and then LIFE hits...

Look at my great students!!! It's like they liked me or something... :) I had a great time at Summit Academy, and (contrary to popular belief...*ahem* Alicia...) I loved my students!  I finished student teaching on the last day of April, and my students surprised me with this awesome thank you note :)

 Mrs. Ra was the best mentor teacher I could have had.  What an incredible educator and musician!

 So, I graduated!! Actually I walked in December, but I just got my actual diploma in the mail last week! Whoot.

 So I know what you're all thinking, because most of you have said it just like me: "Now What???"

 I have hesitated to blog recently because the answer to that question up til now has been, "I have no idea!" I've been trying to wait until I actually had news to post so you would have something to read about. But I decided to post about my reality today. So here it is:

Graduating is harder than I thought!

But its also exciting! I have a whole huge future ahead of me full of lots of opportunities, trials, and blessings.  I am SO grateful for the people that are encouraging and helping me.  Thanks for your support!  I have been interviewing all over the country--so far Boston, Shelley, Mesa, Gilbert, and soon probably Virginia.  I went home for the month of May and tried to fill out a job application every day I was there.  My hope is that if I do my part to do all I know how to do, the Lord will place me where I need to go.  My super roommate sent me a conference talk today by Elder Holland called Lord I believe.

Basically he says there are always going to be things you don't know! (in my case, a lot of things: like which state will I be in... tomorrow? probably Nevada if you are wondering.) But its important to hold on to what you do know as you step into the dark:

"Brothers and sisters, this is a divine work in process, with the manifestations and blessings of it abounding in every direction, so please don’t hyperventilate if from time to time issues arise that need to be examined, understood, and resolved. They do and they will. In this Church, what we know will always trump what we do not know. And remember, in this world, everyone is to walk by faith."


On our way up through Utah last month, Elise and I went on a canyoneering in Blue John's canyon.  It was a beautiful, adventurous and exhausting experience! We hiked 13 hours and just as many miles.

This is the boulder that trapped Aaron Ralston's arm. Which makes another great conference talk...

 We had a blast! This photo is of the most challenging portion of the trip.  We had already been up one side of the canyon, slogged through hours of sand, and half way back the other side when we came to a part of the canyon that seemed impossible.  The walls narrowed and rose high above our heads.  The only way through was to shove our bodies into the tightest corner and basically shimmy up 20-30 feet of smooth sandstone.  The sun was sinking and so was our energy! But there was only one way to go! So with each others help and a great deal of grunting, we were able to make it out of the canyon just before dark.   Then we had hours more sand-slogging before we reached camp. I had no idea where we were going! And I stubbed my toes in the dark several times on evil biting cactus.   But my friend Jake seemed to know the way, and there was only one way to go (unless I wanted to spend the night sleeping in the desert without cover!). When I finally decided I was so tired that I couldn't take another step, we spotted a camp fire that meant we found the cars! It was late and we had a long drive ahead of us, but we made it!

Sometimes in life we don't know where we're going or how we're going to accomplish the task in front of us. And sometimes nasty cactus gets in the way.  But the only real way to go is forward! trusting (sometimes blindly!) that our leader, our Older Brother knows the way.  What we find is we can do harder things than we thought!

So sorry that I don't have any new news today! But I am moving forward the best way I know how, and what I DO know is that I'm not alone. His angels are with me and He is leading me (and all of you) whether we can perceive His influence or not.

"We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." -Good Ol' Walt