Blessings

Many people look at being single as a trial or even better they think I am broken and need to be fixed. Which has always bothered me. Although sometimes it does frustrate me and I can get into the "what's wrong with me?" Mindset most the time I am okay with it and can see how many blessings I have in my life....many of which I have BECAUSE I'm single.

What I view as the number one blessing in my life is my career. That probably seems like I have my priorities mixed up but let me explain why. I love teaching with all my heart....I love those kids and by the end of the year they are truly mine in my heart. Teaching gives me a reason to keep going most days...now if I'm being honest it also makes me question what this world is coming to other days. Teaching gives me a feeling of importance in the world and makes me feel like I make a contribution and hopefully a difference in the world at least for someone.   Those kids also make a huge difference in my life and make me so happy....it is almost impossible to have a bad day in 2nd grade...they give me hugs and say kind things and can make me laugh no matter what has gone wrong in the world or in my world that day. Now could I still be a teacher if I wasn't single...most certainly and I think I could still be a good teacher....but there is something about being single and not having a family that makes me view those kids as my family and as a result they get more of my time, energy and love.

Depending on the day my family is my biggest blessing over my career so lets just call it a tie for first place. I have truly been blessed to be born into a family of amazing people...amazing examples of strength, selflessness, love,charity....I could go on and on. 

Starting with my grandma....that woman amazes me. Se is one of the strongest women I know and is such an example of love and charity to me. My grandpa was the same. Because I am single though I get to spend time with my grandma that my cousins don't because they have families to take care of. I grew up with a very close relationshi to both my grandma and grandpa. They lived next door....I spent as much time there as I did my own house truthfully.  They were more like 2nd parents than grandparents. It was a rare occasion that a day went by I didn't see them. So when my grandpa passed away it was hard for me.  But suddenly a new blessing came into my life....my grandma was alone and needed help and companionship more than ever. It gave me the opportunity to go visit her and gain a stronger relationship than we had ever had before.  We go to lunch, shopping, sit and talk, travel, craft, and honestly she's become one of my best friends. Who knew a 79 year old could be so much fun....and my favorite is all the time when we are out I get the comment "your grandma is so cute and so much fun!" Yep she's not the normal grandma...and I hope someday when I am a grandma that I can be just as fun, stylish, strong, loving, and selfless as she is.

Then there are my parents. Yes most people are close to their parents...but since becoming an adult I've grown even closer to them and often times in the Summer when school is out I just go hang out with them at night. We visit, watch movies, go get ice cream, and travel. I love it. They have taught me so much and I am glad that we can be such great friends and that I have such a close relationship with them. I know I wouldn't get the time I do with them if I was married and I know I will cherish those memories forever.

My nieces are the little loves of my life. I feel like because I am single with no kids of my own I have a much stronger relationship than most aunts do with their nieces and nephews. I get to spoil them and do things with them that I wouldn't get to if I had my own kids to take care of. I love our Kenzie Ally MaryJane dates as they call them. We go to movies, have sleep overs, go shopping, get ice cream, and play. And have some great times together....I almost feel like the 7 year old is my best friend....we just click and have a lot in common and I love her dearly. I get one on one time with them that I honestly wouldn't if I had my own kids and I will forever be grateful for the relationship I have with both of them and the love they bring into my life.

The fun part of being single is all the opportunities I get that honestly I probably wouldn't if I wasn't single.  All the fun and amazing people I have met. My Texas boys who spoil me when they come out and have taught me how to snowboard...I love them dearly and am grateful I get to spend time with them every winter. I have been able to travel to New York and Boston and Florida and Arizona just seeing the world and doing fun thing

Then there are 3 of the most important men in my life...my 3 best friends. They are the most amazing guys and have taught me so much and honestly helped me become who I am today. They brought me out of my shell of shyness, they taught me to truly love football and have honestly taught me everything I know about football. But most importantly they have made me okay with me....they have stuck by my side and stuck up for me countless times when some jealous girl has said mean hurtful things or some guy has broke my heart. I will forever love these 3 for the confidence and self worth that they have helped me discover. They accept me for me and are always there when I need them. They have told me countless times that certain guys are stupid and that I am better off without them or deserve better, and honestly they Have always been right. They have given me more hugs and love than I probably deserve and have put up with more tears than they probably ever have cared to see and they always handle it so sweetly. I can always count on those 3 to bring my smile back. Kevin will always listen and give me the hug that I need...well more of a squeeze... I usually can't breath and my boobs hurt from the squeeze but I still love them. he can usually make me laugh with some funny insult about whoever or whatever has upset me.  And he is the best at checking on me for days afterwards to make sure I am okay and eill drop everything and show up to drag me out of the house to fun if he knows I need to get my mind off things or will take me for long walks at 2 in the morning if I am flipping out. Kurt will always give me a hug, sincerely listen to my thoughts and give me honest input, then make me laugh and find something to distract me. And  Aaron is always there to reassure me that I'm okay and that other people's opinions really don't matter and give me some sweet compliment that makes it all okay. He's also great at making me laugh no matter how upset I am and always manages to make me see things logically instead of through my emotions.  I have been through countless adventures with them that I will forever cherish....from our night floats at pineview, countless motorcycle rides, teaching me what hookybobbing was and taking me, teaching me about the 8 point football play ha ha and that football games continue past the end of the clock, teaching me how to drive a motorcycle, throwing me off a hill with a parachute, teaching me how to play soccer, sneaking me out past curfew, teaching me how to gamble, and my favorite they promoted me from girl to boy....a huge honor in their eyes and in mine. 

I am truly blessed and sometimes I forget just how blessed I am.  It's easy to get into the "why me? What's wrong with me? When is it my turn?" But I am truly blessed and have a great life full of great opportunities and even greater people who bring me happiness and joy each day. I have a million and one reasons to smile.

Summer!

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!

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!

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!!!!

Crafting

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!

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

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

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

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!!!

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

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!!!

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!

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!!!

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!

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!

Custom Countdowns & MySpace Layouts

Custom Countdowns & MySpace Layouts

Custom Countdowns & MySpace Layouts

Custom Countdowns & MySpace Layouts

An Aunt Times Two

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!