Written in 2013:
Now, for a much needed update. In the last year Daniel and I have moved about 5 times. We have fully mastered the art of packing and living out of suitcases. We realize now that this will be good practice for all the vacations we will one day enjoy. :)
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| Daniel and I moving from our Vegas BYUI Apartment. |
January- May
For the beginning part of the year Daniel and I lived in the BYU-I student teaching housing in Southern Las Vegas. We lived about five minutes away from the high school I was teaching at and I bummed a ride off of my friend Lulu to work. She and I were both teaching at Silverado HS and we had worked together during our coursework at BYU-I so it was a wonderful situation. Lulu saved my sanity on a daily basis. It was so nice to talk to her about all the student-teacher dramarama.
Student teaching wasn't that bad. Really! I loved it. I had great mentors, my students were lovely, and I finished off my undergrad happily and successfully. The daily ups and downs are sometimes overwhelming but the weeks move so quickly. I had 11th graders for Honors US History, Freshmen Studies, and 12th grade English Proficiency.
Dates of Importance-
President's Day Weekend AKA Birthday Party part 23
Mi madre came and visited us for my birthday and to attend a Vegas Singles Activity. We had fun gorting about and showing her our habitat. We went to Cheesecake Factory, and then had dinner with my Aunt on Sunday.
K-T and Jeremy Webb came down for a visit from Arizona. We laughed and chatted till the wee hours of the morning, then Jeremiah went to a Ultimate Frisbee tournament. We got to watch Jeremy play for a while. It was so nice to see them. :) I may have been so tired from a long week of student teaching and totally fell asleep on the field. I wasn't even embarrassed.
In April, Daniel and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary. We planned it together so that we would have everything set and ready to go for our special adventure. We basically had no money, and we didn't really want to go to far. Living in Vegas makes going away to a hotel seem lame. At least when you are poor college students. Anyways, we rented canoes to paddle the Colorado River just south of the Hover Dam. Along the way we enjoyed hot springs and natural saunas. It was cheap, fun and adventurous and the perfect anniversary for D and I.
I wrapped up my student teaching in May, but official graduated in April.... but I walked in December. Needless to say, I think there may be an easier way to handle this situation BYU-I. Upon finishing, we moved from the school's housing. Unfortunately, we couldn't stay in the school's housing even though the apartments were empty over the summer. The housing office reported that it would violate the honor code. What an original response right? While we found this to be very annoying it does make sense. Only students can live in student housing and we were no longer students. So out we went.
We packed all our junk into two piles. One pile was put in a trailer and driven down to California. The other part went to my Auntie Michelle's in Northern Vegas. We enjoyed a short weekend spent playing CA state government and unpacking the trailer. Daniel applied for a CA driving license to help him get residency and I applied for my CA teaching credential. YAYAY!
June-July
Our Vegas summer was an abominable summer. While we loved living with my Aunt and Uncle, we absolutely rather disliked our jobs and the famous Vegas heat. Really our jobs weren't that bad... we were grateful to have them. We were able to save a ton of money and start off our California adventure with a savings lump. However, the people we worked with and the clients were less then pleasent. I would like to take the opportunity and apologize to those who had to listen to my complaining. Thank you for still being my friends! It was pretty miserable. Hopefully, we will never have to venture into that type of work again. As well, my respect and patience for customer service reps has been reenforced.
We had fun with my Aunt Michelle and Uncle Bill. Auntie taught me the art of picking out good See's and Uncle took us hiking. We loved playing with Buddy.
July- Present
About a week before we were planning on moving from Vegas to CA, I got a call to interview for a school in Chula Vista.
(This is where I had left off in 2013 and am finishing three years later in 2016. It's all for posterity right?)
Written in 2016:
So, I was about to tell about my first real grownup job. It's a great story, and it's strengthened my faith and knowledge that Heavenly Father knows and loves all his children. On the day I received the call from my future employer, I had brunch with my brother Taylor and his then GF. During our conversation I told them how I had been apply to schools all summer, but probably wouldn't get a job because I had to take two big tests to earn my CA teaching credential and wouldn't be able to do that until we moved there for Daniel's graduate schooling. "I may not be able to work in schools right away, so I will do whatever I can while I work out my credentialing", I remember saying.
After brunch I was wandering around a LV mall trying to stay cool after returning a present for Daniel that was too big. I received the phone call from the principal's secretary, Belinda, and she asked if I could interview on Monday. Daniel and I had plans to move out on Wednesday the following week, so I asked if we could do it later in the week. She transferred me over to my future employer who said, "School starts Wednesday so it needs to be Monday." I called Daniel to check with him and he was ecstatic. We decided to pack up and move the next day. We then called our current boss to tell him that our last day would be Saturday instead of Tuesday. Finally, I called Belinda back and confirmed an interview for Monday.
We hurriedly packed, cleaned, and hung out with Daniel's friend Craig one last time. Then it was off to CA!
I was so stressed for this interview. Daniel helped me prep everything including my portfolios and we drove down about 45 minutes early. When I walked in I was interviewed by two teachers and my future principal. I did my best, and they were kind a guided me through a few of the questions. I'm sure it was obvious that this was my first interview. At the end I asked a golden question a teacher friend from church suggested the day before. Sister Barton suggest asking, "So do you have any concerns that might prevent me from getting this position?" They all shook their heads and said no, you're a wonderful candidate we will be in touch tomorrow.
The next day was agonizing. I read two books as a way to distract myself. However, they didn't call. Around 7:00 pm I lost hope and wrestled with the disappointment and defeat. Then the next day I called to check up.
Belinda answered and said she would have the principal, Ms. Pedroza call me back. When she did, I was told I was hired! She explained everything I needed to do and told me she had pulled my application from over 100 others because I went to a high school she had once worked at. She was actually my assistant principal when I was a freshman. She was very impressed with my interview too! During my time at Rancho del Rey she often mentioned this connection and it was always a reminder to me to be grateful for the Lord's planning.
My first teaching semester was insane, while Daniel's first semester of grad school was pretty laid back. He said the first year was a review of his undergraduate program at BYUI. I think he even had to reorder some of the books he used during his bachelors. He did so well! He's an amazing learner and approaches studying head on. He doesn't procrastinate! I admire that about him.
In one of his classes he was approached by a fellow student who asked him where'd you do your undergrad? This was Jared Jashinsky's sneaky way of checking if Daniel was LDS. He saw his G's poking out and used BYUI as a check! We became great friends with Meghan and Jared Jashinksy and miss them now that they are in Georgia for Jared's doctorate program.
My first year of teaching was ROUGH. I was use to a lot of support and constant validation during student teaching. In your own class the only feedback you get is from students and sometimes from a walk through observation. I also didn't mesh as well with some of the 8th grade attitude. I would hand it back to them when appropriate, and I'd like to think I kept my cool most of the time. It's just so grating after a while. I can totally understand why almost 20% of teachers quit after the first five years. A few of the kids lied to my face, or tried to get away with blatant cheating. Most were sweet and hardworking. The greatest thing was, I loved them all. Even the ones who would go home and lie to their parents about turning in work, then the parents would send me nastygrams via email. I loved them and did my best to correct the situation and help the student in the future. I learned a lot about parental love, especially about Heavenly Father's love.
Some many times I've made mistakes, but I still feel Heavenly Father's love. He always loves us, even when we hurt others or ourselves. I felt his love for my students and for myself everyday. My experiences as a teacher, especially during that first year helped me prepare for parenthood.
I will continue on in another post! This is getting crazy-long! Adieu!
(This is where I had left off in 2013 and am finishing three years later in 2016. It's all for posterity right?)
Written in 2016:
So, I was about to tell about my first real grownup job. It's a great story, and it's strengthened my faith and knowledge that Heavenly Father knows and loves all his children. On the day I received the call from my future employer, I had brunch with my brother Taylor and his then GF. During our conversation I told them how I had been apply to schools all summer, but probably wouldn't get a job because I had to take two big tests to earn my CA teaching credential and wouldn't be able to do that until we moved there for Daniel's graduate schooling. "I may not be able to work in schools right away, so I will do whatever I can while I work out my credentialing", I remember saying.
After brunch I was wandering around a LV mall trying to stay cool after returning a present for Daniel that was too big. I received the phone call from the principal's secretary, Belinda, and she asked if I could interview on Monday. Daniel and I had plans to move out on Wednesday the following week, so I asked if we could do it later in the week. She transferred me over to my future employer who said, "School starts Wednesday so it needs to be Monday." I called Daniel to check with him and he was ecstatic. We decided to pack up and move the next day. We then called our current boss to tell him that our last day would be Saturday instead of Tuesday. Finally, I called Belinda back and confirmed an interview for Monday.
We hurriedly packed, cleaned, and hung out with Daniel's friend Craig one last time. Then it was off to CA!
I was so stressed for this interview. Daniel helped me prep everything including my portfolios and we drove down about 45 minutes early. When I walked in I was interviewed by two teachers and my future principal. I did my best, and they were kind a guided me through a few of the questions. I'm sure it was obvious that this was my first interview. At the end I asked a golden question a teacher friend from church suggested the day before. Sister Barton suggest asking, "So do you have any concerns that might prevent me from getting this position?" They all shook their heads and said no, you're a wonderful candidate we will be in touch tomorrow.
The next day was agonizing. I read two books as a way to distract myself. However, they didn't call. Around 7:00 pm I lost hope and wrestled with the disappointment and defeat. Then the next day I called to check up.
Belinda answered and said she would have the principal, Ms. Pedroza call me back. When she did, I was told I was hired! She explained everything I needed to do and told me she had pulled my application from over 100 others because I went to a high school she had once worked at. She was actually my assistant principal when I was a freshman. She was very impressed with my interview too! During my time at Rancho del Rey she often mentioned this connection and it was always a reminder to me to be grateful for the Lord's planning.
My first teaching semester was insane, while Daniel's first semester of grad school was pretty laid back. He said the first year was a review of his undergraduate program at BYUI. I think he even had to reorder some of the books he used during his bachelors. He did so well! He's an amazing learner and approaches studying head on. He doesn't procrastinate! I admire that about him.
In one of his classes he was approached by a fellow student who asked him where'd you do your undergrad? This was Jared Jashinsky's sneaky way of checking if Daniel was LDS. He saw his G's poking out and used BYUI as a check! We became great friends with Meghan and Jared Jashinksy and miss them now that they are in Georgia for Jared's doctorate program.
My first year of teaching was ROUGH. I was use to a lot of support and constant validation during student teaching. In your own class the only feedback you get is from students and sometimes from a walk through observation. I also didn't mesh as well with some of the 8th grade attitude. I would hand it back to them when appropriate, and I'd like to think I kept my cool most of the time. It's just so grating after a while. I can totally understand why almost 20% of teachers quit after the first five years. A few of the kids lied to my face, or tried to get away with blatant cheating. Most were sweet and hardworking. The greatest thing was, I loved them all. Even the ones who would go home and lie to their parents about turning in work, then the parents would send me nastygrams via email. I loved them and did my best to correct the situation and help the student in the future. I learned a lot about parental love, especially about Heavenly Father's love.
Some many times I've made mistakes, but I still feel Heavenly Father's love. He always loves us, even when we hurt others or ourselves. I felt his love for my students and for myself everyday. My experiences as a teacher, especially during that first year helped me prepare for parenthood.
I will continue on in another post! This is getting crazy-long! Adieu!
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