Soooo.....

Well.... Okay.  Again, not so much very good at this whole write on blog gig all that well very often.  Anyway, it is spring break and it's Sunday night and I have no school in the morning! And although it might sound weird, going to bed early actually sounded really nice tonight.  Unfortunately, my body does not like going to bed before eleven so I am actually just going to write a quick little post.  Now what to actually write about.... Well.... here are some just random thoughts and updates I guess...

1. When getting on blogger today I realized that for every one post I do publish there are about three drafts of other posts that were started and never got finished. Oh the things I wanted to say but never did...
2. I really don't think people really pay much attention to this blog anyways... there's not much action going on here so I don't blame them.
3. I will tell you who does read this blog though... my little stalker students!!! Yes YOU!!! I know you are reading this right now and I still have no idea why you like finding anything related to my personal life that you can... but you do! I guess I might as well dedicate this randomness to you!
4. Tonight I played the game "Ticket to Ride" with my family.  Everyone doubted my skills in the beginning, but then I ended up winning.  No one actually believed me though and recounted my pieces a million and a half times.  It felt really good to beat my Uncle Matt though.  He's still in denial.
5. I do just really love my job! It makes me happy and I like going to work on most days.  I think that makes my life pretty darn good!


Updates since my last one:

• I survived my first semester of teaching with only a few minor scrapes and bruises.
• Took Whit and Joe to New York with me in the fall for a long 5 day weekend.  We had a blast and fit in as much as you possibly can including historic sites, countless museums, shopping, 2 different Broadways, and the Met Opera. 
• Said goodbye to my little brother Joe who is now on his mission in Oklahoma City for the next two years.
• Took a job playing with the Las Cruces Symphony.  Yes we are just a humble small town, but it does feel good to be playing my violin again. 
• Flew to Salt Lake to celebrate my 27th Birthday weekend with my sister and other close friends. Was also surprised by lots of fun little gifts and my classroom completely decorated in streamers by my cute little students!
• Drove to Utah with the fam again over Christmas break to enjoy the New Year. Went boarding, but the snow wasn't all that great. Had a blast as always though and ate lots!
• Had a lot of new experiences and needed growth with being a "grown up."  It has its pluses and minuses getting older and more educated to the ways of the world. 
• Decided to still take a class for my master's program while still teaching. My professor lets me video chat during the class which takes place on the BYU campus.  It has worked quite nicely I must say. 
• Drove with a buddy to the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show.  Made for a good long weekend!
• Took all 55 of my students up to the mountains for a weekend retreat... it was supposed to happen during a beautiful spring weekend, but we ended up having a snow storm instead.  It really was one of the best weekends ever! If I had more time I would write a blog entry just about those 4 magical days of white bliss. 

Things I'm looking forward to:

• Enjoying this week of spring break here in Utah!
• Ingrid Michaelson in concert in San Diego. Weekend road trip with some of the girls!
• Week in New Port, Cali with the fam like we do every summer!
• My fourth Ragnar relay! This summer I will be running the Wasatch Back again with the fam. 
• My annual trip to Havasupai with the friends.
• Living in Provo again for the summer to take classes.

Random/Fun/Interesting Dates I've been on in the last few months...

• Street Racing... I had no idea about the world of street racing before that night. It is pretty intense.
• 4 Wheeling down in the Rio Grand.... yup, you heard me right. The reason we could 4-wheel down there though is because right now the river is bone dry! Made for a good time though.
• Salsa Dancing in El Paso! I loved the live band! They even had a fiddle player that was pretty awesome. 
• Floating down the Rio Grand... Ok... so this one happened back when there was water in it.  Unfortunately we didn't realize how low the water levels were so I really should label it as "dragging our bums down the bottom of the Rio Grand"

So yeah... the end.  I'm ready for bed. 

Nice People

Ok... So I don't write on my blog often, but every now and again something happens that feels blog worthy... even small simple things somethings cry to be blogged about.  It has been a couple of interesting weeks for me. It has been filled of the best of things and also the worst of things.  I have experienced some of the very best moments of my life thus far and also some of the very worst moments as well.  I am just so grateful that when the worst hits that there are always those moments that remind you that everything is still okay in the world.

So there I was today at the bank....  For some reason going to the bank is something I absolutely dread and never make time for.  I had a huge stack of random checks and things I needed to deposit.  I decided to turn my car off because I knew I would be sitting there for awhile.  After what seemed like forever, everything was processed and it was time to go.  The kind lady at the teller told me to have a nice day and then thanked me for using Wellsfargo. I put everything away in my purse and I get ready to drive off.  There was only one problem though.  My car wouldn't start.  I am in a small drive through at the bank and my car wouldn't start.  Not only that, but because of the tight space I can't even get out of my front door.  I started by unsuccessfully calling a couple of friends to see where they are and if they could help.  I then decided to just ask the lady at the teller if anyone inside had jumper cables.  Unfortunately nobody did.

As I sat there not know what to do I watch the car that was in the drive through lane next to me drive forward, stop in the parking lot, and then pull out some jumper cables.  Because I didn't say anything to the people around me I was really confused for a minute.  I literally thought to myself, "Dang it! I should have thought to ask the people next to me!"  Then I noticed she was driving towards the front of my car.  It all started making sense.  She was actually coming to help me!  I still have no idea how she made the connection that I was stuck.  From what I noticed earlier, she was just doing her banking at the teller next to me and would not have had any idea about my dilema.  Anyway, there she was... pulling her car up to mine and popping the hood of her car.  I stuck my head out the car window (because that's all I could do) and thanked her profusely.  As she was hooking up the jumper cables to my battery I noticed her son who was sitting in the front seat.  He clearly was down syndrome.  I smiled at him and he smiled and waved back.

During this whole experience I really was just overcome with a ton of emotion.  It took all of my power not to start crying because of my joy and gratitude to this random lady I had never even met.  It was just one of those special moments that reminded me how much good there was in the world.  This lady was not even asked to help me.  She just observed a situation and decided out of her own good will to help.  It would have been just so easy for her to have driven off and left me there searching for someone else to help.  When she was finished I again thanked her and told her to have a wonderful day.  I drove off feeling just so blessed.  Today I am grateful for nice people! I hope to be a nice person myself someday.