Life in the Mojave desert

Hello friends!

This morning I woke up bright and early and ventured out of my stuffy apartment to see what this desert country is all about. A friend in my ward took me to a place called Grape Vine Canyon. It was great! I'm not in Idaho anymore, that's for sure. Grape Vine Canyon is on the Nevada side, which is ten minutes away from Bullhead. Here is what hiking in the desert has to offer.

A great variety of cactus,

Petrogylphs,

and even some water.

It's nice hiking in 50-60 degree weather!

We had to crawl through many crevices throughout the canyon and climb a lot of rocks, which I love doing. I was in heaven!


This is a huge boulder that looks as if it's about to roll off the mountain. It's amazing to me how it can stay there like that. There's really not that much holding it to the other rock.

We couldn't fit in this crevice. I tried!

We stopped and turned around at Buddha. Look, he even has a belly button. I wanted to crawl inside, but it was too steep and I am too short.

The desert is very different, but also beautiful in its own unique way. It was fun finally getting out and seeing what it's all about. I really do enjoy it here. It's great learning about new things in new areas. One day I will get brave and go swim in the river...maybe when it warms up a little!

Change

I keep checking this blog and for some reason, it's never updated! Guess that's my fault, huh.

By looking at my blog, a person would think I live a rather boring existence. Don't judge my life by my blog. My life is probably more exciting than I would like it to be at times. :) I just got back from my Christmas vacation to Idaho. As most of you probably know by now, I'm terrible at taking pictures, so don't be too disappointed.

I have probably NEVER been so excited to leave the warm, comfortable weather to enter the icy tundra of Idaho in my entire life!! I could hardly wait for the last day of school to end, and my road trip up north to begin. Now I am back in Arizona and ready to start school back up tomorrow. Tonight, while I was at Walmart, I was trying to find a cheap calendar for the new year. I narrowed it down to one of islands, beaches, and palm trees and one of the majestic mountains with snow on top. Anyone that knows me extremely well, knows that I have always had a fascination with sandy beaches and tall, beautiful palm trees. Whenever someone tells me to draw a picture, this is what it looks like. An island, two palm trees with three coconuts on each tree, a hammock tied to the trees, and me laying in the hammock drinking coconut juice. Oh, and a sun...and sometimes water. I have always said that this is my dream. I don't live on an island or even by a beach, but I am greeted by palm trees everywhere I look. I should be in heaven, right? This is my dream! Warm weather, hiking in the winter, no driving on slick roads. Well, while I was on my way back to Idaho, I felt overwhelmed by the tall mountains that greeted me in Utah. How could I forget in only 2 months how tall they are?! How beautiful they are! I left the mountains and am now back in Palm tree country. So, while I was deciding on what calendar to get, I realized that I could see palm trees out my window everyday, so I chose the mountains. As I was driving home, I knew what a strange decision that was and began to think about it. I have come to realize two things. First, you don't truly appreciate something until it's gone. And the other, we are never satisfied. I am always looking for something "exotic." But what does that word even mean? I live close to many beautiful places. I am 5 minutes from the Colorado river. I am only a couple of hours away from the grand canyon, one of the biggest national parks in the world! I think I have finally come to realize that life is as exotic as you make it. As Helen Keller once said, "Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing at all."

To make an oh so long story short; I miss Idaho. I miss the mountains. I miss my family. I miss my friends. I miss my comfortable life. I miss the close relationships I left behind. Even so, I am happy! I am content! And I will be okay. Someday, when my time in Arizona comes to an end, I know I will miss it. I know I'll miss the palm trees. I'll miss the friends and relationships I gained while here. And I will miss the comfortable life I made for myself. And I will still be happy. I will still be okay. Life is about change, growth, and our attitude towards those moments in life when we just don't know what to think anymore. I am in "exotic" Bullhead City, Arizona and I love it!! I would love it even more if you came to visit! ;)

Until next time, this is Tandy Lee signing out!

If you made it all the way through this rambling post, you deserve chocolate!

Be brave!

This blog post is dedicated to my dear friend, Rachel Holland. When we were roommates, there were certain things we had to do each day. One of those was one brave thing for the day. Ever since I've been on my new adventure, I've thought about our "being brave thing" several times a day.

On my way home from work, I saw this sign. Minus the dash board and bug splatters, it says, "Be brave."

HOW APROPRIATE!!!

For those of you that don't know yet, and for those that do...I got a job offer!! In............

Mohave Valley, Arizona

Not quite as exotic as I wanted, but I took it anyway. It is a job teaching preschool to children with developmental disabilities.

So, I got into my little silver car and drove south for several hours and ended up here.

Again, sorry about the dash board but it's really hard to drive and take pictures at the same time.

When I got into town I stayed at a casino hotel because they are SO cheap, which is what I needed because I had to stay there for 4 nights while I found housing and got everything ready. This is where I stayed.

It's shaped like a boat!!!! How cool is that!! I think I ended up paying around $63 for 4 nights. I only ate there twice but both meals were AMAZING and fit for a queen!! The first thing I tried was:

Cobb salad from heaven!! I know not everybody is a blue cheese fan, but this was to die for!!

A couple of days later I ordered this:

Pasta!! Note the saltine cracker. I got it to go and the waiter forgot to give me eating utensils. I was too lazy to walk all the way back to the restraunt so I improvised! I know what you're thinking, "She's one of those geeks who takes pictures of her food." But when it's this good you've got to document it somehow! Well, now I am (mostly) settled in my little apartment and getting familiar with the school and area.

Now, back to the beginning of this post. I have been in a brand new area for almost two weeks now. I didn't know one person when I first came here. I didn't know the school, the area, or anything about this place before I came. Some times have been exciting, others a little uncomfortable. So, the point is; if you ever want to burst your comfort zone bubble, move somewhere you've never been on your own. I actually think everyone should do this at least once in there life, although, I know it's not possible for most people. It's amazing the experiences you'll have, the people you'll meet, and the things you'll learn along the way. So, here I am, in little old Bullhead City, Arizona! If any of you want to visit, I would LOVE to have you!

To Rachel: I was going to tell you that I did my one brave thing for the day, but I think that moving to a new state counts for at least the rest of the year! At least I haven't said awkward things to any guys yet!!

Love you all and hope you are all well and happy!! And remember to have an adventure every single day!!

What good are plans

Tomorrow is my last day of student teaching. I have no job...and no prospects. I'm moving back home on the 9th until something comes up. You might be asking, why didn't you plan ahead? Answer-I did. You see, life never seems to turn out the way I think it will. I had everything put together. I knew exactly where I was going to move to. I knew the job I wanted. I knew the income was good. I was making plans for this to all take place and then....life happened. One small change in my life ends up changing everything in my life. Now to figure out how to overcome this small speed bump in life. I've been applying all over the nation...literally! Nothing so far. I really really really really really really really really really, I mean really don't want to be in Bancroft Idaho for an extended stay. Everyone keeps telling me that it's difficult to find a job when you don't life in the area and I understand that, but I can't really move to each area that I'm applying to. I am also afraid of moving somewhere before I get a job and having to move somewhere else. It's ok though, because I know that somehow things always find a way of working itself out. I am just not a fan of not knowing what will happen, and not getting what I want. But I guess that's what life is all about.

People wonder why.......my hair looks like this......

....and why my face does this.

Well, now you know why!

I hope everyone is doing well. Good luck in your lives with everything that's happening and remember to take the time to....breath!

I forget sometimes! :)

I can do anything good!

This is what I do every morning before I leave the apartment!! Or what I should do every morning.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qR3rK0kZFkg

Check it out!

I are a grajiate!!

I know you're probably thinking, "How can you be graduating Tandy, you are still student teaching?" Well, I decided to walk early so I didn't have to go back to Rexburg just to graduate. I won't get my diploma until July but it was still a great day and very exciting for me!

This is around 7:30ish in the morning just before leaving to campus.

This is just after I received my empty diploma case. The man on the right who is clapping and smiling was one of my professors and is who I report to during student teaching.

I was really excited!!!

With my Mom and Dad!

Tyler, Mom, Me, Paul, and Dad. Wendy was the only one that wasn't able to make it.

Some good friends from my program.

My Dad was doing weird things behind my back so I decided to join him. I love my Dad!!!

I know this has taken awhile to get on here. Life has been extremely busy and crazy. The same weekend I graduated, I moved to Utah and began student teaching on Monday morning. It's finally spring break and it's been great having a moment to breath and relax a little. Student teaching is going well. No one told me know exhausting it was going to be!!! I come home every night and crash. I love my students though and I have a great cooperative teacher. I have four more weeks in the first grade classroom and then I'll spend the next six weeks in the special education room. The lady at my school who will be over me in the special education room was looking over my paper work the other day and we both found out that she graduated from high school with my Dad. Yeah, she's from Bancroft of all places! So crazy!!! I'm excited to be able to work with her and get the REAL stories of my Dad's childhood! Hehe!

Hope everyone is well!

Also, when you look at my blog, please leave a comment every once in a while so I know who gets on here. Thanks!

Student teaching

Hello dear friends!

I graduate in two weeks and I'm starting to freak out a little! I just received my student teaching placement today and everything is beginning to set in. There really is an end!! I really am leaving Rexburg! The school I will be at is only about 15 minutes from my apartment depending on traffic, so it shouldn't be too bad. Yay for student teaching!

I also just finished up my BIGGEST stress of my college career!! Portfolio review! Gag!!! For those of you who don't know what this is...it's terrible!!

It's where you have to put a portfolio together of your entire college education and have everything a certain way. Then, you will take yourself and your portfolio and present to a committee. You have 15 minutes to share your speech, (or basically where you prove to them that you're ready to go on to student teaching!) Then, for the next 15 minutes they can ask you any question they want to ask. After that, you leave and they deliberate about you. When they're finished, you go back in and they tell you whether or not you can go on to student teaching.

Don't get me wrong, it's not hard, it's intimidating! Very!! I'm so glad it's over and that there's life after portfolio!! :)

It'll be weird being in Utah, but it'll only be for 3 months. Plus, Utah is beautiful in the summer and I'm planning on spending a lot of time in the mountains!! I have really missed the mountains after living in Rexburg for 5 years.

Yay for life!!!