Because of Mr. Terupt

I really, really needed a good book to read.  Something uplifting.  But quick.  This book was it! 

Because of Mr. Terupt made me re-remember that teaching is more about the tests-at-the-end-of-the-year.  It's more than the book-learning that goes on.  It's more than passing AYP and NCLB standards.  Sometimes being a teacher is just being a good person, helping students on their way in other parts of their lives besides the 'school life'.

The 'telling' of this book is through 7 different student narrators.  What a great, effective way to tell such a great school story.  Of course everyone sees and feels and experiences something different in class.  Yet the commonalities the kids share is incredible.

Loved it!

Totally recommend it!

Thankful - Linky Party

1.  What are you thankful for in your classroom?

My class this year - I love them!  A lot!
My Promethean board, Elmo and projector - I couldn't teach without them!
Books - a lot of them.  Never is "I can't find something to read" an option.



2. What people are you most thankful for?

My family - I wouldn't be where I am without my Mom, Dad, and Holly
My lunch group - I am sane thanks to Karen, Jami, Ryan, Vickie and Megan!




3. What 3 blogs are you most thankful for?

 What the Teacher Wants - of course!
Read This!?!? - my BFF's new book blog
Heartland Paper - to keep me sane!




4. What guilty pleasure are you most thankful for?

Diet Coke
Chocolate
Dancing with the Stars!



5. What are you most thankful for?

Family, friends, the gospel, a great job, health, and wellness!

still here

yeah.

haven't blogged for a while.

i'm sure a lot of really great things have happened...

school... 33 5th graders... who are actually really quite great...  just time-consuming...

40 books for the school year... most my kids are keeping up... me not so much... this is week 8... and at one a week i am about 3 weeks behind... but i have some really great books lined up...  the new ranger's apprentice books for example...

math class... reading that i skim... lesson plans to re-write... but a lovely wednesday evening that passes by fairly quickly... and the best part is that i can come to school the next day with new ideas for discussion in math.

history class... even more reading that i just barely skim... does anyone get through it all?.. doubt it!... but good knowledge... and my favorite for dinner - golden corral... ick...

crochet class... really great students that don't need lots of help so i can stitch too... coming up with projects that will work is a little challenging... but good...

the utes... started out the season great... and now i have no idea what happened to them... except to say that they could give me a scholarship to fumble 10 times in the last two games... it's probably a good thing that the most important game of the year was early on, and they played a lot better than they really are, and the cougs played a lot worse than they really are...

general conference... was good... lots of things i need to work on... but i have apparently a lot of time to do that now... and not just to 2012 like all my great students say every time someone reports a new volcano or earthquake in the world...  but i probably should be telling you this in person instead of sending it into the great cyber void...

so yeah.

see you in a few weeks... or months... or whatever...

Summer in a Post

Summer 2011

My summer very literally started the last day of school with a red-eye flight to Washington DC, and ended officially just days before the first day of school.  What a great, crazy, summer!

Library of Congress Teacher Institute @ Washington DC w/ me

Computer Camp @ Deerfield w/ 16 kids

Utah National Guard 23rd Army Band @ the Tabernacle w/ Mom, Holly, and JoAnne


Hair Cut @ Joyce's w/ Joyce

The before

Williamsburg Teacher Institute @ Williamsburg, Va w/ Karen and the history cohort

Relief Society patriotic presentation @ the Prison w/ Mom, Holly, and about 30 prisoners


Murray 4th of July Parade @ State Street w/ Mom, Holly, and JoAnne

Crocheting with Achievement Day girls @ Joee’s w/ Joee

Harry Potter movie marathon @ Jordan Commons w/ Mom, JoAnne, and Holly

Sad it's over...

... but happy it happened!

Crocheting marathons @ the back porch w/ Mom

Pops Concert @ Abravenel Hall w/ Mom, Holly, and JoAnne

Pioneer Commemoration Concert @ the Conference Center w/ Mom and JoAnne

Cruising the parade route @ SLC w/ Mom, Holly, and JoAnne

Camp Spike & Wave @ Park City w/ Holly and campers

Gambling @ Las Vegas w/ Charlotte

another jackpot!

Harvest Days booth @ Midvale w/Joee, Holly, Mom, &JoAnne

Riding the new Trax lines @ South Jordan and West Valley 2/ Mom, Holly, and JoAnne

Co-blab-eration @ Deerfield w/ Karen, Jami, and Ryan

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat @ Hale Center Theater w/ Mom, JoAnne, Holly, and Joee

Lagoon @ Lagoon w/ Holly

All this!  Plus the usual… going to the rec center (hem, hem…), sleeping in (staying up late), being lazy, cleaning up, cleaning out, taking stuff to the DI (and watching to make sure they don’t take more than they’re supposed to!), enjoying Tippy’s adventures in the backyard (bird, anyone?), watching daytime TV (She’s Crafty, Matlock, Studio 5, Maury)

Summer wanderings...

Washington, DC

I totally had a great time in DC at the Library of Congress teacher seminar!  It was fantastic!  I LOVE DC! (see post dated a little ways back...)

--- ~~~ --- ~~~ ---

Williamsburg, Virginia

25 teachers from my district got to go to Colonial Williamsburg's teacher institute for a week.  Talk about History Boot Camp!  (Another week of 90+ degree temperatures combined with 90+% humidity (Utah really is a dry heat - but you can't fully appreciate that until you've experienced the opposite!) and I would have melted into the sidewalk!)  We got to visit Jamestown, Yorktown, and, of course, Colonial Williamsburg.  I learned so much while I was there, and gained a greater appreciation for Virginia as the first permanent English settlement in North America, and for the founding of our country.  One thing that was particularly cool was that British soldiers occupied the town while we were there - so interesting to have so much going on!

--- ~~~ --- ~~~ ---

Harry Potter!

Holly and I plotted many weeks ago to do a multi-day marathon showing of all the Harry Potter movies, and to take Mom and JoAnne.  It started on Monday and wrapped up Friday morning with the 7.2 movie starting at 12:01.  It was kind of sad, really, to have such an important part of my life over with.  Is that dumb?  A book and movie series as an important part of my life?  I guess having these types of interests though is what makes life life.  JK Rowling did say this though, which is helpful:  “Whether you come back to it by page or by the big screen, Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home."  It was fun to see all the movies on a gigantor screen and with a fun crowd.  They gave us lanyards with our movie pass, and served up butter beer the last night.  Oh, and the popcorn.  Yum.  Though I think that I'm capped out on that.  Definitely a worthwhile way to spend 20 hours of my summer, lazy life.

--- ~~~ --- ~~~ ---

Accomplishments

There are some summer days when my biggest goal for the day is to shower.  Other days I'm more ambitious.  Like wearing shoes other than bummy flip flops.

Many summers I don't have anything to show for what I did, but with my great seminars and movie marathoning, I got certificates for all of them (yes, even the HP marathon!).  I think I'll frame them and post them on my wall at school and see which impresses the kids the most.

--- ~~~ --- ~~~ ---

Crocheting

I love crocheting.  I really do.  I learned how a long time ago, I think when someone in my ward or a teacher or someone was having a baby, and I asked JoAnne to show me how to crochet around a burp cloth.  I was in elementary school then.  I liked it okay, but didn't have a lot of patience for crocheting with such small thread (I still don't...).  I also didn't have a lot of time to do it, and definitely no money to fund my habit.

Fast forward to 9th grade.  Ms. Woodger's creative stitchery class.  What a great class - one of the best I've ever had, probably (for what we did - not so much for my classmates, that's an entirely different post!).  We did a little bit of everything handiwork - cross stitch, swedish weaving, plastic canvas, knit, sew on a machine, needle point, quilting, and crocheting.  I'm definitely more of a jack-of-all-trades with these skills, but they are great skills to have!

Fast forward to two years ago.  Mom, Holly, JoAnne and I decided to take a crochet class via community school.  It was so fun to get back to crocheting again!  JoAnne especially acted like she didn't know a lot about crocheting, but it was good to have an expert with us on our table!  Holly never really got into it much (college is a tough time to do anything with your life except study).  Mom loved it - she only mastered one stitch really well (we're still trying to figure out what that stitch actually is...), but she uses it all the time.  Her favorite thing to crochet?  Dishcloths!

I've loved getting back to crocheting. It's fun, it's relaxing, it's not something that everyone does.  I'm not totally creative on my own, but I am good at following a pattern, so I've made some fun things.  Last spring I taught my own community school class at WXHS for beginning crocheters.  I was shocked at how many people came!  And how many people wanted to make sure I did another class this fall!  I also crocheted a lot of hats over the summer to be sold at Harvest Days... Um, yeah, that went over like a lead balloon... but at least I've got all my Christmas gifts ready to go.

--- ~~~ --- ~~~ ---

Personal History

I've been thinking about the best ways to go about writing not only a history of myself, but a history of Dad.  One of my aunts is big right now into writing biographies of deceased relatives.  They're finely written for the relatives I didn't know at all... but now that she's getting more into writing about people that I actually did know, like my Grandma, I see all the holes that are there and have been wondering how to write someone's life without things missing.  I guess a lot of it has to do with the documents and pictures that people leave behind, along with the stories and memories that others have of them.  The latter is particularly troublesome to me - no one person has the same memories as anyone else... so how do you get it all?  Any ideas?

--- ~~~ --- ~~~ ---

I {heart} WDC!

Looking toward the National Mall from Arlington House

Things I {heart} about Washington DC:

1.  I love the Metro.  I like that I can take the Metro and walk pretty much everywhere I want to go.  It's safe, it's clean, it's easy to figure out where you want to go.

Luv my Metro stop!

2.  Tourists.  Yes, I know that I'm one when I'm here too, but I really try to not look conspicuously like one (well, except for the camera - but even that, I don't bring all 8 zillion lenses with me).  I like how parents and children are making connections over the documents, monuments, and artifacts they're seeing.  I also like chuckling to myself when parents get it wrong.

Paying my respects to President Lincoln

3.  Too much to see!  Museums, monuments, exhibits, offices, restaurants x 10 million!  There are so many things to do and see - how could you ever see it all?

WWII Memorial

4.  Softball on the National Mall.  I love that teams - law firms, offices, and congressional staffers - organize and play their games on the Mall.  Sad to say, but watching them play is one of my favorite down-time activities when I'm done with museums and monuments.

Things that I could do without in WDC:

A.  June = 8th graders on tour.  Yeah.  Avoid DC in June if at all possible.

Washington Monument, the emptied-out reflecting pool, and 9 million 8th graders and their poor chaperones and tour directors... I feel their pain, but I'm glad it's not me!

B.  Icky brown grass on the National Mall.  Yes, I know it's irresponsible to use a sprinkler system when others are in a drought... but really.  This is America's capital city.  Surely taxpayers wouldn't mind a cent or two more to cover the water bill for America's showpiece city?

The Capitol... and brown grass... ick...

The Magic Number

24...

that is all...


then maybe I'll get around to writing again...


until then...

Teach Me How To Jimmer

"Look, I know I'm a Ute fan but let me get a few bars,

Never been a hater, I admit he's a true star.

Hardly agree when it comes to red and blue.

But on the reel you could catch me doing the Jimmer, too!'

Sample 7: Caps by Christine

I spent the better part of the weekend crocheting hats.  So cute!  (The hat, not me...)  The pattern came from this blog: http://vallieskids.blogspot.com/2009/06/olivias-butterfly.html - fun, quick, easy crochet patterns.  Such a great weekend!!  (Ah, the bliss of having a Monday off from school!)

Holly, Joee and I are working on crafty items to sell at the Midvale Days craft fair in August.  I've been wondering about price points.  I've looked at similar items on Etsy to get some ideas, and Googled some as well.  I definitely don't want to overprice, but it's a fine line between that and underpricing.

So let me know - what would you pay for your very own, handmade, crocheted cap?

Traveler

Traveler.

The travel bug started early - Dad always had a great summer vacation planned.  West - National Parks (Yellowstone, Zion, Bryce, Grand Canyon, etc.), Oregon, Disneyland, Alaska - and East - Boston, Maine, New York, Prince Edward Island, and more...  

I got my first taste for somewhat-solo travel when I went to Europe when I graduated from high school.  It was a perfect combination of being supervised, safe, protected, and independent and on my own.  Kind of.  (I was only 18, after all!  Who lets an 18-year-old out of their sight in a foreign country for very long??)  

From then on, I was ruined.  I was totally addicted to going somewhere - anywhere - for new places, new faces, new eats, and new souvenir shops.  I love, too much, taking pics on all these adventures.  I love the planning almost as much as the going.  I even love the driving to get there!  (Though I do miss the days of relaxing in the back seat with a good book or working on a hobby or napping...).  I love the anticipation of getting ready.  I rarely sleep much the night before leaving - a trait I've inherited from my Dad.  I'm not a great packer - I've had to invest in a suitcase scale to ensure that my packing job is underweight at the airport - I got a new, lightweight suitcase set from my Mom (who is tired of hearing my packing woes, I'm sure) to help me out with this also.  It's so great to go to new places, famous places, out-of-the-way places, and old favorite, tradition places.

Since becoming a somewhat independent person, I've gone to Las Vegas (once; Joee, several more times with Holly), China (with Joee), the Hill Cumorah Pageant (three times; twice driving cross country, once with an old-fashioned map and once with a GPS, and once with Mom attached to a history seminar in Philly), NYC (with Holly, attached to a HCP experience), Washington DC (twice; once attached to a HCP with Holly, the other time all by myself! for a Library of Congress seminar - and I get to go again this summer!), Philadelphia (once; for a history seminar, Mom would come out later), Boston (once, with a district history cohort).  

Beijing with Joee

Niagara Falls

Washington DC

Vegas with Holly

More is planned for the not-so-far distant future - a Civil War tour (with a district history cohort),  a Williamsburg/Jamestown seminar (with another district history cohort), another romp in DC for another LoC institute, and hopes for another one or two seminars.  Getting to go to so many places is my favorite perk of never having left home - how else would I get to go here and there and everywhere if I were paying down a mortgage?

Is it weird to have travel goals?  Because I do.  I want to visit all 50 states (32 down, 18 to go!).  I want to visit all 7 continents (3 down, 4 to go!).  Any time I study about a place, it makes me want to see those places in person - like when I learned about Machu Piccu when I taught the 3rd grade.  I get this from my mom - I did my 5th grade state report on Maine - guess where we went for vacation a few years later?   

Rick Steves is one of my favorite tv personalities.  I love his travel philosophy - you can't see everything when you're in a new place, so travel like you're going to go back there someday.  Because chances are, if you ended up going there once, you're going to go again.

Student

Student.

I had known for a while that I'd go back to school to get my Master's.  I didn't think it'd be so soon after leaving with my BS degree.  I applied to the U after going to an interview that I didn't think went so well... and I thought that into August, it would be good to have a back-up plan.  School was it.  It took me about 30 minutes to apply to the U as a grad student conditionally, and got in officially after my first semester.  My job being a part-time contract computer specialist really was an ideal way to start and get into grad school - much less of my life was devoted to teaching than currently is, which helped me get a lot of homework done.

I decided to go the literacy route, and got my reading endorsement along the way.  With my few classes that I could choose, I took the technology endorsement classes, figuring that would be a good fit with my computer teaching.  I had some really good professors along the way, and a few marginal ones.  I read a lot, studied a lot, did a few group projects, and wrote a ton of papers.  I went the comprehensive exam route at the end, which meant that I had 10 days to write 3 10+ page papers.  I took a week off school to get this accomplished, which helped a ton... I really do write best late at night and early into the morning.  I passed (whew!), and emailed in my last paper of my last class 5 minutes before it was due.  Sigh.  And - I'm done.  No more homework, assigned research reading, outlines, summaries, research papers, or group projects.  For now...

Teacher

Teacher.


After many, many interviews, late into August, I finally got hired.  It was not my expected job - a computer specialist at a .65 time contract.  But, a job is a job, and I took it gladly.  I often think that it's because of Dad that I got my job.  Alpine District is an Apple district, and, well, I had exclusive use of Macs growing up, thanks to Dad.

It was a great job, and there are many days when I still miss it. :)  I liked getting to see and know all the kids in the school.  I liked being the teacher that didn't know (as the kids thought) who was naughty or who was and wasn't the smartest in the class.  It was fun to be the 'fun' teacher in the school - most of the kids could not wait for their once-weekly computer dose.

After the first part-time year, my contract was extended to be full time for the second year.  After that year, my school was going to an extended-day schedule, and so the specialist jobs would be back to part time.  I really wanted to be full time, so I did interview at another school, but was able to stay at good old Deerfield, and took a position in the 3rd grade.

Third grade was a good place to be.  I did my student teaching in 3rd grade, and I loved it.  I enjoyed that age of kid when those classes came to computers.  I liked the 3rd grade team and got along with them pretty well.  My classes were so cute - 24 the first year, 27 the second year.  I like how the kids were just getting used to working on their own, and were anxious to do things themselves.  They are still pretty cute at that age, too, and are ready to let you know how much they love you.

After two years there, I moved to the 5th grade, mostly, I think, because I would be a good fit with their eMints technology grant.  I have loved the 5th grade team - we've had a few new members over the three years I've been there, but is always fun and uplifting.  (Some days the best part is lunch!)  My classes have always kept me hopping - 32 students my first year, 33 the next, and 37 this year (36 now).  I had several kids in 5th grade that I also taught in 3rd grade, and so that was fun to get to have them again.  I'm starting to get siblings of kids that I had either in 3rd or 5th, and that is a fun connection to have as well.

I enjoy teaching for many reasons:  I enjoy being with kids, and am at ease talking to them and teaching them (not so much with adults).  Kids are so funny!  They have great little personalities, and, while I have just a small part in how they are going to turn out, I like to think that I'm making a positive difference in their lives.  I like preparing lessons and activities for them to learn from.  I even like going to professional development workshops to learn more about being a better teacher.  I like that each day is different, but that I have control (mostly) over how the day goes.

Some things that I don't like about teaching:  Grading... it never ends.  Never.  I'm only ever caught up in May.  I also don't like having to deal with 5th grade drama - bullying, love triangles, discipline issues.  There are times when I've been frustrated with other adults in the building, but for the most part, I enjoy the camaraderie of the teachers in my building.  There are definitely ways that the profession can improve - funding, testing, legislative concerns, and other things that don't have to do with kids and teaching them - but overall, it is a good profession and I'm glad and grateful to be a part of it.

Seven years in, and I think that I finally know what I'm doing.  Most of the time.  Some days, anyway.  At least only a few kids go home crying, on any given day.  (The teacher's tears, however, are another story...!)

Sister

Sister.

The week that I was the VIP in my first grade class was life-changing.  How many 7 year olds can say that??  My mom made me a book to take to school to show me off to my class.  Of course, no siblings were featured (just the aforementioned dog and cat).  Well, by the end of that fateful week, I had acquired a sister.  In all the wishing and hoping that I'd have a sister someday, it didn't occur to me that she'd come so little.  I wanted someone to play with!

Who could possibly play with this little thing?

Now that I'm more used to her (after 22 years!), I'm glad to have had her around for so long.  We definitely have had some good times together.  For a glimpse into some of these adventures, check out this post.  Every girl needs a sister.  There are just some things that only sisters can do!

Only

Only.

I was the oldest born of the family, and enjoyed single-status for 7 blissful years.  It was great being both the baby of the family, as well as an adult-tag-along.  I enjoyed the full attention of both my parents, not to mention single-most adoration from a number of grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.  Dogs and cats, by the way, make great siblings.

This 'only' status would change eventually...

A Dozen Words

Thanks to some blog stalking, I found this post from Travelin' Oma.

~Write an outline of your life using only a dozen words. Go back and turn each word into a paragraph.

Here are my dozen words.  Subsequent posts will be my paragraphs...

Only

Sister

Wanna-be

Newbie

College

Teacher

Student

Techy

Traveler

Work-a-holic

Half-orphaned

Single

Anybody here?

Dear You,

It has come to my attention that no one is visiting my blog.  (and I don't just mean people who never get on the internet - you know who you are!)  I don't advertise to everyone that I have a blog, but people do know about and I do have some regular readers (thanks, guys!).  My fine, fine readers with blog feed gadgets on their blog aren't getting the message that I've written lately.  For some reason, that blog feed isn't updating when I post.  According to those feeds, the last time I wrote was two months ago.  (It is true that I have let that kind of time go by before, but I really try to write more often than that normally...)

And while I guess that I don't really need an audience, it'd be nice to get a comment now and then, or see someone else's city besides my own in my traffic feed...  I do write for me, but I write for you, too!  (aw, now don't you feel special?)

So if you happen to be reading this (checking to see if it is true that I really haven't written in a few months), do you have any ideas (brilliant or just kind of shiny) that would update my posts on their/your blog feed reader???

Thanks,
Me

***PS - 2/22/11 ***
So... I don't know what particular setting it was, but it's apparently all fixed now.  So if you run into this same problem yourself... better ask someone else!

"Thanks to your Dad..."

In December, Lone Peak HS sponsored a food drive at the elementary schools.  The class with the most cans got a pizza party, in addition to school-wide incentives.  My class was doing okay with their can count, but it really picked up the last week when I told them that whatever cans they brought in, I would double it.  Well, actually - my Dad would double it.  He always supported the Food Bank, and we thought this would be a good use of some of his money.  (He usually supported them with money, as the food bank gets more for their/our buck with that, but thought this would be a worthy exception.)

By the time the end of the week rolled around, the kids had brought 238 cans in... so I dutifully went to the store with Mom and bought 240 cans... of everything!  All totaled up, it was only $119.37 - not too shabby!  The receipt is still hanging up in my room, over 3 feet long!

My kids were so impressed that I'd be willing (well, that Dad'd be willing) to help them out to meet our goal of getting that pizza party.  I'm glad that I could help out their morale a little bit, and maybe help demonstrate what a good cause a food drive is, and the people it helps.

The kids brought in more cans that last day, so we ended up with over 500 cans, and ended up winning that pizza party.  When I told the kids that we won (oh, and that we were going to be good sports about it!), one of my students who really doesn't see outside himself much said to me, "It's thanks to your Dad that we won, you know."  Awwwww...!

So thanks, Dad!

11 Birthdays

I loved this book!

I started reading it last Thursday, when my students were doing some Super Bowl of Reading reading.  I pulled out my book so that they could see me reading also (I don't usually read when they are - I have too many other things to do!).  I really, totally meant to be a good teacher that day - but alas, it didn't happen.  Once I got a few pages into this book, I was totally hooked.  The kids and I ended up reading for about an hour - all the way from recess until lunch.  Oh well.  I'll be a good teacher another day.  (The kids, by the way, didn't mind - they've been making good progress on their reading goals at home, without a lot of reading time at school, and think that I'm "awesome" because I "let" them read all that time.  Hmmm...)

Amanda and Leo are best friends who share the same birthday, and who have combined birthday parties, up until their 11th, because of an overhead conversation on their 10th birthday.  Because of an enchantment placed on their great grandparents, both Amanda and Leo end up having their 11th birthday over and over until they get it right and the enchantment's requirements have been met.  It reminded me a lot of one of my and my family's favorite movies - Groundhog Day - and that's a good thing.  It was cleverly written and a quick read - because you get sucked in.  I found myself wondering what I'd do differently (or not) if I got stuck on a day and couldn't progress to the next day, and which day I'd want to live over, hopefully to improve the outcomes and attitudes of the events taking place on that day.  I'm still undecided - I'll let you know when I figure it out.

Loved it!  You will too!

Things I'd do if I had a week (or two) off from life...

1.  Sleep in.  I love sleeping.  I definitely don't get enough of it during a regular work week.  So, given a week off from life, I'd sleep in - just enough, not too much.  I hate the groggy feeling of sleeping too much - but sleeping until 7 or 8 o'clock would do me wonders.

2.  Organize.  I'm not organized by nature, I really have to work for what organization I have in my life as it is.  I have great organizational plans for my stuff, which would hopefully clear up some time in my regular life to do other things.  When I do get the organizational bug, I've just got to go until I'm finished.  And that, my friends, may take me a week, or more...

3.  Scrapbook.  After my organizing, I know that I'll be able to find all my paper, stickers, and other embellishments that I bought to use for certain events or layouts, and so I'd be able to get right down to the work of scrapbooking.  One of my best times scrapbooking was when I was a freshman in college, and it was my spring break.  I'd been to Europe the previous summer, and had pictures burning holes in their envelopes.  Early on Monday morning, I asked my dad to take me around to several scrapbook stores (remember Mac's?  I miss that place!), and got card stock, page protectors, stickers, and gel pens.  I spent the entire week scrapping all my pictures from that great European adventure.  It was one of my first ventures scrapbooking something on my own (my mom, sister and I usually scrapped together), and it was great!  Looking at that book now, it has very little in terms of style, layout, color scheme, and a lot of other things... but - it is done, and I love looking at it, and remembering the good time I had in Europe and scrapping that album.

4.  Read.  I've set a goal to read all the Utah Beehive book award nominees by the time they choose the winners in April.  I've done pretty good so far, but I'm not sure that I can keep up the pace.  (Thankfully, many of the books are picture books - woo!)  Plus, my students at school are involved in the 5h Grade Super Bowl of Reading, and have set goals to read 500 pages or more by the date of the actual football Super Bowl, so they have given me many recommendations.  One of my favorite things to do on a Saturday morning after I have slept in, is to lay in bed and read.  Sounds lovely.

5.  Craft.  Crochet, needlepoint, card making, slapping some paint on wood blocks and adding a little modge podge and paper.  Whatever.  I have so many projects to do.  I wouldn't need to leave my house for months, and I'd still have plenty to do.



Well, one of these days I'll get around to these great events.  Maybe.  More likely, I'll get to a few things at a time during the course of my regular life.  But, just in case a week frees up, you know where I'll be.

Sample 7: Custom (Cup) Cakes

My goal for promoting good will toward all at work this year is to remember everyone's birthday by baking them something special - and then share it with our team.

Karen - Pink Lemonade Cupcakes.  They were okay.  I think I need different lemon flavoring next time.  But definitely edible.  Not much to look at though, so no pic.

Ryan - RIP Cupcakes.  Ryan turned the big 3-0 this year and needed cupcakes to match.  We honored him by wearing black.  Can't wait to see what (if, more like it) is planned for me next year when I celebrate the 8th anniversary of my 22nd birthday.

Jami - Mini Cheesecakes.  One of Mom's great school recipes.  Yum.