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.

This is how the Robb Family watches a Movie

Yup. It's 2:00 in the morning. We decided to turn on a movie right before going to bed. Did anyone actually last through it? Never. It's just not our style. I guess I did manage to stay awake, but that's because I was working on my craft projects at the table. The big debate now is... do I want to wake them or just let them sleep on top of each other all night? I mean they do look so gosh dern comfortable right?

45 days of bliss

Ok... So I officially lived back in Las Cruces, NM for a whopping 45 days! I haven't lived here since I graduated from high school in 2003.  Now I am back, and it has been a total dream and for one main reason... (ok, there are multiple reasons, but I am going for dramatic effect here)... GREEN CHILIES!!! Yes... I live in the land of green chilies! They are amazing and pure goodness. If I could describe them to you I would, but there are no words fit for them. Now if you are thinking "well I've gotten hatch green chilies in a can and I don't see what the big deal is" get that thought of your head right now because those canned chilies are not even close to what I am actually talking about right now.  They are worlds apart.

One of the joys of living in a place that is the 20 mins from literally the "Chile Capital of the World" is that you can go anywhere and get good chilies on whatever you want. I am being completely serious... want a burger from McDonalds with green chile? Yup, you can get that here. Want to order a pizza from Papa John's with fresh green chile? Also totally on the menu. Even our local custard place used to sell green chile as a topping for their custard sundays.  It is everywhere you go, and I will never complain a second about it!

This is literally the view from the front door of my house. Those are all just miles of chilies. So beautiful huh?

So speaking of which... what did I do with my night tonight? Well, after I came home from work and the gym, I put 35 lbs of fresh roasted green chilies in freezer bags and stuck them in our freezer.  That's another way to keep the goodness last all year long.  You literally can go to Walmart here, buy a 20 lb bag of chilies in a garbage bag, go to the parking lot, and pay a guy $4 to a guy to fresh roast them for you on the spot. It's a beautiful process.

This is what they look like before... 

This is the roaster.

This is what they look like after. And they smell like heaven! 

So have I gotten you excited to come visit me here in NM yet? Sure hope so!

More evidence that it is the chile capitol of the world! Even the water tank says so! 

So since we are on this topic... I might as well confess something... remember how I said I have lived here for 45 days now? Well that also means that today was my 45th day of eating Mexican food at least once a day since I've gotten here. Yup... I have eaten Mexican food for 45 days straight.  Not for every single meal, but at least one meal a day is a burrito, taco, torta, green chile enchiladas, etc... It has been great! Just don't ask me about how all of my pants are fitting me right now. I got a gym membership last week to help remedy that dilemma.

So there it is... my first blog post from NM. And it was also about one of the greatest foods on earth! Next time I might actually try and talk about teaching and all the other stuff going on in my life :)

Most Recent Development....

Ok... so when you go to school to get a degree in something, the whole idea is that one day you will actually get a job doing that thing you studied right? I know... it's not that complicated of a concept, and yet when all is said is done... it doesn't ever turn out to be that simple of a process.  While sparing all the nitty gritty details about all of my jobs and thought processes over the last 5 years, let me just jump to the conclusion which is... I'm finally going to be working in the job that I've dreamed about and spent years trying to train for!

I am moving in a 2 weeks back to New Mexico to be the new orchestra director at Mayfield High School. So if you don't know the history already here it is... I actually went to Mayfield High School and was in the orchestra program there all four years under the direction of Kathy Dollahon.  That means I left the school as a student in spring 2003... Kathy always joked about me coming back to teach at Mayfield when she retired, but that seemed like something that was so far off in the distance that it really didn't even seem like a real possibility... I mean how would I know that I wouldn't already be married, or living in a different state, or working in another school... the list of factors was endless.

 Even when I found out she was retiring early in the year, I really didn't think that it was going to be feasible for me to apply and take the job.  I am half-way through my master's program and I love my life here in Utah. For a little while it didn't even look like the job was going to post either because the district is currently in a hiring freeze. I have been in life decision limbo for the last several months and it has been kind of crazy, but I do think that a lot of growth can happen during times of uncertainty.

After my application was turned in, there were four of us that were invited to come and interview.  The other applicants all had very impressive resumes and in most instances, a ton more experience. Fast forward even further... (I am leaving out a ton of details)... when I found out that I got the job, not only need it feel right to accept the position, but it seemed even sillier not to.  This means I start teaching in the middle of August and will be finishing up my master's program over the next couple of summers.

My Faculty Staff Badge

 In case you were wondering, will be moving in with my parents and will be sharing a room with my 11 year old sister for the next couple of months while I figure out what to do for a more permanent housing. So yup... that's my life update.

My bedroom for the next little bit... little sister and all :) My bed is the one on the left. 

Let me just quickly clarify... life is not always a bed of roses

Alright. Here's the deal.  I finally wrote my semester summary on Sunday talking about all of the things going on in my life... it was filled with lots of really great exciting things that fill my life right now... school, work, trips... but just so I'm not being completely deceitful here... here's the rest of the story:

• Deers hit in my new car? - 1
• Car accidents in my new car? - 2, but they both happened within 15 minutes of each other.  And for the record they weren't my fault
• Times my car was booted?- 1
• Times my car was impounded?- 2
• Hours I spent late nights in the library?- too many to count
• Number of assignments I did not procrastinate on?- none of them that I know of
• Number of credits taken this semester?- 18... not very wise to do as a grad student
• Number of life changing decisions that I had to make?- currently in that process and I'm not a fan

     Here's an example of a normal Lindsey-type crisis... So just this last Monday night... even though finals were done the Thursday before, I still had one last research paper to write.  I was so grateful for the extension on the paper that our professor gave us, but after enjoying a beautiful Easter weekend with the family, I left myself only 2 days to complete the research paper.  But since I knew the library was open both Monday and Tuesday night till midnight, I figured it wouldn't be a problem.  So Monday I go to work till 5 like any other day, go get an ice cream cone from McDonald's to help motivate me (naturally) and head back to campus. By the time I park my car and walk to the library it is 5:50pm. I walk through the front doors to hear music blasting through the speakers, which only can mean one thing... the library is closing! I turn to look at the door, and sure enough there was a notice posted that the library would be closing early due to the in between semester break.  I don't even know what to do! I run to a computer knowing that if I didn't at least check out books and start my paper that night, there would be no way to survive.  My chosen topic was on the historical background of Shostakovitch's Symphony no 10.  I notice that all the books for Shostakovitch are in German.  I don't read German. Next plan... change topic quickly... and... Stravinsky! Didn't exactly what particular aspect I would research about Stravinsky yet, but I knew I needed to grab books and grab books fast! Ten books on Stravinsky... check.  Arms full. I notice it's pouring rain out! Didn't even matter. The library was closing in approximately two minutes.  I finally get to my car now wet and frustrated.  As I set the books on my car and dig through my purse for my car keys I realize they are not there. Oh no, the Library!!! I leave the books just sitting on the top of my car (no worries about the rain though because I parked in the parking garage) and run back to the library.  It's sealed shut! I knock on the door.  I can see a security guard off in the distance but he neither hears nor notices me.  I can my bff to ask advise.  She suggests the police office to get let back in. I hang up the phone.  Just then a kid walks out of the library.  I snatch the door before it closes.  The kid set off the alarm so I security guard is now running after him.  It didn't matter though, I was in the building.  The other security guard let me back upstairs. I luckily found my keys and returned home.  When arriving home to work on my paper however, I do realize that 2 of the books I grabbed on Stravinsky were also in German (I was just too rushed to think about checking the languages). I also discover that my internet is out in my apartment.  I know I needed to research online some more just to help give my paper direction and to help me pick a topic.... Thank goodness for bff's though.  I was able to drive 35 mins to Britt's parents home in Pleasant Grove where she was staying the night and I was able to use their internet.  It was 10:30pm when I finally got there.  My paper wasn't even started yet.  Rest of the story in a nutshell is... Monday night all I accomplished was picking the topic and knowing what direction to take my paper. The good news is... after long hours in the library all night Tuesday and all morning Wednesday, I did get the paper turned in.... and it was mostly done :)  The end. 

Taste of Heaven!

Ok... so I don't know if this is the high quality stuff that most people blog about, but I really just need to describe the sandwich I am eating right now (it is made from all of the Easter leftovers)...





This is not the actual sandwich fyi


• Fresh Sourdough Bread- enough said
• Smoked Ham- smoked by Papa in his smoker
• Fresh Roasted Red Peppers- had roasted by Auntie Lani
• Smoked Gouda Cheese
• Brie Cheese- what can I say? I just LOVE cheese
• Avacado
• Fresh Basil Mayo- also made by Auntie Lani
• Fancy Tasty Yellow Mustard
• Organic Green Lettuce Mixture- product of Costco

I'm not even joking... it is like Heaven in my Mouth! Thank you Easter!