Confession Time: Inside the Mind of an Elementary Education Major

I have learned a lot this semester and one of them is that I get busy when I'm at school.  Like so insanely busy with awesome things that I have to update my blog when school is over.

Hence this post actually being written during normal hours of the day instead of the wee small ones.

How about a recap on the year thus far? How about a list of my advice? How about a list of both?

Boys will flock to homemade food. Fact.

You can always push yourself harder than you thought even though you forget the safe word and your friends won't let you come down off of the cliff. When you can't hold on anymore then you pull.

That last recap was about rock climbing, but I bet you applied it to something else.

The temple is AWAYS my haven. And it can be yours too.

Pzookies are best after midnight.  Also, with lots of chocolate chips and marshmallows on them.

A boy making the duck face never gets old.

Tandem bikes are a great analogy for marriage.

Teaching 6th grade math is fun- especially when you have the class that I had.

I can now tell you 5 sentences about chemistry, physics, geology, astronomy, and biology.  But do not ask me to go in depth about any of it!

Sometimes to get a free shake you have to carry someone through a building and down an elevator.

I want a pet cockroach now. They'd be so simple to care for! 

Haiku's and poetry should be written on any writable surface.

Wearing a onesie and walking across town to get a shake for a dollar is also acceptable.

Study.  Because when you take a state test you reap the benefits.  Big time!

Pick up new hobbies.  All the time.  Never thought I'd be a climber, but now I'm hooked!

Bonfires are fun, but can be made more fun with peeps, jeeps, and temporary insanity.

Go to General Conference at least once in your life! 

There are 8 phases of the moon and I can draw them out for you. 

No matter what you think, the internet is always going to be faster at home than that secret place in the Clark, Hinkley, Smith, or even the Benson.  

The Teton pass is EXTREMELY SCARY this time of year!

Brigham Claus is my new favorite mythical creature.

Longboarding is when I am the most myself. 

If you can make it from scratch...what on earth are you doing buying it premade?!

Don't break certain boundaries unless you're willing to have a conversation about it.

I am not cynical enough to be a hipster.  And proud of it. 

You know you're studying El Ed when you find the shwa in a really long word.  Without having to argue about dialect and blah blah blah.

The best compliment you can get as El Ed is "You have excellent classroom management skills.

Homemade salsa makes the world go round.  No literally, if Dani and I stopped making salsa the world would have stopped spinning on its axis. And you would all go flying because of inertia.

You know you are going to be a teacher when you manage your with a group of friends and you manage them like you do the 6th graders you work with. 

The temple is home.

Waking up to your dog nuzzling you is one of the top ten things that make me smile.

Discovering your talents is a blessing.  Refining them is a reward to yourself and others.

You can have as many best friends as you want.  

I'm sure there is more to tell you all (the four of you who read this), but I also know there is a time and a season for every story. This is not the time, nor the season because I have to get ready for church. :) 

Love you. 

Life is a long lesson in humility

I like to think that I'm learning something as I go through this crazy existence we call life.  If you're not progressing then you are coasting.  You can only coast so long before you stop, or worse, roll backwards.  So therefore since I am not stopped or rolling backwards, I am getting better and learning from mistakes and my trial and error approach to life! How about them apples?!

This last weekend I made the decision to stop procrastinating! ...I'll let you know how that goes next week.  I played a lot this weekend.  And I don't regret a single moment of it.  Even the 10+ hours of homework I had on Sunday. ;)

How about we move on to the things I do remember learning and following through with, yeah? Good idea.

1. Don't spend time with people you don't want to.  This came to me like a frying pan in the face.  Why would you spend time with people who don't make you happy? You're only given a short time on this beautiful earth, so let's all spend it with people who matter to us! 
2. Laugh all the time!  Laugh at yourself, laugh at your friends, laugh at your co-workers, laugh at your neighbors, laugh, laugh, laugh!! It's good for your health! You get an ab workout and you relieve stress! So relax, and let yourself giggle. :)  I especially like to laugh at other people, but they only seem to accept that if you laugh at yourself twice as much! Psh. Some people! 
3. Learn to cook.  I LOVE food! I love it. I love to share it even more!  This is a great skill to have that will save you money in the long run.  No more fast food!  Plus, you make more friends when you can feed them good food!  Have a signature dish.  It's worth it. 
4. Share.  This can be a hard one.  Sharing does not come naturally for humans.  Survival of the fittest, homeboy! Did you know that we don't start to share without being asked until we are 7 years old!  Duh, this is a hard one! Share your heart, your love, your food, your smile, and your blankets.
5. Smile.  Smile until your cheeks hurt! If you are a lazy person, just remember that it takes less muscles to smile than it does to frown.  Not motivated yet? Try smiling at random people.  Not just a lame "Hey how are you doing? Fine? Oh, okay, yeah I was just gonna smile and take my bagel to go." kind of a smile, but a smile you greet your friends with after they get off the plane from Italy. And they've been gone for 6 months.  And you couldn't Skype.  And remember it's been 6 months! You know what kind I'm talking about. ;)
6. Dance whenever and wherever! This is an important one to remember.  You just gotta dance your pretty little pants off sometimes. Sometimes that's a very literal statement.  Sometimes you feel the need in line at the grocery store, or the 2nd floor of the library, or maybe its while you're walking down the street of your pretty city. Bottom line. Dance. 
7. Love everyone.  You don't have to like people.  You just have to love them.  Love people as soon as you meet them.  Find something great about them and love them for it.  And like I said before, by no means do you actually have to like them.  Because let's be real.  I don't like everyone.  But you would have to do a lot of stupid behavioral type things before I would stop loving you.  If you give a little love, then you get a little love. 
8. Express confidence in yourself.  I know this is a hard one, but I think it benefits yourself the most.  Muggers in NY were interviewed (why they weren't arrested after this, I don't know) and they said that they were more likely to jump the guy with his shoulders hanging low and his head dropped low.  The people who walked with purpose looked like too much of a challenge.  You have to remember that you have purpose here.  You are important.  If you are lost you will find your way soon enough.  Don't worry too much about life and don't let it get you down.  You're amazing.  I'm sure that if we were acquaintances I would smile at you, feed you, share stuff with you, and I would for sure love you. Be confident in yourself.  "Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than you." Dr. Seuss is my main man.  

Okay, I'm done.  I hope you enjoyed the thoughts that literally have been posted to my computers homepage for over a week now.  I love you.

Enjoy this amazing tune, on me. ;) 

Patience is not my virtue.

I'm doing it again.  I'm counting down the events in my life!! Today in class it hit me like a ton of bricks in the face!  We had a devotional in class where someone reads a scripture, a quote, and then we pray.  Well the quote could not have been more clear that it was for yours truly.  I have to remember this forever and always.

"For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin - real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way. Something to be got through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life." ~Fr. Alfred D'Souza

Pretty great, huh? The obstacles in my life are what make my life worth talking about.  The misadventures or days gone awry are the ones I talk about most.  The times that I get lost, pull over, have a dance party with friends in the car, and then continue on our merry way are my favorite.  

Why then, do I always want the days where I pass every test, get to the gym before it closes, or the days where I actually get to get out of town to have fun?  Because I have danced my pants off for an 'F' just because the class was over, I've gone running around Rexburg when the gym was closed, and I have more fun leaving love notes on the doors of friend's apartments than I do snagging a deal on a cute top out of town.

My life is just a bunch of moments.  Moments that are stitched together to create a day.  There are good patches and bad patches in a day.  I've learned that you can always turn it around to make it come out how you want it to.

Right now I'm going to be happy that I don't have homework due tomorrow.  I am happy that I'm listening to The Lumineers for the 7th time this week.  I am happy because I went to yoga with a friend tonight.  I'm still happy that my best friend and I met Vocal Point last weekend in a hot tub (WHAT, WHAT!)! I'm happy because I have hilarious friends who fly helicopters into each other, but won't take it outside.  I'm happy because I'm loving my life.  A lot. 

Found this little treasure a year ago, but never bothered to take a photo.  I guess I was never with the right person. <3

I promise we are dressed as "ninjas", not middle easterners!

This girl.  Yeah, look at her.  She is leaving on a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in just a week.  She is my best friend and I'm going to miss her like crazy! Her mailbox will be flooded.

Current likes: Valentines Day, The Lumineers, apt #209, Kiwi Loco, the very wise magic 8 ball, and smiles. :)

This is place sunk the Titanic

So I am back in wonderful Rexbuuurg Idaho. You guessed it!  I was greeted with negative degree weather upon arrival late in the wee hours of the night as we pulled into Saint Anthony, ID.  This is my cousins first year at college so we had the privilege of being driven down by my aunt and uncle.   Here is a photo of part of the trip!
   

We partied.

Remember awhile ago when those society memes were WICKED popular?  Well I found this one I made on my computer and thought I would share it with at least the one person who reads my blog. ;)

It reminds me of what I made Rexburg last year.  Some people complained all the time about the cold, but I try to say I love it at least once a day (its really not that bad) and truly live in it.  Yeah, I have a lot on my list to keep me preoccupied and continue growing, but I also have a ton of fun outside this list!  I am finding my partners in crime for a majority of my list and I am excited to say that I just may accomplish something VERY soon! 

So, it's cold, it rains ice, and there is a good 3 inches of ice I walk on by my apartment, but the people are good, I love my roommates, and I am having a good time so far. :) Classes are going to be rough, but I can do hard things right? Right. 

Again, some humor because I'm in a silly mood after doing my homework for the past 3 hours. :) 

Does that work?? Hahaha I do not want to find out! Love you all! Warm wishes! 

Obviously this is the list

After some filtering through my bucket list I have compiled the list of things to do before I turn twenty-three.  I was as picky as I could possibly be(that was the hardest part!) and chose a lot of things I have always wanted to do, but had no good reason to have not done them! Some are more simple than others, but all mean something to me. So I have to agree wholeheartedly with Dr. Seuss on this one when he said "There is fun to be done!"   Let the fun begin!

Twenty-two before twenty-three:

•  Go on a road trip with no predetermined destination
• Do my best in school this year
• Be punctual
• Run another 5k
• Go to General Conference
• Expand my vocabulary
• Write at least 3 letters a month
• Do something daring that scares me
• Do a 1000 piece puzzle
• Go to the drive in theater with my amazing friends
• Be able to play 5 different songs on the piano without pausing
• Go snowboarding
• Do the Red Rocks 9/11 Stair Climb
• Learn to juggle
• Learn to make an Indian dish
• Kayak
• Ride in a pedicab
• Take a train ride
• Read the book of Isaiah
• Go to a Red Rocks concert
• Adopt a polar bear through WWF 
• Read the New Testament 

I just wanted to add that I got a lot of inspiration for my list on these websites: 43things.com and 100things - fantastic sites that you should take a gander at. They really opened my eyes to all the things I have already done, but also it helped me see what I really did want to see done in my life. I hope you all have a very happy New Year! Bring on 2013 right? According to the Chinese thirteen is a lucky number.  I'm looking forward to another lucky and blessed year! 

Clearly I'm not normal.

Over the years I have learned a thing or two about people.  One of those things is that when a normal person is physically exhausted and knows they have to get up early the next day they simply go to bed.  I on the other hand try to figure out blogger, create and start a blog, and start a list of things I want to do before my next birthday.  Therefore, we can safely come to the conclusion that I am not "normal".  I it like that.  I chose the name because I feel like most of the time I am counting down to something.  Last day of work, Christmas, going back to school, graduating, seeing my friends in Rexy, and even when will my next great adventure happen! It's time to stop! Live in the moment! I love how Jim Gaffigan puts it (sarcastically of course) "Instead of enjoying this moment, let's take pictures!". Not gonna happen anymore. I'm throwing away the calendar. 

I got the idea to make a list of things to do before my next birthday from my friend Tjanna, and I think she is brilliant.  There are things(big and small) I want to do before I turn 23 that can be neatly(or not so neatly) compiled into a list of 22 things. I am working on the list now!  I'll post it later for motivation and adventure sharing.  I crave adventure, so I know the list will be filled with that. I want to document the fun I will have over the next year!  My posts will be short because let's be real, long blogs are BORING stuff! Pictures! Yes, those will have to be included.  Random thought: I have always wanted there to be an option to underline words in a text message because I feel like all caps just isn't enough emphasis for the way I talk.  Also, I like to whisper words in all caps when I read them in my head...it sounds funnier. Every time.  

Sometimes I just like to shut up and listen to people, but I guess this is not one of those times. One lesson I learned this year was to not hang out or spend time with people you don't want to.  That has proved to be an incredibly powerful lesson.  Unless you don't care about being alone.  Then no lesson will be learned there. But I don't like it, so I sought out the people I wanted to be with.  Trust me on this one, the search is worth it when you find them.  You don't always have to look so hard...sometimes they are sitting in the chair right next to you.  On your right, to be specific. 

This will be fun, I'm sure of it. So, to summarize, I'm clearly not normal.  So in the words of The Wanted, I'm glad you came. Honestly though, they just seem like a grown up boy band, right? Still love the song. Still posting it. Still listening to them.