Nauvoo

About a month ago I was able to go on a trip with my best friend, Jessica Roberts,  and her family.  It was a 7 day trip start on a Monday ending on the following Sunday.  We started the drive to Chicago, which we only drove through and then reached our intended destination in Indiana.  They had cousins there that they wanted to see.  It was really fun getting to know her cousins and family.  We got to see a few cool things there like Lake Michigan.  The family we stayed with weren’t LDS and it was kind of funny to listen to Jessica and her brother try to explain to them that they were both going to be gone for almost 3 years because of a missions.  On of the guys said that Jessica should just come to Indiana for her mission and live with his family.  I think she really liked that idea.  On Thursday morning we took off really early to get to Nauvoo.  We first stopped at Carthage Jail where we not only got to have a very spiritual experience on the tour, but we were surprised to find Elder Neil A. Anderson and his wife there.  We were able to get a picture with him and that was pretty cool.  We then went to Nauvoo and luckily we were able to get a hotel room there in Nauvoo just a couple blocks away from the temple.  They only had two rooms left, what luck!  We did some sight seeing and then ended the day with the best part of the whole trip!  We went to the Nauvoo Pageant.  It took place on the big field of grass west of the temple. It was all about the saints experience there in Nauvoo.  It told of how they came there, and told stories of certain people that came to meet the Saints in Nauvoo.  When we first arrived  at the pageant it was already very crowded and we were pretty far back.  We could see, but not very well.  About 3 minutes into the program a woman came up to me and asked me if me and my family would like to come up and sit with her and husband.  They live in Nauvoo and there kids weren’t able to make it so they had several seats saved in the THRID row!  I couldn’t believe it so we moved to the front and had the best view of the pageant.  During the program the saints were building the Nauvoo temple and once they got to the point where the saints were forced to leave Nauvoo they had a recording of President Hinckley when he announced the rebuilding of the Nauvoo temple. Just then in the background the all the lights on the temple had been off all night and were gradually growing brighter until it was fully lit.  I can’t describe the feelings I felt at that moment .  It greatly reaffirmed my testimony that this church is true and what the saints had to go through to allow us to worship in temples all around the world.  After the pageant the lady and her husband talked to us for a bit and she told us she felt a prompting to ask us to share those seats.  It was such a simple gesture that meant the world to Jess and I.  He husband was a composer and he invited us to his place the next day to hear some of his songs.  He is extremely talented.  The next day we got up and toured the rest of Nauvoo and went on a beautiful carriage ride around the outside grounds of Nauvoo.  A side that most tourist don’t take the time to see, but it was so beautiful.  Most the people in Nauvoo and the missionaries there claim it is the best part of all Nauvoo.  Saturday morning we had to leave, but I had one request for the whole trip and that was to do the Trail of Hope.  It started at 8 in the morning and you go to Parley Street where they have actors along the road leading to the Missouri River.  These actors represented actual people that had left that day years ago and told stories of what happened.  It was a very tender experience I’ll never forget. Knowing the pain each of these saints were going through and to think of the hope and faith they had to start this amazing journey to the Salt Lake Valley.  It gave me new appreciation for those people and the testimonies they had.  It was a trip of a lifetime and I hope everyone gets the chance to go to Nauvoo and partake in the many spiritual moments that happen there.  I received inspiration for things I have been pondering, answers to my prayers, and guidance for my life.  It was a much needed experience to bring me closer to my Heavenly Father and his son Jesus Christ.  My suggestion is that if you do plan to go to Nauvoo go in July.  That is when they have they have the pageant and the Trail of Hope and many other great shows and activities.  On our way home to Idaho we made one last stop at Adam-on-di-omen (spelling?) .  It is a very beautiful valley, but it was very hot and I was very tired from the long trip.  I am very thankful for Jessica and her family for taking me on that trip.  It was an amazing experience. 

Quick Update

So much for trying to keep my blog updated…opps. Well, here is a new post for all my faithful 6 followers.  Attentions everyone! I have officially graduated college. I just recently finished my student teaching in Vegas. I can’t tell you how satisfying it feels. I have now moved to Saratoga Springs Utah to live in my sister’s basement. It is ok here. I need to find a singles ward and some friends as well as a job and then I think I will really enjoy it.


I need to briefly catch you up on the past couple months in Vegas. I was teaching Health and English and that was a blast. It was really hard work and frustrating at times to not have my own classroom and constantly following someone else’s classroom rules, but I realized why I love teaching so much. I really starting making good relationships with my students and I’m really going to miss them (even though they probably won’t miss me). They weren’t that sad when I left, but it was their spring break so I’ll blame it on that not me.

I also made some great friendships in Las Vegas. Amie was a gem and introduced me to a lot of new people that I got to know and love. I loved my roommates and had some fun times with them. I also met a really special person. His name is Samuel Jensen. We dated for a month or so while I was there. He is so amazing and I’m truly going to miss him so much.

I know this is short, but I hope that now that I’m done with school I will be more dedicated to writing here. As of right now my main focus has been spent trying to find a job. In fact I have several applications to fill out today so I better get started on them.

Living with my niece and nephews is certainly going to be interesting. I love them very much and I know they love me since they follow me around everywhere I go. Stockton seems to have a strong attachment to me as well as Ellie. He is always begging for me to pick him up and wants to sit on my lap when he isn’t busy playing. He is a cutie. Logan also has grown very friendly with me, which I’m happy about because he never has really liked me much. He likes to tease me mostly, but sometimes he will cuddle with me. All three of them are sure a handful. I don’t know how Mindy does it really. I think I’m starting to grow out of my baby hungry stage a bit.

Well that is it for now. I’ll write more later!

Big Adventure to Las Vegas

So as you all know.  I have begun my crazy adventure in Las Vegas.  My adventure began when I packed up my tiny Nissan Sentra and a little in the van and drove to Utah.  The trip was spread out which was nice because I didn’t feel like it was so much driving.  We went to two family get-togethers and then drove to Mindy’s to spend the night.  We left at 9 the next morning and drove all way to Vegas.  I drove the whole way and all around Vegas.  I was so proud of myself.  I was so thankful that my mom and dad stayed with me for a few days and made sure I was comfortable and settled in.  I became used to the roads really fast and the traffic has not been bad for me yet at all.  even driving to and from school it wasn’t bad, probably because it is way early! Life in Vegas has been interesting.  I have been kind of bored because I don’t know anyone yet to go do stuff with.  There are things I want to do, but not by myself.  None of my roommates are too interested in doing things either.  Two of them love to talk on their phones incessantly to their boyfriends.  The other seems to only like things that has to do with English and nothing else.  I invited her to go the a basketball game (my school against hers) she wanted nothing to do with it.  I would really like to go but I would feel silly all alone.  The high school I work at is really nice.  It is way big and only 2 years old.  The principal is really great and really cares about the education of his students.  I have two cooperating teachers Mr. Gibson and Mrs. Welch.  They both are really nice.  They are so helpful too.  It has been fun observing them and getting used to the high school life again.  The students just crack me up.  They have to wake up so darn early in the morning that they are so exhausted during first period.  So that is the best time to teach, since they are so dead quiet.  I haven’t done a lot of teaching yet because it is the end of semester and so they are getting ready for finals so there is no point in me teaching because I have no idea what they are doing.  I am going to be taking over two health classes in a week and that will be way fun I’m excited for that.  I get to teach the book Night by Eliezer Wiesel for my two Honors English I classes.  It will be good I’m just a bit bored during my preps that is why I’m writing this during my prep.  I’m sure I have something I should do but I don’t know what exactly.  I don’t have much to say about school yet.  It is good though.  Things are going well down here.  I am excited to take over some classes so that I can get in some teaching experience and not be so bored.  I’m way tired everyday I don’t know when my body is going to start getting used to getting up at 5 every morning, but it certainly hates it right now.  Plus Aunt Rosie came to visit so I’m even more tired and grumpy than usual.  Well that is it for now.  Maybe I’ll get some pics of my new place and the school soon, but I’m just not much of a picture taker and even worse at downloading them.  Well that is it for now!

Graduation and Beyond

On Saturday the 19th I somewhat graduated from BYUI. Somewhat because I still have to do my student teaching in Las Vegas. Graduation was pretty much uneventful, but good at the same time. On the Friday evening before graduation my parents and I went to the graduation banquet. We had some great food and I really enjoyed listening to the music and President Clark’s talk. He is a pretty good speaker. Then I went back to my almost empty apartment to finish packing things up and stayed for my last night at BYUI. I woke up super early to get ready for the days activities and before I left my roommate, Shelley, gave me flowers and a BYUI Mug. It was so sweet of her. I was very glad to have her still there and she was able to come to my commencement as well. I struggled greatly to stay awake during commencement. Elder Richard G. Scott was speaking and even though I was enjoying the things he was saying fatigue took over as well as being very cold in the auditorium. After commencement I went to take pictures with Shelley and then marched for convocation. It was a nice short ceremony where I got my “fake” diploma and a rose. After that my parents took me to Wingers and then to get a few more pictures. That was my last day spent at BYUI.

 This Saturday I am leaving to go to Las Vegas for 3 months. I am both excited and scared out of my mind. I have an apartment in Henderson that is 2 bedrooms and a bathroom in each. I will have 3 other roommates and they are all teaching English as well, but at different high schools. I am teaching at Desert Oasis High School – the Diamondbacks!

This high school seriously looks and seems more like a college, but I will know more after I actually get there. My cooperating teachers are Mrs. Welch and Mr. Gibson. They are both department chairs of their subject. Mrs. Welch is the English and Mr. Gibson the health. Mrs. Welch called me today and she just seems so nice and helpful. She really helped calm some of the fears I had. She scared me when she said that she had heard I would be teaching math as well. I said “Oh no, no, no I don’t do math!” She laughed and said she better talk to the health teacher about my schedule then. I know it sounds like my school will be quite the commute, but google maps says it is only 6.6 miles away. I guess the traffic is bad. I will keep everyone updated on my upcoming adventures via Las Vegas!

This isn't my actual apartment but it is one of the apartments at this complex...It gives a good general idea of what it looks like. :) It is nice huh!

My Life this Semester

So most of you know that this semester is my last semester at BYUI and man it has been a busy one. I do have my student teaching still in Las Vegas, which I still have not received my placement for so I’m a bit distraught about that. I am really excited to go to Vegas and try out something new and I can’t wait to teach, scared to death, but still very excited. I have been so worried about my ability to do this, but after this semester I feel so much better about my competency to teach. I have had some great English classes and health classes, plus an amazing class called personal achievement that is meant to help anyone about to go through a transition in their life. I will talk about that one more later. I have learned and done so much this semester that I want to write all about it. First side note: I went through 9 semesters at B YUI without ever giving a sacrament talk. I thought this was a bit interesting. Anyway, so I’ll start by saying I took the praxis in November, which is a test that is 120 questions long and takes 2 hours determines whether you can teach in the state you test for or not. I took one in Health and English and I passed them both! I got a 780 on my Health one and I needed a 630 to pass. So I did awesome! I was 40 points above average. When I got done taking it (it only took me an hour so I stared at the wall for another hour) I felt very confident and said that was a way easy test. The English one; however, I was not so confident about. I got a 171 and needed a 158 or something like that to pass. I was cutting it close. So in my English 430 class I was able to do a few really cool projects that will help a lot when I become a teacher. I wrote a two-week lesson plan on comparing literature to movies based on literature. It was fun to do. Then I wrote a unit on the new up and coming young adult fiction The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I also created a lit link for that book which means a website that has URLS for all the websites that might help a teacher when teaching that book in their classroom. The most intense class was probably my English 450 class. It is Rhetoric Studies, basically the study of writing. For this class I had to apply for a job as either Editor in Chief of a magazine board or a sponsoring editor. I have not had much experience in editing so I wanted to be a sponsoring editor. I had 4 other people on my magazine board and we “competed” business wise with 18 other magazines that were being created in this class by other students. We had to do everything that we would if we were out in the business world proposing a magazine idea, convincing the publisher the need for this magazine and then actually creating it. We also had to write for all the other magazines. We needed at least 1200 words published in other magazines by the time the semester was over. For my magazine we created “Jubilee!” It is bases on traditions throughout the holidays. The edition we did was for Christmas since it got published in December. We had a great start, but really struggled later on in the process, let’s just say if you don’t have an editor in chief that knows what she is doing and isn’t very good it is very hard to work together and get it done. In the end it turned out fairly ok, but if I hadn’t been so busy and so shy about standing up to the “boss” then I know it could have been designed a lot better, because surprisingly I’m actually pretty talented in that area. I will post the link to my magazine so you all can see it.  I will also post the links to the three magazines that I got published in. I wrote an article for the Graduate’s Grind on the BYUI learning model, one for Now and Forever on unique gifts for bridal showers, and one for Fitzen on 5 steps to preventing the freshman 15. I had a lot of fun writing for the other magazines. It made me almost want to write for a magazine for a living, but not quite. The health classes were normal and I learned a lot, but nothing that special. Now for my favorite class of the semester, Personal Achievement. When I registered I had 12 credits and that’s all I needed, but I have a scholarship so in order to keep it I had to take 14 credits. So I added a two credit religion class. I looked at the syllabus and it looked awful, so I dropped it for a general studies 101 class. I thought it would be so easy and probably a waste of time, but I didn’t care I just needed two more credits. Well, I was in for a big surprise. It ended up changing my life. I was given some very thought provoking assignments that were very time consuming. I was a bit mad a first that this class took so much of my time, but after a while I didn’t mind because I loved it so much. We read an amazing book and wrote a Personal Creed Document. This PCD is a guide for the rest of our lives and helps us during any transition in our life. I loved this class and I can’t even express how much I learned from it. I am very happy and grateful that I made the switch and took this class. It not only helped me learn and grow, but it taught me a way to teach my future students values without religion. For our final we had to take all the parts of our PCD and create one cohesive document that we could always have and refer to, but it had to be electronic since it was an online class. I decided to make mine into a website. I spent 3 straight days on it, but it looks great and I’m really glad I have it. I will also post a link to that. Well that about sums up my semester! In just a few more days on Saturday, December 19, 2009 I will be graduating and moving on to my next adventure in life. And yes, I will be completely single with not even a guy in mind to marry, but that is ok I now realize after almost five years that I wasn’t supposed to come to BYUI to find my husband, but to gain the learning experience I did, to change my spiritual life, to gain amazing friendships, and become a better disciple of Christ. Thanks to all who have helped and supported me throughout this long, challenging adventure.


This website is to the one I created for my PCD
http://www.wix.com/bubblecam/personal-creed

This is the magazine my group created
http://www.wix.com/Chicera/Jubilee-Magazine

This magazine has the article I wrote on freshman 15
http://fitzen.weebly.com/

This magazine has the article I wrote for the Learning Model
http://graduategrind.weebly.com/

This magazine has the the article I wrote about bridal shower gifts
http://www.wix.com/FarWest/NowandForever

Crazy Face-Painting Date

So I’m usually good about making sure I have plenty of dates throughout the semester and I have had quite a few this particular semester, but my roommate, Shelley, has not. In fact, I hope she doesn’t get mad that I wrote this on my blog but, she hasn’t been on a date since before her mission. That is until last weekend when I use my magical powers to ensure her a great date with a great guy! I have this friend, Mitch Empey, who is just a great guy. He is so good and someone that I knew Shelley would like. He dates all the time so it wasn’t hard to get him to call Shelley up and ask her on one. Well, this easy set up of course can’t ever be that easy. Turns out I got set up as well by Mitch. He called up his friend Nick Horton and we doubled. Mitch has a knack for coming up with the most fun, practical, economically great dates. He planned for us to do face painting. I was pretty scared at first, but it was tons of fun. Shelley got to paint Mitch’s face first and she turned his face into a huge beautiful butterfly. Mitch turned Shelley’s face into the British flag, which was so completely awesome. Nick painted a bunch of Mario kart symbols on my face. Then it was my turn. Despite my lack of artistic ability I painted an amazing rainbow and cloud on one cheek followed by a leprechaun on the other. Mitch was jealous of it, but Nick was less than thrilled to have a rainbow and little green fellow on his face. We then went to Broulim’s, where of course we were forced to go with our unique painted faces, to buy things for a dessert competition. We got some pretty funny looks. We came back, made dessert, watched the movie Elf and then ate the banana cream pie and Oreo pie. It was rather fattening, but we had a lot of fun. Shelley, I think even likes Mitch a little and might be hoping for another date possibly. I’m such a good matchmaker. :)

October Joys!

Hello my fellow readers! It’s me again…of course who else would be writing on MY blog. So now that I can count my blog as a homework assignment I have an excuse to spend time writing for it. The problem is coming up with things to write. My life really isn’t the most interesting life at the moment, but I’ll feel you in on all the juicy stories that I can formulate. Let us begin with the story of the Bootstrap Tyrel. He is quite a handsome lad, but lacks in some areas…Like communication. We have been on several dates 5 to be exact and yet he still has not decided whether or not he likes me. He is so weird. I thought I really, really liked him, but now I’m not so sure how strong my feelings are because he isn’t very proactive. I do all the work in the relationship. I’m afraid I’m pushing him too much. I’m trying to be patient. I don’t know how patient I should be though. He says he doesn’t know who he is. I would agree with him on that one. I know it is important to find yourself before you commit yourself to another. It is good that he is being cautious because I don’t want to get hurt because he is a confused little kid like Ben was. We have another date on Wednesday so I guess he is going forward just very slowly. My roommates have a plan though. They even have a song for us. “Yo ho, Yo ho Eternal life for me!” They want a pirate themed wedding and Missy wants to be the bar wrench, or something like that. Sounds fun sort of. Anyway, moral of the story is don’t go for confused guys it leaves you standing at the alter in a beautiful dress and mascara running down your face. Ok so it wasn’t that bad yet, but it could have turned that bad.

Ok now moving on to the next adventure of Millie. This story we will call “Something Wicked this Way Comes.” Halloween is a wonderful time of the year. Fall has begun and the air gets chilly the nights are darker earlier. We all dress up and pretend we are someone else for the evening on

 multiple occasions throughout October. We will begin with Masquerade Ball. For those that aren’t aware of this little fact BYU-I has never let us wear masks on campus for Halloween or any dance. This year they threw their first Masquerade Ball. I had the perfect mask but I was missing the perfect guy and the perfect dress. Well time was pressing on and I had yet to find either. Never the less I did not let it bring me down. I had a blast playing mom for my roommates and helped them look beautiful for their special night. I’ll post a few pictures for those that have not yet seen them. They left at 8:40ish and I locked the door prepared for my night of pj’s, popcorn, and Eastwick. Around an hour and 20 minutes later I hear, “ring, ring, ring, ring, ring, ring, ring” I go to the door and three beautiful girls walk in with masks and ball gowns on. I told them it was way too early for them to be home and they were bummed about the lack of guy turnout and décor. So they all piled into a car and went off to get Ben and Jerry’s and a movie to bury their loneliness in. I went back to my room to my own pity party.

Wahoo! Two stories down are you all still reading? I hope I have not put anyone to sleep and at least made a decent attempt to make my dull life sound exhilarating and readable. So who wants to read about adventure number 3? (I do, I do) We will call this adventure “Lost in the Straw.” I bet you can’t guess what this one is about.

That’s right the Straw Maze! So the day after the big happening Ball that turned out to be a smash (literally smashed the hopes and dreams of attending an actual Masquerade Ball at BYUI) I wanted to do something other than study for Diseases. So I called up my momma and told her she should bring the kids up and go to the straw maze. She did and we all went and had some fun in the Hay (straw) –what is the difference really? The kids (Caleb and Noni) were way too good with directions. Before we knew it we weren’t lost anymore and back at the beginning. Noni and Caleb did feel the need to begin a massive straw fight though. We all ended the day with straw in our underwear and itchy to the max. We were all hungry so we stopped at New Fongs for dinner. It was yummy, but not very good service. We have had such bad luck with that lately. Then my roommate and I went and rented two supposedly scary movies. The first was very scary it was called 1408! Yikes, still creeps me out. The second wasn’t scary just really dumb it is “Rose Red.” Well that is the end of that exhilarating adventure.

So is this too long of a post should I separate them into different posts? I still have a few more events to “blog” about so this will probably be the longest post ever! Next we have the lovely Shelley’s birthday. This story is called, “Lime Skirt gone wrong.” Her birthday happened to fall on the same day as our ward Halloween dance. We still wanted to do something special for Shelley so this is how the day went. We started by making a fast trip to get finishing touches on costumes and food for the later chocolate fondue party. We then picked up Shelley and Missy to go to Applebee’s for dinner. I had a delicious strawberry pina-colada drink with the orange chicken bowl. It was so good and I had leftovers for the next two meals. Then we came back to the apartment and got all beautified in our costumes for the dance. I was a 20’s flapper girl! I was hot. We went to the dance and can I say lame! The best moment was when Shelley (who was Rita Skeeter from Harry Potter) was dancing and her costume went array. She was wearing a lime green skirt that needless to say was too small and took two of us to get it on her. As she was doing a slide as part of a dance move “RIP!” The slit of the skirt ripped all the way up. She heard it and felt it and ran to the wall. Missy with her huge ball gown wrapped excess skirt around the back of Shelley and escorted her out the door. She went home changed skirts and came back.

Man, this would only happen to Shelley and especially on her birthday! After the dance I came home to find my dr. pepper spilled on my bed, through my pillow, through my quilt, through the sheets, through the mattress pad, to the foam pad. I had an emergency laundry trip right then. Then we had the chocolate party and then I stayed up until 2 in the morning to write a paper. The end.

The concluding story is called, “Spooks, murder, and mystery!” It was a dark and chilly night the leaves making a slight crackle in the wind as we slowly and cautiously walk towards the creepy dark house. No one looks to be home as we walk into the abandoned home. There are warnings “Enter if you dare”…”turn back now.” We decided to take the risk knowing each of our lives were inevitably in danger. After all we were there to solve the murder of Tom Dooley. What we didn’t know was who amongst us the murderer was. We approached the kitchen seeing a glow and finding the room full of cobwebs and bats. The table was set for our discussion on who did it! After some arguing, frisking, searching of pockets, and a radio announcer we found the murderer. It was none other than Tiara Diamond, Tom Dooley’s fiancée. Yet, after further investigation Tiara wasn’t Tiara at all, she was Hope, Tiara’s twin sister. She wanted revenge on what Tom did to her sister, who previously was admitted to an insane asylum. After taking care of Hope we were led up the stairs out onto a dark balcony. We looked around with suspicious eyes wondering if anyone would try to push us over the edge. The host began to speak of Bloody Mary and the suspicion grew intensely. We were led back into a dark room where the only sound that could be heard was scary music from the surrounding speakers. The games had begun. Another murder was found after several more of us bit the dust! I was scared wondering when it would be my turn to die. After another long series of events at least I was allowed to leave in one piece. I walked slowly to the car, stopping ever so carefully to turn to see if I was being followed wondering if the murderer decided to not let me go free after all. I turned to see no one and arrived home and breathed a sigh of relief.

The last story was indeed based off of real events on the night before Hallow’s Eve. One can never be too careful when going to a Mormon Murder Mystery Bash.