Grouping Fun in First Grade!

We are having fun in first grade! Yeah for learning how to group things and create patterns. Today we spent math time making froot loop necklaces and the kids LOVED IT!!! The worked silently for 25 minutes straight. They were consentrating, having fun, and learning! These kinds of activities are the fun part of lower grades.

This is a class picture taken about two weeks ago on St. Patricks Day! I thought these hats turned out so cute with a rainbow over their heads. I love little art projects like this.

Oh the Joys of life!

Recently I have been having a hard time with my first grade class and my cooperating teacher. I am sure it is just because I don't love the age of the children but lately it has been a big challenge. I am counting down the days until I am done and graduated. I have decided that I am going to list all the happy things or blessings that I have in my life. It's hard to focus on the positive when you are doing something that is not so great for you every day but I am going to do it. I am going to find the joy!

• I have a wonderful husband.
• I get to be around Heavenly Fathers children each day.
• One child said , while I was reading a book about make-up/dress up to the kids, "You don't have to wear makeup to be pretty." Another responded, "Ya no one is perfect." Another said, "Except Jesus. My Mom said Jesus is perfect because he didn't make any mistakes." I just smiled and kept reading.
• I can go to the temple and feel the spirit.
• I have a good Mom and mother in law.
• I have a great Dad who tries hard. He helped us look at townhouses all night on Wednesday.
• I am blessed to have good friends like Sara, Christa, Kaitlan, and Julie.
• I can talk to my Father in Heaven in prayer.
• I am going to college and will have a degree.
• Adam is graduated and gets to go back for more education.
• We have money to live! Ya this is a plus in this economic time.
• We have savings and no car payments. Also a blessing!
• I love childrens books.
• I enjoy the blessing of music of all kinds to uplift me.
• I am blessed with a temple marriage and the gospel in my life.
• I have a testimony and know that Christ lives.
• I am happy when I get a good night sleep.
• I love the sunshine, the flowers, and the birds.
• I have a nice couch that I can rest on. And a nice bed too!
• I have a roof over my head and heat. :)
• I am happy when my dishes are done and I have the tools to clean them and dishes to use.
• I have a closet full of clothes to wear.
• We have plenty of food and are starting food storage.
• We are blessed with good health care and doctors.
• I smile when I hear a funny joke.
• I am grateful for all that I have! I know I could list much much more but then this post would be forever.

I have lots of things to be joyful about. I need to remember to embrace what I have and who I am.

Funny note:

I went to a womens conference about finding joy within about a month ago. One speaker said, "Some days I wake up grumpy. And other days I let him sleep." This is nothing about Adam, although I am a morning person but I thought how true sometimes I wake up grumpy and sometimes he wakes up grumpy. We all have our good and bad days and no one is perfect. But we just need to remember to do our best, work on it, and not get discouraged!

Feed the Birds, Topins a bag!

I love Mary Poppins but unfortunately she was unable to make it to our picnic! :) Adam and I went to first dam this weekend and had a nice picnic together in the sun and we fed the birds too. It was a nice little afternoon out before it snowed today, which I am grumpy about. Enjoy the pics!

Student teaching is going well. I have 4 more weeks to go. Time sure flys by that is for sure. My teacher is nice and I love the kids. I do however, feel overwhelmed because I feel she wants me to do everything her way. She just has that personality I guess but it is hard because with teaching there is no RIGHT way to do things. Everyone does things a bit different and that is okay. But I only have 20 days left. Isn't it sad I am counting down? But I only graduate once so I deserve to count down. Afterall it is exciting!

Fun and Funny things happening in our lives!

Fun and funny new things...
1. It is warm in Logan and it feels like Spring.
2. We went to Crystal Hot Springs with Brady, Brittany, Jodi, and Kelly tonight and it felt great.
3. The HR director from Box Elder school district called me yesterday to say that they would love to have me teach in their district next year. He will call me personally the first week in April after all the letters of intent are in. :)
4. There is a live animal stuck in our wall. I has been there for at least 4 days and we can hear it moving. And let me just say it is not a small animal it sounds huge! We have called the landlords and they better come drill a hole in the wall and let that thing out before it dies and smells. Plus it grosses me out every time I hear it move/scratch while I am cooking.
5. I found out that my roommate, Jaelyn's, sister lives next door to us.
6. I got offered a position at Granite School district and I am waiting to see how BE pans out before I reply.
7. Adam and I both got good looking new swim suits. Maybe this will make summer come faster.
8. I am one month away from graduation!!!!! Oh yah baby!
9. Adam has been accepted to Weber and USU for his masters. Depending on where I get a teaching job depends on the school he will accept to go to. It's looking like USU!
10. My laundry is FINALLY not over flowing. Noticed that I did not say completely done since it is clean but still sitting in baskets. I keep telling myself I will get to it but meanwhile it is nice to have a laundry room to hide it all in.

That is pretty much it for now! Adam is loving scouts, we are so happy that I pretty much have a job, Adam still works at Zions, we love our new townhome and eachother.
Hope things fun and funny are happening in your lives as well.

A trip down south to Zions National Park!

This last weekend we went to St. George with our friends Brady and Brittany for spring break. It was nice and warm! I actually got sunburned and it is already tanning up. Yeah! We stayed at Dad's new house which was nice and went to Zions the next day. We hiked Angels Landing, which was a way fun hike, soaked up the sun and enjoyed the beautiful views. We came home to chilly Logan Sunday after church. It was a nice little weekend trip. It was fun to get to know Brady and Brittany better too, we all get along so well. Thanks guys! I know there are tons of pictures but just enjoy!

A funny note is that Brittany and I both ripped our pants. I guess that is what you get when your leg muscles are getting so big by hiking this awesome trail! Right? :) Also they boys had a little steak eating bet at dinner. Sad to say that Brady did not finish his 16 oz steak and Adam did. Ya, I know what a snarfer! But I love you Adam.

Come to Zion on Your Harley!

My family went to Vegas to watch Jared in his lacrosse tournament last weekend. On the drive home they saw a Harley Davidson billboard that said, "Come to Zion." Now, if you know my family we make up a song for just about everything. Of course this gave perfect opportunity for another Day Family number. Dad found it pretty ironic, he called me chuckling and said, "do you think about harley's when you think of Zion?" My response was, "I don't but Davee Chandler sure does!" Other albums include, Brace Face Power and This is the Night We've Waited For. :) I love my family!

Fondu-lishious!

We did fondue for family night. For Christmas Stokes gave us this fondue set and accessories. This was actually the first time that we used it and it was so fun! Of course you can't fondue without spilling on your shirt, Adam, and dripping all over the table, Angie. :) We do make a good couple. It was also a nice pre-dinner appetizer since the hamburger needed to thaw anyway. So here are some fondu-licious pictures.

It's falling from the Heavens!

Oh my heavens, and it is falling from the heavens, snow!!!! This morning I woke up to at least 6 inches of snow that came over night. I spent about 10 minutes scrapping my car off as it kept snowing. Then I drove all the way to Hyrum, about 20 miles, to school where I saw many cars off the road in the ditch. Glad I didn't end up in one too. During school it kept snowing and snowing. We had indoor recess, not so great, and we played wiggle games.When I got done with school I walked out through the parking lot which was about 1 foot deep. My car was completely covered and the snow was heavy and deep. I am wondering if it'll be a snow day tomorrow. If it keeps this up it will be. It hasn't stopped all day and it's March. It also snows more in Hyrum than in Logan so maybe it will be a snow day. Anyway, I wish I had my camera at school so I could have gotten a pic of the santa fe convered but I didn't; so here is one of the tercel that has been parked in front of our house all day. One teacher at school said her husband measured 16 inches in Hyrum this morning so it has to be over 2 feet now.

Also my family came over late last night to visit Adam for his birthday. He got an oil change, his and her dice from Vegas, and a belt. He was glad they made it.

24 is a BIG NUMBER!!!!

Happy Birthday to you, Adam!
We had a little party with family and friends and it was nice. Josh and Ainslie came over about an hour before everyone else which was nice to have a chance to catch up with them. Janae was sick so we missed her but I am sure she enjoyed an afternoon to herself. Ainslie loved the fish an frogs. She would play in the front room with the toys and then run into the sitting room saying, "Fish, fish, ribbit." It was absolutely darling! She is getting so big.
We had dinner, lots of conversation, cake and ice cream, and presents. The Day family went on a trip to Vegas to see Jared play lacrosse. Sadly they got stranded in Nephi because the van over heated, so unfortunately they were not able to make it. Needless to say I had an entire extra lasagna. We also missed Breezy and Mat and Adam was really sad they didn't come up. Grandma and Grandpa Barker came all the way up and it was so great to have them. We were both so happy that they drove an hour for the party at 81 and 82. It is always a little bit of a struggle for Grandma but always rewarding for us to have them. It was a Happy Birthday after all.

Oh and I can't forget Clint, Kaitlan and Steve came over too. So glad to have good friends over. Adam was thrilled they made it! We love you all!

Date Night!

Adam and I had a nice date night together last night. We went out to eat at Cafe Rio. It has been over a month since we have been there and can I say it was definately too long. Man their food is good! After dinner we went to the movie "Taken". Holy cow it was intense! It started and every scene was action and kept you on your toes. Pretty soon, before we knew it it was over. I am telling you it was intense. We liked it but it is not one I would buy. It is about this girl who goes on a trip with her girlfriend out of the country and they get taken by women trafficers. Sick, I know. The Dad is a retired governement worker who has mad skills when it comes to tracking people down. The whole movie he searches for his daughter, brave huh? I kept thinking about my Dad and it made me laugh to think of him busting down doors and shooting people to find me. Not realistic. But it had a good ending and made me feel so blessed for the family, safety, and love I have.

Springing into spring!

Spring is here, well I think it is! It is warming up finally and I am thrilled. We did have a bit of snow this morning but it has been sunny and warm, like 50 degrees. Yeah! I hope that it keeps warming up for us so that we can go outside and play. Oh, I am thrilled for a break next weekend. Adam and I are going to try to go to Dad's house and hike at Zions while we are down there. It'll be good for me to get away since I have had lots of stress lately. It'll just be a much needed break. :)

Sara and I like to watch Idol!

Yeah for Idol! I am glad that Megan and Anoop made it through to the top 13! Sara Howes came over to watch it with me and it was fun to hang with just us two girl friends. We both student teach at the same school and I have been in classes with her for about 2 years now. Anyway so we are buddies and I sure love her. It is nice to talk to her about school, my kids, and life. She is just so understanding and we get along well. We have decided during Lincoln elementary spring break we are going to go to Bryce Canyon together. Yeah! Then Adam and I will go on a spring break during USU break!

Interviews and New Class!

I know you have all been dieing to hear about my interviews. This past Monday the 2nd, I had a workshop until noon and then interviews from 1:45-6:00. I know it is a lot but districts came up to USU so I jumped on it.
I met with my supervisor, Dorothy Dobson, to discuss my first block student teaching evaluation and then interviewed with Jordan, Granite, Box Elder and Davis school districts. Wowee! My evaluation was superb by the way.
I was a bit nervous right before the actual interview but calmed down once I got in. First interview was with Davis. Davis has a scripted interview format where they ask the same questions to each applicant. They are not allowed to reword or interpret the question. This interview is one that I was hoping would have been through the roof but because of the format I felt the lady interviewing me was not responsive to any answer I gave. This obviously made me feel like I gave horrible answers. So I am not sure how that really went. Anyway, I handed in a complete application packet to them which no other interviewers did so hopefully even though I felt it was awkward that gave me a one up!
Jordan and Granite were more low key. I interviewed with a principal in Jordan District and he liked me. He laughed with me and seemed to appreciate my answers. I was also specific which he loved. Granite HR lady loved me. How do I know? Well, she said so. When I handed her a complete application file she was even more thrilled about me. Yeah!
Lastly was my interview with Box Elder. I had one interviewer and one observer in the room with me. I took my portfolio in with me and actually showed them units I have taught. They were extremely impressed. They kept looking at each other, smiling, and nodding so I sure hope that is good. Box Elder, for me, felt like the best interview. Terry Jackson really love me! He was kind and very oozy over me. It helps that I interviewed after a girl who is not such a good interviewer and I am not meaning that rude but it's true, I know her. So I was glad to be a breathe of fresh air for them. Honestly out of those districts I would take a job at Box Elder or Davis first.
Now I have the screening interviews completed and the next step is to check the district websites for specific job posting which start begging of April when the legislative session is over everyone will have a better idea of how many they need to hire. I am also sending my info into Cache and Logan districts. I hope all of these interviews come back positive so that I can have some options.
First grade is a HUGE CHANGE! WOW! I have been in first grade before and don't remember feeling so out of place there. I think it'll take time for me to adjust to kids 5 years younger. My teacher Deb is nice but not really my style so we will see. I will just do my best, that all I can do right? So goodbye my cute fifth graders! (picture below)


















We are pretty well settled in to our cute new place. I still have things to do and places to clean but it's coming. Adams birthday is Sunday it'll be nice to have a good weekend celebrating with family. Here comes the big 24!!!!

Quick Update!

It is nuts at our house! We are mostly unpacked and love our new town home. I have four interviews with different school districts today. I also meet with my supervisor about my student teaching evaluation. I get to start teaching first grade tomorrow as well. So, wish me luck!