Grateful

Megan and I were driving earlier today and talking about today's holiday as well as the coming holidays next month. Some loved ones had asked if there was anything we needed as they do their Christmas shopping, so we were thinking about it. Everything we came up with, though, was a "want" instead of a "need". It was a great reminder of how blessed we really are. We have so much to be thankful for.

Last year we decided to make a playlist of Thanksgiving songs (which really means songs about gratitude) and it has been wonderful to listen to often for the last few weeks. It's probably a little late, but here are the songs:
-Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing, sung by Freddy Ashby (who is the son of my mission president)
-Grateful (featuring Brian Stokes Mitchell)/The Mormon Tabernacle Choir
-My God, My Portion, and My Love/The Mormon Tabernacle Choir
-Prayer of Thanksgiving/Peter Breinholt
-Thou Gracious God, Whose Mercy Lends/The Mormon Tabernacle Choir
-Hymn of Nature/Jon Schmidt
-Thankful/Josh Groban
-How Can I Keep from Singing?/Eva Cassidy
-Brother James' Air/The Mormon Tabernacle Choir
-What About?/Peter Breinholt
-Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep/The Mormon Tabernacle Choir
-On My Front Porch Looking In/Lonestar
-For the Beauty of the Earth/The Mormon Tabernacle Choir
-Some Folks' lives Roll Easy/Paul Simon
-Laughing With/Regina Spektor
-Homeless/Voicemale
-Prayer of the Children/Voicemale
-Game in the Aspens (Five Canyon Impressions)/Robert Cundick

It is assuredly the only playlist in the world that features the Motab, Regina Spektor, and my grandpa. We're grateful for good music.

We're grateful for our jobs, that give us a chance to learn, to associate with great people, and to serve others.
We're grateful for our apartment, and the chance to live with my grandparents and learn from them.
We're grateful for our puppy, who keeps us smiling.
We're grateful for wonderful parents and families, who continue to teach us.
We're grateful for dear friends, both new and old.
We're grateful for the little things in life. Gas station runs for diet sodas and hi-chews, date nights at Training Table, board games, projects around the house, Psych, house plants, musicals, football, Netflix, crafts, new tires, forever lazies, comedy, good books, pumpkin cheesecake bars, our callings, washers and dryers, gas logs, Wreck-it Ralph. etc etc.

Most of all, we're grateful for our testimonies of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. We're grateful for our temple marriage and eternal ties to those we love. We're grateful for our Savior who made it all possible and for our Father in Heaven, from whom flow all the blessings, big and small, that we enjoy each day. We must be the luckiest people alive.

Time Flies

Well, I officially stink at posting. I wish I didn't, but I do.

I guess the lack of posting is directly related to the lack of interesting things happening in our lives to post about. It seems to me like life just keeps plugging along, and we go along with it.

Soon after I wrote the last post, I found out I was going to have to leave my current school. After a lot of drama, and frustration, I applied for a job at Cottonwood Elementary and got it. I will be staying in 5th grade, and working with a teacher that I had as a 5th grader for science. It's weird to think that I will be teaching at the same elementary I went to. But I am excited all the same.

Steve graduated in May. He's currently look for a job to give him some more medical experience hours. Cross your fingers.

My brother got married the same day Steve graduated. It ended up being a crazy day, but I am SO happy for my brother and new sister in law Lindsay. (Yes, her name is Lindsay. Not to be confused with my sister Lindsay. And her parents are Bruce and Becky, not to be confused with MY parents Bruce and Becky. Small world huh?)

I successfully survived my first year of teaching. It was harder than I thought it would be to say goodbye to the school that gave me my start. I learned so much, and am excited to use what I've learned to make next year even better.

So far in the 4 days of summer I have experienced I have had this weird anxious feeling, like there's something I should be doing. I guess it is the feeling you get when you've worked hard all school year, and can laze about for the summer without a job. Hopefully that feeling will go away as we get more busy with our summer plans. On Monday I leave for Paris and London with my mom and sisters, and Steve goes to the U.S. Open in San Francisco with my Dad and brother. It will be the first time we've spent so long apart, but we're both excited for our separate adventures. Hopefully by the end of our adventures, we'll have something amusing to share. 

It happened....

Today I yelled at my students.

Oh ya.

Some of you will say, "Isn't that normal for a teacher? Why is that a big deal?" The thing is, it's not normal for me. I have never full out yelled at my students before. I have yelled before, but usually it's a teasing, trying to sound threatening way. Today however I hit my limit. I yelled, in a can't handle it anymore, going to explode, cannot restrain myself way.

Granted, the frustration was warranted. My students couldn't stop making stupid comments, or interrupting me while I was talking. It kept happening ALL DAY! So by the end of the day (when the yelling happened) I was done. Usually this frustration doesn't result in my yelling...Not Today! After I was through, an eerie silence fell over my classroom. No one dared come near me the rest of the day.

Needless to say, I felt terrible. I even stamped my foot while yelling. Who does that? Definitely not me! But today, it happened. I yelled, and stamped and had a minor freak out at my students.

The worst part is, I yelled because I was frustrated at other things, and I took it out on my students. Too many other things were going wrong, and unfortunately the comments and interruptions were the last straw. The last 24 hours have been stressful to say the least so therefore, I yelled.

It doesn't feel good.