The Summer of '09

Demolition Derbies ROCK!

The Demolition Derby at the Utah County Fair, Spanish Fork. August 15th
These are pictures of the same crashes, one is mine (the up close ones cause we had front row ground seats) the other pictures are courtesy of a friend up in the stands (where we were suppose to sit).
See this year they numbered the seats, due to fire codes. The tickets they gave us we for seats that didn't exist. We were suppose to be in section I row 9 seats 28-38. Well, section I seats were numbered 1-27, the seats 28 &29 were on the stairway. The section was cut off and started back up again at seat 39. So none of us had proper seats, we were standing room only. Because of this mess up, they sent us down to the special seating area. Which was ground level front and center. It was awesome!
Being there kinda made me want to compete in these things, maybe if I can get Spencer to move to Utah, he'll help me build a car to enter into ext years, we'll see.

I've been working in my class a few days this summer, getting it ready for the upcoming school year. I've had meetings since the beginning of August, so Summer kinda ended then for me.






My Classroom's before pictures

My Classroom's after pictures,
although it's still a work in progress.
In 1 week I'm hoping to have a little more on the walls, courtesy of my students.

Drew's drive to Sante Fe. Oldest church, built in 1610.

This was the kind of stuff I wanted to do while there, but plans were changed last minute on me both weekends I went out to visit. Because my trips were cut short, both times I went out, we didn't have time to do anything fun. The one day we tried, it was raining, so again things got canceled. Someday, someday (maybe). At least he took some pictures for me. I did get some pictures of playing in the Rio Grande and the Temple, but other than that, we wet to a mall and out to eat. Drew worked most of the time I was there.




Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince premier
July 15th

KABAMM

KABAMM

The Jail I Want to be Imprisoned in

The first two are a tribute performed by 1,500 CPDRC Inmates on June 27, 2009 in memory of Michael Jackson. Completed in 10 hours after receiving word that the King of Pop passed away. May he always be remembered. The jail had a choreographer come in and help organize these dances. They performed it about 24 hours after hearing Michael died. It looks like they have fun at this prison. Apparently they have been doing these dances about every month, so this was nothing new to them. There were a ton more on Youtube, but I liked these ones the best. If you liked them, I suggest you check ou the others too.

Loved This!

To Drew

I've been sitting here
can't get you off my mind
I'm trying my best to be tough and be strong
I drove myself insane, wishing I could touch your face
But the truth remains, you're Gone

So I'll just hang around and find some things to do
To take my mind off missing you
And I know in my heart, you can't say that you don't love me too
Please say you do, yeah

I've been sitting here
can't get you off my mind
I'm trying my best to be tough and be strong
I drove myself insane, wishing I could touch your face
But the truth remains, you're Gone

Like Always

Not part of the family.

Graduation!

Well, I finally graduated! It only took about 8 years or so. The only picture I have of graduation is the group photo (thanks to those who posted them on facebook. Everyone in my family forgot a camera (thanks guys)! I did borrow a camera from a friend, so I did get some, but I just have to wait till she gets them to me (thanks Angie). So here's this picture. Other than nobody having a camera, the rest of the day wasn't too exciting (except for the neighbor's horse almost dying)

When Drew's away, Kirstin will play!

So Drew left for Maryland a couple of weeks ago and last week I went camping.
We camped in the San Rafael Swell, next to Temple Mountain. Ok right under Temple Mountain.

The sky was always changing. One minute it was snowing, then 5 minutes later it was sunny. Sometimes the sky looked like a picture or cartoon.

My parents' neighbor pulled a big trailer and put our toys inside of it. He did not get to camp till later, so we didn't ride at all on Wednesday. On Thursday we took a short trail, then went up to a mine. Kody and Michael moved a few rocks from in front of the gates, then started digging a hole under it. We squeezed under and went exploring. After 5 minutes in it, we all had a metal taste in our mouths, so we quickly turned around and left. Kelsi and Dan had found another one on the other mountain and it was much cooler, no yucky taste, and so big with several different tunnels.

On Friday we went for our long ride. One of the people camping with us wanted to hike Little Wild Horse Canyon to the Slot Canyon. They always put my father in charge of mapping out the rides, so with the hike in mind, my father planned a trip around with a stop to hike to the Slots. It was such a fun hike, and pretty too. When we got to the Slots, we couldn't hike all the way through because there were huge puddles. All of us had out rinding gear on and didn't want to get it all wet. People were hiking out of the Slots with water marks all the way up pass their knees. We stopped at the puddles and turned around. We went back to out toys, ate lunch, then continued on riding. It was a black diamond trail, hard, but so much fun (with a little scariness)! The lady who wanted to hike and ride all day complained the most. I'm not sure why, since she's the one who always wants my father to plan the ride, but she always complains the most during and afterwards. That night we went to the Goblins. It was fun! What an exhausting day!

On Saturday, before we left, we went for one more short ride. This one was around Temple Mountain and one of my favorite rides. It's so pretty when you get to the wash. We came across this shack and took a big group photo (15 people, 13 vehicles) as well as some family ones (my sister thinks that just because Drew wasn't there my mother decided to take "family" photos). We stopped at the towers and played on those (so scary). On the way back to camp, we stopped at the pictographs. Which, since the last time, several of them have been shot and you can't see them anymore. What a terrible thing to do! It was disappointing! Where there had been like 10-15 different pictographs, there were only 5 left. The canyon wall was filled with them, and now there is only a spot with them left. The ones that were left had been shot pretty bad too, but they are hanging in there. I'm sure by the time I have kids and go there, there won't be anymore left to show them.

It was a fun trip! I just wish Drew was there. I had no service, so on his birthday I had to drive out of the canyon, in the car or on a motorcycle was the only way I could get to where I had service. It was several miles away from camp and then up on a hill. There were a ton of other people on this hill making phone calls. CRAZY! I had about a 5 to 10 minute conversation with him and that was it. I was sad! He would have loved this trip! I Tom Sawyer'd some kids to finish building the fire ring I had started. He would have been proud!

DONE!

I am finished with everything for school! All I have to do now is show up on graduation day. YAY!

So Drew left early on Monday to hang out with me. He wasn't really doing much at work and Chad only wanted him to stay so he'd have someone there that spoke English. Since he didn't feel that was too important he left and we went to the zoo. Around 5 Johnny calls mad at Drew and tells him to take the week off. Drew was not to work on any Acadian job for a week. Since that's what they tell the Mexicans when they want them to go find other jobs, Drew found other jobs.

So Drew decided to go work for the one where he'd make the most money. Unfortunately that was in Maryland. He left Wednesday night. After several delays and difficulties he finally arrived in DC around 1 in the morning (Maryland time). It sounds like he's working hard out there and liking it, but I sure am bored here. I'm missing you!

Teacher Job Fair

So last week I went to a teacher job fair at University of Utah. I can say it was interesting. There were a ton of out of state schools. I interviewed with a school from Houston, Louisiana, Alaska, and a couple of Charter schools. I was only there for a couple of hours and it seemed like forever. By the last person I talked to, I don't even remember what we were saying.

It was kinda discouraging. Almost everyone I talked to about the job fair said that a lot of schools will hire right on the spot, but every school said the same thing, "We're not hiring yet. Go online fill out an application and if you see something open up, quickly click apply for job to get an interview." A long day of nothing. The only thing I found beneficial was talking to the charter schools to see if I agreed with their philosophy.

YEAH!!

One more week of Student teaching and I'm DONE!!!!!

Two more classes (college) and I'm DONE!!!

Graduation on May 1st!!!!

Just wanted to announce that.

Schools out!!!

I am way excited for school to end. for me this means... more laundry days, with Kirstin doing student teaching we didn't have much time in the evenings to do our laundry so we traded and took just Saturday, which for me has been horrible cause I get my clothes dirty way fast and I hate sitting home ALL day Saturday. we want to move from our current place of residence preferably somewhere I can stand up straight in the shower. and more four wheeling yeah!
Kirstin found out she would make about 10k more a year if she taught out of state so she really wants Louisiana, I think it would be awesome there but I would prefer Alaska, there they need teachers in Anchorage and a town called Barrow, iIsuggest you look it up, it is above the Artic Circle how sweet is that. There was also a school in Houston that was worth going to.

Cars: This last little bit has not been to kind on our cars, Kirstin's had a pulley seize which made it think it was a bunny, it had a little bit of a hop as it drove. then mine decided that it will only use high gears in the cold so my top speed on a regular day is 50 mph, so if you get stuck behind me just go around. I promise to stay in the slow lane. Ryan and I tried fixing it, we thought it was from some wires that came lose and melted together on the exhaust, but it wasn't. At least we had a good time doing it.

and that is that

Scare

There wasn't much going on since my last post until Thursday.

Thursday morning I had to drive Drew to work. He had to be at the office at 7. I have to be in Payson between 8:15 and 8:30. As I was going south from Lehi, I noticed if I went home I would only be there for about 5 minutes before I would have to leave, so I thought there was no point in getting off and kept driving. I got to school at 7:45ish and nobody was there. Since my parents house is 8 minutes away and my mother has to make breakfast every morning for my uncle who was staying there, I decided to go up there and mooch some food. My mom came down the stairs and told me that they took my Papa to the hospital in the middle of the night. (He's been fighting cancer for several years, and he has been in Carson City the last few weeks going through treatments). After she told me what had happened I had to leave for school, but she had said that everything was fine, so I didn't think about it again.

Some time between 1 and 2 the secretary at the school came down to my room and said I had a phone call from my mom and it was a family emergency, I needed to call her back immediately. I was a little confused at first, then remembered my Papa being in the hospital. I called my mother and she said that my Papa was sick and my family was leaving as soon as my uncle Micah got to her house. My uncle lives in Ogden, so I knew I had about 2 hours before they left if I decided I could go.

I walked back to the classroom and my teacher stopped her lesson for a minute to ask me what was going on. I told her that my Papa had gone into the hospital last night and they didn't think he would live through the weekend. I had told her that my family was leaving in about 2 hours to go to Carson City and if it was okay that I was gone Friday. She (of course) said yes and I took off.

I had about 2 hours to get to Orem, pack, then get back to my parents house. By the time I got home I realized that my uncle would be passing through Orem. I called him and he said he would meet me at the park 'n' ride. I had 10 minutes to pack and I forgot stuff.

When we got to my parent's house, my grandma had called back and said my Papa was doing better and would be better, but he was depressed. He believed we were going there, cause my uncle Randy hadn't had his birthday and he wanted it. (oh, if you didn't know, my uncle has down syndrome)

My Papa had fallen out of bed and was on pain killers. He was nascious and throwing up from the pain, so my grandma had given him a second dose of pain meds (doctors ok'd). Later that night he was in such bad shape and scaring my grandma she called for an ambulance. When he got to the hospital, they noticed he had cancer and thought he was in pain from that.

The doctors there had told my grandma that he needed to be comfortable in his last days. They asked her how close family lived and if they could get there by the weekend, cause he was in pain and they should euthanize him sooner than later so he wouldn't be in pain. They pumped him full of morphine (which slows down your heart and eventually kills you if you keep it in your system constantly like they were doing to him and at the high doses they were pumping into him).

That's when we got the call to come out. A few hours later, my grandma calls us saying she called my Papa's doctor to tell him what was going on and ask him about it. (My Papa was driving 10 hours to Carson City 2 weeks ago and now he's dying in pain from his cancer?) His doctor said "STOP the pain meds! it can't be the cancer in his bones that's causing him pain. It wouldn't come on that quickly. We need to pin point where the pain is so we can treat it and not sit and wait for him to die, which is what's happening now if they continue to do what they are doing."

My grandma stopped the morphine and the doctors and nurses were mad, thinking my grandma was being mean, making her husband be in pain in his last days. When the drugs finally wore off, my Papa was able to tell my grandma where he was in pain, and when it hurt. It only hurt if you touched his shoulder or hip, or if he moved them. If it were the cancer in his bones (like the hospital thought) then he would be in pain continuously, not just when he did certain things. Then my grandma remembered that he fell on them about a week ago. She ordered x-rays and explained to the hospital what had happened. They finally believed her (a little) and let off on the euthanization.

By the time we showed up he was doing 100% better. The thing that was really wrong with him was . . . he was dehydrated and had no potassium in his system. That's it! The people at the hospital wanted to kill him because they assumed it was the cancer, but he is completely fine in the cancer department. Once they got him re-hydrated and filled with potassium he was back to his normal self.

One thing I learned from this experience is to do your homework before agreeing to anything at the hospital. The doctors there do not know their patients and don't know the WHOLE story and assume the worst. The nurses there just want to make their patients feel comfortable. Example: the nurse came in and asked my Papa how was his pain level on a scale of 1-10, 10 being the most pain, 1 being no pain at all. My Papa said a 2. We were all thinking "A two? Awesome!" The nurse then said, lets get you some pain medication. My grandma jumped up and said "NO WAY! GET OUT!" They are crazy there!

Oh my Papa's x-rays came out great, no fractures or broken bones, just very, very badly bruised. So the nurses all know this, yet they still yank him around and twist his hips, which causes more pain than ever for him and he throws up. When he throws up, they don't want to release him, because they think he will get dehydrated again.

He was suppose to be released today, but the mean, fat, bitchy nurse threw him onto his bad and just grabbed his feet and twisted him around. Then he threw up. She's not on at all today or tomorrow, so hopefully he will be going home tomorrow. The doctor already gave him the ok this evening, they just have to wait till a hospital bed gets delivered into his house. That happens tomorrow morning.

Anyways, I know it was a long post and most of you won't read it, but I thought I'd write about the scary excitement we had this weekend.

Stuff

So my student teaching is going great. I've started taking over everything except Math and Science (which is fine by me). I have four spelling groups, they use Words Their Way. Which I am really liking now that I know a little more about it. (Peterson sucked!) I have 5 reading groups, which are reading some great, but sad books. The books we are reading now are The Captive, Old Yeller, Ralph S. Mouse, Mouse and the Motorcycle, and Shiloh.

I have taken over writing, which is my favorite subject, but these kids hate it! My teacher has hardly done anything with writing all year long because she knows they don't do it or like it. I'm having a hard time teaching writing since we didn't get that great of instruction on it. Next week we are working on persuasive writing. I'm thinking of making them persuade me into not making them hand write their assignments. I'm not sure though. I need some ideas on what to make them write about. It's hard for me becuse I love writing I don't know how to get someone to like doing it.

I'm not looking forward to taking over Math. They are working on fractions and I hate fractions. When I take over I'll be teaching adding, subtracting, and multiplying them. YUCK! It's going to be soooo hard teaching some of these students the concepts involved with fractions. Some of my students don't even know how to multiply and divide simple numbers. How do you teach tougher concepts if they don't comprehend the easier ones?

For Social Studies we just finished up our Wax Museum reports. They did so well on them! I LOVE the Wax Museum. Now we are working on Bio-Cubes on the Presidents. So far every student has picked a President, read about them, and filled out a blank Bio-Cube. This way on Tuesday when we go into the computer lab, the students can just go online and quickly type their info in. THey are excited about sharing their President, but don't want to write out the things about them. It's frustrating!

Other than student teaching I'm not up to much.

us

so life here is good. the holidays were "shocking." kirstin is doing her student teaching now so she is very busy. i got banned from the forklift at work. forcing me to get out and work more , but it has its pluses; i get to work with people that speak english fluetly, and i get to get into shape a little incase i get to go to hawaii at all in march