Have a Holly Jolly Christmas

Here I sit, in a beautiful cabin in Greer, Arizona with the love of my life and his wonderful family. It's been a new experience, a Christmas without snow, but Greer is nice and chilly, so there is ample reason to snuggle. The ladies of our company decided to watch Julie & Julia and it made me remember this blog that I loved so much. It's been much too long since I wrote.

My life has been full of things too wonderful to post on a public blog and things completely uninteresting that would make for some rather bland posts. Or so I thought. The thing is that my job consists of children all day, every day. I've got some hilarious stories. But they just aren't really what I want to write about, and that's what it comes down to.

I've been feeling the need to create. But I've also been feeling the need to sleep. This is an interesting paradox. A catch 22, if you will. I get home from work, immediately get in my comfies, make dinner with Taylor, then snuggle and watch some Netflix. As you can see, my schedule is very full. My master plan is to learn all the things when we find a place to settle down. Lucky for my master plan, Taylor graduates this upcoming spring!

I like to pretend that I'll grow up to be like Camilla Kimball and my mom. They learned all sorts of great things, and so will I. I hope that eventually I'll develop the stamina to be able to finish projects and really get good at things. I'm also learning, though, that you don't have to just stick to one thing for your whole life. I mean, once you've picked a person, you should really stick with that person. No problem, I have a great person to stick with. But as far as how I pass my time in this life, I really don't have to only do what I have a degree in. I don't have to stick with something for my whole life to be successful. I can learn all the things that I want.

A beginning list of things that have piqued my interest recently:
- interior design
- drawing
- the dulcimer (I know, weird.)
- floral design (not so recent)
- cooking
- painting
- most things historical

It's not a long list, but it can grow. #igotallthetimeintheworld

Here's my little family in Greer:

As we go on

Friday was on helluva monumental day.

I turned 23.
I graduated from college.

It's a short list, but there is a lot packed into those seven words.

Five years of...well, everything.

From breaking a mirror on the first day of freshman year to a most excellent marriage proposal, this journey has been anything but boring. Walking up to campus last Wednesday to rent my cap and gown, I reflected on the amazing experiences I have had at Brigham Young University. My heart will always be here. Who knew you could love a place so much? I laughed, I cried, I yelled, I sang, I danced, I slept, I read, I wrote, I wondered, I learned.

This is ONE-HUNDRED AND TEN PERCENT a cheese fest.

Is it just me...

...or does chocolate actually relieve cramping?
I'm just saying, I think this stuff is stronger than ibuprofen.

A couple weeks ago, I had the privilege of eating lunch with two of my students. I learned much about flatulence. For instance, did you know that if your toot does not make a sound, it is called a "gas" not a "fart?" I also learned about the ins and outs of becoming a gentleman. I told the two boys "let's try to be gentlemen?" to which I got the response "well, I'm not 80 yet." I had no idea about either of these things so good thing I ate lunch with six year old boys. They know everything except multiplication and the birds and the bees.

Speaking of the birds and the bees...
Just kidding.

I am just really happy today because it is less than 73 days until I marry the-love-of-my-life/my-very-best-friend/my-fiance/other-cheesy-things-that-people-say-when-they-are-counting-down-to-their-wedding. Also, the very same person that I'm marrying got a paid internship for the summer just like he wanted and I am so proud of him! This whole getting married business is most fun because now I have a whole other person with a whole other life, and I can be just as excited about his stuff as I am for mine! DOUBLE THE EXCITEMENT! DOUBLE THE CELEBRATORY DINNERS!

This is what came up when I googled "Celebratory Dinner"

Also, among other things. My students are cukoo crazy and it is time for Spring Break. Then I can go to my house in Minnesota and sleep. And have bridal showers and plan my whole wedding in three days.

~*~*<3**<3*~*~

We've been feeling 22 for a while now

So something you may know about me is that I am twenty-two years old. Something else you may know about me is that Kristin, Emma, and I like making music videos. See living proof here.

You may be familiar with the hit T-Sweezy song "22." This conveniently came out the year that we three turned the ripe old age of 22, making it a much softer blow. On Emmaline's birthday, we commenced making a music video no 21-year old could create. We finally finished recording footage this last weekend...because soon one of us will be 23 and we would be unable to include said person because they would not be of age.

Below you can find the culmination of nearly a years worth of work. We toiled, knowing that this would be for the greater good of the United States of America. #touchamillionlives

For your viewing pleasure:

Apparently

A couple things.

1. I'm not sure if I told anyone this yet, but last week one of my students called me "dad." I get "mom" all the time...even "grandma" once. I never once was prepared to be called "dad." #doilooklikeamantoyou? #donotanswerthatchild

2. Did you know that when you present children with an art project that involves folding and cutting paper, it will most likely make at least four children cry? Me neither. Never underestimate the power of literally going step by step for first graders. The conversation will go something as follows:

"Pick up your scissors."

"Stop laying sideways on your chair, please."

"Why are you cutting your crayons?"

"Put the edge of your scissors on the paper where the dotted line is."

"Stop tapping your pencil on your desk."

"Seriously, you need to stop cutting your crayons."

"Put pressure in the handles of the scissors so that it starts to cut."

"No, you were supposed to start at this dotted line, not that dotted line."

"It's okay, we'll fix it."

"Don't cry...please don't cry."

"Can I get you a new one?"

"Why are you under your desk?"

"Nope, we don't actually cut our hair at school."**

"Class, make sure that you cut this one first."

"Oh, well then, it's okay if you did it that way, I guess."

"It looks cool with those extra holes, don't you think?"

etc, etc

Basically what I'm saying is...I will be so impressed with myself when I can predict the future so well that people will start paying me to read their palms/that I can give directions to first graders such that there are no problems during an art project. 

3. Taylor and I started registering for gifts. Can you say "most fun thing ever?" Firstly, you get to carry around a gun. I let Taylor carry it, just in case. The main thing that I learned is that it is much harder to choose colors for a kitchen than a bathroom because all appliances come in black or red. **yawn** When you go to the bathroom section, there are multitudes of products in a spectrum of colors and all you have to say is "I like that one" and scan. In the kitchen section, you look up and down extra aisles thinking "there has got to be a non-crappy version of this that isn't red somewhere." Then there isn't, so you say "I'm sure Bed, Bath, and Beyond will have it" and pray it's true. Long story short, it was the most fun thing to pick out stuff for our house together. And it was super convenient that Taylor also does not want a red kitchen.

**No one cut their hair at school, but I'm surprised it hasn't happened yet.**

Dreams Come True 2013

Hopefully you read that "Dreams Come True twenty-thirteen" because that's how it was supposed to be read.

At the beginning of this year I went on an incredibly fun trip to Las Vegas with some dear friends. Everything we did that weekend was followed with that very phrase: "Dreams Come True 2013." It was like our version of YOLO. (So much classier).

Little did I know that literally my dreams would come true this year. So many wonderful things have happened. I got a big brother, I started teaching my own class…and now my greatest and most long lived dream is coming true. I am getting married to the most wonderful man in the world! I can hardly even believe it myself, but it's happening. Taylor asked me to marry him and I said yes, and I just really didn't know that I could be this happy. It's only going to get better from here.

I've thought a lot about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in my day. It's so funny, because as I was lounging by the adult relaxation pool in January in Vegas, I didn't know that Allie was going to get married, I hadn't turned in my internship application yet, and I most certainly didn't expect to be engaged to the boy I had talked to a time or two who listened so nicely as I told him about my Sorel boots and talked to me about Star Wars. We are so short-sighted, but isn't that a blessing sometimes? Life is so exciting when we settle in and enjoy the day-to-day. It's in the day-to-day that miracles happen. It's in the day-to-day that you fall in love, and all of a sudden your whole life is in front of you.

Okay, I know this is cheese fest. #sorry #notsorry #blondehairdontcare
But anyway, here's a picture of how cute Taylor and I are together.

Giving Thanks

There is nothing more revealing than seeing the world through the eyes of a six-year old. That's a broad statement, but it's my experience and my blog so I get to say broad statements.

Thanksgiving means something different this time around. It's fun having twenty-six minions that I can make do whatever I want. My students are doing a gratitude journal every day until Thanksgiving. Seeing what they write is touching. I have one student who wants to be grateful for his dad every day because he doesn't get to see him very often. I have several students who are thankful for their "famalees." One is thankful for cookies, one for money, one for their mom for getting them a toy. Sometimes they are grateful for "teecher." One drew a picture of Jesus and Heavenly Father and said "I am thankful for Geisses and Hevinly fother."

Readers, let's cut the crap for just a second. Not that anything I wrote already in this post is crap. But my fingers are screaming for real talk for just one second, so here it is. My instincts say to cushion what I'm about to say with "don't get me wrong, I love teaching" but I'm going to assume that you already know that and we're going to proceed under that assumption.

Teaching is bleeping hard. I almost started crying in front of my kids today. Like, to them. No one and nothing could have ever prepared me for the experience of teaching twenty-six first graders. And, as my facilitator so kindly validated today, I have a hard class. Not the hardest, but my hands are full. And I don't have very big hands so...I feel like I'm taking crazy pills.

Maybe I'm feeling overwhelmed because I had my first parent confrontation last night. Maybe it's because everyone posts their warm-fuzzy-I-heart-teacher notes on facebook and it makes me feel like all my friends are having perfect experiences. Maybe I'm just tired. Maybe, maybe, maybe. But when it comes down to it, the "maybes" don't matter because I have to come to work the next day no matter what and there isn't really time to freak out because it's all coming in such a rush.

I thought this would be more intuitive. Which was silly, but I did. I thought that I would be organized and have all the answers, which was simply naive.

But today, I graded our subtraction post-tests, and each of my students made significant improvement. I had my sweet Jo talk to me for a little while after school. I had my new student actually talk to me. Trace did something funny, but now I can't remember what it was. I taught a really good lesson about small moment stories and nailed my observation. I'm doing good things.

I finally understand that phrase "baptism by fire." That is quite legitimately my experience every day. I pray that my students know that I love them. That they can't see my inadequacies. That they are learning and they're happy. I love them. I am so grateful to have been led to this profession, as hard as it is. I have the privilege of working with these sweet spirits. They are my angels. Even if they make me crazy and I have to take a thousand deep breaths, they are my angels. I am learning just as much as they are about coping and being in first grade. I hope that these relationships can last, that somewhere down the road we will meet again and I can just see where their lives have taken them.

I love my job. I love Jesus and Heavenly Father for loving me and helping me every step of the way.