My students constantly keep me laughing with their funny comments and I've been trying to make sure I write them down so I remember and can even look back and read about them as a pick-me-up. I have a little boy in my first grade math class who struggles with a learning disability and because of that he usually doesn't get many problems right on the homework or tests, but lately he has been improving so much. Friday in class he brings his assignment up to me to check and the conversation goes as follows:

Student: "Teacher, how many did I get wrong?"

Me: "Two"

Student: "Two? Only Two?"

Me: "Yes"

Student: he turns around and says to himself "Wow, I'm living the dream!"

Another student: "That's my boy! You're just living the dream."

I love that this 6 year old student feels he has lived his dream and made it in life when he only gets two wrong on the assignment. I love the innocence of my first graders. Life was so much more simple when I was that age. How I miss it, especially when I'm around those kids.

In my second grade class I have an autistic boy who gets really frustrated that he can't read the passages quickly enough to pass them off when I time the class. On Friday I brought him back to a quiet place in the class away from everyone to try and pass off reading the passage and he did it! Finally! Another one of my students ran up to this boy and embraced him in a hug and said, "You're amazing! I knew you could do it! You're awesome!" I learn a lot everyday from these students about loving one another and how wonderful it was to be little and not realize the differences between people. That is the pure love of Christ. The rest of the day that sweet boy would continue to turn around and give the boy with autism a thumbs up and whisper "You're amazing!"

I LOVE MY KIDS!

In the midst of suffering and turmoil I have witnessed God's intimate awareness of me. These blessings amid our personal "Gethsemane" are a calming reminder that, although we may not know how much longer we have to faithfully endure, He is going to see us through all of this and one day maybe we will be able to look back and be grateful for all the learning we gained. I made a blessing jar and reading the blessings that have been poured upon me in just the last three weeks testify in and of themselves of the reality that God lives and is intricately involved and working in our lives.

1. a package of all my favorite candies sent by my best friend, Megan, along with a sweet note of encouragement

2. a beautiful bouquet of flowers sent by my school

3. strengthening texts from my closest friends

4. countless phone calls from my aunts and grandma filled with love and support

5. homemade jam and rolls dropped off on our doorstep by our sweet bishop's wife

6. a husband who has Christ-like patience with me and lets me take my time to get through my darkest days

7. a week off of work to recover with my mom and husband

8. my amazing mom coming up to take care of us for two weeks. . .we didn't have to lift a finger. . . she did the dishes, laundry, cleaning, and just gave us the company we needed.

9. powerful priesthood blessing given to us by our home teachers

10. finding the last caramel taffy at the bottom of the bag

11. a pot of daffodils brought over by my friend, Kelsey, and being able to watch them bloom over the last 2 weeks.

12. getting to eat at Cheesecake Factory and sushi with my family (my two favorite meals)

13. having an aunt that went through the same experience to talk me through everything and even answer my 3am phone call

14. My first week back at church having the hymns Be Still My Soul and Lead Kindly Light play and the words comfort me

15. getting facials with my mom

16. getting to see the premiere of Hunger Games with my family

17. My husbands perspective changing testimony that he bore in church

18. My best friend Jessica coming to visit

19. being forced by the spirit to bare my testimony in relief society and feel it start to heal me

20. having wonderful women in my ward that I can relate to

21. being fed and showered with gifts during teacher appreciation week

22. getting an anonymous note on my door telling me that my testimony was exactly what they needed to hear

23. being in the midst of conference weekend and having President Packer start off the session with a talk that specifically spoke of our immediate trial and President Eyring closing the session with a talk on how to endure our trials and then getting a text from my brother asking if we heard President Packer's talk because he knew it was just for us and feeling the exact same way! Miracle!

24. gaining a better understanding of the atonement

25. getting to do sealings with my husband a couple days ago and getting intense comfort and peace of mind

26. Neil A. Maxwell's book, All These Things Shall Be For Thy Experience. This book is so deep and insightful and is the first thing I have heard/read that has made me feel ok about my trials.

27. shopping at the Park City outlets with my family

28. getting to accompany my husband to his mission reunion...I love getting to hear all about his experiences and to see how much he was loved by everyone on his mission.

29. Jesse bringing home some of my favorite things: humus, blackberries, and poppy seed muffins.

Quite a lengthy list for such a short amount of time, but I know we have seen even more tender mercies in the last few weeks that I can't remember or forget to write down. Now I'm off to pick up a Cafe Rio salad to-go while Jess is at the priesthood session with Matt. Then we are all off to a late-night-date-night movie to see the Hunger Games for the second time. I'm so excited!

Warm weather in Utah lately equals bocce ball in the park with friends and drinking Sonic cranberry limeades outdoors.

This weekend was busy and packed full of activities, which I think added to the fact that I spent the whole night over the toilet with the flu. Friday we went with other couples in our ward to have dinner at our bishop's home. It was amazing food and fun conversation. It was a sweet experience to get to know our bishop and his wife better. Later that night Jesse and I went to the Jarman's new place and played a game over there. Saturday we ran some errands and then took advantage of the decent weather and broke out our croquet set at the park across the street. We played a few rounds of croquet with our friends and then met up for dinner at Magelby's. To end the night we all went bowling, which I couldn't enjoy much because by then the flu had already started to set in. Now I'm off to my school to prepare some sub plans for tomorrow so I can take the day off and rest and recoup.

Last weekend Jesse put his 10-year-old boy skills to work and made us a fork in the living room. We slept in there all weekend on top of our memory foam and watched movies. I fell asleep really early every night because I was exhausted, but it was fun to change it up a bit in our house.