Today sweet little Lucy (AKA perfect student) in my class celebrated her birthday. For each student's birthday we make little birthday wish books to give to each other. Each kid makes their own page and to kill time for my sake I told them that we love our classmates so much that we must do our ABSOLUTE best work on our pictures. Well the result was this:
Where on earth are her clothes? I seriously took one glance at this and thought one of my sweetest boys had drawn the birthday girl in her literal birthday suit :)
This is one of the many reasons why I am excited to go to work every single day. I love my job more than anything!

Worst combo I think my body has ever experienced. I feel like I just got shot in the stomach. I don't know if my heart will ever desire me to eat cheesecake again. Well. I never really liked it anyways. Just got back from my sister's "open house" (Another way to get more presents I guess)
While chatting with old ward members I downed the richest piece of cheesecake. Not thinking about what I was doing I quickly came home to a huge pizza sitting on the counter at my parent's house. I've never really been one to say no to pizza. SO there you have it. I am sitting here moaning from how terrible I feel. BAD BAD COMBO.

I now count my days as successful or not by the way my classroom ran for the day. Last week I felt like I was the crazy teacher who disciplined way too much. Well I did some life reflection during fall break and I already have seen a change in the relationships that I'm building with my class. Today was a success. I only had to tell 3 kids to pull their cards, and not a single kid pulled their card more than once. On top of that, one of my problem children was a perfect angel today. OH my. I was giving him class tickets left and right (Class tickets are what I give out as a token for good behavior. The ticket automatically goes into the bucket for the drawing that occurs every morning. The prize= a piece of candy)
I was never so pleased to pass out tickets as I was today.
I do this thing where I tell the kids directions as to what I want them to do. While I'm talking they are sitting still being active listeners.. I then tell them to smile like some sort of character, hold up an invisible camera and when I say cheese they are good to go. (Characters I've been using: Zombies, Vampires, goblins... Justin Bieber) They flipped out about the bieb and as a punishment I started singing Baby. Best reaction I could have gotten.
NOOOOOOOOOO Miss Shepherd. STOP.
Oh please. Don't act like you're too good for the Biebs.
Friday is 80s day. Can't wait to see the little guys dressed up.

Alma 37: 6
 Now ye may suppose that this is ^afoolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by ^bsmall and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise.

So every mormon has their favorite scripture right? Well it took me a little longer to find mine. Whenever someone would ask me to give a quick thought they'd always say: "Just tell us your favorite scripture."
That always put me into panic mode. I would hurry and just look up scriptures and decide that some random verse was my favorite for the day. Or I always relied on my friend Nikki's favorite. I guess I always wanted my favorite scripture to have complete meaning to me and kind of be what I lived my life by. WELL This summer during EFY I finally found myself a favorite scripture. I was super excited about this and ended up finding myself quoting this scripture over and over again.
Alma 37:6 really comes to my mind almost every single day now and has honestly helped me change my way of thinking on alot of things.
I really do believe that as I live my life by establishing those small and simple things I do find the greatest blessings come to pass or the greatest destruction come about.
Heavenly Father wants us to do those small things such as reading our scriptures, praying and serving others so we can become more like him. As we do these small things daily thats when we see huge changes in who we are.
Also in our everyday lives with things such as exercise, work, relationships... it's through those small things that we do that we see great change.
But if we simply forget to do these small things we can also see great destruction in our lives and find satan gaining control over our hearts.
SO there you have it. I have found my favorite scripture and love the meaning that is has for me in my life.

http://lds.org/?lang=eng
SO I have recently discovered how great lds.org is. YES I have always used it for talks and to listen to conference... but recently my friend Westin showed me how great of a tool it is. I now access this website almost everyday to read and record in my journal on my account.
Yes I'm blogging about this because I honestly love this website and think everyone should have their own account that they use! :)

Well no need to worry... Maycee.. Sweet little Maycee is innoncent. Who wrote that card in the advice box is still unknown! BUT I did have a class discussion about what is appropriate and that the box is not used to frame other people. HA
They all have straight faces because I was very stern saying this.
I love my little 3rd graders!

Well Ladies and Gents I think my problem of tattle telling has been resolved, but little did I realize behind the beauty of it all that I was going to receive hate mail from one of my kiddos. OK. I let it effect me for a second. And maybe it still is because I'm blogging about it.
The majority of the slips in the advice box (Tattle box) go something like this:
Other people are talking too much so it's hard for me to work.
Zach keeps touching me.
Hunter trips me everytime I walk by.
Someone keeps calling me rude names.
Madisen keeps talking to me too much while I'm working.
Bob keeps touching my hair.
Some boys called me perverted things.
Ok and then suddenly one of my sweet little girls is writing her hourly complaint
and runs over to me with a card that says:
I hate Miss Shepherd
-Maycee.
WHAT THE LAND?
she does not act like she hates me.
But you know what I can handle that. I made her pull a card the other day and she cried.
So tomorrow I will be the bigger person (After all I am the teacher)
and I will confront her about the issue and ask her what I can do to help make things better.
Bless her heart.
The outcome will come later. Stay tuned.

Miss Shepherd can I break dance for you?
Ummmm..... my thoughts "Should I let him break dance during his time out?"
YES!! Ofcourse Apolo.
What the heck? What 8 year old is that good at break dancing.

Watch this miss Shepherd. Not many people can do this. YEP he proceeded
to spin on his head.

WELP class talent show coming at you soon. Excited to see what other mysteries
my students are hiding.

Well so far I've realized I am a strict teacher. BUT I have discovered my extreme desire to just have control over the class so I can love them even more and give them the best education possible. I SERIOUSLY want to spoil these kids. Will they let me? I sure hope so. Because I have so many fun things that I want to do with them, but what the heck they have to earn it right?
Well It's only the first week, so let's hope me being such a tight teacher will eventually change once I've got control.
All in All I have a vision of the teacher I want to be, and I am slowly learning how to become that. (It might take years)

I've discovered as I get older and older..(ok in my 20s still)
But I've discovered that I experience new feelings as time goes on. Seriously. I don't know if any of you have ever had one of those moments where you stand there and think "What the heck is this that I'm feeling" Since I've never felt some of these feelings before I don't really know how to explain it.
I know what love feels like, but to what degree? What is the love of a mother or the love of a wife? I know what it feels like to truly deeply love my family and my friends. I know what it feels like to love my Savior. But what blows my mind is how you think you can love someone so so much and yet there is still room to love even deeper than imagined.
As a new teacher I have had one of those moments where I am unsure of how I'm feeling. I have experienced the extreme feeling of being overwhelmed and almost in shock from how quickly life can change.
I have felt the feeling of trusting in God. Not that I didn't before, but I have now felt what it's like to follow him when a big decision needs to be made. I have felt the peace that comes from following his will.
I have now felt the love of a teacher. AND yet I know that love is going to grow more and more everyday. I cannot even imagine saying bye to these kids at the end of the year because of the love I'll feel for them.
I have felt the love of GOOD friends when I am down. I have felt loving them and physically getting sick by being worried about them.
The other day in institute I felt the feeling of new things coming. (Which is weird to say, because I really don't know what those new things are... and yeah it probably was the spirit speaking, but it's interesting how the spirit can make you feel different feelings as well.)
All I know is that the best feelings come from doing what's right in my life. By serving others and choosing to care about them I have discovered overwhelming Love.
By following the spirit and trusting in God I have felt extreme peace and Happiness. I know that all these feelings can be magnified when we choose to let them grow.
What's crazy is that Heavenly Father gave us feelings so we can feel the most Joy possible, and what else is crazy is that we have a choice on how we allowing those feelings to grow.
FEELINGS. What the heck are they?
Well all I know is that they are wonderful, even though they can ruin your day at times, they also make life beyond wonderful and they all begin in the heart.

Well here it is. This is Aspen Elementary where I will be spending the rest of the school year being a teacher to a cute little 3rd grade class!! Tomorrow I get to meet my kiddos and hopefully be able to love them just as much as I have loved my 5th/6th graders at Manila Elementary.
Life is crazy and can completely change in just 24 hours. Even though the future is scary and a quite smoggy I know that the Lord has something in mind for me.
SO I am now just praying that I can be the teacher that these kids need and that I won't be stressed out for the next year!
GO EAGLES

Have you ever met someone who is just so in tune with the spirit that when you need them most they are there.... and yet they have no clue what is going on in your life!
Well today was a pretty rough day for me. One of those days you just won't forget.
Anyways I had been in tears half the day... heart broken.... and really confused!
I have had a cold for the past few days and when I went to ward prayer last night sweet sweet Lorna who is in the Relief Society presidency with me had noticed that I was a tad bit sick. Well today she just sent me such sweet texts telling me to feel better and really expressing concern. Little did she realize is that I know she felt that she needed to text me... because it was literally within minutes after I had experienced my trying moment.
She even ended up leaving me a little treat on the front porch for when I got home. She still has no idea what is going on in my life right now and yet she is just there ready to lift me up and serve me!
The Lord is aware of our needs and works through his children to lift us up in times of need. I am just so thankful for those who are willing to be in tune with the spirit and follow the spirit's promptings. What amazing examples those people are to me.

I belong to the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I know who I am. I know God's plan and I'll follow him in faith.
I am so blessed to have the truth of the gospel in my life. I am overwhelmed daily by the blessings that my heavenly father has given me, but I am so ungrateful and often do not recognize how much he really is in my life. As I watched conference I learned so much as to how I can become more like my Savior Jesus Christ and how I can find joy and overcome the trials that I face.
As I trust in my Heavenly Father and do the things that please him I will be blessed with the constant companionship of the spirit.
The thing that really stood out to me the most during this conference was the blessing of personal revelation and how to acquire it in my own life. At times I find myself lacking in faith and not really knowing how to receive answers to my prayers. But I am so blessed to have leaders in the church who will tell me exactly how I can learn the language of the spirit to lead and direct me in my own life decisions. As I hear stories of President Monson being so in tune with the spirit that he acts without knowing why the spirit is telling him to do so I find myself hoping that I can too trust in God enough to follow his will rather than following my own will.
Although my own will might be more clear to me on what the outcome might be and Heavenly Father's is most the time like stepping into the darkness... It has been clearly stated that by following his will I will find the greater happiness in my own life. That is where faith comes in. Taking those few steps into the darkness and trusting that Heavenly Father will light the way. Because if it is his will he will be there to guide you and strengthen my to become who he needs me to be in order to build up his kingdom and return to him.
I know that my faith is not as strong as I'd like it to be, but I also know that over time and through practice I will come to understand the will of my father more clearly and I hope to one day know when the spirit is speaking to me and to be able to follow what I'm told.
The church is true and I am so thankful for the words of our prophet.

Camping with 60 little girls in the middle of the woods.
Singing the latest and greatest songs during class.
Playing dodge ball against 70 5th graders.
Dominating the 5th grade soccer team and having them tell me I was off sides.
Having 35 10 year old children sit quietly and read for an hour while I dive into Fablehaven.
run around at recess with the awkward kid and help him perfect his throwing skills with a football.
Dominating 10 kids in a game of speed.
Teaching kids about Indians and Ancient Egyptians.
Watching the kids in the back of the class who try to get away with being mischievousness 
Having the quite boy in the back corner rip a loud one while I'm in the middle of my lesson. (Hilarious)
Telling the kids funny stories from my life and then getting a 1000 thrown back at me. (Most of them are irrelevant to anything)
Frightening kids by pretending they're in trouble. (Probably should chill out on that one before I really scare a kid)
Laughing my head off daily at the things the kids say or do.
Listening to the librarian read children's books and falling asleep in her comfy chair.
Talking to parents about the problems their children are facing and making up a game plan to solve.
Comforting the awkward girl who really doesn't have many friends. (I wish I could help her more than I do)
Seeing the slow kid get so excited when he does OK on a math test.
Correcting papers, joking around with kids, feeling important and Finding Joy in every moment that I spend with the kids.
I Absolutely love teaching and hope that I can one day be the teacher I dream of becoming.