on the horizons

I am doing much better- emotionally and physically. I am still trying to catch up on some sleep, but I am healthy and back in the groove at school. School has been quite good, actually. Courtney observed my class and said she was very impressed with how I questioned the kids. I am actually seeing the impact I make in these kids' lives. This kid, we'll call him James, has had a rough time this week because his grandpa is sick. His mom emailed me about it and told me he really admires me and loves my class. James and I were going to talk about it Friday afterschool but we had a pep rally. Anyways, I remember when I was in high school and went to Mrs. Gray (my chem teacher) when I was having a rough time my senior year and it just made a world of difference that she cared so much about little old me. It's so neat to be on the other side of that. Another cool thing is this kid, "Mike" was talking to me about his mom and how awesome she is. I emailed her some of the sweet things he said and she really appreciated that. :) One student this week told me she's totally surprised that I'm not married because I am "so pretty and so nice"...lol. And in another class we were discussing weight versus mass and we were calculating our weight in Newtons, so I said I weighed 125 lbs (which I did that morning!) and this girl was like "no way! I totally thought you'd way more than that!" haha. She didn't mean it to be mean, but it was funny. And awkward. :) Giving tests was stressful this week, oh well. My AP kids get a guest speaker Tuesday to tell them about careers in physics. I'm excited for that!

Lucki had a birthday yesterday- she's 24. Can't believe she's younger than me. It's hard to feel younger than anyone who's married. I made the cutest cake for her- it was pink and had a purple high heel shoe decorated on it. I got a cake decorating starter kit and tried out my skills. She loved it. We all went out for yummy mexican food and played games at her house. Lenny was in town, too- he's Stephen's best friend. He's fun to be around. Hooray for Lucki!

Church today was amazing. I got to teach Relief Society- about Knowledge. They asked me yesterday to teach today, but I don't need much prep time. :) And yesterday I went to the temple with Sister Mechum (her husband is in the bishopric- they have kids about my age). It was so lovely to go with her. We sat in the celestial room for an hour! And then we went out for brunch. It was so nice. She's my Houston Mormon mom (speaking of which- Margo- I still need your phone number!). It's wonderful.

All in all, I have learned a lot this week about happiness. I have changed my perspective on a lot of things and have been dealing with things differently than before. I am relying on the Lord and having more faith in Him.

I am worried about Grandma, who got hit in a car accident and has a few broken ribs! She'll be back home tomorrow, thank goodness. And my dad hurt himself the other day. Gosh, I hope they don't get worse! I love them too much!