Merry Christmas

Well, it has been a hectic season. Friday was the last day of school and it was crazy. All the students (and me) were wishing it were a snow day. There were two assemblies--it was like someone said, "How can we shorten the attention span of our students? I know! let's have two assemblies on the last day before Christmas Break!" And then every one pats him on his back for his brilliance. Anyway, I digress. It was a crazy day. I finally have my Christmas shopping done, with the exception of a purchase I don't want Nathan to know about too soon in advance. To go along with the craziness, I made my Christmas cards in time...I just never had the time to sit down and address them. So, now I am stuck in Idaho Falls without my cards. I'm so glad I planned ahead. I would post them here for all to see, but alas, the one trip I don't take my laptop. Hopefully, I will be able to access my laptop soon so I can post my cute Christmas cards.

So, on another note. It has been snowing like CRAZY since it started (which was only a little over a week ago). We had no snow and now it won't stop. It looks like it's been snowing since Thanksgiving. So, though I love the snow, I'm wanting to be able to get around. But, this time of being stuck (mainly without my own stuff) has caused me to go through my mom's pictures to see if she has any I need. Well, I found some gems. Here they are.

Have a happy day!

Time is moving faster

I really think time is moving faster than it used to. Last week I was looking at my calendar and realized that the end of the trimester was near. And right after that is a two day break (for the students...inservice for me). Then, after just a week of school, it's Thanksgiving. And we all know that once Thanksgiving hits, time just snowballs. There is no more time to do anything. However, since the trimester is over and today was a workday for me, I was able to slow down just a bit. I still had things to do at school, but my grading was finished so I could focus on lesson plans and making my classroom cuter (I needed to boost my morale). I still had dinner to make and the house to keep clean, but I just slowed down and it was quite a relaxing day. And you know what? I still got a lot accomplished! However, I won't have all day everyday to take it slow, but I certainly will enjoy the days that I do get that luxury.

Halloween Costume

So, I am so proud of the costume I put together this year for Halloween. The only problem is that the administration at my school doesn't want the students to dress up so I guess that means that I can't either. However, last night I did have a Halloween/Service party with my Activity Days girls and I got to show off my costume (I'm really debating about wearing it to school). When I tried it on for my niece, she knew exactly who I was? For those of you who aren't pre-teen girls (or lame girls in their twenties like my sister and I) I am Hannah Montana (from the Disney Channel). I got everything for real cheap: the jacket and jewelry I already had, the top was less than $5, the leggings were $5, the skirt was $3, and the belt was $4--I glittered it. This costume ROCKS! All that's missing are the bangs.

New Schedule

I love my new schedule that came from teaching. I am now home by no later than 5pm even if I stay late at school. This means I'm able to actually cook dinner at a reasonable hour (yeah, eating at 9pm or 10pm wasn't really working for me). I am able to have evenings. Nathan also gets done with school and work by 5pm. So, other than when he has Scouts on Tuesday nights, we are able to spend time together (or I get to help him with his homework...hooray!). Anyway, I digress. The main point is that I'm able to cook dinner. I love that I've been able to try some great recipes and feel like I'm actually feeding my husband real meals. So, tonight, I tried a wonderful recipe from Pampered Chef: Asian Pork and Noodle Skillet. This dish is amazing! And it's healty too! So let me share the recipe with you. Try it! You'll love it! Then let me know what you think.

If you have a new favorite or an old favorite that you love to go back to, please share. I have time to cook now and I want to try your recipes.

School Days

Well, this is going to be a short post, but, thanks to my sister's comment on the previous post (from oh so long ago), I decided it was time for a new post. I started teaching on August 21st. And it has been a great first few weeks. I teach mainly sophomores and boy are they sophomoric. Some of them are so chatty. But I really enjoy it and they make me laugh. As much as I did love my high shcool experiences, I don't want to relive my high school years. And teaching solidifies any feelings of not wanting to relive it. Of course I do have some students I like better than others, but I have to say that I don't have favorites. We had our first test today in one of my classes and I am very proud of my students. They all did quite well. I hope they keep it up. Overall, I really love my job, I enjoy the people I work with, and I'm really excited for my first paycheck! We are going to save like there is no tomorrow. Hopefully we will not have to go into too much date when Nathan goes to law school!

Memory Game (Feel Free to Join In)

Okay, so even if I post something new, you can still leave a comment on this post, so please do if you want to join in.

Here are the directions: 1. As you comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember! 2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

Pictures from Vegas

So, as promised, here are some pictures from our trip to Vegas. There are still some pictures that I need to get off of Mike and Amber's camera (our batteries died halfway through one day). But here are the highlights.

Back from Vegas

So, we just returned from a vacation to Las Vegas. We went with our friends Mike and Amber and it was so much fun. We went to see the Blue Man Group. They are so entertaining. I totally reccomend it to anyone. If you get the chance to go, take it! We stayed at the Excalibur so while we were there, we went to their show The Tournament of the Kings. It's a fun dinner show with jousting, sword fighting, etc. And since it's set in "the middle ages" there are no utensils and you eat with your hands. We walked everywhere for the first two days and then decided to take the bus. Which, I'm so happy we did, we went to the adventure dome at the Circus Circus and that would have been an excruciating walk! It was just a fun trip because there is always so much to see in Vegas (plus I got some killer deals on some shirts and a skirt). I'll post pictures of our trip after I get them all on my computer.

Princesses need their Princes

My sister and her family are in town because her brother-in-law is came home from his mission. Well, they were at my mom's today when I called just to say "hi" and I got to talk to my adorable 3 1/2 year old niece.

As I was talking to her, she informed me that she is a princess but she is dying. When I asked her why she told me "because princesses need their princes to come kiss them when they're dying. My Prince is coming tomorrow on Saturday." I'm not sure exactly who she was referring to, but I was laughing. Apparently before and after she was talking to me she was lying on the couch with a a princess dress on and a blanket over her. I sure hope her prince arrives soon.

Laundry

Well, it's finally happened. We have started doing our laundry at the laundry mat. With gas prices the way they are, we can't justify going to IF even if it means we get to go to better restaurants and see our family (a bit of free grocery shopping if you know what I mean). Alas, I get to carry around mounds of quarters and spend my time in a sanitarily questionable place (you may think laundry is clean...well it's surroundings aren't necessarily so). I can't wait until I have my own place so I can have a washer and dryer and be able to hang my close outside. Well, we can't always get what we want right away because then we wouldn't have anything to dream about right?

DLF

Well, Nathan and I had an exciting week. Thursday night, while pulling out an oven mit I hadn't ever used before I noticed little "sprinkles". In fear, and hoping Nathan would say the opposite of what I thought, I asked Nathan what they were. Unfortunately, Nathan confirmed my fears by saying that they were mouse droppings. I was freaking out. How in the world did a mouse get in my apartment?! We are too clean for a mouse to want to live in our house. Even now thinking about it I'm freaking out. I immediately called our landlords. I'm secure enough to say that I was a big pansy! I let Nathan and our landlord do all the plugging of the holes and setting of the mouse traps. Somehow, the little mouse made it under our kitchen sink and through pre-made holes got around to our drawers. I pulled out every drawer and washed all of my dishes (even the ones I had just washed earlier that day). I sanitized all of my drawers and cupboards. All of our towels and anything else that could go into the washer was put inside a bag to be taken to the laundromat. I spent the next day and over $10 at the laundromat cleaning everything that could have possibly been touched by our little friend. Friday, while Nathan was napping on the couch, a SNAP woke him up. The mouse was now our DLF (dead little friend). And Nathan, being the kind husband he is, decided to wait to dispose of the DLF until after I got home to see it. I wanted to throw up. I am happy to say our house has been re-sanitized and mouse free. But still thinking about it makes me paranoid.

Thumbs Down

I love my husband. He makes me laugh everyday. Now, you should know that I am in impatient driver. Well, Nathan is "an abide by every traffic law" type of driver. And if he we are driving and someone does something that he doesn't think is appropriate he gets upset and likes to tell me about how they are not good drivers. Well, I think he's found a way to let them know how he feels. He's been "preaching" his new philosophy whenever we're in the car:
There is no reason to flip someone off when you're driving because it just makes them mad and more likely to continue in their bad driving habit. A thumbs down, however, makes them think about it. If someone gets a thumbs down they think, "What? Did he just give me a thumbs down? Oh, :( thumbs down." And they feel bad about it. Unfortunately, no one ever actually sees you give them a thumbs down. Well, I have taken on this philosophy only not in my driving. If I don't like something I give a thumbs down and say "thumbs down". This has caught on at work and I even have some of my co-workers doing it as well. So if ever you are upset at something or don't like the situation, just give it a thumbs down.

New Job

I have a teaching job at Rigby High School!!! I will start teaching this fall! I'm so excited! I'll still work at Melaleuca during the summer, but I don't think I'll want to be working two jobs. Nathan has gone long enough without homemade dinners every night. Last night I made just some simple chicken and garlic bread and it was like I had made an amazing meal. I realized then that I have been slacking. It's just hard to want to start cooking at 8:00 pm.
Well, the main purpose for this post was to let everyone know I have a real live job.

Graduation and Princess Tea

Well, I graduated last Friday. I'm so happy to be done with school. Graduation at BYU-I is so great! It was short and spiritual. Elder M Russell Ballard spoke and he had a lot of good council. I'm now looking for a job and hopefully I'll find one near by. I've had interviews at North Fremont and Rigby. I'm hoping more so for Rigby just because the roads to North Fremont are awful during the winter. We'll see how everything goes since I have to wait about eight weeks to be fully certified! It's such a long process!

Saturday we had a Princess Tea Party. We wanted to have a princess party for my nieces since Adrienne and McKenna were in town. It turned into a fancy tea party. It was so funny, there were 3 little girls and one baby and then 10 adult women. We had so much fun though. We all dressed up in our fanciest dresses (a lot of us wore old formals) and got crowns from the dollar section at Target. We had sandwiches, vegetables, cream puffs, éclairs, and mini cheesecakes. And for the tea we had raspberry lemonade with sprite. The little girls were so cute in their outfits and being princesses. After we all ate (and took several pictures, most of which are not on my camera) we danced around the living room singing princess songs. It was fun to have an excuse to dress up.

Busy Busy Busy

I have been pretty busy with work and student teaching. I recently was doing customer service training at work so I was at work until 10pm every night. What a pain. Now I'm just finishing up my student work sample. Pretty much I go in front of a panel and they decide if I can graduate. I have nightmares that they tell my it's all been a lie and I have to do student teaching again and I'll never graduate! NOOO!!!
However, every time I think about the fact that I just have one more week of teaching, a week of observation, and then I'm done, I start dancing and get a big smile on my face! People around me probably think I'm nuts but it really is exciting. I'll actually have a career (even if it is one with a low salary).
We had a fun Easter weekend. Since it was the same weekend as my birthday, Nathan took me out of town just for a fun little weekend. We went to the rodeo (my hair was not big enough for me to fit in) and then got a hotel and just had a fun weekend of swimming. On Sunday, we went to Nathan's grandparent's house for lunch and then my parents' house for dinner. My niece is going to have a princess tea party so we were finding princess dresses to wear. I'll have to post the pictures because I was able to get my sister and my mom to dress up. We look so cute.

I've been a bad blogger

My sister Jessica, who has been an incredibly faithful blogger, has pointed out to me that I need to update my blog. I have to just tell you that I haven't really had much to blog about. I rarely get to my computer lately except to type a lesson plan. My student teaching has been going great. I really enjoy my students. It's pretty funny teaching junior high students. I remember being that age. I just have to remember that when I'm teaching them because it's easy to get frustrated, but I know I probably was the same way.
Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures right now. I will try to come up with something clever to blog next time.

so, what day do you think we'll get off next week?

There has been a snow day once a week for the last 5 weeks I'm sure. It is crazy. It's starting to mess up my schedule. I'll admit it's nice to have a day off, but I get more behind because of it. Oh well, I get my house clean.
It was nice to have today off because it is Nathan's birthday so I was able to get things ready while he was at school. We had a wonderful day together of playing games, dancing, goofing off, etc. We went to eat at Pizza Hut for his birthday dinner and then came home for cheesecake and presents. His parents came up and it was nice to visit. Nathan is pretty excited because he got some video games he's been dieing for. Now I get to hear "Tiff! Look at this!" while he's playing a game and I'm trying to do something else (i.e. blog). I will admit, if he pulls out Zelda or Mario Galaxy, I will watch freely because I love those games. Oh...look at that. Looks like we're going to play a little Majora's Mask (an old zelda game). Enjoy the cold.

TAGGED

Well, I was tagged by my friend Katie Johnson. So here is a bit of information about me.

1. What are FOUR jobs that you have had in life? Sales associate at the Scrap Coop; math tutor; wellness rep team lead; and services support associate at Melaleuca Inc.

2. What are FOUR places where you have been? Well, when I was 17 I went to France and Italy and I guess I could count that as more than four if I want to name each city individually, but I won’t. On our honeymoon, Nathan and I stayed in a castle in old town Quebec City. And then a place that I have been and love to go to is Yellowstone National Park.

3. What are FOUR of your favorite foods? I love love love Italian food! Give me a plate of Johnny Carino’s chicken scallopini and I’m happy. Another love of my are Wingers sticky fingers. This can be in the form of regular sticky fingers, in a quesadilla, in a salad, you name it. I am pretty sure that my mom’s beef stew recipe is the best. This is one of my favorites. It’s good the first time and even as leftovers. And I have a new favorite food. There is a Thai food place where we live and Nathan and I went there the other night with some friends. I had a crunchy cashew stir fry. Oh my piece of heaven! It was fabulous.

4. Who are FOUR people you would like to get to know better? My husband. Sometimes I still don’t understand why he does what he does. People I work with. The people in my ward. (can you tell I need friends?) My sister-in-law.

5. FOUR reasons I love being me? I have a wonderful husband. I have a great job. I will graduate in April. I have a great family.

6. What are FOUR classes you wish were offered to you that you could participate in right now? A photography class. I so desperately want to improve. Interior Design. Floral Design. And probably a class for sewing. I have the basic skills, but they’re really BASIC.

7. Who are FOUR friends or relatives that you would like to tag? Jessica, Adrienne, Carolyn, Clarissa. TAG YOU'RE IT!

SNOW DAY

I remember when I was in high school and middle school wishing we would have more snow days (if any at all). Well, it seems I am now getting that wish. Yesterday was a holiday and today is a snow day. So I am lucky to have a 4 day weekend. Plus, last Tuesday was a snow day. I look forward to next Tuesday. It feels good to be able to get little things done around the house, though. I will admit that I probably spend more time at the computer with my loving photoshop. I purchased these extremely cute items from Little Dreamer Designs. They are all designed by Michelle Colman. I love her stuff!

Here are some layouts I did of my adorable niece (who cut her own hair a few days ago) with this cute new kit and wonderful template. If you haven't tried templates yet, you're missing out. They make scrapping so fast and easy. If you have a lot to get done, or short on ideas. Look for templates. You can add and take away as much as you like. I love them!

Happy Snow Day!

What a Break!

It was so nice to relax and spend time with family but now we're getting back into the swing of things. I started my student teaching on Tuesday and Nathan started his classes on Wednesday. We are very busy and don't see each other much again, but with such short semesters it's over fast. I can't believe that I'll be completely finished by April 4th.

So far I'm enjoying my student teaching. I can already see where there may be some challenges, but I really think I'll enjoy it. However, sometimes do you feel like you're a pro at fooling people? Because sometimes I think people think I have it more together than I really do or that I'm more capable than I really am. However, it is pretty good for me because then I don't want to let them down so I make sure those expectations are met.

So, we have a new car. It is a cute blue Chevy Aveo. It was a great deal and I love it (it's "mine"). It gets pretty good gas mileage and...well it's just cute. It's my first car purchase over $1000, so it's a pretty big deal for me. I convinced Nathan that I should be the one to drive it because the wife always gets the new car and the next car we get will probably be an SUV or van so I should get the cute car now and he can have the lumina.

Well, I better head out because there is sleep to get and lessons to get ready.