Funny thing I like to think about when I am driving

One time, Gina got a new car. And on the visor it had a note talking about the airbags and warnings that go along with them, etc. She pointed to the visor. "So cool. There is an airbag in there."

Summertime and the livin is easyyy

I don't work during the summer because I'm a teacher.

The past few summers...I wasn't a teacher, but getting a summer job is next to impossible. I always convince myself that I can get one, but I can never lie when the employer asks what my plans are for fall. I tried lying once but I felt so guilty. And I didn't get the job anyway.

So instead of attempting something I know I will fail at, I took on some random projects.

Project #1 transform my parents yard into a beautiful haven where I may one day have my wedding reception.

I told the above to my neighbor, including the last part. She waited excitedly. Then prompted, "Is there something you want to tell me?"

Yes. Here it is: I am a delusional 24 year-old living with my parents, planning my reception before I even begin to seriously date someone. At least that is what her face said. I think it's better this way though. For instance, what if I was dating a dude and gardening and thinking of my reception with him in it? And it didn't work out? Awkward. And tragic. Onto the next project!

Project #2 Tending my nieces. My brother and his wife just had a 4th babe girl. I offered to take the oldest three off their hands whenevs. So that's what I do. I want to get a 7 peaks pass and just take them there every time. They have passes too. 7 peaks is so fun. It's like Disneyland because no matter how old you are, it's a blast.

Project #3 Go to my school at least weekly and work on more projects. Like planning better lessons. I have an impeccable (I just had to look up that word) talent for winging it. I can really tell a difference from getting the job so close to the school year last year and getting a whole summer to plan for this coming school year. These kids better be worth it. JK. But kind of.

Project #4 Organize my music and delete songs I always skip. This is actually really monotonous. I have 41 gigs of music and my iPod is 32 gigs. Plus movies. Hard to sift through. Can anyone relate? Some of this music hasn't even been heard by my ears.

Project #5 Not eat food that is bad.

Project #6 Have lots of parties and events. I want to go to Lagoon. and hike Timp. and of course Harry Potter. My ex-boyfriend asked me to go with him to the midnight showing way back on my birthday. Best birthday gift idea if you can't think of upcoming bday gifts.

There you have it. Six Summer S... can't think of an S word. Other than the swear word.

On the last day of School

I sang this song with my guitar to my dear children.



They sang along and we all got a little emotional. I hope they don't let anyone tell them they can't do what they want to. I miss them so much!

Attempted Pup Murder

There's a dog in my neighborhood. Looks like this one. It has instinctively killed fourteen chickens and laid them in a row without a feather lost. Kind to humans and children, we thought it could make friends with our little shih tzu pup, Dash.

Here he is with his pretty-boy friends:



And that German Shorthair did accept Dash as his friend. In his own way. Luckily he didn't kill dash like it looked like he was doing. If he wanted to, he could have crushed Dasher's ribs with one false munch. And luckily I was there to pull Dash out of what seemed to be murder. As I dove to capture the fleeing pup, I broke my toe. Dash was unharmed and has a positive attitude about his new friend.

Was my broken toe worth saving my pup? yes.
Does my toe hurt? Indeed.
Does school end in exactly 3 days from this moment? HECK YEAH!!!!

And I thought it was going to be just another Friday...

My kids threw me a surprise dance party when I came into the classroom from lunch. I have the most amazing class in the universe. I was genuinely surprised! How great is that?






they even dressed Bellatrix, our bearded dragon, for the occasion.

Doc Camera

If I were a hair stylist, this would be like the invention of a comb. If I were a doctor, this would be like bringing in anesthetics. If I were an olympian this would be my gold medal.



I just put a piece of paper under there and the kids see a giant monster of an image. I put an object under there that I don't want to pass around, BAM, it's on the wall enlarged for all to enjoy simultaneously.

I love my doc cam more than I love my students.

hiiiiiiii

Hi.

Sorry I haven't posted for a while and all you have to look at is the vomit post.

I just have a pretty ordinary life lately and when something cool happens I just share it with people instead of write about it. And when you blog about something you've shared to people that read your blog, there's no point. That's the issue here, repeated sharing. No one likes to be friends with that person that constantly shares the stories to so many people that you have heard it multiple times. And you thought you were the special one, and that they only told it to you!

I still live with my parents. People may wonder if I ever get out or if I just get out with my parents. The answer is: both. For instance, tonight. My parents invited me to go to dinner and a movie with them and my aunt and uncle. Sometimes I accept, sometimes I have something else going on. Tonight, I have other plans. I am going with a group of buddies to DI to get disco clothing and then to classic skating. It will be really fun to just dress up and let go!

At this time of the school year, I realized that I had sick days and vacation days that I haven't used: a total of 5 days! So I am planning two trips. One to San Diego, and one to Florida. In two weeks I'm off to Orlando where I will be united with Harry Potter World!!!! I have an entire week for spring break and I hope that's enough time for Harry.

Then in May I'll be in San Diego to visit my BFF Katherine! Now I just have to figure out my summer...I don't have any trips planned and it's unsettling. I'll probably take a bunch of teacher classes so I can get paid more or something boring like that. Maybe move out of my parents?

Next time I write on here it won't be from my dad's desktop computer in his messy upstairs office. It will be from the new 13" MACBOOK PRO!!!! It's on it's way to me now. I have purchased this particular laptop 3 times this week. The first time was online at apple.com. Then I cancelled the order because Katherine said I could get it cheaper at BYU. The second was through BYU. They said I had to be a student. Then finally I went online to apple.com again, but this time through my teacher website and I got one for $100 off! Boo BYU, thanks for the diploma though.

Did you know they sell MacBook Pros in 24-carat gold? Yeah. and the apple is filled with diamonds.

Speaking of diploma, BYU thinks I am graduating in April again. They sent me a graduation package and notified me of all the events coming up. Silly BYU. I guess you can give me another degree, could it please be a master's? Thanks.

Beastly

This Friday I went to see the movie Beastly. It's more of a dollar-movie or rental-worthy so wait on it.

I had been feeling pretty queasy the whole movie...I couldn't decide if it was the actor's face or what. Well, on the drive home, I knew it was time. To vomit.

As we were waiting for the green arrow to turn left off University by Riverwoods, I told Ray I was going to vomit. That is usually something my friends and I joke about, so his response was "Are you serious?"
"Yes."
He asked if I wanted him to drive. While we were switching, I started throwing up. A car pulled behind mine and the arrow turned green. Between vomits I motioned for them to go around us. So embarrassing. By the time I was finished, the arrow was green again and I left quite a puddle in the middle of the road. I just really hope I didn't cause a chain reaction with surrounding sympathetic vomiters. And I hope no one really noticed me. But how could they not notice a chick at midnight vomiting in the middle of a huge intersection?

V-day from the parentals

I walked in my house today after work only to find piles of v-day gifts for my neices and nephews. "Where's my valentine's gift?"
Mom: "What if I didn't get you anything?"
Me, in my head: "typical. always putting grandkids first."

1 hour later my dad came downstairs with two large boxes.
Before he handed them to us, he explained that one of the boxes had two of the same thing, one for me and one for mom.
"Bras?" I asked
His response was an irreplacable facial expression of disgust.
He said that one of the boxes was for my brother and the other gift was two of a similar thing.
"So not romantic" I pointed out.
My mom opened the smaller of the two boxes. It did look like bras at first because they were shiny. But it turned out to be two pair of decent slippers.
We started to try them on to see if they fit.
"I got them from D.I." Dad remarked.
The emotion in the room turned sour. These slippers had comforted another pair of feet, not my own.
After observing our negative response, my dad pointed to the bottoms of the slippers: "Look! She never wore them! These are brand new!"
I think the lady that owned them was probably para or quadriplegic and in a wheelchair.
But when I think about it, I wouldn't want anything else for valentine's day. Thanks Dad, love you too.

G-U-I-T-A-R

A couple weeks ago I gave my students a spelling test. One of the words was "guitar." I usually give a sentence using the word as I give the test. The sentence I used was: "Guitar. I am attracted to men that play guitar. Guitar."
They giggled and it was just a silly moment of fun.

Well one of the aides at my school (we'll call Mr. Carson) helps in my classroom on Friday afternoons.
(I overheard him say he was engaged.) He comes in and automatically my students attack him with the anticipated question brought about from the spelling test. "DO YOU PLAY GUITAR???"

Mr. Carson: Yes
Class: MISS SHUMWAY!!! HE PLAYS THE GUITAR!!!
Mr. Carson: Students, Mr. Larson is engaged.
Mr. Carson: No I'm not
Me: Oh, well don't you have a girlfriend?
Mr. Carson: No...
Me: (awkward mutters...probably something like "oh...")

For a while I thought he flat out lied to me. Then I found out they broke off their enGAGment.

Half of me wants to say "aren't my kids the worst?" and the other half says "You put this upon yourself." Kill me now.

Isn't this a cool boat?

I go on dates with my parents

Yep. Sometimes more often than you may be comfortable with. Usually it's dinner and a movie. Last weekend we saw "The Dilemma" and went to my favorite restaurant: Malawi's Pizza. Everyone thinks it's too expensive. I say "Cafe Rio is expensive" and they shut up.


In all seriousness, Malawi's Capri Pizza will blow your brains out of your mind. It is made on wheat dough with fresh mozzarella and fresh tomatoes and fresh basil, drizzled with olive oil and balsamic. Drooling on my keyboard as I type. I'm off sugar and white bread so maybe that justifies this blog post?

Already a Gramma

My kids call me "mom" all the time. I'm used to it. But today was different. Today one of them called me Grandma.

Someone kept making a choking sound

while we were typing papers in the computer lab. As you can imagine, it was very annoying. It would come and go in short spurts so I didn't say anything at first. Then I had it.
"That sound is completely unacceptable unless you have that sound in your paper."

He had it in his paper. It was on his rough draft, he showed me.

Anthropologie in the University Mall?

My mom was walking through the Uni-mall round Christmastime.

She was surprised to see an Anthropologie!

Knowing it was my favorite, she walked in and browsed.

Having been to an Anthropologie in the past, she wasn't impressed.

After sharing this with me, I realized she mistook Aeropostale for Anthropologie.

hahahaha I still laugh when I think about it.

Today's highlight: one of my 5th grade boys singing Rihanna's "only girl in the world" nonstop.

Christmas Break & New Year so far

The epic tale I was talking about was when I gave my parents a pup for Christmas. My dad was TIIIICKED to say the least. But somehow, through prayer and faith, he warmed up to the pooch and we got to keep him.

His name is Dasher, like the reindeer. I don't have a picture right now but I'll get around to it sometime haha.

The other hit of my break was New Year's Eve. I had a mash of a bash party!!! It was semi-formal with martinelli's and confetti poppers at midnight. Then of course some boogieing afterward. Thanks to my dad's DI purchase of two huge speakers and lots of cool beautiful people, it was soooo fun. Next year I will be better about arranging so that more people will kiss.

Coming back Monday was weird. 3 of my students had moved out over the break, which was bittersweet.

One of my students gives me a hug every time I get frustrated. She's the only one that can tell. Once she said "If you were a candy bar, I'd be a fun-size!" I was a little offended, taking it as a fat joke. But of course she meant well so I told her how clever she was. How dare she.

Speaking of which, I joined Gold's Gym. I don't do gyms. But I don't really have a choice do I? I love food but I hate being overweight. I've tried to give up food. But I can't do it. So I guess I'll just compensate. And compensate I did, my cousin and I went all but two days last week. It feels good to exercise, let's just hope I can bring myself to eat healthy too? No, not yet. Baby steps.

The thing I am most excited about this year is all that will happen that I don't plan on. Those are the things that make life fun and unpredictable. How bout you?

Merry Christmas Merry Christmas Merry Christmas Merry Chrismast

epic tales to come!

Rube Goldberg

I went to a reception where they had one of these. Then one of my kids shows me this vid during recess:



I love Rube Goldberg Machines, greatest invention of all time.

This week...

I am going to Arizona for Thanksgiving!

And I get to meet the car I've owned for over a month. AND DRIVE HIM HOME WITH ME!!!!


It's a 2000 ford contour (and when you say it out loud it sounds like you are saying "2004 contour haha) I haven't named him yet, suggestions welcome. He's white and I would prefer him to not be but oh well that's not his fault.

Happy Halloween!

My school had Parent-teacher conferences and Friday off. So we all dressed up in our costumes on Wednesday.

I was the wicked witch of the west, AKA "Elphie" AKA I made my kids call me "Miss Wicked" and wouldn't respond to "teacher" or "Miss Shumway."


I acted in character all morning. I whacked each child with my broom, asking them what they were dressed as. I purposely locked the classroom door so that when kids left the classroom (for the restroom usually) they'd be locked out. So I would see them knock and try to get in through the small glass window on the door. And I would point to them and cackle my high witch cackle for a few seconds before I let them in. They loved that. I had a lot of kids wanted to go to the bathroom.

We moved our desks to the side and had a fashion show to techno music. and listened to the "Wicked" sound track all day.

You need a blog makeover.

My cousin Elissa is an awesome graphic designer (graduated with a DEGREE in it :) and has a new business creating custom blogs. I haven't had her do mine yet but plan on it soon! If you are interested in having her makeover your blog, email her at elissagator@gmail.com for more information and pricing. You can also email her links to blogs you like, let her know colors that you'd prefer, include pictures you want to be included in the blog design, etc. She can do it all!!

Red Ribbon Week

So of course my students are writing in their journals and talking about drugs.

One of my favorite students comes up to me and shows me a picture she is drawing. It has a cigarette, beer bottle, and tobacco with a circle-slash over them.

Student: What are some other drugs that we don't know about that I could draw?

I didn't know how to respond.

Student: I just need one more to make it look good.

So after a bunch of illegal drugs flashed through my mind, like a syringe, a pill bottle, and a gasoline tank, I decided that a wine glass would be good.

Me: just draw a wine glass.

This moment totally cracked me up and made my day

$29

During school today, Pandora was playing on the screen of my computer and an advertisement to buy a new phone was on the screen. Students were going outside for recess and one hung back.

student: "Are you looking to buy a new phone?"
Me: "it's just the advertisement, I was playing music"
student: "Well if you are, I could get you $29 off a new phone"
Me: "For you or for me?"
student: "For you"
Me: "Is it some kind of coupon or something?"
student: "No, I just have $729 in my savings account so I could give you $29."

Highlights

I guess I am not really into blogging these days. Now that I don't spend my day in front of a computer for a job, it's one of the last things on my to do list when I have down time.

Recent highlights in my life are as follows:
Highlight #1 was Sunday. my niece Lexi turned four. We were at a party at her house in-between sessions of conference. Let me back up. Lexi doesn't talk. I try to get her to talk but all I get is a cute smile and maybe an answer provided by her older sister. But when she does talk, it's like heaven. She has the cutest little voice that makes your heart fill up with rainbows and gum drops.
So I was upstairs and the party was on the main floor. Lexi and a couple other random kids were up there with us. And out of no where, Lexi gave me a tour of the entire upstairs! She showed me her room, her closet, and even her favorite shoes: "Dees aw my favwit shoos! I weuw dem aw de time." (These are my favorite shoes, I wear them all the time.) She just talked and talked. It was like it was my birthday. (Lexi's on the right)



Highlight #2 was my dad's bday party on Monday night. The entire fam was on the main floor, enjoying my dad's favorite: spice cake with melt-in-your-mouth brown sugah frosting. A faint beeping could be heard amongst the noise of the kids and conversation. Then a pause. It was the fire alarm downstairs! Ah!
We quickly evacuated the children to the back deck outside whilst my parents and siblings slowly opened the door to the basement. The stairwell was filled with thick, gray smoke which spread to the area around us. Oh so that is why the smoke alarm went off. Gasp. Seconds past and we saw a figure emerging. My brother, Ethan, saving a child. Or what was that in his arms?
A fog machine.
Laughs were had and reactions of my parents relived.

(Just for the record: I was skeptical from the moment I saw that smoke. It didn't smell smokey!)

And highlight #3 was today.
I decided to give my fifth graders 5 minutes of extra recess. A couple girls were attempting round-offs in the field and I had the sudden urge to join them (rare occurance. Believe it or not, I rarely loosen up. The stress of teaching has practically stripped me of my personality:)
So I take off my keys and microphone necklaces and run, showing off my best round-off. Before I knew it, the whole class was lined up, showing off their [safe] tricks. It was just fun to play and have fun without planning or assessing it :)

So there you have it, a lil update. Now I'm going to read some blogs I haven't read in a month! yay!

drool, water, and Malawi

Everytime I hold a cup of water, I spill it.
Like at this delicious Malawi's pizza place last night
and at dinner tonight
and getting a drink generally. I just forget I'm holding it

And during sunday school because it was fast sunday, I was leaning on my hand thinking about food. And after a few minutes I was like "what the heck, why is my hand wet?"
I was drooling.

Let's see what else. Yeah you need to try out Malawi's. It's in the riverwoods mall. so good. For every meal you buy, they will send a healthy meal to the orphans in Malawi. So I deduct that from my tithing. jk.

I'm officially a teacher

Because in my teacher inbox, I got the following forwarded message with the subject: "Now THIS is a pencil sharpener" and these pictures when you scroll down

totally incredible.








:































-

A teacher in the hallway just said "176 more days to go!"

But it was the best first day I've ever had!

A good mistake

So I drove to Salt Lake for my friend's reception.
And it was yesterday.

So I went shopping at the Gateway instead!

I haven't been shopping in seriously probably over a year. Because I wouldn't allow it, what with the big debt-hole in my pocket. But I am pretty sure I will be getting paid to teach 5th grade so I allotted myself a couple outfits! I am SOOOO excited because I got cute stuff. From my favorite store. Anthropologie. And don't let your jaw drop at that name, the stuff I bought was on sale. :)

And that, my friends, is why my trip to SL was a good mistake.

SUBWAY

I decided to go to Subway for lunch today.
I hate Subway.
But I had it last month with my cousins and it was yum. I got the Spicy Italian or something. Well on top of the fact that I don't really like sandwiches unless I'm starving or if they are made by me, I decided to see if it's something I'd learn to love.


I get up to the counter and realize I've committed to something that demands that I make a million decisions. The sandwich maker has 7 different meats, 10 choices of bread, 50 different vegetables, and 23.5 sauces to ask me about. And I hate being put on the spot. And I hate making decisions that involve committing. I was going to eat that sandwich and if I decided to put something gross then it would ruin my experience.

Whenever I eat out I usually ask the people that work there what their fav is. Always. Because I can't ever decide and I like them to just tell me what's good.
Well she named off 10 of her favorites. Oh wow. This was going to be epic.
I decided to get the 6 inch club. More meat, right? Because subway sandwiches always have one paper thin layer of meat and 2 stories of vegetables and crap.
Then she asks me what bread. I liked the two with cheese.
"What's the best of these two?"
Um...the italian.
"Ok I'll have the italian"
"the regular or the spiced one?"
She was picking up the spiced one.
"The regular"
she moved her hand to the white bread
"No, the spiced."
"Do you want this toasted?"
"yes." right after I said it, I knew it was a mistake. It's a hot day! Gross.
She turned around to start the toaster
"No, wait, not toasted. Sorry"
The cheese and vegetable part was easy but my jaw dropped when she loaded a truck full of onion and olives on there.
"Anything else?"
"Yeah...cookies. And a drink. So, yeah, the add a meal thing."
"You can have two cookies. Do you want them to be both chocolate chip?"
"yes...wait...um...no. One double chocolate."
"Do you have a subway card?"
"no...."
"Well I'd offer you one but we're out."
phew. I probably would've gotten one because I was done deciding.
"Thanks for bearing with me"
"We've seen a lot worse, you're just fine"
I guess it could be worse.

After taking a couple bites, I felt the olives and onions were overpowering. Took them off. Got through half the sandwich (3 inches) and I had pulled everything off but the meat and cheese. Still couldn't eat the rest.

The cookies were so yum. Specially the chocolate chip. Should've gotten two of those.

Didn't pass the YES test, but oh well

OK So I don't know how they type in the special code but the peeps didn't type yes. Isn't that crazy? Crazy. How do they do it? I am not going to make my blog private though, because Tawny convinced me not to. I guess it's not that annoying. But still a little bit.

Sorry I've been lame.

Lately I've just tried to live my life as boring as possible because that is the opposite of how it will be starting next Thursday at 8:30 am. (Meetings start, then school starts (Aug 24), and yeah you know what that means)

I think I want to make this blog private because I get comments in a language I can't read. I wonder if their computers just don't have English letters? Maybe they can read this. If you leave comments in other languages, I appreciate your support in reading my blog. If you actually read my blog, and you are not just leaving random comments, please comment "yes" to this post. Thank you. If there are random characters without yesses, I am going to make this blog private :)

OK I have some posts coming up! I will be posting about how I've decorated my walls in my bedroom, and also about my nieces and nephews day camp that we had yesterday! So fun things. Don't be deceived into thinking my life is all fun and games though. I have been spending an average of 7 hours a day in my classroom! There is always stuff to do and it takes a LONG time! I actually really enjoy it though, because it's MINE and I can do WHATEVER I WANT with it! Wahhahahaha! Oh I decided to wait on a theme...it's taking forever to set up as it is, and to add a theme would be murderous to my well being. So that gives you another year to think of cool ideas!

I remember some of my seminary teachers saying they lived in Payson so I asked around about them and their kids go to my school! And I might teach em. So fun huh? They taught me, I teach their kids, their kids will probably teach my kids, bam bam BAM!

My mom and I went to Brick Oven for lunch today so I wasn't too hungry for dinner. But for some reason I wanted movie popcorn. I didn't want to pop some in my microwave, I wanted to go to the theater and get some of that kind. So I did. And that is what I had for dinner. And I promised myself I'd never eat that unhealthy again. Satisfying? yes. Like the "yes" comments I'll get on this post.

Happy August!

I decided to count up the total number of interviews I had before I landed this job. Want to know how many?

Conclude what you will from this, I'm just glad it's over :)

What should I call my class?

maybe have it start with a "sh" so it sounds cooler. like shooting stars or shamrocks. Then I can theme my whole classroom after it! I am going to have so much fun.

When I smell these, I think of killing spiders

because these are the things I have used to kill spiders my whole life. It's the best way, because there is no contact, just smells.

throughout my life

I have associated songs with one another if they have the same words. When I was in elementary school the two songs that were most popular to roller skate to at Classic Skating were "Don't Turn Around," by Ace of Base and "total eclipse of the heart," by Bonnie Tyler "TURN AROOOUUUND..." Those songs were ironic, I thought to myself: "what does it take for someone to love you? Turn around or don't?"

Ever since I have naturally paired up songs that say similar things. like "Tick Tock," by ke$ha and "4 minutes," by JT & Madonna "we only got 4 minutes (wicky wick) 4 minutes tick tock tick tock tick tock tick tock" By the way Tick Tock has been stuck in my head for months. Booooo.

Then there's these crazy people that show their love by walking 1,000 miles:
"I'm gonna be," by proclaimers (I would walk 500 miles and I would walk 500 more) = 1000 miles and "1,000 miles," by Vanessa Carlton.

Wow, people that write songs. Please google your lyrics so they don't say the same thing as a song that is probably cooler! I'll catch on.


Justin Bieber, I'll let your hit "Find me Somebody to Love" slide. (like Queen's but NOT!) I enjoy that song a hecka lot, JB. so you're ok. Sorry I'm too old for you, maybe if age doesn't count in the hereafter we can work something out.

Anyone found this connection as well? What other songs are the same to you?

CALIFORNIAAAAAA

I just got back from visiting my friend Katherine in CALIFORNIA!
I drove down with my cousins who were visiting my house last week. The car was packed but I slept most of the way! They live in Orange county so I rode the train down to San Diego where Kath picked me up.
Sunday we went to church and ate food at the bishop's after. stuffed myself. Since it was the fourth we said "hey! let's go watch fireworks!" so we did. Crazy traffic but hey. it's a holiday. what did we expect?

picture of Denise (Kath's cousin) Katherine, and ME at fireworks!

Monday Kath and I waited in line for like an hour for breakfast a Konos. Worth it? YES! Just yum yum food food. It was our first time and people told us to share but we ignored them. We each got the big breakfast which included an english muffin, eggs, amazing potatoes (with cheese and onion) and bacon. We should have shared.
On the way back from breakfast, oh it's now noon by the way, we decided to go to DISNEYLAND! So we did. And it was the best decision I've ever made. Traffic was bad. But again, may I remind myself, what do you expect on the day off for a holiday?
Disneyland was, of course, PIZACKED! But we got to squeeze in all our favorite rides. My top three are Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, and Screamin California, and Soarin. (hehe I had to say four because it's DISNEYLAND and I can.) What are yours?


TUESDAY kath had to workey work. So she let me just drop her off and use her car. And listen to how lame I am. I dropped her off, then I went back to the house and just slept :) Till lunch. When I woke up, I got a call. I GOT THE JOB! My life was officially real life now. No more playing around with no salary.
Picked kath up for lunch, we went to this new york sandwich place.
Then I buckled down and went to places after dropping her off. Went to Balboa park, so beautiful. Then to Sea World GUESS WHAT? You can buy a shopping pass there for $69 dollars and if you come back within an hour they REFUND you all the money! So I jogged around the whole park and was able to see/do everything I wanted. Including seeing SHAMU jump vertically completely out of the water!!!!! Amazing.
We got REAL Thai food that night. mmmmm.

Wednesday I dropped kath off at work then went to the TEMPLE which is so beautiful, I've always wanted to go. I wish I could see the whole thing :) Someday! With a lover! I will!
Went to this crappy bagel place by Von's. DON'T EAT THERE.
then to La Jolla Cove where I hiked around the rocks and saw widdle baby cwabs! and SEA WIONS! I gave the bagel idea another shot and got yummy yummy a blueberry scone at a bakery off the beach. Breakfast was redeemed.
Then to old town. I just drove around, didn't look like something I'd enjoy. Then to Cabrillo National Monument. They have a lighthouse you can walk into and a nice little path on the rocky cliffs off the beach.
Met Kath and her friends at lunch at this DELICIOUS place called Croutons. Salads. Soups. Sandwich.
Then I went to my favorite place that i want to live at forever. Coronado. So beautiful and it reminds me of the nice towns of New Zealand. sniff sniff. Parked. no change for the meter! there was 20 minutes left from the last guy. whew. Went to Coronado Hotel and walked the beach.
Then to the FARMER'S MARKET! I allowed myself one treat. I got four. he gave me a DEAL! I ate one on the beach, gave one to kath when I picked her up, and two are in my freezer.

I FELT AN EARTHQUAKE!!!!!!!!!
5.4 magnitude. I was gettting gas before picking up katherine. I didn't have shoes on. I put the nozzle in the car. The ground swayed and I looked around, trying to decide where I could be the safest. I froze. I couldn't move. the guys next to me swore and labeled the shake as a "big" earthquake. I figured there would be an aftershock and I'd be alone!!! So I just put the nozzle back in the machine and drove away to be with Katherine. AHHHHH! I survived an EARTHQUAKE!

I made it to Katherine's work (wheW!!) and she drove my to the airport. Wah. I am back to normal life. Not that my life is normal. BUT I LOVED MY TRIP! I did everything I wanted to do and I got to go to DISNEYLAND. So magical. It was good to be with my friend and step out of my life.

I GOT A JOB! 5th grade!

a sneeze that kills

I was walking down the hall from my room to go downstairs. My dad was working at the room just at the top of the stairs; I could hear him typing his loud, chicken-pecking way. (I usually have him shut his door when I am asleep because I can hear this from my room with my door closed) Just as I reach the top of the stairs, I hear a thunderous boom that makes me jump out of my skin and causes me to scream bloody murder. Then I realize, oh. That is just my dad, sneezing.

To Kill a Mockingbird

Yesterday I went to the play at the Hale Center Theater. Before going, I decided to read some of the book, which I will finish today! I just love this book. The characters are hilarious, I relate to Scout a ton. And I want to marry a man like Atticus. So deep and complex. And his parenting style is beautiful. The play was really entertaining and the kids were darlings. Go see it! just a couple more days at the hale center theater!

family reunion

I just have one story because I don't have much to say about it other than there was no cell service. which was the best.

10:30 pm. Everyone was in bed, in their individual cabins, ready for the generator to be shut off.
they assigned a cabin to four girls, four single girls. Me, gina, fav cousing Cara, her sis lins.
11:00pm. Still awake, pitch dark. The generator had been shut off. you couldn't see the hand in front of you.
11:05pm. We hear someone stumbling up the steps to our cabin porch. Oh by the way. none of the cabins had locks on their doors. Because it's a family reunion ranch, the closest town is 20 miles away.
11:06pm. whoever is outside is moving around the chairs on our porch, dragging their feet...
I yell out "What do you want?! We know you're out there!"
Gina: "Daron? (brother) Is that you?"
Me: "We have hard objects!"
silence. more movement.
our minds are racing. Is it a drunk cowboy? An animal?
We hear the screen door open. By now we have our lantern on.
Gina and I bolt out of our beds. We grab the first harmful-like objects we could see: Gina got a mega-large aerosol hair spray can and I got the blow dryer. The two girls in the other room peek out to our room, staying hidden. For a moment we waited, objects held high, ready for attack. I pictured how I could use my blow dryer. Maybe swing it around like a helicopter so the attacker couldn't approach without being seriously injured.
Gina is brave enough to open the door.

"Hey guys, just checking up on you, how's it going?"
It was my brother. Playing a little pranky prank. I should have hit him with the blow dryer anyway.

shows

I had goosebumps the entire hour I watched the finale. It's just good stuff.



Then I'm of course totally into So you think you can dance. I just love watching dancers. and feeling something from that. And hello all-stars allison and neil and lauren? jackpot.

Tell me why

I am still using an electric blanket to stay warm...in JUNE?



Happy June by the way.

Take a chance

Lately I've decided to not listen to my usual songs, to give the 4,000 + other songs on my iPod a chance. It's so fun to find hidden treasures you never knew you had.

Like "Silver Lining" by Rilo Kiley
or "OSET" by Jojo
and of course the oldies of Mariah, n'sync, I can't believe I called those oldies.

Just take a challenge and do the same. Give your other songs a chance and refresh your groove! Let me know how it works out.

Birthday Card lol moment

Each member of my family signed a birthday card for me. I have revisited this card a couple times since my bday because I knew it would crack me up. So I wanted to share some selections of this card and give you a lol moment if you don't mind.

"We love you. I have often wondered about that. -Ethan"
"Love you. Peace. -Daron"
"Hallie, You bring that light to your life that nobody else can see except Michelle (his wife). love, Khyl"
And without reading Khyl's comment, Michelle wrote: "Hallie- I am in love with you. Will you marry me? Wait...I guess Khyl is kind of like your twin. That's why I married him. Because he's male."

I don't need to stop to smell the roses, I can just drive my scooter near one

I like just driving my scooter and breathing in deeply through my nose as I pass anything blooming. Smells so good outside in many places.

Smell of the week: I specially love the smell of those hanging flowers, called wisteria. (my mom knew that...and now you and I do)

I'm three and twenty

And so far it's been splendid.

I woke up Saturday morning, when it was my bday, threw on some clothes and went to Mimi's with daddy and Gina.  

Then Gina and I went to Downeast and got some marked down designer jeans I tried on and fell in love with.  This doesn't happen very often when you have a body like mine.  Usually my parents give me money and I just use it to pay off my credit card but this year I decided to use my birthday money on something I wanted.  

Driving on the way to the farmer's market we stopped at a red light.  I saw that the stoplight would take a while so I turned up the music, got out of the car, and just danced around it.  It was my birthday and that is what I felt like doing.  So I did.  And the people in the cars around me looked at me like I was crazy.  Well I got news for you mr driver with sunglasses.  I am.

Walked around the farmer's market and tasted some honey from a wildflower region in the mountains.  it tasted so interesting and good.  

Then to the baseball game!  I met my dad, nephews, Daron, and Krystal there.  We had J-dawgs at this tailgate party.  I love J-dawgs so blasted much.

The game was fun.  Gina was on a group date so my dad and I did my best to embarrass her, yelling out stuff.

I got my hair died darker brown then trimmed.  My cousin does hair and I've wanted to see what she could do.  She was amazing.  It was fun to chat with her.  and I love getting my hair done.

Met some friends and family at Wingers.  My brother poured popcorn seeds into my kiwi sprite.

Then my birthday was over because I went to a couple parties, one was a bday party for my nz friend and the other was a tim tam slam/thai food party and no one knew it was my bday.  I liked that. It was my little secret.  And I had fun.  And the food was bomb.

Then I watched The Princess and the Frog which I have only heard bad things about.  But I really loved it.

My party could have been better if Katherine hadn't moved away and my mom wasn't in Hawaii with her sisters.  BUT I'M 23!  YAY!

I didn't get the job

but that doesn't mean anything. It just means I have endless possibilities and I'm not tied down to that one school anymore. I know there is a class out there that I am destined to teach! Can't wait till this is over. I am sooo done with my black pencil skirt, panty hose, and ironing shirts. Then getting all nervous for the interview. Then feeling really good about the interview. then waiting to hear back. That is almost worse than any other part. Finally hearing back and having them tell you everything you want to hear. But the fact that you didn't get the job. It'll be worth it when it finally works out though.

See, this is me and my future employer.

Hold on for one more day

This song is my favorite right now and I listen to it on repeat because it totally encompasses everything I am feeling today!
Because one more day, and I'll know.

here is a comment on the page of this video: "ive listened to this song 35 times in a row now. im hooked!! yes i am a man and NOT GAY!! HAHA this song has KEPT ME FROM KILLING MYSELF."

The power of this song can touch your life too.
Oh dang it!! It won't let me embed the original. So here's just the song while you look at random metal doors or windows or something:



It's crazy how many things hang on getting a job - this job.

• paying off my debt
• going to Belize this summer
• the quality of my relationships

jk about the last one but seriously the first two are pretty big deals.