2013 at a glance.

2013 was a good year for us. In a nutshell, here's our year.

- We visited 5 new temples:

1) Redlands, CA

2) Jordan River, UT

3) Billings, MT

4) Draper, UT

and 5) Los Angeles, CA

- Oh wait, we graduated college.

- Brandon traveled to Miami for PA school interviews, and got in! (No pictures, sadly.)

- We started running together, and I ran in 5 races.

1) Color Fun Run

2) Dirty Dash

3) Temple to Temple Relay

4) Tater Trot

5) Santa Run

- We got to send Dallin off on a mission, and all the fun that came with it (aka Dane time).

- Got to see one of my best friends get married!

- I started my first teaching job.

- Celebrated our second anniversary by camping out in Yellowstone.

-Traveled to Mendocino with Brandon's family for their 30th wedding anniversary (which I need to blog about... whoops).

I'm sure there's a ton that I'm missing, but I'm so grateful for the blessings 2013 brought me. I'm also SO grateful that it's over, because it was a challenging year for sure. I love Brandon, and am so glad he is with me every step of the way.

2014 has a lot of life experiences in store for us- a move, a new job (gulp), a missionary coming home (yay!), PA School, lots of more running for me, and basically a new start for us. Bittersweetness.

Night school.

So, I am so grateful for my degree. I love it so much. It gives me plenty of career opportunities, and in different fields. The only thing I would change is the fact that the education part only extends to 3rd grade.

I just got a call the State Department of Education. Since I am teaching Special Ed up to 4th grade, my current certificate is no good. They said I'll need to be put on an alternative authorization, and take 30 credits. I got on the phone and talked to them, and they told me pretty much the same thing. Now, I was already in the middle of training, so I was in no mood for bad news. I then called BYU-Idaho, because they are starting a Generalist Special Education program (extends to 12th grade). I told them I needed to be enrolled in the program immediately. They said, "Well, you already got your degree so there's not much we can do for you". I almost threw my phone into the wall, and sat down with my hands keeping the migraine back.

I still haven't gotten the classes figured out, and thinking about going to night school while teaching makes me want to die, but I guess this is good. When I am done with it, I will be certified to teach General Ed from Kindergarten to 8th grade (although I'll have to get certified in a special subject to teach 6-8 grade), and Special Education from birth to 12th grade. Not bad at all.

The waiting game begins...

Brandon has applied to P.A. programs!

The list is slightly different from before, so here we go:

U.C. Davis- Sacramento, CA

Pacific- Portland, OR

Northern Arizona- Phoenix, AZ

Baylor- Houston, TX

Northwestern- Chicago, IL

Salus- Philadelphia, PA

Quinnipiac- Hamden, CT

George Washington- Washington, D.C.

Barry- Miami, FL

Yep. We're pretty much going anywhere. I pretty much have reasons that I want to go to every one of these schools, and reasons that I have reservations for each place. So, I don't really have a favorite or non-favorite.

Brandon already heard back from Pacific. It was probably just a mass email, but it said they received his application and are looking forward to receiving his supplemental application. That's better than a denial, and they sent it out way before the application deadline. So, we're crossing our fingers. All we can do is wait, and pray for interviews. We'll know sometime around September if not before.

P.S. Brandon just found out he graduated cum laude! (Top 10%) That is with him working full time for much of it. He's awesome!

I'm Camille Giullian, and I AM smarter than a 5th Grader.

To preface this story: Sure, I'm bragging about myself. I try and save my bragging for things about Brandon (or Dane), but this is surprising to me as much as anyone, so I'm blogging about it. If you don't want to read it, you don't have to.

Also, Brandon is surprised at the useless trivia my memory can hold. And I emphasize the word USELESS. I can tell you which temples have been built out of existing buildings (Vernal, Manhattan, Copenhagen, and Provo City Center), and which President has glasses on at Mount Rushmore (Theodore Roosevelt). I love watching trivia games, because it tests me. I like that I can surprise Brandon, but I wish that my memory would help me remember where I put my sunglasses once in a while...

So I took my latest Praxis test in June, and I wasn't quite sure how I would do on it. I NEEDED to pass in order to keep my job, so I had that pressure. In addition, I didn't want to pay another $200 to take it again. So, I went into the test feeling OK but nervous.

The test was "Elementary Ed Content Knowledge", which was just the things that children need to know in Elementary school, and some things that teachers need to know to teach them. It may sound super easy, but... there are a lot of things kids need to know! In addition, there are some classes that Elementary Ed majors took that prepared them for this test that my major didn't. I can think of at least 2.

I went through the test, and just waited for my results. Yesterday, I got something in the mail that was from the Praxis store. Inside was a folder that said "Excellence". I was confused, as I hadn't gotten one of these for the tests for my major.

I opened up the folder, and it said, "Congratulations! Your score placed in the top 15% of scores from test takers in past years. This will be shown on your record, and you receive this certificate." Along with it, I got a certificate:

I'm just as proud of this as my diploma, which sounds embarrassing but I'm not ashamed. And now I can apply for my teaching certificate!

For the rest of the day, I had the theme song from "Are you Smarter than a 5th Grader?" playing in my head. I think I'm going to go on a game show!

My Degree.

I've also been thinking about this a lot. Alyse wrote this post, and it made me think a lot. Alyse worked hard to get her English degree in 4 years (WITH 3 minors, in case you thought it was easy), and then went right on to her Master's. For me, it took a year longer to finish my degree, and I'm not guaranteed to go to a master's. I've looked at getting Montessori certified, getting a Master's of Education, and even law school to become an advocate for people with disabilities. However, I am putting those plans on hold to teach.

My mom was always home when we got home from school. She was lucky enough to not have to work, and can decide to now that her children are older. I have wanted to stay at home with my children for as long as I can remember, because the idea of sending them off to a babysitter makes me panic. I was also anxious about getting a "real" job, because that is a WHOLE lot of responsibility. So, my plan is to teach until we start having children, and then decide what I am going to do. However, I am so grateful that I have this degree. In this economy, I've seen so many people who have thought they have their dream job, then lose it in just a few months. It's sad to see, at my age, the number of divorces of peers. Or worse yet, we've seen a number of people our age pass away, leaving their spouse to deal with that aftermath.
Some people don't finish college because of children. I never had to deal with that, so I don't know what it's like. But in my married student ward, there are plenty of women who are still in school with one, two, or three kids. I know (from hearing it from them) that it is so hard, but also so worth it.
My parents always told me it just wasn't an option to not finish college. So, I finished. It was so hard, but now I have this piece of paper which says I can earn a salary doing what I wanted to do. I have my own office and classroom.

Long story short, I did get my degree "in case". Brandon is going to be the main breadwinner after his master's degree, but now it's my time. Now, I have a year to start practicing what I love, and we will see what the future holds for us. If I have to teach every year until our kids are full grown and out of the house to save for weddings and missions and college, then it will be worth it.

The Graduation-ators!

134 credits.

11 semesters.

5 years.

1 GRADUATION.

So yes, it happened. We graduated! For the sake of time, here are some pictures:

Both our sets of parents came into town Thursday night, and we went to dinner at Garcia's.

Friday, I just had to plan my lessons for next week.

After that, it was time for pictures:

(Note: I told them I didn't want to do a jumping picture, because I knew I could never jump at the right time.)

We had people honking at us.

Where I have had sooooo many classes.

My mom sent me this picture, probably without realizing that I completely closed my eyes at the wrong time.

I have more pictures we'll put up, but these are mainly for Austin's sake. So he can believe that it actually happened.
it was pretty surreal, when President Clark said he bestowed the degrees upon us I wanted to laugh and cry and scream for joy at the same time. I'm so glad that I have a husband and parents and in-laws and so many friends and family members who have helped support me through this time.


The irony is... I have to go student teach now. Oh yeah, they didn't tell you? They extended student teaching so I still have 2 more weeks... Press on.

End is near.

One month from yesterday will be my last day of student teaching.

WHAT?!

I applied for 29 jobs this week... if anyone hears of teaching or developmental therapy jobs near them let me know.

Study Abroad

This story has many parts.

1. My biggest regret from college is that I never got to do a study abroad. I know I know, that's such a first world problem. But seriously. Especially after going to Nicaragua, I have wanted to go somewhere Latin and immerse myself in that culture and that language.

2. Since Brandon and I have a year between BYU-Idaho and Brandon's P.A. school, we were looking about an internship for Brandon. We figure we should go somewhere crazy, because after that we won't be able to live in a foreign country. Since he spoke Spanish on his mission (and being bilingual is a boost in the medical field), we have been looking at Latin America. I was just worried that I would be bored for 4 months without anyone to keep me entertained, so an internship for me would be great too.

3. I got an email the other day about a paid internship opportunity in Puebla, Mexico. That's perfect! I was so excited, and told Brandon to start looking for internships around there, because if he could get one there too we could fulfill one of our dreams. 

Sadly, one of the requirements is getting TESOL (Teaching English as a Second Language) certified. I have 5 months to do it if we wanted to go in the fall. I mean, I'd be down for 2 international internships after each other, but it's still frustrating. I could get the credits done in a semester, but with student teaching it might be hard.

I'm not sure how this is going to happen, but I know that an internship in Mexico teaching English is 1) a lifelong dream and 2) something great to put on a resume.

Stay tuned!

I PASSED!

I am so happy.

 I passed Portfolio!

I feel like I should be holding a little golden man, instead of my 3 inch binder that is filled with the last 4 years of my life.
Here's a synopsis of my last week:
- Last Friday, I had to stay home while Brandon went to Utah for his friend's wedding. I had to spend 13 hours working on homework and writing my speech. In addition, I had nightmares that a man was standing over me in my sleep. Not a good night's sleep.
 -There have been MANY tears shed, whether in hormonal distress or just stress.
-Monday, I got to watch my friends go through the Portfolio Review process, and they came out so happy and relieved. They said it was a wonderful time. I could not WAIT to get it done!
-Brandon gave me a blessing today just before I went in. He told me I had prepared for this, and I would get the help I needed.


I realized I never clarified- what IS in Portfolio?
The Portfolio review process is divided into 3 parts- the speech, the questions, and the binder.
I wrote a 15 minute speech on concepts that I have learned in my time in this major. It was so surreal to think back. There is a committee that each person presents to, made up of an ECSE faculty member, someone that each candidate invited, and a community member. I invited a parent that I had been able to work with, and she is just wonderful. There was another parent that the other girl presenting with me had invited, and a developmental therapist.
While presenting my speech, I only got choked up twice. Once when talking about the girl I fell in love with in the Nicaraguan preschool, and once when talking about a very powerful experience that happened in a class last semester. I had practiced this speech so many times that when I forgot my notes at home, I didn't even worry. I just rewrote them. When I finished my speech, Brother Allen (the faculty member) said he usually wrote down questions while talking but he was so engaged in what I said that he didn't have time to write any down. YES!
After that was the question section. I was worried about this part, because I didn't know what was going to be asked. However, I was only asked 3 questions. The first question was about collaborating with a difficult parent, which was hard for me to answer, because I have had a wonderful time collaborating with parents. The second question was about how I would handle difficult behavioral issues. I said that I would set expectations from the very beginning, because no matter how much a child can do in school, they can always know the difference between right and wrong. The third question spun off that one, and talked about how I would handle a bullying situation. I froze. I have not dealt with this, but I told them that I would spend time with the victim. As I have had experience being picked on by other girls in elementary/middle/high school, I would want to help the children know that they are safe here. After that, I would discipline the bullies, but not bring a lot of attention to it. I would just focus on the victim and make sure that they were safe and happy.

After that, I went out while they deliberated. On my way out, Brother Allen said "You did great". That gave me the confidence I needed.

When they called me back in, they said they approved me WITHOUT RESERVATION to graduate and student teach. Instantly, I felt warm from my head to my toes. They gave me feedback on what they thought. They said I will be a great teacher, and that I have natural leadership abilities. I am willing to learn from my mistakes (like collaboration in Preschool... hahaha). Brother Allen was last, and said that someone with my abilities and talents should go far in my career. I will provide many children with the help that they need. I write that down so I remember it, not to brag.

I'm so grateful to be done! We went to Applebee's for dinner, as that's still the only semi nice restaurant here.
And now I just have to take care of one more project, and I'm done with college FOREVER!!! Except student teaching, but I'm choosing to look at that as an internship. Because that's what it is. Almost doneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.


I feel like I need to thank people at this point.
-My mom, who has talked me off a couple of educational ledges over these last 4 years. And my dad, for being the mellow head in between my mom and I. Both of my parents have been SO SO SO supportive, but my mom usually hears it firsthand. So, thanks mom!
-Brandon. He's been with me for 6 1/2 semesters now, and has never been anything less than supportive of my getting a degree. Now that it's close, I can't wait to support him in PA school someday.
-My counselor, Sister Anderson. She's been there with me from Day 1, and believes so much in me. I love hearing her votes of confidence in me.
-My other teachers and friends who have listened to me complain over the last 10 semesters.


I get a little emotional thinking about how far I've come in my college career, but I'll save that for a graduation day post. I PASSED PORTFOLIO!

Another inspirational video.

I really shouldn't watch videos like this when I'm already emotional about my presentation tomorrow. It's right up my alley, and I cried like a baby watching this video. But I loved it so much that I couldn't not share it.

Thankful List 2012- Day 29

Today, I'm thankful for my major.

It's stressful, as I am 6 days away from my big Portfolio Presentation and all I can keep wondering is "Am I doing enough?" It's scary. But, I love the girls I've had the privilege of becoming friends with. We come from different places and walks of life, but we are bonded by one thing- we love working with children. We are there to make their lives better, and it's my passion. These girls are so sweet.

We're working together to pass our Portfolio. Hopefully it works!

Thankful List 2012- Day 27

Today, I'm thankful for my kindergarteners.

They're so hilarious, and keep me on my toes at all times.

Some classics from this past week or so are:

(while talking about foods we eat at Thanksgiving)

Me: Ok, so draw a picture of the food you like to eat!

Boy: Snake!

Me: Umm, do you really eat snake?

 (This boy doesn't speak very clearly, so this is what I got out of it) Boy: Umm, Dad BAM BAM BAM! (while making a gun shape), eat!

Me: OK! Well, this is how you write "snake"...

One day, I wore my white headband into class. A boy walked in, and with a very sincere voice said, "Why do you have a cast on your head?"

(while helping the kids read words ending in -at)
Me: Ok, sound this word out.
Boy: B-A-T.
Me: Great! Now put the sounds together. What does it say?
Boy: DANCE!
Me: Wait, what? No! Did you even read the word?
Boy: Nope.
Me: Ok, let's try this again. What's the first sound?
Boy: B
Me: Second sound?
Boy: A
Me: Third sound?
Boy: NCE, Dance!
Me: Ok, try it one more time.


Also, a boy who keeps calling me Mrs. Hannigan. No idea why, but I feel like I'm in the cast of Annie.

I love my class so much. They're great!

Also.

In addition to it being Elder Murphay's birthday, it's also officially 6 months until I am done with student teaching. 

Keep calm and pretend like it was on your lesson plan, right?

Couple of Frivolous Updates

I've had absolutely no desire to blog lately... probably because my computer crashed and I lost everything that wasn't uploaded to my external hard drive. As a result, I don't know what to do with the pictures on my camera. In addition, I am in a 4 credit class doing 6 credits of work; my student teaching is now a month longer than it was this semester; and I'm just a little bit overworked. But, I will indulge with a couple stories.

I love my Kindergarten class. I'm there two days a week, and they're just the greatest kids ever. I have a boyfriend there, who loves to talk to me all the time. He's super cute, and Brandon is only a little bit jealous.

The other day in Kindergarten, I was with some kids at recess and they told me to swing across the monkey bars. I got up (they were pretty high up, my feet were off the ground), and tried to swing to the next bar. I quickly realized that I couldn't do that, and pretended that I wanted to jump to the ground. The kid after me got up and swung across the bars with no difficulty. I was quite ashamed of my athletic prowess at that point.

 In other news? We went to a Halloween party last night. Brandon said we could dress up what I wanted to dress up as for Halloween this year, and we had a hard time coming up with a costume that was easy and cheap. I really wanted to do Pikachu and Ash from Pokemon, but this is what we ended up coming up with:

We were at a Halloween party... we're not that weird that we dress up 2 1/2 weeks early. This was great because I only had to buy the hat for my costume, and then we got some cheap sweats and covered them with fabric. By Halloween it will be a better costume, with an udder and horns.
Another story... poor Murphdog tore his ACL. I didn't even realize it could happen to dogs, but it did. And the poor guy had to have surgery... this is the picture my mom sent me.

 We're praying for a quick recovery, he's so sad!
We had a wonderful Conference weekend last weekend, which I will talk about soon. But that's all for now!

Mormon Tabernacle Choir

Last night, Brandon and I had the chance to see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir perform live. For students, the tickets were $6 each. It was a pretty great experience.

 Our seats brought us this close to it.

Brandon dressed sharply for our date night out.

We had Lloyd Newell, the announcer for "Music and the Spoken Word", announce the songs to us. He said he had been with the choir for 22 years, and I thought, "That's a really long time!" Then I realized that was how old I was.... ouch.

The guy who sat behind us kept singing pretty loudly along with the music. I learned that if I turned my head a little bit then I couldn't hear him.

They sang a lot of songs, and it was great. Some highlights were "Welsh Hymns", "Music of the Masters", "American Folk Hymn and Spirituals", and some international songs of "rejoicing" from Russia, Spain, and Nigeria. The Nigerian song was crazy, not what you expected from the MoTab. They then sang some classic American showtunes. "Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep", "It's a Grand Night for Singing", "Sunrise, Sunset", THEN the surprise of the night was the organist breaking into this stunning rendition of "I got Rhythm". Seriously, he was all over the place. He played better with his feet than I did with my hands. The final song from that category was "Seventy-Six Trombones", which of course was great.

Their final category was signature hymns. They sang "Come, Come Ye Saints", which was so beautiful. I got a lump in my throat from listening to it. Then they sang their famous arrangement of "Battle Hymn of the Republic". It was so great to hear the songs live that I listen to on my iPod all the time. Then, they encored with "God be With You 'til We Meet Again". That was when the tears really started to flow. It was so powerful, and reminded me of Austin. I had a hard time getting myself back under control.

I think that if you ever have the chance to go see them live, do it! It was beautiful and I am so glad I got to go.

Yes, that's a leather jacket. TARGET!

Kids Say the Darndest Things

More quotes, this time from Toddler Lab:
Me: "Hey look I made a pirate Potato Head! Arrrrr!"
Girl: "Arrr! Me hearties!"

Me: "Look it's an owl! Hooo Hoooo!" (showing the owl swooping and diving)
Girl: Walks over to a boy who's crying and says: "HOOOO HOOOO! CRASH!" And throws the owl on the ground.

Me: "Do you want crackers"-- signed "cracker"-- or banana?" (signed banana)
Girl: "Now you're just being silly."
(the best way to get this is to see how banana is signed. You hold up one index finger, and use the other hand to "peel" the banana)

Girl: "Hi what's your name?"
Me: "Camille, what's your name?"
Girl: "No, your name is PinkPurple Lipstick! And I'm Mom, I'm in charge of you!"

I loved my little kids.

Praxis Results, Part 2

I passed the other Praxis test! Hallelujah. Now I don't have to worry about that during my last semester of college. I got a 93% on it, and I am perfectly happy with it.

My life in a Nutshell.

So my friend Katharine posted this on Facebook... I thought it was fitting for every time I present a lesson plan. Because, pretty much anything can happen. Even in Toddler Lab. Just some levity for my life...

Praxis Results Part 1

So, June 9 I took the Praxis. It was pretty awful, not going to lie. I took two tests- the Special Education of Young Children test and the Content Knowledge of Young Children test.
I was on campus from 7 AM to 2 PM... when I left I was about ready to die. I had no idea how it was going to go...
Well, I got the results, and I passed the Special Education test! The passing was a score of 550, and the average score range was a 590 to 670. And I got a 680.


Sorry if this is bragging, I'm just excited. I find out the second test results in a week, so hopefully there's another happy post.

HWD

I know I was moping in my last post, so this is more positive.

I've been working on a "Higher Wider Deeper" project for one of my classes. It's worth 25% of my overall grade, and terrifying. I was allowed to choose any subject that had anything to do with Special Education, and I chose Osteogenesis Imperfecta, or O.I. I used the  story of our wonderful family friends, Mike and Amy Phelps, as a personal touch. I put together all of my information, which is essentially copied and pasted (with resources in the first post at the bottom) onto a blog HERE. It was made with the purpose of giving people access to information about O.I. I realized that I know absolutely NOTHING about this disease, and now I'm interested and want to learn more.

Let me know what you think, it's due on Wednesday so I'm hoping it's good! I have a 95% in the class so if I get a 0 on it I will still pass. But I'm hoping for more than that.