Drive down memory canyon

This past Friday I drove up to Utah State to turn in my last assignment EVER and to attend the closing seminar for Secondary Education. I have driven this route SO MANY times I could do it blindfolded. While we're on that subject there are many late nights I drove back and seriously think I fell asleep at the wheel. Good thing someone was looking out for me.

As I drove through the beautiful green canyon my mind was flooded with all of my memories at Utah State. I loved it up there and am so proud to be an Aggie!!

The other day I was grocery shopping in Provo at Smith's in my Utah State Game Day shirt. As I was checking out my groceries, a girl behind me asked if I went there and if I liked it. I quickly answered with a "YES!". I answered a few of her questions and I hope I helped.

After this I thought for a bit about my answer not because I didn't agree with my answer but I thought about why I loved my 'college experience' so much. For me this experience wasn't about getting straight A's (good thing, I CLEARLY did not), pulling all nighters, or having your second home being the library (although for me it was, I worked there and LOVED it). It is not about your major, True Aggie Nights, what sorority you were in, if you were at the bonfire on Saturday, or the slip in slide you had in your apartment. It didn't matter that we had the worst football team in the nation or that we had a WAC champion basketball team. It wasn't about the fun restaurants in Logan like Old Grist Mill, Cafe Sabor, Charlies, Logan Burgers and Subs, Juniper Take-Out or many others. It wasn't about all the dates I did or did not have on Friday night. Of if I was invited to the 'cool kids' party or not, or the days I fell asleep on the quad.

My college experience was not about having all of these experiences, but the person I am because of them. Thanks to every roommate I had ( I counted them up, I had over 35 or them, thanks Kappa Delta Sorority house!), every class I attended, all the professors that tried to help me, all the late nights spent talking and eating. I wouldn't trade in a minute of it!

Teacher Evaluations

Today and tomorrow I need my students to evaluate me. I have to collect all the data and turn it into the Education Dept. at Utah State. They just check the standard boxes of Strongly agree, agree, disagree, or strongly agree. You know, the usual. ON the back are some comments it asks for such as:

The thing I like best about student teacher was_________________________.

I had a good time reading the responses. Although I am FAR from being a perfect teacher it was fun to hear their responses and see what they liked and what I need to improve on. Here are a few of the comments they wrote about me. Mind you, these are all the positive ones (yes, I am bragging!!).

Perhaps one of my favorite "good" comments what that I am really loud. Ha ha ha. I guess the rest of the teachers must be quiet? Sorry, I come from working as a camp counselor and a retired cheerleader, I guess I am loud. Glad you like it!

"She is really nice, makes lessons enjoyable, and knows a lot about what she is teaching."

"She was nice and knew everything about cooking. She helped out a lot."

"She smiled a lot and knew me as a person." I do??? I wonder who this is....

"She had a great sense of humor and was smart."

"How she taught her lessons- they were fun and informative. She even let us play games sometimes to help us learn." Score!!


Nothing like a little bit of praise before I make my grand exit! It has been hard some days but I learned A LOT and feel totally ready to teach for real. That is the idea right? Graduation here I come!

FINISHED!

It probably has taken me two years to do it but today I finally finished the Twilight Series!! I read the first one in 2007. I took about a year and a half to finally push myself to getting through the boring 150ish pages of the second book and have been reading here and there through school, the wedding, and student teaching. Wahoo! It is a nice feeling to be done!! I think ironically the second book is my favorite. And I know I will get a lot of hate for this but I just liked Jacob better. He was always #1 for me! Don't get me wrong, Edward is great too but I wish she would have picked Jacob. Overall, good series.

Now I need some good book suggestions for reading on our 15 hour plane ride to China!! Any suggestions??

Computer Information Literacy

This is what I spent the majority of my spring break (well, Timpview High School's spring break) doing. Utah State claims that you need to know this information in order to graduate. They feel that by knowing what is on these tests will help you through your classes and benefit the student. Boy were they wrong!! At the start of the 2008-2009 school year I had only 2 of the 6 tests taken and passed. I submit that if I made it a week away from my graduation with still having one of these tests lingering, I surely didn't need them.

Did I have 5 years to take 6 test?
Absolutely

Did I always find something better to do and not care about these test?
Always

I found out yesterday that after 3 attempts I finally passed my spreadsheets exam! Spreadsheets is Excel and they could not have made that test harder. Wow.

I am sure glad to have this done! Graduation here I come!

'Egg'citing Weekend

Yes, the title to this post sure is corny, but I like it :)

This weekend we had a lot of fun! I hardly took any pictures of it, but we still had a blast! Friday, Zack and I hung out with Zack's old roommates and our friends Janae and Natalie. We had a LOT of fun! We felt like we were in high school again and for just one night, it was a welcomed surprise. We all drove to Wal-Mart and each bought our own Ben and Jerry's ice cream. I chose Phish Food of course. Then we drove to what Zack calls the sweet park and play. We had a fun time but it got cold fast so we came back to our apartment and we just played.

Saturday morning Janae and Natalie called to see if we wanted to go to Ihop with them to which we were very excited! It was delicious and got us ready for the day. Saturday Zack has a shift from 12:45-4:30 so it burns up a lot of our daylight we could have together so imagine my surprise when he comes home and tells me his team teacher at the MTC has mono and nobody to cover his shift so Zack being the good guy he is went in AGAIN until 9p.m. I was not very happy about that but entertained myself by making these!! They are cupcake 'pops' and are DELICIOUS! Recipe found HERE.

The ingredients

The finished product.

Sunday we spent the day with my family and had dinner and relaxed with Ryan and Becky and their cute girls. I think most of us were pretty entertained watching Lexie and Zack play the pillow game for a good 2 hours. It was awesome.

Me making deviled eggs for Zack


Happy Easter!

Ni Hao

Yes, that is Chinese for hello!! I am going to have to learn that and a million other phrases in Chinese because that is where Zack and I will be spending our summer vacation! Woo!

Zack and I started looking into working in China for the summer a few months ago, but I never want to put my hopes on anything unless it is official and today it is! We are planning to leave May 5th and get back towards the end of August. I am going to be teaching english and Zack is going to be interning at the Shanghai United Hospital.

We thought of this idea because Zack is pre-med and wants something else to set him apart from other applicants when it comes time to apply to Med schools. I know he is going to do a great job and learn so much! I'm sure when we get back he will be fluent in Mandarin as well! Zack served his mission to Japan and tells me that Chinese is basically 100% backwards from Japanese but he has such a passion for language I know he will be great.

We are excited for this summer of opportunities. We decided that it is now or never! Now is the time in our life to take these fun risks and chances to get out and do something exciting! Can't wait! Here we come!

I have more good news! Today I put up our apartment on craigslist to sell and by 8pm I already had buyers! It could not have been easier. In the 3 hours it was up I already had 6 different people call me on it! We also put down a deposit for another apartment here in Provo that is a little closer to campus and a bit bigger. We hope we will get it. We feel so lucky and truly blessed for all that we have. Life for the Pughs is good right now :)

Easter Eggs!

This Friday we got together with the Phillips to dye some Easter eggs in preparation for the upcoming holiday. Shauna had made up quite the variety of fun colors for us to use! Thanks for donating the eggs!!

While dyeing, we had a discussion about egg dyeing in our own families. Zack said they would always dye regular eggs, not hard boiled. He said that on Easter morning, his dad would use those to make a big omelet for breakfast for everyone. I had never heard this, I always thought they were hard boiled for everyone! What do you do in your family? I LOVE making them into deviled eggs afterward-yum!

We had a good time with them and they also introduced us to a new fun game! It is called 'For Sale'. I really like it because it is easy to learn, and is a quick game! Right up my alley- I'm very picky with my games. So, if you are a gamer, you should enjoy this one!

We also enjoyed listening to the words of our Prophet and his apostles and seventy memebers and know there is much we can be working on! Hope you had a fun weekend!

Shauna, Me and Zack. Thanks Roger for being our photographer :)



Our bright and fun eggs!


Shauna and I with our eggs

The "Mom" Station

Anytime I would go with my Mom in the car, this was her radio station of choice. I didn't like it. To me it was , 'The Mom Station'. The older I got, the more the music seemed to gear its sound to a younger audience. At least, that is what I tell myself.

So, I am here to confess. After a long day at school, and a headache brewing in my mind, I like to drive home and listen to this station. It helps me relax and yes, they are 'older' songs. Not ones where the singers voice is synthecized or where I have to hear 'Let it Rock' or a Lady GaGa song for the 40th time.

There you have it. I now listed to the 'Mom' station. And you know what? I like it!

Aggravation

The purpose of this post is purely to whine and complain so if you don't need to hear it, please, do not read on.

Gripe #1- My cooperating teacher has been sick 3 days this week. So, I haven't seen her at all. I have no problem with this whatsoever. Having only 13 days left, I prefer her to not be in the room at all when I teach. My problem is that they have to call a sub when she is gone. I realize it is a liability issue or something but it is so frustrating to me knowing that these people get paid $60 to sit in the office and read or play online while I'm out there teaching and doing everything not just for free, but I got to pay tuition to student teach. I just don't think it is fair.

Gripe #2- Zack and I are most likely going out of the country for the summer. Woo!! (details to come when it is 100% sure) Anyway, we have been trying to get things in order to get a Visa and such. After stressing out to the max and FINALLY finding my lost passport (phew!) I look online to see how to change my name on the passport. I have to have my pictures re-taken for $15.00 and then I have to pay the wonderful price of $75.00 just to change my NAME!!! The things us girls go through to change our names. Goodness! I think it is just ridiculous and so stupid.


Anyway, I think that is all the ranting and raving I need to do for now. Thanks for letting me get that off my chest!