Back To School

Holy smokes. It's the end of August already. The summer flew by way too fast. I can't believe school has started already. Yikes. Time to plan lessons, grade papers, write tests, and teach. This year should be fun:

1- I'm at a new school... in Lindon. Which means my drive to work is only 10 minutes. Love that.
2- I have 7th graders this year. They (hopefully, and at least for now) aren't quite as jaded as my 9th graders were last year.
3- I only teach 2 periods. That means the amount I will be grading will be significantly less. Bonus.
4- I get to teach fun books like Holes and The Lightning Thief.
5- What can I say? I love teaching. Kids are so fun. I think I have the coolest job ever.


(Please excuse the lameness of my title. I seriously stared at my screen for 15 minutes trying to come up with something creative and witty... but, as you can see, I was seriously lacking in those areas.)

Dear iTunes Account Hacker,

I am really, really upset that you somehow found your way into my iTunes account and bought $143 worth of stuff for your iPad. You have caused me lots of trouble and have caused me to be grumpy and irritated with what you did. It's been a pain and a half trying to contact the iTunes people, and then trying to get my bank to reverse the charges. All I wanted was one Justin Bieber song, and you thought it'd be fun to let me pay for the stuff you wanted. So not fair. Please don't do that again. Please.

Thank you,

Innocent iTunes Customer

It's Over Already?

How can it be May 27 already? I mean, it really fees like school started only a month or two ago. The school year flew by. Today was the last day. It was a very bittersweet day for me. I knew it was coming, and I knew it would be hard to say goodbye to my kids and colleagues. But I didn't know it would be as hard as it was. Those kids were my kids. I became rather attached to them. I loved seeing them progress and change. I loved getting to know them. I loved hearing about what was going on in their lives. I loved the chance to celebrate with them, and also to mourn with them. It made my day when they would come bouncing into my room saying, "Miss Koster, Miss Koster! Guess what?" and would proceed to tell me something exciting that is going on. But most of all, I loved getting to see their faces and teach (and learn from) them for the past 9 months. They taught me patience (lots of it, too), understanding, how to laugh at things, and most importantly, how to love. Hopefully I was able to reach at least one of them. If that happened, I would be completely satisfied, for that is why I teach.

The Perks of Being a Teacher

I love my job. Today I loved it even more. Today was Lagoon Day, and who was I to deny a free ticket into Lagoon? I mean, seriously. I got paid to have fun? Best day ever. And actually, what really made it the best day was that Mare was able to come with me. She even rode the bus up with us ('cause she's an awesome friend like that who saved me and my sanity). We had a great time, and were highly entertained by the students. What's better than a fun day with your best friend, free passes in, free lunch, and free entertainment? Not much, I say. Not much.

One highlight of the day included the kid who made an attempt to flirt with me. He was trying to get me to go on a ride with him by telling me he was scared to go on it alone. He thought things were going pretty smoothly until he asked which school we were from. I simply replied, "I teach in Payson." He immediately froze and said, "Oh! That's a nice town." and silently slid back to his friend.

A Whole Lot of Pomp & Circumstance

After 54 classes, 11 semesters, 143 credits, more money than I am willing to admit, lots of late nights, lots of tears and near mental breakdowns, many tests, term papers, and presentations, and enough good memories to fill a house, I can finally call myself a college graduate. And I must say, it feels incredible!

But one of the most awesome parts of the day? My dad graduated, too. It was so neat to share the day with him. I am so proud of him for sticking with it and finishing.

A HUGE thank you goes to my parents for their support. Their pushing and encouragement made it possible for me to finish.

And thank you to my friends and family who came and celebrated with me.

Here are a few pictures from the day. Sadly, some of the pictures we took after the ceremonies didn't turn out. But here are some that did!

The graduates- UVU Class of 2010

Nicole, Me, Kels

Me & My Mom

Mare, Kels, Jules, Me

Jen, Kasie, Me-- These girls made my classes so fun!

She's All Mine!

Meet Nissy. She is my loyal little car who has been on so many adventures with me. She has been to San Diego, Reno, Pocatello, and has been my trusty means of getting myself to Payson every day for the last 9 months. She survived giant potholes in California. She made it through a week in the shop when a lady backed her SUV into her bumper. She survived a flat tire on the side of Geneva Road. She has dutifully helped me haul my stuff as I have moved in and out of apartments. And today I paid her off! And now she is all mine! :)

(Yes, I realize I am posting about my car before I post about graduation. Fear not. A graduation post will be coming shortly.)

I Have Officially Graduated....

from Physical Therapy (aka physical torture). That is a lovely thing.

On another note, which just might be as equally as happy (or more so), there are only 25 days left for me to teach my dear sweet kids. 5 Mondays. 5 Fridays. 25 days total. Wowzers. That year went fast.

2 Days

That, my friends, is the length of time until I am on Spring Break. And boy does that feel good.

(Those of you who are in school... don't be too jealous. You'll be able to rub it in my face when you are out of school a whole MONTH before I am!!)

On Your Marks, Get Set, Go!!!

Once upon a time (4 years ago), my way cool friends Marianne and Julie convinced Kelsey and me to run the Rex Lee Run with them. We all ran it together the first couple of years. Sadly, last year I had to skip the run and sit on the sidelines because of a nasty cough and broken rib. This year, I was determine to run it. Unfortunately, Mare had to skip it this year, since the walking boot she is currently sporting does not allow for running. Kels decided to skip it because she wanted to use her money for other causes, and Jules was in the process of moving. Lucky for me, my sister Nicole decided she would take on the challenge with me (despite her currently-healing foot). So we packed up Miss Mia in the stroller and started off.
I'm proud to say we survived. And I'm amazed that after a 4-5 month hiatus from any exercise in general, the soreness is at a minimum.

The Crew- Mare, Kels, and Mom came to cheer us on as we crossed the finish line.

We survived!

She slept through the entire race and woke up as we crossed the finish line. What a good sport!

(Also... Happy 100th Post!!!)

A Funny Story

A couple of weeks ago, I got a call from the secretary in the stake. A member of the stake presidency wanted to meet with me, which set my mind reeling as to what they wanted with me. Panic set in at this point. Turns out they just wanted me to say the closing prayer in the Saturday night session. Sweet. I figured I would be able to only call minimal attention to myself, seeing as how it's a prayer... and everyone should be closing their eyes.

Fast forward to tonight. We sing the rest hymn, and then the counselor gets up to announce the rest of the program. He announced the rest of the speakers and the closing hymn. The rest of his announcement went as follows:
"And our closing prayer will be offered by Brother Logan Koster. Logan, are you here? Will you please stand up so I can make sure you are here?"
Don't worry... I was already on the stand... and as I felt my face getting hotter, I knew all hopes of drawing little attention to myself were gone. After a few snickers from the congregation and a few pointing fingers, he turned around to see me. And then with a shocked look on his face turned back to the microphone and said, "Oh! It's a sister! Sister Logan Koster will give our closing prayer." Poor guy was mortified. He apologized quite humbly after the meeting ended. I assured him he wasn't the only one to have made the mistake. I must say, however, this was the first time it happened to me in such a large setting.
I found it all quite amusing. So much for only having minimal attention called to myself. :)

(I realize the attention grabber could have been much worse... tripping, falling, clothing malfunctions, etc. Thank goodness it wasn't! And at least it wasn't something that I did to myself. I do feel bad for the counselor, though. Poor guy.)