My first teaching experience!

    Today was my first day of being a volunteer teacher's assistant. For all of you whom don't know, I am going to become an Elementary School Teacher. I am in the process of finishing up my Grad application to Westminister College in Salt Lake City, UT.  

    Being in a classroom is so much fun and so exciting. When I walked in to Mrs. Smith's classroom I felt so energized and so warm. Her classroom was brightly colored with lots of teaching tools and arts and crafts. She also has "the magic treehouse" which apparently flew into the classroom magically.  The tree house in the classroom was based off of a series of books about a magical tree house.  The series reminds me of the the Magic School bus books and adventures. 

    Today I helped the kids finish their snowmen sequences.  Not only did the sequence include drawing a snowman and scenery around it, but they also had to start to construct words that were nouns, and adjectives pertaining to their snowmen and their poem. I helped many of the students come up with adjectives to describe their snowmen. Kids can be so creative with words and drawings.  I also got to help the kids with writing perfect sentences about their fellow classmate whom was the "Star Student of the Week."  Every kid eventually gets to be the star of the week which is good.  The kids love writing and they are all so good at it. They wrote such nice things about their classmate. 

    I  had so much fun in the classroom today. Everyday is such an adventure and you are constantly getting to go on awesome adventures with your students. The more I engage with kids, the more I want to teach. 

   After my half day in the classroom, I took my dogs on an intense two-hour hike because they were needing some intense exercise. It was a beautiful day for a hike.  It was 40 degrees, sunny and clear. The sun is so powerful in Utah all year long.  I love going on hikes in the snow especially with all the trees decorated in white, fresh snow.  The snow makes the canyon even more beautiful then it was before. I think my dogs like the snow even more than I do.  One of my dogs, Tag loves to go sledding.  I know what you are thinking a dog sleds?  Yes, that is right.  Tag will slide down little hills that are covered in snow.  It is so funny, and so cute to watch. 

Well time to pick up the delicious Indian food that I ordered. Love and miss you all!  Till next time... JUST DANCE and JUST have FUN! 

Being the true me!

My weekend in Oregon was short, yet sweet. I tried to see all of my friends from college in two days, which proved to harder than expected. However, I feel as if I did a pretty good job of accomplishing that task. Being back in Oregon made me realize how much I miss it. While my time in Utah has been an interesting, fun and self-improving, it just isn't Oregon.

My time in Oregon has made me remember to always be myself. Sometimes I hide my true self living in Utah to better fit in. There are constantly societal pressures all around us, and I especially see that living in Utah. I am pressured to meet my "future husband" now. This isn't just a LDS or Christian thing, it is a Utah thing. I am constantly asked, "why aren't you married." Or "I have a son, or a nephew that would be great for you." I feel especially pressured with my neighbors, and my job. I think I hide a bit of myself so people won't judge me right off the bat, or won't critize my life. This impression of my fake self is really quite stupid. Who cares what people think of me? Who cares if I am looked down upon. Who cares if I am 23 and not married? Seriously, I should not feel pressured nor should I stress about what people say or think.

Being back in Oregon totally made me see this. I totally just went wild being myself, and it was so much fun. I was honest and I took chances-like the old me was back-in-action! I am a random person, and this past weekend embraced that. It was totally random, and unexpected. My friend Kayleen told me to just go with the flow, and flowing is what I did. I felt like I was floating a river. I had great conversations, great catch-ups and some great fun all in two days!

Sometimes we are so focused on trying to please others, and "fit in," that we actually lose sight of who we really are, or parts of who we really are. I definitely faked parts of who I was to fit in. There will be no more of that and my true colors, true random risk-taking self will be forever shining!

I have mad love for Oregon and Oregon must have mad love for me because it has helped me out in so many ways!