BYU Football + Mary Poppins = Fantastic Weekend

Friday night started with a drive to Provo to watch the BYU vs. UCF football game.  After watching the cougs get stomped on by Utah I was not in a hurry to get there.  However, I had a ticket and two middle schoolers who needed a ride to the game so I made the journey.  It was worth every second spent in the car and not in my badly disorganized classroom.  The cougars actually pulled through and beat UCF.  (I'm so glad because I love going to the games, they are so much fun!)  After the game Mom and I stayed at the Becthold's house in Lehi.  The Becthold's are a great couple that we knew from Cody.  

All that I have to say about that night is that Mom's great air mattress has a hole so we spent a lot of the night with our backs on the cement floor.  Not much sleep was had by us. :(

The next day we got up and shopped a little then we met Shannon and Claire at:

Yummy!!!

Then we walked to the Capitol Theater to watch Mary Poppins:

Can I just say that I LOVED it!!!  So amazing.  My favorite song was "Step in Time".  There are no words to explain the awesomeness of watching a childhood favorite movie being played out live in front of you!!!  

All in all the weekend was so much fun, if only I could come home to a clean house.  That would be nice. :)

SUMMER!!

At the beginning of this school year I thought that the end couldn't come soon enough.  I feel like I was handed a challenge that I would not be able to complete.  Here was the challenge: teach 33 students.  The end.  Not only teach them, but help them to have a successful year where they make enough growth to be successful in life.  At times during the year I had glimpses of hope that I was getting through to these kids and then I would have set-backs.  However, at the end of the year I couldn't have been prouder of my kids.     They worked so hard!!  And, I fell in love with ALL of them.  I'm going to miss them this summer, but I welcome the break with open arms!!

Favorite Body Part

I love looking at other people's hands.  I think that your hands tell the story of you. 


I have a few vivid memories of Crazy Grandma.  My favorite memory is when Grandma came to live at Mom and Dad's house because she couldn't live on her own.  Somebody had to be with Grandma all the time because we didn't know what she would do when she was left alone.  Anyway, I was with Grandma and decided to put lotion on her hands because I remembered that she liked to have her hands rubbed (I mean really, who doesn't).  I got out some lotion and sat down next to Grandma and asked her if I could put some lotion on her hands.  She said yes, of course, and I rubbed her hands with some nice lotion and got all kinds of oos and awes out of her.  While I was rubbing her hands I started to think about all of the many things that her hands had done.  Her hands had saluted while in the Marine Corps, held 3 children, disciplined 3 children, washed many dishes and bathroom, etc. 

Some people's hands carry scars or wrinkles that mark the passing of trauma and time. 

Other people's hand are soft and untouch due to a life of luxury.  Then you have a baby's hand wrapped around a trusted person's finger. 

What do your hands say about you?  Take a look at them and think about the story that they tell. 

Conference

I was given tickets to the Saturday afternoon session of General Conference last Friday.  My life last week was crazy and my house was a disaster so I was really struggling with being willing to spend the day away from life to enjoy conference.  My dear friend Trevor agreed to go with me and my sisters told me that I had to go.  So, I donned a dress and hopped in the car and Trev and I went to Salt Lake to enjoy conference.

Enjoy it I did!!

One of the BEST parts was that we were early.  We sat down in our seats and listened to the BYU-Idaho choirs warm up.  AWESOME!!

I love listening to amazing singers, speakers, and feelings both bring.

Jared!!

Last night I was up way too late chatting with Jared.  I haven't been able to visit with Jared in forever because he lives in California right now. :(  Sometime during our visit Jared mentioned that he still checks out my blog every once in a while and he mentioned that I NEVER post.  I promised him that I would post about him today.  Here it is, just for you Jared.  I had so much fun talking with you last night, even though you kept me up a little past my bedtime.  If you don't know Jared you can look back a couple of years to a little post about the Young Brothers and you'll know a little too much about Jared and John. :) 

Here's a cute picture of Jared in his uniform:

(Too bad you can't see his beautiful eyes and eylashes.  They're killer!)

My Everyday Delights

Here are just a few things that I see on a daily basis:

1.  My classroom.  Check out all of those desks!

2.  The mug that contains the secret to a happy Miss Arnold.  Diet Dr. Pepper!!!

3.  The playground.  The sight of this reminds me of the peaceful seconds I have during a hectic day.

4.  Badge!  The key to the school.

5.  Lizzard that reminds me that it is my job to help take care of my friends.

6.  Keys!  Each one opens a different door that is important to me.

7.  Shell necklace from Hawaii.  The last trip I took with some of my sisters while they were still single (too bad Claire had to jump the gun and get married :) ).

I'm trying to see all the "things" that I have in my life.  No matter how insignificant they may seem, they usually have a purpose for being there.

I'm a BEAST!!

I love my job, I love my job, I love my job.  No, really I love my job BUT today was really frustrating.  Some days I wonder if I sound to my students like the teacher from Charlie Brown.  I wonder if I have lost my ability to explain things to my students.  Then I get ornery with the kids because they don't do what I've just asked them to do.  I don't know how to fix it. :(  HELP!!

Living Next Door to My Sister

One day, last spring, I came home from church to this:

Isabel

Aaden Bug

I <3 my family!!

Seriously!!

This book....
I read this book this week.
It's an action/suspense/love story.
It's not like the other books where the bad guy gets captured and all is good in the end.
The last line of the book is terrible!!!
I must read the next book in the series!

CLEAN

I think that I've settled on a word to focus on this year. 

Clean

I need to keep my world clean.  There are so many areas in my life that I need to learn to clean up.  1. bedroom 2. classroom 3. car 4. thoughts 5. mouth

This is going to be a challenge but I think that I'm up to it.  Here's to a clean year!

2011

Here's the deal.  Choose one word this year to focus on and see how it can change your life.  Take your time to choose your word.  I found this insight on Ali Edward's blog and decided that I was going to give it a try this year.  The word that I'm going to focus on is still undecided.  I'm going to think about that for awhile and then let you know.  This experiment will hopefully change the way I do new year's revolutions each year.

Journal

Right now I'm taking a writing class and one of our assignments is to keep a journal.  I thought that this would be the perfect opportunity to post more on my blog.  After all isn't that what a blog is? 

Monday night a few of my friends and I went to dinner.  As we all know the best part of going to eat with friends is the time after you're finished eating and you start talking.  Some how the topic turned to our little quirks and pet peeves.  I divulged one of my deep dark secrets.  I will almost throw up when someone talks to me while brushing his or her teeth.  In fact, just talking about it makes me want to gag!  Okay, so it's not that deep and dark, but it's the truth.  Some of the pet peeves discussed were the way people yawn as if they've been up for days, people talking with their mouths full, etc. 

This conversation has lead me to think about thinks that drive me crazy.  I've come up with a few:
1.  people who destory other people's property for "fun"
2.  parents who believe their child's version of a story over a teacher's version
3.  living with people who don't clean up after themselves
4.  people who create drama so that they can get attention
5.  baby talk from people who aren't babies

I think that my list could go on but it just puts me into a pit of negativity. So, here goes a list of things that I love:
1.  Snowkissed berry scent from Bath and Body Works
2.  perfume - I have a drawer full and I love all kinds of them, my favorites are from Victoria's Secret
3.  silence when my students are "silent reading", other teachers know that this is a rare sound.
4.  making crafty things
5.  taking a bubble bath and reading (did this this morning at 5 A.M. when I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep)

Thinking of things that I love brought a smile to my face and made me think of a huge list of little things that I love.  Most of all I love my family!!