Thanksgiving

So it was just Thanksgiving. I love Thanksgiving! I feel like it means that I need to tell you what I'm grateful for, which is a ton. I realize I've been incredibly lucky.  Let me show you a glimpse of just how much.

Some things I'm grateful for...
Steven Hansen-and that I'm married to him.
The temple
The LDS Church-and that covers a lot- the Book of Mormon, Sunday meetings, ward members, missions, general authorities, hymns, relief society, priesthood, etc.
The Wentzie family
The Hansen family
Katy, Brookie, Emilie, Sas, Kris, Allison, Lex, Cally, Stacey, Heather, Danielly,
Syl, Lisa, Cheryl, Louise, Kandis, and Kim.
Cars
Contact Lenses
Lotion
Chapstick
That Steve and Syl, and Sabrinna and Tanner came out to visit. I love seeing them.
Robert Hansen and his tools and car expertise.
Heaters
footie pajamas-they are an impenetrable wall against the cold.
bikes
snowflake ritz crackers
frozen yogurt
debit/credit cards (instead of cash)
mail
blowdryers
earrings
my wedding ring
our apartment
flowers
cooking
froot loops
chocolate
music- all kinds.
art/ classy photography
painting, ceramics, crafts
medicine
hospitals and doctors
cell phones
mp3 players
internet
ebay
cowboy boots
backpacks
vitamin c
drinkable water easily accesible
hot showers
huge cozy towels
new socks
baskets
picture frames
printers
ribbon
sparkly things
eyesight
shampoo
hairspray
Christmas, well and every other holiday for that matter.
weddings
whiteboards
scotch tape
scissors
braces
books
skirts
shoes
microwaves
dishwashers
mascara
America
airplanes
clorox wipes
windshield wipers
kids
kleenex with lotion
waterbottles
ball point pens
bobby pins
Brad Paisley. I can't forget Brad.

Wow. I'm lucky. Ya know what I was thinking too, as Steve and I were moving into our apartment? That we had a lot of trouble fitting everything in. We had so much stuff and so many presents we couldn't fit them all-or in other words, we were blessed more than we had room to receive. I also thought about that at Thanksgiving dinner when Steve was laughing because he wanted to eat all of this food but he couldn't fit everything on his plate. I couldn't either! How lucky are we to have so much food that we can't even fit it on our plates? Once again, we were blessed more than we had room to receive. We are lucky little duckies. :)
Happy Thanksgiving!

Write in your Journal.

So I swear I have heard a prophet tell us to write in our journals. Today I have a itty bitty inkling of maybe a reason why.

You know how sometimes you are super pumped about something and you know it's right and you have that absolute BURNING that you MUST do something!? So you write it down cause you know that later on, a few days, maybe months, maybe years, you might not feel the same, and doubt that that is really the right thing-but during that moment you were excited about it you wanted yourself to never forget to stick with it cause you KNEW it was right?

And then time passes and you feel like you kind of hate and want to change that thing you thought was right and loved?

I think maybe those old journal entries, or perhaps blog posts, are to remind you about that "burning" you had to stick with it-so that when you do feel differently you remember that once upon a time you knew that thing was right. And that might be one of the only things to make you stick with it-your own words from months past trying to remind you of how you felt. I think this could happen with a testimony building experience, or a big decision, or.....other things.

And sometimes you wish that you could just punch your younger self that wrote those words cause now you think, "what was I thinking!? I had no idea!", and you want to change your mind.
But you just swallow that little defiant, frustrated voice in your head and say to yourself, "self. We knew this was right once. Suck it up and stick with it. Maybe it will be worth it.".

Don't you hate when that happens?
I do....

I wrote this post February of 2009. That was almost two years ago.


"I have spent a lot of time in classrooms around utah county, mostly upper grades, but some kindergarten, and I absolutely love it. I have wanted to be a teacher all of my life, but I never realized what teaching actually included. I have had so many fears about it-there are aspects of it that I don't know if I could do very well, and so I have been studying it out to make sure that is right for me. I have most definitley looked into other careers that I think I would enjoy-ya gotta keep an open mind ya know. I love culinary arts, and have dreamed of going to culinary school. I love physiology and biology and would love to be a nurse. I think nutrition is fascinating and dietetics would be a fun career. I have searched out these different careers and thought they seemed great, but when I step into an elementary classroom I am a fish who has found the ocean. It just fits perfectly and I get so stinking excited!! I got to go tutor at Canyon Crest Elementary yesterday, and though I was only there for a little bit, I got to tutor, talk to the teacher about her job, and watch the kids out at recess and I just flipped. I HAVE to be a teacher!! I MUST!! I CANNNOT WAIT!!! I had the giggly/screaming thing (many of you have heard it...) coming out of my mouth in my car the whole way home cause I was so excited that I was going to be a teacher. I love everything about it. The kids, spelling, reading, writing, science, the creativity of it, the organization, the learning, the classroom, the friendships, the humor, even the paper work/grading part of it. I have never been so excited about it. Ok, ok, my point. I have lots of hobbies that I will enjoy as just that-hobbies. Of course I will have doubts as well, as school gets hard, and unexpected bumps happen, but that is why I'm writing this. I don't want to forget moments like this where I know I want to teach. So, I hereby declare that for my life's work, I want to spend my time in a classroom teaching kids. I am willing and excited to take the good with the bad in that all around package we call elementary education. I can't wait. :)"


That whole feeling I just explained above?...ya I kind of feel that right now. I'll let you know if that little defiant, frustrated voice inside my head wins. He's kind of in the lead...

Might a share a smidgen or two?

"Dismiss the destructive and
keep dismissing it, until the beauty of the
Atonement of Christ has revealed to you
your bright future, and the bright future
of your family and your friends and your
neighbors. God doesn't care nearly as
much about where you have been as He
does about where you are, and with His
help, where you are willing to go....This is an
important matter to consider at the start
of a new year ‐‐ and every day ought to be
the start of a new year and a new life.
Such is the wonder of faith and
repentance and the miracles of the Gospel
of Jesus Christ."
-Jeffery R. Holland

"Grow old along with me!
The best is yet to be,
The last of life, for which the first was
made:
Our times are in His hand
Who saith “A whole I planned,
Youth shows but half; trust God: see all,
nor be afraid.” "
-Robert Browning


....'nuff said.

I kinda feel like there are scrambled eggs in my head.

I know it's annoying when people talk about their spouses lots, but can I tell you some funny things I've learned about Steven Hansen? just as the funny person he is? I love this man.

1. He spends more time in the anatomy lab with dead people than he does with me. that's kinda creepy if you think about it. yikes. but that's science classes for you. and He's a TA. So it makes sense.
2. He wants to name one of our children after a Laker's player. He loves Pau Gasol, and Lamar Odom. But why choose just one? He has decided on LaPau Gasodom Hansen. Ugh. I will veto that one, but thanks to espn for puttin that thought in his head.
3. He has five different deodorants. He claims that his armpits get immune to a certain kind after using it so long. In his words, " I have to keep my armpits guessing! ". He really said that. Ha.
4. We were out of cereal the other day and he told me he'd go buy some. When I got home I saw he had bought cookie crisp and marshmallow mateys. I would have chosen like total or cheerios? but ok, let's eat miniature chocolate chip cookies for a good wholesome breakfast. That won't put us in a sugar coma at all.
5. The other day at 1am we had to drive back up to campus to find his IPOD because it fell out of his pocket. He remembered where it might be because it was a corner where instead of walking on the sidewalk, he jumped over the bushes. Glad he "saved some time" by jumping over those bushes...

He's hilarious. that's why I married this hilarious man. I like the variety that's added to life when you get to be a part of someone else's too. :)


So guess what else? I have been teaching a little bit! I spend every day up in Salt Lake at the cutest elementary school.
I am in second grade, and my class is pretty funny.
So far we have had two, uh, "potty accidents", a tooth get knocked out by another girl's head, and a few kids accidentally wearing clothing items backwards and being really embarrassed when had to tell them and have them go change. We have a little bit of a lot of different cultures in our room, and I think it's kind of fun. There are two twin girls that dress alike every day, A little asian boy who always asks me how to spell things, and this little girl that looks JUST like I did in second grade who tells me almost every day that her birthday is in April.

I have learned far more about how to teach than any class could have taught me. Sometimes that's cruddy learning though cause the mistakes you make are even worse.
Today, my lesson that was supposed to be 20 minutes went for almost an hour. Things just don't go how you planned and sometimes it's just chaos. A lot of the time it's you vs. a class with a bad case of the wiggles and sometimes it feels like the wiggles win. But I have years to go, and to practice before I think I'll ever feel "comfortable" with teaching. You can't just fix what you did wrong in your lesson either! It's so frustrating! Once you've taught that lesson, you can't waste time teaching it again just because now you know how to do it. You have to just be able to apply that new technique you learned to the next lesson you teach. It's a big difference from being able to fix your answers on a test and resubmit it for full credit. It's experience, not paperwork. And it's way harder and more complicated that I thought. It's trying to remember 30 management strategies in your head while trying to follow a lesson plan, answer questions, and try to make sure they're learning-not just that you're throwing facts at their heads. Yikes.
I admire those teachers who do it well. Obviously anyone could be a teacher. Anyone can stand in front of a class and say things from a piece of paper in their hands. But it's incredibly hard to be a GOOD teacher. An EFFECTIVE teacher, and one that the kids will remember as learning from and loving to be in class with. Maybe someday I'll catch on to it.