a WONDERFUL day in the life of me ....

After 2 years of dedicated service to the Lord, Christopher Alan Boshard will be arriving home tonight at 7:07pm! I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!

a TEACHING day in the life of me...

Okay, too funny of a story not to tell.
Today I gave my low reading a class a vocabulary quiz. We've been learning words like contagious, estimate, feasible, infect, expose, courageous, epidemic, resistance, internal and impact. I told them yesterday that there was going to be a quiz on their word today. UPROAR followed that statement. I knew it would. :-)
My students walked into the classroom, saw QUIZ written on the board and immediately began panicking. I think it's so funny that they just refuse to study. I gave them 10 minutes to take it and they all finished. I decided to correct it in smaller groups, so divided up into rotations. This way I could answer questions that they had about the test, etc.
My last group of students rotated to me. This group consisted of 4 boys. While one boy was off doing his thing, I asked the rest of them to please rotate their quiz down one person. When he came back he proclaimed loudly, "Hey! This is not the quiz that I set down." Looking to his neighbor he found his and quickly snatched it back. He then looked at his and said, while handing it back to it's owner, "Here you go Student's Name, just looking out for ya." We couldn't help it. We all started laughing. I said "Student's Name, we rotated them down one. Please give them back. .... pause .... man I wasn't even trying to punk you and it worked." More laughing.
I loved today.

a SNOW day in the life of me ...

Oh the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful. And since we've no place to go, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.... o.k.a.y

I went to sleep last night in 44 degree weather. It was cold, but not frigid. I should have known something was up Mother Nature's sleeve.

There I was, snug as a bug, in my bed at 8am this morning, when what do I hear? A lawn mower. A what? you might ask. A lawn mower. Now, I was just as puzzled as I'm sure you are as to why I would be hearing a lawn mower on a Sunday morning at the end of November, but nevertheless there was the unmistakable sound of the whir of a lawn mower. 5 minutes, 10 minutes 15 minutes and it was still outside my bedroom window. Honestly, there's not even enough grass to keep a lawn mower back there for 5 minutes, but okay. Who knows? Maybe he was just trying to be very thorough?! Finally I get out of bed. As I come into the living room my roommate, Amanda, is looking out the window, the blinds open. What?! It snowed! What?! It's not a lawn mower? It's a snow blower - bahahahhahahahahahahahahha. Looking out of my blinds 20 minutes ago would have solved a lot of problems. :-) Bring it on winter!

a NEW CAR day in the life of me ...

Guess what?! I did it. I bought a brand-spankin new car! 2011 Subaru Legacy. Yes, that's right. It had 12 miles on it when I drove off the lot. Isn't she a beauty? Jenny thinks that I should name it Redy, I'm thinking Scarlet, but am not sure.

So the most amazing things have been happening in this little town of Provo, since I bought my car. My roommate bought a 2010 Honda CR-V this morning. My friends Megan and Katie, after learning that I had bought a new car, went out and bought a Jeep Laredo and a Dodge Charger. What?! This is crazy. Can we say Pied-Piper?! I love it!!!
HAPPY DRIVING (especially in the snow that really does need to come soon - please)

a HELL day in the life of me...

Okay, so I was NOT in the mood to go to school/work today. I had a rough night of sleep and was just not enjoying the getting ready process. My dear, sweet, roommate drove me to school (I sold my car - stay tuned for that one) and inquired as to whether I had a good old Dr. P to see me through the day ... no. :-) I did however have my first period. . .

I decided that because it's the week of Thanksgiving and they have just been such an outrageously good class, we could watch the Lightning Thief today (I'm reading that book with some of my classes and they are loving it!)

For those of you that have not seen it, they pay a visit to the underworld and have a little heart to heart with Hades. Persephone, Hades wife - for those of you that need to brush up on their Greek mythology, is asked to bring the 3 little "heroes" before Hades and to hurry up about it or else .... She inquires, "Or else what?! I'm already in Hell."

Well that sparked a ripple of laughter from my students quickly followed by one of my students saying, "I live in Hell."
ME: Well I don't.
Student: You will someday.

bahahahhahahahahahahaha

Not even 30 seconds later - yes conversations about Hell have been happening this whole time. . .

Student 1: I never want to go to Hell.
Student 2: I thought we all went there every week day between 7:30 and 2:15.

BAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

This is why I teach! We talk about going to Hell and laugh about it.

a CHRISTMAS DECORATING day in the life of me...

Welcome to the s.n.o.w. I am so So SO happy that it has finally come! With the lovely snow that fell upon the earth yesterday, the incredible desire to set up Christmas decorations overcame me :-) I pulled out my box of stuff and away I went. I love this season: the music, the food, the family, the games, the sights, smells, snow, skiing, presents, love, joy, remembering Christ.
Welcome, welcome Christmas time!!!

Throw given to me by my friend Meghan - yes I do cuddle up in it during the Christmas season, as well as put it over the back of my couch.

This candle holder was given to me a number of years ago. I made a little addition to it this year by putting cranberries and cinnamon sticks in the bottom of it :-) Go me!!

A crystal bowl (me) full of purple ornaments (Meghan) accompanied by a
darling snowman (thanks Cecile)

Advent calendar given to me by my Mother!

Nativity given to me by Emily Stoddard, from the Dominican Republic. I bought the fabric and decided that I really like the accent that it gives!

Snowman tea light candle holder!

My darling friend Jill gave this to me for Christmas last year and let me tell you, it makes me smile!

It all fits so nicely on the counter top in our kitchen.
Wow! I'm feeling super blessed this year. I have darling friends that just know me so well and have put together a beautiful set of Christmas decorations to beautify my apartment! Yes, I realize Thanksgiving hasn't happened yet, but bring on CHRISTMAS -
deck the halls ....

a STATISTICS day in the life of me ...

Hi folks.
I spent Thursday and Friday up in Park City at a wonderful education conference. The overarching theme was ACCESS. Although we talked a lot about our students gaining access to the information that we are delivering in our classroom, it went much broader than that, access for humans to the world in which they live in. Now I realize that an excellent play for that to begin is in my classroom, so for sure saw the cross over :-)
I wasn't prepared for how emotionally exhausting this topic was going to be. By the end of Friday's session my brain was about ready to burst and needed an outlet of color - picture below

I realize that it only looks like a tower of markers, but when there is a presenter speaking and you're building with markers like they are building blocks, yeah you know your mind needs to be thinking of something else.

Quick synopsis of some interesting points: Sometimes we honestly have to make a decision that involves two RIGHT choices. When that happens they fall into 1 of 4 categories:
Justice vs Mercy: Law vs Love, Equity vs Compassion
Truth vs Loyalty: What is truth?
accuracy = not lying
completeness = telling salient details
relevancy = making sure important truths are not obscured by other truths

it's never okay to lie!

Individual vs Community: needs must be weighed. the needs of the many outweigh the one
Short term vs Long term: right now vs the future :-)

Decision Making Principles:
Ends Based Thinking: do whatever produces the greatest good for the greatest number
Rule Based Thinking: act only in a way that, at the same time, you would will your action to become universal
Care Based Thinking: do to others what you would like them to do to you

If each of the following racial groups had 100 kids in school the following is true:
Latinos: 52 graduate high school, 10 graduate college, 4 grad school, 0.4 PhD
Native Americans: 71 graduate high school, 12 graduate college, 4 grad school, 0.5 PhD
African Americans: 72 graduate high school, 14 graduate college, 5 grad school, 0.4 PhD
White: 84 graduate high school, 26 graduate college, 10 grad school, 1 PhD
Asian Americans: 80 graduate high school, 44 graduate college, 17 grad school, 3 PhD

It was definitely an eye opening conference and I feel much more aware of what the reality is and how I can more fully offer access to the students that are in my direct "circle of influence."

a CATCH UP day in the life of me...

hi folks ... I just want to give you a little update
of what I've been up to lately! I had a wonderful vacation, for my Fall Break, in St. Louis, MO. I went to see my friend Megan Monahan Newman and her darling husband, Jared. (yep, she got a good one)















Unfortunately, the arch was all sold out, so I wasn't able to go up and see across the Mississippi, but that's okay. It gives me an excuse to go back there sometime. We did do a ton of fun things: Band of Horses concert, Art museums, gardens, Budweiser plant tour, farmers market, arch, Pappy's BBQ, shopping, Lewis & Clark sites, cozy town, cobble stone streets, yummy food (made by Megan), yummy food found in St. Louis, drives in the fall time, picking fresh herbs to use in Italian food (OK!)
It was a delightful time!!!!

In other news, last week I went with some friends: Brandon, Amanda, Chris, Melinda and Zack to see the Scarlet Pimpernell at the Hale Center Theater in Orem. I told Brandon that I was going to get "dressed up" to go to the theater. He said that he'd wear something snazzy too, so of course I had to go all out. I did my hair and was delighted to discover that my hair is long enough to curl and then pin back. I LOVED it!

On Sunday Tara, Mia and I showed up in red, black and white ... it was too good to pass up the picture opportunity. (my hair looks flat, but it's really curls and a braid :-)

a BLESSED day in the life of me ...

Well today I'm just feeling grateful for a few things.
snow
wind
friends (both at work and after work)
food
parties (the kind that I go to and the kind I throw for my students)
sleep
grapes :-)
students that achieve and are become smarter individuals!
my family
listening to God and buying an extra thing of cookies (turned out to be handy for Aimee)
my body (health)
ability to deal with stress
love
being able to recognize and count blessings

Wow! I feel better already

a SCHOOL day in the life of me...

So here's what happened today. Seriously - this is what makes me keep teaching :-)

3 events; 2 class periods; 1 happy teacher

Event 1: One of my classes played "Apples to Apples" today and loved it. I had them read the vocabulary word and then the definition ... little did they know we were working on vocabulary skills at the same time we were playing a game! At the end of the game I had them read the vocabulary words they ended up with. If you've been following my blog and know about the "Valley Girl" day boy, then you can better appreciate this. This student acts big, bad and all that. He earned three very interesting cards today. They were as follows: Energetic (active, lively) Fragile (delicate, weak) and Charming (pleasant, polite). Of course there was quite a bit of laughing that happened as he was reading them, then the cute thing happened - he blushed :-) LOVE IT!

Event 2: Next group came through, same game being played. This student is so smart and just refuses to do anything. If he applied his mind and energy, something good could happen. The one and only card that he earned was: Practical (useful, helpful). I found that so incredibly ironic, because he refuses to do anything that I ask him to assist me with. Eventually he usually buckles, but mostly it takes a lot of asking.
He started going on and on and on about how this card fit him perfectly. I was shocked, so I asked him to please remember that card when I called on him to do something :-)

Event 3: During intervention (30 minutes for the students to go get some individualized help in a class) I had a student and his girlfriend come and ask for some help. I have him in my English class, but he has recently found out that I'm not too bad at Algebra 2. His girlfriend studied Spanish, while he and I attacked his math. At one point in time I had to go to my desk for a calculator. His girlfriend made a comment about me being a math teacher that doesn't have a calculator (yes I was hunting for one) and he said, "Oh no, she's my English teacher." Girlfriend said, "What? She's your English teacher and she's helping you with your math?" He said, "Yep. Just one more reason why I like this lady." At least I helped someone!

Have a wonderful Tuesday!

a FALL day in the life of me...

Hello Fall!
I'm so glad that you are back. You know, a year is a long time to be parted from such a dear friend. When your cooling rain came yesterday, it was all I could to not smile, rather laugh, in front of my class as I began anticipating all of the wonderful delights that occur during your months. I began dreaming of: hot chocolate, hay rides, the wind, pumpkin carving contests, umbrellas, a plethora of candy stored up for the youngsters that are bound to come around our neighborhood, puddles, scarfs, boots on top of skinny jeans, the crunch of leaves, sweaters, drives through the canyon, rain, taking a day to just read and listen to the sounds of nature, good movies and of course Halloween.
I have great expectations for you, this year, Fall. Please don't let me down!
Yours,
Shelley

a VALLEY GIRL day in the life of me...

Okay, so contrary to what the title says, it was not me being a Valley Girl. I know, I know, it just fits so well :-)
Right now, I'm actually at school and what I'm about to write happened about 30 minutes ago. It's so funny that if I don't cement it in the blogging world right now I might forget it.
So there I was, explaining to my class what the word devoted means and how we can use it in sentences. I was using a student as an example. She is completely devoted to doing her hair each and every morning. I said the following (names have been changed), "Based on this we know that Sally is totally devoted to doing her hair."
A student of mine that is a typical punk teenager, loves: bmx biking, boarding, talking about alcohol and drugs, pretending to be bad a**, etc. pipes up, "Yeah, like totally; she's totally devoted."
What?! Where the heck did he learn how to talk like a Valley Girl, much less deliver it with such finesse? Oh the things that never cease to amaze me as a teacher.

a TEACHING day in the life of me...

Today in my 8th period class (co-taught English) I had an AWESOME day of teaching ... by making a total fool out of myself.
I was leading a co-discussion with my co-teacher, Boyd, about a short story called "The Monkey's Paw" by W.W. Jacobs. It's quite a suspenseful little one ... if you ever feel the desire to read it.
We get through the first page.
I'm doing a great job "thinking aloud" my thought process of what is building the suspense, vocabulary instruction, etc. Boyd was doing a great job of showing them how foreshadowing was happening, why Jacobs chose specific words, etc. The class was engaged and all was going great!
We moved onto the second page; at the bottom of the page I read this passage, "He took something out of his pocket and proffered it. Mrs. White drew back with a grimace, but her son, taking it, examined it curiously."
The it was the Monkey's Paw.
I stopped reading right then and said to the class, "you know if someone brought out a monkey's paw, I think I would look at it curiously too and then I might, ya know ... as I made an awesome throw up/gagging sound ... and continued on. Meanwhile, Boyd chuckles and says, "Then it will be a Monkey's Paw with throw up on it." Well that hit my funny bone super hard! I started giggling, then laughing, then I squealed. Yes, folks, that's what I did ... S.Q.U.E.A.L.E.D.
I was standing at the front of the room, Boyd was to my right over by the wall. I looked over at him and said, "I just squealed didn't I?" The look on his face was - don't laugh at her - but all he could do was say, "Yes."
Well that was enough license for the entire class to burst out laughing. I started walking towards the door and said, "Okay I'll go be embarrassed outside ... be right back." To which a darling student of mine replied, "Too late for that."
I was BRIGHT red. It was delightful. It provided some comedic relief and, thankfully, we were able to get through the rest of the lesson.
It has been officially decided that I have a contagious laugh and that it's okay that I laugh with my students before Christmas break. p.h.e.w. for that one!

I LOVE TEACHING :-)

a FRIDAY day in the life of me...

Well folks. I've done it. I've been in school for 3 weeks now. It's hard to believe that my summer came and went and now I'm back in the swing of things and it feels as if I was never even gone from them - weird.
My students are darling, if not challenging. But hey, if it wasn't for that, my job would be too easy. It's so nice being a second year teacher. I feel so much better prepared for the situations that confront me and for the arguments that the students give. I feel like I heard it all last year, yet they still amaze me with what they can make up.
Already I've had some funny comments:
We sitting at a small table. I was working with 5 students. I had one student write something down super fast - I figured he probably didn't get it correct, so I turned to him and said "What's your answer." He gave it to me. I started to say "That's not correct." but he interrupted me and said "I wasn't done writing yet," as he continues to elaborate on his answer. We all started laughing so hard, himself included, and he almost fell off of his own chair. It definitely made me smile.

Besides school I've been having some fun too. My Steiner family went on a camp out up in the high Uinta's. It was so fun and beautiful. I forgot how much better everything tastes around a campfire.
I've had a BBQ at my cabin with my friend Wendee and her husband Gian. We roasted hot dogs and had an awesome salad, chips, drinks, etc. It was so relaxing to just sit and listen to the river, listen to each other, and just enjoy life for a minute.
My Steiner family went for a day at Yuba. Besides the water being 55 degrees and outside being 72 degrees, it was a fun day. I was on the wave runner with Aimee, just enjoying ourselves. We were chasing some waves, when all of the sudden, one decided that it wanted to fight back. We were engulfed with freezing water. It hurt. My teeth started aching, because I was so cold. We got hit with a second wave and that's when I decided that we needed to go back to shore. Burr - I didn't warm up until after I'd taken a hot shower that night.
I've moved into a new ward and am enjoying it. There are some very NICE and FUN people! It's going to be a great experience.
I finally get a paycheck again - that summer was long.....
I'm back in my dance class. We are focusing on skills and technique for a little while. I had it on Wednesday and was so sore after the class. My posture, balance and muscle strength is sadly lacking; however my arms in leaps and turns are great! hahaha. I love dance.

Well that's a brief catch up :-)

a DAY in the life of me...

Hi folks. Wow! I can hardly believe that it's been a month since I've been on. I've actually been thinking a lot about updating this during the month of August, but honestly have never found the time. I'm amazed at how life can just carry you away :-)
Needless to say here's a quick summation of the last few days, at least:

Rafted the Green River with family and Aunt Janet's family
Got sick
Packed and moved to a new place
New roommate: Amanda
New bedroom layout
Shopping with mom - found bed spread!
Teacher training began
Sick during teacher training/ESL classes
Planned first week of school
Aimee came into my classroom to set it up!
Barr family visited from CA
Talked to friends
Wrote to Christopher in Taiwan
Planned some parties
Breanne Jensen Woodrow's wedding
Found out Wendee Rosborough is expecting!
Got better
Ran
Obtained my DVD from my dance recital in May ... woot
Mentally preparing myself to meet my 9th graders tomorrow and the rest of them Wednesday
Loving the sun
Wishing summer would stay
At new apartment internet wouldn't work
Witnessed some awesome summer storms
Internet finally working through some random magic - literally
Getting excited for NOW!

another SEVEN PEAKS day in the life of me...

Okay, the only reason I'm putting this post up here is because of what a 4 year old said to me today. Emily (my roommate) and I went to 7-Peaks today. She was able to score us some free tickets - gotta love that.
Okay, so here we are in the lazy river. It is FULL. There are two kids in a 2-man tub in front of us. The first time I noticed them was because he was almost drowning; had fallen in the hole, was jumping up and down desperately grabbing for something and catching nothing. All my instincts were coming out and I was getting ready to pull him up the hole in the tub and save his little life - not necessary - he's a boy - very resourceful.
Okay, on to the point. About a half curve later he goes down again (this time taking the precaution of holding onto the handles - yes he can be taught) and comes back up grinning "I can touch." To which his darling sister replies, "No you can't. I can barely touch." Well he's going to prove her wrong. Again, goes down, holding the handles, comes back up and proudly proclaims, "Yep, I can drown."
hahahhahahahhahahahahahah - I LOVE KIDS.

a GOOD BOOK day in the life of me...

Okay, my darling friend Jill recommended this book to me,
The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey.
I'm not going to lie. I checked it out from the library two weeks ago and just really didn't devote much time to it: studying for test, dates, white water rafting, Lake Powell, etc. Can you blame me? Well last night I realized that I was only 74 pages in and it was due at the library on the 5th. Ugh. Okay, it was time to dig in and just READ. (thankfully I can do that) 153 pages and many a-ha moments later, I was done. Seriously, this man is not a "get rich quick schemer." He just spoke of honest principles and how to make your money work for me. He didn't try and tell me which mutual fund to invest in, just the types that have the best history. He didn't try and tell me how much money I should make a year to be wealthy, he told me to work with the money that I have and use my income to my advantage; to have my money work for me, instead of me working for it!
Wow! I feel so much smarter already :-)
He talks about baby steps. I'm going to list them, but for you to fully understand them - READ THE BOOK

1: Save $1000 in cash
2: Debt Snowball
3: Finish the emergency fund
4: Invest 15% of your income
5: College fund
6: Pay off home mortgage
7: Build wealth

I love the practical side of this book almost as much as I love the spiritual side of this book. He's Christian and admits it many times in the book. He talks a lot about how God commands that we have no other gods before Him. Money is not to be a god. It's to be a tool that we can use to better our life and the lives of those around us.
HUGE SHOUT OUT TO DAVE RAMSEY!! (and Jill for having me read the book)

a PRAYERFUL day in the life of me...

As many of you know yesterday I took a national test called the PRAXIS. This is a test that all teachers are required to take. There is a version of the PRAXIS to fit each area of teaching. I have taken the History and the Elementary Education Content Knowledge tests and passed both of them successfully :-) Yesterday was the day that I took the Middle School English and Language Arts test. This will make me "highly qualified" and therefore certified to teach my English classes next year (okay really in 3 weeks). According to the federal regulations if one doesn't pass the PRAXIS exam in his/her content area one is NOT allowed to teach (NCLB). - translation = I would lose my job.
AHHHHHHHHH! Can anyone say stress?!
Anyway I dedicated quite a bit of my summer to studying for this test (I studied on a houseboat on Lake Powell because I was so determined to pass). This past week of my life has been an immensely stressful one for me.

It included:
hours of studying
two breakdowns - lots and Lots and LOTS of tears
a blessing from my father
reassuring talks from my mother, siblings, friends, etc
contemplation about what I really am supposed to be doing with my life
contemplation of what God wants me to be doing
contemplation on my role as a teacher
etc

I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father and His willingness to answer PRAYERS! After my dad gave me a Father's Blessing, I immediately became calm. I love how the power of the priesthood has IMMEDIATE results. Well that happened on Thursday night. Saturday morning I woke up to my roommate making me breakfast (5:30am!!!). 6:45am was walking up to BYU campus, 10:40am was walking home. A tender mercy happened in the testing center room. I looked up and found a big picture of Christ smiling down on me. It was so wonderful to actually feel all the people in my life PRAYING FOR ME right then. Wow! I am so grateful for the power of prayer.
I won't know the results for 4 weeks, but that is okay. What I do know is that God answers prayers and I was not alone in that testing center for one minute during that test.

a WHAT'S YOUR SIGN? day in the life of me...

Hi Folks. So this information was given to me by my friend Meg (thank you!). I thought it was kind of funny to go through and read what "I supposedly am." I read the others as well and decided that I just want to write my own .... maybe I will someday. (mine is in bold)

CAPRICORN - The Go-Getter (Dec 22 - Jan 19) Pat ient and wise. Practical and rigid.. Ambitious. Tends to be Good-looking. Humorous and funny. Can be a bit shy and reserved. Often pessimistic. Capricorns tend to act before they think and can be Unfriendly at times.. Hold grudges. Like competition. Get what they want. 20 years of good luck if you forward.

AQUARIUS - The Sweetheart ( Jan 20 - Feb 18) Optimistic and honest. Sweet personality..... Very independent. Inventive and intelligent. Friendly and loyal.. Can seem unemotional... Can be a bit rebellious.. Very stubborn, but original and unique. Attractive on the inside and out... Eccentric personality. 11 years of luck if you forward.

PISCES - The Dreamer (Feb 19 - Mar 20) Generous, kind, and thoughtful. Very creative and imaginative. May become secretive and vague. Sensitive. Don 't like details. Dreamy and unrealistic. Sympathetic and loving. Kind Unselfish. Good kisser. Beautiful. 8 years of good luck if you forward.

ARIES - The Daredevil (Mar 21 - April 19) Energetic. Adventurous and spontaneous.. Confident and enthusiastic. Fun. Loves a challenge. EXTREMELY impatient. Sometimes selfish. Short fuse. (Easily angered..) Lively, passionate, and sharp wit. Outgoing. Lose interest quickly - easily bored. Egotistical.. Courageous and assertive. Tends to be physical and athletic. 16 years of good luck if you forward.

TAURUS - The Enduring One (April 20 - May 20) Charming but aggressive.. Can come off as boring, but they are not. Hard workers. Warm-hearted. Strong, has endurance. Solid beings that are stable and secure in their ways. Not looking for shortcuts. Take pride in their beauty. Pat ient and reliable. Make great friends and give good advice. Loving and kind. Loves hard - passionate. Express themselves emotionally.. Prone to ferocious temper-tantrums. Determined. Indulge themselves often. Very generous.. 12 years of good Luck if you forward

GEMINI - The Chatterbox (May 21 - June 20) Smart and witty. Outgoing, very chatty.. Lively, energetic. Adaptable but needs to express them s elves. Argumentative and outspoken. Like change. Versatile. Busy, sometimes nervous and tense. Gossips. May seem superficial or inconsistent. Beautiful physically and mentally. 5 years of bad luck if you do not forward.

CANCER - The Protector (June 21 - July 22) Moody, emotional. May be shy. Very loving and caring. Pretty/handsome. Excellent partners for life. Protective.. Inventive and imaginative. Cautious. Touchy-feely kind of person. Needs love from others. Easily hurt, but sympathetic. 16 years of bad luck if you do not forward.

LEO - The Boss (July 23 - Aug 22) Very organized. Need order in their lives - like being in control. Like boundaries.. Tend to take over everything. Bossy. Like to help Others. Social and outgoing. Extroverted.. Generous, warm-hearted. Sensitive. Creative energy... Full of themselves. Loving. Doing the right thing is important to Leos.. Attractive. 13 years of bad luck if you do not forward.....

VIRGO - The Perfectionist (Aug 23 - Sept 22) Dominant In relationships. Conservative. Always wants the last word.. Argumentative. Worries. Very smart. Dislikes noise and chaos. Eager. Hardworking. Loyal. Beautiful. Easy to talk to. Hard to please. Harsh. Practical and very fussy.. Often shy. Pessimistic... 7 years of bad luck if you do not forward.

LIBRA - The Harmonizer (Sept 23 - O ct 22) Nice to everyone they meet. Can't make up their mind . Have own unique appeal. Creative, energetic, and very social. Hates to be alone. Peaceful, generous. Very loving and beautiful.. Flirtatious Give in too easily. Procrastinators.. Very gullible. 9 years of bad luck if you do not forward.

SCORPIO - The Intense One (Oct 23 - Nov 21) Very energetic. Intelligent. Can be jealous and/or possessive. Hardworking. Great kisser.. Can become obsessive or secretive. Holds grudges. Attractive. Determined. Loves being in long Relationships. Talkative... Romantic. Can be self-centered at times. Passionate and Emotional. 4 years of bad luck if you do not forward.

SAGITTARIUS - The Happy-Go-Lucky One (Nov 22 - Dec 21) Good-natured optimist.... Doesn't want to grow up (Peter Pan Syndrome). Indulges self . Boastful. Likes luxuries and gambling. Social and outgoing.. Doesn't like responsibilities. Often fantasizes. Impatient.... Fun to be around. Having lots of friends.. Flirtatious. Doesn't like rules... Sometimes hypocritical.. Dislikes being confined - tight spaces or even tight clothes. Doesn't like being doubted.. Beautiful inside and out

a BABYSITTING day in the life of me...

So, I'm currently at a friend's house in SLC babysitting her 14 month old for a few hours while she is at work this morning. So far no catastrophe has happened :-) I managed to feed her breakfast, clean her off, do the dishes, clean her high chair, watch her play with toys while doing that, change a MESSY diaper, read her about 2o books and sing EVERY single song I could remember from my childhood within the last hour and 40 minutes. Wow! Mom's are amazing people. Unfortunately this little one has a runny nose and was falling asleep with the last verse of "Old MacDonald's Farm." I'm going with the thought that it was the fact she was tired, not my singing that was yielding her unconscious. Off to bed she went and very happy she was to lay down.

As I'm sitting on her parent's couch, procrastinating studying for an upcoming exam on Saturday, I'm pondering the blessing and opportunity of motherhood. I have heard so many stories recently about mother's losing their babies months into the pregnancy, mother's having to go in for 3-4 surgeries after delivering because everything wasn't going just right, and stories of mother's who love their children so much and want what's best for them that they are overhauling their own life to guarantee a better one for their children. It continues to amaze me when I think of the strength, dedication and faith a woman has in deciding to become a mother.

My mother is one of the BEST women I have ever had the pleasure of associating with. I am so grateful that she is mine and will be right beside me when I venture into the world of being a mother and will guide me with her years of experience and the wisdom that brings.

Mom's - here's to you!

Now, as we know mother's are wonderful blessings in our life. However, we can't forget our FATHER'S. I don't think that they get nearly the credit that they deserve. My friend and I were talking about this very thing right before she went to work this morning. Dad's: provider, loving, leader of the family, priesthood, able to have his little pinky wrapped (perhaps by all his children), feelings, love, dreams, etc. Let's not forget that husband's and dad's feel the pain, happiness, sorrow, joy and love as well.

Dad's - here's to you too!

a CATCH UP day in the life of me...

Okay, hi friends. I'm back from a 10 day sabbatical. Not of the religious sort, of the fun in the sun sort. I have just spent the last ten days of my life playing HARD and loving every minute of it.

Last Thursday is when the adventure began. Around 1pm Emily, Jenny and I headed up to Salmon, ID to go white water rafting. The three of us, plus Emily's sister went last year and we just loved it so much that we begged Emily to take us back. She just couldn't say NO! :-) We drove and drove and drove on Thursday and spent a relaxing night at her family's home and then Friday morning we were up bright and somewhat early (8am) to go to our destination. I love the Salmon river, p.s. We did a 13 mile stretch of class 2 and 3+ rapids. It was a blast. My darling roommate blogged about this adventure, so if you want to read her account as well, look here .... otherwise keep reading!

We launched and right away we knew we were going to have fun, because our guide didn't jump on the boat. Never fear, he joined us quickly. We went through a class 3+ rapid pretty quickly into the ride. Last year when we navigated it, we got stuck on a rock. This time we went through without a hitch - literally. However the class 2 that was waiting for us about 2 minutes away was a different story. I was on the right hand side of the raft behind my sister. Jenny and Emily were leading the raft. We hit cork screw rapids and the next things I knew Emily was being bounced off the raft, into the Pastor behind her and both fell into the middle of the rapid. Thankfully they were both rescued within a minute; unfortunately her sunglasses are lost to the never ending rapids of the Salmon river. It was hilarious. Since he is a pastor he just announced to the whole boat that he was only trying to baptize her. Emily kindly declined. :-)
The rest of the trip was wet and fun. We had no catastrophe's but we did have 3 of the 8 knocked off the boat. It was awesome. We are so doing it again next year; however, this time we are thinking of doing a longer stretch of river. BRING IT!

me, Emily and Jenny at lunch time (avoiding the bees), but also getting a picture with the wonderful water in the background.

Emily, me and Jenny just enjoying ourselves (maybe a little TOO much)

The next day we went on a 2 1/2 hour ATV ride into the Bitterroot Mountains. It was beautiful. The cows in the middle of the road were hilarious and the hill that nearly took my life was something I will never forget. Okay, okay, it didn't really almost take my life, but I was praying hard the whole way down it. I kept thinking "I can't die, I'm not married!" Probably one of my favorite parts was driving the ATV's down the interstate and it was NO BIG DEAL. Love small towns.

The pictures are in an awesome order, but oh well....

The hill that I had to go down on the other side. I had no idea what was awaiting me as I was blissfully unaware and taking this picture.

One of our first stops. Wanted to just get a pic of the three of them, but Emily's dad was on the movie quickly! Can't blame him. We had a lot of ground to cover.

The four of us, finally ready to go!!!

oh yeah - we are cool.

Unfortunately all that playing led to my back having the worst muscle spasm I have experienced in probably 12 years. I was able to get myself from Idaho to Utah without too much complaining and then it all came out. Huge crocodile tears. My mother (my sweet mother) called my chiropractor on Sunday night (8:30pm) and asked if we could come out. He worked me over - turns out my pelvis was completely out of whack. Go figure. I told him I was going to Lake Powell in less than 12 hours. He wasn't so sure that was a great idea, but gave me permission to go.
My sweet parents came with me to that appointment and as I laid there on the table bawling, my dad stuck his foot out so that I could hold onto it. I LOVE MY FATHER! He is the best.

I woke up the next morning absolutely determined to go to Powell and after some intense help from my brother Jared and sister Jenny, I was able to get myself into my car and we were on our way. We went down with a group of people from my ward and it was AWESOME! Brother Frazier was a SAINT to take us crazy, 13 kids, to the Lake for four days.

Unfortunately I have no pics of my own, so as soon as I get others I will post them, because my camera died about 15 minutes into the journey. This was my first time so everything was cool. The small canyons, a house boat, anchoring, slide off house boat, two wave runners, wake boarding, tubing with 3 or 4 on a tube, cliff jumping, making real meals with WAY too much food, playing Ipod Idol, laughing, watching fun movies, getting back rubs, having my back finally stop hurting from some AWESOME yoga, embracing the 81 degree water at 7:15am and again and again and again, finding out random things about each person who went on that trip - most of which I did not know before, realizing that people can work together and make things go smoothly, watched a sunset that took my breath away on the red rock, gazed at the stars and was wishing that the moon wasn't quite so bright, tan.
Oh it was just amazing. So so so grateful that I have this summer off and was able to have that experience. THANKS A MILLION Brother Frazier!

a SEVEN PEAKS day in the life of me...

Today my family and my cousins went to 7-Peaks for a day in the sun. We had a blast.
Highlights:

1. Racing Kelly, on the blue and green body slides, and winning
2. Having a dance party in the wave pool
3. Witnessing people losing their shorts (too much information - I know)
4. Having the life guard yell at us multiple times for having a tube tipping war in the wave pool
5. Being with family

Oh yeah, great day!

a DOUBLE DOSE day in the life of me...

Hi folks, I know I already posted today, but I didn't yesterday and something very important happened and I really need to post about it.
12 years ago, YESTERDAY, my sister and I were in a serious car accident. (It nearly took a life) Thankfully, we are both whole, healthy and loving our lives.
I am so grateful for the knowledge of the Plan of Happiness and how much I know my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love me and how mindful they are of my needs, wants and desires. I know that prayers are answered and want to thank all those who have offered prayers on behalf of me and my sister over the past 12 years.
I'm grateful for life, health, fun, adventures, family, the ability to use my body and all the gifts that God has given me. Never take a day for granted. You really don't know when it could be your last.

a PROFOUND THOUGHT day in the life of me...

Okay, so you know how when you're tired, everything sounds so smart and so funny. Well I had one of those experiences last night. I went to a movie, Robin Hood, with a group of people last night. The movie started at 10:30pm, which was recipe enough for disaster.
We're watching and I've seen it before, so I was looking at other things, besides the action that was going on right in front of my face, when all of the sudden this thought came to me ... I just had to share it so I turned to the guy, Blake, next to me and said the following:

ME: So you know how movies make kissing look SO good.
B: Yes.
ME: Well, I've decided that it really is that good.

Yes, that is the kind of profound statement that you will get from me late at night....

a GOD SEND day in the life of me...

Emily, Julie and I decided to dust off our cowboy boots and head out for some rodeo fun last night. Draper Days Rodeo was our destination, fun, sun, horses and cowboys were what we were expecting - we weren't let down. . . thankfully :-)

Julie, Me and Emily at the rodeo

As we sat there patiently waiting, and by patiently, I mean for a half an hour, we realized that perhaps the Draper City planning committee didn't quite know what they were doing when the planned the arena facing due west. Ugh. The sun was SO incredibly bright sunglasses weren't doing anything for us. Then, all of the sudden, okay really it was about 20 minutes after arriving, but it really was all of the sudden, this beautiful cloud came and settled right over the sun. At the same time Emily and I looked at each other and said "Well this is a welcome God send." (Hence the title)

The beautiful cloud that was so nice to just stay put so we didn't go blind.

What is it with a man in a cowboy hat that knows how to ride a horse and work a rope? I still have no idea....

We saw some incredible riding. One of the bull rides we witnessed earned 93 points. I don't know about the rest of you, but I've never seen a 93 point ride before. It was amazingly perfect.
Textbook, if you will.

Yee-haw!

a STUDY OF LIGHTNING AND THUNDER day in the life of me...

Lightning is an atmospheric discharge of electricity accompanied by thunder, which typically occurs during thunderstorms, and sometimes during volcanic eruptions or dust storms.
Thunder is the sound made by lightning.

Emily and I sat in our front room last night watching a beautiful summer thunderstorm rip across the sky. Lightning flashed, crashed and danced. Some of the strikes were so big it lit up the whole room.

E: What purpose do you think there is in why God created thunder and lightning?
S: Well. I think they just exist because of the electricity in the air.

Is there a purpose? Other than the natural cause and effect of things working together in nature - oh and the beauty it provides us spectators.

I'm curious - what do you guys think?

an ANNOUNCING A BIRTH day in the life of me...

Well let's just get this happiness over with. No, folks. I'm not expecting a child (weird, I know), but my darling friend Cecile Greene IS!!! This is going to be their first baby, I'm praying for a girl, and she is due in January 2011 :-) CONGRATS FRIEND! This is a happy, happy day.

In other news, last night my roommate Emily and I decided that we wanted to go for a bike ride. It was a beautiful night and just the kind that you don't want, under any circumstance, to spend cooped up in an apartment. Well, funny thing is, we don't own any bikes. So off we trot to my parents house. We have plenty of bikes - pretty much one for each child. Upon entering the garage we see 4 fine candidates. Next thing we know, none of the tires have air. Seriously?! Okay, no problem. I can fill tires up with air. Oh wait, the only pump within hand distance is for basketballs. Hum, that won't work out very well after all. Okay new plan, walk the bikes to Chevron and fill up there. Phew - thankfully that worked and the air is free there. (Neither one of us had our wallets). Off we trot to south Provo. It was such a fun ride. Some of my most favorite parts were

1. riding on the old highway and this huge truck pulling wave runners goes FLYING past me. Yeah the wind was a lot to handle
2. coming down off hills and letting gravity do my dirty work
3. stopping by to visit Josh and Veda
4. watching Emily get tree whopped by a branch and then having the same thing happen to me, because I was laughing too hard to notice
5. returning home safely at 10pm

Oh yeah! Great night for a bike ride (even if it did go longer than we originally planned).

a BIRTHDAY PARTY day in the life of me...

Hello folks. Well even though this happened yesterday, it was just too much fun to not make it the theme of my post for today. My sister turned 25, yep the big 2-5! Where does time go? I don't know ... I mean one day I woke up and I was 26! Seriously?! Yep.
We decided to do her birthday dinner on a night that coincided with country dancing to just make it that much better. The restaurant for the evening was Magelbys - it was DELICIOUS.

Here are some fun pictures from the night and then I'll get to the real reason of why I am posting about this.

Okay, so background information is necessary in order for this to make sense. On Sunday I decided to just SEE if I could go one week, just 1, without any sugar. Now this does not mean fruit, ketchup, yogurt, etc. This just means the extra sugars like: brownies, cake, ice cream, chocolate, candy, etc. (ya know, the stuff you LOVE to eat). Well I told my darling roommate, Emily, about this and she decided to join me on my quest. After all - what is one week?! Sunday not bad, Monday not bad, Tuesday HARD (for both of us which was funny) but we hung in there, Wednesday .... did they seriously have to bring out that HUGE piece of cake for free?! and then drop off 8 forks so that we could all partake?! Emily and I just looked at each other in lament. The others were curious about our look, so we gave them the necessary background. Finally, we just looked at each other and I said "Em, you can have the night off." OH THANK YOU! was her reply. That's when Jared got involved, "No you can't have any. You can't have any sugar." To which Emily said, "Dang it Jared, I have made it three days and this woman is going to get cranky!" bahahahahahaha - love it!
Thanks for a super fun and yummy night ... now back to making it to Sunday
p.s. I'll have you know I barely ate any of it. Funny how some days without sugar make it lose its savor once you taste it again.

a WORLD CUP day in the life of me...

Well sad day for GERMANY. They lost to Spain 1-0.
My family was able to watch the match together and it was a house divided. Two of us were rooting for Germany, the rest for Spain. My favorite part was when my Mom came and sat down by me to watch some of it. All of the sudden the man in red started doing something great (Spain) and she said something to me along the lines of "Oh our boys are just doing awesome!" Um, no Mom those are not my boys - those are your boys. She looked at me shocked, realizing that I was indeed going for the white team.
Aimee and I stayed true to the end.
About minute 10 Jared was so overcome with the fact that Spain couldn't seem to get a goal in the net that he banged his plate, containing a fork and knife, and launched the fork causing it to land, prong side to face, above his right eye ball. It was SO funny. He was so into the game that he kind of winced, held his eye for a moment and then continued watching.
Well I guess Saturday is the last time I'll be hearing about Germany as opposed to Sunday.....

a PONDERING day in the life of me...

Yes, this post is happening much earlier in my day, because I am going to spend the rest of the day pondering about it....
During my morning study I happened upon this great article in the June 2010 Ensign (publication for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) on page 29, entitled "Don't be in a Hurry." Wow! So fitting for me, so I began to read. One of the section titles is "Don't be in a hurry to do it all yourself." Definitely intrigued me and I continued to read. It was about prayer.
" 'When you get up in the morning, before you suffer yourselves to eat one mouthful of food, ... bow down before the Lord, ask Him to forgive your sins, and protect you through the day, to preserve you from temptation and all evil, to guide your steps aright, that you may do something that day that shall be beneficial to the kingdom of God on the earth.' That counsel will bless our lives as it reminds us each morning to kneel in prayer before we tackle the tasks ahead."

So I decided to go ahead and count 100 blessings that I have been given from my Heavenly Father. Funny thing; it didn't even take that long! :-) As I pondered over this list, I realized, yet again, how blessed and what a choice life I have as I am here on earth.



air, healthy heart, functioning lungs, sound mind, ability to reason, immediate family(Mom, Dad, Jenny, Jared, Christopher, Peggy, Aimee), food, warm and comfortable bed, money, safe apartment, a home that is welcoming, ability to love, knowledge of the gospel, knowing Christ loves me, knowing God loves me, prayer, fasting, friends (too many to name), strong physical body, knowing I'm a daughter of God, being a woman, being able to bear children, being able to read, born in America, born under the covenant, born to parents who love and respect each other, being the oldest of 6, learning something new everyday, college graduate, teaching special education, my calling, my trials, passion for life, being able to trust, being able to find joy, my laugh, good listener, excellent talker, able to handle my own finances, being able to travel, aunts(Jill, Monica, Janet, Sandy, Gina), uncles(Vic, Lyn, Ben, Reed, Cary), cousins(Maegan, Mindy, Mathew, Michael, Spencer, Nathan, Maddy, Abianne, Angella, Cuyler, Stephanie, Rachel, Jacob, Esther, Annie, Sam, Josh, Alison, Taylor, Natalie, Courtney, Braden, Jessica, Kelly, Jaci - all all their children and spouses), grandparents, all my extended family (ya know 2nd cousins, etc), finding fulfillment in many things, wanting to know about the world, desire to be healthy, desire to do what's right, desire to serve a mission with my husband, sing, dance, priesthood, pure water to drink, ability to apply what I've learned, long eye lashes (they were prayed over), temple covenants, Book of Mormon, Pearl of Great Price, Doctrine and Covenants, Old and New Testaments, knowledge of cooking, knowledge of Hope, having faith, hymns, situations that try my patience, scrapbooks, journals, personal library, work ethic, computer, running shoes, family likes to go on adventures, born in the 1980's (opportunities), learning from Apostles, reading and studying the Ensign, ability to memorize quickly, sun, the 4 seasons, growing up around so many good people, Uncle Ray Johnson and family, being moved by the arts, self esteem, love of reading, being born on tax day (can't forget that one), healthy role models for all aspects of life, being able to stand up for myself and others, sunsets, rainbows, dreams, clothing, the rain, snow (so I can ski), discernment, desire to be a wife, story teller, testimony, technology, ability to be loved, no debt

a PATRIOTIC day in the life of me...

This wonderful day started out yesterday. Last night University Avenue came ALIVE. People came out of the woodwork to stake out their claim for the parade this morning. My ward decided to join in the fun. After an insane 13 player game of UNO, some of us decided that we needed to join in the biker brigade - yes there were about 25 bikers parading their stuff down the street over and Over and OVER again. Thankfully, one of our buddies had a scooter and the fun began. During my turn we found ourselves in the middle of a "real" bike brigade. There were probably 30 bicycles riding together which was cool, but this was the best part - attached to one of the bikes was a HUGE speaker system. We decided that a car battery was running that thing. They were blasting music and rocking out with all their might. We joined them during Miley Cyrus' song "Party in the USA." THROW YOUR HANDS UP!
I crashed at 1:30am and woke up in time for the parade to start - it definitely couldn't have started without me. :-) We had some air force fly overs, many marching bands, floats, many royalties, veterans and boy scouts. It was a great parade.

The pipe band from a local high school. It was great!

My friend Desirae and her darling, 2 year old, Kale. I joined up with them for the second half of the parade. He LOVES me and that makes me smile!

My friend Des and I rockin' our hats. Nothing like a good "get up and go" look for the 4th of July parade. I just love her! Her husband was the photographer or he too would have been in the picture.

After the parade a group from my ward decided that we needed to have some more fun. We packed up our towels, swim suits, food, water and games and headed down to the swimming hole in Mona, UT. They had 2 tree swings so of course we had to go for it. This is me prepping myself to get up and go. The BBQ was delicious, the water was cool and refreshing, the rope swing was just high enough to be scary, and the sun was almost TOO hot.

So as I'm waiting in line for my turn the girls in front of me were having some ... um ... let's just say difficulties throwing themselves off the tree into the water. Now as it got closer and closer to my turn I realized why they were having these difficulties - the tree was very FAR from the water. I turned to the guy behind me, some random stranger, and said "if I start to stall up there, you have full permission to just push me in!" Oh did his eyes light up! hahahhaha. He then told me that it was easier to get to the rope if you hold on to the person's hand. Not true. It was easier to crawl, but he wouldn't let go of my hand so that I could finish getting myself across. In the end I was able to get to where I needed to be and thankfully I was able to throw myself off the tree before he could actually follow through with my request.

OH YEAH!!! so fun!

a FUN day in the life of me...

Yesterday, July 3, was my mother's birthday! Happy Birthday Mom! She is a wonderful mother: loving, kind, joyful, excellent advice, listener, talker.
For her birthday she decided that she wanted us to go on a Tandem Bike Ride as a family. We got our bikes at Outdoors Unlimited and headed out on the town. Provo is full of hills and of course that's what we decided to conquer. Granted the work paid off because the way down was a BREEZE!


My good friend Ken Snider was in town for the weekend and was able to join us on this festive occasion - YAY(he even t-voed the Germany vs. Argentina game to be able to join us!!!!).
After the bike ride we went to IHOP for some breakfast - we were all so hungry.


The rest of the day was spent in SLC hanging out with my Mom's family at the Riverton City carnival, and then a neighborhood BBQ, at a house through our backyard, before watching the Stadium light up the sky like the 4th of July!

here I am world.....

Well guys I did it. I'm finally entering the blogging world. Will I crash and burn? Maybe. Will I be bad at posting? Probably at the beginning. But am I going to have fun with this? Oh yeah!