Gwen's Thoughts

A Time for Healing

2010-06-21T13:57:00.000-07:00

Recently I have been on an emotional roller coaster. I have experienced a wide range of emotions and one of those "stretching" moments. I have found that the Plan of Salvation is real and that my Savior's atonement is far more reaching then I had ever imagined. I love Him more than ever before and I didn't think that was possible.

I have been praying to know if I am following and recognizing the spirit and the Lord decided to show me in a not so subtle way. My friend and I decided the other day to visit sisters in the ward. We started off pretty good and went to several houses, as the day went on we finally felt like we should visit the girl who was first on the list, we had passed over her name several times. As we pulled up to the house, my stomach started to tingle. My friend started walking off to a different house hoping that it was the one, but being somewhat able to understand addresses I knew we were at the right location. As we slowly walked up the sidewalk my friend commented on the roses to make both of us feel better. As we were standing on the porch I had a sinking feeling come over me, and I felt like I was about to black out. I could have sworn we were being watched. My friend lifted her arm to knock on the door and quickly said, "Let's get out of here!" I had the same feeling so we ran to the car. As we talked over what had just happened I understood that the Spirit had spoken to both of us and confirmed what we had just experienced. I don't know what was in the house but, I do know that it wasn't good. Heavenly Father loves us and He knows how to help us each individually. He knew exactly what I needed to get through and He is willing to help us whenever we are in need. I love Him!

My Class 2008-2009

2009-06-03T00:35:00.000-07:00

This was an amazing year! I had a lot of fun, and I can't express how much I love these kids. I am excited to see where they all choose to go with their lives. We will see many great and extraordinary things from these kids!

My students this year were always extremely concerned about who was my favorite, so I would pull a stick and say a random student's name. Then they would ask two seconds later, "Who is your favorite now?" and I'd draw a new stick. Hence the end credits.

You Did NOT Just Do That

2009-01-16T07:14:00.000-08:00

Last night at parent teacher conferences, I was flipped off. I know, I know what you are thinking. "Who would flip innocent little Gwen off?" Answer? A parent.

Here's the story:
I was sitting there telling her what an amazing daughter she has and thanking her for all of her support, when she starts in on a story of her own. "Teachers are not appreciated enough. I would know, I taught sixth grade ages ago and am currently teaching at the high school. At least in sixth grade Christmas comes along and you get an enormous haul (so many gifts you have to make at least two trips out to your car), but in high school all you get is...

She flips me off and yells, "Merry Christmas!"

And this my dear friends is why I teach sixth grade, at the elementary school.

Side note: This reminded me of the story about grandma Allen, flipping off all of dad's friends to say a friendly hello, and how she would practice straightening her finger on her pillow so she could flip people off "the cool way." Straight up, you know, not the lame curved finger bit.

In conclusion, take the time to thank some teacher who hasn't been thanked recently. You could be saving some of us "innocents" the bird. Also, tell grandma the true meaning of flashing the bird.

What is Diabetes?

2008-09-18T14:08:00.000-07:00

Another School Story: This is going down as one of my all time favorites.

I was teaching an amazing writing lesson, if I do say so myself, trying to pull some detailed facts from their own lives by giving them some inspired examples (so they would have material to write about through out the school year without asking, "What should I write about?" "I don't have anything to write about." or, "I don't know what to write about?") This way I had backup. I could say, "Why don't you write about one of your life experiences, from your nifty time line." While modeling what I wanted on their time lines, it came up that I was diagnosed with type one diabetes when I was in sixth grade.

Instantly the hands shot up and the looks of concern spread across the classroom. First hand, "Are you going to die." "Not if I take care of myself," I reassured him. Second hand, "Is it contagious?" "No, it's not." Alright, now I had a question. "How many of you know someone with diabetes?" About half the class raised their hands. "Okay, how many of you know what diabetes is?" A few students raised their hands, but one hand caught my attention more than the others. This hand shot straight up in the air, without any hesitation. Oh good, I thought, I have a safety net to call on. Wrong! I then proceed to point to her so she could give me her definition of diabetes. She spoke up with her clear confident voice, "It's when. . . your prostate stops working." I can feel my smile muscles twitching, fighting back the urge to laugh out loud I quickly turn on my serious teacher voice, "Actually I don't have a prostate, but you're close (trying to help her save face in front of the class). They both start with 'p', but it's when your pancreas stops working."

Can life get any more awkward and amusing then this? I submit that it cannot!

Neighbors

2008-09-01T19:31:00.000-07:00

Ann and I recently moved to a new house and are just getting settled in. Our house is so cute! It has a lot of wonderful perks. One of those perks is our neighbors. After we had completed a strenuous day's work, we were laying down to relax, the doorbell rang. Ann answered the door and I hear from the downstairs, "Can your little boys play?" Confused I finally realized they were referring to Luke and Caleb, my nephews. Ann replied, "I don't have any little boys. They are my nephews who were just visiting." "Do you live with anyone else?" They queried. "Just my sister." "Well, can she play?" Ann turns to me, "Can you play?" "No." I smugly replied. "She said no, she can't." Ann sweetly tells them. "Why not?" they asked. "Because I'm twenty-three years old." I remarked. Ann trying to make sure I didn't seem very rude tells them in a whisper, "She's not very fun to play with anyway." I don't think I've laughed so hard for at least the past week. I love a good laugh!

Kids

2008-08-28T17:20:00.000-07:00

I must admit that the first of this school year has surprised me immensely. It's been full of fun and concerns, new beginnings and fresh starts, but most of all it's been a rude awakening to the education of our youth.

Here's the story:

I wanted to introduce my students to the social studies curriculum for the year so, I had them do a picture walk through their Social Studies book. A lot of students were getting really excited about the upcoming year. They found mummies, flags, great walls, Greek gods and goddesses, wars, pestilence and all kinds of interesting things. Then I noticed a group of students who had an interesting look of concern, amusement, and puzzlement on their faces. Intrigued I asked, "What did you find?" One student piped up, "Um, Miss Allen? What does this say?" I take a look at the word and understanding fills my head. "It says Assess. Review and Assess." Then I started to laugh. It reminded me of a movie where Mike Myers said, "You've put the wrong em-fAhh-sis on the wrong syll-Ahh-bull."

All I can say is, I love my Job!!! Ja ja ja!

My Mom's Mini Memory of My Dad

2008-08-12T21:23:00.000-07:00

How we met:

Your dad had returned from his mission on July 19, 1967 and he planned to attend Snow College that fall to play basketball. It was our first day back at college and I was an officer in the LDS Student Association. I was spending my time in the Institute befriending new students and encouraging them to enroll in classes. (The institute is now the Family Life bldg.) I thoroughly enjoyed meeting new people. Rather early in the day I noticed this cute, tall fellow lounging in one of the leather chairs, rather layed back, with a smirk/smile on his face. He was handsome in his stiffly starched, perfectly ironed yellow "Gant" shirt and Dockers. (You were stylin' in a "Gant" in those days. Before his mission, he had a good job working at Geneva Steel and had acquired nice clothes.)

The officers had planned a fun get acquainted night which included a dance. To learn more about our dance partners we each had a "dance program". The students were to exchange signatures during the day. That evening, we would locate the person whose name corresponded to the number on the dance program.It happened that your dad was the first person to sign my program.

I didn't know that I would be the first person to dance with him since his return from So. America. When the dance began and they announced: "Find dance partner # one." I began looking this way and that for a tall guy with amazingly long eyelashes and gorgeous blue eyes. He was easy to spot and he saw me so there we were facing each other. Anyway, there was a question attached to each number on the dance program. Our question was. "Where are you from?" He answered first. He said that he was from "here" and that he played basketball for Manti High. Hummm? I'm now wondering:"How OLD ARE YOU? I was a JV cheerleader for Manti High and have never seen you on the playing floor! You must be OLD! I must have had a stumped look on my face but he didn't change his story when I told him that I went to Manti High too. We danced and I led. So he said. What do you expect he hadn't danced for years, and that's what I had done a lot of . I was even planning to persue dance as a minor in college.

During the evening he asked me to dance with him again and then asked if he could walk me home. As we walked, he began talking about his mission, (Andes South), and then started talking about some Elder from his mission who had come home and was married within a month. "Wow!" I said,"Where did you say you served?" "Andes South" he responded. "I have a brother-in -law who served there, and he was only home a month when he married my sister." I said. "His name wasn't Mordecai was it?" he Querried. We both laughed. We had something BIG in common.

I explained that they had been married in the Manti Temple only a month earlier. "OH!" He sighed, "I would have been there if I had known about it." I felt his disappointment and said comfortingly, "Well my sister's dress is upstairs" When we get home I'll put it on and you can shake my hand. I can pretend to be Barbara." "No," He said. "it's OK. You can wear the dress for our wedding."

I did wear that dress for our wedding in July 19, 1968.

Memories

2008-08-12T21:03:00.000-07:00

I know being the youngest in my family I have the most abbreviated memories of our lost loved ones, but I thought I might as well put my two bits in. Ha ha, pun intended. Most of the things I remember about dad were feelings I felt while being around him. I think the most appropriate word for it is Love. I also remember a scag-nasty green bottle with a large cut in the nipple so I could get the mush out. I sometimes think I remember dad telling me to go lay down so I could have the bottle, but I don't know if that is just me mixing in my own dreams. I do remember looking straight up, trying to see dad's face, but the only thing I saw was his extra long skinny legs. The end. I sure have loved hearing about dad. It feels like I know him a bit better just by reading what my family shared on the Allen Clan blog. Thanks! I love you all!

Wow, while re-reading my post to make sure I didn't have any huge errors (being the teacher that I am) I realized I sound really pitiful and that's not what I was going for. So, to let you all feel jipped I thought I would share some memories about Grandpa Nielson. This man was no ordinary man. He was the kind of man that hero's are made of. He had a very deep voice that was very gentle and loving. I would always sit on his lap and listen to his chest rumble as he spoke. That man had a gift for making a little child feel special. I remember him saying to me, after mom had apologized for having to leave me with him that, "I'll baby-sit you, if you baby-sit me." This immediately got a wide smile from both of us. Never have I meet a man that was so wise and quiet at the same time. I remember waking up from nap time and seeing him sitting at the table pouring over his scriptures. He had both a deep calm about him as well as an amazing sense of humor. He told me once, after I had asked him why he eats burnt toast, that he likes it that way. Definitely an acquired taste. More likely grandma accidentally burnt it when the were first married and he didn't have the heart to tell her it was ruined, so he sucked it up and told her, "I like it that way." Boy, I love this man! Through spending time with him I feel like I understand a little better what Heavenly Father's love would feel like. Just looking at the man who would go for walks with a little girl (and his cane) to make her feel important makes me miss him. I always felt like a great lady in his presence, and I can't wait to see him and all our other loved ones again.

I also just remembered some memories of Miriam's caring ways. She would come home from school or work with candy in her hands to hand out to her annoying little siblings. I remember one particular day when she had some dum dums and some smarties and she told Ann and I, "If you're smart you can have the smarties and if you're dumb you'll pick the dum dums." Ann and I, being no dum dums would shout in unison, "Oh, we're dumb. We are dumb dumbs!" We weren't going to get stuck with the nasty smarties. I also remember her always doing our hair and buying us new clothes. She always was a motherly figure in my life and I cherish her dearly. To this day whenever I pass Nilla Wafers in the store I think of my dearest Miriam. I love her so very much!

Summer 2008

2008-08-12T11:01:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went to Lagoon. Which is usually pretty lame but, I went on all of the intense rides. My new all time favorite is, bum bum bum... the Sky Coaster. They hook you up to these cables and you are in this pouch contraption (kind of like a Stork's package), then they pull you way up high and count down 3, 2, 1 ... Soar! You then have to pull a cord that releases you at death defying speeds. You feel like you are going to plummet to your doom, then at the last second you are swooping in a giant arc. It felt like I was flying! My hands were stretched out and enjoying the moment while Brian was hugging my arm pretty tightly. It was hilarious!

I also went on a cruise this summer. I had an insane amount of fun (and stress)! We went to Catalina Island and Ensenada, Mexico. The boat was huge! We kept walking from front to back marveling at how enormous this contraption was. I blindly went with my step-brother John, and if you know him you know how many awkward things he likes to say to get a rise out of people, so I was sitting there thinking, "Wow, that was really awkward." Then we would laugh. I don't think I would ever go on a cruise without another person in our group, because everyone kept asking us if we were engaged or how long we had been dating and I would say, "Nope! He's my brother." or "We're just good friends." That was pretty nasty and odd.

I've had an amazing summer, but I am excited to get back to school! Things always seem to come at me in chunks instead of pieces so, right now I am trying to set up my classroom and move at the same time. Crazy!!

Ann is now engaged, and I couldn't be happier for her! She is seriously one of the funnest people I know, when she's not trying to make me angry. She has a gift for saying things that make me laugh harder then I ever do for anything else. Another one of my very favorite sisters is prego (you know who you are) and she is the least flawed person I know. She has a way of making me talk and sometimes cry where nobody else can. She is an amazing mother and friend! I love my family!

I also wanted you to get a glimpse of how funny Neil is. He was at the car wash with me and decided to play with my camera and take a million pictures. Neil is growing up so fast, and he knows it too. He keeps touching his Adam's Apple and asking us, "What's this?" Although, he knows exactly what it is he's just trying to get us to notice he's growing up. He also like to compare his height to everyone else and is looking for the day when he is, "Tall as Gwen!" Not a compliment to me, but what can I say... He thinks I'm the coolest!

Love is in the Air

2008-02-04T19:27:00.000-08:00

Apparently, even sixth graders get poked by cupid's arrows. I have so many love triangles going on in my classroom that I can't keep up with all of them, so I had to lay down the law. All notes are outlawed. I thought I had made my sentiments know at the first of the year by threatening to show any note I found to the offender's parents. All it did was make them a little better at not getting caught. Yet, they still want my approval. I say I am just going to start telling parents to monitor their child's e-mail account and cell phone use because this is where a lot of this "will you go out with me" stuff is being addressed. I wouldn't care so much if they weren't trying to be so sneaky about it with their parents! So, parents please monitor what your child is doing and save me the trouble of dealing with all of their raging hormones. There I've vented my feelings and now feel so much better. Thanks!

Today

2008-01-23T21:06:00.000-08:00

Today was no ordinary day. I feel like I am on top of the world. Mainly because I was able to show that I know how to manage 25 people in one class. I also wanted to say how blessed I feel right now. I know that prayers are answered and heard, because when ever I have these blessings of the spirit I think more clearly and I can solve problems as soon as they arise. I feel very successful! I was able to motivate instruct and lead an attentive class (in front of my employer). It doesn't get much better than this!