Gilbert-Eschler LLC

edu301 week 5

2012-01-22T19:59:00.002-07:00

This week we had a couple things due. Our first official teacher observation (of 100+ hours that will need to be done), and some teacher tech goodies. Good class.. ready to move on.

Teach observation... I want to be this teacher when I grow up!
http://www.scribd.com/doc/79053811

Technology in the classroom: overview of 5 tools I will use and a focus on SMART response clickers.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/79053940
http://www.scribd.com/doc/79053983

edu301 week 4

2012-01-17T06:53:00.003-07:00

Scary how fast these classes go by. Week 4 was a team project. We reviewed some stats on children in Utah, had a discussion on what we knew, what was new, and what surprised us. Then had to find a way to display this information.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/78521967
Fishing for facts

EDU301 week 3

2012-01-10T22:07:00.002-07:00

This week was all about looking into my ideals of why I want to teach and what I want my class to be like. It was hard. I am NOT a big thinker so philosophies of teaching was tough for me. But here are week 3's assignments.

My philosophies of education (this is normally turned in with a resume for a job, and is updated through out someones career.)

http://www.scribd.com/doc/77851701

A working thought process of my philosophies.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/77851883

EDU301 week 2

2012-01-08T19:20:00.002-07:00

So far this class is interesting, not to hard, and that's a good thing!

Team presentation on Merit pay
http://www.scribd.com/doc/77593143

Understanding Common Core flow chart
http://www.scribd.com/doc/77593265

2011 wrap up

2012-01-01T11:17:00.002-07:00

2011 review:

Jan: Cheer competitions, cookies, Sirj working, Kim finished long term sub gig.
Feb: Fabulous 13th birthday vintage cupcake wars for Taylor, cheer competitions, Sirj working, Kim subbing, both girls in NJHS.
Mar: Cheer competitions, Kim travel/subbing, Sirj travel and working, selling cookies on street corners.
Apr: T1 makes SRJH cheer, Vegas cheer comp, Sirj and I renew our vows, Kim subbing, Sirj travel and working.
May: Sirj Toy Story birthday, both girls get high honors for school, Kim subbing, Sirj working and travel.
June: SRJH Cheer camp, Sirj working, Kim doubled up on classes.
July: Family cruise to Cozumel, Jamaica, and Grand Cayman, AWESOME Harry Potter half birthday party, HP7 pt 2, Sirj working.
Aug: Scout trip to CA, school starts for T1 and T2, Kim travels and had a birthday, Sirj working.
Sept: Kim travel, Kim subbing, family anniversary, Sirj work/travel.
Oct: Kim subbing, Kim travel, Sirj working/travel, Halloween fun!
Nov: Kim subbing, Sirj working/travel, loads of family for Thanksgiving.
Dec: T1 awesome 15th UP movie party, cheer competitions, Christmas fun, Kim subbing, Sirj working, Kim holds a 4.0 for the year.

Great year, busy... so very busy! Cheerleading for two teams, my schooling and double up over the summer, both Sirj and I working and travel at times crossed, it's been good busy.

My resolution for 2011 was a success for the most part, to Maintain. Life is where it needs to be, focus will adjust some for 2012.. and that is my resolution for this year, Focus. School, family, relationships, budget, weight, and goals. It should be a great year!!

Edu301 week 1

2011-12-22T13:19:00.004-07:00

The break is over and I am in head first for 2 more years!!
I attended edu300 last week, but it was just a seminar on what to expect the next two year.
Edu301 is Intro to Education. Doesn't look too bad.
Week 1 was a chart

http://www.scribd.com/doc/76332430 teaching standards matrix

On Children

2011-12-11T09:26:00.004-07:00

With today being T1's 15th birthday I find myself struggling. It's silly things I can't control, and fears of a mother with a growing child, but this one is harder than any I can recall.
For no reason the thought popped into my head on Wednesday, that in five (oh so very short years) she will be twenty. That we have two more simple birthdays before she is an adult. There are only 3 more empty spots on my school photo frame.
I've felt I have adjusted to the idea that my kids will have their own lives rather well, I mean only having them half of the time I know there are large parts of their lives I already am not involved in. But for some reason, seeing the dates on the calender be so small, talking about family vacations before she goes off to collage and putting the plan together to visit Berkley soon, is really getting to me.
Beyond my heavy mothers heart, I will brag at how very proud of her I am. She has stepped up and shown such strong leadership and maturity this school year, I have no doubt she will reach out and make what ever she wants happen. She is a great student, a good friend, she has dealt with loss, and personal triumph. And of course I don't need to mention how beautiful she is, not only in her smile, hair and personal style, but her giving, caring nature. She amazes me daily, and I am honored to be apart her life journey.
I woke up thinking about this passage today, it is humbling and my reality.

On Children

Kahlil Gibran

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.
Happy Birthday sweetheart!

It's a great life!

2011-11-20T09:50:00.003-07:00

Thanksgiving has become one of my favorite holidays. I enjoy greatly that Sirj and I's family come together and celebrate under one roof. The more love in a room, the more there is to be thankful for! We will have a full house this holiday with many of Sirj's family joining us from California, and Texas.
Here is my list of 38 things, one for each wonderful year of my life, I am thankful for. {and please understand my husband, kids and family are a give in!}
1 Airplanes
2 Skinny vanilla latte (no foam/no whip)
3 IPhone Apps (Post Secret, Facebook, LoseIt, and UofP esp)
4 Girl Scouts
5 Cats purring
6 Johnny Depp
7 Time spent with family especially on vacations
8 A cute dog that lets me dress her
9 Target Superstore
10 DVR
11 Starting the 12th year of being with man I love.
12 The voice of a friend {Dauhhhling}
13 Pintrest
14 My mom and dads 39 year marriage
15 Being trusted by teachers to teach their classes.
16 Cameras
17 Support from family, friends, and co-workers regarding my schooling.
18 Bagel thins and Skinny Cow cheese wedges.
19 A steady income
20 The ability to laugh more than cry, when parenting
21 Family meals
22 The feeling a good song leaves you with
23 The crisp feeling of autumn
24 That 'smell' of spring
25 Uncontrolled genuine laughter
26 How powerful a hug is
27 The visibly lived in home we have
28 The joy and heartache of being a mom for 15 years
29 See’s chocolates
30 The smell of my husbands cologne
31 Two working, safe cars
32 Sleeping in
33 Scrapbooking, sharing great memories with great friends
34 Text messaging.
35 Dishwashers
36 The understanding that it's OK to fail, but never give up.
37 Authors, who risk much to bring entertainment for my imagination.
38 Walt Disney, Dr. Seuss, and Shel Silverstein.

Praxis I follow up

2011-11-15T20:11:00.003-07:00

Aahhhh... it's over.

75 min reading, 75 min math, 15 break, 36 min writing (grammar and edits), 30 min essay.

On reading... I scored 184/190
On math... I scored 184/190
On writing/essay... I wont know for 2 weeks /190

Yes, it was hard. Yes, I almost ran out of time on the math and essay. Yes, I second guessed most of my answers. Yes, I will stress till I get that last score.

Hopefully I can put the study book away for 18 months until it is time to take the Praxis II!!

Followup: I got 172/190 on the writing/essay... I PASSED!!!

SCI 201 Alternative Medicine

2011-11-15T20:01:00.002-07:00

As I mentioned, I am .33 credits short on my generals, so for 2 Saturdays in November for 8 total hours, I am in a class that I am struggling not to just stand up and yell... Placebo Effect!!!!
Any way... There was a lot of work due for these two weeks, so I am just putting them all in one place...

http://www.scribd.com/doc/72863357 Alternative Systems Chart

http://www.scribd.com/doc/72863504 Supplement Chart

http://www.scribd.com/doc/72863556 Healing Chart

http://www.scribd.com/doc/72863759 Paper on CAM highlight on menopause

http://www.scribd.com/doc/72863845 Team paper on CAM regulations regarding Chiropractic Therapy

http://www.scribd.com/doc/72863945 Power Point on reliability of CAM information and web sites.

There were also 2 pages of discussion questions that had to be turned in, I will spare you from them.

Prepping for the Praxis I

2011-11-09T07:07:00.005-07:00

When I have mentioned to my fellow teachers that I am taking the Praxis I, most of them look at me funny. I've learned that this test is new.. like in the past 5 years new. It used to be that your SAT scores were enough to get into the teaching program. The teachers teaching today had to do the Praxis but that is now the Praxis II... to get their teaching certification. So here is a small break down on the tests for the teaching program:
Praxis I: 3 tests.. 4 areas: 46 questions in 75 min for math. 46 questions with 75 min for reading. 44 questions with 38 min for writing and 1 essay question in 30 min. The math a the reading score the tester will know if they passed that day, the writing and essay come about 2 weeks later after a human grades the essay.
Praxis II: has 5 areas... all must be passed to earn the teaching certificate.
Praxis III: within the first 3 years of teaching, and I really don't know much about it. I do know at this point there are various requirements by each district, either on training hours or something, to meet criteria to be re-certified. And that every 3 years, all teachers have to be fingerprinted and background checked.
So.. I have been gearing up for the Praxis I. My test time is 12:30 on November 15 at the U of U. The scoring for this test is baffling me. The range for all tests is 150-190, and the required passing is 170 in math, 169 in reading, and 172 in writing. BUT.. if each question is worth one point... well that math doesn't add up!! So, I will just keep pushing to understand the questioning, my material, and hope for the best.
With the test a week away, so far I have used a study book (Barron's), and it's been OK. I am disappointed that the CD it came with has only 1 set of test questions for each section, and the test stays the same each time. One thing I am good at is memorizing answers. So.. this was only good for me once as a reference. There is also a written test in the book (done those) and there are general study questions too (done those). What I am finding helpful is some practice tests on the internet. Just doing a search for Praxis 1 math sample test (or writing or reading). Although I am only getting 20 questions, it does help me understand some of the errors I am making when reading the questions. They are worded poorly, and are misleading on purpose. There have been a couple that when I go back to check my work, no matter what, I was going to miss that question because what they want me to see in the question, I just don't see.
In the studying, it does say this is not a test you are looking for 100%. I personally have issue with that, but right now when I can't figure out the scoring, I am just going to shoot for passing. There are no awards on this test for scoring (like with the Praxis II) so.. passing would mean a great deal to me!
Ohhh, if I don't pass. Each area is on it's own, I just retake that area. I have to have all tests passed off by April. Although, I am not sure at what point I have to repay to take a test. The test was already $130. I will continue to read over the rules, formulas, and try to slow down when reading to get ready. On Monday I will practice test all day, and Tuesday I am going to head to Starbucks for a light breakfast with some study cards, get myself a teat, and try not to freak out about this test. I'll let you know how it goes.

Forced brake.. sort of

2011-11-01T18:19:00.003-07:00

University of Phoenix is a little weird. With classes every 5 weeks, dates have to match up for things to work right. For example, when I started classes 8/2010 I knew that I was scheduled to do my student teaching over the summer of 2013... I knew that was a problem.
I was contacted in July that my program was being forced back by 5 weeks, to put my student teaching in Aug of 2013... AWWWWW.. what I already knew!
What pissed me off, was that I was already in the middle of the damn double up to meet my generals. If had known I wouldn't have had to ask for permission from the loan people to do the double up, and drive my family nuts with Constitution and Science. Gesh... Now... I kind of have 5 weeks off (from Thursday nights anyway) while I wait.. ohhh, and I had to get permission from finance for that break!
Now.. why kind of... I also found out I am .33 credits from having all my generals. I guess the credits that came over from SLCC were not a whole number... soo... for two Saturdays in Nov I will be taking a 1 credit class, Alternative Medicine (yuck), to meet this requirement.
And... the rest of the "break" time, I will be using to take the Praxis 1 test. 4.5 hour test on math, writing, and reading.. the basic test to stay in the Teaching Program. I am terrified! Lets just say, I've taken the practice test on all 3 and failed.. like 65% failed... I will be studying a lot!!!
And then its back to class on Dec 15. Just in time for Christmas.

Math 214 WEEK 5!!!

2011-10-26T20:42:00.002-06:00

Can you hear my relief in typing those words. Tomorrow night we do a presentation and we are done!!!

The assignment was fun, the homework was horrid. The fun was creating a lesson plan as a team on a shape, and then we each made our own lesson to integrate the shape.
I think it came out awesome!!

http://www.scribd.com/doc/70465166

Week 4 Math 214

2011-10-19T13:41:00.002-06:00

Well.. hell continues with the written homework of geometry that I just DO NOT understand!!
The team project was way more fun. We got to interview a student, a parent, a teacher, and the superintendent of Weber school district to ask them about math fluency.

One more week...

http://www.scribd.com/doc/69490266 team paper

http://www.scribd.com/doc/69490402 power point

Math 214 week 2 and 3

2011-10-12T17:27:00.003-06:00

Yea, this math is killing me! I didn't take geometry!! A crash course in geometry the University of Phoenix is going to be the death of me.

Oh well... for week 2 and week 3 I did awful paper homework that I turned in.

Week 2 as a team we had to compile data from the National Report Card for math and submit our findings. We compared Utah with Texas.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/68553126

Week 3 we had to create a Hiele Model geography test and administer it on a student.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/68553426 the paper including the test

http://www.scribd.com/doc/68553487 test results

2 more weeks of homework.. gaaaaaa...

Sandwiched.

2011-10-03T09:54:00.004-06:00

Saturday as I was walking out of Heritage Park Nursing Center, from dropping my brother in law back at his room, it hit me. I am officially part of the sandwich generation. (Sandwiched between raising my kids, and taking care of elderly parents.)
Now, I am in this position because I married into it, my parents are still sprie and doing great and hope that keeps up for a long time. But my parents also had me when they were young. Sirj's mom is almost 85, his brother (I will call him BIL)(with permanent disabilities) is 54. I have been taking care of them for about 7 years, and it became more and more, to the point that we hired in home help the start of last year.
Late August Mom fell on Monday and broke her wrist, and cracked her rib. On Friday that same week she fell again and broke the rib. We got the "look" and had a talk about what we are going to put into place to see that she is safe, from the Dr. This is nothing the family was surprised by, we have been hinting about needing to talk as a family for a long while, but really everyone was just putting it off because of how hard we all knew it was going to be.
After the first fall I started looking into what hoops would have be be jumped to find help for financial assistance with my brother in laws medicaid. The hoops are very large, and no way around them. He would have to spend 90 days in a full on nursing center, until the state decided it was cheaper to allow him to live in assisted living (at 1/4 the cost). But, he could not work (shoe shine vocation, keeps his sanity) for that 90 days, and we would have to move Mom, without him. The longest they have EVER been apart. And from previous experiences, separating them has never been a good thing.
With all the information gathered, looking at renting their home till the market comes back, all the ducks in a row, the family call took place. It was one of the hardest things. I know I am just the daughter in law, and have only been their lives for 11 years, but to see how much pain and stress this situation was causing my husband and his two siblings (one in TX and the other in CA) it was heart breaking.
The facts were unflexible and it was what had to be done. Then Mom and BIL had to be told. I was out of town, the other three tryied to set up a skype call and my brother in law in TX ran it. I understand he did a great job, and BIL understood it was his sacrifice to do this horrible change, for the sake of him and Mom. Mom was OK, but medicated for pain, and confused.
That Wednesday Mom had to have a plate put in the broken wrist, after the surgery we took her to Country Pines, her new home, and where BIL would join her in 90 days. And we took BIL to Heritage Park to start his 90 days.
They have been in their respective places for almost 3 weeks. BIL still have a great outlook, he is lonely, but we do take them to dinner like our old schedule, and we take him bowling and to visit Mom every Saturday. Heritage Park has some great activites and services, he is OK. Not great, we know he needs to be by Mom, but he's OK. Mom on the other hand, the first 10 days was still so out of it. Then she started to come around and it was anger and confusion. She wanted to call a taxi and go home. She thought when the bandage came off her wrist she was going home. She blamed all the kids, at different times, for "putting" her there. The room was too small, why were moving her stuff in, there would be no room for BIL's bed! Then she started blaming herself, what had she done wrong, why was this change happening? Three meals and constant meds are helping. She is social, she more aware than I have seen her in a long time. She is still confused, and at times I wonder how much is confusion or just denial to see if she will get the same answer we've given her before. This will be a long road for her and at times is heart breaking.
Saturday when I got BIL to take back, I hung a wipe board with phone numbers, and some of her family photos. Later this week I will hang the wall of family photos we gave her for Mothers Day some years back. I think the more of her stuff there will help her know it's home. We will move BIL's bed in as the 90 days is close to over, and we are all sure that once he is there, he can help with the confusion and the daily life will just become a new normal. We will also get them a small fridge, a new skinny nightstand for between their beds, possibly a lap top, and a new TV to hang on the wall. The room is only 15x12. A room, not an apartment!
This has honestly been the hardest thing I have ever done. Before the move I would look at her and feel such horrible guilt that I was working on taking her home, and everything she knew away from her, for her own safety, but it still hurt like hell. To watch the pain Sirj was going through was too much some days, and to listen to the conference calls and how much my sweet sister in law was hurting just made me cry. Thursday when I took Mom out for a Dr./hair, mani/pedi apts, when I drove up in front of Country Pines, she asked if that was were BIL was staying. It hurt to tell her that was her home now.
There is no doubt this is what had to happen, and it will be a great thing for BIL in the long term, we will already be set up and taken care of when it is time for him to live on his own. There is still much to do, wait for a renter for the house, change the van registration, wait out the rest of the 90 days. But by Christmas, we will have a new normal, and a healthy situation for them.
We have family coming in from out state this weekend, and now we will get to have everyone that visits stay with us. And I understand we will have one FULL house for Thanksgiving. I am looking forward to all of it!

math 213 week 5

2011-09-26T09:42:00.001-06:00

Math week 5 was a take home quiz, work problems and a paper on working with a student. I had fun doing the teaching, the math wasn't that bad either :)

http://www.scribd.com/doc/66405828

mth 213 week 3 and 4

2011-09-13T21:39:00.002-06:00

For week 3 as a team we did a presentation on our given problem solutions, and then had to create a rubrics for those problems. Took away some great feedback of how to do better, over all we did pretty good. The homework for week 3 was better still done on paper and handed in.
Week 4 was just homework done on paper. Quizzes are tough, but for me that's just math :)

http://www.scribd.com/doc/64895149 rubrics
http://www.scribd.com/doc/64895256 presentation

MTH 213 Week 2

2011-09-02T20:06:00.003-06:00

Homework was hell, in class quiz was scary.. no idea how this professor is grading yet, hopefully by week 3 I will have a better idea. Don't get me wrong, I am liking the class a great deal, but math is just scary for me!
This week the homework was handed in on paper, but the team project was a paper on how we would teach pattern sequences to a class. Looking back at it, there is so much more that could have been put in, I am concerned if this is enough, but overall I think its fine. (really selling it aren't I?!)

http://www.scribd.com/doc/63848328

Math 213 week 1

2011-08-28T10:13:00.002-06:00

I started class last Thursday. This math class is actually two classes 213 and 214, ten weeks straight of grueling learning math for educators. Most of our assignments will be worked on paper and turned in, just like real math. I will only be posting team projects online.
The basic of week one was hard problems. Many of them were logical thinking questions, sequences, and symbolic forms.
My favortite part, I got to class and was told the work for week one was not due.. BUT he did take it and will look at possible extra points, and wow, I think I will need the help!

Officially a Junior.

2011-08-22T11:52:00.003-06:00

Today I have been school for one full year.
I have a long ways to go. That is hard to wrap my head around, but when I look at my upcoming schedule it doesn't look THAT bad. And at the same time I still very scared. I start my core classes for my career on Thursday. I will be in classes on Thursday until I start student teaching two years from now. My first two classes are math for educators I and II. I am really worried! I have done my best to get through my generals with a 4.0 and I fear I will have no choice but to let that go and do the best I can. Math and I are not best friends. There were many tears during my last math class (tears of frustration of course).
I am a better writer than a year ago, I know APA style v. 6 like no one else I know. I am more open to working in teams, even though I have a hard time not pushing for my way (duh). I am excited that the team I will have starting now, should be the team I am working with through graduation. I think that will help a lot! I have enjoyed all of my classes, had some great experiences and often find myself saying "We talked about that in class". I am proud of myself, and proud to show the girls how much work goes into something. I have done homework while teaching, cruising, working, in the car (new app), and countless hours sitting at the edge of the kitchen table. Oh, my favorite so far.. I post all my work to scribs.. one of the papers (a matrix) I did back in June, was stolen, and copywrited as someone else work. When scrib ran their plagiarism check they flagged me as the one who stole it. I wrote back and proved it was my paper, and the other person was penalized and deleted... I guess I am so awesome people have stolen from me.
So, the plan is to keep it up! Try my best in everything, be a sponge for knowledge and resources to be the best teacher I can. When I finish my student teaching in Nov of 2013, as a family we can see if I am OK to get a job, or move on to get my masters (the only way to get a pay raise as a teacher). If I get my masters, I would graduate the same time as T1 and defer my loans just a little longer. We will see, much will change between now and then. Hell, I have to pass the Praxis 1 in December.. lets just start there :)

hum150 week 5

2011-08-21T15:52:00.002-06:00

This week was the big paper. Review a movie and answer some specific questions. I thought I did a great job!

http://www.scribd.com/doc/62779935

hum 150 week 4

2011-08-15T08:45:00.002-06:00

This week was the same as last week, but with western, romantic comedy, and documentary.
We choose to do Dances with Wolves, Moonstruck, and Super Size Me.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/61877077 (matrix)
http://www.scribd.com/doc/62328362 (presentation)

hum150 week 3

2011-08-07T14:16:00.003-06:00

This week was a team assignment. We had to agree on a comedy and a horror film, do a matrix regarding the films, and a power point. We did Se7en and Dumb and Dumber. With the class being online there is no presentation, we just post it. Not to bad.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/61877077 (matrix)
http://www.scribd.com/doc/61877151 (power point)

HUM150 week 2

2011-07-27T12:16:00.001-06:00

This week I had to watch a film from a list and answer the questions on the worksheet. Enjoyable and rather easy.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/61069637

Cruisin'

2011-07-24T15:22:00.002-06:00

For our family vacation this year we went on a Western Caribbean cruise with Carnival. We started out early Friday morning getting to the airport with plenty of time and United managed to have Sirj in a raging fit an hour later (due to being slow and pissy at us for their slowness). After just making our flight to Denver once there more United fun, by the way of Continental and United merger is not working out in the communication part. So.. made it to Ft. Lauderdale, checked in our room and had enough to shut me up and we went to see Harry Potter 7.2. (ohhh how I cried!).
Boarding the ship was easy enough, food was available first thing (and every minute till we got off the boat!) We got our cute little room and at 4pm set sail.
We didn't say anything to the kids about sea sickness being an issue, and I think it worked. I was the only one with any side effects.. a headache. T1 got a tummy ache, but she often has those, so not positive it was the boat. On the whole, no issues.
Saturday was a sea day. We ate in the dinning hall and everyone we encountered was so nice and helpful. Very few Americans, but with 10 hr shifts, 7 days a week for 5-9 months, Americans are too spoiled to think this is a good job.
Sunday we were at sea all day. I finished 3 books on this trip. The girls had a teen club they could have gone to, and chose not to, so yea... sea days were long.
Monday we were in port in Cozumel, Mexico. We have been to MX before and didn't sign up for any excursions, so we wondered around, shop and enjoyed the scene.
Tuesday was another day at sea.
Wednesday we were in port at Grand Cayman and it was great, we went to the city of Hell, a turtle farm, and swam with stingrays. Loads of fun!
Thursday we were in port in Ochos Rio, Jamaica. Yaman!! Irie is the way, there are no problems only situations! We did a zip line and a lazy river tour. Fantastic!
Friday was back at sea, and Sirj and I went on a date to the on board steak house.
Saturday we were back in Miami and the fun with United started again. This time they messed up on communicating that United changed our connection flight from Denver and the first flight with Continental wouldn't have gotten there in time. So, we got to fly from FL to JFK and then home. LONG DAY!!

Here are some notes I took on our trip:
*days at sea are long.
*my kids are brats and wont play with others
*outdoor movies are great
*bubble drink cards (unlimited soda) is not for my family.
*desserts are deceiving. Pretty, but weird flavored.
*ALWAYS wear sunscreen and put it all over not just what is not covered, when you sit, things move.
*bring more books.
*take cards.. and know how to play some games. M&M's make great betting chips.
*pools on board.. are salt water!!
*our state room was like a cave.. we could have lost a whole day sleeping.
*towel animals are damn cute!
*if you go to the turtle farm, kids will want a turtle.
* stingrays are soft and slimy feeling.
*everyone needs a break, 7 days on a boat with small room is not cool.

I have LOADS of photos, I will put some on facebook. Overall, a great experience, glad we did it, but honestly, my family does not do nothing well. We were on land 27 hours of 7 days, we are go places family. Alone, Sirj and I would have been OK, well... he would have, I still needed more books! :)

Film Studies HUM150 week 1

2011-07-24T14:41:00.002-06:00

Ok.. this course I am taking online. I do not like online classes, but with the cruise and the upcoming trip with my scouts, I had to do online to keep my grant monies.. damn rules!
This paper kinda sucked. 350-700 words on how I pick a movie and what makes them enjoyable or unenjoyable. I admit, not my best work. Not the best topic.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/60805215

bio101 and his301 week 5

2011-07-12T12:27:00.003-06:00

Holly crap.. this is almost over... and I am really worried about holding on to my 4.0 gpa. Biology I can miss 1 point, History I can miss 2... the odds are not with me :(
So.... stressing, missing Harry Potter and almost done with the hardest part of my schooling so far. Here are my week 5 team projects.

Bio.. A huge 35 min presentation on a large marine ecosystem.. Gulf of Alaska.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/59883159

History... a 20 min presentation on Amending the Constitution to include line item veto.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/59883242

Tuesday (19th) I start a 5 week online class so that I can go on vacation with the fam and my scout troop..

Bio101 and His301 Week 4

2011-07-04T13:02:00.002-06:00

Week 4... SO CLOSE!!! This week the dolphin report was pretty easy and will be used in part of the week 5 presentation. For Consistution, the paper was a little harder, but still doing OK. My team is doing our week 5 work this week so the whole team is there. That should make week 5 easier, BUT ... there is my whole Harry Potter dilemma. The preview movie is the same time as class.. cant miss class. Cant find tickets for the midnight show, the 3:15 shoe that I BOUGHT tickets for.. cant get to the air port in time for the our 7 am flight to FL. I am about to cry.. I don't know how I am going to see the movie before we set out to sea... That makes me very sad.

Dolphin report
http://www.scribd.com/doc/59307510

Reflections of the First Amendment.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/59307608

The blue box..

2011-06-29T21:18:00.006-06:00

Well.. today was another good day. It's always a good day when there is a package from Parsippany, NJ on my porch! Although, as much as I love the blue box, the reason I have it is not my favorite.
For my birthday 2 years ago Sirj bought me the Black Onyx toggle bracelet I so very much wanted. That was Aug 2009. Nov it broke. I waited till Feb 2010 to sent it back and paid the $25 fee to have it restrung. Got it back and in June, it broke again. I called and requested a new bracelet. Tiffany's replaced it free of charge. Last month, it broke. As much as I love the black onyx and how great that bracelet matches everything I own, I just couldn't deal with the constant risk of losing it, so this time I asked for a new bracelet. I picked a new style of locket and chain, I love it! It cost more than the first one, so I feel like I already have this years birthday gift.. but its sooo sweet!
My sad broken bracelet.
The happy blue box, with the cute pouch it came in.
My new pretty locket bracelet.

Bio101 and His301 week 3

2011-06-27T16:54:00.003-06:00

Continuing to get by... trying to get ahead even. Week 3.

My "angry bird" paper for bio101. Using a lab tool I tried to find the best advantages in evolution to keep some finches alive the longest, and then I also had to see how fast I could kill them. This is the lab report on my birds.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/58426239

For his301 this week was focusing on the bill of rights and later amendments.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/58850144

bio101 and his301 week 2

2011-06-21T18:25:00.002-06:00

Still getting through...

bio101 family tree power point
http://www.scribd.com/doc/58426239

his301 branches of government from the first three articles of the constitution
http://www.scribd.com/doc/58426343

BIO101 and HIS301 week 1

2011-06-14T09:59:00.004-06:00

Yes, the 5 weeks I have been dreading since last fall when this schedule was approved with finance. To start my core bachelor program in August I have to do a double up. The two classes are so different I should be able to keep my head on straight. Now I just hope I can recall which class is at which campus.

Bio week 1, What is life worksheet.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/57482102

His301 (Constitution) week 1, Influences on the Constitution
http://www.scribd.com/doc/57847220

Did I mention that 9 hrs after my last class of this double up we are going on a cruise.. yeah.. I can get through this!

Soc 315 week 5

2011-06-09T15:26:00.002-06:00

Tonight is the last night class for Cultural Diversity. I must admit, I have enjoyed this class more than I thought I would. We have a team presentation tonight and Educational Disadvantages is our topic.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/57482102

Soc 315 week 4

2011-06-05T23:34:00.002-06:00

This week I had to do a 6 min presentation based on a recent discrimination file the EEOC cleared. I focused on Ageism.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/57175197

SOC315 week 3

2011-05-24T09:21:00.002-06:00

This week I was on it, I had all my homework done on Sunday, including the team project!
Our team assignment was to create a 1,500 word outline for the presentation we are doing week 5. We are a little over on wording, but our topic of Education Disadvantages demanded more words. (we are a team of all teachers). My individual assignment was to find a media piece on immigration and answer some questions. I watched the 30 days episode on Immigration and the paper went smoothly, I actually like it.
So far this class has been difficult because it challenges some of what I think I am, and finding out what I might really be when it comes to diversity. No one likes to look in the mirror too hard.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/56159356 - individual
http://www.scribd.com/doc/56159778 - team

SOC 315 week 2

2011-05-19T14:48:00.002-06:00

This week looked easy, till I started working. It took about 12 hours to do this matrix and another 3 to write the analysis. This is a rather challenging class, so much so that looking over my next two classes (I am doubling up for the summer) I am excited for them. Biology and Constitution looks more fun than this class. I think that says something.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/55841269
http://www.scribd.com/doc/55841340

SOC 315

2011-05-14T18:03:00.001-06:00

SOC 315 is Cultural Diversity.. for the first week we had to answer 5 questions, but in a way that they were not questions so they hit APA format.. gota love that.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/55449869

eng340 week 5 team assignment

2011-05-04T19:52:00.003-06:00

For week 5 as a learning team the three of us had to write a 3500-4200 word paper that showed a true account, a fiction account of the same story and an annalists of the difference in the writing.
THEN a power point to present it with 15-20 min long. The presentation is tomorrow, the last night of class (along with a fantastic cinco de mayo pot luck!!)

http://www.scribd.com/doc/54662589
http://www.scribd.com/doc/54662646

eng340 week 5 personal essay

2011-05-03T08:36:00.002-06:00

Week 5 is a big week. First due is our individual assignment of a 900-1400 personal essay. Something that shows personal meaning, feeling and humor.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/54523231

4/22-4/28 Menu

2011-04-27T17:57:00.002-06:00

Friday- Mexican for Greg's birthday (BIL)
Saturday- Homemade wheat pizza crust, make your own pizza
Sunday- Easter Dinner... Ham, rolls, carrots, tatoes and trifle
Monday- left overs
Tuesday- Spanish style rice (vegetarian)
Wednesday- Shrimp Scampi
Thursday- Gnocchi with garlic and spinach

We have been traveling so much it was time to get back to eating normal meals. So to keep myself honest and on track, I am back to posting our meals!

eng340 wk 4

2011-04-27T16:52:00.002-06:00

This week we had to write a 2800-3500 word short story. This took me about 25 hours from start to finish, and 4 editors, with 6 edits.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/54092130

Writings so far..

2011-04-24T22:22:00.002-06:00

ENG 340 Creative Writing

Week 1- http://www.scribd.com/doc/53759413
Week 2- http://www.scribd.com/doc/53759549
Week 3-http://www.scribd.com/doc/53759605

I am in the process of writing a 15 page short story, based on what I wrote for my outline in week 3. So far I am about 20 hours in and have too many words. After edits, I will share it. :)

School=Life?

2011-04-24T14:38:00.003-06:00

With school occupying so much of my time I have been thinking about how I can include my schooling in my blog. I think I am going to give a weekly update on what is going on in my schooling. Everything is fast paced with classes only lasting 5 weeks, so I am hoping things will be interesting.
I am in my seventh class so what is missing so far has been:
GEN/200 Intro to collage
COM/200 Intro to communication
PHL/251 Critical Thinking
COM/ 215 Essentials of Collage Writing
MTH/212 Finite Math
HUM/105 World Mythology

So far I am holding a 4.0 average!!

Right now I am in ENG/340 Creative Writing and wow.. its so much work! Over the next couple of days I will post my papers that have been turned in so far for this class. This Thursday is week 4 of 5 and I am already looking into what is due week 1 for my next class.

Getting Creative

2011-03-04T08:45:00.006-07:00

My goal for this year was to maintain. Part of that is maintain a budget. Sirj started his new job mid December and finally at the beginning of March we have gotten on track and to the point if we stay on budget we can maintain the amounts needed to meet the goals we have planned for the year. Sadly, date nights were not something included in the monthly budget.

Sirj and I each get a small allowance, so do so something extra, we have to use our allowance or come up with something else. About a month ago our change jar was full (it's not very big) and we took it to the bank, there was about $22.00, so we did a change jar date. Burger Bar and a Red Box movie! We even had change left over for a Taco Cart lunch date a week later. Last week I was home alone with T2 while Sirj and T1 were at a concert, so T2 and I took all our recyclable cans and turned them in. We got $15.10 and did Subway and Village Inn Pie for dessert with a Netflix movie.

I am loving this! Today I am taking the change up to the bank to cash it in again (I got paid in change for something and its full). I look forward to what we can come up with to do with our spare change, and now the kids are seeing there are different ways to make things fun.

A life not posted

2011-02-21T10:57:00.004-07:00

(This week is pretty open for me. I haven't have one of these weeks since last summer. Sirj is gone all week on business, the girls are with their dad, I only have 2 days scheduled to work, no parties coming up and my homework for the week is done. I should be cleaning my house or prepping for my next class but instead I am reading other people blogs.)
A common theme I am reading around the Internet is how many people view blogs or facebook comments as only sharing the happy, perfect, wonder woman parts of life. I was looking over my comments and it's kind of true. It's so much easier to talk about the happy things and the successes that take place in our lives than it is the rest of our lives.
I have started comments or posts that complain about how hard school has been, and how I am giving up attending awards, and dinners and feeling guilty for getting my family into debt over MY schooling. I did mention about my stress regarding my weight, but I don't lead on how much it's really driving me nuts. Or about how we are just now getting our finances back in order from Sirj being out of work. Or about how hard things have been with a situation regarding one of the girls and how all of sudden it's just "gone" and now I am left totally confused and feeling foolish. Or about the ongoing trials about completely being in charge of two other peoples lives. Or how I want to cook fantastic meals and treats and I can't bring myself to do because of for mentioned weight issues and one of the girls is now vegetarian.
So... is my life perfect.. no. Is my life fantastic.. Yes!! Are there times I want to kill someone.. (husband for being the only one who does ANYTHING right; kids for being self centered, overemotional brats;family for being a pain; co-workers for complicating my life) ohhh yes. But are they things to blog or post about? I don't think so.
I personally don't post about those things because of the audience. I don't feel safe saying everything I want to say. I worry about being judged, I worry about what will come back and bite me in the ass. I worry about saying something out loud that I haven't said to the person I really should say it to, and they shouldn't read it first.
So, do I do posts about how great my kids are doing in school, and how fantastic our parties are and fun our vacations are.. yes! Do I post about the hardships, trials, and growing pains.. not without much consideration and rewording. I hope people that know me, know they can ask how I am doing and I will be honest with them. But to the casual reader who likes the voyeurism of others lives... you get the happy stuff because that is safe to share.

Random Bits

2011-02-20T13:22:00.003-07:00

Over the past while I have been looking over some old stuff and thinking about family and what it means to me as I am getting older. I found some great (and not so great photos).

My cousin Michael and I. We are 1 yr, 1 week, 1 day apart in age.. I am guess I am no more than 2.5 in this photo. Mike has always been a great friend, I was taken to find a photo of us this young. And... check out the Mickey Mouse toy!!

This is Angie and I. Whenever we would go to Ohio I would spend most of time with her. One of my best friends growing up.

This is big group of "my" cousins from my mom's side. I was 11 or 12 in this picture. These are the cousins I grew up with. My mom and I would go to Ohio every summer (sometimes more) and these are ones I knew and loved. We have never had another photo like this, and I worry it won't ever happen again. (pictured Grandma, Richard, me, Michael, Amber, Angie, Adam and Winnie.. Tracy is missing)
It was great have built in friends! We all spanned about 5 years in age.

This is just mean! It was Easter early 80's... why am I dressed as a secretary??

And wow... what a cute kid I was..

Cup Cake Wars 13th Birthday Party

2011-02-20T13:02:00.005-07:00

Anyone who knows me, knows I over plan for everything. When you can't stop your brain from going all the time, you try to find things to. For T2's 13th birthday we started around October. Simple idea, a handful of friends, a little competition and ohh ya.. some cupcakes!

With the help of a great friend (Alese) we hand made 16 aprons, from a 1950's pattern. I made matching headbands, name tags, banners, invites, rules, food and too many trips to the store to buy possible toppings. The party was simple, a picnic type lunch with T2's favorite finger foods, and 4 teams to compete in a cupcake wars.

The cupcake wars consisted of 4 teams, each round with a theme they had to make and 2 cute judges to award who was to move on, and who was going to get a prize and be done. The party lasted about 2.5 hours and for me, it was painless. I love at this age I set the stage and they do what they want. It was a fun party, and T2 had a great time with great friends, so yes.. it was a success!

Constant struggle

2011-01-31T06:35:00.003-07:00

When ever I get talking to people the subject of my weight loss normally comes up. Not so much from me, but from those I talk to. And I ALWAYS hear how they are trying this gimmick or that or to loose weight. I TRY not to lecture and I TRY to be understanding, but honestly I think I am about to loose it.
I reached my main weight goal in July of last year (down 70 pounds). I did pretty good at holding it steady until September. I started back to school, working almost every day, my family, his family, the kids and volunteer responsibilities took over and I stopped focusing as much on keeping track of my food. It really wasn't that big of a deal until November when it got cold and getting up at 5 am to go to the gym felt like torture. Then December came, working full time in the same class, going in earlier, the holidays and so damn cold. I lost all focus... all that said, I put back on about 10 pounds.
Now.. that may not seam like a lot, and I should be OK with a little regain, but it is a lot and I am not OK. I didn't buy my clothes at every step of the way, I waited to see where I would end up. I went from 16 to a 10 to a 6. And I got rid of the 10's. So.. my pants don't fit the way I want and my shirts show a lump that is just NOT OK.
In January I got my head back in a better place and I have been fighting the horrid cold and getting my butt to the gym every morning at 5 am. At first I was dealing with over crowding, all the News Years Resolutions, but now Mondays are the only days that happens and if I am there right at 5:10 all is well. I do my 2.25 miles, add an extra 317 calories to my daily allowance and I TRY to stick to eating less than 1700 calories a day.
At the peek of my loss I was eating 1100-1300 calories a day.. and not having a problem. Now, 1700 a day is a struggle. And if I don't go to the gym I am screwed. I had no idea that loosing the weight would be the easy part, keeping it off is hell.
So, back to the folks I am trying not to strangle because of their HCG, green tea, no carbs (or put:meat, protein, grapefruit here) diets. The ONLY thing that works (without surgery) long term is modifying your lifestyle, holding yourself accountable and yes... get off your ass!! But, no one wants to hear that. No one wants to work at it... especially not forever. I get disappointed faces when I explain that Sirj and I didn't use some chemical or stop eating a major food group.
I know this road has been a very personal one, and even Sirj and I have done it different ways and for different reasons. But really.. if "it" didn't work that last 5 times.. and I mean.. you lost the weight AND keep it off.. then it doesn't really work.. does it!?!?!
As I have outlined, even doing it "right" is kicking my butt. I am back down within 4 pounds of my main goal and keeping focus again. But.. wow.. I can justify myself into a donut at any time, or reward myself with a See's Chocolate for finishing that SUPER HARD math problem. I deserve rewards for as hard as I work and as much as I give... this is my main problem. And maybe it's unrealistic to want to be at 135 (my ultimate goal.. the one I want to hit before my 20 year reunion in July) at my age.. hell, I haven't been that small since I was 19. But I know what I need to do, and I know I can do it, its just going to take more work.. and maybe stop driving.. then I can't get to the Hole or See's!

1/14-1/20 menu

2011-01-18T06:42:00.002-07:00

Friday: Subway (I was working a Jazz game)
Saturday: everyone on their own (late lunch)
Sunday: Spinach risotto
Monday: Mediterranean hummus pizza
Tuesday: Curry Noodles
Wednesday: creamy veggie pasta
Thursday: Stuffed curry pepper

We are doing vegetarian meals this week. T1 got a recipe book for her birthday, so we are trying out some recipes.

It's Cookie Time in Utah

2011-01-15T17:22:00.002-07:00

Starting today, a Girl Scout anywhere from 5-18 years old may have the courage to knock on your door... for her sake, please order... even a box or two... You'' be building a girl's confidence and her character... and we need more girls like that for tomorrow. Even if you really are on a diet, or really did buy at the office, go ahead and buy a couple more. It can only help... Thank you

End of 2010

2010-12-31T16:04:00.006-07:00

{yes, I suck, facebook is just so easy!!}

2010, not a bad year. Let's look back:

Jan: Cheer competitions, cookie sales, Sirj working, Kim subbing.
Feb: T2 turns 12, cheer competitions, Sirj working, Kim subbing, T1 welcomed to NJHS.
Mar: Cheer competitions, Kim travels/subbing, Sirj working, selling cookies on street corners.
Apr: Laurels amazing 40th b-day party, cheer competitions end, Kim subbing, Sirj to Philippians. T1 finishes her silver project.
May: Vic's b-day, T2 ends elementary school, Kim subbing, Sirj working.
June: Orlando!!!, Sirj working, T2 finishes her silver project.
July: hmmm... anything? Ohhh, T2 broke her wrist.
Aug: 1/2 b-day party, Kim to ATL, school starts for Kim, T2 and T1. Kim's b-day
Sept: Kim subbing, Kim to DAL, Sirj becomes worlds best PTSA dad!
Oct: Kim in CHI, Kim subbing, Both girls getting straight A's, T1 braces off, Halloween fun!!
Nov: Kim subbing, Thanksgiving with the girls.
Dec: Sirj back to work!!! T1 turns 14, Kim in long term sub job, cheer competitions, Christmas fun!

So, yeah. No fantastic highs (Sirj getting employed is great! Getting into see Harry Potter Land before it opened was great!!) and no real awful lows (no income sucks, broken parts suck). But it was a good stable year.

I have only one resolution for 2011.

Maintain.

Maintain my budget, my weight, my relationship with my kids, family, friends, and husband. Maintain my drive and desire for school, for pushing the girls to achieve more than they think they can. Maintain the travel and home improvement goals we have in place. Just maintain the great life I have.

Ohhh.. Christmas.. how was it? It was good. It was low key with lack of funds and not having the kids on Christmas day proper, but no one went without, we all got something fantastic we really wanted and life is good. Here are a couple of pictures:

My big gift. 8) {finaly!!}

Sirj's big gift.

Our tree.

Tori in her finery.

Sirj and his mom.
My family out at my mom and dads house.

Happy New Year to all. I am looking forward to a great new year!! I wish the same for you and yours!

This weeks menu

2010-11-14T14:01:00.003-07:00

Ok, I went a long time with life taking over I am going to try to get back into this.
This week is a non kid week and we are budgeting very tight so using what is in the pantry.

Saturday: Sausage and veggi
Sunday: Chicken curry
Monday: Chili
Tuesday: Basil tomato soup and sandwiches
Wednesday: pulled chicken enchiladas
Thursday: Chick Fil A (Sand Ridge fundraiser... they will give back 25% of all sales!)
Friday: On own

Simple food for a cold week. Should be tasty!!!

Ohh the places you will go..

2010-08-23T11:06:00.003-06:00

Today is an interesting day.
Today is the last day I am 36 and the first day of being a full time college student.
I admit, I am scared!
My birthday is so not an issue! I love my age... like a fine wine, I am getting better with age! But school.. aww hell. I have not been a full time student since I was 16. I started college with early graduation my Jr year, I was only part time then, after graduation I continued, but still only part time. After a couple of years, I hadn't gotten very far and was knee deep into trying to be a grown up and could no longer afford college.. damn boys!
We found out early this year that Sirj had done such amazing job at work, that he worked himself right out of a job. This got me thinking about our future. Sirj took on all the weight of our family 6 years ago, and its been good, and hard at the same time. It was time I decided what to do with my life.
Wednesday T2 will start Jr high, I know I am still very needed in their lives, but it's also time I start looking what I will do once they are done with school... it's not like I can sub their college classes. With my age, and where I have put myself, the most logical choice was to go into teaching. I have 4 years with Weber School District right now, I have build some great connections at a couple of schools and I should have a little bit of an "in" once I pass the Praxis.
Early summer I started looking at schools, grants, loans, transcripts and wow.. I didn't know crap! School is time consuming and costly. As a middle class, married, white chick, I qualify for nothing, so I have to go to school full time for any student aide at all. My life does not allow for me to spend many days a week on campus so after some looking, I will be paying for the connivance University of Phoenix offers.
I have 24 credits that will transfer over from my first stint in college, so that is 1 year of generals, to complete my Associates, and 2 years in the Elementary Education teaching program. School, every Monday night from 5-9 (or is it 10?) for the next 3 years. This first year I will be attending 3 different campuses to get everything I need. Once I am in the teaching program its all at their Murray office (80 miles round trip). Yeah me!
As I mentioned, I am scared. I am scared of meeting teachers expectations, I am scared of not holding as strong of a GPA as I expect of myself (talk about loosing face with the kids), I am scared of my life getting in the way and keeping me from finishing, I am scared of debt I am getting us into, I am scared of being able to get a job after I graduate, and I am scared of being to much of a loaner to make the learning teams work.
BUT... I know what amazing gift this is too, that at 40 I will walk away with a degree that will allow me to work till I am 70 or older, and have summers off. At 37 I am getting to pick what I want to be when I grow up, when so many of us have been lead into the jobs we are in and for most this is NOT what we started out for. I promise I am going to make the best of this!

Our journey.

2010-06-09T14:32:00.003-06:00

Holly CRAP!!! So the photo on the left is from the last time we were in Florida. The other was from today. If I would have thought it possible that with about 14 months of work and focus we could have made this big of a difference ... well, I wouldn't have believed it.
We have made a lot of small changes, but we are doing it together and I think that is what makes it work. Vic is at target weight, I am about 3 pounds off. Over the summer I will start working to tone, but DAMN... I really proud of us! Together we have lost 150 pounds.

Class of 2016

2010-05-28T06:35:00.000-06:00

This is it. The end of elementary school for my family and the hardest part, for my baby. I sat through her awards and commencement on Tuesday and just cried. This kinda sucks.
I am excited for her. New school, new friends, new lessons, new locker and new start.
I am going to miss knowing my kid is at the school I teach the most, and looking out my backyard and seeing them play. I will miss knowing all their teachers so well and really feeling apart of the school 100%.
I know this more about me than her.. she is a little scared but really excited as she should be. I'm just getting older and facing what to do with myself and where am I needed most.
I am so proud of T2, perfect attendance and the presidential award for academics.. only 6 more years..

Last little white

2010-05-22T18:00:00.006-06:00

OK, I'm a slacker..
Here's what's been going on.
We are a good looking bunch!

Generation Tea today, it's our 7th year and yes, they are still eating the sugar out of the bowl.

T2 has been the assistant coach for this cute little soccer team as part of her Silver Project for Girl Scouts. She has one more good size activity to do before she will be done.. info to come.

This is the little book I made for T2's teacher. This is the last teacher gift I will be making. The Jr. High doesn't like you to give gifts, its considered bribing. The closer we get to school ending the more emotional I am getting. We have been at Midland for 8 years, my baby is going to Jr High. All this is a lot to deal with.

T1 in her "hot" track uniform. She ran the 800 and did a good job. She liked being on the team and worked really hard.. and I think she looks cute :D

May 21 - May 28 Menu

2010-05-22T17:54:00.001-06:00

The last week of school and its really not to bad..

Friday: German pancakes
Saturday: Make your own pizza
Sunday: Gyoza and rice
Monday {lunch}: Lunch out with mom
Monday: Spaghetti and home made sauce
Tuesday {lunch}: Wrap
Tuesday: Walnut and rosemary chicken and veggie
Wednesday {lunch}: lunchable
Wednesday: Pasta salad
Thursday {lunch} pasta salad
Thursday: Chicken broccoli bake
Friday {lunch}: sandwich

May 14-May 21 Menu

2010-05-15T15:11:00.003-06:00

Non kid week.. rather simple.. using up what is in the house so the shopping bill is low.

Friday: Date night
Saturday: Sweet pork salad (leftovers)
Sunday: Curry Chicken
Monday: Steak and broccoli
Tuesday: Pulled chicken tacos
Wednesday: Penne and sausage
Thursday: Stuffed (turkey) bell peppers

May 7-May 14 Menu

2010-05-08T23:04:00.004-06:00

It's a CrAzY week, and the countdown to school getting out is ON!!
This is a kid week, so menu is a little different and with T2 trying her best not to eat school lunch {you've got to watch the 6 episodes on Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution esp the first one.. you too will stop letting your kid eat school lunch} I will add in our lunch menu too.

Friday: Out.. Girl Scout Carnival
Saturday: Sushi.. mothers day outing
Sunday: Steak, Salad, yellow squash, baked potato {Sirj B-Day!!)
Monday: {lunch} Cheese,crackers,meet, carrots, air popped popcorn, cheese stick, 5 tootsie rolls
Monday: {dinner} Hoggie sandwiches and baked chips
Tuesday: {lunch} Turkey sandwich, carrots, air popped popcorn, cheese stick, 5 tootsie rolls
Tuesday: {dinner} Catfish and steamed carrots
Wednesday: {lunch} Pizza scones, cheese stick, 5 tootsie rolls
Wednesday: {dinner} Simple pasta salad
Thursday: {lunch} simple pasta salad leftovers, cheese stick, 5 tootsie rolls
Thursday: {dinner} Sweet pork salad (Cafe Rio like)
Friday: {lunch} Turkey wrap, carrots, air popped popcorn, cheese stick, 5 tootsie rolls
Friday: {dinner} date night in SLC

This weeks menu.

2010-05-01T13:09:00.005-06:00

With Sirj and I getting to the end of the big weight loss goals, we are at a point that maintaining and continuing the lessons we have learned that got us here {here is 65 lbs less for me and 83 lbs for Sirj} is ever more important. Of course the biggest part of that is food. With us having joint custody, every other week we do not have kids, so on those off kid weeks we expand our menu a little and get to try new things.. if they pass, they then get used on a kid week to see if the kids will eat it, or if we love it, it becomes part of our week menus. This week I have a recipe that I found in Cooking Light magazine and from the day we tried we, we have not been able to get enough of it! We did try it with the kids and they didn't like it, but it is one we are keeping for us! So.. here is this weeks menu, and a bonus step by step {with photos} of our new favorite salad! {side note: our weeks go from Friday to Friday because of the custody arrangement)

Friday: Date Night.. eat out
Saturday: Chicken Curry (with red curry)
Sunday: Grilled Balsamic Skirt Steak (new for us)
Monday: Bacon, Mushroom, Asparagus Risotto
Tuesday: Penne Pesto with Chicken and Broccoli
Wednesday: Turkey Tacos
Thursday: Greek Chicken and Barley Salad
Friday: Girl Scout Carnival.. eat out

The Greek Chicken and Barley Salad is this weeks highlight here is the recipe:
Salad:
2 (6oz) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/8 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp olive oil
4 cups fat free, low sodium chicken broth (divided)
1 cup uncooked pearl barley
2 cups cubed cucumber
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup cubed yellow bell pepper
1/3 cup reduced fat feta cheese
1/4 cup chopped pitted kalamata olives

Dressing:
3 tbs extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp graded lemon rind
2 tbs fresh lemon juice
1 tbs minced fresh basil
1 tsp minced fresh thyme
1 tsp red win vinegar
1/2 tsp kosher salt
3 cloves garlic, minced

All the good needed, laid out.

1. Sprinkle chicken with 1/8 tsp salt. Heat 1 tsp oil in nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken; cook 2 min on each side or until brown.

2. {mean while} Bring 3 cups broth to a boil in a large saucepan; add barley. Cover reduce heat, and simmer 35 min or until liquid is absorbed.

1.5 {4 min later} Add one cup broth to the chicken, cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 min until done.

3. {while waiting} Cut all veggies and put in bowl.

1.75 Cool; shred chicken. Discard broth.

See all the great colors! That means it healthy :D

2.5 {35 min later} Fluff with fork. Cool and combine with chicken and veggies.

4. To prepare the dressing, combine 3 tbs oil, rind, and remaining ingredients: stir well. Add to barley mixture; toss well. Cover and chill.

Finished product! It has 230 calories for a 1 cup serving and should make 8 servings. 18g protein, 18.3 carbs, 3.2 fibers, 9.8 g fat. It is delicious! I love the barley, the flavor and the leftovers are just as good!

A Happy Birthday for Everyone

2010-04-25T13:48:00.000-06:00

(guest post by Jessica Gilbert: aka T1)
Yesterday I completed my Silver Project. This project is one I have been working on for over a year (when you take into account all of the prep work I have done with my troop). The planning, badge work, and overall creation of this project has been over 80 hrs of work.
For my project I decided I wanted to make birthday parties in a box. There was a little girl in 3rd grade earlier this year that my mom had told me about, she was just in a new foster home and was celebrating her birthday. This little girl was upset and worried because she didn’t know if anyone would do anything for her birthday. Foster families do not have to do anything (although most always do). I found out this little girl had been staying at the Christmas Box House in Ogden and that it was an "in between" place for kids to go when they were not with their family or a foster family. I had just had my 13th birthday party. Birthdays have always been a big deal for me and I just couldn’t imagine not having someone notice my birthday. It felt horrible to think someone would not be able to recognized on their special day. So with my mom's help we came up with a plan for the "Happy Birthday for Everyone" project.
I found a grant available from Get UR Good On and decided I would try for it. Much to my surprise I was awarded the $500 grant, and so that the project was in line with Global Youth Service Day we set the date for April 24, 2010. We had a lot of work to do.
I used Alice in Wonderland as the theme, and we made almost every decoration. Creation of flyers, making calls for donations, setting up location, volunteers, planning and shopping.. this was the biggest project I have ever done.
We held the event at the local LDS Ward house in the gym. We passed out 350 flyers to business, schools, shopping centers, Girl Scouts, coffee house and even set up an event on Facebook to invite many, many more people. I was able to get donations from Burger King (150 kids meals for the residents of CBH), Charley's Steakery (lemonade and cups), Ross Dress for Less (shoes boxes) and Sam's Club (cake). We had 18 volunteers and over 60 people stop and enjoy the fun.
The set up of the event was fun.. pocket watch signs from the road with balloons on them, the white rabbit greeted people at the door, large stacked tea cups on the entry door and white rabbit feet to follow through out. The first activity was birthday card making, the second was to pick a shoe box to fill. The donations were sorted and guests were able pick cake mix, icing, candles, streamers, hats, cups, plates, napkins, and games to put in each box. The guests then stacked the boxes and moved on to play games for prizes! Pin the Grin (on the Cheshire Cat), ball toss into tea cups, riddles and the favorite.. 52 card pick up! We of course had to have a cake to eat and lemonade to drink. We were also happy to have a table for the Christmas Box House to show a video and pass out flyers explaining the services they offer.
As part of the grant requirements I contacted the local officials in Roy, Ogden and SLC, all the local media outlets and newspapers. I did get one small write up in the SL Tribune, but it was just place, time and event. Sadly I didn’t hear from anyone else I had contacted.
I was very happy to meet Sherri from the Christmas Box House and see how happy she was with my project; she made me feel like I was going to be making a wonderful difference in the lives of a lot of children. We completed 64 boxes, each with a full birthday party, but I won’t really know how many children this will impact because the number of residents changes daily and how many are at the CBH to enjoy the parties will be different each time a box is needed.
The project cost total was $604.00, this could not have been possible without the wonderful grant from Get UR Good On. I feel very honored that I was chosen to receive the grant and hope I have made them proud that they trusted me with their money to make a difference. This project was a lot of fun and is one that others will be able to look at and even repeat to help the CBH and other places that help children. This event has taught me to think a little bigger about what others go through, and how much work goes into planning something like this.
I get to drop off all the boxes next week to the Christmas Box House. I'm excited!
So in closing.. thank you to Get UR Good, Burger King, Sam's Club, Charley's Steakary, Ross, Troop 100, Suncrest Service Unit, and of course my friends and family all for helping me make this possible!
"May all your birthdays and unbithdays be happy ones!"

Laurel's 40th Birthday

2010-03-27T20:17:00.002-07:00

Laurel is the most amazing person I know. I have known her for over 15 years and had the pleasure of calling her my best friend for over 13. She is so very giving and selfless. She is an understanding, sympathetic ear at 2:30 in the morning. She is what helps me stay sane. I don't know what I did to have her in my life, but it would be a very sad place without her.
Because of all of this, I had to do something just as wonderful to mark her 40th birthday. Her birthday isn't till April 16, but I didn't want to fuss with family schedules and wanted her all to myself, so we planned a surprise early. My mom helped with all the planning and then last minute had to head out to Ohio.. boy did she miss out!
I picked up Laurel from her house at 3:15 on Friday. I gave her her first clue.. a note that we were heading to the scrapbook expo in Sandy and there was a booty bag filled with gold coins and other monies for her to spend at the expo. The next clue lead us to the Little America Hotel to spend the night. The next took us to Biaggi's for dinner. Following that the clue lead her to pick a movie and we went to see Alice in Wonderland in 3D. After a wonderful night of sleep, with no kids or alarms, the next clue lead us to her choice for breakfast.. IHOP.. the final clue took us back to our house where X marked the spot.. a HUGE red X on the garage door.. where inside I had set up the entire party for us to spend the day scrapbooking.
Through the day all of our close friends stopped by and we even got some scrapbooking done! For dinner we had Hawaiian pulled chicken sandwiches and more snacks than we knew what to do with.
It was a great day, and I think she felt truly loved! As she is... Happy Birthday to the greatest friend a girl could have! I love you sweetie!

A small note: None of this could have happened without the wonderful man I married.. he took the girls to cookie booth last night and 6 hours today, he also took them to a play for their best friend, started dinner and even got Laurel a coke. He is not only sexy, smart, and a kick ass cookie seller.. he is the worlds best dad and husband!

St Patrick's Day!!

2010-03-17T19:45:00.004-07:00

So last year we ended with Vic hurting one of the "little people".
This year in a last minute break through, Vic and the Leprechauns came to an agreement that "the little people" would not mess up the house, and Vic would not hurt them.
So they came and left the girls their little treats. I made breakfast, and two corned beef briskets for our scout meeting, along with the adorable rainbow cupcakes T1 and I made yesterday.
Here are our photos.

Jr High gets a bad wrap.

2010-02-22T06:50:00.003-07:00

This time last year when I was dealing with the imminent realization that my oldest daughter was starting Jr high weather I wanted it or not, I heard a lot of things that made me cringe and wish I could change her mind about a charter school. From other parents I heard "There is uncontrollable swearing in the halls" "kids are all over each other, PDA is everywhere" "The fighting is a big problem".
Of course hearing things like this made me concerned. I am not raising the girls to be prude-ish or naive, but daily exposure to that kind of life would be upsetting.
I have had the chance to volunteer with the PTSA and sub for a handful of teachers and I am very happy to say, none of what I heard is correct.
Jr High is a weird time of life. What boundaries can they push.. they can't drive, can't date, can't get a job.. so they are grabbing at what they have control of to feel more grown up.
~ All girls are catty at this age in one way or another, in order to build themselves up,
~ Most all of them swear.. what else do they have? I guess its that I don't get offended to hear swear words that I just don't care about this one.
~ PDA.. oddly enough, even my daughter who doesn't like to be touched will hug just about anyone in that school. And other than random hand holding.. that is the most PDA I have seen. No long make out sessions at the lockers,like I had heard, hell, I haven't even seen a kiss.
~ All the fighting. Last Friday there was a fight. It was the first I have seen or even heard of, and the Principal and on site police were on top it very quickly and the kids involved were handled swiftly and safely for their best interest and the other students that were around.
I think that Jr high is an odd place and age in life, but either the parents I spoke to had never stepped foot in that school and were going on nothing but rumors, or they have an unrealistically low tolerance for teen behavior, but so far.. Jr high isn't so bad.

Happy Birthday to my "baby"!

2010-02-18T00:01:00.001-07:00

Wow.. today my second and last born turns twelve.. crap.. 12!!!

This is my last year of having a tween, and I expect its going to be one filled with even more changes and growing up. T2 has always been more a child than her big sister and more and more this year some of that has been disappearing. Don't get me wrong, she still doesn't like to be left alone and loves her stuffed animals, but she also couldn't wait for makeup, begs for a Facebook account and doesn't go anywhere with out her phone!
She is celebrating at her dad's with a handful of close friends and heading to see Percy Jones then back the house for a Spa party. I get to make the mini cupcakes!
I am really proud of her. She amazes me with her kindness, her insight, and her ongoing quest to annoy the hell out of her sister! She also continues to be the child that makes me work for the title of mom, but even that has gotten a lot easier.
I love her smile, I love how she flips from being mad to happy in seconds. {well.. that sucks too, but its the age} I love her personal sense of style, and how she is taking a lot more interest in her person, and now fancies the boys.. hmmm, maybe I don't like that!
She will start Junior High in the fall, and I think of all the growing and changes that is the one that hurts the most. I love this age, I love that we can talk and try to reason each others opinions, but the idea of both girls no longer in Elementary.. that hurts. To me that shows the end is near.
I am not as upset about this birthday as I thought I would be, I know she is at an in between age and I look forward to being able to talk to her again without tears or the cracked voice.. I think having teenagers is going to be great! Lets hope we all live through this next year :P
I love you baby girl.. And I look forward to what is to come!

It's that time again!

2010-01-16T10:01:00.001-07:00

Ya know you want them! They are on pre-sale from today till the end of the month.

Get in touch with me, I have two adorable scouts ready to take your order!!

Resolutions for 2010

2009-12-31T12:58:00.003-07:00

1. Keep heading for my goal BMI. This holiday season was not a problem till last week, I have lost a little bit of momentum {2 pounds.. yes.. end of the world!}, but between the gym, the Wii and Vic's support, should be back on track soon. 14 pounds to go to be in normal range!!!

2. Penny pinch. I have lofty travel plans coming up and we need to pay down/off the two credit cards we have so I can use them! We only have 5 more years of forced family vacations and I have some big plans! {Europe, a one on one trip with each of the girls for graduation, scout trips, ect..}

3. Be there. The girls school is getting harder, they need direction and more help now more than ever {even if they don't want it!}. They are my top priority. I also need to step up again when it comes to helping with family matters, I all but stopped doing this and now see it was a mistake, I need to get over my issues and get back on track with where I need to be.

4. Find balance. When I am not "Mom", I find I get lost on what it is I am supposed to do with myself. I need to find a way to be at peace with the choices and trade offs that we have made for me to be where I am needed most. Sirj has taken on so much to make sure this all works and at times its really hard that I feel like I have lost myself, my identity, my credit.. but I need to find a way to make peace with all of it.

5. Choose to be happy. This is one I think I do well, but it is an ongoing thing and everyday when I wake up I make choices.. this is one I want to make sure I keep.

Resolution Recap

2009-12-30T15:02:00.000-07:00

Looking back to the first of the year, here are the resolutions I had hoped for.. and where I eneded up.

1. Keep up on the projects. - The house has no less than 5 projects in the works. I need to take the time to see that they get done.. even if that means nagging! I have 4 more projects I want to do this year and they too will get started and finished in a timely manor.
Projects.. hahaha.. yeah.. we finished a few.. there are still some to finish, things out of my control and when my job ended in February, it put a stop to the projects I had planned, so maybe this year!
2. Write things down. - I am an avid list maker, but I have been slacking the past while. I need to be writing down gift ideas when I hear them, and craft projects when I see them. And if I have a gift stashed.. write down where I put it!
I did OK at this.. still room for improvement! I wish I could edit notes for my IPhone from the laptop. I do prefer to type on the laptop than on the little touch screen.

3. Be more honest and open. - As I started here with my last post.
Hahaha, I kinda stopped blogging. I have Face book to dump immediate thoughts and from that my blog has suffered. I also find that I no longer care if others know what I think or not.

4. Balance. - Continue to find the balance as a wife, mother, daughter, employee and volunteer.
I am doing OK at this. I still have spots that I feel overwhelmed and spots that I feel I should have a job and that I could be doing so much more. Its an ongoing thing.
5. Have fun. - I plan to say yes to more activities, and see more of our wonderful planet this year!"
Wow.. its been a great year! So much travel, so much time with family and friends. This one I think I nailed!

Merry Christmas!!

2009-12-25T01:30:00.000-07:00

I hope you are spending the day with the ones you love,

in person or in thought!

Merry Christmas!!

We are parents of a teen

2009-12-11T00:01:00.000-07:00

Holly shit. Did you look at these photos? Do you understand the fear we have? Dec 11, 1996 this wonderful, amazing, funny, smart, sarcastic, kind, and yes, beautiful {inside and out} young woman was born. Today she becomes a teenager and today I am feeling like we are on track and life is good, but there is reality that the worst is yet to come.

This past year has been such a roller coaster! At times terrifying for things we could have never imagined and other smooth and full of pride. This year I am trying to focus on her future and where she is heading instead of crying over what has past. Don't get me wrong, I have shed a tear or 10 over this, but I am excited for all her tomorrows and really loving who she is today and who she is becoming. Happy 13th Birthday baby girl.

Christmas Tea

2009-12-08T22:08:00.005-07:00

For the last 4 years Laurel and I have held our mother/daughter Christmas Tea. This year was laid back and really nice. Here are some of the photos from our wonderful time together.
Laurel serving the worlds best hot co-co!
Laurels wonderful decor!
Food, food and more food! Mom and I cooked for many, many hours on Sunday to get ready for T1's gathering and this tea. We made 3 sandwiches, and 3 desserts. Laurel made 2 sandwiches and 3 desserts and each guest brought something to share.
I love getting to hang out with these guys!

The week of Thing 1

2009-12-08T20:49:00.000-07:00

T1 is going to be 13 sooner than I want to admit. Saturday night we took T1 and her BFF to the mall, for her gift she was given a $100 bill and we went to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. Then we followed the two of them around the mall for hours, till they were both out of money.
Sunday we had a family dinner. She didn't want a party and said I could do what ever I wanted.. so I did.
This took only hours to spend.. with it, she got jewelry, pants, a shirt and lip gloss.
I decided to take advantage of the "do what you want" and did a low key theme of "Thing 1".. seamed like the right thing to do. Isn't this cute!!! I spent hours cooking.. all her favorite treats. We did sushi {thank you Alese}, pin wheels {thank you Laurel}, Beef and Broccoli and Orange Chicken {thank you Panda}, pizza {thank you pizza hut} and Rice Krispies.. all the desserts were made from cereal.. her favorite food!
My loose interpretation of a Thing 1 center piece.
So simple and sooooo cute!!
The birthday girl and her entourage.

No cake.. just a cup of ice cream with sparkler candles.. it was fun. She got a new bed and night stand from Grandma and Grumpa, we bit the bullet and moved her rooms like she wanted. All this and her birthday isn't till Friday. Spoiled Brat!! {but so damn cute!!}

Festival of Trees

2009-12-08T20:20:00.003-07:00

I love going each year, even though I get a kink in my neck from looking right the whole time, and there are always to many people, the scones are amazing and alone worth the trip! Here are a couple of my favorites.

Loosin' it!

2009-12-02T19:09:00.003-07:00

Since late March (for me, early for Sirj) we have made a decision to change. Neither of us were unhappy but we both knew that long term being overweight was going to cause nothing but problems. Sirj was concerned about becoming diabetic and he started this whole mess. We got the iPhone app "Lose it!", it was a free download, pretty simple to use. You tell it some stuff about yourself, pick a realistic goal and tell it how many pounds a week you want to loose, then you document everything you eat and all exercise you do.
At first I complained about being a calorie counter, but I did it. I also got serious about going to the gym on a regular schedule. Over the summer it was easy, gym before the kids got up, farmers market every weekend, loads of fresh veggies and yummy foods. Then school started and its harder to find all the veggies I like, I crave heavy, winter type foods and more effort to get up every morning to get to the gym, but I do it. I do 2 miles on the treadmill and starting last week 30 minutes of weights.
In the past 8 months I have lost 41 pounds, its a little more than a pound a week, but I feel really good about how the weight is coming off. I am still overweight according to BMI, but only 15 more pounds I will be at the high end of normal and that is my goal! The weight training is to help me feel less "lumpy", I have been a size 16/18 for a long time.. I need to get things smooth again! Once I hit my goal, I am going to keep working on being healthy, this is exciting and for once I want to go clothes shopping. I am holding off on clothes, with 15 more to go, I think I get down 1 more size.. a 10.. that would be cool! hehe
What is working.. first and foremost the accountability of the app. I can see where I am everyday, and yes, its gotten harder.. I started out with something like 1800 calories a day, I am at 1500 now, to get more I have to exercise more and weighing less means I don't burn as many calories as I used to.. so I work harder.. gesh.. its like chasing my tail some days. Don't get me wrong, I am not giving up anything, I am just making changes to what choices I make.. healthier breads, water and milk to drink, fish at least once a week, fat free or low calorie dairy, wheat pastas and flour, fake sugar in daily use (not baking), not having the sweets around the house all the time.. still getting them when I want them, but its a trip to get them and I know I really want it. Again, I am NOT giving up anything, I have bad days (Famous Dave's for dinner) but overall the week averages out and its all good, I don't beat myself up.
The bonus to all of this is having the girls see both of us making better choices, walking, exercising, eating better foods, eating out WAY less. I hope this will start a life a good for them and they don't wait so long to have to do this for themselves.
Ohhh and Sirj.. he's lost about 60 pounds.. needs all new clothes, his wedding ring doesn't fit and he looks great. This is a life change, and so far its been good. Its also great we spar off each other for motivation. I think once I get "smooth" and hit my goal.. I will reward myself with a new tattoo.. hmmmm.... just maybe

Giving Thanks.

2009-11-26T03:53:00.001-07:00

Thanksgiving caught me off guard. I mean I have watched the calendar, but still.. it's Thanksgiving!! Wow.. here is a list of 36 things, one for each wonderful year of my life, I am thankful for. {and please understand my husband, kids and family are a give in!}
1 Airplanes
2 White Chocolate Mocha Lattés, light, no whip
3 IPhone Apps
4 Girl Scouts
5 Cats purring
6 Johnny Depp
7 Time spent with family especially on vacations
8 A cute dog that lets me dress her
9 Target Superstore
10 DVR
11 Starting the 10th year of being with man I love.
12 The voice of a friend {Dauhhhling}
13 Facebook
14 My mom and dads 37 year marriage
15 Being trusted by teachers to teach their classes, at two different schools even!
16 Cameras
17 Marzetti, Balsamic Vinaigrette, Light salad dressing
18 Lady Fitness
19 A steady income
20 The ability to laugh more than cry, when parenting
21 Family meals
22 The feeling a good song leaves you with
23 The crisp feeling of autumn
24 That 'smell' of spring
25 Uncontrolled genuine laughter
26 How powerful a hug is
27 The visibly lived in home we have
28 The joy and heartache of being a mom for 13 years
29 See’s chocolates
30 The smell of my husbands cologne
31 Two working, safe cars
32 Sleeping in
33 Scrapbooking, sharing great memories with great friends
34 Reconnecting with old friends, that happen to be family too.
35 Dishwashers
36 New found will-power

Death is all around us.

2009-11-03T13:48:00.006-07:00

So it's that time of year again for the 6th grade Egyptian project. Now, some of you may recall last years project, that took over 22 hours and 3000 popsicle sticks. This year, T2 was much more realistic. She did her report on death masks, and made one that is reminiscent of King Tut's death mask and a little bit Queen Nefertiti statue. It still took 6 hours, but I think it turned out great!!
Gold paint clean up.
Before the details.

After the details. Ohh, and yes the left eye is missing, total accident, when the clay dried, it was not attached to any of the pieces around it and fell in the eye whole of the mask.

Ohh yea.. dead on! I mean from clay, a .50 Halloween mask, gold spray paint and some free handing.. I think she looks 300 points good!

Haloween 2009

2009-11-01T10:28:00.008-07:00

I love Halloween! I love getting to dress up and go out as anyone or anything I want. This year I don't feel like I got into it as much as I like, but I've been busy. Here is our holiday in photos:

This is my first place winning pumpkin that I made for the Elementary School staff pumpkin contest. They were donated and the kids that voted for it, one of them got to take it home.

These are Tori as Tinker Bell.. so damn cute!!! We took her Howl-O-Ween at Pets Mart and let her see that other dogs are treated just as weird as she is.

T1 and myself at her dad's ward Trunk or Treat. I think T1 is a well dressed dead teen, but I am not really sure.

Sirj and I. He was a "dark scary guy" and his main goal for the night was to scare kids.. he is so good at it! I just put on some stuff.. together I think it all looked kinda cute.

T2 was an adorable sprite.. the colors were so her.. really a perfect costume for her!

My mom's pumpkin.

T2's pumpkin.

T1's pumpkin.. OK.. so we have a rule that when picking pumpkins, you have to be able to carry it.. so she got the biggest pumpkin she could carry. We got it home and found it had a scratch.. the next day that scratch was filled with white fungus, inside it was nasty, black and gooey (hence the gloves and nasty face). She cut out as much of goo as she could, covered the whole gauze and band aides and called it done. I think they look alike.

T2.. here in last years Halloween costume. She volunteered at a Princess Tea party for scouts, and the older girls were encouraged to dress up.. she ate it up, EVERYONE commented on her dress.. she really loves getting to help and work with others.

T1 before school on Friday. The Jr high PTSA did a stomp after school and all the kids were allowed to dress up for the costume contest. She went threw many different ideas before ending with a dead nerd.

Ohhh, you noticed Sirj and I didn't do pumpkins? Yeah.. he wasn't in the mood to do his and I tried twice to do mine and killed it both times. I need to invest in better tools! Halloween this year was our year with the girls. I don't see this being an on going issue for much longer.. T1 has maybe 1 more year of Trick or Treating, T2 maybe 2. T1 went with friends and that was always the plan, T2 told me "I'd like to just go with my friends, but if you want to come you can". I let them both go with friends, they texted every 30-60 min and let me know where they were.

A great year, but even so.. all the decorations where down and put away but 9:30 am. Looking forward to family for Thanksgiving.

School...

2009-10-30T19:57:00.003-07:00

Today was my first sub job at the Jr High. I admit, I was pretty worried, but it turned out great. The class was gym and a great introduction to Jr high. The 9th graders were a little mouthy, but I have noticed that any age older than my own kids I struggle at first to deal with. So I am sure over time this too will get easier. I decided to open myself up to the Jr high and the High school to be more available for jobs. With the economy a lot more people have signed up to sub and the online jobs are gone fast.. so getting "in" with the teachers and the school administrators makes getting jobs a little easier. It doesn't pay much, but its nice to have a full day and I get to see first hand the kids environment and who they are hanging out with. I have also found that I get a much better prospective with the girls and where they are. T1 doesn't seem quite so mouthy or moody when I see that every kid her age acts the same way.
Today is also the last day of first quarter. T1 (from what has been updated as of right now) did fantastic.. we might have to buy sushi! She set a goal for all A's, we hope for all A's, but even more that she is really trying, she has adjusted to Jr high well, and I couldn't be more proud of her! T2.. she is doing great, I am hearing that she loves math and she has never said that before.. the new 6th grade teacher is making a great difference for her. I wish I could explain more about her grades, but I HATE (and I don't use that word lightly) the new grading system. They are now getting numbers 1-4 and it correlates with the standardized testing.. So if she does a writing assignment.. it is put under many areas like: clear point, following instructions, spelling and maybe one or two more areas.. if she bombs.. she could bomb in all the areas.. there is not just a grade. They changed to this so the teachers, staff, school, and district could see if the testing took place about where the kids would be. Well.. guess what.. I don't care about the districts scores, I want to know where my kid is.. give me a grade!!! So... honestly.. I really don't get where she is, but I know she is a good kid, who doesn't try as hard as she could, because she doesn't really care to and she likes to talk. This leaves us in a weird spot and I don't know how to reward her this year. But we will work it out.
Lets see.. what else. I got my school photo.. cuz' I am a teacher and all.. hehe.. I don't like it! I dislike head shots, maybe I will post it later. Ohh, I put in a pumpkin for the staff contest and I won first place.. yeah for me! I love feeling part of the team, I like working at the schools and getting to spend so much time with kids.. esp mine! I feel like I am finally good at mob control at the elementary and now I have a new challenge to learn the Jr high.. I like goal setting.

Life is good.

2009-09-26T09:59:00.003-06:00

Happy Anniversary my love!

Our wedding part 5 of 5

2009-09-25T06:20:00.002-06:00

Our reception was fun. I mean with that fantastic food how could it not?!? We did some photo's right after the reception. Rose Sachs Gardens is beautiful and has a stairway up to a waterfall where we did some family photos right after the ceremony. Then we did family photos and the one of Sirj and his mom is just cute!

Some of the photos that I used for this were taken by Blaine, Sirj's best bud, he sent me a photo book after the wedding, it was the first time I had seen something like that and it just made me cry.
The sock issue. Sirj wore white socks to the wedding and didn't grab black ones.. Jeff to the rescue and traded socks.. Sirj now has black Sponge Bob socks and he wears them with great pride and memory of our wedding day and what an amazing friend Jeff is.
What can I say.. he just makes me happy.. I am honestly one of the luckiest girls on the planet!
Our exit, flowers and bubbles.
Our flowers were beautiful and smelled amazing. I still have my bouquet and a lot of the flowers Laurel took home and shared with her neighbors.
I didn't have attendants, but my life would not be the same without these folks. Kim, Mom and Laurel keep me sane.. then and now. A couple of days before the wedding I gathered these ladies and my Mother in Law and had them all to tea at the Grand America to say thank you. I gave them each a Christmas ornament and we enjoyed a lovely afternoon together.
My loving parents.
The girls (esp T2) was not happy about us leaving for 9 days.
Sirj surprised us at the house on the way to the wedding with a Limo.. the girls thought it was the coolest thing EVER!
My hansom dad giving us our first toast.
Everyone who shared our wedding day with us. It was perfect!
After the wedding we went to The Hotel Monaco, had dinner at the Melting Pot and the next morning flew to Disneyland. The following day we had lunch at our little Italian restaurant in Venice (C&O Trattoria) then flew first class to the Big Island of Hawaii for 7 days. Ohh yeah.. our honeymoon was scheduled to be the Grand Cayman Island.. but hurricane Ivan had other plans.. 10 days before the wedding we had to find a new place to go. It's so great we don't melt down over change. Kind of a good base for a marriage huh.
Our take aways were a CD that we made, and leaf shaped chocolates in cute little boxes at each place setting.

Our wedding part 4 of 5

2009-09-24T06:10:00.005-06:00

The food.. oh my. Our food was the best! Have Party Will Travel of Murray catered our wedding and when we sat down to plan our food, she was so open to us planning the food we wanted.. so we did!
A veggie tray, baked brie, gyoza, chocolate dip with yummies and the best part.. carmel apples. Oh yeah and a beer/wine open bar.

Our cake.. it was amazing. Two of the tiers were German chocolate and one was raspberry swirl. The big chucks of mosaic chocolate on the outside were so yummy.. and one year later.. it tasted just as good as at the wedding. (Thank you mostly to Barb who wrapped it so very well!) There was also no smashing of cake, we were both very gentle and polite. We also did get sit down and eat the food at our wedding, I know so many that don't, and our food was good!

One day I want to call them and order our menu again just to have it. They were so great, they made a to go box for us to take. We had chocolate covered, carmel apples that we took to Hawaii with us!

Our Wedding part 3 of 5

2009-09-23T05:53:00.003-06:00

Our ceremony. The foundation of our relationship is parallel with a lot of the teachings from The Prophet. We had a close friend read "On Love", then Allison (our officiant) read "On Marriage" and Sirj and I read "On Children". Oh yeah.. Sirj purposed to me at the end of the isle. How could a girl say no? (in the dress and all). Continuing with the plan that the wedding was all about our new family, we didn't have an attendants, the girls gave me away and we did a sand ceremony. It was so perfect. The weather was mid 70's, the sky was blue, the trees were colorful, our guests were who we really wanted there.

YES!!!
Sirj is green, T1 is pink, T2 is turquoise, and I am purple. Still individuals, but never to be separated again.. Family. We had the vase at the sign in table (thank you Laurel) a glass etching pen and had everyone sign the vase as they came in. We also had candy corn and candy pumpkins in a glass pumpkin jar at the table.. the kids spent a lot of time down there eating the candy. My copy of The Prophet, Sirj gave me for our first Christmas. Here you can also see our rings (a little). Sirj's is a TeNo, stainless steel with a tension setting .10 diamond. I never asked what size his finger was, I only knew what his right hand ring finger was.. because we did rings without each other I ordered his (not available in Utah) to big. And five years later he's smaller and his ring barley stays on! My ring is a Natalie K white gold Victorian style with etchings and diamond down the sides, eternity designs on the top and bottom and a .85 round diamond in the middle. I had showed him what I liked, but he did the rest on his own.. and then hid it in my car trunk.

"Give me, a kiss to build a dream on..."

Aren't they cute!!

Sirj walked down the isle to "Love me Tender", I walked down the isle to "When you wish upon a star" and we ended with "A kiss to build a dream on". We both wrote our vows. Sirj's was short and perfect, mine took me months and used a lot of words. Both were so perfect for our day.

Ohhh.. you noticed the girls are in different dresses than the photos.. yeah.. that was fun! After our outdoor photos I had all of our dresses cleaned.. the girls came back looking like they had the chicken pox.. so I re died them and that didn't work.. so the week before the wedding I went out alone looking for anything in the girls sizes that were in the right colors. I bought everything, took them over to the girls (at their dads) and they each choose the dress they liked the best. It ended up fine.

Our Wedding part 2 of 5

2009-09-22T05:32:00.003-06:00

We wanted our wedding to be about more than us. Sirj and I knew that we choose to be together and that the girls were along for the ride. Don't get me wrong, they loved Sirj and he was a perfect fit for us but we wanted our wedding to show we were becoming a family. In stead of a lot of the traditional things we did our own thing. I didn't want an engagement ring and I didn't get one or a proposal.. (not yet). We did family portraits before the wedding and here are my favorites.
Isn't he handsome!
She was 6.. first grade.. and so cute!
I loved the play with the light.

Our family.

My dress was perfect for me. It was the only one I wanted, I knew when I saw the image on the model it was ment to be mine.

My dress is a Maggie Sottero named Grace Marie, in light gold satin with diamond white lace. I ordered satin and lace from the factory to match my dress to have the dresses made for the girls, they picked the color and the length, Aunt Kim made their jewelry.

Before braces in second grade, 7 years old.

It's been a long time since I have looked at these photos. I am amazed at how small the girls look. Five years to us seams so short, but half a lifetime to those two adorable angels. We did our photos at Thanksgiving Point, we had to sneak in because they were closed for the night. This was also the second day we tried to do photos, weather did not want to work with us, but the second try came out great! I love my photos our photographer was amazing!

Our wedding part 1 of 5

2009-09-21T05:13:00.001-06:00

I was not blogging back when Sirj and I got married, and I thought sharing our wedding was a wonderful build up for our fifth year anniversary. We are in Australia right now, celebrating. I have pre-set for five entries to post each day leading up to our anniversary. I hope you enjoy them. This was our wedding invitation. Sirj and I had dated four years before "agreeing" to get married. The invitations were so very us.. non traditional and just cute. When we decided on a fall wedding the colors just kind of fell into place. Red's, brown's, and orange's. Ohh, and this was the second print of the invites, the first ones said Saturday, not Sunday. As I am sure of all weddings, we had our share of issues.
Sirj was rather helpful with the wedding. If I asked and he had an opinion he gave it to me, we very much planned the wedding together. We decided when to get married on July 4. I kept asking if it was official and he kept telling me no, yet he started telling people, so I waited two weeks, and then started telling people, with less then 3 months I had to get busy!

Party, Party, Party

2009-08-31T14:40:00.005-06:00

The last weekend we had before school started we went to the Eden Balloon Festival.. It was cold, we all dressed poorly and the kids wined most of the time. Next year.. no kids, packing a grown up lunch with cheese and wine.. cant wait!

School started last Monday.. it was a rough day. It was also my birthday.

6 years earlier I had taken T2 for her first day of Kindergarten.. it was my 30th birthday. For my 36th birthday, I got to take T1 to Jr High for her first day of 7th grade. She was scared but excited. I hope this is a good year, Jr high was not a good friend of mine! T2 is at the top of her game, I am looking forward a good year with her and enjoying the simpleness of our last year of elementary. Sirj tried really hard to make it a great birthday for me, we did lunch, wondered the Gateway, did a yummy family dinner at Biaggi's. The girls got me a fantastic Cookie Monster computer bag and my darling husband got me the Tiffany onyx toggle bracelet I have been drooling over and Laurel sent me flowers, they were bright and just what I needed on a happy/crappy/overly emotional day. Scary isn't she!

Saturday we celebrated my mom's birthday .. we scrapbooked all day.. doesn't she look excited??

Sunday as part of the ongoing birthday fun we went to the zoo. Look at how cute this little guy is.. I love our zoo.. they have a lot of babies right now (elephant, snow leopard, tigers, monkeys too). Today is my mom's birthday proper.. I know she is not happy about the digits that now show as her age, but I am damn happy to have her here to share it.. and hope to see many more decades pass her by!

Love.

2009-08-13T22:27:00.003-06:00

I am so in love with this dress! Its from Black/White.. I mean even the name of the store screams I should shop there. I found the dress in Ohio and was shocked that I got into a dress 4 sizes smaller than the last shopping trip I went on. (yeah for me.. 25 pounds less.. but more to go!) It is show awards season.. I love it.. it's almost my birthday.. BUT I don't want to spend a ton on a dress that I hope wont fit soon.. so I will be good... but isn't it pretty?!?!?

Camping

2009-08-09T14:59:00.004-06:00

So, I am not a big outdoorsy kinda person. I like camping with Girl Scouts because the tents are already set up and they provide food and entertainment. Over the past couple of years Sirj and I have tried to go camping at least once a year and honestly we suck at it. We forget important stuff every time, no matter how much we add to the list from the mistakes me made the year before (like foil). Ohh well. This year we booked for two nights.. TWO.. I was a little worried, but willing to try. We left Tori home hoping we would get to play in the water up at Willard Bay (where we camped), but the weather was not so great. We spent the first hour blowing up the queen size air mattress.. yeah.. we blew it up. He loves me that much! We ate yummy food, Sirj obsessed over fire, I finished a book, he kicked my butt in Toss Up, and we hung out. The first night was rainy and both nights were cold, but.. I had a good time and slept great.. and it helps I have my own personal heater to snuggle with!
We have a six man tent.. with the mattress.. it might fit 4, but it was good sleep :)
Killer ninja bunny. They had a plan.. this was the cute one.. small and bunny like, there were two more.. bigger, that while we watched this cute little guy, were coming up from behind .. we found them out before they had a chance to fulfill their plan.. but we were watching them closely the rest of the trip.

Perfectly roasted marshmallows.

Our tent.. and we set it up all by ourselves.

Half-birthday celebration.

2009-08-05T21:32:00.004-06:00

Each year for about 6 years now, Laurel and I plan a silly day to celebrate that we had winter babies and don't get to plan fun, sun filled birthday parties. This year we did a Luau theme and took the kids to Cowabunga Bay in Draper. Not the best party we have done, but the kids really did enjoy the water park.. for a little while. We did lunch before heading down, with sandwiches, pineapple, tiki punch and macaroon cookies. For their silly gift I brought some stuff back from Maui, that sadly all melted. I think they had fun anyway :)

Roy Days

2009-08-02T13:01:00.005-06:00

Roy Days is my favorite summer activity. I love that our little city has a day that is all ours. We do a parade just to highlight our community and our kids accomplishments, we have a carnival and fireworks. The fireworks are sent up from the park one street over from us, so having a BBQ with our nearest and dearest, then free entertainment just makes sense. Not only did we have a BBQ, but so did 5 of our neighbors.. all in a row. It was great to see all of us out enjoying our own little holiday.
We started out at the parade. T1 was with her Cheer squad and T2 with her softball team. Then home to clean and prep for the BBQ. I made sangria for the first time.. it was yummy. Around 7 many of our friends came over to celebrate with us. The food was great, the company was entertaining and the fireworks were nice. After the fireworks the group got smaller, and there were 4 families with mostly teenage kids.. Alese and I decided we needed to embarrass the kids by dancing and much to our surprise, they joined us. We sang really loud, danced and laughed.. it was a great night! I think my neighbors have seen a new side of me.

Ivin and Sirj.. arn't they cute?Force.. undefeted.. tri-city champoins!
And her.. T1.. our little cheerleader.

Our Nest

2009-07-30T09:24:00.005-06:00

So I mentioned back in October that we had been working on some stuff in the house. Well, since that time the house has been a mess of one way or another. Now, there are still little things that need to be done, and one big thing to get the main level of the house finished, but its done enough I can now share what we have been doing. Dinning room before with the ugly carpet and wallpaper. The dinning room now.. New baseboard, new curtains, no wallpaper. There will never be wallpaper in this home again! It was two weeks of hell to get off!

Ok, this is extreme, but its the only before photo I could find of the kitchen. St. Patrick's day.. the little green men trashed the kitchen.. but stay focused... look how messy above the cabinets look.

The kitchen with the new, cuter than appliances, on top of the cabinets. It just looks cleaner.

We also added a curtain above the sink.

The boring room. AKA.. the kids computer room/library. See.. I did finally get them each their own PC, its worked out very nice.

Another shot of the boring room.

My desk.. cat included.

Our fire place before the paint or the mantel.

Our spiffy new mantel that my dad built us, along with Sirj's TV and the new equipment holder he put together last night.

The next big project is to get rid of the carpet on the first floor and replace it with bamboo hard wood flooring. So.. (hint, hint.. mom/dad) that is what I really want for my birthday :)

Then on to the basement.. hopefully to be done as our family Christmas gift.

Jackson Hole, WY

2009-07-25T00:59:00.003-06:00

Yes, my life is a whirlwind of travel. This week I got the pleasure of taking my Girl Scout Troop to Jackson Hole. Out of the 7 years I have been with these girls, this was by far the greatest activity we have done. The girls sold an amazing amount of cookies and raised every dime to pay for this. I had a blast and was really proud of how all the girls got along.
All of us, under the (disturbing) antler arch (one of 4 in their town square).
T2 with Speckles the lama.
T1, being.. T1.
Troop 100's leaders. I am proud to have these two ladies beside me.. the troop could not and would not work with out them!
The girls and I after the white water ride down Snake River. It was a lot of fun!

My trip to Ohio

2009-07-19T21:41:00.004-06:00

Yeah.. I know, two posts all month and its the 17th. What can I say either I am too boring to post or to busy. I have been telling myself for three days to sit down and do this post and something keeps getting in the way.. so forcing myself here we go.
In March when my grandmother pasted away I went and was there from 11pm Thursday till 6 am Saturday.. so that is 30 hours. In that trip I felt I was just to rushed, that maybe there was something I missed, family I missed. I wanted to have the chance to visit and see what connections were there, who to let into my life.
The opportunity came up that Sirj would be gone for while for work, the girls with their dad and all that would miss me would be the dog, so my mom and I booked a trip and the plan was that she would spend time with her brothers and sisters and I would hook up with my cousins and visit with her when it pleased me. Well.. plans went askew when my cousin passed away on the 4th.
There are 6 kids in my moms family, something like 22 grand kids and lots of great-grand kids. With this many adults, all with thoughts, opinions and their own "right", there is A LOT of shit in this family. Bad blood, unforgivable actions, blah, blah on and on. My cousin passing away added another layer of crap to the smelly pile and made the trip hard for my mom.. add to that my cousin wasn't able to get time off work, and my favorite part.. that pile o'shit with my name on it that I left 18 years ago.. found me within 24 hours of landing. That was nice.
So, mom and I spent a couple of days sight seeing Ohio, the zoo, the mall, the levee, some of KY, and just hung out. I got to spend a couple of days with my cousins and that was wonderful! I also just about finished my book. Overall Cini was good to me. I got what I went for, I have a few names to add to my Christmas card list, and a couple of cousins that I will keep in my small pile of friends. If there is to ever be another trip to Ohio, it will be for them.
What I liked the best is that my cousin and his wife are going to come to Utah early next year!

My mom with her little sister (the two babys). My Aunt Vicki and Brenda. They took us to a great BBQ dinner.
Rino at the Cincinnati Zoo.. I had always heard they had the greatest zoo. I was surprised at how much I didn't care for it. Zoo's are hard to deal with when I really think about what they are, but I personally feel our zoo is much nicer.

My uncle Rick, cousin Mike and myself. My uncle has a beautiful home with lots of land and horses. My cousin Sarah (the baby of us grand kids) is getting married at his house on the 1st.

Michael and Richard. When I little there was a line of us.. Angie, me, Mike, Tracey, Richard. We are all 1 year apart and were the greatest of friends. I am so happy to have these two ULTRA competitive idiots back in my life. They took me out to bars, tried to get me to drink, and taught me how to play Wii.. Ohhh and yes, I beat Mike in EVERYTHING, and beat Rich in softball. It's amazing what to much to drink can do for ones skills... good times.

Second verse, same as the first..

2009-07-09T13:35:00.005-06:00

Today was T1's turn to get braces.. AGAIN..! Yes, this is the second time for the poor kid. When she was 8 when we did braces the first time, but with an appliance to widen her jaw to fix an under bite and headgear to pull her (bulldog) jaw back. He is back in them because the rest of her teeth came in pushing the rest out of place, and her jaw is on the move again, pushing all her front teeth out. She will only need to be in them 12-14 months, and then a retainer till her jaw stops moving (somewhere about age 15). She also went with all metal unlike T2.
Before.

During.. cuz' you needed to see part of her skull too.

After. Oh.. and she already.. really.. really wants them off!
Her right after she got the braces when she was 8.. she has changed so much.. and so much of that is because of the braces.. and 4 years growth of course.

4th of July and some

2009-07-06T21:55:00.004-06:00

Our fourth was spent watching Stadium of Fire. T1, again, performed and so mom, T2 and I got tickets to watch her and the bubble gum crap music that was being performed. T1 did a great job, the music was fine, the fire works were wonderful, and I hope I don't have to do it next year.

T2, couldn't stop smiling! The Jonas brothers were the bomb!
T1 looking all spiffy!

Now for the some part of the post.. sadly the fourth was not all fun, news from Ohio that my cousin had a heart attack and was brain dead kind of put a overcast of gloom. Its sad, she was 46. I feel really bad for my aunt.. no one should loose a child, no matter their age.
Today has been a weird day too.. Sirj left for the Philippians for longer than I want and I took T2 to camp for 6 days. Bummed Sirj was leaving, and T2 not having a fit about me leaving her kinda upset me. I mean she has bigger fits about bed time, oh well.. I am glad she is having this experience and I am sure she will make great friends.. she is so good at that. So that leaves just me and T1.. that is weird too, I hardly ever get time with just one kid.. although, she thinks its a reason for me to take her shopping for all her hearts desires.. hahaha
Lets hope I live through the week!

T2's braces

2009-06-25T11:42:00.003-06:00

Today was the day for T2. Not to much fuss or pain.. with 5 different tooth brushes and a major dent in my account.. we have started 16-18 months of metal mouth.

Before.

During.. I knew you wanted to see part of her skull.
All done.. she was given a choice of all metal, or the porcelain on the top 6.. she went for the porcelain.

Traditions

2009-06-23T21:51:00.003-06:00

A little later than we normally go, but May was so busy that Mother/Daughter Tea kinda got forgot about. We made some time today to fix that, and invited Laurel and her daughter (her birthday part 3.. because of the accident we didn't make it to tea)

I wish this was just something they did.. but no.. seconds later there was a fight.
Laurel and her daughter.

Tea.. our 6th year, and one day they wont eat all the sugar out of the dish.. right ?!?!

Maui, wowwie

2009-06-16T10:34:00.005-06:00

Home. The trip went by too fast, as all great vacations do. We had a wonderful time and got to share some new experiences with the girls. To save your blogging time for the day, but keep my memories clear here are some bullets from the trip, and if you last (or want to skip down) then pictures.

My dad has a strange obsession with laundry. Our condo had washer and dryer, every day he was gathering clothes to wash.. I came home with all clean clothes.
T1 has a phone problem. She spent about an hour a day hiding in the closet to text. Point of contention for my dad and I.
We went 6 days without a fight.. not bad. (see above bullet for reason)
The really white kid (T2) goes really pink, and even with sunscreen still blistered her ears.
Turtles (Huno) are really cool! Sadly the crappy water camera I had did not pick up the photos of the 9 (nine!) turtles all together we saw.
We are dorks and left our new "waterproof" camcorder at home.
I don't really like Luau food. But the dancers were cute!
I think I would rather just stay white. I am 3 shades of pinkish red and have horrid lines. The top of my thighs look like red thigh highs and my caves hurt to touch.
Snorkeling is fun, I cant wait to scuba in Australia!
Parasaling is a blast! Glad Sirj went with T1.. she is really loud!
The Road to Hana is hellish. But the burger at the end was yummy.
Bogey board are way fun, till the next day when you see all the bruises they leave.. underarms and ribs.
I am not a 50's wife. Sirj and slept in two different beds the whole trip, there was no A/C and the double bed was not enough space for the temp it was.
Red Eye flights home are hard!!! I don't think one of us got any sleep.
The air in Maui smells like flowers. And I didn't take enough allergy meds. But.. not to worry, with an ABC on very corner life was good.
Get fruit from the store, the dude on the side of the road was WAY to pricey.
Sugar cane is like gnawing on sugar flavored tongue depressors.
Kauai is by far my favorite island.
The Hawaiian language is hard. 13 letters total and all the words sound like they were made up by potty mouth 4 year olds.

My mom and dad at the Luau, on dads birthday.

My favorite (haha) picture of T1.. most of the photos are like this, or of her texting.

My favorite daddy daughter picture.

Isn't she adorable!

One of the few photos T1 would let me have of them together.

Favorite picture of me.

This is the best group shot ever! We have one took on the street with birds coming in the mail, but my dad was not in it.

I am so glad he went with her! I think regardless of the screaming, she had fun.

T2 and I had a blast!

Dude.. Maui Rocks!!

No time to talk.

2009-06-11T10:28:00.001-06:00