...derek and tamika...

Shaka Shaka

2012-01-01T08:35:00.002-07:00

We ended the year with a little SHAKA SHAKA

which means hang loose, relax, enjoy life!

just what we needed from the crazy busy year

we flew out to hawaii on christmas eve and got to spend 5 days there!

I don't know the best way to share all of our fun adventures, but most of you have facebook so you can check out my HAWAII album and see all the fun pictures we took... so on here i will just post a couple of my favorites:

Day 1: we left SLC at 10:30 had a 3 hour layover in LA and got to HAWAII at about 6pm. we checked into our hotel and immediately went shopping out on the town! we stayed at the ASTON WAIKIKI BEACH HOTEL which was right on the beach and next to a GINORMOUS outdoor shopping mall.

waiting in LA

HAWAII Airport

Aston Waikiki Beach Hotel Room

Day 2: was christmas... we hiked to Diamond Head,

played on the beach, and did some more shopping!

snow cone to cool down

ahhh relaxing at the beach!

Day 3: we went to the polynesian cultural center... it is pretty much an ALL DAY thing but totally worth it! really educational and entertaining!

Our TOUR GUIDE: "cousin walter" was hilarious

Derek trying to make FIRE

LUAU

Food... the purple roll was delicious :)

Night Show! = So Good!

Day 4: we went on a circle island tour which included Pearl Harbor, Byodo-In Temple, Macadamia Nut Farm, the North Shore, and the Dole Pineapple Farm.

Pearl Harbor

Byodo-In Temple

Ring the BELL to keep away evil thoughts/spirits

Day 5: we met up with jennifer (my half-sister who lived in hawaii her whole life) 's mom, kathy, and went and did a session at the Hawaii Temple. It was really special to get to spend the day at the temple, so peaceful and relaxing :)

Day 6: we spent the whole day by the beach!

it was a really nice trip...

just what we needed to feel energized for the upcoming 2012 year!

Tanisia's Wedding

2011-12-31T16:22:00.000-07:00

My little sister got married on December 17th in the Draper Utah Temple.

She was beautiful and the wedding was extravagant!

She put together a fun photo booth :)

Tanisia, Tlyncia, Tamika, Tanyail, Toinnett, ^Shay^, Jennifer

Jeff (her husband) is a such good guy and

we are so excited to have him part of our family.

FUN FACT: tanisia's last name is DAVIS too!

September/October

2011-10-13T19:20:00.001-06:00

I have been so busy lately I haven't had a chance to blog about ANYTHING!

I really don't even know where to start...

Rock Springs High School:

I love my new job and working so close to home!

I have great students and it really has been fun.

I forgot how much work it is making lesson plans

and trying to appeal to all sorts of learning types.

I have had a couple reality checks...

i thought high schoolers would be more responsible than middle schoolers

but it turns out they need just as much reminding if not more.

I work with great GREAT teachers!

i'd be so lost with out their help and support.

I survived Parent Teacher Conferences in September

OH and i am officially the new girls soccer coach!

Hunting Season:

derek went hunting in september and got an antelope

(not real hard when there are more antelope than people in wyoming)

we went out twice for deer...

i'm sure you can tell by the pictures below which weekend i preferred

we didn't get anything either time, the 2nd time i did get a shot off though

but we didn't come home empty handed...

we got a sweet travel trailer!

Projects:

derek has been hard at work finishing our last couple projects

it feels so good to finally be done with our house and just get to enjoy it! :)

we built another deck (shoot i forgot to take a picture, and i dont want to go back downstairs)

redid the garage shelves

finished the bathroom downstairs

and had another successful gardening year

we have had so much zuchinni, tomatos, green peppers

along with potatoes, onions, and spaghetti squash

Halloween:

i love to get decorate for the holidays!

i always buy all the decorations after the season so that they are cheaper

and then i have decorations for the following year...
so thanks to last Nov 1 we look pretty festive :)

Up N Coming:

Elk Season (starts friday)

indoor winter high school girls soccer season

my younger sister tanisia is getting married in december = wedding planning

derek's sister allison got engaged = more wedding planning :)

planning a getaway to hawaii for x-mas vacation

some people's kids...

2011-09-20T16:55:00.001-06:00

... take a cooking class in high school

and get to make delicious crepes like the one shown below:

but what makes these people's kids so special

is that they ask their teacher for the hall pass

and search all over the school

until they find their math teacher in the library (of all places)

to ask her if she likes raspberries, blueberries, and strawberries

then shows up the following period with a breakfast crepe and dessert crepe

...

i seriously am so blessed to have the job i have

and i am so grateful for my students!

...

some days are harder then others

i worry daily if i can actually DO this

but when the day is over and it is all said and done

i must be doing something right

2 cool 4 SCHOOL...

2011-09-05T18:36:00.002-06:00

i am usually not a procrastinator....
however for some reason this year i am having a hard time

getting started! normally i have the first month's of lesson plans completed before school starts, and here it is 14 hours away from the tardy bell ringing and i don't even have the first day planned. and what am i doing instead of lesson planning now?

ummmm writing a blog about my weekend...

FRIDAY and SATURDAY:

my sister toinnett and her two little boys came up

we went to the RSHS football game

played angry birds in my classroom

went on a four wheeler ride

shot guns

and went to the mountain man rendezvous

SATURDAY through MONDAY:

Tanisia and her FIANCE Jeff came up

they met us at the "Cave Man Rodeo" as tanisia called it

we watched movies in our theatre room

played a whole lot of badminton

and had a LABOR DAY BBQ

okay now that the world is caught up on my personal life...

i AM going to start figuring out what i am

going to do tomorrow and this week in class.

but here are some pictures of my cute classroom!

i still need to get my whiteboard hung : /

My DESK!

HaPpY 1OK

2011-08-27T19:16:00.002-06:00

so a while back i had planned on doing a half marathon...

I was running almost everyday to train for it,

then realized that weekend i was going to be out of town.

so i STOPPED running

Well recently i've been running with some gals in my ward

and they invited me to do a 1Ok with them...

it just so happened that i wasn't gone the weekend of the race

but there is no way i could run 13+ miles right now

so i ran a 1Ok instead:

in 64:58!

the first 3 miles were all up hill then you turned around and ran back

a pretty crappy course, but a good sense of achivement once completed

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Also it was derek's birthday on FRIDAY.

i knew i was going to out of town so we celebrated on THURSDAY.

i threw him a tmnt (teenage mutant ninja turtle) party.

it was pretty freaking awesome.

Everyone got to wear these head wraps.

Completed TURTLE TRAINING

(a skills course i made up consisting of balance, stealth, shooting targets, and a puzzle)

this is micheal, i'm pretty sure with aim like that he hit the target.

A scavenger hunt around the neighborhood

and of course PIZZA

i really wish i would have got more pictures but i didn't :(

but i made sure to get a picture of this:

i know... i ROCK!

moab 2011:

2011-08-17T17:19:00.002-06:00

finally our summer vacation has come!

we took a week and went down to southern utah to check out some national parks!

we left thursday evening and spent the night in SLC and headed out friday morning

we camped at moab rim campark:

this was our view from the picnic table:

and from the tent:

it was so pretty!

on saturday we went to canyonlands national park and dead horse state park

on sunday we went to arches national park

and on monday we went on a river trip down the colorado river.

we left for orem monday evening and spent a couple days there with my family.

it was a great trip (to see more look at the 4 posts below)

and now it is time to get ready for SCHOOL!

Colorado River:

2011-08-17T17:13:00.000-06:00

on monday we took a trip with adrift adventures down the colorado river

it was not as exhilarating as we thought it would be but it was still a fun time:

know why they call this the chevy truck???

because it's built like a rock :)

The Arches:

2011-08-17T17:08:00.001-06:00

this park was the main reason we chose to go to southern utah on vacation

i had never seen the delicate arch before and have always wanted to go!

so here are some of the arches we saw

and hopefully i'm getting all the names right!

North and South Windows

Double Arch

for the main attraction... this is where we had to park the truck,

that little white speck i am pointing to (and this way only the halfway mark)

it was a long hike but totally worth it :)

Sand Dune Arch

Pine Tree Arch

Landscape Arch

Skyline Arch

Tunnel Arch

and here are alot of other pretty things that we saw:

Balanced Rock

The Three Gossips

Wolfe Ranch

Petroglyphs

Dead Horse Point:

2011-08-17T16:52:00.000-06:00

after canyonlands we also made a quick stop at dead horse point:

view from dead horse point

we had lunch at a picnic table in the park

and these cute little chipmunks came right up to us!

CanyonLands:

2011-08-17T16:47:00.001-06:00

on saturday we headed to canyonlands we drove around "island in the sky"

and looked at all the cool land features and hiked some trails:

Native American Graneries

Yellowstone 2011

2011-08-08T09:31:00.002-06:00

Derek and I had a couple days off together so we decided to go to Yellowstone.

We left Friday morning when Derek got off work
and drove 6 hours to Madison where we set up camp.

Regan and Bailee were going crazy with all the new smells and scenery.

It rained when we got there so we had to eat our tin foil dinners in the car.

We went up to mammoth hot springs and saw geysers and waterfalls
and hiked around on Friday...

then at night had s’mores and a camp fire

Friday morning we saw more geysers and old faithful

Then headed home around 2pm

It was a quick fun trip

(to see more pics there are 4 posts below)

OLD FAITHFUL:

2011-08-08T09:27:00.002-06:00

OLD FAITHFUL really is faithful!

we got there shortly after it's last eruption

so we went into the visitor center to see when the next time would be.

it said 12:05

so we had almost an hour to burn...

they remodeled their old faithful information center and we were able to walk through the tutorials and simulations and better understand all the features in yellowstone. we went to the theatre room and watched a video all about yellowstone...
then it was about 11:50 so we went to see old faithful.

it was 12:07 when she blew!

The ANIMALS:

2011-08-08T09:12:00.000-06:00

Most everyone goes to yellowstone hoping they see a bear...

don't get me wrong the other animals are cool

but you know you had a good trip when you snag a pic of this:

Grizzly Bear

we also saw some:

Elk and Babies

Bison

Deer

we also saw birds, cranes, and antelope but i wasn't able to snap a picture of them.

The SCENERY:

2011-08-08T09:06:00.000-06:00

yellowstone is such a beautiful place!

there are tons of waterfalls, meadows, rock features...

just way cool stuff and the best part is it's all free.

i'm not a professional photographer like most people you see up there

but here are a couple pictures i managed to get that i thought were "blogworthy":

pretty rainbow!

it rained alot of the time we were there,

but it gave us a pretty after shower smell and view

Grand Tetons

the grand canyon of yellowstone

The GEYSERS:

2011-08-08T08:58:00.000-06:00

there are tons and tons of GEYSERS at yellowstone!

it's crazy to think that it is one giant super volcano

last time we went i don't think we saw this many...

so here is one too many pictures of hot GEYSERS:

^^^ this made me laugh ^^^

iFLY

2011-07-30T13:56:00.001-06:00

for our anniversary back in may derek bought us these iFLY tickets. so 3 months later we finally used them before they expired! we drove to ogden on wednesday after i got off work and first tried indoor skydiving:

it was a lot harder than it looks!

then we also got a chance to indoor surf!

once again a whole lot harder then it looks!

here's one of derek wiping out. we both did this about 90% of the time!

and finally by the end we had the hang of it!

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tanyail spent the week with us!

we went four wheeling a couple of times and almost tipped it a couple of times

we had a badminton tournament in the backyard

and derek took her out fishing:

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we went to the red desert rodeo thursday night:

and lastly saturday morning i ran the red desert 5k...

this was the best time i have ever ran a race,

i ended up getting 4th place!

i ran it in about 24 1/2 mins!

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Don't forget: WYOMING's BIG SHOW is next week

sweetwater county's pride and joy :0)

Florida!

2011-07-27T09:16:00.001-06:00

so i figured i better catch up on our summer events because we have alot of upcoming fun things that i know i am going to want to blog about...

on the july 15th i drove down to utah (yet again) for some soccer games and a GIRL'S WEEKEND with derek's mother and sisters. we stayed at a hotel in west valley and had some fun bonding time! since i had a soccer game saturday morning i met up with Sandy, Allie, and Bridgette at the hotel and from there we went and got full body massages and facials! WOW needless to say i think i am addicted :) it felt so good! then we went shopping and had dinner at zupas. After dinner we headed to the Jordan Commons to see Harry Potter 7: pt 1. Sunday morning i had to wake up early and Sandy drove me to the airport so i could catch my flight to florida!!!

Regan wanted to come along!

I had never been to florida so i was super excited that my new job was sending me there for a training. We stayed at the Hilton at Disney Resort and were literally across the street from downtown disney (yes i went there practically every night)

Lego Woody

Our traning was centered around KAGAN cooperative learning. I learned alot of good techniques that i am going to implement into my high school teaching!

So now for the fun part... i did alot of laying by the pool, tanning, and eating out at fancysmancy restaurants but also was able to make it to Disney's Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom on wednesday:

we saw the bug's life 3D short clip! it was so cool :)

On friday we went to universal studios, mostly to see harry potter land, but the other stuff was pretty cool too!

ButterBeer

Hogwarts Express

i made it back home saturday morning and picked up my little sister tanyail who is staying with us for the week. summer is always such a busy time but it makes for GREAT MEMORIES! :)

WHAT a WEEK!

2011-07-12T15:21:00.003-06:00

i had a whole week off last week from summer school.
it was exhausting but i also did alot of fun stuff!

for the FOURTH OF JULY we had a BBQ with derek's parents and sister.

we had hamburgers, hotdogs, potato salad, fruit, veggies, strawberry pie, and homemade icecream

we played TICKET TO RIDE then relaxed until it got dark enough and headed over to green river for fireworks. regan and bailee actually liked them until the finale came...
the booming kinda freaked them out!

i spent tuesday and wednesday checking things off our summer to-do list:

i plan on sewing my jeans right after i finish this blog :0)

and all we have to do for the guest room computer is reboot it and get a wireless router.

then all the BIG projects that cost alot of money...

on thursday i drove to utah to spend a couple days with my family.

my sister tanyail and i practiced some soccer moves...

this is the only pic i have of us together but she is coming up in 2 weeks to hangout with me so i'll post a video of our soccer skills :)

we had a picnic outside and watched BEASTLY!

on friday we woke up early and headed to west jordan because UTAH IDAHO SUPPLY (a teacher store) was having a back to school extravaganza!!!
we got there a half hour early and were the 6th people in line.
We put our names in a drawing and hoped to win free stuff!!!
. . .

at 8am they opened the doors and before we could start shopping 10 people were going to get to the the "2 minute dash" around the store to get items on their list. there were 10 different lists and 10 different items on each list. at first i didn't really care about winning because most of the stuff was elementary geared merchandise and now that i am a high school teacher i couldn't really use the stuff... so tanyail and i sat there and made fun of the contestants running around the store like crazy morons! but as time went on i got super bored and i thought it would be cool to just win a bunch of free stuff so i started hoping they'd call my name. suprisingly the 5th list was ALL MATH STUFF! i told tanyail that i really wanted this one and she told me "your not going to get it..." well dondondaDON they called my name! i was EXTACTIC! and suddenly i became a crazy moron running aroung the store trying to snag all my items. i was knocking things off shelves, screaming, and sprinting around the store...
needless to say i was the first person to get all 10 items on the list!

i added up the $goods$ and i got over $70 worth of great school supplies!

then i ended up spending $85 more on other stuff but it was way FUN!

Tanyail even won a $10 gift card! :0)

After our exhilerating shopping experience we went to ihop and ran some errands. sadly when i was walking back to my car after breakfast i noticed someone had hit it :0( there was no note or cars around with new dents (believe me i checked)
so now my new car has a yucky looking side bumper. GRRRR

well friday evening i went to my sister toni's house and
we made cupcakes because she was having a birthday party on saturday!
i have this snazzy cupcake book that gave us this idea:

we melted jolly ranchers and cut out stars and hearts and put them on cupcakes.
they turned out so cute!

saturday morning i had a soccer game...
it's crazy that i drive all the way to orem to play but they dont have
competitive outdoor teams here in wyoming and i miss playing so much
that i am desperate! the fun part is that i get to play with my sister!
we won that game 7-0 and i scored 2 goals!

after the game i headed back home to rock springs.
when i got there derek was waiting to take me out on a date.
we went to rock springs international day and applebee's.
then we relaxed at home and watched some world cup (previously recorded) soccer games.

on sunday i was not excited to go to church because i was going to miss the
US play BRAZIL but we recorded it and planned to watch it at 12. MAN ALIVE
if you saw that game you know what i am talking about... what a roller coaster,
i am not going to lie i did shred some tears when the game was over!

i was so HAPPY we WON!

then finally to wrap up our weekend we went on a hike.

we took the dogs and walked for about a half hour until we found a nice spot,
laid out our blanket, had a short FHE, and then

took the scenic route home...

we saw about a half dozen elk, deer and baby bambi's, lots of antelope, and even a moose!

it was a great week off!

June 2011

2011-06-29T21:32:00.002-06:00

So summertime has finally made it to Rock Springs!
(with the exception of the pouring rain today)

...and we've had a busy JUNE!

at the beginning of the month...
we had a sleepover with derek's nephews

with some backyard toasted smore's

we went to strawberry days

where i ate lots of delicious strawberry goodness

we also went to the rodeo

we went to my neices birthday party in SLC

i went to flaming gorge days

and spent the whole day with great friends
playing in the volleyball tournament

i've been busying playing on a city league softball team in rock springs, traveling back and forth to utah on the weekends for my women's soccer team, training for a half marathon, teaching summer school at GRHS
AND in our spare time we have been checking boxes on our "to do" list!

this list seriously never ends... i've added 5 more things after i took this picture!

anyway... so that was our june!

What's on your summer "to do" list???

Run with the Horses

2011-06-20T16:57:00.001-06:00

this year it is my goal to run a half marathon!

i've done quite a few 5k's but i think it is time to truly challenge myself :)

so 13 miles on a dusty trail with wild horses here i come.

i encourage any and all who want to join me to because the more the merrier!

it is saturday aug 20th (click here for more details)

if you dont want to run then maybe just leave me some words of advice
for me to train for something like this... thanks!

Life is GOOD!

2011-06-03T08:56:00.003-06:00

SO many great things have fallen into place lately
that i am just overwhelmed with gratefulness!

1) derek and i were on our way up to the little white mountain waterfall with some friends when my phone rang on tuesday. as soon as it rang derek was like... it's the school! (surprisingly it totally was) so i tilted the phone sideways so we could both hear what he was saying. my heart was pounding out of my chest, i was so nervous! so he starts out with the usual greeting of hello, how are you today??? i can't even remember what i said because i just wanted to get to the exciting/horrible news.
so he started off by saying: "we had a lot of very qualified applicants for this position and we were able to narrow it down to 4. You were one of the 4 that we had to choose from and we had to offer the job to someone..."

this is the moment that my heart dropped and i took a deep breath to hold back the tears, i put the phone to my own ears derek didn't need to hear this.

"and we decided to offer it to you"

...

i took a couple seconds for me to realize what he was saying and once it sunk in i said thank you probably 50x before derek touched my leg and gave me the look, calm down! needless to say i am so excited for this opportunity to teach at the high school level, in a school that is moving toward a 21st century school! i can't wait to get in there and grow as a teacher and help kids fall in love with math.
as of right now i will be teaching geometry, algebra 2, and algebra 2 advanced.

2) derek has been looking at trucks, i say since he was able to see over his carseat out the window, he says the past couple months, either way... he's done his homework. we just assumed we'd have to go down to utah to get a good deal on a used one because car dealerships here don't have a lot to choose from. but we decided on wednesday that we would just go drive through a lot or two. as we made our way up the 2nd row of cars a salesman blocked our way and asked what we were looking for. we parked and walked with him whlie he showed us a few, just as we suspected there were only 2 on the lot that were used and neither of them was what we wanted. the salesman ran inside to ask the manager if they were going to be getting anymore soon, and the manager actually said that there were some on the way now. just then about 5 trucks rolled up. they were all really nice but not so much in our price range. we took one for a spin anyway, and it drove so smooth i was in love instantly... we NEEDED a GMC! when we came back we ran some numbers, luckily since derek had done his homework we knew exactly how much this truck was worth and what they were offering we weren't taking.

then the salesman changed positions, "what do you think about new?"

"what if i could get you in a new truck in the
price range that you are looking to pay monthly?"

well that's a no brainer... heck yes we'd buy new!

so he showed us this truck:

i won't go into all the details how it took over an hour to work out the price, but derek go exactly what he wanted and more at a price we were ready to pay!
we think we got a good deal.

3) i got another phone call while we were at the car dealership, it was the assistant principal at RSHS again. my first thought is that he is taking his job back...
OH NO! but i called anyway ;)

he asked if i would be willing to do some training this summer so i can't get familiar with the KAGAN style of learning. i of course agreed (i love learning new teaching techniques) he said it would be the 2nd to last week in july, they take care of the costs but the bad news is that it is across the street from disneyworld...

WHAT?! i'm going to FLORIDA?!

so cool! i've never had a job like this that sends you to conferences to become better at your job... i can't wait!

the rest is just a bunch of tidbits that are making me really happy as of now:

1) we finished painting our bathroom downstairs
and it should be all done in about a week.

2) i love my primary calling, when i am serving people it makes me feel so much better and helps take my mind off things that aren't going so well in my life.

3) the weather... i love running outside, and the past couple days have been wonderful. i always fell so much better once i have exercised
and when the sun in shining and the air is warm that helps too!

4) glade plug-ins... we never used these because we assumed the dogs would eat them but we bought 2 yesterday, and it's amazing how when i walk into a room with a plug-in it instantly brings a smile to my face :)

5) FRIENDS! i always thought that when you were an adult you just didn't play with friends anymore, but that is totally not the case... in fact it is more fun as an adult, you don't have to ask permission, there is no curfew, you don't have to borrow money from your parents to go out! it's not like i am hanging out with friends all the time but i love having friends and other couples to bbq with, play sports, go for walks, movie/game night, exercise, camping, hunting, fishing...!

it's awesome that i get to live with my best friend

6) FAMILY! i love that derek's family lives so close. the other day all of us girls (sandy, bridgette, allie, and me) went to the mall and spent the whole day shopping! we do dinner together atleast once a week.. and it is just nice to have that relationship. lately we've made quite a few trips down to utah to see my family. my older sister and i are playing on a soccer team together which i love! my younger sisters come cheer us on!
growing up with 5 sisters was a challenge... but now it is so fun, we cook together, do nails, talk about boys, play games...
i seriously miss them but cherish the moments everytime i go home :)

i have so much to be grateful for and i am so excited
to see what adventures this summer brings!

White Mountain WaterFall

2011-05-30T21:26:00.004-06:00

so i bet alot of you didn't know there is a waterfall "basically" in my backyard.

the hard part is finding a decent day to get to it... with all the summer snow we've been having ;) Well last week there happened to be a couple good days so derek and i took the four wheeler up into the white sagey-brush mountains in our backyard...

and took a very short (and i mean very short) hike up to this baby!

i had no idea it was ever even there...

next time i will be sure to bring my swimsuit and take a real freshwater shower!

WOW-ZERS!

2011-05-25T15:54:00.004-06:00

DISCLAIMER:

what you are about to read is

surely going to blow your mind...

I taught at Lyman Intermediate School for 2 years.

i know what you are thinking... 2 years = so short!
but let me use my math skills and crunch some numbers:

I taught around 340 days...

8 hours a day x 340 days = 2,720 hours = 163,200 minutes

It takes exactly 50 minutes to get there...

50 minutes x 2 (roundtrip) = 100 minutes = 1 hour 40 minutes

100 minutes x 340 days = 34,000 minutes = 566 hours 40 minutes

It is 64 miles from my house in RS to my parking spot in Lyman...

64 miles x 2 (round trip) = 128 miles a day

128 miles a day x 340 days = 43,520 miles (on our poor cars)

Gas costs an average $3.50 a gallon and our car gets 30 mpg...

43,520 miles/30 mpg = 1450.67 gallons x $3.50 = $5,077.33 on gas

So if that doesn't put some perspective on why i resigned then your

CRAZY!

. . .

But honestly i have truly loved working at LIS and teaching.

The staff is amazing... i am going to miss them so much!

and the students are so much fun, it really has been a great two years.

I learned so much about myself and teaching in general
that i can't wait to get to do it again.

(I have an interview for RSHS on Thursday! wish me luck!)
which by the way is only like a 5 minutes drive :)

free time

2011-05-11T17:44:00.000-06:00

so i have had the pleasure of staying home the past week! i took 4 days off of school and tried the "stay at home wife" role and absolutely loved it! I slept in until about 8am every morning, went the gym and got a really good work out in, then took a midmorning nap, made lunch, did some crafts, took an afternoon nap, made dinner, and played board/nintendo games! i am seriously considering retiring after this week! ;)

well my favorite craft this week that i made are these!

i have spring blocks and have been wanting to get some summer ones but i thought what the heck i'll just make my own and see how they turn out. LUCKILY since we are working on our basement we have a billion 2 x 4's so this project ended up costing me

NOTHING!

so i cut some wood, found some pretty colors to paint them, and got sandpaper...

I painted the blocks and i love the "stressed edges" look!

using just regular scrapbook paper i drew and cut out letters...

ModPodged them on the blocks...

outlined the letters in black puffy paint...

and added some extra "girly-ness"

AND WALA: SUMMER!

and in only 2 weeks school will be over

and summer will officially be here!

3 years

2011-05-10T10:06:00.001-06:00

so another year down! sunday was mine and derek's 3 year anniversary... i don't know what i was thinking getting married so close to mother's day but oh well may will have to be "spoil tamika with lots of gifts" month :) well since the 8th fell on a sunday and derek worked we didn't do much of anything. however i did wake up to flowers on the counter in the morning... derek always picks out a pretty combination :)

i spent the day celebrating mother's day at derek's parents house
and that was our anniversary!

...

ok ok so we actually celebrated it on monday.

I found this cool idea on one of those craft blogs so i made some scratch cards:

you can write stuff under the circles then you color over it with white crayon (the more the better) then paint with acrylic paint over top of it. it actually works pretty well.

(there was one for breakfast, event 1, lunch, event 2, dinner, event 3, dessert, and event 4)

. . .

breakfast: CoWbOy DoNuTs

event 1: take the pups on a walk

lunch: TGIFridays (but since we don't have one here):

event 2: bOwLiNg!

dinner: applebees

(insert picture here) because seriously i didn't even take one of us together!

...

event 3: wii

now you know why i married him... look at the butt move :)

...

dessert: RoOtBeEr fLoAtS

PRESENTS is always a tough call for anniversary's especially when if you really wanted something you could just get it whenever but derek is good he listens to everything i've ever said and always has something in mind... so i was super surprised when he gave me an AMP and GUITAR LESSON book! i am making my own electric guitar in "woodshop rocks" class at school and now once it's done i can actually play it!

i got derek a spotting scope (i know nothing about them, but i guess i did well)

you can't fake a smile like that:

or maybe you can???

...

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY DEREK!

2011-05-06T10:27:00.003-06:00

so the other day some guy was facebooking derek asking if he'd been up to anything lately, then he said oh wait i know the answer to that, NO because there hasn't been anything exciting on your blog in months. Well thanks random guy who i don't know, but you have inspired me to post a blog that shows what we have been doing!
* * * * * * * *

1) we finished the basement livingroom and bedroom and we started on the bathroom.

We got an esitmate for a plumber to come do it for us and it would've been over$1,000 just for labor! That doesn't include us buying the tub, toilet, and sink! We thought that was pretty crazy so derek bought a how to book and has done it al himself! we spent a total of $500 and that includes buying the tools, tub, shower, faucets, and toilet!

We are planning on finishing it this month!
* * * * * * * *

2) we started an indoor garden and planted it now that the weather is nice!

derek added the manure and topsoil

then rotatiled it in...

we planted summer squash, spaghetti squash, zuchinni, green peppers, tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, and potatoes! hopefully it will all produce lots of food like last year cuz
i love fresh veggies!

i also have the pleasure of having a strawberry patch :)

they never "took" last year so this year i am protecting them
and if it's the last thing i do i will have fresh homegrown strawberries!

* * * * * * * *

3) We reorganized the garage, cut up the workbench to fit our deep freezer, because we are hoping to get a truck soon and we will finally need that 3rd car garage for something besides storing all our random junk.

(so i know i just said we organized it and then i post a picture of a really dirty workbench.)
Well it is organized junk...

On a side note, we have sooo much meat in that deep freezer and i just got my hunter safety card so we are planning on getting a whole lot more this fall so we welcome any and all over for summer BBQ's whenever!

so lately that has been it. we've been down to utah often for shopping and visiting family, we've taken lots of trips to the dog park, and trying to get in shape at the gym for the summer. we're excited that school is winding down and that we'll have the summer to do some exciting things...

* * * * * * * *

last year we accomplished a ton... and here is our list of
some of the things we hope to accomplish this summer:

. . . . .
1) Finish the basement completely

2) build another deck and overhang (to put a hot tub on) :)

(then PLAY!)

3) camp at bear lake

4) go to moab (see the arches)

5) go on a cruise

Easter Weekend

2011-04-27T20:20:00.002-06:00

Since I am not returning to Lyman Intermediate School next year I have a lot of personal leave days to use up. So if you see me cruising around town on a school day, it's totally allowed. SO i indulged in an extra long spring break, what was supposed to be 1 day off from school became 3 thus making it very hard to return to work tuesday... but that's beside the point let me tell you how we spent our easter weekend.

On Friday we made our way up to Laramie for my alumni soccer game. It was so great to see everyone and kick around a soccer ball with a bunch of talented girls. We older generation are in the grey, the current team is in yellow... it was alot of fun

(we did end up losing even with the refs on our side)

Derek's parent's watched the dogs and we stayed in a nice hotel, so it was kind of a short get-a-way :) we drove home saturday afternoon and watched 'love and other drugs' (wierdish movie: don't think i'd recommend) in our theatre room downstairs.

Sunday we went to church and dyed eggs. i don't think i'll ever be too old to die eggs but you would think that after all this time i would be better at it.

it's sad that derek's always turn out cuter than mine.

I then made this genius cake to take over to the in-laws for easter dinner...

the dinner was great, the company was entertaining, and the dessert: EGGceptional!

We played games and relaxed in no hurry to get home because niether of us worked monday morning. so i guess it is safe to say it was a typical weekend, we relaxed, ate good food, and spent time with family. (i didn't take a lot of pictures but we don't have kids, so i just saved you the time of having to scroll down further on this page, wasting more of your time, just to see pictures of me and derek acting like we are 7.
Your Welcome (: )

UNeventFUL!

2011-04-14T21:17:00.000-06:00

i WiSh i HaD sOmeThInG tRuLy mAgNiFicAnT tO bLoG aBoUt

but i don't...

sometimes you just have to watch the clock pass to see what will happen next

we thought that once derek moved to 12 hour work days and no longer worked underground, life would get exciting! but it hasn't yet. we thought we'd see eachother more often but let's be real the last time i saw him was monday.

however we do have a three day weekend ahead of us together :)

i resigned from my current teaching contract so as of may 27, 2011 i am jobless. (well sorta i still will have my juvenile detention center job almost every thursday night.) i have my application in for rock springs and green river school districts and am just waiting for the interview call on the 5 jobs that are now posted.

these dang pups keep terrorizing the house. bailee discovered how to tip over the garbage can and tear every piece of anything into shreds and drag it ALL OVER the house. they also have found that pillows and comforters contain alot of fuzz that is fun to pull out, and you guessed it, drag ALL OVER the house. if the weather would just stay nice throughout the day we could leave the back door open!

so hear we are at the waiting place, waiting to see what life has in store for us next. waiting to have that "quality time" derek's new schedule promised, waiting to see if i will be working full-time or a permanent substitute next school year, waiting for the weather to be nice... don't get me wrong, life is great right now, but i am not the most patient person, i like to know what the future brings and have some control over it.

so maybe this is a good lesson??? WAITING...

spinach salad

2011-04-01T08:37:00.000-06:00

i have been craving strawberry spinach almond salad

for days and yesterday i treated myself to the dish.

It was amazing so i just thought i would share...

with summer coming up it is a light salad

that tastes even better when the sun is shining.

Combine spinach leaves, cut strawberries, and bacon (i like the precooked kind best)

in a bowl with a lid so you can shake it.

Heat slivered almonds in a small frying pan with sugar

(you wouldn't think so but the sugar will melt and carmelize on the nuts)

Mix 2T of olive oil, 2T of redwine vinegarette, 1T lemon juice, and 1t of poppyseeds.

Pour the dressing over spinach, strawberries, and bacon then shake it all up.

Add the almonds once they have cooled.

Enjoy with a cool glass of water!

Baby Annastin

2011-03-27T16:13:00.001-06:00

Bridgette and Todd finally did it! After having 3 boys they broke the trend and had a baby girl on Wednesday! She was 3 weeks early and the first little niece on derek's side! We went down to see her this weekend but couldn't hold her because she had pneumonia and was hooked to oxygen and iv's. We are happy to say that today she is off oxygen and the feeding tube, all that is left is the antibiotics... what a little trooper!

...and even more good news is that they are moving to GREEN RIVER!

Todd got a job about a month ago at OCI and has been living here and driving back to Eagle Mtn. Utah on the weekends... so now that the baby has come they will be moving here once the she is released from the hospital. Eventually they hope to move to
Rock Springs and we'd be neighbors! SO EXCITING!

Jared, Bridgette, Jake, Todd, and Micheal

sisters!

2011-03-10T07:22:00.004-07:00

I have five beautiful sisters!

the downfall to growing up with sisters is...
     1) sharing clothes
            2) catFIGHTS regarding pointless issues
                    3) having a hott boyfriend and bringing them home

the great part of having sisters and being grown up is...
      1) sharing clothes
               2) reminising on the pointless catFIGHTS
                         3) having a husband and bringing him home

JENNIFER:

* halfsister * oldest * mother of 3 * hair stylist * athletic *

TOINNETT:

* artistic * mother of 2 * athletic * dental interest*

TANISIA:

* middle child * business woman * fastest runner * academic genius *

TLYNCIA:

* 2nd youngest * cute style * great puppy sitter * smartypants *

TANYAIL:

* youngest * independent * competitive * sporty *

Everyone says that we look alike and that may be true, but we all have such different personalities and talents that it makes getting together so much fun! I love all my sisters and i miss them and am so grateful to have such good relationships with them!

Friday!

2011-03-04T13:39:00.002-07:00

It is amazing working for a school that only goes monday-thursday.

3 day weekends are the best!

i get to sleep in with my little girls, they love to cuddle:

then i clean the house

i love cleaning and organizing

i love having clean windows and doors

i love vacuum lines in the carpet

i love dust free surfaces...

and i especially love finishing it off with a new scentsy scent

however, i do not the love endless cotton that is strewn throughout our house!

i forget why we buy them toys...
oh ya so they stop chewing on our carpet and banisters!

then i get to run errands

(in MY rogue that i HARDLY EVER get to drive)

usually grocery shopping at smiths, a run to walmart, a trip to home depot

some necessities at the mall, and exercising at the recreation center...

then it's back home to play with my girls!

today we played dress up... to see what clothes still fit:

Regan: she is such a good modeler!

i think bailee has grown out of this one ;(

Twins! okayokay i know i am a bit of a spaz

i watch them wrestle...
(this is them playing nice, usually it gets way out of hand and i have to referee)

then they usually pass out and its time for their afternoon nap while i watch judge judy!

...

ahhhh i love fridays!

Man Cave

2011-02-24T08:15:00.002-07:00

Ahhh... the man cave is complete!

with soft microfiber recliners and hide-away bed,

a GIANT cuddle sac,

a 100 inch TV with surround sound and an electric fireplace,

and a collection of dvd's that could keep you entertained for months!

it feels great to have the basement almost done (we still have the bathroom) and a fun place to go when the weather is cold! We are loving it!

i've got a problem...

2011-02-04T17:01:00.004-07:00

i am obsessed to the point where i think i need help. the word relaxation is not in my vocabulary and i don't think i even know how to do it. let me explain...

i teach school in lyman
           to 7th and 8th graders
                  subjects math and science

in the summers past i taught summer school
                       math at Green River High School
                                  9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th graders
i am taking classes
       working on getting my master's degree
              online and during the summers through the University of Wyoming

my new calling is 1st counselor in the primary
      so almost ever sunday i get to teach/help 3-11 year olds

AND NOW TODAY...
i went into the Rock Springs CAB
    for an interview
         so i can teach math
                  in my "free time"
                       to students in the detention center
                            and was offered the job on the spot!

i love school and teaching to the point that it is now 95% CONSUMING my life...

is this a bad thing???

our basement!

2011-02-01T18:53:00.000-07:00

it feels like we have a brand new house all over again because....

WE FINISHED THE BASEMENT!

well not officially officially because we still need to do the bathroom, but we did finish our living room, bedroom, and pantry! it's fun to finally clean out those junk piles that were just waiting for a new space to form. so here are some pictures:

more to come once we get our couches on FRIDAY!

PRImary

2011-01-17T15:44:00.001-07:00

I got called into the bishop's office last Sunday and got offered a calling.

For what I think, the first time in my life, it is a calling that I actually wanted to accept!

I am 1st counselor in the PRIMARY!

i think what makes it so great is that i get to do it with friends and

the fact that they are so organized i know exactly what i need to do.

Anyway i am really excited :)

2010 reCAP

2011-01-03T20:22:00.005-07:00

JANUARY:

Derek started his new job at FMC

we did LOTS of SNOWboarding

TLYNCIA came and stayed with us for a semester

FEBRUARY:

Tamika got her first new car: NISSAN ROGUE

APRIL:

Tamika had her 2nd KNEE surgery

(microfracture and meniscus repair)

JUNE:

Finished our LANDscaping

MAY:

WE celebrated our 2nd ANNiverSARY

Tamika finished her 1ST year of teaching

JUNE:

Tamika started GRAD school

We finished our PROjects (shed, deck, workbench)

JULY:

Tamika taught SUMMER SCHOOL at GRHS

Welcome home BAILEE!

AUGUST:

TAMIKA turned 23...
DEREK turned 26...
Trip to BEAR LAKE!

September + October:

Derek went hunting and shot a deer and moose

NOVEMBER:

THANKSgiving with my family

DECEMBER:

Tamika got her hunter safety card
CHRISTMAS at HOME!

Christmas 2010

2010-12-29T18:14:00.003-07:00

Once again we were spoiled rotten this christmas... back in november when we were thinking about what we wanted for christmas we couldn't think of anything really that we needed or really wanted. i feel kind of stupid but i was more excited about what we could get the dogs for christmas. for some reason i really do think of them as my little babies so i was so excited on christmas morning when they got to see their present from me and derek! derek built it and i did the painting! they love it!

here is a pictures of me and derek's gifts...

our top 3 gifts are our wii, my iPod touch, and derek's DSlite

we made a gingerbread house...

not to brag but probably the best one i've ever made i went for looks rather than sugar capacity :)

We had christmas in GREEN RIVER at derek's parents house. I was sick for most of the time so we didn't do much game playing or staying up late... but it still was nice to be around family. and christmas is so much better when there are little kids around, ahhhh whoever thought of santa claus was a genius! :) christmas eve we opened up our new pj's, and when the little boys went to bed derek went outside and jingled bells and bellowed ho ho ho. the boys were so excited! we woke up early and opened presents and ate sticky buns (so good!) and played with toys. A typical christmas but lots of fun memories to add to the holiday collection. ANYWAY... MERRY CHRISTMAS!

christmas fun

2010-12-20T09:42:00.002-07:00

It has been a while since i've done a real post mostly because we haven't done that much.

It honestly seems like the year has just flown by and not alot has happened.

Well yesterday tlyncia and allison came over and we decorated some homemade sugar cookies!

Here are my four.

Then we have the holiday tradition of making shirts.

so far this year we've made easter, thanksgiving, and now christmas!

ALLISON'S

TLYNCIA'S

Tamika's

New Hunter

2010-12-12T15:43:00.001-07:00

Well ladies and gentlemen it's officially official...

i am legally allowed to hunt in wyoming, i passed my hunter safety class today!

now honestly i doubt i will ever shoot anything, but it is cool knowing i could :)

BIG GAME: WATCH OUT!

Company Party

2010-12-04T10:24:00.001-07:00

Derek has been working at FMC for almost a year and last night was his company party.

It's pretty cool to have adult jobs and get to do stuff like this :)

We both ordered salmon which was delicious.

We had cheesecake for dessert but that was gone before i could take a picture.

Then after the party derek's work buddy aaron and his wife came to our house and

we watched "New Moon" all in anticipation of staying up until midnight so we could get...

ya maybe that makes me a huge nerd, but they happen to have

delicious cake at walmart when they have new movie releases... so its justified :)

cupTURKEYS

2010-11-29T14:52:00.000-07:00

so you have the pleasure of viewing some more of my cupcake-tastical desserts inspired by probably what is the greatest holiday ever! We made a dozen cupcakes thinking that we'd make a whole herd of turkeys but little did we know that it was way more work than we thought it would be...

The puppies cleaned the beaters for us :)

AND wala a cupTURKEY!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

monster cupcakes

2010-11-14T09:42:00.000-07:00

The next creative idea from my beloved cupcake book.

MoNsTeRs!

what's new, CUPCAKE?

2010-11-07T16:15:00.001-07:00

I was tired of looking at PAWS scores last week on Friday

so I took a tour in our school book fair and found this:

Probably the best cupcake book ever!

There are such cute ideas.

So i made a batch of cupcakes and decorated them like SOOO

APPLES for the teachers at school who help me everyday!

and little PIES for our sunday dinner dessert!

Stay tuned for more awwwww-inspiring desserts!

or just check out this blog to see some more clever ideas!

not too excited...

2010-10-25T07:07:00.000-06:00

about driving to work in this:

going 40 mph for 62 miles

every mon-tues-wed-thurs

for the next 5 months!

FaLL FuN!

2010-10-19T20:12:00.002-06:00

This last weekend my family came up to visit. It was fall break for them so it worked out perfect with me having 3 day weekends almost every week! They came up on Thursday night and we didn't do too much. Alot of Mario Party and Board Games! On Friday we went to the Rock Springs Rec Center Pool. It is brand new and lots of fun! Water Slides, a Lazy River, and a small Splash Area.

We spent Saturday doing some crafts. We painted these cute little pumpkins from wood we had lying around in the backyard.

They turned out really cute and are a new cheap addition to our other halloween decor.

Tlyncia's Pumpkin Patch

Tanyail's PumpKINs

Tamika's!

There new home is on our window sill in our living room :)

We also went and checked out the Petroglyphs. It's only about a 30 minute drive from our house and like a 5 minute hike.
They were fun...

Tonight Derek made jello so we could make jigglers! it has been so long since i cookie cut come jello and slurped it down my throat. We cut them out in halloween shapes.
Some turned out better than others.

So we cut out these six shapes ate like 2 pieces and threw away the rest. JELLO just doesn't taste so good once you get older! ;)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Well Halloween is just around the corner and i have just completed my decorating. Last year when we were living with derek's parents we bought all the holiday stuff once the holidays were over so they were all on sale.
We have some great holiday treasures:

These I made a craft night a couple weeks ago!

Kitchen Table Treats

Hallway: we are going to put pictures of the dogs in custumes in those frames once we get a couple good ones.

Entryway!

Front Yard!

Porch!

And lastly the highlight of my extra long blog: MY PUPS in their costumes. YES we are those kinds of owners who put crazy outfits on them and make them pose for pictures :)

Regan!

She took that cowboy for a ride!

Bailee!

October

2010-10-13T10:44:00.004-06:00

Well October in my life has always meant one thing...

HUNTING! I think Tamika is still trying to get used to not seeing me, or talking to me for that matter, for a couple of days every week. But she is a champ to support me in doing something i love. And its only 1 month out of the year. After putting in for a moose license for the last 14 years i finally had enough points and drew a tag this year! Since she wouldn't see me for awhile (basically the whole month) Tamika decided to go with me for the first few days. We were able to see a few animals, deer and moose, but nothing worth shooting. We met my dad up in Kemerrer and swapped out so Tamika could get back to work. We were getting frustrated with the hot weather keeping all the animals deep in the trees and not seeing anything. We made friends with a few other guys up there who said they would keep their eyes open for moose and let us know if they found anything. I found one moose about a mile away through the spotting scope and we stalked him, only to decide he wasn't quite big enough and had the shot wounded him he would've ran down a steep hill full of trees. That quickly helped make my decision. After 4 days up there we headed home. On the way out we passed of the men we had met earlier and he stopped to tell us how we had missed out on this great opportunity that morning. 3 bull moose were all feeding in a meadow and it had we have been there i could've got one. After deliberating we decided to head that direction anyway and see what we could find. As we came to the meadow they were in earlier, the biggest of the 3 bull moose was standing about 150 yards away. It didn't take but a second for me to decide thats the one i wanted to shoot. It was well within the size that i had decided on before i even left the house. Well it took what seemed like forever for me to get a good rest, my heart was pounding and i couldn't stay still. Finally i pulled the trigger and dropped him in one shot. A guy my dad worked with just happened to be camped down the road and heard the shots. He came down to see what was going on and helped us load him in to the back of the truck. I just got back from deer hunting and next weekend I'll be gone for elk. Hopefully Tamika can make it back up there with me for another weekend and be there when I get an elk. Here are a few pictures from the last few weeks.

My Bull Moose

Alice Lake

This is what happens when you get your face to close to the scope.

The biggest bull moose with no antlers i have ever seen

My deer

side walk chalk!

2010-09-13T19:55:00.002-06:00

i was walking home from the gym today and realized that this evening weather reminded me of something from my childhood...
a cool breeze,
a shade covered drive way,
70 degree evening temperatures...

SiDe WaLk cHaLk!

so derek and i made a master piece:

i call it "seasons"

so original :)

Spring!
By: Tamika

Summer!
By: Derek

Fall!
By: Derek

Winter!
By: Tamika

Ahhh, how i miss those childish days of
popsicles and side walk chalk!

Mountain Men!

2010-09-07T12:35:00.000-06:00

This weekend we went down to Fort Bridger to check out the

Mountain Men Rendezvous.

i have never been and Derek hadn't been in over 15 years! my sister Toinnett and her husband Alberto and little boy Tayvin came down for the weekend so they came too! i didn't take tons of pictures but the few that i got kind of sums it up!

we ended the day with some funnel cakes (yum)

it was a pretty fun day!

summer catch up!

2010-08-29T19:10:00.002-06:00

so i feel like the summer just flew by and that i didnt have enough time to post everything i should have...

number 1: we finished our landscaping, deck, and shed

FRONT YARD:

BACK YARD:

DECK:

SHED:

number 2: regan and bailee love each other

and have been to the dog park countless times

they like to bully the other dogs and explore,

regan even learned to swim!!!

number 3: lots and lots of bbq's and ooey gooey smores!

number 4: i sewed a dress with my new sewing machine!

sorry the picture is so bad (taken with my phone)
this is when i was a little more than halfway done.
it turned out pretty good for a first time doing it by myself.

number 5: regan had two knee surgeries :(

she had a Luxating Patella in both knees so we got it done so she can stop limping around. now the sad part is that she has to wear this cone around her head for two weeks and has to be carried everywhere. bailee is not very understanding and still trys to wrestle and fight with her. it is so sad :(

number 6: Zucchinni Bread, Zucchinni Casserole, Fried Zucchinni, Zucchinni Soup, etc are in abundance this summer because our garden grows a never ending supply!

number 7: school starts tomorrow

i've been to my classroom lots and i think i am ready. i better be because the kids come tomorrow! i made a school/class blog if you want to check it out you can click here or the link on my side bar. There are pictures of my classroom if you want to see it!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

well summer is officially over and i get to spend the fall as a single lady because derek's days off are my days working and not to forget hunting season is about to begin!

Bear Lake

2010-08-14T14:33:00.001-06:00

we decided it was about time to make the summer official

by going camping so we went to bear lake

we stayed at Travelland RV and Campground.

It had a grassy campsite, running water, electricity, and a facilities

we invited my good friend from high school, alison and her newly wed husband ryan to join us. we lounged around the beach and made alison into a beautiful mermaid...

we rented jet ski's and a giant water tricycle!

after becoming crispy pieces of bacon from the hot sun we of course had to stop and get raspberry shakes. that is what bear lake is known for and it was muy bien :)

and of course camping would not be complete
without a campfire and smores

ahhh, summer vacation has officially started now that we are back

home i get a week before school starts again. time to wrap up

those summer projects we started and enjoy the long days of

nothing :)

big 23!

2010-08-09T11:58:00.003-06:00

so the best part about having your birthday on a sunday is that you get to use that as your excuse the whole weekend.
i get this because its my birthday...
i want that because its my birthday...
you get to do this for me, you guessed it...

because its my birthday!

ahhhh, that three day weekend brings such joy :)

and luckily i have a husband that gives into that childish behavior

speaking of childish this was my cake!

and i want to brag for a second about all my presents:

i got lots of teaching stuff (big blow up dice with numbers and fractions, a bulletin board rocks and minerals set, a huge sand timer, a jumbo magnifying glass and eraser, toys and trinkets to put in my treasure box at school, and a blow up solar system!) i got new clothes, and duh duh da... a sewing machine!

well this is my last week of teaching at GRHS and then summer vacation officially starts and goes for 1 whole week before school starts.

our plans... relax!

sHoPping dATE

2010-08-05T14:05:00.001-06:00

sometimes i let derek pick an outfit for me to wear for the day.
i put it on and look in the mirror... then the phrase:

"nice try"

comes out of my mouth and i go into the closet and put on something that matches and feels comfortable.

i have this disease where my opinions become spoken...

whether i want them to or not.

so today we or should i say i designed an

activity to 'exercise' my will power...

we went to the mall and the rules where we would pick out outfits for eachother. you could not say anything about them good or bad while the perusing was taking place, not even when you put them on and modeled them in front of the mirror. and if it fit and looked good to the other person you had to get it no matter what!

so derek's was easy... there isn't much selection for men's clothing in rock springs and he is such a diversified dresser that i didn't find much that was out of his comfort zone.

but when i did it was well worth the price:

for me it was tough.

i followed derek around maurices with my lips pursed.

as he weaved his way in and out of the aisles i thought to myself:

"is he crazy? i would never wear something like that!"

"maybe he forgot who he is shopping for?"

"should i walk in front of him?"

"this is going to be hilarious!"

So i went into the dressing room and

tried on the comical outfits he had chosen...

and left the store with 3 of the cutest shirts i've ever seen,

a pair or jeans, and some rockin' teacher pants!

thanks derek, i guess i trust you now...

BACKpacking!

2010-08-01T10:59:00.001-06:00

Derek had the chance to go backpacking this week with his brother-in-law Todd and his brothers. They hiked out of paradise park which is west of vernal 4 miles to a place called twin lakes and spent 3 days camping, fishing, and doing what men do in the great outdoors.

They caught a couple of small fish in the lake but they were too small to cook and eat. Also it was really marshy so they had to hike up their pants and walk in to even get a decent cast.

It rained when they were hiking in and rained again once they had finished drying everything out. but Derek says it was still a really fun trip!

Derek surprisingly did not forget anything but realized there is a couple of things he needs to invest in before the next trip...

a gun however is not one of them, because he got this beast before he left:

luckily he didn't have to use it on any wild animals,

but it was good for him to have it just in case.

i'm glad to have him home safe and sound.

grEEn thUmb

2010-07-29T07:53:00.000-06:00

aahhh... my garden is in bloom and producing

delicious vegetables for me to pick and eat. :)

we've got cucumbers, squash, spaghetti squash, onions, potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, and green peppers!

i love SUMMER!

family float!

2010-07-23T08:14:00.005-06:00

we bought this mega-super-raft last week online and thought we ought to take it for a ride down the green river. and what better bonding experience is there for puppies and parents??? so right away bailee found a little crevis to curl up into and fell asleep and regan thought that she wanted to swim along side the raft... but her legs are too small and her body is too big so she sunk. so we held her in the water and let her believe she was swimming next to us. she liked it for the most part until the wind began to blow and she got really cold.

we didn't see too many interesting things during the float except one. there was an island in the middle of the river that had two small buck deer, 3 momma's, and 2 babies. we tried to be quiet as we were floating by to get pictures of them in the water,

but alas they went to hide in the bushes.
it was a fun little trip and the pups did pretty good!

hOgLe ZoO!

2010-07-18T17:30:00.011-06:00

It was a spur of the moment decision but we packed up the car and drove down to Utah Friday night. We stayed at my dad’s house in salt lake and brought the girls. They never sleep very good in a new place so WE didn’t get much sleep. In the morning we went to hogle zoo. derek and me haven't been there in a very long time so it was fun! we went with his parents, sisters, and his nephews. It was so hot but very exciting! derek and todd

ali and jake

monstrous turtle

after the zoo we went to sports authority to buy a gun, but turns out they dont sell across state borders... derek was pretty bummed. so we went to bridgettes and visited for a little while then headed back to wyoming. it was a quick trip and we're glad to be home. the puppies were exhusted and slept the whole 3 hour drive home!

i dont know if you can see bailee's legs on the right side the picture, she is laying on her back and regan is laying on her belly. good news is that they love each other now! :)

Bailee

2010-07-11T07:39:00.005-06:00

This is Bailee!

the newest addition to our family :)

regan isn't quite yet sure about her because...

1) she pees and poos on the floor

2) she is stealing all her toys

3) she gets all the attention (except we do give it equally)

and 4) because bailee beats her up...maybe we are turning into a family with a house full of dogs but it seems to me like this time of year i just get super baby hungry. who knows what we'll have next year around this time :)

so some facts about bailee:

* she's a min pin who will grow to be bigger than regan

* we bought her july 10 in Taylorsville UT

* she is 8 weeks old (born May 15, 2010)

* she is super energetic and loves to play

*unlike regan... she loves people

*she is super cuddly

*loves to prance

a photoless fourth

2010-07-06T15:49:00.009-06:00

so maybe it was laziness or just a busy week but i managed to NOT take a single picture of our fOurTh of jULy adventures...

so i personally dont read a blog without pictures

so i'll try to make it quick and painless...

Wednesday:

i finished school in LaRaMiE and moved back in with my husband

Thursday:

night my mom, gary, tanyail, and tlyncia came up to celebrate the holiday and help out with some things on our "to do" list

Friday:

we worked on our patio and finished the shed (new post to come)

Saturday:

we floated down the green river (so much fun! i recommend it), bbq-ed, and went shopping!

and Sunday:

my family went back home

It doesn't look like a whole lot, but it sure felt like it! it is nice to have family over, but now me and derek actually feel married... we get to see eachother for more than 2 hours a day :)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
right now i am teaching math at Green River High School for Summer School, derek is still at FMC and luckliy they didn't go on strike, and regan's enjoying the grass and warm weather :)

our BABY!

2010-06-24T14:49:00.009-06:00

ha so im sure that some of you thought maybe we were having a baby... no, no, no, not for a while more. But we do think of regan as our baby and i thought i'd post some pictures of her first year with us. It's been exactly a year since she joined us and we love her so much! here are some of my favorite pictures in no particular order:

she is such a smart dog. she gets the paper every morning regardless if it is bigger than her. She can sit, lay down, roll over, play dead, walk on her hind legs, crawl, and fetch. she gets in her kennel when she knows she has misbehaved. she goes to the bathroom in a kitty litter. She gives lots of kisses. She cleans dakota (derek's parents chocolate lab) from ears to tail.

we love having her in our family! :)

SpRiNg GrEeN!

2010-06-09T06:27:00.012-06:00

we have GRASS!

it is so exciting to look out our windows and see

beautiful lushes of green! regan loves it!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Before:

After:

it just adds liveliness to the house :)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Before:

After:

regan soaking up the rays:

the benefits of grass are amazing! we don't have nearly as much dirt/dust in the house, it keeps you much cooler when you go outside, i bought a slip in slide last year and it only works on grass, and now regan can't get out underneath the fence! the cons of grass we have yet to see... aka the water bill :/

on a side note:

~ we had a garage sale and made almost $500 and it is so great to have an empty garage and i feel weightless to have gotten rid of all our "junk"!

~ i am in laramie working toward my masters degree.

~ the next projects on our 'to do' list include:

1) Finish Painting the Garage

2) Get and Build a Shed

3) Backyard Patio/Deck

evil birdies

2010-05-30T19:50:00.007-06:00

so maybe this makes us horrible puppy parents but this is

hilarious!

underneath derek's parents backyard deck there

is this little nest of newly born birdies...who happen to have extremely protrective parents. here is regan having harsh words with the daddy birdie:

It is so funny she hides in the raspberry bushes next to the fence and barks at them and the birds tweet back and as soon as she gets near the stairs they go in for the KILL!

2nd Anniversary!

2010-05-08T21:04:00.008-06:00

today was out second anniversary and man is time flying by! last week we talked about it and decided that we wouldn't do anything special for it, ya know just lay around the house, go to a nice place to eat, and call it good. we couldn't even think of anything to get each other. then derek, the great guy that he is, decided to plan something. even though he was getting off graveyards saturday morning he still wanted to celebrate the day!

when i woke up in the morning there were flowers on the table. probably the prettiest ones i've ever gotten

and derek even arranged them himself!

derek got home at 11 and we exchanged gifts. he gave me a canon SX20IS camera, skechers "shape ups" :) and the office season 5! (sorry no pictures) and i geniusly came up with the idea to buy him golf clubs! he said he wanted to seriously start playing this summer, so i thought what the heck?! so if you golf he needs someone to go with and teach him the ways of the course ;)

we took the scenic route down to the Flaming Gorge Dam and ate lunch at Red Canyon Lodge. it was pretty good, but always hard to drive home on a full stomache. so i ended up sleeping on the drive home. (i know i am a horrible wife, my husband stays up all night working and i decide to take a nap.) but here are some pictures i was able to take before nodding off.

On the drive home we decided that we still needed one more thing to make our anniversary complete... a grill! so we stopped at home depot and got a smokin deal on this one! and we want to try it out tuesday afternoon/evening and have a bbq so let us know if you can come and i'll send you a text with details!

and note the background... we also worked outside and started on our walkway. we put weedstop down and covered it with bark and put little lights next to our wall, and i think it looks amazing!

at about 8 we finally went inside and derek played with his golf clubs for a little while i planted some more of my seeds. I've got extra bell peppers if anyone needs some starts for their garden and depending how my cucumbers, zuccini, and summer squash turn out i'll probably have extras of those too.

we ended the day with a trip to cold stone, the most delicious ice cream joint on planet earth and sadly caught the end of the jazz game loss. come on jazz! but it made for a great 2nd anniversary!

oUtDoOr PrOjEcTs!

2010-04-25T19:11:00.008-06:00

as everyone knows the weather here in rock springs is unpredictable! one day it will be a high of 70 degrees and the next day we have a blizzard. so inbetween the bad weather days we have been working hard at getting some LaNdScApiNg done. we are happy to announce that the backyard is ready for sprinklers and sod! derek worked super hard and rOtAtiLLeD the whole yard!

^^ this is what it used to look like ^^

^ my gArDeN is finished ^
we even started growing some squash and green peppers inside!

^^^ and my strawberry patch!

we turned in our lawn plans to home depot and they are mapping out where to put the sprinklers in our back yard, so we decided we would start on our front. we finished this little flower garden today (well besides the bricks on the left that still need to be cut) and put this cute pot fountain in the corner. i absolutely love it! i am excited for the weather to get warmer so we can turn it on. and to plant all the cool flowers i bought!
POT FOUNTAIN!

Why can't SUMMER be here already?!

Knee Surgery...

2010-04-16T19:28:00.007-06:00

so as many of you know i love soccer. i started playing when i was four years old and played year round until i was 21. i still would be playing if A) they had an adult soccer league here in rock springs and B) if i had a right knee. you see in october of 2006 wyoming was playing tcu in a conference game. i distinctly remember riding the bus into the parking thinking to myself, today i am going to give it 110% the whole game. AND I DID for the first 23 minutes when i shanked the ball over the goal and stepped into some excruciating pain. i shredded the right lateral part of my meniscis and had to have surgery. ever since then my knee hasn't been the same. It gets locked up, it gives out on me, it hurts to run on it, walk up the stairs, swimming. Just lots of pain doing everyday things. so i decided i had had enough and i went to the doctors and got an MRI about 3 weeks ago.

Last Tuesday the doctor called to tell me what was wrong. He said i had more meniscis adnormality on the left side now, some tissue floating around, and maybe some missing cartilage on my bones. so the answer was surgery. I called my trainer from the university of wyoming to make sure he thought it was a good idea and he said yes. so i called to schedule the appointment. i wanted to get it done and over with as soon as possible... so they scheduled me for Friday.

so i had a day and a half to make up some lesson plans and late thursday night my mother in law and i headed down to laramie. we stayed at the hampton inn and in the morning at 9 headed to Gem City Bone and Joint. Now since i have had surgery on this knee before i kinda knew what to expect. #1 the IV in my hand. YES it was extrememly painful. NO i did not cry :)

I had to answer a billion questions about 5 different times before they took me into the cold metal dreary room and told me to take a deep breath and the next time i would open my eyes i would be in the recovery room... and that's what happened i ended up here:

PROCEDURE: they were able to reattach my left lateral meniscis that was coming up, clean up the tissue floaties, and they had to do a microfracture which is to make a hole in my bone and let it bleed so that the blood cells will create scar tissue and protect my bones since there is no cartilage there.

i stayed in there for an hour so they could monitor me. they gave me some delicious snacks, taught me how to use crutches and the CyroCuff (?), then i was back on the road headed to rock springs. i slept the whole drive and plan on sleeping the whole weekend. so if you need me, i'll be here, most likely sleeping...

happy easter!

2010-04-04T20:27:00.012-06:00

so easter this year was alot different than any year we've ever had it. derek is on graveyards so he works all night and sleeps all day and if you think it is hard for him??? it is 100x harder for me because... i HAVE to LET him SLEEP!

so i have to think of plenty things to keep me busy...

so tlyncia and i made these shirts:

(mine)

(hers: it says eater on the back, yeah she forgot the "s" (: )

we died these eggs:

and i made this breakfast: (this is supposed to be an eggs nest with branches on the side)

on these placemats my mother in law made me:

we both made each other's easter baskets:wouldn't it be cool if this was really my basket and took this picture of it? well it's not, i forgot to take pictures so i stole this basket off the internet...
and then for easter dinner i drove regan over to derek's parents house for a delicious turkey dinner!

this happens to be regan's favorite seat in the car!

Happy Easter!

Project #2 Complete!

2010-04-02T14:47:00.008-06:00

the projects just keep going! it is really exciting... especially project #2 because we had bags and bags of groceries and cans on top of cnas of food sitting downstairs in our unfinished basement floor and now we finally have a place to put it!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

We didn't realize how much food we actually had and it turns out since it was all in bags when we went shopping we just kept buying more and more stuff that we actually already had alot of! well i am happy to have a foodless basement floor and a full pantry!

Derek did a great job!

we've been working on the garden and backyard on days when the weather is warm and it is coming together. we are predicting project #3: The Garden to be done here in the next week or two! and we are planning for project #4: Outside Patio and Grill to start once we finish the garden!

What spring projects do you plan to take on???

Project #1 Complete!

2010-03-20T18:47:00.011-06:00

the weather has been so nice lately that we decided to work on some house projects. the problem is that we started a new project every week because i like to see progress... but this weekend derek was able to finish the garage!

He built this whole work table by himself. he custimized his shelves to fit all of his new christmas tools, and we put this cool sticky tile laminate on the top.

it looks pretty sweet if you ask me! :)

Here is project #2... aka my garden. all we need to do is find someone to dump some dirt in so we don't have to wheelbarrow it in. it is a pretty huge first garden but i am very excited

to see how i look with a green thumb! ;)

And here is a quick pic of all the work we still have

left to do in the back yard... ugh!

And lastly the pantry we still have to finish putting sheet rock

on the ceiling and build the shelves but i think the hard part is over.

well i will put more pictures when we get more progress.

Why fix what's not broken???

2010-03-11T13:45:00.007-07:00

BECAUSE:

1) It can help prevent diseases.

2) It will makes her a healthier and longer life.

3) We don't have to worry about her getting knocked up.

4) and maybe make her more calm...

I feel horrible taking away her womanhood

But it is better in the long run...

SORRY REGS!!!

New Calling!

2010-03-08T12:25:00.009-07:00

I should have known better, when derek got the call to meet with the bishop sunday morning a half hour before church, that'd i'd be going with him...

I should have known better, when i walked by the bishop's office and he said why don't you join us to0o...

I should have known better, when the bishop asked how my little sister, TLYNCIA was liking living here in Rock Springs with us...

THAT I'D BE THE ONE LEAVING THE OFFICE WITH THE CALLING!!!

I was called to be the advisor in the young womens over the mia maids and did i mention i am

T H R I L L E D !?!?!?

Kevin's Birthday!

2010-03-05T07:59:00.009-07:00

So last night we had the opportunity (i say opportunity because it only comes around once a year) to celebrate my Green River Dad's birthday! we ventured over to his place of settlement after work last night and enjoyed a steak, potatoe, salad, and vegetable dinnner. And for dessert cheesecake and strawberry pie! :)

Some Fun Facts about KeViN:

1) He loves licorice!

2) When he was younger he didn't dip his vegetables in ranch dressing because it didn't exist!

3) He has 3 grandsons and 1 granddoghter.

4) Did I mention a great sense of humor!?!?!

5) He is an electrician...

AND WE LOVE HIM!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

BlogAd:

2010-03-02T19:11:00.007-07:00

If anyone in Rock Springs or Green River is in need of a babysitter you can call my little sister Tlyncia. She has been looking for a job since she got here and has no such luck, so she is resorting to childcare ;) Leave a message if you want a Friday away from the kids (or any day for that matter) or know someone who needs a babysitter.

sPoiLeD!

2010-02-16T06:31:00.008-07:00

This past week i was completely spoiled! luckily i married a guy who believes in valentines day and likes to buy me lots of goodies! so this valentines day actually began on thursday when we went to the nissian of rock springs to test drive some nissan titans. we found a really good deal on this smokin' hot titan in utah and we wanted to test drive one before we got down there to make sure that we liked it! so we tried out a 2009 one and loved it! but we thought while we were there looking we might as well test drive a couple for me! we looked around the lot and i saw the rogue's... then the salesman introduced me to this pretty lady:

I test drove it and fell in love with the sun roof, blue tooth, heated leather seats, 6 disc CD changer, stadium back seating, and other perks! So we ended up taking it home and adding a new addition to our garage! My first new car... I WAS (AM) THRILLED!On Friday i stayed at school and chaperoned the valentines dance at the intermediate school, it was alot of fun! i love teaching here in Lyman. Then on Saturday we woke up early and cleaned the house. Derek bought me flowers and my favorite chocolate of all time... TURTLES! we cleaned and ran errands most of the morning then me and Tlyncia decided we wanted to do our faces and nails! it has been so long since i've done a facial it was fun and very relaxing! and then at 4 I had an indoor soccer game in green river. We won the game (barely) and then we drove down to utah. we decided against getting another car right away for derek so we didn't have a real reason for going there, besides it was just a three day weekend. We looked for a couple of car's for Tlyncia, but didn't come home successful... it was a fun trip none the less.

I thought i had to throw in this picture of regan... it is just too cute!

...derek and tamika...

*Shaka Shaka*

Tanisia's Wedding

September/October

some people's kids...

2 cool 4 SCHOOL...

HaPpY 1OK

moab 2011:

Colorado River:

The Arches:

Dead Horse Point:

CanyonLands:

Yellowstone 2011

OLD FAITHFUL:

The ANIMALS:

The SCENERY:

The GEYSERS:

iFLY

Florida!

WHAT a WEEK!

June 2011

Run with the Horses

Life is GOOD!

White Mountain WaterFall

WOW-ZERS!

free time

3 years

Easter Weekend

UNeventFUL!

spinach salad

Baby Annastin

sisters!

Friday!

Man Cave

i've got a problem...

our basement!

PRImary

2010 reCAP

Christmas 2010

christmas fun

New Hunter

Company Party

cupTURKEYS

monster cupcakes

what's new, CUPCAKE?

not too excited...

FaLL FuN!

October

side walk chalk!

Mountain Men!

summer catch up!

Bear Lake

big 23!

sHoPping dATE

BACKpacking!

grEEn thUmb

family float!

hOgLe ZoO!

Bailee

a photoless fourth

our BABY!

SpRiNg GrEeN!

evil birdies

2nd Anniversary!

oUtDoOr PrOjEcTs!

Knee Surgery...

happy easter!

Project #2 Complete!

Project #1 Complete!

Why fix what's not broken???

New Calling!

Kevin's Birthday!

BlogAd:

sPoiLeD!

Shaka Shaka