Dancing in the Rain

Tonight, during the rain storm, we went out and danced!   With the music blaring and the rain pouring we had a blast!  Thanks to Krisite for documenting it!  Hope you enjoy the pictures!

 Also, yesterday was my last day of student teaching.  It was absolutely wonderful!  I soaked up every moment I had with the faculty and students!  I love Providence Elementary and it really is the people that make it so special.  My cooperating teacher, Carol Searle, was wonderful to work with.  I learned so much from her and she also became a dear friend to me.  Without me knowing she sent home little notes to parents that on my last day there would be a New Teacher Shower.  When the students started walking in with little presents I started to figure it out.  It was such a fun surprise!  Look at all of the fun things I got!  It makes me really excited to have my own classroom!  I am still waiting to hear about a job...I will keep you posted!

A Very Merry Unbirthday to Tish!

Tish's birthday is not until June 11th.  She is one of those amazing people who always thinks of others and is constantly serving.  All year she has made sure that everyone has a special birthday.  She made mine unforgettable!  I came up with a little idea to celebrate her birthday before everyone leaves for the summer!  One of her favorite desserts is cheesecake so I made a cheesecake bar.  I also invited friends and neighbors.  Tish had no idea what was going on!  Carolynn snuck her away at 8:25 tonight and we quickly got things set up.  When she walked in at 8:45 she was shocked!  It was such a fun surprise!  We had a great night together!  We love you Tish!  Happy unbirthday!  We get to celebrate again in a month and a half!

Brett and Eric waiting for Tish to show up!

Steph, Wendi, and Alesha were very helpful with the quick set-up before Tish arrived.

Wendi could hardly wait for Tish to come!

The cheesecake bar: homemade cheesecake (we went through almost two of them!), strawberries, blackberries, caramel, hot fudge, and buttermilk syrup.  YUM!

Steph, Brett, and Eric

Eric, Wendi, Kasey, Carolynn, Katie, and Devon

Whitney, Brett, me, and Step

AnnaLynne...she is hilarious!

Ramsey, Tish, and Whitney

Kristie and Wendi

Kasey and Cherokee

Kindergarten and Tea Party Part II

Today was one great Monday!  I thoroughly enjoyed the teaching day.  I just have to soak up my last couple of days with these precious little ones.  Aren't these pictures so cute!  They are absolutely adorable and I love them so much!  With only one more day of student teaching to go I definitely have a bitter-sweet feeling.  I sure am going to miss these boys and girls!  After school I was able to get A LOT done and that always brings such amazing feelings of satisfaction.  Wendi made dinner tonight and it was scrumptious!  We also had HE at Gibbons Park.  It was fun to get to know some new people in the stake! Tonight we had our second Tea Party.  I don't know where we came up with the idea of a tea party but I sure love it!  We did it outside since the weather was so nice.  We didn't get started until about 9 but it was worth it!  Hearing Eller, Carolynn, Dee, and Steph talk to each other in a British accent is hysterical!  Now it is time for bed.  I am really looking forward to all I will be able to accomplish tomorrow.  I don't have school so I am going to get busy and check off some of the tasks on my never-ending list!  

Summer is comin'!

It has been a great week...for the most part!  I received a few phone calls on Tuesday and was asked to interview with Cache County School District and Logan City School District.  That caught me off-guard! I applied to both districts thinking that I wanted to keep as many options open possible but I really hadn't given much thought to being in Cache Valley next fall.  I was way excited though!  I had my screening with Cache on Tuesday afternoon and my interview with Logan on Friday.  I think they went okay:)  I should hear this week from Logan whether or not I have a position.  Cache said that it is possible to hear this week or in a couple of months.  I will just have to wait and see what happens!  Things were amazing this week at school!  I am thoroughly enjoying student teaching.  I really love the Kindergarten class.  I also love my cooperating teacher, Carol Searle, and the other Kindergarten teacher, Kerren Coburn.  They are phenomenal and I have learned so much from working with them!  We received 12 eggs on Monday and 5 of them had hatched by Friday afternoon.  The kids love it!  It sure makes teaching a little hard but it is a lot of fun.  The weekend started out a little crazy.  With my allergic reaction last Saturday I was on a steroid, Benadryl, and Claritin.  I was feeling really good on Monday and Tuesday but by Wednesday I was miserable again.  I couldn't figure it out!  It progressively got worse and Friday morning I woke up with another rash and redness and I was swollen from head to toe.  I couldn't figure out how I was having an allergic reaction again when I hadn't taken the antibiotic in over a week!  I went back to the InstaCare and after checking me over the doctor came to the conclusion that I am also allergic to Benadryl and Claritin!  The steroid helped but everything else was working against me!  The doctor told me to just go off of everything and let the allergic reaction run its course.  It could take up to a week to get it all of the way out of my body!  Crazy!  My whole life I have only known that I was allergic to penicillin and then in a matter of a week I find out that I am also allergic to a whole family of antibiotics and Benadryl and Claritin.  I really think it is a blessing!  At least I know now!  Anyway, I wasn't feeling to well on Friday but I did make it to a bean dip party with the roomies.  And guess who came up on Friday night!  CHOPSY aka Carli!  She slept here and Saturday morning we got up and went on a little walk down to Einstein Bros. Bagels to pick up some breakfast.  We brought bagels back for everyone and enjoyed a breakfast outside in the sun.  The weather was so nice!  After getting ready and doing our nails we went to Wal-Mart.  We had such a fun time laughing together!  That night we went with Preston and Tish to Texas Roadhouse.  It was really yummy!  Loaded sweet potatoes are the best!  After I had paid with my card we got up to leave.  As we got in the car I realized that I had taken the book and my signed receipt with me (see the pic below)!  I felt so bad!  Carli ran it back inside to find our waitress in a panic because she thought we had left without paying.  I am such a nerd.   We went to the mall and did a little shopping. At 9 we decided to make a dessert stop at Firehouse.  It was delicious!  We called it a night after watching a movie!  Today, Sunday, has been wonderful!  Church was so uplifting!  After church we got together with a bunch of us and took some pics over at the park.  We enjoyed a popsicle outside in the sun.  Summer is the best!  I am really itching for summer break!  Only 3 more days and I am done with school! YAY!  Hope you had a great weekend as well!

Leg Up For Life!

So there is this most wonderful, beautiful, and positive friend that I have.  I met her when I moved up here at the beginning of the school year.  She lives in the apartment across from mine so I see her quite frequently.  It always brightens my day to see her.  Her name is Kristie Christensen.  She was born without one of her legs.  She has a prosthetic leg but every few years it has to be replaced because of the wear and tear.  Those legs aren't cheap!  Our ward/stake came up with this most awesome idea to do a fundraiser for Kristie!  Our goal is to raise $20,000!  We started the fundraiser a few weeks ago and it has been a huge success.  We have raised $10,000 so far.  That's exciting!  Kristie has been offered a lot by the community. Tonight, Firehouse Pizza gave 15% of all food orders to Kristie.  I went at 5 with a group of people to support the event.  It was so much fun!  There were so many friends there and so many that were planning on coming later.  It is so wonderful to see people come together for such a great cause.  If you have a desire to help Kristie you can check out her blog here.  She is selling wristbands for $5 so it is a pretty easy way to help out.  And prayer is always the greatest help and a service that anyone and everyone can do!  I know that Kristie feels super blessed through all of this but I want her to realize how much she is really blessing us all.  We love you Kristie!

Sunday Walks

I love Sundays and today was one of my favorites.  The meetings were so uplifting and the day was beautiful we went on a little walk outside and it was picture perfect.  It made me really count my blessings. Last Monday I went to the doctor because it was day 10 of a bad cold, cough, and sore throat.  The doc told me that I had a sinus infection.  He gave me a prescription for an antibiotic.  Because I am allergic to penicillin he said there was about a 5% chance I would be allergic to the medication he was giving me, but he was really confident that I wouldn't have any problems.  I started to take the antibiotic on Monday night.  By Tuesday I wasn't feeling any better but just assumed that I needed more time for the medicine to kick in.  By 2:00 am on Wednesday I was absolutely miserable!  I woke up with aches and chills so bad that I didn't know what to do with myself.  I couldn't stand, I couldn't sit, I couldn't lay...and I didn't connect any of that to the medicine.  I am normally achey from the Mixed Connective Tissue Disease so I figured that I was having a flare up.  After taking some ibuprofen and Tylenol I was able to fall back asleep around 3:30.  I found that I had to continue to take ibuprofen regularly or else the pain was too unbearable.  Okay, I am clueless.  I still didn't connect it to the medicine.  My sinus infection wasn't getting any better and I was feeling crumby.  I was starting to get a little discouraged.  Saturday morning I woke up at 7:30 because I was in pain.  When I went into my bathroom I almost screamed because my face was bright red and all puffy and swollen.  Suddenly I began to realize that I had a rash from head to toe.  I was having an allergic reaction!  I called my mom and she told me that was the same reaction I showed to penicillin when I was a baby.  She told me to go to the insta-care asap.  Tish was so kind and went with me.  When the doctor called me back he was shocked at how I looked!  I really did look ilk a cherry tomato...it was awful!  He told me that the severe aches and pains as well as the rash and redness were from the antibiotic.  That 5% chance was my chance.  And no wonder I wasn't getting any better from my sinus infection!  He prescribed me a steroid and told me to take benadryl and claritin for the next several days.  I feel really lucky that I was able to get into the doctor so quickly.  About 10 hours after I started the steroid the rash went away and I was feeling a little bit better.  This morning when I woke up the rash had appeared again on my legs but it has gone down a lot throughout the course of the day.  Overall it was kind of a crazy situation but at least I know now not to take that antibiotic!  It really all ended up being a blessing!

Even More Birthday

Okay, so I was super lucky because my birthday lasted for a week!  This was one of the little things that made my birthday so special!  Tish, Steph, Wendi, and Becca took me out for dinner!  You cannot go wrong with these girls!  They are so much fun to be around and some of my dearest friends.  Thanks girls!

Graduation Pics

Just a few days before I left for Spring Break I received my cap and gown and my graduation announcements in the mail!  WAHOO!  It is for real!  We hadn't thought about graduation pictures until that moment.  My Mom was able to get a hold of the amazing Shelly Oliverson and asked her if she could take a few pictures to go in my announcements.  She was able to squeeze us in.  She has got talent!  Click Here to see a few more photos!  Thanks Shelly!  So now the announcements are out and I only have 7 more days of student teaching...but who's counting anyway?

Grandma Sharp

This post is so long overdue but I figure better late than never.  I want to introduce you to my Grandma Sharp.  She is one of those women that everyone looks up to and loves.  She radiates light and happiness.  She has lived in Oregon throughout my life.  It has always been a special treat to see her and spend time with her.  Some of my most favorite memories are staying at her house.  She always takes the best care of her guests!  She has created a home of love where the Spirit can be.  Even though she lives miles away she is one of my biggest supporters!  There is never a birthday or Christmas that goes by that she doesn't send a nice card or gift.  It is not the physical things that mean so much to me but her thought and sincerity behind them.  I was so blessed to have her at my farewell before I left on my mission and  at the airport and my homecoming when I finished my mission.  I am so thankful that she made such an effort and sacrifice to be there for me at some of the highlight points in my life.  I love her dearly.  Well, a few weeks ago, after coming back up to Logan after a weekend at home, I found this cutest little package on my counter.  I opened it up and to my surprise it was a little box of Dutch chocolates with the sweetest card!  It brought tears to my eyes.  When I called to thank her for the package, I asked her how she got a hold of the chocolates!  She said that she had seen them somewhere and had to send them to me!  It was so thoughtful!  I am one of her many grandchildren and I know that each grandchild could say that they feel that Grandma loves them individually.  I sure lover her!  Thanks Grandma!  We look forward to seeing you in a few weeks!

Welkom in UTAH!

I feel like the luckiest girl ever!  Heavenly Father has sure blessed me!  A few weeks ago I received an e-mail from Sarah Fridsma.  She is one of my most favorite people and I adore her family!  They live in Marum in the Netherlands.  Marum is a village included in my second area where I served.  The Fridsmas did so much missionary work and so much with the missionaries!  It was always a special treat to go to their home for dinner or go on joint-teach with them.  Sarah and Hilbert are probably the nicest people in the whole world and they have the most adorable little boys, Gabriel and Lorenzo.  I truly consider them family.  When I went back to the Netherlands with my parents they were our lifesavers!  My mom got a really bad infection and they arranged a doctor appointment and everything!  I just wish everyone had the chance to know them.  Well, back to the e-mail...Sarah informed me that they would be coming to Utah for a week and it just happened to be the week that I was home for Spring Break!  That was a miracle!  We arranged to go to lunch on the Saturday of General Conference in between sessions.  It was so good to see them again!  It was also fun to introduce them to more of my family members.  They became part of the family instantly!  Hilbert and Sarah got tickets to go to conference on Sunday morning but Lorenzo isn't old enough so I had the privilege of watching him.  It was so fun to talk in Dutch to him!  When Hilbert and Sarah came back to my house to pick Lorenzo up we were eating brunch with all of my family and invited them to stay.  It was soooo wonderful!  I was getting the best of both worlds with my Dutch family and my American family!  It was like we were one big, happy family!  They stayed through the second session and then took off.  I met up with them again on Thursday night.  Sarah and I snuck out to get some dessert and were able to catch up on every little detail of our lives.  It was the greatest!  I just love them and I realize that I am so blessed through my mission.  Although the Fridsmas aren't here anymore, I know that we can be together forever because we are family!  Tot ziens Familie Fridsma!  

Easter and Spring Break...and lots of other wonderful things!

I have never slacked off this much with blogging...ever!  I have so much to add that I just get overwhelmed and don't do anything at all.  There are so many other pictures that I would love to add to this post that I have missed over the past month but I've decided that this will have to do!  The pictures are all jumbled up and I am not going to try and put those in order either.  I will just sum it up by saying that Spring Break was amazing and Easter was awesome!  I love my life, especially all of the people in it.

Yes, we dyed eggs with silk ties.  It was so much fun!

Oh, they really are jumbled!  I am a little embarrassed to be posting this.  I hope you get the gist a little!  New blog post to come tomorrow that will really be in some kind of order:)