Something Good

Hey!  I have something to write about now, something happy.  And something happy is always good.

How fitting that, being national Teacher Appreciation Week, I got this email from a former student on Monday:

Hey! I already told everyone well most people i saw you this Saturday, it kinda brought us back to middle school. We talked about how much fun we had with you a lot of memories in a short year. Everyone says Hi, Jordan, Abraham, Cass, Olivia, Abby, Gage, everyone says hi, even Ms. Slade remember her? told her too. All of us miss you! I hope we cross paths again.

Since becoming a teacher, I've taught at three different schools.  And this last weekend, I ran into one of my students from school #2, my first official teaching job.

But "ran into" is so not the right phrase-- I was on my way out of a local theme park where I had been working at a dance competition when I decided to take a shortcut to the entrance... that led me right toward this kid whose face I definitely knew.

So I was practically marching right up to him for several feet, though unintentionally until I realized that neither of us was breaking eye contact.  Then I said with a squinty smile, "Do I know you?"

Returning the smile: "Yes..."

"What's the first letter of your name?"  (The best question to ask when trying to memorize/remember names.)

"B..."

Part II

Last year, I wrote a post listing several things I would love to write about if I were able.

Allow me to quote that post by saying, "I want to write something, dang it." 

But what do you write about when you have nothing to write about?

***

Que Sora Sora

Do you ever have those moments when you feel like the Universe is just... speaking to you?  Aware of you?

(I can hear my husband's voice in the back of my head: "Here we go...")

I do.  Fairly often.  And sometimes these moments are fairly silly, seemingly un-spiritual, or overly dramatized.

But I believe that God can and will speak to us in whatever way we are willing to hear.

Which brings me to this spikey-haired, blue-eyed character that has provided quite the conversation piece lately, thanks to a pair of socks my husband got me for Christmas.

Another Refuge

Then the bowling alley broke out in harmonized song, and Grandma basked in her birthday bliss.

Refuge

Then the Hallmark couple kissed, and Grandpa cheered from the recliner.

Mafra, Obidos, Sintra

For sake of time and mental energy (still playing essay editor everyday), this post will probably feature even less writing than the last one-- but I've got lots of fun pics from another awesome field trip that I want my mommy to see.

*Hi mom.*

Ok.  So.  Arrive in Lisbon and eat dinner with BYU friends at a yummy pasta place!  Waitress gets the major giggles over Shad discovering that the "pig cheek" meat in his pasta dish was actually pig bum cheek.

Field Tripping

This should be a really easy post to write because... I spent about half of this last weekend having no idea what anyone was talking about. Just a minute ago I asked Shad for the name of a place we had visited... His response: "I asked Silvia but I didn't understand." 

Problems of visiting Portugal with a bunch of students of Portuguese, I guess.   

But nonetheless, we enjoyed going on a field trip with the entire group of students that is either studying or interning with the program!  Most of them stay in Lisbon so we don't see them much, but we had fun getting to know several of them while driving in a bus for hours around the greater Lisbon area.  

(Cue no-frills travel log.)