An Epiphany

Saturday, I went sledding with my roommates and some other friends from the ward. It was a great trip but ended badly. My roommate got whacked in the mouth by a head and 3 root canals, a lot of pain, a Korean dentist and 8 veneers later, she has a new smile. The epiphany happened before all that. Havilah and I found a bend in the river where the sun shining on the rocks looked like gold flecks. It was absolutely gorgeous and sucked us in for 20 minutes. I decided that my life has plenty of 10 year olds, love drama, driving on the freeway, and Thai food. What it needs more of is nature. So, I went and purchased these. Why are epiphanies always expensive?


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Thai Food Night

I've been wanting to have Thai food night for a long time. So, I finally planned one. I got all of the ingredients and was going to attempt to make it myself, but Sumana was able to come and help me cook the Thai food. I made everyone eat on the floor and it was great. My goal is that making Thai food will become something simple and easy rather than a huge project every time I decide to do it.

I was 13 once...

Normally Christmas vacation is my chance to cram as many novels in as possible. But, I decided to go with non-fiction this time. I have kept a journal since I was 13 and I read it this vacation. I'm actually only up to Christmas of my freshman year of college right now. It has been completely entertaining. Unfortunately, I don't have any awkward 13 year old pictures to add. They are all in my picture box in Bluffdale. I'm not sure if I was a typical 13 year old or not. My guess is not. I was pretty weird. Here are 4 highlights.

April 2, 1997
Before I say anything, I have to say something that happened yesterday. Some boys unzipped this backpack and about 10 tampons fell out. If that would have happened to me, I would have died.

April 9, 1997
At tennis, Christy and I had no room to play because everybody was taking our space. So, we went to the front of the building. Then, Mrs. Trobley and Mrs. Ruiz needed me. But, of course they were too lazy to find me! When I cam back around they yelled at me. How rude! Oh yeah, I'm in last place. Coaches are mean.

May 7, 1997
In Industrial Tech, Demenee came up to Katie and said something. Katie gave her something and said, "Here's your pen." What do they think I am? Stupid? I know it was a tampon.

August 4, 1997
Lynsey is so totally gullible. She was totally into snipes. She still believes in them. I mean, how can a POPULAR person believe in snipes?

Why I Teach 5th Graders

I'm sorry for those of you that are anti-blogging without pictures. But, I get reminded every once in a while why I teach kids. For our Christmas presents to parents this year, I had my students write their parents letters. The only requirements were that they had to say what they appreciated about their parents and then make a top 10 list about things they love about their moms and dads. Here is a sample of some things my afternoon students wrote:

Thank you for coming to our classroom to do spelling tests every Friday.
You guys help me when I am sick.
You guys exercise.
I could never ask for a better or cooler dad than you.
I am not embarrassed to talk about you.
You grill in the winter.
I appreciate that you help me with my division.
You let me listen to your music.
You tuck me in at night.
You put songs on my ipod.
You check in on my to see if I am okay.
You can keep secrets.


I'm not an overly emotional person, but it has been hard for me to read and edit their letters without tearing up. These kids have soft hearts and I adore them despite how much they frustrate me sometimes.

Amazing

It is amazing that one person can create such turmoil in your life that you feel burdened twenty four hours a day. It is amazing what can happen when that person is removed from the picture for a while how light you feel. It is amazing that I like teaching again.

It is amazing that precipitation and a temperature of 32 degrees or below can make me want to hide under my covers and stay out of my car.

It is amazing that you can see someone you haven't seen in ten years in a completely random place and instantaneously know that person's name and all of the memories you shared.

Tomorrow is December 10

And for those of you who know what that means for one of my students, you understand that I am rejoicing. Hopefully I can teach now.

Portland and Jessica's Wedding

I skipped school for a day and went to Portland for Jessica's wedding. I was there alone the first day and so I hopped on the Max to downtown and looked at books and clothes all day. That night was the bachelorette party (Mormon style). The wedding was great. The fog cleared for pictures. Jessica was beautiful. The next day, Susan, Megan, and I returned back to Utah. It was a short break but much needed.