Christmas!

Merry Christmas! I know I'm a little late, but I don't care. Devin and I had a great Christmas with lots of fun new things. We both got a "big" present then smaller things and one "big" thing for the family.

Devin's "big" gift that he can't stop playing with is his iPod touch. Those things are so amazing and we both have been having lots of fun with it.

My main gift was a Wii Fit. I was SO excited about this and was really surprised when I got one....considering they are always sold out. I gues Devin had been calling stores about every day to see when their shipments were coming in. The moment he found one he went right there and got it. Having a Wii Fit has really motivated me to get exercising and I've been using it every day with 6lbs lost already! It's so fun to exercise when you're playing little games, plus it's such an easy way to keep track of BMI and weight.

Our family's big gift was a video camera. We have been using our friends for such a long time and felt so bad for always having it -- we still need to return it (oops) -- that we decided to get ourselves one. It is really nice quality and will last our family a long time.

We've had a great break so far and are so excited for yet another week of nothing planned. I'm really not looking forward to heading back to teaching and I haven't planned anything for the new year yet -- I better get cracking!

Here are some fun recent pics!!

Way to long!

So I realize that it has been way to long since I last updated on here... some of you might be wondering if I ever would again. I probably won't even give that much of an update because it is really late and my "teacher mode -- go to bed early mode" is starting to kick in.

Things have been busy for us, but good. At this Thanksgiving time I've had lots of opportunity to reflect on what I am thankful for. I am so thankful to have such an AWESOME family. My sister came out for Thanksgiving from California and spent the whole week with us. It was so fun to be with them and rock out with Rock Band. I am thankful for a wonderful husband who cares so much for me and shows his love to me every day. Most of all, I am thankful for my older brother and Savior, Jesus Christ. I'm so greatful for what he has done for me and the sacrifice that he gave. Who could ask for greater love? I am so excited for the Christmas season -- not so much for all the gifts (even though they're fun), but because it helps me focus on others and on Him. I am so greatful for someone to always turn to in prayer and who will always be there to lift me up when I am down and rejoice with me when I am happy.

May we all remember the true meaning of christmas!

Wishing you the best holiday season ever,
Sarah

Is this really happening in 4th grade?

In my classroom, I am starting to have quite a few problems with a few of the students. They just can't seem to get along with one another. One of my students was throwing a Halloween party and he could only invite so many kids. He made the mistake of handing them out AT school -- of course causing lots of problems. The biggest one being that two of my female students don't get along very well and he invited both of them. One of them -- we'll call her Sally -- said that she wouldn't go if the other one -- named Susy for the sake of confidentiality -- was going. So the boy throwing the party really likes Sally and wanted her to go more than Susy so he goes up to Susy and demands that she give him back the invitation...can you believe it!?!? He was practically throwing a fit because Sally didn't want to give it back and thought it was rude for him to ask for it (and I really agree with her). Anyway, I ended up having a HUGE lecture to my class about being nice and keeping those things OUTSIDE of class. I swear 4th graders are not supposed too act like this!! I've actually had several complaints about "Sally" saying she's been rude and something must be going on with her because she normally is so nice (early PMS maybe)Anyway it made me totally frustrated that my class CANNOT seem to get along that on Monday we are having a huge class meeting and having lessons on friendship.

I also have a student who likes to talk about inappropriate things -- I'm not just talking about using bad language like swear words, read inappropriate material, and then goes and talks about it with the other guys. One of the parents actually called me about it!! I just went straight to the Vice Principal because she is over things like that. But what do I do?!? I haven't witnessed anything because it's all at recess and lunch, when of course the teacher isn't around. I just thought it was so crazy to happening in 4th grade --these boys are 9 and 10 for heaven's sake!

Of course not all my class has behavior problems. I actually have some really good, really smart students too! I am really enjoying teaching and it definitely keeps me busy. There's always lessons to be planned, journals to respond to, filing cabinets to organize -- which I still TOTALLY need to do, and little minds to mold. Although it can be really tough, frustrating, and there's times when you just want to YELL at them; there are still the precious hugs, the notes saying you're the greatest teacher, the "Oh I get it!" light bulbs that go off, the smiles, and the satisfaction of knowing that YOUR JOB ACTUALLY MAKES A DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD.
To all the different teachers I've had over the years and all the teachers of the world:

THANK YOU!

NewYork City!!

Well, I just got back from a trip to the big apple with my 4 sisters. It was a blast. We met up on Thursday the 16th and I stayed until Saturday the 18th (3 of my other sisters stayed until Sunday the 19th -- but that's a story in and of itself).

Here's the news of the trip...

Wednesday my sister Jennifer flew in from California to Salt Lake. My sister Ruth and I met her and we went out to dinner -- Devin tagged along and he was the one that took us to the airport. Anyway, after dinner we went to Ruth's house and changed into our PJ's. Our flight left at 12:01 am Thursday morning so we wanted to be comfy on the trip.
We actually didn't get to sleep much on the plane, I never realized how difficult it is to really sleep well on an airplane before. Every time I would wake up I'd see Ruth sleeping against the window (she said she didn't sleep, but I don't believe her) and I'd see Jen sitting in the middle wide awake -- just sitting there.

We finally landed, but it was only around 5:30 in the morning New York time. We had an adventure finding our luggage. You'd think you'd just be able to follow the baggage claim signs, but the JFK airport signs are not helpful. All we did was follow the signs saying "baggage claim" and we ended up in a totally different part of the airport. We ended up in some really small baggage area. When we asked someone, they said that it should have been right by our terminal. We had to go outside the airport and walk around. Plus, to welcome us to NYC we almost got ran over by zooming taxis.

Our second adventure was getting from the airport to the hotel in Manhattan. We decided to be cheap and take the subway. First of all, it was very difficult lugging a suitcase -- wheels or no wheels -- through the little subway entrances. When we got on the subway we were in Queens and we were about the only white people on there. Funny story of the day: We got on and Ruth (the only experienced subway traveler in the group) told me to grab a bar. To which I replied, "Oh, I'll just hang on to Jen" Okay so that was the stupidest thing to say. The subway starts and Jen and I go flying. REALLY EMBARRASSING!!

We get to our hotel, but it's only a little after 6 so of course we can't check in. We left our bags with them and went off to tour around! Here are some things we did that morning...

1. We went to the American Girl Place store (You have to know that when I was younger I was a HUGE fan...I have 3 of the dolls. So this was a must for me)
They even had a Doll hair salon. You'd put your doll in the salon chair and they had actual people hired to do your dolls hair. How'd you like to explain that job "Oh I do dolls' hair all day for my job :)They also had a restuarant and they were nice enough to let the dolls eat free. One would hope the dolls eat free.

2. We walked around -- A LOT! Saw the Rockafellar Center and ice rink, Radio City Music Hall, and St. Patrick's Cathedral

We went inside St. Patrick's Cathedral and looked at all the beautiful architecture and stained glass. Here was the gorgeous rose window:We also went to a cathedral called Grace Church. Outside Grace Church we saw a special appearance of...SPIDERMAN?!?

Grace Church also had beautiful stained glass. We sat for awhile and listened to the organist play Bach music....until we all fell asleep! I woke up to see that both Jen and Ruth on either side of me were fast asleep. We decided we should go to the hotel and take a nap.

After some much needed R&R we got ready and headed out for a night on the town. We walked around Times Square (which was right outside our hotel), went to dinner, and went to a play "Altar Boyz." I had never heard of it before, but it was HILARIOUS. It's all about this catholic boy band that tries to save the world from sin through song and dance. It was set up like a concert and was very interactive with the audience. We had excellent seats on the 3rd row. My sister Jennifer really wanted to see it because it has Neil Haskell who was on "So You Think You Can Dance" and was one of the top 3 contestants -- She loves him. Anyway, the "boyz" in the band were Matthew, Mark, Luke, Juan (He's Spanish), and Abraham (Jewish). It really was quite enjoyable with songs like ... God Put the Rhythm in Me and La Vida Eternal. It was a great evening.

Later that night, my two other sisters Rebecca and Julie arrived and we spent the evening in our hotel making a big sign for the Today Show the next morning.

I did most of the lettering while everyone else colored...I was very proud of the end result.

Well, it was a very fun, event filled day! That was just the beginning of a lot of walking, touring, shopping, and just plain fun in New York. More to follow...

The man of my dreams

I got tagged, so now I get to brag about my wonderful hubby!

1. Where did you meet? While we were working for Sento corp. I sat next to the supervisor so when she was busy people would come ask me questions. Devin was new and I had been there awhile. He would get up to my desk to ask me a question and totally blank -- it was actually really cute
2. How long did you date before you got married? about 6 months. We met in June and got engaged in December
3. How long have you been married? Almost 2 1/2 years. Time flies when you're in love!
4. What does he do that surprises you? When he will randomly clean things that he knows I want cleaned. When I was NYC he clean our bedroom and everything so nicely!
5. What is your favorite feature of his? his eyes or smile they're both amazing
6. What is your favorite quality of his? I love that he makes me laugh every day
7. Does he have a nickname for you? sarahbeara -- I have no clue how you would spell it out :)
8. What is his favorite color? aqua-marine :)
9. What is his favorite food? He really likes sushi -- served a mission in Japan, but he's not picky and will eat pretty much anything
10. When and where was your first kiss? This is actually a really fun story, but unfortunately I don't have the time to write it all now. The actual first kiss came when we were behind my apartment complex in Provo sitting on the bumper of his mini-van. It was around October.
11. What is your favorite thing to do as a couple? relax, watch movies, play games, watch TV (we like the Office, Scrubs, and Chuck especially)
12. Do you have any children? Trying, but none yet
13. Does he have a hidden talent? I'm not sure it's hidden, but he's really good at Ultimate. Maybe a more hidden one is his musical abilities. He is great at singing, composing songs, and playing the piano by ear.
14. How old is he? 24
15. Who said "I love you" first? Devin "whispered" it first
16. What is his favorite type of music? Alternative
17. What do you admire most about him? that's just too hard to choose! He is such a good husband and is always thinking of me and trying to please me and do nice things for me. He is so strong in the gospel and is always motivating me to do better. I truly do have the man of my dreams!
18. Do you think he will read this? He better!

So, as many of you already know I am teaching and needless to say that takes up all my time. However, I told myself that whether or not my lessons were planned I was going to post on my blog. School is going great and is so busy...there's always something more to do. I decided that I am going to add up one of these days how much time I spend in a car. It takes about 35 from my garage to the parking lot of the school so really in just one day I spend about 70 minutes just one day. That's not even including if the traffic is bad or if I have to go into Provo. Driving can be such a nuisance sometimes.

Well, I feel like all I've been talking about is school -- since that's all that ever really happens it's hard to talk about other things. But other things have been happening...

1. We no longer have nuskin discounts :(
2. I am playing Orem Ultimate frisbee with Devin. We play just about every Saturday and it's been great to play on a team together and for me to exercise. Although I'm not very good it's still a lot of fun and we both look forward to it.
3. BYU football -- Devin and I got all sport passes and so we go to all the home games. We are both avid fans and have a ton of fun together cheering on the cougars. On a school side note, I teach half-way between U of U and BYU so I have students that cheer for both schools. Let's just say things can get VERY interesting if either school is brought up. What am I going to do when they play each other?
4. sickness -- I got sick a little while ago and was finally getting better then I decided to be a very stupid yet support wife and watched my husband play frisbee at Utah State -- IN THE RAIN!! So, once again I am a little sick, luckily this time I'm just stuffed up. Keep your fingers crossed that it doesn't get worse or happen again for awhile.
5. Planning vacations -- Next week I will be leaving my husband. Don't worry we'll still be married :) I'll just be in New York. My sisters and I have been planning to meet up in the "big apple" for a weekend of fun. I'm really excited and can't believe it's a week from today that I leave!

Well, the teacher side of my conscience is telling me that I really should go and plan at least a little for tomorrow. Plus, I can't really think of much else. I did turn 23 last month...GO ME! We went out to dinner for my birthday and celebrated a little with some friends. I'm so glad we have some really good friends!! I got some fun games, gift certificates to a teacher supply store, money, and a REALLY soft blanket -- I absolutely love soft things.

I will hopefully put some pictures on soon because I think blogs are definitely more fun with pictures!!

One week down, thirty-nine to go!

Whew! I have survived my first week teaching!! It has been fun, exciting, and VERY stressful. My class is a little on the noisy side and we're still working on not talking while others are talking and raising our hands. They are fun bunch though. I feel like there's always something else to do and never am able to fully accomplish all that I would like. I've been asked why I get home from school so late and I've tried to explain, but people just don't get it. The time FLYS when you have 7+ hours of fun and engaging activities to plan for just one day...now plan for 5 days. At my school we have to send home learning plans with a weekly schedule so the parents know what's going on. It's great, but that means that I have to have that ALL planned and done ahead of time. Needless to say, there are days when there just isn't enough time to plan, organize, make copies for the next day, get materials ready, respond to journals etc...etc... So the next time you come in contact with a school teacher, please don't ask why they get home so late -- chances are they know it's late and they don't want to be that late either.