It's My Life!

Tis The Season!

2012-01-22T15:34:00.000-08:00

Surprise. I'm WAY behind on blogging. Good thing approximately 2.5 people read this thing (and I'm 1.5 of those people...).

Anyway, I've been meaning to write about Thanksgiving and Christmas for a while, and then hopefully I'll get on to all of the other good stuff that's been going on in life!

Thanksgiving turned out to be pretty much the BEST THANKSGIVING EVER!!! I was planning on staying in the D.C. area for the holiday, and was fine with that. But at the last second an opportunity came up for me to fly home and surprise my family! The looks on their faces when I showed up were priceless. I only wish I had a camera to capture it all. This was the first Thanksgiving home in a while, and it was nice to be able to spend so much time with the fam.

If you were wondering what Dad might look like in approximately 30 years...now you know.

Who wouldn't want to hang out with these bums?

Just watch out...you'll end up more wet than they are!

Possibly one of my favorite pictures ever...

Being home for Thanksgiving was really great. I got to see Jason (a friend ever since high school) who is currently working halfway around the world and wouldn't be in Utah for Christmas. It's always good to be able to catch up with old friends!

All in all, it really was a fantastic Thanksgiving!

Who would have thought that Christmas could possibly beat all of that?! Well, it did, because not only were the three boys home for Christmas, but so were all of the other nieces and nephews, aunts, uncles, grandpa and grandma, and on and on! I didn't get great pics of the family, except on my new camera that I'm still trying to figure out...So, when I finally get that all organized I might add more pics to this post. In the meantime, here are some pictures of the little ones getting ready for the the big production of "The Christmas Story." Needless to say, the little ones weren't really having it with the blankets and robes...

This is the first time in a while that the whole family was together. It was one of the best times that I can remember! (and I'm really not exaggerating that at all). The little kids were always a hand-full, and it was fun to watch them running around, getting to know each other. 6 boys under the age of 3 is always bound to be an adventure!

For the first time, in I think ever, all of the siblings (the middle-generation if you will) took off for the night leaving grandpa and grandma and the three oldest grandkids to tend the others. It was nice to be able to sit down with my siblings and just enjoy time with them. We went to dinner, and then out to a movie, and it was so great to realize that even though we are all grown up, and our lives have taken us in a lot of different directions, we are all still friends and our relationships are probably even better now than they were when we were younger. Families are the best!

The rest of the week was amazing and wonderful. Mostly we sat around playing games, and just enjoying being with everyone.

I really couldn't have asked for a better holiday season!

2012-01-22T12:09:00.000-08:00

This one is just for me. Here's my reading list of 2011:

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis
The Magician's Nephew - C.S. Lewis
The Winter of Our Discontent - John Steinbeck
The Girls of Fire and Thorns - Rae Carson
The Bean Trees - Barbara Kingsolver
The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
Many Waters - Madeleine L'Engle
A Swiftly Tilting Planet - Madeleine L'Engle
Percy Jackson and the Olymians: The Last Olympian - Rick Riordan
Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Battle of the Labyrinth - Rick Riordan
Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Titan's Curse - Rick Riordan
Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Sea of Monsters - Rick Riordan
The Help - Kathryn Stockett
Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief - Rick Riordan
The Hero of Ages - Brandon Sanderson
The Well of Ascension - Brandon Sanderson
These Three Remain - Pamela Aidan
Duty and Desire - Pamela Aidan
An Assembly Such As This - Pamela Aidan
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler - E.L. Konigsburg
The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho
The Giver - Lois Lowry
Mistborn - Brandon Sanderson
Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
The Return of the King - JRR Tolkien
The Two Towers - JRR Tolkien
Beauty - Robin McKinley
Princess Academy - Shannon Hale
The Fellowship of the Ring - JRR Tolkien
The Great Divorce - C.S. Lewis
Anne of Green Gables - L.M. Montgomery

2011-11-11T08:12:00.001-08:00

HAPPY 11-11-11 at 11:11:11!

Hope you are enjoying a great day!

My New Hobby: Part 2

2011-10-16T18:21:00.000-07:00

WARNING:

LOTS OF PICTURES!

As promised, here is the second installment of Canyoneering! There are lots of pictures because we did two canyons, so don't feel obligated to look at them all. I just uploaded all of my pictures, and they weren't in order, so I did my best of putting them at least with the correct canyon from either day.

This year's canyoneering trip was pretty different from last year's. Nicole was unfortunately unable to come with us because she had a bun baking in the oven. ;) So, Tristan organized a great trip and invited some of his friends to come along. Tali (my roommate) decided to join in on the fun and brought along a couple of other friends from the D.C. area, as well as her sister who is going to BYU right now.

We drove down on Wednesday night after everyone flew in from D.C. The next morning we got up pretty early and headed over to meet up with the rest of the group. Once we got everything ready it was time to head out to Zion and get going for the day! We did Pine Creek our first day, and because of the freezing cold water, we did it in wet suits...well, most of us did it in wet suits!

(I'm going to post the pics of each canyon that I know for sure, and then I'll include all of the scenery pictures that will give you a small glimpse of what it's like being in the back country of Zion!).

This is Tristan, our fearless guide!

This is Rob, another one of our AWESOME guides! He provided not only safety for the group, but a lot of laughs as well!


Ready to get started for the day!

Lookin' hot, Tali!


Kaylie on the first rappel!


This rappel is called the Cathedral. It was so beautiful, and had amazing acoustics as was demonstrated by Tristan singing a Gregorian Chant.


This was the last rappel of Pine Creek. It's a free rappel, which means that you just have to let yourself down the rope without support from a rock wall. Just you and the rope! It was breathtaking!

Pine Creek was a blast, and was so different from Mystery Canyon from the year before. The slot canyons are incredible, and being in them really makes you realize how dangerous they can become with a flash flood. Luckily we had perfect weather on both days!

Friday we did Spry Canyon, which again, has a completely different feel to it from Mystery or Pine Creek. You have to hike up and up and up on pretty much no trail in order to drop down into the canyon. However, the hike alone would have been worth every second. It was so peaceful and quiet. We didn't see another person until the last rappel of the day!

We found Petroglyphs on the wall, which were pretty cool.

Heading down the first rappel!


Challenge: Get across without getting wet...

This was another free rappel. You had to swing out a little in order to brace your feet against the far wall, and then just let yourself drop!

Tali's friend David came on the trip with us as well, and introduced us to the "Dart Game." If someone calls your name and you look at them, they can blow a "dart" at you and you have to lie down wherever you are until someone comes and takes the "dart" out. The only way to avoid being darted is by sticking your pinky finger up when they call your name and you look at them. We had some fatalities on the way...

Rob was a good sport and played along with us!


This was the last rappel of the day. From this point you are in the main canyon, and can see the cars driving up and down the twisty switchbacks.


Out of the canyon at last!

The next lots of pictures are random shots from both days. You really can't capture the beauty and majesty in these small snapshots, but you can sort of get the idea of how amazing Zion National Park really is!

On Friday night we drove back to Orem so that we would be able to go to Annie and Ben's wedding the next day! Yay for Annie and Ben!!

20 Years Later

2011-10-12T18:25:00.000-07:00

Today is exactly 20 years to the day that I was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I remember as an 8 year-old understanding in a small, childlike way that what I was doing was very important. My dad baptized me in Spanish because my oldest brother Mike was on his mission in Spain at the time. A few nights before the baptism Dad sat me down and read through the baptismal prayer. He explained to me what it meant and why it was so important to be baptized. I had seen other baptisms and knew what to expect, but Dad took the time to practice with me so that I would know how to hold onto his arm and go completely under the water.

The day of the baptism is a little bit of a blur, but I do remember some things. Ms. Johnson, my second grade teacher, was there and she gave me a tin of short bread cookies and a pencil. I believe that Uncle Marvin was one of the witnesses, and I apologize for offending anyone for not remembering who the other witness was (I seem to remember it being Uncle Ronald, but I'm not sure!). I remember coming to the font and seeing Dad standing in the water waiting for me. I think that because I was a swimmer and spent so much time in a swimming pool I was expecting the water to be cold and was very pleasantly surprised when I stepped in and it was warm! Dad and I stood there, dressed all in white. He positioned my hands onto his arm, said the baptismal prayer and then I was baptized. The next day, in church, Dad confirmed me a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and gave me the gift of the Holy Ghost.

In the 20 years that have followed, I have grown to understand more and more just how much that seemingly small decision has made an impact in my life. It has made me who I am today, and I am very grateful for it. I am grateful to know that Jesus Christ is my Savior and Redeemer. I am grateful to know that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God, and that we have a living prophet on the earth today. I know that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet in our time. I also know that The Book of Mormon is a true book, which teaches of Jesus Christ, and that we can come closer to Him by living the principles taught therein.

Just as the last 20 years since my baptism have brought me growth and a deeper understanding of the promises I made to my Heavenly Father at the age of 8, I know that I still have a lot to learn. Here's to the next 20 years!

A New Hobby!

2011-09-25T18:21:00.000-07:00

Dear Blogging World. I didn't forget you. It's just that I knew that if I ever were to come back to you it would mean a lot of pictures and lot of time, and posts from a long time ago that should have been blogged about WAY before now. But now I'm feeling guilty enough, and it's a quiet Sunday evening, so I suppose that I am going to venture into your world even if this post is a year and a half over due!

Two summers ago I called Nicole, my "growing up" best friend, and told her that I was going to be in Utah for a few weeks and that I wanted to go on an adventure that she had told me about. Canyoneering. I had never heard of it prior to Nicole, and it sounded intriguing. A lot of rappelling down canyons in Zion National Park. Who wouldn't want to do it, right!?

Luckily, Nicole and her husband Tristan LOVE canyoneering and will drop just about everything in order to go. So when I thought I would be putting them out a weekend and they would be indulging me, turns out they were more than excited to make the drive over from Colorado for a weekend in Heaven!!

Tristan and Nicole decided that Mystery Canyon would be a good canyon to start a beginner on. Usually when you do Mystery you have two cars in order to shuttle back and forth from the bottom to the top. But we only had one car, so we hiked up to the top of Zion in order to drop down into the canyon. The hike up was beautiful!


We even saw Zion's version of Stone Henge up on one of the cliffs!

No, I'm not taller than Nicole, I'm just up on a rock...

After getting up to the top of the canyon and hiking down some slippery shale of death! we finally made it into Mystery and it was time for the rappelling to begin! The next pictures are not in the order of the hike, but you'll get the idea of how amazing the back country of Zion is!

The next 6 pictures are of the second to last rappel. It was a little freaky to get out to because you had to hook onto a rope, walk about 50 feet along a cliff wall, and then tie into the actual rappel. But once you are set, it is breathtaking! The rappel is pretty long, and then you drop into a FREEZING pool of water at the end. It was a really hot day, and we had run out of water (stupid, I know) because we weren't really planning for the beginning hiking part. Because of all that, when I dropped into the water my body immediately tensed up, and with the rope swirling around my legs (and not being able to touch the bottom), I started panicking a little bit. It was the first time that I've ever thought to myself that I wasn't going to be able to swim to the side and pull myself out. Luckily Tristan reached out and pulled me to the side before I really started to show panic and embarrass myself!

Another part of canyoneering is the down climbing, when you don't really need a rope to rappel, but you still have to figure out a way to get down. Let's just say that tall people have a bit of an advantage!

The last rappel of Mystery Canyon is into the Narrows! It was so funny to see the people stop and stare up at us. A lot of them took out their own cameras and were taking pictures of us.

Coming down the last rappel into the Narrows. It was pretty fun coming down a waterfall, even if it was just a little one!

The next day we were going to do another canyon, but we were all pretty beat from Mystery (or else Nicole and Tristan just said they were tired to make me feel better!). We decided to go to a water hole and do some jumping. We also found a natural water slide. It wasn't big, but it was still fun!

Everyone should look this awesome when jumping off rocks! ;)

Thanks for an amazing trip Nicole and Tristan! I've been to Zion National Park many times, but I have never experienced the back country. Thanks for a great time, and here's to many to come!! (P.S. my next post is going to be about this year's adventure...).

HAPPY 95th GRANDPA!!!

2011-07-11T15:03:00.000-07:00

95 years old, and still living life to the fullest!

Want to make any bets of what Dad will look like in 30 years?

Grandpa with 4 of his 102 GREAT-Grandkids (6 more are on the way...)

Here's to a great life well lived! Happy Birthday Grandpa!!!

Yes Please!

2011-06-19T18:19:00.000-07:00

I just found a blog give-away for a trip for 2 to Paris! Just thought I'd post on my blog too, since that enters me into the drawing again! You should all check it out before midnight on the 20th. That's when it closes...

http://ohhappyday.com/2011/06/goes-to-paris

If You Ever Need a Boost...

2011-06-15T15:23:00.000-07:00

Just have some kids draw a picture of you...it's sure to make you smile!!!

When I asked what was on my head in this one, I was told, "A hair." Glad to know that I have a hair!

I really do wear earring like this!

Either I rub my belly a lot in class, or I've just eaten a really good lunch.

I've got some great dance moves in this one (but unfortunately, no face...)!

Is this student trying to tell me about my ability to see what's going on around me all the time in the classroom?

I hope you enjoyed these as much as I do! Things like these are some of my favorite parts of being a teacher!

What Were You Doing On Saturday?

2011-05-02T20:06:00.000-07:00

Probably not this:

Before

After

Run-a-muck: Totally worth it.
Team: Chain-gang (yes, we did the whole race tied together).
Random: Met a group of police officers.
Celebratory dinner after race: Cafe Rio! (first location out here!).
Result: Best.Day.EVER!!

To the Redheads in My Life...

2011-05-01T18:03:00.000-07:00

So, a little while ago I was at a Relief Society function. Among the girls there were two sisters that I had never seen standing side-by-side. As they stood there I thought, "WHOA!!! One has red hair, and one has dark brown hair, and they are sisters! That is totally crazy!!!"

Exhibit "A" of why that was possibly the dumbest thing I have EVER thought in my life:

Meet my sisters.

A friend once told me that for whatever reason the redheaded gene is being edged out, and that sometime in the future there will be no more redheads (I have not confirmed the veracity of this statement). However, if my life is any indication of anything, I would say that redheads are soon going to take over, not fade away.

Of my 60 cousins (on both sides), there are about 13 redheads. That's in my generation alone! That's almost 22%! - please correct me if I'm wrong as math has never been my strong side! Of all of my aunts and uncles, I don't think that there is one that is a true redhead. Now, it would seem to me that having so many redheads on both sides of my family - 7 out of 12 cousins on my mom's side and 8 out of 53 on my dad's side (I counted my two sisters in both counts and my immediate family in the cousin count who are obviously not cousins but my siblings, hence the discrepancy of numbers...but I digress) - that the redheaded population is increasing, and not decreasing.

I also need to give a shout-out to Nicole, my best friend growing up, and to Dan Miller my swim coach who are also both redheads! Apparently my life was destined to be filled with them!

To all of you redheads in my life, from the bottom of my heart I thank you. I appreciate your efforts in coloring up an otherwise neutral-hair colored world.

P.S. Just as a side-note, I would like to pat myself on the back for being able to name every single one of my cousins in order to figure out the redhead numbers. That's no small feat in this family. Okay, you can get on with your lives now! :)

He Is Risen

2011-04-24T05:36:00.000-07:00

It is amazing to me how three simple words can bring so much hope, light, and peace into our lives:

He Is Risen

I know that Christ died for us, and on the third day He rose again.

I am so grateful to know that because of my Savior and Redeemer I have a chance to live again. I have joy in knowing that I will be with my family forever. I have peace in life because I know that this is not the end.

He lives

Happy Easter!

Post 101...

2011-04-11T18:22:00.000-07:00

Okay, despite my attempts to keep up on blogging, I am dreadfully behind. So, with a little prompting from a friend here comes Post 101!

On Saturday I went up to New York City and got to hang out with Jennie!!! She lives in Connecticut with the fam, but is moving up to Alaska next week, and this will be the last time in a bit that I'll get to see her. I'll try not to get all mushy-gushy, but for whatever reason, being with old friends is always such a boost for me. It somehow rebuilds my confidence in the things I am doing, and reminds me that despite often feeling a little lost, there are people out there who have known me for years, and who have loved me through all of it! Spending time with such a good friend was not only fun, but good for my soul. Okay...too mushy-gushy!

I usually don't love NYC. I suppose I'm not really a big-city girl. There's something about only being able to see the sun when it's directly overhead that I don't super love. However, this trip was SO much fun. I'll let the pics do most of the talking.

I hopped on a bus at 6:30 in the morning and got up to NYC around 10:30. I met up with Chris who used to live in DC but is now up there. Jennie's train was delayed, and Chris had some time, so he was nice enough to walk around with me while I waited. We went to Doughnut Plant, which, despite its name, is actually really yummy! If you're in New York, it's apparently the thing to do. Then I headed over to Grand Central Station, picked up Jennie, and we were off for a day of no plans, to let the wind take us where it would. Turns out, that's the way to do New York! At least, if you're in for a great adventure!

We stopped at Rite Aid to get some cash for the road. We stumbled across this little treasure, and even though we didn't buy it, we enjoyed laughing about it a lot.

Can you just imagine the marketers trying to pitch this one to the CEO?

After eating at a delicious Japanese restaurant, Jennie and I randomly ran into the Annual Tartan Day Parade! There were thousands of Scots walking around in kilts, and the parade was awesome! We saw lots of different tartans, big Asian-Scots wearing kilts and wielding swords, the old and the young playing both the bagpipes and the drums, girls doing a Scottish jig, jugglers, and even Nessie the Loch Ness Monster made an appearance!

We watched people play Pentaque (a game very similar to Bocce Ball) in Bryant Park...until a random French guy came up and gave Jennie his number and Facebook information. He told her it wasn't important that she was married and had kids, he just wanted to talk with her because she was very beautiful. It was awkward, but pretty awesome! Way to pull out the moves Jennie...you still got it! ;) (Wish I had gotten a picture of him...)

After laughing pretty hard for a while, we ran into a bookstore where we found the most amazing picture book EVER!! I recommend it to everyone!

We then strolled through Macy's to see their beautiful spring flower display. I've always heard about Macy's around Christmas time, but being there both during Christmas this year, I don't know which one I like better.

One thing that has always bothered me about NYC is the lack of green space. At least I found some Daffodils, which always make me happy!

We then walked around a street market, and then it was time to hop on the bus at 7:00 for another 4-hour ride home. To be honest, I got a little sentimental as we said goodbye. I suppose saying goodbye is always going to be a little sad. But the thing I love most of all, is that with friends like Jennie (and you all know who you are) I know that we are always going to be friends. It may be years and years between getting together, but when I do finally get a chance to see you, it's like no time has passed, and we pick up right where we left off.

To all my friends, thanks for the years of memories. To Jennie, thanks for adding to an already great set of memories!

I know, I know, it's getting mushy-gushy again...

100th Post

2011-01-29T18:18:00.000-08:00

I decided to celebrate the 100th post with a new blog design! It's still in the works a little bit, but it was something new and exciting for me!

I was also going to make 10 lists of 10 things about me...but let's be honest, nobody cares that much about the minutia of my life! So, I only made six, and even that might be too many for some of you! This is probably more interesting for myself so that in 20 years I can look back at these things (assuming that blogs will even still be in existence by then) and see how much has changed, if anything.

Favorite Books
(in no particular order)
The Book of Mormon
Chronicles of Narnia (I'll just count them as 1)
East - Edith Pattou
East of Eden - John Steinbeck
Harry Potter (1-7)
Lord of the Rings
The Hunger Games (all three)
Beauty - Robin McKinley
Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World - the story of Sir Earnest Shackelton

Favorite Places on Earth
Home
Mystery Canyon, Zion National Park
Angel's Landing, Zion National Park
Victoria Peak in Hong Kong
Palisades, Idaho
Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico
London, England (okay, pretty much all of England that I've been to)
The Great Wall of China
Niagara Falls
Driving up to Canada during Autumn

Favorite Movies
Emperor's New Groove
Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince
Stardust
Amazing Grace
Pride and Prejudice (what kind of girl would I be without this on the list?!)
The Patriot
The Scarlet Pimpernel
Glory
Parineeta (Bollywood film)
March of the Penguins (a new discovery for me)

Favorite Food
Lasagna
Chips and salsa (of the "mom" variety)
Tacos
Chimichanga
Navajo Tacos
Döner Kebab (as eaten in Germany)
German dumplings (kloesse) with goulash and rotkohl (red cabbage)
Raclette
Pretty much any Indian food
Sandwiches

Favorite Desserts
Funfetti Cupcakes
Oreo ice cream
Twist cones (with chocolate and vanilla, which are almost impossible to find!)
Strawberries with cream
Brownies
Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
Snickers
Girl Scout Cookies (Samoas)
Pazookies
Graham crackers with frosting smothered on top!

Favorite Things To Do
Rapel
Swim
Hike
Read
Go four-wheeling
Swing in a hammock
Hang out with my family
Watch a movie
Talk with good friends
Watch a sunset in silence

What are some of your favorite things? :)

How To Make People Paranoid

2011-01-28T20:11:00.000-08:00

Books I Read Last Year

2011-01-13T14:00:00.000-08:00

This is not really a post for all of you, mostly it's just a point of curiosity for me because it's interesting to see how many, and which books I've read in a year. However, there are a few notable things here:

1) You can obviously tell which year I was unemployed.
2) I am coming to the realization that my book choice might not be considered academic...by any stretch of the imagination.
3) I don't really care... ;)

It turns out that I really like reading young adult (okay, okay...teen and children fiction) books. They just capture my attention a lot better than "scholarly" books (I do teach Kindergarten). And I figure that if I have to live in reality why do I need to read about it too? Every once in a while I try to read something from the classics, but as well written as "Jane Eyre" is, it can be a little tedious to get through.

Goal for 2011: Read a few more classics in between my "easy" reads!

Also, for anybody who might still be reading this post right now, consider this my official plug for the "Hunger Games" series. If you haven't read them, you should. I can't tell you anything about the story, but they are a MUST READ! You won't regret a single minute.

Books I read in 2010

The Baseball Box Prophecy - Bruce Newbold
East - Edith Pattou
A Wind in the Door - Madeleine L'Engle
Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins
Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins
The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
The Three Musketeers - Alexander Dumas
The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis
The Davinci Code - Dan Brown
Dragon Flight - Jessica Day George
Dragon Slippers - Jessica Day George
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
A Wrinkle In Time - Madeleine L'Engle
Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
Heartfire - Orson Scott Card
The Princess Bride - William Goldman
Inkheart - Cornelia Funke
Alvin Journeyman - Orson Scott Card
Prentice Alive - Orson Scott Card
Red Prophet - Orson Scott Card

Books I read in 2009

The Lost Symbol - Dan Brown
The Amber Spyglass - Philip Pullman
The Subtle Knife - Philip Pullman
The Golden Compass - Philip Pullman
Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
Seventh Son - Orson Scott Card
Beauty - Robin McKinley
East of Eden - John Steinbeck
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling
North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell
Austenland - Shannon Hale
Fairest - Gail Carson Levine
Three Cups of Tea - Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
Harry Potter und der Stein der Weisen (The Sorcerer's Stone...in German) - J.K. Rowling
River Secrets - Shannon Hale
Enna Burning - Shannon Hale
Ella Enchanted - Gail Carson
The Goose Girl - Shannon Hale
The Eyre Affair - Jasper Fforde
The Silmarillion - J.R.R. Tolkien
The Little Prince - Antoine de Saint Exupery
Rebecca - Daphne du Maurier
The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
East - Edith Pattou
The Last Battle - C.S. Lewis

1-11-11

2011-01-11T18:27:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to post about 1-11-11 since I missed 1-1-11! I mean, when 11 is your favorite number you can't help loving a date like this!

HAPPY JANUARY!!

More England

2010-10-24T17:37:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry if this is boring for ya'll, but I have to get it documented, and maybe someone will enjoy looking at Europe with me! (Hee hee!)

When I got back to Mike and Michele's after my jaunt up to Cambridge, we decided to take another trip, and this time we went south!

Our first stop was to none other than...Brighton! (Nope, it's apparently NOT the place to find husbands, but it was pretty none-the-less). We went to the Royal Pavilion, which is A-MAZ-ING!! I felt like I had stepped into India when I saw the outside of it. (Sorry the pictures aren't that great. Mike got some really good ones). The inside was an Asian mish-mash of stunning proportions. We couldn't take pictures inside the Pavilion, but it's worth Googling and trying to find some. I've never even heard of the Royal Pavilion, but if you get the chance to go I would highly recommend it!

We then headed over to Arundel Castle, which is a castle that was founded on Christmas Day in 1067 and is still the home of the Duke of Norfolk. It was pretty incredible to see the old and the new side by side. I wouldn't mind living there! ;) Unfortunately all of the sons of the current Duke are probably younger than 10. Not going to happen...

I love the English Countryside!

Like I said, I could handle living here.

We also went over to Hampshire, turns out it really is named for the pig...

We went to Winchester Cathedral, which is where Jane Austen is buried. We also went to Salisbury Cathedral, which was absolutely beautiful!

Try and ignore the scaffolding.

The door reminded me of "LadyHawk" when he bursts through on the horse.

This is the oldest clock in the world.

We stayed at a really fun hotel in Salisbury. There are boards that were there when they built the cathedral around 1220. It's definitely the oldest place I've ever stayed!

We also went to Portsmouth and saw where the Pilgrims and the Titanic set sail.

We also saw Stonehenge! This is the second time I've seen it, but I STILL love it!

This is Glastonbury, the burial place of King Arthur. It's amazing how a legend has so many birth and burial places!

The kids got to weave...

...with this dude!

Apparently one of the most popular places in Beaconsfield is Beaconscott, which is a complete model village. It was kind of cool...but something I still don't really understand. There used to be lots of these model villages around in the day, but this one is one of the only remaining villages. I guess the English really liked to walk around small towns back then...

Saying goodbye to this face was really hard!

Thanks for a great trip! Until next time!

A Jaunt Up to Cambridge

2010-10-13T17:09:00.000-07:00

So, a day wasn't really a day when I got to post again. But at least this post is not three months down the road!

Part 2 of England included going up to visit Dan Dan for a day! It was one of the highlights of the trip (but since the whole trip was a big highlight, that just means that it was so great!)

I took a train up from London, and when I got in Dan and I went to "breakfast" where we ate the traditional beans, sausage, and bacon English breakfast. It was great. On our way, we walked past this fun little building. Yep, this is where the idea for the Double Helix in DNA was thought up. It's just a little pub type restaurant. But it was here that the "guys" came and were talking about it all, and the idea just hit them. Or something like that...

Dan took me around a lot of the different colleges in Cambridge, and it was amazing. The colleges are each so unique, and yet somehow similar. Maybe that's because they are all about 3000 years old. Okay, not that old, but really...the University dates back to the 12 or 13 hundreds. The New World hadn't even been discovered by the European continent yet. Crazy!

Dan was really nice to take so many pictures of me!

Same bridge, opposite side.

This is the Bridge of Sighs. It's named after the bridge in Venice where legend says that prisoners would sigh as they crossed before being executed. I'm pretty sure no one was executed after crossing this bridge...but I have been known to be wrong.

This is (I think) King's College. Sorry if I'm wrong Dan. Please correct me!

I just love all of the amazing architecture. It makes me wish that I actually knew something about it...

C.S. Lewis was mostly an Oxford man, but he did spend some time up in Cambridge. This is where he would have been when he was in Cambridge, and I, of course, had to get a picture of it because it's C.S. Lewis!

One of the highlights of the Cambridge trip was getting to play croquet on one of the Greens at Pembroke College with the BYU study abroad students. It was so much fun, and seriously...who wouldn't want to play croquet in England!?

I was a total pro!

The English definitely know their gardening. The roses were amazing...just like everything else that had to do with gardens.

It's a good thing I remembered at the last second that I needed a picture with Dan Dan. That could have been bad! This is us standing in front of the oldest Bowling Green in Europe (which in my opinion probably means the entire world because, let's be honest, where else do they even have Bowling Greens?) However, we weren't allowed to even walk on it...it's only for the Fellows (teachers).

Other highlights of the Cambridge trip - in no particular order:

1. Eating in the Great Hall (AKA King's College dining hall)
2. Listening to a lecture by Sir Richard Dearlove who was head of MI6 (British spies) for a number of years, and who was a spy himself during the Cold War. It was aWeSoMe!
3. Drinking tea with Dan in the Graduate Lounge in Pembroke College
4. Listening to a high school choir sing an Evensong in one of the beautiful churches in Cambridge.
5. Sitting by the River Cam watching all of the tourists punt up and down. It was quite comical, actually!

One regret: Not punting in the River Cam. Next time I guess.

The whole trip was amazing! Thanks for a great time Dan!

So Much to Say, So Little Time

2010-09-28T12:20:00.000-07:00

Okay, Okay...I know I'm SO behind in all of the adventures of my life. And most of you won't even care about this at all, but for my own sake I really need to get this out there so that I can remember what I did this summer. I couldn't have had a better summer this year. It was the perfect reset that I needed in order to be able to come back to school (and let's be honest, to come back to a massive singles ward) and hit another year head on!

In July I headed out with Mike and Michele's family to England and spent 3 glorious weeks there. I'll let the pictures do most of the talking. :)

In front of Buckingham Palace. Yes, Emily is taller than me. Get over it already!
P.S. I was also, often mistaken for the nanny (which I can totally understand). But it was a little weird how people just overlooked me and kind of treated me as if I wasn't there. I guess being a nanny means that you are a sub-species...or something.

We went to the British Museum and saw lots of really cool stuff, including...

...the Rosetta Stone (freaking awesome!). If you look closely you can see me in the picture too!

We got to go to Warwick (said Warrick) Castle. It's a huge medieval castle where people run around in medieval clothing (imagine the swords and quills club at BYU, but WAY cooler). It was built in 1068 by William the Conqueror, and some of the original walls are still standing. Amazing!

This is the Great Hall. Actually, I don't know what it's really called. But it was pretty big.

They told us to stay off the grass...

...guess I should have listened!

We went down into the "gaol", (term for jail).

I would NOT have wanted to have my life sentenced away to this. They said that many brave men who stood firm when they received their death sentences, broke down and sobbed when they were fitted for their own hanging cages (I don't remember what they were called). Having to die a slow, agonizing death, knowing that the birds were going to pick at your remains, doesn't really sound so great. I can't blame those men for crying.

They had lots of figures around the place to give us a feel for what life would have been like during that time period. I still think living in Europe from around 1100-the early 1700's would have been the most awful and disgusting time period to have lived in. Good thing the average life-span was late 20's. I would be an old woman, probably ready to keel over by now!

Need to go to the bathroom. Oh, there's the curtain to block the smell and sound...right. EWWW!

The grounds were magnificent.

Being up on the tower was pretty cool.

They did a cool eagle show. This was one of the eagles that they had fly around for us. They are seriously massive birds.

We also got to watch a tribuchet shoot off. (If you don't know what that is, think of Lord of the Rings when they are launching rocks over the walls during the battles). It's the biggest tribuchet in the world, I guess. Or, at least the biggest working one. I'm not really sure. I'm not up on my battle lingo.

Anyway, I think that's enough for this post! More to come...hopefully tomorrow!

Interesting Thought...

2010-08-02T15:52:00.001-07:00

You Have Got To Be Kidding...

2010-07-16T07:22:00.001-07:00

So, I've always wanted to be in an earthquake. Strange, I know, but true. Obviously I don't want to be in a huge one, just one so that I can feel what it's like. So why, I may ask, does the earthquake strike when I'm gone!? (If you don't know what I'm talking about, there was apparently a smallish earthquake in D.C. this morning). Ugh!

London, Here We Come!!

2010-07-04T17:00:00.001-07:00

Here's the first stretch of our trip...

After sitting on the airplane waiting to take off from DC for almost an hour and a half (there were problems in JFK...turns out there was a bomb threat there), I finally met up with Mike, Michele and Family! Now we're just waiting to board the plane for the Great UK!!!

Nice double chin...I know.

Isn't he the cutest baby ever!?

Let Me Tell You Something About Humidity...

2010-06-29T09:54:00.000-07:00

IT SUCKS!!! (I would take Snowmageddon over this any day of the week!)

If you happen to see a puddle on the street that doesn't look quite like water, it might be me...tread carefully!

Changes

2010-06-27T19:03:00.001-07:00

This really should have been posted a while ago, but I just haven't gotten around to it. There are a few changes going on in my life, and they look like this:

I guess it was just time to say goodbye to a lot of hair...and I couldn't have done it too soon. With the temperatures and humidity that have come full force to the area, it was about time to do something drastic!

I'm also moving this week. I moved all of the big furniture on Saturday, and will probably do the rest of it in the next few days.

It's been kind of a crazy few months. But I'm really looking forward to the next few months as I take off on some adventures to England and Utah! Yay for being a teacher!!!

A Mother's Love

2010-06-14T20:57:00.000-07:00

Last week my roommate informed us all that a nest of Robins was right outside her window. I know I'm a little slow, but it took me a couple of days to realize that my window is right next to hers, which means that the nest is right outside my window as well!

It looks something like this (babies and all):

Tonight I was listening to the rain, and I suddenly thought of my little family of birds. What do birds do in a heavy rain storm? Especially, what happens to the baby birds?

As I looked out the window, I was amazed to see Mom Robin sitting right there on her nest. She had made her body as big as she could with her chest puffed up and her wings stretched out enough to make sure no water would get to her babies. I have never witnessed nature in such an intimate setting, and I couldn't help but stand there and watch for a long time. Soon, the rain let up, and I started to see little heads peeking out from under their shelter. Mom Robin, confident that the few droplets of water would no longer be a threat to her babies, flew off for a few minutes and was soon back with food.

From my vantage point I was able to observe so many details that I have never seen before. Standing there, I started reflecting on the love of my own mother and what she was willing to do in order to keep me safe from the storms of the world. My mother, along with countless mothers before and after her have held their wings out, covering us so that not one drop of the world will fall on us until we are ready. It couldn't have been comfortable or particularly easy for Mom Robin to sit on her nest, as it may not be exactly convenient for a mother to sacrifice all she does for her children. But both mothers know that what they do is crucial for survival.

Eventually, we all start peeking our heads out from under our umbrella of protection. Perhaps one or two drops find a way to us, but because we were kept safe and dry we have been able to grow strong, and we are prepared to start facing the world. We will still need help for a long time, and the outstretched wings will continue to catch the worst of the storm before it reaches us. We will continue to learn and grow in this time.

The imagery that Christ uses just before He comes to the Nephites has always intrigued me:

"...how oft have I gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and have nourished you...how oft would I have gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings...how oft would I have gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens, and ye would not...how oft will I gather you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings..."

3 Nephi 10:4-6

I suppose I understand just a little more, after watching a Mom Robin gather her chicks under her wings, why this particular image was used. Christ, just as the Robin and just as mothers everywhere, gathers us under His wings and literally protects us from the brunt of the storm. Sometimes a few drops may get through to us, but only when the Lord feels that we are ready to face them. We may not think that we are ready, or that we can withstand them. But He knows, and He has a perfect faith in us.

Soon, my baby Robins will grow their own feathers. They will jump from their nest and try to fly. I'm sure they will build nests of their own; and when a storm comes they will be able to hold their own wings out for protection, all because their mothers did it for them in the beginning.

Viewer Discretion Advised

2010-06-07T18:45:00.000-07:00

Reason # 541 - Why teaching might not be for me...

Yes, I got pink eye last month in BOTH EYES!!! It was pretty awful, I'm not gonna lie. Reasons 1-540 of why teaching might not be for me are pretty similar (strep throat, throwing up - both watching my students do it about 7 or 8 times this year, and me doing it - coughing through the entire month of October, etc., etc., etc.) I'm pretty sure I have been sick this school year more than I've been healthy!

I told the women who work in the office that if next year is like this I will be done. No more! They both laughed. I'm not sure if I was joking or not...

Mystery Solved

2010-05-28T17:04:00.000-07:00

So, for pretty much my whole life my sister Jill would always say, "What you talkin' about Willis?" I always thought it was funny, but never knew where it came from.

Well, today at school, Joan was reading the news and saw that Gary Coleman had slipped into a coma and was in a hospital in Utah (he sadly died a few hours later). I had no idea who he was and she couldn't believe that I had never seen "Different Strokes."

What was the first thing she said about the actor?

"He's the one who always said,

April...is gone...

2010-05-18T18:51:00.000-07:00

Wow. That's about all I can say at this point. I guess I'm going to try and blog about the entire month of April, so if you get board of reading or looking at these pictures, I'm sorry.

Most of the pictures are of Spring Break when Mom and Dad came to visit, and then I went up to Connecticut to visit Jill and Mark and Baby Ben.

Hope you enjoy!

To celebrate Mom and Dad's 40th Anniversary last August, they have been doing 40 fun things. Mom wanted to make sure to do something with all of her kids. But I have a feeling she would have found any excuse to visit all of us! :) Mom has always wanted to see the cherry blossoms, and luckily the blossoms were in full bloom when Mom and Dad came out. They really couldn't have timed it more perfectly. Unfortunately the weather was pretty cold the whole time that they were here. But we still had a lot of fun!

Ahhh, Tender!

It was a little strange to read a plaque about something I was a part of. I mean, the storm really was huge in February, but I wasn't expecting to see a stump of a tree set up as a memorial to it!

We also got to go to the National Kite Festival! I have never seen anything like it. Okay, that's actually a lie. When we were on Tienanmen Square in China there were also a lot of kites, and it was quite the sight. But this was pretty incredible. There were thousands of people and SO many kites right on the National Mall. It's definitely something that everyone should see at least once in their lives!

We also visited some of the other monuments and sights of D.C.

This is up at the Air Force Memorial

I also have to take a moment to pay tribute to AAA. They are AMAZING!!! We got a flat tire in the rental car, and of course the (insert inappropriate word here) rental people wouldn't send someone so we called AAA. They came in about 10 minutes, which saved us, and made it possible to still make it to The Dairy Godmother to get our custards! :) THANKS AAA!!!

Mom and Dad were great about helping me with a lot of other things, including getting a car (see previous post). All in all it was a great start to my Spring Break.

After Mom and Dad left I took a bus up to New York and met Jill and Little Ben for a day in the City. The bus was great, but a little sketch..when we made it to Baltimore they cut the engine and proceeded to wash the bus...

WEIRD!

Jill, Ben and I went to the Met and walked around for a while. It was the first time I've been there and I was pretty impressed. It's HUGE!

The rest of the weekend was great! We hiked around a bit, and ate some YUMMY seafood. We also colored Easter Eggs, which I'm sure Ben loved...or he would have if he really understood what was going on!

We also walked around Yale for a while and I found my tombstone...just sayin'

I definitely fell in love with my Little Ben all over again. But let's be honest. Who could resist this happy face!?

He loves sitting on his little rocking chair and reading. It's pretty funny to watch him try to get in the chair with his book. But he eventually figures it out!

When I got home I still had a day of holiday. Yes, I did get "Easter Monday" off. (I've never even heard of Easter Monday until I moved out here. But whatever.)

I decided to take my new baby out for a road trip all by myself! I drove out to Skyline Drive in the Shenandoahs and had a great time to myself!

The scenery was beautiful...

Then it was back to school.

Luckily the azaleas started coming out in full force! I have never seen blossoms to match the beauty of a Washington D.C. spring. It really is incredible!

I wish I had taken more pictures of them, but this will have to do.

A couple of weeks later Dad came out for training in Tysons Corner and we got to go up to Great Falls. I've never been up there, but it was fun to be able to hike around a bit. I guess I'll have to explore that a bit more soon.

April ended with a huge auction for my school. This is the biggest fundraiser for the school, and is a pretty big affair. So I had to go out and buy a new dress... :) And Charity was nice enough to do my hair. It ended up being a really fun night, and let's be honest, who doesn't like to dress up every now and then!?

April was a great month, full of adventures! Sorry that I'm so far behind on this blogging thing, but hopefully I'll start being a little more faithful about it, and then we won't have to go through a novel on each post!

Here's to a great May (that's already over half way over!)...

Dear Pollen...

2010-05-05T19:56:00.000-07:00

Would you please stop turning my car green?

Sincerely,

New Car Owner

Introducing!!!

2010-04-02T06:11:00.000-07:00

MY NEW CAR!!!

Dad and Mom came for a visit last weekend and helped me buy this...

It's a 2010 Toyota Corolla, and I'm really excited about it! Yea for new cars!!

I haven't thought of any good names yet, though. Any ideas or suggestions?

Leprechaun!

2010-03-15T18:04:00.001-07:00

I know I've posted this before...but it's something I love so much. And with another Leprechaun Day approaching, I just feel like I can't celebrate without sharing it again! Hope you enjoy!

Have You Ever Been LOST?

2010-02-12T22:19:00.000-08:00

When I was little I often got lost in a store while shopping with my mom. I would stop to look for something, just for a second...or perhaps a little longer than a second, because the next thing I knew I couldn't see her anywhere. Talk about panic! Okay, okay...

that may or may not still happen...
but I'm trying to be better about it. Honest!

However, that's not the kind of lost I really want to talk about right now.

I want to talk about this:

LOST
Okay, so a few years ago, my sister Lynnett kept talking about an amazing show called "Lost". I, for some unknown reason, had this concept in my head that it was another reality TV show very similar to "The Amazing Race". Because I think those shows, for the most part, are ridiculous, I didn't think much about it.

UNTIL NOW

Question:
What do you do when you when you are stuck in a house for days on end because of the snow? (See previous post).

Answer:
You end up going crazy!

My "crazy" came in the form of Jack, Kate, Hurley, John Lock, and Sawyer, among others (not to be confused with The Others). I have successfully watched the entire Season 1 in three days. Yep...you read that correctly. All 24 episodes in THREE days. We watched 16 of them on day 1. Sick, I know.

I just finished Season 1 tonight, and am very glad that I have access to Season 2. Or am I?

My roommate Leanna gave me a challenge tonight:

Watch all the seasons and catch up to Season 5
before the end of this season.

Now, I realize that I haven't had much of a social life since being back from Christmas Break. I love my roommates, and hanging out with them and their boyfriends is...fun...

So, three questions seem to be in order here:

1) Is there any way that LOST can help my social life?

if the answer to that is "no"

2) Should I give it up in search of a life?

if the answer to that is "yes"

3) Will I do what I should?

Probably not! I think I'm just going to go get

Let it Snow!!!

2010-02-10T06:12:00.000-08:00

Since I've moved out to D.C., I've thought that "their" concept of snow was a little funny. I mean, the Virginia and Maryland school systems have closed because of a threat of snow. D.C. schools let us out on a half-day last Friday because of the impending snowstorm. However, as of today (Wednesday) we haven't been back. Church has been cancelled for the last two weeks because of the snow. Now, I would have thought, "Oh, come on! It's a bit of snow! Get the roads plowed, and get back to work!" But here are some pictures, and maybe even you back in Utah will understand that 20 inches, and then another snowstorm piled on top of that, with temperatures so cold that the roads are freezing over with ice, really has the ability to shut down a place. Especially a place not equipped with the winter gear that is required for somewhere that usually does get this much snow. Hope you enjoy. It's a lot of white!

This is what the world looked like when we woke up on Saturday morning! (If you can't tell, it's still snowing).

We decided to venture out into the great unknown! However, some of us had to make our own winter clothes...

We finally made it outside, and this is what it looked like up close...

Some of our friends built an amazing igloo...you can even kneel up inside!

I decided to take a walk on Sunday morning. The sun had finally come out, and it was absolutely gorgeous. It was almost silent outside, and really the perfect day for a beautiful winter walk. I tried to be artistic with my camera...but a) I'm not very good, and b) it was so cold that the battery kept freezing and saying that it had no more life. But, I still think I got some okay shots!

This is what it looks like this morning. You can't really tell, but the wind is blowing very hard, and the visibility isn't much further than across the street. (In my opinion, not a very pretty storm).

We are all doing pretty well. Our power went off for about 12 hours during the last storm. Luckily, we still have it for right now...but with the wind blowing the way it is, I wouldn't be surprised if some more trees went down and took the power lines with them! We'll see!

Hope you are all having a wonderful winter!!

Pray For Julie

2010-01-31T17:13:00.001-08:00

I'm sitting here tonight, thinking and praying for my roommate Julie and her family. Her mom got sick this last week, and it's gone from bad to worse. She is in the hospital and things aren't looking well. I know that those of you who read this don't necessarily know Julie or her family, but if you do read this, please keep the Bradshaw's in your prayers.

Drag Anyone?

2010-01-23T17:17:00.000-08:00

If you were wondering what I did on Wednesday night, you would have been correct if you guessed, "Went to the Drag Ballet!" Yes, you read that correctly!

If you were wondering what the drag ballet looks like, then you'd better watch these two clips:

(This was the same dancer that we saw perform this number, and it was about a million times funnier in real life...which is amazing considering it's pretty funny here).

So, moral of the story: If you ever get a chance to go see The Trocaderos it's totally worth it! Don't be fooled by the fact that it's a drag ballet!

P.S. Sorry for the double clip here...I can't figure out how to get it off.

Blog Identity Crisis

2010-01-06T19:01:00.001-08:00

Obviously I'm going through it right now. Sorry for the HUGE lack of update. Hopefully that will be coming soon.

In the meantime, please bear with me as I try and figure out how to make my blog not look absolutely atrocious. I suppose I just need to hire Donelle!

It's the Holiday Season

2009-12-13T16:19:00.001-08:00

Well, here we are again, racing through another holiday season. It's amazing to me how fast time can go. It really seems like it was only last month that I was making the big move out to Arlington, and yet, here it is: almost ONE YEAR LATER!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

Confused

2009-11-14T17:30:00.000-08:00

So, I often get weird spam mail in my email. Luckily it just goes to my spam folder and I don't have to worry about it at all. However, lately I've been getting spam that looks like this:

Can you please explain to me why I'm getting messages in a language that doesn't even use a Latin-based alphabet? Seems a little weird to me, but whatever!

Fall of the Wall - Rise of a Man

2009-11-09T19:33:00.000-08:00

Well, today is a momentous day for multiple reasons. First, this man was born:

He taught me everything I know! (If I recall correctly, I beat both my dad and my brothers in this game...the student finally beat the master!) Doesn't he have great form!?

Pretty sure I'll be hearing about posting this one!

I'm pretty sure he's not entirely sure what to do with a crazy daughter like me. But he tries his best to go along with my oddities!

I think the best decision he ever made was to marry this woman and have five wonderful children (cause if they had stopped at four I wouldn't be here!).

I love you Dad! Happy Birthday!

The other reason why today is such a big day is because it marks the 20th anniversary from when the Berlin Wall fell.

This is an actual picture of the Wall as it stands now in the East Side Gallery. It's about a mile stretch of the Wall that stands as a reminder of what Germany went through. I tried to find my other pictures that show more of the Wall and just how tall it is, but they are buried in my mission pics somewhere and I didn't have time today to dig them out.

Anyway, it's a pretty sobering thought that just a wall kept a country and people divided for so long. I am very grateful for the freedoms that we enjoy in this country. I definitely had a greater appreciation for it as I talked with people who had actually lived in East Germany for all of those years. I hope that I never take it for granted.

Well, I have more thoughts about both momentous occasions from today, but I will keep them to myself for now because I'm tired and I'm not sure that they would even make sense. Just know that I feel very deeply both about how much I love my dad, and how grateful I am that the Wall fell!

The next picture doesn't really have anything to do with the Wall. But I found it as I was trying to find my Wall pictures and I realized again just how funny it is that Chemnitz (a city south of Berlin) still has this HUGE head of Karl Marx. And by huge I mean H-U-G-E!

The Love of a 5-Year-Old, The Love of God

2009-10-28T18:00:00.001-07:00

I have been woefully bad at this blogging thing the past month or so, and I apologize. But I was just sitting here tonight thinking how blessed I am and how grateful I am for the little moments in life.

Being a teacher is very eye-opening. I get to spend almost 7 hours a day with 5-year-old's...20 of them to be exact! To some of you that may sound absolutely awful! And believe me, there are moments when I have to literally take a deep breath before I can calmly deal with whatever problem happens to be the issue at the moment ("Um, Ms. Gardner this just happened," holding up a tape where the insides have come out. "So, that just happened? It was just sitting on the table and the insides just started magically coming out?" "Yep." "Really?" "Well...um...[very small voice]...no." Deep breath...not that I really cared too much about the tape, but mostly about the lying).

In the last two months I feel like I have started understanding the love of God just a little bit more. I know that it has everything to do with working with children, but I am often amazed at the little daily lessons that I learn. How often have I gotten a little more frustrated than I probably should have in the situation and instead of shying away from me, my students run to me and give me a huge hug? How often have I had to discipline a child and instead of hating me or resenting me they still look at me with love? I am daily humbled by the love and trust that a five-year-old can have. I look around at my students everyday, and I realize that there isn't much that I wouldn't do for them; even my students who try my patience more than I realized it could be tried! Perhaps this is, to a very small degree, what it feels like to be a parent. Perhaps this is why the Plan that God gave to us actually works.

I've often wondered at the Love of God for all of His children. He is God, after all. He doesn't really need us for anything. I mean, why is "His work and His glory to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man"? We are His creations, and I think we can all agree that when we create something there is a special feeling that results. However, we often do really, really dumb things. We hurt others, we are selfish, we don't think of Him, we aren't grateful or even recognize what He has done for us. In an almost uncanny way, we are just like the five-year-old's in my class. They are selfish. They don't think of others. They can be very mean to each other. And my first reaction when I hear of these human characteristics is to be frustrated with them, and just give up.

But then there are the redeeming moments which cause me to reevaluate what I am doing and why. A student sees another child crying and puts her arm around him. A child (who probably isn't getting the attention and love he needs at home) runs up to me, wraps his little arms around my neck and whispers in my ear, "I love you Ms. Gardner." In these moments I realize that my five-year-old's are doing the best that they know how. They are trying so hard to be good and, in all honesty, they are trying the best they can to please me. Do they have setbacks? Absolutely. Do they make a hundred mistakes every single day? Of course. But with all of that they are sincerely trying to be just a little better in every moment. When I think of the Love that God has for me despite, and almost because of, all my faults, I am filled with more love for this small class that I have the opportunity to be a part of. And I am very humbled by it all.

Helping is What Friends Do...

2009-10-05T13:01:00.001-07:00

*Names have been changed*

I was sitting with one of my small groups today doing a literacy lesson. The students were supposed to be "writing" their favorite farm animal after they drew and colored a picture of it. I wanted them to simply write the sounds that they could hear, and wasn't too concerned about the correctness of the spelling. Emily had correctly written "pig" and I had moved on to Sarah. She was also trying to spell "pig" but was having a bit harder time of it. Emily started to tell Sarah how to spell it and I quickly stopped her. Emily was, after all, defeating the whole point of trying to listen to each sound and write out the letters. At that point my attention was turned to another student, and by the time I came back to Sarah I noticed that she had correctly spelled her word. I asked Emily if she had helped Sarah, and Emily lied at first. When I asked again she admitted to helping Sarah spell the word. I said, "Didn't I just barley ask you not to help her?" She looked at me with big, big eyes and nodded slowly. I then asked, "So why did you do it?" She kept those huge eyes on me and said quietly, "Because helping is what friends do." How would you have gotten out of that one!? I told her that she was right, helping is exactly what friends do, but that students also need to listen to the teacher when the teacher asks them to do something.

All in all, I think that I learned the greater lesson today. Helping is what friends do. It seems so fitting that a five year old summed up pretty much everything that was said at Conference on Saturday and Sunday. We need to love and serve others. I love working with Kindergartners. They are so profound (without even meaning to be!).

Memories...

2009-10-03T13:21:00.000-07:00

When I was little my family was playing a game of Pictionary. Because I was so young, they would let me choose anything I wanted to draw and they would try to guess. On this particular turn I was sitting in my dad's lap. I looked around and finally drew something like this:

Can you guess what it is? If you said "ghost" you would be just as wrong as my family. They guessed and guessed in vain. Nothing they said was correct. Finally, completely out of ideas, they asked me what it was. I said simply, "Daddy's nose!"

Now, you may ask yourself why this memory has even surfaced after all these years. Just last week we were learning about the 5 senses in Kindergarten. During writing time my students were making a book about all of the senses. They would draw pictures, and we would write the words together. When we got to the sense of smell I told the kids to draw something that they could smell. Without any prior picture, or me telling them anything else, a good majority of the students drew a picture uncannily similar to the one I had drawn years ago! Maybe all 5 year old's draw noses like that. Maybe it's just fate that I'm teaching children who are so like me. In any case, that day I remembered myself as a child, and that always helps me understand my students!

Do you have any funny stories of yourself at this age? Do you remember any funny stories of me at this age? I would love to hear them all! It may help me understand why my little 5 year old's are doing the many puzzling and often exasperating things that they do!

Picture Day...

2009-09-26T13:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was picture day. They forced the faculty and staff to take pictures for the staff directory. Maybe I should have just given them my Kindergarten picture...

You Know You're In D.C. When...

2009-09-19T14:14:00.000-07:00

One of my roommates works on the Hill for a Congressman. A little while ago their office received this email:

Dear Congressman Garrett,

Let me get this straight . . . Obama's health care plan will be written by a committee whose head says he doesn't understand it, passed by a Congress that hasn't read it and whose members will be exempt from it, signed by a president who is a closet smoker, funded by a treasury chief who did not pay his taxes, overseen by a surgeon general who is obese, and financed by a country that is nearly broke. Great role models! What could possibly go wrong?

Best,

I hope you all get a great laugh out of it as well. Whoever this person is, they bring up some great points to think about...

090909090909

2009-09-09T21:09:00.000-07:00

Yep, that's right. September 9, 2009 at 9:09:09. I even got a picture to prove it!

In other unrelated news, can someone please explain to me why little boys have a fascination with peeing on things...namely other people! One of my little boys came into class today, with his leg all wet. My first thought was that the boys had gotten into a water fight in the bathroom. Well, turns out it was a different kind of water fight...GROSS!!!

What the...

2009-09-01T21:00:00.000-07:00

It's September!

What Am I Thinking...

2009-08-28T04:50:00.000-07:00

Today is the last day of the week! I would start celebrating and congratulating myself on making it through the week, but unfortunately I think this will be one of the most trying days! I still have TONS to do in the classroom, and I haven't been sleeping more than about 5 hours a night as I've been trying to get organized.

So why, OH WHY, did I ever think that it was even remotely a good idea to buy a ticket for Boston this weekend?!? (I'll answer that question when I'm sitting in Fenway Park watching the Red Sox!)

All of the stories from this first week of class (which may or may not include a child throwing up all over the new carpet, a few crying children, a parent calling me after school on the first day, and another parent yelling at me) will just have to wait! I know you can hardly stand the anticipation!

Thoughts

2009-08-22T21:09:00.000-07:00

As she stood in the classroom where she would be teaching for the next nine months - her classroom - she looked around and saw much more than Kindergarten chairs and tables, more than a teacher's desk and newly covered bulletins. In her mind's eye she saw the many decisions she had made in her life that had brought her to this place, the small and large interventions from God that had pointed her in this direction, and the many tender mercies placed in her path, giving her the strength to continue moving forward despite the doubt and confusion that so often seemed to darken her mind. She remembered the past eight months of anxiety, of questioning whether she had made the correct decision to move so far away from family and friends.

She had never thought of herself as particularly adventurous, always hiding her envy of others' bravery behind a mask of confidence that she never truly felt. How many times had she watched her friends move fearlessly forward into the unknown? How often had she seen them, arms wide open, ready to embrace whatever future adventures awaited?

If she was truly honest with herself she would admit that it was probably fear keeping her safe in the "comfortable," safe in the "known". But fear of what?

Fear of failure? Fear of losing the past?

She looked around her classroom once more before turning off the light and heading for home. The walk down to the train station was hot and humid. She still hadn't gotten used to that. When the train arrived she hopped on, making sure to sit on the side that would give her the best view when they came over the bridge. And sure enough there it was; the city she had come to call home. The Jefferson Memorial was always the first thing she could see as the train sped out of the tunnel. At the moment it was almost hidden behind the trees. But she knew where to look. It was, after all, one of her favorite views of the city. There were times, in other seasons, that the trees were bare and the Monument stood alone, visible for all to see. She liked it hidden. It seemed somehow more romantic that way. Just behind it stood the Washington Monument, one of the most recognizable structures on the D.C. horizon. Tall and strong, it always reminded her of a sentinel, placed there to protect the city. She made sure to look up towards the north, trying to spot the National Cathedral. It never failed to surprise her how far away the Cathedral looked. Did she really travel that far everyday to get to school?

As the train ducked back into the tunnel on the other side of the Potomac she was once again lost in thought. Maybe being adventurous didn’t mean not being scared. Maybe it just meant being willing to take that one step forward. She still didn’t feel like her life was glamorous, or particularly exciting, but she also knew that if she had been listening about it from someone else she would have found it thrilling, found them brave and adventurous!

At that moment she felt a rush of many emotions sweep over her. Inadequacy: what was this young, inexperienced, Westerner doing on the East Coast? Thrill: she had made it this far on her own! Calm: peace, reassurance, stillness, joy. She was going to make it. School would start, kids would fill the classroom, and she would be there, taking another step into the unknown with the knowledge that everything would be just fine.

Discovery

2009-08-08T21:24:00.000-07:00

I know that all my faithful family members who read this blog are just going to roll their eyes when they read this, but I just made the most amazing discovery tonight. I went to the movie, "Julia & Julie" (which I enjoyed a lot, by the way), and heard a song that I thought was a made up family song. Turns out, it's not! It goes something like this,

"I love you, a bushel and a peck,
you bet your pretty neck that I do...
do do do do do do, do do do do do do
do do do do do do do do do!"

In my defense, I have never heard ANYONE EVER sing that song outside of my mother or my aunt. But Aunt Trish would always sing it like this,

"I love you, a bushel and a peck,
a bushel and a peck,
and a hug around the neck."

So I just thought they were two versions of the same song that my mom and her family grew up with...

...turns out the first one is just the chorus and the second is one of the verses!

What adds insult to injury, however, is that I did a little investigating about this song so that I could write about it. It's from "Guys and Dolls" which I have never seen! So now, maybe not just my family will be rolling their eyes, but ALL of you will be rolling your eyes at me!

Harry Potter Hell

2009-08-06T12:12:00.000-07:00

I know this happened a while ago, but I really wanted to let you all experience the joys of going to a kids movie where only adults are present. Turns out we are all children in one way or another.

So...it wasn't quite "hell," but it was quite the night!
It all started with a credit card purchase...

As roommates we decided to go to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. You can probably imagine how excited we all were, especially if you saw our house and all of the HP books scattered around. About 3-4 weeks before the movie came out there were multiple HP marathons going on as we all had to watch all five of the previous movies to prime the pump. It was an exciting time.

Finally Wednesday arrived. Julie had bought tickets online for the 7 o'clock showing, but wouldn't be able to get to the theater until just before the show started. That wasn't going to work, so she gave me her credit card and car so that I could go stand in line. I picked up Jay from work and he showed me where to park and we met Leanna and her friend who had made it there just a few minutes before we had. We printed out the tickets and as the girl was tearing the stubs she asked us which movie we had bought our tickets for. As I looked down in a bit of confusion I noticed that my ticket said 7:45pm. We told her that we were going to the 7:00 show, and she told us that it was okay, there were some misprints, but that we should just get in the 7:00 line anyway. Walking over to the line I had a feeling that there were going to be problems later because of the time thing, but was just excited to be about 12th in line! We were going to see HARRY POTTER!!!

The rest of our group arrived and shortly thereafter we were let into the theater. We, of course, got really good seats and were getting SO excited to watch the movie. Two of our friends hadn't made it yet so we put bags on their seats for them. The theater started filling up, and people were not super pleased at the bags on the seats (understandably). A few girls came and started fighting with Jay who was sitting in the row behind the rest of our group, and right next to me. The conversation went something like this:
Girl: [Somewhat aggressively] Where are they?
Jay: In the bathroom.
Girl: Where?
Jay: The bathroom. Ever heard of it?
Girl: Oh no you did'nt. Don't you start with me tonight! You did NOT just start with me tonight!
Jay: I think you were the one who started with me.
Girl: Don't you START with me tonight!

Then she walked away as I sat laughing at the situation.

A minute three girls come and try to squish onto the two end seats next to the seats that we are saving. They won't listen to us tell them that they won't be able to sit there, and proceed to act deaf. What, are we all three?

Just wait...it gets better!

We notice that the seats are all pretty full and there are still A LOT of people standing in the wings and aisles of the theater. Enter manager:

Manager: Ladies and gentlemen. I need all of your cooperation right now. Please look at your ticket stub. If your stub says 7:45 please raise your hand.
Audience: 5 hands go up.
Manager: It will be okay, I just need you to raise your hands.
Audience: [Thinking to ourselves] I'm not going to raise my hand and get thrown out. I got really good seats!
Manager: We've had an issue with the printing. We're not sure what happened. But if your stub says 7:45 we need you to get up and go to the other theater.
Audience: We KNEW it! Ha Ha...glad I wasn't stupid enough to raise MY hand!
Kim: [Yes, that would be me] So, what if you bought tickets for the 7:00 showing?
Manager: Mam, don't worry about that. We just need everyone's cooperation!
Chris: [Member of the group I came with...only said to me] Kim, we are NOT leaving the theater!
Kim: [To the theater at large] Why don't you just have everyone who doesn't have a seat go to the other theater?
Manager: Mam! We just need your cooperation!
Another Audience Member: I have a legitimate question! What kind of compensation are we going to get!?
ENTIRE AUDIENCE: BBOOOOOOOO! BBBBBBBBBBBBOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Sure glad they didn't boo me!

A lot of minutes pass and we soon notice that they have the workers going to everyone and checking ticket stubs. Really? The one who "looked" at mine didn't even look at it! Poor guy. We really felt bad for him!

More talking...manager talking to workers...more talking and talking...

Suddenly people in the wings are leaving. Turns out they just had all of them move to the other theater...like I originally suggested!

We then started the movie about 5 minutes late, and after that all ran smoothly! The movie was great! I loved it, and think it's the best of all the movies so far! I would recommend it to anyone!

Best part of the night (besides Jay getting yelled at by some angry girls...and me yelling in a theater full of people?) we all got free passes to another movie! Oh Harry Potter! Look at the Magic you create!

The Best Pics So Far

2009-08-03T19:08:00.000-07:00

So here are a few more pics in tribute to Little Kael! (Or Little Cheeks as he should now be known)! I'm totally still just stealing these from Ryan and Amber's blog because I obviously haven't seen the little guy yet. I'm getting closer and closer to just jumping on a flight home...

Yes...he might be destined to be a Sumo...or Buddha!
Don't you just want to EAT those cheeks!!

Congrats again Ryan and Amber!
I love you guys!

Yea for Little Kael!

2009-07-30T21:33:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to welcome (and show off) the newest member of the Gardner Family officially (cause blogging about it somehow makes it official). ;)

Congratulations Ryan and Amber! I am so excited and happy for you two! I can't wait to see the little guy for myself!

P.S. I hope you don't mind that I stole this picture off your blog!

Have You Ever...

2009-07-10T06:07:00.000-07:00

Been so full of emotions you felt like you were going to explode?

Sat in your room and cried for no reason?
Wanted to do something...but didn't know what?

Chased the same thought process through your head, over and over...getting no closer to an answer than when you started?

Wondered?
Felt an emotion that you couldn't explain or describe?

Thought you were going crazy?

Have You Ever...

Danced in the rain?
Called an old friend because you were thinking of them?
Started singing at the top of your lungs?
Sat outside watching the world around you in perfect contentment?
Been amazed at the moon and stars at night?
Wanted to climb a really tall mountain, just to be alone with your thoughts?
Realized how amazing it is to be alive?

If you've done all these things (or even some of them), you're in good company. So have I!

Happy INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!

2009-07-05T11:38:00.000-07:00

I know I'm a little late, but my day was so full yesterday that I couldn't have posted anything even if I had really wanted to! It has been a crazy fun weekend, full of activities and friends!

It was kicked off on Friday by going up around Harper's Ferry to float down the Potomac on a tube. I've decided that East Coast rivers that are filled up by rain water can be a lot more pleasant to float down than West Coast rivers (the Provo River) which are filled up by run-off water! The water was warm, the sky was cloudy, which was kind of a bummer. But all in all it was a lot of fun! We hit some good rapids (only good because we were on a tube and not in a raft), and I'm sure that there are some good bum bruises from those times we forgot to lift up while going over a big rock! Oops!

Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of the activity, but if I ever do it again I think I'm going to get a disposable water-proof camera. You'll just have to take my word for it that it was absolutely beautiful!

Saturday was full of festivities and 4th of July-ness! It started with Tali and me (and a few other girls in the ward) going to volunteer to be in the big 4th of July Parade! There was an email floating around that they needed more volunteers, so I thought to my self, "Self, why not!?" and went. Tali wanted to go for the free T-shirts, and of course we ended up with XL's! So we had to be a little creative with them!!

Thanks to the 80's for teaching us the joys of wearing clothing WAY too big for you! Speaking of the 80's:
YES, this is a Delorean, YES, it has a stuffed dog wearing a stop-watch in the front seat, YES, this was actually driving in the parade, and YES, "Back to the Future" is one of the most brilliant movies ever made!

I thought it wasn't going to be all that great being in the parade, especially when they told us we were going to be carrying "feathered flags". What is a feathered flag? You can imagine my relief (and excitement) when they turned out to be these!!

Go ahead...you can laugh too! It was SO funny. We got to walk at the very beginning of the parade (right behind the banner introducing the whole thing!) Despite appearances, the flags weren't heavy at all. The only problem was when the wind blew and then we had to fight to even keep walking! Because we were the very beginning everyone was paying attention and would clap and cheer for us to help us along! I was laughing pretty much the whole time! I've never been in a parade before, so being in one right on the National mall was really exciting (even if I was carrying a "feathered flag)! These were the guys who lined up right behind us:
...it was pretty intimidating! Luckily they didn't march right behind us. But when we were all lined up to get going they were doing their marching drills were literally just a few feet behind us. It was kind of intense!

This was one of the views along the parade route:
And here was probably the most creative costume of the whole parade:
Because we had to be to the parade so early we had a lot of time to burn before it actually began. So we wandered around and found ourselves in front of the National Archives where they were doing a whole program with actors playing the roles of Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and someone else (but I can't remember who...).
They had a few speakers talk about the importance of the Archives and what history we have in there. Then they had three young students (probably about jr. high age) read the Declaration of Independence. It was pretty neat to hear it on the 4th. I don't think I've ever even thought about reading it on our Independence Day. Duh!

After the parade we mosied our way back to the metro in order to go home. I had to come home and finish my jello for the BBQ. What? you say. Finish making jello? It seems pretty easy...mix up the water and jello and then sit it in the fridge...alas, I do not make any ordinary kind of jello. I make THIS!!!
It turned out really well (again). Actually, I've never made just a red and white layered jello, cause usually I do the full rainbow salad. But I think it turned out really well! At least it looked good, and people seemed to like it (unless they were just telling me that!).

The BBQ was fun. Kate made amazing pineapple burgers. I'll have to get that recipe if she'll give it to me, cause they were REALLY yummy!

We then headed to the fireworks. We decided to go to the Jefferson Monument to watch them, which turned out to be a good idea! The fireworks were phenomenal and SO much fun! (Of coarse fireworks are some of my favorite things in the whole world, so I would have been fine watching them anywhere). Watching them as they burst over the Tidal Basin was beautiful. They were huge, and there were so many of them. They had different themes, so for a few minutes only red fireworks would go, and then the next few minutes only the HUGE weeping willow type (my absolute favorite) would go, and then they would do a mix, and then some other special type. The finale was really long, and the whole thing was AWESOME!!! What a great holiday! Because this post is so long already I won't go into all of the sentimentality of why I love this holiday. But I will just say that I am so very grateful for the amazing opportunitites that I have had in my life because of where I live. I am so grateful for the freedoms that I often take for granted. I am so grateful for this wonderful country in which I live! Happy Birthday America!!!

P.S. The outfit in the heading picture is what I wore for most of the day minus the hat. The hat belongs to Ben Harwood who I ran into during fireworks! It totally completed the outfit! Yea for the 4TH of JULY!!!

A JOB!!!

2009-06-27T13:33:00.000-07:00

Yes folks...you read that right. I FINALLY have a real job! I got my offer today over email, and I can't even tell you how excited I am about it! Kindergarten here I come!!

On another note: it's crazy to think that school starts in only 2 months!!! AAAAAHHHHH!

Alive and Well

2009-06-22T21:02:00.001-07:00

For those of you not in the D.C. area who follow the news, I just want to let you all know that I am alive and well, and that I was not on the Metro that crashed. Thanks for your concern.

Utah Fun!

2009-06-08T07:21:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I was able to go to Utah for 10 days. It was so much fun to see friends and family, and was exactly what I needed for my little soul. Right when I flew in Mom, Dad and I headed down to St. George to visit Grandpa and Grandma Clement. It was so much fun to be down there and to spend a lot of time with the G-padres. Being the youngest, I haven't gotten much one-on-one time with my grandparents down in St. George. Every time we go down to visit it's usually for Thanksgiving or some other big family gathering. So this time I took advantage of having Mom and Grandma to myself! We made Grandma's applesauce/oatmeal/raisin/chocolate chip cookies of amazingness. I finally know that secret of how to make them, so maybe if you are lucky someday you will be able to partake of the deliciousness.(Don't you wish you had an awesome apron like this!!?)

Remember, though: Just one finger-full!We also went to the Temple on Friday morning, which was wonderful. I am so grateful for the MANY opportunities I have to go to the temple. It really is such a source of strength, especially when I'm surrounded by my family!We went on a drive out in the middle of nowhere. It made me really happy to remember that there are uninhabited places in this world (the East is NOT like that at all!). We almost got stuck driving through a sandpit. We were all so glad that Dad (who was driving) listened to Grandpa who said we would make it through - never mind Grandma, Mom, and me saying that we probably shouldn't risk it. Mom made the best comment afterward: That's great! Listen to the man who can barely see anymore, who couldn't tell what we were driving through!

It was awesome! hee hee!

I just had to stick this picture in here. Grandma has this...thing...for lack of a better word. It's basically a jumper for big kids! Ha Ha! It was awesome! No...this is NOT a joke!

It was fun being able to sit and talk with Grandpa for a while!
We went back to Orem on Saturday and the rest of the next week was filled with family and friends non-stop! Mike and Michele and fam surprised me on Sunday right after church. They were hiding in my room and when I went to go get something they jumped out at me! It was great.

Side note: Sad day...Emily finally is taller than me. She is 11. That's all I'm going to say about that.

I got to see Nicole (and family). I hadn't met their new baby yet, so it was fun to see them and catch up. Good luck in Colorado!

I went down to Provo and saw so many people from the good ol' 35th Ward! Callie and Andrew look so great! Congrats and good luck in August! Steve, Corbin, Morgan, Jameson and crew was so much fun to see...even if Corbin had a black widow on his front porch. Ewww! I was sad that I didn't make it back down to the 3rd annual Water Olympics...but time just flies these days.

I got to catch up with Emily (mission comp) who will be moving to Ohio...not Iowa...at the end of the summer with husband and new baby! WOO WOO! Congrats, and good luck in grad school!

I ran over to Tiffany LeeMaster's (now Jones) and got to see her with her little one...and another on the way! Good luck to them in Cali this next year! I'm sure that is going to be an awesome adventure!

I went to lunch with Jason and caught up with him before he heads off to the oil fields of Texas. Okay...probably not quite the oil fields, but Houston at any rate! Good luck Jase! You are going to do amazing things down there. Oh I forgot...I should call you Master Magoo! Hee hee!

I visited with cousin Shannon and couldn't believe that her baby was already up and walking...wow! Good luck finishing school and taking the next steps...with med school, etc!

I had breakfast with Tiffany Bishop (now Rumsey), and hear their new exciting news! Congrats! I can't wait to see her running after a little one. Of course if the baby is anything like Tiffany she/he will be a perfect little angel! (I mean that will all sincereness of my heart!)

I ate dinner with Lindsey Kempton (now Bullock) and loved chatting with Brandon and her about the new little one they will be having in a few months! Good luck with that and also with the whole job search thing...

I got to see Shelley and Trevor and take them a belated wedding gift...oops! Congrats you two. Good luck setting up your lives together!

Other things I got to do: - Four-wheeling with the kids (my nieces and nephews), check out the AWESOME helmet that we rescued from the cabin in Idaho! Can't get rid of something THAT great! - BYU and the Museum of Art with Mom (just spending time with Mom and Dad was great). - Taking the kids and Lynnett to UP! They loved it...and I loved just being with them! Guatemalan BBQ with Ryan...MMMM! You should try the Chermol (spelling?). - Memorial Day BBQ with the family. Isn't Summer great!? - Talking with Donelle who moved up to Utah the same weekend I was leaving. - Seeing Star Trek with Lynnett! It was my second time seeing it, and Nett's first time...so that was REALLY fun! She LOVED it...and I still really liked it! HUGE success! - Seeing Jakey for a few minutes...thanks for stopping by Jake! Seeing Kimber and Brian drive by and talk to them for a while.

It really was a great trip. I'm sure that I've forgotten something...and I'm also sure that there were a lot more people that I needed to see and talk with...sorry that I missed you this time! Thanks all for the good times. I really do love the West. But I'm starting to realize that it's good for me to come out East for a bit so that I can really appreciate what I'm missing (like the mountains)! Anyway...sorry for the long boring blog (for you to read). Just wanted you all to feel a part of what I've been up to lately!

Favorite Quote of the Day

2009-06-03T16:20:00.000-07:00

I called the BYU Education Advisement Center. I needed some information so that I can actually teach next year (that story to come).

Student: Um...Kimberly, sorry for the long wait. We can't seem to find your file. Did you say that you graduated in December 2008 or December 2009?

Kim: Well...ummm...December 2009 hasn't happened yet, so I'm going to go with December 2008.

Student: Oh, good point.

REALLY!?!?! Just another reason why I love that place!
And yes...that is exactly how the conversation went.

Pushed Under - A Lesson In Forgiveness

2009-06-02T06:08:00.000-07:00

I am around children a lot. I am a teacher (at least I'm trying to be), I teach swim lessons, and somehow I just find myself in a lot of situations with them. It's a good thing. I like children. They are easier to talk to in a lot of ways. They hold little or no expectations from me, and so I am able to just be myself around them.

Another reason why I love being around children is because I feel like I learn so much from them. While it is true that they can be absolutely horrible to each other - they are definitely still learning how to socially interact appropriately with each other - they can also display absolute Christlike characteristics in the most sincere ways.

Yesterday at swim lessons there was an incident between two of my little swimmers (both about 5 years old). Max was trying to give Addy some goggles that he had rescued from the bottom of the pool. In her excitement to try and take them away from Max, Addy pushed him under the water for longer than he really wanted to be there. He finally came up gasping for air and crying a little bit. I pulled him out of the water so he could start calming down, and I turned to Addy and very sternly told her to get out of the pool and sit against the wall. As I listened to Max describe what had happened, I kept thinking about the "talking-to" I was going to give Addy. How could she think it was okay to swim on top of someone? Then, to my surprise, Max walked over to Addy and handed her the goggles (that he had been trying to give her from the beginning). She looked at him with mournful eyes and told him that she was very sorry. He said, "That's okay. Just don't ever do it again." And then he ran off to go play again.

Perhaps the lesson in forgiveness was only very profound to me because of the feelings I had immediately after Max walked off. I looked down at Addy and realized that I had absolutely no right to be upset or angry with her. The person who did have a right gave her his full and complete forgiveness and then walked off, putting his mind to more productive uses. The "talking-to" that I ended up giving Addy was just a reminder of why we need to be careful in the water, and why we can't swim on top of other people.

Since that incident, I've thought a lot about the importance of complete forgiveness. How many times are we pushed under the water each day, and how many times do we sit and dwell on it? Do we allow ourselves to continue to be upset and angry, or do we say to the other person, "That's okay, just don't ever do it again," and then put our minds to more uplifting, productive uses? I hope that someday I will be able to react like Max when people "push me under the water," whether they mean to or not.

Article in the Washington Post

2009-05-15T10:45:00.000-07:00

I found this little gem of an article today in the Washington Post. Just so you know, I am a member of the Colonial 1st Ward which totally got a shout-out! Enjoy!

http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/may/14/marriage-as-a-mormon-value/

My favorite quote is:

According to Pew, Mormons have one of the most lopsided gender ratios of any religion: 44 percent men and 56 percent women, making it all the more important that every available man be pressed into service. The Chevy Chase ward ratio is 36 percent men to 64 percent women.

*Bold and Italics added for emphasis

Janice (AKA Mom, Mutti, Mother, Mum, Madre, Mae)

2009-05-10T19:35:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking all day about what I want to say about Janice, and I've come to the realization that if I said even a tenth of what I feel about her this post would take about a week to read. I'm sorry if this becomes really mushy-gushy and totally sentimental, but there really isn't enough to say about Mom that would even come close to doing her justice.

Mom is the most amazing person I have ever and probably will ever know in my life. She has been the quiet strength behind everything that I've accomplished and become. She is quite literally MY HERO, and the person that I want to become when I grow up. A few of the qualities that I admire most in my mom are patience (she had to be very patient to raise all five of us kids the way she did...especially having me last...I can't even imagine that job!), kindness (Mom has a way of seeing the best in everyone - she never talks poorly of anyone else, and if I try to she is always the one to point out the good qualities in that person), love (she has an amazing ability to love her family and those around her).

I am so grateful to have my mom in my life. She has truly become my best friend, and I am so thankful for her guidance and love. I always know that no matter where I am or what I need my mom will be there for me.

Happy Mother's Day Mom. I love you!

Here are some visual representations as to why I love having Janice in my life:

She's always ready to have a good time!
She likes to go on adventures...

...even if that means getting a little dirty!

She always has great ideas for fun family activities.

She supports me in all that I do

She's willing to have fun with me...

...even when that means being really silly!

So here's to the amazing, wonderful, blessed, super, fabulous Mom! I LOVE YOU!

Donelle Comes to Visit - WOO WOO!!!

2009-05-03T18:01:00.000-07:00

I know I started to tell you all about Donelle coming to visit. But this is going to be a whirlwind post of some of the things that we did! It really was quite a fun couple of weeks, and I can't wait for her to move out here (hint, hint Donelle!).

The first week of Donelle's visit, Emily's (my roommate) mom was also in town. Eileen and Donelle got to spend some quality time together because Emily was at work and I was teaching that week. So they went out into the city together. I had a few days off, so I also got to enjoy the delightful presence of Eileen! It was SO much fun! We went to one of the Smithsonian art museums and wandered around for a while:

We also went shopping with Eileen where she convinced me to buy a lot of cute shirts, and even a pair of skinny jeans (to be shown at a later date!). The yellow shirt shown here is one of those finds:

(Eileen's last night with us...me, Eileen, Donelle, and Tali - one of my other roommates from last semester)

Donelle and I also took a few Daycations with Staci - one of my current roommates. The first one was a trip out to Montpelier. We were going to go to Monticello, which is the home of Thomas Jefferson, when we saw a sign for Montpelier, the home of James Madison. We decided to change course because none of us had been there. It turned out to be amazing! The house is still in restoration mode, so there wasn't really any furniture, and the guide was making up all of her information (at least that's what it felt like). But the grounds were phenomenal and I learned a lot about the 4th president of the United States.

The Dupont's bought Montpelier in the early 1900's and built a big horse race track there. We found some graves that we thought were regular graves at first. Then we started reading the captions and realized that these were horses. We'll let you figure out what the "by" and "out of" refers to!

This was an actual cigaret receptical on the grounds. I about died laughing when I read the name on it. Really? "Butt-tainer" Genious I tell you!

Staci, Donelle, and I also took a trip out to the Dulles Air and Space Museum that is out by the Dulles Air Port. The Air and Space Museum right on the National Mall is a lot of fun, but it in no way compares to the one out by the airport. I walked in and felt like a little kid again! If you ever get the chance to go out there I HIGHLY recommend it!

Donelle was lucky enough to celebrate her birthday while she was out here! We went to a National's game with Tali, Tali's friend Ian, Ryan, me, Donelle, and Matt. Too bad the Nat's lost, but there were fireworks afterward, so it made up for it! Yea for BASEBALL!!!

On Sunday Tali, Donelle, and I decided to walk home from church. But I decided that it was going to be about a really long walk home, so we got dropped off about 2 miles away from the church and then we walked back to the church (where Tali's car was waiting for us)! I've never been on the Mount Vernon Trail that far down, and it was absolutely gorgeous. It was such a beautiful walk, and it was fun to be outside. Looking out on the Potomac is really pretty, just don't look too close to the shore (it's not a pretty sight)...

There is a lot more that we did...including biking up in Pennsylvania in Dutch/Amish country. But that is going to be a post for another day. I still have to get pictures from Wendy who took them all. Be prepared...it was AMAZING!! Yea for the East Coast!!!

Oh the Little Ones!

2009-05-03T15:54:00.000-07:00

I'm still working on some update posts and will have one finished later tonight. But as I was looking through my pictures I ran across these two which made me laugh. There isn't much of an explanation to them, other than the fact that I love my family SO much. Kayla has such a personality, and even though she pretends to be tough (as evidenced in the second picture where she had successfully made it through the shark tank at Sea World without being eaten and feels the need to show shear boredom at the feat) she really is a scaredy-cat at heart (see the first picture where we were trying to drag her into the shark tank and convince her that she was going to be safe)!!! This was during our family vacation last summer in California.

That Time of Year!

2009-04-30T10:40:00.000-07:00

I'm really REALLY sorry that I haven't posted anything in quite a while. I've been pretty busy (I know...me, busy?...right!). Actually I have been pretty busy with a lot of things including swim lessons, substitute teaching, trying to do my training to work at the Gap (yes, I've been employed by the Gap). On top of all that, Donelle came to town and was here for a few weeks! It was so fun to have her here, but I'll have to blog about our awesome adventures later.

I just wanted to post some pics of the Cherry Blossom Festival because I promised Mom that I would!
It really is an amazing thing to see. The Cherry Trees around the Tidal Basin are absolutely gorgeous! The picture with the Washington Monument doesn't really show the spectacularity of it all...but I tried! Anyway...there will be lots more to come of the adventures and daycations that I've been a part of lately!

Introducing Studly (AKA Ben-Jamin)

2009-04-04T11:03:00.000-07:00

The first time I ever saw Studly this is what he looked like (you might not really be able to tell, but Jill is about 7 months pregnant in this picture):
Technology just blows my mind these days! These 3-D ultrasounds are incredible!
Then my mom and Jill sent some pictures of him a few hours/days after he made his entrance into this world, and this is what he looked like:
I finally got to see him for myself 2 months after he was born and this is what he looked like:
Yes...he does have us all wrapped around his little finger...and he knows it!

It was so fun to go up to Connecticut last week and be with family. Mark gave little Ben a wonderful blessing. It really was such an overwhelming feeling to surround him with so much of his family (both sets of grandparents , Uncle Ben, and me - plus his Mom and Dad). I just realized that we all have such an amazing support system in this life...and that only includes those that we can see. I know that there are many others on the other side of the veil who are cheering us on, and who are helping us make it through. What a humbling thought.

Well, there were obviously WAY too many pictures to put on the blog, so I've made a slide show of the rest of them. Enjoy!

What I learned as a Substitute...

2009-03-22T18:33:00.000-07:00

Remember when you were too short at the school dances to see into the circle where the "cool" people were dancing their thing?

Remember when you got to be an adult and you were finally tall enough to see into the circle?
Well, I'm glad that you remember that moment in your life...cause I've never made it there. Not even at an elementary school dance.

At least it was legal for me to get up on the stage and look into the circle from my elevated position.

Remember when the faculty at your school had better moves than you?...oh wait...that definitely didn't happen in Utah. But it sure did here!

And, finally, remember when your students also had better moves than you, even though they should still be developing their fine and gross motor skills? Yep...that also probably wouldn't happen in Utah.

All in all my first experience subbing was great! I was at John Eaton...which I LOVE...and it made me so happy!

Yea for a job!!!

Ok...Ok...I know

2009-03-22T18:27:00.000-07:00

This is probably not the most interesting post again...but I just need to document my awesome success!

After 4 days of March Madness-ness...I'm STILL in 1st place! It really won't last for very much longer, but I can bask in the glory of it while it does last!

Group Results
RNK	ENTRY, OWNER	R64	R32	S16	E8	FF	NC	PPR	TOTAL	PCT	CHAMPION
1	Kimtastic007 1, K. Gardner	270	260	0	0	0	0	1120	530	96.7	Louisville
2	EZamboni7 , e. Nielson	230	280	0	0	0	0	1240	510	88.9	Pittsburgh
3	ElReed610 2, R. Farnsworth	230	260	0	0	0	0	1280	490	72.3	Memphis
4	berg_t 1, T. Berg	220	260	0	0	0	0	1280	480	63.0	Pittsburgh
-	Nikerocerous, n. sycamore	220	260	0	0	0	0	1280	480	63.0	Pittsburgh
6	renosaurus09 1, r weidman	200	260	0	0	0	0	1280	460	43.7	UNC
7	wuptain 1, W. Uptain	220	220	0	0	0	0	1240	440	27.5	Duke
8	Adam, A. Ellison	230	200	0	0	0	0	1040	430	21.1	UNC
9	stackery 2, s. wheeler	210	200	0	0	0	0	1000	410	12.0	UNC
10	stackery 1, s. wheeler	220	180	0	0	0	0	1120	400	8.9	Syracuse

Let's all cheer for Louisville...K?!

IN FIRST PLACE!!

2009-03-20T07:16:00.000-07:00

It's true. After one day of March Madness I am officially in 1st place in my bracket! Here is the proof:

1	Kimtastic007 1, K. Gardner	150	1760	150	99.5	Louisville
2	EZamboni7 , e. Nielson	140	1760	140	94.2	Pittsburgh
3	berg_t 1, T. Berg	130	1760	130	77.4	Pittsburgh
-	Adam, A. Ellison	130	1680	130	77.4	UNC
5	stackery 1, s. wheeler	120	1680	120	50.0	Syracuse
-	stackery 2, s. wheeler	120	1620	120	50.0	UNC
-	ElReed610 2, R. Farnsworth	120	1760	120	50.0	Memphis
-	wuptain 1, W. Uptain	120	1740	120	50.0	Duke
9	Nikerocerous, n. sycamore	110	1740	110	22.4	Pittsburgh
-	renosaurus09 1, r weidman	110	1740	110	22.4	UNC

I know it's not going to last long. Let's be honest - I chose my teams by Reed asking me who I wanted between two teams and not letting me look at the computer screen to even see what their rankings were. He told me to just feel it. Apparently I felt it right this first day!

I just needed to document this moment, to help me remember how great it felt to win (when I lose the whole thing! haha!)

I Have a Job...

2009-03-17T14:15:00.000-07:00

Well...sort of.

I've been finally accepted as a substitute teacher in D.C.

It was a long time coming,

and I already have some prospects,

which is a really nice feeling.

I'll keep you updated on the progress!

Pink Cookies of Death

2009-03-10T10:25:00.000-07:00

Dear Readers,
In recognition of Taco Tuesday Confessions I have a confession to make. I have already been told that it is gross so I apologize for any vomiting, headaches, queasiness, weakness, or any other side effects that may result in reading this confession.

Confession: I LIKE GRANNY B'S PINK SUGAR COOKIES.

There, I said it. It's out in the open. I know, I know. It's gross; THEY are gross. But for some reason I have a really hard time not craving them, especially when there is a package of 10 of them sitting in my kitchen. (Thanks Leanna).

As a general rule I don't crave sweet things. I like salty much more! That being said, I do have a downfall for a few things: Swedish Fish, No-bake Cookies, Girl Scout Cookies (Samoas), and Granny B's Pink Cookies (wow Julie, I guess cookies really are bad to have in the house). I am well aware of how bad all of these things are for me. I mean, when you read the "nutrition" facts on the Pink Cookies you can almost justify the fat grams...until you read that the amount of fat grams listed are not for a whole cookie, and not even for just half a cookie. No, no. The fat grams represent 1/4 of a cookie! It's horrible. It's disgusting. It's gross on so many different levels. So why, oh why, do I find them so good? I find myself quoting Julie from last night after Leanna told us that the Pink Cookies were for all of us. "NO LEANNA! You can't tell me that! Those cookies are yours, and only yours!"

Oh sweet death. Quite literally.

Leprechaun Sighting!

2009-03-05T07:03:00.000-08:00

Here are two treats that I have absolutely loved in the past. Since this is my first St. Patty's Day with a blog I thought that I should share the joy with all of you!

Enjoy the Leprechaun Sighting!

Living in the Past vs. Learning from It

2009-03-01T10:44:00.000-08:00

Here's my disclaimer on this post:

I don't profess to be witty yet profound as either Barbara or Julie.

I don't claim to have amazing insights (and ways of illustrating them before the eyes of my readers) like Leanna.

I do admit to faulty writing, and a lot of emotional...ness, and possibly confusing entries.

With that out of the way I can perhaps try to share with you a huge wake-up call I've had in the last few days (mostly last night and today).

I just finished reading the "classic" The Great Gatsby. It's been a long time since I've read it, and I'm sure I got a lot less out of it this time than I did the first time. This time it was up to me to make connections throughout the book. The first time it was up to me to listen to my English teacher spoon-feed me all of the amazing literary devices that I'm sure F. Scott Fitzgerald purposely put in his book. I'm saddened by the fact that I feel like my brain is slowly atrophying, and I can't seem to critically think for myself (but that is a subject for another post). What I really wanted to discuss right now is a new disease that I have discovered. It's called:

LivingInThePastItis.

I have F. Scott Fitzgerald to thank for helping me in the discovery of this disease (perhaps not focusing on the literary genius of the book, and being able to make an every-day application was exactly what I needed this time around). In my explanation I will try to not ruin the book that you will probably never read (again), but there are some bits of the book that I have to use for explanation purposes.

The Great Gatsby is about a man of the same name. Throughout the first parts of the story there is mystery surrounding this man and where he comes from. The book is told from the perspective of Gatsby's next door neighbor, and eventually he (the neighbor) learns the whole truth of who Gatsby is and why he acts the way he does.
Gatsby has a dream...
and a vision...
for the future.
The problem is that his dream and vision are so connected with the past that he doesn't want to live in the future, he wants to live in the past.
Nick, the next door neighbor and narrator of the book, finally says to Gatsby, "You can't repeat the past."
To which Gatsby replies,
' "Can't repeat the past? Why of course you can!"
He looked around him wildly, as if the past were lurking here in the shadow of his house, just out of reach of his hand.'

In Relief Society today we talked about Elder Holland's talk, "Remember Lot's Wife." Her story goes somewhat like this (I'm taking HUGE paraphrasing liberties here):

Lord: Leave Sodom and Gomorrah
Lot and Family: Do we have to?
Lord: Leave Sodom and Gomorrah, or you will be destroyed with it. Oh, and by the way, don't look back either, or else you will be destroyed.
Lot: Well family, I guess we should leave the most wicked city in the world.
...walk...walk...walk
Lot's Wife: Hmmm, I miss my home and city, I'll just look back - it can't really hurt me.
POOF
Lot's Wife = Pillar of Salt

Okay, I know we are all asking ourselves what these two stories have to do with each other. Well, here is the moral of the story:

Gatsby (in a fictional story), and Lot's Wife (in a real story) were both trying to live in the past...and both of their lives were ultimately destroyed.

I know that both of those stories are very extreme, and I ask your pardon that I used them in such an extreme way. I wanted to use them, however, because they illustrate so well the effects of what can happen if you continually try to live in the past.

Last night as I was trying to fall asleep, I was starting to feel a little sorry for myself. In particular I was thinking about a friendship from the past that ended with perhaps many questions on both sides (maybe not...I only know my side of the story). However, this friendship meant a lot to me. I felt comfortable and 100% myself around this person. As I sat there in bed, I started wondering if i would ever find that level of friendship again; if I would ever be able to trust someone that completely. I almost wanted to go back in time, or bring that time forward and still live in those memories.

Then I remembered Gatsby.

I knew that I wouldn't literally be destroyed by wanting the past. But I probably could ruin my chances of being happy in the future. Focusing on the past with such intensity is never healthy.
I then realized that remembering the past is important - I need to take what I learned from that friendship and move on. I can use what I learned in order to make other relationships and friendships just as good.

I'm not saying that I need to give up hope that this person and I will ever be friends again. What I am saying is that I need to realize that wanting things to be as they were is not how we are supposed to live life. I would welcome a renewal of friendship, knowing that we were moving forward, and living in the present...not the past.

We don't need to forget all of the good times, and the amazing memories that we have.
That would also be unhealthy.
But we can realize that there are many good times ahead of us,
and be excited for what lay in store.
We definitely should Learn from the Past,
But that doesn't mean that we need to Live in It.

For REAL!!!

2009-02-22T16:00:00.000-08:00

I just found this...it is UNREAL!!! This kid is 6 years old!!!

What I Miss

2009-02-19T21:30:00.000-08:00

For some reason I started thinking about Utah today. I realized that I miss the mountains a lot. This was my last view of my beautiful mountains that will have to last me for a while.
Don't get me wrong...the Shenandoah Mountain Ridge (I learned that it is not a mountain range), is...stunning...I'm sure. But I can't see them from my window, and have to drive 2 hours to see them at all.
So, here is my tribute to the amazing Wasatch Front, which is the western edge of the greater Rocky Mountains.

I am a Sergeant Ranger!

2009-02-18T09:51:00.000-08:00

I got this from Julie's blog...thanks Babe!

I think the irony here is just too good to be true!

Your Superhero Name is The Sergeant Ranger

Your Superpower is Telepathy

Your Weakness is Midgets

Your Weapon is Your Turbo Knife

Your Mode of Transportation is Portal

What's Your Superhero Name?

One Man, Two Voices...AWESOMENESSSSSSSS

2009-02-17T20:10:00.000-08:00

The video says it all...

How Rude

2009-02-14T13:08:00.000-08:00

They could have been a little more sensitive...don't you think?!

Crowds of People...and more People...and MORE PEOPLE!!!

2009-01-22T13:07:00.000-08:00

Dear Blog,
Yes...I know that you exist, and I also know that I have had some VERY exciting things happen to me lately. So, I suppose that it's about time to write them on you so that I have some evidence that I actually did said exciting things. Two days ago I went to the Inauguration ("of our 44th President of these United States of America"). As if I didn't hear that said about a billion times. It was such a "historic day." As I was reminded a thousand times a day, and am STILL being reminded!
The city (my city of Arlington...not the District) was completely run over by tourists and tour buses. This was the Monday before the Inauguration...and this wasn't even half of the tour buses that we saw in a matter of minutes! Oh people!

With all that being said, I will say that it was quite an exciting day for me! I was planning on going to the National Mall around 8:30, knowing that I would be standing out by the Washington Monument and wouldn't be able to see anything except the jumbotron. Well, on Monday night my friend Mike called to say that he had an extra ticket. He had given them to his cousin Matt, but Matt didn't know anyone in the area who could go. Well, turns out that I know Matt from being in the same ward at BYU! Small world! (Mike, by the way, was doing important things at the Inauguration...like shaking the new President's hand and telling the old President where to go...it's a rough life!). So, at 5:30 Tuesday morning I walked over to the metro and tried to get into the District. Wow. That's about all I can say. There were SO many people on the train, I really was lucky to even get on. The funny thing about being on a crowded metro with a bunch of people who are all doing the same thing is that all rules of being silent strangers goes out the window! People were talking and chatting and having a good time, even though we were all stuck on a metro for an hour longer than it should have taken us to get to our destination!I finally made it to the metro stop and waited for Matt for about an hour and a half. (He had an awesome time trying to get into the District as well)! Standing in the metro I was AMAZED at how many people were coming through. They didn't have anyone swipe their tickets or anything because they just had to herd people out of the station. Sometimes they had to close the gates and hold people until the stairs going to the top were cleared. Then they opened them back up and it was a mad dash to the exit! I was laughing so hard just watching people and listening to the craziness of it all!Finally, Matt and I found each other (that was a miracle in and of itself!) and we headed over to the line. It was a joke just trying to find the end of the line, but luckily Matt is pretty tall and so he could kind of tell where he was going. I just followed along, seeing nothing more than coats, coats, and more coats. In line we were privileged to hear the girl behind us (with an AWESOME fur head warmer) telling her dad about the girl she saw trampled at a game..."literally trampled, she like, fell down and people were, like, walking over her!" We also got to listen to guy in front of us come tell all of his friends, "So, I walked up to the policeman and said, 'Dude, all of these people are just cutting in line! Do you know that there is a line that wraps around this whole building of people who have been in line for 3 hours, and all of these people are just walking in!?' and the police officer just said to me, 'It's not my problem.' And I was like, 'Dude!'" They were very stimulating conversations! I'm just glad that Matt is funny, and was able to keep us occupied for the long time it took to get through security!

We finally made it through and then found a seat! We were sitting on the sidewalk just off of the Capitol Lawn, and it was AWESOME! We were maybe 200 yards away from the Capitol itself, and even though we still couldn't see what was going on up on the platform, it was really fun to be so close to it all!
The Inauguration itself was pretty entertaining. From the Invocation, "...and bless Malia, and Sasha," (in the best expressive voice EVER!) to us standing up and leaving as the Poet Laureate was giving her...poem?...hey, we thought it was over with Obama...to us walking and listening to the Benediction, "...and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get back, when brown can stick around, when yellow will be mellow, when the red man can get ahead, man, and when white will embrace what is right." (Aren't we all glad that we've made leaps and bounds in the fight against racism...hmmm...)

All in all it was a pretty spectacular day! Matt and I decided that it would be practically impossible to take the metro out of the District, so we decided to walk back. On the way we saw Dwight Howard (of the Orlando Magic) take a picture with an old German Omi...she was probably around 4'11" and I think he's around 6'11". The funny thing is that he was as intrigued with how short she was as everyone else was with how tall he was!
Yes, that's her...and that's really how far up on him she came. They walked for a long time, hand-in-hand, and it was REALLY cute!

The roads and freeways were all closed on the walk back, and it was a little weird walking across 14th Street Bridge, which is NOT for pedestrians! It took about as long to walk back as it did to metro in that morning...I don't even want to know what it would have been like to metro back out!!!So, that was the exciting day of Inauguration! Thanks again Mike for the ticket! It was so awesome to be there! Now I can say that I was a part of history!! HAHA! I love that we have to all be reminded "how historic this day" is going to be! Oh boy!

Why I Love Snow...and My Friends

2009-01-13T21:17:00.000-08:00

I love snow. There's no rhyme or reason as to why I love it. I just do. When I was in Utah over the break it snowed SO much. It was like all of my childhood winter memories coming to life! You may think that I'm exaggerating, but I'm not. It was AWESOME!

I stole this picture from Callie's blog, but I just want to show you why snow is awesome:
Last year my friends decided to give the naked Indian on BYU campus some clothing...so they built this amazing snowman! My point is...you couldn't do this without snow...or a naked Indian statue...or awesome friends!

P.S. Just so there is no confusion, I did not help build the snowman...those who did are pictured here. But I have built some pretty good snow people in my time! :D