vic-tastic!

So today i had a small victory to some but to me it was truly a miracle!
One of my students is about on a preschool level due to learning disabilities. Usually all i can get them to do during their short time with me is draw pictures or read books while everyone else works on assignments. Today as a class we played spelling-tac-toe, basically tic-tac-toe with spelling words instead of x's and o's. Well I told this student to practice spelling 'headline' on their whiteboard since that'd be the word I'd give them when it was their turn. Surprisingly they went right to work studying it. The game was on an edge since the one team only needed to spell one more word correctly before they got a spell-tac-toe it was Student's turn, they needed to block the spell-tac-toe by spelling a word correctly. Student had studied well and they took their time thinking and spelling out the word. The whole class was shocked and amazed that So-and-So got it correct! Even more amazed was So-and-So. The class all cheered as Student spelled it correctly. It was mind-blowing for me! I couldn't stop smiling the rest of the day.
WOW!!!! It was a great reminder as to why I wish to teach.

first week

The first week is over and i just survived my first second Monday.
The first week was full of good stories. For example:
Story 1: One of my students has behavior medications that wear off around noon. His parents have been busy and haven't had time to get the school the proper papers saying we can give him the drugs he needs. Right before lunch one day he went to his backpack, pulled out a big canister of pills, holding them above his head he said in a loud voice "so my mom DID put them in here!" I confiscated them and turned them into the office. I'm watching him a lot more closely now. He overdosed last year just because he was curious what would happen if he took 5 instead of just 1. He's a great kid though and I have to tell myself not to laugh at his antics since that will only encourage him.
Story 2: I asked the students to tell me how their families came to Utah, as we discussed Utah history. I was expecting to get some Pioneer stories instead I got several stories about cramming into vans and hiking in forests to get over the Mexican border.
Story 3: Along the same lines as the above story. I asked my students who the first people to come to Utah were and got the answers "Christopher Columbus, Abraham Lincoln, and Davy Crockett.

There you have three of my stories about the first week goodness.

Miss D

So my students will start school this Monday (july 27) CRAZYBUS i know! I'm not sure I'm ready but then again I doubt I'll ever really feel ready so bring it on!

Here are some pictures of my classroom. Remember that I'm a first year teacher so i don't have anything and no money to buy it so it's pretty empty but I like it! I'm rather proud of my brag wall. I made those frames outta the clear page protectors and construction paper.

Enjoy

I can't believe that I'm all done with school. I got my diploma in the mail on wednesday and it just felt unreal to be all done while all my friends have at least a year more. SUCKAS! ;) But I'm sure my blog will get a lot more interesting now that i'll have crazy student stories to share.

Savvy;)

The bucket list

Things you have done during your lifetime:
(X) Gone on a blind date
(X) Skipped school
(X ) Watched someone die
( ) Been to Canada
(X ) Been to Mexico
() Been to Florida
( ) Been to Hawai
(X) Been on a plane
( ) Been on a helicopter
(X) Been lost
(X ) Gone to Washington, DC
(X) Swam in the ocean
(X) Cried yourself to sleep
(X) Played cops and robbers
( X) Recently colored with crayons
(X) Sang Karaoke
(X) Paid for a meal with coins only
( X) Been to the top of the St. Louis Arch
(X) Done something you told yourself you wouldn't.
( X) Made prank phone calls
( ) Been down Bourbon Street in New Orleans
(X ) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose & elsewhere
(X) Caught a snowflake on your tongue
( ) Danced in the rain-naked
(X) Written a letter to Santa Claus
() Been kissed under the mistletoe
(X) Watched the sunrise with someone
(X) Blown bubbles
(X) Gone ice-skating
(X) Gone to the movies
( ) Been deep sea fishing
( ) Driven across the United States
( ) Been in a hot air balloon
( ) Been sky diving
(X ) Gone snowmobiling
(X ) Lived in more than one country
(X) Lay down outside at night and admired the stars while listening to the crickets
(X) Seen a falling star and made a wish
(X) Enjoyed the beauty of Old Faithful Geyser
( ) Seen the Statue of Liberty
( ) Gone to the top of Seattle Space Needle
( ) Been on a cruise
(X) Traveled by train
(X) Traveled by motorcycle
(X) Been horse back riding
( ) Ridden on a San Francisco CABLE CAR
( X) Been to Disneyland
( ) Been to Disney World
(X) Truly believe in the power of prayer
( ) Been in a rain forest
( ) Seen whales in the ocean
( ) Been to Niagara Falls
( ) Ridden on an elephant
( ) Swam with dolphins
( ) Been to the Olympics
( ) Walked on the Great Wall of China
( ) Saw and heard a glacier calf
( ) Been spinnaker flying
(X) Been water-skiing
(X ) Been snow-skiing
( ) Been to Westminster Abbey
( ) Been to the Louvre
( X) Swam in the Mediterranean
( ) Been to a Major League Baseball game
( ) Been to a National Football League game
( ) Been to a National Soccer (football) game

I love how i've done most of them.

Yes my life got interesting...FINALLY

So here is the latest and greatest story of my life.

On Sunday my lil sis and I drove down to Hanksville to meet up with my Pa who had gone to a family reunion earlier that weekend. We got there and all jammed into his truck and took off for Lake Powell. We arrived at the parking lot and decided to just camp in the camp ground since we don't boat on Sundays. We fixed a stealer dinner of steaks. As we sat around the table talking about life my dad discovered that the spiderwebs he'd been playing with with his bare feet was actually home to a HUGE black widow. So I ran and got the camera and Marie fully freaked out and my Dad attempted to kill the spider.

After we were sure the spider was in fact deader then dead we all went to bed.

Monday morning we got up and launched the boat around 10am. While my pa was parking the boat Marie and I were sitting in the boat when I realized it was over heating so I turned it off. When my dad appeared on the ramp we turned the boat on and went and got him. It continued to over heat so my dad thought it'd be a smart thing to force water into the engine by going fast. This plan in fact backfired and caused the engine to hydro-lock (meaning nothing in the engine would turn). At this point my dad looked at Marie and I and told us to get our life jackets on and swim the boat the mile to shore. We did.


By the time we got to the shore it was about 11am. My dad tinkered on the engine for several hours. We had lunch and Marie and I sat in the sun for a bit, played cards, read Harry Potter and helped my dad out. After lunch my dad realized he didn't have the proper tool so he took off for a mile hike to the store on top of the hill to buy the tool. Around 3pm my dad had decided he fixed the problem. So we pulled out from the shore and got about a mile out when the engine started to sputter and it in face died. So once again Marie and I jumped in the lake and swam the boat another mile back to shore. My dad once again tinkered for about another two hours and then we tried again. We went out around 5pm. This run was going well. My dad was doing all the proper tests and the boat was passing them.
For the idle test I asked my dad to drop me off at the bathroom. When I came back the boat once again sputtered and died. So guess who swam it in another mile. Yup Marie and me. Marie and I are now on our 3rd mile of swimming the boat to shore. We were a bit tuckered out at this point.
My dad tinkered some more. AFter another two hours (its 7pm now) my dad gave up and we decided to swim it back to the ramp. The ramp was at this point two miles away. Marie and I jumped in the Lake again but this time the wind was against us. We were able to hold the boat steady with our swimming but we didn't make any progress. My dad decided we'd have to walk the boat around the shore. So Dad and I got on our sandals and strapped up. Marie didn't have any sandals so she just had to bear the pain of the rocks. We walked it 2 miles around the shore going through sand and rocks, and big bushes full of HUGE spiders. It was probably the worst part of the whole trip. The sad thing was no one offered to help us. Tons of people watched the three of us struggle with the boat. One boat actually drove right next to us not saying a word. That is very unusual for Lake Powell.
Anyway we got the boat on the trailer around 8:30pm. We packed up quickly and drove back to Hanksville to grab some Stan's Shakes before camping out that night.
We arrived home Tuesday afternoon.

Pretty sure it was the most memoriable and shortest Lake Powell trip i'll ever go on.
I'm glad to be in the family I'm in tho. We all remained smiling and laughing at the ridicuoulness of our situation. We never yelled at each other or got real upset throughout the whole ordeal.

Chicken Nuggets

I was told to write a blog on chicken nuggets...so here it is.

I think that although chicken nuggets themselves are so disgusting and sick when you think about what they are...I mean chickens don't have nuggets and if they do i don't know where they are...thus QUESTIONABLE! Yet I love to eat them every so often. I must say the best chicken nuggets are found at Chick-Fil-A (however you spell it) since they look the most like real meat. But Wendy's comes in second just for their cheapness.

But really the big question i have is do chicken nuggets actually have chicken in them? hmmmmm what do you think?

Spring Break

With our spoils....Enoch got more :(
Classic hiding spot
"Lets Dance"
Moab!




So since I'm doing my student teaching I get a spring break unlike BYU who thinks it doesn't exist. ;)
I had a short day on Wednesday and then I had Thursday and Friday off. It was pure inspiration. On Thursday I was able to go down to BYU to take a class from Brother Draper (my teacher from Jerusalem). That was so fun to go and see him in a normal classroom instead of at the JC pointing out the big windows. As I was driving back home to South Jordan I decided that I needed to get out to de-stress and prepare for my last week of student teaching. As I was driving home thinking of where I could go by myself, since everyone else already had plans. A miracle happened. Ryan Stubbs (a family friend) called my dad and offered to take Marie and me to Moab with him. Marie didn't want to go due to lacrosse parties but I jumped on that ball. We drove down Thursday night and just talked and caught up with each other. I haven't seen him since I was 16 or17 and so we had a lot to discuss.
Friday we went and did a couple trials as well as hung out on Potato Salad Hill. I can't believe how much I've missed going to Moab and jeeping altogether. I can't go another 5 years without going down there.
On Saturday we did Metal Masher, one of my favorite trails. It Moab hasn't changed at all since I was last there. It was the perfect amount of fun and adventure.
The Stubbs were great for housing me and feeding me and keeping me entertained. I was at their mercy but I knew I'd be well cared for they are like my second family.
On Sunday Marie and I went up to the Davidson Easter Egg Hunt and dinner and it was spectular like always.
I love how the eggs are always hidden in the same spots yet we always have a blast. Then after all the eggs have been found we steal them back from the little kids and hide them again. Its a vicious cycle that goes on for about an hour. The Davidson's know how to have a good time! It's never dull with them.