Student Teaching

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... 

Back At It!

I just started my fourth week of my last semester at BYU.  So crazy to think about that.  I don't say my last week of school, cause who knows?!  I just might be crazy enough to go back someday, but probably not to BYU.  So I feel like I'm safe to say that.  I'm really loving school.  More that I thought I would.  My last in the classroom experience was hard.  Really hard.  And I questioned if teaching was for me or not.  Well, I've been through 3 weeks in a second grade class at Barnett Elementary School in Payson, UT, and I'm loving it!  I feel like I'm thriving down there instead of just surviving!  I'm excited about my lessons and I LOVE those kids!  Who knew you could love a bunch of 7 year olds in such a short amount of time?!  I'm also loving actually getting ready and wearing teacher-y clothes :)  Still had to take a first day of school pic to send to my mom!  Ha

While I'm loving my schooling part of being back at it, school most definitely does NOT rule my life!  I've been loving the things of my single/college/BYU/Provo life.  

One of my favorite things of being back is the gym.  I got a pass to VASA this semester and it's been so nice!  I don't ever have to wait for weights or machines, and it's literally a block and a half from my apartment.  

I'm loving my roommates!  I knew Ashlee (the super cute blonde on the left) a little bit, and we both met Jessi (the babe on the right) when we moved in.  We had a fun ice cream party on Wednesday night with a bunch of our friends, and it was a hit!  It was so fun for me to meet more of their friends and to see some of mine.  We're definitely doing it again next month :)  I also really love our apartment and ward.  Everything about it is great!  

My mom has already been down to visit twice, and there's no complaints here!  I LOVE when she comes!  This past weekend we hiked Timp and did our center street walk.  We found this fun bookstore down there!  Pioneer Book.  So great!  I'm not a lover of reading, so for me to say that is a pretty big deal...

I'm enjoying concocting my own meals again.  I've had some interesting ones.  The most random one was probably taco meat with spinach, brown rice, and plain greek yogurt.  It was actually quite a bit better than in sounds!  I also have no clue what I would do without eggs.  I've eaten at least one every single day.  

I've also just loved being back at the Y.  I really do love BYU.  I love the campus, I love going to the games, I just love the spirit of this place.  I'm not like a psycho fan or anything, but I'm so so glad I came to school here.  I've met so many good people here and while I'm not going to stay here forever, I'll forever be thankful for the time I have spent here.  It's definitely special to me.   

My cousin Sadie is finally down here at school too, and it's been fun to do some things with her!  I just love how comfortable I can be around here and we've had fun on a few hikes.  I've also been able to do some things with Liz Dayton from Cokeville, and that's been fun for me to get to know her better.  She's a great girl!  

Life is really good right now.  I'm really feeling content with what's happening, and I feel like it's God's way of letting me know that I'm on the right track.  I'm thankful for that.  

A Year Ago Today

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.  

The Amazon

We went to the Amazon at the start of our trip.  There was a group of 14 of us.  We got to go on jungle walks, fishing, visit a village, cruise along the Amazon River, and so much more!  We stayed at Heliconia Lodge about an hour and a half out of Iquitos, Peru via boat.  The accommodations were great!   We had the best time!  Here are some of my favorite pictures.  

Mom feeding a monkey.

So picturesque.  

You can take the boy out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the boy.  Their vine lassos were the best!  

The leaf fans were very needed!

 Some cows shading up. 

These kids.  So dang cute! 

 Dinner time! 

 Carol killed us all in sapo!

 Giant lily pad

 Lunch.  They always made it look so pretty. 

 Some homes up on stilts.  These were right where we were getting off the boat in Iquitos.  

The little wooden chair on the bike was my favorite! 

The rooftops, the greenery, the sky.  

And here's a fun little video of parts of the trip :)

Spring Fun!

This spring has been one for the books!  Since I've been home I've been able to do some really fun things!  Some of my favorites include (in no particular order): 

Branding with the Cornia's

Spending a day with Tami in Idaho Falls

Helping the Child's with sheep

Recovering Kelly's truck seats

(The coolest cloud over Deseret on the way home)

State track with my dad and the Micheli clan

(State Champs!)

Visiting my friends in Provo

Helping Taffy fix up their playhouse

Branding with Nate's

Walks with friends

Docking sheep with Child's

(Lunch Break)

Fires with friends

Working out with Kalbie (she's a fabulous workout partner!)

Getting the cemetery ready for Memorial Day

Sulli's graduation

Becoming an aunt again

Moab with Kalbie

Having all my sisters and their kids come for a day

Skyping Tessa on Mother's Day

Walks with my mom

Taking over the bread business again

As you can see, it's been pretty stellar.  I feel so blessed that I get to do such a wide variety of things with my days :)

Fitbit Fanatics?!

Back in December, in my string of good luck, I was given this sporty purple watch by my lovely friend Faith. 

Her mom had given it to her and just a few weeks later the buckle on it broke.  She called the fitbit people and they told her they'd just send her a new one?!  At school a few days later she asked me if I wanted it.  I knew that fitbits were kind of expensive and was pretty shocked!  She insisted that all of her family already had them and that if I didn't just take it she didn't know what she'd do with it.  So, I was gracious (hopefully!) and accepted the fitbit with the broken buckle.  I wasn't too worried about getting it fixed up any time soon, but I decided to tell my boss Wayne (he and his wife got these things about a year ago and he's lost almost 50 pounds and his wife has lost over 70 I think) about it.  He was so excited and was like, just go to Walmart and get a watch with the same size band and we can just switch it out! Well, I didn't even have to do that, cause the next morning my boss Lee shows up, pulls his watch out of his pocket, and what do ya know--the buckle ripped right through the leather band on his watch?!  He looked at it and deemed it unfixable.  That's when Wayne's eyes got wide and he asked me where my fitbit was?  I went and grabbed it out of my backpack and what do ya know?!  The buckle fit perfectly!  Later that week I went and bought a charger and I was in business!  

And that's how it all began.  I had NO idea what I was getting into?!  A bunch of my Oberg cousins as well as my mom, Aunt Linda, and Aunt Carol have them and each week we compete in the "Workweek Hustle."  These people are crazy! Most of their daily averages are from 15k-25k steps a day.  Trying to stay in these competitions is grueling!  Luckily I'm an active person and hold my own pretty good in them.  One Friday night the competition was closing and I was about 300 steps ahead of my mom.  I was exhausted and had fallen asleep in the middle of the living room.  All of the sudden I was woken up by the sound of repeated footsteps.  My mom was pacing our house trying to beat me?! So, of course I had to get up and get those extra steps to beat my mom!  We were just walking all over trying to out step each other and finally I was fed up with it.  I grabbed her and tied her to a chair!  Enough is enough!!  haha  Anyways, we've had some pretty entertaining comments and trash talk among the group and it's been a fun way for me to connect with some of my cousins who I would have no real reason to have contact with otherwise.  

Aside from the challenge, it's just been fun to see how much I really move around in a day.  Some days I'm shocked at how lazy I am and some days I'm shocked at how active I am.  Like yesterday.  It was my first day off in a couple of weeks and I really had nothing planned.  So, I decided to try and do a bunch of things!  I got a lot accomplished and I ended up with over 49,000 steps.  Crazy.  My day off and I get a new high on my fitbit.  I really wouldn't have it any other way though.  So, If you don't have a fitbit, don't feel like you NEED to get one, but they are pretty fun to have :)

Heart Rate

Since I got here at sea level my heart rate has dropped so low it's a wonder I'm even alive?! I have this fancy Fitbit that tracks my heart rate, and while I'm asleep I've been anywhere from 45-43 beats per minute. Here's the picture of March's tracking. 

Trees, Mud, and Waterfalls

I saw millions of trees, walked through so much mud, and saw two beautiful waterfalls.  I've been dying to go hiking since I got here, and a kid from Institute kindly obliged to take me!  I didn't really know where we were going, but he told me he'd pick me up at 5:30 in the morning and to bring a lunch.  I knew I was in for a good day of hiking, I knew it'd be beautiful, but I wasn't really sure what I was going to see! 

First, let's talk about how challenging this hike was.  Mud.  

It had rained the night before, and there was so much mud.  This makes hiking much trickier, at least for this clutzy girl.  I won't even tell you how many times I slipped...haha.  The hike also had very, very steep stretches.  

This picture doesn't quite do it justice, but really, so steep!  They were definitely easier to go up than down!  

Then there were these roots everywhere, because there are trees everywhere! 

Some of these roots were very helpful and gave me a good, solid place to step, others were slicker than snot!  I was never sure which roots were going to be friendly, or which roots would have me begging for mercy?!  

There were also some treacherous stretches of going over slippery rocks walking through the river. 

 

I was SO glad for my Chacos! 

Now, lets talk about how BEAUTIFUL this hike was!  Seriously, look at these views!  I was hiking through a jungle.  How cool is that?!  

Our final destination was this sulfur vent:  

I'm not going to lie, I was kind of bummed that we had just hiked all that way (it was about 8 miles round trip) to come to this sulfur vent?! Anyways, it was cool and I was just happy I got to see so much beauty along the way.  

The sulfur vent had caused everything in it's path to die, and I just thought the contrast of dead and alive was so pretty! 

Then on our way back out JeeVee was like, hey, let's just come over here to eat a snack.  I wasn't really hungry and just wanted to hike out, but I went anyways.  I was concentrating pretty hard on walking through the river when I looked up and saw this beautiful waterfall!  

I was in shock!  It was so pretty!  Then I looked to the right of me and there was another one!  

They are called Twin Falls.  So, we had a little snack, and enjoyed listening to the falling water.  

Here are some more pictures from along the way.  

 I thought it was so interesting that this tree had fur on it?!  I was quickly told that they were thorns and not to touch it!  Yikes!

This huge and beautiful garden was along the way and I just couldn't help but think of my mom and all my gardening aunts, sisters, and cousins and how much they'd have loved it!  

I even got in one of the pictures :)

The hike was hard.  The hike was beautiful.  I'm so glad I had the experience.  

We hiked really fast and were done around 1:00, so I asked JeeVee if he could take me to meet up with the Ryskamp's.  They were going to be going swimming at this place called Pulong Buto.  He kindly obliged, and we actually met up with them on the highway as they were stopped looking at some other sulfur rock things.  I hopped off there, thanked him, and took Yet-yet's spot as a driver.  We headed up to Pulong Buto where we spent the afternoon swimming, enjoying these waterfalls, and eating sweet corn :)

I love good, full days, and the last few have been just that way :) I'm just so blessed.