The CABIN!

I feel like I post about going to the cabin all the time. 


I'm always excited to go to the cabin but for some reason I was more than excited this time. I took a million pictures in the car on the way up of the scenery but mostly of myself. 

The pictures from this trip are way different than they are normally. Since it's February the cabin was so snowy! It was absolutely beautiful. It was sunny and nice the day we arrived which was perfect because when there is that much snow, you can't drive the cars up to the cabin. So, we parked about a mile down from the cabin and hiked up to the cabin (with all of our stuff). We made it about 2/3 of the way there when a man with a 4-wheeler picked us and our stuff up and took us the rest of the way! Thank goodness! We had everything on sleds which made it a little easier, but we were just about to climb the giant hill when he saved us! 

It looks fun, I'm sure but this was about 200 feet from the cars. We had only just started. It got pretty tiring. After we got up to the cabin Elliott (Valerie's brother) drove down to the parking lot to find Morgan and Jenn (they left about an hour after us). He brought them up with all their stuff on the 4-wheeler. I still don't know how they did it. 


Now, I have to preface this by telling you a little about our favorite show, Community. A couple weeks ago they did an episode where they all play a round of Dungeons and Dragons. It was completely ridiculous but it looked really fun. Morgan got this great idea to create our own game of D&D to play at the cabin. I think most of us thought, "yeah, that would be fun, but who is going to take all the time to do that?" Well, Morgan did. He must have spent hours and hours preparing for Friday night. 

Pretty intense, right? He created his own story, characters, map, everything! I think we all thought it would last like an hour but we ended up playing late into the night. We were all surprised at how detailed and long of a game it is. The little cones are our characters. We moved around the map to try and figure out the story according to our abilities and skills. My name was Luccio. I was a female wizard of the white court. I could cast spells, freeze people, move objects without touching them and make an ogre appear to scare my enemies. 

Saturday was spent mostly sledding and relaxing. Most of the girls took a little cat nap while the boys finished their D&D game (yes, it continued on into the morning). I did some much needed homework (lesson plan writing, as always). Then we all got bundled up and headed out in the snow. It snowed almost all day Saturday so the powder just got deeper and deeper. We would sled down the hill and then one of boys would drive down and pull us back up on the 4-wheeler. Now that is my kind of sledding. On Saturday night we played some sardines around the house (in the pitch black). We've only done it twice, but I feel like it's become a bit of a ritual. Then we decided to make a human pyramid. That idea came to a screeching halt when Josh kicked me in the eye while attempting a head stand. I saw stars so I had to sit down but the most embarrassing part was that after almost falling over and crying in the bathroom, I didn't get a black eye. It's probably good I didn't since I was going to start teaching two days later, but come on. I had nothing to show for my whimpiness. My eye did puff up a little and my actual eye ball was really sore for a couple days. Morgan and Jenn left Saturday night because Jenn had to be in primary on Sunday. Sunday was basically sledding day all day long. By this time I was starting to feel sick. I had a cough all day Saturday that came out of nowhere. And then Sunday I felt just awful. I tried to convince Josh to go home Sunday night but it was just too much of a hassle for everyone else. I didn't get to do any sledding on Sunday because I was feeling so sick. I took a nap and we played a couple rounds of Settlers of Catan. I did bundle up so that I could take some pictures though! It was absolutely gorgeous! 

Here comes Valerie! Oh wait, who is that behind her? It's Josh! 

Here comes Elliott and Jacob close behind!

All smiles, despite feeling so sick!

On Saturday night we cleaned the house and packed our things so we could head out early Monday morning. We took a bunch of trips down on the 4-wheeler to our cars and hit the road! 

Here are a few more random pictures from the weekend. 

Our candy pile that grew bigger and bigger everyday. This was after 24 hours at the cabin...

I just think this picture is hilarious. Whoa blurry and whoa Josh.  

We started the weekend with 7 two liters of Dr. Pepper. We ran out mid-day Sunday. Ridiculous. We calculated...it was about 6 cans per person.

Our food pile on the first day. We ate almost all of it. 

Thanks Jacob and Valerie for inviting us!! We love the cabin! 

<3

Josh the Baker

Josh has started baking every week for fun. Last week I walked into the kitchen to find this...

Yep, that's him baking with my apron on. 

Valentine's Day

Josh and I had a fabulous Valentine's Day. We love celebrating holidays...maybe a little too much. I think it's silly when people say they don't celebrate Valentine's Day because every day should be like Valentine's Day. I don't know about everyone else, but Valentine's Day is the day when we spoil each other. We can't afford to spoil each other everyday. I think big fancy dates are important. They reignite the spark and it's always fun getting all dressed up. 


Since we don't have a ton of money to spend right now (cruise tickets) we decided to keep it kind of low key. Of course, our idea of low key is still spending money. We just love spending money...


I bought Josh some truffles and a bag of beef jerky. He bought my a beautiful bouquet of flowers, chocolate covered strawberries, and beef jerky (because I all of his last time I bought him some, and yes, we think alike). I went out to the mall in the morning to buy...well never mind that ;)

We decided to go to Guru's for dinner. It's one of our favorite local restaurants and it's not over priced at all. I love their southwest chipotle wrap and Josh ordered pork tacos. We always get a big order of sweet potato fries to go with whatever we order. They have the best fries. 

(Josh loves when I curl my hair. So I did, just for him)

After dinner we went to Color-Me-Mine. I can't reveal too much about this, but I will later. Josh made a plate as always. 


Unfortunately Josh isn't home and all the color-me-mine pictures are on his phone because I forgot mine. But I will post some later! 

After dinner we came back, broke open the sparkling cider and watched our favorite shows while we cuddled. I love spending time with Josh. We always have so much fun. Whether it's a big Valentine's date or just hanging around the house, he can always make me laugh. 


I'll post more pictures from V-day later! 

About time...

Alright! I promised updates, so here they are. First on the list...school. 


I started my practicum on Tuesday. I got assigned to teach in first grade in the Nebo school district at Rees Elementary. I love everything about it. I've only gone twice, but I still love it. The kids are completely adorable, I already have a painting on my fridge (which is new, more to come about that) and my teacher has been wonderful. I will be teaching my first lesson this Tuesday! My first lesson will also be my first lesson observed/graded. Duh duh duh. Whatever. I figure, the less I stress about it, the better I'll do. Right? The school I'm at is only 8 years old and every staff member  I have met has been welcoming and friendly. The principle is so nice and is getting us involved in the school in every way he can. It's going to be a great experience! 

Josh is still chugging away at his classes as well. He went in and saw his advisor recently and got graduation all figured out. We are both on track to graduate in December (as was the plan) and Josh has less credits left than he thought which means he can work more this summer and take less classes. All good news. Josh also starts solo flying soon. He has his first check flight coming up soon (way delayed because of medical issues with South Carolina and Utah doctors trying to mesh records). It was pretty frustrating for a while but everything was approved and so he can continue on. 


Well, that's about it for our school updates. More updates are coming soon! 

What's to Come

I have been so busy lately and just have not had the chance to blog. But, here's a little sneak preview of what's to come. 

School updates (exciting, I know...)

Our super romantic Valentine's Day!

Josh's cooking escapades

&&&

A winter trip to Valerie's cabin (happening tomorrow through Monday)

See you guys back here soon!

Children's Books

As I get further into my major (almost finished really) I am getting more and more obsessed with children's literature. The only teaching experience I've had has been in the BYU Kindergarten. For those of you unfamiliar with this facility...they are basically spoiled. Don't get me wrong, it's a wonderful, wonderful place to work. But, it is nothing like a real public school classroom. Every resource you could possibly need is right at your fingertips (for FREE)! I was so spoiled working there. When I wanted to do a center that involved art supplies I had them. When I wanted to do anything with cardstock, lined paper, construction paper, glue, tape, pom poms, glitter, clay, sand, etc, etc...I had it. It was heaven. 


So now all my teachers are telling me, "when you have your own classroom, your supply of resources is very limited." I guess with my experience, it had just never crossed my mind. I have to supply nearly everything that I want to use in my classroom. Yikes. 


The other thing teachers supply their own of...books. Yep, those amazing classroom libraries that you had in your elementary school classrooms...they belonged to your teacher. Of course, there are ways to get books. You can check out books from the school library. But depending on the area, some schools don't even have a school library (mind you, that is rare). So, I'm starting to realize that if there is anything (resource wise) that I want readily available to my classroom children, it's books. Lots and lots of books. Reading was always a staple in my house growing up. I remember having access to tons of books at home, making multiple trips to the library a week, and ordering books from book orders every month. We loved books. And my belief in the importance of reading has only grown more since I've started my degree. I think it's important to have children's books in every room (including the bathroom and kitchen...I can explain that one if you're interested). So, where do I start? 


This semester I have access to the Scholastic book orders through one of my teachers. It has been wonderful, but even the book orders (where books are typically reasonably priced) can get expensive. I spent an hour at DI yesterday searching through children's books trying to find some good ones. I got 7 books there for about $7. Not bad. Their books range from $.75 to $1.25. I can handle that, but the pickings are slim. Most of the books are weird titles that well, frankly, deserve to be at a DI. 


So here's my question to you! :)


Where do you buy your children's books for cheap? 


Also, who are your favorite children's book authors? 


I'll list a few of mine below, but I would love to hear who you love and where you find their books! 

Kevin Henkes for so, so many reasons. I want to own every book by Kevin Henkes.  

If you haven't read the Skippyjon Jones series, you need to (especially if you like doing fun accents). 

This book is great for repetition with young children. 

Of course Maruice Sednak must be included.

I'm not crazy about the "critter" books by Mercer Mayer, but I love his books outside of that series. There are a handful. 

I love these books. 

There is also a whole series to this book. I got one at DI yesterday, "Vote for Duck."

I love Jan Brett's books. I love how she presents the illustrations.

Mo Willems' books are hilarious!

Fancy Nancy is an adorable little story. They've made a whole series from these as well.

Fun book with really fun illustrations.

Of course it's impossible to list all my favorites. I left out pretty much all the classics. These are just a few on my mind lately. I will tell you what I don't enjoy though...I don't enjoy the new fad of potty humor books. I think there are just so many more quality children's books out there. How many titles can they make with the word 'underpants' in them? Honestly...?