a & t

love story

2012-02-13T20:05:00.000-08:00

valentine's day is one of my favorite holidays! it is so happy, pink, and sugar filled. i realized i have never written down tyler and i's "story", so in honor of the holiday i thought it would fun to tell the history of us.

it all started around december of '04-january '05 ish. rumors were going around that this new (older!) guy was moving into our ward from the other side of town, and that he was cute. there was a stake activity the next saturday, and he was there. he was so cute, but most of all, he was new. i was 15, and after going through a seven year awkward stage, i had finally gotten cute, and i was boy crazy. my friend and i were both quickly obsessed with this new guy named tyler, and of course we chased him the whole night, making sure we were in his group for everything.

the first sunday tyler attended our ward, he was actually all by himself--his parents were out of town for a funeral, and he was staying home alone. my mom, being the wonderful person she is, invited him over for sunday dinner! needless to say i was ecstatic. i learned that had decided to transfer over to my high school, and i couldn't wait to be able to see him every day!

AIM screen names were exchanged, and friendships started to be formed. we were all fast friends, tyler and another guy in our ward, and my girl friend and i. we hung out at seminary and mutual, rode home from school is his car, met in the halls and at lunch, and of course spent hours chatting on the internet. i think i made it pretty clear that i was definitely interested in him. a few months later, we started officially "liking" each other. the first time tyler held my hand was at a stake fireside. we were sitting next to each other and both had our arms crossed. he kept poking my sides, and then one time he just stopped, and was holding my hand...well, more like my fingers. i thought it was the best day of my life.

then i started to take up "running". i would get on the internet, tell tyler i was going for a run, and then "somehow" we would run into each other at this park in between our houses. it was our little secret, and i loved it.

fast forward to june. it was graduation, and i was playing in the band. one of tyler's friends was graduating too, so he was there. i was supposed to get a ride home with the guy who had brought me, but of course i wanted to ride with tyler instead. we were just about to turn the corner to get to my house, when he slowed down the car, and kissed me right in front of the mailbox. i still get butterflies thinking about it.

finally, it was summer. i had just finished my sophomore year, and tyler his junior year. we hung out with our group of friends practically every night, and we were having a blast. a few weeks into the summer, four of us were driving to meet at a friends house, when we were in an accident. tyler was driving, and i was in the backseat with a friend. luckily no one was seriously injured, and i just got road rash all on my right arm. right after it happened, i couldn't get out of the car because my door was stuck, and i was pretty woozy. tyler came through the window, very shook up. he kept saying he was sorry, and he told me he loved me.

then in october my 16th birthday FINALLY came. my parents were not so thrilled about us being so close, but i didn't care. i was just excited that we could finally go on a real date. on our first date, tyler came over and had a talk with my dad (i think it was to make a point, because they knew tyler pretty well by then). we went out to dinner to our favorite restaurant, mexicali. we must have looked really nervous/cute/young, because someone paid for our dinner, which we thought was so sweet. then we went ice skating. simple, yet perfect.

we were now officially dating, and the rest of my junior year was tyler, tyler, tyler. he moved in to my locker, we passed notes between classes, we made mixed CD's for each other, we attended school and church dances as a couple. we were dubbed "tylison" by others. i finally got a cell phone, so we spent hours every night on the phone. i fondly remember lying in bed and having the best conversations. we were in love, and no one could tell me otherwise. we even talked about getting married! he was my very best friend.

we went through some rough patches--mostly me breaking up with him for a few days, and then getting back together. i think i just wanted attention. we were in the stake play, beauty and the beast, together, which was so much fun. i loved spending even more time together.

then, he graduated in june '06, and moved out to provo to attend byu for the summer. during that summer, he got his mission call to russia. he came back to california in august, and we only had a little more time to spend together before he left for his mission in october. i remember one night walking home from a football game together, knowing he was leaving in two weeks. i was so sad, but little did i know how hard it would be.

the day he left was miserable. i didn't shed a tear at the airport, but when i made it to the safety of my car, i bawled my eyes out for hours. i tried to make the rest of my senior year fun--due to my obsession with tyler the previous year, i didn't have many friends anymore, but i hung out with people from church, and ended up having a really good year. i got accepted to byu, and got caught up in all the excitement of graduation and college preparation.

i left for byu in june of '07, and had the time of my life. i met my best friends, went on dates, chased boys and had boys chase me. i still wrote tyler every week, and he was always in the back of my mind. i could never bring myself to be in a full on relationship because i knew i was still in love with him.

freshman year came and went, and i had the best freshman college experience a girl could ask for. finally, FINALLY, after a very long and hard summer, it was my sophomore year of college and tyler would be home in september.

i made plans to fly home a few weeks after he got home, and he was the one who came and picked me up at the airport. when i saw him again for the first time, it was like nothing had really changed. i ran up and gave him a huge hug, and he held my hand on the walk back to my car. we had so much fun that weekend together, but then i had to go back to school, and he wasn't coming until january. it was hard not being together after already being apart for two years, but at least now we could talk on the phone!

when he made it back up to provo, i was so excited to live the college experience together. he lived across the street, and we did everything together. went grocery shopping, made dinner, hung out on campus, and went on lots of fun dates. it was just like high school again, only better. we started talking about marriage, and then he proposed april of '09. we were married in june of '09, and we couldn't be happier today!

everyone told me i would never marry my high school sweetheart, never marry my missionary, but this is proof that it can all work out. young love is real :)

exciting news!

2012-02-07T17:29:00.000-08:00

baby whitezell is coming this summer!

i am 15 weeks along today, and i am due july 31. i am excited to have a summer baby! i know a lot of people say it's miserable being pregnant in the summer, but writing 6 weeks of sub plans...now THAT is miserable.

so far this pregnancy has been AWESOME. no sickness, no weird symptoms. it has definitely made the adjustment a whole lot easier. the only thing i have had is food aversions--in the beginning, i didn't want chocolate and i didn't want meat--especially hamburgers and hot dogs. but now that i am in my second trimester, that's over--i had mcdonald's last night! i felt like my old self again haha. i have been craving fruit--i can't get enough of it!

i told my students today, and their reaction was priceless. they all started cheering and all the girls came up and hugged me. i told them right before lunch, so they must have been talking at recess, because within 15 minutes, all staff members and students knew haha! they were all disappointed that i would have it over the summer, and they wouldn't get to see him/her. i had to promise to post pictures on the class website!

i am so excited to be a mom! july seems so far away!

january

2012-02-03T19:49:00.000-08:00

i am playing major catch up! each holiday has it's own post, so keep scrolling down haha!

here are some random events from the past few weeks

bee came over to hang out at our house! we watched blue's clues and painted nails..it was so fun!

d had his first birthday and entertained us all with his cake eating.

paige had her birthday, and we all went out to eat at brick oven...it was a freshman year reunion. we had a blast! i am so glad she is home from her mission!

the balloon guy made a little mini me for her! haha it kept us entertained for quite a while.

for art, we studied the mona lisa, and the kids recreated it. i loved what this kid's mona was doing.....HAHA. (definitely not on purpose, but it gave me a good laugh)

sometimes i feel like the kids love when they have a sub, because their mean teacher is gone. so it's so awesome when i get back from a meeting at lunchtime, after only being gone for half the day, and see "Welcome Home" written on the board. haha!

and then i go to the bathroom during recess, and come back to see this. they do like me! good thing they are keeping me so humble.

for new years eve, we hung out with annie and ryan, and derek and kayla. it was a fun night! but wow, i cannot stay up past midnight anymore...how sad.

and last but not least, emily moved up here to go to hair school! it has been great having her so close! she comes over for dinner a few times a week. it's nice having more family around!

christmas 2011

2012-02-03T19:36:00.000-08:00

a few weeks after we returned home from thanksgiving break, we got to turn around and drive back to california again for christmas break! christmas was low key this year, which was nice. it was also perfect having christmas on sunday this year, very relaxing, and helped everyone remember the real meaning of christmas.

tyler and i decided not to get each other christmas presents this year--we didn't really need anything, and we didn't want to spend the money. well, guess our surprise when a few days before christmas we got an email saying we had won an iPad!! they shipped it to us, and we got it just in time for christmas.

when we got back to utah we sold it for a nice chunk of change. unexpected extra money is the best kind of money!
after the deal in the gas station parking lot:

everyone always says how lucky we are--and it's true! in the past two years, we have won $250 in gas gift cards, a flat screen TV, $100 BYU bookstore gift card, the iPad, and a $100 wal mart gift card. so sweet.

we went with christie and dustin to take the kids to see santa. it was so fun! i took this illegal picture haha. they were nervous at first, but then loved him.

christmas morning was fun. we went over to mark and lindsay's to watch the kids open their presents. the twins got these sweet cars to drive around in.

then we went to church, then we headed to my house to open presents.
of course tyler was making this face without me knowing it.

so we had to do it again. if he would just do it right the first time, it wouldn't be so bad..... haha

our favorite gifts. bowls for me, blu ray player for tyler.

my santa socks

we had a great california christmas! nice and warm. of course it was all over too fast.

thanksgiving 2011

2012-02-03T19:21:00.000-08:00

for thanksgiving, we got to go to california for a whole week! tyler had the days off of school, so i took two personal days, and we were able to take a nice, long vacation. all of tyler's siblings came down also, and it was fun having everyone together.

our nieces and nephews had lots of fun taking crazy pictures on our ipad/iphones

chloe and i had some girl time

colby got a hold of my phone and took a nice instagram series i call "view from a 3 year old". most of them are of the ground or his dad making crazy faces haha.

it was berlyn's birthday while we were there, and they got a bounce house for the kids to play in, which was awesome.

we went to the condor's game for the annual teddy bear toss. it was actually pretty lame, because the condors took a shot and a lot of people thought it was a goal, so they started throwing the bears. but it wasn't so all the security people started going crazy. mom got yelled at for throwing a teddy bear hahaha. but luckily they scored for real and it was all good.

we played our annual ultimate frisbee game

this picture of tyler and ben is so cute! ben loves tyler!

we also took family pictures with both sides of the family!

we love being in california!

halloween 2011

2012-02-03T18:35:00.001-08:00

halloween was great. i was stressing over what to dress up as at school (it's a big deal) so i got this sweet penguin costume off of amazon.com.

tyler was brave and wore it to our ward party. i didn't want him to feel awkward being the only dressed up so i was a cowgirl. everyone kept wondering how we went together...haha we didn't.

then i wore it to school...the kids loved it!

we had a fun day filled with lots of candy and hyperness. every teacher's dream.

a few days after halloween, a boy in the class brought in this huge bag of candy, and told me his mom made him donate it for me to use as rewards. i was like, wow that must be hard for you to give up all your candy. then he told me it was all the gross candy he didn't like....haha.
then another kid told me he gave his candy to the poor kids in africa....yeah, i'm sure that's where his mom sent it. another girl gave up all of hers for a wii. i love creative parents!

Everyone loves Mr. Whitezell

2011-10-30T19:39:00.000-07:00

On Friday, Tyler came to spend the day in my class. Yes, the whole entire day. He had to do service for one of his classes, so he accepted my offer to volunteer in the 3rd grade.

Now, my class has been asking about him for weeks. Whenever I tell a story that involves him, they love it, and ask when he is going to come. When they got to school on friday and saw he was there, it was like Christmas morning.

All during the day, I would see students at random times turn around and take a peek at him. The kids who got to read with him were ecstatic. And you should have seen how the two little girls were giggling when they sat at the back table with him during rotations.

Recess was quite the sight. The kids begged him to go out, and he played football with the boys. Hoards of students gathered around watching him play. At second recess, the girls surrounded him, pleading for him to play tag and race them.

By the end of the day, the boys thought he was the coolest guy ever. And the girls all had crushes. One girl wrote in her journal, and I quote: "today is the best day ever because Mr. Whitezell came to visit, we had PE, and i got to eat lunch with the teacher and Mr Whitezell. He is so funny. I love my life"

I thought I was being left in the dust when all the kids begged him to come back on Monday. When he said no, one boy said "it's ok guys, we still have Mrs. Whitezell"

Awwwww. But I understand. I love him too.

jack jack

2011-10-25T19:16:00.000-07:00

when i was 10, i cut my finger carving a pumpkin. nothing too serious, but if you know me, you know it turned into an episode that involved fainting. ever since then i have never been a fan of carving pumpkins, so tyler and i have never gotten pumpkins before. this year i got the urge, so we picked up some pumpkins from smiths.

tyler cut the top off and we cleaned it out

and then i carved the whole face all by myself! he turned out cute and nerdy. i love to see him sitting on our porch.

i am glad to be over my pumpkin carving fear. we also bought some cute little pumpkins, which we will be carving soon....so stay tuned for those.

happy birthday ty

2011-10-25T19:08:00.000-07:00

tyler celebrated his birthday a few weeks ago.

Before

After

tyler is my best friend, a wonderful husband, a genius, a hard worker, a tease, and he's lots of fun. i love you ty ty!

happy birthday to me

2011-10-12T19:47:00.000-07:00

last week i celebrated my birthday! i can't believe it's been another year. it's weird thinking about my life...i mean, i am graduated from college! when did that happen?? but it was a great day (even though i had parent teacher conferences until 8:00 at night).

the best part was my surprise party that the kids planned for me. apparently they had been planning for weeks to throw this little party. after lunch on the day of my birthday, they told me to wait outside the classroom for a minute. i was like....ok.....i figured they would go in and sit all nicely at their desks or something. when i opened, the door, they flipped on the lights and all the kids yelled out surprise! there were two moms there, who came during lunch and decorated the whole room with crepe paper and balloons and a banner, and also brought cookies. it was pretty awesome, and i was completely surprised! i seriously had no idea they were going to do it. it was very sweet of them, and i felt so special. it nearly brought tears to my eyes. they are the cutest.

they brought me this tiara and glasses and i had to wear them the rest of the day haha.

that night i went home and tyler had these presents for me, and some cupcakes from the sweet tooth fairy. he bought me a cute purse and some perfume! i also had cards from relatives, and a package from my family.

it was a great birthday!

st george

2011-10-08T15:05:00.000-07:00

last weekend, tyler and i went down to st george to see my parents run in the st george marathon. they have been training hard, and we wanted to see them finish their first marathon! they did a great job!

about to cross the finish line!

we made signs to cheer them on

it was lots of fun spending time with my family, getting out of provo for a few days, and enjoying conference.

updates

2011-10-04T18:58:00.000-07:00

just in case you were wondering:

-i just went to the dentist today: no cavities!
-i have had three substitutes so far this year, and it was definitely a LOT less stressful
-it's october and you know what that means: mcmonopoly is back! we have been like 3 times already....no big winners yet, but it will happen
-i'm a little stressed about what to be for halloween. i will not have another lame repeat like last year. any ideas?
-thank goodness fall tv is back. that lull at the end of the summer is not fun.
-second year teaching is A MILLION times better than first year teaching. i have lesson plans already made, games and activities copied and cut, ideas in my head, and confidence. then again, i still feel like i don't know anything.
-winter is coming closer and closer. i can feel is creeping as it starts getting darker and darker in the morning and darker and darker when i leave work. i am dreading this day.

the end.

Questions from an AIDS lesson

2011-09-19T20:36:00.000-07:00

Q: so if my friend and I are running through the forest, and the truck is really far away, like a mile, and my friend falls and scrapes her knee and is bleeding and there are no parents and she needs my help, should I ask her if she has AIDS before I help her??

A: ummmm.....you should be fine

happiness

2011-09-10T09:49:00.000-07:00

few things that have been making me happy lately:

1. the weather. it has been perfect lately. still warm during the day, but playing soccer at recess isn't deadly. it gets nice and cool and night, and we can just open the windows and not have to turn on the AC. i took this a few days ago after some rain.

2. family. it is nice being back in utah because we have lots of family around! and my family is coming up to visit a few times this fall for football games. this is our niece holding her brand new kittens...she is so cute with them!

3. byu football. we bought our sports passes, so we have our football tickets for the season. plus the games will now be on channels we actually get, and we have our new tv...perfect. now all we need is some wins.

4. free food (TINSTAAFL, ignored). between free lunches at work, and free dinners at events for the accounting program, we have been well fed. last night we got free j-dawgs and cotton candy....we didn't win the raffle for the ipad, maybe next time.

yes, i know.

2011-09-05T08:05:00.000-07:00

my whole life, i have had a problem. a problem that i used to be very sensitive about: my young looking appearance.

when i was 12, people thought i was 10. when i was 14, people thought i was 12. when i was 16, people still thought i was 12. you know where this is going. my whole time at byu, everyone assumed i was a freshman. when we got engaged and were planning a wedding, people couldn't believe i was getting married. ok, i was 19, but still! it was always so awkward, and it used to really upset me, but now it doesn't bother me. i feel like i am starting to finally look my age....but maybe not.

on a regular basis, parents at my school make comments about how young i look. they say i look like i am their high school child's age, or that i must have just graduated college (which is true) or that i (gasp) can't be old enough to teach! my students thought my 17 year old sister was older than me. i even had someone come in to the room, look at me, and ask where the teacher was. you're looking at her, lady.

even though i don't mind, pictures like this are definitely not helping my cause:

my school picture for this year. high school freshman, anyone? we have to get pictures taken for our ID badges, and then the picture company gives us a complimentary package (which i thought was really exciting last year, because my parents never bought my school pictures, so i never got one of those cool, big envelopes).

don't worry guys, i have a million if anyone wants one. first come, first serve.

i guess it's a good thing i teach elementary school....hopefully no one will mistake me for a 6th grader.

we're in the big leagues now

2011-09-04T20:47:00.000-07:00

tyler and i are a relatively frugal couple. relatively meaning we don't clean and reuse ziploc bags, frugal meaning we don't buy new things very often. we like to go out to eat once a week and we buy new clothes on killer sales, but when it comes to big ticket items, we have bought very few.

my parents kindly gave us this to use when we got married.

they bought this tv sometime around 2002, and apparently it was nice back then. we enjoyed it for 2 years, and it worked great. but tyler has been wanting a fancy new tv for awhile, and so he started saving up this summer.

tyler did a lot of research to find the perfect one. a few weeks ago, we finally did it. we were both had a little anxiety about letting the money go, but it happened.

we love watching our favorite shows on it! just in time for byu football season.

(you might think it is weird that i made a blog post about a new tv, but this is seriously momentous, people. last school year, i wore ugly tj maxx shoes with broken straps for 3 months because i wanted them to last the rest of the year. that's how we roll around here).

first week of school

2011-08-28T15:14:00.000-07:00

i did it! i survived the first week. it was definitely tough....i'd say the first week of school is the hardest week of the year. the days are full of rules and reinforcement, the kids are wiggly and talkative. i forgot how well behaved my class was last year. then again, i had had the whole year to train them to be that way. but i have 30 really cute kids this year, and none of them bug me yet! good sign. my class is actually a lot higher academically than last year's class (14 vs 7 kids on grade level for reading) so that is very exciting. i also have a few more "unusual" students this year, but i am excited to learn new things and grow. i have to keep reminding myself that i still don't know everything and that's ok. i mostly just feel more confident--i wasn't shaking in fear of parents during open house, and i felt a lot better about being in charge of 30 lives.

my room looks way better this year. i added new things and made it more colorful, and i love how it looks.

i made some of these tissue paper pom poms to hang up

my sister in law made these letters for my word wall! they turned out so cute.

first day of school....tyler got up early and made me breakfast!

it's going to be a great year!

pinterest: classroom

2011-08-12T16:00:00.000-07:00

i am not a cutesy creative person when it comes to arts and crafts. i don't have cute handwriting, i can't draw, i can't imagine pretty things on my own. so last year, my classroom was BLAH. it was pretty much ugly. i had so much to do, i didn't have time for little projects, and i didn't really care either. it was pure survival mode. this year, i want to make my room a little more interesting and pretty. i have been browsing pinterest for some fun ideas.

i love school supplies. word wall inspiration. dream library. i need this now. pretty flower display. i want that on my desk. i want that on my desk too. i want that on my door. i love chalk. there is no way that is real. my mantra.

i love pinterest! i would now like to raid a craft store.

(here for sources.)

tim mcgraw concert

2011-08-07T14:59:00.000-07:00

i love country music and my all time favorite country singer has been tim mcgraw since forever. i have been wanting to go to his concert for years, and when i heard he was going to be in denver when we were here, i had to buy tickets. i was so excited to go on friday night.

we got to the amphitheater and sat in our low priced seats.

we enjoyed listening to the openers, the band perry and luke bryan. i loved being in an outdoor theater!

as you can see, we were pretty far away from the stage.

so once luke bryan leaves, they have one of those "text the screen to enter to win pit passes and get your message up" things. i texted a message, and we watched it pop up on the screen. i even told tyler that if we won, it would make the night perfect. we are just sitting there when tyler says "you won!" and points to my phone. i see this:

i started freaking out! i didn't even believe it at first. but we went off to find the booth and we got our fancy bracelets! i could not believe our luck.

i was SO excited! when we got down to the pit, i couldn't believe how close we were to the stage....like 6 feet away from where tim was going to be. he came out singing "something like that" and i went crazy.

this is the moment when tim and i made eye contact...no joke. and it was amazing. tyler was standing right behind me and happened to capture the moment with his phone. yeah, he is pointing at me haha.

being in the pit was pretty cool....a lot of drama though. i got tons of beer spilled on my feet, and two girls by us threw some punches, but other than that it was great!

he is such a great performer and he sounds amazing live! i want to go again!

my new toy

2011-08-05T08:06:00.000-07:00

i am officially cool now, because i just got.............

....................

...................

an iphone! i swore i wan't going to get one! but while i was in california i went to the phone store, because my phone was available to be upgraded. of course they only have like 2 non smart phones and they are totally lame. so then i just asked the sales associate what my bill would be with the iphone, and there was no turning back from there. but i am definitely enjoying it! now our family is officially "smart"

trip to california

2011-08-05T08:01:00.000-07:00

i was able to go to california to visit my family this past week. the main reason i went was to hang out with these two:

....and ben while the rest of my family went to girl's camp. i was happy to do it!

i swam in the pool everyday

watched the girls build this massive fort

and read a stack of children's books

it was so nice to be back home and see everyone!

this is what back to school looks like

2011-07-27T11:52:00.000-07:00

i keep thinking to myself "it's still july! how can this be happening!" but then i realize that the first day of school is less than a month away. oh my heck. "back to school" prep is officially here for me.

i have a lot of supplies to buy on a limited budget. long gone are the days when parents send their kids to school with supplies-- heaven forbid they have to spend any money (at least at my school). it is now time for me to start scouring the internet for weekly fliers. office depot and office max both have 1 cent sales....every week, something is only a penny. of course this sounds awesome, but when the limit is 5 (10 for teachers) and you have to buy 32 of everything, it's overwhelming.

last year's nightmare: pocket folders

office depot and office max were both selling them for a penny during the same week. i needed 5 sets of 30 colors, plus a few extras of each. red for homework folders, yellow for daily language review, orange for journals, blue for desk work, and purple for centers. that is 150 folders. remember the previously mentioned limit rules? yeah, those rules are strict. my mom was in town (thank goodness) and we made about 3 trips a day to each store. we even tried to get other people to buy them for me. i would give them 5 folders, and a nickel to cover the charge. it was literally insane and stressful trying to keep the colors and numbers of everything straight. but, i only spent 1.50.

today's trip to walmart was all about notebooks. this is what my trunk looked like after:

and this is my receipt. i love walmart because they have no limits on anything!

i bought 140 notebooks, 4 for each kid. yellow for writing, green for math, black for literacy centers, and blue for journals. i have to color code EVERYTHING. two reasons- one, no complaining about color fairness. two- organization. literally in march i would tell the kids to get out their math notebooks and at least one would whine "which notebook is that?". if i don't say "green math notebook" they are clueless.

next big trip: pencil boxes and the dreaded pocket folders.

caribbean cruise!

2011-07-18T15:55:00.000-07:00

this past week, tyler and i got to go on our first cruise! my parents sent us as a graduation present. it was so much fun- i love vacation, and i loved spending a full week together. no work and no school to worry about. the weather was perfect the entire trip! not too hot, and lots of sunshine.

we left denver on saturday and flew to ft lauderdale.

the plane ride was long and boring, go figure. airlines have really gone downhill. no free snacks, no free movie. they won't even let you move to an exit row! the whole exit row was empty, and we asked to move their so we could have extra leg room, and apparently you have to pay to sit there now. w?

anyway, we landed and once we stepped outside, the weather hit us like a ton of bricks. i hate humidity! the thick air is so suffocating. luckily it wasn't too bad in the caribbean.

our ship left sunday morning, and we stayed in the most ghetto hotel ever saturday night. gross. luckily we survived the night, and it was time to board the boat.

goodbye ft lauderdale!

our first stop was key west.

we did a jet ski tour of key west- we took a 29 mile ride around the islands. it was so beautiful! the water was so pretty and blue, and very warm. we got to stop at a sandbar in the middle of the ocean and swim around in the water. it was a few feet deep and perfectly clear with soft white sand on the bottom.

it was tyler's first time on a jet ski, and he loved it! this was his favorite thing we did.

afterwards, we walked around the shops and ate some key lime pie.

next day was a "fun day at sea". mostly we just laid out in the sun, swam a little in the pool, and ate. nice.

every night they showed movie on the big screen. we watched harry potter 7.1 and ate popcorn.

they had lots of entertainment on board, and i was a participant in this game show thing. yeah it was as embarrassing as it sounds.

i even got a medal for participating. probably the most exciting thing of the whole vacation.

then we went to grand cayman!

it was a pretty island. we found a little beach with more crystal clear, warm water.

we went on a snorkeling/stingray city tour.

there is this sandbar in the middle of the ocean, and there are tons of stingrays that go there that aren't afraid of people at all. they just swim around and bump into you. the tour guides gave us some squid to feed them...i chickened out, but tyler did it. their mouths are on their bellies and they suck up food like a vaccuum.

it was pretty neat. we both held one and kissed it! the top of them is really hard and the bottom is soft and squishy. their stingers are on their tails, so i stayed away from those.

after seeing the stingrays, we got to snorkel at two different places. it was so pretty- there was coral and lots of interesting plants and fish. we wished we had an underwater camera!

on the way back to the island, we saw tons of these, just sitting in people's backyards!

the next day we went to jamaica! it was an interesting place-- tons of pushy people trying to get you to buy their goods or services. we even got offered joints twice. guess you gotta make a living somehow.

here, we got to go on a bobsled and go ziplining.

so pretty and tropical! we took this ski lift thing up to the top of the mountain to get to the zip lining- the view was awesome!

then we went on this bobsled ride- more like a roller coaster that you can control, not exactly authentic, but whatever.

they had this infinity pool and water slide up at the top also, which was fun. tyler went down the slide like 20 times haha. we are kids at heart.

then we went zip lining.

tyler, almost to the end.

the scariest one was this- a straight drop. they pushed you over the edge and you were sitting, then suddenly you fell. i screamed the whole way down.

we had so much fun on our shore excursions! definitely the best part of the cruise.

we also enjoyed the pretty sunsets and views:

we also enjoyed the food....well, kind of. the food really wasn't that great, there was just tons of it. but we enjoyed our fancy dinners in the restaurant.

all dressed up on formal night

i really liked our little table. it was kind of back in the corner, which was weird, but i loved sitting here and talking every night.

we got to try lots of new foods and desserts. i ate duck! it was actually pretty good.
the dinner desserts were always good. we had creme brulee for the first time.

tyler even had escargot for an appetizer and ate it all.

one day they had a chocolate extravaganza at lunch time. lots and lots of different chocolate desserts haha! it was pretty cool. but it didn't taste nearly as good as it all looked.

on our last day

we had a great time and we can't wait to go on another cruise!

4th of july weekend

2011-07-06T09:00:00.000-07:00

4th of july weekend

1. i could scour pinterest all day for pretty pictures

2. friday, tyler came home from work early and we went to the denver temple, and then had the best outback dinner of all time.

3. on saturday, we headed up to greeley, colorado for the rodeo and fair. bull riding is always the best part.

4. fried oreos. tyler has been wanting some fried food for a few years now, but we haven't been able to find any. we went to the county fair in utah last year....no fried food. when we saw the sign for fried oreos, we couldn't pass them up. tyler also ate the biggest corn dog i have ever seen in my life.

5. monday, we woke up bright and early for our ward pancake breakfast.

6. we went to a parade....no candy. i swear, when i was younger, parades were like halloween! we would get so.much.candy. guess the good old days are over

7. we went to a bbq with some new friends from our ward, ate good food, hung out, and watched fireworks. good times!

visitors

2011-07-01T07:40:00.000-07:00

a few weeks ago, my mom and emily came to visit, which was so fun! we went to the zoo, went shopping, explored downtown, visited a friend from bakersfield, went out to eat, and just hung out. it was great.

we went to this crepe place for desert one night--so delicious! this one is strawberries and bananas with chocolate sauce...mmm.

funny story: we were on our way to the mall one morning, and my tire light comes on. i decided to pull over, and lucky i did, because i had a flat tire....a huge nail was stuck into it. so we are in the middle of downtown denver, and my mom, emily, and i have to change the tire. tyler is at work and couldn't answer his phone. we had never done it before, but luckily my mom knew how....and luckily some guys stopped to help us. one guy in a suit was down on the ground checking the jack placement and loosening the lug nuts. thank goodness for nice people! the spare tire held up until we got it replaced at costco. it was an adventure! at least i now know how to change my tires.

thanks for coming out! we love you!

happy two years

2011-06-26T16:16:00.000-07:00

today is our two year wedding anniversary!

yep, two years....730 days....17,520 hours..basically it's been a long time.

we celebrated yesterday. we went to hammond's candy factory here in denver. we took a tour of the factory and then looked around in the store. they make a lot of pretty candy canes and lollipops, and some chocolate. it was fun watching them make it, but we pretty much already knew how it was done...thanks, food network.

the best thing there were these things called mitchell's sweets. homeade marshmallows dipped in homeade caramel. soooo yummy!

that night we went out to eat at a local mexican place. pretty good, but no mexicali (the best mexican food place in bakersfield...and our favorite restaurant).

after dinner we got some cheesecake from cheesecake factory, which of course of delicious.

then we rented a redbox and went home.

pretty low key, but that's how we like it.

today we celebrated by going to church!

it's been a great two years. we have known each other for 6.5 years now and have gone through thick and thin. it's fun knowing your spouse through high school, pre mission, and post mission. we have a lot of great memories together. stake dances, seminary, passing periods, graduations, teenage dating, aim chatting, letter writing, reunions, non teenage dating, roommates, byu games, wedding, honeymoon, road trips, and many more.

tyler and i know each other very well. we often know what the other is thinking, and tyler is always saying what he knows i am going to say next (it's annoying).

although the honeymoon stage is over, we still love and care for each other, and that is all that matters.

flower power

2011-06-13T18:10:00.000-07:00

today i spent the afternoon at the denver botanic gardens.

since tyler is at work all day, i have a lot of time to myself. i figured he probably wouldn't want to go, so i went by myself.

it was really nice. i had never been to a place like it before, and it was great being able to walk around and enjoy nature. the place is huge, so there are no crowds to battle with or people to be annoyed by.

i explored the grounds, got some sun, and took a lot of pictures.

there were lots of very interesting plants/flowers/shrubs/trees.

while there, i realized another reason why tyler wouldn't want to come.

there were TONS of these:

bees. everywhere.

little known fact: tyler is a teensy bit scared of them. he has never been stung, so that's probably why.

my favorite:

it was a nice and relaxing place to go and walk around for a few hours. i recommend it if you're in the area.

weekend review

2011-06-12T15:02:00.000-07:00

we went to a rockies game. our seats were really good! we were right in foul ball territory, but lucky for me nothing came too close...unlucky for ty

yes this picture is upside down

i am learning how to crochet and this is what i made...it's my practice. i unravelled that whole thing about 2 seconds after this picture is taken. i am now working on making this. so far it's not going too great....i might be a little too ambitious for a beginner.

we did a little bit of car shopping haha.

this was taken at the park meadows mall. you have not been to a mall if you haven't been there. it's a retail resort. it has every store you can imagine....i was in heaven.

we got lots of goodies from nordstrom's rack- love that place.

then today we got to give talks in church.

overall, a successful weekend!

the fun has arrived!

2011-06-07T12:13:00.000-07:00

i have finally made it to colorado! tyler has an internship here for the summer and has been here since the end of april....but i had to wait until school was over. so i was definitely more happy than sad to see the last day of school come.
i arrived on saturday, and i already love it! it's fun to be in a new place, and our apartment ROCKS. we scored big time. we are enjoying big city life.
saturday afternoon we went downtown to the chalk art festival.

lots of great art, and lots of interesting people. i forget how diverse america is until i leave provo.

yesterday tyler took the lsat, and i did some shopping/exploring. i stopped by a used book store to score these, which will keep me busy for awhile.

last night we got chinese food. and i mean real chinese food, as in not panda express. we are so new york. good thing we got enough to feed 5 people. we will be enjoying leftovers for while

summer has started off fantastically!

last day of school

2011-06-03T12:56:00.000-07:00

today was the day....the one i thought couldn't possibly ever come.
the 180th day of school.

school was from 9:00-10:30 today, so before the kids got there i finished getting things put away. it was weird seeing my room look like this:

i was hired at the same school again next year, 3rd grade again, so i will get my same room next year. that definitely took away a lot of stress!

the kids came, bright eyed and excited. a few kids brought me little gifts, including a generous target gift card. as michael scott says, "it's not about the salary, it's about the perks". each kid brought a treat, which we mixed together to make yummy snack.

this bowl was HUGE.

i gave them a cupful, and then i showed them the slideshow i made of all the pictures from the year. it was fun hearing their whispered memories that the pictures sparked.

i also sat and watched, reflecting. when i saw their faces, i thought of their amazing accomplishments. i felt so grateful to Heavenly Father for helping me know how to help them. i know He cares for each of them even more than i do. and that comforts me when i think of them leaving....they will always be taken care of.

we then played some games, took pictures, and i passed out their report cards.
there were lots and lots of hugs.
when there were only 10 minutes left, i sat them down and told them how special they each are, and how i will miss them. i look around, and one of my sweet girls is crying, and of course that got me going. a few others came up and hugged me, not letting go.
i am lucky enough to be able to come back to the school next year. i made each of them promise to come and visit. after a million more hugs, they were all gone.

then i got my list of students for next year.
and i can't wait to go through this experience all over again!

good eats

2011-05-31T16:18:00.000-07:00

one of my favorite fast food restaurants in mcdonalds.
i used to judge people who ate there....but then this happened, and my heart has changed.

in fact, a few weeks ago in sunday school, the teacher was naming a company/place and we had to raise our hand if we liked them. he said mcdonalds and i raised my hand proudly. then i heard someone say "ewww" and i looked around and no one else was raising their hand. yeah, i brought my hand back down. embarrassing.

no one can deny their fries are amazing. and their value menu rocks.
my go to meal: mcdouble without cheese, small fry, and diet coke.
total cost: $3.24
total calories: 570
my mom would not be proud.

* in other news, tyler got accepted into the masters of accounting program at BYU! it's very competitive, but no problem for his superior brain. he got a 4.0 last semester- in the junior core! i'm in awe. he is taking the LSAT next week, so law school might also be in the future. go tyler!

words

2011-05-29T17:11:00.000-07:00

i saw this on this blog the other day and it made me laugh. this list is from the former editor of New York Magazine, and they are words that he told his staff not to use (story here)

i love words. in my classroom, when we come to unfamiliar words during reading, i have the kids break down the word- find a prefix or suffix if one exists, and then try to figure out the meaning based on their knowledge of the affix or root word. i teach them latin roots and show spanish similarities. we learn 7 new vocabulary words every week, and i try to encourage the use of dictionaries and thesaruses (thesauri?). a wide vocabulary is a critical key to success in school.

but of course there are words i despise, and others that are just fun.

words i dislike:
phone -as a verb- like, i will phone you later. shudder

cool and nice- everything and everyone in 3rd grade is cool and/or nice

brilliant -was one of our class vocabulary words, now has become superfluous

preggers

wifey

epitome

ghastly

journey- ruined by reality tv

hola/adios/amigo/si/muy bien/gracias- it's not that i have anything against spanish-i like it, really- i just hate when people randomly throw these spanish words into their english conversations. sorry, you are not bilingual

obtuse -when used in any other way than describing angles
divorcee
"over the edge" -as in going crazy

lemme- as in dumbspeak for let me

words i like

sweet - as describing something cool or awesome

androgynous

macabre - i really never get to use it
jenkin- haha a word that my friends and i made up. it means chill or cool.
W- pronounced "double you". short for what, which is short for what the heck.
swish
treat/sugar/candy/chocolate

what words do you love or hate?

double takes

2011-05-23T19:28:00.000-07:00

yep. crazy hair day today.

i am a little bit crazy. luckily i already have a job for next year.
8 days 'til freedom!

feeling appreciated

2011-05-13T19:10:00.000-07:00

last week was teacher appreciation week.

i didn't know how awesome it would be.

monday morning, i got to school and my door looked like this:

sweet. room moms are the best.

everyday had a theme, and the kids brought me stuff. it was like christmas.

friday was "bring your teacher their favorite treat".

i told them i liked candy. this is what i was presented with:

oh yes.

on thursday, the theme was "write your teacher a letter".

i got the sweetest letter from one of my girls.

in my class we have had sort of a running joke all year about hyperboles. i taught them what they were at the beginning of the year, and then anytime anyone exaggerated, we would say they were telling us a hyperbole.

in her note to me, the girl wrote:

"if you weren't my teacher for 3rd grade, i would have DIED! (that is a hyperbole)"

it was adorable, and i got teary eyed.

the last day of school is almost here.

and i am dreading it.

i mean, i am excited for summer, but i don't want to say goodbye to those kids that i have spent 7 hours a day with the past 9 months.

not to mention the sleepless nights, stressful evenings, tears, and worries about them.

and i can never forget all the laughs, kind words, hugs, smiles, and pure joy.

it has been a great year.

graduation

2011-05-01T14:05:00.000-07:00

so it's official! watch out world, i'm a college graduate.

looking over at my family cheering for me during the big walk

i wasn't really excited for the whole pomp and circumstance ceremony, but since so many family members were coming, i felt like i'd better take the walk. it ended up being really fun to see some old classmates and getting my 5 seconds of recognition.

graduation was on friday, and my family came up the monday before to spend their spring break in utah. it was fun spending time with them. my mom and sisters even planned an art craft and came in and did it with my class! the kids loved it.

we had lunch after at CPK. it was also my sister haley's birthday, so it was a double celebration!

the next day was haley's birthday party at trafalga, and it was SO fun. tyler and i became obsessed with laser tag. and guess who was the number 1 scorer/shooter/whatever on our second group game? yep, that would be me.

since my family was up here, we took family pictures. this is my dad's side of the family.

the school district paid for me to have a sub for graduation, which was awesome, but you know how i feel about subs, so i was nervous to go back on monday and see the state of my classroom. even though the sub royally messed up my literacy center system set up for the week, she had helped the kids make a big card for
me, which was super cute. they all signed it and wrote things like "your the best teacher" (obviously not that great if we are still having 'your' problems) and "your smart!" (again with the your thing.)

all in all, it was a great day and a great week. thanks to everyone who has helped me along the way! my time at BYU really has been the best 4 years of my life so far. i have made so many great friends and experienced so many fun things. i don't have a job for next year yet, but i am interviewing on monday for a 3rd grade position at the school i am at now, so cross your fingers for me!

here's to the future!

what time is it?

2011-04-12T21:05:00.000-07:00

it's baseball season, people.

and we have a huge yankees fan in our house. (tyler)

guess what's going to be on our tv every night?

it's gonna be a party that doesn't end until october.

woo hoo.

intern showcase

2011-04-02T12:35:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the BYU Internship Showcase competition that I got to be a part of. It was a competition, and each booth was judged twice by two different people. BYU students also were invited to visit and learn about different internships BYU offers, and they could vote for their favorite for the People's Choice award. There were about 6 different categories of winners and a grand prize winner, all determined by the judges.

I made a booth about my teaching internship--it was a lot of work, but fun to put together. I took the aims of BYU and applied them to what I do in my internship. The thing that sets my internship apart from all the others is that I am actually doing everything that someone in my profession would do.

The best part---I won runner up for Most Influential Internship! $100 prize! It was pretty exciting!

Thanks to everyone who came to visit and support me!

ATTENTION!!

2011-03-30T20:34:00.000-07:00

This Friday, I am going to have a display at the BYU Intern Showcase event. My display is going to be about my teaching internship.

If you are going to be on campus this Friday, stop by and say hi! I will be in booth 36. Even better, stop by and vote for me! Or if you don't want to talk to me, just vote for me! There is a People's Choice category, and the winner gets $250. Pretty much awesome.

Please come and support BYU Internships!

** this is not an April Fool's Joke

school stories

2011-03-27T14:38:00.000-07:00

at work, something funny happens at least once an hour. because my brain is so full, i need to write some of them down so i never forget.

disclaimer: tyler laughs at only about 25% of my stories. and even then, it is more of a courtesy chuckle. so if these aren't funny to you, then maybe you just had to be there.

1. i was presenting my "hook" for math, and out of the corner of my eye i see a boy watch me closely, and then toss a note to a boy behind him when he thinks i'm not looking. of course it is super obvious, and so i walk over and tell the receiver to hand it over. the boys' faces were priceless: they were looking very guilty and very anxious. i figured i had just intercepted a good note....more than just a happy face or a phone number. maybe it said that i am boring. or even better, that some girl in my class is super cute. later i opened the note to read:

Boy 1,

Pick me up for Scouts on Wednesday?

From,

Boy 2

Lame. But yet again, correctly placed commas. Win for me.

2. we had an awkward 5 minute free time, so i decided to play the parts of speech game. i said "ok, if i say a verb, you stand up, a noun, put both hands up, if i say......" i was interrupted by at least 10 kids, who starting singing "put your hands in the aaaaiiiirr" from the song dynamite. unplanned. and loud. it was hilarious....yet weird.

3. i was accidentally called grandma by a student. i have gotten mom, and even dad.....but never grandma.

4. i was with 5 kids for guided reading, and we were working on a book summary. one of the boys stops what he is writing, looks up at me and casually yet seriously says "i can't wait for the 2011 KCA's. Kid's Choice Awards" and then goes straight back to writing. haha what the heck?

sticky notes

2011-03-26T21:49:00.000-07:00

After all the kids left on Friday, I walked back to my desk and found this:

I have no idea how it got there without me noticing, but it was a cute surprise.

I am glad "someone" in my class still likes me.

I am even more glad that they remembered to put a comma after the word "Love".

this summer

2011-03-17T21:18:00.000-07:00

i am super excited for this summer, for many reasons.

1. i will be a college graduate!

2. my awesome parents are giving me the best graduation present--a trip! tyler and i are still figuring out where we want to go, but we will probably be going on a cruise to somewhere sunny and adventurous.

3. we will be spending the summer in....

...denver! tyler has an internship there. we are excited to live somewhere new for a few months and explore a new city. we went to visit there a few weeks ago, and loved it. tyler is especially excited to visit the mint. and my family might come visit us!

4. i won't be working, but i will still be receiving paychecks! (i opted to spread my pay into 12 equal checks)

5. i will get to go home to bakersfield for a week or so to visit

6. we will be celebrating our 2nd anniversary! i can't believe how time has flown.

fun times ahead!

why does this always happen to me?

2011-03-06T18:55:00.000-08:00

We are sitting in church (back row because we arrived at 10:32). I am wearing a brand new dress for the first time. I bought it a few weeks ago in Denver at Nordstrom Rack. Not like it's from the local Down East or anything. Then a couple I don't know walks by. The girl is wearing the same. exact. dress. Way to steal my thunder.

I know everyone at church was playing a "who wore it better" in their heads.

Ugh.

Luckily, I didn't see her any other time during church. How awkward would that be?

"Uh....hey, cute dress!" No thanks!

And there is another girl in my ward who has the same of another dress I have. And I can never wear it, in fear that she will also happen to wear it on the same Sunday as me.

waiting for superman

2011-03-05T13:03:00.001-08:00

Just watched:

Waiting for Superman- a documentary about public education.

I have been wanting to see this documentary ever since I heard about it on Oprah's show. Her take on the film was that charter and private schools are the solution to a failing system, which I disagree with. After watching it myself, I feel the message of the film is that currently, education is a system based on adults, and meeting their wants and need. Some teachers are doing everything except teach well to try and keep their jobs, and unions are doing more harm than good.

The other message of the film: life isn't fair, and we need to try to create some kind of equality.

The last shot of the documentary is of a young boy from inner city DC, who was accepted into a high performing boarding school because his ball was luckily chosen in the lottery. He is laying on his bed at the school looking at a picture of his late father, who died of something drug related. Earlier in the film, this 11 year old boy explained his hopes to create a better life for his children. No child should have to worry about these things! Because his number was chosen, he has the chance for a better life. But what about the hundreds of other children whose numbers were not chosen? It seems their fates are decided.

I am extremely lucky--nothing I did caused me to be born into my family. Just pure luck that my parents are educated, causing my father to have a good career, causing me to live in the kinds of neighborhoods with decent schools. My parents were intellectually able to aid my learning, and monetarily able to support me in extra curricular activities. I was not born with any mental or physical disabilities, allowing me an ease of learning. I was able to go to college and graduate.

But because of this luck, I now have a duty. Some of the students I teach do not have the same luck as I have--my school is not a high performing school. Some students do have mental and physical disabilities. Some parents cannot help their children. Some of them will have a very hard time making it to college. Why them? Why not me? I'm not sure.

Life isn't fair. It is my job to work hard to make things equal.

mona lisa

2011-03-03T16:51:00.001-08:00

For art this week, I taught a lesson about Leonardo da Vinci and his painting Mona Lisa. The kids drew their own Mona Lisa's, and then had to write why they thought Mona was smiling. The things they wrote were hilarious. "Music from the Baroque period" supposedly stimulates the brain) was playing, so their writing was extra silly.These are some of the reason I got:

I think Mona Lisa is smiling because.....

-she is pregnant

-she has new shoes

-she inherited a bunch of money (?)

-she just got a pet bunny

-she is looking at our smiling faces

-she loves nature

-she has a good idea

-she is in love with da Vinci

-she is about to eat a ton of ice cream

So random. I wish I had a scanner so I could show some of their pictures, haha. I love art time.

the day of love: school edition

2011-02-20T20:21:00.000-08:00

As a first year teacher, and an independent person who likes to do things my own way, I have learned a lot about what to do and what not to do through trial and error. Therefore, this post will be a special edition of "this year vs. next year: Valentine's Day"'.

This year: I had the kids bring in boxes so we could decorate them all together in class. I wondered why all the other teachers were having their students decorate their boxes at home...it seemed like such a fun activity!

Next year: The kids will decorate their own boxes at home. I wish I had a picture of the pure chaos that ensues when you give a kid a huge piece of butcher paper, some white glue and scissors. *shiver*

My box:

This year: Did a special math activity (at 10:00 in the morning) where I gave each kid a bunch of conversation hearts and they graphed what they had. Fun and educational.

Next year: I will not let the kids eat candy in the morning. I will give out as little sugar as possible.

This year: The kids passed out Valentines right before lunch. The party started about 15 minutes after lunch, and they were going to do journal writing while we set up for the party.

Next year: I will not start the valentine passing ritual until I am ready for the kids to start digging through their boxes and stuffing everything edible into their mouths. (watching the kids try to write in their journals with their filled boxes sitting 3 inches away from their hands was hilarious. most of them did not write anything).

This year: I let the kids make decorations for us to hang around the room.

Next year: I will let the kids make decorations for us to hang around the room. It is cheap, fun, and the kids make cute things. (Can you see the lopsided hearts on the wall in the above picture? adorable!)

This year: My desk was messy.

Next year: Clear off my desk for the cute things the kids bring me. One of my girls brought me a rose! Another gave me the sugar cookie she decorated during the party (it's on the plate on my desk). Yeah, didn't eat that.... but it's the thought that counts!

This year: I made a small hole in my box, because those little cards aren't very big, right?

Next year: Get a bigger box!

This year: Let the room mom plan the whole party and run the show.

Next year: Let the room mom plan the whole party and run the show.

To quote one of my students, who had a mouth full of sugar cookie and a handful of candy: "This is the best day of my life!!!!!!!!!!"

Well, maybe not, but it was definitely my favorite Valentine's Day yet!

our day of love

2011-02-20T20:01:00.000-08:00

I have always loved Valentine's Day! Probably because I love pink, candy, romanticism, and surprises.

We began our celebration on Friday the 11th by going to our ward bunco party, which was super fun! I even got a bunco once! We didn't win any of the categories, but they drew names of couples to get some of the smaller prizes. We were one of the last couples to get a prize, so we ended up with a box of chocolates. That was just fine with me!

Saturday we went to the BYU vs Utah basketball game, which was crazy packed. We went an hour early and were lucky to get crappy seats, but it was still way fun, plus we dominated.

That night Tyler surprised me and took me to Color Me Mine.....I have been wanting to go for awhile, but I could never convince Tyler to go with me. It was super fun! Tyler was totally loving it.

He made a bowl, of course blue stripes Yankees style.

I made a Valentine's Day themed plate.

And here are the finished product!

Tyler loves his bowl, and I am not allowed to use it. hahaha.

On Monday night, Valentine's Day, Tyler surprised me with a rose and gummy bears! We made homeade pizza for dinner and watched The Bachelor. It was awesome.

100

2011-02-07T17:23:00.000-08:00

Last week, we celebrated the 100th day of school, which has triggered some reflection about the past few months of my life.

So here you have it, 100 things I have learned about teaching.

1. Being smart does not mean you are a good teacher.

2. Hand sanitizer is vital.

3. Every single word that comes out of my mouth is believed. And a lot of it is repeated to parents. And some of it is repeated back to me from the parents.

4. Children do not know how to adequately erase.

5. Bill Nye is an excellent teacher.

6. There is nothing more valuable than a freshly sharpened pencil with the full eraser.

7. Passing notes will never go out of style.

8. Kids go through Band Aids like nothing else.

9. PE rocks...because I don't have to teach it!

10. Kids have no idea what an encyclopedia is. No one uses them, yet questions about them are still included on tests.

11. Powerpoints are boring to everyone.

12. Children are very extrinsically motivated.

13. It is amazing what a piece of candy will do to a child.

14. It is even more amazing what an extra minute of recess will do.

15. Reading makes you smart. Period.

16. Cursive is what all third graders look forward to.....until they actually start learning it.

17. Cursive is second only to multiplication.

18. It is very fun to be the absolutely smartest person in a room

19. Teaching elementary school makes you feel like a genius.

20. Some parents really do not care.

21. Inside recess sucks.

22. But heads up 7 up is still fun.

23. I worry about tests more than the students do. I get so anxious when they take tests because I am scared they won't do well, and that I have failed them.

24. Order in line causes more fights than anything else.

25. Four square rules have drastically changed.

26. Most students can't learn how I learn, and it's hard to view things through their perspective.

27. Homework is more of a pain for me than the students....I have to keep track of who does it and who doesn't, it causes extra grading and lots of complaining!

28. No matter how early I get to school or how late I stay, I will never get everything done.

29. Kids remember everything tiny thing I say. Unless it pertains to math, or writing, or language arts, or things said while giving directions. Other than that, they are elephants.

30. The key to management: follow through.

31. Saying "stop talking" will quiet about 25% of the students. Saying "thank you Sarah for sitting so quietly!" will quiet 99% of the students.

32. Taking attendance is the biggest pain in the behind.

33. Singing The Star Spangled Banner every.single.day. really gets old.

34. I talk way too fast sometimes.

35. Kids are not mini adults. At all.

36. It is not important to always be fair. It is important to always have equality.

37. A child's environment correlates so much to their academic success.

38. Where your backpack goes on the hooks is a huge deal.

39. No matter how many times I repeat directions, someone will do it wrong. And I am now OK with that.

40. Sometimes kids can teach each other way better than I can teach them.

41. No one wants other to think they don't know something.....even kids.

42. Which means many of them have a very hard time asking questions.

43. Calling a math activity a "game" makes the interest level go up a million points.

44. Markers are the favorite art supply.

45. Kids are bad fakers/liars.

46. Never ask "did you have fun today?". You won't like the answer.

47. No matter what kinds of fun activities you plan, no matter how many exciting things we do, kids will still go home and say school was boring, and that they did nothing.

48. I have trained my body to only need to use the bathroom during recess.

49. Being positive and energetic for 8 hours straight, all day everyday, is TOUGH.

50. College rocked.....all you did was sit there. I miss it sometimes.

51. Giving kids a grade based on completion saves so much time.

52. Giving spelling tests isn't as much fun as it seems.

53. What happens at recess, stays at recess...until a parent calls and complains.

54. Most students do whatever I say, no questions asked. Weirds me out sometimes.

55. Holidays rock.

56. Especially Mondays off.

57. Teaching is the hardest job on the planet.

58. Memorization does not come easy to everyone.

59. I can't do everything on my own.

60. I do not know everything.

61. Seriously, I think some of the questions on the elementary state testing would be tricky for some adults.

62. There will never be enough money in the education system.

63. You can never have too many books.

64. Kids are eager to learn.

65. And even more eager to please.

66. Writing on white boards will never get old.

67. Kids know more than you think.

68. Kids will tell you anything. Even embarrassing things about their parents that I am sure I was never supposed to hear.

69. Teaching new vocabulary words is fun.

70. When frustration sets in, just stop and do something else.

71. My emotions are written on my forehead. Those kids can read me like a book.

72. Never underestimate.

73. Every child is great at something. Finding that something and telling them will do wonders.

74. If you ask a kid why they were in the bathroom for so long, you might receive a TMI answer back.

75. Kids are germy and gross. I refuse to touch most of their stuff.

76. Earthquake drills are a thrill for 9 year olds.

77. Children are sneaky. Super sneaky.

78. Focusing on the positive works wonders.

79. You can never give out too many points.

80. It is important to wait until the laminating machine heats up to 275 degrees. 250 will not cut it.

81. Being lazy in my planning makes the whole day terrible.

82. Modeling. is. key. If you don't show them exactly what you want, most of them will do it wrong.

83. There is never enough time for science and social studies.

84. Working hard does pay off.

85. Pictures and notes from students are so fun.

86. I can tell how well the day went by how many hugs I get while the kids leave.

87. Anything (and I mean anything) can be made fun and exciting- delivery is key.

88. My actions speak louder than words.

89. Saying "I bet your parents don't know this" or "this is something you learn about in high school" will get any kids attention.

90. Never ask "who isn't here today". Hearing "I'm not" is soooo annnooooyyying.

91. Thanks from students and parents is never expected, but greatly appreciated.

92. Art is not my forte.

93. I am not cutesy or creative whatsoever.

94. If I don't think something is important, the kids will pick up on it and believe it isn't important for them either.

95. Readers theaters are the highlights of guided reading time.

96. Kids are very adoring- they would rather eat lunch with me than have a homework pass.

97. Don't ever promise anything that might not happen.

98. I am very uptight and I need to relax about many things.

99. Seeing a student succeed makes the many hours all worth it.

100. There is no such thing as a bad student, just a bad teacher.

iphone + boredom

2011-02-05T21:32:00.000-08:00

This past summer, our kind landlords bought us new furniture! We got to pick out a new couch and dressers. I have never posted pictures, so here are our dressers that we love.

Mine:

Tyler's:

Thanks mom and dad!

For an anniversary present, my grandma made us a quilt, which has provided me a lot of warmth during this winter season. (there is a comforter, fuzzy blanket, and sheets underneath. yep...)

And lastly,

I love my Anthro bowls.

tooth trouble

2011-01-22T20:52:00.000-08:00

last week, tyler and i received some bad news. you see, for the past 21 years i have prided myself on being cavity free. dentists have always complimented me on my good, strong teeth. tyler was also a member of the no-cavity club. i couldn't wait to pass on our good genes to our future children.

until last week.

thanks to my job, we are able to have reasonably priced dental insurance. since tyler hadn't been to the dentist in about 5 years (!), and we both were having some minor tooth aches, so we found a dentist and made appointments. tyler went first........2 cavities. plus he needed to get some enamel put on one of his teeth. i'll admit, i snickered a bit when i heard.

until a few days later, when it was my turn.

the hygienist takes my x-rays, and i sit and admire them while waiting for the dentist to come in. "what amazing, cavity-free teeth i have" i thought. i look hard for anything that looked like a cavity, but i don't see anything but teeth. i figure my sore tooth was nothin.

then the dentist comes in. he looks at the x rays for half a second and then utters the dooming phrase: "looks like you have two cavities". he then proceeds to zoom in on the minuscule, slightly dark spots on two of my molars.

my life will never be the same.

within a week, the same dental office has rocked the worlds of two former cavity free club members. boo. not to mention those puppies are $92 bucks a pop....after insurance. you do the math.

pics

2011-01-16T18:07:00.000-08:00

what have we been up to?

spending many hours in my classroom. (i even roped tyler into coming with me on saturday)

loving/hating the snow and frigid temperatures. tyler is on a quest to find the biggest icicle in provo.

happy new year!

2011-01-01T09:05:00.000-08:00

it is now 2011, and i can't believe it! 2010 was awesome! here are some things we did:

tyler: took a snowboarding class and became a pro, decided he wanted to major in accounting, got a sweet internship in bakersfield for the summer and made us some money, planned an awesome one year anniversary trip for us, went camping in the sequoias, got accepted into the BYU accounting program, went to all the BYU home football games, rode his scooter hundreds of miles, won a TV, studied a TON, got his first iPhone, turned 23, got all A's in the first semester of the junior core, became a nursery leader, took out a lot of trash, and was a great husband.

allison: finished her last semester of BYU classes, got a position teaching 3rd grade, lived with 4 other single girls in an apartment during spring term, completed her minor, was a bridesmaid for her good friend Annie, spent a great summer in bakersfield, went on an awesome anniversary trip to the beach, went camping in the sequoias, spent hundreds of hours setting up her classroom, fell in love with 30 kids, turned 21, became a better cook, became a better visiting teacher, watched a million reality shows, got all new furniture in her apartment, became a nursery leader, planned thousands of lesson plans, and was a great wife.

here are some of my goals and resolutions for 2011:

-make dinner at least 5 nights a week

-exercise at least 4 days a week

-read the scriptures every day

-increase my patience and tolerance levels

-do more acts of service and sacrifice more for others

-go to the temple more often

-be the best teacher i can be

-not stress over the small stuff

bring on 2011!

deal or no deal

2011-01-01T08:00:00.000-08:00

my brother ben got a deal or no deal DVD game for christmas. my dad decided to make it interesting and let us each play but with real money.

we all ended up with a nice chunk of change. in each of our games, tyler and i both put it all on the line...it was between two cases and we each ended up with the higher amount. it was intense.

christmas through the years

2010-12-27T15:08:00.000-08:00

i was looking through pictures and i found some old sibling christmas eve pictures. look how we've changed through the years:

2003: age 14....my awkward stage obviously

(2004 is missing for some reason)

2005: age 16, tyler and i were dating

2006: age 17, tyler had just left for his mission in september, and i was graduating that following june

2007: age 18, coming home from my first semester at BYU. the freshman 15 is obvious.

2008: age 19, tyler had just gotten home from his mission in september and we were pretty much dating already

2009: first christmas married!

2010: here we are now, i am graduated and tyler is plugging along through school.

merry christmas!

2010-12-26T21:21:00.000-08:00

we had a great christmas this year! we got to come home to bakersfield and spend time with both of our families, who live about 2 minutes from each other.

we had christmas eve dinner at my house. our tradition is to have hourderve type food and a chocolate fondue. yummy!

cleaning it up afterward got a little messy

tyler was having a blast licking it clean

we also exchange sibling gifts on christmas eve--tyler drew ben's name

and ben drew my name. he picked out a cute sweater for me all by himself!

then the kids get in their pajamas and we make a pyramid....hahaha!

we woke up at 7:30 to open presents

before....

like my hair? yummy.

the present we got for my parents

...and after

i got the anthro latte bowls i wanted! i love them.

and the fancy pan! and the food processor! it was great

and tyler got the snowboarding coat he really wanted.

then we went over to tyler's house and opened more presents with them! that night we had a yummy dinner with ty's family. it was a great day!

hope you all had a very merry christmas as well!

rain, rain

2010-12-26T16:54:00.000-08:00

while we were visiting, bakersfield experienced a freak rain storm that lasted 3 days straight. this is the corner of the neighborhood at my parents house.

tyler threw on his swimsuit and ditched his shirt. crazy guy.

we hopped in the canoes to have some fun.

this is the pumper truck that came to clear the water.

tree that is usually in the neighbors yard.

us hanging out in the canoe
it was sooo deep! i decided i needed a good, white trash experience.

at around 4, the local news crew showed up to see what was happening. tyler and my sisters stayed out there and ended up on the 5 o clock news! of course, right after they showed them they showed a health guy telling everyone to stay away from the hazardous, dirty water. we all scrubbed ourselves good in the shower after that.

click here to see tyler's few seconds of fame: http://southwest.bakersfieldnow.com/content/eyewitness-news-reporter-takes-kayak-flood-report

the mister comes to visit

2010-12-25T16:27:00.000-08:00

the last day of school before christmas break was friday december 17th. we had a very fun day filled with an assembly, treats, computers, presents, a party, the works. the kids had been begging for a read-a-thon and a pajama day since the first day of school, so us third grade teachers decided to just give them both at once on a day when nothing else would get done anyway. i was just as excited as them to go to school in my pj's!

not ever getting to experience one myself, a read-a-thon is where you bring a stack of books, blankets/pillows, and snacks to school and everyone lies on the floor and reads all day. let's just say not much actual reading happened. i told the kids they could bring ONE snack just for THEM to have. of course there were the kids who brought a huge bag of candy, or a whole large bag of cheetos (those were the kids who i wanted to be as a child). then there were the few kids who brought an apple or pretzels (that's who i was as a child). it was very interesting analyzing parents based on what the kids brought for their snack.

our makeshift tree one of the students brought--these are all the presents the kids brought for the gift exchange.

the best part of the day: tyler came to visit. the kids were STOKED. i told them he might come and you would have thought i was giving them all an ipod. he got to my room while the kids were at recess, and when the kids came in they all peeked over at him all shy, until i brought them to the carpet. i let them ask him questions and then he read them a christmas story. you would have thought he was doing stand up based on all the laughing. they were so excited.

i was also showered with gifts. the kids were so excited to give me their presents!

i got some bath and body works, some gift cards, lots of chocolate, and one of the girls made me that sign i am holding.

all in all, a fun day i am glad only comes once a year!

(i know today is christmas and this is not a christmas day post- that is coming later)

treats

2010-12-13T17:41:00.000-08:00

tyler always laughs when i use the term "treats" to describe ice cream, cookies, candy, etc. but the word treats just warms me up inside.

this year i decided to make some christmas treat plates of my own to give away. it was fun and delicious. i made sugar cookies, pretzels with hugs, and oreo truffles. i love christmas.

(ignore the ugly blue plate)

and now......

Funny Stories from room 107

Scene 1: Guided Reading (small group of kids at the same reading level) and we are reading a play called Cesar Chavez Comes to Visit. Yeah, it was just as weird as it sounds. Anyway, the play starts talking about unions, so I have to explain what they are....to 8 year olds)

Me: Unions are groups that help workers to make sure they get the money they work for and that they are treated fairly. Even teachers can be a part of unions.

Student: Wait a second....you get PAID to be a teacher??

Me: Ummm....yeah.

(But my paycheck would hardly show it....)

Scene 2: Science time, learning about living and nonliving things.

Me: One characteristic of living things is that they reproduce. That means they make more of themselves. You know if something reproduces if it has parents. Can you think of any living thing that does not reproduce?

Female Student: Men. Men do NOT reproduce.

awkward silence

Me: (quickly) But humans do reproduce. Anyway.....

funnies

2010-11-28T21:08:00.000-08:00

my sister found these on someone's blog and my whole family was laughing hysterically. enjoy!

1. Two antennas met on a roof, fell in love and got married. The ceremony wasn't much, but the reception was excellent.

2. A jumper cable walks into a bar. The bartender says, "I'll serve you, but don't start anything."

3. Two peanuts walk into a bar, and one was a salted.

4. A dyslexic man walks into a bra.

5. A man walks into a bar with a slab of asphalt under his arm, and says: "A beer please, and one for the road."

6. Two cannibals are eating a clown. One says to the other: "Does this taste funny to you?"

7. "Doc, I can't stop singing 'The Green, Green Grass of Home."
"That sounds like Tom Jones Syndrome."
"Is it common?"
"Well, It's Not Unusual."

8. Two cows are standing next to each other in a field. Daisy says to Dolly, "I was art ificially inseminated this morning."
"I don't believe you," says Dolly.
"It's true; no bull!" exclaims Daisy.

9. An invisible man marries an invisible woman. The kids were nothing to look at either.

10. Deja Moo: The feeling that you've heard this bull before.

11. I went to buy some camouflage trousers the other day, but I couldn't find any.

12. A man woke up in a hospital after a serious accident. He shouted, "Doctor, doctor, I can't feel my legs!"
The doctor replied, "I know you can't - I've cut off your arms!"

13. I went to a seafood disco last week...and pulled a mussel.

14. What do you call a fish with no eyes? A fsh.

15. Two fish swim into a concrete wall. The one turns to the other and says, "Dam!"

16. Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak were chilly, so they lit a fire in the craft. Unsurprisingly it sank, proving once again that you can't have your kayak and heat it too.

17. A group of chess enthusiasts checked into a hotel, and were standing in the lobby discussing their recent tournamentvictories. After about an hour, the manager came out of the office, and asked them to disperse. "But why," they asked, as they moved off.
"Because," he said, "I can't stand chess-nuts boasting in an open foyer."

18. A woman has twins, and gives them up for adoption. One of them goes to a family in Egypt, and is named "Ahmal." The other goes to a family in Spain; they name him "Juan." Years later, Juan sends a picture of himself to his birth mother. Upon receiving the picture, she tells her husband that she wishes she had a picture of Ahmal. Her husband responds, "They're twins! If you've seen Juan, you've seen Ahmal."

19. Mahatma Gandhi, as you know, walked barefoot most of the time, which produced an impressive set of calluses on his feet. He also ate very little, which made him rather frail and with his odd diet, he suffered from bad breath.. This made him. (Oh, man, this is so bad, it's good) ... A super-calloused fragile mystic hexed by halitosis.

20. And finally, there was the person who sent twenty different puns to his friends, with the hope that at least ten of the puns would make them laugh. No pun in ten did.

wish list

2010-11-18T19:55:00.000-08:00

(just in case anyone was wondering)

1. books for my classroom.

2. a lot of washable markers--for my class.
3. these adorable measuring cups. also measuring spoons from anthro

4. this dress from shabby apple. or any dress from shabby apple.

5. a fancy 9x13 pan

6. a cute apron

7. large latte bowls from anthro

8. a food processor

of course, none of these things are needs. merely wants :)

pumpkin pie challenge

2010-11-14T20:42:00.000-08:00

Here's the scoop-- every Thanksgiving my family has pumpkin pie for dessert. And we always buy it from Costco. This year I suggested making pumpkin pie, and my mom said that nothing can beat the price/taste of Costco pumpkin pie, and Tyler agreed. I decided to see if I could prove them wrong, and planned a blind pie taste test.

I made 2 recipes--one from the back of the Libby's canned pumpkin can, one is Paula Deen's recipe, and then I bought a Costco pie.

Here they are (I forgot to get a shot of them in their whole and perfect state.)

From the left: Libby's recipe, Paula Deen's, and the monster pie is from Costco.

We were having dinner with some of my extended family, so I figured this would be the perfect chance to have a large group of testers.

Two of my cousins trying it out.

Tyler (who ate probably half a pie's worth of pie altogether)
Most of the gang in the kitchen (the panoramic feature messes with people's faces sometimes)

And the results...

Libby's: 6 votes (Grandpa, Grandma, Kelli, Abby, Shailee, Allison)

Paula Deen's: 2 votes (Tyler-gasp-, Craig)

Costco: 0 votes

Interesting, eh?

Everyone agreed that the Costco pie tasted blander than the other two pies. Paula Deen's recipe had cream cheese in it, so it was more creamy and cheese-cakey. Libby's had a more "spice" taste to it, which we agreed we liked better. It all depends on your taste.

So, in the first challenge of me vs. Costco--I came out victorious!

Me holding the winning pie!

someone loves me

2010-11-12T15:58:00.000-08:00

During morning announcements on Wednesday, I went back to my desk and found this:

A cute little surprise from one of my students. I could only smile while I read it. Children can be so sweet (when they want to be). Things like this keep me going when I want to scream because a kid lost the 12th copy of their spelling words.

In case you can't read it, it says:

Dear Teacher,

You are a good teacher, you are one of the best so I wrote a poem for you it is called school.

School is a place to learn it is a place to make friends, but out of all the 3rd grade teachers I think you are the best!

halloween and a funny story

2010-11-03T18:24:00.000-07:00

halloween this year was a lot of fun! everything is more fun with 9 year olds. every single kid dressed up on friday, and we had a day full of parties and parades, candy, puzzles, and hyperness.

i dressed up as a cowgirl. super creative, i know.

here is me and two of my girls who were also cowgirls.

(faces have been covered to protect their privacy and so i don't get sued for something)

friday night we went to our ward halloween party, dressed up as.....nothing. we are lame-os. i am really bad at thinking of good costumes and being able to part with money for good costumes.

maybe next year. (probably not)

funny story:

in my classroom, we have a compliment can. the kids can write anonymous compliments to anyone in the class throughout the week, and i read them every wednesday in our class meeting.

so today, about halfway through i open the paper to read "John* is so cute", obviously in a girls handwriting.

the class exploded.

John* turned beat red and started giggling, clearly embarrassed. the rest of the class went wild. everyone was laughing so hard, and i could barely contain myself. one boy said "Sarah* isn't laughing, she probably wrote it!". luckily no one really heard him over the din. another boy said "oooo, john, you are so cute!".

is this really starting already? i hope the kids haven't gotten any ideas for this week's compliment jar submissions!

*names have been changed

mcmonopoly

2010-10-31T20:43:00.000-07:00

monopoly: a game beloved by many.....especially tyler and i.

it all started on friday night. after our ward halloween party, we decided to pick up a movie at redbox. our closest redbox happens to be located outside of a mcdonalds. we are waiting in line to look at the movies, and tyler notices the monopoly game promotions...and gets very excited.

growing up, i always thought the mcdonalds monopoly event was pretty cool, but i never got to be a part of it. mostly because my mom does not especially love mcdonalds, and she definitely doesn't love anything size "large" at fast food restaurants, which happen to be the food items that are graced by game pieces.

so we go inside and decide to get some fries and a drink, just so we can get the game pieces. we have an intense amount of fun revealing our six pieces, placing them on our game board, and suddenly we were hooked. but our problem...the game was ending monday, november 1st.

i won't share the exact numbers, but let's just say we visited various mcdonalds somewhere between 3-20 times on saturday. we bought between 5-15 medium drinks. tyler consumed between 2-6 big macs. we shared between 2-7 large fries. we ate 1-5 orders of chicken nuggets. we spent between 1-50 dollars. we have between 15-70 game pieces.

i know.

but we also had the chance to give random acts of service. my mom will be happy to know that we did not actually drink all those sodas. on one of our trips, we bought 5 medium sodas (they are only $1 and have 2 game pieces each). we then proceeded to give away those empty cups to people walking in.

but you know what? it was an adventure. did we win anything? as a matter of fact, we did. we won one free breakfast sandwich and one free beef sandwich (excluding big macs). we also have 3 park places....just in case anyone finds a boardwalk. also, we are only one red piece, one railroad, one yellow piece, and one light blue piece away from winning big.

our dreams of winning $1,000,000 may have been temporarily dashed, but there is always next year.

i am glad that tyler and i can be dorks together and do what we love :)

last night

2010-10-28T16:34:00.000-07:00

tyler and i are laying in bed both trying to fall asleep. i have been laying there awake for about 15 minutes, thinking of all the spanish i learned in high school. i figured tyler was asleep by now.

suddenly he picks his head off his pillow. i asked him what was up.

Tyler: "what's that weird ticking noise?" (Umm.....harry potter puppet pals?)

Me: "what noise? what does it sound like?"

Tyler: "I don't know, it's like a ticking noise

Then he says: "Are you blinking?"

Me: "Yeah...my eyes are open." I then start repeatedly blinking.

Me: "Is that the sound you are hearing?" (I cannot hear any sound my blinking may be producing)

Tyler: "Yeah. It sounds like ticking"

Me: (singing) " I'm Harry Potter, I'm Harry Potter"

No response.

I stop singing, roll over, and keep going through my spanish vocabulary.

5 minutes later......

Tyler: "Can you just close your eyes and stop blinking? It's really annoying"

so i guess my blinking is so loud, people can't sleep. who knew?

no sugar day one

2010-10-25T16:33:00.000-07:00

Yesterday after church I made a rash decision--to go this whole week without consuming any sugar.

Anyone that knows me knows that I am a sugar queen. I love treats...all and any kind of treat, and I really should start cutting back. I was going to attempt going one day without sugar, but that would be too easy. So I made it a week and I am going to do it! When I told Tyler he just laughed and said I can't so won't this show him! So a whole week of no sugar...no candy, cake, soda, sweet cereal, cookies, ice cream, etc etc. This blog post is to give me something to be accountable to!

Today wasn't too hard. I had to resist grabbing a piece of candy after school from the treat bucket (supposed to be rewards for the kids) but other than that it hasn't been torture.

Thankfully we finished the Oreo Truffles yesterday....

recently (in pictures)

2010-10-17T20:42:00.000-07:00

Recently.....

Tyler had his 23rd birthday. Instead of a cake, he wanted cupcakes from Sweet Tooth Fairy. Good choice.

Did you know that he loves when I take pictures of him eating?
The reason you do not see any presents is because I am holding his present....and iPhone 4!! Yes he got the beloved iPhone. And he LOVES it. Who is an awesome wife?

Last night we went to a Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband concert. For FREE! Ernst and Young, one of the top accounting firms, does a ton of recruiting at BYU. So they put on this concert for all accounting students. Before the concert, we all got cow bells and noise makers. At the end, we all got free copies of their CD's, huge cookies, fruit, and big bags of candy. All for FREE! We love being bribed and bought.

We have been attending all the BYU home games since we bought season tickets. Some have been fun, some have been miserable. Our happiness depends on how well they play....so our Saturdays haven't been very happy.

To celebrate our birthdays, we went to Tucanos up in Salt Lake.
Tyler hates restaurant pictures. Therefore, he does not get the privilege of being shown here.

I had my birthday,. My mom sent me this Celebrate plate that I really wanted! Also she got me this really nice glass bowl from Pampered Chef I have been wanting for FOREVER. My family spoiled me even further with some Banana Republic gift cards. Talk about amazing.

Tyler got me some cutting boards and some gummi bears.

My grandma made me this super cute cake!
I got many other cards/gifts/texts/wall posts from so many other people. Thanks everyone!

I also dyed my hair.....and am now a brunette. So far I am loving it! I needed a change.

All pictures taken with Ty's iPhone 4

dreams and birthdays

2010-10-14T15:08:00.001-07:00

I think I might have a problem....

Tyler said that last night I sat up in bed and said "I meant to wear a normal shirt, not a see-through shirt" and then laid down and rolled over.

what the heck?

I am an active dreamer. I have always had dreams almost every night. But ever since school started, they have only gotten weirder. Some of them are me discovering that I am about to meet with a parent and I am only in my underwear. or I will wake up sitting up in bed, about to say something like "ok now put your books away and look up here" or "come meet me at the carpet". I have to thoroughly convince myself that I really don't need to say these things out loud because it was just a dream. SO WEIRD.

My 3rd grade class is literally taking over my life. I stay awake at night thinking things like "where can i have _____ sit so he can actually learn?" or "I have a million papers to grade....oh no i think ______ didn't turn in their spelling"

What the heck.

Luckily, fall break came just in time. no school today and tomorrow....and it is awesome.

IN OTHER NEWS...

I recently had my birthday! I am now 21 and the only thing I still can't do is run for president or rent a car.

I told my kids I was turning 36....they totally believed me. So did some of the parents.

at parent teacher conference I heard statements like: " my child told me you were turning 36. is that true??? I couldn't believe it! you look very young to be 36! wow!"

I fessed up and said I was in my "early 20's". I don't want to scare parents off with my real age.

In my classroom, we have a birthday tradition of having a class meeting. everyone sits in a circle and says something nice about the birthday person. The kids LOVE it. so of course the kids insisted we have a class meeting on my birthday. They said things like "you are a good teacher" "you are nice" "i thought you were going to be mean, but you are very nice" (W???) "you are beautiful" "you are funny" "you are lovely" "you are smart" etc etc.

being a teacher is the greatest. I have the best fan club ever.

Also, today is TYLER's birthday! I would go on and on about how great he is, but he hates that sort of thing.

So happy birthday Tyler! I love you!

Tomorrow we are going to TUCANOS to celebrate!! getting our meat on.

(also, I may or may not be sitting here and eating the gummi bears I got him for his birthday. but he's come to expect that sort of thing)

The Substitute

2010-10-01T19:50:00.000-07:00

I know, I know it's been awhile. I blame it on the fact that I am a first year teacher. Also I cannot find my cord that connects my camera to the computer...so that is why there is a lack of pictures.

Let me tell you about a recent experience. There are many things they don't tell you in your elementary education college education. One of them: how to deal with having a substitute.

On Tuesday I had to attend a district literacy training. It started at 12:30, meaning I need a sub to cover the second half of the day. Meaning this is my first substitute ever. I was scared.

I spend about an hour typing up the exact schedule for the hours of 12:00-3:30. I make sure every minute is planned. I provide many additional activity suggestions in case the sub runs out of things to do. I also expect the sub to actually provide my students with instruction....nope, no movie watching for my students. (mistake)

Tuesday comes. I am nervous the whole morning. I threaten the kids with recess loss if they are monsters (but I know they will be good--my 3rd graders are amazing.) I also tell the kids that they can earn 7 class points if they are good for the sub. (mistake). That is a LOT of points, considering they only need 20 by Friday to earn their extra recess/PE/art/whatever they choose to be their reward.

I told the sub to show up at 12:00 (side note: the process of getting a sub is very strange to me, and nothing like I expected). He shows up at 11:45. So I explain to him everything I wrote down, and he starts telling me how he has never actually been a teacher, he has just subbed a lot. But he has coached gymnastics, so he knows what's up (scared look on my face).

It's 11:59. I need to leave. But I can't. How can I leave my 30 children with a complete stranger?? What if something happens?? (side note: a fellow first year teacher had a student jump out of a window and run away while a sub was there. true story. it happened like last week.) The kiddos are at lunch when I leave, and I didn't get a proper goodbye because the sub showed up early. What if the room gets trashed, what if the sub steals my whiteboard markers, what if the kids don't check their cubbies before they leave, what if he writes on the glass on the overhead projector with a Sharpie?? Seriously, all of these thoughts ran through my head.

I can barely stand leaving. I felt like a mother leaving her baby with a babysitter for the first time. I walked by the lunchroom to wave a final goodbye to my class, and I leave the building reluctantly.

I get to the training, and every ten minutes I wonder what they are doing. Are they actually writing their personal narratives? Are they actually practicing making predictions during the read aloud? Finally it hit 3:30 and I knew the students would be heading for the safety of their homes.

Next day: I am apprehensive while entering the room. I open the door and find....organization. Almost everything was exactly as I had left it. Except the sub had written some weird things on the board, and when I asked the students what it was, they claimed to not know. Hmmm. Well, come to find out that they did not make predictions, and only a few of them had actually done the writing assignment. But surprisingly, I didn't mind. Even though half a day of learning had been practically wasted, they were alive and no one seemed to be scarred for life. The sub was decent. The kids were happy. And I was relieved. I had survived a very strange experience.

I pretended to forget about them earning class points for being good...of course, no 9 year old EVER forgets about the chance to earn class points. They insist that I said they could earn 7. I pretend to act like I don't know what they are talking about. Then I give them 5 points (because they weren't ABSOLUTELY perfect. and if they earn the reward too quickly, I don't have any more leverage for them to behave).

And I get to go through it all again on Friday....

the first days of school

2010-08-27T21:08:00.001-07:00

well.....

i am tired!

sometimes i feel like i am 'playing teacher' haha. but then i think about all the work i have to do, and then all the playful feelings disappear.

but the kids are amazing. 8 year olds are awesome! sure they are occasionally chatty and seem to have very small bladders, but they are adorable!

the most interesting thing is that children have so much respect for their teacher. they listen to what i say, they believe anything i say, and they really look up to me. they are just so trusting and loving.

it is also really amazing how one little stroke of a white board marker on the "class point" tally can quiet 31 children in seconds.

i am already attached to my class, and even though i have felt frustrated, tired, annoyed, dumb, and no good at my job a few times over the past couple of days, those kids have made it all worth it.

here is me on the first day of school!

don't i look like such a teacher?

yes, i also look tired. this was taken at about 7:15 am after waking up at 6:15 am. waayyy too early.

i even have my own ID tag on a lanyard i have to wear, my keys jingle when i walk, and i carry a clipboard.

crazy.

you all should become teachers. i highly recommend it.

(the best part? the awesome pay! hahahaha.)

Camping in the Sequoias

2010-07-26T08:59:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Tyler and I took a trip with my family to the Sequoias. We had never been before so we were super excited for a mini vacay to the mountains, where it is around 80 degrees during the middle of the day. Heaven.

We took off on Thursday...we picked up Tyler from work and we were on the road.

setting up our tent. ty and i slept in an 8 person tent all by ourselves and it was awesome!

plus, we had an air mattress. neither of us had experienced that camping luxury before and now we don't think we can camp without it.

also, tyler is refusing to shave until he goes back to byu. mountain man.

sitting on our double chair by the camp fire

the next day we woke up and hiked through grant's grove, where we saw tons of huge sequoias

family picture on a rock

this is me climbing in a tree...not a cave, a tree. you can tell it was super dirty and dusty in there

us all in the tree

tyler in the tree looking out through a hole haha

that night we roasted lots of marshmallows

i love smores!

the next day we hiked moro rock, which consists of climbing rock stairs straight up for 1/3 of a mile.

this is the view from the top.....so amazing!

our camera has the best panoramic feature. this is the view almost all the way around from the top

we made it to the top!

when we were driving back home, we could see moro rock. we climbed to the top of that!

we had an awesome time!

life in california

2010-07-21T15:05:00.001-07:00

life is pretty good right now...i am back in california with tyler and it is awesome! we are living at tyler's parents house and my house is down the street so we are enjoying spending time with both our families and being back in our home ward.

tyler has been working at an accounting internship all summer and making us lots of $$$ so we can get an education

what am i doing? nothing! and it is awesome! i have been out of school since the end of june and i am not missing it one bit! i wake up, go to the gym, and then the rest of the day i swim/shop/tan/read/whatever i want. it rocks.

but it is coming to an end soon--i am heading back up to utah the 2nd week of august because school starts aug 25th and i need to get into teacher mode!

last weekend we went to the beach, and this weekend we are going camping in the sequoias! i love summer.

first anniversary

2010-06-30T09:42:00.001-07:00

so this post is a bit delayed...i took a 4th of july vacation to utah with my family.

but i am back now to tell everyone about our first anniversary trip!

yes it is true. june 26th marked one year of marriage.

one long year...haha just kidding.

tyler and i have known each other since january '05, so about 5 1/2 years. we started out by being friends, which was awesome. we had so much fun in high school.

i thought we knew each other so well, but marriage adds a whole new dimension to a relationship.

being married has been so cool. my life has changed so much, all for the better. i love being able to spend so much time with tyler, i love everything we do together, and i love being a wife. it hasn't been all fun and games, but mostly :)

we celebrated by spending 3 days in marina del rey.

us driving on thursday evening
on friday we slept in, picked up some subway, and hung out on the beach all afternoon.

we laid out, i read eclipse to prepare myself for the movie, and we went boogie boarding. it was a super nice day, and the water was perfect.

oh, and i got sunburned. MAJOR. it was really bad. mostly on the back on my thighs, and it hurt for days.

that night we walked around venice beach, which was interesting, and then we went to the santa monica pier.

on the boardwalk.

it was so fun going on a trip together! next year, HAWAII!

haha i will keep hoping. tyler wants to go to russia....ummm....

Annie's Wedding!

2010-06-22T10:37:00.001-07:00

my BFF annie is MARRIED!

her and ryan are so cute and i am so glad they found each other.

annie has had lots of boys in her life and i am glad none of them worked out because ryan is definitely the best for her!

it was sad being at a wedding and not being with tyler....but i got through it.

the jumping picture--bridemaids&groomsman

us with the bride!

coming out of the temple

at the reception

such a fun time, i love her! i am so excited to have another married friend.

my classroom

2010-06-15T20:42:00.000-07:00

i just got the keys to my classroom for next year! i am so excited to be able to move in and make the room mine. Even though the school is old, the rooms are nice and big....plus I get my own Smart Board!

Here are some pictures.

(Obviously I have a lot of furniture moving and decorating to do.)

The front

Half of the right side

the other half of the right side

Half of the left side....yes that is a chalk board.

the other half of the left side....don't you just love the brick? What the heck do I do with a brick wall?

The back wall

So yes, it is a bit of a mess right now...there are about a thousand different wall textures and colors... but it definitely has potential.

It will look even better with 28 smiling 3rd grade faces!

why all girls need a husband

2010-06-08T20:15:00.001-07:00

(well not this one obviously)

1. they can kill the bugs--the other night there was a HUGE beetle thing near the window above my bed. I started freaking out...luckily my roommate has no fear and smashed the little devil for me. i want to be like her. I need my bug killer!

2. to say you are beautiful and do not look fat. Tyler always tells me these things, and is always rolling his eyes and saying "you are not fat!". i like it.

3. you need someone to share a pizza with. i have been wanting pizza lately (which is weird because i don't even like pizza that much) but i can't make a whole pizza or order a whole pizza....there is no way i can eat the whole thing. how annoying.

4. to cook the meat. tyler is a great meat cooker. and i don't like cooking meat. boys just have that natural ability.

5. they listen to stories. i love having someone to rant to.

6. cuddle buddy. tyler is always up for cuddling....and all other physical activity haha.

7. keeps you on the straight and narrow. tyler is always encouraging me with my school work, and this semester i have been a HUGE slacker...not studying for tests, maybe not writing a paper....whoops....

8. whisper partner during church. i mean, of course we don't talk during church.... but don't you hate when you really have the perfect thing to say, but no one to say it to??

9. take out the trash. i hate doing this. it is man's work. and tyler always does it without me asking.

10. accompany you to the grocery store. i hate shopping by myself!

11. you make better dinners. i definitely cook better when i am cooking for two.

12. just because being married is awesome.

weekend

2010-05-31T16:34:00.000-07:00

this weekend was awesome! mostly because i got to spend the whole time with ty ty.

we went to nickelcade and bought some awesome wooden recorder/flute things with our tickets...you should have heard our beautiful music.

we went to the dollar theater and saw alice in wonderland....weird.

we went to the mall and shopped...tyler got a sweet volcom shirt for $6. yes we are bargain experts. i also spend $54 at bath and body works....ok we needed soap, and they were having a buy 3 get 3 free sale on all their other stuff! i couldn't pass it up.

we went to costco for samples (1st lunch) then ty got a hot dog and i got a salad (2nd lunch)

we went up to salt lake, planning to go to the zoo but it was PACKED, so we passed. then we wanted to go to the midget chocolate shop, Hatch Family Chocolates, but it was closed. LAME. so we went to the Gateway and had lunch, and i drooled all through Anthropologie...one day....

we went on walks, ate treats, watched movies, made dinner together, and relaxed.

and why aren't there any pictures? well, our camera battery is basically dead, and so we did some research and decided on this beauty:

the Sony Cybershot W350:

it has the coolest panoramic feature! i am super excited. but, when we went to costco this morning to buy it, the store was closed...dang holidays. but later this week it will be ours! sweeeeeet.

cheers to a great time together! i love my tyler!

happy 11 months

2010-05-26T19:53:00.000-07:00

it all started in high school...... (us at Disneyland sometime in 2006)

then tyler left for russia...... :( (right before he left for the airport in Oct 2006)

then he came home.....(one of our first dates-he made me a scavenger hunt around Bakersfield that ended as a picnic in our favorite park! Oct 2008)

then we celebrated valentines day together............. (rascal flatts concert Feb 2009)

then we got engaged..... (no pictures but it was in April 2009)

and 11 months ago today, we sealed the deal......

and couldn't be happier!

top ten

2010-05-15T20:35:00.000-07:00

i love reading&making lists, and busy bee lauren has inspired me to make a top ten list. this is what my life is coming to :(

this idea came to me while i was driving home from my ward activity...an old 3 doors down song came on the radio, and i was like "man i love this song! i miss this song! i love 3 doors down! what other songs have i forgotten about?"

so when i got home i plugged in my ipod to look at my top played songs.

The Ten Most Played Songs on my Ipod:

1. Fast Cars and Freedom by Rascal Flatts

2. Better With You by Five Times August

3. Out of My League by Stephen Speaks

4. Work by Jimmy Eat World

5. Bubbly by Colbie Caillat

6. The Best Thing by Relient K

7. Little Moments by Brad Paisley

8. My Best Friend by Tim McGraw

9. Kiss the Girl (Disney Version) by Ashley Tisdale

10. More Than Words by Frankie J

Every single one of these songs remind me of high school. i don't listen to my ipod as much as i did back then, so my new favorites haven't crept up the list yet. but this list is ridiculous...i mean 9&10? i feel embarrassed that they are there. i just listened to 'more than words' again to see if it can redeem itself....and the answer is no.

My ACTUAL Top Ten Favorite Songs and Why:

1. It's Your Love by Tim McGraw and Faith Hill: It's our wedding song and it is amazing. Enough said.

2.Tiger Lily by Matchbook Romance: This song pretty much got me through the 2 years Tyler was on his mission. ok corniest thing ever. But he put this song on a mix CD he gave me the day before he left, and I bawled through the whole thing.

3. Stolen by Dashboard Confessional: Another song from a mix CD from Tyler.

4. She's Everything by Brad Paisley: I almost cried when I heard him sing this at his concert. Brad is amazing, this song is amazing.

5. Forever by Chris Brown: I was so sad that Chris beat Rhianna...he was my R&B hero. I love his voice and his moves.

6. My Best Friend by Tim McGraw: the lyrics are awesome, and it reminds me of me&ty

7. The Best Thing by Relient K: such an underrated band.

8. Don't Stop Believing by the Glee Cast: Ok, kind of lame, but this song can put me in a good mood no matter what. It pumps me up and makes me believe I am a good singer.

9. Only One by Yellowcard: awesome

10. a tie between twenty other songs

brown

2010-04-30T21:05:00.000-07:00

once upon a time, i looked like this:

the day we left our 2 month vacay in hawaii.

i have never looked so tan, my hair never looked so blond, my teeth never looked so white.

maybe if the sun would come back, i could look like this again....

spicy

2010-04-28T19:25:00.000-07:00

the beginning of a new semester means new classes, new classmates, new teachers. so many new people to meet. the past few semesters i have taken smaller classes, so this has meant a bazillion introductions. nothing new this semester....in every class we have to go around saying our names, where we are from, something interesting about ourselves, blah blah blah. i get so BORED. but i like to add some flavor. you see, sometimes i think i am pretty funny (just ask tyler). here are some of my favorite introductions:

(at a teaching science wildlife thing....we had to say a "personal connection to nature")

While everyone is talking about childhood picnics or hikes, or pets growing up, i say:

"Well, I feel very connected to nature because I was actually born in the forest"

very successful. everyone laughs. some gasp. everyone believes me. then i have to say just kidding, which was a shame.

(at my jazz dance class yesterday...we had to say why we were taking this class)

Everyone says they are taking it for fun and because they just love dance.

i say: "Of course I just love to dance, but I am taking a few exercise classes this semester including this one because my one year anniversary is coming up in June and I want to get skinny"

everyone laughs, my teacher looks uncomfortable and says "oh, for physical fitness!" sure.

(in my racquetball class...we had to say why we were taking this class)

Everyone says because they just love racquetball!

i say: "I am taking this so I can beat my husband at something"

weird laughter, because i am the only married person in the class so no one can relate.

i love byu.

haha

2010-04-19T18:04:00.001-07:00

at the beach in california last year

who i love to hate

2010-04-07T14:46:00.000-07:00

Around our house, we love reality TV. All you pretend TV haters out there, call us what you may. But we are doing homework while we watch, so we are being semi productive.

Anyway, here are some people Tyler and I can't stand.

Melissa from Biggest Loser. Ok every time she talks, I want to mute the TV. I am SO glad she got sent home.

Parvati from Survivor-- first of all, annoying, second of all this was the most modest picture I could find of her. She is such a leech, and I can't stand it when girls think they can get whatever they want because they are cute.

The lesbians from Amazing Race. They are so obnoxious, and I am annoyed that they are still in the race.

And most of all, Kate on Dancing With the Stars. She is an AWFUL dancer, and she is so mean and difficult. Why hasn't she gone home yet??

HAHA ok, so I just noticed that all the people that bug me are women...didn't mean to do that. Plenty of men bother me as well (Jason and Jake from the Bachelor, the wheelchair kid on Glee)

happy easter!

2010-04-05T17:31:00.000-07:00

Tyler and I had a wonderful Easter/Conference Weekend! I loved having Easter Sunday during Conference...what better way to celebrate?

We decorated eggs...

Us on Sunday morning...excuse my black sweatpants. I was only half ready for the day haha.

The Easter bunny came for Tyler!

And for me too! I got the potato masher and can opener I always wanted :)

oh and yummy candy!

Our yummy easter breakfast....cinnamon rolls, strawberries, orange juice, and ultimate breakfast burritos

Now it's back to school...only a week and a half until finals, and then we are gonzo to California! Hellooooo sun and warm weather!

freedom

2010-04-02T19:13:00.000-07:00

so, yesterday was my last day of work at the good ol' GSD (global service desk). now that i have a REAL grown-up job with a SALARY, i decided it was time to say good bye to dealing with frustrated people who are computer incompetent. i have worked there for over a year, so it was little sad leaving......ok, that was a lie. but it was a very good job while it lasted and i am glad for the experiences i had while working there.

i can't wait for school to start! august 20th feels forever away. i am so excited to start buying teacher stuff, and to start decorating my very own classroom! ahhh!

also, i made the tastiest soup for dinner tonight.
check out the recipe here: http://www.martawrites.com/2010/03/enthusiastic-chicken-tortilla-soup_23.html
so delicious!

good news!!

2010-03-29T15:05:00.000-07:00

from the beginning of my byu elementary education major experience, i have been wanting one thing: an internship
an internship means YOU are the teacher. you have your own class for the whole year, and you get paid half a teachers salary (because you aren't graduated yet). you also get a little extra help then normal first year teachers.
i have wanted this SO badly. and today i found out that I am going to be an intern next year!! this morning i had my big interview, and the principal just called me about an hour ago. I will be teaching 3rd grade at a school in Orem.
I am SO exited and SO nervous! It will be so incredibly hard, but i couldn't be happier. i love children and i love teaching, and there is no other job that could make me happier.
so come august 20th (first day of school!) i am going to have my own classroom and my own set of cute little 3rd graders!!

(the picture is me pointing to the spot on our calendar that i wrote on when the principal called to deliver the good news. i was seriously shaking while he was talking to me!)

the results are in...

2010-03-19T18:16:00.000-07:00

we will be spending this summer in......

the beautiful city of Bakersfield!!
Ok maybe not beautiful, but we will get to be with both of our wonderful families.

Tyler got a sweet accounting internship for a company there, and he will be making really good money and getting really great experience. we are super excited!

bread making

2010-03-18T19:59:00.000-07:00

kinda flat, not very pretty, and a little dense but i blame the altitude.

the other day at school (10 days ago to be exact) a lady at the elementary school offered me some starter stuff for amish friendship bread. i had never heard of this stuff and it looked nasty. but i accepted, and it has been sitting on my counter fermenting for the past 10 days (which is what you are supposed to do) and today i baked it.

and for my first time ever making bread, it turned out really yummy! so how it works is you get the starter, then let it sit for a few days, then add flour, sugar, and milk, and let it sit a few more days, then add more flour, sugar, and milk and then split that up into bags to give to other people. so its like a chain letter of bread. kind of weird to think that there is bacteria in this food that has been molding for who knows how long. but it was yummy, full of sugar and cinnamon and oil. and now i am a true wife.

happy march

2010-03-08T17:48:00.000-08:00

march is now my favorite month of 2010. the sun has been shining a LOT, the days are longer, it's getting warmer, i get to go to a 6th grade classroom every day, and this is the last full month of the semester. what could be better?

so every day i go to a 6th grade classroom from 7:30 to 1:30 pm. once a week, my supervisor comes and observes us teaching and gives us a score, which affects our grade and possibly future teaching jobs. every other day i get to teach, help out, grade papers, etc. it has been good so far, but i definitely my third grades from last year. so much less sassy and so much more enthusiastic. BUT it is a great experience. except for the fact that i have to teach a lesson on wednesday in which the student 'discover' the formula for finding the circumference of a circle. good thing i never knew what pi times diameter actually meant before now...sixth graders are smart.

ALSO, holidays are a million times better when spent in an elementary school...think about it....valentine's day?? who didn't love making mailboxes and passing out candy. And in march we get st. patrick's day. I can't wait!

please remove your shoes

2010-02-25T20:21:00.000-08:00

some switch went off in me this past june, sometime around my wedding day. what was that switch? the cleaning bug.

while living at home, i hated chores. i never did any sort of cleaning that wasn't required of me. my room and bathroom were unpleasant. but i was fine with it....i was lazy.

fast forward to college. i start living with roommates who are pretty much just like me. they hate to clean. what do our apartments look like? you don't want to know. and it really bothered me. so i started cleaning....just a little bit.

now i live in my own place with only one roommate. and now i have become slightly obsessed with cleaning (even if our apartment does not always show it). tyler says i get on 'cleaning rampages' in which i get the sudden urge to pick up every single thing in the house...he hates it. mostly because i make him actually throw away stuff like the school newspaper from a week ago sitting on the counter that he still 'really wants to read'.

cleaning is really enjoyable for me now. i love vacuuming (mostly because it takes about 4 minutes to do the whole house and it is instantly rewarding). i love an empty sink. i love our schoolbooks in neat piles. i feel so much better when the bathroom is clean and the laundry is folded.

the thing that bugs tyler the most: my rule about no shoes in the house. and i mean not one step.

2010-02-22T20:27:00.001-08:00

i have a love/hate relationship with this music video. you should watch it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELkWIGOxPyk

sooo sad. but i love rascal flatts...and this song.

fiberlicious

2010-02-16T20:16:00.000-08:00

i love

but raisin bran does not love me.
and it is so sad.

love is in the air

2010-02-14T11:47:00.001-08:00

♥♥♥♥♥ i love valentine's day ♥♥♥♥♥

even when i was single, i thought v-day was so fun! i love love, i love surprises, i love pink, i love treats, and i love flowers and all things cute. so what holiday could be better?

tyler got me a surprise. he knows how much i love treats.

and i got him a surprise :)

haha one of the things in that bag is a stapler. he was talking about how he wanted one and i was like, oh what a perfect valentine's gift haha.

on friday night, we went to our stake dance...we had fun attempting to swing dance

then we came home and moved our mattress out in the living room so we could comfortably watch the Olympics!!! (which have been on nonstop ever since--we won't miss a moment thanks to DVR.)

Then we celebrated again on saturday. tyler took me to see Dear John (which I really enjoyed--it was so sad but so good! i think i prefer the book though)

then we went up to salt lake. in case you didn't know, tyler loves "little people" (midgets). ever seen the show Little People Big World? yeah, he loves the Roloffs.

So when I found out that the little people from the TLC show 'the little chocolatiers' have their shop up in salt lake, i knew we had to go. so we went yesterday, and the chocolates we got were SO yummy!! MUCH better than See's.

Then later we went out to eat at the Mayan, which was really fun. good food, and the diving show was really cool.

we ordered the chocolate explosion cake, which they brought out with a sparker exploding on the top. it was really cool. and the cake was delicious.

and today we are spending the rest of the day at home, watching the Olympics and just being together :)

i love my valentine!

happy birthday hannah!

2010-02-14T11:30:00.000-08:00

today my youngest sister hannah (on the right) is 9!

she is such a cutie, so happy, and so creative! she definitely got the arts and crafts/creative gene in the family!

we love you hannah

♥