NOT DEAD!!!

Hi all.

I've been gone for a while. It seems like that has been the trend of 2011.

Last week I got the flu. No fun. For two days I went to school in the middle of the night to do substitute plans. The worst part of being a teacher is having to make substitute plans while you are sick! I really lucked out with the sub. She was great, work was completed, my kids did well, and my room looked perfect when I got back.

However, while I was gone a little boy started a rumor that I was gone because I had died. It really shook up one girl in particular.

I can assure you that I am well and alive. Just busy! I promise I will be back soon!

Have a happy week!

So darling!

One of my cute little first graders ran into class, so excited to give me this:

I told her how beautiful it was, though I wasn't quite sure what it was suppose to be. Right about then she exclaimed "It's Rapunzel, flying a kite!" to which I replied, "Well look at that, it sure is!"

I love first grade!

Under the Sea

Our main reason for going down to St. George over UEA weekend was to take our long awaited trip under the sea... a trip we've been looking forward to since last June (my fabulous siblings gave me a ticket for my birthday). Hooray!

My dad had the hook-ups and was able to get us free tickets to the dinner before hand there at Tuacahn theater... it was awesome and seriously yummy! I ate way too much and loved every last bite. And I was so busy eating that I forgot to take any pictures. At least we thought to get a group picture afterwards.

The show was AMAZING!!! It was closing night and the 62nd consecutive sold-out show, so we knew it would be great. This was the first time the show has been preformed since pretty much flopping on Broadway, and it sounds like Disney was pleased with how it went. The water effects were spectacular, the cast amazingly talented, the costumes outstanding (Heelies for those swimming under the sea = genius!) and of course the music was phenomenal. It was very similar to the Disney movie, but there were twice as many songs. Scuttle had a great one called "Posituity", and there were some really fun medley's sung by Ariel's sisters. My favorite parts of the show were the chef in the kitchen trying to cook up Sebastian, and when Ariel saved Prince Eric from drowning, which we watched from behind a water wall as they maneuvered through the air on pulleys. The light and sound techs projected fish swimming around on the water wall in the background when they were under the sea... it was simply amazing. I loved every minute of it!

Ivy's been singing "Part of Your World" pretty much word for word since last winter, so we'd been excited for a long time for her to get to see Ariel in real life.

The little girls seemed to enjoy the show. It didn't start until 7:30, so it was a little late for them. The show was about 2.5 hours long. Ivy LOVED it and stayed awake the whole time. Maddie was great too and would dance in her seat to the music, but Ursula scared her quite a bit, poor thing! She fell asleep about 1/2 of the way through the show and was out for the rest of the night. Which is why she doesn't appear in any of the pictures with characters, she was busy doing a lot of this:

Ivy didn't really know what to think of the show itself, but she REALLY wanted to go down to the stage to talk to Ariel and Flounder. We knew the actors did a meet-and-greet afterwards, so Ivy got her wish! She was a little bit shy at first (Scuttle was awesome!!!)...

... but then she warmed up to them. Here's Ivy with King Tritan, or Ariel's Dad as she likes to call him.

Matt, Selina, and Ivy with Flotsam and Jetsam. They were really creepy and played their parts as Ursula's minions incredibly well.

Ivy with Flounder, her favorite besides Ariel. He's like 13 years old and talk about talent! I thought he sounded like a young Michael Jackson when he was singing... wow!

Ursula casting her spell on us. :) On stage she was up on a huge moving pedestal that made her enormous. She told us that she controlled it with her toes... kudos to whoever designed her movement machine, it was way impressive.

Sebastian with his Jamaican accent was awesome! He was so friendly and got right down on Ivy's level to greet her.

This is my favorite photo of the whole night. :)

After some long lines and lots of waiting, Ivy finally got to meet Ariel in person. She couldn't have been more thrilled! Thanks to Ariel, who was still very happy, personable, and energetic, even after putting on the whole show and hanging out greeting guests for an hour after the show had ended. She literally made Ivy's night. :) Ivy ran right up to her, and showed her the picture of Ariel on the princess shirt she was wearing.

Then Ivy had her picture taken with Ariel and Prince Eric... you can see that Ivy was so happy. :)

And before we left Ariel gave her a big hug. Awwww!

As we were leaving Ivy was upset that she hadn't gotten to see Prince Eric. We showed her the picture that he was in with her and Ariel, and even took her back closer to show him to her, but then she was just confused. She said that wasn't Eric... apparently up close he didn't look the part to her. :) That's okay though, Ariel fulfilled all her expectations and more.

It was such a fun night at the theater, and I'm so glad that after looking forward to it for so long it lived up to our expectations. It was an awesome way to end our weekend away!

Disney has given Tuacahn permission to do Aladdin next summer... fun! We're looking forward to it already. Thanks everyone for an awesome night. and thanks to Lacey for letting me steal most of her post :-)

Lamentations

Today was suppose to be a spectacular day.

A day when I crossed an item off my bucket list.

And fulfilled a lifelong goal.

You see, this summer I put three things on my list of things to do before the end of the year:

1. Run a 1/2 marathon
2. Find a publisher for my book
3. (This one shall remain a mystery)

Well, I have not yet found a publisher for my book (this one is totally my fault, I haven't tried. I am quite scared so I am avoiding it all together). And #3 also is not going to happen (though this one I did better with than #2). But I was quite certain that I would run the 1/2 marathon. I was on track. I was training and enjoying it. I had even registered for the race. I was running more than I ever had before. I was EXCITED to run 13.1 miles.

And then, my left foot decided it was done. Big time. It refused to run. In fact, it didn't even want to walk. I was hopeful that it would only be a week or two before it was better and then I could return to training. But it wasn't so.

It was back to the boot for several weeks. And after several weeks I moved on to KT Tape (a LIFESAVER by the way!) And now, 6 weeks later, I am finally walking without any pain. Though running is still out of the question.

*sigh*

Seriously, the most expensive shirt I have ever purchased in my life. Wish I had the race to go along with it!

I wish I was running right now. Maybe next year.

Thanks for letting me complain.

Dear Katie,

Next time you get to go to some really cool petrified sand dunes



check to make sure that you have your memory card in your DSLR camera

BEFORE you leave on vacation.

Because even though you love your pink Point & Shoot,

and will still take TONS of pictures,

you won't get the quality you want

or the vibrant colors that you hope for.

And then you will have to beg your family to go back with you

so that you can take the pictures that you really want to!
(Maybe next year!)

Sincerely,

Me

UEA - Part One

One of the greatest parts of being a teacher is that we get the same breaks the kids do! Last week was UEA. I headed to St. George with my parents, Maddie, and Ivy (Ivy's parents met up with us there the next day).

Ivy and Maddie had a glorious time together, and after many, many hours in the car (lots of traffic!) we finally arrived at our destination!

After a long day in the car we decided we needed some serious pizza!

Whoever came up with the idea of wrapping a bread stick around a stick had the right idea!

We spent the first day relaxing and enjoying being away from home. The little girls played games, went swimming, and took rides on the luggage cart at the hotel.

The next day my parents took me to a place they knew I would enjoy.

They found this place a couple of years ago, and even the name tells you that this is very much my kind of place!

I am a huge lover of eggs. I eat them all the time. It is very common for me to have some kind of an egg dish for dinner at least once (if not more) each week! While I like almost all kinds of eggs (except for scrambled, go figure!) there is one that is my very most favorite - Eggs Benedict! When I saw it on the menu I was thrilled!

All eggs Benedict's are NOT created equal! It is very hard to find a really good egg's Benedict these days! Lots of times they eggs are just fried instead of poached (which doesn't count) or the hollandaise sauce isn't quite right. When I took a bite of this one, however, I thought I had died and gone to Egg Heaven! It was PERFECTION! Seriously, I now dream of this dish.

While I am telling you of all this glorious food I discovered on the trip, I have to mention the DARK chocolate Kit Kat. My dad bought me one when we were at Target (he really knows me well!) I had never seen them before, or even knew they existed! They are DIVINE!! They are hard to find (which I have learned since coming home) so if you ever see one, buy a bunch! The only problem with the one I had on my trip - I had to share with Maddie, who it turns out LOVES dark chocolate as well. Smart girl!

(Hmmmm, a post about Pizza, Eggs Benedict, and Candy Bars. Tells you a lot about me, huh?)

When Jumping Spiders Attack

Roomate Ash: YUUUUCCCKKK! There is a huge spider on the wall! I do fine with other insects, but not spiders. Will you get it?

Me: Sure! (thinking in my head, I am an adult, I deal with bugs in my classroom all the time and have learned to not make a big deal of it)

Me: WHOA! That is a huge spider. Gross!

We grab a plastic cup to cover it with. As I move the cup toward the eight-legged-monster, it jumps (YES JUMPS!) off the wall and towards us.

*Insert totally girly shrieks and squeals here*

Me: (Throws cup on carpet, sincerely hoping that the spider has been captured)

Ash: Now what?

Me: How long will we have to leave it there before it dies on it's own? Can we call our home teachers to come get rid of it? The thing JUMPS!!! YIKES!

Ash: We are NOT calling anyone, we can do this!

Me: We need something hard to slide under the cup to keep it inside.

Ash grabs a parking pass

I scoop up the the spider, grateful that it is indeed under the cup

Ash flushes the toilet while I throw the spider into it's swirling, watery grave.

We shut the toilet

and avoid that bathroom the rest of the night

We are such girls

Is it any wonder that I love this girl?

A true best friend is one who will spend 10 minutes on a Saturday night helping you get rid of a spider :-)