Teaching

Well, I'm reaching the end of my first subbing assignment. It's been quite the 6-week journey.

There were some really hard days. Sometimes they were because of students, parents, other teachers, or feeling my own inadequacies. Sometimes I wondered if the stress and heartache were worth it, or working a job where you love every minute is just an impossible dream. I cried to my husband one night halfway through the assignment because I felt so awful about how the other teachers must think of me. I felt torn between striving for professionalism and wanting to confess to everyone that I've never been to "teacher school" and don't actually know what I'm doing.

There have been some wonderful moments that made it all worth it. Having a genuine, engaging conversation with the creative writing teacher over lunch about our favorite books and movies. Listening and talking with a quiet student who wanted to befriend me after class. Getting comfort and advice from a Spanish teacher who was understanding of my inadequacies. Chatting with a shy seventh grader about life and why boys are weird. Discussing favorite books with various students. Laughing with the whole class when I respond to the wrong name for the fifth time in a row. Finally facilitating sparks of understanding in students who struggled with particular concepts. Conquering my qualms with making eye contact in the hallway and learning to dress up every day. Getting compliments from students and fellow teachers on my shirt, shoes, or crazy socks during spirit week.

I have a couple more days before this long-term assignment is over, and I'm sure I haven't learned all my lessons yet. Being a teacher is SUPER hard. There are lots of things to prepare and keep track of, lots of things that can go right or wrong or in-between, and lots of time-saving and teaching strategies to pick up along the way. I've heard lately from a couple experienced teachers that you never feel perfect at all the things you need to, so I'd like to follow up and ask: Why are you still teaching? What is it that makes the long hours, low pay, and limited success worth it? I'm optimistic that satisfactory answers are out there. In the meantime, I'm going to keep learning and teaching as much as I can to get it figured out. I sure love the students I've had.

The Healing Power of Gratitude

I thinked a good thought earlier tonight.

I've been praying for a lot of things lately--some big, some small. Often, those things will work out. When I realize that after the fact, I realize that it was an answered prayer; when I recognize that, I try to remember to thank God immediately so that He and I can feel my gratitude. It seems like a healthy habit to get into--returning thanks for blessings instead of accepting them and moving on without another thought.

That's when I realized something else. I think that being grateful and expressing gratitude is softening my heart towards God, which is yet another thing that I've been praying for. I feel less defensive and more open. Softer. It feels like a small thing, but it's a tender mercy and represents progress.

Gratitude is great! I hope the trend continues.

God's Guiding Hand

Looks like I haven't posted on here in over 2 months. Oops.

Good news though: I HAVE A JOB! I'll be a substitute teacher.

I'm impressed with all the blessings that have come with this job, and the things it's made me think about.

• Because of the circumstance, it was a pretty easy job for me to get hired for. I've had similar experiences with success on the first try for other important things, like getting into college and getting my student job. Part of me feels bad about it, and like I don't deserve such nice, convenient experiences that are usually really hard for people, but since working through a couple trials that require more active effort, I'm just grateful that this has worked so smoothly so far.
• I'm grateful that I have such a good mentor. I'll be subbing for a friend while she's on maternity leave, and she's been coaching me in her class procedures, and said I can contact her throughout her leave. Her training and confidence in me have done a lot to bolster my fragile confidence.
• I've had a few opportunities to meet the principal and the other teachers that I'll be working with. They are really likable, and one was even excited to work with me before she'd met me! I'm really blessed to get my first subbing opportunity in such an amazing school.
• In spite of my fears, I've been so excited and motivated by this chance to be involved in education. During the professional development that I was invited to I could practically feel stars dancing in my eyes at the vision that these teachers presented. This is such a meaningful work to be part of, and I want to learn more. It's definitely shaping my career aspirations already. I haven't even taught a class yet!

I keep switching between wild excitement and paralyzing anticipation. Sometimes I'm afraid that I won't be good enough, but I am so, SO excited to be working in an environment where I can make a difference in the world. I feel a little less overwhelmed compared to earlier this week. I'm so excited to see what I learn and where this opportunity takes me! I'm sure I'll be able to look back and clearly see God's hand in this.

HIDAGITW - Day 3

Have I Done Any Good in the World?

We had such a busy weekend! We hosted a couple teenagers for a youth activity, so Z and I probably spent five hours (a very minimal, conservative, low-end estimate) in the car dropping off and picking up the kids over the last few days. The activity ran from Friday night to Sunday afternoon, and our job was to drive them back and forth and let them sleep on our couches for a couple nights. It was a good experience, but a taxing one at times. On Saturday we got to help with a service project for church: doing a total home makeover for a single mother of five small children. We were there for 6 of the 8.5 hours and helped pick up trash, trim plants, and paint. It was such an impressive project; I didn't see the original condition of the house, but about 70 volunteers repainted the entire exterior (missing just the cupola), painted the living room and all the interior doors, removed a broken AC unit, scrubbed away at the walls inside, picked up years-old construction litter, tore out dead and overgrown bushes and trees, planted flowers out front, and probably did even more that I wasn't aware of. My muscles are still complaining, but it was great fun to work with so many neighbors.

Ways I've made the world a better place:

- Making a difference at the service project.

- Hopefully offering a friend some solid relationship advice.

- Soliciting some advice from others for my sister as she prepares to serve as a missionary.

Blessings I've received:

- I functioned mostly-ok at work even though I hadn't been that sleepy in months.

- I get to keep my student job for a couple months after graduation (new policy change), so I'll have a source of income while job-searching and something to do so that I'm not bored. And as I've stressed less about my current job, I've enjoyed it a lot more.

- I've probably used this one already, but I still have an awesome husband who loves me, makes me smile, motivates and encourages me to do better, and so many other wonderful things.

HIDAGITW - Day 2

Have I Done Any Good in the World?

Life's been a little busy, and I missed a day or two. I'd also like to record some blessings/miracles that I see in my life, because that's also a source of gratitude and happiness.

So, in the last couple days . . .

I served by
- Promptly running an errand for my sister
- Making and bringing a nice dinner to campus for my husband and I for a date
- Not griping about my husband needing my laptop while his is in for repairs

I've been blessed with
- Things running smoothly so far for our house guests this weekend
- A wonderful husband/best friend
- Family who cares

Have I Done Any Good in the World? Day 1

Last year or so ago, I did a 30 Days of Thanksgiving gratitude challenge. I don't have a certain number of days I'll be doing this, but I'd like to try another challenge: recognizing the good that I contribute to the world.

Life gets heavy sometimes, and it's hard to focus on the good things. I think that it could be a good exercise to improve self-esteem, so I'm going to try it.

Have I done any good in the world today?

Have I helped anyone in need?

Have I cheered up the sad and made someone feel glad?

If not, I have failed indeed.

Has anyone's burden been lighter today because I was willing to share?

Have the sick and the weary been helped on their way?

When they needed my help was I there?

There are chances for work all around just now,

Opportunities right in our way.

Do not let them pass by, saying, "Sometime I'll try,"

But go and do something today.

'Tis noble of man to work and to give; love's labor has merit alone.

Only he who does something helps others to live.

To God each good work will be known.

--Have I Done Any Good, hymn

Some good things I've contributed to the world in the last 24 hours:

- I've been a good listener for a couple of my friends (which blessed me in return).

- I sent a friend all the pictures I took of her and her husband at their wedding.

- I brought my husband lunch.

Grateful

I'm really grateful that Z knows how to uplift me when I have hard days. He holds me, listens to me, and finds things for us to laugh about. Unfortunately, he hurts whenever I'm in pain, and I don't know how to make that go away. I'm sorry that he shares in my suffering, but I will be eternally grateful for his sacrifice that brings us closer and lifts me up.

I've felt emotionally damaged ever since my study abroad, and maybe before then. My spirituality, social-ness, and self-worth have all taken huge hits. I want to get back though. I wrote this blog to help other people learn how to be happy in their everyday circumstances, so maybe I can read my past posts and learn from my old self. I can at least give it a shot. Maybe it can give me hope.

Looking Back and Tender Mercies

I went back and looked through all my old profile pictures on facebook, and it's been kind of sad to see the pictures, read the comments, and remember.

A couple major themes come out of my thoughts: I was/am very self-centered (even when I was getting down on myself and being "humble"), and loss has colored many happy memories and made them painful to recollect. What do you do with that?

For one, I sincerely want to grow up a bit and quit being so selfish and wondering how people think of me. Very few people go out of their way to give out insincere compliments--I just need to accept them and move on when they come! Not think about convincing the giver that I'm not really that cool or pretty. Most people were probably self-centered teenagers too, but I still regret it. I also wish I had been more thoughtful towards other people; instead, I did things like get defensive and tease my sister because I assumed that she was going to disagree with me, and I'd always subconsciously felt a need to compete with her for people's attention and love because I was insecure. I'm just tired of worrying about myself and thinking about how my selfishness has impacted others through the years.

I'm not sure what to feel about the lost friendships. People moving away, graduating, getting married... Life brings necessary changes, but part of me does mourn the fact that I won't be able to continue some of the close friendships I've had. Always being able to call Person A to go hiking, going dancing with Person B every weekend, having late-night conversations with Person C, planning to stay friends with Person X even after we broke up, always being able to confide in Person Y, chatting with Person Z who I always admired but didn't get to know very well when I had the chance, etc. I should be able to look back on the time I had with each of these people and cherish it for what it was instead of crying because things have changed and I don't have it anymore.

.....................................................................................................................

I had to stop writing this post last night because my husband (who I was going to pick up from school) got a call from one of our old friends who needed his car jumped. God is surely a God of miracles. He knows exactly what we need and when to give it. My friend probably didn't think that his battery dying was a miracle, but it was a perfect opportunity for me to get outside myself and to reconnect with a friend who hadn't entirely forgotten me. After we got home, we went to visit someone from church to arrange a longer visit later, and I felt like she was just as interested in talking to me as she was to my husband (he's her home teacher), and that felt really special. I've had a hard time because I want to make friends in our new ward but I've been too shy to make it happen, even though we've been there for almost ten months; I'm used to having a posse of several close friends around all the time, but that hasn't been the case since I got married. Z and I were on our way to run an errand later in the evening, and ran into another good friend and got to chat and share some great laughs. I'm glad that Heavenly Father was looking out for me and cared enough to help me feel better. Even though I knew that my anxiety and sadness last night would be short-lived, it still hurt deeply, and God thought it was worth saving me from. Hopefully this experience can help jump-start my heart in being more faithful and devoted to the God who wants to show me that He loves me. I'm grateful that He did last night.

Growing Love

I'm just amazed at how my love for my husband continues to grow. We're not perfect yet, and have hiccups in our communication once in a while, but man! I love him a lot, and that love has been increasing and will continue to increase. It's hard to say more about it than that, but I am thrilled with how much closer we're growing to each other and how our care for each other is growing deeper. Sometimes it's hard to see the change on a day-to-day basis, but it must be there, because I can see it over the longer term.

"Anyone can be passionate, but it takes real lovers to be silly." --Rose Franken

Marriage and Faith

There are some days when it's really discouraging for me to get on Facebook. This week has had a few of those days which have been marked by the increase in conflict and propaganda. This week, it's about the constitutionality of gay marriage.

My first grief is for the conflict and strife that such sensitive topics engender. I'm tired of the war of words and philosophies that inundates such platforms for social interaction. It seems like there's no way to contribute without raising one's voice, or without getting messy from all the mud-slinging that goes on. No one seems interested in changing their own mind, or in understanding the other person's perspective. Involvement in (or observation of) this just doesn't feel right; it makes my heart queasy inside.

My next grief is specific to this issue, and is hard to articulate.

If I were like many of my classmates growing up, I might be mildly religious, but mostly bathed in the religion of acceptance and tolerance for everybody, no matter who they are and what they believe, without thinking much about God unless things go wrong. I see some of my friends who zealously and lovingly call out for marriage equality for everyone, and I firmly believe that God loves these people, His children, and appreciates their compassionate hearts that reach out to extend to others the same happiness and fulfillment that they feel. They have good, beautiful, wonderfully loving hearts, and that is Godlike.

Those values do resonate with me, and I would join with them except for a couple important differences in my beliefs. The most important one is that I believe that my church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, is headed by Jesus Christ, and that He directs His church by revelation given to church authorities. The church leaders have been clear for years that marriage is ordained of God and is an exclusive union between one man and one woman, and that marriages are about creating a loving family unit, and that children need and deserve both a father and a mother. These leaders and authorities have left no ambiguity about their stance on legalizing gay marriage, and when they speak in harmony, they speak for God. Sometimes their counsel doesn't make sense when it is first given, but clarity often comes with later, confirming experience. Even if that clarity doesn't come while I'm alive on earth, I will still do my best to stick close to the counsel of the prophets, even when it doesn't always make sense. It both confuses and saddens me when I see fellow Latter-Day Saints go in direct opposition to what God's representatives have passed on from Him; it just doesn't make sense to me when the church has been so clear on what the right answer is.

I'm just a young, newly-married, middle-class, college-educated, dessert-loving, Latter-Day Saint, Midwestern-American woman with limited experience in the wide variety of life there is in the world. There's just too much of it for one mortal person to experience and comprehend. I don't pretend to know everything there is to know about life. That's why I have to rely on faith, because there are so many things that I don't understand. When I decide what to have faith in, God's prophet seems like a pretty reliable source of information. I can directly pray to God Himself to get revelation as well, and use that to guide me. It seems like a lot of this life is about recognizing how little we can do by ourselves.

Anyway, that's my take on the legalization of gay marriage. Take it how you will. My point in sharing this is to hopefully promote understanding of one viewpoint, and maybe introduce you if it's one you hadn't considered.


On a related note, I'm really tired of "wiser, more enlightened folk" saying that because I'm religious, I therefore don't have a brain and cannot be trusted to make correct, informed choices for myself, unless those choices include "liberation" from my religion and aligning my views with theirs. Good grief, what kind of "tolerance" are they promoting? What hypocrites they are for their narrow-minded prejudice against religious faith! This kind of bigotry and disenfranchisement shouldn't be acceptable to our "enlightened," modern society. End of rant.

Why I Feel Like A Superhero Tonight

Tonight I felt like some fantastic superhero duo with my husband. Why? Well, it went like this:

1. I decide for some uncertain reason that I should go home from campus early. I'm not really sure why, so I piddle around for a little longer, update my husband on my plans, and leave his office to go to the car.

2. Perfect timing: I see an old friend walking ahead of me whom I haven't seen in a long time. Normally I'd be shy and just keep walking because he wouldn't see me, but I was thinking about this earlier and decided I should be better at acknowledging my friends on campus. I call his name and jog a little to catch up.

3. I can see right away that this friend is really tired and really stressed. I've seen him like this before, and we chat about school and how we both feel as we approach graduation soon. He's feeling the pressure, but is thoughtful anyway and sympathizes genuinely with my struggles. It was good to talk to him.

4. After we part ways, I think about making a meal for him or something. It's the only way I can think to be helpful--to give him a little more time in his day for studying or sleeping instead of cooking. I text my husband and solicit his opinion on buying a couple special grocery items for the project and he gives me an enthusiastic go-ahead.

5. I stop by the grocery store on the way home, and it turns out that disposable baking pans are on a significant sale today. Awesome.

6. After my husband has been home for a while, I lose my steam and figure it was just an impulsive whim that encouraged me to help my friend out; maybe I shouldn't worry about making him food today. I share this with my husband, and he thinks that it's still a good idea and that we should do it. So we do, and he does more than half the work in putting it together.

7. We finish the food and head over to my friend's apartment. I was expecting that we would have to ding-dong-ditch the food, and I forgot a pen back in the car for leaving a note. Miraculously, one of my friend's roommates comes up the stairs right then and lets us into the apartment and assures us that my friend is home right now.

8. My husband goes back to my friend's bedroom door and knocks. He hears my friend in there and, after hearing a response that he can't understand, just announces himself and comes in. Later my husband shared that he wasn't sure if my friend was going to come out and see us or not, so it was lucky that things went fairly smoothly in actually getting an opportunity to see him.

9. My friend comes out to the kitchen where I'm waiting and looks much brighter than he did on campus earlier. He checks out the food we made and says it looks great, I tell him what it was made of, and he graciously thanks us and fits it into his fridge. He's got to get back to studying, but shakes my husband's hand and mine before we leave (making a goofy face as he does so, because we used to squeeze-hug before I got married). I appreciate the gesture because I'm never sure if or how I'm supposed to hug guys as a married woman.

10. As we walk back to the car, my husband remarks how things worked together so well today so that we could help our friend. He's right; there were a lot of little miracles working together so that our friend could get a little extra love tonight when life is particularly hard. My eyes weren't open to see the big picture until my husband shared his thoughts.

It's bringing tears to my eyes now to think and write about it. It was a miracle that I left the office at just the right time to run into my friend on campus. It was a miracle that I was motivated to talk to him instead of being shy and introverted. It might have been a miracle that I ran into him today instead of yesterday or tomorrow. It was a mini-miracle that my husband approved of the project so readily (which is not unusual, but it was extra encouragement) and that the tools I needed were on sale. It was a miracle that when I lost the motivation to follow through today, my husband picked up my slack and did so much to make it happen. It was a miracle that when my friend wasn't in a mood to answer the door, his roommate stopped by just long enough to let us into the apartment and encouraged us to draw him out of his bedroom. Maybe it was a miracle that on hearing the ingredient list, my friend was enthusiastic about the casserole we made. Based on how full my friend's fridge was, it may have been a miracle that he found room to put the pan inside. It was a little miracle for me that my friend knew how to say goodnight in a humorous way instead of leaving me to do it awkwardly. And it's a miracle to me that my husband was able to pull all of these threads together from throughout our day and illustrate to me how involved God is in the details of our lives, and telling me that perhaps God knew that his son, my friend, needed a little extra tender loving care tonight, and worked through us to help it happen.

To be more accurate, I guess that a "superhero duo" isn't the right phrase. I felt like I was on God's team tonight, and that with my availability, my husband's serviceable nature, and God's intuition, awareness and love, we were able to do some good in the world together. It's a testament to me that God does indeed know and love every single one of His children, and that He is working to help us be happy. How wonderful it feels to be a part of this great purpose! I feel like a really dull instrument in God's hands a lot of the time (or like I've been dropped from His tool belt entirely), and it's amazing to me that He can still find ways to use me, as I am today, to help someone else. What a blessing to serve God and His children, and I'm so thankful that He gives us--gave me--a chance to help. God is truly great and good.

Thought

Just a brief thought.

I've noticed that when I have close friends to talk to and satisfactorily vent and discuss my feelings, I'm much less tempted to vent via facebook or blogs. Venting on my blogs is usually the middle ground between facebook and my journal because fewer people read it, and I can write longer posts than on facebook.

My husband is great, and I'm doing way better socially this semester than fall semester. I'm much more satisfied in my social outlets this semester, but it's still not back to pre-married levels (going from 6 people in a house to 2 makes a difference. it's a fact). I'm still figuring some of this stuff out, but it's nice to have a piece of the puzzle solved.

My Jean Valjean Moment

We had a guest lecturer in one of my classes today: an adjunct professor who mostly teaches and researches in a neighboring state. When she first came in, an older woman with a cord for her glasses and carefully puffed and curled hair, I didn't think I would be terribly interested in her lecture, but I was really wrong. However, the best surprise came at the end.

I can't do this woman's research justice, so I'll try to just avoid describing it. Someone's already yelled at me on facebook because I tried to sum up this professor's research into a single status update. But the developmental theories and applications behind her work were fascinating to me. It was a problem I hadn't considered before, and I admired her clinical work in teaching Theory of Mind and representative play to deaf and hearing-impaired children. My husband called me while the class was packing up, and as I shared my excitement with him, he encouraged me to talk to the professor and network with her about her specialty.

We chatted briefly about if there were any local researchers in her area of expertise, and she asked a little about where I was in the program. I told her that I'm graduating from my undergrad this semester, and that I don't know if I'm interested in continuing to a master's degree. She asked why, and I just said it was kind of hard in this particular program with so much of it being lecture-based (massive simplification of months of frustration). This was my "Valjean moment," which I identified as such in retrospect. She was extremely sympathetic (not in a I-pity-you way) and suggested that I try to get a job as a speech tech or assistant. She shared a story about one of her students who was in a similar boat: she didn't want to go on in the field because she didn't have very good grades. However, this professor asked her to work as an assistant in some research at the time, and when the student got hands-on experience, she just bloomed and loved her work, and then continued on to do well in a graduate program. She, the professor, encouraged me to give it a try, and if I'm interested in the field, to not give up.

I was floored as I thought about it. I was encouraged by her genuine care and interest in me--a student who she only met for five minutes, who knew nothing about. My professors probably couldn't care less if I don't go to grad school, and might even prefer if I don't! But this woman reached out to me from her heart, not from her profession, and encouraged me to keep trying and not give up. I don't know why she wants me to keep going. But her simple faith in me and the easy practicality of her advice to work as an assistant make me want to keep going and give it another shot. I'm still having a hard time wrapping my head around what just happened in my heart. She gave me hope, and I don't even know her name. I think I'll try to see if there's a place for me in speech pathology, or in children's language development. So thank you, professor-who-I'll-probably-never-see-again. Thank you.

[The Jean Valjean connection I felt is when the priest gives Valjean the benefit of doubt and through his kindness, offers him a new chance at life, and Valjean is touched by the simplicity of the priest's love and trust.]

Friday Night with Family

Z's parents are in town for a wedding, so we hung out with them this afternoon and evening. It was a lot of fun. They taught me how to play cribbage (I got first place), and we had homemade lasagna, and ice cream sandwiches, and spinach-and-fruit smoothies, and just a really good time. Can't wait for the rest of the weekend!

When we got to our car, the conversation went kind of like this:
Z: Do you know how many times I've ever beat my dad in any game??
Me: You guys were all helping me, though!
Z: You got pretty confident by the end. I can't believe you did that!

So we were laughing and having a jolly time on the way home too. Good times!

New Scarf Knot, a.k.a. I Feel So Cool Right Now

I've seen all sorts of tutorials on Youtube and Pinterest advertising new ways to tie scarves, and while I haven't watched them all to know for sure, I think I figured out a new one that looks totally legit!

I tried it with a thicker scarf, but it didn't look as good. A long, lightweight scarf is what I used that looked best.

First, loop your scarf around your neck like this. Pretty standard.

Then, take your loop and twist it twice (either direction probably works, so long as it's the same direction!). Next, pull the ends of the scarf over and through the new loop like so.

You can leave a gap on either side of the twist, or tug the twist down (gently!) and fluff the outside of the scarf to fill it in a bit. 

And voila! A way to tie a scarf that's a little fancier than a plain knot, but still fills in your neck to keep it warmer (or in my case, to cover up an inconvenient neckline). I feel like "Lock and Key" could be an appropriate name for it, with the twist being like the key. Thoughts?

Enjoy!

Profound...or not.

I was pondering earlier today how pain doesn't really bother me as much when I'm busy. That's probably a generalize-able principle in life, that bad things bother you less (and I usually complain less) when you're busy or have better things to think about. My example was my semi-arthritic ankle. That realization was the profound part.

The silly part is this: my ankle was one example, but it was in context of a few other things. I realized that last night, my arthritic ankle was flaring up, I had some recurring wrist pain, I had scratched my knuckle painfully at work, there are some healing hangnails, and I have burn marks on my fingers from a cooking incident earlier this week.

When I realized this, I just had to laugh. How did I end up with so many injuries/pain opportunities this week?? Silly me.

Mmmm

It feels like it's been a long time since I wrote a food post. So here's an update!

I found this recipe on Pinterest for "Blueberry Cheese Rolls" (and she has an awesome blog name) and wanted to try it because it's so simple. When I looked for berries in the store, strawberries were the best bargain (if fruit could ever be called a bargain this time of year), so I tried them today, and it was so good!

Light and fruity, sweet and creamy...

It made me feel like it looked like this outside,

Instead of this.

There's the power of good food for you. Isn't the bridge picture beautiful? It's one of my favorites from our honeymoon. Speaking of good food though, Z and I chatted last night, and realized that we were both a little worried about our eating and exercise habits. Our plan for now is to try getting some healthy snack foods and eat smaller meals (the smaller-but-more-frequent meal idea), and get more exercise in our daily routines. We'll see how it goes! We haven't done any exercise today, but we're working on the smaller meals and snacking, and it's going well!

Another Blog

I've been keeping a second blog for a few months that in microcosm is about my progress in school and academics, but in macrocosm is about self-reformation and helping me become the person I want to be. I update it more frequently now, and anyone who's been interested in this "Making Happy" blog would probably like reading "My Renaissance Project." I'll try to continue posting in both places, but they have different goals for now, and if I'm successful in the second blog, it will help me get back into blogging here on "Making Happy."

Presenting, "My Renaissance Project,"

Read this.

Everyone should read this address given at Brigham Young University a few years ago. Especially if you're someone who feels disappointed, anxious, unsatisfied, or unappreciated in your life right now and/or are apprehensive about the future. It made a big difference for me.

"What is Your Calling in Life?", Jeffrey A. Thompson, 2010.

Looking Up

I think things are looking up.

- I met with a bunch of good friends this morning.
- I have friends/acquaintances in every class MWF, my busiest days. I don't know yet about Tues/Thurs.
(these are SUCH beautiful, enlivening changes! I hope it stays.)
- A couple of my classes look more manageable than I anticipated.
- I think my family history class will be very productive.
- Somehow I feel better about losing half my raise at work due to scheduling conflicts.
- I just feel a little better about things generally: more like I can handle it, and knowing what I need to do.

So, here's to a positive start for the semester!

Also, Whoppers malt balls are fantastic. As are peanut-sauced Ramen noodles, courtesy of my husband. And generously-given clementines from a friend.