Things That Make Me Smile

1. My brother Eric and his wife Annie had their first baby on Saturday. His name is Mack and he is darling - of course. I live really close to Eric and Annie so I am pretty excited to get to spend lots of time with Eric, Annie and Mack.

2. I updated my blog today so it no longer has a Halloween background.

3. Using my friends' blogs, I was able to create links to all of my friends' blogs. Now I can just get on my blog and instantly be connected to everyone else instead of navigating through Kristine's blog to find everyone else.

4. I slept in this morning! AND I am still in my pajamas. Yeah for Christmast break.

5. It is tons of fun reading about the updates from my friends. It is really exciting to see all of the new little babies that my friends/family are having. Happy Day for all you new mothers. :)

6. My 5 year old niece who is very much a girl - loves dancing, dressing up like a princess and everything pink and purple - has now become quite the trash talker. Brad was playing Mia in "Dr. Mario" and she was trash talking the whole time!!! She totally learned it from her dad. She was saying things like "I am going to rock your world daddy," and "I am kickin' your trash dad!" I love it.

Randomness

I have a bunch of short little stories. None of them are long enough to warrant an entire entry, but I still want to write about them.

1) I have been part of the a group called the Heritage Park Carolers. We have been singing at This is the Place Heritage Park. It has been tons of fun! We are dressed like pioneers and I get to wear a bonnet and everything. I love getting all dressed up. There is something lovely about having a big hoop skirt on, with a bonnet and shawl and my hair in ringlets. It is so much fun to feel so femanine and to have the guys in top hats looking so masculine.

We have been singing a ton! We sing there 3 times a week. Every night is slightly different because of the different group of people that are there. The other night we had a huge snow storm and by the evening it was just a spinkle. Watching the snow fall softly on the fresh snow, as we were singing on the porch of a pioneer home....I don't know if it can get much better.

2) My students are wonderful! On Wednesday I woke up feeling really sick. I had a headache, my nose was stuffy, my throat was sore and I was still really tired. On the way to work I was really worried about how I was going to make it through the day. But as soon as my students walked into my room, they energized me. I love them! They are such great students with wonderful personalities. I love love love teaching. I am so glad I decided to become a teacher. Each day they say the funniest things that make my day wonderful.

There is something so sweet about having my students come in a say "Good morning Miss Larsen." Then as they are leaving, "Have a good day Miss Larsen." It is just so fun. The rest of my day was great and I didn't even think about how sick I felt.

They brought me TONS of gifts of Christmas. I have a million pounds of chocolate. The students who got me a box for my birthday, got me a clapper for Christmas. I hooked it up to my lamp so now all I have to do is clap twice and my lamp goes off. Sweet! Totally random but so fun.

We have been doing a food drive at school. Food was being collected in our 2nd periods. My second period decided to challenge the science and language arts classes in our POD to a competition. Our class was kicking everyone's trash...until the last two days. Second to last day, a student rbought in 50 cans into the language arts class. Then on the final day another student brought in 90 and a different student brought another 50. We lost - sadly. But my students were really proud of what they had done. I was really proud of them because I did not bribe them with anything. In the other POD the language arts teacher was bribing them with a pizza party.

Overall the 7th grade collected 3 times as much as the other grades. Go 7th graders!!!

3) I am really excited about Christmas Break. Another advantage to being a teacher is that I get all the same breaks as I did in college. They may not be as long, but they still exist. My roommates and I did a gift exchange the other day. Spending time with my roommates is a very special thing because we are all so busy that we are not all home at the same time very often.

4) Last but not lease - I got hit on by a 40 year old teacher the other day at a conference I went to for teachers. He knew exactly how old I was and I couldn't believe he really hit on me! I thought it was pretty funny. That is a new record for me.

5) I lied. There was something else I needed to mention. Megan came down last weekend and we went to the Jon Schmidt Christmas Concert. It was wonderful to have Megan here. I love that girl. She is the best friend a person could ask for. I had to leave her alone Saturday night for a few hours while I was out singing with the Carolers. She was great about it and did not complain at all. We had a great time! Thanks for coming Megan. :)

Gimi A Beat!

Yes my friends, I have the blessed opportunity to teach up and coming rappers. We had a talent show this week and some of my students rapped. Their rap was all aboud our school. The best part was their physical appearance. There were 3 students, Sala, Josh and Alejandro. Sala is probably 5'6" while Josh is maybe 4'10" and Alejandro is about 4'5" and probably weighs around 60 pounds. But let me tell you, his sassy attitude makes up for it. Alejandro is spunky, charasmatic and just plain fun.

He was the best rapper up there! He took control of the situation and was getting the whole audience involved. When there first got on stage he looked up at the sound both and said, "Yo! Gimi A Beat!" Then while one of the other guys was rapping, he started dancing and saying, "Put your hands in the air. Come on. Put your hands in their." He was HYSTERICAL!!! As they were running off stage, Josh yelled out, "Get it Krunk!" which is something he loves to yell everyday as he walks by my classroom. It doesn't mean anything, it is just a phrase he picked up from a rapper named Lil' John. We were laughing about it all day. I hope this made you smile at least a little bit. I know I am still smiling, but that might be because I know these students.

Tailgate Party

Annie, my sister-in-law, planned the coolest surprise birthday party for Eric's 30th birthday. It was all themed around football. My parents came down for the evening and it was great to see them. My aunt and uncle were there along with some of my cousins and some close family friends along with about 25 other people. It was awesome. Enjoy the pictures.

Eric was just thrilled at the site of his senior picture blown up to such a large size.

Happy Birthday Eric!

The Larsen Gang

Isn't this the coolest! Annie and her mom made the field/tableclothe.

It looks like the Super Bowl trophy or something. Incredible.

Happy Birthday!!!

I must say that my 24th birthday was quite a success. I had work that day, but none of the students were there because it was a teacher work day. The quarter had ended the day before, so we had that day to work on grades. My day started out wonderfully with a call from one of my friends and then from my Mom and Dad. They sang me happy birthday while I sat on my bed and opened my gifts from them.

On the way to work the sun was rising and I think it is one of the most gorgeous sunrises I have ever seen! I told people that it was Heavenly Father's gift to me. The entire sky was full of magnificent color. It changed from purple, to pink, then orange and finally a brilliant yellow. It was one of the best gifts ever!

This is infront of my school.

The day just continued to get better and better. Throughout the day I received emails, textmessages and posts on Facebook from friends and family wishing me a happy birthday. I got to listen to music all day at work and it was just a relaxing day. One of my good friends took me to dinner at a Brazilian resturant and it was INCREDIBLE! When we got home, we had a costume party at my house. I dressed up as a 60s girl. I was fun to have so many people over here. In my mind, the party was going to be a lot different, but it still turned out well.

So thank you to everyone who made my birthday wonderful! I love you!

These girls were zombies...creepy! They looked so freaky! Megan, Anna, Me, Mandy, and Amber.

Lindsay and I.

Sephra, Me, Sicily and Melissa. Sicily and Melissa were birds.

Tyson and I. I was so glad he came!

Arturo and I. He was from the 70s and I was from the 60s.

The roomies: Lana, Christy and Linsday.

My Box

Alex, Michael, Megan and Logan. Logan is holding "The Box"

For whatever reason, my 1st period has decided that I live in a box outside of Wal-Mart. They have also decided that I ride my bike to school instead of driving a car. Somewhere along the line, we have added other parts to this great story - like that fact that I have a pet mouse named Stuart. Oh, and one other addition was that my first box burned down after I lite candles for light.

One day, my students got me completely of topic and I started telling them stories. Well, 35 minutes later I realized I was still telling them random stories, at which point I quickly ceased. But during those 35 minutes I told them a story about the time I acted like a dinosour, namely a T-Rex. One of my friends had a video of me biting one of my friends while acting like a T-Rex. I brought the video and showed my class. With that background, I present to you what my students did for me for my birthday.

Logan and Jayden made me a box for my birthday. On the front it had a picture of my bike and mouse, along with my address 123 Wal-Mart Way. On the top it says, "Miss Larsen's Sayings" and then it has, "May-Day" "Curses" "Blast" and "Negative" written on it. On one side it has a picture of a T-Rex with my face on his face. On the other side it has a picture of two hands and the saying, "Take Two" like you would do when filming a movie.

I thought it was SOOOO creative and personal. I loved it!!! Many of my classes sang Happy Birthday to me and I received gifts from a couple of students. At one point my students had asked me what my favorite drink was and what my favorite candy was. I told them that I liked Reeses, Strawberry Lemonade, and Red Creame Soda. Well, let's just say I received a lot of Strawberry Lemonade and Reeses. My students also wrote all over my board. It was incredible. I love my students!

My students wrote me little messages all over my board.

I might add that we didn't have school on my birthday, so this was all on the day BEFORE my birthday.

Surprise!!!

I got to surprise my dad for his birthday and it was the best! I loved surprising him. I got out of school a little later than I meant to, but thankfully my mom was able to delay a little while so that I could still surprise him. The plan was for me to meet them at a resturant in Blackfoot and I would be waiting for them. Matt and Joni were also coming. He knew they were going to be there for his birthday but he thought they were going to be there about midnight. It was timed beautifully. I was waiting for him at the resturant when they showed up. Then about 15 minutes later, Matt and Joni showed up. The weekend was awesome! I had a great weekend with my family. Happy Birthday Dad!!! I love you.

Heritage Carolers

I am in the Institute Choir and I love it! I was not as much of a fan of the choir last year. But this year I am loving it. The director reminds me of Brother Brower, the director of Collegiate, except he is much funnier. Don't get me wrong, Brother Brower was phenominal, it is just that Brother Keaton is really funny. At any rate, I am enjoying myself.

At the beginning of semester, Bro. Keaton mentioned a 8 person jazz Christmas choir. The group be known as the Heritage Carolers because they would mostly sing at This Is the Place Heritage Park. I auditioned and was really hoping to make it. Well...it is true - I get to be part of the group. He has not totally decided if there will be two group or just one, so I am not sure hoe exactly it is all going to work out.

I posted this picture because these are similar to the outfits we will get to wear! I am sooooo excited. They are so stinkin cute! We will perform at the park as well as at Christmas parties around Salt Lake. So, if you are around Salt Lake during the Christmas season, you will have to call me and let me know when you are going to be here and maybe you could see us perform!

Homecoming Themed Rise Day

At my school we have what are called Rise Days. They are days where studnets are rewarded for having all of their work in. If a student has all of their work done, they can participate in an activity. However, those who are not completely caught up must work on the work they are missing.

Our half of the 7th grade decided to do our own Rise Day and I was put in charge of planning the activities. We needed 3 different activities for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd period and then repeat it for 5th, 6th and 7th period. I just have to say that I am glad Heavenly Father blessed me with the chance to work at the YMCA and at EFY because I have been able to steal numerous activities ideas.

I thought making it a theme around Homecoming would be fun. I stole ideas from EFY and from games we played at a social for Collegiate Singers. The students loved it! The pictures come from an activity where we split them into groups and gave each group a bag of stuff. Their job was to make a tux and gown for their homecoming king and queen. Then they got to walk on the "red carpet" and the other students voted on their winners.



My family did this at Thanksgiving a couple of years ago and it was hysterical. We were dressing up as turkeys though.

We played some games outside as well and good heavens, it made me laugh really hard. Seventh graders are hysterical! I really wish I could remember all the funny things they do because they keep me on my toes.

We are doing a Rise Day as an entire 7th grade in 3 weeks and we have planned a sweet activity. It is going to be a huge game show and we are going to have it in the auditorium. I took ideas from high school pep assemblies, state student counsel conferences and EFY. I cannot wait to see how it plays out. One of the things that I think the students are going to be most excited about is the opportunity to through a pie in a teachers face or dump pudding or other gross stuff, on a teacher. They get to choose which teacher they want to do use as their target. They are going to love it. I will try to remember to take pictures.

Decade Day

This past week was Spirit Week at school. Friday was Decade Day and lucky for me, I have a roomate that loves to dress up loves old clothes. Lindsay had the prettiest dresses and so I borrow one from her. My students loved my dress! I have to admit that I think the outfit is gorgeous and I sure wouldn't mind if this style returned.

First Day of School

Let the games begin my friends! School has officially begun. I am on my prep period and I thought I would take a quick second to update my blog. Kristine let me borrow an amazing book by Fred Jones that I have loved. I used it to create my seating arrangement. Some of the procedures and discipline I use came from that book.

I have to share a quick experience from last Thursday. The 7th graders came on Thursday for a few hours. We went through their whole schedule but each class was only 10 minutes long. First period was a touch longer. We had an assembly with our first period class.

There was a student named Austin that came into class full of energy and a little grin on his face. I could tell from the beginning that he was going to test me. He wasn't bad, just a little chatty. I told them there would be no talking when we walked out of the classroom. If anyone talked, we would come back.

After we got downstairs and almost to the auditorium, Austin talked. So we turned around and went back to the room so we could try it again. It worked beautifully! Today we had a meeting with 2 other classes out in the "POD" area. My class was the best behaved and one of the other teachers commented on it. GO FIRST PERIOD!!!

On Thursday Austin came and talked to me in the hallway, so I knew he was not upset with me or thought I hated him. Then today after class he came and talked to me about some students he has had problems with in the past and he would really like to stay away from. These students are in my class so he wanted me to be aware of it. He then said, "I think this is going to be a great year. I am going to work hard and I think it will be good." I was soooo excited. He seems like a great kid. I am going to get to know him better and build a better relationship with him.

Another cool thing happened in the hallway. A girl that was in my class on Thursday was disruppting. After taking role it turns out that she was in the other Utah Studies class. Today she approached me in the hall and apologized for dissrupting. I was extremely impressed! This is going to be a great year.

My Classroom!

I cannot believe how long it has taken my to set up my classroom, and I am not even done! I was there for about 6 hours today and 5 the other day. Now, knowing me, you should not be surprised to know that within that time, I also stopped and talked to people for a good long time. Me, talk? No. Despite that, I felt I had to post pictures of my classroom. I love and I think it is beautiful! I feel very lucky to be working at such a nice school.

P.S. I am teaching 7th Grade Utah Studies for anyone that did not know what it was that I was teaching.

I Want To Ride My Bicycle, I Want To Ride My Bike...

Last night I got to do something I have wanted to do for a while....go for a ride on a road bike. All of my roommates have bikes. Lana and Laura are especially big fans of road biking. I thought it would be fun to try, but figured I would probably have to rent a bike to ever try it. However, my roommates are wonderful and they let me borrow one.

Laura is getting married in 2 months and she wants to get in really good shape. We decided that both of us would work out every day for the next two months, except Sunday of course. So our workout last night was a bike ride. I rode Laura's bike and she rode Lindsay's. It was the craziest thing to be riding in the bike path, sportin' the spandex and everything - I am not going to lie, it was a little awkward at first.

We rode around Liberty Park a few times. Liberty Park is beautiful and then to make it even better, the weather was perfect last night. We rode about 7 miles last night. I thought it would take a lot longer to ride that far but it went by really fast. I love the fluid motion of a road bike! It looks as though you aren't working hard at all, but we all know the truth. However, the best was when I passed a car as we were going around the park. Oh yeah! I am a little speed demon.

It was awesome and I think I may have to look into getting a bike next summer. I would suggest it to anyone. And in the words of Queen, "I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike..."

The Good and the Bad

My first week of EFY was absolutely incredible! I was sure that no week would ever compare to my first week. The girls in my group and in my co-couselor's group were phenominal. The boys in our company were hysterical, knew how to have fun and also had very strong testimonies. I was really sad to see them leave at the end of the week.

One of the neatest things from that week that I will never forget was a class we went to on Wednesday. The teacher was Guy Johnson. He had heard me sing on Tuesday morning and wanted me to sing for his class Wednesday afternoon. He asked me Wednesday at lunch, so I was scrambling to find a counselor who could play the hymn he wanted me to sing. It worked out beautifully and I felt blessed to be able to share my testimony through song. I love to sing! (Suprise, suprise!)

The song set the tone for the remaineder of the meeting which was all about the Savior and the Atonement. I wish each of you could have been there because the Spirit was so strong and bore witness to the truthfulness of what he was teaching. He taught about the different aspects of our lives that the atonement applies to. Too often we think the atonement is only for our sins. He gave great examples of how the atonement heals us of all the things we experience in this life that are not joyful.

Never before had I thought of the atonement as something that could heal me of my fears, doubts, worries, sicknesses, feelings of loneliness, all of it! Christ suffered for all of it so that I could be happy. The atonement truly became alive to me after that class. I was able to attend it twice because I was singing for it. My entire company went to the class as well and we were talking about it for the rest of the week. That class was life changing for me as well as many of the youth who attended it. I was able to attend many great classes this summer, but none had as great of an affect on me as that one.



One of the boys in our company, Brandon, really took it to heart. The next day while we were having our gospel study, he shared a little of what he had been thinking about after Brother Johnson's class. It was clear that Brandon now had a new understanding of the atonement and he wanted to live his life differently because of what he had learned. Brandon is already an amazing young man, so the fact that he wanted to become even better was great. I was lucky enough to see Brandon a month later. He was back at the U for football camp and I ran into him. It was so rewarding to be able to talk to him and find out how he was doing and see how he was doing in his gospel study since EFY. That was a tender mercy from Heavenly Father.

Another thing that was incredible from that week was something the boys in our company did. They each memorized a paragraph from the Living Christ and recited the entire thing. There was such great power in hearing these young men recite the Living Christ. Greg, one of my co-counselors recorded it and it is on YouTube. You can look it up: Light of the World EFy 2008 The Living Christ.

By the end of the week I was spiritually, physically and emotionally exhausted, but I wouldn't have traded it for the world.

That bad refers to my second week. You will not see any pictures on here from that week because I didn't take any! The girls in my group were not interested in being at EFy, in meeting new people or in learning more about the gospel - perfect for EFY! THe boys in our company were the exact same. My co-counselor and I had the hardest time working with them. We were at a lose as to what to do for them. I am just glad it is over. I honestly don't know if they learned anything that week.

I Am Alive!!!

This is just a quick note to say that I am still alive. I was not abducted by EFY participants nor was I kidnapped by the scary homeless people around Pioneer Park...(mom I had to put that in there for you because I knew you would just love the thought of that happening.) I am going to do a blitzkrieg of updates, so prepare yourself for a million entires and pictures. I am certain that I will forget something as I am writing, but I will do my best.

EFY!!!

I have loved EFY. I will write more stories later that really explain more about my weeks at EFY, but for right now, I wanted to just get some pictures up. My first week was incredible! My group of girls and our entire company was phenominal! I don't know if there could be a better group. The second week both me and my co-counselor struggled to really connect with our youth. They were fairly closed off and uninterested in participating or getting to know eachother.

Check that out! I love that you cannot see my legs at all.

This is our company - "Light of the World"

These are a few of my girls and a couple of the guys in our company.
This is Kasey, one of my co-counselors from my first week. She is amazing!

I am getting tired and have other things to do, so I am going to stop for now. But don't you even worry, I have stories like crazy to tell you!

Learnin' To Fly

About a month ago, my friend Mindy called me and asked me if I wanted to go fly a helicopter with her that afternoon. Ummmm, let me think about it....yes! A friend of our's that is in the ward, is a helicopter pilot and he had been promising Mindy a ride before she left (she moved back to Virginia.)

Therefore, the following are pictures from our adventure. It was really neat to see SLC from the sky. The beauty of being in a helicopter was that we were above everything, but not so high up that we couldn't really see anything, like you get in a plane. I don't know if I will ever get a chance to do something like that again, so I was grateful that I got to go!

I'm Not Dead Yet

Clearly, I have not written in a very long time. It has almost been two months since I wrote. That is unacceptable. My life has not been that busy, I chalked it up to sheer laziness and possibly no real good stories. However, I feel that I must post something or people are going to cease looking at my block. So here goes!

This week I finished up with teaching for this school year. Today is my first day off and it is lovely. School gets out next Wednesday, so it is not like I left way before the school year ended. I left just in time - I didn't have collect textbooks and take inventory, nor did I have to collect fines for things like missing books. There are some really nice things about being a sub, such as not having to clean out my classroom and to inventory. Obviously I will not be so lucky next year.

We had "Greek Day" yesterday for the 7th Graders, so all of the 7th grade teachers dressed up. I looked quite ravishing in my toga with a laurel wreath in my hair. Now in reality, I was wearing Lana's top sheet with a 'belt' (aka: green material that had been parading as a belt on a pair of pants I bought.) I got to wear flip flops to work, which was crazy, but fun. If I can figure out how to take a picture from my phone and put it on here, I will.

The next big thing coming up is EFY. Might I just say how excited I am for EFY!!! There is an orientation line dance that the counselors do the first day,and I have been learning it. Thankfully my good friend Rob helped me learn it, because it is intense. While we were learning it, I had flashbacks of being in Molly's basement learning dances to Real McCoy songs in elementary school. "Oooo, boy, I love you so, never ever ever ever gonna let you go," - sixth grade baby...good times. But as far as the dance goes, it is long and quite involved but sooooo much fun. After I got home from Rob's house the night we learned it, my roommates made me do it for them. They loved it. They might even sneak up to the Institute and watch me do it one week.

I got to walk around the U of U campus the other day, and my, my, my, it is beautiful! I got to see a great view of the SLC and it was pretty impressive. I am doing EFY at the U, and I am excited for the chance to spend that much time on the campus and with the kids. Laura asked me if I think any of my students will be at EFY. It is completely possible that I could see one of my students at one of the sessions. Seeing one of them there would be crazy, but kind of fun. I suppose it all depends on which student it would be. : )

I have been rambling long enough. I am just going to add one more thing. On September 6th in Sandy, there is a sprint triathalon, and my roommates and I are going to do it. I figure if I post it on here, then I will have to follow through because everyone will see it and expect me to be doing it. So there you have it folks. Enjoy.

Olympic Swimmer

I am exhausted today! I feel asleep grading after school, sitting up! When I jerked myself awake, I decided I should take a little nap. I set the alarm on my phone and took a nap right there on my desk. I was really hoping no one would walk in and thankfully no one did! I contribute all of this to my adventure last night. Last night Laura and I went to swim laps with Layne, Lana’s friend. He is a really good coach and taught us a lot. Laura and I were all decked out in our swim caps and goggles. We looked awesome. After two laps (down and back) I was exhausted! I had worked-out the night before and had focused on my arms. So when I started swimming I realized just how tired my arms were.

There were many hysterical moments last night. One of the best came when Layne said to me, “Do you plug your nose with your lip?” Ummmm…maybe. How did he see that! Plugging my nose with my top lip is one of my little secrets. I had thought about telling him but then I thought I would just keep it to myself. Well, he noticed! It was throwing off my breathing and how I move my head when I breathe. So to try and fix it, he made me do a couple of things.
First he made me go upside down under water and just blow water out of my nose. I was afraid I would drowned without using my trusting lip under my nose, so I held onto the side of the pool and just ducked my head under. Then he made me put my arms at my side and push off the wall. He told me I had to swim half a lap. The only way I could keep myself afloat was to kick really hard! Keep in mind that my arms were at my side this whole time. So there I am, kicking fiercely, trying to stay afloat when of course I have to breathe. (Layne had been telling me to not pull my head so far out of the water each time I breathe, so I was determined to do it this time.) Well when I went to breath I was still a little too far under water and well, you guessed it, breathed in all water!
I came up quite quickly, choking on water and Layne asked me what had happened. Layne’s face was classic when he said, “You didn’t even get your mouth out of the water!” I tried it again a few more times and it worked better, but I still took in water. I can only imagine what I looked like swimming down the lane with my arms at my side and my legs flopping around like crazy.
Another good one was when he told me to focus on breathing out my nose and not plugging my nose with my lip. Oh, I have to add in here that Layne was impressed by my nose plugging ability. He said that he had heard about people that could do that but never met anyone that actually did it! Go me! Anyway, I was so focused on trying to breathe that everything else kind of went downhill. When I got done, he looked at me and said, “Your kicking went to crap on that one!” I can't focuse on two things at once, give me a break.
Last but not least was the flip turn. We were trying to learn how to do flip turns. By this point we had been swimming for about 2 hours and I was exhausted. After a few attempts I had to stop. I felt like I was going to throw-up. Laura was starting to feel the same way. We had both consumed a little too much pool water and it was getting to us. We were just a touch water-logged.
It was a great adventure and I learned a great deal, but now I am exhausted. That is quite the workout! Just you wait, one of these days you will here my name at the Olympics. I can see it now...

Cuttin' a Rug

A week and a half ago we had a dance at our school. It was the day right before Spring Break, so everyone was really excited. There were two different dances going on, one for the 7th graders and one for the 8th & 9th graders. Where I am teaching 7th grade, I had to go to that dance.

It was funny to watch the 7th graders at a dance. I remember when I was in 7th grade and what dances were like. I remember that we actually danced during slow songs. Now of course it was with your arms extended straight out so you wouldn't be at all close to the person you were dancing with, but still we danced. There was not a single slow song played during the dance. Kind of odd if you ask me. During fast songs, I don't know how much dancing we did. We probably talked much of the time.

One thing that killed me was to watch how self-conscious they were. You could tell they were looking around to see who was watching them and wondering if what they were doing or how they were dancing was cool or not. However, there was a group of girls that could care less who was watching. They were dancing inappropriately and I continually had to talk to them about it.

Near the end of the dance, a song came on that some of the other teachers and myself really got into. They were playing a ton of songs from the 90s and we knew all of them. So we started dancin' and before you know it, a group of kids was dancing around us. I could see some of my students watching me and pointing at me, which cracked me up. The best part was when this group of girls that had been dirty dancing much of the time, came up and started dancing with me.

We were having a great time! We kind of had a little dance-off. They were getting a kick out of watching me dance. I have to laugh because I was doing just what I would have done anywhere. I was being myself and they loved it. After the dance, students were leaving the school and a couple of boys made comments about my dancing. One boy, a huge Polynesian boy, came up to me and said, "Man, you got some moves!" Then one of my students said, "Dude, Miss Larsen, you can totally cut a rug. I learned that phrase from my mom." I loved it.

In class this week, after getting back from Spring Break, a student asked me if I was a cheerleader in high school. She said I was always happy and peppy, so she thought I had to have been. Then she asked if I had been on the dance team. When I told her no, she was shocked. She said, "I saw the way you were dancin' at the dance. How were you not on a dance team?" Good times, good times. One of the teachers that was dancing with me, she is about 26, said, "It is no wonder why we teach middle school - we never grew up." It some regards, it's true!

What A Day!

Yesterday was quite the crazy day. Nothing too eventful happened until I got home from work. I am in a LDS Sorority that is through the Institute and last night was sorority. I was supposed to bring a dessert from a foreign country. Well, I loved fried bananas from Brazil so I thought I would try to make them. I found a recipe online and away I went. Well, the short version is that they didn't turn out and they were gross!

So now my dessert was no good, BUT I had one other thing I was supposed to take with me to sorority. It was my week to bring a scrapbook page about myself. Well I surely do not scrapbook so I decided to just take some pictures. I grabbed the pictures I wanted and out the door I went. As I was reaching in purse, I realized my keys were not there. What? Well, I will just call one of my roommates on my trusty cell phone and ask them to come home. But, as you guessed, my phone was also in the house!

I wasn't sure what to do. So I sat on our porch swing for a minute and decided to walk up the road to the house of a friend of mine. Mindy and two girls live upstairs and Wayne and Brian, some of our friends, live in the basement, so I figured I would catch someone home. Luckily Mindy was home so I used her phone to call me roommates. By the time I got home it was too late to go to sorority, so I decided to go work out.

When I got home, I wasn't feeling very good. I had eaten some salad about the same time I had tried to make the fried bananas and it was nasty. I think it was bad even though I just bought it. I thought I could sleep off my stomach ache, so I just went to sleep. Then it happened.

About 11:30 I woke up really sick. So I ran upstairs to the bathroom only to have my roommates and their dates, Wayne and Brian, all walk into the kitchen. They got to hear it all. They were all really great and I wasn't really imbarassed. I stayed up for a little bit and talked to them, then went to bed.

I got up a couple more times in the night to throw-up and the last time at 5:30, Lana sent me a text message asking me if I was okay and if she could get anything for me. She went to the store and got me some Sprite and crackers. Then she brought her huge garbage can downstairs for me to use incase I couldn't make it to the bathroom. Needless to say, I did not go to work.

Throughout the day I got increasingly better. I was really glad too because I had my first real interview today. I interviewed with Jordan School District. The interview went really well. I was excited because the gentleman interviewing me said that I was one of the best candidates they had seen and that I would have no problem getting a job! That is encouraging.

So all in all, my last 24 hours has turned out alright. But seriously, that was quite the eventful day!

I Am Becoming My Mother

Today I realized that I am becoming my mother. You know when you are growing up and there are those things that your mom did that you thought were so odd. Well, yet again, I have done something I never really thought I would do. I have fallen in love with "Anne of Green Gables." I cannot tell you how many times growing up I remember coming downstairs, and there mom would be, ironing and watching "Anne of Green Gables." At various points in my life I went from hating it, to enduring it. I got to the point where I no longer thought it was stupid, but I surely did not like it either.

Well that all changed today. I turned on the t.v. and I saw that on KBYU they were showing it, so I decided to watch it. It sucked me in!!! I couldn't stop watching it. Finally I left so that I could go work out, but as soon as I got home again I turned it on. The best part came thought when we got to the part in the movie where Matthew dies. Anne is laying in her bed crying while Marilla is holding her and comforting her. I started to get teary eyed at which point my roommate Lana comes out, slowing perring in at me from the kitchen. She said, "Christie, are you okay? I heard crying, is it on the t.v.?" I told her that it was on the t.v. at which point I started crying and she asked me what I was watching. How embarrassing to say, "Oh you know, Anne of Green Gables." AHHHHH!!!

But really, it is a great show! I love it. I suppose mom always had great taste, it just took me a few years to realize that. I suppose it is one of those things that you appreciate more as you get older. There are so many things in that movie that crack me up and that I can identify with. Plus, it is a great love story. I mean honestly, who hasn't had a crush on Gilbert Blythe? Well, I should say, among women who watch "Anne of Green Gables," who hasn't had a crush on him? Oh well. Just add me to the masses of women who love it. My future husband will be exstatic when he finds that out.

As Grandma Larsen always said, "This growin' up ain't all it's cracked up to be." But, learning to appreciate classics is definitely a benefit.

Cheers for Blogs!!!

So I have to admit that this whole blog thing has been wonderful so far. Tonight I was able to look up a bunch of my friends and see what they are up to. You know, if you ever need a little pick-me-up, there is nothing better than reading through your friends and families' blogs and their wonderful stories. I loved reading Kim's issues with her hair and seeing her new hair cut. Then reading about Bekah's insane neighbors and their new home. Kristine's son, Grant, always cracks me up because his facial expressionare hysterical...Icould look at pictures of him for hours. Let's not forget Heather and the video of Mike swinging Lydia in the blanket and her hitting her head on the ground she was so excited. I laughed too Heather, it is okay.

Yet again, I am eating my words. Technology really does have its benefits. Blogs are good and they are useful. Megan, you would love to hear that me and my roommate got online to look at iPods. AHHHH!!! I cannot believe I am even considering one. I digress.

Cheers for Blogs!!!

EFY Here I Come!

Back in January I applied to be an EFY Counselor. I would never have thought of doing it except that over Christmas I was talking to one of my friends and he told me that I sounded just like and EFY Counselor. He asked if I had ever done it before. That is when I started thinking about it and got right on it.

The interview went well and I felt pretty confident about it. However, they said we would not find out for 2 months who was selected. That bummed me right out, but what could I do? In the mean time I moved to Salt Lake and met a girl, Lauren, in my new ward. She is fun and spunky and just a great girl. She told me about a girls camp where she works each summer. I decided to apply for it since I had not idea what else I would be doing.
I kept waiting to turn in my application for Brighton Girls Camp and I could not figure out why I was so hesitant. I knew it would be a great opportunity so why not? I finally got my app in and then it was just a matter of having an interview.

Again, in the meantime I found out that I had been selected to be an EFY Counselor!!! I couldn't believe it. I have heard of so many people who have applied and never been chosen that I just assumed I wouldn't be either. I was excited but at the same time I was nervous because I wasn't sure which camp I was supposed to do. It is always easier to choose between a good and a bad choice, so this was hard.

After a week or so I felt like I needed to do EFY, but I had set up an interview with Brighton already, so I felt obligated to go. The interview went fine, but I left kind of indifferent as to whether or not I would get the position. I didn't really want to make the decision, so I waited until I heard back from them.

Well, Heavenly Father answered my prayers when I received a letter in the mail saying that I had not been selected to be a counselor at Brighton. I knew as soon as I read the letter that I there was a reason I am going to be working as an EFY counselor this summer. Who knows what that reason is, but I know I will have a great summer and that I will learn a lot. This also allows me to go home for a couple weeks in the summer because I don't work each week. Yippie!

Spring Clean Up

I feel a little bad writing this because I know that in IF there is still a ton of snow. However, I just had to show you what I did today. The weather was beautiful today and so I had to get outside and do some yard work. We have this huge tree on the side of our house that drops tons of nasty black seed pods. They have been driving me crazy, so today I decided to go clean them up. Lindsay came out to help me.

We probably looked awesome with our one rake and our shovel. Steve, our next door neighbor was laughing at us. We filled up our garbage can but we still had more piles to clean up. That is why Lindsay tried to compact what we had in the garbage. After we ran out of space, we started using garbage bags from our kitchen. Steve couldn't take it anymore so he brought over big, hefty orange bags. They worked much better.

I must say that I really enjoyed working in the yard. We have a lot of work to do, but it is nice to at least have a yard to work in. The best though came when I got to go sit on our porch swing. I just sat and enjoyed the beautiful afternoon, lounging on my porch, swinging. I have always wanted a porch swing, mom can attest to that, so it was a little dream come true. This summer I hope to have many afternoons and evenings on that swing. Maybe even with a cute boy if I am lucky!

Following the Crowd

So I have to laugh that now I have my very own blog. First I swore I would never wear capris. Then I swore I would never own a cell phone or get a Facebook account. Now look at me! I should probably stop swearing off things. At any rate, I plan on including many wonderful stories in here for all to read. Trust me, with my life and the fact that I work with kids all day, I will have crazy stories to tell. Enjoy the blog and wait with great anticipation to see what great adventures await.