Sometimes It's Not So Good To Live Next To A Mountain

Scream and scream again. I was sitting in my room when I got a call from Katie to come outside right away, and to come through the garage. Because, oh yes, there was a tarantula on our doorstep. It was big and it was hairy and being the arachnophobe that I am, I just about lost my dinner. Imagine if we hadn't known and walked out the door. Probably I would have had a heart attack. Thankfully Scott was kind enough to come over and get rid of it for us. Although, in typical me fashion I am now thoroughly paranoid and keep looking around me thinking another one is going to drop down on me or crawl up to me. Here are a couple pictures for your viewing pleasure (or not, as the case may be).

Here's where we found him.

And then he started to crawl up the door.

Gasp.

I thought you needed a close-up.

THANK YOU Scott for saving us!

Field Trip

Last week we went on our yearly excursion to the Thanksgiving Point Dinosaur Museum. Even though I have been 3 times, it did not disappoint. You see, I am passionate about all things historic and I've had this lifelong desire to be an archaeologist/paleontologist. If this desire weren't superseded by my even greater desire to some day get married and raise children I would probably be out in the middle of the desert digging up bones right now. But having shelved that dream I get my fixes through reading and going to exciting places like the museum. If you have not been, I highly recommend it.

This year I came up in the rotation for first grade team leader, which means that I was pretty much in charge of planning the field trip (for 6 teachers and 120+ first graders). Oh pressure.

Not everything went quite as smoothly as I would have liked, and there were a few tense moments in which I was FREAKING OUT but it all worked out.

So the kids had a good time, the teachers had a good time, and next year I'll get to breathe easier knowing that someone else is in charge. :)

These are a few pictures from the field trip. Sadly I think it is not quite legal for me to post pictures of my kids, but imagine a bunch of little 6 and 7 year olds running around in the background. I did, however, post pictures of my team (I am so lucky to work with these ladies!).

Kathy and me.

Mandy, Paige, and Amanda.

Me, Mandy, and Paige.

I can't remember what this one is, I think a Utahraptor.

A cute, miniature, prehistoric elephant. I love elephants.

The teeth alone...

Extremely large turtle. I also love turtles.

You can't tell from the picture but this 'sand dollar' is actually 18 inches -2 feet across. It's from the ocean, need I say more?

Ogden Experience

As our school's illustrious Arts Representative I was sent up to Ogden for two days last week to go to a statewide arts conference. I had never been to Ogden before, and I was pleasantly surprised. It was a pretty good sized city and reminded me a lot of Tacoma (on a smaller scale :) I had also never stayed in a hotel by myself before and I couldn't help thinking as I walked in that I felt like a real adult. We stayed at Hotel Ben Lomond, and let me tell you, it was quite the hotel. It was built back in the 1890's, opened as a hotel in the 1920's, and is a historical landmark; the lobby is beautiful and the food was good. My room was nice (and huge! it had a sitting room and a bedroom, when I laid in the middle of the bed I could reach out and not touch either side. I also had t.v.s in both rooms and yes I turned them both on so I could have Law and Order surround sound while I was in the shower) but I think I was one of two people staying on the 7th floor. Apparently not all of the rooms were of such high quality; I talked to a girl in the elevator who was also attending the conference and she said that the walls and ceiling of her room were full of holes and there was blood on the lampshade (a little scary...). My friend and I decided that she must have had the Al Capone room (he stayed there once and the restaurant is named after him). Other than that it was all good and the conference was a lot of fun.

The Goo Goo Dolls

Last night my friend Shelly gave a bunch of us tickets to see the Goo Goo Dolls concert which she had planned as part of a conference for the company that she works for. We had good seats, but after the first couple of songs we went and stood on the floor, and managed to get to the front row. It was pretty great. Some of the pictures are a little blurry, but you get the idea.

Katie and Rachel

Allison, Becky, and Amren

Camille, Rachel, and me

One of the nice security guards who kept trying to keep us back

Me and Becky

Fall Break

A couple of weeks ago we had Fall Break at school (i.e. two days off in case teachers wish to attend the UEA conference, which I did go to once) so I took the opportunity to go on a little vacation and visit my mom in Delray, Florida. It was exactly what I needed and so good to see my mom for a few days. The beach is one place where I am totally, blissfully happy, and I am pleased to report that I made it there every single day (twice one day). Tuesday night in Miami.

Eating dinner at Johnny Rocket's.

The beach :)

My mom and me at the beach, it was pretty windy which made for some decent waves.

General Conference

A couple of weeks ago we had General Conference as a church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) in which the leaders of our Church (including the prophet, President Monson) spoke to us and gave us counsel on how we should be living our lives. As always, it was absolutely incredible. Each time we have Conference I always learn so much. I had lately had some questions about my life that I wanted answers to so I wrote them down and prayed for answers. I expected that I might hear one or two things over the course of the four sessions that I watched that would help me but I did not expect what I got. I can truly say that our Father in Heaven answers our prayers. As I listened I took notes and marked the things that stood out to me. It was amazing to see how nearly every talk spoke to me and how much I was given. My questions were answered literally dozens of times and in different ways.

On Sunday morning I was able to go to Salt Lake to attend the third session of Conference with my cousin, Christine. Her family had tickets and we were in about the 20th row. (Thank you Christine!!!) I'm not sure who was sitting behind us, but members of the Primary General Presidency and Relief Society General Presidency kept stopping next to us to talk with them. The Conference Center is beautiful and the feeling of being there is incomparable. Watching the General Authorities talk with one another and the feeling in the room when President Monson walked in and we all stood further strengthened my testimony that he is God's prophet on the earth today. At that session the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sang. It wasn't the first time that I had heard them in person, but it once again left me in awe. I was never really a fan of the Choir until I heard them in person and now I love them! Their singing is so beautiful and has so much power in it. I wish I could post pictures but sadly I only had my phone with me and my pictures are still stuck on there. :(

I am so grateful to be a member of this church. I know that it is the Church of Jesus Christ, that he is our Savior, that he lived and died for us, and that he was resurrected and lives again. I am grateful to have a prophet on the earth and know that Joseph Smith was a prophet as well, and that he translated the Book of Mormon, which is a true book of scripture.

One last thing: the leaders of the Church have recently published a statement about Proposition 8 that is about to be voted on in California. A few years ago, The Family: A Proclamation to the World was put out in which it was said that marriage between man and woman is ordained of God. I believe that this is true. If you are able to, please help this Proposition pass in order to preserve the sanctity of marriage.

I wish I could say I had taken these pictures, but again, I was sadly without camera. I found these online, so you could see the outside and inside of the Conference Center, if you haven't seen them before:

A Big Spider

On Monday, Ben, one of our fourth grade teachers, thought it would be funny to bring a big nasty wolf spider around to visit some of the teachers. I was one of the lucky ones. Yes it freaked me out and yes he did film it. I screamed (shocking, I know) and was teased by my students for the rest of the day. On Tuesday Ben emailed the video to all of the teachers and I was teased by them for the rest of the day. Along with all of their students that they decided to show it to. It actually has a few of us on there and it IS pretty funny. If anyone would like a good 90 seconds of entertainment let me know and I'll email it to you (but remember that the video does not do the monster justice, it was HUGE with legs as big around as toothpicks; if you want a little taste of the horror google wolf spider pictures).

Oh What a Run

Almost a month ago I ran the longest run of my life - a gruelling 13 miles. Yes, I Lindsey Smith, ran a half marathon. I can't really believe it right now and let's be honest I couldn't believe it then, but it truly happened. Thank you so much to Mona who came all the way to run with me! Most of it was actually really good, though towards the end it got a little rough. For the last couple of miles my feet and ankles started really hurting; I ended up going to see a podiatrist a few days after. It turns out that the bones in my feet don't align properly with my leg and the stress of such a long distance exacerbated the problem, finally making it apparent to me. I took a couple weeks off after the half, though, and I am happy to report that I'm MUCH better now. And running again. :)

Craziness

Apparently there have been fires in Payson and Spring Lake (which is also a city, not just the name of my school) and they came right down the mountain behind my school. The firemen have actually set up a post in the school so now when I go in to work I see them lounging around. This picture was taken by a teacher that I work with, it looks like the school is on fire but thank goodness it's not!

Llama Fest '08

*Disclaimer - in reading this post you will be subjected to the word "llama" numerous times, be prepared. Also - in my past posts you may have noticed my great affinity for commas, this one does not disappoint.

I have been intrigued with llama fest since my sister Jana told me all about her adventures there a few years ago. I have secretly wanted to go but it had just never happened. Then when Matt invited all of us to go I was pretty excited. Granted, I wondered what all could happen at a llama fest, but my expectations were, dare I say, surpassed? We started out touring the temple, which was beautiful. Upstairs was a place to worship and downstairs was a restaurant and store. And The Emperor's New Groove.
We wandered for a little while until we made it to the tent and the llamas. Inside,the llamas were working their way through an obstacle course. What is involved in a llama obstacle course, you might ask. Each llama was led through a series of things including getting in and out of the back of a van, walking through arches with streamers, and stepping over a pond. We watched one llama make its way through and another ornery llama flat refuse to go through the arches.
After that we wandered a little more and found the best part of llama fest. There was a large pen filled with wandering llamas that people could walk through, as well as and pet and feed the llamas.
It was a fantastic afternoon. Unfortunately it was also blazing hot so the party had to end a little early, but I'm sure glad I went.

The Krishna temple in Spanish Fork

Matt, Jamy, me, Becky, and Anna

A llama going through the obstacle course

Me with a llama

A lot of llamas

10k

On the 4th of July I ran my very first (we'll see if there's a second) 10k. We started bright and early at Kiwanis park, ran all around Provo and came back to the park. It was a decent run, although a little tough, but then again I did only get three hours of sleep. Ah well. The best part came at the end when I crossed the finish line with four of my friends cheering for me. Thank you so much to Allison, Becky, Dave, and Sean, I so appreciated you coming!

Allison, me, and Becky - notice the beautiful posters

Dave, me, and Sean

Freedom

I probably should have written this about two weeks ago, and all I can say in my defense is that it has really only just begun to sink in...but I am DONE with my masters degree. It is such an immense relief and I kind of smile every time I think about it. Not quite two weeks ago on a Wednesday we had our last day of class. The Friday before the dean of the school of education came up from Cedar City to pass out certificates to us making it all semi-official. Sadly SUU (Southern Utah University) only does commencement (and prints diplomas!) once a year, so I will have to wait until next April for both. But really, is that so bad? The day after I finished my wonderful friend Dave threw a party for me and for Jill (who very sadly is moving back east for school, but way to go Jill!). All in all, life is good.

Sweet Home Alabama

This week I went to the great state of Alabama to visit my sister, Jana, her husband Ben, and their ridiculously adorable children Caitlyn and Jackson. It was so nice to get away and to see them all, especially since I hadn't seen them since Christmas. It was also nice to leave parched Utah for the humidity of the south.

My niece and nephew are amazing. Caitlyn is a brilliant, precocious, 2-year old who knows exactly what she wants, and Jackson is happy, laid-back 1-year old and I miss them already. They all live in Auburn, AL while Ben finishes his doctorate in Psychology.

While I was there we went swimming, took walks to see the ducks, went to the blueberry patch, and to the Columbus Catfish baseball game (which was unfortunately rained out).

Caitlyn playing outside.Jackson playing outside. Caitlyn and Cinnamon.Jackson loves playing ball.He's just cute.

At the blueberry patch:

Before the baseball game we went for a walk along the Chattahoochee River, I saw a turtle swimming in it but sadly I didn't get my camera out in time for a picture.Caitlyn was putting on make-up with me.I've never seen a sign like this one...they must get some pretty crazy storms in Alabama.