LDS Charities: The Boys' Home

Doctrine and Covenants 18:10 "Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God."
This video reminded me that there are so many ways to share the gospel and serve others. I know that I need to have more charity and commit my life to serving other people. I'm so thankful to know that Jesus Christ lives and loves ALL of his children.

I heart New York... and D.C.

We just got back from our family trip to New York and Washington D.C. with Ryan's family. It was so much fun. Ryan's sister, Aubrey is living in New York for the summer. Her husband is doing an internship out there. We all decided to pay them a visit and drive down to D.C. while we were out there. My aunt also lives in Manhattan, so Ry and I slept at her place while we were there. Also, one of my best friends, Rachel, flew through NY on her way home from the Dominican Republic! She got to spend a night with us! She had never been to NY so I took her to see the Statue of Liberty, Times Square, and Central Park!We also went to Coney Island and I must say... it was like a ghetto version of a beach! It was the weirdest thing ever. I had never seen so many different types of people in my life. There were people from every country imaginable... wearing every type of swim attire imaginable! The water was even ghetto, there was trash brushing up against my legs as the waves crashed. It was sick... but I had a great time (I'm probably exaggerating... but still)! I had been to NY before, but this was my first time to D.C. I absolutely loved it there. It is a beautiful place. It was cool seeing all the beautiful buildings and monuments. I especially loved the Lincoln monument. After going to all the war monuments and being reminded of our Founding Fathers, I felt so much patriotism for the way this country used to be-for our founding principles of honor and virtue. Unfortunately, I felt like now days.... there just aren't people like that in Washington anymore. There are many powerful people who only care about themselves and not the people or our country. However, I am so grateful to live in the U.S. The world is getting worse and worse, but there are still good people in it:)

having a blast it texas!

Well. lainie.. its madi :) your sister in law..
i have just loved having you here in texas :) and i am going to get my birthday present one of these days! haha.. one day you are going to go look for johnny lingo to watch it and its just not going to be there :) its going to be with me here in mansfield!!
loveee, madi

oh! and high five to us for fixing yall's blog!

The Stars at Night are Big and Bright...

We are finally all moved into our place. I'm officially back in Texas! We're living in Valley Ranch which is a very nice area and it's about 15 minutes from downtown Dallas. I'm still trying to get all the freeways down but it's coming along better than I thought:) It was hard leaving Utah but we really like our new place and the ward down here is awesome! Texas feels as hot as Utah, except you sweat like crazy because of the humidity! You are always thirsty and sticky down here. Here are some pictures of our new apartment. We also bought another car when we got down here..... ya, I'll be driving it! Poor Ryan will still be driving our old corolla with the awful paint job. Oh well, that's what the man does right? He'll always get the short end of the stick until he's a doctor and we actually have money! Then he wants to buy himself an FJ Cruiser.

Texas and Teaching

Well, we're pretty sure that we'll be moving to Dallas, TX for medical school! Ry is going to go to UT Southwestern! We are planning on moving in the middle of July. I'm sad to leave, but really excited for the adventure that lies ahead! One thing is for sure.... I'm NOT going to miss the cold/snow one bit:)

The other bit of big news is that I am now teaching 5th grade as the official teacher! I'm going to finish out the school year with them because their teacher had to leave. BYU asked me if I would finish out my student teaching with this class and then I'm going to stay until the end of May. I was so nervous at first but my class is awesome! The kids are so much fun and they are so sweet to me (let''s hope it doesn't wear off:) Today was my second day and the kids were already bringing me presents and writing me notes. Even though student teaching would have been much easier, I'm glad I got asked to do this because now I get this class all to myself and I get to do whatever I want. Its so fun. It's a ton of work, but luckily I have an amazing husband who helps me out all the time! He probably wants to kill me a lot of the time because I get so stressed, but he does a good job making me feel better. Life is crazy.... but its wonderful!

You gotta love 6 year olds...

Spending your whole day with first graders gets pretty funny. They say the funniest stuff!! Here's some classic quotes off the top of my head...

-One girl asked me, "Mrs. Thorpe, do you and your husband kiss?" And then another kid yells, "They can have babies!"

-I went and put my hair up during school and when the kids saw me this one boy shouted in horror, "What did you do to your hair?! Why did you cut it?" (The kid apparently had never seen a pony tail before)

-"Michael Jackson was hunting my house last night! I saw him!" (They lie ALL the time.)

-"My mom whips my baby brother sometimes."

-Another teacher had been sick and she told the kids that she lost her voice and one girl said, "Thank goodness you already got a new one."

Student Teaching

I'm finally on the home stretch of my college career! I started my student teaching last week in first grade! Let me just say that back in the day I thought I wanted to teach the little kids because they love their teacher and are still sweet....WRONG! I miss the older kids because although they can be brats, they actually get your jokes, and they can do stuff on their own. I'm teaching at a school in South Provo and have fully realized that Provo is NOT "Happy Valley." The kids I teach are adorable, but it breaks my heart because they come from horrible circumstances. Most of the kids come from broken families living in public housing. Most of their parents can't even speak English. Everyday I come home more thankful for my life, and the life I will be able to give my children someday. It's been an eye-opening experience and I love it:)