I had a really fun time at the Christmas ball last night. I danced my little heart out. Here are a couple pics of Tony and me at my casa before the dance.
Today I taught the Relief Society lesson. I taught it on President Uchtdorf's October General Conference talk, "Of Things That Matter Most." I definitely recommend that you read it, especially at this hectic and busy time of year.
Just got done watching the First Presidency's Christmas Devotional on BYUTV here at home. It was lovely, of course.
My internship is OVER! I'm so relieved. Yesterday was my last day of student teaching. It was 16 weeks of sheer growth. I was tested in so many ways, and I learned so very much personally, professionally, socially, academically, and on and on.
My class threw me a surprise goodbye party yesterday, complete with gifts galore (a dozen pink roses, Starbucks stuff, Chili's gift card, a bajillion pencils/post-it notes/teacher stuff, really sweet homemade cards, and a cake that read, "Congratutions Miss Smith!" And yes, the cake-makers misspelled congratulations. Of all people to misspell a cake for, it had to be a teacher. HAHA.
And then last night I threw myself a grad party with nine friends at a local Mexican restaurant. Good times.
And later tonight I'm going to a tri-singles-ward Christmas ball to get my festive groove on. I wonder if they'll play this Christmas pop classic:
This is it. One more day of my student teaching internship. It has been a ride...such a ride. So thrilled it's over. There's only one thing I'll really miss from all of this and that's the kids. They make up a really ecclectic group of 10 and 11 year olds. I love them to pieces and want to squeeze their little faces off. Pardon the graphic nature of that last sentence.
If you're in the area, please join me in a celebration of my completion of grad school tomorrow evening for dinner. All the info is on my Facebook page. The event is called Grad School Graduate Get-together. I tried to be all creative with the alliteration. I should have put a gangsta somewhere in there. Winky face. I'd love to see you there.
Now, let's couple the classroom environment with gangsta, and this is what we get:
Yesterday, I unintentionally found out that my class is throwing me a surprise goodbye party on Friday. Like, there's gonna be food and gifts and stuff. That day's gonna be bittersweet, no doubt. Love those kids. Even the annoying ones.
I wish I could give them a million hugs and kisses each, but it's sorta against the law. So instead, I bagged up Hershey's Hugs 'n Kisses. That'll suffice. The boys would be grossed out anyway. They are 10 years old.
Tomorrow I'll have to pick up a nice gift for my lead teacher. Any suggestions? Starbucks is always a winner for teachers. But it's kinda cliche. I'll see what else I can maybe give her.
Happy December! Hope you're staying warm wherever you are.
I think I can safely say that today's biggest pop sensation is Justin Bieber. Don't stop reading this post even thought you want to right about now. It'll get good. Promise. I do want to share Bieber Fever's movie (Never Say Never) trailer coming out next Valentine's Day. It's in 3-D! What more could you want?!
Continuing on with current pop sensations, there's a new kid on the scene. Now, young American girls are getting all uptight because people are comparing this new guy to Justin Bieber, and we ALL know that Justin is just oh so imcomparable. But get this, little girls: he's a young white pop singer. Umm--that sounds a lot like Justin Bieber to me. Here's Greyson Chance's first single, "Waiting Outside the Lines."
Now, the reason I bring all of this bubblegum pop stuff up is because my lead teacher is beginning a project with her technology class. One part of the project is selecting a song that represents you in some way, or takes you back to a moment/memory in your life that's significant.
Like she has done, she me to also choose a song using the same criteria. Now this is hard for me because music is such a big part of my life. I mean, duh, like every other post on this blog includes some cool song I like. So I got to thinking, and the one band that has had the most impact on my 25 years of life is probably 'NSYNC. Go ahead--laugh. But, 10 years ago, you wouldn't have laughed because half of the world's population was in love with them, too. Forty-eight percent was infatuated with the Backstreet Boys, and two percent with 98 Degrees. ;) But honestly, I was 'NSYNC's biggest fan, and was convinced that they'd never go away. But they did, and I lived. Barely. Just kiddin'.
So, if I had to choose one of their songs that evokes the most emotion/memory, it would probably be "Tearin' Up My Heart." Here it is--relive the magic.
This is my last week of student teaching. Hallelujah! I just wrote up my last lesson plan for student teaching. Ever.
The halls are decked. There's snow on the ground. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! I'm not a winter fan because of the cold and the yucky driving conditions, but you can't go wrong with Christmas. And I suppose it's just not the same without the freezing temps and black ice. ;)
Two of my friends each shared awesome quotes on Facebook recently, so I want to share them with you, too.
April shared, "There is only one you for all time, fearlessly be yourself." (Anthony Rapp)
And Monica shared, "Hope is not a granted wish or a favor performed; no, it is far greater than that. It is a zany, unpredictable dependence on a God who loves to surprise us out of our socks." (Max Lucado)
As I was taking a shower this evening, some lathered shampoo landed on the glass shower door in the shape of a heart and was slowly sliding down. Metaphor?
My stake president spoke in my singles ward today about how doing the simple things really do yield the biggest blessings. I like how he described them as miraculous; how reading from the scriptures, or getting on our knees to talk to God are blessed miracles. If you think about it that way, it really does seem extraordinary. You mean that I will receive blessings if I but read and pray? Is it really that easy? You bet it is. Yet, we all struggle with doing easy. We make everything so blasted hard and I think a lot of it has to do with filling our time with everything but the easy stuff. The world demands a lot of us: school, work, relationships, errands, whatever, and we push aside what really makes us happy.
So go do yourself a favor--do something that's both easy and good and don't tell me that you don't feel better for it.
