July 22

So Chris cooked dinner tonight. It was steak and it was good.

However, while he was cooking, my phone rang and he answered it. And then he put it somewhere. I couldn't find it after we ate. I looked in all the usual places. I guess it was my mistake that I didn't check any unusual places.

July 21

Can you guess what this is!? My classroom. Isn't it amazing?

I went to sign my contract today at HR and I went to my school to ask the principal a question and I was hoping they would let me see my room.

To be honest, I didn't hear anything else from the school for 24 hours. I thought that maybe I had imagined the job offer because no one had called me. But eventually the school secretary called me asking to me to go to a certification class.

There is still another teacher's stuff in this classroom all in the cabinets. I don't know when she will have everything out, but I am excited to start decorating it and arranging it.

July 20

This is a snake which I chased from the driveway to the street. And then Chris tried to run over it. We never checked to see if we got it.

July 19

**This is a photo reenactment**

So I was in bed this morning about to get up when my phone rang. I recognized the number as the one that had called me scheduling my interview a week ago.

It was the principal on the phone. That should have been my first clue. But I braced myself for disappointment.

Alas, she offered me the job! I went over some details with her and then got off the phone and started freaking out. I ran downstairs and told Mom and Dad. I was literally jumping up and down. And then I called Chris. I totally faked him out because I sounded like I was about to cry. Then I called Glenda and tried to fake her out, but she somehow ruined it and I don't even know how.

I jumped up and down for about ten minutes. So I start in three weeks. It is so soon, but I am so anxious to get started.

July 18

This is the addition. Thanks to help from people at Church, Dad got a lot done yesterday. It is starting to come together a bit more, but I am still lost on what it will look like when it comes all together. But I think it will be really nice. Hopefully Mom and Dad stay here forever so I can tell my kids that I helped build it.

July 17

Taking a picture while walking, in the sun. I am talented.

Chris and I had Jamba today. I am very picky with my smoothies and only get one kind. Banana Berry. I am too scared to try any other kind because what if I don't like it and I ended up spending $3 for nothing? Chris on the other hand can never remember what he likes. But it is one place where he will probably drink more there than I would.

July 16

Chris and I had take out tonight. Which is something we did in Provo all the time, but not here. I forgotten what it was like to eat take out in the comfort of my pjs and watching TV. We had BBQ. Chris had Hickory Hollow and I had BBQ Hut. Both place in Magnolia. I got a baked potato, which was like a foot long. Maybe only 8 inches, but it was huge.

July 15

I like colored socks. Most of the time nobody can see them, but I feel cool and special when I wear them.

Some advice to new teachers is to share some of your likes and dislikes with your students. I think I will let them know that I like crazy socks and try to wear them when I can. It will add some quirks.

Also, I think my ankles look big in this picture. That is because they are. I keep standing in ant piles while wearing tennis shoes. So the ants climb up to the edge of my socks, and bite me. I'll learn someday I guess. But that doesn't stop me from trying to destroy all ant piles I see!

July 14

Flashback Day. Here we are at DisneyWorld in 2002. We all look so young. This was the day we went to Epcot and it rained all day long. Which was probably a good day to go to Epcot. There is only 1 ride that is affected by the rain.

This was the longest week long trip ever. But I learned that our family is basically awesome. The plan is to go back when Adison gets back from his mission in a year and a half.

July 13

There was a time in my life where I refused to drink store bought chocolate milk. If you don't want to be grossed out, don't read this.

I went to debate camp, which was full of liberals (Gasp!) and vegans. My roommate Liz was a vegetarian who became a vegan while she was there because of a lecture. She shared with me some things she had learned.

One thing that stuck with me was how they made chocolate milk. She said that now machines milk cows. They aren't tailored to the cows and some cows give more milk than other cows. When the cows who have less milk to give run out of milk, they end up giving blood and other fluids.

Everything is combined into one big vat. The actual milk is separated. Everything else (the blood and fluid) has chocolate added to it and it is sold to the public.

Now I don't really believe that is true now. I don't think I believed it then, but I didn't really want to take the chance.

Obviously I am over it now, because I got some chocolate milk with my donuts.

July 12

Ugh. Manual Labor as Chris says. For Family Home Evening we helped Mom and Dad clean some piles of trash from the remodel. We got lots done in like an hour, but there is still so much left. Also, in this pile of trash there were lots of bugs, including spiders. Which I have unfortunately seen too much of this summer.

July 11

Yesterday while I was sick, Dad knocked down a wall. For reals. Now our living room is huge and is half carpet, half concrete. I am excited to see it all done because right now I am having a hard time imagining it.

July 10

Rancho Grande last night did not sit well with me. I am pretty sure that I had some bad shrimp because I did not keep my meal down for long. Which was so frustrating because my vomit-free streak is over! I was pathetic for most of the day. Whenever I am sick, I think I am going to be so productive and get things done. Um, no. I really just couldn't do anything except lay down and sleep.

July 9

We went to Rancho Grande tonight with Chris's family. Mitchell had been at church camp all week long and Glenda had not seen him yet. So we convinced him to hide underneath the table so we could see Glenda's reaction to him not being there. I guess she wasn't that surprised. But he was funny still playing his game down there.

July 8

I had my first teaching interview today. No one was home to take my picture in my interview outfit. So I tried to take one myself. And this is my face mocking myself for trying to take my own picture.

Anyways, anyone could tell this was my first interview. I answered the questions but I could have done so much better. Give me a second chance, and I will ace it and get the job. I still don't know about this one, but I am thinking it is a no.

July 7

Yum. I love Guacamole. And Dad makes the best guacamole, that is no joke.

July 6

Today was the first day of our Texas Teacher training. We get to cram into a conference room at the Hilton with hundreds of other people. This is the last of my pre-service requirements and then can be hired 100% with no restrictions. Now I just have to convince someone to hire me.

The training is making me want to be a teacher more. Not only because I want to do it, but because I don't want some of these people to be the ones teaching my children. Is that bad? I don't know. I just can't believe that some of these people are going to try to be in a classroom. I just hope they interview worse than me.

July 5

I thought I got a picture to document today, but I can't find it. So this is a picture of us insulating over Christmas Break.

Chris and I help Dad on the house today. We did some electrical work and some clean up. We finished the day with insulating the walls. Which is the best job ever! It took Chris and I about 3 hours to finish the insulating. I thought we would be done in 1 1/2. We were so tired and sore by the end. Afterwards we went to Rancho Grande!

July 4

Um, what is this? This is what I inherited when I married Chris, his beanie baby collection. All these years I've heard about it. When we go to an antique/gift shop he says, "We used to come here every Saturday to look for beanie babies."

For now, it looks like we are keeping it.

For Independence Day, I picked out all the USA bears for him to hold.

July 3

Flashback.

What is more American than Baseball? Christmas 2008 we all went and played. It was a game that Dad had made up or something. It was really fun. Unfortunately we didn't play last Christmas like we wanted to, but in 2012, we will be there with hopefully a few more players.

July 2

We went to see Eclipse with Megan tonight. I had very low expectations based on the last two movies. But it was the best of all three of them and actually entertaining.

Megan didn't want me to take her picture because she was not happy with her appearance. I told her I would only share it here. So don't copy it!

July 1

Chris can be such a little kid sometimes. He bought that green sunglasses holder in San Antonio and never got to use it because he couldn't find his sunglasses. While looking for something in the car, I spotted it and started playing with it while I was in the front seat. Periodically, Chris would reach over and try to grab it and take it from me. I just pulled it further from his grasp. At first, I don't think he realized what he was doing, but eventually he realized what was happening. As you can see, he eventually got it.

June 30

This is the biggest bumblebee I have ever seen! I wasn't that scared of it, but there was a wasp near it so I probably looked really funny crouching to take a picture and then jumping up and running away from something.

June 29

Flashback.

About a year ago Chris's family came to visit us in Utah. We convinced them to come hike Bridal Veil Falls with us. They didn't really want to do it but we convinced them. Just like the first time I had to convince Chris to do it. Mitchell was so funny on the way up because he was really scared about the height. But we made it and we all had fun playing in the water.

June 28

I do love Texas. But you can't have the sweet without the bitter. And red ants are the worst. For anyone who has never visited Texas in the summer and plans to, beware. Anyone I know who has visited for the first time always steps into one of their piles and ends up with dozens of bites all over them. 

Stupidly, I step in one today. And it sucked. 

June 27

June 26

Day 4.

We decided to hit Schlitterbahn again. We had bought 2-day passes because we knew we would come back again this summer. We just weren't planning on it being in the same week. The original plan was to explore San Antonio some more. I wanted to go to other missions and the Botanical gardens. But it was way too hot.

Since it was Saturday, it was so crowded. So we spent a lot of the day in the wave river and the pool just sitting in the tubes.

June 25

Day 3.

We went to Sea World today. And the pictures are on the disposable camera.

We learned a lot about ourselves today. We don't like being in the hot sun all day long and we are getting old.

I really wanted to ride the roller coasters. There are only 3 big ones in the whole park. First we went to Electric Eel. At first the line was long, but we ended up riding it three times in a row because it was so short. We did fine. We were a little shaken up, but ready for more.

Then we went to the Great White. We rode it once and were a bit dizzy. The line was short so we rode it again, which was the biggest mistake of the day. I had to keep my eyes closed the whole time because having them opened gave me a headache. But after we got off the ride both Chris and I felt very sick. We had to sit a bit to recoup.

Overall the day was hot and we tried to stay wet as much as possible. There was this one ride that if you stood next to it a raft would come down and splash everybody. We made sure to pass that several times.

We also saw several shows. My favorite was the Sea Lions. They are so adorable and kind of huge. But it is surprising the type of tricks they can do.

Because the day was so hot, we knew there was only one thing we could do the next day.

June 24

Day 2

We went exploring San Antonio. Chris and I once again discovered that we hate the downtown part of cities because of the stupid parking! But we went to the Alamo, the Wax Museum and the Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum. Chris has done all of this before, so he wasn't as excited as I was.

After we did all this, we had the WORST tex-mex food ever. I can't even remember the name of the place because I have tried to block it from my memory. Plus, I wore the wrong shoes so my feet were killing me!

So we went back to our hotel room (which I should have got a picture of) and napped. And then we went and saw the A-Team. This was the best surprise of the day because it only cost us $8 to both see the movie at night. Afterwards we ate. We weren't taking any more chances with something new, so we went with Chili's. Next time we go somewhere, we will research places to eat.

June 23

My pictures are stuck on this camera. A disposable waterproof. I have to get the film developed still. I can't remember the last time I did that!

Day 1 of vacation!

Chris and I went to Schlitterbahn today. It was my first time and I loved it. I am trying to figure out a way that we can go back before the summer is over. We were there from open to close. The water was freezing but it was a very hot day.

June 22

Today is Glenda's birthday and we went to Rancho Grande. (Where else?) And they really try to embarrass you there, as you can see from above. I will not be going there on my birthday.

June 21

Chris wanted a new real estate picture. So we went through another round where he gets frustrated that his eyes won't stay open. This time we had Mom hold a sheet behind him. This one didn't make the cut.

June 20

These post its are in the front of my bible. One day many years ago we were sitting in sacrament and Adison drew these little pictures for me.

A. Joseph Smith getting the Golden Plates from Aliens. (That is not the real version, in case anyone got confused.)

B. "Help me. I'm Stuck." One Sunday, Mom left for church before us. Not long after she walked out the door, we heard her honking the horn. We walk out the door and Mom is honking the horn, banging on the window and just freaking out. By the time we got to the door, she had let herself out. She had somehow locked herself in the car. It was hilarious. (Not to her at the time, mind you.)

C. This is Sammie. (You can tell by the nose.) With her future husband (who has a name, but I won't tell you) pregnant.

D. "There is is." Oh Charleah. One night we were playing "Where in the USA is Carmen San Diego?"I I don't remember the circumstances exactly, but it somehow came out that Charleah was not 100% sure (or even 5% sure) where Alaska was located.

E. "I don't have a butt." I guess this is supposed to be Adison.

F. "Coming Down." I just barely told Chris this story (and I have known him for 10 years) so the internet can wait.

G. "My blanket is too small." Adison again.