2nd Trimester!

I am very happy to say that I have passed the first trimester of my pregnancy. Having had a miscarriage almost 2 years ago and having to wait awhile for this little one has made me a worry wart! I'm sure everyone worries but it's been crazy. I'm hoping that I will be able to calm down a little now that the first trimester is over and the risks are reduced.
I've had two doc. appointments so far and both have gone pretty well. My second appointment was just last Friday and it was such a relief to hear the heartbeat again and know that all was still going well. I'm also not as sick anymore although I do feel hungry ALL THE TIME. I'm glad that my students finally know I'm pregnant because now I don't feel bad eating wheat thins in front of them. :)
Speaking of students, tonight is my first concert as a teacher! It is the "holiday" program. I can't believe how much it has been on my mind and I'm SO glad that it will be over tonight so that I can actually fall asleep without thinking about it and maybe the nightmares will stop. I'm not kidding. I have dreams about this program EVERY NIGHT. Mostly about it going terribly wrong. If it were just a high school concert or something maybe it would be different but tonight's program features:

• The elementary play! (this is really the part I have nightmares about)
  ***among many other things, they are singing "The 12 Days of Christmas" and every kid acts out a character in the song.... let's just say that this seemed like a brilliant idea at first but now I realize that I was completely insane and when all 50 kids are on stage in various bird costumes it.... is.... CHAOS.
• The Jr. High "Orchestra" (consisting of 5 violin players)
• The Jr. High Choir (6 members with only one boy)
• The High School Choir (5 members..... no boys. of course.)

So we'll see how it goes!
I feel like my posts are boring if I don't have pictures but who wants to see me and Matt anyway? I'm sure I will post plenty of pictures in June..... :D

What I'm Thankful For

Our bishop always reminds the ward to count their blessings, especially on fast Sundays. I have not been very good about doing that but whenever I do I find that I feel much better. And since we just passed thanksgiving I'm going to list just a few things that I'm most thankful for.

• Matt


• Family


• The gospel


• My Savior


• Prayer


• Scriptures


• Temples


• Animals


• Matt being in pharmacy school


• My job teaching music

And one more thing that Matt and I are VERY thankful for:












































This. :)


(It's not a very good picture but I think you get the drift) :-D

Sorry!

I know I promised pictures, but man-a-livin it is actually a hard thing to do! We erased all the pics from our camera cause we put them on the laptop and we don't have internet at home. By the time I get home from work I'm all tired and don't feel like taking Matt's laptop to the university where we can pick up internet. So, this is all you get still.

I will tell you, rather than show you with pictures, that the first weekend of October we climbed Medicine Bow Peak (pictures to follow.....someday....) and it was one of the hardest things I've ever done. It wouldn't have been so bad if there wasn't tons of snow up there (before it really snowed in Laramie) but I didn't realize how out of shape I was until the end of that day. It was worth it though because the view was amazing! But then that night I realized that I had been FRIED but just from my eyebrows down on my face because I was wearing a hat and everything else was well bundled up.... two days after that my face broke out in dozens of little tiny blisters. OUCH! and very unattractive. A kindergarten boy looked straight at me and exclaimed "what the heck happened to your face?!" Kids. :)

Ooh I found some pics of the peak and the view from the top on the internet. So here ya go.

Medicine Bow Peak

View from the top. I actually like our pictures better....

And a few weeks ago Matt and I went to the Laramie river to fish and I caught two 15" brown trout in my first 3 casts! We didn't have our camera so I took a picture on my phone and I can't get that on the comuter either because my phone is dumb. But it was awesome!

Right now I'm at school for parent teacher conferences. When you have two evenings both 3:30-7:00 and then one whole day from 8:30-2:30 for these things and there are only about 80 kids in the school and you're the music teacher so you don't have many secondary students, it can get a little DEAD and boring. I have seen one parent since 3:30 and it's been 2 hours. SO I am caught up on my work so I thought I'd throw out a quick post. Sorry it was a little long and rambling!

And just for the fun of it I'm posting a picture of my favorite flower of all time. I like all sorts of colors but white is the best! It's my desktop picture and helps me to remember that spring will come again someday...

Long Time No Blog

Matt and I have done a lot of things lately that have been pretty fun and noteworthy but I just don't have time to post them! I have lots of pictures but they are only on Matt's lap top and we don't have the internet at home.
For a quick update, I have just been teaching school and Matt has been working hard in pharmacy school. Not much of an update because that's what we're always doing! My job is starting to get a little stressful because I'm trying to get the Christmas program going as well as all of my extra duties. It's been kinda a tough year so far but we're already almost done with the 1st quarter and I'm having fun.
I will post pictures and some details about what we've been up to sometime soon. Stay tuned!

Good Weekend

This weekend was a lot of fun and very relaxing, for me anyway! On Saturday Matt went to Cheyenne with his brothers Kyle and Lane and his cousins Jared and Lucas. But they didn't drive... the biked. They didn't go on the interstate, they took some back roads and it was 54.5 miles total. I drove my in-laws truck and picked the guys up on the outskirts of Cheyenne. Here's a picture of them when they were done. They actually look better in this picture than they did in real life... ha ha
Then yesterday, Monday, Matt and I got some work done in the morning and then drove about 50 miles west to Elk Mountain and the Medicine Bow river. It was absolutely gorgeous. I can't even tell you! The weather was SO perfect with no wind, no rain, and it was the perfect temperature. We each caught a couple little rainbow trout which was good for me cause it had been a long time since I had caught any fish. :) We didn't get any pictures but it was a lot of fun. I can't stress enough that it was the perfect day.

School begins again

Well, school has officially started. I feel like Matt and I had kind of a lame summer but we got a lot accomplished. A couple weekends ago we went camping/fishing up in the snowy range just west of Laramie. It was a lot of fun but cold and rainy and there were a LOT of dead pine trees.

Matt has been working hard the past few weeks for his dad's business. This is what he looked like when he came home last Friday. haha

Matt started his second year of pharmacy school yesterday. It seems like it will be a tough semester but his schedule is kind of nice. He doesn't have class until 8:30 or 9:00 and is always done by 3:00.

I started my teaching job yesterday! Well, technically I started last week with orientations and staff development but yesterday the kids came. It has been a little overwhelming and at times I feel like I'm going crazy but I had one of those moments this afternoon where I felt really happy and I can honestly say that I love my job. My principal even came in while I was teaching a lesson today and I hardly skipped a beat! It helped that he was smiling. :)

On a totally random note, I have been wanting white cheddar cheese-its so I finally bought some last night. When we got home I realized that I had accidentally bought REDUCED FAT. How lame is that?? They taste like saltines... and saltines are lots cheaper!

Where has summer gone?!

I spent most of the day today out at Rock River where I'm going to be teaching starting in ONE WEEK. Saying that I'm overwhelmed is the understatement of the century but yet at the same time I think I will be able to figure everything out and that I'll do a good job! My classroom is really big and the previous teacher left a lot of materials for me to work with.

In my office sippin' a sonic slush. yummmmm

One view of my room and my office

View from the other corner

Because Matt spent lots of the summer on rotations we haven't been able to really do a whole lot but we've still had fun. During Matt's second week in Scottsbluff I decided to go visit my family in Lyman. It was fun and kept my mind off of missing Matt.

The kids playing "hot lava" around the fire pit

The lovely sisters: Christena, me, and April. Oh and those creepy eyeballs belong to my youngest brother, Kasey.

A couple weeks ago Matt and I went to fish on Rock Creek in the snowy range and we got rained on HARD and the lightning was very close to us and kinda scary (for me). This picture is of us huddling under a tree in the rain. It's blurry cause I tried to take it fast before the camera got too wet. I still like the picture, though.

This past weekend my parents came with my brother Kasey to bring me some stuff and we all went to Vedauwoo to climb the rocks and have a picnic lunch. It was a blast!

A friendly chipmunk eating a potato chip

The three of us climbed to the top of some rocks

Me climbing in a rock crevice

And this is a video of Matt attempting to scale a steep rock.

So summer is over. (not technically, but in terms of school it is!) Matt has a tough year of pharmacy school ahead of him and I will learn how to teach K-12 music! Wish us luck!

Oh and I almost forgot. Matt was released from his calling in the student ward bishopric last Sunday. He has been in that calling for 2 years and it is bittersweet that he's done. It will be nice to have him in the family ward with me but we will miss the student ward!

I'm a little bit pathetic.

So Matt left at 4:00 this morning to go to his pharmacy rotation in Scottsbluff, NE and I already miss him! :( He'll be gone for 4 weeks but will hopefully be able to come home every weekend. The longest we've been apart at a time so far had been 3 nights so even though I'll see him on the weekends, it will still be lonely! At the same time I'm excited for him and I hope he's having fun and learning a lot. He really seemed to enjoy his first rotation here at Express Pharmacy.

On a happier note, this past week has been a lot of fun. Matt's brother Lane arrived back home from his mission in Samara, Russia last Wednesday. It was a lot of fun to see him again and to hear him talk about his mission. I know it was really hard for him but I can tell that he has learned a lot and has really grown up. So because of that we have been spending more time than usual with Matt's family. Thursday night we had a steak dinner and then watched Gwen and Randy, my mom and dad in law (that sounds a little funny... ha ha) play soccer. On Friday Matt and his 3 older younger brothers (did that make sense?) went fishing and between the 4 of them they caught exactly 100 fish! Then on Saturday some more family came and we spent lots of the day at Vedauwoo and then stayed up late and talked and played around that night. On Sunday Lane spoke in church and it was SUCH a good talk. Matt, Kyle, and Nathan sang and Randy was called to be the 2nd counselor in the bishopric. Then we had dinner and talked with family some more. It was just a lot of fun to see everyone and to just relax with family.

I thought it would be fun to post the picture from 2 years ago when Kyle got back just before Lane left and then the picture from just last week when Lane got back. It's fun to see how people have changed, or not changed as the case may be. :)

The whole fam at the Laramie airport as Kyle arrived home in June 2007

All of us again at the same airport 2 years later to welcome Lane in July 2009.

I was talking with my cousin in-law in-law, Megan (she's married to Matt's cousin) the other day about how we are SO lucky and blessed to have such great in laws. I love my in laws so much and all of the extended family, too. There are a lot of cousins and aunts and uncles in Matt's family and it's a lot of fun. It's so great to be around so many people who can have intelligent (sometimes too intelligent...ha ha) conversations and who are all so spiritual and close to the Lord. Even though I'm bummed that Matt is gone, I have been feeling really blessed lately!

Little Things

The past little while I've been noticing a lot of silly little things in life that I enjoy. It helps me to think of these things so that I don't dwell on the negative too much. :) Here is a shortened list of the little things I appreciate.

*Watching the prairie dogs roam around in the fields outside our apartment

*My husband waking me up at 7am so that I can see the fox outside our window

*Eating frozen kool-aid (yes mom, I STILL do that and am doing so right now) :)

*Watching Matt spend hours enthralled in front of a map of Wyoming

*Listening to my newly returned missionary brother in law Lane talk about his mission in Russia (and his belly-button lint...)

*Having a shadow following my every footstep (in the form of my in laws dog Link) while I paint the house

*Link whining and frantically scratching at the screen door trying to get to me every morning as I walk across the lawn to go to work

*Being adored by said dog (Link). :)

*Looking through old pictures

*Hiding Matt's wallet and/or phone so that when he asks where they are I can tease him about always losing his things

*Playing old songs on the piano that I learned YEARS ago

*Learning new songs on the piano

*Sight singing random sheet music and all four voice parts to various hymns using solfege syllables (yes I am a nerd but it's fun and I like to practice!)

*My music calling in the primary and listening to the children sing my favorite primary songs. I get choked up almost every week. :)

*Taking walks and hiking/climbing with Matt

*The mountains

*Being outside

*Music

*Just being with our amazing families (I have SUCH a great family and SUCH great in laws!!!)

*Gummy worms

*And lastly, these two pictures (speaking of looking through old picrues...) The first one is a candid shot from when we took our engagements almost THREE years ago. I know I am biased, but every time I look at this one I think "man he is SO cute!" :) The next one my sister April sent to me of her youngest boy Ashton on his blessing day. I can NEVER look at it without cracking up. :)

That's not all, but I won't bore you with a longer list. :)

Many Outdoor Adventures

First of all, I'm sorry about all the pictures! I could have put tons more on but I didn't. :)
Between Matt's pharamacy rotations and both of us working for Clark and Sons Lawncare, we have actually been able to spend some time outdoors. Toward the end of May we took an evening and visited Ames Monument and climbed around on Vedauwoo.

Matt next to Ames Monument

A flattering picture of Matt climbing the monument (anyone who knows him will not be surprised). :)

Matt on top of a rock at Vedauwoo

Me sitting on some rocks at Vedauwoo

A couple weeks later we decided to go camping in the same basic area. We wandered around and found a little campsite that I loved! It was surrounded by rocks and was really pretty and out of the way.

Our little campsite (and our bright orange tent)

Me on top of some rocks

ha ha we were exploring an unknown dirt road on the way out and discovered this beaver dam blocking the road. It was pretty cool but our little cavalier had to turn around. :)

This past weekend we decided to go to Laramie Peak. As part of my job at Rock River, I will drive every Wednesday with the art teacher out to two isolated schools that are about 40 miles north of Rock River. We decided to find those two schools as well. We found River Bridge School on Friday night and then made our way to a little campground near Laramie Peak. The next morning we woke up and climbed to the top of the peak! There wasn't a trail so we paved our way and man it was the hardest hike I've ever done but totally worth it! On our way back we found Cozy Hollow School. It was a very tiring but very fun weekend!

Me standing in front of River Bridge!

This is about half way through our climb. You can see the peak in the background and yes. We got to the top of that. No trail. Just huge rocks. And lots of trees.
And a view fro the top! Man pictures do not do it justice!

And another view. (too bad it was kinda a hazy day)
And finally, me in front of Cozy Hollow! Do I look tired? I totally AM!

Accomplishments Part II

I've been posting this everywhere but I'm super excited! I have a job! I'll be teaching K-12 music at Rock River, about 40 miles North of Laramie. I didn't think I would be able to get a music teaching job because I'm "stuck" in Laramie while Matt finishes pharmacy school so I'm way excited to have an opportunity to teach music! I'll be teaching general music K-8 plus a jr. high choir and a high school choir. There are also a couple of strings there. It is a tiny little 1A school but it will be really fun I think! Another part of the job is driving every Wednesday to 2 isolated schools. Each of these schools has only 2 students and are located 40 miles N. of Rock River so I'll be going a long way but I'm excited to do it and the scenery will be awesome! I will go with the art teacher and we'll drive a 4-wheel drive vehicle provided by the school district. YAY!

Accomplishments!

As I mentioned in a previous post, I graduated! I got my degree in Music Education, Vocal Emphasis. The graduation ceremony was pretty long (like 3 hours!) but I got to sit in the press box rather than with the graduates because I sang during the ceremony with the Vocal Jazz Ensemble. My entire family came to visit and it was so great to see all of them here. I'll post a couple pictures of the event.

My whole fam! (minus my sister's husband Rik and MY husband who was taking the pic)

I love this pic of me with my nephew Tanner! (mostly cause we're both just so cute.) ;)

My wonderful supportive husband Matt and me

Me in the arena right after the ceremony

The Monday after I graduated I went back to the Jr. High to conduct the 8th-9th grade choir at the anual Spring Sing. I was nervous because it's a performance including every elementary school, us, and the high school so I knew there would be lots of people there and it was only my second time conducting in front of an audience. It went pretty well, though, and Matt caught a couple pictures of me. He was up in the balcony so they're a little blurry but I was glad he thought to take them!

I look a little creepy with my eyes glowing...A shot of the back of the group and the audience behind me.

Speaking of thinking to take pictures.... I am terrible! About a month ago Matt had his white coat ceremony for pharmacy school. I had my camera but just didn't think to take pictures! I usually take tons so I felt really bad about it. Thankfully his advisor emailed him these pictures of the event. :) It was great to be there and to see Matt's acomplishments with pharmacy school. He is SO smart and I'm really proud of him.

Here are the P1's sitting down after being "coated." :)

Group picture of the class of 2012! Matt is on the very far right, second from the back.
And here's Matt shaking Dean Vandel's hand after being coated. This picture cracks me up! :)

A Series of Unfortunate Events

Monday May 25
8:21 AM: I wake up when Matt's cousin Brian calls to see if I would like to work today (for the inlaws lawn business). I say yes even though it's a holiday because they needed help and I needed the cash.
1:30 PM: I have realized that I am sadly out of shape and Matt's brother Kyle and I are mowing a very long thick lawn in the POURING rain.
4:00 PM: I arrive back home, incredibly stiff and sore, fried like a chicken and soaked to the bone. It has not been a fun day.
Tuesday May 26
2:00-4:00 AM: I wake up from really strange dreams and have to run to the bathroom because I think I'm going to be sick. I never was sick however (a good thing). This happened 3 or 4 times within this time period.
8:44 AM: Matt leaves for work and for no good reason I start freaking out about my dentist appointment at 12:30. For those of you who know me you know that the dentist is old hat for me but I am crying and shaking and not wanting to eat.
10:55 AM: Sarah brings me an anxiety pill. :)
12:30 PM: I go to the dentist and am shot 4 times in preparation for 2 teeth extractions. One is a wisdom tooth and the other is the molar right next to it that has some serious problems. The wisdom tooth and molar directly underneath are also missing so now that side of my mouth matches and has 4 less teeth than the other side of my mouth. Man who wants to be losing teeth at age 24? Not me!
12:45 PM: I am staring at a very familiar elk painting while waiting to be fully numb. (hmm... have I been in this room before? Oh yeah! maybe about 15 other times).
1:05 PM: My teeth are pulled in a very quick manner and I stuff some gauze in my mouth. I am told that the site will probably only bleed for about an hour or 2.
1:30 PM: I take Matt back to work after his lunch break. On the way back I decide to check the mail but as I'm reaching for the mail key my finger gets hooked on Matt's fishing hook... it takes about 5 minutes to get it off and now not only is my extraction site bleeding but so is my finger.
1:40 PM: As I'm opening my mail I get a massive paper cut. A third bleeding site.
4:50 PM: I set out to pick up Matt from work. Extraction site is still bleeding and I am out of gauze.
6:00 PM: I'm half asleep on the couch trying not to pay attention to Matt eating dinner. I am starving but in pain and... extraction site is still bleeding.
7:20 PM: We go to wal mart and I'm feeling a little better but.... extraction site is still bleeding.
7:40 PM: I force myself to eat some yogurt.
9:00 PM: Matt comes home from a softball game feeling frustrated and goes into our room. Less than 5 minutes later I go in to talk to him and he is nowhere to be found... we live on the 2nd floor and to get out he would have had to come back through the living room.... I am very baffled.
10:00 PM: Matt comes back..... but not in the front door. From our bedroom. He tells me that he climbed down the balcony just for fun and then went for a bike ride to decompress from the day. Then he climbed back UP the balcony. Ug!
Wednesday May 27
2:00-5:00 AM: I wake up about 5 times to rinse my mouth because... extraction site is still bleeding and I'm in pretty bad pain.
6:14 AM: Sub secretary calls to ask if I can sub this afternoon from 11:45-3:30. I feel like crap but say yes because, again, we need the cash.
6:44 AM: My father in law calls asking if I can work this morning. I almost say yes and then remember that the extraction site is still bleeding and hard work will probably be bad for that...
9:00 AM: I arrive back home after taking Matt to work and turn on the shower. The shower head blasts off and breaks and I can't figure out how to fix it. So I decide to take a bath but the drain won't stay plugged so I take a sponge bath instead.
9:40 AM: I am starving and would really like some breakfast but..... extraction site is still bleeding.

So now that I've vented all of those things, I have decided to list some blessings that are related to the not so fun things I have listed above.
*Since I worked so hard I feel better about myself and was able to make some money.
*I learned that while they may help, I don't really need anxiety pills and the Lord and the Holy Ghost can help me to feel more calm.
*Because my tooth was pulled it will no longer give me pain.
*Novocaine is great because it helps numb the pain. :)
*My husband keeps spare fish hooks around so that we will be able to catch food in any situation.
*Even though I can't exercise right now because of the still bleeding extraction site, because I can't eat much, I won't gain any extra weight!
*Matt works at a pharmacy so I was able to easily obtain more gauze at a discounted price.
*I get much needed love and sympathy from my wonderful spouse and father in law.
*My husband is very acrobatic and athletic.
*I get to make more money today because I took the sub job.
*I had the opportunity to try new things (aka. the sponge bath).

Other blessings of late:
*I graduated from college!
*My whole family came to visit me!
*My teeth extractions cost about half of what I thought they would.
*My piano students are having a recital tomorrow and they are all doing so great!
*I have gained 5 piano students.
*Because I haven't been getting called to sub very much I have been exercising regularly and have been keeping the apartment clean.
*There are many more blessings but this post is long enough!

The End!

I am finally finished with college! Last Friday was my last day of student teaching but I haven't felt done yet because this week I conducted at the jr. high choir concert, had my final appointment with my superviser, subbed for two days, and have be rehearsing with the UW Jazz Choir because we're singing tomorrow at graduation.
I didn't talk much about student teaching while it was going on, especially the jr. high. It wasn't the funnest thing in the world but it was worth it in the end I think. I'll just quickly list a few favorites and non-favorites (about the jr. high).

Non-Favorites:
*MOODY girls (I taught a girls choir with 40 of them)
*Moody 9th grade boys (who act like girls)
*Getting love notes by one of the said 9th grade boys (seriously are you that desperate??)
*Kids who CAN NOT stop talking (EVER)
*Kids who mouth off and have no concept of obeying or even listening to authority figures (not just me either, ALL teachers)
*Divas (I'm talking about the boys)
*The inability to make good music (because the kids are too busy mouthing off and talking)

Favorites:
*The MUSICAL (it was a serious blast! They performed "Oh Horrors! It's Murder!" It was a small cast and I got to work individually with lots of kids and I really did a lot of work for the show. These kids actually listened to me and they did such a nice job!)
*Actually making good music with the 8th grade choir
*The 8th grade choir :)
*Solos and ensembles for festival (I did TONS of work for this. I helped kids pick out their music, worked with them on it, then watched them perform it for the clinician. It was rewarding!)
*Festival (same idea as solos and ensembles, I worked a ton with the choirs to prepare them then got to see how my work had paid off)

I realize I sound a little cocky talking about MY work and how I worked with the kids. I'm not being cocky cause I didn't do everything for sure, but I was just really proud of the kids and of my accomplishments!
I wanted to post some pictures of the kids on openning night of the musical, but I don't actually have them on my computer. It was just by far my favorite part of everything. The kids even gave me and the other 3 directors flowers after the last performance, it was really sweet and fun.
I'm excited to be done! I graduate from UW tomorrow with my BM degree in Music Education! WOOHOO!
oh and p.s. sorry about all the bright colors! I'm just excited. :)

a much needed update and a few random thoughts

first of all, i'm not going to use capital letters today. :)

i haven't really been into the blogging thing lately. i appologize to all of my faithful readers, ha ha!

well, i started student teaching at the junior high the beginning of march. man these kids are so much fun sometimes but most of the time they're just really hard to deal with! SOMETIMES we're able to make some beautiful music and then it seems worth it, but MOST of the time they're just being little punks! i'm starting to enjoy it a little more, though, and i only have 3 weeks left!

on the lines of teaching, since i've been at the jr. high i have gained 4 piano students, one 4th grader and three 9th graders. yay! now i have 6 and am having lots of fun with it. and i'm actually having a recital in may since the two kids i started with (brad and mary) have been taking from me for 2.5 years and haven't had one yet... :)

matt and i traveled a lot for spring break. first we went to lyman to visit my family, then to star valley to hang out with matt's family and then up to idaho falls to go to matt's cousin bailey's wedding and reception. it was a pretty fun trip and while we were in star valley we went snowmobiling.

this requires a brief story. if my good friend brooke is reading this, she knows the story i'm going to tell. :) the last time i went snowmobiling was also in star valley with brooke, her now husband nate, and one of nate's mission companions and it was the first time i had gone. it was not a good day. first of all, we stopped at a gas station and i broke a glass jar filled with sand and a candle... (above the display there was a sign that read, "you break, you buy"... they didn't make me buy). next, when we started snowmobiling i got stuck numerous times and the other three were probably so annoyed! to TOP the day off, we were going up a steep hill that i was afraid of anyway (yes i'm a pansy) and i gunned it as fast as i could go to be sure i made it and i hit an invisible bump causing my body to fly from the machine and then crash back down... mainly my FACE crashed back down and i bit a hole THROUGH my bottom lip (not the actual lip, more like below my bottom lip). when i got to the top of the hill i was waving frantically and basically freaking out. poor brooke ha ha! to get back to the house they made me a snowball wrapped in a napkin to fit between my bleeding face and my helmet and during the ride back to lyman i had to hold a paper cup under my lip to catch the blood... nice. :) so here are a few pictures of the trip this time, which was much more fun and safe for me. :) we played in the snow and ended up at a hot springs where we went swimming.

this is matt jumping down a steep hill, you can't really tell how steep it is from this pic.

me and mary with some waterfalls in the background.

matt and i on our machine (yes, he drove nearly the WHOLE time).

this post is long! i guess that's what i get for not posting more often. so between spring break and now basically nothing has happened.

oh but i don't think i ever mentioned that matt gets to stay around for his summer rotations! yay! he starts at express pharmacy here in laramie for 4 weeks then his next 4 week rotation is at the hospital in cheyenne so that will be awesome!

matt's brother lane comes home from his mission in russia on july 8th! hurray! we can't wait to see him!

this weekend we went to lyman again for easter. it was just a relaxing and fun weekend. my mom gave me a massive bag of easter candy for the ride home and i'm enhaled so much sugar that i really feel pretty ill...

last week my good friend sarah was home for her spring break (she's student teaching in lander). it was really fun to see her and we started watching the first season of heros.... i kinda liked it but can you say gore? on nbc when it should maybe be on hbo? perhaps i am sheltered from the things on tv because we don't have cable...

here is a random pic of matt and i from spring break in lyman. we're at "turtle hill" or "the spot" or whatever people call it. i used to go out to this spot all the time with my high school friends and now those same friends have filmed a couple of movies out there, too. hee hee such a fun spot.

oh i also just applied for a job! it's at the uw lab school and it's just for one year because the music teacher there just had a baby and is taking a year off. that's ok with me cause i'm only gonna be here in laramie for 2 more years for sure and hopefully i myself will have a baby sometime within that time so that i can take a year off! ha ha i don't feel like my application was very impressive, but we'll see what happens!

i can't think of anything else to write about... our lives are good but boring. i graduate on may 9th and i have no idea what i'm doing for the summer... i feel like i'm ready for something to change in our lives, though, so i guess graduation will be something. :)

Happy Birthday to.... Me!

So on last Wednesday, February 18th, I turned 24. I know it really isn't that old, but for some reason I feel SO old all of a sudden. I had a pretty good day at school and all my classes sang to me. The cutest was when both of the 1st grade classes sang happy birthday and then counted my age. It was so funny to see their eyes get big when the number kept getting higher hee hee. Then later that evening we invited Matt's family over for cake and ice cream. Matt's dad brought over an entire asphalt pie from Winger's! It was so yummy and there were a couple pieces left over that I ate in the following days. :) He also bought me a pound of chocolate and two really nice/cute picture frames (that he picked out himself). :) I have such good inlaws! Then Matt gave me some Peeps (yay for Easter candy!) and two games, Buzz Word and In a Pickle which I really liked because I'm always saying that I want games to play when we have friends over. It was really nice of both of them to get me so many presents! Then I got cards from Matt's siblings, Matt's parents, Matt's grandma, and then a couple days later I got a card from my mommy and dad in the mail with some moolas $$. Anyway, it was a good day and I thought I would post about getting OLD. I didn't get any pictures of the event cause we couldn't find our camera but Matt's dad took some. IF (a BIG if) we ever see those pictures, I'll post a few. :)
Oh and P.S. I made that little picture up there with the 24 at scrapblog.com. It looks kinda crappy (off center and stuff) but it was kinda fun to make just for the heck of it. :)

25 Things About Me

I am banished from school today. I have been fighting a cold all week and after I was very grouchy with some cute little 1st graders yesterday because I felt like crap, my mentor teacher and I decided that I should take a day off to recover. I get 4 sick days anyway. :)
So everyone and their dog posted this on facebook, but since I didn't do it there I thought maybe it would be fun to do it here instead.

1. I graduate this May and am suffering from a severe case of "senior itis." (Matt says that that term makes no sense because I am not inflamed).
2. I always go to the computer lab for extended periods of time (like right now for 3.5 hours while Matt is in class) because I assume that means I will get something done. Well, I'm blogging right now...
3. I absolutely love my inlaws. I got so lucky because they are all so great and supportive and I have tons of fun with them, especially Brad who is 10 but was 7 when I met him.
4. I teach piano lessons but have only 2 students (who happen to be the above mentioned inlaws Mary and Brad). I really enjoy it but would love to have more students!
5. I have always been super boy crazy. Even when I was 4 and would stand under the mistletoe in pre-school to see how many boys would come kiss me. This affliction was only cured when I met Matt and he told me that in order to be with him I would have to stop liking other "boys." Thanks, Matt! :)
6. Even though I've had lots of good friends outside of my family, my very best friends growing up were my sister, Christena and my cousin, Rani. (and you both still are!)
7. I talk way too much.
8. I had a miscarriage a year ago next week and am still pretty bummed out about it.
9. It usually takes me a long time to get over things (see #8).
10. #9 being said, I also find that I am usually very forgiving and cannot stay mad at people I love.
11. #10 being said, I am still very angry at people who I used to love but who have turned into complete a-holes. (Example: his initials are TAW)
12. I have always been pretty outgoing but I feel insanely uncomfortable around groups of people where I don't know anyone (like the teacher's lounge during lunch.... it's scary for me!)
13. I am ridiculously romantic. I love stupid chick flicks and I am too interested in other people's love lives. I love a good love story!
14. When I really want something, I seldom will forget about it until I get it and it becomes almost an obsession.
15. I hate needles and blood and veins and I even get squeemish talking about them (even now!) And.... I swooned at the EYE DOCTOR'S a couple weeks ago.
16. I adore my nieces and nephews. I like to think that I'm the best aunt they will ever have. :) Too bad I live so far away. :(
17. I have a terrible self-esteem. I can teach a really good lesson and then when I talk about it with my mentor teacher, all I can find are the things I did wrong. I also will look at older pictures of me and cry about why I can't still look that cute when I'm sure that at the time that picture was taken, I thought I was the ugliest thing on the planet.
18. I teach the music in primary and I always dread Sunday's because of that. I look online for ideas and am always struck with how lame mine are compared to those of the women who are posting the ideas. But then again, I am busy at school and most of them are probably stay at home moms who are still busy but perhaps have a little more time.
19. Don't get me wrong, I love church but I also dread Sunday's because it seems like everyone and their dog is either pregnant or has little kids. It just brings things to mind that I try not to think too much about.
20. My neighbors probably think I'm either crazy, abusive, or both because whenever I play smash brothers on the gamecube with Matt, I yell and scream when he beats me.
21. I am a sore loser. (see #20)
22. I have three sets of grandparents because my dad died when I was a baby and my mom remarried an AWESOME guy who has been a dad to me, my two older sisters, and two younger "half" brothers. The surviving grandparents are my mom's mom, my "real" dad's dad, and my dad's mom. So there is still one from each side.
23. I cannot get enough of music. I love singing, playing the piano, performing, and teaching. Thus, I am almost done with my degree in Music Education.
24. I LOVE going to the temple and would probably go every day if I had time and if there was one closer to us than 2.5 hours.
25. I am in love with my amazing husband, Matt. He is perfect for me in every way (I'm not trying to be corny, it's just true!)

Elementary

I've been teaching all day every day now for about 3 weeks (the first week I only taught 3 grades) and I finally feel like I'm getting the hang of things. The kids are so funny and so fun (most of the time) so I thought I'd share a few fun or funny things.
6th and 5th grade aren't really cute or funny. So I'll move on to the other grades. :)
4th grade: We are starting to learn how to play recorder. I was working with one group of students and I glanced over to the other group to see two of the boys using their recorders as "weapons" and were "shooting" each other with them. This was funny enough because I used to "shoot" people in band with my flute, but then Brandon actually threw his recorder at Garrett and the latter boy had to go to the nurse because it hit him in the EYE. I went to check on him after class and he had quite the shiner. The nurse came in to talk to me and couldn't stop laughing because a plastic recorder had caused the damage.
3rd grade: On the first day of my practicum last semester (at the same elementary school where I'm at now) the 3rd graders were learning a Hanukkah song for the holiday program. My mentor teacher explained that it is a Jewish holiday and Alex bursts out, "I hate the Jews! They killed Jesus!" Man was I glad I wasn't the teacher that day. What do you SAY to that??
2nd grade: Today I pulled out a metalophone (which is a xylophone except with metal bars instead of wooden ones) and asked the kids if they knew what it was called. It was unanimous. "An X-o-phone!" ha ha, I couldn't help but laugh. After I corrected them on their pronunciation of 'zy-lo-phone' I told them that this instrument was actually called a metalophone. Baden then asked, "Is it called that because the bars are made of metala?" hee hee close but not quite... And THEN, Chris proceeds to tell me about the legend of the spirit that dwells in the metalophone.... um... ok?
1st grade: This was just cute. Jeremiah (a girl) asked me today, "Did you put colors on your eyes today? Because you look very pretty." :) How nice! (especially coming from a girl who recieves a yellow slip almost every day for bad behavior).
And kindergarten. There are plenty of cute things to say about them, but it's just so fun that they all literally clamor all over me so that they can ALL sit RIGHT next to me in the circle. hee hee it makes me feel so loved! But the other day one adorable little girl, Luna, who I also taught at the Open School told me that she loves me and she loves music and that she wishes she could come every day. So sweet! Only seconds later, before I could stop it, she shoved a boy over, he hit his head on the piano, she rolled him under it, kissed him right on his poor little lips, kicked him, then said, "I hate you." Needless to say, she was given a yellow slip and sent to the office.

Many Things

First of all, Matt and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary last Tuesday December 30th. It was a pretty good day, we went to dinner but we couldn't go to either of my favorite restaraunts because they were both closed for the holidays! It was dumb. Then we went to the movie "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." It was a very curious show and I liked it except it was just too long (almost 3 hours). It seems weird that it's already been 2 years and I love Matt SO much. He's an amazing guy and he makes me a better person every day. He is so patient and seriously so perfect for me it's crazy! Here's a picture of us sipping our cider and one of me finding the box of chocolates Matt hid for me. :)

Then we went to Lyman for New Years. We had fun spending time with my family and got to watch my brother Kasey play high school varsity basketball. He did a great job but the team lost by just a few points to their rivals, Mt. View. :( Here's a couple pictures of us there and of my cute neices and nephews.

Tanner, Ashton, and Kamaryn riding 'horse' uncle Mikey.

Me holding.... a twin. :)

Ashton and Kamaryn stacking blocks on uncle Matt.

Tanner and me! Kyler took the picture (I don't have any pics of him) :(

Another pic. taken by the young photographer, Kyler.

Cute kids laying down waiting to watch uncle Kasey play ball.

I think this is Sophia with the crazy hair (and the crazy uncle).

Then this Monday the 5th I started student teaching. I was pretty nervous to start but this week so far has gone really well and I always do much better than I think I will. I'm at the elementary right now and I'm teaching 6th 5th and 4th grades and next week I'll add 3rd and 2nd. I kinda get sick of singing the same songs over and over but the kids are a lot of fun and man alive I've realized that kids have weird names these days... seriously it is so hard for me to learn their names because they're just strange! Like a girl named Jeremiah... and another one named Allalacey (pronounced ah-la-lacey). Also this week my brother Michael moved to Laramie to live with us because he's starting school at UW on Monday. I'm way excited that he's here and I really hope he'll like good ol Laramie. :)
And finally yesterday was Matt's birthday. He turned the big two-five and it makes me feel like we're getting old! I hope he had a good day and we had a little party for him and invited his parents and siblings over.

The candles spell MC and he got them all out on the first try. :)

Mary, Matt and I holding up 25 fingers, it's a family tradition.