Official Things

Some things that are official:

• My degree has been posted. Therefore, I should have my diploma and my teaching license in approximately two months. I don't know why it takes them that long....
• I can start subbing come Monday. Well, sort of. I still have to wait and go through the Kelly Services educational orientation. Which is dumb, but in order to get paid, I have to do it. So hopefully it's next week so I can start getting money for Disneyland/Ireland.
• I'm going to Disneyland for spring break. Yeah, I'm cool like that.
• I'm also going to Ireland in 17 months. With Tayna and Kat. Oh, and I guess Mom and Dad are coming too. But still. I get to go to Ireland. Finally!
• The next IWA dance is in 5 weeks. Yikes! That's not very long. But I'm super excited. 
• However, I still don't have a boyfriend. He told me he's not ready for a relationship yet. Ugh. I wish he would change his mind already. Maybe I'll just ask him to the dance anyway.
• I get a new roommate on Monday. Her name is Heather and she's been home from her mission for 2 weeks. She went to Paris. Maybe she can teach me French. :)

Christmas Memories

Everyone is always saying something about remembering the reason for the season this time of year. That hasn't been a hard thing for me for the past 9 years.

Today makes it 9 years exactly since Great-Grandma Dora died. I think of her every Christmas, and then remind myself I have to do better so that I'll be sure to have the opportunity to see her again. But this year, my thoughts of Grandma Dora have led me to thoughts of friends that have died this year, and their families. First there was Natalie, who died of cancer in August. Then Devin in that tragic car accident just after Thanksgiving. And finally, my friend Emily, the one I mentioned in my last post. Also involved in a tragic accident, she was taken off life support Thursday night, and passed a couple of hours later. If it were me, I don't know that I'd ever get excited about Christmas again. But lucky for me, I know all three of those families, though sad, are going to pull through their tough times and be just fine. It's my thoughts and prayers for these families that lead me to thoughts of the Savior this year.

On a lighter note, I got to talk to Rian today. :) He wrote us a song about what we sent him for Christmas. I don't really remember it, but it was funny. He seems to be doing well, though, and it sounded like a party at the apartment they were at. Also, I'm super excited to go back to Logan this year. Turns out home is kinda boring when you're suddenly an only child.

Prayers for Emily

Allie put it much better than I could. So go here and read it, and then please remember Emily and her family in your prayers!

Oh, and the latest update on her is that even though she's still unconscious, they might be doing surgery on her right femur tomorrow. The hope is that she'll come to sometime this week, and can get on the road to recovery.

What Now?

Well, it's official. I am a college graduate! Actually, I'm still waiting on them to post my final grades so that the licensing office can send in my license application. But, it's enough for me to get signed up to start substitute teaching in January! Yay! I'm actually really excited for it. It'll be a nice change in my life, and I'll actually make some money doing something I love. Too bad it won't be my own class yet.

Now if only I could figure out the "what now" with this boy that decided to hold my hand last weekend....then life would be just grand. :)

Remembering

I don't deal with death very well. At all. Especially sudden death.

There was an accident last weekend, involving a couple of kids I used to babysit, and a friend of theirs. Lacee and the friend are fine, minor scrapes and bruises. But Devin was ejected when the car rolled, and it killed him. I know the family well enough to know that they are going to be fine. It'll be tough, but they'll pull through stronger than they already are. And yet, I still spent the week wondering and worrying about them. Especially Lacee, who was driving when it happened. I went to the viewing tonight, even though I told myself 15 years ago that I would never put myself through that again. (Remember, I don't deal with it very well.) But I just had to put my mind at rest, and go see the Jensen family. And it was just like I knew it would be.

They were all smiles, a bit of laughter, and very few tears. Lacee was counting her blessings instead of blaming herself for what happened. Raquel just smiled and said "Remember to hug your mom." And Todd took the time to ask how my brother is doing on his mission. Sierra and Amelia really lightened the mood with their bright smiles, and Caleb and Jacob were playing with the little kids. They really are going to be just fine. And someday, I want to grow up to be like them.

I'll miss seeing Devin's smile when I'm at home for church, but it's good to know he's in a better place now. :)

Devin Todd Jensen

Tremonton, Devin Todd Jensen, 16 returned home to his Heavenly Father on November 27, 2010. He was born June 28, 1994, to S. Todd and Raquel (Figgins) Jensen in Logan, Utah. Devin was a Junior at Bear River High School. He lived in Tremonton his entire life.
He was an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He was a Priest in the Aaronic Priesthood of the Tremonton 8th ward.
He was very involved in student government serving as 8th grade Vice President, Bear River Middle School Student Body President and Sophomore class President.
Devin accomplished much in his short time on earth. He earned his Eagle Scout and was a recipient of the Hope of America award. He recently participated in the Academic Olympiad held at USU. He was a member of TOUGH Club, FBLA, Bear River High football team and the Hugh O’Brien Youth (HOBY) leadership organization.
Devin had an enthusiasm for life. He was always joking with his brothers and sisters and teasing his mom. Devin loved to camp and be with his friends. He had a passion for sports and loved to play and watch them especially with his dad. He was a huge BYU fan and he loved the Utah Jazz. From a young age he could tell you about any player or stat.
Devin was a determined young man; he knew where he was going and who he wanted to be. He was always concerned about others’ well being. He had a strong testimony of the Savior’s love for him. He was a great example and always willing to serve. He will be dearly missed by his family and friends.
Devin is survived by his parents, his three sisters, Lacee, Sierra and Amelia and his two brothers, Caleb and Jacob. Grandparents, Steven K. and Ann Jensen, of Bear River City, Brent and Connie Figgins of Syracuse, Utah, and many loving aunts, uncles, and cousins. He was preceded in death by his grandma, Karen Jensen.

Pie, Anyone?

This:

+

=

My roommates will be jealous looking at this all day.

 

Guess they'd better come to dessert night, eh?

A trip to Candyland

Remember playing that game as a child? You know, pretty much the best game ever. It's called Candyland; I'm sure you remember it. 

Well, this board came to life last night. It was the IWA fall dance, and our second counselors did such an awesome job with the decorations! Here are some pictures of everything: 

King Kandy

Queen Frostine

Jolly

Mr. Mint

Lord Licorice

Lolly and her lollipop garden

 Part of the candy cane forest

 Sugar Plum Tree

 Candy Castle & King Kandy

 Grandma Nutty's House

The path that was on the walls

(all of these came from my friend Hannah's blog. Be sure to check it out!)

Plus, my date was awesome! My friend Lydia set me up. I don't normally go for the blind date thing, but it really worked out for me last night! His name is Sam and he's on the ballroom dance team. Mostly that equals awesome. :) I haven't had that much fun dancing for a long time! Plus, I love learning some new moves. Oh, and we spent almost half an hour reading children's books when we first got to Sister Edwards' house for dinner. Um...awesome? I would say so! So really, it was a great night. Minus the fact that I went to bed at 3am. :S

And now it's snowing. And sticking. Yuck. Guess I better go get my stuff for pie night right now before it gets any worse.

Isn't Thanksgiving Here Yet?

I somehow managed to fall back into that "I'm teaching full time and therefore don't have time to blog" mode. Oops?

The good news is, my unit for this block is done. And the phonics and math programs we use are scripted. So I don't have any lessons left to write. And preparing phonics and math are super easy when it's kindergarten. (Except then there's always those few students that just don't get it, no matter how many times you show it to them/do it with the class.) So I feel like I have nothing to do already. and there's still 12 more teaching days until I'm finished. Yep, I said 12. Almost down to single digits! Though, I have mixed feelings about it. I'm definitely not loving kindergarten like I did 5th grade. But I have grown attached to those kids and will have a hard time leaving them. Plus, I like that I get to see so many of my 5th graders on a daily basis. Three of them have siblings in my kindergarten classes. :) And by three I definitely mean four. They loved it when I told them I knew their brother or sister.

Speaking of kindergarten, and my unit (which was all about the first Thanksgiving), we have our grandparents day program on Tuesday. The kids are singing 5 songs; 2 of which I taught for my unit and 3 that Helen taught them. Helen was mostly going to be in charge of the whole thing, but as of two days ago, now has a funeral to attend that day. So guess who gets to run it? Both times? If you guessed me, you win! (Give yourself a pat on the back. :P) Talk about scary! I mean, there will be a sub, and I know her. Launa had her once, and the first Thursday in Helen's class she was there. And she's great. But she doesn't know any of the songs, etc that they're singing, so really all she can do is help manage the kids. And not only will I have parents and grandparents watching me with their kids, but the principal will be there, too. Oh boy! This'll be interesting. I'll keep you posted.

On another note, Thanksgiving is next week. Finally! I feel like it's taken five years for it to get here! I so need that break from school. The sad thing is, I have to finish my portfolio over the break. Sigh. At least I get some time off from teaching. And I can sleep in. (I swear, even though I go to bed much earlier this semester than ever before, I still don't sleep enough!) Tomorrow is the IWA fall dance. :) It's Candy Land themed and I am really so excited about it. I had my friend, Lydia, set me up since I had no idea who to ask. (Remember, the only boys I see on a regular basis, anymore, are my students. And, well, that's just not okay.) So, my date's name is Sam, and he's on the ballroom dance team. That's all I know about him. I'm actually waiting for him to call me back right now, and I might be going a little bit crazy just sitting here; waiting. Ugh. Oh well. (Though I do hope he calls soon, because I need to know where I'm going when I pick him up tomorrow!)

Also, I made an awesome bulletin board. And I have a picture of it. But I lent my camera to Helen today, and forgot to bring it home. So I'll have to post those later. As a parting note, here's the awesome graduation announcement Elise made for me. :)

Why Not?

Remember that time I said I won a contest? Well, now I'm in the running for another one. And you can be, too! Check out all the rules and what not here.

Halloween, anyone?

First, I won a contest! This page that I follow on Facebook (I follow their blog, too) posted something about guessing a number between 1 and 50 and whoever got it first would get a free cd of counting songs. So I figured, what the heck, I'll play; and I guessed 12. Twenty minutes later, I found out I won! So now I get a counting songs cd and I'm super excited to use it with my kindergarteners. :)

Second, kindergarten. It's not so bad after all. I still really miss my 5th graders though. But it's nice being in the same school. A few of them come see me daily, either before or after school. And others I just wave to as they walk past after school. It's great. Yesterday they asked me if I was going to come see them in their costumes. I wasn't sure of the kindergarten Friday schedule, so I told them I couldn't promise, but I'd try. Turns out lunch is at the same time on Friday's and since I go just a few minutes before they go to lunch, I hurried down and surprised them with a visit. :) It totally made my day when all 27 of them (almost in unison) gasped and exclaimed "Miss Barnes!" I so wish I could have stayed with them all semester! But, back to kindergarten. Those kids are so super cute. I already have them wrapped around my finger. :) Hopefully they don't cry when I leave in 6 weeks like they did when Holly left last week. Also, I'm not a fan of Halloween. But celebrating it with my students is awesome! And my costume rocked. :)

Some Mill Hollow friends are on their way up right now, and we are going to have a mini party with them. This time I am dressing up as Cheerleader from Teen Girl Squad. :)

Third, on Monday we took our kindergarteners to the pumpkin walk. So I went twice during the day. Then, during FHE, Elise called and asked if I wanted to go again. It was pretty awesome this year, and I told her I would go because I really wanted to see them all lit up. Here's some of my favorites.

And now some with people in them...

Looking for the aliens in each scene.

Stina has awesome jumping skills.

We flew!

We tried to spell fun.

One of my most favorite movies.

Yep. We're cool enough to get our picture with the witch. Also, this was the third witch I'd seen there that day.

Janielle as the Genie.

Elise is a sad Yoda.

My all time favorite!

Coming out of the pumpkin mouth.

Mostly, this week has been pretty awesome. We also had service week for IWA. I'm so glad it's over, but it was fun while it lasted. I also turned in my license application yesterday. Now I just have to wait another six weeks. 

D-r-o-w-n-e-d R-a-t-s

Janielle posted pictures on Facebook of today's activities, so I decided to be a picture stealer and blog. Because I don't have any lessons to be writing this weekend. (Secretly, I wish I did. Because I am so bored!) However, I have been reading The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey most of the day. It's so good! And it totally makes me wish I was going to be there to finish it with my 5th graders! I would love to see their reactions to some of the events. :)

Anyway, today was the homecoming game. I wasn't going to go because I was so sucked into my book. But then Janielle came over and asked if I wanted to go up with her so she didn't have to go alone. So I said okay. It's been pretty cloudy all day, and we decided that if it started to pour rain we would come home. Well, approximately 2 seconds after we got to the stadium it started raining. And it just kept getting harder. So we came home at half time. And this is what we looked like.

At the game

Walking home. We were already soaked, so we decided to jump in the puddle. And many others.

This is what we looked like by the time we actually got home.

On a side note, I now have everything I need to turn in my application for a teaching license. Weird! There's only 7 weeks until graduation. (Which means 9 until Christmas! :D) I think it's finally starting to sink in that I'm really graduating. Huh. Neat. 

*Also, this post is #43 for this year. Which means that I totally met my goal of getting more posts than last year, and I still have two months to go! Woot! :)

Ever wondered what teachers do during their prep hour?

I'm about to answer the unknown! Okay, so maybe it's not so unknown to a lot of you. It's definitely not unknown to me. Yesterday, while our kids were in art, Launa and I spent the time watching videos on you tube. Mostly this one:



And others of this kid. He's flipping amazing! And fun to watch. :)

Then, she showed me this little girl:



Holy cow! She started playing when she was 3. I think I need her to come teach me how to play Rhapsody in Blue.

I never thought I'd say this

Remember how I was super nervous to teach 5th grade? I worried about it all summer because I didn't really know what to expect. I thought the kids were old enough that I would be way out of my comfort zone, and I really worried about teaching math. That was seven weeks ago.

Today was my last day in 5th grade, and it took everything in me to not let the tears fall at the end of the day. Several of the kids got me little presents, and Launa even got me the second book in the Mysterious Benedict Society trilogy so that I can still have a chance to finish it. I was pretty excited about that. :) My kids have been talking all week about their "extra credit music assignment", too. You'd think that I would have picked up on something for all of them to be so excited about a music assignment, but I didn't. And then after they took their social studies test this afternoon, they all surprised me with a book they'd made! For their "extra credit music assignment" Launa had all of them write me a little note and decorate the page. And then she bound it, and gave it to me today. We took some pictures (which I so wish I could post!) and I got a hug from all of them. They all wanted me to sign a paper, too. :P But I was already in the process of writing them all a note to go home on Monday. So now I have an excuse to go back down there Monday morning. :D My most favorite part, though, was how excited they all got when I told them I would just be in Mrs. Hellstern's class upstairs, and that I would love to have them come see me before or after school. It really makes me excited to graduate and have my own class every year.

Monday I start teaching kindergarten. We're going to the pumpkin walk. And it's supposed to snow. Yeah, not cool. Hopefully it doesn't snow. I'll have to remember to take my camera and get some pictures for sure. :) I'm excited for kindergarten, I'm just not so excited to have to think like I did last year for preschool. Maybe this'll be easier though. I hope it is!

Why I Love UEA

Wow. This week has been so much better than last! Unfortunately, my car is still dead. The engine Dad was going to get for it turned out to be bad; so it's just sitting at home. I think. At least I have Mom's car for now, so I can still get to school, and various other places. Like UEA. Holly and I got up super early on Friday to be in Sandy by 8am. At least I got one day to sleep in, right? (And yes, I took full advantage of it by not getting up until 10. :D) And actually, we didn't even get there until 8:30. It was so fun to hang out with Tycee, Ashlee, Caitie, and Holly again!  We spent the entire day together, sitting through a couple of really boring classes, one really good one, eating lunch, and browsing through the idea fair. We all left with a bag full of stuff. Too bad we didn't think to get a picture of us holding everything. That would have been entertaining!

After the conference was over, we headed to Jordan Commons for a movie. We saw Life As We Know It, and boy was it good! Before the movie, though, Caitie spotted a little machine thing that you can win a movie from. As in the actual dvd. So she tried it. Six times. And never won. But here she is trying...her first and I think fourth attempt.

Chillin' with the girls at Texas Roadhouse

It's been so great going through the program with these girls! I wish Tycee, Ashlee, and Caitie were student teaching up north so that we could play together more often. (Not that Holly and I play a lot, because, well, we're always doing something related to school! Unless, of course, we're sleeping.) 

I spent the rest of my weekend at home writing the end of my social studies unit. It actually made me really sad. I've really grown to love 5th grade, and I so wish I could just stay there for my second block! But, kindergarten won't be terrible. I hope. It will be quite the different way of thinking, that's for sure. Oh, yeah. I also started learning a new song on the piano while I was at home yesterday. 

Yeah, after three hours I still haven't even mastered the first page. And there's 30 pages. But that first big run? Yep, almost have that one down. :) Too bad I don't have constant access to a piano anymore. Also, I don't think this is the exact version that I have, but it's close enough. Gershwin was definitely one talented guy!