Picture Project - My sweet family

I've been working on a photo project for my house. When it's finished, I'm going to have a wall of framed photos. I've been trying to find really old pictures of my family. Here are some of the pictures I've collected for the project:

My parents.
This was taken while they were in high school.
My mom made this dress - isn't she talented?

My parents, again.
My mom also made this dress suit.

My parents with baby me.
Don't they look young? They were.

Me and my brother, Kyle.

Me and my dad.

Me and Kyle.

Our little family.
My mom made all of these clothes.

Our growing family.
My parents, me, Kyle, and Adam.

Me and my Grandpa.

Me and Kyle. I love this picture.
I had never seen it until recently.
My mom said it was her only copy.
She went and had our pictures taken,
but couldn't afford more than the one copy.

The three of us on an old tortoise.

I'm hugging a horse!!

Look at how much I love my brother, Adam.
Plus, you can't tell, but I love the clothes my brothers are wearing.
They are belly shirts. They are so funny!!

Look, we're all grown up.

Me with my brother Kyle.
This was taken before he left for Mexico on his LDS mission.

Me and my brother, Louis.
This was taken the day I graduated from BYU.

Me and my dad.

The Road to Damietta

I just finished the adolescent book, The Road to Damietta. First of all, I don't think this is a good example of adolescent lit. I think most teenagers lack the background knowledge (13th Century, city-states of Italy, Catholicism, the Crusades, etc). and interest for this book. Honestly, I had a hard time getting through the first 200 pages (although the last 100 pages were very good - I read them in one sitting).

I originally bought the book because I saw it was a historical fiction novel about St. Francis of Assisi. I love St. Francis - he's one of my favorite saints. Unfortunately, his character is not as prominent as the narrator, a selfish young noblewoman named Ricca. I did not like or connect with her character, at all. Throughout the book, Ricca believes she is in love with St. Francis. She follows his life as he changes from a fun-loving, merchant's son into a devoutly religious man.

Although she has few actual interactions with him, her family disapproves of her obsession. As punishment, her father requires her to work as a copyist in the family's library/archive. Much of the first 200 pages describes her work making copies and illuminating those copies. After realizing that the work has done little to diminish Ricca's "love" for St. Francis, her father sends her to a nunnery in Venice.

After spending quite some time in Venice (the book doesn't give a definite time, but I assumed it was 1-2 years), Ricca learns that St. Francis is set to sail to Egypt with the Crusaders. She decides to follow him there, offering to translate for him. This was the best section of the book (the final 100 pages). It gave an excellent description of the Crusade, the city of Damietta, and the sultan, Malik-al-Kamil. I've been looking for a good book on the Crusades for the past 2 years, and had yet to find one. Although I choose to read this book to learn more about the life of St. Francis, I enjoyed it because of the portrayal of the 5th Crusade.

Despite not being a huge fan of this book, I still very much enjoyed the lessons learned from the life of St. Francis, including his prayer:

Lord, make me an instrument of Thy Peace,
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
And where there is sorrow, joy.

Cookie Friday

Don't get me wrong, I love my job, but 4th quarter is always hard for me. I think it's a combination of things. Here are just a few, in no particular order:

• The weather - The weather gets warmer. In the beginning it's a nice 70 degrees outside. So naturally, I want to be outside, not stuck in a stuffy room with unhygienic teenagers all day. As the quarter progresses, it warms to 80-90 degrees outside. This means in a 50+ year-old building without air conditioning, it's a sweltering 90-100 degrees inside. I definitely don't want to be stuck in a stuffy room with unhygienic teenagers all day.

• Pencils - If I hear, "Ms. George, I didn't bring a pencil" or "Ms. George, can I borrow a pencil?" one more time, I may stab a student in the eye with a pencil. Seriously, they're 7th graders and have been attending school for the past 7-8 years. You'd think they'd know they need a pencil for school. If I wanted to hand out pencils all day, I'd work at Office Depot!!

• Assemblies - For some reason 4th quarter is always full of dumb-ass (is that hyphenated?) assemblies. I hate assemblies. I am very much a believer that school should be a place for educating, not entertaining. But during 4th quarter we have to take out 90 minutes of education each week to entertain our little darlings with an assembly/activity. The following are just a few that are scheduled: student/teacher basketball game, student/teacher dodge ball game, teacher talent assembly, award assembly, end of the year dance, yearbook signing, mini-Olympics, etc, etc, etc.

• "What? We have an assignment?" - For some reason (maybe it's all the assemblies), my students are shocked that I still give them assignments throughout 4th quarter. This gets worse and worse as we near the end of the year. "Why do we have to do this? In (insert any teacher's name) class, we're just watching a movie." My response, "Well, I'm sorry. (Insert teacher's name) is a shitty teacher."

So, what gets me through this hell, known as 4th quarter? Cookie Friday. Cookie Friday is a well-loved tradition between me and nine other teachers at my school. Because 4th quarter has 10 weeks, each of us is assigned a week to bring cookies for the group. On our assigned week, we bring cookies in on Friday and have them delivered to the other members. It's something so simple, but it really does work. It makes me less ornery and more willing to put up with the ridiculousness that goes on during the quarter.

Final Weigh In (maybe)

So I leave for Arizona in 5 days. I haven't reached my goal of losing 16 pounds, but I feel pretty good at where I am. It's been slow going, but it's to be expected since I refuse to give up cookies and french fries. Anyways, here the latest:

Last Two Week's Weight Loss: 2 pounds
Total Weight Loss: 9 pounds
Days to Go: 5 days
Still Need to Lose: 7 pounds

I probably won't give a weight update before I leave because I don't think I'll lose anymore in the next five days, but if I do, you'll be the first to know.

It all started with Facebook

It all started with Facebook . . . A friend's status led me to her jewelry etsy shop, which led me to thinking about jewelry, which led me to do a google search for Art Deco jewelry, which led me to do another google search for Art Deco engagement rings, which led me to this . . .


Oh, this is the most exquisite, beautiful piece of jewelry I've ever seen.
Oh, I want it! I want it sooo bad!!

So, if you (or someone you know) would like to purchase this beauty for me, I'd gladly accept. In return you'd get a dutiful, obedient wife . . . and when I say dutiful and obedient, I mean somewhat agreeable - what can I say, I'm a bit of a "spitfire" (or so I've been told).

Week Four Weigh In

So, I've been a blogging slacker lately, but I need to post a Weigh In Update (it will keep me honest). I'm not doing as well as I wanted to, but . . . here we are:

Last Two Week's Weight Loss: 2 pounds
Total Weight Loss: 7 pounds
Weeks to Go: 3 weeks
Still Need to Lose: 9 pounds

It must be said . . .

One of my favorite pics of Ruth and Me

It must be said, I am so excited right now. I just booked a flight to see some of my favorite people in the world - Ruth, Ryan, and Co. I'll be spending two glorious weeks with them in June. The only thing that could dampen my joy is the fact that one now has to pay to check one's luggage. I thought I was getting such a great deal on my flight, but with $60 in taxes and another $30 for checked luggage, my great deal isn't so great anymore. Still . . . worth it. Totally, worth it.

Another New Calling

Well, I got another calling. In addition to being my ward's women's sports director, I'm also going to be on the stake's girl's camp committee. That means I have to go to girls camp. I haven't been since I was 13 years old. I don't even remember what goes on at girl's camp. HELP. Any suggestions?

LOST

I love LOST. I've said it before, but I'll say it again: BEST SHOW EVER!! Last night's episode was a great example of why it's so great. I thought I knew where the plot was heading and then all of a sudden . . . Wham! Out of no where, something completely different happens. And it's not something that's disappointing - it's better than anything I could have imagined. I'm super excited to see where it's going next. I'm starting to live for Wednesdays. 6 more days.

Week Two Weigh In

This week was not a good week for dieting. I had parent/teacher conferences, which meant I worked 2 very long days (13 hours each). It was also Lesli's birthday, which meant cake, cake, and more cake. Nevertheless, here's my update:

This Week's Weight Loss: 1.2 pounds
Total Weight Loss: 5 pounds
Weeks to Go: 5 weeks
Still Need to Lose: 11 pounds

Week One Weigh In

So, I set the goal to lose 16 pounds before I go to AZ for Easter. Well, I leave in 6 weeks and this is where I'm at:

Weight Lost: 3.8 pounds
Weeks to go: 6 weeks
Still need to lose: 12.2 pounds

New Ward = New Calling

So I started attending a new ward at the beginning of the new year. I had been attending a singles ward, that I absolutely loved, but I felt it was time for me to start attending a family ward. I've loved my family ward so far. The congregation has been very friendly and made me feel extremely welcome.

Last week my new bishopric came over to my house to visit and get to know me a bit more. While they were over, they offered me a new calling . . . women's sports director. What? Does the Lord know me at all?! I've been making that joke all week, but to be honest, of course the Lord knows me. Even though the last time I played team sports, it was 15 years ago in order to pass a high school fitness class, I think this calling will be really good for me. It's something I can do. I'm good at organizing. I worked for Park and Rec for 3 years organizing team sports. I'm good at advertising and encouraging people to participate. I think it will be good overall. I'll be able to give service and I'll meet more people in the ward. All good things.

In addition to the new calling, apparently my new bishopric loves me. On Sunday, one of the counselors kept saying, "I know I sound like a broken record, but we were so impressed with you when we met you last week." Seriously, he said it like 6-7 times. Plus, my favorite is that he called me "a class act." Loved it!!

Funny Stuff

Today in class I played a review game with my students. They were put on teams and asked a series of questions on Greek mythology. One of my questions was, "Which Greek mythological figure stands in Rockefeller Center?" No one was getting the correct answer so I gave them a few hints, "He was the one who created men." All of a sudden I have tons of kids yelling, "Jesus." "Jesus Christ." "God."

Answer: Prometheus.

Goals!!

So I made a new year's resolution this year regarding exercise and I'm proud to state that I've kept my resolution so far. Yay!! Because I'm feeling so successful, I've decided to set a weight loss goal. I'm going to AZ for Easter and I'd like to lose 16 pounds before then. It's about 2 months away so I think it's a pretty reasonable goal. I've been told that if you write down your goals, you're more successful at keeping them, so I'm writing it down here and telling you all about it. Any tips would be appreciated.

Best Birthday Weekend Ever!!

Okay, last Monday I turned 31. THIRTY-ONE!! Actually, it wasn't bad at all. I began the celebrations by flying to Las Vegas with Christi and Lesli. They are the best for going with me because I wanted to go in style, which made it a bit pricey. We flew in on Saturday morning and took a taxi to the Paris hotel where we had brunch - yummy crepes. We then did a bit of shopping, at both the Paris and the Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood. By then, we were exhausted so we headed to the Bellagio to check in. That's right, THE BELLAGIO!!

Our room was fantastic with a great view of the fountains!! Our window was a floor to ceiling window that looked out perfectly. We sat by the window for the next 3 hours watching the fountains and playing cards (we were spending enough money - we couldn't afford to lose any money playing real cards in the casino).

After our card playing, we went to dinner and then to see The Cirque du Soleil O show. It's the main reason why I wanted to come to Vegas. Tickets were ridiculously priced, but it was so worth it!! I would go back this weekend to see it again. The next morning we checked out and went over the Venetian for a little shopping, then flew home. A quick, but awesome birthday weekend. Anyways, here's a few pics:

Christi and Me at the airport.

Lesli and Me on the strip with our umbrellas.

The Bellagio!!

The three of us inside at the Bellagio's Conservatory.

Lesli and Me at the Conservatory.

Christi and Me at the Conservatory -
They were celebrating the Chinese New Year.

Room with a View - This is from our room!!

At night.

Me at The Cirque du Soleil O Theatre.

I love this picture - Lesli, Christi, and Me in our 1st row seats!!

Lesli and Me eating gelato at the Venetian.

Vegas, Baby!!

So I'm heading to Las Vegas with Christi and Lesli for my 31st birthday. We have rooms booked at the Bellagio and have tickets to see the "O" Cirque du Soleil Show. I'll post pictures and give a nice update when we return.

What Have You Done?

I saw this on Tammy's blog and thought I'd participate. If you want to participate, just copy and paste it in your own blog, and bold all of the things you have done. It's kind of fun!!

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Pacific Ocean
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Seen Mount Rushmore in person
101. Learned to play an instrument

So how'd you do? I had 61 out of 101. I guess there's a lot of things I still need to do.

Sold by Patricia McCormick

Today I read the gut-wrenching novel Sold by Patricia McCormick. It is an excellent adolescent lit book that tells the story of Lakshmi, a 13 year-old Nepali girl who is sold by her step-father into a life of prostitution. She is taken from her mountainside village in Nepal and transported to India to work in a brothel. It is a quick read that shows the harsh reality that so many young girls face in the world. Although, for the most part, the story is bleak, the book ends with a message of hope. I highly recommend it.

Post-LOST Post

As I went to watch LOST last night, Alina said, "Good Luck." I asked, "Why are you wishing me good luck?" She replied, "So you're not disappointed." Disappointed, NEVER. It was good stuff. I loved the hour recap show. It explained things very well. Lesli watched it with me and was wanted to continue watching the season premier, even though she hasn't seen many episodes.

So, one question was answered: The zodiac boat filled with Daniel Faraday and the other passengers made it to the island because they were within some kind of radius when the island moved.

But, of course, now I have new questions:

1. Why is Charolette's nose bleeding? What's happening to her. Obviously, Daniel knows and isn't telling her.
2. Although 3 years pass before the Oceanic 6 try to come back to the island, will 3 years pass on the island? I'm guessing no, but we shall see.
3. What is Daniel Faraday's mother doing at Oxford? What's she working on?
4. Who wants to have Kate and Aaron's blood tested to see if they're related?
5. Who was the women Ben met in the church? Plus, who was the women in the butcher shop?
6. Why did Locke have to die in order to leave the island?
7. Still, what's up with Richard?

Okay, there are probably many more questions, but that's all I have for now. This may have to become a weekly post. I'll love to hear any of your theories.

More LOST Questions

As I mentioned in my last post, all I've been able to think about is LOST. Luckily, only a few more short hours until the premier airs. So, here's a few more questions:

1. Why didn't Charlotte leave the island? And what did Miles mean when he asked her why'd she want to leave when she had tried so hard to get back?
2. What's up with Richard? Why doesn't he age?
3. Plus, if Richard could leave the island to recruit John and Juliet, why couldn't Ben leave to have his tumor removed? Or why couldn't the women leave to have their babies? These questions or more about inconsistencies in plot, but I hope they're answered.

Stay tuned, more questions may arise throughout the day.

Pre-LOST Post

This is my Pre-LOST Post, meaning my post before I watch the season premier of LOST. I will be doing a Post-LOST Post (I know, it's wordy) about the season premier after I watch it.

Enough of the explanation . . . on to the actual post. So, I have been a huge LOST fan since the beginning. I remember sitting down in 2004 flipping through the channels after a long day hoping to find something semi-entertaining on TV to watch. As I was flipping through the channels they announced that the pilot episode of LOST was on next. I remember thinking, "Oh yeah. I've seen previews for that. It has the hot guy from Party of Five on it. I'll watch that." What followed next was the most visually stunning thing I've ever seen on network television. The pilot episode was amazing!! In fact, it was the most expensive pilot ever filmed in TV history. From then, I was hooked. I've never missed an episode and several of my friends consider me a LOST expert. Now, I'm not a crazy fanatic, just a fan. I don't spend my time in chat rooms discussing every aspect of LOST, I just watch it (and occasionally blog about it).

Anyway, I am super excited for tomorrow's season premier. Now since I've never missed an episode (and I'm not talking about renting the DVDs and watching every episode - I mean NEVER MISSED AN EPISODE), I consider myself pretty up to date on what's going on. However, when I saw that the Sci-Fi channel was airing the last 5 episodes of season 4, I decided to watch it to refresh my memory. As I was watching it, I kept thinking, "Oh, I forgot about that. Oh, I totally forgot about that too." After watching those episodes, I realized I had completely repressed all of what happened last season. I think it was to maintain my sanity so I wouldn't be thinking about it for the 8 months it was off the air. Now that I've refreshed my memory, it's all I can think of. So, here are my top questions I hope are answered this season (hopefully, in the first few episodes):

1. What happened to the zodiac boat filled with Daniel Faraday and the other passangers? Did they make it to the island before it moved or were they stranded on the ocean?
2. How did Locke die? Will the island bring him back to life?
3. Why the hell did Claire follow Christian? Plus, what was that creppy smile all about (you know, the one she gave to Christian when Locke asked him about saving the island)?
   
4. How will Sun be convinced to go back to the island? Why would she want to go with Jack (whom I assume she hates) and why would she want to leave her baby?
5. Why did Sayid stop working for Ben?
6. Does Ben try to kill Penny? If so, how does that effect Desmond?
7. What favor did Kate do for Sawyer once she left the island?

Okay, that's all I can think of for now. I'm sure my Post-LOST Post will have more questions to add.

Day of Laughter

Today has been a day of laughter. First of all, I read this post on Alina's blog. It was cracking me up because it was written by our friend Tom. Last night Tom was using Alina's computer to update the ward website, or so we thought. When I read the post, I was laughing so hard I was crying!!

The other thing that was cracking me up was this clip from the daily show. It's a little long, but the real good stuff is between 1:30-2:40 minutes, especially the last 15 minutes of that time. Watch it!!

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

President Goofus and President Gallant - Peer Pressers

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

Breakdown of the Holiday Break

Cookies eaten: Too many
Pounds Gained: Only 1 so far
Movies watched: 7
School Work Done: None
Hours spend outside: Minimal
Hours spend in bed: Maximum

Puzzling with my BFFs

Tom & I have been working on this puzzle for ages (okay weeks).
We finally finished - YES!!

BFFs - Alina, Tom, & Me

A Child's Prayer by Zackary

Dear Heavenly Father,
Please bless thunder and lightning.
Please bless the food, but not the soup. It's good, but I just don't like it.
I'm not allergic to anything.
I like all people. I like girls and boys.
In the name of Jesus Christ,
Amen.

Local Music @ the Avalon

Last weekend I went to the Avalon Theater with Ali and Sandra to see some local bands play. I love live music, especially in an intimate setting like the Avalon. We had a great time watching skinny-jean wearing punk bands. Here's a few pics.

Setting Up

Three fun-lovin' girls - me, Ali, & Sandra

The best part about the Avalon - the bathroom

Seriously, this is as far as the bathroom door closes.
Oh well, I had to go.

Ward Christmas Party

Me with gift number one - singing fish.

Gift number two - Chipmunk CD
(and Christmas bow courtesy of Alina)

Alina with her "Girls Rule" bike license plate.

The two of us - Alina had had a little too much to drink.

Education, Education, & More Education

I just finished a literacy program from BYU that I've been taking for the past 2 and a 1/2 years. Upon completion, I've been thinking a lot about all the higher education I've had over the past 12 years. Here's how it breaks down:

Undergraduate:
Bachelors Degree in Political Science: 120.5 credit hours

Graduate:
Masters in Education: 41 credit hours
Non-matriculating special ed program: 37 credit hours
Non-matriculating literacy program: 21 credit hours

That's a total of 219.5 credit hours. That's a lot!! SERIOUSLY, A LOT!! At some point in time, one has to say enough is enough. I think my time is now.

Choo-Choo

Last night Zack and I made the coolest train cake. I bought this train cake pan on Amazon last week and was so excited to use it. It worked perfectly. Check out how much fun we had.

Zack putting the train together. He put the engine on the tracks (black licorice) first then asked me, "Mandy, which one is the coal car 'cause the coal car goes next." That kid is train crazy.

Zack with the finished product.

Me and Zack with the finished product.

A closer look.

Mitch was also over with us. Isn't this photo great?

Home Decor

I recently put these up in my bedroom. I bought the fabric-covered memo board about a year ago, but didn't quite know how I wanted to hang it or what I wanted to hang with it. I finally decided to add ribbon to the top corners and hang it from a decorative hook. The entire project cost me 12 dollars: 8 dollars for the memo board, 1 dollar for the extra ribbon, and 3 dollars for the decorative hook. I decided to pair it with this wall hanging, which I made. Yep, that's right - I made it. It was super easy. It's just four coasters and some ribbon. I glued the coasters directly from the ribbon and tied a bow on top. This project cost a total of 10 dollars: 8 dollars for the coasters and 2 dollars for the ribbon. Not bad, huh?

At a distance

I also put this shelf up in my bathroom. I've had the shelf for three years. My fabulous hairdresser, Dean, gave it to me as a house-warming present. I knew I wanted to hang it in my bathroom, but I hadn't done it yet because I kept thinking I was going to paint my bathroom. I finally just decided to put it up. I had the ceramic shoe in my bedroom, but decided it would look better here. I recently bought these picture frames from Gardner Village. I think they look great on the shelf, but they'd look great anywhere. Aren't they fantastic?!

At a distance.

Dinosaur Museum

I recently went to the Dinosaur Museum with Zack and Mitch. The museum has a huge terradactyl hanging from the ceiling. When Zack saw it, he pointed at it and it exclaimed, "Look! Look! A flyoctagon." That's right, a flyoctagon. The terradactyl has gone from a flapasaurus to a flyoctagon.

October Pictures

Here are a few Halloween/October pics:

Mitch & Me at the Dinosaur Museum.
I'm sad it turned out so blurry.

Zack, Mitch, & Me.
Mitch was not very happy.

Jackie & Me carving pumpkins.

Zack with all of our pumpkins.
Mine is the pumpkin on the bottom left.

Zack, Mitch, & Me on Halloween night.

School Stuff

School is going great this year. The school year is already one-fourth over. I'm trying to shake things up and do new things this year. Tomorrow we are going to start reading the historical fiction novel Fever 1793. I've never taught this book, but I'm really excited to teach it. The historical time period for the novel is Philadelphia's Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793. To prepare my students to read it, we spent last week studying the non-fiction book An American Plague. I had my students Jigsaw this book. A Jigsaw is when students read a part of a book and then share their part with the class. This way, students only need to read a short section, but they get all the info in the book. The Jigsaw went very well and my students seem excited to start the novel.

Another new thing I'm trying are on-line quizzes on my wikispaces. My students took one quiz in class last week and it went really well. I'm going to start assigning the upcoming quizzes as homework. We'll see if that goes as well. To see my wikispaces, click HERE. Their upcoming quiz is under the label, "An American Plague."

Election 2008

I was thrilled with how the 2008 Presidential Election turned out. As an Obama supporter, I was obviously happy with his win, but I was also happy to see the old John McCain I knew and loved. The 2008 campaign was painful to watch as John McCain sold himself to the people who had a hand in taking him down 8 years ago (the right wing nuts of the Republican party). It has been incredibly sad for me to see how far John McCain has fallen since 2000. I had supported him in the 2000 primary, and if he had won, I had planned to vote for him over Al Gore in the general election (sorry, Nicholas). Unfortunately (for our entire nation), he did not win the primary and we've been stuck with 8 years of Bozo Bush.

It was a breath of fresh air to see his concession speech on election night. Why couldn't he have been more like that during the campaign? He appeared gracious, strong, and honorable once again. If you want to read his full speech, click HERE. If not, here are a few of my favorite sections:

I urge all Americans who supported me to join me in not just congratulating him, but offering our next president our good will and earnest effort to find ways to come together to find the necessary compromises to bridge our differences and help restore our prosperity, defend our security in a dangerous world, and leave our children and grandchildren a stronger, better country than we inherited.

Whatever our differences, we are fellow Americans. And please believe me when I say no association has ever meant more to me than that.

Tonight, more than any night, I hold in my heart nothing but love for this country and for all its citizens, whether they supported me or Senator Obama.

I wish Godspeed to the man who was my former opponent and will be my president. And I call on all Americans, as I have often in this campaign, to not despair of our present difficulties, but to believe, always, in the promise and greatness of America, because nothing is inevitable here.

Although McCain's speech was inspiring, it was nothing compared with Obama's speech (To read it, click HERE). I was so inspired by his call "a new spirit of service." Here are some of my favorite sections:

What began 21 months ago in the depths of winter cannot end on this autumn night. This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were.

It can't happen without you, without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice.

So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other.

Loved it!! Loved that both McCain and Obama called for Americans to come together. It resonated with me so much. I'm really hopeful and excited for the change I think is coming.

Halloween Picture

I haven't posted a picture for a long time so I thought I'd post one of Alina and me in our Halloween costumes. We both chose characters from children's books. Alina chose Wilma (Waldo's girlfriend) and I chose Pippi Longstocking.

Wilma and Pippi (or Alina and me).

Val, Alicia, Alina, and Me.

Obscure Restaurant, Part III

Last night, Alina and I went to another obscure restaurant for dinner. We decided to try Mr. Cebollin. This restaurant is located in a strip mall at 9105 S. Redwood Rd. It's a fairly new restaurant that we had passed several times in the past few weeks. The drawing point for us was that it advertised on the sign, "Mr Cebollin - Fine Mexican food and Pupusas." Pupusas!! Sweet!! To get pupusas in the past, we'd had to drive to Provo our beg Jackie (my El Salvadorian semi-sister-in-law) to have her mom make us some. But now, we'd have a restaurant within 5 miles of our house - YES!! Alina and I both ordered cheese pupusas and a side of rice and beans. We also ordered fried yucca. The fried yucca did not live up to expectations, but everything else did. The pupusas were fantastic!!

The best part of the dining experience happened as we were getting ready to leave. I was gathering up my coat and bag when Alina said, "Hey, isn't that Jackie and Adam?" I turned around, looked out the window, and saw Jackie waving like a mad woman. Apparently they were both in the mood for pupusas as well. They came in and we talked for a few minutes. I didn't know Jackie and Adam had heard of Mr. Cebollin's and was excited to tell them about it, but apparently they already knew about it. When I told Jackie this, she said, "Yeah, we know about it. This is where my mom got her new job." I knew Jackie's mom had just started a new job, but didn't know where. Sure enough, we went to the back and there was Anna, cooking pupusas. No wonder they were so great.

Overall, this was a great dining experience. The restaurant is in a good location, clean and colorfully decorated, with a friendly staff. If you're looking for great, authentic El Salvadorian food (and I'm sure their Mexican is good, as well), check it out. We wouldn't want to see this fine obscure restaurant go out of business to be replaced by another McDonald's.

Adolescent Literature Authors

Today I went to the Utah Council of Teachers of English (UCTE) Fall Conference. I was super excited for this conference because two of my favorite adolescent literature authors, Richard Peck and Paul Fleischman, were scheduled to speak. Not just one great adolescent lit author, but two!! UCTE really went above and beyond this year, and I was not disappointed.

Richard Peck spoke as the morning keynote speaker. He was very dynamic. He read us his short story, "Three-Century Woman." Loved it!! Following his keynote address, he signed books. Not only that, Pearson Publishers gave every conference participate a copy of his novel, On the Wings of Heroes. Sweet!! I felt bad that I forgot my copy of A Long Way from Chicago (my favorite Richard Peck novel), but since had a free book for him to sign, I wasn't too upset. The following Richard Peck quote is one of my favorites:

I read because one life isn't enough, and in the page of a book I can be anybody;
I read because the words that build the story become mine, to build my life;
I read not for happy endings but for new beginnings; I'm just beginning myself, and I wouldn't mind a map;
I read because I have friends who don't, and young though they are, they're beginning to run out of material;
I read because every journey begins at the library, and it's time for me to start packing;
I read because one of these days I'm going to get out of this town, and I'm going to go everywhere and meet everybody, and I want to be ready.

The afternoon keynote speaker was Paul Fleischman. He wrote one of my top 10 favorite books, Whirligig. He talked about how important it is to make connections with others people. He mentioned that literature allows people to make these connections through shared experiences. After his keynote address, he also signed books. I had him sign my copy of Whirligig and a copy of Seedfolks.

Overall, it was a fabulous conference. If UCTE brings in great authors next year, I will definitely go again.

Cheese, Cheese

Yesterday Zack was crying and carrying on. My dad started to mock him by saying, "Oh, Zack, do you want a little cheese with that whine." Zack immediately stopped crying, perked up, and said, "Cheese? Yes, yes, I want some cheese."

Wisdom from a Four Year Old

Tonight Zack reminded me of an important lesson. We were sitting at dinner and I was talking to my family about a night class I'm taking. I was complaining about it and at one point I said, "I hate my class. It's so stupid." Zack looked at me and said, "You just said a bad word." (In our house, we have told Zack stupid is a bad word). I replied, "Oh, I know. I'm sorry." He looked at me and in all seriousness stated, "It's okay, Mandy. We all make mistakes."

Random Thoughts:

• I'm still super busy - it sucks!!
• I have to stop being a smart ass if I want to pass my class. Sometimes you just have to suck it up and conform, even if you despise doing it.
  
• I need a day off to watch TV. My DVR is full of hours of TV that have yet to be watched.
• My foot hurts. I have no idea what I did, but it has been hurting badly for over a week. It's the foot that I broke years ago so it might be weather related, but what if it's not? What if something is seriously wrong? I don't have time (or money, for that matter) for it to be something serious.
• This Sunday I get to teach the first new member lesson to a new convert. I am excited.
• This Saturday I get to go to another baptism. The full-time missionaries and ward missionaries (including me) in my ward are awesome. This is our third baptism in the past 2 months.
• The weather is crazy. Last week we had temps into the 80s and this Saturday it's suppose to snow. What happened to the fall temps in the high 60s? That's my favorite and we haven't even experienced it this year.
• On Monday one of my absolutely favorite people in the universe, Ruth, is coming to stay with me. I am so excited for all our fun times!!
• My students introduced me to pandora.com this week. I love it!! I am now addicted.
  
• I started taking tia che classes. I always thought I had pretty good balanced, but I totally do not. I am, however, flexible which helps.
  

My Porch

This summer I planned on staining my back porch, but I never got around to it. I also wanted to do some minor repairs on it (although the porch is securely attached to my house and my patio, the posts had sunk and pulled off the porch). I've never done any such repairs or staining before, but I thought I could handle it. I still think I could have handled it, but with my busy schedule, I decided I'd just hire someone to do it.

Luckily, I new just the right person for the job - my friend Kathleen's son, Joshua. I've seen some of Joshua's work before (he made Kathleen a beautiful wooden porch swing for Mother's Day) so I knew he'd do a good job. He said he was interested so he came over to take a look at it. After looking at it, he said it would be no problem and he'd even start on it that night. After deciding on his wage, we took off for Lowes to get supplies. When we got there, he walked in there like he owned the place. He knew exactly what we needed and where to find it. That night he sanded and put the first stain on it. He said he'd come back the next day to fix the posts and put another coat of stain on it. When I came home from work the next day it was finished!! I was so excited and I'm really pleased with his work. Here are a few before and after pictures (okay, the before pictures are actually of my neighbor's porch, but my porch looked the same). What do you think?

The pulled away post.

The unfinished porch.

My repaired post.

My finished porch.

Another angle of my finished porch.

Busy

The title says it all - I have been too busy for my liking as of late. So I want to publicly say I'm sorry for being a crappy daughter, sister, general family member, friend, roommate, teacher, student, comedian, writer, inspirational leader, etc. etc. etc. I'd like to say things will get better . . . but it's unlikely.