My New Found Love For...

UTAH! I love Utah! I never thought that I would love it as much as I have been. I have been here for about a month now and it feels like I have been here forever! Some of my favorite things that I have done or experienced down here are:
1. The temples! I have been to the Salt Lake temple a couple of times to do baptisms and love it! My friend Kelsey and I try to go at least twice a month. One Sunday we went for a drive out to the Draper and Oquirrh Mountain temple. The Draper Temple is one of my favorite ones. The view is gorgeous and the temple is gorgeous. One of these days I will go inside it to do baptisms.
2. Family. I love spending time with Ron's family and Jason's family. It has been a lot of fun getting to know them and hang out with them. I have gone to Chandler's lacrosse games, cut up peaches with Ali, done crafts with Ali, gone to the movies, and play volleyball with Ron and sometimes Jase. Last week I was over at Ron's before volleyball and we were watching America's Got Talent. There was a contestant whose name is Grandma Lee. Kylie asked me what she did and I told her that she told dirty, inappropriate jokes. Then Amanda goes, with a straight face, "ya, sometimes grandma's tell dirty joke." I was laughing so hard I just about started to cry.
3. The fair + Kelsey Hokanson = Good times at the Boys II Men concert for free. This last Friday Kelsey and I were going to go to the Boys II Men concert but it was sold out so we just went to the fair. We ended up heading over to the grandstand where the concert was and started watching the concert from outside the gate on out tiptoes. Then some people came up to us and told us they had 2 extra tickets and asked if we wanted them. Of course we did! So we went in and watched about an hour of the show. It was way good!
4. Student Teaching! I love my kids! Although at times I want to inflict some type of pain for not listening or being rude but I guess their kids who need a lot of help. It has been such a great learning experience for me and I wouldn't trade it for anything. My kids keep me laughing. I'll try to keep you updated on those things. Yesterday I had playground duty and some little 1st of Kindergartner's came up to me and was like "duty, duty...." it was funny!
5. My ward! I love my ward. It is one of the best wards I have been to! My bishop is President Monson's son and is hilarious and such a sweet guy. Members of my ward are just as awesome! I have gained a lot of new friends and only know about a 1/4 of them so far. Yes, it helps that there are some cute boys! :) Last night there was a stake FHE outside. By 9:00 we were freezing cold so 3 of us girls and about 7 guys went out to get Hot Chocolate at a nearby restaurant. It was good getting to know others in my ward.

There are so many reasons why I love it here and I am sure many more to gain! I look forward to the next little bit and seeing where my life takes me.

Getting Tips

So being in 3rd grade has been a fun yet interesting experience thus far. I love the kids but sometimes, mainly when they are talking and not paying attention (most of the day, I just want to scream at them and tell them be quiet and just listen for once. But I don't I hold it in and try to not get frustrated.

Anyway, the first week of school one of the girls told me that she likes this boy in the 4th grade. This boy is all she talks about, thinks about, and writes about in class. It's quite funny but way too obsessed. Today we showed me a note that she wrote him. It said "you love me? check yes or no". I tried not to laugh but I rolled my eyes and gave her a hard time. Well earlier this week or the end of last week another one of the girls was like Ms. Dickson... I have a boyfriend. I was like not you too! And gave her a hard time. Well, today to make the relationships in the class get more interesting, another girl was like Ms. Dickson I have a secret to tell you. She went on to tell me that she has a boyfriend. I had to give her a hard time but told her she better show me what he looks like. Well after lunch recess the 2nd girl got a keychain that said her name on it from her boyfriend. The teacher and I were like "what! how can they get boyfriends but not us!" I was joking around with the teacher and was like maybe we should get tips from them. I thought it was pretty funny. The girls just laughed and the boys were like you don't have a boyfriend, as well as some of the girls. It was definately one of the highlights of the week. It made me laugh. So maybe I will get some tips from my class on how to get a boyfriend... i'll let you know if it works! :)