3/30/10

Sue Safely Flies Home...


Sue is in the yellow shirt in the photo. She is a sweetheart. Have I mentioned lately how much I love my mother? Well I do! She is one of the kindest and most thoughtful people that I know. It was a treat to have her here with me the past few days. The time went much too fast but we did cram in a lot in the short time we had...and as I told her today, we really have less than two months until we see each other again anyway! :)

Yesterday, we both attended Challenge Day at our school. Check out their website. It was an awesome day and I was so excited to see Rich and Yvonne again(the founders of Challenge Day). They were the actual leaders at our school and it was something special. My mom and I also were able to go to dinner with the two of them and that was even more of a treat. The love those two people show and express is awesome and actually leaves me without words. I love their work and hope to do better at being a change in my little part of the world.

I better get to bed. You are all nice and I hope you are having an excellent day!

3/28/10

ALL ABOARD!!!



Enjoy the slideshow of our trip on the Heber Valley Railroad.
It was time for a background change. I hope you like it. It seemed appropriate seeing baseball season is just about to start and I will be at an Angels game sometime next week. YIPEE!!

3/26/10

I love my mother.

I also love that my mother chooses to come and visit me in march. We have partied like rock stars already and have more mega plans. Highlights today included amazing dinner at Red Lobster and watching a movie. Tomorrow will be going on a train ride, eating fab food and shopping. Great times! (pics to come, as expected!)

Dear Apple(creator of the iPod):

Although I am a fan of your technology, I am NOT a fan of your insistence of being a monopoly. I hate that I HAVE to use iTunes in order to load music to my iPod. I also am not a fan of how you block users from any other accessory that is not manufactured by you and your monopoly mobsters. I think it should be my right to watch the videos that I legally own on my own television without having to pay 50 dollars for a cord that costs less than five dollars to make.

I hate the evil monopoly that you are!
Love,
Alice

3/21/10

Weekends Fly!!!

Hi readers of this blog,

How is life treating you? You totally should go into the comments and leave one about what is exciting in your life right now. Sometimes I don't think I get enough comments on this blog.

I think this is going to be a random rambling post. I think my life is kinda random these days. This whole past week was very tiring. I think Daylight Savings totally kicked my butt. It was like having Jet Lag! I like jet lag and am totally looking forward to experiencing it again in June. Have I told you that my mother is nice and is taking me to London this summer. It is going to be spectacular. She is also coming to visit this Friday and I am pretty darn excited about that too! We are going to have a party and a half. FOR SURE!

I have already started looking into flights for going back home at the end of May. How crazy is that? Tomorrow marks the beginning of Term Four at school. We only have 25% of the year left. That is pretty remarkable. I am totally worried about my seniors and their progress. Some of them are not getting the message that we are totally running out of time to get caught up on credits. Silly kids. They also made me have higher blood pressure this last week because they were playing the get their grades caught up at the last minute game. Goobers. I am kinda afraid to go and look at their grades. Some of them may have not gotten those grades caught up!

Spring is starting and that make me happy. My crocuses are starting to come up in the front of the house that I used to live in. It is fun to see them come up each year. It is also weird to still live on the same property four years later. Weird. I do love my house though and I have been cleaning like a crazed lunatic lately trying to get it read for my mother's visit. Too bad it actually made a bigger mess in my front room because I have things to get rid of now.

What else? I don't think I have much else. Life is good and spring break is getting close and that makes me really, really happy!

3/20/10

Unicycles

Unicycles make me happy. This happiness does not come from riding them myself but from the thought in general. You are probably wondering where this is coming from. Well, about once a week, I am driving away from work at just the right time and am able to witness the amazing sight of a stranger riding his unicyle down the road. It makes me giddy to see this man in his business attire riding his unicycle. (Yes, even more excited than when I see large men driving scooters!) Today, my friend, pointed out even more awesomeness about the situation. She noticed that because of a lack of handlebars the man has to put his light on the top of his helmet. That also just makes me really happy, for some odd reason!

We also decided that there are several advantages of riding a unicycle over a bicycle. First, you get more exercise because you must constanly be pedaling. Second, you save money on that pest of a second tire because you don't need to buy the green goo to keep it from getting popped. Third, you do not have to spend money on chain grease. And lastly, you bring joy to the masses.

3/17/10

Dear Past Alice...

1. Remember that there are yummy steaks in your trunk. Take them out and put them into the fridge when getting home from the grocery store in order to not get any diseases.

2. Do NOT leave your armband for your iPod on the bench along the river trail. It will be gone two days later.

Love,
Future Alice

3/15/10

Brother from Another Mother Grows a Foot or Two...



That is a picture of Caleb and I. I have know that kid since he was five years old and wearing red footie pajamas. We have always been buddies. It has been fun to watch him grow through the years and to really become good friends with him. That is why, tonight, when I said goodbye to him for two years, it was hard.

For those of you who aren't LDS, or Mormon, Caleb has chosen to serve a two year mission for our church. Basically, young men aged 19 years old are assigned to a mission. There are thousands of missions on the planet. Caleb will serve in the Fortaleza, Brazil mission. He flies out on Monday and will serve for two years. Basically, a missionary gives up his, or her, life for two years to preach the gospel. This may be done going door to door or they may find people to teach in other ways. You may have seen missionaries before. They dress in suits and wear black name tags that have their name and the name of our church on it. They may have even knocked on your door before. They are very nice. I would recommend you letting them in and talking with them sometime. Their message is amazing and has changed my life for the good.

Anyway, Caleb is an awesome kid and I look forward to hear of his adventure in Brazil. (and I may miss him just a little bit, but that is a secret, so don't tell anybody, ok?)

Not much else to report today. I hope your Monday was not Mundane or Manic but more Magical!

3/14/10

Fun Weekend!



Had a fab time in Idaho this weekend visiting my friend, Laura. She is a sweetheart and we had a good time just hanging out. I am sad that I didn't take any other pictures. I am lame. I did take a pic of the wonderful lunch she made us today. Nothing like a St. Patrick's Day meal of corned beef and cabbage. Doesn't that cabbage look amazing? This was delightful!

I just wanted you all to know that I am glad it is now lighter later but I hate adjusting to daylight savings!

3/12/10

"Livin' in Your Own Private Idaho"

The work week is nearly over. I am sitting in my seventh hour class contemplating life. Really...it isn't that serious. I like my 7th period because it is more of a reward based thing for my students. If they are on a certain level, they get to play games on the Internet, if not they do work. So far, they are awesome and get free time. I like it!

This week went very fast. I guess that is partly due to the fact that I had Monday off for the birthday. It was fantastic by the way, if I hadn't mentioned it. I never remember what I write on here. It is weird how much of my life I really just forget. I think it is a disease.

I will head over to pick up my rental car in a little bit. I decided to rent a car instead of driving my newly paid off one up to Idaho. It is funny how you don't want to drive a car very much after a certain point!? Have I ever mentioned that I love Idaho? It will be nice to visit my friend, Laura and to meet her fiance.

I don't have much else to write. I did lose an arm wrestling match to another teacher today. Do not confuse that last sentence with me actually losing an arm. I am still a two-armed woman! She was strong! It was a competition for Hope Week, which is a suicide awareness and prevention program. It was a fun time!

I am tired. Maybe some Diet Coke will be in order for the trek North!

3/9/10

Some Day!




When I got to work this morning and went to my office, that is what I saw. Fun decorating was done by some co-workers. We sure do have a lot of fun playing these kinds of pranks on each other. I think it really helps make work a fun place. It was also nice of the culprits to actually help me clean up my office after school today. Awesome! I have to admit, I actually loved the things hanging from the ceiling and they are actually staying up there! (except for the stapler...that is dangerous!)

Have you ever thought, when something odd was happening in your life, that Ashton Kutcher would just jump out of somewhere to let you know that you were on Punk'd. Granted, I am not a celebrity, but today I totally thought I had been Punk'd. When I left Weight Watchers, I walked to where my car was and actually couldn't find it. My car had vanished. Luckily, my boss had come to the meeting tonight and I went right to her and told her that my car was gone. I was thinking the worst and that it was stolen. That would have sucked because my laptop, wallet, phone and iPod were all in the trunk. Luckily, my car was only towed. Apparently, you cannot park a far way away in the parking lot and walk to one of the businesses in the strip mall. Nope, you must park very close to the business. What the heck? Luckily, they did not make me pay the $150 towing fee because I had proof that I was actually a customer of the mall. It was silly and stupid and sure got my blood boiling and pumping. I do have to admit I did laugh a lot about it later but it really stunk in the middle of the fiasco.

What a Day!

Finish Photo!



I am glad I have this photo. I have a great look on my face. The man I wrote about below is to the right. He is an inspiration! I am glad my co-worker's wife took this pic. I love it!

It is nice to be 33. It is a good number. I must go get ready for work. It is hard to go back after an amazing day off of movie going and chilling. I think I may survive it though!

3/7/10

An inspiring Story.


This post isn't about me but of a man I met while running yesterday. I took part in my first 5k and it was a thrilling experience. Check out my weight loss blog to read all about it!

Anyway, while running I noticed that the man in front of me kept not picking up one of his feet. It made me worry that he was going to trip and in my head I kept thinking: "Man, pick up your feet, you are going to kill yourself."

While discussing it with my running partners, Shule and Janette, one of them said that they thought he must have something wrong with that leg. We kept running and every once in a while we would pass the man and his son. His son was a little guy and I am guessing he was about six or seven. At one point the boy was walking and we were passing him and we encouraged him to keep it up and catch up to his dad again. I think we scared him because we were strangers and he sprinted to keep up with his dad. Toward the end of the race, we passed the man again and he told us that his boy was kicking his butt and we told him that he was doing just fine. It was fun to do this little pass and be passed by this man and his young boy as we all ran and walked at different times.

I was pretty self consumed when I got close to the finish and I passed the man one last time as I sprinted to the finish. It wasn't until we were at the end of the race and waiting for our times to be passed out that I really learned why the man didn't pick up that left foot. I noticed that he was having a hard time standing strait and was leaning or veering to the left. I told him I would be a shoulder that he could lean on for balance and he then told me how he has MS and that his whole left side felt numb due to the running. It was then that I was hit by the awe of his race. I also wished that I would have let him pass the finish before me. He deserved that honor. How courageous it was that a man who had troubles walking would get out on that course and run with his young son. I wish I would have caught his name or got a picture with him, but all I will have to remember from this is his story. It truly will stay in my heart.

I don't think I will be able to complain easily about running hurting or make up excuses for not getting out and running in the future. I will always think of this man and how he was running even when he struggled to stay upright and was in pain. What an inspiration and I will never forget the man who ran with a limp from my first 5k. Where ever you are Superman, I hope you realize what an inspiration you truly are and may God bless you!!!

3/4/10

The Celebration has Begun!




I am a fan of birthdays not just lasting a day. I usually celebrate my birthday for a whole week. I usually start on my birthday and celebrate a week from then. This time around the birthday has kinda started already. I have bought two presents for myself already. I am very glad that the coats we got through work came in today because it was bloody cold today and very snowy. (Dang Spring is just not here yet!)

I bought the blender because I really want to start drinking more smoothies in my life. I also have a fabulous black bean brownie recipe that will be made easier because of my blender.

Pretty much: Happy Birthday to me!!!!!!

I would also take the gift of GPS, if any of your are looking for ideas. Haha. Oh and if you could find me a cute and tall guy that would be nice too! You are the best!

This week has gone very slowly. I am dragging. It must be March! Happy March, by the way. I hope this month is full of luck and shamrock shakes for you. I need to get me one of those one of these days!

I need to finish my sub plans by the end of the day tomorrow so I can not have to worry about them at all this weekend and I can have an amazing time celebrating on Monday!

The Office tonight was amazing if you were wondering. I laughed and laughed. That show still makes me so happy. LOVE IT. Do you want to see a list of the other shows that make me happy these days? I knew you would. Here is that list:
1. Chuck
2. Mercy
3. The Good Wife
4. 24
5. White Collar

TV is my friend. I love TV. A flat screen would be an even better friend. I am just saying. LOL!!

3/2/10

Creepy.

Did I mention that X Files is a CREEPY show? It is. Just thought you should know!

3/1/10

It's hard to live vicariously through reality TV.

I often live vicariously through other people. Some people have life a whole lot easier than me. Some people have more money than me. Some people are married to really cute men. It just seems natural to live vicariously through other people sometime.

Right now is one of those times because I often feel that life is pretty blah. Unfortunately, I actually let The Bachelor be a means for me to live vicariously. The Bachelor, Jake, was just plain cute and nice. I thought the world of him. I wanted to be the girl that got to spend her life with him. Yeah, until that was all crushed by the girl he actually chose. I wouldn't want to be her, if she was actually attractive. Okay, so she may be good looking but really she seems to be not so nice inside. It just made me think of all the horrible relationships I have had where eventually the guy picks some weird girl who is so not good for him like I am good for him. Just like it seems Jake picked the wrong girl for him. Silly. How can a TV show make me feel vulnerable? Shocking.

Other than that not too much excitement here. Spent time in Salt Lake this weekend. Caleb, the little brother from another mother, had his mission farewell on Sunday. His talk made me cry. He is going to be one heck of a missionary. I am so proud of him.

It was fun to chill with the Bills like it always is. We even got a few X Files in. Fantastic.

Now it is back to reality and my life. Had a great run today. I wanted to puke but I know it was great for my body. Thrilling.

Only one week to buy me that flat screen TV you were going to buy me for my birthday. Get on it! And Josh, MAKE ME A SANDWICH!

Have a fantastic day/night.