How much should a joke cost?

So tomorrow is Rob's birthday, and since he's in Iraq and it is Saturday already, his birthday is actually today. Now Rob is the type of person who will never tell you what to get him for his Birthday, and he is the hardest person to shop for because in his (and mine) opinion, he already has everything he wants. So because I am one of those horrible gift buyers who give people things that I like, he ends up getting mushy, romantic gifts. Things like a scrapbook, or a book about us, or we end up going to eat someplace that I like.

But this year was different. Rob actually asked for something. All Rob wanted for his birthday was a morph suit. A morph suit? What is that? According to the website "Morphsuits don't need explaining, the pictures say it all." So here is the explanation:



According to the website "Normal stuff is much more fun in a morphsuit." I mean, really, think of the soldiers in Iraq. Who wouldn't want to see a soldier walking around base in a morphsuit carrying an assault rifle around his shoulder? And the rest of the testimonials are almost convincing enough to spend $50.00 on a morphsuit. You could make friends in many different colors! But as badly as Rob wanted one, I made the conscious choice to not buy it. Instead, he got a journal.



Which makes me wonder, how much is too much to spend on a joke?

Go K-State!

It's official. I am now a full-time graduate student at Kansas State University and I have a rad K-State ID to prove it. That, and $500 worth of books.

The classes I'm taking are: Multicultural Issues in Teaching, Principles of Assessment, and History and Culture of Rome.

My masters is in Curriculum and Instruction which is the closest thing to a Masters in Education they offer. My focus is social studies at the secondary level and because of that I get to take a few elective courses in any social studies area. Although I'd prefer Geography classes, with my work schedule, it limited what they had available - so I chose the Roman History class. Let's just hope I don't have to write too many papers.

First Days of School

Ms. Carmody and I

Today marked the end of the first week of school at Junction City Middle School where I work. I am excited to be back, I have great co-workers and I more importantly love the students. It is going to be a great year!

Junction City Middle School

Things to do before I die...

So my last post reminded me of my Bucket List. Now, to clarify, I didn't get the idea from watching that movie with Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson. I wrote mine way before that. When I was living in China in 2005 I was taking an online class at BYU-Idaho, called "Personal Achievement" - the easiest and one of the most meaningful 1 credit I've ever earned. One of our assignments was to make a crazy list of things we'd like to accomplish in live. Emphasis on the crazy part. Some things are achievable and others as you will see are not likely to ever happen. Or even come close. But who cares, right? It is MY list and these are the 47 things I would love to do before I die. So here goes...


1. Learn another language (I've made attempts at Chinese and Spanish)
2. Travel to the following places: Spain, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Thailand, Russia, Prague, India, Greece, anywhere in Africa (so far, I've done Greece)
3. Ride on a camel
4. Go on a safari
5. Help in an African orphanage
6. Attend an Olympic event
7. Attend a soccer match in Europe
8. Go skydiving
9. Go scubadiving
10. Go on a cruise (we went on a cruise for our Honeymoon in 2009)
11. Hike up an active volcano
12. Be in a movie
13. Sing a song in a recording studio
14. Paint a picture on canvas
15. Go to a Broadway show
16. Ride in a helicopter
17. Interview someone famous
18. Write a book
19. Ride in a hot air balloon (did this last month in Turkey)
20. Run in a marathon
21. Touch a dolphin in the ocean (I did this on our cruise, it wasn't in the ocean, but since I not only got to touch it, I got to kiss it and swim with it, I'm still counting it)
22. Live in a hut in an island village
23. Assist in a major world discovery
24. Eat dinner with a leader from another country
25. Win a prestigious award
26. Learn to surf
27. Visit every continent (3 down, 4 to go)
28. Attend a formal ball
29. Meet the president
30. Live in several countries (so far I've lived in Italy and China, but I want more on my list)
31. Play the violin in a city orchestra
32. Compete on Wheel of Fortune and win
33. Attend a diving competition
34. Watch a live performance by Lord of the Dance and/or Riverdance
35. Take a picture and have it published in National Geographic
36. Run in a political election
37. Ride a horse on the beach
38. Drive a racecar
39. Learn a traditional dance from another country/culture
40. Buy a house on the beach
41. Save a stranger's life
42. Appear on the front page of a newspaper (done in 2005 - it was a newspaper in China with my picture on the front page. And in June I was mentioned on the front page after my house flooded)
43. Win a chess tournament
44. Travel to Mecca
45. Win a talent show
46. Invent something and make it famous
47. Attend a World Cup Final

There you have it! Now what is on your list?

Euro Trip 2010

I still have a billion pictures to sort through, but I figured I'd post some pictures of the highlights of my trip to Bulgaria, Turkey, and Greece.

This was our itinerary in a nutshell: Mom and I left flew into Sofia, Bulgaria where my brother, JD, his wife - Erica, and baby Dash picked us up. We then spent a few days in Sofia, then took a train to Burgas, located on the Black Sea. After a week in Bulgaria we all took a Bus to Turkey. We spent a few days in Istanbul and then took an overnight bus to Cappadocia, located in Central Turkey. For those who have never heard of Cappadocia, it is one of nature's most beautiful wonders. As a result of erosion, rock chimneys dot the region and Christians built underground cities in efforts to escape religious persecution. Turkey was definitely my favorite place we visited. After Turkey, JD, Erica and Dash went back to Bulgaria and Mom and I flew to Greece. We spent 2 days in Athens and 3 days relaxing on the black sand beaches in Santorini. My trip was amazing and I had a fabulous time. My only regret is Rob wasn't able to enjoy it with me. Enjoy the pictures!

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Sofia


Rila Monastery in Bulgaria


Black Sea Coast



Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque



Cappadocia, Turkey - my Favorite place!




Hot Air Balloon Ride in Cappadocia (I can cross that off my bucket list)




Enjoying a DELICIOUS Turkish doner kebab in Cappadocia


Mom and I at the Parthenon. It is so impressive up close.


Beautiful Sunset in Oia, Santorini


Santorini - famous for the black sand beaches and magnificent sunsets


Fira, Santorini


Me standing on the terrace of our hotel with a view of the city


Maria and I. Maria runs a little hotel from her beautiful home and was the sweetest woman ever. This view is what I woke up to every morning.

blessings

So many of you know my house flooded on June 16th. And although it has been a lot of work trying to recover, I have been able to see so many blessings as a result of the flood. I've listed them for you.

1. It happened when it did, not the next week when I'd be at YW Camp or the week after when I would have been in Europe
2. It was only 6 inches
3. I had tried 3 weeks before the flood to see if we could get out of the lease, since the owner is selling the house and we'd have to move in November while I'm in school full-time, working full-time, and Rob deployed...our Landlord said now. But looks like I got my way anyway.
4. Since we got out of the lease and couldn't move into our new place till August, we made a little bit of money by not having to pay rent in July and getting our deposit back in full - all that will pay for my first semester of school! Double blessings.
5. When we moved into that house, the movers put a foot long scratch in the hard wood floors, and we didn't notice till later. So I was worried about being accountable for that. Since the flood, ALL the floors were ruined so who cares about a little scratch.
6. Our surround sound speakers were starting to go out, now with our insurance money we can get them replaced!
7. No more yard work!
8. I didn't even have to clean the house before vacating
9. I've made great friends in our ward. What better way to get to know people than being homeless and having to live with them!!
10. Finally, I realized if I can handle this alone with Rob deployed I think any other deployment will be a breeze. (That is, unless the Lord is preparing me for a real tragedy).

And to be honest, the only bad thing that resulted from the flood, is me having to ask people for help and feeling as though I inconvenienced them, which I hate doing. So there you have it, all the blessings from the flood. Way to find the bright side, eh?

joining the club...

I've been told by a few people lately that I should join the blogging world. So I am. It wasn't a hard decision. I have no reason to think why anyone would want to even read what I have to say, but for those who do, I'll try not to offend you with my thoughts.