Rocky Mountain High

My two sisters and I went to Denver for a few days this week. We had a great trip. We went hiking, shopping, eating, and river-rafting. We all agree that the highlight was the river-rafting. We rafted on the Clear Creek River and because of a mix-up we ended up on the advanced trip. Please note that I am most definitely a beginner when it comes to river-rafting. We were on a raft with two other women and our trusty guide. He called us the Dream Team, but I'm pretty sure I detected some sarcasm in his voice. We encountered a couple of small falls on our trip, and much to my horror we did not beat the odds at 50/50 Falls. Two out of six stayed in the raft, and I was not one of them. I even have the bruises to prove it. The rest of the river voyage was less wet and much more fun for me. It was fun to spend some time with just my sisters. I am so thankful for them (and the rest of my family), but let's face it - there's just something different about a sister.

In other news, it's our first anniversary today. Our first year has flown by, and we are still glad to be married :) I came home from Denver to a spotless house and a husband who had planned quite a gourmet meal for today. I love him and am looking forward to many more years together.

Home Sweet Home

Sam and I went up to Eagar for the 4th of July weekend, and it was great to be home. There's nothing like the 4th of July in a small town. We were able to spend some time with my parents and with my brother and sister-in-law and their kids. It was fun to be together. The little boys kept us laughing, and Mom kept us well fed. I didn't always love growing up in a hick town, but I love what that town represents to me now. I'm proud to be from a place where everybody's family comes home for the 4th of July. I'm proud to be from a place where everybody waves at you when you drive down the road, where people ask you who you belong to because you look like your dad, where everybody stands and claps when the veterans in the parade go by. I'm proud to be from a place where most everybody goes to church on Sunday and you know who's going to bear their testimony before they ever get up. I was so blessed to grow up the way I did, with good friends and good neighbors all around. I'm so thankful for the heritage that I have and where I come from.

Summer Lovin'

Do you know the top three reasons people are teachers? June, July, and August. Ok, not for August around here, but I LOVE SUMMER. I have been a slacker, and it has been glorious. My accompishments look something like this:
-slept in (several days in a row)
-went to the pool (several times)
-improved my tan
-read several books
-stayed away from my classroom
-stayed away from teenagers and their parents
-met my mom and sister in Flagstaff for some shopping
-shopped a little more (only a little, honey!)
-went to Vegas for the weekend (without losing any money!)
-cleaned the laundry room
-met my husband for lunch (it felt like we were on a secret date)
-hung out with my sister-in-law and the cutest nephews a girl could have
-taught a few piano lessons
-cooked a few scrumptious dinners (well, that's what she said)

I still haven't finished going through my closet or cleaned out kitchen cupboards or inventoried our food storage or hung the pictures in our bedroom or cleaned out my filing cabinet (ICK!) or gone to the dentist...but I feel like a new woman. Bring on July.

Adios Reality

I have been on summer vacation, and I've taken a vacation from being around teenagers, doing laundry, getting up early, grading papers, and blogging! The week before school let out, Sam and I went to Maui with his company, Infusionsoft. Every year his company takes a reward trip, and we were able to go for the second time. It was wonderful, and I'm thankful for all of Sam's hard work that enabled me to enjoy almost 5 days in Maui. We spent our time on the beach (me = reading and laying out, Sam = surfing). We went snorkelling and saw some gnarly sea turtles. We went on a sunset dinner cruise and consumed more than our share of pina colladas, minus the alcohol of course. We went on a zipline. And on our last day, the first day of the season, we went parasailing. The parasailing was my favorite thing. It was fun being lifted off the boat and into the air and surprisingly relaxing floating along looking at some of the beauty of the island. I have included some videos below of our trip. We forgot our camera charger, so most of this trip is documented via video.

Adios Mexico

The company Sam works for, Infusionsoft, has beening planning a trip to Puerto Vallarta for about a year. I've been practicing my Espanol for several months now, and thanks to the swine flu outbreak, our Mexican vacation has been cancelled. No bueno. The good news is we will be able to drown our sorrows in a pina collada Maui style. Aloha! We are getting quite excited for the trip and are so grateful that Sam has such a great job.

We've had a busy month, and apparently I've been so busy that I haven't posted for quite some time. Sam's mom and sister Stephanie were in town for their spring break a couple of weeks ago, and then Shawna and her daughter Bailey came and stayed with us for almost a week. It was fun to see them and have them here. Bailey is especially darling and has grown bunches since we saw her at Christmas. Unfortunately I am a slacker with the camera and don't have any fun pictures to post.

We don't have much else to report except that I get to play the organ in Stake Conference tomorrow. I'm a bit nervous and have seriously considered calling a special fast. Luckily the songs are all fast enough that if I make a mistake no one will have to hear it for long. It may even be quick enough that no one will notice -- yeah right. My nerves are getting a little freaky. So think of me when you're sitting in Sacrament meeting tomorrow listening to your ward organist. And say a little prayer for me. Muchos Gracias.

Guernsey

I love to read. Normally I'm a trashy mystery/suspense/espionage girl, but being the English teacher that I am, I love a girl who knows how to write (and not like those porcelain vampire-loving gals). I started The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society tonight, and I am in love at first chapter. It's a collection of letters set post WWII. It's fabulous. It's nice to read something other than what we're reading in school - Heart of Darkness and Anthem. Don't misunderstand me. I like both, particularly Anthem. But sometimes finding all the similes and explaining the theme takes some of the fun out of a good book. And sometimes students like them anyway. One of my most uh, challenging, students finished Anthem three days ahead of schedule. He hasn't done much of anything without serious coercion all year. It makes it mostly worthwhile when a loud-mouth 16-year-old likes a book and learns something. And now I'm going back to my book...

Spring Break

I'm sad to say that Spring Break is all but over, but it was a good one. Sam took some much-needed time off of work, and we went to California. We spent a few days in Disneyland and few more days hanging out. I don't think I'll ever be too old for Disneyland. And this time we saw Mary Poppins! She's my favorite. I'm ready to pack my bags and go back, especially if it means no school.