The Past Week

Well this semester is pretty much over for me. I finished up teaching my class this past week, and now I just have to grade the final. I have to say that this semester has probably been the best semester I've ever had in either my undergraduate or graduate program. I really enjoyed student teaching, but this semester was even better because I only taught two days a week compared to teaching every single day. Plus, it's a heck of alot easier teaching a class full of college girls as compared to teaching a class of hormonal teens!! :)  I really did love my students this semester and I am sad to see them move on, but I am excited about my class next semester and to get to know more students. Some things I learned from teaching this semester

- Just because you are teaching at BYU doesn't mean you can't have any fun in class!

- Some lessons seriously suck, but your students forgive you and you do a better job with the next lesson

- Never give candy to your students, especially in an 8 am class. . . they start acting a little crazy by the end of class!

- Be careful when asking about what is happening in the lives of your students, it may turn into an hour conversation about their love lives haha!

- Don't be afraid to make a mistake or laugh at yourself in class, it puts everybody else at ease

- Being genuinely interested in getting to know your students goes a long way in creating a comfortable environment in class

- My drawing skills are freakin terrible and will always be the source of entertainment to my students

- My students are alot smarter than I am, I was constantly blown away by some of the stuff they came up with throughout the semester, it made me proud!

- Alot of other things specifically related to math but nobody wants a to continue reading a boring list like that!

We went to a Christmas party for Jared's work on Thursday and it was actually pretty fun. . . minus the live band, not that they weren't good, but the party was inside of a green house and the band was so loud that you literally had to scream at the person next to you if you wanted to try and talk to them. Next time they should provide an acoustic band or something! We hung out with Jared's friend Kristopher and his wife Chelsey at the party. Jared and Kristopher went to school together and Jared was able to help Kristopher get a job up at Axis 41 a few weeks ago. Kristopher and Chelsey are a really cool couple and I can see Jared and I hanging out with them in the future quite a bit. They live in Lehi, which is where we are looking to move to after this school year so it would be nice to have some friends up there already when we make the move. Everybody at the party got a Blueray player as a gift from the company which we were pretty stoked about, thank you Axis!!

Lets see other random tidbits. . . Jared is still loving his job (although I swear our families don't believe us when we tell them that, I don't think either of us has had a conversation with our parents where they didn't ask us if Jared is still liking his job haha!)  He's definitely not loving the commute, but he carpools with Kristopher from Lehi to SLC so I think that is helping. We've paid off $3,000 in student loans. . . only 10K more to go, ugh! I am supposed to write a final paper for this dang 1 credit seminar class that I am taking this semester (last class I ever have to take!) but I can still get a B in the class if I don't write it, so I'm seriously thinking about bagging the paper and taking the B instead! Yesterday Jared decided he was going to replace one of the blinker bulbs in the Subi, turned into quite the project. He had to take off the entire bumper, pull out the headlight and then replace the bulb and put everything back together. I went out and helped him for a while and I was pretty impressed with his handyman skills, nothin more attractive than seeing your man do manly things like fixing the car, ha!

I've still been spending alot of time over at my friend Dana's helping her with her twins. They are getting so big, 2 months old now! She probably thinks I'm crazy for wanting to help her so much, but I have the time and I love hanging out over there. I used to be scared of even holding tiny little babies before helping with the boys, and now I am pretty much pro at feeding, burping, changing diapers, swaddling, holding, and putting them to sleep. Thanks to the twins and Dana I'm gonna be super mom when we have a kid! :)

We are heading up to Washington to Christmas this year. We are excited for the break and to be able to hang out with Jared's family! Only down side is the drive, but well get some books on tape which will help the time pass. During the past couple of weeks my favorite part of the day is right after dinner when we turn on the Christmas tree lights and the side lamp in our living room. It makes our apartment feel so cozy and homey. Most of our nights are really low key around here, but its just how I like it!