Yesterday taught me about my Savior's love, and how the gospel really works.
I started off having a really bad morning, to spare you the silly details just little things that happened were getting to me and those little things led me to be late to work which I hate because then the day starts off on the wrong foot. Well, the school day went very well all things considered- I had an awesome day. However, there were others having a less then awesome day.
During the beginning of 6th period the principal got on to make an announcement. He proceeded to talk about some bullying issues that were going on in the school and how they were completely inappropriate and "unspartan-like." The things he was talking about were mostly just small junior high pranks, sticking notes on each other, teasing in the halls, etc. I am not trying to diminish how much those things can emotionally hurt someone, and how damaging they can be but I'm just trying to express that they weren't huge acts. Well, my 6th period is an auditioned women's choir full of the most up-standing young ladies you will ever meet. I could tell that these incidents had nothing to do with them based on the shocked expressions in their faces during the announcements. To share an example about their character, it was just earlier in the week that I had told them, "Ladies, the principal is coming in to do my formal observation tomorrow-if you could be the most awesome students tomorrow I would appreciate it." Now, they are awesome students all the time, they just love to talk to one another which can be detrimental to learning. But, come the next day when the principal came in they were ANGELS. I could not have dreamed of better students. These young ladies truly care for those around them.
Since I knew their character, when the principal asked us to discuss these things further with our students I decided to go a different direction. When I think of bullies, I think of the root of the problem-they've probably had bad experiences that make them project onto other students. I talked to my girls (I call them that because I really do care for these, and all my students) about looking out for those who can't always look out for themselves. I encouraged them to seek out the bullies and instead of ridiculing them for their hateful acts, to try to befriend them and maybe find out why they do the things they do. Now, some Junior High school-ers are just mean, it's true. But, others come from broken homes, and bad situations which is what fuels their bad behavior. I also asked them to look out for those that are being bullied, who may not know there is something taped to their back, or that may not be able to stand up for themselves.
This bulling situation was the first thing in the day that helped me to understand the Savior's principle of Mercy vs. Justice. The Savior understands us as whole beings, and understands why we may act the way we do. We can't always comprehend each other and find the empathy and understanding for those who are the causers of pain. At least in my life, they cause pain because they've felt it. In the wise words of Kid President, "don't be a bully- it just makes more bullies."
Now, to give some credit back to the students-the majority of them really look out for each other. One student in-particular comes to mind. I'll call him Mike. Mike has a tendency to act out in my class sometimes. He does things to be funny that he doesn't always realize are hurtful. I've had to pull him aside on a few occasions and help him realize some of his jokes could hurt those around him. Well, Mike's locker is also very close to where I stand in the halls between classes to make sure no trouble is happening. There was one day that I watched him stop after closing his locker to walk away because a girl with a locker next to his had had her locker shelf fall down, leaving all her things strewn about in a very busy hallway. He turned around and helped her retrieve all her things, which really impressed me. At our school, we have what they call a "caught in the act" award. Students who are seen doing a good deed are written a slip to be entered in a drawing to win a jamba juice. I immediately returned to my classroom and wrote one out for him. I began to understand this student better, that he always means well although it doesn't appear that way.
This leads me back to my second experience that taught me the principle of Mercy vs. Justice. On my way home yesterday, I was in a major car accident-car totaled (not that it took much to total our old 1999 chevy cavalier with 180,000+ miles on it). I was driving on I-15, in a 75 mph speed zone. I was in the left lane, about to pass a semi when the wind blew and pushed me left (the car is very light, it gets 38 mpg so it doesn't take much to push it), away from the semi. Most people have probably experienced the changes in wind and pressure when you drive near a semi. Well, I tried to correct by steering right slightly, and the wind pressure from the semi sucked me in causing me to swerve tremendously and nick the front step of the semi sending my car swerving left, I tried to correct slightly right, got sucked back in, and the semi tire ran over my right tail light sending me off in the the median, into a ditch, spinning 3/4 of the way around where my car started then heading towards south bound traffic, backwards. The bumper slammed into the guard rail where the car then came to a stop in the ditch of the median. I was so focused on trying to re-gain control of the car that I had not realized I had hit the semi at all. The semi pulled off the road about 1/4 of a mile up and the two gentleman from the semi came running to see if I was okay. I immediately called Jeff, who didn't answer because he was in class. I then called 9-1-1 to report the accident. I called Jeff again, he answered and was on his way. I walked away with literally just a bump on my head from hitting the head rest when I hit the guard rail and high blood pressure-I'll tell this story to lighten the mood a bit.
I stayed after school because there was a district health screening that I attended. They measured my body fat percentage, cholesterol, glucose, and blood pressure all of which were in normal ranges. Well, when I went to the doctor that evening after the accident they took my blood pressure again. I had gone from a normal range, skipped the in the middle range, and gone straight to high blood pressure range-I guess a car accident will due that to you (stress causes a raise in blood pressure).
Back to the accident-emotionally, I was much more hurt then physically. Watching as your car goes out of control on a busy 75 mph highway then spinning off and thinking you're heading into the opposite side of traffic (not realizing in my state that the guard rail was there) where you would be t-boned on the driver's side is enough to shake you quite a bit. I held it together pretty well until Jeff got there, then knowing I was safe in the arms of my husband I lost it. I will spare you the details of the police report paperwork and all of that and skip to the point. How the heck did this teach me mercy vs. justice? Well, after having this crazy experience that had me very shaken, when I was technically doing everything correctly (not on my phone, maybe going 2 miles over the speed limit, both hands on the wheel), I then had the police officer come and issue me a warning and tell me I was at fault, because I did not maintain my lane which is what caused the accident. The semi had some damage, but he drove away afterward, my car was totaled, and I was emotionally scarred. By the law's terms, I was at fault. Now, I won't make a judgement on what should have or shouldn't have been done in this case, because the officer did what he needed to to fulfill his job and the justice of the law. Then this morning I had to get up and relive the whole thing dealing with insurances, knowing that it was technically my fault. That being said, it made me think of my Savior. Our Savior knows us best, he knows I was trying my best to be a safe driver, and that circumstances out of my control occurred. The law must fulfill justice, but our Savior is a merciful being. I walked away relatively unscathed. Some may think, maybe because I didn't pray this morning is why I got in this accident. I think, because I prayed that morning is why I survived the accident with just a bump on my head and sore neck (and of course high blood pressure :D). The Savior has set up, "guard rails" in our life-we think we may never need to use them-but they serve a definite purpose. Living by the commandments, however much we may or may not understand them, protects us daily. Those mistakes that may occur that we don't know are mistakes, or that we unkowningly make, the Savior is merciful enough to forgive us for them. I love the gospel of Jesus Christ, and I know my Savior lives. I'm grateful to have walked away from that situation and live to share my testimony of it.
Friday, November 15, 2013
Saturday, November 9, 2013
Date Night is Cheaper than Divorce
This week was a little less eventful then last week, but there was no Holiday this week. I like to blame it on that. The good news is, I'm posting again less then a week later-baby steps!
Here is a picture that's late-here are my coworkers and myself on Halloween as the 3 little pigs and the big bad wolf-we won 2nd place!
Last Sunday was Taco Day at Jill's house-which means I ate a whole days worth of food in guacamole and chips alone-and then ate dinner. :D Needless to say, I ate way to much.
Since I ate too much on Monday I was inspired to finally start running again on Tuesday. We ran the Top of Utah Half at the end of August and I was good to keep running for a few weeks after that then ended up taking a month or so off. To add some interest here's a picture from that race even though it wasn't this week:
So, on Monday I hit the gym again and was surprised how easily I fell back into running. Hopefully I'll continue to keep up with that too (especially since Jeff wants to run a 10k turkey trot again-gotta get back in good running shape).
Tuesday through Thursday were relatively uneventful, just school for Jeff, work for me, wake up and do it again.
On Friday it was kind of a crazy day at school. The students were just all over the place and I had to send a student to the administration. All week had gone without glitch for the most part and Friday went haywire. Since I had a bad day, Jeff let me pick where we went to dinner-what a good husband I have. It was a hard choice when I could pick anything I wanted and I picked Center Street Grill (a burger place) if that says anything about me. I had a big fat juicy hamburger and fries and Jeff had a Philly Cheesesteak. YUM! I love to be eat out and try new places but it's expensive and not so good for you. The good news is I also love to be in shape-the challenge is finding the joy in both when a appropriate to find balance in life. Right now, its' working out-at least I think so. Afterwards we went to the USU vs. USC basketball game. Our good friends Lindsay and Kevin had won tickets online, so we had legitimate seats instead of student seats-not that there was that big of a difference. But, we had an awesome time. It was good to be back in the Spectrum with friends for Aggie Basketball. I will admit, sometimes I'm slightly embarrassed by the lengths that the fans go to (sometimes its an inappropriate level). Oh well.
On a side note-ever since Jeff and I got married we've tried to make date night a priority. We even built it into our budget even though we don't have a lot (we had even less when we first got married but still put it in our budget then too). I had a church leader and friend always say to me, "paying a babysitter is much cheaper than a divorce"-as far as I'm concerned the same goes for dates since we don't have kids yet. During the week we often get caught up in our own stresses and don't have much time for each other so we have agreed it's incredibly important to have one night for us a week-we may have to decrease the amount of date nights as our lives progress, but there will always be a consistent date night because it keeps our relationship healthy, strong, and growing.
Back from my rant-Friday after the game we got in the car and drove down to West Jordan. We have been trying to make an effort to come down to see Jeff's family more often even if it's not for a long period of time. It just so happened to be sleepover night for two (Kaitlynn and Brightyn) of our nieces at Grandma and Grandpa's house so we got up this morning to play with them. I'm always so shocked at how much they know, and how much they've learned since the last time we've been down. Then a third niece (Kami), came over and we took the three of them down to the park that's in Grandma's neighborhood. Throughout the weekend we should be able to see everyone before we head back which is quite a feat.
I'm so grateful for my loving husband, for my immediate family, and for the awesome family I married into.
Here is a picture that's late-here are my coworkers and myself on Halloween as the 3 little pigs and the big bad wolf-we won 2nd place!
Since I ate too much on Monday I was inspired to finally start running again on Tuesday. We ran the Top of Utah Half at the end of August and I was good to keep running for a few weeks after that then ended up taking a month or so off. To add some interest here's a picture from that race even though it wasn't this week:
So, on Monday I hit the gym again and was surprised how easily I fell back into running. Hopefully I'll continue to keep up with that too (especially since Jeff wants to run a 10k turkey trot again-gotta get back in good running shape).
Tuesday through Thursday were relatively uneventful, just school for Jeff, work for me, wake up and do it again.
On Friday it was kind of a crazy day at school. The students were just all over the place and I had to send a student to the administration. All week had gone without glitch for the most part and Friday went haywire. Since I had a bad day, Jeff let me pick where we went to dinner-what a good husband I have. It was a hard choice when I could pick anything I wanted and I picked Center Street Grill (a burger place) if that says anything about me. I had a big fat juicy hamburger and fries and Jeff had a Philly Cheesesteak. YUM! I love to be eat out and try new places but it's expensive and not so good for you. The good news is I also love to be in shape-the challenge is finding the joy in both when a appropriate to find balance in life. Right now, its' working out-at least I think so. Afterwards we went to the USU vs. USC basketball game. Our good friends Lindsay and Kevin had won tickets online, so we had legitimate seats instead of student seats-not that there was that big of a difference. But, we had an awesome time. It was good to be back in the Spectrum with friends for Aggie Basketball. I will admit, sometimes I'm slightly embarrassed by the lengths that the fans go to (sometimes its an inappropriate level). Oh well.
On a side note-ever since Jeff and I got married we've tried to make date night a priority. We even built it into our budget even though we don't have a lot (we had even less when we first got married but still put it in our budget then too). I had a church leader and friend always say to me, "paying a babysitter is much cheaper than a divorce"-as far as I'm concerned the same goes for dates since we don't have kids yet. During the week we often get caught up in our own stresses and don't have much time for each other so we have agreed it's incredibly important to have one night for us a week-we may have to decrease the amount of date nights as our lives progress, but there will always be a consistent date night because it keeps our relationship healthy, strong, and growing.
Back from my rant-Friday after the game we got in the car and drove down to West Jordan. We have been trying to make an effort to come down to see Jeff's family more often even if it's not for a long period of time. It just so happened to be sleepover night for two (Kaitlynn and Brightyn) of our nieces at Grandma and Grandpa's house so we got up this morning to play with them. I'm always so shocked at how much they know, and how much they've learned since the last time we've been down. Then a third niece (Kami), came over and we took the three of them down to the park that's in Grandma's neighborhood. Throughout the weekend we should be able to see everyone before we head back which is quite a feat.
I'm so grateful for my loving husband, for my immediate family, and for the awesome family I married into.
Sunday, November 3, 2013
On the Blogging Wagon Again
So, my last post was like 2 years ago and I want to get back on the blogging wagon. A lot has happened in the past 2 years so I won't try to catch you up at this point. My hope is that I post once a week from now on, and if I can't do that at least twice a month. This isn't for your sake, but for my own so if you find my posts boring, simply don't read them. :D I just figure blogging will be an awesome way to look back on memories, and to keep family and friends that are far away updated on what's up!
So, let's take this one week at a time. This past week was Halloween! On Tuesday we carved pumpkins. Jeff HATES to take the guts out of the pumpkin but feels somewhat guilty when I do it for him. But, he loves to actually carve the pumpkin since he has such a creative artsy side (which many people probably don't know-he's an excellent draw-er). So, while he was working on homework in the other room I did it for him before he even knew the difference. :D He didn't go quite as crazy as last year when he carved the skull candy logo just because he had so little time to do it-stupid school. My pumpkin was Frankenstein and Jeff's was a minion from Despicable Me
On Wednesday (the day before Halloween) Jeff and I went to a ward Halloween party. Unfortunately we didn't have an awesome couple costume because we have both been so busy but we did dress up! Jeff had to come straight from a class trip to tour a business, so he was a western gunslinger (because it was easy to add accessories and make work with what he was already wearing). I was Ms. Piggy. It would have been cute if Jeff was Kermit the Frog (said in Kermit voice) but painting himself green to visit a business probably wouldn't have gone over well....
On Halloween day, I dressed up with my department at school. We were the 3 little pigs and the big bad wolf. Each department dresses up together then the pick a winner for the contest of best costumes. For instance, math was "pieces of pie" English was Duck Dynasty, Gym was the Flintstones, etc. Our costume of the 3 little pigs and the big bad wolf came in 2nd-picture to come hopefully. Supposedly I'll end up with a prize for winning second place as well. Woot! We also had a teacher pot luck at school that day and almost everyone brought dessert so I ate a LOT of junk!
That evening I came hope from school and started to get ready for trick-or-treaters. Before this year we lived in secluded upstairs apartment that you didn't even know was there unless you had specific instructions to get there so no one ever came trick or treating. This year I was excited at the possibility we might get some people to come. I bought candy a few days before and I tried to make our house look as inviting as possible. I lit up the pumpkins, turned on the porch lights, opened the blinds to our front window, and had the Halloween lights on inside. We probably got like 10-15 trick or treaters total but I was just happy to have some! Our cute neighbor that I teach in nursery at church (Calvin Robison) came trick or treating at our door that night. As soon as I opened the door he walked right in like it was home. We have had him over while his parents needed to do things, and I'm his nursery teacher so I mean he gets to play-so he was ready! It was super cute!
On Friday, I was repulsed by anything sweet. I had eaten so many desserts the day before that I didn't even want to eat my PBJ at lunch the next day because it sounded too sweet. I have been trying to avoid eating a lot of sweets to stay healthy then I went overboard and my body was not having anymore. I think I've finally recovered now.
On Saturday we had a baptism in our ward-which is rare since we live in a "married student ward" and it was awesome! I got to sing for the baptism and sang, "If the Savior Stood Beside Me" which is a cute primary hymn that was published in the Friend. Problem was, the spirit was so strong I started to shake mid-song because I was starting to cry. Crying and singing don't go well together. But it really was a great spiritual experience.
Saturday afternoon we went to the aggie football game and we crushed Hawaii. Admitedly, the picture I will post isn't actually from the game yesterday but from a game a few weeks ago. I think it's still appropriate to post...right? That's the advantage of having not posted in a while I guess.
Saturday night was stake conference which was an awesome experience too! Anyways, that's all this week...until next week (hopefully if I can keep my act together).
So, let's take this one week at a time. This past week was Halloween! On Tuesday we carved pumpkins. Jeff HATES to take the guts out of the pumpkin but feels somewhat guilty when I do it for him. But, he loves to actually carve the pumpkin since he has such a creative artsy side (which many people probably don't know-he's an excellent draw-er). So, while he was working on homework in the other room I did it for him before he even knew the difference. :D He didn't go quite as crazy as last year when he carved the skull candy logo just because he had so little time to do it-stupid school. My pumpkin was Frankenstein and Jeff's was a minion from Despicable Me
On Wednesday (the day before Halloween) Jeff and I went to a ward Halloween party. Unfortunately we didn't have an awesome couple costume because we have both been so busy but we did dress up! Jeff had to come straight from a class trip to tour a business, so he was a western gunslinger (because it was easy to add accessories and make work with what he was already wearing). I was Ms. Piggy. It would have been cute if Jeff was Kermit the Frog (said in Kermit voice) but painting himself green to visit a business probably wouldn't have gone over well....
That evening I came hope from school and started to get ready for trick-or-treaters. Before this year we lived in secluded upstairs apartment that you didn't even know was there unless you had specific instructions to get there so no one ever came trick or treating. This year I was excited at the possibility we might get some people to come. I bought candy a few days before and I tried to make our house look as inviting as possible. I lit up the pumpkins, turned on the porch lights, opened the blinds to our front window, and had the Halloween lights on inside. We probably got like 10-15 trick or treaters total but I was just happy to have some! Our cute neighbor that I teach in nursery at church (Calvin Robison) came trick or treating at our door that night. As soon as I opened the door he walked right in like it was home. We have had him over while his parents needed to do things, and I'm his nursery teacher so I mean he gets to play-so he was ready! It was super cute!
On Friday, I was repulsed by anything sweet. I had eaten so many desserts the day before that I didn't even want to eat my PBJ at lunch the next day because it sounded too sweet. I have been trying to avoid eating a lot of sweets to stay healthy then I went overboard and my body was not having anymore. I think I've finally recovered now.
On Saturday we had a baptism in our ward-which is rare since we live in a "married student ward" and it was awesome! I got to sing for the baptism and sang, "If the Savior Stood Beside Me" which is a cute primary hymn that was published in the Friend. Problem was, the spirit was so strong I started to shake mid-song because I was starting to cry. Crying and singing don't go well together. But it really was a great spiritual experience.
Saturday afternoon we went to the aggie football game and we crushed Hawaii. Admitedly, the picture I will post isn't actually from the game yesterday but from a game a few weeks ago. I think it's still appropriate to post...right? That's the advantage of having not posted in a while I guess.
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