Other Hawaiian Adventures

My sunburn and recovery kept me from a few activities, but Will and some other family members got to do some cool things, and Will took pictures.

After visiting Pearl Harbor, Will, Mom, Hyrum, and Grant visited the Punchbowl (Cemetery of the Pacific) and did some hiking.

Will's Hawaii Selfie

Theme Song: What a Wonderful World, The Ramones

All American

The Friday before Labor Day Will and I went to the mall to get some new outfits for school. I gotta look professional so the high schoolers don't confuse me for one of their own and Will needed some crazy new ties to impress the 5th graders he's working with this semester. Then we stopped for dinner at Chili's.

Will asked for a four-seater booth rather than a two-seater, claiming that he wanted more room on his side of the table. I should have known better.

Just a few minutes after we were seated and we were just chatting, I heard someone next to our table ask "Excuse me, do you have the time?" I thought to myself, as I turned to face them, no one says that except my mother. Who should be standing there--but Mom and Dad!

I cannot lie. I bawled. Right in the middle of Chili's. My parents had drove from Wisconsin to Virginia to surprise me for the weekend. They had been in cahoots with Will for months and I never suspected a thing.

But the surprises did not end there. That night we were instructed to be ready to go very early the next morning. On Saturday, my parents picked us up and we drove several hours to Charlottesville. Dad wanted to see Monticello and the BYU v. UVA game, and I just so happened to be in the same state. Might as well stop by to see me.

Thomas Jefferson was a fascinating man and his house is just as interesting. Custom clocks and rooms built only to look pretty from the outside. There were thousands of BYU fans running around Monticello. The two passions of Mormons? Founding fathers and BYU football.

The famous Round Room. Jefferson didn't really have a purpose for this room, but it creates the iconic look outside.

The game had a severe weather delay because of lightening after the first quarter, and there was a ton of rain. It was very exciting after the lightening cleared out but ended in heartbreak for about 1/5th of the stadium. Seriously--BYU took up 1/5th to 1/4th of the stadium. We could easily drown out the UVA crowd. I'm a little bummed that the rain delay had the opposite effect on BYU this past weekend, rather than the game we attended, but it was still a good game. And UVA fans are so classy. Shirts and ties and sundresses. Cavaliers and horses. Shout and Roar!

Will was sneaky and packed my BYU t-shirts so I got to have my pick once I found out we were going to the game! He chose to wear his JMU shirt rather than a VT shirt, so as not to upset the UVA fans.

It was an All American weekend. Family, food, founding fathers, and football.

Theme Song: Good Old Song, UVA Marching Band

Summer Photos

Will is working full time for the summer and I'm applying for jobs for next school year. Things aren't exactly exciting every minute of every day. Here are a few pictures, from when I actually remember to pull out my phone...

The last two potatoes we had before we moved to Virginia

Our first place in VA--the attic

Will barely clears the ceiling. Oh, and he has a beard all the time now. All the time.

At the new place, we're on the second story. This lizard climbed up to say hi.

Rock Band with our Nephews

Down in Colonial Beach last weekend, they were having Jet Ski racing dockside.

Theme Song: Those Lazy Hazy Crazy Days of Summer, Nat King Cole

Spoiling a Good Walk

Mark Twain once said "golf is a good walk spoiled." Will and I are pretty good miniature golfers but I've never used a real golf club before but it was such a nice day when we arrived in Burbank, we decided to ruin a good walk at the local par three course.

Yeah. We're classy.

Actually, I'm a horrible golfer. Don't let this pose fool you. I can't get the stupid ball to fly up into the air. It just bounces along for a few yards. I'm much better with miniature golf.

Will wanted to capture the progression of the putt.

I think my face here captures my feelings on the situation.

He asked me to do a victory dance. Oh yeah.

Will told me hold my dorky pose so he could get a panorama shot.

Theme Song: Fly With Me, Frank Sinatra (golf balls fly, right...?)

Vazquez Rocks

The trip from the Antelope Valley to Burbank is pretty quick. But we took time for a brief stop at Vazquez Rocks--can you say Star Trek?

Unfortunately we didn't have time for much exploring, so we focused on this one formation.

I took a quick "trek" (anyone? anyone?) towards the top

Will preferred to remain on the ground and shoot an ad campaign for Jeep.

Ignore my hair being in my face. The wind was out of control!!

Theme Song: Theme From Star Trek, Alexander Courage

On Holiday

BYU does not have a spring break. This didn't really factor into my pro/con list when I was deciding what university I would attend. Even if I had thought about it, spring break would not have been a huge factor, but there was a small pang of longing each year when friends at schools across the country got a week break during a difficult semester.

As a student teacher I do not follow the schedule of BYU, but that of my cooperating school district. Therefore, for the first time since high school--this year I had a spring break.

In exactly 22 days, Will and I will leave the state of Utah for a more permanent home in the East. Therefore, Will wanted one more extended visit to California to visit his mission before we left for the opposite side of the country. In more ways than one, a week without school less than a month before graduation was a big blessing.

In the Antelope Valley, Burbank, Downtown LA, and Malibu we enjoyed an excellent vacation. Pictures and details to follow.

Theme Song: Vacation, Vitamin C

Marching On

Life is good, we just have to keep "March"ing on. Eh? See what I did there?! We've been doing some good things lately, I just haven't written any of it down. Here's a few pictures of our most recent adventures.

We went to the MOA on a whim and they were having an awesome Native American dance performance

They were moving so gosh dang fast, my phone couldn't handle it.
Hence blurry pictures.

We also went to a BYU lacrosse game. We killed Utah State. But...yawn...

This sport is violent. They whacked each other without mercy.

The pictures are blurry, but this BYU volleyball game was way more fun than lacrosse.

We beat Cal Baptist in four sets

Faculty at my school gives each other "By George" recognitions for doing good things. My cooperating teachers jointly gave me a dollar. Cause I'm awesome...

I came home from church to a clean kitchen and this lovely note on the white board

Getting ready for the job fair. I'd hire this girl!!

Five more days of school, then a week of Spring Break. California here we come! Then only seven more days of student teaching and I am done. I am graduating from college. Terrifying. Gotta get me a job and go be an adult. For now, we'll just keep doing what we do. Carry On.

Theme Song: Carry On, Fun.