New Blog for a New Life

Here's our new blog:

jaredkelli.blogspot.com

I hope you'll come visit!

New Life

Well, my friends, I am getting married tomorrow! Wow! I can't believe it. If someone would've told me 6 months ago that I would be getting married now I never would have believed it.

Jared and I are getting married in the Idaho Falls temple. He is studying physiology at BYU and will apply for medical school next year. Meanwhile, I am teaching 7th & 8th grade science in Springville. Life sure is crazy sometimes. I'm growing up! I'm starting to realize how a lifetime can fly by. Then all of the sudden you have a handful of kids and then you're going through the temple with them and watching them with their eternal companion. Enjoy every moment, every step. Enjoy the journey.

The past three weeks have been crazy! I moved to Provo, started my first career as a teacher, and I'm getting married tomorrow. Talk about an emotional overload! But I am doing really well. I am coming to like various things about Provo. But I still miss Logan, which will always have a special place in my heart. It is my home.

Stay tuned for an update on married life. And as I tell my students every day, "Have a great day! If you don't, it's your own darn fault!"

Undisclosed...

Have you ever heard of the tunnels at Utah State? I've heard this rumor of tunnels that go underneath the campus of Utah State. I heard mixed opinions "They're real, my old roommates sister went in them." .... "Yeah, right. They can't be real, otherwise more people would know about them." I've heard it all. Well, there's only one way to find out the truth....

At an undisclosed location at an undisclosed time, I went with three of my friends to see if there is any truth to these "secret tunnels". Erica, Rochelle, Leslie, and I had quite the adventure. Let's just say, they're real...and we went in them.

I burned my finger on that blasted pipe.

Well, we made it through the tunnels and came out in an undisclosed building :) It was so fun! I'm glad that I can say that I went in the secret tunnels before I graduated.

Kelli...the Carny

I've always wanted to be in the circus. I used to make my little sister practice stupid human tricks with me. I learned how to juggle and would try various modes of hoola hooping (no, that is not meant to be a joke). But yesterday I may have found my way in!! Check out this video of me blowing fire! Heck yes!


This is a picture of Stephanie, Jared, and me after we blew the flames.



This is me blowing fire.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4840790931376967027



This is Jared and me blowing fire.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1894024996893528784

Lost but Happy

Why don't you want to take a shower with a Pokemon?


------Because he might Picachu.


Haha! You can thank my tenth grade students for that one! Life is going well. I have less than a month of student teaching left. Wow. And then I graduate. Wow again. In fact, I was talking with my mom about my future and realized that in a month I am going to be homeless. I have no idea where I am headed!! I thought I had a little bit of direction in my life and had finally made a decision about my future...and then of course something else got thrown into my life. So as of right now, I will be homeless. Hmm...there are worse things. And besides, I have a little tent in my trunk, that oughta do.

Teaching is going so well! I love my students. One girl, Rachelle, informed me that we have a secret handshake. It ends with us shooting our fingers at each other. So earlier this week when she finished her test she looked up at me, winked, and gave me the "shooter".

Another kid was making a PowerPoint yesterday about a genetic disorder. He asked if he should make a slide about the side effects. I told him he should. Then I watched him type "cytofects" at the top of the slide. Yes, he was serious. Man, it's the little things that make me happy.

Adam, another student, decided he and I should start a band. We'll be playing the likes of Green Day and other artists. :) Okay, probably not.

These kids are so great! I'm going to miss them a lot.

So all in all, life is good. I am excited and scared to graduate in a month. But it's such a great time in life. Where should I go? Hm...it doesn't matter! I can do whatever I want! I've made some great friends in Provo recently. Who knows...maybe I'll end up in Provo next fall. It wasn't in the plans, but who needs plans? My mom asked me recently how I was doing and all I could say was that I am "lost, but happy". Hmm...maybe the lyrics to a future song of mine.

Long time, eh.

This is Leslie, me, and Krista (my roomies)

So I haven't blogged in a long time. Life is great, busy and chaotic and stressful, but great. I have been teaching 10th grade Biology now for two months...well, almost. It's going really well. It definitely keeps me busy though. I wake up and leave before my roommates wake up and then I come home and make lesson plans for the next day and then I go to bed. Yup, that's my life. I have come to love these students! They make me laugh and can always put a smile on my face. My third hour gives me high fives as they leave. Yes! I have one kid, Brandon, he may come off as a punk at first glance, but he's a good kid. We were doing some experiments with bean germination in class and afterward he was like "What if we do this...or this..." I told him I didn't know, but he could try. So he's been doing his own experiment for three weeks now and he checks it every day before class. That is learning, that is science! I love seeing these students light up when they understand something or learn something cool or interesting. Hopefully, over the course of my days as a teacher I can help many students learn to love learning. Maybe they'll learn a little Biology too. :)

As for my personal life... because despite what you may think, teachers are real people too... I'm doing well. I played the guitar at Guitars Unplugged. It was fun! I figured I may as well audition, I mean, really, once college is over when will I ever have a chance to play my guitar on stage again?

My foot is healing well. I even snowboarded down Old Main a bunch on Saturday (I didn't think it was quite ready for a real ski hill yet, nor was my budget). My hair is ridiculously long...again. Time for a trim. Hmm...you probably don't care about that. Oh well. I graduate in two short months. Wow. Then off to who knows where. This part of life sure is crazy. I'm always blowing in the wind, but I just have no idea where the wind will take me or when. But I continue to glide, to move along through life, hoping that I caught the right current.

So, my friends, if you want to send me a letter this summer, DON'T. Because I have no idea where I'll be. Or maybe toss it in the wind...that's where I can be found.

The Kelli Update

Well, I don't know that anyone reads my blog anymore, but that's okay, I've always written for myself as much as anyone else. So my life has been wonderful and busy. I had foot surgery on the Monday before Christmas. They straightened out my left metatarsal. Hopefully it'll make running a lot less painful. It has slowed me down a little - I'm in a walking boot for 4 weeks and a special shoe for 2 more. However, I've been so blessed and it's healing faster than I ever expected. So I'm doing really well.




Sorry if this picture is a little graphic for you :) The cut is about 3 inches long and they cut my bone in half to straighten it and then stuck in two pins to hold it. Then they tightend the ligaments attaching to my big toe.


My wonderful friend, Kelsey, came up to visit for a few days to keep me entertained after the surgery. And my great friend Laura is coming up tomorrow. Man, it's great to have people that love you!

I officially finished my last finals as an undergraduate student! Next semester I will be student teaching Biology at Mountain Crest High School, so I won't have finals, and then, BAM! I will graduate in May. Wow. I'm really excited and nervous to student teach next semester.

I have another little exciting story...The Saturday of finals week I was horseback riding with my good friend, Laura, who trains horses, and the horse we were riding double on starting bucking! In fact, it bucked on four different occasions. I was on the back while Laura had the reins. The second time bucking was really long and I almost fell off, but we managed to both stay on. We never got off and finished out our ride. It was pretty intense. But I think I may be able to say that I'm a cowgirl now. (If you ride a bucking horse, doesn't that classify you as a cowgirl?) Despite the bucking sessions, I still love riding horses. I would love to have horses when I'm older!

I hope you all have a Happy New Year!

Time Flies

So I just had some interesting feelings tonight ...

I read through this paper I wrote my sophomore year for an English class. It was called "Living in an Ant Hill". It was about my adjustments to college life as a freshman. It was interesting to read through years later...I went through this period our freshman year when I really felt like I was lost in the crowd. The only faces I knew at Utah State were those of ambassadors. I remember stopping on the Quad one day between classes and it just hit me that I was a tiny dot among thousands of students and no one knew me or cared about what I did in high school. I felt overwhelmed in my biology classes that were full of pre-med, pre-dent, and pre-vet students. I felt like I was drowning in an ocean of overachievers. It was just weird to read over those feelings because they seem so distant now. Now I feel like Utah State is my home. I feel at peace on campus, ya know. I know most of the people in my classes (or at least I recognize them from classes over the years). I miss it when I go away. On my walks between classes I see tons of people I know.

Then tonight I was just reading through my journal from my freshman year and looking over the fall leadership manual. It got me feeling really reminiscent. I can not believe how fast time flies! I was just a freshman, I swear. It's so weird. I'm not sure if you're aware, but I am a SENIOR in COLLEGE. Holy junko! I feel so crazy right now. I guess looking over all of these things made me feel like a freshman again, and yet so much has happened since then. Hmm...

Good thing we still have eternity to look forward to, because I am starting to see how a lifetime can just fly by.