French Teaching Job

This past week I accepted a job teaching High School French about 8 hours a week at a local charter school in Provo. I am so glad that the job is close and that I get to use my skills in teaching French. The school is called Walden School for Liberal Arts and it is very granola and laid back. There are couches in the classes! I will be sharing a room with a teacher and the school doesn't know if I will even have a projector to use so I can show power points or videos. It would be ideal if we had textbooks and workbooks as well as small white boards and markers but I don't even know if we will have those things. And I thought it was hard being a teacher in a public school.

I will continue substituting unless another opportunity to teach part-time comes my way. So far this makes 3 part-time jobs that I possess. I am also working for a local tutoring business after the school hours. How much I work for that depends on the demand for tutors in English, study skills, reading, or even French (that would be a miracle). Oh how I long for a full-time teaching job with a salary and benefits. One job where I can focus all of my energy and know that I go there everyday.

The Demolition Derby

Saturday night, we attended the Demolition Derby with Debbie and Jenny's family. I had never ben to one of those and it was awesome! There were tons of dilapidated cars that kept running into each other and tried to make the other cars stop working. There were engine fires, rolled over cars, and lost tires. It was quite entertaining and very hick-like. There was also a motocrossed show where motorcyclists jumped these ramps. One guy didn't land his jump but he was totally fine. It takes courage to participate in that stuff.

There is No End and No Beginning

The big thing on my mind this week was a funeral. A friend in the ward, who has only been married a year like many in our ward, had complications with her pregnancy and delivered her baby boy 4 months premature. They are such a strong and amazing couple. She fought hard to keep from delivering but it was the will of the Lord that this happened. Her baby lived for two hours and they were able to hold him and give him a name and baby blessing. This would be such a hard thing to go through. It broke my heart to hear the news of their loss. I was able to help organize a luncheon for the family after the funeral. It gives me such joy to be able to serve and help people when they honestly could not do it themselves. It is so important that we give service to our fellow man. I felt like I was being a conduit for the Lord's love for this family. The funeral was absolutely beautiful and I was reminded of how amazing the plan of salvation is and how precious that knowledge is. That child was so special that he did not have to prove himself through the trials of mortality. He will be exalted with Heavenly Father. His family will see him again and this suffering mother can take comfort in the fact that she will be able to raise him in a perfected environment. So many comforting words were spoken and there was so much love and support for the family. The church is so well organized and the principles taught bring hope to a dreary world.

I had another job interview this week, since none of my previous ones have gone to fruition. The future is still unknown but I am trying my best to use my skills and expand my skill set. I need challenges in my life to help me progress professionally. I need something stimulating for my brain.

Andrew and I have started reading "Lord of the Flies" together. We enjoy reading and this is Andrew's favorite book from high school reads. We read all the "Hunger Game" series together and before that it was "Eclipse," but we couldn't finish "Breaking Dawn" because it was just rediculous. I am reading "The Help" on my own and am quite enjoying it.

Our friends Cassi and Drew just returned from a year in China. It was so fun to catch up a bit with them. We forgot how much we like them. We got them gourmet cupcakes since they have been eating boring and wierd food for the past year.

Oh, I started taking prenatal vitamins because you should start taking them atleast a year before you get pregnant. It makes your body all prepared with the stuff that makes your child healthy. I don't know if it is really necessary because a billion people don't take them and their babies turn out fine after having been birthed by the mother personally in the middle of a jungle in Laos. I on the other hand have been exposed to crazy things in the American food that I eat and there are tons of chemical that I injest. If anyone is more likely to have miscarriages and complications during pregnancy, it is the American woman. I also have fears about birthing a child with some complication that will need to be dealt with during his/ her lifetime. After seeing what happened to my friend in the ward recently, it is scary to know that things could go wrong with someone who thought she was perfectly healthy. Vitamins are good for you anyway and these make your nails grow really fast.

Big Changes

Well today was an emotionally crazy day for both of us.

I realized I did not receive the job that I interviewed for a couple of weeks ago. It was the last French teaching job I had seen and sent in an application for. I would have LOVED to teach there but they offered it to a girl who graduated with me. Now I am starting to accept that I will not be teaching for a year and if I apply next year there will be just as many applicants and I will not have furthered my experience in teaching French. I don't know what to do with my life right now. I guess I could try for any job in the world right now since I have no real goals for the next year. I can continue substituting but I don't really feel like I'm using my teaching skills all that often, plus I went to college so I don't get paid only $10/hour. It is not a steady job and sometimes it is really boring. I will keep it if I have no other option. I have sent in some applications for tutoring jobs. That might pay more but I'm not going to be helping kids with French which is what really makes me happy. There are other aspects of teaching that might be available like a teacher's aide or something. I just feel like I am not being given the opportunity to use this awesome skillset that God has given me and that I have worked hard to get better at. It is so frustrating and it makes me sad. I want to have a job with benefits and be busy. Does that mean I need to look elsewhere? Maybe God is trying to tell me to leave my professional goals behind and focus on starting a family. I had it all worked out so that I could teach for at least two years, Andrew would graduate, and then we would start a family. I want more time with just Andrew and I really want a big girl job. Uggghhh! I know that things don't always work out like you think. I am just trying to come to terms with reality and how it is not meeting my expectations at all. I will then come to peace with this and do what I feel shall come next on the "Adventures of Ashley."

Andrew has been working on the idea of expanding Vada. He did not know how to make it happen but he has too much demand and not enough resources to supply that demand. A once in a lifetime opportunity has arrived where he is teaming up with his coworker Russell who will run the business and finance part of their creative studio. Russell's Dad will be investing the money to help the business get going. All of Andrew's biggest fears about expanding his business have been calmed by getting other people involved to help him. It is really amazing and really scary for him! I have all the faith in him that he can make this take off and really happen. Like I have said before, he is such a good people person and knows how to make his visions a reality. Vada will become an LLC, he will hire more designers, programmers, illustrators, etc, they will be renting out space and creating a studio for the team to work in: All the works! This is going to be legitimate and Andrew is going to do so well. It is a little bit too much for him to emotionally handle because it seems too good to be true and he has never dealt with so much money before. I am proud of him for going out there and doing this. I know he will rock it!

Lake Powell Trip

Our ward had the lovely opportunity to go to Lake Powell this past weekend. We rode down with the Felsteds and shared great stories with great friends. We arrived and put all our things on the houseboat. There were a billion spiders on the marina! We slept outside under the stars. The next morning we had french toast and then headed out on the smaller boat to discover the canyons. The rock was red and the water was so nice. We went through a canyon and swam. Many people did some cliff diving. It was so fun to get to know more couples in the ward. We did a lot of laughing. Sister Harward got a group of people to take a floating table into the lake and play the card game BS. We had little spiritual messages each night and had great meals. We all pitched in to clean the boat but our car stayed behind to help bishop move the boat under cover. Sadly the motor or something was dead and they had to tow it. We waited around for quite a bit and when we did get on the road, we took a wrong turn and ended up driving an hour and a half longer. All in all, it was such a blast to live on a boat for a couple of days and play in the beautiful canyon.