Randi Comes to Visit!

As you all probably know, President's Day fell over Valentine's weekend this year. Since it was going to be a longer weekend, my best pal Randi drove down from Utah to visit me! She just recently got a new car so I am not sure if she really came to see me, or just wanted to test out the new wheels on a road trip. . . but either way, it was fun having her in town.

A little background on the Randi and Shawna history will make this story a little more interesting. We met up at BYU 4 years ago. Randi was the roommate of my friend Jenae. Jenae and Randi lived with some other girls that year and overall the whole apartment had major tension issues and though I met Randi maybe once, I never really talked to her. The following year however, we both happened to move to the same apartment complex and sure enough, jenae, myself, molly, and kellie, (we were the inseperable little foursome at that point) were put in the same apartment as Randi and her friend (and another former roommate of Jenae's, Lori). The six of us lived together for several months, but our two little groups rarely mixed company. We didn't fight. . . but we weren't real chummy either. The weekend before Valentine's Day, (6 months after moving in together), on a Friday night, I was frantically trying to put a Valentine's Day present together for my friend to ship off the next morning (I dont know why I leave these things until last minute). All my other friends had plans that evening, as well as Lori, therefore it was just gonna be Randi and I home that night. I had some shopping to do for the present, so I sporadically asked Randi if she wanted to tag along. She said sure. Later we have laughed as we reminence on both our feelings after she had agreed to come ("What in the world am I gonna talk to her about all night when we are driving in the car together??") But we somehow made it through the awkward evening and it was the beginning of a very good friendship.

Now- three Valentine's Day's later... Randi drove into town to find her friend Shawna, once again frantically trying to put together a last minute Valentine's gift. Once again, we drove around town to several stores. Once again we worked late into the night, and early in the morning finishing up some crafty project I thought up just a few hours later than I should've. Once again, I got a chipper Randi who did no complaining whatsoever, and was a good sport about the whole thing (including a 3 am delivery (4am in the time zone she came from!)



Not only did she participate in Valentine creations, she did her friendship "duty" by being dragged along on a double date on Valentine's Day. We went and saw Phantom of the Opera, (which was so way good by the way). I don't really think it took much convincing to get her to go, but it was still greatly appreciated.

So this is for you--- Happy Friendship Anniversary Randi!! How would I ever survive Valentine's Day without you??


Obviously I realize with sharing that story, that I will probably get the "Who was this Valentine for?" question that is bound to arise considering I kind of keep the dating stories out of my little blogging world. Well. . . I'm really not gonna share much. I will tell you this however. . . that his job relates closely with birds (pigeons to be exact), and he is very fond of those pesty little buggers, so that is why my random bird cage present is such a stinkin cute gift. I still smile everytime I see it. If you can't tell. . . me and Randi put a whole birdcage together that we made out of pink popsicle sticks- and inside. . is "The Pigeon" from the adorable pigeon book series. (Dont mind the picture, it was way past my bedtime). Random. . . but cute!

The Perks of Being a Teacher

Everyone probably thinks that they know what the perks of teaching are. Of course there is the summer vacations-- that's a given. . . Then there's the sentimental reasons. . teaching our future leaders, seeing the light in their eyes when they understand something they didn't before. . . blah blah blah. . . I think everyone is well aware of those obvious reasons. . but what I am here to talk about today is something different. . . something that probably is not thought about much before becoming a teacher (I sure didn't!), what I am here to talk about today. . . are holidays.

Below is a picture of an adorable present I got from one of my students for Valentine's Day. It is a fatty cookie decorated with a fatty amount of frosting in the shape of the beloved Cookie Monster. This is just one, of the many random and yummy treats I got this past Friday from my class of little second graders.



What's funner than actually getting all of these scrumptious treats? Seeing how excited they are to give them to you. My students were walking in in the morning and would hand me a bag. . . "these are the Valentine's for our class," (then a big beaming smile comes across that little face) and THIS is for you! And they would present me with a big bag of goodies. . . or a big heart shaped box of chocolates that you just know they got to pick out for you themselves. It is so very cute.

Valentine's is not the only day that this scenario occurs. . . we have Christmas, teacher appreciation week, and last days of school that all include the same presentation of some kind of fabulous present from the heart of an eight year old.

I know that there are many people out there that are not exactly fond of Valentine's Day. . . what I say to that. . . go become a teacher. . . because when this day of the year rolls around, there is never any doubt in your mind, that you are not one very loved person. :)

Hope you all had a fantastic Valentine's Day!

Kelly Cruise 2009!

Well we officially disembarked our cruise ship we called home for eight glorious days, exactly one week ago today. Though I had a fantastic time and would love to share all my wonderful memories and pictures with you all, writing this post has been something I have not been looking forward to and have been putting off. There is just so much to write about and so much to say! So I will try to keep it somewhat short because it is probably not nearly as fun to hear about, as it was to actually experience it.

Above is a slide show of a select few of photos chosen from the over 1100 we actually took with Molly, Bonnie, and Dad's cameras. My sad news is. . . I lost my brand new camera which I loved and just got for Christmas, on our second day on the boat. I guess it is better than losing it on the last day of the trip because this way I didn't lose too many pictures. I was however, the only one that took pictures during the emergency drill they always have the first day of sea. It's when they make you all put on your life jackets and meet at your muster stations to practice in case we were to evacuate the ship while at sea. . . scary thought huh? So I put on the life jacket later and got a photo. . . just wasn't the same though. But my family was good about capturing all other events after that!

So basically we boarded in San Diego on Friday and took off in the early evening. We spent Saturday and Sunday on sea. One might assume that the days on sea might be the boring days, but those are actually some of the best. They have a buffet open almost all the time, a pizza place, a hot dog and hamburger stand, ice cream machines, and anything else you might desire through room service. . . all just absolutely free. I definitely did my share of eating! Besides food. . . they had several swimming pools, a water slide, a mini golf course, a gym, and random events, shows, and classes going on all day long. Me and my sisters and Bryan tried to be good about going running each day and mom introduced us to the steam room which we went in several times after that. At the kids center they even had a build a bear thing going on, and lucky enough, I was able to make one even though I am not a kid. I built a moose fondly known as "CannonBall."
The next three days we hit Mexico. The city names can be found on Molly's blog because I cant remember how to say them, let alone spell them! We hit a beach, toured some cities, and did a little touristy shopping. Frankly, Mexico somewhat scares me, so it was always some what of a relief to reboard the ship.
Then the last two days were once again spent on sea. There were thirteen of us all together and it is very rare that our family is all together on one day, let alone a whole entire week so it was lots of fun seeing everyone and being able to hang out with them so much.

A few random highlights that we probably will never forget. . .
1. The heinous couple who stole two of our towels. Scott seriously almost got in a fight with the horrid man and somehow Bonnie stopped him. After that however, the man got evil looks from the whole family whenever he walked by.
2. All of us "kids" scaring all the old people out of the pool with our cannonballs. The ship was seriously filled with old people, that wasn't going to stop us from making a ruckus in the pool. . . later on at one of the bars (getting cherry coke of course) Bon was asked if she was the "cannonball girl."
3. At night they set up a bunch of places where you can go get your picture taken and buy the photos later on. You would walk by and they would ask if you wanted your photo, which of course you didnt, but near the end, we started saying yes. Me, Molly, Bryan, and Aubrey got some random pictures taken. They were these nice, posed pictures, but why in the world would we buy them- they are like only random sporadic people in our family. Later, me, Bonnie, Molly, and Cayd got some more done. They were fun to look at later, but if only the poor photographers knew that there was no way we were even considering buying them before we even saw them.
4. The whole family sharing two bingo cards while an old woman hounded Scott when she overheard him (sarcastically) tell us he had washed his hands in the toilet. She would not lay off of California people after that. . .
5. All you can eat/drink Cherry coke, chocolate milk, and french fries. Enough said.

Anywho. . . we all had a great time. We have the best family and the best parents for taking us on such a great vacation. . . even after we are all grown ups! Can't wait for the next one dad!!