ONE YEAR!

I can't believe it's already been a whole year!

Year one has been wonderful. 

We've learned a lot of good things about each other-and some funny things too.

Here are some things Ty learned about me he may not have known a year ago...

I frequently sleep talk/giggle and steal all the covers

I leave cupboard doors open

I am ALWAYS a right-side sleeper.

And some things I learned about him....

He eats a LOT (especially cereal...can't even have enough of it!)

He is incredibly patient with my weird quirks

He sings loudly in the shower

He is always encouraging, uplifting, and supportive in stressful/hard situations

He is a wonderful husband and perfect for me in every way. 

Here are our answers to these questions for year #1:

Our most embarrassing moment:

T: Trying to make chik-fil-A sandwiches and completely charring the chicken

K: Have our underwear displayed all over the road after our accident

Our favorite thing to do:

T: Frisbee golf

K: Cooking, walks, cuddling up and reading

Our biggest worry:

T: Katy getting a job, deciding on medical schools, taking the mcat

K: Getting a teaching job, surviving student teaching and graduating

Our happiest time:

T: Our honeymoon

K: Everyday! But especially the summer

Our favorite place:

T: Christmas Meadows, Capitol Reef, Park City

K: Park city, Jolley's Ranch

Our biggest goal:

T: Surviving o-chem and getting into med school

K: Graduating, getting a teaching job, family scripture study and prayer everyday!

Our saddest time: 

T: Losing guppy, the faithful car

K: The car accident 

Happy one year to us! I love you Tyler Okelberry!! :)

BYU Reminiscing

It's graduation time!! I honestly can't believe my time at BYU is ending. Where did those 4 years go?? (Okay, technically 5) It still went so fast. In many ways I still feel like I was a freshman yesterday, but I have changed and grown so much.

One thing I can say is that I have 0 regrets. I put my whole heart into BYU during my time here. I studied, worked hard, became a competent teacher, worked at the library, held callings, attended devotionals, grew spiritually, went to parties, stayed up late laughing with roomates, made life-long friendships and so much more.

First of all, I AM GOING TO BE A REAL TEACHER. Ahh! I am so grateful for the BYU education program. Although I didn't love all my teachers, I met some of the most inspirational and wonderful teachers that have become good mentors and friends to me. Each of my mentors pushed me in a way I needed to help me become the teacher I am today. I am so grateful to them! And to each of the cute students I got to work with in my practicums and student teaching experiences.

I believe that we have the people in our lives that we do for a reason. I made some of my best friends during my time at BYU.



First, this girl. I met Nicole my freshmen year at BYU and we bonded instantly over our mutual love for ice cream, Jane Austen movies, and cookies and cream milk. Nicole is one of the most loyal, thoughtful, and fun people I know and I am so lucky to have met her!! (Even though I make fun of her country side ;))

My sophomore year I roomed with these awesome girls:



I got to live with my amazing friends Mere, Missy, and Lauren from high school who also introduced me to Andrea and Emily who became fast friends. Andrea and Emily are pretty much the same person: so fun, friendly, and kind! We had some crazy fun times!



This year was characterized by dinner group, frequent scare attacks on Katy, dance parties, and tons of laughter.

The next year I got to live with these two goofballs:



Although at first Missy and I were skeptical of having a freshmen roomate (love you Erica!!), we quickly bonded over our mutual love of just dance!  We lived in the same complex with all the old roomates so there were still plenty of good times and sleepovers...just with even more friends added!





I am SO glad life gave me a second chance at becoming friends with this goof:



Although Missy and I were friends in high school, she truly became one of my very best friends during our days at Casa Dea. We went on so many adventures in her little yellow bug! We ate way to much frozen yogurt, watched too many episodes of Merlin, and belly laughed constantly.



So happy she is now home from her mission and lives not too far away!! Later Missy and I got to room with these 2 adorable girls:



Kassie and Brynn became such good friends during that year! Later I got to be an EFY counselor with Kassie which was a blast! She has always been someone I could talk to and rely on, and now she is married and has an adorable baby!



I know that Heavenly Father gives us second chances to become friends with people. The next year, Missy left to go on her mission and I moved in with this wonderful girl:



Caitlin had been in my ward at the Elms, and although I knew of her we weren't that close. Thanks goodness we got another chance! Sometimes I feel like Caitlin and I are the same person. We are both education majors. We both LOVE Downton Abbey. We both love reading the same books. Cait is a true friend. She is a good listener and gives the best advice. In fact if it weren't for her expert advice, I might not be married
right now. We had so much fun and I met so many amazing people that semester!









I love that as the years went on, I made new friends, but kept the old ones too. It just felt like my circle of friends kept expanding to fit all of these amazing girls. During my last days at Casa Dea I met Sarah and Hilary, two of my very best friends.





These two girls were such good examples to me! They are so talented, hardworking, and such good friends. Also, Hilary and David give excellent dating advice. And are good at killing mosquitos ;)

I also met many amazing friends while working at the Harold B. Lee library for 4 years!







There are so many others I'm missing, let's just say I met SO many wonderful people who have blessed my life during my time at BYU. Thank you to you all, because of you I have truly been changed for good.







Friends make life sweet :) I know that wherever life takes us, we will always be friends.

Recognizing the Lord's hand

Now that student teaching is over I have much more time to do things that I enjoy. Yesterday I finished reading this book:



It was amazing! I couldn't put it down and ended up reading it in two days. (although if you know me I guess you would know that's not altogether unheard of :)) It's the story of a Muslim man who ends up converting to Christianity, and eventually to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Warning: it is a little graphic at parts, put his story and ultimate change is very inspiring.

The thing I liked about this book the most is the focus on finding the Lord's hand in our lives. This man had absolutely horrible things done to him. Like Joseph in the Old Testament, he was imprisoned for a crime he did not commit. He spent fifteen years in an Egyptian prison in the very worst of conditions. Through it all he never forsook his testimony of Christ. Even though he was not delivered from his terrible circumstances right away, he took notice of the ways that God was supporting and sustaining him.

Sometimes, God allows us to pass through trials for our own good. Like Elder Bednar said in conference a couple weeks ago, our trials and loads give us the "spiritual traction" that we need to make it back to Him. This man's trials led him to Christianity, and to his ultimate conversion to the church. This book inspired me to look for the little ways that I can see the Lord's hand in my life daily. I would highly recommend it!

Things I want to keep from Mrs. Boman's Class

I just a month in Mrs. Boman's fourth grade classroom at Geneva Elementary. It was a wonderful experience. She has become a good mentor and has shown me how a really great teacher works. There are a lot of things I want to keep with me from Mrs. Boman's class so I thought I would write them all down so I won't forget when I have my own classroom. :)

1. Reading and Writing WITH students: There are two things Mrs. Boman did that I loved! One, when the students came in in the morning, she wrote in her journal with them on the ELMO. I love this because first, she doesn't ask them to do anything she won't do herself. She writes with them and helps them feel more motivated to write. The second reason I love this is that she is modeling good writing! She models what she wants it to look like, and gives the kids an insight into her life at the same time. She also had a poster where she showed the kids what books she is reading. I love this because they can see that she is always reading too! She tells them all about what she's reading, and what she thinks about it, and if they should read it too.
2. To go along with this, I love her book circles. Everyday after the silent reading time, she brings the kids back to talk about their books. She emphasizes that reading is thinking and that while the students are silent reading, they should be thinking! Making predictions, thinking about character traits, making inferences, asking questions, etc. She calls these "buzzes" and the students share their buzzes when they come back and talk about their books. She also tells them what she is reading and a thought she had about her book.
3. Music! Mrs. Boman always plays music when the students are writing in their journals. It sets such a calm, peaceful feeling to the morning and the kids love it. She will also sometimes put music on while they are working or give them the choice if they want music or not.
4. Kareoke for fluency. Every other Friday Mrs. Boman lets the kids do kareoke to practice their fluency (accuracy, speed, rate). The day before she lets them submit songs they want, and she reviews the lyrics to see if they are appropriate. She bought a guitar hero microphone online and plugs it into her laptop, and runs it with a program called something-line (need to check with her on that). She has made a youtube playlist with all the songs they can sing and she pulls sticks to see who sings. They are allowed to bring two friends, and everyone has to be singing along even though they are not standing up.
5. Mini Lessons for Reading/Literacy: Everyday Mrs. Boman teachers a 20 minutes mini lesson on a literacy topic that the students need practice on. She uses Big books to have shared reading, and she uses graphic organizers to pull information out of the books and display it visually. Ex: compare & contrast, cause & effect, etc.
6. Brain Breaks. Before any major subject (math) she has her students stand up and spread out. Then she leads them in some kind of brain break to get them moving and stretching and ready to focus again. She also has the students give her jumping jacks if they yawn or are not participating during math.
7. Compliments/Questions after sharing in math. She says it's important to train them to ask good questions and give good compliments, not just I like your pen color. It may take a lot of modeling, praising, etc.
8. Tickets for good behavior. She gives tickets randomly throughout the day for good behavior, the kids write their names on them and put them in a jar. On Friday, she draws some names and those kids get prizes.
9. Learning Objectives. They read their learning objectives in different voices: tired, deep, excited, pirate, etc. Tickets for kids who memorize goals. She has them repeat them over and over so they can really get the concept.
10. Lets kids pick their guided reading books. Give them choices between several different books that are all still on their level.
11. Enthusiastic! Levels of volume when she talks, whispers when she really wants them to pay attention. Have fun with it!
12. Friday surprise. Each week she has a Friday surprise to motivate the students to have good behavior, those who don't sit out. It can be as big as extra recess, playing in the snows, etc, or treats, a hug, etc.
13. Read aloud! Always wonderful :)
14. Warning, star, loss of recess.

Well this is all I remember for now. It really was a wonderful experience to be in Mrs. Boman's classroom. She is an awesome teacher and I hope I can have a caring and safe classroom just like hers is.