Dear Boys #30

Dear HLC,

Suck, girl! Suck!

Love, Jess

PS- Are we going to need to do a finger check soon?

Dear BOY,

I think the beard is a keeper.

Love, Jess

Dear Boys,

My advice for Saturday...WIN!

Love, Your biggest fan

Hey, Hey Good-lookin'

'Cause I try and try to forget you [boy],

But it's just so hard to do,

Every time you do that thing you do 

Love, Jess

Dear Captain America, 

kjbauvnabgionf;asn;lsanv

(This is my brain every time I try and talk to you.)

Love, Jess

Dear Children,

I love you all, but I REALLY need this break.

Love, Miss Jensen

All-About-Me

I have kind of been in a blogging slump lately. I haven't really been feeling the Dear Boys nor have I felt like I had anything really worthwhile to share. I am sure many of you have seen the "number game" being passed around Facebook right now. For some reason, I really don't like the idea of doing it on Facebook but am totally ok with doing it here. So I am picking the number 10 for myself.

1. I don't like the quiet. I have to have music playing or the TV on. Whether I am really paying attention to it or not is another story, but there has to be background noise.

2. I LOVE the outdoors. 4-wheeling is my favorite, but hiking, camping, fishing, and hunting fit the bill too. I would rather be doing something outside than just about anything else. Put me in the mountains and I am completely happy.

3. I really enjoy sports. I always enjoyed watching them with my dad growing up, but ever since going to Utah State I have really fallen in love. Anything Utah State (most importantly basketball) and anything MLB. I love baseball.

4. I am a people watcher. Black Friday shopping? Couldn't care less about the sales, but the crazy people?? Yes please!! Any large group of people and I often get distracted watching those around me.

5. Yes, my hair is naturally curly. That seems to surprise people. I haven't always loved it. In fact, it's only been in the last couple of years that I have learned to really enjoy it. Now it is my preference. I hardly ever straighten it.

6. I am definitely a leader, not a follower. I like to be in charge. Not because I am power hungry, but because I know things will be done right well.

7. I have a hard time saying no. I don't like to disappoint people.

8. I love to read. But most of all, I love to reread books I have already read. Weird, I know. I love reading something that I already know what is going to happen and still getting completely wrapped up in the emotions. I love seeing signs of what is coming and know what they are leading up to. (Just as an example, I have read the entire The Work and the Glory series 8 times, the entire Harry Potter series 6 times and the first one 12.)

9. My favorite hobbies make me sound like an 80-year-old woman. I love puzzles. (As in I own more than 20, not counting ones I have finished and framed.) I love to cross-stitch. I find it relaxing yet challenging. And I love mind-puzzles... word searches, crossword puzzles, suduko, and dot-to-dots (yes they come in books, very complicated, and many varieties).

10. I am NOT an animal person. My idea of the perfect pet is a plant.

Failure in the Home

Teaching is hard. I firmly believe it is one of the hardest jobs a person can do. There are no breaks. It is mentally and physically exhausting every day. It is very, very public. Nothing ever seems good enough. And the future of the world depends on it. 

Friday I sat in a meeting listening to what will be required of teachers (by legislation) within the coming years. Things like how lessons have to be planned and executed, how evaluations and merit pay are going to work, etc. It was quite unnerving and upsetting. Afterwards my team was discussing the reasons behind all of this and it all came down to one thing. FAILURE IN THE HOME. Satan has been attacking homes and families from the very first day. And he is succeeding! The break down of the home not only has eternal consequences in a spiritual way, but it greatly affects society and civilization today.

Teachers no longer teach academics. We teach how to treat one another kindly. We teach how to speak to one another civilly. We teach how to be responsible. We teach how to be clean and organized. We teach how to think before we speak. We teach how to work hard and hopefully not to take the easy way out. We teach them what it is like to have someone care about them. We teach them how to listen and how to be listened too. We teach them everything they should be learning at home. (And maybe after all of that, we teach them how to do math and reading.)

President David O. McKay (9th President and Prophet of the Church) once said, "The greatest work we will ever do will be within the walls of our home."

So today I beg you, down on my knees, to do this work.

Take notice of your children. 
Teach them. 
Teach them to work...make them work.
Teach them to love by example.
Teach them to serve. 
Teach them to listen.
Teach them to care about others.
**(Amendment): Teach them with some tough love. Tell them no. Show them there are consequences to their actions.

Read with them, play with them, listen to them, spend time with them. 

LOVE them.