Twilight Vs. Harry Potter

Lately I have been considering whether or not I'm cut out to teach English. It is a very difficult subject especially when it comes to analysing novels or poetry. I'm currently in a couple literature classes and after reading so many books and so many poems I finally got fed up and asked the question who cares! What makes this book so important to analysis? What makes this book worth my time? Why can't we just read for fun, why do we have to have meaning to everything? This question has been on my mind for a while and I think today everything clicked. What is art? Some say it is personal opinion others say there are consequences by making art personal and that is it would lose importance. No one would think art is grand or want to make art, because there would be no guidelines to say what art is. It would not be competative. So should art be personal preference or should it be regulated? If it is regulated than is it our job to analysis whether or not it fits the criteria of art. Right? So to make this connection to myself I thought about books I have read and decided where they fit. Did they fit into the sit and enjoy the fluff category or did they fit into the art category. To determine my criteria I used the two examples of the Twilight series and the Harry Potter series. Twilight was very poorly written. The grammer was horrible, the plot line fun, but one book did not fit to the next. Connections were not made and was simply a piece of work for people to enjoy and maybe have a few fantasys of their own. Now compare this to Harry Potter. It is vastly different. Harry Potter still has that sci fi story line, but is it a book you would actually take into and English class and discuss. I find that answer to be yes. This is why. The author was brillant and though through every moment in the book. She had to have know the end way before the middle. Every event had a significant purpose throughout the series and concluded with everything coming together. She did not kill off a character without a purpose, she did not have a tragic event without an overall purpose. It was thought out, it envoke emotion, caused deep thinking and caused change. So now looking at this and defining what book is considered a work of art the final question is asked.... Who cares? Why does it matter if a book is considered art or not? In an English class we teach our students grammer, how to write and speak and we teach the art of thinking. We could do this many ways, but we have chosen to use literature to show how culture, thinking, and humans interact. Great books that really do fit the title of great art can teach our students so much if we teach them correctly. I have noticed that even though this subject may be very difficult for me it probably is because it causes me to think deeper than I have been asked to think before. Why did Christ teach in parables? It was because only those that seriously wanted to know the meaning could find it. You have to look deep to make the connections and find the purpose same goes with great literature. The problem is the students do not learn how to think if we have them read the book and then have them create a poster on a topic of the book. What do we get out of that. Nothing they are just doing another mindless activity. Yet, if we were to have them read the book and then get with a partner and have them find specific examples from the book that can be related to their life and have them write an analytical essay on how we can use that book to answer an important question of society or of self than they are learning and also learning how to think for themselves. This takes me to a different subject that I have been very frusterated with for the last few weeks. The lack of quality learning in todays public schools. Are we teaching our students to think for themselves or to learn how to BS themselves through life. Currently at Madison High School in Rexburg it seems quite obvious that it is the latter. I'm working with a few students there and as I help them with math they wait for me to do their work. They say they get it until they get to a question that is different than the others and they ask how do I do this? Someone shows them and they continue to work until another question is different. The problem is if we were teaching them how to think through problems they would be able to know how to go from question to question by themselves. How do I teach my students to think and figure it out on there own rather than just telling them how to do it? I think that is the key for every teacher to learn. Anyway, that is just some of my thoughts I have had lately. I know I won't know everything that I need to know before I go out and teach, but I have learned that I can't not yeild to the way everyone else is doing it I have to go above and beyond and really take the time to teach the students right the first time.

My Various Hairstyles

So I have been going through my pictures tonight and I couldn't believe the many different hairstyles I have had! So I thought I would share them all with you. There are some I can remember that I haven't found the pictures for yet. I'm wondering if they never got transfered to my computer. Well here they are!

Honestly I can't remember all my hairstyles but it was after the babies were born and moved in to Grandmas.

This was right before my lastest cut! I don't have a picture of my most recent hairstyle yet :(

This was in the year 2007 in the summer I had very blonde hair with natural sun highlights

This was when I had really blonde hair and it was fairly long and Ijust wanted to see if you could see the purple that was underneath. YOu can't really see it.

I Finally got my hair from cherry red to this color. It was a happy day.

Ok this is just a joke it is actually my friend Marie's hair.

Also another joke no I never died my hair pink, but the bottom has been violet before.

This was in 2006 I believe in the fall. It was still fairly long and blonde.

This was Winter of 08 I went super platnium after my hair looked like fire.

I don't remember when this was It was in late 2007 or early 2008 I'm not quite sure. I want to say late 2007. I love this color!

I do have a shirt on but it is a tank top and can't see the straps, but this is my new cute after I died my hair in attempt to get rid of the cherry red this was actually the second attempt I got blonde highlights.

This was the biggest mistake of my life. I went Cherry red in the summer of 2008. Huge mistake!

I love this color. IT is probably my favorite! THis was my first attempt at getting rid of my cherry red hair.

I have it pretty blonde here. It was in 2008 so I'm guessing right before I died it Cherry Red.


If you want to vote on your favorite that would be great. I will late post a short hair photo so there can be a vote on short of long hair for me! Thanks everyone!

Tribute to 2008!

So I have been so bad at keeping up with this whole blog thing. I don’t know how to add anything or even change my background. After having pink poke a dots mixed with Thanksgiving leaves together I decided to emergency call Becca and have her fix it. I am hopeless I guess when it comes to taking the time to figure out all the html stuff. Well I finished fall semester. It went by so fast I can’t believe I only have 3 semesters left! I am very excited. I learned so much this semester and can’t wait to learn even more. My education class where I actually taught at the middle school was a real eye opener and my school health programs class was too. I just can’t believe how hard teaching really is and how much there is to it. I know teachers are smart and that it isn’t the easiest major, but I had no idea there was so much to putting together an actual classroom and dealing with so many different personalities of children. I successfully managed to get by with the 5th graders and learned so much from them, but realized they must likely didn’t learn much from me. That is going to have to change! The main thing we learned was that the students should be doing all the work not the teachers. Funny thing about that is that the teachers do so much work to get the students to do all the work that the teachers are too exhausted to do any work doing class anyway.
Other than classes things are going well for Christmas. I loved getting to spend some time in Utah even though it was for less than 24 hours. The babies are cuter than ever and Becca now has a ring on her finger! It is so shiny and sparkling! I love it so much! She seems very happy and I am so glad that she found the one that makes her complete. She deserves the best! The engagement story is pretty amazing too, but hopefully she has posted a blog entry with the details about that.
So funny story… We got home from Utah today and we had a huge wind storm while we were gone. I looked out the back and there was no possible way for the cats to get into their little house. I felt so bad for Bonkers that I put some food and water in side by the door for her to warm up and have some food while I cleaned off the back stairs and shoveled a path to their house. I made a path for her and when I came back inside to let her out she had disappeared! Becca and searched the whole house and couldn’t find her anywhere! Well we looked and looked and mom and dad came home from the store. Dad started looking cause we really didn’t want Bonkers to be stuck inside the house during the night since she isn’t trained at all. We finally gave up looking and decided she most have somehow got outside when April left for the store. I went to bed and it was about midnight and I heard mom call dad saying the cat was behind her jetted tub. Well this is a complicated works of pipe and wood pieces so we couldn’t get her out. We tried cheese, ham, yard stick, turning on the jets, flashlight and finally the winning item a spray bottle. She finally ran out into the bedroom we shut all the doors and opened the back door that cat ran so fast you would think her life depended on it. I felt so awful for Bonkers I wanted to cry. I know she has a thick coat but she looked so cold out side. Anyway it was just so funny that Bonkers picked such a perfect hiding spot and that it took so many of us to try to get her out.
So the weather has been very interesting this Christmas. We have so so so much snow! It will for sure be a very white Christmas this year! I am excited about the snow but it is not fun to shovel or to drive in. I slept most the time in the car when we drove to Utah because I decided if I was going to die that day I didn’t want to know about it. I’m very glad we made it safely too and from Utah. It is so nice to have Becca here from Christmas I was very sad when I thought it was just going to be me and my parents. I’m really excited about Christmas this year now. I am with family and the snow has made everything so beautiful! I just really feel like it is Christmas now. I wish I was able to do more for charity though. I guess I got busy and the snow distracted me. I really wanted to do something, but another problem is I never know what to do. I feel like this year I have been so blessed that I really should give something back. I know that I will never be able to repay Christ for all he has done for me and my family, but it would be nice to show some gratitude this Christmas through helping others. In my D&C class there is a girl whose niece is only 3 years old and she has cancer and is at St. Jude’s Hospital. She is the cutest little girl with such a bright warm smile. Every time I saw a picture of her I cried. I couldn’t help but think of all the children in the world that suffer so much when they are children yet they are so happy and act as if nothing is wrong. It just touched my heart so much I wish I could give every child at that Hospital a huge hug and tell them how much I loved them even though I didn’t even know them. But I do know them they are all my little brothers and sisters and it brakes my heart to see them go through something so painful. It just gives me a slight little glimpse of how Christ must have felt when he chose to give his life for every one of us. When I see a child in pain I want to do anything in the world to fix it to take the pain away. Christ obviously felt the same for each one of us. He knew of the pain and sorrow we would have to experience if we came to earth and gained a body so he sacrificed himself to take that pain and sorrow away from each of us. How can you deny such love he has for us. I have truly learned the real meaning of the Atonement this year. It has truly been a great year and one filled with trial after trial but I would have never learned this much without those trials and with each struggle came numerous blessings. I will never forget this year and the love my Elder Brother Jesus Christ has for me. A lot of you know that I struggle with self-worth I struggle with depression and I read in the Ensign that was dedicated to be all about Jesus Christ that if we truly understood the Atonement we would never doubt our worth or the worth of someone else. I do not fully understand the power of the Atonement, but I do know Christ loves me so much he gave his life on a cross for me. He knelt in pain in Gethsemane for me. He loves me THAT much. How can I ever look at myself in the mirror and say something bad about myself when Christ thought I was worth his life? This Christmas I am celebrating my older brothers birth, his life and his gift to all mankind. This next year I want to do everything I can to help bring my knowledge to as many other people as I can. They deserve to know the happiness that I know. I don’t always remember this, but I do know it and I bear testimony of the truthfulness of it. I know that in life we struggle and that it is not easy. There is no easy part about it, to think that I might get to live with my Heavenly Father and Big Brother again in the Celestial Kingdom, makes it all so worth it. Everyday there is something special about it. I just need to find it and never waste a moment of the precious life I have been blessed with. I have the most wonderful family one could ever want. I have a beautiful home to live in. I have clothes to wear, food to eat, and opportunity to learn. Nothing is really held back from me. IT is up to me to take advantage of every opportunity I have. We all have opportunities lets use them and see what a difference we can make in this world in the year 2009. Thank you everyone for being in my life and loving me. I could never go through life without my family and friends. Thanks for making the year 2008 so memorable and do able!

My First Voting Experience

Ok so this years election was a pretty big deal. So much stuff about an african american being president, a female being president or possibly even a mormon. Can it get any more dramatic? This is the first election I have ever payed enough attention to, to become passionate about politics. It was interesting talking to friends and family about views and how much anger comes up. I used to avoid debates, but I can see how easy it is to support your view when you feel so strongly about it. For the majority of my life I have felt non-important. Like what I say or do doesn't matter to anyone because I'm too little or I don't know cause I don't have true experience, but I observe and I watch things and pay so much attention to detail I think many people would be surpised at how much I really do know. My education has given me many blessings. Yes, knowledge would be number one, but I also have aquired the skills to stand up for myself. I have a tendency to become quite a pushover and people take that to mean that I don't care about issues. The truth is I care I just choose to stay quiet for sake of the peace reasons. This election I was able to vote and I felt like if I did not vote I could not have any power to complain about any outcomes. Well, the long lasting drama came to an end and Obama became our first african-american to be President of the United States. Honestly I don't have much to say against this man, but I am worried about many ideas he may have for this country. The more I learn in school, the more my eyes are open to the concerns in the world. I could say much on this subject, but I'll just leave it to the fact that I don't mean to offend anyone when I support my views on things. Everyone has their own view and I would never want to take that away from someone. Politics is such a touchy subject, but lets not let it tear american up. Instead we should use it to help bring us together and unite those that all want to stand up for what they believe in. I am so proud of anyone that put forth any effort at all to promote prop 8 in California. I didn't care as much of if it got passed as much as I was touched of how much it brought the church together in standing up for something that we feel so strongly about. That is where I believe change begins is when we all agree on supporting one cause. The fight will not end here. Whether it passes or not, one side will always be fighting. We just can't back down when we know what is right. I am proud to say I'm American and I will never stop fighting for this country to become what I know is capable of it becoming. It was built on freedom and that is what gives us the right to state our opinions in the first place. We should not give up any of that freedom to let the government have any more power over us than it already has. Please watch closely to how Obama runs this country and fight for it if anything ever comes up that may take that freedom away. I will support President Obama as long as he never takes my rights away.

Catching Up!

I am sorry that I have not written a post in forever, but I have been extremely busy, which of course means I have so many stories! So I am living at America Manor A9, in Rexburg now and I'm loving it! I have my rough days for sure, but my roommates are simply amazing. I have four roommates: Meagan Bealer (relief society pres also), Lindsay Titus, Carol Dittle, and Allyce Kertez. Meagan is from Colorado, Lindsay from Idaho Falls, Carol from Utah, and Allyce from Wyoming. We all get along so well so it has been such a relief to have been blessed with such wonderful roommates.

As for school... I am taking some pretty amazing/hard classes. I started out with 18 credits. I was doing alright staying caught up for the first three weeks then I just couldn't take it anymore. It is very tough taking so many so I'm done to 14 credits. It is still a heafty load, but so much better. My classes include: Drug use and Abuse, School Health Programs, Exceptional Students 6-12, D&C, and Secondary ED Teaching Principles. The last class is my absolute favorite. I have class on campus three times a week for an hour, but on Thursdays I go teach at the middle school. I teach Health to 5th graders. It sure is a challenge but so fun at the same time. We have some major trouble children in that class, but it is good for me to learn how to try to deal with that in a classroom. My first time in that class I had a very clear revelation. It was scary, but neat at the same time. My revelation was that I know I'm supposed to be a teacher. It was so clear to me that I'm on the right path. There is something that I'm going to be able to accomplish by having this career and I am very excited to get started. I feel like I can have such a great affect on my students.

My other classes I have learned so much in as well. Some of them I get very frusterated with because there is a lot of work and sometimes I don't see the point to it all, but I know that all knowledge is good and I can't wait to learn even more. D&C has been my toughest class believe it or not. I have had some pretty amazing experiences in that class though as well. Just yesterday we had a lesson about the different kingdoms and our universe. It was amazing to see how grand space really is and how it is all Gods. I was taking an astronomy class earlier this semester, it is the one class I dropped, but I was beginning to become very fascinated with the sky and its relation to the gospel.

So I am still struggling a lot on one little problem... Chosing a minor. I am currently an English minor wanting to be an Earth Science Minor, wanting to stay an English minor, wanting to switch to a completely different minor. I know that was all very confusing, and yes that is why I'm very confused. I have to decided what I'm going to do very soon. I am almost finished with my major classes and still need all my minor classes. How sad is that?

I guess I should talk a little about my social life now... My social life is much better than the past year or so. I go out with friends a lot, but I also stay in and do homework a lot. I have been on a few dates and some of the guys have been very strange, some nice, and some that are way too persistent. It is funny because I want to find that right guy, but at the same time I am really not liking dating right now. It is complicated and hard. There is one guy in my ward that has taken me out and has asked me on two more dates since, but I don't know what to think. I'm only interested in being friends. There are a couple guys though that I for sure wouldn't mind getting to know better though.

Hmmm... what else to catch everyone up on. I have been able to see my adorable nieces and nephews a lot this semester. I am so happy about that. My babies are growing up and I am missing it! Logan is getting to be such a big boy and laughs a lot. Stockton is growing strong and is much happier. Ellie, Noni, and Caleb are still cute as ever. Caleb makes me laugh so much! He is becoming such a big boy.

In my personal life I have had some recent struggles... It has been hard getting back into the swing of things with school and all that, but I'm doing ok. I had a break down a little while ago where I just wasn't sure if I could finish out the semester, but if I stay strong and persistent I should be fine. I am seeing a pretty awesome counselor right now and he seems like a very nice person. It is nice to have someone to tell everything too and know that he will take my side and support me through it.

Well for the rest of this post I'm just going to post pictures and videos that I think are adorable. I'll try to be better at writing these blogs. I hope everyone is doing very well!

Plans For The Fall!

So many of you know that I'm very fickle when it comes to decisions about my life. This summer in school I had a couple bad experiences which led to my decision in not going back to BYUI, but stopping with my Associates Degree. I have tossed and turned a lot about that decision and have come to the conclusion that for some reason I am supposed to be at BYUI. I don't really like this fact because there are so many things I would love to be rid of up there, but it is what I should do so I'm taking a leap of faith and going for it. I have only four more semesters until I can graduate with my Health Ed Degree. I have registered for classes and I'll be taking 18 credits! I am looking for a job on campus so we will see how that goes. One class i'm taking is early field experience for education. I'm really nervous for it, but I think it will be good. For the class we go to Madison Middle School and have a class there that we teach one day of the week for about 2 and a half hours. My class is 5th grade Health. I'm way excited that the subject landed on the one that I happen to be studying most people aren't that lucky. I will be living up in Rexburg and American Manor. I have never been there so I really hope it is a nice place and have great roommates. I could really use a place where I can really relate to the other girls and make some wonderful friends. All in all I'm very excited to be going back to school because I'm so close to being finished. A lot of people ask me what I'm planning to do with my degree. I have two options. I could either teach at a middle/high school in the subject of Health or Earth Science... or I could work for a hospital as a health educator. They usually work one on one with patients that need training on particular health concepts. I really want to be a teacher in a High School for the fact of how amazing it would be to work with the kids and possibly have a good influence on them. The hospital idea is more logical since there is a lot more jobs and better pay, but we will see how I feel once I have completed my student teaching.

So those are basically my plans... I hope everything continues to go well. I was able to come see my niece and nephews again in Utah, they are being so cute as usual. Oh and Amanda in response to your comment... I can't wait to go to Southern Cali. I promised my friend a trip to Disneyland so I will come, I just don't know when yet. Money happens to be an issue but I'll save and when I decide I can go I'll make sure I'll give you a call and make plans to see you! I hope things are going well for you and Jared!

My First Time in California!

This last weekend I was able to go to Northern California. I was only invited to come along to be an extra driver... I probably would have declined if it were not for the fact that I had never been to Cali before. Becca, my sister, decided that she had a little crush on a boy named Steven. The main problem with Steven is that he lives in California! Well because of this little crush, Becca decided to move to San Jose to date this boy... Things got really stressful right before the move. Becca's car ended up braking and now she has my mom's car. We got to cali after a long day of driving. At first I just thought how beautiful the area was and then reality struck and I did not find it beautiful later on... The traffic is deadly! I helped move Becca into her house she is renting at and then went to meet Steven's family and stay with them for the weekend. They were all very nice. I think she will be in very good hands there. Saturday was my favorite day, because we got to go explore and have fun. We went to Half Moon Bay and it was so wonderful! It gave a great view of the Pacific Ocean. The sand was pretty clean as well. I had a lot of fun taking pictures and wading in the water. A few times the waves got a little too strong and I was afraid I would be swimming in the water. The drive to the beach was so wonderful. Then we decided to venture on to San Francisco. As much as I enjoyed my time there, this trip might have been a mistake for the traffic there was impossible. I had to shut my eyes many times to prevent hyperventilating! We went to Golden Gate Park. That was so absolutely wonderful. It was pretty and the Japanensee Tea Gardens were quite beautiful. Then we went to another beach and saw the Golden Gate Bridge. Unfortunatly the bridge was mostly covered by fog, but we still got the idea. I also saw Alcatraz! It would have been nice to take a tour through the prison but we were limited in time. We tried to do San Fran in a day. Walking back to our car from the bridge we saw a gay couple holding hands. Mom said that this completed her San Fran experience. We then went to Lumbard Street. For those that have not heard of it or seen it... It is the craziest street ever! It is so steep they had to make it curve all the way down. It is so cool to see! We attempted to go downtown, but that quickly became a lost cause because traffic was so horrible and my camera had already died so I wouldn't be able to take pictures anyway. Steven then took us to Oakland. We went to event at a great resturaunt. I don't remember the name but their ice cream was so yummy! Then we went to the Oakland temple. I have seen this temple in pictures many times, but none of those pictures truly describes the beauty of this temple. It almost put me to tears. Sunday was the hardest part of the trip. The time came where I had to say goodbye to Becca. I know I had to say goodbye to her for her mission, but for some reason this was harder for me. I knew that this was a beginning of a new chapter in her life, and the decisions she makes now will effect the rest of her life. I want to see her happy more than anything, but at the same time I miss having my sisters to myself. If she ends up staying in Cali a long time she better promise a few trips home for sister time! I miss her already! Well, that about sums up my trip! It was short, busy, but fun! Now on to my next adventure... What ever it may be...