Fourth of July Camping Trip

About a year and a half ago we got all sorts of fun camping gear from Chris' parents for Christmas. Up until this past week we had used it all only once--in our backyard! So we thought we'd take it all out for a real camping trip...finally.July 3rd we left for Cascade Park for a fun trip with some of our friends from the ward. The first night it was just us and two other families who each had little girls Sam's age. The rest of the group didn't show up until the next afternoon, and we all left the following morning. Total there were five kids more or less Sam's age, seven couples more or less our age, and three teenage siblings who are visiting. We had so much fun! We played games, played Frisbee and baseball, explored, jumped in the cold river (only the three boys after playing a weird combination game of frisbee/soccer/keep-away), played with the kids, etc. Chris took a little nap in the sun and got fried. Friday night we went to a lake to watch fireworks. It was one of the best shows I've seen, mostly because there were like 20 firework shows going at once all across the other side of the lake. We only stayed an hour, but they went for a really long time. Sam really liked them.Sam was mostly a good camper. The only struggle was the first night going to bed. He was up past midnight just screaming. He didn't even want to snuggle in our sleeping bags. That night he only got about six hours of sleep. He took a great nap the following day and went to bed without a fight the second night. When we got home Saturday, he took a five hour nap!

It was a fun trip and I'm glad we got away from work for a bit. I'm also glad we have nice friends to hang out with up here. We've never been in a ward with so many young families in the same stage of life as us.

Here's a short video of our trip.

Secret Phrase

The other day I was working at the bakery, and as always as customers come in I ask how they're doing. As this particular customer came in, his response caught my attention.

me: Hi, how are you doing?
guy: Better than I deserve. How are you doing?
me: Better than I deserve!

If any of you are Dave Ramsey listeners, you understand. I have heard people on his radio show talk about using Dave's saying as a secret code to know who is working on becoming debt free, but never had I been able to use the phrase in any interactions I've ever had until now. I was so excited and immediately asked if he was a listener. He was, and he said that it made his day to meet another listener. He has been debt free for five years besides his mortgage, and his working on being able to pay cash for a $20,000 motorcycle. He encouraged me to do whatever it takes to become debt free. Our main debt is car debt and a bakery. I can't wait to be debt free, and I probably should start reading his book that's sitting on my bookshelf.

He said that when he orders pizza, he has a tip in each pocket: one for $2 and another for $50, and according to how the delivery guy answers the "how are you doing" question is how he decides how much to tip the guy. I answered the right way, but I don't think he saw or was prepared for our tip jar. *sad dance* But at least I made his day. He said that only two other times in his life have people answered using the secret phrase.

Does anyone speak Chinese?

I got this picture from one of my favorite people I met on my mission. She was Chinese going to school in France, and she was baptized the evening before I left the city. She gave me this picture as a way to remember our time and experiences we had together. The only thing is I can't remember what she told me it means. Do any of you understand Chinese who could give me a translation? If not, I'll just email the picture to some of my Chinese friends.

Our Morning Walk

Yesterday Sam and I were invited to go for a walk with two girls from the ward who live across the road in another apartment complex and one of their daughters who is 3 months younger than Sam. They try to go every morning that the sun is actually out. On our way home we made two stops: the first one by some flowers Sam was really excited about, and the second by the bakery to see Daddy Christopher.

My favorite Washington commercial

You have to watch this commercial. Just look how happy the penguin looks!

Finally a sunny day!

The past couple days we've actually had some sun, so yesterday we decided to go enjoy it especially since I had the day off. We got invited to a play-date at the park with three other little kids and their moms. Sam had a great time, and the park was perfect. It was right next to a local lake. Sam's favorite part was probably feeding the ducks. It was nice for me too to get to know some of the other moms in the ward.

Across the lake was another park with a beach and swimming area and a giant playground. We decided to have a picnic there for dinner.

Our New Home

I posted some pictures of our new place when we first moved in, but our place was a mess, and I only got a couple rooms. So here are a few more for those who haven't yet visited us.

This is our dining area/living room. The green futon is where Kierstin sleeps.

This is our skinny little kitchen.

This is our bathroom. It's pretty big. Behind the doors on the left are the washer and dryer.

This is Sam's room.

This is our bedroom. Our bedroom furniture almost didn't fit. It's pretty tight.

Week in Review

Since I didn't think that much of what happened this week was blog worthy, but people keep telling me I need to blog more frequently since we're now far away, here is a basic summary of our week.

Sam is doing much better about sleeping in his own bed. Every day gets better and he puts up less of a fight to take naps and go to bed. Twice, however, he fell out of his little toddler bed and ended up sleeping in our bed with us.

I made my first mocha. All this coffee stuff is so new to me. It's like a new language. Good thing we have great employees who love coffee and are willing to teach me how to make them all.

We have found two parks to play at. If the weather is better this week, we will explore more. It doesn't look like there are any good parks within walking distance besides a cute little dinosaur playground inside the mall across the street.

It has been unseasonably cold and rainy all week. Everyone says that June is a lot warmer and sunnier, so I have hope that that will change soon.

We bought a futon and a chair from craigslist. Kierstin will use the futon as a bed during her couple month stay here. We had a nice couple our age from our ward help us haul them up to our third floor apartment.

Speaking of Kierstin, she found a job for the summer working at a sports store similar to Fanzz. It's within walking distance in the mall. In other news, she got a ticket for running a red light. She was following Chris who was driving the Uhaul that picked up the futon, and she was in our Camry. Chris made it through while it was still green, but for Kierstin, it was a lovely shade of orange and the cop caught her. If I were the cop, I would've given her a break since she was brand new to the area and was following someone so she wouldn't get lost.

Friday night we went to a ward Strawberry Social at some camp sites the church owns. Some people camped out for the night, and others like us just came for the evening. It was fun meeting more people from our ward and getting to know better those we have already met. Sam had a lot of fun running around and getting dirty with the other kids.

And to end, here are some of our favorite things Sam is saying these days:

• motorcycle = wangungun

• when asked what a motorcyle says he says vroom vroom and then break noises
  

• refrigerator = fridgers

• snuggle = snuggun

• Kierstin = Dirdin

• diaper rash cream = nice

• macaroni and cheese = mac-cheese

• when asked "what's the nice word?" he says in a sweet voice "please mommy"

• he's also started talking in a hoarse/scary voice I like to call Evil Sam. It's hard to explain, but it's pretty funny. If any of you ever watch Mad TV, his voice is kind of like Stuart's voice.
  

Potty Training

I forgot to mention in the last post, but Sam has started using his little potty. I know he's still young, and I really don't think he'll be 100% potty trained anytime soon, but he's getting closer. Several times since we've been here, he has told us he needs to use the bathroom, and he actually goes--number 1 and 2! It's so exciting. I can't wait for the day when we don't have to buy diapers anymore!

Home Sweet Home

So in case you were wondering, we made it to Washington. Sam did OK during the drive, but he did have his moments. It's hard for a little guy to sit in a car all day. We drove up with Chris' parents and sister, arrived Saturday night, and then his parents left Sunday morning. Kierstin will be living with us for part of the summer.

Sunday at church was pretty rough. Having been cooped up in a car the whole day before, Sam wasn't really interested in sitting still through sacrament meeting. So he spent much of the time out in the foyer while I got to know some of the other mothers with wiggly kids. Nursery wasn't much better. He's usually pretty good about me leaving him, and he's generally pretty friendly with other kids, but when I sneaked out, he flipped out. Twice I tried, but the nursery leaders kept bringing him back out to us. So I stayed awhile with him, and the Chris let me go to Relief Society while he stayed with him. Maybe next week he'll do better. Sleeping through the night in our own respective beds is another struggle we're dealing with. Hopefully that too will get better with time.

Kierstin found a job today working at a sports store in the mall, so she will definitely be here probably till Lara's wedding in August. The deal was that if she couldn't find anything within two weeks, she had to go home. We bought a futon off of craigslist that she will use as a bed. We haven't picked it up yet, and I just hope that we can get it up to the third floor okay. It's pretty big and heavy.

I've started training at the bakery. The other employees have been really great teaching me everything, and it's been fun meeting our customers (especially the ones who feel compelled to share their whole life stories in our two-minute interaction! I love it!). I'm also learning a lot while figuring out how to do the books.

I'm so happy to be with Chris again. Being apart for 10 weeks was hard, and I don't recommend it to anyone. With our schedules as they are now--him working 4 to noon, and me working noon to 6--we get to see each other so much more than before when Chris was working two jobs and going to school (another thing I don't recommend to anyone). We can actually sit down and eat dinner as a family, and Sam is doing so much better with eating and trying new things.

Anyway, so we're alive. I'll try to be good about posting often now that all of you are so far away.

Let's-make-it-rain Park

For my family members, you know which park the Let's-make-it rain Park is. Well, the tradition continues. I had a little farewell picnic there last night with my SVU friends, and it was pretty wet! It was great to see everyone again! We had a great time catching up with each other and reminiscing about the old days. It's been eight years since our first semester of college at SVU (which at the time was SVC--it changed our 2nd semester there, I think). Thanks to the husbands who volunteered to play with the kids!
I hate saying goodbye, so we said see ya later instead. I had to say a special goodbye to Rheanna. She has been such a great friend for the past eight years. She was one of my first roommates at school. She was my crying buddy, and we would always help each other with our boy problems. At that time, we were dumb girls, and our theme song was "I Cain't Say No" from Oklahoma. After our first year of school, a bunch of us went up to Maine for a week, and it was so fun to meet her family. Another special memory was driving up the coast to Boston with my other roommate Elizabeth for Rheanna's wedding. Now collectively two weddings, four kids, and several moves later, we're still friends. I'll miss Rheanna and her cute family.

Hello, my name is Camilla, and I am a blogstalker

My sisters used to tell me how much time they spend on reading random people's blogs. They called it blogstalking, and I just didn't understand how that could be fun. However, recently I have discovered how many of my friends and acquaintances now have blogs. Also I was introduced to Bloglines where I can see in one place which of all my friends have recently blogged instead of clicking on links and checking every now and then for new blogs. What a waste of time! Anyway, so now I consider myself a blogstalker too (though I keep it to reading blogs of people I'm at least acquainted with). It's so fun to read what all these people are up to. It's even better than those mass emails we used to all send out with family updates and pictures. What did we do before the internet?! Write letters?! How strange is that?! :) It's so great that we can keep so many people connected in such a quick and easy way.

Au revoir mes soeurs!

Yesterday I had a nice picnic with some of my mission friends and their families. Soeur Wilson (on the left in blue) was the only one who was actually a companion of mine. We were in a trois-some in the MTC with Soeur Kamerath. Soeur Wilson is now married, and funny enough married a guy with the last name Wilson--obviously not a relative.

Soeur Martin (on my right) lived in the same apartment as me in Luxembourg my last six weeks in the mission. I had so much fun living with her and the three other soeurs. Since she is a native French speaker, she was always so helpful with teaching us correct French. She has since married one of the elders from our mission and they have the cutest little baby.

Soeur Byrne (on the far right) served in Geneva with me for several months, though she was in the other ward. For many of you reading this, whether you know this or not, Soeur Byrne knows your birthdays. She has an amazing gift for remembering dates--it's almost creepy how good she is! :) I always wanted to set her up with my brother, but in the end, they both found their absolute perfect matches. I have a rotten matchmaking record! They are expecting their first baby in two weeks!
Unfortunately, I forgot to pull out my camera again, so I missed my other two soeur friends who came: Soeur Larsen and Soeur Nelson. I didn't get the chance to serve with either of them, though I always wanted to. Soeur Larsen came out the same time as my first baby (trainee) and so I got to hear a lot about her through Soeur Thomas. And Soeur Larsen often came to cities just as I was leaving them. I really did want to serve with both of them, but I still consider them my soeurs.

Being a sister missionary is a lot different than many of you elders' experiences. Because there are so few sisters in the entire mission, you get to know all of them very well. And at least in our mission, we had Soeurs Conference twice a year at the mission home (and no, Chris, it's not where we gave each other makeup tips, had pillow fights, or did interpretive dancing--it was much better than that!). We have a special bond, and I'm happy we can stay close even as our lives take us far apart.

Trip to the Zoo

Saturday afternoon turned into a spontaneous trip to the zoo for about 19 of our family members. Here are a few pictures of some of us (I always forget to take my camera out, so sorry to the other 15 people I didn't get pictures of).

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!