Christmas Caroling and other holiday festivities

Last night we all got together at my brother's house to decorate gingerbread houses and christmas cookies. I'm slightly ashamed to say that this is my first ever time decorating gingerbread houses. It was fun sitting there with all the kiddos and getting really into how my house was looking. At one point I looked around to see that I was the only "adult" decorating a house. I'm sure I was having more fun than everyone else.

The houses before...

The houses during...

And the houses, or at least my house, after...

After we decorated I went in and tickled the ivories a little bit with some christmas tunes. McKay was really big on me playing his songs - the one line easy easy christmas piano music. He assured me it was much easier than whatever I was playing before and therefore must be better. The end of the night consisted of all of us caroling around to TJ and Moo's neighbors. They have one neighbor whose son has aspergers and we had to stop the kids from running up and getting in his personal space. It was quite a task. It was also funny to see some of the kids give the neighbors the cookies and then politley ask if they could have one. By far my favorite moment from the night was one my sister overheard....

Makenna, Savannah, and Andy were huddled together with their flashlight pointing up at the sky. Makenna says, "Dear Heavenly Father, we really really want it to snow on Christmas day. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen." Then a brief silence and Andy's little voice chirping in... "Dear Heavenly Father... I really really really want to fly...."

I love my family.

Tonight I am grateful for...

Tonight I was thinking about a few things. Mostly I was thinking about what incredible friends I have. There have been those people I have come in contact with that have changed me, motivated me to be better, and help me see the good in me. I was looking through some old pictures and I came across this one....

.... I just have to smile because when you are with real friends this is what happens. There is no holding back. Even if it wasn't that funny, whatever it was, we thought WE were hilarious. I love it.

I was also thinking tonight about how grateful I am for the gift of music. Ever since I was a little girl, music has been attached to me. When I was little, I made up songs and sang them to anyone who would listen and even to many who would rather not. I started playing the piano when I was 6 and picked up the guitar when I was 12. When I play the piano, I like to sing along. It's something I've always done and when I go home and play the piano I can sometimes get my family to sing along with me. A few Christmases ago, my brother TJ and I were singing Christmas songs and his daughter Savannah, who was learning how to read, came and stood behind us attempting to read the words and sing along. It was a fun memory for me. I found out later that at her first piano recital she not only played the song, but she sang along really loud. When my dad asked her why she decided to sing, her response was, "That's how Aunt Trisha does it." A girl after my own heart...

One more week

One more week until Christmas vacation and two weeks at home with my favorite people. I can't believe the school year is almost halfway over already. At the same time, I love that the school year is halfway over already! Last year, it dragged on and on because I just didn't like my job very much. This year it's speeding past me and I think I don't even notice because I am too busy enjoying my life. I love it when that happens.

So I am starting to teach my students about Egypt. I am really excited about this because that is one of the subjects that I actually remember from my days as a sixth grader. I think I decorated my own personal sarcaphogus - I recall using a golden paint pen. A sharpie of sorts. The details don't really matter other than the fact that they are still in my mind, which means that my sixth grade teacher (what was her name again?) made some sort of a lasting impression on me.

I wanted to teach my students about the geography of ancient Egypt, so I had them actually re-create it using themselves as the physical features. I had students sprawled out like they were making snow angels whispering "hot and dry" (these were the deserts of course), students sitting together forming circles (the seas), and students laying head to foot waving their arms in the direction of the "sea" (this would be the Nile River). It was fun. The best part was they could actually label these features on a map when they were done. Success.

'Tis the Season

This Saturday night, I finally gave in to the urge to decorate for Christmas. I love the magical feeling of sitting in a room with only the christmas lights on.

While I was decorating, I started thinking about some of my favorite memories and traditions from this time of year....

I remember as a kid scooting under the Christmas tree and looking up at the lights, or eating the ornaments - not only did my mom put candy canes on the tree, but we also had ornaments that looked like gumball machines with REAL gum balls in them. Those didn't ever last very long.

I remember the different themed Christmas trees my mom would do every year. We had the teddy bear tree, the musical instrument tree, and of course the old school ornament tree.

I remember my dad getting up on the roof Christmas Eve and stomping around and jingling jingle bells - this was an elaborate attempt to convince us kids that Santa was here and he wouldn't come down the chimney until we were in bed. This worked for many years, until the year my dad slipped and fell off the roof cussing the whole way down. We didn't know Santa talked like that! And don't worry my dad was fine.

I remember going Christmas caroling and coming home to hot chili and cinnamon rolls.

I remember sitting up on Christmas Eve and playing card games with my family and eating carmel popcorn until my teeth hurt.

Thinking about the traditions my family has makes me even more excited for this time of year and the chance I get to go home and celebrate it with them.

In loo of Cheney tradition, I cooked up some chili and wassail and decorated my house with my roommate Bree and Mike...

Friends + Food = Good memories

A couple of Christmases ago, my sisters got me a fondue pot. I've taken it out on occasion, and it always ends up facilitating great meals and good conversation. I pulled the fondue pot out a little while ago and had some friends over. We sat around and stuffed our faces and laughed. I loved it.

Yesterday was another great memory. Mike's aunt let us use their house to host a Thanksgiving dinner. It was so nice to be in a REAL house with real dishes and a table big enough to fit all eight of us. It was fun to put all the food together and to see all of it laid out on the counter ready for us to attack it.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I must say how grateful I am for friendship, laughter, and of course... good food.

I give in

So remember how I said no more tags? Well, I have been tagged a few times in the last little bit and I decided to go ahead and get them out of the way. Plus, no matter how much I protest, it actually is a little bit fun.

Tag #1:

So the rules are: Go to your folder of pictures on your computer. Open the 4th folder, and upload the 4th picture, then explain it.

Explanation: Ginny and Arianne came out to Boston to visit me in April 2007. It was a crazy week, I had gone home to visit my family and take out my endowments and then I came back and spent the next week running all around Massachusetts with two of my favorite girls. This pictures was when we started getting a little camera happy while we were waiting for the "T". I was trying to make fun of Ginny's smile - can't ya tell? Oh and my hair was way short. What do you think? Should I chop it again? I've been really tempted lately.

Tag #2:

Eight things that make me feel good: music that has clapping in it, hot apple pie with icecream on top, dill, the smell of fall, my neices and nephews, my dad's jokes, mike's laugh, sunday afternoon naps.

Eight things I did yesterday: went to church, went to my friend's baby's christening, snuggled up on the couch, read my scriptures, had a nice big scoop of ice cream with heavy whip cream on top-don't worry, I took my lactaid, watched "ghost hunters" and a show about a woman with gargantuan legs.

Eight favorite eats/drinks: anything with dill on it, rice and gravy, orange julius, lindt chocolate, crab with drawn butter, schlotzky's deli sandwiches, diet coke, orange rolls

Eight things on my wishlist: graduate school, my student loans and car paid off, hair that is less frizzy, students who are respectful and NOT chatty, go on a mediterranean cruise, learn how to play the mandolin, learn how to sew like my sister nellie, to know where I'm going to be next year.

Eight things I love about fall: the smell of the leaves, crisp air, the earthy colors, pumpkin carving, halloween costumes, cornicopias, turkey dinner, wearing light jackets.

Eight favorite TV shows: the office, biggest loser, lost, pushing daisies, extreme home makeover, what not to wear, dirty jobs, myth busters

Eight things I am looking forward to: seeing mike, getting another year of teaching under my belt, the first snowfall of winter 2008/2009, holidays with my family, july 2009, being inspired to write another song, the next "office" episode, Savannah's baptism.

Ummm... I tag Val, Kalli, Ash, Nell, Kate, Moo, and I don't know whoever else wants to do it!

Living on a Prayer

Today I gave my students the biggest test they have had yet. It covered a lot of material and they have been studying hard for the past week. Today they came in, nervous as could be. I was waiting for all of them to file in the room when I noticed one of my students sitting at his seat with his head bowed.... praying. It caught me off guard. My heart went out to this kid as I remembered countless last minute prayers I offered as I entered the testing center at BYU. It was a nice reminder that there are parents who are teaching their children to pray. Thank goodness for that.

P.S. He did well, scored in the high 90's :)

Halloooooooooooweeeen

We did good, huh?

Other pictures from the BEST halloween party ever....

The theme of the party was "Happily Never After". Each of the girls who lived in the house dressed up as a Disney Princess whose Happily Ever After went awry....

1. Belle - she had a black eye, apparently the Beast wasn't as reformed as we all thought.

2. Jasmine - she was clawed to death by her pet tiger.

3. Pocahontas - got an arrow through the head, poor girl.

4. Ariel - she got strangled by a bunch of seaweed. Sad.

5. Cinderella - her ugly step-sisters clubbed her over the head with her own glass slipper.

6 - Snow White (not pictured) - stabbed by the dwarves. They got a little jealous.

And this would be my Bishop and his wife. Check out the leather chaps!

Hey, can I give you a frosting mustache?...

That was the question that led to this incredible fun filled evening...

Never a dull moment.

Awesomeness

Look how awesome my pumpkin is.

Look how awesome Mike and I are.

Cold noses, sticky carmel apples, haunted houses, beanies, trashy New Hampshirites...awesome

That's right folks, all sorts of awesome, right here.

The good life

I saw this picture of my niece on my sisters blog. I smiled. If I could create a picture of "the good life", this would be it. Sitting on a warm rock, dangling feet in the cool river, lazily fishing. I love that Riley is all over it.

Pumpkin Patches

Today, Columbus Day, I did not have to go to school. Three cheers for explorers. What did I do today? I slept in until 9, bummed around the house until noon, finally showered and got ready for the day, and went pumpkin pickin. Tristan, Kate, and I went to North Andover to the "Best Pumpkin Patch in Boston". It was quite awesome. There were hay rides, face painting booths, icecream stands, and of course - pumpkin patches. The patch was pretty picked over, but we did manage to find ourselves some good ones. I loved watching how excited all the little kids were getting.

Here are some highlights from the outing:

* I dared Tristan to sit on a pumpkin so I could take a picture of her. She refused. Apparently she didn't think she would look as cute as all the little kids who were doing it.

* Kate almost got hit by a car - let me rephrase that - Kate did get hit by a car. The car was going like 2 miles per hour, but they definitely sideswiped her with their side mirror. They didn't even stop to see if she was ok. Don't worry, she gave them a look of unbelief. A look that said, "Seriously?! Did you just hit me and then drive away??"

* My car was parked on such a steep slope that I was afraid it was going to roll over.

* Kate dropped her wallet in turkey poop.

Oh, it was fun. What was even better was driving away with an apple cider donut in my hand, looking out the window at the amazing colors on the trees, and singing along to Mason Jennings. Life is good.

mmm, life is good

My weekend included:

1. reunion with the original Nottinghill girls - Britney, Michele, Kirsti, myself, and Esther

2. vibrant fall colors

3. me and my man

Spoiled

I have been described as spoiled at certain times in my life, and I've never really reacted well to the term. I always got the most presents at Christmas - I can't help it if my parents liked shopping for me more than they liked shopping for everyone else. Later on, when we moved to North Carolina, my older siblings deemed Todd and I spoiled because all of the sudden we had a nice big house and were given a Jeep Wrangler for our car.... ok maybe we were a little spoiled. Needless to say, it's never had a positive ring to it.

This past week, I will admit, I have been spoiled. And in the best way. I am dating quite possibly the best guy I've ever known; it's been some of the best months of my life. Downside to it is that he lives a little over an hour away. So in order for us to see each other, one of us has to make the trek out to see the other. We've made it work, and I'll even admit we've done great at it. But sometimes, once or twice a week doesn't seem like enough. When I found out Mike had a rotation for pharmacy in East Boston, I was secretly (maybe not so secretly) anticipating and waiting for that rotation to start. I couldn't wait for him to be in closer proximity to me during the week. I was even more excited when he decided to sublet a place for the six weeks of his rotation. This past week I've seen him every day, and I thought to myself last night, "I could get use to this." I like having him around, and I've felt a little bit spoiled that I've been able to see him so much. For the first time, the word "spoiled" doesn't have a bad ring to it.

Meet Rocky

He lives above our porch with his little family. Sometimes at night his babies (or are they adolescents now? I feel like I've watched them grow up right before my eyes) come out and hang on to the side of the house as they peep in the window and watch us cook. Creepy? yes. Cute? slightly. A problem? I think so.

I've told our landlord about our little buddies. Twice. Finally, I grabbed the landlord when he was at our house and pointed out to him where the raccoons were living. His response? "Really? @#$!%!! That's not good!" I had to laugh, because that was exactly why I had called TWICE!

That was about a month ago. The raccoons are still here. I think that my landlord might be scared of these little creatures. He's avoiding facing the problem. It's ok, I'm not willing to go near them. Hence the reason I want someone else to do it.

Karaoke

I got a message from my sister today. She was going on about how I scared her. Apparently she goes to my blog so she can just have the music playing as she goes around and does stuff at her house. She was upstairs in the bathroom and the song "Yellow" came on the computer. Apparently the version I have on my blog is a karaoke version? didn't know this. And even better, it's a karaoke version with someone singing along... off key. So here she was, up in her bathroom, listening to this great song and all of the sudden a stranger is singing really loudly. Needless to say, it kind of freaked her out a little bit. I haven't been able to get a hold of her to hear the whole story, but I was slightly amused at her message. What a geek. Love you Nell!

I am glad that she thinks I have good taste in music. And I do love some good karaoke.

A different perspective

I love the fall. I like that it's not as blasted hot outside, that I can start wearing jackets and not full out coats, that the air feels crisper. I just really really like it. I saw this shirt and I maybe laughed out loud. I never quite thought of it this way.....

*for awesome random shirts check out this site: www.shirt.woot.com

New England Clambake

This last Saturday, my ward hosted a New England Clam Bake. We went out toward the Cape, ate clams and mussels and lobsters, and basked in the beautiful day. I had in my mind this image of everyone dressed in "J-crewish" style attire with sweaters around our shoulders and loafers on our feet. Not so much, although one guy did show up in exactly what I just described. He did my vision justice. Just another reason why I love living in New England.

On another note... I still love my job.

Who eats hamburgers at a clambake!? That would be me. It looked so appetizing, even more so than the lobster. I'm a meatatarian.

Why I love teaching Sixth Grade...

I have been thinking a little bit lately about why I love teaching Sixth Grade. I love it more than any other age group that I have taught (I do have some experience under my belt - 8th, 9th, 11th, AND 12th grade). I think I love it because at this age, students still LIKE their teachers! That may sound self serving, and maybe it is. But I love that my students like me. Not because I earned that "like", but because I am a teacher and Sixth Graders still inherently like their teachers. I didn't have to do anything! It's refreshing. I also love teaching this age because of the things they say, the things the do, and even oddly enough - the things they get stressed out about. My first year teaching, I had a number of students accidently call me "Mom", after which they would turn bright red and in embarrasment say, "I meant Miss Cheney! Not Mom!" Haha... oh I love it. Today I had a student walk out of class only to run back in and say, "Oh, I almost forgot.... Are you having a good day Miss Cheney?" When she turned around to run back into the class, I thought for sure she had forgotten something, it seemed so important. When she asked me how my day was, I had to smile. I could go on and on with little anecdotes, like the student who would reach into his pocket on his way to lunch and pull out a handful of swedish fish for me everyday. Mind you the swedish fish had been setting in his pocket all day and had lint stuck to them, still it's the thought that counts. Or how about the time we had a talent show and one kid got up to show his "talent" without really explaining what it was. It wasn't until he was running full force toward another student to tackle him that I realized what was happening. There was no stopping it at that point... I was just really grateful that no one was hurt. I am especially fond of my Sixth Graders who would give me random challenges every day like, "Miss Cheney I challenge you to NOT turn left all day." I accepted their challenge and they would giggle as I would take sweeping right turns in order to go left.

I LOVE teaching, and I am so excited to see what this year holds. I have said it before and I'll say it again. I love my life. I am blessed.

After all the sweat and toil

I survived the first two days of school! *bowing* After all the work and worry, the first two days are over, and I am happy to say that I feel they went well. I didn't realize how much I missed teaching Sixth Grade until the students came walking through the door on Thursday. There is just something about that age, I love it. It's so interesting to see how my motivation changed. Last year I strolled into work almost when the bell rang and left the moment I could. Not only did I not really care, but no one else did either. Bad combination. Already this year, I find myself WANTING to get there early to make sure I am prepared and I have stayed after both days just to make sure I got all my bases covered for the next day. I know I am going to be happy with my job this next year and I count it a huge blessing.

With all of the good comes the not so fantastic, like the fact that twice in the past week I have fallen asleep and then woken up hours later... not remembering exactly when I fell asleep or ever planning on falling asleep. Today I was working on my computer and woke up (with my computer somehow safely put on the floor- i don't remember doing this), I had been asleep for at least two and a half hours. I guess the fact that I am so exhausted means I have been working hard - or waking up at 5:30 in the morning. That's another indicator that I like this job more - I actually get up early and shower BEFORE I go to work, rather than when I get home from work. Don't judge, I always shower every day. Just when I shower sometimes changes.

Ok, I'm done talking about how much I love my job and how exhausted I am. Now I will show you pictures of what was stressing me out so much....

yes, the bulletin boards are blank. I decided to save that project for next week. But doesn't the room look good???

Some of you are probably saying, "Sweet, *in a sarcastic tone* a room with desks and blank boards. Awesome." If that's you're reaction, well.... you're not invited to come hang out in my very cool classroom. The biggest hassle for me was organizing the bookshelf (which you can't see), putting together the Writer's Workshop (which is hidden by the desks), and finding a seating arrangement that worked (a little bit tricky, but I figured it out.) Oh and also, the lamp you see in the back is part of my Reading Nook. I love the Nook.

Also, the boxes on the wall took forever. Luckily last Saturday Mike helped me wrap them and even showed me a better way to apply the tape. Thank you Mike, or should I say, Thank you Box Wrapping Expert :).

Oh September!

Whenever I think of September, I kind of think of new beginnings. This is typically the month where things start. School years, leases, even the beginning of Fall - quite possibly my favorite season. This next week I will start at my new job and although I have felt a lot of stress thinking and preparing for it, I am also very relieved that I have this job. As I sat through the orientation last week I got the sense that this school district truly cares about the students and that there will be many opportunities for me to grow professionally and become a better teacher. The fact that I became motivated and excited for the next year was evidence to me that this is going to be a good experience for me.

There have been a few moments in the past week where I have felt overwhelmed and didn't know quite what to do or where to start. When I woke up this morning, I just took a deep breath and told myself, "one thing at a time!" I can only do so much, and I know that is enough. That is a wonderful realization to come to.

So this Labor Day will hopefully not be too labor intensive for me. I hope to spend a couple of hours on some last minute things that I need to do, and then get outside and enjoy this beautiful day. The humidity is not quite as bad as it was earlier this summer and there is a slight breeze. I can't wait to get out there!

Afterthought

I tried to put this one on my last entry, but it wasn't cooperating. Maybe it will now. This is a video of the single Sorenson men and their pie eating contest. Good times :)

Summer Time and the Living is Easy....

The past few weeks have been somewhat of a whirlwind. I managed to get all of my vacationing done in only three weeks. It was fun and relaxing, but now I am ready to get geared up for this next year. I have my new teacher orientation next week and then start school the following. I need some time to get myself mentally prepared for this new school year, so I'm thankful that I have two weeks left before I have to face it.

Back to my vacation. I want to write all about it, but in order to make it more managable, I am going to break this post into segments. Read on for pictures and trivial pieces of information from my trips.

1. Wedded Bliss:

My good friend, Arianne, got married on the 3rd. I flew out to Denver for her sealing and was lucky enough to get to hang out with her family. They let me stay at their house even with all of the madness of the wedding going on. Arianne was a beautiful bride and as always, an inspiration. She radiates goodness and I feel so blessed to have her as a friend.

2. Return to Utah

When I left Utah two years ago, I was almost positive that I would never set foot there again. This is not to say that I hate Utah. I don't, not by any means. I was however very done with where my life was when I lived in Utah. I maybe associated Utah with the overwhelming sense of not really fitting into that place in my life anymore and the urge to move on with my life. As I flew into Salt Lake and saw the mountains, I couldn't help smiling and remembering some of my favorite memories. Mike picked me up from the airport and from that point on it was nonstop and a whole lot of fun. We went to Lagoon, visited with some friends of mine from Provo, some friends of his from Salt Lake, did a girls night with E and Marci, went to family reunion, and to Boise to visit my grandparents. The Sorenson family (ALL of them) was so nice and took good care of me while I was there. Thanks for such a great trip!

The Whiffen Boys. Many of my favorite from my college years include this family. I love them!

Tubing with Caleb. This is Mike's nephew and he was adorable. It kind of made my day when he wanted me to go on the tube with him.

3. Anne's Dream Vacation

Like many girls, my sisters and I grew up reading Anne of Green Gables. Whenever the PBS specials came on with "Anne of Green Gables" or "Anne of Avonlea", my sisters and I would sit with attention glued to the TV as Anne and Gilbert's budding romance unfolded. We were such cheeseballs. I'm pretty sure my sister Tiffany even dyed her hair red at one point. So we went on a little girls vacation to Prince Edward Island, the setting for the story. We stayed in Cavendish at a little bed and breakfast called "Kindred Spirits". We drove around the island finding all sorts of little treasures....

The Atlantic Ocean is COLD!!!!

Moo and I running through the fields. We thought it would be fun, but halfway through we realized how deep it was and I started thinking there might be snakes, so I started screaming and running as fast as my little legs could take me...

We snuck down to the cliffs...

We were lucky enough to get a picture with Asian Anne. Apparantly about 40% of the visitors to the Island to see all the "Anne" stuff, are Japanese!! Seriously, there were Japanese tourists everywhere... who knew!?

P.S. This woman was NOT an actress or someone who worked at the exhibit, she was just an enthusiastic fan

Basking in the sun at Green Gables