We started our morning like any other Sunday morning, at 6:00 AM. Tyler got ready for his 7:00 meetings, we had breakfast and scripture reading, and Tyler shoveled a path for his car to get out. While I was finishing up with Primary preparations, Tyler called me to warn me that the church might be a little cold. Our new building has been having a few maintenance problems, and while they were fixing them this week the turned off the gas and forgot to turn it back on. He told me to bundle up, which I did. By the time I got to church I saw car after car leaving the parking lot. The building was 48 degrees, and they had cancelled church. Tyler was outside directing all the cars home, so I turned around and went home.
I guess I have Primary ready for next week.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Studio Recital
My Christmas vacation has finally begun! The BYU-Idaho semester ended last week, I took my doctorate finals this week, and last night we had the studio recitals. I just have a few lessons to teach next week, but other than that I'm free!
The studio recitals went really well. This was the first time we had to split it into two recitals because of so many students (I am currently teaching 27). We had a 6:00 and 7:30 recital on the same night, which was a bit exhausting. I have a recital each December and May to give the students an opportunity to perform. Although it sometimes stresses the students out, it's such a good experience for them, and the parents love to see what we've been working on. I end up accompanying most of the students (with my limited piano skills), and we had a few helpful friends and parents accompany the rest. We also did a group number at the end of each recital. We played a four part version of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas." We had a few students get sick and one pianist bail at the last minute, but overall it was a success. We decided to rent the recital hall this time, and I'm so glad we did. It was a great place for the kids to perform. Tyler and my parents were a huge help with the recording, refreshments, and just helping to calm my nerves.
We ran through our group number a few times before the recital started. Many of these little kids have never played with other musicians before!
This was the group number for the 6:00 recital.
and the 7:30 recital (we had some student out of town or with other conflicts, so we actually only had 21 students total performing).
The studio recitals went really well. This was the first time we had to split it into two recitals because of so many students (I am currently teaching 27). We had a 6:00 and 7:30 recital on the same night, which was a bit exhausting. I have a recital each December and May to give the students an opportunity to perform. Although it sometimes stresses the students out, it's such a good experience for them, and the parents love to see what we've been working on. I end up accompanying most of the students (with my limited piano skills), and we had a few helpful friends and parents accompany the rest. We also did a group number at the end of each recital. We played a four part version of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas." We had a few students get sick and one pianist bail at the last minute, but overall it was a success. We decided to rent the recital hall this time, and I'm so glad we did. It was a great place for the kids to perform. Tyler and my parents were a huge help with the recording, refreshments, and just helping to calm my nerves.
We ran through our group number a few times before the recital started. Many of these little kids have never played with other musicians before!
This was the group number for the 6:00 recital.
and the 7:30 recital (we had some student out of town or with other conflicts, so we actually only had 21 students total performing).
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Out of My Element
I am not a brave cook. I'm not a great cook. Today for dinner I cooked an elk roast, which was a little scary. It actually wasn't too hard, and it turned out great! It was my first time ever cooking meat in a pressure cooker, but it probably won't be my last. We brought it over to my family's house, and I think most of them liked it as well (we didn't tell Andy what it was until after he scarfed down half of the roast).
On another note, we're finally decorated for Christmas!
I made an porch decoration this year with a great deal of help from my mom. I love it!
I made an porch decoration this year with a great deal of help from my mom. I love it!
Tonight we also decorated our Christmas tree.
It's nice to have time to enjoy the holidays now that the semester is over!
It's nice to have time to enjoy the holidays now that the semester is over!
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Speak up Sonny!
Every once in a while I am reminded that I am a loud person. I don't think I'm particularly outspoken, but when I do talk, it is usually plenty loud. Yesterday morning I was at the gym when I saw someone from my department. I started talking to him, and when he responded to me I noticed that his voice was significantly softer than mine. It seems like most of my family is pretty loud, and I have a feeling it has something to do with our childhood. My dad has significant hearing loss, so we always have to speak louder when he's in the room. This is especially true if we are talking to him on the phone. I guess we all just got into the habit of being loud, and now we are always like that. When I was a sophomore in college I was on the phone when my roommate was in the room. She told me that she'd never heard anyone talk so loud on the phone. I don't try to be loud, it just happens. It works well for primary and teaching, however. I teaching a class with 70 students, and I never have to worry about them hearing what I say. I've also gotten into the habit of shouting out comments while the music is playing during class. It's also interesting bringing people over to my parent's house for the first time. The sheer volume level can be a little surprising until you get used to it, then hopefully you learn to relax and join in the fun.
I just don't think any of us would do well working in a library.
I just don't think any of us would do well working in a library.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Oh, What Fun
Let me just say that I am officially sick of statistics. And I still have two more semesters of it. And I don't care what people say, statistics is not real math! It is dumb math.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Never Too Late
One of my violin students is in her late sixties. She has had a violin sitting in her closet for years, and this fall she finally got the courage to start taking lessons. She definitely has musician blood in her (she's quite the perfectionist), and today she was getting frustrated with herself for the tiniest mistakes. After her lesson we were talking about things, and I mentioned that she was doing really well. She suddenly got quite emotional, and she told me that she has always wanted to be a musician, but never had the opportunity. She also told me about her father's violin that sat in his closet for years and years, but he never got up the nerve to learn to play. It was quite moving to see her that passionate about something she wanted to learn. I hope I'm always willing to try new things, no matter my age.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Pumpkins Galore
We survived the primary program! It actually went really well. It is always amazing how it falls together at the last minute. The kids sounded great, and I only cried a few times. For singing time the kids needed a nice break, so we had some fun. I brought my friend "Jack" (a pumpkin), and told them I needed their help giving him a face. We sang songs and gave him a crazy face. They loved it. Here is the Junior Primary's creation:
(They gave him eyes in the back of his head.)
And here is the Senior Primary's. I think it kind of looks like Mikey from Monster's Inc.
Last night Tyler carved one of our pumpkins we grew. We made a pirate. Tyler is definitely the pro, but I cheered him on!
(They gave him eyes in the back of his head.)
And here is the Senior Primary's. I think it kind of looks like Mikey from Monster's Inc.
Last night Tyler carved one of our pumpkins we grew. We made a pirate. Tyler is definitely the pro, but I cheered him on!
Happy Halloween!
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Fiscally Frugal
A few weeks ago Tyler and I were checking out the online weekly ad for Broulims (our local grocery store). While we were on the website we came across a very random place to watch goofy "webisodes". These are basically homemade videos all based on the "Western Family", (a play on the generic brand Broulims uses). They are very corny and pretty dumb, but each week when you watch the most recent webisode, you get a coupon for free food! You don't get a lot of free food, but in the last few weeks we have gotten burritos, cake mixes, and tuna. Not bad!
For those of you who are in the area or shop at Western Family stores, you should check it out. For everyone else, I'm sure you're jealous.
For those of you who are in the area or shop at Western Family stores, you should check it out. For everyone else, I'm sure you're jealous.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Programmed Out
Our annual primary program is next week, and I think we are all ready to move on with life. We have been drilling these kids like crazy, and for the last two Sundays they have been doing nothing but running through the program. I'm sure it will be great, and it will be really nice to do something different for Singing Time.
My mother and I have the same church calling. She is insanely creative, which works out great for me. We both come up with ideas and swap them to cut back on the preparation time. A few weeks ago she shared with me a great idea that I'm going to do in a few weeks. It will only work for senior primary, as the kids will have to be pretty decent readers. It is basically a play on the game MadGab. I love this game (but no one will ever play it with me!), and this will be a great way to give the kids a break.
Here are a few of them. See if you can figure out which primary song this is supposed to be (hint: although you may feel stupid, it helps to say it out loud). Good Luck!
1. Fall oath up raw fit
2. Ed's holders niece hand owes
3. Due was sigh him due ink
4. Aisle heaved din have fun
5. Eye muss soak lad wend ad eek ums ohm
My mother and I have the same church calling. She is insanely creative, which works out great for me. We both come up with ideas and swap them to cut back on the preparation time. A few weeks ago she shared with me a great idea that I'm going to do in a few weeks. It will only work for senior primary, as the kids will have to be pretty decent readers. It is basically a play on the game MadGab. I love this game (but no one will ever play it with me!), and this will be a great way to give the kids a break.
Here are a few of them. See if you can figure out which primary song this is supposed to be (hint: although you may feel stupid, it helps to say it out loud). Good Luck!
1. Fall oath up raw fit
2. Ed's holders niece hand owes
3. Due was sigh him due ink
4. Aisle heaved din have fun
5. Eye muss soak lad wend ad eek ums ohm
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Think Warm!!
We're not even half way through October and it has been snowing all weekend. Granted none of it is sticking, but it seems that fall (my favorite season) may be cut short! Let's remember what summer felt like with some pictures my mom took for a class in July. This is at the water park in town on a hot Sunday afternoon, but trust me, the water was still freezing cold!
Friday, October 10, 2008
Tagged
5 THINGS I LOVE:
1. My Tyler
2. The Gospel
3. My Family
4. Classical Music
5. Teaching
5 THINGS ON MY TO DO LIST:
1. Finish my statistics report
2. Finish my part of the research project for my Qualitative Research class
3. Practice
4. Grade the Music 100 tests
5. Wash my car
5 FAVORITE SNACKS:
1. Chocolate
2. Fish Crackers
3. Cereal
4. Fruit
5. Cheese
5 THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT ME:
1. I am a gym rat, and when I go, I mean business. The harder the workout, the better.
2. I love food so much that you can't tell I'm a gym rat.
3. Tyler and I almost spent our first two years of marriage apart until I decided not to go back to CCM for my doctorate.
4. I love anything to do with medicine/science.
5. I am a science fiction junkie, but only the good stuff (Bradbury, Clarke, Card)
5 PLACES I HAVE LIVED:
1. Rexburg, Idaho
2. Aspen, Colorado
3. Cincinnati, Ohio
(Sorry, that's it!)
5 QUIRKS OF MINE:
1. I can write in cursive backwards almost as well as I can frontwards, and can say the alphabet backwards just as fast as I can frontwards.
2. I can bring my hands from behind my back, over my head to in front of me with out ever letting them go of each other.
3. I have absolutely everything in my life schedule into my phone.
4. I am extremely loud when I'm teaching or talking on the phone.
5. When I'm walking somewhere, I count all of my steps.
5 PEOPLE TO TAG:
1. Mom
2. Tyler
3. Emily
4. Amy Hymas
5. Mindy McLane
1. My Tyler
2. The Gospel
3. My Family
4. Classical Music
5. Teaching
5 THINGS ON MY TO DO LIST:
1. Finish my statistics report
2. Finish my part of the research project for my Qualitative Research class
3. Practice
4. Grade the Music 100 tests
5. Wash my car
5 FAVORITE SNACKS:
1. Chocolate
2. Fish Crackers
3. Cereal
4. Fruit
5. Cheese
5 THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT ME:
1. I am a gym rat, and when I go, I mean business. The harder the workout, the better.
2. I love food so much that you can't tell I'm a gym rat.
3. Tyler and I almost spent our first two years of marriage apart until I decided not to go back to CCM for my doctorate.
4. I love anything to do with medicine/science.
5. I am a science fiction junkie, but only the good stuff (Bradbury, Clarke, Card)
5 PLACES I HAVE LIVED:
1. Rexburg, Idaho
2. Aspen, Colorado
3. Cincinnati, Ohio
(Sorry, that's it!)
5 QUIRKS OF MINE:
1. I can write in cursive backwards almost as well as I can frontwards, and can say the alphabet backwards just as fast as I can frontwards.
2. I can bring my hands from behind my back, over my head to in front of me with out ever letting them go of each other.
3. I have absolutely everything in my life schedule into my phone.
4. I am extremely loud when I'm teaching or talking on the phone.
5. When I'm walking somewhere, I count all of my steps.
5 PEOPLE TO TAG:
1. Mom
2. Tyler
3. Emily
4. Amy Hymas
5. Mindy McLane
Friday, October 3, 2008
When it Rains, it Pours!
I am finally back in the blogging world. It has been a trying few weeks. I know there are others who have had it much worse, but it was still not much fun.
- First, our microwave broke. This actually happened back at the beginning of August. We couldn't find the warranty for it, then the repairman had to order a part that took forever to get here. Once it came, he realized he needed to order another part. It's been two months and still no microwave.
- Next our dishwasher broke. We knew this was on it's last leg when we bought the house, but it was still an inconvenience. We ordered the new one, and last week we were able to pick it up. Tyler took a whole day off to install it. Now it works great and we love it!
- My laptop crashed. We lost a few documents, but those are manageable. The worst part was losing the pictures. We lost all pictures since we've been married (except for the Hawaii ones, which were fortunately saved on Tyler's computer). We were about to back them up onto an external hard drive when it crashed. I got pictures from Mom and I have a few on the blog, but most of them are gone. If anyone has some pictures of us, feel free to send them over!!
- We are currently sleeping in our basement on the hide-a-bed. We have a situation in the neighborhood that is very noisy all day and night, and when we try to sleep upstairs in our bed we are kept up all night with the noise. The basement is the most noise resistant place so we get sleep, but we would sure like to sleep in our own bed.
We're pretty sure this is all happening because we've been working so hard on our food storage lately. The adversary sure knows how to try our patience! Life really is good, but this things have kind of taken up our time lately. I got my laptop back this week, and we are slowly getting life back to normal.
I'll make sure to have a nice happy post to follow!!
- First, our microwave broke. This actually happened back at the beginning of August. We couldn't find the warranty for it, then the repairman had to order a part that took forever to get here. Once it came, he realized he needed to order another part. It's been two months and still no microwave.
- Next our dishwasher broke. We knew this was on it's last leg when we bought the house, but it was still an inconvenience. We ordered the new one, and last week we were able to pick it up. Tyler took a whole day off to install it. Now it works great and we love it!
- My laptop crashed. We lost a few documents, but those are manageable. The worst part was losing the pictures. We lost all pictures since we've been married (except for the Hawaii ones, which were fortunately saved on Tyler's computer). We were about to back them up onto an external hard drive when it crashed. I got pictures from Mom and I have a few on the blog, but most of them are gone. If anyone has some pictures of us, feel free to send them over!!
- We are currently sleeping in our basement on the hide-a-bed. We have a situation in the neighborhood that is very noisy all day and night, and when we try to sleep upstairs in our bed we are kept up all night with the noise. The basement is the most noise resistant place so we get sleep, but we would sure like to sleep in our own bed.
We're pretty sure this is all happening because we've been working so hard on our food storage lately. The adversary sure knows how to try our patience! Life really is good, but this things have kind of taken up our time lately. I got my laptop back this week, and we are slowly getting life back to normal.
I'll make sure to have a nice happy post to follow!!
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Blunders, Birthday, and Beethoven
I've been feeling so overwhelmed with everything lately it has been easier to just look at everyone else's blog instead of doing anything with my own. I was getting so comfortable being on vacation that it has been a shocking transition back to school. I'm loving being busy, but having 20 plus private students, teaching two classes at BYU-Idaho, taking 2 doctoral classes, and trying to get all of the little daily things done has become quite a balancing act. Here are a few highlights from this past week:
Monday- School started at BYU-Idaho. I love teaching my two history classes! They are so much fun. My Music Lit II class is a perfect size, but my Intro to Music History has about 70 students. They all seem to be really cooperative, so I think I'll be okay. I had kind of a rocky start to the Intro class. I got there early to get everything set up with sound, video, etc. Everything was ready with a few minutes to spare, so I started looking around at my students, wondering why there weren't very many there. As I looked around, I noticed the textbooks they were holding were the wrong color. They also had the word GEOLOGY written on the front. I was in the wrong class!!!! We usually teach Music 100 in the Romney (science building), but I guess they changed it this semester. I'm sure all of the students were wondering who I was, but fortunately the real teacher hadn't arrived yet. I high-tailed it out of there and got to my real class just in time. I told them all what had just happened, and it was a great first-day icebreaker. They thought it was hilarious.
Thursday- Tyler and I spent all morning at the Idaho Falls cannery working on our food storage. It was actually a lot of fun canning our own food. We bought a ridiculous amount of food, but it should last us a good 30 years!
Saturday- My 26th birthday! Tyler made it such a great day. We drove down to Salt Lake for the afternoon/evening. Tyler made reservations at my favorite place, PF Changs, for dinner. We also went to the Utah Symphony's performance of Beethoven's 4th Piano Concerto and 9th Symphony. It was great! I could go on and on about Beethoven, why it was a perfect pairing of pieces, the perfect timing for the Symphony considering what's going on in the world (Maynard Solomon has great insight on this subject), and all of the cyclicism, symbolism, and intricacies of the work, but I will control the music nerd in me and just say that I had a lot of fun. It was interesting seeing several people in the symphony who I play with during the summer at the Grand Teton Festival. I was a little jealous of them, but I still enjoyed just sitting in the audience.
Sorry, no pictures this time. Maybe next week when I get ahold of my crazy life a little better!
Monday- School started at BYU-Idaho. I love teaching my two history classes! They are so much fun. My Music Lit II class is a perfect size, but my Intro to Music History has about 70 students. They all seem to be really cooperative, so I think I'll be okay. I had kind of a rocky start to the Intro class. I got there early to get everything set up with sound, video, etc. Everything was ready with a few minutes to spare, so I started looking around at my students, wondering why there weren't very many there. As I looked around, I noticed the textbooks they were holding were the wrong color. They also had the word GEOLOGY written on the front. I was in the wrong class!!!! We usually teach Music 100 in the Romney (science building), but I guess they changed it this semester. I'm sure all of the students were wondering who I was, but fortunately the real teacher hadn't arrived yet. I high-tailed it out of there and got to my real class just in time. I told them all what had just happened, and it was a great first-day icebreaker. They thought it was hilarious.
Thursday- Tyler and I spent all morning at the Idaho Falls cannery working on our food storage. It was actually a lot of fun canning our own food. We bought a ridiculous amount of food, but it should last us a good 30 years!
Saturday- My 26th birthday! Tyler made it such a great day. We drove down to Salt Lake for the afternoon/evening. Tyler made reservations at my favorite place, PF Changs, for dinner. We also went to the Utah Symphony's performance of Beethoven's 4th Piano Concerto and 9th Symphony. It was great! I could go on and on about Beethoven, why it was a perfect pairing of pieces, the perfect timing for the Symphony considering what's going on in the world (Maynard Solomon has great insight on this subject), and all of the cyclicism, symbolism, and intricacies of the work, but I will control the music nerd in me and just say that I had a lot of fun. It was interesting seeing several people in the symphony who I play with during the summer at the Grand Teton Festival. I was a little jealous of them, but I still enjoyed just sitting in the audience.
Sorry, no pictures this time. Maybe next week when I get ahold of my crazy life a little better!
Friday, September 5, 2008
They Always Come Back
This week we have seen the chaos and excitement of students returning to BYU-Idaho. We have had a nice break, but I think everyone is ready to get back to work. I can hardly believe that this will be my third year of teaching! It has been comforting to look back at the last few years and see how far I've come as a teacher. I am infinitely more confident in front of my students, and every semester I am able to make subtle changes to my teaching style that are yielding good results.
Some things, however, still have not changed.
Ever since I came here as a teacher, I have run into problems because of my age. I'm almost 26 now, and it's still happening! Here are a few instances from the past few days:
- I went to the library to check out a few books, and the student employee told me I could only have them for two weeks until the head librarian corrected him.
- I went to the bookstore surplus sale this morning to buy some shelves for our garage. While I was in line, one employee was quite condescending to me, telling me that he has priority for the item we both want, and he questioned how I even found out about the sale. When I went to pay for the items, I tried to put them on my account, and the employee didn't want to let me because student's aren't allowed to do that.
- I went to the gym today to check out a locker for the year. I ran into several roadblocks with this one. The first person asked me, "Are you in a P.E. class?". Sheesh. The second person, someone who has known me and my family for decades, kept telling me that lockers were not available until next week. I knew that wasn't true, so I asked her if there were any lockers left in the employee locker room for me to get next week. She gave me an incredulous look and said, "You're not a teacher, are you?!?" She had to look me up before she believed me. Even after that she kept asking me questions and acting surprised when she found out that my husband has a full time job on campus (I'm sure she was expecting him to be a student), and that we were actually homeowners. Once I convinced her, it was amazingly easy to get a locker!
I love working at BYU-Idaho, and I feel so fortunate to be in the position that I am. There are many wonderful people here, but even the best people sometimes act in a biased way towards gender, race, or even age. What I experience is really not a big deal compared to what others go through, but it has been a good lesson to me to treat all people with respect, whether they are teenagers, college students, middle-aged, or elderly.
I'm really not complaining. I hope I am mistaken for a student for many years to come! (knock on wood). It has just been very interesting to observe.
Some things, however, still have not changed.
Ever since I came here as a teacher, I have run into problems because of my age. I'm almost 26 now, and it's still happening! Here are a few instances from the past few days:
- I went to the library to check out a few books, and the student employee told me I could only have them for two weeks until the head librarian corrected him.
- I went to the bookstore surplus sale this morning to buy some shelves for our garage. While I was in line, one employee was quite condescending to me, telling me that he has priority for the item we both want, and he questioned how I even found out about the sale. When I went to pay for the items, I tried to put them on my account, and the employee didn't want to let me because student's aren't allowed to do that.
- I went to the gym today to check out a locker for the year. I ran into several roadblocks with this one. The first person asked me, "Are you in a P.E. class?". Sheesh. The second person, someone who has known me and my family for decades, kept telling me that lockers were not available until next week. I knew that wasn't true, so I asked her if there were any lockers left in the employee locker room for me to get next week. She gave me an incredulous look and said, "You're not a teacher, are you?!?" She had to look me up before she believed me. Even after that she kept asking me questions and acting surprised when she found out that my husband has a full time job on campus (I'm sure she was expecting him to be a student), and that we were actually homeowners. Once I convinced her, it was amazingly easy to get a locker!
I love working at BYU-Idaho, and I feel so fortunate to be in the position that I am. There are many wonderful people here, but even the best people sometimes act in a biased way towards gender, race, or even age. What I experience is really not a big deal compared to what others go through, but it has been a good lesson to me to treat all people with respect, whether they are teenagers, college students, middle-aged, or elderly.
I'm really not complaining. I hope I am mistaken for a student for many years to come! (knock on wood). It has just been very interesting to observe.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Back to School
My second year of my doctorate started up tonight with my Qualitative Research and Design course (basically a dissertation prep class). Here were a few of the highlights:
- Discussion about menopause
- Discussion about penguin mating rituals (not kidding!)
- Introductions. Here is a direct quote from a fellow classmate. "We have five kids, but then we found out how they kept coming, so we put a stop to that!"
It's going to be a great class! Tomorrow night I have Statistics, my first math class in ten years! Wish me luck.
- Discussion about menopause
- Discussion about penguin mating rituals (not kidding!)
- Introductions. Here is a direct quote from a fellow classmate. "We have five kids, but then we found out how they kept coming, so we put a stop to that!"
It's going to be a great class! Tomorrow night I have Statistics, my first math class in ten years! Wish me luck.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
We're Baaaack!
Life's definitely getting back to normal with work and teaching, but we had such a great time in Hawaii! We'll be putting all of our pictures online at some point, but for now here are a few of the highlights of our trip:
Parasailing! We both went up together and got a great view of Honolulu.
We took a boat out to a submarine that gave us a tour of the bottom of the ocean. It was hard to get good pictures down there, but we did catch a decent one of a turtle!
Shopping, of course! (Just kidding)
Pear Harbor: The Arizona Memorial and the USS Missouri (where Japan officially surrendured)
Hanama Bay: What an incredible beach! So beautiful and well-cared for. We went snorkeling for two days here, but our pictures from the waterproof camera are still being developed.
Laie Hawaii Temple
Polynesian Cultural Center: We went to a few hilarious demonstrations, a luau, and the evening performance.
We flew over to the Big Island for a day to check out the volcanoes. There was some recent damage when the lava covered up the road!
Watching the active lava flow was incredible. It is impossible to accurately catch it on the camera. The darker it got, the better you could see the lava hitting the water and exploding into the air. Mother Nature's fireworks show!
We spent our last day on the island driving around the island in our awesome Dodge Avenger. We ate dinner at the "original" shrimp shack. Nasty, but oh-so-good!
I'm sure those were way too many pictures for most of you, but for those who still want more, I'll let you know when we get the rest of our pictures online. Mahalo!
Parasailing! We both went up together and got a great view of Honolulu.
We took a boat out to a submarine that gave us a tour of the bottom of the ocean. It was hard to get good pictures down there, but we did catch a decent one of a turtle!
Shopping, of course! (Just kidding)
Pear Harbor: The Arizona Memorial and the USS Missouri (where Japan officially surrendured)
Hanama Bay: What an incredible beach! So beautiful and well-cared for. We went snorkeling for two days here, but our pictures from the waterproof camera are still being developed.
Laie Hawaii Temple
Polynesian Cultural Center: We went to a few hilarious demonstrations, a luau, and the evening performance.
We flew over to the Big Island for a day to check out the volcanoes. There was some recent damage when the lava covered up the road!
Watching the active lava flow was incredible. It is impossible to accurately catch it on the camera. The darker it got, the better you could see the lava hitting the water and exploding into the air. Mother Nature's fireworks show!
We spent our last day on the island driving around the island in our awesome Dodge Avenger. We ate dinner at the "original" shrimp shack. Nasty, but oh-so-good!
I'm sure those were way too many pictures for most of you, but for those who still want more, I'll let you know when we get the rest of our pictures online. Mahalo!
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Rock, Roll and Run
Last Saturday I ran the 10k in the Rock, Roll and Run race in Idaho Falls. Once again, Tyler was my hero and took the day off of work to go with me. It was a pretty small-scale race, but I had a great time. I even won a few gift certificates to Great Harvest!
Those of you wondering what my time was, let's just say it was fast. Really fast. So fast, I'm not going to make you all feel back by telling you what it was. :?)
Those of you wondering what my time was, let's just say it was fast. Really fast. So fast, I'm not going to make you all feel back by telling you what it was. :?)
Brain Food
Here's the riddle for the day. Leave your answer in the comments! No cheating!
What goes around the world but stays in a corner?
What goes around the world but stays in a corner?
Friday, August 1, 2008
One Week Baby!!
One week from now we'll be in Hawaii!
Tyler and I never got to go on a trip for our honeymoon because of work, so we're taking advantage of the school break to get out of town. On Thursday night we'll drive down to Salt Lake, and fly out Friday morning. We'll be spending 8 days in Hawaii. We'll mostly be on Oahu, but we'll jump over to the Big Island to check out the volcanoes. We're so excited!!
Tyler and I never got to go on a trip for our honeymoon because of work, so we're taking advantage of the school break to get out of town. On Thursday night we'll drive down to Salt Lake, and fly out Friday morning. We'll be spending 8 days in Hawaii. We'll mostly be on Oahu, but we'll jump over to the Big Island to check out the volcanoes. We're so excited!!
Monday, July 28, 2008
Mesa Falls
Tyler is such a patient man. Last Saturday I'm sure he had many things he wanted to get done (including finishing his talk for church the next day!), but he let me drag him up to Mesa Falls for the day. What a guy!
We started our little excursion by going to the Pioneer Day Parade in Saint Anthony. We were in Jackson Hole for the 4th of July, so it was nice to get a kind of re-enactment of it. There were some really great floats, but my favorite was a guy pushing a piano on wheels down the street while another guy played it. Crazy!
It was quite warm, but overall beautiful weather for Mesa Falls. We had a little picnic up there and walked around. It was so nice to have the natural air-conditioner when we got down to the falls. It was so cool and misty.
We got back in time for Tyler and I to both finish our talks for church. It took the ward about a year, but they finally got us! Tyler is the new executive secretary in the ward, so it was good for everyone to get to know him. We are now officially in the ward!
We started our little excursion by going to the Pioneer Day Parade in Saint Anthony. We were in Jackson Hole for the 4th of July, so it was nice to get a kind of re-enactment of it. There were some really great floats, but my favorite was a guy pushing a piano on wheels down the street while another guy played it. Crazy!
It was quite warm, but overall beautiful weather for Mesa Falls. We had a little picnic up there and walked around. It was so nice to have the natural air-conditioner when we got down to the falls. It was so cool and misty.
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