homecoming

This weekend was Homecoming at Washington High School!! All week long we had Spirit Week to get psyched up for The Big Game and dance. On Fridays, all of the players wear their uniforms, and the whole school is typically decked out in purple. Since it was Spirit Week, the kids wore their class colors on Friday ... Seniors in purple and freshmen in yellow (I can't remember the others because I don't have any kids from those classes). I snapped this picture of Mike (#55) and Javier (#22) at the end of the class on Friday. Mike's all excited because my brother's football number in high school was 55, and my soccer number growing up was always 22 (until Michelle Moffat stole it...).

We didn't end up winning the game -- which was a bit sad. They had purchased fireworks to set off every time we scored, and we only could use them once! Javier was in the running for Homecoming King. I also had 3 other students in the running for royalty. In the end, none of them won, but Homecoming King was an LDS kid, which was great, because he's students body president, and a lot of the kids respect him.

Shelby and I volunteered to chaperon the dance. We thought it would be fun to see the kids outside of the classroom. While it was good that we did it, I doubt that I will ever do it again. Many of my girls and boys looked really nice. I snapped a few pictures:


Both of these girls are some of my troubled students. They're both quite bright, but have difficult home lives and personal issues. Carissa (in the red) is one of my Freshmen, and in the beginning, I don't think she much liked me, and I didn't much care for her either. She's confided in me in some personal things, and I've been able to help her and help to build up her self esteem, which has helped our relationship.

Stevie, in the bottom picture, is a big tom boy. She loves basketball and is very good at it (probably good enough to get a scholarship). She typically wears jeans and tshirts everyday, and doesn't do her hair. Shelby and I were admiring her dress (without knowing that it was her) and she was quite happy to see me.

I had gotten my hair cut and re-dyed earlier that morning, and I purchased a new dress. I was going to wear the skirt from my sister's wedding but thought to bring along something a little less dressy -- I was glad I did. Homecoming isn't as big of a deal at our school than it was at my school ... some of the kids were in jeans! I would have been VERY overdressed had I worn the planned outfit (I was still a bit overdressed.)

My night consisted of breaking up any behavior that would "make me blush" (according to our dean of discipline). Basically, I was breaking up any "dancing" that might be misconstrued for the act of procreation. This kept me quite busy all night long. I was quite tired by the end of it all. Two highlights to report:

• There were some Special Ed. students there (which I was quite happy to see). One was sort of stalking me all night. He would glide around and then randomly do these little pirouette type spins. It kept Shelby and I entertained
• I was "freaked" by a 300 pound black boy. "Freaking" is where someone tries to, basically, dry hump you. I promptly told him, EXCUSE ME! to which he said, "OH MAN! I thought you was a student." No sir, I am not.

In other news, this weekend was also the 177th General Conference for our Church. There are 2 sessions, both on Saturday and Sunday. All of the members around the world watch via satellite. Back in Cleveland, we have to go to a church building to watch Conference, so I'm used to being in my Sunday clothes all weekend long. Out here in Arizona, it's broadcast on regular tv (The CW to be exact [?!?!?!?!]). So, I was able to watch in comfy clothes and grade papers. Whilst it was extremely productive, it was also a little sad because I don't feel like I got as much out of it as I typically do.

I had to miss the entire morning session on Saturday due to my hair appointment. Then today, I was so beat from last night that I was practically asleep during the morning session, and I graded papers during the afternoon session today.

We have a new member of the First Presidency, since President Faust passed away. I was sad that I missed the sustaining of the new member of the 12 and President Eyring into the First Presidency.

I love General Conference, and especially the October Conference. It was 5 years ago this weekend that I joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Since then, my life has changed in ways that I cannot even describe. I am 20932% happier, more content, and trying to be the best me. My favorite quote of the weekend was Elder Worthlin. He said,

"We see ourselves in terms of yesterday and today, but the Lord sees us in terms of eternity."

Sometimes it's hard for me to feel adequate in the things that I am doing. Sometimes I don't think I'm a good enough friend, daughter, sister, teacher, etc. I love this quote, because it reminds me that has human beings we can only see a small snapshot of who we are, but that the Lord can see us in terms of who we were, who we are, and who we can become. The Lord recognizes our weaknesses, and He's there to fill in the gaps.

Happy Sunday to you all!