Needing something...

I am totally up for an adventure. Anyone else up for one?

It takes 21 days...

January 21, 2010

...to develop a habit. Three weeks is what I've heard. And today--I put my 21st smiley face on my Robert Duncan calendar.

What habit is this?

FLOSSING! I have flossed my teeth for 21 days in a row.

Why did this perk to me? I had taken the "real age" test on realage.com and my age was 24. The test then told me that if I flossed my teeth--it would add years to my life.

I also read an article that says flossing your teeth prevents gingivitis and halitosis.

And we all love having good breath. If your breath smells, you may consider flossing.

All this flossing though has brought a profound thought to my mind. Maybe I should "floss" and clean out other areas of my life.

So--the process begins.

For the next 21 days, I am going to work on a new habit I need to improve on and develop...

This could make for an interesting year!

A teaching funny...

January 7, 2009

Life can never be dull in teaching...to prove this fact--let me share with you a day in Kindergarten.

Now--normally I teach first grade--and I can tell you there is a world of difference between Kindergarten and first grade--as in students and management.

Today when I was subbing the afternoon class at my school, an interesting thing happened. The morning class was so chatty and noisy, the afternoon class was so good and quiet. Amazing! And then, just when I thought all was going well with this afternoon class--I had this moment.

It was about 5 minutes before the bell rang to go home. The kids were all ready with their coats and backpacks on. So--it was fill time--which I am good at! So--I had the kids sit on the floor to play, "I See, I See..." The way this game works is I say, "I see, I see..." and the kids say, "What do you see?" I then tell them something like, "I see elephants tromping through the jungle." And we do it over again and again to fill time. Great game because it allows creative movement and can test locomotor skills.

Anyway--it was about a minute to the bell--my thought was get these kids lined up and sing the good-bye song and send them out. So--I said, "I see, I see..." They said, "What do you see?" I said, "I see quiet students lining up quietly at the door to go home." Sneaky....I know...

Unless it backfires...

At that very moment, a little boy came up to me. He told me he needed help snapping up his pants. So, I stopped to help him. As I looked up from helping him...I noticed--the line at the door, was actually moving OUT the door! I thought--wait--the bell didn't ring yet! Come back! But--they were gone...

Smart kids? Maybe--I just hope they don't try that on me next year...

New Year's Resolutions...

I don't believe in New Year's Resolutions. They are a waste of my time. I think it is silly that we as human beings have resolutions once a year that we set and then we forget about them the whole rest of the year until the next new year. Then we pull them out and say, "Oh, I was going to do that." What a waste of productive reflection time.

Being the reflective person I have become (thank you National Boards process...) I have become a person of goals. Long term and short term. And since I check my goals regularly, this year, I have set a couple major goals.

I have been a horrible flosser. I have always hated flossing my teeth. I guess you can call me lazy, but I would rather spend that five extra minutes in bed pondering my life than protecting my teeth. I've been really good about flossing a week before I go to the dentist. But, I've realized how much I love my teeth, and how much I want to be able to have them to eat in my future. So--I decided this year is the year to make flossing a habit.

To learn more about the importance of flossing, check out this website: flossing

My other major goal is to write in my journal. I have not done this regularly for about two years. And within this goal, is a reflective goal. I am taking a challenge I heard Elder Eyring give directly to me in a group one on one question and answer session. He said in our journals, we should write about two things: 1--How the hand of God has blessed your life that day, and 2--How you have blessed someone else that day.

Those are my two new big things I would like to add to my already in place long term short term goals. Hopefully they make me better physically and mentally/spiritually.

Tonight (or this morning) I'm proud to say I've done them both--flossed and wrote. Now--let's see if I can turn them into habits again....it should take me three weeks, right?

So Over 2009...

So--2009 wasn't my favorite year in the history of my life. Maybe someday it will be.

One thing is for sure--it was a learning year.

Reflecting on 2009 has been a challenge to me. There has been so much that has happened. Positive and negative.

I completed my boards in 2009. Yay--but I failed them and I will be redoing them through out 2010. I hope I pass this time.

I made many new friends. I also lost some good friends. It's crazy to me how people come and go so quickly in life. To friends I've lost, I miss you. And to those I've made--I'm glad I have you.

Moving to Herriman was another 2009 decision. Big one--5 minutes from school. Crazy. Somehow though I don't think I'm saving gas because I am on the East side a lot still.

This year my sister got married! I have a brother now! It is fun to have Lyle in our family. I am grateful for my sister and her example. She is great.

2009 is going out with a bang as well. The robbery thing was ridiculous. Still dealing with issues with the bank because of the thief who stole my things. Very sad about losing my external hard drive in my bag of stolen goods. ALL of my pictures from the past few years of life had been moved onto that. Robbery is horrible--I hope the person who stole my bag someday develops a conscious and realizes how bad it is to steal. Hopefully they figure out how to redeem themselves. As for me now though, I've learned to keep record of all the stuff that has happened. And I have also learned, it could have been a lot worse.

And how can I forget the 3 months of crutches? Having a broken bone was a pain! But--also very humbling. To those who helped me during that time of life--thank you. What a trying time for me.

In all--I have learned a lot this year. Mostly about how I am and what is important to me. I know nothing in this life will ever be more important to me than my family and my testimony of the gospel. I am grateful for both in my life and what they have been turning me into. Hopefully, I can continue to grow more this next year and become more of what my Heavenly Father wants me to be. And that's all I have to say about that.

Stay tuned later for more on resolutions and goals...

My Part Time Job

December 31, 2009

So, during the Christmas Break I've taken on a part time job at St. Regis in Deer Valley in Park City. For those of you who don't know about St. Regis, check out this site: St. Regis Deer Valley

To stay in this 5 star resort for one night in the cheapest room, it would cost you at least $500 per night. The most expensive rooms cost about $2,000 per night.

To get to this spectacular hotel, you can't even drive to the desk. You drive to a drop your car off station, and you ride the Funicular up the mountain. The Funicular is like a ride at Disneyland. You ride up the mountain to the resort, then you get to go and check in and everything at the hotel. The only other access is to ski up to the resort.

This is a view of the whole thing. The top is the resort. The bottom is the parking area where you drop off your car. The tracks in between are the tracks for the Funicular.

This is a closer up of the Funicular

So what have I been doing here?

During the Christmas Break, I took on a job working in the Kids Room at St. Regis. This means that I am here working with kids each day and getting paid a little extra. Last week, I was working the morning shift. During that shift--no one came. St. Regis charges $50 a kid in the morning session, and I think the rich people are smart enough to realize they can just put their kids in ski lessons instead. Since no one came in the morning, my co worker and I watched movies in the morning while we napped on the bean bag chairs. We also ate the snacks and we played with the toys. One morning, we decided to build the Lincoln Log cabin that they have.





The afternoon session is free. This week I have been working that and staying busy. I also have stayed a couple hours some extra nights to watch the Wii room.

Money to do this? Not bad. Time to drive there--ridiculous. Overall experience...it's been fun. I think working in a place like this can be entertaining. I think I'm glad I took this on during the break. Ask me again though after my shift New Year's Day....

Trains and Tubes

December 19, 2009

It has been a while since I have blogged. A long while. I will have to catch up someday. But, today I went on a fun adventure. Last school year for teacher appreciation, I won two tickets to ride the Heber Valley Railroad. Linda laughed and said she would not ride the train with me. So, my friend Jason said he would.

After trying all year to go, we finally made it today. Jason was so nice. Since my birthday was last weekend, he upgraded my free tickets so we could ride the train to Soldier Hollow and go tubing.

It was a blast! I'm so lucky for a friend like Jason!

Here's some pics from today's activities:

The train station

Waiting in line.

On the train.

The train drop off for Soldier Hollow

Did you know tubing was so dangerous?

The laziest tubing ever--all we had to do was hook our tube onto the pull...no hill climbing involved.

We were stuck a lot on this pull. I decided to get comfortable.

Coming down the slow hill

Jason and I when we were finished. We made it in one piece!