Time to Say Good Bye

I have been putting off this post mostly because it is a little too emotional. I feel like crying as I write this blog post. When I was younger I thought I would get married at the age of 20 and have children right away. I wasn't ever going to use my degree and I wasn't even sure if I was going to graduate. Well things don't always work out the way we imagine and sometimes they work out for the better. When I graduated single I got a job at Orem Junior High teaching 7th and 8th Grade History and I have been there ever since. If you would have asked me my first year whether I liked my job I am not sure what I would have told you. But the last couple of years I have fallen in love with teaching, with hormonal teenagers, with OJHS, and with my coworkers. I had the BEST job! I could say a lot more, but I would rather get through this post without sobbing. I am grateful that I graduated and that I had the opportunity to use my degree. I have learned so much the last few years, but I knew it couldn't last. Allen graduated in April and we are off to Alabama in July. As much as I wanted the best for Allen, a part of me would have been okay if he didn't get accepted and I could have stayed at OJHS for another year. But he did and I am proud of him and I am excited for our new adventure, just sad to leave my school. When I told my principal that I was moving and cried in his office. He probably thought I was crazy.

Here are a few pictures of my cute little (but larger than our apartment) classroom

Allen drew the United States. We both were invested at OJHS :)
This was my corner for my students to get to know me and my name plate

I had a lot of students give me some really nice gifts.

The last week of school was pretty difficult. I cried a lot... For most the last week of school is a time to celebrate, for me I felt like I was in Mourning. The last day I was trying to be strong and not cry. The bell rang and I had succeeded, until this large group of ninth graders that I love came in to say goodbye and I broke. I love these girls so much and all I could say to them was "take AP classes." Thanks Sabey... We love you too....

And then I had to turn in my keys to me dear sweet friend, mentor, VP, and Mother at OJHS. Once again I wasn't as strong as I hoped. This woman is amazing. We call her the bionic Woman. She is the energizer bunny. She does so much for the school. As a former Social Studies teacher she does so much for our department and she did so much for me. She never had a negative thing to say. She showed me how to see the positive in everything. She has so much love to give and I am grateful that she has been placed in my life.

This is Camille and Jake. I coached Track with these guys for four years. I keep hoping that if we come back for a PhD they will allow me to join the coaching staff again.

And these are the ladies I love at OJHS. These are the ladies that kept me sane on days when I wasn't so excited to be a teacher. On the far left is Kathe former Social Studies teacher and department chair current Vice Principal. (It helps to have friends in high places). Debbie is in the Red. She is our administrative Secretary who I just wanted to always go talk to during my Prep Period. Camille is in the sunglasses. She is the most amazing choir teacher and runner. She has run something like 24 marathons. Missing from the picture is Lindsey who was at OJHS my first two years. She truly is my mentor. I student taught in her classroom and I like to say I just follow in her footsteps as she left OJHS because of her husband's graduate school. And the two ladies on the right are my best friends Allison and Ashley. We made up the Social Studies Department. Our former principal once called us the "babes of the school" he could have meant our age, but we like to think he meant our great looks. While teaching is such a rewarding profession, it is incredibly draining and difficult. But the few minutes I could walk down to the copy room with them or pop into their classrooms to blow off steam or check up on each other made those hard days better. I worked with my best friends and not everyone can say that. I am so grateful for all the ladies in this picture.

I loved my job and not everybody can say that. I miss it already. I feel like I need to have a moment of silence every time I drive past Orem Junior. I love history, I love teaching, I love kids. Luckily I get to have all those loves in my next job :). I love Orem Junior, but I am excited for our new adventure.

Thank You Mr. Sabey and Happy Norway

About a week and a half ago was my birthday. When I was little I thought 26 years old was really old. A lot of my siblings had two or three children by the time they were 26. For some reason that makes 26 years old sound old. But I am here now and I don't think 26 is very old. Maybe it is because I still look like I am in Junior High, maybe it is because my perception of age has changed, maybe it is because most of my co workers are older than me, but 26 is no longer old.

So this year, my birthday was fabulous! Ashley B and a student had a little birthday party for my at lunch. My student made this fabulous poster to hang in my room. My students were nicer than usual. And then Allen planned a whole especially for me. He took me out to a Thai Restaurant which isn't his favorite and then he took me to the Symphony. And we ran into our cousin and her family when we were in SLC. It was a perfect day

Here is my sweet Student and the cute poster she made.

My Cousin Allison and I ran into each other at the Church History Museum. It was a great birthday present.

Pretty Tulips on Temple Square

Abravanel Hall after the Symphony

Yesterday was Norwegian Independence Day! To celebrate we made a fruit pizza and decorated it like the Norwegian Flag.

Happy Norway!

It's the Final Count Down

9 Days left at OJHS

4 days of teaching at OJHS

5 Days of babysitting at OJHS

23 days till I go to Oregon and see my family

30 days till my Husband meets me in Oregon

35 days till I go on the Lewis and Clark Trail

38 days till Allen works at the mission president seminar at the MTC

65 days till we leave our first home at Wymount Terrace

69 days till we reach our new home in a new culture in Alabama

GRADUATION!

Long and Short

Long and... Short!

The Verdict is In

We are moving to Auburn Alabama so Allen can attend Auburn University for graduate school. We are excited for this new adventure in our lives. I will finish out the school year here and then Allen will continue to work at the MTC through most of July and sometime near the end of July we will move across the country. We found out that we are only 8 hours away from Orlando so if you want to go to Disney World in the next two years you can stop by and see us.

Small World

Allen is in Auburn Alabama right now checking out Auburn's program. After this week we should know where we are going. The graduate school hooked Allen up with a place to stay with one of the graduate students in the program. Last night as he got there he called me and asked me if I knew a "David Nord." I said, "yes, he is my student. He has been my student the last two years and I just saw him in the school play tonight." Well it turns out that Allen was staying at my student's sister's house. My student's sister is married to the MFT graduate student at Auburn University. So while Alabama seems like it is far away, it turns out it isn't as far as it seems.

Ode to Oregon

I love Oregon for many reasons. Today I will share one of those reasons. The other day I had to get gas. I got out of the car and I thought I was about to get blown away by the wind. And it was very cold. That was a moment when I wished I was back in Oregon. Where I could pull up the the tank, roll down the window just a crack, hand my card to the attendant, say, "unleaded please," roll my window back up and stay warm while the attendant filled the gas tank. Oh sweet sweet Oregon.

The Results from Moab

We did it! Allen ran his very first half-marathon and he did awesome. We camped the night before and I didn't freeze which is amazing for me. Then we got dropped off at the start 2.5 hours before the race started. And it was freezing! Out of all the Moab half-marathons I have run, this was by far the coldest.

And then we started! Allen was so nice to run with me. We ran together for 9 miles but then I got sick so he finished hard. He got his fastest time ever in a half-marathon and I got my slowest. We both got records. I think that because I have run so many 1/2 marathons and marathons that I think I can go and run without training. I guess I can run it, but I just don't get the time I want when I don't train. We had really fun running it together. Allen and my friend Camille were right at the finish line and it was fun to see them.

After the race we went to Arches and hiked Delicate Arch. We know we are leaving and we probably won't be back in Moab again for the next couple of years. We were really tired. A hike that would usually be pretty easy seemed really difficult after running 13.1 miles. But the view was worth it.

Running and the Moab Half

For Allen, March means March Madness. For me, March means the Moab half Marathon. I I have run it 3 times and and gone down to watch on other time. It could be my favorite race of all time. It is beautiful and we run right by the Colorado River. This year Allen is running too. It is his first half marathon. The most he has run is 6 miles so it is going to be a big day tomorrow.

I love running so much! Teaching has put a little bit of a damper on my running schedule. I think that is why I like summer so much because I run a lot. I love getting distracted in my thoughts on a long run. I love looking and talking to other runners in races. I have never had music in a race and I have run about 6 half marathons, 5 full marathons, 3 10ks and way too many 5Ks to count. Tomorrow will be exciting. One more musicless half to add to the list!

Below are just a couple of pictures of the Moab Half during my college years.

March Madness

I (Allen) think "March Madness" is an appropriate nickname for this time of year. At least for some us, myself included. Madness. Insanity. Lunacy. All appropriate adjectives for the NCAA Men's basketball tournament. The fans, the games, the build up, the wins, the losses, everything. I love it. I really try to stay balanced most of the time, except during March Madness. I can't really explain it but I'm pretty obsessed. You can tell by the content and activity of my Facebook wall, which is mostly posts from ESPN.go.com or other similar tournament-covering websites. I filled out 4 brackets this year.

1) My real bracket

2) My BYU bracket (I have BYU in the Final Four). This actually may be better called My MWC bracket because I have UNLV upsetting Kanses, and then SDSU and UNM in the Elite Eight.

3) My upset bracket

4) My seed bracket (everyone wins or loses according to seeding)

The funny thing is, no one cares about anyone's bracket but their own. But I don't care. Let the Madness begin!

HELP!!! WESTERN EXPANSION

So for the next couple of days I am teaching about moving west in US History and Manifest Destiny. I have taught it 3 times before, but I don't love it. The only thing I love from my Western Expansion lessons is I show two clips from the classic Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise movie Far and Away that shows they are immigrants and they are going to move west for a new chance at life and then where they go and claim their land. But besides that I don't know what to do. I always want to do something they will enjoy... but that always takes so much planning and organizing. I am just at a loss... I need suggestions.

The End of an Era

Last Saturday Allen and I went to our last BYU Basketball game as "undergrads." Well, at least it was Allen's last game as an undergrad. We don't necessarily want to talk about the outcome of the game, but we do want to talk about how much we love BYU sports. Going to BYU sporting events has been one of our favorite dates the last few years. We love BYU SO MUCH! At the start of the game during the introduction, I even got a little emotional knowing it was our final home game. We are still excited to go to our final volleyball game and baseball game and then that is it. hopefully we can have access to the Mountain or Verses or CBS sports where ever we go next. Cougar Fight song we are going to miss you. Cosmo we are going to miss you. Free T-shirts being thrown into the crowd we are going to miss you (both of our shirts were free). Funny short man that organizes the crowd games we are going to miss you. We love you BYU! Go Cougars!

Here are a few of our ward members at the game.

Too bad BYU lost by 2 points.