bleh traffic

I don't like it.  At all.  Not one bit.

Tonight, my usual (and already long) 45 min commute home took me TWO HOURS!

For real.  Now I am home, stressed, frustrated, and sick of driving.  Oh it makes me so much fun to be around...

Perfect, especially since I have a date coming to my door at any minute.

Thanksgiving Day

I love today.  The fourth Thursday of every November is my favorite day of the fall.  The older I have gotten, the more I have come to appreciate this day of thanks.

Today has been perfect and many times I have just sat and watched so that I can soak in everything happening around me.  I love doing that.

Other things I have loved today:

- Driving to Ogden to join the Larsens in a food drive walk/run.  They are my second family and it was so much fun to spend my morning with them and catching up with Kelly.

- Raiding my sister's closet and finding my clothes that I thought had been lost!

- Thanksgiving feasting.  Delicious turkey, stuffing, potatoes, salad, cranberry sauce, bread, sweet potatoes - everything made from scratch.  My family knows how to do it right!

- Dance parties in the car with the siblings!

- My car.  I love my car.  I love driving it.  I love how pretty it is.  I love how it goes real fast!  I love how I can blast my music in it.  Yes, it was a good buy.

- Thanksgiving naps (which are near impossible with how loud we are...)

- Spending time with both my Thorkelson and Wilson family.

- Making flowers for headbands and fun things.

- Watching football with my dad, brother, grandpa, and uncle.

- Feeling like a ballerina because of my tights and dancing on the wooden floor (I haven't done ballet since I was probably 5...it was beautiful).

- Getting the following text from my dad: "K. We're going to byu/utah. Be here Sat by 10am."  This then caused a series of squeals, jumping, football runs, more jumping, inability to speak, finished by me sitting on the floor while my siblings are trying to figure out what my problem is.  Yes, it was the best part of my day.

phone photos

these were all taken recently while on the go...

Blue skies and clouds at the last home football game.  I love LaVell Edwards stadium.  I cannot believe this season is already close to the end.  It breaks my heart, but it is nice to end on a high note!

I got this gem sent to me while I was at work and it made my day.  That is the boy I love more than anything in the middle and those cute blondes are my favorite twins in the world.  What a lucky boy!

This was what I saw on my way to work yesterday morning...

Pretty sure those are real antlers!  I was grossed out, but I hear they are worth real big money

This is my Kendrick who saved me from an evening alone.  Sad it is all blurry, but if you can't tell, we make others around us feel very uncomfortable.  We went to the basketball game with Claire and Amy (who I love sooo much! so fun!).  Then we went to Magleby's for free cake (thank you BYU basketball for scoring 80+ points).  Then it was back to Kendrick's house to watch Forever Strong followed by hours of late laaatteee night talking.  OH and Amy gets her mission call today! YES!

Oh and this is what I found when I went down to my car to head to the gym this morning.  I got doughnut-ed?  This has never happened to me.  A few even have bites missing.  I am not sure if it was just a random act of a few bored pranksters or if someone sought me out, in love or dislike? haha No idea, but it has left me wondering! 

good morning gill...

I said, GOOD MORNING GILL!

Yes, I watched What About Bob yesterday.  Little secret - that was my favorite movie growing up.  In fact, I loved Bill Murray so much that I called him Uncle Bob in every movie that I saw him in after that.  That's right, he became a part of the family!

A little while back, I talked about faces, specifically the faces I make while watching basketball at the gym. Tonight, I watched the first half of the Chargers game.  No joke, I almost fell off the elliptical three or four times.  I clapped.  I cheered.  I threw a fist into the air a few times.  I hope all around me enjoyed it.

Also - the pictures they showed of San Diego throughout the game.  Beautiful.  I lived there.  I grew up there.  Made me homesick.  And the way the announcers talked about San Diego.  "55 degrees here on a Monday night." (while I am stuck in Utah with 30 degree weather and a blizzard warning...) or "Every time we come down here and see how beautiful it is, I am amazed that we all don't just move here."  I don't have many pictures of downtown San Diego, but I have plenty of my favorite places...

Christmas 2008. Beautiful.

Christmas day 2009 with the Beans

Sunset from Oceanside Pier, taken on my phone and still beautiful!

Mom's roses from the front yard.

Mulberry and Cox.  Beautiful.

These are the snowflakes I am used to (please notice how warm it looks outside).  I love the way mom fixed up the house at Christmas time.

returning to pooh corner

Return to Pooh Corner came out in 1994.  I would like to call in a cd of lullaby like songs sung by Kenny Loggins.  I was 6 years old when this amazing cd came out and I remember loving it, so I decided to start playing it in class while we are calming down, writing in journals, reading independently, etc...Well, to my surprise I remember every single word to every song on the cd and I LOVE IT.  I have found myself listening to it outside of school, like right now for example.

It is amazing where smells and music can take you.  I thank my mother for having such great taste in music as I was growing up :)

I looked through all old pictures on my computer and this is probably the only one where I am close to six years old.  It is also a gem of a picture and I am positive it has never been posted for the internet to see (probably for good reason too)...

Big shirts or a vest and underwear...we were a well dressed bunch of girls.  Can't you just hear, "Winnie the Pooh doesn't know what to do, got a honey jar stuck on his nose." or "Why are there so many songs about rainbows and what's on the other side?" or how about "Look and see her, how she sparkles, it's the last unicorn! I'm Alive!" and "to-ra-loo-ra".

I will close with:

Somewhere out there, beneath the pale moonlight.  Someone's thinking of me and loving me tonight...

weekend

Friday was BYU's Season Home Opener!  We played Fresno State and won 83-56!  I sure do love this time of year, it even makes the snow almost ok.  The way my heart pounds as the lights go down and the amazing basketball for the new season starts playing.  The thrill from the crowd screaming "Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh GO COUGARS!" over and over again.  The player introduction now followed with the players circling around a dancing Davies.  The way we say, "You got Jimmered!"  Being surrounded by fans all in white.  The way that we have gotten cake because the boys have scored over 80 points EVERY game!  The way I get to walk down to row three and sit behind my favorite couple at mid court, surrounded by my favorite fellow BYU fanatics.  The jumping up and down.  The winning!  Oh it feels so good.  I love BYU basketball, can you blame me?

A compilation of the last three season's photos.

Saturday I went to Porter's championship football game!  They were playing to keep their perfect record and they did it!  It was a long freezing game.  The score was 0-0 up to the very end.  After the Bingham team fumbled, Alta took it and ran for a touchdown.  Seeing my brother so excited, running into a huddle of teammates and jumping up and down with them, almost made me cry.  Mom said that men only cry over sports...uh oh.  It was a tender moment.  I sure love that brother of mine.  Grandpa came to the came too and since it was in Bountiful, a few of my cousins were able to join us.

Isn't he the best looking football player there ever was? I loveeee this photo.

After the game, mom and I went winter shopping at TJ Maxx.  I wanted tights and boots.  I bought some bright and colorful tights and two pretty cute boots (Side note: I wore the bright pink tights today.  I am not quite sure if I am used to them yet.  I have always been so bleh about tights, never wanted to wear them.  But I am determined to fit them into my wardrobe the winter!).  Then we walked through a cute boutique closer to Michelle's house.  It was darling and mom might have bought me a Christmas present that I am currently trying to forget about.  This little boutique was a part of three separate houses that provided various shopping.  Example, one little house was full of cute antique like furniture, the other with darling anthropologie style clothes, and the last with something else cute I am sure.  It was fun to have some one on one with the mom.  I love her.

Later that night, everyone came down to Provo.  Porter and Dad to eat at Golden Corral with Grandpa  in celebration of Porter's win.  Mom and Hannah to go eat at Rumbi with me to visit Kelsey.  Then we all had hopes of visiting the dollar theater to see Inception (since mom STILL has not seen it!).  Well, the movie was sold out, but Andy Larsen AND Jess McMaster ended up joining us at Rumbi and so did Porter and Dad after their fill at the Corral and we sat in Rumbi and talked for forever.  I went home happy and ready to write a Sunday School lesson.

Then today we had family dinner.  Everyone was there.  Empanadas were devoured.  Old family videos were watched.  It was very happy.

Now onto a new week!

My BFF Roommate's Big Day!

Alison got married on Friday!  I wish I could have been there with her.  She has been one of the greatest friends that I have made out here and living with her for two years was always so much fun.  We partied together all of the time and once someones said, "It is so cute that you two are like BFF roommates."  It has stuck.  That's what she is to me.  Since I could not make it to the wedding, I made her a hairpiece.  I think it turned out pretty good.

Anyways, I love Mrs. Alison Cundiff (ahh! So crazy to say!)  She has grown so much while we have lived together and it has been so neat to watch.  She has helped me to grow so much too.  The self control she was continually practicing, goodness, this girl can do anything.  I am so happy for her and I love seeing her so happy.

We have made so many memories together...we wen't everywhere together.  She even got me to run for an entire summer, a huge feat considering how much I dislike running.  We were always supporting our then DJing friends in all of their dance extravaganzas!

Oh and football.  She was so much fun to have at games!  She went through a whole year at BYU without football - I fixed that our second year together.

Road trips!  It was so convenient that she lived off the 15, on the way home and even came down to good old San Diego for Halloween festivities.

She is strong and beautiful.  I am so proud of her and I love her with all of my heart.  I have been so blessed with such a fabulous influence in my life and the greatest BFF roommate a girl could ask for.

faces

While watching a basketball game at the gym, I realized that I was making some really ridiculous faces.  I think it was to make up for the fact that I couldn't really scream and yell without getting some really strange looks.  Then I looked at the girl to my right, who was trying to text and ride on the elliptical at the same time, causing her to make a great face which then cause me to smile.

Since then I have been thinking about silly faces.  I might be the queen of silly faces.  I am so animated (I think that's what I'll call it) when I talk, especially when I teach!  My poor students.  I had never realized I made faces until a few summers ago when I had Kelsey come take pictures of me teaching some swim lessons...

I make faces.  Sometimes they aren't the most attractive.  The best part is that I am not talking about silly faces you make in posing.  These are faces I make when no one has a camera.  Melanie has been great at catching them with hers though.  Then she laughs at them for hours.  Rude.

Ok. That's all for today.   :)

today's thoughts

1. It suddenly became winter on Monday.
         I had to leave work a half hour early because a storm was coming in.  Very considerate of my administration staff at school.  So, this weekend was BEAUTIFUL.  The sun was out and it was really just one of the prettiest weekends this fall.  Sunday was a little bit cold, but come Monday - it has been freezing ever since.  I am not ready for snow.  I never am.  I have decided that this year, I need: tights, boots, closed toed shoes, and legitimate gloves.

2. Basketball is on!
          The Season Opener against Fresno State is on Friday!  I seriously love BYU ball.  It is amazing how happy it makes me.  We have had a tent up since mid last week.  Of course, I have been to every preseason game.


          We played BYU-Hawaii on Friday and I had to meet up with everyone at the Marriott.  I hate going to things alone, especially where there will be a lot of people, even if it is just driving the the Marriott and waking to meet up with my friends by myself.  At this point, I had no idea that they (my amazing sport fanatic friends) had set up tent already.  I turned the corner of the Marriott, saw all my friends and TENTS and I might have started crying...just a little.  Call me crazy, but I love that atmosphere, I love the people that I have gotten to know over the last few seasons, and I love having games to look forward to.

3. Halloween catch up
          Melanie and I were ninja turtles.  I say we look pretty sweet!

4. Grey hair...shoot
         Today, out at recess, I was talking to Cami and one her aides, Loretta, when all of the sudden Loretta goes, "Oh my goodness Tati!  Are those grey hairs?!"  She found tons and wanted to pull them all out.  Oh no.  I am only 22.  Sad.

5.  Nice lady at Thanksgiving Point
         Planning field trips for 18 students with severe disabilities is not an easy task and Cami and I get to do it once a month.  Of course, we 9 teachers and of course, we want to try to get them all in for free. Then we want it to be a fairly cheap trip since we do it once a month.  So we decided we wanted to go to the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point this month.  I called and asked what type of accommodations they might make for a class of students with severe disabilities.  They were SO wonderful and we are getting all of our teachers in and the lady thanked me for the work that I do.  She told me that she had worked in a school, never with special ed, but she was so impressed with all of the work we do.  Sometimes it is nice to receive that recognition, especially from a stranger.

6.  CRAZY day in basketball!

          I went to the gym tonight and watched the highlights of some wild games on SportsCenter.  The JAZZ beat! the Heat!  They were down most of the game (up to even 22 points!) and the last quarter they were on fire, but never let by more than 3.  Millsap who has only made 2 three pointers in all of his career scored 3 tonight and made a total of 46 points during the game!  The Jazz turned around to win 116-114 in overtime.  AND then the Pacers had a nearly perfect 3rd quarter making 20 of 21 consecutive FGs.  They missed the very last one with less than 2 seconds left in the quarter.  They made 54 points in the 3rd quarter alone beating the Nuggets 144-113.  I got an adrenaline rush just watching the highlights of these games!

AND of course, the Lakers are 7 - 0...Still UNDEFEATED!!!

my totally fabulous weekend

described in pictures, because I LOVE pictures!

Aubrey brought CRUMBS CUPCAKES in her carry on.  YES!  A bit of New York in Provo :)

Kendrick saved the pancakes.  Thank you!

Aubrey appreciation breakfast!

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Cougar Football with Aubrey...How I have missed this.

Jordan.  My favorite football player.  Love that smile.

COSMO! He loves us.

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Favorite Lacey moment: 

after the football game...Lacey: Don't eat the cupcakes without me!

Aubrey: How'd you know we were eating them?

Two minutes later, Lacey busts through the door.  She ran the two blocks to make sure that we didn't finish the cupcakes without her.

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Cafe Rio before the RSL game!

Post-game photo shoot

happy happy birthdays

to: Drew, or rather, Elder Livingstone!

We met the beginning of freshman year and did everything together...for about a month, maybe.  We lost contact until one fateful day during our sophomore year.  We spent that year becoming friends again.  November of my junior year, he left to serve a mission in Chile.  While we were friends, his parents were serving as mission presidents in the Congo, so I never had the chance to meet them.  They have been home for a bit now and Drew made sure that we met, even without him.  The Livingstones are wonderful and I am so grateful for them in my life.  Drew comes home in 19 days.  I am so proud of him.  It was fun to watch him leave, but I am just as excited to see him come home.

In fact, I mentioned Drew in a blog a few years ago:

"Drew - I could easily write an ENTIRE blog on Drew. We met freshman year - one of the greatest stories I have. A pick up line gone wrong and a boy too nice to let the poor girl make the mistake again. We did have a period where other girls came between us, but as of about a year ago, we have been as close as they come. He is my best friend and I have seen him grow so much. He has such an excitement for the mission - I know he will do amazing things. AND he gets to serve in Chile...the mission my aunt and uncle live in!"

He has done amazing things. He has not met my uncle and his family, but it is a good thing they are coming to Utah for December so Drew can meet them then.

Happy Birthday Elder Livingstone!

Drew came to visit in San Diego!  He got to meet the whole gang.

This was just a few weeks before he left.

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to: Berto

That's right!  My guinea pig is a year old!  I picked him up a year ago today.  He has been a wonderful companion.  He is not the cuddliest, but I knew that when I picked him.  He was the only one of three babies with all three colors, black, white, and red.  Just what I wanted, but the hardest piggy to pick up.  He gave me and my friend Matt a hard time, but once I got him, I knew he was the one.

He spent summer up in Draper with my family and I have just recently moved him back to Provo with me.  I think my roommates love him...every time they walk in through the garage I hear someone say, "Oh hi Berto!" "Hello rat." "BERTOO!" Or if you are me, "Hey, berto butt."  It's all out of love.  I think that we might watch G-Force or Bedtime Stories together tonight in celebration of him being a whole year old!  *I just reserved G-Force. YES!*  Love him.

I picked him up today and he instantly threw his head back and started nibbling his hands.  Love it when he does this.

You can't really tell, but he is so big!

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Also - I have been reading through lots of past posts.  There is so much that I have forgotten.  I love my life.  It has been good to me.

AND AUBREY COMES TOMORROW!