2012 Year in Review

Well I guess since it is the last day of the New Year that I would tell you how my year went and some of the things that I remember from it. I don't remember a lot but I will use some pictures to help me out.

The first thing that I remember in 2012 occurred at BYU-Idaho. I decided to become a head coach for a futsal team in a league that the school offered. It was the first year that the school had done futsal and so I was really stoked about it. I ran tryouts and I selected my team in drafts. I was excited for my team but I still needed an assistant coach. I was able to pick up Luke ( who I met in craziness the semester before trying to find a tema to play for in intramurals). The team that I selected was not seen as one of the better teams in the league. Alomst every other coach that was in the league told me that I was going to lose every game. The season started off rough with us losing the first 2 games. After those 2 games we went on a winning streak where we did not lose a single game. We ended the regualr season as the 2nd seed and with a first round bye. In our semifinal game we played the Vikings that had beat us earlier in the regular season 12-4. Well this time it was a lot different. We ended the first half tied 0-0 (which is rare for a futsal game). The second half we got a goal early from Erik and then our great Mexican Alfredo blasted a second from half court. We held onto the lead until a penalty was called and the Vikings scored. That was the final goal and we came out withe the win 2-1. Looking at the finals we were set to play the Thunder (who upset the 1st seed in the semifinals 4-2). The finals were set for the following week and to stay the least we were not the favorite in the eyes of everyone else. I had coaches coming up and telling me that they were hoping for my team to lose. I also had a good friend that received and gave a lot of fun smack talk to. The game was actually pretty packed with fans. It was great to see wo many people there. As part of the finals I decided to make warm-up shirts for the team with some great nicknames (Some included "Grandpa", "Nutmeg", "Close but no Cigar", "Thing 1", "Thing 2"). The first half of the game we came out like fire and played really well. We went into the half with a 5-1 lead. During halftime we had a chat and talked about the second half. Everyone on the team had a good feeling and we just knew deep down that we had the game won. The second half became a little tighter and the Thunder got a streak of goals but in the end we left with the Championship winning 7-5. After the game we all talked and my friend told me that "You have strengthened your only weakness that I can find on you and now you are unstoppable". It was a great compliment and I sometimes feel that that is not always true. Here is a picture of one of the saves in the championship game.  

It was a great season and I was honored to coach such a great team. We did not have the best team but the teamwork and the work effort proved to be the catalyst to the season. I would not pick any other team to play with.                                                                                                                                            

The second thing that I remember about this year was the first time that I shot a real gun. My roommates were great gun enthusiasts so one Saturday we decided to go out as a FHE group and shoot pigeons. I had a great time and I had more fun throwing the pigeons. I became the official pigeon thrower once I was done shooting. I did not have great accuracy but I guess it comes with experience.

The third thing that I remember was my graduation from BYU-Idaho. I was at the school for a little over 2 years and I received a bachelor of science in Math Education. It was a great 2 years and I remember all of the fun that I had. I had a great set of classmates that left us with many memories of working late nights trying to finish our proofs in geometry or trying to understand those crazy differential equations. I also remember all of the fun I had meeting new people and playing soccer. I actually met 2 of my cousins while attending that I never met while growing up (I have to apologize to my one cousin for breaking her table). I still had to do my student teaching in the fall but on December 14, 2012 I official became a graduate. Now it is on to the adult life like my mom loves to say. 

The last thing and probably the most memorable was the wedding of my twin brother. I know that I talked a lot about it in one of my previous posts but I just wanted to mention it again. It was great to see and I wish them a lot of happiness over the years.

Finally, I want to just mention some things that I have thought about as I review what I went through this year. The biggest thing that I think about is the pain and stress that I have experienced this year. I have not had the greatest luck with finding a girl that wants to be with me and that wants to get to know me. I have found a lot of friends but nothing more than that. It really got me stressed and left in a lot of pain, but as I mentioned in my other posts, I have found relief in knowing that I can still be happy without that in my life. I look to take that into 2013 and just be the person that I know I am, and not wait for something to happen that seems to begin but eventually for one reason or the other falls apart. My life is only happy if I choose to make it happy. I don't need the disappointment of people breaking my heart. 2013 is a year that I will start to devlop a teaching career and start trying to make a difference in the lives of the students I teach. I LOVE every minute of it and i will not stop teaching until it is no longer enjoyable to me. To all my family (extended and immediate), and friends I want to say HAPPY NEW YEAR and I hope that it is as enjoyable as it can be. I look forward to it!

   



Christmas Break

So i have officially made it to the end of my college career. (so far) I am waiting to get my transcript in the mail and then it is off to gett my substitute certification. I am working on getting my teacher certification in Arizona and so I have to get my substitue first to start working at first. I had my observation the other week and right after the observation, I was offered a long term sub position at Mesa High School. The vice principal said that I would be teaching 3 classes of Algebra 1 and then what they call AIMS prep (required state test). I am excited but I am still waiting on word from them for more detail. If I start teaching in January, I will be really excited and I am really looking forward to it.

In the meantime I am spending time with my family in Colorado. I wanted to spend some time with them before I head back because I was not sure that I was going to get a job and so I didn't want to be stranded in Arizona without a job and money. It has been a week and I ahve am loving every minute of it.

I arrived on the 15th late night when Uncle Steve had already gone to bed. So in that case I had to borrow a pillow from my Grandmother and a blanket from the vast array of blankets that we have around the house. It was a long day and I crashed pretty early. The following day my brother Shane arrived. It was great to see him. On Tuesday my Aunt Jenny and her daughter Sarah arrived and from then on it turned into a trio of math people talking everything they can and want to about math. We had conversations involving homework, multiple choice tests, teaching polynomials, and so much more. It was AWESOME to say the least. Alyssa also arrived as well. The reason that a lot of the family was there was for my great grandmother who had passed away on the 9th of December. We had the funeral on wednesday and it was a good ceremony. I still remember a lot about her and I will miss her. It was great that I was able to grow up and get to know her as much as I did.

After the funeral, the other members of the family were stuck from the snowstorm on the previous day so they were unable to leave till Friday. With that being said it did not stop us from having some fun. We ended up going to the Denver Nature and Science Museum. It was great looking at all the exhibits and having the opportunity to push my grandmother around in her wheelchair. She made sure to tell me exactly when to move on and where to go.

Spending the week with family and getting to know some of the cousins that I have never really gotten the opportunity to talk to was definitely a highlight. Sure enough I was able to receive some interestinfg advice on girls from Alyssa. She made sure to tell me exactly what I needed to do and exactly how I made a mistake. I learned a lot and maybe this advice will benefit me. We had a lot of time to just sit and talk and enjoy each others company. It felt awesome and I laughed quite a bit.

Overall, I am beginning to really see that tru happiness cannot come unless I have a good relationship with my family. I have not been this happy in awhile and it is because I am able to enjoy life and to spend those precious moments with those that are closest to me. This week we celebrate Christmas and we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. It is a time we not only remember that great birth but also the opportunity that we now have to be with a family that loves and cares for each one of us and to someday find that special someone that will create a new family and bring others into our family. I cannot emphasize that enough.

MERRY CHRISTMAS! 

College/Career Transition

So the time has come finally where I can see the end of my college career. I have one week of student teaching left. On Friday I will be officially done and have a bachelor degree in Math Education. As I look back on the semester that I have had and the experiences that I have had it has been great to see it all. I started as a nervous student teacher that was still trying to learn if he could handle himself in the classroom and take control of 30 students at once. I still remember that first day that I was given to teach by myself. I was TERRIFIED. As I continued to get a lot more opportunities I began to see a lot of growth. That nervous feeling began to go away and I felt more confident. It was never a lack of confidence in knowing the material but in knowing whether the students were able to get the material through my teaching. I was talking with my mentor teacher on Friday and it was really cool to hear her talk about how far she had seen me come. She has even seen tremendous growth in the last few weeks with my teaching.

This week I am still a little bit nervous but that is because I have an observation on Wednesday where the vice principal of Mesa High School is going to come and observe. He is doing this to see if I would be fit to teach at Mesa. I received word of this last week and the process has been trying to get my teacher certification but they mentioned that if it was impossible to get it before the start of second semester that I would get my substitute certification and I would become a long term sub while I finished all the requirements for a full time teacher certification. I have been preparing all weekend and I think that he will like it. I plan on reviewing with the general 7th grade class adding and subtracting fractions with fractions bars. Also we are going to review order of operations through the warm-up. We are doing a lot of review seeing as they have their CRT's the week after.

With all of this going on there have been some interesting things going on in my life outside of school. I don't like talking much about it but to say the least I am amid confusion and trying to figure it all out. Sometimes life can be going great in one area but be in dire turmoil in another. I just wish for that day when that will be solved. I know it will happen but sometimes the patience runs thin and I get ansy. With that though life continues and will never stop.

Im excited to go home to Colorado as well for Christmas. It has been hard to not be able to spend Thanksgiving will family for the last 4 or 5 years but spending Christmas with them is just as good if not better. After the new year if I do recieve the job I will be taking a trip with my Dad back down to Mesa. I am looking forward to that time to talk to him and to spend that time with him. I always cherish our talks even though we may only talk sports the whole time. I sometimes wish that I had more time to talk to my Mom and just tell her about my life and what is going on. I love them both and especially my Grandma who says that she wishes I was there to clean up her mess after cooking sometimes. :)

Finally I want to thank some of my true friends that I have had over the years that have kept me going and have really stood by me in the rough and good times. I don't think I would ahve done it without them.  Above is the picture of 2 of them. Sarah Shock and Emma Zachreson. I want to thank you all for everything you have done for me and our continuing friendship. I miss you guys a lot and I hope that someday our path will cross again. Also I cannot forget Paige Laney, Carly Firth, and Heidi Stott. We made our math classes a blast and I hope I was neer too dull for you or crazy! I will cherish all of those memories.