Time sure flies...

when your baby could arrive any day! I will be 38 weeks tomorrow!

So much has happened since my last post and I will try to get up to speed before the baby comes. At the beginning of May, Jeff and I celebrated my 25th birthday! I am now a quarter of a century old. Nothing like adding the word "century" in there to make you feel young. I was on an airplane recently and was sitting next to two cute girls that I totally thought were around my age. Then, I overhear them talking about high school and their plans for the summer and I had a "When did I get OLD?" moment. I have a husband, whom I've been married to for 3 years, and I am about to have a baby!! Turns out those high school days were a while ago. Oh well, I'm still young at heart. And I'm actually pretty glad those high school days were a while ago!!

Anyway, I've digressed. For my birthday, Jeff decided to surprise me by making dinner. He knows my weakness for fish tacos and made them with a delicious corn/lime salsa. Then we headed to "Seussical the Musical." I admit it was not Jeff's favorite, but he was a good sport about it!

May also brought the end of my last year of teaching. On the last couple of days of school, we had grade-level party with parachutes (remember those?), water balloons, and a gigantic tug-of-war rope. I am proud to say that my class dominated and was undefeated in tug-of-war! We had our annual red carpet last-day-of-school party and I kept it together pretty well! I only teared up a little bit at the very end. It's always a good feeling when the bell rings on the last day signaling the start of summer vacation and your students are still hugging you, writing messages on your white board, and saying they don't want it to end.

One of my whiteboards on the last day of school. I've blocked out their phone numbers that they wrote down. That always cracks me up. Can you imagine? "Oh hi, Mrs. Jones. This is Mrs. Goold. Can I talk to Samantha? Yeah, I just wanted to know if she could play today."

I know I've said this before, but I will always say it. Teaching is one of the most difficult and most fulfilling callings (because I truly believe it is a calling) one can receive. I have so enjoyed being with my 4th graders for these past 2 and 1/2 years - exploring, creating, learning, teaching, and being overwhelmed with gratitude for the experience. My patient husband has not been overly fond of my job at certain points in our marriage because of the sheer amount of time it takes (which is not helped by my perfectionist streak) -- and yet, he has been so helpful and supportive. He's come into the classroom, graded countless papers, and assisted me in a wide variety of projects, from making bags and bags of salt dough to be used in creating maps of Utah, to filling up water balloons, to helping me test scientific experiments at home to make sure they work!

It was hard for me to pack up my classroom.

I have so many tender memories that were made in that room. Some endearing and sweet, some ridiculously funny, and some difficult. I was so grateful for the opportunity to reflect on all of them as I sorted through files, notes from students, and other odds and ends I've collected. I removed my nameplate from the door and walked down to my facilitator's room to turn in my keys.

As I set them on her desk, tears welled up in my eyes. She looked at me and said, "Wait- is that what I think this is? Are you all finished packing up?" When I nodded (since emotion made speaking impossible at that point), she teared up as well saying, "I wasn't ready for this today!" My facilitator and principal are also saying goodbye to our dear Sunset View Elementary this year and it has seemed surreal to all of us. In fact, my facilitator and I just shared a hug and then said "So we'll have lunch together soon?" since we definitely don't "do" goodbyes.

As bittersweet as it is to leave my school and beloved job, I am immeasurably grateful for the opportunity that I will have to stay at home with my little baby boy. I want to be there to experience each and every milestone and every moment in between. I think that teaching has perhaps given me some of the best preparation I could ever receive for becoming a mother. I have gained so much insight about children and how they learn and grow. Most importantly, I have learned of the deep and constant love our Heavenly Father has for each child. He knows them thoroughly. And as I've relied on the Spirit and His guidance in the past to reach a particular student, I am preparing to receive that in an even greater role as a mother. How happy I am to know that I will never be done teaching!

In fact, I will shortly be given my most important teaching assignment yet.

Overwhelming? Absolutely. Nervous? At times. Grateful, amazed, and excited? Yes, yes, and yes.