2009... is it really over already?!

2009.......
1st year of teaching - DONE!, surviving the surplusing of teaching jobs, reconnecting with my long lost cousin, getting my first... and second tattoos, rescuing a friend from the wilderness after he tried to chop of his fingers (accidentally, but almost succeeding), experiencing Yellowstone with a sprained/probably broken ankle, camping, playing photographer for my cousins wedding, starting year #2 of teaching, teaching Italian, turning 30 (Seriously?! am I really that old?!) spending as much time as possible with friends and family that I love......PRICELESS!!!

2010........ Bring it on! :)

Something to think about...

So, I was reading some random blogs the other day as I sat in bed too sick to do anything else and I came across this one. I really liked what it had to say. I mean really, what is so bad about wishing people Happy Holidays? Why is it so necessary to boycott stores or programs because they tell their employees to wish people Happy Holidays instead of Marry Christmas?

Does God find the phrase "Happy Holidays" offensive?

If you haven’t started receiving them yet, prepare for your inbox to be inundated with emails about the “war” on Christmas. Thanks to Glenn Beck, Bill O’Reilly, Fox News, and my super religious aunts, I have to delete all those emails about boycotting Wal-mart, since they have told their associates to say Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas. Do we have to do this every year? People have tried to argue that we should remember the “reason for the season” and not try to acknowledge other holidays that are during the same time period. Let’s look at why Christmas should be the focus of the holiday season.

First of all, Thanksgiving, which kicks off the holiday season, is about acknowledging Providence in generating that year’s harvest. It is also a time of family and community as we share a meal together and thank God for our blessings. So we shouldn’t say happy holidays because this doesn’t contribute to the message of Christmas.

Next we will be celebrating the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, the festival of lights, as it is also known, is to celebrate the Maccabean revolt. Most people haven’t heard the word Maccabeas, but it could have been a book in the Bible, it was left out and is now part of the Apocrypha. Enough of the history lesson, we wouldn’t want to recognize a holiday that celebrates lighting the way for other people and overcoming oppression from others.

Another holiday that I’m quite positive we wouldn’t want to include would be Kwanzaa, to celebrate one’s history, recognize where they have come from (Don’t we get a pedigree of Christ in the first book of the Bible?), to celebrate with lighting candles (Hanukkah) and giving gifts (Christmas & Hanukkah) that just might be too much for God, who Christians see as the ultimate gift giver. So obviously God doesn’t want to have us acknowledging and celebrating a holiday like this.

As the end of the holidays comes around we will be celebrating a new year and a time for personal reflection, we obviously don’t want to include this holiday in our happy holiday greetings. This is a time to look at rebirth (similar to baptism) and setting goals for the upcoming year (enduring to the end); this would be quite offensive to God, because really the only thing we should think about is the holiday that we call Christmas.

So let’s look at the gift giving holiday that we all know and love, Three Kings Day. What? You mean there is a day special for celebrating the wise men that came to Christ and brought gifts of gold, frankincense, and muir? That’s right, it may be part of every nativity scene, but we don’t want to recognize their contribution on any day but December 25th?

Then on to December 25th, Happy Yule Day, oops I mean Happy Horus Day, oh no I got it, Merry Christmas. I know we don’t celebrate Yule Day, because if we did we would have to cut down evergreens and take them into our homes. Horus Day, what was I thinking? Horus was seen as an enlightened Savior God, whose symbol is the all-seeing eye. Obviously that has nothing to do with Christmas. So yes, Happy Holidays is quite offensive to God, because the holidays that share the same season with Christmas do not share similar values as Christmas.

(pssst...Happy Holidays)

an annonymous blogger at byuagnostic.blogspot.com

Time flies when you're having fun!

I can't believe it is midterms already! This first quarter is flying by. So far it has been a great year. My classes are unbelievably HUGE which makes it interesting sometimes- but, all my students are great. I have students participating in class and working hard that last year, would have never been caught dead doing that. I love it! Now if only I could get all my lesson planning done!

I have mastered the art of waiting till the last moment possible... And I'm thinking it might be a good idea to attempt to master the art of getting things done ahead of time... so what do I do on my Sunday afternoon?!?!?
Yup, just about anything to procrastinate.... but I am bound and determined to get SOMETHING done today!

Oops I forgot!

I can't believe I forgot to post pics from our family trip to Yellowstone back in July... ya, 2 months ago... I'm seriously slacking on this whole blogging thing... but better late than never, right?!?! It was a really fun trip- aside from the sprained ankle... It was a lot of fun seeing how excited Kaden and Kyson were to see the animals (the few that we did see). So, here are a few pics from the trip.

Kaden and I at Yellowstone Canyon

Kyson wasn't too fond of the bear statue...

One of the Grizzley bears at the Grizzley Discovery Center in West Yellowstone

Tyler and his adorable family at Old FaithfulOld Faithful
Yellowstone Canyon
Me at Yellowstone Canyon
View from our river trip
Ky is ready to go!
Looks can be deceiving! I love the brightness of the blue color!
Ky having fun walking around at the springs where we fed the fish
Kaden and Derek at the thermal pots
What do you do when you get stuck in construction traffic in Yellowstone? Have lunch of course!
Kaden got fishing lessons from Aunt Marjean

Kaden and Grama... after he fell in the river
And a few more cool shots from the thermal pools

Let the party begin!

Another school year has already begun. Summer came and went so much faster than it should have!!! There are already so many changes this year from last year. For starters, I actually have my own classroom that I get to teach in ALL day long-- no more moving from room to room and sharing "my" room.. It is so nice! Not only that but I actually have 2 prep periods instead of one. So I have a prep every day instead of every other day. I am loving it because I am able to get so much done. I haven't had to stay until 6pm yet! I know that day will come but I'm going to enjoy not staying too late while I can!!!! So far my classes are great. Very large, but great. I only have one that I think may give me issues... and it's in the morning... so much better than before!!! LOL!!! I am going to attempt to enter back into the blogging habit but with this crazy life... who knows how things will go!

Time for an update?!

Guess it has been a while since I have posted anything here... life has been crazy- school is finally out and I have survived my first year of teaching!!! WAHOO!!! I also survived the surplussing at my school- so yes, I still have a job next year! I will be teaching Geography, US History and Italian. I get to start an actual Italian program at my school which I am totally excited about. It is going to be a lot of work over the summer but it will be well worth it (I hope!). I still have another 2 weeks until I can really start my summer break- I have been taking a few classes for my ESL (English as a second language) endorsement. Thank goodness they only last 2 weeks cuz I don't think I could last much longer than that!

Even though I have been taking classes I have found time to get out and have some fun- hanging out with friends- Karaoke night, dancing, the Air Show at HAFB, and Pride. Rather than update everything, I'll just post a few pics!

Maria and I

:) Saif and I :)

Kaden and I at the air show

My favorite pic from the air show- like father like son! Lovable goofballs!!

Love the face Mony!!! :)

Photo Story Friday

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity of taking my cousin's bridal and wedding pictures. It was the first wedding I ever really got to play photographer. I had a blast and I'm so excited about how the photos turned out!

We ventured up to Memorial Park for a fun outing of bridal pics. We spent a few hours and had a blast! A few weeks later, the couple got married in Ogden. It was pouring rain which made for an interesting experience but at the same time, it was a lot of fun! And I'm pretty happy with the outcome!

Burn Out and Surplussing

Only 28 days left of school... not that I'm counting or anything.... I can totally tell it is the end of the year- spring is in the air, my students ALWAYS want to have class outside, and we are all more than ready for a nice long break- also known as summer break!!

The past few months have been pretty stressful with the economy taking a dive and everyone- including teachers- being totally stressed about having and keeping jobs. My school had to surplus 5 teachers because of boundary changes and being a first year teacher, I have been on edge not knowing if I would have a job next year. Friday morning I was in the office meeting with a parent and when I was done my principal pulled me aside and told me that "as of right now she has a schedule for me" for next year!! I was so excited. She told me I would probably have to "stretch" what that means exactly, I don't know. I'm guessing that either I will be teaching 7 class periods instead of the normal 6 (which would be nothing new to me, I've been doing that all year) or I will be teaching 5 different subjects (again, this would be nothing new to me- hell, I can make up a new curriculum in 1 day!) In either case, I am excited to stay at my school. It has been a crazy year but I have loved it!

Hypathetically speaking, of course

Imagine you are a 1st year teacher and you have just started the 4th quarter, today actually.... Part of your course load includes a 7th grade exploratory class that changes every term- so you teach the same thing every term just to different students... Oh, and you teach at a school that is on an A- B block schedule (meaning 4 classes one day, 4 other classes the next) You check your email as you are getting ready to start your 2nd period class and see an email from the 7th grade counselor and it's about your 7th grade exploratory class that you will meet for the first time tomorrow. You read the email (duh! Isn't that what you do with email?!) And you find out that your class is not rotating. You will have the same students for another term. AND they want you to teach something completely different.... giving you only ONE day notice. What in the HELL do you do?!?!?!? You have to have a lesson ready not only for tomorrow but for the rest of the term- not to mention the lessons for the other 3 curriculum's (or is it curriculi?!) you are teaching at the same time?!?!?!?!?!?

Ok, so this isn't really a hypothetical situation. It really happened to me today. I was so stressed out about it that I gave into the temptation and had a Dr. Pepper... (Damn Lent! That's what I get for trying to go without Dr. Pepper my first year of teaching... ) I was ready to scream I was so frustrated with having ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA what to do for this class... But it came to me as I was getting ready to start my last class... Teach them maps- I know, sounds corny but you would be surprised how many kids these days don't know where Wyoming is or even the Great Salt Lake! I figure this will better prepare them for when I have them for Geography in 9th grade. Hopefully it works!!

And since we are on the topic of school/work, I can't believe the 4th quarter has already begun. This year has gone amazingly fast- sometimes it felt like it would never end but now that they end is so near it seems so surreal that I am so close to a summer break! Not that I am excited or anything.... Ok, I admit it, I think I am more excited than my students. It has been a good 4 years at least since I have had any kind of a break- I can't wait!

Inked!

One thing that I have always wanted to do was get a tattoo.. I remember back in high school thinking of all the different tattoos I could get and have always admired the artistry and personal meaning that many tattoos have. I always knew I would get one... I even remember having conversations with my Grampa about them. He always told me not to get them saying I would regret my decision. But my thought has always been- if I have wanted one for over 10 years, and still want one, I should just do it. I took my time getting it mostly because I knew it had to be something VERY personal that I would mean something to me for the rest of my life. I had no desire for a random design picked out of a book. I wanted something personal- something that was mine and only mine! I started thinking seriously about getting one about 2 years ago. Had a basic idea of what I wanted 1 year ago and after a year of adjusting and redesigning, looking for a good tattoo shop and artist, I finally did it!!! Today I went in with the intention of putting down a deposit and making an appointment. But after I got there and spoke with a few people, I knew I had to just do it. The suspense of waiting would KILL me! So, I showed the artist my idea and he took it back and drew up a sketch and we got started. It wasn't as bad as I was expecting- don't get me wrong, it hurt- at times it felt like someone was just taking a razor blade to my foot... but I was so focused on not moving that it didn't bother me much. It was kinda fun to tell the truth. It was really cool watching him work his magic on my foot!

The sketch of what I wanted. I went in with the quote and the font I wanted and told him I wanted a few "frilly thingies" (I don't know what they are called- but he knew what I was talking about!)
Here he is hard at work!
And finally.....
The finished product
The quote says: Non molare mai, credi in cio che fai. It is a quote I found written on the side of a bus stop when I was living in Torino. It means to never complain (or give up) and believe in what you do.

Playing photographer

This weekend I got to play photographer and had a BLAST!!!! My cousin asked me to take her bridal pictures- I was very surprised because I have never done bridal pictures before. But I do have to say, it was so much fun. She came down to Salt Lake and we went to Memory Grove Park which is up in the Avenues. I just love this park. It is the perfect place for pictures. So many fun things to play around with- a bridge, trees, a stream, a pond, buildings with columns- you name it. About an hour and a half and probably 250 shots later, we were done. When I got home I immediately took the memory card out of the camera and downloaded all the pictures. I was a little nervous but when I started looking at them I was pretty excited. They turned out so well! I'm excited for her to see them. Hope they are what she wanted! She asked me to take pictures for her wedding- which I would love to do.. but they are getting married on a Tuesday... so I guess we will see if I can get a day off work.
This is one of my favorite shots.

Hello again!

Things have been pretty crazy lately so I haven't had much time or much want for blogging. Tonight I am sitting at job #2- the hospital- and have a bit of downtime and taking a break from lesson planning so I thought I would at least give a little update on a few things....

Teaching is still going well. I have survived yet another round of parent teacher conferences. It is always interesting seeing my students and their parents... it answers a LOT of questions! I do have to admit I am glad that I don't have to think about them for another year! YAY! And there are only 2 weeks left this term- it is really flying by. It is kinda fun now that I am getting the swing of things I have actually been leaving work on time the last few days. It is actually very strange. I'm so used to staying so late coaching one thing after another or just working on lesson plans or grades... It is nice though!

Other than work not a whole lot is going on. During the week I work and attempt to get all the other stuff that I need to done so I can play on the weekends... Sometimes it works better than others. Weekends the last few months I have spent hanging out with family and friends in Layton. Good times!

I have decided that I do need to get out and take more pictures. I have kinda left that hobby by the roadside when I started teaching... so I guess we will see how it goes!

Anywho, I'm sure that was long and boring but I hope you all are doing well and hopefully one of these days I will have something a little more exciting to report!

An Ode to Dr. Pepper

HAPPY FAT TUESDAY!!!
As you all know, I am a self proclaimed Dr. Pepper addict. I LOVE Dr. Pepper! I live on Dr. Pepper. Having said that, I have decided to try and do Lent this year and go without Dr. Pepper... I'm not sure how well it's going to work... I don't think I have ever gone 40 days without it! So, cross your fingers I succeed!

Photo Tag

This is fun- no cheating! I was tagged by Darci Kent.
Here are the official rules:
1. Go to my documents/pictures.
2. Go to my 6th file folder.
3. Go to my 6th picture.
4. Blog about it.
5. Tag 6 people to do the same.



You know I'm not cheating cuz I HATE this picture! It was taken in December just after I had just cut bangs and had to take a few pics... nothing really exciting about it... still trying to decide whether to keep the bangs or let them grow. Guess I better decide by Saturday since I'm getting my hair done then!

I tag: Shannon, Kaija, Anabel, Nicole, Debbie, Marly

My first real coaching gig

I have been helping out with the girls basketball team for about a week now and our first game. I was a little scared to tell the truth- it has been years since i have played or even really watched basketball. I have been amazed at how quickly it's all coming back to me! And the most exciting part is that we won. Not too shabby for a first time coaching gig! :)

Other than work, and basketball, nothing much is going on in my neck of the woods. I think I'm going to have to work on that!!!

A Glutton for Punishment

I have decided that I am either a glutton for punishment or I just really don't know how to say the word NO. My days of leaving work on time won't be happening as frequently as they have for the past week... When I found out that the girls basketball team was in desperate help I couldn't help but volunteer. Don't worry, I'm not the coach, though the extra money would have been nice... I am helping with the JV team at practices and games when I can. Yes, that means I'm doing it all for free, and Yes, I will be staying at work late most nights of the week again. It isn't a bad thing really.. considering I don't really have much of a life during the week anyway.. :)

Ah, the sweet smell of freedom!

Yesterday was the district wrestling tournament. Which means, I can have my life back! It has been an interesting 4 months since I volunteered myself for the job of wrestling adviser. I don't remember the last time I left work before dark, I don't know that I remember what weekends are, I've spent my afternoons with sweaty stinky teenage boys, I feel like I have neglected the creative side of teaching because wrestling has taken up so much of my time. I'm excited to be able to go home before 6, sleep in past 5am on Saturdays, actually go out on Friday nights and finish the rest of my 1st year with a bang.

PSF: Runnin' Utes

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

There has never been a better time to be a UTE! The Utes kicked some Alabama ASS at the Sugar Bowl. And we all know that we should be #1... but I guess this year we will have to settle for #2 since the BCS are all a bunch of sissy boys just picking favorites.... (ok, I'll get off that soap box... )

Friday there was a parade and rally held in honor of the Runnin' Utes football team in downtown Salt Lake City. It was a lot of fun to be able to go and support my alma mater! Go UTES!!!! These are just a few of the shots I was able to get as Debbie and I were front and center for the rally! So much fun!!!!

Coach Whittingham addressing the crowd

The team

Jim Matheson showing some UTAH pride!

Brian Johnson... Great QB and not too bad to look at either!

Our mascot: Swoop

Yes, that's right... THE ONLY team that went undefeated the entire season.