A weekend adventure

This weekend was full of adventures. Friday night I came home from work and got right into bed and took a two hour nap. When I awoke, I fell into a post-nap coma that I remained in until it was time for bed. So sat on our butts all night. It was such an adventure!!!!

Saturday I woke up to Nathan doing homework. Then I ate some Cheerios.

Finally the real adventures began. We headed out to City Creek to get some lunch and then thought we woul head over to the Gallivan Plaza to try and listen to the Imagine Dragons concert. They have become our new favorite band and we were bummed that we didn't have the money to blow on tickets. We found the back of one of the stage while a different band was performing. We could hear really well so we decided to stay back there behind the fences and listen.

Suddenly we saw a very familiar face. Yep the lead singer of Imagine Dragons was standing there doing vocal warmups. We were kinda freaking out. I'm a huge wuss but luckily my husband is not and he went right up to the fence an started talking to him. He called me over and I shared words with Dan Reynolds. He even called me "sweetie." And then he said the greatest words ever: "Stay right here, I'll get you guys in." Then a few minutes later he was handing up passes and we were being led backstage and into the crowd. He was seriously the sweetest man ever! We were ecstatic! The show was incredible and best of all.. FREE!!!

After that we went to DI and I bought a shirt and really wanted to buy this CD.

Then we watched the Office. So basically the only adventure was the concert.. But it was awesome!! We were idiots and didn't grab a picture with Dan, but I will always be thankful for his kindness. I love seeing people be loyal to their fans. And I love free concerts of my favorite bands. Amen.

Friday Fifteen

Guys, I am a freaking McGrump Pants today. I don't even know why. But anyways, here's a list of 15 things because it's Friday and if you didn't know, fifteen and Friday both start wit F. So does fart. But that's for another time.

1. This morning when I pulled into work there were no more teacher parking spots, which there never are. Our school is under construction right now and half our spots are gone. So I pulled into visitor parking, which teachers always do. A co worker pulled in next to me. There were still tons of visitor spots. A different lady pulls in on the other side of me and STARES at me with death eyes. I was super creeped out but I just got outta my car and went about my business. Then this lady yells to me and my co-worker, "Hey! Are you guys teachers!?!" When we said yes she looked as if we were the worst people in the world and went off about us being in the visiting parking then literally stomped into the school and told our principal. She looked like a 4 year old. We didn't get in trouble but they made an announcement that we needed to not use the spots anymore and instead park lightyears away. Even the principal knew it was dumb but what can ya do? Not a good start to my morning though. I work here lady. And I get paid diddly-squat. You can park far and walk. Why are you even at the school? Fridays are late start days and only teachers should be here?? Go away. No one likes you. Thanks. Bye.

2. Teaching has been a lot harder this year in some ways and easier in others. I feel a lot more comfortable in my school and in what I'm doing. But I am not connecting with all my students the way I was last year. That would be fine in a general ed class, but I have the same 15-20 kids basically all day long and it's different. Most of the kiddies are awesome. We hit it off right away, they respond well to me, they are progressing and we have a lot of fun. Other kids are rude and defiant and distant and lazy and I have never had so much trouble just motivating and talking with a kid. There's really only about three that fall into this category, but it's really making the year challenging.

3. Pumpkin spice chocolate chip cookies changed my life.

4. The first 3 years of your teaching career in my district, you are observed by an administrator through a system called JPASS. They do 2 evaluations in the fall and two in the spring and they run your results and some data program spits out a paper deciding if you are a good teacher or not. Then you have to make this huge portfolio showing more evidence of why you are a good teacher. I had my observations this week and am meeting with my VP to go over the results today but he decided that my big portfolio is due today as well. It's not supposed to be due until the spring meetings but he says he likes to get them over with. So I had a few hours to compile a billion objectives into a presentable manner. I love my VP and he is the best, but this bugged big time. Don't rush me so you don't have to worry about checking portfolios for the rest of the year! Come on man, come on!

5. I didn't wanna say anything because I didn't want to jinx it.. but I think we are safe now. I have quit diet coke. Done-zo. I will have a sip or a can every once in a while if I feel like it, but I am not addicted and I don't have it every day. I rarely have it once a week! It's awesome.

6. Ever wanted to scream something from a mountain but you can't? Yeah, me too.

7. Some people need to stop being on Facebook like.. forever. Seriously, I wanna punch my screen because some people are so annoying. I know, why don't I just get off Facebook? Yeah right. I like Facebook. Stupid people need to leave.

8. I really like the new Taylor Swift song. Not the stupid one where she is talking and says "like.. ever" a whole bunch and I wanna barf. The other one called like, "Begin Again" I think. It's super awesome and reminds me of when I met Nathans. I accidentally added that s but decided to keep it because I think it would be funny if I started referring to my husband in the plural sense.

9. Speaking of Nathans. He is the bomb. He has had to put up with a lot of complaining lately and he is seriously such a stud. I bought him The Avengers the other night just to make up for my grumpies.

10. About 2 and a half years ago I accidentally texted Katie that I was "clogging" instead of "blogging" and it has stuck with us. When ever we blog, we always text each other, "I just clogged." And it's funny every time. I wish I could clog. And I wish Katie and I were a clogging duet group and we traveled the world making everybody's dreams come true.

11. My 6th period reading class is funny. It's right after lunch and there are 15 boys and 2 girls in it. The boys are always bouncing off the walls for the first bit of class. Then they start calming down and there is like a 5 minute window of good instructional time until the sugar crash hits and they are all zombies. Evey day. I should write a paper about it. And publish it. And then become a famous clogger in a duet show with Katie and travel the world and make everybody's dreams come true!

12. My department chair brought us donuts this morning. I love her.

13. Calling someone the "chair" of something is funny. I don't care if you say "department chair" or "committee chair," I will always just think about a chair.

14. I really love the people I work with. I don't have a single complaint about any of my coworkers. My team and my department are more like a second family to me than anything else. We make fun of each other and help each other and text each other racist jokes. It's pretty awesome.

15. I have nothing left to say but I don't like ending on a number that is not a multiple of five. Because five and Friday and fifteen all start with f. Remember? And so does fart.

I am a boring blogger and can't think of anything to say..

..so I am gonna share with you some photos I did this summer. Guys.. I am NOT a professional photographer and I don't pretend to be. I don't have the skills and people know wayyyyyy more than I do. But I LOVE taking pictures. No lie. And sometimes people trust my amateur skills. Anywaysss. I took some Bridals for my little sister this summer. She still hasn't posted these and I think it's because she is self conscious of her no teeth smile. But she is so freaking hot so I am just gonna go ahead and share them myself. You're welcome.

I also did some niece and nephew shots for Kels and Blake. It was more me chasing Ava around trying to get her to sit down for 3 seconds. I didn't have much luck. But I am obsessed with these ones. The first one of her kissing his cheek is probably my favorite picture ever.

Autumn Changes

"Autumn is the eternal corrective. It is ripeness and color and a time of maturity; but it is also breadth, and depth, and distance. What man can stand with autumn on a hilltop and fail to see the span of his world and the meaning of the rolling hills that reach to the far horizon?"

 -Hal Borland

Taken on our drive today. The colors were so gorgeous I thought they were fake.

I love this season. I love the leaves changing and the crisp air and the boots and the sweaters and the scents and the holidays and everything. I love the changes Fall brings. I love the changes coming up in my life. This season sparks new beginnings in every way. 

And I could not be happier.

this blog post is a waste of time

I suck at blogging lately. I have probably started a billion blog posts about nothing. Maybe I will actually finish this one. We've just been very busy. Busy in a good way. Exciting things happening over here! All in good time Sportfans. All in good time.

I am sitting on my butt right now, waiting for my husband to bring me home ice cream. I also have to pee reaaalllly bad but the bathroom feels so far away. I am a lazy piece of crap.

I have cut back so much on diet coke, someone should give me an award! Or some ice cream.

My students are so much better behaved this year that it kinda freaking me out. They even turn in their home work and take notes and stuff. What is happening?!?!?!

Today in a special ed staff meeting our psychologist listed all the main kids that were on special watch by the school that we needed to keep track of. All of them were mine last year. Not one of them is mine this year. That's a glorious change!

We got iPads from our school district!!! I am sooo excited! I love it! And there are so many cool things I can do with it in the classroom. I found the cutest case on amazon for a few bucks and I am in love. Mostly with Amazon. How did people shop before it?

Fall is coming and I AM SO EXCITED THAT I AM WRITING IN CAPS. However, I didn't end that sentence with an exclamation mark because the onset of fall means winter is around the corner. And winter makes me homicidal. Just kidding. Kinda. Not.

Nathan started school last Monday. He is gone at night. I am sad. But I made him a special "back to school" dinner. I hope he doesn't get too used to me cooking.

At lunch, my team and I get together and vent and tell funny stories and discuss how to shoot house intruders. It's a lot of fun. I would invite you but we are pretty exclusive.

I still have to pee.

We have a crack in our windshield. It keeps growing. I know we should get it fixed. But.. remember that whole lazy thing?

I am watching old episodes of The Office on Netflix and I really miss when it was good. When Michael was on and Pam and Jim were exciting and Dwight and Angela were together and Andy was Andy and not this new character they turned him into.

Some people shouldn't be allowed on Facebook.

I want rollo-stuffed sugar cookies.

This is a really stupid blog post.

the time I cried on a mountain

So Nathan and his older brother have this hike that they love. I have heard Nathan talk about it for years but we never went on it. All the sudden last week Nathan decided it was time. It was definitely going to be a longer hike than I was used to, what with my stupid heart problem and broken knee and asthma. (Yeah, I am a broken woman. Also, asthma makes me sound nerdy*) I was really excited though, because Nathan was so excited.

The hike was to Naomi's peak in Logan which is the highest peak there. The hike started off great. The trail was easy and it wasn't too hot and we had trail mix and I even peed in the woods. Guys, I peed in the woods. Like a man. I am so brave.

We got to a certain point in the hike where Nathan said he thought we should go off the trail. (Side note- Nathan hadn''t actually been on the hike in years and he couldn't even rememebr if we were going the right way. Let's just say there were trail-signs removed and we kinda didn't know where we were). He reassured me that he and his brother had gone off the trail before and since we could see the peak we were hiking to it would be no problem. 

It was a big problem.

We are off the trail for about an hour when I really started to think the plan was terrible. He were hiking along a slant that was covered with big rocks and it was certainly taking it's toll on my knee, not to mention the fact that I am just generally out of shape. And a huge wuss.

We keep walking and walking and walking and stumbling over rocks and I felt like we were no closer to that massive peak. We reach a basin below a lower peak and Nathan says if we would just climb up to the smaller peak, we could walk along the rigde, climb another steep cliff, and then we would be at the top.

That honestly sounded like death to me, but I was determined and Nathan was so excited to get to the top. So we started.

I'll try and paint a picture of what we were climbing. After 3 full hours of hiking, two of which were spent off the trail, we were now climbing an almost vertical cliff covered with giant boulders. It was so steep that you wouldn't just walk up it, you had to climb. Using both hands. Hoping the rocks you are stepping on don't crumble. 

So anyways, we climbed and climbed and climbed and I felt like we weren't getting anywhere. And I was exhausted and in pain but I was still pushing myself so hard. Too hard. About half way up, I still felt like I was miles away from the top. Then I looked down and a thought hit me, "Even if I made it to the top, I would still have to climb back down this mountain." And then I couldn't help it. I started bawling. I sat on a rock and I cried and cried and Nathan came to me and was bewildered and had no idea what to say. I told him between my tears that I was going to have to die here because I didn't have the energy to make it up, or make it back down. (I'm not dramatic at all guys).

I sat there grumpy and sullen and blaming Nathan for all my woes even though I hadn't told him I was wanting to die. He was so sweet and gave me trail mix and told me we didn't have to reach the top. You guys, I really love trail mix.

After some renewed energy and the positive attitude of my sweet husband, I made it pack down that freaking mountain. And we trudged back, found the trail, found the spot where I had peed and relieved my bravery, ate trail mix, and eventually found the parking lot. What a blessed sight!

Moral of the story is, if your husband decides to take you on a hike make sure he knows the exact route and never let him go off the trail. Also, crying gets you what you want.

This will be the only picture I will be sharing. Too many painful memories.

*Why is asthma considered nerdy? Every nerd in every movie always carries an inhaler. So only nerds are allowed to have constricted airways when they exercise?! Come on guys. Come on.

Cousins and Pizza

It was a cousin-filled Friday night! We headed to Springville to join Jessi and Marshall, Nana and Papa, the Joyner's, the McGary's, the Utah Graff's, and one of the many Bendixen's. That's a lot of the Graff side to fit in one restaurant. But it was wonderful! Here's just a small sampling of cousins.

This also happened to be the first time I saw my cousin Spencer in two years. He has been serving his mission in Las Vegas but he has finally come back to us! He has been greatly missed.

Here's Spence with my main man, Benny. Don't worry. Benny made sure to tell everybody that I was still his favorite cousin.

I love having family in Utah. When I first moved here 6 years ago, there was no one. Now there is a ton of us! It's wonderful :) Made for a great to start to the weekend.

I don't know how the tradition started, but I like it.

left picture circa 2010

Park Citaaaay

We wanted to get out of Salt Lake this past Labor Day, so we headed to Park City.

Pet Peeves

Let's talk pet-peeves guys. I have seen about 4 of my biggest pet peeves this morning alone so they are on my mind. I am gonna rant for a minute, because it makes me feel cool. Here's a list of things that drive me INSANE. In no particular order.

1. Driving under the speed limit in the fast lane.

Come. On. That's all I have to say. I truly believe that Utah drivers don't know what a fast lane is. It's called a fast lane for a reason people! It's where the fast cars go!

2. Bad customer service.

It's your job to wait on me or answer my questions or provide me with services and goods. I don't care if you're grumpy. Do your job.

3. People rushing onto the elevator before the people have even gotten off.

We have an elevator in our building and this is a daily problem. I am waiting to walk off the elevator and get bum-rushed as soon as the door opens because apparently if you don't run in the elevator the second the doors open, you die. At least that seems to the thought in my building.

4. Overly attentive salespeople. 

I just wanna shop in peace guys! For serious. If I want something, I'll tell you. You hovering over me making comments actually makes me want to buy something less.

5. Cutting in line.

Seriously, adults? Are we in first grade? You know where you belong- the back of the line. You're not being sneaky, you're being a jerk. Amen.

6. Rude people.

In general, rude people suck. But I especially hate rude people who just decide they are better than you. Especially when you hardly know them. It's also become a new pet-peeve of mine when teacher's choose favorites. Obviously, we all choose favorites, but I am talking about when they choose the kids they like and decide all other students suck and are openly rude to them when they would treat other students much nicer. This tends to happen a lot with teachers and my sweet resource kids because they either require a lot more help and attention or act out. Drives me crazy when a teacher looks at them as a "special ed kid" and thinks of them as my problem, not there's. Also, bullies. Not just kids. Yes, there are adult bullies. I have never had a problem, but it breaks my heart to see people put others down.

7. People talking when I am talking.

This stems a lot from being a teacher. It's my #1 rule in my classroom- you keep your mouth shut while mine is open. But this is also just a normal-life thing. I hate when people interrupt me when I am talking! Sadly, I do this all the time to other people. So I am a total hypocrite. But what can ya do?

8. Liars

Just tell the truth. For reals. The secret to telling the truth is very simple: don't lie.

9. Open-mouth resters

I think I might have made up this term. It's a weird pet-peeve to have. But I hate it! It refers to people who have their mouths open when they are just hanging out. Typing on the computer? Mouth open. Walking down the street? Mouth open. Watching tv? Mouth open. I don't know why it bugs me so much, but I can't stand it! I want to walk up and shut all their mouths. Funny story? My husband is an open mouth rester. I still love him though so it's okay :)

10. Political bigots

And I mean this on both sides. Guys. Stop being idiots and posting idiotic things! First, check your freaking facts. Just because you read it on the internet, doesn't mean it's right. Nothing drives me more crazy than seeing people posting and discussing complete and utter lies just because they didn't take the time to make sure what they were reading was legit. Second, be respectful that not everyone shares your opinions. Freedom of speech and opinions guys, it's what our nation is all about. Third, discuss don't demean. Does it make you cool to put someone down because of their opinion? No. It makes you an idiot. Fourth, realize that attacking personal things about a candidate or law or whatever, doesn't make you sound smart. It makes you sound stupid. Fifth, telling people they are wrong because of their opinion is dumb. Telling them they are "going to hell" for voting a certain way is dumb. Swearing and hateful slander is dumb. Sixth, one political status is plenty to let us know where you stand. Numerous statuses and blog posts and article posting and text messages are unnecessary. And annoying.So glad you have such a strong opinion. Now keep it to yourself.

Is it weird that typing all those up made me feel relieved? Like I was venting out emotion. Ahhh, what a wonderful feeling! And now you know how to not bug me.

And thus the weekend was instagrammed

Happy Labor Day, Sportsfans.

It's almost noon and Nathan and I are still in bed, eating zucchini bread. Nathan is reading Lord of the Rings (nerd alert) while I entertain you with the instagrams of the weekend. You lucky dogs!

 I seriously love Labor Day. No Labor shall be had today!

Friday night we were boring. We stayed in and read Harry Potter. Yeah, we are super cool like that. Nathan recently agreed to read them all with me and I am stoked. He can finally understand my obsession!

Saturday I spent the day with these guys:

 

These are Nathan's two favorite companions and very best friends, Ben and Ian. Ian has been home for a while now and Ben just recently made his way to Utah from Canada and he will be here all year! We are so excited. I can remember when Nathan would tell me stories all about these guys or they would send me letters and recordings. I couldn't wait to be able to hang out with them. And now we all can! They are a blast plus Ian is engaged and his fiancee is awesome! So I predict many more adventures. Kinda like when we did this.

Here's some more pictures of those handsome men.
 

After church on Sunday, we took dinner out to Jessi and Marshall. The night just got weird from there. There was poker played with thank you card, jokes about "ear rings," and of course.. meshing our pictures together to see what our babies would look like. And maybe those "babies" looked like real people. And maybe it was weird. We always love spending our weekends with the Klein's!