Happy to Be Back

I had to refrain from posting on my blog for a few days in order to transition into making my blog private. I don't really like the idea of having a private blog, but certain times call for certain measures!

If you are reading this now, you are one of the lucky ones who gets to be in on the "drama" of my life. Apparently this blog was adding to the drama of my life, so I hope from here on out, it will just be a good way for those of you who care about me to know what is going on in my life. I am banking on my crazy life to calm down soon, so I am sure within weeks this will go back to a fairly predictable and boring record of my life.

A disclaimer on reading this blog: Especially now that my blog is private, I do not intend on censoring my posts. I am not going to become ludicrously crass or use it as a passive aggressive way to show people I am upset with them, but I am going to be honest about my thoughts and feelings. Just so it is clear, I would never intentionally try to hurt anyone, especially in a public way.

Okay, on to lighter things.

The past few days have been really good. I feel like I have adjusted to my new life. I really love my roommates (Addie and Anna), I like the place I am living and my little room feels like a safe haven from the world. The place where I now live has a club house with a small gym that no one seems to use but me! It has been great getting back into exercising and being able to do it in a place where I won't run into people from my old life and have to explain my story. Such encounters have proven to be fairly awkward. No one really knows what to say and many people want more of an explanation than I really am willing to give. I think this will continue to get easier though. I also have enjoyed reconnecting with friends from my past. I must say that Orange County friendship never die!

Church has proven to be the most difficult part of my week. I guess it is because now I feel like EVERY lesson and talk focuses on Eternal Marriage and Families. I believe in eternal families, but facing the fact that I no longer have prospects for an eternal family is hard. I know every thinks I shouldn't worry about it, but I am worried. Apparently gaining and maintaining an eternal family is a lot more difficult than it sounds!

My work has been goodish. My 8th graders have been driving me nuts. This is my 3rd year teaching 8th grade US history and I think I am ready for a change. I am teaching the same curriculum, so it is easy, but I am essentially on my 18th time of teaching each lesson (6 class, for 3 years). I also wish I could draw more out from my students. They are just too young to have thought provoking conversations. They are really sweet and good kids though. Teaching 9th grade has been really fun. I started teaching geography at the beginning of the semester and I think it is so interesting and applicable to these kids. I have used a lot of the resources from my BYU job, so that has really helped. My BYU job is awesome as usual. I have another great semester of amazing students and we are planning on doing another LA trip. It should be fun.

In addition to these updates, I have become involved in a non-profit to help out orphanages in Haiti. I am really excited about this. Not the disaster of course, but the reality that I can help. I will post a separate blog about that tonight.

I am glad to be back!