Update

Well, I guess it is time for another update! I can't believe it has been so long since I last posted. So many things have happened and I guess I will do my best to remember them all. First, last summer I kept myself very busy with grad school. I took three classes last summer, which kept my very busy. I then started student teaching in a special education preschool in August. I had a very difficult time during that placement. My Cooperating Professional (CP) and I did not get along very well. She was very critical of everything I did and no matter what I did it was not good enough. This was especially difficult for me because I am such a people pleaser. I ended up developing anxiety through this experience. Due to multiple reasons I withdrew from that semester (which meant no more student teaching). That was an incredibly difficult decision, but now I can see it was the best decision I could have made. As soon as I withdrew, my anxiety completely went away! November and December I was able to relax and not worry about class or school for the first time in three years. I had been going to school year round for the last three years, so I think it was really good that I was able to relax for a little bit.

In January, I started student teaching in second grade. I was a little nervous about how this placement would go, considering how the last one went. I LOVED second grade and my CP, Kate. I could not have had a better experience. I had a difficult class with some behavior problems, but I loved every minute of it and I know that my kids really liked me. I am actually going to surprise them next week on the last day of school and visit them :)! I am so happy that things went so well this spring. My confidence in myself skyrocketed. I realized what happened during the fall was not my fault. I did my absolute best. I know that now, and honestly I don't care what anyone else thinks. I know that I gave 100% to my kids and my preschool placement and that is all that matters to me.

Since I withdrew from school last fall, that means that I couldn't graduate this May. I will now graduate in December. That means that instead of frantically searching for a teaching job I am enjoying my summer in Charlotte. My parents live in Charlotte and I was able to get a job here working as a camp counselor. I am so excited for this experience and I know that this is part of God's plan for me. I love Charlotte and I have met so many wonderful people here. I plan on moving here in December after I graduate and then I will hopefully be able to find a job!

Oops!

Well it has been over six months since my last post and a few things have changed, so I will update you on the new things going on in my life. I finally GRADUATED!!! I am so happy to say that I am a college graduate and I even graduated Cum Laude! It was a wild ride, but I finally did it. I started college at BYU-Idaho and went to school there for four years and loved it so much, but I really missed my family. A year away from graduation I decided to transfer to Radford University, which is located next to my hometown. I have honestly had the time of my life at Radford. I have made so many amazing friends and experienced so many things I never realized I wanted. I am so glad I made the choice to come back home, it has changed my life in so many ways and I am so grateful for the many people who have touched my life, in Virginia and in Idaho!. Here are some pictures from graduation:

After I walked across the stage!

With J and C

With Princess C

With the cohort girls. Notice the umbrellas--it was a rainy day

Cohort girls--waiting for the CEHD ceremony

With my parents :)

With Chris, Steph, J, and C (and baby C)

After graduation, my mom took me on a cruise for my graduation present. We cruised on the Norwegian Sky and took a 4-night cruise around the Bahamas. It was my first cruise and I would go back in a heartbeat. It ended way too soon! Our first stop on the cruise was Freeport Harbor. Our excursion for that day was a dolphin encounter. I have loved dolphins ever since I was little, for a while I wanted to be a marine biologist just to play with dolphins haha. We got in the water with them and rubbed their backs and got a kiss. We watched them do tricks and were splashed a lot! It was a dream come true! Next time I want to actually swim with the dolphins. After the encounter we went to the straw market and other shops in Freeport. The straw market was a little much for me, they were a little too agressive for me, but interesting and fun anyway. The jewelry and higher class shops were a lot of fun. I love jewelry and designer stuff, so it was so much fun looking at everything. I bought my mom two Pandora charms for mother's day and she got me a Larimar necklace. Larimar is a turquoise stone only found in the Dominican Republic. It is so pretty. The next day we docked in Nassau. Our excursion this day was a beach day at Blue Lagoon Island. We ended up meeting up with my old swim coach Bill and his wife Mary. They were on the Royal Caribbean ship that was docked in Nassau too and we ran into them on the boat. It was so fun and totally unexpected. We spent the day with them and enjoyed the warm, clear water. It was so pretty. The last day we were there we went to Norwegian's private island, Great Stirrup Cay. We were supposed to ride kayaks around the island, but it was storming so they canceled our excursion. We waited on the beach for a little bit to see if the weather would calm down, but it wasn't so we headed back to the ship early. We relaxed in our room and on the balcony (away from the rain) and enjoyed being able to rest a little bit. That night we played Deal or No Deal and had so much fun, my mom won 50 dollars and I won a dollar! The next morning we woke up and sadly had to disembark the ship and head back to the real world. I could not have asked for a better trip. It was so much fun!

Dolphins doing tricks after the encounter

My mom and I on the Norwegian Sky

My mom forcing me to pose with our ship

Blue Lagoon Island

Hiding from the rain

The pictures don't do it justice, the storm was bad

My mom again forcing me to pose, this time on the balcony!

Right after the cruise I took the next step and started grad school. I am getting my Master's of Education and will graduate in May 2013! After that it is time for me to be a real grown up and find a job :) It has been such a crazy ride the last few years, but I wouldn't have it any other way :)

Vegas and St. George

This September my mom and I went out to St. George for my friend Mallory's wedding. We left from Charlotte Thursday morning and got into Vegas early that afternoon. Mallory's wedding was the next morning so we went straight to St. George and stayed there for the night. The next day was the wedding. Mallory looked so great and it was so awesome to see her and her family.

Mallory and I

After the wedding and luncheon, we drove down to Vegas. We stayed in the Luxor hotel in one of the pyramid rooms (meaning the exterior wall was sloped), which was pretty cool. Friday night we walked down the strip and ate at Hard Rock Cafe. We walked to the Bellagio to watch the water show and then we walked back to our hotel.

Luxor Hotel and Casino

Hard Rock Cafe Las Vegas

Bellagio

The next day (Saturday) we drove up to Hoover Dam and walked around there for a while before driving back to Vegas. During the day, we went to The Bodies exhibit that was located in our hotel. It was so interesting and I could have spent forever in there looking at stuff. I just love the body and I am so fascinated by the amazing and genius creation of our bodies. That night we walked down to Treasure Island and went to Cirque Du Soleil Mystere. The show was crazy amazing, but I think I liked the show in Charlotte better. After the show, we walked back to our hotel again and got ready to leave the next day.

Hoover Dam

Bodies Exhibit

Cirque Du Soleil Mystere

Our flight left early Sunday morning, so we got up and went to the airport. I decided that while we were waiting for our flight that I might as well play the slots, so I did......but it wasn't nearly as fun I thought it would be hahaha.

Slots in the airport

Overall, I loved the trip and had a lot of fun. It was such a crazy city and I am not sure if I would ever go back. I don't do very well with large crowds, so walking up and down the strip almost drove me crazy. I was so glad that I was able to go to Mallory's wedding though.

Charlotte Trip

I was able to go to Charlotte this past weekend, we left on Thursday and came back on Monday. I went with two of my friends, Sandy and Caitlin. We went to Cirque du Soliel on Thursday night. It was so amazing and if I ever had the chance to go again I totally would. I cannot even articulate how amazing it was and how enamored I was with it. The show we saw was Alegria

We went to Carowinds on Friday, which was quite an adventure. The forcast said that it was supposed to storm everyday we were there, but we decided to try Carowinds anyway. It was storming the whole drive down there (about 20 miles), but as soon as we got there it stopped storming. We were there for a couple of hours and rode several rides, so we decided to take a lunch break. After we were done with our lunch, we were deciding what to do next and it started to storm and rain like crazy. I honestly think lightning hit one of the rides. Luckily, we were under a shelter so we just stayed there for a while. We then decided that it wasn't worth it and left. This storm seriously made national news and it rained 6 inches in about 2 hours. It was CRAZY.

We had a great time and it was nice to get away from Radford and take (another) vacation. In other news, I took the GRE on August 3rd. It went really well and I should get my official scores in November.

Beach Week

My family went on our beach trip this year to Topsail Island, North Carolina. We had so much fun. Everyone was able to come, except Chris and Nick. The kids all loved it. The waves were really great the first few days, thanks to storms, and we were able to play in the water a lot. Brooke and Alys flew in on Tuesday, not Monday as Mom originally thought. They got delayed in Atlanta and flew into Raleigh instead of Wilmington as planned. Stephanie and I were able to pick them up and we all had so much fun together. It was a great chance to spend some family time together before the Dubyk (my sister Jenny's family) family left for Belgium for 3 or 5 years. We had so much fun and the week flew by.

My family sitting on the steps of our house

Just the grandkids

 

 

Me and Rachel

I am definitely going to miss Jenny and her family. I guess I have a pretty good excuse to go to Belgium now though :)

I am not my body!

I read the Nie Nie dialogues and I was watching the mormon messages video (watch here) that she was in and she says "I am not my body." I realized that sometimes I let my body and my struggles hold me back. I always appreciated my friends and family for respecting me and not making me feel different, but I wasn't doing the same for myself. I have always struggled with having G syndrome, even though it is such a mild case of it. Instead of counting my blessings that for the most part it doesn't affect me, I think of the difficulties it creates in my life. I focus on the negative instead of the positive, which is strange for me, because I am so optimistic usually. Sometimes, I am so frustrated with Heavenly Father for giving me this challenge. I don't understand why though, because it is what has brought me so close to Him. My struggles have helped me to rejoice in the atonement and resurrection. I know one day I will receive my perfect body. I know that I was given this body for a reason and that I can accomplish many great things, even without a "perfect" body. I am so grateful for my knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am so grateful that He suffered and died for me so that I can return to live with my Heavenly Father. I know the He has felt our pains, weaknesses, struggles, and sins so that He could help bring us to our Heavenly Father again. He completely understands how we are feeling and is waiting, with His arms outstretched, for us to turn to Him. I know that I cannot ever be truly alone, because He will always understand what I am feeling. I know that my knowledge of our Savior is what has gotten me through so many difficult times. I know that through my G syndrome trials I have grown closer to my Heavenly Father and my Savior and I have learned how to turn unto Them. I know I would not be who I am today without the body I was given, but I AM NOT MY BODY! I am so much more that that. I am so much more than G syndrome. I will not let that hold me back any longer

I am horrible at this!

I know that not very many people read this, but on the off chance that people are looking for an update...here it is. Life is great right now. Not much has changed since my last post, but here are a few things that have changed.

I went to the temple and received my endowments (for anyone that wants to learn about the LDS church go to mormon.org). It was an absolutely amazing experience.

Dad, me, Mom, and Jenny outside of the temple.

I finished my second to last year of undergrad. I have made some amazing friends at Radford University and I am so happy with my decision to come here and I have been so blessed by following Heavenly Father's plan for my life.

This is Lauren, me, and Kasey

I also got a chance to go to the beach with some friends after school got out. One of my friends families owns a beach house and let us stay there for a long weekend. We had so much fun and it was a great way to relax after a very stressful semester.

This was the beautiful house we stayed in (Thank you to the Davis' for letting us stay)

The amazing beach

The boys made us a wonderful breakfast

You can't tell by this picture, but the waves were fabulous

We watched a video IN the hot tub :)

This is me and Christina on a ride :)

Posing with the Hershey Park sign

Chocolate World "ride"

With the Milk Duds man

Showing that I am tall enough

After the beach, I went to Hershey Park with one of my best friends, Christina Davis, before she moved to Alaska. We had so much fun and it was such an awesome trip.

Overall, things are great. I will be heading to the beach with my family next week (July 9) and I am very excited about it. Life is good :)