Florida Adventures with Hannah! Day 1

After spending all day traveling, Hannah and I went to Cirque du Soleil-La Nouba.  Her friend got us light booth seats and gave us a backstage tour following the show. 

We were brought here to wait before being led to our seats.  Hannah promptly buckled-up.

The show was fanstastic.  Thank you Hannah!  Thank you Ryan!

After the show we walked around Downtown Disney.

I told him...

He looked at me like I had told a joke.  I said that I was serious.  He turned and walked away. 

We will see what lies ahead tomorrow.

I read the contract, and I have a few questions for Britta.  As soon as those are cleared up, it will be settled.

I told my managers today (REI).  They are excited for me; everyone is, except him.  It makes me sad. 

The Plan

Also subject to change.

I applied to teach in Taiwan for a six month period, but if I like it, I intend to stay an entire year.

I want to go to grad school in the fall 2011.  I decided on Social Work at BYU.  Hopefully they will take me.  I think that deep down, I know what I want.  It's when I process ideas with certain people that I get confused.

So, Taiwan is June 2010 to June/July 2011.
Grad School starts August/September.

It would be nice to vacation for two months in between taiwan and grad school, but knowing myself, that may be dangerous for my budget.  It would also be nice to get a job during that time.  But, no one hires someone that short a time, or at least I thought.

I came up with a brilliant solution.  As a teenager, I never had the opportunity to attend EFY.  I think you know where I am going with this.  I could apply to be an EFY counselor!  I don't know if they allow this, or if this is possible, but ideally I would do about 4 weeks of this.

So there you have it.  Pretty exciting, eh!

My Decision

(Subject to change, because let's be honest, I do that sometimes.)

I have decided that I am going to go to Taiwan.  I am really excited about it.  I got accepted into the program about two weeks ago, but I didn't want to plan on anything because I wasn't sure what to do about it.  I feel really comfortable with my decision.  

I realized the other day that I make decisions easier when I don't rely on certain people to help me know what to do.  Every time I do this, I end up more confused than I was before.  Other people are very supportive in whatever I choose to do, and provide a stress-free environment for me to process my thoughts.  Thank you Rachel, Perry, Hannah, Amber, and mom.

In my research, I came across this blog .  In this post, there is a video of what the school looks like, and also the apartment I would be living in (third video).  It really put my mind at ease being able to see it.

I am expected to receive my contract this week sometime.  As soon as I sign that, everything is final, I'm going.  Then I apply for a working visa, attend training in mid-late June, and leave for my adventure in the last few days in June.

In the mean-time, I am going to visit family and friends.  Hannah is this week.  I am so excited to her!!!!!!!!!  I love my Hannah!

The beginning of June, I plan on visiting Rachel/Perry/Baby Grant and Amber/Jason/Trey.

Trey!

Amber and Trey came to visit for a week and a half.  I am a little behind; they came in a few weeks ago. Trey just recently had his 2nd birthday on April 10th.

They spent Easter with us.  Trey was trying to carry all of his Easter eggs.

Trey loves to swim.  We are in the spa.

He is really concentrating.

I was trying to keep my hair dry, but he kept trying to dunk me.  

A new resolution

Let me just start by saying that, last weekend was hectic.  We had two different families (Halls and Westensees) visiting from out of town and there was a lot going on at my house.  I didn't get the opportunity to watch all of General Conference.  For the parts that I did see, I was distracted.

I decided that this week, I would watch one session each day.  Today, I watched the Saturday Afternoon session.  I was really struck by Elder Holland's talk.  I need to step up my personal level of righteous, more specifically the media I choose to support.

I have been feeling for a few weeks that I need to watch less tv.  I am going to stop watching Grey's Anatomy.  That's right.  This is my official declaration.

I have also decided to not continue watching Glee.  The task will be hard, but is it worth the filth that I am allowing my mind to take in?  That does not mean that I will not watch the Glee music videos.

Thoughts about Taiwan, School, Work

When I was in Rexburg, I met with Uncle Jim.  We talked about my future a bit.  He thinks that it would be a good idea for me to go to Taiwan, and to go for six months.  I had originally been planning on going for a year.  I felt better about this idea.  Then, when I get home from Taiwan, I should go back to school.  I want to go back, but I can't decide what to study.  My mind changes weekly.  The most recent ideas were Elementary Education, and then back to Social Work.

I haven't heard anything about Taiwan in so long, it is discouraging.  I am not even sure I want to go anymore.  I mean, I want to, but would it be a good decision?  I have a good job here working at REI.  Should I give that up, and come home to no job after the Taiwan experience?  My supervisor told me the other day that I am becoming the go-to customer service person.  I finally have my own medical/dental/life insurance.  I don't know what to do.

Back to what I should study.  My aunt Debbie was in town for a few days, with my uncle and cousin.  She reminded me that I do have great compassion for people who are suffering.  I get frustrated watching shows like "Intervention," however.  Debbie reminded me of the reasons why I wanted to study Social Work in the beginning.  I have had experiences that are valuable in helping me understand others who struggle.  I think that maybe the deal with "Intervention," is that I don't understand why the people are so resistant to change when the opportunity is freely given to them.  This is not a perfect world and change is hard.  I, myself, was resistant to change in my own ways, when I was given opportunities.  It is scary to change.

I only wish I didn't have to wait so long to start school again.  If I choose to do some licensure or undergraduate program, I can start in the winter.  But if I want to go to Grad School, I can't do that until Fall of 2011.