I love my students

I really am lucky to teach some pretty amazing students. 

My 215 students are just so much fun. As I get more comfortable with the content, I have more and more fun teaching the class. We finished cakes before Thanksgiving and I had to get a picture of what they worked on. I sent the photo to my friend, Courtney Rich, who has a large following on her account Cake by Courtney. We make a variation of her vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream frosting. My students are enthusiastic learners and really are proud of their work, as they should be. 

Emily, Lucy, me, and Jana

BeReal time! It's social media of 2023

Last week, I finished teaching and went straight to the Provo Temple for a session. When I got to the parking lot, I saw 3 of my 215 students (Lucy, Emily, and Jana). "Are you going to the 4:00 session?" "YES." We sat together in the temple and it was really special for me. I've never had this happen. Afterward, we met outside and took a photo to document the occasion. 

I get to be an advisor for SFLSA, the School of Family Life Student Association. The board and presidency are made up of some fantastic students. Since last year, we've joked about gathering at my house and watching Hallmark Christmas movies together. Well, it happened on Friday night. 5 students were able to make it. I made a potato soup and a chicken enchilada soup and some artisan bread. We watched the cheesiest movie and I learned that it's really fun to watch movies with aspiring therapists. They talk about attachment styles and avoidant behavior. It's just as fun as trying a new restaurant with FCS professionals. I''m blessed with a good job. 

Ryan, me, Nick, Laura, Paige, and Sam

I'm also very tired. I've tried to write in my journal for a few weeks and just don't have the energy at night. this has been a semester full of hard work day after day. I'm ready for a break. 

Fake Swedes

The funniest thing happened today! I opened the box in my advent calendar and there was my mini Santa Lucia. It's our big day - Santa Lucia! Wear Swedish sweaters, listen to the funny Swedish song from "Arthur's Perfect Christmas," etc. 

I texted the kids and messaged my siblings. Mel and I wore our Swedish sweaters. Then one of my siblings told me that today is December 12. I had no idea how that happened. When I got home, I saw that I didn't open the package in the correct box of my advent calendar. I had skipped 12. Oh well, we got some great pictures of me and my girlie dressed for the occasion. 

Allie texted that we are fake Swedes. 

Earlier this week, Kamiko, Bekki, and Mel came over for our annual Christmas breakfast where we celebrate our Swedish heritage with a special food and new Christmas ornaments. I lit my advent candles. It was a great time. Mel had to get back to her ward, but Kamiko and Bekki came to my ward. I love going to church with my kiddos. 

In fact, I went to Kamiko and Bekki's ward a couple of weeks ago. I decided to visit them for church. It happened to be a week when Kamiko taught Elder's Quorum and Bekki was teaching Relief Society. She is an excellent teacher. I sat with their neighbor, Carolina, who is Guatemalan, but grew up in Sweden. WHAT? She was really nice. She and her family sat behind us in Sacrament Meeting and she said she thought it was so cute that the mother-in-law (me) was sitting next to the son-in-law (Kamiko). NOPE. Kamiko is my son. Bekki is not my daughter, even though she looks like she could be. Their ward had a linger longer with Thanksgiving food after church. We dished up plates and took them home to eat. LOL. 

Blessings for ACTE Conference

It's no secret that I haven't loved going to work conferences in the past. I don't like missing class to go to conferences and I don't love giving up weekends for conferences. When it's a local conference, I always end up having a great time connecting with friends in my field. I should love going to conferences out of town because I get to stay in nice hotels and eat good food and see new places. 

Well, it was time to go to ACTE conference in Phoenix in late November. I was not excited about it. I was happy that I got selected to present at a round table, but I still didn't want to miss 2 days of class. The TAs and Starlyn covered for me and class went well. They even played the movie "Elf" for my 110 students while they made candy. Well, the day before going to the conference, I called Kelly and told her about my puzzle. She gave me some great tips. First, try to meet new colleagues. Before a conference, I can look at the presenters and see if anyone stands out as someone I could meet and collaborate with. It was too late for that advice, but the other piece of advice was easy to apply. She said that if there wasn't a breakout session at a given time that didn't interest me, to just go back to the hotel or to the pool or something. WHAT? I didn't even know that was an option. I had a new attitude about the upcoming conference. 

When I got to the airport on Wednesday to fly to Phoenix, I saw some teacher friends from Ogden who were also going to the conference. Becky Sagers is in Debbie's ward and knows Jenny and Scott, Rebecca Haacke took my place as president of UAFCS, and Melissa Judkins is president-elect of UAFCS. They were with Tena Pate, an FCS teacher in Ogden, and 2 business teachers - Alaska and Jessica. We talked at the gate while waiting for our plane. They told me they had a rental van in Phoenix and invited me to join them on excursions. Wednesday night after we got settled, I joined them to see the Gilbert and Mesa Temples and to grab dinner. Becky had a list of places she wanted to see and food she wanted to try. The Gilbert temple is beautiful and it was so fun to walk around the grounds of the Mesa temple. Rebecca served her mission in Arizona and spent time at the visitor's center during Christmas time. It was a great evening. 

At a delicious farm to table place. Tena, Rebecca, Alaska, Jessica, Melissa, me, and Rebecca

I forgot how beautiful Christmas is in warm weather. Stunning!

Thursday, I met up with Natalie and some other FCS teachers, Becky Cox, Pepper Poulsen, Rachel Gonzalez, another Becky, and Kamiko's athletic training teacher Becky Bailey. They are also very nice women. We went to breakout sessions. I brought beef sticks and protein bars to have for lunch. Thursday night I went to Scottsdale with my Ogden girlies. The lights were so pretty. Every restaurant we tried had a long wait, so we ended up eating at PF Chang's. We went to Jeni's Ice Cream for dessert. I got to know Tena and Melissa especially well as we walked and talked. They are all so nice. 

Look at how cute Scottsdale and we were!

My TA Morgan's mom is always at ACTE conferences. I hadn't met her until this one

Friday was the last full day of the conference. There weren't a lot of sessions that interested me, so I had a long lunch midday with Natalie. We went to a breakfast place that the Ogden ladies recommended. I got a delicious veggie and pesto sandwich. Natalie had to go to some meetings, so I went to my room to work on some letters of recommendation and other items for work. I even took a nap. We were hoping for warmer weather than we got, but it just wasn't meant to be. Too cool for the pool or patio. I stayed at the Hilton, right across the street from the conference venue, so I could come and go as I wanted. It was great. I felt so blessed to have Kelly's advice and to have connected with friends. Friday night I went with Natalie and her gang to eat dinner in Gilbert at a place called Culinary Dropout. The food was delicious. It was a very big restaurant with lots of customers. I got to know those women better, too. They are a bit more intimidating than the Ogden women. They are quite involved in state and national professional organizations, which is impressive. They had awards dinners to attend, etc. which is why I had time to spend with the Ogden ladies. We are the underachievers. 

Saturday I went to a quick session about work styles. That session helped me better understand my co-workers and my work style. It was very beneficial. Natalie gave me a ride to the airport. We got delayed about 20 minutes behind a huge religious parade of Native American Catholics celebrating the Virgin Mary. 

Uneventful flight home. Got home around 6:00 pm, after stopping for groceries. I can't help but feel extremely grateful that Heavenly Father gave me individualized help for the conference. I told my Ogden friends over and over how grateful I was to be invited along with them. I had taken my swimsuit and walking clothes. I was fully prepared to spend every evening alone in my room, bored and watching TV. It turned out so great and I expect future conferences will be great. I know how to do them better. I'm grateful Natalie encouraged me to get involved in professional organizations. Knowing people makes all the difference. 

Thanksgiving 2023

Mel and I were invited to go to the Brau's for Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday. Since Michelle and I are the main cooks, I volunteered do make a lot of food. I made rolls, using Michelle's recipe, apple pie, lemon pie, cranberry sauce, and a green salad. I also took the pumpkin pie that I got from my realtor friend, Lissa Lott. 

I used my mad meal planning skills and made some food ahead of time, including making and freezing some rolls the Sunday before. I made the apple pie on Wednesday. Mel stayed at my place Wednesday night and helped me a bit Thursday. 

It's always a great time at the Brau's. Mel and I got to sit at the little kids' table with Jay and his girlfriend, Asa. They are in their 3rd, and final, year of law school. It was fascinating talking to them about law school and their interests and plans for when they graduate. 

Michelle's mom and brother were there. A sister and her two kids also came. I didn't realize it until later, but it was quite stressful for Michelle. It was a great time. They are the BEST. 

Mel wanted Thanksgiving leftovers, so we made a mini repeat of Thanksgiving dinner on Friday at my house. Mom and dad came over. I had made and frozen mashed potatoes. All I had to do was roast a turkey, make gravy, and heat up leftovers from Thursday. 

During the break, I also sewed. I made a short-sleeved blouse out of a really nice shirting that I bought in London at Joel and Sons. I was so proud of myself that I called Dawna, my colleague in clothing, to tell her how hard I was working to make it just right. I altered the pattern to make the collar and collar band narrower. I also added a band on the front instead of a facing because I knew that would look so much more polished. 

Making the shirt

Wearing the shirt I made

Overall, it was a great Thanksgiving weekend. It was hard to go back to work. We joked that the break was just a sick trick to tease us for the upcoming. Christmas break.