Stressed Spelled Backward is Desserts

Before Christmas and during finals, I got to go visit my friend Cherice. Her family makes handcrafted chocolates that they sell in a shop in Sandy, and she let me come help out in the store. When you walk in, it's kind of like walking back through time a few decades. They don't use modern equipment--they pretty much continue doing things the way they've been done for the past 4 generations or so. I guess they've upgraded to a cash register, but they still use a little heated iron to shrink wrap the boxes, etc. They keep the store very cold so that the chocolates don't melt. It was a pretty cold winter experience!







I took some chocolate home to the family for Christmas, and it was a hit! Each chocolate is hand-dipped and has its own special symbol drizzled over it in chocolate. The chocolate caramel pretzels and pecan logs are divine as well. Cherice insisted that their chocolates are better than See's, and I agree!

In the pictures above you can see the giant vat that the chocolate stays in until someone is ready to use it. The messy chocolate picture is one where Cherice is hand-dipping mint Oreos! Yum!! I had a fun time sorting orders and choosing my own chocolates to take home.

Thanks, Cherice! :)

A Piece of My Heart

Wow. It's been a long time...again. I've started some blog posts (at least one), but finished none. So now, today, on this the 14th of February, in the year of our Lord, 2009, I am going to write. What about? Perhaps about something I love--seems appropriate. Or perhaps people that I love. Yes, a big group that I love. Let me introduce you...

{I took out some pictures here for safety reasons.}

...to my first graders. Well, technically they aren't mine. But they felt like mine last semester--my babies. It was so fun to teach them and interact with them and watch them learn and grow. They are small and need things broken down into bite-sized pieces, but it was a great experience. I love 1st grade!







Yep, those were my kids! The girl in the picture with me was my mentor teacher, Marissa (Miss Crane). I was a little worried at first when I found out how young she was. Amber brought up a good point, though--being young means that you're fresh out of school with the latest and greatest ideas, trends, and methods. You're also not stuck in your ways like some older teachers can be. Do you think that the school kind of looks like the one in the show Recess? Farrer used to be a middle school, but they transformed it into a (very large) elementary when they demolished Joaquin Elem.

Anyway, this was a special experience for me. I was sad when it ended. That was a happy (and BUSY)time for me, but I've moved on. I still like to go see the students and Miss Crane occasionally, though.

In March I start my second cohort experience at Franklin Elementary in 3rd grade, and I'm super excited about it! Really--it's going to be fun...and a challenge. I have already visited the school and the class, and I have great principal, facilitator, mentor teacher, and class. I got to see the students in give book talks and do a brain dance. I participated in the brain dance. It's actually kind of funny, but they take it pretty seriously. I also got to be in music class with them for a bit. It should be fun. My mentor teacher Miss Sutton has a special technology certification which has given her a pretty unique allowance. There is a Mac in the classroom for every two students. She also has a Promethean Board--I have yet to really see these at work, so it will be a learning experience for me. I guess I'll be incorporating a lot of technology for the month that I'll be there.

Anyway, this was an accomplishment for me! Maybe I'll even post another one later today or over this long weekend. Have a happy one, all!

Goodbyes

Since turning 21, I've had to deal with some sad things--sending off missionaries. Not the kind that will eventually be Dear Johned, but the kind that I will wait faithfully for for a year and a half. This causes some tears on my part. I've always hated saying goodbye, and I feel like I've had to do a lot of it to a certain degree in my life. Especially being the youngest of 6 kids. Anyway, that's beside the point. I'm proud of them for their desire to serve the Lord and put normal life on hold to help bring to pass His purposes.





The girl on the top is Briana Whiting. We visit taught together here at Victoria Place last year, and through that we became really good friends. She's on a mission in Colorado Springs.

Under that is a picture of me and Brittany and Brianna Hulme. We've been friends for as long as I can remember, and it's been the hardest for me to say goodbye to them. Brittany is supposed to be going to Bolivia and Brianna is headed to Thailand. I'm sure their mom is a little nervous about them living in third world countries. Personally, I would be more worried about them going to California. The people there are a little bit scarier these days. (p.s. If you're from Cali, I still love you!) :)Anyway, I've never had to be away from these two girls for longer than about 6 or 7 weeks. Only 69 1/2 weeks until we reunite. I can do this. I will miss singing with them for that period of time...and watching movies til late at night. There go my babies--off doing their missionary thing. (They are actually still in the MTC.)

The bottom picture is my friend Rachel Lovell (in green). She's going to Florida. All of us in this picture lived and worked in Seattle together this past summer. We're proud of her!! :) And we're especially glad that she doesn't have Tuberculosis. I have a video of my butterflies hatching, and in the background you can hear Rachel expressing her concern that she might have Tuberculosis and that she would therefore not be able to serve a mission. Luckily, the TB scare turned out to be negative in the end. ;)

I have a lot of friends on missions, but the part that amazes me is that most of my childhood is on or is about to be on a mission. Ashley's in Taiwan and Jessie's headed to the Philippines. Becky's waiting for her call. Luckily, I will gain my (Stephanie) Yano back here in a few weeks. She's almost done serving in D.C.!!

I'm so proud of all of my girls, and part of me wishes I could go, too. I guess I could, but right now I'm thinking that I want to focus on becoming an elementary school teacher. Maybe I'll feel differently someday, but until that day, I will keep saying my goodbyes and waiting patiently for my dear ones to come back to me.

"This is Halloween..."

Welcome back to my blog! Or maybe you should be welcoming me back...I'm not quite sure. I thought it would be most appropriate to get this blog started with this year's Halloween's pictures (since that's practically where I started last year). Me, Amber, Emily, and Kyle dressed up as characters from Peter Pan. Emily and Kyle made their costumes. Amber used some old costume parts, and she made a very successful trip to the DI, where she found the red coat you see her wearing. I didn't have much time to prepare, but everyone thought it would be a great idea for me to be the crocodile. It was that...or Tink...or Smee. For some reason, I really liked the idea of being the crocodile. Amber found me a foam hat. I was later disappointed to find out that I had been a fraud ALL Halloween night--yes, it was actually an alligator hat.
Anyway, here are some pictures of our Halloween spectacle:











Yes, we went trick-or-treating, and we were surprisingly well-received. I thought people would be angry with us for trick-or-treating in college, but they liked us. Maybe it's because we actually put in some effort, as opposed to some punk teenager who goes door-to-door in a t-shirt and jeans looking for candy. Anyway, the weather was perfect! Couldn't have asked for better. One man that we went to (from Emily and Kyle's ward) has made homemade donuts for the past 30 Halloweens. We got to dip them in powdered sugar--a very unique Halloween experience. We then sorted our candy and played a Halloween board game that has a creepy video that goes with it. Amber and I topped the night off by a visit to the creamery, where she treated me to a peanut butter brownie (special ones for Halloween). Our friends Kyle and Bianca also came to visit us. Oh, and of course, at the very end of the night I had to turn in a math journal online...school finds ways of creeping into my life at times when it shouldn't. Besides that, though, it was a rather enjoyable night!

Oh, and p.s. I participated in democracy on Halloween also by dropping my absentee ballot off at a mailbox. Woohoo!

p.p.s. Never put off your car registration until the last day possible--there is an unwritten law that says that if you wait until the last day, something will go wrong. Who knew that the registration/decal-distributor place would be closed on Fridays? Random.

Home for the Holidays

I love being home! Family, friends, comfy bed, and NO SNOW!! :-)

www.spiremusic.org

The DVD and CD for the Joseph Smith Concert are just about ready. We are having a preview party on December 15th. If you follow the link in the title, you can see a preview of the DVD. I'm pretty impressed with how it sounds. Follow the link and have a little listen. If you are interested in one, they are on sale right now thru December 7 for a really good price. If not, sometime you can watch my copy! :-)

Halloween Fun-Time

I had a major victory yesterday. For Halloween the roomies and I went to their homes in Layton. I wanted to contribute gas-wise, since I've been there many times, so I offered to drive. I don't know what I was thinking. I haven't driven on a freeway in probably a year or more. I always drive on the feeder at home. I've just been terrified of driving. There were a couple of moments where I really just wanted to switch seats with one of my roommates, but I did it! I drove all the way there and all the way back! That's definitely the longest that I've ever driven on the freeway for...actually, that's the longest I've driven, period. So, we had chilighetti for dinner (really good, by the way), and then we carved pumpkins that were grown in Emily's garden. As I was tired of always carving the classic pumpkin face, I decided to try something new. I got a little ambitious and decided to carve a globe. Some of the continents looked right, and others, well...let's just say that I ran out of room. By the way, did you know that Africa is now on the other side of the U.S.? Apparently the move was a unanimous vote.

Anyway, we watched the Thriller music video and gave out some candy. It was fun, and really cold. I can't believe that I don't have any pictures of this, but Amber is teaching a lesson in her elementary school about the pioneers. I knew we would be bringing a few things home in the trunk, but her dad just kept bringing out the pioneer paraphernalia. The best part was that the "garden cultivator" (essentially an old plow) was placed in the front with us. The plow part sat in between Emily and I in the front, and the handles separated Michelle and Amber in the back. It was a joint effort between Emily and I to adjust the plow every time I had to put the car in reverse. It was really quite special. Not the most comfortable thing to bump into, but otherwise a nice, quiet passenger.