The First Full Week

Well, today ended the first full week of classes. Wow I am ready for the semester to already be over. I have had kids change classes, drop, add and then change again all over again. Last semester I failed two students (boyfriend and girlfriend pair) that rarely came to class, only turned in half their assignments and would come to class 30 minutes late. It drove me and my class insane. The girl wrote me half way through the summer and asked me to drop her from the class - what? You don't drop a class after it is over and you didn't ever do anything. They showed up on Wed. laughing nervously about how they are back. I was not happy - that is probably an understatement. Then this morning they weren't in class, after the lecture I gave them about how they better be there and on time, I already was frustrated at them - what a mess I thought. Then they show up at 10am, an hour after they should have been there, they had changed sections after the drop and add deadline!!! So I sent them in to find out what was going on since I already had 29 slots and they would put me at 31 (over the limit). Then Dr. Grant came in and asked me to consider it - well off course I did but come on - I have already figured out a lot of things with the updated list and now I have to redo it all. Frustration!
The biggest problem is my bad attitude towards these two students that made a huge disturbance almost every time they actually came last semester - I don't want them in my class and so I need to have a change of heart soon so I am fair in their grading.
I have another student that is homeschooled and 16 that is taking my class. He has told me several times that she is not getting things, can't remember anything he reads minutes after reading it and can't take notes to save his life. I suggested he talks to someone and get tested, but for now I am recordig my lecture with his digital recorder and giving him more time - I am not sure what to do next, even with my background, I can't diaginosis and he needs some extra help. I talked with Student Services but they are too small to do testing and it would be up to him to get it done and pay for it. I also wonder if at 16 and no "formal" education for the last 10 years if he is ready for my class. I guess we will see.It made me think about all the homeschool kids I know that will have no problem doing these things. I wonder if students realize that teachers worry so much about them.
I have realized that Satan is doing a great job of helping me overreact to things this week. My boss was grumpy, unfair and unreasonable the other day and my mind just went off, I am doing better now. I went to pay the rest of my rent and find out what I needed to do to move out and read some of the things nad instantly ws frustrated at the company. I got my old students and was so frustrated and unhappy - then I was driving home and realized how well Satan was able to edge me on so that I was frustrated and inpatient and thus not feeling the Spirit as well. WOW! I wish that I was faster on the take and it didn't take me 3 miserable days for me to realize what was going on. I have tried to stop reacting and start acting in response to things in my life and hopefully that will help.
Final work schedule for Fall:
3 classes for Moberly - I leave about 7am and get back around 1:15 on M,W,F
10 hours with Linda at Ellis
5 hours with Extension
All the "other" time is for me to write and get done with my PhD crap!
I now have two callings - Primary and Stake Single Adult Activity/Rep person - not my favorite, but mine still the same. So, it should be interesting anyways - that is what I tell my students that I try and make it interesting but I don't promise fun or exciting!

For the Beauty of the Earth

On Friday I went to the temple in Nauvoo and what a sweet experience. As I drove through the fields and hills of Missouri I was once again taken back by the beauty that surrounds me. I love farm country - that is probably why Missouri is so easy to feel at home in. I love to look out at wide fields of corn, farmhouses, barns and silo's - there is something very honest and good about it all. Once I got to the temple I felt really tired - probably because of the hectic morning and then sitting for 2.5 hours as I drove to the temple, but boy am I glad I went. The session was pretty small and that is always nice to me, the temple is just amazing and I love that part too. When I walked into the Celestial room I was overcome with peace and joy. I wish I could just live in that room and only leave for brief periods of time. The first words that came to my mind were the words from the hymn "For the Beauty of the Earth". I have always loved that song and it always makes me smile as I think about the amazing earth the Lord created for me and for you. I can get so caught up in just the landscape or in a sunset that I forget about the other worries in life - what a loving Father in Heaven to create such a thing. I wish that I could take that feeling and bottle it, allowing myself a whif from time to time when I need a boost but I guess that is the great thing about having 128 operating temples in the world, I have always been blessed to be no further than 2-3 hours away and my monthly visit is like a ray of sunshine in my life - I am so grateful.
As my faithful readers know I contemplate a lot - I drive a lot and so I have lots of time to spend thinking about and wondering about the things of this world, my life choices, the gospel, my friends problems, my families worries, etc. While I was driving to the temple I decided that I needed to decide which MPH program was really best for me - is it at A&M (which I have always made fun of) or UT (Daddy's favorite). Well, I have been leaning to A&M for a while because of location, concentration (they are a rural health school - which I want to study), and because it seems to draw me more than the other school. The one thing I have worried about is money - always the bain of my existence. Well, after praying about it I have decided to go with A&M. I am now praying and hoping for several different things. 1 - acceptance into the program, 2- an assistantship so they pay for school, 3 - the ability to teach at Blinn College in the Spring. I don't know anyone at Blinn but I am going to be filling out applications and contacting them in the next month or so to start teaching there in Jan. I truly hope that it happens the way I would like - move to Houston in Dec., start teaching in Jan, start a new program in Jan, finish up my dissertation research over spring break or possibly in Jan before school starts, graduate from MU in Dec, graduate from A&M in August 2010. Sounds like a lot but here to hoping!

Back in the Saddle Again

Each year I get excited at the smell and site of school supplies in Wal-Mart and Target stores. I love the newness of beginning a new year of school, the learning, the growing and the excitement. Well, for some reason I haven't really felt that this year. It might be that I started teaching 4 days after my vacation and I still had somewhat of a vacation "hangover". I am still tired and my body thinks it is really supposed to sleep more like 10 hours a night not 7 or 8. So, needless to say yesterday at 6am came early as I drug myself from my bed and accomplished getting to Moberly (45minute drive) by 8am. I did this all Winter semester but I am definitely out of practice. So if practice make perfect right around the time that I move back to TX I will be doing well. I have 77 students combined in my three sections and that seems like a whole lot - in fact I think it is almost double what I ended up with last semester! I tried not to scare the kids off too terribly bad yesterday but I did go through every bit of the syllabus from beginning to end telling them about each and every assignment. I also tried to create a syllabus that allows me to grade the smallest amount of things at home. So, hopefully that will work.
I am having trouble feeling motivated to do much these past few days. I need to finish my grant but I am so tired I have opted to watch the Olympics instead. I am enjoying it but I feel guilty about not getting things done.
I am going to the Nauvoo Temple tomorrow - when I am in Moberly it is closer than St. Louis so I am just going to head over there after I teach and do a session and then drive home - I am excited because I love that place so much and hope to go a few more times before I leave for TX.
Speaking of TX I made my arrangements for my moving truck today - it made it feel so real. I also paid my rent up until December - I paid last months rent when I moved in and am moving out the middle of Dec. so really only have to pay 2 1/2 months rent! That also was a eye opening experience to the fact that I am really moving. I need to get on the move with everything else so that I am ready.

The Days of '76 in Deadwood

Dallas and I planned our trip to SD at a time that was convenient mainly to me, because she had more availability. Strangely enough we have hit the most interesting things while here - the last day of the Big Pig Dig in the Badlands (they had been digging for the last 15 years and we got there on the last day before they packed up). Then here in Deadwood we got to experience of watching the trail riders that reenacted the last wagons that came into Deadwood in 1898, after that supplies and people came by train because it was faster and cheaper.. Our timing has been good I would say. The riders came from Cheyenne, WY (about 293 miles away) and Pierre, SD (the capitol which is 200 miles away). The riders from Cheyenne rode for 19 days and Pierre for 17 days before getting here. It was an old fashioned trail ride, with the exception of the build of some of the wagon (modern day truck axles and wheels with old fashioned wagon beds). They came in at high noon to a town full of people lined up along Main St. It was pretty cool.

Wyoming and South Dakota Landscapes

These are some pictures that I liked of the landscape here. Dallas took a car ride in a loop yesterday afternoon while I worked on my grant so some are of that and some are from our drive to and from Devil's Tower. To see a map of where Dallas drove click here.

This is the view from Devil's Tower

This is right out side of Devil's Tower National Park - the hills there are a vibrant orange red that didn't come out in the pictures but it is amazing looking.

A stream in SD.

This is bridal veil falls here in SD, there is one in UT as well.

Devil's Tower National Park

Yesterday Dallas and I went to Wyoming to see Devil's Tower. It is this very large rock formation that is considered sacred by the Lakota. There was a legend that some Lakota children were being chased by a bear and climbed on a rock and prayed that the rock would grow so that the bear could not get them. Legend has it that it did grow and grow and that the children were safe from the bear. Even today there are prayer bundles that hang from the trees as you climb your way up to the formation. As I have listened to all of the stories about the Lakota people I have been impressed by how spiritually minded the people are, the faith that they have in the Great Spirit and determination to live the way they have been taught - a great lesson for us all.

Here are some pictures.

I am the little person at the bottom - I actually climbed up to be able to get this picture

Here is Dallas in front of it on a different side.

Here is another shot from much farther away.

The Gospel

Lately I have been thinking about how much the gospel affects each and every aspect of my life. Being here in SD and seeing Mt. Rushmore made me contemplate about the significance of the founding fathers on our nation and the church. There is a talk I found by President Benson in 1976, that talks about the founding fathers and the pioneers of the church. It is really good and very interesting what he suggests that there are things that both the founding fathers and the pioneers would have us do to stay faithful. It is a very interesting article called Our Priceless Heritage. Just follow the link. AS I have thought about the many sacrifices that both the pioneers of the church and the founding fathers made it amazes me of their faith, dedication and determination to a cause, their faith that things would work out but regardless giving everything of themselves to see it through. I have never thought of myself as having that much determination to do anything, I hope that as I work at it that my determination to live and share the gospel will continually grow.
I have been reading Sheri Dew's book "God Wants a Powerful People", I am almost finished and just wanted to write a little bit about it. It has been a great book, which I should go back and really digest this next time. She makes great connections between the gospel and our everyday lives. She makes me fell like I want to be better, do better, make better choices, etc. It is kinda the feeling I get at the end of general conference. I love that feeling and so I love the book. She makes this statement in her book "The Prophet Joesph taught that three things are necessary for a person to have true faith: first, he or she must know and believe that God exists; second, he must have a correct idea of His character, perfections, and attributes; and third, he must have ht assurance that one's life course is according to and harmonious with God mind and will. Said he 'Such was and always will be, the situation of the saints of God, that unless they have an actual knowledge that the course they are pursuing is according to the will of God they will grow weary in their minds, and faint. (Lectures on Faith, 6:4). I would recommend her book to everyone.
It seems the more I think about the gospel, it's principles and how I want to live it the firmer my determination and faith grow - I am sure that is why reading and pondering is what the Lord asks of us. I am constantly amazed at how much the Lord blesses my life, my families lives and how it all works together to help us achieve the will and mind of God.

Deadwood and Wild Bill

Well, today we packed up and headed back to the Black Hills, about an hour or so west of Rapid City. Deadwood is where Wild Bill was killed and buried and were Calamity Jane lived out the last part of her life. Deadwood has become once again a gambling town and so that puts an interesting twist on the whole thing. When we got into town we took a bus tour that took us to historical sites and told us much about the history of the town, the gold mine that was closed in 2001 and about Wild Bill.
Later we saw the reenactment of how Wild Bill was killed, that was fun. I didn't chose Deadwood for the gambling,
obviously, but I knew that it was smack in the Black Hills, close to Wyoming where Dallas hasn't been yet and pretty close to North Dakota where neither of us have been.
We both forgot to take the camera so we felt like we forgot a limb but we will go back and take some pictures before we leave.
The funnest (I know it is not a word!) part of Deadwood so far for me has been when the character playing Wild Bill hit on Dallas. We were sitting outside on a bench, in front of the ice cream shop, eating our yummy ice cream, when Wild Bill approached us. Between shows the actors wonder the streets talking with folks and having their picture taken with people. So, he came up and had a very animated conversation with Dallas, he never looked at me - only had eyes for our Dallas! :) Anyway, they talked about Wild Bill and the show and he said that he hoped she could come so that he would have something pretty to look at and left calling her love. He did a great job staying in character the whole time and flirting with Dallas - it was really funny to watch this man all dressed up, wig of long stringy hair and all, flirting with anyone. It is my favorite part so far. I told Dallas she should call her blog entry the Wild Bill Pick-Up.
It has been a nice day and tomorrow we are going to take a drive into Wyoming and North Dakota and see what we can see.
This is the view of Deadwood the town from on top of Mt. Moriah, where Wild Bill and Calamity Jane are buried. It is a beautiful place.

The Badlands - Part 2

There are some things that are hard to explain with words such as feelings, the Spirit and often the beauty that the human eye can capture that no camera can. Well, we did our best in the Badlands - we took 99 pictures yesterday and yet I think that it is just something that one needs to experience for themselves. It is beautiful and such a different type of beauty than the Black Hills. We learned at the visitors center that the Badlands were once part of a great ocean that covered most of North America. Slowly as the water receded the sediment from the Black Hills settled into the Badlands and the water then carved it into what it is now. The video at the visitors center said that every year 1 inch of the rock is eroded from the structures/hills so that eventually it will not be there any longer. It reminded me of the Grand Canyon only you could drive through, climb on it and that was many different colors. Again, there were lots of wildlife that were amazing. It is really odd though - you will have one side of the road be prairie with tons of prairie dog mounds and the other side be canyons of rock. We tried to capture it in the pictures - but really it is just something that you need to experience yourself - which I highly recommend.

The Badlands - Part 1

On Monday we got up and packed up our car and headed towards the Badlands about 10am.  I wasn't sure what to expect but that it is very different than the Black Hills.  So, it took about 1.5 to get here to our campsite from Rapid City, going down highway 44 - the scenic and free way to drive towards the Badlands.  The other way you go through the Badlands so you have to pay the $15 (it is for the entire week) to drive through, this way is also faster and left for us the discovery of the Badlands until we had more time.  We got here to our KOA and settled in, took a nap (we were so tired from the day before), read and of course blogged.  We had a really good relaxing day.  Here are some of the pictures of the campsite and what we saw as we came in.  

Our cabin - with air conditioning - we need it because it is hotter here than in the Black Hills.

What is surrounding us.

The beginning of the Badlands.

Day 2 - Custer State Park

So, after we went to the Mammoth Site in Hot Springs we drove through Custer State Park. 

It is truly beautiful and has tons of wildlife which we could see from our car.  The buffalo were often alone, sitting by the road or eating, the antelope and deer were in 2's and 3's or in small herds.  The forest was amazing.  What I could have used where straighter roads, the turns were very tight and wound around the hillside and up and down - not so good for the previously mentioned sea sickness, but it was beautiful.

An eating buffalo.

A buffalo hid amongst the trees.

An antelope

Day 2 - The Mammoth Site

This is a really cool place - I thought of Andrew the entire time I was there and his love of dinosaurs. The site is that of an old sink hole that filled with warm water and then mammoths came, drank of its goodness and could not escape the slick sides of the whole so they died of starvation, drowning or fell and were hurt. The site is so cool - it was found when a developer began to bulldoze the site in preparation for homes and found the first bones. It was soon bought and the Mammoth site was developed. There is a lab and the whole and a museum. Kids can sign up to do a junior dig and learn all about unearthing the bones beneath. It was really amazing. All of the bones that have been found have been of males, mainly younger because they were rambunctious and would go to the edge of the hole, fall in and never escape. Very interesting! The Mammoths were mainly Columbian Mammoths. Below are some of the bones that have been found.

These are the tools that are used.

A pelvis bone.

Sideways footprints from when they fell in.

An almost complete skeleton.

This is Dallas (5'8") standing next to an actual size replica of the Columbian Mammoth - they were really big as you can tell.

This was really fun, cool, pretty cheap place, check it out.

Jewel Cave Pictures

I know that this is going to be out of order but you can handle it - I can't upload pictures but Windows Live Writer is working so a new post out of order is how you will have to see the caves. Here they are - the "jewels" are calcite deposits.

The things hanging down are called ribbons.