Welcome Back to School!

School started last week. The group I taught in 3rd grade are now in 6th, but when I saw my list, I didn't recognize a majority of the names. I was a little worried about how my class would turn out, but I am quite excited about my students now that I know them a little better. It has been a good week despite the fact that we don't have a regular schedule yet. I'm looking forward to the rest of the year.

Other than teaching...I seem to be baking a lot lately. Tonight I made muffins. Very yummy muffins! I got a recipe online from Mimi's Cafe for their buttermilk spice muffins. I highly recommend...just don't overcook them, they'll be a little dry but still yummy.

I May Have Found the Answer!

Come home in a huff, without saying a word, quickly and abruptly rinse out a few pieces of tupperware that you just had to run out and purchase because someone else has misplaced all of your other tupperware so you need to get new somethings to put your leftovers in, take out the trash late at night, and then get in the shower. When you come out, the roommate that never cleans anything might just be washing the dishes in the sink that she probably would have left there if the happenings mentioned above had not happened. After that, she may even tidy up her room a bit.

By the way, you might also have to give said person a lesson on when it is colder outside than what you have the thermostat set for (which is even cooler than what it is normally set for), open a window!

Today...

Today was a good day overall...

I slept in a little (even though I am trying to get myself used to my school day wake up time, so really, I set my alarm to go off at the school day time and I do get up but just long enough to turn it off and get back in bed).

I enjoyed a yummy bowl of cereal...yummy because of the fresh berries that I put on top. I went berry picking with some friends earlier this week and got several pounds of blackberries and a small basket of raspberries. I have already used a majority of the blackberries in a cobbler that has been mostly consumed.

I spent some time with a really good friend of mine and my sister-in-law. Laura and Dirk are in town so I've been able to see them a couple of times so far. Laura is a Mary Kay consultant so we played with make up today.

I finished reading a book. I have decided to work on reading more classics as my reading list generally consists of 6th grade reading. The latest book that I finished is The Hobbit. Next on the list to read is The Wind in the Willows.

I finally went to a rodeo. I live in Utah and work in Spanish Fork and somehow have never been to a rodeo. I guess I've always been out of town when they normally happen. This week is the county fair so Steven, Kevin, Randi, Randi's sister, and I went tonight as they were holding a rodeo as part of the fair. We got to see some roping and a little bronc riding and then it started raining so we went to look at the legos and sheep inside.

I ate yummy food. We stopped at Wingers on the way home. Part of the meal was a slice of Asphalt Pie, yummy!

I helped with a drug bust. After eating, we went back to Steven and Randi's as my car was parked there, while walking in to their apartment, Randi and I could smell a very strong incense smell trying to cover up the smell of pot so we called the police. They came over and found and confiscated some that they found inside the apartment.

Now, I am sitting here trying to put off the inevitable by not going to bed. I only have two days left before I have to go back to work. If I don't go to bed then those days won't pass by, right? I've finally gotten into the swing of things for summer, plus most of my friends have just started their summer break as BYU is out for a couple of weeks. Why do my breaks never match up with anyone else's?

Don't Worry!

I've had a few people say they were sad they missed the Price is Right I was attending...don't worry, they only taped the show last week, it won't air until Nov. 2nd, so there is still a chance for you to look for me and my friends. We're in white shirts that say "Drew is my Homeboy." My friend was the 2nd person called to "come on down!" and I am sitting right behind her.

Home Again!

I spent this last weekend in sunny California and I had a blast! A girl from my ward invited me to come along on a trip to Southern California so we could all go to the Price is Right.

Thursday:
We left Thursday evening with 4 boys, 4 girls, and 2 cars. We got about an hour south of home and one of the cars ran out of gas. The other car came to the rescue with a gas can but then the car wouldn't start. We got to hang out on the side of the road for a couple of hours for the whole fiasco and ended up getting the car towed back up north. The two owners of the car could no longer come with us and one of the boys volunteered to stay behind. So, 5 of us squished into the remaining car and continued on our way.

Friday:
We drove all night and drove straight to the beach. We spent most of Friday on Newport Beach playing in the water and sand. I got a bit of reading in and a very interesting sunburn. Even though I put sunblock on and reapplied, I ended up with my yearly odd sunburn. This one consisted of stripes across the backs of my knees, a very splotchy burn all over my back, and a white stripe on my shoulder. That night we camped at a state park where we had an interesting run in with power ranger girl and her fire regulating abilities. I guess you kind of had to be there for that one.

Saturday:
Saturday morning we headed to a local Starbucks to charge our phones for a bit and to try and use the internet. We then went to Six Flags Magic Mountain. We were there from basically opening to closing. We wanted to hit all of the rides in the park but the lines were much too long to meet our goal. I really enjoyed the rides we went on especially Tatsu (you're parallel to the ground doing all sorts of loops and curls, it feels like you are flying) and Dejavu (you basically do the ride twice, the second time backwards). That night, we stayed with the family of a guy that was in our ward. The boys slept downstairs in the living room and the girls shared a king sized bed upstairs. It was a little cramped but we were so tired and it was much more comfortable than the sleep we had the night before.

Sunday:
We attended church in Santa Clarita in the single's ward our friend attends. We only went to the first two hours as we had to get moving along. We were able to announce that we had extra tickets to the Price is Right and got a few very excited people that asked to go along with us. We then headed down towards LA and to our hotel. We spent the rest of the evening driving and walking around Hollywood. I now have a new boyfriend...some creepy guy said, "Goodbye, Love" to me as we walked past him...it was interesting.

Monday:
We woke up early and headed to CBS studios. We got there early and waited for the rest of our group to show up. We had to have at least 15 people show in order to use our guaranteed tickets to get in. We got really nervous as it was getting closer for the deadline and we still had a few people left to show. We did get in. It took forever to go through all of the processing. they had us fill out information cards, take our pictures, and interview each person before we went in. The studio is really tiny. On TV it looks huge with tons of people when really only 325 people are sitting in the audience and the stage is slightly larger than what you might find in a high school auditorium where there were always at least five to ten people on stage but off camera at all times. You can't hear any of what Rich Fields is saying so when they call people down they have to hold up cue cards with their names on them to let them know who they are calling down. My friend who organized the whole trip ended up being called down and got on stage to win a trip to Florida. It was fun. After the show, we quickly grabbed a bite to eat then headed toward home. We rolled into town just before 3 am. Let's just say that I was very happy I did not have to work the next day so I slept in until 1 pm.

I had a great time and am so glad I decided to go. I wish I could go on roadtrips with friends more often.

Of course, this is also the second time I was within 4-5 hours of home this summer and I haven't made it home yet. I do plan on extending a trip to get me there this October, so I just have to wait until then!