During My Prep Hour...

So, I am sitting in my classroom right now during my prep hour. I have all my mid terms graded, pre and post tests are analyzed and graphed, next weeks classes are already planned, the desks have been rearranged for a new semester, and I am feeling good!

I just wanted to take a minute to describe to you how teaching so far this year has been for me. Everyone always says, "Oh the first year of teaching is SOOOO tough," and "Just get through the first few years. Then you will enjoy teaching," and "During the first year, you won't have time for anything but school." Contrary to these statements, I have had a very different experience. A much more positive experience, I think.

When I first got my job, I was so excited. REALLY excited. But, to be honest, part of me was a little bit disappointed that I would have to:

1. Teach in a middle school 
2. Only teach a couple subjects 
3. Have a super weird rotating schedule

But, strangely enough, guess what some of my favorite parts of having this job has been?

1. Teaching in a middle school: I LOVE teaching 6th grade... and I LOVE middle school! 
2. Only teaching a couple subjects: It is nice to be able to put all my focus on just 3 subjects. (Math, Science, and PE) 
3. Having a super weird rotating schedule: On the first day of school, we did a regular schedule: 1st-7th period. The next day we start with 2nd period, and 1st period is at the end of the day. Then the next day starts on 3rd period and so on and so forth. It is just a continuous rotation, hence, a "rotating schedule." At first, I thought this would be confusing and hard to get used to. But I love it because then I get the students at all different times of day... (ie. instead of always right after lunch where they want to take a nap.) Also, I think it is good for the kids because usually the second time I teach the math or science lesson each day, it is smoother and better... I am glad that I don't have one class that always gets the rockier lesson! 

Other things I love:

1. Prep Period: I LOVE TO TEACH... but it is SO nice to have an hour a day that I can just sit, plan, prepare, grade, and relax. 
2. Coaching Soccer: This was a HUGE plus of getting this job in Ashton. The middle school and the high school are combined, so I was able to have the opportunity to be an assistant girls varsity soccer coach.(Not that I couldn't be a coach without teaching... it's just nice to be able to coach at a school where I work...) Also, the exciting news is that I applied, interviewed, and got the head coaching position for next year's girls varsity soccer team! 

Anyway. I love my job. I love literally everything about it. I have had an great first year so far. I feel so lucky and so blessed! Here is to the 2nd semester of my 1st year of teaching! 

Goals for 2014

I have never really liked the words "New Years Resolution." To me, "New Years" only applies to the first week of January... by the time December rolls around, the year is old, isn't it? Do the so called "New Years Resolutions" still apply if the year is no longer new? Anyway, I know it is silly, but Bryce and I have decided to just make goals for 2014 instead of New Years Resolutions... (yes, I know they are the same thing. I just like the sound of it better.)

I have goals that I REALLY want to stick to this year. So Bryce and I sat down and typed up a plan for our goals for 2014. We made individual goals, and goals as a couple. This typed plan is now posted between our closet doors where we can see them each day. I will spare you the details of how our goals will play out, but I think that it will be beneficial if I share some goals with the blogging world... then that makes us more accountable, right? I am leaving some of the goals out, since some seem a little too personal to share on a blog, but here are some of our goals for 2014!

Beki

1. Get in shape before soccer season... If I am going to be the head girls varsity soccer coach at North Fremont High School, I want to be a good example for those girls! 
2. Be more organized. I am excited about this goal because I plan to think of a new organizing project each month to just to make life more organized and... cleaner. This month, I am cleaning out the "junk drawers" in our entertainment center. 

Bryce

1. Get an internship. I'm so proud of Bryce. He has worked SOOOO hard in school. He has some great opportunities ahead that I know will bless our family. Bryce will be applying (and has already applied) at many different places: Google, Apple, Hewlett Packard, NComputing, and many other smaller companies. Anywhere would be lucky to have him! We hope he will be able to do his internship this summer or fall, but he can do it any time between July 2014 - July 2015. So we still have plenty of time! 

Couple

1. Save money. Be better budgeters. It has been so nice to have a job with a steady income where budgeting is actually a possibility. Now we just need to get better at knowing what to do with the money we get! 
2. Go on weekly dates. We have recently found some really fun, cheap/free dates, and we have had such a blast being together... I am excited to do things like that more often with my Bryceepoo. :) LOVE YOU!!! 

Anyway, I am excited for this new year, and I hope we will accomplish all the goals we have set for ourselves. Good luck to you on your goals for this year as well! 

Happy New Year!

I can't believe it has been so long since I have blogged last! I feel like a legitimate update is in order. So much has happened since my last blog post on November 24th.

Like... I met my cute new nephew, Tyler! 

 ...and had some fun times with family in Boise over the Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks.

We also had a blast getting back with all our high school buddies and making even more memories together. 

We also spent a couple days in Pendleton over New Years to visit the Walkers. We had a blast with them, too! Possibly pictures to come. :) 

2013 was a great year for Bryce and me. I got a job that I love and Bryce is doing amazing in school. (I would brag a little more about him on this blog if I didn't think it would embarrass him.) 2013 brought the two of us closer and more in love than ever, and we are so excited to see what new adventures we will begin in this coming year. Here is to a new year of optimism, laughter, growth, and love! 

Obsession. I Lived.

SO. Bryce and I have an obsession with this song. It is called I Lived by OneRepublic. We LOVE it so MUCH! I literally listen to at least once every single day. It reminds us of our childhood. It reminds us of lots of different things in our lives. Our childhood. Our parents. Soccer. Rock climbing. Snowboarding. South Africa. Guatemala. Our future family. So many things. Please listen to this song on youtube. You can thank me later :)

I'm a Mormon

I have always loved being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I love it because I know it is true and it brings me so much happiness and comfort each day of my life. I created a mormon.org profile to share with others what I know to be true. Check it out here!

Hi I'm Beki. I'm a soccer player. I'm a teacher. I'm a wife. I'm a Mormon.

http://mormon.org/me/9N1X

Bryce's Birthday Weekend!

I love my husband. And I love that he was born about 24 years ago so that we could meet, be best friends, fall in love, and get married! I wanted to do something fun for Bryce's birthday this year.... but there was one problem. On the day of his birthday, I had a soccer banquet I had to attend.... (Guess who is going to be the head girls soccer coach next year?!?) so talk about a lame birthday. Then we couldn't celebrate the next day because of parent teacher conferences... So I wanted to do something really fun to make up for the fact that his actual birthday was pretty lame. So we celebrated on the weekend, instead. I reserved a yurt up at Badger Creek for Friday night. It was such a blast! Just the two of us went up since none of our friends could go.... but it was an incredibly fun getaway for just the two of us.

Here is a picture of the Yurt we stayed in! 

We were so excited! 

We roasted hotdogs over the fire in the stove for dinner and had some yummy hot chocolate for dessert.  

Then we watched a movie on the projector before falling asleep for the night. 

We had bagels and hot chocolate for breakfast...

And then we went for a walk outside to check out the view.

On our walk, we made snow angels... 

And we ended up having a snowball fight! 

I love being married to my best friend! 

 We eventually made our way back to Rexburg where we met up with our good friends Cameron and Alyssa for dinner at Costa Vida. 

All in all, we had a ton of fun this weekend. Happy birthday, Bryce! 

I love you!

Happy Halloween 2013!

So... Bryce and I don't normally dress up for Halloween. I never feel like spending money on a costume, and I usually don't feel creative enough to come up with one on my own. But this year we did dress up because they said we HAD to dress up if we wanted to come to the ward Halloween party. So I spent an hour one night googling couple's Halloween costumes. You got the usuals: Mario and Luigi, Batman and Robin, a couple of thieves, prince and princess.... all things I would have to spend money for, and frankly, I didn't want to. Anyway, I finally stumbled onto a nerdy couple costume website.... you would be shocked at the creativity of costumes I found there! I settled on having Bryce and I dress up as Google Maps, since that would only cost the price of two poster boards and a roll of yellow duct tape. This is how it turned out. Pretty awesome, eh? 

Anyway, everywhere we went, and after posting the picture on Facebook, I had, like, a jillion people say, "WOW! That is so CREATIVE!" or "Holy cow! How did you come up with that idea?" It's at times like this that I really wish I was creative, and that I really could have come up with this idea on my own... but nope. I sadly had to tell each one of them that the creativity resided in Google itself, and that I cannot take credit for the idea. It was a great costume! I wish I had thought of it myself so I could bask in the glory that everyone tried to give me! Haha