a new update!

well believe it or not, i'm updating for real!

OK, recap:

Fall semester finished.  I beat the "21 date challenge" and got to 24 or something like that.  I kinda stopped worrying about it at the end of the semester.  I have only been on a couple dates since--I'm a bit burned out.

Classes were good.  I got a B+ in world history and an A- in Bio 100 but As in everything else!  It helped my GPA quite a bit.  Now i just have to do it again this semester!!!  We'll see if I can pull that off!!  This semester I'm taking HEPE and Phys Sci 1oo online (hopefully that wasn't a mistake...); I'm also taking Turkish 102, LDS History 1805-1844, Humanities 101, and Dance 378R (Folk Dance team, yay!).  Its a big semester but it will make summer break that much better, plus I'm knocking out most of the remaining gen ed requirements I have to fill.

Job:  Back at the end of Novemberish I applied for a position under the Office of IT as a software instructor.  I went in for an initial interview with 2 people which went well (although my flash drive didn't work so I had to use facebook to show a couple pictures I had photoshopped and it was kind of embarassing cuz the interviewers saw me in my footie pjs, etc!).  I was later invited back for another interview, in which I taught about the IF function in Excel.  This is something that I had no idea existed so it was a steep learning curve and I was WAY nervous.  However it went fairly well.  As an example, I had created a spreadsheet for Christmas named "Naughty or Nice?" in which I put me and my siblings' names and the months.  Then I put in amounts of good and bad deeds, added them up at the end of the year, and used the IF function to determine who got presents for Christmas and who got coal.  It was unique I think and I enjoyed it.  Anyway, on the way home for Christmas I got a call and was told that I got the job!!  I was really happy.  Working at the library was nice and all, but not great for building a resume, and the hours weren't that great either.  So I started the first day of this semester and its been a whirlwind ever since.  I've been going to the classes that our team teaches, in order to qualify myself and learn about the programs.  I've also been practice teaching and working on projects in these programs.  It has been going well and I'm enjoying what I'm learning.  And I also enjoy teaching!  I'm currently working on a mini-mission scrapbook.  Its about 12 pages.  The front/back covers are collages of pictures.  I also found this font on the internet (www.dafont.com) that looks like an old-fashioned labeler/labels, and I used it for the title and section headings.  For the inside I used more pictures, another font that looks like handwriting (plus the label font) and then used maps of my areas as backgrounds.  I have to say I think it looks pretty snazzy.

OK, lastly (and hopefully briefly--i'm going to be owing more hugs to readers if this goes on much longer!): Christmas.  Christmas was awesome!!!  However, getting home was not so great.  I took a train, plane, and car.  I rode the train from Provo to Denver on one day (it took like 15 hours!!).  I had to get up really early in the morning (actually i only slept about 1 hour that night) and then the train was late which sucked.  HOWEVER, the ride was very relaxing and I had 2 seats to myself and it was very roomy, etc.  it was also very pretty.  so i definitely recommend it!  That night I stayed in Denver with my sister and her husband and baby, and that was fun.  She made a delicious dinner and the next day we had fun and also got to go to Chipotle! yay!!  That afternoon/evening I flew from Denver to Dallas.  Originally I was going to drive from Denver to Iowa with Emily but circumstances change.  Anywho the bad things about flying: I forgot to leave my swiss army knife with Emily so I had to throw it away at the airport.  they also threw away my TOOTHPASTE.  COME ON!!  gah.  once I got to Dallas I was kinda freaked out cuz we hadnt set up when/where Sarah & Mark would pick me up. so i waited for like 30 min and they came luckily (they didnt have a phone so there was no way for us to contact each other! what did we do before cell phones....?).  Then about 6 or so hours later, Sarah and I and Adriana were on the road to Iowa.  It was a WAY long trip and Adriana really got conditioned to hating her carseat, but parts of it were good.

Now, for real--Christmas.  We had most of us kids home for Christmas, plus grandkids!  All in all we were 25 strong!  it was a big group but awesome.  the kids all had a great time together and it was good for me to see everyone again.  i just love that "family" feeling.  my parents are in a new house, and it is really great.  Plus they were not stressed out, which was FANTASTIC.  let me get a couple pics up...  oh i also grew a "pilgrim cut" beard, so there is a pic of that too...