We Survived!

Wow! What a week we've had! By Friday both Tyler and I wanted to fall over. Teaching school is exhuasting. I have great kids though and I'm looking forward to the rest of the year. They seem to see me as an authority figure which is fantastic. I'm teaching Freshman Algebra so I have basically all freshman. There are a few repeater sophomores, but other than that I've got all the new kids. I told them we could be new together. Only one girl asked how old I was. I told her I was really really old. She didn't believe me, but I got away without telling them. Tyler's sixth graders are making a huge adjustment from fifth grade to now having eight periods to keep track of. I guess he had a few forlorn, lost little 11 year-olds, but being a nice guy he helped them out! He teaches 6 periods a day where I only have three. It's fun to see the kids come and go. They each have such individual personalities, likes, and dislikes. Sixths graders are full of energy and stories where ninth graders just want to be left alone for the most part. I think most of my kids (okay, may be I should call them my students) like me, but they sure don't want to let me know, let alone let their friends know. Tyler's students are thrilled to have him. You can tell the difference when we walk into the grocery store and get a huge "HI Mr. Jessup!!" from one of his students, while my student is standing behind the cash register trying to keep me from noticing him. Pretty funny! So that was the first week. We survived! And actually better than I originally thought. As we get into the swing of things it should become more routine and less exhausting. My mom asked if this is everything I ever dreamed of. Well, I think I would like things to run a little smoother eventually, but for now I'm pretty convinced that we're in the right place at the right time. Our district and our schools are incredible. We're definitely here for the kids and that's what we were hoping for.

We're making a few friends in our new little town. The new strings teacher is an interesting character. He's an amazing musician. We had a little birthday party for Tyler last week, and Matt brought his guitar and sang for us. That was fun. We also met a new couple, the Jensen's who just moved here to teach school also. David teaches eighth grade math, and Amanda stays home with their son, Robert, who is almost a year old. We've also made friends with Maile and Aaron Schilling who are in our ward. She is a new pharmacist in town and he works for a natural gas company.

So, things are working out better than we had ever hoped even if we did have to come all the way to Wyoming. For any of you looking for a nice place to settle down, Evanston seems to be working out for us! We are truly blessed. I'd say the Lord is watching out for us every day, every minute!! every second!!