Kinda freaking out

So school starts tomorrow and yes, I'm kind of freaking out. I feel so unprepared even thought it's my 2nd year teaching (but it is at a different school) and even after spending 11 hours at the school yesterday and 12 hours today (and many others before that). There's something about having my foot busted and on moving my classroom on a scooter (yes... I did finally get my "scooter"- I will post pictures later, maybe when I actually have a life again- if that ever happens) that seriously seems to take twice as long. I have had so much help from my mom, my paras, and other teachers when they have a little time to spare which has seriously helped SOOOO much but there is still so much that seems to need to get done. I just can't think about it any more or else I don't think I'll end up going to sleep. But I will say this... I'm really only freaking out about the planning/time consuming crap that really is all the "fluff" in teaching. I am beyond exciting to start teaching my cute kiddos. I've already met about 1/2 of my students and I know I'm going to love this year. There were 2 boys that came in to meet me today and seriously, I'm already in love. They already have my heart and I know it's going to be a great year. I seriously have the best job ever (minus all the lame special ed. paper work) and could not think of anything else I would rather do everyday then spend my time with these precious children. I feel so lucky to get to do what I do. I think I needed that little reminder. It really is all about the kids. I know tomorrow will be fine. I have amazing paras and co-workers. Just one day at a time.

p.s. I just realized how many parenthesis ( ) I have in this post... just goes to show how all over the place my brain is right now cause I have so many different thoughts going on a the same time.

one of my favorite places on earth

Provo Canyon. That's right. I mean, look at this place- it's gorgeous. I've always thought it was super pretty but within the last 8 months or so (since my parents bought their place up in Midway) I've driven that canyon thousands of time (okay, maybe not thousands, but you get the idea) and I've grown to love it even more. There's something about about those huge rocky mountains, waterfalls, trees, and actually the windy road that make it seriously one of my favorite places on earth. It makes me so happy. And it is one of the best places to just "go on a drive." Please go and enjoy it sometime. Best times to see it are either during fall while the leaves are changing or right after spring has hit and everything is super green. Oh, and winter I guess is nice too. What can I say? I just love it.

Confession: Guilty Pleasure...

*NSYNC and Backstreet Boys. That's right. There's something about these boy bands that will forever have my heart. Backstreet Boys was the first concert I ever attended and Millennium was the first CD I bought with my own money (my first CD ever was Hanson... but that's another story). My love for *NSYNC came a short while later (and I also attended that concert) but don't worry, the love was just as strong if not even a little stronger.

So why this random blast from the past? Yesterday I was driving when "The Two Of Us" from this wonderful album

came on while I was listening to my iPod on shuffle. This spurred something in me that made me want to listen to the entire album . . . so that's what I did of course. It made me so happy. And the best part... even after years of not listening to this album I remembered every word, mmmmhuh, oooooh yeah, 2 Step!, and so, so much more. And even as I'm writing this

Brooke and I are listening to more NSYNC songs and once again not missing a single word or beat and laughing all the while. We were discussing how funny it is that we can even remember every little word and phrase in the background as if we were back in jr. high again. She pointed out though, that if we wanted to, we probably wouldn't be able to just start singing the song out of nowhere on our own but once the music starts going... there's no stopping it. We jam out and sing every ever word.

The first time I ever experienced this great phenomenon was about our first week in Romania

where we went on a little day trip to see some monasteries traveling in group of 3 taxis driven by some of our facilitator's family friends. Mario (our Romanian facilitator), Candice, Whitney and I got to ride with our driver in this great thing. While about all of our group of 12 had iPods at this time, Whitney still was carrying around her wonderful Walkman. And if you have a Walkman, what do you need? CDs of course! So while all of us took our iPods on this little day excursion Whitney drug around a little bag with her all her CDs and her Walkman. We were all kind of making fun of her at first until she asked our driver on the way home if we could listen to some of her CDs. We popped this gem into the player and started singing at the top of our lungs.

The 2 Romanian's in the car with us thought we were kind of crazy but ended up loving it and if the song was too slow and not up-beat enough, the driver would say in his Romanian accent "next!" (pretty sure the only English word he knew- cause we taught him) and skip to the next song. It was here on this trip that we renewed our love for our boy bands and didn't miss singing a word even after years of not listening to Backstreet Boys. "Backstreet's back ALL RIGHT!" We laughed the entire way home and it set the standard for the rest of our time in Romania, where we listened to even more Backstreet Boys and NSYNC.

For all you other boyband lovers... go watch some YouTube videos of their songs. I guarantee it will make you very happy and brighten your entire day. Go do it, I dare you.

What's your Love Language?

So the last month or so some friends and I have really been talking about the difference of personalities and how people react differently to different situations and how sometimes this has to do with our "Love Language." According to this test here are 5 different ways people show and like to receive their "love" to and from others. These 5 Love Languages are:

Words of Affirmation

Quality Time

Receiving Gifts

Acts of Service

Physical Touch

I've kind of always know that that my #1 is Quality Time and this past year or so has made that even more apparent in my life (notice that a 12 is the highest possible score you can get and that's what I got for Quality Time). I love spending time with others and love when others want to spend time with me, it's how I feel loved and appreciated. It's been kind of hard being up in Midway, away from everyone since I've had my surgery and know that it's kind of out of the way for people to come visit.

So, although this is a little overdue and happened about 2 weeks ago I'd like to give a little shout-out to these awesome people . . .

. . . for making the trip up to Midway to spend time with me just a few days after my surgery where we got to witness this-

I just wanted to thank you guys again and let you know how much it meant to me to have you guys come up for the night and go see fireworks together. So David, Sarah, Kiera, Michael, and Kubo thank you so much for coming up and spending the evening with me. I don't think I can express how much it really meant to me, especially at the time. You guys are awesome. And I know there were a couple of you, and you know who you are, that would have been there if you could but had family stuff going on. I love you guys and will miss seeing you guys as often once I officially move from Provo.

On a little bit of a lighter note... here are some other people I've been spending some more "quality time" with lately and can feel my "love" for them growing stronger. Yes, I did finish the 1st season of Friday Night Lights in about 3 days.

I love Tim Riggins and Matt Saracen. Need I say more.

In the words of Casey Corry (and I'm going to have to agree)

"Tim Riggins can do no wrong"

And you can't help but love that little crooked smile

p.s. I may or may not have recently taken a percocet for my foot pain and it's also late so if any of this doesn't quite make sense or seems a little goofy (though I sincerely mean the thanks to David, Sarah, Kiera, Michael and Kubo), I'm blaming it on the meds.

Surgery

On Thursday July 22nd, I woke up bright and early and headed for the University of Utah Orthopedic Center with my mother to get this beautiful thing removed from the outside of my left foot

For those of you who don't know what that good looking thing is- it's called a bunionette, not a bunion (bunions are on the inside of the foot). And what is a bunionette one might ask? This wonderful site can tell you. I have had bunionettes on both my feet for as long as I can remember and they have started causing me more pain than ever before this past year so I decided that it's time something be done.

I got to the Orthopedic Center at 8:45am and didn't go into surgery until about noon. Luckily I had 2 episodes of "Say YES to the Dress" (by the way did you know they're starting a new one in Miami as well, it's going to be a little more sassy, I'm excited), "What Not to Wear," and "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" to keep me occupied while I waited.

They hooked me up to an IV shortly after I got there and got to poke me in both my hands because they said they said they kept hitting a valve in the first hand they tried. That was a lot of fun and now I have awesome bruises on both my hands from IVs. I laid there, hooked up to an IV for 3 hours and then about a 1/2 hour before they took me into to surgery they gave me a nerve block which is an injection they gave me behind my knee that numbed my entire left side from the waist down for about 18 hours. The nerve block was the most painful thing I experienced while awake but it was manageable enough.

Then my doctor and the resident physician (who my mom mentioned to me later was "cute and not wearing a ring"- really, even when I'm about to get put under my mom notices possible prospects for me!? Sometimes I really think she thinks I won't get married or something) took me in for surgery. The surgery itself only lasted a little over an hour but I was in recovery for over an hour and 1/2 because I apparently didn't want to wake up. The first thing I remember was was grabbing at my throat and then they removed my breathing tube. I slept with an oxygen mask for awhile longer and then remember tears coming down my cheeks because I "just wanted to sleep." But then overhearing some of the others in recovery talk with the nurses and the nurses saying how they would rather have a chatty patient in recovery than one that is comatose, I willed myself to start waking up. Because I didn't want to be "that patient" (the crazy things that go on in your head after being under anesthesia). Shortly after, I was dressed and with my mom on our way back home to Midway...

which is where I get to do this. I spend most of my time either in my bed or on the couch with my foot propped up.

I do have some of these things. But crutches not only take away use of your foot but also your hands. I feel extremely useless and can't even get myself a drink from the fridge unless I plan on drinking it right there because I can't move on crutches with a drink in hand. Luckily I have my wonderful parents to wait on my but I feel bad having to ask for every little thing. So soon...

we're getting me one of these "knee walker" scooter things. That way I can at least gain back a little independence and it will be easier to get around once and do things once I'm no longer being "babied" by mommy and daddy. AND, since I'm not supposed to put any pressure on my foot for at least 6 weeks, and by that time teaching will have started up again, I'll be able to get around my school a little easier and have a place to put things which I need to carry.
So yeah, that's my story. I'm doing well, though a little secluded from people since I'm up in Midway. The nerve block kept the pain away for the 1st two days and luckily I haven't had to take too much of the percocet they prescribed me.

Oh, another thing! I get attention from being on crutches and let's be honest... a bunionette removal is not that cool of a thing and therefore I need a more exciting story as to what happened to me. I'm hoping to have enough excuses that I can make up a new story every day and therefore will just keep from telling the real reason. So this is where I need your help: what are some excuses I can say for being on crutches?

What I've been up to

Warning: This is going to be a long one... luckily it's mostly just pictures

Since I'm new to the blogging world I figured I should fill some people in on what's been going on in my life. So here's the last 5ish months of my life for you in a nutshell. enjoy...

So I completed my 1st year of teaching and I absolutely loved it! I got to work with these amazing women who taught me so much, not only about teaching, but about life. I will forever be so grateful for their examples and their friendship.

I had such a great experience teaching at Mt. Mahogany Elementary and am so lucky I was able to teach there with such amazing co-workers and students. I know I will never forget my first year and the teacher it has helped me become.

Well, since I worked hard during the school year I decided once school was out I needed to play hard so here's some of the things I've been up to as of late: (some of these things took place toward the end of the school year)

• Spring Break! Yep, that's right, I actually got a spring break this year. Since Emily, Tati, and I all taught this year we got to take advantage of public school breaks. And though we all taught for different districts luckily the break was the same week for all of us so we decided to take to the sun and head for sunny California. Thank you Tati and your family for the wonderful hospitality!

This is at the wonderful rest stop where Emily and I got to stop on the way down. The lady was so excited to tell us they had 2 toilets we didn't know exactly what she meant until we saw these gems.

Disneyland: Emily, Carly, Tati & me

Beach day

California Adventure

Oceanside pier

• Graduation! After 5 years at BYU (Romania kind of set me back a little bit but I wouldn't take that experience away for the life of me) I graduated with a Bachelors of Science in Special Education with a minor in MFHD (Marriage, Family, and Human Development).

Tati and me: who would have thought at this time that we'd be working together at the same school next year. So excited! :)

The "Sean Face"

Best cohort ever! Severe SpEd friends

gotta love our tire swing

roommies

• Cinco de Mayo and Nemo's Birthday!

We even had a piñata

Our faithful fish Nemo has lasted a whole year! And he's still going strong. We love you buddy!

• Moab and Canyonlands: After my last day of school was over I went home and packed for a quick trip to Moab with some friends from my ward in Provo. We went jeeping and hiking and our 2nd day there I randomly ran into my cousins and ended up staying the rest of the weekend with them in Canyonlands where we did some more jeeping.

Friends from the ward

4-wheeling with the cousins

4-wheeling with the cousins

• Bountiful Car Show. It was rainy and kind of cold but it was a lot of fun.

• Hiking at Zions National Park with Beth, Tom, and JonBoy

• Hogle Zoo with my sisters and their kids

• Lots of days up in Midway. My parents bought a "vacation" home up in Midway back in October and after months and months (okay, more like years and years- 3 to be exact) of searching for a new house they decided to stop paying rent for a condo in Bountiful and move up to Midway full-time. They're still looking for a house but for now we get to be somewhere that feels a little more like home. Midway is gorgeous and I love it here but I really miss Bountiful. It's weird to go to Bountiful and not have a house to go to there. My parents used to determine how long they've been in Bountiful by how old I am because we moved there when I was only a few months old. Wherever my parents end up, Bountiful will always be my home.

• 7 Peaks with the entire fam

Ainsley and Caden talking about who knows what

• Las Vegas: Paige Nelson (Anderson)- basically like a little sister to me, and Brooke's little sister- got married on June 26th down in Vegas. We decided to make a little vacation out of it and 9 of us drove down for the event. It was a lot of fun.

the atrium at the Bellagio

At the Golden Nugget

• America Week: I wasn't able to participate in America Week with the Bountiful boys as much as I would have liked to but it was still fun going to the few things I could attend.

Bees Game

Camping

• For the past 3 years my family has started a new tradition. While Beth and Tom are in town we rent jet skis and either go to Jordanelle or Deer Creek and have a blast at the beach, swimming and riding on the jet skis. This year we did it on the 3rd of July and got to have some of our cousins join us as well. Afterwards we had a huge family party at our house (since it is now so close to Deer Creek) where my grandparents and all my aunts and uncles from my mom's side of the family came. It was so fun to have so much family together.

Will and Ainsley playing on the beach at Deer Creek

Reese family out on a ride

• Camping out for the 4th of July Parade in Provo: In all my years of living in Provo, I had never done this and I'm really glad I did. It was a lot of fun and I actually got a lot more sleep than I thought I would, maybe I was just exhausted from the busy weekend.

Playing games at our "camp site" the night before

Watching the parade

• Ben Folds with the Utah Symphony concert at Deer Valley with Kiera. So fun!

Other things with no picture documentation:

• Went fourwheeling with the fam up by our house in Midway and Wasatch Mountain State Park
• Had a BBQ at my great friend Erica's house with a bunch of high school friends. It was so fun to see everyone and just chat.
• I tubed the Provo River for the 1st time and loved it
• I got a great job for next school year and I'm super excited about it. I get to work at Eagle Valley Elementary School in Eagle Mountain in a life skills class for grades 1-3. Best part... I get to stay in the district which I love and I get to work with my friend Tati- she'll be teaching the 4th-6th grade class at the same school.
• I found a great place to live in Cottonwood Heights and the commute is only 2 minutes longer than it would be from Provo.

And it's a good thing I got to do all those great things because on July 22nd this took place. Lucky me.

I finally did it

Well, it's official... I started my own blog. I have been wanting to do this for about a year now but i kept coming up excuses that prevented me from doing so. 1st- I'm not married, so therefore I don't have a husband or any of my own children to brag about (which most people do on their blogs) and 2nd- I just kept finding other things to occupy my time instead, or at least that's what I told myself.
This past year really has been one of the busiest years of my life thus far but that's probably even more of a reason I should start a blog. I don't have as much time as I would like to write in my journal and write and record all the things I wish I could. The biggest thing that kept me from starting a blog was the actually setting-up process, I didn't seem to have the time or patience to get it all started but... now I'm pretty much confined to a bed (or couch) for the next few weeks (that will be explained more in a later post) so I figure this is my time to get it started. So here I am blogging world...