Catch up...

So if you actually read this blog you know that I have been sadly lacking in updates.  So here is a quick update in my life:

    I finished and passed my student teaching in Utah.  I had a great time and I enjoyed meeting and teaching my students.  They were seriously the nicest students I could have asked for, I mean there were some students I could have lived without, but they helped me grow to be a better teacher and taught me what to be prepared for in the future.  My cooperative teachers were wonderful and provided some great experiences for me, as well as some great material for my future.  The sad thing is I don't know if I want to teach for the rest of my life, I love the interaction between me and the students but I'm not sure I enjoyed the actual teaching part, mainly because I hate having to grade papers and come up with papers and activities for the students to do.  I loved doing hands-on work but most students think it is stupid but they did it anyways.  I don't know, I will keep thinking.
Here is my diploma - I am officially graduated from Brigham Young University - Idaho.  Yeah me!!!

  

    I moved back to Alaska to be with my family after I was done student teaching.  My family moved to Alaska last January, so my dad could be close to his family and my mom would have more help taking care of my dad as well.  My sister and her husband (Tabs and Jake) were up here for Thanksgiving but then they had to head back for work.  It was great to see them again.
    December should have been a good month but it was kind of depressing.  My Dad passed away on December 11th.  It was the saddest day in my life (thus far).  We had a week to plan the funeral and to get my sister up here so she could be here for the funeral.  We had so many people offer to help and to give us assistance, we wouldn't have been able to do it without all the help and my dad's sister and mother.  I was glad though because he is finally in a better place, where he can finally talk and walk again.
   The one good thing was a week before he passed away I was able to give him his Christmas present early.  I spent two days sewing him a blanket with his 'symbol' on it.  His symbol stands for "Mighty Mudgeman"  He has been using that symbol for as long as I can remember and it's something that I love about him.  So I made it into a blanket that he could use to keep himself warm and then we used it as a cover on his coffin.  Now the blanket resides on my bed.  It's very comfy and warm.

  It's been two months and we are all doing good, surviving and planning our lives.  We have planned a family vacation in March, we are looking forward that break.  I'm still trying to figure out I want to do with my life...  It's up in the air.  Any ideas for me???