My New Goal

(photos courtesy weheartit.com)

   

Sugar is my downfall.  I know that I eat waaaaaay to much of it.  When I eat sugar, it usually gives me a headache, and that has limited the amount I eat, but I know I still eat waaaaaaay too much.  The average person eats 150lbs of sugar a year.  Some sites show that only 100 years ago, people only ate about 5lbs of sugar a year.  No wonder there is an increase in diabetes and obesity.  The amount of sugar we eat has increased by 145lbs! 

So this is my goal:  I am going to cut back the amount of sugar in my diet.  Now, I know that seems crazy and extreme, because let's be real here, sugar is delicious.  But I know this is something I need to do, and I want to do.  A lot of times when I eat sugar it is because I'm stressed, or it's there, or it's mindless eating.

So here is my plan.  On May 1st I am going to cut sugar out of my diet.  I will allow myself 1 "mess up" a week, because honestly if a cute boy asks me to get ice cream, I'm going to get ice cream.  I am going to try and be more aware of what I am putting into my body.

I'm a little nervous about really being able to do this, but I've tried it before.  I had gone a whole month without any sugar, and it was amazing how I didn't crave it anymore.  So I know it's possible.  And this headache I have right now from eating a Reese's Peanut Butter Egg is motivation enough to cut it out.  I will be like the soup nazi from Seinfeld except I'll say "No sugar for you!"  I'll use the same accent and only say it to myself.  Ok, so it's not the same.  

For those of you who don't know who the soup nazi is, here ya go:

Fill in the Blank

It's Fill in the Blank Friday!  You know what that means?  It's almost the weekend!  I, for one, am very excited.  Even though this weekend brings nothing but homework, I get to sleep in, watch movies, and stay in my pajamas all weekend if I want to.  I just might do that . . .

1.   My favorite daily responsibility is,  showering.  Yes I consider this a responsibility.  I love a hot shower.  I usually take my time in the shower too.  I hate the after part when I have to blow dry my hair and put on my face.  But the shower . . . that's the best.

2.  My least favorite daily responsibility is, while in school it's homework.  I actually hate feeling like I have to do something.  If I have to clean my room, I dread it.  If I have to clean the kitchen I hate it.  But if I just do it, it's not so bad.  I'm still working on the just doing it part.

3.  My favorite cuisine to eat when going out is usually Italian, but it does depend on my mood.  Italian is my favorite food group.  I may be biased because I LOVE Italy, but you have to admit, it's pretty good.

4.  My favorite cuisine to prepare at home is anything that's fast and easy.  I am a lazy cook, and rarely cook a meal.  I would rather have someone else cook.

5.  Andy Warhol said that everyone is famous for 15 minutes. My claim to fame is when I was in 6th grade a reporter from a newspaper came because our class was doing a huge project on China.  He interviewed me and used my quote in the newspaper.  And as if that's not cool enough, he came later that year when my class went to space camp and used my quote again!  So I was pretty much a famous 6th grader!

  
6.  If I could have 3 wishes I would wish that I would never have to worry about money, that I would make it to the Celestial kingdom, and that I could read people's minds.  But I'd have an on/off switch, so I wouldn't read them all the time.

7.  My biggest pet peeve is slow drivers.  I'm sure there are more but that's all I can think of right now 

 Happy Friday!

Confession: Sometimes I Read Books Way Below My Grade Level.

I blame this on the fact that I am going into elementary education.  That's my excuse.  But really, who cares!  There is some great children's literature out there, and just because I'm no longer in elementary school doesn't mean I can't read it.  I took a children's literature class last semester where all we did was read and discuss children's books.  It was the best homework I ever had.

1. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle.  I read this book when I was in 6th grade with my class and remember loving it.  Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which turn up and help Meg and her friends rescue her dad in Camazotz.

2. Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli is about a boy who becomes a local legend.  It's a great story and it also touches on topics of racism and homelessness as Maniac is an orphan. 

3.  The Giver by Lois Lowry.  I love this book!  It's kind of hard to explain without reading, but it is set in a future town where the community has converted to sameness.  This eliminates emotion and problems of difference.  Jonas receives his calling as The Receiver and his eyes are opened to what emotion and feeling can do.

4. The Wish Giver by Bill Brittain.  My third grade teacher, Mr. Blood (yes his name was really Mr. Blood.  If that doesn't scare a 3rd grader into obedience I don't know what does) read this book to us and I have read it many times since.  It's about a mysterious man who comes to a small town and grants wishes.  The young people learn they have to be careful what they wish for.



5.  The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein has got to be one of my favorite picture books.  It's about a tree who loves a little boy and gives everything she has to make him happy.  It's a very sweet story of love and giving.

6.  The Junie B. Jones Series by Barbara Park.  These books are hilarious!  It's about a little girl named Junie and her dramas in kindergarten.  I was reading this to my little sister and laughing out loud because the things she says and thinks are so funny.

My goal this summer is to start these series:

7.  Percy Jackson and the Olympians.  Greek gods in children's literature?  I think so!  They made this into a movie, but I haven't had a chance to see it yet.  I'm really excited to read these books.

8.  A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket.  These poor children have everything that can possibly go wrong, go wrong.  They made this into a movie that was excellent and I'm dying to read these books!



If you're looking for something quick and easy to read, I would recommend any of these.  Happy reading :)

Sitting around the fire making delicious hot schmoes

Name that movie!  If you guess Toy Story 2 you would be correct.  This weekend was mostly uneventful and boring.  Just a weekend filled with homework, homework, homework, and did I mention homework?  These next two weeks are going to be insanely busy, but when they're done, school's out!!!And Briar is home :) Ya yeah! AND I'm moving out! YA YEAH!  I am pretty excited.  Have a told you about the place I'm going to be living?  It's amazing.  The rent is super cheap for the summer (the only downfall is it's a shared room for the summer, but I'll survive).  They have a indoor/outdoor pool and hot tub, tanning beds, pedicures, manicures, and haircuts.  And all of that is FREE.  Yes, F - R - E - E.  So yeah, pretty excited.

This weekend my family roasted hot dogs and s'mores in our backyard.  It was fun.  And delicious.

 

 Yes, I know it's blurry, but I still thought it looked kinda cool despite of it's blurriness.

 

I just think she has cute feet.  We call these her spray on shoes, because they look like the spray on shoes in "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs." (Can you tell I am the oldest of 8 siblings who watches lots of Disney movies?)

 

We let her make her own hot dog.  Apparently she likes relish.

Fill in the Blank FRIDAY

Today was my last day in field :(  They put you in there long enough to get attatched and then you're done.  It was great though.  They all wrote notes, and one of the girls (my favorite) wrote me a poem.  It was so cute!  I am very glad it's Friday though! This week wiped me out and I am looking forward to sleeping in.

From Lauren at The Little Things We Do

1. Something that makes me a great friend is: I am a good listener.  I would rather be listening than talking.


2. I am: an office fanatic.  If you've read my blog previously you probably already know this, but it is my favorite. I tie The Office into daily life if I can.  And in my field experience reviews I am using Office characters as students names.




3. I am not: a fan of peas.  In fact I hate them.  With a passion.  If I were to go on Fear Factor and they made me eat peas as the gross thing they make people eat, I would probably lose. Ughh.


4. If I had to describe myself in 3 words, they would be: quiet, creative, undecisive.


5. Something I'm really cheap about is: well, to an extent, everything.  I have a problem with spending a lot of money on something. Whether it's clothes or shoes or food.  But what I end up doing is buying lots of little things I don't need that are inexpensive, when I really could just save my money and buy the big thing I want. 


6. Something I'm willing to splurge on is: if it's something I really, really want I'll buy it no matter the cost.  I know this slightly contradicts the last question, but if I really love something I'll buy it. 


7. I would trade a day in my life for a day in someone else's.  I'm not sure who yet, but wouldn't it be cool to spend a day as someone else.  I think I'd want to be a boy, because I honestly have no idea what they are thinking most of the time.  It'd be interesting to spend a day as someone else.  I'm always interested in what people are thinking and what's going on inside someone's head.

Update on Life.

Holy cow life has been busy! Crazy busy but crazy good.

I am almost done with my field experience, and I am SO SAD about it! I love the kids in the class already, and it's so fun being in there.  I'm really sad that tomorrow is the end of the three weeks.  On Monday I gave a freakin kick butt lesson! I don't mean to brag, but seriously, it was pretty good. And the kids loved it! They were responsive and really into what they were learning.  I did a power point tour of Utah.  Each student had a passport (yes, I know they didn't really need one but oh well) and they could choose which destination they went to, and fill out their passport for each destination.  They loved it! Just soaked it all in, which as a teacher, I loved.  Tomorrow is our last day in the classroom, so we're bringing root beer floats for the students.  We are pretty much the best student teachers ever.  I'm in the process of writing my summaries and I'm using Office characters for the names of the students.  The teacher's name is Mrs. Scott.  So far, as students, I have Phyllis and Kevin.  I hope whoever grades it catches on because that would be great.

I got a new job.  It's boring and easy.  But it pays the bills.  The hours work very well with school too, so that's really nice.  It's a call center (which I hate and swore I would never ever ever ever work at again, but I needed a job and it's what I could find).  It's outbound, and most of the time I just get an answering machine, but it's easy.

I got a bunch of new music, and I'm pretty much in love with it.  My music-loving friend sent me a play list and it's pretty much amazing.  It has The Strokes, Jet, Brandon Flowers, and many more.  

And the cherry on top of it all . . . I am moving out this month! Ya yeah! Can't wait.  AND my rent is only $130 a month including utilities.  Boo ya!  I am very excited about that.

Life has just been good.  I've noticed when I'm busy, I'm happier.  Not crazy busy, but it's good to keep myself moving.  I'm just soaking it in and enjoying it while I can.

Ashley posted this picture on my Facebook wall.

 

Isn't that great?  I'm not positive, but is that Yoko Ono on the bottom row between them?  If it is, that's kinda funny. 

Renewed.

So I think I've figured out why it snows pretty much every conference weekend.  It's so we don't want to go outside, so we stay inside and watch conference.  Genius idea.

Yesterday this was the sky:

 

Blue. Clear.  I drove with the windows rolled down. 

 

The clouds looked like cotton balls in the sky. It was great.

I woke up this morning and this is what I saw:

 

Snow. Coldness.

But conference was SO GOOD!  It was exactly what I needed to hear.  It's always such a great boost and motivation, and this one was especially.

Surprise!

So earlier this week my friend Ashley told me she had a surprise for me, but that I couldn't get it until Friday (it had to come in the mail, pshhhh).  She's pretty good at surprises, and usually if she says she has a surprise, it's a good one.  So last night, actually early this morning, I head over to her house after work.  I'm headed down the stairs to put my stuff down there when I see someone out of the corner of my eye.

It was Kiley! And her adorable little boy, Jaden!

I was pretty excited.  Definitely a good surprise.  I was thinking it was going to be an April Fool's joke :)  Lot's of talking and laughing and walks down memory lane.  Good times.  Great times.  By all means.

So, I've recently (ok, not so recently) become obsessed with this band.  It's called Nuttin But Stringz and they are so amazing.  They play the violin (and I am a sucker for string instruments) but they have a new, edgy twist, so it's not your everyday string music. 

I hope this video works, but if not, I got ya covered, so you can click HERE.
Oh, and if you absolutely loved that, you can click HERE.  I love running to these songs.  Ah, so great!

This May Just Be My New Favorite

Have you tried the new Snickers Peanut Butter? They are pretty much amazing.  I don't know if it's the chocolatey goodness, or the mixture of caramel and peanut butter, but it's dang delicious.  So everyone should go try one today.  That's all. :)

 

The one where I was sick

My body has turned against me.  It was doing really good about not getting sick this whole semester, and then it said, "Oh you have field experience these next few weeks? Pshhh.  How about a cold, Sam?"  I didn't think it was very nice.  Now all I want to do is lay in bed and watch movies or sleep.  And a nice bowl of chicken noodle soup would be amazing right now.  I've been drinking EmergenC like crazy.  I'm hoping that helps this go away soon (fingers crossed).

Wanna hear the most inspired quote by a kindergartner?

Pretty great, huh?

Festival of Colors

Ok, funnest thing of my life!  There is an Indian Temple in Spanish Fork and they have a festival of colors.  So much fun! I had never been before, but you pretty much just throw chalk at people.  How great is that?

I wore my elephant earrings, which I thought were kinda fitting because when I think of India I inevitably think of elephants.

 

The Crowd.

 

They would do throwings every couple of hours, and at those times everyone countdown and then throw their chalk in the air.  This is before the throwing:

And this is after the throwing:

Amberly, covered in chalk.

 

The Temple. 

Just after a throwing.  There was so much chalk in the air, it was like being in a cloud.  I'm pretty sure I'm gonna be coughing up chalk for some time.  When I showered later that day, it was the most colorful shower, and my boogers were purple :)  Gross I know, but they were.

 

Most of family came, which was really fun. All but Briar.  I wish she could have been there too.

My madre and padre. Aren't they cute?

 

 

 

 

 

All in all, it was a pretty fun day.

That one time my bank account was in the hole $75,000.00

I was looking through the pictures on my phone today and came across one that I just had to share.

So awhile ago, like 3 years ago to be exact, I was on vacation in California with my mom, sisters, and my extended family.  We had gone to Cayucus and stayed in a beach house and it was amazing! But that really isn't part of the story.  So on our trip we were using my debit card for gas and food and all that, and my dad had put money in my account so we could get back. We are on our way back to Utah and we decide we are thirsty, so my mom pulls into a gas station.  I'm up at the counter paying for our drinks and lady working there tells me my card is being declined.  I thought maybe I had entered the wrong pin and have her run it as credit, and she tells me the same thing.  I thought this was weird because I KNEW there was money in there, so I went to the ATM to check my balance.  The little receipt pops out and it says -$74,304.32.  "WHAAAATTT??!?!"  I'm pretty sure that was my exact thought.  I was so confused because how can that even be possible.  I couldn't remember having bought a really nice car or small house on this vacation, so none of this made sense.  So we call my dad and to see if he had decided to purchase a small house or really nice car while we were gone, but he said he had gone to the bank and deposited the money and had the receipt with the balance.

At this point I was kinda freaking out.  My bank account WAS NEGATIVE $75,000.00 IN THE HOLE! And we were in the middle of nowhere in California with no money.  We needed to talk to the bank.  But guess what day it was?  Saturday.  Are banks open on Saturday?  Not usually.  We called a branch that that luckily had limited Saturday hours and tried to figure out what was going on.  Apparently this is what had happened.  My dad had went to the bank and made his desposit.  Another lady had come up after him to withdraw $75,000.00 from her account, and the teller hadn't closed my account so it had come out of mine.  How that much money was able to go through I have no idea, but it did.

Because it was Saturday, the main offices were closed so there was nothing they could do until Monday.  They couldn't even just reverse it, because they aren't allowed to put $75,000.00 in an account without authorization. Hmmm.  So we had to wait until Monday to get everything figured out.  It was quite an adventure, that's for sure.

Fill in the Blank March 25, 2011

I missed last Friday's fill in the blank and I was kinda sad, because I really like these question things.  Funny story today though.  So I'm doing my field experience right now and I'm in a classroom of 4th graders, and one of the students came up to me today and told me that she had seen a dying rat on the side of the road.  I said that was gross, and she said "yeah it was in misery so the only thing I could do was kill it humanely."  It was kinda funny hearing that come out of a 4th grader, especially her because she's this tiny little girl.  I really don't know what to think of all that, ha.  Anyways, HAPPY FRIDAY PEOPLE!

1.   My most prized possession is    you know, I really can't think of one.  I've been wracking my brain trying to think of something.  I am a pack rat, so I have lots of things that I love and cherish, but I can't think of just one.  I even did the scenario of the fire in your house and you have to grab one thing, but still nothing.  If we're doing non-material though, it's my family.  Hands down.

2.  If I could be one age for the rest of my life, I would want to be    in my twenties.  I'm at the age where I can really decide and do whatever I want.  It's a lot of pressure, but it's also great.  The future holds in store so much and I'm excited to see what there is to come.

3.  The best way to spend a weekend is    not doing things you have to do during the week.  Weekends are a no homework zone.  They are my chance to relax and do whatever I want.

4.  My outlook on life is    that you have to live in the present.  You can't do anything about what happened yesterday, and the future isn't here yet.  Yes, you can plan, but don't forget to live right now.  Experience life.  Experience each moment as perfect.

5.  If you want to annoy me, just    cut me off in traffic and then slow down.  Seriously, I think I have some serious road rage problems (not really, but maybe a little).  Nothing annoys me more then someone pulling in front of me and then deciding to slow down.  Gah!!  My old roommate once said, "I honk because people need to be aware of their mistakes." :)

6.  I am completely defenseless when it comes to    well, Lauren had put a food, so now all I can think of is food, but mine is fries.  Seriously I can scarf those things down.  Which is bad because they aren't the most healthy food in the word.  

7.  When dressing for the day one should     remember to put on their smile and wear what you want.  Fashion is always changing, and you can't keep up, so if you think it's cute, work it sista! (wow, I just said sista.  I think I need more sleep ha.) 

Tagged.

My friends Amy and Ashley tagged me.  I'm not really sure what it is, but I like the questions so I'm gonna play along :)

1. What is your dream job?  A photographer for National Geographic.  That would be the BEST JOB EVER!  You get to travel the world, see different places, learn about different cultures, experience different things, and take pictures of everything you see.  Can life get better than that?  I don't think so.

2. What is your favorite drink?  I'm a water girl.  When I go out to restaurants or to eat I always drink water.  If it's not water it's milk.  BUT if I do drink soda, my favorite is root beer.

3. What is your most important beauty secret?  Happy girls are pretty girls.  And if you take care of your body, it'll take care of you.  I'm not the best at it, but I'm trying.

4. If you had an all-expense paid vacation to go anywhere, where would you go? Well, this would be a really, really long vacation because I would go everywhere.  I would first off, get an R.V. and drive through all the states, and while I'm at it, since it's paid for, I'd drive through Canada and Mexico.  Then I would fly to Europe, do all the European stuff and definitely go to Italy. Then I'd go to Africa.  After that I'd hit up Australia.  So, yeah it'd be a really busy vacation.

5. If a genie popped up right now, what would your three wishes be?

1. That I would be financially set for life and never have to worry about money.

2. I'd have a happy family.

3. I'd save this one :) 

6. If you could only have one type of food for the rest of your life, what would it be?  This is really hard.  But probably Italian food.

7. What one talent do you wish you had? Oooo, I wish I could sing.  Or dance.  I have no coordination at all so when I dance it can be scary.  Have you seen Elaine (from Seinfeld) dance?  Yeah, that's pretty close to me. If you want to know what that looks like click here.

8. Who is your biggest celebrity crush?

The free credit report. com guy! Haha.  Don't make fun. But seriously, he is a cutie.  And good credit is golden!

Can you resist those brown eyes? I don't think so.

9. If you could look into the future, would you? You know, this is a toughy, but given the chance I think I would.  I wouldn't want to know details or anything like that, but I would want to know generals, like if I get married, when, what I would be doing 10 years from now.  Just basic stuff.

10. What made you start a blog?  Actually, it was persistent bugging from Ashley :) Ok, she wasn't bugging me, but I always said I would start a blog when I got married, but I was bored at work one day and so I decided to start one, and it wasn't until recently that I started doing it regularly.  But it's a great place for me to record what I do and put pictures I take on.  I'm not very good at keeping a journal, so this is a way for me to record my life.

I Tag:
Jules @ Chocolate and Babies 
Bonnie @ The Whim Wham Life
Andrea @ Pics-O-Andrea

yada yada yada

Is it really only Tuesday?  Doesn't it feel like this week should be over already? I think it does.  Last week was spring break and it went by really fast so I think time is making up for it by going super slow this week.  Or maybe it feels really long because I have a ton to get done.  Lesson plans, digital videos, field assignments.  But instead of doing any of that I'm blogging and looking at quotes by C.S. Lewis.  Clearly this is more important because look at this great quote I found.

It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad.

C. S. Lewis

Also, I'm in love with these pictures Ashley took of me.  So I'm just going to post some more.