Fun with Les!

Leslee and I hung today! It was so much fun! Dinner, movies, worked on her FHE flyer and her talk tomorrow... She's the BEST SISTER EVER! We had some really good laughs!

Baby Shower!

My friend Natalie is having a baby boy! A bunch of teacher friends from Foothills got together for her shower!

Bouncin' Off the Walls!

"Red Letter Days" a party company, threw a Birthday Party for all of the Refugee's that are part of the BBBS program! It was sooooo fun! The party was at a place in Sandy called "Bouncin' Off the Walls." Since all the refugee's are assigned Jan. 1st as their birthday, it worked out perfectly! Rita is always a riot!

On The left you can see my friend Heidi and her little sister Kadi.

What Color?

Dialogue Inside a Third Grade Classroom on Inauguration Day!

We colored a picture of Pres. Obama today. All my brown children, excuse my lack of political correctness…well anyway, all of my brown (many nationalities) students started coloring right away. Meanwhile many of my white students hesitated. Then one girl shouted to the class, “what color do I color him?” Another student said “brown.” She responded, “but everyone says he’s the first black president.” A couple students tried to explain that black doesn’t always mean black. Then a kid sitting at another table said, “just look at Austin, he’s from the same country as Obama.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle at all of my students as they critiqued their neighbor’s art work and accuracy. I think they spent a good solid minute or so studying Austin’s lips… Austin was a good sport. He is a really quiet kid and usually doesn’t like attention, but he did today. I was impressed in their interest in today’s events, we had some great discussions. I think I have 24 future presidential candidates for 2040’s elections!

Seattle. Friends. Fun.

What do teachers do best on four day weekends...visit their good friends! I managed to see three really good friends this weekend, Amy, Cheryl, and Sara!

Amy and I had so much fun chatting! She showed me around Seattle and took me to the Space Needle! I miss teaching with Amy! She is such a cute little mom to baby Parker...she has so many books and fun learning stuff around her place! Oh, she gave me the cutest gift...I'll have to blog about it sometime...

Next I went to visit Cheryl! I don't think I've seen Cheryl since her wedding. I went to her baby shower and she introduced me as her maid of honor from her wedding, I felt pretty cool, I'm not gonna lie! She has a darling little toddler! She is currently potty training him, she's a rockstar mom and seems to know all the potty training tricks! I wish I could have spent some more time with her. She's having a baby girl next month!

Sara picked me up and we went to the Seattle temple, which was beautiful! I feel so blessed to be able to go to so many temples. While in the temple I ran into Bro. & Sis. Parnell from Longmont, CO! Sis. Parnell was my laural leader in high school, what a small world! Sara's husband had a fantastic steak fajita dinner waiting for us, ummm, yummy! Sara has 4 adorable kiddos! It was fun to go to a family ward, strange but fun! Sara also showed me around base, it was sooo cool. I really enjoyed seeing Sara and all the great things she's doing with her kids!

100 Things

100 Things
I was tagged by Carolyn to pick the things I've done on the list. Between Carolyn and I, I think we've done them all, well most of them at least!

I tag Niki, Kristy, and Halceyn!

The things I have done are in green:

1. Started my own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band (Rock Band!)
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than I can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain
10. Sung a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched lightening at sea
14. Taught myself art from scratch
15. Adopted a child (does mentoring count?)
16. Had food poisoning (Yes! And I NEVER want it again!)
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown my own vegetables (Only at school...)
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France (it's so much smaller than I imagined)
20. Slept on an overnight train (on the way to Switzerland...it was a rough night's sleep!)
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitchhiked (does car trouble count...?)
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill (mental health day!:) shhh)
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone swimming at night
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice (I want too! I love Italy!)
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise (Day cruise...)
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of my ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught myself a new language (currently Spanish...advise?)
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing (indoor)
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke (unfortuneately for everyone else!)
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had my portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain (2009?)
53. Played in the mud (YM/YW Mutual rocks!)
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie (Foothills Elementary Production, ha!)
56. Visited the Great Wall of China (Someday...)
57. Started a business (I'm working on it...)
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia (Not yet...)
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies (Nope just school fundraiser cookies)
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason (yes! From Carolyn!)
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving (2009!)
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp (Anne Frank home...that's all)
67. Bounced a check (Freshman year of college! I was sooo embarrassed!)
68. Flown in a helicopter (not yet...I gave my parents a gift one year to do that...I'll go someday!)
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy (typewriter!)
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job (does weeding count?)
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book (not yet...)
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car (probably never will...)
83. Walked in Jerusalem (Thought about it!)
84. Had my picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible (Um, no...need to work on that!)
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life (how so? :))
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Rode an elephant (someday... when I get to Bali!)

Oh, man...MY MOM JOINED FACEBOOK! ...read #4 to find out about my crazy dream

Isn't that awesome! I hung out w/ mom tonight! Dinner and some light shopping...dad's out of town, PARTY! Hehe! Then I helped her set up her facebook account. She mentioned joining a while back and I forbid her, well not really, but I wasn't exactly sure what I thought about it...I know I am a mean daughter! Anyhow, I think it's super cool now! It was so fun teaching her!

Here are some misc. things I've wanted to write somewhere and since the journal thing isn't really working out, I'm gonna write it here. Feel free to STOP reading here, sorry I bore you with my silly day to day things!

1. It took me five minutes to find my car today! Turnberry Apts has some serious parking shortage issues which doesn't lend any help to my short term memory in the morning! I am grateful for car beepers!

2. Last night at FHE, after giving my input on the topic of discussion, I called on someone who was raising their hand as if I was teaching (which I wasn't!) I was so embarrassed! I guess once a teacher, always a teacher! I also find myself wanting to discipline kids in grocery stores all the time! Oh, man!

3. Our carpets were cleaned today! My trail of rubber cement looks a lot lighter now!

4. Over Christmas Break I had a dream that was hilarious! I was teaching my brother to fly...no plane needed, it was just a matter of positioning your feet and knowing that you had that power (only endowed members of the church could fly, but not everyone knew that they had the ability). Crazy, whacked out dream I know, but it was AWESOME! I remember showing him my favorite parts of Chicago and short cuts to different cities!

5. One my students said to me today "I really like your purse! Can I have it when you die?" Can you believe she said that! I must be ancient to them!

6. I have a confession...I really don't absolutely love my blog title...will I every find something I like? Seriously? I can't make up my mind! I loved the phrase "Life Happens" because that is something I realized I say all the time without thinking about it. Then I thought of all the other things I say all the time and attached them too... Then I saw that someone I know has the same title! I just feel so unsettled about my blog title and it's such a lame thing to EVEN THINK ABOUT...I am wasting valuable thinking time and blogging time on this issue! Oh well...someday I'll come up with the perfect title, watch you'll see! It's like naming a child or something, it's gotta mean something right? Finley Files? That one crossed my mind today... too cheesy... hmmm...

That's all folks!

Elder Finley...

Joey's had quite an interesting last few weeks! As Joey would say he had "a flammer" for a companion! His companion was a tememporary ward member. His temporary title became even more temporary when he was sent home a few days later...

4 Days Until Seattle!

I am stoked!!!!!!

PS, Christmas Break

I forogt to mention that over the break I got to see Christy (Hoffman) Clarke and Stephanie Enrico! I just thought all my Greely Peeps would like to know that they are happy and healthy! Christy now has two kidos, darling! And Steph is teaching for Teach for America in St. Louis!

Life Happens...

So today I took my students down to the computer lab to take a test called "Acuity." It was essential my students take it today because the window of time to take it is closing soon. We get down to the lab and there was another teacher in the lab w/ her students... grr... it was our computer lab time, but then I just said "Life Happens," and I took my students back to class and we figured out another time that would work.

And so...this is how the title of my blog came about today...I think this one might actually stick, we shall see:). It's funny because I called up a someone the other day and that was dealing with some extensive car costs due to no fault of their own and they said "sh#* happens." It made me laugh because this person hardly ever swears! So there you have it, a new blog title! Perhaps this might be a monumental day for my blog! Time will only tell! I wanted to use the word "real" in my title but I couldn't think of anything clever... I like the word real, I like to keep it REAL! No phony Bologna!

Peace

5 Second Crush...

So that's my latest term for those guys I see once or twice and they intrigue me... the 5 second crush can turn into 6, 7, 8...you get the picture. It seems like lately they start at 5, move up to 7 or 8 and drop to 0 instantly when I realize I was totally just fantasizing them into my ideal, decades of emotion, take my breathe away, type of crush!

As lame as this sounds, I just dictionary.com'd the word "crush," as I often do with words that are on my mind and this is what it came up with:

CRUSH

1.to press or squeeze with a force that destroys or deforms.
2. to squeeze or pound into small fragments or particles, as ore, stone, etc.
3. to force out by pressing or squeezing; extract: to crush cottonseeds in order to produce oil.
4. to rumple; wrinkle; crease.
5. to smooth or flatten by pressure: to crush leather.
6. to hug or embrace forcibly or strongly: He crushed her in his arms.
7. to destroy, subdue, or suppress utterly: to crush a revolt.
8. to overwhelm with confusion, chagrin, or humiliation, as by argumentation or a slighting action or remark; squelch.
9. to oppress grievously.
10. Archaic. to finish drinking (wine, ale, etc.).–verb (used without object)
11. to become crushed.
12. to advance with crushing; press or crowd forcibly.–noun
13. the act of crushing; state of being crushed.
14. a great crowd: a crush of shoppers.
15. Informal.
a. an intense but usually short-lived infatuation.
b. the object of such an infatuation: Who is your latest crush?

I laughed out loud as I read some of those definitions..."to press or squeeze with a force that destroys or deforms." Yep, I'm pretty sure I've destroyed a lot of chances with guys by crushing too much...ha! I also like the one that says "to overwhelm with confusion," been there done that... and I especially like the one that says "short-lived." That one hits the nail on the head!

Anywho, today I'm just grateful for my short-lived crushes that give me hope. In the past little while I've decided that one of my very favorite attractions and is a must for the man I marry, is ABILITY TO LAUGH! I love to laugh, I love when people make me laugh, I love to laugh about stupid stuff, smart stuff, crazy stuff, weird stuff, stuff that just ticks me off, and mainly I just love to LAUGH...my dad calls me giggles, I just can help it, I LOVE to laugh!

So there you have it, my little thought process I had tonight, sorry if it's hard to follow, if you don't understand, don't worry, I'm confusing, I know:). Just smile and nod for me k?

Life without laughter, would be no life at all...

The Old Seminary Gang

Natalie, Wray, Me, Derek, Bryan, Taylor, Kathy, Katie

Living in Utah is quite awesome! You see, Mormons just gravitate here whether they like it or not:)! It's a bonus for me because I get to see all my old friends now and again! Last night a bunch of us who could make it, went to dinner! It was a blast! Who knew it could be so much fun to talk about the stupid things we did in high school!


Funny thing to share. A few months ago while baring my testimony at church, I saw guy in the audience that looked familiar...I tried not to make eye contact for fear that he would think I was crazy stalker, a common fear of single adults. Turns out he was doing the same thing! It was Bryan Hinton! We went to the first two years of High School together, then he moved to Kansas. I thought, what a small world! He was actually just visiting, but is in a ward that also meets in my building and does activities with my ward often. Then last Sunday I was walking down the hall and saw a familiar face and I said, "is that Derek Sorensen?!!?" And it was! He just joined my ward! Weird! I don't think I've seen Derek since high school!


So, all this running into people and talking to people who currently live here like Cathy Olivas, Wray Dix, and Carolyn Detro inspired a reunion of sorts! Carolyn wasn't able to make it, but we sure did miss here! It was fun to meet Kathy's fiance and Wray's wife! Both perfect matches that I would have never put together! Katie's married too, but didn't bring her honey, next time. I never knew Katie very well because she moved about the same time I moved in, but she came to girls camp and visited now and again, she's a riot!