2 September 2007, Sunday

If it weren't for several of the fans, it would've been the perfect game. Especially since BYU won. One of the idiots sitting near me thought it was the longest game ever, just because it was 3.5 hours long. Makes me wonder how long he's been going to BYU games before, because I've been to games that lasted much longer. I took some pictures at the game. They retired the number 14 during half time for two players, Nielsen and Detmer.

I've put up the pictures I took at the family reunion in June. There are a lot of them. Most of them were taken as candid shots where I just sat back and made good use of the zoom on my camera. So most of the shots, the person in it doesn't know I took it. I like them though. They are some fun random snap shots of a real fun weekend. Family Reunion Photos.

7 September 2007, Friday

Happy 70907!

8 September 2007, Saturday

It's fall again. The leaves are changing colors up on the mountains. The air has gotten a bit colder. I managed to get substitutes for next week, so I'll be camping with the fifth graders again. I'm excited, but I definitely need to remember to pack my coat and some warm clothes. It snowed on us back in May. It probably won't snow this time, but the night temperatures are going to be quite low up in the mountains. The leaves will probably be gorgeous though.

School is back going too. I've already had one computer completely break on me. Which makes it difficult when the class size for one grade level means I have a student sitting at every computer, including my own. And who knows when the tech department will get around to fixing it. The fundraiser is underway for my lab as well. It's really hard to run a computer lab on $150 a year, so I have to do something. This one isn't that bad though. I just wish people who don't want to participate would just send the thing back rather than writing rude notes explaining why they don't want to participate.

16 September 2007, Sunday

Feliz Dieciséis de Septeiembre!

Clear Creek was a lot of fun this week. Especially since the weather was so much better this time than it was last time. In May, with the last group, it snowed and we were all so cold. It got quite cool at night, but it was beautiful. The aspen were just starting to change colors. I'm very glad that I was able to go up with them.

17 September 2007, Monday

I love black-eyed susans. They are such bright flowers. I love how they just grow wherever too. I took pictures of some last week.

23 September 2007, Sunday

Today is the first day of Autumn. And it certainly feels like it. It looks like it too. Yesterday's rain really cooled everything off and the clouds were still there today. The trees in the mountains are all different colors. They haven't started changing down in the valley yet. And I wore a brand new (made it last night) brown plaid ankle-length skirt to church today with my brown boots. I need to get up in the mountains and take some pictures of the trees. These are two of my favorites from last year.

29 September 2007, Saturday

Giving teachers discounts at a bookstore is dangerous stuff. But, I saved $20 on the books I bought. So that discount was greatly appreciated.

30 September 2007, Sunday

6 October 2007, Saturday

Hoje faz oito anos que eu entrei na CTM para começar a minha missão. Não parece que tanto tempo passou.

I now have three completed quilt tops sitting in my chair with their backs ready to be basted and quilted. I've even made all the binding tape for them too. I feel so productive. I have the pieces for a fourth laid out on my floor and I'm trying to decide if I want to rearrange them any before I start sewing them.

I've also really enjoyed General Conference. It's nice when you can be uplifted while eating doughnuts in your pajamas. And many of the talks have been very uplifting. Elder Holland's really made me smile. He was so direct and I loved it.

8 October 2007, Monday

Seems like Columbus Day was a bigger deal when I was in elementary school. I don't think anyone really did anything about it today. One of the kindergarten teachers told me she was going to talk about it this morning, but our assembly went a bit longer than normal so I don't know if she ended up having any time to do it. It helps things go smoother at an assembly if you figure out what you are doing before someone hands you a microphone.

General Conference was great. I was sad that it had to end. I loved so many of the talks. I think one of my favorite moments will be Elder Nelson lovingly coming up to help hold Elder Wirthlin steady while he gave a talk about loving others. I didn't quite get the May Ensign finished before Conference started. I had a few more talks to go. But they are all finished now. I swear that one of the talks changed every time I heard it or read it. When I heard it back in April I thought it was about one thing. When I read it in the Ensign I thought it was about something else. And when I listened to it on the DVD it was about something completely different. It's interesting how different things stand out to you depending on where you are in your life.

12 October 2007, Friday

Yesterday and today were Fall Break at school, so that meant I could've had two days to sleep in as long as I wanted, spend the day in my pajamas, sew, and eat ice cream. Instead I told the fabric store they could schedule me if they wanted to. And they did. I worked 6.5 hours both days. And it was worth it. I earned 20 yards of interfacing, 11.25 yards of fleece, 3.25 yards of flannel, and 2 patterns. I now have everything I need for Christmas this year as well as for presents at other times. And because this is the annual big fleece weekend sale, I got all of it at some amazing discounts, it normally would've taken me four or five days of work to earn all that.

It probably seems a bit overboard, but I've actually been real good at not buying fabric this year and I've probably actually made some money working there. To make up for that, I've been very enthusiastic about suggesting some of our cuter fabrics and several people have left the store with more than they came in for. But I figure if they buy all the cute stuff, it will be gone by the time I get around to buying it, and it will save me money. Don't try to understand my logic on that one, I'm not even sure I do.

Now I just need a few days off of work to sit around in my pajamas, sew, and eat ice cream.

14 October 2007, Sunday

I know my birthday is still nine months away, but it's going to be a big one, the big 3-0, so I want to make sure it's a good one. I've worked out a few of the basics already. On the 23rd I'll go to the temple in the morning. On the 24th I'm going to run the Deseret News Marathon. And on the 26th I want to meet my friends at a day spa for a whole day of pampering. I'll fill in details such as cake and ice cream and eating at Tucanos and fireworks later. I invited my dad to run the marathon with me since he ran my first, and so far only, marathon with me in 1997, also the Deseret News Marathon. Today he issued a counter challenge. If I will train for and run the Deseret News Marathon in under 3:40, qualifying me for the Boston Marathon, he'll pay my way to Boston in 2009.

By the training schedule I found online, I need to be up to 20-30 miles a week by March. I'm at 12-15 right now, so I've got a good start. And I'm super excited. I love running with my dad. And since he needs to run the Deseret News in 3:45 to qualify for Boston, we'll have to run the Deseret News together.

It's going to be a good birthday next year. And that is a great goal to keep me going for the next nine months, and then for nine more months after that till Boston. I wonder how many miles I'm going to run between now and then.

Twenty-nine is working out to be an interesting year already.

20 October 2007, Saturday

Today marks 4 years of MissGiggles.com. Four years of me putting random thoughts and pictures on the internet. In that four years (or at least since I started counting), I've had 14,882 visitors to this site from 67 different countries. It's pretty amazing when you stop to think about it. If you want to, you can sign the "birthday card" that is my blog post today.

Yesterday on my run it was sunny and I was sweating and it was quite warm. This afternoon at the football game it's supposed to be cold and windy and snow and cold. Funny how the weather changes like that. I'm glad I figured out how to change my windshield wipers this week then. With the old ones it was easier to see out if I didn't use them than if I did.

23 October 2007, Tuesday

Happy Mole Day! In honor of Avagadro and his number - 6.02x10^23, have some ice cream. I know I will.

I've started thinking about which music box I want to get for Christmas this year. There are so many cute ones. I pulled out my pictures from last Christmas and put together pictures of the music boxes I've already gotten. On my blog you can see which ones I'm considering for now.

29 October 2007, Monday

You've probably noticed the mail watch above. In August I was told that they make the decisions about applications in mid-October. So I've been expecting to hear yeah or nay on my plans any day now. When I didn't hear today I called to find out what is happening. They have all my stuff, and it looks good. But they haven't made any decisions on it. Apparently there are some faculty changes, program reviews, and other key people are out of town. So they told me it won't be till mid-November when I hear anything. Mid-November is really getting almost too late. So I'll call again next week and keep my fingers crossed.

In the mean time, it might be nice to not check my mail again till after election day. I'm almost ready to give up TV till after then right now as well.

31 October 2007, Wednesday

Yippy! It's another excuse to dress up. I love dressing up. This year I wanted to be a super hero, with a super hero cape. I know, "no capes!" but I'm not going to be doing any actual flying, so I should be okay. I don't like imitating other characters, I'd rather be me as something else. And I really like Batman. So I decided I would use black as my main color, and then I found a real pretty purple. Then I had to figure out what my name would be if I was a super hero. I finally decided on "Nighthawk." When I googled that, I found out that it is already a bird, a stealth plane, a motorcycle, a gun, and a kite, but not a super hero, until now. The costume turned out real cool, and I'm very pleased with how my cape turned out. I've had a bit of trouble with the mask though, but I think I've got it now. I used the kite design as inspiration for the symbol on my front and cape. I'll put up pictures as soon as I get some good ones.

Photos of my Halloween costume.

3 November 2007, Saturday

The weather for today's football game could not have been more different than what it was two weeks ago. It was sunny, slight breeze, few if any clouds, crisp fall weather. It was a great game. Although I have yet to figure out why people who dislike the team so much that they spend the entire game yelling at them, even bother to come to the game.

Tonight we change the clocks. That means the sun will be up when I go to work on Monday. It means I'm going to have to go for my run almost as soon as I get home from work if I want it to still be light out. And, hopefully, it means I get an extra hour of sleep tonight. If I don't get to bed before 2am though, it just means I had an extra hour to do laundry today.

5 November 2007, Monday

This week is going to be a busy week calendar-wise. Yesterday was the day we changed our clocks back. And I actually got that extra hour of sleep. I was very glad I took the time to shower before going to sleep as well. Sunday morning one of the two water heaters for my building broke, creating quite the hot water shortage. There was a note on my door after my run tonight saying that they are going to replace it tomorrow with one that is even bigger.

Today is Guy Fawkes Day in England. Yes, I like to celebrate holidays in other countries. This one celebrates the attempted Gunpowder Plot to blow up Parliament and the King. If I could, I'd go outside and light a sparkler or two to celebrate before getting a bowl of ice cream. Ice Cream can be used to celebrate all kinds of occasions. So I'll just pass on the sparklers and go straight for the ice cream.

Tomorrow is election day in the United States. Unfortunately it isn't a presidential election, which means the presidential campaigning that already seems to have been going on forever will still continue for a whole other year. But at least after tomorrow I can stop yelling at the TV when certain political ads come on in an attempt to drown them out. I don't even yell at the TV when I watch sports. Of course this should also mean less kindling arriving in the mail with such frequency. Generally I do not tell people how I vote in each election. It's none of their business who I vote for. But on one issue this year I don't mind being a bit vocal about where I stand. It's the only thing that really makes any sense.

6 November 2007, Tuesday

I have never stayed up till the results of an election were announced. Until today. Today I kept the tv going from 8pm on and kept hitting refresh on the internet because the tv wasn't announcing it often enough. If I'd known of one close by, I might have even gone to one of those party things for the issue to to wait for the results with other people.

It's now 1 o'clock in the morning. There are still a few precincts that haven't reported in on the voucher issue yet, but enough that I'm going to call it a victory and go to bed. I'm so glad that Utah decided to support all the schools and all the parents and kids, rather than just a small handful.

11 November 2007, Sunday

Happy Veteran's Day! I'm certainly grateful for all the men and women who have sacrificed for this country.

I had a lot of sports this week. Thursday I ran from our dress rehearsal for our belly dance recital to the BYU vs. TCU game. Luckily, the last 2 minutes of the first half took almost twenty minutes, so I got to the stadium before the second half started. And that was good because the second half started almost immediately with a BYU touchdown. The crowd was great, particularly because almost all of them stayed the entire game. It also meant that the weather was great during the game too. I had a long sleeved t-shirt and my sweatshirt on, and during the game, that was plenty. After the crowd split up it got cold, but the game was great. And, to top things off, BYU won!

Brian was working cameras at the game, and apparently at the beginning of the game they were handing out BYU toboggans (that's for you mom), and he gave me the one he got. Now I'll have something to wear to keep my ears warm when I go running.

Friday Brian was again working cameras at a game, but this time it was a Grizzlies hockey game. So I went up to Salt Lake for that and got into the game for free with his wife. She and I had a good time at the game, counting mullets, cheering randomly, noting that the crowd got louder as the game went on (we think it might have something to do with the consumption of beer). I haven't been to a hockey game since right after my mission. It was a lot of fun. There was even a real good fight. It's interesting, in other sports the refs. and other players are in there to stop a fight almost as soon as it starts. But not with hockey. With hockey they all stand around and watch the two players until someone gets an advantage, and then they stop it. In the mean time they both got slugged in the head and stomach several times. They must have a lot of balance to do that and not fall down. The Grizzlies won, but it would've been a good game for us no matter what.

Keep your fingers crossed I can stop watching the mail this week. My goal is Tuesday, but it's kind of out of my hands.

15 November 2007, Thursday

Last year I made stop-motion movies with my fourth graders. I've thought for a long time now that it would be fun to set up a camera in the corner of my classroom to see what a day is like for me at work. Except if I used a camcorder, you'd then have to sit and watch 8 hours, and that would not be that interesting. But with stop motion, you can watch my entire morning in less than one minute. And that is what I have for you here. That is, if I figured out how Flash works. This was last Wednesday. Four of the five classes were writing turkey stories, so if you watch closely, you will see the students switching computers every other picture or so.

16 November 2007, Friday

Last night was the recital for my belly dancing class. I have so much fun with that. It was a random goal that I set for myself in 2003. And when I signed up for my first class two years ago I thought it would be something I would do once and cross it off my list. But instead I've gone and made it quite the hobby. And I really enjoy it.

My dance as a windows media movie. - link

18 November 2007, Sunday

Yesterday I got a Thanksgiving card in the mail from my parents. My mom made the card. She's very good at making cards.

The outside:

The inside:

I love it. I'm going to keep it with my holiday decorations and pull it out every year.

19 November 2007, Monday

I'M IN!!!

Now, don't ask me too many questions about it or I might start crying again. This is all quite overwhelming on so many different levels.

22 November 2007, Thursday

24 November 2007, Saturday

4th and 18 from the 12 yard line.
Just over a minute to go.
Down by 1.

And they WON!! BYU WON!!!

What a beautiful game. I blogged about it. Here are some pictures. My throat still hurts. And I still get nervous watching the highlights even though I know how it ends.

26 November 2007, Monday

This year's music box came today. Yippy! So I decided to do a bit more than just get the boxes of Christmas decorations out. I cleared off my fireplace mantle so I can put the wrapped music box there. I put a few other things on the mantle as well (a basket of snowmen and a few past music boxes). I even hung my stocking. I also took down my Halloween quilt and put up the Christmas one, as well as taking down my regular curtains and putting up the Christmas ones. I set up my tree and turned it on (hellooooo tree). And I hung the kissing ball from Grandma Iris. My apartment is a complete mess with moving boxes waiting to be filled stacked in one part of the living room and quilts I am working on (or should be) drapped in the other part. But I've started to get some Christmas stuff up now, so that feels good.

Exercise Chart
This is the chart I used to keep track of how often I exercised between June and November for a bet between a friend and I. I won.
Key: X=exercise; o=no exercise