drum roll...

BEST FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL EVER!!!!

I want to be in bed in half an hour so I am going to make this quick!

My students are absolutely fantastic.  All came in with smiles.  All sat with quite mouths when asked.  All walked in the most beautiful straight lines I have ever seen.  ALL participated.  Sooo many laughs shared in class today. I was one proud teacher.

And to top it off, my most wonderful and caring boyfriend sent me flowers.  All in yellow - my favorite.

Back to school!!!

My students come back to school today and I cannot even hide how excited I am to see their faces. I will really miss my kids who are in middle school this year though.

I love this.

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Monday Morning Blues

This morning has been a joke.

I wake up and everything is great...until I go downstairs and get my lunch ready/eat breakfast. 

1. I made myself chicken last night for a chicken sandwich.  I open the fridge to search for it, and no big deal, it is gone.  Everyone else used it for their lunch.  I guess that's what I get for moving home?

2. I decide to grab a cinnamon roll before making the chicken all over again.  I pick it up and take a bit and the bottom of the roll is super hard.  I figure that the cinnamon and sugar have hardened at the bottom? I don't know.  I try biting through it and thing this is ridiculously hard.  When I pull it out of my mouth, I see that the metal top from the pilsbury tube that the rolls were in, is stuck to the bottom of my roll.  Wonderful.

3.  Time to make myself a sandwich (and I am running just a bit behind schedule - I have to run to the store still before work!).  I pull out two pieces of bread and sit them on the paper towel.  When I open the two pieces to lay them out, I find that it is already a peanut butter sandwich!? For real?

4. Get to the store with time to be in and out just fine.  But don't worry.  I have a soda for our work potluck tonight and everyone in front of me has tons of stuff.  The do-it-yourself lanes are closed and this lane is my only option.  I sat there for 10 minutes.  Cool.

5.  Driving on Redwood.  Construction in random little spots.  There is a tractor trying to go up some slope covered in rocks.  BANG.  It definitely shot one out and it hit my car.  My ears were buzzing the rest of the drive.

6. I forgot to look and see if the shooting rock did any damage to my car.

7. No one wanted to drive even close to the speed limit.  5 to 7 mph under was the average and for one stretch I was going 10 under.  AND there wasn't even traffic!!

All I can do is laugh.  I guess I have made it to work in one piece and, luckily, the kids start tomorrow.  I hope getting to school tomorrow isn't quite such an ordeal.

Happy New Year!

I know it is the middle of the year, but I have come to find that my years rotate more on when school starts and ends than when December becomes January. 

The end of August brings me a time to think about teaching, how much I have missed my kids, and how I am going to make this year the best one yet!  Things are new.  The kids are excited.  Teachers, although weighed down by paper work and setting up, have a little bounce in their step.   And while I thoroughly LOVED my summer, I know my bounce is purely from the joy of getting to see my students again.  So much this summer has reminded me of them.  Goodness, I have truly missed them.  During the school year, my heart is always overflowing from the little joys my students bring into my life and I cannot wait to have that back again.

School officially starts on Tuesday (feel free to send your prayers my way!) and I am grateful for the Monday buffer that I have to bring together some loose ends.

I haven't been the best in the blogging world this summer.  A lot has happened and I hope that as the new year starts to settle, I can reflect on the joys of teaching summer school, hiking Timpanogos, Lake Powell with Mel and her family, Kelsey's open house in San Marcos, and so many more of my summer adventures.

I hope this new school year finds you as excited (and maybe just a little exhausted from the prep) as me.

Summer Craziness

This is the first time I have opened my laptop for maybe a month.  I guess that's what happens when you have been busy, traveling, and have an iphone.

Last weekend was Kelsey and Scott's open house down in San Marcos.  That meant another California road trip for me and Aaron.  I don't think I will ever get sick of making that drive with him.  It also was a drive back and for that we brought Hannah and Joe.  They slept - and I don't know how.

 It was wonderful to be surrounded by family and friends to celebrate some more.  It was especially great to see Sonia and Cerae.  I know that I have mentioned them before, but I just absolutely adore these girls.  They have taught me more about myself than anyone else ever could.  They are the reason I am in Special Education.  I have known them since my junior year of high school.  We have kept in touch over the years and they have become some of my very closest friends.  I also love the way my family loves them.  They went out of their way on this busy night to spend time with these girls.  Sydney particularly stood out.  She is at that age where friends are more important than anyone else (and I know that we have all been there).  About halfway into the open house I saw her leave her ginormous circle of friends, many of whom she hadn't seen for months, to come spend the rest of the night with me and the girls.  She was so easy and fun with them.  She took Cerae to the bathroom. She made sure they were laughing.  It was the best way to spend the night.

With Joe in town for a few days we tried to have some fun.  We went up the Alpine slide in Park City on Wednesday afternoon.  Wednesday night we went to the Provo Beach Resort and did the rope course.  Have I ever told you that I am terrified of heights?! The rope course was sort of a joke for me and my whole body was tired from holding onto everything as tight as I could!

My Sister's Wedding

I am just a little behind on my blogging...that's an understatement. So much has happened!!! Most importantly, my sweet sister and best friend, Kelsey, married the love of her life.

They tied the knot last Saturday (and I am currently driving to California for her open house in San Marcos). She looked stunning and I have never seen her so happy. Plus she married one amazing man. Scott became a part of our family as soon as they started dating. He fits right in and I am pretty sure he loves being with us :)

It was a perfect day for a wedding. The sun was shining and there was even a rainbow to start the reception! Oh the park was set up so beautifully. Mom made beautiful bundt cakes for each table and Kelsey's sister in law made the most beautiful flower arrangements. There were lots of yummy treats thanks to aunts and cousins and Kelsey even got a donut cake from her work (that was really cute). And a sweet lady in my parent's ward made a beautiful wedding cake.

The reception was laid back and casual, perfect. Lots of friends from San Marcos came and that made it so much more meaningful. Cheryl and Michelle bought fireworks that they shot off after Kelsey and Scott cut their cake. Then it was all party from there. Dancing and sparklers.

Can I say again that is was a perfect day.

Fourth of July

I was sitting in relief society yesterday. We were talking about patriotism, being in America, and such because of the holiday weekend. An elderly lady mentioned how much she learned to love our country in school, by daily saying the Pledge of Allegiance and singing the patriotic songs to America. She felt that this spirit of patriotism is not being taught, learned, or felt in schools now. I admit that I didn't really learn that spirit while I was in school, but it was something I felt every fourth of July, every baseball game I went to.

I began to think about my class. Both years that I have taught, my kids have recited the Pledge Allegiance every morning and every Monday last year we sang the Star Spangled Banner. Some of my kids don't even know their name, or can't answer little questions, but they know some, if not all, of the words. It's an amazing thing. A little reminder of the blessing it is, how lucky we are, and how we should not take it for granted.

Happy fourth!

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