Thank You Notes

Let me tell you a little about my first year teaching. It was the year 2001; I was 23 years old and a bit naive. I started teaching 9th and 10th grade English at the second largest high school in Arizona. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, and 3 weeks after school started, the tragedies of September 11th happened. I will never forget my 2nd hour class that year. I had 4 girls and 22 boys in that class. The boys were a handful, and that is putting it mildly. I had some rough and tough football players (a couple of them royal jerks), a couple of junior ROTC boys, a couple of computer geeks, and a few other interesting students. I thought they were going to go to blows on Sept. 11th, and they almost did. I also had Jeff in my class. I'm pretty sure that Jeff's sole purpose in life that year was to give me a hard time. He spent lots of time in lunch detention with me, and I spent lots of time emailing or phoning his dad. I remember one particular week, Jeff's dad called me to ask if he should let him go on a trip that weekend. I finally felt like I had the power. We spent lots of time getting Jeff to pass (barely) English. I got an email on Friday from Jeff. I almost fell out of my chair. It was short and to the point. Something like, "I'm sorry. You were always one of my favorite teachers, and I know I gave you a hard time." I've spent a lot of time regretting that I wasn't married earlier, but I realize that the alternative has been a great blessing in my life. I am so grateful for the years that I have been able to teach. I have learned some really valuable lessons, and I've been able to know some great students. I will never forget my first year of teaching, and most especially I will never forget those kids. I've run into a few of them. Some of them have been handed some tough blows, but it's nice to see how they handle life. It's nice to see them grow up into successful adults.

I Don't Accept...

So today was a half-day (for the students) at school. I teach piano lessons after school, and as I showed up to teach, I could tell the kids were not happy to see me. I started with the youngest, an 8-year old boy. He SUFFERED through a half-hour lesson, sulking and whining the entire time. I was brutal, as only teaching 16 year-olds for 7 years can make a person. I made him play one song about 15 times, until he could play it correctly. At the end I checked his theory. He had to correct several mistakes, and by this time he was boiling mad at me. He scribbled his answers, and I told him I didn't accept handwriting I couldn't read. He fired back, "I don't accept you ruining my day!" If it wouldn't have made me just a bit upset to be talked to like that by an 8-year-old, I would have burst out laughing. Apparently if he didn't have piano lessons, he could have gone ice-skating this afternoon. So today another kid had another ruined day because of a piano lesson. And maybe someday he will be grateful.

Irrigating and Canning

Irrigating and canning are two activities in which my parents are avid participators. I thought I would not do much of either one. Turns out I got two ear infections last week, and my ears have to be irrigated with vinegar and water twice a day. The good news is the irrigating coupled with antibiotics is actually working! The bad news is I smell like vinegar. As far as the canning...my friend Natalie talked me into buying Utah peaches from "The Fruit Sisters" (can it get any fruitier than that name?) and canning them. We set out Saturday morning to find jars, which you would think would not be that difficult in this mecca of LDS people. After a couple of hours and several grocery stores/Walmarts later, we found our jars. Yahoo! We set to work canning, and after several hours (and a nice lunch break thanks to Sam and Tyler), we had some beautiful jars of peaches to show for it. They are still on my counter because I think they look nice, and I want to be reminded of our accomplishment. I didn't remember much from canning sessions with Mom, but I am glad I could call her for advice. We only had one casualty - a jar I broke because I didn't follow instructions exactly.

P.S. This is really Heather posting even though it says Sam.

Here we go again.

This is the third blog I have started. My old one used my maiden name, and then Sam and I attempted to start one on another site. I am technologically illiterate, and I can't figure out how to make it work the way I would like. So...we are back to blogspot. Now I am ready to keep this up and running. We will have been married two months at the end of this week. That seems such a short time and yet such a long time all at once. Weird, I know. The last few months have been a whirlwind for us. We went to family reunions, got married, went on an awesome cruise to Alaska, moved me in with Sam, started school, and moved wards. During that time I had some training to attend for school, and some training of other teachers to implement. Sam has been insanely busy at work, and we have been working on getting settled into our house (which mostly consists of me hanging pictures and rearranging things a million times.) Despite the busy-ness, the last two months have been some of the happiest of my life. We have both really enjoyed being married, more even than we thought we would. We are hoping that starting this blog will help us stay in better contact with our family and friends, and also serve as a journal of sorts. Don't hold your breath for any "Dear Diary" soul-baring posts, but we hope it will help us to remember this time in our lives. This week has been busy, as usual. Sam worked a TON, and I spent some serious time with the red pen grading papers. We are halfway through the 1st quarter (time flies when you're having fun!) and we had grades due. We also had the chance to go to the temple for the first time since we were married. When we walked in they asked us to do sealings, and it was the best experience I have ever had doing sealings (besides my own, of course!). It was a sweet reminder of the promises we have made to each other and to the Lord, and hopefully is something we will be able to return and do often. We have spent some serious time playing games this weekend, during which time I have been soundly beaten and my humility restored. (It has been missing of late...mostly since I almost ALWAYS win.) And now we are ready to start out another crazy week. As I think about the last couple of months, I can't help but be immensely grateful for all I have been blessed with. I have a husband who loves me and treats me like a million bucks; I have a wonderful supportive family- on both sides; I have a job I mostly really enjoy; I have a beautiful home; and I have the knowledge of the gospel. What more could a girl want?

Welcome Friends!