Always a New Adventure

    A couple of weeks ago, I made a post about kindness. I talked about a lesson I was going to teach my kids about why we should be kind and how our words can change the world. To read more of that post, click here .     As part of the lesson, I talked about this phrase. I gave my students the challenge to think about the effect of their words for a full week. I put a giant piece of paper on my door that read, "My words healed today when..." I asked my students to write when their words healed someone, or when someone else's words healed them. It took a while for the first courageous soul to write, but it has been amazing watching them as they write. Multiple comments are put up each day. Phrases are written such as, "Tony told me good job when I struck out at recess." "Joe cheered me on when I was the last one running the mile." "I helped someone feel better when they were sad." I have been so impressed by the effect of their words o...

     This week I've been thinking a lot about kindness. As I've watched my students interact and as I have paid attention to the YW, I have been thinking about what it means to be kind. The dictionary defines kindness as "the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate." It sounds so simple, doesn't it? How many times as leaders, adults, teachers, friends, do we say to other people or kids, "Just be nice", "Be kind" as if kids really understand what that means.      Kindness encompasses a lot of qualities. It means being nice to someone no matter what they say or do to you. It means, treating others like you want to be treated. Kindness is being respectful even when you don't agree with someone's opinion or what they are asking you to do. It's categorized by speaking kind words about someone, even when people tell you rumors. Kindness is not talking behind others backs about someone, even when what you're saying might ...

        I recently got a new calling at church. I am now working in Young Womens (an organization in our church for teenage girls). I am working with 12 years olds which is kind of funny because they are in 6th grade, and I teach 6th.        As I have reflected over the past few weeks about my new calling, a lot of feelings have surfaced. One is a feeling of inadequacy. It's only been 5 years since I have been in young womens myself, and I am not sure what I can teach these girls. The other feeling has been one of gratitude. I have been thinking about all the leaders I had growing up and their influence on me. A few come especially to mind because of the love I felt from them. They made me feel special and valued in a time I was unsure of myself. I'm grateful for what they did for me and I hope someday I will be like them.          I have also been thinking a lot about trials and ones I have experienced. I've also been r...

      It's definitely been a while since our last post. Time seems to pass so quickly these days. With Jamal in school and working full time, and with me as busy as ever with teaching, we haven't gotten to blogging as much as we'd like. However, I thought I'd give an update.      Like I said, Jamal and I have been super busy lately. With Jamal and my schedule, we are like two ships passing in the night. The only time we really see each other is on the weekends, which of course makes us really appreciate them and then mourn them when they are over. Jamal and I have really come to appreciate all the time we can spend together, even if it means just talking on the couch, watching a movie, or taking a walk.     This past weekend, a man that was very influential in Jamal's life passed away. He had had heart problems for a long time, but he had a heart attack and passed on. When we heard about it, we were saddened by the loss of such an incredible man...

      Ever since I was a little girl, I have loved scrapbooking. I was introduced at a young age as I watched my mother make scrapbooks for our family. I was interested and so my mom helped me order photos from my camera, and I started my first scrapbook. I'm pretty sure my first scrapbook looked something like this:      My mom has a scrapbook at our house that I always go back to. It's a special scrapbook with all her and my father's engagements, wedding/reception pictures/cards, and their honeymoon. I have always thought that was so neat. As a young girl I would look through that book over and over because I loved learning more about my mom and dad and how they met.     Of course, this is what led to my desire to create a wedding scrapbook for Jamal and I. Over the past 7 months that we have been married, I have been slowly accumulating pieces to make the scrapbook. I got a binder and some pages first, then some stickers and journaling pe...

      Today I talked with my students about bullying. The topic is definitely not a new one, and it's one that often times I hear sighs or see rolled eyes over. I sometimes feel like I can just hear them saying, "We've done this. We know this. Again?" However, it's such an important topic and it's one that is close to my heart so I just keep on teaching it, hoping that some day it will get through to them that being unkind to others hurts and is not okay.      I started out by asking them to raise their hand if they have ever moved and had to go to a new school. Most of the class raised their hand. I asked them to think of their first day and the feelings they had before and the feelings they had after the day was done. Then I showed this video. It's from a program called stop bullying now from www.stopbullying.gov .              I asked the students what KB's first day was like and how she felt afterwards.  ...

     Yesterday, Jamal and I went to do one of our favorite things: feeding the ducks. Okay, maybe it's one of MY favorite things and Jamal is happy to watch. We started this tradition when we were dating. There is a duck pond at Nielson's Grove in Orem. The first time Jamal took me, it was winter and we had gotten hot chocolate to drink and then decided to walk around the park. Stupidly, I was wearing really thin flats with no socks. We decided to go to the duck pond because we had some bread. We thought it would only take us a second to walk through the park to the duck pond, but we were wrong. We trudged through the snow, me in my flats, and Jamal in sneakers, until we found the pond. By that time, my feet were numb, but I didn't want to say anything. We fed the ducks and then trudged back to the car. Jamal realized how cold my feet must be and turned the heat so it was directed on my feet all the way home. After that experience, I learned to always wear sneakers when w...