I had a super fun time at Christmas with everyone, and afterwards I was lucky enough to go visit Dan and Nicole and Camden up in Utah for a few days. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures (that's Nicole's job, right? ;)), but I'm sure you can read all about it at Nicole's blog.
I'm still working (and enjoying work) at Deseret Book, but with the end of the holidays and the temple being closed for refurbishment for this and next week, business has slowed to a crawl and it can get pretty tedious (especially during the evenings, when I usually work). On the upside, I think I've memorized both Ephraim's Rescue and 17 Miracles, despite having never sat down to watch either of them.
I've also started back up at Guthrie, but just at one day a week (during the school year there are a lot less kids, and a lot less time that they are available), and just for four/five hours, so it hasn't been too difficult to get back into the swing of things. Unfortunately, even just four hours there can sometimes stretch my patience to the limit; twice now I've had to work with a kid who has the biggest attitude for an 11-year-old I've ever met. Yesterday, the last hour and a half I had with him was particularly rough; he started being incredibly rude during group time and the director of the center where I work had to intervene several times, and he even resorted to spitting and attempting to scratch her. Not the most pleasant experience. Other providers have told me he has quite the reputation for talking back and eye-rolling....I thought that type of behavior didn't come until the teen years! Kids these days...:P
Anyway, I've probably mentioned this before, but this semester I'm not taking classes; just working up to save money to start going to Grand Canyon University for ASL interpreting. Exciting! I've also, on a sort of whim, decided to start learning Spanish, mostly due to this app/website called Duolingo (maybe you guys have heard of it?). It's pretty fun, and since Bryce served a Spanish-speaking mission, he's still fluent and can help me.The app is kind of cool; it has little lessons assigned by your level of fluency, and then you can build up points and compete against friends. It has you practice translating short phrases from English to Spanish (and vice versa) and will even have you repeat Spanish phrases. I'm only on the second level so far, and I would definitely say it's helpful to know at least a little of the language you want to learn, as it kind of just jumps straight into conjugating, without any real explanations of how to conjugate. I think I only took Spanish for a year and a half in junior high, but I do remember certain phrases, and (more importantly) I
I'm liking it a lot; it's nice to keep learning things when I'm not taking classes. I'll make sure to keep you all updated with the progress I make :)
