I'm sure it was a great day. :) OH, I picked up Sarah from class that evening and went to her place to play with Logan while she helped me finish my taxes. That's right. Thanks Sarah! I love you!! :)

On Friday evening, I went to the BYU Combined Choirs and Philharmonic Orchestra concert with Mike and Joel. Umm...It was AWESOME! Every piece they performed was phenomenal, and I was blown away. AND, Elder Oaks was there. AND, we stayed afterward waiting for Mike's sister, Alison, to get out and ended up being there when Elder Oaks left. AND, we got to shake his hand [Joel actually hugged him :)]. It was pretty awesome. That night, I got to ride in Pearl [Mike's car] for the first time, and I got to stay up talking to Mike and Owen for a good long while. I love those boys. :)

Yesterday, we had a Response reflection meeting at my place. We got to watch a sweet slideshow of some of the service projects we did this year. And then David, Andrew, Melissa (a neighbor) and I all went and volunteered at a Princess Party! It was so much fun - we got to dress up and address each other as Prince and Princess and everything. One of the little girls there asked David if he was a real prince. He said he was, and asked her if she was a real princess. She thought for a second and said, "Well, yes. I am a real princess, but in real life I actually don't live in royalty." It was cute. When David left, she asked me if I was a real princess. Of course I said yes!

Last night I got to go shopping with Wiz, and then I read part of a book called Princess Academy [what else? Ha!]. Then I got to sleep nice and early, and had a great night's rest!

Today was awesome, as well. Church was great - Our bishop was able to stand up and talk to us in Sacrament meeting and in Relief Society. I really appreciate his inspired words and his leadership in our ward.

This afternoon, we went over to Zac and Sarah's place for a great Easter dinner! It was so nice to spend time with family, and to see Logan, and to eat Sarah's delicious food.

This evening, I went over to Tara's place and we made and frosted math-shaped sugar cookies. Seriously. We made pi and i and e and integral signs and radical signs and division signs and numbers and geometric shapes... We went all out, and it was awesome. I'm pretty proud of my nerdiness. :)

And...now, here are some pictures. These all came off my phone, so the quality is a little off, but they're still fun!

This is one of Melissa, my spectacular roommate. :) We have great times together.
This one is just for you, Owen! There is now an awesome picture of you on my blog! And, hey, you even took it yourself when we went for a ride in LaRhonda (my Honda).

Here's the Sacred Grove! This picture was the background on my phone for quite awhile. And it probably will be again soon. :)

Salt Lake Temple! Where mommy and daddy got married! Yay!

This is Elizabeth and Rinaldo in the library. We won Rinaldo at a dance on campus, then went to pick up Mike from work in the library - we had to sweet talk our way through security in order to get Rinaldo safely to the circulation desk... [And good thing we had Rinaldo to distract the security guards so they didn't see the gelatto that we snuck in for Mikey-poo].

Lastly, here's a picture of me at last year's Festival of Colors at the Hare Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork. Interesting tradition. I thought it was fun, but way too crowded.

Happy April!

2009-04-01T11:40:00.003-06:00

It's finally April! I love this month!! I graduate this month, and it's my birthday this month, and it all starts off with April Fool's Day [which can be one of the FUNNEST holidays!].

One of my students walked into class this morning and exclaimed, "Oh, I hate this class!" He then got a huge grin on his face and looked at me and said, "April fools!" Haha. He's quite the character. That pretty much made my day. :)

As for what else is new and exciting in my life... I have only 9.5 class days left of school. Yikes! I'm excited to be done, and I'm surprised by how fast this semester has gone. I'll miss my students when it's all over, though. Student teaching has been a phenomenal experience! [PS- I'm writing this during 5th period, when my cooperating teacher has a different class in the computer lab. So I'm just chilling in the classroom getting some grading and some planning done...In the past 10 minutes, two of my students have come into the room to say "Hi Miss Steele!!" It's great!]

Yesterday was my roommate Becky's birthday! We had a fun celebration last night with cake and ice cream. All the sugar must have gotten to us, because we were laughing like crazy all night! It was lots of fun, but ended up being bad for my goal to get [close to] 8 hours of sleep every night this week. I was doing so well, too, until last night! Sunday and Monday night I was in bed with the lights out by 9:30. Last night, however, we were up laughing and giggling [and singing and dancing and joking and jumping and playing...] until well after 11:30. Oops. :)

Tonight I am going to campus to see Arthur Benjamin, also known as the "Mathemagician." Apparently, he does crazy calculations really super fast in his head. I watched a part of a video on YouTube, and it's awesome! It should be really interesting and fun - I'm excited.

General Conference is this weekend. Wizzer nabbed some tickets for the Sunday morning session, so we'll be going up for that. I LOVE actually being in the Conference center for Conference - this is going to ROCK!

Weeeeeeell, I'd better go finish making the key for the Geometry test. Hope all y'all are having a great April Fool's Day! [And a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my cousin Kate!! :)]

Oh, and PS, the Hershey's company and I are currently fighting because they made the poor decision to use the best color wrapper [pink] for their worst chocolate bar [Krackel] in their little Spring chocolate assortments. Boo!

Dancing Through Life

2009-03-27T00:01:00.002-06:00

So...I'm going to grad school this fall! :) Another two-ish years at BYU. I'm pretty stoked about it! I got the official decision email on Monday, and my letter came in the mail today. So it's for real, 100% legit. Awesome.

Other big things that are going on:

-I graduate in less than a month! And Mommy's coming out here for it. :)

-I was able to go the Draper Temple dedication this past Sunday afternoon. It was such an awesome experience that made me so grateful for how I've been blessed in my life. :)

-Teaching is going FANTASTICALLY! I've been teaching 5 classes a day for two weeks, since Tara had her sweet daughter, Lydia. It's been a lot of fun. A little tiring, but SO worth it. :) I'm really going to miss all my students when this is over...

-Last night, I dragged my roommate Bethany with me down to Spanish Fork to watch some of my students in the SFJHS Musical, Putting it Together. It was a riot - I loved seeing some of my students out of the classroom and totally in their element as they danced and sang their hearts out. :)

-I went on a blind date tonight. My friend Jake set me up with one of his friends from home. [Turns out he's in Elizabeth's ward and her FHE group [And he said you never go to FHE, Wiz...You'd better start! FHE is rad!]] We went to a concert in Provo, and it was lots of fun! :)

Man, life is good. And...I'm going to be dead tired tomorrow - I'd better get some rest. LOVE Y'ALL!

Head Over Feet

2009-03-08T00:31:00.002-07:00

Is it a bad thing if I'm feeling frustrated and unproductive and scared and stressed and tired and unsettled...and I'm going to blame it all on Daylight Savings? Because the last thing I need right now is to feel guilty for letting myself get to this point...

If I Ain't Got You

2009-03-03T21:06:00.002-07:00

So, I have officially applied to the Math Ed Master's program at BYU. The application was due on Sunday, but I buckled down last week and finished it late Thursday night [Thanks Sarah for the support and help! :) I love you!]. After I'd submitted it, I got an email asking that I fill out a survey about my online application experience. One question asked about my reasons for pursuing a Master's. I was allowed to select as many of the given answers as I wanted, as well as write in an answer for "Other." Well, I decided to be quite honest and write in "I'm still single..." [I did select a few of the other options as well, like "desire to be in academia" and "personal motivation or goal"]. Then, two questions later, it asked why I chose to apply to BYU. I selected a few of the options ["social atmosphere," "religious atmosphere"], and again wrote in "I'm still single..." Haha! Sarah and I laughed about that for quite a bit.

Anyway, I don't know when I'll be hearing back about that, but I'll keep you all posted. Now that I've applied, I know that I'll either get in or not - I'm not sure which is scarier!

In other news, today (3/3/09) is Square Root Day! [Get it? 3 times 3 is 9... Heh heh heh...] That only happens 9 days every century! I think that's pretty sweet. And next week is Pi Day [3.14] - We'll be celebrating in the Jr. High by eating pie. Awesome! AND, now that it's March, I can say that I graduate [and turn the big 22 (Ooh, a palindrome number!)] NEXT MONTH! Yikes!

Currently, I'm reading The Grapes of Wrath. I've found that I've forgotten a lot of the details since I read it in high school.

Today I went to the temple with Elizabeth. A ward group came in with family file names RIGHT before we were going to go into the font room, so we had to wait quite awhile... But it was worth it. We were still in and out in a little over two hours.

And, as if this post isn't random enough, here are some awesome pictures from the last month or two...

This AWESOME picture is of my AWESOME friends Jeramy, Mike, and Owen. Yes, they are testing out gliders at Babies R Us. And, yes, they are loving it. They went baby shower shopping with me, and I think they enjoyed it even more than I did [before this trip, I didn't think that was possible...].

And, this is a picture of Melissa, Yuka, and I on the night that Yuka left to head home to Japan. It was so much fun to have her come visit us, and we sure miss her. She definitely keeps things hilarious.
Another shot of Melissa, Yuka, and I beore Yuka left. We were supposed to do funny faces, but I decided to pull a "precious face" instead. Heh heh heh.
Ooh, here's a good one! This is my friend Andrew [donning a lovely flowered apron - Thanks mom!] piping white chocolate onto the Oreo truffles we made. He'll probably kill me if he finds out I posted this picture online.
And, lastly, just a picture of me. And our turtle Dimitri in the background. He's a pretty good turtle. We're excited for the warm weather - we're going to take him on walks outside!

What Hurts the Most

2009-02-16T22:51:00.002-07:00

So, my weekend turned out to be pretty good. We had a fun formal dance on Friday night for our ward, so Becky and I got all dressed up and went with a few friends. It turned out to be a lot funner than I expected, and there were SO many people there! We were combined with my old ward [Shout out to BYU 23rd!], so I got to see a lot of old friends which was, you know, SUPER AWESOME! :)

On Saturday, I got to sleep in for a bit. When I got up, I made myself some pink heart-shaped pancakes, and served them with strawberries on top. How precious, no? I was able to relax for most of the day. I went out to dinner with Melissa and her brother, and then went to a dance with some friends of mine that night [this one was casual, so that means I didn't get to dress up, but I did get to rock out harder!]. It was a LOT of fun, and I appreciated the opportunity to go out and do something that night.

Today was another great day! I absolutely loved not having to go to school, and I actually felt sort of productive. I worked a lot on my grad school application [I'm almost finished!!], and I made rolls and granola, and I went grocery shopping, and I spent some fun times with my roommates, and our friend Barrett came over, and Meliss and I went out for frozen yogurt with the guys [All y'all are my favorites! Thanks for being amazing!]. Oh, and I discovered this awesome website. Check it out...It's quite a time-waster, in the best way. Heh heh heh.

Tomorrow, I get to teach Geometry, and Pre-Algebra (twice!). It'll be a long day, but it'll be fun. Oh, and I think we're gonna try to hit up the basketball game tomorrow night. Sweeeeet.

And, now that's it's ridiculously past my bedtime [again], I'd better peace out. It's been real.

Reflection

2009-02-12T23:11:00.002-07:00

So, Tuesday's classes went really well! I was quite a bit nervous beforehand about how everything would turn out, but the students were generally well-behaved, and even our 5th period class didn't turn out too bad. I was definitely pleased. :) It's been so much fun teaching this semester - I'm so glad that I'm enjoying it as much as I am!

Today, we gave our Pre-Algebra kids a review sheet for the test they'll take tomorrow. They seemed to generally understand what was on the review, so I'm excited to see how they'll do on the actual test. I hope, given that we taught them half of the lessons for this chapter, that they will perform well and demonstrate a good understanding of the mathematics. We shall see...

Tonight, I had the pleasure of going to an honored seniors dinner for a select few people in my major. Some of the faculty were there, and we were able to eat, talk, and generally enjoy ourselves. It was really good to see a few of the people who I haven't seen in over a month [spending all day every day in a Jr. High will do that to you... :)]. I enjoyed hearing how well everyone else's student teaching is going, and hearing about their post-graduation plans. And the faculty gave a nice little talk about the merits of going to grad school, and talked a teensy bit about BYU's Math Ed Master's program, too [In case you're wondering, I'm still working on my application for that. And, you know, I can take all the prayers I can get right now.].

Welllll, anyway, that's about all that is new and exciting in my life. We have a big ward formal dance tomorrow night, which should be a lot of fun to go to. On Saturday, I'll probably be hanging out with Melissa for part of the day. I think she said she wanted to go to a movie, so that would be fun. :) I love my roommates! I've been so blessed to have had such amazing roommates every year here. Sweeeeeeet.

And now that it's entirely way too late and hours past my bedtime, I'd better go hit the hay. Tomorrow is Friday, which means grading all day! I LOVE grading - I'm way excited! :)

Ain't That Just Like A Dream

2009-02-09T21:00:00.003-07:00

Oh, and PS- One of our 5th period students turned in an assignment today. We taught a lesson on probability two weeks ago, and assigned them to write and solve their own probability situation/problem. We've received a few back so far [these students don't do homework, so this will probably be their only out of class assignment this term...], but the one we got today was awesome. For one, it actually made sense almost! It was probably the best one we got back. And the title? Definitely this: "Whatz the probability to get a white cup cake!"

My life is complete.

Can't Stop Now

2009-02-09T20:35:00.002-07:00

I had a GREAT day today! I got nowhere near enough sleep last night, which always makes things interesting. Mike called me this morning on my way to school just to wish me a good day. I taught my lesson on percent of change, and the students seemed to understand! I still have so many things to learn and improve on, but I really am loving teaching! I didn't think I'd have this much fun with it, so it's quite a pleasant surprise. :)

When I got home, I cleaned Dimitri's tank so Melissa wouldn't have to worry about it when she got back [She was in Alaska for the weekend for a friend's wedding. I turtle-sat while she was away. And now she's back and that makes me super happy!]. I did some laundry, and made dinner [easy-peasy tuna melt sammiches], and at least THOUGHT about the lessons I'll be teaching tomorrow. I'm a little teensy bit nervous on account of our cooperating teacher will be away at a conference, so we'll be handling all of her classes all day long! We shouldn't have any problems, except maybe 5th period. I really do love those students - I know they're capable of doing the work. They just have trouble focusing, sitting still, listening, thinking before talking.... You know. Hopefully we'll be able to hold our ground and not let things get out of control.

This evening for FHE, we brainstormed ideas for our group's video. It sounds like it's going to be funny - I think we're going for a cheesy 70's LDS film type of deal. With a Chinese leprechaun. Awesome!

And, now I'm going to try to get to bed. I've got a load of laundry to finish up for tomorrow, and I need to review some of my lessons, but I don't have any other obligations this evening. Maybe I'll be able to land 8 hours of sleep tonight? Solid!

Lastly, here's a picture from about two weeks ago. Our friend Yuka was in town from Japan. Here we are dropping her off at the Greyhound station... [Sorry for the poor quality - I stole this picture from facebook]:

When All Is Said And Done

2009-02-09T00:31:00.003-07:00

A brief update about recent goings-on in my life [This is for you, Jeramy - Holla!]...

I am student teaching this semester, and I absolutely L-O-V-E it! Yes, the days are long, but I'm learning so much every day. I love working with the students, and I love seeing them finally "get" it. This week is the sixth in the semester, which means we actually get to take over classes full time! Hooray! We're starting with Pre-Algebra, and then taking on Geometry in about two weeks, too. We'll be teaching full time until the middle of April. Our cooperating teacher also has a Pre-Algebra Essentials class (pretty much just remedial pre-algebra), and an advanced Algebra 2 class. We won't be teaching those full-time, but we will do some fun activities with them. :)

So...I've pretty much decided what I'm going to be doing with my life come September. I'm planning on doing the Math Ed MA program at BYU. Fuuuuuun stuff! I took the GRE a few weeks ago, and I've been working on the online application. It's due in 3 weeks [Yikes!]... I don't think I'll have any big problems getting in, and I'm excited to see what this whole experience has in store for me. I know I'm going to learn so much. It's daunting and it's scary and I don't quite know why I'm supposed to be going to grad school, but at the same time it's new and exciting and it just feels right.

However, despite figuring out my life after August, I still have NO clue what my summer plans will be. I've got everything figured out up until April 24th. Then I graduate. I'd really love to stick around here for at least a little while this summer. I really love Provo/campus in spring, and I fear that if I go home I'd drive myself crazy. Don't get me wrong - I love my family and my friends back home [Shout out to the 585! Represent!], but I kind of get a hankerin' to leave after about 2 weeks of being there. Anyway...I've thought about staying here and TAing for a class spring term. I don't know if I'm allowed to do that since I'll not be taking classes and I'll be in that awkward transition stage from undergrad to grad student. Buuuut, we'll see. I could just go travel Europe with Mommy. That would be fun! :)

Anyway, I've got to skedaddle to bed. I've been up WAY too late the past few nights [...and it's been completely worth it! I've been hanging out with my very bestest best friends Mike, Owen, and Jeramy. I love those guys!]. I'm teaching a lesson in Pre-Algebra tomorrow about percent of change. Should be interesting...

Here are some random pictures for your viewing pleasure. The first is of me and Melissa before Christmas break when she, Becky, and I all wore matching outfits to church. I love us! The second is of me, Melissa, Becky, Brian, and Derrall, all wearing our fun Christmas-y clothes. Aaaand, the last is of Mike, me, and Jeramy when we went up to see the lights on Temple Square in December. :) Rock on!

Hello, Goodbye

2008-12-03T00:03:00.002-07:00

Things on my mind lately:

Thanksgiving. Zac, Sarah, Logan, Jonathan, and I all went up to Paul, Idaho for Thanksgiving. It was absolutely fantastic and relaxing and heavenly. I didn't think/worry about school the entire time we were up there. I was able to finish a book (Mr. Darcy's Diary) that I started before the semester even started - I'd been about halfway through the book for over 3 months, and I finally had time to sit and read. :) We also went and saw the new Disney movie, Bolt. I enjoyed it; Jonathan fell asleep about halfway through - Ha! Mostly, it was good to just relax and spend time with my AWESOME family! I love laughing at the hilarious/stupid/absurd things my family says/does. It's one of life's greatest pleasures.

Christmas. I think I LOVE this holiday! Last weekend, I put up our Christmas tree. Matt and Erin gave it to me (Thanks guys! I love you!) when they moved back home this summer. It's awesome, and it certainly adds some Christmas cheer to our apartment. While I was walking home tonight, I could see it in the window from the other side of the block and it made me really happy. :) Also, on Sunday night, Melissa, Brent, Jeramy, Mike, and I went up to Temple Square to see the Christmas lights. It was my first time going, and I absolutely LOVED it! If I had to describe my feelings in one word it would be joypeacehopeloveChristmasTempleAWESOME! Yay!

Grad school. Umm...I think I want to go to grad school? Or rather, I think I'm supposed to go to grad school. So, through that whole "aligning my will" thing, I WANT to go to grad school. Right? Isn't that how it works? Ha! Call me crazy... Better yet, give me advice, pray for me, and support me as I try to figure this whole thing out. Yikes!

Boys. Always. Always, always, always. Tonight I was with two different groups of good guy friends and, by some random coincidence, they both asked me for relationship advice. Weird, right? Since when am I the queen of relationships? Since, uh...the 12th of Never. Right. But anyway, we were able to have some good conversations, and I feel better about this whole feeling-like-I'm-eternally-single thing. It'll happen when it's supposed to happen, and until then I just need to hold on to my britches and enjoy the ride.

Finals. Yes, there are officially 7 days of classes left this semester. Hallelujah! Finals will be over in 2.5 weeks. And, though it's weird, I'm entirely not stressed out or worried or nervous. I'm just kind of rolling with things and loving it. I feel like I'm kind of cheating the system because I'm not going school-crazy like every other person I talk to. It's a strange/new/unreal feeling, but I like it. :) Still, wish me luck and pray that things will work out well.

And...that's a wrap. I'm off to bed.

Defying Gravity

2008-11-17T21:03:00.002-07:00

Man, today was fantastic for a Monday. I don't think I've had a Monday this good in quite awhile. :) I got to watch Logan, and work with some students for 2 and a half hours, and I cooked for dinner group (which consisted of making a frozen veggie lasagna...I'm not normally that lazy, but man was it nice!)... Tonight a few friends are coming over and we're watching Kung Fu Panda. It should be fun - I only hope I don't fall asleep. Ha!

My weekend was pretty fantastic, too. It started off with skipping class on Friday afternoon. We're working on group lesson plans, and we were supposed to meet for that, but the other two group members and I decided we could spend our time more productively doing other things. After all, we all had to prepare for Saturday's test, right? So...I went home early, finished some assignments, bummed around, and took an AWESOME three-hour nap. It was fantastic! I'd stayed up really late the night before preparing for my History of Math lesson [I'm so glad that's finally over...], and I was tired. I was all resolved to study for a few more hours after my nap, then get all ready for my test and get to bed early. Fortunately, I was saved from my responsibility by my awesome roommates. We decided to go out for ice cream, then we had some friends over to play games. We played a few rounds of Whoonu, and just generally had a super fun time. Then the guys broke out the Nintendo... Awesome! They ended up staying til 1:30. I still had more studying to do, so I was up til after 2. It was great... :) But overall, my test on Saturday morning went well, and I feel confident in how I did. We'll just have to see in about four weeks, though...

Anyway, the rest of the weekend was pretty relaxing. We had Ward Conference on Sunday. The theme was Helaman 5:12, and it was a good reminder of the priorities and supports we need to establish in our lives. On Sunday afternoon, I had a few meetings. My AWESOME home teachers stopped by to say hi (If you read this Matt or Cameron, you guys are fantastic!), and my visiting teachers came to visit, too. It was good getting to know them and talking about the super General Conference talks. :)

Well, friends are getting here to watch the movie. I'd better peace out...

Waiting

2008-11-13T13:12:00.002-07:00

I've been fairly overwhelmed lately. Schoolwork has been piling up, and it all just kind of exploded in my face earlier this week. On top of that, I've spent some time with some GREAT friends, and we've had some good, deep conversations about life. Which, you know, only served to have some deep thoughts and emotions surface. Like the fact that I'm graduating in 5.5 months and I have NO idea what I'm doing afterward. You know, no biggie. Ha! And I do realize that graduation isn't the end of the world - far from it, actually. But, honestly, I get so involved and so rooted in my schoolwork that I won't know what to do with myself when I'm expected to be even more responsible. Yikes.

BUT, I ran into a professor (whom I greatly respect and admire) yesterday. She told me, quite convincingly, that she'd really like to see me go to graduate school. It's been a thought I've been entertaining for a while now. The prospect of more school, however, makes me want to throw up a little bit in my mouth. I think it's probably the burn-out talking, and I know grad school will be new and different and a great experience - yadda, yadda, yadda-, but right now I don't know if I can stomach it. As far as other options go, I could always teach here in Utah. I could get a job at a local school, and stay in the area (I know Zac and Sarah are big fans of any plan that keeps me close...) with friends, family, and an abundance of single guys (Ha!). I could move back to New York and teach there (but the qualifications for licensure are a little more stringent there, so I'd have to jump through a few more hoops, take a few more tests, and be working on my Master's), though that option just doesn't feel right to me. I've also entertained the idea of going on a mission, but that doesn't quite feel right either. Hmm... I've got faith that it will all work out in the end, but right now my "natural man" is screaming at me to get my rear in gear and figure out my life and just go for it despite my other feelings.

I have to teach a lesson in my History of Math class tomorrow. And Saturday morning I have to take a big fatty math teaching licensing and certification test. It's four hours long, and starts at 7:30 in the morning. On a Saturday. That, my friends, is disgusting. Anyway, wish me luck! Put in a good word for me with the Man Upstairs...

In other news, I had to use brown chalk in my lab (I freaking LOVE my job. Seriously.) earlier today because it was the only chalk in the room. Brown chalk = dirty fingers = sicknasty.

Amen Omen

2008-11-08T00:36:00.003-07:00

On Thursday, I taught a class of 26 7th graders. It was only one class, only 45 minutes long, and their normal teacher was in the room (as well as my practicum teacher and two of my classmates), but it was still terrifying! I think it went well overall...though I'm sure their teacher had to do a lot of damage control once we finished our little unit on solving and graphing inequalities. But, even though it was hard and scary and nerve-wracking and I'm SO glad it's over, I'm glad for the experience. It seems like I go into things like this feeling so inadequate. Yet, I always look back and can see how I've grown and how I've changed. I can see how the Lord has blessed and prepared me, has given me the experiences and opportunities I need to have, and how He is guiding my life (even when I'm stubborn and think for some reason that my way is superior to His...). What a sweet blessing to have that guidance that I so need in my life right now!

Also, totally random awesome story: Today, I had TWO separate guys who, upon learning my name, told me I have a beautiful name (Thanks, Mom and Dad!) and then went on to talk about the city of Savannah, Georgia and how it's a gorgeous city. One of them was a guy in the class I TA (though he's not in the section I TA - he was just sitting by me during the big lecture), and the other was some guy who came to my door trying to sell magazine subscriptions. It just really made my day! :) I love the little things like that.

Anyway, I'd better go do something productive... Have a super day!

We Might As Well Be Strangers

2008-11-08T00:17:00.002-07:00

So, you know how sometimes when a friend or roommate goes out and you say something like, "Hey, have a good time! Remember who you are! Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" Well...Sometimes I say, instead, "Don't do anything I haven't done..." It doesn't leave much room for, well, anything. Ha! Anyway, that's what I was thinking when I saw this on a friend's blog. Thought it looked fun...

Bold the things you've done:
1. Started your own blog (Yes!)
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt (Kind of...)
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

That's 35 out of 99... I guess that's not too horrible. I'd like to travel more, do more, experience more. Someday, right?