California here we come!

I ended my first block of student teaching with a bang! Such a great class, I loved every one of them! They really taught me a lot, and I felt like a real teacher. 

Here's a funny story for you. I have a strict NO NOTES policy in the class (especially because I have two 'mean' girls who can write really interesting notes). I noticed one girl was walking around the class, and I finally saw she had a note in her hand.  So of course I stopped her and told her that she knows there isn't notes in this class and that I was disappointed in her. She held up the note and this is what I saw:

I felt so bad! Poor girl was doing something so sweet for me! So there's one of those FAIL moments as a teacher, but oh well. 

Moving

The last thing I watched as we drove out of the valley was the mountains. How I’m going to miss those beautiful, tall mountains that surround the valley like a big hug. I cried a little as we drove away. I’ve lived in Utah for 22 years. Each move I’ve made hasn’t been far, and I’ve always had my family near by. I guess I’ve been spoiled until now.

The drive was pretty long but made livable because of Harry Potter on CD and talking with Brent. We got to stop in Lake Tahoe with Brent’s cousin for the night which was an awesome way to break up the trip. She even took us out to the lake in the morning! Then it was off again on the road.

California is in a drought right now, so we were a bit amazed at how dry it was. Thankfully we found our apartment and our Bishop got some men from the ward to unload us. The elders came too and it was fun to see them. One of them is from Pleasant Grove, which is the town next to my parents.

I was very overwhelmed and felt completely alone and scared. New place, new everything! We had actually never seen our apartment before we got there. Thank heavens it was quite nice and turned out to be bigger than we had thought.

We had a place lined up, but it fell through. So two weeks before we were supposed to move we were trying to find a place. It was so scary because we didn’t know what the ghetto areas were and where we would be safe. So dad told us to call bishops in the area. We called seven bishops and none answered. I prayed so hard the whole time Brent called. The next day one bishop called Brent back and said, “you’re in luck, I manage an apartment complex right across the street from our church. It is expensive…but it is safe and nice.” I was so excited! So without looking at it we got it. Talk about a leap of faith…

The day after we moved here the next-door lady invited us over. She is from Sri Lanka and is a convert of four years. She said she was so worried about who would move in next door because she is a single mother and wanted to be safe. The missionaries here fasted and prayed for her to get good neighbors. And she got us! Isn’t it cool how the lord works? We needed an apartment, and she needed us.

She has been a huge help to us. Bringing us food and all kinds of stuff. I babysit her daughter for her sometimes in return. I don’t have pictures yet, but it’s a pretty nice place. We like our ward; it is very different though. We also met a couple in our ward where the husband is also going to Brent’s school. They are amazing, and it was so nice to finally get friends.

I’m back in Utah to finish my student teaching, leaving Brent for five weeks. It has been pretty hard and it’s only been a week! I can't believe all the preparation needed for the start of a school year. But I loved writing the name tags and putting up the cute decorations. I can't wait to meet my next batch of students! 

Sick days/weeks

Well, the semester is winding down, my very LAST semester at BYU. I don't even get to enjoy it because I have been so sick for the last 13 days. Just in time for finals I got a who knows what illness. Brent left for the weekend to visit a chiropractic school and left me alone and very helpless. It's times like these that I thank Heavenly Father that my family lives close by and that I have an amazing, self-less, honorary nurse mom. She took me to their house where I slept, required a lot of attention when my fevers got bad, and read books. I am so grateful for them because I honestly don't think I could have kept myself alive on my own.

When Brent got back he took over my care, and the care of the house, and food, and everything. I feel awful but I don't have the energy to do anything but sit around and nap. He has been wonderful about it and hasn't complained or gotten annoyed with my illness, thank heavens.

I honestly don't know how I did on my finals. I didn't really study for them. I have gotten to the point where I don't care, and my priorities are a bit different. I have one more to go and it should be fine. I also start teaching next week. I am praying that I will get better before then. Right now, I walk up a flight of stairs and feel like I ran a mile, and sound like it too. I've lost 10 lbs in two weeks because I have no appetite. That's possibly the only positive out of the illness. Yep, definitely.

I got assigned fourth grade for my TELL student teaching, which is wonderful because I just finished my practicum in fourth grade. So I really know what to expect; sass and all. It's a wonderful age, but I'm really worried because I'll be working with the english language learners. This means a lot of planning and a lot of supporting.

Easter was wonderful, we spent it at my parents house. I couldn't eat much, but we had fun hiding the eggs over and over again. That has always been one of my favorite things to do at easter. The other is obviously remembering Christ. The church came out with a wonderful video on Christ that everyone should see:    https://www.lds.org/youth/video/because-of-him?lang=eng 

Life is moving on whether I am ready or not. Our college years are done. I finish student teaching in August, and I will be done. Brent starts chiropractic school in San Francisco in July. We'll be living there for the next three years. Who knows when a baby will come into play, or if we'll financially make it through the next few years, or what my job will be etc. But one thing is clear. I have a wonderful family that supports and loves us, I have a Christ and Heavenly Father that I can always turn to and who will always help me, and I have a wonderful husband who is the logic behind my crazy. So I guess we'll make it.

Hard Work and a bit of Pixie Dust

 In December I went to a doctor to find out why I couldn't lose weight. It was a rather drastic measure for me to take, but I was very hopeless after months of healthy eating and activity that lead to more and more pounds piling on. After some investigation, I found out that I have PCOS (Polycystic ovary syndrome). It's just as much fun as pronouncing its name. I was given a medication to help subtract the symptoms PCOS gives you, one of them being weight gain, yay. A lot of women with PCOS can get type II diabetes, and that's not something I plan on experiencing.

Since then, I have been working hard and exercising my butt off (literally) to try to get myself healthy again. Today, I cried a little in the gym when I got on the scale. Contrary to what everyone around me was thinking, they were tears of joy!! I've lost 12 pounds since December 20th and have gone down a pant size. Ahhh the joy of success after hard work. Right now you can mostly tell in my arms, face, and legs. 10 more to go and it should show in my stomach too.

Here is me in August 2013...I still shudder when I look at my chipmunk cheeks...

Here is today! Literally right after my workout...so forgive the exhausted sweaty look. 

Peasant Wife

Brent and I got a gift certificate to a fancy italian restaurant in town. The food was amazing, especially the homemade sauces. I got a bit inspired and have been obsessed with making italian food lately.
Sadly...pasta is really hard to make by hand. The mixing part is fine, but rolling it out takes some serious muscle. I would usually be sweaty and panting after it. So we used some money from our wedding (yeah...we still have some) to buy a pasta roller/cutter. It has been so amazing! Nothing beats fresh pasta and fresh sauce.

Brent came home from his church meetings yesterday and laughed at me. He called me his 'peasant wife'. I guess kneeling on the floor barefoot with floor all over you makes a person a peasant.

In other news, I never posted about the trip my family made during Christmas Break! We got to go to Arizona then Bryce Canyon. It was beautiful, and we had so much fun as a family. It was our last trip before Taylor went on his mission. My parent's surprised all of us with a helicopter ride through the canyon...pretty special! So here is a collage.

 (doesn't this one look like a sideways face?)

 (wahoooo!!!!)

Snowboarding

So Brent did a summer sales job last year. The only good thing (besides some money I guess) that came of that job is we got two tickets for an all day pass at a snow resort. Brent has been snowboarding for awhile, but I've never been. So we went snowboarding!

It was actually really frustrating. I biffed it off the snow lift the first time and was unable to get up for a long time. Mostly because it is impossible to get up. I had my good little cry then Brent came over and picked me up. He helped teach me for three hours until I'd had enough. 

It was really fun, and I was starting to get a hang of it, but I was so tired. It is a really good workout. I have been pretty passionate about learning to speak Spanish, so I went into the car and practiced on our ipad while Brent did his own thing on the slopes. We had a great day! 

Froberg Christmas (better late than never)

I know Christmas was over a month ago, and I'm only JUST getting to talking about it, but hey, I'm going to blame school.

We spent Christmas with Brent's family. I have spent the last three Christmas breaks with his family, which actually really surprised me. Three whole years! I know it's silly but I really miss my family's traditions and being with them. However, this year was really wonderful at the Frobergs. I've known them for a few years now, but this was the first year I felt like I belonged in the family. Not sure what changed, probably just in my head.

The airplane ride was short and sweet (for a person like me, who can't stand being in a car longer than 20 minutes, it was heaven). However, we ran into trouble when someone took our bag. We had to wait for a while until the airport called him and had him come back to switch bags. Brent's sister and brother-in-law had to wait the whole time...poor people.

We were greeted by a bunch of snow! We had so much fun with Brent's nephews and niece playing in the snow.

 Isn't Brent going to be a great dad?? yay!

Emmett spent most of the time throwing snowballs at me. 

With a cute face like that...I could get a whitewash and not get mad!

'Bama' watched from the sidelines.

The kids were loving sledding.

Later that week we went on a hike to point Whitehorn. The kids were so fun! Carson was always racing ahead with the 'big' boys to hide and scare us. 

Brent and I had a wonderful time with family and couldn't have asked for a better Christmas break.

Looking Back: Labor Day

Well, teaching is over: I cried. I loved my kids like they were my own children. They all wrote a note to me that my mentor teacher bound in a book for me. They were so wonderful, my favorites saying things like: I like Mrs. Froberg because she's beautiful, or I like Mrs. Froberg because she helps me, I like Mrs Froberg because she always smiles at me. It's nice to know that I didn't scar or ruin any children, so I take that as a sign I can keep going.

Now, I told you guys that I had a million pictures, just no time to blog about them. So here's a quick look back at one.

Labor Day Weekend

We went with my family and some long time family friends to Idaho. We always camp at this river each year. Our friends always bring tubes and a canoe and float the river for a few hours. It is beautiful, isn't it?

Brent had too much fun with my brothers. He taught them how to catch some sucker fish with their hands and the boys thought he was a superhero. I was just glad to see he had some survival tactics up his sleeve if we ever needed it. I would need to have gone three days without food to eat it first though.

We had our cute little 2-man tent next to my parents. That thing if smaller than our bed at home. Seriously. At least we were snug and warm. 

We spent Labor Day at Yellowstone National Park. It was way too busy, but we got to see some cool hot springs which is all I wanted anyway. 

Old Faithful. Still faithful. 

It was a wonderful trip, I love camping with my family. There is always some fun games going on, or music, or teasing, or really good food. All activities I love.