Prepare Yourself. It's Long and May Be My Last

It's spring break. Unfortunately I have commitments that are keeping me from going out of town. So here I am, sitting at home in my pajamas on a Thursday afternoon. A small part of me feels like I should do something more with myself on this sunny afternoon. The rest of me feels like I should enjoy this laziness. After all, I have been mostly productive the last few days. I spent Monday and Tuesday planning pretty much my whole wedding. That's enough productivity for one week. Right?

Wait. What? Wedding? Oh yeah. This is probably why I shouldn't zone out of the blog world for so long. So much goes on and I don't feel like taking the time to explain it all. Hence, nothing ever gets written. But as I sit here on this lazy afternoon, I realize that it is probably a good idea to document my thoughts on everything that has gone on as of late. So world, here they are... thoughts on the story of my new life:

Mostly as I ponder on the events that have transpired over the last 6 months I can't help but smile as I see God's hand in ALL of it. Just one month before meeting "Mr. Right" I felt like I needed to go through the temple. I felt strongly that God didn't intend for me to get married for a long while and I had been feeling these impressions for quite some time. I wasn't really sure how long a long while was but I felt that I needed to stop looking and start living my life by myself. At 23, I wasn't sure how my bishop would respond to this because 24 seems to be the earliest they let you start going through. I remember sitting in his office and pouring out all my thoughts to him and waiting for his reaction. It was simple and I will always remember it because it brought so much peace to my confused spirit. "I don't usually feel this way about amazing girls like you so I know it must be coming from someone else, but I feel like marriage isn't in your near future either. It's between you and God but I think you're ready to go through the temple." He confirmed everything I had been feeling and doubting.

Going through the temple for the first time was an unforgettable experience. I still wasn't sure why I felt the need to go through at that time but those reasons soon became very clear during that day. Most of the events are too intimate to share but I can tell you that by the end of the experience I had a firm confirmation that I needed to stop focusing on dating and prepare myself to live life independently for now. I also felt very strongly that I needed the blessings from my covenants to help me pass through the trials that would come with this new focus in life. There was much confusion and uncertainty in my future but the temple helped me find peace among it all.

Fast forward two weeks: I find myself in Roosevelt, UT. Some foreign part of Utah I have never visited before and, until just months before, I did not even know was in existence. It's Sunday. I'm sitting in the bishop's office to introduce myself and get to know him a little better. He proceeds to ask me questions and the topic is brought up about my recent trip through the temple for the first time. He asked me if I expected to find my husband out here. I told him no. "I know the Lord wants me for something out here. I know it's not to get married, so I'm anxious to find out what it is." Pretty much my exact words. He smiled and stated that he was also anxious to discover my purpose for being here.

The next day was F.H.E. I was committed to not being lonely out here so I dragged my roommate along and made her attend the closing summer social with me. We pleasantly talked with everyone we could but lost interest in exhorting effort seeing as 90% of the ppl we talked to were moving away to college that week. Well, end of the night and I went to go sit by the fire pit. A place with no need for conversation and there was a tall, blonde, good-looking guy sitting there as well. I don't remember how or when but at some point a not-so-tall, not-so-blonde friend of his joined our conversation that night. He and I got into some type of discussion over whether or not mountains existed in the Basin and he promised to show them to me sometime. That's about all I remember. 

Next Sunday. Same not-so-tall, not-so-blonde friend comes in late for church and opts to sit by me and my roomies. At the end of sacrament mtg, he asks if I would like to drive around with him later that night to drop some chemicals off for work. His thoughts: "I can show her around the area a little bit." My thoughts: "He works on Sunday and wants me to go with him? I feel super uncomfortable about this." After the block of mtgs I searched frantically to find him so that I could tell him I didn't really feel like going. He was nowhere to be found. So I went home feeling a little bad for not being very polite.

Next Day. F.H.E. I dragged along the same roommate as part of my plan to be more social and less lonely. Right away, I spotted the same young man from before and went to go talk to him and let him know that I didn't blow him off and I had actually looked for him after church. He told me it was fine and then sat down at a table with a bunch of girls and left me to work alone on that night's project. Not gonna lie, that kinda irked me a little bit because I could hear them laughing all night long. I didn't like being brushed off as a 'no big deal'. So, when my roommate later told me she was headed home I told her to leave without me cuz I had a ride (he just didn't know it yet). As everything got cleaned up, I approached him again and told him my roommate had left without me and I needed a ride home. He agreed to take me home and invited me to join the after party with pizza at a friend's house. Maybe someday I'll document the rest of the detailed story, but for now let it be known that Gregory George Page and I soon started dating a few weeks later. 

Dating Greg made complete sense and absolutely no sense all at the same time. With every relationship I've had, within a few days I always knew that it just wasn't meant to be. Some I let last a while just to see what it would be like, but I always knew it wouldn't work out. So I guess it would make sense that after dating for only a week I had a feeling that this was the one. 

Questions and concerns went rattling through my brain for months to come. What about all the revelations and confirmations that it was in the plan for me to be single for a long while? Other things about Greg and our relationship worried me and seemed like a bad idea. Every night my prayers went something like this: "God, I'm so confused. This feels so right. This feels like it is what you want for me, but at the same time I thought you wanted me to have something different. So many things don't line up with what I always thought it would be. Please help me understand what you want from me." Day by day I would receive small answers to calm me down for a little while but nothing to really, really put me at rest. By December Greg and I both knew we wanted to get married but we knew it wasn't the right time. I wanted so bad for this confusion to be replaced with peace so that it could be the right time. 

My answer came. It came so simply I can't believe I had to hear it from someone else. I was sitting in relief society in my parent's ward over Christmas break. I don't remember what the lesson was about and I'm not really sure this sister's comment applied to the lesson, but I needed to hear it. "Sometimes I have this plan in my head of how I'm going to live the gospel perfectly and do things the right way and then Heavenly Father reminds me that it is His plan, not mine." I realized that was exactly what I had been trying to do. Fit my relationship with Greg into how I always pictured my "Perfect Mormon Marriage" would be. That was my plan, not God's plan. 

I am so grateful for God's plan. His plan involves me getting to spend eternity with my best friend. Together, my best friend and I have built a relationship that is better than anything I could have ever dreamed for myself. I ask myself everyday, "Can it really get better than this? Does everyone get to be this happy?" I always imagined myself with this perfect guy but worried my whole life that I was setting my expectations too high and that I would realize that there is no such thing. Well, it turns out I was setting my expectations too low. I never expected to have someone that makes me laugh and understands my humor. I never expected to have someone who can be romantic or sappy at just the right moment. I never expected to have someone that pushes me to new limits of adventure. Mostly, I never expected to have someone that would be so much fun to be with. It's so hard to be grumpy when I'm with him. He just knows how to make me smile.

Last week I sat in the bishop's office again. This time to tell him I was getting married. We both laughed as he reminded me of the last conversation we had had just six months previously. It seems to me that the Lord knows best. I don't doubt the impressions I had about going to the temple and the inspiration I received in the temple. At the time, it was what I needed to hear to help me be on the right path so that everything could work together for my good. The temple has been my rock through all of this. It has refocused everything I do. That is why I am so grateful that Greg and I are making commitments for eternity in the House of the Lord. 

The New Story of My Life

I have slipped from the realm of blogging. Sorry.

Quick update: I moved. It pretty much changed everything. 

Thus, this is the new story of my life...

New town, new terrain, new job, new school, new grade level, new house, new roommates, new friends, new boy, new ward, new callings, pretty much new everything.

I hate change. I really do. It throws me off and upsets me. It takes me way too long to adjust to it. I avoid it as much as possible and at all costs. This may or may not be why I have lived most of my life within a ten-mile radius and only moved twice during college. So amongst all this 'new' I have decided to find joy in the simple pleasures of the 'old' that I can take with me: holiday traditions being one of those.

It's Christmas time. With this joyous holiday season comes one of my most favorite traditions of all: Christmas trees! You should know by now that I have a tree this year, and it has a name. Cuz that's how it always is. What you don't know is that I got help chopping it down this year and I let someone else have the honor of naming it. My nearest and dearest friend, Gregory George II (pronounced 'the second'), hiked across miles and miles of treacherous mountain terrain to get this tree for me and dubbed him Sir An"fir"ny. Well, okay. Not really miles and miles, but that's what it felt like. It was actually just a ten minute wandering through the hillside. Anyways, thanks to Greg, An"fir"ny now rests safely adorned in my living room. And even though he lacks a certain thickness about him, he more than compensates for it with height. Gosh, he is tall! We're talking well over 8 feet. So tall, in fact, that he had to be placed in the center of the house where the slanted roof is at its peak. Putting lights on him was quite the adventure.

Better picture will be posted soon! 

An"fir"ny would be the one in the back

I guess all the 'new' in my life will have to wait for another time. For now, I just need to add An"fir"ny to my list of trees that have been a traditional part of my holiday seasons.

Life Lessons From a Four Year Old

This afternoon I went over to the Haymore's to babysit for my sister. As I was getting dinner on, the boys were deciding which one would be saying the prayer. Garrett (2) and Benjamin (4) were discussing who said what for which previous meal. Benjamin whipped around to look at me. "Did you say your prayer for lunch today Aunt Teesa? I did. And did you say your prayer for breakfast? Cuz I did too?" he stated proudly. I was touched to see his familiarity with prayer and responded, "Yes." Then I stopped. I thought for a moment. I was wrong.

As a single young adult I don't really eat breakfast or dinner. I simply pop in snacks throughout the day when I feel like it. I do eat lunch but that meal is snarfed down in the faculty room among the other teachers. Needless to say, I don't really pray before eating my lunch. I was wrong. My response quickly changed to a 'No, but I will now.'

I am grateful for little boys that remind me in simple ways what is important in life. Benjamin, I will do better at saying my prayers.

Here is my favorite picture of the boys. 

We were playing F.B.I. agents and this was their 'tough-guy' pose.

Nothing Short of a Miracle

I woke up this morning hoping and praying that I might get a job. I am now going to bed trying to decide which of the five jobs I was offered to take?

Let's just say my Duchesne County School District interviews went a lot better than I thought they would. My jaw dropped numerous times today and I still can't believe it all. I feel so lucky and blessed to be in this situation. I don't know why Heavenly Father thinks I need these blessings but I am sure grateful he has given them to me.

I'm Spoiled

I was not looking forward to my birthday this year because I was spending half the day at a job fair at BYU. I would rather be teaching my class. Now if I would have stopped complaining and looked for silver linings I would have realized this was the best way to spend my birthday.

The first half of the day was spent at the job fair. Sounds boring, right? That's what I thought. It turned out to be very informative and exciting to talk to school districts from all over Utah and a whole bunch from out of state. I was worried there would be no rural districts and it would be a waste of time. However, half the districts there were exactly what I was looking for! I interviewed with Duchesne, Page (Arizona), and Jefferson (Rigby, ID). Afterwards I was able to leisurely make my way up the canyon back to school and enjoy the fabulous weather.

I couldn't have asked for a better day at school. Really. Quite seriously. I got there 45 minutes before my kids would be back from computers so I ran to Smith's next door to grab a healthy birthday treat (remember the sugar fast?) I got bananas and oranges. :) As luck would have it I ran into the mother of one of my students. How embarrassing! What could she possibly be thinking as she sees her son's teacher during school hours at the grocery store. I couldn't ignore her so I went over to say hello and explain myself. "I promise I didn't ditch my class in the middle of the day. I am on my way back from Provo and stopped real quick to get a birthday treat for my class. Promise." She responded by laughing and telling me we were there for the same purpose. Can you believe it? She was shopping for a treat to bring my class for my birthday. (I seriously work with the best bunch of parents ever!) We collaborated. She brought cupcakes and I brought the fruit.

I got back to school to find my desk covered in birthday mayhem. I panicked only for a second about having a mess on my desk and then enjoyed the sight of so many birthday wishes from the people that mean the most to me: my students. There were bouquets of flowers, muffins, cupcakes, chocolates, balloons, and cards. Cards, cards, cards, and cards. They were everywhere!

I snapped a few pictures of a couple to show you just how lucky I am to be teaching such a great group...

(Dear Miss Wood, Happy birthday! I hope you have a good day today. Sincerely, Matthew)

I love that my students are always asking about Mailani.

The previous three were favorites seeing as we just finished a unit on how to write/format letters.

This is from my artsy student. I don't think I even have the brain power to figure out how to make a pop-up cake and have the chairs pop up at the right place. Ingenious I tell ya!

I loved how excited they were to give me the cards, this girl in particular.

As if all the cards, goodies, and birthday treat weren't enough the second my students walked in from computer class I was attacked by 23 pairs of arms. All my students came running up to give me a hug, including the one boy who I am sure is determined to make my life as hard as possible. That right there was the best birthday present ever! The rest of the day was relaxed as we watched the Disney assembly put on by the third grade and returned to class to enjoy our treats. (They surprisingly gobbled up all the bananas and oranges that I purchased, and I bought a lot!) An enjoyable day at school and I didn't have to teach a single lesson!

I can't forget to mention the extreme thoughtfulness of my family. I didn't want to do cake and ice cream for this reason so my family indulged me in a birthday breakfast. Everyone woke up extra early and gathered around the old folk's kitchen table for my mother's scrumptious breakfast casserole (which had been bedazzled with candles).

All in all the day left me feeling like the luckiest girl alive.

Sugar-Free

A few years ago, I tried to stop eating sweets and desserts for a month. Steff (my roommate at the time) did it with me and it was pretty tough. You can read more about it here and here. At the approach of this new year, I decided to try it again.

Last time I did it, I struggled in the beginning but it got easy quite quickly. This time was so different. Three weeks into it I was still struggling and having bad cravings but pushed forward. I told myself I would do it until it was no longer hard to do. It worked! It got easy and I stopped just in time for V-Day. It worked so well that I was having a hard time making myself eat all the sweets I got from my lovely kiddos.

During this time back on sugar, my face broke out more than it has in a loooooong time and I felt so yucky. I was not happy, so I'm back on again. Let's see how long I can make it last this time. Who knows, maybe forever!

Limited sweets has brought about so many unexpected benefits. A cleared-up face is just the start!

Typically when I over eat salty foods I counteract it with sweets. Without sweets, my appeal for salty foods has diminished and I crave good, healthy foods! Also, those impulse buys at the grocery store have ceased. Seeing as I can't eat the food I typically impulsively buy, I don't buy them and I''m saving money. I lost three pounds the first two weeks I did this. What a fast way to lose a couple pounds!

Remember What's Important

I had a humbling moment the other day. Let me share.

My day began like every other day. Students enter somewhat louder than I would like but quickly quiet themselves as they sit at the carpet. Lunch counts are put in, backpacks are put away, homework is turned in, and several students so kindly remind me of EVERYTHING I have forgotten (the schedule on the board, the calendar, adding a straw to our counting bags, changing the date on the board, handing out the table prizes from the day before, etc.) If it's possible to forget it, I've forgotten it. Fortunately for me, I have 23 voices in my head mercilessly reminding me. This particular morning I had forgotten to switch the calendar from January to February and apparently it was everyone's responsibility to let me know because one person telling me just isn't enough. Before my patience could be worn thin from endless reminders, I took the time to tell my students that February happens to be one of my favorite months. I told them it is the month of my favorite holiday: Valentine's Day. We talked for a few moments (enough to calm me down) about what makes Valentine's Day so great, and the day continued from there.

Lesson one from teaching: If your students are driving you crazy, tell them a little something about yourself and they instantly become engaged and you calm down. I promise. It works.

Reading time ensued soon after and my patience was almost worn through once more.

You see, during reading time my students have a list of things they have to get done while I read with small groups of students. If they finish everything on the list there are some 'Can-Dos' for them. For those of you that are visual learners, said reading ticket is shown below.

Lately I've had a problem with them playing around with the 'Can-Do' materials instead of actually doing them. Yesterday was no different. I looked over at my desk to see a noisy group of students all huddled together with my magnet letters. My first instinct was to send them back all to their seats. They were noisy and there was no way they could all be using my one set of letters. Yes, students, I'm not stupid. I know what's going on over there. I know that even though you look busy you aren't staying on task. You can't fool me. I was just about to send them all back to their desks but I decided I just didn't feel like fighting them today so I continued teaching my small group. Reading time soon ended and my class cleaned up and headed out to recess.

Knowing these students weren't on task I knew they probably didn't get all cleaned up either. I trudged over to my desk to pick up the forgotten magnets on the floor. To my humbling surprise I found no magnets on the floor. Instead I found just this:

(Happy Valentine's Day Miss Wood

love

the class)

Here I was ready to get upset with them and they were working together to write me this love note.

Upon returning from recess, those students all came up to ask if I had found their secret note for me. Ha! I couldn't help but smile and tell them it was the best surprise I had ever found. I think that note will be staying up for a while. Not just because it isn't Valentine's Day yet but as a reminder to myself to trust my students a little more and lighten up on them a little. Leave it to kids to teach all the important lessons of life.