Books and Movies

I've had lots of people ask me what I thought of certain books or gone to movies based on my suggestions. I have therefore created a new blog that I will use to post book reviews and movie reviews. Also, there is a list of the books we own and the movies we own on this blog, so if you want to borrow anything, you know what we have. The link is just under our picture on the right.

Happy 24th Jared!!!

Today is Jared's 24th birthday. I just wanted to make sure that everyone knew that Jared is the best man ever! He is so sweet and always willing to help me with whatever I need. Jared will go the extra mile to make sure that his family is taken care of, including extended members. Jared is also smart and funny and can always make me laugh. I am so grateful to be married to such a wonderful man for the rest of eternity. I was thinking this morning of Jared and comparing him to other guys I know; everyone else fell way short of all that Jared is and all that he does for our family. I know that the Lord was looking out for me when he had Jared move into my complex, and I know that I am so blessed to have such a wonderful and supportive husband in my life.

Week One...Lots of Fun!

So, this has been my first week of actual teaching at Orem Jr High. I have to say, this job is a lot more challenging than my one at Riverton, but I've already bonded with Julie, the teacher in the other life skills class. We spend a lot of time talking and bouncing ideas off each other and every now and then we actually get some paperwork done, too. The other faculty at Orem have been nothing but welcoming and friendly. It's a much smaller school, which helps a lot, but I don't feel like nobody outside of the Special Ed department knows me; which is how I sometimes felt at RHS.
I love my students! They are so cute and funny. Seriously, they wear me out and we all work hard, but it is so worth it when I get a hug or a high five or a smile after they've worked so hard to achieve something. I was a little worried because these students are much higher needs than my old class, and several have autism - something new for me - but I've loved it all!
Oh, and for laughs, here's a list of things I've said in the past week to my students (Karissa, I know you can relate): "We don't spit on people, we spit in the garbage can." "Hey, that is not appropriate and you know better!" "Hey, we need to come wash our hands...what are you doing? We don't play in the toilet." "Get your head out of the guinea pig cage." "I know you'd rather sleep, but it's school time and that means you gotta do your work." "Don't bite yourself, kiddo, do you want a straw to chew on instead?"
I know that for the first few weeks I'll be spending a lot of time working on behaviors, routines, and rules. However, I'm still loving working with these kids and I know that life will get easier when we all get used to the new school year. I feel so blessed to have found a new job much closer to home and in such a wonderful environment, too.

Batman: The Dark Knight

While we were in Idaho, Jared and I went with his dad, Tyler, Carissa, Chris, and John to see The Dark Knight. This movie was dark and scary - but I loved it. Please, don't anyone take any kids who are primary age - they will have nightmares. Ledger's performance especially fit the character - just plain creepy. There was a lot of violence and Batman did a lot more fighting with his hands than with gadgets, but it worked out well for his style. Also, the addition of Maggie Gyllenhaal as a replacement for Katie Holmes was great - she was able to play the dark but still hopeful role of Rachel. Basically, this movie was very well written, well acted, and well done overall. They did a great job of capturing the true essence of the guilt-driven Bruce Wayne.

What I've Been Doing Lately

I feel like I've been so busy but when I sit down to blog about things I can't find anything worthwhile to blog about. Basically, July was the month of travelling. We went to Boise for the twins' birthday, then came home on the 5th after spending time at the cabin with Jared's grandparents.

When we got home Jared's sister Megan had her baby, Thomas, and so we had Mom and Matt in town for a week - lots of fun. After that, we went to my parents for a week to house/dog/grandma-sit for the week while they and Jennie were in Disneyland. Once we got home I went to new teacher workshops for Alpine district and I have to say that they are WAY better than Jordan ever was! I am so psyched to be working at OJHS this fall. Next we spent a morning in my classroom unpacking more stuff - and finding a mouse who had inhabited the filing cabinet that the previous teacher had left full of food. After asking the janitor (God bless janitors, my job would be so much harder without them) to take care of the mouse, we went back up to Boise for Tyler's wedding to Carisa.
The ceremony was beautiful and the Spirit was so strong. We ran around doing errands and had a fun time with the family all around. We'll be back home late Wednesday night and I'll be back at workshops/meetings/training/classroom set-up on Thursday. We are very excited, though, to be at home for a while. Also, we just found out that at the end of August our ward is moving to the 11 o'clock slot - happy for us! Blogger is being slow so I'll upload pics later.