High Time

Yep, I figure it is high time to start blogging again.  I have slacked in the blogging area because last week I was told that I had used up all of my space with my gmail account to upload any pictures.  That's a bummer!  Don't worry, my blog is a journal right now so I am more than willing to pay a little a month to have some more storage space.  Now it is just getting around to doing that!  Life has been busy but really good.  I am really officially a kindergarten teacher as of last Thursday.  It is crazy to be known as "Miss Sharp" to all of those little 5 and 6 year-olds.  They are just absolutely adorable and I feel so blessed to work with them.  I also LOVE the school that I am working at.  Richmond is a darling community and I think it is the best possible place to start as a new teacher.  Last week I prepped every day until Wednesday night when I had Back to School Night.  Since I had already met all of the students and parents when I had done my home visits it wasn't as scary.  It actually got me really excited!  10 of the kids came on Thursday to school and the other 10 came on Friday.  All 20 came today and it was so much fun!  Even though I only work and am paid for a half day I can't help but spend my whole day at the school prepping and making sure everything is ready.  It is worth it to me.  Anyway, that is teaching in a nutshell for the time being.

Last week my sister and her two kids, as well as my Mom and my little sister came up for a few nights. It was a blast!  Because of school I didn't get to spend as much time with them as I would have liked to but they were a great help to me.  Chops is officially living in Logan now!  It is so fun to have family here so close.

I begin university classes tomorrow.  I am a little nervous but really excited!  It wasn't until I graduated from college that I realized how much I love it.  I am just starting two masters courses.  I was also set on taking violin lessons but, as of today, I decided that it is not the best time for me.  First of all, it is really expensive!  For the semester it is $530+ for 6.5 hours of lessons.  And that it is not including the violin. I think that I am going to aim for next semester.  I just feel better about it.

My new ward is fantastic!  I have attended church for 2 Sundays now and I love it!  I received a calling there my first Sunday.  I am now the Music Chairman of the ward.  I am in charge of conducting during sacrament meeting, choosing the hymns, arranging for weekly musical numbers, and directing the choir.  Am I overwhelmed?  Yes.  Am I willing?  Most definitely.  I don't know much about music other than the piano but I am excited to learn new things and work with others who have musical talents and abilities.  If anyone has any tips or advice, it would be greatly appreciated!

I went to my rheumatologist the first week I was back in Logan.  I really like him and I think that I am going to stick with him out of all of the other doctors that I have gone to.  He might not have all of the expertise and experience that the others have but he is so willing to help and listen and make things better.  He decided to re-do all of the blood tests and see if anything new popped up.  I haven't been feeling well over the last couple of months but didn't really think that it was different than normal.  However, within the last couple of weeks I started to experience a whole lot of muscle and joint pain.  He called me on Friday with my test results and told me that a normal person's muscle inflammation level would be a 200 but mine was a 1000.  If I wasn't to take care of it quickly my muscles would start deteriorating and it would cause serious damage.  Yesterday I started a double dose of prednisone that I will take for the next several months to get things back in control a bit.  I haven't heard the best of things about prednisone (most common side effects are acne and weight gain...fantastic) but I guess the positive effects weigh out the negative.  Bleh.  I hate medications but I decided that I need to change my attitude about them since they can be a great blessing.  Here is to my new attitude no matter what side effects occur!  I think that finding this out on Friday really started to influence my decision to do the violin or not.  I really feel a great urge to focus more on my health.  I love running and I have been going but it is not good for the inflammation.  So, I think that I am going to take a Yoga or Pilates class.  Any say on which one I should do?  I would love to hear opinions!

Well that is my life right now.  Things are really great and I feel extremely blessed!  I hope that you are doing well too!  By the way, if you are in the Logan/Cache Valley/surrounding area and we haven't caught up in a while I would love to get together!  I miss all of you!