Thankful 31-40

The thankfulness continues. It really does help your world become a better place when you count your blessings... I feel the warm fuzzies anyway.

31. I am thankful for unexpected blessings.

32. I am thankful for mail. I love getting the mail, especailly when there is good, old-fashion, letters in there. 

33. I am thankful for free samples at the grocery store.

34. I am thankful for five dollar bills that I find in random places that I forgot about like my snow coat from last year.

35. I am thankful for out-of-the blue phone calls from long lost friends.

36. I am thankful for the hot white glow in the embers of my fire place.

37. I am thankful that Chooch came home from Rusty's house all by himself today.

38. I am thankful for ham. Dinner was good tonight.

39. I am thankful for good friends and that we have made so many good ones since we have lived here.

40. I am thankful that the internet and blogs have made this world a little smaller by bringing friends and family a little closer. :)

Thankful 21-30

21. I am thankful that our Christmas party turned out really well.

22. I am thankful for left overs.

23. I am thankful for my young women. They amaze me and are so much cooler than I was at that age.

24. I am thankful for our fire place that brings up our house to a toasty 80 degrees.

25. I am thankful that Heather and I get to present our paper tomorrow and that our research presentation will be DONE!

26. I am thankful for Christmas music.

27. I am thankful for chocolate. It makes life a little sweeter than it already is. :)

28. I am thankful for blogs. I love learning about what the fam is up to.

29. I am thankful that it is finals week for Daren and that the semester is almost finished for him. He's worked hard!

30. I am thankful that we had a really relaxing Sunday.

Thankful continued.

11. I am thankful that Heather and I finally finished our rough draft of our research paper!

12. I am thankful to be home after a 18 hour day.

13. I am thankful to see my husband and furballs after said 18 hour day.

14. I am thankful for spell check.

15. I am thankful for hershey kisses, chips, and diet pepsi (research paper sustanance.)

16. I am thankful for sweat pants.

17. I am thankful for Fridays.

18. I am thankful for P.E. on Friday afternoons.

19. I am thankful for my bed and my comfy blankets.

20. I am thankful it is bed time and that I am headed there right now!

100 Things We Are Thankful for (Part I- The biggies #1-10)

So, I have this super cool SIL (sister-in-law) that occasionally likes to do a series of blog posts on certain topics. My super cool SIL has inspired me many a time and I am going to copy-cat her. This past week we have had much to be grateful, especially with Thanksgiving this week. With Christmas coming, I think this will help me get in the mood too. Get ready folks—Here is my first blog series: 100 Things Daren and I Are Thankful For.

1. We are thankful for our family. I was going to try to count them but I lost count like 3 times, so I feel comfortable saying there really are too many to count.

2. We are also grateful for our heritage; we have an amazing lineage and we have some big shoes to fill if we are to live up to our family name.

3. We are thankful for the gospel of Jesus Christ. It strengthens us and guides us back to our Father in Heaven. Daren and I agree that this gospel has truly shaped who we are and that we both would be very lost without our Savior leading us along.

4. We are thankful for a latter-day prophet. We believe that President Monson receives revelation from our Heavenly Father. He lets us know that God is aware of our struggles in this life, but wants us to be happy. I know he speaks to the whole church, but was struck to the core on how applicable his wisdom was for me when I last heard him speak in October. These most recent words of the Prophet come from a conference talk last month,

“This is our one and only chance at mortal life—here and now. The longer we live, the greater the realization that it is brief. Opportunities come, and then they are gone. I believe that among the greatest lessons we are to learn in this short sojourn upon the earth are lessons that help us distinguish between what is important and what is not. I plead with you not to let those most important things pass you by as you plan for that illusive and nonexistent future when you will have time to do all that you want to do. Instead, find joy in the journey—now.”

Click to read more of Pres.Monson'sTalk!

God knows me all too well, He knows I am a worry wart and that I am always trying to put off the good things in life so that I can accomplish the mundane. So he sends me and the rest of the world a Prophet, Someone to help him show us how much he loves us. This brings us to our next one:

5. We are grateful to find joy in the journey.

6. We are thankful for a roof over our head. Even though it is a yellow one. And I really want to paint it. Regardless of the color it is a roof that many people in this world would love to have and why we have such a wonderful blessing sometimes baffles me.

7. We are thankful for our fur-babies. Sal, Oscar, Tibbs, and Chooch are part of our family too.

8. We are thankful for food storage. We are probably going to need it sometime soon, and it is nice to know we have it.

9. We are thankful for good friends. Today in young women’s we talked about why we need them. They are one of God’s greatest gifts. We are blessed with talents and as we share them with each other, we buoy each other up.

10. We are thankful for a fire place and fire wood. I like being warm, especially in chilly Idaho.

There is 1-10… 11-90 are coming!

It's nice to know we aren't alone...

From whelmed, to overwhelmed, and back to just plain whelmed.

Today I got sustained as the second counselor in the young women’s presidency. For my friends that need Mormon translation—I am now working with the youth in my congregation at church; a very busy and demanding job, but worth it. I realize that this is a big blessing in many ways, but I have to admit I found myself freaking out a little bit.

Let me explain. This makes calling number 3 in addition to teaching Sunday school and being activity chairs. Sunday school isn’t too crazy, but with the activities committee we just finished humanitarian night and our Halloween carnival and now we need to get started on our Adult Christmas Gala and Family Christmas party, and winter retreat.

In the grad school department, I have a 30 page research paper due in about a month and I am still really sketchy on what I am doing; unfortunately for my partner who probably thinks I am a nut case. I have 5 reading and cognitive assessments to turn into my assessing literacy professor and I haven’t figured out how to do them yet, let alone figured out when and who I am going to do them on. Bonus- all of the other required readings…

On the career front, I got evaluated from my princ-i-pal on Friday. Yes, the pal wasn’t so pal-ish because he did pick HALLOWEEN to evaluate me!!! He said I did fine, but still… I am still learning the new reading curriculum and look forward to the day where I don’t have to think up anything because I already have lesson plans for it. Although this will probably never happen, it’s nice to dream about. We have a new writing program too and I need to figure it out. I swear I could live in my classroom if I had a bed and a shower. I already have the fridge and the microwave.

Well, add all these things and this new calling together and what do you get? Me saying I’m fine. But we all know what fine means right? Courtesy of Italian job, “FINE = Freaked out, Insecure, Neurotic, and Emotional.”

It is times like this that I am grateful to be married to the greatest man in the world and be part of a church that allows my worthy husband the opportunity to give me a blessing with the power of the priesthood. In today’s sacrament meeting we had our monthly fast and testimony meeting; a lady got up and bore her testimony about how things around her were just falling apart and she felt prompted to ask for a blessing. She said she asked her husband immediately because she “felt brave”. I found it funny that she used that phrasing because we shouldn’t need to fear asking, but I do understand her hesitating because as women in the church, we respect the priesthood so much that we wouldn’t want to misuse or abuse the privilege by asking for trivial blessings. The truth is that God loves us and that if it is important to us it is important to him. And this weekend I needed him, and I know he was here for me.

Daren gave me a blessing tonight. I know that his words were inspired. It said to take one day at a time. To take time for myself (thus the reason for my blabbing on my blog…) It said to draw closer to Jesus Christ and learn more about him. It said that the spirit will help me through. I am blessed and abundantly grateful.

Other things have been weighing us down, in particular our lack of ability to start a family. I want to be a mom so bad. We hung out with our friends Josh and Rachel this weekend and their little baby. Daren is a champ at making that kid laugh, and I can hardly wait until he makes our own little one laugh like that. I know that there is a commandment that says “thou shalt not covet” but this one is just too hard.

We went to the temple on Saturday to pray about it. Daren felt inspired to bring our patriarchal blessings so we could read them in the celestial room. We went through the session and at the end they told us that they were going to have a short sealing session (when deceased families are tied together for eternity.) We decided to go. It was a really good experience and I know that our Heavenly Father had every intention for us to be there. The sealer took the time to teach us that the sealing ordinance is directly tied to the endowment AND our patriarchal blessings are directly tied to the endowment and the sealing ordinance. I was flabbergasted. It was something that I guess I have known for a long time but had never connected it that way. And what is the connection? The blessings of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; Posterity and Eternal life. As we read through our blessings after our experience in the sealing room, we had another confirmation that we can have our own children. It will work out. We still need to do our part of looking for better doctors and taking care of our fertility problems, but once we do I know the windows of heaven will be opened to us.

I called my mom to let her know about what had happened that day and just to talk to her. I always feel better when I talk to my mom. Before I had told her the whole story, she said she had an idea and wanted to have a family fast and temple day for us. This really touched me because I know our Heavenly Father is so aware of us. He sends us angels in the form of mothers. I told her that I was grateful for the offer, but I want to wait until we do our part first. So this week, add another thing to our “to do list”—look for doctors. Then we will let our other faithful family members help. We are so blessed in that department as well… Heavenly Father loves us.

I guess the point of my rambling tonight is this: Lately I have been feeling weak and weary of all that is swirling around me; but through the gospel of Jesus Christ I feel I can make it. It is all about attitude and how we look at things. David O. McKay said that attitude effects altitude. I bear my testimony that whatever position in life we find ourselves in, the Lord is there to guide us through it. I know that the burdens we are given are bearable if we yoke ourselves with Jesus Christ. This is an opportunity to go through the refiner’s fire and come out a little better than I was before; to be a little wiser, a little more patient, and a little stronger.

“And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.” Ether 12:27

I've been tagged...

8 Random Facts About Me:

1. I think: I subconsiously love stress. I just keep adding things to my plate and don't know when to say enough! This might be because I hate being bored...

2. Sometimes I: dance around my kitchen while I am doing dishes, lately, while listening to Rocket Summer.

3. I said I would never: teach kids in Junior High because they drive me nuts, but I am teaching
four adoreable JH girls in Sunday school and I think it is really fun.

4. I will never: be fond of pickles. I just don't like those ugly green things.

5. The first concert I went to was: Warped Tour. I was 16. Quite the first concert experience if I do say so myself.

6. I love: neurology and psycolinguistics. This is one of my grad school classes I am taking right now and although the brain class makes my brain hurt (irony?) I heart it. I can't lie; I feel smarter when I leave each week.

7. I love: my cricut. I don't have many hobbies currently, but this one helps me be creative without thinking too hard.

8. Right now I would give anything to: be a mom. (I second that aj)

Okay...I tag: Mom, Sarise, Angie, Sydni, Kirsti, Gerb, Stephenie, Anyone else that wants to be tagged!
Here are the rules
1: Each player starts with 8 random habits/facts about themselves
2: People who are tagged need to write a post on their blog about their eight things and post these rules.
3: At the end of the post you need to choose 8 people to get tagged and list their names.

Nephew #42

Jacob Black has arrived!

I talked to Boyd around 4:15 and at that point Jacob was just a little over 1 hour old and getting his first physical. This is one of his first pictures from Boyd's cell phone and I think little Jacob is missing his mommy. The happy dad gave me all his stats, but the scatter brain aunt forgot them all. I think he said that he was a little over 7 pounds. He said Sarise handled labor and delivery like a champ. Congratulations on the new addition to Boyd & Sarise's family!!!

Busy, busy, busy...

So I know Sarise is sideways, but that is just the way it is. We have been really busy over the last few weeks with work and school. But last weekend we finally got to play a little. I threw Sarise a baby shower and it looks like frogger will be set. Some might ask how Sarise's unborn child got this funny nick name... this is a story for another day. But for now all you need to know is that I gave it to him and it has stuck, and now even his grandma has made him a frogger quilt! I thought it was fab! Sarise's little man is due on the 29th but I talked to her today and she said she has had contractions for the last 24 hours... I can't wait to meet him!

Also, last weekend my parents were able to come down for General Conference. We had an amazing time and were very inspired. I recieved a lot of answers to questions I have about life this weekend... now if I can just remember them all.

another sideways picture... urg.
We have had quite the harvest this year.... There is not enough time in the world to can all that we need to. I look forward to the time where I will have the time. This is just about 1/100th of what we have to deal with in our yard. Apples, pears, peaches, plums, apricots, and grapes.
The end product is great though. It is a good thing it takes so long to process the jars because it helps me not want to eat this oh so delicious spiced apple sauce.
I hope everyone is having a happy fall!!!

If you know Sarise....

●●●
Please come to a baby shower for Sarise Black and her little boy that is arriving this October!
When: Friday, October 3rd 2008 @ 7pm
Where: Katie Black’s House- 3677 Avanyu Drive Cedar Hills, UT 84062
Sarise has registered at Babies ‘R’ Us to provide inspiration, but will be happy with anything old, new, borrowed, or blue!
●●●

The Prodigal Husband Returns

Well, he is back. After a summer of lying by the pool, playing Xbox until 2 am every night, and sleeping in until noon, my wonderful husband is back. He took sixth place in the company with 285 installs. We were apart for 2 months at the beginning of the summer while I worked, and then for almost a month at the end, so I am really glad to have him back, not to mention Chooch who won’t leave his side. He left Wednesday night, and like the crazy kid he is, drove all night long. Then he did two more jobs in SLC and came home to me on Thursday at about 6:45. It was so fun to see each other again; almost weird because it was hard to believe he was home. He has been gone for 5 months.

After kissing me hello, the first thing he says is, “Maybe I should start the yard work tonight?” I gave him a firm “no.”

But the next day he was at it and there is a ton to do still. I am definitely not cut out for the big and busy piece of land we are on, but he loves it and when he is finished it always makes me appreciate everything he has given me so much more. I am so glad to have him home!

Guess who's going to grad school tomorrow...

Me. It's me. I am going to grad school tomorrow to start my masters in education with an emphasis in literacy. And the funny thing is I decided to apply at about 4:00 this afternoon and the director of the program told me about an hour later to come to class tomorrow. I am now a ISU Bengal. Last spring there were rumors floating around about an Idaho TEACH grant that would pay for $8000 dollars of tuition towards a masters. Well ISU put a literacy masters together for teachers in the upper Snake River valley and hold classes in Rexburg instead of Pocatello. Classes started last week, but they are still taking people and sent an email out today to try to draw more flies to the honey. I got sucked in and have paid the application fee so I guess I'm stuck too.

I am really nervous and it is a huge commitment. The catch with the grant is that within 8 years of graduating you have to teach for 4 years in a lower-income school. The lower-income part is easy because most schools in Idaho are considered low-income compared with the rest of the nation, even mine which is considered more affluent for this area. The hard choice is the whole four years of teaching part. I had a major dilemma about this for an hour or so but was then talked into it anyway by my husband and dad.

I want to start a family, with all my heart, but we all know how that has worked out over the last three years. Point being I can’t just sit around waiting for that part of my life to start, feeling sorry for myself and letting opportunities like this pass in hopes that next month things could change. I love being in the presence of little ones, and I really want my own, but I think I am just going to have to borrow everyone else’s for awhile longer. (And if that happens to change I think I will be all the more happy!)

Here are the reasons I am doing my masters with ISU:

• I will get my masters in two years with the ISU program. It will be tough but once it is done, it’s done.
  
• It’s close to home! Rexburg is only 20 minutes away and I can go study with my hubby at BYU-I after class.
  
• It will cost me about $4000 dollars after I get reimbursed with the Idaho TEACH grant. Most post-graduate degrees are way more expensive.
  
• It will move me over to the second to the last step in the JSD #251 pay scale. I’ll still have to climb the ladders but I will get there a lot faster. I plan on going back to teaching eventually, even if we do have kids, so it will be nice to walk into a raise.
  
• My friend Heather and my next door neighbor Clarissa are also doing the program so I will have some study buddies.
  
• I love literacy. Most educators either get their masters in administration or curriculum. I’m not really interested in either, so I think the literacy one will fit me perfectly.
  
• I love learning new things. I’m not crazy about doing homework, but I think the subject matter will be pretty interesting.
  
• I love teaching my students how to read. It’s fun for me to see the light bulbs flicker on. This is going to make me a better teacher and in turn help me help more kids.
  
  Here comes another adventure!!! I’m really excited and I hope it all works out.

Drama, drama, drama... TRAUMA!

Yes... yesterday was traumatic for me. I was looking forward to a nice relaxing morning after 3 weeks of working myself ragged. When I got out of the shower I noticed that my cat Oscar's ear was bent a little weird.

I went up to look at it and he immediately walked away. Then I touched it and it was hard and then I got a good look at it and it was swollen shut with what looked like a tumor or something. I was pretty freaked out and he kept shaking his head so obviously it was not pleasant to him. I called the vet and they were closed but I got the emergency vet to come and they said that it was a hematoma and that they would have to do surgery. I guess what happened was he had gotten ear mites and they were really itchy. He was scratching so hard that he broke the cartilage in his ear and his ear cavity filled with a pocket of blood. I had no idea that something like this could even happen. I feel sooo bad. Anyway they made an incision in his ear and drained the hematoma and then sutured the skin to the ear while leaving open the wound so that it can continue draining for the next week or so. It is super sick.



The surgery took about an hour and he is going to be okay. He has to be quarantined in the laundry room so that Tibbs doesn’t try to play with him, plus he has that open wound still so he is draining blood now and then and it is way gross. I have to give him amoxicillin twice a day. I thought giving medicine to babies is hard. Try giving it to a cat!

So for anyone that has a cat—This is for you! I didn’t know this but ear mites are pretty common and contagious. The vet said that it is one of the most painful things that can happen to a cat. I HAD NO IDEA!!! All of our cats have been adopted so our vet said that they had probably picked it up from the shelter or spread it to each other. (Great… now my other cats have ear mites too?) So I had to give ear drops to my other cats and that was super hard. As soon as I got it in their ears they did the shaking thing and got it all over me like they had just had a bath. Moral of the story—if your cats have dirty ears and scratch them, get them checked out! It might end up saving you $250, not to mention the life of your cat.

Well after I got all three of the cats settled with treatments and meds and quarantined, I look out of my window and what to my wondering eyes should appear but my favorite apple tree divided in two. It was fine before I went to the vet, but in the 2 hours that I was gone it had split right down the trunk and tipped over right next to the house. I am really bummed out because it was a really pretty tree. I need to count my blessings though because it easily could have taken out our back porch or squished Chooch. (It landed right next to his dog house.)

Yesterday was a little crazy; but besides the big pile of future fire wood that needs to be dealt with, everything is actually okay. Oscar is going to be fine, half of the apple tree is still good, I am feeling better about my new reading curriculum and school, and my husband is coming home this week. Count your blessings, name them one by one...

Summer Travel Log 2008

I am back in Idaho now and have been for a couple of weeks. I came back early to get ready for the new school year which started this past Thursday. It is really good to be home, have the internet again, pick my raspberries, and have my pets around. But Daren is still working in Albuquerque and although the comforts of home are really nice, he is the biggest part and I don't think I will feel completely back to normal until he is back here takings something apart or building something.

Hopefully he will be back in a week or two. School starts September 8th for him so he has to be back by then for sure! He has done really well this summer, his goal was 250 installs and he made that a couple weeks ago. He was in the top 10 for company technicians for awhile and he was even offered a lead tech position for next year, but I think we will probably stay put next summer.

It is hard for me to let go of our oh-so-precious summer, but here are a few of our favorite pics from our adventures this summer:

This is our apartment on 5800 Eubank. It was in a nice neighborhood and just down the road from the temple.
Albuquerque is known for its artsy-ness and this is a super cool house that I had to have my picture taken in front of in a neighborhood known as “Nob Hill” (Note: The metal dinosaurs were really cool.)

This is the Albuquerque New Mexico Temple.

We spent the Fourth of July with my old roommate Chelsea Kunz and her family. Her husband Tyson works for Pulte Homes in Rio Rancho, right next to Albuquerque. It was fun seeing her again but crazy to see how much changes in just four years. Four years ago we were sitting up late into the night talking about boys, and homework, and what we should do on the weekend, and now it’s talking about how much we like having our own homes, her two kids and one on the way, what our hubbies are up to, and how I am excited to get back to my job. When did this whole grown up thing start happening? Really?

More Fourth of July. (My Honey holding Chelsea’s girls)

Weirdo pyro husbands making a gigantic smoke bomb. And getting their faces burnt off by sparklers.

We like taking Sunday drives and one day we decided to go and check out the Sandia Mountains just to the east of where we lived. It was amazing because the mountains held back a huge wall of clouds. It was really fun to walk along the edge of that mist knowing how high we were.



There was an old cabin ruin made of rocks up there and we climbed it. I look so cool. Notice the super buff arms. (not.)

Another super awesome thing we did was ride the (supposedly) world's longest aerial tramway. Again these are the Sandia mountains. I think the highest point was about 1000 feet vertical but the mountain was about 11000 feet. (I think.)




One of the best parts of the summer was going to the Black reunion. It is always trips me up a little bit when I see my nieces and nephews and how big they get in the short time that we are away from them. They grow so fast! Daren and I always do a double take trying to make sure we have their names right. When you have 40 nieces and nephews this is quite a task.

The camping resort we stayed at was really fun because it was right next door to the Manti temple and they did really fun things for the kids. They let the kids all have a pony ride. This one made me laugh because KB said to the pony guy, "Can you take this slow? I really want to enjoy this."

Another perk to having a family reunion next to the temple... All the grown-ups got to go! The Manti temple is a piece of Mormon history as it is over 100 years old. The craftsmanship is incredible and it is amazing to know that it was built as a labor of love with just hands and faith. We were so blessed to be able to experience that.

After the reunion Daren and I decided that we weren't done with our vacation yet; so we talked Daren's sister Rachel and her husband Jeremy into going to Arches with us. We had a blast camping and hiking but it was really hot!

This is my favorite picture! Rachel and I are looking at balanced rock off in the distance and Daren or Jeremy took this picture from way up high on the other side of the bowl. I think it was called Triple arch.
Me super exhausted at triple arch.

Rach, Jeremy, and me looking at the oh-so-famous Delicate arch.

This was a really fun trip for us and again were so inspired by God's creations. One cannot help but feel very small standing beneath this impresive rock garden. It was great to spend some time getting hang out with Rachel and getting to know Jeremy (The newest of the in-laws). We will go camping with them again anytime!

Well that is is the end of the travel log photos. I got to visit Prescott on my way home and see my grand parents, aunt, and cousins. I was only there for about 24 hours but it was really nice to see them too. This was a great summer. I hope next year's comes sooner than later.

Summer Vacation

Summer is flying by and mine will be over a week from Friday when I start my journey home. Daren and I are trying to make it all count though. In Albuquerque we spend our mornings hanging out together and finding little mini adventures to keep us busy. Sometimes it's a hike or a drive to the mountains; last week it was a trip up the Sandia Tram. It is supposedly the longest tram of its kind in the world. It was only about a 15 minute ride up but it was a lot of fun to be up so high.

Daren and I went to his Black Family Reunion in Manti, Utah last Thursday- Saturday. It was so fun to see everyone. It makes me wish we lived closer because all of the babies grow sooo fast, we kind of miss a lot. We really need to make a effort to come down more and see them. We stayed at the Temple Hill RV Resort and for creating our own little tent city, it was great as camping goes. They had really nice bathrooms and showers, a pool and a little play area, not to mention a fabulous view of the Manti temple. We had an opportunity to go to the temple with some of Daren's brothers and sisters and it was great. The temple is over 100 years old and it is amazing to me what the early saints accomplished with their own hands and without power tools. The carpentry inside is so intricate and you can tell at once that it must have taken years to complete; the building was built as a labor of love in honor of our god.  It is such a peaceful place and I really hope we can go back there again soon.

After the reunion was over we decided to keep it going a little bit longer with Daren's Sister Rachel and her husband Jeremy. We drove a few hours over to Moab to hit up Arches national park and the colorado river. It was pretty amazing but also really hot. I highly recommend going in the spring or the fall and skipping the whole "lets walk through the dessert in the middle of July" thing.  Regardless we still had a great time and had a blast with the fam! We took some really cool pictures but the wireless connection I have right now is taking forever to load them so maybe I will post a slide show when I get back.  Until then.... ttfn.

Back together again!

I just wanted to let everyone know that Daren and I are under the same roof again! We have a cute little apartment in Albuquerque for the next six weeks. It's a lot greener here than I thought it would be. We live about a mile from the temple so hopefully we will get to go a lot while we are here. We don't have internet access yet so our communication won't be the best for awhile. I hope to post again soon!

24

Yesterday as I walked my class into the lunch room, I saw a giganic pink sign that read 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY MRS. BLACK!' To top that off, my boss had all 300 students sing happy birthday to me. I think I was more pink than the sign. I kindof thought that I was off the hook because my birthday wasn't untill the next day, but I was wrong.

I think it's funny how people say, "I wish I was 24 again," or "I can't even remember being 24." To be totally honest, this kid at heart is feeling kinda old. Is it socially acceptable to have a quarter life crisis?

Today my birthday plans consist of packing up the truck, saying ciao to my furballs, driving to Utah, and playing with Sarise. Tomorrow morning I head to Albuquerque and get to see my honey-- the best birthday present of all!

Where does the time go?

Well, I missed my May post so here's what happened:

1. I went on a 24 hour speed run to see Sarise over Mother's Day weekend. It was so fun just to be able to be around her, no matter how old we get and how long we've known eachother the same things are still funny and there are always new things to add to our list. We went shopping- Sarise is going to be the cutest prego lady ever. And Boyd made us breakfast on Mother's day. Great weekend!


2. SNOW! I think it snowed about once a week in May. This was by far the latest winter I have seen in the last 6 years that I have lived here. Weird.


3. 5/23/08 School is out! (but not for me...) It was hard to say good bye to my little 1st graders. I really got attached to my class this year--the class that I thought I could never love as much as my 1st year, but I did. They all worked so hard this year and I am going to miss them a ton. I held it together better than expected all day but it hit me as I put my last student on the bus that they weren't coming back on Monday. (*tears*)I don't know if I can love next year's class as much as this years, but I'm sure I'll be pleasently suprised.


4. A few hours after school got out I was on an airplane on my way to Tucson to see my Hubby! It was so much fun to be with him, which made it that much harder to leave. We finally got to use our stupid worldmark points, but the place turned out really nice so maybe that won't be such a horrible investment afterall. I helped Daren out on installs, read a good book (Twilight-suppenceful and could not put it down good,) enjoyed the sunshine, and poked around Tucson a bit. Hands down though, our favorite date that week was going to The Melting Pot. We got all dressed up to go make a mess at a fondue restauraunt and it was soooo good. Plus Daren looked really, really handsome. Perfect night. My trip was only 6 days long but it was deffinately time well spent.
   


5. May 30th- I started summer school with a teacher workday. I'm teaching 1st graders going into 2nd and it is pretty fun. I only have about 10 students who show up consistantly so it is really easy too. One of my favorite things is attempting to try to have conversations in spanish with my Latin kids. They are so cute and I love it whenthey teach me something new.

June is going well and going by fast. Summer school takes up my time, but it is good to stay busy. I went back home last weekend on a quick trip for my little bigger brother's graduation party. (Trevor is 5 years younger but about a foot and a half taller.) I also got to go to my friend Breanne's wedding and it was really fun. We were Laurels together in the West St. Paul ward and it is so fun to see everyone growing up.

Things are growing in my yard and my lawn mower is broke so things have been a little hairy. A gaurdian lawn angel came this weekend and saved the day and now the lawn is a little shorter. (I love my ward!) I am really excited to go see my husband again in a couple weeks but I am bummed that I am going to miss out on the spoils of my yard. Raspberries, apricots, and cherries will probably come and go before I get back. I think we will still end up getting the plums, pears, and apples though.

This weekend I am going to go to a scrapbook expo in Idaho Falls. I am really excited to get back into my crafts again. It's hard to find time in the school year but summer is a teacher's play time! I've been having fun playing with my cricut and making some Vinyl signs for wedding presents. I will hopefully get caught up on a lot of scrapbooking when I go to Albuquerque.

I am heading to New Mexico in a couple of weeks for Daren's 2nd leg of summer installs. He is doing really well and getting lots of work. Hopefully it keeps up in NM! We are probably going to end up missing the family reunions which is we are way sad about, but hopefully we will catch up with everyone in the fall. Hope all is going well!

-Shannon

Call me Charlotte...

I walk into school today and all the "adults" can talk about is how after today there are only 3 more Mondays. As excited as I am to see my husband, I'm actually quite sad to see the school year ending. I really love what I do every day; don't get me wrong I do get frustrated once and awhile like anyone else with public school politics, stupid parents, and my favorite ADHD students... But at the end of the day I love it. I love my students, the little personalities that they have developed this year. I love that I taught them how to read and how to read well. I love that they can solve problems themselves and how they are set up to become remarkable, worthwhile, contributing human beings.

Three years ago when I was a Method's teacher in Sherry Lynn Powell's class, she had me read Charlotte's Web to her students. I read it again to my kids last year and again to my students this year. We finished it today and every time I read it, it really gets me thinking. It is a silly story about an average pig overcoming a seemingly grim destiny with the help of a little spider. It is that silly little spider that gets me every time.

"Why did you do all this for me?" Wilbur asked. "I don't deserve it. I have never done anything for you."
"You have been my friend," replied Charlotte. "That in itself is a tremendous thing. I wove my webs for you because I liked you. After all, what's a life anyway? We're born, we live a little while, we die. A spider's life can't help being something of a mess, with all this trapping and eating flies. By helping you, perhaps I was trying to lift up my life a trifle. Heaven knows anyone's life can stand a little of that."

So many times we come across Wilbur characters in our own lives. I kind of feel that way about my students at the beginning of the year. On the surface they show up needy and blank slates, but with a little TLC they leave terrific, radiant, and humble and instead of saying 'some pig' as Charlotte would have put it, I tell the second grade teachers that they are getting 'some student' who is wonderful and I would take them home in a heartbeat. 3 weeks and 4 days... It's hard to believe another year has come and gone.

I love skype!

Our house has horrible cell phone reception. We have a steel roof and although low maintenance it can be a little frustrating at times when I am trying to talk to my oh-so-distant husband. But today we had a break through! Daren has a web cam on his lap top and he signed up for a skype account so today I GOT TO SEE MY HUSBAND WHILE TALKING! (He sounded great too!) And can I just say I haven't felt so giddy in ages? My husband is a hottie. If you ever want to skype us Daren's name is just DAREN BLACK and I think our computer at home is IDAHOBLACKS. It's totally free long distance calling as long as you have fast enough Internet to support it. Hope all's well, love you all!
-Shan

Day three of bachelorettedom and super bored...

Daren left to work in Tucson on Monday night and I am already finding myself looking at the calendar 20 times a day trying to figure out when I will see him next. It amazes me how convenient having a husband really is now that he has left. He keeps the dog company, and in his absence the dog has run away twice and twice I have had to retrieve him. He is a great fix-it man, I am looking at all of the little projects I want done and realizing my honey-do-list is now my to-do-list. He is a fabulous trash man, he takes it out every night and on Wednesday he hauls the dumpster across the street for pickup. It finally seemed like spring on Monday but on Tuesday night we had a freak snow storm and I had an eight inch snowdrift I had to haul the dumpster through… Man I wish my husband was here. In my loneliness I decided to indulge in a pizza. Had my husband been here I would have had two pieces and he would have had six; instead I had two, then two more, then two more, and then two more. I think it’s time to go watch Eli Stone on the elliptical machine now.

Daren is doing well. He likes his office in Tucson and is getting installs. He said that the grass looks fake because it is so green. He says it is hot and that he loves it there. I can’t wait to love it there too.

Making an attempt at being a blogger

To be totally honest, we believe that we are pretty boring. But once and awhile we have a streak of spontaneity and life becomes a little more colorful. We really love reading about our friends and family and admire their diligence in recording their lives. Even though we love our lives in Lewisville, we feel a little distant sometimes and these blogs help us draw near. We know that journaling and staying close is important, so here is my meager attempt at becoming a blogger.

March has brought us some fun. This month we went to Utah a couple times. The first time we went down we got to see Daren’s mom and our sister’s new baby Jason. Holding a new baby is such a softening experience. I always feel more peaceful and look forward more than ever to be a mom. We are so blessed to have so many nieces and nephews; it definitely makes our infertility struggles a little easier. We do have a lot to look forward to. Count your many blessings! It was really fun to see our mom since we don’t get to see her all that often. Daren’s parents are such good examples to us and I absolutely love all of his siblings. I am glad to call myself a Black!

When we got back from Utah my first grade class spent the week working on a play. I did the same one last year and my students really enjoyed it, so I thought I’d give it another go. I guess the success of last year helped me forget how stressful it was to get all of the students to say the right things at the right times and move around the way they’re supposed to, not to mention all the issues with props and scenery. However, when all is said and done it is so worth it. I really feel that this week helps my students grow more with their reading fluency and confidence in themselves more than any other week. I was so proud of all of them. We had over 60 people in the audience—all cramped in my tiny little trailer classroom. Success again! I guess there will be another one next year!

This month Daren made a ton of progress in renovating our house. Winter semester is his off track @ BYU-Idaho so he has been busy with Pinnacle and working on his many “projects”. We bought our house a little over a year ago and it is amazing to see the changes that have taken place. Our house began as a 1974 goldenrod, shag carpet, faux paneling, and messy paint jobs- basically a project list nightmare. As my grandma put it, “It has good bones.” But the rest of it had to go! It is amazing what a little paint and some new floors can do. Daren finished fixing some crooked dry wall, most of the painting, our wood floor, and most of the base board this month. I am so glad to have a handy husband! He is the joy of my life!

Last week I had spring break so we took an opportunity to go on vacation. Monday and Tuesday we played tourists in Salt Lake City. We went to Hogal Zoo, Clark Planetarium, The Aquarium, Ikea (LOVE IT!), and the dinosaur museum. It was really cool because we got a couple of Salt Lake Connect passes for discounts and saved quite a bit. Wednesday we headed down to Zion National Park. It was kind of crowded but the weather was 70 degrees and beautiful! We camped for two nights and then headed to Bryce Canyon on Friday. There was still a little snow there but we decided to hike anyway and it was our favorite hike of the trip. We hiked Navajo Trail and it was breath taking. The steep cliffs, the way the rocks are shaped and how tall pines can spring up between the cracks amazes me. The Lord sure knew what he was doing when he was making Utah! Daren and I both agree we are among the luckiest in the world when it comes to the places and people we get to see!

To sum up a great week we got together with most of Daren’s family for an Easter egg hunt and spent the rest of the weekend with them. I got to see my brother Josh and hang out with him a bit. It is so fun to have him close in Utah, we go down and he comes up. He is a great kid. It was also way fun to see my Sarise. It was fun to watch Sarise tell Joshua that we had known each other from before he was born. I am so lucky to have a best friend for a sister! We stayed at Bryce and Kate’s that weekend and had a blast. I can’t say enough to tell how grateful I am for this family.

Now comes the tough part of predicting what will happen in the rest of the month. Daren will be busy getting the house projects wrapped up and getting ready to head to Tucson. We decided to go out this summer to replenish our savings account. Fertility drugs aren’t cheap! Mean while I get to stay here for awhile and finish out the school year and take care of our furry children. Daren will head to Tucson, probably on April 12th, and be there until the end of June. Then his office will move to Albuquerque until sometime around Labor Day. I will go visit for the week between school getting out and summer school, and then head to Albuquerque for six weeks at the beginning of July. I waited for my husband for 2 years so I know two things—I know I can do it, but I know it is going to be horrible.

Well, there is our life in a nutshell ( I guess a rather large nutshell actually.) We hope all is well with you and that your lives are well. Take care and keep in touch! Love you all! XXXOOO!

-Shannon