How I Got My New Teaching Job

When I stayed at my Grandma's place on my way up to Washington I got a phone call from a high school in Washington where I had applied to work. They wanted an interview. At first, I hesitated. I hadn't really wanted to apply for the job because teaching high school seemed less appealing to me than teaching junior high. I figured that since I'd applied, though, and that I didn't have a job lined-up for me yet, that I should probably agree to come in. So I did. I happened to be arriving in Washington the night before the day they were interviewing, so it worked out perfectly.

Several weeks before all of this took place, I interviewed over Skype for a job teaching at a middle school in Washington. For some reason, when I set-up the interview for the job, I felt like I shouldn't accept it if the ended up offering it, which was strange because it was where I thought I wanted to be. In the end, the middle school told me that they weren't interested. Though I was disappointed, I simultaneously felt relief because I didn't have to stress over whether or not my bad feelings about the position were from the Holy Ghost because I shouldn't take the job, or from my own feelings of inadequacy and being afraid of doing something new.

The way I felt hanging up after setting-up my interview with the high school was the exact opposite. Even though I had been wondering moments before in the middle of the phone conversation if I should even agree to interview because I didn't really want to teach in a high school, the moment I hung-up the phone, I felt really good about the job.

Fast-forward a few days, and that good feeling I'd received enabled me to perform with confidence in my interview. Three days later, they called me back and offered me the job. I said, "Yes!"

It was a stressful summer, applying for many Washington teaching jobs and feeling like nothing was happening and that I would be doomed to a boring job at McDonald's upon arriving there, but the Lord had a plan for me. He knew I would love teaching where I'm now at because of the wonderful staff and the good kids. I didn't know that though, and so it was frustrating at times. Part of me wonders if He purposefully waited for this job to be posted until the very end of summer so that He could try my faith and patience to see if I would keep searching and trying and praying and hoping even when it felt like I should give-up.

It's wonderful now, on those days when teaching is hard, to remember that I'm where the Lord wants me. I feel like since He helped me get here, He'll also help me make it through. More than that--He'll help me be successful, learn, and come out on top. Things that go according to His plan always go better than things that go according to my plan. I'm grateful to know that the Lord has a plan for my life and I know that I'm the happiest when I seek to know what it is and to follow it.

My Visit with Grandma, Grandpa, and Janet

After graduation, I left Jon behind in Provo and started making my way up to Washington. Instead of going the whole way all at once, however, I decided to make a stop in Boise, Idaho for a few days to visit my grandparents and my Aunt Janet. Since Kate had been at graduation and was making the same journey, she was able to join us! Over the few days we spent there, we played cards, ate yummy food, crocheted, watched "Mom's Night Out," went on a walk, and made some crafts.

One of the highlights for me was having Grandpa help me make a birthday board out in his shop. I loved it because it saved me so much money (he has every tool imaginable in his shop), but even more because I have one more thing to help me think of my grandpa when I look at it.

I love time with family! The older I get, the more I realize that family's what it's all about. I'm grateful that Heavenly Father has blessed me with such an amazing family.

Our Surprise Goodbye Party

The past month has been full of blessings for Jon and I! As my last post said, in mid-August both he and I officially graduated from BYU. Marking that off our bucketlist created a chain of new and exciting things in our lives.

Last winter, with Jon's graduation in sight, he figured he might as well try applying for jobs to see if he could get anything. If he didn't, it was fine because I was planning on staying to teach at the school I was interning with at the time and Jon figured he would wait until December to graduate and get a business minor. After what felt like an unpromising phone interview, Jon was surprised when he got called back to schedule a skype interview with a trucking company. He did the interview, and once again we were surprised when they called to offer him a job! It wasn't what we had been planning on, but after talking and praying about it, we decided to accept the offer. This new job set us off to Tacoma, Washington!

And so the past few weeks have been filled with all the fun and craziness of relocating and beginning a life somewhere new. There's so much to say about what has happened throughout these weeks, so rather than posting about it all at once, I'm going to break the events into individual posts and post about them over the next few days.

First, to see us off some of our good friends held a surprise going away party! We had planned a date night with our very good friends, Rylin and Shayla, and they decided to surprise us by inviting many of our good friends to join them in saying goodbye. We spent the time by playing minute to win it games (I think Jon beat me at every one) and playing cards. They even all signed a huge poster for us! It felt so awesome to know that we were loved and would be missed by the friends we were leaving behind in Provo. I'm so grateful to each of them for their love and for being a part of our lives!

Jon and Jacob (Jon's roommate):

Jess (Jon's FHE sister and someone I used to visit teach) and Joseph (Jon's roommate):

What happens when Jacob gets your camera:

Jon beating me at a minute-to-win-it game:

Shayla trying to win a game (I'm pretty sure she did win this one):

Shayla (a friend from Campus Plaza) and I:

Rylin and Shayla (the couple we hung out with more than anyone else once we were married), Jon, and I:

Thanks again, everyone!