They may drive me crazy but...

...every once in a while I'm reminded why I love teaching.

Their assignment was to assemble a "Gallon Man" which has 16 cups, 8 pints, and 4 quarts -fyi- in it. I didn't give them many more instructions except that they can make whatever superhero they wanted. I thought I would have 25 of the same kind of gallon man that they quickly slapped together. However, I really liked how they turned out...

They had a lot of personality in them. Did you catch some of the details...

Like the "Cheer Liter"- I totally thought she had spelled it wrong until I got it.

You've gotta have a knight with a sword when you're in Mrs. Shields' class.

Teenage ninja style:

Bat Gallon's awesome bat cut out:

Did you notice Weight Man's muscles?

or the blacked out tooth and 3D gun holster

or the school pride

Come on now. You have to admit those are pretty clever. Which one's your favorite?

A hitch hiker's guide to the southwest...

As previously mentioned, I experienced the wonderfulness of Spring Break. Vegas was only the start of my adventures. From Vegas, I headed up to Utah. Now, remember, gas prices are no bueno right now which means that flight tickets are really really high. So, I didn't think it was going to happen. However, fate- and a lot of wonderful people- made it possible.

Gray's parents took me from Vegas to Provo. I'm sure glad we got to enjoy a weekend earlier at their cabin, otherwise I would feel super weird being a strange girl getting a ride with them. They were really great to let me tag along! Annie took me from Provo to Orem so my mom didn't have to go in too far from the freeway. My mom then took me from Orem to Kaysville. I made it home!

I loved being home. I got to visit my mom at Knowlton. (I know I'm a dork to use my spring break to go to another elementary school- but I like being there.) I was able to help her get the millions of books organized and put away. We enjoyed many great lunches together including the Bun Basket and Cutler's. And of course, we enjoyed dinner at BC Chicken. Yum! Bless the local grub. Ultimately, I just loved being with my mom. I got pretty darn lucky in the mom department.

I'm glad Tricia lives close because we got to enjoy delicious Noodles & co and catch up time. I also got to see the roommates for PI day. (3.14) It's a tradition and involves lots of great pie, so naturally, I loved it.

Wednesday, I drove out to Mapleton and I got there right as everyone was at recess. I saw most of my 5th graders from last year and boy did that make me homesick. I had such a great year last year. It made going back to school that much harder. I guess that's what happens when you had the ideal job. I really miss it.

Luckily, I had Angela to cheer me up after my sad realization. She's pretty good at that. We then continued my good food of Utah tour and enjoyed a wonderful lunch at Kneaders. I feel pretty thankful I have so many great friends.

I wish I could have been home longer to visit more, however, my hitch hiking habits started again the next day. My mom took me down to St. George because my brother had a baseball tournament. We watched a few exciting games and had fun with Camille. The next morning, Camille took me all the way to Vegas so that I can then meet up with my in-laws.

The Shields were in Vegas so they could visit Michael's brother and were willing to go the extra 5 hrs to visit us! It was awesome because we got to stop at the Hoover Dam. I don't think I have ever done that before. It is unbelievable! I got this picture from the new bridge they built for traffic. It's so huge!

A few hours, later, I was back in the AZ.

And that, my friends, is this hitch hiker's guide to a fantastic spring break

What happens in Vegas

My spring break is finally here! We started it out right by getting on the road for Las Vegas. (After Michael dropped the dog off at our neighbors house- of course.) I was in a car with Michael and Gray who found three stations playing the BYU game vs New Mexico. So no worries, we heard Jimmer's 52. That got the boys in chipper moods. After we got checked into our hotel, Gray went to pick up Jenni from the airport. She's still living in Utah until school gets out. Talk about a long distance relationship! But, we are sure glad we got to party with them for the weekend.

We started our Saturday by going to the temple. It was so pretty! It's the perfect way to start our trip.

Isn't Jenni one of the cutest pregnant ladies ever?

After the temple, we got ready for the show I have been pining to see again for quite some time now...

That's right, we went to the 'Lion King!!' I saw it in New York when I was little and I have been telling Michael about all the awesomeness. I probably talked it up too much because the Vegas version was a lot smaller than the New York. However, it was still incredible. I love the costumes, the beautiful songs and how they make the cartoon come alive. If you haven't heard the song, "Endless Night," you need to google it because it is simply powerful.

After the show, we went to dinner at an amazing Mexican restaurant that was very randomly found. Score. We played games and relaxed.

Sunday morning was funny because both Gray's parents and my family were in Vegas. Gray's parents were down for a tennis tournament and Mel had a soccer tournament so in the morning we split to see our families.

Although it wasn't the "average" Vegas weekend, it was delightful. After that, I started my hitch-hiking adventure to Utah...

What's in a name?

Well, a couple of weeks ago, Michael was coming home from some meetings. He saw a dog wandering around a neighbors yard and stopped to get the dog so it wouldn't go out in the streets. The neighbors weren't home so he brought the dog to our house. Then when he took the dog to the neighbors, it ended up not being their dog. So, what's he supposed to do? Just let it go back to wandering the streets?

We took her around our block looking for her owners. (We have met more neighbors these past couple of weeks than we have since we moved in.) She brings people together! We posted on craigslist and put up signs. However, no one has claimed her yet. We are definitely dog people, but I didn't wanted to get one while I was working because of potty training, loneliness etc. When I came home and saw this dog, I was VERY worried. 1st because she is a pit bull. I've never wanted a bigger dog because of how big their turds are. 2nd she is a SHE. I've only ever had boy dogs so girl dogs are unfamiliar and kind of gross me out. Is that weird/ironic? 3rd I value my sleep and a dog barking all night is not ok with me.

I have to say, this dog is one of the sweetest dogs ever. She never jumps up on people. She is potty trained. And when she does have turds they are on our grass around the edges so she's not dropping land mines everywhere. The only time I have ever heard her bark is when my family came. She was in the bedroom with Michael and it was really really late. When she heard other voices in the house, she barked. And it was a bark that would make any burglar need to change their pants. I have to admit, I was impressed. I guess there was another time she barked when it was, again, really late at night. Every one was asleep including Will out on the couch. He was talking in his sleep and when she heard a voice, she barked. She's a guard dog!

We had neighbors over for dinner one night and they brought their little boys. It was so funny to see her reaction to kids. Because she is eye level with most of them she immediately started licking their faces and the boys would just push her away and say, "Stop dog!" The 2 yr old would say, "Come get me puppy!" and run down the hall with her chasing him. He was giggling like crazy and that kept him entertained for about 5 mins. Then later, he (the 2 yr old) was crawling around on all fours barking and the puppy would follow him and kind of push him over with her paw. It was hilarious- until he bonked his head on the tile. Then he wasn't too happy with the game. But, the puppy's good with kids!

So, for now, we have a puppy. We've been trying to find a name for her. I liked Ugly Betty. My family liked Sweetie. My neighbor girls thought Brown Eyes works. We used Delilah and Back-Up. Michael likes Shenolk, Oksana, Devushka, and Sabaka. Yeah, those are Russian names. We'll see what fits. Any suggestions? Votes?

PS Her floppy ears are definitely my favorite part about her.

*retraction

Ok. Davies?! Really!?
I hereby retract my words that "these boys don't disappoint." I am disappointed. But, my bracket stays the same.

Counting chickens...

Michael and a person in our ward were talking about how exciting March is because of March Madness and brackets and all that. I was positive that brackets are overrated because I always put BYU going all the way and usually that puts me out in one or two rounds.

I'm trying not to jinx anything or count my chickens before they hatch, but I'm feeling like my faith is going to pay off a little more this March. At least this year when people down here see my bracket they won't say BYU who? And if you are reading this and not knowing why I have such faith in my cougars, turn on the news!

BYU is doing awesome! They are #3 right now and there's more where that came from. Jimmer and the boys are not disappointing. If you do not know who Jimmer is, shame on you. He has been scoring an amazing average of 27.3 points per game which includes so many three pointers. If you have seen any games, you know that he is pretty fly for a white guy.

These boys are not disappointing! So I say... bring on those brackets!