College Ruined Me

I have always loved to read. That is one of the reasons I majored in English. I love reading new things, learning new ideas, understanding new concepts, etc. Each book is an adventure! (Although, sometimes that "adventure" is rather painful...and never relieves itself until I have finished that last page in the book). So, you would think that since I love reading so much, and since I've had so much time on my hands since I've left Rexburg, I would have oodles of books added to my repertoire by now, right? Wrong.

Once I returned from the East, I was brain-dead. My last full semester of college consisted of 3 literature classes, which meant I was always reading 3-4 books at a time. So, I decided I needed a break from reading for awhile. Well, life got busy and I got caught up studying for the GRE. Finally, after Christmas, I recognized my mental capacity to begin reading again. But here's the thing: before college, I never allowed myself to read more than 2 books at a time. I had to finish one book before I could move on to the next. But now, I try reading a book and I think it's wonderful and great and I'm excited to finish it, but then I get bored. It's not boring to read while I'm actually reading it. It's after the fact. I mentally have to talk myself into picking up the book again. It's a huge effort for me! But once I pick it up again, I fall in love with it again and think how great it is.

However, here's the real problem. More often than not, I tell myself I'm not "in the mood" to read that book, or my brain is too tired, so I need to read something easier at the moment. So...then I pick up another book and fall in love with it, and then the whole cycle repeats itself. I am now in the middle of like 4 books and I haven't finished one new book since school! In college, I was required to finish all of the books in order to get a good grade, but here, I have no motivating factor to make me finish any of them. There is no grade dangling over my head.

Curse you college! You got me in the habit of reading a million books at the same time, and then left me without the motivation to finish any of them! I guess it's a good thing I'm going back a in few months. Maybe I can re-learn how to read properly...

Currently my book list is:

• Emma
• The Hunger Games trilogy
• The Screwtape Letters
• Dracula
• The Tales of Beedle the Bard (less than a story left in it!)
• Kissing Cousins (a cheesy romance--don't judge!)

I want to read Harry Potter again, but I need to make myself finish these classics first before I partake of one of the greatest pleasures known to literature. 

Goslings & Brian Regan

My life has been incredibly dull from the beginning of January until the the middle of March. And then . . . Life picked up! I don't know what happened, but I can't believe we are almost mid-way through April. Life has been CRAZY busy with work, family visits, wedding plans, shopping for the wedding, scrap booking, and preparing for school. (P.S. It's my brother Tyler's wedding). This weekend we are going to Caldwell for my nephew's baptism. I can't believe he is already 8! I am so old... The next weekend we are going to Utah for more shopping and my great uncle's concert, and the next two weekends after that are Carrie's bridal showers. Is it ever going to slow down before school starts?  I hope not!

Anyways, all of that is just jibber-jabber. The most exciting news in my life currently is that I was offered a Graduate Instructor position when I start grad school. YAY! I've been praying for the position for months (before I ever knew where I was going to school). This is such a HUGE blessing in my life!!! The GIship (as they affectionately call it) will pretty much pay for all of my tuition and housing expenses. That is a HUGE relief, because even though I am getting my tuition at a pretty cheap rate, it is still pretty pricey! This new source of income will also allow me to do something I have been desperately wanting (which will be revealed at a later date--if it happens).

So, what is a GIship? Well, as a Graduate Instructor, I will teach 2 courses of freshman English my first year, and 2 courses of Sophomore English my second year. It's so nerve wracking, but also so exciting! I'll get the opportunity to see if teaching at the college level is something I really want to do with my life. It will be quite the experience, but I am more than ready for the challenge! In reading up on the GI-Ship, this is my favorite thing I've found:

"If you successfully teach your students to read and write academic essays, they will be eternally grateful to you, bless your name, and call you their best teacher in all the world. They will be like goslings: they will imprint upon you, and you will have the opportunity to help them become successful college students for which they will always thank you."

I about fell over with laughter when I read how they likened my students to goslings. I feel privileged to be looked at as a mother-hen figure ("Mother Goose" is quite appropriate for me since I will be studying folklore), although I am slightly frightened at the possibility of students "imprinting" upon me. I don't want a psycho Jacob hanging around.

So, although not very exciting for anyone else, I am very excited. I have to attend a week-long training before school starts, which is good because it gives me an excuse to move to Logan earlier.

Apart from this excitement, I also had a little Brian Regan excitement a couple of weeks ago. I attended his show (thanks to a special co-worker of mine) and took a bunch of crappy photos and videos on my phone.

In these two videos, he is talking about how some membership cards are pretty pointless (sorry the video is sideways! I told you my phone was crappy, and I can't figure out how to flip it):

 

 

To see the real deal of Brian Regan, watch this next video. It was his encore for us after a special request from a sweet woman in the audience.

I will always love Brian and his silly jokes! I am excited for Bill Cosby to come to Rexburg. My parents are already planning to buy tickets to his show. 

It looks like this is about all the excitement one blog post can handle for now. Peace out until next time!