i am going to get better at blogging... promise :)

Back in June....
7 best friends (since middle school) met up in Upstate NY. We had such a great time. Once again I am blown away with how blessed I am to have such an amazing group of friends. Beautiful, talented and inspiring girls... that I get to call my BFF.
We are all in different stages of life (well at least I am :) , we live all over the country (Ohio, Utah, Rochester, NYC) but we still manage to get together for our girls trips (last girls trip was in NYC). When we get together its as if we have never been a part. Love you girls!!!!!

We:
- stayed a Ericka's place
- ate Ericka's delicious cooking
- laughed until we cried (thanks to Ericka's neighbor)
- visited church history sites ( Hill camora, Joseph Smith's home, Sacred Grove, Printing Press)
- went to Niagara Falls (Canada side:)
- stayed up until ridiculous hours talking...
- danced in the street lights... we still got moves:)

*** Pictures were taken by everyone but me :)

8 years ago I came to NYC with my mom. We took a red bus tour bus through Harlem. My mom asked me if I could ever teacher here. I don't remember my answer but I do remember looking through the old school windows and seeing a teacher talking to her class. Something ignited in me. I can't believe how blessed I have been. I have had opportunities working in the top schools, with top teachers. I still get giddy with I look through my old school windows and realize I am living my dream.

So here is a tribute to another year of teaching... the BEST year of teaching! It really was a magical year. Starting off the year.. nobody ever would have thought. We went through a lot together! They are beautiful, amazing kids. If you look in their eyes you can see how special they are. Take their life and put it next to yours, you will never take anything for granted again.

Things I have learned while teaching:

- RAISE THE BAR. Sometimes my administration would have high expectations that seemed so outrageous that I didn't even think it was possible... but my students continuously blew my mind away. There was NEVER a challenge that they didn't eventually meet. I think all kids (down deep) are a little thirsty for challenge. Not that I need test scores to prove how great these kids were but they were one of the top preforming classes in the state!

- Sometimes it is alright to tell your students how YOU feel. Even if you are the adult and they are the kids. I really think my heart to hearts with my kids is what made this year so amazing. It taught them to identify their emotions and express them.

- Do as you say! Easier said than done but it is a MUST. I was around people who talked down to these kids. It was almost comical. They would scream in a kids face "DON'T YELL AT YOUR SISTER". I can't blame them because sometimes it is REALLY, REALLY hard to let your emotions get the best of you. If you practice what you preach the kids will see it and mimic your actions. My assistant teacher and I would always laugh at how impressionable my students were. If I was grumpy... they were grumpy. If I was silly.. they were silly.

- It's ok to be crazy. The longer I teach the more I loose all inhibition. I worked at a very high stress and intense school. I had to forget about it sometimes and just let loose. If you came into my classroom you might see me jumping on furniture, talking in a(horrible) British accent, singing the read aloud opera style or anything else to switch things up. The kids ate it up...it kept them on their toes... they thought I was pretty funny.. Jokes on them!

- Be consistent. Kids catch on really fast if you don't follow through on your word. That goes for rewards and consequences. If you say they are going to give them 5 extra minutes of recess you better do it. If you say you are going to call their parents... you better do it. Especially with my kids, you could lose their trust really fast so had to do your best to not give them a reason to not trust you.

- Keep Clam and Carry On.... It wasn't out of the ordinary if in the middle of a lesson a little mouse would run across the classroom or in the middle of a test a cockroach walk across your paper. The first time I experienced this I FREAKED OUT.... and so did my kids. I quickly learned that if I didn't compose myself my classroom would turn into a hot mess. I got to the point I was so composed about it my students started to believe these rodents were our classroom pet :)


I am still far from the teacher I would like to be but I have come a long way. If I could I would like to find each student from my first year of teaching and personally apologize to each of them I would :)

Cheers to 5 great years of teaching and many more to come!!!

What better reason to break your blogging hiatus..... than your sister's birthday!!!!
I am so lucky to have Taren as my sister. It was just the two of us most of our growing up. We are 16 months apart..... our sisterhood bond is special. We can pretty much read each others thoughts, we laugh at the same things (even if nobody else is laughing), and we have shared great memories together! Taren is a special person. She would do anything for anybody. When you are around her you always feel loved and good about life. She is an amazing mom and I couldn't ask for a better sister! Happy Birthday TT!

A much needed update

I am about to upload a large amount of photos from my phone. Please excuse my randomness!

Broadway
We have been spending a lot of our time seeing Broadways. I have had to work some weekends so Robert (being the great guy that he is) has waited out for rush tickets while studying!!!! He is the world's greatest! Here are a few of the latest. They were all amazing. "How to Succeed" was our favorite. We are officially Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) fans! We have already seen it twice.








We are no longer serving in the deaf branch :( it was an amazing experience and we grew a lot. I bet you will never guess what our new calling is ?!?!?!


Visitors!!!!

My grandma surprised my mom and four sisters with a trip to NYC. We were lucky enough to have them stay with us. This is a far away picture of Robert rowing the ladies around central park. (I promised not to put any close up pictures)

Elias and Brittany!!! - over memorial weekend our two favorite people came to visit from San Francisco. Elias is Robert's bff from college and I couldn't love Brittany more. We talked and talked the entire weekend!!!


Politics in Harlem- Harlem success is in the middle of some intense movements. It is fun to be part of it. Recently we rallied in the middle of Harlem at the NAACP's headquarters.

If you look close you can see a big kiss on my cheek! My parents often greet me with big wet ones!

UvU class of 2024 - The other day my mom said "you talk about them like they are your children". She is right! I love these kids like my are mine. It has been such an amazing year and I am sad to see it end.

Pj day

Slamming the state exam

Relaxing in central park

Posing for a class picture because their teacher said so :)

Signing off for now!

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He published! I have absolutely no idea what it is about but I do know he spent a lot of time on it and he was super excited when he found out it was published!

Birthday Bash!

Robert pulled out all the stops for my 27th birthday! He surprised me with a fancy dinner cruise around the island. The night was filled with gourmet food (I had truffles for my first time and they were amazing!), great conversation (always is ), breathtaking view (have 5 million pictures to prove it) and dancing (well, Robert danced and I laughed at him) to a live band!

Great way to start off my 27th year of life ( we have one more thing checked off our bucket list)!!!!!!

Her race, His race

Her race....
Last week I ran the NYC ING half. It was one of my favorite races I have run. I was a lucky chica to get into the race. I have heard that one in ten people actually get into the race?!? We looped around Central Park, through Time Square, and down the West Side Highway to the Financial District. I ran behind Hugh Jackman the entire race. Robert missed me crossing the finish line because he was distracted by all Hugh's media attention. He stole my thunder!

My class made me this card before the race! Have I mentioned how much I love my class this year???? ;)


His race.....
Robert has had I.T. Band issues the last few weeks but he had already signed up for this race and was determined to finish. It was a cool race. He ran through the world fair grounds and by Flushing Meadows. I still can't believe he finished. I could tell he was in a lot of pain. It must be that stubborn German blood ;)


Cheers for a great start to the race season!

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