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Welcome to the
wonderful craziness
​of our lives!

January 25-31: Creating Relationships

1/31/2016

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Andrew and I have a goal to not only go on dates every week, but to have an occasional date or Sunday dinner with other couples. This week, we had both. 

Last night, we went out with the Lymans (Sara and Zach). Sara and I have been friends since we were 14 years old. We definitely supported each other through those tough, teenaged years. We survived through the boy drama and various unreliable friendships with late-night TP-ing attacks (usually to boys we were crushing on) and excursions to the beach, with our windows rolled down and music blaring through the speakers of my little Nissan Maxima. Although our friendship has had it's ups and downs, we have always seemed to come back to each other. 

So now that I have Andrew as "my person", it only seemed right to go on a date with Sara and her husband, Zach, and create more memories and connections between the 4 of us. We ended up eating pizza at Malawi's and then painting at Color Me Mine in Provo. It was a truly wonderful night. We caught up on each others' lives, told stories, laughed our guts out, and the boys tried out a new activity. Andrew and I both agree that it was a great night, and we will definitely need to go out with Zach and Sara again :)

Tonight, we have invited two couples from our new ward to share dinner with us. I will be making Vodka pasta (see the "What's cooking" section for this amazing recipe), and our guests will be bringing salad and dessert. 

While it's sometimes hard to find your place in a new ward, I love the opportunities we have already had to make new friends in our ward. I think that having a monthly (don't hold me to that) Sunday dinner with different couples will only help us deepen these relationships created at church. 

So, all in all, life is good :) We have good friends and are anxious to form even more.

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Jan 18-24: End of the Quarter; Beginning of the Season of Sickness

1/24/2016

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Andrew and I came home to Utah from our wonderful weekend in California, and found our lives even more busy and stressful than when we left.

For starters, the end of the quarter at school is always a mess. I always have death-bed repenters knocking on my door, begging for me to give them a way to change their D to a B. Their insistent mothers pester me with emails, "Oh, he will do whatever you ask. He can stay late on the last day of the quarter. What can he do?", they plead. The student who rolled his eyes at me when I told him he needed to pay more attention in class now grovels, "My dad will be really upset. I wont be able to play soccer. I need a C, at least!"   The answer to all these petitions: you should have done something about it sooner; it's too late.

A Central Utah Writing Fellow wrote the poem to the side, and I laughed as I read it. I totally connected with it; it seems to be every teacher's experience. This is definitely one of my least favorite parts of being a teacher. But as I look over my grades before the final submission to the office, I can honestly say that each one of my students earned the grade they received. Those A and B grades (of which I do have many) have worked their tails off. They have studied and focused in class; they have redone low assignments and have asked questions. And those students who earned a D or F in my class showed me little (if any) of the dedication and care demonstrated by those students with higher grades.

This is the problem I have with low grades: if you work your hardest and get a low score on a test or assignment, I am ok with that. I'm ok because I know that the low grade represents something you didn't understand, and I can now work on reteaching and reassessing you on a more personal level. That is ok. But I am not ok with the low grades that are based on you failing to even submit the assignment. These low grades show a lack of effort, and grades should be showing what you know or don't know. 

I'm sorry. I've gone into a little rant. If you cant tell, this really bothers me. It really bothers me because I care about my students, and I want to see them succeed (which I know they all can if they would put their mind to it). Anyway, rant over.

I also may have needed to rant a bit because Andrew and I have been stuck at home for the past 3 days. I had Friday off from school, but Andrew woke up with a killer sore throat and called in sick to work. Friday and Saturday we stayed cooped up at home, me trying to cure him with nasty-salty gargle concoctions and plenty of sleep. I think he is starting to feel a little better, but it has been a slow and boring process for me. I think last night he could tell I was going a little stir crazy, so he insisted that we go out if only for a little bit. We ended up at Dick's where he proceeded to buy me a new shirt because, "It's a screaming deal and you look so cute in it." Haha. He is so sweet. Then we rented a movie and went home. 

Andrew is wonderful (sorry, I have to gush once again). Here he is not feeling well, and his thoughts still turn to how he can make me happy. Yup, I truly don't deserve him, but I am mighty grateful he is mine. 

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“To the Student Asking If He Can Improve His Grade Two Days After Report Cards Have Been Mailed Home”

No,
you can’t
have extra
credit to supplant
the work
you never pretended
to care about
until judgment day
came
and sentence was
passed.


The fruits of your
incubated inattentiveness
and insistent procrastination
have matured,
and it’s time to harvest.


A crossword puzzle?
to replace
the argumentative essay
we spent four
weeks constructing in class,
you ask?


Are you serious?
Or do you struggle
in math, too?


I don’t toss
around points like
confetti;
class is not a party--
show up to be entertained;
it’s not Oprah--
you’re not going home
with an A,
or even a B,
just because you woke up
long enough for roll call.


No ice cream,
no presents,
no participation trophy
grades are awarded
for simply showing up
and depleting
the oxygen supply of my classroom;


no cake,
no microscopic cookie crumbs
fall to anyone
but the red hens who know
that life
will not be served
on a silver platter, or even a plastic tray
from the dollar store,
and who are willing
to scratch
and sow
and sweat
and tend
and reap
and create a future for
themselves.
​

--Joe Anson (April 2015)
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January 10-17- A Big News Week

1/17/2016

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This week we have had lots of big news moments and memories. First, Jeremy and Stacey are engaged!!! Congrats :)  J and Stace started dating a few months before Andrew and me, so it has been fun to see their relationship progress. I am so excited for them and this wonderful stage in their lives. Yay for marriage!
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The next big news was the arrival of baby Caroline to the Macey family. I was almost asleep on Monday when Andrew woke me up to share the news. It was so exciting. She is an adorable little addition to Ben and Olivia's already beautiful family. Yay for babies!

Our last big thing this week was our trip to California and Disneyland. I love spending time with my family, and it's sometimes hard that they live so far from us. Originally, Disneyland was just going to be Andrew and I with my little sister and my aunt (who both have year passes). However, almost the entire family ended up coming with us.  And to put it in one word, it was MAGICAL. We went on some new rides, enjoyed the memories of old favorites, ate non-stop Disney treats, and stayed till the bitter end of the parks' closing. Yep, it was a great day and a wonderful weekend. Now to drive back tomorrow to Utah and finish up the semester.
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January 3-10: Service

1/10/2016

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My mom told me about a tradition her friend has. Every week, she write at least a little something about herself, her husband, and her family in a little journal. Through the years, this has been an easy way to journal and mention at least something from the week. 

So, I've decided to try it out. These little blurbs probably wont be much on most weeks, but I figure it will serve as a nice starting point to my journaling/blogging.

This week I was back at school after my two weeks off for winter break. Boy, it was tough. I kicked out three students who were misbehaving, and that means I also had to call home and report on their behavior to their parents. It is definitely not my favorite part of my job, and it took a tole on me. There were a few days I definitely felt drained and a little bit sick.

When I told Andrew I wasn't feeling well, he immediately took action. He rushed me to bed, tucked me in, put a movie on for me, brought me water and medicine, tidied up the kitchen. It shocked me; I had not had anyone to take care of me like this in years. Obviously moms are great at that kind of thing, but for a long time I have lived with roommates and friends. They are great too (don't get me wrong), but there is something different about someone a little more intimate proactively taking care of you. It was amazing. And once again it was reconfirmed to me that I married a very good man.

On my end of the service scale, I love making dinner for Andrew and then helping him pack leftovers for lunch. Andrew is always complimenting me on my cooking and raves about it to friends and family when he gets the chance. His coworkers were making fun of him this week when he wouldn't go out to lunch with them, saying, "Oh, you've turned into THAT guy who has a wife to make him lunch." :) It's such a simple thing, but I love spending an hour or so preparing something delicious for us to share. (I might be singing a different tune once kids come along, but we will cross that road when we get there). 

All of this makes me think of some of the counsel our temple sealer, President Greene, gave us before he sealed us. He talked about service being a key part to a successful marriage. Service to each other and service to the Lord. He talked about there no longer being an "I" or "you" in the relationship, but rather a "we" and "us". These pronouns would help us think less of ourselves individually and focus more on supporting each other with love and service. It was a very simple yet powerful piece of advice, one we plan on applying throughout our lives. 
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2015-2016- Reflect on the old, Plan for the New

1/1/2016

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Welcome 2016! I am definitely a fan of setting goals. It seems like I am always making to-do lists that help me keep track of my priorities. The new year is an obvious time for the masses to set goals. But it is also a wonderful time for reflection of last year's accomplishments.

So I wanted to first think about my 2015. It has been
 a good one. And then I'll tell you some of my goals so that you can help me stay accountable throughout the year.

In 2015...

- I co-authored an article with one of my BYU college professors, Dr. Dawan Coombs. She was such an influential part of my first year teaching, and she helped me create some great lesson plans and units. A few years ago, she had asked me to participate in presenting one of our units at the conference for The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) in Boston. Then, we decided to try and share our ideas in print. We spent a good portion of the year brainstorming, writing, editing, emailing back and forth, and eventually sending the article to possible journals for publication. After being rejected from one journal, our article was accepted by the prestigious ALAN Review. 
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- I studied for and passed the GRE, and then I was accepted into the University of Utah Reading and Literacy grad program. This was something I had thought about a lot since graduating college, and I had taken a few classes through the U. As a still single woman (at the time), I was excited to pursue this goal. However, with some very welcome changes in my marital status and some reevaluation of my time, money, and priorities, I decided to reassess this goal and end my grad program goals early. Instead, there are other less time and money consuming classes and professional development opportunities I plan on accessing throughout the upcoming year. I love learning, so in no way does this mean I plan on stop learning and always improving. 
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- Let's be honest, the all-time best thing that happened to me in 2015 was dating and marrying Andrew Macey. (See my previous for more details on the wedding day. And see our "About" page for more details on our courtship.) All I can say is that Andrew has been the biggest blessing in my life this year. He has made me happier than I ever thought was possible (and apparently more sappy than I've ever been as well). Yup, it's true.
      I remember writing in my journal last year about how I hated setting dating/marriage goals for myself because those goals seemed so out of my control. All I could do was be social and let the Lord do the rest. (here was my dating go-to scripture, verse 17). Well, the Lord definitely led Andrew and I to each other, and He helped us move past doubts and fears to ultimately reach our goal of marrying for time and all eternity in His holy temple. What a great blessing!!!
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New Year, New Goals

Now it't time to focus on the next year and what it will bring. 

First, I have my own personal goals. These include:
- write on this blog at least once a week
- have more effective scripture study to strengthen my personal spirituality
- make and keep an exercise plan
- learn how to clean up my eating habits
- create and apply at least 2 new and improved teaching units
- acquire a new artistic talent/hobby

Andrew and I have some goals as well for this year:
- have daily prayer and scripture reading as a couple
- attend the temple once a month
- make and keep some financial goals
- run a race (still to be decided)
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Well, there you have it, folks. You can expect some updates every once in a while about how these goals are progressing. Thanks for your love and support.

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    Andrew and Maichael

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