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!)