Flat Stanley

My niece has been reading "Flat Stanley" in her 2nd grade class and she sent him to me to learn about Arizona. I took him to Chase Field where the Arizona Diamondbacks play baseball. I took him to school with me so he could see what junior high school was like. On Monday, I took him to a botanical garden about 40 miles away. It was nice to get out of the valley and near some "mountains". It was a really beautiful day, not too hot and not too cold, a little cloudy. I loved being able to walk around and enjoy nature. I will have to go back to when the cacti are in bloom. One of my goals for this year is to see more of Arizona and go hiking more.

I signed my contract for my new place today, and I am going to start moving in tomorrow! I am excited for this new adventure. I am excited for my goals this year. I have applied to graduate school to get a Master's Degree in Educational Technology. I figure I use technology all the time in my teaching I might as well get paid more for it! All of the classes are online so I don't have to go to classes and I can go at my own pace. I can't wait to get back into school and learn new techniques to improve my teaching. I was surprised by how easy it has been to apply, and the best part of the process is that I don't have to take the GRE!! I should be finished with my degree by December 2010. We'll see what happens this coming year!

I am watching Glenn Beck right now, and he is talking to Jonah Goldberg about his book "Liberal Fascism". It sounds like an interesting book, I may just have to read it.

Change

Change is strange. It's good, but it can be very difficult. I am moving houses at the end of the month. I don't want to pack up my things and lug them over to my new place. But it will be a wonderful new adventure. My bedroom will be much bigger than my current room. It is the master suite in a house. It has a huge walk-in closet! In the bathroom there is a garden tub and a separate shower. It's quite nice! It will also be closer to my family, which is always a good thing.

At school, we are switching the program we use for our websites. I found myself resisting this change. I thought, "I already know the old program. I like what it can do, and I can't do that with this new program..." Then I realized, it will be okay and when I learn the new program, I will like it. It may even be better than the old program.

So some change is good, some change is bad. I think the changes coming in my life are going to be great!

Rick Monday Saves American Flag

In 1976, Rick Monday stopped two protesters from burning an American flag during a Cubs v. Dodgers game. I love his comment about having the only thing he is known for is saving the American Flag is not a bad thing. What a great American!

YouTube Videos

I have posted some of my favorite YouTube Videos to the left. If you refresh the browser, the type of video will change. Enjoy! YouTube is Awesome...

My Job

I am a junior high teacher, and I know most of you are thinking, "What is she nuts?" But I have to tell you, I LOVE my job. I liked it last year, but I love it this year. This year is my second year at my school, and I feel a lot more comfortable with my surroundings. As I was walking down the hall yesterday, I realized just how happy I was to be at my current job. I still hate getting up in the morning, just because I enjoy sleeping so much, but I absolutely love being at school, working with and teaching my students. They are really great kids and not the nightmare many of you associate with teenagers. They say the funniest things and I have found they are very respectful when you treat them with respect and show them you care about them and want them to succeed.

The best thing about teaching is when former students come back and visit you. Students you never thought would visit you. This happened to me a couple of weeks ago. A student from last year, who wasn't a very good student at all and was involved in drugs, came for a visit. I could tell things were different with him. He told me about some of the poor choices he had made in the recent months, and how these choices had led him to turn his life around. He isn't sleeping in his classes and he is trying to keep the commandments. He said his body feels clean now that he is off the drugs, he can tell the difference. I was amazed! He said he would probably stop by again before the end of the year, and I told him I would love it if he did. Did I say I love my job?

"The 5000 Year Leap"

I am reading a book called The 5,000 Year Leap: The 28 Great Ideas That Are Changing the World by Cleon Skousen. The book is about the leap in technology and innovation we have been able to make because of the ideas embodied in the Founding of the United States of America. The example Skousen uses is that the world had been traveling by horse and carriage for nearly 5,000 years, yet, in less than two hundred years after the Founding, we had landed on the moon. The freedoms we have in the United States fostered innovation and advances in technology that were previously unrealized. I find it amazing how much man has been able to accomplish when given the freedom to pursue and develop his ideas. We live in a truly great country with wonderful rights given to us by God, and protected by the Constitution. I have gained a greater appreciation for the vision of the Founders for our great nation as I have read this book. The Founders warned against a lot of what has happened to our country. I find that now, more than ever, we need to stand strong and unwavering and be unapologetic in our defense of what is right and just. God's plan is for us to have agency, and that is what the Constitution guarantees, our agency to worship God and contribute to society however we choose. I am grateful to the Founders for their willingness to fight for what they believed was right. I am grateful that fight made it possible for the Gospel of Jesus Christ to be restored to the earth with all its saving ordinances in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I find it fascinating how the events of the discovery and colonization of the Americas, the American Revolution and the Constitutional Convention of 1787 all culminate in the First Vision in 1820.

My uncle was telling me about a class his father, who was a civil engineer, was in where the professor had drawn a time-line of the Industrial Revolution. The time-line was pretty flat from the time of Adam for several thousand years, then in 1820, there began to be a dramatic spike in the amount of technological advances. My uncle said my grandpa looked around the room and thought, "I am probably the only one who knows why that spike is where it is." The Lord's hand has truly guided the righteous leaders of this nation. I am so proud to be an American!

Amateur Sports

Yesterday, I went to a boy's basketball game at the school I teach at. The boys played their hearts out to the very end, even though they were behind by 20+ points. And the students that were in the stands cheered just as loud at the end as they did at the beginning. It was fun to see that kind of support among the students. I love amateur sports for that reason. The best part is to watch the players make mistakse, learn from them, and come back from behind, or just play to the end and lose gracefully. It reminded me of watching my brother play sports in high school and how fun that was.