Dancing in the Rain

Summer!

2010-06-07T23:59:00.002-06:00

Here's my latest project. I got the flu in the middle of working on it with my mom so she finished it for me which was sweet of her! It's also the first time I've modge podged scrapbook paper onto the letters which was tricky but I like them. The S and M are scrapbook paper.

Summer projects!

2010-05-25T00:32:00.004-06:00

My Summer cube is by far my favorite one I've done so far! I think because of the bright colors. I also made two mini cubes for my mom and one for my Grams they turned out cute too!!!

The pink polka dots are my favorite...I'm sure you couldn't have guessed that!

This is my frame for Spring and Summer. My grandma helped me out by painting the caterpillar and my mom helped me out with the bee! We make a great team!

Spring crafts!

2010-04-21T23:21:00.004-06:00

Here's my new fun crafts for Spring!

This is my favorite word I've done so far. The flower is my favorite part with the jewels on the flower and the pot that I modge podged.

Then my cube for my coffee table which also turned out super cute after much stressing and searching for the perfect paper!!!!

2010-03-30T22:55:00.000-06:00

Crafting

2010-03-22T00:45:00.007-06:00

Alright my goal is to keep up with this better seeing as I have been MIA for the last 9 months.

The last 9 months I have spent a lot of time decorating my house. I love it and that may very well be my favorite part of having my own house (sad I know). My newest hobby though is making crafts for my house. My favorite thing to decorate each month is my mantle and I've had fun picking out big wooden letters to spell out a word for each holiday and candles to go on the sides. The words get rather expensive, so recently while my mom and I were trying to find a luck that I liked (I was being my normal picky self and not liking anything) we decided to make our own and forget the $40 a shot. We bought the letters for luck for March and my mom painted it for me. It's adorable and turned out like 100 times cuter than the one at the store anyways and for less than half the price.

So for Easter we went back and bought hops! This time I did it all on my own! I love it!

Then my best friend Carrie and I fell in love with these cute cubes we found on a vinyl website that we buy stuff from. So we decided to make one for each holiday and have craft night once a month together. Our first one is Easter and I think they turned out adorable!!! It is such a fun thing to have sitting on my coffee table too! Both pictures are of the same cube I just flipped it so you could see the other sides of it.

Philly...I know about time right!

2009-06-24T16:32:00.019-06:00

Day 4
We woke up in New Jersey that morning and headed off for Philly for the day! We drove through Connecticut and then finally ended up in Philly. Philly was icy cold but pretty cool to see. We went to the museum where Rocky did his triumphant run up the stairs with that famous music playing. Then we walked down the street and saw several fountains. We stopped for hot chocolate at TGIF's. Worst service ever and there was only 1 other table of people in the whole restaurant ...I can't believe how non existent customer service is in the East. Our server ignored us most of the time and when we asked for the check he actually said that he would bring it when he got around to it...and he definitely didn't do it before then either it took like 15 minutes. Then we went to Pen's Landing and saw the bridge and then headed back to New Jersey because we had to get back to Boston that night. On our way we stopped for dinner in an Indian town. Everything in this town was Indian. The clothing stores sold Indian style clothing, the grocery stores sold Indian food, the restaurants were authentic Indian food, and everybody in the town (besides me) was Indian. I have never felt that out of place in my life it was crazy. Anyways they treated me to authentic Indian food that night. I have to say it wasn't my favorite but it was better then I expected. Most of it is very spicy which isn't my favorite thing anyways. Then we were off to Boston. It took us several hours and we didn't get back to Boston til about 12 or 1 in the morning. We crashed for about 2 hours because we had to leave at 4:30 that morning for the airport because my flight left at 6.

Day 5
I was running on seriously 1 maybe 2 hours of sleep. I caught a flight from Boston to New York and then flew from New York home. The flight from Boston was really cool. There were only about 15 people on the whole plane so I had an entire row to myself. I scooted over to the window and watched as we flew over New York and got to watch the sunrise for the most part from the plane. When we landed in New York we didn't pull up to the terminal. They lowered the stairs and we climbed down and then caught a shuttle to the terminal which was kind of fun seeing as that never happens. The flight home from New York I tried to get some sleep but between the crying baby in front of me and the old guy who kept pulling my hair and kicking me behind me I slept very very little. When I got home I was so excited to be home and to see my mountains. My sister in law and nieces picked me up which made it even funner.

Here are some pics from Philly

Riding the bull in front of the art museum

Bhavna and me

Posing like Rocky!

The city of brotherly love!

And sisterly love maybe?

We make great Vanna's don't we?

Saharsh, Bhavna, Me, Pradeep

It was super windy!

The city

Penn's Landing with the bridge behind me

Boston Trip - Part 2

2009-06-02T21:56:00.003-06:00

Alright so it only took me 3 weeks to get back to this...but here goes....

Day 3
We got up and headed off for New York on Monday morning. We being Saharsh, his roommate Hemant, and of course me! We went through Connecticut on our way and stopped to getting some breakfast....we tried finding a Denny's but the gps led us to a little old house so we gave up and settled for Burger King for breakfast.
New York was amazing...I can't even put it into words I was awestruck at how big and busy it was. We drove through New York and to New Jersey to pick up their friend Pradeep from his apartment. He was our official tour guide of the city.
First off we rode the subway from New Jersey to New York. The subway was kind of interesting seeing as you see it in all the movies. I am not a huge fan of it...it was musty and humid down there...it may have been cause it was a rainy day I don't know. The subway let us off at the World Trade Center so we got to see them working on building the new one. It was raining so we broke out our umbrellas and took off. Our first stop was Wall Street, the New York Stock Exchange, and the bull.
Our next stop was out to look across at the Statue of Liberty. With the rain and only one day to see the whole city we didn't go across to the island to see it though. By this time we were completely soaked so we stopped at a restaurant on the pier and ate lunch. Then we were off for more fun.
Then we went to Rockefeller center which is NBC headquarters. We were able to explore that and then Saharash and I went to the top of the Rock to see the view of the city. We were on top of a 70 story building which was pretty cool. We didn't get to see as much as we could have because of the fog but it was still worth the money to go see the view. We also timed it perfect we got up their just before sunset. So we got to see the city in the daylight (well as much daylight as you can get on a rainy day) and then watch as the city started lighting up.
We spent quite a while up there and then headed off to Times Square to meet up with Pradeep and Hemant again. We went to Hard Rock Cafe for a break and to grab drinks and of course to explore it. We went and explored Times Square and of course I made them stop so I could do some souvenir shopping. By this time we were pretty much exhausted so we headed off to catch the subway back to New Jersey.
We spent the night at Pradeeps apartment. It was pretty cool he gave up his bed for me so I got to fall asleep looking out the window at the view of the city...I thought it was a pretty cool view to fall asleep too seeing as I'm used to my view of the mountains.
I have 5 million pictures from New York...so I narrowed it down to my favorites and still had a ton...so I put them in a slideshow instead so here it is....

Boston Trip - Part 1

2009-05-17T23:07:00.012-06:00

Alright I haven't posted in FOREVER!!!! During that time I went to Boston and New York for a few days for Spring Break and to see my friend Saharsh. So here is the blog from that seeing as I keep putting it off and it's only been over a month now since I got back.

Day 1 - April 4
I caught my plane and spent most the day in the air. I left Salt Lake at 9:30 in the morning and landed in Boston at 4:30. I was a little nervous about flying and especially by myself because it had been 9 years ago to the month since I had flown. However I got on the flight just fine and sat by a cute old couple from Boston who told me things to do and see in Boston and the cute old guy reassured me every time we hit turbulence that we would be fine. Saharsh and his roommate Hemant picked me up at the airport in Boston and off we went for our adventure. We went back to their place in Ashland about a half hour from Boston. Then we got ready and went out for dinner at a little Mexican food place kind of like Cafe Rio. Then we went Salsa dancing with one of their friends Rupal. I was not looking forward to it but ended up having a total blast...who knew Salsa dancing was so fun it was a pretty good work out too! After dancing we went out to eat...I was totally amazed that restraunts were still open at 3 in the morning and that there were people everywhere...the city was still as awake as ever. We got home super late that night it was like 4.

The four of us! Dancing with Hemant

Dancing with Saharsh

Day 2
We slept in the next mornign after our super late night the night before. Saharsh and I went drove into Boston and took the duck tours around the city. The duck tours apparently are pretty famous and popular in Boston. They are some kind of vehicle that drives you all over town showing you all the sights and then drives right into the river and becomes a boat and you get to see all the sights from the river. It was a pretty cool way to see all the sights in Boston. I didn't get many pictures because for some reason my camera's battery decided not to last long. Afterwards we went and ate lunch at the Cheers restraunt and then went and got ice cream at J.P. Licks...it was the best ice cream I've ever had. It's a lot like Cold Stone and I got Oreo Cake Batter...it was to die for! Then we went and wandered around Harvard and then met up with a bunch of his friends for dinner. It was a fun filled busy day and I was exhausted by the time we got home that night. I didn't realize this would be a normal thing for this trip and by the time we got home each night I'd barely be able to hold my eyes open.

From the boat on the duck tour

The bridge from our boat

At Harvard...it was very cool and lots of old buildings!

Winnie the Pooh qoute

2009-03-23T23:58:00.002-06:00

Today was a day that I needed a good smile from Winnie the Pooh to get through the rain and snow so I pulled out Pooh's Little Instruction Book and this one made me smile: "When trying to ignore a knock at your door, don't yell out "No!" When someone asks, "Is anybody at home?"

My new cute bags!!!

2009-03-23T23:29:00.005-06:00

I am very blessed this year to have very involved parents in my class. I have a few moms who volunteer once a week and it is such a great help. I also have mom's who are supportive and it makes such a big difference. My little Madison's mom is super sweet and even offered to make me a cute purse...she ended up making me a purse with a matching bag that I use as my teacher bag now. If you know me you know my colors are black and pink so of course they're adorable and black and pink...plus I'm obsessed with everything matching...so having a matching purse and teacher bag is awesome! They are super cute and I love all the compliments I get on them! !

Disney on Ice

2009-03-22T22:29:00.002-06:00

So I've decided that I need to start a new tradition. I will hopefully be moving out soon and so I probably won't be seeing my nieces as much as I do now with them living across the street from me. So I decided I need to do date nights with them every once in a while. We had our first official Kenzie Ally date night last week. MaryJane is still a little young for them at 2 months but her day will come.
I bought Disney on Ice tickets and took her. The week before I told her about it and gave her a Minnie and Daisy shirt to wear when we went. She was so excited and talked about it non stop for a week every time I saw her. We both wore our Minnie ears from the last time we went and we headed off to the Arena. She was so excited that the whole drive she talked a mile a minute asking if we were at Disney on Ice yet.
She was glued to the show the whole time and loved it. They had Mickey, Minnie, Daisy, and Donald and they were going on trips to the four different shows. The first one was Little Mermaid which Ally loves. Then they did Lilo and Stitch, she doesn't know this one very well and it wasn't as exciting but the music was fun so we were grooving to it in our chairs. Next was Peter Pan which she loved with TinkerBell, the crocodile (I said look it's an alligator and she yelled I'm an Alligator too because I call her my Ally Gator), and Wendy and her brothers flying. Then Lion King which was also a lot of fun.
Our favorite parts were when Wendy and her brothers flew and of course when the big crocodile came out and ate Captain Hook.
Afterwards of course they have tons of overpriced stuff to buy. She wanted a stuffed flounder but it was way overpriced so I talked her into getting ice cream instead. We were just about to the door to leave when she turned to me and said, "Kenzie I have a credit card in my purse that I can buy a Flounder with" I laughed and talked her into just ice cream again.
We stopped and got ice cream on our way home and even got some for Grandpa and Grandma then we went home and had a sleep over! It was a ton of fun and I cant wait for our next Kenzie Ally date night!

More pink stuff!!!

2009-03-04T21:57:00.002-07:00

I am addicted to pink and everything pink! Here's the newest thing I just bought tonight. I got a killer deal and with my trip to Boston only a month away I figured I could put it to good use right away!

Newest pink thing!

2009-02-26T00:13:00.003-07:00

Alright here's the newest addition to my family of pink stuff! I love my new camera it is much faster and clearer then my old one!

This ones for my students!!!

2009-02-25T23:45:00.005-07:00

This year has been a tough year in school. I have a large group of my kids this year that are exceptionally hard and I have so many behavior problems that I sometimes question what I'm doing there and I just want to scream. I am completely exhausted all the time and wouldn't function without my Diet Coke. I know I complain a lot but I really do love them and I love my job.

Today as I was walking them out I had an ah ha moment and realized how much each of them means to me and how much I'm going to miss them in a few more months. They are mine even with their problems and I wouldn't trade them (well maybe a few of them). I have the cutest and sweetest girls who are so willing to help. My little Kimi, Madison, Lynzee, and Keisha are the 4 sweetest girls ever and always make me smile. Kimi and Madison always hide and come back for an extra hug at the end of the day and then try to make my hand numb with high fives. Then there's my Brianna who draws me a picture almost daily of me in the exact outfit I'm wearing that day. Then I have my boys Blaze, Darin, and Bridger who give me constant hugs and won't let go at the end of the day. My Ryan who always picks BYU as the magic word for the day when it's his turn because he knows I hate even saying it. My little Tanner who tries harder then anyone I know. My Kyle who tells me at least 2 or 3 times daily that I'm the best teacher ever. My Cayden who just has a way of making me laugh. My Maddie who wants to share every detail of her life with me.

So just so everybody knows I love them to death despite the complaining and they mean the world to me!

Winter blahs!

2009-02-16T23:19:00.002-07:00

So I hate Winter...big time. I get really depressed and kind of mean this time of year. So I have to find things to look forward to and count down to in order to stay happy so here are a few things to keep me going.

1. Spring is in 32 days! March 20th
2. Fablehaven book 4 comes out in 35 days! March 24th
3. There are 74 days of school left until summer vacation!
4. Spring break is in 46 days and I'm off to Boston and New York! April 4th

So here are my countdowns to those 4 days and maybe somehow they will get me through this cold weather and snowy days without wanting to hurl myself off a cliff!

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An Aunt Times Two

2009-02-07T02:31:00.003-07:00

Alright so I haven't blogged in ages...for some reason every time I think about it I can't think of anything I'd rather do less. That must mean my life is boring!

A lot has gone on since the last blog. First I have to say GO UTES!!!! Ha ha...you should have known that was coming.

But my favorite happening of the past few months is my new adorable niece. I now have the two cutest nieces ever! MaryJane was born on January 21st, weighed 7 lbs. 6 oz. and was 20.5 inches long. I can't wait til I have two nieces old enough to take shopping with me and do lots of fun stuff with. So as the proud aunt here are some pictures of my newest cutie pie and of course some of my favorite 3 year old!

GO UTES!!!

2008-11-22T12:41:00.001-07:00

So here's to all those BYU fans who are so full of themselves and are so rude about it all! GO UTES!!!

Me in a nutshell

2008-11-09T22:22:00.002-07:00

So here's what I'm thinking, feeling,wanting, hating lately....

I'm annoyed by.... Sony and my computer
I'm bored with.... My dating life
I'm concerned with... Parent teacher conferences this week
I'm depressed by... The cold weather
I'm enjoying... Spending so much time with my niece
I'm frustrated with... My computer at school and our computer tech
I'm grateful for... So many things but mostly my family
I'm happy about... My kids are finally learning to behave (most days)
I'm impressed with... The Utes and how well they are doing this season
I'm jealous of... Anybody who is somewhere warm right now
I'm kind of.... lonely
I'm in love with... My niece
I'm mad about... That a certain selfish idiot has influenced so many people that I care about
I'm nervous about... A couple of my conferences this week
I'm optomistic about... The future
I'm pissed about.... My computer and that I have to give it up for a month...grrr
I'm questioning... What to get everybody for Christmas
I'm relaxed by... Lately hot chocolate and a good book or a good movie
I'm stressed about... Being in charge of Student council and starting my masters
I'm thinking about... Tomorrow and how much I have to do!
I'm unhappy about... The cold weather
I'm vexed by... My students and how helpless they act and how they never try they just complain and whine about everything
I'm wondering... If there are any good guys out there
I'm eXcited for... Disney on Ice on Thursday, Christmas,and the new niece
I'm saying yes to... going Christmas shopping this week
I'm zany because.... I have way too much to do and not enough time to do it all in

Yippee!!!

2008-11-04T20:09:00.003-07:00

So as many of you know we were doing a bag drive at my school in October. Wal*Mart gives our school $5 for every garbage bag full of plastic bags...now these aren't small garbage bags these are garbage bags bigger then me. Anyways my class worked their little tails off hauling in bags all month and then spending recesses in fluffing up the bags so that we could get more bags full. Anyways on the 30th we had 33 bags full and the next class behind us had 16 bags...so basically we had it in the bag (no pun intended). Then one of the parents called and made the lady over the whole thing go pick up 26 garbage bags full of bags on the 31st. So we technically lost...except that the contest was supposed to have ended on the 30th and they didn't even haul their bags in. So here my little darlings worked their tails off just to get beat by a class that didn't do anything. In other words I was upset (yes I am a little protective of my little darlings). Anyways today when I got to school they had brought has donuts for the donut party we were supposed to have won. It made the whole thing much better! So congrats to my kidos for all their hard work...they truly earned those donuts and totally deserved them!

Venting!

2008-11-04T20:04:00.002-07:00

As you are starting to do your Christmas shopping may I just recommend not buying any Sony products. Don't get me wrong I totally love my cute pink Sony Vaio...but what a pain to try and get the dumb screen that keeps turning red while I'm writing this fixed, even though it is under warranty still. It took me 3 hours on the stupid phone with them and yet they are still going to have my computer for a month and won't even guarantee that it will be fixed at the end of that month. When I first talked to them they told me they would come to my house and fix it just to fax in my receipt...then when I called back they told me to send it to California for a month. They were impossible to try to talk to and get information out of not to mention rude and they couldn't even speak English...seriously annoying! So Sony you just lost a customer.

Field Trip Fun!!!

2008-10-21T23:16:00.002-06:00

Last Wednesday our class went to Red Butte Gardens for our field trip. We learned about plants and animals and the plant life cycle. It was a gorgeous day and we had a lot of fun. From playing games on the bus to walking around the garden exploring and playing at the park while we ate lunch...it was a great day! Here's a few pics I snapped of my cutie pie kids!

Bad Omens

2008-10-12T15:29:00.005-06:00

So if you know me very well you know I hate the cold. Which means I hate snow and winter. So it's not even the middle of October and I've already woke up two mornings to snow on the ground. I am thinking this is a bad omen of things to come. I am already ready for summer. I'm trying to remind myself of the few good things that winter brings...like hot chocolate (I've had 4 cups in the last two days trying to stay warm), Christmas, Christmas lights, and warm blankets and hoodies. Anyways I'm already wishing for Summer to come fast. So here's my countdown to warm sunny days full of flip flops, shorts, ice cream, and lots of sunshine!

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Donors Choose

2008-09-30T01:16:00.004-06:00

I have a proposal on Donors Choose for supplies for my classroom. I am trying to get supplies to do a writing workshop to improve my kids reading and writing skills. I have already been funded for part of it and now just need to get funded for the rest. So if you know of anybody looking for something to donate to send them here. It's tax deductible and is a great website for teachers that sets them up with donors for classroom projects. Here's the link and thanks for your help!

http://www.donorschoose.org/donors/proposal.html?id=206694

Another niece!

2008-09-15T01:33:00.001-06:00

That's right I'm having another niece! She's due the end of January!!! I'm excited to have another little niece to play with and take shopping with me and spoil rotten!

Labor Day weekend!

2008-09-11T00:41:00.006-06:00

To finish the summer we went up to our cabin in the mountains by Kamas for the weekend! It was a much needed break after a rough first week of school! My parents and I left early Saturday morning and started the weekend off by making a stop at Swiss Days in Midway. If you know my mom and I we love crafts and to decorate...so of course we love places like Swiss Days. We got some Christmas presents for Ally, we each bought a big magnet board, and a few other things. Then we bought some nice big yummy scones and headed out. We went straight up to the cabin where Grandpa and Grandma and Jeff, Julie, and Kelsey were already having fun. It was so nice to just relax and I got quite a bit of work done and was also able to do some reading and painting and we got to enjoy a little wild life (a moose and some birds and chipmunks). Saturday was a beautiful day and Sunday was pretty nice until Sunday evening. Sunday evening it started poring and pored most of the night. We woke up Monday morning, Labor Day, to more rain which quickly turned to hail, which then quickly turned to snow! I of course hate snow so wasn't thrilled for this. We packed up and headed down the muddy canyon road. We had to load the fourwheelers in the snow and almost got stuck in the drive way. But because we left earlier then planned we did get to stop at the outlet stores on our way home where I bought 2 sweaters and 2 pairs of sunglasses. It was a really fun weekend despite the snow!
The magnet board I bought!

Quick summary of the rest of my summer!

2008-09-10T21:43:00.004-06:00

Ok so I decided I am just going to sum up the rest of my summer in one more blog and then I can stay caught up with what's going on now!

I went shooting with my friend Sevy and all of his guns several times this summer. We go up to a shooting range in Avalon and it's a ton of fun.

In August I went to the Emerson Drive concert at the Salt Lake County fair with Kasi. We ended up getting to stand about a foot away from the stage so we were way close and it was a ton of fun. Well except for the fight I got in with a 40 something drunk lesbian (that's a whole blog in it's own so ask if you want to know that story).

Another highlight of my summer was all the fireworks which is one of my favorite things about July. We watched Riverdale's fireworks on the 4th and then the Weber state fireworks of course and for the 24th we were at Bear Lake so we just watched some that people were setting off from the beach.

Here's some pics from the rest of the summer...

Bear Lake

2008-09-08T22:18:00.004-06:00

Ok I'm going to kill 3 birds with one blog and combine all 3 trips (one each month) to Bear Lake. I'm also including a slide show from each trip cause I have a ton of pictures from all 3 trips!

In June we went up to our cabin with the family. My Mom and Dad, Grandparents, Brother and Sister and Ally, and Uncle and cousins Dallin, Landon, and Creed and his fiance Ashton all went. We had fun flying the kite, soaking in the sun, riding the jet skis, and just relaxing.

In July we got to go over the 24th so we left Thursday morning and got to stay until Sunday. It was a blast! This time it was my grandparents, my parents, Stacie and me, and my cousin and his two very cute friends Schafer and Alex. We had an absolute blast flirting with the cute boys, soaking in the rays, riding the jet skis and getting thrown off of them, watching movies til all hours of the night, playing in the sand, and of course getting our butts kicked at badminton by the boys cause we were a little too busy staring and flirting to actually play.

Then we got one last trip up there the weekend before school started in August. This time it was my grandparents, parents, me, My brother and his family, and my uncle and 3 cousins, and then my other cousin and his fiance. Again we had fun relaxing, playing, swimming, and of course soaking in the rays...one last dose of summer fun before it was time to go back to the real world.

Catch up!

2008-09-08T21:45:00.006-06:00

Alright so I have sucked at blogging lately...and I've actually had a lot to blog about just been busy and made this my last priority. So seeing as I have had a request to update my blog my goal is to do a blog everyday of what I've done this summer and catch it up (but don't be surprised if you only get it every other day)! So for starters to end summer school the 2nd week of July we took the kids on a field trip to Swan Lakes where we got to play a round of mini golf and hit at the batting cages! It was a blast! A lot of these kids are so poor that they have never been to batting cages or mini golfing. As a matter of fact this was actually the first time I've ever been in a batting cage...I've watched before but never hit. It was fun I was the only teacher who would do it and the kids loved it...they were cheering me on even the 5th and 6th graders were into it. And amazingly I only missed about 2 of my balls so it was fun! Here's some pictures from a really fun day...I forgot my camera that day of all times so they are from my phone so not the best but oh well still cute!

Living Planet Aquarium

2008-07-01T19:03:00.003-06:00

I'm a little late on this one but two weeks ago tomorrow our summer school classes got to go out to Sandy for a field trip to the Living Planet Aquarium. It was so much fun! We got to see tons of different sea animals and we got to pet Sting Rays (without their stingers anymore of course), sea cucumbers, and sea urchins. We also learned about the largest animal to ever live on earth...the blue whale...it was very interesting! I would recommend visiting the aquarium if you haven't already. It's well worth the trip!

Pink addiction!

2008-06-27T17:06:00.003-06:00

So here's my new addition to my pink addiction! I know I am totally out of control when I go buy a new bag just cause the pink one is cuter then the old bag I had! I'm off to Bear Lake so I get to try it out...and I am sure nobody in my family will have any question as to whose bag it is!

All Mine!

2008-06-23T00:55:00.003-06:00

So this coming Saturday marks the 2 year mark from when I bought my car! My goal was to pay off my car by the 2 year mark! Well guess what as of this past Friday I officially own my car! That means I am officially out of debt for the time being! Yay!

Quote of the Day!

2008-06-12T16:41:00.001-06:00

Did you ever stop to think, and forget to start again?
--Winnie the Pooh--

Over Her Dead Body

2008-06-09T02:03:00.004-06:00

I rented a super cute movie this weekend that will probably go on my list of favorites. Over Her Dead Body is super cute but still funny and kind of sad at the same time. Eva Longoria is awesome as usual and Paul Rudd is major cute! There are a few parts that were kind of corny like how she died (I'm not telling you how cause I don't want to ruin it but you can kind of see it coming)...but it was still cute and I would definitely recommend watching it. I am going to have to add it to my movie collection soon! The plot is that Kate (Eva Longoria) dies and she doesn't want her boyfriend Henry(Paul Rudd) to move on so she sabotages it from the other side.

Winnie the Pooh Quote of the Day

2008-06-07T21:25:00.000-06:00

Winnie the Pooh

2008-06-06T01:01:00.003-06:00

So I totally love Winnie the Pooh! I just bought a book of Winnie the Pooh quotes called "Pooh's Little Instruction Book" that is full of cute Winnie the Pooh quotes...so you'll probably be seeing lots of quotes of the day by Winnie the Pooh on here in the near future.

Here's the first one of what I'm sure will be many:

"You can't help respecting anybody who can spell TUESDAY, even if he doesn't spell it right; but spelling isn't everything. There are days when spelling Tuesday simply doesn't count.”

Pool Shark...not!

2008-06-06T00:42:00.006-06:00

So on Saturday night I proved very well that I am definitely no pool shark...try like the total opposite and you'll almost have as bad as I am at pool! It was still a blast though so here's some pictures from CV's phone! Thanks Blake for trying to teach me how to play and for letting me be on your team...I did improve I just still suck

This one's for my students! =)

2008-06-04T00:27:00.004-06:00

So last week was bittersweet! I was looking forward to it being over cause I have been burned out and ready for a break for several weeks, not to mention my kids had totally forgot how to behave and a few of them had turned into little brats! Anyways come Tuesday, after a nice long weekend, I was really glad to be back in the classroom (sometimes it's hard to be there but I miss it so much when I'm away). I got there in the morning excited to see my kids and found out we were the only 2nd grade class that had mad improvement on our end of level testing from last year. My kids scores on average had gone up 2% from the year before. So we got to go out in the back of our school and play on the big blow up toys for an hour and then we got popsicles. It was a lot of fun and I was so proud of my kids.

Friday was an exciting day to be done and to be able to have a break....but it was also a very hard day. I did fine until I was walking my kids out. Everyday I walk them to the front of the school and they give me hugs or high fives. Knowing this was my final time I had them and that this would be my last high five or hug was so hard...I started crying with the first hug and just cried harder and harder as each one gave me a hug goodbye. Several of my kids are moving to different schools and so I knew I probably wouldn't see them again which was very hard! I walked down to my class and sat and cried for a few minutes and then had to pull myself together to go to our luncheon. My students were a huge part of my life and I'm sure next years will be too but for now I feel like a part of me is missing!

It's amazing how much of your life your students become...but when you consider you spend over 30 hours with them each week I guess it makes sense. I have loved getting to know them and their cute little personalities and little quirks. Even my tough kids have become a huge part of me. My hardest student, I am realizing is one of the students I miss the most. She has taught me a lot this year and we have grown and figured out each other together. I will never forget these cute kids...this being my first year I think I counted on them to help me out a lot...and they have been so patient with me as I figure out what I'm doing and as I switch things around and screw things up. I will miss their hugs and their cute stories and funny comments...they really have had such an impact on my life this year and have kept me smiling and laughing even when I am so tired and worn out I feel like I could just curl up and die.

So in ending this is to my adorable students who I will miss so much! I had the cutest little girls this year who always tell me how cute I look, who always want to help me, and who are always drawing me pictures and writing me letters. And to my boys who kept me laughing and kept me on my toes. I had some boys who would say the funniest things that I would try to get mad at them for talking when they shouldn't be but instead I would just start laughing because what they had said was so funny!

Real Game!

2008-04-13T12:18:00.004-06:00

We went to the Real soccer game last night! It was so much fun! We played DC United and won 4 to 0. It was an awesome game despite some terrible reffing. Go Real!

A-Z tag!

2008-04-11T20:34:00.002-06:00

A- ATTACHED OR SINGLE: Single as can be
B- BEST FRIEND: Kristen, Kevin
C- CAKE OR PIE: cake...chocolate
D- DAY OF CHOICE: Friday
E- ESSENTIAL ITEM: cell phone
F- FAVORITE COLOR: pink
G- GREATEST ACCOMPLISHMENT: Graduated from college
H- HOMETOWN: Farmington, Utah
I- INDULGENCES: shopping
J- JANUARY OR JULY: July hands down...January is my least favorite month
K- KIDS: someday
L- LIFE IS INCOMPLETE WITHOUT: Family and Friends
M- MARRIAGE DATE: uknown
N- NUMBER OF SIBLINGS: 1
O- ORANGES OR APPLES: apples
P- PHOBIAS OR FEARS: Claustrophobic
Q- QUOTES: "Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass...it's about getting out there and dancing in the rain!"
R- REASON TO SMILE: signs of spring, my students
S- SEASON: Summer
T- TAG FIVE FRIENDS: Anybody who reads this
U- UNKNOWN FACT ABOUT ME: I am allergic to fresh fruits and veggies
V- VERY FAVORITE STORE: Kohl's and Aero
W- WORST HABIT: Being shy and insecure about talking to guys
X- X-RAY OR ULTRASOUND: Never had either but I don't want to be pregnant so probably an x-ray
Y- YOUR FAVORITE FOOD: poppyseed chicken, and chocolate
Z- ZODIAC: Taurus, the stubborn bull, and yes I can be pretty stubborn

It all started with barbie!

2008-04-10T00:54:00.004-06:00

So I think I finally found how my addiction to clothes all began.

After I got home from a shopping trip tonight with several new outfits I don't need, a friend asked me if I played with dressable barbies when I was young. My response was "oh yeah all the time! You should have seen it my barbies had 3 suitcases full of clothes, me and my cousin were always changing their clothes..." Ding ding ding...and that is where my addiction bloomed.

My barbies had 15 outfits for every occasion...somehow I think I got it ingrained in me that I was supposed to have 900 outfits like my barbies did. Well I'm definitely working on it. I may not have quite as many as my barbies did but I do have 2 closets full and for some reason on a regular basis I get it in my head that I don't have anything to wear and need to go buy more. Now I just need the pink convertible...that would be awesome! (I'm not joking...I would love that cause I also have an addiction to pink)

Donors choose

2008-04-08T23:01:00.002-06:00

Hey just wanted to update you on my post a month ago. I did a proposal on the website Donors Choose to get some materials for my classroom. They have a great offer for Thursday April 10. They will match any donations made. So if you donate $10 my classroom gets $20 towards our proposal. So if you work for a company looking for something to donate to or if you or somebody you know wants to donate let them know. Thanks I appreciate all your support. Oh and here's the link to my project again and also remember all donations are tax deductible.

http://www.donorschoose.org/donors/proposal.html?id=166953

Read-a-thon picnic

2008-03-30T12:55:00.007-06:00

As a reward for reading and passing the tests for 100 AR books my students picked a read-a-thon picnic. So for lunch on Wednesday they brought blankets, books, and stuffed animals. Then we went and got our lunches and brought them back to the classroom to eat. Then after lunch we read on our blankets and then even had math while they sat on their blankets. It really was a lot of fun and they totally loved it!

2008-03-22T20:26:00.002-06:00

Ok so I am going to be competing in the Miss Farmington pageant on May 3. It's definitely not my thing...I hate being in front of people but I'm gonna give it a shot. Anyways along with the pageant we do different things to raise money for the Children's Miracle Network. We each have a goal of raising $100. So if you want to help me out and donate click on the link below and it will be added to my total. Your donation will be considered a charitable donation for tax purposes and a receipt will be provided at the end of the year.

http://www.missamerica4kids.org/m.aspx?i=6566BCD82A55EF&e=91E9+6+85D

If you have any questions, please email me at mackenzie133@hotmail.com

Thanks for your support
Mackenzie

Classroom materials!

2008-03-18T21:31:00.003-06:00

So there is this really cool website where people or businesses can donate money to different classrooms for different things. The teacher writes up a proposal of what they want and why and then the website allows people to make donations to the projects of their choice and they can donate as little or as much as they want! Anyways I have a proposal up for a classroom set of materials to help my kids learn their math! So if you know any companies or people wanting to donate money or wanting a tax write off send them here to help my classroom out!

http://www.donorschoose.org/donors/proposal.html?id=166953

Quote of the day!

2008-03-17T23:48:00.003-06:00

So sometimes my students say cute things that I just can't help but smile over. On Mondays we always go around the circle and share one thing from the weekend. Well today after they had all shared one of them said "Miss Wintle what did you do?" To which my cute little Cole said "Well duh...she went shopping...just like she always does!" If you know me at all you know why this is funny. I am a total shopaholic and apparently they have picked up on this!

Sick

2008-02-29T00:51:00.003-07:00

So I'm learning that having a cold when you're a teacher sucks about 10 times more! By the end of the day your voice is gone! No matter whether it's a bad cold or not you pretty much sound like you're on your death bed! I have a pretty mild cold right now...I started out this morning with a deep voice but it was still very much there...by 3:00 I was squeaking and everybody was saying "what?" or ignoring me cause they didn't realize I was talking!

Proofs...help me pick one!

2008-02-27T23:12:00.004-07:00

So these are my 10 photos to pick from...let me know which one you like! (If you click on the pic it will take you to a bigger version!)

All in a days work...

2008-02-21T23:37:00.002-07:00

So yesterday we had a lice scare in my class. One of my girls informed me she couldn't sit with the rest of the students because she had lice (you aren't suppose to be at school with lice because it is very contagious!). So I had her go the office where they confirmed she had lice. She had to be sent home and then I had to send a letter home with each of my students informing their parents to check them for lice. I was paranoid all day...I seriously couldn't stop scratching my head! There wasn't a lot of chance I had them, but my sub conscience wasn't so convinced.
The funny thing was that when I explained to my students what was going on they all started scratching their heads and thinking they had lice too. Then one of my students got sick and threw up and several of my students started complaining they thought they were gonna throw up too! Apparently 2nd graders are like sheep..if one has it they all have have to follow along and have it too!
Anyways I went home and made my mom check my head for lice with a flashlight(she didn't find any) and then made her dye my hair because the chemicals kill lice!
I finally feel clean and am no longer paranoid...at least for now! The biggest thing with lice is they aren't easy to get rid of...it is a very long and tedious process. I am hoping none of my other students show up with lice and that the problem was stopped that easily and that I made it through my first lice scare unscathed.

Sums it all up...

2008-02-21T01:03:00.002-07:00

The life of a teacher!

2008-02-19T01:16:00.012-07:00

I have done lots of fun stuff lately in my class and thought I'd post some pics...I can't post pics of my cute kids unfortunately cause of laws so pics of their work and the classroom will have to do!

My Fall bulletin board and Christmas bulletin board
they turned out way cute!

My February bulletin board...this pic doesn't do it justice...it turned out way cute!

Our ant farm...my kids love it!

Our Magic e's -
"Magic E is not so weak,
in fact he's very strong,
he can make a vowel be long!"

And last but not least are our cute Valentine mail boxes...here's just a few of them...they turned out adorable!

We thank thee, oh God, for a Prophet!!!

2008-01-27T22:28:00.000-07:00

We thank thee, O God, for a prophet
To guide us in these latter days.
We thank thee for sending the gospel
To lighten our minds with its rays.
We thank thee for every blessing
Bestowed by thy bounteous hand.
We feel it a pleasure to serve thee
And love to obey thy command.

Tonight one of the greatest men the world has known passed away. He was a great leader and also a great humanitarian. He will be greatly missed and conference will never be the same without his sweet spirit and cute sense of humor. We love you President Hinckley!

New Years Resolutions!!!

2007-12-31T17:13:00.001-07:00

Ok so they always say if you write down your resolutions then you'll be more likely to keep them. So here are my resolutions for 2008!

1. Keep my room clean
2. Keep my plan book up to date
3. Pay my car off by the end of this summer
4. Read scriptures every day
5. Walk 10,000 steps a day
6. Be more assertive and flirt more (I know you're laughing but I really do suck at this)

Highlights of 2007!!!

2007-12-31T01:10:00.001-07:00

Ok life has been crazy and I apologize for dropping the ball on the blogging! And I promise to catch you up! But for now here are my highlights of 2007...it has been a truly amazing year. I have had a lot of miracles this year and have some amazing people in my life.

1. Getting offered my dream job to teach 2nd grade in August before I graduated!

2. Graduating in December with my bs in elementary ed.

3. The end of the Harry Potter saga....it couldn't have ended better.

4. The super bowl...my Colt's won! Eat that Aaron one of my teams actually won and won big!

5. Summer ... This summer was the best summer ever! So much fun with both friends and family! From desert nights to motorcycle trips up the canyon. We took my niece to the zoo! We made several trips to Bear Lake...and one long boring car ride to Battlemountain, Nevada, or as I call it the middle of nowhere! Then there was the night my friends decided to attempt kidnapping me at like 2 in the morning to go up the canyon...sorry Aaron but you're not the greatest kidnapper...better luck next time! Then there was the good old NFC games...those are always fun even though we never win! This summer was in one word awesome...I miss these days!

6. Lasik...I have 20/15 vision now and it's so awesome cause I was seriously at like 20/50

Graduation

2007-11-29T00:08:00.000-07:00

So I'm way excited! Less than 3 weeks and I graduate! Holy crap it will be nice to be done! I already have the job...now I just want the stupid degree without all this runaround. Well yay for graduation...I finally made it...it's hard to believe I will actually be done.

Myspace Countdown Clocks at WishAFriend.com

Thanksgiving...day 7

2007-11-21T17:45:00.000-07:00

I am so thankful that I have the gospel in my life. I am often reminded how much direction and guidance I get from the gospel. I also get a lot of comfort and support from the gospel. I am truly blessed to have been born into the gospel and to live in an area where it is is abundant. I honestly don't think I would as far in life as I am now without the gospel.

Thanksgiving...day 6

2007-11-20T00:04:00.000-07:00

So I'm gonna have to do double time to make it to 12 so here goes. The 6th thing I'm thankful for is my students. The only people who can truly understand how attached you become to your students is other teachers. I never thought I would be this attached to them...but you have to realize I spend 7 hours a day with these little people 5 days a week. I see them way more than anybody else in my life.

Anyways they bring me so much happiness and remind me of what's really important in life. I realized just how much they meant to me the other night when I cried for over an hour, after I found out how much one of my little boys was dealing with and how much he is hurting because of it. I don't want my little Thomas to have to deal with all of that. And yes I called him mine...I consider all 24 of my students to be mine. They mean the world to me and I always look forward to their hugs and their stories and sweet little personalities.

They made my day today just by being them...one brought me cookies he had made...one invited me to her baptism...and they all told me how much they are going to miss me tomorrow when we have a sub for half a day while I go to a school thing. I love them dearly and can't remember how I survived without my little rays of sunshine in my life.

The newest addition to my wonderful world of pink!

2007-11-19T23:59:00.000-07:00

So my laptop has been having issues and I was planning on getting a new laptop anyways so I went ahead and bought one this last week. Of course for those of you who know me well...everything I own is pink. So I bought a pink laptop...but of course they don't carry pink ones at most of the stores so it's on order and I am suppose to have it this Friday although I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it makes it before Thanksgiving so I can spend my days off of school playing with my new toy! Anyways I'm excited and thought I'd share my excitement and addition to Kenzie's pink collection with you.

Thanksgiving...day 5

2007-11-19T23:55:00.000-07:00

Ok so I've totally sucked at keeping up with this lately...life got a little insane. But this brings me to the next thing I'm thankful for...modern technology. I have to say I'm a little spoiled. My laptop died on me this last week and I hate using our home computer it's a lot slower and less convenient to use. This is one reason I haven't been keeping up with this along with having parent teacher conferences all week last week til 8 every night. But anways I'm grateful to live when I do...I'm grateful that I'm spoiled with my laptop, cell phone, ipod, digital camera, tv, dvd players, and all the other cool stuff we have these days!

Thanksgiving...Day 4

2007-11-14T22:11:00.000-07:00

I am so grateful for the rest of my family! I have wonderful Grandparents that I was blessed to grow up next door to. They are so much fun to be around and do so much for me...besides they are amazing examples to me of charity...they are so willing still in their old age to do everything they can to help those around them and even those they don't know. They are always giving of their time and talents which they have many of. I don't know what I'll do when one day I don't have them in my life anymore. I am also very grateful for my brother Brandon and his wife Kristen who has become the sister I never had. They are great fun and also very supportive of me and always willing to help me out. Then there's my little niece who has a huge part of my heart. She is such a blessing in my life...and as many of you know I call her the love of my life and she is. She always cheers me up and brings a smile to my face. I can't get enough of her and I'm always talking or bragging about her.

Just a little addition to my 1st day of Thanksgiving

2007-11-14T21:57:00.000-07:00

Well after today I am more grateful then ever for the life I have. Especially for my parents and for the background I come from. I teach at a title 1 school...so the majority of my kids come from pretty poor households or have spanish speaking parents or only one parent. I have one little boy who can't read in 2nd grade and has recently started having behavior issues. As I met with his parents today...they both started crying and told me that they are going through a divorce and that their son is taking it really hard. It broke my heart...I didn't realize how much I love my students until I started crying tonight because I feel so bad for this little boy and I just want to give him a big hug and tell him that things will be ok, but you know truthfully they probably won't because his dad is moving out and his mom knows almost no English. I wanted to slap the parents and tell them that he was already struggling because they don't know English and now they're only making his life harder so pull it together and make it work for the kids.

It's not fair...I don't understand why some kids have to deal with that much when they're young! He really doesn't have a lot of chance of succeeding in life and it's all because of who he got for parents. I understand that they're doing the best they can and I really don't blame them (well at least not too much) but it breaks my heart and I hope that somehow I can make this little boys life a little better.

Anyways back to the point of this blog...I am so grateful for the background that I grew up in and for parents who did everything they could to make my life easier...and thank you God for blessing me and trusting me with a better situation than a lot of kids get born into.

Thanksgiving: Day 3

2007-11-13T23:21:00.000-07:00

Ok the 3rd thing I am thankful for is my friends. I have wonderful friends who are always there for me. I am especially thankful for my boys...Kevin, Aaron, Kurt, and Wyatt, love them dearly and would do just about anything for them. I'm also so thankful for my girls Carrie and Kayci...I have so much fun with them no matter what we are doing. I'm greatful for all my friends...they're always there for me and listen to me when I need to vent. My boys also love to tease me which is always fun too.

Thanksgiving: Day 2

2007-11-12T02:34:00.000-07:00

The 2nd thing that I am grateful for in my life is my job! Everything worked out so well and I basically got handed my dream job the one I've been working towards for like 6 years now! I love being able to spend everyday doing what I love! I am so grateful for the wonderful students that I have and for how sweet they are. True I come home once in a while frustrated and annoyed at them...but I still wouldn't trade them for anything...well most of them that is. They always can make me smile or laugh at all the cute little things they say and how much they care about me. Anyways they bring a lot of happiness into my life...and I couldn't be more grateful to my father in heaven for working things out so I could start teaching a year early.

Thanksgiving...day 1

2007-11-11T02:28:00.001-07:00

Well Kristen challenged me so here goes...the 12 days of Thanksgiving! I guess at least this way you'll get more blongs from me then my 1 every 6 weeks that it's been lately!
Anyways the first thing I'm thankful for is my parents. They are so supportive of me and are willing to do anything to help me...they sacrifice a lot for me...so thanks I love you both so much and wouldn't be anywhere near the person I am without you!

School Days...those crazy school days!

2007-10-17T21:45:00.000-06:00

Wow...it's been almost a month since my last blog. Sorry the life a new teacher is pretty crazy! I know people say all the time that teachers have it nice working 9 months of the year and being off by 3:30. Well I'm here to tell you that I'm still waiting for a day that I get off work at 3:30. Heck I'm waiting for a day I get off at 5:00. Anyways life is good, teaching is great! Love my kids...serioulsy the cutest class of 2nd graders ever (so I may be just a little biased but oh well).
Anyways nothing is new but I do have a cute story...you're probably sick of them by now oh well get used to them. My students every once in a while ask if we can talk about me and then
I let them ask me like 3 questions. Well on Monday they asked and so I gave them 2 questions. My 1st question was "teacher do you want a boyfriend?" I responded "yeah that would be nice I wouldn't mind having one." Then my adorable little Anakela said..."well then let's go to the store and get you one!" I laughed and said "um honey you can't buy a boyfriend." She replied "No but if we all go over to the store then we can wander around until we find a guy and then we'll tell him that he needs to date our pretty teacher." That's when I had an ahhhhh! moment. I thought that was precious...they are seriously such sweet little kids...I adore them and look forward to seeing them evey day. In fact when I had to get a sub I totally missed my kids and sat and thought about what they were doing with the sub the whole time.
One more cute story and then I'll end I promise. So last week my principal came in to watch me teach for a half hour. Well whenever he walks through the door I get super nervous. So not sure if it was my being nervous or that it was pretty hot in our classroom for some reason or probably more likely a combination of both. Anyways my face felt like it was on fire. So my principal gets up and leaves and one of my little girls says..."Miss Wintle your face is red you look like a Strawberry!" I said "oh great... a strawberry huh?" And then one of my other students said...."It's ok you look like a very pretty strawberry!" It made me laugh!
Well that's it for now...I'm going to try to get some pictures of some of our fun stuff at school up this week though...so keep watching!

Playing Tag!

2007-09-22T12:28:00.000-06:00

1. What was I doing 10 years ago: Hmm.. September 1997--Well I was 12 and just barely starting Jr. High. Yikes that was a long time ago. I was so shy back then to I didn't talk much to anybody except my small group of friends. My locker partner was Jessie...I miss that girl!

2. What was I doing 5 years ago: September 2002-- Well I was just starting my senior year in high school. I was really excited because I was just starting a tutor class that I got to the elementary every other day for a couple of hours and work with a 2nd grade class. I was also taking two day care classes and loving them. But then of course there was also my ap stats class and my ap english class...they were hard and took a lot of time. I was probably going to football games every weekend with my friends too. Good times!

3. What was I doing 1 year ago: September 2006--I was in college up at Weber! I was taking some general ed classes again and taking a break from the eduation program so I could get the rest of those out of the way. I had just started hanging out with the group of guys that I now consider by best friends. I dyed my hair last september too...dark brown for the first time.

4. What was I doing yesterday: September 21, 2007-- Well I was teaching my 2nd graders. We took our spelling test and we had a math test yesterday. But then we played a spelling review game that they love and beg to play every day. Then we had to go to music and it was early out day. So I graded papers and got stuff ready for monday til like 6. Then I went to the drive in with some friends and saw Ratitioule and Stardust.

5. Snacks I enjoy: Ice Cream, chocolate covered cinnamon bears, cookies, brownies, crackers and cheese, chips and salsa

6. Things I would do if I suddenly had a million dollars: Buy a house, go shopping, travel

7. Locations I would runaway to: Anywhere with a beach!

8. Bad habits I have: not being able to say no, biting my nails, swearing at bad drivers

9. Things I like doing: Hanging out with my family and friends, shopping, snowmobiling, jet skiing, hiking

10. Things I don't like doing: Doing homework, cleaning the house, watching football on tv

11. TV shows I like: Lost, Heroes, Prison Break, Reba, Hope and Faith, Jericho

12. Biggest joys of the moment: Teaching 2nd grade and my little 2nd graders and the cute things they say, playing with my niece, when I actually have time to go hang out with my friends and have fun, and of course the obvious...shopping!

13. Who am I going to tag: Well whoever wants to...cause the only person whose blog I read is Kristen's and she already did it!

School Days!

2007-09-18T23:11:00.000-06:00

So I haven't blogged it up in a while. I don't have much free time these days. My life is pretty much teacher mode 24/7 these days. So this will be short and sweet.

I love my class...I have the cutest darn kids in the whole world. They are so sweet and fun and keep me laughing and smiling most of the time. We have lots of fun together and on the weekends I really honestly miss them...well most of them. ; )

Today we were discussing the food pyramid and I was trying to draw macaroni on the board for them to guess what it was. Of course I suck at art so I said.."sorry this is the best I can do, your teacher isn't an artist" To which one of my little girls replied "Don't worry teacher it's ok cause you're pretty!" I started laughing. They're so cute..I'm already way attached and don't know what I ever did without them.

Labor Days...Literally!!!

2007-09-04T23:47:00.000-06:00

School started last Wednesday so life has been a little crazy! But I love it, I'm having a blast teaching. I can honestly say it's probably the hardest thing I've ever done (I'm exhausted when I get home at night) but it is worth it. My classroom isn't quite put together all the way yet but when it gets done I'll have to post some pictures of it. I have 21 of the cutest kids ever! They always manage to make me smile and laugh at the funny things they say. I only have 2 students in my class that I could live without, but I'm up for the challenge. Anyways they're adorable and I love teaching. I'll have to keep you posted with all the cute things they say. Last week one of my little boys whispered to another one "Our teacher is the prettiest 2nd grade teacher!" That one made me smile, except then I realized the other 2nd grade teachers are all in their 60's, so maybe not such a compliment, oh well, I'll take what I can get!

Anyways this weekend was a blast and a nice break from being a 24/7 teacher with no life durring the week! Sunday after church my family all headed up to our cabin for the rest of the labor day weekend! Sunday night we went fourwheeling and saw a couple of big bull moose fighting with their antlers hooked, which was pretty dang cool! Then we went back and had just started playing a card game when the power went out. We lit all the candles we could find, then started lighting all the old oil lamps we have up there and found a lantern and lit it too. So we all sat around it and finished our game. It was lots of fun!
The next morning Kristen, Brandon, and I all went down to the outlet stores in Park City, which are only about 30 minutes from our cabin, and went shopping. Now you all know how much I love shopping, so of course I had fun and got lots of cute new clothes and some cute jewlery, plus I got some awesome deals. When we got back we went four wheeling some more. Brandon made me lead and you all know how animals have a thing about running out in front of me... well my Grandma said as I left don't run over any moose. Yeah thanks Grandma...I had two moose and one deer run out in front of me...apparently somebody alerted the animals that I was driving...but no I didn't manage to hit any! We saw a big moose laying in a pond and my brother decided to go wading in the pond with the moose, the moose didn't mind much he just laid at the other end, which really wasn't that far away, while we played around. Anyways it was a great weekend, full of shopping, four wheeling, and wildlife. Oh and we also learned that the plural of moose is moose, score another point for the girls, we won another one!

Miss Wintle ... 2nd Grade Teacher

2007-08-21T22:24:00.000-06:00

So the last couple days have been really exciting! I didn't have to work Monday so I was planning on sleeping in and then just having a really laid back day to get a lot of stuff done! Well at 9:00 (which is only sorta sleeping in to me) I got a phone call from the principal at the school I was suppose to be doing my student teaching at ... he told me one of the 2nd grade teachers had just quit and that he was having a hard time finding somebody to replace her ... and then he offered me the job. So I spent all day gathering up all the stuff I needed to turn into the District to go about getting hired.

Anyways then today I went and met with the principal and had an interview. After the interview he asked me if I wanted the job...I said yes of course and he said ok you're hired I'll take care of the district and we'll get you all figured out. So then I got to spend all day unpacking boxes and setting up and decorating my classroom. It's so exciting to have my own classroom.

This is something I have been waiting for and working towards for about 5 years. So I am so incredibly happy right now, I don't even know how to describe how I'm feeling! It's amazing to see my name on the teacher directory as one of the 2nd grade teachers and to be introduced as Miss Wintle the new 2nd grade teacher. It still throws me off when somebody says 'your classroom' to me.

Anyways it will be basically like an internship cause I won't have my degree til December and I'll get paid 80% of what a normal salary for a starting teacher is until I get my degree in December and then I will get a raise. It's gonna be a lot of work for a couple weeks but it's still so exciting. The students start back next Wednesday so I have to get everything ready by then...which seems like a while but it's not cause there's a ton to do.

So I'll be teaching 2nd grade at Holt Elementary in Clearfield. Oh and for those who don't know me very well 2nd grade is the grade I've always wanted to teach. So basically my dream job was just handed to me out of nowhere!

Lots of riding and a little gambling!

2007-08-20T02:55:00.000-06:00

So this last week I spent a lot of time riding in the back of a car! My aunt Grace died Monday after a long battle with Colin cancer! So on Thursday afternoon we left for Battlemountain, Nevada! Seriously the most boring town I think I may have ever been to! It was about a 5 or 6 hour trip with a few stops in there (including Wendover where I gambled for the first time and decided it was dumb because I lost). It was fun to do a road trip with my brother and his family though cause it was our first! We headed home the next day after the funeral.

Then Saturday morning we left for Bear Lake for a weekend of playing on the beach and chillin' with the other side of the family! It was my Grandpa's 75th birthday and the first time the whole family has been together in a couple years! It was fun to spend time with my cousins Creed and Landon who have been on missions and just recently got home!

Blog!

2007-08-15T02:12:00.001-06:00

Well I've decided to try the blog thing! I'm not sure how often you'll get a blog from me but I'll do my best!

But I'll start with explaining the name of my blog... my moto in life is this....

So when I'm having a hard time I just try to remember to keep smiling and enjoy life cause life is always gonna have it's hard times.