I just wrote this entry, and I was feeling happy, loved, and blessed. Hence the title. Now that the stupid computer lost my entry because I logged out, logged back in-- under the wrong account, logged back out, and logged in under the right account, I am actually feeling kind of frustrated.
I'll write it in a minute when I'm feeling more happy, loved, and blessed.
Grrr....
Monday, March 31, 2008
Happy, loved, and blessed... again
Thankfully, blogger saves your drafts. :)
Sometimes I have good days, and sometimes bad. And if you can't tell by the title today, it's one of the good days. It all started yesterday... (fade to black)
It started out as any other Fast Sunday does. I was hungry, and then I had a headache all afternoon from dehydration. Instead of drinking more water, I took some Ibuprofen and didn't feel much better. I had two parties to go to, and I was kind of stressing about the timing.
I went to the Los Alamos party for about 5 minutes, dropped off the tortillas, said hi to everyone, and promised to be back. Then I went to our dinner party.
One of our friends from Beijing, whose name is also Chelsea, had us over for Chinese food. It was wonderful-- and authentic! This is good, because she had learned how to make it from her Chinese Aiyi. Not only was there wonderful food, but excellent conversation as well. It's always nice to catch up with friends.
After dinner, we went to the Los Alamos party. I missed the breakfast burritos (Chile Works style, of course), but most of the people were still there. I got to talk about myself (my favorite topic, obviously), and also make a complete fool of myself by not being able to say the word "archeology." It's a hard word!
More than that, though, it was wonderful to sit in a room full of people I love. When I'm with my Los Alamos friends, I'm always so comfortable. I truly feel like they are my extended family. Some feel close like sisters and cousins, and others more like distant cousins, once removed maybe. But we all have a shared history and background. We all went to school together, know all the same people, and love and support each other. We're Mormons, we're from Los Alamos, and we stick together. We know each others' quirks and strengths, and we're friends despite/because of them.
Ok, so there are people in the "Los Alamos" group who are not *technically* from Los Alamos. Maybe they grew up in a different part of the stake, or maybe they've moved in since high school. But they mesh into our group so well that I can tell they feel the same kinship that we all share.
So for you LA friends who are reading this blog, here's the shout-out: I love you guys! You're my home away from home. :)
and then to today's good news:
I'm a little bit flustered about what I ought to do for my job next year. I would love to teach, but I am not certified. I could do an Alternative Licensing program to teach as I get my license, but I would have to find a (vacant) full-time Chinese teaching position... which, believe it or not, are kind of hard to come by. I have a minor in English, but I can't use that to do the Alternative Licensing program.... So there I am, back at the drawing board.
I called around to the Chinese teachers in the area (ok, just the one lady I've met before), and she told me about the ednet program. It's kind of a liason between BYU and the public high schools in Utah. Basically, there is a teacher at BYU who broadcasts a class to the various high schools offering Chinese in Utah. It's an interactive class, like a teleconference, and that lasts for half the period. Then the on-site facilitator (me) would teach the rest of class and be responsible for collecting assignments and doing grades... and teaching for about half the class.
It's not my ideal. Ideally I would be able to teach a full day's worth of Chinese classes on my own, since I'm sort of stubborn and independent. I mentioned this to the lady I talked to, and she says that's kind of her opinion. She would rather have more leeway for her own teaching method, since she doesn't always agree 100% with the way the broadcast teacher teaches (although he's really good). She warned me, though about the reaction she got when she voiced those concerns to the ednet directors. They seemed to take the criticism personally and be terribly offended she would have something negative to say about their project, their baby.
Hmm... That reaction reminded me of someone... Who is it again? Oh yes, it turns out the director of the ednet program is the director of the Chinese Flagship program... and was also the director of our Study Abroad program, the one where Kevin and I met.
I can deal with him. But he's only the director, not the broadcast teacher, so I won't be dealing with him on a daily basis.
PS: if you go to the ednet website, you can see some pictures, and they were all taken on our study abroad trip. So in most of the group shots there is either Kevin or me. :)
Sometimes I have good days, and sometimes bad. And if you can't tell by the title today, it's one of the good days. It all started yesterday... (fade to black)
It started out as any other Fast Sunday does. I was hungry, and then I had a headache all afternoon from dehydration. Instead of drinking more water, I took some Ibuprofen and didn't feel much better. I had two parties to go to, and I was kind of stressing about the timing.
I went to the Los Alamos party for about 5 minutes, dropped off the tortillas, said hi to everyone, and promised to be back. Then I went to our dinner party.
One of our friends from Beijing, whose name is also Chelsea, had us over for Chinese food. It was wonderful-- and authentic! This is good, because she had learned how to make it from her Chinese Aiyi. Not only was there wonderful food, but excellent conversation as well. It's always nice to catch up with friends.
After dinner, we went to the Los Alamos party. I missed the breakfast burritos (Chile Works style, of course), but most of the people were still there. I got to talk about myself (my favorite topic, obviously), and also make a complete fool of myself by not being able to say the word "archeology." It's a hard word!
More than that, though, it was wonderful to sit in a room full of people I love. When I'm with my Los Alamos friends, I'm always so comfortable. I truly feel like they are my extended family. Some feel close like sisters and cousins, and others more like distant cousins, once removed maybe. But we all have a shared history and background. We all went to school together, know all the same people, and love and support each other. We're Mormons, we're from Los Alamos, and we stick together. We know each others' quirks and strengths, and we're friends despite/because of them.
Ok, so there are people in the "Los Alamos" group who are not *technically* from Los Alamos. Maybe they grew up in a different part of the stake, or maybe they've moved in since high school. But they mesh into our group so well that I can tell they feel the same kinship that we all share.
So for you LA friends who are reading this blog, here's the shout-out: I love you guys! You're my home away from home. :)
and then to today's good news:
I'm a little bit flustered about what I ought to do for my job next year. I would love to teach, but I am not certified. I could do an Alternative Licensing program to teach as I get my license, but I would have to find a (vacant) full-time Chinese teaching position... which, believe it or not, are kind of hard to come by. I have a minor in English, but I can't use that to do the Alternative Licensing program.... So there I am, back at the drawing board.
I called around to the Chinese teachers in the area (ok, just the one lady I've met before), and she told me about the ednet program. It's kind of a liason between BYU and the public high schools in Utah. Basically, there is a teacher at BYU who broadcasts a class to the various high schools offering Chinese in Utah. It's an interactive class, like a teleconference, and that lasts for half the period. Then the on-site facilitator (me) would teach the rest of class and be responsible for collecting assignments and doing grades... and teaching for about half the class.
It's not my ideal. Ideally I would be able to teach a full day's worth of Chinese classes on my own, since I'm sort of stubborn and independent. I mentioned this to the lady I talked to, and she says that's kind of her opinion. She would rather have more leeway for her own teaching method, since she doesn't always agree 100% with the way the broadcast teacher teaches (although he's really good). She warned me, though about the reaction she got when she voiced those concerns to the ednet directors. They seemed to take the criticism personally and be terribly offended she would have something negative to say about their project, their baby.
Hmm... That reaction reminded me of someone... Who is it again? Oh yes, it turns out the director of the ednet program is the director of the Chinese Flagship program... and was also the director of our Study Abroad program, the one where Kevin and I met.
I can deal with him. But he's only the director, not the broadcast teacher, so I won't be dealing with him on a daily basis.
PS: if you go to the ednet website, you can see some pictures, and they were all taken on our study abroad trip. So in most of the group shots there is either Kevin or me. :)
Monday, March 24, 2008
Hallelujia!
I'm free at last!
I've been taking some classes online through University of Phoenix, trying to get my Master's in Education. It's been wondeful (with some ups and downs), but it is time for a break. I've been taking classes constantly since the end of October, with two weeks off for Christmas. These last few classes, right as I'm finishing huge projects, I don't even get a single day off to sigh with relief. I just get thrown right in to my next class.
This last class felt especially like I'd been rushed into it. Life has been getting busier and busier with all the things I've been doing... or supposed to have been doing. My sister's getting married in May and I have a bunch of responsibilities for that:
I'm matron of honor, so I should be buying a dress to match the other bridesmaid's. But it's not like I've had time for shopping.
I'm supposed to make the skirt for Sarah's wedding dress.... not done.
I have a bunch of other projects I'm working on.
I'm making Kevin's dad a shirt for his birthday... in February.
Now that the weather's warm I need to work out in the yard to make my yard beautiful and plant a vegetable garden.
And none of this was happening when all I did after work was come home and stress about my classes.
As I was turning in my final assignment this afternoon, I actually had butterflies in my stomach I was so excited to be finished. You might hear from me more often on my blog now that I'll actually have some down time.
And I plan on actually writing my book that I've started. I've been looking up tips online on how to write novels. I need to put more conflict into my stories. There should be tension, and my readers need to be interested in how things turn out.
Presently, this is not the case. :)
I've been taking some classes online through University of Phoenix, trying to get my Master's in Education. It's been wondeful (with some ups and downs), but it is time for a break. I've been taking classes constantly since the end of October, with two weeks off for Christmas. These last few classes, right as I'm finishing huge projects, I don't even get a single day off to sigh with relief. I just get thrown right in to my next class.
This last class felt especially like I'd been rushed into it. Life has been getting busier and busier with all the things I've been doing... or supposed to have been doing. My sister's getting married in May and I have a bunch of responsibilities for that:
I'm matron of honor, so I should be buying a dress to match the other bridesmaid's. But it's not like I've had time for shopping.
I'm supposed to make the skirt for Sarah's wedding dress.... not done.
I have a bunch of other projects I'm working on.
I'm making Kevin's dad a shirt for his birthday... in February.
Now that the weather's warm I need to work out in the yard to make my yard beautiful and plant a vegetable garden.
And none of this was happening when all I did after work was come home and stress about my classes.
As I was turning in my final assignment this afternoon, I actually had butterflies in my stomach I was so excited to be finished. You might hear from me more often on my blog now that I'll actually have some down time.
And I plan on actually writing my book that I've started. I've been looking up tips online on how to write novels. I need to put more conflict into my stories. There should be tension, and my readers need to be interested in how things turn out.
Presently, this is not the case. :)
Friday, March 21, 2008
Scout Banquet
Tonight was our ward's annual Scout Banquet. Now in many wards (ahem, cough-cough, White Rock), any scouting event brings with it an old guy in a scout uniform holding three fingers in the air so you'll be quiet and join him in the Watermelon Cheer.
But that is not the case in our wonderful ward here.
Kevin and I walked down through the construction-site-that-once-was-a-field on our way to said Scout Banquet. Kevin got sidetracked by a large mountain of gravel which he decided to run up. I laughed at him when he got stuck halfway up and couldn't go any further. To show him up, I ran up beside him and got further up. Unfortunately, I was wearing ballet-style shoes, one of which fell off halfway up. My momentum carried me up a bit further, and I looked down to see an avalanche of gravel filling up and then burying my shoe. I dug it out, dumped out the rocks, and continued to the church with Kevin.
It's a good thing it was the Scout Banquet, not the Relief Society Anniversary dinner or something fancy like that. We were covered in gravel dust, but it fit the mood. The dinner was foil-wrapped potatoes, baked beans from a Dutch oven, and roasted wild pig! A guy in our ward (just across the construction site) likes hunting, and he or one of his friends caught these.
Woo hoo!
The YM and YW did a camp skit each, which weren't terribly amazing. Then they had the cake auction, which I didn't have time to contribute to (or the funds to buy from), but Sister McDaniel, who is awesome, let us have some of her fudge she had bought.
Kevin and I discussed politics with Kimball, a guy in our ward who is also a law student with Kevin. Some people are all opinion and no matter (me), and some people have both opinions and information to back them up (Kimball). Those are the types that are interesting to listen to when they talk politics.
Sunday, March 09, 2008
Tag from Sarah
Actually, a few people have tagged this one for me, but I didn't think it was a very interesting tag. No offense. So I'll try to spice it up a bit. >:)
5 things on my to-do list today:
Go to church (check)
Finish Twilight (check)
Take a nap (check)
I seriously didn't do more than 3 things today, because #2 tended to keep me distracted from doing anything else (note how there is not even any eating on the list.... now that's a good book!)
I enjoy:
My husband's cuteness.... I mean, ahem... rugged handsomeness
My cat
Reading
Writing
Teaching middle school (who knew?)
Singing
Dancing
Playing the piano
Flagging
What would I do if I were suddenly a billionaire?
Buy a lot of nice things for my family and friends, help pay off any of their debts. Then for myself and my Kevin, I would buy a small house on a large piece of property. After going to Wyoming yesterday, I think I might buy a house up in Star Valley. It is SO quiet, peaceful, tranquil, natural, and earthy.
Then I'd pay for doctors, dentists, etc, to go visit poor parts of the world for free. Then I'd try to continue life as I usually do. I'd continue working towards becoming a teacher, and I'd encourage Kevin to work towards becoming a lawyer. Maybe I'd work 3 days out of the week so I could have some time to stay at home and play ball master on the computer.... I mean read and write and work on my sewing projects. :)
And write I would! I can totally see myself becoming an eccentric recluse and dedicating unnatural amounts of time towards my "writing."
3 of my bad habits:
Sleeping in so late I only have 15 minutes to shower, dress, eat, pack a lunch, and run out the door
Spending too much time doing sedentary things (reading, sewing, surfing the 'net) and not enough time up and about. (Translation: getting fat)
Heaping junk underneath my coffee table
5 places I have lived: (The most recent 5)
Our way cute cottage in Provo, UT
A 5-star hotel in Beijing, China (Hotel Kunlun)
A tiny, ghetto studio apartment in Provo
At home in Los Alamos
On Condo Row with 2 other engaged girls
At the foreign students' dorm (Xi Yuan, or "Western Paradise"... far from accurate) at Nanjing University in China
5 jobs I have had:
ESL teaching assistant at Orem Junior High
Ballet class accompanist
Phone agent at NuSkin Enterprises
Secretary/translator for the General Manager at Hotel Kunlun
Daycamp director
5 things you might not know about me:
I have a headache right now
I just went to the bathroom
I just finished Twilight, and now I'm faced with the task of picking out a sort of "reader's digest version" of the book for one of my classes. For every 100 pages, they will only read about 25.
I hope to read Twilight to one of my other classes... the ones that squealed as I read out of Chicken Soup for the Soul
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Riana
Riana and I grew up together. When I say 'grew up together,' I don't mean that we went to high school together or that we were friends for a few years. I mean that ever since my earliest memories, we have been friends, and most of my childhood memories include her. Over Christmas my family watched home videos, and if we had been giving Academy Awards, she would have gotten one for best supporting actress. She was in more of the videos than anyone else outside our family.So what did we do all those years growing up? When we were both about three, we had picnics in my backyard on overturned laundry baskets as tables. We went to preschool together, learning how to blow bubbles, act out the Nativity play, clean up before the Gunny Bag came to eat your toys, and other essential preschool skills.
I don't think we went to Kindergarten together, because she was in morning, and I in afternoon. But besides that, we were always in church and school together. In fourth grade, I remember her confiding in me that she had given Neil Peterson two Valentines, because she was madly in love with him. When we would eat lunch outside, we would try our hardest to gross everyone out. If we had cup-o-noodles, we would toss them onto the cement to let them cool. And yes, then we would eat them. I would refuse to eat applesauce with a spoon, preferring instead to suck it out through a small hole in the foil lid. I would also suck my chocolate milk through a small hole in the carton. Riana surpassed me on this, though, and would mix her applesauce and chocolate milk together to eat it. This even grossed me out. :)
One time at recess, we were sitting outside giving the grass a haircut (with scissors) and eating fruit snacks. I had dumped them onto the grass and was eating them. This grossed out someone, and I remember explaining, "Well, I'll eat it off the ground, but it's not like I'd eat it if someone else sucked on it or something." So Riana pipes up that she would. I offered her the one currently in my mouth. She ate it. We all gave an appropriate reaction, which is why she did it in the first place, I'm sure.
Around that time (actually, it was a few years later... but who's telling? okay. 6th grade) at recess, we would play down in the bushes at the very edge of the playground. Whenever anyone (Riana) had to pee, she would just step outside of school property into the arroyo and squat behind a tree. This led to me following her example. Except I was not so knowledgeable in the art of peeing in bushes, so I peed all over the back of my pants. Riana suggested I tie my coat around my waist and presume no one would notice. I hope I was right.
When my parents would go out of town, I would usually stay at Riana's house. She had a bunch of cats, and I loved it when one would fall asleep on my lap when we watched TV or something. Everything I know about cats, I learned at Riana's house.
One time we were laughing so hard that I got hiccups, and they wouldn't go away. Riana and Rigel got me a glass of water and had me drink upside down from the other side or something. Well, needless to say, my hiccups did not go away, and we just all started laughing even harder.
During the summers, Riana's family would invite our family to go waterskiing with them at Abiquiu Reservoir. We would ski. Riana was a better skier than me, and at church every Sunday she would always tell me how many miles she had skied the previous day. When it wasn't our turn in the boat, Riana and I would play on the rocks and mud on the shore. Or we'd eat snacks up in their camper. One time we were playing in the camper, and she tried to tell me about her absolute favorite song in the whole world. I had never heard it, since I didn't listen much to the radio. We didn't have keys to the truck, and even if we had, we wouldn't have gotten reception out there. So she sang it to me. Now whenever I see Billy Ray (or even Miley) Cyrus on TV, I'm always reminded of Riana singing "Achy Breaky Heart" to me in the back of her camper.
Our parents were in the church choir together, which meant while they were in the chapel singing, we would run around the church playing. Our favorite thing to do was rearrange these room divider thingies into forts in the cultural hall. The point of these forts was to keep the boys (Erik, Howard, and Rigel) out. We made a fort that was completely enclosed, and to make it even safer, we overturned tables and chairs as spikes to keep the boys away. When we were lucky, there was chalk on the top of these dividers, and we'd play hang-man or draw pictures. When we weren't lucky, we'd just climb and sit on top of the dividers. One of the times we were climbing around on the dividers, it wobbled, and Riana fell off. Unfortunately, she fell right onto a table leg. I'm pretty sure after that we weren't allowed to play on the room dividers. But I'm also pretty sure we did anyway.
Riana would always get sunburned. That's what happens when you have fair skin and freckles. I remember one time, after another friend's birthday party at The Beach, she got so sunburned she had blisters on her shoulders. That's why my parents would never let me go to the beach without them there to reapply sunscreen for me.
I was kind of confused when I heard she had skin cancer. I assumed it would be on her shoulders or back, or maybe her nose. Those are the places she got really sunburned. But she got skin cancer on her leg.
I cried a lot when I first heard about it. I was living in China, and I felt like there was nothing I could do. I prayed a lot. I cried a lot. My mom sent me updates whenever she heard any news. Eventually Riana got better, and the cancer went away.
Then late last year, I heard that she had gotten cancer again. This time I was living in Utah, just an hour away from Salt Lake, where Riana was living. I couldn't do anything about the cancer, but I could be a friend.
When I went to visit her, she told me about the cancer. It was just a small lump in the same place in her leg, and it was probably just a bit they missed last time--maybe not something new. She had a choice of whether to do chemo treatments or not, and she decided to go ahead with them. I thought it was a responsible choice, since chemo now would lower the possibility of having to repeat the process.
I visited her a couple times in the hospital. We talked and laughed, and it seemed like she was doing great. She said it wasn't as bad this time as the last time. She still had all her hair, which she explained to me was because they were using the strongest kind of chemo that doesn't make your hair fall out. I thought that meant it was pretty safe.
Riana's mom called me this afternoon to let me know she had died. It wasn't the cancer directly, but the treatments. When I went to see her, she told me she was feeling all right. She said it was only a few days (relatively) where she felt terrible, and I'm glad I got to hang out with her when she was feeling pretty well.
I'm happy I got to visit her before she passed away. I hope she gets to have cats in heaven. And I hope no one else in the world ever remembers the butch hair cut I had my freshman year in high school.
Saturday, March 01, 2008
New Friends
For his Law in Literature class, Kevin had to watch A Man for All Seasons, so last night we went to his classmate's house and watched it with him and his wife.
I'd seen this movie a few times growing up, and I remember the first time I watched it, I thought it was painfully boring. The next time I watched it, I appreciated it more, and this time I really liked it. It's not a fast-paced movie, and you really have to watch it the same way you would read a novel.
Anyway, most of the times Kevin invites me to come hang out with his friends, I am bored to tears. The guys sit around and talk about video games, the wives talk about spit-up and labor pains, and I try to stay awake.
But this time it was completely different.
We had dinner, watched the movie, and then sat around talking and laughing until 11:45. I never stay up past 10:30, and when I do, I do not talk or laugh. But when you have fascinating people to talk to, it is quite different. We had a great discussion about the movie, and since we had all just watched it, we were all equally informed about the topic. We didn't all agree on the movie, which is why it was so interesting to talk about. Then we talked about politics. We did generally agree on this topic, otherwise I don't think I would have liked this discussion.
Then we talked about April Lynn's writing. A while ago, Kevin told me that she was a writer, but I had completely forgotten until late last night. She writes and gets published, and I write crap, but it was really fun to talk about it. We'd read all the same books growing up, and even had the same absolute favorite book: A Little Princess. She thinks The Giver is the best novel ever written for young adult readers, and I thought it was just okay. But we both politely disliked Levin Thumps and his toothpick adventures.
Anyway... I had a blast. It's been a while since I've stayed up so late talking so long and having so much fun.
I'd seen this movie a few times growing up, and I remember the first time I watched it, I thought it was painfully boring. The next time I watched it, I appreciated it more, and this time I really liked it. It's not a fast-paced movie, and you really have to watch it the same way you would read a novel.
Anyway, most of the times Kevin invites me to come hang out with his friends, I am bored to tears. The guys sit around and talk about video games, the wives talk about spit-up and labor pains, and I try to stay awake.
But this time it was completely different.
We had dinner, watched the movie, and then sat around talking and laughing until 11:45. I never stay up past 10:30, and when I do, I do not talk or laugh. But when you have fascinating people to talk to, it is quite different. We had a great discussion about the movie, and since we had all just watched it, we were all equally informed about the topic. We didn't all agree on the movie, which is why it was so interesting to talk about. Then we talked about politics. We did generally agree on this topic, otherwise I don't think I would have liked this discussion.
Then we talked about April Lynn's writing. A while ago, Kevin told me that she was a writer, but I had completely forgotten until late last night. She writes and gets published, and I write crap, but it was really fun to talk about it. We'd read all the same books growing up, and even had the same absolute favorite book: A Little Princess. She thinks The Giver is the best novel ever written for young adult readers, and I thought it was just okay. But we both politely disliked Levin Thumps and his toothpick adventures.
Anyway... I had a blast. It's been a while since I've stayed up so late talking so long and having so much fun.
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