All's Forgiven

I am married to a pretty remarkable man. Although last year come Christmas day and I didn't get anything from him, I did have a brief moment of questioning. I understood that he was stressed with school and didn't know what to get me but as a precausion I drastically lowered my expectation on what to expect from my dear Tyler come festive occassions.

This year I was blown out of the water.

December 19th, 6 days before Christmas:

This was my last day of teaching before the break and was wonderful because it was a half day and I had plans to go snowboarding before the resorts closed. I frantically pulled into the garage (thank you Jensen's for the indoor parking especially in this snowy weather) and as I ran downstairs to get changed, I passed Tyler bringing up my Giraff snowboard of 10 years that I had bought "used" at 14. This trusty snowboard still works altough the bindings are rusted to the board. We got up to Sundance Resort and as I was pulling on my coat and gloves Ty tells me he has my board for me. I turn around and it is a brand new beautiful snowboard and bindings! Of course, being that Tyler bought it, it was one of the best and newest of the season. For those who know snowboards it is a K2 Luna 10th Anniversary Snowboard with sorosky crystals (love the bling). It was awesome for the two hours I have gotten to use it so far.

So, I thought that was it for Christmas, I mean a snowboard? That is a pretty awesome Xmas gift. But this morning, Christmas Day, Tyler tells me there is more. I have been wanting a gold watch for a long time. I am not a big jewelry person, primarily because I am convinced the weight of necklaces and bracelets irritate my "cancer spots" (you don't want to know; I am perfectly physically healthy, but maybe a little sick upstairs), but do enjoy wearing "flashy" gold earrings as of late and they clash with my silver watch (which I also love, Thank you Meg and Ron for the Xmas gift 4 years ago!). I have had trouble finding a gold watch that didn't look old ladyish but recently Tyler and I found one we both liked. I thought it was way to expensive and he didn't say anything until this morning, when I got a letter with the picture of the watch inside. (The reason for the pic and not the actual watch is because I am an incredibly curious or "nosey" as some like to say, person and Tyler had hidden the watch so well he forgot to grab it before we left for Indiana). Although I love the watch and can't wait to try it on when we get home.

In conclusion, this year Tyler totally rocked my socks off in the Christmas present department.

Although, I must admit that I love that sucker the same, gifts or no gifts. He is the greatest blessing in my life.

Merry Christmas!

LA Trip

Last weekend, on a marketing venture, I took my Intercultural Outreach BYU students to Los Angeles to explore the cultural variety of LA.


For a first time trip that was often close to being canceled on more than one occasion, the trip actually went very well.

We arrived in the Long Beach airport on Thursday night. After gathering luggage and renting cars, we headed to downtown LA where we stayed at a very upscale Marriott near the fashion district. http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1063135772110082920

Friday we hit the ground running. We started with Chinatown where we had a tour and history lesson from a very knowledgable 5th generation American Chinese man. We shopped at the little stores, I bought a bowl that matches my dishes for $2.99 (whoohoo! steal!) but we unfortunately ran out of time for traditional Chinese lunch.

We had an appointed at the Islamic Center, the largest mosque in LA which also hosts a K-8th school and other social activities. We meet with a man that teaches Arabic at UCLA in addition to running the center. After a short briefing, we took our spots for the midday Friday prayer. (This is the most important time for prayer in Islam. It is like the 3 hour block on Sunday for us LDS, but only last 30 minutes and they don't have to wear shoes! Lucky...) Watching people from all different socio-economic classes and ethnic backgrounds pour into the mosque as the call for prayer was announced was truly touching. These men and women leave on their lunch breaks to come to prayer. I was overcome by the feelings of brotherly-love and could feel that these hundreds of people truly cared about their relationship with God. It comforted me to know that I am not the only one out there that still believes in God and desires to know him better. The service included scripture that was sung and repeated in Arabic, prayer and a short sermon. I loved seeing the womens beautiful veils (they cover their hair in reverance and the shoe boxes outside the mosque filled with shoes of all shapes and sizes. If you have a chance to go to an Islamic Friday prayer, do it.

We next went to the Getty Museum which was BEAUTIFUL! I can't believe I grew up an hour away and had never been to see the art and architecture there. We finished up the night with the Mann's Theater and the traditional Hollywood shopping. I finally got to a Sephora (there are none in Utah) and got some new eye shadow. I also got a cute sweater at H&M (also not in Utah) for 10 bucks!

Are you tired of reading?? Now we are on to Saturday.

Saturday we woke early and did a little shopping in Santee Alley. Best place in LA to shop. If you need directions, call me! I got a few xmas presents and spent most of the time trying to round up the girls in my group who did not want to leave.

We also went to the Pacific Asian Art Museum in Pasadena and then went to Korea town to have Korean BBQ. Korea town truly was like entering another country. No one spoke English, the signs were in Korean and English (they actually had to pass a law a few years ago to make sure they were in English also) and the shopping mall completely catered to Koreans styles and taste. My favorite was the shoe store that sold shoes that increased your height! We had our best meal at a traditional Korean BBQ. Apparently meat is highly prized in Korea because it is so crowded there is not much roaming room for cows and stuff, so this was a Korean specialty. See the pics. It was nothing like anything I have ever had before. I have been to the Touch of Seoul in Provo and it made me sick. This place was much much better!

That afternoon we dropped our students off at the airport and I got to spend about 21 hours with my family. It was great seeing everyone (except I didn't get to see Elise :( she had to work).

I think I'll end now even though I have more to say. I hate reading long post so I bet no one is actually reading by now. hehe. LA was great and I loved it!

Merry Christmas Tree

Here is our first Christmas tree! I think it turned out pretty great. :)

My husband is the best and helped me with the buying and decorating. We have pretty good taste together.

Merry Christmas Tree!!

The Beauty of Tests!

I am currently sitting in my room with 25 students and it is SILENT and therefore BEAUTIFUL.

For the past two days I have given 6 out of my 9 classes tests on "The Road to the Revolution". My tests are pretty hard and take most kids the majority of the 70 minute period, which means utter bliss for me. (Until the grading comes).

I really enjoy test days not only for the silence, but because I get to see the excitement in many of my students as they feel the accomplishment of taking on something challenging that they have prepared for. There is nothing better than the satisfaction of KNOWING you did well on a test because of your preparation. I also enjoy a degree of satisfaction I get when it comes to grading. Many of my students do very well on their tests, scoring A's and B's. It feels great knowing that I taught them something and they previously knew nothing about.

So, I thought it would be fun if you got to test your knowledge of the American Revolution. Are YOU smarter than an 8th grader?

a. King George III b. Mongrel Breed c. Common Sense
d. Treaty of Paris e. Quartering Act f. Red Coats
g. Patrick Henry h. Tories i. Whigs
j. Samuel Adams k. Tyranny l. firebrand

____1.) A law which required colonist to provide housing and food for soldiers.
____2.) A political party which believed the king should remain in control of the colonies.
____3.) This word describes a hothead or someone who sparks a revolution.
____4.) This person is remembered for the famous quote, “Give me liberty, or give me death.”
____5.) Authored by Thomas Paine and helped colonist to question the British control.
____6.) A political party that believed the colonies should be allowed to govern themselves.
____7.) The nickname for British Soldiers.
____8.) Formally ended the War for Independence.
____9.) Oppressive or unjustly severe government on the part of the ruler.
____10.) An agitator who started the “committees for correspondence” and the Sons of Liberty.



Answer Key: 1-e, 2-h, 3-l, 4-g, 5-c, 6-i, 7-f, 8-d, 9-k, 10-j

Are you satisfied?

The Hostess with the Mostess!

Today Tyler and I had 14 people over for dinner in our 1 bedroom basement apartment.

I am pretty proud of myself!! :)




I didn't take pics while everyone was over because I was too embarrassed to let them know how pleased with myself I was! hehe.

My Missionary

As I sat home alone tonight, I had quite a bit of quiet time to reflect on my past.

The week before I turned 19, my now husband, left on a two year mission to teach the people of Vera Cruz, Mexico about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I remember the first few months (well maybe more like 6 months) he was gone I cried like a baby each night. The advice my older brother Ryan gave me was, "Shannon, it's not like he is dead. Get a hold of yourself." My little brother Russ would tease me by spraying on Polo Blue (Ty's signature cologne) which would always bring back a surge of memories and tears.

As the months wore on I grew stronger. I was able to continue my weekly correspondence with Tyler via letter and enjoy a fairly superficial social life with the zoobies of BYU. During this time I managed to tear apart everything I thought I believed, reach a point of utter confusion, and slowly build a thicker and firmer foundation of beliefs.

While Tyler was gone I tried to fill the void with a variety of things. I was passionate about a new outlandish thing each week. I'll never live down the time I claimed to my family that I wanted to be a granola. According to them, that would mean I couldn't shop at Nordstrom anymore. Whatever it means, it didn't stick.

After two years, Tyler came home and I was freaked out. At this point I was tired of waiting. I wanted to know the moment he got off the plane if we still had that teenage, romantic, dying love for each other. Things were a little rough at first. He was weird, I was scared and it was quite awkward.

Luckily that only lasted a month or so. The first week of August I met him at his family reunion at Current Creek outside of Heber (I know I must sound brave, but his entire family is really kind and I really had nothing to fear). We went on a 4-wheeler ride together and after a two year absence, thoughts and feelings fell right back into place.

I have now been married to my missionary for almost two years. I won't lie. It hasn't been the fairy tale I imagined it would be while he was off serving the Lord. But without the pains of trial how could you truly feel the rewards of success?

While Tyler was on his mission, he often found ways to encourage me and make me smile. One week he sent me some lyrics. These lyrics continue to give me comfort and encouragement.

Tell me what you thought about when you were gone
And so alone
The worst is over
you can have the best of me
We got older
But we're still young
We never grew out of this feeling that we won't give up

I am so grateful that I married my missionary.

Summer Memories from California

Here are a few pictures from this summer.

This pic was taken down at Solana Beach where we spent some days in the sun with the Conley Family.



The lovely couple we spent most of our time with is now engage to be married! Hooray Aubrey and Joe! we can't wait for the big day . . . when you move up to Utah! (jk love you guys)




We also got to meet our niece Audrey for the first time.



Max exhausted us with his energy. He sure is fun!


And what is a trip to California with the Johnson's without a little sailboat action? (Even if it is just to take a family picture at the dock)

Great Grandma and Lori Come to Visit Provo!

Last week we had a wonderful visit with Tyler's great grandmother and Aunt Lori. Thanks for coming to see us and for the thoughtful gifts! We love you both.




This picture is with Great Grandmother and all her grandchildren/great-grandchildren in Provo. Although technically I am an in-law, they let me into the picture anyway! :)

Hunting Fever!

My hubby's most recent obsession. Do not worry though. There will be no dead stuffed animals in our house while I'm still alive!

Birthdays! Jennifer, Ron, Kate and Leah

Many birthdays occur between September 18th and 19th, so Ty and I wanted to publicly wish all our loved ones a very happy b-day!

The first b-day shout out goes to my favorite sister, Jennifer Proffit. My sister is pretty much the best sister anyone could have. From a young age she looked out for me. She sang me primary songs when I was afraid at night, she told me when it was time to shave my legs, and continued to help me grow up by teaching me all about boys and even having children. She always has good advice and is there to listen and care. I love you Jen and hope you had a GREAT B-day.

The next shout out goes to Ronzo-Ponzo (Ron Ellis, Tyler's father). "Well this should go out to my old man, but seeing as how he's getting up their in years, he probably can't make out the fine print. Seeing as how he can't read this I could take this time to say terrible things about him for everyone else to enjoy. But the truth is that there is nothing terrible to say about him. He has been a model husband, father, career man, and disciple of Christ, and I love him more than a birthday shout out can express." --Tyler's first contribution to the blog. Can you feel the love?

The final shout out goes to Kate and Leah Scoville. Kate and Leah have been beacons of joy over the last year. It is impossible to be negative or unhappy in their presence. In addition to the happiness they so naturally bring, they are pretty amazing too. They can feed themselves frozen peas, dance hip-hop and even walk across a room without any help! We love these girls and are so glad we live close so we can watch them grow up. Not to mention the regular baby time keeps us content as aunt and uncle, rather than mom and dad. ;) Happy Birthday Kate and Leah! We love you!







Kate and Leah got the picture space...sorry Jen and Ron, you just can't compete with a 1 year old!

Pictures of the Duckies

I believe many of you have heard about the pet ducks we housed for a short time while Kerstin, their mama, lived in the dorms. These pictures were taken last April when they were still cute little duckies. They are now full grown and loyal companions to Kerstin's father and mother. Who knew ducks were one of the most loyal pets? :)

The Teachers Side of Parent-Teacher Conference - Stream of Conscience

I can't believe we have already been in school long enough for midterms and therefore Parent Teacher Conferences. I just spent the last 3 1/2 hours meeting parents and discussing the grades of their "little darlings". Although I am exhausted, I am actually pretty grateful for Parent-Teacher Conferences. It gives me a chance to talk up my good students and make them and their parents really happy, or to help my students who need to do a little work to improve.

Although, sometimes, like tonight I wonder if I am too nice. I want all of my students to succeed and often bend over backwards helping them to get there. With 200 students who should probably be learning the cruel rules of the real world, I should probably not help them SO MUCH. But it is a hard balance, because as a teacher, I feel it is my responsibility to know how they are doing and be there to tell them and help them when they need improvement.

I just can't escape my nature to people please. I want to please the student by helping them succeed. I want to please their parents, by bragging to them about how much their student has improved or how great they are. And I want to please, I guess, the administration by showing them that I am a good teacher and care about my students. In addition to being a people pleaser, I am afraid in my job I am a bit of a perfectionist. I cannot relax and even sleep if I know I haven't given my student every opportunity to succeed. This does not mean all my students pass with A+'s in my class. All it means is I often spend my lunches and after school helping students catch up on missing and absent work.


I guess I just feel that these students are at such a crucial stage in life. I can help determine whether or not they gain confidence in their ability to succeed and therefore set a standard for what they expect of themselves throughout high school and college (even if it is just for history). This is a huge responsibility. If they leave my class and know very little about history, I will be a little disappointed. But if they leave my class feeling like they are "bad" at history or "bad" at school I will feel like a total failure. How else can I boost this confidence if it is not through regularly knowing how they are doing in my class, giving words of encouragement and discussing their grades and behavior with their parents?

I guess I will keep doing what I am doing because I know it is right. :)

Pleasant Surprises

Yesterday, Monday the 15th of the year 2008, as I headed out from a long day of teaching joyful 13-year-olds about mountain men, explorers and colonization and hurried to meet my dear husband for a quick car swap before I headed to BYU to teach a group of college students about culture and lesson writing I was very pleasantly surprised. . .

Tyler and I have been happily married for 1 year, 9 months and 10 days. For 1 year, 9 months and 10 days we have also happily enjoyed driving everywhere together because we have shared a car. Sharing a car has been great. It has given us a lot of time together.
This April Tyler was hired by NY Life and by June he was working full time. Our happy little simple life, started to be not so simple anymore as we both worked full time in two different cities.

The struggle to get us both where we needed to be when we needed to be there while we still shared one car, was greatly alieviated by generous friends and family members. Thank you Heather and Kerstin for the many times you let us borrow your cars over the summer and to the countless others who have picked up, dropped off and given us rides.

Back to my surprised.

As I raced to Alpine Village to give Tyler the Mazda, who would give Kerstin her CR-V back and then rush me up to campus by 4:15 to teach, I found myself in the parking lot searching for Kerstin's CRV, which should have contained Tyler. As I quickly turned the Mazda around and speed dialed Tyler, a 2006 Hyundai Tuscon with a handsome man in a gray suit and a big smile on his face rounded the corner.

I quickly parked, jumped out of the car and gave Tyler a quick kiss as I checked out our new car. I absolutely loved it immediately. It is a small SUV with 4 wheel drive. It will be great for our sporting activities and, when the time comes, transporting children (this is not an announcement). It has an automatic transmission and is very easy to drive.

I was very pleasantly surprised :)

*The picture above is not of our actual car. It is dark now so I can't take pics. I post some later!

Back To School

So I started my second year of teaching last Monday, on August 18th. I have made it through 7 1/2 days of class to the moment, although my hopes of a smooth second year have been dashed so far. When I arrived on Monday I came to find that my 25 student class limit, had been surpassed to as many as 36. I only have 28 seats in my class so it has been rather uncomfortable for everyone the past 7 1/2 days. I started to hassle administration right away and got the run around for a while well everyone 'looked over numbers'. The solution to the problem is I am giving up on of my prep periods (the time of peace when I have no students) and will now be teaching 9 classes of 7th and 8th grade history, 4 on one day and 5 on the other. I am surprisingly not too worried about teaching all day without a prep. I feel really confident going into my second year and think I will be able to run my classroom smoother than last year. I do anticipate taking quite a bit of work home at night and over the weekends, but it will be worth it to have smaller classes, plus the extra pay for my prep. Well lunch is almost over and 7th graders are getting ready to stampeed my door down. Eeek! At least I have DMB concert to look forward to tonight! :)

Welcoming Audrey Emma into our Family

My sister finally had her baby yesterday after walking around for a week dialated to uncomfortable levels. The delivery went well and the baby is healthy, weighing 7 lbs 19oz. Here are a few pictures my sister-in-law sent us. We are so excited to meet our new little niece when we go home to California in a few weeks.

Italy Pictures...finally!

BUON GIORNO!

I am currently sitting in a beautiful hotel outside piazza Barberini, exhausted from a full day of Rome sight seeing and eating. We have not been in Italy for 8 days and still going strong. We arrived in Rome last Monday and got right on a train to Florence. In Florence we enjoyed the art of the Uffizi, Academia and Bargello. We also climbed Brunoleschi's dome and went on an awesome bike ride that took us to a wealthy suburb. At this point we got an excellent view of Florance and discvered a monastery where mass was going on. The monks sang it in Latin! It was beautiful.

From Florence we took a day trip to Siena which is a little city about an hour outside of Florance, famous for its seashell shape piazza and unique romanesqu cathedral. It was soo cool because Siena has this traditional horserace that goes back centuries. Each neighborhood has its own coat of arms and horse rider. One time a year the city fills the seashell piazza with sand along the edges and the neighborhoods race for bragging rights. The race went on the day before we came (we watched it on TV and it consisted of about 3 hours of build up for 45 seconds of racing. It was exciting though because a few people fell off their horses as they rounded this really tight corner and at the end, I swear people were trampled to death as they mobbed the winner. Being there the day after was awesome because we missed the thousands of people but were able to still get a really great feel for the race. The winning team was also all in renaissance attire parading through the streets with drums and banners, singing in all the other losing neighborhoods. It was quite exciting. I will post a bunch of pics when we are back in the states.

So I am getting tired now....but if you are up for it I will tell you about Sorrento.

Sorrento is a beach city south of Naples (where yes, the mafia is still very much alive and corrupt as they take taxes and use them on nice cars instead of picking up the garbage - it way stinks near naples). Sorrento is very beautiful and charming. It is known for its lemons and woodmaking. We shopped around and went to the beach in Sorrento. One day we rented a boat to go to Capri positano and possible Amalfi. Although on the boat ride a few people got sick and we did not make it as far as we planned. It was still beautiful and we got great tans (at least I did, the Ellis' burn!). It was amazing how terribly chopping the ocean got on our way back. They told us that two days before a cyclone had come out of no where and damage many boats. They told us one day before the boat ride that the ocean was calm 'like a lake'. HAHA crazy Italians! The next day, Sunday, we went to a town called Casa del mare for church. It was a branch of about 18 members and 4 missionaries. Church was probably my favorite part because everyone was so kind. Many of them spoke english because down in the south, tourism is the best way to earn money. We got names and numbers of missioanry families in the states so we can give them a call and tell them their missionary is well. It was also from these members that we learned a lot about the governmnet in Naples becuase Casa Del Mare was the stinkiest city I have ever been to. Apparently the trash has been a problem for 14 years because of the stupido mafia. Four months agothey started selling thier trash to the Germans who then sells it to the Swiss because the government would rather do that then buy an incinerater and the regions in Northern Italy wont help out their southern countrymen. I think that is ridiculous...but thus is Italy sometimes.

Monday we took a taxi to the train station in Naples only to find that our train, along with all other transportation, was on strike and we could not get anywhere until 9pm that night. So we called up our previous taxi drivr Vencenzo and asked him to take us all the way to Rome. Vencenzo was Tylers favorite part of the trip. For 3 hours he talked to us about everything from politics to mountain biking to cooking. We got some incredible tips on Italian cooking. Unfortunately it sounds like we may need to plant our own garden in order to ever create the deliciousness of Italian food. Vencenzo has started to create his own mountain biking tourist attraction where he takes groups around the Almalfi coast and even around Vesuvius. (yeah, the volcano that destroyed pompeii. Don't worry, its still active and ready to blow anytime Saint G----- I cant remember ---- but 3 times a year they take out the relic of this Saint G. The relic is a viale of his blood. If his blood does not turn to liquid form it means very bad things will happen in naples. Three times it did't liquify and that was WW2, the break out of cholera and when vesuvius erupted last in 1944. In semptember when the main ceremony of blood checking happens everyone is glued to their TVs and praying. Check your newspaper this september-it may be interesting.) So back to Vencenzo - he was awesome, constantly making jokes about his mother-in-law. Oh PS, did I tell you he looks like MOnk! He even walks the same. So we finally got to Rome with the help of Vencenzo and I am going to stop here because this has already been a long and exciting blog.

I am using a european computer and don't feel like editing-sorry for mistakes!

Love you all :)

p.s. This post is labeled 'buon giorno' in tribute to Tyler who has managed to use the phrase in the most comical stuations. Gotta love that kid.

What is the What?

I borrowed this book from Tyler's Aunt Sandy who is a bleeding heart biologist among many other wonderful things. I held onto it for a few weeks before it finally felt good to read. Once I started I could not stop and have been talking about it since I finished. The book is a pseudo-autobiography (pseudo meaning it was written from the perspective of Achak Deng, but because his English is not perfect Dave Eggers wrote his story) about a boy who was chased from his village in the Sudan at age 7. From then until he made it to the United States in his early 20s he join thousands of young boys and other refugees cross the Sudan desert into Ethiopia and then to Kenya. The book was so enlightening to me because I had no idea what really was going on in the Sudan and Darfur beyond what I piece together from the news and the Hotel Rawanda movie. I also had little idea of what living in a refugee camp was like. The book was also really well written and made you think about who we are as Americans. I highly recommend it.

Well this will probably be the last post for a while unless I can get on from Italy. We leave tomorrow :)

Wedding Day with the Ellis's and Friends

This weekend Ty's family had a gathering of friends from across the country for Allie Swenson's marriage to Bryan Babcock. The ceremony and reception were beautiful. I think everyone had a great time!

Golf Fever

It is finally warm in Provo which means one thing for Tyler, Golf! Although Ty has a full time job, he still works a few hours a week at the local golf course because he just can't let go. I, of course, don't mind because the free golf saves us a fortune! In addition to working at the golf course he has also managed to fit golf into his NYLife work schedule--what client will deny free golf? Sunday afternoons are filled with me dodging light balls as he practices chipping in our 1 bedroom basement apartment. Following our Dodge-golf ball game is a 2 hour cleaning ritual of his clubs. He also has started carrying clubs and light balls every where we go. A wait at our favorite Italian restaurant is no problem anymore. And even shopping can be enjoyable for both of us as long as he can watch the current golf tournament on his blackberry.

-I'll post the pictures that are suppose to go with this blog soon. This is why I am a terrible blogger - I have been trying to load the pictures for the past 20 minutes and it keeps telling me there's an internal error! :/

Eye, Eye Captain

These pics are a little old, but I just got them downloaded so I thought I would share them. After Tyler finished a 21 credit semester, we took a little break and stayed at the Anniversary Inn in Salt Lake City (we had a free night stay). Now, this is no ordinary hotel. Each room has been decorated to place you in another time and place to help you and your love enjoy a romantic getaway. Tyler and I chose the Treasure Island room which had a jacuzzi tub surrounded by sails and rigging, and wooden staircases leading to our captain's quarters. It was a little cheesy but we had a great time anyway!

Year Review

On Thursday I finished the last day of my first year of teaching. As I look back on the year I have learned a lot about how to control, motivate and even teach 12-14 year olds. As a tribute to my students, who were enthusiastic, worked hard and sometimes made me crazy, I have devised a list of 10 reasons I am excited to go back and spend the majority of my waking time with a bunch of dramatic teenagers next year!

1. My students make me laugh
Student: "Can we have a party today"

2. My students can turn a gloomy day bright with their excitement and desire to learn
Student: "Wait, Joseph Smith and Pocohontas didn't really fall in love?"

3. My students ALWAYS keep me company
Teacher: "You have ten more minutes of lunch. Let me enjoy mine with peace and quiet!"

4. My students are helpful
Teacher: "Pick up fifteen pieces of trash, hair, lint and anything else you find other than carpet on the ground."

5. My students say nice things and even bring me gifts
Student: "Mrs. Ellis, I like your shoes."

6. My students turn in their homework (most of the time)
Teacher: "If you have not turned in your homework, it is late, meaning you already have an F on this assignment."

7. My students care about their grades and want to succeed
Student: "Is there any extra credit?" "Whats my grade?" "There's a TEST today?"

8. My students tell each other to behave and be quiet
Student: "Guys, shut up! Mrs. Ellis is trying to teach!"

9. My students are clever and witty
Student: "But you said...."

10.My students are there for me and let me be there for them when they need it
Student: "Was that other teacher yelling at you? I swear I'll go and beat her up"


Thanks for a great first year!

Help Us Get Connected

Hello Friends and Family!

So, I am a little new to the blog networking and have noticed that some of you have read and commented on our blog, but I do not know how to access your blog. I would love to read about your lives, see your pics and even be able to link to your blog via my own blog. If you could post a comment leaving your blog address and make sure if it is a private blog that I have access to it, I would really appreciate it!

Thanks :)

Shannon

The "Beauty" of a Mac

Tyler and I are officially MAC people. So I thought I would list 10 reasons our MAC's rock our world.

10. It looks cool - (Shannon)
9. If you place two fingers on the key pad and move them down, the entire web page scrolls down. So fun!
8. It has a build in Webcam so we can talk and see our adorable nephew Sean via internet.
7. Before Macs started bashing on Vista, they had really cool music in their commercials.
6. At the push of an F-key you can see all web pages, documents and even the weather!
5. You can drag anything anywhere. Who needs a right click button!
4. When your Mac starts having trouble attaching files, you can call your AppleCare and a live, English speaking IT personal can fix the problem in minutes.
3. When your power cable is acting suspicious, Mac will send you a new one in 48 hours.
2. The pretty much have the best costumer service of any company anywhere with the exception of Nordstrom - maybe the two should pair up...Mac would be unstoppable!
1. When you are bored in class or just goofing off with friends, you can take some serious blackmail pics that wind up on the internet for all to see before you know it!






a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7IGckZPLHYpLMDnPRpQwd8Ww6BwjWkNky1V8SdEbFe9jaygNmp7Qbuew5HjCoMoGibyrrRo5B3h_TfKQZ0gKyLiPeH3f3TGkKhN3uJpvm6HgO_jwCyYtaLJ4TuLx5PhFtYHDP4qpx7Ybz/s1600-h/Photo+33.jpg">


Hehe!

Has Mom Gone Green?

I was recently reading slate magazine, a online magazine I enjoy for the racy commentary on political, health, and economic issues, and came across this article. The article caught my eye because recently my mom ditch our traditional Kansas Blue Grass lawn for astroturf, fake grass. We have poked fun of her ever since considering our backyard consists of two small sections of grass that truly can't take more than 10 minutes to mow. Although, she claims she was worried about Max and the rabbit droppings. (When you get older Max, take a look at how much astroturf cost and you will know how much Grammy truly loves you).

In anycase, this article raises the issue on which is more eco-friendly. As Mom now saves on water usage and mower use she may be more "Green" than we thought!

"Eco-Turf
Is fake grass better for the environment?
By Brendan I. Koerner
Posted Tuesday, May 13, 2008, at 7:27 AM ET
I fear that my well-tended lawn is wreaking havoc on the environment. I've considered replacing it with synthetic grass, which requires far less maintenance. But manufacturing that plastic vegetation must give off a lot of carbon emissions, right? So which type of lawn is (figuratively) greener—real or fake?

It's tough to declare a winner here without knowing the specifics of your lawn-care regimen, as well as your geographic location. If you're reckless with the fertilizer, oblivious to the consequences of heedless mowing, and live in a drought-stricken region, then ersatz grass has the clear environmental edge. But if you're diligent about your gardening routine, the real stuff may be better.

The environmental drawbacks of genuine lawns are easy enough to tally. They're thirsty, of course—the average American lawn gulps down 21,600 gallons of water per year. Lawns planted atop sandy soil can be particularly wasteful since they drain more quickly. And the water usage problem is particularly acute when a homeowner insists on laying sod that's ill-suited to the local climate.


Gas-powered mowers, meanwhile, are hazardous to more than just eardrums. A 2001 study by Sweden's Stockholm University found that an hour's worth of mowing resulted in the same amount of smog-forming emissions as driving a car 93 miles. Mower manufacturers contend that their newer models have become cleaner, yet they still resist calls to add catalytic converters to their products; according to the Swedes, doing so would reduce mower emissions by 80 percent.

Another knock against real grass is that it's frequently drizzled with fertilizer, most of which is synthetic. American homeowners use about 3 million metric tons of synthetic lawn fertilizer per year. The fossil fuel equivalent of a barrel of oil goes into manufacturing 560 pounds of such fertilizer, so our collective lawn habit is costing us more than 11.8 million barrels of oil annually. We also use 70 million pounds of pesticides and herbicides on our lawns every year. Clippings that are improperly disposed of can end up polluting major waterways.

On the plus side, lawns do act as carbon sinks. According to a 2005 NASA study, the United States is covered with roughly 40 million acres of tended lawns. Assuming all clippings are bagged and tossed in the trash, those lawns can soak up about 13.2 million pounds of carbon dioxide per year. But the study's authors stressed that the lawns' carbon absorption is likely negated by the amount of energy that goes into making synthetic fertilizer and powering mowers.

While it's not entirely maintenance-free, synthetic grass requires neither water nor fertilizer nor mowing. Its greatest environmental sin occurs during manufacturing, since the production of polyethylene and other essential fake-grass materials (such as polymers and elastomeric coatings) is energy intensive. One must also consider the inevitable disposal issues—like most plastics, aside from those found in beverage and detergent bottles, artificial turf is typically landfilled rather than recycled.

So how bad is fake grass? The best life-cycle study the Lantern could find is this one (PDF), in which Canada's Athena Institute tried to calculate the carbon toll of converting a school's playing field from real grass to artificial. The new field could be made carbon neutral, the study's authors concluded, by planting and maintaining 1,861 trees for a decade. But keep in mind that this was an athletic pitch measuring 96,840 square feet, not a piddling single-family lawn. And Athena's calculations had to take into account the installation of PVC pipes for drainage, something that may not affect the average homeowner.

There are also many environmental activists who revile fake grass that uses rubber infill—that is, crumbs of recycled tires sprinkled between the blades, in order to provide cushioning. They claim that these rubber bits can cause health problems if inhaled; the artificial-turf industry counters that such fears are scientifically unwarranted. The Lantern will note only that the infill issue seems to affect athletic fields more than ornamental lawns and that there are artificial options that don't include rubber crumbs.

The bottom line is that, whichever lawn type you choose, you should commit to managing it responsibly. If you want to minimize your water and fertilizer use by going the fake route, make sure you purchase a quality product that won't have to be replaced for a decade or more.

But if you don't feel comfortable with plastic, think about drastically altering your lawn-care practices. For starters, compost your clippings instead of bagging them; per the NASA study, this can nearly triple your lawn's effectiveness as a carbon sink. Ditch your aging gas-powered mower in favor of a reel push mower. And make the switch to organic fertilizers that contain ingredients like cornmeal or seaweed."

I am a Freaking Prophet!

On Sunday Tyler and I gave talks in Church. We don't mind speaking and enjoy Mother's day, but when we found out we were to talk on repentance, we were both a little surprised.

Tyler started his talk with a joke, which suggested that the ward was testing out our stregnths and weaknesses in order to give us callings, which of course brings about the inner turmoil on talk performance. (Apparently revelation is no issue. . .)

By the end of our three meeting block, Tyler had been called as an elder's quorum teacher and we both were called to teach the 8 year olds in primary. As we walked out of Church, surprised by the sudden attention we got after 8 months of being asked if we were new in the ward, Tyler claimed, "I am a Freaking Prophet!"

I guess he was able to "predict" the future, so watch out!

Traffic School!

So, about a month ago I was running a little late to school. As I was turning onto the last street that leds to my school, I got a little excited and used that Speed6 engine for what it is worth. Unfortunately Spanish Fork traffic laws do not coincide with the speed I felt I should be going. I was pulled over 10 minutes before school began and written up for speeding as all my students drove by. They sure let me have it when I got to class. The good news is the speeding ticket only cost $90 and traffic school is only 1 1/2 hours long! For those of you in Utah who don't know how good you have it, in California when I got a speeding ticker, I paid over $250 and had to sit in traffic school for 8 hours!! So tonight I will do my time at the Spanish Fork Police Department.

2nd Blog, 1st Entry

After visiting CA and learning that blogs are the in way to keep in touch, I figured I would give it a second try. I had a blog before I was married, but I felt like it just emphasized my boring life. My life is no more exciting, although, this blog is about two people's lives so it may be a little better. BUT, just because I now have a blog, does not mean I want my family members to come here to find out about me. Nothing replaces a good old fashion phone conversation. :-)