A lot has been happening lately, but all of it can pretty much be summed up in.......getting ready for school.
I'm so excited for school to start! Ah!
A week ago I ended my mowing job because I started another job for the school year! I'm working at an elementary school in for the YMCA after school program. I had training all of this week.....which was slightly brutal for reasons I won't go into (ha ha), but now we start school on Monday and I'm so stoked!
It was crazy strange leaving my mowing job. Five summers. Five. Five full summers of mowing. I must be insane. No, it paid for school so it's all good. I have so many awesome memories from it too which is wonderful. Although it was a great job in many ways (mostly social ways), I'm glad I never have to go back.
It's like the end of an era. I'm never going back. I'm graduating, getting a real job, growing up......
It feels SO strange, but really nice.
The job hunt that eventually ended with the YMCA was nuts. I was so frustrated for so long (ask my husband), ha ha. I checked openings on like five different job boards everyday and I applied for....not exaggerating....forty or so different jobs.
I've always been super lucky with jobs.......when I actually, eventually obtain them. I seriously think God has placed me specifically in every job I've had to teach me something great. You could say that's wishful thinking, but I say it's just plain the truth.
I can look back on all my teaching jobs at the various schools I've been at and see exactly what Heavenly Father wanted me to learn.
With this school year approaching I had a lot of emotions going on with finding a job. I was upset that I couldn't go back to my autistic pre-school job.....I'm graduating soon so I felt this weird sense of entitlement that I needed to work with babies or pre-schoolers......and I mostly just wanted a job on campus because really, what would be better than that? Nothing, I dare say. :)
The Child and Family Studies and Education Departments on campus kept having all of these great openings. Some jobs where I could work with the kids in the children's school where I'm doing my student teaching. Others where I could be a helper for my professors. There were about five or so options like that and I applied for them all.
Weeks went by...........I kept calling them. I realized that they probably weren't going to do interviews till right before school, but it was still frustrating.
In the end, I applied, got the YMCA job.
Not even three hours after I accepted the YMCA job I received a phone call from my department at Weber asking if I wanted to interview to be a professor's assistant.
..............
And what did I do?
I said no. I cried later and felt weird, but I knew I needed to say no because of the feeling I got when I accepted the YMCA job.
I was talking to my mom on the phone about it and I think she said it best (this isn't a direct quote, but good enough): "Yeah, the job on campus would have been convienent and nice, but with this YMCA job you're going to impact lives and be able to be an awesome example for kids that have nothing."
I think in the end that's one big blessing I'm going to get from this job. I saw even with back to school night the level of poverty the school I'm working at has and it's really just sad and humbling.
God probably knew I needed humbling more than anything else, which is probably why I got this job.
In the past week I've actually had a couple more offers from the on-campus jobs that I applied for in my department/children's school.......which has been hard, but I know in the end I got the job that I did for a reason.
Another hard thing was seeing one of my EXTREMELY cute autistic boys at back at school night. Ahhhhhh....my heart broke. I said hi to him and he got really shy, but I know he remembered me. It was so cute to hear his little autistic babble again. His older brother goes to my school (I'm really hoping he does the after school program, ha ha).
Bah. Dang kids. They are so cute!
So after much toil and rearranging, my life is officially set for school to start on Monday. Hooray!
The school I'm working at, although it is very low on the socioeconomic side of families, is actually really cool! It used to be a junior high so it is huge and has all of these amazing resources. It has two huge gyms, an auditorium with a big stage and tons of seats, a really nice library, and a cool kiva type commons area. It'll be neat to use all of the different spaces for the program.
Well, I have a full day of things to do to get ready for school so I better go. We are going to the temple too which will be nice to do right before school! I love the temple. :) I'm excited to go and think about all of my blessings, I have so many! Although it was a long process getting a job I really do feel very blessed. I'm very grateful that God knows what I need. It'll be an interesting year discovering what exactly He had in mind for me with this job!
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Cliche peace
I've started so many posts lately and then have given up on them halfway. There have been about five times this past week that I have started a post and not finished it. Why can't I finish posts??? Hmmm....we'll see how far I get on this one!
The other day I posted on Facebook that I found the place in Blogger that shows me how many "views" my blog posts get. I kind of decided that people don't understand my humor because they took my post on Facebook kind of strange.....but I guess I've always known it takes strange people to understand me so it's all good in the end, I suppose. :)
After having this blog for two and a half years I finally found where it tells me how many people read it. My average was about 50 views per post. I was totally shocked! I was really flattered, but still completely shocked.
When I started this blog it was mainly used as a ranting place where I would write about what I thought about life. It hasn't changed much since then, but I really never thought that many people would read it.
I've been told by some people that have happened upon my blog before that it sounds too cliche, the things that I write. And other people have told me or my husband that some of the things I talk about are weird or cheesy etc. In the end, the only reviews I have ever gotten from people have been negative. My husband has always told me not to take them negatively, but how can I not when people say stuff like that to your face? Ha ha!
Because of those things I always thought my blog wasn't viewed much.
That didn't stop me from writing, because I love writing and this is the easiest way I know how. I'm not good at keeping a journal, but I wanted my kids to have something that I've written someday.
I want my kids to know how blessed of a life I have. In lots of ways I'm sure that's why people have told me my blog is too cliche. In today's society nobody is really allowed to actually have a great life, right? Everybody is allowed small moments of greatness, but people get jealous and feel bad when they happen upon somebody that claims to have a great life all the time.
Honestly, I do have bad days and stupid things do happen to me, but I still think I'm extremely blessed.
Today was fast Sunday so we had fast and testimony meeting in Sacrament meeting. While people were bearing their testimonies I started thinking about people in my life (like I often do). I think about my family (all three parts of them).....friends.....basically anybody I know. As I was thinking about these people I started thinking about how they all feel about their family....or their spouse. I started thinking if each of them could pick one word to describe their relationship with a family member or spouse what would it be?
(I should have been a psychology major....sometimes my brain is strange. I will often tell Jeff I've been thinking of things like that and he'll look at me strange and sometimes say: "why are you even bothering thinking of stuff like that?" My answer is usually: "Cause it's fun?")
Then I thought of mine and Jeff's marriage and if I had one word to describe it what would it be.
I sat there for a minute and tried to think of something that wasn't cliche......but I had already thought of the word "peaceful" and couldn't think of anything better.
Jeff and I have crazy lives. We are very busy both working full-time and when we are in school it's even crazier. We go and do lots of fun things together and never have a dull moment. We are always laughing at each other. But somewhere in the middle of all of that is peace. No matter what is happening there is always an underlying sense of peace.
I felt extremely grateful in that moment because I know that there are people in my life that I know can't say the same thing about their situation.
But it gets even better!
Not even five minutes after I was thinking these thoughts.......call them cliche, I don't care.......
Our AMAZING Stake Primary President who is in our ward got up and bore her testimony. I seriously love that woman. She is one of the greatest examples I've ever had.
She stood up and started talking about primary childrens' prayers. She said that since she gets to go around the stake a lot and listen to lots of little childrens' prayers she started picking up on a specific theme. She said that children always pray for safety. And it's true, when you think about it, the majority of their prayers are centered around getting somewhere safely or being safe in their lives.
Our Stake Primary President is an elementary school teacher and she told us that it is very apparent when looking at the kids at school who has that "safety" in their lives and who doesn't. She testified about the peace that the Gospel brings into our childrens lives and that we as parents/adults can offer that peace.
I've definitely seen that while working in schools also. The job I had last school year was one that was in an inner city area and honestly, I think only one of our students was LDS. In fact, I'm not even sure if he was, but if anything we only had one out of all our children. You can definitely tell the difference when children have the light of Christ in their homes as opposed to when they don't.
I was so grateful for that testimony that she bore of the peace and safety that should be in our homes and in our childrens lives.
It's strange sometimes how Heavenly Father answers prayers that we don't even know we've said yet. It was really neat to me that I had just been thinking about the subject of peace in marriage and then to have such a wonderful woman bear her testimony of peace in the family. It was like God was answering a prayer that I didn't even know I needed.
That seems to be happening a lot lately. Maybe that's why I haven't been able to finish posts......I've kind of been at a loss for words. I haven't really known how to put my feelings into writing.
I know that God knows our needs before we know them. I know that He wants to answer our prayers.
I know that my blog sounds cliche and that people might think I'm putting on a show......but in the end, I know I'm not. I really am as blessed as I make myself sound and writing it all out is one small way that I can give back to the people that have made it that way.
The other day I posted on Facebook that I found the place in Blogger that shows me how many "views" my blog posts get. I kind of decided that people don't understand my humor because they took my post on Facebook kind of strange.....but I guess I've always known it takes strange people to understand me so it's all good in the end, I suppose. :)
After having this blog for two and a half years I finally found where it tells me how many people read it. My average was about 50 views per post. I was totally shocked! I was really flattered, but still completely shocked.
When I started this blog it was mainly used as a ranting place where I would write about what I thought about life. It hasn't changed much since then, but I really never thought that many people would read it.
I've been told by some people that have happened upon my blog before that it sounds too cliche, the things that I write. And other people have told me or my husband that some of the things I talk about are weird or cheesy etc. In the end, the only reviews I have ever gotten from people have been negative. My husband has always told me not to take them negatively, but how can I not when people say stuff like that to your face? Ha ha!
Because of those things I always thought my blog wasn't viewed much.
That didn't stop me from writing, because I love writing and this is the easiest way I know how. I'm not good at keeping a journal, but I wanted my kids to have something that I've written someday.
I want my kids to know how blessed of a life I have. In lots of ways I'm sure that's why people have told me my blog is too cliche. In today's society nobody is really allowed to actually have a great life, right? Everybody is allowed small moments of greatness, but people get jealous and feel bad when they happen upon somebody that claims to have a great life all the time.
Honestly, I do have bad days and stupid things do happen to me, but I still think I'm extremely blessed.
Today was fast Sunday so we had fast and testimony meeting in Sacrament meeting. While people were bearing their testimonies I started thinking about people in my life (like I often do). I think about my family (all three parts of them).....friends.....basically anybody I know. As I was thinking about these people I started thinking about how they all feel about their family....or their spouse. I started thinking if each of them could pick one word to describe their relationship with a family member or spouse what would it be?
(I should have been a psychology major....sometimes my brain is strange. I will often tell Jeff I've been thinking of things like that and he'll look at me strange and sometimes say: "why are you even bothering thinking of stuff like that?" My answer is usually: "Cause it's fun?")
Then I thought of mine and Jeff's marriage and if I had one word to describe it what would it be.
I sat there for a minute and tried to think of something that wasn't cliche......but I had already thought of the word "peaceful" and couldn't think of anything better.
Jeff and I have crazy lives. We are very busy both working full-time and when we are in school it's even crazier. We go and do lots of fun things together and never have a dull moment. We are always laughing at each other. But somewhere in the middle of all of that is peace. No matter what is happening there is always an underlying sense of peace.
I felt extremely grateful in that moment because I know that there are people in my life that I know can't say the same thing about their situation.
But it gets even better!
Not even five minutes after I was thinking these thoughts.......call them cliche, I don't care.......
Our AMAZING Stake Primary President who is in our ward got up and bore her testimony. I seriously love that woman. She is one of the greatest examples I've ever had.
She stood up and started talking about primary childrens' prayers. She said that since she gets to go around the stake a lot and listen to lots of little childrens' prayers she started picking up on a specific theme. She said that children always pray for safety. And it's true, when you think about it, the majority of their prayers are centered around getting somewhere safely or being safe in their lives.
Our Stake Primary President is an elementary school teacher and she told us that it is very apparent when looking at the kids at school who has that "safety" in their lives and who doesn't. She testified about the peace that the Gospel brings into our childrens lives and that we as parents/adults can offer that peace.
I've definitely seen that while working in schools also. The job I had last school year was one that was in an inner city area and honestly, I think only one of our students was LDS. In fact, I'm not even sure if he was, but if anything we only had one out of all our children. You can definitely tell the difference when children have the light of Christ in their homes as opposed to when they don't.
I was so grateful for that testimony that she bore of the peace and safety that should be in our homes and in our childrens lives.
It's strange sometimes how Heavenly Father answers prayers that we don't even know we've said yet. It was really neat to me that I had just been thinking about the subject of peace in marriage and then to have such a wonderful woman bear her testimony of peace in the family. It was like God was answering a prayer that I didn't even know I needed.
That seems to be happening a lot lately. Maybe that's why I haven't been able to finish posts......I've kind of been at a loss for words. I haven't really known how to put my feelings into writing.
I know that God knows our needs before we know them. I know that He wants to answer our prayers.
I know that my blog sounds cliche and that people might think I'm putting on a show......but in the end, I know I'm not. I really am as blessed as I make myself sound and writing it all out is one small way that I can give back to the people that have made it that way.
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