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! :/
Monday, June 16, 2008
Monday, June 2, 2008
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!
Friday, May 23, 2008
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
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
Sunday, May 18, 2008
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!
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!
Friday, May 16, 2008
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."
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."
Sunday, May 11, 2008
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!
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!
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