And the Grand Total is...

I know some of you are waiting to hear how much money was in the picture but a lot of you are a bunch of party poopers! Only a handful of people actually guessed and that was a fun part of it all. We had all the students at the school take a guess and took the closet from each grade level...they each received a $1 gift certificate to the student store. The closest over all was a kindergartner, he got a $5 gift certificate! So, the moment you've all been waiting for...the amount in the picture is....$904! Amazing, I know! That's the most we've ever raised! We had set a goal of $900 (one dollar for every kid in the school), we were a little worried about whether or not we'd make it, but success!

The Miser Brothers

This is one of my favorite songs from the claymation Christmas shows. It gets stuck in my head throughout the year. Personally, I'm a little more on Heat Miser's side...I think Christmas should be slightly overcast, green, and maybe a little rain. All this snow is pretty and all, but I get too worried about getting around and staying warm with it around, but it's nice when it causes the schools to close like today's snow day surprise!

Warm the Soles 2010

The last four years, my school has participated in a coin drive for Warm the Soles, a program put on by the local credit union to buy shoes for students in our community that are in need. This year we raised the highest amount ever! Here is a picture of all the cash we raised over the last two and a half weeks:

Guess how much! Guess how much! (No fair spoiling it if I already told you the amount)

Daniel 2

I loved today's Sunday School lesson! I got to teach Daniel ch 2--Nebuchadnezzar's dream. I saw that I would teach this lesson a few weeks ago and had been very excited about it ever since. I have really enjoyed teaching the Old Testament as I have been able to understand it so much better as I have been teaching my 6th graders about ancient civilizations and see all of the connections to what we read in the Old Testament. I think my Sunday School class might be a little tired of me talking about 6th grade history lessons, but I get so excited because I get it now! I also have found a lot of ways to incorporate a lot of my previous callings in my lessons. I used to be scared that I would one day be given the task to teach a Sunday School class, but I find that I really like it and am getting more and more excited as I go along.

Officially the Christmas Season

Tonight, while I was driving over to my brother's house, I can say that my Christmas spirit/excitement kicked in. I heard a song on the radio that I hadn't heard in a very long time...growing up, we listened to a record of Christmas music by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. I can't tell you the name of the album or any of the songs, but I definitely recognize them when I hear them. One of those songs came on the radio and I immediately recognized it and had the same joy and excitement from Christmases at home when I was younger. I tried to find at least a picture of the cover online but couldn't find one. I remember it was blue and had little figures of children from around the world...although, this could have been on the back. Maybe my family can fill me in on the details.

Hosanna! Hosanna!

I taught Sunday School today (lesson 44, Ezekiel 43-44, 47) and loved it! I like teaching all the other times, but I really enjoyed today's lesson. I warned my class (which was everyone who came today--a lot were still out of town) that I would be on my soapbox a lot as the topic was about my old calling--temples! I really wasn't planning on taking the route I did with the lesson, but I just got on it and felt that's what I needed to say. The manual suggests relating the enthusiasm found at a sporting event to that found in some events in the scriptures, church, and/or gospel. We talked about lots of different things but focussed on the hosanna shout given at temple dedications and the excitement for when new temples are announced. Basically, I turned to my class and asked them where the enthusiasm goes since everyone is so excited and full of joy with each new temple, but when it comes time to attend, not so much.

I loved all three chapters focussed on in the lesson, but I think my favorite was chapter 47. In this chapter Ezekiel sees a vision of the temple in Jerusalem. A river of living water is running from the east doors of the temple towards the wilderness/desert and the Dead Sea. Everywhere the river flows, trees are growing and being fruitful, waters are healed, and animals are living. The things we learn in the temple are our living water which is used to help us grow and live and be fruitful. Ezekiel is told to cross the river several times and each time he does, it gets deeper, I love this! Every time we attend the temple, we learn and understand more, our knowledge increases and our understanding deepens! Reading these things, why wouldn't you want to go!

I used several quotes from conference talks and Ensigns, most came from President Monson. My favorite one was from the October 2010 Ensign (which was all about temples), "In the temple,the precious plan of God is taught. It is in the temple that eternal covenants are made. The temple lifts us, exalts us, stands as a beacon for all to see, and points us toward celestial glory. It is the house of God. All that occurs within the walls of the temple is uplifting and ennobling." How could you not want to go to the temple after hearing that!

I love the temple! You should go and you should go often!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Looking at my life there are several areas where I have been left wanting, but more importantly there are an infinite amount of things that I am so grateful for just like many other people, but I choose to look at the blessings rather than the wantings. Last year I posted a list of one hundred things I am grateful for as a challenge, but this year I think I will list just the top ten (but in no particular order).

* Family--This one is always on my top ten. I was raised learning the importance of family and I have found that everything I was taught is true. My family has always been there to support me in my endeavors and to tell me when I'm being stupid because they love me. I know I will always have someone to turn to for help, support, love, someone to talk to, someone to laugh with, a good time, etc. with my family.

* Good parents--Just like Nephi, I was born of goodly parents. My parents taught me (and still teach me) right from wrong, good and bad, how to work hard, how to be responsible and respectful. My parents are there to support me and love me. I appreciate all of the work they went through to make sure that I grew up right.

* Education--As much as I appreciate what I learned from school and the degrees I have received, education is much more than what you learn in a classroom, it's what you learn through life. I learned quite a bit that I use for my job and even in life with a formal education, but most importantly, I learned how to learn and I can now take those skills to continue learning. The biggest lessons and most important have come through experiences. I am grateful that I know how to deal with extreme behaviors from students, household issues, roommate problems, handling scary situations. Each of these were a bit difficult at the time, but now that I have experienced each of them, not only am I more confident in my abilities, but I can now take them further and extend what I have learned to be better.

* Friends--I have gone through many friends and roommates in the last 28 years, many I am still in a constant contact but others not as much if at all. Each person that has come into my life has taught me something new whether it be a new recipe, a better way to clean, something gospel related, or how to have fun. I feel so blessed when I think about all of the people I have in my life and have had. Friends very easily become family for me so it goes right back to what I've said before.

* The gospel--I know that our Heavenly Father and Christ love us and want us to be able to return to them. They have given us the gospel and the tools to learn and to improve ourselves. The scriptures are a blessing for us so that we can learn and grow and be more like our Savior. Knowing these things have shaped my life and given me the direction my life has taken and I feel so blessed because of it.

* Home--I love to go home. It is a safe haven and filled with love. I would go home more often if it was closer. Home is connected to family and all of the things I have learned throughout my life.

* A home--Now, this is slightly different. I am so grateful that I have A home as well as having home. Having my own house has been a great blessing. I was able to purchase my own place just over four years ago and have had several opportunities to make more life changing decisions that have helped me learn and grow. Financially, it has been beneficial bringing some income through renters.

* A job I enjoy--I love my job! The first few years, there were a few times where I questioned that statement, but I can truly say that I LOVE my job. My original plan was to only work for a few years then stop to have a family but still have something to go back and do as a fall back. that didn't happen and now I think I will be sad when I stop teaching. I have grown to love my students each year (granted, some are easier than others). My co-workers are AMAZING! Having a couple weeks "off" with student teachers could be very boring but I have two others to accomplish quite a bit and then some. We know how to have fun, we appreciate each other, and work VERY well together.

* Hard work--As I see some of the students at my school and some of the roommates I have had, I realize that not everyone has been taught the importance of hard work or even just work. Knowing how and being able to work have been a great blessing in my life. Rather than having other people do things for me not only do I save money, but I get the feeling of accomplishment. I know how to get things done whether it be cutting down a tree, working in the yard, cleaning my house, or doing a homework assignment.

* A sense of humor--Life would be so boring if I didn't know how to have fun. There are so many things that I could just sit down and cry about, but why do that when I can just laugh about it, get past it, and go on with life.

Up on the Roof!

I kept singing the "Up on the Roof" song today...guess where we went while at school today. One of the 6th graders accidentally threw his ball on the roof of the school so Adam and I volunteered to go get it. It was fun. There was a couple inches of snow in some places. While we were up there we knocked on Alece's skylight...too bad her class was so loud she didn't hear it. Other than that...we finished writing a grant for $50,000, played chess, and I looked at the new math core some more. We almost got to teach 2nd grade for the day, but someone else stepped in.

My House is Clean!

My house is clean, ready for guests to arrive, they're just not here yet. It's nice to be able to just sit and know that the house is clean, but at the same time, I keep looking for things to pick up or do. Two of my best friends are coming to stay the week with their two children and I am so excited! Sure they just came four months ago and I just went and saw them three months ago, but I used to see them every day so I'm excited. I worry about being a hostess, I don't think I'm very good at it...that's one thing that usually holds me back from inviting people over (funny thing is that I usually don't worry so much if you invite yourself over). I never know what to do to entertain those I am hosting. I'm usually content doing things that others probably see as boring, especially with more than one person like reading a book orworking on a small craft project. So, I apologize to all those people out there who wish to be invited over, I just am not creative enough to keep you entertained unless you are patient enough for the randomness to work itself out and create an adventure. Maybe that's why I'm so excited for my friends to come and visit...we were very entertaining as roommates mostly because we were so random. Yeah, that's it...or part of it anyways :)

My students have started a count down as to when I will start teaching again, at least my math class is. I had two students approach me last Thursday to ask for a little help with their math before the test on Friday. When I went to go get them for our little review session, they had invited two other classmates and when we were leaving, two more asked if they could come as well. I wasn't surprised, it happens every year. Dividing fractions can b

e difficult especially if you're used to a certain math teacher teaching a certain way. I had three more ask if they could meet with me Friday morning. I haven't seen their test scores yet, but hopefully our little review session helped.

We just finished our unit on Ancient Rome. To wrap everything up, we built a cross-section of a Roman road down the 6th grade hallway. On it, we placed busts

of famous Romans (emperors, philosophers, etc.), structures, and paragraphs about famous cities. It looks amazing! It was difficult to take a picture and get it all included as it is 52 feet long (we measured). Here are a few shots of the great work done! To top it all off, and since we had time, energy, and creativity, we made a bust of our principal as well. He was out of town last week so he hasn't seen it yet. I think he was a little worried about leaving Adam, Garrett and I at the school with "nothing" to do and him not around to supervise. I think he'll like it.

Forgiveness and Insight

So far, so good...I went to Institute again tonight. Hopefully next week doesn't throw me off having no class because of the holiday. Tonight's conversation was based around D&C 64 and forgiveness. Some of the questions asked were about how we felt when we know we are forgiven, from who do we need to ask forgiveness, and how we should be willing to forgive others. One thought that was mentioned tonight was about how some people have a gift of the spirit of forgiveness. Being able to forgive people just comes easier for some than others, so I had to ask myself am I one of those people? With the little things, yes, I think I can forgive easily...but what about larger things? A few years ago I was faced with a situation where I knew I had to forgive someone, but every time I thought of this person, I just felt anger. It took a lot of prayers and thought to get past the anger and to the point where I could say that I gave forgiveness. There are some occasions still that my mind wanders to this situation and I have to ask myself if I still feel the same...sometimes I have to think for awhile, but other times I can just brush it aside. To end the night, we read a quote from Elder Neal A. Maxwell: "We cannot repent for someone else. But we can forgive someone else, refusing to hold hostage those whom the Lord seeks to set free!"

Insight from tonight:

I realized tonight that a person in my ward that I look to in matters of being social and active with others has a hard time being social in similar ways as I do. I have thought over the last few months that I have really wanted to get to know this girl more so that I could have another friend but also so that I might be able to ride her coattails along the way and immerse myself in the ward. I realize now that she could be thinking the same thing about others.

Zion

I finally got myself up and out...I went to institute. Apparently quite a few people from my ward go...you'd think we'd learn to carpool or something. I was instantly reminded about how I don't like driving on campus especially when I want to find a parking spot let alone a spot somewhere near the building I need to be in.

We talked about the people of Zion. We listened to quite a bit of Elder Christofferson's October 2008 General Conference talk (very good--I think I'm going to go download it right after I'm done here). I think the main thing/message that hit me tonight was "what am I doing to help?" Moses 7:18 talks about how the people of Zion had unity, holiness, and charity, so how do I practice those? What am I doing in my daily life or what could I stop doing? As Elder Christofferson says, "We cannot wait until Zion comes for these things to happen--Zion will come only as they happen."

We used D&C 56-63 to answer the questions:

-What can we learn from the early Saints about how to "establish" Zion?

-What can we learn from the early Saints about how NOT to "establish" Zion?

These are a few of the things we talked about:

-Use it or lose it! (56:4)

-Don't counsel in your own ways (56:14)

-Be planted in the land of Zion (57:14)

-Ask specific questions about yourself to get specific answers (58:1)

-The spirit and commandments can't just be given to us, we must receive them and to receive is to make an action (58:5)

Why am I posting these thoughts/notes...because I felt like I should. That's the main reason, but also because my newest goal is that I will be attending institute from now on (I found my notes from the last time I went tucked in my scriptures, they're dated Sept 29, 2009) and I find this is a good way to review what I learned and to be held accountable.

The House That Julie Built

The area around my school has had a lot of construction in the last four years and still continues to grow. The last house on the block across from my school is being built. Today while on crossing guard duty after school, I watched as the floor of the second floor was being laid. I found myself thinking, "I want to build a house." Kinda surprised myself but not really. Not build a house so I have somewhere to live, I already have a house. For background noise around my house or when I'm doing something like baking or cleaning, the TV is usually turned on to DIY, TLC or the home improvement channel. On Saturdays, I like to watch This Old House. I feel like I've picked up a few things here and there and I like to do things with my hands. I'm not saying I'm a master carpenter or anything, I would just like to try out and learn new things. So, if I wasn't busy, it wasn't so cold outside, the construction workers were a little cuter, and it wasn't completely insane...maybe I would have asked if I could join in their work.

Happy Halloween!

I feel like Halloween has lasted all week...because it has. On Monday my ward had a combined Halloween party/dance. I dressed as a nerd because that's what my co-workers and I were originally planning to be at school. I had a fun time and then went home. Wednesday wasn't technically Halloween related at school, but it felt like it. We finished up a unit on Ancient Egypt and had all of our 6th graders bring in the projects they were working on at home. Once lunch hit, chaos broke out as we had parents and visiting classes walking through each of our rooms to check out everything. Thursday, we celebrated Halloween at the school as we had Friday off to make up for the time the teachers put in for parent-teacher conferences the week before. Friday and Saturday night, I watched "scary movies with people in my ward and my brother and his wife.

Halloween with my co-workers is always a blast. The last few years, we have dressed up using one theme or another. Two years ago we were the janitors and the lunch lady. Last year, I dressed as our school's facilitator, Garrett was our school's principal, and Adam dressed as Dwight Schrute (we had doubles of everyone with our student teachers, our principal's name is Dwight). This year was awesome! We decided two days before our Halloween parties that we wanted to change our idea and be the Ghostbusters and the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man! We were able to get matching jumpsuits from the meat plant that Garrett used to work at and Alece and I printed out all of the patches. We wore backpacks with vacuum hoses for our packs. The sad thing was that the student teachers we have now k

new who the ghostbusters are but not the Stay Puft Marshmallow man--they had never seen the movie. Half the students at the school thought we were janitors at first, but they were informed by others at the school that they were wrong. We had a fun time and our co-workers appreciate us.

In case you didn't catch on...I have a student teacher now. I met her this last Monday and she came to the class for the first time on Tuesday. I haven't had the chance to see her teach much of anything yet as she just observed the first day and then we had two crazy days in a row where we were lucky to get anything done. Her first formal observation is tomorrow and she is taking over most of the literacy lessons from here until she leave in December. We'll see how everything goes.

Talents

I was reading my cousin's blog yesterday and really liked what she talked about. She posted about a blog she read about talents...basically, everyone is blessed with talents whether it be physical, musical, crafty, etc. Today in Relief Society, we talked a little about the parable of the talents. It made me start to think about gifts of the spirit and some of the things I'm talented in and with:

Listening and watching. I'm really good at just observing what is happening around me. When I go to a large group activity, I like to see what is happening all around me and even listen to several conversations at once. Not only am I good at listening to the people around me, but I'm good at listening to what they don't say as well. I always get promptings on how to best help those around me and what I should be doing with my life.

Numbers. I love numbers and I am pretty good with them. I was my mom's phone book growing up. Numbers just come to me easily in remembering them and understanding how they work. Math is one of my favorite subjects. I amaze my co-workers with how well I understand math concepts and my ability to then explain it to others in multiple ways.

Teaching. Not only do I love to teach, I think I'm pretty good at it. I've been able to help many students throughout the years to understand difficult concepts and to have fun while doing it. Not only do I teach my 6th graders, but I am now teaching the gospel doctrine class on Sunday as well. I worry that I treat my class too much like my twelve-year-olds, but it's their fault for acting like twelve-year-olds.

Optimism. I like to see the bright side to everything. I've learned that things are going to happen no matter what, so I can decide to be upset or stressed out about it (which really won't change anything about the situation) or I can be happy and have fun. I think it is more fun to be happy and to have fun, so I generally choose that option.

Talking to children. Last year, I had a student who would always ask me how I knew how to talk to the kindergarten students we read to. He told me that I could just mesmerize them and captivate them by just talking to them.

There are more things that I do, don't know if I would call them "talents" or gifts but they are definitely things I have worked on throughout my life or just do without thinking about them much, these that I mentioned or just some that come to mind first. I remember a lesson/discussion I participated in a few years ago and the teacher was trying to argue over the thought that an education was needed in order to be successful in life. She disagreed until I pointed out that not all educations are received in a "formal" institution or school, but educations are received and built by doing and learning from the people and things around a person. I have received an education through school and even have a degree in teaching, but I have received more of an education in teaching by doing it and by watching and listening to the people around me. I have received an education about different parts of my life by experiencing it with friends and family. Everyone can build and develop their own talents and gifts by working towards them and developing them. Yes, some things come more easily to some than others, but that doesn't mean that only certain people can develop certain talents. For example, it has taken me years to develop any sort of "talent" to just talking with people, I'm still not very good at it, but I'm loads better compared to five or ten years ago. It was a decision that I had to make and then take some action towards developing the skill. So, if there is something you would like to be able to do, do it!

Two Things...

First...I was looking through a list of books today from all genres and years and realized that how I feel about a book depends not just on the book, but on the circumstances around the book as well. For example, Miss Rumphius is a book that I read in second grade and I love it because of the teacher that introduced it to me. She taught me about the flowers in the book so now when I see lupins I think of the book and my second grade teacher. Because of these things, I love the book. Other books do not get such a great reputation though, most of them having to do with assignments given to me in high school, but at the same time I probably would never choose to pick them up and read them without the assignment. For example, The Great Gatsby and The Awakening are both books I was assigned to read in high school and I hate both of them. Granted, it's not just the assignment that turned them sour, I didn't like them in the first place but then add to that fact that I HAD to read them gives them an exponential hate towards them. I do have to admit, I did not finish The Great Gatsby I think I read the first third of the book and refused to continue, but I still got a really good grade in the class...I guess I'm pretty good at picking up on important things and then making the rest up. My punishment was that as a "reward" the teacher had/let us watch the movie in class...pure torture.

Second...I misplaced my phone today for three to four hours. I wasn't too concerned, I knew it was in my house somewhere just not in the regular places I would have left it. My friend finally called me and I thanked her for helping me find my phone. It was in the extra bedroom, I randomly decided to mix things up and read a book in there for a little while today. Upon finding my phone, I found that my co-worker called during the "lost" period, but he didn't leave a message so I have no idea why he called and by the time I found the phone, it was too late to call him back. It bugs me when people don't leave a message, it leaves me pondering the reason for the phone call and then I go through all the possibilities until I can finally get back to the person to see what's going on. It really bugs me when I don't recognize the number and there's no message!

Friendliness is Appreciated

I realized tonight that I have participated/attended/held three gatherings this week and it's only Friday night. I'm really not a social butterfly especially around large groups of people so I am impressed with this number. In going to all of these events, I realized tonight that there are definitely some people that try harder to be friendly than others and I really appreciate those people. I can be one of those people on most occasions, depending on the situation and how much I decide to put forth a strong effort (and I really do mean decide and I really do mean strong effort) which is most occasions, but it's really difficult for me to just start up a conversation with someone if I don't know them very well, but I still do it. Even making the decision to go to gatherings is hard for me at times, but what makes my mind up in the end is convincing myself that there will be someone there that I can be friendly to or that maybe someone there will be friendly to me. You see, I have this rule that I started a year or so ago (especially in dealing with ward activities)...after the main activity of the evening is over, I tell myself that I HAVE to stick around for at least five minutes. If no one talks to me or I don't have the opportunity to start a conversation with someone after five minutes, I can leave, but if I do, I then have to start the five minutes over after the conversation ends. It's my safety net that ends up convincing me to go, the permission to leave if it's really bad.

So you see, friendliness is appreciated and I'm sure I'm not the only one that agrees.

Happy Birthday to Me!

This last Tuesday was my birthday. It was a good day. It started off at school with all of my students wishing me a happy birthday and my co-workers announcing my age over the intercom to the entire school (thanks guys). They brought doughnuts to share with the faculty and a big doughnut (larger than my face) for me:

The lid had a mirror on it, in case you can't read it, it says: " Objects in mirror are shorter and older than they appear". Apparently that is true because later that day I went to get a flu shot (a great birthday present) and the lady gave it to me practically in the shoulder and then I got this awesome Bugs Bunny bandaid.

That night, I invited a bunch of people over over cake and ice cream. My friend, Bekky, made my cake, she used googly eyes to decorate it, it was awesome!

I managed to blow out all of my candles so maybe I'll get my wish. About ten people showed up throughout the night from all parts of my life so it was interesting combining all those people and everyone finally figured out who all the other people I talk about are. One of them included a good friend that I hadn't seen in about two years so I was excited to catch up with him and see what he's up to.

Overall, it was a happy birthday!

My Kitchen

My kitchen is not pretty...it's mauve. Ever since I got my place, I've been wanting to redo my kitchen but that is expensive. I have always had a few things in mind, tweaking things here and there as I have watched quite a bit of TLC and HGTV. I've played the "If I Suddenly Received a Great Amount of Money..." game in my mind several times. The most recent Ikea advertisement made me sigh, because that's what I want:

Do you think Santa will bring me one? Maybe with a younger guy? I would probably do a slightly different backsplash but I'm really digging the small glass tiles that I see on most remodeling shows.

Something Fun

I was talking to my mom on the phone yesterday and she told me that I have to do something fun this weekend because it's the weekend and I should be doing something fun (I'm sure she meant something fun with a boy). I've had some great weekends the last few weekends and was planning on having somewhat of a low-key weekend. I still tried to do something fun, but I just wasn't feeling it and really didn't have an opportunity to meet up with any friends. My fun last night ended up being watching Beauty and the Beast...really, it was more like listening to it as I was working on a project for school...that was fun. Today the fun consisted of sleeping in until 9:30, looking at some retirement fund options, and then getting up to go to the bank. I also made buttermilk pancakes (oh so yummy!!!), I LOVE pancakes! After the pancakes, I went to Costco with Steven and Randi and then went to our aunt's house to drop off some potatoes. I've spent the rest of the day reading five books for school and doing some cleaning here and there.

I have a long weekend this week because of Fall Break. I'm looking forward to taking it easy for a bit and going through things at home (it's time to get rid of stuff!), but normally I am the only one on break so we'll see if I can find people to play with.

My birthday is on Tuesday. Haven't thought about it much so I'm surprised when anyone brings it up. I don't even know what I want or what I want to do for my birthday so don't ask. I'm open for suggestions. I've had a thought to invite some people over to play, but it's also a school night...but that's ok, right? Maybe some cake and a game night. What else would someone be doing on a Tuesday night?

Lovely Weekend

This has been a lovely weekend! My grandparents came into town so we had a couple of family dinner/get-togethers. Yesterday and today I got to watch conference. Steven and Randi came over for three of the sessions and our cousin Kevin dropped in for the last session. I really enjoyed all of the speakers, but I think my favorite (or at least the one that comes to my mind first) is Elder Scott's talk on character from Saturday afternoon. It's too bad that I have to wait until Thursday to have them available in written form online. I made muffins this morning. I decided to make Mimi's Cafe's buttermilk spice muffins. They are really yummy! Steven and Randi brought a frozen lasagna with them so we were also able to enjoy that in between sessions today. I broke out my box of candy to keep us sugared up through the last session, I'm glad it is finally disappearing.

Saturday night, I gave some attention to my house and then caught up with school by grading papers. Why is it so difficult to write your name on your paper? I probably had 15 or 20 papers turned in this week without any names on them. At least they attempted to turn their papers in though. I have at least another 15 or 20 that didn't even turn their papers in which I think should be difficult to do when I'm standing there saying several times over to turn the papers in and everyone around them is doing it as well.

I had my first dream involving my co-workers this week. I've had a good amount of school dreams before but they never involve anyone I work with, but this time Adam, Garrett and Alece made guest appearances! We went to Disneyland and for some reason we took our students. It was weird though because it definitely was NOT Disneyland but it was in my dream. It kind of had a thing going like in Venice where the streets were more like canals and we got around on jet skis. There really wasn't much substance to the dream, just that we were there and went on some rides. The really weird part was that I think I had that dream before but with different people...I never have the same dream. Weird.

Hey Julie!

I was asked if I ever heard this song when I introduced myself to some new people in my ward, I had never heard of it so I looked it up. I like it!

Almost 11:00

It's almost 11:00 and I don't want to go to bed just yet. I really don't have anything that would, should, or could keep me up at this point, but I just don't feel like sleeping right now. I had a great week! I had a great weekend! Can't really pinpoint anything in particular to make it great, it just is! I don't want to sleep because I don't want the greatness to end.

Today was great because I really put myself out there. At church lately I have made it a goal to talk to as many new people as I dare. I have a really hard time talking to people if I don't know them very well so I really don't talk to people that I don't know at all. Each Sunday, I pinpoint someone new to ask to pray before and after my lesson in Sunday School, I'm starting to learn names this way. In Sacrament meeting, I find an empty chair next to some people I don't know. Not only do I get to know their names but then we chat a bit and learn a little something extra as well. Today, after church, I was invited to join a group of people for a little potluck in my complex--there aren't that many people in my complex that are in my ward so I'm glad I'm getting to know the people that are here. I have felt like a piece of the background in the ward for quite awhile now, but with so many new people and a new calling, I feel like I'm pushing my way forward. I was also able to help a friend out with one of her classes today but also just sat and talked with her for a couple of hours. I have friends!

Another exciting thing that happened this week is that my sister finally posted some of the pictures she took of me this summer. This is one of them:

She's a really good photographer! You should hire her, go check her website out! And her blog! There are more on Facebook if you are friends with me or Diane.

Still waiting on Prince Charming. No white horses have galloped up to me and no brooms have been put in action either. At this point, bring on the blind dates! I'm in a good mood and as long as you're not setting me up with someone just because we're both single or both short, I will probably be ok with it. The more I look at my ward, the more I think, "Dang, they're so young!" I've finally gotten rid of all of the roommates and enjoy having the house to myself, but I'm kinda looking forward to sharing it again.

Other than that...I had ice cream for dinner tonight. It was delicious!

Love!

I think everyone should have a song, one that when it comes on the radio you just want to turn it up and sing as loud as you dare. My recent is this:

I just love the way it sounds, it's really fun to sing, and I also understand and can sometimes relate to what they're singing about.

Today's Thoughts

Today was a good day at school, yesterday was a good day as well. I have been thinking about some of the things I have been thinking about lately and even some of the things I have posted over the last month and I realized that maybe I haven't been saying things quite like they are. I think I have been feeling pretty down about school lately and even saying that it's been really rough, but really, it's gone really well. Yeah, it's been kind of crazy and I haven't been able to have a "normal" day or schedule just yet. Maybe I don't know all of my students yet and have a few new problems that I haven't had to deal with before. Maybe I am still getting used to having another co-worker around and having to remember to explain a few things before just doing them. Maybe I am still just getting used to everything. BUT all things considered, school is great! This is the first year that I have gone to school and been excited for at least one thing each day. This is the first year that I can say that I am happy with how things turn out each day because I'm not sweating the small stuff and seeing the positive side of everything. I can truly say that I am happy. I really enjoy my job. I enjoy my class. I enjoy my co-workers. I enjoy the other students in 6th grade. Compared to the first month of school in prior years this is probably the best one I have had. I laugh with my students every day. I feel comfortable and confident in my abilities. I go to school and I have fun every day even when things are crazy.

So, what have I been complaining about? I think it's easier to focus on some of the more negative aspects or to talk about them with others. Usually, I let my school life interfere with my home life and vice versa, but lately, I think I have been letting my home life interfere a little bit more than usual. I can definitely say that the beginning of the school year started so well because I was happy at home. I was in a bit of a rut at the end of last year and a little through the summer, but a lot of things have changed since then. The dynamics of my house have changed drastically and the people I hang out with and get to talk to have changed a bit as well. A really good friend of mine became a really good friend of mine right after I came back from California this summer. I don't think that they realize how much of a difference they made, but they really yanked me out of a rough spot. Not that I wouldn't have eventually made it out on my own, this person just sped things up quite a bit. I was excited to get out and do things rather than just let things happen when they happened. I found more joy in the little things in life and started looking at my life as an adventure to be lived and explored rather than just a day to day occurrence. I was able to start the school year off with not just a good attitude, but a great one! I also learned the importance of exclamation points! Life is just more exciting when you write about it with exclamation!

Has my life completely changed? No. Do I look at things a little differently...yeah, you could say that. The thing is that I used to see life like this before, I guess I just forgot. I had the thought sometime in the last year that people used to comment about my smile all of the time, but I haven't heard anyone mention it in awhile. I realized that I must not be smiling as much as I used to be. When I fly home, especially at Christmas, my goal is to be the best passenger ever! I know that it must be pretty hectic around the airport and on the planes especially with everyone running around and worrying about themselves and their travels that those working around and for them get caught up in the frustrations or even ignored. I try to smile as much as I can once I start traveling if only to make a difference to one person. So, why not do this all of the time? Not only do other people feel better, but in the process, I'm happier too. My latest outlook on life...smile and make people notice (even if you don't really feel like it all of the time).

So, back to one of my original thoughts...I've been saying that school is rough and hard lately, but it really hasn't. Life is rough and hard sometimes, but it doesn't have to be all aspects. School has its ups and downs, but really, it's going great! I've let a few things from home life get me down a bit lately, mostly I've been confused about a few things which frustrates me (I'm supposed to know everything), and that gets in the way of seeing everything in a positive light. Things are now put in order. More things are making sense, others...not so much, but that's ok, I don't have to know everything right now.

It's the Weekend!

I have been waiting for this day all week long and now it is the weekend! Nothing really crazy happened this week, I just woke up last Monday and decided I was ready for the weekend again.

Today I had a sub take over my class so I could pull my students out one at a time to do some reading tests. The district had to reorganize our testing and so today I only got through half of my tests and so now I have to figure out how to finish the rest.

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

Today I decided to make some bread from a recipe that I found about a month ago. I haven't had time to make it before now as it required 4 hours just in rising time. It's good, but not great...I think I'd rather spend the time making cinnamon rolls.

School is going well. We've finally transitioned over to studying Ancient Greece which has a lot more fun activities to do. This last week, I had my students paint pictures of the Greek gods. It was a lot more stressful this year than past years mostly due to time constraints. Alece asked me if we would ever have a normal week as we have had to reorganize our schedules due to holidays and assemblies ever since school started. It's crazy to think that we've already had three weeks of school pass by, where does the time go?

The three-day weekend finally let me get to some well-needed tasks. I can finally find my bedroom floor and bottom half of my bed again (it's not too big of a deal that my bed was half hidden as I rarely ever use the bottom half). My bathroom got some much needed attention and my car is finally back to its original color! Now I just need to attack my classroom.

I can't decide if my body is thanking me or cursing me right now as I'm starting to get back into a regular sleep schedule. The only problem is that I'm tired a lot earlier than I usually am (especially coming out of my summer schedule), but I'm still not much of a morning person. It's amazing the difference 30 minutes can make though. I have a really difficult time getting out of bed at 6:30, but 7 isn't much of a problem except for the fact that I am now pushing to be late for work :)

As Per Request

Seeing as it's been two weeks and my sister sending a request, I guess I should update:

Life has been a roller coaster the last two weeks. I really love teaching, but I don't think everyone understands just how taxing it can be at times, especially at the beginning of a new school year. I don't feel like I've had much time for anything else and when I do, I'm just plain tired. I'm finally catching up around my house this weekend as it has been ignored since before I left for Montana. It's crazy to think that the first two weeks of school are already over and that I've finally learned all of my students' names and then some from other classes as well. I still feel as though I'm running around like crazy to get things planned and then carried out, I guess I'm having a hard time finding and getting myself back in the groove. September is always hard for me and sometimes into the beginning of October. I'm still trying to get to know my students, their needs, and how to best meet all of their very unique needs while also satisfying their parents in the process. At the same time, my students are trying to figure me out and what I expect and how far they can go before getting into trouble. There have been some tears and I have even been getting to bed early (for me) as I get tuckered out each day. It's hard, but good at the same time. This week's whirlwind had me wrapped up in student council elections and jumping in with both feet to a new social studies unit and translating for some students. Now that the elections are over, maybe things will calm down a bit.

Outside of school, I have a new calling as a Sunday School instructor. This calling would have scared me to death even just a few months ago, but I feel good about it now. Still need to put my lesson together for tomorrow, so there is a benefit to having church at one in the afternoon. I've read it, just don't have it down yet.

I was able to go to dinner with my cousin, Pam, and her friends last night at Olive Garden. It was really fun, I had a good time. Our waiter was a hoot and the conversations at the table were entertaining as well. I wasn't going to go at first, but decided to in the end, I'm glad I did. Although, there was a small incident with my phone, I still love Pam.

Tonight, I went to Divine Comedy with Steven, Kevin, Randi, and her friend. It's been awhile since I have laughed for a continuous amount of time, so it was good. I've spent the last two Saturdays with them, no wonder I don't get anything done! :) It's a good thing this is a three-day weekend!

Monday's plan is to attack my house. I tackled my bathroom and most of my bedroom today. I think Monday it will be the front bedroom and the kitchen area. I'd also like to wash all the bugs off of my car from my trip as well, I was hoping the rain would help out with all of that, but I think it just made it all worse.

Tired

I'm tired. Who knew that getting ready for school to start would take so much out of you...I did. I wasn't looking forward to getting back to work but at the same time, I'm glad to be back at work. I knew as soon as I got back from Montana that I wouldn't have time to just sit and relax, I have been on the go since then. I get to meet my students and their parents tomorrow night at our Open house/Back to School Night. I still have a few things to do in my room and a lot to get going with the first week of school. It didn't help that the tables we ordered in June finally showed up on Friday so we spent Friday afternoon putting them together. Now that I have my furniture I can actually put everything else together. I spent a good deal of time on Saturday down in my classroom, not really the most ideal for the Saturday before school starts. I was joined by a large handful of my co-workers, so I wasn't in the building alone. It's not this difficult once the year starts, but this first couple of weeks should be a real doozy.

Not Quite Right

So I talk to myself quite a bit to help organize my thoughts and I get everything straightened out. There are many occasions when I have everything worked out and it all fits together perfectly and very smoothly, but when it comes time to actually do everything it's like everything did not get the memo. If it works so perfectly in my head, why does it not work out perfectly outside of my head?

Exciting News!

I got a letter in the mail today letting me know that I was chosen to be one of two finalists for the PAEMST Science Award!

This is an award that I was nominated for and then had to apply. The application process involved a 45-minute video of a lesson I taught, a 15-page paper about the lesson recorded, three letters of recommendation, and a resume. I submitted my application at the end of April of this year.

My application, along with the other finalist's, were sent to be judged nationally. Seeing as they just announced last year's winners in June of this year, I may have a bit of time to wait before I get more news.

In the letter, I learned that I will be honored at a banquet some time this next school year and also recognized at the annual state science meeting...I guess I better find a date for the banquet, I just don't know when it is just yet.

Montana!

School starts for me this Thursday so I decided to take one last vacation before I couldn't go anywhere anymore. I called up my friends, Laura and Dirk, and planned to go up to Montana to visit their family for a few days. The original plan was for me to drive up on Wednesday then come back on Sunday, as I figured they might, they asked me to stay another day and everyone I talked to about it suggested I stay longer as well so I came back today, Monday. The drive was just over eight hours so not too bad, but my knee and I are very glad that my car has cruise control and that I made a few CDs before the trip so I could just sing my heart out. My voice was a bit scratchy at the end of each drive, i really let it out when I'm the only one in the car.

Thursday, Laura and I went to the Western Montana State Fair with Laura's son and her friend, Nikki, and her kids. We let the kids ride a few rides and then we went to look at the animals. The kids got to ride a miniature horse and eat large bags of cotton candy. I got to enjoy the bumper cars and a ride that just went around in circles (it was broken). I also had my first corn dog from a fair...very yummy. That night, we were supposed to go up the canyon to make dinner and just have some fun, but it was raining off and on all day so we just stayed home and sauteed the meat and veggies we were going to kabob in the canyon. I want to say we did something else that night too, but I don't remember.

Friday, it was supposed to rain all day so Laura and I went shopping. My tire decided that it wanted to leak air off and on over the last few weeks and decided to be a lot worse after my drive (don't worry, I was very safe and kept an eye on it and didn't have any problems on the actual drive) so to be safe, I dropped it off at the local Les Schwab to get it checked out since I couldn't see anything wrong with it. Apparently there is a small leak on the sidewall of the tire so they patched it as much as they could and sent me on my way with a smaller leak (which really hasn't leaked very much since then) and suggested I keep an eye on it to make sure to add air when needed and check into buying a new tire to replace it eventually. Our shopping trip produced a few items of clothing for the new school year, but I still need to go looking some more in the next two days. That night, I played a video game with Dirk that he had gotten that day (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World). I'm not much of a video gamer, but it was entertaining. Apparently, we played for about three hours and Laura took some pictures since we were laughing so much while playing.


Saturday, we went on a hike with Laura's friends to Morrell Falls. It took about an hour to drive to the trail head and then 2 1/2 hours to hike the 5 mile (round trip) to the falls with 6 children. It was a pretty easy hike but at the same time we pushed ourselves. We were going to stop and go shooting on the way back from the hike, but we were all pretty tired so we went and grabbed dinner from Five Guys. Laura and Dirk (along with a few others) convinced me to stay an extra day so Laura and I went to another of her friends so i could borrow a skirt to wear to church the next day. On the way home, we stopped at a local ice cream place and had some very yummy "homemade" ice cream.





Sunday, we were tired...we didn't make it to church. After sleeping until noon, we decided to go shooting, but drove around for a few hours instead because we couldn't find the right place. We all took naps which made us all a little happier. Laura, Dirk, and I played a few card games. Dirk and I tried to finish the video game and then went to bed.

The drive home today wasn't too bad. It was probably good that I waited a day as I was probably more awake today than yesterday and there was most likely less traffic on the road. I hit downtown Salt Lake right at 5 pm so the last 45 minutes of the drive was a little hairy, but I made it home without any incident or problem. Now I just need to get ready for school...yeah.

Three Cars and a Pair of Shoes

I definitely appreciate my car a little more now. On Saturday morning, my cousin called me up and asked if I could drive her mom's pickup truck to her so her husband could go to Home Depot and buy some sheet rock. I wasn't doing anything important that day so I said I would. I drove three different cars in a matter of 45 minutes and each was an interesting transition. I started in my car, which I'm used to and enjoy, drove to my aunt's house up the street and traded cars. I then drove up to the American Fork Home Depot and traded cars again. I left the truck and took my cousin's "mini-van" back to her house. Each drove differently and the brakes and gas pedals were touchy in some but not in others. It was quite the adventure.

Saturday night I also got to spend some time with my grandparents. They had come into town for a couple of days so my aunt invited everyone over for dinner. I only get to see my grandparents a few times a year and sometimes it's at the drop of a hat. You never know when you'll get a phone call from an aunt or cousin saying that gma and gpa just got into town and if you want to see them you better come over today. Love it!

Friday, I went to the dentist...nothing special to report there. The rest of Friday I worked on some special projects including shortening a couple of pairs of pants. Trust me, they don't come from the store that short unless you buy capris. While working on these projects, I realized I needed to pick up a few items to complete everything so while I was out and about, I decided to go look for some new school clothes. I didn't find any school clothes but I did find some new jeans that I will be shortening and a cool pair of shoes...I could wear those to school :)

New Phone

Steven and I got new phones today. We could have gotten new phones last November but the family decided for everyone to hold off on getting new phones so we could check out any better plans and so that we would all renew at the same time. My old phone was just fine, about to need a new battery, but fine. Steven's was falling apart so today was the day. We tend to have the same everything just in a different color, so we both now have the Samsung Trance...so far, I like it. it's different but ok i guess. I'm still getting used to it. The only problem is that they all come in the same color so it's a good thing we can put different pictures on our wallpaper. I also need to learn to respond to different ring tones as I don't recognize them yet, so far I haven't missed a call though.

Today was the last day of summer school, yippee! Not that I didn't like doing it, I just didn't like being tied down in one place during the summer for only a few hours worth of work. I got a pot of flowers from one of the boys (always from students, never from a significant other). They're cute and I will enjoy them. I just hope I don't kill them, I'm really good at that.

Since I am free of all responsibility, I will be taking one last trip before school starts again. I will be visiting some good friends of mine. Nothing else planned other than I will be visiting them. I'm sure we'll find ourselves up to no good in no time.

Adventures from this week so far: a trip to Ikea with screaming children, "playing" racquetball (my forearm hurts now)--maybe that should be playing "racquetball", a trip to Home Depot so I can finish my porch, and pretending to be a ninja.

Mystery House

When I have dreams, I find that nothing is ever repeated. I always hear about people who have recurring dreams, but that has never happened with me. My dreams are always new and different, the only things that may be repeated would be people I know or places I have been like school.
This morning I had a realization about the dream I had last night. I don't remember what happened but I remember where it happened because I realized that over the last few years that I have had a handful of dreams that have all happened in the same house but just realized today that I have never been there before. I don't think I've ever realized this before because the house just feels familiar to me in my dreams but I know I have never been in this house or one like it so it's weird that I keep going back there in my dreams.
Where is this mystery house? Does it even exist outside my dreams? I hope so because I would like to go there someday, I like it and it feels very homey to me.

So far...

So far, I have had an enjoyable week. Nothing worth shouting about, but it's been good.

Monday night I did something for the very first time...I went to the driving range. A friend of mine took me and showed me a few things. I have to say that I held back at first, I think I was too worried about hitting the ground, but in the end I was swinging away. I had a lot of fun and would like to try it again. The last ball I hit was the best one of the night, we guesstimated that it went at least 100 yards which is astronomical compared to all the other ones I managed to hit. I didn't think golf could be so fun, but my shoulder did hurt for a couple days after wards.

I also made a cake on Monday. Chocolate zucchini cake. It's a recipe I got from an old roommate of mine. It reminds me of a spice cake. It is very moist and fabulous with some cool whip on top (I'm not much into frosting). There is still some left if you'd like some.

Tuesday, most of my students didn't show. Of my four groups, three of them only had one student at a time. A similar thing happened today.

Wednesday, I had pizza. My brother and I were hanging out in the morning as he was doing his laundry at my place. We decided to grab a pizza from Costco for lunch...good choice. Pizza is one of my favorites. It is one of the only commercials on TV that I watch and then think, "I want that." I generally change the channel when a pizza commercial comes on so I won't be tempted. Wednesday night, I went for a run. I figured I wasn't doing anything else and I've been trying to get back into running lately, so I just went and did it. I used the treadmill in my complex's clubhouse, set it for a good workout and then just ran for 30 minutes. I ran just under two miles but it constantly changed speeds and inclines to raise the difficulty level. I felt good when I was done, a lot better than when I did the exact same thing just over a week ago. I guess I'm getting better.

Today I taught again and then made myself work in my classroom for a couple of hours. I didn't produce a lot, but I got a few things figured out and planned out. After I got home, a friend of mine called me up and invited herself over to swim which I was very happy about. I generally don't go swimming unless someone else comes with me. We grilled a couple of burgers and enjoyed a mostly empty pool. Good times.

And now, I am looking for excuses to stay up even later because I just don't think I'll fall asleep if I go to bed right now. Maybe I'll go read for a little bit.

Sleep

The last few summers I have ended up completely rearranging my sleeping schedule and I think my body is trying to desperately do it yet again.

Since I have the summers "off" I tend to revert to my more nocturnal ways. I am very much a night person, not that I'm not a morning person, but I just seem to be more awake and active in the evenings. In the summers, since I do not have many things I have to be awake for at a certain time, I find myself sleeping in and in turn, staying up late at night. Generally, I end up starting to go to bed around 3 am and wake up around 10 or 10:30. What do I do so late at night? I mostly read, but that's also when my mind really starts going so I ponder all of life's questions and a few random thoughts as well.

This summer has been different. I am teaching summer school twice a week, so I have to keep a somewhat "regular" sleeping schedule so that I can wake up on time on those two days. Because of this, I have not been staying up too late, but I think my body is really trying hard to do this. I'll go to bed at a decent hour thinking that I am tired only to lay there for an hour or two. My mind tends to just go and go and go at night which wakes me up. A routine would be nice, a schedule would be nice to help let my head and body know when the appropriate times to sleep are going to be. As much as I try, my body wants to have its regular summer schedule.

On the other hand, it's very peaceful at night when everyone else is in bed. The temperature is cooling and the world is mostly quiet. I would love to go for a walk or something to enjoy this time more, but that's not the safest thing to do in the middle of the night. If you haven't experienced the quiet of 3 am, I recommend it at least once in your life, just be sure you don't get used to it or have something important to do the next day. It's really rough getting back to a "normal" schedule once you start the 3am bit, trust me, I know, I experience it every year right around the time school starts up again.

This Week

This last week has been pretty good. I finally got out of my house and did something out of the ordinary. I still did the regular things like summer school (only four more days) and reading, but I had fun too.

Thursday night, I went to ward movie night. We were originally planning on watching the Mighty Ducks but then only girls showed up so we decided to watch The Secret Life of Bees. It was pretty good, not what I was really in the mood for, but good. A few more people showed up to watch, the one guy that showed up I think was a little disappointed that we weren't watching The Mighty Ducks.

Saturday I cleaned my house, watched a movie and then went for a run with a friend of mine. Just into the run we decided to go to a water slide up by American Fork. It was really fun and not something that I would expect to have done this last week, very spur of the moment. The water was COLD but it felt good. I had a lot of fun.

Let's see what this week brings.

Oh So Bored

Really, truly, I am bored out of my mind. I know I posted earlier about how I have things to do, but those are all so productive. Productive is good, but everyone needs some entertainment, something that makes you go, "Yeah!" I can keep myself busy most of the day, but not so much in the entertainment area. TV is boring, the internet is overrated, reading is good, but I want to be actively doing something.

I went to a meeting held by my school district tonight so that we could be more informed in our insurance decisions and I think that was more entertaining than most of my day today. It helped that I sat by and talked with my co-workers at the meeting versus being at home all day by myself. Plus, I have really cool co-workers.

On another note, I am now friends on Facebook with my grandma...never expected that. Way to go, Grandma!

First Back to School Dream

This morning I had my first going back to school dream. You never know when the first one will hit, but they're usually really weird. This one was pretty short, it basically just had my principal coming in and talking to me to make sure I would teach my students what beat boxing is. I was up for the challenge, but try as I might they just didn't understand it and I couldn't give them an example. For those of you who need an example:



To add to it, this morning as I was walking in to teach summer reading groups, my principal jokingly told me that since I was doing so well with the 1st grade group that he wants to move me to teach 1st grade this year. Not funny.

How's Your Summer?

That's what I hear all the time when I run into friends in the summer time. People always ask me what I do with so much free time in the summer, I really love having the conversation, but I always draw a blank as to what I do do. It's real easy to talk about any trips I've been on, but then I really have to ask myself, "What do I do all day?"

So far, this summer, I have done a few projects around my house. I worked on scraping more adhesive from my porch (before I moved in, someone thought an outdoor carpet would be a nice touch to the porch=yuck). I started the project last summer, but only got halfway done. It's better now, it just looks worse as it's more patchy so more noticeable. I plan on finishing it this week sometime. I also finally painted my front door. I almost don't recognize it since all the dings and scratches are a pretty white now.

I'm teaching summer school two days a week as well. Once I got back in town, my principal asked if I could take over for a coworker who had to go on bed rest. It's not that bad, just two hours a day so four hours a week. It gets me down to my school so I work on my classroom before I head home for the day. The only problem is that of the four groups, two are third grade, one is first grade, and the other is kindergarten. Now I taught third grade for a couple of years so I have no problem with those or even the first grade groups, but I have no idea what to do with kindergartners especially since they have a hard time with identifying half the alphabet. I seem to be doing okay so far.

On the days I teach, I also help tutor someone with college algebra. It's been awhile since I've done that stuff, but we get it all figured out.

I have been reading a lot more. It helps that I have access to all of the books in my classroom and the school's library. It's the only time I don't have to wait in line or fight over who gets to read the more popular books first. Plus, when I recommend a student read a book I can do it based on what I've read not just what others have told me about the book. So far some of the books I've read are: Twice Upon a Marigold, The Goosegirl, The Red Pyramid, The Looking Glass Wars, and will be starting Peter and the Starcatchers as soon as I'm done with Seeing Redd. All pretty good books. If I still have time before school starts, I would also like to read The Ranger's Apprentice and a couple other series my cousin and brother recommend.

My house is pretty clean. I clean a lot when I'm the only one home and if I'm trying to put off doing something else (like writing lesson plans for next school year). There's usually always something to clean or dishes to put away so I'm in pretty good shape there.

I've been able to hang out with some family and friends as well. Laura and Dirk, two of my best friends, came into town for a few days. Steven and Randi are usually up to no good so I tag along. I've also been able to spend some time with my other best friend, my cousin Pam.

The TV is generally on as I need background noise after awhile. I'm used to being in a room with a group of preteens half the day, I'm used to things not being quiet all of the time. I've seen a lot of HGTV this summer. I get lots of ideas which leads me to want to do things like redesign my bathroom. I will be giving it a mini makeover later this summer--just a little paint and new accessories.

The problem is that I don't have anything scheduled four days out of the week. What do you do with four days? Add in the afternoons and evenings of summer school days and I have a lot of time on my hands. I finally made a list to remind me of things that I could and/or should do. Now when I wake up in the morning, I just take a look at the list. Doesn't always mean that I feel like doing anything on the list, but I have one.

Happy 4th!

Happy 4th of July!

This has been a good holiday weekend for me. Two of my best friends (Dirk and Laura)and their two kids are staying with me. We've run around quite a bit, been to a few BBQs, and had lunch with my cousin and her family. It's been really fun, but also really busy and tiring. The timing was also perfect as I was asked to take over a summer school position at my school this year which is only on Tuesdays and Thursdays so I got home on time on Thursday to greet my friends and will be able to at least say goodbye to them on Tuesday before I have to head to school for a workshop and summer school.

It's crazy to think that I only have 1 1/2 months left of summer. I don't have any plans for the rest of my summer just yet, but I'm sure I'll fill it somehow. I did finally get one task done that I've put off for the last three summers: I painted my front door. It looks very pretty and I almost don't recognize it when I come home because it is so clean. The next project I have on the docket is to make my other bathroom all pretty. It's the bathroom I never use as I've always had roommates and I have a private bathroom attached to my bedroom, but all of my guests use this bathroom. Since I will be roommate-free in a couple of months, I want to make things look nicer just because I can and now have the option to do it. It started out to be just new towels, mats, and a shower curtain, but now I'm picking out paint colors and regrouting and recaulking the shower. I might even have to redo the floor, but we will see once I can really get in there and looking at everything.

Another project I'm also working on is to clean my porch. Sometime before I moved in, someone decided it would be a good idea to cover the porch with a pink carpet (I guess so it would match the kitchen counters-gross). The carpet was really nasty and had all sorts of mysterious spots and discolorations so I finally ripped it off (with help from Randi and Steven) last summer only to have to deal with all the adhesive that was used to keep it down. I removed most of the adhesive last summer but then I ran out of solvent and school was starting up again so I didn't finish. I'm hoping to go at it in the next few weeks so I can cross another project off of my list. Once all the yellow adhesive is gone, I might just start thinking about what I can put on my porch to pretty it up a bit. Suggestions?

Back in Utah

I made it back to Utah this last weekend. It's nice to be back to my own place, with my own bed, my own bathroom, and my own schedule. I love being with family and being away from responsibility, but it's nice to be back to more predictable circumstances.

Here are a few more photos from my vacation. This is from Southern California at the place we were staying at in Newport Beach. It was really nice and the kids liked playing tether ball especially when Sarah wasn't screaming about not playing or not winning.


While I was home, I went to Kohl's with my mom and her 30% off discount. I got 6 shirts, a set of wash cloths, and an awesome pair or pants for $13.58 (plus tax). We really love Kohl's.


My cousin, her husband, and their kids stayed the night at my mom's house the night before we all left for reunion. It was fun to let the kids all play together before spending a weekend in the dirt. I think Joe had fun too, what do you think?


Last weekend ended my trip at a family reunion. We camped in South Lake Tahoe in a very nice campground. This was the largest reunion we had--61 people were there. I was super excited that I was able to have my three closest cousins there together as it had been nine years since the last time we were together.
Fun times!

Southern California

I went down to Newport Beach with my family last weekend. My parents and I spent a week there Friday to Friday and my sister and her family joined us Friday to Wednesday. After getting there we all decided to go to Disneyland for a day. We were waiting outside the gate when it opened and left right before the park closed. We ran around all day. It was nice that we went in October and got most of it done so we could now see what we missed and take our time without running too much.

To save some time and money, we packed lunch and dinner and ate in the parking lot.

We got fast passes for the rides we could get fast passes for so we wouldn't have to wait too long in lines. One line that took A LOT longer than we expected and were planning was the Nemo submarine ride. This was mostly because the audio on the submarine we were first put in wasn't working so they then had to unload us and reload us. Because of this, they gave a free fast pass/head of the line pass so we used it on Space Mountain at the end of the night. We had fun, but Andrew and Lissy looked a little unsure.

The day after Disneyland, we were so tired, we slept until we woke up. Of course, the kids woke up at a somewhat normal time for them. We sat around quite a bit and some of us decided to walk down to the local beach. We found some cool rocks to look at and some tide pools to explore.

After my sister went home, my parents and I went down to Desert Hot Springs to visit my dad's aunt. It was really hot.

The day after we got back into town, my nephew, Andrew, was baptized. He had asked me to speak about baptism which was an easier topic than my talk in sacrament meeting a few weeks ago.

Our cousins came into town for the day so we went to the Castle Air Museum and walked around all of the planes and jets. Yet again, another hot day.