Remember 2009?

Little tid-bits I don't want to forget:

• Remember when the it was announced that Kaylinn doesn't like hamburgers, only after the entire bridal shower food for 20 people had been planned to be a hamburger bar.
• Remember the LA temple session that lasted 3 hours cuz it was a stake relief society night and the attendance for the sisters was somewhere in the million range. (give or take a few).
• Remember 1st period trio who brought Kay donuts, Milky Way's and orange juice all.the.time. to get out of learning that day. It didn't work...most the time.
• Remember Taffy. and how that dog peed all over the house. That was awesome. And when the roomie took Fido in her car without a cover on the fish bowl.
• Remember when we bought a bed off craigslist that was a piece of lumber covered with thin fabric. Then we tried to resell it to a scammer. Only to later sell it to an actual man for half what we paid for it. Lesson learned? Buy mattress from store.
• Remember when our hotel room the night after the wedding was right on the BART tracks. Every. Twelve. Minutes.
• How could you forget Hawaii...and Cholos. And we have to mention the tounge thing.
• Remember Skookie with the Richards'. And Party in a Can. and Jookie. And the Chokie. And Michele being blamed for knocking Pluto over.
• Remember the Flarp Face. And when Mark got the marshmallow all over his face at our BBQ.
• Remember when Mom beat out all the kids in her energy when they all came down to Disneyland. And then the car battery was dead at ONE in the morning and we had to wait for help. And your need was up against the guy who lost his kid at noon.
• You can't forget about the Gender confusion Denny's trip, and the Kamikaze squirrels that attacked us on the rocks in San Simion.
• Remember when Kaylinn cut Mark's hair for the first time ever. And that one really big mistake...or maybe we want to forget that.
• Remember 13.1 miles in Long Beach. And the ghetto hotel we stayed in that had a smoking room assigned to us so we upgraded to a "2 bedroom suite" to get out of it. And the "suite" was just as bad...but at least didn't have smoke.
• Remember when we stayed in the Grand California hotel and the Disneyland Hotel for the one night each...free...as a "test guest".
• Remember the Disney Dining Plan in Florida. And our mammoth Ice Cream goodness.
• Remember the Richards' visit round II. And Judy the hoarder. And we all vowed to never...
• Remember how glad you were to have a spare bedroom given the number of friends we were able to visit with!
• Remember Christmas day and Rock Band for 7 hours.
• Remember Nikki, and Mora, and Kathy at Disney. And the Drama!
• Remember our generous donations to El Torito, Ruby's, Chili's, and Yogurt D'lite.

It was a good year!

Our Announcement

For some time now, Mark and I have been trying to figure things out work wise. Disney has been less then favorable and although the benefits are delightful; the work hours have been less then conducive for "family time". So...

We're Moving!

To my old roots!

Mark is going to take on Wright's Pool Service.

So a little shout out to my dad and his lifelong labor that has secured my future.

He really was a good man. I love you dad.

The Move is scheduled for the end of March. and we're not moving exactly to the old stomping grounds because I really want it to be a new story. If we moved there, and the kiddos went to CVHS and we were in CV2...come on now; we're not the Blatters. :) you'd have to be CV2 alumni to get that last part.

Guilty Pleasures

Don't deny it...you know you have them too.

1) Infomercials: especially the long ones that are like a whole program. I'll watch the same one for almost an hour! Who does that? And secretly I feel a small need to have whatever they are selling. I've never actually purchased, but I do love to watch them.

and on that note...

2) I also love the Great Performances show that has like a 20 minute break every 15 minutes to get you to donate money to their network. Its usually some great Jazz artist or a tribute to an era passed. Its just great music.

3) Celion Dion: I'm pretty sure I would karokee it if I sounded even a little like her.

and while on that note...

4) Cher: Although I only know a few of her songs-and they're all the old ones...I really do like them. And I may or may not have already karokee'd Cher in the past...more then once. If I could turn back time....

5) Alias: And I'm pretty sure I crushed on Michael Vartan that summer.

6) House Hunters: and pretty much every show on Bravo.

7) Children's books: thankfully I know a family with young kids and I read their books. Sara may think I'm reading it for the kids...but I'm not. I use to go to the library and read a whole section of children's books just for something to do. I miss those days.

8) Taco Bell: and I'm pretty sure I order 7 things when I go...all for myself...and I eat it all. Something about Taco Bell at any obscure hour is just delightful. But-you can't plan on Taco Bell. It must be a spontaneous idea and acted upon immediately, otherwise it it only medium in taste. Preferably long after the dinner. 5th meal as it has been called.

9) Professional Photos: Photoshop makes for some wicked nice wall art. And for flawless skin/teeth/radiance that sometimes I don't feel is present. Bonus.

I think nine is enough for now. What stuff do you love that it a little taboo but you still love it?

Sightings

While in Disneyland the other day, we stumbled upon this guy:

I only had to quadruple-take before I believed that it was in fact John Header made popular from Napoleon Dynamite. Delightful for us. Then on our 3rd ride of the day, we rode just in the log just behind these people:

Yes, these are the Hinkins from the reality show "Here Come the Newlyweds" who we wanted to win but they didn't. They came in 3rd place. And they are Mormon. I'm just saying--John; Mormon, the Hinkins: Mormon. We're totally on a celebrity sighting 2 for 2.

Disneyland is the greatest place for my paparazzi instincts. Photos compliments of Michelle's camera. Without her these photos would not be possible. :)

Semester Wrap Up

The greatest thing about being a teacher is the breaks! Today I finished up Semester 1 and now am ready for a fabulous 2 week long break. Allow me to toot my horn for a minute:

--I am especially proud of my students this semester. 2nd period specifically. They are rock stars. Overall I only failed 18% of my students. A huge improvement from last year where I failed 28%. Pretty sure that my hours of after school tutoring was actually worth something for a few of those kids.

--I am just not going to count period 4 for anything! At least 6 of those students. If y our percentage in class is 28.41% or lower (the lowest being 5.24) I'm pretty sure you have bigger problems in life other then the fact that you're not passing World History. With that being said, it really helps the fail rate percentage in that class. Do you think the school will care that I'm deleting 6 kids from that class period in my stats?

--I did exceptionally well with my parent contacts this semester; better then any before. Many of the parents had numerous emails and letters home to notify them of their kids progress, both good and bad. Pretty sure that is what got George, Karen, Denisha, and Ana to pass. It didn't work for everyone but, it did for some and I am really proud of myself. Can't lie, I totally went back through my "sent mail" and re-read what I wrote. I'm good!

Next semester will pose new challenges and changes. With yearbook no longer being "my" class it will make the structure different which will be an interesting adjustment. Some of my favorite students are graduation again. So weird to think I have been here long enough to have seen an entire class go through their 4 years of school. I just smile thinking of all those good kids. Meena & Aaron, and Chris, Jenny, Sean who I've had every year these 4 years...such good kids all of them. So-here's to another semester down. One more to go!

Please Step Down

Late last night I got a phone call from the principal of my school. Really? I have never received a personal phone call from the school. Conveniently I had taken the day off from work, which added to my anxiety as to why I would receive a phone call!

This morning I got word that I would be forced to step down from my Yearbook position. Being that I am not "highly qualified" under NCLB (no child left behind); the state threatens revoking my teaching licence if I continue to teach without obtaining either an English degree or an Art degree. So-I am being replaced. My room will still be the yearbook room; the book is 3/4 done. I'll still edit, and submit the pages, and essentially do all the work for it. Just not be the teacher on record. Or get paid for it. I am really sad about the whole thing.

Kinda a crappy deal. But I suppose that this was inevitable; considering I refused to go to another several semesters of classes to get an English degree. At least I made 2 books. Sad.

Qualified

My car desperately needed a wash. Desperately!

The other day it was raining. I stopped to get gas. While waiting at the pump--yes--I used the window washing brusher to basically wash my car. The combination of wet car, washer fluid brusher, followed by a raining rinse completed my very make-shift car wash. Hey, it worked. Don't judge me. And you probably thought of it too.

Pretty sure that qualifies me as something not so great. Whatever. I'll take it. And my cleaner car. I'll take them both.

Cast Christmas Party

Another Cast Christmas Party found us spending more time in the Park then we had anticipated. At first we just jumped in to get the collectors ornament, which turned into just swinging by to see if they had chocolate covered caramel apples, which evolved into stopping into the Christmas shop, and passing through King Arthur's Carousel, Dumbo, and Small World.

I really can't remember the last time I rode Dumbo. Quite Fantastic. And don't worry, I totally remembered the Disney episode with John & Kate's 8. Nice. I wonder if this is the face Mark would have made if he saw what I was thinking.

Love the Carousel.

Cheers to another Family Christmas party. Of course we walked out with several unnecessary purchases that were at a very discounted cast special. I even saw one of my students there. Its funny since his mom works there, he and I always have conversations about the inner stuff most don't know. Merry Christmas from the Disney Resort. We'll take it.

"I quit yesterday"

I haven't said much about school lately. Mostly because it feels like the same thing all the time. But I have one period every day that really tests my sanity. I changed the seating arrangement thinking it would be the cure all pill; and for all other periods it is! Except fourth period; the period that holds the children from...well, in the spirit of the season, we are all God's children, but these are definitely the...never mind.

The point is Martin. Started out a quiet kid. Didn't do a lot of work, (then again, none of these kids do) so I contacted mom to try and get some outside support. Fast Forward to today. He has 17%. Yesterday he came in after lunch smelling like smoke real bad. Then, to my shock, he came in after school to see if tutoring could help raise his grade. (um...you're asking me now? 5 days before the end of the semester?) I told him no, we had an interesting conversation about how he has turned in blank assignments, and even gone as far as giving me the assignment back telling me he wasn't going to do it and to save paper. Then we had this conversation:

Martin: Its better then last year, all I did was smoke weed before every period.
Me: [stunned] Every Period?
Martin: yeah, but I quit that. Now I just smoke cigs.
Me: Why are you doing that? You know it is a stupid choice right?
Martin: Yeah, but I'm quitting.
Me: That's good. are you on the patch or the gum?
Martin: The patch. I've got two on right now.
Me: That's good.

--at this point, Martin starts to get work to me that he wants credit for which is a whole new story; and he says something to me which made me feel like I had entered a smokers only zone--
Me: MARTIN! Did you smoke before you came in today?
Martin: Yeah. Just a cig though.
Me: and did you smoke before lunch too?
Martin: Yeah.
Me: You told me you were quitting. You've had 2 in 2 hours! That's not quitting!
Martin: I quit yesterday. It was too hard. I'll quit again later.

Nice. Wisdom from a 15 year old with a 17% in world history. Take it for what its worth.

Movie Review & stuff

One word! Amazing.

We haven't really been feeling the movie theater vibe until just recently. Now we have several that sound really good. We just ventured out to see the "Extraordinary true story"--The Blind Side. I may or may not have cried a little. So many great scenes and emotions. Pretty sure I have my most favorite NFL player now. Such a great flick and one we both HIGHLY recommend.

And I must add the topping to this already delicious cake came upon our exit of the theater. We were walking behind some rather old fellows who were also commenting on the film. One turned to the other with his hand resting on his companions shoulder and stated, "Did you see that body? Wow...now that was amazing. She is a looker that is for sure".

He may be totally out of her league and probably her generation, but he is totally right. I bet she doesn't have the privilege of enjoying ice cream.

In other news:

I have been working my hours finalizing the Senior yearbook pages. I have spend so much time doing these it is crazy! If one Senior says anything negative about them I'm going to punch them in the face. And then loose my job but it'll totally be worth it.

We've set out our Christmas tree. That was a delight. Cheers to Home Depot and their simple, tree purchasing process. Although he didn't cut off enough of the bottom so we struggled with leaning tree syndrome until Mark went all manly on it with his pocket knife. If we were stranded in the jungle, we'd totally survive. The magic of white lights on a tree at night makes the cold goodness of winter my favorite time of year.

Mark has been having quite the stories from work recently. A lot of he said, she said high school stuff which makes me laugh. Sometimes I think his lifeguards are younger then my Sophomores. One situation in particular makes us more frustrated then a job should make you. Someone is suspected to have been tampering with the schedule after it is posted. Thinking that nobody would know the difference. Shift hours were switched to benefit one party over the others and who gets the bad end of the deal? US! It has been quite the adventure, and we're certain the benefits of going to the park is not worth the job itself. So--we're ready for another adventure.

A Day Amongst The Animals

There are so many stories that could help support the title of this blog. So let's just start out by saying that this was the most spontaneous road trip that I ever taken. Kaylinn just said around 4 pm last Sunday, "Let's go to the San Diego Zoo tomorrow." So, we packed our bags, booked a room and off we went. After a trip to get some Oreo Blizzards (we are sinners, we know), it seemed to be a really quick trip down to San Diego. We booked a package that included pizza and a movie, so we finally watched the newest Harry Potter. Gotta say, I thought it was pretty good, better than I thought.

The next morning we headed off to the Zoo, and I can't explain why, but I absolutely love animals. I felt like I used to when I went to Disneyland (yes, most of the Disney love has moved on...sad I know). We got to the zoo and started our adventure heading to the reptiles. We got to the area with these HUGE Galapagos tortoises. As we were watching we noticed that two of them decided to express their love for each other....I know it is beyond immature, but it was one of the funniest moments we had during the day. So much work for the poor guy. Then two kids came up and said, "Look, he is giving her a back massage!" To which the girl responded, "I betcha she asked for it." We had to do everything we could to not lose it in front of these kids.

After that we went and saw the monkeys and tigers, followed closely by the Panda Bears and Polar Bears. Then to a whole lot of others. The best part about the day, for whatever reason the animals were super active. We got to each area right at feeding time or some other time that they were all just moving around. I have never been to a zoo where the animals were actually moving. So, I guess we will show you a few pictures of what we got to see....and you know I had to include one of the turtles.

Now that is one back massage we will never forget!

Being that these bears hardly move at all during the day, we saw quite a bit of action from these guys. (A few bear shots for our buddy Jason W!)

Now this was incredible, this polar bear (which neither of us have ever seen polar bears in a zoo move before) had a lil' moment with Kaylinn where they kinda just looked at each other for a minute. It was amazing!

I had to add in a picture with this little guy. He was, I must say, cute.

Now, my favorite part of the trip was feeding time for the lions. They did an enrichment activity where the food was put in a burlap sack and they had to figure it out. The zoo-keeper said that he was sure the female would get it because she was the smart one, and the male would try for a while and give up. True to form, the female had it in about 2 minutes and 35 minutes later, the male was still trying to figure it out. Once again, I have never seen a lion move in a zoo, but this was amazing, they are absolutely majestic in every way shape and form. My only regret...I just wish the stupid fence wasn't blocking the photos! But, on the other hand, I was glad it was there so they didn't tear the flesh off of my face. Check out those teeth!

All in all, it was the most successful zoo trip either of us has ever had. Three cheers for my amazing wife and her spontaneous inclinations and for getting me out of my daily routine. Another shout out to Carl's Jr. and their Oreo shakes, absolutely amazing! An all around fantastic trip!

In Recognition

Not that we think she'll happen upon our blog on her day of birth

But we give a roudy shout out to our British/Canadian/American citizen friend.

May you live long and prosper. We thought of you while in Epcot. Too bad you and Buddy weren't free to join us. Would have loved your company!

All. Time. Favorite

"Favorite" is a pretty bold statement. Tonight, I was reminded why the classic holiday film While You Were Sleeping is my favorite film. And my all.time.favorite scene in all of movie-dom is as follows. I'm pretty sure I cry laughing every time. Tessa will attest. So funny!






And I hope all our Holiday Table conversations have someone commenting on the creamy mashed potatos...very mashed!

I'm Thankful

In the Spirit of Thanksgiving, I am Thankful for:

My job: I love the creativity and freedom I have to "do my own thing". I love that the Principal respects me and appreciates my value to the team. I love my paychecks!

Costco: Two words--Sample Ladies. Pretty sure Mark and I have been on dinner dates there a few times. Its delightful, and if you haven't done it you should cuz its pretty dang fun. Pretty sure I use to be a Costco Sample Lady when I was in high school. How did I get that job!??! Katie G. and Amanda B. both worked at Costco and I really wanted be cool like them so I applied. Except I applied to the wrong company. WDS works in Costco, but isn't costco. Whatever. I liked that job.

Modern Communication! Thank you Mr. Alexander Bell, and Mr. Thomas Edison, and Mr. Internet people, and Dr. Martin Cooper. Definitely Dr. Cooper. What was life before cell phones and free long distance. I'll tell you what it was like: USPS=no communication-o. So gentlemen; you are all super blessings in my life.

Mexicans: I couldn't love enchiladas and tacos and chips and salsa any more. So even though some of their kids in my classrooms are the bane of my existence (Noriel Lopez!) their food is dang BIEN!

Freeways: Can you imagine getting to work side streets. Well, maybe you can depending on where you live and work but I know that I COULD NOT do that! As they say, we measure distance not in miles but in how long it will take you to get there.

Pictures: Thank you world for making pictures easy and convenient and wonderful. They are the only tangible evidence I have of my dad. They hold more memories and life and love and joy and sadness and dear people in all of those photo pages. Thank you Photoshop for making pictures look more amazing then ever. And talented photographers whose skill makes us all look flawless and amazing.

So many good people: Countless individuals. I could not give a shout out to them all for fear of forgetting one. But I couldn't forget Courtney and lessons she has taught me in spirituality, faith, finding joy in life, and pure spunk. Lauren and her consistent spontaneous companionship; not one college memory was made without her. Sara and her friendship, kindness, and wisdom; moving is never fun and I dread life without our date nights. Michael Palo for making work meetings bearable, Bonnie Jacobs for saving me in MoVal and our memories with the Bells', Stephanie Inskeep for convincing me to buy a Disneyland season pass...thank you for the people.

Mark Morrell-What a man of service, love, devotion, support, kindness, and adventure. I admire his will to work, persevere, problem solve, and personal improvement. Life would not be the same without his sound effects, facial expressions, Fast Talk, food cravings, blue eyes, and love of the game. In just 7 months he has cooked countless meals, watched a myriad of shows, edited wedding photos, updated my musical needs, arranged tours of near impossible grander, introduced me to and allowed me to socialize with remarkable friends, and trained for and run a half marathon. All. for. me! I love him and am eternally thankful he said yes!

The Gospel of Jesus Christ-A true foundation to an ever changing life. One place I can rely that will always be the same, produce the same results. Constant direction and guidance. I love the temple. I love what I feel when I go there and what I learn inside. I cherish eternal marriage covenants and blessings. I reverence the blessing of repentance and mercy made available through my Savior. I am truly and humbly THANKFUL for my membership.

The list could be too long for posting, but I truly am a grateful person this season. I pray all our hearts can reflect on the good we have been given; somewhere in the muck we call life.

Walt Disney World

Delightful! Vacation time finally came and we were more then ready. And what better place then on the other side of the country in the land where "Dreams Come True". Because Mark happens to work for the parks, we get some fabulous discounts. We were there for 5 days, how delightful!Just a few pictures to highlight our trip. We must mention our ability to eat! Disneyworld has the most amazing dining plan that had us eating pretty much non-stop. Our best "sit-down" meal was at Ohanas in the Polynesian Resort. Funny thing, for me-the meat wasn't the best part but it the delicious pastas and goodness you get before the meat buffet. I'm just saying!

I'm not much for Roller Coasters but in true theme park support, I rode all the rides. Expedition Everest is the parks most recent roller coaster. I don't love the backwards part of the ride, or the forward part so much either. I guess you can just look at my face, that tells a pretty good story.

Back to the food...pretty sure my favorite part was when we discovered the ice cream station. And I hate to admit it but I totally ate one of these every night; Mark enjoyed a chocolate shake (or two) as well. Yes, we took the "we're on vacation" excuse to the next level.

The highlight of the trip would most definitely be the surprise Mark had planned for Thursday night. We headed back to the Magic Kingdom that evening and I had guesses all over the place. It wasn't until we ventured backstage with a park manager that I put the pieces together. We were headed to none other then the Cinderella Suite located in Cinderella's castle. This room was used for the year of a million dreams but now is used exclusively for high profile guests. And very few tours. Their most recent guests? Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes.

James showed us little secrets from the escape window that would stop the fireworks show if it were opened and the Versailles chest taken from the fall off the Versailles Palace during the March. It was seriously beautiful. Smaller then I thought it would be. There wasn't a master bedroom, just one room with 2 queen beds and a pull out queen sofa. So my question: where did TomKat sleep? It was super neat to stand in a room that is so hard to get into. What a treat.

One of our last stops was at Epcot. The newest attraction there was the Kim Possible Secret Mission extravaganza. You get a little cell phone that tells you clues throughout different countries as you hunt for the evil henchmen. Really kinda fun, even for those of us in our late 20s.

And our last special treat was to meet the characters from the movie Up! which is one of our new favorites. Carl and Russel were uber cute. Carl even lent Mark his walker/cane thing. Super cute. So here is our standard Disney character shot.

A few other trip highlights (less photos):

• Analyzing WDW lifeguards. They failed.
• The couple on Splash Mountain. I promise he was late 30s, she was barely 20...if we're being nice.
• Mark's introduction to and conquering of Sudoku
• Christmas Lights in Hollywood Studios
• Running into old friend Ben Parkes and expecting wife.
• Peter Pan ride: so much better then California.
• Birthday guy from Jungle Cruise. "Many more to come...for both of us" said while shoving cheetos and a pickle into his mouth.
• German dinner with awkward tablemates.
• 50% holiday cast member discount on merchandise
• Food, Food, Food. Perhaps the additional lbs gained were not so good.
• Trip to Downtown Disney (about 1 hour travelling time) to purchase "must haves". Later realizing they were in the shop at the hotel. Nice wasted trip.
• $6.00 DirectTV purchase on flight home. Totally worth it.