Happy Birthday Skyler!

So, today my little brother turned 20. It is so insane to me. I know we are not very far apart in age, but 20 sounds so much older than 19. I was joking around with my parents today about how both of their children are in their 20's. Crazy!

Me and Sky-guy on Halloween many years ago.

Getting ready for my wedding.

Have we changed much???

Another Victim...

So... tonight we got home from dinner and I noticed that there was a small black thing on the floor. When I picked it up I realized that it was a piece of my cell phone charger. Maddie had gotten a hold of it and chewed the piece that you plug into your cell phone off. The scary part is that she chewed it off while it was plugged in!!! She could have been electrocuted!


Her and Motley have also managed to chew up part of our carpet. I am still trying to think of a creative way of fixing that before we move out! I will post those pictures later...

Prado View Elementary

I got my placement! I found out yesterday that I will be doing my student teaching at Prado View Elementary school in Corona. I am super excited! I haven't found out yet what grade I will be teaching, but I talked to my supervisor and she told me that she will be contacting me soon to set up a meeting where she will give me details about who my master teacher is and what grade I will be teaching.

Here is a picture of the school...

Google Tag!

I got this from Danika's blog and it looked fun. You are suppose to answer the questions by googling the words you pick! Here goes nothing...

Favorite animal: All dogs

Favorite holiday: Christmas

Where I live: Southern Cali

Favorite food: Does this count? If not, it should...

College major: Teacher...or Child and Adolescent Studies

Favorite place: ...I LOVE HOME...I guess I am a bit of a homebody.

Old Pet: ...her name was Gadget if you couldn't guess.

Bad habit: ...I drink a LOT of soda...

Age at next birthday: ...haha

Favorite place to visit: ...not the temple, but the city (Logan)...haha

Middle name: ...this is not Mary Kate, it's Ashley.

Happy MLK DAY!

...Happy Martin Luther King Day...and for those of you like me...HAPPY DAY OFF!

It's late, and I'm nervous...

...so it's late. I am sitting here trying to write a 20 page term paper. I just started about 2 hours ago and it is due Friday. If you know me you would be proud. Usually I wait until the night before to start.

I can't stop thinking about Tuesday (my first day of the credential program). I am so excited, but super nervous too. I have heard that people are getting called and being told where they will be placed for the semester.

I wish I would find out where I am going to be doing my student teaching so that I can concentrate on writing my paper.

...so, yeah. Kind of a random post. :)

...it's been awhile

... So, I haven't been great at keeping up my blogging. I have been busy getting ready for the credential program, and finishing my intersession course. So here is what has been going on...

First.

Mady got spayed on Thursday. I felt really bad for her because it is a pretty invasive procedure. They say that being spayed is much worse than being neutered. I must admit though, it was pretty hilarious seeing her all drugged up. She looked so funny because she was floppy and her tongue kept sticking out.

Second.

I found out that I made the Deans List at school. I was so excited when I found out. I never really knew the requirements, but when I was studying on Thursday a friends saw my grades on the screen (because our school homepages shows your grades when you pull it up) and told me she thought that my grades looked good and that I "probably made the Deans List." Sure enough, we calculated my grade and I DID! So apparently, according to her, I will get a certificate and a chord to wear at graduation. (She said she knew because she got the same award last semester) COOL! ...I made sure to confirm it... She was right!

Third. (and my personal highlight)

For those of you who don't know, David started a new job in October. Right before then, he started studying for an Actuarial test that consisted of an EXTREMELY hard curriculum. It took him three months of intense studying that took up a lot of his nights, and consisted of reading two mathematical textbooks (yuck!). He took the test in the beginning of November and had to wait until Friday to find out... HE PASSED!!!! I am so proud of him. He really worked hard, and he really was worried because he said it was a tough test.

Fourth. (and last)

David and I have been working diligently to find a new place to live. We finally made a break through. We are most likely moving to Irvine, California. It is about 45 minutes from where we live now. David is SUPER excited, especially because we will only be about 10-15 min away from the beach. It's a very nice city (probably nicer than where we are now) and we get to pay less...so that's a plus.

Here are some pictures of the city. We learned this weekend that it is a master planned city. It is BEAUTIFUL! David was even commenting of how beautiful the sidewalks were (haha)!

Happy New Year!!!

...and so we all embark on a new year.

It seems like 2007 has gone by so fast. David and I spent our New Years Eve with a few friends and family. It was low key (as we like it) although we did battle it out playing Guitar Hero (we have become addicted).

Our New Years Day was much like our Eve. We slept in, and then went to my parents house for waffles and omelets. After that we took the puppies (along with my parents and their dog) to the park and played with them while we learned to fly my dads $100 kite.

Unfortunately, after a few games of Guitar Hero (AGAIN) we decided it was time to go home and prepare for reality to begin again. We have been spoiled with so much vacation that we don't want to have to go back to school/work.

Hope you all had a safe and wonderful New Year's and hopefully 2008 will be good to all of us!

Wicked.

...so for Christmas David got me tickets to see the musical Wicked. I am so excited. I have been wanting to see it FOREVER!

We go Saturday, February 9th, 2008 and will see it at the Pantages Theatre in LA.

THANK YOU DAVID! I LOVE YOU!

My Neurodic Nature

So, I have an issue where I get really annoyed when anything Christmas is around AFTER Christmas. I guess I feel like I need some kind of closure or something. Everyone thinks I am weird, but I get really annoyed when I see Christmas trees, lights, or hear Christmas music after December 25th. (I know, everyone says that the proper time to take down your decorations is new years)

Now, don't get me wrong, I LOVE the Christmas season. In fact, I am usually the first one I know with a tree, and decorations up, but come December 25th, they must go!

So, on Christmas night, for the last 2 years, I have taken down all my decorations. (resulting in me staying up VERY late)

The tree before, and the tree after: Buh-Bye tree

The card wall before, and the card wall after. (as you can see, I need to find a Christmas card holder!)

I was dreaming of a white Christmas...

Christmas was kind of bittersweet for me. I am use to going back home (Utah) for Christmas to see my family, but in the past few years I haven't been so luck. I was really hoping that we could make it there this year, but we weren't able to work it out.

Christmas just isn't the same when it is sunny outside and people are walking around in shorts. :( (Maybe we will be able to get there next year)

Our Christmas was good anyways. The night before Christmas eve we went to exchange gifts with my close friend Liza and her family

Corah was excited to open her gifts. I think she really liked her Cinderella doll, but I think she liked the wand a little more!

As you can see Cameron had a little fun with the bows. (haha) He is such a smart kid. I hope he like the books we got him.

then we got to spend Christmas eve night with Davids parents, and celebrated by having dinner, and then opening gifts.


This is Davids parents opening the gifts we got them.

On Christmas morning we went to my parents house to exchange gifts and had a big breakfast my dad made for us.

Here is my family on Christmas morning right after our big breakfast (thanks Dad)

Then we headed to Davids uncles house for some more food (his aunt and uncle made Christmas dinner) and another gift exchange. (sorry, don't have any pictures of this!

We were really busy both days, but it was worth it. It is always nice spending quality time with family.

The Kite Runner

I don't know how many of you have read this book, but I thought I should recommend it. It was my summertime favorite. It is one of those books that you cannot put down. Every page is

wonderful and in every chapter, there is something happening. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this book. If you are ever looking for a great read, I would highly suggest this one.

The book is takes place in Kabul, Afghanistan before the Russians invaded (1978-ish). It is about two little boys from different social classes, and the story is about their life, culture and friendship.

It is absolutely heartwarming, but I must warn, there are some parts where your jaw drops. It can be tough to read because of the situations the characters encounter. READER DISCRETION ADVISED!

Anywho, I have been raving about the book for months, and Dave and I heard that they made a movie based on the book, so David took me to see it the other night. IT WAS GREAT! It was really close to the book, and I loved the way the director tied it all together. David really enjoyed it too, and he hasn't read the book. I would recommend reading the book first though, because I can see how the movie would be hard to follow otherwise. SO READ THE BOOK AND SEE THE MOVIE! You won't be sorry!

...BaKiNg DaY...

On Saturday, mom and I decided that we would bake some Christmas goodies for all of our friends and neighbors. We went to the store and bought things to make sugar cookies, chocolate chip cookies, brownies, and fudge (dad made that). We baked and frosted what seemed like A MILLION COOKIES! It took us about 7 or 8 hours in total. When we finished we had a LOT more than we had anticipated...

This is only part of what we made...

Mom, baking away!

Woah, that's a lot of baked goods!

This is how they came out, then we wrapped them with cellophane and attached an ornament to them with ribbon. They came out super cute!

Christmas Party!

Davids office had a Christmas party in Redondo Beach last Saturday. It was RIGHT on the beach, so the ambiance was awesome. I was excited because I got to get dressed up. When you go to school and work with kids you don't dress up often.

We decided that because we were going to be gone for a few hours, we would put the puppies in our master bathroom adorned with toys and bones to keep them busy. (Sometimes we feel bad locking them up alot) Well, when we came home, this is what we found...

As you can see, they found the toliet paper ---->

The sweet taste of success...

As many of you know I have been attending California State University, Fullerton for about 3 years now. I am proud to say that I just finished my last assignment for the semester, which means I have a bachelor's degree in Child and Adolescent Development...
It seems like forever, but I actually graduated early. Well, actually, I don't officially "walk" until May 2008 because there is no ceremony in December,but I am still finished.
I also got accepted to the credential program. (for those of you who do not live in California: to teach at a public school we have to go to school for an extra year to get the state to approve us) I will be starting the program in January, and it will last until next December. I hear it is quite vigorous, so I am a bit nervous. Wish me luck!

SaNtA PaWs ::ruff::ruff::

Last week I saw an ad at Petco that said they would be having Santa Paws stop in and take pictures with dogs for a small donation. Since I have no kids yet, and I consider them to be my children until I have real ones, I thought it would be fun to take them. David thought the idea was silly, but luckily my dad had front row basketball tickets to the UCLA Jon Wooden Classic tournament, she he didn't have to go with me. Instead I talked my mom into going... haha.

It was fun, but tough to keep all of the dogs organized. (I have 2 and my parents have 2, and they all went.)

<----Maddie getting ready to go

take her picture with Santa Paws.

Motley---> in his new sweater that

I bought him for the occasion.

(matching Maddie)

Santa doesn't look like he is having too much fun. :)

<-----These are

my parents dogs.

(the labs name

is Mama's

and the little

one is Tess)

This is----->

Mama's by

herself.

She is so cute.