Tidbits

Hmm. I know that nobody really cares for the useless blogs I post, but actually--I care about them! Because two years from now I'll read this post and think, yeah, that was a fun weekend! I'm so glad I blogged about that so I can remember it.

So on Friday we went to Ruby River. It's connected to some hotel, so while we waited for our table we sat in the hotel lobby. Don't worry, the whole BYU football team was there. Bronco even made an appearance. We tried to take a secret picture but it was a little too obvious. But a football player's wife called us 'nothings'. A little baby tried to wander into the area we were sitting in and her mother said, "Oh sweetie, there's nothing over there" to which my friend replied, "Oh yeah, we're nothing? Cool. Cute baby though." It was pretty fun...except for the part where I had to go home and finish a paper that was due at midnight. Sent it, forgot about it, and all is well!

I guess the only other item of note is that Friday I wore jeans for the first time all week. It felt oddly comfortable.

Oh,and I'm cutting my hair tomorrow. Does that surprise you? It shouldn't, if you follow my patterns of behavior. Perfectly normal! I cut my hair at the funniest intervals. Ha. I guess it's typically been once a semester, actually...for my whole college career. Huh. Funny!

Must read

The Lump of Coal by Lemony Snicket.

"Perhaps I should just bury myself and become a diamond after thousands of years of intense pressure."
--The Lump of Coal

The highlight of my day

Kinda lame when the highlight of your day comes at 6:30 in the morning, but...you take what you can get, right?

I laughed for like 5 minutes after I read this in an email. I know it probably isn't that funny, but to me, at 6:30....it was hilarious. Plus the author is British, which for some reason makes it even funnier.

"But hey, there's lots of cool things happening soon, like Christmas and the...Millenium?"

Great. Now I really have something to look forward to.

Practicummmmmmm

It's true that the only thing younger grades can reach is your backside. So, to get your attention...it's like poke, poke, poke... Um, excuse me?! Definitely something I need to get used to, because it's weird.

Also, I taught today. My teacher observed. At the top of her observation sheet, she wrote "Natalie's 1st lesson=Fantastic!" Okay so hello, can it get better than that? She said I was way above passable. Thank goodness. I'm good at something! Unless it was a fluke. That would be bad.

One more thing: my class has a Monson. Jenaca's class has a Hinckley. Too funny.

We are...the Barnett Bulldogs!!! (It's from their school cheer that I don't know, but had to lead today. Yeah, that was awkward)

Careless and unthinking, I moved onward.

And in my twisted face, there's not the slightest trace of anything that even hints at kindness. And from my tortured shape, no comfort, no escape. I see, but deep within is utter blindness. Hopeless, as my dream dies. As the time flies--love a lost illusion. Helpless. Unforgiven. Cold and driven to this sad conclusion...

Let the world be done with me.

The babe

Well, the babe and I have been together since June 2009. I watched him learn to walk, talk (in English and Spanish), and sing new songs. I taught him the word "no" (whoops). I watched his imagination develop. I saw his love for bells and bears grow. We wandered through museums together. We watched many bowling games.

I looked forward to seeing him every day, and he was always happy to see me as well. We had many adventures together. I've held on to that babe and cried sorrows away more than once. He was always the first person I told when good things happened. We love each other.

Stupid practicum.

The babe just called me and we had a good chat. It was his bedtime, but after about ten minutes it became apparent he wasn't going to hang up the phone. It was up to me to say goodbye and just hang up.

The hardest part was that he kept saying, "tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow, bells tomorrow" and I had to tell him, "No, later, we'll see each other later". I don't want him to think I've abandoned him! I don't want him to forget about me. Because I'll never forget him!

Positive Reflection

I have had a hard week. For tonight's blog, however, I decided to try something called "positive thinking" (if you have had a hard week, like me, you may need to look up the definition--www.dictionary.com).

Two things saved my day.

The best thing about my day: lunch with Jarom.


The second best thing about my day: having a whole bag of chocolate kisses in my backpack. All to myself.One more bright thing: we finally received our practicum placements (practicum starts on Tuesday). I am going to be in a first grade classroom at Barnett Elementary! Whoo...wish me luck--I'm gonna need it!

I CAN'T BELIEVE I DIDN'T BLOG ABOUT THIS

(Sidenote: Lately I have been loving the use of random, capital words. I know, I know, it's like yelling. Sorry.)

I can't even remember when this happened--sometime toward the beginning of this semester? I went to Lagoon with the Vogel's (it was so fun, by the way) and (are you ready for this?) I actually went on roller coasters. Yes, it's true. I, Natalie K Murray, went on Wicked, the white old one, and the Samurai! I can't remember if there were any other scary ones. AND I didn't even cry (although I was close to tears right as Wicked started to move down the track).

It felt great, not because I love the thrill of roller coasters, but because I faced a fear.

That's two fears I have faced within the past few months. I rode on an airplane without having a panic attack (I actually loved it) and I went on some scary rides! My life is seriously changing, because now I realize that I can do hard and scary things. Yes!

Waiting in line for Wicked!