Headed to Idaho

So a lot of stuff has been happening this week. At work on Tuesday we had employee evaluations and I had a good chat with one of the therapists, then after that my supervisor let me know that my position was being eliminated and that my last day would be Friday. It came as a huge shock, mostly because they had not said any thing about closing down the home I worked in. So after processing for a couple of minutes I had to go back and work with the kids and not let them know anything. The kids didn't even find out until yesterday what was going on. I had a hard time at first, I have only been laid off once before in my entire life, so this was hard for me.
After talking to my parents, and praying a lot, I decided that my best bet would be to move home and see where life takes me from there. So on next Friday, March 13, I will be moving back to Idaho. I am actually really excited to move back home, mostly because I really am not that fond of Utah. The things that I will miss the most are the new friends that I have made and my institute class. I was a class representative and so it is really hard to just have to walk away from it, but hopefully I will be able to get enrolled in a class back home.
So now for the good news. I have a job, for the summer at least. I called up my old boss out at the Bar J and they said that I had a job waiting for me starting Memorial Day weekend. I am super excited for this, I loved working out at the Bar J, and the person who caused most of the drama last year will not be coming back this year. In fact, I will be living in her spot at the camp site. Dad and I get to fix up my grandparent's old trailer from the 70s and that will be my home from May till October. I don't mind living in such a small space, I handled it fairly well last year and I am excited to see how the summer goes.

This is me and my favorite person at the Bar J,
Donny!

Plus, I get to be home when Dylan gets home from his mission. His release date is May 15, so we will have about a week together and then I take off. Luckily Jackson is only about an hour and a half from home, so I will get to go home quite a bit and visit everyone.
I am also applying for grad school at Idaho State University. They have the exact same program as the one I was looking at at Boise State and it is about $2000 cheaper than if I went to Boise. So cross your fingers and pray that I get accepted.
All in all I am actually really happy to be going home. I didn't even cry at my last night working with the girls last night. I will really miss some of them, but for the most part, I will be glad going back to working with adults and not having to baby sit people with extreme issues. So wish me luck on my last week in Utah, and I will be seeing all of my Idaho friends again in about a week!

This is one of my favorite pictures I took last summer from the top of Snow King.

Another Day

So my girls lost their game to go to state, so our season is done. It is kind of bitter sweet. I got to spend a lot of time with them and got to know so many of them better than I ever knew I would. Then again, there was a ton of drama that happened during the season that I will be glad not to have to deal with any more. But unfortunately the drama does follow me to the rest of my job.
It is hard to watch these kids make these mistakes and think that they don't have to deal with the consequences for their actions. It is my new perspective to help them realize that what they do now really will effect them forever and that they need to think before they act. It is a hard lesson to teach, and an even harder one to learn. This makes me even more greatful for the way my parents raised me and my brother. We aren't perfect, but we are a family who loves each other and we are able to talk to each other and respect one another. We love each other for who each person is and we are all okay with that. This job reminds me of how much my family means to me and how much I am glad to have the family that I have.

More Basket Ball

So we are headed to Green River, UT this week to play in the cross over game to see if we make it to the state tournament. This trip will be about three hours away and we get to take a bus full of girls excited to get the day off of school to get there. The game I am excited about, the bus trip, not so much. This will be a lot of fun for the girls but kinda stressful for the coaches. If we win on Tuesday then we will play in the state tournament on Wednesday in Richfield, which is three hours in the opposite direction. The state tournament is a double elimination tournament and we have the possibility of staying all the way through Saturday. Pretty crazy if you ask me. All I know is that I am headed home next weekend for a few days out of Utah. I have really decided that I don't want to live in this state on any kind of permanent basis. I just don't like it here.
So I am apply for grad school at Boise State and University of Utah and hope that I can at least get in and get working on my masters so I can have a little bit better job in the long run. Wish me luck!

Almost Over

So this is the last week for our regular schedule for our basket ball team. While it will be sad not to see all of my girls as much, it is time for our season to be over. Four months is a long time to have practices and games. Plus now I will be able to get a second job, which will definitely help with the paying back of student loans issue.
I am really excited, this week I get to go to the Draper Temple Open House with my friend John. I am way excited, the last open house I went to was the Rexburg one over a year ago. It is always an exciting thing to be able to go with others to see the temple and know that in just a short time they will be used to help those who cannot help themselves.
I am also taking an institute class on the teachings of the living prophets. I love getting to learn more about our apostles and prophet and learn more of their teachings for us. I took the same class back at BYU-Idaho, but we have some new apostles since then, and it is always fun to read their talks to us after each conference. My conference issue of the Ensign is always marked up and all written on because that is the best way I have found to record my feelings and the inspiration that I get when I read the talks.
Another fun thing coming up is that I get to go home in two weeks! I am so excited! I would have to say that I really don't like living in Utah very much, the water and air stink and the drivers are crazy! So I enjoy getting to go home and see my family and hopefully some of my friendsthat are still there. I am very excited to get to go home, if you couldn't tell. I enjoy getting to spend some time back in Idaho, land of the potatoes. So soon I will be back there.
Another tid bit of info, I am applying to graduate school for political science. I am applying at the University of Utah and Boise State. I hope I get in to at least one of them and at this point I would enjoy going home to Idaho and going to school in Boise. That way I can at least I can see my mom more often when she comes over for meetings. I am excited to get back into politics. I have missed them a lot and I am looking forward to working with the state level of government. I don't think I would like living back east very much and local government is a little too mundane for my likings. So wish me luck on this new adventure!

Loving Coaching

So the last few months have been occupied with coaching a 1A girls basket ball team that is associated with Westridge Academy where I work. At first they didn't win any games, but had a great attitude about everything. They learn the plays and have finally started to execute them to the point where we can adjust our defence to meet the strengths of the teams we play against. Finally two weeks ago our hard work paid off. They are on a winning streak! If they win their game tonight we are almost guaranteed second in our region, which means we go to the state tournament. This is very exciting because this is the first year this group of girls has played together.
Because of the nature of our program, the kids generally are only here 10 months, with a few exceptions. Because of this they are generally not here more than one season for any sport. We were lucky to get a group of girls who are able to learn the plays and listen to the coaches and then go and execute what we ask them to on the floor. It is so much fun to see them finally learning the plays and finally making their shots.
Another great thing about this program is they have a huge resource in our athletic director. He is none other than Shawn Bradley who used to play for the Utah Jazz and the Dallas Mavericks. For any who remember, I had a huge crush on him in high school and college. It has been so much fun working with him and getting to learn some of his great knowledge of the game of basket ball. I promise pictures will come shortly, mostly because my brother Dylan wants to see how short I look next to all 7'6" of Shawn. As if I'm not short enough already!
So wish us luck tonight and in our next five games and hopefully I will be coaching a team that is going to the Utah State Championships!

So worn out!

So after the last couple of weeks I have a new appreciation for all that parents do. I got to go with our girls basket ball team to a tiny little town almost to Wyoming. The girls played a very hard and physical game and did well. One of the girls actually ended up in the ER because of an injury to her ribs. It was a very long night and we stayed at a cabin that is owned by the rec department of our facility. I didn't get much sleep because I was worried about the kids all night. I now know kind of how my mom felt staying up waiting for us to get home when we were out with friends. It seems like every day there is some kind of drama and some kind of problem going on with the kids.
Yesterday we had a very interesting basket ball practice. There were a lot of problems going on with the different girls on the team so instead of running drills we had a big discussion about what was bothering every one on the team. It was good to see what is bothering the girls both on and off the court. They are making a lot of progress and it was fun to watch them win their first game. These kids have only been playing together for about a month and they are going up against teams that have been playing together for years. As a coach I couldn't ask for a more talented group of players than what I have.
I can't believe how fast the time is flying. We counted today and there are only 12 days until Christmas. I can't wait to go home and get rejuvenated. Sometimes all you need is a few days at home and then you are good to go again. I still can't believe that I have now lived in Utah for two months. I am still not all that excited to be living here, but it is where I was able to find work that also provided housing. Any ways, this is all I can think of for this post.

What have you done?

What have you done?

So I saw this on Lindsay's blog and decided that it would be interesting to do.

To participate, just copy and paste in your own blog, and bold all of the things you have done. The green ones are the ones that I have done.
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Ran a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Seen Mount Rushmore in person
101. Learned to play an instrument

Holy crap I've done more than I thought that I have, but there is still a lot left to do!