What an Honor!

In my most recent dream...

I received an official certificate to notify me that my friend Irene had nicknamed her minivan in my honor.  Her family was heading off on a trip to visit me and they visited the website: 

nicknamyouraminivan.com 

So, now her van is called Bethany.  How thoughtful of her and her family.  

I don't actually think that she drives a van in real life.  Also, I checked and that url isn't taken yet, so you may want to jump on this great opportunity! 

These eyes are moving rapidly again

My body apparently didn't get the memo that it's Fall Break right now.  It kept trying to wake me up this morning and I kept resisting.  The only plus to all of this is that I had a dream! I used to have good dreams all the time, but that has not been the case lately and my dream blog has been suffering because of it.

Alright, here is what happened.  I was living in a house that we were renting  from the synchronized swimmer aunts in the show "Pushing Daisies."  One of their nieces was a friend and another niece was living in the house with me.  I had done something small to upset the niece who was a friend and she said that her aunts were probably going to kick me out of the house because of it.

These are the aunts:

I had to drive to some special event where there wasn't much parking.  To take care of this, they had us all park in a different lot and then shuttled us up a hill in little golf carts.  When I got to the top, I walked into the building and I was in Costco.  I was there to meet a girl who I was selling something to.  The only problem was that I couldn't remember what I was selling and the price we had agreed on since I was selling so many products online.  She gave me about $400 in cash.  I started holding them up to the light to check it they were real.  It was legit money and I was totally mesmerized by the images that appeared in the light.  They were so fancy.  I wanted to give major kudos to whoever had designed them.

I kept running into people I knew at Costco (weird , huh?).  It was funny because the girl who just gave me all this fancy money knew all my friends.  Her husband was done with his shopping and came to join her.  I started  to panic a bit because I now had hundreds of dollars and nothing to give her back in return.  I lost track of the lady and her husband, but figured they wouldn't leave without receiving their purchase.  I ran out to the parking lot to find my car and remembered that it was down in the other lot that I needed to get shuttled back to.

That was about the end of that.  Next, I was back in my house.  It was a really nice, cabin-looking house.  One roommate came home and announced, "My aunts are going to kick you out, you know?"  Yes, I know.  Now, I felt all crummy again.  My friend Sarah was living there and she noticed my glum mood.  To get my mind on other things, she started video taping me.  She was asking me questions about love. "Which part of a woman's body falls in love with a man first?"  I was trying to come up with an answer and then we were watching an old video of all of us working in our backyard garden.  It was a very uplifting video and a great way to end my dream.

(Tim will be so happy to find out that my dream ended with gardening.  He's a little passionate about it right now).

A New Trend in Rings?

A former student gave me this ring the other day as a gift.

When a current student saw it, he exclaimed,

"You got married?"

I'm not sure which was more amusing: 

his comment 

or

the girls trying to explain to him what a wedding ring looks like. 

A History, a Courtship, and a Proposal!

This is a long story. Brace yourselves. It starts way back in the 90s.  That's not a joke.  It really was that long ago.  I had been taking piano lessons from the marvelous Pauline for a few years at that point.  Soon, three siblings started taking lessons from her as well.  Their mom would drop them off as I was waiting for my own mom to pick me up.  Or vice versa.  That doesn't really matter. We'd also see each other at recitals.  Being about 10 at the time, all I really thought about their son was, "He's really good at the piano."

I passed through the awkward years of junior high and continued to take lessons.  I started high school and  discovered that two of my piano acquaintances attended Gilbert High as well.  At this point, all I really thought about said son was, "He's pretty funny."  He was actually there for my first date.  Of course, he was with another girl with curly hair and I was with another short guy.  I laughed so hard when I found this picture.

I graduated and headed off to BYU.  When I was feeling extra ritzy, I would splurge on a Hot and Ready pizza from Little Caesar's with my roomies.  That's when I discovered that the piano boy was employed at said establishment (How many times do you think I can use the word "said" in this post?). I'm not really sure what I thought about him then.  Once I started student teaching, my mentor teacher would sometimes mention her cousin.  We somehow figured out that her cousin Tim was the same Tim who had wowed me as he played 'The Entertainer' at one of our recitals.  She told me some pretty interesting stories about him before realizing that I knew him, so it was then that I thought he might be a little strange.

Fast forward six years.  This is when I moved from one house to another house, a mere seven miles away.  This move put me into the boundaries of new young single adult ward.  The same ward that Tim attended.  We occasionally hung out with the same people and had a good time.  Tim nonchalantly mentioned that he didn't have my phone number, so I gave it to him.  I later started receiving text messages from a phone number I didn't recognize.  The phone's owner initially claimed that his name was Raul, and we had met at The Running of the Bulls in Pamplona.  This is when I started to realize how much "Raul" likes to make up totally bogus stories.

In November of 2012, Tim called to ask me on our first date.  Due to crazy schedules, we ended up going on a breakfast date to IHOP.  I had a nice time.  I didn't really feel like I was on a date.  It just felt like I was hanging out with one of my good friends.

A week later, we went on double date that Tim had set up with his friend Jordan. The four of us cooked dinner together.  Well, the chicken wasn't technically "cooked," but that's alright.  Nobody got sick.  While watching a movie, the other couple got all cuddly on their couch.  I stayed as far away from Tim as possible.  It probably didn't help that there was a fling going on in the movie between a short man and a tall woman.

It took my some time to feel comfortable with the idea of me possibly dating someone who was shorter than me.  After all, I'd spent most of my life telling people that all I look for in a man is that he's TALL.  I was finally at peace with my height and ready to go out again with Tim, but he didn't ask me.  I realized that he might need some encouragement, so I made him a Christmas gift.  He left town to spend Christmas in Utah and I felt like he was never coming back.  He did finally return and asked me out, a month and a half after our previous date.  It was during that date that I realized I really liked his guy.  A lot.  When he dropped me off, he said we'd do something again "really soon."  (I have since banned Tim from using the word "soon." He has to give me more precise time frames).

This is getting to be so long.  I'm sorry.  It's fun for me to tell all this, though.  In January of 2013, Tim and I started "officially" dating.  We've been together almost every day since then. And every day, I've grown to love him more and more.  This is the mushy part (as if you couldn't tell that already).  He's beyond wonderful.  I can't imagine my life without him in it.

A few weeks ago, we were in the vicinity of our piano teacher's neighborhood and Tim asked if I wanted to drive by her house.  When we pulled up, I thought, "This would be a great place to propose."  But he didn't.  We left her house and then he suggested a walk through the neighborhood park.  As we were walking along, we came upon a lake with some guys fishing and drinking.  Further ahead, there was a bridge lined with luminaries.  I was trying to figure out if the romantic lighting was for me or if it was a coincidence.  When I saw the gorgeous bouquet placed on the middle of the bridge, I started piecing things together very slowly.

Tim has a record of taking his time with everything, so I wasn't expecting what was about to come.  Next thing I knew, he was saying super sweet things and then getting down on one knee.  As soon as I saw him start to kneel, all I could think was, "Hurry up and ask me so I can say YES!" He did ask me. And I did say yes.

That's our story.  Well, the beginning of it, I guess.  Thanks for reading.

P.S. We're getting married at the end of December.  I can't wait!

Summer Super Post

Are you ready for this? 

I'm about to catch you up on my whole summer in one super-sized post.

Here is how I spent more of my summer vacation out of town (and the heat) 

than in it.

My first excursion was a road trip to San Diego with Tim.  

He got to visit his cousin and I got to visit my best friend. Win-win. 

I only thought to take pictures at the zoo, but we did plenty of other fun things while we were there. I promise.

I was very sad to leave the nice weather, so I went back to California 2 weeks later. 

This time I was in Oceanside with my mom, sis, and nephew for our annual girls trip (girls+cute baby).

See, I told you he's cute.

(and no, I'm not trying to punch him)

 Plus, some cute little Buswell girls came to visit us for a bit.

And of course, we had to take the annual jumping in the air shots.

I'm still working on jumping with my mouth closed, but it seems to be a hopeless endeavor at this point.

After being back home for about 4 days, I left again to go to Utah.

The crowning moment of the entire trip was when I won the 

Annual Cox Family Rock, Paper, Scissors Championship.

I'm kind of a big deal now. 

After 2 weeks in Utah, I went home for a week.

Then, I went camping!!

I totally dominated in Peanuts/Nertz and then Tim creamed us in everything else.

Lesson to learn: Don't mess with us.

Do not be fooled by this picture.

I let a lot of clay pigeons live this day.

The whole gang.

I sure love them.

(and Ray & Diane's trailer potty)

Now that I've been home about 5 days, I have one last little Relief Society cabin retreat to attend and then it's back to work for me.

Man, I love summer. 

"I Hate Goodbyes"- Lloyd Christmas

It's funny how the last day of school varies so much from year to year.  I'm always planning the same activities and dealing with the same age group, but it never ends the same.  One year they'll be jumping around and talking about how they're going to t.p. the school.  The next year, they'll be sobbing their eyes out ALL DAY LONG. This year, there was none of that.  It was just like a typical day.  They cleaned up what they were working on and got in a line just like we always do.  They were even a little confused when I tried to hug them instead of giving them our traditional end-of-the-day high five. 

So, I didn't get emotional at all...

...until I got home and read the very last card in a stack of notes the wonderful Mrs. P had the class write for me. 

Why is it that the students who "keep you on your toes" the most are the ones that it's hardest to let go? I've got to give this kid props for keeping me on top of my classroom management strategies all year long.  Also, I love that he started to write "I don't want to leave," but couldn't figure out the proper spelling for "leave", so he changed it to "go."  

Here are a few other notes that I enjoyed:

"She's kind of like Miss frizzle but awesomer than Miss frizzle."

"Miss Jones is always doing silly hands or jazz hands."

"Miss Jones is a nice teacher because she just is!"

"Make sure you go on a date with your french modle."

"You will be missed."

(sounds like I died or something)

It's been a great year.

But, boy am I enjoying every minute of summer vacation already.

I really needed a break from those jazz hands I was apparently doing all the time.

3.5 Days

That's right, folks. Only three and a half more days of school.  I'm possibly a little bit excited about this fact.

If you really want to know what teachers are thinking during the last week of school, though, you should ask their students.  That's what I did.  Check out their captions below:

My favorite: "I'm gonna go and look all teachery at the beach!!!"

I want to know why I'm the only one with freaky hands.

This kid was probably thinking, 

"I don't have time to draw actual bodies, but they'll definitely all need to be wearing boots."

Mrs. Carpenter and I are burglars in the summer?

Not your average Sunday experience

I took a nap before church today (we don't meet until 2:00).  I'm hoping that our actual Sacrament Meeting service turns out nothing like my dream.

Before church began, word was spreading that something was going to be different today.  As one of our leaders began the meeting, we were all asked to turn around and face the stage behind us.  I had a nervous feeling about this and as I turned, my feeling was confirmed.

A large screen had been pulled down and some inappropriate images popped up on it that were part of some music video.  Then Dustin* and his buddies started dancing for everyone.  I quickly turned my attention back to the bishopric to see how they were going to handle the situation at hand.  It was more than apparent on their faces that they were uncomfortable, but they didn't know what to do. They had sort of given the ok for this without realizing what they were agreeing to.  While they were debating, I went into the hallway and talked with some of my friends.

I know that several churches have dancing and singing incorporated into their worship services.   Just to clear things up for you, this was nothing like that.  

Once the dancing ended, I re-entered the chapel for our real Sacrament services.  As I went back to my seat, I saw that Dustin and his girlfriend had sat down right next to me.  Actually, they sat one apart from each other, so that I was in the middle of them. She asked me if I was mad at him.  "No, I am not mad.  I just don't think that this was the time/right place for that. Do you want to switch seats with me so that you can sit next to Dustin?"  We switched seats and that was that.





*Name has been changed

Feeling Loved

I have a student.  I'll call her Hannah.  She loves to give me things. I think that I've gotten something from her just about every day this year.  I have a strong feeling that her language of love is "Receiving Gifts."

Today, she gave me three gifts:

Her "guitar" from our instrument project 

A dolphin clapper 

A heart bracelet

As hard as she tried, I am sorry to say that she didn't win for the best gift-giver today.

That award belongs to the student who wrapped her gift in a paper towel.

 What could be inside?

Chips!!

I bet you didn't see that coming. 

Neither did I.
I should have, though.
This is the same student who gave me a mint.
Gotta love it!

A Common Thread

Can you guess what all these things have in common with each other?

Squishy things

 Stuffed animals

 Balls

Jewelry

 Pencils and Pens

Bottled items (nasal spray, body spray, nail polish)

Misc. Items (Duct tape wallet, Tic Tacs, fuzzy hair tie)

If you guessed...

a) things I confiscated from my students this year*

b) things that should not be played with during a lesson

or

c) things that have been causing my desk drawer to overflow

...then you would be correct!!

*I've actually taken more items than those pictured (if you can believe that).

Students can have their items back if their parents send in a note.

These are just the ones that they are willing to wait for until the end of the year. 

I am...

My cute, little students amaze me every day.  Since we started our poetry unit, they've been amazing me even more than usual .  I just give them an outline and they produce something like this:

I am an author

I wonder what to write next

I hear the mouse clicking

I see my story on the screen

I want to make it better

I am an author

I feel the rectangular keyboard

I touch the keys

I worry my story won't be good enough

I cry when it dosen't sound right

I am an author

I understand that it won't be perfect

I say "I can do it!"

I dream of my books in "Barnes & Noble"

I am an author

This one almost made me cry:

I am a solder's wife

I wonder if he will come back

I hear gunshots from miles away

I see people getting shot

I want him to meet our new daughter

I am very sad

I feel like my daughter needs her daddy

I touch and pinch myself to make sure im not dreaming

I worry that he will die

I cry when I touch our wedding pictures

I am very emotional

I understand that he wants to fight for our country

I tell my daughter that daddy is on a long trip

I dream of all of us in one small family

I am a solder's wife

Amazing.

Especially when you consider these were written by nine-year-olds.

**Ding!** I Win!

ME!

That's right, folks. I was notified this morning by an email, a phone message, and an enthusiastic co-worker making faces through my classroom window that I won a $20 Walmart gift card! Apparently, they really wanted to make sure that I knew I am a winner.

It was so exciting! I tried to play it cool after seeing the email, but once I listened to the message on the phone, I couldn't help but interrupt the children who were working hard to share my news.

I get entered in a contest every month for carpooling to work. I'm already saving on gas and car miles, and now I get this extra perk. Yay for carpooling and carpool contests!

I hope that I will win again. It's totally possible, too. I have a pretty good track record of winning things:

-I won a Walmart gift card last year for just being a teacher
-In college, I won a gift card to the mall for paying my rent on time
-Also in college, I won several CDs at a BYU Young Ambassadors Performance
-At a piano recital, I won a piano book

See, I told you.  I'm a lucky girl.


P.S. If you missed the reference from my title (which is most likely everyone besides my siblings), then you need to watch this episode of Arthur.

One Year Older

For my birthday this year, I couldn't stop thinking about was how blessed I am.  

I was so happy to be able to spend my weekend with people that I love so very much.  

On Friday, I got to spend the day with my amazing students.

One of them rallied her family together to decorate my classroom door for me.

Plus, it didn't hurt that it was pajama/read-a-thon day

(One of the perks of sharing your b-day with Dr. Seuss).

On Saturday, I invited two of the most non-morning people I know to go to breakfast with me.

And they came!

To thank them, I introduced them to the awesome bathrooms at Liberty Market.

 Jen had a great time in the "kitchen" stall.

And I'm not sure what sort of experience Tim had in this one,

but I'm sure it was life-changing.

Plus, Lydia was in town!!

Her super cute daughter brought "my baby" all the way from CA to me.  

I apparently am not quite prepared to be a mother yet because I haven't

invested in a car seat for Baby Iris. 

I also enjoyed a scrumptious dinner at Joe's Farm Grill with a few friends.

That picture is on someone else's camera and I haven't pestered her for it yet.

Another highlight was receiving the most amazing poster ever:

Oh, JTT.

I don't think I need to say anything more.

On Sunday, I had an incredible evening with my incredible family.

Those pictures are on someone else's camera, too.

I'll just say that you haven't lived until you've made pizza on a barbeque grill. 

Basically, what I'm trying to say is that it was a wonderful weekend!

Thank you to all of you who made all my birthday wishes come true.

That reminds me, I forgot to make a wish before blowing out my candles.

I guess I didn't really need to make one.  :)

Bonjour!

A few weeks ago, the following conversation went down in my classroom during a spelling exercise:

Teacher (me): The word is eject.  My friend will eject his movie from the DVD player.
Student 1: Did you just say his movie?
Student 2: Is he your boyfriend?
Student 3: Did you find him on google?
Student 4: No, match.com
Student 3: Is he a french model? Bonjour!
Student 2: Bonjour!
All students, all day, everyday since then: Bonjour! Bonjour! Bonjour!

After sharing this story, I learned that this french model line is not so random.

This morning, my boyfriend showed up in my classroom. He greeted me by saying, "Bonjour!" He continued to speak in French and soon the kids were shouting, "It's the french model!"  It was so funny. He was so into the part. I was cracking up the whole time.  I don't think I said a single word before he left.  There was much debate among the children over whether or not he was actually a french model.  Of course, France came up randomly like 4 more times throughout the day and we all laughed some more. The laughter continued when I read the card he had left with me:

"Mademoiselle, Ma petit cherie! I shall never forget that day in Paris! Your face was even more beautiful than my own...All for you, ma crouton jolie, ma croissant avec fromage. (my pretty crouton, my croissant with cheese)
Au revoir,
Jean-Claude Valjean
Model, Actor

I seriously doubt that the actor in the State Farm commercial could pull off such poetic language.

Dear Mr. President,

I don't think anything will ever top the letter one of my past students wrote to "Rockbama" a few years ago, but I couldn't help sharing these questions that my current students came up.  I've merged a few of the best parts from three letters to create one awesome letter.

Dear Obama,
Can I ask you 10 quetions?  Yes but make it snappy. <-- idiom

1.Whats your favorite number?
2. Do you like to eat cheese?*
3. Whats your favorite cereal?
4. Why did your wife make school lunches smaller?
5. Do you like hot pink? (Ha, ha.)
6. Do you like all those boring monuments?
7. Do you like mecanacal pencils or regular pencils?
8. Are you from another country?
9. Do you like adoring fans?
10. Do you wear colone?



*Cheese is a topic that comes up EVERY single day with this class.  I don't know why.

I feel...

To protect those who have been the characters in my recent dreams, I will have to abstain from mentioning what's been going on while I've been sleeping.

To make up for it, I'll share a third grade story.

Every morning, our class sits in a circle to talk about things and get to know each other better.  The other day, the topic was "How are you feeling?"  Here are a few responses:

-I feel tired.

-I feel happy.

-I feel cold. 

-I feel bored.

-I feel excited.

And now for my favorite response...

-I feel like a diva.

Can't Think of a Title

This year's class definitely is going to take the prize for giving me the best gifts.  Remember this one? 

Today (in the middle of a lesson), a boy pulled something green out of his backpack and started bringing it up to me.  I tried to get him to sit down, but he was determined to deliver my "gift" right then.

And here it is:

A bunch of loose, plastic leaves and something that I'm assuming

used to look like holly berries.  

If only I could have seen inside his thoughts when he decided that he wanted to present me with such a gift. 

Goals

For this year:

1.Finish reading Thomas S. Monson's biography. I've been reading To the Rescue very s-l-o-w-l-y for a super long time.  I'm always reading it in addition to my other books, but only a few pages at a time.  It's time to finish.  I'm mostly sharing my goals so that I'll be more accountable for this particular one. 

2. Index more.

3. Put my clean laundry away within 24 hrs.

That's it for now.  I'm sure I'll add more on throughout the year. That's how I did things last year and it worked out really nicely for me.



Last year:

1. Write in my journal every week. Check.

2. Stop crossing my legs while sitting. Check.

3. Work on my family history. Check.

4. Stop using the snooze button. Fail.


Now for my list of resolutions not to make:

1. Anything involving exercise.

2. Anything involving alarm clocks.