Day 63

Went to Beaver yesterday to see the niece and came back with 0 pictures. Nice.

We woke up early so that we could hit up the Timberline for breakfast. We both got the french toast and then shared a homemade cinnamon roll. Pretty sure breakfast is my favorite meal, only when it's big like in a restaurant though. 

We then spent the rest of our time snuggling the new babe, playing with Oaklee and visiting with Cole and Lacee. In between all this we also watched a little bit of Crocodile Dundee. I had forgotten how much I love that movie. Remember when the Aborigines dance? That's one of my favorite parts. We ended up leaving around 6:30 so it was quite a long day, but nice to not have to worry about doing laundry when we got home. 

On the way home Eric got to hear this song for the very first time

Yes I know the music video is completely weird but you should have heard the comments Eric was making about the song. It involved the words "stupid" and "lame" quite a bit. 

It's moments like these when I love to be present because while he was complaining I was secretly tapping my foot along to the beat.

Day 60

Currently sitting in my night class.... I only have to come 4 more times! Hooray! I'm partially listening, browsing the Internet, and watching the USU basketball game stats on KSL. It looks like it's a close game. I wish I could have been there. Sigh. I didn't get to go to any basketball games this season. How sad for me. 

I bought my cap and gown and graduation announcements yesterday! I am a little sad about my announcements. In the mail, I got lots of samples and there was one that was so so pretty. It was silver and blue. Unfortunately, they were really expensive, almost double the cost. So I opted to go cheap and just bought them straight from Utah State. The ones I bought are gold and blue, not as classy as the blue and silver. Oh well right? It's not like I'm going to frame my announcement, it's all about the diploma and that's what I need to remember.

On Friday Eric and I are going to make the trek to Beaver to see the new babe. We've been hearing that her big sister has become very protective and won't let anyone other than mom and dad hold the baby. It's going to be so fun. I can't wait to snuggle little Hadlee, newborns are the best. Oh, and we decided that we might as well make it a mini vacation and wake up early to go out to breakfast. Sometimes Eric has the best ideas.

Anyone else excited for General Conference this weekend? I can't wait. I don't know if I'm more excited to listen to the talks or to just have a break from Primary.... does saying that make me a bad Primary leader? Here's the thing. My creativeness has gone out the window lately which has made Singing Time rough. I need a weekend to rejuvenate myself and plan ahead instead of trying to do things Sunday morning.

My mom is hatching chicks in her preschool class. She just informed me that one came out of its shell this afternoon. I might need to stop there tomorrow and check this out.

Day 56

We have a new niece in the family!

Hadlee Jean Schmid was born March 22 and looks so adorable from the pictures we've seen. Eric and I are going to drive down to Beaver next Friday to see the little cutie. 

In case you're dying to know, the role play presentation went perfect on Wednesday night. None of us laughed and we were able to cut some time off because our teacher went over on his lecture. After our presentation, the rest of the class had an assignment to fill out that had questions regarding what we had done. I'm not kidding when I say it was the easiest assignment ever. All the assignments were e-mailed to me and then I had to grade them. I had done about 10 when I came across one that seemed very similar. So I went back through the assignments I graded and low and behold, we have a winner! There were two that had the exact same answers, word for word. I couldn't believe it. I was more annoyed that these two copied each other because like I said, easy assignment people. Their fate is now in my professor's hand because I sent him a message asking what I should do. The main reason I did that was because he had made it clear that if someone wasn't in class that night then they should not get a good grade on the assignment. So the first thing that came to mind was that one of the students was absent and their friend had filled in their answers for them. Tough luck I guess.

Went and saw The Hunger Games last night.

Meh. 

We had a big discussion afterwards with those of us who went. I'm not going to say anything more about it because I don't want to spoil anything. But I'm going to leave my reaction to, meh.

Day 54

My group is doing our role play tonight for the rest of the class. Cross your fingers for us. I'm honestly just hoping that I don't start laughing, which is going to be extremely tough. I wonder if I could videotape it using my laptop....hmmm, interesting thought.....

Last night I got to watch a K-9 unit demonstration with the Sandy Police Department. It was beyond amazing. I'm pretty sure my mouth was open the whole time. I'm thinking that I need to somehow use them for a fundraiser assignment due next month.... I sure hope it works out. 

Today at the after-school program the kids were on one. It made me feel slightly better because my day was rough, so knowing they were having a bad day somehow made mine not so bad. These kids are starting to grow on my heart and I don't know how it's going to be when I have to say goodbye. Yesterday one little girl asked my dad (who helps run the program) why I came every day. He said it was because I loved them. They all said "ewwwww" like you would expect but I found myself nodding and thinking, "I really do love them, even if they drive me crazy."

Today was just one of those days where I had to stop and let myself cry for a few minutes. Everything was just wrong at the moment and I found myself wanting to quit my job right then and there. It's been a stressful week so I know I'm taking my emotions out of my job but I seriously can't wait for the day to walk out and be a stay-at-home mom. Knowing that one day this will happen is the only thing keeping me going. Everyone keeps saying it'll be here before you know it, but I'm starting to get impatient. I wish I had some magic machine that would say "On this day you can quit because you and Eric will be ready to start a family." If only our world was magical. 

I'll end with my dream last night. I was with 2 other men (can't remember who they were) and we were POWs (prisoners of war). It had been 5 years and we were finally making our escape. We were able to cross enemy lines and reach safe soil where an embassy had been set up for the United States. We were welcomed with open arms and our families were transported to come see us. I vividly remember running to my mom, sobbing, and hugging her. Then I saw my dad and hugged him too. I remember wondering where Eric was because I couldn't see him. Then I woke up. 

So basically I have no idea if Eric ever showed up. It left me with a lot of questions.

Day 52

Few things:

1. Might have nephew #5 on the way! I'm beyond excited. They're not 100% sure but I'm hoping

2. Have you ever thrown your trash away to hear it CLUNK super loud in the bin? But you can't think of what you had in the bag to make it clunk so loud? Well I've had that happened to me the past 2 times I've taken the trash out.

3. I received a letter in the mail that I wrote to myself 7 years ago. Apparently one of my teachers actually kept her promise to mail these to us when we were older. Lets just say this letter is beyond ridiculous. Here's an example:

"I am a fun-filled girl who loves to laugh and be happy.....I hope you haven't changed much personality wise because I like how we are. (Love that I referred to myself). Pay attention to your husband. Love him unconditionally, he took the chance of marrying you so treat him like a prince.... I love you and there isn't anything I would change about us (again, why do I refer to myself like this?)"

Ugh, so weird.

Day 51

Oh St. George, I miss you already. It was really rough having to leave but we'll be back in 6 weeks.

We stayed at the Red Mountain Resort and I think we'll stay there again either for the half marathon next month or for the full marathon in October.

 

Our room was so pretty and the bath tub was so deep! There was one major flaw though, there was no door to close off the tub/shower area. The toilet was closed off, but not the tub. It made things interesting since we roomed with our good friend. 

 

This is the Relaxation Station. I sat here for a little bit while the boys checked out the facilities. 

  

This was my view from my relaxation bench. The boys found a steam room that they sat in for about 45 minutes after their race. They came back smelling strongly of eucalyptus. 

  

This is my cute buddy who I hung out with while everyone was racing. She fell asleep about 5 minutes after they left so I got to snuggle with her a little bit which was just what I needed.

 

The bandana boys

 Loading up the bus to drive up the canyon to the start line

 While Em took a nap, I sat next to her and read "Jurassic Park". I wish I could have fallen asleep. I was so tired because we didn't get to bed till after midnight the night before

 Travis (Em's dad, in the black) was the first to pass me right before the finish line

 Cute Angela with her neon shoes

 Kolten (in the black)

 Britt (Em's mom) and her shamrock hat and matching earrings

 Brooke (in green) who is Britt's sister and the current Miss Draper. It was fun talking to her about the upcoming Miss Utah over lunch

 Cute Eric

 The boys

 

We're so cute

 

 The Lavery family showing off

 Brook won 2nd place in her age division! I laughed so hard when she saw that the first place winner was 15

 So we left Draper around 4:30, an hour later than we anticipated, and hit traffic in Provo. We stopped in Beaver for dinner and to see the Schmids. Lacee is set to have her baby any day now so we were hoping to speed up the process by making her come out and meet us for dinner. We rolled into Ivins around 10:30 and were too excited to sleep, thus the going to bed late.

After the race and the boys relaxing in the steam room, we drove to St. George to eat lunch at the Pizza Factory. Our waitress wasn't very attentive so the boys took matter into their own hands and went and got their own food. We decided to leave right after lunch because we had heard there was a storm advisory for those driving North. The boys really wanted to stay but I had to put my foot down and say No because there was no way to get a sub for Primary. Looking outside at the blizzard right now makes me feel like I made the right decision for many reasons.

We stopped again in Beaver to visit family. Then when we got closer to home it was decided that we might as well stop at Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner. After that, it was decided they needed a treat so we also went to Coldstone for ice cream. By the time we got home, it was 9:30 and we were beat. 

Eric is pretty sore today but his mood has improved since yesterday about the half marathon. He did so great and I was almost tempted to sign up the half marathon to run with him. But, there is no way I could prepare myself mentally or physically in 6 weeks to run 13 miles. 

Day 50

Day 50 Woot Woot!!

I have lots of pictures to post but too tired to do it at the moment. We drove to St. George yesterday afternoon, arrived around 10:30, the drove home Saturday around 2 and got home at 9. I know those numbers don't make any sense, detailed information will follow.

All I know is that Eric did fantastic for his first race, and I got to see bunny outside our hotel room. It was marvelous

Day 48

Our little Pig (which is actually a car) is at the doctor and has to stay there overnight. What was supposed to be a 45 minute fix turned into 2 1/2 hours then turned into an overnight stay. It also turned into double the amount of money coming out of our pocket. Such is life right? Luckily I have heroes among me. One is my sister who rescued me from having to stay at the dealership all night. We talked, we laughed, I treated her to her first trip to the Draper Library, and then we laughed some more. Next hero is my friend, (who I scared at work, see post from earlier), who is willing to take me to work in the morning since I won't have a car. It's nice to know people love you enough to shuttle you around town.

Hopefully all this worry and stress will be gone by the time we get to St. George tomorrow. I might have a hard time sleeping tonight because I am so excited. I also feel like I have so much to do. For some reason my mom always made us clean the house before going on vacation. Now that habit has stuck with me and I'm left with this irrational fear that we can't go until all the laundry is done and the house is clean. It's a disease. My laundry is going, I need to clean the kitchen and probably the bathroom, as well as pick up around the living/dining room. It's going to be a great night. Guess I better go get started.

Day 47

Things I Love:

1. The Temple. I just got back from going there with my sweet friend. 

It was just what I needed to de-stress

2. The picture I just received of my little sister and Pluto at Disneyland

3. Peanut Butter Captain Crunch which is what I'm eating for dinner right now

4. Friends who will indulge my weirdness and celebrate Pi day with me at work.

5. Being in bed and listening to Eric talk about where he is at in The Hunger Games.

Remember President Uchtdorf's talk about the forget-me-not flower? Which one of the "petals" was your favorite?

1. Forget not to be patient with yourself

2. Forget not the difference between a good sacrifice and a foolish sacrifice

3. Forget not to be happy now

4. Forget not they why of the Gospel

5. Forget not that the Lord loves you

In this moment right now, I am trying to not forget to be happy now and that the Lord loves me.

Day 46

Ay yi yi.

So much to catch up on. 

-I got to watch the RSL soccer game on TV (that's a big deal because we don't have cable). I really really want to go to a game now. Anybody want to go with me?

-Had to "practice" teaching, so I taught my family. Best class I've ever had, 2 people fell asleep.

-Went shooting but forgot bullets

-Did our taxes. We're getting a refund. Disneyland here we come!!

-Reserved a table at Hamilton's Steakhouse in Logan for my graduation. I'm still going there even if I don't graduate

- Had to literally drag a boy out of class today to sit in the hall. He all of sudden decided not to participate and then went stiff as a board as I tried to get him to follow me. For those of you who are teachers, next time this happens can I just pick him up? It would have solved a lot of problems

-No class tomorrow night so my friend and I are having a girls night out to the Temple. Can't wait.

-Tomorrow is Pi day so to celebrate I might get some cheesecake (I don't really like pie and cheesecake is the next closest thing right?)

And now, if you'll excuse me, Eric just bought some new songs off Itunes and I have every intention of stealing them for my Ipod. 

Goodnight

Day 42

I spent some time with one of my best friends this afternoon. It was fun catching up and playing with her sweet little girl. She asked me if I had seen the show Shark Tank and I told her that I occasionally watched it on Hulu. Her response.... "What's Hulu?"

I love this girl.

I started to laugh, not in a mean way, and she said, "Is Hulu something big like YouTube that I should know about?" Yes, yes it is. We then proceeded to watch some Shark Tank on Hulu and it was fabulous.

Want to see where we'll be staying next weekend?






 

Ta da! Isn't it pretty?
Eric is running his very first race next Saturday in Ivins, Utah and our friend somehow found a room open at the Red Mountain Resort. So while they're worrying about the race, I'll be relaxing in paradise. Please oh please let it be good weather. 

Day 41

Eric (also known as husband) started listening to The Hunger Games this morning. I love that he will know the story before we go see the movie. We just watched the trailer and he says it makes a lot more sense now that he knows what is going on. I can't wait for him to get further in, he's coming up to a really good part.

Sister and I went on a nature walk today. It felt so good to be outside, even if it was a little windy. I miss doing that with her. We used to run outside a lot while we were training for the 1/2 marathon last year. I've put running on my "not to-do list" because I wanted to focus on this semester of school and not have other things to worry about. Being outside today though made me re-think my position. Maybe if the weather stays nice I'll consider switching things up a bit.

Is anyone watching The Amazing Race these days? I just watched the latest episode and was so disappointed that the "divorcee" couple made it. Ugh, they annoy me. Oh, so does the couple from Big Brother or whatever. She is such a whiner baby. Agreed?

Day 40

What do you think of the new look?

It took me longer than expected to figure out, but I'm happy with it. 

Tonight I have class, don't worry, I'm going. I found out that our instructor won't be there due to personal reasons with his family. I'm excited that it's going to be a short night, but anxious that we won't get the much needed practice for our role play. Our instructor was supposed to watch my group tonight to critique us before showing the final product. Cross your fingers for me that when the time comes, we do a good job and he goes easy on us.

News flash: this whole year I thought Spring Break started next Wednesday. Low and behold it starts Monday. Not that I can do anything fun since all my classes are online, but where in the world did I come up with Wednesday? My logic is this. Wednesday is my night class. Next week I don't have class due to Spring Break. Naturally my mind connected the two to think that Spring Break started Wednesday. My little sister is going to Disneyland to celebrate. I would be jealous but....nope, can't even try to pretend. I am jealous. It's fine though, I'm down to under 70 days before I go. Can I get a what what?

Day 39

Got this today from one of the girls in the after-school program. 

My camera battery is dead so I have to use Photo Booth.

Saw some cats yesterday and it reminded me of one of my favorite famous cats.

Look how grumpy he looks!

Tomorrow night is the big night, well kind of. In my therapy class we have to do our "pretend" role play for the teacher. I'm expecting the worse. I think I need to wear a costume so that it will hide my laughter. It's going to be a long night.

Husband's little brother is currently serving a mission in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Not sure why it didn't cross my mind that he might be getting hit with all the tornado weather lately. He said that they had to evacuate one night but the tornado hit a couple miles away so they didn't have to get in the cellar. He also said that whoever created the warning siren made it the absolute scariest noise he's ever heard. I guess it gets the job done.

Day 37

Today was rough.

This morning Canvas, which is where all my online classes are, wasn't working. It scared me just a pinch because I had an assignment due today. I decided to check after church and if it still wasn't up, then I figured I could just e-mail my assignment to my instructor. Luckily, it was up and I was able to turn in my assignment the right way. Truthfully, I'm not expecting a fantastic grade on this one. 

Primary was hard. My voice is still not back completely so I tried to sing the best I could but I know it sounded awful. I'm going to have to actually plan something for next week, I think the kids are starting to get bored. Any ideas?

I am ready to go eat a yummy home-cooked meal at the in-laws and watch The Celebrity Apprentice. It's just what the doctor ordered

Day 36

Here's how my day played out:

Went grocery shopping (in a sweatshirt and sweatpants, it was awesome)

Cooked some breakfast

Watched Harry Potter #8 and cried when Professor McGonagall tells the statues to protect the castle

Made some lunch

Watched The Office, fell asleep

Finally showered around 4

Went and played the piano for the Stake Baptisms, where I got to see Elder Ballard

Went to my sister's place where we watched The Devil Meets Prada

Now I'm getting ready to go get dinner with the husband and friends

What a great, lazy day.

Tomorrow in Primary, we might just be playing games because my voice still hasn't come back 100%. How can you sing with kids if you can't hit one single note? Trust me, I tried singing in the car today, it wasn't pretty. I might do what I did last week, where they have to draw the number I say out loud or I get to pick what song they sing. Let's just say the odds were hardly in their favor and it made my day to see their reactions each time.

The picture is of a present I got from one of my best friends. They're necklace...charms? I don't know if that's the right word. Anyway, the one with the picture of the two girls has a little saying on the back that says 

"A best friend is someone who knows all about you and loves you anyway"

I absolutely love them.

Day 35

It snowed last night.... as in a real winter storm meaning there was still snow on the ground by the end of the day. It is a Christmas miracle. 

I have had this song in my head all day. We watched this episode last night so it makes sense. I really think this is one of my all time favorites. The Toby-Michael relationship always made me laugh.

This also makes me laugh