The Adams Family

Muddy Motivation

2012-01-18T08:08:00.004-07:00

So, I tried really hard to keep exercising while I was pregnant. I kept doing my dance classes. I didn't run, but I walked. It just got really uncomfortable. So I stopped. And here I almost 5 1/2 months after giving birth and I have gone to dance/used the elliptical a handful of times.

I have decided to Dirty Dash. I know it's not the most intense of races, but it'll be fun and give me something to work towards. Here's what the course looks like:

I'll be joining my mom and my Canadian friend and anyone else who joins our team. It'll be messy and hopefully fun. I hear mud baths are really good for you.

Because She's Cute and I Can

2012-01-13T11:11:00.004-07:00

I really can't get over how much I love her! For your viewing pleasure (more mine really):

Ready for Church

Saturday Morning

Escape Artist

(love seeing that smile every morning)

Chubba Lubba!

Watching While Mom Makes Breakfast

5 months

2012-01-07T11:14:00.001-07:00

5 months flies by so fast. In the past 5 months, we've been adjusting to being a little family of 3. Lucia has been so much fun! It's amazing how fast babies change and grow. Here's a catch up of her in pictures the last 4 months.

2 months

3 months

4 months

5 months

At 5 months old Luci:

loves taking a bath
loves listening to music (especially Don't Give up, 7 8 9, and Itsy Bitsy Spider right now)
loves when Dad plays the guitar
loves listening to Mom read books
loves playing peek-a-boo
loves grabbing her toes
loves cuddling with her bunny and cow
loves dancing
loves eating (she's in the 4th percentile for height and 50% for weight)
loves being in her little activity center
plays "Follow the _____ (insert random object)"
thinks it's funny when Mom or Dad burp
laughs at weird noises
likes to play with her cousin Maci
is spoiled by her grandparents (as well as uncles and aunts)
can roll from her belly to back
is working on sitting up and rolling over
prefers to be cold (she screams when you put a jacket or tights on her)
is a total Daddy's girl
and sleeps 11 - 12 hours at night (on occasion, 14)

Love you little Luci!

Gorgeous Girl

2011-09-13T13:25:00.004-06:00

Almost 4 weeks (We already have a guitar teacher for her!)

Photos by Ashley Lowder Photography
She's a friend of mine and does GREAT work!

5 weeks

Bluebird Pictures did my niece's newborn pictures. My sister invited us to Maci's 3 month pictures for a little cousins photo shoot. We had so much fun! I'll post those when we get them.

By the way, Bluebird Pictures has a free photo session contest going on right now!

Who Needs a Gallbladder?

2011-09-10T09:58:00.002-06:00

Two weeks after having Luci, I was feeling pretty good. She came two weeks before I was supposed to be induced, so I had already been recovering and was moving around. I decided to go to Back to School Night so that I could actually meet my students and their parents before I turned them over to my substitute for the first four weeks of school.

The night went pretty well and I met the majority of my students. I decided to cut out a little early because I could (and I had to get home to feed Luci). On my way out of the school I called Eli to see how he and Lucia were doing. While I was talking to him, I broke out in sweats and felt really dizzy and nauseous. I figured I just needed something to eat since I had just had lunch that day. Eli asked what he should start for dinner and I told him I didn't care because food sounded gross.

As soon as I got to my car I couldn't move. I climbed into the driver's seat and was doubled over. I couldn't move and I could barely talk. I was in so much pain. I sat there for 15 minutes while Eli debated calling an ambulance. I told him I would grab my co-worker/friend and have her drive me to the hospital. Eli took Lucia to a friend's house and came to meet us at the school.

My friend Nicole drove me to the hospital while Eli followed and my mom met us there. By the time we got to the ER I was feeling much better. I was a little dizzy, but felt so much better. Eli and my mom insisted that I get checked out. So I was admitted and examined. I had an ultrasound and blood work done. Turns out that I had major gallstones and inflammation of the gallbladder, but I was doing better, so I was sent home with pain meds and a number to a specialist because I needed to have my gallbladder removed.

I called the specialist Tuesday morning and settled in for a day with my baby girl. I was taking a nap with Luci on my chest. Eli was downstairs working. His company was nice enough to let him take half days on Tuesdays and Thursdays to help me out. I called him up to get Luci because I could feel an attack coming on. I don't think he realized how much pain I was in, but he just stood there while I writhed (I really did) in pain. I screamed, cried, whimpered, etc. He finally called my sister to come stay with Lucia and his pal Jordy to come give me a blessing. Not to mention he made a few phone calls to the specialist demanding I be seen as soon as possible.

We were finally able to get to the doctor's office where they got me in right away, but of course it took some time for us to be seen because of all the paperwork. The doctor finally came in, looked at my ultrasound (and was shocked they sent me home), got me in a wheelchair and Eli rolled me to the hospital. There we had to wait a little longer for more paperwork and admittance stuff, plus a urine test (to make sure I wasn't pregnant!), and an IV hookup.

I don't really remember the surgery because I was completely under. I remember waking up though and having the worst sore throat ever. I've never experienced a breathing tube and hope I don't ever have to again. I could barely sit up in bed because my incisions hurt so badly (I have four). Not to mention I was pretty incoherent. I was in and out for close to six hours. I really had no concept of time. I was finally released when I could hold down some soup and walk around without too much help.

At the end of the day, it was a crazy experience. Recovery wasn't fun, but fairly quick. The lortab they gave me knocked my baby out when I fed her. But Eli was home the rest of the week to help out. I love him. Oh, and if you're interested in seeing a gallbladder removed, go Google "gallbladder laparoscopic surgery". I'm so glad I didn't see it before. Nasty!

One more thing, this attack hit me out of nowhere. I'm relatively healthy. I asked the doctor why this issue hit so hard. He told me the risk factors are : genetics, fertile, female, and fat (having it and eating it). I have all of the factors, so I would have had to had it removed eventually. If you feel pain or discomfort when you put your hand under your right ribs, breathe in deep, and give a little push, you might want to have your gallbladder checked out!

Captain America Induces Labor

2011-08-09T07:01:00.008-06:00

It was Saturday night, August 6, and Eli and I decided to go out for date night. I was getting bigger and more uncomfortable. Baby Girl was due in 3 weeks. We figured we might be running out of time on how often we'd be able to go out. We settled on our typical date, dinner and a movie. You can never go wrong with that combo.

We decided to hit up Asian Buffet. It probably wasn't the best choice, but I was major craving and due to the gestational diabetes, I'd held off on carbs for a LONG time. I wanted to reward myself a little. After dinner we headed next door to watch Captain America. We're big fans of the Marvel comics movies (and are super excited for The Avengers).

As soon as we settled in and ready to watch, the contractions started. I wasn't too concerned. I'd been experiencing Braxton Hick's contractions for the past couple of weeks. I sat back and did my best to enjoy the movie. About a quarter of the way through the movie, I realized that I was still having contractions. I told Eli and he whipped out his phone and use the contraction app he had downloaded earlier. My contractions were consistently 20 minutes apart. By the end of the movie they were 15 minutes apart. I still wasn't too worried though because the contractions weren't painful.

Sunday morning, August 7, I woke up and realized that I hadn't felt Baby Girl very much. I did a kick count and was a little concerned. Eli and I decided to go to the hospital and do a non-stress test. I was supposed to be doing them twice a week anyway due to the diabetes and I missed the second time that week.

I got to the hospital and got hooked up to the monitors pretty quickly...and then was left there for almost two hours. Usually the NST takes about 30 minutes. The nurses were pretty busy. I believe there were 8 babies delivered that morning and they were running all over. I'd done enough tests that I knew everything was okay. The baby's heartbeat was strong and consistent and my blood pressure was fine. I did ask the nurse (when she finally came back) about my contractions. They were about 10 minutes apart. The nurse informed me that it was normal and I shouldn't worry unless they were hurting, 3-5 minutes apart for 30 minutes, or if my water broke. We were sent home and told to rest.

We got home, had some lunch, and after deciding that I couldn't sit through 3 hours of church, we settled down to take a nap. That was about 2 hours after leaving the hospital. I got all comfy and laid down. As soon as I got in bed I felt a sharp pain in my abdomen and my stomach got super hard - another contraction. It went away and I tried to get comfy again. Not too long after I went through another contraction. Eli started timing. 20 minutes later he called the hospital, told them my contractions were 5 minutes and painful. We headed to the hospital again.

As soon as we got there, they hooked me up in the same room as before and checked my vitals. The nurse came in and informed me that I was dilated to 4 cm and had a "droopy bag". Side note* The week before at my appointment I was at a 2 and 100% effaced.* The nurse said that they would go ahead and admit me. I was sure to tell her that I wanted an epidural. The anesthesiologist had just left, so it would take a while to get him back, but they would get him.

I got moved to a delivery room and hooked up to all the machines there. By the time I was admitted and hooked up, it was about 4:00. It had been about 2 hours since my contractions started and they were getting pretty intense. The nurse checked me again and I was at 6 cm. She was surprised. Most people moved about a cm an hour and I had changed 2. No biggie though. The anesthesiologist made it then and hooked me up with the good stuff.

After that it was just a waiting game. My family showed up. My in-laws were on their way (from Scipio and Logan). I could still feel the contractions, but they weren't painful anymore, just uncomfortable. I was stocked up on ice chips and Eli was being awesome. The doctor came in and broke my water when I was about 7 cm.

The nurses came in and checked and kept me posted. Around 6:45 I called in the nurse because I was pretty sure something was going on. I had the nurse check me again and I was at 9 3/4 cm! I was super freaked out. Labor was happening and I really felt unprepared. The nurse came back about 15-20 minutes later and checked me again. I was at a 10!

I was waiting for the doctor to come in, but the nurses reminded me that the doctor typically doesn't come until a head is seen. My brothers and father-in-law left the room and I was left with the nurses, Eli, my mom, my two sisters, and my mother-in-law. I know that's a lot of people, but it made the delivery so much easier!

The nurse started me pushing. I was so scared that I was going to have to push for hours. When it was time for Melissa to push with Maci, she only pushed for 30 minutes. I was convinced that since I progressed so quickly, I was going to have to push for a long time. The nurse ran for the doctor on the second contraction. Eli had seen a head of hair already! When I finished with my fourth contraction, Miranda asked the doctor about how much longer. The nurse said, "Probably another five contractions." The next contraction hit, I pushed, and my baby was delivered! 19 1/2 minutes of pushing. My doctor held the baby, looked at Eli with a grin, and said, "Five more. Pish!"
It was such an amazing experience! Our little Monica Lucia was born at 7:25 pm, was 5lbs. 8 oz., and 17 inches long. Eli cut the umbilical cord and went with her to the nursery. She had retractions when she was born and didn't cry, so they had to suck her lungs out. She had about 15 ml of amniotic fluid, but she was healthy!

I cannot even explain the elation I felt when she was born. When doctor put her in my arms (messy and all), everything else disappeared. The love I felt at that moment for Luci and Eli is unexplainable. Everything in the world was right and perfect.

Tender Mercies

2011-06-06T15:56:00.004-06:00

My dad passed away almost a week ago, Tuesday night (5-31-11). He was in a fatal car accident while driving with his friend in his Shelby Cobra (for those of you who know my dad, it was fast). I have replayed Tuesday night over and over in my head. I was concerned with finishing up the last week of school and getting some sleep. Eli and I had had a few late nights in a row.

My sister and mom were in St. George. Melissa had an appointment with her doctor. She was planning on being induced on Saturday (6-4). My mom was going to stay with her the week because J, her husband, was in Texas working. My two brothers were on their way to California to help a family friend move. Miranda and my dad were at home.

I got a call from my brother Josh telling me that I needed to call Miranda and pick her up because Dad had been in a car accident. I called Miranda and talked to her. She was staying at a neighbor's house and said she would be fine there. I then called my mom and asked her what was going on. She was on her way home with Melissa. There had been an accident and no one knew anything, not even where my dad had been taken. Jake and Josh were going to get on a flight as soon as possible and come home as soon as they got to their destination.

I couldn't sit around. Eli and I were restless. I called hospitals trying to find my dad. I didn't want him to be by himself. Nothing. No one had someone checked in by the name of Jared Budge. Eli has a friend on the police force, so we called him to see if he could help us. He advised us to call dispatch. I did. They knew nothing but "would call as soon as they knew something." I still haven't heard from them.

Eli and I went to pick up Miranda and wait at my parent's home to hear something and meet my mom and sister when they got back three hours later. While we were there, the bishop of my parent's ward came to check on us. He asked if we'd heard anything. After we told him no, he said he'd come check on us later. He came back 10 minutes later. I knew something was wrong.

Bishop was with us when we called my mom. He was there when she told us that Dad had not made it; he had been killed instantly. Eli, Miranda, and I held each other while Bishop looked on. I couldn't believe it. This is the second father I've lost; the second husband my mom has lost.

Since then, we've gotten so many letters, phone calls, messages from all of our family and friends. It has been absolutely amazing. Among many of the messages I have received, I've read many of the same words: "It's not fair," "Why did it have to happen?" and "You must feel terrible."

I would like to let you know of the peace I feel. Although this tragic event has happened, I'm okay. It sounds strange to word it this way, but the Lord has truly blessed us. Let me explain why I named this post "Tender Mercies."

My brother Jake has been gone for the past two years in Mexico. He's been serving as a missionary for the Church for the past two years. He came home Saturday, May 28th. Three days before my dad passed on. Jake's plane was delayed twice. He was supposed to be in around noon, then 4 pm, and he finally came in after 5 pm. As a result, Eli and I spent the whole day with my dad and family in Salt Lake. We were also with my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and several cousins.

2 weeks ago, Bishop asked Jake to speak in church the day after he got back. Again, the whole day with even more family and friends, ALL DAY. Memorial Day was Monday. Eli and I again spent the day with my immediate family. We had a BBQ, we played rummy, and just relaxed and listened to music. Three AMAZING family filled days. My dad was so happy.

Tuesday morning, before everyone went their separate ways, Dad took Jake to the honey house. He taught him how to bottle honey, how to do the paper work, took him on a delivery, and gave him all his best sales pitches. Now, Jake knows all about the business.

Two weekends ago, my mom and dad were able to spend a few days in San Diego, away from everyone. My dad had been on business for two weeks and felt the need to spend time with my mom. They had a blast. I've never seen two people more in love.

My sister Melissa's doctor wanted to induce her Tuesday at her appointment. Her husband still wasn't in from Texas, so she said no. If J had been there, she would have been induced and in labor when the accident happened. Because she said no, she and my mom were able to turn around and come back home.

My dad has been trying to do his own thing for work with a partner the past couple of years. Three months ago, he started a new job with Adobe that he kind of fell into. It was a well paying job with benefits that started immediately, including life insurance. He loved it there.

And crazy enough, to make some decisions easier, about five days before he passed away, my dad was talking to Josh and Melissa about where he would like to be buried. He had been thinking about it lately. He was torn between Malad (where everyone else in the family is buried) and American Fork (where he's lived the past ten years). He said American Fork was home and they had a nice cemetery and always kept up with the landscaping. We found him a gorgeous plot in AF City Cemetery.

With all of the difficulty that comes along with losing someone you love, we've felt extremely blessed. We have been given so many wonderful memories and opportunities to spend with my dad. He was the happiest he's ever been, spiritually, physically, family-wise. He went out at the top of his game. The peak. He was only 45 years old, but lived more than most do at 90.

The night we found out, we were able to have the Bishop with us. As a result, I was able to receive a blessing from him and my husband. I cannot tell you the peace and love I felt that night. I was not angry, I did not question God. I knew, without a doubt, that it was my dad's time to go. I don't know why it was, but I knew that all would be okay. It will take time, but I know that we will all be okay.

I know that God loves me. He has blessed me immensely with love and support from family and friends everywhere. He has not left me alone to deal with this. Because of the things that I know and believe, I know that I will see my dad again. I will be with my family forever. I know that the power of prayer is real. There is someone who hears me and loves me and knows me. I have seen His mercy in all of the events leading up to this tragic accident.

And most of all, He gives us things to buoy us up. Yesterday, the day after my dad's funeral, my sister Melissa had her baby. She had a beautiful, healthy baby girl named Maci Jayne. She was born June 5th at 11:57 p.m. She is 19 1/2 inches long and 8 lbs. 3 oz. She has the sweetest, calmest disposition.

I know that my dad will always be watching over us. I know that I will see him again.

*Some people have been asking. We have set up a memorial fund to help my mom and family still at home out. You can find the information for the fund at Budge's Honey. We are all in deed grateful from all of the love and support. Thank you again.

Recover Restart Japan Benefit Concert

2011-04-11T21:44:00.002-06:00

I don't know how many of you know, but I have family in Japan. My uncle served a mission for the LDS Church in Japan back in the day, ended up moving back after college and getting married, and raised his six kids there. Since then, three of his kids also served missions for the Church there in Tokyo and Sendai. I currently have one cousin who lives in Tokyo with his wife and two kids.

My cousin L was working in Tokyo when the earthquake hit. He said that while looking out the window of his office, he could literally see the building next to his swaying. His wife (who was pregnant) was at home with A. With all of the constant aftershocks that were going on, phones and transportation were down, and L ended up walking home in 3 hours.

A few days later, with aftershocks still hitting and after the devastation caused by the tsunami, L decided to fly B and A back to the states. B was having major contractions and baby C was majorly stressing in the womb. Not only that, there was no food or water. I talked with B when they got here to Utah and she was in tears going grocery shopping and seeing the full shelves here. The baby calmed down and she came a few days after their arrival. They now have a beautiful baby girl.

After growing up in Japan and having tons of friends there, my other cousin, David, decided to put on a benefit concert with his amazingly talented band and other equally talented people. Eli and I went last night and it was awesome! All of the donations made are going straight to Civic Force in Japan and it will directly be used to help over there. I just wanted to show some highlights and share their talents and if you feel so inclined to help Japan out a little bit, David is still accepting donations at Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief.

You can also check out my cousins band. They're pretty good and play a TON of local shows. You can check out the other guys too. Not too shabby.Blind Actuaries (my cousin is the guy in the back)
Fun fact: The 3 white guys grew up in Japan and attended ASIJ together. The Asian did not.

Caleb Blood

Nik Day

Our little Coconut is...

2011-04-10T20:05:00.003-06:00

For those of you who don't know what I mean by coconut, I mean brown on the outside and white on the inside. Of course I am assuming that my darker coloring will be dominant, but in all reality, we could have a blonde hair, blue-eyed little GIRL!!

I was so surprised and shocked! This whole time I've really felt like we were having a boy. We had a name picked out, I had chosen the bedding that I wanted for the nursery, and I was so excited for my sister to make me a little onesie with a vest and tie.

About 2 seconds after the initial shock wore off, we were ecstatic! We're having a little girl. Maci, my niece who is due in June, will have another little girl to play with. My dad is going to go out and get the play kitchen he wanted for the playroom. My mom is overjoyed! And my nieces are excited for us to continue with the tradition of having girls first.

She is healthy, strong, and ACTIVE! We got all her pictures taken before we found out what she was because she kept turning and flipping and crossing her legs. Right now her heartbeat is 156 bpm, 15.2cm (if I'm reading her chart right), and she weighs 11 oz. I've been able to feel her a lot more lately. I think it's more her just moving around than kicking. Oh, and she LOVES music! I'll put some tunes on my phone and lay it on my belly and she grooves. Love it! We can't wait to meet her! We're halfway there!

profile (see her nose, lips, and chin?)

5 perfect little fingers

I don't see her legs...

There is her little foot at the top!

She is super bendy! There is her profile on the left and her leg by her nose & eyes!

Tough Decisions

2011-04-10T19:46:00.002-06:00

After we found out we were pregnant, we had a tough decision to make. We needed to figure out what we were going to do with our three “kids.” Eli and I have had Lima and Chorizo almost as long as we’ve been married. We were their first family after they were born. We’ve had Bruja since the day she was born. These puppies are our babies.

Unfortunately, as of lately, they’ve spend most of their time cooped up in their kennel while Eli and I are at work. Not to mention, we were worrying that they wouldn’t get enough attention when the baby gets here. AND, we’d like our family members to be able to visit us after the baby is born (some of them have bad allergies). So, we made the decision to find them new homes.

Lima and Chorizo are now with other families. Because they’ve meant so much to us, we were pretty picky about where they went. Chorizo ended up with a childhood friend and her son. He was trying to earn a puppy for having good behavior. He now gets to have Chorizo curl up with him on his toes. Lima went to one of Eli’s friend’s family in Wyoming. They LOVE her!

Now, If only we could find a home for Bruja. Interested...?

Student Involvement

2011-04-10T18:20:00.004-06:00

If you have ever taught, then you know that your students try to get themselves involved in every aspect of your life. Before Eli and I got married, they were always asking questions about my dating life. When Eli and I got engaged, the majority of my class asked to be invited. I even had a student come back the following year asking why I didn't send her an invitation.

Naturally, after marriage comes the baby carriage, right? Every year my students ask me if I have kids or if I am ever going to have them or why I don't have any yet. This year's class is no different. I had one girl make me pinky promise to tell her first if I got pregnant.

It was super easy to keep it from them for the first 6 weeks because I didn't know the first month and I had virtually no symptoms. However, I hit week 8 and I was dealing with major morning sickness and I was tired all the time. I had to come up with excuses to run out of the room. I finally had to tell the VP because I was leaving my class so much. He would go in and check up on them or send in an aide to be with them.

The kids started freaking out because I would come back to class red faced and red eyed. I told them I had food poisoning, I ate a pickle from a jar that I didn't refrigerate after opening, and that I thought I was coming down with the flu. The same girl who made me pinky promise her advised me to start paying attention to what I was eating because I was getting sick too much.

On top of all of that, I fell asleep at school. I know. I had taken my students to the library and the librarian took them to the kiva for a book preview. The lights were low and she had such a soothing voice and it was the end of the day. I closed my eyes and next thing I knew I was sitting in the dark alone. I freaked. I went back to class because my students weren't in the library. Turns out the librarian sent them back to class and they were starting on their work (I have them trained well). The next day I had a student say, "I told my mom how you've been sick and how you fell asleep. She says you're pregnant." Ack! I denied it all.

The following week I had my appointment with my doctor. We were having our first ultrasound and were getting to the safe zone of pregnancy. I wasn't just going to tell them,

So much fun! The first girl who solved the puzzle nearly hyperventilated. I have to give her credit though, she didn't blurt out the message. She just asked to go to the restroom because she was so hot and needed to get out of the room! The students were so excited and several of them shouted out that they totally knew the whole time. Ha ha!

Before my 20 week ultrasound, the students wanted to weigh in. Before they cast their votes they made sure they had all the background information. How many brothers and sisters did I have? How many did Mr. Adams have? What about our nieces and nephews?

Out of the 27 students who voted, 81% said the coconut was going to be a boy. I think what did most of them in was the fact that Eli is the youngest of 4 boys and the majority of my nieces and nephews are girls. It was time to add another boy to the mix.

Telling the Parents

2011-02-18T06:41:00.002-07:00

We chose not to tell our parents until it was closer to our ultrasound appointment. We wanted to make sure everything was good to go. We had a scare around 7 weeks and ended up having an ultrasound earlier than we expected. The baby's heartbeat was strong, so we went ahead and told our immediate families.

We used my dad's birthday as an excuse. His birthday isn't until March, but we found something that we absolutely could not wait to give him. We just got a cheap frame from the store and put our baby pictures in it with a picture of the positive pregnancy test. Love the reactions! Our baby will be the second grandchild by three months!

This is when we told Loyal & Tonia. You'll have to excuse the massive amounts of tissue paper; we couldn't find a smaller bag. We did the same thing for Eli's parents. We forgot to give Tonia her birthday present in December, so we just gave it to her late. Our baby will be their eighth grandchild.

Expanding

2011-02-11T17:17:00.003-07:00

When Eli and I got married, we always talked about having kids. We wanted them sooner, not later, because we wanted to be young parents. I’ve always loved my mom, but as we’ve gotten “closer” in age, I feel even closer to her. She is definitely still the mother, but I consider her one of my closest friends. I wanted that with my own children. Not to mention, we wanted to be able to enjoy our kids. I can’t tell you how many parents I’ve met while teaching that are already in their mid-fifties when their kids are ten.

Eli and I decided to start “not trying” to not have kids early in 2008, a couple of months after we got married. We’d talked to the doctors and did some research and found that each month a couple has a 20% chance of getting pregnant and most couples take closer to a year to conceive when they start actively trying. We thought our chances would be pretty good since I had never taken birth control.

When we didn’t get pregnant right away, I was a little disappointed. I mean, I was already 24 dang it, I didn’t have forever! ;0) After a little more time, we started actively trying to get pregnant. I was exercising more, trying to eat healthier, and finding out all of the natural ways to make my body ready for a baby. I was taking raspberry supplements, drinking women’s health teas and using ovulation kits and a lot of other methods that I won’t mention.

We really wanted to work on things naturally. I was reading a book called Taking Control of Your Fertility. It’s a book on how to work with your body and cycles as a form of birth control or as a way of getting pregnant. A good friend recommended it to us and she was a witness that the methods taught worked. She was pregnant. Her sister-in-law was and a few other people. It didn’t work for us.

The whole time we’d been trying was filled with “helpful hints” from everyone we knew, but their hints were always the same. My favorite, “Stop trying so hard. If you just stress out about it, it won’t work.”. After hearing that for almost three years, I wanted to punch everyone in the face that said it to me. It had been more than a little bit of time and I was worried. I had been to the doctor to have some stuff checked up on and everything was “good.” I just needed to keep taking care of myself because apparently any slight change in my hormones could mess things up. I was also really jealous (but happy) that my sister was pregnant.

Either way, last fall something came up that I really had to see the doctor about. He said everything looked good, but he finally did something about it. He said that there was no reason why it should take us that long to get pregnant. He sent me in for ultrasounds (I had a “cute, uninhabited” uterus then) and blood tests. Apparently, my hormone levels were good, but not great, so he prescribed chlomid. I was a little worried because I heard horror stories about that medication, but I didn’t have any problems with it.

We didn’t really tell too many people that we were on medication. If it didn’t work out we were going to have to try some more invasive procedures. However, lucky for us, the medication was working. My levels were getting better. My dosage was increased and after another round of blood tests, they were right where they should be.

According to the process (and trust me, it was a very strict schedule and process to stick to), if I hadn’t started my next cycle by the 35^th day, then I could take a pregnancy test. Our 35^th day for that round of medication happened to fall on Christmas day. I couldn’t wait that long. We picked up a few dollar store tests (because we were tired of spending all that money on the super nice ones) and I tested three days before Christmas. The lines were very faint, but there were two. I couldn’t believe it. Eli certainly didn’t believe it. He made me take one again the next day. We ended up taking five tests in five days, just to make sure. And then we took another two tests a week and a half later.

So, just to end a long story, Eli and I are having a baby. We’re due August 28^th, which is five days after school starts. I’ll be starting the year with a sub. We couldn’t be more excited and happy and blessed. Now I feel like I might have some news to post about every once in awhile. I’m sure you don’t want to read about my morning sickness, so I’ll share something a little more appropriate now and then. Oh! and now I’m really happy my sister is having a baby. Our baby’s cousin is due June 8^th, the day before my birthday!

Budge's Golden Sunshine Honey

2010-11-04T21:18:00.004-06:00

For those of you who don't know, I come from a family that has been in the honey business for ages. My Great-Grandpa Lawrence Budge opened up Budge's Honey in Malad in 1924. My Uncle Larry (pronounced "Lar-ree") expanded to Montana in 1961. The honey was so stinkin' delish that KFC picked Budge's Honey to be the honey they included in the little packets with their biscuits.

After all that, my Great-Grandpa Budge retired and my Uncle Wayne took over the business in Malad. In the early 80's my Grandpa Budge expanded Budge's Honey to Northern California under the label "The Honey Man." I remember seeing all of the machines when I was little. I thought it was the coolest thing that my Grandpa was a honey man. Not to mention that his honey was the best!

Everyone in the honey business retired. My Grandpa moved to Utah. My Uncle Larry sold his clover fields in Montana in 1985. The Malad operation was sold to another company in 1988. Just recently my Uncle Larry passed away. It was really tough on my family. My dad got to talking with some of his cousins (who live nearby). They got to talking about all the fun they had bottling honey and how they all learned about hard work and business from Budge's Honey.

We all decided that we wanted to continue the family business. My dad, my husband, my cousins, and the rest of our local family have relocated Budge's Honey to PG. Just today we passed (with 100%) our city & agriculture inspections. Production starts at 6:00 am tomorrow morning (unfortunately, I will be at school) and we will be in business.

Budge's Honey will be available in Kohler's and Good Earth stores in Utah. You can also order at BudgesHoney.com.

My family is the best. For Goodness Sakes...Eat HONEY!

BudgesHoney.com
Like us at: Facebook.com/BudgesHoney

Great Big Sea Video - Nothing But A Song (Cover)

2010-08-18T09:55:00.001-06:00

Eli and my dad entered a karaoke contest with a couple of buddies. This is their video. Go ahead and watch it and comment on the youtube page. Finalist will be posted on Friday. We'll keep you updated!

Flood waters rise along Wasatch Front

2010-06-07T22:20:00.000-06:00

Flood waters rise along Wasatch Front

The flooding is getting bad in Little and Big Cottonwood Creeks. E and I are probably heading up around noon-ish to help sandbag. If you can spare time and live in the area, try to make it up (or down)! Here's the volunteer info:

Meet at Cottonwood Heights Elementary School, 2415 E. Bengal Blvd. (7530 South) in Cottonwood Heights

Salt Lake County Emergency Management

Ashley's Giveaway!

2010-06-04T12:25:00.002-06:00

My friend Ashley is doing a giveaway on her blog. She's an awesome photographer! If you're in Salt Lake or Utah counties, you should really enter to win. Even if you don't enter to win, you should give her a call if you're looking for a photographer!

Ashley Lowder Photographer

MacJam Session 2

2010-06-03T10:29:00.012-06:00

After a successful inaugural run of MacJam, we've decided to keep rolling with it. Session 2 was too much fun! We had a ton more people and a few different acts on the roster. We have to thank the Mackay's for letting us invade their home and feeding us! Not to mention sharing their talented friends and family with us.

Terann and Meliah were our opening act with Once Upon a December. Too cute!

Shane led off the big boys. He did a few covers of Bon Jovi, Plain White T's, Sheryl Crow, Counting Crows and Matt Kearny.

Eli did some originals (I Want to Fly, High School) and then did a couple of covers. He covered Train (Soul Sister), Jason Mraz (Geek in the Pink) and then did a Rascal Flatts tune with my Pop.

This is where we had intermission and ate Heather's 12 (which became 11) layer chocolate cake. Delicious!

Devin opened the second set. He did a couple of originals and the covered Weezer and Corey Hart (I Wear my Sunglasses at Night, hence the wig and shades.)

This is our new pal Daniel Thuet. He's quite the talented young man. Who knew that a song about cinnamon rolls could be so sensual? We'll let you know when he and Eli hit up open mic night at Velour. You can hear some of his stuff on his MySpace music page.

This is Dan with Karlie. They did pretty for throwing together a duet before the show.

And this is Karlie Mckinnon. Think Regina Spektor meets Ingrid Michaelson meets Norah Jones. Great pianist, great lyricist, and an OUTSTANDING voice! If you're going to be near Farmington on July 10th, she'll be opening for Colors there. Stop by. We might be there. She's got music on her Myspace page too.

This is one of the better pictures of our audience. My mom and Miranda (although MJ was with the boys most of the night. Teenagers.)

And I'm going to leave you with a special treat. It's kind of dark, but you'll get the picture. This is Eli singing the song he wrote for his parents- I Want to Fly. It was written for their 30th anniversary and actually won him a spot in the top 10 new LDS artist. He got to do a three state tour and everything. I'll warn you, he's kind of a showoff. But that's why I love him.

Thanks again Heather and Shane! We're looking forward to the end of June. Bigger and better!

Stars on Ice

2010-06-01T16:42:00.004-06:00

I don't know how I get to be so lucky! I was driving home from work one day while listening to the radio. I was just in time to hear the song scramble to win something or other. I listened, for the heck of it, and realized that I knew the song - Mo' Money, Mo' Problems (Notorious BIG). Sweet. Then the announcer repeated their phone number, which they never do and I decided to give it a try. The phone rang a couple of times and I was in. That was the easiest thing in the world! I then found out I won tickets to see Stars on Ice. I called up the little sister (because I knew Eli wouldn't want to go) and invited her along.
The day before the performance I got a phone call from some guy named Jake with the radio station. He told me that I was a lucky winner again and me and Miranda were put on the list for a meet and greet before the show. Sweet! We got to meet Todd Eldredge and Jeremy Abbott, both talented and super nice guys!
The seats were pretty good, but unfortunately, my camera sucks, so I can't show you my pictures. We got to see Sasha Cohen (not the star of Borat), Davis & White (couple), Belbin & Agosto (couple), Michael Weiss (the back flip is awesome live!), Yuka Sato, Shen & Zhao, Alissa Cziny, and Ashley Wagner. And of course the two we met before the show.

I wasn't sure that I was going to enjoy it (I barely watched the Olympics this year), but surprisingly I was SUPER impressed. Ice skating takes a ton of strength and talent. I can barely push myself across the ice. There's not way I could even imagine doing flips and splits and lifting people by one leg. Amazing! If you ever get a chance to go, you should... at least once in your lifetime.

Bruja - 7 months

2010-06-01T16:20:00.003-06:00

Bruja was born On October 31, 2009. She is now 7 months old and has changed a little bit. I'll show you what I mean. I found these pictures on my camera card.

One day

2 weeks

3 Weeks

4 weeks

7 Months

I know you probably don't care, but I care. She's HUGE! She's outgrown both her mom and dad (who are 9 lbs and 6 lbs respectively). She's a whopping 13 lbs. She is just getting used to cuddling, but loves kisses and is a pretty smart dog. Lima (her mom) was the Alpha, but Bruja took over that job. We considered giving her away (since we weren't planning on keeping her and her brother and sister found homes), but now I couldn't imagine my home without her. Loves!

Time

2010-06-01T16:19:00.001-06:00

Wow. During the school year I knew I was busy, but I didn't realize how busy until I finally unloaded my camera card. Be prepared. I've got a little more time on my hands right now.

Ice

2010-05-27T22:07:00.003-06:00

Some things that I've learned that I love about ice skating rinks:

I love the way the ice looks just after it has been smoothed over by the zamboni, especially when it's still wet and the lights reflect off the water.

I love the sound the blades on skates make when they hit the ice.

I love the spray of ice that rooster tails from the blades when there's a sudden stop or quick movement on the ice.

I love the way flecks of ice stick to costumes or uniforms after a quick slide or tumble across the ice.

I love the amazing talent and skill it takes to skate from one end of the rink to the other. Not to mention how awesome it is to see some people flip and spin and send pucks flying across the ice and make it look so simple and graceful.

I LOVE winning tickets!

Festival of Colors

2010-05-26T12:50:00.002-06:00

Now that school is coming to an end, I have a little more time to post some of these pictures that I've had stored in my camera for a little while. These are some of my favorites from The Festival of Colors.

In Spanish Fork there is a huge temple known as The Lotus Temple. Every year the Krishnas celebrate spring with the Holi Festival. There's lots of music, lots of food, and most of all LOTS of color! At certain times during the festival a big crowd gathers and everyone who has colored powder throws it into the air to celebrate all the brightness and alive things of spring.

They also have a huge bonfire where they burn the likeness of the demon Holika. It's a really interesting story with a hero and everything that can be read at UtahKrishnas.org.

To say the least, it was a fun experience. It was messy, loud, and there were tons of friendly people. I kind of imagine Woodstock being similar, but maybe not. Eli and I took Miranda and her friend. It's fun to be able to participate in and learn about other peoples cultures. If you ever get the chance to go, you should go at least once.

"It's been hardly a moment; you are already missed"

2010-05-13T10:44:00.005-06:00

Eli is gone. He went to Colorado on his Annual Brothers Trip. He'll be gone until Sunday. I am excited for him to be with them so they can do all of their manly, brotherly bonding stuff, but I want him back. I'm not going to lie. I'm selfish. He's been gone for less than 24 hours and I'm already going through withdrawls. I had a terrible time sleeping last night. I had to take Melatonin to knock myself out.

I usually wake up in the morning, hating the alarm clock and slightly miffed because Eli's clock is set to go off a whole 45 minutes after mine. This morning I woke up saddened because I had zero cuddle time AND I had to go let the dogs out before I got in the shower. Eli usually does that while I'm shampooing. Thanks for that E.

Because of the dogs, I was running a little behind which led me to think about breakfast while I was blow drying my hair. I had no idea what I was going to do. E usually makes us our fresh fruit smoothies AND makes my lunch for the day. Well, I didn't get my smoothie (I just took a whole box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch with me in the car), but I did get my homemade lunch because my AMAZING husband made me lunch yesterday for today and tomorrow. Who does that?

And to top off that he left me a gift. I get a massage! Woo-hoo! Especially right now with the end of the year coming up so quick, my stress level is off the charts. He felt that I should do something nice for myself because I was so nice to let him go. Too sweet!

So, in case you couldn't tell, my husband spoils me. He does so much for me and does it without asking for anything in return. I'm feeling like I have the "me-me-me" syndrome, but I can't help it when my best friend makes me feel like the center of the universe. I want him back. But he needs sometime off too. I hope he has fun! 3 1/2 days left...

Help in the Gulf

2010-04-30T11:52:00.002-06:00

Oil Slick from Rig Explosion Reaches U.S. Coastline

It’s times like these that I wish I had money. I wish I had it so I could help. I’ve been watching the news a lot lately and it kills me to know that there’s all this trouble in the Gulf of Mexico and I can’t be there to help. If money wasn’t an issue, I’d be on a plane to Louisiana in a heartbeat; just as I would have been on a plane to Haiti or Chile when those disasters happened. Since I can’t be there, I’ll have to settle for spreading the word and doing the little I can. If you live close to those coastal areas and you can afford to spare some of your time, help. I found this list of organizations on CNN where you can find some ways to help.

MacJam Success!

2010-04-24T23:08:00.003-06:00

A last minute call from Papa Joe resulted in an awesome night! Our Canadian friends Shane and Heather hosted the first ever MacJam tonight. We got a call from Dad this afternoon inviting us over to S & H's home to jam with a few people. Seeing that we didn't have any other plans for the night and Eli hasn't had a good jam session in awhile, we agreed.

However, when we got to S & H's house we were greeted by their youngest daughter who was handing out flyers. The flyer was to announce the order that the performers would be playing and we quickly noticed Eli's name on the list! So much for jamming! There were already 30 people sitting in the house listing to Devin sing about plankton abuse.

Eli and I high-tailed it around the back to the basement where he held a secret, mini-rehearsal. It's been awhile since E performed for anyone, so he wanted to make sure he could still play. Just in case you were wondering, he can. He sounded great. He played three songs- When You Say Nothing at All (which he did with Christie, my dad's cousin), Rodeo Clowns, and She Will Be Loved.

It was great to hear him play again. Not to mention to hear S and Dad and Christie sing. Love it! I'll try to take video at the next MacJam, so you can share in the pleasure of listening to Eli (and everyone else) perform.

Dad and Christie

Devin (who sang of Plankton & Child abuse)

S - our host

Wrinkles

2010-04-16T09:07:00.004-06:00

I was sitting down in a temple session yesterday when I observed something so very interesting. The elderly woman sitting in front of me had the most defined wrinkles I have ever seen on anyone! I’ve never really sought after someone’s wrinkles before. I just happened to notice. The wrinkles made a deep criss-cross pattern across the back of her neck. Because I am currently going over geometry with my students, they crossed to form a perfect looking rhombus. As she moved her head around the wrinkles undulated with such familiarity. I was entranced. I could not look away.

As I became familiar with this woman’s wrinkles, I began thinking. I wondered what this woman’s story was. How old was she? What types of things has she experienced? Was she married? Was her husband still alive? Was she content with the journey her life has taken her on? Is she where she expected she would be? I know those are a lot of questions to ask from a few wrinkles, but it kept me thinking.

I saw a few more ladies that day. One looked like she had carried a quite a load on her shoulders and she was slightly stooped from the weight, but there she was with a light in her eye and a dazzling smile. I just wanted to run up and hug her. Another woman walked around with her lips pressed in a tight line, worry wrinkles plain on her face. I wondered what she was going through.

It made me wonder what stories my wrinkles will tell when I’m older. I’ve been thinking about the different pathways my life has offered. So much has happened in a relatively short amount of time. There have been so many twists and turns; my life could have easily ended up in a completely different place. If I would have chosen door 1 or door 4, my life could be the complete opposite of what it is now.

I’ve had my heartbroken a couple of times; that’s just another storyline of life on my face. I’ve lived through struggles and trials. Those events that have been etched and worn into my life made me who I am and they help me feel more. I don’t think I could love and appreciate Eli as much as I do now without those other events. I’m not saying that I couldn’t love Eli without those other things happening and I wouldn’t volunteer to go through all of it again, but I’m thankful for all the learning.

I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be in life and I’m happy with my place. I have an amazing husband who I love more than anything. I am so lucky to have my best friend by my side when I lay down at night. My day starts in the best way possible because he is by my side in the morning. He lets me listen to bad 80s music. He lets me color in my coloring book. He lets me sing at the top of my lungs and dance and doesn’t laugh at me too much when I want to watch Saturday morning cartoons. I have 3 fantastic, four-legged family members (I wish they were two-legged, but in time) that greet me when I walk in the door every day. I have a job that I love. I have a home. I live close to family. Of course there are other things that I want, but I don’t need anymore than I have.

I hope that when I become “elderly” that I have beautiful wrinkles that show I’ve lived a wonderful life.

Age is Strictly a Case of Mind Over Matter...

2010-03-26T09:50:00.003-06:00

If you don't mind, it doesn't matter! Recently I've been feeling older (not that I'm old at all), but last night reminded me that it doesn't matter! E and I went to a surprise party for a friend of ours 30th last night at a place called Jump On It! It's a trampoline gym and it's pretty, dang cool!

We got there 20 minutes till J showed up with his family. There was a ton of family and friends there. I got to meet a lot of E's friends from the mission in Peru. I've been hearing so many stories about them all over the past four years, it was nice to be able to put faces to names (although I did meet quite a few of them four years ago). We mixed. We mingled. We ate food from L & L Hawaiian BBQ. Just as a side note: L & L is good, but if you're ever in St. George eat at Honolulu Grill - you won't regret it.

After all the time spent hanging out, J FINALLY showed up. When you're waiting to surprise someone, it feels like forever until they show up. He was so surprised! His kids were so excited that they were able to surprise Dad. J really is one of the nicest guys I've ever met and it was so cool to see all his friends and family celebrate him.

It's amazing what people can do on a trampoline. I never grew up with one, so I stuck to bouncing around and off the walls, but some people are daring! I kind of want to take a trampoline exercise class because by the time I was done, I was totally spent. Which was good because it was present time!

A few years back - because the times were kind of tight - J had to sell his motorcycle. He was telling us that he cried because he had to give it up. His wife (who is amazing) tracked down the guy they sold it to and bought it back. She had it hidden at the gym and started it up. The noise was deafening. As soon it was rumbling, J got a HUGE smile on his face. He was so excited to have it back! It's nice to see your friends so happy.

Either way, I have to say, it really doesn't get better than spending time with friends and family and being a kid!

It's Going to be an African Daisy Day

2010-03-10T08:12:00.004-07:00

These are the flower seeds that one of my favorite students (I'm not going to lie, I have some) gave me today. It's amazing how things pop up unexpectedly and at the exact moment you need them. This one almost brought me to tears...

Dear Mrs. Adams,

You are an amazing reacher! YOU ROCK!!! You have taught me so much! You have helped me developed into that young woman I am! I know if I follow what you have taught me, I will be successful!

Love, G

This note (which I love all of the exclamation marks, by the way, because she talks exactly like that) was accompanied by this note (which makes me think it was a YW activity):

Teacher Seeds

Students are like seeds

you plant in the soil.

Each takes patience,

nurturing and toil.

You are a great teacher.

You do your job well,

planting seeds of knowledge,

Just look at us to tell.

Now plant these seeds

and over each one fuss,

so they'll grow up bright

to remind you of us!

YW activity or not, I like it! Today is going to be a good day!

Questions for Answers

2010-03-08T13:42:00.001-07:00

Geez Becca. You ask such thought-provoking questions! I’ve been giving your question a lot of thought. I talked it over with Eli and I think that we’ve reached our opinion, but I think I have to ask you, what do you think?

I think there are two definite answers. I don’t know if my lost thought counts as an answer, but it’s definitely a suggestion. First, I think it’s okay to tell your child “I don’t know.” It’s good for them to know that parents don’t always have the answers to every question. For me, this is probably the least helpful of the options though. It would be the simplest answer and definitely the least time consuming, but I think in that quote I wrote before, this would be the disservice part. Again though, I don’t think every question has to have a definite answer.

The answer I think that would provide more experience to your kids would be your second answer, “I don’t know, but let’s find out together” In this situation your child knows it is okay not to know the answer and it could be fun to find out. There are so many different resources available to find out answers. How much fun would it be to ask your grandparents questions? How about taking a fieldtrip together and going to museum or the zoo and asking an expert there? What about teaching (at an appropriate age) how to use the internet to find answers? I personally LOVE going to the bookstore and finding answers in books. And don’t forget, even if YOU know the answer, help them find out the answer. There’s nothing wrong with a little hard work.

And then when your child gets to know all of these options, how much fun would it be to say, “I don’t know. How about you find out the answer and I’ll look for the answer and we’ll compare!” I know it’s kind of cheese-y, but honestly, I think it’s a great way to teach your child research skills, but also a way to encourage their curiosity. And that way, when they get to be old, like me, they might find something else that interests them and they can make a career or it. or they make an awesome new discovery.

I (in my opinion, of course) think these are some good ways to encourage curiosity. And let’s face it, we don’t have all the time in the world to satisfy every question, but I think it’s important to help them find answers to some of their questions. That way they know that their questions are not dumb or are important and that they can find answers on their own.

Daughter of Sintin

2010-03-04T09:28:00.003-07:00

Apparently this is the time to move. Within the past two weeks, I've had one student move and two students move in. That puts my class count at 31. I'm not going to lie. My student that moved out is a sweetheart, but a little socially awkward and always caused trouble. One of my new students that came is a sweet, shy little girl. It was a nice break.

And then this past Tuesday, I got my 31st student. I met Mom on Monday after school. These were the first words out of her mouth (with a chuckle, I might add), "Hi! Good luck with R!" Great. I love it when parents start out with that. She brought him to class on Tuesday. I shook his hand (it makes kids feel more grown up) and he smiled at me. Not 2 minutes later he was interrupting, throwing stuff, putting his hands in other students' desks, a nightmare. After lunch he was 25 minutes late to class. I had 5 students tell me that he was bragging about leaving school. What a mess!

I sat R down and told him how things were in my class. I told him that I would never lie to him and I would always treat him with respect. I expected the same in return. We respect each other's time, property, etc. That seemed to sink in because the next day was a lot better.

R is still getting used to the routines in class and so, understandably, he forgot to turn his math notebook in. I decided I'd grab it for him so he could get create for the work he was so diligently working on in class earlier. I grabbed the notebook and found this where his quiz should have been (Italics added for clarification, in case you need it):

My Techer is the daughter of Sintin [Satan]

take a good look around/this is my class room/ I know it's H**/it's becaus my techer is the daughter of Sainten/ She turns around and she shaks my hand and I say F*** you/ Now go back to H** you Demon

I walk up to the front of the class/ and I say F you/ you guys like to be in H**/ So I walk to Mis. Adams/ I say Hay you Demon go back home to the firey pit of H***/ You can kiss my A**/That's why humeas [humans] are the top of the food chain

I will tell you what to do/ you will bow down to me/ because I am the tru king of H***/ All of the kids at school call me Hades...

And I'll just leave it at that. It goes on for another five pages or so. I'd say that this kid has a few troubles at home. And here I was thinking that he was working so hard on math. I'm really not up for this, especially with three months of school left. Needless to say, I'm meeting with his dad today to figure out if we can get this kid what he needs. A little discipline, a little respect, and a listening ear. He's crying out for something; I just don't know what.

How to Help in Chile

2010-03-01T13:52:00.001-07:00

How to Help in Chile

posted by PETER ROTHBERG on 02/27/2010 @ 4:11pm

A deadly 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck central Chile early this morning, collapsing buildings, shattering major bridges and highways across a long strip of the country, killing at least 122 people and creating tsunami warnings in more than 50 countries along the Pacific basin. (The Washington Post has a good page of breaking news with maps, videos, twitter feeds and aggregated broadcast news accounts.)

The quake was vastly more powerful than the magnitude 7.0 earthquake that caused widespread damage and death in Haiti on January 12, but Chile is a much more prosperous country than Haiti, with average living standards among the highest in Latin America, and about 18 percent of people living in poverty, compared with 80 percent in Haiti.

So while Chile's relative affluence will help the country head off the dire humanitarian crisis that we're seeing in Haiti, enormous resources are still needed for reconstruction, and especially for providing a safety net for the country's millions of citizens already mired in poverty.

Numerous international organizations already operating in Chile can act the most quickly and can use the most immediate support. Jonathan Daniel Harris did a nice round-up of groups at Huffington Post, many of which are on the list below.

How To Help

Save The Children -- Save The Children is sending an emergency assessment team to Chile, and is asking for contributions to its Children's Emergency Fund to aid these efforts.

World Vision -- The international development, relief and advocacy organization has already sent its first relief flight, from Bolivia this afternoon, with supplies like tarps, blankets, plastic sheeting, and collapsible water containers for survivors. Support these efforts with earmarked gifts to families that need them.

AmeriCares -- Vice President of Emergency Response, Christoph Gorder, says AmeriCares is sending medical supplies and humanitarian aid to Chile. Make a direct contribution toAmeriCares' Chilean earthquake fund.

Habitat for Humanity -- Habitat for Humanity has a continual presence in Chile, where the group has constructed more than 1,300 homes. Habitat will be essential in reconstruction efforts, especially in hard-hit rural areas.

International Medical Corps -- IMC has a presence in dozens of countries around the globe, providing immediate medical care to those affected by natural disasters. Contribute to itsemergency response fund.

ShelterBox -- International disaster relief agency ShelterBoxhas mobilized a team to bring aid to Concepcion, Chile's second largest city, which saw the worse damage.

Watch this space for updates and please add links and info on other ways to help in the comments section.

PS: If you have extra time on your hands and want to follow me on Twitter -- a micro-blog -- click here. You'll find (slightly) more personal posts, breaking news, basketball and lots of links

I found this article here: How to Help in Chile

Maybe You Could Tell Me What to Ask You

2010-02-27T11:21:00.002-07:00

I'm sitting in a comprehension strategies class right now and I've heard some interesting things that I want to share. We just read a little piece from a book called Mosaic of Thought: The Power of Comprehension Strategy Instruction by Ellin Oliver Keene and Suzanne Zimmerman. This is what I wanted to share:

"Children are natural questioners. It is how they work to make sense of the complex world around them. They want to know the "why" for everything. They are, by nature, curious. And we do them a great disservice if we ignore, belittle, or disregard their questions. We do them an even greater disservice if through our educational process we extinguish their need to question."

I feel that as a teacher, I need to have all of the answers... but, I don't. I want to be able to let my students ask their questions. I want them to ask good questions and be curious about the world around them. I don't want to tell them what questions they need to ask. I want to help encourage their curiosities. I want them to discover.

As an adult, I want to understand the world around me. When, where and why did I loose my desire to ask questions? I want to ask questions...

Relationships, Observations, Thoughts, Decisions

2010-02-26T10:46:00.002-07:00

I knew a lady once who knew everything about love and marriage. After Eli and I were married she told us that the way to keep the passion and love strong was to "be mysterious." Mysterious meant never letting your spouse see you "unattractive." She told me that she threw out all of her husband's sweats because they were "unattractive." For the first three years of her marriage she never brushed her teeth in front of him...it was unattractive.

She also told me that keeping things mysterious meant that you didn't tell your spouse everything. She had her best guy friend to tell everything to. Her husband didn't want to hear the things she wanted to talk about. She also informed me that you and your spouse had to have different lives and activities "so that way you don't get sick of each other," which meant going to the dance clubs until 3 a.m. with a guy who was not your husband.

I've seen many situations where a couple has been together for YEARS, who own a home together, who might have a dog or even children together. One or both of the people in the couple don't want to commit to marriage or anything just in case they find someone better or "s/he cheats on me."

Something else I hear a lot of of, "Yes I'm married, but I still need to be me." "I realized that I'm a mom, but it's okay to put myself before my kids. That doesn't mean I love them less." And a couple of weeks later I saw this mom yell at her spouse because he wanted to ride his dirt bike (the first time in 2 weeks), but she has a lunch date with "Bobby. "My husband was so mad at me, but he was just being selfish because he wanted to go riding."

"I love my husband, but..."

"Oh Mandy, you'll understand after you've been married for 10 years."

I had a parent teacher conference a couple of weeks ago. Mom wanted me to refer her to special education. I told her that her daughter wouldn't struggle so much if she didn't miss so much school. She has missed, on average, 2 days of school a week. Of the 3 days left of the school week, she usually calls home or gets checked out early. When I told her mom that her daughter should be here more often she said, "I keep telling her that she should go to school!" About a week later, her daughter got a new phone and called mom and started yelling at her telling mom exactly how things were going to work.

I had another mom call and tell me that her son didn't get his science fair project done because she was in the hospital the last 5 days. She told her son that he needed to get it done while she was gone. I told her he could turn it in, but it would be late. She said, "But it's not his fault. I didn't get the stuff for him." The project had been assigned for two months before she called. Guess whose kid doesn't do his work and has an excuse for everything?

The past 6 years of school has been difficult for S. He struggles with concepts and he has a poor attitude. His dad and stepmom both work for the military. I got an email from him at the beginning of the year that said he felt like he was failing his children, but he had no choice. He had to work. We've both been putting in an effort. I meet with S before school and Dad works with him in the evenings (even though Dad is so tired). Dad even made time to come to a class party. Guess who is doing better in school? Guess whose attitude has improved 500%? Guess who feels like Dad cares about what's going on?

It's my opinion that in any relationship, whether you're dating or married, you are one half of a whole. You chose to be a part of that whole. Parts of a good relationship include charity, friendship, compromise. You can still be your own person, have your interests, and hobbies, but you need to consider your partners needs too.

As a parent, your job is to lead, love, and be an example. It's been my experience that kids need a routine and have set expectations. They need guidance and need to know you're there. You're their parent, not they're best friend. I heard somewhere that "No" is one of the best words you can use with your children. But on the flip side, parents need to show their children respect as well. "Because I said so, " doesn't cut it for too long.

As of lately, I've realized that I'm intrigued by all sorts of relationships. I see a lot of dysfunctional parent/child relationships. I see a lot of AMAZING parent/child relationships. The results of both situations are astounding. I see a lot of dysfunctional and functional relationships between couples. The effects on the surround environments is sometimes obvious and other times, not so obvious.

I've been thinking about going back to school. I don't know if I want to make a career change, but I want to find out about couples and families. I want to go to school for family counseling. I have so many thoughts and opinions. Sometimes I feel like my theories are just common sense and other times I feel like I'm completely off base. It's just time I need now...

By the way, I feel completely blessed to have married my best friend. I've learned so much about myself and about life. He loves me when I dress up and when I'm in sweats. He includes me in every decision and cares about my opinion. He loves me when I dance like an idiot or when I pretend I can sing. He doesn't mind when I'd rather go see the new animated film because I'm a sucker for cartoons. He doesn't judge me because I have weird habits and do strange things. And I love him in all the same ways (even when he decides to where the hideous "Hawaiian" shirt). Yeah, we might have hit bumps along the past four years, but who cares? We've lived and learned. Life is just better when you know you have someone to share it with.

To: Mrs. Adams From: K

2010-02-25T07:54:00.002-07:00

"Mrs. Adams, I had some extra time yesterday, so I made you something. You should read it when you have some extra time."

After I took attendance and reminded my literature groups we were going to be meeting in ten minutes, I pulled a short note out of a handmade, binder paper envelope and read the following in sloppy cursive (we need to practice apparently):

Dear Mrs. Adams,

I don't know why no one in the class but me and mabey a few other girls have noticed that you are having a difficult time because of the class being so rude and that mabey you feel like you're not doing a good job. Well, I'm saying that you ARE doing a good job, a great job. You're setting the same expectations as middle school to prepare us. Some people just don't see it and those people are going to have the difficult time. You keep it up and I'll set the example.

Sincerely,

I guess I can make it until spring break in April...

When You Encourage Your Students...

2010-02-24T08:31:00.008-07:00

You can sometimes end up with a pie in your face! We recently completed the Jazz Read-a-thon at our school and I was completely surprised that my class won for total minutes read (bragging point: the top 4 readers in 6th grade were all from class)! Of course because the students sacrificed SO much to read an average of 1200 minutes in 4 weeks, I had to pay my dues for torturing them and take a pie to the face. It was generic whip cream that tasted good, but I smelled like rotten milk for the rest of the day.

I've never been at a school where we've won the Jazz Read-a-thon and I was ecstatic to find out that what our prize was. Our little school won a visit from Ronnie Price! He was the nicest kid ever and was really interactive with the students. He read the book I Can Be Anything! by Jerry Spinelli (which by the way is a great book). Then the fun stuff happened...

Ronnie (because we're on a first name basis now) cleared the area and challenged the top readers in the school to a one on one game. If they made it and he didn't, they won. If both of them didn't make it, the student won. And of course if he made it, he won. Ronnie didn't beat a single student...go figure! He then, after being persuaded, ran across the gym and did a slam dunk.

After Ronnie left, it was time for the pies. Like I said earlier, all of the top readers from 6th were in my class, so it really worked out with me taking one for the team. I'm just glad that my kind, gentle, and sensitive girl got picked to pie me instead of my 5' 6" monster of a student who isn't too happy with me now that parent-teacher conferences are over. All in all, a good experience. I'm just glad to have programs like this that help students work for a goal and get in a ton of reading practice.

Help for Haiti

2010-01-14T04:51:00.002-07:00

I know I haven't posted in a long while and I've got loads to share, but I found this article on Yahoo this morning. It's hard to sit back and wait, not knowing what to do to help...

Wyclef Jean

Massive Interest in Texting for Haiti

by Mike Krumboltz

9 hours ago

920 Votes

With Haiti still reeling from Tuesday's devastating earthquake, the Red Cross has stated that it has run out of medical supplies on the island nation.

More supplies are on the way, but it is unknown when they will arrive. Meanwhile, on the Web, people eager to help are seeking out unique ways in which they can help.

In the Search box, some of the biggest queries are for different ways to "text to help." For example, the Red Cross has set up a system where a cell phone user can text "Haiti" to the number 90999. The text message will result in a $10 donation to the Red Cross. So far, the campaign has been a massive hit. According to Mashable, the texting option has already raised over $800,000.

Another popular option for cell phone users eager to help: Text "Yele" to 501501. Doing so will result in a $5 donation to Yéle Haiti, a grassroots organization started by singer and Haiti native Wyclef Jean. Over the course of the day, Web searches on Wyclef and his organization have soared to record highs.

Wyclef, famous for his participation in the Fugees as well as his successful solo career, has been outspoken in seeking donations, especially via his Twitter account.

We could find no stats on how successful his drive has been, but based on anecdotal stories from the Web, text-to-give campaigns have the potential to make a big difference. The San Francisco Chronicle interviewed several young people who have made donations and have also asked their friends to donate via social networks like Facebook and Twitter.

Even if you'd rather not donate via text message, there are other ways to give your support to those who need it most. The official sites for the Red Cross, UNICEF, Doctors Without Borders, and Wyclef's Yéle Haiti are all accepting donations. Searches on those organizations surged tremendously on Wednesday afternoon.

We Won!

2009-12-11T15:19:00.003-07:00

Amazing! We've never really won much in our lives and we've won TWO things this year! We won tickets to a Bryan Adams concert earlier this year and today we won this red dresser from All Things Thrifty:

You should definitely check out the site. These ladies have some wonderful ideas! Thank you Brooke and Kallie!

Leelou Christmas Card Swag

2009-12-06T12:01:00.003-07:00

I'm totally getting into this giveaway stuff! It works out great for both parties... I get a shot at winning some cool stuff and Leelou gets her blog's name out! You all should check this one out! If you're a slacker like me and haven't gotten Christmas cards, this might be the solution!

The giveaway can be found here at Leelou Swag!

Good luck!

All Things Thrifty CHRISTMAS letters!

2009-12-05T12:02:00.002-07:00

I'm not a crafty person, but I LOVE crafty things! The ladies at All Things Thrifty are amazing! They've made these Christmas letters that they are giving away as a prize. In order for me to enter, I have to refer a new follower to their blog (from Facebook or through their blog). They have some fantastic ideas!

I would really like to have a shot at winning this particular prize, so if you guys don't mind... become a follower of their blog! This is prize giveaway # 4. All you have to do is become a follower of their blog by clicking on the left side of the page where it says "Become a follower today." Like I said, you can do it through Facebook or through the Blog.

Here's what you need to do to win the prize (because I would be just as happy with you winning too!): Leave a comment on the Giveaway post #4 leaving your name and telling the girls that I (Mandy Adams) referred you. Then leave me a comment on this post letting me know that you did that so I can enter and tell them that I referred you.

I hope you're all having a fabulous time getting ready for the Holidays! I can't believe it's already here!

All Things Thrifty Giveaway!

2009-12-01T07:42:00.003-07:00

I'm at school right now. I should be prepping for my students to come, but I wanted to spread the word! All Things Thrifty is a site that one of Eli's friends started up. They talk about inexpensive crafts and fixer-uppers and cool stuff like that. AND... they're doing a 7 day prize giveaway right now and I want to win something!

These ladies truly are creative and make everything seem SUPER easy. I figured that I'd pass the word along to all of my more-creative-than-me friends out there so that you can maybe win something or at least get some good ideas!

3 weeks old!

2009-11-22T18:46:00.003-07:00

Our puppies are now 3 weeks old and it's amazing to see them grow! They grow so much overnight that you can see the difference in the morning. Their ears are almost fully developed and they can hear now. Their eyes are wide open and they're taking in everything they see. All three of the puppies are walking now and even trying to run a little. They play with each other by pawing each other and trying to eat one another's ears. I cannot believe how sweet and cuddle-y they already are!

Because they are growing so much, it is now a lot harder for Lima to feed all of the puppies at once (which is how they prefer it). She also doesn't have enough milk for them, so we started them on wet puppy food yesterday. It's a big hit!

We've had so much fun with them the past 3 weeks and we'll be sad when they are able to go. That time is only 3 weeks away and so we're going to start looking for good homes for them! If you or anyone you know might be interested in the puppies take a look at their page at chipinpuppies.blogspot.com. Or you can email us at chipinpuppies3@gmail.com. They've gotta go to a family that'll love them as much as we love them!

Katinka is the one who got the hang of puppy food first. You wouldn't be able to tell from all of her rolls that she LOVES to eat!

From top to bottom: Katinka, Baloo, Bruja, and The Puppy Trio

New Moon Party

2009-11-22T18:44:00.001-07:00

I'm not going to lie, Eli and I both enjoy The Twilight Series and being movie buffs, when we were offered tickets to the midnight showing of New Moon, we took it. I needed a good excuse to get a substitute for my class on Friday anyway.

Along with the tickets came an invitation to attend a New Moon premiere party Thursday night. We heard it was going to be a lot of fun, so we decided to attend. We don't do things like this very often, so we figured if we were going to go, we might as well go all out. We dressed up, not die hard costumes like you'd think, but we dressed up. we were planning on going as Emmett and Rosalie, but I couldn't find a blond wig in time, so I went as Leah Clearwater (I've been told I look Native anway) and Eli went as Emmett.

As you can see, our costumes were pretty simple. I threw on some jewelry, quasi-straightened my hair, and threw on some earthy-colored plaid. Eli however, went as far as dying his hair brown. I think it looks pretty good. He even dyed his facial hair (although he wouldn't shave it off). We thought that there would be a ton of people dressed up and there were, but not enough to beat us out! Eli won the "Best Cullen" award while I won the "Best Quileute " award!Here are some other pictures from the party! All in all, it was a pretty fun night (except the standing in line part)! We were pleased with the movie and will most likely get it when it comes out!

2 Weeks

2009-11-15T22:25:00.004-07:00

I know it's kind of silly to post about our puppies, but they're our babies for right now. And they've grown so much! In just two weeks their ears are almost developed, their eyes are open, and now they're trying to walk!

Bruja taking a few steps

Close up of Bruja's eyes

Bruja getting bigger

Baloo was the first to open his eyes

A little bigger

Katinka looks kind of drunk; she was the last to open her eyes

She's still pretty big though

They love each other

Puppies!

2009-11-01T07:41:00.003-07:00

As some of you know we got our Chorizo neutered a few weeks ago. Well, before we got all of that business sorted out, it turns out that Chorizo and Lima had "relations." Apparently all the trying to keep them separated for 3 weeks was pointless because they just needed a few minutes to chew off each other's diapers.

We're happy with the outcome though! We've got 3 healthy "Chipin" puppies. I prefer calling them Pinschuahuas. We're glad Lima followed her natural instincts and she is being a wonderful mama! We'll get to enjoy them over the next little while before we need to find them good, loving homes!

This is Katinka Ingabagovinana. She was the first born and is the biggest. She came out bottom first, which was difficult, but she is WONDERFUL! She likes sleeping and eating. We call her Tinka for short.

This is Baloo. He's our only male and he's the runt. He's pretty calm compared to the other two, but he's super lovable. His color is pretty rare too.

And this is Bruja (spanish for witch). She is close to Tinka in size, but she looks just like her mama. She's hyperactive like Lima too; she cries, she moves, she's all over the place.

Day of Fun

2009-09-12T20:28:00.002-06:00

Today Eli and I went to an Adams Family Reunion in Sandy. It was awesome meeting so many different family members. Tomorrow we're heading down to Fillmore for our nephew's blessing. Since our family came up and we're going tomorrow, we decided to have a slumber party with our oldest nieces, Sabree and Gracie. We had such a blast today!

After we left the reunion we took the girls to Pirate Island in Orem. It's a new type of Chuck E. Cheese type place. We didn't stop for food, but we did hit up the arcade! The girls started out with a little air hockey and skee ball when Gracie decided to try her hand at the big bass fishing. It's basically a machine you pump tokens into for a chance to win a lot of tickets. Gracie put in her tokens, gave it a pull and landed on the huge bass bonus of 1000 tickets! She was nice enough to share it with Sabree.

We did a few more games like the merry-go-round, bopping the sharks, and popping the bubbles. After we finally got all our tickets together each girl ended up with almost 600 tickets each. Needless to say, we spent quite a bit of time at the prize counter.

On our way home we picked up some pizzas. We popped in Hannah Montana and chowed down! I'm not gonna lie, Miley has some good songs on that movie. Not to mention that the girls enhanced the movie's soundtrack with their own performance.

Now that the night is winding down, it's time to hop into out jam-jams and hit the sack. We've got an early morning. We love be auntie and uncle!

Being One with Nature

2009-07-21T13:21:00.002-06:00

About a week and a half ago Eli and I decided to pack up and head out. We took the puppies up to Maple Grove to do a little camping. I have been trying to get Eli to go camping for like 2 years and we got all this great camping equipment for our wedding that we haven't used yet, so it was a perfect time.

We headed up Friday late afternoon and set up camp. Maple Grove isn't too far from Scipio, so E's parents came up and met us for dinner. I've never dutch ovened anything, so I thought my pizza and peach cobbler came out fabulous! After s'mores and a little visiting, we decided to turn in for the night. We got all nice and snug in our sleeping bags when we were serenaded by the mariachi music coming from the camp across the way. Amazing. It's also a good thing we put the shade up on the tent because it poured a good part of the night!

Saturday morning we were up bright and early with Lima and Chorizo. We made sausage and eggs and blueberry oranges for breakfast and then rounded up our stuff together to go fishing. We went down to "Bart's hole" where E lucked out and caught a decent sized trout. Lima was pretty excited about that thing flopping around in the air. We moved down the creek a little and I caught a deformed fish. Someone had caught it before, cut off the fins, and threw it back. Sad. Lima had a ton of fun swimming and splashing. We blame her for us not catching too many. After fishing it started raining again, so I spent a little time reading while Eli napped.

After the storm cleared up we had a quick lunch of fish (yuck!) and hot dogs and then went for a short hike (I had just rolled my ankle a few days before, so we took it easy) up near the mountain. We saw a few animals, including a deer, which we're pretty sure Chorizo is a distant relative of. Our camp was also invaded by wild turkeys. It started raining again, so we headed back to camp. We then made foil dinners and ate s'mores like there was no tomorrow. Delish!

We headed home Sunday. I love camping. It's just nice to be out in nature where you have zero time schedule and you can just take your time and really enjoy what the Lord gave us. It was wonderful spending time with Eli away from the stresses of life. I think we're going again in a few weekends, if anyone wants to join!

The Newest Dragon

2009-07-14T17:11:00.002-06:00

I am (almost) officially a member of the staff at Snow Springs Elementary School in Lehi. I was offered the position today and I accepted. I will be teaching sixth grade. It's a grade I've never taught before, so it'll be very new and I'll have to do a lot of learning, but I am EXCITED!

P.S. I'll be official as soon as I sign my contract.

Since Being Back in Utah...

2009-07-12T16:40:00.004-06:00

...we've had SO much fun spending time with our families! Here's a few things we've been up to the past month:

Attended a Roger K. Young conference with Jeremy
Visited family in Fillmore & helped plant grass
Been to Miranda's State Gymnastics meet
Watched Dad's band play at Snowbird at "The Big Grill on the Hill"
Spent Father's Day in Smithfield with the grandparents

Not to mention:

Eli started working with an old buddy at The Keyword Academy and
I have been applying and interviewing for teaching positions like crazy! I think I'm close!

Family, Friends, & Fireworks

2009-07-12T15:08:00.007-06:00

Eli and I went down to Scipio the weekend of the Fourth to spend time with the family.

We went down to Fillmore on the Friday the third to watch the nieces in the Children's Parade (and to see our new nephew Branson). After the parade we attended Eli's 10 year high school reunion. It was fun meeting all of Eli's friends from high school. We had a big BBQ at Roper's Barn and got to watch a fun slide show. Interesting people in a small town (Eli went to Millard High, which was fed by six different towns). It's amazing how well everyone knows each other.

Saturday morning we went out to breakfast with Eli's friends and their wives. Awesome people! It was nice not to have awkward conversations, it's like we've known each other forever. You'll have to ask Eli about the ERJJ the next time you see him though. We just met at the Paradise in Fillmore, not too much restaurant choices there. ;0)

Later on we attended the Parade which Eli informed me was the best he's seen. I was surprised that it was so much fun, I guess I wasn't expecting much for small town life, but I was impressed!

We then went to the fair and enjoyed some entertainment and food. We had Deano's pizza and funnel cakes. We also heard about 15 different renditions of "Love Story" and some song by Miley Cyrus. We also saw a Frozen T-shirt contest and saw a woman almost moonwalk off the stage for a free shirt.

I could go on forever, but I'll just say that the fireworks were awesome. We spent that night at the baseball fields with Loyal and Tonia, Bart and the Girls. We had a few footraces (Gracie and Ellie ALWAYS won...they're so fast!), we saw some cheers, and we saw fireworks through these really cool 3D-like glasses. I haven't seen fireworks that great in a LONG time.

Branson, the newest addition to the Adams Family

Ellie & Gracie at the Children's Parade, MHS reunion, ERJJ, Parade Highligh, I Got One, Ellie, Addie telling the fire engine to "Shhh," me and E, Gracie, Fillmore, me and Grace, Grace and Eli, E, Ellie taking a pic of Gracie, the girls, Crazy Fireworks

A LONG Drive Home

2009-06-20T18:47:00.010-06:00

So, I figured it was time to update our blog. We've been so busy these past few weeks, but I'm going to do my best. It all started when Eli and I came to Cedar Hills to be at Jake's (my brother) farewell. It was SO nice to see him before he entered the MTC. Not to mention it just felt nice to be back home around our family and friends.

Eli and I began discussing the possiblility of moving back to Utah. There wasn't really too much going on for us down in New Mexico. Eli decided to take a break from his business and preschool was over for the summer. We were kind of in a tough place too in our living situation. We talked to my parents about possibly moving in with them until we got our situation under control. After going back to New Mexico and some praying, we decided to move back. After we made that decision, things fell into place.

Just about a week later we packed and packed and packed. We rented our U-haul (I can't believe we got a 17 footer!), packed it up, and left! Just like that. It was so fast! It seemed insane for us to just get up and go, but it was the right thing for us to do.

We were planning on leaving at around 10 am, but we left about an hour later. Who leaves on time anyway?! Eli and I figured our regular ten hour trip would maybe take twelve hours in a huge truck and towing my car. No way! Of course not! And you wouldn't believe the reason...our dogs. I know, it sounds kind of silly, but our puppies are our little family right now. So every 90 minutes we made a pit stop. Ridiculous, right? Right. I understand.

Chorizo, our chihuaua, LOVES being in the car. He got all comfy in the blankets we had out for the puppies. He walked back and forth between us. He enjoyed the view from the windows. And he slept. He slept for HOURS. He was loving the trip.

Little Lima on the other hand did not enjoy the trip so much. If you remember Eli and I were in a car accident back in January. Lima was in the car with us and she got thrown against the airbag and around the cab of the car. Ever since, she's had a really hard time riding in the car. She shakes a little bit, but usually it isn't too bad. Well, on our trip, it was bad. She couldn't relax. She was shaking the WHOLE time (no exagerration). She wouldn't eat. She couldn't sleep or even lay down. She was the reason we had to stop so often. It worried us.

We also got off our trek a little bit. We thought we knew a faster way to get to Utah, but it turns out it took us a little longer. It was a really nice drive through Colorado though. Nice and green and an easy drive. To make a story short though, we ended up making it to Moab by 9:30 that night. We couldn't stand to go on any longer, so Eli used his excellent negotiator skills and got us a motel at a cheap price that let our puppies stay.

After a good night sleep, we packed up and continued on our journey. Lima wasn't any better and Chorizo just slept. I don't see how people with kids take long trips on the road. They must stop ever half hour or so. That would take FOREVER! Anyway, as we were dricing Ifigured I'd call my mom to make sure we had room to put our stuff. Turns out she didn't realize we were coming so early and that there wasn't a place to store all of our CRAP. So, we had to do some calling and found a nice storage unit in Highland, not too far from Cedar Hills.

So, instead of heading to my parents house, we drove to Highland Hideaway. They were really great about letting us come right on over with our huge truck. We were met there by one of my favorite friends, Kerri Brown. I LOVE her! We basically had to unload the truck, pack up the storage unit, load the truck again, and then drive it to my parents' house. THEN, we had to unpack there again.

All in all, it was a long trip. It was a lot of stopping. It was a lot of packing and unpacking. It was a lot of rain. BUT, it was all worth it. We're home and it feels great to be back!

P.S. Eli recommends this book to EVERYBODY! It's the one he listened to while I slept the drive!

We're Leaving...

2009-05-31T19:44:00.002-06:00

...in a moving van. We're not gonna make a huge post about it or anything, but we'd though we'd let y'all know that we're heading back up to Utah (Cedar Hills for the time being). It's something we've put a lot of thought and prayer into and we really feel like right now is the time to be close to our family and friends. So, this is what we get to look forward to on Wednesday.

Celebrity Collage by MyHeritage

2009-05-27T17:57:00.001-06:00

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph

Celebrity Collage by MyHeritage

2009-05-27T17:48:00.001-06:00

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

I LOVE...

2009-04-29T18:03:00.003-06:00

talented people and laughter! This brings a smile to my face. You have to watch the WHOLE video and then watch the next video to fully appreciate it.

The Original Parody

Eli and I decided that we could be friends with Chuck Wicks and Julianne, and Justin Timberlake. If you guys ever need friends in Albuquerque, look us up!

P.S. I don't know how all the copyright stuff works, but I don't intend to infringe on copyright laws. Just want to make people HAPPY!

Kolob is Near

2009-04-12T12:47:00.006-06:00

Listen to the BYU Choir sing "If You Could Hie to Kolob," read the words, and continue on.

Eli and I went on a day date yesterday. It was amazing. Any little bit of time I get to spend with him is special and yesterday was no exception. He surprised me with a trip to the New Mexico Museum of Natural History. I know, a museum? We love it. We haven't had a chance to go since we moved here. We had some other plans for the day and decided to go to the show at the Planetarium.

If you've ever been to the Clark Planetarium in Salt Lake, you'll know what the NM Planetarium is like. It's a little smaller, but still similar. In the dome they played a show called "Enchanted Skies: The Digital Universe." It wasn't quite what we expected, but it was still amazing. There is a woman that narrated the whole show and she shared interesting facts. She showed us where some of the more famous constellations are located and how to find the North Star. She taught us a lot about our solar system and the space around our planet.

Then we moved farther out in space. We were able to see other galaxies and this is where I shed a few tears. It's crazy to me to think that some people believe that we living is an accident, just coincidence. It's unbelievable what people have discovered in space. I'll share some interesting things with you that I learned.

Earth is located in a very special place called that Habitating Zone (or something like that). If we were 5% closer to the Sun, we'd burn because of the heat. If we were 10% farther from the Sun, we'd freeze. Technically speaking, Earth is located in the prime position for life. Mars has an irregular orbit, so it dips in and out of the Habitating Zone, but it does contain some of the elements necessary to sustain life. Scientists are looking for algae and fungus on Mars because that would be "life" on another planet.

Every week scientists are finding more galaxies than they ever thought existed. They are also finding more and more planets. That's INCREDIBLE! I wonder where those planets are coming from. Scientists looks for stars similar to our Sun and find other planets orbiting those stars. Eventually they'd like to explore those plaents within the habitating zone of those "suns," there may be other life there.

Scientists are also taking pictures of our galaxy and trying to figure the structure of our galaxy. They know that it's spiral, but not too much more. They have found something called "dark matter" and "dark energy" that suggests that there is something there, but they don't quite know what it is. I wonder what that is.

One of the things that I found most amazing though is the information I heard about the Andromeda Galaxy. Eli has a book called "The Kolob Theorem" that suggests the Andromeda Galaxy is where Kolob exists. As the woman at the Planetarium was talking about this Galaxy, she informed us that is was the nearest galaxy to our own Milky Way. She said that the way our galaxies were moving, they were on a collision course for each other. Now galaxies collide sometimes and they create a new galaxy. They combine and become part of each other. Our galaxy is set to combine with the Andromeda Galaxy in a billion years or so. They showed an enactment of what that might look like and it was stunning.

The Andromeda Galaxy

The Milky Way

Draw your own conclusions, even if the theories aren't correct, you cannot help but look into the starry sky and not know that EVERYTHING out there is not an accident. I KNOW that my Heavenly Father and his son Jesus Christ love me and created this AMAZING, INCREDIBLE, and STUNNING world for us. Science and religion have a place, next to each other, hand in hand. I believe that they both help each other. It's just unbelieveable what is out there. I am so blessed and am so thankful. I don't know how to express my gratitude for my life.

Happy Easter!

Everything's Amazing, Nobody's Happy

2009-03-04T13:17:00.003-07:00

This is Lous CK on Conan O'Brien. I just wanted to add an AMEN and say that I have SO much to be grateful for.

Video belongs to NBC

Simpy Mad About the Mouse

2009-02-26T18:40:00.003-07:00

Childhood memories. I have so many and I found a TON on youtube tonight. The internet is truly an AMAZING tool. So here, for your enjoyment, are a few clips from Simply Mad about the Mouse.

Just as a side note: I do not own the songs or videos. I do not intend to step on any copyright toes. I just LOVE SMATM.

Harry Connick Jr. - The Bare Necessities

LL Cool J - The Big Bad Wolf (rated PG for SCANDALOUS women! ha ha!)

And as I was trying to find more video, I've learned that the video codes were disabled. This person does not want to share the love. Here are the links. They're still really good.

Soul II Soul : Kiss the Girl
Billy Joel: When You Wish Upon a Star
Ric Ocasek: Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah
The Gypsy Kings: I've Got No Strings
Bobby McFerrin: The Siamese Cat Song
Michael Bolton: A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes

This isn't the video from Simply Mad, but it is the song. It wouldn't be complete without it!

En Vogue: Someday My Prince Will Come

I've Got Music...I've Got My Man...

2009-02-23T08:26:00.004-07:00

Who could ask for anything more? Eli and I had a special treat this past weekend. The BYU Young Ambassadors are on a regional tour right now and they came through Albuquerque. Of course, I was SUPER excited because I love the YA! I watched 'em a lot while I was at school. I was kind of surprised that Eli was excited about it too, but then I remembered he was in a similar show choir while he was at Snow College.

We made a fun double date night of it with our friends Todd and Bonnie. It wasn't anything complicated, pizza and a performance. The time was well spent. We really like our friends. We showed up to the RRHS Performing Arts building 20 minutes early and it was PACKED. It was a great show from the beginning. The YA Show Band was awesome ( and made Eli drool because he wanted the drum set they had). There was SO MUCH stinkin' talent in that room. The voice range on some of those kids was outstanding!

At many points during the show Eli and I made decisions. Eli decided that he wanted to take drum lessons. I'm going to learn to tap dance and play the sax. I also decided that I would be okay if our future kids wanted to tap dance, even the boys. It's an extremely athletic thing. Eli said they could as long as they did a MANLY sport along with it.

It was a perfect date. I really couldn't have asked for anything more that night. And if you have the chance to see the Young Ambassadors, you should!

Driving Away from the Wreck of the Day

2009-01-21T22:42:00.008-07:00

So we didn't really end up driving away. The car got towed and some friends came to pick us up. It all happened so fast, I don't really know what was going on. We were driving home from Lima's vet appointment (she might be pregnant, but that's another story), I was texting our friend B when I heard Eli shout, I heard a loud popping noise, my head hit something as I was shoved forward and then that was followed by my head swinging back. I really oouldn't register what was happening. Lima was crying and looked like she was flying and Eli was asking if I was ok and then to get out of the car. Eli came and checked on me and Lima and then checked on the lady in front of us while the lady behind us cursed at us. There were 5 cars, 8 people, and 1 dog involved. It was miraculous that no one was injured. I sustained a broken off thumbnail (which hurts a lot more than you'd think), Eli got pinched by his watch (which is in excellent condition Pop), and Lima got air bag dust in her eye. We're all quite a bit sore and tired, but we're alive.
We're so thankful that everyone made it out ok. Of course our car didn't (it's that "champagne" colored Ford Escape), but who cares? We made sure to thank our Heavenly Father for our safety and our friends. They missed their kid's basketball game to pick us up. I know it sounds crazy, but we're blessed.

the silver thing is the exhaust pipe; it made its way on top of our tires...?

43 Things about Mandy

2008-12-27T00:15:00.000-07:00

I took the 43 Things Personality Quiz and found out I'm a

Romantic Traveling Builder

"See You and Me Have a Better Time Than Most"

2008-12-22T00:27:00.000-07:00

Eli and I have been so blessed to have made some really good friends out here in Rio. I work a lot in the evening, so when Eli doesn't have appointments, he usually hangs out with M & E. They are such wonderful people; amazingly friendly, unselfish, HILARIOUS, and so many other words. Eli and I have taken to spending Sundays with them. They've been nice enough to share their family with us (Nana, A, A, Z and the girls) and their food. We like it over there. We can't be with our family out here, but they (and a few other families) are the next best thing.

Today we went over to E & M's and spent a little quality time. We had a roast that Nana was so nice to make for us. After Dinner we sat down to watch Love Stinks. Cheesey, funny movie. Apparently Eli, E & M had started watching it the night before while I was at work. Eli said it reminded him of me. Go figure. I guess it did mostly because I told Eli I loved him first and he was like, "Sooo...?" It kind of went like that, maybe not exactly. It's got a few scenes that are questionably, so if it's ever on TV...

After the movie Eli and M had to make a few business phone calls, so I took to the kitchen. I saw a recipe on a friend's blog that I wanted to try. So while the guys were busy with business and E was taking Nana home, I made Whoopie Pies. The closest thing to describing these yummy snacks would be Oreo Cakesters, but these were 100 times better. You should make them. Tasty and easy, the best combination.

Eli and M loved these "pies." I loved them. M's kids loved them. I just might have to start making these more often. I'm glad I was able to make these for everyone. Thanks Chef B. It's so nice to be able to have a fun relaxing night with friends. Every day we have more reasons to like Rio. We are so thankful that we've been able to find great people here.

The Boys enjoying some Whoopie Pies.

Reasons I Like Preschool

2008-12-20T00:39:00.007-07:00

There are just some things that are cuter with a preschooler than a 4th grader.

Finding the "snowball" in the snow (marshmallows & whip cream)

Making "snow angels"

And I get to see that. How is that not adorable?

It's Snowing in Rio

2008-12-17T18:20:00.004-07:00

One of the questions Eli asked people before we decided to move here was, "What is the weather like?" We were told summer gets hot (but not St. George hot) and during the winter it's cold and windy. It snows every once in awhile, but melts like an hour later. NOT TRUE!

I love watching the snow fall as much as the next person. It's a wonderful change from the sun and dirt. BEING in the snow is totally different. I don't like driving in the snow. I don't like walking in the snow (I like sledding, but only when I'm bundled and there's no chance of me getting wet). Not a big fan of snow in my shoes. I just don't really like being cold. I think walking to school in the snow in college did that to me.

Well, it turns out that snow is not completely terrible here. Apparently if there's 6 inches of snow on the ground schools close and businesses close early. It started snowing Monday, all day! I was working at B & N that night and we usually close at 11 pm. We decided to close at 9 because the roads were packed with snow. I lucked out. Eli also showed up to warm up my car, scrap off the snow and ice, and follow me home. He's AMAZING!

The snow lasted through the night which made it a SNOW DAY. The schools were closed which meant I didn't have preschool and I got to sleep in. HOORAY! Since Eli doesn't work much in the morning we got to lay in bed and be lazy. I got up a little while later and made chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast. I used the Budge family recipes. One of my favorite things when I was little was when my dad made pancakes that looked like stuff. In his honor I made snowman pancakes for Eli. They were tasty! These are just regular circle ones, still yummy!

Now it's time for some dinner, a little "Alvin & the Chipmunks," and a little something from the COCOMOTION (if you don't have one, you should)! Although all our snow melted in 2 days, we're supposed to have a big snow storm tomorrow. It's gonna be the coldest winter here in like 500 years we hear!

Do You Know What Today Is?

2008-12-15T07:30:00.000-07:00

In the words of Tony Toni Tone, "It's THEIR anniversary." Mostly Tony's words. Today is my parents' 22nd anniversary. I don't want to embarrass them too much, but I love my parents. I was thinking about it today, I can only imagine how different my life would be if they had not gotten married. I was 3-years-old when my parents got married and life has been good ever since.

I have lots of memories from when I was little. My mom, dad, and I went to Disneyland for their honeymoon, we went on camping trips together; we did so much together. Even now, Eli and I love going to visit my parents and spending time with them because they are so much FUN!

But even more than being fun, they are such great examples to me and Eli. We've learned so much from them. I've learned so much from them. I've learned the importance of hard work, charity, and service. I've learned how to drive a car and cook a good meal. Sometimes the lessons weren't so easy, but definitely worth it in the end.

And most of all I've learned the importance of an eternal family. It was the example they set for me when I was younger that helped me make the decision to marry in the Temple. I cannot thank them enough for that. I know that my family will ALWAYS be together and sometimes that knowledge is all I need to get through the day. Friends are great to have and make life fun, but family makes life AMAZING and gives me purpose.

I am so grateful for you Mom and Dad. Thank you for being my parents and my friends. I love you!

Interesting

2008-11-19T18:01:00.004-07:00

These are just some things I found. I've been curious and sick and have time on my hands.

South Park's Creators to make "Mormon Musical" for Broadway

The announcment that started my curious fingers going.

Public Issues: Same-Gender Attraction

I really like Elder Oaks answer to the first question. I've come across many instances (working at Barnes & Noble, Imagine that!) where I've been accused of being narrow-minded, racist, a bigot, and so on. I have always taken the stance of "love the person, not the sin,"

but that doesn't mean I have to give up my right for what I believe in. I have the freedom to say what I like, just the same as others.

I understand that our church ASKED members to support Prop 8, (They did not threaten excommunication if people opposed it. They did not demand people to vote yes.) but I know we are not the only church that supported Prop 8. Why are we being the ones targeted? Again, I've been perusing and found these statistics:

African-American -70% voted yes

Latinos -53% voted yes

Asian - 49% voted yes

Other - 51% voted yes

Ages 30--44 - 55% voted yes

Ages 45-64 - 51% voted yes

Ages 65 & up - 61% voted yes

Female - 52% voted yes

Male - 53% voted yes

CNN.com - Local Exit Polls

I've read of some of these other groups being harrassed and threatened, but not to the extent that Mormons have recieved. I might be naive, but I do wonder. Why us?

"Since blacks and latinos voted overwhelmingly for Prop. 8, I fully expect to see gay zealots marching onto South Central and East L.A. and threatening to burn down houses and businesses there."

Mormons Face Flack for Backing Prop 8

On the Daily Kos, the nation's most popular liberal blog, there is a campaign to use that information to look into the lives of Mormons who financially support Prop. 8...Atkins said his goal was to "embarrass the opposition by pointing out and publicizing any contributors they may have." He said focusing on Mormons made sense."

Elderly people being abused? Sad.

Utah Faces Boycott after Mormon Work for Prop 8

I know that Mormons settled Utah and when people think of Utah they think "mormon." Most of the businesses that people are targeting aren't affiliated with the Church in any way, shape, or form.

Missouri's Mormon Past

In 1838 and 1839, following an “extermination” order issued by Gov. Lilburn Boggs, 8,000 to 10,000 Mormons were driven out of Missouri. Boggs had declared Mormons in “open and avowed defiance” of the state’s laws and of having made war upon the people of Missouri.
“The Mormons must be treated as enemies,” Boggs declared on Oct. 27, 1838, “and must be exterminated or driven from the State if necessary for the public peace; their outrages are beyond all description.”

Boggs’ extermination order was finally rescinded in 1976 by Missouri Gov. Christopher Bond, who also offered his regrets on behalf of the state.

"Music is What Feelings Sound Like"

2008-10-15T20:57:00.004-06:00

Anyone who knows me or Eli know that we both have a HUGE passion for music. I heard someone say that "music is what feelings sound like." I could not have thought of a better way to put it. Music can truly do anything. It can make you relive every second of a past memory. It can make you feel happy and excited. It can make you feel sad and lonely. It can make you feel warmth and love. It can motivate you or relax you. I believe that music is something that can speak to anyone, anywhere.

The reason I say all this is because I was listening to one of my favorite musicians, Andy Mckee. He is phenomenal. He is one of those people that makes you feel all of those emotions I described above. Not only does Andy's (because we're on a first name basis now) music sound amazing, but watching him is an incredible experience. I'm going to post a couple of his videos here, but you can find him all over youtube, myspace, and get his music here. Just watch.

Drifiting

Africa - Toto (This should sound familiar)

Rylynn (This is my favorite)

Another thing that I have always loved is the drums. There is something about the drums that is fascinating. I've always loved drumlines. I've done searches and watched drumlines perform on the internet. One group I came across is called KAOTIC. They're pretty good and they have a good story. You know me, I'm always up for a good story that involves helping kids. Here is a show they did at a Bulls-Kings game a couple of years ago.

Some of you may have heard of the djembe drum. It is an african drum that is made by a skin streched over a gauntlet-shaped drum. It's played with your bare hands. It kind of reminds me of the conga drum, but not. Eli has used the djembe in some of his music. I love the sound of it. There is a movie called "The Vistor" that features the djembe. The sound kind of brings back a tribal, primal feel. Anyway, watch again. This is the Duke University Dejembe Ensemble. So much fun!

Superman

2008-10-08T23:39:00.011-06:00

I just wanted to give a little update on my dad. He is amazing! I swear he is superman. For having had brain surgery he is doing really well. I love him so much! He has had his stitches taken out. He's out and about, taking it easy. I just wanted to post some pictures and share our adventure with the rest of you. Thank you again so much for your prayers and thoughts. We love you guys!

Dad with no hair. I think the look suites him. He has a very spherical noggin'.

Pre-operation. I believe he was modeling Josh's look.

Me and Pop pre-operation

We tried my hair on Pop. We thought the darker hair helped him fit in with the rest of the fam.

Grandpa waiting during Pop's surgery.

Post-operation. Hardcore!

Bandages off. Enter here. Take a look around.

Relaxing.

The Rain Came Down...and Our Ceiling Fell In

2008-10-08T22:54:00.007-06:00

Similar to St. George, Albuquerque is a desert. Albuquerque is also in a drought. When the rains come it is a blessed affair. I am also a big fan of the rain (when I'm not caught in it). I love the smell after it rains. It is so fresh and so clean!

Saturday was one of those blessed days! It poured and it was wonderful. When I got home from work late Saturday night I was looking forward to a good night's rest. I did not expect to find the following:

The bubble was dripping. I couldn't call the landlord being that it was way super late. I stuck a pot under the drip and attempted to go to bed. After about 2.5 seconds I decided to sleep in the guest room. I was just closing my eyes when I heard the "drip drip" in the pot. I went into the room and stuck a towel in the pot. I also noticed that something changed in the bubble. It became this:
That is a huge bubble! It also spread to another bubble which spread to another bubble. In a rectangle shape. Obviously the ceiling had had a leak before and had been patched. I let Eli know and he called the landlord Sunday morning. We didn't hear from him. Our carpet was soaked and it smelled. It smelled like when you forget to change the laundry from the washer to the dryer but ten times worse.

Sunday night I had to go to work. Eli came in and saw me for lunch. He informed that I should be careful when I got home and I should probably sleep in the guest room again. The ceiling was half hanging off and it might fall off. I decided to check on it when I got home. I found this:

And I found this on the floor (ignore the unfolded laundry, if you can see it):

Lame! We got through to the landlord. They came in and patched it up for now. We're getting it fixed on Friday. The good thing about it is that we're gonna get a little discount off our rent. The smell is also starting to fade and after 3 days our carpet is finally drying!

Oh Happy Day!

2008-09-12T08:15:00.008-06:00

We are back from our very short trip to Utah for Dad's surgery and we have good news! In the words of Arnold Schwarzenegger, "It's not a tumor!" I'm going to post some AMAZING pictures from our little adventure and give you a little more of the story, but I did want to let you know that my dad is doing well.

He still had to have brain surgery because they didn't know it wasn't a tumor until they got inside. What they did find was something called a Venous Varix. I'm still trying to find a good definition for it, but it's basically an enlarged blood vessel in his brain. His veins were attaching to it and feeding it which caused two things 1) made it grow and 2) blocked blood flow to other parts of his brain. It has been removed and sent to a lab for testing, but the doc said he should be good.

For just having brain surgery he is doing amazingly well. Everything works perfectly and he's back to cracking his jokes and giving his nurses a hard time. Like I said before, he is a strong man and we knew things would go well.

I did want to thank all of you who prayed and fasted on my dad's behalf. I really, truly believe that all the love and support is what helped things go so well. I've got lots of thoughts on that that maybe I'll share later. Thank you, Thank you, THANK YOU so much again. My family thanks you as well and are amazed that so many people have contacted us. We love you guys!

Any Man Can Be a Father

2008-09-06T12:12:00.004-06:00

I said that a lot has been going on these past few weeks that I've been gone (teething puppies, trip to Vegas, moving apartments, etc.). I have a ton of pictures and stories that I'd like to share and I will, but I'd like to post about something, or rather someone, close to my heart.This is my dad, Jared (aka Papa Joe). To finish the quote from the title, "Any man can be a father; it takes someone special to be a dad." My dad is such an amazing man. He's done so much for me like build my appreciation for music, how to throw a baseball, ride a bike, drive, and to do my best in everything. He's supported me through school for so many years and has always encouraged me to be better.

Everything I've done in my life has been to make him and my mom proud of me. I haven't always been the best at that, but I try. I've always been able to call him and ask him advice for all sorts of stuff, like when the brakes on my miata were going out and I had no idea what was happening. I was on the freeway and I called him during one of his trips with Bryan and he was able to tell me exactly what was wrong and what I needed to do to fix it. I also remember when he would take me to the church parking lot to teach me how to drive a clutch. He had so much stinkin' patience!

I think almost everyone on our blog list has met my dad. Most people think he's pretty cool. I do too, which is why this has been kind of hard for me. A few weeks ago my dad had a seizure of some sort. My brothers found him and he couldn't talk. He was taken to the hospital where there were tests and things done. The doctors couldn't find anything wrong with him. He went home feeling a little better, with medication, and advice to not drive for 3 months.

He went back to the hospital about a week later to do an MRI. Just this last week we got the results. My dad has a brain tumor. He's going in for surgery this following Wednesday, September 10th. The doctors and other sources say that the tumor is slow-growing and that the surgery to be performed has very good odds of being very successful. It was a good thing that Dad had the seizure because it helped to detect the tumor early enough.

My dad is young and he is amazing. He's healthy and the surgery is going to go well. Still though, it would mean alot to me and Eli and the rest of our family if you could say a little prayer for my dad. I love you Papa Joe!

Absence makes the heart grow fonder

2008-09-03T19:30:00.002-06:00

I had no idea how theraputic blogging was until I didn't have internet access! I didn't know how grateful I was for the internet either. I've decided that I don't like watching movies at home without having IMDB accesible. I have SO SO much to say and I really have no where to start. I know it's only been 3 weeks (almost) since the last blog I posted, but it seems more like 3 years. There has been so much that has happened, some good and some not. I think I'll post separately for each event, but please understand that it's all intermingled. I know that this blog is more for me, Eli, and our family, but it's still nice to know that I have friends out there who care!

Albuquerque Aloft

2008-08-14T09:31:00.004-06:00

Just as a quick reminder to our family and friends, OCTOBER is coming up in a month and a half! That means the International Balloon Festival is rapidly approaching. Here's a little preview as to what we've been waking up to every morning. It was launched at the park right next to our house:

I have also convienently placed links to Southwest Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Airlines, Expedia, CheapTickets, and Hotwire here so that you can book your flights as soon as possible. Remember, you'll be flying into the Albquerque Airport during October 4-12.

Eli and I have toyed with the idea of being balloon chasers sometime during the week of the fiesta. We've heard it's the best way to get free rides in the balloons. Let us know if you want to come visit. Our place is perfect for the two of us, but we do have an extra guest room with a nice full bed, as well as room for the two air mattresses that we own. It'll be great fun!

Let us know when your flight is booked so we can put it on our calendars! We don't want to forget to pick you up (unless you've rented a car!).

I love to see the Temple...

2008-08-12T14:16:00.006-06:00

Sunday was such a nice relaxing day. Eli and I finally took the time to go see the Temple. Usually on Sundays we go home after church and crash (Eli wakes up early and I work late), but not this last Sunday. We had heard that the Temple wasn't too far away, but we weren't quite sure.

We got a little lost, I'm not gonna lie, but we finally made it. The Albuquerque Temple is definitely a lot different from other temples I've been to. Most are made out of the gray colored granite and have some very intricate designs, but the Albuquerque Temple is very earthy and simple. According to LDSChurchTemples.com it's made of a "Desert Rose concrete trimmed with Texas Pearl Granite," so it's more of a rose-y, sand color. It's beautiful in it's simple surroundings and blends well with the pueblo-esque look of the rest of the city. I love the stars near the spire. You can click the picture for a closer look.
There is always such a good feeling around the Temple. Even when you're not inside. It reminds me of such happy times in my life; the first time I did Baptisms, being sealed to my family, marrying Eli, and all the times I drove to the Oakland Temple when I was a teenager. It's such a peaceful, happy feeling where you know everything is okay. I'm so grateful for temples and Eli and I are so excited to go in one of these days (when our schedule allows; we're recommend holders!).
I have a fascination with the waters that are usually found on temple grounds. The smell and the cool mist is so refreshing and the sound is so peaceful. It definitely enhances the temple experience!

Date Day

2008-08-06T16:45:00.009-06:00

Eli and I have a pretty interesting schedule right now. I'm working at Barnes & Noble right now and Eli is working part-time as a lead at Sam's Club and working to get the business up and running here. What this all means is that Eli pretty much works all day and I usually work evening until midnight. We don't get to see one another very much except for Sundays.

We have decided that when Eli and I have time off together other than Sunday, we get to have our date night. We think it's pretty stinking important to spend time together; you know, happy marriage and all.

Usually for date day we go out to eat and watch a movie. Today was a little different. We went out to breakfast at a place here in New Mexico called Weck's. It's amazing! It's a ton of good food for a decent price and it's delicous! I had lunch and Eli had breakfast (his favorite). I had the chicken fried steak lunch special w/ homemade chips and potato wedges and a salad. Eli had Biscuits n' Gravy, another favorite. If ever you pass through New Mexico or come to visit, a stop at Weck's is necessary!

We contemplated going to a movie, but then remembered hearing about a ceramic store nearby called the Painting Corral. It's one of those places where you go in and pick a ceramic piece to glaze. You can use pieces that have already been fired or glaze a piece that hasn't been fired yet.

It was a tough decision for us to pick something, but we finally settled on some pirate pieces. I told Eli that I know we don't have any kids yet, but when we have a boy I'd like to decorate his room in a pirate theme. I love pirates! So we made our choices and got to work.

Eli worked pretty hard. His focus totally paid off because his pirate skull came out amazing! All you do is paint the project with an acrylic glaze. Once you're done painting you blow dry the project with a blow dryer. After that you apply a thin layer of glossy glaze and blow dry again. It was fascinating to see Eli work. We've both taken ceramic classes and were pretty anal about our projects

Here's Eli applying a barnyard red color to his pirates do-rag. And here are our finished projects:

This was one of the best dates Eli and I have been on in awhile. It's amazing to think that we have one another and have so much fun together! If you don't make the time now to do it, you really should have a weekly date night with your spouse. It does wonders!

Cherry-stained Fingers and Full Bellies

2008-07-29T07:08:00.006-06:00

Yesterday was a nice, relaxing day. I ran around a lot, but it turned out to be well worth it. I slept in kind of late, having worked late the night before (closing at B &N is killing me!). I woke up with enought time to play with the puppies, shower, get ready, and pick up lunch for Eli. I usually make lunch for him, but was running a little late. I do kind of like closing at work because Eli and I are still able to have lunch (at Sam's) and dinner (at B & N) everyday. People think it's a little obssessive, but it's the least we can do while are schedules are a little off.

Continuing on, I stopped at a RS luncheon to get to know a few of the sisters in ward. I made it in time for the clean up. Nice! I met two nice ladies though. It's been great going to this new ward (outside of Utah) because people have been very receptive to us moving in. Although there are obviously people that have been friends for awhile, it's not an odd thing to have a new family move in. It's been great to have that openess and welcoming smiles.

After the world's shortest luncheon, I felt ambitous. I was planning on making spaghetti, but decided I would tackle a pineapple-stuffed chicken and bake a cherry pie. My first pie ever and it turned out amazing! The recipes came from Chef Britta's website. I went to girls' camp with her when we were younger back in California and she's turned into an amazing Chef! Thanks Britta!

Both turned out delicious! One of the most fun things about cooking and baking is the help. Eli is such an amazing husband. Both recipes can be kind of intense and I needed to grow an extra pair of hands. Eli became my extra pair. Instead of relaxing after a long day at work or playing on his new phone, he helped me. I gave him the daunting task of pitting and halving the cherries and he did with no complaint, after I threw a fit because my dough didn't come out right (he fixed that too). He's so stinkin' cool that way. It was pretty funny too; his fingers were a deep purple color after chopping into all of those cherries! I wish I would've had a camera, but I'll give you a little idea of what it might have looked like. Imagine black, tire-stained fingers (they were clean) and the little purple, cherry-stained fingers mixed. They looked a little like this:

We spent the rest of the night stuffed and content with our puppies. Sometimes I have to stop and thank God for the wonderful life I've been blessed with; an amazing husband, a wonderful place to live, our wild puppies, and the ability to follow a good recipe!

It's Like the Birthday Butterflies

2008-07-26T00:15:00.003-06:00

I was talking to a coworker of mine today. He commented on my Kool-aid Jammers purse and asked if I made him. I assured him that I was not nearly creative enough and got it from etsy.com. He then told me about all the interesting websites he's found. One of them sounded extremely interesting so I checked it out. Here's the description from the website itself:

"SomethingStore is a fun new website that operates simply: We will send you something, an item selected randomly among many things from our inventory, for $10 (free shipping in the US) and you will find out what your something is when you receive it. What will yours be?"

Then I asked myself the question, "What kinds of things do people get randomly for ten bucks?" My question was quickly answered as I read on:

"Your Something May Be Anything. It may be something you need, something you want or something you desire. Yours may be a cool gadget, rare book, table game, handmade necklace, reverse clock, box of gourmet chocolates, set of shiny shower curtains, popular video game, big-box retailer gift card, the latest version of a software, a set of kitchen knives, a pair of designer jeans, garden tool, kitchen appliance, unique home decor item, electronic equipment, magazine subscription, office supply item, or ...Your something will most likely be brand new, though it may also be refurbished or antique."

And then I thought to myself, "I really like the excitement I feel when Eli tells me he has a surprise for me. I like the feeling at birthdays and Christmas. I wonder if that's what it would feel like if I ordered from this store." I decided that I might have to try it sometime soon. Maybe you should too!

Step It Up and DANCE!

2008-07-24T18:40:00.003-06:00

Anyone who knows me knows I LOVE to dance. My love for dance started at a very young age. I took ballet for a few months when I was 3 or 4. I'm not gonna lie. I've always liked to shake my groove thing. I was exposed to breaking in 5th grade when a girl at school by the name of Jai danced for a talent show. It was amazing! I never got around to getting back into dance clubs or anything like that, but you better believe my kids will have better moves than me!

It's been awhile since I've been able to get out and cut a rug, so I've been meeting my dancing needs in other ways. I recently rented Step Up 2: The Streets. I got hooked again. I love watching people dance! I started searching YouTube for dancing. The director of Step Up 2, Jon Chu, has a pretty big dance crew. They've challenged Miley Cyrus to the biggest online dance battle. It's crazy what people can do. I've posted Chu's challenge video and Miley's response. Eli and I are big fans of Miley's video. EH!

The ACDC

The M & M Cru

You'll seriously have to check out their other videos. You can find Jon Chu's crew HERE and the M & M Cru HERE. Have fun!

Tag! You're It!

2008-07-23T09:00:00.002-06:00

Here's a fun little tag game I found on my friend Jen's blog:

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

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

Say A Little Prayer

2008-07-20T00:55:00.002-06:00

I would like everyone to meet my Mommy Martha. To call her grandma just wouldn't seem right. Mommy Martha is such an amazing woman. She has the sweetest personality and she's so giving. One of the things I remember about Mommy is that she is always in the kitchen cooking! When I was little and visiting her in Texas she made me eggs, steak, beans, and fresh tortillas for breakfast. It was amazing. She takes care of everyone in our family, and even those not in our family. I love her so much!

Just today I was told that my little Mommy Martha found a lunp in her throat. After a biopsy and tests it was found that she has stomach cancer. Next week she'll be going in for a CAT scan to see how extensive the cancer has spread. Please pray for my Mommy Martha. I don't want to think about the possible outcomes, but she is much loved and much needed. Please pray for her. She is such a special woman!

Not Your Regular Sausage

2008-07-13T16:50:00.006-06:00

I feel like I've forgotten about one of our family members. He's a new addition, but he's been with us for about a month. He kinda makes you wanna say "Yo Quiero Taco Bell" when you look at him. Let us introduce you to Chorizo!
Our dear little Chorizo came to us from a family in Ephraim. He was the last one in his litter. He is a short-haired Chihuahua that is about 4 months old, so he is just a little older than Lima. While we were doing some research on Chihuahuas we came across this description "Chihuahuas are prized for their devotion, ferocity, and personality. Their curious nature and small size make them easily adaptable ...are often stereotyped as high-strung..." The family that we got Chorizo from also said that they called him "Demon" because he was such a terror and got into everything.

Not our little sausage! Chorizo is the biggest pansy in the world. He would much rather be held, he does not like to explore, and his favorite thing to do in snuggle and stick his little wet nose and tongue in your ears and nose. Although he is Eli's favorite, Chorizo lacks the wrestling skills that Eli wished he had. He can put up a good fight against Lima with some lucky moves, but in the end he tends to rollover and submit to her aggresion!

We've also started to call him "Batdog" because when he gets scared and we pick him up, he spreads his arms and sticks his ears up and freezes in that position. We love him to death and are happy to have our pansy, batdog, little sausage man, CHORIZO!

Lima and Chorizo are best friends!

A Belated 4th Posting

2008-07-09T11:30:00.010-06:00

I apologize for being a little behind on updating our blog, we've been a little busy with the move and all. Not to fear though, things are going extremely well for us in New Mexico. We've been having quite the adventure here in Albuquerque. It's unbelievable how much there is to do here! We'll keep you posted of all of our excursions.

I'll start with the 4th of July. It was so much fun! We went to the Rio Rancho Parade we our puppies and our friends, the Smith's. There weren't any huge floats or anything, but they had some awesome cars and it was still fun to get out and see all the new people.

After the parade Eli and I and the Smith's went to Old Town Albuquerque where they have so many museums and little shops. It was pretty cool. Our first stop was The Rattlesnake Museum which boasts the largest collection of different species of live rattlesnakes in the world! It was neat to see all the snakes, but also to see all the different memorabilia from cultures all over the world that have been influenced by snakes.

After we wrestled with the Rattlesnake Museum, we made our way to the Museum of Natural History. We didn't stay too long, but are consdiering a membership there, if only to see the dinosaur and living sea exhibits!

As we made our way back to the car we found the National Atomic Museum. It was a small, inviting museum that followed the timeline of WWII. They also had a Children's science lab that kept Eli and Todd busy for most of our visit. Pretty interesting stuff.

We finally made it home to where our sweet pork burritos, mexican rice, and Eli's amazing refried beans were waiting for us. It was the quietest dinner we've ever had because the food was so good!

After dinner we all piled (including the puppies) into the Smith's expedition and found a perfect place for fireworks. We took out the back seat of the car and set it on the sidewalk so we could kick back and enjoy the show. It was a nice production, a little on the long side, but still entertaining! Eli and I were amazed the Lima and Chorizo handled the event so well. To be more honest, Lima spent the time digging a hole to lay in and Chorizo cuddled up to Bonnie the whole time being the pansy that he is. After the city fireworks we went home and lit a few of our own fireworks.

All in all, it was a great day! It was well spent with friends and our little family and I think that we are really going to enjoy our lives in New Mexico!

The Land of Enchantment

2008-06-26T17:23:00.004-06:00

Eli and I are moving. We've dedcided to uproot our little family from St. George and move out to Albuquerque, New Mexico. It was a decision made about a month ago and now we're moving, on Monday. We are going for business opportunities. Things should go well for us out there. We'd like to end up in Utah again, near our family, but for now we will calle "The Land of Enchantment" our home. Here are some fun facts about Albuquerque. Make sure to come out and visit us!

Albuquerque hosts the world’s largest hot air balloon festival the first weekend in October.

Las Cruces makes the world's largest enchilada the first weekend in October at the "Whole Enchilada Fiesta."

In Carrizozo, it is forbidden for a female to appear unshaven in public.

The leaves of the Yucca, New Mexico's state flower, can be used to make rope, baskets and sandals.

The World Shovel Race Championships take place every winter at Angel Fire Resort.

White Sands National Monument is a desert, not of sand, but of gleaming white gypsum crystals.

In 1950 the little cub that became the National Fire Safety symbol, Smokey the Bear, was found trapped in a tree when his home in Lincoln National Forest was destroyed by fire.

In Las Cruces, it is against the law to carry a lunch box down Main Street.

In New Mexico, it is against the law to dance around a Sombrero.

New Mexico has far more sheep and cattle than people. There are only about 12 people per square mile.

New Mexico has two designated State Vegetables - Chile and frijoles. That being said, it comes as no surprise that New Mexico also has an officially designated State Question -- ---"Red or green?" (referring to chile preference.)

New Mexico's history is filled with Wild West characters. Some who made their homes here, at least for a time, were Clay Allison, Buffalo Bill Cody, Black Jack Ketchum, Billy the Kid, Doc Holliday, and Pat Garrett.

International Balloon Festival October 4-12

Us in Photos

2008-06-22T12:20:00.006-06:00

I enjoy browsing blogs. I found this on Jen's site. It looked like fun, so Eli and I each created one. There are some amazing pictures on Flickr. You should give it a shot. Here are the directions.

Eli in Photos

Mandy in Photos

Here are the questions we answered( left to right, top row to bottom): 1) What is your first name, 2) What is your favorite food, 3) What high school did you go to, 4) What is your favorite color, 5) Who is your celebrity crush, 6) favorite drink, 7) dream vacation, 8) favorite dessert, 9) what do you want to be when you grow up, 10) what do you love most in life, 11) one word to describe yourself, and 12) your flickr name.

Summer Snickers

2008-06-18T23:38:00.003-06:00

Eli and I aren't really big TV people, but we do have a couple of shows that we are addicted to. We cannot miss Lost or The Office. We're not really big on commercials either, so we tend to hook the computer up to the TV and watch the episodes with minimal interruptions online. Well, Lost and The Office are over for the time being, so we've been forced to puruse our options on NBC.com and ABC.com to fill the void. I think we've found our winners. We're suckers for reality TV, but check out the clips below.

Wipeout

Celebrity Circus

Jake's Slide Show

2008-06-07T10:08:00.000-06:00

Packing and packing and packing and...packing

2008-06-07T09:52:00.005-06:00

Eli and I finally finished up our packing and cleaned the apartment out that we once called home. It's been quite the chore trying to get my classroom packed up and our place packed up; all while Eli has a hurt back and I have a bruised tailbone. It's a good thing that we had Lima to help though. We couldn't have done it without her!

Packing is such hard work!

The finished product. Yea!

Lima The Poo

2008-06-04T09:38:00.000-06:00

Introducing LIMA!

2008-05-31T18:09:00.008-06:00

Lima the Poo

Hi! My name is Lima and I am a miniature pinscher. I'm the newest member of the Adams family. Eli and Mandy got me from a family in Kearns. They were nice enough to take me in. I was the last one at home in my family. Eli and Mandy named me Lima (Lee-ma), after the place in Peru. Eli served his mission there. They wanted to name me "Siki Sapa" which means "big butt" in Quechua, but they decided against it. I'm glad they didn't name me that. Mandy calls me Lima bean or Lima the Poo. I think she calls me that because I like my Winnie the Pooh doll, but it might be because I'm still potty training. Oops!

I'm 8 weeks old and I love the color red. My previous owners fed me Ol' Roy, but I didn't really like it. It gave me the runs. My new favorite food is lamb and rice. I also like burying my face in anything I can find like blankets, pillows, or Eli's armpits. Eli is my favorite. I like to cuddle up with him. I am pretty good with kids and big crowds and I like other dogs. I like Cosmo, but he's so big! He makes me a little nervous when he gets close.

I am learning so much from Eli and Mandy. I already know what "come" means and I know where to go to "bed." Even though I know "bed," I don't let Eli and Mandy sleep very much at night. I'm also working on "bathroom," but I don't know that one very well yet. Eli and Mandy could tell you more about that some other time. I also learned how to go up and down the stairs. I think I'm pretty smart and I am SO cute!

My Brother ROCKS!

2008-05-17T10:08:00.005-06:00

KUTV channel 2 held a search for a Utah Rock Star. My brother Jake was a semi-finalist. For those of you who don't know, my brother is 18 and is an amazing musician! He sings, he writes, he plays; he does it all! He's got such amazing talents. Although Jake didn't win the contest, he's still my hero. This kid is going places! You can check out a clip of him here at KUTV. The clip is on the upper right side of the page. I love you little bruddah!

Sleeveface+freetime=loads of fun

2008-05-16T11:33:00.009-06:00

Sleeveface: one or more persons obscuring or augmenting any part of their body or bodies with record sleeve(s) causing an illusion.

This is my favorite. Forgive me. It makes me laugh.You can find more at sleeveface.com or on flickr. Enjoy!

Nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat

2008-05-15T23:32:00.005-06:00

It's been an insane week. Let me start off by saying that I am so grateful for my husband. He's working so hard right now, so I won't have to one day. I decided that I could help the process a little bit and keep myself busy at the same time.

St. George finally got smart and built a Barnes & Noble. I've started a summer job there. We open on May 28th, but we've been way busy stocking and getting ready to open. I had to start training and things this week, so I'm working double. I teach in the morning and then drive over to B & N and work til 10. It's no way to live a life. I love it so far though. I cannot believe that there are so many books! It's really opened my eyes to how much literature is out there. Ive already got a huge list of books I wanna read. B & N is cool because they want their employees to be well-read, so they have a book loan program. We get to borrow any book we want as long as it is a hard back and we bring it back in sellable shape.

Either way, like I said, it's no way to live a life. I feel terrible for people who have to work two jobs in order to survive. I am so blessed to have Eli who takes care of me and lets me to work if
I want to. If I were up to him, I'd be done with working all together. We're half way there. I'm taking a break from teaching this next year. I feel great about that decision! I need a break, but I do need to stay busy, hence the B & N job. But...

I don't know how long that will last either. Eli has been in New Mexico since Tuesday morning. He headed out there to investigate. He and a business partner/friend of ours are looking into expanding out to New Mexico. They've been making contacts and doing interviews out there. So far, things have been going really well. It's possible that the Adams family might be moving out to Albuquerque.

Eli's also been doing research to convince me to get out there. He knows I love having lots of options and I love exploring ( St. George has limited options), and I miss being near a big city. He's found amusement parks, hiking trails, museums, haunted tours, the balloon fiesta, etc. There is so much culture and so many things to do out there. He's also sending me pictures. It's very similar to St. George landscape-wise and weather. I'm thinking that I'll go down with him in June. He'll be going down at least 1 week out of each month until we decide if we're going to move there or not. I'm excited to visit and check out all of the interesting things Eli was telling me about.

Still, I'm more excited for my esposo to be home on Saturday. It's amazing how attached you can become to someone. It's so hard being away from each other for such a long time. I'm thankful that I have so much work right now to keep me busy, but I still feel like I'm missing a part of myself. I know that all of this will be worth it one day though. We're definitely much closer now.

P.S. You should all take advantage of us still being in St. George. We have 2 extra rooms! And if you can't make it out to St. George and we end up going to Albuquerque, put October 4-12 on your calendars! That's the week of the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta!

An Adventuresome Weekend

2008-05-12T19:34:00.011-06:00

It was a long, exciting, and eventful weekend. We had a company convention up in Draper at Juan Diego High School. It was insane! There were so many representatives there. A friend of ours made it up on Friday. He was able to see what we're able to do as a company and he was there to see our Division Manager promotion! Yeah! Saturday morning we went for a training with Chris Koob, who is a top leader in the company. It's always amazing to hear people share their experiences and teach us so much. We also got surprise recognition! We were one of the top base builders in the heirarchy.

After the training on Saturday, Eli and I met up with Miranda at her gymnastics meet in Midvale. I haven't been to a meet in forever and Eli's never been, but we were both impressed. She took 2nd place all-around for her age catergory. She did awesome on the floor excersice! It's crazy to see her do all of the events because she is sooo long and lanky! The girl is a stick and to see her flip her body around is almost comical. she does, however, have a certain grace when she moves. We're so proud of Panda!

We spent that night at my parents' house that evening. We were supposed to drive home back to St. George Saturday night, but we were able to change plans and stay Monday. My mom had no idea though. We spent the night playing rock band. I don't know how many of you have ever played rock band, but it is so much fun! It's like guitar hero times ten. You not only have a guitar, but you also have a bass guitar, drums, and a singer. Let's just we had oddles of fun. My cousin Landon and his fiance, Becky, came over that night too. We tried all sorts of different things, including an all girls band. We totally rocked! It's pretty funny to watch us non-musical people try and sing and keep rhythm on the drums. Eli and I are set on investing in the game one day. We think it's an excellent invention. It can be used to teach pitch, rhythm, hand/eye coordination, etc. Not to mention, it's just a blast for the fam to do together.

Sunday morning was an amazing day. We spent a little time with my mom being mother's day and all. Then we went to church (it was a little early at 11; we're used to going at 2!). My grandparents came down because Jake was being ordained an elder. It was so cool to my pop, Jake, and Josh bless the sacrament. After church, my brother had some friends and family come over and to ordaniation. It was beautiful. We're so happy for my brother; he's such an amazing YSA!

After that we grubbed on my dad's FABULOUS mother's day lunch. He spent 2 days preparing for this lunch. He marinated steak and chicken, and shrimp (he even de-terded it himself). We had fresh veggies like squash, peppers, zucchini, tomatoes, and mushrooms. It was such a delicious meal and it was great spending time with our grandparents, my aunt and uncle, and my cousin and soon to be cousin-in-law.

Eli and I headed back down soon after that with Kenneth, Tawnya, and Sean in tow (they drove up with us for the convention). I fell asleep in the car after about 10 minutes, but woke up at the perfect time. I woke up right when we pulled into the Scipio house. We stopped to visit with Eli's parents (my favorite in-laws!). We wished Tonia happy mother's day and hung out for a little bit. We also raided the kitchen a little bit. I love the Adams' home...it's always stocked!

As I was thinking about it, Eli and I are so blessed. Not only are we best friends, but we have the best families. We get along so well with each others' family. It's always so much fun to spend our time with them. We love our brothers and sisters and nieces and nephew. We are so truly blessed for everything we have!

The stuff ulcers are made of...

2008-05-09T08:59:00.006-06:00

I've cried a lot more this school year than I have any other year. That sounds a little weird, but its been a rough year. Knowing that you are notable to help your students causes undue stress, which can cause ulcers. Hence, the physical pain I'm in often. This was my day yesterday...

I have a student in my class who came in crying like crazy. His brother (who was in my class last year) got his arm caught on a wire at the top of a fence and ripped his arm open. No blood, but the muscle wasn't attached anymore. This kid is normally chatty, unbelievably chatty, but he didn't even cry. I think he was in too much shock. He ended up getting rushed to the hospital. It took 35 stitches to reattach everything. He's doing ok, but his siblings (there are 5 at the school) were so scared. I feel terrible when I can't fix things for them.

I also get ulcers because of dumb parents. I've had a girl in my class complaining of a toothache for the last 2 weeks. It got to the point where she cried and couldn't do her work. She could only focus on the pain. I called her mother at work to let her know of the problem and if she could bring her something for the pain. Her mother sounded so put out, but guessed she could send step-dad over on his lunch break.

Starting Friday of last week, this same girl has been coming to school with a swollen face. Now, I know the picture is not my 10-year-old student, but I wanted to show an example of what her face looked like. Please tell me, if your child's face was this swollen, would you take her to the doctor or dentist? Not this mom. This girl game for another week. I told my student she needed to go to the doctor. She told me, "What's the doctor gonna do anyway? Besides, it's too expensive." That's not 4th grade talk. That's parent talk.

Finally, I peeked in her mouth. She had a huge bubble in her mouth connecting her gums and cheek! I talked to the school counselor, who called the school nurse. She checked my student out and called her mom right away. The nurse told her she had to go home and could not come back until she had a doctor's note. The nurse told me that is as an abcessed tooth and if it wasn't taken care of soon, it could effect her ear canal, her brain, or even her heart!

Her mom came and picked her up without saying a word. No "I'm sorry honey" or "Hello" or "We're gonna get you taken care of." Nothing. She signed her out, turned and walked away with her daughter trailing behind her. Did I mention She's pregnant again? She doesn't want to take care of the children she has, but wants another one?

I expected her to be out for the weekend. I mean, it took her mom two weeks to even be somewhat concerned. I was worried about this girl. If she wasn't back by Wednesday, I was going to call DCFS and report neglect. My student showed up today, on time with a doctor's note. Mom couldn't keep her at home. This is what was wrong with her tooth.

I know that parents get busy and some have to absolutely work to survive. But this is mom who gave her daughter coffee to stay awake at school because she let's her go to bed whenever she wants to. This is mom, who during conference told me she didn't have time to deal with her daughter's strange antics because she works all day.

Promise me, all that have children or are thinking about having children, that you will show concern for your children. If your child's teacher brings something to your attention that s/he is concerned about, do something about it! We as teachers can only do so much for your kids. Love them, please!

I like excessive facial hair

2008-05-06T10:18:00.010-06:00

I've dated guys with facial hair. I always thought it was a little weird. For some reason though, I have formed quite the attachment to Eli's facial hair. I've never seen him with a naked face and I'm not quite sure that I would want to. Just yesterday, we decided to shave. The past 4 months has been kind of like being married to teen wolf. I got a little emotional when we took out the clippers. I might have even shed a tear. I'm not gonna lie though, I had fun! It was my first time shaving a beard! Not too bad, eh?

These are the before shots. I kind of like the dreadlocks look the best!

The "after" shots

What do you guys think?

“As long as there are tests, there will be prayer in schools”

2008-05-05T14:22:00.003-06:00

15 days left. I would dare say that the last month of school is the most difficult time of the school year. For teachers and students. It's difficult for me because there is so much that is expected to be done: grades, testing, last minute lessons, parties, dunk tanks, etc. For my students: testing, make-up assignments, behavior issues, summer anxiety, etc.

My poor students. Poor me. We started our end-of-year testing last week. We did the science test on the computers last week. This is always a stressful time for me. I walk around the classroom and secretly read my students' answers. Surprisingly, some of my students did well on the science portion. They were relaxed. I think they were because they are so comfortable with technology. It was like playing on the computer for them.

Today we started the Math and Language Arts portion of the test. This is the part we all remember; #2 lead pencils and rows upon rows of bubbles. They freaked out. And because they freaked out, I freaked out. I taught them how to do shoulder rolls and take deep breaths to relieve stress. I taught them yoga moves with their chairs. I sprayed SMART spray, which is just air freshner spray. That usually works wonders. It hasn't worked.

After I gave the ridiculously long directions and gave them permission to start, I saw a hand go up. Of course my students will remain anonymous, but I wasn't surprised. "Teacher, where is question 1?" "Teacher, where am I supposed to write the answers?" "Teacher, what are we doing?"

Bless their little hearts. As much as I would like to think that all students can do well, they can't. I try to get them to believe in themselves, but who am I joking? I love them and I can pray for them, but there is only so much I can do. Maybe you can pray for them too...

Honeymoon Uh-huh

2008-04-30T17:46:00.016-06:00

I feel like I need to catch the world up on our everything, so what comes after the wedding? Our honeymoon! We had such an amazing time! We had three choices: San Diego, cruise to Mexico, or Hawaii. We finally decided on a 7-day Mexican Riviera Cruise. It was a hard decision (because I love Hawaii), but we figured it was easier to go on the cruise where everything was paid for. Good choice!

The night of the wedding we stayed at the Hines Mansion Bed & Breakfast in Provo. I definitely recommend it to anyone and everyone! It was such a beautiful place. We stayed in the Kitty Hines room, which had a beatiful view. Awesome breakfast, awesome dinner. We'll stay again someday, but in a different room...maybe the penthouse.

On Saturday we drove down to Las Vegas. We stopped off at "Hooters" for our evening show. We saw Gerry McCambridge who calls himself "The Mentalist." Amazing. He doesn't claim to be psychic or anything; he just studied behaviorism and statistics and psychology in school. I'm not sure if I believe him though, because the thhings he did were unbelievable. It was a small intimate show and everyone in the audience participated. If you're ever in Vegas, you should see him. Get tickets here: Gerry - The Mentalist. And before you order them, call me and Eli because we'll totally go with you. We also stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel that night. Awesome!

On Sunday we drove down to Long Beach and hopped on our Carnival Cruise ship the "Pride." It was immaculate. If you've never been on a cruise ship, go. It's amazing how not-on-a-ship it feels. It was beautiful. The cruise ship itself was fun. We had a nice room with an "obstucted view" (we thought it was going to be a post; it was a lifeboat), the buffets and endless ice cream was awesome, and our waiter Whiskey from Thailand was too much fun. The nice thing about Whiskey was he brought us what we ordered, but also brought us some "unique" dish to try. Unfortunately, I didn't handle the first few days meals very well, so I had a baked potato. Great desserts too!

This is Whiskey

This is our "obstructed" view

We really had all our fun on the shore excursions. Our first stop was in Puerto Vallarta. For $30 we got a 7-hour guided whale/dolphin tour. Dolphins are my favorite, so seeing the animals so close was awesome! We had a good lunch, went snorkeling, stopped off at a private beach and explored the tide pools. Then we had a huge party on the boat ride home.

Our second stop was Mazatlan and we chose to just be tourists and wander the city. We decided to go with another couple we had met on the cruise. When the ship dropped us off we were bombarded by people trying to sell us stuff. One guy stopped us. He offered us a free taxi, food, and private beach with boogie boards if we spent an hour looking at his hotel. We figured the free taxi would be worth it, so we went. It turned out to be a Trendwest-type of timeshare. Eli and I said no right off the bat. The manager asked us to leave because our "negative" attitude might sway our friends. Ha! He kicked us out. We did get to go to the private beach after, but the boogie boards weren't free. After those shaninigans we headed to the city and bargain shopped the rest of the evening. If bargaining was a sport Eli would totally be gold medalist. Looking white and being fluent in spanish totally catches most vendors off guard. Good times.

Our third stop was in Cabo San Lucas. Cabo was by far our favorite place. Again, we went on our excursion with our new cruise friends. Too much fun! We decided to do the B.O.B. (breathing observation bubble). The best way to describe the B.O.B. is as an underwater scooter. You take them to the bottom of the ocean floor and drive around. I'll post our video below. After our turn with the B.O.B.s we went snorkeling, ate lunch, and spent time on the beach. We'll go back any day. It was just amazing.

Check out this video: Bob and Friends

Needless to say, after our honeymoon we were content. We had an awesome time, made some great memories, and had quite the adventure. It was so cool to just chill, relax, and feel so removed from the world. No worries at all. The ocean is such a mysterious place. Eli and I would love to study oceanography one day. There is just so much we don't know. We'd definitely recommend a cruise to anyone if you haven't gone, and if you need travel companions...give us a call!