On Monday, I woke up feeling terrible. I had an awful headache from staying up so late working on my Pre-Clinicals class paperwork and the stress of knowing that I didn't finish it over the weekend like I'd planned (the deadline is November 15, but my mentors all said it was best to have it turned in around the 1st because it had to be graded and totally approved by the 15th, and if there was any part of it that had to be re-done, they would send it all back and I would need time to make corrections and re-submit it). I developed a horrible cough overnight and had a sore throat, too. So I took a sick day and stayed home. I typed and typed all morning, and finally finished all the required paperwork for the class around noon. When I was done, I had over 55 pages typed up, 4 forms filled out, 4 different essays completed, and a very detailed field notes report (basically a narrative account broken into itemized sections of the daily school schedule for every day that I observed, including 60 total hours). It was a monumental task. I uploaded it all and sent it in around noon. And then I had to wait. I was something like 65th in line, so I knew it would be a few days before I would know the results. Josh drove the middle school and high school choirs to Driggs for Festival that day; they left super early in the morning and got home really late that night--it was a long day away (he even got to stay in a hotel room for several hours that afternoon since it was such a long day) and not the funnest way to celebrate his 40th birthday! I'm glad we got to celebrate throughout the previous weekend instead! After I submitted my reports, I laid in bed and watched TV until the boys came home from school. By that night, my throat was feeling better, and I was so glad I took the day off, even though the staff at school weren't able to find a substitute to replace me for the day.
Tuesday was the highly-charged Presidential Election. Josh and I both voted, of course. Spoiler Alert: Donald Trump won. I originally was going to vote for Hilary Clinton, but the longer the campaign went on, the less I felt good with that choice. I voted for an independent party instead. Josh invited Chad and Alesha Barney over for his monthly dinner. They came on Tuesday evening by themselves (without Chad's kids since they were at their mom's that week). Josh cooked up steak on the grill (for the 2nd time that week!), and we had a delicious dinner and a very nice visit with them. I talked to my college mentor on Tuesday night, for our regularly scheduled visit (which happens every two weeks). By the time I talked with her, I had moved up in the grading line to about the 15th position. She said that more often than not, the PCE paperwork gets returned. It made me nervous, and all I could do was still wait...
On Wednesday morning, I received the notification that I'd passed. I actually PASSED! I was so relieved, but surprisingly, I didn't cry when I found out. I just felt like a weight had been removed from my body. It was the final class and last task I had to do before my student teaching begins in January. From now until January, I get to have a break, which I'm so ready for! Josh saw the email notification that morning, and immediately congratulated me via text, which is so unusual because 1. he never checks email on his phone and 2. he rarely sends me congratulatory texts (because I usually tell him face-to-face about passing my classes) or any texts for that matter while I'm working. He took me out for lunch to celebrate at Savage Grill. I was so grateful to him; he made me feel so special that day. After school that night, Josh and I both attended the Jr/Sr Parent Teacher Conferences at the High School. They weren't very well attended, so we got to visit all the staff that was on our kids' schedules, without hardly any lines. Josh visited Ammon's teachers and I saw the twins'. All three of the boys received good reports from their teachers, which is always awesome to hear! I went to it while Kanyon had basketball practice, and Josh went after driving his bus route before going to the monthly golf course meeting. I had signed up Kanyon for youth basketball league in October, but had totally forgotten about it amidst all the other things going on. He actually missed the first two practices, which is so NOT ME! I couldn't believe it when I realized that he'd already been missing practices that I'd paid for! He was happy to have something to do, and didn't seem too bothered that he'd already missed a couple of practices when I dropped him off. Josh signed the two of us up for swing lesson dance classes, which also happened to start that night. So after I was done at Parent Teacher Conferences, I picked up Kanyon early from his basketball practice, ran him home, then drove back to town to meet Josh at the Salmon River Inn where the dance lesson was. Josh had arrived late as well due to the golf course meeting. It was a hectic schedule that night, but once I arrived at the Inn, I enjoyed learning some new dance moves--I always love dancing with Josh, he's such a good dancer! And it felt like another way to celebrate passing my hardest class to date!
Kanyon did not have school on Thursday due to all-day Parent Teacher Conferences at the elementary school. I met with one of the parents of a pre-school student that morning, drove home, took Kanyon back to school for his Parent-Teacher Conference, drove him back home, then drove back to town to attend more Preschool Parent Conferences and my one Kindergarten student's conferences as well. When I got home that night, I started working on dinner reservations for when we go to Disneyland next week. I've been thinking about doing it for months--and now that my time suddenly became more free, it became a higher priority! I coordinated with Mick & Jen, and Tawna & Bryce to make 3 dinner reservations for our large group of 14. I'm getting so excited for our family vacation!
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| Kanyon's self-portrait on display above the 4th grade cubbies in the hall. I didn't recognize him from this picture! But he did a good job drawing, shading, and coloring! |
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| I found him hiding in his cubby, which he thought was hilarious, so he's laughing in this picture! |
Friday was Veteran's Day. I wanted to go into town to see the Veterans' Parade, but my desire to stay home and get things accomplished was stronger. I pretty much stayed in my pajamas all day. I worked on the laundry, the dishes, my blog, my checkbook, and dehydrated peaches amidst it all. It felt good to get caught up on things I'd been neglecting due to all the attention I'd been giving to my college classes recently! Ammon started practices for his basketball season on Friday morning. He is playing on both the J.V. and the Varsity teams this year. After his first morning practice, he went to Boise with Warren to stay the weekend with Tim, and go to Emmy's play at her college. Eli's family was there as well, and he was excited to hang out with his friends!
On Saturday morning, Kanyon and I went to the church for the Primary Program Practice (I am still the Primary Pianist). We practiced for an hour and a half, then had pizza afterwards with all the primary kids (the pizza was delivered). Jonah and Micah helped Josh cut up wood at the golf course and took it home to stack, then went to Peyton's house for a while to hang out and watch a football game on TV. Kanyon and I went back to town that afternoon to see the National Christmas Tree as it stopped on Main Street on its way to the Capital! As we waited for it to arrive, we had hot chocolate and Kanyon roasted marshmallows, and then we got in line to write our names on the trailer and have our pictures taken beside it! The National Christmas Tree was cut from Idaho this year, so the truck carrying it made several stops throughout the state as it slowly made its way to Washington, D.C.
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| The trailer was super long, and only the tip of the tree was visible |
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| I signed my name by the top of the White House |
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| The White House was actually black on this trailer! |
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| From the front of the truck looking back. There was a large crowd gathered to see it. |
Sunday was the annual Primary Program. The theme this year was "I Know the Scriptures Are True". It was an excellent program. Kanyon talked about temples for his part. Camille (our chorister) was super sweet and made me a cute gift, as well as adorable treats for all the kids in our primary. She is an amazing chorister and I love working as a teammate with her in our church callings! After church, we went to the Roseburough's house to eat dinner. We ate my favorite meal of ham and cheesy potatoes, had a nice visit with them as the kids played video games, and then we all played "Heads Up" together, which was so funny! Ammon made it back home right after we returned home, and he'd had a fabulous weekend in Boise with his friends and watching Emmy's play "the MRS. degree". That evening, I finished making freezer peaches--it was a task I'd been working on for two weeks! We had so many peaches this year, that I couldn't eat them all! So I dehydrated them, and also froze some, which I've never done before. It was a time-consuming task, but I'm so excited to have peach desserts through the year now!
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| The treats that Camille made for the kids |
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| These double chocolate minibars were so cute! |
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| There is now fifteen quart-size bags of frozen peaches in our freezer! |
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