SNOW DAY!!!

I have had 3 snow days in my life... one when I was a senior in high school, one two weeks ago for being -25 degrees, and one today... for a bazillion feet of snow... and it keeps coming! 

SO MUCH SNOW IN REXBURG! 

Here is a video Bryce and I took on our way to the gym today. There were several cars stuck in the snow this morning, but it isn't often that you see a snow plow stuck in the snow... 

I'm Official!

I am officially certified to teach in the state of Idaho. Just got this in the mail today. (FINALLY!) :)

Employed!

When you graduate in December with a bachelor's degree in Elementary Education, your chances of getting a full time teaching job right away are slim to none, since it is the middle of the school year. I knew that when I graduated, but I just prayed to be able to find SOMETHING in a school. I didn't want to be flipping burgers. I didn't want to work in retail. I wanted to work in a school somewhere, doing something. Anything.

I feel so incredibly blessed because I was able to get a job right after Christmas. I work part time (4 hours a day) at the school I student taught at. My job title is an "overflow teacher." I will tell you what that means. At Discovery Elementary, there are two 6th grade classes. Each class has about 40 kids..... WAY too many for the classroom size and the amount of teachers. So, for 4 hours a day, I take a chunk of kids from each class and teach them math and reading up on the school stage. I have 18 kids in my class. I get to be in charge of pretty much everything with them. I am in charge of the assignments, rules, management, discipline, grades... I feel like a real teacher! It is fun. 

I will also start teaching in an after school program on January 28. That will be an extra 2 hours a day on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, working with 4th graders. I am SUPER excited about that because I miss the kids I taught during student teaching. 

Anyway, I love my new job! I hope that this job will help me have an even better chance of getting a full time teaching job for the fall. Applications/Interviews for those jobs will probably become available in April or May... we will keep our fingers crossed! 

STEAL of a Deal.

WELL!!!!! Bryce and I are spoiled rotten.  Let me start back in September of 2011. When Bryce and I first got married, I almost immediately realized that Bryce and I didn't have a whole lot of experience spending time alone. We have always had our friends near us to bring us entertainment. So the two of us started thinking of things that just the two of us could do together... that could bring us closer together as a married couple. If you know me, you know that I LOVE sports. All sports. If you know Bryce, you know he doesn't love sports.... team sports that is. He is not competitive at all... and doesn't particularly like the stress of thinking a team might be relying on him. BUT he does enjoy individual sports... So that is where we are now. We decided that a couple things we love to do together are snowboarding and rock climbing. We also love camping. The trouble is... you have to have equipment for those things... EXPENSIVE equipment. Expensive equipment that we probably weren't going to be able to afford for a while. BUT.......

Between birthdays, graduation money, Christmas, donations, and the REI garage sale.... Bryce and I got all this stuff! We got pretty much everything we needed (that we didn't already have) to get started on our new hobbies! This included: 2 snowboards, 2 pairs of snowboarding boots, 1 snowboarding helmet, one pair of goggles, money to go snowboarding, two pairs of rock climbing shoes, one chalk bag, one rock climbing helmet, one rock climbing rope, one tent, and a bunch of other little camping supplies! We got all this for about $120. It was awesome! 

Bryce and I are already hitting the slopes and enjoying our gifts! 

THANKS SO MUCH, Kathy, Mom, Dad, Arch, Shauna, Grandma, and Grandpa! 

Christmas Day 2012

This year I stayed up until about 2:30am helping to get this living room ready for 6 very lucky kids. We spent Christmas morning at Bryce's home. It was so fun because Alesha, Jason, and their six kids were in town. It was fun to see so much excitement on Christmas day! 

Getting ready to see what Santa brought! 

Bryce did a cute thing this year. For my stocking he gave me a little note that said:

Raindrops and roses and whiskers on kittens 

Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens

These are just a few of your favorite things

That remind me of all the happiness you bring. 

Then in my stocking was a bunch of my favorite things! like a mini soccer ball, cuties, mac and cheese, top ramen, cholula hot sauce.... it was awesome! 

Then we went over to my parents house. Wasn't the tree just beautiful this year? 

And here is our classic stair picture :) 

Christmas Eve

We had a great Christmas Eve this year. We spent it with my family, and ate prime rib and crab for dinner.... (it's not weird. it's tradition. and it's delicious.) For dessert, we had a brownie, ice cream, and whipped cream.... with a candle on top for Jesus's birthday! 

After that, we got a plate of goodies all ready for Santa Claus. He loved his carrot, brownie, mints, and over-saturated chocolate milk! 

After that, Kim, Matt, Kylee, Ben, and Rachel left.... and Bryce and I hung around with my mom and dad. I have to say, this had to have been my favorite Christmas Eve ever, and I will tell you why. So... my mom has some really awesome stories from her childhood adventures living over seas. For years I have asked her to write these stories down... I have even given her check-off lists of stories I remember. But she has never written them down. But on Christmas Eve, when my mom started telling one of her stories, I decided to record her story on my phone. Then came another story. And another story... and dad told some stories too! IT WAS AWESOME! I never heard the story about when my mom was kidnapped in Vietnam near the border of Cambodia... but now it is recorded on my phone! ANYWAY.... there are now 16 stories on my phone. And I am super stoked. Bryce knows of a program that can take recorded audio and put it into text.... SO I PLAN ON DOING THAT.... I am going to make a blog of my mom and dad's stories.... I need to think of a good blog title... any ideas? 

Adventures of a World Traveler and a Boise Cowboy? 

I dunno.... if you think of anything, let me know. 

Christmas Light Competition Winners 2012

You might recall that Bryce and I started a new Christmas tradition. Each year we go around and look at Christmas lights, and then decide which two are our favorites. Then we go knock on their door and give them their prize. This year the prize was a baby Jesus ornament. Next year we want to show up at their door with video cameras and a HUGE check.... for $5.00. 

Here was one house we gave the prize to. We really liked the carolers out front... kinda hard to see in these pictures. 

This was the other house we chose. They went all out. 

We love this tradition! 

12 Days of Christmas

Something I have loved doing with my family during the Christmas season is the 12 days of Christmas. Almost every year since I was young, we have chosen a family to be their "secret santas" for 12 days before Christmas. Sometimes we would choose a family in need. Sometimes we would choose a family with a lot of kids. Sometimes we would do a few families and do it to our friends.... anyway. Long story short, it has always been a tradition I have loved. I loved choosing the family. I loved picking out the gifts. I loved how my heart would beat fast just before I knocked on the door. I loved sprinting to the car, driving around the block, and then checking the house to see if they got their gift.

One year, I remember doing the 12 days of Christmas for a lady in my ward who was one of my young women's leaders. One day, at an activity, I remember her telling us a story about how that had been a very hard year for her and her family because she had just gone through a divorce. I remember her breaking down into tears as she told us how much it meant to her that someone had decided to do the 12 days of Christmas for her and her young daughter. That left such an impression on me. At that point it became more that just a fun tradition. I didn't realize what it meant to the recipients until that day.

Anyway... for the last few years, my parents haven't had any kids at home to run and drop off the presents, so they have been teaming up with some other people in the ward, and just take a couple of the 12 days. When Bryce and I went home for Christmas this year, we got to take my parents' gifts to a couple families in the ward. At one of the houses, I was able to snap this photo of a sign they left on their front window before I knocked on the door. How sweet is that?

Another Family Christmas Run!

I love doing the Christmas Run. I ESPECIALLY LOVE doing the Christmas run when I get to run it with my family! Here is the picture we took just before the race started. 

Just In Case You Forgot...

Bryce and I REALLY ARE friends with an olympic gold medalist. Breeja Larson is an incredible athlete. In high school, she loved to play volleyball. But she needed a way to pay for college, and didn't think she would be able to get a good scholarship from volleyball. So, in her junior year of high school, she joined the swim team. She thought that if she could get good at swimming, she would be able to get a scholarship. So that is what she did. She did so well in her junior and senior years on the swim team that she was able to get a scholarship. Surprisingly, in her first year of college, she started breaking all kinds of records for the NCAA. She did so well that she qualified for the olympic trials. That is where her olympic dream was born. In the 100 m breast stroke trial, she got first place, beating out Rebecca Soni and Jessica Hardy. This came to a shock to everyone, because Breeja had only been swimming competitively for a couple years. We cheered on Breeja in all of her races in London. She came home with a gold medal in the 400m medley relay. 

Anyway, of course, like any good friends would do, we invited her to our dance party.... and told her to bring her medal so that we could take pictures with her hahaha. :) So here is what we got!

Botanical Gardens

This Christmas break Bryce and I got to go to the botanical gardens in Boise. Every year, they cover the entire garden with beautiful Christmas lights. These pictures don't really do it justice. It was beautiful! The weather was absolutely perfect. It was such a fun night to share with each other and with our parents! 

Reason #256 Why I Love Boise

I love waking up in the morning, stepping out into the fresh air, and seeing this in the beautiful Boise sky. 

Call Me Maybe

Here is a lip sync video from back in October...
Just catching up! 

PS. I accidentally deleted our good takes... this one cuts out half way through. But we are still keeping the tradition alive!