2/26/10

Sushi and Parent Teacher Conferences


It is one a.m. That is right, you read that right. I am up at one a.m. on a school night. Crazy, no? Well, granted I was sleeping on my couch from about ten to twelve thirty, so that makes this a little less dramatic. I have a tendency of doing that a lot lately. I think I can stay up longer, but in reality, I fall asleep at a reasonable hour on the couch. I think I used to give my mother a very hard time for doing this every night while I was in high school. It really is funny how much I am my mother's child. We are so much alike in so many ways!

Tonight was Parent Teacher Conferences. It is kinda weird to think that it was the last one of the year. That means we are getting pretty close to the end of the year. I like that idea! The conferences were good. Not as boring as last time because more parents showed up because we bribed them with donuts and a drawing. I have to admit, I will pretty much do anything to be in a drawing and have a chance to win a drawing. I am a sucker for drawings. I think there will be a drawing at my wedding reception in the future.

Tomorrow is Friday. Just thought you should know. I think it is one of my favorite days of the week besides Saturday and Sunday where I actually get to sleep in. Friday just holds so much promise. I like the promise of getting to sleep in the best. The promise of no responsibility is also nice.

By the way, that sushi was a little slice of heaven while having to deal with my 12+ hour day. Those little rolls made life easier and totally worth it today!

Well, I think I am starting to ramble...okay starting may not be the word...I should have said I am going to end rambling. That would be more appropriate. Enjoy your Friday everybody!

2/21/10

SUPER BLOGGER!


My sentiments exactly for Mary Beth and Steve. I would upload pics from their wedding but I think it is better for them to post pictures. (What a good friend I am, eh?) Their wedding was awesome. It was on Saturday and I love that they go married. They are like twins. It has renewed my faith in there being somebody out there for me.

Here is a recap of the rest of the weekend: Friday, I went and saw my school's boys' basketball team get stomped and then I had a great time talking with Jane, a Math teacher from my school. We had dinner and chatted for a few hours. I truly am surrounded by awesome supports and friends.

Saturday was pretty much filled with wedding stuff.

Today, I taught the lesson in Relief society. It was fun and nervous but good. I then headed up to Sandy and hung out at the Bills. Erin was in town and it was nice to chat with her. We all crammed into the car(six of us) to take her to the airport. It was quite an adventure as I am sure we looked silly because there were three in the front seat and three of us in the back. I am also pretty sure the back end was lowered. We made many jokes about going to West Valley because we were a low-rider. After the airport, Dad Bills and I watched a few episodes of The X Files. I have grown to love that show even though it creeps me out. I don't think I could watch it alone at my apartment but I really love to watch with Dad Bills!

I do not want to go to work tomorrow but reality is reality, right? I really think we should have five day weekends and two day work weeks. Life would be awesome if we did that! Sorry for not blogging very well lately. I will work on that in the future. Only 40 days until Spring Break, but who is counting?

2/16/10

Viva Las Vegas







It has been hard to get back to the swing of things today! I had a blast on vacation in Vegas. Morgan and Derek are great hosts!

The last day consisted of finding some amazing Elvis glasses, visiting The Belagio display and bowling. It was a fun day. Have I mentioned how much I love little Oliver. He is so dang cute. It was hard to leave all these cuties yesterday!

Today was good. My nose is running and my head hurts but besides that, I am good. I can see why little Spencer was so grumpy yesterday. Poor baby! I must now go saline my nose and sleep.

Cheers!

2/10/10

Dear Alice...

Dear Past Alice:
Please remember to close the fridge after getting the ingredients out for your wonderful breakfast. Today you did not and I had to throw away a lot of yummy food. I know it is hard when it is so early in the morning, but please do this one small thing so that future Alice will not have to go shopping which made for a very stressful night because it was added to the thousand of other things she had to do!

Thanks,
Future Alice

2/9/10

Coasting.

This week I feel kind of like I am coasting to get to my four day weekend. I am a complete slacker when it comes to working lately. I am doing a lot of flying by the seat of my pants when it comes to lesson planning and I refuse to grade anything. Bad, bad Alice! I am even showing a video in Health tomorrow. Slacker!

I am living for the weekend this week. I am so excited to go down to Las Vegas on Thursday night. I am going to love lounging around and playing with the cute nephews. I look forward to good food and good company. I sure do love my little Vegas family. I just wanted to tell you all.

What else? That is pretty much it. Is it Thursday night, yet?

Oh...I did win 10 dollars in a Superbowl pool. Dirty, Dirty gambling money. It is evil and burning a hole in my wallet. I might just have to put said money in the slots at the airport while in Vegas. I have a feeling dirty, dirty gambling money only multiplies creating even more guilt. Hmmm.....

2/7/10

Your Questions Answered

Thanks to those of you who actually played my wonderful game. If any of you think of any other questions to ask please leave a comment and I will definitely answer them.

1. Would you rather NEVER eat ice cream again or ONLY eat ice cream forever?
That is one tough question. I would have to say never eat ice cream again. I think I would get sick of it to be honest, and I really do enjoy a variety of foods.

2. What was your first impression of me? (Elizabeth, there will be no taking back of questions, even if you think they are silly)
I don't have much of a memory so I really don't remember my first impression. I do know how I currently feel about you and I totally think you are one heck of a mother and a super cool woman. Thanks for being a great friend and a great example!

3. Give some more of your conversion story.
I think you have heard most of the story. You should know that I feel like I am still going through the process of conversion. I feel like Heavenly Father continues to give me light and truth. I love that about revelation. I feel so blessed to have a Heavenly Father who loves me enough to guide and direct me, even in the small stuff.

4. Do you still feel that you could marry any righteous person and be content? How do you feel about love and "chemistry?"
I totally feel I can marry any righteous person and be happy. The older I get the less picky I become about looks and a few other things. I do realize I must find a Mormon boy because I am just too weird for a non-Mormon boy. Excuse me MAN. I think there is a difference between chemistry and love. Chemistry is something exciting and it does help attract people to each other. Love is something that is completely different. You totally can love somebody and there be absolutely no chemistry. I also do believe, that the more you start to love and connect with somebody that chemistry can actually be developed. I think men worry more about chemistry than women. Women totally have an easier time being more and more attracted to a man as they begin to love them.

5. Am I too late for questions?
Nope. You totally made it MBC. Thanks for the questions they are good and you added so many of them!

6. What was your last date? Who was the man? Where did you go? Did you like it?
My last date was with a man named Dave. We went and saw The Blindside and then ate some food at Wingers. I did like the date. The movie was awesome and the company before the movie was awesome. Unfortunately, the company was not so good while eating and I haven't heard from him since. That was way back in December.

7. What is your favorite dessert? Why?
I love dessert. I love those wonderful little mini pecan pie things you used to make me. Those were wonderful. Pie is awesome. I think apple is my favorite warm with ice cream on top. My mom also makes some mean blueberry pie. Lately, my dessert is usually a 100 calorie hostess cupcake pack or a two point cup of Weight Watchers ice cream.

8. What's your favorite thing about living alone? What's the worst?

My favorite thing about living alone is that I am in charge of everything. I choose when I can watch TV or not clean. The worst thing is when I am a little lonely and coming home to the quiet is hard!

9. Is what you're doing with your life right now exactly what you want to be doing? If not, what would you do if you had no limits?
I LOVE my job. I have been back and forth about going back to school and getting a masters degree in Journalism. Lately, I have been thinking about getting a masters in school counseling. I may actually do that in the near future, but I still have to research it. If there were absolutely no limits, I would be off traveling the world. I also have this crazy dream that I could write Kelly Clarkson's Biography. Basically, I would like to write a lot of celebrity's books. I am a major geek and totally would become a KC roadie and follow her on tour. Maybe I would buy a VW Bus and drive it around from city to city! I would love to take an extremely long road trip. This answer was completely random!

10. What's your favorite book? Why?
I have a horrible memory and this causes me to forget almost every single book that I have read. Here are a few that have impacted my life: The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien. Freakonomics by Stephen Dubner and Steven Levitt. And of course, Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Series. Here are the whys: O'Brien's book helped me figure my dad out just a little bit and his craziness because of Vietnam. Freakonomics made me think, a lot. I even, for one little moment, thought abortion was a terrific idea. The Twilight Series is just fun reading for me. The third one has taken me forever to get through, but I am liking it more and more.

11. Why are chocolate-covered cinnamon bears so delicious?
This is due to a little thing called magic.

12. If you went back 10 years ago and gave yourself a piece of advice, what would it be?
I would tell the 22 year old Alice to quit making it a big deal to be single. Life is not about your relationship status. Get out and have more fun and follow your heart more and worry less about it because you are wasting time. I would also tell her to be better with money and start saving for fabulous trips to tropical islands. I would also tell her to stick with the first car you buy for a very long time. Paying off two cars has been one silly ride. But this month will be the final payment...YIPEE.

That was fun. If you were inspired by any of these questions to ask anymore please feel free to comment or send me an email! Thanks for being great friends and family!

2/4/10

A Thankful Post.

Today was one hellofa day. (Yes, hellofa is an official word as of five seconds ago!) I just was not very patient with kids towards the end of the day. I probably even added a little stress to one student in particular. Said student is in a drug rehab program and was having a bad day with teachers in general and I pretty much told him I was sick of all the drama and negativity. It was hard. We fought until I wasn't okay with it anymore. No bueno. It got me to thinking about how much this kid probably is hurting if he is acting out so much and turning to drugs so often. I actually asked him one day if he was really serious about quitting drugs this time and he basically said no. That is really sad to me. I really wish I could help every single one of my students but really, in the end, I can't force any of them to do the right thing. It is hard.

Well, here is the point of this post. I am SO thankful to have had a good upbringing. I just wanted to tell my mom and dad(Mom, tell Dad to read this post!) that I am truly thankful for all they did to teach me how to make good choices. Thanks so much for helping me learn how society works and that there are consequences for my actions. Thanks for loving me enough to say no when it was probably not always easy to say no. Thanks for teaching me boundaries and for helping me to know that using drugs would be a very stupid and unsafe thing to do. Thanks for helping me know I was loved and for supporting me in all my hopes and dreams. Thanks for all the hugs and "I love yous!" I love you both so much that words cannot do justice to the feelings.

Sometimes I wonder why I was so lucky to have such a good family. Why did I get to make it and so many people have seriously messed up families and never even had much of a childhood. I guess that is what makes me so thankful for what I have and what drives me to get up for work every morning. One of my students actually asked me and another teacher the question: "What motivates you to work?" I basically said my motivation to get out of bed each day is to be able to go and help kids realize their potential. I love that I can teach kids how to live life better. They may not remember all the terms and ideas I taught them in class, but I do hope they walk away from my classes with a sense that there is an adult who cares about them and that they also realize that they are in charge of their own destiny.

I guess that drive is also what gets me through hard days like today and what makes me able to face another day tomorrow.

2/3/10

Hmmm...the joys of standardized testing. (AND AN INVITATION TO ALICE'S AMAZING ASTRONOMICAL Q/A POST...)



I sit in my classroom and it is completely silent except for the tick tock of the clock and sound of #2 pencils scribbling in circles on an official UBSCT answer sheet. This is pretty much bliss to me as a teacher because I can peruse the Internet and have a zero stress hour. For the seven of my students who are taking the test, it is a different story. This is the math portion of the Utah Basic Skills Competency Test and for most of my students, they would rather have their eyes removed with a dirty spoon than have to answer math questions. Poor souls. One student asked if he could go talk to the counselor right at the beginning of the test and I had a hard time saying no because of the look of fear and hate for testing in his eyes.

So, what are you wondering about Alice these days? Any questions? I think I should do a question and answer blog. I know I am not famous but I am sure there are things you are wondering about. Comment with some questions or email me: softballrita@gmail.com

I really have been struggling with things to say on my blog so I thought it might be fun to answer your questions. Please do not disappoint me. If you are reading this blog, whether you are a friend or foe, leave a comment with a curious question about Alice. The deadline for questions are Friday at 5:46 p.m Mountain Standard Time. Thank you for participating and you could win a new car. Their will be a drawing at 5:47 on Friday! Get those questions in Friends and Foes!

Back to the curious silence!

2/1/10

Blogging for Blogging.

Right now I am at school and completely done with what I can get done while at school. I have about 40 minutes until I go running on the Dreadmill. I figure by the time I get home I will just want to sit down and do nothing so it would kinda be pointless to be there right now, seeing I have a lot more things that are sitting on the floor under my coffee table waiting to be graded. Life is so fun.

The weekend was pretty low key. I slept in both Saturday and Sunday and it was much needed. I didn't wake up until about 11 yesterday morning which gave me only and hour before I had to get ready for church. It was nice to just be. I was a little rushed on the way to church which always boggles my mind. Church's time does not change. Why am I never ready in time to leave and not have to worry about getting there quickly. I also got rear-ended on the way. Don't freak out...it was more of a love tap, even though I was pretty peeved that it happened because I actually had to stop which made me even later. Sad.

Today was good. My students are very good this year. I LOVE my boys' PE class because they pretty much run the class on their own. I just am there to provide equipment for them essentially. My Health classes are really tiny right now and I like even if it seems a little quiet in there. My classes last semester were pretty fun and loud(in a good way!).

Life seems pretty much non-exciting these days, which is what I am going to blame my lack of posts on.

I now must go call my doctor and dentist. Good times. See ya in the future!