Out of the Mouth of (Co)Babes

Oh my heck. This has been one of the hardest weeks of my life, and it is only WEDNESDAY! I'm getting to the point in student teaching where everything is wrapping up. It is to the point, where I am just ready to be done, and I don't really feel like doing much of anything. So, I know that means I need to push myself that much harder. And I do. 
Monday was a hard day, and I think it was just because it was MONDAY. I had to get irritated with some of my classes because they didn't want to listen and just wanted to talk. I've never had to get irritated with my classes like that. It was difficult for me to actually get angry. But afterwards, I was so proud of myself for actually doing it. 
Tuesday wasn't much of a difference. My students still felt like they were in weekend mode. It SOOOO showed. But, we got down to business and got our work done. 
Today was going to be an easy day. We were going to have 30 minutes of instruction for each class, and then work on an assignment together. It worked well for 1st and 2nd hour. However, Aunt Denise called during 2nd hour to let me know that Uncle Jim died this morning. 
Oh.
My.
Heck.
That's really all that was going through my mind. I immediately turned on auto pilot. I went back into my classroom and everything was just background noise. I just went into teacher mode, and did what I was supposed to. I got my lesson stuff together, answered a few student questions, and then dropped the lesson on my co-op teacher's desk. I told him my uncle just died and I needed to go home. He pretty much kicked me out of the room. He said he'd take care of everything. After checking out with my principal, I went home. My mom called me to make sure I'd heard the news. 
I don't even remember getting home. Except, I remember talking to Matthew and my Dad on the phone. But, I do know that the drive that normally takes 20-25 minutes only took 15.  I walked into the house and dropped my stuff in the entry way. Just dropped it. I didn't even care to put it on my bed upstairs. Everything just didn't matter. 
Aunt Denise and I talked to family members and Uncle Joseph came home. I got on my computer and was so glad that Lisa was on Skype. It was so good to talk to her today. 
Denise and I picked Victoria up from school and made a trip to the store before I rushed off to a school district meeting. I just sat in the meeting wishing I was home. I know I should have been paying more attention, but I really just wanted to get home and crawl under the covers.
As I was driving home, I called Claira. There is just something about Claira that always makes my day better. I told her to just tell me about her day because I hadn't had a good couple of days. She said her day was bad, but after about 10 seconds, she was telling me all the funny things she's been doing. It was so good to hear her laugh! I don't think she realizes how much I miss her when I'm gone. That little girl is too cute for her own good. 







Claira asked me a very grown up question at the end of our conversation. She asked me, "Jenn, why is everyone sad today?"


I explained to her that Uncle Jim, Grandma Linda's brother, died this morning while she was at school. And that we all love him very much and will miss him.
Claira sat quietly on the phone for a moment and then said, "Jenn! Let's be happy! He's an angel now! He's with Heavenly Father, and he's happy!"
I just smiled, and the tears that had been trying to come out all day finally started to fall.
Claira continued, "Jenn, stop crying! Uncle Jim is our Santa Claus, now!!!"

I just had to laugh. Why is it that all the best things come from little kids? Claira is the only one who can really make me smile on the worst days. And as I thought about it, Uncle Jim would make a perfect Santa Claus. It's true. 


I kept driving after talking to my dad (this time actually going the speed limit. It took me a good 30 minutes to get home this time.). I had the radio off, and was just thanking my Heavenly Father for my wonderful family. In this day of sorrow, we have all rallied together, getting everything done, all of us talking, and just being a family. In this time where most people freak out about the unknown, our family has become even closer in the great distances we have between us. 
This is because we know, we KNOW, the truth. WE KNOW that someday, we will see Uncle Jim again. We will be reunited as a family, and we don't have to worry about separation in the eternities. We will always be together. What a blessing this is!


As I got off the surface road to merge onto the freeway, I just started to SOB. It finally hit me that Uncle Jim was gone. And I miss him so much. I just kept praying to my Heavenly Father, and as I did, I swear I heard Uncle Jim say,


"Oh, honey girl. I love you."










Thank you, Uncle Jim. I love you.

What the CRAP???

Teaching is hard! There is so much more to being a teacher than classroom management and lesson plans and grading.
The politics of a school...gosh.
It's not enough to just be a good teacher. I feel like an entirely different person the moment I enter my school.


I am no longer me.
I am Miss Cobabe: Social Studies Teacher.


I am expected to know so much, and I am so impressed with myself when the rights answers seem to fall out of my mouth. Where the heck did I get so smart?! 


My students like to tell me every day that they love me. What a little confidence booster that is each hour! 


However, it seems like I should have had to work harder for this. But its not hard to have your students love you. And its not hard to love all your students. 


I LOVE MY STUDENTS! They are just so easy to love, because they love me and my subject. They want to do their best. 

Life is heating up!

I have moved to Arizona. 
Yes, you read that right. Arizona. That place on the map of the United States, way in the bottom left corner. The one that every morning on national news that has temperatures way higher than should be possible. But, alas, I have learned that these temperatures are no exaggeration to keep people away from this beautiful desert oasis.


I won't lie. I was very nervous about the move to Mesa. It's hot. It's stinkin' hot. And, it means I have to be a real grown up!


I never thought that I would ever move to Arizona. Of all the kids in my family, my brother Johnathon would be the one that would chose to move to Arizona. However, I know the Lord has a special plan for me, that right now, includes me living in this place. However, by putting my trust in the Lord, I knew that this was where I am supposed to be. 

I am starting student teaching in the Mesa Unified School District at a junior high. I'm teaching 7th grade US history. 


Is this my dream position? No, but I'm like all student teachers straight out of college. I don't know what I really want. I know that I love history, and I love to teach, and I love to teach history. I know that I want to pass my love of history to my students. 
I know that this semester is going to be hard. 


But, I know that with help from the Lord, nothing is impossible. 


I am going to make the most of this experience. I am going to be like a sponge and soak up all the information I can. 


I know that the Lord loves me, and I know that He has a plan for me. And this is where it's all beginning. 

Miss Monkey....

My youngest sister, Claira, is about 15 years younger than me. I LOVE having a sister so young! It's so fun at all the holidays, and she gets SO excited each time I come home from wherever I am...especially when I come home from I-dee-ho.
Well, Claira is the monkey of the family, and I call her Miss Monkey, or Claira-Monkey....or something along those lines....
She always says the funniest things. I never thought that a young child could be SO HILARIOUS! Today's conversation at dinner was the best.
Claira's class at school just did a unit on rockets. Part of the homework was to make a rocket between 13 and 23 inches tall, and have at least three different colors on it. So, Claira and Dad made a rocket out of wood and Corian scraps, and then Kimberly, Claira, and I painted it yesterday.
At dinner tonight, Claira was telling us that hers was the best in class. Then, she said that Samuel, her friend, also had a pretty cool one. As did Wyatt. And James.
I asked her if these boys were her friends. She said,
"Samuel is my boyfriend. And Wyatt's the other boy I'm in love with. Oh, and I love James, too. James and Samuel are twins and they ride on my bus."
SHE WAS TOTALLY SERIOUS!
My SEVEN year old sister is a PLAYER!
Then she said that she had KISSED THEM!
I choked on my rice.
Why is my baby sister kissing boys?!?!?!?!?!
SHE'S SEVEN!
SEVEN!
For Heaven's sakes......seven!
Well, she's not even 7 yet, she's still 6 until Saturday!
Anywho.
I asked if she was kissin' on the lips.
Claira made a gross face, like she had swallowed something nasty.
"No, Jenn, I kiss them on their backpack!"
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Wherever she can get them, I guess, right?

My Life SHOULD Be a Hollywood Comedy....SERIOUSLY!

So, I've decided that my life needs to be turned into a movie...a comedy to be exact. Because, I find my life to be VERY entertaining! Here are a few clips of the possible scenes of

Jen Kabob: the Movie!

One time, a while ago (approximately April 10, 2010, about 1 hour after college graduation, and I am frantically cleaning my apartment so I can move out....well, maybe not so frantically, because I was sad to go, but frantically all the same, because my clean check was coming ever closer, and I didn't want to be charged $800 for not dusting the closet) I was cleaning the cubby space above my closet in my bedroom at Aspen Village. Now, me being the lovely 5 foot 5 that I am couldn't reach the top, let alone the shelf inside the closet. So, I did what every normal person would do.
I got a chair.
I stood on that blue plastic chair (like the ones you find in your high school classroom), and I STILL COULDN'T REACH!
So, I took the next logical step. Literally.
I stepped on top of the dresser inside the closet.
I was standing precariously close to the edge of the dresser top, and leaning slightly back, so I could manuever my arm around and onto the top of the closet to clean out the cubby hole.
Now, why was I cleaning that cubby hole? It wasn't on the list of things to clean, but I still felt like I had to clean it. Maybe it was because I didn't want to take that load of hangers out to the car...Maybe it was because I didn't want to vacuum....Maybe it was the lack of sleep during finals week/graduation (averaged 2.5 hours of sleep a night! :) Aren't you proud?)....Maybe (and this is the reason) it was a combination of all of the above.
Nevertheless, I was cleaning, and as you guessed, the dresser fell over.
I was grasping to the top of the closet for dear life as the dresser topples and the chair is smashed by the dresser. My mom drops the 50+ hangers (no joke. I had like 50 of them, all matching, and because of that, Mom wanted to keep them.) she was carrying out to the car, and runs in to see if I'm okay.
I was.
I was just hanging onto the closet, my feet dangling in the air, and only one slipper on.
Now, ask me:
What song was playing on your laptop?

Another One Bites The Dust

Yup. Seriously. Ironic, eh?

I got down, and I was just fine. But, instead of cleaning up the dresser and chair (both of whom also escaped unharmed), I ran over a couple apartments, because I HAD to share the story with Hannah Baker.
Response from Hannah: BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

I forgot to tell her about the song, but I think if I had included it at that moment, she would have needed to change her pants.
Moral of the story? Don't clean the top of your closets, especially if the above mentioned song is playing and you have a wimpy dresser in your closet.

One last story?
Alright. I'll enlighten you.
And just to let you know, my mom might kill me for sharing this story in cyberspace, but it just about made me pee my pants.

My little sister, Claira, couldn't find her teddy bear, Lily. And it was bedtime.
Bad combination, right?
Of course. All little kids need their teddy bear to be able to sleep a full night's sleep and keep the boogy man away. (except for me, obviously. I slept with a stuffed koala that I named Koaly. Original, eh? I had a bunny, it was a Netherland Dwarf. I named it Netherland. And most all my fish have been Mr. Fishy. Anyway...)
So, Mom and Claira search for HOURS (in reality, it was like 20 minutes, but to Claira, it seemed like an eternity), for Lily. Mom asks, "Can you just go to bed and we'll find Lily in the morning?"
Bad question.
"NO!!!!!!!!!!! I can't sleep without Lily!"
Which is quite interesting, since Claira has only had the dumb lovely pink and white bear for a couple years. She's just about 7! What about those 5 years she never had Lily? Claira wasn't scared of the dark before Lily...I would know. She would come down into the basement to my room and throw her cup across the room, yelling, "JENN! JUICE!!!!" at around 2 am. Every day.
Back to the story:
Claira is hitting the hysterical point of her search. Mom is looking in the family room, and Claira was upstairs about to have a mental breakdown.
Then, Mom sees Claira with that blasted teddy bear walking around downstairs.
"Claira, where'd you find Lily?"
Claira's answer was classic. It will be remembered and preserved for all of posterity:
"She was hiding in my closet. She scare the hell out of me!"

Oh my, Mom tried so hard not to laugh. She sent Claira to her room and then laughed SO hard! It was one of those moments that you know you have to get mad at her, but it was just too dang precious to be too mad. Now, if Claira was 16, I'm sure that language would result in her mouth being rinsed out with soap.
But, for some reason, Claira is the cute one in the family, and also the youngest. Quite a combination. The world will need to watch out when Claira hits 16......

Bittersweet Blabberings

I'm taking a break between finals, procrastinated projects, packing, and goodbyes.
I AM IN MY FINAL DAYS AT BYU-IDAHO!

HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?!?!?

Oh, that's right. I spent the last four years of my life battling wind, snow, ice, and professors to get through my classes, and they (meaning the professors) actually passed me! Huh.....It's absolutely crazy to think that I'm completely done with school.

This is a bittersweet feeling.

One the one hand, I'm ecstatic to be done and move on to the next phase of my life:

..............otherwise known as:
STUDENT TEACHING............................

But at the same time, its so hard to leave my friends, this lovely podunk town I love, and all the memories.

I know that life is full of hellos and goodbyes.
Eveyone you meet is put in your life for a reason. These people are meant to teach us something and bless our lives.
I've really come to understand that in the past year.
No matter how tough it is to say goodbye, its going to be okay.

So,
GOODBYE

Brigham Young University-Idaho
Windy/Icy/Snowy/Never-can-make-up-its-mind Rexburg
Difficult and rewarding classes
Ghetto Aspen Village
BYU-Idaho 15th Ward
my amazing roommates
Potatoland
Eastern Idaho
and everything else associated with Rexburg/BYU-Idaho

I will miss you! But, I've decided to move onto bigger and better things!

Rexburg, don't feel so bad, you'll always hold a special place in my heart.....

Love, Jenn

I ♥ Conference!

I love, absolutely LOVE!, General Conference! It makes me so happy, and I love the spiritual upliftment that I receive. Especially in these past few sessions.
The encouragement we receive from the Brethren and other speakers calms my soul from the things I have been worrying about. I know that everything is going to be just fine. I know that my Savior loves me. I know that my Savior died for me, and He Lives. I KNOW that He lives. I have received confirmation of this fact. The hymn, I Know That My Redeemer Lives, is my testimony:
I know that my Redeemer lives
What comfort this sweet sentence gives
He lives, He lives who once was dead,
He lives, my Ever-living Head.
He lives to grant me rich supply
He lives to guide me with His eye
He lives to comfort me when faint
He lives to hear my soul's complaint.
He lives to silence all my fears
He lives to wipe away my tears
He lives to calm my troubled heart
He lives all blessings to impart.
He lives to bless me with his love
He lives to plead for me above
He lives my hungry soul to feed
He lives to help in time of need.
He lives, my kind, wise, heavenly Friend
He lives and loves me to the end.
He lives, and while He lives I'll sing!
He lives, my Prophet, Priest, and King!
He lives and grants me daily breath
He lives, and I shall conquer death.
He lives, my mansion to prepare
He lives to bring me safely there.
He lives, all glory to His name!
He lives, my Savior, still the same!
O sweet, the joy this sentence gives:
I know that my Redeemer lives!
He lives, all glory to His name!
He lives, my Savior, still the same!
O sweet, the joy this sentence gives:
I know that my Redeemer lives!

How perfect that General Conference lands on Easter Sunday this year! I am enjoying the apostolic testimonies of the truthfulness of the gospel and of the Savior, even Jesus Christ. I add my testimony of Jesus Christ and the Atonement to the others that have been expressed in the last two days.

He Lives! I know He does. He loves me. He loves you. He suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane, and then died on the cross for our sins. He is the very reason that the plan of happiness works.

Enjoy the rest of this Easter Sunday, and the rest of this wonderful General Conference!

O My Father

I have just come to find this hymn to be one of my favorites. The words mean more to me than I had ever noticed. (LDS Hymnal #292) Read these words carefully:

"O My Father, thou that dwellest

In the high and glorious place,

When shall I regain thy presence

And again behold thy face?

In thy holy habitation,

Did my spirit once reside?

In my first primeval childhood

Was I nurtured by thy side?

For a wise and glorious purpose

Thou hast place me here on earth

And withheld the recollection

Of my former friends and birth;

Yet oftimes a secret something

Whispered, "You're a stranger here,"

And I felt that I had wandered

From a more exhalted sphere.

I had learned to call thee Father,

Thru thy Spirit from on high,

But, until the key of knowledge

Was restored, I knew not why.

In the heav'ns are parents single?

No the thought makes reason stare!

Truth is reason; truth eternal

Tells me a mother there!

When I leave this frail existence,

When I lay this mortal by,

Father, Mother, may I meet you

In your royal courts on high?

Then, at length when I've completed

All you sent me forth to do,

With you mutual approbation

Let me come and dwell with you.

I love this hymn. It speaks to my spirit, and it comforts me in the hardest times of life. I especially love the arrangement by Sally Deford. Check it out: http://defordmusic.com/comethoufountomyfather.htm
It's also the same musical arrangement she uses for Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing, another great hymn.

AHHHHHH! Can You Believe It?

So...............
It's my last semester in Rexburg. Can you believe it? Because I sure can't. It's crazy! I'm really excited, but at the same time, I'm really nervous.
This is it.
After this semester, I need to be a real grown-up.
A grown-up.
Man, I'm getting old.
I've recently (last night) finished my student teaching application. By March sometime, I'll know what school district I'm going to be student teaching in for the Fall semester 2010. This is CRAZY! I'm going to be a TEACHER!
I think I need to go to bed, because the sleep deprivation of college is catching up with me....and I have some lesson plans that still need to be done before class tomorrow. But, alas. I'm on my blog, writing to who knows who.
And Kassi just turned the music on. That's sounds awfully lovely. I love music.
Oh my. I'm just rambling on now. But that's okay. This is a perfect example for a case study on sleep deprived college students. Great ADD tendencies. (which, really is not a good thing. When you are trying to concentrate on your homework or a test, you cannot afford to get distracted on other topics...such as music, dating, boys, other school work, roommates, ward activities, callings)
Oh, that reminds me! I have two new callings this semester that I'm really quite excited about. The first one is Relief Society pianist. I love being the pianist. In past semesters, I have found that being the pianist really bored me and was tedious. But I've come to love being the pianist. As the pianist I am the one that helps in bringing the Spirit of the Lord to the meeting. I get to help with that! How cool is that?!
My second calling is Family Home Evening Coordinator. I'm incharge of a lot of stuff, and I'm not quite sure exactly what, but from what I know, I know that I am supposed to be in this calling. I know there is something that I'm am supposed to learn this semester, and there is going to be things that I can teach others through this calling. I'm VERY excited to start serving the Lord in these new capacities. And honestly, I'm really glad I'm not the Relief Society president. As much as that would be a humbling experience, I'm not sure how equipped I am to handle that much responsibility.
So, anyway. Three weeks into the semester....10 more to go! Wish me luck! Grant me peace of mind! Pray that I get some sleep!