Those Sure Are Some Grand Tetons!

I got to take a trip with some friends to the Jackson, WY area. The fall colors were splendid, the nights chilly, the days surprisingly pleasant, the company great, and the wildlife spectacular. Here are some pictures of some of the fun things we saw and did!

The largest periodic spring (around Afton, WY I think)

and largest man-made guyser (Soda Springs, Idaho)

Taking a pizza break in Jackson Hole after a day of hiking

Phelps Lake, part of the Death Canyon trail at Teton National Park


Views of the Teton mountain range in Teton National Park

(the one on the left is from the Death Canyon Trail)

Moose, elk (which we later went tracking, using bull elk calls)

mule deer, a marten or fisher (I'm not really sure which

because they are so similar)

one of a pair of bald eagles. I also saw a marmot (I think) and coyote!

The cabin door and the view from it (in Alpine, ID).

Dem Amercan's Ain't Got No Learnin' or "Amer-I-Can!"

**If you hate soap boxes and those who teeter at the top of them, do not read this blog**

This clip from the Howard Stern show came in an email the other day and I wanted to share it, but for a different reason than the senders and creators of the email probably intended. This stems from a debate that I have heard many times over the course of the last few months: that blacks are voting for Obama purely because of his skin color. I would like to say that I am writing this not to share or force my political views on the two of you who read this - which I will not state - but to throw out my social views by asking how many of ALL of us vote for a candidate for ill-thought-out reasons. Do we vote for a candidate purely on political party? How many of us out there overlook a qualified candidate because of what we think or assume about him/her? How many of us don't consider voting differently than we have in the past without actually considering the better choice? How often do we say that we won't vote or don't care because we don't like either candidate? The country is going downhill anyway and neither candidate is ideal, so why bother? Slogans, nicknames and wardrobe become the focus and deal maker rather than the actual issue? Why do so many feel that by not participating - and this includes being an informed voter- that their ownership in a mess is nulled? Patriotism to so many means that they love their country, yet how many don't love it enough to get involved or even informed? I would argue that true patriotism is a belief that all of us will get through the good and especially the bad together, and that even if the "wrong" person gets elected we still have the obligation to our fellow citizens to care. I am FAR from being a political or social activist, but I am frustrated with the throwing-my-hands-up, washing-my-hands-of-you, he-won't-be-my-president attitude that so many have. There are many reasons why so many around the world despise Americans - why should this be one of them?

http://www.bpmdeejays.com/upload/hs_sal_in_Harlem_100108.mp3

"Would you like fried rice with that?" or "Why I suck as a salesman"

I called in the rights and privileges of being an adult this weekend as I ate my fortune cookies first before the meal at a Chinese restaurant. I was warned that fortunes cancel each other out if you are greedy like me and take a handful from the help-yourself bowl. I can testify to the truthfulness of this statement. Here is the literal progression of fortunes as I ate their sweet little wrappers and read their little sayings...it's a little creepy, but I think Lisa was right on and I am still waiting for a Freaky-Friday-esque earthquake to activate the prophecies uncovered in those crunchy taste sensations we all know and love:
#1 "Wealth awaits you soon" - Woo hoo!
#2 "You will soon meet someone who shares in your persuits" - Even better! Now I get the money and the guy, all wrapped up into one delicious individually wrapped package!
#3 "An admirer is too shy to greet you" - Dammit! I got too greedy. Ugh! He is wealthy and wants a wife who wants to be wealthy, but he doesn't have the guts to do anything about it and since I am disabled from eating all of those damm cookies that I can't catch him, I guess it's just another case of Pooh getting his - or her - head caught in the honey pot.
This would happen to me...

Thirty, Flirty and Thriving

I have mixed feelings about turning the big 3-0. There are moments where I feel a sense of my own power as a woman - I feel like I have come into my adulthood. There are other times, though, where I mourn the end of a relatively pleasant decade - I have long since lost the chance to be a teenage mother. I have reached an age where I can no longer sell my eggs for cash (why didn't I DO that? You can make, like, $3000 a shot!) as they are apparently too old of specimens. I can no longer play dumb, using the excuse that "I am the new kid on the block so don't put any responsibility on me because I only moved out of my parents house a few years ago." Ah, the good old days when if you wanted to get rid of someone you were dating you could take the chicken poo way out and just stop talking to them...ok, so this statement doesn't apply to me, per se, but you get it (especially those of you who know the story)...where does the time go?

My time this weekend was spent with a few friends who are dear to me and made it an extra special birthday. Laura put together a party for me and it was exactly what I wanted. Tiaras, jewels, pink feather boas, nail polish, the movie "13 Going On 30", cheesecake, and a sleepover were all involved. I couldn't ask for a better group of friends who made it special and just what I asked for.

When I Love My Job

I am really good at complaining about my job. But I have a lot of fun experiences along the way that make me keep wanting to come back for another round. And while right now I keep telling myself that I better be scoring points in heaven for working with freshmen, I generally like coming to work every day.

My recent success is with one of my all time favorite books, Ender's Game. This is the

second year I have taught this novel, and while my students enjoyed the book last year, this year it is a runaway hit. I have bought out the local bookstores copies of one of the sequels twice (Ender's Shadow), and lent out my own personal copies of the sequels too. The biggest success in this whole experience is that of all the sequels I have leant out to students, only one has been a girl. The whole reason I chose to teach Ender's Game was to find a good guy book. It has far surpasssed my expectations. I am so excited that, even if they don't read and/or like another book we read this year, they have at least read (and actually read it, not just faked it) one book and like it.

What I love about teaching literature - any book I teach - is the reactions of the students: gasps, laughs, questions asked that show deep thinking (as deep as freshmen can get). Sometimes it's even just the dead silence when we finish a chapter that is particularly profound or intense. I love reading out loud to them so we can enjoy it together. I love when a student comes to me the weekend after I assigned a book and they have read the whole thing because they couldn't put it down. I love being part of a student experiencing a good book. Some English teachers feel grounded while teaching writing. I feel grounded when teaching a book. I love literature, and the key to finding EVERY person's passion for reading is just finding the right book for the person. What's yours?

Cascade Falls

An easy hike to a beautiful destination - sounds good to me!

A hiking we will go, a hiking we will go, hi-ho the merry-o a hiking we will go!

If you are familiar with Cedar Canyon and Navaho Lake, Cascade Falls is a leak from that resovior (if I got the story right).

Kyle, MJ and Celeste entering the cave to do some exploring (Meg, on our way back we saw your brother and Johnny donning their wetsuits heading to do this very thing. Mountain man beard and wetsuits...a winning combination!)

Southern Utah sure has its charms!

Children We Love

Before my sister Beth had her first child, we would talk about what it would be like and the things we would and wouldn't do. Beth was adamant about not letting herself "go" when she became a mother, and I believe she has lived up to that. She will be the first to tell you though that she finds no joy in shopping for herself anymore. She can't wait for her children to look cute and have pretty little outfits. While my family was visiting a few weeks ago for the blessing of little Rori, and even thinking about my own behavior while I am with my nephew and niece (and the way all of my single friends talk about theirs too), the adults in my family that are in love with these children can so easily tune out the rest of the world when they are with the children they love. I often go to see Beth with the full intention of staying only long enough to say hi or drop something off and three or four hours later I am heading home because books and toy cars distracted me. My brother in law was in love with his new niece. My father loves being a grandpa, even relishes the time. Mom buys Happy Meals just to collect the toys for the next time she will see Mikey. Claudia watches the videos of the kids on the blogs countlessly because she doesn't want to miss a thing. When adults are in love with children, they are happy. When children have an adult in love with them, they are valued as they should be. Those of us who are in love with the children in our lives are crazy and obsessed and delighted with every little thing that countless other children throughout time have done and said but it never mattered until the one you are in love with did it just the way only he or she can. They are our little pieces of heaven.

The Second Time Around

As a new set of little feet fill the halls of Cedar High School with a cacophony of pitters and patters, I look forward with hope and a little angst at what could be a very good or a very bad ten months. And to assist me in my forward lookingness, I am reminded of the contemplations of a coworker that started teaching the same year I did. He started by asking me if it was weird to me that certain students were not here anymore. I agreed - this past graduating class has been here my entire experience as a teacher thus far (see my May post) - and told him that I keep looking for faces that I don't see anymore. He went on to say, and I quote, "We've made it through high school twice - once for ourselves, and another time for someone else. And now we only have 6 1/2 more times to go before we graduate for good."

If you are anything like me, you may see this as an interesting way of looking at your years to retirement. Or it may seem insane to many of you that there of those of us who knowingly go back to high school, and will continue to do so many many times. There is a teacher, kid you not, who has been through high school 11 times! Once for himself, and MORE than 10 times as an educator. I am content with my 6 1/2 more times.

And for those of you wondering, high school is WAAAY better the second time around.

My Buddy Mikey

My nephew is one of my favorite people on the planet. He is so awesome. His mom and dad are currently teaching him how to make emotion faces. He demonstrated some of them for me with the understanding that I would share them with everyone else I know.

Happy face
Sad face
Angry face (not to be confused with sad face)
Surprised face
Silly face

I love my silly monkey Mikey!

I Love Oregon!

When statements are true, they are best expressed in a succinct manner, such as "Portland is freakin' awesome," "Oregon is beautiful," or "Seattle ROCKS". Ok, so I don't know much about making true statements, but all of the above statements are true anyway. I went to visit my sister Claudia and her beau Adam. We had an awesome time visiting. Let me show you some of the things we did!

We visited many beautiful sights along the Columbia River Gorge including

Bridal Veil,
Multnoma and
Wahkeena Falls.

We enjoyed some beautiful gardens in the heart of Portland, such as

The Japanese Botanical Garden and

The Chinese Classical Garden.

Of course, there was also an afternoon of shopping in the trendy Nob Hill district and another at the local mall. When I say "shopping" you say "too much money." Shopping - ______ Shopping - ________!

Many delicious meals - both in and out of the house - and a wonderful trip to

the Portland Temple. Later, we headed to Seattle. I have always wanted to visit here and loved it! Though one of the main objectives to eat fresh crab wasn't completed, we still enjoyed salmon, fresh cherries and raspberries and turkish delight at the Pike Place Market.

We did a LOT of walking around Seattle that day - very hilly to say the least, but there is so much to see and do. If you truly want a unique Seattle experience, take the underground tour...very entertaining. Our guide was...different. We'll leave it at that.

Of course, most of the fun was in the little things Claudia and I - and sometimes Adam too - were able to do together that don't have pictures attached with them - the chats, the walks, grocery shopping, movies, and even naps we shared (is that wierd?). Claudia is my best friend, and though pregnant and often lightheaded as a result, she was a sport walking all over the Pacific Northwest together - probably the last time in a really long time that we will just be able to pick up and go. It is interesting to see how I will look when I am pregnant (uh, newsflash - we're twins - I'm not prego, she is, hence I get to see what I will look like when this other of blessed events occurs...) and to know that I have successfully predicted the gender (which Claud found out about while I was there - it's a girl!) of both of my sister's forthcoming children, as well as my dear friend Megan's (it is a gift Adam, so don't fight it!).