Sunday, December 1, 2013

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

I remember about a week after my parents dropped me off at college, I got in my car and started driving. I called my dad and started bawling because I was so homesick. I told him I couldn't live in Utah, couldn't do this college thing, and just wanted to come home. Surprisingly, he told me that fine, I could come home at the end of summer if I really wanted to. I thought for sure my dad would tell me to suck it up and stick it out, but he was letting me be the adult and make my own decisions. My dad always knows what to say! And I did stick it out. And now, I can't imagine living anywhere else. Utah is my home. When I go places for vacation, like St. Louis, it just doesn't feel like home anymore. I start missing my familiar paths, people, and places I know in Utah.  And now, once again, I will be moving to a new place. I thought about it today, and without a doubt, a week into our move, I'm sure I will bawl. But this time, my husband will be the one comforting me. So much has changed over the past four years. I have changed drastically. I have gone from my wide eyed just outta high school self, to a woman married for 2 years. I am so so nervous for our new life, and all that it will bring. Where will we live? Will I find a teaching job? Do I even want to teach? When will I see my family? When will we start our family? Will we figure out this living apart for four months fiasco? How will I finish student teaching?

In my rational mind, I know that I will grow to love, adore, this new adventure.

I'm just waiting for my rational mind to take over my fear.

“It’s OKAY to be scared. Being scared means you’re about to do something really, really brave.” 
-Mandy Hale

Hello, December!

Oh, hello there! I clearly have not posted in over a month! So it's probably time for some updates:
Here's what we've been doing lately:
We went to Oregon for Thanksgiving, and it was a blast! We stayed with Jon's dad Jeff, and his grandma and grandpa Grether. They're the bomb. They are so hard working, even in their 70's and NEVER STOP MOVING. They are not relaxing into retirement! Grandpa still works and grandma is constantly helping and serving other people. We had a fun time shooting guns, playing dodgeball, playing lots of games, seeing Catching Fire, and just enjoying all the cousins, etc. I love Jon's family so much! They are the kindest and most loving people in the world. I wish we got to see them more.
               
            Jon officially got a job offer from Huron Consulting in Portland. We are both very excited, but not positive if that's where we will be headed! Tonight I took him to the airport for an interview with Purina in Iowa. So, we should decide by this weekend, Monday at the latest where we are going. Looking for LOTS of inspiration over here. We have no clue what to do if he gets an offer from Purina as well! They are extremely different areas (portland vs. davenport), but man ohhhh man, they are both exciting for different reasons.

     Jon's birthday was a few weeks ago. He turned 25! We went and got a couples massage and then went to Market Street Grill for dinner--i had to take him there because he LOVES seafood, and I hate it, so we were both happy :)

We only have 8 days of school left this semester! YAYYYYY! This semester for me has gone by so slow, I am not sorry to see it end! I have been in school for TOO DANG LONG. I have a ton of projects to finish this week, and only 1 real "final" in the testing center. I love that about being a senior, I have only taken one test this entire semester because I only do projects now! Christmas break will not be super fun this year because I have to work everyday, all day on my stupid astronomy class to get it completed.

In just a few weeks, my family will be here! My brother Josh will be getting married in the Bountiful temple on Dec 31, and my family is coming for Christmas! YAY! I am so excited to spend another christmas with them. I miss them all. And, it will be so nice to not have to travel. We both HATE long drives, and the 14 hour drive to Medford was too long.


Saturday, October 5, 2013

6 Months

Just realized....

We only have 6 months left of school.

192 days.
27 weeks.


Scary.

Monday, September 30, 2013

Fall to-do list!

Fall is my absolute favorite time of year! I wish it lasted longer, it is my favorite season! I could never live in a place without fall. Here are a few of my favorite things about fall that I want to accomplish:

20 Little Things To Treasure in Autumn

  1. Electric blankets at the end of a long day
  2. Candles Flickering
  3. Smelling cinnamon, oranges & cloves
  4. Pumpkins
  5. Roasts, Potatoes & Carrots
  6. Watching movies snuggled in soft blankets
  7. Cozy socks
  8. Pie in the oven
  9. Warm crackling wood fire
  10. Squash with buttered brown sugar
  11. Chili and corn bread smothered in honey
  12. Wind blowing through leaves
  13. Glow of lamps through windows
  14. Laughter filling a room
  15. Scrabble and popcorn
  16. Caramel apples
  17. Family
  18. Thanksgiving
  19. Pumpkin/Apple Pie
  20. Hot chocolate
We already got some delicious hot chocolate from the Cocoa Bean--Jon got mexican (cinnamon, almond), and I got Salted Caramel. Oh my goodness. Delicious. I want to make a caramel apple bar and do that for a date night. I will scratch things off this list as the fall continues! I am loving wearing sweaters and jeans, and already ate a whole bag of pumpkin reese's! So much love in fall. 

xoxo

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Vegas and St. Louis

So, about two days before the 4th of July, we realized we had NO plans. We tried to think of something, but we had already done a "staycation" for memorial day weekend, and really wanted to do something. Bret and Sharla were SO KIND (still need to write them a thank you note), and let us stay at their resort in las vegas. We had SO much fun! We woke up on the 4th and went to the Provo 4th parade, which is a huge deal. People put out tents 24 hours before all up university ave. We walked over ( I love living close to campus!), and stood by the Amanda Knight building (on 8 north by brick oven). We got to see Josh driving the BYU float. It was so fun to be able to go to the parade. The past two years, Jon has had to be on campus at like 5 in the morning to drive the float, so it was fun to go together finally! Then we left for Vegas.
While there we:
-Enjoyed the rooftop pool
-Tried some custard we both liked at a place called Luv it custard
-Ate Jack in the Box (of course...)
-Tried to go to the store of Pawn Stars, but the line was out the door and you could only go in for a few minutes. Not worth the line.
-Walked around a lot of hotels, including the Bellagio, Venetian.
-Ate the MOST delicious meal ever at Max Brenner's. Highly reccomend. It's ALL chocolate, like really good chocolate, but they also have food. We shared a salad (amazing!), and shared waffle fries dusted in cocoa powder and chili powder....The best I've ever had. MMMMM.
-Stayed in and watched all 3 Ocean's 11 movies to celebrate being in vegas.
-Went to the Coke store and tried 17 different coke products from `17 different countries
-Saw World War Z --if you haven't seen this, I HIGHLY recommend it. SO GOOD!! probably one of my new favorite movies.

Then, we came home and had 5 days before we were off to St. Louis. ahhh,  St. Louis. It was way too short! :( But so fun. We did a lot of fun things with Riley, my mom and dad, and got to see cory and shauntae and sweet Tessa too.
We went to six flags with Riley, did lots of shopping with my mom, went on an AWESOME float trip down the Meramec (so gorgeous!), saw giant Buffalo 10 feet away at Lone Elk State Park, got to hang out with my best friend Maddi (miss her. she just started her first year of law school). Played lots of xbox, cranium, finally got Jon to see Meet me in St. Louis (BEST movie if you haven't seen it. Old musical. )

But wait, there's more!
The day before we left for Utah, my mom, brother riley, aunt janie, cousins callie,cole, and clementine all started driving out to Utah to go to EFY. IT . WAS. AWESOME. I got to spend the whole week with my aunt, cousin, and mom. So fun! We hiked the Y, went to the bookstore, rode the ski lift at Sundance and hiked to Stewart Falls. We got fun pedicures, and ate at Cafe Rio (twice!). We also went to the Mona Rope swing their last day with my brother Kyle who had just gotten into town. SO FUN. I definitely want to go back! Then, I got to see Kyle a couple of different times and go to dinner with him and Hayley. So fun! I wish we could see them more.

This summer has been non stop fun! I do NOT want to go back to school :( Well, kind of, but I am really enjoying being able to see everyone.
I feel like we have been on vacation for two straight months.
I am ready to get back to a routine, and a schedule. I am ready to do my practicum. So completely nervous, but excited.
I am taking 21 credits this semester. 18 on campus, 1 independent study. Not so ready for that. I think I might die.

Also, 3 of my favorite people in the WHOLE WORLD are here for the month of August, Dustin, Ari, and Eli! I LOVE THEM! I get to see them at least 2-3 times a week. Today we are headed to thanksgiving point to play with some baby animals, and tomorrow we are doing a sleepover at their house! They are the best. They are the best examples ever and I look up to them so much! Ari is the best mom to Eli, so patient,  so smart, and has taught me so much! I want to be just like her! (is that lame?? For real though).

My next post will include all of the fun things we have done with them! :)

-K

Monday, July 1, 2013

Sweet Summer

“And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.” 
― F. Scott FitzgeraldThe Great Gatsby

“One must maintain a little bittle of summer, even in the middle of winter.” 
― Henry David Thoreau

"If you're not barefoot, you're overdressed"

“Summertime is always the best of what might be.” 
― Charles Bowden

Don't you L O V E Summertime!? I cannot get enough! And Eeek! It's already July! noooooo. I wish I could live in an eternal summer. There is so much to do, and I never want it to end. We need ideas for what to do, where to go this weekend....we have four whole days together!

Friday, June 28, 2013

Puppy Heaven

As most of you know, I have a ridiculous obsession er, love, for dogs. And someday, I would love to get one. Jon loves them too, but not enough to let them sleep in our bed as I let my dog for all of high school.. So much that I even rent one sometimes just to play with.
So, an ode to the dog I love the most:
My sweet atom. I love this doggy. If anyone says anything bad about him, you're on my naughty list forever.

To the puppies I want:

Lab or boxer. They are so cute! We definitely won't be getting a dog for a while, but I do love them :)
Also, don't tell people that love dogs that you don't like dogs.
People that don't like dogs:

Cruella de Ville. 

Yep.
Just kidding. We can still be friends.





Thursday, June 20, 2013

Spring Term!

Hello blogging world!
Sorry I've been absent for the past 8 weeks.
But, some big stuff has been happening and I've been awfully busy!
I mean, things to announce....
exciting things....
Like....
our lives will be changed FOOOREEEVVEERRR
because------

THATS RIGHT.

YOU GUESSED IT.
^
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I FINISHED MY MATH CLASS!

HA, gotcha!

Now that spring term is over, I'm taking a few independent study classes, and working. Jon is still enjoying his internship with the church and will be taking 2 classes.

We've been working hard on our summer bucket list and done so many fun things together.

Here's what we've done the past two months:

Gone to the aquarium
Gone to the drive in to see Star Trek: into darkness
7 Peaks swimming (lots)
Went to Pie Pizza (finally!) It was really good!
The Zoo. It was great, but man, I love the STL zoo. It's free and a lot bigger!
Planned a trip to STL in July (can't wait!)
Rented the most adorable puppy (We really REALLY had a hard time not adopting her!)
Went to the ducky derby and got 1st and 3rd place, respectively.
Each read Mistborn (jon's first time, katie's 10,000)
Mini Golfing/ go karts at trafalga
Beat Mario Kart together
Went to the Salt Lake Farmers market (Need to go back, it's amazing!) **Shoutout to D & A--we must go in August!
Hike the Jordan-river trail to Bridal Veil Falls on a gorgeous summer day
Taken plenty of walks on the new campus trails
$1 bowling at Fat Cats
WOO! We've really done a lot--we have a lot more on our bucket list, but it's more "big trips" like Zions, hiking Timp, etc. Can't wait!

I just love my sweet husband! He is amazing. Always does the dishes, no complaints. He works so hard for our tiny family! :)

We had the pleasure of getting to see Sharla and Bret all weekend! They're moving to Delaware to be near Jon's sister Christina, so it was great! Friday I went to a sleepover at Tami's with all the girls--I love them! I seriously hate not having sisters, and they are fantastic. I feel so close and loved by them, and I LOVE those girls! They are amazing and so fun to be with.
We went to dinner at Gma and Grandpas on Sunday, saturday we went to an amazing chalk art festival, red iguana, and saw superman with jake, misty, bret, and sharla. Then on Tuesday, we went to 7 peaks with bret and sharla. So fun! They are awesome to be with. I think I definitely lucked out because I have the BEST MIL! She is the nicest person you'll ever meet and so, so kind. We have a lot in common and I love spending time with her! They're heading to STL today and my parents are so excited to get to spend some time with them. I hope they love STL as much as I do.. and the humidity....haha ;)
Just keep swimming!

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Happenings.

Hi.

We're not dead.

Just busy.

Here's what our day looks like:

-Wake up at 6:20, drive Jon to the front runner.
-Tell myself I WONT go back to sleep
-Go back to sleep
-Pack, pack, pack
-Keep Grey's anatomy running while I back
-Go for a run
-Go to work
-Pick Jon up at the train station
-Eat dinner
-Watch shows
-Sleeeeeeeeep

Luckily, my math class for Spring was cancelled tues, wed. So tomorrow is my first day of my (HOPEFULLY) last math class EVEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRR.

^^Cannot even express how excited I am for this.....

Things I am trying to find this month:
Aztec maxi dress
Skinny jeans
Capris
New tops for spring

Our apartment smells really musty..........like a basement. How do I make this go away? I opened all the windows, but I'm scared it's mold and I don't know how to tell....cleaning tips?

We are moving saturday and I'm so ready to just be moved in already!

Clothes I'm dying to get:

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Blog Update

Soooo I decided it was time for a new look for the blog. And I love it! It looks so cute and so much better! I also added a feature on the sidebar: you can click on the two pictures (either one), and it will take you to my instagram so you can see all my pictures there as well.


xoxo

Saturday, April 13, 2013

Summer Lovin'

Next year will be interesting. We have absolutely no idea where we'll be. We could be in Utah, Oregon, Missouri, or any other state. I could be teaching, or crying from not getting (or allowed to do if we move out of state) an internship. We just have no idea. So, we decided since this is our last year as BYU students (and possibly utahns), we would make a bucket list.  We decided to start it now and do things this summer. Highlighted things are what we've already done (well, we've pretty much eaten at all these places, we just want to eat them one more time!). SUGGESTIONS ARE WELCOME!

Food:

  1. Gurus
  2. Sammy’s pie shakes.
  3. Communal
  4. Costa Vida
  5. The Pie
  6. Red Iguana
  7. Joseph Smith Building
  8. Bombay House
  9. Spicy Corea
  10. Art Museum
  11. Provo Bakery
  12. French Toast at Kneader’s
  13. J Dawgs
  14. Sweet Tooth Fairy
  15. Slab
  16. Awful Waffle/Bruge

Places:

  1. Zoo
  2. Thanksgiving point
  3. Park City
  4. New Outlet mall
  5. Zion’s national park
  6. Hike the Y
  7. 7 Peaks
  8. Hike Mount Timp.
  9. Farmer’s Market
  10. Stay at Inn on the Hill
  11. Bridal Veil Falls
  12. Bean Museum
  13. Weekend trip to Disneyland
  14. Weekend trip to Vegas

Things:

  1. Get all sports pass and go to almost every game
  2. Go to at least 2 art events on campus
  3. Go to at least 1 divine comedy & humor U event
  4. See MOTAB perform live
  5. Visit Temple Square
  6. Float down Provo River
  7. Ride a tandem Bike together
  8. go camping
  9. Do a session at the Salt Lake Temple
      1. 10. Go to a BYU Planetarium show

    1. 11. Go to at least 2 devotionals
    Jon started his job with the Church and he likes it. Although it is realllly far away. We are in the process of moving but haven't really done much yet :/ moving stinks. but it will be nice to live so close to campus. We went and played with puppies at petsmart today. I fell in love with a Lab/blue heeler mix that was SOOOO sweet. She cuddled up with me and I did not want to leave! I could hold puppies all day. Jon always asks me why I don't go to veterinary school. I WOULD LOVE TO. ( I mean besides the fact that it's medical school and like another 4-6 years of school...yeah...no.) except, I would just tell everyone their pets died and then keep them for myself. Wait that's creepy. But sometimes I'd just want to keep them, you know!?
    Ugh. Non pet people. gross.

    Also. I complain about having to get my ESL endorsement, but I honestly just realized what a blessing it is. If you're already graduated, an ESL endorsement is basically a master's degree--you have to get accepted into a program, and it's 24-30 credits of masters level learning...which is like thousands of dollars to get, too!
    I want my special ed. and reading endorsement, but I can't justify shelling out $12,000 (which I don't have) plus two extra years of school (for each), without getting a degree, just an "endorsement". But, it makes you a lot more marketable to have endorsements, so I'm grateful for my ESL one. se habla espanol? I don't, but i can teach you how to speak english!

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

College

Some days,
I just want to stay in college foever.

I love being a student. I know how to be a student. I love everything about campus. I love learning! My passion for education lead me to choose a teaching major. Part of my teaching philosophy is creating, "life long learners".  I know I'll be sad when I leave college, but I'll never stop learning. I am the nerd that downloads textbooks to my kindle so I can read MORE about being a good teacher. I just want to know EVERYTHING. (this also leads to me acting like I know everything, which is quite annoying. And I don't. I just really like to research and learn). Like for some reason I decided I REALLY wanted to learn about how health insurance worked. This led to several hours on the internet researching and learning. I know, I'm kind of weird. My friend in high school used to laugh at me because I had books by my bed that i called my, "fun books" AKA fiction books, haha!  I want to instill a passion for reading in my students. I am in a literacy class right now ,and it is incredible how you learn to read and write. A lot of it is done without the help of anyone, it's kind of automatic. Writing starts with pictures, moves to scribbles, moves to pre-writing with scribbles and a letter or two thrown in, then phonetic spelling, then advanced writing/spelling. The better you are at spelling the better your reading comprehension is. That's why teachers make students memorize and take spelling tests! You are better are decoding words if you've seen a familiar one before. It's awesome! And there's like 1000 theories on the "right" way to teach writing, reading, and spelling. And it's my overwhelming job to take these methods, make sense of them, and create my own idea of how to do it.
I'm excited to teach, but also extremely nervous. There's a couple classroom management theories I playing with:
1) cooperative discipline: this means you allow the student's to create the rules and consequences in the classroom. it creates democracy and the responsibility is to the individual since they agreed and created the rule.
2) assertive discipline: I love this book called Tools for Teaching by Dr. Fred Jones. And he is assertive discipline. It's basically about stopping undesirable behavior before it becomes a problem. There are several techniques to do this-->this is a "high control" teacher. I think I am high control. I want my room to run smoothly. I will trust my students to be responsible for themselves, but if they choose to not be, there will be consequences. If you trust them and give them the opportunity to behave, they will.
3) Love and Logic. Jim & Jay Funk created this theory. It's basically about using logical consequences, but LOVING your students so that they want to behave because they respect and love you. I like this one, but it is low control--meaning, you really don't do much disciplining. Which is great, as long as it works!
Every classroom is different, I just really want my students to create a democratic environment where they learn to trust each other and myself. I want a learning community, not a classroom. We will learn from each other (Vygotsky's theory of cooperative learning.) rather than from me. I will not lecture or give worksheets (except for a few). They will learn from hands on.
You do NOT want your child learning from a teacher that sends home a daily worksheet. Trust me, this is a sign of a lazy teacher that does not care! Worksheets are easy! experiments, group activities, discussions, are difficult to plan and teach, but they teach and reinforce soooo much more!


WOOO that was a long post. But this is really for me to remember all that I have learned this semester & how I feel about it!

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Dear Spring

Dear Spring,

Please stay. I really love feeling the warm sun on my skin. I love soaking up your rays and falling asleep while I bask in your light. I think we've had enough winter for one year. Stop teasing me with days of warmth and sunshine and then laughing while I am soaked with wet snow and disappointment!!! Kthankyou. I would really appreciate it. I love seeing the flowers start to grow buds and people sprawled out around campus. I'm ready for you! So don't leave.
Love,
Katie


Last week my little brother Riley came and stayed with us! IT WAS AWESOME! He is the coolest, funniest, most awesomiest (yep) brother in the world. He is a giant at 6'2. He is a junior in high school and he was on spring break. We ate soo much delicious food. We went bowling, to the nicklecade, played board games, watched movies, went downtown, it was great!  I am sad he is going to be on a mission so soon but I know he'll be an awesome missionary. I just don't want to miss him for two years!   School is winding down and I feel like I can kind of breathe. Except then I'll head straight back into spring term and once again be drowning in papers and work. But luckily I will only be working one job spring term instead of two like this term .Working two jobs has been really difficult! I have not had enough time to study and I feel like I am stretched soo thin, so it will be nice to JUST focus on school and one job, instead of two. I'll be leaving the bookstore but returning Summer term. The classes I'm taking in spring include:

1) Math Ed.
2) Bowling (YES I AM SO EXCITED)
3) Astronomy (G.E)
4)TELL 440 (teaching english language lerarners--my minor)
total: 8.5 credits

Monday, March 11, 2013

Chocolate Chip cookie in a jar

I love baking. LOVEEEE it. the only thing i don't like is how many dishes pile up when you bake (seriously, like 6-10 dishes for one batch of cookies!? ick!). Plus, I don't love shoving 2,000 calories into my body in a half hour (oh wait yes, i do love that). But i really love sweets. and I HAVE to eat something sweet at night after dinner. Jon does not understand this, but ohh man I love sweets. mmm. So instead of spending an hour making cookies tonight like I wanted to, i decided to make a chocolate chip cookie in a mug. Oh yes. It was delish. and it was just for me! (don't worry, I shared. kind of. one bite. he didn't want one!). Perfect portion and so delicious. So i want to share this yumminess:


  • 1 Tablespoon Butter
  • 1 Tablespoon Granulated White Sugar
  • 1 Tablespoon of firmly packed Dark Brown Sugar
  • 3 Drops of Vanilla Extract
  • Small Pinch of Kosher Salt
  • 1 Egg Yolk (discard the egg white or save for different recipe)
  • Scant ¼ of All Purpose Flour (slightly less than ¼ of a cup)
  • 2 heaping tablespoons of Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips
Instructions:
melt butter in mug. I would say maybe add another 1/2 tbsp as mine was not enough.
mix in sugars, vanilla, and salt. add egg yolk. mix. add flour, and as many chocolate chips, sprinkles, etc, as you'd like. Microwave for 45-60 seconds. Add ice cream. or whipped cream. I don't care what you add, just make it already!
It's definitely not the real thing, but it sure hits the chocolate spot. don't overcook or it will be dry.


P.s. I would blog about my life but there's nothing blog worthy. So I'll get back to it in a few days after I teach my first P.E lesson

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Tried & True Pinterest Tricks

So, my mom & I (and several other people) have concluded that we have yet to find a good recipe on pinterest. I pin so many, but more for the "idea" than the recipe, because yuck! I don't know who these bloggers are, but they definitely need to stay away from the kitchen.  However, I have found several "tips and tricks" that I have LOVED!

1. Baking Soda Exfoliant
I'll admit, I was skeptical about this one. Mix baking soda with a little water to form a paste. Use on (clean!) face as an exfoliant. Put on and rub in small circles for 1-2 minutes.
Results: MAGIC! Seriously. My blackheads are GONE. I have used a ton of face scrubs, and this is by the BEST I have ever used! My skin is clear and glowing. We'll see if it keeps oil down tomorrow, too.

2. Dawn & Vinegar Magic Shower cleaner
this is a legit before and after picture, people! This stuff is amazing. I hate cleaning the tub, but this WORKS. and you don't have to do anything. Mix a spray bottle with white vinegar and blue dawn dish soap (HAS to be BLUE! I don't know why, but everyone has said other colors don't work). Spray it in tub, shower, toilet, sink, etc. let sit for 5-10 minutes. Beware, it has an extremely strong scent so crack a window or leave the room. Spray down, and hooray! Your tub is now sparkling clean.

3. Cleaning with lemons
Lemons are alllll natural, which I like. chemicals are icky, which I don't like. Cleaning your sink with lemons (and your silver metal aka the faucet) will make them shine AND smell good! And you don't have to absorb ickiness through your skin as your clean.


Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Outfit Inspiration

Inspiration: fashion blog

My version: Opted out of a statement necklace because of the details around my cardigan. Terrible picture taken in a dark bathroom but I couldn't find any other full size mirrors. Looked so much cuter in real life!

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Where have we been?

Sick.

That's where....

I got super sick with a cold/flu thingy that was TERRIBLE. So I'm like, oh I'll just drown myself with dayquil/nose spray/ claritin and i'll be all better right? NO! It turned me into a zombie. I honestly could not think straight or understand what people were saying. So on the 4th day I stopped taking it and I got sooo much better (not physically, mentally). I had to write two papers one night while I was in  my dayquil induced coma, and I was positive I had failed them. Luckily, i think heavenly father was very generous and helped me get A's on both because i was so sick. Then the day I started to feel better, Jon got super sick! It was so sad! He had a bad cold too :( It was not a fun week for either of us.

Valentines Day:
This year for valentine's day was icky because we both had school & work and our schedules aren't as flexbile as they were last year when we were still doing GE's. I had to work in the morning, and SURPRISE! My sweet husband surprised me by bringing roses and chocolates to my job! It was awesome ! I was totally surprised. He is soooo romantic and sweet. I had to go to class & my second job as well, come home & get ready for our date--I didn't know where we were going but Jon took us to P.F. Chang's.
OH YUM. I love that place! Lettuce wraps= my version of heaven. It was so so so delicious. And for dessert we got cakebites from the sweet tooth fairy. it was awesome! He is such a sweet, romantic, surprising, and loving husband. I seriously love this guy. Sometimes it makes me sad that when we have kids it won't be just the two of us...but I *think* they'll be worth it, right? So i'm just gonna soak in as much "us" time as we can before the time comes. But  I know he's gonna be such an incredible dad!
We subbed in nursery today and it was hilarious. SO many baby fights. I loved it because the lesson was on "sharing", and I just learned in my developmental class that 2 year olds are incapable of sharing or understanding the concept. oh well, i guess it's good to introduce it, right? THere's this famous theorist named Piaget who came up with 4 stages of development. Two year olds are in the "pre-operational stage" which means that they are absolutely incapable of seeing another person's point of view. In fact, they believe that everyone has the same goals and sees the same thing they see. Like, they will show a picture of a doll looking at the back of a house, and then they will show the child the front of the house and ask them to choose which side of the house the doll sees. they pick the front side because they think the doll sees what they see (even though the doll is at the back of the house). it's also funny to teach nursery because we say in child dev. that up until teenage years, a child has the attention span length in accordance with how many birthday's they've had. So, a two year old has a two minute attention span. Which means they need to MOVE, wiggle, etc, at least every two minutes. It's so funny to watch people try to get them to "behave". they aren't supposed to behave! They're two! they're supposed to act "naughty" even though it's not naughty. they are just egocentric at that age! I love child development, can you tell? it's absolutely fascinating.

Tomorrow I have to be at work at 6:45 to ? for inventory. we have to keep going until we're done . UGHH. Do not want to go!

Oh well. It's going to be 40 degrees on tuesday and I'm ecstatic. So ready for spring!

If we go on a vacation this spring, where should we go?
1) Chicago
2) Disneyland
3) Seattle
4)portland and coast

Those are my top picks right now, can't I just do all of them!?!?
P.S. 15 credits spring term, 12 summer. KILL ME NOW

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Super Bowl!

Ok let's just start by saying....
I found a really nice pair of blue slacks at Banana Republic for $13 for Jon! SCORE! I love BR, wish I could afford it, but I really loveee their clearance rack! :)

Today we went to a superbowl party at our friend Ben and Chelsea's house. It was super fun!  It was SO FUN! We have a great group of friends.

We ate a ton of food.

Jon made Jalapeno poppers all by himself (he did an awesome job!)
and I made homemade mozzarella sticks (deep frying is annoying, they turned out delish though).

We played Uno while the lights were out and had a blast!

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Date Night!

I feel like this semester is so much busier than previous ones.
My basic schedule goes like this:
Job #1
class
Job #2
get home at 7
eat
sleep
repeat.

ITS SO HARD. I really like both my jobs but i feel so busy all the time! Jon and I haven't been able to see each other very much this month--he's had to work weekends, i work 6 days a week, tests, homework, etc.

SO last night we finally had a free night!
We went bowling(we love bowling!)
we went to the mall to return some things
we went to CPK (ohmygosh thai chicken pizza. I could eat you every DAY). and Jon got a chipotle chicken pizza (wait, we realized that's not the name..) it was so HOT but delicious. I love that we both love splitting and sharing :) He is the BEST!
Then we came home and tried to watch Lars and the Real girl . But I was exhausted and kept falling asleep haha.

*Things I've learned from teaching high school*

1) Some things will scar you for life...I cannot elaborate on this.
2) People think I'm a student. all. the. time. It's awesome.
3) I want to adopt all the kids in custody and give them a stable, good home. it makes me really sad.
4) Sometimes they run away from foster care and aren't found for days. I don't know where they go but it makes me sad.
5) Don't judge people's choices, because you never know their situation or where they come from. Cannot emphasize this enough.
6) Sometimes I get to read hilarious papers about why Whiz Khalifa is a great role model. It's great.
7) I feel like I've grown so much and they continue to teach me every single day.

My adorable sister-in-law Shauntae is getting induced Feb 22. And I AM SO EXCITED! She is a great sister-in-law and will be such a cute mom! Can't wait to meet baby tessa!!

Monday, January 21, 2013

The Incident....and my new job!

So the other day Jon was up at school studying and I thought, 'hey, why don't i do all the dishes before he gets home?" except there 1 trillion dishes (i counted), and a tiny sink next to a tiny dish rack. So I had to wash, then let them dry, and when the basket got full I would go do another project, come back, unload the dishes, then start washing again. WELL, the cup section of the cabinet started getting reallly full. I closed the doors, came back another time to add more cups, and BAM! 3-4 glasses came down and shattered, first on the counter top in front of me, then on the floor. OUCH! The glass shattered and flew into both my hands, cutting them pretty badly. Then, I'm like, OH GREAT I'm standing in a pile of glass without shoes on and jon's not here!! Haha! So I kept calling and he wasn't answering, so I jumped out of the glass pile and tried to clean it up. It was quite traumatic. Jon was so sweet and washed my hands off and put bandaids on me. He's so sweet:) Here's a picture of my gross cut.
So this semester I decided I was really tired of working till 11 PM at night and I wanted to spend more time at home. So I looked all Christmas break for a new job, but nothing came up. LUCKILY, during the first week of school I got called in for an interview at the Bookstore pack-n-ship (It's a mini post office!) And I got hired!!! It has been a huge blessing because my schedule is more flexible and the bookstore doesn't stay open past 8, and most of the time I work in the mornings. It has been wonderful! THEN, I got a call from the Spanish Fork school district. I forgot, I had applied for a teaching position there a month ago and hadn't really thought about it. But they wanted to interview me the next day, and I was FREAKING OUT. Like, a REAL JOB? Ahh!! I couldn't sleep. Ask Jon, I was a psycho all day/night. I woke up and went to the interview with the attitude that if I didn't get the job, at least it would be a good interview practice for future positions. But, after interviewing me and 8 other people, I GOT THE JOB! It's at Landmark high school, which is an alternative high school. I  am SO SO SO EXCITED! A lot of the kids are in custody, have parents in jail, are homeless, etc. and during the interview I started crying as the principal read a poem that a girl at the school had written about her mom---how she was addicted to heroin and how her two little brothers had died, and how she didn't want to end up like her mom. It was so touching. THese kids have the roughest backgrounds and I just felt such a strong feeling that i needed to be there to help them. Part of the reason I love teaching is because I can be a positive, stable role model for young children, but these high school students need that too. I was really nervous when he didn't call me back until the next day, but I am overjoyed. I start on Tuesday. It's an after school program for credit recovery (classes they've failed), where they can come into the classroom and get help from me, I can grade their work, and they can sit and study. I really hope I do well and I hope the kids like me!!! Praying that I can make a difference and that they'll teach ME how to be a better teacher, be more patient and loving, and that I can show them that they have so much potential (because I know they do!)


Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Must have things for 2013

I love love love makeup, beauty things, etc. It really makes such a difference in your appearance. But, it's important to buy QUALITY makeup, it is simply made with different ingredients and looks so much better than the cheap stuff, and will last longer because you use less! Anyway, i wanted to post some things I have to have and love using!


1) Bare minerals flawless definition mascara. HOLY COW. this stuff makes my eyelashes look like falsies. It glides really smooth and lasts all day.

2) Smashbox Primer. I am surprised so many people don't use primer before putting on foundation. This is a MUST! Primer evens your skin tone, and basically acts as a base that keeps your foundation, blush, and bronzer in place.

3) Any bare minerals blush, bronzer or all over face color. They're flawless and beauutiful on your skin. 




4) Matrix thermal active repair gloss. Mostly because Utah is so dang dry! My stylist gave this to me, and it feels AMAZING! My hair is so silky, shiny, and soft when I use this and then blow dry

5) I love bath and body works!! Right now this is my favorite scent! It smells amazing!
6) Stay don't stray eye primer. It keeps your eyeshadow from creasing!


7) SUNBLOCK! I don't want wrinkles, sunsposts, etc! I put it on every morning on my face, neck, hands, etc. (still trying to get jon on board with this one)... I really like to use baby sunblock because it's more natural ingredients (doesn't include retinol-A)

What I WANT but am too poor to afford!
Happy Blogging!


Sunday, January 6, 2013

Happy New Year!

This year for Christmas we went home (or should I say my home) to STL and spent 3 whole WEEKS with my awesome family!!! I loved every second!
Heres some things we did:

1) Saw the Hobbit
2) Saw Les Mis
3) Went to the Anheiser Busch brewery tour--pretty cool/smelly
4)Ate at a whole lot of goood delicious restaurants only found in STL/midwest
5)Slept in. every day. until 10.
6) Got to spend time with my brothers & parents, AKA my favorite people in the whole world.
7) Went out to dinner with my two best friends (miss them already!)
8)Played lots of video games
9) And family games
10) Watched movies
11) RELAXED!!
12) Set up the Christmas tree
13) Had a baby shower for my SIL Shauntae
14) Got awesome Christmas presents (Thanks mom & dad!!!)
15)Made so much delicious food & treats

Now it's the night before school starts and a professor emailed me HW due tomorrow. Can you really give HW over Christmas break? Apparently. Our house is a mess (except my amazing husband is doing the dishes right now!) And needless to say I'm just sliiiiightly stressed out. Our car needed a new battery, (hello $130), we need to clean and get books (more $$), and I'd really like to find a new job, but we'll see about the last one...
Utah is FREEZING and covered in snow. Dislike. STL was pretty warm (mid 40-50's) right up until we left. It was great. I never really like winter semester, it always just seems cold and depressing. But we promised ourselves we were really gonna try our best to not be grumpy & do the best we can this semester! :) Luckily, I only have 1 class tomorrow, but then I go to work until 11 at night. booo.