Here and Now

so i'm actually in chicago right now doing this thing called summer jam. i love it. it is fantastic. it is going to change my life. i will totally blog about it, but i'm incredibly exhausted. chicago is amazing. i love it here. i'll blog about that too.

i hope you are doing really well, whoever you are.

s

Project Inspire. part 1.

the spring semester ended and i had about a week to spare before i headed out to chicago. so my buddy saunch and i decided to do this thing called project inspire(pi).

pi is a program organized by students at our school. the idea is that you spend a week providing service and hanging out with a group of awesome people who want to serve too. this time around, our project was to help repair trails in the teton mountains.

before i continue with this post i would like to remind you that i am a city girl, born and bred through and through.

moving on.

so, along with some member of the forest service, we spent three days working our butts off for about six hours a day.

the first day of work entailed trimming down unruly wilderness on one of the trails. i used to think that trails made themselves, but in being a part of this project, i've learned that there is a great deal of work that goes into trail maintenance.

these are just a couple of the amazing views we got to see from up there.

here is my friend s. just lopping away. trail maintenance is hard work.

here is our little battalion on our way to continue doing maintenance.

and this, this is our butterfly/moth friend. he landed on several of us during our training.

more details to come.

Calling All Teachers...

okay, well maybe not all teacher, just the ones that have worked or do work with children old enough to be in elementary school. i'm writing a paper on creative teaching for one of my classes and i'm wondering if you could help me out. you don't have to be a certified teacher, just someone who teaches in a way outside of the norm. and if not you then perhaps someone you know. what i would like to do is email some questions about creative teaching processes and the effects that they have on a child's education.

THIS is what i've been looking at.

what's my thesis you ask? well, here it is:

"Creative teaching methods engage students in the learning process by: sparking their general interest, making connections between new and old information, encouraging them to learn, think and act for themselves, and offering them greater hopes for the future."

is it weird that i just quoted myself. whatever, is conan can do it in a commencement speech i can do it in my blog.

any-who, please let me know if you can help by leaving a comment. thanks. and may the force be with you, live long and prosper and all that good stuff.

On This Friday Evening...

i wish i were the kind of blogger that posted sweet (as in tender) pictures. or filled her posts with quick quips or words of inspiration. i don't fit that category of people. instead, i'm all about not doing what is left of my accounting homework, while playing this Bob Marley song in my head. have a good weekend!

Thank You.

thank you. thank you for sharing your testimonies and your encouragement with me. thank you for reminding me that yes, i am only human, but that is all anyone is asking me to be. thank you for helping me know that i'm not the only one that feels these things and for telling me, with boldness and honesty as only you could, that the important thing is not to dwell on these. thank you for your love.

Honestly...

i've been toying with the idea of blogging for the past couple days; wondering if i have anything really worth saying at this point because the truth is i'm kind of a mess right now. a hot mess. but i've become kind of an expert at sweeping things under the rug and ignoring them until they manifest themselves in the form of an ulcer or a puss infested wound which one cannot possibly ignore. so, in an effort to try to deal with things as they come and prevent flesh wounds, here is what i've been thinking about.

so i'm a 2nd counselor in one of the Relief Societies in our ward (there are three); i have been for the past 3 or so months. i've always wondered what i was doing in a leadership position anyways, but today it was an especially prevalent feeling.

in an effort to get to know the thirty-some-odd women in the Relief Society, we handed out "get to know you sheets", i.e., handouts that they would fill out with information about their families, interests, and (the kicker for me tonight) their favorite scripture or quote.

as my roommates were out doing some college age related activity, i sat on my bed reading about these girls, wondering about their lives; where they grew up, what their families are like, and what they are planning for their futures. and i learned something. these are amazing, beautiful, God fearing women. women who find strength in a knowledge and study of the scriptures. women who nurture their testimonies by learning from their life experiences and lifting where they stand.

and i realized that i feel a great deal more pressure this semester, because some of these amazing women are some of my closest friends. friends that have served in this capacity with a love that i don't know that i can muster the courage to express. and even though i've done this before i'm scared.

scared of my capacity to fail. scared of the things that i might slip up and say, because more often than not i say things that i shouldn't. scared that they won't even like me or think that i'm insincere. scared that i will preach false doctrine and lead people astray. scared that i might offend someone. scared that i won't let someone else grow because i'm a control freak.

and so i'm sitting in my room, contemplating my inadequacies and how i am ever to get through this and do a decent job and not screw up anyone else.

ideas? advice? bad jokes?

Finally

okay, so there is a lot going on and i'm pretty happy about most of it or at least at peace. but right now i'm really excited because i have a new computer. after thinking it over for about a year. literally a year. and seeing this at the school bookstore and having homework do at the first of the semester i finally just picked one. his name is frederick. he's brown and i love him. this isn't him, but this is exactly what he looks like. i don't love the logo. but i will fix that some how... any-who...that's what's exciting right now.