Wednesday, December 28, 2011

It's a Holly Jolly Christmas!

Christmas is the happiest time of the year. I love having nothing to do during the two weeks of Christmas. I chose the right profession to be able to do that for the rest of my life. It's pretty great.   We always have to do the annual pictures with the piles of presents. 



 Kind of embarrassing but we always have to take them! 


Shadie loves getting a stocking from Santa.
Mylie and Shadie both love their treats. Santa is so nice to them!

Santa is pretty freaking nice to all of us. We all get pretty spoiled. 





Morgan got her beloved cheese balls.
Tyler sure loves his Jazz. There may or may not have been tears when he opened this gift.
Morgan got her Cricket that she has wanted for a long time.

iPads! We both got them! Probably the best gifts that we have ever gotten!
Don't ask me why the men in my family need new guns every single year. I don't get it. But they seem to love it. Boys!

Lynsie's dream came through this Christmas. She got what she has been asking for for the last 12 years. She was very emotional to say the least.
Meeting Koopa and Troopa for the first time. I hate their names.




I do have to admit that they were kind of cute. Now, not at all. But then, kind of. Can't say that I would ever have a pet turtle but I guess that I am happy for her.

We had a great Christmas! I love all of the time spent with our family and the down time. I can't wait for next Christmas!







Monday, August 29, 2011

Miss Smith

I have had a few job interviews and gotten turned down each time. Each time the principal would tell me that I was a great interview and one of the finalists but there were just soo many people applying for teaching positions. It was down to a week and a half before school started. I knew I wasn't getting a job this year. I had talked about the driving schedule for my nanny kids and had planned on staying with them through the year. I was sad but ok with it. Well on Wednesday August 10th I got a call from Davis school district asking if I had gotten a job yet. I said no. She told me that the district might be getting some last minute emergency funding and they were having an abnormal interview at the district office where I would be interviewing with at panel of principals. I told her I would be there early Friday morning. I told my friends that I would have to be late to Bear Lake and was sad because I was missing some of my vacation and didn't even know if it would be worth it. I went to the interview and it was very nerve wracking. There were 7 or 8 principals if I remember correctly and the guy that was running the interview. In a way it was less pressure than one on one because the principals are all friends and they talked and laughed amongst each other. The principals just took turns and each one asked me a question and they just went around the table. They told me that they would know if the funding went through on Tuesday evening and then the principals would start making calls. I didn't really know what to expect and went straight to Bear Lake and tried not to stress about it. That was basically impossible. On Monday morning I got a phone call from the principal of Sand Springs elementary asking if I could come and meet with her to get to know her better. She gave me a tour of the school and told me that if the money came through then she would offer me a job. I was freaking out! I went boating and prayed that the money came through. Tuesday was one of the longest days ever. I nannied and then went home and sat in the front room with my home phone and cell phone on my lap. The meeting was supposed to get over at 6. Hollie was with her mom, who is a principal, and called at like 6:10 telling me that the district got the money. At about 6:15 my phone rang and it was my principal telling me that it was a go and that I needed to be to faculty meeting the next morning at 9:00 am. I was the new 2nd grade teacher at Sand Springs Elementary. I started bawling and called my nanny family first to give them a 14 hour notice. I felt horrible that it was this late of notice for them but there was nothing I could do. Then I called both grandmas and text friends and put it one facebook. Ha. That made it official. I sat there for about 30 minutes and then my mom and I went shopping! It was 7:oo on Tuesday night and school started the next Monday and I had a whole entire classroom to furnish and lessons to prepare. We had to get going! We went wardrobe shopping first and to Zurcher's to pick a theme for my room. Priorities! Wednesday morning I went to my faculty meeting, it got over at 12 and I went and saw my completely empty classroom, then I went and picked up my mom who took the rest of the week off to help me, and we went shopping again. We were both feeling very overwhelmed. My mom called Letia and Ann for emergency help. Good thing we have connections with women who know their way around an elementary! Letia, Ann, Kallee, Whitney, Abbey, and Jordan came at the drop of a hat and helped get my room done. I literally could not have done it without them. They worked so hard. They spent hours in my room on Wednesday and Thursday. Alyssa, Holly, my sisters, my dad, and Jeff also came and helped me a ton as well. My coworkers were amazed at how many people came to help me. They were all jealous! :) I had a couple of breakdowns but did pretty well for the most part. It was probably the longest 5 days of my life. I spent $1,200 very quickly and worked really hard but we did it. I was (kinda) ready for school to start on Monday morning. The district hired 35 teachers with that last minute funding they received. Not the most ideal way to start out the year and I hope that I never have to have that last minute stress again but I am so thankful that I got a job!

Part of my crew. I was too stressed to think about taking many pictures.







These are just some of pictures of my classroom. I chose to go with a Hollywood/stars theme. It turned out really cute and my kids like it.


Annie made this really adorable cake for me the night before school started. I'm sure that I teared up. I loved it.

I am so happy to have a class that I love at an amazing school that is pretty close to my house. It is literally my dream job. I have always wanted to teach 2nd grade. I love my kids so much! They are adorable and funny and I have awesome parents in my class. My kids say the funnies things sometimes. I get asked at least weekly why I am 25 and not married. Ha. They keep me humble. This job is seriously a dream come true and such a blessing. Definitely worth the stress and wait. I am so grateful that to everyone that helped me with everything that week, especially my parents, and especially my mom. There is absolutely no way that I could ever have done it without her. I hope that I can stay a Sand Springs Stallion forever!

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Boating!

I love going boating with the Smiths. I can not go nearly as often as I want. The summer always just flies by. We went the very last week of the summer. Better late than never! It was the perfect day. Get home Sunday from Bear Lake and go boating the next day, perfect summer week. I wish life could always be like that!

Steph and I on the boat. We look lovely.

Steph is basically a professional wakeboarder. We didn't get any pictures of me wakeboarding because I couldn't get up. I was very frustrated.

Wind blown hair. Too bad that my hair couldn't stay like this the whole day! Ha.

Normally I don't love tubing. It totally freaks me out. But I actually had fun this time. Also, I could actually pull myself up on the tube. Normally it takes quite a few people to help me get up on there. I was so proud of myself for getting on it alone. I still got really scared but I enjoyed it. Our faces show it all.

Colton at the beginning of our boating day. His shirt describes him perfectly. He sure is a "Chick Magnet."

Colton loved when we would drive fast on the boat. He would yell, "wahoo!" the entire time that the boat would be going. It is pretty funny to watch him. He loves it. That is why the next picture is so funny...

He fell asleep on the last ride around the bay. I don't really know how that happened because it was fast and bumpy. It was hilarious. I loved our boating adventure and can't wait to be invited again next summer!

Bear Lake

At the end of August I went with Hollie's family to a cabin in Bear Lake. I loved it! I couldn't leave when the rest of them left because I had a job interview early Friday morning. My dad offered to drive me all the way up there so that I didn't have to drive alone. :) It was really sweet of him.

Here are my dad and I sitting at the gas station in Bear Lake waiting for my friends to come pick me up. This picture was the last of about 10 tries to get him to look at the camera.

When I got to the cabin I was given my perfect adorable cup that Hollie and her sisters had made for everyone to use during the weekend. I couldn't have been more thrilled.


I love shakes!

We love Le Beaus. The raspberry shakes are divine! We went there a few times during the weekend.


I always love bon fires. This one was one of the best. We played iPod idol, I had an adorable baby to hold the entire time, and a 5 year old that loved me and wanted to sit right next to me. Also, we didn't wear makeup or get ready at all the entire time. I LOVED it.


These two pictures summed up our weekend. We played in the sun all day, came home and ate dinner, then retired to our bedroom that was basically an ice cube and we had to wear sweatshirts and cuddle in bed while we all read. It was absolute perfection. I love vacations where all I have to do is play in the sun and read. That is my kind of life! I love Bear Lake and decided that someday when I am rich I will have a cabin there. I hope that I get invited next year! Thanks Marshall's for letting me come!

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Tim!

Time for another concert! Tim McGraw! It is so hard for me to decide which concert I love the most. It is usually whatever concert that I am at right then. Because I sure love Tim McGraw!



The entire time leading up to the concert, Lynsie kept saying that she wished she could just go and watch The band Perry and Luke Bryan and then leave. She said that Tim McGraw was old news. She knows how bad that infuriates me. On the way to the concert we were listening to The Band Perry and Luke Bryan to get in the concert spirit and to learn the words. I already know every word to Tim so I didn't think it necessary to listen to him. I finally put Tim McGraw in so that Lynsie could get "familiar" with some of his songs. The very first song that played she said, "Oh my heck! I didn't know this was Time McGraw. This is my favorite song!" She preceded to know every single song that we played by Tim. While I was happy that she admitted to liking Tim, I was very frustrated that she is so stubborn that she wouldn't even listen to him until now.

Whitney and I waiting for Tim!

The band Perry was pretty much adorable and amazing. They did not disappoint.

I can't wait for Luke Bryan to come for his own concert! I love him! I really feel like he is the most entertaining singer I have ever watched. He dances the entire time that he is on the stage. I don't know how he can sing and dance like he does at the same time. He is so cute. And when he turns his hat backwards... Mmmm!

Look how adorable he is!

Justin, Chelsie, Whitney, and I

The concert up to this point was so amazing that we were so happy that we could have just went home right then and be totally happy. But then we remembered that we still had the main event! I could not have been happier.

OMG! I love this man so so much!

There are no words.

The girls.

The concert is over. We are on a concert high but also sad that it is over.
I can't even wait until next time Tim. Concerts make me broke but they bring me so much happiness. I hope that I can always go to every concert!

Lynsie, Kaylyn, and I continued the party after the concert. I was house sitting at Kiele's and they came with me. I am not going to post all of the pictures that they took. They were a little scandalous.

We love taking pictures of ourselves.

We finally ended the party at Jeremiah's the next morning. I can't wait until the next concert!