Deanna Deals

Party, Party, Party!

2011-08-01T20:16:00.002-06:00

Sarah Rose is getting married! Last week Sarah D. and her sister Carolina came from Italy. We have had so much fun in such a little amount of time.

Saturday was bridal shower day. We started our first one at 10:00. We had a great time with some really great people. At 2:00 Sarah's friend gave her another bridal shower. This one was with Sarah's close friends.

During the first shower, Sarah received lots of nice things for her new apartment. The 2nd shower concentrated on things from Victoria Secret.

I had the perfect gifts for Sarah. I gave her some cute plates from Costco and a wooden fruit bowl. For the 2nd shower, I wrapped up a wonderful gift in a Victoria Secret bag. I told her it was guaranteed to make a man happy. I think it was perfect... What man wouldn't want their wife to use a good cookbook?

After the bridal showers we went to the ward party. Three parties in one day!

I'm Back!

2011-07-17T18:53:00.005-06:00

It has been a long, long time since I have posted on my blog. I have filled my days with writing papers, participating in online discussions, and taking tests. Tomorrow I take a final. I have 3 papers that I need to reread a few mores times before I send them in as well as a few more discussions to do. I have taken 28 tests, written 24 papers, and have done about 30 discussion boards...I'm tired!

I spent from the middle of May to the middle of July completing 4 classes. Not the most fun way to spend a summer, but I am glad that I have them done.

Last week when I was at a point that I did not need to spend 10 hours a day online, I went on a little vacation. Kathleen and I went to the Rosebud Reservation, the Badlands, and then on to Rapid City South Dakota. It was fun to see where Marty's mother grew up. What a pretty place!(Marty and Joe went on the high adventure)

At Rapid City we met my dad and my aunt and went on to Mt. Rushmore and the Black Hills. I had never seen Mt. Rushmore or the Black Hills, they were wonderful!

We drove out to Crazy Horse, took some pictures and then headed back to Rapid City to make our journey to Yellowstone.

When we finally got to our hotel it was 3:30 am. We were exhausted. We went to the office, found out that everything was closed and that our key was supposed to be in a box. No key for us! We ended up sleeping in our cars in front of the hotel. When the people finally got there at 8:00 am, we found out that we had been forgotten. I think that was the worst hotel I have ever been in. The walls were paper thin and the bed was full of springs. There was popcorn under the bed and under the dresser, I was afraid that there were mice, but I didn't see any.

We tried to take a little nap and take a have a shower before we headed into the park. We stopped at a few of my favorite places and had a fun time seeing the park. I never get tired of Yellowstone!

That evening we went to the Pine Cone Playhouse and saw The Drowsy Chaperone. This was so much fun! I hope that they continue to have such fun plays year after year.

The next day we saw more of the park and some animals. I have been to Yellowstone many times, but have never seen a wolf. I was super excited to finally get to see one.

We saw Dirty Rotten Scoudrels at the Playmill. This was a great play too. We all loved it! I am glad that West Yellowstone has two places that we can go in the evenings.

We spent our last night at our wretched hotel and then headed home the next morning. I had Kathleen read one of my papers to me while I drove so that we could work on it. I think that it is ready to send in tomorrow (after I go over it a few dozen times)

Why Teenage Boys Still Need Their Mothers

2011-05-02T13:30:00.006-06:00

I used to think that getting a boy ready for prom would be easier than getting a girl ready, after a few Saturdays ago, I have changed my mind.

Sometimes, boys are just not on the ball. Since coming home from China, I have been reminding him to order the corsage, clean out his car and make reservations at the restaurant.

I ended up calling the restaurant, picking up his corsage, and telling him to at least shake out the floor mats in his car.

Joe borrowed a gold shirt and bought a white tie, from Savers, to match his date's white dress with gold sash. I thought it would look a little tacky, but I figured that he had it under control... I was wrong. About an hour and a half before he was to pick up his date, Marty sent me a text saying how the shirt Joe borrowed was not really a shirt, but a woman's blouse.

Joe's plan was to go to Saver's and pick up another gold shirt... or just wear the silky woman's blouse (the tie would cover the buttons on the wrong side of the blouse). Not wanting Joe to be embarrassed a few years from now, I went to the store in search of a nice gold shirt.

I thought my chances of finding a gold shirt would be better if I went to Mens' Warehouse. Come to find out, there hasn't been a men's gold shirt on the store shelf since 1977. I found yellow, tan, and brown... but not gold.

Sarah, Silvia, and I quickly found a white shirt with a gold/yellow tie and gold pocket silk. I had them steam the shirt and press the pocket silk while I paid them.

I knew Joe would be disappointed with our selection, but I also knew his date wouldn't be embarrassed. When I got home I faced Joe's disappointment and told him to at least shake out the car's floor mats before he got into the shower.

He was running late after his shower and could not find a clean white under shirt. He decided to wear his white shirt with a huge black giraffe on it--(inside out) for his undershirt. Figuring he wasn't against wearing a woman's shirt I tried to find one of my white tee shirts. He claims he found a clean white tee shirt in his room so he wouldn't have to wear mine.

Just as he was getting ready to go, I noticed that someone forgot to shave. At this time he was pretty mad at me for ruining prom and making him late. I didn't have too much to loose, so I made him shave.

I waited up for him to see how prom went. He came home a little after midnight. He wasn't mad at me any more and he seemed to have had a good time.

Jet Lag

2011-04-26T12:32:00.004-06:00

What is it with 3:00 in the morning? When I was in China, I would wake up at 3 each morning, totally ready to start a brand new day. Now that I am home, 3 in the morning is still my wake up call. Once I wake up, I can't go back to sleep. I keep my eyes closed just in case I might be lucky and drift off to sleep.

I can pretty much go all day without feeling tired until about 7 at night. (With a little help from a diet coke) 7:00pm is when a huge wave of tiredness hits me.

I was really hoping to be done with this jet lag business by Monday. Now that I am at school full time for a few weeks I really need to get over this time change thing.

Hauling Home Hong Kong

2011-04-22T20:12:00.002-06:00

Our first full day in Hong Kong was spent going to church, finding Hard Rock Cafe, going to Victoria Peak, and eating at TGI Friday's.

After being stuck in the hotel's maze the night before, we headed out early for church. We got there about 30 minutes before it started. We went to an English speaking ward and attended Sacrament Meeting. After church we decided to look for Hard Rock Cafe on our way to Victoria's Peak.

We did our homework on this Hard Rock Cafe, we did not want another experience like the one we had in Beijing. I looked up the address on the internet and found that they were in the process of opening the cafe and store. We found a map and asked for help along the way and finally ended up at the Hard Rock Cafe. We spoke to a few of the employees and found out that they were having a staff and family night in preparation of the grand opening the next day... long story short.... we left, came the next morning to find that they were waiting for a license from the city and that they would be open around 3. Monday at 5 we were there and they were still not open. A lady from Portugal who was there to train the employees felt sorry for us and said she would sell us the shirts if we had cash. We left feeling pretty happy.

Back to Sunday-- It started to rain as we left Hard Rock Cafe empty handed as we headed for Victoria's Peak. We found the bus which took us to the top of the peak. We were looking for the tram but not speaking Cantonese we did not know when to stop. The top of this national monument was like a big mall. There were escalators all the way to the stop and at every level there were shops. We bought some candy at a candy store and that was our lunch. (We really didn't eat much in Hong Kong). We found the tram that headed down the mountain but it was raining quite hard and it was so foggy they were not even selling tickets.

We headed down the escalators and took pictures along the way when we noticed the clouds had parted and the rain had stopped. We went back up the stairs and got on the tram down the mountain. We had a great view of the city and took a few great pictures.

Bonnie and I were starving when we got back and decided to go to TGI Fridays. The only Mexican food they had was a Nacho appetizer. We split it between the both of us and then headed for our hotel.

As we walked along the streets of Hong Kong throughout the day we noticed hundreds of women sitting outside on blanket. When it rained they moved to the underpasses and to the inside of the pedestrian walkways. At first I thought they were waiting for a huge sale or grand opening give away, but when they filled the city I ruled that out. We found out later (from the Portugal woman at Hard Rock) that these ladies were servants and nannies. Sundays were their only day off and they had no other place to go. They all seemed pretty happy, many had shopping bags, most of them were playing cards or doing each others hair.

On Monday we started shopping. Bonnie makes a great shopping partner. In fact when she is in Dallas and I am in Utah we go shopping together over the phone we do this by shopping at the same store at the same time looking at the same things. Shopping with Bonnie was so much fun!

After our disappointing walk to Hard Rock Cafe, we headed to Stanley Market. When we first got there it seemed that things were overly priced and that one one was really interested in bartering, but as we continued to walk, things got cheaper and people were more willing to go down on their prices. I bought two cameras, one to replace the one I dropped in the girls dormitory back in Beijing and the other as an upgrade. I haven't looked at it yet- sure hope it takes a decent picture.

We bought jade, jewelry, scarves, tea sets, and lunch and then headed for the hotel. After emptying our suitcase and backpack we went on a Hong Kong harbor cruise. I forgot to take something for motion sickness but I did pretty well. The sights were beautiful and we were so glad that we went. The hour cruise was just what we needed to revive us for the Lady's market.

The Lady's market is known for the clothes, scarves, tablecloths, handbags, and jewelry. We bought pretty much all of the things mentioned above. We left around 10:00 making our first shopping day in Hong Kong a big success. We went to the hotel, put everything out on the beds and admired all of our wonderful treasures. We packed them in our suitcases and called finished our 17 hour shopping day with a smile.

Tuesday we headed for mainland China to a place called Shenzhen. We were able to purchase strands of pearls for amazing prices. I bought a jade ship and Bonnie bought a beautiful jade vase. We also purchased China dolls to torment future granddaughters. (We remembered being tortured as children with China dolls we could not play). Our final purchases were designer handbags.

We were invited to shop at a "warehouse" and Bonnie was all for it- I kept thinking of the report I helped Sarah with on human trafficking. I was pretty nervous as we followed a man across the street into a hotel room- down an elevator into a basement and then into a hotel room. I kept telling Bonnie that we should not be there and that I felt that uncomfortable. She kept going, I kept following. It all worked out well and we ended up in a warehouse full of designer handbags. I, of course had her go in first and tell me if it was safe.

I bought a couple of real (to me) Louis Vuitton purses. Bonnie also bought some really pretty purses. We traveled back to Hong Kong, emptied our bags and headed to the night market to finish our Hong Kong shopping. We were exhausted by the time they closed the night market. Our bags were full, our feet were aching, our wallets were almost empty but we were happy.

We did not even take out our purchases, we went to bed and crashed for about 6 hours. The next morning we went to the grocery store to buy some food and candy to take to the states with us.

Our plane left Hong Kong at 2 in the afternoon on Wednesday. We flew to Beijing and had a 3 or so hour layover. We left China at 6:00 at night and got into LA around 6 Wednesday night. The plane ride wasn't too bad. I drugged myself and slept a few hours. As soon as I got to LA I ordered some Mexican food, funny how I did not want Chinese.

I am still suffering from jet lag. I am wide awake right now. I almost fell asleep while driving home from school today. Last night, I was so tired when I went to bed only to wake up at 1 in the morning for 3 hours. Hopefully tonight will be better.

I enjoyed my trip to China so much! I only have one regret--I should have bought more ties!

Stuck In A Maze

2011-04-17T07:43:00.002-06:00

We left Beijing yesterday and flew to Hong Kong. The trip took most of the day. Our hotel here in Hong Kong is pretty sad compared to our last hotel. When we first got here we asked to change rooms because our room smelled like mold. Once we changed rooms we set put to find some American food. We headed out of hotel but got stuck going in circles trying to get out of the hotel/shopping mall. Hong Kong is a lot like New York City, only NYC is smaller and more organized. Hong Kong is like NY C on steroids. There are layers of this city with roads on the first three levels, kind of like a city built in a huge multi-level parking area with high rise buildings. There are pedestrian walk ways that goes over some of the streets. We haven't gotten to the subway level yet.

Today we ventured out and went to an English speaking branch on Hong Kong island. After our experiences last night we gave ourselves plenty of time. We were thirty minutes early for church. After church we went sight seeing even though it was raining and foggy. We took a bus to the top of Victoria Peak. It was really foggy and we almost decided to save our money and not go outside at the very top.

The rain and fog let up for about thirty minutes so we were able to see the huge city from the top of the peak. My father told me that he rode to the top so I really wanted to experience it. After the tram ride down we walked back to the ferry and found a TGIFridays where we split some nachos. We are really in the mood for some good
Mexican food.

Tomorrow is a big shopping day. I hope to be well rested by then.

Mis-Adventures On A Rickashaw

2011-04-15T07:28:00.002-06:00

Today we were set free in Beijing. We made some plans and even had our itinery writen in Chinese characters. We set off for the Lama Temple. We entered the doors of the temple grounds and saw many people burning incense. As the incense is burning the chant and make gestures and the kneel and put their head to the ground. One lady actually laid all the way down and repeated her prayer about ten times. The temple was very beautiful and we even saw the large Budda that made it into the Guiness World record book. I have only seen movies of prople worshipping idols, today I saw it first hand.

After the temple we walked to the Hu Tong area. It was a fun and interesting walk thruogh an old part of town. We managed to buy lunch by looking at pictures on a menu. It was not too bad but someof the dishes we really spicy.

After lunch Bonnie and I took off to go to a flea market on Slik street. I did not buy anything but I had fun looking. We had a little extra time before we wanted to ge back to the hotel so we decided to go to Hard Rock Cafe to get a shirt for Joe. We waved down a taxi only to find out he had no idea what we were saying. We had the idea of finding someone who coould write down the characters tha said Hard Rock Cafe. We found someone who spoke German but understood some English who had a girl friend who could write Chinese.

After about 20 minutes of being turned down by every cab we finally found one. We jumped in and then showed him our chinese writing.He drove us about a half a block and asked to see the paper again. After looking at it he stopped the car ad mtioned for us to ge out. He kind of looked disguisted with us and we thought he didnt want to take us becuase it was just a short distance. We tried waving down another taxi but no one was stopping. We thought if we are too close for a taxi perhaps we can get there on a rickashaw.

We found a lady with a rickashaw and handed her our paper. She drove us a few feet until she found a man she knew driving another rickashaw and motioned for us to go with him.

After negotating the price for taking us to the hard rock cafe , we sat down. We rode for about six or so blocks and he stopped and said we were there. WE WERE NOT THERE. We were in a pretty bad looking part of town. He kept saying this is it and we kept saying no it isnt. We paid him half of what he wanted and he left.

We stood there in the middle of this bad part of town and looked around. We saw stores that said Romance Cellar and Sex Center... We looked again at the store the taxi dropped us off at and saw that it said Woodys. Things were starting to make sense when we noticed another rickashaw driver slow down and stare at us and gave us kind of a leering look. Bonnie was just about flip him off because we thought it was the same driver that left us standed in sex district of Beijing but just in time we realized he was someone different. We decided to get a cab...if we could possibe get one... and just go back to the hotel.

After making it back to the hotel we asked the front desk about the chinese charater that caused so much confusion. Bonnie was told tat the literal translation of Hard Rock Cafe was ....hard as a stone... some how through all of the translations we ended up there.

The rest of the evening we spent going to Snack street. We saw people eating some pretty nasy things like roaches and snakes. This was a cook to order market and things were on sticks ready to be putn the fire.We did not stay too long some of the smells amost madeus throw up.

With a few hours of the evening left we headed to the right hard rock cafe and got Joe a shirt. It was a long trip through some crazy drivng but at least we didnt end up at Woodys again!

Adventures In A Rickashaw

2011-04-14T16:16:00.004-06:00

Bonnie and I decided to take turns blogging at night or in the morning because it is diffifult and time consuing to type on the kindle keypad. A few nights ago I kept falling asleep inbetween words. Hopefully this morning my typing will be better and my thoughts will be clear.

We started out yesterday by learning Tai Chi in the park. There were street vendors everywhere,and you cant say yes to all of them the best way to not have to tell everyone no (they do not take no for an answer...in fact talking to them only encourages them) is to act like you do not see or hear them. In between learning our cool Tai Chi moves we had shopping opportnites.

The temple of Heaven is is a beautiful place. It is a Buddist temple and there were a lot of people playing in the park. The parks here seem to be the senor citizens' playground. They sing, dance, and play hackie sack. They seem to make the most of their well deserved retirement. The buddist temple in six hundred years olf. It was built after the forbidden city.

We went to a a silk factory and saw how silk was make. These really are not factories but more like a government store. We get a demo and then we get a sales pitch. The prices are pretty high.

After the temple and silk shop we rode over to Hu Tong and got on to rickashaws. This was fun going done the narrow allies of the old part of Beijing. I can imagine that the rickashaw drivers have the strongest legs around. They drove us to a local womans house and she fixed us lunch. Lunch was fantastic !We ate in this woman small home that had two bedrooms a living room and an adjacant kitchen. This was a very humble home but with the best food of the tour. It was nice to have some home cooking. After lunch we gave the host gifts. I gave her some homemade apricot jam and grape jelly. These were things that I was sure that were not made in China

The flea market was fun I bought some fun things and one lady even sai0d I was a good barterer and that I made her tired. I really dont believe her because when I compared prices with the other tourist on the bus our prices were pretty similar.

After dinner we went to a acrabat show it was amazing what they could do. I was grateful to be the one watching and not the one trying to do it. There were jugglers, jumproppers and people ho jummed through hoops while building a human prymid.

Today we get a free day. We can go where we want to go and eat what we want to eat. I think we are planning on visiting the Lama Temple goig back to Hu Tong to hang with the locals and then go to anothe flea market. Tonight we want to go to a place called night street or snack street. We are excited for a little freedom

Becoming Mongolian Princesses

2011-04-13T08:09:00.003-06:00

Today we toured the Summer Palace. It was beautiful. When we first got there a group of people we dancing in the courtyard. There was an open invitiation to join s of course Bonnie and I joined right in. The summer garden is a peaceful place. I bought a cute panda hat there for Rachael from a lady selling things off the street. I got a pretty good deal too.

While touring we heardsome muic and was able to go explore a little. Bonnie and I found the music ans joined in the singing. We did not know theword until we looked on s Chinese ladys songbood good thing we can read Chinese WWe had a great time singing and the locals thought it was good fun for us to try to join in.

Later we wre asked to particpate in a circle dance while everyone sang. Quite a few people from the tour were also invited. We left the summer palace by purchasing our Mongolian princess crowns. We looked beautiful andI have something to wear on craxy hat day.

We visited a pearl factory next and after making our purchases we ate lunch. The food is starting to taste the same now. Rice, veggies, a little meat if we are lucky. I dont think I willl be going out to eat Chinese food fora long time.

We spent th afteroon at a school visiting students in private school. These kids stay at the school durung the week and go home for the weekend. There were kids from grades first throught twelfe there. It kind of looked like a prison. We learned caligraphy and oragmy at the school. After our lessons some of the studen s perrformed for us. Bonnie and I thought it would be a good idea to perform something for them...we came up with America the beautiful. The group actually sounded really nice. The tour guides did not really appreciate the sining but then again we are in a communist country.

Dinner was rice and veggies again. I cant to eat a taco or some spaghetti. Tomorrow we are going to a Budist temple and learning Ti Chie. I am still pretty sore from climbing the wall yesyerday,maybe tomorrow i will be doing better.

It has been a fun day and I am definitely ready for bed.

The Great, Great Wall of China

2011-04-12T08:01:00.002-06:00

Today I did something I never thought I would do. I climbed up the Great Wall of China. The steps are umven and steep. The wall gets higher really quickly leaving those who climb it swaeting and panting. The views were beautiful. I would have liked to sta there longer,maybe even go camping there.

Comng down from the wal was a lot easier. I could not stop becausmy legs would shake a lot if I did. When I finished coming down from the wall,I went to the bathroom...this one was a squatter... A squatter is just like it sounds..One has to squt to use it...there is no sitting only squatting. Not a good idea when your legs are shaking, but I did manage to do it.

I would love to rake Marty to this wall.. hee would love it.

Today we also went to a jade factory..we did not buy anything,everything was very ecpensive. We also visited the capitol museum. I am so tired right now I keep falling asleep in the middle of words. I bette rgo and get some rest for tomorrow.

Beat Up By A Chinese Woman...And I Paid For It

2011-04-11T08:40:00.002-06:00

Today was our first day sight seeing. We went to the Forbidden City, Tienemen Square, a Chine Tea House the Beijing 2008 Olympic Bird' nest and water cube, anda place where we were served Peking duck. It was a great day and Bonnie is going to write all about it... you can get to her blog by clicking on Bonnies Briamstorn on the side bar.

After our fun, busy day we had a massage. Two small Chinese women came to our room to work us over. they started with our had and ears. At this point I got the giggles. For the rest of the massage I tried to control myself. One time I stopped mysel from laughing by biting the tip of my tongue...that turned out to be a bad iea because she pounded on my head I then I really bit it. The lady's pouned, rubbed, and slugged. There were a few good places that she rubbed, and I got so relaxed I thought I was slubbering, and then there were places where she used her fist. She popped my toes and pouneded all of my muscles and towasd the end she poked the sore areas on my feet.

As she was hitting me with her fist I thought boy, I hope we never get in a fight.. she would surely win because of her strong hands. When they were done.. we paid for our beatings... I wont be surprised if I discover a few bruises.

Chopstick Diet

2011-04-10T13:38:00.002-06:00

Yesterday was our first day in Beijing. It was our day to rest and get adjusted to the time change. Bonnie and I forced ourselves to stay awkake until 9:30 last night (7:30 am Utah time). I fell right to sleep after we changed rooms, our other room was so hot Bonnie's chocolate was melting. Feeling fully refreshed here at 3:30 am (1:30 pm Utah time) I decided to get up and give an update.

Being in China and not speaking the language is like playing charades. It was pretty funny when the maid came and we tried to tell her our room was so hot and she was trying to tell us to open the window. As it turns out that didn't help and we had to go through the same conversation three more times wiith different people. Another funny charade game we had was when we were trying to buy paper and a pencil with an eraser.

We ate Chinese noodles last night for dinner. We met someone who spoke English very well who helped us order an MSG free meal. It was great food and we had a fun conversation with keiko. At the LA airport i slipped some plastic forks into my bag for such an occastion, but I forgot them at the hotel. As the entire restaurant watched us eat with chop sticks, I decided this could be Bonnie and my new diet. The chop stick diet~~very little actually made it into our mouths and what did took a long time. Sounds like a perfect diet.

We seem to attract quite a bit of attention whereever we go. Yesterday Bonnie was the only other white person I saw outside of the hotel. Little children like to come up to us and wave, other people just stare. It is kind of hard to not act like a tourist when you have blonde hair and everyone else has black.

While walking around the market yesterday we decided we want to try some interesting food that they were making. We will be doing that in the next day or so. We also figued out the money comparison between here and the US. So far we haven't purchased anything but food.

Beijing is a fairly clean city. There are guards ....men in unforms for everything There is a guard as you enter the grocey store who does not let you take pictures of weird looking fruit and guards at the banks. Out here no one drives up to a bank. The entry way is gated and the guards only let certan cars through.

Very few people speak English and the ones who do are a little shy. We saw some teenage street dancers yesterday who we thrilled that we would sit and watch them dance...we even clapped for them. It was fun to see them try extra hard to show us their dance moves.

People out here can not get on facebook.. the government has it blocked. In our conversation at dinner we learned that the Chinese peopple can have two children if the first child is a girl. They can have more if they are willing to pay a fee.

So far we are having a great time.. typing on the kindle is a little tough..so please forgive the errors. I think i will take a nap before the sun comes up....wish me luck!

13 Minutes?

2011-04-09T19:35:00.002-06:00

Traveling from LA to Beijing for 12 hours on a plain reminded me of the movie Rocketman. The goal was to go into hyper sleep for 9 months. Poor Randal had to sleep where the monkey was supposed to be. When he awakens from his sleep he realized that hehadonly been asleep for 13 short minutes. Last night I knew how he felt. I drugged myself, got as comfortable as I could, and when I woke up I still had eleven hours to go. Bonnie and I had put the time and distance we had to travel in terms we could understand. We would fly from LA to New York.... turn around fly to LA again and then fly back to New York... all wiithout getting off the plane. We actually flew over Alaska then over Russia ans Sibera and finally into China. We arrived in Beijing at 5 in the morning. We have totally skipped Saturday. When we fly back to the stt ates we will repeat a Wednesdayy,So I guess it all works out in the end. Right now it nis lunch time here and we haave woken from our little naps and are planning to venture out and see what China has to offer. At home it is time for everypne to go to bed .. tomorrow is Sunday over there which so happens to already be a great day.

3 Chapter and 6 papers later.....

2011-03-25T14:16:00.002-06:00

I think I made it! For about a month I have been working hard on my master's thesis. Yesterday I sent it to the editor! I am so excited that I have made it to this point. I haven't really paid attention to much else. (Sorry family)

I would go to the store only once a week for about 30 minutes or less. We have saved a lot of money without me doing any shopping, but I am not sure what kind of food is left in the house.

My eyes are blood shot but I am hopeful that they will clear up with time. It must be from all of the reading I have done on the computer......

My neck is sore from being bend down most of the time....

When I couldn't work on the paper any longer, I would take a break by putting dishes away or folding laundry... what fun!

Yesterday after I sent the chapters off, I sat down and had nothing to do.... Well, I could have cleaned the house or I could have gone grocery shopping, but instead I took a nap. After my nap I watched the BYU basketball game.

I am looking forward to a weekend of Costco and Sam's shopping and buying birthday presents for Sarah and Rachael.

A Painful Morning

2011-02-17T12:33:00.003-07:00

Some mornings are good, some are hectic... this morning was painful!

Every three years teachers "get" to be evaluated. Every three years I think about quitting. I usually stress about evaluations for a few weeks. With all of my homework this year, I put off stressing about my evaluation until the day before. The only thing I am teaching is kindergarten computers. I really don't do too much teaching with that- I just put the program I want them to do on my website and let them do that for about 20 minutes. When a 4th grade teacher asked me to teacher her students PowerPoint, I figured it would be a good thing to teach while being evaluated.

I had everything set up yesterday, I made a hand out, I created a PowerPoint. I brought my projector. Things were looking good.... until 8:00 this morning.

8:00 I started my car to warm it up while cleaning the bathroom downstairs (my cats are still being trained to use the toilet)
My first thought was, "dang it Joe! can't you take a shower without getting water all over the bathroom!" As I started to mop up the floor, I realized the ceiling was dripping with water and the light fixture was completely filled with water. I moved it a little and a bunch of water poured down the front of my shirt and skirt. At least my hair wasn't wet -- I did not have time to change, so, I went to school wet. I called Marty and let him take care of the problem (which turned out to be a broken pipe in the kitchen).
8:31.. Only one minute late to work.. I could still pull this off.
8:32... I notice a 4th grade class in the computer lab. So much for getting a few things ready before the kindergarten kids came!
9:15..I send the kindergarten students back to their class and start the 6th graders on their test. I decided to check on a vacant computer to see if I needed to do anything with the PowerPoint program.
9:45.... I realize that the computers in my lab have the 2004 version of PowerPoint. I had everything ready for the 2008 version. (There is a huge difference)
10:00.. I quickly make a new PowerPoint using the 2004 version, make a new handout that goes along with the 2004 version, and adjusted all of the computers so that there would be no confusion.
10:30.... I am running off my new handout when the machine says that the ink cartridge needs to be replaced... I decided to use another machine instead. At this point, I started laughing! It really was funny and laughing was better than getting frustrated.
1040.....I set up my projector and hook it up to my computer. I was surprised that I did not have any problems.
11:00... the principal comes in along with the class and I teach 30 students how to create a PowerPoint.
11:30 surprisingly the presentation went well! I was really pleased. The students were quiet, they followed directions and no one tripped on the projector cord ( I was expecting that to happen)

After my painful morning, I have decided that I am grateful for a few things...
1. I am glad I found the leak in the ceiling and that the pipe is fixed... I am also grateful that Sarah and Rachael were home to shut the water off ..... Marty was able to call one of our friends that is a plumber and he was able could come over quickly.
2. I am grateful that I checked the school computers. It would have been a disaster to find out that the students were using a different version than I was.
3. I am truly grateful that I don't have to have evaluations for another 3 years!

Dear Editor

2011-02-10T09:10:00.002-07:00

After hours and hours of reading, researching, and revising I turned my first paper in a few weeks ago. I had everyone who entered the house read over my paper. I was fairly confident with it and turned it in. I got a B. A lousy B! My teacher said it was a "very good paper" but--I lost 8 points because of referencing it incorrectly. I was pretty disappointed. A few days later, the teacher sent the class an email saying he knew he was tough while he graded our papers. He also said that some of us need to consider hiring an editor. I have decided that is what I am going to do. I will put the hours of research into the paper. I will revise it and get it as good as I can (sorry family-- you will still be reading my papers) and then I will turn it into an editor. It will probably be the difference between an A or a B.
Yesterday I sent a 4 page paper into an editor. She looked it over for half an hour and made some adjustments.... especially on my references. The cost---30 dollars. The savings---about 10 hours of pouring over my APA manual and still getting some things wrong. I was actually able to enjoy yesterday.
The good news-- the paper is done and it isn't due until Feb. 15th, so if anyone is just dying to read it, let me know! Other good news-- I only have 4 papers left for this class. (3 of them are chapters--- but that sounds too overwhelming).

Back Breaking Backpack!

2011-02-02T09:10:00.003-07:00

I have made a discovery! My backpack is too heavy! I noticed this when I put it on the front passenger seat in my car and drove to school. The passenger seat has a sensor that monitors the weight (or the person) that is placed on the seat. If the person (or the weight) is 40 pounds or more and the seat belt is not fastened, an annoying alarm will ring for about 2 minutes.

It was during this 2 minutes that I realized that why my back had been hurting for a few weeks. After my discovery, I put my books, papers, and computer into my rolling computer case. The good news is that for the last 2 days, I have not had to take ibuprofen and tylenol every two hours.

It is strange how simple things like carrying a backpack can cause so much back pain!

Reasons Why I Do Not Make A Good 6th Grade Teacher

2011-01-27T10:31:00.002-07:00

Even though it is not spring in Utah yet, spring has sprung in the 6th grade. There is a certain turning point in 6th grade that happens between Christmas break and spring.... good news, the 6th graders at my school have stepped over that threshold! It happens all at once- and it happened this week. This change has two parts, one is a physical change and the other is an attitude change. I have taught 6th grade a few times, and I would have to say that it is not my favorite grade to teach. It's a good thing I only get to observe the 6th grade attitude this year. As I watch the successful 6th grade teachers, I have come to the conclusion that I am happier when I teach 5th graders down to 1st graders--(kindergarten students still pee on the chairs)

Here are a few reasons I should not teach 6th grade....

1. I don't really like the smell of prepubescent body odor.
2. My witch's hat is set too tightly on my head.
3. I see and notice everything and feel obligated to correct bad behavior.
4. I get a little angry when students continue to misbehave when they were told to stop.
5. I have a hard time not laughing at preteen flirting.
6. I really don't like it when students roll their eyes.
7. When students make comments under their breath, I hear their comments and can not help myself when I respond.
8. I feel that I always have to win 6th grade arguments.
9. Their math is too hard--(hahaha--not really, I just had to say that!)
10. There are some really talented teachers out there that can put up with all of the above mentioned reasons and still can adore and teach their students.

My World of Acronyms--(MWOA)

2011-01-20T10:55:00.003-07:00

Today we finish the NWEA testing! Next week, we start up YPP again. At least I don't have to do the DIBBLES, DRA, or MARS tests. These tests are all in preparation for the CRTs that come at the end of the year. The CRTs determine if the school has made AYP.

FYI, the most frustrating part of being the test proctor is when the students click everywhere on the screen and crash the computer. I try to fix each computer ASAP, but it can take up to 10 minutes to reset a computer once it freezes. Sometimes I feel like yelling at a student who continues to crash the computer2 or 3 times within 30 minutes-- but I try to think.... WWJD? So, I just politely fix the computer and MO.

I am trying to get my M. ED degree from SUU. This is my second semester. At BYU, I am taking a 16 credit ESL endorsement class. This class came from both the TELL and BEEDE methods of teaching English to L1 and L2 language learners and the ELLs. It's a good thing that we have the WIDA books to help us! The class I am in now is the ULA class--understanding language acquisition. (Sometimes I think with all of the acronyms, I am leaning another language) It is hard to keep up with all of the JPAs CT, LD, and MMs that we learn about in class.

I had a phone conversation today with the district research specialist and was embarrassed that I didn't know what PLC meant! Of course it means professional learning community. I didn't look too professional when I asked him what it stood for.

Sometimes, I wish that people wouldn't use so many acronyms. It is hard to keep them straight. There are a lot of acronyms that I use without even thinking about it. It seems that they have become part of our language and way of life.

I think Tigger was one of the first to use a catchy acronym when he said TTFN.....

Blog Tag---You're It!

2011-01-13T12:07:00.003-07:00

I loved reading the answers Kathleen replyed to in when she was tagged. I hope mine are as enjoyable as hers.

1. If you have pets, do you see them as merely animals, or are they members of your family?

They are family members! We love our pets! We have more animals than people living in our house right now, so maybe our pets should answer this question about their people.

2. If you can have a dream to come true, what would it be?

That I could travel whenever and where ever I wanted.

3. What is the one thing most hated by you?

Bad drivers.

4. What would you do with a billion dollars?

I would travel and see the world!

5. What helps to pull you out of a bad mood?

Music--like the Beach Boys or The Bee Gees. It's hard to be in a bad mood when you're listening and singing to music.

6. Which is more blessed, loving someone or being loved by someone?

I think both are equal. In order to be loved, one has to love someone besides themself.

7. What is your bedtime routine?

I brush and floss my teeth, go to the bathroom, set my electric blanket to preheat, say my prayers, and then fall asleep.

8. If you are currently in a relationship, how did you meet your partner?

We met at BYU. We were neighbors and good friends for a few years before we started dating. It took about 3 dates before I knew we were actually dating.

9. If you could watch a creative person in the act of the creative process, who would it be?

Michaelangelo. I would love to see how he painted the Sistine Chapel. It is beautiful-- but what a pain in the neck it must have been!

10. What kinds of books do you read?

Right now, boring text books. It looks like I will have about 2 more years of reading boring textbooks. I like reading just about anything.

11. How would you see yourself in ten years time?

A retired grandma on a mission in a foriegn land.

12. What’s your fear?

That I will spend 2 years working on my master's thesis project and have it denied.

13. Would you give up all junk food for the rest of your life for the opportunity to visit outer space?

Yes! I have already given up so much food... giving up what ever junk food I can eat shouldn't be a problem-- unless it is chocolate.. but I don't think of chocolate as junk food.

14. would you rather be single and rich or married, but poor?

I would rather be married and poor.

15. what’s the first thing you do when you wake up?

I go to the bathroom, put on my walking shoes and walk on the treadmill while watching The Office.

16. if you could change one thing about your spouse/partner what would it be?

That he would close the cupboard doors and drawers when he is finished in the kitchen.

17. If you could pick a new name for yourself, what would it be?

I like my name, however I have answered to the names Diane, Diana, Deann, Deana, and Karen.

18. Would you forgive and forget no matter how horrible a thing that special someone has done?

I would try to forgive. Forgetting is harder.

19. If you could only eat one thing for the next 6 months, what would it be?

Soup. I love soup. Soup always fills me up and there are so many kinds of soup.

Now, to tag a few people.... Bonnie, Megan, and Eric! (copy the questions on your blog and answer them)

Oh My Holly Helicopters!

2011-01-11T10:59:00.003-07:00

Just as soon as the Christmas break was over and school was back in session, the students started testing. They test all of the time, but this test is different. This is the NWEA test and it has pretty high stakes. This is the test that measures their yearly progress that determines if the school has reached the AYP goals. Every K-6 grade student in the school takes at least 3 tests... the lower grade students take 4 tests. Each test takes about an hour. If they are absent or they do not finish the test, I hunt them down and get them to finish them.

The story problem that runs through my mind: If there are 800 students in the school and each student has to take at least 3 tests on 32 computers... how many times do I have to change the settings on each computer?

I am surprised that I have a minute or two to even write a blog post. Maybe it is because right now in my classroom I have 6 adults helping me with administer the tests to the resource kids. Yesterday I didn't get a chance to use the bathroom until I got home.

Yesterday, I had 60 computers going and up to 4 classes taking tests. Today, I only have 32 computers to work with. Part of the time I have to multitask and go into the other computer lab to teach kindergarten students. That can be a little intense!

Tomorrow I will be officially 1/2 of the way finished with these tests. The good news about coming to school an hour and a half early, leaving an hour late, and coming in on Monday is that I will be able to take a few days off later.

Yesterday, my new SUU class began and tonight is my ESL class. It's a good thing that Joe is cooking tacos for dinner tonight and Rachael has been cleaning the house!

Science Experiment Update

2011-01-06T21:55:00.004-07:00

It's time for an update on all of my science experiments:

Toilet Training Cats: We have advanced to the final level in toilet training the cats. I have one resistant cat who can't seem to figure out how to do his/her business in the toilet. If the toilet isn't flushed regularly this particular cat likes to leave his/her dropping in front of the toilet. If I can train the people to flush the toilet often, I can train the cat!

Gluten Free Bread: I did it! I have found a recipe that makes a great loaf of bread of gluten free bread. My only problem with it, was that it went stale very quickly. I purchased some gluten free dough enhancer and ---success! I have great tasting bread that stays soft for several days.

Treadmill Walking: I had to take a little break from the treadmill during the Christmas break. I am back to walking an hour every week day morning for an hour. I watch 3 episodes of The Office that I have recorded-- it's amazing how many commercials I skip.

Green Tomatoes: We ate most of the tomatoes that I picked green and kept in tissue paper to ripen. I used up the last of them at Christmas time when I made caprese salad. They were a big hit where ever I took them!

Gluten Free Ramen Noodles: This has been a tricky one. I took some rice noodles and I found some gluten free/msg free beef broth concentrate. Joe liked it, now I just need to teach him how to make it.

Head Phone Wire Chewers: I haven't been able to stop 800 students from chewing on the head phone wires. But, I have stopped a few. I walk up to the child and pull the wire out of their mouth and say, "nasty, that's gross!" If I don't go up to them and pull the wires out of their mouth they tell me that they were not chewing on them. I am still working on this one.

The Orchid: It is still living, but not blooms yet. My Christmas cactus is starting to bloom though!

I have a few other experiments that I have started. I'm excited about them and I will post them if they are successful!

Winter Wonderland

2010-12-30T10:53:00.011-07:00

Christmas break has been lots of fun. We have had a bunch of snow, which means.... shoveling, sliding, and skiing.

Joe and I went skiing a few day before Christmas.
Joe wiped out while going down a black diamond run. This picture was taken right by the Snake Creek lift. I tend to go a lot slower than Joe. I don't fall as much and I can get some great pictures.

Our next and last stop was the Great Western lift. We did not get to go up that lift because the power went out. We went home a little early but we were thrilled that we got a rain check for a free day of skiing!

It isn't a ski trip unless we stop at the 7-11 to get slurpees!
After a nice day of skiing, we were ready to celebrate Christmas!
I think everyone was happy with the gifts that they received. I know that I loved all of my new gifts. Below is a picture of some slippers that Kathleen made me. I also got new ski boots, a pretty sweater with a matching necklace, a vintage Chicago album, a kindle light and a hollowed out book to hide my kindle in. I also got a white pair of slippers for the temple, a pair of black boots for church, and some gift cards for a dinner and a show!
With new ski boots, I had to go skiing. With our free day passes, we headed up to Brighton again. Surprisingly the power went off again at about the same time it did the last time. We were excited to get another all day ski pass, but when they passed out 1/2 day passes, we couldn't complain. I took some pictures before heading down the mountain for the last time.

Kindle Blogging

2010-12-20T09:30:00.003-07:00

For my birthday, I got a 3G kindle. I wanted it for several reasons. To read books and to get on the internet where ever I get cell phone service. Right now I am using the Kindle to write on this blog. I am not saying that it is easy, but it is possible. It is kind of like typing on my blackberry, only with a slightly bigger keypad. I can also get facebook and I cam google things.

The screen shows pictures in black and white,which is more than I thought it would do. I haven't purchased any books yet, but I am excited to use the gift certificate Bonnie sent me.

......And A Partridge In A Pear Tree

2010-12-16T09:48:00.003-07:00

Back in summer and fall, when the fruit was falling from the trees, I made a bunch of jam. I made apricot and pear jam along with grape jelly. I also made an apricot chutney, salsa, and tomato soup.

For Christmas this year, I have been passing out my pear jam. It has been wonderful to be able to get a box of jam from downstairs and give them away to those who are on my Christmas list. It is also nice to carry around some extra jam for those I forgot to put on my list.

I had big plans of cross stitching a partridge on some fabric to go a long with the "partridge in a pear tree" theme. Those plans did not materialize. I ended up finding a cute picture off of the internet and printing that.

With a glue stick and little ribbon the Christmas gifts were ready to go!

Animal House

2010-12-03T20:37:00.005-07:00

Rocky Bad Boy-a

Gus The Bus

Madam Maleficent

Tass (Jeff nicknamed him Tass Hole and the name stuck)

Buttons (She gets sat on a lot....not sure why)

Moglie-- the small and mighty

Missing in action is Fungus....

First Semester Of Graduate School

2010-12-01T21:50:00.002-07:00

This semester I have taken 6 credit hours. I am almost finished with my first semester of graduate school. I have one more week left and that is just an online survey for one of my classes. Over the last few months, I have stressed over papers, studied for tests, participated in discussion boards, worked on homework, and attended class. I have even paid attention while in class.

In the past I usually took crossword puzzles to class or meetings to keep myself from getting bored. So, far the only thing that I have done this semester is the homework that will be assigned for the next week. Well, when I think hard, I may have taken my computer to class and looked at a few blogs.... but that wasn't during anything really important.

I plan on taking 6 more credit hours during Spring semester. I have always wondered why they call it Spring semester when it starts in January and it is so cold outside.

I want to thank all of my children for allowing me to help them while they were in elementary school, junior high, and high school. Helping them with homework, papers, and projects has made going back to school easier for me!

Monday, Monday

2010-11-30T13:39:00.002-07:00

Monday, Monday!
Ba da ba da da da Ba da ba da da
Monday, Monday
So good to me!

Every other day, every other day, every other day of the week is fine...
But Mondays are wonderful!

For the last four years I have had Mondays off. I use my Mondays to do all of my laundry, shopping, I go to the doctor, I run errands, I clean the house, I pay bills, I go to the bank, I go to the post office....

A three day weekend each week is very nice.
Last week I went to school on Tuesday, was off Wednesday through Friday for Thanksgiving, just in time to start my 3 day weekend. I had to try hard to remember the time I needed to be at school today.

Wheelies and Light Up Shoes

2010-11-29T20:13:00.004-07:00

We spent Thursday night in Wal-Mart in celebration of Black Friday. We were waiting for the lap top computers that were on their door buster ad.

The line for the lap tops started in the shoe department. We entertained ourselves by trying shoes on for about an hour. As one person sat on the camp chair, the other players would find the ugliest pair of shoes for them. They were to put the shoes on and walk to another section of the store. This was fun for a while especially when Joe had to try on the high heels.

Sarah and I were the first two people in line. We just had to be there at 5:00am to get the computers.

Even though we were sitting right by a large pillar that said,"Line starts here for laptops" we had about 20 people ask why we were there. Around 2 in the morning Sarah and I were trying to sleep. As I said last year, "There is no sleeping in Wal-Mart." People continued to ask why we were there and I had the great idea to tell them we were in line for adult size wheelies and light up shoes. We talked about how funny that would be for a while and then tried to get some rest.

Just as we were resting and thinking we might be able to fall asleep, a lady comes up to us and asked why we were in line... I of course told her we were there for the adult size Wheelies... Sarah not wanting to look like a daughter of a smart aleck, looks up and points to the sign... She meant to say, Computers...but because she was so tired, what came out was....... Light Up Shoes!

I laughed so hard I cried.... I thought this was SO funny, but then again, I had no sleep and it was 2 in the morning

Keeping The Tradition Of James Whitcomb Riley

2010-11-28T17:16:00.004-07:00

I remember when I used to ask my parents for a bedtime story when I was a little girl. We didn't have very many books around our house and story time was pretty rare. When I did hear a story it was always a poem from James Whitcomb Riley.

When we would travel to my aunt's or grandmother's houses, they would quote some of the same stories and poems. I grew up thinking that everyone knew these cute poems.

While attending BYU, I was given an assignment to recite a poem in front of class, I chose Little Orphan Annie by James Whitcomb Riley. I had heard it all of my life and even knew how to do some fun voices for it.

Another personal favorite poem is, "The Bear Story." I have tried to memorize this, but I have not quite succeeded.

James Whitcomb Riley wrote funny poems and stories, he also wrote sad poems. His poetry reflected the things that he faced throughout life.

When my own children were small, I would quote or read different poems to them to help pass on this poetry tradition.

A few years ago, Rachael bought me an antique James Whitcomb Riley poetry book for Christmas. She even has one for herself. The tradition continues!

Before and After Pictures

2010-11-27T17:44:00.003-07:00

Now that November is almost over, the freezer burn diet comes to an end. The freezers are now cleaned out. I am ready for another year of finding meat on sale and freezing it. This year's freezer burn diet did not take too long. I have learned to not store much pork, and I have been pretty cautious about what I buy. My before pictures look pretty bad, but I am proud of my after pictures!

PS... no one says that you have to eat everything that is in the freezer during the freezer burn diet. Today I took a large trash bag of old food out and threw it away!

Before the freezer burn diet....

After.....

Test Results

2010-11-23T12:59:00.003-07:00

I got the results back from my EDG biopsy yesterday. I feel that it is the best news that I could have gotten. I have non-Celiac, gluten intolerance. That sounds better than having Celiac disease! There was evidence of a few problems that gluten has been causing, but I haven't developed the disease--yet.

I do feel better not eating gluten. My headaches are going away. I don't have a foggy, tired brain. I am more alert and I can concentrate. I think I am nicer to those around me.. at least that is what Marty says.

I can live without gluten. I think I have been limiting myself of it for the last several years when I cut back on carbs.

I am looking forward to a healthier life!

Crazy Cat

2010-11-21T21:58:00.003-07:00

When Rachael was a senior in high school she found a poor baby kitten on the side of the road. She brought him home and asked if we could keep him. When I first saw him, I thought he was hamster. I told her I did not want it in the house.

Rachael named him Rocky and we have loved him since that first day. We bottle feed him and watched him grow into a big beautiful cat.

He has a few quirks... but we still love him. Rocky was separated from his mother way too early and missed out on nursing. He makes up for this loss by sucking on blankets.

Rocky loves toys. He thinks a lot of things are toys--curlers, headphone covers, makeup sponges... Under every piece of furniture you can find a toy that he has lost. His favorite thing right now is a toy mouse. It is covered in rabbit fur and has a small rattle inside. He will play with thing for hours. He growls at any animal that comes near it. Once it is stuck in a place he can't reach, he stares non-stop for it to magically reappear.

I am glad that Rachael found this cute guy. Life would be dull without our Rocky!

Thank You Betty Crocker

2010-11-21T07:53:00.003-07:00

Betty Crocker has passed the teenage boy test! They have recently added a few gluten free mixes to their line. I am hoping other companies follow their example.

Friday night I made brownies using the Betty Crocker Brownie mix. They were really good. Both Joe and his friend ate most of them. Joe was grateful that they were gluten free and that they tasted good.... his friend was grateful that they tasted good. I was grateful for their taste and their texture. There wasn't any grit texture that I have found in a lot of products.

I hope that Betty Crocker decides to add a few more mixes to her line. So far, we have made the chocolate cake and the brownies and they have both been very good. So, thank you Betty Crocker!

Suggestions Needed

2010-11-19T21:27:00.003-07:00

For the last few months, I have been too busy to read fun and exciting books. I have been reading text books, writing papers, and taking tests... No time to read novels!

I have been a fan of audio books for a long time. I usually listen to them when I travel to keep myself awake. I have recently rediscovered my joy for them. I have a 20 minute commute to school and another 20 minute commute after school. 40 whole minutes to enjoy a book! I have listened to Mocking Jay, The Life of Pi, and will soon be finishing Pride and Prejudice. I am looking for my next book.

Any suggestions?

Science Rules!

2010-11-18T20:07:00.008-07:00

I have always loved science. I remember when I was in 5th grade, I checked out a science experiment book and secretly did a few in my room. I read that you could make alcohol out of yeast. I found some yeast and did the experiment. The fermentation process took about a week or so. I didn't drink it, I just wanted to see if it would work. It worked and I threw it away.

I would buy plants instead of candy when I had money. I had plant brochures sent to me, just to look at all of the bulbs and indoor trees I could plant.

I collected tons of rocks.

I have several experiments in progress right now. Here is a list and update on all of them:

Train all the cats to use the toilet--Not going as fast as I would like, I am hypothesizing that this is because I am doing all 3 cats at a time.

Make gluten free bread that tastes good and can be used for sandwiches--the last bread I made was good but I used a mix. I want to make some great bread without a mix (this weekend)

I bought a treadmill about a month ago. I am experimenting with how long I need to walk to have a pain free side--- Right now, I am figuring about 1 1/2 hours on the treadmill and all the walking I do at school.

I picked all of the green tomatoes from my garden before they froze. I wrapped each on up in tissue paper and put them downstairs where it is cool. I ate one that I ripened for lunch today (without seeds) Not as good as vine ripened, but better than the grocery store.

Joe seems to be gluten intolerant as well, I am trying to make all of his favorite foods gluten free--!st on the list, Mac-n-cheese... that one turns out well if I use Quinoa pasta and take the cheese packet from the Kraft mac-n-cheese and make it with that. Now, I just need to be able to make ramen noodles

I am growing an orchid--It is growing, but not blooming yet.

In order for Joe to not have to scrape his car as much, I have pulled my car up so he can park behind me and be mostly under the carport---so far, Joe hasn't had to scrape ice off of his car at all. He leaves before me every morning so this has been a big success.

I have lots of students who like to chew on headphone wires--I sprayed them with Lysol in between classes-- didn't work, I think some kids actually liked the taste of Lysol. ---Now I am going up to each wire-chewing student, I point to the wire and say, "yuck! that's nasty--I just saw a 2nd grader with that same wire in his mouth or nose--- this seems to be working, except for the kindergarten students.

So, Like, What Did Ya'll Say?

2010-11-17T15:49:00.004-07:00

Yesterday I attended my ESL class. During the class we were asked if we had ever experienced feeling inferior in our English language skills. I related the following stories:

I learned to talk while I lived in Georgia. By the time I left Georgia to move to California, I had a really strong southern accent. My California teacher was not able to understand much of what I said. She referred me to a speech class.

I remember going to speech at least 2 times, probably for testing and evaluations. The last time I went to speech, the speech teacher walked me back to my classroom where I overheard him tell my teacher that I did not have a speech impediment, only a southern drawl.

My other language experience was when I moved back to the south. I was moving from California and had determined that I would not get another southern accent. The students at my school did not appreciate my fine diction and articulation. They told me that I sounded like a "Yankee." I was actually quite pleased that I was able to get rid of my southern accent.

My family tells me that when I travel to the south, I tend to pick up some of my old southern accent. I really don't believe them.

Living in Utah I have heard my own children say things like melk for milk, clane for clean, mounain for mountain, but'n for button.

If I were to put Georgia, California, Arkansas, and Utah into one sentence.. it might sound like....

"Hey Ya'll, like, I am so sure going to the store to buy me some melk and but'ns."

A BYU Classroom

2010-11-16T13:22:00.002-07:00

I chose to do my classroom with a BYU theme this year. I figured that it would be good inspiration for the students while taking tests, kind of like being on the winning team.

BYU has played 10 games. The bad news: they have lost half of their games. The good news: they have won the other half of the games including the last 3.

BYU has 2 games left. I hope they continue their winning streak so that they can inspire all of the test takers. The students at school have about 25 more tests until the end of the school year. Good luck BYU, and students!

Life With A Bulldog

2010-11-15T18:32:00.003-07:00

We have an English Bulldog named Millie. Her official name is Madame Millicent. Millie is kind of the queen of the house. She sits where she wants to sit, goes where she wants to go and thinks she can eat what she wants to eat.

Millie has just a few annoying habits. She begs in a few weird ways. She puts her huge head on the leg of the person she is begging from and acts like she is having a seizure. I am guilty of teaching her to "speak." When she was younger, she could almost bark, "I love you." Now she just barks. Over the last year, she has starting sneezing on the person she is begging from. That usually does not get her anything but thrown outside, I'm not sure why she keeps doing it.

She isn't much of a watch dog unless there is a stray dog on the loose. Whenever we have anyone over, she usually just licks them.

Due to her cute, short nose, she tends to have a lot of gas. The truth be told, she can clear a room in a matter of minutes.

Even though she sneezes, slobbers, passes gas, begs in annoying ways, we love our cute little Millie.

If It's (Gluten) Free, It's For Me

2010-11-14T08:49:00.003-07:00

Ever since I can remember, I have had a headache everyday. Sometimes it's on one side of my forehead, other days it's on the other. I have also had a lot of weird, mystery symptoms...like very easily bruising, breaking bones easily, geographic tongue, and my stomach always hurting...

While getting my annual physical exam, the doctor mentioned gluten intolerance and Celiac Disease. All of my symptoms are symptoms of someone who is gluten intolerant. I went off of gluten for about 3 weeks and my symptoms were going away! To my delight I did not have a daily headache!

I had to go back on gluten for a biopsy. Those were three long weeks! Now, I am back to being gluten free. When I first decided to go gluten free, I saw the tiny area dedicated to gluten free products and thought that that was all I was going to be allowed to eat. My list was even shorter because I need to stay away from rice and seeds for diverticulitis.

I found a few great websites and found out that lots of regular foods are gluten free. It was nice to know that I wasn't limited to one small end cap in the grocery store.

More and more products are going gluten free. Betty Crocker even has a line of cake and cookie mixes that are gluten free. Yesterday, I got brave and made some bread. I have been disappointed with the packaged frozen bread which tastes and feels like card board. Pamela's bread mix was a wonderful discovery.

I need to work on making my own flour mix so I can save money. That will be the next hurdle. I am also learning how to convert a few of my favorite recipes to be gluten free.

I haven't been the only one in my family to benefit from going gluten free. Joe's had a few different symptoms that have gone away too. I am hoping some of his sinus problems will go away soon. Good news! He actually has an appetite again.

You Know You Are Getting Old When...

2010-11-13T16:33:00.004-07:00

You get a personal invitation from Meals On Wheels....(Sorry it's backwards)

Good news...This was only an invitation to send donations, but it had me going for a while

Then and Now

2010-11-12T20:23:00.009-07:00

I would have to say that going to school now is a little easier than when I got my bachelors in 1984. While some things remain the same, I have noticed a few things that are really different.

Then and Now

Then---- I attended classes every week day. Now--- I go to class once a week for
3 hours and my other class is online.

Then----- I would study in the library until I study in my dining room until
it closed. Now---- Marty tells me to go to bed.

Then---- I did all of my research in the library. Now---- I can access any Utah University library
through the internet (and no one has torn the page I need out of the book)

Then---- Photocopies were a new invention and a lifesaver, before they were available we took notes as we read. Now----- I can bookmark sites on my laptop, or copy them to my computer

Then-----I wrote all of my papers on paper before I typed them. Now----- I type my papers on my laptop as I am doing my research.

Then-----I typed my papers on an electric typewriter in the typing lab. This could cost a small fortune if you did not type well and had to stay in the typing lab. Now----- Once again, the laptop is a wonderful

Then-----If you made a mistake while typing, white out, correction tape or retyping was very painful. Even one letter could cause you to retype the whole paper or document. Now---- Cut, paste, spell check, grammar check are undescribably amazing.

Then----- Textbooks were expensive. Now----- Textbooks are still expensive but I can download them or buy them on Amazon.

Then----- Tuition was expensive. Now------ Tuition is still expensive! It is about $900.00 for a 3 credit class.

Then----- I had roommates that mostly cleaned up after themselves. Now---- I can't get the men I live with to close cupboard doors.

I Know An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Camera

2010-11-11T20:18:00.002-07:00

I had an esophagogastroduodenoscopy today. In other words, I had a small camera placed down my throat to take pictures of the lining of my esophagus, stomach, and small intestines.

I was asleep while this all happened, so I really don't remember anything about it. I do know that the doctor took several biopsies and I will have to wait a week or so before knowing the results.

I did get pictures, but I have no idea what they show.

I Want My 2 Dollars

2010-11-10T21:49:00.001-07:00

On Monday I went through the bank's drive through. I was in a hurry to go stand in line at the post office so I wasn't paying enough attention. Once I got my debit card back I drove away. It wasn't until the next morning that I realized that I had forgotten the 200 dollars in cash that I had listed on my deposit slip. I went to the bank before to school to pick it up, but they were still closed and I did not have time in the afternoon to go back.

I was surprised that I hadn't heard from the bank asking me to pick up the money so, this morning I called them and asked about it, they had no idea of any extra money laying around---and I decided it was time to get worried. I went into the bank after school, showed them my card, and all of my information and was told that the bank manager would call me back in about a half an hour after she got back. That was at 3:00

At 5:00 I was getting angry. I WANT MY TWO (HUNDRED) DOLLARS! I was told that the manager was working with a customer and would call me as soon as she could.

5:57. The bank closes at 6:00 and I could feel myself really heating up. I called again and I actually got to speak to the manager. I told her who I was, sure that she had looked over the notes that the bank teller had given her. She had no idea who I was and had not received any information regarding my account.

After explaining it all to her, she looked it up and indeed found the error. The teller never put it in a "cash out" category or something like that. Because it was after 5:00 she would not be able to credit my account until tomorrow.

Shortly after we hung up she called back and told me that because of Veteran's Day tomorrow, the money won't be available until Friday.

I have one thing to say about all of this...

I want my TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS!

Goodbye Autumn, Hello Winter

2010-11-09T12:30:00.004-07:00

Usually by Halloween night we have freezing cold weather. This year, we have had a few extra weeks of good weather. Yesterday I could feel that we were headed into cold weather so I picked the rest of the grapes, put the water hose away, brought in the plants that would not survive winter, and picked all of the green tomatoes. Here are a few pictures before everything is covered in snow.

The good thing about the snow this year is that Joe and I have decided to go skiing every Friday.

Joseph and The Grapes

2010-11-08T14:35:00.004-07:00

This is an adaptation of Aesop's Fable, The Fox and The Grapes

Joseph and The Grapes

One cool, fall day Joseph came home from school and was asked to pick some grapes. He strolled through the backyard 'till he came to a bunch of grapes just ripening on a vine which had been trained over the top of the trellis wall. "Just the thing to quench my mother's thirst," quoth he. Drawing back a few paces, he took a run and a jump, and just missed the bunch. Turning round again with a One, Two, Three, he jumped up, but with no greater success. He pulled a chair up to the edge and stretched up to reach them. Again and again (least once) he tried after the tempting morsel, but at last had to give it up, and walked back into the house with only a small bucket of grapes and his nose in the air, saying: "I am sure the rest are sour(rotten)."

The next day along came the mother of the lad with an empty bucket and a lot determination. She moved the chair around and around and reached the highest vines until she got all of the grapes before the winter storm.

Below are the grapes Joe couldn't reach.

The moral of the story....

Girls are better than boys!

T.T.B. (Terrible Teenage Beard)

2010-11-07T09:52:00.004-07:00

After the snow storm of few weeks ago, Joe came home and announced that he was participating in the T.T.B. (Terrible Teenage Beard) contest with his high school this year. The rules are pretty simple: after the first snow fall of the winter, you don't shave until Christmas.
Joe seems to grow facial hair like his dad. Hair only grows in a few patches on his face.
Joe says the winner of the contest gets to be mentioned on his radio show. I think this contest was made so that teenage boys could get their mothers a Christmas present without spending any money.

75% Off

2010-11-06T16:50:00.004-06:00

I love when I see a 75% off sign! Things that I would never consider purchasing at full price find themselves in my shopping cart.
The laughter and pictures made the $3.00 I spent on each of these worth it!

Gus with the attack Gladiator on his back

Millie the hot dog!

Millie and the gladiator.

Freezer Burn Diet

2010-11-05T12:14:00.003-06:00

It's time for the annual Freezer Burn Diet! Several good things happen when we go on the freezer burn diet. My freezer gets cleaned out in time for the holidays, I use up the meat that I have, and I save money. I have a total of 3 freezers... I took pictures of the two that I use the most. Doing an annual freezer burn diet means we don't eat meat that is older than a year!
My goal is to take "after" pictures of these freezers at the end of the month.

You're Either IN Or You're OUT

2010-11-04T12:37:00.005-06:00

Fashion can be a lot like dealing with people. Either you are IN or you are OUT. Working in a testing lab has put me OUT with quite a few people. I don't get the smiles or the high fives as I walk down the hall like I did in previous years. I think some teachers even see me as a threat. It's tough being me lately.

I have experience being OUT. As a child, I moved around a lot and frequently found myself OUT when I would move from school to school. I would choose one or two people that I could befriend and work from there.

How do I handle being OUT now? I am tempted to stay in my classroom and sulk-- but instead I have decided to work on my popularity. Today, I brought some homemade grape juice to 2 possible friends. I will use my childhood "friend making skills," and hope they still work.

Halloween Costumes

2010-10-29T15:30:00.003-06:00

Halloween is one of my favorite days at school. I like to see the students dressed up and I love to dress up too. This year Joe and I planned on being gondoliers from Venice. We bought striped shirts and Joe got a hat while we were in Italy just for the Halloween. Joe made his boat, but I did not. Yesterday I decided that I would be a gondolier next year and use Joe's boat and hat.

I decided to be a mad scientist instead. I had a lab coat already from a few Halloweens ago. I ran to Wal-Mart last night and got a wig. This morning I stopped at Macey's and bought some dry ice and as a finishing touch, I wore Marty's magnifying goggles.

The students and teachers were pretty impressed with the bubbly mixture I walked around with during the parade. Not bad for a last minute costume.

The Wonderful Smells Of Fall

2010-10-23T09:21:00.003-06:00

I love the fall in Utah. All the fruit and vegetables ripe at the same time. My grapes and apples are ripe. The peaches are ready to turn into jam. The pears are perfect...

Last spring I planted a bunch of tomatoes and peppers. Now all of my jars are full of salsa and I have to dump out old food to make room for the grape juice before the first frost.

The aroma in the house in the fall is wonderful. If it isn't the salsa cooking, it is grapes!

3 years ago I have started canning again. I was not teaching a regular classroom and I had time, fruit, and vegetables on my hands. This year I have the fruit and vegetables but very little time.

I have about 5 more batches of grapes to pick and steam and about 2 more times to gather tomatoes. I do not have time to dry the apples, so they are dropping to the ground only to be consumed by Gus.

I am always grateful for the food that I do get to put away. Drinking grape juice while watching the snow pile up is a reminder that summer will come again!

Way To Go, Nerd!

2010-10-07T22:39:00.000-06:00

I have become a bit of a computer nerd. It really isn't a bad thing. A few weeks ago the computer tech installed a new program on my computer so that I could control all of the computers in my class. I had one similar last year, but this one is better.

Today while teaching the puddle-jumpers (kindergarten students...actually only one puddle so far this year) I was showing them how to use a certain web site. I was using the new and improved program, and had my computer screen projected onto all of the computers in the lab. As I was teaching, the computer tech decided to pay me a visit. He stopped at the door and stood there and just smiled. After my wonderful lesson, he said, "way to go, nerd!" I am sure that was a compliment. I made his day, by using my newly installed program and even doing things on it that he did not show me how to do.

I really am quite the nerd!

This One Body and This One Life

2010-10-01T15:33:00.004-06:00

Both Sally Fields and I "have this one body and this one life...." In other words bone loss and osteoporosis.

While visiting the doctor for my annual checkup I mentioned that I have had several broken bones within a year or so... broken toes, broken metatarsal, broken tail bone.... I knew that something was wrong and I wanted a bone scan. She agreed and about a week ago I had a bone density scan.

The results show (frank osteoporosis) quite a bit of bone loss in both hips, and some bone loss in my lower back. My vitamin D level is not looking so good either. I have the bones of an old women.

Having this amount of bone loss at my 'quite' young age (47) isn't normal and I am waiting for more tests to come back to see what is causing all this. I am thinking that all of the things that have gone wrong with my body over the last 4 years may all be tied into this. Celiac, thyroid, Vitamin D and B, and iron tests will come back next week.

The good news is that I have caught this early and there are medications that stop and hopefully reverse bone loss. The sad news is that I was told to be careful. I am not sure how a Sundance Season ski pass fits in.

Testing, Testing, 1,2,3

2010-09-16T12:19:00.000-06:00

As I stand in front of my classroom this year, I have come to the conclusion....
I don't think I will be voted most popular teacher this year.

I did have someone draw me a picture yesterday after he finished his math test. I do try to smile and encourage kids to do their best, but they still associate me with a hard test.

This year I am working in the testing computer lab. When students come into my classroom, they get to log into their computers and take one test after another--all year long.

Classroom management is easy this year, no one talks in my class and no one gets out of their seat. The only problem kids are the ones who chew on the headphone cords.

The most exciting thing about my classroom are my BYU bulletin boards. I get lots of compliments on them, especially the one with the cougar claws.

I might not get the most popular teacher of the year award this year, but all of this testing has been helpful in completing the assignments for my classes.

White Female Navy Brat Who Became Italian

2010-09-13T20:26:00.009-06:00

My first assignment/paper is due tomorrow. I am to bring 3 artifacts that represent who I am culturally and ethically. Here is my paper and some pictures of some of the things that I will be bringing. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know.

White Female Navy Brat Who Became Italian
I am a white, 47 year old female who grew up in a military family. My family has always had ties with the United States military. My ancestors served in the military even before the Revolutionary War. The tradition of military service is still strong in my family today. The first artifact that I am sharing is a Naval Academy midshipman tee shirt. This represents my family’s continued strong military involvement. My father was in the Navy while I was growing up. Therefore, I was a “Navy Brat.” The term “Navy Brat” is used to describe an identifiable demographic. Navy brats endure frequent moves, absence of a parent, authoritarian family dynamics, strong patriarchal authority and the militarization of the family unit. Moving around so much as a child has helped me understand some of the transitions that take place in the lives of my students when they move in and out of my classroom.

Moving around as much as I did must have sparked in me an interest to travel. I have been to almost every state in the United States. The phrase, “been there, done that, got the tee shirt” has inspired me to get a tee shirt from each state. When I have all 50 tee shirts, I plan on making a quilt out of them. I enjoy seeing new places and experiencing new things. I always take a road map along with me on my travels and adventures. Traveling throughout the summer has become a tradition that has strengthened the relationships in my family.
My third artifact that represents who I am culturally is a replica of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. My husband’s father was the first in his family to be born in the United States. When I got married I was accepted into my husband’s big, Italian family. The Italian culture is very family centered and rich in tradition. Throughout the last twenty-six years, I have learned many Italian traditions of which have become a way of life in my own family. While we do not kiss one another on the check when we greet each another, we do have large, weekly family dinners that include everyone in our extended family. I have been studying the Italian language over the past year. Last summer I had the opportunity to use my Italian language skills as my family and I visited Italy. During our visit, we were able to see where my husband’s family originated.

Mom, Do You Have Any Homework?

2010-09-09T21:18:00.006-06:00

I have homework!
I have 2 papers due next week!
I have a test this week!

Pretty soon, Joe is going to have to start asking me, if I have homework.

The good news is that the ESL endorsement that I am getting through BYU will count for my masters at SUU. It is a 12 credit course and lasts 2 years. I have class once a week and I have summers off! I will be able to get my master's faster and it will save me 3,600 dollars.

More good news, I have time at school to read my newly acquired textbook. My job at school this year is pretty boring. Job description: Classroom teachers bring in their classes and I tell them to get on the computer and take a test. They are there for 30 minutes and then they go back to their class. It is sad to say, that teaching kindergarten children how to use a computer is the most exciting part of my day.

I am grateful for the time that I have to study and work on my assignments. If I can organize myself, I will get all of my grad student work done while "teaching."

Fond Memories of Jeff

2010-09-05T09:33:00.003-06:00

Two weeks ago my nephew Jeff was in a motorcycle accident and passed away. While spending time with my sister Bonnie and her family, a lot of fond memories of Jeff came to mind. As we sat around the after funeral luncheon and told stories of Jeff, I could honestly feel his presence there. Here are a few treasured stories.

Jeff was always one for a good game. When he was visiting years ago my daughters talked him into playing the game "Pretty, Pretty, Princess." It was Rachael's turn and she drew the card that said something like... close your eyes and have the player sitting next to you put something in your hands--try to figure out what it is without opening your eyes... I think they were playing the game outside or maybe Jeff carefully lead Rachael outside. After several minutes he placed a special object in her hands. It didn't take long for Rachael to figure out that Jeff had placed dog poop in her hands. She ran in screaming! The only way I could think to console her was to tell her that Jeff had held it first. Jeff was never asked to play girlie games after that.

When Jeff was 10, he came to my house for about a month. While here, he worked on improving his handwriting. I can't say that I helped him improve much, but we did work on it.

During that same summer that Jeff was staying with us, I had a hard time getting him to get dressed and ready for church. He waited until the very last minute to get his clothes and shoes on. When we arrived at church he noticed that his hair was in a terrible bed head state. When the next Sunday arrived, Jeff had his clothes and shoes on, and his hair was combed.

Jeff enjoyed the fireworks that we had purchased during the month of July that summer. He had so much fun lighting them that he told everyone that he wanted to own property somewhere and charge people that wanted come and light fireworks throughout the year.

When Joe C. was around 9 we meet Jeff's family in Arizona for a New Year's Party. The place had a swimming pool and he gave Joe some red flowers that stained his hands and head like blood. Jeff told Joe to start screaming "Mom!" I ran over, saw what I thought was blood and freaked out. I think that this is where Jeff picked up the saying... "stop freaking out and screaming like a banchee Aunt Deanna."

When Jeff was going to BYUIdaho, he came to my house for Thanksgiving. With Thanksgiving, there is Black Friday. We spent the night outside of Best Buy. Everyone had an assigned thing to pick up once the doors opened. I remember telling Jeff to save me if I got trampled or anything. When the doors opened, the line started pushing. Someone pushed a cart in front of me and I tripped. I felt myself going down, but instead of hitting the floor like I expected, I felt Jeff pick me up and I was back on my feet running! He even got his assigned items!

When Jeff lived with my family a few years ago, I was concerned about Rachael withering away to nothing. He helped me try to fatten her up by making her a sandwich. The sandwich was made out of two slices of bread and a stick of butter in the middle.

Jeff liked to give things to his cousins. He was generous with his CDS and tee shirts. He was also very complimentary when someone looked nice.

I think Jeff gets the credit for making vampires cool. For Halloween that year, he dressed up as a vampire. He had very realistic fake teeth. When Jeff answered the door after someone rang they went away pretty terrified. After that everyone stared to fall in love with vampires!

When Jeff cooked dinner we always had a feast. He loved cooking with fresh vegetables. Jeff would cook for us about once a week.

I had always felt that Jeff was part of my family. I love him and I will miss him.

War On The Homefront

2010-08-19T08:01:00.003-06:00

During the summer, Joe and I took about a week to clean up the grape/blackberry mess we had growing in the back yard. We would get up early in the morning and work until it got too hot. Sometimes, even though Joe didn't really care for it, we would go back once the weather cooled off.

This was really hard work! We bought leather gloves, long, sharp clippers, and pads to sit on. We decided at the beginning to call it our "war". We had daily battles. Sometime we would win,and other times we would loose. The blackberry stickers were mean and revengeful. We would start out by cutting a "cave" into the branches and working from underneath the vines.

Soon what seemed hopeless began to seem hopeful!

Joe was my "mercenary soldier." He would get paid in hamburgers and Cafe Rio lunches. I had the determination in the project and Joe added the muscle. Between the two of us, the grapes and blackberries didn't stand a chance.

We took about 4 truck loads of brush to the city dump before we could really declare that we had won the war.

Next year, I plan on planting some vegetables and some perennial flowers or herbs up here.

Battling the blackberries and grapes will be a continuous effort every year. My plan is to not let it go for 10 years like I did last time.

The picture below is the "after" picture.

A Series Of Unfortunate Events

2010-08-15T20:36:00.007-06:00

Last week was a bad week. It started out on Monday with my broken toe.
On Tuesday, I went to the dermatologist and had about 15 spots burned off of my face. I also had some strange growth cut off of my head and sent into the lab. At least it was benign and my hair will grow back.

Later in the week I got a huge hang nail. Having any sore on my hands really bothers me. I always bump the injured area and the healing process takes forever.

On Saturday, while making my apricot chutney, I burned the top of my left hand. The good news: The chutney turned out great, and the burn doesn't hurt anymore.
Today, while standing on one foot, plucking my eyebrows with my sore hand, I lost my balance and dropped the tweezers into my eye.

(The spots on my nose are the left over burn marks from the dermatologist).

Church was interesting today, I walked in with my foot in that cute little shoe and my bloody eye.
I am hoping for a less eventful week this week.

My Broken Toe Stories

2010-08-13T17:08:00.005-06:00

On Monday I accidentally broke my little toe. I really needed to come up with an interesting story because as I hobble around everyone asks what I did to my foot. I have come up with a few good "stories."

1. I was water skiing and my toe was caught by a huge fish... like the ones you see in River Monsters. I pulled and jerked my foot out of the shark/fish's mouth, but he had such a hold on my little toe that I had to hit the fish with a rock. Thank goodness, the fish didn't bite it off!

2. I was hammering nails into place and instead of using my fingers to hold the nails, I used my toes... I accidentally hit my toe with a hammer.

3. I was shopping during a really big sale---the crowds were huge and aggressive... I had my eye on a really cute jacket (you know how I feel about jackets) Some strange lady with high heels took the jacket that I was holding. As I took it back, she stepped on my toe with her stiletto heal. My blood curdling scream brought the attention of everyone around. The lady dropped the jacket but broke my toe. I was the lucky one, I got the cute jacket.

4. I had just finished mowing the lawn and my sandals were a little wet. I came into the house and as my foot slid out from under my shoe, my foot kept moving and hit the bar stool leg.

5. I was attacked by a really big, rabid dog. As I was running away, I tripped and broke my toe.

6. I was showing a group of kids how to do a dance using pvc pipe... As I was hopping in and out of the pipes, one of the girls messed up. She moved the pipes wrong and I landed on one the pipes..... Wait- that was my story last time!

7. During the local tournament at the Miracle Bowl Bowling Alley, I was bowling a perfect game. I got so excited that I dropped the bowling ball on my foot. Miraculously, even after hitting my foot, the ball went down the lane and hit all of the pins down. Another Strike!

8. I was hiking to Timpanogas Cave. I saw a huge mountain lion that was attacking a group of teenagers. I kicked the mountain lion in the mouth and broke my toe of his sharp teeth. The mountain lion ran away and the teenagers were too embarrassed to say thank you properly.

9. I was trying on toe rings at Wal-Mart and could not get the ring off of my little toe. After about an hour of pulling and tugging the store manager came, he got the ring off, but broke my toe in the process.

10. I was at Lagoon on a roller coaster. My toe was caught between the track and the car while I was suspended upside down. The good news is that I get free admission to Lagoon for the rest of the summer.

With so many good stores, it is hard to know which one to use!

Look Out For Me, Oh Muddy Water!

2010-08-07T14:07:00.003-06:00

Yesterday Marty and I saw Big River at the Sundance outdoor theater. I have always loved that musical and last night's performance was wonderful.

Marty and I celebrated our 26 year anniversary by going to the Tree Room for dinner and then to the show.

We were afraid we would be rained out, but were pleasantly surprised that not one drop of rain fell.

Big River is a musical about Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer. It follows Mark Twain's book pretty well, only leaving out a few stories.

I love the music in this show. I think that everyone in my family knows every word to every song. I had a hard time not singing along last night.

Last night's show was lots of fun. The cast did a great job and I was impressed by the local talent that Utah has to offer.

Fear Is Not A Factor

2010-08-01T17:49:00.003-06:00

Last week we had our ward's youth conference. Our theme was "Fear Is Not A Factor."

After rock climbing in Provo Canyon, we went to a cabin in Heber.
The day before we left for youth conference, Joe had asked why I was putting so much time into my Mafia card deck that I was making.

I had printed pictures of cartoon mafia men, police, and townspeople and glued them to regular cards. I knew the game would be a big hit and I told him to just wait and see.

When everyone had unpacked, I taught them how to play the game. They ended up playing Mafia every chance they got! After about 15 games, Joe decided that he had the most fun when he was narrating the story. He loved to come up with the most gruesome deaths. I hope that the youth were able to come away from youth conference with more than how to kill people and lie about it!

Besides rock climbing and Mafia, we went boating and did a lot of fear factor- team building activities.

I had so much fun at youth conference!

My ABC Adventures In New York City

2010-07-18T20:13:00.002-06:00

A
Airport--JFK
Addam's Family
abandoned (refers to Joe, and also girls)
Anthony LaPaglia (see Lend Me A Tenor)

B
Broadway (6 shows)
Bronx
Battery Park
Bebe Neuwirth (Morticia, see Addams Family)

C
Chaperone
Central Park
Crowds
China Town (shopping, purses, crowded)
Calories (every restaurant had a calorie count on their menu. This seemed to be a deciding factor in what I ordered)
Crackers and Cheese
Crown (we climbed to the top of the crown of Lady Liberty)

D
Delta--delayed
Drama! (both Broadway and the students)
Donney and Burke (refers to purses and China town)
Downtown

E
exciting
expensive (refers to food also Joe)
exhausted
educational
Ellis Island
East Side

F
five hour flights
funny (see Lend Me A Tenor, Addams Family)
food
Four letter words starting with F (refers to Harlem teenagers)
feet (see painful)

G
Guggenheim Art Museum
Gay (refers to La Cage)
Girls (refers to Joe)
Gelato

H
Harlem teenagers (did not have a good response to my teacher look--see four letter F words)
Hot
humdid
hurry
Holiday Inn
H & M (see shopping)
Headache
Hard Rock Cafe

I
Intrepid
Interesting

J
Joe (see also girls, food, expensive....)

K
King Tut
Kelsey Grammer (see La Cage)

L
Little Italy
Lincoln Center
loud
La Cage (see Gay)
Lend Me A Tenor (see Broadway show, funny)

M
Metro (see also hot, humid, crowded, loud, and hurry)
money (see Joe)
Memphis (Broadway show)
Mass (see St. Patrick's Cathedral)
miles (average 8 a day)
Manhattan
Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum
McDonalds's

N
New York City
Next to Normal (Broadway show)
noisy
NBC studio tour
neglected (see Joe, also girls--Joe seemed to find the girls a lot more entertaining than his mom)
Nathan Lane--Gomez (see Addams Family)

O
overloaded
organized

P
Park
painful (see feet)
purses (see China Town, Dooney and Burke)

Q
Queens (both Drama and the town)

R
Radio City Music Hall
Rockefeller Center

S
Subways
sunglasses
sandals
standing
students (see overloaded, also drama)
sweaty
shopping

T
Times Square
tours
teachers
throbbing (see headache, feet)
Top of the Rock
Theatre
Tony Shalhoub (see Lend Me A Tenor)
TGI Friday

U
United Nations Tour
USS Intrepid
Uptown

V
vendors

W
Walking (see miles, feet, painful)
Wake up calls
West Side

X
eXhausting
eXciting

Y
Yellow cabs
Yelling (see Harlem teens)

Z
zoo (see Bronx)

Pit Stop

2010-07-10T22:01:00.002-06:00

It has been one busy summer!
I was supposed to get home from Florida on July 4th. That would have given me a few more hours at home to get things ready for girls' camp. Due to a tornado and hail in Denver we didn't make it home until Monday afternoon. I think I could have driven faster! As soon as I got home I did my laundry and packed up for girls camp.

Girls' camp started on Tuesday and ended on Friday. I have always loved camp and this year was wonderful! It was nice to sit in the canyon, roast marsh mellows, and joke around with the young women.

Once I got home, I did my laundry and went grocery shopping so that Marty and Sarah would have food in the house next week.

On Monday, Joe and I leave for New York City. We are going with the Drama club from his high school. 6 shows in 6 days!

Being at home as been wonderful. I love my bed when I get the chance to sleep in it! I am also a fan of using my own bathroom. I try to get as much done at home as I possibly can when I am here. My garden is actually looking good because of the few minutes I have spent weeding in between trips.

Lately, home has only been a pit stop.

Wuv, Twoo, Wuv

2010-07-04T07:51:00.007-06:00

Brooke and Jimmy were married yesterday. It was a beautiful wedding. We were afraid it was going to rain, or that the oil spill would be close to Anna Maria Island, but everything turned out perfect.

The Benedict and Henderson Families

Kathleen holding Patrick.

Kasey made all of the shell boutiques. They were beautiful!

Brooke and Jimmy

Valerie, Christian, and Payden (and Patrick's feet)

The fruit and cheese tower. There was another tower like this for the chocolate fountain. It had strawberries, marshmallows, and pineapple

Brooke feeding Jimmy the wedding cake

The party would not be complete without a solo dance from Christian.

Mawage, Mawage Is What Bwings Us Togefer Today!

2010-07-02T21:04:00.004-06:00

Okay, I had to use the famous line from Princess Bride as a title!

Kathleen and I arrived in Florida yesterday afternoon. We are staying in a cute little hotel that is on Anna Maria Island. Anna Marie Island is on the west side of Florida on the Golf Coast. The Island is about 9 miles long and about 1/2 mile wide at the widest part. There are a lot of narrow places here where you can see water on both sides of the island.

We started out the day by getting all dressed up and ready to go. We left our hotel to meet up with everyone when it started raining. Soon we were soaked to the bone. There is a free trolley that runs every 20 minutes. We found a trolley stop and waited while it continued to rain. As we waited, I felt what I thought was a "warm" rain drop... I looked down to discover that it was not a rain drop, but a big blob of bird poop! This was no normal bird! This must have been some large bird like a pelican to produce something so big. My upper arm and shirt were pretty gross. I decided that it was funny---can't cry over bird poop-- I found about 8 or so large, wet leaves and wiped it off. I cleaned myself up better when I found a bathroom.

We spent the rest of the day with the family and had a good time looking around the island. When the rain stopped and it warmed up, I went swimming in the ocean. There is something kind of comforting about the ocean. I always feel at home when I am at the beach. Whenever I get close to a beach, I have to at least get my feet wet. Today, I was so happy to swim in the warm water! I hope to go swimming again tomorrow.

After the wedding rehearsal, we had a bbq on the beach. It is always fun to get together with the family at happy occasions!
The Happy couple--Brooke and Jimmy

A beautiful island sunset.

Kasey, Kathleen, and me

Big bird... maybe the kind that pooped on me.

Lindsey and Andrew

Kasey and Ron

Kathleen and me

Kasey and Patrick

Christian, Valerie, Patrick and Payden

Landing In London

2010-06-30T15:47:00.010-06:00

We had a 23 hour layover in London on our way home from Italy. We left Milan at 7:00 in the morning and got to London by 9:30am. Riding in a taxi was pretty fun. At least we didn't have to drive on the wrong side of the car going down the wrong lane. Once we dropped our things off at the hotel we jumped on a train and headed for London.

Even walking in London is hard because the cars are coming from the opposite direction from what we are used to.

We decided to take a double-decker bus and see all of the sights that way. It was a good decision, because I don't think we would have ever made it to everything if we walked or even took the subway.

Here are a few things that we saw:
Cool buildings

A huge ferris wheel that you can see all of London from.

Picadilly Circus

Phone Booths and cars on the wrong side of the road.

A huge park kind of like Central Park.

Big Ben

We went to the Tower of London to see the crown jewels. Marty could have stayed there for a few more hours. Joe and Sarah were tired of museums, so we only stayed about 3 hours.

We also took at river cruise on the Thames. That was a lot of fun. Our tour guide was hilarious!

We hopped back on the bus and somehow ended up in the best shopping district of London. (someone was paying attention to the audio guide) Marty was really tired of shopping, so we only stayed here about an hour.
We went to one store called Atmosphere, that had great clothes at super low prices. It had a "black Friday" feel to it.
Marty was hungry and not in the mood to shop, he even sent Joe into the store to tell us it was time to go. Joe saw some pretty amazing shoes and a few tee shirts and was hooked. Poor Marty!

Buckingham Palace was closed because the queen was in town...(how did they know I was coming) and my battery ran out of power to get many pictures.

We ended our layover in London by getting lost on the way to our hotel. We took the right train and the right bus. We just forgot the address to the hotel. No one on the bus had heard of our hotel (we did draw quite a bit of attention to ourselves) We had a lot of well meaning people remind us how important it is to take the hotel address with us when we go sight seeing. We eventually got off of the bus, (they probably all cheered when the door closed) we were just about to call a taxi to take us to our hotel when we found it.

What a great way to end a great trip!

Milan Darling, Milan!

2010-06-29T20:28:00.003-06:00

We arrived in Milan on Monday around noon. Normally that would be plenty of time to shop, but we got there as soon as the Sieta time started. We did get to shop at several stores. Sarah D mentioned Promode-- so we went there. We also went to H&M. We shopped as we walked around the streets of Milan. I bought a jacket (of course) a pair of shoes, some blouses and a few scarves. I was a little hard to find modest designer clothes, but we had fun trying.

We had heard that the people who live in Milan are really rude. We found that either they were really rude or really nice. We did see a motor cycle accident and people honking at the poor guy as he tried to get up. I guess he wasn't doing it fastest enough being injured and all. When we were trying to decide on what gelato we wanted, the girl behind the counter told us to hurry up because she wanted to go home and watch the soccer game. I also tried on some shoes and got in trouble because I tried on the wrong ones. I wasn't supposed to touch the ones on a certain shelf. All I can say about that is that there wasn't a sign and I really didn't like those shoes anyway. I did have 2 people put some souvenirs in my bad as a thank you for shopping at there stores.

Throughout the entire trip, Joe was so careful about mentioning how hungry he was. He didn't want to be annoying, being hungry all of the time. I could see the signs of hunger in both Joseph and Sarah, so we stopped at Burger King to ease our way back into American fast food.

We did have pasta and gelato later that evening as our last meal in Italy.

We tried to see as many things as we could during the few hours we were in Milan. We saw the outside of the Duomo, but we did not make it inside. Milan is a very busy place. I was glad we turned our rental car in as soon as we got into town.

We loved every minute that we spent in Italy... well, I could have skipped the driving, but everything else was wonderful. I hope that when I return I will be able to speak Italian better.

Beatutiful Bolzano

2010-06-29T07:31:00.014-06:00

After figuring out that the buses were on strike in Venice, we had to hurry to Verona to meet with Sarah D's family. We were so excited to see her and meet her family.

We met in Verona and followed them to Lake Garda. There was a big reception there for some members in her ward. This was a beautiful area. We felt a bit like party crashers, but everyone there was very nice. Sarah D. stayed by us the entire time and we talked and laughed with her and had a great time! The food there was very fancy! There was octopus, rabbit, prosciutto, and cheese for the first course, pasta and risoto for the second course, and wonderful desserts at the end.

The next day Sarah and Joseph went to school with Sarah D. I think they were a little over whelmed there, but they still had a good time especially in English class.

While they were at school, Marty and I visited with Sarah's parents. What a wonderful family!
Later, when everyone was home from school, we played games with her family, ate lunch and got to know her siblings. It was so much fun! My favorite game that we played together was Pit. The first round we spoke English, the second round we spoke Italian, and the third round we spoke German. I didn't stand much chance, especially in German.
It was fun to get all of her sisters and brother involved in a game that we all knew how to play.

After lunch we went to Bolzano. Bolzano is at the foothill of the Dolomites. It is so beautiful there! Before World War 1, this part of Italy was owned by Austria. The street signs are both in Italian and German. The buildings are a lot different here than in the rest of Italy. They look very German.

We went to the museum and saw Otzi. That was really interesting.

When his body was discovered in 1991, he was thought to be a lost hiker. It turned out that he lived 5300 years ago. We were able to see all of the things that he was carrying with him while we were at the museum. We also read that he had many wounds and was probably in a fight before he died. He mostly likely died from the arrow wound in his back.

After the museum, we went on the Bolzano Skylift.

The skylift ride was beautiful and when we got to the top we found a little shop that sold strudel.

When we got back to Sarah's house, Joe and Sarah went to get gelato with some of Sarah's friends, and we went with the rest of Sarah's family to another gelateria.

On Sunday, we went to church in Bolzano. It was stake conference and it was televised in both English and Italian because it was a broadcast from Salt Lake.
Marty served part of his mission in Bolzano. He was very happy to find that the people he had taught the gospel to were still strong in their beliefs!
After dinner, we rested, we sang, we ate, and we had a really good time!
Sarah has the cutest family! This is Anna

Marty is sitting by Albeto and Carolina while playing connect 4 with Anna.

Joe playing the guitar--surprise-surprise! While Sarah and Irene are playing
All of her sisters are beautiful and her brother is very cute.
Here are Sarah's parents, Joe, and Alberto doing a musical number.

Sarah Rose and Irene hit is off really well and tried to teach each other English and Italian. I will put the videos on facebook. They do not want to load on this blog.

After a tearful goodbye on Monday morning, we left for Milano.
We had such a good time with Sarah and her family. We are still working on getting Miss Sarah D to come back to Utah with us.

Rowing Through Venice

2010-06-27T19:53:00.008-06:00

We arrived in Venice in the afternoon. Our hotel was about 30 minutes from Venice but it was still a busy, insane place to drive. Driving there reminded Marty of a video game where you get points if you dodge things that are randomly thrown out at you. We dodged bicycles, scooters, cars, people, and even ladies in wheel chairs who were being pulled by their dogs.

We got into Venice and ate dinner. After dinner, we rode through the canals on a gondola. This was a very romantic ride. Well, Joe and Sarah were there, but it was still romantic. The gondolier did not talk as he rowed the gondola through many of the canals and under bridges. We enjoyed the moon lite ride. The pictures do not do the place justice.

We returned the next day to finish sight seeing in Venice. We bought Venetian glass and a Venetian mask for Rachael.

The canals are very narrow. The gondoliers are experts.

The streets were lined with all kinds of shops.

They eat quite a bit of fish in Venice. We saw this and thought it looked kind of creepy.

This sign says... "Bus Strike!" We did not know about the bus strike until after we purchased our bus tickets back to our hotel. After waiting for the bus for about an hour, we decided to take a taxi in order to be in Verona to meet Sarah D.'s family on time. (That will be tomorrow's post)

Florence--Where Naked Is Never Out Of Style

2010-06-26T11:31:00.012-06:00

We had tickets to the Uffizi Gallery and Accademia Museum in Florence. Both places had spectacular art work. In the Uffizi Gallery there are many famous paintings. Here are a few that I was able to get off of the internet. Both museums had a "no foto" policy.

For many years it was very popular to paint pictures of the Savior's life. Later, during the Early Renaissance era, it became popular to paint and sculpt nudes. One positive thing about a nude painting is that the models clothes can not be said to be out of style.

This is Michelangelo's David. This statue is outside and the one below is inside. The one outside is a casting of the original which is inside the Accademia.

The next picture is someone dressed up as Michelangelo on the steps of the Uffizi Gallery.

Marty and I are standing on Ponte Vecchio. It means "old bridge." It is a medieval bridge that crosses the Arno River. Throughout the history of this bridge, there have always been shops along the sides of it.

There are still shops here today!

Hating to pass up good shopping we had to shop! I saw a really cute jacket! Even in 100 degree weather, I am still drawn to jackets. I was in the process of trying on a cute, green leather jacket when the guy selling it, mentioned that maybe I had eaten too much pasta since I had come to Italy. The jacket had a hard time fitting over my lower gut.
This is how my money belt got the nicknames...."pasta gut, pasta pouch, pasta belly and pasta pocket."
As I look back on some of my pictures, I can see where I look like I indeed had a "pasta gut."
I would fill this 8 inch long, 6 inch wide- pouch FULL. I bought one for everyone, but as it turned out, I was the only one who wore mine. Maybe everyone else thought it made them look fat. Anyway, I carried everyone's passports, all of the euros, coins and bills, my ipod, my cell phone, my American money, my credit and debit cards and even a few pamphlets. Just to make sure it wouldn't get stolen or get lost, I would strap this around my waist and then wear it inside of my pants. No one was going to get my money!

After being called fat by a Pakistanian man selling Italian jackets, I walked away--leaving the cute, green leather jacket. (I actually have a green, suede jacket in my closet, so I am not too heart broken)

We walked further into the shops and I found a nice leather jacket for Joe, another purse for Sarah, and a few other odds and ends. I could have stayed in the shops for hours, but Marty isn't all that interested in bargain shopping.

We saw more of Florence which is beautiful. The rest of the pictures are of the basilica, the Duomo, and the main piazza.

Pisa and Cinque Terre

2010-06-25T17:42:00.016-06:00

It was at Pisa that Marty discovered my problem.... I like purses. He asked me to find out where to catch the bus to the Leaning Tower of Pisa while he went to the bathroom with Joe and Sarah. When they got out of the bathroom, I didn't have the directions to the bus stop, but I did have a really cute purse. When Sarah saw how cute it was, she had to buy one too! (We ended up getting quite a few)

After buying about 5 purses we caught the bus and went to the tower!

It really does lean--- the poor soil is the main contributing factor.

I tried to fix it--

Marty tried to fix it---

After Joe and Sarah tired, (pictures will have to be posted later) we decided to climb up to the top.

This is the spiral staircase. The steps are worn from years of use. The tower has 296 steps and was built in 1173.

After Pisa, we drove to La Spezia, checked into our hotel, and caught a train to Cinque Terre. Marty and I enjoyed the "Love Walk" at dusk, while Joe and Sarah walked in front of us and sang sad loves songs like.... "lonely, I'm so lonely."

Cinque Terre means five lands. There are five cities that are built along the cliffs. There is a trail that connects them all. We walked to two of them. The first one was Manarola, the next one was Cornigila.

The next day we went back and swam in the Sea. It was really rough and instead of nice soft sand it was granite gravel. Joe and I got carried out too far and Marty got caught in an under current when he swam out to tell us to come back in. Sarah was caught in the same under current, so we decided we had enough swimming...We took a boat back and here are the pictures of the rest of Cinque Terre.

Sweet Siena

2010-06-24T17:26:00.010-06:00

Siena is larger than Assisi. It has a really interesting history. Siena and Florence have always been rival cities. They were always in competition with each other. Before the Black Plague, Siena had more citizens than Florence. The city of Siena has just recently caught up to the same population that it had before the plague. Today, Florence is one of the larger cities in Italy.
While walking down the streets of Siena, the line from Monty Python and the Holy Grail kept coming to my mind, "Bring out your dead...."

We enjoyed the many beautiful sights of Siena, from the basilica to the Piazza Del Campo! We learned that the color "burnt siena"was named after the buildings here.

Every year, Siena has the "Palio di Siena." This is a horse race that is held right here in the Piazza del Campo. These races have been going on since Medieval times. There are 10 riders that ride bareback as they circle around this large piazza. They are dressed in different colors and symbols that represent the different cities that are competing. They run 3 times around and the race doesn't usually last longer than 90 seconds. People from all over the world come to watch the race every July and August

We ate some really good pasta in Siena! Siena is in the Tuscany region of Italy.Along with a bunch of other tourists, I purchased the Rick Steve's Italy book. After reading about this wonderful place to eat, we saw about 7 other people with the same book. Rick Steve's was right, this is a wonderful place.
This was the hotel we stayed in. It was a very pretty farm house that was turned into an inn. Both the outside and the inside were absolutely beautiful. The only complaint we had were the beds. I think they were as old as the farm house itself. You couldn't move your arms or legs or even take a deep breath without the bed creaking. No one slept well on the hard, lumpy, creaking beds, but it was very beautiful!

Amazing Assisi!

2010-06-23T07:39:00.007-06:00

We loved the city of Assisi!

After our 6 hour drive from Bari, we stopped in Assisi. This was a very quiet town, especially after Rome, Naples, and Bari.

Assisi is a medieval city. Instead of being in ruins it is being lived in.

This city was built on a hill and the roads here are super narrow. This is about the size of a car that can fit on the roads.

Our hotel... Albergo Viaggiatore, was built in about 1200 AD. This was such a cute hotel both on the outside and on the inside.

St. Francis made this city well known in the 1100's. He was a wealthy man and decided to sell what he had and become a friar. He lived off of the land and the legend says he was feed by birds. The person in the picture below must not be getting as much food from the birds as St. Francis did.

The shops and sights were beautiful.

One funny story about Sarah--as we were walking around the city, a nun looked Sarah up and down, bowed her head and crossed herself. I told Sarah it was probably because she is so pretty that it made the nun jealous.

When I come back to Italy, I will spend more time here!

Pompei and Bari

2010-06-21T20:46:00.007-06:00

People still live in Pompei! I was surprised to see such a large city so close to an active volcano. I guess the soil is great for gardening!

Pompei is an amazing place. After Naples, we took another train to Pompei. This only took about 20 minutes. We had all of our luggage and carry ons... I could have sworn that the hotel was only 500 meters from the train station. Instead it was about 2 miles.

As we pulled our luggage across town, a stray dog decided that I should be her new master. This worked great until she found a dead cat on the side of the road and brought it along with her.

The dog left when we finally got to the hotel. Apparently the dog spoke Italian. The hotel owner said something to the dog and away she went.

After a much needed rest (on hard beds), the next morning we rented a car and drove to the ruins of Pompei. This is a huge place. We saw so many things. I know that if we spent a few days there we still would not have seen it all. We had our audio tour on, but ended up getting lost in the many side streets. We eventually saw all of the things that the audio tour mentioned.

This is a casting of a man who was buried in the hot ash and lava.

This is a fountain that used to be in front of a really nice house.

This is casting of a person who was trying to get away from the hot ash and lava. I feel so sorry for these people.

This was a house of someone who was really wealthy. They had a beautiful courtyard.

The streets were narrow---just like today. Some streets were only for pedestrians. They did not want chariots to go down these roads so they placed large rocks in the middle of them to prevent this from happening.

They had an aqua-duct system there. They would throw their garbage or other waste into the streets at certain times of the day. Someone would open the duct and it would pour water into the canals and take away all of the garbage. Well, it went into the sea, but out of sight, out of mind.

It was an amazing place! When I go back I think I will hire a tour guide. I would love to learn more.

This is the men's locker room for the bathhouse. I thought that was pretty cool.

We left for Bari after we visited the ruins. Marty's grandfather and grandmother lived in Bari before they came to America in 1922. Bari is on the coast across the boot from Naples. It is a port town on the Adriatic Sea.

Driving was intense when we got of the autostrada. We ended up calling a taxi to take us into town from our hotel.

On our way to town, Marty asked the cab driver to recommend a nice restaurant for us. It happened to be the best food we had on the entire trip!

We had so much fun eating there! The food was unforgettable. The service was excellent.

After dinner, we walked around Bari for awhile. It was Saturday night and everyone--girls, boys, men, women, grandmas, grandpas, and police hang out at the Piazza downtown. This was very entertaining. I was so glad we decided not to drive. A lot of the roads were blocked off due to all of the people who were there.

On Sunday morning we went to church. We enjoyed it, especially the music. There were a few boys who noticed a cute American girl named Sarah. During the last song they sang as loud as they possible could. The song was "Called to Serve" only sung in Italian. We could hear a few people trying to tell them to stop singing so loud, but they continued to the very end. The lady behind us, an American from Utah, married an Italian who lived in the ward, told Sarah that she hoped she enjoyed the mens choir who had performed just for her. I was pretty impressed, but Sarah was pretty shy and could only smile.

We left church and headed for Assisi. It was a 5 hour drive, but it was beautiful. Along the way we stopped by the beach and took a few pictures.

Silencio

2010-06-20T17:04:00.009-06:00

Way back in January I decided that I should learn Italian. I got through level 3 on Rosetta Stone. I was pretty sure that I would be the one that would get my money back after 6 months because I wouldn't be satisfied. Instead of getting my money back, I have decided to keep the program and continue with levels 4 and 5. I tried to encourage Joe and Sarah to do the lessons with me, but they were not very interested.

They did learn a few words while we were in Italy. While visiting the Vatican, and the Sistine Chapel, they learned the word, "Silencio!" Followed by a loud shhhhh! After trying to take a few pictures of the ceiling we learned the words..."No foto!" Some people just have to learn the hard way.

After the Sistine Chapel, we visited St. Peter's Basilica.

Vatican City is a separate country from Italy. This fact made Joe pretty happy.

This is Michelangelo's Pieta.

After the Vatican, we headed for Naples. We had all of our luggage with us as we boarded a train. It is hard to not look like a tourist with suitcases, a carry on, and a camera attached to your belt loop.

We stored our luggage at the train station and headed out for a pizza.
Naples is crazy! Cars and scooters going in every direction. It was fun trying to find one of the oldest pizzerias in the city.

After we sat down and ordered our pizzas, a man walked in and sat down. He seemed to frighten all of the workers there and had Marty not said..."No foto" I would have had a pretty cool picture of what we thought was a guy from the Mafia. A few clues that made us think that way was how the whole restaurant acted like some one said "silencio!" Also instead of paying for his pizza, the workers opened the cash register and he took out money. He was dressed fairly well, and carried himself in such a way that, well lets just say, I didn't take a photo.

While walking on the Spanish Steps, I happened to find someone selling purses!

Today is Father's Day... good thing we got this for Marty while we were in Italy!

When In Rome...

2010-06-19T09:42:00.008-06:00

After breakfast, which was pretty much the same every day, (bread, meat, cheese and yogurt) we spent the next day in Rome sight seeing all of the Roman Ruins.
We started with the Colosseum. This was fantastic! I wonder if the author of
The Hunger Games used the idea of the Colosseum for her book.

Before we left home, I downloaded a bunch of audio tours that we put on our ipods. We walked around all of the ruins with these audio guides. Sometimes we got lost, but the information was always interesting.

We saw the Roman Forum.
Palatine Hill.

The Arch of Constantine.

The Pantheon.

For lunch we all had a panini. This is a flat bread with meat and cheese. Joe discovered orange Fanta, and wanted one at every opportunity. We even managed to bring some Fanta home.

One thing that was hard for us to get use to was "siesta time." This happened daily starting around 1:00 or whenever they decided to leave for a nap. Stores were supposed to reopen around 5:30, but we found that sometimes they never did. This made shopping and sight seeing kind of hard. The sights would open up at 8:00 or 9:00 in the morning and stay open until 6:00. The stores would open up at 10:00 or 11:00 and then close for their siesta. The only thing open after 5:30pm were the restaurants and the gelaterias. We found ourselves eating dinner at 8:00 or later every evening followed by a healthy scoop of gelato.

At least with this late night combination we were guaranteed to bring home some souvenirs.... one on each thigh!

Roma!

2010-06-18T07:54:00.006-06:00

We are back from our wonderful 16 day vacation. Each day was an adventure. Each day we saw as many things as we could, and each night we would be so exhausted that we would hardly notice the rock-hard beds in each of the hotels.
I took over 1200 pictures, ate pizza and pasta, and consumed gelato every night. I shopped whenever and where ever I could. I am hoping to share the best of the best in the next few blog posts.

We left Salt Lake City on Tuesday, June 1st. We stopped in Chicago and in Brussels before we headed for Rome. We had a 5 hour layover in Brussels, so we headed out to see the sights.

In Brussels, people speak either French of Dutch. There were enough people who spoke some English so we were able to get around fairly well.

We took a cab to "The Grand Place."

We ate Belgium waffles...

saw the famous statue- Manneken Piss...

and bought really good chocolate and bought handmade lace.

When our time was up in Brussels we took a train back to the airport and headed for Rome. We landed in Rome in the afternoon, checked into our hotel and found a place to eat dinner. I had a wonderful cream pasta, Marty had spaghetti, Sarah had pizza, and Joe had chicken. My pasta and Sarah's pizza were the highlights of the meal.

After dinner we took a walk around Rome. (We were actually lost for about an hour as we tried to remember our way back to the hotel).

The next morning we slept in until 9:00. The 8 hour time difference is hard to get used to.

Assisi

2010-06-07T04:00:00.000-06:00

Is so beatuiful

Italy

2010-06-06T02:09:00.002-06:00

We are having a great time. We do not have much internet access. Italy is beautiful. I love all of the food. I can not wait to load all of my pictures.
The only problem in Italy is the crazy drivers. The autostada is okay, but traveling in the city is so scary. There are so many cars, people, bikes, scooters, and dogs on the road going in all directions.
I better make this short. I have not figured out this keyboard so my punctuation is way off.

A New Hero

2010-05-31T18:35:00.001-06:00

Marty sent this link to me. It is pretty impressive! It takes a while to load--but it is worth the wait!
http://en.tackfilm.se/?id=1273613327851RA79

No More Teacher's Dirty Looks

2010-05-27T13:23:00.004-06:00

This isn't me-- but sometimes I feel like I make this exact face.

Why do students get hyper the last month of school? Why do they think that school rules do not apply the last week of school? Why do teachers get a little grumpy the last few days of school?

The last day of school is tomorrow. We only go for about an hour and forty five minutes. This school year really has gone by quickly. The year started out a bit rough.... 38 students crammed into one classroom--sharing 28 computers (when they all worked).... but as I made up a system, and lowered my expectations, I really started to enjoy the students, the school and the computer lab.

It is kind of strange how my classroom always seems like home to me after a while. (I actually enjoy being in here). Maybe it is the refrigerator and the cupboard full of food that help.

Next year, I will be working with the students, the computers, and the teachers. I will be in the other lab. I will have one computer per student and I will be proctoring tests. I will also have a teacher in the lab to help me get the students logged in. I am sure that once I get used to the routine, I will enjoy it.

Yesterday was field day and the day before that was the dance festival. Both days were very enjoyable because I wasn't in charge of either one. I did help at both of the events, but I wasn't the one who had to worry if things went wrong. Everything went great and, both days were wonderful.

Today I have said goodbye to most of the students. They were allowed to play any of games that I had saved. Throughout the school year, I made a "portaportal" web site that saved me from a daily headache. This site became a favorite place for about 800 students and myself!

Now, all of the chairs are stacked, the computers are shut off. Both the classroom and the teacher are ready for summer vacation.

iPod touch blogging

2010-05-24T16:48:00.003-06:00

iPod test
this update is from my iPod... I am hoping that this works because I would love to update my blog while we are in Italy. This has taken quite a while so if do get a chance to blog --it will be short.
Does anyone know if you can upload pictures somehow with the ipod touch?

Scum Forever

2010-05-19T13:24:00.005-06:00

Whenever Christian comes to visit, we always play the game Scum. The fun thing about this game is that you move around if you win or loose. The goal of this card game is to be king and not be scum. Above is Christian and Peyton, below is Christian and Patrick.

When we play with Christian, we have a habit of always ending the card game as soon as Christian becomes scum. Poor Christian has been scum forever! I of course remain King forever! In this photo: Christian, Patrick and Peyton

Over the weekend Christian, Valerie, and their twin boys came to visit. We had a great time with them. I loved holding the babies. Patrick and Peyton are incredibly cute! In this picture: Valerie and Peyton

Best wishes to "Sir Scum" and his family in Kansas. In this photo: Sarah and Patrick.

A New Hero

2010-05-12T16:32:00.008-06:00

Marty sent this link to me. It is pretty impressive! It takes a while to load--but it is worth the wait!
http://en.tackfilm.se/?id=1273613327851RA79

Feed Me, If You Dare!

2010-05-08T19:27:00.005-06:00

Could this be spring at last?
For the last several years we have had the same birds nest in our attic. I can never bring myself to exterminate baby birds so I seem to have the same problem every spring. During the fall I decided to seal up the place they were getting into with a caulking gun.

When I started seeing the same pair of birds swooping in and out of our carport I thought that I just didn't do a good enough caulking job.

I started hearing the cute little sounds of newly hatched birds and even found half of a blue egg shell. I could not see where these birds could possibly get in, so I decided to investigate.

I followed the sounds to about the same place where they went in every spring. Right under our carport and by the back door. Here we have a woodpile an somehow our welcome mat ended up on top of the wood. I lifted up the welcome mat and saw 4 cute little baby birds crying "feed me." They must have just hatched, their eyes are not yet open and they are pretty scrawny looking. Their bright yellow beaks are really the only recognizable thing in the nest.

I hope that the mommy and daddy birds won't mind me taking pictures of their babies. It would be pretty fun to watch them grow up.

Stuck In A Closet

2010-05-06T09:01:00.004-06:00

Well it has finally happened. I am now sitting in a closet at school. At least I have it to myself. About 2 weeks ago I was booted out of my classroom so that the entire school can take their end of the year test. I have been teaching PE. This would work well if I had a place to do it.

The gym is great when it isn't being used for the lunchroom, assemblies, classroom PE times, dance rehearsals, or other special programs. The playground is great when it isn't snowing, blowing or way too cold. (Today's temp. was 37 on the way to school). It also gets used for recess, softball tournaments, and classroom PE times.

I have resorted to holding PE on the stage. That works.... not great though.. until someone decides to do a play. (That has happened 3 time so far).

During my 50 minute prep time I like to get things ready for the day and then study Italian. I was going in the faculty room until it was taken over by DRA testing. DRA testing is where a teacher listens to a student read while marking errors and asking comprehension questions. My trying to say things in Italian into my computer might be a distraction.

So, here I sit, in the PE closet. It would be a perfect place to study my Italian lessons, but the class that just came on the stage might discover I am in here or think I am even crazier if they hear me talking to myself.

I only have 5 more days until I have my own classroom back. Each day feels like 20 so I don't see the light at the end of the tunnel yet.

Joe Puked His Eyes Out!

2010-05-03T19:01:00.008-06:00

Yes-- The title says it all. Not only did Joe puke his guts out, he puked his eyes out as well.

Joe woke up Sunday morning and told me he was not feeling well and that he had just thrown up. I recommended that he stay home from church and get some rest.

I called to check on him a few hours later and he told me that he had thrown up again. I came home to a towel covering up his mess. We have this little rule in our house.. if you don't make it to the bathroom, you clean it yourself.
I did help Joe a little with the clean up. He looked so sick! He kept complaining that his head felt like it was going to explode.

After taking a closer look at Joe, I noticed he had some kind of rash on his face. His eyes were really blood shot too. I just thought he was tired from being so sick.

After dinner, we noticed that he not only had a rash on his face, but that his face was swollen. His eyes were not only bloodshot, they were "Darth Maul" eyes.

Marty decided then to take him to the emergency room. After spending a few hours there and getting a few blood tests done, it was determined that Joe did not have strep, or anything else that was of a concern. The rash was thousands of ruptured capillaries on his face and the redness in his eyes were ruptured blood vessels as well. He had through up with such force that he "puked his eyes out!"

Joe was then lectured on the correct way to vomit. One needs to have their heart below their mouth. It is called "throwing up" for a reason. You don't "throw down." If you "throw down" you could expend some much force and rupture things. After the doctor left, Marty leaned over to Joe and said, "we just graduated from Puke 101."

Joe is feeling better today. He even went to school. His face should recover in about a week.

Tune In Next Week For... "As The Cement Dries"

2010-05-02T23:30:00.004-06:00

Sunday nights have been known as "family time" in our family for a long time. We enjoy a nice meal together and then we usually watch a movie or play games.

For the last month or so, Marty has found a new show that happens to be on Sunday nights. It's called River Monsters. This is pretty much a fishing show.

In the show's defense, there are some really big, scary fish that they catch.

A few weeks ago, I noticed how Joe was slipping downstairs to play Zelda and Sarah would always need to be back at her apartment when the show came on. I would always find something interesting to do on the computer.

Yesterday, while driving home from dinner, Marty told me how excited he was that a new episode of the show was to be shown Sunday night. It was at that point that I had to break the news to him... He was the only one who really watched the show, everyone else physically or mentally left the room.

He was a bit disappointed that no one found the same joy in this new show he discovered. He was even more disappointed when I told him that it was about as fun as watching cement dry.

Marty will be able to watch his show in peace tomorrow night because we were kind and recorded it for him on his DVR in his shop.

How NOT To Do Laundry-OR-How To Dye White Clothes Yellow

2010-04-30T17:03:00.004-06:00

When washing whites, never put a rag that has been soaked in brown leather dye in the washer with them.

I did that accidentally on Monday. Today is Friday and I am still trying to fix my problem. I have all of the clothes back to white except for anything that is lace, elastic, or silk-like material. Funny how Marty's clothes all survived and mine are all ruined.

On the other hand--what a pretty yellow!

Note to self---check the basket of white clothes for any stray stained rags before sticking everything into the washer!

Cute Kathleen

2010-04-26T21:26:00.007-06:00

Finally! I get to do a blog post on Kathleen.
Kathleen's cute little nicknames: Kakleberries, Kaffene, and when she was really little I called her my little Katy-did.
Kathleen has always been a sweet, kind person. Everyone loves her!

Kathleen was such a beautiful baby. She was born with so much hair! People would always stop me when they saw us pass by so that they could see this pretty little girl with the beautiful dark hair.

Kathleen is the oldest child in the family. She took this responsibility well. She learned how to cook and clean at an early age.

Kathleen has always loved reading! Because she was an "early reader" she discovered the truth about Santa at an early age. When she was around 7, she was reading one of my magazines and read some article or advertisement that said there was no Santa. From there she pretty much had the rest of it figured out. There were no more Easter Bunny or Tooth Fairy surprises for her.

Kathleen still enjoys reading. I always see her with a book in her hand or in her purse. She once claimed the living room as her very own so that she could read and not be disturbed.

Kathleen always hated any tags on her clothing. I think she still does. At one point, she had me cutting any label, tag, or decorative button off of the clothing she would wear. I decided to help her with this by sewing a little piece of fabric onto everything she owned. I guess this really didn't help her out today-- she just cuts them off herself now!

Kathleen was a cute little girl. She grew up with a lot of close friends in our neighborhood. It has been fun to watch her and her friends still have a great relationship with each other.

This picture was taken a few years ago at Mesa Verde where we spent a few days during spring break.

Joe, Eric, and I surprised her Friday with a day at Disneyland on Saturday in honor of her birthday! I love spending time with Kathleen!

Dashing To Disneyland

2010-04-25T21:56:00.004-06:00

As a birthday surprise for Kathleen, we went to Disneyland this weekend. We had a quick, but very fun trip. Disneyland is only 9 hours away.
We left home after school--
Drove to a rest stop near Barstow California and attempted to sleep for a few hours--
We started driving again around 3:45 AM and drove to Huntington Beach to see the sunrise. We not only saw the sunrise, we saw dolphins playing in the surf. It was at that point that I realized that I left my camera at home--
After finding a parking spot we finally made it to Disneyland around 8:30.
Incredibly we were able to ride all of the rides that we wanted to ride. There were a lot of people there, but the longest we had to wait for a ride was about 40 minutes. We hit all of the big rides and some of the smaller ones too. Our feet were tired and we were hungry from such a busy fun day!
We were going to go back on to Space Mountain if the line was less than 30 minutes after we ate dinner- it was a 60 minute wait time so we decided that we could visit the shops and then drive to the hotel.

I don't remember even pulling the blankets up- I think I fell asleep before my head hit the pillow.
I actually slept in until 8:30 this morning. We had a little church service while driving back home. Joe spoke about choosing good music, Eric spoke about how computers and technology can be used for bring the gospel to others through genealogy, Kathleen spoke on the historical value and spiritual value of scriptures and I spoke on being driven- I was driving so I was assigned that talk. So, I spoke about commitment.
We drove non-stop except for the 15 minutes gas station break.
We made it home to a wonderful supper that Marty made.
We are all tried, but happy. We had a great time in Disneyland!

Tomorrow I will do my special blog on Kathleen

God News/Bad News Part 2

2010-04-21T18:00:00.005-06:00

Okay, there really is no good news.

Teaching PE has been a little different than what I thought! Yesterday---I put two kick balls outside to get ready for our kickball tournament and when I went in to get the students, both ball were stolen! I also got sunburned.

I got hit in the leg with a softball (should be called a hard ball) while pitching to 6th graders...

I found out that the entire playground was used all day and I had all grade levels running though my PE class.
I decided to pray for rain!
Today---it rained
While teaching 5th grade jump rope routines (not even a competitive sport) 2 boy got in a fist fight. One boy kept crying his nose was broken and the other boy got 3 days of In School Suspension. (no the kid's nose was not broken)
The next hour with the 6th grade, I had to move them to the stage after 15 minutes while the lunchroom was being set up for lunch time. Good thing I was able to teach them "Frog Murderer"
During 1st grade, the weather was sunny... I took them outside and we played with the parachute. All of the sudden it started pouring. I carried a wet, dripping parachute back to the gym.
During 3rd grade another class "just had to stretch their legs" after testing, so we had about 60 kids in the gym. That made jump roping interesting!
I was looking forward to a quite gym with the kindergartens at the end of the day, but instead I was met with the ballroom team. Once again I went up to the stage. We sat in a circle and rolled a ball back and forth. They actually enjoyed it.
This is only my 2nd day. I have three and a half more weeks to go!
I wonder if I should just take persona leave.

The Trick To African Violets

2010-04-16T13:58:00.003-06:00

Lately I have become a fan of African violets. They are not expensive and they bloom year round.

I have learned several tricks to growing them. They don't like a lot of sunshine. They don't like too much water and you don't need to pay too much attention to them.

I ran out of space in my kitchen garden window and decided to bring a few plants to school. Being in the computer lab, I have to keep the blinds closed, the plants have loved it. I usually water them about once a week, if I remember.

So, if ever anyone wants a low maintenance flowering house plant- African violets are the answer!

Good News and Bad News

2010-04-13T13:59:00.002-06:00

Spring Break is over, time to go back to school. I came in to school today and did my usual thing. After taking the kindergarten students back to class, I stopped by the mailboxes to pick up the mail I had missed over the last week. That was when I was informed that the computer lab would be used next week for the end of the year testing.

I was expecting this, a few weeks ago a few 6th grade students asked if I would be teaching PE because the computer lab would be used for testing. Sometimes I don't get information in the best way, but it really is okay.

The bad news is that the computer lab will be used for testing for an entire month! There goes all of those power points we were going to do. Over spring break I was feeling guilty for not spending any time preparing for the computer lab. Now, I am thankful that did not make any plans.

The good news is, that I love PE. I will get a nice start on my tan. I can wear jogging clothes to school. I don't have to teach 7 different dances to 700 students. I can get my exercise done at school...I have a week to plan PE activities for a month for grades 1-6. I know that everyone wants to play kickball, but I also know that we will get bored of it really quick.

I am looking for PE ideas, so if anyone has a wonderful game, please feel free to share!

Look Who's 50!

2010-04-08T09:36:00.006-06:00

This is the time of the year for birthdays!
When Bonnie was here last month, we surprised her with an early 50th birthday party. We had balloons, black streamers, wonderful gifts to help her adjust to her advanced age, brownies, and to top it all off, we sat in Kathleen and Eric's hot tub!

We turned off the smoke alarm to light all of the candles.

Lung capacity anyone would be proud of!

Here is Bonnie, trying to kiss Bob. Not only does she look beautiful in her new glasses, but she has see those really small words!

When I turned 40--Bonnie gave me a party, and I had to return the favor. One present that I meant to "regift" is the bra that she gave to me.

We showered Bonnie with all the important things that "old people" need. She has new shoes that have velco (I have heard that old people have a hard time bending over for a long time), raisin bran and prune juice (keeping regular is very important!), 250 power glasses (now she can be twins with grandpa), calcium tablets (I think she already had some of her own--so these were not that great of a hit), body wash for aches and pains (this came in handy after the ski slope), and just to help her feel extra pretty we gave her some Juicy Couture perfume.
We love you Bonnie and hope you had a very happy birthday.

Go, Go, Go, Joseph!

2010-03-31T12:13:00.009-06:00

Joe and Me at Brighton

Joseph was such a cute baby!

Joe's cute little nick name:
Joe Joe man

Joseph doesn't have a birthday at this time of year. He is the only boy and the only one of the kids not born in the spring. Joe is also the youngest. Some would say he is spoiled, but I don't think so.

Joseph has always loved life! He was one of the happiest kids I have ever known. Joseph was also born talking. I don't remember when Joseph did not talk.

When he was a little boy, he loved parties of all kinds. We had a daily party downstairs. He would pick a video to watch, have me pop popcorn, and he set up the pillows and blankets. We would watch a movie together. The movie was always a surprise for me! I was never allowed to know what it was until we were all settled into our party. (It was either Space Jam or Beetle Borgs)

Joseph has always had a knack for making friends. When I would take him to McDonald's to the play land he always left with a new best friend. He never knew their names, but he would always invite them over to our house.

When I would go to parent teacher conferences, the teachers would always say how cute Joe was, how smart Joe was and also how much Joe talked. I would tell them that we would work on it, but I wouldn't make any promises. He loved to talk and he was always had a lot to say.

While growing up he seemed to be accident prone. During 6th grade, he broke both of his arms at the same time. He was skating at his favorite place (he works there now) and won the contest of the "fastest skater." He skated so fast to the other side of the rink and when he had to stop himself, he put both hands out while he skated toward the wall. He won the contest and two casts!

He has broken his elbow and his fingers as well. He has had more stitches than all of the girls put together.

Joe now puts his energy into his guitar. He is really good. Maybe even the next Eddie Van Halen. He can be a little loud-- but it wouldn't be Joseph if he wasn't loud. He has the ability to play by ear. He will hear the song a few times and then he will be able to play it.

When Joe was about 5 he discovered his love of musicals. The first musical he watched was Joseph! We try to go see several musicals each summer. Joseph now likes performing in musicals.

Joe loves to read and is a really good student. He still has lots of friends

Joseph has always been an honest person. He hates to be in trouble. Joseph is thoughtful and kind to others. Maybe having all sisters does that to a boy.

Joe recently earned his eagle scout award.
It's a good thing I only had one son. I don't know if I could have done the whole boy scout thing with more than one son. It was a lot of work. I am including the pictures of his eagle court of honor below.

Joe the Eagle Scout!

Joe's eagle project was to clear a trail and line it with logs at Mutual Dell.

Uncle Bob spoke about the 100 years of scouting.

Taking the oath of an Eagle Scout

John sang as Joe played the guitar. This was a really big hit! Many people commented on how that was their favorite part of the evening.

This is the eagle's nest.

This is reserved for those who have earned the rank of eagle scout. I loved this part of the program. As each person took their place in the eagle's nest, they said when and where they earned their eagle.

Joe-- pinning the "mother's pin" on me. I worked hard for this!

I am pinning on his eagle pin. He looks like I might stab him, I didn't.

Joe-- summoning his eagle powers! Actually, he is thanking everyone who helped him along the trial.

We are very proud of Joe. We love him dearly!

Oh Rachael!

2010-03-28T19:29:00.006-06:00

Rachael's cute little nick names:
Rad-o-potato-head
Rachael ann-g-o-plast
Miss Dinner and a Show

Our family gets to celebrate Rachael's birthday next!

Rachael was born skinny--I think she will always remain skinny. When she was a baby, she was always known to spit up. I remember always wearing spit up on all of my clothes. I also remember laying on the floor and lifting her up above me. Of course she spit up right in my mouth. I was not the only one this happened to, she did this to her dad and to her grandma.

I remember Rachael as a toddler. She was so cute! She had a face like a kewpie doll. I bought several kewpie dolls when she was little to always remind me of what she looked like.

Whenever Rachael would do something that she knew she would get in trouble for, she would say, "Mom, whatever you say, just don't say, Oh Rachael." I guess I said that too much...

Rachael always had a way with animals. Even when she was a baby, animals would come up to her (maybe it was all the spit-up) When she was a toddler, I remember dogs and cats running up to her and she was never afraid of them like most kids. While growing up we had dogs, cats, hamsters, and birds. Maybe even a few other animals that Rachael would sneak into the house that I never knew about.

Her love for animals even extended in the clothes she loved to wear. She loved animal prints of all kinds, especially cheetah!

In second grade, Rachael did a "Great Brain" project on cheetahs. Even though she never told me, I knew that whenever she blew out her birthday candles or threw a penny in a wishing well, she was wishing for her very own cheetah or flying pony.

When Rachael got older, she became known as our "dinner and a show." We loved it! Dinner time was full of laughter as Rachael reenacted out different parts of her day.

Rachael has always been an artist. She has always been creative. Whenever we would go on vacation as a family, and someone would see something really pretty, we would always say.."Rachael should paint it!" Rachael has painted waterfall, wolves, sunsets, landscapes, flowers, and much, much more for her family.

Even though she wanted me to get rid of her first painting, I still have them. One day when she is famous, they will be worth millions!

Rachael has the ability to see something that she likes and recreate it. I taught her how to knit while we were driving through North Carolina. She started knitting and while sitting in the back seat of a car and soon she was making her own patterns for hats. The hats turned out so well, that she started selling them.

Rachael is a very determined person. When she puts her mind to learning how to do something, she does it!

I have been very blessed to be the mother of such a wonderful daughter!
Happy Birthday Rachael!
I love you.

Sweet Sarah

2010-03-25T13:06:00.005-06:00

I have decided to do a blog post of each of my children. Since Sarah's birthday is coming up soon, I will start with her.

Her cute little nicknames are:
Sweet Sarah
Tri-Sarah-Tops
Sar-n-dippity
Sarah-rella

Sarah was born on my grandmother's birthday. I remember calling my grandmother after Sarah was born and telling her that I had a wonderful birthday surprise for her.
She was thrilled to have a great grandchild for a birthday present. Sarah's first 4 birthdays were spent at my grandmother's house. We always had for a birthday party for them.

You have heard of the "terrible twos." Sarah not only went through the terrible twos, but threes, fours and fives. I remember saying to her, "Sarah, you are not 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 anymore, you are not allowed to throw temper tantrums." She finally stopped sometime in kindergarten.

Like Sarah's temper, Sarah's hair was always hard for me to control. Sarah's hair always grew straight forward. I would braid it, pull it back in a pony tail, or put barrettes in it, but she would always undo what I had done and go "au naturale."

While Sarah was young, I developed the "water therapy" so that I would not feel so guilty spanking such a sweet child. I wouldn't make her drink water, I would just splash her with it. When I discovered how well this worked, it was turning point in her life. She would be in "mid-fit" and I would spray her with water. She would run to bed, screaming all the way. While yelling she would slam doors all along the way. She would eventually fall asleep and wake up a different child.

When Sarah was in school, she won awards like, "Homework Star" and "Most Improved."
I remember making her read out loud to me every day. When the fight got too hard for me to win, I would give her questions that she had to answer so that I could tell if she read the book. I am sure she was grateful I was a teacher!

Sarah was a collector of "little things." If it was little and cute, she had to have it. It was fun to get her little things and add to her collection.

Sarah grew up to be a very pretty girl, and then a beautiful young woman. Sarah made many friends throughout her childhood, but really made some lasting friendships while she was in junior high and high school.

Sarah is beautiful! She has always been beautiful. While growing up, she would only want to wear really cute things. She still loves clothes and especially shoes!

She turns heads where ever she goes. She has high moral standards and always tries to do the right thing. She is not afraid to get out of a bad situation. Sarah is brave. Sarah is strong. Sarah is funny. Sarah is adorable.

Sarah will make some young man very happy!

Happy Birthday Sweet Sarah!