Sunday and Monday

      OK. First of all, sorry I didn't write yesterday.  Church was at 8 a.m. (not gonna lie I don't like that hour too much).  Church was good.  The new ward seems great, but I kind of felt small and insignificant.  We have three Relief Societies and two Elders Quorums.  Yeah, it's a pretty big ward.  I felt like I was the only new kid and everyone else was already BFF's.  I wasn't exactly sure if I'd ever fit in.  I guess that will come with time as a I meet more people.  When I go home from church I crashed....sorta.  I was pretty much too tired to even sleep.  I did manage to get a little nap in though.  Then we had roommate dinner and went to the CES Fireside.  Overall, it was a good day.  I just can't wait until I find my spot in the ward and start to feel like I belong.

      It snowed out here for the better part of today.  Nothing really stuck until I got home from school which was a blessing because I was walking around in flats.  My feet got a little wet but it was not as bad as having my shoes full of snow.  I got to know a lot of the kids' names today.  I called roll in each of my classes and collected their warm-ups.  I can already tell that they are a good group of kids.  Some of them are absolutely hysterical (one kid asked me to call him Chocolate Drop instead of his real name) and they all are still very welcoming.  I helped Chocolate Drop with a problem and I watched his face as the light bulb went off and he got it.  We did a little handshake/ pounded each other's fists to celebrate and then he proudly explained how to do the problem to the class.  I was so proud of him.  He went from frustration to elation in 5 minutes.  Now I just have to get them all to that point every day.  My teacher wasn't feeling well today and decided she would take tomorrow off to get over whatever it is that she has.  That means that yours truly will be the teacher tomorrow.  I'm excited for it...and a little nervous.  It will be a good dry run for how things will be when I take over the classes here in a week or two.

      It was my roommate Sarah's birthday today, so we all went out to dinner to celebrate and then went back to our place for a little cake and ice cream.  We ended up missing FHE but that's ok.  We got to tell stories about our schools and get closer as friends and roommates.  I feel that is a little more important.  Plus, you only have one birthday a year.  You gotta make the most out of it.  Well, it's time for this student teacher to hit the hay.  Substituting takes a lot of energy, but it's so fun!!