Being a Teacher...

I haven't been very grateful lately, hence the lack of posts. :) I need to be better. This is a note I got at school today that just made my day and reminded me why I'm grateful to be a teacher.

Dear Ms. Sucher,
I think you're the best teacher in the school. I like coming to school when there's no sub teacher. Cause I like when you are here. Not at meeting or if you're sick.

This is from a student who I feel like I'm constantly battling with. Funny to hear it from him. :)

I was in Arizona Monday and Tuesday of this week (well, driving there on Monday and flying back on Tuesday) so they had a substitute. She was great with them, but it's like to know that I'm missed. I really am grateful for my job, my students, my family, and my life. :)

And just because I hate blogs without pictures, enjoy my little niece!!

Saved By The Bell

Yes, I am admitting it. I am grateful for Saved By The Bell. Zach. Kelly. Slater. Jessie. Screech. Lisa. They have become some of my best friends the past couple weeks.
October has hit, and with it, the germs have as well. I finally got a diagnosis from the second doctor I paid a visit to...pneumonia. Seriously?? I was shocked. It's not bad enough to stay in the hospital, thank goodness, but it sure hasn't been making me feel so great (and the antibiotics are making me feel even worse). Needless to say, I've spent lots of time laying on the couch or on my bed, catching up with my dear old friends from Saved By The Bell. :)

Thank you, Deb, for having Seasons 1-4 on DVD. I'm in Season 3 right now and am not quite sure what I'll do once I finish season 4. Hopefully by then I will be cured and back to my regular busy schedule!!

General Conference

I am still alive and I am still grateful. However, General Conference has reminded me that I need to acknowledge my gratitude more often! Thanks to President Monson's talk about gratitude, I was rebuked and am here to give out some more gratitude.

I love that he talked about being grateful for things that aren't material things. It is so easy for me to say "I'm grateful for my house. I'm grateful for my car." But really...what's most important to me in my life? Well let me tell you.

I'm grateful for my parents. They are the people I probably take the most for granted, but they do the most for me. My parents are always so concerned/proud/excited/prayerful/supportive, etc. about me. They are my #1 fans (at least I think they are...) and I always know I can turn to them. They give me the greatest advice and always have listening ears for me to vent or cry to. I'm grateful for my siblings (and in-laws). They always know how to make me laugh and I love whenever I get to spend time with them! I am so blessed with such talented siblings. We are each so different and unique and I'm in constant awe at how talented the rest of them are. Kristen is the kindest and most patient person I have ever met. She is always looking at how she can help other people around her. She's always so positive about anything and everything thrown at her. Melanie is so lively and friendly to everyone around her. She always has so many friends and is busy doing something. She's also super crafty and is always making the cutest things. Brandon is good at anything he tries...it really makes me sick. He can play any sport, play any song on the piano (the first time through), and is a genius. Alex and Robbie are just lucky to have married into the family. ;) But they have brought their own talents. Alex being the amazing doctor that he is (not to mention working out all the time) and Robbie being able to fix any computer problem PLUS fly helicopters in his spare time. Seriously...what am I doing in this amazingly talented family?? :)

I'm grateful for my nieces and nephews. They bring so much joy into my life, it's not even funny. I feel so blessed to see Mason and Jade so much with them being so close (even though Jade's only 2 weeks old...I've seen her 5 times!). I was also so blessed this year to get to see Adeline and Xander several times, plus I get to see them at Christmas time!! I love being an aunt!! I'm grateful for my roommates. They are so great and I love all the time (which is maybe 20 minutes/week) I get to spend with them! :) We have been friends for a long time and I feel blessed to have them as my examples and mentors. We are all in such a crazy time of life right now and can empathize and cry and laugh with each other. :) I'm grateful for my students. I looked out at them this week while they were all sitting on the kiva in front of me and realized just how much I love them and will miss them when they move on to 3rd grade. Some days I think that can't come soon enough and other days I can't believe how fast the year is going. I know there is still so much time left, though, so I'm glad I get some more time with them.
**Imagine picture of my class**
But most of all, I'm grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ. He has lifted my burdens time and time again. He has paid the price to make it necessary for me to live forever with Him and my family. He gives me the strength to make it through each and every crazy day of my life. He is my Savior and my Redeemer. I love Him!!

BYU Football

I realize this is an awful day to be writing about my gratitude for BYU football. It didn't make me very happy this afternoon. But, as the football season has begun, I better write about how grateful I am for college football (more particularly, BYU!).
This is the first year I have not had an all-sports pass in a long time. I had season football tickets for 6 years straight. It was a strange thing last week to not be at the game. Not being in Provo surrounded by people going to the game helped ease the pain, but it definitely is a different feel watching it on TV.
I have so many good memories from my BYU football going days. Here are some pictures to reminisce with:



I am grateful for the many great memories I have with great friends at BYU football games. I'm also grateful that even though I'm no longer in Provo and no longer have season tickets, I can still be a Cougar fan. GO COUGARS!!!

Sucher Reunion

So this is a month delayed, but better late than never! **Most of these pictures are stolen off my sister, Melanie's blog. I have yet to get everyone's pictures on my computer and it's much easier to just steal. Thanks, Mel! :)

Thursday, July 22nd, my cute aunts threw a prince/princess party for all the little ones. The young grandkids/great-grandkids made shields, crowns, tiaras, dressed up, decorated cupcakes, dug for treasure in a sandbox, got candy from a pinata, and loved every second of it!

After their whole party, the Sucher girls had a craft day! Mel and I brought our beads for people to make watch bands, we made wooden signs that say No Empty Chairs, we learned how to make cute hair bows, and people made covers for diaper wipes. I love having family members who love crafts as much, if not MORE, than me!
That night, my grandparents, aunts and uncles, parents, some cousins, and I went to the Draper Temple to do sealings for some family names my grandparents had compiled. It was neat to all be there together doing such an amazing thing!
Friday morning we headed to Deer Creek for a day on the lake! My uncle brought his boat, we had a paddle boat, a blow up kayak, lots of water toys, and of course, lots of food!! A good time was had by all.
That night we headed up to my aunt and uncle's cabin in Heber. We had a great dinner, played lots of fun games, tied quilts for the humanitarian center, and visited with each other.
Saturday morning we woke up at the crack of dawn to head down to the Days of '47 Parade. I'd never been to it! Tyler was a saint and saved seats for my whole family and I. We really enjoyed seeing all the floats!
After walking around Temple Square for a few minutes and cleaning up Xander's blow out, we headed over to This is the Place Park for the actual reunion. It was neat to be there on Pioneer Day! Super hot, but so fun! There was a lot more there than I thought. I was expecting the monument and that's it. We had fun riding the train, visiting all the homes, and spending more time with all the Sucher's.
That night we had a big dinner for my grandma's 75th birthday a couple weeks before. Each family was in charge of decorating a table or two of things that reminded them of Grandma. We loved seeing what everyone had brought and celebrating my amazing grandma!
And of course, we had to take family pictures!

I am so grateful to have such an amazing family and such well-planned family reunions. Thanks to all of you who made this possible!!

Books

I'm grateful for good books. After finishing my math endorsement in June, I finally had time to sit and read books I WANTED to read, instead of math research books. :) I went home in July and my family got me hooked on a series that I just finished last week. They are the prequels to Peter Pan and I really enjoyed them!
The first one is
Then
After that,
And finally,
I recommend these books to anyone who likes a fun, exciting read. Also, they are great because the chapters are super short, so if you don't have a lot of time, you can read a chapter or two fairly quickly. I've thought about reading the first one to my 2nd graders in the random 5 minutes we sometimes find we have throughout the day. But they are kind of intense and scary at parts so I'm not sure if I will...
After I finished those books, I picked up this one!
And I finished it in one day. Granted, it was a 4 hour drive from the beach to the airport, then waiting for my flight, then flying from NC to UT. So I had lots of time to read and just couldn't put it down! Now I'm 8th on the list at the library for the sequel. :)
After I finished The Hunger Games during my layover in Minneapolis, I picked up this book to get me ready for school to begin.
Gotta love brushing up on my love and logic skills that keep me sane throughout the school year! :)
Any other must-read book recommendations?? I still have a week and a half or so of summer left to get some more reading in!!

Beaches

I am grateful for beaches. They have a calming sense about them. I love just sitting and reading a book while listening to the waves crash in. I love watching the sun go down in the distance. I love watching kids build sandcastles. Everything about the beach (except the sand sticking to you everywhere) is just great!
I have had two family reunions the past few weeks and I have not gotten all the pictures back from them, but I figured I'd blog about the most recent one. The Hagen's (my mom's family) all gathered in North Carolina at the Outer Banks for a week of fun at the beach. It was a BLAST!!!
We stayed in Duck and had 2 great houses right next to each other, right across the cul-de-sac from the beach. It was the PERFECT location!! This is the house I stayed in.

At first, Adeline wasn't sure how she felt about the sand.
But by the end of the week, both she and Mason loved playing in the sand!
We spent more time in sand playing volleyball!
We swam in the pool every day.


We went to the Wright Brother's Museum. We went to a lighthouse.
We went putt-putt golfing.


And of course, we took family pictures on the beach. :)




Thanks to all the Hagen's who made this amazing reunion possible. I am blessed with such a great family!!