My First Tag

This is the first time I have ever done one of these, but Rheanna tagged me specifically, so I guess I'll do it. Here it goes!

Ten Years Ago:
Let's see. I was 16 almost 17. I was just finishing my sophomore year in high school. I was working for my friend's parents at a custom framing gallery as well as cleaning their house a little. I just realized that exactly 10 years ago I was in Brazil with my dad and some of my sisters picking up my brother from his mission.

Five Years Ago:
I was living in Geneva, Switzerland (well, a suburb very close to Geneva, anyway) as an LDS missionary. This was one of my most favorite cities. By this time I was finally able to speak French fluently, though most of the time we were teaching in Spanish and Portuguese (with translators). Some of my favorite places to "faire du contacting" was right around Geneva Lake (especially at sundown when they turn on the lights around the lake) and in the parks (there were so many lovely parks, I can't name them all). Ah, I want to go back so bad!

Five Months Ago:
Chris had secretly made a quick trip up to Washington to check out the possibility of buying a bakery. It wasn't till later that we told our families that he went once the possibility became more of a reality. Chris somehow survived another crazy Christmas season while working a full-time job at the clinic, a part-time job at the bakery, and finishing up a semester of full-time classes. I was enjoying my Winter Break from teaching (we have to be so PC that you can't even say Christmas Break anymore!).

Five Things on my To-Do List:
1. Correct school work
2. Take the car to get the windshield fixed
3. Get the car safety inspected and registered
4. Organize my stuff for next week's move
5. Take a nap (yes, Rheanna, it really is on my list, and I think I'll do it after I'm done writing this!)

Five Snacks I Enjoy:
1. Slices of cheese
2. Skittles
3. Mini marshmallows
4. Ice cream
5. Anything else within sight: I snack on whatever even when I'm usually not hungry.

Five Bad Habits:
1. Not sitting down for meals--I just snack and munch on stuff and rarely have a real sit-down meal.
2. Keeping used tissues in my pockets or laying around the house.
3. Not liking showers. I take them, I just feel bothered and annoyed when I have to.
4. Doing random things on the internet when I should be doing other stuff (like right now. I should be grading papers!).
5. Eating too many skittles.


Five Places I've Lived:
1. Utah
2. Virginia
3. France
4. Switzerland
5. Luxembourg

Five Jobs I've Had:
1. Framing Gallery
2. Student Union manager
3. Grocery store cashier
4. French teacher
5. Bakery co-owner

Five Things People Don't Know About Me (except for maybe my family):
1. I've traveled to 44 states, 8 countries (unless you count changing planes in England and accidentally crossing the border into Germany), and 3 continents.
2. I am a shy person, but I have always hated it when people have described me as shy. I don't know why it bugs me when it's true.
3. I have gone skydiving.
4. I really want to learn Spanish.
5. I love public speaking.

Five People I Tag:
1. Melodie
2. Sarah
3. Andrea
4. Mary
5. Anna
(I chose #4 and 5 because I know they love talking about themselves! :)

Goals

I had an interesting conversation with one of my advisory students today. At the beginning of the year she was in my French class and was excited to learn because their family was planning a trip to Paris for the spring. Her 7th grade year she was always on the honor roll and kept up in all her classes, but 8th grade brought on some new challenges. She started hanging out with the wrong crowd (a group of druggie punk kids), started getting involved with boys, and neglected her schoolwork completely. She dropped my French class because it was too difficult, and her grades for all her classes went down the tube. She went from having a 3.5 GPA all last year to struggling to keep above a 1.0 GPA. Her mom is not happy, my student is often grounded, and the Paris trip was canceled.

Today we were talking about her grades. We came up with some goals for her to work towards for next year. She wants her grades to be back up to a 3.5 GPA, especially since 9th grade actually counts. She wants to be able to get into a good college. She wants to become a teacher one day so that she can help kids who are struggling like she is right now. One of her biggest reasons she wants to be a teacher is to show kids that learning can be fun. She says that none of her teachers act like they even like their jobs or their students. It really is true--the attitude the teacher has often rubs off on the students. I try to show my students how passionate I am about French. I smile, and laugh, and I try to have fun with them to teach them that learning is fun. I told this to my student I was talking with, and she said that she wished more teachers were like that.

As we were talking, the bell rang, she thanked me for talking with her. She told me that she really has appreciated me being her FROG teacher this year (that's what we call our advisory class: Fully Realizing Our Greatness). I believe that she can reach her goals for next year. I sincerely hope she does. I'll probably never know if she'll make it to college, but at least I have tried to point her in the right direction.

Transfers

When I got to school today, all the teachers were standing in a huddle talking in somber voices. At first I thought someone had died. Yesterday afternoon our principal was notified that she is getting transferred to another middle school within the district. For that alone we are all sad. She has been here for 18 years between teaching math and being an administrator. From the minute I met her at my first interview, I knew that she was someone who knew how to run a school. Her vision of teacher collaboration and alignment is brilliant, and her care and concern for the kids is so apparent. She is one tough cookie, but on a few occasions I have seen her breakdown and cry. She loves this school, and it's a hard thing for all of us to see her go.

The second reason everyone is so sad is because of her replacement. I don't know anything about her, but apparently her reputation is awful. I know so many teachers who are looking to transfer to a new school to avoid working under her. Though on the other hand, it must be hard for anyone coming in to replace our current principal just because she has been so great. I guess for me it doesn't really matter since I won't be teaching here next year; however, it's just like my hope for the new French teacher: I just want the absolute best for my kids.

Sam as a Baby Model

Most parents I know think their kids are the cutest thing to hit this planet and think they'd be great doing commercials, magazines, and whatnot. Although I agree that Sam is incredibly cute, he would make a terrible baby model. Over the weekend, I tried several times to get a cute picture of Sam holding a thank you sign that I was going to use for a card to thank all our wonderful GHB employees for taking good care of Chris while we were apart the last two months. Here are a few of our tries: Notice how he never smiles (he really is a very happy kid and laughs all the time--just not when the camera is out). And getting him to hold still and look at the camera was near impossible! Here we're getting a little closer to what I wanted for the card. And here is the one I ended up using. Anyway, I hope Chris doesn't read this before the card comes in the mail!

Thanks CFO Now!

Thanks to CFO Now, I was able to buy grocery items worth $24.48 for only $1.48 at Walmart and Target. Check it out for some savvy shopping tips!

Skeeter the Narcoleptic Poodle

Thanks to my cousin-in-law, I found this terribly funny and sad story about a poodle named Skeeter. Check it out.

The Last Days of School

Three weeks from tomorrow is the last day of school. Last spring I did my student-teaching over a 12-week period, and it felt like an eternity. I started teaching last August, and this year has passed like a dream! I can hardly believe it's almost over. I have fallen in love with my kids (most of them, anyway), and I'm actually pretty sad that I won't get to teach them next year. One of my classes found out that I won't be their teacher for French 2; they asked me straight up if I'd be back, and I'm an awful liar, so I just told them. They were all sad.

I got a nice note from one of my students written last Friday. It made my day! Here it is just as he wrote it, grammar mistakes and all.

May 9 08
Mrs. Taylor,

Hi! I'm writing you to let you know how cool you are. Your really good at french and always on top of grades. You can be serious and have fun. You may notice the heading is on the wrong side. but thats just so its different, like france. Well I think your awesome so I wrote you! Thank you for your help

There are days when I come home loving my job, and days when I come home thinking what did I get myself into?! These kids are crazy! When I get really frustrated with certain kids, I try to imagine what they were like when they were babies and toddlers, or how much their parents must love them. That helps. Sunday I was dreading coming back to school for another full week; Monday I came home feeling sad that I will most likely never see these cute kids ever again.

My school has already hired a new French teacher for next year. From what I've heard, she's an older woman who hasn't taught in a really long time. I've been told that she's nervous coming back, and will be a lot higher-maintenance for her mentor-teacher, the Spanish teacher, who will be there to help her throughout the year. I've also been told she won't be nearly as good as I've been (My cute mentor the Spanish teacher has told me several times throughout the year how amazed she is by my teaching. She says I have a natural confidence in the classroom, and that I perform way above and beyond what a typical first-year teacher can), but of all the people who applied for the job, she was the very best. I just hope that she takes good care of my kids so that they will want to continue studying French through high school. Even more than that, I hope she plays some role in helping these kids turn into good and productive adults.

Happy Graduation!

Last Friday I went to my sister-in-law's graduation from WSU, and next week my cousin-in-law will be graduating from UNT. It got me thinking back to my college graduation exactly one year ago to the day. So in honor of that, I wanted to share an excerpt from my journal written the evening after graduation as we began our roadtrip to Nauvoo.

"Happy graduation day! I am now officially a college graduate. This morning we went to my commencement ceremony which started 9am at the Hunstman Center. Chris, Sam, Mom, Dad, and Valerie came to support me (though Valerie had to leave early because of work). President Monson was the commencement speaker which was pretty cool. As we did the procession in, I walked right passed him. Walking into the Huntsman Center with all my fellow graduates, and then looking up at all the family and friends come to support us, I got a little emotional and had to fight back the tears a little. Chris has been amazing in supporting me in reaching my goal to graduate from college. I remember an evening I spent with Chris just a week or two before we were married. We had driven up to the Bountiful Temple, and we just sat in the car talking about our future together. He knew that I had promised my mission president that I would graduate from college, and he told me that he would support me in reaching that goal and that promise. At that time I had no idea how much he was willing to sacrifice for me. He put his schooling on hold for me for two years so that I could go to school full-time and he would work full-time. It definitely hasn't been easy for either of us. I took crazy amounts of classes even while I was pregnant, and Chris has begun to feel the monotony of going to work everyday--to a job that obviously wasn't a career where he felt like he was headed nowhere. On top of that, he has felt a little lost as he realized that becoming a doctor--his dream since 5th grade--was not the profession he really wanted. Yet through all of this, Chris has been my cheerleader and supporter. Every time I had an emotional breakdown when I felt my load was too great, he has always reminded me of my goal and helped me to gain a better perspective--I was doing this for myself and our little family. I want to be a good example for our kids. I want them to think, 'Wow, I've got a cool mom. She is a returned missionary and a college graduate! I want to be like her!' I also wanted to be prepared to help our family if ever my skills and qualifications were needed to support our family financially. After so much hard work, I did it! I am a college graduate. This morning Mom and Dad gave me a graduation present: The Little Engine that Could. They left a little note that made me cry. I have so many wonderful people in my life!"

Wanted: Cute Black Dress

I am looking for a black dress that would look good if I added some sort of sash around the waist. This is for a bride's maid dress that I need before August 15th. If anyone in your shopping endeavors comes across something that might work, let me know.