Sugar and Spice

Sugar and Spice: Chocolate

2011-03-09T11:44:00.000-08:00

Sugar: I just consumed my daily caloric intake in chocolate during a two hour textbook adoption evaluation meeting! One hour at the gym is not going to help.

Spice: These shoes!

Sugar and Spice: Smart

2011-03-08T06:14:00.000-08:00

Smart

Sugar: Today I tested the reading skills of the cutest "just want to squeeze you" Kindergartner. He reaffirmed his adorableness, after he answered all of the questions correctly, by looking at me over the rim of his glasses and simply stating, "Smart". Not "I'm smart" just "smart". Confidence...I love it!

Spice: Bangkok 54 off of Columbia Pike. Great food! AND I finally found the salty lemonade I've been dreaming about since my journey to Thailand 7 years ago! Wow, has it been that long? Now that is spicy!

Parent Teacher Conferences

2011-03-04T08:56:00.000-08:00

Sugar: Today I got to do what all my other working friends get to do! I went online and checked out blogs. These are the things I've been inspired to do: quilt, travel more, leave random stickie notes in places, have "vacation dates" (with who I don't know), ski, plan more "around town" outings, bike, and check out Facebook less blog more. It has been a sweet relaxing day!

Spice: Parent Teacher Conferences are the longest day for a teacher. Mr. E. and I figured out why; we never sit down much during the day. We are always on the on our feet teaching or putting out fires. When a teacher is able to sit down it is usually at home, in front of the TV or right before bed. Those two activities induce sleeping for the average teacher. Soooo, unless a parent is "fired up" about something, conferences can cause yawning and dozing off in between conferences. Our bodies are trained to sleep when we sit down. Maybe that is why I fall asleep in cars...

The Mormon Bachelor: { DATE#13: Kristy Uzelac }

2011-01-25T19:50:00.000-08:00

The Mormon Bachelor: { DATE#13: Kristy Uzelac }: "Vote for who you think Rick should go on a 2nd date with by clicking the 'Like' button. Kristy Uzelac, also known as Uzi, one of the cool..."

1/25/11

2011-01-25T19:24:00.000-08:00

Without fail every January 25th I find myself thinking about Annie D. It is a date I will never forget! Why? Because it is Annie D's birthday! I love this girl! All growing up she and I shared birthday parties together (five days apart and yes I was uber jealous that she got everything before me)! We even share the same baptism date!

She lives in Utah, but I wanted to dedicate this blog to her!

NO ONE can make me laugh like Annie D. In fact she came to my lil' sister's reception this past fall. We hadn't seen each other in years and it took less than 2 minutes for us to be in stitches. It was just like those times we were sitting in primary getting trouble for laughing all over again! I think we even got a good talking to after our baptismal service for laughing.

The girl can sing! I know I sat next to her for four years in high school and church choirs! We also got in trouble for causing a ruckas of laughter in those choirs as well.

Not only can she sing but I have a pretty good suspicion that she can still shake her grove thang! Amazing dancer!

She is the best mom ever! She has the most beautiful daughter! I hope someday to be a mom like her.

Lastly (for this blogs purposes but definitely not the least of her talents) she is a AH-MAAA-ZING friend!

LOVE YOU ANNIE D!!

My Latest Creation

2011-01-03T19:43:00.000-08:00

This was the result from a quilting block exchange I participated in last year. I finished it up for my sister's wedding gift (a few months late)...vicariously from my grandmother. It was a great learning experience! I loved it so much I almost didn't want to give it to her.

I have to thank Linda at "Just Sew" in Alpine.

First Snowflakes Fell Today

2010-12-10T08:20:00.000-08:00

I've forgotten about the excitement that comes with the first fall of snow. My student's have not. The sighting of the first snowflakes caught on like wild fire during a writing assessment. There was no way to contain the shouts of glee that came with the first student proclaiming, "It's snowing"!
The other teachers in the classroom and I were just as excited, however we needed the kids to complete their assessment. In other words, I was the one to burst their bubble. I had to relay the sad fact that it wouldn't stick AND it even if it did it was Friday, we wouldn't get out of school. With that news, came groans of disappointment. The students soon began to settle down. As soon as it was quiet we heard shouts of glee coming from the other classrooms, apparently they discovered the snow shortly after we did. This caused yet another up-roar of excitement. My friends and I couldn't help laughing.
It made me remember the magic that comes from those little white fluffy crystals falling from the firmament.

10/27/10

2010-10-27T19:03:00.000-07:00

Tender Mercies

-relearning the importance of gratitude
-a friend asking me if I wanted to go to the temple with her this week. I went. It was there that I found my quiet moment to ponder...then answers came.
-Jen D. wanting to dress up like a pirate with me at work...argh!
-Karen J. also joining us as pirates!
-a student giving me a hug
-not being sore after the second "we're going to shock your muscles" personal training session
-given the strength to let go, stop hyper-focusing, then realizing being uberfocused on one thing can hinder the Lord's guidance in other areas of my life
-nieces and nephews
-a brother who bakes my favorite cookie every time I visit
-Relief Society sisters so willing to serve
-serving others

Don't let the turkeys get you down

2010-10-04T19:44:00.000-07:00

"Don't let the trukeys get you down". This was a punchline to a cartoon my mom got when my family was preparing to move to Turkey. At the time we thought it was funny, however there were tough moments while living in that third world country when that became our mantra. This past month it replayed in my mind.

Treading water isn't easy. Just when you feel like you can't go on anymore, just when we feel like we've whittled down our "MUST DO" list at work, home, or church, something new is added. But then a tender mercy is given to us and we find we can continue swimming a bit longer.

Keeping the Turkeys Away: Recognizing Tender Mercies

10/02/10: LDS General Conference...WOW!
10/03/2010: An old mission friend reconnected with me. She reminded me of the importance of finding our "ch'i", our center, energy, our essence.
10/03/2010: Good friends who know just how to bring a smile to our hearts.

Europe 2010 Pix

2010-08-15T16:00:00.001-07:00

July 28th - August 15

2010-08-15T12:44:00.000-07:00

Ummmm... I can't believe how fast time flies! Everyday since the 28th I've been saying I would update my blog. Obviously I haven't done that. In my defense...time has seriously flown by.

I will start where I left off, fill in on the highlights of each day/city and end with the top ten favorite moments. This is a mega long blog so if you happen to make it to the end PLEASE ignore grammar and spelling mistakes!!!

July 28th
Steph and I woke up, ate breakfast, then went and got passes for the Ufizzi and Academia. We didn't have our translator with which lead to a locational joke about the an who sold us our passes. We did our best to avoid the long lines and found a place to buy passes, thinking we could get same rate as the actual museum. The lesson we learned is that the only place you can get the standard rate on passes without a bazillion fees is at the actual museum. Even if there is a sign at the museum that claims you can get passes at another museum w/o waiting in the long line. We were suckers, thought we would skip the hour line, grab the passes at the advertised point, and then meet Sharyn in time for our tour. FAIL! We went to the architectural museum where a gruff cashier who had a tick (cleared his throat and barked) sold us the tickets. We (I) did my best to figure out how much each ticket cost for each of us while the barking Italian cashier barked impatiently. It unnerved me so much that I couldn't calculate that we each owed 26 Euro. I was emphatic that we each owed 24 Euro. Steph tried to help me out but I was being stubborn on this...with no help from the museum cashier...I redid the math twice and realized that I should eat some humble pie. Sorry Steph! We did have a good (bark) laugh (grunt) about (bark) it (clear throat).

We had left a note at the hotel for Sharyn to wait for us there but ran into her on the street. We rushed to the Academia to see "The David". It was beautiful. After touring the Academia we were off to the Ufizzi for the "quick" audio tour. The rest of our day we spent shopping, eating, and enjoying the view of the city as we ate dinner at Michelangelo's square. On our way back to the hotel we stopped at Ponte Vechio where I was picked up by an Italian with the worst pick up line EVER! Sharyn and Steph had crossed the street while I was getting a picture on the other side of the bridge. I turned to follow after them when this Italian stopped in his tracks and said, "I saw you in the square today taking pictures. Your hair is beautiful". (my hair looked awful). I laughed and continued small talk as I walked towards Sharyn and Steph. I introduced them to our friend, he asked Sharyn to translate for him, she said no. Then he again said, "I saw you taking pictures in the square". Hmmmm...there are a million squares in Florence. I let him know that we weren't in the square and that I had not taken any pictures that day. Wawah! He was not discouraged and kept up with his attempts to lure me back to his apartment. We ended up finding out that he studied philosophy from "Socrates" (wink wink Steph) and was an artist...likely story. I hope women don't fall for his "picture in the square" line. It was weak sauce! But flattering. We We did return from dinner in time to do our laundry at a sketchy laundromat around 11:00 pm. It was nice to have our clothes nice and clean.

The next day it rained. So we ate breakfast, slept in, read, watched Sharyn sleep, read, and then headed out for a trip to San Gimignano...(I know I spelled that wrong!) It was an old medieval town built in Tuscany. We took a train and bus to get there. I loved being on the bus! We had the most beautiful ride through the winding roads of Tuscany. This was a highlight of my trip. In fact...the following thoughts from my journal were procured from this afternoon jaunt in the countryside. If I could I would scoop Tuscany up like a child building a drip sand castle on the beach. Feeling every grain of sand slip that slips through my fingers as it magically transforms into a fortress. The texture, the smell, the trees, the hillside, the honey colored houses, the sunlight peaking through the clouds all forming a perfect whimsical surreal soul breathing day. What is it about this ancient country side that gently pulls poetic emotions from my heart? Soothing my soul that is worn out from daily struggles, merely to stay standing after the tides have come and gone.

Okay, enough of that. We returned to Florence on the "short train", ate dinner, got massages from our waiters (still not giving them a big tip) and then picked up on by a fellow patron at our restaurant (he clearly had had too much to drink). Again it was a fun experience and we left laughing. When we returned to our hotel we packed our bags and got ready for our journey to Rome the next day.

Rome
BEAUTIFUL! We grabbed a cab to our hotel, cleaned up a bit, then headed to the Vatican. We waited in line with a friendly Canadian/Brazilian/Bulgarian family. Then went in and enjoyed a beautiful walk through the basilica. We found our "tourist of the day" with a waxy handle bar mustache who also rudely waved innocent children out of his pictures. After the Vatican we were so tired that we drug ourselves to the train station and back to our hotel. We had a lovely dinner (have I mentioned how much I love the food here?) and then called it a night. Our little speedy spice, Sharyn, took off in the early hours the next morning leaving us to mourn her loss. She was off to other adventures in a hostel with three unknown backpackers in Palermo.

Steph and I spent the rest of the day touring the Colosseum, the ancient Roman ruins, Trevi fountain (made our wishes), and did not get our hands bit of in the "Mouth of Truth". We again enjoyed a delicious dinner while we eavesdropped on some flight attendants. Sadly we didn't get to eat our last bite of gellato before we left Italy.

France
The next day we headed for Paris on our favorite airline, Ryanair. The trip was uneventful, woke up at 4:00 am, nervously found a cab at the city center, waited in line with 500 other travelers, waited in line again, got on the plane, slept while the advertisements for watches, perfumes, food, lottery cards went off every five minutes, and landed in France where my rusty French came in handy. Our hotel was located across the street from le Chateau de Vincennes. We strolled down the street and found a market where we bought bread and fruit. Later we went into the city and enjoyed the first of the month free tour of the Louvre (or as Steph calls it the Lover). We aslo fell asleep in the Louvre and came up with our new rule, "No museums on travel days". We went to the Eiffel Tower that night, bought cheap trinkets from illegal street vendors, and ate crepes. Perfection.
The following day was rainy...I learned the Steph does not like being wet. So we took our time getting ready, ate a delicious breakfast, went to the Sacre Coeur, shopped, and finished at the Notre Dame. We spent a good portion of the afternoon sitting in the Notre Dame waiting for the rain to stop. Luckily the rain scared off the long line of tourist waiting to go to the top. I left Steph in the chapel to stay dry while I saved a spot in line. It started to rain again so I asked the girls in front of me if they would hold my spot while I ran to buy an Umbrella. They did and I was back in a few minutes. The girls and I started chatting about where they were from and what not. I found out they were on a study abroad from Utah Valley University! Small world! Steph soon joined us and we had much to talk about. Our little friend in line, Max, joined us under the umbrellas as we shared our adventures.
After our tour we had dinner in a traditional French Cafe where a pigeon flew in and pooped right next to our table. Lovely. The evening concluded with a walk down the Seine and the gardens surrounding the Louvre. I LOVE PARIS!

London
We made our way to the chunnel the next morning. Had a relaxing ride into London where we met our friend Danny outside of his office. He kindly stored our luggage in his office (it was so nice not to have to pay locker fees) and then we enjoyed a great lunch at a Lebanese restaurant. We sent Danny back to work and Steph and I were off to explore London sans the hop on hop off bus. We visited Saint Paul's cathedral, ate lunch in the park, had a memorable loo break at St. Arbucks, stopped at Paperchase and bought the cutest stationary etc. and then headed back to meet up with Danny who escorted us to his flat.
The following day we slept in a bit too long and missed the changing of the guard. No worries we made up for it by shopping on Portabello Road in Notting Hll, eating a delicious cupcake, touring the British Museum and the Imperial War museum. That night we went back to the flat early to cook a dinner. The highlight for Steph was watching TV in English. :)
Thursday, we met up with Suzanne, after an uneventful crowded changing of the guard. Suzanne took us to Harrods where we bought lunch and at it in Hyde Park. Then we caught the tube down to Piccadilly Circus where we found Liberty of London and I ogled the fabric. Our day ended with the evening song at Westminster Abby. It was beautiful and soothing. I loved listening to the singing reverberate off the tall cathedral ceilings. So much so that we all fell asleep. Our slumber was rudely interrupted when we stood with the congregation to pray...it was then that I appreciated the full hour of sitting we've got going on in the LDS church sacrament services. After we said our sad goodbyes to Suzanne and headed back to Danny's flat for some shut eye.

Early the next morning I walked Steph to the tube station where she caught the train to the airport. It was sad saying goodbye. My travel partner was gone. I had a full day to myself...it almost felt like coming home from serving a mission and feeling so weird that my companion wasn't with me. I went back to the flat, fell asleep, read, caught up on emails, then met up with Jewel and Gary M. who moved to England from DC last year. Jewel was my visiting teacher for a year or two. It was so good to see her again! We took the tube into town, where I ate my first "Fish and Chips" at a pub. We spent the next hour or so catching up on each others lives and the went back to Liberty of London where Jewel helped me pick out the perfect fabric for a skirt. After shopping we parted, so sad to say goodbye again! I headed to the "Cabinet War Rooms" museum where Churchill and staff worked/lived during the duration of WWII. I loved it! One of the best museums I have been to (it may be due to my fascination with WWII).
That night Danny came home early from work and we explored the little town center (??if that is what we call it??) he lives by and ate most delicious crepes. There was a live jazz concert going on where the locals brought their camping chairs and such to sit and listen. It was a charming.
The next day we set off on our bus tour to Warwick castle, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Cotswolds, and Oxford were Danny quickly became the "tour guide's pet". Our first stop, Warwick Castle, was great. It is a medieval castle that was transformed into a retreat for a few kings and earls and so on and so forth. Outside we at a delicious round sausage, watched a Trebuchet fling a projectile across the grounds. The indoors were filled wax figures depicting daily life from the medieval times to the late 1800's. Next our tour led to the birth place of Shakespeare, Stratford-Upon-Avon. I loved that so many writers had stopped there and etched their names on the window of the room Shakespeare was born in. It felt so timeless. It was fun to find the one word clues scattered around the house to a sonnet he wrote. Danny put the pieces together quickly (must be from being the son of an English teacher) and was able to recite the sonnet to me. Impressive.
I can't remember if we ate dinner before or after we left that quaint yet tourist overrun town, but it was in the Cotswolds at a nice little pub. Our next stop was Oxford where we took pictures of the dining hall used for Harry Potter and the lamp that inspired C.S. Lewis in "The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe". It was amazing to think how long people have been going to school there. It made both of us think of taking on a new degree from Oxford. I especially loved the different colleges and the various ways each displayed a win in sporting events.
We were back in London around 8:30 so we grabbed a bite to eat at a Thai place. I can't forget the delicious cookies we patiently saved (marshmallow) for when we got back to the flat. We were exhausted from the days touring so we deliberated for quite a while on what movie to watch, ate our cookies, watched "Three Musketeers" (must have been the influence of the castle), and I think both fell asleep by the end.
Sunday led us to Bath. A place I could spend days in! I loved it there! The architecture, gardens, "hahas", white stone, shops, stone streets, etc. were enchanting. Our train ride was perfect, the walking tour perfect, and sushi dinner...perfect. At one point in our tour the guide pointed out a house where Jane Austin had lived for a bit. A non English speaking tourist asked, "Jane Austin? Never met her." Our spunky guide replied, "Nor have I." I about died laughing! We didn't have many Austin fans amongst us.
Later Danny introduced me to the McD's Mars shake, he must have caught on to my need to try food I haven't had (even if I hadn't ordered it) because he got one size larger than he normally, knowing I would ask to try some. Awe...so sweet. Seriously, it is this strange phenomenon that comes over me when traveling...I don't normally give puppy dog eyes and and wait for by dining partner to offer a portion of their food. I was bummed I hadn't tried it before. We ended our day in bath listening to an acoustic guitarist playing in a square as we ate our desserts, people watched, and talked. Our trip to Bath was the perfect ending to my amazing tour of Europe.

I was leaving the next day and that meant leaving so many things I loved. I hope it won't be long until I'm back again. I thoroughly enjoyed catching up with and renewing friendships, relishing every moment traveling, delving into the rich European history, and refining my navigational skills.

Flight Home
The tragedy comes at the end. Delta was still playing Invictus! Yay! I found out how it ends. I also watched two more movies, listed funny moments from the "weekend in the country", wrote goals for the upcoming six months, and drank as much Euro Coke as I could. Sadly, on my flight from Atlanta to DC I ate a cookie with walnuts or something and had a terrible allergic reaction. I have been hopped up on Benadryl for the past week. I guess there had to be some twist in this all too amazing trip.

July 25-27

2010-07-27T13:25:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer...I am not responsible for mispelled words...spell check is Italian AND I have been writing this while a 12 year old kid looms over my sholder waiting to take over the free interenet!

We have settled into our travel roles very nicely. We each have an important job in making sure we make it to our next destination or place of interest. Steph is our time keeper, Sharyn is our translator, and I am the navigator. Our new phrase for Sharyn is, "We should ask for... and by we, we mean you". Sharyn has been amazing at translating things, however she sometimes does not realize if she is speaking Italian or English and thinks we can understand what she is saying. Like at dinner the other night, in Vernazza, when I was brought a platter with full shrimp on it. Heads, tails, legs, and all. I have never attempted to eat shrimp this way so I asked the waiter the best way to eat it. He had a difficult time explaining it to me in English, even though his hand jestures were very good. I asked Sharyn to help out and she kept repeating the same thing the waiter had told me...I tried to explain to Sharyn that I still did not understand when she said the same same way the second time. She stared blankly until she realized what was happening. We had a good laugh.

So by now we have spent a day traveling from Venice to Cinque Terre. Imagine our surprise when we found out that it took a day to travel there when we arrived at the Venice station around 11:00am. We luckily made it to our hotel in Cinque Terre by 23:00 hours (right before it closed). We were led to our hotel room through the streets of Vernaza. It was like climbing Mt. Everest. We would ascend to one terrece only to look up and see about 30 more stairs. Mind you, we were carrying our luggage up all the stairs. As my legs burned, all I could focus on were Steph's legs infront of me. We made it up the 100 stairs + to find a room that was roughly the width of my hallway in DC. I do not think Sharyn and Steph were thrilled with the accomodations but I thouhgt it was quaint. Maybe it was the fact that when Sharyn opened our shutters she saw a naked lady lying on her bed that turned her off to the place. I LOVED the rest of the hotel. The next floor up opened to a terrece on the cliff overlooking the sea. I could spend all day up there! We ended our day by drinking a herbal tea on the terrace as the ocean breezes cooled us off.

The next day we took a train to the first town and hiked to the next two, exploring as we went. Every turn was charming. I felt like we had gone back in time. We finished in Montorosa where we dipped our feet into the sea promising to jump in when we got back to Vernazza. We caught the next train back. While Steph went to make a phone call home Sharyn and I jumped off the peir into the sea. The impact was so refreshing that my top adjusted enough to give the 20 or so onlookers/tourists a lovely show!!! I got over that pretty quickly and enjoyed the swim. Believe it or not I was not to fearful of the HUGE fish lurking below me. What did scare the pants off me (figuratively this time) was the tourist ship that almost hit Sharyn and I! We were swimming and noticed a ship coming into port. We asked aloud where it was docking and the crowd above us said, "right here"! Luckily she and I had been in training the past year or so for a triathlon, we were able to quickly swim out of the way...however, when we stopped our frantic swim and looked it up it was still coming for us. At the last minute it turned and we were saved! Thank goodness...my heart still pounds thinking about it!

After our swim we caught up on emails, read on the terrace, and ate a delightful dinner (the shrimp one mentioned above). We climbed into bed after planning the next morning's final breakfast on the terrace.

The breakfast was lovely. We boarded the train to Pisa...saw the leaning tower. Met a jolly Englishman who took our picture and wanted to kiss Sharyn, lost Steph for a bit, ran to catch our train (big surpirse), and pulled into Florence later in the day. We are staying at a nice hotel...except we've been put in the attic! Seriously, I think we got the ghetto room on this one. I think Sharyn ralized it quickly, called a friend she hasn't seen in forever, and conveiniently decided to stay at her place in Modena for the night. However, we have free internet so I can continue my jounaling of our trip. So THERE, Sharyn. (If your reading this tonight in your comfy retreat.)

Steph and I walked around Florence tonight. I have fallen in love with this city all over again! I can not get enough! I LOVE FLORENCE!!!!! It is on my top ten favorite places. Maybe sometime I will blog about those...but with my track record...I am not so sure. Now if only I had a hunk of a guy next to me...I guess I will have to settle for sharing a bed with Steph and an occassional accidental leg touch.

PS. I love how many lovers there are and HATE how many lovers there are. There is not a view without someone making out.

PSS. People are chimney's here! EVERYONE smokes! I'll have black lung by the end of the trip if tourist ships don't kill me first!

July 22-24

2010-07-24T09:35:00.000-07:00

We have arrived in Italy!!! There were a few minor irritations on our journey here, but we made it! We even were able to experience how Ryan Air "nickel and dimes" you for everything!

Let me start off where I left off. Steph and I enjoyed a day at Arundal castle with Suzanne (our dear friend who lives in Brighton for a few more weeks). Her two story flat was a wonderful place to recover from jet lag and enjoy the coastal breezes. Arundal was beautiful and I took some breathtaking pictures of views of the gardens, which I will post later. After a delicious veggie pie from the bakery in Arundal we headed back to her place to pack and catch the train into London then to Stanstead.

We got a bit turned around on our way to the train station, but quickly navigated our way through Brighton and made our train with ONE minute to spare!!! Seems to be the theme of our trip. Once in London we transferred to an "Easy Bus" where we listened to what seems to be London's only radio station for the next hour. It plays the sappiest music. Some of the most memorable songs on the mix for the hour were Bryan Adams "Everything I Do", Karen Carpenter "We've Only Just Begun", The Temptations "Tears in My Eyes", Tiffany "Close Your Eyes", etc. etc. etc. Needless to say I understand why Brits seem so "down in the mouth", I was feeling a bit low after hearing all these songs! So in order to make the trip bearable we sang along. We arrived at Stanstead, ate dinner, then went to the cutest Thatched roof cottage for the night.

Steph slept like a baby...I did not. Lack of ambian/Tylenol PM was the culprit. My mind raced for hours...maybe it was watching "Return of Zorro" before going to bed. That Antonio Bandarez will do that to a gal. :) We woke the next morning at 4:00 am to catch the plane to Venice. When we arrived at the airport it was slammed with people!!! It was impossible to figure out how to check in. We realized our mistake too late!!! Yesterday we tried to check in but the computer wouldn't take our reservation. After several attempts we gave up and decided to just check in at the airport. FAIL!!!!!! Ryan Air charges you 40 pounds to check in at the airport!!! Despite our efforts to explain this to the disgruntled ticket agent we had to pay the 80 pounds plus 80 to check our bags. So adding our hotel, baggage, check in fee, and flight we calculated that it would have been cheaper to fly out of Heathrow.

Well, after riding the "Greyhound in the Sky"/Casino we arrived in Traviso and took the shuttle to Venice. I slept the whole way and was so groggy when we got to Venice I couldn't figure out where we were. Steph tried to help but she was just as out of sorts. Luckily we quickly figured out how to get to our hotel and were off. We got a bit lost in the Venice Maze but crazy enough we ran into Sharyn who helped us navigate our way to the hotel. The hotel ROCKS! It is old school Venice and we are really looking forward to our all you can eat breakfast.

Steph was so tired that Sharyn and I left her to sleep while we explored Murano (the place where they blow the glass). We were only going to be gone for a two hours. FAIL!! again! Steph got a longer nap than she planned. We missed the water taxi b/c we were checking out the ticket prices for the Norah Jones concert in San Marcco's square. This caused us to miss the water taxi by minutes...we had to wait for thirty for the next taxi. We had already bought our tickets when we realized it takes 40 minutes to get there! I of course fell asleep again on the boat. When we go to Murano we realized we weren't going to get back until 5:00 pm. So we called the hotel to notify Steph, ate some amazing Pizza, and then headed back to the hotel. When we returned we found Steph refreshed. I fell asleep AGAIN! while Steph and Sharyn chatted. 20 minutes later I was ready to go! We are now making our way to dinner, possible Norah Jones concert, and then Steph will FINALLY be able to see San Marcco's square (the reason we stopped in Venice for the night)!

Tomorrow: Verona for church (if we can find it) then Cinque Terre for three days!!! Wahoooo can't wait to dip my toes in the Med!

Cio!

England July 20 & 21

2010-07-22T04:00:00.000-07:00

Planes, trains, boats, buses, & cars. Without planning it Steph and I accomplished an unrealized goal of riding on all major modes of transportation in one day. We did spend a large portion of our various expeditions dozing. Here's how the day went down.

Morning of my afternoon flight, prior to packing. I go to download the last photos from my camera to free up space and find that ALL of my photos from the last 5 years have been "magically erased" from my hard drive and external hard drive. I panic, call the mac genius bar and get an appointment for 11:00. It is was 10:00. Without all the details, the computer was fixed by noon and I had an hour to pack. I made it. Caught my flight to Detroit, had dinner with a friend, Matt, during my layover (delicious BBQ). Matt and I got caught up in conversation and didn't realize how quickly the time had passed. He raced my back to the airport, I patiently waited through security, and as I was briskly walking to my gate I heard, "Alicia Poulton, please come to gate 24A, this is the last call." I started running to the gate. A gentleman I passed yelled, "Oh you must be Alicia Poulton". PANIC! But I made it!

Steph and I were on separate flights (frequent flier miles) to England that arrived close to the same time. Our detailed plans for meeting are summarized from Steph & my texts/preboarding conversations, Steph: "Hey where should we meet?" Alicia: "The Central Bus/Tube terminal at the airport" Steph: Meet you at the main bus area if I don't see you at customs".

When I arrived I checked to see if Steph's plane had gotten in. She was supposed to arrive before me. There were no arrivals from "Montreal"!!!! My heart dropped and my mind raced as I began to think about what this meant...was she flying into Gatwick? Heathrow is a huge airport! How would I find her? Surprisingly I remained calm. I found out that I was in the 4th terminal and needed to go to the 3rd to find the "main bus area". I trekked over and relief swept over me as I found her searching the crowds. Note to self...specify what airport you're arriving at!

We then took the tube to Victoria Station, dropped our luggage off at "Left Luggage". Next was our double decker bus tour where I spent the majority of the time dozing. At one point our guide pointed out to everyone that Steph should make sure that I don't fall off the chair. I also leaned forward to rest my head on a bar and was so out that my arm slipped off the bar and I hit my head. Steph and I could not contain our laughter. I shortly fell asleep again.

We stopped at McDonald's had my favorite treat of Europe, Coke (if you've had you know why). Then headed to Westminster Abby for a tour. Breathtaking. Then a boat ride on the Thames that lulled me to sleep again. After, we headed back to Victoria Station, where we tried to figure out how we spent $160.00 in one day! Took a two hour ride that is normally one with no air conditioning to Brighton. I don't remember much of the ride because I was asleep.

We cabbed it over to our friend Suzann's place, caught up, and then CRASHED!!!!! We woke up at 11:00 today and are looking forward to a lovely stroll along the white cliffs and a tour of the Royal Pavillion.

Valentine's and Presidents Day Weekend!

2010-02-19T09:48:00.000-08:00

Here are the pix with the nieces and nephews. I spent Presidents Day shopping with Sharyn, buying my first sewing machine, AND going to Mt. Vernon! What a great way to celebrate President's day.

Snowpocolypse DC

2010-02-19T09:43:00.001-08:00

Jan-Feb

2010-02-19T08:51:00.000-08:00

Why does it take me getting hurt, not sleeping, or a blizzard to post? My back is killing me so I took the day off to rest. Since I can't move much I'm turning to things I can do while propped up on pillows! I hate back pain!

I've been toting my camera around for the past month or so to chronicle my comings and goings. I will start with My Birthday.

I had the best birthday EVER! I went to New York with Kati and Jen for the weekend. I drug them around to all my favs and new favs. The highlights were finally seeing Mama Mia,
winning the lottery for front row Wicked tix (thank you Kati!), and eating at Max Brenner
(every dish has chocolate in it!).
It was FFFRRREEEEZZZZIIINNNGGG!!!

Jill hosted a cupcake party for me Sunday night. A few of the gals gave me a Coach bag! I love it! Can you tell that I didn't want to let it go?
I still don't!
The following week we had two snow days! Followed by SNOW VACATION! We had a whole week off of school. We were hit with two big snow storms. I think my back injury occurred from shoveling all the snow and then swimming a bit too aggressively the other night. I hope it goes away soon! I was really geared up to get back to training!

Valentines day was so fun! I spent it with my brothers, Ian and Eric along with their families. We made sugar cookies! I also got to open my birthday gifts from them. It made Valentines day perfect! I had so much fun! Thanks to all!

Oh What a Day!

2010-01-23T19:37:00.000-08:00

I stayed up a little too late last night which made me feel I could justify sleeping in until 10:00am and reading a book until 12:00am. I skipped pilates :( but I made it to another church basketball game! (Don't judge, church ball ROCKS!) My goal is to play in as many games as possible this season. The more I play the more I feel the skills coming back...maybe I'll even start back up on Monday nights. Doing so may actually help me to not get stuffed again. OUCH! That was the most painful part of the game! Hurt my pride most of all, especially with the 2 fans watching.
Celebrated Jen A's birthday at a fun little brunch where Anna J. revisited my embarrassing brain freeze last night. Which I will now review again, "So who are the Wizards playing tonight?" I asked while Brandon G. drove us to the game. His reply, "The Heat." To which I respond, "Oh the Utah Heat!" Silence, Crickets, then B.G. responds, "Uh,No"..."Arizona?" by now I have the car busting with laughter. Finally, Brandon G.(who I'm sure is thinking "Is this girl for real?") sets me straight, "Miami Heat!" So embarrassed! I know it's the Utah Jazz...been to many O'game!

After rehashing that I played ball, then cleaned up for a fantastic dinner party my roommie threw. Today was perfect!

2:30 am and the brain won't stop!

2010-01-22T23:48:00.001-08:00

The brain won't stop! I can't sleep! I've checked to see if anyone is on facebook...negatory, Gmail...same, and now decided I should catch up on my blog. I've decided to dedicate this entry to Deb. She is moving away this week to be with her man...soon to be husband. I don't know what I'll do without her! She joined me out here six months after I moved back home from Utah. I was so excited to have her close by! She has been my closest and truest friend. I never laugh harder than when I'm with Deb. She makes traveling the most entertaining adventure. She knows all of my embarrassing moments from the past ten years and will recall them to anyone at any time. Fortunately, I know most of hers. She listens to my complaints and always ends up making me see clearly again. I know we'll have a ton of more memorable moments, but it will be tough to have her so far away. So until we can travel the jungles of Malaysia ...or eat Sushi on Foothill...tata!

Steph Z is in town

2009-09-12T19:47:00.000-07:00

While strolling along the waterfront in Old Town Alexandria enjoying all the street performers we came upon the most unique exhibit! We couldn't resist!!!

I HEART NYC

2009-09-06T21:14:00.000-07:00

The energy of NYC always always always fills the tank when it is on reserve. It is the best cure for the after vacation blahs, the "back to school" blues, and the I've got three more months until an extended vacation dread. I always return to DC ready to tackle the tough stuff. I think it is because it's an escape that is only five hours away. Anywho, the highlight of the trip was going to the US Open. And what a night to go! We saw Roddick defeted by Isner followed by the downfall of James Blake.

Most memorable moments of the trip (sorry if some of them are locational and only those who came get the significance/humor)...

-Having no plans for a place to stay or transportation until the day before
-Stopping at Arby's on the way up and getting 5 for 5 sandwiches
-Not driving the Jersey Turnpike but taking the "non-toll" way up to NYC in Kevin's mile marker green Tercel
-Finding out the if you chew whole wheat kernels really fast it turns to gum (Deb you're mom was a genius! Think of all the money she saved by making you think that was gum...)
-Staying in Spanish Harlem
-Deb accidental exhibition of her hind end
-Steph's obsession with antibacterial hand sanitizer to avoid Swine Flu
-Deb's obsession with eating fruit every five minutes so she wouldn't get scurvy
-My fear of getting Mrsa after watching Oprah and dropping Arby's bun on the ground
-Running into Scott S., Sarah C., Tasha G., and friends at Grand Central Station
-Kevin making us miss two trains b/c he was internalizing which pass was the most cost effective
-Learning that Jr. Mints, peanut M&M's, and Skittles wake you up at a 10 pm tennis match which in turn will make all the silent fans upset at your efforts to stay quiet.
-Taking the same funny picture again and again and again and again
-Meeting up with Darren and Leolani at the match
-Taco's for dinner
-Kevin going down the street to get a hot dog instead of eating pizza with us to save money only to later leave the tournament to literally run to a Chinese restaurant b/c he was still hungry spending more money on the second and first meals combined than he would if he had only stayed and eaten pizza with us.
-Deb dumping water down some poor guys back at Starbucks and him thinking it was coffee
-A group of women not letting a pregnant lady on the train, yelling at her through the closed doors, then listening to them brag for the next 10 stops!
-60 year old men in red kilts, one spike in on hi shaved head, leather vests, and frilly shirts (where was your camera Jen?????)
-Carrying pillows around NYC subway system, Borders, and Kinko's in order to be comfy on Vamoose...following questions were asked..."Are you coming from a shower"..."Where's the pillow fight?"..."You must be really tired."
-Domestic disputes in Spanish Harlem that end up involving the members (and preacher) of the nearby baptist church to run out and get involved turning into a street brawl (which I was there with Deb and Steph)

What a great weekend! Pictures to come once I get my camera back from Jen whose camera ran out of batteries with two days left in NYC.

I HEART NYC

Marathon Sunday!

2009-08-30T20:42:00.000-07:00

Wow! Sundays are such rejuvenating days! I find little time at church to catch up with people. To remedy this I invited a few friends over for a peach cobbler cook off. I thought for sure I would win with my moms famous cobbler recipe. I used her cookbook to help guide me...unfortunately she left out that flour needed to be added...I didn't win.

Same Outfit

2009-08-28T06:10:00.000-07:00

Somedays I could wear the same outfit I did the day before...today is one of those days.

I could do this for a while!

2009-06-22T12:35:00.001-07:00

Wow! Today is the first day of summer break. I could do this for a while. When I woke up I actually had time to read and ponder the scriptures. I then went for a four mile run in which I stopped by Thomas Jefferson's place for some meditation. The thought for the day is as follows: When ever I can't find something, the best way to locate it is to busy myself by doing something else other than focusing on the lost item. Once I am focused on something else, I miraculously find the missing thing. Somehow this translates into not getting all worked up about searching for what I don't have. Instead of getting so worked up about things I can't find, don't have, or want, my goal is to relax, focus on what I do have, and be grateful. Hopefully if the pattern is true, what I can't find will soon be discovered.

After my moment at the memorial I returned home to eat (one of many I hope) a healthy breakfast. I then proceeded to clean the bathroom and do two loads of laundry! It was miraculous. I've now moved onto prepping for tutoring and will hopefully stop by some shops to buy things that have been on my "to buy" list for the past several months.

My goal is almost complete...I'm busying myself already!

Happy SUMMER!

I've caught the insanity!!! March Madness

2009-03-20T11:43:00.001-07:00

My roommate Mandy (an avid sports fan)suggested we have a roommate bracket going for the college basketball finals. This has been a great roommate bonding experience. However, I forgot that at one point in time I was a basketball addict. I went cold turkey and was able to stay dry for several years. I did such a brilliant job of staying away that I thought I had the habit licked. Well, I'm sad to say (not really) that as with all habits, once an addict always an addict. I LOVE LOVE LOVE college basketball!!!!
It is so bad that I had students checking the scores for me!!!! While my students were silently reading I "accidentally" looked at my computer and let out a yell, startling the poor tikes.

So far this round I've only had three loses. One in which I felt deeply and personally. For two hours my heart beat wildly as I was teaching! With each update I had to suppress my desire to watch real time. My heart goes out to my guys in blue (For all you BYU fans, let me remind you the blue that you stole from us) the Utah State Aggies. They played their hearts out! One point determined their downfall...(and my loss). Boys, I'm givin' you a slow clap for your brilliance, hard work, and heart. You gave Marquette a run! We were so close to a 6/11 upset! You will forever be mine!

Winter 2009

2009-03-14T04:55:00.001-07:00

So it's been a while

2009-03-14T04:03:00.001-07:00

I can't believe I haven't posted since November! My life has been filled with so many great events and people that I've had a tough time keeping up with my blog. However, as always I want to do better! I love reading everyone else's updates!

Once again I'll give a little list of what has been filling my life since then...

Thanksgiving was with my brothers' families (Ian & Nancy and Eric & Melinda)! My nieces and I had a sleepover the night before at my place here in Arlington! It was a blast! We started by shopping for our favorite breakfast cereal, picked out a movie (Mad Money...loved it), went to the mall (remember how cool that used to be?) then ice skating (My 13 year old nieces, twins, were getting oogled by the teenage boys, the grils didn't notice which is great, but I was ready to take those boys down if they laid a finger on them), and then out for hot chocolate. We ended the night watching the movie and groggily woke the next day to our fav. cereal. The girls helped me bake rolls and sweet potatoes. Blast!

My time between Thanksgiving and Christmas was spent finishing papers and studying for two finals! The toughest part were writing the papers! My metacognative skills aren't as strong as they were in undergrad. I think it is the constant pull between talking to fourth and fifth graders and then using those higher level thinking skills to discuss various reading theorist's ideas. Whatever it is, synthesizing info. is killing me. Luckily, one of my profs dropped the final (she can do that she is the director). When she announced this in class I actually started to cry! I still get choked up! It was such a blessing for me!

I spent my Christmas vacation at my sister Camie's in Missouri. Josh & Dawn (Calvin and Jonas in tote) came from Ohio came to join us along with Ashliegh flying out from Utah. We had a BLAST! The itinerary was simple...eat (we made all of my mom's classic Christmas meals and treats), play ROCK BAND, run around the house tickling Calvin and Brenden (it was my workout...in fact the first words I heard from the boys were "Tickle me Aunt Awisha"), go to the mall, sleep, and open presents. That is about all we did! It was so relaxing!

New Years I spent in Florida with some friends. Nothin' like fun in the sun! The gals got there first. Since we were in Daytona we decided to live like the natives and get a henna tattoo! When the rest of our crew arrived we spent time playing on the beach, going to Disney World for New Years, and checkin' out the Daytona Speedway. The highlight of my trip was getting out of the car to dance in the street to "Twist and Shout" while waiting for traffic to move out of the Disney World parking lots. Disney World was also a highlight! Seriously, Disney magic is real!!!! I mean I even started the New Year off with a little kiss (that magic didn't last long) BUT, It has still been the best year ever! Filled with great friends and amazing experiences!

I returned home to a new calling as our ward's second Relief Society President (the RS is so big it was split). This has been such a blessing in my life. It has been amazing to see and feel how much Heavenly Father loves his daughters. Woven into my life has been so many blessings, answers to prayers, and beautiful people who inspire me. I'm still getting used to my new schedule but I'm loving it!

Adding to my magical 2009 was a great birthday! My friends and family know how to treat me right! :) I spent the day at work and the evening enjoying dinner and cake with friends. Both work and fun time were sprinkled with people that I love. I can't believe how blessed I am. I am truly grateful for the inspiring people in my life!

February was uneventful except for a few snow days flurried in with Grad School. I have one class left (I am getting so trunky!), a practicum in July, and my comps! It will be a busy spring!

I've added a few photos to go along with my awesome New Year! Enjoy!

Journey '08

2008-11-26T16:03:00.000-08:00

This was such a fun concert! A few of us headed out to Gainsville to enjoy the show. The opening acts were Cheap Trick and Heart. Both were amazing, however we found that our drunk friend sitting in front of us LOVE heart. He loved them so much that anytime someone new passed us he would stop them and proclaim his love for them. We also had a fan who couldn't stay put, while everyone else was sitting on the lawn enjoying the opening acts this guy stood and cheered the whole time...ahhh just like the glory days. It was hilarious!
The rain trickled off and on all night but when Journey (one of my fav. bands ever) came on it stopped....must have been fate.

"Don't Stop Believin'"

I added this video so you could hear my excitement...one of us is singing off key...Couldn't be me!

In fact I thought it was Steph...until I played it for her and she quickly pointed out that it was my voice...we couldn't stop laughing!

Finished "The Quilt"

2008-11-26T15:54:00.000-08:00

Wow! It is amazing what I get done with a day off! Here is my latest creation. I made the squares from my old jeans. I started last Christmas and since then I've acquired enough jeans to make another quilt! I think I may wait until I can get my own sewing machine though. That way I won't have to "beg, borrow, and steal" my friend's and family's.

Just a few Pix from the 2nd 1/2 of summer

2008-10-02T19:49:00.001-07:00

Wow Time FLIES

2008-10-02T19:26:00.000-07:00

School has begun! Not only am I teaching school I'm also going to school. I haven't been able to keep up on the blog b/c time flies when you're having fun or when you have no time to relax. As I write I have six chapters in my "Literacy Coach" book. With each word typed the guilt mounts. However, I have had so much fun reading everyone else's blog I thought I should update mine. So here is what has filled my time since becoming a domestic goddess turned full time teacher/student (bulleted to save time).

-Went to OBX with the girls; had a blast!
-Flew to Ohio to visit Josh (who just got back from Afghanistan), Dawn (who just had a baby), Calvin who is cuter that ever, and new nephew Jonas.
-Started teaching again (love this year, I am working with some great teachers!)
-Went to NYC stayed in the Waldorf (check one off the bucket list)
-Went to Deep Creek Lake, hung out in a cabin for a weekend, AMAZING! Happy B-day to Deb and Steph!
-Started taking two night classes (killing me!)
-Work at the temple every other Thursday (rejuvenates me!)
-Started the "Biggest Loser" competition again (apparently the weight I lost during the first round came back due to the week at the beach, not complaining just stating the facts, two-three DR. Peppers a day..not diet, Twix, Yorks, and brownies for mid day snacks...does it get any better?)
-Began my weekly Tivo recoding ritual to catch up on while eating dinner
-Planning a fun New Years get-a-way! Can't wait!
-Looking forward to Dec. when my finals are over and I crawl out of my self imposed exile from friends and family.

Wow! The guilt of not reading is too much! I better go!
-Attempted to finish my quilt I started last December...all I need to do is bind it...

Domestic Goddess

2008-08-09T15:16:00.000-07:00

Yep- That is correct, I now consider myself a domestic goddess! Not only can I make rolls, bread, a quilt, and paint a room...I can now make blackberry jam.

My sister-in-law, Nancy, niece, and nephew picked the berries with me. Then I transported them to my other S-in-L's, Melinda's, house to make the jam. At this rate Martha won't stand a chance!

Summer Fun

2008-07-31T23:16:00.001-07:00

Somehow I end up painting when I visit my brothers and sisters (some of you may not know this b/c I hide my talents but I dabble in painting). I don't know how this happens. Usually the conversation starts with..."We really want to do something in room X. What do you think we should do?" I then give suggestions, get excited, end up doing it for them. The first room I painted was for my niece Maddie. I painted flowers, vines, and fairies. The next was my sister Camie's family room. Followed by Connor's coral reef.

This trip to Utah was no different, however it wasn't my siblings who asked. They are starting to wisen up! It was my adorable nephews that I couldn't say no to. Chance asked if I would paint a dog house in his room. His request also included clouds, grass, blue sky, and a sun. So here was the end result. When I return I've promised to add trees, birds, and dogs. Since my sister just moved to the house they are still working with the furniture. I hope she'll send me pictures when it is all done (hint hint).

I had a blast painting this room! I can't wait to go back and add so finishing touches!

Chance's response to the water fall, "Oh we didn't plan that!"

2008-07-31T23:15:00.001-07:00

This is John's room. He wanted stars around his room so I cut out a few stencils and spray painted glow in the dark stars around the boarder. His bed has a tent attached to it so it will be like he is camping under the starts.

Hello...Goodbye

2008-07-31T21:49:00.000-07:00

Sometimes when I meet a cool guy this is what happens to me! Check the blog below for more info.

2008-07-31T21:36:00.000-07:00

So seriously! I hate to brag and be the one to disappoint all of you with the fact that your friends aren't the best in the world because I have the GREATEST friends EVER! And some of the funniest! I realized this true fact while catching up on everyone's blog.

I think I may start a nightly "Shout Out" while I'm on summer break. Tonight's shout out goes to Steph! Tears are running down my face as I laugh hysterically! You write what I think in my head but am too afraid to let anyone know. Like your letter to Ben. Really what happened between him and Felicity was devastating. But please keep watching...it gets better.

I'm going to borrow some of Steph's material to bring you what happens in my head when I meet a cute guy. To quote Steph on how Mauri puts it..."its much easier and painless to date and breakup with someone in your head than it is in real life." This goes along with the video above.

2008-07-19T23:49:00.000-07:00

Update from the West

2008-07-19T23:13:00.001-07:00

The past few weeks have been wonderful! My vacay began with a tour of my sister's new home in No. Provo. It is beautiful! I feel like I've been at spa for the past few weeks.
I then journeyed 9 hours to Yosemite with four kids and three adults. We drove six hours to Tonopah, NV, stayed at the Best Western, and had the most delicious pizza for dinner. The next day we traveled 3 hours onto Yosemite, the highlight of the three hours was the "Weeee Road" which consists of five miles of up and down hills. Our chariot was a not so comfy 15 passenger van on steroids.

We arrived Sunday afternoon, set up camp, and took a tour of the Yosemite valley.

We decided to hit the sack early so we would be rested for our approx. 18 mile hike of "Half Dome" the next day. We wanted to get the pain over at the beginning. The treck was grueling but soooo worth it! This was the final ascent after hiking 8.something miles!

We ate lunch on "The Diving Board". When I posed for the picture, I had vertigo so bad that I lost my balance and almost fell off! NO JOKE!

I'll add some more pictures of my trip. It has been so nice to catch up with everyone. This is really what I needed!

2008-07-19T23:08:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I copied this from a friend (Tara and Dave) verbatim (who copied it from their friends Emma) And just knew it was a brilliant idea! (Yes I copied the brilliant idea line too.)

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew us a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

SCHOOLS OUT FOR SUMMER!!!!

2008-06-23T05:20:00.000-07:00

No more pencils! No more books!!!!
No more teachers!!!! Dirty Looks!!!
Still applies. I am so glad to be out for the summer! Working for the second summer in a row was not an option. I am burned out!! I have been anticipating this R & R since May. I've decided to skip the country hopping and stick to the my favorite sites in the US. I'll start in Yosemite, then on to Jackson Hole, following a hike/weekend in Logan Canyon. The rest of my trip out west will entail hangin' with the niece and nephews, old friends, and hopefully new. I may even look into a quick flight down to Huntington to visit my cuz.
When I return from the "west" you'll find me at another favorite spot...Outer Banks, NC for a week with the girls. I've already picked out my beach girl hair salon hair do. I feel this one will top all.
For those of you still stuck at work...don't get too green. While traveling across the nation and back, I'll be taking an online course, furthering my education. So there will be some work involved.

I CAN'T Believe I Forgot My Camera!

2008-05-28T11:10:00.001-07:00

Of all the weekends to forget my camera on a trip! This weekend was A-Mazing! I am highly sleep deprived...so if there are mistakes, sorry. I left VA Saturday morning to attend a wedding in Connecticut. It was beautiful! One of the most gorgeous weddings I've attended. From the flowers to the personal mini two tiered wedding cakes for each guest, head to toe, this was fantastic. I partied 'til 1:00 am with friends from work and two friends that flew in from Spain. It was such a wonderful day!
I awoke the next morning at 5:00 am to catch a flight at JFK down to Richmond. I almost missed the flight because I took the train the wrong way from the rental car station! I was late getting to the check in counter by six minutes. Luckily the manager was feeling nice. She told me she would let me go through but if I was held up at security I was on my own. With that I had TWENTY minutes to get to my gate! I practically bowled over the people in the security line. When I got to the metal detector it went off!!!! Luckily I just had to remove my earrings, wait for some guy who didn't understand he needed to take his watch off to go through, and then slip my shoes back on. They didn't even stop me for having a liquid bottle over 3 oz! As I ran onto the plane the closed the door behind me!
Once in Richmond I continued down to the Outer Banks in North Carolina. My ride down was filled with a mini-lesson that you must put in some effort for miracles to happen. My faith was renewed...however that will have to wait for another day.
I arrived in Whales Head around 3:00. Stopped by a friend's rental house to visit and then headed to "The Black Pearl". It was a beautiful house! Every room was a master suite! It was filled to capacity and then some...it was really rejuvenating to meet new people and catch up with old friends. I was even surprised at a last minute arrival of a friend from AZ. All in all, I got my base tan, slept by the pool, drank Dr. Pepper, ate all the sweets I could handle, hung out on the beach, stayed up way way way too late catching up, and played a mean game of reverse charades. I had a blast! But I have no pictures to share with you! Bummer.

Green Light Day

2008-05-20T06:02:00.001-07:00

Don't you love the "Green Light Day"? You know, the day when all the lights are green, especially when you are late for work. That was my day yesterday. I even had a friend, whose kids attend the school I work at, following behind me who can attest for the "Green Light Day". Seriously, everything about yesterday was perfect. All lights were green, my students were fantastic, my co-workers congenial, my mani-pedi was perfect, there was no traffic on 395 when I headed out to Springfield for a jaunt to my new favorite store, I had dinner with the girls at RIO, and finished the day off with Masterpiece Theatre's "Cranford". Could I ask for more?
And for those of you who read this short update...a wish...May a day soon will be filled with "Green Lights" for you!

The Biggest LOSER

2008-04-30T11:38:00.000-07:00

Scott P., a friend who just made the move to DC, informed a few friends and I that he and his family were in a "Biggest Loser" competition in March. Unlike me, my friends thought it would be a great idea to form their own Biggest Loser Competition prior to putting the swim suit back on. Let me rephrase...when my so called friends invited me to join them, I enthusiastically said yes buying in for the $600.00 pot. However, I didn't realize at the time that denying myself the possibility of eating a ho ho for the next six weeks would affect my enthusiasm to participate in this competition! It has made me down right grumpy! My disgruntled mood can also be attributed to my lack of Dr. Pepper! (Please don't get the wrong impression, I am not addicted to these delectable indulgences, but on a day like today a good ho ho and Dr. Pepper would normally dampen my desire to run like...crazy...out of my school.)

I started off well...in fact a few of my opponents/friends saw my tally chart on my fridge and commented that they had not been as vigilant in keeping the rules. I'll admit I was a bit prideful and felt they were inferior creatures who had little self-control. I even began to envision myself winning this 60 person + competition. I mean common, how hard is it to 1) eat no sweets 2) drink no soda 3) eat 5 fruits and vegetables a day 4) take a multi-vitamin 5)Exercise for 30 min a day 6)get seven hours of sleep 7)not eat three hours before bed and 8)drink 48-62 oz of water a day for six weeks? Simple.

Well, that is what I thought until I took my first "free point" and ate a ho ho...it has been down hill ever since! I now understand the agony the Biggest Loser TV contestants had at the temptation rounds! I have been humbled in thinking lowly of my co-contestants. I no longer pester my teammate about following all the rules! I've lost 5 points this week! Two were for eating cake at two friend's birthday parties...birthdays only come around once a year and I didn't want to offend. At one of the parties I ate after 7:30pm! And I didn't get seven hours of sleep because I was out partying! I lost another for not drinking enough water and another for absent mindedly not taking my multi-vitamin. Which reminds me...I need to do that...

I have resolved to not take another free point 'til the end of the competition! I MUST WIN!

3 weeks to go! And 10 minutes left at work! Who needs ho hos?

Preparation Day Letters

2008-04-12T15:55:00.000-07:00

My parents have been serving in the Japan Fukuoka Mission for the past three months. Each week I look forward to their weekly "P-Day" letters. It has been a wonderful gift to read of my mother and father's faith in leaving their children and seventeen grandchildren to serve. The blessings are flowing! Not only in their lives but in mine. Every time I read a letter I am reminded of the amazing people who raised me. I can't not share these any longer. So here is P-Day letter 6.

April 7, 2008

Dearest Family and Friends,
How can I ever thank you for your prayers. They were answered in so many ways this week. We felt them and they gave us so much courage, hope and faith. I want to tell you of the marvelous things that have happened because of your faith in us and in the love and goodness of the Savior.
I must tell you about our concert, which I have been mentioning in my past two or three letters. Just after we arrived on February 13 I awoke at 4:30 in the morning. I had been wondering just what good my past experiences and talents were doing sitting in a basement working at a computer ten or twelve hours a day. At that moment I realized that there was interconnectedness with President "I's" goals and my talents that could be used together. I found myself weeping with joy, gladness and fear.
I was afraid [to share my ideas because I didn't know how President "I" would respond]. Marvin has always encouraged me to use my talents and to do the things I felt I needed to do. That is one reason why I love him so much. I casually mentioned my idea of concerts outside the “honbu” to President "I" in a casual moment, and he said, “Well maybe that could work”. My idea was just a few mini concerts, but his was for a big concert.
On the third day after we arrived we went to a baptism and afterward they held a little concert. An Elder "C" from Salt Lake, a missionary who was a student of music at Harvard, played the violin. So on the 13th of February I saw in my minds eye us working together to put on a concert.
At last transfer, Elder "C" was called to be the Assistant to the President. I had told him weeks before at a zone meeting that I had great plans for his musical talent and the missionary effort and we both sort of laughed it off.
A few weeks ago I brought up the idea of the concert and asked the President if he still thought it was possible. Our much traveled and tired mission president walked outside with me and looked at the parking lot and said “We have to have this concert when the cherry blossoms (sakurahana ga saku) are out”. We talked to the vendor in the middle of the parking lots and he said he thought in three weeks the sakurahana ga saku would be at their peak. So the President said, “We need to have it on a Sunday and I will only be here on April 6th. So that is when we will have the concert. We planned have it at 4 PM so that as people left the zoo they could come over to the concert. The President thought that if we were lucky we would get sixty or seventy people. He especially wanted some church members to come because he said Japanese people would not just drop in to a concert without an audience.
We talked to Elder "C" and he got on the phone and found an inactive young man who is a great opera singer and piano player and talked him into driving about two hundred miles to be a part of the concert. He found another man through an act of service who was a really good “Blue Grass” fiddler. I called a Sister "S", a woman with an amazing voice from another ward and asked her to sing. She said she would bring the ward “Bell Choir” and the choir to do two numbers. The women who had kimonos would wear them because it is a sign of great celebration.
I talked the President into giving me a little bit of mission funds for plants to decorate this horrible parking lot. I made brightly colored flyers to pass out at church, inviting everyone to come and celebrate the church’s birthday. Of course I had our mission office (MOS) native Japanese write the flyers in Japanese. Usually the ward people don’t come out to mission things because like all of us they think it is just another ploy to get them to drag their nonmember friends out to something that is badly done or else they feel guilty if they don’t bring a friend. So they don’t come. Sound familiar?
For the last three weeks it has rained a cold rain every Sunday. As it got closer to concert time, the cherry blossoms were out perfectly, the latest they have ever bloomed here due to the very cold weather we have had this year. The hill in the front of the temple was ablaze with the blossoms. The stake priesthood all came for the regular outdoor spring-cleaning on Saturday on the temple grounds.
Sadly a young man died from a lingering disease during the week and the Relief Society brought bouquets of flowers to the “honbu” because they didn’t know what to do with them. Instead of spending lots of Yen on flowers they were given to us.
The grounds and out side the temple and office were spick and span clean. The weather perfect on Saturday, it was the best day since we arrived. All week rain was predicted for Sunday, April 6. Sister "I" said we would just have the concert at the church I knew our purpose would not be fulfilled if that were the case. I could not sleep on Saturday morning and started to pray. Then I realized that all of you were praying for us. I thought that in America it was Friday night and the temples were still open and people were praying every 20 minutes, I asked the Lord that when they prayed for the missionaries that maybe a part of those prayers might be for us.
Sunday morning arose sunny and beautiful. We had moved in faith 80 chairs on Saturday from the church to the “honbu”. On Sunday I asked the President we got more. We moved the speakers and a piano. I set up the flowers.
The concert was absolutely perfect! We faced the hill where the hill looked like the most beautiful painting. The talent was amazing. Over one hundred and fifty people actually sat for all or part of the concert. We passed out quite a few Book of Mormons lots of investigators were there. People stood on the hill coming down from the botanical gardens and the temple and watched. The church people were so excited they asked when we could do this again. Sister "I" had prepared refreshments and it was a joyful day. Thank you for your prayers. Now just pray that we can have someone’s heart touched so that they will listen to our message. I can’t tell you how grateful I am for to the Lord for all his blessings and how I hope that in someway we might be instruments in His hands and find at least one of the honest in heart here in Fukuoka. I am so grateful that I can be of some use in finding people to share the plan of happiness with.
Today in office meeting the President was so pleased, he wants another concert on May 5. So I have another concert to prepare for in May on “Children’s Day”. During “Golden Week” there are lots of holidays that week and most people do not go to work, but go on vacation and many people come to the zoo. So in my spare time I will think of lots of things to do during “Golden Week. This time we will have it in the shade because it gets too hot. The entrance to the honbu is covered and can still be seen from the street. The office missionaries were told today no matter what to have a professional sign printed for the free concerts. They were supposed to do it for this one but didn’t work very hard on it.
Poulton Choro and I are in charge of April’s Mission Home Family Home Evening. We are planning a “Why I Believe” FHE. This is where people bring their friends and have a once a month FHE at the president’s very spacious home. The President and Sister "I" will be out of town.
We worked all of our P Day cleaning outside the temple and getting things ready for the concert. We have not vacuumed or really cleaned our apartment but I washed the clothes and hung them outside on Friday night and at 6 AM on Saturday.
We inspected missionary apartments to see if they were clean. Unfortunately they were not so they did not pass. The missionaries had always gotten a Celestial apartment but I went in with a white towel and found mildew, grease, un-defrosted refrigerators, grungy tables and dirty walls. I don’t know how these apartments every passed. I think some couple missionaries like to be friends rather than try to keep our very expensive to replace apartments in order. Poulton Choro found things that I didn’t notice. It is quite a trick to find apartments because there are no street names. We have to meet the missionaries and have them take us to their building.
Well the funny sign for the week was “Santa Alicia”. True! It was the name of a bar. I know you are generous Alicia and all the nieces and nephews love you like Santa but really you are not good at making toys are you?
Our Japanese is coming so slowly. But we have faith and keep trying to learn it. I can read a few words in Katakana, and I am learning to read some names of people in Kangi, which is sort of their picture writing.
Even though we can’t speak Japanese we have been able to reactivate a nice man who likes our Gospel Doctrine class. The Sister "I" just can’t believe that he comes to church every Sunday. Now he is our translator at church and asked Poulton Choro for a blessing this Sunday. So slowly we are able to help out here and there. We only wish we could do more. People really like Poulton Choro’s English class. He is doing a really good job. I have specific lessons but he has to come up with his own and his class loves his lessons.
I don’t know if we will have time next week for a P-Day letter, as we will be in the middle of new missionary week and transfers. We think we will have to work twelve hours a day. However, that is not as bad as the Office Elders.
Thanks to all of you who sent warm clothing. Last week Rebecca Gunderson Kemp sent wool tights. It is getting warm now so I guess I will be complaining about the heat.
May the Lord encircle you in the arms of his love,
Poulton Choro & Poulton Shimai
April 8, 2008 P.S. I woke up this morning thinking about “Golden Week” and Children’s Day and the concert. I think that can make a comparison to the Gold Plates but I will need some big gold helium balloons, gold ribbed balloon ribbon or ribbons, gold paper. I use can these things to make items to pass out to children coming to the zoo.

Counter

2008-04-12T15:39:00.000-07:00

So Tara and Dave got me super interested in finding out how many people visit my blog. I found a counter I liked and posted it below. Check it out! As of this blog 61 people have viewed it. I know I realize I'm nowhere close to competing with Tara and Dave's big numbers but I hope to be soon!

Don't Mess With Texas

2008-03-24T19:07:00.001-07:00

I love spring break! This year I'm in Texas with my sister, Camie, and sister in law, Dawn. They both have the cutest kids!

The break began on Friday when I went to pick up Cricket from my brother's house in Ashburn, VA. My mission was to deliver the cute pup to my sister in MO. I flew out Saturday morning and arrived in MO in time for dinner. Cricket was a trooper on the flight! I strategically planned treats and peanut butter to keep satisfy her. She didn't need the bribes! She was great!
She and Brenden were pals fro the get go! (Not to mention Matt, Camie's husband, who wasn't too keen on the idea. His heart melted the second he met her.

The next day my sister and I drove to TX to visit Dawn in Wichita Falls, TX. We spent the week relaxing, visiting Dallas, and celebrating St. Patty's day. I must admit that I have two of the cutest nephews ever! Cricket followed me around everywhere I went. She wouldn't let me out of her sight. It was the most endearing thing ever! Unconditional love!

I returned to DC seven days later heartbroken. It was tough to say goodbye to Cricket (I decided that with my hectic life it wouldn't be fair to keep the cute pup). It was even tougher to say goodbye to Camie, Brenden, Dawn, and Calvin.

I hope to get back to TX soon to visit Dawn and Calvin while Josh is in Afghanistan. I hope to meet the new addition (Jonas?) ASAP!

Don't Mess With Texas

2008-03-24T18:52:00.001-07:00

Don't Mess with TEXAS

2008-03-18T15:13:00.001-07:00

I love spring break! This year I'm in Texas with my sister, camie, and sister in law, Dawn. They both have the cutest kids!

Dog or No Dog

2008-03-03T19:17:00.000-08:00

I know you will find this hard to believe but I have fallen in love with the cutest puppy! My brother and his wife bred a brood of pups this last fall. One of them, Cricket, is still up for grabs...Now I'm not a dog fan, in fact I believe that in a "dog's best friend" relationship the dog becomes the master and the master the dog for buying the animal. I mean you have to take it out to let it pee at the crack of dawn, as soon as you get home, and right before bed. BLAH! You schedule around when the dog has to relieve itself. Doesn't sound like a best friend relationship to me.

That is what I thought until I puppy-sat Cricket this last weekend. It was a joy to bring her out and watch her hop around the yard. At night she would sleep next to me and I would wake up to her inquisitive eyes staring at me. My favorite part was coming home to an excited little yap that licked my face in happiness that I was home!

Seriously, it has only been one day but I really miss her. If only I owned my own home.

The Seat Next to Me Karma

2008-01-02T14:15:00.000-08:00

I don't know about most people, but I've always had the inner debate of whether to talk to the person in the seat next to me or not. Usually the curiosity derived from people watching passengers prior to boarding my flight takes over and I engage. I mean how else am I supposed to prove that I am exceptionally talented at hypothesizing a perfect strangers personality, life, and career by just people watching?
I also have the uncanny power to figure out who will be the person in the seat next to me just by scoping out the travelers at the gate. How can I be so spot on with my predictions? Have you read "The Secret"? It is simple. Without knowing it I somehow project that I want to sit by the loudest, rudest, weirdest, or most obnoxious person at the gate.

Flight #1 DC to Utah: The flight was packed with people. Despite the fact that I had chosen my comfy window seat in row 4 (lucky number) online the day earlier, I somehow projected that I wanted the last seat on the plane, smushed between the hunting, Berkley hippie, returning from Nashville and a purse clutching women who spoke little English. The seats barely reclined! The family with two teenagers in front of me found it entertaining to have a pillow fight the whole way to Phoenix! Lastly, the passenger I was most glad not to sit by was apparently high, passing out, and moved back to sit two seats up. I believe the police were waiting at the gate to arrest her for possession. Honestly!

Flight 2 SLC to LV: While sitting at the gate next to a semi-cute, witty, Jim Halburt of a guy my people watching was interrupted by a very WT southern woman yelling at her two kids anytime they said a word, moved, or breathed. I believe the line burned into my brain was, "Stop tawkin'(movin', breathin')! Do you want me to smack you? I'm gonna beat chew if chew do dat agaien!"
I didn't take that too seriously until she bellowed it for the thirtieth time. At which point I was ready to call child protective services. I also began secretly chanting, please don't let me sit next to her. The chanting kinda worked. She sat in the seat in front of me with her poor daughter.
I also spotted a very happy and overly friendly guy reuniting with a high school buddy. How do I know this? Well, through his drunken shouts no one missed it.
When the time came for us to board the plane I thought my "seat next to me karma" had changed, the cute guy was in the same loading zone. However no such luck. Instead I had an amazing opportunity to sit by the drunk Marine. Seriously, the guy was so drunk that I had cotton mouth! When I finally got my water I slurped it down and began chewing on the ice! He in turn was gulping down another beer. It counter balanced my thirst quenching water. He was super friendly, tried to hold my hand, and gave me a kiss when we said our goodbyes (doesn't count it was on the cheek). Words flew out of his mouth for one hour and thirty minutes straight. How do I know?...b/c thats how long the flight from SLC to Vegas was. I had a crick in my neck from turning to talk to him.
Now to not sound like a pessimist I need to add the sliver lining to this one, he had been investigating the LDS church while in boot camp, I was able to give him some contacts out in SD to find out a bit more. Great guy.

Flight #4 LV to DC: I didn't even attempt to speak to the guy in the seat next to me. I think it was the tattoo of a COMPLETELY naked woman on his forearm that turned me off. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against tats. Just against men who flaunt their porn addiction for all eyes to see. GROSS!

After my thrilling holiday flight adventure I've decided that the next time I go into an airport, I've got to project some different Mojo.

Happy New Year

2008-01-02T10:24:00.001-08:00

Unlike the start of most years I've decided to make only one, all encompassing, resolution. It is a simple statement that I think will actually work this year; I AM GOING TO BE A QUITTER! Your read correctly, I'm going to be a quitter. Seriously! I need to know when to quit. Take for instance the non-stop eating I (and the rest of the turkey stuffing, Christmas sweet succoring, indulgent and glutenous Americans) have been partaking of since Thanksgiving. Seriously, I need to quit that.
Another example that being a quitter will benefit my life is that I'll quit putting off going to the gym. There is no excuse for me to not put on the sneakers and saunter the .3 miles to Golds for a power pumping weight lifting class. Honestly, I spend 40 something dollars a month for two classes and my once a week tred mill run that I begrudgingly go to.
I need to quit dating guys that don't know how to committ, who date like they're 15, and don't know what being in a relationship really means. I need to quit not having faith that there is someone perfect for me out there.
Lastly, I need to quit making excuses and "Just Do It" in every aspect of my life. So there you have it. My resolution...I AM GOING TO BE A QUITER!!!!

School Days

2007-08-28T18:01:00.000-07:00

The little red school house has bekoned me back once again to await the federal holidays, the ringing of the dismissal bell, and summer vacation 2008. Besides looking forward to the perks of my career, I am also excited to see my students again.
This summer I was the reading resource teacher for summer school, I baby sat part time, and I developed a "Leveled Library" for the teachers at my school. I was able to squeeze in a vacay during the five weeks of working.
The weeks prior to teaching summer school were spent in the Outter Banks with my family. I headed up the first Marvin and Gay Nell Poulton family reunion. It was a blast! We scuba dived, built sand castles, read books, visited the Lost Colony, went to the emergency room (twice and it wasn't me this time), played in the pool, boogie boarded, and ate ate ate! Luckily I will have several years before I'm in charge again.
My weeks following summer school were spent in Utah. I had a very relaxing time. I hiked Mt. Timpanogas, tubed down the Provo river, helped my parents finish unpacking, we tont Park City, took in a day at BYU's Education Week, visited close friends and family, and kicked it at the drive in.
So now that I'm back in VA, I'm catching up on my sleep, setting up my classroom, helping teachers get ready for the year, mentoring a newbee, and tring to finish applications for the masters.