October 26

Today was Follow Your Dreams day for Red Ribbon week. So, dress up in pajamas. I was going to actually wear flannel PJs, but the air conditioner was out in the 5th grade hall the day before and there was no way I was going to wear those, so I wore basketball shorts. The kids kept asking me if that is really what I wore to bed. I wanted to say that I quite literally got up, changed my shirt and came to work. But I didn't let them in on the secret of how lazy I am.

Also, since I participated, my name was entered into a drawing. I won a Route 44 drink to Sonic. Except I don't drink soda that often and definitely not in Route 44 form. So, I don't know if I will use it. But my kids were excited I won.

October 25

(picture coming)

This week at school is Red Ribbon Week. Each day there are themes and we all dress up. If teacher participated, we got to wear jeans. Well, hello. What wouldn't I do to wear jeans?

Today was mixed up day. Like, don't get mixed up in drugs. So I wore my jeans inside out. That was the best I could do, but there were so many other good ideas that I just didn't think of. I guess I just don't know how to mix up clothing.

October 24

This picture was taken two years ago at the Mt Timp temple by me. I just absolutely love the temple. Even when we don't go inside it is a symbol for so much. One day I want my house to have pictures of temples from all over the world hanging up.

October 23

Today Chris and I met up with Megan and hung out. We went shopping and ate lunch at BJ's, which is really good. It is always fun to hang out with Megan.

October 22

Chris has been driven to the microphone since he was just a little boy. He loves karaoke and every Christmas at his family's party he dominates the microphone. It alternates between him, and his Granny Betty, with a few others in there.

October 21

Part of being a science teacher is trying to figure out the experiments before the kids have to do them. One teacher and I spent an afternoon trying to build an electromagnet with a nail, wire and battery. We finally figured it out. However, I was the first to take my students into the science lab. One group put their battery into the holder and then it started smoking. So... we did something else. Today, we also built a circuit to make a doorbell buzz. It was pretty exciting when I figured out how to make it work. It is worth all that effort. Especially when my students are all excited because they figured out how to build it too.

This is not the picture of my circuit, but it was almost exactly the same.

October 20

School is going. But there is one thing I still love about it and that is the school supplies. I especially love a bunch of sharp pencils. Unfortunately, that is hard to come by in my classroom since my pencil sharpener hardly works and it is falling off the wall. That's the life of a teacher.

October 19

Today is Timmy's birthday. I think this picture of him and Mom is just adorable.

October 18

Today was Mitchell's 17th birthday. This is him fanning all his birthday money at us. We went over to Chris's parent's house had some dinner and cake and then watched him open presents. Which was mostly just cards with money in them, which was all he wanted.

October 17

After Stake Conference today Chris and I went over to the Synder's for dinner and games. They cooked fajitas which were amazing and then we pulled out Settler's of Catan. I am pretty sure Justin won. This was not a good game for me. I only had four points until the round right before it was over when I finally got 6 points. By the end Teresa was going to help Chris win, but then she decided that it was possible for her to win so she went back on her word. It was pretty funny.

October 16

After the adult session of stake conference we went to eat at a BBQ place. I can't remember the name but it doesn't matter. Hickory Hollow is better. Chris and I just sat at the very end and entertained ourselves. We aren't old enough to be part of the adult conversations yet.

October 15

Chris and I went to Freebirds tonight. It is a burrito place that has HUGE burritos. The one I am eating is the second smallest. There are two bigger than it. It used to be my favorite burrito place, but this one wasn't too good. I will probably give it one more shot, but then I'll have to say Chipotle is better. It is sad to give up on an old friend.

We went to Freebirds right after our high school graduation. And we went right after we got married. We took pictures and then ate lunch at this exact Freebirds.

October 14

Tonight Chris and I went over to Chris's parents house for dinner. I felt that we hadn't seen them in while and invited ourselves over to eat some steak. Glenda tried a new recipe of something with Spinach in it. Chris and his dad have similar taste buds. They both scoffed at the new dish and wouldn't even try it. The steak was also really good. It was from a real cow! As in, Chris's parents bought the cow, had it slaughtered and the meat went right to their freezer.

October 13

Isn't Chris just the cutest? Our kids are going to have the chubbiest cheeks and curly hair.

October 12

LOOK! IT'S A DEAD FROG!

Sometime you would think Chris was a 12-year-old boy. He was so excited to see that somehow and frog had got into the hinge of the front door and had died. It was pretty small and basically disgusting. But he has shown this picture to a few people.

October 11

With the floor done now, Mom and Dad moved everything into the new living room. It took a couple of tries to get the TV to work, but they worked it all out. Now, we have a big downstairs. Let's have a party! We'll have lots of room at Christmas.

October 10

Five points if you can guess what time this picture was taken.

4:20am. Jennifer and Shannin needed to leave for the airport by 4:30am. That is the price you pay when you want to fly for free. Jen and Shannin didn't even go to sleep. I can't stay up all night anymore. Maybe one time during Christmas break when I have time to recover. But there is no way I could do it with school the next Monday.

It was a nice visit. I am glad Jen came down. I wish we could spend more time together.

October 9

Jennifer bought Chris and I a new game called Bezzerwizzer. It is a trivia game, with a twist. (Don't all trivia games have a twist?) Anyone can win and that is the truth. I won this game, but I lost the night after. So, we will most definitely be playing this game again.

Shannin was trying to help Jennifer, while she watched the most obnoxious movie ever! I think it was called Fred. But the brains of Shannin and Jen were no match for me! Just kidding, I mostly got lucky. That is how you win most games anyway. 75% luck, 25% strategy.

October 8

Jennifer and Shannin came to visit for a weekend. This was the best picture that had Chris, Shannin, and me in the same picture. They drove the long, long trip to Navasota to come eat lunch for me. Was it really worth an 80 minute total drive to eat with me for 25 minutes? I guess Jen and Shannin have to answer that question. Shannin spent the time writing and drawing on my Smartboard. It is pretty fun to do.

For dinner that night, we went to Outback Steakhouse and listened to Shannin drool over Jacob from Twilight. She is a silly ten-year-old.

October 7

Chris practically covered the whole floor all by himself. He is learning things he never thought he would learn. Actually, that is not true. He has thought about flipping houses, so he would probably have to learn sooner or later.

Is this an okay picture Chris? Your face isn't in it.

October 6

I've decided that my blog/project is lacking in pictures of me. So, I am going to take awkward pictures of me where I look weird.

Here is my completed loaf. It looks like a real loaf of bread, right? That's because it is. And there I am with my piece of bread with honey and jam because why should one piece of bread only have one type of topping?

Now, was the kneading worth it? Yes and no. The bread was really good. It was moist and delicious. Must better than our yeast-less bread experiment. Will I make it again? Probably not.

Are you interested in creating this bread? I am pretty sure this is the recipe. 

October 5

Enrichment tonight was making the most complicated bread in the world. All the dough was made for us and we just had to add the butter, brown sugar and other stuff like that. But we kneaded it for ever. The first time it was at least 20 minutes and then we took a break and then kneaded it some more. I didn't even knead it all the way because my arms and back were getting tired and I am not a perfectionist. I was sure that it would be the best homemade bread (and first without a bread machine) I had ever made. Anyways, this is what it looked like when I brought it home right before I put it in the oven.

October 4

Before we could get the room looking like a real living space, Dad had to fix the floor. He said there was a bump or a slump or a hill or something un-level. So he spent a week jack hammering the cement. And cement dust got everywhere. And then he had to re cement it to make it level.

Chris got to help. I had something at school the next day, so I had to stay late and prepare for it. Lucky me.

October 3

I always look forward to General Conference weekend. Here are some highlights:

• Endure to the end we must, for our goal is eternal life in the presence of our Father in Heaven. He loves us and wants nothing more than for us to succeed in this goal. He will help us and bless us as we call upon Him in our prayers, as we study His words, and as we obey His commandments. Therein is found safety; therein is found peace.
• We must realize that all of God’s children wear the same jersey. Our team is the brotherhood of man. This mortal life is our playing field. Our goal is to learn to love God and to extend that same love toward our fellowman. We are here to live according to His law and establish the kingdom of God. We are here to build, uplift, treat fairly, and encourage all of Heavenly Father’s children. Dieter F Uchtdorf
• True success in this life comes in consecrating our lives—that is, our time and choices—to God’s purposes. In so doing, we permit Him to raise us to our highest destiny. D. Todd Christofferson
• It wasn’t long after astronauts and cosmonauts orbited the earth that they realized ballpoint pens would not work in space. And so some very smart people went to work solving the problem. It took thousands of hours and millions of dollars, but in the end, they developed a pen that could write anywhere, in any temperature, and on nearly any surface. But how did the astronauts and cosmonauts get along until the problem was solved? They simply used a pencil. Dieter F Uchtdorf
• You show your trust in Him when you listen with the intent to learn and repent and then you go and do whatever He asks. If you trust God enough to listen for His message in every sermon, song, and prayer in this conference, you will find it. And if you then go and do what He would have you do, your power to trust Him will grow, and in time you will be overwhelmed with gratitude to find that He has come to trust you. Henry B Eyring

October 2

A year ago Chris and I were in San Francisco having the most stressful weekend of our lives. We had originally planned to go because it was the closest place to take our Texas Teaching tests. We didn't know why it was in California, but that is what the website said. We decided to make a weekend out of it and we bought Wicked tickets.

It turns out that the tests were not actually in San Francisco but we decided to go anyways.

We drove out and then we were in the city. We drove the wrong way on a one-way street. Got honked at for not going at a red light, saw poop-in-a-bag, got swindled out of $5, froze, and left early.

The best day was when we drove the Golden Gate Bridge. We drove along the beach and it was so peaceful and calm. We went to the beach and played in a fort.

We still talk about the steak and fries in the picture. We will someday recreate that steak. It was so good.