hey boys hey!

so i last posted about my friday in a nutshell right?
well it was a long post, so it was one giant nutshell, but you got the idea, right?
anyways....i can't leave out saturdays events...they were just too great as well.
the day started with only 6 hours of sleep on a saturday. for me thats a big deal,
but even after getting home from logan at 2 am, kym and i still decided to take a morning venture to park city because i had never been.
we ate breakfast at this yummy brazilian cafe, which is like 3 feet away from a ski lift (so weird) walked around the shops, decided they were too expensive, so we hit up the outlet strip. holy ginormous, and amazing. i bought several shirts, and we had so much fun! sadly i did not get any pictures...we were too busy shopping, but we had a blast regardless...and we are definitely going back soon!!!

after this adventure, i met up with girls from sorority, and we ventured to spanish fork for the festival of colors. which i have been dying to go to every year, but never had the chance! it was stellar. we listened to some bieber on the way, told stories, and laughed non stop...thats basically what happens when we all get together...the festival was ridiculously awesome, throwing colored chalk at friends and strangers, taking non stop pictures, dancing to crazy music, posing with statues, and being crazy! it was a blast to say the least.

we then went to dinner at the pizza factory somewhere between spanish fork and salt lake, made a random pit stop at a random walmart, and continued to jam to some bieber. yes yes i understand we are 12...deal with it.

and now for some pictures, because they tell the story better than i can!
ahhhhhh i love my friends!!!

run with me down these midnight streets...

so can i just begin with saying this weekend was amazing?
great friends, lots of laughs, good music, yummy food, and just plain happiness.
i love weekends like this.
busy and blissful.
friday was the concert of all concerts.
it was 4 hours of complete and utter joy.
there is simply nothing better to me that being with people i love, and experiencing great music. each and everyone of the artists were extrememly passionate about their work, and thats what its all about to me.
the first act was a local girl, who was just taking a stab at writing and performing music. she had a great voice, nothing astounding, but i think eventually she could make it...
the second set was a girl and her guitar player, who had this fantastic voice. she never introduced herself, which we thought was weird, but after the show, turns out it was lauren pritchard who played 'ilse' in the original cast of spring awakening. yep...totally knew i recognized her from somewhere. kym and i bought her cd and talked to her for like 3 seconds. do you realize thats like meeting lea michele and johnathon groff through a proxy? HOLY AMAZING! (notice my superior stalking skills on the Spring Awakening picture...)
then came the moment i had been waiting for.... mr brendan james himself. and it was a magical 45 minutes. where i know i didnt stop smiling once. the best part was that kym, karinne and i got there an hour before the show started, and we most definitely had from row seats. literally. brendan and i locked eyes several times, and im not even exaggerating. seriously, he is an amazing artist. he is honestly FANTASTIC live, better than on record. and thats talent if you ask me...i freaking love that man.
after that matt white came on stage, with crazy robert pattinson hair, and a goofy expression. we kind of fell in love with him. i have loved a lot of his stuff ever since this song appeared on she's the man way back when. it is now the mcdonalds mcribb commercial...ya he joked about that lots. he was quite entertaining. very talented and we definitely locked eyes too. call me a dork, but it was a greattttt night.
THEN, magic happened when matt and brendan came back for a duet encore of piano man...um can you say happy? i sure can! it was fantastic!

following this joyous moment, they got off stage, and i most definitely followed them...yup im a stalker, but i wasnt going to let the opportunity pass me by. so we got pictures with brendan and matt, and actually chatted with brendan for like 14 seconds. he told me us that he is coming back in october and we need to be there. heck yes, you better believe i will be! front row once again!
ahhhh now if that doesnt sound like the perfect friday evening, i dont know what does....

oh happy day.

(more weekend awesome-ness to come soon...stay tuned)

sneak peak

oh tonight was a glorious night indeed....

*more to come soon. must go dream about brendan james now.

goodnight all!

no ending

im a huge advocate for children's literacy.

simply because i love children

and i love books

and because every child deserves a chance to succeed in life.

there is nothing better than seeing a child get so wrapped up in a book that they never want to leave that new found world.

i know its an experience that i have enjoyed from a young age,

but to see it happen with kids seriously just fills me with all sorts of joy. 

this exact thing is happening in my classroom, and it makes me want to jump for joy each day.

my very first day teaching, my students asked me what my favorite book was...

now this is a very hard question for me to answer. basically impossible...

but being that this is 4th grade, i tried to think back to my favorite book as a kid, that captivated me and led me to that new found world. 

a book that brought about the full range of emotions, and had me loving the book and hating it all at the same time. 

so i told them "where the red fern grows, by wilson rawls"

because honestly, i love that book.

so much.

well not a single one of my students had read the book,

or even heard of the book.

after gasping, i knew that was about to change.

we started the book my 2nd week of teaching, 

and i will have you know that my students are eating it up.

they never want me to stop reading.

they absolutely love it, and it just fills me with joy.

now we already had a little chat about emotions, and how some people are affected differently, and how if i cry not to be freaked out...

(i mean, i have already choked up twice while reading aloud, and we are only barely half way through the book)

but they are so captivated, and excited about this book, i just love it.

it seriously only takes one book for a child to grasp on, and learn to love to read,

and i love that i get to be a part of that each day.

Anyone who says they have only one life to live must not know how to read a book.  

~Author Unknown

 

A good book has no ending.  ~R.D. Cumming 

If you resist reading what you disagree with, how will you ever acquire deeper insights into what you believe?  The things most worth reading are precisely those that challenge our convictions.  ~Author Unknown  

 

Reading well is one of the great pleasures that solitude can afford you.  ~Harold Bloom
 

love it!

i love this so much.

8 minutes of awesome-ness!

you've got a friend in me

 

life lesson.

<3

the day starts, the day ends...

just crossed off 'go to a jazz game' on my bucketlist. the game was awesome, but the circumstances were semi crappy at times...also, totally bummed i didnt take a picture whilst at the the jazz game. better go back for round 2 sometime soon.

i have another stupid crush and it needs to go away. abra cadabra....somebody help.

totally went to st george last week and had a blast. we werent even their 24  hours, so it was semi ridiculous, but it was so fun. and the temple there is gorgeous.

this weekend included: noodles and co. target pit stop. karaoke. fake tattoos. peaces. justin beiber. a failed zoo trip. red butte cafe. south town mall. stellar forever 21 finds. gasoline spewing out of my car. my attempt at yelling at the texaco people. images in my head of my car blowing up. jamming to my ipod on random (oh the selection...) dinner with kym. and seeing one of my most favorite shows again. i love the weekends...and next week JUST MAY top it off. can. not. WAIT! yay brendan!

i think i need to confess something.
im just going to put it out there.
get it off my chest.
i.
have.
beiber.
fever.
there i said it.
now this is not in the sense that i love him and think he's ooo ahhhh oh, so cute, because thats gross...he's only 17.
but in the sense, that i may or may not have his album, love all the songs, and really want to go see the beiber movie.
i don't really care what you think.
and yes, i realize my little sister has disowned me,
but im working through that and trying to find a solution.

today i got a voicemail from my little bro that said
"how dare you not answer when i call. if you dont call me back, i swear i will slice you with my light saber" boy i love my family.

BEST. PURCHASE. EVER!!!!! i have a feeling i will be buying several pairs...in fact, these are my next ones...

i have thought a lot about happiness lately. and what it is that brings true joy. im reevaluating somethings, and boy is it grand...

can i just say...OBSESSED? totally planning a trip to see this when it comes to NYC. this song is what got me hooked. *drool*

i go off track in 3 weeks! crazy! that means i have a 4 month long 'spring break.' best job ever? i think yes. also, im being rehired to teach next year. who would have thought this semester-long move to SLC would be so long term! love it!

i can't even begin to explain how much i love my friend em, and this particular post she wrote. can you see why we get along so well?

BFABB. kym, you totally know what im talking about. yes!!!

i unpacked all my flip flops and organized them in their little spots. i smiled the whole time.

this is a dumb video, but i had this done today. trippy! doesn't hurt, and im definitely a new fan.

okay. now im going to bed, because its way past my bed time.
peace and love folks!

p.s. this is my computer background. i love it a lot...

la la la la la life is wonderful

its amazing how wonderful life is. and how often we find ourselves forgetting that.
when ever i have a bad moment, i start singing this in my head.
man i cant even describe the love i have for this man....

adversity does not build character...it reveals it

i literally have sticky notes every where right now, reminding me about things i need to/want to blog about. but alas, there has been no time...
im still trying to figure out a healthy balance between teaching 4th grade, having a social life, being active in church, working out, reading, and sleeping.
and havent quite figured out the best balance.
i think im getting semi close though...
but for now, just know that my weekend was fabulous (will post more later)
and church today was indeed inspired just for me.
it was an answer to prayer, and the day had me in tears a few times.
what an amazing ward i belong to.
serious.
my heart is full today.
and im going to bed in an exhausted yet joy-ous state.
i like that feeling.
bliss.
till we meet again folks.
till we meet again.

i hear the sound of the ticking of clocks

i love weekends. last weekend was clearly FABULOUS. i went to my amazing sorority retreat, and seriously had the best time! so glad i joined! best decision ever!

i also got to spend saturday with my 3 best friends! we have been trying for MONTHS and MONTHS to get the 4 of us together, and it finally happened! we went to lunch, did some shopping and had a glorious time catching up. i love them sooooo much!

this weekend i hung out with kym, saw an awesome movie, and we got cheesecake, which is always a good idea.

saturday, i went running with my new butt kicking shoes, and my latest splurge i was pretty much a happy camper. (ps those shoes really do work, my legs are killing me today!) also, i have been waiting a long time for that splurge. sad something as silly as an ipod could make me so happy! but now ALL of my music is on there and i dont have to choose favorites. now no one feels left out.

i also went on a sigma date on saturday. now i dont even remember the last date i went on...apparently im un-dateable or something.... well the boy reminded me of my brother ethan, so that will never go anywhere, but we did have so much fun! went to the jazz game and they won! and got frozen yogurt. happy! i seriously am so glad i joined sigma, can i say that enough?

oh, my point in telling you how i love weekends, is that i really do LOVE weekends. i always have weekends planned at least 10 days in advance in order to ensure they are awesome. pretty sure i have every weekend in march planned out already. these weekends include, but are not limited to: seeing 'hairspray' live , making a quick adventure to saint george, seeing 'drowsy chaperone' and best of all, seeing my newest favoritest obsession. oh im going to marry him.

now, do you believe me when i say i love weekends?

also, today im having a sunday adventure with some sigma girls, dont worry im sure you will hear all about it.

here are some other thoughts that i thought of:
i think its rude that everyone knows whether or not a girl teacher is married, but there is nothing to inform you if a male teacher is married or single! there is the use of 'Ms.' but 9 times out of 10 it just means the woman is divorced, and no one uses that anyways....it just doesnt seem fair to me...i mean its not like i need to know....er....uh....shoot....

i have been having major coldplay/muse obsessions lately. i cant even explain what that music does to me. love it.

can i just say how awesome it is to get paid? its quite nice. sucks it only happens once a month, but getting paid is getting paid. yes.

i just love finger nail polish. a lot. i am building quite the collection without even really realizing it...

spring is coming, and i LOVE it! birds chirping, no more snow, sunshine, blooming flowers, ahhhhh so happy.

sometimes its still weird to me that i am a real teacher. i haven't quite wrapped my head around it, but regardless...i LOVE it! i am seriously having so much fun, and my kids are fabulous!

life is good. and thats that!

uncharted

few people will understand how awesome this video is...

i do because im a music snob to the max.

this just makes me all kinds of happy