Dad's are the best!

Happy Father's Day to my wonderful dad (and all the dad's out there). I hope that you feel appreciated and know how much you are loved! Continue to be so amazing, I am glad for the example in my life.

If 'a dream is a wish your heart makes'...

... then I have some pretty bizarre wishes! I never ever remember my dreams, everyone has been sharing their 'teacher' dreams with me and I haven't remembered mine. But, it has happened, I had my first 'teacher' dream last night. It was quite random! Here is the dream:

It was the first day of class and when I walked in the room I realized that the room was 'U' shaped. The desks were all facing the middle of the 'U' (So it wasn't possible to see everyone at once unless you stand behind the desks). In addition to the shape of the room, there were tons of desks and they were all filled with students and parents. There was a guy teaching the class, my class, I had no idea why. Then one of my practicum teachers walked in and took over teaching. I decided to sit in a desk. After a few minutes of teaching she turned to me and said "Shouldn't you be teaching?" so I got up and started to teach but nobody was listening. I tried to get everyone's attention but nobody heard. Then the bell rang, all the children left but all the parents stayed and were looking at me. There was one mom in front who had a piece of paper in front of her and she started consulting it while firing questions at me about how I was going to teach their students and how long I was going to be in school after the bell rings. Was I going to help the kids put on a lu'au? I calmed her worries with answers from my management plan (No idea how that worked and then all the parents left). The guy that was teaching earlier was still in the room. He told me to follow him as it was my turn to teach art.

I started following him down the hallway and realized that my school had its own swimming pool and ice rink! When I commented on it he told me that I would be teaching swimming and ice skating in the future but for now to just focus on art but not to worry because I had volunteers to help me with the art teaching. When we got to the art room I saw my volunteers. One volunteer was a boy from my freshman ward and the other was the brother of a friend from Vegas. They told me that the kids had already had their lesson and it was time to go to lunch so we left for the lunchroom.

While walking in the hall to lunch I saw all of my ELED friends talking about their internships but I knew nothing about mine so I hurried along to the microwave so that I could cook my lunch. I opened up my bag of popcorn (What else would I have?) and put it in the microwave for three minutes then I went to sit down. Jonathan (from catering) was sitting by the microwave and said, "Corrine, I think your popcorn is done" I walked back over and saw that the bag was not done (it was still popping) but it was huge! It was almost taking up the whole microwave. I told him not to worry because the popcorn was still popping but that I would stay there to make sure nothing went wrong. Then from the table next to me Chef Mindy (Also catering) told me that I didn't know how to make popcorn and there was something wrong with it. I was so upset, I know how to make popcorn! But then I noticed that the popcorn looked weird almost as if there was some aluminum foil around the bag, which I know can't go in the microwave so I decided I was done cooking my popcorn. I opened the microwave door a crack to get out my popcorn but just at that moment the bag exploded and all the popcorn was set free. I closed the door quickly, trapping all of the popcorn inside of the microwave. By now the popcorn filled every space of the microwave and I decided that the only way to clean it up was to open the microwave while holding a trash can up. I got the trash can into place  pulled open the microwave door and woke up!

'On Being Worthy'

I read an amazing conference talk by Elder Ashton the other day called 'On Being Worthy'. He starts of by talking about the meaning of the word worthy and the way we determine our worthiness. Often we are under the impression that we decide whether we are worthy or not. While that is true we are not the only ones who judge our worthiness. Elder Ashton states "We do not have to be hindered by self-Judgement. All of us have the benefit and added wisdom of a bishop and a stake president to help us determine our worthiness..." We are not alone, we have the wisdom of others to help us find our way.

Elder Ashton defines worthiness as "a process, and perfection is an eternal trek. We can be worthy to enjoy certain privileges without being perfect". Today in Relief Society we were talking about Temples and being worthy to enter the Temple. We came to the conclusion that as long as we are making an effort to be perfect we are worthy of the Temple and the blessings that come from visiting the Temple.

Sometimes I struggle with where I am in the gospel. I often feel that I am missing something because I judge my worthiness through comparison to others. I know that this is not wise and that it is a result of pride. Elder Ashton addresses this struggle in his talk.

"Perhaps we all live under some misconceptions when we look at each other on Sundays as we attend our meetings. Everyone is neatly dressed and greets each other with a smile. It is natural to assume that everyone else has his life under control and doesn't have to deal with dark little weaknesses and imperfections.

There is a natural, probably a mortal, tendency to compare ourselves with others. Unfortunately, when we make these comparisons, we tend to compare our weakest attributes with someone else's strongest. For example, a woman who feels unschooled in the gospel may take particular note of a woman in her ward who teaches the Gospel Doctrine class and seems to have every scripture at her fingertips. Obviously these kinds of comparisons are destructive and only reinforce the fear that somehow we don't measure up and therefore we must not be as worthy as the next person. 

We need to come to terms with our desire to reach perfection and our frustration when our accomplishments or behaviors are less than perfect. I feel that one of the great myths we would do well to dispel is that we've come to earth to perfect ourselves, and nothing short of that will do. If I understand the teachings of the prophets of this dispensation correctly, we will not become perfect in this life, though we can make significant strides toward that goal."

I have only addressed a few of the ideas from this talk but I would suggest that everyone go through and read this talk because I feel like is is something that everyone should hear.

Summertime Catch-up

It  has been a while and a lot has happened, let me share. (By the way, these are in no real order I just decided I wanted to number them...)

First, I have been busy planning for my class next year. I decided to use a theme that involves music because I am such a fan of music... Right now I am leaning toward a rockstar theme but I don't want it to be too cliche (That's the biggest problem, everything has been done) so I will maybe twist it a little. I have been having so much fun planning out my classroom, I can't wait to see my class!!! Recently I was told that I will have 27 students. I am awed by the opportunity I have to teach these students and for the chance I have to be a part of their lives! I have also started my classroom library. Scholastic books has a warehouse sale twice a year. I was able to go and get a ton of books for my class. I also got some books from teachers as the school I will be teaching at! I am super excited!!!

Second, the pools opened on Monday, I went to Seven Peaks (Yay for the Pass of All Passes) and played in the water for a little while. I ended up getting a little bit of a sunburn, as funny as it seems I was really excited about it because it means Summer is finally here!

Third, the Provo Rec Center opened up. I bought an annual pass and I have enjoyed going to different classes and relaxing in their pool. I actually saw one of my fifth graders there when I went one time, funny story.

Fourth, I was able to go to see my fifth grade class one more time (They got out last week) to watch their program. It was great. After the program they asked me to stay for the end of the day. I ended up going out to recess with them and they wanted to play big booty. We ended up with such a big group that we had two games going, craziness!!!

Fifth, I have had the chance to do a lot of reading... I love to read and Summer is the best time to do it! One day when I was at the Provo Library I met the nicest librarian, she took me around just suggesting and talking about different books that I might enjoy. It was the greatest thing!

Because I love to share YouTubes I will share a new one that I found the other day. I love the song "Over You" by Miranda Lambert, it is not what you think. I discovered this cover the other day and it gave me chills I have always been a fan of Cassadee Pope (I liked Hey Monday) but I love the emotion she puts into this song.

Happy Mother's Day

Today was great! I was able to go to my mom's ward and sing with her and other family. After that we stopped by Grandma Fiso's grave and left some flowers. We then went up to Morgan to spend some time with Grandma Dickson and my mom's family. It was great. I love my mom and I am so thankful for the example she is to me...

My Broken Record

So I've broken my first bone and I almost didn't figure it out. I guess I had to break something eventually and better a finger than a leg, right? 

A few weeks ago for FHE they (the people in charge of FHE) decided that we were going to get together to play a game involving an exercise ball. While we were playing the ball got jammed into my finger and it started to swell (I talked about it a little bit here). I put some ice on it and went home. It was sore (When I moved my pinkie finger it stung) but I could still move it so I thought it was probably just sprained. I created a splint out of a Popsicle stick and kept it on my finger for a few days until it was feeling well enough that I could move my finger without a lot of pain. It was still swollen but it hurt less. Yesterday my finger was hurting and the swelling had gone down but my finger still looked funny and I decided that going to the doctor wouldn't be a bad idea. I had an appointment today and after taking a look at my X-Rays the doctor told me that it was broken and I should splint it for a few more weeks in hopes that it gets better and the swelling goes away. 

Seeking the Light

Today in Relief Society our President gave a great lesson based on Dieter F. Uchtdorf's talk from last conference "The Hope of God's Light". The talk was a great one and the lesson brought up many ideas that I had not previously considered...

To me, the most interesting idea that showed up from the lesson is the idea of light vs. dark. When thinking about the light and the dark I decided that there is not really such a thing as darkness. It is not tangible you cannot 'create' darkness. Darkness only comes when you remove the light. When you fill your life with light there is no darkness. Darkness cannot be where the light is and that is something that I often forget but at the same time it is something that is crucial to remember. If we are constantly putting light in our life we are removing all traces of darkness because they cannot dwell together after all darkness is defined as the absence of light. One day in institute we referred to the water bottle metaphor. We talked about how when you fill the water bottle with water or good things (Light) there is no room for air or sin (darkness) but if you get rid of some of the water there is more room for air. By filling our bottle with light we are removing all darkness because the darkness cannot occupy the areas where there is light.

In his address President Uchtdorf refers to John 8:12 "I am the light of the word: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life". Through following the Savior we are able to continue in our growth and live to fulfill our potential. The idea of light and its application in the gospel fascinates me and I hope that as I study the scriptures and the words of our prophets that I will continue to learn more about the light and how to have it in my life.

Elder Bednar did a three part series concerning the ideas of light, this is the first.

By the way... My 100th post! Go me!!!