Merry Christmas

The important thing about Christmas is that we remember Him. We sing and laugh. We make treats and we give them away. We buy presents and we give presents. We love each other and try to be good like Jesus taught. But the important thing about Christmas is that we remember Him.

MUST do.

Amidst the chaos of the last 7 days of school before Christmas vacation I've solidified one thing to do on my "To Do" list when I have 16 student-free days. I'm going to read a book. And I'm going to start in the morning, still in my pajamas, and end whenever I get finished. Eating will be optional, cleaning will not. I won't do anything else that day except read that ever-loving stress-reducing book.
Problem is, I don't know what book to read.
I'll take suggestions.
But remember, it has to be ever-loving AND stress-reducing.

Mail Happenings

It's always a good day when this shows up in your mailbox.




That's right. A full-size rubber chicken. Jealous?

There are three great things about this chicken.

First, it's a CHICKEN.
Second, it's from a friend who obviously knows my taste and cares enough to send the very best.
Third, I don't know who sent it.

Why is it a good thing I don't know who sent it? Think about it. If you get a rubber chicken in the mail and don't know exactly who sent it, that means you have more than one friend capable of pulling off such hilarity. Your life is rich, indeed.

I wasn't the only one getting goodies in the mail. Zack got his prize from Marie.




It arrived intact with no meltage whatsoever. (However, if, by chance, your chocolate that you ordered online arrives melted, you just put it in the fridge and it hardens up, plus you get the chocolate for freeeee and also get coupons to buy more chocolate. But I digress...) Suffice it to say, mailing chocolate in the fall is much better than mailing it in the summer.

Thanks Marie! You're our favorite first cousin once removed living in California!

And I do have my suspicions as to who lovingly placed the chicken in my mailbox. You know who you are.

The REAL end of the world.

Forget the whole "the Second Coming is nigh" stuff we've been hearing for the past hundred years or so. The REAL end of the world, apparently, is February 17, 2009 when all analog signals will switch to digital... FOR GOOD.
AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

I was just reading the paper and read this quote from the president and CEO of the Public Broadcasting Service. She's talking about how some people just don't realize the magnitude of this change and probably won't be ready when the time comes.

"There are a large number of households that have a couple sets hooked up to the cable, but they've got the rabbit-ears set in the kids' bedroom or in the playroom or in the basement where the kids are hanging out. And I'm really worried about those kids suddenly getting cut off."

She almost makes it sound like a drug addiction these kids have. Almost...

What WILL we do when the T.V.'s of children around the nation are suddenly silent? They won't be able to watch T.V. in their bedrooms or their playrooms or their basements where they sometimes hang out! The kids will have to *shudder* play with their toys, talk to their friends and family, or, heaven forbid, go outside!

Too cynical? I can never tell....

(To help ease this lady's mind, the T.V.'s will probably only be silent for a day or two until the parents go to the store and buy a converter box or, better yet, a whole brand spankin' new (that's right, SPANKIN' new) digital T.V. for the kids.)

Sunday

"Camping"

Did you know that scouts can camp down at Bountiful Lake? Lest you campers get all excited, they don't let anyone else camp there. Just scouts.
At first glance you might think Bountiful Lake, located roughly 5 miles away, would not be a good camping spot.
Here's a list of reasons why it IS a good camping spot:

*When you forget the fleece blanket you'll be needing because the temperature will reach 30 degrees that night, your wife a friend of scouting can bring it to you.

*When you realize that nobody brought newspaper to start a fire, said friend of scouting can bring that to you, also.

*When you get ready to have hot chocolate because it's freaking cold outside and you realize you forgot cups, once again the friend of scouting can bring you some.

*When you're playing "Steal the Flag" in the dark and don't see the trench full of muddy water, you can go home and clean up.

Totally Random

Kaden: Teacher, can you make David eat bacon?
Me: No.
Kaden: But I really want you to make him eat bacon.
Me: (What in the....?) Why?
Kaden: Because I want him to eat bacon.
Me: Why do you want him to eat bacon?
Kaden: Because I want to be in charge of him!
Me: Well, if I tell him to eat bacon, then I'M in charge of him.
Kaden: Oh.

S.O.S.

This is an urgent cry for help. There are two adults trapped in a house with 21 chocolate lasagna cupcakes.

I repeat, there are TWO ADULTS TRAPPED in a house with 21 CHOCOLATE LASAGNA cupcakes.

We can't hold out much longer.

The outcome looks inevitable.

(Happy Birthday tomorrow, Zack!)

Politics

My students have been pretty interested in this whole election thing. ....at least they've been interested since yesterday when the school librarian talked to them about it. They keep asking each other who they're going to vote for. Then they give each other high fives if they both said the same person. They're bonding. I think.

Their political views (or those of their parents) have gone so far as to change what is right and wrong when it comes to important stuff, like math learnding.

Today I was giving them a "test". (I use that term lightly because, in my opinion, it was a complete waste of time on the school district's part. In fact, more than being a waste of time, it's actually a detriment to time. Not only does it keep me from doing more important things with my class, it actually decreases the learning in my room. Did you hear that school district? It's DECREASING LEARNING! Anyways...) In the test there was a picture of a row of elephants and donkeys in a pattern. The question asked "Which comes next in the pattern?"
Me, being the bonehead teacher that I was, decided to disrupt their concentration in figuring out the answer to inform them that the donkey and the elephant were symbols used by the presidential candidates and the groups they belonged to. After I told when which candidate went with which animal, I noticed several of them changing their answer to the symbol that represented their political choice. Eh, they don't get to vote, so at least they got to vote in their own special way.

The confusion mounts...
While we were having a discussion about the election (this one wasn't during the test), I asked my kids if they knew who the current president was. After getting a few responses of "George Washington!" and "George Lincoln!" I told them it was George W. Bush. I explained that we called him George W. Bush because his dad was also George Bush and he was a president before him.
I heard one of my students say "Hey, I'm named after my uncle, so I should be Joseph W."

Awwwwwwww

This is a picture I snuck of Zack while he was washing my car windshield tonight.

He does that often. When he does it I feel really taken care of and loved.

Yeah, he's sweet like that.

And no, he's not mad. He's just concentrating.

The Pot Runneth Over

I glanced at my class today as I was walking out of the lunchroom. They were all sitting at a table together, eating their lunch, talking and laughing. I flashed back to my own grade school lunch experience. I'm one of those kids lucky enough to have lots of good memories of grade school and very little bad ones. At lunch I used to sit by my friend, Kim. We'd talk and laugh just like my students do now. The lunchroom was where we declared that when we grew up we were going to college at BYU and we were going to be cheerleaders. I didn't really know what that meant, but if my friend was going to do it, then I was going to do it, too. The cheerleading part never really panned out (thank HEAVENS), but the BYU part did.

I've been reflecting on friends lately. (It might have something to do with all the incredibly nice, supportive, and loving comments I've been reading.) I've been lucky with friends. I've never had to look for them. They were just always there.

Like friends from my neighborhood that are still friends to this day. I don't know what a sister feels like, but I imagine it feels like one of those girls. I still think about them, wonder what they're doing, and hope that they're happy.

My junior high friends were so good that they turned into high school friends. And they multiplied in high school. I realize now that I basically became friends with those kids that were in my classes. Sharlene and Emily who sat in front of me in science class, Leigh, Dan, Neils, and Derek who happened to play instruments and were in the same band class as I was. RaeAnn, Shannon, Crystal, Heather and all those others who were my friends basically, if I trace it far enough, because my big brother was friends with RaeAnn's big brother.
Angie, who just so happened to be my next door neighbor my first year at BYU and was convinced that Kim's boyfriend was a vampire and who wasn't afraid to come in and talk to some girl she hardly knew. (She must have known good things were to come of this relationship...) Her friend, Heidi, became my friend because that was just the way it was supposed to be.

Becca and Angie, friends from work, that are still friends even when we don't get to work together anymore. We still have a connection that lets us share our thoughts without reservation. I like friends like that.

And then there's my family of friends. I consider myself one of the luckiest people alive to have had friends BORN into my family. If you didn't grow up with cousins, all I can say is, you. missed. out. We were so close that even though some of them lived thousands of miles away we still picked up like it had only been a week since we'd seen each other. And some cousins, who were too young or too old at the time, are now becoming better friends.

I haven't even mentioned ward friends, friends from Zack's work, and friends from old single's wards.

I guess the point I'm trying to make (to myself as much to anyone else), is that the friends pot never gets emptied out. If you were my friend 25 years ago, you are my friend now. Friends are added every year, but never subtracted.
My hope is that it continues like this forever.

So When I see my students talking to each other and becoming friends it's easy to think, "They're only friends because they happen to go to the same school and are both in my class." It's easy to think it won't last. But then I remember my past and friendships that started because we lived 2 houses away or were in the same class at school. And I believe I'm watching something great happen. I hope theirs lasts a lifetime, too.

To all our friends who are supporting us and praying for us, I just don't know what to say. I guess all I can say is, Thanks for being our friends.

Secrets Revealed!

We like to be sneaky, Zack and I. We don't always like to say things straight out. We'd rather give out clues, beat around the bush, or say things without really saying them. It's fun, but sometimes plays havoc with our communication. (Miscommunication isn't always the best thing in a marriage. heh heh....)


So, for those of you who have fallen victim to our evasive ways, click HERE for the big news and be excited with the rest of us! Yea for big news!

The Leap.

One Step

"One step at a time, there's no need to rush.
It's like learning to fly or falling in love.
It's gonna happen and it's supposed to happen.
And we find the reasons why one step at a time."

Sometimes that one step feels more like a leap. But I guess that's the only way you learn to fly, and flying is what you want.
Who knew that leaping off the edge could feel so good?

Fun-due. Ha ha! Get it? FUN due?!! Because it's really Fon-due and I called it FUN due...you know, because it's fun........nevermind.

I'm in love with you fondue, even though you made my tummy hurt. A lot.



This is the table before we ate. Thanks to Jodie (and others) for the cute table decorations. Doesn't it look soooo good?










And this is the table after. It doesn't do justice to the amount of food we ate. I think D'Nell is sad because the fundue had to come to an end. I felt the sadness too, but you can't see it because you know, I'm taking the picture and stuff.

Two posts on the same subject. Post One: Something Blew Up In My Kitchen

I don't know. I got tired of using cupboards. They're so confining. Why does everything have to be hidden? Why can't I have everything out in the open where I can see it? Besides, counterspace is SO overrated. Am I right? Now that everything's out in the open, who knew I had 16 vases and a glass pitcher? (Who uses a glass pitcher anyway? Isn't that for the Kool-Aid guy?)

I guess this isn't the best way to clean the cupboards, especially since it's going to take us a week to put everything back because we're anal and we want to make sure every space in our kitchen is OPTIMIZED! For instance, glass vases that you never use take up a lot of room. Mugs that you only use occasionally take up a lot of room. Items you do want to use (such as that awesome Bosch that your mom got you for Christmas SEVEN years ago that is currently picking up dust on your pantry floor, and that George Foreman grill that you have used only once because you forgot you had it. ...I mean, come on, the rice cooker you got from your wedding is a gift from heaven, the GF grill has got to be half as good, at least) should be placed in an easy-to-reach area. I've also discovered a few other useful tips: You should make sure you have a complete set of measuring cups and spoons, not several sets of mismatched ones. If you don't drink champagne or wine, you probably don't need a cork screw. For people who rarely eat potatoes, three potato peelers probably aren't necessary. Perhaps the dog treats, leashes, heartguard pills, and medicine shouldn't be thrown into a pile on top of the barbecueing tools. And the spices, don't even get me started about the spices. The cute spice rack you got from your wedding? You know, the one where you only use 3 spices from it while the ones you actually use are in the cupboard and hard to see? Maybe you ought to reconsider how that works...

Two posts on the same subject. Post Two: A Declaration of War

We blew up our cabinets today in a tactical maneuver to get rid of the tiny brown beetles. So far, we've sent a mighty blow to their forces by destroying their homeland. But their numbers are many and they are not easily rid of. The war continues....

Blast from the ...Huuuh?

Which one is the real one from 1996 and which one is the fake one....from 1996?

They both look SO. REAL.



I miss you 1996 hair. You were so cool.

It's all about the hair

If I grew up in the sixties, I'd be the happiest geek EVER.





I've always wondered what I'd look like with an afro.
That's a lie. I've never wondered that.

But I should have. I look awesome.
Yeah. I make a great white/black lady.




But what can compare with the 80's fro?




Fake high school memories are the best.

If you ever want to see Sleeping Beauty again...

Ransom: Cinnastix

Note: She is being treated fairly well. She enjoys being wrapped up in her blanket/dish towel.

Best. Gift. Ever.

See disclaimers 1,2 and 4 from Mrs. Crazy Adventure Lady. Major emphasis on Disclaimer #4
Okay, now THIS is the blog I actually had permission to "write". If you don't have much time or if you are a slow reader, or if you don't care about a bunch of my past and how gaga I am over Carrie, then you'd better stop now!

Ahem.

Carrie and I have a tradition for our anniversary. We take turns planning the important day's activities. This year was an even year (6! yea!) so it was Carrie's turn to make the plans (It's just easier to remember that I have the odd years for some strange reason). We always warn each other not to set our expectations too high, so we aren't let down, but we always have a blast. Carrie diligently warned me of the same thing this year, but she sure didn't have to.

Rewind about 15 years to a seemingly unrelated topic.

My brother and I would go to Denver (Northglenn area to be precise) every summer to spend the off-school time with our Dad. We always had a lot of fun activities planned. My Dad was (is? ...that's a-whole-nutha blog) a truck driver for NAPA. He had a nightly run, so he would leave around 7:00pm and get back around 11:00am all rested and ready to go. So we would have all day to do whatever 3 guys could dream up. Our creative juices generally led us to the same conclusion. "Let's go golfing!", which we did probably 2-4 times a week since we had some annual passes.

Fast-forward about 9 years.

As a working student I didn't really have the funds or time to golf much (see a theme yet?), but I still managed to find a way to get out to the links a couple times a month. I've never been a great golfer, but golf is so relaxing and so much fun to play. I thoroughly enjoyed each time even though I still had the same clubs that I used as a kid; A set of dinged-up metal woods that were given to me by my Dad's co-driver who had them given to him several years before, and a fancy set of cavity-backed, no-name, used irons that I bought with the money I won playing racquetball with my Dad's drunk roommate. Good times!
My favorite course in Salt Lake has always been the Mountain Dell Canyon course because it is cool, and the surroundings are incredible. Nice and relaxing. (Except for the first few seconds after each shot when I'm wondering why I lifted my head for the up-teen billionth time, and hoping that punishing the club will make the problem go away).

Fast forward until a month or so ago.

As a married man I was lucky to golf once a year. I generally made it out for the annual company golf outing, or maybe when the Burgess' were short a guy during their annual Memorial Day family tournament. I missed golf, and Carrie had never forbad me from going, but it turns out I'm a pretty needy guy, and truth-be-told, I didn't see the fun in purposefully attempting to have fun without Carrie. It's too hard!

So you can imagine how I felt when Carrie informed me of our anniversary's opening activity. She had called and set up a morning tee-time at the canyon course...for two! I was ecstatic. She wanted to go golfing with me. ME!

So we did :o)



Now let me explain this blog's title. You may say to yourself, "She knew you liked golf so she took you golfing", but that would just be a 'great' gift. She didn't just take me golfing.

First of all, it was her day to plan however she wanted, and she tried to think of what IIII would enjoy the most. Her focus was on making ME happy, because she knew that is what would make HER happy (hence, our happy marriage :o) ). And she didn't just take me golfing, she is taking up golfing. That's right. She is giving golf a serious look because she wants to like it, because she knows I do. After 1 lesson she was already showing that she had learned well and had a very nice looking swing.



We've now taken two of our four lessons (yes, we. My swing aPPARently needed an overhaul) and Carrie is doing very well. She has an excellent looking swing and she just doesn't miss putts, even though she's never had a putting lesson and she sure didn't pick it up from watching me.

We went golfing for the second time today at the Jordan River Par 3 course. Carrie had several nice shots and did incredibly well for such a short learning time, but let me describe for you the second hole today. Carrie winds up her 7 iron on the tee box and blasts it into the tiny innocent ball which is sent flying through the air and lands right on the green. It rolls a bit and ends up about 10 feet from the hole. Then Carrie calmly strikes the ball with that perfect putting touch of hers and drops it into the middle of the cup at just the right speed after about 6-8 inches of left to right break. A birdie. A BIRDIE!!! I don't think I've ever been so excited on a golf course before. The amazing thing is that I wasn't even surprised. She has hit a lot of nice shots before, and she has sunk a lot of 10 foot putts. Don't get me wrong; other than that hole neither of us got anything better than a bogey, but it was so much fun to be out on the course with her.

I'm sorry if you are someone who I've already talked to about how cool it is to me that Carrie is trying golf, but I just can't get over what a selfless gift it is, or how loved I feel by her thoughtfulness.

And you know what? Golf has never been this fun to me before. I feel very blessed to have a wife who likes to be with me and who I like to be with.

There is a chance that it won't pan out, and Carrie won't really like it that much, and after this summer we may never golf together again. Or maybe we just won't be able to find the time, except for company or family outings. But no matter what happens from here on out, there is no question in my mind about what the "best gift ever" is.

Mrs. Crazy Adventure Lady

Disclaimer #1 - This blog's writer is NOT Carrie
Disclaimer #2 - This blog's writer tends to make a lot of disclaimers.
Disclaimer #3 - This isn't the blog I have permission to write (I'll get to that in a minute)
Disclaimer #4 - This blog's writer is NOT a writer. If you continue reading this blog (known in California to cause cancer) it won't take you long to realize that this blog's writer tends to be excessively wordy without actually providing any useful content. He may even stop the blog at a climax, with careless disregard for a proper denouement.

You can't say I didn't warn you...

Though this blog is not written by Carrie, it belongs here because it is most definitely ABOUT Carrie. So yes, for those of you who are capable of adding 2 and 2, Carrie is Mrs. Crazy Adventure Lady.

Some of you might think that Carrie is pretty quiet and/or conservative and/or responsible. You'd be right, but let me give you a little insight into the inner workings that morph her into the Mrs. Crazy Adventure Lady that has made herself known regularly as of late. Carrie loves to have fun and she isn't afraid to try something new. Rather than continue blabbing on and on (I've got another blog to write!) I'll just give examples with photos or video where available.

She went on the roller coaster water slide at Raging Waters.

She went SCUBA diving in Honduras.

She rode a four-wheeler up a steep slope covered with giant boulders
It is worth mentioning that Crazy Adventure Husband and Crazy Adventure Brother (See adventure example below - he's a little camera shy) were unable to climb the same treacherous slope with their ATVs, but almost killed themselves trying!



She branded her very own arm with my name.



...okay, she didn't really brand herself. Actually she made a duct tape template with the letters cut out, slapped it onto her arm, and let the sun burn her skin while she went kite surfing in Northern Greenland.

She went on THIS ride in Ohio that accelerates from 0-120mph in 4 seconds and rises over 400 feet. ...and she did it 4 times. ...and she did it in the very front seat even though she had to focus on keeping her mouth closed so she didn't swallow any bugs (there were three bugs stuck to her shirt at the end of that night ride).



So there is a sampling of Mrs. Crazy Adventure Lady's activities over the past year. Just to keep from shattering your image of Carrie, I should point out that during each of the above activities she was very responsible (...except for burning my name in her skin. For Shame!).

Now, the pictures and video below are the real reason I started this blog 10 pages ago. We were returning to the cabin with a couple kayaks on the truck, and we decided to make a quick stop at Butterfly Lake.
One thing led to another, and...





You're crazy Mrs. Crazy Adventure lady!

I Don't Wanna Go Back...

Last year, after an especially long day at school, I created a blog solely for the purpose of venting. I came across the solitary entry today while I was going through my teaching files in preparation for the upcoming school year.

I thought others might enjoy...

Why am I subjecting myself to this again?

I'm a princess

We all know, deep down, that we're a princess. But now you can figure out which Disney princess you are. My first results said I was Pocahontas. Her profile isn't bad, but since I hate that movie I decided to change one answer (the obvious one that pointed me toward Pocahontas -sitting by a waterfall in the wilderness? Come on...) and now I'm Mulan. I can live with that.


You Are Mulan!

Strong and spirited. You're no one's girly girl; actually you are very determined person with a strong sense of self. Never let go of that! The only thing that equals your sense of self is your family, but the traditions of society can always be bent to protect something or someone you love.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

Unsent Letter

Dear driver of the four-door, black Acura with the California license plates,

Thank you.

Thank you so much for not hitting me today when I changed into your lane. I thought I checked all my blind spots when I moved into your lane, but I must not have. You were back there somewhere and when I changed lanes you had to stop short to avoid hitting me. Thank you for being so alert and attentive! We both avoided a lot of lost time, painful paperwork, phone calls, and money thanks to your driving. I don't think I can thank you enough.

Thank you also for teaching me a great lesson. Not only did I learn to watch my blind spots more carefully, but I learned a little bit about myself and how I should treat others who make mistakes.
You were obviously very upset that I didn't see you. I understand completely. I'd be upset, too. And I can understand that you'd want me to know how close I came to being hit and how careless I was when I moved into your lane.

However.

It wasn't necessary for you to go out of your way to follow me so closely on my right side as I made that left turn onto another street. It also wasn't necessary for you to drive along side, roll down your window and yell at me. Honestly, I have no idea what you were saying because my window was rolled up. And I wasn't about to roll it down because I already knew what you were trying to say. Your driving said it all. Rather than listening to your screaming, my main objective at that point was to make sure I didn't get in another close-call because of your erratic driving. I was willing to drive slowly until you got your point across. You taught me a lot in that moment about being aware of the cars around me. I was now very aware of your car and was anticipating any move that it would make. That's why I was able to slow down and avoid rear-ending you when you shot in front of me and then slammed on your brakes. I know I am in no position to give advice at this moment, but, really, is that how you teach other people a lesson? I didn't really learn much from your lesson. All I learned was that you were a jerk. And I'm sure that you're not really a jerk. You were just acting like one to me.

Aside from learning that you have a temper, I did learn a few more important things. I learned to think about what I do when people around me do dumb things on the road.

When I'm the one who has to stop short because some careless driver didn't see me, is it my job to let that driver know what an idiot move they just made? Having just been the idiot driver, I can honestly say no. Believe me, I learned that lesson as soon as I saw you in my rear-view mirror and heard you honking. It's a good lesson to learn. I'm so glad it was just a lesson and not a consequence involving higher insurance rates.

So, for all the lessons learned, thank you.

Sincerely,
The driver in the four-door, silver honda, with the Utah license plates.

A man and his truck

I married a typical boy. I'm learning now that I didn't grow up with "typical boys". (No offense my bruthas...) They didn't live for playing sports and competing. They didn't have sports idols (at least not that I was aware of). They didn't drool over a good piece of meat or grunt or any of that stuff. In my high school mind boys like that were kind of rude. And mean. And they were jerks. Funny how I knew what somebody was like just by looking at them. Aren't high school stereo-types fun?!

I hung out with a different class of boy. The intellectual/nerdy/musical/funny boys. Give me a boy who could understand subtle sarcastic humor and appreciate some good music over a boy who spent his time sweating in a gym or on a court any day. (No offense to the boys I hung out with growing up. I'm sure you were good at sports....and stuff.)

But then I met Zack. He's a unique combination of both types. He taught me that you CAN be on the football team or basketball team and not be a jerk. (But what about my good old-fashioned high school stereo-types?!) He's super smart in a good nerd sort of way, AND he appreciates a good subtle, sarcastic comment any day.

But he's also a typical boy. He likes meat. He likes to play sports. Give him a ball and his face lights up. He likes to watch sports. He even reads about sports in the paper. Honestly, when they start talking about sports on the news my brain tells me that the news is over and I change the channel. It didn't even occur to me that people like to watch that stuff. But Zack does. He loves it. He knows all sorts of tid-bits about any sport. He knows names and statistics. He also knows how to play most sports.

He also knows about cars. He can change oil, brake pads, flush fluids and actually knows how the engine works. What a guy.

He likes to work out (when he has the time). He loves his power tools.

And he likes his truck.

I used to think that trucks were kind of like big toys for boys. They used a lot of gas, they cost a lot of money, they aren't practical to take a family around in, and guys always bought them bigger than they needed to be. I could see that they served a purpose, but only if you lived on a farm or needed them to haul stuff around alot.

I never understood how much a truck can make a guy feel like a man until we got our truck. There's something about being able to haul your own stuff in your own truck; beholden to no one. Shortly after we got the truck we were hauling some wood in a trailer and Zack said, "I've got my truck, I'm hauling a trailer full of firewood that I'm going to chop up for my woodburning stove, my dogs are in the back and my wife is in the seat next to me. Can it get any better than this?"

Maybe it can...

When we decided to get a truck we agreed that it would be used for good. When you have a truck people are going to ask you to help them move stuff. We agreed that we wouldn't complain when people asked us to help them. That's why we have a truck. To move stuff with. Since getting the truck we have used it for lots of things. He has helped people move stuff. Even though it's a smaller truck (it barely fits in the garage) his truck can do many things. At the cabin we discovered that he can put two kayaks on the back of the truck plus room for chairs, coolers and life jackets.

He can even fit an ATV in the back of his truck.

But my favorite image of him and the truck is that of last Monday. That's when he drove away with two boys in the back seat and a scout trailer attached to back. He was on his way to scout camp for the first time as scoutmaster. This was not an easy call to accept. It took a lot of humility to accept a call that he was sure almost every guy in the ward was more qualified for. It took, and still takes, a lot of patience to work with 12 and 13 year old boys. It takes a lot of commitment and time and work. It was hard to take 5 days off of work to spend up in the mountains with someone other than his wife. But he did it. He's doing a great job. And even though there are times he grumbles because it's hard or takes time away from being with me, he does it, because he knows who it was who called him to do it. And he's doing a pretty good job with those boys.

And I have to admit, the truck makes a huge difference. It's probably one of the best uses "for good" that I can think of right now. I hope it gets a lot more use like that.

Memory Tag

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

Productivity Screetches to a Halt

Nothing is getting done at my house. It's been this way for two days. I knew this would happen. I'm almost done. Just a hundred pages or so. Then I can come back to the present world. The world where there are no Souls and Hosts, Jareds, Jamies, Ians, or impossible decisions to make.

You know what I mean.

I guess, once you reach a certain age, you can toddle again.

Yeah, yeah. I'm still alive. I've just been....... so....... busy. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!

Even though I haven't been blogging, I HAVE been thinking about blogging. And I take my camera with me when I go places. You know, just in case I see something that BEGS to have it's picture taken.

Like this.

The Johnson's are getting new furniture.

At least, I'm assuming they are. I'm not a stalker. Really. At least not today. The RC Willey truck showed up at my house this morning mistaking us for the house one street over -The Johnson's. (To protect my neighbor's anonymity, I'm going to give them a generic name, like "Johnson", so no one knows who I'm really talking about.) Sometimes we get "The Johnson's" mail. Pretty juicy stuff. I won't go into any details about it, but I will say this: Sometimes, I think they shop in bulk.

Page 123

Angie tagged me with the following:

1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people and post a comment to the person who tagged you once you've posted your three sentences.

Angie tagged me a while ago and I wasn't able to respond to her tag since I was at school and the 100 nearest books to me were all under 32 pages long. I'm home now and as I looked around for the nearest book I discovered the nearest one was a surprise book from Zack sitting on our shelf.

The book is "C.S. Lewis: The Complete C.S. Lewis Signature Classics."

Page 123 happens to be the preface to "The Screwtape Letters".

"They themselves are equally pleased by both errors and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight. The sort of script which is used in this book can be very easily obtained by anyone who has once learned the knack; but ill-disposed or excitable people who might make a bad use of it shall not learn it from me."

I really want to know what everyone's nearest books are, but I can only pick five.
Therefore, I now tag Shannon, Sharlene, Mike, Sarah and D'Nell

Now Let Us Rejoice

This weekend I had the priviledge of seeing my newest little niece blessed by her daddy. Her daddy is my baby brother and it's fun to watch him enter this new phase of his life. It seems he was born to play the role of the doting father. He can't stop smiling at his baby girl. And I don't blame him. She is a DOLL.

The blessing took place in California, because that's where my brother and his wife live (much to our disappointment). My parents, my two brothers and Zack and I were able to make it out for the blessing.

While I was sitting in the chapel, surrounded by my brothers, my parents, and my sister-in-law's family, I starting thinking about all the family members who were there but participating on the other side of the veil. My brother, my son, my grandparents and countless others surely were there as well enjoying the wonderful occasion. My sister-in-law's grandparents had passed away a while ago and so I imagined them greeting and shaking hands with my grandparents and congratulating each other on such a fine, sweet little great-grandchild. I imagined a lot of patting each other on the back, hand-shaking, grins, and words of "She's adorable." "We've done well." and "She gets that from me...". (You know how grandparents -and great-grandparents- can be.) While I was sitting there thinking about all of this I was struck with how neat it was that two families, who didn't know each other before, could instantly become connected -all because of a little girl.

Then the closing hymn started. "Now let us rejoice in the day of salvation." A wave of understanding washed over me as I sang the next words, "No longer as strangers on earth need we roam."

We, two families who were once strangers, are strangers no more. We are one great family now. And that's pretty much what life is all about.

He's got a point...

Last week we had American Idol on while we were doing some things in the basement. Dolly Parton was the guest of honor that night and she sang a song called "Jesus and Gravity" (or something like that). You all know what I'm talking about, right?

There's a part in the song where Dolly sings the phrases "He lifts me up! I've got Jesus!" over and over...and over.

From the corner of the room, where he's working on some wiring, I hear Zack mutter, "Apparently 'Jesus' is the name of her plastic surgeon."

Glimpses Into A Technological Generation

Their recess games involve acting out video and computer games they play at home. (This is almost too sad for words.)

Their short stories in class go something like this:

"The airplane is shooting. He got shot. Is he dead? Find out at www.mydrawing.com."

The next step is for them to actually HAVE a website called "www.mydrawing.com".

That's My Dog

Taking a midnight emergency trip to the vet 20 minutes away and consulting with a doctor: $75
Having a team of doctors feed your dog a can of delicious chicken flavored dog food: $5
Having the team of doctors give your dog an injection so he'll throw it up: $30
Having the doctors clean up the mess: $37.50

Not having your dog's insides shredded by a half-inch square scrap of metal: Priceless

Your World

Zack and I found ourselves in a quandary last week. We had planned a trip to San Diego as an attachment to a business trip he was going on. He'd leave on Monday, I'd fly down on Thursday (Valentine's Day) to meet up with him, and we'd spend the weekend playing on the beach, visiting museums or zoos, and playing with my little bro and his wife. Buuuut mixing business with pleasure doesn't always work. The business trip was pushed back a week, and then it was pushed back another week. And then it was undecided. That works great if work is paying for the tickets and all the change fees. Not so great for us. When we realized that our weekend trip to San Diego was going to cost us twice as much, we started looking at other options. We could go anywhere we wanted to for a 4 day weekend (that was cheaper than San Diego.) We finally decided on a road trip to Colorado to visit Zack's dad. To make it more fun, we broke up the 11 hour drive by staying at a place in Glenwood Springs. It is home to the largest hot springs pool in North America. You know it's a fun place when there are signs on the pool deck that say "Pool deck may be icy." It was really fun to swim in hot hot water while my head was freezing freezing cold. We had a really good time. Semi-spontaneous trips can be fun... if they're planned right.

A few weeks ago I had my kids answer the following question: If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go and what would you do there?

Their answers ranged from the daring....

To the not so daring...

To the imaginative...

To the interesting.

And some just wanted to make friends around the world.

A while ago Zack and I asked ourselves the same questions in the form of a challenge. The challenge was this:

We have 3 weeks to come up with 3 different places to travel to.

At the end of the 3 weeks we had to present our ideas.

We had to say where we'd stay, how we'd get there, give ideas on what to do, and have a rough estimated cost of the trip.

Our ideas ranged from caving and whale watching in Canada to Broadway shows in New York to an RV trip down the California coast. Not that we're going to do any of them anytime soon, but it never hurts to have a vacation idea rolling around in your head.

Now I'm asking you the same questions. If you could go anywhere (and I mean ANYWHERE. We're talking dream vacations here.) in the world, where would you go, why do you want to go there, and what would you do?

Small Green Rooms of Joy

Earlier this week, around 11:15 in the morning, I heard this announcement on the school intercom:

"Teachers, a pipe has broken on 700 South, just down the street from us. In order for them to fix the problem they will need to shut the water off to our school in about an hour. The water will be off for the rest of the day."

I was hoping the rest of the announcement would go something like "...and so we will be closing school early today. The buses will be here to pick the students up at 12:30...". No such luck. My principal happens to be a stickler for the edumacation of the chillins.

What did follow was news of portapotties being delivered to the school within the hour and the promise of water bottles for each student and hand santizer for the classrooms.

Hurray for the resourceful principal. The water problem is solved!

Here's what ensued in my classroom for the last 4 hours of the day:

Because the principal had announced that there were water bottles for each student, my kids knew they had water bottles coming. Now when first graders are given their very own water bottle for keeps because of a special fun situation the inevitable happens. That's right. They all drink their entire bottle within the first 15 minutes. Aaaaand what inevitably happens 20 minutes later? That's right. They ALL have to go to the bathroom. And where are the bathrooms? Oh, right, they're outside. And because they're outside they have to go with a buddy. And they have to bundle up because it's 10 degrees out there.

I think every student had to go to the bathroom at LEAST 4 times before the end of the day. Never before have portapotties been such an attraction. Everybody's got to go try the cool new green outside bathrooms that smell! And everybody's got to experience freezing your buns off, Right?!

I, for one, was determined not to be in any situation that would require using portapotties that were situated on the school playground. I have several reaons for this. (Obviously.) For one, it's cold. Two, it's a portapottie. Three, my bathroom breaks are when the kids go outside for recess...to the playground. I could just hear the knocking on each side of the portapottie now. "Teacher's in there! Teacher's using the portapottie! Mrs. Evans, are you in there!" No thanks. And the last and final reason, would YOU use a portapottie that had recently been used by 200 children multiple times in the past 4 hours?

He Built Me a Cake

My cold is not gone. You think it's gone? It's NEVER gone!
Seriously, this is literally the longest cold I've ever had in my life.

This is the cold that never ends. Yes it goes on and on my friend. Some little kid gave it to me, I don't know who it was, but he'll continue giving it to me forever just because....

Anyway, this blog isn't about my cold. It's about how my hubby has been taking care of me throughout the cold. Even when he's been feeling sick.

Here are two excellent examples of what he's done for me the past few weeks. (17 days and counting...)

He built me a cake.
I was at the stage of my sickness where my throat felt dry all the time. The only thing that made it feel better was if I was constantly swallowing something. But that something couldn't be all hard and salty like chips. It had to be soft and snacky...like a cake.

(Yes, this is how we eat cake at our house.)

He surprised me with Comfort after a long day at school.

I got home and found this waiting for me:

The instructions were for me to push start on the microwave (he had some honey/lemon drink ready to heat up), put on the comfy clothes, take a Comtrex and a cough drop, and watch T.V., play on the computer, or read the paper while I lounged on the couch and waited for him to come home.

He arrived 15 minutes later with movies and a pizza.

If this doesn't make me the luckiest girl around, I don't know what does.

Fancy Cow

This post has been a long time coming. Uh, sorry about that, D'Nell!
But I finally finished my apron! D'Nell came over and taught me the sneaky last part that wasn't actually too hard if you could read the kryptic instructions that came with the pattern. Seriosly, did the Japanese write them?
D'Nell's apron is so cute and I can finally be a "fancy cow" when I'm cooking.
Woo hoo!

Above Water SCUBA Diving is SO Not What It's Cracked Up To Be

I'm sick.
I have a cold.
Not just one of those little colds where you wake up with a sore throat and a little runny nose that goes away after a day or two. This is one of those feel it in your chest kind of colds. The kind that starts in your chest, slowly moves to your throat and then takes up a room in your nose with occasional hour-long trips to your ears. It's the kind of cold that keeps you up at night for no apparent reason except that you can't lie down without feeling like an elephant is sitting on your nose and it won't. go. away.
Cold medicine doesn't work on this cold. Humidifiers only make the room a little less dry for your poor nose. Liquids merely keep your throat from seizing up and sending you into coughing spasms. Your ears get plugged and won't pop for going on 17 hours now. You feel like you're constantly under water. ...aaand you've already discovered you hate SCUBA diving so you don't need to relive it. Ever.

On the plus side, all noise is muffled a bit and you can't tell if your first graders are being louder than normal. You also can't talk very loudly because of the throat thing and the cough thing, so you get to reinforce the fact that you don't want to get your student's attention by yelling over their chatter.
Also, since you haven't felt like eating for the past 3 days, when you do feel like eating something you feel perfectly justified in eating it on the grounds that your body needs nourishment. Any kind of nourishment. Even if that nourishment is potato chips, soda pop, and peanut butter Twix. If you're craving it, then your body probably needs it to recover, right?