Highlights from New Orleans

Top 10 highlights from Christmas break (in no particular order):

1. Making lots of chocolate freezie's with mom's magic bullet blender. We made sure to always have blue bell ice cream, chocolate syrup, bendy straws, and styrofoam cups in stock. I'm craving one real bad right now.

2. Church. I love going to church in New Orleans. There is always such a wonderful, unique spirit that is present. I loved LOVED teaching primary with all of the cute kiddies and going to mutual with the youth. The youth went to get hot dogs at the gas station across the street after cleaning the chapel. I can't believe how much the church has grown down there.

3. Christmas day in Thibodaux. Nuff said.

4. Spending time with my mama. We went to Houston's a few times and pretty much ordered the same things almost every time. Grilled Artichoke appetizer, Thai Steak Spinach Salad (I found the recipe here), and St. Charles Oysters were so delish! We also went to the cute boutiques on Magazine Street and I bought some cute things that I normally don't buy (i.e. scarce, hat, necklace.)

5. Rachel + Lexie. I love these cute cousins of mine. They came to New Orleans and stayed with us for a couple of days. We did fun sleepover stuff including painting nails, watching youtube videos, netflix, and lots of snackin'. We also went to Magazine street and ate at a cute cafe, walked around, did lots of people watching, and went to this cute, chic bakery called "Sucre".

6. Car troubles. Mom's poor Sienna mini van was a hot mess. A day after getting it "fixed", it stalled on the interstate. Me and Jacob had to push it to give it some momentum, then once it did, my mom wouldn't stop the car for us so we had to jump inside of the moving car! It was a James Bond moment...We took it to the dealership and had to wait in the waiting room for a while. There was a see-through soundproof room where we all hung out and had fun making fun of people as loud as we wanted without being heard.

7. Riding my mom's bike in Audubon park almost every day, listening to good music. This fills my soul!

8. Jacob. I love my brother Jacob and I feel like I get to know him so much more every time I go home. He is an amazing kid with such a big heart! Love you.

9. My sister, Sarah, and her cute family came to New Orleans and we had such a fun time. We went to the park, ate lots of yummy po'boys and beignets, and hung out. We went to the Riverwalk and Eleanor had a head-crackin' great time!

10. Amy bought a car! (and happily drove it back to Utah by herself). I'm so happy for her and the start of her adulthood with a car!

I'm excited for a new year and ready to "laissez les bon temps rouler"!

Hair Did

I finally did it! I've been wanting to cut my hair short for such a long time ... and oh boy does it feel good! haha I tried out this new hair salon in Orem called Platinum studios because I heard you can get 15 bucks off if you mention this blog called C.Jane.

"The Lord is pleased with every effort, even the tiny daily ones in which we strive to be more like Him."

-Elder Christofferson Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread

Life Shmife

Once again, I really shouldn't be blogging because I really do have a million things to do before I start school this week, but I really wanted to take a break...

I don't necessarily have many new things to say. Instead I'd like to share a few excerpts from my blog over the past couple of years. While reading them tonight, I felt like I literally went back to that time and remembered the spirit that I'd felt at various times in my life. I realize that the spirit works in so many different ways and one of them is through remembrance. I also think of how far I've come: I'm finished with college; I have a career in something that I am very passionate about; I've overcome feelings of doubts, fears, and inadequacies; I've developed better understandings of gospel principles, specifically the Atonement; I've accomplished a few of my goals and dreams; I've learned how to fully forgive; I've learned to accept others and love as Heavenly Father loves his children; I've gained more confidence in myself and more importantly in this Gospel.

On Doubt:

"Everything worth believing goes beyond everything that we can be sure about. Doubt is not healthy because it focuses on ourselves. It cuts the lifeline between us and God. Doubt is like a child because when it demands attention it demands for even more. Brother Millet challenged us to stare our doubts down and feed our faith. He gave the example of Jacob and his son and how his faith was not shaken by the anti christ. 'Doubt not, fear not.' Pray for God to banish all doubt and all fears-- God loves those prayers and He answers them."

On love:

"We had a ward fast today for Dave Chalk, a guy in my ward who has cancer. He has the most positive attitude and is so strong. I felt the tremendous love of our Heavenly Father today at church through the spirit and through the testimonies that were given. First of all, I felt His love through my bishop. He is amazing and you can feel his love radiate to each person. Imagine Heavenly Father's love for me. His love for you. His love for Dave Chalk. His tremendous love for each one of His children. I gained an even greater appreciation today for Joseph Smith and that even though he had many imperfections, he brought about so much good into this world, in fact, he restored the only true gospel to this earth. This really touched my heart today because lately I have been focusing so much on my imperfections and flaws that it was starting to eat away at the spirit. I know that despite my imperfections, I can bring much good into this world."

On meekness:

"I learned that meekness is a christ-like attribute that is essential for those who want to stay on the path of righteousness. If we are meek, then we do not get offended by others or take offense. If we are meek, then we do not get agitated easily because we are not absorbed in ourselves. Instead, we are thinking of others and loving our neighbors as God sees them instead of as objects. I guess it all comes down to what we want. Do we want happiness or do we want to be miserable? We can be happy by simply not letting ourselves get frustrated. We can be happy by developing our relationships with others and focusing on the now. We can be happy by not focusing so much on ourselves. It all comes down to what Christ would do."

On the Gospel:

"Tonight we had a fireside and they talked about how peculiar we as BYU students are in the UK. We stand out by the way act and we dress. Our standards and morals shock most of the people here. The couple missionaries said that we open the doors for the missionaries here and are so grateful to have us. I have never felt more peculiar in my life, even more than when I lived in New Orleans and was the only Mormon at a catholic school. I feel so out of place here, but I don’t feel like that at church at all. I have a ward family wherever I go. A Scottish sister read Ephesians 2:19 where it says we are no strangers or foreigners. Our differences are not so great because we have the gospel. Today was wonderful. I gained a stronger testimony of the gospel and God’s love for each of us. I felt that every thing came together for me since I saw the gospel in action in a different part of the world. I kept thinking in my head, 'There is no way the gospel is not true.'"

Love you all!

"Getting to Know Ms. Hansen"

Ok, I should definitely not be blogging right know because I have about a million things to do before school starts next tuesday. I just wanted to update y'all and share my Voicethread introducing myself to my students. I am excited and anxious to start school. I'm curious to see how this year will turn out. Wish me luck!

Skyping with the Girly Bugs

Can I just say that I LOOOOVE Skype? It really is the closest thing to hanging out with my family with out actually "being" there. I love all of my cute nieces and I just wish we all lived closer. And I love you too Amy bug!!!

The Yearbook is complete!

It's done it's done!! I have loved being a yearbook teacher this semester! Other good news is that I was offered a full time position for OHSU for the next school year and I am so stoked and so grateful. I'll probably look for a place in SLC so if you know of any good areas let me know.

Me and some of my students threw this promotional video together for the yearbook and the students are so excited to get theirs.

Yearbook Promo Video from Teacher 2 Open High School on Vimeo.