I am a slacker

I know I am a slacker. I have a great excuse because I have become a student again. Grad school is kicking my trash. I feel so far behind in every aspect of my life, I don’t know how to dig myself out. Actually I am all caught up on my grading; I stayed late Friday to correct papers. When I was in college, I thought it would be so much fun to grade papers, but it’s not.

I thought I would quickly give an update of my life and what is going on. Because I haven’t blogged in the last three months, I will give a quick update on the ten most important events that have happened in the last three months.

1. Started Grad school at BYU. It is very hard, but I got A’s in both of my summer classes. Not so sure about this fall. I am taking a law class that very interesting , but very rigorous.

2. After setting up 101 thousand couples, my first set up got married in June. I feel like a proud parent every time I hang out with them. They actually built a house four minutes away from me. It is great. Timmy and Marjie are the cutest couple I know. I will try to download a video of them cutting the cake. They have promised to name their first born after me, and let me hold him/her when ever I want to.


3. I pulled over for speeding for the first time. I was going 42 in a 25. I was obviously in a new area and not familiar with the speed limit. Lucky for me as the cop was writing out my ticket, he got called to a more important emergency and let me off with a warning. Before I could even put my license back in my wallet he was off.

4. Kaicee turned four. My little bug is growing right up. I can’t believe how fast time flies. I just want to say for the record that she is fascinated with the arts, and she might be famous someday. She loves to sing and dance. She especially loves to dance with her dad. I love teaching her new words. Her word bank now includes but is not limited to: Cranium, phalanges, patella, bacteria, awkward, and frustrated. It never ceases to amaze me how quick she picks up information. She is like a sponge. She is four going on 21. She recently announced she was engaged and getting married to her imaginary boyfriend Dylan. She said she was getting married August 19th and she was getting married in the temple. When her dad told her he would not let her get married, she called her imaginary boyfriend and told him her dad was freaking her out. If I had my way I would keep her four forever. I love that little girl to bits and pieces.



5. The twins are moving on with their lives. Amanda lives in Orem and is attending UVU. She is pursuing a degree in Early Childhood Education and plans to teach elementary ed. She is working very had and keeping a positive attitude. Kylie decided to stay living at home, so her dad would not be sad. She is working as a dental assistant and plans to start school in the fall. She would like to be an adoption agent. She is very considerate and sweet. She is always thinking of others.






6. Britney and Colby bought a boat. It is always great to have a boat in the family. My goal is to wake board next summer.

7. Somer moved in with me. She is awesome. I never realized how handy it would be to have my own live in nurse. But let’s just say she came in really handy the other day. Somer will be finished with her RN in December.

8. I only have 9 toe nails. My right big toenail was tragically ripped from my body while my nieces and I were mattress surfing. Really I no longer have a toenail. It was very disgusting and painful. I had to go to the doctor and he gave me 15 shots in my toe to remove the remaining pieces of the toenail. This happened three weeks ago and I have yet to wear a real shoe. It was actually really funny when it happened. This is how it went down. Mattress hit my toe. I looked saw that most of my toenail was hanging on by a thread. In a panic I started hobbling around the house yelling “My toenail is off, my toenail is off” I was half laughing, half crying. This is when Somer came in handy. She was able to wrap my toe and take me to the doctor. She held my hand with one of her hands and then with the other she plugged my ear. I was plugging my other ear and closing my eyes. I couldn’t bear the sound of the snapping. Somer on the other hand loves to watch the blood and gore. Then for the next week. Somer would stay up late to change the dressing on my toe (normally I am not such a wimp, but I couldn’t bear the sight of the bloody stump). Somer really came through when I called her at 3:21 am several days after the incident (I called her because she is two floors below me and I didn’t want to hobble down to her room). I was having the most terrible toe pain imaginable. Somer came upstairs and saved the day. She brought me some medicine and then sat with me until I fell asleep. Needless to say she is the best.

9. I just ripped a hole in my favorite jeans. As in just two minutes ago. I am so sad because I have a very limited jean collection. I have a difficult time finding pants that are long enough. FYI The Buckle and Banana Republic have very, very long jeans. The problem is they are very expensive, hence the reason I have a limited collection. The good news is I bought patches today at the store.

10. I just bought a plane ticket to New York. Yes I am finally going to New York. I have wanted to visit there since I can remember. I am going over fall break and I can’t wait. I am visiting one of my best friends, Sara Thomas. She has been living there for a little over a year. When I get back, I will post the blog of a life time. I can’t wait. Hopefully I don’t catch swine flu on the plane. That reminded me, at my school each classroom has to have a huge bottle of hand sanitizer which students are strongly encouraged to use. If students start coming down with symptoms they are sent to the office where they will receive a surgical mask. There are also heavy duty rubber masks available for teachers. All I have to say is, wow this is crazy. Already this year, we have had a case of swine flu reported at the school. It’s an epidemic!!!

Here are a few other pictures to enjoy:)

CONGRATS!!!

The most beautiful girls in the world graduated from high school on May 30, 2009. I can’t believe that my little babies graduated. I remember the day they were born like it was yesterday. When they came home from the hospital, Amanda weighed 4lbs and Kylie weighed 3lbs. They were so tiny. I had a cold so my mom told me I had to stay in the car; she told me she would hold them up to the window so I could see them. I was not pleased. The next 18 years were filled with many wonderful memories…..Dance recitals, choir concerts, cheer competitions, the almost Miss Smith pageant, and many many slumber parties.

After graduation we went to lunch. For some reason our family loves to sing, and we also love public humiliation. When you put the two together, it makes for a remarkable adventure. Some of the girls in the family had prepared a little number to sing to the girls during lunch. To see the musical number you will have to look at Somer’s blog, it is seriously hilarious. So, I have to explain a few of the lyrics because they may seem a little strange. One lyric says “Yes you it’s been eighteen year now, and don’t you ever drink beers” K this may seem a little strange and obvious that we don’t want them to drink alcohol, but it goes much deeper than that. One day Kylie and I were eating dinner in Salt Lake, and she mentioned how good the alcoholic drinks looked. I took this as a great teaching moment. We talked about why drinking is wrong and blah blah blah…..then for the next 30 minutes I made her practice saying no to drinking. I made her pretend we were at a party and then I would ask her in different ways if she wanted a drink (I can be very persuasive.) Kylie is the black sheep of the family and so she gets embarrassed really easily. After about 15 minutes of practice, she began begging me to stop. I didn’t until I was convinced she had the tools necessary to be a college freshman. I didn’t want Amanda to feel left out, so I repeated the whole lesson the next time I was with her. It was marvelous. I am so lucky to have them in my life!! I have made them promise many times that when their lives get busy with college and boyfriends, they will still make time for their old auntie.

Congratulations KY and Manny I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU!!!

The Last Surprise......

I know all of you who have been reading this blog are dying to find out what my last surprise is. Well, the time has come for me to let you in on the little secret.....




Although it looks as though I am expecting in this picture, we all know this is not true. So what do I have under my shirt you ask......










Let me explain....One nice day I was teaching as a good teacher should do when I noticed a pregnant man in the hall. I teach across the hall from the Health class. I bet you can guess what they were learning about this wonderful day. How could I let this opportunity pass me by? I couldn't...let's just say that lunch time activities reached an all new high that day.

Side note....today in class I tried to convince my students that there was a real rule that said you can't kiss until you are married. I had a few of them believing me. I told them this rule was included in the same rule book as the No talking to strangers rule, and the always looking both ways before you cross the street rule. I am pretty sure I had them believing me until my quiet shy little student yelled "My sister has a boyfriend and they kiss all the time, they even French." Needless to say that is where the conversation ended and we continued on with the English essentials we were learning.

I can not believe that this school year is almost over. I am so lucky to have the job I have, I love the kids I teach and the people I work with. I have had so many amazing experiences and I laugh at least 500 times a day. I wish you all could come for a day to experience this event.

Here are a few of the highlights from this school year,

Cheer Camp: For those of you who haven't experienced cheer camp, just imagine boot camp with a billion cheering girls. GOOD TIMES



The coaches thought it would be fun to sabotage the girls rooms HA HA HA



The next great adventure was my own garden and canning extravaganza








Yes I am wearing my I love Edward T-shirt, that I made:) I wore it to the gym once and someone asked me if my husband's name was Edward. Can you say embarrassing?

After a whole summer of working away at the garden, here is the finished product



One of my most favorite events at Payson high is the Mr. Payson Pageant. I have been in charge of this pageant for several years, and let's just say Hilarious!!

The pageant includes events such as: Best Legs, Cake decorating, Talent, Swimsuit, Evening wear and much more. This year the theme was Hercules. Here are a few of my favor tie pics of the cakes.









Yes, those are all cakes and they were all made by boys. After they are judged, we cut them up and serve them to the student body. So much fun!!!

In March I went to Disney Land with the Cheerleaders and my mom. It was so much fun. I love Disney Land so mcuh, I am pretty sure I want to live there. I have a ton of pics, but I don't want to post them now. I will save them for a later post.

Last but not least my favorite experience of this year happened just toay, I have a student who has severe dyslexia. At the benning of this year he was reading at a lower second grade level. Today I gave me another assessment and he increased by three levels. I almost cried. I am so proud of him, he has worked so hard this year, and I am confident that next year he will improve even more. When I told him how far he'd come he was so excited. It was a great day!!!


Well finally I will tell you the real surprise.......I was voted Payson High School's teacher of the year. Yea Me!!! What an honor.

Well I realize that my last few posts have been rated PG-13, I promise that the next post and all the posts to follow will be rated G.

What is a Zoobie?

Okay I know what you are thinking.....two posts in one week. Well let's just say I had another 2 hour nap after school. Now it is 8:30 and again I am not the slightest big tired. Last night I did not go to bed until after 12:30 and was up by 4:45. Good news, I did not fall asleep during school today Yea Me!!

OK so many of you have heard the term Zoobie. A zoobie is a slang word for a BYU student. I have often wondered where this word came from and what exactly it means. Well my friends, today I found the answer. If you have young readers in the room you may want to ask them to leave before you proceed to the official definition of a zoobie.....

Urban Dictionary definition of Zoob, Zoobie, BYU:
Posted By: UtesRus
Date: 2005-11-18 14:21:41

Zoob: French slang for penis from Arabic.

Zoob: A tard. Most commonly applied to people who are actually mentally retarded, but can be used to insult almost anyone.

Zoobie: A term used in Utah, mainly Utah Valley, to describe the excited bunch of Mormons that go to BYU and engage in excessive social activities.

Zoobie: AN UNIDENTIFIABLE RODENT-LIKE CREATURE THAT RESEMBLES A NEUTRA AND A GROUNDHOG.

(BYU)Brigham Young University: an institution located in Provo, Utah. Endorsed by the LDS church, it is a private university that educates approximately 30,000 students annually. A sub-Mormon culture predominates, especially in dorm establishments like "Heritage Halls," "Deseret Towers" (D.T.) and "Helaman Halls." Common activities include creative dating techniques, hall prayers, ward activities, and tunneling.

Strict enforcement of the BYU Honor Code includes monitoring modest clothing, chaste lifestyles, and honesty. Devotionals are broadcast every week at Tuesday, for which all campus facilities are shut down. Dorms and activities have a general curfew of midnight. A general university publication called "The Daily Universe" is released daily. Common campus buildings include the Wilkinson Student Center (the WILK), the Martin L Harris Classroom Building (the MAR , and the Joseph Smith Building (JS . The curriculum is large and academically exceptional, but also includes such majors as "family consumer sciences." A BYU education is very typically conservative.

The stereotypical BYU girl has a bubble haircut, wears a plain, modest t-shirt or button up collared shirt with either a long skirt or jeans, and wears Doc Martens sandals. She has very straight hair and perfect makeup, and smiles sweetly to everyone. She enters the establishment at the age of 18, is engaged by 19 to a returned missionary (R.M.), and generally leaves school to raise a family.

The stereotypical BYU boy is a freshman at the age of 21, having just returned from a mission, and has a short, parted hairstyle. He wears polos and chino pants with loafers. He dates prolifically until he finds his eternal companion, and weds quickly (typical engagements lasting 2 months).

Provo, Utah is also referred to as the "bubble" because of its traditionally close-minded, conservative atmosphere and general self-righteous attitude.

BYU's largest rival is the University of Utah located in Salt Lake City, Utah. The two universities have a football match each fall that is highly anticipated on both sides.BYU students are called Zoobies because they get married so quickly.

"Are you going to the dance?"
"Yes, but we have to be back soon! The curfew is at 12, and we wouldn't want to break the honor code."
"Will you marry me? After all, we have been commanded to multiply and replenish the earth."
"I think you'll make a great eternal companion, but let me consult my bishop first."

Hmmmm very interesting.....You may wonder at this point why I care what Zoobie means, well as of today I am officially a Zoobie. On the spur of the moment I decided to apply for the Master's of Special Education program and (drum roll please) I was accepted. I will start the program this summer and finish in 2011. I must say I am very, very nervous but excited.

From the above definition I will need a new haircut and wardrobe. I have actually started smiling less to try to prevent the smile wrinkles that are trying to obtain permanent residence on my face; however, if I am going to be a true Zoobie, then it looks like I will just have to stock up on the wrinkle cream.



That is the logo from my acceptance letter. My niece Britney told me that she only likes to read my blog when I have pictures, so that little logo guy is for her. So as I have been contemplating my life thus far and thinking about how drastically it has changed in the last few months, I began thinking of reasons why I am excited to be a student again. Here are my top five reasons 5 being the least important and 1 being the most important.

5- Although I did not grow up a BYU die hard fan, I have always been a fan of the school song. I don't really enjoy watching football, but I love byu football games. I have always loved to stand and sing the school song with pride. If you are unfamiliar with the words here they are:

Rise, all loyal Cougars and hurl your challenge to the foe.
You will fight, day or night, rain or snow.
Loyal, strong, and true
Wear the White and Blue.
While we sing, get set to spring.
Come on Cougars, it's up to you!
CHORUS:
So Rise and Shout, the Cougars are out
Along the the trail to fame and glory.
Rise and shout, our cheers will ring out,
As you unfold your vict'ry story.
On you go to vanquish the foe
For Alma Mater's sons and daughters.
As we join in song, in praise of you, our faith is strong.
We'll raise our colors high in the blue,
And cheer our Cougars of BYU.

4-I get to buy a new backpack: I love school supplies, I always have and I always will. I can't wait to get a new back pack, pencils, sticky notes, and pencils. It is going to be fantastic. My favorite stores are Office Max and Barnes and Noble. I am not joking it is true.

3-Extra Exercise: Have you seen the stairs that lead to the BYU campus? Let's just say intense. Buns of steel here I come.

2-The Library: I love love love to study in the library. When I went to snow college, I took a little spill down the staircase of the library during finals week. Let's just say it was the fall heard round the world.

1- The most important reason to go back to school is to be the best teacher I can be. I love my job and I truly enjoy each one of my students. I want to have the skills necessary to give my students the best education possible.

There you go, that's all I have. So if you don't hear from me for the next two years you now know why:)

I actually have one more bit of exciting news, but I will save if for the next sleepless night,

Mommy wow

I'm a big girl now. OK so I just want to say that it is 9:39 pm, well past my bed time. I get up at 4:45 and tomorrow will be no exception. Unfortunately I took a two hour nap after school today and so tada I am not even the slightest bit tired. Anyway I have not been a very diligent blogger and I am sorry to all my followers, I would like to say I am going to get better, but there are no guarantees. So what does a single girl do on a Wednesday night? You guessed I am ready to reveal the secret. I BOUGHT A HOUSE!!! It is a really funny story because I didn’t tell anyone in my family (except my parents) that I was going to buy a house. This may not be a big deal for some families, but when you are as close as my family you don’t keep anything a secret. Anyway I bought the house and moved it and didn’t tell them. Then I asked them to come and look at a house that I was “thinking” of getting……that is a way to a true opinion. So now I would like to invite you to take a tour of my very own house.


This is a picture of the living room, so cute!

Side note, it is now 10:04 still not tired, maybe I will pull an all-nighter. Remember in college when you used to stay up all night and then go to class the next day? Those were the good old days. I should not admit this, but it is too funny to hold in. The other day I was so tired at school, it was fourth period the last 20 minutes of the day and I was struggling to stay awake. I was reading to my students and the next thing I knew I had fallen asleep. Yes my friends, right in the middle of the sentence. I am sure it was only a few seconds, but when I came to, my students were looking at me so strangely. I said “Oh I guessed I dosed off and have lost my place.” One of the little angels told me where we were and I continued. Since that experience I read at the beginning of class, not the end. It really was so funny.
Okay back on track, how about another pic of the living room:)


and another



Let's move to the kitchen. SO CUTE, I love my house




Next let's move to the main floor bathroom. This was hard to get a pic of because it is very small.


Now let's go downstairs





The other part of the basement is unfinished. My sweet little dad has been working like a dog to try and finish a room for my sister Somer. What a sweet little guy. Here is the work in progress.






Next let us proceed up the stairs



This is the upstairs extra bathroom, not decorated yet:(

The next two pictures are two extra bedrooms, ready and waiting for house guests. Any takers?




Next is my room, now I have to say that I have not missed one day of making my bed, however, before I took this picture I had taken a 2 hour nap on my bed and started going through my mail. So I realize my room looks a little crazy.


My dream come true, a bathroom in my room:)



The next few pictures show my true colors. If you know anything about me, you know that I love shoes. So here are a few pictures of my very unorganized shoes.


Unorganized closet number one

now get ready for number two



Yes I have two closets that I love, I have also managed to fill them up. I think I have just figured out my weekend project organizing my shoes!!!

Well friends I hope you enjoyed the tour.

Also it is now almost 11:30. I must get to sleep, so that I can be the best teacher I can possibly be, therefore I am not going to proof read this post. So if you find joy in find the spelling and grammar errors in posts, have a hay day:)

In Loving Memory

December 17, 2008 Verna Joy Pouslen was once again reunited with her loved ones in Heaven. Although our hearts are broken with this short separation from our Grandma, we are all very thankful she was able to return home for Christmas. One of my most cherished memories of my grandma was tucking her into bed. No matter the amount of family members at the house, Grandma was always serenaded with a special song. We were able to sing it to her when she was tucked into bed for the last time. The words go like this, “Good night sweet heart well it’s time to go. Good night sweet heart well it’s time to go. I hate to leave you but I really must say good night sweet heart good night.” We will love and miss you until we are again reunited. We love you grandma.

Much to do About Nothing

I have so many great pictures to post; however, I haven’t had a chance to sit down and blog. So I am going to refer you to my sister’s blog. If you go to Somer’s blog you will see the greatest post of all. We went to the NKOTB concert. It was the best night of my life. At one point I was jumping up and down like a crazy person and screaming at the top of my lungs. OK who am I kidding; I was jumping up and down screaming for most of the show. I walked into the E center a 27 year old dignified women, I came out a 9 year old prepubescent girl, with a serious crush. It was the best concert I have ever been to. I can’t wait for them to come to Utah again. OK this is all well and good, but somebody please stop me if I start to write love letters again. Anyway to see some amazing pictures of the New Kids please go to Somer’s blog.

Just a quick update on my life…….I am getting…….so excited for the Holidays. If you know me at all, you know I love this time of year. I am so excited for Thanksgiving. Not for the feast, (I don’t enjoy cooking) but more spending much needed time with my family. I don’t see them enough and I LOVE THEM, so I am looking forward to a few days with them.

I hope and pray that all of you have a great holiday and enjoy time with your loved ones. If you don’t have a place to go, we are always taking in Orphans, so please let me know and you will have a place at our humble feast.

I just want to say that I am watching Elf right now and it is by far my favorite show. I have a really funny story about the movie Elf which I will tell now. One day I was in an elevator with my mom at her work. There was an attractive young man on the elevator with us. My mom, the crazy lady she is, pushed all the buttons on the elevator. Then the man said that reminded him of Elf, my mom proceeded to tell him that was my favorite show. Wouldn’t you know it, his favorite show is Elf too. So he started asking me Elf trivia. Most of which I could not answer. The long of the short of it is, he later got my email address from my mom and started emailing me questions about elf. It was really fun and funny all at the same time. That is what I like about Elf, it brings people together.

One more quick elf story, remember the part when he is going down the escalator and his legs get all stretched out? Well one day I was helping my post stroke grandma get on an escalator when all of a sudden I realized one of my feet was planted at the top of the escalator and the other foot was making a descent down the escalator. Needless to say I found my self in an elf-like predicament, and might I add I am a lot more flexible than I realized. Everyone should watch Elf 72 times before Christmas.