Wednesday!

Wednesday was the craziest day ever! It was so eventful. It started with an hour and a half at the jumping gym. We used to always go to the tumbling gym, but it closed down and this new one opened. It's cheaper, bigger and way more fun! So we had a blast! I was so exhausted by the time we left! 

After the tumbling gym Josh and I went home and took a nap. We were so tired. After our short nap the girls all hiked the Y. I had hiked the Y once before (with Morgan and Jenn actually). Hannah, Chandler and Kendal had never hiked it though. It was a lot of fun. It is a tiring hike but the view is spectacular! 

Gorgeous right? The view. Not my sweaty face. 

After we got down from hiking the Y, Kendal, Hannah, Chandler and I went to the grocery store. We needed to pick up some things for Thanksgiving dinner. After the store I dropped them off at Sammy's (local restaurant) to have dinner with friends and I went home to clean my house. Let's be honest...it was abandoned this week. That night, since we didn't the night before, we hit up Spark Lounge. It was like an extended girls night! Spark was so fun! Jenn wore here tutu and we all dressed up. 

[we even shared an appetizier]

[this wasn't my drink..but it was so classy. i just had to get my picture with it]

[that's my hand reaching for my drink. stripped pina colada. yum]

It was a fabulous day and a classy night!

More from the Break

After our adventurous Saturday we took it pretty easy on Sunday. Then on Monday it was back to the grind. I only had school Monday and Tuesday and then I had the rest of the break off which was so nice. Josh had to work everyday except for Thursday. Since I didn't have school Wednesday morning we did our girls night on Tuesday night. It was pretty anti-climatic. Not really, just part of it. 


We had planned on going to Spark Lounge. This really fun little restaurant/drink place in Provo. They have all these fun appetizers/meals and fancy drinks that are all non-alcoholic (welcome to Provo, haha). But, by the time we got there (Kendal was working that night) they were closed! They closed early since it was the week of Thanksgiving. Lame. It wasn't even the night before or anything! So we went back to Morgan and Jenn's house and had our own little party. We did our nails, listened to fun music, put cups on our head and made crazy tall ponytails, danced around and then watched My Best Friends Wedding until we fell asleep. It was a crazy girls night. 

[Oh, we also made Nutella muddy buddies. Talk about amazing]

It was a fabulous night! I love my sister-in-laws! 

These are newspaper nails! 

1. Paint nails with regular nail polish in any color.

2. Let dry

3. Dip piece of newspaper in rubbing alcohol.

4. Press piece of newspaper on nail for 15 seconds.

5. Peel off and cover with clear coat. 

Adorable! 

So Much to Blog About!

I have so much to blog about. It's kind of overwhelming to think about. Last Wednesday (as in November 16) Josh's younger twin sisters came to town. Hannah and Chandler were in Provo for a week and a half! We had so much fun spending time with them. Unfortunately, they weren't staying at our house so we didn't see as much of them as we would have hoped, but it was still great! Plus, it just made more sense for them to stay at Morgan and Jenn's (considering the size of our place). Since they got here in the middle of the week, Josh and I still had work and school. So Josh got to see them during the day on Thursday and Friday and I saw them those nights. It was just wherever we could squeeze in time.

On Saturday (since I didn't have school and Josh didn't have work) we decided to make a day of it and we went to the hot springs. Now, I've blogged about this place before (Josh and I went for our anniversary). But last time we went, it was summer. Hot, sunny and beautiful. This time...not so much.

 But, it was so adventurous! It had snowed the day before so there was some snow on the path (2.5 mile hike in and 2.5 mile hike out) but it was mostly packed snow that was basically ice. It was really fun on the way in (it was mostly uphill). We slid around and fell a lot but it was still light outside and we made it to the springs in about 2 hours.

When we got there it was about 30 minutes shy of sunset. We knew we couldn't stay long because the temperature was dropping and it was going to get miserable very soon.

Since we had to head back soon, we only stayed in the water about 20-30 minutes. But even though it was a short stay, it was totally worth it. The water felt amazing! Jane even got in. The only bad part was getting into our swimsuits to get in and getting naked to get back in our clothes after. Brrr.

After we had played in the water we started heading back. It started getting dark about 20 minutes into our hike back. In fact, it was pitch black. Luckily Josh brought flashlights (we had four between the 7 of us). The walk back was pretty scary. It's really too hard to explain without experiencing it. The path was between 2 feet and 6 feet wide and about half of the time was a steep drop off into the icy river. The drop off ranged from 5 feet to probably 30. The scariest part was that coming back was mostly downhill, in the dark on the ice. So we slipped...a lot. We basically just rode back on our butts. But when you're sliding down on your butt and the path curves and you can't stop and then there's a big cliff on the side of you...it's pretty frightening. Luckily we all made it back safely! It was quite the adventure!

That night Josh and I went to the last BYU home game with Jacob and Valerie. Valerie's parents buy 4 season tickets every year and it just so happened that only they were going that night, so they invited us! It was great. We love football games! Thanks Jacob and Val! (Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures at the game...Boo!)

But Saturday was super fun! And a great start to a fabulous week!

Busy

Sorry I haven't posted in so long! We are alive...I promise. We are just super busy, as always. Student teaching is fabulous. Josh's job is going great and we are getting ready for the holidays. Josh just got back from a short trip to South Carolina to visit family and friends. Josh's twin sisters Hannah and Chandler are here for Thanksgiving and I am preparing for a trip to Washington to see my family and be in Alyson's wedding! :) Can't wait!

We are busy, happy and loving every bit of it!

More to come, promise.

Here are a couple pictures from Josh's trip. We LOVE face-time. It's basically the iphone's skype. You just have to be on wifi and you can face chat whenever. It was great while he was away. We face-timed every night. I missed that kid!

Z Z Z Z Z First Grade's Where I Want To Be

i love...

I love the sweet children in my class. I love what they are learning. I love my mentor teacher. I love getting sweet notes from the kids. I just love it. 

I started the second block of my student teaching last week in first grade. It is fabulous. I could not be happier with my placement which I am thankful for...for many reasons. I am in a first grade classroom in Lehi, UT. My mentor teacher is fantastic. I have learned so much from her in the two short weeks I've been with her. She is letting me dive right in. I am running nearly all of the morning routines and mini-lessons. I have done one observation (only 4 to go) and things are going wonderfully. 

My teacher is one of the best examples of love and limits in teaching. Her class has strict limits and they know what is expected of them but not a second goes by that they don't know she loves them and cares about them. She is so fun. They love to sing and be silly and they work hard all the time! It's such a great place to be. 

I cannot believe that I will be DONE with school in 5 weeks. Done. Done.

Done.

I seriously, cannot believe it. I don't feel like a college graduate. I don't feel like I could go out and get a teaching job and be a teacher. Ha. I guess I should. 

Well, first grade is going well, and that's basically all I had to say. If you're wondering what the title of the post is about...

My class does this little chant at the end of every day. They say, "Z Z Z Z Z First grade's where I want to be. Be the BEST you can be!!" It's adorable. Imagine it in a sing-songy chant and very, very loud. It's amazing and they love it! 

The small chant they do comes from this full chant.

A B C D E
First grade's where I want to be.
F G H I J
Learning to read and write each day.
K L M N O
Boys and girls I want to know.
P Q R S T
Sharing books with you and me.
U V W X Y
Now it's time to say goodbye.
Z Z Z Z Z
First grade's where I want to be!