Brandon and Mandy's Journey to Forever- Year 2

Today marks the 2 year anniversary of our wedding anniversary! It's so crazy to think that it's already been that long! Time flies! Anyways, these past two years have been the best years of my life. I can't even imagine how my life would be without Brandon in it. It's crazy how a quick seven months can change the rest of your life, because that's what happened when I first met Brandon.

I'm so grateful to have Brandon in my life! He's the most perfect match for me. I love how he knows just how to make me feel like his Princess and makes sure that I'm taken care of. I appreciate all that he does for me, such as going to work and going to school too.

Most of all, I'm grateful that Heavenly Father knew exactly what we needed, and that was each other. Although it seemed to be a coincidence, it was a blessing in disguise that I snatched him!! Elder Dallin H. Oaks once said, "A coincidence is a miracle where God chooses to remain annonymous." and I totally agree!

I love you Brandon and am excited to see what the future has in store for us!

Summer Gone, Bring it on Fall!

What a summer it has been! Brandon and I have been so busy whether it be school or work. We finished our summer semester at the U and are preparing for the fall semester to begin on Monday. Don't worry, we were able to have a 2 week break before then.

I will be starting my Junior year of college and Brandon will be starting his Senior year. It's a great feeling when you can start to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I keep telling myself to "Just keep swimming", and Brandon is my Coach too.

I also realized that we don't have too many pictures posted up of us. I will work on that for the next blog. It is way overdue, so I won't disappoint.

Lessons Learned

I learned a big lesson the other day. You know how sometimes in church or in General Conference there are a few talks or lessons that you felt spoke to you? Well, I had such an experience.
We talked about how sometimes we may all like to judge people and just vent to others about other people (a-hem...gossiping). Well, this sweet sister in the RS said something that stuck to me. She said, "At times, you feel like yelling at a person for their negligence or for whatever they did, but who are we to judge?" I really agree with her about that. I know that I have my fair share of gossiping and yes, I do jump to conlusions a times and judge a person, but I'm going to work on not doing that anymore.
I felt bad after she said that because she was right, and I know I need to change.

Other than that, I'm heading to my home, California! My cousin is having her Quinceanera, so I'm going down. It will be so nice to see all my family that I haven't seen in over two years, but I will feel half empty. Why you say? Well, my Brandon won't be coming with me. He just got promoted as Supervisor at UPS, so he can't miss any days so soon. It would make him look unprofessional. Anyways, I will be fine. I love my husband, and I'm going to try a little harder to be a little better.

Summer Classes Round II

Well, today is my last day for my first two classes of the summer. It was intense and time consuming considering that I learned things that should normally take up to three months and I did it in a month and a half. So I can breathe now, but only for five days!
The next batch of classes that I'm taking are: Intro. to Multicultural Education, Elementary Science Methods, and Integrating Technology into Classrooms II. These will also be very demanding, as they too will only go until the 5th of August. So, I will be a busy bee for the rest of the summer pretty much. Is it worth taking classes in the summer? Absolutely! I love the fastness of the classes because it helps me remember what I learned. I also save myself time when these classes are condensed. It sounds crazy, but it was good.
On a lighter note, Brandon and I have 30 channels on our tv! Considering using an antenna thing and a converter box, we are in pretty good shape! Besides, it sure does beat having to pay 50-90 bucks a month for cable! Well, the good thing is that we have the Univision channel, which is a Spanish channel where they show world cup soccer games. The commentators are a lot more animated and some of the things they say are so funny! Anyways, go Mexico, Chile, and of course, USA!

Spring/Summer happenings

I'm going to Summer School! Taking five classses worth 13 credits and working right on top. To top that off, I'm going to begin tutoring two little girls once a week for two hours in teaching them Spanish! Lets just say I've got my work cut out for me and I'm happy. Yes, you can call me crazy for going to school full time for the summer, but I'm happy with the decision I've made because I'll becloser to finishing up with my degree.
Other than that, Brandon and I moved into our new apartment and loving it! It's small and humble, but it's perfect for us and the best part is that we didn't have to move out of our ward, which we love. I will let you know how my two 4-week classes go. I will be done with them on the 24th of June, but start my two other classes on the first week of June. YEEEEEE HAAAAAWW!!!! Wish me luck amigos!!!

Teacher Professionalism

Today I had my second to last final in my Integrating Music into the Classroom course. For my final, we had to create a 20-25 min. lesson plan that includes an original composition of a song and incorporates standards in the Utah core curriculum. I decided to teach my lesson on Haiku poems.

As I was up in the front teaching the lesson, I realized how cold some of my classmates were. They were animated with other people's teaching presentations, but I really felt I was speaking to a wall the majority of the time. It was pretty much horrible! I will mention one girl in the class who casually decided to step out of the class for the majority of my lesson and came back when I was almost done with my lesson. Was that all she did? OF COURSE NOT! While all of the other students were writing their own Haiku poems and almost ready to present them, she had the nerve to ask in a very rude, and inconsiderate way, "Do we really have to present our poems to the class?" (mind you, there's only 14 of us in the class...including the teacher!!) So being the bigger person, I told her nicely that she didn't have to read hers aloud.

After I finished my lesson, I felt like I was two feet tall. It was a beautiful disaster. In my hopes that my lesson was going to work fantastically, it didn't. =(

Not only that, but the same ladies who were being so rude during my lesson had the nerve to make fun of another classmate's music composition. At this point, my blood was boiling.

After I got out of the class, I called my Mom, cried my eyes out about how my lesson turned out and how rude some of the girls were. That was when I realized a few things after talking to my mom:

1. There are a few people out there who still live in their own little ho-dunk, clickey la la land that have no courtesy toward other's work and don't show respect.

2. I am the only minority in the class. I'm sure seeing a Mexican in their class may make them feel like I won't do well because there aren't very many Latin/Hispanic education majors, so they don't participate in my lesson because I am who I am.

3. I will run into people who won't like me for who I am, so I can't let that stop me from reaching my future goals.

I think the only thing that I needed to worry about was the comments my teacher made, and he actually loved my song! However, it worries me how some of these future educators in my class treated me today. If they don't like minority groups, they better find a different career because they will certainly have diverse students in their classrooms whether they like it or not.

I think they ought to eat a huge slice of humble pie to open their eyes. What do you think?

Bzz, Bzzz, Busy busy Bumble Bees!!!!

I love my familia!

We are a little past the midpoint of the Spring semester and things couldn't get any busier with school and work. I guess I should have reconsidered taking less than 5 classes per semester, huh? Other than that, things are going goooood. Brandon is still with UPS and I'm still at the elementary school. LIFE IS GOOD!

This is my beautiful and Momma Bear and I at the fiesta celebrating the birthdays of my sisters and I back in February. In case you didn't notice, I also went back to my brunette ways and I love it! What do you think?

I love this man. I'm happy to say he is mine forEVER!

The birthday girls. L to R: Angie (Twinkie no.1), me, and Nellie (Twinkie no.2)

For those of you who don't know, since Angie and Nellie are twins, we call them, "Twinkies" since Twinkies come in a pack of 2. Ya dig?