Why I Want to Teach...

Today I rediscovered why I want to be a teacher. I want to be a teacher so that I can help kids know they are not alone in this world and they have someone who will stand behind them and support them 100% of the way. Today, my heart literally broke reading student responses to the following prompt: "If there is anything you could change about yourself, what would it be and why?" I got answers ranging from liking yourself for who you are, getting more motivation to do homework, losing weight to be prettier/better looking, getting the "right" (popular) clothes and looks so people will like you,all the way to the idea of not existing as not to annoy your family.

I couldn't help but cry. My second period probably thought I was crazy! Their responses further instilled in me why I chose the profession I did. If I can inspire one child to be the best they ultimately can be, and if I can instill in them the knowledge that they are worth something and can rise above the crappy life-road that has been laid in front of them, then I believe I will succeed as an educator. I only hope I can do it.

I'm Alive!

I promise that I am alive, made it to Vegas safely and am loving it here. More details to come soon, I hope. Our internet is horrible. I can barely get on the internet for more than 20 mins at a time. I promise I will update on the Vegas life very soon!

One Week Left...

And the count down is on! I will be in Utah in exactly one week. It's kind of a bitter-sweet thing, but I'm looking forward to it. With every change in life comes new experiences and I am definitely ready for them. I welcome them! I am excited, but also extremely nervous about student teaching. I'll be teaching 7th and 8th grade Language Arts. I am actually really, really pumped about this! I think it'll be a blast, I'm just nervous about my teaching skills. I'll definitely keep you updated! Soon I'll have a more interesting post about my summer, but it is 1:04am here, so I'm headed to bed. Good night! :)

Recent Obsession

Liz's Confession #256: Yes, I am "one of those girls" who knows somewhat what she wants for her wedding even though she's no where close to getting married. :) And here is my recent obsession that I feel pretty confident will become permanent.

I have always wanted a pearl ring. I think they are gorgeous and so I'm kind of excited about this! I love it.

Anyway, I've got two weeks left at home and then off to Utah again! And after that...

LAS VEGAS! :D

Vacation!

May I just say, the past 2 weeks have been amazing! I told you I was going on vacation, but I didn't say where. I went to Idaho and Utah! :D And I loved every minute of it. Unfortunately, I was an idiot and didn't take a lot of pictures, but I can tell you about it.

LEWISTON

First, me and MK landed in SLC at 8:45pm, but didn't get our luggage until 11:15pm. Then we drove up to Lewiston where my brother-in law's parents live and we slept in, get this.... an air stream! Haha. It was hysterical and a lot more comfortable than we were thinking it was going to be. Monday morning we woke up and went to the Lewiston Fourth of July (held on the 5th) Parade. Loved it! Lewiston is this tiny little town outside of Logan, but they had a pretty good parade! Then after we got cleaned up and showered I gave MK the Logan Grand Tour which included meeting my wonderful friend Brittany. I love this girl! She's going to have twins soon and I am so excited for her and was so glad to see her! Later that day we went back to Lewiston and caught a little bit of the rodeo (awesome!) and then went on to Rexburg!

REXBURG

So, about a week before I went out West, I told my roommate Gibby that I had sent her a birthday package and that my sister would be bringing it by Monday night. She said OK, so when me and MK got to the Burg I grabbed a box from my sister's apartment and we headed over to my old apartment. I knocked on the door and when Gibby opened the door everyone looked shocked. It was amazing! I had actually surprised them! I was for sure thinking they would find out or at least figure out I was coming. But no! I definitely cried. We sat and chatted for a little bit and it felt so good to back.

During our time there we saw a bunch of my friends, went to a play, I gave MK an unofficial BYU-I tour, we went to the temple, went to Monkey Rock, made a stop by Craigo's, and just hung out in the small town. It was great to be able to share a small piece of my personal heaven with someone else who has only heard about it and to be able to show her how much I truly love that place. It was also great to see the people I love so much. Gibby, Kim, Chelsea, Robin, Rachel, Jared, Irina, Emma, Becca, Ana Banana, Jamie, Amanda, Jacob, Nathan, Kimball, Ryan, Waldo, Heidi, my sister, and her husband, Bradley. For those of you I did not get to see or list, I still love you and I'll be back soon! Thank you to you all for making my trip to Rexburg that much better.

PROVO

Party in P-town! OK, so not a huge party, but still a LOT of fun. We had to leave Rexburg earlier than planned, which ended up working out. So it was nice. MK just loved my grandma and Grandma loved MK! I love introducing my little British grandma to people because the woman is truly an amazing person with a huge heart. I love her so much and was so grateful that I got to see her.

When we reached Provo we realized we both needed the internet, badly. So Friday we went to the BYU Library where I unexpectedly saw my friend Matt (or Mattie) from back home. It was so great running into him! Later that night we met up with Nichole (love her!) and had frozen yogurt. I love seeing Nichole because we can always, without fail, talk for hours. Then on Saturday we went to Thanksgiving Point which I have tons of pictures of and will post soon. On Saturday we also went and saw "Eclipse" and I got to eat at the Mayan Adventure! What a neat place! I felt like I had watched into the old TV show "Legends of the Hidden Temple." It was crazy! Sunday we went to the local singles ward where again, completely random, saw the Snows (a family from my stake in GA)! They had just moved to UT and the Snow kids go to the singles ward. It was great seeing them too!

Monday we did laundry, packed, drove around in the mountains for a little bit, then headed up to SLC where we caught our flight very early the next morning. All in all, I am so glad i decided to go on this vacation. It was a much needed break that came at the right time. :)

Hopefully pictures of the parade and Thanksgiving Point will come soon. I need to catch up on loading my pictures.

Small little update: I leave for student teaching in less than a month! AGH! In a little while I'll be in Vegas student teaching. Oh my. I found out I'm teaching 7th and 8th grade. I am so excited! It will be such an exciting and new experience. I am definitely looking forward to it. :)

Life As I Know It

Hello blogging world! Happy Father's Day to all you fathers and future fathers out there! I hope ya'll are having a great day today.

Now for updates from "The Life of Liz." :)

My job is awesome. I could not have asked for a better summer so far. I have to say, the pool has definitely gone UP HILL since last summer. My lifeguards are so adorable and we have a ton of fun. I am officially "Mom" or "Ma" which is extremely funny, and the rest of the management team is a blast! I am so glad that we get along and work really well together.

I am officially a member of the Mountain Park Singles Branch. I am a member of a branch. A branch in which I drive 40-45 mins to get to church. I never thought that a) I'd be in a branch and b) I'd be driving more than 20 mins to get to church. I feel totally legit now! :D Weird, I know. But I love the branch. We have so many fun activities and I feel completely at home there. I've also met a lot of new people and it's definitely been a different, but great experience. I'm actually going to be sad to leave in August.

Vacation is in two weeks! I'll let you know where I am when I get there (And I'll explain this later...).

Swim lessons are hysterical, as always. I teach the cutest, craziest, most fun kids ever. This past session I had a brother and sister who wouldn't even put their chin in the water at the beginning of the session. By the end, they were both holding their breath (without holding their noses) and going under water for about 25 seconds. I was so excited for them! It was such a rewarding experience to help these kids overcome their fear of the water. I am in love with teaching.

I'm sick, nothing too big...it's just annoying. Lol.

I miss my sister and brother-in-law. Wait! Do say what?! That's right. I miss them.

On Monday, Mary Katherine and I will be going to visit Habersham County. Pretty excited, not gonna lie. MK just got a job teaching up there and we're going to take a look around. It's a pretty small county too. Apparently you can get from one end to the other in 20 mins or less. Depending on how many red lights you hit along the way. BUT, I've heard it's got some really cute, small-town life cities. So I'm kind of excited.

That's about it for me! I know it's not too exciting, but it's my life! We'll see you soon! :D

Mama said, "Home is where the heart is," when I left that town...

Due to extreme craziness that has been taking place for the past month, blogging has been placed on the back burner. However, due to thus said extreme craziness beginning to wind down, blogging has again become possible. :) [Has anyone else noticed how much of a weirdo and complete dork I am? Just checking. :)]

As you can tell by my status, I am home and no longer in "The Burg." At first it was not fun and definitely difficult to swallow. There was a lot of crazy things going on, like I said, and unfortunately a lot of drama that I wanted no part of. So about after a month of this, and after a month of hoping and praying things would magically get better, I decided to act and remove myself from the drama. Best decision. Ever. It is truly amazing how much the pettiness, meanness, and drama of others can affect someone else. What it can do to a person. It truly wears on you.

But right now, I can not complain. It's true when they say that which does not kill us makes us stronger. The pettiness and drama I mentioned earlier lead me to a few conclusions about certain things; conclusions I needed to come to. It forced me to think through things that I didn't want to think through. Unfortunately, the drama was needed; almost necessary. The outcome: a better perspective, a better handle on life in general, a sharper focus on the people that actually matter, and a re-dedication to being exactly who I want to be --- me. Since this wonderful epiphany, life has been infinitely happier and home has not been all that bad. :)