the joy of tests

This morning I had a math test in my Math for Elementary Teachers class. Sounds easy right? I thought so too when I signed up for the course. It turns out that easy math you once thought you knew how to do really well can be made into a very complicated and difficult process of which you have no idea how to accomplish. I actually think my test this morning went pretty well but I ran into this comic that made me smile. Probably because I can totally relate to Calvin and yet I am going to school to become a part of "the system". It's ok though because my goal is to make learning meaningful and fun so that it's not just memorizing pointless facts. I know a lot of teachers who do that really well so I hope I can be as good as them!
Calvin and Hobbes is the greatest. If looking up at the clouds on your rough day doesn't help, reading Calvin and Hobbes is sure to.

Just in case it's too small for you to read, this is what it says:

Box 1 - Test: 1. When did the Pilgrims land at Plymouth Rock?

Box 2 - 1620

Box 3 - "As you can see, I've memorized this utterlly useless fact long enough to pass a test question. I now intend to forget it forever. You've taught me nothing except how to cynically manipulate the system. Congratulations."

Box 4 - "They say the satisfaction of teaching makes up for the lousy pay."

I can't think of a creative title for this post but it's mostly about General Conference and Spring Break

I absolutely love General Conference! Nothing beats relaxing all weekend with loved ones and treats, listening to the Prophet and General Authorities of the church. I always feel so inspired and motivated to be better! I love how peaceful and confident each of the speakers seem. It's a good reminder that we really don't need to worry. Casey and I are at his house in Bluffdale for the weekend and it's been fun. Between sessions we went swimming at the Saratoga Springs pool which is heated by hot springs. So nice in this freezing weather!
I finally got videos from our Spring Break adventures uploaded to the computer so I decided it's time to update my blog. I forgot to take my camera (which probably wouldn't have been very useful anyway because it dies after 3 pictures) so unfortunately I didn't get any photographs. We've been working on a climbing video so my parents were nice enough to let me borrow their videocamera and I got lots of great footage. We spent the week climbing at Ibex (west of Delta), Joe's Valley (near Price), and Little Cottonwood Canyon (by Salt Lake). We also got to spend about half the week at Casey's house which was also really fun! We did some slacklining, played basketball, cleaned some branches up from their yard, played on a zipline, watched movies, and got some shopping done as well. It was so much fun to play and relax with Casey all week. I'm putting a video of Casey climbing so you can see how amazing he is. The problem he does in the video is called Big Gulp and it is a V8 at Ibex. He sent it after wearing himself out climbing all day. It was pretty exciting when he got it!

The only bad thing about spring break was how hard it was going back to school once it was over. We only have a few more weeks left in the semester though. I can't believe it's almost over! I'm excited to be done with school but it's kind of bitter sweet because Casey will be moving home for the summer. I haven't decided what to do for the summer. Stay in Cedar or move north somewhere to work?.... Decisions, decisions. I'll probably just end up wherever I can get a job. My piano job ends in May when school gets out for the middle schoolers so I need to find some summer employment. Sometimes I think it would be nice to be a kid again and spend the summer watching cartoons, playing on slip n' slides and going on "summer school" field trips with mom. Maybe I'll just have a lemonade stand. :)

Tender Mercies

Can I just say I love clouds?! They seem to be exceptionally beautiful lately. I think I could stare at them for hours on end and be completely satisfied and content. Storm clouds, fluffy white clouds, orange, yellow and pink clouds, I love them all! Especially the ones that look like they have gold lining around them because the sun is shining from behind. So amazingly amazing! And they never look exactly the same twice. I like to think of them as watercolor paintings from heaven. :) I'm so glad clouds were invented. Next time you're having a rough day just look up. You'll feel better trust me it works!



I'll catch up on my spring break adventures and everything else later when my homework is done.

p.s. I was looking for pictures of clouds to put on here since my camera is broken and couldn't do them justice anyway, and I didn't find any amazing ones to put on my post but I did find a photography website that has some of the most incredible pictures I've ever seen!! You should definitely check it out. Go to http://ladzinski.com/ and prepare to be amazed! I think I need to learn some more about photography....

Spring...?

It has been feeling a lot like Spring around here lately until last Saturday when we had another snowstorm! I have to admit I wasn't exactly thrilled when the flakes started coming down, but my frown was quickly turned upside down when we made our sweet snow sculpture! The snow was perfect for packing and it was still warm outside so it ended up being an ideal snow sculpting day. We've been wanting to make the Lake Champ sea monster all winter but the snow has been too powdery or it's melted before we had a chance to finish it. This time the conditions were perfect! We had to use all of the snow in my parents front yard but it turned out really cool! The little kids building a snowman across the street thought we made it look pretty amazing

anyway. :) Casey makes everything fun.

We put food coloring and water in a spray bottle to paint it green with yellow fins. We take our sculpting very seriously.

I love how happy Casey looks in this one. He was very proud of our creation.

I think I may be sensing a little bit of jealousy here... ;)

Our creation was finished in a record time of only 30 minutes. We were on our way back from playing basketball at the church (hence the shorts) and made it really quick before we went inside for dinner. We had yellow and green dye all over our hands so we were trying to be careful not to touch each other. The finished product!!

These are some pictures from a quick trip to the St. George temple with my mom and dad. We did baptisms while they went through a session and then they took us to Golden Corral for dinner. So much food that was so delicious!

My dad is kind of silly sometimes. :)

Climbing Footage!

Last week I finally got some bouldering videos of me to post on my blog. I'm definitely not as impressive as Casey but I think I'm getting much better than when I first started out. The first two videos are from Tuesday when we went to Moe's Valley which is right outside of St. George and the last one is from Joe's Valley which is by Price. We (Casey and I) drove up there last weekend with our friends Tommy, Bridget and Page. It was fun despite the fact that I was suffering from a sinus infection and inner ear infection and had been sick all week. I was so dizzy and tired I thought I was going to die doing the problem in the video, so it took me a long time and if you listen closely you can hear me grunting and groaning :) but I made it! The top out took me forever because I was so exhausted. Bouldering was probably not the smartest idea since the doctor told me to avoid climbing ladders or anything where I might potentially fall... I decided I would be ok because I knew there were crash pads and spotters below me.

Kolob Canyon National Park

These are the pictures we took on our Valentines Day excursion to Kolob Canyon. My camera stopped working before we got any of Zion or the rest of our day but these ones turned out pretty!

Counting Blessings

I haven't posted for a while so I decided it's about time I should catch up! I actually have all of my homework done for the week and I have an entire free evening. Yay! This has been the greatest week! First of all my weekend was wonderful because I got to spend Valentine's with Casey at Kolob National Park (pictures soon to follow once I get them downloaded to a computer) and Zion National Park. We hiked Emerald Pools which was incredible, though rather slippery, with a waterfall and snow and ice everywhere. We also went to a 3-D movie at the Imax theatre. Casey somehow managed to fit a little bit of bouldering in there as well. The 3-D movie was about Dinosaurs so of course we had to watch Jurassic Park while we ate our heart shaped Papa Murphy's pizza that night. It was probably my favorite Valentines day ever. :) The rest of the weekend was spent in Kanab with my family and my grandma and on Monday we got to go climbing in St. George. The only problem was how hard it was to come back to school on Tuesday! Little did I know that I had great luck coming my way this week....
I was feeling a tiny bit stressed about money and wondering how I could afford school and all the expenses in life, but then the director of the college of Education called me one morning. He said he had some money for me if I could meet with him that afternoon. I did and he gave me a $1300 dollar scholarship! I didn't even apply. It was a miracle. I am so very blessed. :) It is the perfect amount of money to pay for next years schooling besides what I already get from my academic scholarship. I am so thankful for the family who set up the endowment I was awarded and so thankful for a Heavenly Father who is mindful of me. Tithing works! :)
Now back to the last month that I missed posting about. The last weekend in January we went to Salt Lake and got to go to a Jazz game! It was so much fun!!! Thank you so so so much to Brian and Sharla for letting us sit in their 3rd row seats and to Angie and Klane for being our hosts! The pre-game dinner was heavenly and the game was a blast. Casey loved it! He even made eye contact with Ronnie Brewer. :) We stayed with his family the rest of the weekend and on Saturday went through the Draper temple open house. It was beautiful! I really love to see the temple! The murals in the ordinance rooms were so amazing! and the chandelier in the Celestial room was huge and so beautiful that you couldn't help but stare up at it! and the mirrors in the ceiling (woops I mean sealing hee hee) room were enormous! and it was pretty much just all beautiful and amazing and so peaceful. :)
Oh and thanks to Angie for the Jazz game pics!

Gotta love the random Jazz announcer :)

The next weekend we spent a fun day in Zion with my family. It was kind of stormy and cold so we didn't go on any long hikes but it was still really pretty. Nature is just amazing. I can't seem to get enough!