25 things of the Past

It's my birthday. I've completed being 25. It's been a good year and I've done many things with this year. Here are 25 of the so-called "things":

Disclaimer....try not to remember that I'm a teacher while you read through these....many grammatical and punctuational errors. Some of which were intended, and some of which were not. ;)

1. Many a Runs!!! Great River Ragnar, Vegas Ragnar, Arizona Color Run, Thanksgiving Point 1/2 Marathon, Legacy Midnight 1/2 marathon, Dirty Girl Race, Live Welle 5k, Utah's Regional Ballet 10k, Turkey Trot, 5th grade 5k.

2. Top of Utah MARATHON (yeah...this one gets it's own spot! It was insane and I don't just mean the running part.)

3. Dressed up like a tampon for the Dirty Girl Race with two other crazies and had our photographs taken many-a-times

4. Road Tripped out to MINNESOTA for what? For a race of course.

5. received the JEA Teacher-of-the-Year award and $1000!

6. reached over 100,000 miles on my car and paid it off!

7. said good-bye to old roomies and the old place and moved in with the new

8. said good-bye to a fantastic class (this broke my heart) and said hello to the newbie kiddos whom I struggled with,

9. then I fell in love with the newbies and am enjoying them still

10. got a new driver's license and still haven't registered my car (it's been 4 emission tests people, 4!)

11. learned to play the organ and gained a stronger testimony of who the Lord calls, He qualifies

12. gained a greater understanding of who I am

13. set a goal to become healthier

14. got PINK hair twice! (both of which took weeks to get out)

15. TV and MOVIES: Watched Grey’s Anatomy all over again! Found a new love: Downton Abbey, and enjoyed every minute of the epic Harry Potter conclusion, and The Help.

16. Learned to love and play racquetball

17. dealt with some interesting and difficult colleague situations at school which made me grateful for a certain colleague, despise another, and thankful for a good friend who listened and continues to listen to it all

18. Was introduced to BETOS breakfast burritos and will never be the same. I might also mention that my fondness for Diet Coke has grown exponentially.

19. realized how much I miss teaching with and talking with a good friend and having her right next door. (Her family is pretty great too!)

20. committed to an intense, year-long social studies program that will result in me going to BOSTON and PHILADELPHIA for free next July!

21. attended "weekly meetings" with friends involving JCW's (which I might add has THE best chicken strips in the area, not to mention the raspberry-cheesecake shakes!)

22. Got a new little nephew who is pretty adorable (and LOVE his name....Carson)

23. Had me some good times with the cousins lately :)

24. Jumproped, jumproped, jumproped (my class is loving it and I need the exercise)

25. learned that not all roomates are as productive and cleanly and also that ANY movie with Drew Barrymore doesn't count as a proper chick-flick.

Just a scratch on the surface of what the year's been like, and what I've learned and experienced. It's been a good one.

Here's to the next!

gifts...

I know presents aren't what Christmas is all about. With that being said, check out these great gifts that I got!

A home-made race bib holder:

Not only is this a great way to organize and display all of my race bibs, but it makes me want to do more races to keep adding to it!

*Plus, I love the quote!

An adorable jewelry board!

I love the rustic look and how many earrings it can hold!

Looks like I've gotta go get more :)

*Plus, it's magnetic so I'm gonna find little holders to keep studs, rings, and backs in.

And my other favorite gift is....

That's right, a water cooler!

Hot chocolate parties, apple cider, homemade root-beer, water ballons, drink station, etc.

ALL. AT. SCHOOL.

I'm constantly borrowing Wendy's and now I don't have to. My very own water cooler!

*Plus, it has a pull-off lid, not a twisty, which I LOVE!

I had a great Christmas, and a wonderful off-track,

but it's back to school for me!

(Which is harder than you think after being off for a month.)

Obsessed

I was introduced to a new way of drinking water last Christmas (thanks to Erin) and haven't stopped (obsessing about them) since.

This is real. I now have 5.

I don't know what it is about them...

• the colors?
• The way they are easy to handle/carry around?
• The fact that you have to bite them to get any water out?
• That they don't leak when tipped over?

Yeah...that's why.

Whether they come as a gift, or I buy them myself....I can't get enough!

5 days

my next 5 days...

5 days until I go off-track until the new year!

4 days until I start a LONG process of becoming healthier

3 days until my class has their JOB FAIR (aka deep cleaning the classroom)

2 days until my next Modern Family DVD ships from Netflix

1 day until I no longer have the Sunday Night Blues....

Let the countdown begin!

Not it!

So, I'm not great at this blogging thing and I just recently browsed a few blogs that I haven't had time to look at lately. When I wandered upon.... kianadon.blogspot.com and learned that I had been tagged. (We'll not focus on the fact that I've been "it" now for over a month.)

Here it is...

4 Honest Things....

4 shows I watch:

1. Biggest Loser
2. Grey's Anatomy
3. The Office
4. Friends

4 things I'm passionate about:

1. Teaching

2. My students

3. Being Organized

4. Running with Music

4 phrases I use a lot:

1. Really?

2. Remember how...

3. Nice try.

4. You wish.

4 things I've learned from the past:

1. It's ok to not be perfect (sometimes).

2. It is what it is.

3. People who really care make a difference.

4. Do hard things.

4 things I did yesterday

1. Went running.
2. Set-up my classroom for the last 3 weeks of school.
3. Ate my summer's first sno-cone!
4. Watched "Good Luck Charlie" while grading papers.

4 places I'd love to visit:

1. Italy--'nuff said

2. Africa--I want to someday help at a school.

3. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter--Bertie Bott's flavored beans anyone?

4. Alaska--who doesn't want to see the Northern Lights?!

4 things I'm looking forward to:

1. Spending 3 more weeks with my cute students!

2. Great River Ragnar (a.k.a. road trip to Minnesota!)

3. Teachers vs. 6th graders SOFTBALL GAME.

4. Using my "Pass-of-all-Passes" this summer!

4 things I love about Summer: (it was suppose to be Spring, but I changed it)

1. Sunshine!

2. Flip-flops & pedicures

3. Summer rain and thunderstorms

4. Softball/Baseball games

I don't really like playing tag.

Never

have.

Therefore, game over.

Epley Maneuver

Yes. The Epley Maneuver makes me happy. Not when it makes me sick to turn my head, but when it helps me feel 5 times better the next day!

I recently have been getting super dizzy and nauseous and went to the Dr. to find out that I have a case of "Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vetigo." Basically, that's a lot of big words to say I have a tiny crystal floating around in my left ear canal setting things off-balance.

Treatment includes Bonine chewables (nasty) and nightly routines of the Epley Maneuver until I'm good again.

Happiness is around the corner, over there, wait, now it's over there, up there, or there, back over there.....dang crystal!

Probability

So March Madness has officially happened. I've watched a lot of the games and been both excited and disappointed. However...none of March Madness can compare with my experience last night.

After a long day at school (all of my class was totally on one) I faced the dilemma of going running. It was suppose to be a 5 mile run and i.was.not.feeling.it. I got mostly ready to go (that's half the battle) and with one shoe on and one shoe off I sat on my couch trying to decide if I was really going to go). It basically came down to will power. I didn't have any. So what did I do? I left it up to probability. (We've been talking about this a little bit in school, so I thought, "why not put it to use?") I flipped a coin. Heads: I would go running. Tails: I would not.

Oh how I wished it would have fallen on tails. (but thank goodness it did not!) Heads it was. I reluctantly slipped on and tied my last shoe and was on my way. I didn't go the full 5 which was fine by me. Came home, showered, and off we (Erin, Jess and I) went to Yogurtland. Each time I've been here with these two, something crazy happens. This time didn't fail us either.

I love this place and I loved this night! As we were hanging around after we finished our frozen yogurt, who came in?

THE Jimmer Fredette.

There was no mistaking that it was him with his track pants, t-shirt, 6'2 height, and curly brown hair. (not to mention his tiny little girlfriend). He grabbed a few sample cups and was acting like anyone else. We were just a little stoked. a.k.a. nervous and giddy and I finally had the courage to ask him if we could get a photo with him. (back up--my students have been talking SO much about Jimmer and shooting "jimmer shots" out on the playground. I told Jimmer my class wouldn't believe me unless I had a photo. Which was true.) He was so great! He was totally nice and I love that he knew his way around Yogurtland.

Meeting Jimmer Fredette and getting a photo with him totally makes me happy!

I'm glad probability was in my favor yesterday! Had I not flipped a "heads" I probably would not have gone running and we would have gone to Yogurtland much earlier, missing our Jimmer experience.

Here's to that quarter~ and this guy's amazing talent!