Meu último domingo na FLSR :(

A Casa Portuguesa-Outono 2010: Jarrett, Josh, Colin, João, Joseph, Janae, Elizabeth, Camila, Caitlin, and Sabrina. :)

There are two things that I know in life.
1. The only thing constant in life is change.
2. The only person that can help us get through these changes and hard times and be the rock we can hold on to as the waves of change crash around us is our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It is because of Him and His atoning sacrifice that we're able to become our best selves, grow closer to and more like our Savior. He is the ONLY way. I am so grateful and blessed to know this, and for the constant direction, support, and love He gives me.

There are a few things I am going to miss about the FLSR:
1. Interpretive dance parties with my roommates Camila and Elizabeth. I'll have to find someone else who can do the "danza do bolo" with me. That'll sure be hard to find.
2. Vegging out with Joseph, and capturing him for "sitting in the car" runs. Oh, the occasional J Dawg or Seven Eleven runs are nice, too. Seriously, I am gonna miss Joseph. He is getting all grow up and getting a real job in California. :(
3. The people. You can never find such fun, positive, dedicated, kind, and hard-working people anywhere else. These are my people, and I sure love 'em. I had a "going away" party today, and it was amazing to see the 70+ people who showed up just because there's a party and food. Gotta love these kind people.
4. The strong, friendly, and supportive ward. Ok, this is kind of redundant, but I will really miss our ward. I was sitting next to my friend Matt during church when I suddenly realized that it was my last Sunday in the FLSR. What a sad moment that was. I am sure gonna miss these crazy people.
5. Portuguese House dinners. Being with people each day makes you close to them, and I will miss my Portuguese family.
6. Crashing Spanish House dinners and desserts. :) They let me steal food from them when the Portuguese House food is less than appetizing. They're too kind!!
7. SO MANY THINGS. I can't think of it all, but I will still be working three shifts a night here, so that will help wean me off of the FLSR so I can somehow transfer back to normal life, and then TAIWAN!!

I love my Savior. It is times like these when changes are happening all around me that I can turn to Him and know that He will reassure me, lift me, and carry me through these times. I know that He loves me and that He has a plan for me. I have faith in Him, and I am so grateful for my Savior.

Random Thoughts

Surprising the Jeyzinator by picking him up at school!! What a stud!!

-The other loves of my life call me Auntie Janae.
-This is probably the first Thanksgiving break that I've lost weight. So, let's just say I was grateful for that-thanks to a sinus infection and a stomach flu-oh, joy!! :)
-I felt like a pregnant woman today. I was craving random foods while I was sick, and I had to pee all of the time because of the Gatorade I was drinking. I'm glad I'm not.
-I had a blast getting to play with my nieces and nephews Jeyza, Sammy, Scarlet, and Raeven over Thanksgiving break.
-I'm grateful I don't have student teaching tomorrow, as I am sick again. Good thing. But, I already miss my students and will be visiting them sometime this week.
-LIZ IS THE BEST!! She was my nurse and great friend today, as always. She always takes care of me. I'm so grateful to have such an outstanding friend such as her.
-I have a man in my life...his name is Jeyza, and he's my 7 year old nephew.:)
-Speaking of men, I got bored and added up my options. Liz and I calculated that I have at least 5 options of marriage if I ever want to just up and get married. All I would have to do is say yes. But, I prefer to say no. Let's just say that I avoid going to my home ward to avoid the ,"So, you dating anyone?", or "What are you doing with your life then?" questions. There is more to life than dating. Graduating from college, going to grad school, teaching abroad, going to nursing school, and going on a mission are just a little taste of the adventures I have planned besides getting married, and boy am I excited for those!!
-I'm excited to have time to work on random projects this week, as my student teaching is over.
-My friend, Chris came up with a term to describe me, and I thought it was hilarious. WARNING: May be a little explicit. He calls me a "social whore". He says that I know everyone, and that warrants the title. Did you know that the maximum number of contacts in your phone is 500? I filled up my contact memory, and that's why he calls me that.
-My dad is a STUD. I told him that he's the reason I haven't got married yet since I can't find anyone half as awesome as he is. He laughed. But, really, it's true.
-My family is crazy and hilarious. People don't believe me when I say I am one of the quieter ones, but it's true. You gotta see the craziness someday. I was expecting a quiet Thanksgiving holiday with just my mom and dad, but after multiplying the size of our Thanksgiving dinner group by five, and multiplying the sound by 10, I was reminded of the craziness. Gotta love it.
-I get to go to San Diego to see Eleisha on December 10th!! YAY!!
Life is good. Love, Janae

The Loves of my Life Call Me Coach

My studly soccer boys!!

Life gets rich and fulfilling when it is full of service, good works, and worthy causes. I believe one of the reasons why I believe my life is so blessed, rich, and fulfilling is because of the opportunity I have been given to use my talents of leadership, relationship building, mentoring, and soccer to serve some of God's children right here in Utah. I have wanted so many times in my life to run off to far away countries, volunteer in orphanages and find God's children to serve. What I missed out on was that there are orphans in need of an angel right around the corner, right in the same city, and yes, even in the city of Provo, Utah. I have now been coaching soccer to at-risk children and teens ages 5-15 for the past two years. It has been the most fulfilling thing I believe I have done in college. I absolutely love my boys. My Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays are packed with kids running to me and saying "Coach, coach, coach!!", "Can we hang out?", and "Can you be my coach again?". I don't think I can leave them. I love these kids. I want to give them as many chances to succeed as I possibly can.

One of the ways I can help them is by getting them exposed to college recruiters by getting them more playing time, and keeping them out of trouble and improving their grades by keeping them occupied with more worthy pursuits, such as soccer. I want to get them in an indoor soccer program that starts in January that will prepare them for our upcoming outdoor season in March. That is why I am fundraising. So, if you are interested, we appreciate any support or donations. Check out our team blog at equipochocolate.blogspot.com, check out Coach Janae Piercy's Facebook page to donate, or go to paypal.com and donate to our program at our account name janaepiercy@gmail.com. Thanks so much. I love you all!!
-Coach Janae

I have hereby been called to serve as a teacher in TAIWAN!!

This is what I get to look forward to for my adventures next year-oh yeah.:)

One of my life's biggest dreams will be coming true. I have just been hired to teach English in Taiwan next year!! I am SO excited. I graduate from BYU in April 2011, and then I am off to Taiwan from July-December 2011. I am so thankful to my roommate and friend, Elizabeth Nenque for putting a good word in for me. She taught there in 2004, and still has good relations with the principal, Lin Yuling, which allowed her to get me a job there. She rocks. Many thanks to Liz!!

I will be teaching English to ~60 preschoolers, ages 3-6 at Owl Preschool in Hualien City, on the Northeast side of the island of Taiwan. We also have the option of teaching ESL to adults and older students. I will probably jump at that opportunity when I get there, too. The principal, Yuling is a BYU grad and she makes sure that the school has a positive, happy, clean, and good environment. I am so thrilled to have finally a program that holds high standards and where I can feel confident in knowing I will thrive in that environment.

I am so excited to have this opportunity to help more of Heavenly Father's children way across the world, and to learn more about these unique people, culture, and language. My Chinese vocabulary consists of "Ni Hao", or hello. So, yeah, I'll be learning a lot, and I am ready for this new challenge and adventure.

Life is great. I am so excited for this new adventure and chapter of my life!!

Love, love, love,
姐姐 Janae

P.S. Here are some help websites to learn more about Owl Preschool and Hualien City, if you're interested. I know I am. :)
Info on Hualien City:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hualien_City
Owl Preschool's Blog:
http://owlpreschool.blogspot.com/

It's Autumntime, It's Autumntime...

Courtney and I watching General Conference in the Salt Lake Tabernacle!! :)

Life is oh so good. Here are some highlights from the past couple of weeks:

-General Conference weekend!! It uplifted me so much, and reminded me of Heavenly Father and how much He knows, cares for, and loves each and every one of us. I prepared myself by having some questions ready, and found that all of them were answered. Isn't it amazing how these questions can all be answered by listening to our living prophets? What an outstanding blessing that the Lord has His servants here on the earth that can lead us in the right direction toward Him.

-My good pals Courtney and Lauren coming to visit!! I loved getting to be with some of my best friends. I am beyond blessed with kind, caring, positive, uplifting and hilarious friends. I loved getting to spend time with them.

-Seeing President Uchtdorf at the FLSR!! His grandsons are in my ward, and we got to see him from afar-so cool!! My sweet friend,Jamie even noticed how an apostle of the Lord still opens the door for his wife. What a sweet man. I was so touched by his General Conference address, as well as the kindness and sincerity I can see in the way he treats others. I see a lot of the same mannerisms in his grandsons.

-Hanging out with Liz for her birthday!! Liz is one of my absolute best friends and I loved getting to watch Conference with her and to just be with her. She is like a sister, and I am so grateful for her constant love, laughs (especially at my lame jokes), and support.

-BYU finally winning a football game!! I made sure to point that out to my students today, and they were like, "Sure, whatever Coach Piercy." But deep inside, I was very proud of my Cougars!!

-My boys' soccer game. My team of soccer boys are such good kids, and I love getting to hang out with them three times a week. I am also excited because I talked to the BYU Men's Soccer, Coach Watkins, and he can get us free/reduced tickets for my boys so we can go to a game. I'm excited!! October 23rd here we come!!

-Eleisha is getting closer and closer to being home from her mission. She gets home on November 19th, and a trip to San Diego to see her is in the works. Which brings me to my next important bit of news...

-I found housing for Eleisha and I for winter semester!! I am so excited. It was such a blessing to find. It is the perfect apt., and we'll be sharing a room. I feel bad if our new roommates are quiet, but I know we'll love them, so it'll all be ok, right? :) We are quite the crazy and loud bunch.

-Jeyza, Nicole, and my studly dad all had their birthdays this past weekend. Jeyza is growing up SO fast!! He just turned seven. Before we know it, he'll be getting baptized. Wow-time flies. I still remember holding him the day he was born and thinking that I was going to love him forever. Seven years later, I don't think I could love my adorable and grown up nephew any more.

Well, life is good, the Gospel is true and I am so grateful for everything I have been blessed with. God's been good to me. I love you all!!

-Janae

A Long Overdue Update

Pictures from Amelia and Lee's wedding. :)

WOW. Lots has happened since the last time I posted. Amelia and Lee got married in the Mesa Temple on the 18th, and that was just fantastic. What a blessing and miracle it is to have eternal families. I am so happy for them. It was also fun to hang out with family and have all of us together. None of us can remember the last time that has happened. There was stress and frustration as most weddings and special occasions bring, but we had a great time. The Arizona heat killed us wimpy Washingtonians, but we enjoyed our weekend there.

Other highlights:
1. Mom and Dad coming and visiting me in Provo on their way back to Washington. They took KC and I to Tucano's. Let's just say that that gave me the sanity and strength I needed to get through an incredibly busy and stressful week after being gone for Amelia's wedding.
2. Getting sick and having my voice sound like a boy going through puberty. This has allowed me to stay home today and get to watch the BYU Devotional of one of my favorite professors, Dr. Alton Thygerson, and get to catch up on cleaning up my apartment.
3. Going to visit Amelia and Lee. I got to eat a yummy dinner that Amelia made, tour their house, see pictures from their honeymoon in Durango and chat. It was great to get to see them.
4. KC getting me my favorite grapefruit cups at Costco to grace my school lunches and grace me with his presence while I was working on Wednesday and doing cleaning checks.
5. Making my soccer boys' jerseys and them rocking their game. They won 5-1!! I love those boys, and I am so grateful to have such outstanding assistant coaches such as Jenni and Emily.
6. Going to the BYU Hockey game on Saturday with Matto. I have always wanted to go to one of their games, but I never have, and am grateful I got to, and it was also fun to catch up with Matto since he got home from his mission.
7. Teaching. I love the kids I get to teach at MMHS. They make me laugh and smile all the time.
8. Getting to teach Relief Society on Sunday. We have such outstanding sisters in our ward!!
9. Getting to watch the RS Broadcast. President Monson's talk especially reached out to me, and I am excited for Conference weekend, and all of the knowledge and strength I can gain from our wonderful church leaders.
10. Life is good!!
-Love, Janae

To Teach is to Learn

Me on my first day of student teaching!!

It's finally that time...not to do spring cleaning, get married, lose weight, buy a car, or anything else normal, but to do something rad and...STUDENT TEACH!!

Last week was my first week student teaching Health and PE at Maple Mountain High School. It is a brand new school built last year in Spanish Fork with about 1,000 sophomores, juniors and seniors. My mentor teacher is Ms. Hall, who is awesome. At first, I was pretty intimidated, but I am grateful to get the chance to learn from such a knowledgeable, outstanding and cool teacher. I have really enjoyed getting to meet the students and learn how to apply all of methods I've learned in the teaching classes I have taken in combination with the Health and PE content classes I've taken. However, I have felt very ill-prepared for PE. One of my minors is PE/Coaching, and let's just say that the emphasis was on coaching in the classes I took. Nonetheless, Coach Hall is a PE queen and is helping me learn a lot.

I got to teach my first class last week on Friday!! Oftentimes, mentor teachers will either not let a student teacher teach for a long while, or just peace out and leave the student teacher in charge of their class so they don't have to teach. I am grateful that Ms. Hall hasn't fit either one of those stereotypes. She is willing to let me try out new things and lets me take control of the class, but is always there if I have a question.

Every new experience is fun and exciting, but always has its challenges. I am learning a lot and am loving it, but have had my fair share of struggles. I am grateful for outstanding family, friends, and a God that loves and supports me in all I do. I love life!!
-Janae