News Worthy of Celebration

All right.  It happened! Most of you already know but I got a job.  I will be a 1st grade teacher for the upcoming school year.  I have been trying to get work since I got here and it happened.  I went out with some friends and other people in the ward to celebrate. We had good food and laughter.  I am enjoying living here.  It's been super hot the last few weeks, but I like hot!  I had an adventure on the way to getting the job and that is share-worthy.  So I rode my bike 25 miles from chandler to the school for the last step in the interviewing process...teaching a mini-lesson.  I was a little nervous on the way but mostly I felt calm and ready.  Part of that was I felt sure they would give me an offer after I taught for them.  Which I was right about of course!! Oh the bike riding, right.  If you are thinking 'that is far', you would be really right, but  quicker to ride my bike than to bus there.  I thought I would be super-duper tired when I got to the school, but to my surprise I felt great!  It took 2 and a 1/2 hours, with a breakfast break in the middle.  Where did I eat? IHOP of course!!! probably my fav. breakfast food place.  I arrived by 830 with enough time to change and make copies to prep to teach.  Everything went SO well!!!  Only a little hiccup in the lesson, I should have helped the kids through the chart a bit more rather than setting them loose.  The interviewers were in agreement after that it went really smoothly and they told me that I was a natural teacher.  I am so blessed to have the talents I have been given. So the trip home is where it all went insane!!  I made it for a couple miles but my bike seat had been acting up and suddenly the problem got much much worse.  Everytime I tried to sit normally it would slide all the way backwards, which hurts!!!  When I would try to adjust it would slip forward all the way and that hurt also.  My shoulder (old other bike injury from idaho) started to ache a bunch from trying to balance myself.  Then I gave up and started switching from walking to riding for short spurts without sitting on the seat.  Keep in mind that by this point it was 113 degrees outside and I could feel the sun burning me.  I realized I forgot my sunscreen at home so I had never reapplied and I really was burning!!! oh crapola!!! So I took another break (it was hot ok!!! so I drank 3 liters of water over the whole 4 hour episode...lots and lots of breaks) and went to buy sunscreen.  I reapplied and waited a while to cool off.  I went trecking on, walking and then riding in bursts.  After a while I was so super tired and sore and then a blister that had been forming popped and I needed a band-aide...STAT!  Another store pit stop (once I found one, I was in kind of a getto area at this point so it took a while,) to get some no slip bandaides that were also latex free.(which took some time let me tell you!)  I applied the bandaide.  At this point Jamie was already on her way to save me from the agony of another probably what would have been 3 hours of this.   So that was it.  I am still sunburned today, not as bad as it looked yesterday. But I have a job and that's really great! I am grateful for what life keeps giving me.  That's it for now!  
 

New Leaf

So here I am in Arizona. I moved here a month ago. I am renting a room from Jamie (Jacobsen turned Wells) She and her husband were nice enough to let me come. I just finished applications for teaching positions in the surrounding school districts. I hope to make this my new home. I like it here. The weather is nice and the heat keeps my knee (and various other painful joints) from hurting. My new singles ward is really great, so far everyone has been welcoming and nice. A big change from my terrible experience in the Vegas ward for my student teaching. I don't have any pics yet so this entry is just words. As for the in between time it was busy. I completed my student teaching...had a blast and a fantastic cooperating teacher. We hit a rough patch at the end when my principle decided she didn't like how i taught...without ever having watched me teach. not cool. But it all worked out in the end...the worked out where I don't put her as a reference. hahaha I am tired so I will blog again later...maybe.

Germany

WOW. okay so i realize that it has been a long time. i am still alive and kicking...lol. I am having a great time hanging out with my family in germany. I am still waiting on some job to come through. The sub thing is taking a while this year. Because its a new place. I have been putting tons of pics on my facebook and i am feeling thats its kind of a chore to keep up both. hmmmmm. anyway. We went to these christmas markets and they were fabulous!! I bought one of those russian dolls that nests in each other! Pretty much any news that is happening will be on my moms blog since I am with them for all their trips and important happenings. I think it is more worth it to upkeep the blog when I am away in the U.S. because my family needs it then! Or i like to think that they need it then. lol. Something i know my mom hasnt written about is the singles stuff here. We have just a handful of us who come to monday FHE and wednesday instutute and then we have game nights adn movie nights. Its really nice. Something quite funny about the whole thing is that dad thinks that I MUST go to every single one. Sometimes I think he forgets that I have just as much fun hanging out with my family as I do as with fellow singles. He wants to make sure that I don't miss out and its cute when he gets all...Daddyesque...and talking about how i never know i could meet my future eteranl spouse at these activities! Lol there are 2 boys who come. One who just super weird and the other who is... nice and funny. I just know that its not going to be that easy for me to find my 'eternal soul mate' lol. and thats ok not much else has come easily to me, except being born to amazing parents who love me! oh i guess thats it. More when there is some!

more snow fun

so it snowed again. just one more time i hope. they are forcasting a big snow storm for saturday though and i am worried that i might get snowed in at Salt lake. So please say a prayer that my flight will be on time and that i can get out and that ohio wont have any bad weather to keep me grounded there either! anyway it was really powdery snow this time around, but now its all turned to ice since the day after it sort of melted in the placed where people had walked and now its dangerous to walk around...you risk bruises like i have from being a clutz and falling all over the place. lol. I have a few pics. it SOOOOO cold that we only stayed outside for like 15 minutes. It hasnt been above 32 in a week now. I am so glad that i am not here for the 20 below weather that hits here in the worst winter months!!!!! we made some cute snow angels. mine turned out pretty good. ah darn it i have to go to work and i work closing tonight so it will have to be pictures another day. man i just keep having to say that! :)

New Hair Cut

Update

Life is hard. Its inescapable. But I am so glad that I am having such fun while I am living! So I re-died my hair and got it cut this week. I think it looks cute. I really like the style i have while i am trying to grow it out! School is still going great. My classes are starting to focus on the final projects, which means that thanksgiving week will be hard work in my world this year! :( lol I can't believe that once this week is over i only have 3 weeks left of school and then I am a senior in college! Does that boggle anyone else's mind???? It sure does mine. um i was going to post a picture of my new hair but the internet is being finicky again so maybe tomorrow!

Snow!!!!!!!!!!!:):):)

So it finally snowed! A good snow storm while i was working the closing shift tonight! My friend and I went out to play in it and had lots of fun! I got freezing cold and super wet but it was nice to just run around and be silly. I also made a snow turtle and wished that i had food coloring so i could made him pretty..but alas i do not. The sky in that one picture didn't turn out how cool it really looked but it still looks pretty cool. It was about 1200 at night but still really bright out! Also i voted today...but to no avail since Obama won. it looks like those days that have been prophesied about are fast on our heels, when the government will fall and the church will be the one to save it all. Mind you if i actually thought Obama will follow through with his platform i would have voted for him...but i dont think he will...hence why i voted mcain. Also by voting the way i did today i am now a resident of Idaho...all it took was proving that i have lived here for 30 days and showing them my passport for them to let me register. crazy... alright i am all tuckered out. off to dream land!

Pictures for the last post

fun fun fun and more fun

Ok so few weekends ago we took a break and went to the mall in Idaho Falls just half an hour from here. We had so much fun just window shopping and being crazy. its no wonder everyone always thinks i am 19 or at most 20...i act so crazy!!!! lol So i posted some pics of the mall and also some of my costume and my roommates costumes as well. We all dressed up for our ward party and had so much fun! I also will be dressed up for my shift tom at work since there is a big party at work...only i won't be wearing the wig. um nothing intersting...i made it through midterms with no grade lower than a B+ ...on a test or in a class. I am pretty proud of how hard i have been workign this semester and my grades too. Hopefully i will keep it up for the last 5 weeks. oh and i also included images of the first snowfall..which promptly melted and it hasnt snowed again....:( ok so my pictures werent posting...the broadband for the wireless in our apts sucks! i will post the pics another day! sorry mom

Too Tired for words?

Ok so this has been the longest week of my life and i still have much much more of it to go! I now have to be up at 6 2 out of the 5 days of the week and since about 2 to 3 times a week i work until 12 or 1 in the morning. I go to class on tuesdays and thursdays from 745 am- 5 pm. with only a one hour break on thursdays to eat! Today is usually the start of my weekend, but i have to be up at 6 again to go to an early lab to finish an art project because I work 12-5pm tom so i cant go to my normal lab time. Then after work tom i have to practice piano because i have 3 pieces that need to be polished by tuesday morning. Well, she can relax on saturday right? WRONG! I have to get up...you guessed it at 6 ..but this is a good reason...its temple day...saturday is my happy day of the week because its temple day for me. Plus i have 2 midterms next week that i am studying for. So that is my crazy busy life right now. I am getting really tired and i feel it all the time!! good thing there are only 6 weeks left of school and only 4 until thanksgiving week off! YAY! Thats means i get to see amanda and play! So i also posted some more pictures. Just some roommate pictures, we all get along really really well (except one girl but we dont need to talk about that here) and I have so much fun with them! My grades are...thankfully...still all A's and i am surprised that my goals are paying off this semester and i am not falling behind! I have only one being to thank for that...Heaven Father...thank goodness He is on my side!! :) My count down to Europe is going to begin with days in another week because i am tired of counting weeks! I am so excited to get to see my family again! I miss my little sister and the friendship I have found with her and I miss Matt and all the love he always has to offer and I miss dan's jokes! I can't wait to get a big hug from my dad and to just sit down and have girl talk with my mom and see her beautiful face again! OK my free time is up!

More of my Life to date

So now here are the little things that matter to some and dont to others. I love my ward! We have so much fun! Also my roommates, all of us, except for one, get along wonderfully and its so much fun! We have FHE every monday night, although most weeks i am working and cant go

:( At work we have a get together every sunday night, even though its closed, we come in the back door and go upstairs. if anyone ever gets a chance to come up here go upstairs in the hogi yogi...its so cool! We have two big love sacks, big red couches, banana chairs, twinkle lights in the ceiling, a HUGE projector screen. We usually just eat and watch a movie or play the Wii, or rock band (all on that huge screen!!!!) Its so much fun. Its midterms time so I spend most of my days locked in my room studying until my eyes hurt and my brain is full. I really feel like I am learning a lot this semester. Its already snowed here a couple times. But nothing stuck...we now are having a few indian summer days where the temp has gone back up into the 70's (which is weird since its been freezing for weeks!) and of course...the thought on everyones mind...boys...well there is no one special in my life right now...there was someone back in the summer but things just ended all of the sudden in july so we wont go there. There are always cute boys who come into work and its fun to flirt a little. but still no one who has really caught my interest. its not that i am picky...it doesnt take much to impress me...lol, its just that (and this was told to me by some of my guy friends) I am intimidating to guys! Who knew????? I guess the fact that i know who I am and what i want out of life is scary to most guys my age. and now for pictures!!!!!!! We went Kayaking just before the summer break was over and I had never been before! it was soooo much fun! We saw a moose! He was huge! Liz is the girl in the pictures with me...everyone else had boys there with them...except us...her fiance didnt want to come and I am just...me. Liz is a friend I knew in Japan and have kept in touch with. She got married last month and moved up north to be close to his family.

Long time short catch up

So its been a year...more than a year in fact. Apparently college life leaves little, if not, no time to keep up with these dang blog things! But since i am far away from all family it seems the best idea to keep everyone up to date. So here is some updating. I am in the tail end of my junior year in college. This semester, which started in September, has been a fabulous one for me. I have found a measure of peace and joy that had been absent in my life before and it has made things much happier in my life. I am well on my way to getting my teaching degree. I passed my middle two state tests with flying colors this year. Which means that after I ace the literacy class this semester I am 100 percent qualified to teach children to read! Fun! I am in music, P.E. and art methods this semester, which means that those classes are teaching me how to teach those subjects in my future classroom. I think P.E. is my favorite of those three. I am also taking a children's literature class, which is helping to broaden my world of books and teaching me how to judge what is appropriate for which level of student to read. Another class I have is religion, i am studying the first half of the Book of Mormon and am learning loads of new things every class period. There is one class i start this upcoming week, that will be the literacy class where i spend 2 hours in a school showing my school that i know how to teach reading. The last class i have is a piano class! That is my fun class for this semester and I am loving it! I have a job at the Hogi Yogi that is just up the street from my apartment. I love my job. I get to meet so many new people and I work with a really fun group. ok i think that is enough for this post.

Summer of '07

Ok loved ones...so far nothing dramatic, thankfully. I made it through midterms week and nothing crazy happened. So about 6 weeks left and then I have a 7 week break from school during which I will be working my butt off for money to survive the Fall semester. I did find out today that a guy friend just got off his mission. I can't believe that he has already been gone for two years. he just got back Thursday. I always expected him to be one of those guys that didn't like the missionary work and just lived for P-days (I have met a few like that)...but he said it was amazing and he loved it so much he wanted to extend but knew it wasn't right. Anyway..oh funny story, I went with some friend like 2 weeks ago to watch a scary movie in an abandoned house...the guy I dated last fall was with us since we decided to be friends, it was fun...scary but fun. ANywho today I was catching up with this old friend Cat, who is a mutual friend of Court and I's (the guy I used to date) and she said that she asked him if he had seen me and he told her 'yeah we went on a date Friday night'. What the HECK??????? that was my exact thought!! Boys are crazy. He said 'lets be friends' last year and I am suddenly supposed to know that, that isn't our relationship anymore. That is the most interesting thing that has happened as of yet. Here are some pics of me and my roomies. I love ya'll
OKay so the one with my hair in a ponytail is when we went to see spiderman 3 and i am in my spidey shirt. Then there is cameo in her spidey shirt..the black and white one...next is after the midnight showing at cameos house about 30 miles from the school. Then is a pic of Sam posing for me...sam liz and i will be rooming together again in fall i love those two!! Then there is the snow that we had like a week ago...about 2 inches....crazy! Then there are three pics of me for good measure.

Life As It Is

OK so i realize its been quite awhile since any pics have been put on here.
I am not even sure if any of my family members look at this anymore! But here it goes...I am back at home. No not permanently, just for my semester off, then I am back to school in April. I am officially a sophmore in good standing. I did not make honors for my second semester as i did the first, but i have made a lot of goals, and learned a lot of things that will help me to be able to reach honors for both semesters next year. I am just enjoying being back with my family again. They are so good to me. Daniel is as funny as ever. Meg, she has grown so much I couldn't believe it when i got home. All of the kids were so much taller! Matt is still my little buddy. Dad is just as witty as ever and still loves to tease me, only now its about getting married. Both him and Dan are always teasing me. Mom just shakes her head and says I am not ready. I think its all hilarious! I only dated one guy during my last semester there, and that didn't work out so well. Although it was mostly his issues from the past that ended things. I think that its crazy how quickly people get married out there in Idaho, but then if its right its right. We all had a good christmas I got an MP3, I had been kindof resisting getting one because i have so many CD's. But i just put it all on my little MP3. Matt got the Roboreptile he was wishing for from Santa and he is a happy camper. Well I think thats it for now.

New News

Ok so i just realized that you all don't know whats up. So i got invited to join the BYUI academic society and its really great!! You have to have really good grades to get invited. I have been officially invited to be a Scholar in the society and not just a general member. Its great!! When I keep my grades up and when it comes time to graduate i will get to wear a honors stole over my robes to show my achievment. AND there will be a special ceremony before the grad...to give awards to those in the society who graduated as scholars. I am so excited. This is my chance to break into a whole new world inside of this new world. Well thats all. Off to enjoy a friday night dance. MWAH! Jess

Updates for those I love!

OK so there is really nothing all tat new for this moment. I am kind of nervous about the new semester, but its the good kind of nervous. I got a hair cut and I would put pics on here but I can't seem to make it work on this darn laptop. Well for those who didn't hear...I ended my summer semester with all A's. 3.97 GPA..just one A-...so close to a 4.0. But I will get that 4.0 in the fall...at least now I know for sure that I can do it!! Well thats all...i love you all . MWAH Jess

Their tour of my New home

So i showed the family around the school and took some pics while we were at it.
OK so the one of mom is of her taking pictures of the flowers outside my favorite building...and the one of Dad is of him watching her take pics. They are so sweet...I hope someday have that in a marriage...such a good example! Then the building that is in construction is our very own Rexburg ID temple!!! It will be done in Sep...i have never lived this close to a temple before...it is right up the street...3 minutes away!!! I am soo excited. The one fo Dan is a pic in my fav spot in the gardens we have on campous. The students have jobs to upkeep the gardens and classes that do upkeep as well..the gardens are rather large..my fav spot is this fountain with lilies floating in it...lilies are my thrid fav flower....roses, then daffodils, then lilies. Anyway he was talking to me and it was such a cute moment i had to have it on camera. Then there is a pic of everyone laughing ...we do that alot together...and then one of matt being goofy..man i miss them already! Well gtg....I love you all. MWAH! Jess

Fun in Jess's Fav Park

So we spent some time, just us kids in my fav park while mom was at the docs getting an MRI. We had fun! So theres one of dan..playing frisbee and one of meg just after she threw and one of matt on the swings....one of meg on the swings...then one of megs friend Mr. Squirelly. he let us get really close 'cause we had food...we like squirells since there are none to be found in Japan..since they let cats roam free and the city is not a squirells best friend. Then there is a pic of me playing frisbee... and on of matt just after he threw the frisbee. Lots of fun going on...lots of teasing ( which lets us know we are loved) and lots of laughter( there always is when we are together) That is almost it for their visit..the next blog will be the cute pics that will make you all go AWWW>>>!

The animals and..well thats it!

So these are some of the better pics of the animals we saw. A one point we were no more than 3 feet away from these mammoth male bison...it was soooo cool. Then there is the cute pic of us all together in front of..if you can't tell..a waterfall which is the same waterfall in the other pic on here. Look at the cute baby bison!!! they were frolicking around as they crossed the street in front of us. You can't tell from teh pic but i actually only come up to about dans neck....he is soooo tall! Well anyway thats all form yellowstone. MWAH Jess

More of Our Yellowstone trip

So these are some pics of the pools and other things around the heat spots in Yellowstone..these were some of my favorites. ...not much of the family..i was so excited about this stuff i plum forgot!!! silly me! One is of the bacteria mats...i took a pic of the sign too...the pic with the orange stuff..yeah thats the baceria mats...so cool!!!! Then there was this little pool that didn't have a name..I called it the wanna be fountain of youth...it bubbled sometimes...thats the pic with the little pool with a seeming hole in te middle...sorta. The other pic is the famous paint pots in yellowstone..this was the best pic i could get with all the steaming it actually turned out quite nice. Well that is all for the fun steamy spots.