Bryan and Karen

Cousins

2011-11-01T13:31:00.000-07:00

I never lived close to my cousins. Ever. Our parents must have felt guilty because they would fly us to each other's house for the summer. Seriously, who puts their 8 year old alone on a flight from South Dakota to Colorado? But those summers were the best.

The problem is, so far all of my kids' cousins live far away. It makes me sad. I guess I better start a frequent flyer account (is that even what it is called?).

Can’t you tell they are all just gonna be best friends?

The days

2011-10-17T20:57:00.000-07:00

Even if it's technically only by 6 minutes, he still needed the shirt.

This girl can fall asleep in .2 seconds (yes, .2) if she has a blanket over her face. Just thinking about it makes me feel claustrophobic.

I thought he was coming for the camera

because he usually does

then he spotted my flip flops. Which are apparently more exciting than I am.

I won't lie, my feelings were a little hurt.

FAQs

2011-10-10T12:55:00.000-07:00

It seems that anywhere I go I get at least one of these questions.

1. Do you ever get any sleep with 2 babies?

We have great little sleepers. Like 10 hours worth of great. Occasionally I have to go stick a binky back in a mouth but usually both babies sleep from about 8 to 6. I really believe that I can do anything during the day if I have a good nights sleep!

2. Are your twins identical?

This one I have to be careful with. Here’s what I want to say: “They are until we take off their diapers!” or “No you ding dong, a boy and a girl cannot be identical.” Don’t make me get out my biology powerpoints. But usually I just say, “Nope. They are fraternal.”

3. Do twins run in your family?

Actually they do. I have 3 cousins on my mom’s side with twins. The oldest are 3 years old. Mine are the youngest. And here’s a fact for you – twins only run on the girls side of the family. Not boys. Boys have nothing to do with it (if you want more details I have powerpoints on this too!)

4. Do you ever get anything done?

Nope.

5. What do you do if they are both hungry at the same time?

Well, I feed them!

6. Do they share a room?

Yes. Both of their cribs are in the same room. They are so used to each other that they don’t really wake each other up.

7. Do they play together?

Not really yet but I hope they become best friends. They do smile at each other. And Jace likes to attack Allie and take her binky out.

These two babies really are so different.

Jace likes to snuggle. Allie does not.

Allie takes shorter naps than Jace does.

Jace is sitting up and crawling. Allie can roll but usually just stays stationary.

Allie talks in happy squeals (about 2 octives too high for me) and Jace is more of a grunter.

How Embarrassing

2011-10-06T21:23:00.000-07:00

Its been a while. To be honest, it's a little embarrassing. I won't make excuses just promise myself that I will try to be better about visiting this spot on the internet a little more often.

We are doing well around here. 6 months old and both babies are hovering around 17 pounds. It's hard to believe they are more than 3 times as big as when they were born. How on earth were they ever that little?

Pictures

2011-05-18T11:35:00.000-07:00

Blogging is on my list of things to do somewhere under getting dressed and putting on make up. Judging by the way I look everyday, this blog isn't going to be getting a lot of love any time soon. But here are some pictures.

First time going to church (a few weeks ago).

ASU graduation. Aunt Ashlee, we are so proud of you!!

Blessing day

The new normal

2011-04-16T22:08:00.000-07:00

During weeks of bed rest I would dream of life being normal again. A normal schedule, a normal life out of bed. I could go shopping and clean my house and make dinner and drive again.

Then the babies came. And I was ready to start back to 'normal'. However, even though my living room usually looks like an F5 tornado hit, I can't seem to put down the sweet baby that I am holding to clean it. And even though I am now free to drive anywhere I want, the car usually just sits in the driveway as I just soak it all in.

Because before I know it, these kids will not fit in a basket and will complain when they get smothered in kisses.

A shout out to my friend Amanda who did these photos. Check out her blog here. She's pretty darn good.

Babies Everywhere

2011-03-23T13:19:00.000-07:00

We have babies. Which makes for lots of cute little parts to hold and kiss all day.

We try to look so big in our carseats.

We play dress up but most everything is still too big for tiny bodies (Bryan says he is going to strap on a toy truck to baby boy's head...so he won't be left out).

We work on our tans.

And of course we sleep...cause that's what we do best.

3 years, 2 babies, 1 impatient mama-to-be

2011-03-08T18:21:00.000-08:00

As of yesterday I have been married for 3 years. I was thinking a lot about how I am going to have to start sharing this man of mine with 2 little ones soon. I am pretty sure he was made just for me, so hopefully I learn to share quickly because I have been spoiled for the last 3 years.

I am off of bed rest. The good: I am free, I am a bit happier, I can get a few things done. The bad: my muscles are completely atrophied, I get winded walking from one end of the house to the other, I am so full of baby parts that I can barely move, I have pink eye and one of my pinky toenails is falling off. Apparently I am falling apart. Literally. Hmm, maybe I need to go back and find more good…

At the moment these babies would be eliminated from the olympics. They are totally juiced up on steroids. I think it would be cute to have them arm wrestle each other (stay tuned) so that is in the master plan if they ever come out! Technically I am due in 5 weeks. Well, twins are full term at 38 so 3 weeks. I have 10 pounds of baby shoved inside of me. All of you women who have big babies...I feel your pain. You have my respect.

So that's the update around these parts. And trust me, these parts are getting pretty round.

47 days and counting

2011-02-01T14:12:00.000-08:00

That's right. I have made it on strict bed rest for 47 days. Am I going crazy? Yes. Is there any end in sight? I don't know. What I do know is that there is only so much one can watch and read. There is only so much time in the day that one can rest and sleep. And I am pushing the limits. Big time.
But we are growing by the day. That's the goal. Bryan calls me 'big belly' and I'm not even offended cause I am. I have a hard time breathing. I can only lay on my right side without pain (due to the arrangement of little heads and feet), I eat like crazy and my entire body shakes when both babies have a dance party together which happens quite often.
The doctors have slowed down talk about steroid shots and new anti-labor drugs and have started making comments like, "You can stop the medications at 34 weeks" and "We will go in and take them at 38 weeks". Oh heaven help me if I make it to 38 weeks. XL T-shirts are already being filled out quite nicely around the midsection.
So for now that's the update. Supposedly there is a whole world going on outside of my house, I am going to have culture shock when I am finally free. I hope that you are all enjoying it...I will join in again some day.

Back to school (or not)

2011-01-03T12:36:00.000-08:00

Today school starts back up without me and I am having a hard time with it. I thought I would be just fine but I keep looking at the clock and thinking what period I would be teaching at that moment. It makes me sad. I try to keep thinking about all the crappy stuff I had to deal with to make not being there easier. Like the girl in my 1^st hour that would never stop talking and the girl in my 3^rd hour that I had to dress code 3 times a week because she was showing way too much skin (and tattoos). I make myself think about the time I had a gang leader in my class that did nothing and the time I kicked him out of class and told him that he was wasting oxygen in my room (that was also the time I was a little nervous walking to my car after school). But it doesn’t work. I am still missing it. Gang members and all.

Maybe it was divine inspiration this morning that took my thoughts back to starting college. I got all set up in my tiny dorm room and thought about how my entire life was changing. I was in a new state, I knew no one, I had no friends, and I got lost everywhere I went. What if I didn’t like it? What if I just wanted to go back home? What if the next 4 years of my life were friendless, eventless, and miserable? I was scared. I decided to give it a shot and I am so grateful I did. I can’t look back at those years and not smile. I made friends that are still my best friends today. I learned my way around, got a great education, and loved, no absolutely loved it. All of it.

So today I will give it a shot. Good bye to grading papers, taking attendance, and kicking out gang members. Hello to cooking 40 fingers and toes full time so that someday (hopefully not too soon) I can be so grateful for spit-up, gross diapers, strollers, and smiles. Sounds like an adventure worth giving a shot.

This human incubator would like to sleep in

2011-01-01T10:43:00.000-08:00

If you have ever stayed at a hospital you know that things get up and running pretty early. Around here is no exception. I have no problem with getting up early in normal life, but in my current predicament, what's the point? Get up early and...read? Watch TV? Go back to sleep? Knit a baby hat (yes, it's my attempt to being crafty)? See my reasoning? I say let the human incubators sleep. All day if they want to. Here's what the morning is like around here.

6am- nurse shift change and medication time (not to mention the earlier waking up for more medication)
6:15am- someone comes in and loudly empties the trash (which we have learned to put right by the door)
6:45am- Nurse pokes her head in and sees that I am still sleeping
7am- breakfast comes in. They just set it on my table and I eat it later...usually cold but that's ok
7:30- the Tech comes in to take my vitals, if she's nice she tells me she will come back later to get my weight (lovely)
By 8 I have usually given up and turned on my light, which prompts the nurse to come in and check me out.
By 8:15 they are in my room cleaning and mopping as I am hooked up to multiple machines to see if I am having contractions.

Apparently I have created a little reputation because everyone says they save me for last since I 'sleep in'. Really? The other girls stuck in this joint get up early? Really? I just figure that I should enjoy it while the sleeping is still possible.

p.s. Happy New Year! I hope you all had fabulous celebrations! I, in fact, was sound asleep and loving it.

Freedom

2010-12-28T15:11:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I got 2 field trips. Ya, that's right. I haven't been outside of my hospital room for 6 days and I got out twice yesterday. I went to an ultrasound in the morning (all the way downstairs) then Bryan and I toured the NICU last night. It's amazing how I forgot how it feels to have a breeze going through my hair (Bryan was driving the wheelchair really fast - or at least it felt like it). I heard noises, I saw real people. in the real world. Weird. Life is happening without me. Oh well.

If anyone has ever been in a NICU, you had a humbling experience, I am sure. We got treated to a tour by one of the head Doctors (thanks to my Dr). Wow. I am amazed what the medical world can do. Wow. As we went around, I pictured myself on many of the hard wooded rocking chairs there rocking tiny babies connected to all kinds of monitors. And I felt comfort. Not comfort that we would be there soon, but comfort that whatever happens will be ok. Not the perfect situation, but we will be ok.

In the elevator I talked to a mom whose baby has been there for 3 months. The mom was beautiful, confident, and happy. And I am glad that I got to see that, because I needed to.

Next need: fresh air. Will you take a big deep breath of fresh air next time you go outside for me? It's been a while (12 days to be exact) since I have been able to do that, I appreciate it. Oh, the little things that we take for granted.

Some may think it's sad

2010-12-24T10:32:00.000-08:00

Christmas time means doing puzzles in my family. Well, at least one puzzle per season. My parents got a new one this year and donated it to the cause (the bored in the hospital cause). Well, Bryan started it last night and by the time we woke up this morning it was done. He won't tell me how late he worked on it. My contribution? I helped pick out the edges last night. Yes, I helped find a measly 20 edge pieces on a 500+ piece puzzle. Anyway the puzzle says, "I'll be home for Christmas". My nurses all think it's sad. I don't. Can't you make home where ever you are? Sure Christmas morning will be different but it's ok. We are home. For now. And we are just fine.

As for today, we are trying some different meds to stop contractions that will not stay away. I am still not sure why these babies are in such a hurry to get here but they are not giving up easily.I hope this stubbornness doesn't last for the next 18 years...

Readjusting my swing

2010-12-23T09:12:00.000-08:00

I don’t like playing baseball. Not to brag, but every other sport I can hold my own in. However, I have never been good at the baseball/softball thing. It’s not the catching, pitching, throwing, or even running that I am horrible at – it’s the batting. Yes, I have never been able to figure that one out. I can swing with all my might and totally miss the ball. And I hate it so usually I just avoid it all together.

One summer I got to coach Primary softball. It was great. I learned how to help people (kids) that can’t hit the ball (like me) be able to get the bat on the ball so they can play. You have the kid take a swing then pitch the ball to the bat. Yes, you pretty much throw the ball at their bat. Works like a charm. They connect with the ball and go running. That’s my kind of softball. I swing and the ball will be there. I can do that.

Apparently (until Thursday) I was under the impression that I was playing Primary ball in life. I was ready to swing and was planning on the perfect pitch coming right at my bat. No adjusting, contact guaranteed. Here was the pitch:

Get pregnant in July, work during a healthy pregnancy until about spring break (when I have to stop because I am too uncomfortable and big), in April give birth to a 8 pound chubby-cheeked baby (we like big babies in our family), then be done with teaching.

Life is not like primary ball. In fact sometimes you get a pitch so wild that you say, ‘Wait a minute, was that one for me? That’s not fair. The girl right before me got an easy one right to her bat.”

Here’s what my pitch looks like now. On Thursday I left school for a regular doctor’s appt. They discovered that I was having contractions (that I couldn’t feel) and was sent to the hospital ASAP. Friday an ambulance took me to a different hospital better equipped to stop my labor or take care of tiny babies should they refuse to stay in. Although they have managed to stop the contractions through lots of drugs, I am here to stay for a few weeks. Hospital. Bed rest. Weeks. Brutal. Talk about a wild pitch.

So we are finding ourselves readjusting. Readjusiting to living in a hospital room, having a career end way sooner that expected, long days of uneventful bedrest, and possibly tiny babies sometime in the future (but let’s hope not too tiny).

So, maybe now I will keep my blog updated. Although, I am pretty sure that I will run out of things to blog about…considering my entire life now exists in a tiny little room. But it will be worth it It just will take some readjusting.

Making their (umpteenth) debut

2010-11-11T19:15:00.000-08:00

One of the good things about being pregnant with twins is that automatically you are 'high risk'. That's not the good part so keep reading. Being high risk means ultrasounds galore. At special high risk centers with their fancy million dollar machines. My doctor told me that I could have an ultrasound every week if I wanted. And my insurance covers it. All. So we have been able to see the little goobers go from blobs with flickering heartbeats to aliens to fat necked, big headed gummy bears to yes, finally little human looking babies.

Today we went and confirmed the fact that our babies do have genders and that several specialists have been right all along. The pics aren't great because things are getting pretty crowded in there.

Please meet

baby boy Martin. If you look close you can see a foot (which does not belong to him) by his face in the background. More on this later.

And now meet

baby girl Martin. We didn't get many good pics of her today. Frankly, I don't blame her for being difficult. She was having a rough day for several reasons.

1. She is on the bottom and is getting smashed by her brother, who by the way, weighs 2 ounces more than her. He was all stretched out and she was, well, smashed.
2. Her brother kept being a brother and was putting his bum right in her face. Poor thing.
3. She had the hiccups.I don't know about you but it ticks me off when I have the hiccups.

After watching these two for an hour I promptly came home and ordered several books online on how to raise twins. We are going to have our hands full.

Overdue

2010-10-25T19:28:00.000-07:00

Well, I guess life happens whether you blog about it or not. Here’s an update over the last 4 months. Yikes, that’s a really long time.

We are feeling rather grown up around here lately. First, Bryan got a job at an engineering firm here in town. He loves it and I get to learn all about dams, water pipes, traffic intersections, drainage, and the latest computer programs. Kinda fun.

Second, we are cookin’ up ourselves a little family. The 2 little ones will be joining us in April (or odds are a little earlier). We are still a little overwhelmed (and I am more than a little sick). I may or may not have told the Dr. to “shut up” when he told us there was 2 little ones in there. Bryan may or may have not only said, “That’s crazy” over and over during the appointment. I am starting to look pregnant and my students have all figured it out by now which brings up some very interesting and valuable teaching conversations which often start with, “Was it an accident?” Gotta love teenage thinking. We don’t know genders yet but know that they are fraternal not identical. We are excited and nervous all at the same time.

Strike

2010-06-23T13:44:00.000-07:00

I think that I accidentally went on a blogging strike. It's been a while and I am sick of looking at my prom picture. Plus, yesterday I realized that soon my summer will be half over. What?!? Half over? Life is so not fair. My stack of summer reading books is still dusty and I do not have one tan line. Not one.

It has been a busy summer though. Full of dentist and doctor appointments, moving to a different classroom, and of course girls camp! 3 years in a row, 3 different wards in 3 different stakes. Thank goodness we are here to stay for a while. I love these gals.

Hope the first half of your summer has been great!

Prom 2010

2010-05-18T20:14:00.000-07:00

The photographer apparently didn't realize that I was a teacher and timidly asked if we wanted to hold hands for the picture. We both replied that we would. I bet she thought we were dating.

I was one of 11 modest girls there. Trust me, we counted. The place was packed full of girls pulling, tugging, shifting, and adjusting while I was completely comfortable, thank you very much.

And yes, that is the same skirt I wore 7 years ago at my brother's wedding.

Graduation

2010-05-16T10:40:00.000-07:00

We are officially all grown up and graduated!

My mother horsey

2010-05-09T14:37:00.000-07:00

No my mother does not normally look like this. I love this picture...it was silly day (or something) in her kindergarten class. This is what she came up with.

On this day I would like to wish my mother horsey a happy Mothers Day. You see, when my little brother (soon to be a missionary in Florida) was little and my mom was trying to teach him manners she would always tell him to say, "thank you mother dear" when she did something for him. He, being so sincere, started saying, "thank you mother horsey". It took her a while but she figured out that he was just switching the animals, you know, deer to horse. So cute. We still use it today.

My mother dear is the best. She is the perfect blend of silly (see picture above) and serious. She has a deafening whistle and a killer creative brain (which I tap into quite often).

Thanks mom for all you do. Thanks for texting me even though it takes so long since you aren't very good at it yet (but getting better). Thanks for coming to all my games when I was growing up. Thanks for being 'cool' to all of my friends. Thanks for listening and caring. Thanks for being my mom. I hope you know that we appreciate you everyday, not just today.

Rockin

2010-04-23T20:56:00.000-07:00

I came home from work today to find a boulder on my bed. Bryan is gone for the weekend and my first impression was that he left me a big rock to snuggle with in his place. Interesting.

Then I looked a little closer.

Sorry it's blurry; it says:

I'll go to prom with you because you ROCK.

(It was the manliest answer I could think of)

Now if I can just figure out how to get that thing off of the bed (I can't believe how heavy it is).

Vote yes

2010-04-22T17:19:00.000-07:00

Rarely (almost never) do I believe that raising taxes is the answer to any problem. However, I am writing to encourage (ok, beg and plead) you Arizonians to vote YES on Prop 100. This temporary 1% sales tax will go to education. We need your vote. Everyone. We have already cut so much and the additional cuts that will have to take place if this doesn't pass are devastating. It's scary. Please, vote yes on May 18th.

I hope he says yes

2010-04-17T14:49:00.000-07:00

{Totally cheesy - I know}

They asked me to help at Prom. I said, "OK" then got all gitty trying to think of a way to ask my man. I googled it and even asked my students and this is the best I came up with (quick and low budget). Kinda lame but I am pretty sure he will say yes anyway. Not many people get to go to Prom with their hubs. Sweet.

A shout out to my old man

2010-04-04T15:08:00.000-07:00

This weekend my dad (aka Lieutenant Colonel Kupfer) officially retired from the Air Force. (Which is why it is OK that I just referred to him as my old man even though he really isn’t that old.) While I didn’t get to go, it was in California and on a school day, I was thinking about it all day. Weird. He has been in the military since I was 4. Ten years ago he switched from active duty to the reserve and has used every vacation day from his civilian job, every day off, and lots of weekends away from home doing Air Force stuff to protect our great country. I am happy for him but a little sad too. Here are a few of my feelings.

Dear dad,
I love how you have to report to the military whenever you leave the country because it’s a matter of ‘national security’. I am glad that will continue even though you are retired.

It was fun that Christmas when you had to go on alert and we got to celebrate Christmas a few days early.

I loved coming with you on ‘take your daughter to work day’ at Cornell. It was there I learned how to play minesweeper on the computer. And how to yell at cadets to get in a straight line.

Sorry that you had to deal with your boss when our base neighbors complained that my friends and I kept throwing plums over their fence onto their trampoline. They were mean and totally deserved it.

Thanks for trusting me enough to let me babysit for the base commander’s kids. They were really nice and had good food.

Sorry about teasing you that your job sounded like a video game. Space Command? Come on, that one was just too easy.

Thank you for teaching our family that keeping our wonderful country free takes a lot of sacrifice, time, and energy. Thank you for giving up your vacation time, your breaks, many of your holidays, and your life to be ready to launch missiles, monitor satellites, and keep us all safe in our country. We all owe you big time. Now go take a vacation.

Love your military brat daughter,
Karen

One of them days

2010-03-23T21:08:00.000-07:00

Some days are hard for me. I feel under appreciated, overworked, underpaid, never listened to, stressed out…you get the picture. Yesterday I was having one of these days. By the end of the day it took just about everything I had to not walk myself up to the principle and tell him that I was done. Yes, done. Done with all crap that goes with being a teacher. I went home hoping that a good night sleep would make it better. Today didn’t start out good. 1^st hour I went into another classroom and as I walked out a student said, ‘she looks mean’. Apparently my frustration was showing through. I asked for a sign. Any sign. Something that told me I was supposed to be there. That what I am doing is worth something. That I wasn’t completely wasting my time. Well I got it. After lunch I went into my room and found this written on my board.

Someone sneaked in and wrote it. I was humbled. After lunch I saw signs all around me. I am lucky to be doing what I do. I hate how sometimes I forget just how lucky. I have the power to be an influence in 157 young teenage lives. Yeah, lucky.

p.s. Keep the signs coming.

By golly, it works!

2010-03-21T19:17:00.000-07:00

Somewhere I heard that if you put a bar of soap in your bed it helps with crampy and restless legs. Yes, I thought the same thing you just did. "That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard." Friday night I had the worst restless legs. Friday night I was dreading going to bed cause I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep. Friday night Bryan was out of town camping. So I tried it. No one was there to point and laugh at me. Friday night was the best night of sleep I have had in a long time. Was it all mental? Probably. Placebo effect? Probably. But hey, it worked. Next time I might have to take it out of the box though cause those corners are a little pointy...

So when does the work start?

2010-03-07T20:01:00.000-08:00

2 years ago today I got married. I remember many people telling me that marriage is great but you have to really work at it. "It's hard work but worth it", "If you work at it everyday you will have a great marriage", "Whatever you do, keep working to have a better marriage". I was ready to work. I was determined and was fired up to work really hard at my marriage so that it would last forever. Did I miss something? Do they call this work? If so then I LOVE WORK! Maybe the trick is being married to your best friend. Or laughing everyday. Or texting during lunch. Or holding hands during church. Whatever it is I wouldn't call it work. I would call it blessed.

There once was a man who lived with a slob

2010-02-24T19:45:00.001-08:00

Things have been a little busy around here. Not complaining, just stating the obvious. Apparently when I am busy certain things get neglected (ok, I am talking about my house -it is a DISASTER) I hadn’t realized how bad it was getting until I got a picture message from Bryan the other day. It was a picture he had on his phone of our room when it was freshly painted, dusted, organized, with the bed made and the pillows perfectly arranged. The caption he wrote said, “Remember when our room looked like this?” I was not offended; in fact I thought he brought up a good point. Late that night before we got into bed I had a mom moment and said “Ok, we both have to clean up 5 things before we can go to bed.” I started picking up some clothes but Bryan just stood there. I urged him to hurry up but he didn’t do anything. I looked around on the floor to find something of his to give him to put away…looking…looking. “What? You mean all this crap is mine?!?!” He just smiled. He does that a lot. Even though he lives with a busy slob. Even though the busy slob “lets” him do the laundry, vacuum, unload the dishwasher, and make dinner many nights of the week. Sheesh, this girl is one lucky slob.

Happy Valentines Day

2010-02-14T07:17:00.000-08:00

Picnics are cool.

It made my day

2010-01-27T20:37:00.000-08:00

Today I had to buy new light bulbs from all the late night homework thats been going on around here. Bryan successfully burned out 3 of the 5 bulbs in the light fixture above the table.

It made me realize that in only 4 short months he would be done. That made my day.

Today MTV was in my classroom. They are following a student around for one of their shows. Another teacher is in my room that period but when I looked in the camera guy was videoing one of the signs that I have up in my room. It's one of my favorites.

It made my day that my classroom may be on MTV sometime (and I am very grateful that I won't).

It made my day when Bryan texted me this:
"Guess who I love more- you or all my tools...you." I was flattered.

It made my day today when our cable got shut off. We used up our free 6 months they offered us when we moved so now it is bye-bye cable and hello digital converter box. Awesome. Who needs cable anyway?

unexpected lesson

2010-01-21T19:23:00.001-08:00

I remember once walking with my mom and a sibling (don’t remember which one) in a big parking lot. I don't remember where we were going or even what state we were living in at the time. I do, however, remember a game we were playing. One of us would shout out an object (parking space, tree, etc) and the others would explain how that object is like life or the Gospel. You know, like an object lesson.

I hadn’t thought of that experience until I had an unexpected object lesson yesterday. I went rock climbing with the Young Women in my ward. It was a 4 story rock climbing wall that that you climb up then repel down. I strapped on my harness and started climbing without a second thought. I was not nervous. I knew that I could do it. I am strong, I have long legs (which comes in very handy), a sturdy grip, and decent balance. I climbed up that wall and rang the bell of victory at the very top. I then thought of my options to get down. Let go, let go – that’s what I kept telling myself. The rope will hold you. But I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t trust that rope. It scared me. I couldn’t get myself to push off the wall and repel down even though I have done it many times before. I knew that I could climb all the way down. I trusted myself to climb down. So that’s what I did. I started to climb my way down. As soon as I took one step down, I heard from below me, “No, Sister Martin, you are not supposed to climb down! Push off the wall!” I know, I thought, but it’s hard. It’s just easier to trust myself.

I did actually convince myself to trust the rope and repel down. And it was fun. Some girls climbed up the wall just so they could float down. Me, I had to talk myself into it.

I thought about this all day today, you know the object lesson part of it. I think trust comes easy to some. I am not one of them. I am not talking about trusting your best friend, or a random rope, I am talking about trusting His plan. I am the type to want control. If I know what is coming then I can handle it. I am strong and trust myself. If I see that big boulder in front of me then I can climb it but don’t ask me to let go and trust that a rope will eventually get me around it. So today I make a goal to trust my Maker’s rope more- His perfect, strong, comforting, all knowing rope. I will do my best to loosen my white knuckle grip and trust. Trust that I will be ok, that the future is bright and happy, and that His plan is a perfect plan. In fact it might even be fun.

These people make me happy

2010-01-18T16:21:00.000-08:00

And yes, I did just refer to my family as "these people".

my new best friends

2010-01-07T18:06:00.000-08:00

I have some new best friends. Wanna meet 'em?

Here is the first one. Isn't it cute? Light little fluffy balls. I call him strep (it's short for Streptococcus ). He has visited me multiple times this year.

Here is my BFF number 2.

CVS and Walgreens have a little clinic. It is brilliant. I walked into CVS and walked straight into the office for a strep test, payed 27 dollars (thanks insurance) and walked away with 10 days of Penicillin today (oo, maybe penicillan can be my best friend #3).

I hope whoever came up with this is a billionaire. Tell him I said hi if you ever go. Afterall, we are BFFs now.

For the past few weeks...

2009-12-30T09:02:00.000-08:00

Here's what we have been up to lately.

One of my BYU roomie's little brother got married so we loaded up the car and went to Vegas.
Don't worry, we found some time for fun too.

My friend's husband does a magic comedy show on the Stip and totally hooked us up. We saw lots of shows and ate at lots of nice places thanks to him and all of his hook-ups. We had a blast.

On the way out we stopped at Hoover Dam. We have about 500 pictures of the new bridge (Bryan loves bridges and this one is HUGE). If you have any questions I now know all about how they built it, all the forces involved (sheer and tensile), trusses, etc, Yep, we had a full lecture on Hoover Dam. It actually was kinda interesting. However, I still may need to be drugged to go over that thing. It's a bit high for my comfort level.

We then headed for Bryan's homeland. A 6 hour drive turned in to a 2 day adventure thanks to some bad weather and icy road closures. We did make it eventually and had a great Christmas.

Bryan and his Christmas sweater. What a goof.

We had a great time but are now very happy to be home.

So maybe we were a little despirate

2009-12-06T16:14:00.000-08:00

What do you do when you are making cookies and realize that your brown sugar has turned into a cinder block? You get out a hammer, beat that brick into small pieces, and use the flour sifter to separate out the big chunks. Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do. Anyone want some oatmeal cookies?

For the record everything was kept perfectly sanitary in the demolition process.
If you know of an easier process please don't tell me. I don't want to know.

RLS - it's the worst

2009-11-29T14:13:00.000-08:00

I have been suffering from RLS for years. It’s brutal. I even had myself diagnosed with restless leg syndrome years before the commercials came out on TV that educated everyone. Who new that the uncontrollable urge to move one's legs could almost send them into insanity!

My symptoms usually come at night so I very reluctantly go to movies or concerts at night because I know that it could very easily turn into a night of torture. Late night 3 and a half hour trips to Eagar are pretty much vetoed from now on. Once I had to practically bite someone’s head off because he told me it was “all mental” as I was pacing during a movie (don’t worry that was the last time I went on a date with him).

I guess I am so used to it that I don’t realize the things I do to make my legs feel better. The other night as we were trying to go to sleep Bryan said (very politely) “How about you hold your legs still and I will shake mine tonight so you can sleep.” Oh! That is so sweet. Thanks honey, I wish it could work like that.

I am about at the end of my patience. I have done lots of research and have tried everything other than prescription drugs. Magnesium supplements don’t help, iron doesn’t help, B complex doesn’t help (although it does turn your potty cool colors), and potassium supplements don't help. The only thing that helps is movement. Anyone have any advice? If not I am resorting to drugs. And lots of them.

My gratitude attitude

2009-11-24T19:03:00.000-08:00

My sister-in-law is doing a cute thing on her blog. For the past few days she has been asking people what they are grateful for and then she posts their response. I apparently didn't make the cut and was not asked so here is my list, posted on my own blog. Don't worry Ashlee, I am not the type to get offended.

1. New running shoes. When I get new shoes I feel like I am running on a cloud for a week. Yep, pretty grateful for new shoes.

2. Digital grading books. I can’t even imagine having to calculate grades by hand. Thankfully I can just put the points in my grade book on my handy computer and it automatically figures out grades.

3. Debit cards. For some reason I get nervous writing checks (even though I have written MANY in my life). What if I do it wrong?

4. The people at work that bring yummy treats to share at lunch.

5. Advanced medicine and smart doctors. It’s amazing the healing, relief, peace, and hope that the medical field can provide. Things that were deemed impossible in the past are now, well, completely possible.

6. To be in charge of only the veggie tray at Thanksgiving. Thanks mom. I can totally handle that one. It’s gonna be the best veggie tray you have ever seen!

May we all enjoy being grateful!

Up Time

2009-11-22T14:04:00.000-08:00

I liked this and thought I would share.
(Try to ignore the fake applause and laughter.)

I thought I'd been swined.

2009-11-13T16:50:00.000-08:00

I got sick this week. Real sick. I, along with the rest of earth’s population (thanks to the media), immediately figured that it was the swine flu. Ahem, excuse me “H1N1” (oh brother). As I laid in bed for 2 days straight with a fever and nausea I thought of how this could have been avoided. Me? I can’t get the swine flu! I should have washed my hands every half an hour instead of every hour (seriously I am OCD about this). I knew that I should have faked that I was pregnant so that I could have gotten the vaccine (apparently teachers who have over 150 teenagers in and out of their room everyday aren’t high risk enough to get the first batch of the vaccine (yeah, oh brother again). I thought of everything I could as I flipped my covers on and off trying to get some sort of temperature regulation. I went back to work today. I had many students tell me, “You're back. We thought you died!” I just smiled. “Nope, not dead.” They asked, “Did you have the swine flu?” Again I smiled. “Maybe. Or maybe it was a stomach bug or food poisoning. Honestly it doesn’t really matter”

At lunch I snuck over and talked to the school nurse. She said there is a stomach bug going around that sounds exactly like what I had. Bummer. I was hoping that was my go around with the swine flu and now I would be immune. So I guess I will keep being paranoid with the rest of the world about getting the swine flu. When does the second batch of vaccines come out again?!

Green(ish) Thumb

2009-11-08T12:27:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I decided that I had ignored my yard long enough. I have been wanting to get out and do some work for weeks now but never seem to have a full day of nothingness to spend out in the yard. Yesterday morning I sent Bryan on his way to do some electrical and I put on the garden gloves. I opened the front door only to see 3 landscaping business cards fall to the ground. Huh, is my yard really that bad? Nah, they give those to everyone.

The landscapers that originally did the yard were bush happy. That's fun when they are little cute bushes but baby bushes grow up to be big bushes and things tend to get a little crowded. So I am getting rid of some of 'em. I easily removed 2. They were easy to get out and I admit I was pretty impressed with my 'rip the bush out' skills. Then came time to get rid of this monstrosity.

I hate the desert one. It is ugly, pokey, and catches every feather, fuzzy, and piece of trash in the neighborhood. I nievely took on the task of trimming off 5,872 double edged spears. I found all kinds of stuff in there: candy wrappers, mailers, and yes, 2 landscaping advertisements. It was a lot of work. I had it down to the trunk and got stuck. Bryan had to help me get the roots up when he got home. We proudly stood by our trash for a while and waived to neighbors.

We just hope that this bush can recover now that there is a little more room on the side of our house.

As I was pulling some weeds in the back I noticed something odd in the garden (ok, fine, the big sectioned off space full of dirt that is supposed to be our garden when we get with it and actually plant something)

Gross, what is that? Some funky type of mushroom? I don't want to touch it! It was stuck in the ground big time! After unearthing it I discovered that it was this:

It was in the back yard when we bought the house (a major selling point :) and we had forgotten that my little nephew buried it months ago when he was over at our house. He has been placed back in his rightful spot. Guarding the backyard.

So maybe my thumb is a little green but mostly my arms are cut from the huge bush and my hamstrings are sore from leaning over. Yard work is not for wimps.

You are what you eat

2009-11-02T19:40:00.000-08:00

I bet you have heard the saying ‘you are what you eat’. Let me assure you that it is true. Take for example the time when I sweated sweat that smelled like Cool Ranch Doritos a day after I ate them. Don’t believe me? Here’s the story.

I ate Cool Ranch Doritos yesterday. Mmm, boy were they good. I didn’t think that I ate a ton of them; in fact I was very proud of my self control. Well, today when I was working out I started to notice a not normal smell. What is that smell and why is it staying with me wherever I go? Yes, after some detective work I figured out that it was me. I also figured out the odd smell was in fact Cool Ranch Doritos smell. My sweat smelled like Doritos. I can’t decide if this is cool or disgusting (I am definitely leaning towards the disgusting). This does raise some interesting questions though.

Is this healthy?

Am I a freak or has it ever happened to anyone else?

Since sweat comes from blood, does my blood smell like Doritos right now? What about my tears? This has to be throwing off the pH of my body!

I recently bought a ton of pears and am eating them like crazy…if I smell really carefully will my sweat have a tint of pear smell to it?

Sorry if this was an over-share post but I am really concerned about this! Correct me if I am wrong but I don’t think the human body is supposed to have a cool ranch musk to it. Excuse me while I go detox…

A one liner update

2009-10-25T19:43:00.000-07:00

It’s about time for another post but I got nothin’. I guess I will just give everyone an update on our little family. I am tired so you only get one liners.

“No honey, just because you are now in charge of the scouts and will be camping once a month does not mean that you can get a truck” (Me to Bryan)

“Why do I feel like no one is listening to me?” (Uttered many times this week at school)

“Ahh! The carpet is on fire!” (Don’t ask. Thankfully, no permanent damage)

“For Halloween lets turn off all the lights, hide in the back room, and watch a movie so we don’t have to hand out candy.” (That was my idea but we started feeling guilty so feel free to come over and get candy on Saturday night)

“Are you trying to wake me up in the morning when you are getting ready for work?” (Sorry hubby, I thought that I was being quiet but for some reason when I try to be quiet, I end up being louder)

“Brother Martin, come trick-or-treating with us!” (After learning that he has never been, some youth in the ward invited him. However, I do not believe I was invited.)

“We can’t go look at them because then I will have to have one!” (Regarding the cutest puppies that were being given away for free…Bryan wanted to just go ‘look’ but I stayed strong and we are still puppyless)

So maybe I missed 'em a little

2009-10-19T17:01:00.000-07:00

Today was back to school after a week off. I will admit that maybe I missed my students a little (emphasis on the little). They are just so unpredictable which makes life interesting. I try not to cloud the internet with ‘teaching stories’ but this one is classic. It happened today.

We were working on a lab so I was walking around as students were talking and working. As I walked by a lab table I heard, “Mrs Martin....” she saw that I was listening and finished her sentence very quietly so I wouldn’t hear. Her partner said, “What?” and I walked away pretending that I didn’t hear.

“Mrs. Martin is a …” again she said it so quietly that I couldn’t hear her. I decided to approach her and ask what she was saying (she is a very nice girl and even if she was calling me a name odds are that I have been called that before :). “Oh,” she said, “I was just saying that you are a Mormon. Right?”

“Yes, that’s right. How did you know?”

“Oh I just can tell. It’s pretty obvious.” Now almost every one is listening and all chaos breaks out.

A different student, “Your ministers on the bikes knocked on my door at 6 in the morning over the break. That is not cool”

“Six? Are you sure? And they are missionaries not ministers”

“Yeah, well, it felt like 6 to me”

“I really doubt that it was 6. You mean it was like 10 and you were still sleeping so it felt like 6?”

“Yeah but they were cool so it’s all chill”

(I didn’t know that people still said ‘chill’)

Meanwhile someone in the back row is giving me some sort of odd hand signal (as if it means Mormon Pride or something) and yelling “You are LDS?! So am I!!” By the time I acknowledge him he had already busted out his Book of Mormon from his bag and was having his lab partner read some scripture from Moroni out loud.

Another student is asking what the difference between the Book of Mormon and the Bible is. I let the Mormon kid take care of that one. He did a pretty good job.

The whole thing made me smile. Like I said everyday is so unpredictable. It almost makes me excited to go back tomorrow. :)

Why must all my Friday nights look like this?

2009-10-16T22:09:00.000-07:00

I went with Bryan to do some electrical work. It was Friday night. That's the usual around here (ug). He told me I was a 'good little helper'. I learned how to replace a breaker; however, I think that I will just stick with screwing on cover plates and putting together fans. We went and ate frozen yogurt after. That was our dinner. We then watched the biggest chic flick I could find. I can sleep a happy girl tonight.

Evidences of a needed break

2009-10-11T13:06:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the Mesa School Board I get this next week off of teaching (October Break). I am so excited. I really need it; here's some evidence.

We bought an armoir off of Craigslist on Monday night. I didn't get to see it in the daylight (cause I haven't been home when there's daylight) until Saturday morning. Thankfully I still like it natural lighting.

On Thursday night I fell asleep in my school clothes with my contacts in. Friday morning I woke up late, my contacts felt like pieces of sand paper glued into my eyes, and I had a parent teacher conference that I was already late for. I really hope that parent didn't notice the pillow lines that were still on my face.

The other day as I was pulling the trash barrel off of the curb my neighbor came out of his house and told me that they thought we moved out because we are never home. I just forced a smile and said, "Nope, we just go to work early and come home late."

Yesterday morning I got into my car only to have it smell like rotting fruit. After some investigating I figured that it probably had something to do with the cantaloupe in my trunk that I had bought and forgot about a few days earlier. Oops.

Yesterday the first ever bubble bath was taken at our house. Sadly it was not me soakin' in the tub but our bathroom blinds (cleaning). I was so jealous.

I say that's some pretty good evidence of a needed break. I am looking forward to this week. Don't you just love little vacations?

Shopping

2009-10-03T18:26:00.000-07:00

I am blessed to have a husband that will go shopping with me. I can’t decide if it’s because he is such a nice guy or if it’s because we are so busy that we rarely get to see each other and he wants to spend time with me. Maybe it’s both. Whatever the reason, we sure have learned a lot about each other within the walls of stores. Take today for example. We went to an awesome furniture store. I love this store. I hope that I still like it in 10 years because that’s how long it is going to take me to save up to buy something from there! The store is an old barn. Here was part of the conversation as we walked around:

K: I love this store. Look at that entertainment center! I love it.

B: This is a cool building. Look at the ceiling, the beams, wow. Look at this ceiling!

K: What do you think about the red color on this dresser?

B: They had to build so many supporting beams.

K: YOU ARE NOT EVEN LOOKING AT THE FURNITURE!!

B: WELL YOU ARE NOT EVEN LOOKING AT THE CEILING!!

At this point we just looked at each other and laughed. Hey, at least we were both happy looking at something.

The next store we went to was a decorating/crafty store. When we got back in the car Bryan said, “Wow, there were no other husbands in that store!” It’s true. How sweet that he would go with me. Before today I wonder when the last time was that a boy had been in there...

Other shopping observations: The speed of a man walking is directly proportional to what type of store you are in. Take the grocery store. Bryan insists on pushing the cart and for some reason feels the need to walk super slow behind me. He claims that he doesn’t know when I am going to turn and doesn’t want to be in the way. So I find something, pick it up, and have to wait for him to catch up to put it in the cart. I have even developed a little hand signal for him to hurry up (and I am sure an annoyed facial expression to go with it). The mall is the same way. However, if we got to a place like Home Depot I am honestly sprinting trying to catch up to him. Actually, I usually end up loosing him and have to search up and down the aisles. I pointed this out to him the other day and he just laughed.

I must say that I am looking forward to a lifetime of shopping adventures still ahead.

To my advantage

2009-09-25T20:05:00.000-07:00

People always talk about how different boys and girls are. I don’t think that one can really understand this concept until they are married. I am a girl. I am married to a boy. A 100% boy. He thinks like a boy, acts like a boy, smells like a boy, likes to do boy stuff, and has lots of boy stuff (which thankfully is now located in our garage). How is a girl supposed to deal with all of this ‘boyness’? I figured it out. Use it. That’s right. Use it to your advantage. This is no secret at our house. Let me give you some examples.

Bryan has tons of wire in our garage. Long pieces and short pieces. I never touch it. However, I know that Bryan likes to work with that pokey, hard to bend stuff so I take advantage.

In every room in our house there is at least one thing hung on the wall that is rigged up with copper wire. Yep, I just tell him where I want it and the next thing I know there is some hanger looking thing on the back that can easily be attached to the wall.

FYI- Wire makes a good hook that fits up the hoses in the vacuum when it gets clogged. Also, it can make a belt if your pants are falling off. (both have been done at our house)

Football. Ug. I can watch a good football game every now and then but not all day on Saturday. There is a boy I know that loves to do this. Coincidentally, the laundry usually needs to be folded about that time. Nothing wrong with a little laundry during the commercials. Taking advantage? You becha.

Bryan works with a computer program a lot called AutoCAD. He has made blueprints, mapped out a street for his surveying class, etc. with this program that he can’t stop ranting about. He is pretty good at it. Last night he was working on this program making me a border to go around a young women’s handout! I couldn’t find what I was looking for in any clipart so he made one. I was cracking up! There he was in this complicated program making a dainty little border for his wife. His buddies would totally make fun of him for that one if they ever found out!

There is someone at my house that LOVES his saw. This fact screams out, “give me something to make with my saw!” Even as I type this I can hear the saw going on the back porch. Later tonight I will have an empty closet converted into a food storage closet, shelves and all. I think I love that saw too!

I could give tons of other examples. In the end I am pretty sure that I like all the ‘boyness’. It keeps things interesting around here. And it turns out to be very helpful if you work it right.

The Happy Dance

2009-09-19T20:30:00.000-07:00

Before yesterday, the last time I did the real, true, genuine ‘happy dance’ was in high school. I bet you have a happy dance too. Let me explain.

One day I came home from high school to find my mom practically in tears. My little brother accidentally threw his retainer away in the cafeteria at lunch. My parents, not being in a situation to pay hundreds of dollars for a new one, were obviously upset. My mom asked us (the kids) if we would come help her look for it. We did. Yes, I jumped in the elementary school dumpster and we went through the trash, one bag at a time. I still can tell you exactly what was served for lunch and I can tell you that most students do not eat their food! After many bags I found it (I still brag about how I was the one to find it). That day the Kupfers did the true ‘happy dance’ in the elementary school parking lot.

Fast forward 8 years. Bryan lost his wedding ring. Gone. For over a month. We searched everywhere, and I mean everywhere. We looked in every closet, drawer, car, bucket of paint, trash (I was so sure that I would find it cause I have experience finding things in trashes :). It made me sick that it was gone yet we knew that it was somewhere in the house. We got desperate. We moved all the appliances. Bryan tipped the fridge up and I crawled under to see if it was magnetized onto the bottom. I gave up hope. Bryan refused.

Yesterday I got a picture text from Bryan. It was a picture of his ring. He found it. Right then and there I did the true, genuine ‘happy dance’. Yep, there I was in the science office at school between 2^nd and 3^rd hour with students passing by doing the ‘happy dance’.

The ring was in a place where it never should have been found. Sometimes miracles happen. Sometimes happy dances just need to be danced.

Here was the location of the ring. FYI, if you lie on your kitchen floor you will notice a small gap between the floorboard and the bottom of the cabinets. The space is so small that your hand cannot fit through but apparently a ring can. I guess inspiration led Bryan to pull of the wood covering, saw a hole in the floorboard, and reach his hand in to see if his ring was in there. We think that the ring fell off the counter and bounced at a perfect height and angle to be able to fit in the little crack and get back there. What are the odds??

Bumper Stickers

2009-09-17T17:29:00.001-07:00

So in my mundane life of driving to and from work I have discovered a fun game. I look at bumper stickers. I have actually found myself changing lanes just so that I can read a bumper sticker. It helps the time go by faster. Here are a few of my favorites so far.

Hey, me too!

This one made me laugh right out loud. Whatever works to make people more aware of...well...um...ta ta cancer.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

This was on a jeep. Upside down of course. Very clever.

I actually have this magnet at school. I love it. No need to sugar coat it for the little high school darlings.

People are very creative I must say. Keep the stickers coming!

So brave

2009-09-13T16:26:00.000-07:00

Hi. My name is Karen and I am afraid of big chunks of meat. Hmmm. Let me explain. Big hunks of meat scare me. Don’t get me wrong, I love eating meat and often even crave a nice chunk of beef along with some potatoes and gravy on my dinner plate. In fact I have the best childhood memories of coming home from church to have the entire house smelling of pot roast that has been cooking since early that morning. We could even smell it as we walked up the walkway! Yum. Honestly, a Sunday without roast is a bummer. Problem: I am scared to buy, refrigerate, cook, and serve big hunks of meat. How do I know how to cook it? How long is it supposed to cook? How do I know when it is done? What if it is too dry? Not cooked all the way through? What if I give someone (or me) worms? Food poisoning? What if I totally ruin it? That’s an expensive oops! AHHH! My poor dear mother has been so patient. She has shown me, walked me through it, discussed with me over the phone, and encouraged me many times. Finally, the other day I found myself walking passed the meat at the store. I had a bout of courage and picked up a roast and threw it in the cart. There it sat taunting me in the fridge until this morning when I put it in the crock pot, said a little prayer, and headed off to church. I am happy to report that when we came home there was a hint of roast smell in the air. Later we successfully ate the roast. It actually was good. Bryan sensing my insecurity was overly complimentary.

So there it is. The Martins have officially branched out and are no longer only chicken and hamburger meat people. I am exhausted; its been an emotional day.

Clothes

2009-09-09T20:32:00.000-07:00

Today I wore a skirt to school. No reason, just because. I also happened to get myself up in time to do my hair and it actually stayed down the entire day (usually it ends up in a pony by the end of 1st hour). The comments I got today made me feel like I usually dress and do my hair in a way that is sending me straight for a makeover on What Not To Wear. Here are a few comments along with my reaction to them, I hope you catch the sarcasm in my comments; it gets me through the day.

Student: Oh my gosh you are wearing a skirt!
Me: Yep

Student: It's about time you wore a skirt Mrs. Martin.
Me: I'd say. (sarcastically)

Student: I was wondering when you were going to wear a skirt.
Me: Why on earth do you pay attention to what your teachers wear?

Student: Are you going somewhere after school? Where are you going?
Student across the room: Mrs. Martin's going to a party! woowoo!
Different student across the room: I bet she's going clubbing!
Me: Oh yeah guys, I am going clubbing in my knee length jean skirt after school.

Although there are more, I don't think that I need to go on. I had no idea that students were watching what I was wearing! Actually I don't care. What I am wearing is the least of my worries when I have to grab the attention of a group of 37 fifteen year olds for 52 minutes 5 times a day Monday through Friday. If I can talk in it, walk in it, yell in it :), dance around in it, do a lab in it, grade in it, make a fool of myself in it, tell people to 'shut up' in it (that happened today, yikes), then I will wear it. If they notice my clothes then, hey, at least they looked up at me.

Finally my turn

2009-08-23T16:27:00.000-07:00

Imagine this. It’s the weekend. You just found out that your husband does not have tons of work to do on Saturday. He will be free all day. Even typing this gives me chills. It may not be for you, but this is a rare occurrence around these parts. I can not think of very many Saturdays where Bryan has not been at some run down, torn apart house doing electrical work by 7 in the morning. Don’t get me wrong we are grateful for the work but it is getting a bit obnoxious. What should we do together? I could hardly gather my thoughts! Sleep in? Shop? Run errands? Shop more? House stuff? Pay bills? Dinner with friends? The answer is yes. Yes to all of the above.

We went to some yard sales. Didn’t have much luck but I need to thank my mother-in-law for passing on the yard sale gene…that boy can spot a sign a mile away! (thanks Tonna!)

We did some back to school shopping. Bryan made a haul. I got nothing (depressing). This is the last back to school shopping for him!!! Woohoo!!! I am more excited than he is!

We ran errands…together…what a concept.

We went to my buddy Cami's birthday dinner. Yum.

And…(drum roll please) it was finally my turn to get some electrical work done. Bryan put in some can lights in our kitchen. I will take some credit too. I unwrapped them and handed the lights to him on the ladder.

I know, the tops of my cabinets are in desperate need of some decorating TLC. I will get there eventually. For now I am just enjoying a weekend where I get to see my husband...and trying not to get used to it.

Random Facts

2009-08-19T20:15:00.000-07:00

Bryan gets up every morning before I do even though my alarm is set before his.

I HATE cooking dinner.

I am scared to death of planting a garden in my back yard (but I am going to do it anyway).

I want to run a marathon but have a hard time finding time to train for it.

Today I went to the grocery store hungry. Bad idea.

I need to either stop teaching or hurry up and have babies because there are very few names that don’t make my blood pressure spike. (These kids are ruining all the good names!)

I am addicted to granola bars.

I shouted Hallelujah! (in my head of course) when the 1^st counselor in the bishopric called me to be in the Young Women and not sunbeams or nursery.

I will no longer allow myself to watch the show Wipe Out at the gym because I keep laughing out loud and people look at me funny.

I look on Craigslist for fun stuff everyday but never have the guts to call and buy anything. (I am such a chicken for some reason)

I like to post random things about myself. Not sure why, must have been a slow week.

Teacher Syndrome

2009-08-12T17:33:00.001-07:00

Today I am suffering from 'first day teacher syndrome'.

Symptoms:
-raspy voice and sore throat
-sore feet (apparently I am not in "teacher shape")
-lack of sleep
-marker markings all over my hands and pants (not sure how that got there!)

Treatment:
-suck it up for 179 more days

Only how many more years of this??

A picture is worth a thousand words

2009-08-09T14:38:00.000-07:00

and I don't want to write a thousand words so here are some pictures.

Lately we have been doing a lot of this

and this (check out that shoulder range of motion, baby!)

and this

Trying to make this

look a little more like this

which makes us want to do more of this (of course referring to sleeping, not dressing to match our furniture :)

We still have lots to do but are happy we are at least making some progress!

Not again

2009-08-02T13:21:00.000-07:00

At the risk of sounding like a complete bawl baby, I am confessing that I teared up again in Walmart. That’s twice in one month…beat that! It’s kind of a long story but I think it’s worth telling.

I went to a teaching conference in San Diego last week. It was great. The conference was about a program that some school districts are implementing to get the “middle students” to college. We need to do better at giving them the skills, knowledge, and means to get into and do well in college. I got 5 whole days jam packed of new teaching ideas and can’t wait to use them in my classroom this year.

While we (the other teachers and I) were in San Diego we caught word that back home the news reported that a group of teachers were treated to a resort on the tax payer’s dollar and how bad the economy was. I was so mad. First of all, resort? Seriously? I would hardly call it a resort. Yes it was big and it had huge conference rooms. I guess if that makes it a resort then so be it. Second, we are required to have continuing education. We don’t get time off for it. We don’t usually get reimbursed for it. Heavens knows we don’t get salary raises to compensate for it. What are we supposed to do? I was steaming.

I was still steaming yesterday as I was at Walmart loading my cart with supplies for my classroom. We have already been told that there is no money so almost everything we want comes from our own pockets. I felt as though no one supports teachers. What message does this send to the students? People are so ignorant to what we have to go through and how much time and money we sacrifice. I continued my pity party as I waited in line to check out. The lady in front of me looked at my cart and smiled. “Teacher?” she asked. We had a very nice conversation about what I was buying, where and how long I have taught, and how no, I was not being reimbursed. She told me of her kids high school experience (they went to the same school where I teach). Before this sweet lady walked away, she turned to me and held out her hand and placed in mine a 20 dollar bill. “This is for the kids. Thank you for all you do.” I was shocked. Sure it’s just a 20. It didn’t pay for everything but the gesture created a major attitude change for me. I thanked her and she said, “You are welcome, just pay it forward.” I cannot wait for the day when I can pay it forward. Thank you. I don’t even know her name. To her it probably wasn’t even a big deal but I will never forget it. She helped me once again feel appreciated in a nation where educators usually don’t. Thank you.

So that is why I was a bit teared up as I walked to my car that Saturday afternoon.

p.s. We did manage to have a bit of fun on the nights off. We went to the beach multiple times and did the Seaworld thing right before we left. Thanks taxpayers! (Just kidding that one was totally our own money)

Change

2009-07-22T10:19:00.000-07:00

For some reason I have a hard time with change...even if it is good change. That creates a problem when it seems that everything is changing.

Change in location. We bought a house. Weird. I don't feel like I am grown-up enough to own a house (maybe I will be in 30 years when we actually own it, hehe). I was so sad when we moved out of the apartment; the same apartment that literally made me crazy because it was so tiny.(?) We are now in a house and I feel like I am constantly "playing house". I would post pictures but I haven't taken any, in fact, I don't even know where my camera is in this mess. My favorite part about the house? the garage. Now Bryan can put all of his tools in there and I can reclaim the closets.

Change in job. Bryan got a smokin' internship with the city of Mesa Engineering Department. That is something to brag about considering the economy and lack of engineering internships. I wish he was home more but it pays a little and helps a lot with a future job because it is what he wants to do when he graduates. He comes home everyday and gives me an update of all the city construction projects. Kinda fun to know what is going on.

Change can be good...it just takes some time to get used to it.

Say it ain't so

2009-07-08T11:34:00.000-07:00

This morning I went to Walmart. And cried. Yes that was me in the shampoo isle silently wiping away tears as they were running down my face. Why? They have replaced the 4^th of July seasonal stuff with school supplies. School supplies!! Where has summer gone? In less than a month school will be in full swing. I will be again putting in 14 hour days with teaching and football and volleyball games. I will be making seating charts, grading papers, breaking up fights in the bathroom, and taping ankles. I am not complaining. I love my job and am very lucky to be able to take the summers off. The problem is that I love summer more. So brace yourself when you go shopping. Some will celebrate when they see the school stuff (all the mothers out there), some will not even notice, and some will totally lose it (like me).

Just a hint: a big chocolate candy bar will make it feel a little better!

But I wanted surgery too

2009-07-01T15:50:00.000-07:00

My sister Lacey came to Mesa for a vacation and her appendix exploded (talk about a horrible vacation). She has been in the hospital recovering from the surgery for about a week. A teacher that I teach with got a new femur, knee, and partial tibia yesterday. She had bone cancer a few years ago and her bones were not healthy due to all the radiation.

However, no surgery for me. I have multiple dents in my cartilage and humerus bone. My labrum (cartilage kinda like the meniscus in the knee but it's in the shoulder) is torn and frayed. The doctor wants to see how it reacts to physical therapy before he will go in and fix it. I am bummed. I want him to go in and snip it, clip it, shave it, tighten it, stitch it, whatever just FIX IT! So please Mr. or Mrs. Therapist I need a miracle worker.

Purse or no purse

2009-06-24T16:00:00.000-07:00

I have never been a purse person. I don’t know why. I think I bought a purse once and maybe used it twice in junior high. I think it’s time to become a purse wearing girl. I told Bryan this the other day and his response was, “why?” I explained. The other day I was running some errands. Here’s what I had in my pockets (you know, because I don’t have a purse)

- phone

- driver’s license

- keys

- debit card

- check book

- social security card

- teacher ID card

- a pen

- a few sticks of gum

- a few bucks in cash

- some change for a parking meter

-a list of things that I needed to get done on my outing

How did my pants not fall down?? So I am going to do it. I have been psyching myself up for over a month now. I am going to get a purse. Why am I so insecure? I can’t get a little one because then I get the ‘big girl with a little purse’ syndrome (is there such a thing?). It can’t be too big because then I get the ‘trying too hard and it’s obnoxious’ syndrome. AHH! So if you ever see me with a purse please don’t point and laugh. In fact, don’t even look at it…or me…because odds are that I am totally embarrassed to be carrying one around. Why? I don’t know.

In other news…

- We are all set to close on our house on July 7^th!! Woohoo.

- I am still waiting for MRI results to see if my shoulder requires surgery or just massive physical therapy.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times

2009-06-11T21:48:00.000-07:00

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness; it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair; we had everything before us, we had nothing before us; we were all going directly to Heaven, we were all going the other way."

Can anyone name the author? Charles Dickens. For some reason this quote (ok, just the first few parts) has been in my mind the last few days. I finally figured out that it’s because all of the randomness in my head has been taking on this famous opposite pattern. Don’t ask why. I have no idea.

Today I feel…

Educated because I am taking a constitution class and am learning the details of our divine government

Ignorant because the more I learn about stuff the more I realize how much I don’t know

Frustrated that my mind is always so strong and my body has a hard time keeping up

Encouraged that I can recover from injury

Worried about the future

Relieved that the house we want might actually be ours

Joyful that I still have a summer ahead of me

Sad that it is going to go by so fast

Grateful that I have such a great family

Self centered that I don’t tell them enough how great they really are

You are onto something good ol’ Charles. I guess the best of times can be the worst of times. Huh.

These are a few of my favorite things

2009-06-04T19:39:00.000-07:00

Maybe it's my new found free time. It could be my need for people to listen to me (I have suddenly lost 150 captive teenagers that listened to me all day). Or perhaps it's just the fact that my husband is busy watching the NBA finals. Whatever it is I am on a blogging role! Even if no one reads I find it therapeutic, in fact enjoyable to sit and write a post. Here we go again.

Here are a few of my favorite things. I hope you enjoy because I definitely do!

I have white kitchen and bathroom counters. I would like to meet the genius that came up with that brilliant idea. These wipes are so quick and easy to use. For 20 minutes a day my counters look clean! A little on the pricey side but some things are worth it.

If you live in the valley and haven't discovered this place you are missing out. Fresh cheap produce. Supersition Ranch Market. Main, east of Greenfield. Drop everything and go now. It will be crowded (mostly with old people) but it will be cheap. Take your spouse, have him stand at the end of the isle so you can sneak in between people and throw a cantalope to him...its a great system we have figured out! This is the place that causes us to have salad, corn on the cob, and watermelon for dinner. What? We like fiber.

These things are to die for. All the goodness of a granola bar with a bonus of chocolate all around it. Yum. My only wish is that they would sell these at Sams Club!

I have recently discovered that I do not enjoy online classes. I think they stink (I would have said 'suck' but my mom would be mad:) I am impressed that people can take their whole education online. For me there are too many distractions. For some reason I keep getting up and wandering. To the fridge, to my phone, to the remote, and to any other place for no good reason. Yuck. I miss lectures. I know I am weird but I love sitting and soaking up a good lecture. There is nothing like a professor who really cares about the topic and shows it. I could sit for hours. In fact last year on my prep I would go listen to an amazing fellow science teacher on the days when he would lecture. For 50 minutes a day I was a student and not the teacher. I loved every minute of it. Weird I know.

So, no raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens for me. Nope, my favorite things are granola bars, crowded produce stores, school, and clorox wipes! I just don't think that would make as good of a song.

Mall Confusion

2009-06-02T10:14:00.001-07:00

On the recommendation of some friends, Bryan and I went to get a cookies and creme shake from Chick fil a yesterday (not bad by the way). The nearest one to our house was in the mall. So last night we found ourselves together at the mall. I think the last time this happened we were engaged and looking for a ring for Bryan. We decided that we could handle 1 store only because they looked like they had some good sales. So in we went. Little did I know that it would be such an educational experience.

We passed an article of clothing that looked like this.
Here's the conversation that followed.
B: Do I dare ask what that is? (thinking it was a dress) How can that cover 2 things at once?
K: It's a shirt. If you can call it that. Some people think that it's a shirt.
B: Oh, I was thinking that the girl would have to be in the fetal position in order for everything to be covered up.

Funny. But it's not over yet. We then passed an article of clothing that looked something like this.
Here's the conversation that followed.
B: (Thinking it was just a skirt) How tall do they think girls are? Like 8 feet tall?
K: What do you mean?
B: Look at how long these skirts are.
K: Those aren't skirts, silly, they are dresses. See? (holding it up to my body)
B: Oh.

At first I was laughing at the poor confused boy but then I realized that in today's immodest styles shirts do look like dresses and dresses do look like skirts. Yikes. I must say that I have dress coded many chickas at school while saying, "Honey, I am pretty sure your outfit is supposed to be a shirt and you are wearing it as a dress. Go to the front office because you are not allowed to sit down in my room...it's dangerous."

Week o' Camping

2009-05-31T10:22:00.000-07:00

This week we camped. Oh boy did we camp. Bryan went with his Teachers Quorum all week and I went to girls camp. We had fun but are happy to be back to a real bed, plumbing, and electricity. Here are a few pictures of our adventure filled week.

Bryan's cute little tent. I took the nice one and he got the tiny one. :)

Don't you just love the hat?

The boy had a great time hiking, fishing, backpacking, and cooking on his new backpacking stove.

Now for a completely different camping experience: girls camp. There's nothing like it!

We rock climbed, rappelled, canoed, ate lots, sang, hiked, did crafts, served, laughed until it hurt, and built friendships.

I got home and realized that I took 0 pictures of myself. Maybe that's a good thing considering I had on no makeup and I didn't ever do my hair. It was GREAT!

I am so releaved that girls camp is over. I have taken for granted all of the work that goes into making it happen. Thanks to all of my YW leaders who helped make the great memories I have of camp when I was a teenager. I hope I have paid it forward!

On this Memorial Day

2009-05-25T10:53:00.000-07:00

On this Memorial Day I reflect. Maybe it’s the fact that I am all alone today (Bryan is camping for a week) or maybe it’s just the fact that I am getting older and sappier. I think the military means something different to me than it does to others. I am in complete awe of it; I love its strictness and exactness; I love its power and security. When I was very young my dad joined the Air Force. Since then we have moved all over the country, mostly to bases out in the middle of nowhere because my dad was a missile launch officer and had to be near the missiles.

A little stroll down memory lane.

I would often lay on my parents bed while my dad would be getting ready for a fancy ceremony. He would carefully take pins out of a baggie, place one on his uniform, then turn to me and say, “Is it on straight?” I took pride in knowing that I was his quality control in a situation where it was expected that his uniform would look perfect.

I would hate going anywhere with my dad when he was in uniform. Everyone was always saluting and saying ‘sir’ and whenever he walked into a room someone yelled something (never could figure out what they said) and everyone would stand up. It scared me every time even though my dad would warn me in advance. Who knew that I would ever miss this?

The base would run exercises that we were totally used to. I remember one day walking to the BX and seeing a few men in uniform laying (playing dead) out in the middle of a field. My friends and I said, “huh, they must be in the middle of an exercise” and just kept walking.

I feel sad that I am no longer really involved with the Air Force. My military card has been expired for a few years now. I will not be shopping at the Commissary for food or the BX for stuff. I no longer get to stand for the National Anthem before a movie starts at the theater. I miss explaining to the base guards why I am coming home at 2AM. The threat that if I mess up my dad’s boss will be called and he will get in trouble at work is no longer there. I do not get to go to all the amazing air shows.

Now whenever I see a person in uniform my eyes get a bit teary. Memories fly and I instantly feel a connection and want to know their story. I want to thank them and shake their hand. Now when I hear ignorant criticism on the military I turn off the TV or leave the room. Now if I were to go to an air show I would be a wreck (just like my mom). How can you not be with this amazing powerful machine flying so close to you?

On this day and everyday I am grateful for those who serve and have served this country. Where ever you are thank you. May God bless you and your family.

Just an Update

2009-05-18T21:06:00.000-07:00

Excitement in the last week and a half.

-dislocated my shoulder. Last Thursday while playing city league volleyball I dove and landed wierd. It took me about 10 seconds to convince myself to move my arm and pop it back into place but I did it. Ouch. I am a lot sore and have been very creative on finding ways to function without having to put my arm up over my head.

-became a student again. That's right. Add Northland Pioneer College to my alma mater list of BYU and ASU. Go Golden Eagles! Never heard of the school? It's the double wide building just south of Safeway in Eagar. hehe. To be fair it's also in Show Low...main campus...not a double wide. AZ Department of Education says I have to take Arizona Constitution (because I teach biology, makes perfect sense) and Structured English Immersion and English as a Second Language Teaching Methods. Fun summer for me! Hopefully they will be realitively painless and at least they are online and cheap.

-snake dreams. Yes, random and scary. The last few nights I have been having multiple dreams about snakes attacking me. What does this mean? Naturally I googled it. Here's what it means:

To see a snake or be bitten by one in your dream, signifies hidden fears and worries that are threatening you

So there you have it. Yikes, now I just have to figure out what is threatening me.
disclaimer: no I do not really believe in this dream junk but it is kind of interesting.

-3 days of school left! I can't believe I have completed my 2nd year of teaching. I have learned alot this year; my skin has become a little thicker; and I actually am not as burned out as I was last year at this time. Next year will be great, I will only be teaching biology which will be a lot easier because I have already taught it. No new classes.

Graduation

2009-05-09T21:57:00.000-07:00

Today my mom graduated with her Master's degree from NAU. The fam went up to Flagstaff and cheered her on (well, mostly just cheered when they read her name). We are so proud. She is such an example to all of us. This brings the family total to (with my 2 parents and their 5 kids) 6 undergrad degrees and 4 master's degrees. Two of the five kids are not even out of high school yet! If you are doing the math, my dad has 2 bachelor's degrees. Add in the new-be spouses and we have 1 more bachelors, almost one more bachelors, and almost one more masters degree. Crazy...I am thinking that education was stressed in our home...to say the least. Here's some highlights from our adventure today.

I wanted to take a nice picture as we were waiting for the ceremony to start. Here is what I got instead.

After a stern talk with the goofy boys (Bryan and my brother Todd) we got this picture. Much better.

After the ceremony. Don't mind the big lumberjack in the back that looks like it is going to chop of our heads. Yikes.

If you give a mouse a cookie

2009-05-04T22:04:00.000-07:00

Almost every time I go over to my parents' house I read a different little kids' book. My mom teaches kindergarten and often has a few books sitting on her desk. Some of my favorites are the If You Give a ______ a ______books. If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. If You Give a Moose a Muffin. The book goes on to describe what happens because the mouse was given the cookie or the moose was given the muffin (like he wants milk to go with it). Well, I have thought of a few of these myself.

If you give a Martin a free weekend they will be in the car to Eagar before you know it.

If you give a Bryan a ton of homework over the weekend he will procrastinate and have to do it at 4 in the morning and while riding on the light rail to class.

If you give a bank an offer on a short sale house they will take forever to get back to you.

If you give a sophomore a pack of Smarties (for a review BINGO game) there will be at least one kid who will crush them up in the package and inhale/exhale the powder. There will also be a kid who will take out his ID card and act like it is a razor blade and sort the Smarties like they are drugs. There will also be a very mad teacher.

If you give a Karen a 3 week countdown for summer she will literally count the hours till she can float in a pool and work on her tan.

Pick on someone your own size

2009-04-26T09:24:00.000-07:00

I have been optimistic. I have tried to be understanding. I have had sympathy and patience with this whole bad economy situation. I am done. I am now officially mad. I am no longer happy that I will get a smokin’ deal on a house (stay tuned) nor am I happy that I can find great sales because people aren’t buying the way that they did a year ago. I would gladly give those up if the economy would stop picking on the people who don’t deserve it. I am talking about the people who bought a reasonable house within their means because they had a stable job. I am talking about the people who don’t have the average credit card debt of $10,000 (YIKES!) because they figured out how to say, “We can’t afford it”. I am talking about the teachers who survived the huge budget cuts (like me, barely) who next year will have even bigger classes, pretty much no money in the supply budget, and no substitutes. I am talking about the small family owned businesses. I have an idea; let’s tell the economy to pick on the ones who created the problem. The ones who bought a house that had mortgage payments they never could dream of affording. The ones who want everything now and just put the bill on their credit card. The ones who saw the real estate “bubble” forming and knew the future (because they saw this coming) and didn’t do anything about it. How about the ones that can run to Uncle Sam because they have the means and the clout to get what they want? They take the tax money and seem to run their company deeper into the ground. Yep, they are the ones that deserve to be picked on. That’s right economy, pick on someone your own size. Stop punishing the people who did nothing to contribute to this awful situation. Stop killing the American dream. Don’t you dare take that away. Don’t you dare let the people at fault get off free and don’t you dare start picking on my family.

Help solve the mystery!

2009-04-19T20:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday when I went running I came across a yellow sign right beside the sidewalk in a yard with black lettering that said “I like fries”. Huh, interesting. About 6 or 7 houses down there was a similar sign that said “That is why”. This got me interested. They were very professional looking signs. I picked up my pace and looked for the next sign. How fun! It was like someone was speaking right to me! I am sad to report that there were no more signs. What does this mean? I like fries – That is why. Or is it That is why – I like fries (if I was going the other way down the street)? It is really bugging me. I have been through every possibility; is it a prom ask/answer? Advertising something? Maybe it’s a gang thing that I don’t know about.

Sidenote: this reminds me of a story. The other day I saw that someone drew a picture on one of my tables at school. As it was getting cleaned up I asked if the drawing was some sort of gang sign. My students laughed at me and one replied, “No Mrs. Martin, that is just a drawing of an octopus.” Hey, last week someone tagged the boys bathroom with Mexican gang signs in a purple sparkle pen. You never know! (just trying to keep myself up to date!)

If anyone has any insights I would love to hear them. It is bugging me!!!

Random thoughts from Martinville

2009-04-11T21:00:00.000-07:00

1. It does snow in April in some parts of the world. I didn't see snow this winter until this happened and we just happened to be in Eagar. We lucked out.

2. The Easter Pageant at the Mesa Temple starts at 8 not 7. What ever you do, don't show up extra early, get all cozy, and be all ready for the show at 7. Nope, one more hour of restless leg syndrome and watching all the strangers around you eat yummy food.

3. Cats do not like to be rescued from the roof. Even if they have been stranded up there for 2 days with no food or water (how did it get up there anyway?) they will run away when you try to help. Also, odds are that your wife will forbid you from going up on the roof to catch the dumb thing.

We don't know what happened to the cat. It either got down some how or is cooking on the roof everyday...gross.

4. Sams Club. Even better: Sams Club on a Friday night or Saturday. Samples at every corner can be a full on dinner if you hit it right. My strategy: slip in there, grab the sample, move on. The less time spent there the better. If they don't remember you (or see you) it may be possible to go back for seconds (don't judge you know you want to do it too). Bryan's strategy: wait in the "line", take a sample, thank the cute old lady, and eat it standing right there by the table. I am surprised that these differing strategies have not caused major marital problems. Maybe we should work out a system where I leave and he catches up with me in the next isle.

5. If you ever lose head phones, check the washer. I know, I know, one should check the pockets before putting clothes in the washer. I am just happy things get in the washer. Bryan left his headphones in his pocket and they ended up in most logical place, the washer. Good news, they work. Bryan says, "Well now I know what to do with them when they are dirty."

At least they are dark to go with the load... my mom will be so proud.

My first tag

2009-04-06T22:02:00.000-07:00

This is the first time I have been tagged in the blogging world. How exciting!!

5 things I was doing 5 years ago:
1. dominating junior year at BYU
2. missing my family
3. interning at a local high school
4. breaking hearts (hehe)
5. searching for a husband (little did I know he was on his mission)

5 Things on my to do list today:
1. go to the gym
2. buy food
3. try not kill any students :)
4. review info about kidneys for lecture tomorrow
5. get to bed at a decent time (it's not looking so promising)

5 Things I would do with a million dollars:
1. buy a house
2. buy a truck
3. pay off multiple people's mortgage
4. go to Hawaii
5. quit my job

5 Places I have lived:
1. Provo, Utah
2. Rapid City, South Dakota
3. Ithaca, New York
4. Great Falls, Montana
5. Mesa, Arizona

5 Jobs I have held:
1. catering company
2. Mervyns cashier
3. BYU summer sports camps
4. high School athletic trainer
5. biology/anatomy teacher (aka crowd control)

5 things I want to be doing in 5 Years:
1. makin' babies
2. mowing a lawn that is my very own
3. running marathons
4. loving life
5. going to Hawaii...again

5 people I tag:
I am skipping that one, is that allowed? How about I just tag my sis Lacey 5 times!

I am exhausted.

2009-03-27T22:12:00.000-07:00

It has been pretty busy around these parts lately. I looked at Bryan tonight and said, "Do I know you? You look kind of familiar." I have had late nights with school, meetings, track meets, and volleyball games. I actually have not been home when it's light outside since Sunday. Bryan is working on some major projects at school and trying to squeeze in a bit of electrical work. To top off the week I unknowingly took a computer virus from home to my school computer (via jump drive). Oopsies! Like I have time for that!! Thanks to some really smart computer boys both are back on the mend and neither computer ended up being thrown out the window (I am very proud of myself).

I am looking forward to a restful summer. My goal for the summer is to be bored. One day of pure boredom, that's all I am asking for. The chances of that happening are pretty much 0 but wouldn't that be great? I am guessing that most don't know what boredom feels like. I will let you know if I ever get there. Don't hold your breath - I know I won't.

Byproduct of a busy week. 243 papers to grade. Is it summer yet?

This one's a bit deep

2009-03-16T17:05:00.000-07:00

It’s spring break and I am in a good mood so I figure now would be a good time to blog. I have made multiple attempts in the last few days but I have been suffering from a wicked case of bloggers block. I have an entire week of freedom ahead of me, free from bells, meetings, teenagers, and white boards. Life is good. I think sometimes I forget how good. Today I dedicate my post to good things that I sometimes think of as not so good. I encourage you to do the same with your life.

I live in an apartment. You might be curious what I can say good about that. However, I have plenty to say. For example, what if one came home and found herself hydroplaning in the kitchen because the dishwasher broke and now the entire kitchen is flooded with dirty water? This could cause one to stress as well as spend lots of money. Not if you are in an apt…just call the office and they will send someone to come fix it all for free. Thanks David. Also, my porch gets cleaned off every Friday while I am at work and the bushes around my apartment are kept immaculate. Thanks Jose (just kidding I don’t know his name, but thanks anyway)

I am a teacher. I touch lives forever. Oh gag me. Here’s what is really good about it: I love that I get to decide what I am doing each day. No one bosses me around. I am in charge, I am in control (well, most of the time), and I have my own classroom. I like that. Can anyone say major type A personality?

I have a 1997 car. I never have to worry about it getting stolen. In fact, I dare someone to steal it. It’s reliable and good on gas. Oh, and I have no alarm going off in the middle of the night; I think that’s my favorite.

I hope that this spring break optimism doesn’t wear off anytime soon. Sometimes it’s hard to realize that even though life isn’t perfect it doesn’t mean that it’s bad. In fact, life is good!

Ferris wheels...

2009-03-11T17:34:00.000-07:00

everyone should go on one. They are so much fun. Be sure to bring someone's arm to have a death grip on in case you get scared (not speaking from experience of course).

One Year Down

2009-03-07T11:30:00.000-08:00

It's hard to believe that one year ago I put this up in my classroom. It's still up; for some reason I just can't take it down.

One year ago. Wow, that went by fast.

My man is so strong. He picks me up so romantically.

Valentine's Day bike ride.

After one year, the verdict is that we LOVE being married. We are grateful for all that we have been blessed with and are excited to see what year number two has in store for us.

Who took these pictures?

2009-02-28T21:30:00.000-08:00

I picked up the camera today and looked at all the pictures on the little screen. I guess I haven't done this for a while because I saw many interesting pictures that I had forgotten about or have never seen. I did not take them, that leaves one person who did. Yep, here are some masterpieces from my straight A, honor society, engineer husband. Hope you enjoy, I sure did.

This would be Bryan's ear. Don't ask me why we have a picture of his squished ear but we do.

Here we have Bryan's nostrils. Nice and flared which is a skill that I do not have. Bummer, I really wish I could flare to such an extent that I could almost see my brain!

This is Bryan's dislocated thumb. Poor thumb that got injured in high school football. Um, I see 2 hands; was someone having a little fun with the timer?

I took this one. I love it. They say that boys never really grow up. Maybe that is a good thing (at times of course). When he first walked out all decked out in scout stuff I lost it. It cracked me up! I married a 12 year old! He even has the official belt. So cool. Now he totally fits in with all his little scouts.

The famine is over; bring on the feast

2009-02-22T20:41:00.000-08:00

This is what a fridge looks like after a bishop challenges his ward to live on its food storage for a week. Normally this wouldn't be a problem but because last weekend was a 3-day weekend, someone (me) put off some major grocery shopping until Monday. However, by Monday it was forbidden so some people (us) had to get very creative with meals. Lesson learned bishop. By the way, no one go to Fry's tomorrow, there will be no food left after I am there.

The Day the President Visited School

2009-02-18T17:23:00.000-08:00

Whew. We are still alive at Dobson High School. During his visit to Arizona today Obama came and gave his speech in our gym. It has been CRAZY. We found out on Friday night that our school was selected. People spent the night on Sunday waiting in line for tickets to see it (not me, I was in my nice warm bed). We all showed up to school on Tuesday with the media, secret service and grounds crew everywhere. The media didn't stop until Wed. after school. The secret service guys really do wear dark suits and have ear pieces in. Sadly, I don't think they like to be photographed much either so I didn't take any pictures of them. We had to leave every door, closet, and drawer unlocked last night so they could come through with their dogs. They put in a new toilet for the pres and even painted a bathroom in case he wanted to use it (heaven forbid he use one of ours and I'm not even sure we get to keep it). The grounds crew was very busy. They turned a campus full of dirt into beautifully landscaped grass in one day. It would have taken at least all summer to get that done. Every grounds crew member in the district was at our campus. I am not sure where they got the money to do this...schools are so hurting for money that they can't pay for us to get substitute teachers but we can sure get grass (I am a little tiffed about this one if you can't tell).

Our pretty Obama grass. I wouldn't be surprised if they roll it back
up tomorrow and return it to get money back!

I have never seen so much security in my life. Police, district security, school security, secret service, SWAT team, and every thing in between. I even had to show my teacher badge to get onto campus this morning. Protesters lined the fence and police tried to keep them under control. The entire east side of the school was completely off limits and was extremely guarded.

The crowd starting to form in the morning. Behind the
tree is a group of secret service guys.

I did not get to see the president. I saw his motorcade pull into the school by pure accident- I was walking across campus going to teach my anatomy class. That was as close as I ever got. We all watched through a closed circuit feed to our rooms. It was a fun day. Sure I didn't vote for him, sure I don't agree with a lot of his ideas but he is the president and it was fun to feel that tangible excitement in the air.

Obama in the gym. Our gym. How cool.

Becoming Our Parents

2009-02-12T19:59:00.000-08:00

Here at the Martins we have been noticing that we are slowly but surely turning into our parents. Not that it’s a bad thing; I suppose that it is bound to happen sooner or later. We find humor in the moments when these parent realizations happen. Good thing we have great parents, otherwise this would be really bad.

Here are some recent events that have left me saying (out loud), “I am turning into my mother.”

- Girls camp. Yep, I sit here typing as the new ward camp director. My mom has gone to girls camp since I was -5 years old (yes, negative 5). I am going on year 2, only 29 more to go…just like mama.

- I can’t seem to remember my age. There have been many occasions when my mom had to think about how old she was. I never understood how someone could forget their own age. Well, the other day I had to do full on math to figure out that yes, indeed I am 26 years old.

- Hamburger bun garlic toast. What else are you supposed to do with the few buns left over from dinner a few nights ago? Sorry for making fun of you about that one mom, it’s genius.

Bryan is turning into his dad. Here are a few events that have left me saying to Bryan, “You are so turning into Bob.”

- He puts some sort of sauce on everything. Like miracle whip on grilled cheese and banana bread, Catalina on eggs, and bbq sauce on any meat known to man. I will not comment on my opinion of this.

- Some people think that he is Mexican but in fact he is not.

- He corrects grammar 24 hours a day. If there is anything misspelled or incorrectly punctuated in the world Bryan or his dad will find it, point it out and if possible fix it (even if it involves a permanent marker and a public sign).

- He seems to always be in high demand for electrical work and can put a switch or plug anywhere.

I think it must be in the master plan that we, at least a little, become like our parents. Hopefully we take the good and not the rest but it doesn’t always happen like that (miracle whip being a prime example). All I can say is thank goodness for good genes.

Questionnaire

2009-02-08T18:07:00.000-08:00

I see these little questionnaires everywhere on blogs and in my email and I love reading them. However I rarely do them myself. Today I got a twinge of guilt and decided to play along and actually fill one out. I limited it to only 15 questions instead of the normal 874; I don’t feel that guilty.

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Yep, my aunt (never met her though)
2. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Hate it
3. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes, according to every member of Bryan’s family they are disgusting ones
4. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? I would like to try but I am pretty sure I would wet my pants
5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Life. I really like Tootie Fruities too (woohoo Malto-Meal!) I eat these so much that Bryan calls me ‘tootie fruity’ quite often.
6. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? No way
7. FAVORITE SMELLS? New car, Comet cleaner (I know it’s disturbing), oranges
8. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? My momma
9. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? Yes and for way longer than is recommended
10. FAVORITE FOOD? My mom’s stir-fry
11. HUGS OR KISSES? Yes please
12. FAVORITE DESSERT? Chocolate and chocolate
13. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? Jamaica
14. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Utah, can anyone say BYU baby?
15. HOW DID YOU MEET YOUR SPOUSE/SIGNIFICANT OTHER? We sat next to each other in church and said probably 3 words to each other.

Venting

2009-01-31T22:14:00.000-08:00

Can I vent? I thought I had seen it all. I have been a jogger for years. I have had my fair share of people looking, honking, screaming, etc as I am minding my own business trying to get in some cardio. What is it about a jogger that makes people have the sudden urge to do these things? In fact, my PR in Provo was 4 honks and 3 whistles/yells in one run (not bad, huh?). I even got a phone number thrown at me once. Don’t worry I never called the guy. Today I got a new one to add to the list. I was jogging this morning (Saturday) in a nice little neighborhood. Apparently there was an unbelievable garage sale close by. Apparently no one could find it and apparently everyone thought I new where it was. So through an entire mile stretch of my run I kept getting stopped and asked if I knew where the sale was. Do I look like I am out looking for deals at garage sales? Just for the record, runners do not like it when drivers

1. pull up beside them, roll down their window, and flail their arms

2. pull right in front of them so if they keep running they will run into the car

3. creep up behind them and honk their horn to get the runner’s attention

I experienced all of these and had to stop, unplug my headphones, go up to the car and explain that I didn’t know the location of the sale. I was so bugged. I have vowed to run canals (not streets) every Saturday for the rest of my life! There aren’t any garage sales on canals right?

P.S. I am trying not to be sad that I am no longer receiving whistles but instead being asked about garage sales. Is this a sign of aging??

2009-01-23T21:07:00.001-08:00

This week: awful start, awesome end

2009-01-17T19:11:00.000-08:00

This week has been interesting. It started out horrible and ended great. I guess you really do need the bad to appreciate the good. Let's do the horrible first.

At the beginning of this week:
-I was sick, curled on the couch for 4 days (like lose 10 pounds worth of sick)
-diagnosed with the worst step my doctor has ever seen (he brought in all the other doctors and nurses to show them my "huge, nasty tonsils" - good thing I didn't mind)
-2 shots- one in the bum- ouch
-2 days worth of a sub at school - this is brutal - we all went to high school and know what happens when a sub is there...enough said!

At the end of this week:
-I am on my way to a full recovery- my throat doesn't hurt, I am not dizzy or feverish and I only have 8 days left on meds
-my students were excellent for the sub- not sure what happened- my classroom didn't look like a bomb blew up and I got many compliments from the subs about my classroom management- woohoo
-best one: I am an aunt again! Russ and Jodie (my bro and sis-in-law) had baby #3 on Thursday. Welcome to the family Brynlee!!

Mackenzie (my niece), Brynlee and me

Cute 2 day old Brynlee

We think these belong on some baby calendar!!

New Year's Resolutions

2009-01-10T18:21:00.000-08:00

I am not a big new year's resolution kind of person. This year however, I asked Bryan to come up with some ideas for some resolutions for us as a couple. Everyone can improve their relationship, right? A few days later he shared his two ideas. Completely serious, he states these resolutions.

1. Give each other more back rubs.

2. Close the cereal bag better so it doesn't get stale.

I wasn't sure whether to be mad because he didn't take it seriously or flattered because he thinks that our biggest marital problem is stale cereal! I chose to be flattered. I am happy to report that this year the Martins will have good feeling backs and really fresh tasting cereal.

Extreme Makeover Bob and Tonna Edition

2009-01-03T17:23:00.000-08:00

This week all the Martins went up to Eagar and gave Bryan's parents their Christmas present of a whole new bedroom. We had a blast doing it. Here are a few pictures of the action.

Ashlee admiring the room just after everyone finished painting.

Bryan and Matt cutting the crown molding. It only took the boys 2 hours and 30 mess-ups but they got it and it looks great!

Up goes the molding. Tonna is loving it already. At this point we are sure that she will cry by the time this thing is over.

Shelf time.

Matt accessorizing. He is very talented.

Here's the finished product. We know, it's awesome. Sadly, this is the only picture we took of the whole finished room.

Bob and Tonna seeing the room completed for the first time. Tonna's face says it all! The tears followed shortly.

One big happy (and tired) Martin family.

Semester Reflection

2008-12-21T20:34:00.000-08:00

The semester is over!! Only 57 left until retirement! Woohoo :). I have found myself reflecting today over the last semester and all of my little darling students. Here are some of the great questions that have been asked in my classes. These are real questions, asked by 15/16 year olds in all seriousness.

Mrs. Martin, do you like my new tattoo? (sadly, a very common one)
Is it true that you stop growing when you lose your virginity?
How much do you get paid?
Is it true that you can't get pregnant in a hot tub?
Are you racist?
You know what myspace is?!?
What kind of car do you drive?
Can we drink this rubbing alcohol after we are done with the lab?
Do we have to bring in our own cat to dissect?

Humble Little Tree

2008-12-16T18:08:00.000-08:00

So we decided to use Bryan's lil' Christams tree from last year. I didn't realize how puney it is until I put some presents under it, or should I say beside it because they don't fit under. Oh well, we love it because it fits perfectly in our puney apartment!

Hello Blogging World

2008-12-13T21:13:00.000-08:00

I have done it. I have created a blog. Normally I am very anti what everyone else is doing (like my Harry Potter problem) but for some reason this seemed like it might be fun. So here we go; hello world of blogging.