About Me

Thursday, September 12, 2013

recent wonderfulness!

 I have had some great past couple of weeks. To be honest, I've been busy sick. Well, not sick literally (knock on wood, can't believe I've lasted this 3 weeks throughout the school year without getting sick, yes!) but just busy I guess. My weeks have been full (let's be honest, stressful, not just full) with work work work and the past few weekends have been play play play. I keep feeling like I wish there was just one more hour in the day. I'm guessing that feeling never goes away (?) so I should just get used to it?  And I guess it's better than being bored. My weekends have been full and wonderful.
Including a trip to Zion with Jacob to do a canyon with sis Ang as well as lots of good quality time with Jacob in SLC. Life has been good. I've been neglectful with pictures, so here is my photovomit post of the month: (you know you like it)

Best/Worst photobomb in history


Zion with the man

My awesome, athletic, hip, cool, intense sister Angela

My adorbs, adventurous, cute, spunky niece Liesel and I


My cute, chill, supernatural strong, beady-eyed niece Hannah

Chocolate pools & sistermother/child


My wonderul, kind, spontaneous, understanding boyfriend Jacob and I eating MONGOLIAN food

Us at a (free) James Taylor concert. Oh and Motab was there, too (but lezz be honest, everyone was there for J. Taylor. no offence Motab)

With my J in front of the business buildlings. Oh and temple....

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Online Class


 This is how I feel about having a 3-hr online seminar/class after 8 hrs of work. Gag. ME.







Saturday, August 17, 2013

Can I complain about starting work when everyone else works year-round?

I'm starting school in 1 day. I'm terrified. I don't know these kids! They could be monsters! They could be...kids! Oh wait...I really have nothing to be terrified of but that doesn't mean I'm not. It's not as bad as the first day of school last year, but I definitely will need to find my groove again.

I've spent the last 3 days organizing my room. The teachers are totally rearranged, so we have 3 new 2nd grade teachers. Luckily, my English partner teacher is the same awesome Mrs. C (can I just tell you again what a blessing she is in my life? she teaches me how to simplify simplify simplify, have fun, have a life outside of work, love the kids, organize myself, and be happy teaching. she's so what I need). One of the other new 2nd grade teachers is the most O.C.D. woman I have ever met - her classroom is more organized than any classroom I've ever seen. I mean, think handmade zebra-print labels matching handmade zebra-print stickers and handmade zebra-print...everything. It's overwhelming. She OWNS, and I mean, OWNS, little devices that keep your chords together so that they aren't a huge mess. She's crazy. Crazy brilliant. She came into my classroom and said "your flow is off" and rearranged everything in my classroom so that it flowed better. ? I didn't even know what "flow" was. Let's just say I've learned a lot from her obsessive organizing skillz/O.C.D. Bless her heart. And don't worry, I won't let her rub off on me too much (to be honest, I don't think I could even be like her if I wanted to).

That's beside the point. Point: teaching is still scary but I know from experience it could be worse (last yr) so I'm not complaining. Although sometimes I may think, "wouldn't it be nice to not have to work ever!?"

This past week I went on a hike to dog lake up Big C Canyon. I'm so glad I have hiking - it's been my sanity and my outlet and my happiness this past week when I couldn't find it anywhere else. Yes, another post about nature. You can tune out if you want.

I'm also so glad that I have a friend like Bethany. She's a saint and understands me and forgives me when I'm a bad friend. BHH
 I also had the special treat of having my brother Ryan and Kiyomi along with their 3 wonderful kids BJO come and visit from L.A. We had Ethiopian food downtown SLC and then toured City Creek. I love their family, and I loved spending time with them.





Monday, August 12, 2013

my search

I went to the temple recently and had a wonderful experience. I feel completely inadequate at communicating what I felt within those walls as I was being taught, but if I tried, the one word that would come to mind would be love. Isn't that the whole purpose of our existence? To learn and understand God's love for us? Sometimes it's hard to feel or find in the experience of life, but I always find it if I search hard and long enough. 

I feel God's love for me more deeply and more tangibly when I am in His beautiful creations, like I was today when I was on the top of a mountain just a few miles from where I live.






"...and all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator." Alma 30:44

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

#ilovesummer

The past few months have been jam-packed full of fun things. After spending a few wonderful days in Cincy, I spent the next week chillin with the fam in NC and then a week at Ocean Isle Beach with ALL of my family members - all of my siblings, and all of their kids! This hasn't happened in many, many years. It was SO much fun to be all together! And even though having 16 kids in one house and waking up to all 16 of them at like 7 am every day is not exactly what I would consider a "vacation" persay, it was still SO much fun. I loved it. I miss my siblings already and my nieces & nephews, those balls of energy, soo sooo soooo much already! Unforunately, I don't have any of the awesome pictures we took on said vaca because my sister ANGELA has them all (coughcough)...

J came to visit ME in NC after the beach. It was SO fun to show him the place where I grew up.

Duke Chapel. We may or may not have left Catholic mass and walked straight through the crowd of nuns/choirmembers (never can tell)

Fishing with the nieces & nephews (Liesel is adorbs no!?) I didn't get a pic of all of my cute nephews because they were too engrossed in catching the huge snapping turtle

I didn't catch anything :( but at least I looked hott! ...oh wait

Then we went & ate delicious TORTAS in a ghetto gas station in Durham! Yeeee-uh!

And kayaked on the Grand Jordan LAKE!

 J & I flew out of NC a few days after he got there and since then we've been able to spend a lot of time together. I've loved it.
Butlerville days, a celebration for Pioneer day with fireworks and fun (and we brought Chipotle)

Last Sat we hiked up to Lake Blanche & it was BEAUTIFUL!



Jacob is probably the only person who will indulge me in taking ridiculous pictures of me posing around Aspens...blesshisheart

Lake blanche!

We decided to mix up the poses a bit...awkward much? I kinda like it

We also went to MUSIC MAN, the musical put on by Cottonwood Heights community arts council. So. Fun. !!!

Clarification for my more "mature" readers

It has been brought to my attention that there has been some confusion about some of the terminology I have been using in my recent posts. If you are feeling such confusion, please follow the link below for clarification:

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=boo

*Side note: I'm not normally a fan of urban dictionary, but it has it's place at times. Like these.


Thank you!

Sincerely,
Your friendly blogger friend

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

10 Lessons Learned in Cincy.

1. Rental car stores in downtown Durham are a no-go. Unless you want to pay $200 extra, bless their HIDES

2. It's worth it to drive 8 hrs to see this stud.
 

3. Sometimes the 5k you haven't been training for, and you almost miss because you purposely wake up too late for, and the one you have to run in the rain for, is the best one.


4. Free t shirts are even better when they're matching free t-shirts. And sometimes feeling like a dork in public wearing matching shirts doesn't make you feel like a dork at all, but increases your cool factor by 55% when it's with your boyfriend who's awesome.


5. Sometimes it rains for 3 days straight and your plans get ruined, but not really because it's still just as fun to just be with your boo.


   

6. Sometimes driving 2 hours to the temple is worth it.


 
7. Sometimes you just have to give in to the urge to take a picture with a bearcat when you see one.


8. Sometimes it's better to combine two words if the combined word is cooler than the sum of it's parts. ie) basket + cart = bascart. Check.


9. Sunsets after 3 days of rain are stunning. Ab-so-lutely stunning.


10. Cincinnati has the coolest bridges. And the cutest man.
 



11. Sometimes you have to cut your hair over a toilet. Sometimes you have a mullet in the process. Or a backwards mullet?


 12. Sometimes fortune cookie fortunes are true.


13. And sometimes they're just awkward.


14. Sometimes Chinese food isn't that good and sometimes you get nervous when you try to speak Chinese to your waitress. 


15. Sometimes your boyfriend can do a grandpa smile better than you can, even though you taught it to him.