DaShaws

Pants

2012-02-04T09:02:00.000-08:00

Mom and I made a cute Mr. Potato Head for my class to add parts to earn their class party. I started over this month and gave him a nose, some eyes and then the class asked. "Would you please put his pants on?" They didn't like that Mr. Potato Head was pants-less. After school I was out in the hall with one of the parents and Ben comes out and says "Thanks Mrs. Shaw for putting some pants on." The Mom smiled and had quite the look on her face. I quickly tried to explain what exactly he was talking about, while Ben laughed. He knew exactly what he was doing. The little stinker. Funny kid.

My Life Back

2012-01-29T14:10:00.000-08:00

After a long stretch of multiple jobs, school and infertility I feel like I have my life back.

The first week of April is taking its sweet time getting here, but I am excited about the increased likelihood that we could have a family this year. I spent some time reading out patriarchal blessings and I am completely confident that the day will come whether this is the first step or not. I just need to remember to be of good cheer. Andrew is really looking forward to this and likes the plan we have in place. He wants to have kids with our genetics (I don't care where they come from as long as they come), so he is really happy about the In-Vitro route.

Besides the infertility challenge life has been significantly simplified. I have found that I actually have the energy to cook and Andrew actually gets meals. I have ONE job and no school. It feels blissful. Not only that the prospect of spending the summer out in my garden and reading makes me rejoice. My house feels like it is gradually getting cleaner and cleaner because I take the time to deep clean different areas here and there and it doesn't just build up and up and up.

Andrew's birthday is this week. I got him a deep fryer. It is pretty cool. We made onion rights yesterday with both of the Lee's and they tasted just like Mom's...delicious. I think that it was good that we got the treadmill for Christmas because I think we will need it after this purchase.

One part of my life I haven't gotten back into yet is my painting. Andrew has had me spend all of my evenings working with him in the basement on framing. I think that summer will lend itself well to that hobby. FYI we are 96 days into the 180 day school year.

New Year

2012-01-14T11:26:00.000-08:00

I have been waiting to post until I got some pictures that I could add, but my camera charger has gone missing and I haven't been able to do that so, without pictures I will continue.

Our Christmas and New Years were wonderful. We had a wonderful time in St. Maries. I was able to get my quilt top finished and will be quilting it on Monday (on Alice's fancy machine). We also had King Crab legs at the Casino with the family, which I forgot was so good. I bonded a little with my niece Alexa who told me she wished I was her Mom, ha ha, don't tell Niki. The girls spent a day in Spokane and we did a little after Christmas shopping and had lunch. Most of the time we had extra Andrew and I listened to the Hunger Games books. This led to some interesting dreams. My favorite gifts were of course my new sewing machine which has barely been put away since I got it. The other is the new treadmill. I love running, but it is so cold and dark for half the year that I never get to go.

We spent New Years in Utah County and Alishia and Tyler threw a super fun pajama party. We played games and mingled and everyone had a good time. Carillisa and I made a crossword puzzle with clues about our family and the answers all had family names or memories, it was great. All the kids were so cute. I just love being around them. Dad seemed happy with how the gear stuff was going and Kenny was invited with Valmir to help with the "Brazil" side of the project. I think it will be great for him.

I was actually excited to get back to school and see my class. I got food poisoning the night before however and that food was DEFINITELY rejected...without the gross details, I will just say I was up every hour. At 6:30 I finally called a sub. Sigh. Things are going really well at school these days and it is so nice to be done with college and be able to focus on getting things in place for the kids instead.

I talked to Andrew the other day and told him I thought that the kitchen should be bumped up on the priority list because I wanted a dishwasher (after a week of us both being sick and dishes everywhere). This was enough motivation for him to really think about it and decided we really needed to finish the basement. This was great because as we speak I am listening to the floor being cut out downstairs for plumbing and windows have been ordered and tubs and cabinets for the bathroom are being researched.....aaahh it is so fun.

The other fun news is that we talked to our Dr. and we officially have everything set in place for InVitro and we start taking the medications to get ready next month and the first week in April is the procedures!! That leaves us with a baby (if it works) in December. Pray for us that it works. We are still really hoping for something to come of the adoption side of things too.

Hunting

2011-12-21T21:04:00.000-08:00

This picture is perfect. Exactly what you would expect from the Shaw boys. Andrew and the dogs doing what they do best. Kevin left, Ryan, Nash, Shasta, Duke, Andrew and Al. This hunt was at Muddy Road Outfitters which is here in Benson. I think I would actually really like to go sometime.

thankful

2011-12-11T16:20:00.001-08:00

Is life as easy as it seems? I have been around family that has had a lot of life-threatening health problems and a lot of big decisions and heart ache. I think of my life and how simple it seems and minor my problems seem to be. I pray for them and am thankful for my problems that seem so much easier to bear.

We found out another bit of good news this week. We received a letter from the Miracle Fund saying we were accepted. Which means that private donors will be funding our In Vitro and we will be able to get that anytime before next December. This has a good chance of meaning that we will have a baby for Christmas next year. I have to take a week off of work in order to get it done which is the only tricky part in the process.

I also graduated officially on Friday yay yay yay!.

P.S. I love my iphone. Pic is of Anna who sat there for about 5 minutes playing on it. Hope she washed her hands.

Moving Ahead

2011-12-06T20:46:00.001-08:00

We finally have been approved for adoption. They didn't even tell us though, I found out because I was searching through the profiles on the LDS website. You would think they would have said something. I am very happy to find out either way and know that it will all happen when it is supposed to. If you would like to see our listing you can go to it at https://www.itsaboutlove.org/ial/profiles/25869482/contactUs.jsf.

I feel my vulnerability creeping up on me a little bit, but I am scared to let meself get too excited or get my hopes up too much. Every time I see my phone ring with an unknown number I just hope for a quick second, but I just remembered that they would be calling Andrew not me.

I am super excited at this time because I have started running again. I forgot how much I really loved it! I know wierd, who likes running. I started a little over a week ago and have already gone several times and I am so happy to continue. Unfortunately I started when they days are the shortest ever and I really have to squeeze it in when the sun is still up. Oh, and when the air isn't freezing. I am hoping to run a half marathon this summer with Carillisa...wish me luck! (p.s. only if I'm not pregnant, but we will continue just in case)

Cliche-Happiness is a choice.

2011-11-27T13:11:00.001-08:00

Happiness is a choice. This cliche statement is nothing new to anyone. This however has become a truth that I currently strive to live by. I feel that prayers and careful mind set has caused this to be the case. I have some challenges in my life that could be hard to handle. I made a very conscious choice that I was not going to let them be challenges anymore. I said "NO!". One challenge gone. I no longer can get my feelings hurt, or get offended. I don't have to live dreading certain circumstances or holidays. One conquering of a challenge led to the happiness in many other aspects of my life. It also led to the confidence to say NO to other challenges. I can honestly say that I am completely happy. Is it perfect, no...but I am happy still.

2011-11-25T23:03:00.001-08:00

Proof that it is not a new thing :D

2011-11-02T21:01:00.000-07:00

One fine Chica :D

WOW...what a day.

2011-11-02T14:57:00.000-07:00

Wow, today was quite a day. I had a student that fell on his way to school and got a bit of a gash on his eye. He came in saying it still really hurt and he wasn’t feeling well. I tried to continue thinking he would get over it. I made faces at him a little to try and cheer him up and get his mind off it, but he wasn't budging. Normally he would smile despite his most desperate attempts to keep a straight face. He eventually got up to help with his classroom task and as soon as he did he threw up all over. He started out throwing up in the garbage and for some reason moved to the floor. Poor kid started crying and I pulled him outside the room and let him sit away from the puke and all the kids. Lucky his Mom was here in the school and I sent him to find her. He was able to sit with her while his Dad came to get him.

At lunch I had to pick up some things for the fall social with all the teachers and didn’t get back in time to really eat my lunch before I had to call the kids in. I tried to eat it during my prep and while I was grading some papers….of course I did it. My nice tall glass of Stephen’s Hot Chocolate spill right into my lap the reality of what happened was slowly soaking in as the hot chocolate quickly soaked my entire lap. I held my coat in front of me as I walked to pick up my kids and showed them what happened when they got back. I tried the best I could to keep them busy while I tried to clean up. As for right now, I’m ending this journal entry and going home to shower. Looking forward to tomorrow.

2011-10-27T17:17:00.001-07:00

Blast From the Past

2011-10-19T20:46:00.000-07:00

My best friends, great time at the Manti Pageant.

Week at a Glance

2011-10-06T20:17:00.000-07:00

Monday October 3rd, 2011
Mondays are usually my crazy days, but having a short day today I had to cram more stuff into less time. I didn't mind too much because I am to be starting SEP's (Parent Teacher Conferences) this afternoon. There are really so many acronyms in this business I don't think anyone knows what they all stand for. I feel really well prepared for the SEP's everyone keeps asking me if I'm nervous or overwhelmed and I really am not at all. I guess having years in the Title business where I had to work with complete strangers and really beefed up my customer service skills I feel confident meeting new people. I have always felt that this portion of teaching wouldn't be hard for me. Many people have mentioned that working with parents can be the worst part, but I think that I am actually pretty good at working with people and know how to keep them happy. I have prepared for this SEP all positive comments with the kids and parents. I have simple printouts with their grades. I have put them all together in a little paper folder with the kids name on the paper. I have done everything I planned to do and have cute stories on the wall that the kids wrote, so I think they are going to be fun :D.

Wednesday October 4th, 2011
I feel like SEP's went really well. My only concern with them is that I was getting done fairly quickly, they took about 10 minutes. There was only 15 allotted so I wasn't too far off, but I didn't want parents to feel like they didn't get much out of it and wasn't worth their time. I apologized to a few about it, but they didn't seem to mind at all so I hope that was true across the board. It really was very fun to meet all of their parents and get to know them better. A lot of nice, fun people. I really appreciated some that asked what they could do to help me, that was really nice to hear. :D

A few things I wanted to note after talking to a few parents:

C: Needs a lot of positive reinforcement, has conflicting values at home and encouragement at school could really help guide in the right direction. Very intuitive and sweet, really really avoid punishment or cross instruction, will not work and be a bad choice to get him to act appropriately.

K:Needs to be pushed and given a time-limit, any extra time or a lack of "pressure" leads to a lack of focus and therefore wrong answers and incomplete assessments. Needs to be encouraged and taught how to finish things on her own without help.

B:Lack of motivation to achieve. May do well with a competition involved, and maybe some extra incentives along the way to give him some kind of motivation. Intrinsic is not there yet ;D.

L: Really is a good student, parents trying to help with english at home and seems to be a good support for him. Needs help staying focused needs time outside to run and stretch. Also doesn't seem to have much motivation for doing well.

Thursday October 4th, 2011
Today was a good day. I tried to give a test today instead of tomorrow to try and break things up a bit with them and make sure that they didn't get tested out and felt confident with them. I also read the phonics portion out loud to especially help the ESL students and make sure they heard what each word was supposed to sound like. I haven't graded them yet today but we will see if shorting them a day was worth it.
I also felt that I had some helpful problem management between two students. We had a sit down and I tried to you a you - me type conversation and we discussed what we could do to make the situation better. After talking both felt better and I gave them a smile and small hug and they left happy and back to normal.

I felt a little unorganized and feel that I haven't been able to quite catch up this week. The fact that I'm writing in my journal is amazing. I usually type up a daily plan of what I plan to do and haven't been able to the last few days. I rarely look at it but I think having typed it I have the plan in the back of my mind and I do occasionally reference it, so I am definitely going to keep doing them and get them ready every day.

Cute

2011-09-08T20:28:00.000-07:00

My reading corner, I have to draw sticks to determine who gets to read in the corner. The rest fight for my soft chairs.
The final product of the book lamps
Before and after chair

Leaving Northern Title I cried, I was nervous about the transition and thrusting myself into a whole new world. Except not entirely new since I was a kid once and went to school.

Driving past it yesterday during my lunch break I realized something. I don't miss it. Not even a little. Being a teacher is so much better suited for me and the kids just make life so much better. I wish I could introduce you all to each of my students so I could show them off. I was observed by my instructor and she said "You are a natural teacher and seem very at ease in the classroom."

Get this. I haven't felt anxious all week.

Made it through

2011-08-28T09:52:00.000-07:00

I made it through the first few days of school. I honestly am looking forward to more time with structured subjects. They don't just dive in, they have 2 days where you basically talk about rules and procedures. I felt like I was digging for things to fill up the time. Starting next week I will get right into the swing of things. :D

I really have some cute kids in my class, and only 19 of them. Very manageable. I think this is going to be way easier than last semester. They say this is supposed to be the hardest, but the fact that I don't have to spend 4 hours of class after work is a dream to me. I have spent a lot of extra hours, but it was voluntary which has a completely different feel...big difference.

My classroom is so cute too. There are still a handful of things that I would like to do with it, I will get there. Pictures to come soon.

I decided however that even though I LOVE school and all the cuties. What I would love even more would be to send my own little kiddo to school. We watched a show yesterday where the Dad said that the happy ending was his little girl. It broke my heart as I saw Andrew with tears in his eyes. He then told me to call and check on the in-vitro and adoption stuff. Waiting is going to be a new level of hard, especially now that I know Andrew is completely ready and on board.

Wish us luck :D

Cutest Thing Ever

2011-08-14T21:19:00.000-07:00

We had been talking about a few people we knew whose husbands took off on them during some kind of mid-life crisis. I asked Andrew if he was ever going to decide he was sick of me and take off. After a small moment he said "You are the one thing I'm really happy about in my life." He mentioned other things that were just okay. My heart melted. What a sweetheart.

Summer

2011-08-09T09:15:00.000-07:00

I cried

2011-08-05T19:39:00.000-07:00

I was really strong all day and gave quick hugs and short good-byes. I worked like normal, packed my things and walked out of my last day at Northern Title Company. I made it about 5 seconds in the car before I cried at the phase of my life that is now over. It really became a home away from home and the people there were like family. We even bickered like siblings, but all in good fun. I will surely miss them and am grateful for the chance I had to work with such great people.

I love my friends there and will miss them. (Back) Garrett, David, Melanie, Marilyn, Paul, Jay and Dacei. (Front) Darrell, Me, Kallie, and Brett. This is their parade of homes picture for the ad. Something like "we are working for you". I thought it turned out nice. Melanie, the one with the drill, is my replacement she is lucky :D.

2011-07-29T10:01:00.000-07:00

So close. Life is so close to all kinds of changes. I have 7 days left at Northern Title Company before I start working at the Elementary School. I also have finished the 1 single thing to take over to the adoption place and all of the paperwork is finished. I hope that a baby comes soon and that things all turn out well in my classroom. I am going with my friend Kizzi tonight to put some things together and she is going to let us take full advantage of her Cricut. My neighbor Amy also used to teach the 3rd grade and gave me a whole bunch of stuff yesterday that I am really happy about. I haven’t looked through to see how much I can use, but there are cute decorations that I definitely can use.

Last week we went to the Duncan family reunion and it was wonderful. We celebrated Grandma’s 90th birthday and had a wonderful time. It was so great to see all the Aunts and Uncles and cousins. I recognized everyone older than 16, but had to guess at the rest. One of my cousins, Connie may have a potential contact for us in terms of adoption. We also went to see some friends after the reunion that may also have a contact. Luckily I printed off a bunch of cards with our blog and phone number so they could easily call and get more information if they wanted to.

I feel that we have been really blessed and that we are closing in on a baby. People seem to think the same as I have had people giving me all kinds of baby stuff without me saying a word. :D I’m very happy at the thought and happy with life and excited for the future. I haven’t always been able to say that, so it is really a blessing to feel this way.

:)

2011-07-19T20:09:00.000-07:00

Day Off

2011-06-26T14:23:00.001-07:00

I have a confession to make. I skipped church today. Do you ever feel like you need a day off? I just walked around and enjoyed my flower beds this morning...stopped and smelled the lilacs and looked at my newly blooming lilies.
Andrew made me a delicious breakfast of French Toast and Orange Juice. I then proceeded to enjoy my day out on the grass under a tree in the sunshine reading a book.
Now I am updating my life on facebook and blogging and seeing how my wonderful friends and family are doing while I listen to Sunday music....I just want to say that Sunday sometimes is just as worshiped from the comfort of your home and enjoying the world that God has created for you. No, I don't plan to make a habit of it and don't condone skipping Church, I do feel that today was a great day and I really needed it. I hope Heavenly Father can forgive my absence at Church today.
I think I might bake something yummy later and take a half-nap outside in a minute...if I can stand the bugs.

Latest and Greatest

2011-06-17T14:36:00.001-07:00

I had an appointment with the In-Vitro people in Salt Lake on Monday. I have Dr. Peterson and I have been really happy with everything he has done. I had an SIS, which is basically an internal sonogram (Yay!…insert sarcasm here). Everything went according to plan and we are now able to get things started with the In-Vitro Miracle Fund. If everything goes well with this fund we may be able to have everything paid for with the in-vitro, which would be obviously fabulous. The only drawback to this is that the paperwork takes about 4 months. With that being the case we probably won’t be able to get the in Vitro until December, but I can handle that to save $13,000.00 . They did find while I was there that I am not nearly as broken as I thought!!. My fallopian tubes are open! Before my surgery they said that one was definitely closed, during surgery they felt that both were likely closed and 4 months later, they think that one and likely both are open! I got to see the sonogram for myself and saw the fluids flowing like the should!! Very Cool. With that news Dr. Peterson thinks that after this first Pregnancy (with in-vitro) that I should be able to have kids on my own! That is a far cry from Dr. Fower’s diagnosis of 0-5% chance of conception.

Until then we have an appointment on Wednesday with our caseworker Charity to complete the adoption process. I’m feeling hopeful. There is still a little to be done, but it is very little and just a matter of time. Everyone we have worked with has been very kind too.

While we wait I want to do a few things. One of them is to go and see Jenny in Seattle, which thanks to Andrew getting a new truck led to some bargaining power on my part. :D I love it when I get bargaining power.

This isn’t the exact truck that Andrew got, but this is what it looks like. Hello Seattle :D

Yesterday I went to the Summerfest with my Sister-in-Law and nieces. I love going and feeling inspired. They have so many different artwork booths and some pretty amazing talent in them. My favorite was an asian girls booth with her mother with these beautiful paintings. They were very crisp and vibrant. The crazy part was, when you looked closely...they weren't paintings at all it was actually embroidery! The entire thing was stitched! It was impressive

Samantha and Haley @ Summerfest.

I was reviewing my resolution blog from January today and I think that I am going to make it, but I am glad I re-read it because I would have forgotten some things. New Years Resolution

1. Have....I mean GET... a baby – GETTING THERE

2. Graduate...again – ON TRACK

3. Go see Becky - DONE

4. Finish my quilt – PROGRESS MADE

5. Learn a new song on the piano – FORGOT ABOUT THIS ONE

6. Be a good friend – THINK SO

7. Read the entire New Testament – ON TRACK…maybe a little behind

8. Study Spanish – STILL NEED TO DO.

9. Finish my 2-year supply of food storage – WORKING ON IT

10. Rebuild my 3 month – WORKING ON IT.

Series of fortunate events.

2011-06-07T09:17:00.000-07:00

Today I went to the hospital and got some blood tests done to check my antibodies, thyroid, rubella, cystic fibrosis, etc. This was all done because of our appointment we had last week at the University of Utah Hospital. We had a chance to talk to Dr. Peterson and we looked at our options for In-Vitro. He looked over all of our information and told me that he didn’t want me to ever cycle ever again. (This is when I cheered) I would not have to get a hysterectomy and every time I want to get pregnant (in-vitro) I would just need to take a shot. He said that he sees 4 or 5 candidates like me in a week where I am young and relatively healthy, placed our chances of having a successful In-Vitro appointment at 65%. We have one more appointment next Monday where Andrew and I need to get a few tests done. They said as soon as those tests get back, they could get us in to the appointment pretty quick! The deadline date that we were shooting for was before August 20^th, I feel that we could get it done before the end of the month! (or close to it).

After I got my blood test done today I stopped at LDSFS. I dropped off all of the final paperwork we needed to turn in for adoption! This is the year folks, I have been waiting and waiting and I think that I might actually get my baby after 5 yrs being married. I have felt as I have moved through this process not to worry about the money and just push forward. SO…here we go. We only have to get a home study done and a few interviews and we will be done with all of the adoption stuff…just waiting from there.

An elderly man in my ward came up to me on Sunday and grabbed my hands overlapping his and said that I would be given what it is that I have been desiring. And that he felt prompted to tell me that. He explained that the last time he felt to tell someone that he found out she was a blind diabetic getting her driver’s license, now able to see. He said I don’t know what you are looking for Kiddo, but I just felt I should tell you that. I just smiled and said ok. He is a bit of a different guy, but I believe he is right :D

CLASS class CLASS. I finally found out where I will be teaching next year also. I will be at North Park Elementary as a third grade teacher. I’m very excited. I will be getting some funding to set up my classroom and put things together. I can also get things going after June 17^th when they are finished putting new carpet in my room. I have all kinds of ideas going through my mind, it is sometimes hard to sleep.

Lastly..my yard finally looks like I want it to! I even got complimented on it last week. I am so happy with all my pretty flowers that are blooming and my garden that is up and going. I think we will really have a great harvest this year.

Things have been great lately…I hope it continues to get better and better and maybe….I will have a baby Shaw!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fashion Show at Benson 1st

2011-05-22T17:58:00.000-07:00

Linda and Trudy. Linda in her bathing suit and Trudy in her "slip" over sweater.
Kiera in her ball gown with a plunging neck-line
Jody in her after dinner dress with the 14 carrot necklace and earings
Shannon in her Baby doll night gown...
Lori in her lipton T-shirt and gardening bibs.
Me in my box suit with sucker fabric and not to mention bloomers...and birth control hat to be prepared like the scouts (the lady that gave me this outfit didn't know the irony behind it)
Wendy with her plaid suit and top hat...partnered with the ball gown above.

A Goose just pooped in my Kitchen.

2011-05-16T21:13:00.000-07:00

Andrew and I just spent the night putting together the last of our garden watering system, which will make my gardening life a whole lot easier, I'm stoked. It has been such a cold spring though that I only have beans and peas planted up here. There is no way a tomato would have survived and this next week we have nights getting as low as 34 deg. Not friendly garden weather. After we laid out our pipe in the garden we were walking back to the house when Andrew saw something in our yard. I couldn't tell what it was, but Andrew identified it as a goose. It must have been out of it, because it let Andrew walk right up to it. He was bobbing back and forth quite a bit when it walked like its leg was hurt. Andrew had no trouble picking it up and then as I scrambled for the camera. He came inside. I took a few shots and then Andrew asked if I wanted a picture. YES. But then He said I had to hold it....yikes, ok, I grabbed him and smiled...right after the shot we must have scared the crap out of him...literally. Goose poop on my kitchen floor.

The excitement was over after I got crapped on, so Andrew took it outside and it took off seemingly fine. So long goose.

The latest and greatest

2011-05-10T18:47:00.000-07:00

I made it through mother's day with flying colors! I felt such a gratitude for my ward that seemed to modify their mother's day talks and lessons just for me. They were specific in how we are all mother's even if we don't bear children. They were very sweet.

I'm finally done with classes. I think I will only get 1 B, which I am sad about, but only 1 B, for working two jobs and going to school...can't complain.

My yard is looking so pretty these days. I spent all day in it Saturday, I put in some raspberries, weeded another flower bed, treated the lawn. Almost perfect. Few weeds to still pull in a few beds.

Here is a question. Luke 20:29-36...read it. What are your thoughts?

Food

2011-04-10T20:48:00.001-07:00

The thing I love about food is this. You can be easily inspired. I watch the show chopped and I get clues, I watched Julie and Julia, wonderful inspiration. I joined for an unbelievably affordable fee the all recipes site. I HATE coming up with what to make. WELL this site sets up meals for you. (could be set up according to nutrition, to price, to themes) you can mix and match any recipes you want for any on the site and then when you are done it gives you the grocery list for all the recipes you combined. You can also edit your grocery list and add things like catfood and lightbulbs if you like. I printed my last weeks off and took it to the store where it was conveniently categorized into sections like baking isle, dairy, produce etc. Then this week I cooked all the recipes on my list. Andrew got dinner 4x this week 4! He is usually lucky to get 1. Also, the food I bought gave us both meals for 2 weeks for about 150 dollars...not bad if you ask me. OH! and all the meals have nutritional information on them. I'm a fan. It was really nice to get out-of-the norm ideas that were not from my typical stash.

I posted my 2 favorite this week on the food for thought blog www.carillisa.blogspot.com. ENJOY.

On another topic completely, is it soggy everywhere else? Andrew had to dig a path for all the water to run off the fields into the ponds.

Here is a question. Do you think it would be a good idea to have only "family" toys and not individual toys for your kids? I just imagine that it would help kids share. What do you think?

Before and After

2011-03-30T18:59:00.000-07:00

It has been a year since we bought this place and there are a lot of projects that have taken place. Here are some of the Before and Afters of this year.

The old brown cabinets turn to a "buff yellow"

The tired old roof got a much needed face lift.

The discovery of wood floors under the hideous carpet was made!

After years of torture this lovely wallpaper finally came down.

The kitchen became complete with an updated light.

This charming little bench got new life.

This was done a while ago, but we can't ever underestimate the power of pink walls in a bathroom. This has been a great change.

There are more pictures to come, but I don't have all of the after pictures taken yet. I am looking forward to next years projects!!

Freedom

2011-03-27T11:56:00.000-07:00

There are a few thing that I want to post about today, that are not really related to each other except that they chronologically happened all this week!

First off...my last day of classes was on Wednesday. In case you don't know. I have been going to class Tuesdays and Wednesdays for the last 8 months spending up to 6 hours in a chair learning to be the best educator possible. I also finished my practicum on Friday which means I spent two weeks teaching someone else's class. I also tried to work at Northern Title in the evenings during all of this and still keep things running in my Art Class. I tell you all this so you can put the right amount of emphasis on this. Can I hear a HALLELUJAH!!!

I really feel that I have learned a lot and through the practicum and all my classes I think I will be a much better teacher and even a better parent. Really the hugs that I got from the students on my last day were so rewarding. One student in particular that struggles socially and can be really hard to manage sometimes. He came up to me and gave me the most sincere hug and I caught the reflection of his face in the mirror and he was smiling with his eyes closed. It was so sweet, it made my day. I am so excited to have this all done and be able to look forward to next year and have the chance to love 25 kids of my own and share my life and experience with them.
Because of all the chaos these last few weeks I have felt that I have lost track of the most important things. I was in tears the other night and told Andrew that I was feeling particularly horrible because I had not been reading my scriptures daily, I wasn't praying daily, we had lost our routine of nightly prayers together, I hadn't done my visiting teaching lately....the list goes on. I was a CRAPPY member of the church I wasn't doing hardly anything I knew I should. Andrew and I talked and even though it was really late we knelt and prayed together. The next night Andrew was ready on the floor waiting for me to kneel beside him (I thought this was such a sweet gesture because he was showing that he was listening and wanted to support me in the efforts I was trying to make). I made a little extra time to read in the morning while I ate breakfast. I had made a few small changes and recommitted to working on everything else. I want to share with you what a huge difference it has made. Some of the financial struggles have been eased. My stresses have been lessened. My attitude better. Andrew and I's relationship, more loving. This has all occurred in the course of a week. We had a lesson in Sunday school today about being as a little child. I think of this when I imagine that someone could have thought that all the changes that I noticed with week were just a coincidence. An adult might question the authenticity of where these blessings really came from. I know that I am being blessed for trying to do the right things and it has been a great reminder to me to focus on what is most important. Henry B. Eyering shared in a talk about him putting the gospel first even though he was very busy and had interviews and many things going on. He shared that he got the job because he showed his future employers his dedication. This is what I need to remember and know what I won't be able to touch my students the same if I don't have the Spirit to guide me.

Okay!...So! Who is ready to PARTY!

2011-03-26T09:20:00.000-07:00

I made this for my practicum

2011-03-21T19:59:00.001-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1zcSrLvG7o

In the Slough

2011-03-13T19:11:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Andrew called me from the yard. I couldn't hear the phone because I was vacuuming but when I did see the call he asked if I saw what happened....no I can see that there are a lot of people outside. Yeah, that is because Chad drove his tractor over the cliff. WHAT! I gasped....yeah, he said, come out it is really fun. It took a tractor pulling a tractor pulling a tractor to get him out.

Today

2011-03-11T20:19:00.000-08:00

Warning: Post contains extremely random topics without the forethought of grouping. (too much brain power and I don't have any to spare)

Today was a fairly uninteresting day. I sat there thinking of something to say as a facebook status and thought through my day at something that would be eventful to say and there really wasn't anything. I sat at a desk and typed 22 policies. Nobody here understand the impressiveness of that, so the spark it has is dead. Let me say this though. I am normally lucky to get 5 in and on a really good day I have gotten 10.

I am listening to a book on CD by Glen Beck about the National budget and how the early stages of America were based on being thrift and getting quickly out of debt. They talk about how the best way to keep yourself solvent isn't to tax, but to do quite the opposite and allow people the opportunity to flourish. Government was best left out of the picture. It is very interesting. I am enjoying it so far.

I really can't wait for the next two weeks to be over, not only will my night classes be done, but I will also finish my practicum and all the stress that goes with that. I am pretty sure I will need a big break afterwards. I don't have any money to go anywhere though, maybe I will go lay out by the river and pretend I'm at the beach. I am happy to say that I went to work this morning without putting a coat on.

It is only 9:30 and my eyes are about to close involuntarily, this morning I slept through 2 alarms and was late to work. I think it is safe to say....I'm tired...I think I will go to sleep.

P.S. I think I'm a little depressed. Lame. (and now I feel guilty for saying it out loud). This is when I would backspace and delete it and say..."things are going great though...." and they would be true statements...but again...too much brain power to focus on them...pillow....

Walk to me Kade....

2011-02-28T16:38:00.001-08:00

Funny things

2011-02-18T15:06:00.000-08:00

Yesterday during art class one of my 1st graders came up to me and showed me a picture she drew. "this ith a picture of a cartoon I uthed to watch when I wasth little".

Also today as I was working at Northern Title an elderly lady called. I answered "Northern Title, this is DeAnna". She proceeded to tell me that she was baking a cake and followed the directions to grease the pan first but forgot to add the flour. And now she is trying to get the cake out of the pan and she ran a knife around the edges and it won't come out.

I smiled and told her I would go see if I could find out what she should do. I went and talked to my co-workers and all laughed because it was obvious she wasn't aware of who she called. We talked and decided what we thought she would do.

We told her to try and put a frozen wet rag on the bottom of the pan and try to get it to come off. After talking to her the second time I'm certain she was pretty old and maybe was loosing it a little bit, but it was a nice break of the routine today. ha ha ha. I wish I got cooking questions more often.

POST

2011-02-17T07:48:00.000-08:00

This is what I am thinking about today.

I really like the idea of more posts, but less words. I feel that I would be more motivated to keep up if I didn't feel like I needed to say as much.

SO for today I will share that I had a very long night last night with a day starting at 7:00 a.m. and not getting home until 10:00 p.m.. I do however want to share that I will only be doing that 5 more times before we have what you call FREEDOM. On the upside I do have to add that I have great classmates. Tonight in our 6 hours of class, one classmate brought oranges and granola bars while another brought bagels. Nice...perfect for a time frame in which no dinner is alloted.

Today I will be enjoying the last day of the week with the kiddos at the Elementary School and I am happy as always to be doing that.

Oh yeah and get this...I haven't been to the grocery store yet this month.. ha ha no money and even more...no time. I think it is time to make time. Maybe today I will grab a few things during lunch.

Letter of Recommendation (not real)

2011-02-15T13:43:00.000-08:00

Morning

2011-02-15T07:13:00.000-08:00

I woke up this morning to a beautiful sunrise. It is that time of year where the sunrises merge with my alarm and I woke up to a peachy pink sky. :D Nice start to the day. This wasn't an actual picture I took, but it was close to what I was seeing. It is an actual picture of a Logan morning sunrise.

I have been dreaming about my garden. Just a few more months! I think I am going to plant about 4 different kinds of pumpkin. Onion, pepper, tomatoes, peas, beans, cucumber, I'm iffy on the corn, we just don't eat that much. I am going to get another apple tree and also a peach tree.

2011-02-06T18:21:00.000-08:00

Menopause

2011-01-29T11:48:00.000-08:00

Oh boy. I got my lupron shot last week aka the-shot-that-makes-you-go-into-an-induced-menopause-and-crazy-person-shot. I got a nasty cold this week too. My body is fighting a cold, transitioning its 26 yr old self to a much older version and I have had HUGE amounts of stress with my school stuff the last few days. Not to mention I have been working on a wedding announcement for a cute girl in my ward and it hasn't been a smooth process. Thursday I wanted to go to the airport with Andrew to pick up a dog for his boss and spend a little time with him since I hadn't for most of the week. A situation arose that I thought wouldn't allow me to go. Andrew in a hurry tried not to be upset said he was leaving and headed for the car without a kiss or anything. I buckled. I cried and vented and cried, and let all the emotions out Andrew came back in and gave me a hug and let me cry while he held me close. (I love him) I made a phone call and went with him anyway. We held hands the whole way, it helped. Friday was still an emotional day, but again Andrew gave me good advice reminding me that my life was in the Lord's hands. (Oh yeah..) That made me feel much better.

Today I cleaned my fridge, my microwave, my bedroom, re-organized my closet, cleaned my family room...and I am in much better spirits.

The point...I love my Andrew, I love my Heavenly Father for giving me Andrew and I love my Heavenly Father for helping me through this menopause/infertility challenge.

Ta Da!

2011-01-17T12:24:00.000-08:00

Before
After

It is actually pretty cheap to rent sanders, so wait for the AFTER AFTER pictures!! Woot Woot!

Surgery and Such

2011-01-09T17:24:00.000-08:00

The skinny on the surgery. Everything in the operation went really well they were able to see what they needed to and I handled the anesthesia pretty well and we went home pretty quickly after the nurse gave the okay. Pain has been pretty minimal and I have felt that recovery has gone really well.

We found that I had a cyst on one of my ovaries that was about twice the size of the ovary that they popped and cleaned out. I also have level 4 endometriosis which is the highest level. The injected a blue dye into my uterus to see if they could get any flow through the fallopian tubes. Even after they cleaned me out, they were not able to get them open. The doctor suggested putting us on a Lupron shot for 6 months which will put me into an induced menopause and help the endometriosis. There is a chance that this will enable us to get pregnant after the 6 months, but they are still low chances. Our best chances of having kids on our own is In-Vitro.

We are looking into all of our options including adoption and in-vitro and trying to bypass the lupron shot especially since they are $10,000 a shot before insurance...yikes.

Overall we are in good spirits despite the news, hopefully we will come to some decisions here quickly as to what actions we want to take. Andrew really wants to try in-vitro, but we will need help with the funding for that. Foster care is our most affordable option, but we are considering adoption as well as soon as we can get those finances taken as well.
Other news this week comes with the dogs. Poor Saige must have had some trouble with her pregnancy because Andrew found her dead in the garage Friday morning. :( very very sad. She was bursting at the seams ready to pop any day. By the time we found her there was nothing we could do to save the puppies. Andrew was pretty upset about it. She was such a sweet dog, she will be missed.

I think to help make us feel better Andrew let Rouger (sp?) our newest puppy into the house. He jumped right up and nuzzled his way up to my pillow and nearly took over. That is the picture Andrew captured above. It helped, he was giving me hugs.

I just want to say Thank You to everyone. We have felt such a wonderful amount of support and it really makes a big difference to us. (I'm getting teary thinking about it) We have felt your prayers and I'm certain they are what has given me the strength to accept our fate and face our challenges. Even just the simple comments through texts or facebook or phone calls, they are huge and have meant a lot, so again, thanks.

RESOLUTION TIME

2011-01-01T20:50:00.001-08:00

New Years Resolution
1. Have....I mean GET... a baby
2. Graduate...again
3. Go see Becky
4. Finish my quilt
5. Learn a new song on the piano
6. Be a good friend
7. Read the entire New Testament
8. Study Spanish
9. Finish my 2-year supply of food storage
10. Rebuild my 3 month supply.

Ironic

2010-12-22T19:31:00.000-08:00

Can I tell you, there is nothing more fun than being in an elementary school just before Christmas, the energy could light the world. So fun. I went and made gingerbread houses with my cute nieces tonight. I got lots of big hugs and love.

It seems to be so ironic that I can't have kids because I LOVE THEM. I'm not kidding when I say I want like 12. I have 450 students by the end of the week and I still love my job. Now, I realize that there will be moments of ... not so much love, but I just can't wait. Until then, thank you to everyone who shares theirs with me. :D

Thanksgiving Part II

2010-12-15T07:42:00.000-08:00

Finishing off the fun of Thanksgiving. While Andrew and I listened to the entirety of the Harry Potter book on tape (cd) there were all kinds of fun things happening at the Shaw's in St. Maries. Apparently someone ran into the electrical box (barely) and sent the power out in the entire house while dinner was trying to be prepared. They made do while the back-up generator was running, however the generator had problems of its own as it surged power into the house breaking all the phones and killing the beaters.

Meanwhile many of the boys traditionally go dear hunting on Thanksgiving morning. Nels accidentally shot two. I know, how can someone accidentally shoot two deer? He shot one and as he hiked down to retrieve it, it jumped right in front of him, so he shot it again. It was the same size and coloring and antlers had the same pattern, but it was a seperate deer. He turned himself into the fish and game who made him pay a fine and get the meat processed and donated. They said it would have been much worse if someone else had turned him in. The ordeal with the fish and game just added to the Shaw festivities.

When we finally got there things went relatively smooth. We did get stuck once on the way up the hill to Andrew's parents, but after Andrew jumped on the back bumper after about 15 minutes, it gave us enough traction to get up the slope.
Andrew got this deer head mounted for his parents, and they weren't able to find a stud centered so they were a little nervous about it staying up. Andrew is ready to catch it if it falls.

Andrew's Dad spent all of one morning outside shoveling everything. He didn't want to change to come in and eat, so he is enjoying breakfast on the deck. Huckleberry pancakes...yum.

We hadn't seen Marcus and Christa (especially Christa) for a really long time, so it was really nice to get a chance to catch up and be friends. :)

Alexa and I are pretty good pals, she was sweet enough to give me a nice smile.

Thanksgiving....Part 1

2010-12-02T20:10:00.000-08:00

Where to begin. I have told this story a few times, but it is quite lengthy which is why I haven't posted it yet. I have been told that this would make a good Chevy Chase movie. The events that occurred are not serious enough to be too sorry about and looking back are so crazy they are funny.

It all started with the Blizzard. There was a lot of buzz about a historic blizzard coming through Utah. Many roads were closed and we got calls from Andrew's family about the storm coming through. As scheduled it hit about 3:00. We were originally hoping to run up to St. Maries that evening, but as Andrew called me at 3:30 and told me I needed to get home or I wouldn't make it home from work, it was clear that we wouldn't be going anywhere that night. It was tricky driving home with wind and snow and literally the taillights in front of me kept me on the road. I came home to find that someone had slid through our yard taking out the mail box and missed my newly planted oak tree by about 2.5 inches.

I really wanted to go and see Andrew's family, particularly Marcus and Christa because we hadn't seen them for a long time. I pushed Andrew to go the next morning despite his hesitations with the weather.

We made it 4 hrs, just past Anaconda Montana when it popped, or so we thought. The back wheel to our truck had sheered off the lug nuts and removed the whole wheel sending it flying down the median while we skidded to the side of the road. Lucky for us it was a back wheel and lucky the roads were clear...at that particular spot. 4:00 p.m. was about the time that we lost the wheel and 4:30 the tow truck came, 5:00 was when it was too late to get anything fixed. 6:00 was when we couldn't rent a car for an affordable price. 7:00 was when we finally decided to check into the Motel until after Thanksgiving.

The town of Anaconda is quite small. The only places open on Thanksgiving day were Albertson's and the gas station. This made for quite the feast. The microwave and mini fridge aided slightly in our attempt at dinner.
Andrew got us into the hotel where there was no dogs allowed. We had to sneak Charlie out every time he needed to use the restroom and keep him out of sight from the owner. This was a little tricky because this is a little Motel in a small town....it just added to the fun.Andrew was in much better spirits than I was as you can see his smile is genuine even though the temperatures that morning in Anaconda was 2 degrees. We are in a generously lent SUV that was provided by the nice guy Mick that towed us then fixed our truck.
My smile on the other hand is completely fake, but it helped me to pretend anyway.

Hello Peeps

2010-11-13T13:30:00.000-08:00

Today has been a great Saturday. Partly because it has been productive, talked to family, cleaned. I actually love cleaning...I don't like washing dishes, but I actually enjoy everything else. The pleasure I get when my house is completely clean makes the process a happy one. I also was given the treat of being able to eat out..we have cut back dramatically and I am currently munching on the deliciousness that comes from A&D cheese curds followed by their amazing root beer.

This week the music teacher came to me and said she wanted to come and watch my class. She had been talking to another teacher and she told her that all of her students just LOVED art and couldn't wait to come every week. Now she wants to come and see what I'm doing. That made me feel good :) It gives me confidence that maybe I am making a good career move.

I only have 3 weeks left of the semester! Pretty fast work. I really have learned some things that I am really excited about. One of my favorite classes is a technology in education class. Awesome, I am learning about all these programs I had never heard of that are really handy.

I am now going to go and do a few blocks to my quilt that I think I can figure out with out Alice, my neighbor who is teaching a class in my ward. I think I might try to turn a pair of my jeans into skinny jeans...I know I never would have thought. I bought some boots that only look good OVER your pants...well you can't stuff regular jeans without it looking dorky.

Gardening is fun

2010-10-30T08:09:00.000-07:00

http://www.gardeners-index.com/
http://www.gardeners-index.com/profile/DeAnnaShaw

I joined this website, which I have already loved. They featured my picture on their main page and gotten quite the response from my carrots. FUN!

Eh Whatever

2010-10-28T16:55:00.001-07:00

I'm too tired to care about anything right now. I have some friends that will be showing up shortly for dinner. I sit here and blog instead of inspecting the house. Instead of squeezing in any homework. I do this instead of working late to meet my goal of 10 policies a day. I sit here and blog even though I know that I should probably baby proof my house. I have hardly seen a moment of Andrew today, yet I sit here and blog instead of visiting with him. (he is outside in the cold after all...I don't belong outside in the cold).

I have a little bit of a beef to pick with some out there. I have tried to visit a few of your blogs recently only to find I CAN'T... Please invite me to be a reader, there are a few of you, but I won't assume our friendship except for my BROTHER with whom I demand to be added. (please) That is if you don't want to see the monster at the end of this book...if you know what I mean.

Students...a poor kid got pegged today with a lunch box from an apparently unexplained bit of rage. I saw the 90 degree angle welt left on this poor kids face. He is such a cute kid too, he reminds me of T.J. Sheffield when he was a little kid. I watched this same kid try to be a man and solve a bully problem just earlier this week in my art class when he told me about two kids and when we all talked about it, he burst into tears. The thing is, is this kid is well-liked, nice, funny, appropriately energetic. He just has had a bad week.

Another student. Wes. Asian. Genius 6-yr-old. He brought his show and tell. After about 10 minutes of a million items coming out of the bag I was ready to start class until he explained that he prepared a quiz for the class. Out came a little bag full of taffy. I really needed to get going with the class, but he kept asking his mentally prepared questions and all of the kids bolted their hands in the air to answer.."what did I do to make the fish" he asks as he peers back into his bag. The smile of glee that spread across his face as he took complete control over the class was quite amusing.

BUZZZZZY

2010-10-19T16:57:00.001-07:00

I love James Christensen.

Folks...I have a confession to make. I really like being busy. I do. I get so many more things done. I feel fulfilled and I am just fine once I get into my groove.
Last week I discovered the mormon channel ap for my phone and was able to download it and guess who now gets to multitask while they drive. Yep me, I have listened to my scriptures more lately than I ever did when I wasn't busy. I also worked out 4x last week...I can't remember the last time that happened and that was my MAJOR! ALSO, I worked an extra half hour at work last week and have been able to get caught up on some things. I haven't missed class or a single assignment. We went to the temple. I can honestly say that didn't happen as much as it should have.

I start to wonder why it is that I am counting down the days until school is over and this crazy schedule is done with because I really am enjoying how things are going. I also really like being a student, so no complaints there. Tonight I GET to go see my friends in class. Maybe I should post a picture for you. I see them more than I see most of you, so I would like to introduce you to them.. maybe next post.

Homework

2010-10-11T20:16:00.001-07:00

I don't really have any new news for this post nor anything particularly interesting to say. I did however, want to put up a different post that wasn't homework. As was the last 5 posts.

I am so excited this weekend to see my family as well as seeing my in-laws. I got a beautiful little niece not too long ago that was blessed on Sunday and she is so precious. Cheesy I know, but I'm okay with that.

I also thought it was pretty cute today when my students lined up to sign up for next weeks show and tell. I think it is going to go well.

Benson Sisters

2010-10-06T16:51:00.000-07:00

Lee Family Generations

2010-10-06T16:50:00.000-07:00

Lee Family Generations

2010-10-06T16:43:00.000-07:00

I love this

2010-09-28T20:00:00.000-07:00

Grrrrr...to put it nicely.

2010-09-26T18:22:00.000-07:00

I have 2 disturbing stories. But befor i tell them i will tell you that i'm typing one-handed and this will take me 100 yrs if i try to correct all te errors.

A few weeks ago Anrew left fir a hunting trip. While he was gone i saw this mouse in the middle of the day run rright across the floor in front of me. I was in bed a few nights later and pretty sure I heard "something" rattle te dishes in the kitchen sink. Another night I was sleeping and felt something on the back of my neck and when i reached back IT SCURRIED AWAY! I was so freaked out I got up and set a mouse trap. I was avoiding this earlier BECAUSE IF YOU CATCH A MOUSE YOU HAVE TO DISPOSE of the mouse and I wasn't game for touching a crushed dead mouse...until he showed up on my neck and then I decided it was worth it. Well the outside cat slept with me the next night and andrew set the trap the next day when he got home (the one i tried to set in the middle of the night broke while I was setting it si I had to go buy more. We caught him in a half hour.

Last night I was in bed so tired. I felt something on my forehead. I thought it might have just been a hair that was getting adjusted to my new position, but then i felt it again. This time i reached up to check and it STUNG me!! It was a wasp and yes it got killed. It hurt! stupid wasp. My finger immediately started to swell. This morning my poor finger is so swollen I feel like it will burst. The swelling has spread down the back of my hand and knuckles,,it really hurts :(...stpid wasp. so I couldn't play the piano in church. I can only type one-handed. I couln't chop anything for dinner. Lame-o.

Bed should be a safer place.

Golly What a Day

2010-09-12T15:58:00.000-07:00

I made dinner 2 days in a row folks...not just little dinner either. We had roast and potatoes yesterday and then today I made crock-pot chicken with rice and potatoes (I like rice better) and then homemade eclairs for dessert. That is what I'm talking about.

I'm coming to terms with the surgery situation. Andrew came to the Dr. with me when we went we found that I currently have about a 0-15% chance of getting pregnant and hopefully with surgery they can increase those chances or prevent problems like ectopic pregnancies etc. SO, we have to get some better insurance and sign up for that before any of that can take place...either that or save $5,000.

Andrew is still pretty optimistic that we will have our own kids, meaning kids that share our genetics. :) His optimism is helpful. I think I'm okay with whatever happens and most days I am pretty content with how life is going.

Andrew is going on another hunting trip this week, he is pretty excited. He even wore his elk tie to church this week for good luck. Do you thik it will help? Life is good.

Sugery

2010-09-07T21:05:00.000-07:00

The verdict...surgery....I'm not really in the mood to talk about it.

Here we GO!

2010-09-03T20:28:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was in the truck with Andrew and as we drive down my favorite road...the one to my house he says "You know what I really want to do...". pause...(I'm getting really interested because Andrew doesn't say in depth thoughts or share those type of things very often, so when these moments come I really am interested in what is going on in his brain.) I look at him as he continues..." I want to drive like 100 miles an hour and drive smack into a cow"....He looks at me and smiles "wouldn't that be so cool".... I shake my head and smile. Ha ha ....sigh. Oh well, maybe next time.

Moving on. The whirlwind has begun. My classes have started both at college and at the elementary school. The kids have mixed feeling about my hair, but I think they will get used to it. I am a little nervous about this program. I have heard mixed things about it. I hope that I'm doing the right thing. The good news is that after this school year I get an internship that acts as my student teaching, but I basically become a teacher after that. The bad news is, they don't necessarily have to hire you after, which I thought was a done deal. I'm sure it will all be fine.

Cool thing about today is that I bought my very first Apple tree...Andrew doesn't know, but I'm tired of waiting for him to say yes, he has the whole huge yard plan that he wants to put together before he will let me do anything, but he won't touch the yard if he can help it. Therefore since I'm the one that works in the yard...I get to pick...not to mention it takes a few years before they will fruit and I don't want to put it off any longer...AND He chopped down the other tree without my permission so there.

Speaking of cows...my friend down the road took this picture..so funny.

Cranky

2010-08-14T20:28:00.001-07:00

I'm having a bit of a downer day and it is mostly because I am cranky. It makes me more vulnerable during these times to negative thought and a "wo is me" attitude. Luckily I have been preparing my Sunday school lesson for tomorrow and who better to study than of course JOB. Despite all his hardships he was faithful and full of integrity. One of the quotations at the bottom emphasizes asking the right questions when you are having hard times. He suggests to avoid "Why me?" questions and focus on: "How can I remember my many blessings in times of trial?”
SO...time to make a list of all the positives that have come due to my inability to have kids.
1. Plenty of one-on-one time with Andrew
2. Able to buy a house
3. Able to finish school and go back again!
4. Had a chance to pay off some loans
5. Able to relate and sympathize with others in the same situation
6. Will fully appreciate the blessing of kids when the time comes which I may not have otherwise.
7. Have time to develop hobbies like quilting, scrapbooking, painting, piano.
8. Don't have to worry about car seats (I know I'm not going to love that)
9. I may get the option to help a kid through adoption somewhere, which would be cool.
10. I will never be confused of being my child's sibling because I will be OLD!

Reunion Time

2010-08-08T08:48:00.001-07:00

I'm so excited to take a break and go up to Bear Lake with the Shaw's. We just did all the shopping and are going to have a ton of food!

Crazy Week

2010-08-01T13:49:00.000-07:00

What an interested week. This week we had a funeral in our ward for a young guy that committed suicide. Very sad. We also had a lady get hit by one of the young women while she was out jogging and was in critical condition, she probably should have died, but I guess it wasn't her time. It was very sweet to hear her husband and son bear their testimonies in sacrament today....not something I think they would do much.

I also had a Dr's appt and they found out that I'm half broken. I'm a little emotional about it today, but initially I was pretty interested and happy to know what was going on. One of my fallopian tubes is blocked, meaning I only get half as many chances to get pregnant. I imagine my Dr. will put me on clomid to help me get prego...hopefully it will help.

Good News is that I'm one week away from finishing my summer math class and I have been officially accepted into my program and will be working towards my teaching license for the next 3 semesters. FYI, I probably won't be able to do much so don't feel bad if we turn down invitations.

We are so excited to be seeing a lot of family in the upcoming weeks!! I love them.

Fun Times

2010-07-28T19:52:00.000-07:00

4th of July pics

2010-07-21T17:51:00.001-07:00

Little John

2010-07-06T20:40:00.000-07:00

This is little John, he hasn't been ridden in a little while so is a little on the chubby side, but it is better than the opposite right (starving). He is half Clydesdale half thoroughbred. We get to bring him over to our pasture at the end of the week after he gets shoes. Until then, he is only half a block away, so we decided to take some pictures. Fun stuff. I may even get riding lessons from my good friend next door. She teaches a 4-H class, so I might join the other 10 year olds :D.

FUN!!!

2010-06-25T20:54:00.000-07:00

I had a very fun weekend last week with the Beans and Andrew. They came to stay with us for a bit to take a break from "city" life. A bit of country was the ticket ;) We went to our favorite sushi place in town that Marcus and Christa got us hooked on. Much to our pleasure they agreed it was as good as we claimed. I LOVE sushi.

Unfortunately about a half hour before the Beans arrived...it hit. My monthly bit of H-E- double toothpicks. I pretty much hit a wall and couldn't stand up straight for the next 2 days. Luckily Carillisa was perfectly content relaxing on the couch with me. I will save the details of the agony. I will tell you about the incident in Texas Roadhouse. The Beans had never been there before, so despite my logical desire to stay down I wanted to experience it with them. Everyone walked at half pace to help hide the fact that I had to go slow and they didn't laugh as I half hunched my way through the door. I had been down all day up to that point, so the walk from the car to the door was a first for the day. The walk from the door to the table over did it. As we sat C grabbed the metal bucket to break her peanut shell into. I quickly snapped my fingers and she handed it over. I dry heaved a few times until it finally happened. She was very gracious about handing over the bucket she obviously wanted. It would have been great if I thought I could have made it to the bathroom...unfortunately it was too late especially with the pace that I was going that day. Very embarrassing.

I would love to say it was all worth it, but unfortunately Texas Roadhouse was having a bad day and didn't give them the impression I hoped it would. They were unusually slow and the food wasn't cooked well at all. Oh well, I hope they will give it another shot.

Here is the good news of the whole bit. Because of the trauma I went through, I was much more determined to get this fixed. As of July 22nd I should have a chance to meet with an OBGYN (who is also a surgeon) about getting surgery to fix my issue. I'm also on a cancellation list so if an earlier appointment comes up I should be able to expedite the process. I really hope that will be the case so I don't have to go through this again. Hopefully this will help the infertility as well as the stomach pain. Overall I'm happy to be getting it done!

Cute Project

2010-06-23T19:44:00.000-07:00

I stopped my former landlord from taking these cool old milk cans to a yard sale a while back and he let me keep them. I wanted to plant flowers in them and was thinking I would arrange them around the mailbox. Carillisa came over and I told her my plan and she asked if I was going to paint them. I had originally decided not to because I had seen some painted and I didn't really like them, plus I liked the old rustic look. She made a good point though and said if I put them by the front door the red would contrast really nicely with the white house and green would contrast nicely with the red also. I went to the garden shop after work and made a project out of it tonight. I have to say I'm pretty happy about how they turned out. I ended up painting them red, but I mixed some darker paint into it and didn't blend it to keep an old not-perfect look to them.

2010-06-17T10:01:00.001-07:00

I’m Grateful to be an American. I thought about the statement being proud to be an American, which I am, but when I think about how I really feel, Grateful is a more appropriate word. I am grateful to live in a place where people can be themselves and live their religion and raise their families in freedom. A place where everyone can vote and have a job. Where people can freely let their voices be heard and stand up for what they believe. I’m grateful to live in a place where people want to come and live because of the blessings we are given here. I’m grateful that I am able to freely pray to my Father in Heaven without fear of persecution.

I love thinking about the 4^th of July with the flags waving and fireworks. The summer BBQ’s with friends and families. Watching drive-in movies and going to carnivals. There are so many things that I love about being here. 3 cheers to those who serve, 3 cheers to those who vote, 3 cheers to those that are grateful to be American.

Memorial Day Weekend

2010-06-12T16:30:00.000-07:00

This picture wasn't from the weekend, but we did get to spend some time with both Lee families and enjoyed watching these cute kids. Garrett pulls his play car up to this tree, climbs to the top and is just able to reach the lowest branch. It is just big enough for him to get a nice swing in hanging from the branches. We had a great time at Kenny and Jamile's playing rock band...way fun..they just need country songs :)
Alishia and I fought over who got to hold Libby, I let Alishia have a turn while I helped C make onion rings to go with our fish fry.
Saturday morning while the boys went fishing C decided to spontaneously chop her hair off. Turned out WAY cute.
I got my turn to hold Libby and Charley didn't want to get left out. hmmm...wonder if this is going to be a common picture when I have my own kids.
Richard, Kenny, Beaner and Andrew spent the day fishing at Utah Lake and they brought dinner back for the whole gang. We think this should become a yearly tradition.

Kitchen video and "why we moved here" video

2010-06-09T04:44:00.000-07:00

Happy

2010-06-06T18:51:00.000-07:00

I have learned from my wonderful husband just how much happiness is a decision. I have had to work hard, but I feel like I'm getting there with help from the Big Man upstairs. (I think prayers from others have helped too ;)) I also have been taking my anxiety pills which helps.

I feel like for the first time in a long time that I'm not waiting for the future to happen to be happy, I am taking life in the moment....not something that I have been very good at. I am happy here in my little house in the country. I am happily married to the cutest "tough" guy. I have my sweet little charlie that has truly been heaven sent.

You know I used to have all kinds of qwerks too. Things that bugged. I used to HATE it when people would smoke on the sidewalk. I used to HATE it when people used bad grammar. I used to think some testimonies on Sunday were....well, embarrassing for them. I had very specific books I liked and movies I liked. There was only one perfect car, there was only one right way to coordinate clothes. I have decided that these things just don't matter....as Andrew CONSTANTLY used to say "why don't you just chill out about it"...Whenever I would go on a tangent and want to express myself he wouldn't respond. (Yes, this really bothered me.) However, by default I have learned to not go on tangents. Living in the country I have lived with a lot of people with bad grammar and I have really loved them, and their bad grammar is part of who they are and I wouldn't want to change it. Most testimonies on Sunday when received with the Spirit have a good message to bring, whether the bearer followed testimony protocol or not.

Coming from a family that analyzed everything and formed opinions about everything (which isn't necessarily bad) I felt like it was very normal. Then I married Andrew....I'm not sure he has an opinion about anything, at least not ahead of time. His family doesn't analyze anything. I don't have to care about the little stuff. I don't have to care about what happens in the future. I only have to keep the commandments and choose to be happy about today.

Problem Solved!!

2010-05-18T19:16:00.000-07:00

I had some of the worst stomach pain I have ever had in my life yesterday. Let me rephrase, it was THE worst pain I have ever had in my life. I was border-line on my way to the ER. I rode it out and waited for the pain to pass and made an appointment with a DR. this morning.

Before I went to the DR. I googled my key problems "intestines, menstrual". I have had these same problems for the last 2 years and always attributed them to IBS or I found sites to Chron's disease, but today I got a different site that I had never found before. Intestinal Endometriosis. I found this at infertility physician.com

"A woman with intestinal Endometriosis will tell me that she has significant GI symptoms that vary with her menstrual cycle. (Yep, thats me) The symptoms may be present only at the time of the menstrual period or they may be present all month long and worsen at the time of the period. (Yep, thats me) The most common symptoms include loss of appetite, (Yep, thats me) nausea (but vomiting is rare)(Yep, thats me), diarrhea(Yep, thats me), increased gas(Yep, thats me), significant bloating (Yep, thats me), crampy abdominal pain (Yep, thats me), painful bowel movements (Yep, thats me), and sharp stabbing rectal pain(Yep, thats me)."

Having found this site I felt very emotional. I didn't know what it all meant, but I was in tears knowing that this could be the answer and reason for us not being able to have kids and also the reason to this horrible pain I have been experiencing.

I went to the Dr. at the University Clinic, her name is Mary. The nurse that took me to the back room noticed immediately that I was having stomach issues as I was hunched as I walked down the hall, she smiled and said "your having stomach pain aren't you" I couldn't help it, but I replied yes and started to cry. She handed me a tissue as we walked past a box and apologized for starting me off early. I talked to my Dr. for a while and we discussed the possible problems, I mentioned that I had attributed it to IBS and she nodded in agreement confirming my thoughts, but then I also mentioned the Intestinal Endometriosis and that we have been trying to get pregnant for quite a while. She lifted her eyes and nodded again and said that it was easily fixed. She will have to do a few tests to confirm, but asked more questions to try and verify and all were in agreement. She stayed and talked for quite a while with us about the different options we had. Overall the best thing was that she said she could easily fix it. I have to go back in for some tests and get a colonoscopy (yay). She also gave me some interesting information about my anxiety that I didn't really know before. I didn't realize your intestines were so closely tied to your brain, she is having me up my dosage for my anxiety meds and ordered me to gain weight. My BMI was at about 16.3 and she said it should be at least 19. Plus she said being as old as I am I shouldn't still be skinny like I am, I should have put on some womanly fat. She also asked how much school I had left, I replied that I had 3 semesters and she said good, that is enough time that we can get you better and pregnant. I pretty much love her for saying that. Overall I think she felt like my anxiety was a key factor in all of the problems and wanted to get that under control.

I am still in pain today, she didn't really fix that, but wanted to wait until my period was over to further any tests and fix it in the future. Hopefully the future tests will work out well and I can get better!!

Time for an update

2010-05-11T20:37:00.000-07:00

College is finally over (for now), finals week was last week and I got 90% on my stats final!! Which was much needed and bumped my struggling grade up to a B. Yay. I am looking forward to having some time off. Sadly my other school is almost over and I'm sad to see it end. It has really been fun here near the end. I got a big hug from Fernanda in the 4th grade at Walmart today, she saw me and ran over and gave me a big hug.....Yes, it made my day. Her Mom seemed a little curious from a distance wondering who her kid was randomly hugging. :) These kids just touch me in little ways all the time and I just love them. It has been by far the most satisfying job I have ever had. Which isn't too surprising I guess, but still is just the same.

Above is a picture of Mark (1st grade). They had free art time and all the girls were taping these bead pieces to their ears and he joined in, it was pretty cute. He also won an award for participating in the Doodle for Google art contest, I put a gold sticker on his and I'm pretty sure it was about a half hour of bragging as he mentioned how much work it takes to get a gold medal and it was pretty amazing. He is definitely one of my favorites....don't believe what you hear, teachers do have favorites....I just have lots of them.

Not much has been going on here except a lot of work. Almost the day after closing I decided that the wallpaper must go, shortly after plaster came and now I'm painting the cupboards. It is going to be very pretty when I'm done, but I'm waiting to get completely finished to get some good before and after pictures. I have also been trying to plant my garden in the middle of it all and also rearrange my yard. Andrew has been demo-ing the basement and helping the previous owners clean out the big shed. There has been a lot to do. I haven't been feeling 100% tonight to I relaxed a little and tried to do some cleaning instead.

Andrew has bred Sage again and updated a subscription he has to a gun-dog website. We have raised the prices ($1,000 for F and $800 for M) on them and still already have 4 deposits on the puppies and they aren't even born yet! The deposits are even mostly for the girls. Not a bad deal. It will be helping me get through the rest of school here. Speaking of School (again) I should only have 3 semesters and I will be done. Yay. I'm so having a REAL party next time I graduate.

Well, I'm going to go to bed early tonight. Hope you all have a wonderful week.

Project A & B

2010-04-11T18:54:00.001-07:00

The last items to be taken care of before we can close on the house was the roof and painting the garage...Done and Done!

Not too many mishaps either. Only 2 people fell off the roof, I watched one, and he stood up smiling, which I gathered as a good sign. One of the windows were broken! Guess I will have to get a new one (darn :) ). I got nailed in the head with a chunk of plywood that came sailing off the roof, yes you can feel the bump. I was so worn out at that point of the day too that I stomped inside mad and almost in tears. The only other crazy thing was that I nearly swallowed a bee with my cream soda (he was hiding in my can) and he stung me on my tongue. Don't worry, Mom was sure to stomp that bee.

Unfortunately Andrew had to finish up today (Sunday) before the rain comes tomorrow. He told me to be sure and tell the ward that he was a sinner. A cute lady in my ward got up and bore her testimony and said that she was so happy that we would be staying (made me cry), I decided to get up too. So, I told them what Andrew said and proclaimed that he was a sinner, but that we were very grateful for all the selfless help we received and that it was very Christlike and one of the reasons we loved it here so much. Funny enough when I got home from church a few of the men that were in Sacrament meeting were now on my roof helping Andrew finish. :) Guess they weren't too concerned about Andrew's sinful behavior. They were so great thank you, thank you, thank you, to all those that helped, as you can see by the pictures...it looks beautiful.

Question...If you are trying to keep the Sabbath, even though your hubby is finishing the roof, do you stand there and watch as the neighborhood works on Sunday for your behalf, or do you put on your gloves and show your appreciation by helping out?

2010-03-30T19:06:00.000-07:00

www.deannasgraphicdesign.blogspot.com

They Love Me

2010-03-26T09:41:00.000-07:00

I'm like a fairytale princess and all the animals flock to me.....:)

Celebrate good times COME ON!

2010-03-10T19:59:00.000-08:00

I want you to text me every time that song comes into your head after reading my title.

Today I thought wasn't going to be a great day, but as it turns out it ended up being a great day for a couple of reasons.

This morning I woke up at 5:30 with a headache, not a migraine, but a can't fall back to sleep bad headache. After attempting to go back to sleep I got out of bed and took some pills and debated calling in sick. When I wake up with a headache it is never a good day. I worked on turning my brain off so I could fall back to sleep and eventually did. Alarms off at 6:30 and snoozed by 6:30.01. Back to sleep. Woke up at 7:20...yep still had to shower, yep I'm was going to be late. I was. My job is pretty flexible about being on time and so I wasn't stressed about it, my headache was gone and I took the time to eat breakfast at home, that happens never.

By the time I actually did get to work I was refreshed and fed and didn't have any anxiety which I have had pretty bad for about 2 weeks. All good things. I had even turned in my last bit of homework before spring break and was released for a week...yay.

My school kids were cute today, they always are. I got invited to two of my first graders birthday parties last week. My fellow faculty members were nice and asked me questions about the house and we talked. (They are a little clicky so it has taken me a bit to feel that I fit in.) I give out blue cards to my kids (they are rewards) when they help me clean and now I have kids begging to help me clean all the time. I have one student that doesn't really like Art and she always asks me if I need help with anything and I don't mind having her organize stuff, so my classroom is clean and my things are organized.

My Principle Maria told me today to make sure my job application was up to date and that I be sure and get screened by the district so I can get a teaching job. She got some good news that day and feels pretty confident that she will be able to hire me as a second grade teacher next year! Oh, that would make life so much easier (as my eye twitches).

When I got back to my title company job I found out that the purchase contract had been signed and we faxed it to Beaner (our lender) and are full force ahead to buy the house!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The good thing is that we got him down on the price, the bad thing is, that we have to get the appraisal up to be able to get a loan for the right amount or we have to pay the difference, which we could do, but only to a certain extent. Overall I'm thrilled and my anxiety is better already.

When I got home I decided not to go to my class tonight and went to the grocery store instead (I got me some cute socks too). We got Little Ceasars pizza and had an American Idol celebration party with our pizza and cream soda. Telling you about the grocery store reminded me that I bought 3 containers of peanut butter to add to my food storage. That reminded me, I did an assessment of my food storage for FHE on Monday and figured how much food we would need for a 2 year supply for Andrew and me. I was happy to find that I am about half way there. I have all the wheat I need and about enough beans and oats. I need more pasta, rice and fruits & veggies.

(LOL...we just mopped the floor downstairs and used a considerable amount of bleach to relieve the pee smell from the puppies. Charlie has been sneezing like crazy, it is so funny to watch a dog sneeze.)

We also have sold all of the puppies and they can't even leave their momma for 2 weeks, we have deposits and everything. Holy cow are they cute. I love having little puppies around.

I love this puppy she has such droopy eyes and is so mellow, it is so cute.

I have to say we aren't having any luck in the baby category yet, but the Lord is sure making up for it in all the other aspects of my life. I am pretty happy and today was a good day.

Journal

2010-02-28T17:26:00.000-08:00

I was looking in some old boxes this morning and found a journal from when I was 8. Maybe it is just me, but I thought some of the entries were pretty hilarious.

"today we had a long chapter in scripture study..."

"Richard made some weird puppets out of my socks I can't remember the names ow well..."

"my sister Alisha copies Denis the Menis just barly she said thair we go Hot Lips.." (Alishia would have been 4)

"....today me and Alishia made a T.V. out of cardboard..."

"...Hi well it's summer now and we are working working we had to clean the family carpet on the driveway..."

Age 10
"Today Kenny went to the store and got some banana's and they were skquishy (real spelling) so he put them into a kart and the lady came back to the kart and started yelling at her kids about who put the banana's in the kart so they were fighting about it so the lady had the banana's and Kenny goes over and take the banana's away from her....." (you should see the picture I drew to go with it)

"Kenny punched me in the back and it is sore today." (another illustration was included)

"...well about the play I got Leartes (a boy) but at least I was in the play I had to kill Hamlet with a crutch."

"Tonite I finally lost that tooth look what was holding it up (insert a picture with a big root here)..sorry I can't trace teeth"

"Well I'm 12 time for puberty..."

"I am becoming more mature and Alishia drives me nuts so I pretty much kicked her out of the room..."

"Carol's (our bus driver) back wheels slid into the back of a truck it was neat..."

"Carillisa is on her way to the hospital I"M GOING TO BE AN AUNT!!!" (now picture a stick figure I drew that looks like it has been electrocuted to portray my excitement)

"***** came in this outfit and it was so ugly, she looked like a caterpillar"

Maybe it is just me, but I thought these were pretty funny. Man wouldn't it be nice to only have to worry about homework and playing with friends again.

speaks for itself...:)

2010-02-22T20:49:00.000-08:00

Valentines!

2010-02-14T13:33:00.000-08:00

It is time for a new post. Since the last post we have made a little progress on the house purchasing, obtained 6 new puppies, Andrew had a birthday and we have had fun people come to visit.

One of the people to visit first off was Craig, the owner of our house. We talked to him about pricing and made negotiations. The appraisal came in really low, which is great for us, except he said he wouldn't be willing to sell it for that little, it meant more to him sentimentally than that. The truth of the matter is that it is worth more than that for us as well. He said he would be willing to sell it for the tax card value. We hope to counter for an amount in the middle and have been working to see if we can get the appraisal up a little. We got some electrical work done on the house this week and put some cute new porch lights out. Hopefully we get a chance to talk to them today and get things finalized. My goal is to be closed by the end of the month, or close to it. We have a lot of things we want to improve on the house and are really excited to get them underway.

One of the things we want to do is get a better set-up for the dogs. As you can tell we seem to like them :) Missy is a dog we accumulated from some people that wanted to breed her with Nash and instead of getting a stud fee we ended up getting the mother. We were going to get a pup from the arrangement, but Missy is a little protective of here babies and snapped at the guys kid and he was pretty upset and didn't want her anymore. Missy is now had a litter for us! They are just about to open their eyes and are nice and healthy. And YES she is really protective, we are careful with her, but even with us she is particular about who comes around and whether she will let you pick them up or not. It was funny, yesterday I was going to pet her and every once and a while I would bend down to pet a puppy and the second I would try she would block my hand with her nose and stop me from trying to touch them. She hasn't snapped at us or anything, but is definitely a protective little mommy. 3 girls and 3 boys and we have already had deposits down and Andrew has potentially sold all but 1. If all works out we should make a nice bit of extra money to pay down our student loans with..!

We also had a great time on Andrew's Birthday, he turned 28 this year. We have some really great friends here in Benson that we really enjoy spending time with. They all met us at Texas Roadhouse and had dinner together. It was a little bit of a surprise for Andrew, but he knew something was up when I told him I needed to drive and when I asked him where he wanted to eat and drove the wrong way...it would have been better if he had just picked the right place! I'm sure I could have planned it better, but he would have figured it out anyway. We had a good time and that is all that counts right :)

Kenny and Jamile came up for a bit, we had fun seeing them :)

Blogs

2010-01-19T20:02:00.000-08:00

I sometimes am surprised when I get ready to tell a story to someone and I find that they already know because they read it on my blog. This surprises me for two reasons. One being that I have felt like I am a terribly blogger and really don't post much these days (especially compared to what I used to) and Second, I really didn't think that many people checked it. Apparently people do more than I realize, so hello everyone! :) (lol...I'm a little bit of a dork)

No more news on the house unfortunately. We got an appraisal done last Monday and are hoping that a sales price will quickly follow. I am just ready to get this show on the road and start all the fun project I have lined up in my mind. I keep imagining in my head all the things I want to do...can't wait.

Things are going pretty great here in the meantime. I have been taking my anxiety medication for 4 months now and I really really really like it. I haven't had the tightness in my chest or shortness of breath for a while now and there don't seem to be any adverse side affects. Yep...happy camper. Andrew is pretty cute always...he spoils me.

Andrew is still plugging along at work and really likes his connections there. Oh OH! Speaking of! (I'm shaking my head as I type this) Guess who is getting ANOTHER DOG! Yep he is picking her up tomorrow at the airport, yep first one we have ever gotten by plane. Any ideas on another girl dog name? How about Tina...no offense to anyone named Tina...We think highly of our dogs. Know whats funny...I used to be a little scared of dogs. I can pretty much handle any dog these days.

Charlie has learned to catch his rope toy with his mouth...he is pretty talented like that, except when he runs head first into the couch. Lol, that's funny.

I'm keeping busy with my two jobs and the classes that I'm taking. I also am in a scrapbooking club that is pretty fun and a quilting "club" where we do 2 blocks a month and they show us all the tricks. I'm excited about that. I am also working on a new painting that I'm giving to my neighbor. It was part of a service auction...it is turning out really pretty. I will post a picture when it is done.

Welp..TTFN

Love Him

2010-01-17T11:43:00.000-08:00

I went to work on Thursday and decided after I got there that I was going home :). I got a sub for my class and cleared out of the building before I could make anyone at my office sick. I had a pretty bad cold and had warned Andrew that I was coming home and to wait so I could see him before he left. When I got home he had cooked french toast for me and they were hot ready to come of the griddle when I walked in. He is so cute. He even had the table set and everything. I just put down my purse and sat down.

After we talked for a minute I sat down on the couch and fell asleep. With my coat on and everything I didn't wake up for 4 hours. I think I needed the sleep.

So Cute

2010-01-04T20:16:00.000-08:00

Christa and I playing Guitar Hero over the break...She kicked all our behinds...More Christmas pictures to come.

Can I say that I really do love teaching. I got to work today after the long break and found a note in my box. On a red piece of construction paper, Olivia expressed her love for art and said she enjoyed me as a teacher, loves the projects we do and wished me a Merry Christmas. Anyone who has issues with their self-esteem should become a teacher because those kids are so sweet! Oh, I almost forgot. She drew a picture on the bottom of a tree and a present with a tag that said "For Mrs. Shaw"....Sigh...I love my job.

I am pretty sure I have already told everyone that I know this story, but I am adding it. There was another girl named Maddi that doesn't speak. (not literally) She is the type you sit next to the noisy kid because you know they will never be a destructive pair. She came in the last day before the break and surrounded my desk with the other kids (which they seem to be making a habit of) and handed me a white box. I said Thank You and asked her what it was she said in her barely audible voice "Carmels" and quickly sat down.

Essay for the Writing exam...constructive criticism

2010-01-03T18:15:00.000-08:00

_{Piece of Cake or Tomato}

_Whatonce was a way of life and means to survival has, in modern day, become a cherished hobby by many. The skills have been lost and put in the hands of the professionals. Gardening, following three simple steps, can be very fulfilling. These steps start with: having a solid plan for your future garden, getting the right fertilizers to feed your future plants, and watering appropriately. These are fool-proof steps to a delicious reward.

Starting your garden without a plan is like traveling without a map. You will find a destination, but it may not be the one you are looking for. Mapping out your garden, and carefully placing your different fruits and vegetables, will help as your plants begin to grow. You may find that some need more sun and others need more room. An experienced gardener, for example, can tell you when growing pumpkin or squash, that the direction of the sun and the spacial planning makes a big difference in the ease of watering and weeding. With your plan, pay attention to the spacing of your rows for a tiller and your watering system. Starting from the underground up is also helpful when planning your garden.

Part of your garden plan should include fertilization. Soil without fertilizer can inhibit the growth of your vegetables. Preparing your soil with an organic fertilizer is a standard base that is useful to most vegetables in your garden. Many websites can give steps to making compost piles and other organic mixes. Pigeon droppings historically are a coveted fertilizer. Fish used commonly by Indians, is still a gem in anyone’s garden. Additional fertilizers with specific Phosphate, Potassium, and Nitrogen levels can be purchased and applied to individual plants. After all your planning and fertilizing you want to be careful to not wash it all away.

Watering can undo all of your hard work. As a general rule, an overhead sprinkler is not an ideal way to go. By implementing a watering plan that includes flood irrigation, soaker hoses or hand watering, you can prevent common garden problems. These problems include: rotting, excessive weeds, and attraction of certain pests. Individual plants have different watering needs and should be considered when making your plan. Any slopes or landscape obstacles in your garden should be considered to prevent too much drainage or standing water. If planned carefully, slopes can be used to your advantage by placing the right seeds in the right places. When done carefully a burdensome task can be made simple.

The immense personal satisfaction of watching your hard work grow before your eyes is healing. You watch confidently when you go in with a plan, the right amount of fertilizer and a good watering system. With these three items in place you will enjoy giving your family and friends nutrient rich foods, larger than anything they’ve seen at the local market.

Back to School

2009-12-07T20:08:00.000-08:00

After some thought and research I have decided to go back to school. I am going to get my second Bachelors in Elementary Education. I have really enjoyed teaching school and think that it is the best option for the future potential of having a family. Since having kids has taken its time, it seems an ideal time to make this happen. I had a very good meeting with the adviser at Utah state and found that my previous BS set me up nicely for starting this program Because I am already I teacher I get to apply for a paraprofessional teaching program allowing me to take all my teaching classes at night and can get paid at 5/8 salary for student teaching, which normally you don't get paid for.

I officially got re-accepted last week and will be taking a few math classes this spring and a couple elementary ed classes this summer then I start my levels which will be two semesters next year. I am both excited and a little apprehensive starting school again. Still working the two jobs and going to school is going to be a lot of work, but I have always loved school and am looking forward to the chance to be a full-time teacher.

Until the chaos begins I am hoping to keep my life as simple as possible. It doesn't seem to be working very well, but most of the extra things are fun, so I can't complain.

More Graphic Design Work

2009-11-30T18:46:00.000-08:00

Marisa is my Principles daughter and she has asked me to do some stuff for her.

Good Reminder :)

2009-11-24T14:00:00.000-08:00

Pres. Harold B. Lee's Quote on America

"Men may fail in this country, earthquakes may come, seas may heave beyond their bounds, there may be great drought, disaster, and hardship, but this nation, founded on principles laid down by men whom God raised up, will never fail. This is the cradle of humanity, where life on this earth began in the Garden of Eden. This is the place of the new Jerusalem. This is the place that the Lord said is favored above all other nations in all the world. This is the place where the Savior will come to His temple. This is the favored land in all the world. Yes, I repeat, men may fail, but this nation won't fail. I have faith in America; you and I must have faith in America, if we understand the teachings of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are living in a day when we must pay heed to these challenges.

I plead with you not to preach pessimism. Preach that this is the greatest country in all the world. This is the favored land. This is the land of our forefathers. It is the nation that will stand despite whatever trials or crises it may yet have to pass through.

The Lord will not leave His church without direction. Revelation for our guidance comes to the leadership of the kingdom of God on earth.

Pres. & Prophet, Harold B Lee, "Ye Are the Light of the World", (pgs.350-51)

The House

2009-11-15T14:39:00.000-08:00

Well...we have spoken with our landlords and we are really excited because they have told us that we will get first option to buy this place!! We love it here and are so excited. It is on 2.6 acres I think, somewhere around that and overlooks a pond and the bear river. If Zona (the owner) doesn't pass away before the beginning of the year we are going to write up a lease to own option and get things rolling. If she passes before then, well we will buy it. Zona has been on Hospice since July and was thought to pass a long time ago. She has Alzheimer and can't eat or do anything by herself, so unfortunately she is just miserable and lingering on. This extra time has helped us get in a good buying position and hopefully everything will work out well. Hip Hip Hooray for the house in Benson!

MORE FUN PICS

2009-11-03T19:24:00.000-08:00

BOYS DUCK HUNTING BEHIND THE HOUSE

SAMANTHA...SHE LIKES DOGS THIS SIZE.

MY FIRST JOB OF THE DAY....

MY CLASSROOM

WE CALL THEM CARROTS ON CARP...THESE ARE THE NORMAL SHAPED ONES.

New Table

2009-11-01T20:07:00.000-08:00

Andrew = funny guy

2009-10-30T07:29:00.000-07:00

We just had our garden tilled under and prepped for the winter. Our neighbor came over with his big tractor and did it while we were at work (there went my cosmos). Some of the 100+ fish that we had buried hadn't quite decomposed completely yet and some of the remains had been tilled to the surface. This probably isn't too bad it will probably just help stir this natural fertilizer and make the garden better. Only one problem...Charlie.

Charlie seems to really like to roll in this fish and thinks it smells nice as he seems to make sure it covers everything on his body. I let him in the house when I got home from work yesterday and quickly realized the vomit inducing stench that he carried. We had this problem already on Monday and I gave him a very thorough soapy bath that still didn't clear all of the stink. Poor Charlie probably thought I hated him as I ran and refused to touch him when he tried to get his hello's from me. I just stared Andrew down and begged him to give Charlie a bath (since I had JUST given him one). Andrew for a long time didn't seem to care and claimed that he could barely smell it. I know this was a lie...it was infecting the whole house. After laughing and noticing that I had been scowling since I walked in the door he did something about it.

I saw Charlie run into the room rubbing his fur against the carpet (like he does after a bath) only it had only been a few moments since he left. He came and jumped up on my lap and he was a little wet. I asked Andrew what he did. He washed Charlie down with a wash cloth and then sprayed him down with Fabreeze. Lol. It did help. I will be giving Charlie a real bath when I get home today.

Puppy Kiss

2009-10-17T12:20:00.001-07:00

I love these little Guys!!

2009-10-17T12:06:00.000-07:00

Summer at a glance

2009-10-11T21:35:00.000-07:00

Boys Fishing in St. Maries

Sisters in Seattle

Kittens all over

Mardi Gras Murder Mystery Dinner-actually pretty fun

Charlie and Kevin...I really like this picture for some reason

Andrew and I in Seattle after catching Gooey Ducks

Andrews Carp...made for a great garden

Alexa and I in St. Maries, we had fun at the Reunion

Good tips

2009-10-08T07:33:00.001-07:00

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

Garden Journal

2009-10-06T17:48:00.000-07:00

This post is mostly for me, so if you don't want to hear what my thoughts and plans are for next years garden...stop reading here.

This year I planted:
1 row - Brocolli
1 row -Peas
1 row - Spinach
1 row - Romain Lettuce
1 row - Carrots
1+ row - Peppers
8 plants - Tomatoes
6 rows - corn
6 plants - pumpkin
8 plants - cucumber
2 rows - onion (one row dudded)
4 plants - potatoes
1 row - beans
1 row - green onions
4+ - Watermelon
1 pouch basil
1 pouch parsley

My thoughts are: I think that we had a good amount of everything. I loved having as many onions and green peppers as we did. I don't think we need quite so many tomatoes. Even less cucumber. I think we had too much corn as well. I specifically like the candy corn. I would be happy planting more pumpkins. I planted the Atlantic Giants, which produced fewer, larger pumpkins, which was fun, but I think I would like some standard pumpkins next year. These turned out all funny shaped. I still have frozen pumpkin from last year anyway and won't need sugar pumpkins for a bit. I planted Beefsteak tomatoes and Oregon Spring. I liked the beefsteaks better, plus they are heirloom, I can keep the seeds if needed. I think that the only thing I will try to grow indoor next year may be some watermelon. Everything else honestly grows better if you just stick it in the ground and water. The potatoes didn't turn out very well, I 'm not sure why. Everything else did really really well. The broccoli was pretty good too, we definitely had enough of it. The spinach was great, the romain was good. I would like to plant just as many onions and peppers again. Maybe a different kind of bean which may be hard since I can't remember what I planted. I also plan to plant Garlic in the spring and cilantro along with my parsley and basil. I love Carillisas lemon thyme, so maybe I will try some of that also.

The burried fish worked out great, I think they have a lot to do with our gardening success. The soaker hoses work great as well, but the layout needs to be better to accomodate our tiller. Our rows also need to be wider to accomodate the tiller as well. I am going to stick with my plan in regards to where we should plant the melons and pumpkin etc. I think since I do the watering I know best.

Fun Week!

2009-09-28T18:47:00.000-07:00

Andrew just got back from a fun hunting trip where he was able to get a nice Elk. The fun ends when they have to butcher the entire thing. I especially love it because my entire house smells like raw meat for a few. This time it was particularly interesting as they day after Andrew found that he had a small cut...rather a scratch. This scratch turned into a hospital visit today. Sunday evening Andrew was complaining that his finger hurt and he noticed it was looking a little swollen. We cleaned it with Hydrogen Peroxide and neosporin and added an nice bandaid. We relaxed watching Goonies. Andrew surprisingly was freezing cold. Now I know that it was not cold. I know when it is cold. Regardless I spent the moving trying to warm his toes and keep him covered with blankets etc. He never really warmed up. After the movie a quick restroom trip sent him over the edge and uncontrollable shivering commenced. He came into the bedroom and was laughing because he was shivering so hard. We knew something had to be wrong and even though Andrew was laughing I was ready to take him to the Hospital. We called Todd my brother-in-law instead and he said we did the right things and to keep the swollen finger warm to increase blood flow. He mentioned that if Andrew got too high of a fever (which he did have a small one) or streaks of red going up his arm, he should go into the Dr.
Andrew didn't sleep well, He was cold for quite a while, but as I laid next to him I was roasting.
The next morning Andrew looked down at his arm and as he watched the red streaks spread up his arm...he decided it was time to go in. Yada yada yada 2 shots and 6 pills a day and a promise to return tomorrow if there is no improvement and we have Andrew, the one handed invalid.

After I got out of classes I went to see him and you could literally see exactly where his veins went clear up his arm to his bicep. Lovely.

Sad truth. We cleaned out the fridge to add 2, 5-gallon, buckets of butchered Elk meat to stay cool until Andrew had it ground. We had to take 2 shelves out to make room. The sad truth, we didn't have to throw any food out or take any food out.

9 puppies

2009-09-19T16:11:00.000-07:00

9 puppies, yep there are a lot, but that is good for us. We are hoping to sell them, which we are certain we have already sold one and have 2 maybies as well. They are stinking cute, so even if any of you don't want to you should come and see them while they are here. I think they will be much cuter in a few weeks, but still cute as is.

Andrew just got back from a week long hunting trip and shot (bow) a bull elk that scored 375...which is good, really good. I don't really speak that language, but I am really glad that he is home.

Being Honest, and rambling.

2009-09-14T20:40:00.000-07:00

I know someone that often when I read their blog I think that they are fairly negative and the half-empty sort. Knowing that I don't prefer to read half-empty material, I try to keep mine upbeat and speak of the good things.

Today I am going to be honest. True to my thoughts and feelings that may honestly be considered half-empty. They may be judged.

This month Andrew and I will be blissfully and happily married for 3 years. Hoping to add a kid to the mix for 2. Many many times during the day I have to remind myself of the wonderful husband I have, the great jobs I have been blessed with, ward, family etc. I have to remind myself all the time because I am so obsessed with wanting to have a little baby that it consumes any spare thought that I might have.

I pretend every time I hear someone gets pregnant to smile and be civil. I truly am happy for those people...really I am. It doesn't make my situation any easier. At first I found it really easy to not be bitter. I wouldn't really consider myself bitter now, but I find myself withdrawing from friends and family who are so lucky to get their chances at parenthood. I purposely don't check blogs of friends that are moving into that phase of life (at what seems to be lightening speed). It is hard and I often feel left behind. Like the kid who didn't get invited to the party, but everyone else did.

My dog just had nine puppies (ha!) who would ever thought I would be jealous of my dog. Man I sound really pathetic. Count your many blessings name them one by one. They come when they are supposed to. Have faith and trust in God's plan for you. Pray for patience.

I don't want to belittle any trials that many of you may have, but just remember to be grateful for the little ones that you may have. There are many of us that would love to have some, so when you feel you are on your last straw....remember just how valuable that little person really is.

I found out today that two of my reading student had been offered cigarettes by their parents. One of them was pretending with his pencil. They are 6. I told them they should tell their parents to stop they will get so sick, and they said they had tried. It is amazing to look into those innocent little faces and realize the future that lies ahead of them when you hear these things. Ironic.

I'm tired of crying about it. Half of me still wants it so bad, and the other half is ready to give up. If I'm not trying then I can't be disappointed.

:) I always think of those stories where these valiant women suffer all these trials with no complaint....I guess I'm not trying very hard. I really should do better. It is probably that I am selfish and want this for myself. I shouldn't be thinking about myself so much. Maybe if I had something to distract me into selfless work....you know like a KID...(just kidding).

I'm not writing any of this for sympathy, mostly just to be honest with myself and not "pretend" that everything is sugar-coated and perfect. I am going to keep trying to better myself and not be so selfish in my thoughts and allow myself to wallow. Onward Christian Soldiers...Ask and ye shall receive, Knock and it shall be opened unto you.

Funny Story

2009-09-07T20:56:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we had a lot of vegetables out of our garden for dinner and with that came a lot of compost that I put in a big silver bowl to take outside to the compost pile. It was about 10:30 or so before I got a chance to take it out, but I didn't want it sitting out in my kitchen all night getting old and smelly. I ventured out into the dark with my slippers and the big (church size) silver bowl to the garden. There is no light on that side of the house heading to the garden. My thoughts were confidant thinking "I'm feeling pretty good, I know where I am going I am comfortable and familiar here and am not scared of tripping or walking the wrong way or of what might come after me.". As I took my first step into the garden, knowing I was in the exact right spot and pretty happy about it, I sunk. I tripped forward plunging my second foot to catch my fall into the 6-9 inch mud. Someone (me), forgot to turn the water off when the were watering the cucumbers a few hours earlier and the nicely tilled SOFT dirt had now become a well...mud-pit. I chuckled as I realized how cocky I had just been and how stupid I now felt. With a giant silver bowl still in hand I tried to veer right to get out of the mud, just to find more mud. right even further, still no luck. One last step and I was out of the mud, but not unscathed. A slipper didn't make it. My red slippers with a pink heart were separated. One completed covered with mud, but on my foot and the other 6" under. I decided to just dump the compost anywhere and heading back for the house carefully missing the mud and scraping through pine trees in the process. I heaved the hose out of the garden and tried to spray off while I could, still laughing at myself and headed inside. I was certain to turn the water off. I checked this morning for my slipper....nowhere to be found on the surface, this is going to require some tiller work I think. My mud holes were so wet that they all filled in once my foot was removed, so that red and pink slipper was buried alive. It was funny.