Student teaching is well under way and I honestly just had to look at a calendar to tell you that there's only five weeks left. It's going great! Since my last blog I've switched schools AND grades. Now I'm at Art City Elementary School in Springville and I'm in 6th grade. I love 6th graders! I'm just having so much fun with them! And what makes it even better is that I totally didn't expect it?! My mentor teacher, Mrs. Bird, is amazing and we get along so well! We're all just hitting it off so well! I'm loving teaching and that's a good thing, cause at this time last year I was thinking the exact opposite! I definitely needed this teaching experience.
Along with student teaching comes this monster project that BYU requires you to do. It's called your Teacher Work Sample. I won't bore you with the details, but here's the project in all it's glory:
65 pages people. I hope and pray to never have to do another assignment as long as this one. Thursday night I finished it up, printed it off, and bought the folder. Friday morning I turned it in. Nothing like waiting til the last minute :) True Livi fashion.
Life continues to be charmed with multiple trips home, fun nights with friends, lots of time with family, good workouts, great students, fabulous mentors, and decent amounts of sleep.
p.s. I've always wondered how parents kept track of their babies exact ages until recently I realized that every time someone asks me how long Tessa's been gone I know the answer right down to the day. I save myself the embarrassment and tell them the most accurate month count. I think I need an intervention...
So right now Facebook does this awesome thing where they remind you what happened on this day a year ago, or two, or seven years ago. It's really fun, and you have the option to share it. I don't think I've ever shared one, but today one put me in tears.
This picture was taken the week Tessa started her mission papers. I hadn't completely come to terms with the idea, although I knew that that's what she was supposed to do. I was determined to be supportive and help her in any way I could. We spent this whole day together, just the two of us up in the mountains. We hardly crossed paths with anyone, and I wouldn't have had it any other way. We just talked and talked as we enjoyed being out in God's beautiful creations. I just wished the day would never end.
So, you can imagine what happened when I opened my Facebook this morning (which I rarely do before I leave the house). I immediately started bawling. All those emotions from that day came back. A year ago I honestly had no idea how hard it was going to be for me to have Tessa gone. I knew it would be hard, but wow! She was my workout partner, my grocery buddy, my conversation at dinner, my confidant, my best friend. It's definitely been another adjustment to be at school without her. Obviously I'm doing it, and it really is going well, it's just different. And I miss her a lot.
After my sophomore year of college I wondered how I was going to go back. I loved school, but mostly because of my roommates. They all decided to go on missions and I had no idea who I was going to live with when I returned in the fall. I was bummed.
The day I returned home for the summer I got a call from my cousin Mary. She was heading back to school down there and wondered if I wanted to live with her and two of her mission buddies. I said yes not knowing it was going to be one of the best decisions of my life. Here are some of the miracles I have been a part of because of Mary.
I made so many friends because of Mary. I really realized that last night at her wedding reception. I was surrounded by people I love and I know most of them because Mary introduced me to them.
Every since my first day at BYU when I would tell people who I was or where I was from they would ask me if I knew Mary. They immediately loved me.
Mary was my first roommate that I had that was super diligent. She inspired me to be more committed to everything I was doing.
I always want to put people first. Mary always does put people first. She is friends with so many and reaches out to everyone around her and makes them feel loved.
Mary asks the best questions. When I would see her at the end of every day instead of asking me how my day was, she would ask me what the best part of my day was. Way better question! Instead of just responding with "good," I had to reflect back on my day and come up with a good answer. Another one of my favorite questions of hers was, "What's your favorite thing about ________." Whether I'd been out with someone or talking on the phone it was fun to answer her question and think about all of the good things about the people I choose to spend my time with.
Mary is so frugal and thrifty. I've saved many pennies trying to be more like Mary.
Mary always puts the Lord first. She always studies her scriptures, prays, attends her meetings, and serves those around her. You can see it in her eyes, her smile, and her countenance. She just glows.
Mary got married yesterday and I was privileged enough to be asked to do her hair. I don't know if she knows how much I really loved doing it or not, but it meant a lot to me. She was a stunning bride and Ryan is one lucky man! It was so fun being part of her day.
Living with and near Mary since I've been at college has been a huge blessing to me. I'm sure she'll continue to be a large part of my life since we're related and all, and just because she's a great person like that. I'm so thankful for The Miracle of Mary in my life.
Saturday, June 4, 2016
I don't really know what to title this post, but I miss my sis.
Some days I just need to talk to her. Friday was one of those days. My life really is so great and I'm so happy, but I have questions and I need her to answer them for me. Or at least validate my crazy thinking?! I'm not going to lie, I even cried. Then I went in the mountains on a hike and just talked to my own dang self!
haha. Not the same, but as close as I'm probably going to get :) Miss you Tess!
I've been lucky enough to go to the Cebu, Philippines Temple not once, but twice! The first time I went with the Institute. We had a great time! The second time I went with Angie, Yet-yet, Rix, Lillian, and some members of our ward. We also had a great time!
Our travel arrangements were the same both times, so I'll just explain it all once :) To get to Cebu we hopped on a boat around midnight that went through the night. The seating arrangements were bunk beds. It looked like this:
Top Bunk
Bottom Bunk
Both trips I slept like a rock! No covers, lights on, people chatting--I'm a pretty good sleeper :) I woke up just in time for the sunrise and getting off the boat :)
We got there first things in the morning, around 5:30-6:00 and headed straight to the temple grounds. The temple grounds in Cebu is kind of like a compound. There is the temple, a stake center, the mission home, and a pension house. The pension house has rooms for members attending the temple as well as a cafeteria and locker rooms. Both times we were able to get cleaned up and get some breakfast there before we attended the temple. I was able to do a total of 3 sessions of baptisms in my two trips. While we waited for people to get dome I got to spend some time walking and sitting around the temple grounds. They were beautiful, as usual.
The pension house is quite nice, and it was so convenient to be able to eat right there while we waited for other members of our groups to finish with their sessions. I was able to find these 2 pictures painted by Grandma Minerva, as well as her painting of Christ in the Red Robe that was inside of the baptistry.
The temple workers are called there on missions. I was able to meet two different couples, both from Utah. They claim it's the best mission on earth, and I believe them! All of the senior couples live on the 3rd floor of the pension house, right next to the temple. They get to go out and eat at different places around the city. Then the temple closes for 2 weeks every 6 months, so then they get to go and vacation for those 2 weeks. Sounds pretty great to me!
Both trips we stayed in Cebu for one night. With the Institute we stayed at a place that was kind of like a hostel. Then the second time we stayed at the Pension house. To get home we caught a bus that drove us to the south eastern tip of Cebu Island. That ride was about 4-4.5 hours with a nice stop in the middle. Then we caught a short 20-30 minute boat back to Negros Island, and from there a short jeep ride to Dumaguete. It was good for me to see the sacrifice that the members here go through to attend the temple.
We had some neat experiences with members in my groups in both trips to the temple that helped to strengthen my testimony. There are some strong members here and it has been so good for me to experience The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints here in Dumaguete. It's the same. There are valiant leaders, strong members, missionaries, and the same special spirit. I love this gospel and I love my Savior. I love attending His temples and the renewed energy it gives me each time I attend.
Friday morning we woke up early, grabbed our bags and headed to catch the 7:00am boat ride to Siquijor island. The boat ride was only about an hour and a half long.
As soon as we got there, we rented 3 scooters. Maddie and Faith hopped on with me, Reed and Lillian with Yet-yet, and Rix and the Ryskamp luggage with Angie. We were heading to a beach resort, Salagdoong, on the other side of the island. The ride there was beautiful and we had fun laughing and telling stories. When we got there, I was speechless! The sand was so white, and the water was so blue! Well, I guess the water was so clear--it just looked so blue!
One of my favorite moments was Faith telling me all about how it was going to be jumping off of the cliff! I was cracking up! She was so animated about it! She was going to show me how it was done, and then decided to let me go first, and then she ended up not even jumping off?! Haha!
We spent the day jumping off the cliffs, snorkeling, eating, and I even enjoyed some time reading my book on the beach :)
That night Yet-yet and I grilled some pork chops, and they turned out delicious thanks to Yet-yet's marinade.
We stayed in a hotel room right there off the beach. I didn't take any pictures of it. It was nothing fancy, but the location was perfect!
The next morning we just enjoyed being a little lazy and then we ran into the nearest town, Maria to try and find some breakfast. Some people ate at a cantin (little food stop), and I grabbed some fruit and bread from the public market.
After breakfast we headed back and Angie and the kids swam for a little bit longer while I read and Yet-yet listened to music. We checked out around 11:00, and then we were off to the next stop, Cambugahay Falls.
This place was unlike any place I'd ever been before! It was SO beautiful and SO much fun! The rope swing was a blast! The guys would push us up higher off the ground so that we could gain more momentum, and then we'd fly out over the natural pool and drop into the water. It was great! Everyone tried the rope swing, and I lost count of how many times I went. Then you could jump off of the waterfall, and that was fun too! The waterfall was just the right height--not too high to freak me out (like the one at Salagdoong, haha), and the water was so nice! We spent quite a bit of time there and enjoyed every second of it!
I also got to enjoy a fresh, young coconut. First I drank out the juice, then I went back and he cut it in half for me and I ate the meat out of it. So yummy! I am loving all the coconut here and will be so bummed to not be able to have fresh coconut whenever I want :(
We left there and headed to our last stop, the Mystic Tree and Fish Spa. It was a pretty neat tree, and the fish spa was nice.
When we left there we were all starving! So, we drove and drove until we found a nice little outdoor restaurant. I had this yummy fish! It was just what I needed after a long, fun day.
After lunch/dinner we raced back to the port to catch the 6:00pm boat back to Dumaguete. We got there right on time and ended our wonderful visit to Siquijor. It was probably my favorite trip we've had here in the Philippines. The kids all got along, the sun was warm, the water was so beautiful, the places we went were fun--everything just seemed so surreal. I am so blessed to be here and experience some of the more beautiful places in this world.
Over the past 2 months of living here, I've acquired quite a few pictures of the neighborhood and I thought I'd share :)
I've found it very interesting the variety of homes that people live in here. In our little neighborhood (I literally live less than a 3 minute walk from all of these homes) we have board houses, cement houses, and everything in between. Here's a look:
This is just one of the rooster lots that we have near
Here's the main street in the neighborhood. Two tricycles can squeeze by each other, but it's a pretty tight fit!
There are these little streets/alley ways that jut off everywhere, and they're actually dead-ends, so I never really walk down them.
And here's the crazy american girl who walks around these streets. People are constantly stopping me and asking me what I'm doing cause they see me around so much?! Haha. I've become friends with quite a few of them :)
Here's the street we live on. I kind of love that it's dirt.
And here's the house I live in. It doesn't feel as big as it looks with 8 of us living inside and 4 extra men coming to work here everyday, but I feel pretty darn blessed nonetheless!
Even though we don't have much of a yard, I love all of the plants that are around.
And our front door, accessorized by the motorcycles.
If any of my pictures and experiences have made you decide you want to move to the Philippines, you're in luck! There's a house for sale just down the road :)
I sure have grown to love this neighborhood. The warm smiles, the friendly waves, the kids running around, the roosters' crowing, and our home here on LaSola Drive.
