I've Been Tagged

I think I've been tagged a few times before...and I'm sorry that I have neglected to respond. Recently I was tagged by Julia, and decided it was about time I respond. I've seen a few different versions of this game...but the one from Julia is to write 10 random facts, habits, likes, dislikes, etc. about yourself that you don't think a lot of people know. So here it goes:

1. I love to sing in my car! I bet 90% of the time that I'm driving alone in my car, I'm singing. Since I have started commuting from Lehi...I've been doing a lot more singing and I get tired of my CD's a bit faster. I have also noticed that not everyone sings in their car. I used to think that it was perfectly normal and that everyone did it...but lately I have noticed that most people just sit there quietly staring ahead while they drive to work. I tried doing that one day when I was driving behind someone I work with and I thought they could see me in the rearview mirror...but it was really hard and I was happy to go back to singing on my drive home.

2. I'm a little bit OCD about how my desk/office is organized at work. I can't stand clutter and piles all over the place. I have lots of binders, stacking trays, hanging files, wall files, filing cabinets, and shelves that I have spent hours and hours organizing. Although it has taken me some time, I love that I can almost always find whatever I need when I need it.

3. I don't really like eating hamburgers. This makes visiting fast food joints interesting at times, and I'm not really sure why I don't like them. I just don't think they usually taste very good. The only expection to this rule is In-N-Out. For some reason I think their hamburgers are really good. I'm not sure if it is the toasted bun, special sauce or what...

4. I love Disneyland! This may not be news to anyone reading this...but I thought I would throw it in there. Last year we went to Disneyland 5 times and we love using our annual passes! Luckily, Aaron has accepted my love of Disneyland and we have become quite the experts. He has thought about hiring out his services as a fast pass collector. I even subscribe to weekly updates from http://www.mouseplanet.com/ , my favorite Disneyland website. Thank you to Julia for moving down there so that we could come and visit often and enjoy Disneyland.

5. I studied Arabic in college. At one time I could read and write some Arabic. Now my skills are pretty limited, because unfortunately I have forgotten most of what I learned. But I do like to impress my students every now and then by writing some words in Arabic on the board.

6. I've had two cool experiences with animals and captured both on film. I got to ride a camel while I was in Egypt in front of the pyramids. And I got to hold a chimpanzee at a sketchy zoo in Egypt. It was so cool! I have both the pics hanging in my office and they are the ones that I get the most comments and questions on.

7. I don't sleep well when it is completely silent. This used to drive my sister crazy...and still does sometimes when we end up sleeping in the same room. But I sleep so much better if I can have some type of fan on. It's not really the blowing air I care about...just the noise it makes. So, I did some research and found out that I'm not the only one! They actually make machines called "white noise" machines for people to use when they are sleeping or at work. I got one for Christmas and I love it! I use it every night and I even take it on trips. It is pretty great.

8. I love going out to eat, especially to places that you can't find in Utah Valley. Whenever we go on vacation a big part of the fun for me is going out to eat at my out-of-state favorites. These include Ruby's on Newport Pier for breakfast, Mama D's for pasta, Lazy Dog for grilled cheese, Claim Jumper for lots of desserts, Original Pancake house, San Francisco for Clam Chowder and Ghiradelli sundaes. Yum...this is making me hungry.

9. I don't really like calling people on the phone. If I would have had a cell phone in high school, I think I would have been huge into texting because it would allow me to avoid making phone calls. For some reason I grew up with this fear and dislike for making phone calls...especially to people that aren't close friends and family. Fortunately, through some jobs that involved making a lot of phone calls to strangers and work associates, I think I'm doing much better with this fear. But it still comes back at times...mostly when we have to find subs for our primary class and I end up calling strangers (our ward is really big with lots of people I've never met) and asking them to do me favors.

10. I love Easter candy! I don't buy a lot of candy, maybe because we have an endless supply of it at work and so I can get my sugar fix there. But when it is Easter season I just can't resist. There are some kinds of candy that can only be bought at this time of year...and they are some of the best. My favorites include Peeps, Cadbury Eggs, Hershey's Marshmallow eggs, and those Starburst Jelly Beans. I still remember the Easter season I spent in the dorms with dining plus. I bought a marshmallow egg everyday until Easter...and then my roommate, Maile, and I bought out the rest of the inventory at the after Easter sale so that we could continue to enjoy the goodness for weeks to come.

So, whoever feels the need or desire, please consider yourself tagged. It is sort of fun to try to think of random facts about yourself and I've had fun reading everyone elses. Have a great day!

Timpanogos Pride

Aaron started teaching at Timpanogos High School 3 years ago. He is really a great teacher (and I'm not just saying that because I'm his wife). After teaching for a few years I've noticed a lot of qualities that make good teachers and he really seems to have all of them. He really loves teaching and is happy to go to work each day. He requires a lot from his students and challenges them, but his class is also fun and his students love him. Since he started, he has slowly taken on more and more responsibilities including senior council adivisor, and boys and girls varsity soccer coach. Last year his senior council spent much of the year working with the city council to get it approved for them to be able to put up a temporary "T" on the mountain during certain weeks throughought the school year. (It is no longer legal to paint them on the mountain). He went to many city council meetings and was in the newspaper a few times...and finally got everything worked out. If you look carefully in the picture above, he is standing at his school and you can see the T in the back of him on the mountain.

His soccer teams have also done pretty well. His boys team had a rough start to the season, but they have been improving ever since then. He has high hopes for the rest of the season and next year. Then on Monday he was asked to be the advisor for student government. He will have one less prep period so he can teach the student goverment class, and will keep himself busy with many activities throughought the year. He is pretty excited because he enjoyed senior council and this will be similar with more responsibility and more benefits. He will continue to coach both varsity soccer teams next year too. Everyone at his school thinks he is crazy, but he is pretty organized and doesn't mind keeping himself busy...so wish him luck!

(Me and Courtney trying to brave the cold and be good fans)

Our National Television Debut

Yesterday was my national television debut. We went to the Ellen show last Thursday and it aired yesterday. They only showed a few close up shots of the audience...one of which included the four of us. We were all surprised. There are a couple hundred people in the audience and we were in the back...so we didn't know how well you would be able to see us. But they got a good close up shot that was on for a few seconds. We think it is because Aaron was looking so enthusiastic. I realized, there is a good reason that I'm not on TV...I make weird faces. Here is a picture of the clip on my tv. It's not great...but you can definitely tell it is us.

California Here We come!

Yet again we made a trip to California...the second one this year. This time we were going to visit Aaron's family in Hughson (small town near Modesto). We drove out there and spent some time at his grandpa's cabin in the Sierra Nevada's. It was beautiful there...although a bit cold. I spent a lot of time on the couch, near the fire and roasted some of my best marshmallows ever. We played games and read and had a relaxing few days (different from out usual somewhat hectic, activity-filled vacations). It was quite nice. Then we enjoyed a few more days at Aaron's house where he played a lot of chess as well as some tennis and wii games. We also spent a day in San Francisco where I got to ride Bart (which happily reminded me of all the trains/undergrounds that I got to ride in Europe) as well as shop at H&M and eat clam chowder and sourdough bread. Since I love shopping and good food, it was a pretty great day.

Then we headed down south to visit Julia and Steve, go to the Ellen Show and visit Disneyland (of course). We got into the Ellen show and had a great time. She is hilarious and had some funny guests on as well...and as a bonus we all won $50 gift cards to itunes.

Aaron and I went to Disneyland the next day and enjoyed some of the more tame rides that wouldn't make Aaron sick. I actually rode the Mark Twain steamboat for the first time that I can remember. It was another great day at Disney. Before starting the journey home on Saturday, we went to breakfast with Julia at the original pancake house. It was delicious and the servings were HUGE! We made it home after spending a night in Vegas and now we are trying to get back into our usual routine. Aaron keeps bragging that he only has six weeks of school left...and I just keep looking forward with no end in sight...

Yee Haw!

Once upon a time, Aaron and Courtney used to lead barn dances together a few times a week. Sadly, they weren't lucky enough to be able to make a career of being "wranglers" at Clear Creek and now have to work in "real jobs." But they did get to relive old times when My Aunt Jimae asked them to lead a dance at a work party she had. They pulled out all of the old favorites and everybody had a great time.