WELCOME TO MY LIFE

I go into the locker room after school and there are papers everywhere. Do I clean them up? NOPERS!! But silently I think how do they expect to pass their test when they left their study guide on the locker room floor. Better yet a ninth grader left their assignment that is worth 100 points sitting on the bench. Apparently she is not going to do the assignment. I did not even look to see who's it was. I have some guesses. But really I am not their mother, I care about my students, I want them to have success in my class, but does that mean I coddle them? At what point are you old enough to be responsible for taking home your assignments and completing them without the teacher putting them in your back pack for you? I believe 9th grade is a little past that age.

Physical education has changed. I know you think I am a beast (Yes they have assignments and written tests), but I can demonstrate to parents and administrators that learning is taking place. But please please please help me I do not want to hold hands or force students to do things. Why can't they just fail if they don't do the work? Oh that's right we don't want to hurt anyones self esteem!! I guess I will give them a new study guide if they say they lost theirs, but I won't be happy about it.

10.5, Are you JOKING with me?

I have been on the search for new running shoes since Christmas. Both of my current shoes have holes in the toes. I recently read a talk from Elder Ballard talking about the good ole days when you couldn't just buy new shoes and would have to repair them, as a result I postponed buying shoes for a couple of months. I wanted to get all of the use I could out of my old ones.

I began looking and I went to tons of stores and tried on tons of shoes but nothing was right. I really wanted to get a good pair of running shoes. Yesterday I went to the Runners Corner and had the most interesting shoe buying experience. Not bad in any way just different from any experience I have had before. Here is how it went:

• Bring out a nice pair of shoes and watch me run. Wait . . . . you want to watch me run. Ok I will do my best but I am not thrilled to run for some dude that obviously takes his running very seriously, based on his shoes and his 0% body fat.
• He watched me run and we decide I am a neutral runner so he goes to the back and brings out 4 high end running shoes that will work well for my feet.
• Oh . . . . side note he bends down and feels my toes and decides I am a 10.5 not a 9 or 9.5. What a 10.5, aren't my feet big enough why do I have to wear size GINORMOUS. (no offense Erica)
  
• I then put on a Brooks shoe on one foot and an Asics on the other and go outside and run around. I like the Brooks so it stays on and the Asics is replaced with a Saucony running shoe. I decided I like the Saucony so I replace the Brooks with a Mizzona. I love the Mizzona so then I put one on each of my feet and go run around. I am sold.
• Not only did he sell me the shoe he taught me how "runners" lace them up and tie them to get the most out of their shoe. (I think I am a professional now)
  

Overall a great shoe buying experience and I learned a lot about the process for finding a good running shoe. I am only supposed to run in these shoes so yes I am at work with my holey shoes, can't buy another pair until next month (self control). They will be cheap ones anyways, I don't normally run at work.

Below is the final product. I like them a lot. Sam and I ran 5 miles last night. The shoes felt good, my legs did not. So don't be suprised when I am super skinny next time you see me because when you pay so much for shoes you run way faster and more often. And now that I have serious shoes I can only assume the low body fat will follow.

ADVENTURES IN SIN CITY

For the three day weekend, in honor of our dead presidents, Amber and I took a little road trip to Vegas. We stayed withe her sister and family and enjoyed biking, sleeping in, shopping (but not buying anything), and slightly warmer weather. Overall it was a fun weekend and it was great to be somewhere besides Provo.

This was the first ride of the season so naturally I was very excited. I got my bike tuned up before the trip and it is as good as new. I have to keep telling myself that because part of me would like to buy a new bike.


Amber and I biked Red Rock Canyon. Turns out it was a little hillier than I remembered. It was a steep first ride but it felt great to work out those biking muscles. It was really hot going up but we froze the second half of the ride because it was all down hill.



Last but not least the post race meal. Half of a snickers marathon bar I found in my bike pouch. I think I ate the other half in October. I only had the thought maybe you should just throw it out for a second, then I thought I am hungry so I will eat this. It tasted great, anything does after three hours in a saddle.



I officially referred to Vegas as Sin City in this post because I made the mistake of reading the newspaper on Saturday. The front page was the 22 most prolific prostitutes, pictures included. And then there were also a couple of other questionable articles. It made me thankful I live in what some would call a bubble, but hey at least I can read the paper and pretend that most people in the world are good and doing good things.

when it's over. . . . . . .

That's about the time I fall in love again.



The basketball season has come to an end. I won't miss it for a couple of weeks but I do always end up missing it. This season has been interesting. I learned a lot as a head coach. Some things I will do the same some things I will do differently. Overall I think the girls had a good time and they all got better at basketball, which is the ultimate goal.

I am pumped that for the rest of the year I can go home at 3:30. What am I going to do with myself? I am so eXcItEd!

BUSY DAYS

Busy days . . . . . . . . well kind of. I have a student teacher and so a more appropriate title might by boring days. I should be doing my thesis but instead I have read 4 books in the last week. It has been great. I love reading and I have read some interesting stuff. My favorite book was My Name Is Asher Lev. This book was awesome and I highly recommend it to anyone who needs a good read. Not only is it a great book it also helps you better understand the Jewish culture.



Outside of work and coaching I spend a little bit of time each evening on the Wii fit. It is not everyday you purchase a video game that tells you how fat you are and lets you demonstrate your amazing sports skills:) Sam passed me on the soccer heading the BRAT didn't miss one soccer ball. Now I have a new goal. Life is all about goals, I must beat Sams' high score. As you can tell I am not a very competitive person.



And lastly fun with the girl's, I stole this picture off of Erica's blog. Last weekend was really fun. It was great to hang out with friends and have the opportunity to see Carrie sealed in the temple. I wish we could all get together more often.



So my days have been busy . . . . kind of.

BYE, BYE, BYE

I took the day off of work to see Anthony off at the MTC. It is always fun to go into the MTC and participate in the missionary program. It is an exciting place to be and the spirit is so strong there.

Anthony really struggled to get his badge on. It was pretty funny. In the end he could not do it by himself. He also got the bright orange dot so everyone would know it was his first day. Anthony was funny. He was really relaxed and excited. In the large meeting before we say goodbye I was looking around and everyone seemed so serious and there was laid back Anthony with a big ole smile on his face ready to start his mission.

Last night we had enchiladas at my house and hung out. This morning we went to breakfast. It was fun to all hang out. The boys were being crazy and hilarious. It was definitely good times.

Everywhere we went people asked Anthony if he was going on a mission and where. After he told them Winnipeg, Canada, everyone responded by telling him how cold it is there. It will be good for him. All in all it was a fun two days.

bAsKeTbAlL bLuEs

The worst thing about coaching 9th grade basketball is the referees. Because it is girls and because we are the youngest competitive age group we are assigned the beginning/worst referees. You know they are bad when they have been around as long as you have as a coach and they are still only reffing 9th grade girls basketball.

I make it a point to never blame the refs for a loss, because as a team there are so many things we can control, but bad reffing is not one of them.

Yesterday was the first exception I have ever made to the rule. It all started off bad in the coaches meeting at half court when the ref did not believe I was the head coach. He kept wanting to drag my assistant out there and he said to me I need the head coach. I replied that I was the head coach. He gave me the I don't believe you look and it was obvious he did not feel I was competent. He wanted the male to be the head coach. IDIOT!!!

It only went downhill from there. We did not get any calls the entire game. My favorite was when everyone in the gym heard our player get smacked and the ref just motioned a clean block. It was so frustrating I have never been so mad at two dummies before in my life. It was very frustrating. I am so sick of refs that don't call the game correctly.

After the game I went home and went to an awesome institute class. It was really good and I completely forgot about the game. I even slept great last night. And then I drove to school today and I got all angry again, guess I am not over it yet. Maybe I shouldn't be a coach.

A HOUSE FULL OF ADDICTS!!!!

Everyone has things that occupy their time, money, and attention. I always think it is intesting what these things are. This week the addictions of the people I live with have humored me so I thought I would share them with you.

Dr. Pepper - need I say more. I am sure this is obvious but this is Mikila's past, currrent, and future obsession. This is what gets her going in the morning. It's her pick-me-up and go to friend. I picked the picture that advertizeses all 23 flavors because she appreciates each and everyone of them. She has thought about quitting but she can't because of how it will effect her social life.

My brother Dan is an evil dude and he introduced our little happy home to prison break. He did this over Christmas break and we watched all of season 1 in three days. We were all adicted, but only Katie took it to the next level and watched seasons 2 and 3. Her current obsession though is with the guy pictured below, I can't remember his name. He's definitely hot, we are trying to help her recover:)

Our live in roommate Sam has an addiction as well. It occupies his thoughts, probably all the time, and his evening most days. We are suprised he doesn't go over his minutes on his phone with this one. But our little house likes Sam's addiction and approves, not that he cares what we think. In order to get privacy he travels from my bed and katie's and Mikila's airmattresses (yes they both sleep on air mattresses) to talk each night. We hope this addiction continues.

My long time obsession is exercise. I workout 5 days a week. I just feel better when I do. The stairstepper is my best friend in the winter, it helps control the love handles. When people ask if I am dating I tell them yes and his name is GYM, g-y-m, I spell it out for them. I mean I spend so much time there it might as well be.

And so you see we are a house full of addicts, but hey there could be worse addictions:)

SNOW, SNOW , SNOW SOME MORE

The snow held off for so long here in Utah this winter and then there was this week. It snowed and snowed and snowed. Not only did it snow, but the snow has not melted. So instead of posting about all the things I dislike about the snow I decided to post about the one thing I love: SNOWSHOEING!!!

I have been snowshoeing four times since last Saturday. That is some kind of record for me. Last Saturday Sam, Katie, and I headed up the American Fork canyon for some Saturday morning exercise.



This was Sam's first time snowshoeing and now we have converted him to the sport. Sam is my new live in roommate. He is jobless and homeless, but at least not girlfriendless. He has been bumming on the love sack in my house. I won't let him sleep on the couch because it is not for sleeping. But beggars can't be picky and all we require of him in return is dish duty:)

It was beautiful out last Saturday and it felt so good to be out in the sun for a few hours. All my trips this week were at night. I love snowshoeing at night but nothing beats being out in the sun for a few hours. If it has to be cold I vote for snow because then I can at least exercise outside.

Out with the old and in with the new

In order to welcome in the year 2009 I decided to give my blog a new look. It is time for a change. I also want to record my New Years Resolutions so that I can report on them at the end of this year. I am a very goal oriented person and so I carefully consider my New Years Resolutions each year in hopes of bettering myself. This post is mainly for me but here is a review of last years resolutions:
2008

• Attend the temple 2x a month minimum - completed
• record all purchases in my check book - did not even start (online banking is to convenient)
• buy a house - completed
• read the book of mormon - completed
• no soda - completed and still going strong
• bike 2000 miles - completed
• graduate with masters - not completed still have thesis to go:(
• read the sunday school and relief society lessons beforehand - partially completed, did it some weeks
  

2009

• read Doctorine and Covenants - unfortunately I have not read this book in its entirity since my mission
• 300 days this year with no sweets - I am working on this with some of my cousins, I will only have one sweet a week.
• 100% visiting teaching - I have struggled with this in my new ward and I have no excuse
• $10,000 in savings
• work on emergency preparedness - focus on having food storage
• graduate from grad school - hopefully in april
  

Favorite Quote of 2008

"Make no mistake about it, brothers and sisters, in the months and years ahead, events are likely to require each member to decide whether or not he will follow the First Presidency. Members will find it more difficult to halt longer between two opinions. President Marion G. Romney said, many years ago, that he had 'never hesitated to follow the counsel of the Authorities of the Church even though it crossed my social, professional or political life.'“This is hard doctrine, but it is particularly vital doctrine in a society which is becoming more wicked. In short, brothers and sisters, not being ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ includes not being ashamed of the prophets of Jesus Christ. . . . Your discipleship may see the time when such religious convictions are discounted. . . . This new irreligious imperialism seeks to disallow certain opinions simply because those opinions grow out of religious convictions.“Resistance to abortion will be seen as primitive. Concern over the institution of the family will be viewed as untrendy and unenlightened....Before the ultimate victory of the forces of righteousness, some skirmishes will be lost. Even in these, however, let us leave a record so that the choices are clear, letting others do as they will in the face of prophetic counsel. There will also be times, happily, when a minor defeat seems probable, but others will step forward, having been rallied to rightness by what we do. We will know the joy, on occasion, of having awakened a slumbering majority of the decent people of all races and creeds which was, till then, unconscious of itself. Jesus said that when the fig trees put forth their leaves, 'summer is nigh.' Thus warned that summer is upon us, let us not then complain of the heat." (Neal A. Maxwell, "A More Determined Discipleship," Ensign, Feb 1979, 69-73)