Just checking in

Hi guys! Well as you can see, I have not updated my blog for a little while :) Teaching is going great! I love my class and I am really enjoying the opportunity to teach 5th grade. I can't believe that we are half way through the year. It has gone by really fast!
Here are a few things that have happened since the last time I blogged:
I started teaching
I was called to be the primary president 3 weeks before school started
My little brother David, left for his mission to Brazil in September
My little sister, Misty is engaged to be married June 4th
I am taking two college classes this semester (working on getting my EESL endorsement)
Carl and I celebrated our 6 year anniversary
Carl started back to school to get his teaching degree in Math education
I finally got excited about a video game! I love Guitar Hero and Carl wont even play it with me! Oh well, at least I don't have to share with him :)

Those are the big important things. Teaching is keeping me pretty busy, but it is so worth it!
I will try to post more this year. I hope that you are all doing well! I miss you all.

Back to school

I am going back to school, but this time... I will be the teacher! I got a teaching job at Enoch Elementary teaching 5th grade. Now, those who know me well, know that I am more used to teaching younger grades, like Kindergarten, but I am really excited to have this job. It will challenge me in more way than I probably realize, but I am up for the challenge and totally excited for it! I actually got the job at the end of May. (Hey you know that I am not good at staying up on my blog) :)
I have been able to be in my room since the 1st of June. I am working with 3 other fifth grade teachers and they are awesome! They have been so helpful! My classroom size is 20 students! I will probably get a few more , but I am so lucky to have a small class! I feel so lucky to have gotten this job, since they were not supposed to have any jobs open this year.

The one bad thing about getting this teaching job is that I had to leave StoryTellers Club. Last Thursday was my last day. : -( However, everyone there was so supportive of me getting this job. Thanks you guys! I miss not working with you! Thanks Kim, for encouraging me to apply for jobs and go for my dream.

My whole family has been so supportive of me. Especially Carl, I think he might have been more excited for me than I was. He has been such a good support. Thanks babe!

Well, I am working on getting lesson plans put together and everything else that a teacher has to do to get ready for school. I will post pictures of my classroom when I finally get it put together.

Drum roll please... and he is going to...

My family had a very big weekend. My baby brother turned his mission papers in two weeks ago. A week ago Sunday, David called and told us the bishop told him that his mission call had left Church Head quarters that Friday. So we thought that he would get it on Monday. I waited till 11:30 and called my mom to see if the mail had come yet. Nope I called again at 12:30, 2:30, finally at 4 she called and said no letter today. Tuesday, same thing, no letter. Wednesday, no letter again. How can this be? They live 20 minutes from church head quarters. David could have driven up there and gotten it a lot faster. So we thought, ok maybe next Wednesday. Well on Thursday my mom called and said he got it! Carl and I were planning on going up to be there when he opened it. We were also planning on going up there again the same weekend to help get things finished for my other brother's wedding this coming weekend. So when we found out he got it on Thur day we were thinking that we were going to have to drive up Thursday night, come home Friday morning at 5am to make it back for work, and then go back up Friday night to help with wedding preparations. David, decided that would be way too much driving for us, so he said he would wait to open it on Friday night when we got there. Amazing!

Friday we got there and then we had to wait for everybody else to get there. So to make a long story short he opened it, and he is going to....... Brazil, Portuguese speaking. Sorry I can't remember the name of the mission, but I do know that it is on the coast of Brazil and that it gets 15" of rain in July.

We also got to go through the Draper Temple with David for his first time that Saturday. He wanted to be able to be at the Sealing of our other brother this coming weekend. So ya, big weekend for us. David had a lot to take in in less that 24 hours, and as always he took it in stride and did a great job!

I am so proud of you bud! You are going to make one amazing missionary!

Ok... I might be spoiled!

Some people have said this about me before, but I might have to agree with them after this month. I actually got to go to Disneyland twice in April. I know, please don't hate me! My Aunt and uncle asked My sister, Misty, if she would go with them to Disneyland to help with the kids. My aunt asked Misty if she thought I could go and Misty said she would asked. She asked me , and thanks to my wonderful boss, Kim, I was able to take a whole week off work and go back down to California! The one bad thing about this trip was that Carl stayed home and I went with out him. :( It was a whole 8 days away form each other. I don't think we will do that again. But he was supportive and let me go, thanks Hon!
This trip we stayed in Newport Beach at a resort right across the street from the Ocean. The view was amazing. We went to Disneyland for 4 days, the beach one day (it was a lot warmer this time), and LA another day, ate, swam, and relaxed. It was so much fun to be with my sister just being able to hang out. Thanks Mist for asking and thinks Mary and Andrew for letting me come with you guys! Also another good thing about this trip is that they have a 6 month baby and I held him every second i got the chance. I am not kidding I had major withdrawals when I got home! :) Here are a few pics of the trip. Misty has a lot more than i do, so hope you like what I have.





I would post some pictures of the cute kids, but I am not sure if my aunt and uncle would be ok with it, so you just get me and my sis.

Here are a few pictures of me at the beach, notice the difference between these pictures and the ones below from 3 weeks before?


That's right my skin actually got to see the sun this time! The weather was awesome! The water was still freezing, but I was brave and got in the water this time. After acclimating myself to the water it was fine. I even went boogie boarding!

Our hotel was only 5 minuets from the Newport Beach temple, so we went and saw it. It was beautiful!


This is a view from our balcony at the hotel. The beach was right there! It was so beautiful.

Thanks for letting me tell you about my vacations this month, I promise I usually go nowhere! :)

Disneyland for Easter

Ok I am way behind, as usual on my blog. But I finaly have something fun to write about. : )

Carl and I went on vacation with his whole family. We went to visit his sister and her family for Easter break. Carl's mom took us all to Disneyland for 2 days. We had a blast! Thanks mom. We got to stay with Carl's sister Renee and her Husband Gary and their kids. Thanks guys for lettings us crash at your house! We also went to the beach (but it was freezing) and celebrated Easter. We had a great trip. I wish that I knew how to get the pictures flipped the right way. : )











As you can tell by my pictures the weather was not to warm when we went to the beach! I stayed wrapped up in my hoodie and the towels and blankets we brought. I didn't even get close to the water. However, my husband is a lot braver than me and he actually got in and went swimming! Crazy! Oh well it was still fun and as always the ocean was beautiful.

Pay It Forward

I signed up for Katie's "Pay It Forward" game and I am so glad that I did because it is such a great idea!

The first 3 people who comment on this post will receive a small gift....but you HAVE to promise to continue to pay it forward.

THE RULES: The focus of this is to do an act of kindness without expecting anything in return other than the recipient will, in their turn, pass the kindness along and "pay it forward."I will send a small gift to the first 3 bloggers who post a comment on this entry. In turn, those three will post this information and the game will continue!! The little something you send can be something you made, bought, were given or found, anything you want!! Just a gift that will make the person's day!! If you are interested in participating, simply be one of the first 3 bloggers to leave a comment!! You have to promise that you will then post about this on your blog, link back to me, and then send something to the first three people who sign up to play along through your blog. Doesn't this sound like fun!!??


Katie thanks for the Welcome sign sign for my door. I have been looking for something spring-like for my door forever. It is perfect. You and Emma has great taste!

Here is the link to Katie's "Pay It Forward" post: http://aaronandkatiebell.blogspot.com/2009/02/pay-it-forward.html

A New Year...Well Close Enough

Hi to all!

I have had a few people comment on my lack of posts. The end of December was a little crazy, as I am sure it was with all of you. We had a great holiday season and, hope all of you did as well. We rang in the New Year (maybe not with a bang), but it was still fun to spend time with my family in Salt Lake.

I wish that I had more to post, but unlike the rest of you I have no kids to write about, so my life is pretty boring. Don't get me wrong, it's good, just not a lot to blog about right now. I will try to keep better track of what I do and then post more. I hope you all are doing well. Thanks for your love and support!