California Here I Come...!

Depending on the standby flights, I'll be in town either Wed. or Thurs.!

Yet another reason to love Utah... Fall Break. This is the time of year when the hunters go hunting with their kids and everyone else goes to Disneyland. Since I have a few days off and a travel voucher from a scary flight from Peru (landing gear wouldn't come up and after and hour of flying we had to turn around, land, deplane and replane) I thought it would be fun to return to the motherland. It's going to be SO nice to just hang out with my mom. We're going to BAKE. :)

I'm also excited to see little Lulu even though I have no juicy news to report on my love-life. (Which she lives for.) Maybe I should make something up?

Today was a field trip day... we've been studying maps and orienteering and to make that more interesting for the kiddos I threw a pirate spin on it. (Which might be more for my benefit... LOVE pirates!) Towards the beginning of the year we "found" a pirate map on a nature walk. It was in Spanish, so we had to translate during Spanish class and learned that it was of Antelope Island. (An island in the Salt Lake.) We learned everything we could about maps so that we could use it to find the treasure. Well, today we went to Antelope Island and followed a series of clues written in pirate code. (For more info, you can see the site I made here: www.wix.com/aquaababy/SeaSerpent ) Anyhow, it was an amazing day! Even though I set the whole thing up, I felt like I was in the middle of Goonies :) As soon as I can figure out how to get the pics on to my laptop, I'll post some!

Also, while I'm in CA, I'm going to do a Diabetes Walk in Long Beach. If you're interested in sponsoring me, or joining yourself check out this link here: http://main.diabetes.org/site/TR/StepOut/StepOut5520180106?px=4575783&pg=personal&fr_id=6464 I just felt like I needed to feel more empowered when it comes to living with diabetes... to not be as passive. So I'm going to walk/run it out and raise some funds for a cure at the same time! I'm going to need a cure pronto if healthcare is going the way it looks like it's going! AAA!

Wow, this is ramble-y. Hopefully I'll get to see some of my lovely extended family when I'm home, too! Love you all!

Hello Again!

I read a quote today that I liked: "If you want a good laugh, tell God your plans." The secret is figuring out God's plan for us. I'm stumbling and bumbling through life and I think I'm making progress, but how do you really know that what you're doing and how you're using your life is really what God wants/expects from you?

There are so many options when it comes to spending your time. I know that I chose the right job. I feel the Holy Ghost all the time at school. Not just during moments when kids need to be loved or look at me with such trust in their eyes... but even when I'm talking about the rock cycle or explaining a math concept. (Moistening eyes during a lesson on teaching doubles in addition? Really??) But the Holy Ghost testifies of truth, right? I'm sure I wouldn't feel this way if I had to tell kids that we came from apes!

I auditioned for a musical this week, too. I thought it would be fun to get back into it so I signed up. I completely forget how intense the whole process is and I was really humbled at call-backs today. You have to earn your stripes and with this new group, I am stripeless! I'm not sure if I have what they're looking for, and I'll know for sure on Monday. If I am cast I have to weigh that possibility with many others. Being in a show is a huge time commitment and I wonder if this is a selfish choice?

Everyone who reads my silly little blog has a life that I envy. You're all much better at this life thing than me and I hope someday to be like you. What's your secret?

Memorial Day

I love my life. There are so many choices to be made, and I might complain about that sometimes, but I have to say that we are incredibly fortunate to live in this country where we are free to choose for ourselves! (for better and worse)

So, I just wanted to send my gratitude out into cyberspace to the thousands of soldiers who paid the ultimate sacrifice to protect our rights to liberty...

Night of the Living

The sky cracked open today and I thought the raindrops would crack my windshield. The electricity in the air made my hair stand on end and I found myself giggling at hairline bolts of light decending and disappearing. God speaks in so many ways, and this first summer storm was a reminder of what being alive feels like. I think we all get bogged down in the repetition and sheer exhaustion that comes with living our lives and it is easy to numbly bumble along. I noticed that I've been ignoring the Dee side of my TweedleDum self.

The paradox is this: do I feel too tired to seek out new, joyful experiences... or am I a zombie because I don't find the time to shake things up?

Either way, I've been settling for gray lately. We need to make a solid effort to help our souls feel like a crackling sparkler shooting, sizzling, and lighting up the dark.

So, friends, what do you do to generate that buzz inside yourselves?

Corn on the Cob

I'm the girl that watches the pot. I'm definitely the one willing the sprout to break through the surface or using E.S.P. to change the light from red to green. So, when the lovely President Uchtdorf said this morning, "You can't plant a seed in the morning and expect to eat corn on the cob that afternoon," I had to pause. I forget that this life is about more than end results and that the moments between eating corn are actually the most valuable. To be nutritious and sweet, corn needs that precious time to grow. Those super tomatoes in the supermarket that grow in half the time at double the size are beautiful on the outside but entirely bland.

True to form, I ask this question: when do I get to partake of the fruit?

How long will it take for me to ripen on the vine before I get to be a better half?
What am I learning in this time before the harvest that makes all of this patience worth it?

The funny thing is... by asking these questions, it shows that I still have a lot to learn :)

Limericks For Today in E Major

Sleeping in feels like a sin
I just don't know where to begin!
Missed my jaunt to the gym
Rather snore than stay slim
Either way you just can't win!!!

Another Saturday spent at the school.
For "the man" I'm becoming a tool.
I should refashion my key
Into cute jewelery
And spend tons more time by the pool!

Blind dates are a curious thing,
To get newly singles back into the swing.
Interview questions at dinner...
Feeling like a beginner...
Sadly not feeling that "zing!".

71 Years To Go!

So, I'm turning 29 this week and birthday time is usually reflection time... followed by a corner slice of cake! Better than New Years, birthdays are a less arbitrary time to make goals because the whole world isn't doing it at the same time and you're not bombarded by gym and weight loss supplement commercials that make you feel like being muscle-y is all that matters. I've decided to list my goals for my 29th year in a public place. . .

1. Learn how to tap dance
2. Run a 5K. (By this I mean actually run the whole thing. NO walking!)
3. Read one classic novel every month
4. Get my A1C below 8%
5. Travel outside the country to a place I've never been (on top of the Peru trip)
6. Learn how to play at least 10 songs on my guitar!!!!
7. Talk more to the guys that I find interesting and less to the ones that are nice but unintimidating.
8. Finish my first masters degree
9. Start my second
10. Fall out of love with candy. (This may be impossible, but a girl can try!)
11. Get in good enough shape to hike Machu Picchu and stay that way well after the trip

If you read this, you can now hold me accountable... even better, you can join me! Let's dance/run/read/travel/study together!

ADIOS AMIGOS!!!

So, my pal Jena and I applied for a grant through Fund For Teachers to study the rainforest in Peru and we found out a few days ago that we were accepted! It's a competitive process and we really didn't think we had a shot. I am so happy to report that we were wrong!!!

We're going to be in Peru for the last two weeks in June, spending the bulk of the time on a preserve in the middle of an Amazonian rainforest! (There will also be a trip to Machu Picchu... can't got to Peru and pass that up!) We're going to study the biology of the area, taking tons of pictures and keeping a field journal filled with notes, drawings, and whatever else we can cram in there. All we have to do is put our lesson plans and photos on a website to share with other teachers!

Below are some photos from the lodge where we'll be staying:

VIVA PERU!

The canopy overlook platforms

Cataloging wildlife

Can't wait to see where this goes!!!

Where we'll be sleeping

Dinner Time!

View from the canoe where we take night trips to see nocturnal monkeys!!!

Cloud Forest/ View of the Canopy

MY FUNNY VALENTINES!!!!

I know it's a little late, but I just had to share this pic! It was such a fun day themed sugar, spice, and everything nice. We had a mini chemistry lesson while making heart-shaped lollipops (SUGAR). We had chips, salsa, and nacho cheese for our snack (SPICE) and we made cards and wrote a song to sing to all the people who work behind the scenes to make our school great. (NICE) I have the greatest job ever!

You are HERE <-----

I am standing in front of one of those giant signposts... you know, the ones with hundreds of arrows pointing in every direction. One arrow points to exactly where I am, which is actually pretty great. But I have to admit that the other arrows are really appealing.

There's a sign covered in neon lights that points toward London. About 4 years ago, I went on a grand adventure with my lovely Maren-friend to England. We crashed in the tiny (and I mean TINY) flat of her friend Anne who is an American that happened to be teaching art at an American school there. We visited the school a few times to check our e-mail and it was amazing. Lately the idea has been pulling on my shirt sleeve like one of my second-graders. I checked out their website and the mission of the school really matches my educational philosophy. It would be a perfect fit career-wise and a wild ride in every other way. The only thing holding me back is the distance from everyone I know. Anne has since moved back to CA, which means I'd be completely on my own. Anyone want to go with me?????

PROS:
1. Totally new place
2. Good fit w/my philosophy
3. Cornish pasties
4. Inexpensive theater
5. Crazy soccer fans
6. Get paid in pounds (If I can save... might work out well in conversion!)
7. English accents
8. Men with English accents

CONS:
1. 13-hour plane ride to see my people
2. No-one to get me chicken soup when I'm sick. (right away, anyhow)
3. Where would I keep my awesome furniture?
4. Have to sell the house
5. Those men with accents have scary teeth

Another expensive-looking sign is pointing toward the remaining 15 credits left in my first master's degree and at a really great Reading Specialist master's program at Utah State. Two years from now I could have two master's degrees and work as a mentor teacher focused on reading.

PROS:
1. The classes sound really interesting and would automatically improve my teaching practice.
2. Can stay in my cute house
3. Reading specialists are better paid than regular old teachers. (Who isn't though?)
4. I'm still close to my Utah and CA people

CONS:
1. Hitting the books
2. Student loan $$$
3. Being too educated scares the boys away :(

The other signs are pointing everywhere: one says finish writing the charter for the school I want to open, one says train for a triathlon, one says be a wacky hippy-chick river guide, another says write a children's book... or even a series of them. I'm standing the shadow of all of these possibilities and my heart is racing a little. Where do I go next?

It's Raining Men

So, in the past week I've been hit on by several random men in random places. (The supermarket?) Sometimes it was flattering, sometimes it was beer-induced during a Jazz game... but the love for sassy, slightly chubby redheads has been in the air. The timing could not be better for a self-esteem pickmeup... Feb. is a sad, gray month in Utah and my personal life seems to be living under the same murky inversion at the moment.

It is nice to be noticed, isn't it? Who can resist a stranger telling you how cute you are? (This is easier than someone you know... unless you're unattached and they're interesting.) All that you need to do is smile back and say thank you. It's like a drive-by but instead of bullets and a low-rider you get "That dress was made for you" and a shopping cart.

Now I'd like to pose a question: Why do compliments from people we don't know well make more of an impression than those given by someone close to us?

All the King's Horses

The human heart is much like our pal Humpty: fragile and impervious. We allow ourselves to teeter on the wall's edge, our heads high in the sky and feet far from the earth, completely unaware of the possibility that we might fall. Others can see us from a distance and shake their heads at our abandon, but the thrill makes them easy to ignore.

What happens when we step on a crumbling brick and fall from the impossible heights of being in love? When we can't trust our judgement of where to place our feet?

Sometimes we are left at the bottom of the wall to pick thinks up on our own. Other times, our fellow silly Dumptys help us to sweep up the pieces.

I took my first tumble, and I suppose that I'm a lucky one: All the King's Horses and All the King's Men sent me a text message two days later asking to talk. Wanting to put things back together again.

We're working on it. I'm just worried that once things are glued back together again that the same faulty brick will come along on our journey along the wall and I will tumble again. Can love be like a muscle that needs stress to grow? OR- does a crack compromise everything?

To be honest, my heart has no idea so my brain keeps trying to take over... to tell me that doubt is a heavy companion that never truly leaves. If the idea of being permanently apart is ever welcomed by one of the two, even for just a few days, that eventually it will resurface with greater strength. That one would be silly to gift time to someone that questioned really wanting it.

But real love exists. I know because I've finally felt it. It has to be more than a nursery rhyme to have survived 4000ish years of humankind, right? And being so confident and sure and quiet and peaceful within it must be possible to reclaim. That is worth having faith in, even in the face of completely opposite logic.

So raise a glass to getting back onto the wall again and trying not to look down.

A Lung is a Terrible Thing to Waste

Hi friends! Anyone within earshot can't avoid my old smoker-man cough. He's been my constant companion like a head-scratcher salesman at a mall kiosk. At first I thought I just had some kind of Southeast Asian Superbug... but it turns out that it's asthma. Inhalers are sexy. Boys will line up around the block to watch me respirate.

This blog has been a bit of a downer, reflecting my overall mood of today. So how about a cute little photo to set things straight:

My 401k

"Your personalized rate of return, reflecting account balance plus deposits, withdrawals and earnings from 9/1/2008 to 1/16/2009 is -35.42%"

Great Minds Don't Post to Their Blogs at 4 in the Morning.

So... here it is almost 4am and I just created a blog. Weird, huh? I'm having a hard time sleeping because I just lost one of my best friends into the dating vortex where love turned into something else. If you've seen Dave and I together recently, you're probably stumped... as am I. Things were great, we get on like bread and butter, but sometimes bread prefers jam, a slice of cheese, or to just be a plain ol' piece of bread. (In case you're wondering, I'm the butter in this scenario.) The difficult thing is butter isn't good all by itsself, you know? It's just too much of a good thing and needs some bread to balance it out. So, I need to find a slice in another flavor. Rye? hm. funny aftertaste. Cinnamon Swirl? Haven't had much luck with the fancy ones. :) Sourdough, where art thou? In usual fashion, I'm getting carried away with an analogy, but you get the picture.

Isn't it strange how people that are perfect together end up apart? You see it all the time.

Exhibit A: My dear friends M & B.

So why does this happen? I think I'll use the scientific method to help me figure it all out.

QUESTION: How do two happy people that love each other end up not sticking together?

RESEARCH: hmmm..... Thinking back to that one semester of Chemistry.... (Actually, it was "Physical Science" -an amalgum of physics and chemistry in high school. No budget for real subjects anymore.) What causes bonds to break apart? Especially strong ones? See following diagram:


Did that clear things up for you? For you simpletons, I'll break it down. Here's an interesting quote that I didn't write myself.

"For any particular chemical bond, say the covalent bond between hydrogen and oxygen, the amount of energy it takes to break that bond is exactly the same as the amount of energy released when the bond is formed. This value is called the bond energy."

So, to summarize, it will take the exact amount of time and energy it took to bond/fall in love as it will take to break the bond/fall out of love.

"There are many forms of energy:"

• electrical- in love, i suppose this is the equivalent of lightning striking? Love at first sight, perhaps?
  
• mechanical- This could mean some kind of machine (YSA event)to bring two people together
  
• chemical- hmm... many singles events include alcohol or some other pleasure-inducing substance such as cookies.
  

"but all forms are ultimately converted into heat. So it is convenient for biologists to measure energy in unit of heat. The unit we shall use most often is the kilocalorie (kcal): the amount of heat needed to warm 1 liter of water 1 degree Celsius."
There's usually some heat associated with love ;) I wonder how many kilocalories are released in this bond-breaking. Enough to shed my winter belly?

According to ScienceWatch, "For more than 30 years the precision with which lasers can provide energy has transformed many sciences, and tantalized chemists with the possibility of selectively breaking chemical bonds." So lazers are involved. I thought so.

Here is my HYPOTHESIS:

Tantalized (and most likely, lonely) Chemists + LAZERS = precision break-ups.