Rochester and Palmyra

Yesterday was.. Long! We got to the airport at around 8 and went straight to check-in and such... we were like the last people on the plane and we didn't have assigned seating so we all 3 didn't get to sit together... I sat by these two old rich guys, they were really nice! Apparently one of them has a home in Phoenix, so when he wants to play golf he comes down and stays for the weekend- must be nice :) They were really nice. The night before we had gone to target and made sure I had all the coloring books I would need for the plane so I wouldn't be bored :) I asked the guys I sat with if they wanted to color too... they both said they weren't very good at staying in the lines so they didn't color with me :( Our plane had left at 9:55 AZ time, and we got to Buffalo at I think 4 or 5ish NY time.. there is a 3 hour time difference, so really the flight was only a little less than 4 hours.
Brent and Emmalee picked us up at the airport and I gave Emmalee some of the cookies they had given us on the plane- she's 3 so to her that was the coolest thing ever- she's been my buddy since then. She's a cutie. We headed off to Rochester where they live and to the hospital to see Tyler and I got to meet him and Jody. They have such an awesome family!

Today we went to the church history sights in Palmyra. First we went to the Printing Press where the Book of Mormon was first published which was really neat to see how they actually did everything- it's amazing how much time and effort went into making the books. They made 5,000 copies and it took them 2 years to print and bind them all- that's a LONG time. We have lots of pictures of all the different tools they used, it's quite a process. Then we headed over to the Smith Farm and the Sacred Grove- it's really cool to be able to really picture what everything looked it- the first little cabin was a complete replica but the 2nd Smith house was 80% original, they had to of course add on a little bit and make it more stable... but it kind of makes you realize that it really wasn't that long ago- 200 years in a really long time, but it's not THAT long ago.

After that we went to the Hill Cumorah... I pictured it to be like a mountain- but it's not, it's just a hill. They showed us a picture of what it would have looked like before the church planted trees on it- and you really wonder where Moroni would have hidden the plates because there is hardly any grass... the plates were well protected to be hidden there for that long.
The visitors center there had the exhibit of the Dead Sea Scrolls... Kyle and his mom really enjoyed learning about that... it was kind of boring to me. I think I like things better when they are the real artifacts, because the things at the Dead Sea Scrolls were all replicas- so it didn't seem that cool to me... they did have these lamps like from the 10 virgins that holds their oil that were found in Jerusalem, and you could definitely tell those were old and not just replicas.
I love the feeling of Rochester- there is a real small town feel to it, but it's big and everything is close! All the houses are different and no one has backyard fences. They all have siding on them or brick, I don't think I've seen a stucco house! Even like he big buildings are brick, they're so pretty!If my family would all move here, I would love to live here!
We're planning on updating every night and post a few pictures- like a journal! Enjoy!

Greedy comes to mind!

I found an article in Newsweek that really disturbed me.. the last sentence pretty much sums up exactly how I feel...

Lord of the Ka-chings
Let the countdown begins- or should we say countdowns? Warner Bros., home of the highest-grossing film series in history, is whipping up some money-making wizardry by releasing the film version of the final J.K. Rowling book, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," in two parts, in 2010 and 2011. Since it will probably have to come up with a new movie title now, we have a suggestion: "Harry Potter and the Appallingly Greedy Movie Studio," parts one and two.

I can understand that these books are VERY detailed, I was extremely suprised when they came out with 4 and 5 without making 2 movies out of each of them, but the Deathly Hallows isn't any bigger or detailed than any of the other ones- so why on earth would they have to put the last book into 2 movies?! Because their greedy for money. Because I can guarantee I will probably see both, which means they get 16 more of my dollars (one for kyle and one for me) and we'll probably buy the movie since we have 1-5, which means another 20 of my dollars... I'm fully aware that I'm the one that gives them my dollars- but still.

Time flies

Last weekend we had the oppurtunity to have my family finally come see where I live, which was really fun! My Dad and little brother Derek came up and gave us the piano and my parents old couchs- which I couldn't be more excited about! We finally have, what I call, a "grown-up house" ha ha- meaning we have like a living room with the nice furniture and then the family room with the entertainment center and stuff! It's still a little weird because the family room is kind of off to the side, so when we didn't have the other furniture we just had everything in the Living room- so now there is two full rooms instead of an empty one! haha. Anyway- we had planned on having dinner at the pizza store- but the pizza oven broke so that didn't work out, so we went to El Rancho, which was very good! We drove around a little bit and my dad told us stories about when he was younger and she showed us where he used to live and all the fun stuff...
We came back home and talked for about an hour or so, and then we were off the bed!

The next morning we went to Cornville for the Grandma's 80th birthday party- it was fun to be able to see all the relatives on my Dad's side that we haven't since in a few years. Everyone is getting so old and grown-up, it's kind of weird!

That night Chris and Kati spent the night, they were on their way up to Wyoming so it was a good place for them to crash and head out that next morning. My nephews are so stinkin' cute. I haven't been able to see Nathan as much as I got to the Travis and Wes when they were little, but on the way to our house I got to sit with Nate in the back (until he started crying) and it was really fun to play with him and have him giggle with me! You forget how much you miss your family until you hang out with them again.. I couldn't imagine living any further away from them than I do now...

This week Kyle has been faithfully working on the Musical Review that the choirs are performing on Friday night. We were at the school until 9 last week for practice and I'm guessing that tomorrow night we will probably be there later than that. It's coming along very well- I'm proud of what Kyle can do with these kids- there's no way I could do it :)

I can't believe we are heading off the New York in 3 days :) It seems like it was last week I posted that we were going. I'm so excited! Yay! Steven and Meghan are awesome and are going to take care of Zeus for us while were gone. I'm really grateful to them for that! I haven't been away from Zeus for more than 2 days- it's a little weird! haha- We've turned into those people that don't have kids so we have a dog ha ha. A little pathetic I know :)

Biology Sucks

Disclaimer: This blog is strictly me venting- if you don't want to hear any complaining- don't read, cuz that's all this blog is full of :)

I seriously think that some college classes are a waste of time and money. This is my second semester taking a Biology course, the first semester (long story) I dropped a week before my final because I wasn't going to pass my final (the class started with 30 students and went down to 5 at the end of the semester) and I think those 5 passed, so 5 out of 30 students passed this class.
I'm taking a different Bio class, same teacher. The class as 17 students- 2 of which are passing right now. The last test we had- 1 person out of 17 passed. I don't understand how a teacher can see these numbers and not try to help the students. I asked him if there was any extra credit I could do (I do really well on the lab quizzes, but TERRIBLE on the lecture exams) and I need and I am SO willing to do extra things to help myself, and all he said was "There is no extra credit available in this class" BULL! Don't act you can't tell me something to do and add it to my grade- it's because he DOESN'T CARE- that's what I've come up with. To see all these students FAILING means that you have to not care. If you don't care- why in the heck are you a teacher in the first place?! It doesn't make sense! And you would think that the college would see how the teachers students are doing- and they would do something about it! It doesn't make any sense to me. I study a lot, this is my only class this semester and I study more this semester than I did when I was taking a full load. It's ridiculous. It really sucks when you work more toward one class that any of the other ones, and your teacher doesn't care and it doesn't pay off. I'm so annoyed with it.
It doesn't make sense why the heck I would need a study Biology class to teacher K-2. That's my degree- EARLY ELEMENTARY EDUCATION- NOT BIOLOGY! It doesn't make sense why I would need to prove that I know how Mitosis and Meiosis work- down to the chromosome, to teach Kindergarten. I hate it. I hate that we're wasting money on classes (this isn't the first bogus class I've had to take) that won't even help me with what I want to do. I have learned more in subbing with teachers aides that tell me ways to explain things for the kids to understand then I would ever learn in a classroom, especially biology. If I have to take it to prove that I can handle it- then give me a chance to actually succeed and HELP me do it. Don't just say "There's no extra credit" It's so gay.
I understood why it was so difficult last semester (the counselor told me this was the class I needed but it was BIO181- which was a class for Biology Majors- so i understood why I didn't understand anything) but this class is Bio 100! It's designed for Non-Biology majors- if he KNOWS I'm not a biology major (which I've told him) than why can't he HELP me. It's soo dumb. Ugh I'm so frustrated. Seriously it makes me HATE biology.

Thanks for letting me vent.

I bet you didn't know...

10 Years Ago:

I was 10... and I was probably hanging out with Jessica and Whitney... and Stormy sometimes, but that was 6th grade and there was lots of drama between Stormy and Jessica- so I was probably at recess running between the two of them telling eachother what the other one had said.. good times.. haha

5 Things On My To-Do List Today:
Play with Zeus
Get off work :)
Study
Laundry
Dinner

5 Snacks I Enjoy:
Cookies!
Graham crackers
Gold Fish
Cake
Ice Cream

What I Would Do If I Were Suddenly Made a Billionaire: Pay off like everyones houses that I know, buy us a house, pay off Kyle's student loans, Pay off everyone else student loans that I knew, pay someone to come potty train my dog so he doesn't have an accidents, get a recliner, get a big four poster bed with all the fixins, have a HUGE bathtub that I could fill with endless hot water because we would have a HUGE hot water heater that always had hot water, get a dryer that dries my clothes in less than 2 cycles, have my nails done all the time, get a brand spankin' new car, give everyone like a thousand dollars for gas, lots of things :) I'd probably only be a billionaire for like a week because I would spend it all... OOO and I would get a coach purse, and the pearl bracelet I want from Tiffany's.. and the bracelet that matches my necklace from there.. and that's all

3 of My Bad Habits:
I get caught up in Judge Judy and forget to do the things that I'm supposed to, I bite my finger nails, talk to Kyle like he's a baby.. I need a kid :)

Places I Have Lived:
Joseph City, AZ
Buckeye, AZ
Goodyear, AZ
Mesa, AZ
Holbrook, AZ

Jobs I Have Had:
Lifeguard!!
Babysitter... house keeper.. Nanny
Wife
Substitute
The Village!

Things People Don't Know About Me:
Everything has to have a container. Somewhere it goes, or a place on the shelf
I hate sleeping with the closet doors open, I can't do it.
I have to shower in the morning, I can't at night. Even if I do at night, I take another one in the morning.
I'm addicted to the Judge Shows... like Judge Judy and Judge Joe Brown..
I really like cross-stitching, scrapbooking, and making cards!

The Usual..

Gosh I feel like it's been forever since I've posted!

Last week was full of subbing and helping Kyle at the school. Friday, we had the longest day. Kyle was in charge of the Large Group Festival (All the schools from around Northern AZ with choirs and bands came and performed in front of judges).. We got there at like 7:30 that morning and didn't finally relax or eat until 4:30 that night. We had like an hour and a half and then we had to go to the ward talent show where Kyle sang and was amazing!

The next morning we had to go the valley for the All-State tryouts, so we left the school at 7:00 that morning and got to the valley at around 11... Kyle and the students (there was only 6 of them) hung out at Kyle's sisters house and my mom came and picked me up. My mom, Steven, Derek, and I hung out at the mall until Kyle was done- Meghan was the accompanist for the kids which was awesome because it's so much better to sing for judges with a piano than to a CD- Kyle really appreciated her helping out like that! Thanks Meghan! After the auditions we went to the Ostrich Festival in Chandler and saw Vertical Horizon in concert- that was such a blast I'm so glad we went to that. I couldn't hear for like 2 hours after the concert, but it was well worth it! We headed back to Joe City and got home at good ol' 2 a.m.


Sunday was just a normal fabulous Sunday- we slept in, which was much needed! Slept in, went to Church, Sunday dinner at Kyle's Mom's...

Chris and Kati are so awesome and got a Wii- and the trickle system went into effect and we got their old Sega Dreamcast! We turned it on and it seemed like it was working, and then we put a CD in and it would make this terrible sound and not load. I was so sad. We tried for like an hour and nothing. Later that night I was determined that we would get it to work, and I figured it wasn't working right now, so I took the thing apart. I found 2 big screws and like 3 washers in there that definitely didn't belong, so I took those out, put it back together, and it worked!! I was so happy!! I fixed it!! Well there was really much fixing, but I took out the screws! ha ha.

Anyway- That was our weekend! Now that I go back and read it, it doesn't seem like we were that busy, but I slept the entire way home on Saturday night, on a bus- and if I slept for 3 hours on a bus, that means I was REALLY tired :)

Life in Northern AZ

Yesterday was a perfect day. It was sunny and warm which meant I could wear shorts and flip flops.


Today.. cold. It's snowing. How does that work?! It was perfect yesterday! Hardly any clouds, and I wake up and it's snowing.


Oh the joys of Holbrook.