Tyler's home!

Hooray!! Tyler is home from his two week stay in Michigan. I missed having him at home and it's good to have him back. He really seemed to enjoy his stay and I heard all kinds of good things about his visit. Grandma and Grandpa Lee enjoy him so much they want to keep him for a whole summer. Tyler especially enjoyed going fishing. He caught some really big fish on Lake Michigan. It's hard to believe summer is coming to a close. I go back to work in just a couple of weeks. I need to really start thinking about lesson planning and how I want to organize my classroom. It would be easy to do the same thing over the same way I've done them before, but see the thing is I like to try and make things better. I haven't quite figured out the perfect way to teach something so I do it different every year. I'm looking forward to teaching Social Studies again. I've missed that. I really like English but I've learned that not all my students do. I seem to be a much more likable class when I teach Social Studies too. In other words....not so many students hate my class. I also think it will be nice to have half as many students again. Teaching 6 classes is hard. I think it's harder to get to know the students because you have so many. I will like having 3 classes for two class periods each. It ought to be a good year. I'll just have to condition myself to get up early again. I've enjoyed sleeping in.

Finis!

Well, I finally finished Pride & Prejudice this week. It's reading that takes a little more concentration than my usual no-brainer books. I really enjoyed it. In fact, I went and bought the Kierra Knightley movie so I could watch it. While I did find the movie enjoyable, it seemed to go to quickly. I would like to see the BBC version with Colin Firth. I'd also be curious to see the Lawrence Olivier version so I can decide which Mr. Darcy is my favorite. I needed a no-brainer for my next book so I am reading Inkheart by Cornelia Funke. We enjoyed Bear Lake this week. It started out pretty overcast, but turned out to be a nice day. Afterwards, Tori and I stopped by Tony Grove and went for a hike. (I included a picture of Tori at Tony Grove). We saw 2 deer, and another little baby deer that unfortunately wasn't with a mom. We were afraid the mom was hit by a car because we saw two that had been hit not far from where we saw the baby. I couldn't believe all the wildflowers at Tony Grove. They were everywhere! It looks like a nice lake for canoeing. I've still thought it would be fun to have our own canoe. Another exciting thing we did this week was buy new exterior doors and a water softener. They will hopefully be installed within the next couple of weeks. We really needed them. My favorite purchase was a new Yamaha piano. I found a gorgeous black piano at an excellent sale price and I jumped on it. The piano was delivered yesterday and Tori and I have had fun playing it. I've continued to give her some piano lessons but we will most likely get her an "official" piano teacher since she really seems to have the talent for it. I would be good for only teaching her the basics. She's learned some simple songs and has done so realatively quick. It's fun to hear her play. Tyler is enjoying Michigan and should be home one week from today. I miss him but am glad he can have the opportunity to be there. He went to Charlevoix this past week with his Grandpa Papiernik and Josh. He's also getting spoiled. I hear they've done some school shopping with Grandpa. They were also going to go over to Lewiston to see Grandma and Grandpa Lee. It will be good to welcome him home again.

Bear Lake

Tori and I are off to Bear Lake today. There are some ladies in my ward that go every year and today is the annual Bear Lake day. I think Tori will really enjoy playing around at the beach. We bought a Hannah Montana beach towel and boogie board. We also got a few beach toys (shovel, bucket, etc,). Right now it's 8:00 a.m. I was hoping to leave by 10:00 a.m. and just spend the day there. Yesterday Tori slept in until 10:00 so I guess I'll have to see when she wakes up. I don't really want to wake her because then I run the risk of her being grumpy from not enough

sleep. I much prefer a happy girl. My neighbors are the young adult singles representatives and a week or so ago they were out in the fields by our houses (we're next door neighbors) coloring the weeds. I'm not really sure why or what they were doing, but they are really kind of pretty. I took some pictures of them this morning because I think they look cool. I also took some pictures of my raspberries which I might add look great. Five of the six still are green. Yes, it is sad, but we may have lost one. You'll have to ignore the weeds....I weeded yesterday but there are so many it's hard to keep up on them. I'm hoping that when the raspberries get bigger it will help keep the weeds down just because they are big. I guess we'll see.

Blast to the Past

This past Saturday I went to my 20th high school reunion. I had worried about it so much (anxiety is not a pretty thing) that I wondered if it would even be worth the stress. I'm so glad I went because I thoroughly enjoyed it. One of my really good friends Trina, summed it up very well when she said, "It's been 20 years...it is what it is!!" Of course she looks great and has a beautiful family and she is just as outgoing and fun as ever. It was fun to sit and just pick up where we left off. I've known her my whole life and I have so many memories growing up in the same ward in Orem. It was also fun to see some of my friends from the seminary student council. I had fun talking to Jeff, Richard, Shane and Chelle. We were missing Brian, Patty and Julie. They were some of my best friends in High School. I respect them so much. I think Richard and Chelle convinced me I need to come to the annual Christmas party. It was also neat to catch up with Jennifer. Even after the reunion we went back to her house and still talked for another hour! Visiting with everyone was so much fun that I really don't know why I have anxiety about it. I think life experiences have changed how I react to some things and that frustrates me. About 5 years ago I went through some really tough trials. I gained a bunch of weight and went through a bad depression because of it. I thought I would never get passed it. I should listen to the Book of Mormon when it says, "And it came to pass...." because it did pass. I'm off all the meds I was on (which was a big deal because I needed more meds to counteract the side-effects of coming off the meds....aaghhhh!!!) I don't have panic attacks like I used to, and I would have to say I am genuinely happy (which I didn't think I ever could be). I've only lost 20 pounds of the 60 I gained (of course I posted my skinny picture on my profile). I'm still working on losing the weight. And I still have anxiety when it comes to stuff like 20 year reunions. I even was stuttering some at the reunion (frustrating!!!). Life experiences have made me so different than I was 20 years ago I wasn't sure how it would be to see old friends. I feel like my life is richer and has so much more meaning. I don't take little things for granted. My love of the gospel and of the Savior has grown significantly. I can't really say that I am grateful for my trials, but I am grateful for where I am because of them and the person I've become. I just feel different. Okay, I've got to quit before I start crying. I'm really glad I went to the reunion because it was fun to see people who I really, genuinely care about. It's comforting to know that after 20 years, some things never change.

Redneck Waterslide

This is a first...two postings in the same day! I forgot to mention the Redneck Waterslide. There's this place we've gone for a couple summer's now that we affectionately call the Redneck Waterslide. Really, someone just put together a waterslide on their property and they rent it out. It's really a lot of fun and the kids enjoy it. Tom obviously did too. Tori and I also had a lot of fun on the Fourth of July in Provo. We went to the parade with Rachel and then to the Stadium of Fire with Rachel and Mindy. Miley did a great job and Tori enjoyed singing and screaming. I also thought the Blue Man Group was pretty entertaining. Different, that's for sure. We've been having a great summer. Can you tell?

Middle of Summer

I can't believe it's the middle of summer break! We'll be heading back to school before you know it. I did go to UEN and looked up the new social studies core. It still lists it as a draft so I don't know if I'm teaching the old core or the new one. I guess I'll have to figure it out before I go back in August. I also heard a rumor that we might be going to a 4 day school week to save on costs. It's just a rumor, and I can't imagine how it would ever go through. I do know that Governor Huntsman has made some changes in the government offices and they will be going to a four day work week. My sister Rachel knows all about that since it directly affects her. She's not sure what to think of 10 hour work days. My high school reunion is in just two days. I'm actually looking forward to it. I'm wondering who will be there. Tyler leaves for Michigan on Sunday. He'll be there for two weeks. I'll miss him. Tori felt bad but I think we'll all go back next year. Tyler will get back in time for scout camp and the family reunion. It's all good.