Light at the End of the Tunnel

3 more days and I'm done with 5th grade! WAHOO! I'll really miss the students but not the teacher. She is so frustrating! She says one thing then two weeks later tells me she said the exact opposite and is not happy that I listened to her first instructions. Come on lady! Just because you think you said or did something, doesn't mean that you did! (I swear she's the type of person that thinks about something enough that they think it really happened.)
I spoke to the student teacher in the room next to mine. She'd been an aid at the school for 15yrs prior to this and really knows my teacher well. She said that she was shocked that they'd give a student teacher to her. (among other things) I wish she'd talk to my supervisor about my teacher. It might help me out some. (I only feel slightly attacked when my teacher talks to my supervisor. No biggie.)

Okay! Done with the venting! Promise, for today anyway. I'm reading Stephenie Meyer's book The Host. It's super good! I don't want to write lesson plans! I just want to read. I need to know what happens next! Seriously though, I really can't put off my lesson plans any longer, but i really want to read instead! Drat! i love books way too much!
Nicole, I blame this book on you! Thanks!

Student Teaching

My life has been sucked into the black hole that I call student teaching. It consumes all around it, time foremost.
Okay, so it's really not that bad. Sure there are days where I break down and bawl like a baby after school, but is that any different from when I lived with my grandma? Not really.
Right now I am in a 5th grade classroom. The teacher and I actually have fairly similar personalities. However, we tend to see some things completely different. Like discipline. I hate negative discipline! I fully believe that negative reinforcement only produces more negative behavior and that positive reinforcement can help students a lot!
I feel that my classroom teacher overreacts with some things. Maybe it's because she's supposed to be sitting on the sidelines watching me mess things up. I don't know. I imagine it's difficult to hand your class over to some stranger and let them try to teach things to your students, especially when your name goes on their test results at the end of the school year.
We haven't had the best time so far, and admittedly I'm afraid that her opinion of me isn't very good. It makes me nervous to know that her ideas of me can affect my getting a future job or not. Truthfully, I hope she can overlook my shortcomings. I am still learning after all.
We'll see how the next three weeks go!

Long, great, and ruined weekend...

So I went to St George yesterday for a wedding reception. Yeah, a four hour drive. To sweltering heat.It was great! Nah, it really wasn't too bad. It was hot, sure. but it's nothing I haven't felt before.It was so worth it though. I got to see a group of my mission friends. (The people getting married served in my mission, one was a companion of mine.) I also got to practice my french. It was a lot of fun. And they served yummy french foods at the reception. I took pictures of the cake and I'll add them asap. It was really cute.

I also got to spend the night with my friend Emily Mortensen and her sister. We went to Dixie Rock, which provides an awesome view of St George. (I didn't get to try lying on my back and looking down at the city at night like my friend Nathan suggested. He says it looks like the ocean. But anyway, Emily and her sister were so much fun. I was laughing the entire time!We watched two movies: Henry Poole Was Here and Last Chance Harvey. We ended up watching Henry Poole because it was a preview on the Harvey movie. Both were totally cute movies. I recommend both!

I also saw this way attractive guy while I was down there. I felt like a complete dork the entire time he was around! But I'm liking Southern Utah a little more every time i go! :D lol, I get so girly sometimes! It's embarrassing!

So after the long drive home, I still managed to make it in time to lead the music in sacrament meeting. (So I might have been speeding a bit, except where the speed limit changed to 80! I didn't have to speed at all. Nor did I really want to, that was fast enough!)

But grandma had to go and put a damper on the whole weekend! I have to work tomorrow, then I was planning on going straight to Brigham City to help my mom in her classroom. So I was merely being polite and told her, so she could get one of my cousins to come and mow the lawn for her. She said it was okay then 20 min later, she has her evilly nice voice on and tells me that I'll just have to mow the lawn before i go to work then. When I said i couldn't because I need to take a shower and do my hair tomorrow, she tells me that I'll just have to get up early to get it all done. Then she adds"And if you can't get up by yourself, I'll wake you up." *evil smile* WHAT?! AM I A TEENAGER OR SOMETHING?! SINCE WHEN DID I BECOME HER INDENTURED SERVANT?! Seriously though! Would it kill her to have one of my cousins come do it? I'm freaking exhausted from driving so much and not sleeping well since i wasn't in my own bed. I need to catch up on my sleep! I'm human and sometimes i get a little worn down. GIVE ME A FREAKING BREAK! SHEESH!

Sorry, I really needed to get that off my chest. I called my mom to talk to her about it but she didn't really encourage me at all. She doesn't understand that I'm getting so tired of being ordered to do things. Would it kill my grandmother to actually ask, not just expect, me to do something for her? I hat being treated like an adult when it's convenient for her. I don't get people sometimes.

Luckily for me, my sister is going to have a baby soon and wants me to come move in with her asap. They are even getting a room ready for me and everything. It will be nice to be somewhere i can be appreciated.

Creepy Crawlers!

So, I need to upload a pic I took of this nasty bug that I caught in my bedroom. I think it is some kind of centipede. But it is seriouly weird looking. I showed my sister one I had caught and she freaked about it. She thinks it might be a mutated version of one.

I'm so tired of having to deal with these huge bugs and spiders in my living space! It creeps me out! Seriously, I get rid of at least 2-3 spiders a day in my room! Come on! Leave me in peace!

Getting ready to move, again.

Whew! It's been a long day. Actually it feels like Monday and Tuesday kinda blurred together. I got both a new futon bed and an arm chair on Monday. Paying a mere $50 total for both. Then today I found a fabulous computer desk and chair at IKEA, $57 for them. Not too shabby eh?

Saturday I spent most of the day cleaning my future room at my sister's home. Since then Her husband has actually repaired most of the room. He's just going to paint and then we'll be ready for me to move stuff in. I still haven't talked to Grandma about it. I really don't want to either. I just don't want her to blow up at me or anything. *sigh*

Today was my Lia Sophia jewelry party, only one person came. :( (Well beside myself, my grandma, and my two sisters.) I'm just glad it's over with. I spent $115 on stuff. Not too bad really. Considering that it was buy one get the next two half off! I was actually only short $69 of getting free jewelry. Maybe I can talk my mom into buing some? It would be nce to get $50 free jewelry. I'd like to buy some christmas gifts with it.

Decisions

Grandma's been gone for a week now! It's so nice to have peace and quiet! I've actually done more yard word while she has been gone than I ever did while she was here. There is just something nice about being able to do something if you want to and not have someone tell you that you have to do it. I like gardening and helping things grow, but I like to do it at my own pace. I hated having her tell me that I was going to do something. (I guess it brought out a rebellious nature in me.)
Sadly she'll be back on Sunday. . . *NO!!!!!!*
I'm thinking about moving in with my sister Heidi. I'll admit that it isn't the most ideal place to live, but at least I'll be able to help out a little bit there. Especially where she is going to have her baby within a month's time. She'll need an extra hand.
I've been reading a lot lately. Currently I'm reading a book called Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson. My friend Emily got me reading his books, and they're kind of addicting. :D
Tomorrow is my only real day off. (I have Sundays and Tuesdays off, so i can't really do too much on Sundays.) I feel like there is so much that I need to get done, I'm a little stressed about it. I'm going to watch my neices and nephew in Herriman for a few hrs, then I get to come back and pick up apples in the back yard so i can mow the lawn. I'd also really like to go see The Engagement tomorrow. We'll see how much i get done!
I'm really looking forward to this Saturday. I'm taking the day off (I'm using a floating holiday and still getiing paid, even though I won't have to work!) I get to go to Provo with Emily and her Family for our monthly FHE. It's going to be great.
This last Sunday was a bit chaotic. I drove to Brigham on Saturday night after work, spent the night, then went up to Logan to sing with Emily Job in her ward (learing the arrangement that day.) I then turned around, packed all my stuff into my car in Brigham City, and headed back to Salt Lake. It was way to much driving on 5 hrs of sleep. So I skipped the first two hrs of my church down in SLC and took a nap, barely making it in time to lead the music in sacrament meeting. *whew*
But I made it up to myself. Nicole and I had a yummy steak dinner afterward. Mmmmm. It was good to just hang out and talk a bit.
Well, I'm going to go read then go to bed so I can start my hectic Tuesday! Ciao!

Glasses

So as if the title weren't a big enough tip, I got glasses. Yup, my first pair. They're actually kinda cute too.
I first noticed my eye sight was a little off a few years ago in college. (before I went on a mission.) I noticed that i'd look down to write notes and then when I'd glance back at the board to confirm what i'd written, everything would be fuzzy. Well, it's been a few years and nothing has improved. Now, when I lead the music in sacrament meeting, I can't look down at the music without having the entire congregation becoming blurred. (which I guess would be a good thing if I was afraid to be in front of everyone.
So I decided to go visit an optometrist and find out what in the world was going on with my eyes. Actually, I don't have too much wrong. According to him, "Your left eye is a perfectly healthy eye, and the right one is just not perfect enough to start bugging you." That's good I guess. So my glasses actually only have one lense with a perscription. the other is just a piece of glass.
It will take me some time to get used to them. Truthfully the doctor said I don't have to wear them all the time, but recommended them for night driving. And I've found they are nice to have at movies too. The movie isn't blurry anymore!

(I think that my life is fairly boring if my exciting news for the week is getting glasses. *sigh* oh well!)