Oh how time flies!

Yet again it has been a while since I last posted. I think my last post was before I got engaged and married. Now it has been over a month since I married Chris. I laugh when I think how much my life has changed in the past nine months. I never thought I would be here but here I am, so very glad that things worked the way they did. I think Chris and I had a lot of divine intervention to get us together.

Life is so very good. Our wedding was a beautiful day. I don't think I have ever been to a more beautiful sealing. It was hard not to cry when I saw the faces of so many wonderful people that I love. We were momentarily tempted to not go to Colorado for our honeymoon but we came home to find all our clothes from the closet piled on the bed and our closet in the process of being remodeled. That made the decision for us and we are glad that we went as we had a great week relaxing in the Colorado mountains outside of Durango.

We live in a cute basement apartment in Orem, not far from Target, the grocery store, the library, and the I-15. It is perfect. Not too big to clean, I can clean the whole house in an hour or so! It is great to be out of moldy college apartments. We still don't have a couch but that will come in time. Chris is still working at Mad Dog Cycles and I am substitute teaching. I have been lucky enough to get a job almost everyday. The special ed teachers suggested I switch subjects. It's always flattering know you are doing a good job. In our free time we read, watch movies, go hiking, cook, and go mountain biking. Life really is great!

Musings on Revelation

As you all know the past year has been one of change and learning for me. It had been a time where I have learned a lot about myself and about receiving revelation. For the last month or so I have prayed about a specific question and felt as if I received an answer but would second guess myself. One day while pondering revelation, faith, and a sure knowledge I had the following thoughts.

As Relief Society President for a year my counselors and I frequently sought revelation in coordinating visiting teaching assignments. Very rarely did we have strong impressions of who should visit who. Most of the time we thought of a name and one or more of us would say, "I feel good about that." We then trusted that the Lord had guided our efforts. By the end of the school year it was clear that those "good about that" moments were inspiration. It was never a sure knowledge. Only after the year passed could we see the Lord's hand as sisters who visit taught each other became roommates or asked to continue with their companions or teachees. I stress a lot about making right decisions. I think it is easy to forget that it doesn't matter how big the decision is. Sometimes the answer to our prayers is a simple "I feel good about that."

Life in between

It is a disconcerting feeling to be in between. I feel like that is where I am now: in between youth and adulthood, college and career, single and dating. In today's society everything is so fast paced. We need to be constantly moving forward or we will be left behind. Since I have graduated I have felt this nagging pressure to find a job and move on with my life, settle down and stop roaming. Yet I have no idea where to go to look for a job. I would love to teach in DC again but it's so far from family. I'm sort of dating someone right now who lives in Utah so do I go there? Many questions with very few answers. 

Yet amidst all this stress and confusion there has come a sense of peace. For too long I got caught up in the mystery of the future, trying unsuccessfully to piece together the what will be. Slowly I am learning to take things one day at a time, one step at a time. While I still have freak out moments I'm learning to trust that the Lord knows what He is doing and will direct my path because I can't see ahead in the darkness. I might not get a job next week or next month but when the time is right as I keep moving forward I will know. Maybe it is not so bad being in between. Maybe I'm really in between something great and something wonderful. I do know that whatever the Lord has in store for me is something better than I would have ever chosen for myself. He knows the end from the beginning and for a brief while I get to hang out in between.

Let's try this again!

Arlington National Cemetery on my birthday.

Fail. That is how I describe my attempts at blogging over the past four months. I'm sorry to disappoint many of you as I know that many wanted to hear of my exploits in DC. I thought that I might sum up my experience and then move on.

View of DC from across the Potomac.

Our trip to Mount Vernon. Me with my roommates.

Living and working in DC was quite an adventure. I loved living in the city and being so close to so much history and incredible museums! I loved the daily commute in to school every morning with its hustle and bustle. There were so many diverse people on the metro that it was fun to people watch. Men even offered their phone numbers which were kindly rejected. Each morning I read my scriptures on the 45 minute commute into DC from Arlington. I desperately needed that spiritual fortification before I began my day. Teaching was a blast. Teaching was stressful. Teaching is what I love! While it was very stressful to prepare lessons each day for the next day it taught me a lot about what I am capable of and how much the Lord can bless you. Pretty much the reason why I failed at keeping a blog was because I became a workaholic. After teaching two, sometimes three classes a day (I know that doesn't sound like much but we had block scheduling and only taught three classes a day.) I usually stayed at the school until 4:30 or 5 to help students and to plan/grade. Then after my 45-60 minute commute home I hastily ate dinner and then got right back to work. Work continued until 10:00 or 10:30 when I went to bed. The next day I got up and started all over again. Weekends were pretty much the same. In the evenings on weekends I frequently spent time with three great guys who lived downstairs: Zach, Dan, and Blake. I really miss those guys!

Mount Vernon in the fall.

Mount Vernon in the fall.

After a few weeks I stopped going to FHE and it wasn't long before Institute was kicked off the schedule as well. It was hard for me to watch my roommates have so much time to enjoy other activities but it was really important to me to do my best in my student teaching.

Shalyn and I at Mount Vernon.

Overall I had a great experience! Yes it was incredibly hard and there were days when I just wanted to throw in the towel and go home. Many times I questioned my choice of profession, particularly after fourth period. Yet as I learned more about teaching and more about my kids it became easier. I love my kids and miss them so much! They drove me crazy sometimes but frequently made me laugh. They were such a good group of kids and were so loving. Some of our highlights included  three evacuations: one for a bomb threat and two for fires in the bathroom. The bomb threat happened the end of my first or second week teaching full time. My mentor teacher left her cell phone in her car and so ran out to get in while I was teaching first period. She came back in, pulled me aside and said that no one was to leave the classroom due to a bomb threat but that I was supposed to continue teaching. Needless to say I was a little distracted finishing my lesson. A little while later they announced we were all to evacuate to the nearby middle school. We spent a few hours in their gym. We had a spontaneous teacher vs student volleyball game and a dance party before they released the students for the day. I also had a new student show up one day fresh from prison and completely high.

Shalyn and I in front of the new MLK memorial.

Over the course of the semester we had a fun time comparing and contrasting Medieval and Renaissance Art, competing as Italian city-states, creating humanist pieces of art, and many other fun activities. I also learned a great deal about differentiating instruction to meet the needs of students with different learning abilities. I learned so much. Hopefully the kids learned as much from me as I did from them. I got fabulous reviews from my mentor and supervisor. My last week at my school I was in the bathroom when I heard one of my students call out.

"Ms. Gee?"

"Yes?" I responded, somewhat puzzled that she wanted to have a conversation right now.

"Why do you have to leave? Please stay and keep being our teacher."

I waited to continue until I could see her face to face. She was so cute. She wanted me to stay and teach them the rest of the year, and the next year, and the year after that. How flattering that she would want me to stay AND teach her in the future.

Our free cupcakes from  Georgetown Cupcakes. So good!

I loved my experience in DC and know that I needed to be there. Those kids needed me for a short while and I needed them. Now I am at home trying to figure out what to do next but I hope that I can return to DC to teach, especially at my school. I'll keep you posted on future plans as they develop.