Decisions

Don't you just love it when life is going so great and then all of a sudden you have to make a million decisions, all at the same time?

Yeah, that's me right now.

Graduating opens the door for many opportunities, which I thought would be great, but it's getting a little freaky!

I have a few ideas on to make these decisions (which may or may not include lots of prayer and pro/con lists).

How else do you make decisions?

New Beginnings

I am officially a college graduate.

You can send your congratulation cards and checks to my home address.
[Just kidding!]

Everyone keeps asking me "what are you going to do now?" I always thought I'd have an easy answer.
Turns out...I don't.  
It's a strange feeling, not knowing. Where I really want to be is in a classroom, molding the young minds of our future.

The problem is, I graduated mid-school year. Definitely not peak time for hiring teachers.

So I just keep putting in resume after resume, filling out application after application, hoping it will eventually pay off.

If you are wondering, though, in the meantime I will most likely substitute teach (so if you are or know anyone that teaches in Utah, call me to sub!).
And I also just got a part-time tutoring job.

While I may not have my dream job yet,
I think things are going pretty well. 

P.S. Also if you are wondering "ummmm, why doesn't she have any pictures of herself graduating?" Wonder no more! BYU doesn't do ceremonies in December, so I will walk in April! Expect pictures then! But until then, just pretend this is me:

You're never too old for Hogwarts.

images via BYU photos and weheartit.com 

waiting on the weekend

"I called you up and we talked all night
Ranting and raving how it wasn't right
How geography makes love so hard
It's oh so cruel to be oh so far
And you've been back and gone again since then
I just wait around until I see you again
And who could ask for more? 
But all week waiting on the weekends
We'll get bored..."


-Straylight Run

images via wehearit.com and tumblr.com

four weeks.

Thats it.

Until freedom. 

Until [maybe real] adulthood.

Until I stop jumping through hoops. 

Until the unknown.

Until the security I have now, is gone.

Until I start a new adventure. 

Until....I graduate.

MIA.

Yes.

I have been MIA from this blog for quite a while.

My life is busier than its ever been.

I leave at 7 am. and get home at 9:30 pm, just in time to go to bed.

Why? I am student teaching and have a part-time job.

I love it, though! Yeah, I wish I had a little bit more free time, but my fourth graders make it totally worth it! :)

So friends and family, I will try to blog every once in a while [WHOA! a car crash just happened right outside my window! yikes!] but I can't promise anything. There are other things in my life that are more important, and other people who need more attention than my blog.

I will eventually come back to being a full-time blogger! But for now, I need to focus on my life!

I will leave you with this adorable puppy I will hopefully one day have:

image via weheartit

because of you.

Dear BYU Alumni,

I call you every night for my job.
Some of you are so very nice.
Some of you I understand honestly do not have a single penny to spare to give to the school.
Some of you do. And yet you do not give it.
Well, dearest Alumni, because of you, we do not have enough scholarships to give out to students.
Because of you my very best friend did not get a scholarship.
Because of you he may not be able to attend school next semester.
Because of you his plans for his life are slowly slipping out of his fingers, and there is nothing he can do about it. 
So next time I call, think again about giving.
Can you really just not go out to eat once this month and give that $10 to us instead?
Then maybe my best friend can have his life back.

K. Thanks.

Sincerely,
That "annoying" caller that you are so rude to and hang up on

Expressions of Love

I found this video of couples of all ages sharing how they show each other their love. 

Its really cute!

And also, Sam and her husband, Chas, from Young People in Love are in it! Try to find them!

How adorable are Tom and Joyce?! 

I hope someday I can be a cute old couple still in love like them! 

one year ago today...

...I came back from the trip that changed my life.

Ghana, Africa. 

I went without my friends, and ended up making many more.

I went without my family, and gained a new one. 

I took a million and one pictures, 

so I decided this movie I made would do better justice than simply slapping them on my blog. 

I just pray that someday I can go back.

[if you want to learn more about my trip read these.]

this is why i do what i do.

I got my first taste of the reason I went into teaching.

This comment is from a mom of two of the kids in my daycare class.

These two kids came into my class two weeks ago having never gone to daycare,

and wanting nothing to do with the place. 

The woman said this with such gratitude and sincerity that I almost didn't know how to respond. 

"They adore you. You have made such an impression on them.

Thank you."

To you that don't work with children, maybe this comment does not seem that impactful.

But to me, it was a reminder of why I go through the stress of taking care of children,

and why I am going through the hours of schooling to teach them. 

image via.

harry.

I wanted to re-post this from my friend Kylie.

I got chills as I read this post. 

And I am not ashamed to admit that, even if it is about Harry Potter.

"hogwarts will always be there to those who are deserving of it."

i was chatting with my mom the day before last and we were just chatting about how we were both going to dress up as professor trelawney for the midnight premier of harry potter. like mother like daughter, i guess. 

i expressed how bittersweet this is for me, the last of the movies, the last new real harry potter moment. after the midnight premier, i felt that i would be entering adulthood and leaving childhood behind. and here is what my mom said to me:

"oh, well, your childhood is ending in a way...but the thing about great books and great movies is that they are timeless so whenever you read or watch them, you will be swept back to your own awesome childhood. those harry potter kids are your peers and they are my children and you are all grown up now."

so, i raise my glass to harry potter, the boy who lived, the boy who is our friend, the boy who makes reading magical, the boy that is a timeless part of me and my life and you and yours.

p.s. my professor trelawney costume was totally rockin.

[here is her original post.]

new addiction.

i love social media.

but most of all, i love google. 

thanks google, for once again reminding me that you rock.

image

Thankful Thursday

My Health.

I started getting sick a couple days ago, and boy am I glad to have been able to sleep it off!

My Car.

I just got a brand new [to me] car! 

Look how pretty she is! 

[love my papa's shadow on the car?]

My cozy bed and the bear that sleeps next to me.

[shhhh...don't tell anyone I still sleep with a teddy bear..]

Lightning.

It's storming right now.

I grew up with lightning and thunder....and now I live in a stinkin' desert.

I'm totally lovin' this. 

Target.

I struggle walking out of this store with only items on my list.

Check out this find:

via

[This picture is deceiving, I think this model is a giant. The dress touches my knees.]

I am so thankful to be alive! 

This song was played in church today and really touched me.

Listen carefully to it, and try to ignore the cheesy video. 

In fact, I'd suggest pressing play and not watching the video at all.

"And behold, and lo, I am with you to bless you and deliver you forever. Amen."

Doctrine & Covenants 108:8

"Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen."

-Matthew 28:20

Thankful Thursday

Vacations.

My phone.

Let's be real...what would I do without it?!

My education.

I have one more semester at Brigham Young University. 

I have grown so much as a person as a direct result of my education at this amazing university. 

Knowledge is power.

My dad's job.

He works for the airlines. 

THANK YOU. 

I admit it, I am spoiled because of this. I have been many places I would not have been able to without some of the benefits of his job.

My puppy.

I am thankful to be alive! :)

I am...

here.

[tybee island]

and here.

[historic savannah, ga]

and here.

[haunted historic savannah, ga]

and here.

[hilton head island]

I will you update on my adventures when I return! 

sources: here, here, here, and here. 

Thankful Thursday

I see all around the blogging world these fun weekly posts,

such as Wishful Wednesday or Awesome/Awkward Thursday,

and I wanted to do my own.

But do one that fit more my personality,

and what I am trying to accomplish with this blog.

I want this to be an uplifting blog. 

Maybe only to myself, but uplifting nonetheless.

I don't want to have a list of all these thing I wish I had, 

when I already have so many blessings in front of me.

Don't get me wrong, its still fun to look at other's wish-lists and the like,

but this is what I want to do. 

Maybe eventually I'll even be as cool as the other bloggers,

 and have a button and link so others can join me in Thankful Thursday.

I'm not yet that cool, though. So just enjoy this. 

Thankful Thursday

Since this is my first one, I want to get the basics done.

My family. 

My roommates (past and present).

My two jobs.

In this economy I am so blessed to be able to have two jobs that help me pay all my bills. 

My apartment.

The Gospel in my life.

I am so grateful to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

I am so happy to have a personal relationship with my Father in Heaven.

I love knowing simple truths, such as the fact that my family will be together forever.

My health.

I don't have any major health problems.

I am so thankful to be alive!

:)

Life is Wonderful

Sorry I have been absent from the blogging world for so long.

I have been focusing my time with other pursuits,

namely trying to figure out what matters most in my life. 

I have really been enjoying the free time that I have.

I won't bore you with catching up on everything that has been going on,

(although it has been a fantastic summer so far).

But I will leave you with this video.

What matters most in your life?

For me? My family. And my friends. 

so much stuff, so little time

Sorry that I have been slacking on my blog! 

Working two jobs [9 am - 9:30 pm] and trying to have a social life doesn't really allowing blogging.

But here I am! 

With some time to breathe and catch-up. 

I love Sundays. :)

So my trip to Atlanta ended well.

I spent time with my family, and my puppy.

And I went boating. Man I miss being out on the water!

Sadly, all the pictures were on my little brother's camera, and he is inaccessible  right now [more later].

[me and Luke Skywalker]

After ATL I came back to my life. My job. Er..jobs. My roommates (yay!). 

I taught preschool again this past week.

We learned about the weather. 

Check out how cute my classroom was:

The kids cut out (or ripped) the clouds and painted the sun. 

This next week I am moving up, though, and away from my adorable and crazy 3- and 4-year olds.

This is sad in some ways, but also a blessing.

I was getting really stressed with trying manage THIRTEEN 3- and 4-year-olds.

So starting Tuesday I will be in charge of the Elementary Kids.

The plus: Field trips Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

LOVE.

And guess what?!

My little brother entered the Missionary Training Center on Wednesday!!

He is going to serve a prostlying mission (aka going to teach people about Christ and our purpose here on Earth) in Carlsbad, California. 

He stays in the MTC for two weeks and then heads out.

So this is why I can't get his memory card! :)

[He's a good lookin' guy, huh? Sorry, ladies, he is off limits for two years!]

Also,

look what I did last night:

Glass etching!

It was my first time, so don't judge too harshly.

I loved it, though, so I just might have to do it again!

I hope you all have a great week! 

And let's be real, I probably won't post again till the weekend.

Have a great Memorial Day!

Vintage Dresses

I am currently at my parent's house, and I was looking in the closet of my room here and found two of my mom's old dresses! The wheels in my mind started spinning and I thought, what if I could adjust these and make a couple really cute vintage dresses?!

So I had my mom help me pin them to give me an idea and see whether it was worth it or not.

Worth it to take it to someone of course, cuz I sadly don't know how to sew (although this is making me really want to learn how!). 

So please take a look at these dresses and let me know what you think! Are they cute enough? 

Dress 1:

Mom's Senior Prom Dress

Dress 2:

Mom's bridesmaid dress for her brother's wedding

Now, they are just pinned, so the skirts are doubled up and poofier than they'd be if I actually got it sewn that way. The hem line will also actually be straight. So remember that...and now judge them! [I may or may not have my own opinion, but I want to hear yours!]

What do you think?

Do you have a favorite? Or do they both stink?

Any suggestions from people that actually know how to sew?

And please be honest!

I don't want to make them if they aren't cute!

Thanks!

the end of D.C. and the start of Atlanta

We spent our last day in D.C. (Monday) being tourists. 

We started off in the Museum of American History...of which I sadly have no pictures. 

How did that happen?

Then half of us walked to the Lincoln Memorial. 

It's quite a little walk, and my dad was injured so my younger brothers stayed behind with him.

We passed some other cool things on the way too.

The Lincoln Memorial...

I was so very excited to see this.

I've been to D.C. two other times and never been here.

It's sad because for some reason, Lincoln has always been my favorite president.

It might have to do with this story my mom used to read to me...my favorite book as a kid:

So here I finally was, at his memorial

Then we moved onto the Korean War Memorial, and The Air and Space Museum.

We left the next day for Atlanta and went straight from the airport to a Brave's game!

And now after this crazy post with too many pictures (sorry, I can't help myself),

I will leave you with the cutest nephew in the entire world