A kind of Thanksgiving...

It is the day after Christmas and all through the house, our doggy is stirring and I’m eating a chocolate orange (you know, whack and unwrap)? I never made the time around Thanksgiving to do my "Things I am Thankful" List, so would anyone mind if I do it now? Thanks for the approval.
Right now I am grateful for socks and blankets because my dog ate my slippers and it is cold in my house today.
I am grateful for my dog Mahoney because he makes me laugh, despite the fact that he likes to eat my shoes. Not Charlie's, not Mark's, just mine. He is up to 4 pairs now...
I am grateful for my house because we have worked hard on making it pretty. I am grateful to live in STG because I can't drive in snow anymore and I don't have any excuse to not be the outdoorsy girl I once myself as anymore. (That was a poorly written sentence, sorry.)
I am grateful for work because I get restless and bored and ill-content if I have too much time to myself. I am grateful for my students who laugh at my dumb jokes, who ask me for books recommendations, who do crazy things like this for their projects, and who remind me why I chose to be a teacher in the first place. (The video is a band called With Fear We Fall made up of 5 of my sophomore students and someday they might be famous and I will have the Before They Were Stars video to blackmail them with...)

I am grateful for the freedom to work the way I want, to eat the way I want, to dress the way I want, to sing the way I want, to play the way I want, and to vote the way I want.
I am grateful for my parents who taught me to clean my house, to take walks, to check the oil in my car (or at least to pay someone to do it for me on a regular basis), to believe in myself and to vote for myself, to dance in the kitchen (or was that Louise Plummer?...), to keep it simple stupid, and to forgive.
I am grateful for brothers and sisters who show me how to be good parents, friends, neighbors, saints, and people. Will they never let me forget the "going to the bathroom to avoid doing the dishes" story so I remember that I really was a brat and they put up with me anyway.
I am grateful for my friends because they come visit me, give me good recipes (funny) and reading material, make me join silly sites like facebook that actually helps us keep in touch better, go the spa with me, give me treats, send me endless tags to write about, let me play with their kids, go on roadtrips with me, teach me to text on my cell phone, and put a smile on my face everyday.
I am grateful for good books, movies, tv shows, and music that inspire me and make me want to create something memorable one day.
I am grateful for scizzors. Really, can you imagine life without them?
I am grateful for hair dye because it allows to me change myself and try new things and to say "it's just hair, right? It will grow out".
I am grateful for my Primary kids, even though I have to bribe them to be reverent. They remind me why I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ-- It is simple and right and true.
What am I forgetting? Oh yeah... I am grateful for Charlie. For so many reasons, not least of which is because he cooks for me, fixs the computer when I break it, and generally makes my life better. What more can a girl ask for?

Reading Time...

It’s Christmas Eve Eve and Charlie and I just spent the day together, reading on the couch and occasionally talking and petting our dog. It was lovely.

I wonder if other couples have “reading time” like we do. There are established rules—like no asking annoying questions, no tickling, no TV or music (except for my Zune with earphones because I like reading to music..) Food is allowed and occasional bathroom breaks. Pretty much, it is quiet time, with us just lounging in bed or on the couch, our legs intertwining, until one or the both of us finish our book, falls asleep, or gets a huge surge of ADD. My favorite rule is the kissing rule. While we are reading, if one of the readers would like a kiss, all one has to say is “reading rule” and lean over. The other participant is obligated to then, stop wherever paragraph they are reading, and give the other person a kiss.

This doesn’t work so well with the puppy, but he is getting used to the reading rules too. He will sometimes jump on our laps and shove a toy in our faces like, “Um, hello, play with me!” But like I said, he is learning. He is finally content to sit on our laps, and have us absent-mindedly pet his fur while we are engrossed in the Sci-Fi (Jude Fisher's Sorcery Rising for Charlie) and YA (The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart for Jazzy) novels we are holding.

In case our nerdiness was not clearly established already, I think this little glimpse into our lives has sealed that up for us.

Just curious, what are some of the funny, little traditions (or whatever you want to call them) that you and significant others do when you spend the day together? And no, I don't want to know about that...

Mahoneykins...

Look how cute (and slightly evil) my puppy looks these days. Someone help me- I'm blogging about my dog again!

All About Lists...

I love lists. This one (tag) is from Leigh. Here ya go, girl.

What I was doing 10 years ago:
1. Going to BYU (Go cougars!!)
2. Working on the grounds crew at the football stadium
3. Living with Melena and making non-condusive forts
4. Running up the South Campus stairs 3 times a week
5. Driving to Logan and SLC alot

5 things on my to do list:
1. Update blog
2. Tie some hemp necklaces for Charlie's carvings
3. Write birthday cards for my dad, Holly, and Molly
4. Clean my car
5. Grade the 100 Personal Influence Essays I have had in my teaching bag for 2 weeks now.

5 favorite snacks:
1. My mom's cookies
2. Werther's Original carmels
3. Cheese
4. Carmel rice cakes
5. Orange flavored skittles, starbursts, fruit snacks, etc. Anything orange flavored pretty much

5 jobs I've had:
1. English Teacher
2. Camp Counselor
3. Quizno's sandwich maker
4. Grounds Crew at BYU
5. Research Assistant

5 things I would do with a million dollars:
1. Pay off all our debt
2. Buy a piece of land by Zion NP and build a sweet cabin/Bed and Breakfast on it
3. Take my entire family on vacation to Hawaii
4. Buy Charlie a Big Woody's Teardrop Camper (really, they are very cool- go look them up)
5. Create a collage scholarship fund for quirky high school kids like Charlie and I both were

5 things that made me laugh this week:
1. Mahoney being in fast bullet mode and running into the couch
2. A little girl at church making faces at her dad
3. A student explaining his A Dance for Three book project where he took his little brother around the mall and pretended to be a teen father. I can't remember what he said, but he had the whole class in stitches
4. Charlie trying to get fondant off his hands after kneeding it for 10 minutes
5. Kristin Chenowith on Ellen talking about how she can't order stuff on the phone because people think she is a little girl since her voice is so high.

Goin' a Splunkin'...

Last weekend, we finally adventured over to Snow Canyon (the actual park, not the school- I go there plenty...) Charlie wanted to show me the cave where he and his crazy high school friends would take girls on picnics. After the initial fear of "You want me to crawl through where?", it was actually pretty cool. These pictures don't do it justice and the self-portrait photos are never flattering, but enjoy all the same.

My Ace of Cakes...

So for Halloween this year, Charlie and I wanted to be all crafty and try our hand at making a cake. Let me tell you, it isnot as easy as it seems on T.V. I baked the cake part (which was pretty tasty if I do say so...) and Charlie made the fondant and carved the cake to look like a pumpkin. In the end, we created a slightly lumpy looking, shiny (thanks to a lot of crisco) pumpkin cake. We ended up taking it to Charlie's work party where people were afraid to cut into it. I think we might have shot a bit too high for our first cake, but it was an adventure anyway. Next year, maybe we'll just do a gravestone or something...

4 of 4 Tag...

My 4th picture in my 4th folder on my computer is this...

This is a baby gift I made for one of my multiple babyfied friends. But let's try another one. How about 8 of 8...

This is in St. Thomas on my pre-engaged Carribean cruise. The Baywatch picture. Nice.

I'm a Bella...

I can't believe I did this, but here you go. I blame Jo. I am a Bella. Minus the creepy red lips, please.


Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!

Take a Listen...

I am not usually a music pimp, (A movie and t.v. show pimp occasionally, and a literature pimp always...) but here I am sharing my latest obsession. His name is Joshua Radin. I saw him on Ellen 6-7 months ago and then downloaded some of his songs. They soon became some of my favorites. His new CD just came out last week, and it is excellent. How do describe it? Folksy rock? That sounds lame. Just listen, it's good.

A Shoe Tree...

I saw this on the way to Toquerville Falls and I made Charlie pull over and take a picture. I love it! Someday this will be in a book I write. Can't you just imagine the possibilities of why this exists?

Toquerville Falls...

Charlie and I are trying to get out and enjoy this beautiful place we live in, since being to close to nature was one of the reasons we moved here in the first place. So a few weeks ago we drove out to Toquerville Falls, an out-of-the-way little piece of heaven. And luckily, it has rained the day before so it was perfect. Here are some pics of our adventures.

Charlie Art...

Charlie has been busy being creative. his sister has commissioned him to make a handful of the coconut shell nativity scenes to sell at some Christmas festival in November. What do you think? Would people buy them?


He also made this cool light box for his office at work because he doesn't have any windows.


I scrapbook, he does this stuff. Somehow he wins the creativity contest.

While You Were Gone...

So, it's been a while. Let's see, since my last blog...
-- I celebrated my 3rd wedding anniversary. I think we cleaned out our garage that day. Yep, very exciting.

-- I turned 31 years old. We went to dinner and a show at Tuachan, Big River, and I finally got to see the stage get flooded like Charlie has talked about for years.

-- I started another school year, this time as a Snow Canyon Warrior. I have a nice big classroom, windows, and a fancy ceiling projector that I have yet to use because it scares me. Seriously, what if I break it?

-- I volunteered to be the volleyball scorekeeper. So once a week I stay at work until 7pm and watch SCHS (back-to-back state champs) whip everyone. They have this freshman, who happens to be the coach's daughter, who is the best server and setter I've seen. It is entertaining, and at the same time, makes me miss being that athletic. SORT OR RELATED SIDENOTE: One of my best sports moments was my last volleyball game as a senior at SHHS when I served 15 straight points to beat our rival Eaglecrest. Sigh, I don't think I could get the ball over the net these days.

-- I practiced my Paris Hilton pose with Jo when she came to visit me ans we drove through Zion NP.


-- Mahoney made a couple new friends. He absolutely fell in love with this hedgehog toy. He would not go anywhere without it. And he started hiding it, and then going back 3 minutes later to make sure we hadn't moved it. It was adorable until he ate the poor thing.

-- Mahoney also found a baby he was not afraid of. Usually he barks and then runs away at anyone who is small and potentially sticky, but Tally (my friend Holly's baby) was different. They bonded.


-- We grew a tomato tree in our backyard. Seriously, it is the biggest tomato plant I have ever seen! It took over the whole corner, the BBQ, the boxelder bush, and is moving in on the pepper plant. Charlie read somewhere that plants like calcium so he buried a vitamin pill in the dirt and look what happened. I don't like to eat tomatos anyway, but now I refuse to eat our homegrown variety because of our plant. I call him Seymour.

Doesn't it just scream FEED ME!?!?

20, 10, 5, 3, 1, and so on...

I was "tagged", whatever that means, by my friend Leigh to do this little timewarp exercise so here it goes.

20 Years Ago: I was 10 years old, almost 11. I think that was the summer my family went on our first major vacation to Disneyland so Addie and I could perform there with Kids In America. I wore a 3 foot tall Bernstean Bear head that I almost passed out in once. I was taller than everyone I knew my age, or Addie's age, Marty was leaving for his mission in Korea, and my favorite T.V. show was proabably Moonlighting, though I had no idea what it was really about.

10 Years Ago: It was 1998, I was a sort-of Junior at BYU, finally an English major, and working my first summer as a Camp Counselor at Trefoil Ranch. It was one of the best summers of my life where I got paid to sing silly songs, eat all the Thin Mints I could handle, and make some life-long friends. And I learned to ride a horse that summer. At age 20, I had never touched a horse, let alone ridden one before.

5 Years Ago: Let's see, 2003. That puts me in Panama City Beach, FL as a missionary. It is one of the prettiest places on Earth, populated with the some of the best people on Earth. This is where I really became a missionary and learned how a small church branch can band together to change peoples' lives.

3 Years Ago: It was 2005, I had just been a Maid of Honor for the first time (and probably never again--I wasn't very good at it with all those traditional things...) for Holly's wedding, and I was 2 weeks away from marrying Charlie. We had just purchased our first piece of furniture together with a $25 dollar orange couch from D.I. It has finally been retired to my school classroom.

1 Year Ago: Charlie had just quit his job and we spent the month of July 2007, packing our little apartment to move to St. George. We also ate a lot of Noodles and Co. and Apple Spice Junction-- the two restuarants we knew we would miss terribly.

So Far This Year: I have finished teaching at Dixie High School, (I'm off to Snow Canyon in the fall) read 20 different novels, and finally scrapbooked pictures from 2002. I'm now starting the mission pictures which will take forever, I'm sure.

Yesterday: I played with my puppy, went to lunch with Charlie, scrapbooked 4-5 pages while watching Season One of Felicity, and had dinner at Charlie's sister's house. It was a good Saturday.

Today: I went to church, tried my best to teach 3 amped-up six-year-olds about Choosing the Right, did laundry, and played on the computer a little. This Blogging stuff IS addicting!

Tomorrow: I plan to go to the gym, run errands, play with my dog, maye get my hair done, and wait for it, scrapbook.

In the Next Year: I have no idea but I hope it involves finishing the upgrades on our condo, traveling to a city I've never been to (Chicago, New York, Minniapolis maybe?), and taking pictures of cute baby feet. Hopefully my own baby. And no, this is not an announcement of any kind, just a wish blown out into cyperspace.

So now I TAG: Jo, Holly, and Shawnee-- YOU'RE IT!

My 7th Grade Soundtrack...

Two weeks ago Charlie and I got to go see Les Miserables at Tuacahn (think Red Rocks, for all you Coloradoans, except the audience faces the huge red rocks, not downtown). There are only something like 6 theaters in the country licensed to put on Les Mis I guess, because it's that cool. Seriously, it was a wonderful show. The man who played Jean Val Jean was incredible! This cultural experience, besides making me wish I hadn't quit choir, made me think back to my first time seeing it. It was a Kids in America fieldtrip where Addie hit a poor old lady in the head with her program during the baracade scene. And then I got the soundtrack and became the freak 7th grader who used to tease my hair while blasting "On My Own" every morning. It wasn't normal, seeing as it was 1990 and between pop stars, but the rallying anthems of "Can You Hear the People Sing" helped me navigate the rough waters of Laredo Middle School. So because of that it will always be part of my life soundtrack.

I Like To Read...

So my sister said my blog is missing something-- a suggested reading list. Apparently she likes the books I babble about when we get together so I thought I would add a list. Feel free to comment or suggest some books yourself. And just as a warning, I must remind you about 2 things that will explain my random taste in literature. #1- I teach high school so a lot of what I read is what I like to call "research" for my job. And #2- I'm married to a Sci-Fi freak so in order to have intelligent conversations with him that proves we are both English nerds, I read some sci-fi too. So here you go, Cher. Enjoy. (I'll add more later this summer, ok?)

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
A Holocaust story about a young German girl but with a unique narrator, Death.

The Year of Secret Assignments by Jaclyn Moriarty
3 high school friends in Australia take on secret assignments as they write pen pal letters with some boys from a rival school. A very fast read but fun characters.

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
I was hoping this book would not say that I had to travel all over the world (Italy, India, Indonisia) to find inner peace because, really, who can really afford that? I was pleasantly suprised. I loved the metaphors used and it was incredibly well-written.

Looking For Alaska by John Green
Sometimes I have a difficult time reading YA Lit with a male narrator because the focus usually is on sex, drinking, and more sex. But this one I enjoyed. It still has those things in it, but in a different way. It also has an interesting theme of studying Last Words.

The Host by Stephenie Meyer
Same incredible story-telling from the Twiligh series, but a step-up in the writing department. I loved it, and so did Charlie, which is a hard sell.

The Change Series by S. M. Stirling, it starts with the book Dies the Fire
There are currently 4 books in the series about what the world would be like if all of a sudden there is no electricity, no gun power, etc, so the world is thrown back about 200 years. An interesting look at humanity. These aren't really Sci-Fi books but leans more towards that then anything else.

Beautiful, Gorgeous, Wish You Were Here

My parents and sister came down to St. George at the beginning of June for a few days (this was before it became a sauna down here...) so we got to play tour guide. We spent two days wandering around Zion National Park so I thought I would share some pictures. Think of this as an advertisement to come and visit. Beautiful views, cheap hotel rooms, great company-- what else could you ask for? Come on down and visit for a spell.

Danger Will Robinson

There were a bunch of giant orange cones scattered all over Seattle. How could I not take a picture with one?

More Seattle Pictures

Ok, So here are more photos from our trip to Seattle. There is Charlie and I, Charlie and Ryan, the groom, A random metal umbrella, Snoqualmie Falls, and the Seatte skyline.

The 10 Things Troll

This picture was taken in Seattle at the end of May. We went for a wedding and spent a day wandering around town. I made Charlie drive around for almost an hour looking for the Troll, just so I could post it and say hi to Jo, Kate, and Nancy from "Planet Loser, as opposed to Planet Look at Me, Look at Me".

Blog about my Dog

I'm not really an animal person. I blame my parents because one of their favorite sayings is "We had children, not pets." But I have a dog named Mahoney. I hate when people refer to me as his "mother" because I didn't give birth to him, I simply wrote a check to a random lady and took him home. But despite not having a clue what to do with a puppy in my house, I love him. He is just the cutest thing ever. (Here are some photos to proof his adorableness.) Plus, he is not normal. Then again, I have never had a pet so what do I know. But these are my favorite weird, quirky things Mahoney does that make me smile. -- First of all, he looks like an Ewok and that just makes me laugh. -- He loves to pull turnip leaves off the plants in the backyeard and drag them inside. Then he will eat only half of the leaf and then try to go get another one. -- He thinks the big brown blanket on the couch is a big pile of dirt for him to dig in. -- He falls of the ottoman all the time, usually when he is chasing his soccer ball around the house. When he was super little, he was always get stuck under it and freak out.-- He loves to chew on ice, just like my mother. -- He loves tissues. If there is a scrap of kleenex or toilet paper anywhere within his reach, he will find it, run away and hide, and eat it. It's disgusting but funny. -- He knows that the door bell is going to ring in the insanely obnoxious All-Tell cell phone commercial because he starts barking like crazy as soon as the commercial starts. -- He always, always pees on Charlie's sister Michelle when she comes over. -- He will only lick Charlie's nostrils. Not that I am complaining, I just think it is strange. Maybe Charlie just has the best tasting boogers, who knows. -- He alsolutely loves to drink out of our glasses. (See the video and please do not call the Humane Society on us!)

We heart HGTV...

So here are some pictures of what we have done with our condo since we bought it. One of Charlie's favorite things to do right now is to play on Rate My Space on HGTV, where people can see different projects and give advice. What can I say, Charlie likes to give design tips to random people. Anyway, if you want to see more photos, go there (HGTV, Rate My Space) and type in Tadlan.

Into the Blog-O-Sphere...

I'm not very good with technology. I'm the type that will use the same thing-- computer, stereo system, DVD Player--until it keels over from exhaustion and just stops working. It's not that I don't enjoy my technology, I'm just not very good with updating it. I am the girl, afterall, who had audio tapes, and still listened to them, until just a couple of years ago. And I have no idea how to fix it when the technology stops doing it's job, whatever it is. Then I met Charlie. If there were such a thing as super-human powers, Charlie's would be technology, like the villian girl on Sky High or the slightly-creepy kid on Heroes. He has that gift. He can just walk by a broken piece of equipment and suddenly, it starts back up. It's wierd but true. The point to all this is to explain my resistance to the wide world of BLOGGING. It took me 3 weeks just to get this page set up and working like I wanted it to. I blame it on my lack of techno-knowledge, but really it is my fear of the cosmic void. Who is going to read this? Who is going to care what I have to say? I guess if you are actually reading these words, and not just scrolling down to look at my pictures, than you do. But this is your warning. I have no idea what might spew out of my head. It might be something bizarre, or strange, or annoying, or stupid, because I have no idea what I might use this for. Is it for rantings, picture sharing, daily moments of clearity--once again, I have no idea. And i actually think I'm ok with that. So let the adventure begin. Right, so here we go.

Is this thing on?

Testing, 1, 2, 3... This is me blogging. Welcome to my world.