Yeah for Jeremy!

On Friday, Jeremy accepted another job promotion!! His new title is Customer Executive. That means he will be in charge of selling all Hormel grocery and meat products to Stater Brothers, a popular grocery chain in Southern California. We are excited about the pay increase and the amount of responsibility he will have.

Luckily, there is no job re-location, so we will stay right here in Huntington Beach! This job means that we will be living in this area for a couple of years. Which is great news for my career. I get to teach at the same school for a while!!! We might start looking to buy a home soon, too.

We know that this is a huge blessing from our Heavenly Father. Jeremy's boss had his eye out for Jeremy to take this position. Jeremy was told that his integrity and hard work ethic is what set him apart. I am so proud of him!!

Ever since we moved here, we've wondered when the time would be to get transferred to Minnesota- because that still is the long term plan for Jeremy's career. Well, now we can see that the Lord definitely wants us here in SoCal for a while. I guess there are still people for us to influence and be influenced by and things to learn and do. We hope to do our part so that we can benefit from all that God has in store for us.

Just Thinking

Thought 1-True Friends
Our Sunday school lesson today was about being true friends. We read a quote by Joseph Smith where he praised his dearest friends because they had stood by him in adversity AND stood true to their faith in the gospel. What an interesting thought- that one may be a true friend by being true in the gospel.

I really think this is true. As we draw closer to Heavenly Father, we become more Christlike. Our abilities to love and care for our friends will increase because we have the Spirit with us more. How neat to think that I can be a better friend simply by living the gospel more faithfully.

Is it a wonder, then, that my dearest friends are ones who have always stood firm in the faith of the Gospel of Jesus Christ? I think not! Here are just a few of the friends that have touched my life for good. I hope I can be as wonderful to them as they have been to me!Kisha, Jine, and MeganDeadawnBrooke
Debi and Laura
Chelsea and Ryan
Mom
Cammie (Malee!)
Stacy Lynn

Thought 2- Twitter Shmitter
Does anyone really use twitter? I still have not met a single person that actually uses twitter for personal reasons. My work is trying to get us to use twitter to advertise school events as they happen, and I can see the merit to that. Other than that, it seems like twitter is just a big fad in the media. All the talk show hosts, news anchors and sitcom stars use it, but to my knowledge, not the average person. Am I right?

Thought 3- Gossip
When I was in high school, I thought that gossiping was just a juvenile thing, that once I graduated, gossiping would be a thing of the past. Boy, have I learned otherwise. Jeremy and I are realizing that grown-ups are even worse about gossiping than kids. At Jeremy's office, it seems like people are always talking about how annoying or weird certain individuals are. Those one or two people get the brunt of every joke. And Jeremy is always caught in the middle of it, not sure how to change the subject, wishing he wasn't even in the room to be a part of it. Too bad he can't move his desk.

The same kind of thing happens at church, in our families, and among the teachers at my school, of which I have alluded to in an earlier post. It's so ridiculous and disappointing and ugly! It makes me sick. I've made a firm commitment to not be a part of any gossip anymore, anywhere. I never want to be the cause of another person's hurt feelings.

Has it been easy? Not really, but I'm finding, as always, that when I seek the Lord's help to be more loving, it is easier to think positively. But the adversary is nearby. As I've striven to only speak positively of others, I somehow notice more of the side conversations that take place in the teacher's lounge and corners of the halls. And sometimes I find myself tempted to join in, or to mention a frustration about someone to another co-worker. Wow. It's just so perplexing that this would be a challenge for us in adulthood!

Wait. Does it count as gossip if you vent to your husband about someone? Hmm.

Line Up, Please!

The first week of school was great! I had a ton of fun with every class. I teach Jr Kinder, Kinder, grades 1-5 and JH choir. That's about 500 students in 19 classes. Since I teach at a private school, my class sizes average at about 17!! Piece of cake! It's funny to hear the veteran teachers who have never taught in public schools complain about a class with 24 kids. They have no idea.

The most worthy thing to note about the week is that I have forgotten what Kindergartners are like at the beginning of the year. How do I say this politely? They are completely delinquent in absolutely everything you would think is easy to do! I mean, really! They can't sit still to save their lives, they can't wait for you to finish even one sentence (or an 8 measure song), and they have no concept of walking in a line.

What happens is the teacher asks for the kids to line up. This results in a swarm of children around their hive...er... teacher. So then the teacher tries to choose one person to be the start of the line and show the kids which direction the line will end up. Now we have three lines in 4 different directions.

When the teacher finally gets all of the kids in a somewhat unified conglomeration, the next challenge is to get all the children to face the same direction. You can try singing, saying "1,2,3, eyes on me," and jumping up & down like a clown, but you will still have 4 kids who have no idea that you are even at the head of the room trying to get their attention. So the teacher must physically move their bodies to face the front.

The next challenge is to start moving the line in a forward direction. The teacher walks backwards, beckoning the first child in the line to follow her. The kid only gazes into space, transfixed on the beaded necklace around the teacher's neck. "Follow the person in front of you!" "Keep facing the front!" But to no avail. If she is lucky, the teacher will get the first child to walk forward, leaving everyone else behind. Finally, one child notices that the teacher is moving forward and starts to walk. But that kid was fifth in line and doesn't wait for the others to go. Once again, there is a human blob in the doorway of the classroom, spilling into the hallway, resulting in virtually no progress from what began 7 minutes earlier.

Expect about a month to master exiting the room. Then another 3 or 4 for the children to test every law of physics by sauntering through the halls in zigzag motions, walking backwards, tracing their fingers on and bumping into every wall, finding microscopic pieces of trash on the ground, starting at the end of the line at point A and ending up three people from the front at point B, tripping over their own feet, kicking, poking, teasing, arguing and falling over each other. Seriously, no exaggeration. I am a witness to these true events of the past week!

How we underestimate the patience required to teach our little ones! Even though they struggle to focus on my instructions, the moment that I sing and move, the children are all fixed on what I am doing. Reaching these little people through the power of music and movement is exactly why I chose this career. I love it! And I love them.