The decor

So I changed my blog decor in honor of mine and Kory's trip to the Big Island Hawaii in two weeks. We are SO excited for a few reasons:
1) It's Hawaii!! Need we any more reasons?
2) Family Reunions which means A LOT of people in one place for two weeks.
3) Kory's whole immediate family is going--probably the last family trip together for a VERY LONG TIME
4) Jase's first time in Hawaii (he pronounces it Ha-why)
5) Bang-Bang (it's a game)
6) Food, food, food.
7) Short side-trek to Honolulu between the two reunions
8) Folks, it's not Provo. That's all I need to say.

Pretty much, the days can't go by fast enough. We totally can't wait. Plus, it will be my first time at a family reunion of this grandeur and my first time on the big island. How exciting! I'll try to take as many pictures as possible.

Kory and I had what I would call a fun and interesting conversation last night before drifting off to sleep. Somehow we got onto the topic of baby names. We've talked about them before and I know that Kory wants one of his children (preferably a son) to have his middle name: Kaheaokalani. I've always been okay with that, but then my thought process turns to family names from my side. Comparatively, they are not very exciting but hey, we can't all have oober cool names, can we? My grandpa's name was John Ellis Passmore. My mom wants us girls to try to utilize his name somehow when naming our boys. I'm not a fan of John (maybe, possible, not likely a middle name) but I would probably use Ellis as a middle name. Here arises the dilemma: If we name one child with a Hawaiian middle name, the other children are not going to be happy that they didn't get a Hawaiian middle name. So, the next problem and what our conversation consisted of last night. I'm not keen on my children having two middle names, but Kory thinks it's okay. With our last name and a hawaiian middle name, I don't think giving our children yet another middle name is necessary or nice. Can you imagine? Little Jacob Ellis Kaheaokalani Sekaquaptewa (or Jacob Kaheaokalani Ellis Sekaquaptewa) trying to write his whole name in First grade? Of course, I'm sure that our children will be proud of their names, just as Kory is, but still I think it's slight overkill. Kory seemed to be very set on the idea of two middle names. Our nephew is Jase Kawika Sekaquaptewa Perkins, slightly shorter but still with two middle names. I just haven't decided completely how I feel about it yet. What do you think?

Massage Envy

I got a massage today. It was HEAVENLY!!! I only wish it wasn't so expensive because I would go back once a month, like my massage therapist recommended today. *sigh*

So I called to make the appointment yesterday and the girl asks if I have a preference on gender for the therapist. I took a risk and said I didn't care, thinking I would probably get a girl. When she got my info and finalized the appointment, she said: "Okay, tomorrow at 2:30 with Ben." I hung up then got a little nervous. I have had a professional massage once in my life and it was a girl who did it. Let's just say I was apprehensive about my appointment today. So I get there and a few minutes later, this cute twenty-something, red-haired guy walks out and meets me. He's got personality to boot and I immediately like him. He was very professional and not once did I feel even remotely uncomfortable with him doing my massage. We chatted like old friends with a few "ooh, you're really tight" lines thrown in there. I was slightly scared that he was very much enjoying finding problem spots in my neck, but other than that he was fantastic!! Even better, he knows my principal. She and his mom are like best friends! YEAH! WEIRD, but cool. So, I would highly recommend this place even though much time may pass before I visit there again. They are very expensive and I think $50 a month is just something we can't afford to add to our expenses, but boy it would be nice.

Question

Please answer truthfully:

In recent circumstances I have come to the conclusion that some things in life need to change. In order for me to continue moving forward, as my blog title states, I need your suggestions and HONEST answers, please.

Have I ever made you feel like I am better than you? If so, what was the situation? If not, lplease give suggestions for helping me get over this icky awful feeling that I make every person feel like I'm better than them.

Thank you! I look forward to your suggestions and input.

Reflecting

So the past many days have been crazy and my goal to actually write about the talks I've been reading from Conference has gone astray. In fact my goal to read 1 talk every night has been neglected for about 3-4 nights now. UGH!

I have, however, done a lot of thinking...especially today. I met with Diane, my principal and I thank my stars every day that I am not a principal. She has a tough job! Many of you may know that this year was a pretty tough one for me. It was due to a mixture of a whole heck of a lot of stuff, some of that being my decision-making skills. In other words, this year completely SUCKED! Sorry, but it did. In my meeting with Diane I told her straight out that I felt this year that I could not do anything right and I truly mean that. In my heart, I felt that if I did something good it would go unnoticed (especially by parents) and that anything I did (including give time-outs for misbehavior) would make the parents hate me even more and that Diane would hear about it thus turning into another lecture about how to improve my classroom management skills. Diane has always been kind and tactful and loving during those lectures, but honestly, it makes me feel like junk. Thus the point of feeling like I cannot do anything right!

Some of the things that Diane told me today were true and I could see why she was making suggestions for improvement in those areas, but it still hurts. I've just been thinking about some changes to make this next year. It's hard to deal with these things and Kory told me not to write about them since it just makes me more mad. So, I won't! Sorry. I hope I haven't offended anyone, ever, with my attitude or the way I present myself. If I have, I'm sorry.