2008 in Review

I keep thinking about how odd it seems to think back to just a year ago- with all the changes in my life, it seems like so long ago. I haven't been great about journaling this year, (I did ok for the first half!) so maybe I could do a short review about my year! (My friend gave me the idea.)

So here it goes...

The beginning of the year was a new kind of experience for me: Rexburg in real winter. (I'd always managed to escape the snow right before it REALLY got cold. :) Tredging up to class in knee-deep snow (ok just slightly exaggerating here.) was defiantely new: November/December was only ankle deep. My funnest (sorry about the sarcasm there-) experience was walking the two miles in the snow at 7am to do observations for my teaching methods class... Fun times. The good part of that semester though was the fact that my friend Amy came up to join me at BYUI. That was exciting- It was fun to live with someone of my own choosing for once. We had tons of fun experiences (like all-nighters right before finals) and our friendship and testimonies were strengthened by eachother; always a good thing.

Also in that semester was my directing class; the class I'd been looking forward to for four years. Unfortuantely, it was basically a huge letdown; not because I don't love directing (becasue I do) but becasue my teacher was... well let's just say that there's much to be desired there. Anyway the class was (at times) amazing; I feel I learned a lot, and it strengthened in me the desire to really be a teacher. It was fun to combine my teaching and my directing together, helping my actors reach their highest potential. I loved it. I really want to take another directing class now, to fill in the many gaps in my directing knowledge.

In May my nephew McKay was born; for Haylee it was amazing because I got to be there to see my adorable neice when she was born. McKay was hard because I didn't even get to see him till he was no longer an infant. It was hard hearing all about him, knowing that I wasn't a part of his life. But I am now, so that's comforting.

The summer came too quickly, and with it, the stress of my final semester of college. I had one of the hardest days of college when I found out that my nephew was being blessed, my brother's high school graduation, and my big brother was coming home all on the same weekend. I hated not being there for that; it was really rough there for awhile. But I got through it, keeping busy as usual: I continued to prepare for student teaching, always doing too much, never having enough time (sound familiar), and in reality it all paid off when I stepped into that classroom (well, theatre) for the first time with students in it. More about that in a minute... My big summer adventure was spend aboard a cruise ship en route to Mexico! It was really amazing; it was a dream of my paternal family for a long time... and truly it was everything I'd expected it to be; plus some. Mexico was beautiful, and I realized I really like cruising. Ah if only I was a millionaire and could do it every year!

Not long after the cruise (like 3 days to be exact.) I had to report to Las Vegas for my student teaching. That was an amazing experience, there's little else I can say. I'm so excited to be teaching now... I can barely wait until my credential goes through. I want to start right now!!! I realized how much I LOVED working with the students, talking to them, coaching them, helping them develop their talents and find new ones. I gained a ton of respect for my first group of students, and I'm so grateful for the experience I was able to have with them. I'll always carry that memory with me, no matter how many other groups of students I'll have (which I hope is a lot.) I discovered a lot about me in regards to my teaching style, how I teach, and what I want for my own classroom/program. I got a lot of help realizing the kind of teacher I want to be. I love teaching!

So that brings me to December, the end of the year. Compared to the last 11 months, it was pretty relaxing and slow, which was nice. I began working on my sub-licence, which will allow me to substitute teach in the local schools. Hopefully it won't take much more time. So until then... I'm just trying to get my life in order! Wish me luck!

Oh and did I mention? I'm learning the Guitar!