Embracing my American Roots

After a week trip one has come to an end and I load up on a plane again. First stop, 4 hours in SLC where I got to meet my mom and sisters for lunch at Blue Lemon. Second stop Atlanta Georgia, where my 30 minute layover turned into a 4 hour layover...thank you thunderstorms. I got listed onto an hour earlier flight out of Atlanta headed to Washington DC. Thanks to the loss of 3 hours and the extended layovers, I arrived to DC at 1:30am. (Did I mention I left LA at 7am?). I thought this was bad until I learned I had to wait until my bag arrived with the later flight at 2:36am. Thank you to my amazing boyfriend (who had to wake up for work at 7:30am the next morning) I had company at the airport while I waited over an hour. Driving down the cute little streets I see a large tree with a darling swing on it. I yell out oh my look at that swing. He follows with, that is my house. We made it back to his house at about 3 am and my next trip was about to begin!

Friday
After sleeping in until noon, slowly getting ready, I headed off on my walk to the metro. I fell in love with Virginia along the way. The beautiful colonial houses, brick and painted doors, shutters and picket fences. The green trees everywhere. It is a beautiful place! I made it on and off the metro (with thanks to New Zealand and Australia for teaching me the ins and outs of public transport). I quickly found the White House and the Treasury building next door. I wandered the streets for the next few hours while waiting for Skyler to get off work! After we got to see the new Superman. If you know me at all then you know I cannot go to the movie theater without sneaking in some sort of food whether it is dessert, candy, a meal, etc. I ran into a grocery store to buy Half Baked Ben and Jerry's for the movie, but forgot to stop by the deli to grab a plastic spoon figuring the movie theater would have them. Well long story short they had no spoons so I spent the movie sipping and licking ice cream from a carton.
Lesson learned: Always be prepared when sneaking food into a movie.

Swing in the tree at Skyler's house. I could too much time on here!

Out front of the White House

US Treasury: Skyler's work

Saturday

After eating breakfast in the backyard hammock we headed off to see the city. First stop National Archives! It was so neat to see the Constitution and Declaration of Independence. The Declaration has just about worn off, not much of it can be read. The Constitution was in a lot better quality. 

Interesting Fact: The security informed me they have a new way of securing the documents that cannot be made known to the public. They used to drop them 20 feet underground into a vault and seal at 5:30pm, but that was not made known until they had a new way to secure them.

After standing in the security line with the hot sun beating down,
I quickly gave in to the very expensive ice cream man! 

Everyone had their feet in the fountain for a quick cool down. I thought I'd join.

Next stop Washington Monument! It was all covered in scaffolding unfortunately!

While walking passed the Reflections pool I wanted to stop and make a wish in the fountain. It took me a minute to realize I recognized the building on the back of this coin. Neat!
Note to Self: If traveling with Skyler you cannot stop when he is on a mission. He will leave you and not look back.
This happened frequently on our excursions. Look closely you can spot him in white.

Visiting Abe himself. This is by far my favorite Memorial so far!

Monday

I got to meet the another intern from teaching with me at Lindon last year, Ashley!

We spent the morning at the Holocaust Memorial.
Very depressing museum, but also reminded me how much more I could know about history.

Favorite part of a Museum: Pretending to be the things within the Museum!

1. Giraffe drinking from a waterhole

2. T-Rex
Skyler is a good sport, I had to force this one out of him

Skyler walked a over a mile in the pouring rain to come meet at this museum. As much fun as public transport is, I wonder what it would be like to have a car! (Did I mention he had no umbrella or hood?)

We waited out the rain and took a bike taxi to Chinatown for dinner!

Tuesday

We headed down to Alexandria to walk the cobble streets. After burgers at the waterfront we headed to gelato so Skyler could mark it off his bucket list.

Wednesday

Suitcase all packed up and in hand, I took a bus to the metro, switched to another line metro, then walked to find the bus deck. I loaded my double decker bus for the drive to Raleigh to begin trip 3! I will be back to celebrate July 4th Washington DC!

California Love

Well it's been a bit since blogging last, but why not just jump into this. The finish of May marked not only my 23rd birthday, but also the end of my first year teaching. One of the best perks of teaching is Summer Break! I haven't had a summer break without working since I was 15. Although the funds are low, I thought I better venture out. 

Here is trip 1

The morning after our district trainings, I caught my flight out to LAX. 

First stop Melissa's house. We began the preparations for the wedding. Thursday was a day to prepare. Friday marked the beautiful luncheon in Laguna and girls day for manicures. Before I knew it Saturday was here.

Melissa and Skyler

June 8th 2013

Newport Beach Temple

I was given a 5 minute notice to give a speech for Melissa. I did what I do best wing it. Lets just say it could been worse. Melissa forgot her garter, so a couple other bridesmaids and I left to her house in search of it. We never found it and when we got back they had improvised with a guests bracelet. Well a busy few days had come to a beautiful end! I grabbed my bags and headed out with Alexa. 

Goodbye Orange County, Hello Burbank!

 Delicious Diddy Riese Ice cream Sandwiches!

I am all about connections. It's not how much money you have, but who you know. Our day at Six Flags was wonderful thanks to not having to wait in the lines thanks to knowing the rides supervisor!! Alexa refused to be in any pictures so I stand awkwardly alone with sylvester and tweety bird.

After holding off to eat expensive park food we hit up the local claim jumper. Thanks to Alexa's hook up we get 50% off everything. Let's just say 2 appetizers, 2 meals, and a mud pie later, the bill came out to 25$ and we had leftovers for days.

Utah has nothing on California Hiking in the California Sun. 

Beautiful hike in Beverly hills with Alexa!

First there is THANKS, then there is GIVING

Can you believe it is already November, not to mention about half way through?

I cannot.

Teaching school sure makes the time fly....does that mean I am having fun? The first few weeks of school were crazy, I was not sure how I would make it, or if I was cut out to be a teacher. This was the end of week 13 and I am slowly realizing how much improvement is made each and every day. I have grown to love it so much and love my students more than anything! 

Between the business of teaching, I managed to make time for my little brother's football games! He was hilarious to watch out there, a little Michael Orr. I have realized he is more of a gentle giant, as he nicely pushes the shoulders of his opponent back, when he could easily flatten him out. My family was obviously his biggest fans (custom tees and all).

I was able to run the halloween half marathon a few weekends ago and I survived. My training was definitely not what it should have been, but I made it! It just so happened to snow the days before the race and I started up the canyon at a ski resort! The morning was freezing, but it wasn't too bad. I think the cold helped my legs stay numb for most of the run, I forgot they were hurting. I loved that the race was about all downhill through the canyon and it was so fun to see all the crazy costumes. My next goal is to do a ragnar, but I need to find a team for that.

October was the month of both my wonderful mother's and my sister Cassie's birthdays! We were able to throw a surprise party for my mom, but you cant hide anything from her, so I am not sure how much of a surprise it was! For Cassie's we had a circus themed murder mystery dinner! (Ironically enough I have always dreamt of performing in the circus). I was given the part of Ariel Swinger, the trapeze artist, and also the star of the show! I was able to pull out my DI purchased leotard and prepare for my part. I was the murder victim and happened to be murdered by the clown Ruby. I thought my Dad really fit his character!

As more time passes I realize my family is more important to me than anything else and they seriously are the coolest. It's funny how time changes you and how you see things. I love spending time with my family and we are lucky to all live so close right now. It will be weird to see where we will all be 10 or 20 years from now. I hope not too far from each other!

The other day I came across a pin on pinterest about a women who did 38 acts of kindness for her 38th birthday. I loved it. I have made a goal for myself starting the month of November that each day I must do an act of service and write about it every night. Somedays may be small things and others may be bigger, but I am trying to make it something I would not usually do. I will also write about one thing I am grateful for each day to get in the spirit of Thanksgiving! If I succeed maybe I will blog the list at the end of the month! 

it's always time for tea-time

It's funny how day by day nothing seems to change, but when you look back everything is different. This quote seems to just about sum up my life right now. I can't slow time down, I can't catch up, I just have to keep truckin' forward. I came to a realization the other day and I thought I better document it. For the past few years I have always thought 16 year olds looked like 12 year olds, 14 year olds looked like 10 year olds, and on and on. I saw myself as about 16 years old, maybe 18, 19 max. I was never able to realize I was looking older, I just felt as if everyone was looking younger for their age... until last week. I stopped for a minute, looked in the mirror and realized I am 22 years old and I look like it. It was weird! I am teaching second grade. I signed up for my own medical benefits. I signed up for a retirement plan, a retirement plan can you believe that? I am an adult. Now I see 16 year olds who look like 16 year olds and realize everything is different.

Time is the craziest concept. It continues moving without you even realizing it. When I try to make sense of it, I just realize just about everything has changed and the biggest change is just me.  

Growing up I put my parent's on this pedistool. They were the greatest thing and they really knew what they were doing raising me. Little did I know...I am my parents, well basically. By my age, my parents were already married and already had a kid. At that time they had little income, i'm sure, and did not know what to do with a baby. If they were anything like I am today, they would have struggled doing their taxes, selecting medical benefits, understanding the economy, and trying to decide what and why their political beliefs are without regularly reading the newspaper or watching the news. Ok maybe my dad knew a little more about this stuff, but I am not sure how he would! It freaks me out as I watch close friends of mine get married, have kids, grow up. We are our parents, with a little added technology at our fingertips.

I accomplished my goal of getting into BYU. After long hard thinking about my future, I decided there was only one thing to do, study Elementary Education! It has always been my dream, but I was never sure, I still wasn't even sure up until this last year. As I have spent more time in classrooms I just love it! I just love kids, I just love new school supplies, I just love teaching! I'll let you know how I feel next May after I tackle this first year haha. As sad as it is to watch the time go, 2012 has been the best year of my life and only continues to get better!!

Highlights of 2012 so far...

Jan Moved to New Zealand

Feb Ran my first half marathon, Learned to surf

Mar Bungy jumped, Learned to sail, Milked a cow, Swam with wild dolphins

Apr Kaity came to NZ, we traveled to Sydney, Australia, Kaity graduated from BYU

May Turned 22, Kendall graduated High School

June Got the keys to begin decorating my own classroom, got my class list

Sneak Peak, I will post more when I have the finished product!

July Caysen and Rusty were baptized, Kaity and Rusty got married

Aug I traveled to Chicago

more to come....
2 weeks and I begin teaching second grade
2 months and I will run my second half marathon

"Today is the oldest you've ever been and the youngest you'll ever be again. You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream."

Life is all a balance and a decision of happiness. Work hard, serve others, then do a little something for yourself. Whether that be read a book, reflect in a journal, lying in pajamas eating ice cream while watching your favorite show, taking a spa day, or traveling the world, I have found with balance I need and love me time.

I better make this quick, so I don't loose too much time! Notice I have not written on here in months, but the night I am sat down working non-stop on lesson plans, I somehow find the time to procrastinate just long enough to get this post in. I am so unbelievably blessed! Time may continue, but so does life and it just seems to get better and better. I cannot wait to meet my class and begin teaching!!

Here is the Quick Recap

Hello, Goodbye, past 2 months of my life!

Hello fellow blog viewers. I am fully aware there are not too many of you and I am doing everything in my power to change that. But how am I supposed to get blog friends, this isnt like facebook where you have random people you once saw at a party in high school add you. I am sorry I have been away so long. I know what you are wondering...."wow maybe this girl didn't make it back from her trip" or "maybe this girl is pretending to have a life back in Utah" but the truth is internet was even harder to come by in Australia than NZ and it has taken me a full 2 months back in the states in order to recover from some serious jetlag and work enough to pull my credit card back into the positive.

Kaity became a local celeb at Colwill Primary School, autographs were given out to all the children!

I convinced her to bungy jump and this time I went Backwards

Mega Cones with Fresh Fruit Ice Cream

Thanks to these orange vests and while helmets my wonderful horseback pictures on the beautiful black sand beach are ruined by this construction worker on horseback

Muirwai Beach

Practicing my new Rugby Skills at Mt Eden

I sure miss this boy!!

Remake of our childhood photos!

So happy she made it to NZ

Playing the piano, you can tell by the fist I am a real natural at it

Haddads Gigantic Burgers

Downtown shopping and Dinner

We had a nice photoshoot at the Hamilton Temple while we waited for Marin, Ana, and Jershon to do a session!

Sydney Opera House

King's Cross

Max Brenner Crepes

Hermit Crabs at Oceanworld

Manly Beach

One of the highlights was Featherdale Wildlife where Kaity was able to check a few off her bucketlist. We got to pet a kangaroo and koala. Unfortunately it is illegal to hold a koala in New South Wales :(

I love how that one is sitting on his butt and the other has a baby in it's pouch!

Koala close up

So much Wombat to Love

I think this baby loved getting hugged

Bondi Beach, I heard Zac Efron was here just the day before!

Luna Park

Sydney Harbour Bridge

Mmmmm, one of my favorite places to eat....Pankcakes on the Rocks!

Manly Beach 

Can you believe it....I have been home from my adventures for almost 2 months! I cannot believe how quick the time flies by. I am so lucky to have gotten to experience so much in New Zealand and only hope for many more life adventures to come! 

It is now my second summer of the year....we will see how this one compares to the last!