I have been really enjoying my new-found freedom since school got out June 9. I've been doing lost of hikes, bike rides, traveling, and relaxing. It's been pretty great. Here are some pictures of my recent happenings.
My current roommates & I (Alex & Nicole)
My former roommate, Ronnie, came to visit & we got pedicures
The view from my favorite trail run (Rattlesnake Gulch + Pipeline)
Trail run with my sis Angela in MOAB! Love her.
New baby niece Felicity! So adorable.
Mountain biking with Ang. I always hate it in the first 30 minutes & then love it :)
RAINBOW
Angela made me a DELICIOUS pie & I spent my birthday with these adorable kids. It was delightful.
Hannah banana is growing up so fast.
My principal Teri and I. She has made a big difference in my life & is a great example of true leadership that I will always be striving to emulate!
I dated this guy Karl. Here we are at the Red Butte venue concert up on the hilltops.
This is my last "have lunch with your teacher;" you can tell how excited they are ;)
My third year of teaching class picture!
Went hiking with my friend Sarah. Check out that view though
It's been fun to hike to where ever I want for how long I want.
Also celebrated newfound freedom by going paddleboarding for my first time. I loved it.
I went to visit my friend Mary Christina in Chicago for five days. It was a blast!
Us biking along the lakefront.
THE BEAN!!!
Buckingham Fountain
Downtown
I loved how the buildings were disappearing into the clouds :)
At the Art Institute of Chicago~ the lady wouldn't let me take out my umbrella :(
We went to Chinatown & got real Chinese food. Mmm
we took a water taxi back and this was our view!
More biking on the lakefront- this time to Navy Pier (north)
tree in my face...
This was the most amazing dish- a blend of my two favorite foods (Korean + Mexican= Korean tacos)
I went to her Presbyterian Church with MC. Beautiful chapel no?
View from the top of the Hancock Buildling
This is the view from a hike I went on with Karl. The storm clouds were rolling in. It was beautiful!
My typical Grandeur Peak hike was accompanied by one thousand bugs biting me through my spandex & 90+ degree temps, but it was still beautiful! :)
i love to see the temple, still!
Found some Korean tacos here in Salt Lake = score!
Bought clipless pedals after this ride up Emigration Canyon. So beautiful & the only real plausible form of exercise when it is 90+ degrees all day. Everything is especially green in Utah because of the rainy month of May. :)
I'm sitting here, on "my" front lawn, with the spring breeze blowing in my (overly short) hair (freak out begins as I think about how short my hair is and how the color is too dark...wheh..back to reality)...
It's a beautiful spring day. I have to admit, when spring hits in Utah, I just feel lighter. My life in general is happier, more relaxed, and I love spending my evenings enjoying the spring weather on my front porch, going on walks/runs, soaking in the setting sun instead of racing it like I do in the winter. It is divine.
Not to mention that my third year of teaching is coming to an end in one month (ish). I can't believe it. This year has f.l.o.w.n. by. I've been working the five-day work weeks, and to be honest, it's been exhausting. My energy and patience slowly decrease as the week progresses, and by Friday, I am spent. You'd think it'd get easier, and it does in some ways, but doesn't in others.
Lately, I've really struggled with feeling overwhelmed with weaknesses and feeling like I'm not good enough at ______(fill in the blank). Although ideally confidence is built from within and not from outside sources, I recognize that being in the "dating game" can and does take serious blows to your confidence. It's been especially hard for me recently because I went on a blind date with a boy (whom I felt so excited about after the date- RARE occurrence in and of itself) and he never called back although he said "I'll be in touch" (apparently that means NOTHING). #bit Of course, I don't know the reason, and I don't even want to know the reason, but for whatever reason, it's been hard for me. Maybe because it's a culmination of all the rejection/rejecting of this game. Maybe it's because I have put a lot of effort into this game since January and it has gotten me nowhere. As if I thought the reason I wasn't getting anywhere was because of lack of effort? I've known that wasn't the reason but still expected some sort of progress with my increased effort...but no.
Anyways, this same insecurity has carried over into my job. I've been praying about it, and it's been testimony-strengthening this past week to recognize specific instances in my job when I would've/should've/could've reacted impatiently but I didn't. I went into this job three years ago recognizing that it would give me opportunities to develop attributes (patience, nurturing, etc) that I wanted to develop. Most days I feel like I have not made progress in those goals. But this past week I have recognized that Heavenly Father is helping me and that I have made progress. It has been a happy realization, although I recognize I still have so far to go.
It's been a strange dynamic as I try to transition from my job to graduate school. My coworkers have become my family over the past three years - they've been there from my cry-session after failing the Praxis, my support group after breaking up with a crazy ex-boyfriend, my cheerleader as I got into the China program last summer, and my examples of people I want to become. They've been there when I'm excited to be at work and when I'm not. I feel blessed beyond words to have learned from so many of them and sad to not get to work with them every day. Below is one of my fav's (Steph).
But alas, graduate school is happening, and I know it's the right step. But it won't hit me until I'm buying textbooks and walking around the University of Utah campus (what?) and sitting in class instead of teaching a class. Talk about role reversal. I'm ready for a change, but it's still weird
I've tried to take a few videos of my students to savor the moments I have with them. They make me laugh and brighten my life.
The first is of my students "tutoring" first graders. I started this tradition this year of tutoring first graders (and having the third graders come in and tutor us). It took some serious teaching to teach them how to teach others, let me tell you. Initially they all went in there, sped through the passages in one minute without ever letting the first graders open their mouths, and then yelled out in unison, "I'm done, what now?" We had to teach them "teacher skills" and model what a good/bad tutor looks like, all the way down to hand motions, body positions, pausing, encouraging. It has been such a cool process to watch them become teachers of the language, not just students. Many of the "lower" students who may have seemed disengaged in our classroom latch onto the idea of teaching others.
The following video is of a couple of my students conversing in Chinese during one of their recesses. I asked them a few questions just to see what they would respond (What's your name? Why are you in Chinese dual immersion? What do you like to do? What's in your room? - because we had just learned how to talk about that, for some reason).
Some other fun photos...
My students watching a video I made of me eating/cutting fruit I bought in China. They liked learning about all the different and exotic fruits! Still feeling so grateful for last summers' opportunity!
A self-portrait one of my students drew of himself :) It is my favorite ever (Caleb)
Another self-portrait that I absolutely love. (Lydia)
This is also my favorite. Male-pattern baldness at age 7? Yes please. Ha ha! (Kyan)
And a post from me would not be a post without some photos in nature. You knew it was comin...although this trip (below) was begun with a terrible night's sleep laying there in a cold pile of puddle, the hike on Saturday was worth it. The colors on the Negro Bill Canyon trail were phenomenal and it is now one of my favorite hikes in Moab.
And with that, I'm out. Here's to two more Monday's of work before summer break :)
Another one of my favorite photos. This was before I fell on a cactus. :(
After spending four days in Moab down south with Ang and Mom and Dad, I hitched a flight to Philadelphia with my friend Sarah to visit our mutual friend Kassidy who got married recently and moved there with her husband.
Valley Forge building (we were freezing)
Reading Terminal // Pike place market in Seattle = so great
Again, freezing
Independence Hall - a very inspirational tour!
Single at Love Park, Philly
Time Square!
Watching Phantom of the Opera on Broadway, from Box 5! What! yes
On a boat tour around Manhattan. So awesome and windy!
Gorging my face with amazing gourmet crepes in NYC
lovin on the Manhattan and (forgot the name) bridges and lady liberty!
