What we've been up to.

We've shopped at Costco.

We took a picture of our selves in the parking lot of Costco in front of the pretty sunset.

We made the trek yet again from our car to our apartment...and of course James refused to make two trips.

We considered going out of town for Labor Day but decided to have a "staycation" instead. One night we went to Macaroni Grill (yum!).

Did I mention yum?

Another night we went to the Gateway for a dinner and a movie.

We saw The Proposal (loved it).

And then ate at The SkyBox sports grill.

We visited Shay after she had her wisdom teeth out.

And also made fun of her.

We shopped to replace our broken vacuum and refused to get one that was this skinny.

We discovered that Nielsen's accepts debit cards (finally!).

And celebrated the whole way home.

We had an impromptu, self-taken family photo session.

We made our first homemade bread.

We hosted James' brother Dave from Florida for five nights.

And had lots of fun, games and food while he was here.

We made our homemade salsa with tomatoes from my grandparents' garden.

We went to the annual Peacock reunion and stayed at a beautiful cabin.

We went to the annual Smith family reunion.

We made banana nut bread for the first time.

And the smell was intoxicatingly wonderful.

I made a beautiful, yummy, triple-decker club sandwich for the first time before James went to the Priesthood session. So delicious, yet so easy!

We are doing well and just plugging along! Thanks for stopping by. :)

Just call me Teacher.

...Teacher's Aide that is.

I have now wrapped up my first week of being a Teacher's Assistant for Human Physiology taught by Dr. Matt Linton at the U. Let me tell you, it's quite the experience! Monday was my first day and I was completely horrified (I won't mention the fact that all I had to do was stand up in front of everyone for 20 seconds to introduce myself...to my credit...it was a huge auditorium of 200 or so people). I just don't have the "guts" and confidence I used to, you know! But I got through that day. I then got through my first office hour that's held once a week. Then came Friday...the biggie. I had to facilitate an hour long discussion in the above stated HUGE auditorium all by myself....and my laptop...OK and a humongous projector...in front of lots of people. Woo wee! Talk about a nerve-racking adrenaline rush. I think I did pretty good for the most part...I'm trying to not dwell on the many things that went wrong and just focus on the fact that I really did give them good information like my TA had done for me. Now I just need to get past the next 16 Fridays where I'll have to do this all over again (minus a few breaks).

I'm just glad this first week is over with and past me. I had so much anxiety this week! And it didn't help that I slept through the 3rd day of this class due to the fact I forgot to change my alarm to "AM" after getting home from work that morning...and the professor specifically asked that the TA's never miss class! Aaahhh! Since that day I can't sleep very well because I'm so panicked I'm going to miss the class again. Even this morning, being Saturday, James said I woke up at 6am in a panic that we had missed something (none of which I remember). I'm starting to relax a little now the worst is over. And it helped that the professor now calls me "Sleepy Head"...at least now I know he doesn't hate me.


It's been quite the eye-opening experience. Here's what I have learned so far:

• Teachers are awesome. Enough said. Their job is a lot harder than I imagined. -It's easy to take things very personal (like when people leave early, people have a look of complete boredom on their faces and if people are laughing..."are they laughing at me??!?!")
• Teachers pay attention to faces and names and it doesn't take much to get to know the students if the students put forth the effort.
• Teachers WANT people to come up to them and ask questions and e-mail them...anything! They want to be able to help the students in any way.
• I need to give more positive feedback to my teachers and TA's (i.e., "I learned a lot today", "thanks for the help", etc.) because I had the following thoughts running through my mind the whole time I was talking: they all think I'm dumb and want to leave, I'm going way too slow, now I'm going way too fast, do they all hate me?!?!?, are they learning anything?
• Continuing with that same thought, I told the students to e-mail me if they wanted the PowerPoint Presentation I went over in the discussion. Since then, I've received several e-mails and some of them say "Thank you so much for what you said today, it really helped." Oh man! That means the world to me. It helps me not feel so down on myself after the discussion...you just never know how you did, you know????
• It takes a lot longer to prepare for a "lecture" than I ever anticipated! I'm so glad that I was well prepared though. Being at the front of a HUGE room with lots of people does funny things to you!
• Teaching is actually very fulfilling. And they aren't kidding when they say the teacher learns more than the student.

This nursing goal I'm pursing is taking me on paths I never would have traveled on my own! I had no idea what I was getting into when I wrote my "start of something good" post...OK, OK I knew it was going to be involved, but didn't realize the full extent of it, ya know? In order to get into the U of U (quickly), you have to have a lot of leadership and volunteer experience. And even then less that 50% of applicants actually get in. This TA position counts as one of my leadership experiences. I'll write later about my volunteer stuff, too. I'm actually really excited for some of the things I'm involved with.

We're coming down to the wire now! Applications become available in November of THIS year!

Brain malfunctions.

OK, so this is my 3rd post today (they're all quick I promise), I must be in the mood.


Working nights has made for quite the entertainment in our household. I usually don't feel too tired, but my actions sometimes say otherwise. For instance here are some things I have done recently:

• I left a note for myself to check on a "pre-equisting" condition with our insurance. The next day James saw the note and asked what "pre-equisting" meant.


• As I'm typing I often insert words like "quick" instead of "kick" or weird things like that.


• My grammar has gone out the window and has run far, far away! I used to be very good at grammar and spelling...not anymore! (you should have seen how many corrections I had to make to this post)


• Just today James called me on my cell and I answered happily "Hi Seriously!" It was if my brain went through the following thought process: we need a word that starts with S and it has to be one she says a lot... It then blurted out seriously instead of Sweetie.

I never know what day it is since I go into work one day and come out the next. I also can't recall words and stutter a lot then, too. So when I say "I'm retarded" I really am NOT joking!

So that's great..I'm even more air-headish than normal. Oh well! Hopefully it doesn't have lasting effects! I still will probably never work days. Why? I love the down times where there's nothing to do but read or talk to co-workers (I know that sounds incredibly lazy and irresponsible, but it's true!! I usually have all my work done beforehand, don't worry), I love the quiet and dimmly-lit atmosphere and I love the people who work nights. Basically, I just love my job. Here's to more entertainment!

Clean dishes.

So this is what I saw as I walked in the door this morning after work and couldn't help but giggle. Needless to say we got behind on our dishwashing with the start of school and adjusting to new schedules. The picture just doesn't do it justice - you wouldn't believe the balancing and arranging he had going on here (I have no idea how he got it to all stay without falling). As you recall, it probably looked similar to this before it became this:

He is such a great house-wife-husband. Although, he's got quite the high standard to follow being as his brother Rob makes brownies, homemade bread and who knows what else!

Retired.

Dr. Larry Smith

My dear Grandpa Smith retired this year as a Vice-Principal in the Davis County school district.

He served at these schools:

Woods Cross High School

South Davis Jr. High

Milcreek Jr. High

Mueler Park Jr. High

(and maybe more)

It makes me sad and happy at the same time. Happy because now he has time to do what he loves most: working in his HUGE garden and helping family members. Sad because he can never be replaced, he is just that valuable. He had such a way with kids, especially troubled kids (I'm starting to tear up right now). He could take a kid that was struggling -and therefore messing around- and would give them the love, guidance and benefit-of-doubt they needed to straighten up. He has the perfect mixture of wisdom, discipline and humor.

I was lucky enough to have him there at South Davis during my 7-9th grade years. I loved knowing he was just down the hall and I loved seeing him every day! I even got called to his office one time for being out in the hall when I was supposed to be in class...darn that Mr. Vick... Luckily my g'pa just laughed at me when I walked into his office. I was kinda scared!

His graduation with a PhD from University of Wyoming in 1966.

This is my grandma with my mom and uncle in 1966.


OK, so now I'm full out crying. I'm just so grateful to have him as a pillar in my life. He and my grandma have provided so much stability and love, I wouldn't be who I am without them.

One cool note...recently I was reading the letters he wrote home to his mom while he was on his mission in Germany. He was deciding wether or not to go into dentristy or education. Either way, he would have been marvelous. It was the coolest thing ever to read his words as a struggling young adult trying to figure his life out and then to know his entire legacy and now see him retiring in his chosen field of education. Wow.

Another class to check off the list.

So this is me and my lab partner Ashley, I know we are lookin' pretty hot, right? Why did I take a picture of us at lab? Well...it was a monumental occasion: the last day of Chemistry lab ever. Don't get me wrong, I love to learn. I just don't love the lab portion. OK, except for maybe the one in this picture - we're "making" soap.

Finishing this class was huge for me because it means I can now apply for the nursing program in January! I still have 2 more pre-req's to finish, but this was the last of the classes that have to be done before I turn in the application (you can do the other 2 while waiting to hear if you got accepted or not). Is it bad that I already most likely have ulcers worrying about getting into the program?

*Please let me get in the first time.*

Zesty.

Someone reminded me about orange zest today. She taught me how to do it (take the peel and grate it through a very fine grater for those of you - who like me - have forgotten) and I ended up trying it in some cranberry muffins tonight.

Why has no one told me about this other side of heaven sooner?

And not that this matters since the taste is most important, this is what I have found about some of the benefits of orange peel:

"A class of compounds found in citrus fruit peels called polymethoxylated flavones (PMFs) have the potential to lower cholesterol more effectively than some prescription drugs, and without side effects.."

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=37