My First Tag

This is the first time I have ever done one of these, but Rheanna tagged me specifically, so I guess I'll do it. Here it goes!

Ten Years Ago:
Let's see. I was 16 almost 17. I was just finishing my sophomore year in high school. I was working for my friend's parents at a custom framing gallery as well as cleaning their house a little. I just realized that exactly 10 years ago I was in Brazil with my dad and some of my sisters picking up my brother from his mission.

Five Years Ago:
I was living in Geneva, Switzerland (well, a suburb very close to Geneva, anyway) as an LDS missionary. This was one of my most favorite cities. By this time I was finally able to speak French fluently, though most of the time we were teaching in Spanish and Portuguese (with translators). Some of my favorite places to "faire du contacting" was right around Geneva Lake (especially at sundown when they turn on the lights around the lake) and in the parks (there were so many lovely parks, I can't name them all). Ah, I want to go back so bad!

Five Months Ago:
Chris had secretly made a quick trip up to Washington to check out the possibility of buying a bakery. It wasn't till later that we told our families that he went once the possibility became more of a reality. Chris somehow survived another crazy Christmas season while working a full-time job at the clinic, a part-time job at the bakery, and finishing up a semester of full-time classes. I was enjoying my Winter Break from teaching (we have to be so PC that you can't even say Christmas Break anymore!).

Five Things on my To-Do List:
1. Correct school work
2. Take the car to get the windshield fixed
3. Get the car safety inspected and registered
4. Organize my stuff for next week's move
5. Take a nap (yes, Rheanna, it really is on my list, and I think I'll do it after I'm done writing this!)

Five Snacks I Enjoy:
1. Slices of cheese
2. Skittles
3. Mini marshmallows
4. Ice cream
5. Anything else within sight: I snack on whatever even when I'm usually not hungry.

Five Bad Habits:
1. Not sitting down for meals--I just snack and munch on stuff and rarely have a real sit-down meal.
2. Keeping used tissues in my pockets or laying around the house.
3. Not liking showers. I take them, I just feel bothered and annoyed when I have to.
4. Doing random things on the internet when I should be doing other stuff (like right now. I should be grading papers!).
5. Eating too many skittles.


Five Places I've Lived:
1. Utah
2. Virginia
3. France
4. Switzerland
5. Luxembourg

Five Jobs I've Had:
1. Framing Gallery
2. Student Union manager
3. Grocery store cashier
4. French teacher
5. Bakery co-owner

Five Things People Don't Know About Me (except for maybe my family):
1. I've traveled to 44 states, 8 countries (unless you count changing planes in England and accidentally crossing the border into Germany), and 3 continents.
2. I am a shy person, but I have always hated it when people have described me as shy. I don't know why it bugs me when it's true.
3. I have gone skydiving.
4. I really want to learn Spanish.
5. I love public speaking.

Five People I Tag:
1. Melodie
2. Sarah
3. Andrea
4. Mary
5. Anna
(I chose #4 and 5 because I know they love talking about themselves! :)

Goals

I had an interesting conversation with one of my advisory students today. At the beginning of the year she was in my French class and was excited to learn because their family was planning a trip to Paris for the spring. Her 7th grade year she was always on the honor roll and kept up in all her classes, but 8th grade brought on some new challenges. She started hanging out with the wrong crowd (a group of druggie punk kids), started getting involved with boys, and neglected her schoolwork completely. She dropped my French class because it was too difficult, and her grades for all her classes went down the tube. She went from having a 3.5 GPA all last year to struggling to keep above a 1.0 GPA. Her mom is not happy, my student is often grounded, and the Paris trip was canceled.

Today we were talking about her grades. We came up with some goals for her to work towards for next year. She wants her grades to be back up to a 3.5 GPA, especially since 9th grade actually counts. She wants to be able to get into a good college. She wants to become a teacher one day so that she can help kids who are struggling like she is right now. One of her biggest reasons she wants to be a teacher is to show kids that learning can be fun. She says that none of her teachers act like they even like their jobs or their students. It really is true--the attitude the teacher has often rubs off on the students. I try to show my students how passionate I am about French. I smile, and laugh, and I try to have fun with them to teach them that learning is fun. I told this to my student I was talking with, and she said that she wished more teachers were like that.

As we were talking, the bell rang, she thanked me for talking with her. She told me that she really has appreciated me being her FROG teacher this year (that's what we call our advisory class: Fully Realizing Our Greatness). I believe that she can reach her goals for next year. I sincerely hope she does. I'll probably never know if she'll make it to college, but at least I have tried to point her in the right direction.

Transfers

When I got to school today, all the teachers were standing in a huddle talking in somber voices. At first I thought someone had died. Yesterday afternoon our principal was notified that she is getting transferred to another middle school within the district. For that alone we are all sad. She has been here for 18 years between teaching math and being an administrator. From the minute I met her at my first interview, I knew that she was someone who knew how to run a school. Her vision of teacher collaboration and alignment is brilliant, and her care and concern for the kids is so apparent. She is one tough cookie, but on a few occasions I have seen her breakdown and cry. She loves this school, and it's a hard thing for all of us to see her go.

The second reason everyone is so sad is because of her replacement. I don't know anything about her, but apparently her reputation is awful. I know so many teachers who are looking to transfer to a new school to avoid working under her. Though on the other hand, it must be hard for anyone coming in to replace our current principal just because she has been so great. I guess for me it doesn't really matter since I won't be teaching here next year; however, it's just like my hope for the new French teacher: I just want the absolute best for my kids.

Sam as a Baby Model

Most parents I know think their kids are the cutest thing to hit this planet and think they'd be great doing commercials, magazines, and whatnot. Although I agree that Sam is incredibly cute, he would make a terrible baby model. Over the weekend, I tried several times to get a cute picture of Sam holding a thank you sign that I was going to use for a card to thank all our wonderful GHB employees for taking good care of Chris while we were apart the last two months. Here are a few of our tries: Notice how he never smiles (he really is a very happy kid and laughs all the time--just not when the camera is out). And getting him to hold still and look at the camera was near impossible! Here we're getting a little closer to what I wanted for the card. And here is the one I ended up using. Anyway, I hope Chris doesn't read this before the card comes in the mail!

Thanks CFO Now!

Thanks to CFO Now, I was able to buy grocery items worth $24.48 for only $1.48 at Walmart and Target. Check it out for some savvy shopping tips!

Skeeter the Narcoleptic Poodle

Thanks to my cousin-in-law, I found this terribly funny and sad story about a poodle named Skeeter. Check it out.

The Last Days of School

Three weeks from tomorrow is the last day of school. Last spring I did my student-teaching over a 12-week period, and it felt like an eternity. I started teaching last August, and this year has passed like a dream! I can hardly believe it's almost over. I have fallen in love with my kids (most of them, anyway), and I'm actually pretty sad that I won't get to teach them next year. One of my classes found out that I won't be their teacher for French 2; they asked me straight up if I'd be back, and I'm an awful liar, so I just told them. They were all sad.

I got a nice note from one of my students written last Friday. It made my day! Here it is just as he wrote it, grammar mistakes and all.

May 9 08
Mrs. Taylor,

Hi! I'm writing you to let you know how cool you are. Your really good at french and always on top of grades. You can be serious and have fun. You may notice the heading is on the wrong side. but thats just so its different, like france. Well I think your awesome so I wrote you! Thank you for your help

There are days when I come home loving my job, and days when I come home thinking what did I get myself into?! These kids are crazy! When I get really frustrated with certain kids, I try to imagine what they were like when they were babies and toddlers, or how much their parents must love them. That helps. Sunday I was dreading coming back to school for another full week; Monday I came home feeling sad that I will most likely never see these cute kids ever again.

My school has already hired a new French teacher for next year. From what I've heard, she's an older woman who hasn't taught in a really long time. I've been told that she's nervous coming back, and will be a lot higher-maintenance for her mentor-teacher, the Spanish teacher, who will be there to help her throughout the year. I've also been told she won't be nearly as good as I've been (My cute mentor the Spanish teacher has told me several times throughout the year how amazed she is by my teaching. She says I have a natural confidence in the classroom, and that I perform way above and beyond what a typical first-year teacher can), but of all the people who applied for the job, she was the very best. I just hope that she takes good care of my kids so that they will want to continue studying French through high school. Even more than that, I hope she plays some role in helping these kids turn into good and productive adults.

Happy Graduation!

Last Friday I went to my sister-in-law's graduation from WSU, and next week my cousin-in-law will be graduating from UNT. It got me thinking back to my college graduation exactly one year ago to the day. So in honor of that, I wanted to share an excerpt from my journal written the evening after graduation as we began our roadtrip to Nauvoo.

"Happy graduation day! I am now officially a college graduate. This morning we went to my commencement ceremony which started 9am at the Hunstman Center. Chris, Sam, Mom, Dad, and Valerie came to support me (though Valerie had to leave early because of work). President Monson was the commencement speaker which was pretty cool. As we did the procession in, I walked right passed him. Walking into the Huntsman Center with all my fellow graduates, and then looking up at all the family and friends come to support us, I got a little emotional and had to fight back the tears a little. Chris has been amazing in supporting me in reaching my goal to graduate from college. I remember an evening I spent with Chris just a week or two before we were married. We had driven up to the Bountiful Temple, and we just sat in the car talking about our future together. He knew that I had promised my mission president that I would graduate from college, and he told me that he would support me in reaching that goal and that promise. At that time I had no idea how much he was willing to sacrifice for me. He put his schooling on hold for me for two years so that I could go to school full-time and he would work full-time. It definitely hasn't been easy for either of us. I took crazy amounts of classes even while I was pregnant, and Chris has begun to feel the monotony of going to work everyday--to a job that obviously wasn't a career where he felt like he was headed nowhere. On top of that, he has felt a little lost as he realized that becoming a doctor--his dream since 5th grade--was not the profession he really wanted. Yet through all of this, Chris has been my cheerleader and supporter. Every time I had an emotional breakdown when I felt my load was too great, he has always reminded me of my goal and helped me to gain a better perspective--I was doing this for myself and our little family. I want to be a good example for our kids. I want them to think, 'Wow, I've got a cool mom. She is a returned missionary and a college graduate! I want to be like her!' I also wanted to be prepared to help our family if ever my skills and qualifications were needed to support our family financially. After so much hard work, I did it! I am a college graduate. This morning Mom and Dad gave me a graduation present: The Little Engine that Could. They left a little note that made me cry. I have so many wonderful people in my life!"

Wanted: Cute Black Dress

I am looking for a black dress that would look good if I added some sort of sash around the waist. This is for a bride's maid dress that I need before August 15th. If anyone in your shopping endeavors comes across something that might work, let me know.

It Does Exist!

On my way to work this morning I saw for the first time in my a life a license plate from North Dakota. Now if my sister can verify that it's true, then I maybe I'll truly believe.

First Day of FrontRunner

How much is too much?

On the flight home after our little weekend trip, I sat next to a man and a woman. Sam was asleep on my lap for the entire flight, so I couldn't do much of anything except listen (or easedrop) to the people next to me. The guy was probably in his early to mid thirties, and the girl--a very skinny blond--must have been around the same age (however I initially thought she was 20 or younger--maybe this guy's little sister? Boy, was I wrong!). They were both LDS. It sounded like they had just met for the first time going through airport security. He sat was on the aisle seat, I was on the window seat, and the girl had already found a seat in the back of the plane. He asked if the middle seat was taken, and I had to say no since Sam didn't technically have a plane ticket, though it would have been nice to have not been so cramped. So he called back to the girl to sit by him.

Here's where it gets weird. They start talking, then pulls out his i-phone and shows off all his fancy toys, cars, and house. I hate guys who feel like they have to show off their money! For much of the flight, he goes through his 800+ pictures he has taken including his entire extended family and all the girls he has dated. He basically tells his whole life story: why he is still a bachelor, his life's goals, and overcoming his addiction with pornography.

Then the girl gets started. I found out that she couldn't have been 20 or younger because she is the mother of five children. Her husband hasn't been showing much interest in the church which has caused a lot of marital problems. She is debating whether or not to divorce him. She has even made a pro/con list of both options. This guy seemed very interested in her situation. It sounded like he wanted her to leave her husband. He got her number, took her picture in his i-phone, and asked if it would be too weird if he invited her to a singles dinner party at his house. Umm, can I say weird and inappropriate?! They didn't even know each other, and they were discussing some very intimate and personal things! She's still a married woman! I don't know, I think it's all a bit strange. At least it kept my mind away from missing Chris already.

Happy birthday to me!

Okay, I know my birthday isn't until June, but I did receive the best early birthday present from Mom and Dad. Saying goodbye to Chris when he flew up to Washington 10 weeks before Sam and I was such a sad thing! I was complete a mess! Honestly, how do people in the military do it? A few days later, Mom and Dad offered to fly Sam and I up to see Chris for a weekend thanks to a good deal Southwest had going. Merci mille fois!

So we left last Friday evening. Sam was a great little traveler--even better than his last plan ride earlier this year to Texas. It was great to see Chris again. Even though it had only been a few weeks, it had felt like a lot longer. I loved meeting most of our employees, and they all seem really great. While up there, I worked a little on the cash register and had fun chatting with some of our regular customers. I tried to work a little on the company's books, but Sam had other plans in mind and wanted to explore the store.

Since taking over the bakery, we have changed the store hours a little, and now we are closed on Sunday. So we tried to go to our ward at 9:30am, but when we got there, the parking lot was empty. Luckily we had been warned that stake conference was coming up, so we drove over to the stake center and found everyone. We sat next to several people from our ward--some people that Chris had met his first Sunday there, and people he had met while helping some other ward members move. There are lots of young families our age with one or two kids who are close to Sam's age. The moms invited me to their playgroups once we're up there permanently. They try to go to the local children's museum once a week in addition to other times during the week getting together. I'm glad Sam will have friends to play with up there. Everyone was so friendly.

Sunday afternoon we drove about an hour south to eat dinner with another new owner. Chris met them in Montana during his weeks of training, and they started their bakery one week after us. They are an LDS family with six kids. It was fun to share our war stories with each other. In talking with them, I became even more grateful for the apartment complex we found within walking distance of our bakery; their bakery is over an hour away! They had originally bought an area to have a bakery in the same city they live in, but then a second existing bakery (the one an hour away) became available to buy, so they bought that too. Being new to the Great Harvest Franchise, I hope getting two bakeries going isn't too stressful! In any case, it's nice to know that we have them as neighbors.

While we were up there, Washington was having record weather; it snowed five inches! It was crazy! During the few breaks of storminess, we wandered around the neighborhood and tried to explore the paths around our place, but we didn't get too far because it started to hail and we didn't have coats on. Regardless, we did go for some drives exploring the area around Puget Sound. It really is such a pretty part of the country. I'm so excited to live up there permanently! Just a little over a month and we'll get to live with Chris for good!

Declining Enrollment

Do any of you remember last fall during the school voucher debates? One of the pro-vouchers points was that with students leaving public schools for private schools, the class size would decrease. Well, this is proof that that is not so. Unfortunately there is a formula that all public school must use which determines how many teachers are allowed to teach in proportion to how many students attend the school.

We had a faculty meeting this morning. Our school's enrollment has been declining over the past bunch of years simply because of the area's changing demographics, and in result of that, some teachers have to leave our school. This is called being RIS-ed (Reduction In Staff)--basically being forced to leave your school while being assured another position within the district. We found out last week that our school would be losing two teachers and two classes. They way the administration decides is simply by what department needs to be RIS-ed and then by seniority. We found out today who will not be coming back next year. Unfortunately, the whole process of choosing by seniority and not by who is a better teacher is flawed. In one case, our school is losing a very good teacher just because the other teacher in her department, who isn't as good of a teacher, has been there longer. I do believe that kids can get a quality education in public schools; however, I do believe that many policies and procedures do need to change in order to help these kids have the best chance at learning.

In other news, while other electives at my school are at risk, the Foreign Language Department is staying strong. Regardless of the fact that enrollment is going down, I was able to keep enrollment in French class exactly how it is this year: two French 1 classes and one French 2 class. That's a pretty good accomplishment for how small our school is becoming! It's just too bad I won't be the one teaching all these kids next year. I will miss them (most of them, anyway).

My piggy bank after filling my car up yesterday!

I got this forward from a coworker the other day and that's exactly how I feel. After driving two cars and a U-Haul up to Washington with the gas prices they are these days, I think my piggy bank may starve to death!

Home Sweet Home

I had many requests for me to post pictures of our new apartment in Washington, and I am just now getting around to it. Unfortunately, they are not very good pictures. We hadn't finished unpacking and our batteries were dying, so we only got pictures of two of the rooms.

This is our living room. The blow-up mattress, sleeping bags, and boxes are now gone. We're looking for a cheap couch, but until then, we just have a LoveSac. And that bookshelf on the right was a nice gift from Chris' parents, but it was a beast to move up three flights of stairs! Our balcony is through those blinds. On a clear day you can see the Cascade Mountains; we also have a great view of the sunrise coming over the mountains.

This is our dining area. Again, imagine it with less clutter and fewer boxes. Because we have a corner apartment, we have an extra window on the left which is nice. On the right is the kitchen.

This is our skinny little kitchen. Not huge, but it'll do. Looking past Dad is our bathroom. It's a pretty good-sized bathroom with a washer and dryer area included.

We didn't get any pictures of our bedroom or Sam's bedroom. That will have to wait until I go up in three weeks (thanks Mom and Dad!) with our camera. Chris left here last Friday night and will be there until June when he comes to pick me and Sam up. The bakery officially becomes ours April 1st.

Bath Time Mystery

One of Sam's towels has the following question:

"What do tiny turtles have for lunch?"

It sounds like it's supposed to be a joke, but I can't find or figure out the punchline, and it's really driving me nuts! Anyone have any insights?

Oh, the joys of junior high

I know that junior high kids are still going through all the changes that go with puberty. I can handle the crazy hormones and the daily drama, but what I'm having a hard time dealing with is the smell. I have a boy in one of my classes who stinks--not like BO or anything like that--he smells like poo. There is a three feet area around him that smells bad, and after he leaves the room, his stench remains in the classroom. I don't know if he doesn't shower often enough, if he doesn't change his clothes, or if he doesn't wipe. It's a mystery to me, and I wish I could help him, but I really don't feel comfortable talking to him about his personal hygiene--maybe his male gym teacher could do that.

Besides his smell, he really is a great kid. He's very smart (though he's failing the class because he doesn't turn in anything). He gave me a valentine and has me read his poetry all the time. I have high expectations for his future--I just hope personal hygiene is part of it.

Our Trip to Washington

I have had several requests to blog about our trip to Washington that we recently took, so here I go. We flew up there Friday evening, rented a car in Seattle, and drove up to Everett. As a side note, they gave us a PT Cruiser, and we decided that we will never buy one of those. It can't decide if it wants to be a small car or more of a SUV, and it doesn't handle U-turns very well (of which we did often as we tried to orient ourselves in this new city without getting too lost). The first night there, we met the current owners of the store there at the bakery. They are such a nice and generous couple and it was fun to see our future bakery.

Saturday we spent much of the day apartment hunting. We looked at so many that everything started to look the same and meld together. In the end, we think that we've found the best place for us. In fact, it's within walking distance from the bakery--just right around the corner. We haven't made it official yet. We'd like to wait until we hear back from the landlord to know if the lease can be transfered to our name. Anyway, I think these are pictures of the apartment we finally chose. It'll be a 2 bedroom, 1 bath apartment (we'll be paying more for this than what we currently pay for our entire house! We seriously will need to downsize when it comes to furniture and stuff!).

Sunday we went to church. If we move into the apartment complex we've chosen, we will actually belong to a different ward. But what I hear from Eliza's friend Allison who used to live in Everett, all the wards are amazing. And speaking of Allison, she and her husband Ben invited us over for Sunday dinner (they now live about 30 minutes north of Everett). It's nice to know that there will be at least one person I know living near by.

Anyway, so that was basically our trip. The weather was beautiful and sunny, and I was surprised to see so much green during the winter! We're about 95% sure this is going to happen. It's kind of crazy and exciting and scary all at once!

The Lord Knows Me Best: The Reason I served in France and Switzerland, and not South America

This is a list made by Chris' cousin Debra serving a mission in Argentina. A few of them are fine, but the ones about the bugs and food made me really queasy!

TOP 20 THINGS I WOULDN´T HAVE DONE BEFORE THE MISSION (most of which have to do with food and bugs. In no special order...)

1. The "ant dance" - We have an ant problem in this apt. Raid is really expensive and so instead of poisoning them I sweep them all into a pile and dance on them . IT´s much cheaper and not as damaging to the body.

2. Squish a spider with the back of my spoon rinse it off and then eat off it (at least I rinsed it off)

3. Buy 2 tomates and an onion, cut them up into slices pour oil and salt over it and eat it - on purpose (it´s a very argentine salad... I love it!)

4.Wash all my clothes by hand - including dirty socks and underwear (TMI I
know)

5. Find a 50 billion ants in my bread, shake them off into the sink, and eat...and continue picking them off the bread as I eat it (not all of them shook off)

6. Find lots and lots of spiders in my bed and not die and continue to sleep without problems

7.Wear the same dress 3 days in a row without washing it

8.Eat cow heart

9. Eat boiled chicken with many, many feathers still attached

10. Clean under the stove, find over 500 teeny little spiders that began to climb all over me, and not even get up to shake them off.

11. Buy bread twice a week from a guy that sells it from the trunk of his car.

12. Walk between 10 and 15 kilometers everyday without problem

13. Brush my teeth with a toothbrush that is crawling with ants (Like I said, this apt has an ant problem...really)

14. Pick up a spider´s egg out of curiosity to examine it

15. Exercise every morning

16. Kiss everyone, all the time, 50 times a day, when I enter and leave a room even if it´s 44 degrees C outside and everyone is sweating and nasty

17. Boil noodles to make macaroni and find the pot full of little green grasshopper like bugs...strain the noodles and keep going.

18. Put sunscreen in my hair

19. Eat in a member´s house...pull one hair out of the food... continue eating...pull another out...continue eating...pull another out....etc

20. Sing in front of anyone anywhere without problems whether it be in church or on the street corner.

Car Update

After having three people try to help me jump poor Jimmy, Chris had to drive out to my school to look at what was wrong. It turns out it was just the battery--I felt so bad that I dragged him all the way out there just for that. Even worse when I found out he had been rear ended on his way out! Will the car problems ever end?

I'm done with cars! I'll just bike everywhere!

In my not-so-smart about cars lingo, here are the many car problems we have had within the last month or so:

• Something was wrong with poor Jimmy costing $500
• Some plastic thing hanging down scraping against the road on the Camry
  
• Tire blowout on the Camry
  
• Had to replace all four tires on the Camry--another couple hundred dollars
  
• What we thought was just the plastic thing continuing to scrape against the road turns out to be something else which prevented us from taking the Camry to Montana
• Poor Jimmy won't start even after trying to jump start it, and the long-term Spanish sub guy says it's probably more serious than the battery.
  

Grrr...

Madame Taylor est chouette!

My kids got kick of me trying on these glasses. They all pulled out their camera phones for a quick photo shoot. I should have put on my mean face for the pose (Quoi?! Mme Taylor est mechante? C'est pas possible!)

One Step Closer

We made a quick trip up to Dillon, Montana Sunday night till Monday to meet with the franchise. We spent the day meeting with representatives from all the departments and learning their roles in helping bakery owners. It all ended with a big round-table interview with everyone we had met throughout the day. It wasn't supposed to be scary, but it was kind of intimidating knowing that our future was contingent on this meeting. We just got a call from the franchise this afternoon saying that we've been approved. So we're one step closer to owning our own bakery!

My Drive to Work

Speaking of scary driving experiences, I have one of my own to tell. Last Saturday we noticed a weird noise coming from the bottom of our car. I don't know the technical terms, but some sort of protective piece had come unscrewed and was hanging down dragging on the street. So Chris just unscrewed the rest of it and put it in the trunk. Also, the front driver-side tire had been getting a little low, so last Friday I filled it up with some more air. No problems there.

Well, this morning I was driving down the freeway and I noticed a funny sound. I pulled off of the freeway to check my tires, but all four tires seemed to be just fine. I figured it was probably just the sound of not having that protective piece on the bottom any more, so I kept driving. The roads were pretty slick this morning, but as I continued south, they improved, so I increased my speed thinking it was safe. But then I started to swerve and loose control, so I slowed down and got out of the fast lane. I swerved again (luckily no cars were close to me) and just thought all the other cars passing me handled the snow better. I figured it was the snowy roads. I continued driving and took my exit, all the while my car was still making weird noises. I pulled over, and realized that I had blown-out my tire. Though of all the tires, I would have thought that it would have been my front driver-side tire since it had been losing air. Luckily I was close enough to work that my mentor, the Spanish teacher, was able to come pick me up.

Well now I know what it feels like to have a tire blowout, so I'll know what to do better next time. I just hope I haven't hurt the car too much.

Quick Trip to Texas

The weekend so many of us decided to skip town, we decided (or perhaps fate decided) that we too ought to leave as well. Chris' grandpa passed away after years of sickness. In fact, I had never met Grandpa Brannock in a well condition in the 3 1/2 years I had known him. So thanks to Delta Skymiles we were able to fly down to the Dallas area for the funeral.

Both our flights coming and going were during Sam's nap time, so we were worried that he'd be cranky. On the way there, he did a little bit of flirting with the young girls the row ahead of us, cried and screamed for about five minutes, and then slept the rest of the way there. Coming home was a little better: he only cried and screamed for a couple minutes and then fell asleep.

It was great to see all of Chris' relatives, especially the many aunts, uncles, cousins, and both sets of grandparents who live down there who we don't get to see too often. The funeral was nice, though the weather was very dreary. Grandpa Brannock's body was buried under an oak tree on some family-owned property in the country--a very peaceful resting place.

While there, we were also able to celebrate Chris' birthday. Man is he old or what! We celebrated with some good ol' fashioned southern cooking (which isn't actually something I like too much. It's a good thing we're probably moving up north!).

The 18 month visit

Here are the most recent stats:

Weight: 24 lbs 8 oz (35th percentile)
Length: 31 in (20th percentile)
Head circumference: 48.5 in (75th percentile)

They had to poke his toe for a hemoglobin test (I think). First toe they poked didn't give enough blood, so they poked a second toe, and the bleeding wouldn't stop! The girl kept saying things like, "I'm so confused! I don't know why it's bleeding so much! I have never had anyone bleed like that before for this kind of test!" That didn't make me feel so great, but eventually his toe stopped bleeding and he's fine now. Anyway, overall his health is great and is continuing to catch up from being so scrawny his first year of life.

ASL signs Sam uses

1. more
2. please
3. thank you
4. milk
5. drink
6. all gone/done
7. food
8. hot
   

Words Sam can say at 18 months

1. I wan my nana (I want my banana)
2. I wan up--bphew (I want up--with some spitting after)
3. I wan dat (I want that)
4. dada
5. mama
6. no
7. peek-a-boo
8. doggan (doggy)
9. diaper
10. bible
11. scriptures
12. amen
13. two
14. all gone
15. ooh, ohh, ah, ah (monkey sounds)
16. pig sounds
17. hi
18. hello
19. bye
20. on
21. up
22. pleeh (please)
23. cheese
24. Anna
25. Peter
26. Hyruh (Hyrum)
27. head
28. juice
29. hot
30. all duh (all done)
31. shoes
32. hat
33. brr
34. uh-oh
35. baby
36. fish
    

Update on Everett

Here is an update on our potential purchase of the Everett, Washington Great Harvest. For weeks, we went back and forth deciding first of all if we wanted to take this deal. It has been such an emotional roller coaster trying to figure if we could make this thing work. Some days we had accepted that it probably wouldn't be possible and tried to move on planning Chris' Spring semester. And then within the same day, something would change, and we would be back to trying to do everything to allow this to happen. Basically it's been stressful and exhausting.

The most current update is that we have decided that we do want to buy the bakery. From the very beginning, we've felt like this is what our family needs. We decided to drop Chris' classes at the U with the faith that this is the direction we're supposed to go in. It's a great deal, we'll probably never see a deal this good again, and this is something Chris is really excited about--and for those of you who know how hard it's been for Chris to find something he's really passionate about to choose as a career, this is really a big thing. Anyway, so we think we've got the financial stuff all squared away, we had a phone interview with the franchise yesterday, and we are planning a mandatory trip up to Dillon, Montana for the final interviews at the franchise within the next week or two. After that, the franchise will let us know if we can go ahead with the transfer and buy the bakery.

So that's where we're at for now. I hope it all works out. I just want Chris to enjoy his work. We'll keep you all posted.

Leaving my kids

I was absent from school for the first time yesterday for a training class at the district offices (it was about incorporating writing in all content areas--very interesting and useful stuff!). My goal is to not miss too many days of teaching; for one, I get a big bonus at the end of the year if I don't use too many sick days, and two, it's a pain to prepare lesson plans that substitutes who don't necessarily know anything about French can follow. So anyway, I left my kids for the first time in the hands of a substitute teacher, and it felt similar to the first time we left Sam with a babysitter. I was nervous they wouldn't be good for the sub and cause trouble. Today upon my return, I read from the sub that my students had behaved well, and my students said they were happy I was back. When I told them I would have to miss another day in two weeks (for the second and last day of training on the same topic), one of my girls said, "Ah, Madame Taylor, we're going to miss you!" I sure like my job! What fun kids!

Still a possibility

As many of you know, Chris flew up to Washington a few weeks ago to check out a Great Harvest that is for sale. It's a pretty amazing deal as far as the price of the bakery, so we're looking into this pretty seriously. The current owners have offered to finance it under some generous terms. Now we're just looking at the numbers and seeing if we could pay it off and make a living up there. So for now, it is still a possibility, but we haven't made a final decision yet. We may need to make another trip up there. We do need to know pretty soon, however, so we know whether or not to keep Chris registered for his classes. At this moment, I'm not sure which decision we'll make. If only I had that crystal ball...

Royal India

Last night we decided to splurge a little since it has been awhile since we've gone out to eat. We went to one of our favorite restaurants in Bountiful: Royal India. We've introduced several family members to it--some have been more open to it than others. If you haven't yet eaten there, you have to try it! My favorite dish is the Chicken Saag, and Chris' is the Chicken Coconut Kurma. Yummm...I'm getting hungry just thinking about it!

Here comes Santa Claus

He wasn't scared--just tired.

La Caille

Yesterday I went to La Caille restaurant with my 9th grade French students along with a couple foods and teen living classes. My students are pretty well-behaved, however, I still had this fear that they would get there and tear the place down. We did have a few problems, but overall I think the kids had a good experience.

Here are a few of the unfortunate things that happened. Apparently the teacher in charge of planning everything didn't give the restaurant an accurate count of people planning on coming, so they didn't have enough room for us. They had to squeeze people on already full tables and squish in one more table in the corner. The room was already kind of small, and the acoustics caused a lot of echoing, so we sounded a lot louder than we really were. They waitresses had to keep the door shut so that other customers wouldn't be disturbed. We had a table of students who had to be sent back to the bus during the meal because they played a practical joke on the neighboring table while they were in the restroom (they poured salt in everyone's glasses) and lied to us teachers about. And to top it all off, the women's restroom toilets overflowed (I hope hope hope that wasn't from my kids! There was another school there too!).

On the good side, the kids looked so nice! Some of the girls went way out and wore very fancy dresses. They had a lot of fun taking pictures outside of La Caille with all the peacocks and pretty landscaping. They had the opportunity to try escargot (I passed this time since I've already had it before). The food was great and the ambiance was perfect! We're planning on going again next spring; I just hope our students' behavior won't prevent us from returning!

Halloween

Here are a few pictures describing this year's Halloween.
We went to an old high school friend's Halloween party. They provided the costumes for everyone. Chris was Rambo Bunny, and I was...well, I'm not quite sure...I had a camouflage witch hat, a dragon tail (which you obviously can't see), and a couple scarves tied in random places. We got to do each other's makeup. Chris got a little excited about painting my face black!

Sam was a pioneer for Halloween. We bought this hat in Nauvoo back in May--now it's almost too small for his 85th percentile head!

Trick or Treat!

Happy Anniversary!

While I was on my mission, I made a list of characteristics that I needed in a future eternal companion based on my interactions and relationships with guys I dated and mission companions. Here is what I came up with:

• Returned missionary
• Strong testimony
• Temple worthy
• Optimistic
• Appreciates good music
• Doesn't get angry easily
• Listens when I talk
• Loves to laugh--good sense of humor
• Knows how to comfort me when I'm sad
• Expresses clearly his feelings
• Hard worker
• Confident
• Enjoys children
• Allows me to be myself

Three years ago tomorrow I was sealed in the temple for time and all eternity to my best friend--one who had every single characteristic and quality from my list. I snatched up the perfect guy for me who has made me so happy! Happy anniversary!

What I like about teaching junior high students

• They still enjoy coloring pictures.
• They still think cartoons are funny; they actually enjoy watching Beauty and the Beast in French and those silly Telefrancais videos I make them watch.
  
• They enjoy singing silly songs.
• They think it's funny when I act silly and goofy while telling them stories or acting out vocabulary.
• Many of them still want to please their teachers.
• They are beginning to discover who they are. I make sure to be so careful of what I say to my students because even the smallest things can really change their attitude about themselves and their abilities.
  
• They have a lot of crazy drama in their lives: I love to read their notes to friends that they leave on my floor. A lot of them use a lot of curse words, and my favorite part is that sometimes they don't even make sense in the context! I love that "going out" with someone doesn't really mean much and it changes weekly.
  
• They are dealing with a lot of changes in their lives. Puberty can be rough! And to add to that, many are dealing with their parents divorcing and new step-parents. I love the fact that when they enter my classroom, they can feel safe and secure and just enjoy learning.
  
• I love that because French is an elective, it isn't critical that they leave my class speaking French fluently(however, I do hope that they leave my class knowing how to say some things in French). My goal for them is that they leave my classroom with a broader understanding of the world around them and with a curiosity to explore and experience!
• I love that I can share my passion, give a smile and some extra attention to these fun kids whose lives are still so impressionable.
  

Oh, the joys of junior high!

Here are a few examples of what I experience everyday at work:

A boy from my advisory class: "Mrs. Taylor, what does a rectangle look like? Is it the one that looks like a box?"

Me: "Okay class, on section C you can write your answers in English."
A 9th grade girl: "So we have to write it all in French?"
A few members of the class and me: (frustrated sigh)

An 8th grade boy from French I:"Madame Taylor, can I move seats. The boy I sit next to smells bad."

The 15 Month Visit

Sam went to his 15 month visit today. Here are his stats:

Weight: 22 lbs (18th percentile)
Length: 30 1/4 inches (25th percentile)
Head Circumference: 48 1/4 cm (85th percentile)

We are so excited that he is no longer under the 5th percentile! Woot! Go Sam!

A few pictures

Future businessman

We're so glad when Lara comes home. Glad as glad can be!

Welcome home Sis Taylor!

I want to be like Hot Shauna

So I'm going to be a copycat too. I don't usually do things like this, but I thought I'd give it a try. For some of these I had to look back to old journals to see what I was doing. Here I go!

1. Ten years ago: I was a sophomore at BHS. Around this time I had just found out through a friend that a certain boy had a crush on me (I see my own students doing this now: "so-and-so likes you...do you like him? I'll go tell him you like him..." when the two people really involved don't even talk to each other! So funny!) We later went to the Halloween dance together. Another boy who would eventually become my husband was in my AP Euro class and on my ultimate frisbee team. Our team was the best!

2. Five years ago: I had just arrived in France beginning my mission. I was living in Strasbourg with my trainer working in the Schiltigheim ward. The work was slow, but it was there that I had some of my most spiritual experiences. My French wasn't very good, but was improving daily. We spent a lot of time in some neighborhoods we probably shouldn't have been in. I learned a lot of swear words by reading all the graffiti. Besides the low-income banlieu areas, the rest of Strasbourg and surrounding towns were so quaint and beautiful.

3. One year ago: Sam was just two months old and still so tiny. We were preparing to move from the Hadley's home to the Turpin's home. I was going to school full-time preparing for my student teaching. Looking back, I don't know how I survived going to school and taking care of Sam on so little sleep. Twice a week I had classes at the U starting at 7:30am, and I had to leave our house at 5:50 to catch the bus. I was still nursing Sam, so I had to leave about 45 mintues to feed him. Plus get myself ready. Plus get up with Sam at least twice a night before all that. Yikes! I'm sure glad he sleeps through the night now!

4. Yesterday: I tried watching a movie, but Sam pushed some buttons on the remote that messed up the TV, and I don't know how to fix it. We had to take our Jimmy in to get $100 worth of things fixed. Sam also got into one of the kitchen cupboards and found our little jar of old kitchen grease. He dumped it out onto our carpeted kitchen floor (who puts carpet in the kitchen?!). It was so stinky and gross it made me gag and want to throw up. I cleaned it up, but our kitchen still stinks! Anyway, Chris worked 4-11:30am at Great Harvest, and then again from 4-10pm at the Instacare. Oh, and I went to a baby shower for my visiting teaching companion. Oh, and I actually cooked dinner--a real dinner. Very unusual, but hopefully will happen more and more.

5. Five snacks I enjoy: Peach rings, cake batter, cookie dough (for some reason the raw stuff tastes better), French pastries, and ice cream (French vanilla is pretty tasty!)

6. Five things I would do if I suddenly had $100 million dollars: buy a house, set aside money for our kids' college education, buy lots of really cute clothes, travel the world while staying in the nicest hotels and eating at the nicest restaurants, and donate money to family, friends, the church and other charities.

7. Five places I would like to run away to: France, Switzerland, the six states I haven't been to yet, a nice tropical island with no bugs, Africa or China (I want to go to both Africa and China, but that was my fifth place, and I can't decide).

8. Five bad habits I have: using a tissue and then leaving them around the house, or using a tissue and then putting it in my pocket in case I need to wipe it again and then forgetting to take it out before I do the laundry (all the tissue bad habits drive Chris nuts! He thinks it's so gross. I tell him it's just like in the old days when people would carry around hankies in their pockets--he thinks that's gross too!), not liking to shower (I do shower, I just don't like to shower. I know some of you sisters know what I'm saying!), not being as tidy as I would like, nibbling here and there instead of sitting down to eat dinner, and not always exercising like I should.

9. Five things I like doing: being with Chris and Sam, teaching French, giving talks or lessons in church, going to office supply stores, eating yummy foods.

10. Five TV shows I like: The Office, The Simpsons, the news, Gilmore Girls, and any dumb reality show I get sucked into (they are my guilty pleasures).

11. Five things I hate doing: spending money, killing spiders, cooking dinner (I have to be in the right mood to enjoy it--problem is that I'm rarely in that mood), watching all my hair get thinner and thinner as it falls out, and being crafty (again, I have to be in the mood).

12. Five biggest joys at the moment: Spending quality time with Sam and Chris, watching Sam discover the world, getting to know more and more Sam's cute little personality, the 30 minute drive home from West Jordan as I listen to old General Conference talks, and teaching French and watching my students get excited about learning.

Another one bites the dust

Yep, we've killed another one. We have been fish-sitting the last six months or so for Chris' family while they remodel their house. It was just a beta fish, and I don't think anyone really cared about him. I don't even know if he had a name. In any case, we found him dead in his bowl this afternoon. Unlike poor Franklin, we know why the fish died--we often forgot to feed him. I guess we don't do well with living things; we killed a lot of the Hadley's house plants when we lived in Farmington, and we were unsuccessful with our garden. We really want a dog someday, and when that day comes, I promise that I will feed it and walk it and not kill it. Unlike many of the other things we've killed, I actually like dogs, and would take care of it--I promise!

My First Day of School

School started today, and it was pretty fun. I'm teaching French 1 & 2 to 8th and 9th graders at Joel P. Jensen Middle School in West Jordan. I teach three French classes, and one advisory period on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday (It's just 20 minutes of reading, helping students with their grades, and playing learning games). My biggest class has 34 students, and my smallest class has around 23 students. I know this was just my first day, and I know I'll have days when I won't feel this way, but I really love teaching! And doing this just part-time, I think, will be so nice! I only have to be there till 11:20ish. Anyway, as promised, here are a few pictures of my classroom.

I just got some more posters and stuff in the mail today, so more will be going up soon. One thing I don't like about my room, however, is that there are no windows. And it's hot. Oh, and one more: I have to use a Mac instead of a PC (sorry to all you Mac users, but I just don't like them!). I guess that's three things I don't like about my room. Oh well.

Anyway, so that's my classroom. I'm sure I'll have some fun junior high student stories to tell shortly!

In Memory of Franklin

As the title of this blog implies, our poor bird Franklin died sometime last night. We don't have any idea what could have caused his death. He seemed to be healthy and happy, but then again, I don't know too much about bird health. I was never too excited about having a pet bird, but Franklin in the short 2 1/2 weeks that we had him had started to grow on me. Every morning when Sam would wake up, we would go say hello to the bird. Sam loved Franklin (except when Franklin first discovered his voice and it scared Sam). Sam would waddle into the room and point at the bird cage with a huge grin. Last night I went in to look at him and he was looking so cute asleep on his little bar (no, he wasn't dead at that point--just sleeping). I was getting almost brave enough to overcome my phobia of birds and actually hold him, but in the end I never did. I'm actually very surprised at how sad I am at his death. In the words of a neighbor-boy, he was a good bird.

Announcing a new addition to the family

We were deciding on going out to eat between two places: Royal India (I love love love their spinach thing I always get) or Paradise Bakery (to which we had a gift card). If money weren't an issue, I would have chosen the former, but I figured that we should probably save our money and go to the bakery instead. The food was alright; I really don't like their soups too much, however, I do love their quiche.

After dinner, we decided to go check out Petco thinking that Sam might enjoy looking at the animals there. So we wondered around for awhile looking at the fish and the reptiles. We hoped their would be puppies, but there weren't any. Then we came to the birds. I don't mind them in cages, but I have this strange fear of them when the fly around; you never know where they're going to land. Anyway, the parakeets were surprisingly cheap, and I made the mistake of saying that I wouldn't mind a bird at that price. Chris got excited and somehow talked me into buying one. He said that Sam needed a pet, and parakeets are pretty easy to take care of.

So we have a new member of the Taylor family. His name is Franklin, and he is really pretty. It was a little scary transferring him from his box to his new cage. I think I scared Sam pretty well with all my screams and jerking around trying to run away from the little guy. Hopefully we'll all get used to each other and I'll get over my strange fear.

So after a free meal, a bird, a birdcage, food, and all the rest, I think it would have been cheaper in the end had we gone to Royal India for dinner.

You are all invited!

Hey everyone. Just a quick note to let you know that we will be celebrating Sam's birthday on Wednesday at 7:30 at our house. There will be cake and icecream. Come if you can!

For those of you who hadn't heard...

Just in case you hadn't all heard, I got a teaching job for next fall! I was starting to get really discouraged and stressed that I hadn't found anything yet. I even started looking at school districts in far away places. They say that teachers are in high demand in Utah, but I don't think they mean French teachers. So I will be teaching at Joel P. Jensen Middle School in West Jordan in the Jordan School District (8105 South 3200 West). It's just part-time for now, but really I think that's all I would've found anywhere at this point seeing that I'm only qualified to teach French. Since I'm just part-time, hopefully I'll be able to take whatever classes are needed in order to become endorsed in other areas. The administration seems really great and they sounded so excited that I accepted the job. I'm excited about it too!

Eeeeek!!

I've been trying to have a more healthy lifestyle. I try to be more active and eat good foods. Well, today, I exercised and then decided to eat some lunch. I pulled out my bag of salad, cut up some tomatoes and cucumbers. Only after I had eaten about three-fourths of my salad did I notice a little intruder: a dead bee! Ew! Yuck! Plegh! Gag! I wanted to throw-up! I know in some cultures eating insects is a delicacy, but not here! Not me! I had to throw the rest of my salad in the garbage. Who knows how many bug parts were unknowingly consumed! Yuck!

Once while we were shopping, we picked up a bag of salad and found an alive bee flying around inside the bag. If this is how it's going to be, maybe I won't be buying bagged salad anymore!

The 9 Month Visit

So we had the 9 month doctor visit yesterday. Here are the stats:

Weight: 15 lbs. 0 oz.
Length: 26 in.
Head circumference: 45 cm.

For his weight and his length he is under the 5th percentile and his head is in the 45th percentile (these percentages are still adjusted for him being born a little prematurely). The doctor said that he's growing and developing just fine, and she said that his gums on top are a little swollen. His third tooth should be coming soon.

Oh yeah, some other exciting news is that he finally figured out how to crawl foward! Last Wednesday it finally clicked! Now he's completely mobile!

Tired Baby = Free Food!

Last night we were at the Gateway getting new glasses for Chris (he's been going blind for over a year now...we thought it was about time to get some new ones). While we waited for them to finish, we headed over to Biaggi's to get some dinner. Neither of us had ever been there, so we thought we'd try it out. We ordered our food, and waited and waited. I didn't mind too much; I was just enjoying being together. By the time they brought our food out, Sam was getting really tired and fussy. So after just a couple bites of our food, we asked for boxes to take home. They felt really bad that it took so long, so they gave us our meal free! I'm glad we decided to order appetizers! We figured we got close to $30 worth of food. I was very impressed with them and will definitely go back again sometime.

My hard work is starting to pay off!

Chris has been so wonderful and supportive as I have worked on finishing college. He has worked so many long hours so many days of the week just so I could become a college graduate--a promiseI made to my mission president and to myself. It hasn't been easy; in fact, it feels like I have been running a marathon for the past bunch of years trying to get all my credits in. Throughout my entire pregnancy, I took a total of 47 credits. And then again with a wee baby keeping me sleep-deprived I somehow continued taking classes, and have even been able to successfully do my student-teaching. I've tried to think of my schooling like my job, even though I don't get paid. I have always hoped that somewhere down the road all my hard work would pay off. Well, because of my hard work and good grades, I was invited to submit a valedictory speech for the U's commencement ceremonies. I will find out in a few weeks if I am among the top ten finalists. How cool would that be to talk at my graduation?! And then today I just found out that I was selected to receive the Kennecott Scholarship which is a cash award of $2,500 from the U's Department of Teaching and Learning! I am so happy that I was blessed with the strength and endurance to finish school and that I am able to contribute in a small way to our family's finances. I applied for four other scholarships from which I am still waiting to hear back. Anyway, it's all very exciting and strange to be graduating. It's weird to be looking for an a real job. Hopefully the Mustangs will have me?? We'll see...

Crafting

The other day I went into Michael's craft store to buy some stuff for my classroom, and the scariest thing happened: I had the desire to craft! Yikes! I am so anti-crafting because for one, I'm not very cutesie, and two, it stresses me out to make so many decisions. But while I was in the store for those few minutes, all of my excuses went away, and I thought that it could actually be really fun to create something. Maybe when we have older kids and I'm not so busy with school I'll try to do crafty things with them. I think it's in my blood, but it's really hesitant to come out.

I Love Office Supply Stores!!

Can I just tell you how much I love going into office supply stores! I went into Office Max yesterday to buy some big envelopes, and wanted to buy the whole store. With so many boxes, binders, paper, dividers, tape, and other such organizational items, it gets me so excited to organize anything and everything. Lately, I've been thinking about creating a teaching portfolio, and it's silly how happy it makes me to think about putting it together in a new three-ring binder with colored divider tabs and plastic protector sheets...sigh. Maybe that will be my post-student teaching project in April.

He's getting so big!

So Sam has been hitting some major milestones the past couple weeks. At his last weight check, he weighed in at 14 lbs. 5 oz, if I remember right. He can wear some of his 6-9 month clothes; however, most of them still swamp him. February 12th he rolled over for the first time from his back to his belly. He is now mobile and rolls all over the place. Let the baby-proofing begin! He is eating a variety of veggies: peas, carrotts, squash, and soon sweat potatoes. And as of the beginning of this week, his first tooth has finally popped out! And it's sharp too, so everyone beware! What a fun age!

My Girlfriend, Part II

So yesterday I was out running errands and decided to pop into Great Harvest to say hi to Chris. Just as I was about to leave, I noticed my girlfriend and another neighbor eating at one of the little tables. I almost just walked out without saying hi because I know what'll come out of my girlfriend's mouth; but then I decided to show Sam off to her because they have never met.

Girlfriend: Oh, is this your baby?! You know, this should have been my grandbaby!

Exactly the sort of thing I expected her to say.

Girlfriend: I really wished you and Steven could have gotten together. But you and your husband do make cute babies. I guess I could forgive him for marrying you.

If she forgives him, does that mean she'll stop bugging me about her grandson every time I run into her. I mean really...the last time I went on a date with her grandson was 6 1/2 years ago, we're both married now, and I have a baby! It obviously wasn't meant to be.

As I was walking out the door, I said goodbye to Chris. I guess my girlfriend didn't realize who he was until then.

Girlfriend: Ooh! Is that your husband? He is soo cute!

Maybe she'll start having a crush on both of us now!

Home again, home again, jiggity-jig

I am happy to report that we finally made it home from Texas last night. Coming home from vacation always seems to take longer than the getting there. Our plane was originally supposed to leave at 6pm-ish. Late yesterday afternoon we got a phone call from Delta saying that it had been delayed till 7:30 because of severe weather in Dallas. It had been raining really hard, there was lots of close thunder and lightning, and even some tornado watches, all of which are unusual for this time of year. When we got to the airport, the plane coming from Salt Lake that was going to be ours coming back was delayed. Because of all the crazy weather in Dallas, they left Salt Lake late, and then once they got here, they had to circle the area for at least an hour and a half to wait their turn to land among all the other delayed flights. Once that plane landed, we were informed that it had been hit by lightening, so they had to check it out and make sure it was okay for another flight. Luckily nothing was damaged too seriously, and we were in the air by 10:30pm. Again, Sam was a great little traveler and slept the entire flight home. I wonder if he'd make it to Europe so well behaved. Anyway, we got our bags, took a taxi, and were home by about 12:30am. I had been looking forward to my warm comfy bed, but because we turned off the heat while we were gone, our thermostat read 42 degrees in our house. I went to bed with my new winter hat, new fuzzy socks, warm pajamas, a hoodie, and a tootsie-toaster. Poor Chris went to bed for an hour before he had to go bake at Great Harvest at 2am. He had to go in so early because he also has to work at the InstaCare from 10am to 10pm. Back to the real world, I guess.

Our Trip to Texas

I think time moves faster in Texas because I can hardly believe our time here is just about done. It's been such a nice trip, and it will be hard coming back to real life.

We left Sunday afternoon--Christmas Eve. Sam was such a great little traveler; it was his first time ever on an airplane. He slept almost the entire flight to Dallas except for the last 30 minutes or so, but even then he was a happy guy. I hope he does just as well on the flight home tomorrow. The first two nights we stayed at Chris' Aunt Elaine and Uncle Richard's house. We had three big families staying over for Christmas, so the house was filled to capacity (it's a really nice big house, so it wasn't so bad at all). Sam had so many admirers and googelie-eyed people playing with him that it overwhelmed and overstimulated him making him more fussy than usual. Being so popular and loved is so hard! The rest of the time some of us have been staying at Chris' dad's parents house, and the others at Chris' mom's parents house--they both live in Irving.

Christmas morning was fun as we opened our presents. The best part was having Chris' grandpa come for a few hours. He's been in the hospital for the last three weeks, and they let him out for a couple hours Christmas morning. For that set of grandparents 50th anniversary, Chris' mom put together a nice DVD of old family pictures and family movie clips. We also put together a nice quilt for them--each son, daughter, grandchild, grandchild-in-law, and great-grandchild (Sam is the only one) was in charge of decorating a square, and they were all put together as a quilt. It was a very nice present.

Sam has had many firsts on this trip. He went to his first movie. We went to see Eragon. Again, Sam was very well behaved for the most part. We only had to go out of the theater once for a diaper change. He went to his first museum. Today we went to the Dallas Museum of Art to see a Vincent Von Gogh exhibit. It was very cool! And to get there, Sam went on his first train--the TRE (the Trinity Rail Express, I think). We spent the whole afternoon there at the museum, and Sam just sat in his Snugglie carrier so content and happy. What a good boy.

He hasn't been this good the whole trip. Like I mentioned earlier, he has been passed from one admiring fan to the next. One of the nights we went out to a crazy restaurant called the Magic Time Machine. If ever you are in Dallas, you must go to this place. Each waiter plays the character of someone. Our waiter was one of the Spartan cheerleaders from Saturday Night Live. It was so loud and so crazy that Sam let us know just how overwhelmed he was. He rarely cries so hard. Poor guy.

So that's pretty much been our trip. We've eaten like crazy (I think I've gained lots of weight), and spent lots of fun quality time with the extended relatives down here (Chris' one grandpa got out of the hospital for good this evening). The weather has been amazing, and it's going to be so hard to come back to the snow. I guess our vacation can't last forever! Too bad it can't!

Time flies when you're having fun

Three years ago from today I came home from my mission. Four years ago this coming April Chris came home from his mission. That's two sister-missions for me and two elder-missions for Chris!

My Girlfriend

So yesterday at the bridal shower, I ran into my girlfriend from the family ward who I haven't seen in a very long time. She's still as crazy as ever and still wishes I had married her grandson.

Girlfriend: So how are you and your husband doing?
Me: Really well.
Girlfriend: Darn! So you two are happy together?
Me: Yeah, my husband is wonderful!
Girlfriend: Darn! My grandson got married, but the girl is completely opposite of you. I wish he had married you!

She seriously said all that! How am I supposed to respond?! When Chris and I were engaged, I brought Chris to the family ward so people could meet him. When I tried to introduce him to my girlfriend, she refused to shake his hand because she was mad that he was taking me away from her grandson. More than two years later she still hasn't gotten over it. She does this all jokingly, but as the saying goes, many a truth is spoken in jest. Why does she love me so much?

Black Friday

So I've never done the Black Friday thing ever, but I decided to try it. I was up anyway with the baby at 5am, so soon as I had finished feeding him, I left the little guy with my hubby and ventured into the cold to go to Target. I knew things were crazy at stores; I had been watching the early news shows showing huge crowds storming malls, but for some reason I thought Target wouldn't be so bad. I got there and could hardly find a place to park. I have never seen the parking lot so full! Then I could hardly find a shopping cart. When I got inside, the store was packed with crazed shoppers running around trying to grab everything from their lists before the stock runs out. I heard one lady say that some random person had tried to steal some stuff out of her shopping cart. I shopped around a little bit, but then had to abandon my shopping cart as I could hardly get down any aisles with it. In the end I didn't buy too much. I mostly just went for the experience and to see what kinds of sales they had. I don't think I'll ever try shopping on Black Friday ever again. It was absolutely insane!! However, I left the store around 7am and could tell that it had calmed down a little bit. Maybe it'd be okay to go shopping later in the day if you don't mind missing all the early bird special sales.

Sam's 4 month visit

For anyone who is interested, here are Sam's stats as of November 17th from his 4 month visit to the doctor:

Weight: 10 lbs. 5 oz.
Length: 22 1/4 in.
Head Circumference: 41 cm.

Still small, but growing on his own curve. Everything looks okay!

Yea for Turkies!!

So I beat my bowling record, and I'll probably never bowl as well ever again! At yesterday's anual Thanksgiving bowling extravaganza, I started my game with a turkey--three strikes in a row! And how appropriate to have done that on Thanksgiving! At the end of it all, I think I got a couple more strikes and spares leaving me with my high score of 153! We could join a league, but team members beware--that last game was definately a fluke! I rarely bowl over 80!

What is this world coming to?!

It was an unseasonably warm day (a couple weeks ago) when I saw a minivan driving down Davis Blvd, an arm hanging out the passenger side holding a leash and a dog walking on the sidewalk all alone. Are we so lazy that we can't even get off our behinds to walk for a few minutes?! Especially on such a beautiful day! What kind of healthy habits did that teach that kid? I was flaberghasted!

Book Club

Some of my friends from my French classes and I started a book club. Today was our first real meeting (two weeks ago everyone met to decide on what we were going to read). Our first book is The Phantom of the Opera in French (Le Fantome de l'Opera). What I hadn't realized was that it was written by the same author of a one of my favorite books we studied last semester (Le Mystere de la Chambre Jaune by Gaston Leroux). We had our meeting on the roof of the Salt Lake library. It was a perfect afternoon to be outside with friends discussing the book (which I actually haven't technically started yet, though I know the story very well). It was also fun to have Sam come and meet my friends from school. What a precocious child for attending a book club meeting at such a young age! If any of you French speakers are interested in joining, vous etes le bienvenues!

What's your best time?

When we lived in Farmington, once or twice a week I would drive Chris to work at 4am in order to avoid having to drive both our cars out to Bountiful since we both had places to be in the mornings. The drive to Bountiful was always dark and cold, and the only thing I could think about was how nice it must be to be able to stay in my cozy bed for a full eight hours. The streets at that hour are pretty quiet and empty, however there are a few regulars that we see. For example, often we would see a lady out walking her dog in her bath robe. I think a coat would probably keep her warmer, but for whatever reason, she settles on her robe. Almost every morning during our drive on Main Street to Great Harvest we would see people out exercising. What kind of crazy person wakes up at 4am to go running?! I know exercise is important, but so is sleep! I admire their determination to go running and walking so diligently, but I still think they're crazy! In my opinion and experience, in order to make your own personal exercise plan work, you need to schedule it at a time that motivates you the most. For me, on several occasions, I have forced myself to wake up early to go running. It'll usually last a couple days, and then I stop because I value my sleep. I have found that my best time to workout is between 3-5pm. That way I don't lose any sleep, it's not too dark or cold outside, and I still have the rest of the evening to do whatever I want. If you plan exercising at a time that is naturally the best for you personally, I think you will find the most success.

The Two Month Visit

So Sam went to the doctor today for his two month visit. Here are his stats:

Weight: 8lbs 4oz
Length: 21in
Head Circumference: 38 1/2cm

For his weight and height he is under the fifth percentile compared to full-term babies, but because he was officially premature (he was born at 36 weeks and five days) Dr. Groebs adjusted it and said he is in the 25-30th percentile.

Everything looks good and healthy for the most part. He's still kind of small, but still growing at an okay rate (he gained 8oz this past week). The worst part about our visit was the immunization shots. He had to get poked four times and it made him very upset. He was crying so hard that it made me cry too. I hate to see him so sad, but I know his immunizations are very important. It was a good thing that Chris was there to hold him while he got poked because I don't think I would've been able to do it. He has been a little upset this evening because of his sore legs, but we gave him some tylenol and he's starting to feel better, I think.

Il faut etre prudent!

The other day Sam and I went on a walk near Farmington canyon. On the way up 100 East, I saw two little girls walking home from elementary school. They saw me from across the street and walked over to start talking to me. They were super friendly and asked all about Sam and me: my name, where I lived, if I had kids in school, etc. Then they proceeded to tell me all about themselves. They were sisters, one in third grade, the other in sixth grade. They told me all about their family and even where they lived. I was surpised at how friendly and outgoing they were to me, a stranger. The thing that surprised me the most was how much personal information they gave out. If I were a sexual preditor of kidnapper, these two little girls would have been easy targets to do bad things to. It really scares me how many sick-o's exist in the world. Recently there have been so many stories in the news about kidnappings and child abuse--so much that it makes me so scared to be raising children in this world. I don't want to be a pyscho-overprotective mom raising our kids, but at the same time, their safety is the most important thing. Growing up we used to wander around the neighborhood and play out front without being surpervised without any worries. Now as an adult, I see the world differently and I worry for all these innocent little kids. I guess the only thing you can do as far as prevention is to educate your children about how to interact with strangers as well as what to do when someone they know makes them feel uncomfortable. To see what kind of problemed-people live near you, visit the Family Watchdog.