Yesterday I was released from my calling as Primary President. I really enjoyed working with the children in the ward. I'm still going to make an effort to know their names and say hi to them at church, but it won't be the same.
This is also my last week at work. It feels like the right time to leave. I've worked there for 3 1/2 years, and it's been a big part of my life. I met Jeff through my boss at La Europa. I earned my Level 2 teaching license this past year. I have been part of a close knit faculty that has felt like extended family. I have had the wonderful opportunity to work with a variety of students. I feel like I've really had an impact on many of their lives, as they've had an impact on mine.
As Jeff and I prepare for Cosette's arrival, a lot of chapters of my life are ending. But I know I'm about to begin the most important chapter of my life: motherhood.
When my students asked me today why I'm not coming back to work after having the baby, I told them that it's because I've always wanted to be a stay-at-home mom. That's what I've always wanted to be "when I grow up." (So, I guess I'm officially grown up now.)
I know that I don't really understand what I'm in store for. But I'm looking forward to the mixture of challenges and joys that I know motherhood will bring.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Crib
I was really excited when Jeff put the crib together a few weeks ago (it was a very thoughtful Christmas gift for me). But after we bought the bedding, it feels more official. Here's a picture of what the bedding looks like. I love it because it's cute but not too girly.
Sometimes I like to go into the nursery at night and stroke the comfortor, imagining Cosette sleeping in the crib. It won't be too long now!
Sunday, January 2, 2011
New Car!
We are now the proud owners of a 2009 Ford Focus. It has about 13,500 miles on it.
At first we were fairly set on a Kia Forte - it looked great on paper - but decided against it after test driving it. It just didn't fit.
We went downtown in Salt Lake on Wednesday afternoon (the day our rental coverage ended) to test drive our future car. It's fuel efficient, reliable, and I LOVE the color. I have always secretly wanted a subtle metallic color. This shade is called light ice blue metallic. Jeff calls it Tinker Bell Blue, but I'm pretty sure he likes it, too. It's not too girly, right?
We thought it was kinda cool that the name of the place we bought it from was called Anderson Motor Co. We wondered if they'd give us an extra discount for having the same name... but no such luck. It was a small, family owned car lot that had good reviews online (we checked before we went), and I was very pleased with the service.
It started snowing while we were signing the papers, so we got to drive home on slippery roads. Fortunately, the car did just fine.
Here are some of our likes and dislikes. A lot of the dislikes stem from differences between our new car and our old car, so they're really just things we'll have to get used to.
At first we were fairly set on a Kia Forte - it looked great on paper - but decided against it after test driving it. It just didn't fit.We went downtown in Salt Lake on Wednesday afternoon (the day our rental coverage ended) to test drive our future car. It's fuel efficient, reliable, and I LOVE the color. I have always secretly wanted a subtle metallic color. This shade is called light ice blue metallic. Jeff calls it Tinker Bell Blue, but I'm pretty sure he likes it, too. It's not too girly, right?
We thought it was kinda cool that the name of the place we bought it from was called Anderson Motor Co. We wondered if they'd give us an extra discount for having the same name... but no such luck. It was a small, family owned car lot that had good reviews online (we checked before we went), and I was very pleased with the service.
It started snowing while we were signing the papers, so we got to drive home on slippery roads. Fortunately, the car did just fine.Here are some of our likes and dislikes. A lot of the dislikes stem from differences between our new car and our old car, so they're really just things we'll have to get used to.
Likes
- color
- how it handles - more "get up and go," wheel placement
- two sets of keys with remotes - the Toyota only had one
- has a button on the remotes for the trunk - our last car didn't have this
- driver's seat height is adjustable
- size of the trunk - a little larger than our last car, but the car length overall is shorter... how does that work?
Dislikes (Things we'll have to get used to)
- lights are not automatic - we actually didn't realize this until after we'd bought it... we got pretty used to having automatic lights in our last car
- no good storage space to put our sunglasses
- windshield wiper control - it's on the left instead of the right side of the steering wheel, you can't flick it to spray the windshield (if you flick it, it's the turn signal)
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Reflections
This past week has been full of ups and downs emotionally.
Let me go back to last Sunday. It was the day of our Christmas program in Sacrament meeting, which was scheduled to begin at 9:00. Jeff and I are both members of the Ward choir, who was providing the majority of the program, and we were supposed to be at the church at 8:00. We set our alarms to wake us up early, but then had a hard time getting out of bed. We were still pretty tired after my brother's wedding from the day before.
Suffice it to say, we didn't get to church until 8:40. We joined the choir in running through one or two songs, and then the prelude started. I had to go set up chairs in the Primary room. Jeff came and helped me, but then the 1st counselor in the bishopric had to pull me aside and talk to me about a few Primary matters. It was now 1 or 2 minutes before 9:00.
Unfortunately, I really needed to use the restroom, and I knew I wouldn't have an opportunity during Sacrament meeting. So I ended up missing the very beginning of the meeting and most of the opening song. I was pretty upset that I had to walk up to the stand while the congregation was still singing, because I felt really rude and irreverent. I felt really overwhelmed and almost broke into tears after taking my seat. I was also really exhausted from the activities of the past few days.
I really didn't want to cry, especially in front of the whole ward, so I took some deep breaths and tried to calm myself down. I reminded myself that I was participating in the Christmas program and wanted to help the congregation feel the Spirit. Then the thought crossed my mind that if the Savior was attending our Sacrament meeting, I would be able to calm myself down. After that thought I was finally able to pull myself together.
I was still a little moody during the program, though, and didn't feel the Spirit as I could have. As we approached the end of the meeting, it looked as though we would end about 10 minutes early. I started to worry about what this would mean in Primary and was only half paying attention as a man got up out of his seat among the bishopric and walked to the podium. I turned to look at him and thought, "Hey! That looks like Dallin H. Oaks." Then he started to speak, and I thought, "It even sounds like Elder Oaks."
Yep, I was a little slow... because it was Elder Oaks. I had been sitting a few seats away from an apostle of the Lord this entire time and hadn't even known it! I then remembered the thought I had earlier and realized that it had pretty much come to pass. An apostle is pretty close to having the Savior visit your Sacrament meeting. Apparently they had announced his presence at the beginning of the meeting, when I was in the restroom. I didn't notice him before I sat down because I was embarrassed and kept my eyes on the ground as I found my way to my seat.
It turned out that he didn't have any assignments that Sunday, and when that happens he always attends another ward. I think he knows my bishop - they have season tickets to the Symphony near each other or something like that - so he decided to come to our meeting.
It really put things in perspective for me. I really need to focus on what's most important and not get so caught up in my emotions. I've ridden several of these emotional rollercoasters this past week, and I find myself wanting to blame them on my pregnancy. It's nice to have an excuse, right? But I can still control my actions, and I can seek to be less reactive when I'm feeling emotional.
I'm grateful for Jeff's love, support, and understanding through all of this. But I really do want to do better. I can do better. I will do better.
Let me go back to last Sunday. It was the day of our Christmas program in Sacrament meeting, which was scheduled to begin at 9:00. Jeff and I are both members of the Ward choir, who was providing the majority of the program, and we were supposed to be at the church at 8:00. We set our alarms to wake us up early, but then had a hard time getting out of bed. We were still pretty tired after my brother's wedding from the day before.
Suffice it to say, we didn't get to church until 8:40. We joined the choir in running through one or two songs, and then the prelude started. I had to go set up chairs in the Primary room. Jeff came and helped me, but then the 1st counselor in the bishopric had to pull me aside and talk to me about a few Primary matters. It was now 1 or 2 minutes before 9:00.
Unfortunately, I really needed to use the restroom, and I knew I wouldn't have an opportunity during Sacrament meeting. So I ended up missing the very beginning of the meeting and most of the opening song. I was pretty upset that I had to walk up to the stand while the congregation was still singing, because I felt really rude and irreverent. I felt really overwhelmed and almost broke into tears after taking my seat. I was also really exhausted from the activities of the past few days.
I really didn't want to cry, especially in front of the whole ward, so I took some deep breaths and tried to calm myself down. I reminded myself that I was participating in the Christmas program and wanted to help the congregation feel the Spirit. Then the thought crossed my mind that if the Savior was attending our Sacrament meeting, I would be able to calm myself down. After that thought I was finally able to pull myself together.
I was still a little moody during the program, though, and didn't feel the Spirit as I could have. As we approached the end of the meeting, it looked as though we would end about 10 minutes early. I started to worry about what this would mean in Primary and was only half paying attention as a man got up out of his seat among the bishopric and walked to the podium. I turned to look at him and thought, "Hey! That looks like Dallin H. Oaks." Then he started to speak, and I thought, "It even sounds like Elder Oaks."
Yep, I was a little slow... because it was Elder Oaks. I had been sitting a few seats away from an apostle of the Lord this entire time and hadn't even known it! I then remembered the thought I had earlier and realized that it had pretty much come to pass. An apostle is pretty close to having the Savior visit your Sacrament meeting. Apparently they had announced his presence at the beginning of the meeting, when I was in the restroom. I didn't notice him before I sat down because I was embarrassed and kept my eyes on the ground as I found my way to my seat.
It turned out that he didn't have any assignments that Sunday, and when that happens he always attends another ward. I think he knows my bishop - they have season tickets to the Symphony near each other or something like that - so he decided to come to our meeting.
It really put things in perspective for me. I really need to focus on what's most important and not get so caught up in my emotions. I've ridden several of these emotional rollercoasters this past week, and I find myself wanting to blame them on my pregnancy. It's nice to have an excuse, right? But I can still control my actions, and I can seek to be less reactive when I'm feeling emotional.
I'm grateful for Jeff's love, support, and understanding through all of this. But I really do want to do better. I can do better. I will do better.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Sick
On Wednesday night my stomach was feeling a little off. Then when I woke up on Thursday I was feeling nauseous. At first I wondered if it had to do with my pregnancy. I haven't been sick like that for months (and I only threw up 3 times when I did feel nauseous at the end of the first and beginning of the second trimester), but I've heard that it can crop up later. So when I threw up around 9:00, the first thing I did was try and eat something, since that's what settled my stomach before.
Well, that was the wrong choice. I felt generally icky and was a little feverish, and I threw up again around lunch time. At this point I decided to call my doctor. I was worried that Cosette wasn't getting nourishment, and I wasn't sure what the best course of action was. I hoped that it was just some kind of 24 hour stomach flu and would pass quickly, but I didn't know if I needed to do anything special. They told me to stick to an all-liquid diet on Thursday, then a BRATS diet on Friday.
Cosette was NOT a happy girl. She is the most wiggly when it's time for me to eat, and let me tell you - she was pretty wiggly on Thursday and Friday. But I was grateful for her movements, because it let me know that she was still ok while I was getting this bug out of my system.
So I took the rest of the day easy on Thursday, sleeping and sipping water and apple juice. Right before bed I tried some jello that Jeff kindly made for me. Thursday night was no fun at all. I had a really hard time sleeping and my stomach was growling something fierce, but I was still nervous about eating. I did get up at one point and have some more jello, along with some applesauce and a plain roll, but I didn't dare eat more than that.
I was finally able to sleep for a few straight hours between 2 and 5, and it was wonderful! I felt a lot better when I woke up on Friday - no longer feverish and at least semi-hungry for food. I stuck to my BRATS diet during the day and didn't really have any symptoms besides being a bit tired and weak.
I was really glad to be feeling back to normal on Saturday, since that's the day my brother Kenneth got married. That's right - my week wasn't all bad! But that will have to wait for another post.
Well, that was the wrong choice. I felt generally icky and was a little feverish, and I threw up again around lunch time. At this point I decided to call my doctor. I was worried that Cosette wasn't getting nourishment, and I wasn't sure what the best course of action was. I hoped that it was just some kind of 24 hour stomach flu and would pass quickly, but I didn't know if I needed to do anything special. They told me to stick to an all-liquid diet on Thursday, then a BRATS diet on Friday.
Cosette was NOT a happy girl. She is the most wiggly when it's time for me to eat, and let me tell you - she was pretty wiggly on Thursday and Friday. But I was grateful for her movements, because it let me know that she was still ok while I was getting this bug out of my system.
So I took the rest of the day easy on Thursday, sleeping and sipping water and apple juice. Right before bed I tried some jello that Jeff kindly made for me. Thursday night was no fun at all. I had a really hard time sleeping and my stomach was growling something fierce, but I was still nervous about eating. I did get up at one point and have some more jello, along with some applesauce and a plain roll, but I didn't dare eat more than that.
I was finally able to sleep for a few straight hours between 2 and 5, and it was wonderful! I felt a lot better when I woke up on Friday - no longer feverish and at least semi-hungry for food. I stuck to my BRATS diet during the day and didn't really have any symptoms besides being a bit tired and weak.
I was really glad to be feeling back to normal on Saturday, since that's the day my brother Kenneth got married. That's right - my week wasn't all bad! But that will have to wait for another post.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
"A date which will live in infamy"
December 7th is a historical day in US history, "a date which will live in infamy" as said by Franklin Roosevelt concerning December 7th, 1941 - the day Pearl Harbor was bombed. Well, we have discovered that not only is it a day to remember in US history, but is also a day to remember in the Anderson Family history.
I now consider that day as our day of infamy. Allow me to explain. Tuesday was quite normal, in fact, mostly uneventful till evening. As part of my elder's quorum duties, my counselor and I decided to go out and visit members of the ward. We typically do this every Tuesday night. We met some others at the church building and then headed to an apartment complex to visit.
On the way there, I was driving along minding my own business, when almost out of nowhere a Lexus SUV missed a stop sign and slammed into the back of our car. I remember seeing the SUV coming and saying to my counselor, "What's that guy doing?!". Then BAM! We got spun around and landed up on a curb. Ambulances came after a person in a nearby house called 911.
I had a bad headache afterwards and it got worse while we were taking care of insurance/police business and so I had a friend take me to the ER (after we picked up Christine). They checked me out and didn't really find any serious damage. So we went home and went to bed. I had a headache the next morning, and now my back is occasionally sore, but otherwise I am happy that I wasn't hurt worse and that Christine was not in the car with me.
Now, here's the reason why I might now consider this our family date of infamy. A few days later, Christine and I were talking about the accident we had while we were dating and remembered it was also in early December. So we checked her journal and sure enough - December 7th. Probably just a strange coincidence, but Christine and I may have to look out for trouble on that day in the future.
Oh, here are some pictures of our wrecked car. We don't know if it will be a total loss, or if they will be able to repair it. You might see in the picture how bent the tire is, may be axle damage or frame damage. Hope to find out soon what the estimate is. Who knows... maybe we'll be getting a new car for Christmas.
I now consider that day as our day of infamy. Allow me to explain. Tuesday was quite normal, in fact, mostly uneventful till evening. As part of my elder's quorum duties, my counselor and I decided to go out and visit members of the ward. We typically do this every Tuesday night. We met some others at the church building and then headed to an apartment complex to visit.
On the way there, I was driving along minding my own business, when almost out of nowhere a Lexus SUV missed a stop sign and slammed into the back of our car. I remember seeing the SUV coming and saying to my counselor, "What's that guy doing?!". Then BAM! We got spun around and landed up on a curb. Ambulances came after a person in a nearby house called 911.
I had a bad headache afterwards and it got worse while we were taking care of insurance/police business and so I had a friend take me to the ER (after we picked up Christine). They checked me out and didn't really find any serious damage. So we went home and went to bed. I had a headache the next morning, and now my back is occasionally sore, but otherwise I am happy that I wasn't hurt worse and that Christine was not in the car with me.
Now, here's the reason why I might now consider this our family date of infamy. A few days later, Christine and I were talking about the accident we had while we were dating and remembered it was also in early December. So we checked her journal and sure enough - December 7th. Probably just a strange coincidence, but Christine and I may have to look out for trouble on that day in the future.
Oh, here are some pictures of our wrecked car. We don't know if it will be a total loss, or if they will be able to repair it. You might see in the picture how bent the tire is, may be axle damage or frame damage. Hope to find out soon what the estimate is. Who knows... maybe we'll be getting a new car for Christmas.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Changes on the horizon
I received a tutoring referral from the science teacher at my school. I met with Cassidy, a Pre-Calculus student, for the first time this past Thursday. And I can tell that I'm really going to enjoy tutoring her.
First off, she asked her mom for a tutor. It's always great teaching a student who wants to be taught, not someone who is being forced to sit through something their parents want for them.
Second, she asked a lot of questions. It's much more interactive and fun for me, and it's also easier to get to the root of the misunderstanding/confusion.
Third, I'm happy to expand to two students (I've been tutoring a Korean student now for the past two years). As I get closer to being at home full-time (I'm going to stop working at La Europa in mid-January, when the semester ends, and be a stay-at-home mom), it's nice to have a larger side income.
That's always been my plan: teach for a few years, stop when we start having kids, and tutor on the side for fun/earning an extra income. Plus, if I tutor in the evenings, I could leave Cosette with Jeff and be baby free for an hour or two each week. I've heard from several stay-at-home moms that this is a good idea.
So, that's my plan. It's actually been a blessing that I was cut to part-time at the beginning of the school year. It's allowed me to step down more gradually from full-time, to part-time, to staying at home all the time. I've realized that it's hard to stay motivated and get things done when you're home all day. It's harder than I thought it would be. So this has been a nice transition period to help me learn how to set goals and get things done at home, and also get used to not teaching. It's going to be hard leaving my students halfway through the year. I'm sure I'll blog more about that come January.
First off, she asked her mom for a tutor. It's always great teaching a student who wants to be taught, not someone who is being forced to sit through something their parents want for them.
Second, she asked a lot of questions. It's much more interactive and fun for me, and it's also easier to get to the root of the misunderstanding/confusion.
Third, I'm happy to expand to two students (I've been tutoring a Korean student now for the past two years). As I get closer to being at home full-time (I'm going to stop working at La Europa in mid-January, when the semester ends, and be a stay-at-home mom), it's nice to have a larger side income.
That's always been my plan: teach for a few years, stop when we start having kids, and tutor on the side for fun/earning an extra income. Plus, if I tutor in the evenings, I could leave Cosette with Jeff and be baby free for an hour or two each week. I've heard from several stay-at-home moms that this is a good idea.
So, that's my plan. It's actually been a blessing that I was cut to part-time at the beginning of the school year. It's allowed me to step down more gradually from full-time, to part-time, to staying at home all the time. I've realized that it's hard to stay motivated and get things done when you're home all day. It's harder than I thought it would be. So this has been a nice transition period to help me learn how to set goals and get things done at home, and also get used to not teaching. It's going to be hard leaving my students halfway through the year. I'm sure I'll blog more about that come January.
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