Brownie Updates

Brownie Updates
this is the life

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Ugliest Shirt Ever Worn

Remember that the soccer team I played on with Jana, Michelle, and Amanda won the t-shirt. Yeah that was really exciting. You know what kind of killed the excitement...the shirt they gave us. UGLY! Good thing I teach PE so I can wear it to school with pride I have no idea what the other ladies are going to do with their shirts.

I told my classes all about my ugly shirt woes and all about picture day woes. Today was picture day. I think it may have gone ok. At least I did my hair and threw on a dress for 2 seconds. The verdict is still out until we actually see the end result. Please, please, please can it be alright.

Monday, August 29, 2011

The Cure All

The temple. Love it. And I especially love this picture. The Provo Temple is not my favorite temple looks wise but I like how this picture turned out once I touched it up with my instagram app.

Homemade ice cream and brownies always make you feel better. Well at least until you put on your jeans again. Good thing I only wear those on the weekend now that school has started. I will fast every Friday so they fit for the weekend (totally kidding but that would be hilarious).

So my last post was a total downer but I am actually feeling much better about life. Oh how only a couple of days can make a difference. Don't worry there are still parent problems. WOW is all I can say about that. It would take a novel to write what has been going on the first week of school. But this is definitely not an appropriate place to talk too much about it. All I am going to say, and this is unrelated to the major problem, is that I had 10 students wanting to sit out of PE today. What is the world coming to? Seriously no wonder we have a weight problem in our society. I am sure some of the excuses were legit but there is no way all ten of them were. It is only the 2nd day we dressed...seriously people. The most shocking thing about it all to me is we really do not do that much in PE, in fact I wish there was a way to get the students to do more. Mainly because most teenage girls are not getting the exercise they need. Anyways that is always a battle and one I will fight all year. Psycho mom on the other hand seems to be one I may fight all semester so I am bucking up for the storm, luckily the principal has got my back.


Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Awesome and Very Not Awesome

AWESOME: I actually did my hair differently. I find something I like and I will never switch it up but I woke up one Sunday morning and decided I should try something different. So I did. And I liked it. So one more hair option. YAY!

Just added some curls with a fatty curling iron. Very easy it turns out. Maybe just as easy as straightening the hair.

NOT AWESOME: I had a parent complaint before school even started. Are you kidding me? I guess that is one of the downsides to teaching all the girls in the entire school they are stuck with me. Don't die of shock but not everyone loves me like all of you:) But it really just stinks. I try hard to be fair and treat all the students the same and I know it is tricky to have the same teacher three years in a row and I feel like I am really careful because of that. This parent is complaining based on her older daughter that I taught many moons ago. Like my first two years of teaching. I would like to think I have changed a little since then. Hopefully I have. But I am nervous that the mothers attitude is going to ruin her daughters experience in my class. Who knows? We will see. Sometimes I wish the parents would come in and watch my class and see how little physical activity we actually do. They would be surprised. But it is very not awesome and the counselors just think it is hilarious, which makes me laugh so I guess that is ok.

AWESOME: My last day of summer I learned to curl my hair with a flat iron. I have been wanting to learn for a while but I finally just did it. Thank you Youtube. It was not as easy as it looked and it took a lot of time but I did like the end result and my hair stayed really curly all day...even after 30 miles of biking. My hair is pretty thick so it just seemed HUGE at first but as the day went on it toned down and I like it. I am not sure how often I will do this to my hair but it was fun to learn.

NOT AWESOME: I am not dating anyone anymore. Most people know already but I feel like I need to write down my feelings and maybe I will feel better about the whole situation. I figure most people are bored by this time and probably are done reading anyways. There does not seem to be any reasons it is all just based on feelings which has made it really hard. Obviously I was trying to sort through my feelings the entire relationship and I spent a lot of time in prayer and pondering wondering if it was right for me to continue to pursuing the relationship. As much as I want to be married, and I really do want to be married, I also want to marry the right person. Someone that is compatible with me. I felt good about the relationship but as he pondered and prayed he didn't. SUCKY! At first I just wondered why we felt so differently and I almost felt like I had lost my ability to receive revelation. I felt confused and hurt. I am in a better place now and I know so much depends on agency and sacrifice but I still have moments when I am really sad. I am very thankful that I have not felt angry (I really hate that feeling and I can honestly say that I never have felt that). But moving forward has been hard, surprisingly much more difficult than I would have anticipated. Mainly because meeting good, active (church), productive men close to my age has been proven to be quite challenging. I know so many amazing girls in my situation. Girls way cooler than me and I just think where are the boys that are living the same way as all of these girls. I know they have to be out there. I just rarely meet them. I know that as soon as I put myself back into social scenes I will recover and be fine. But it is so hard. However I have done plenty of hard things before. I will say that starting the school year has been a little difficult mainly because I just don't feel quite as happy as I would like. It is like something is holding me back. I know that it is a personal problem and one I need to work on. Today was actually better. I had my two ninth grade classes and they are filled with students that I love. They make me smile and laugh so that will be good. So yeah, overall a very not awesome situation. (The intention of this paragraph was not to make anyone feel bad for me I just feel like I needed to write down my feelings because they are ones I have not experienced before and I thought it may be good therapy. And I actually believe I really will learn some good things from this because there were definitely times in the relationship when I really was certain I was supposed to be dating him. It didn't go as I would have liked but hopefully I can still learn and become better.)

AWESOME: The Sound of Music at the Sundance outdoor amphitheater. I love The Sound of Music. It is one of my favorite movies and I was so excited to go see the play. It was a really enjoyable evening and I am glad Dan, Sam, and Amanda came along. I love the movie so much so I really tried not to compare the two because really how do you compete with Julie Andrews. I don't think you can. But the little girl that played Gretl, the youngest child, was adorable. It was a beautiful setting in the mountains and a very fun night.


NOT AWESOME: Trying to decide what ward I need to be in. Before I am 32 I need to move to the family ward. Not too big of a deal but I keep getting told make sure your ready and I guess that just makes me second guess my decision. I mean it is one of those things you never plan on: I hope that when I am 31 I will not be married so I can start to go to the family ward by myself. Yeah, not so awesome. But at the same time I believe I will be blessed in whatever ward I am attending. I think I will be fine as long as I am participating in the ward and active. Will it be different: yes. Are there times it may be hard: yes. But quite honestly there are plenty of times that it is hard to attend the singles ward. Just the environment. And I am tired and old and don't really have the energy to attend an activity every single night. Let's be honest I need a nap everyday after work as it is. Oh the adjustment back to teaching is so tiring. I will be great in a couple of weeks but this week I am exhausted. And next week I will be outside in the 100 degree weather 7 hours a day so I am pretty sure I will be tired then as well. Also not so awesome.

AWESOME: My family, friends, job, health, house, car, and so many other things. I really do have a great life. This was not meant as a pity party but I have turned my blog into a book every year and sometimes I think it is ok to look back on times that have been challenging and to see what I learned or how I grew. I recognize the Lord's hand in my life EVERY SINGLE DAY! Right now I am really focusing on trying to have the faith to trust in His plan for me. As I have followed the promptings I have received in my life I have never regretted it. I know He knows best it is just tricky when you are trying to sort through so many things. I have been trying to study the gospel by topic on a more regular basis and last month I studied hope and desire. Both topics were picked based on two conference talks I loved (Desire by Elder Dallin H. Oaks and Hope by Steven E. Snow.) I learned so much. I learned that I have so so so much to work on. But I think I studied those topics at just the right time because they have been a crutch for me the past few weeks. Life is good and for the most part very AWESOME!


Saturday, August 13, 2011

I just couldn't be the girl taking photos at the end



(Me and Samanda all nice and sweaty at the end of the race)
So why oh why do you sign-up for a half-marathon that you have not even trained for. I mean I printed off a training schedule 12 weeks ago, but I never signed up for the race. Which in LaNell world means you are not really committed. I have been running a couple of times a week all summer. Mostly 5k distances because it is so nice and comfortable. I ran 5.75 miles once, that was my longest run in two years. Now it is not like I just sit around. I have been biking, playing soccer, and going to the gym but not really much running. None of my runs were done outside. Not even one. I love my treadmill and the TV right in front of it. It is the only way to run.

(Seriously needed to walk around for a bit. The look of agony it is a little dramatized)
So back to the run. Sam and Amanda signed up for the race when I was supposed to. So they were committed. Then I talked to them about the half-marathon and they encouraged me to sign-up but for obvious reasons I was hesitant. Then Amanda said, "well if you don't run can you come take pictures for us at the finish line." As pathetic as it was that is what got my thinking... I am a PE teacher for crying out loud I don't want to be the one taking pictures at the finish line. I am supposed to be an example of someone who attempts to maintain an active and healthy lifestyle. So there you have it I signed up Friday night and ran my little heart out today. Thanks to Dan we still had a camera man at the finish line.

(me finishing the race I was in serious pain!)
While running I only cursed the sport about a billion times. I walked the entire uphill section. Something about hills I just don't believe they were meant to be run up (it is against my own personal philosophy). Other than that it wasn't terrible. My joints were hurting pretty bad, especially my hips and right knee but it was bearable. It hurt if I walked or jogged (let's be honest I was never really running) so I decided I might as well jog.

(I was sort of smiling by the time we were ready to head home)
The weather was great. The people were friendly. They had yummy fruit at the finish line. All positives.

(enjoying my favorite fruit, WATERMELON!)
The really big negative was that we only got a t-shirt. A cotton t-shirt. That is a little on the ghetto side. Even 5k races use technical shirts sometimes. I was a little bitter about that.

(At Cafe Rio with our t-shirts on)
Afterwards we celebrated at Cafe Rio and went swimming. Overall not a bad day. I also still played soccer last night. After the last half-marathon I ran I told myself I would not do that again the night before a big event. Oh well I am glad I did. I was a little more tight today but in the end it is worth it because I LOVE soccer and I definitely don't feel that way about running. I am still wondering what it feels like to have the runner's high because this girl has never felt it! In fact I don't think it exists.

Saturday, August 6, 2011

They Got The Name Right!


Canyonlands National Park. There are a ton of canyons. Amber and I did a quick overnighter to check out this national park neither of us had visited before.

Sleeping in my tent was AWESOME! I didn't have to use the fly so it was like sleeping under the stars but with protection from the bugs. It was amazing. The stars are so beautiful out in the Utah desert. I still love my little tent. What a great purchase.

Have you ever wanted a picture with not just one but two people jumping? It is quite complicated, especially when you are using the self-timer. We have about twenty of these shots. We are in the air in none of them. Bad day as far as timing is concerned. I am only posting one because really they are all the same except for our expressions, which happen to be hilarious in every single picture.

Mesa Arch was amazing. On the other side of the Arch is a very very large drop off. YIKES!

The overlook by our campground right at sunset (can't remember the name of the overlook). It was amazing.

So excited to be out and doing something I love.

Looking over another beautiful canyon.

This is the neck overlook. Very big canyon.

So a few things we learned if you are ever going to go to Canyonlands:
  • It's super hot in the summer
  • There are a lot of canyons and they are all very similar
  • don't need more than a day to see the park, unless you are doing a crazy hike
  • not recommended for little kids too many big drop offs
  • no running water in the park so bring lots
  • the campgrounds are nice and cheap ($10 per site), but again no water
  • really there is no shade
  • only $10 entrance fee, that is way cheap for a national park
It was a great little get away, especially for a short weekend. I think the trip from leaving Provo to returning to Provo was almost exactly 24 hours.

Audrey's Dance Recital

 How do you win the hearts of all the Brown's? Have the cutest niece ever perform in a dance recital. It was so fun to watch Audreys lit...