Arizona Adventures

I'm having quite the adventure down here in AZ! My mom drove down with me from SLC. We ended up taking the scenic route and stumbled across a place called 'Cliff Dwellers.'

A boulder fell on me and I found out my mom has more strength than I knew. Thanks for saving my life mom!

It was fun for me to have her meet my mission president and his wife and some of my converts.

My roommate Elise is also a cello major at BYU-Idaho doing her student teaching here. We are having lots of fun together making friends and getting involved in the branch. We climbed Camelback mountain one Saturday... supposedly the most challenging hike in Pheonix.

We decided thats because its the ONLY mountain in Pheonix. It was like a glorified version of the Rexburg Buttes, and not quite as pretty. But it was amazing to be out in the fresh 70 degree weather in the middle of January :)

My roommates are incredible and our house is a blast! They threw me a surprise party on my birthday and gave me all my favorite things :)

Finally (if you are still reading this), student teaching is fantastic so far! I was so scared! I know I have a lot ahead of me still, but it is such a relief to have an incredible mentor teacher and a supportive supervisor. Elise and I went to the Arizona Music Teacher's Association Conference yesterday, and I came away with such a great respect for music educators and the feeling that I can do this! I may not be able to teach like Mr. So-and-so or Ms. Whats-her-face, but I have things to offer and students to inspire. After spending so much time and tears earning a degree in something I never actually wanted to pursue professionally, its refreshing to finally feel like maybe I do belong in a music classroom after all!