Happy Birthday Mom!

So my mother is truly one of a kind! I have not met anyone like her. One of my favorite qualities that she has is that she truly takes to heart the scripture that says love your enemies. She is kind to everyone, even those who are not so kind to her. She sees the good in everyone. She especially sees the good in me. I am sure she is bias, but she makes me feel like one of the most important people on this earth. She loves her kids and we are her first priority, besides my dad of course. ;) It has been so fun to become an adult an become her friend as well as being her favorite daughter...yeah Katie I said it! We all know it is true! Well, happy birthday mom. I love you!

I am loved!

First off, I am done with college so holler for that! I have worked so hard and I am so happy to be done.

So I realized that my life all relates to songs so here is the song of the week. There is this song by Whitney Houston called, "You were Loved" and she talks about how that is the most important thing in life to know that you were loved and so we need to tell the people around us that we love them. This week has been a week where I am sure that I am loved. People have been serving me in so many great ways.

I told my "Utah family" about Mary Deane and they spent an hour researching cystic fibrosis and finding everything out about it that they could. They then shared all that information with me. People have been offering to help me move and to help me finish up school.

The clincher of feeling loved was all the cards and support that I got from my 6th graders. I told them about Mary Deane and some of them started crying and they were so sorry for our family. They also made me goodbye cards and they made me cry because they were so nice. I made a difference in their lives and it was great to hear!

So I was thinking today and realized that some of my countdowns have been completed and the rest are very close!
I had my last observation today and it went really well. I went to California and it was a blast. We went on our field trip and it was fun.
Days left of student teaching-3
Days till mom, dad, and grandma come-8
Days till I graduate-9
Days till mom's birthday-6
Days till family reunion-11
Days till I move home-12

Spring Break

So I had the greatest Spring break of my life...I went to California and visited my mission and did stuff that I couldn't do when I was a missionary.
Thursday-Palm Desert-visited with the family I used to live with and with the O'blocks. Then drove to Los Angeles.
Friday-Disneyland and California Adventure all day long. We started at 9:30am and didn't finish until 10:45pm.
Saturday-Santa Monica Pier in the morning and the off to Yucaipa to visit some great people.
Sunday-church in Palm Desert, Easter dinner with the Riddell family and then drove straight back to Utah.

It was busy, but it was so fun. Too bad I have to come back to reality :(

Dear Mary Deane,

I just wanted you to know how much love you are surrounded by in your life. You are sick right now and you don't know what is going on and why you can't just go home with mom and dad and be with them, but everyone that knows you, and some people that don't, are praying for your recovery. Even before you came into this world you were loved more than you can know. Your mother anxiously awaited your arrival and did all she could to make the arrival smooth for you even if it meant pain for herself.

When I held you in my arms for the first time, I cried because you were so beautiful and I knew you had a great purpose on this earth. You came down here with a plan from Heavenly Father and I know that you are fulfilling that plan. We are all praying for you and we are all praying for your incredible parents because you got the best parents on earth!

We love you so much our little Mary Deane!

Love,
Aunt Karlie



Thanks to all those who have shown their support to our families during this hard time!

Prayers please!

So I love this girl more than life itself, but I love her parents even more. As their little family goes through a difficult time, I ask for extra prayers for them. Their little Mary Deane is in the hospital with cystic fibrosis and is doing tests to find out how serious it is. I know the Lord has a hand in everything and he has a plan for this family, but a little extra prayers wouldn't hurt!

Sally's Room

So really only mom will probably appreciate this post! When I was little, believe it or not, I was a slob. My room was always a mess, but it was an organized mess. So my mom bought me a book called "Sally's Room." It changes my life forever! It is about this girl who is bored because she has nothing to play with. Well she decides to clean her room and finds all these amazing things in her room including in her sheets and bedspread. Then she dances in her big clean room and she is happy.
Well, last night I fell asleep reading and dressed in my school clothes still. When I woke up with my laptop at my feet and books sticking into my back, I thought of that book. Everything I needed for today was somewhere in/on my bed. It was a fun adventure trying to find everything!

New Do!

So I finally did it! I cut off and donated 14 inches of thick, red, beautiful hair and I feel great about it! I wanted a change and I love to donate. The girl was so excited that my hair was so thick.

The reaction of my students was the best! One of my tough guys said to me as soon as I walked in, "Ms. Jones, did you paint your hair?"
Me: "Yeah I dyed and cut it."
With a sheepish grin he responded: "It looks pretty!"
Then when I was bringing them all in the girls were all freaking out and telling me how cute it is and another one of my tough boys, with his hood pulled over his head and while looking straight at the ground, said under his breath, "Nice hair."
It made me chuckle!