Christmas 2008!

We had such a wondeful Christmas. I hope all of you did as well. It all started with Christmas Eve and the 24 family members who came over for dinner. I wish that I had a picture but didn't get my new camera until Christmas day. We had family in from New York, New Hampshire and Reno. It was so nice to have both my dad and moms side together for one night. My Aunt Carol made lasagna for dinner and it was delicious. Thanks Carol. Kim and Don brought over their Wii and we played Rock Band until 11:30 when we got kicked off because Santa was coming. Rock Band was so much fun!! (Except for Kim and my dad telling me how bad my voice was)

Christmas day was a little smaller but just as good. Our family had decided to only get presents for the kids. However, my mom and dad surprised me by getting me a new camera. I was so happy. I had been looking to buy one for a while but wanted to wait until after Christmas. It was perfect. Of course, all the kids got spoiled. What is Christmas without kids getting spoiled? Trevor and Taylor are at such a fun age. We had a great time watching them open their presents. It was such a nice day relaxing with my wonderful family. Dinner was amazing. My mom cooked prime rib that was soooooo good.

I feel so blessed to have the family that I do. Thank you to all of them for making such a memorable Christmas. Christy, Dave, Emily, Ethan, Nancy, Roger, Jim, Faira and all the locals: You are the BEST!!!!

Me and my two favorite second cousins, Ethan and Emily

Me and Trevor. Look at his cheesy smile. He is so funny.

Ethan, Trevor and Emily. They bought him a new helmet.

Dave and Aunt Carol and the delicious prime rib that my mom cooked.

Christy and Dave relaxing between opening presents and dinner.

Ethan and Emily with their mini ping pong table. Because they live in New Hampshire, Christy and Dave made this ping pong table out of cardoard. Pretty creative.

Trevor and Don. Another cheesy smile.

My dad and Trevor. Yet another cheesy but cute smile.

Baby Addison, Emily and Taylor.

Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas to everybody. I hope you all are having a wonderful day. I got a new camera from Santa so I am hoping I will become a better blogger. The camera is charging as we speak so I will post as soon as it is done.

Christmas party and Kim's birthday

I had such a great weekend. It started on Saturday night with my friend Kaycee's annual Christmas party. She is such a wonderful hostess and always goes all out. We had such a great time. We usually dress up for the party but this year was a theme. The theme was old Christmas sweaters/sweatshirts. It was hilarious. The guys definitely looked the best because they were all wearing girls sweaters that barely fit. We played some games while we were there. I don't know the name of the game we played below but notice the girls on one side and boys on the other. We dominated. Notice the outfit on the guy at the far end. Awesome!!



There is a game that we have recently started to play called cornhole. This is a picture of one of the boards. Basically, you throw beanbags at the board and try to get it in the little hole. You get points for getting it in the hole and for landing on the board. I definitely need to practice, I was not very good at it.

Jenn and I in our fabulous sweaters. It is hard to see but the neck of mine has white cotton around it.

Jenn, Kelli, me, Annette, Laurie, Shannon, Lori and Lindsey.

On Sunday was Kim's birthday. We went to brunch at a place called Chomp in Fullerton. We all had a great time visiting and relaxing with no kids for a while. Here is a picture of Julie, Shannon, Kim, Jeana, me and Angie. Amanda was also there but we didn't take a picture until later.

Shannon, Jeana and Angie

Julie, the birthday girl and me

So excited because only 8 more school days until Christmas break and only a couple weeks until all the family is coming in.

Medieval Times

Last night, Trevor and I went to Medieval Times. I had been wanting to take him for some time and finally did. I figured that he would love it but was a little concerned that he would be scared. My first thought was right on. The only time that he got scared was before the show started and the lights turned off. As soon as he saw the first knight come out on a horse, he was hooked.
Here is a picture of Trev and I with a knight before going in.

He absolutely loved watching the horses. I was told to get there an hour before the show started. That is a long time for a 3 1/2 year old but he was great. This is him checking out the horses before the show.

We were on the red knights team. I bought him a flag to wave around and I don't think he ever put it down. This is him showing his support for our red knight.

The look on his face during the show was absolutely priceless. He was in awe. I am so fortunate that I got to be there with him. I don't know what I watched more, the show or his face. I wish that I could have got a better picture of his face but he wouldn't look away long enough to get it. This picture is what he looked like the entire time. So concentrated and cute.

The entire show, he kept asking me if our red guy was going to win. He was so into it. Unfortunately our guy didn't win. Some white knight came in at the end took everybody out. We were both really bummed. I don't remember that happening the last time I went there but I guess things have changed.

I had to include this picture as well. I bought TT a pink princess crown while we were there. It is not a great picture but you get the idea. She was walking around wearing it and telling us that she was a princess. Too cute!!!!

P.S. Regarding my last post, I found a teacher who really wanted to teach an afterschool intervention class. I don't know why but I didn't ask. Anyways, he is taking over my class two days a week so I am off the hook. Yippee!!!!

What was I thinking?

About a month ago, I was asked if I could teach an afterschool algebra intervention class. I don't know what I was thinking but I agreed. It is only two days a week for an hour and 15 minutes and pretty good money but it is absolutely miserable. There are about 6 of these classes offered. It is for students who are failing or in danger of a failing their Algebra I class. My partner and I got the lowest level students. I am not kidding. They took all of the students who were recommended for this class and gave us the lowest 24 kids. Most of these kids don't even want to be in their regular math class, let alone in an afterschool class.

This year really has been probably my most difficult year of teaching. Even more difficult than my first year, I think. Those of you who are close to me, I apologize for all of the complaining that I have been doing. I am just completely drained. Is it close to June yet?

On a happier note, we saw Twilight last night. Kim, Jeana, Paige, my friend Toni and I couldn't wait. Surprisingly, it was really good. I was not sold on the actor who plays Edward. I envisioned Edward as being cuter. After about 10 minutes into the movie, I realized I was wrong. He actually gets cuter as the movie progresses. The actor was perfect. I told my mom that I would go back and see it with her. Kim also has to go back because she went to the bathroom during the movie and missed their first kiss. Those of you who have read the book know about the first kiss. You can't miss it. If anybody wants to see it and doesn't have anybody to go with, let me know.

Facebook and Twilight!

Not that I have ever been a frequent or a good blogger, but it has been worse since I started facebook. I think most of you already have a facebook account already but if you don't you need to get one. I love it. Whenever I had a free minute, I used to look at blogs and now I look at facebook. I don't know why I am addicted to it but I am. It is so cool how it hooked me up with people that I graduated with. I haven't seen or heard from them in 13 years and now I get to see what they are up to on a daily basis. Not only do I get to keep up with old classmates but also old students. I have been able to chat with many of my old students. This has been such a tough year in the classroom, it is nice to remember the relationships you make with your students and remind myself that I might like some of my students better next year when they are not in my class : )

By the way, can't wait until Twilight the movie comes out. We are doing a girls night on Sunday, November 23 if anybody is interested. I will probably be disappointed because I liked the book so much, but I still can't wait.
Sorry such a boring post, but I have to get back to facebook.

Do they listen to anything I say????

Why is teaching so frustrating? I feel like I have to say the exact same thing at least 5 times every period to my students. At least 5 times each period times 6 periods equals at least 30. Really????
For example, I gave my students a review assignment today for their test tomorrow. As soon as I gave them the assignment I went over a specific problem from the assignment. I told them all to listen so that I only had to explain it once. Did they? No! Why would they do something like listen to their teacher. On top of it, I am talking about Geometry students so for the most part they are pretty good students. Is it bad that every student that asked me about this specific problem I wanted to strangle.
I know it sounds silly to complain about this but it happens almost everyday. I think it is time for a long weekend.

Just a few pics from my birthday

On Saturday night, Jeana and Kim arranged a little get together for my birthday. We went to Glory Days which is a little sports bar in Long Beach. I didn't want to make a big deal about my birthday this year because of the huge party they had last year for my 30th. This was perfect. Thanks Jeana and Kim. I can officially say I am in my thirties. Yuck!!!


Jeana and I at GD's. She really is the best friend anybody could ever ask for. I don't quite know how I got to be so lucky to have her in my life. Notice the red eyes. I think I might be a vampire.

Me, mom and dad

Kim and I. The best sister in the world.

Jeana and Anthony

Kaycee, me, Toni, Annette, Jenn and Shannon

Julie and I

Thanks to all of you who came. I had a great time!!!

So long Edward Cullen, hello Donnie Wahlberg!!!!!

Everytime that I pick up and read the twilight series books(which are awesome), I completely feel like a teenager again. Well, I felt even more like a teenager last night. I have been talking about the New Kids on the Block concert for months. If you don't remember me when I was in middle school, obsessed isn't really a strong enough word when talking about my feelings towards them. I had posters on my walls from ceiling to floor. I had every video, doll, pillow, magazine, cassette tape, etc that they made. I even knew the dances to a couple of their songs. So you could imagine my excitement when I heard they were going on tour.




When we pulled up to the concert last night, there were thirtysome women everywhere. It was hilarious. Some of the shirts that people wore brought me back to the old school. I think some of these girls actually kept the shirts from 15 years ago, really??? What am I talking about, I would have too if all of my old NKOTB memorabilia was not ruined by rats in the garage at our old house. Although, maybe my mom did it on purpose to get rid of it.







Besides our seats being the second row from the top, the concert was awesome. They sang mostly old songs with a few new ones. They looked great, especially Donnie. I heard he is getting a divorce which means I have a chance : ) Even Danny looked good. If you remember him, he wasn't all that cute back then. He has caught up with the rest of the group a little in the looks department. I can't tell you if they sounded good because every single girl was singing along with them the entire concert. I am surprised that I can talk today. They ended their concert with an encore of Hangin Tough. Everyone went wild.



We really did have a great time. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures to share because it said no cameras or recording on the ticket and we didn't want to risk it, even though everybody else did. I noticed that they are coming back to LA in November. We all talked about going again but getting better seats and taking some pictures. I know that sounds silly because we just saw them last night, but I want to see them up close and personal. I can afford it, I live with my parents. They will probably never come back in concert again so this will be my last chance.

What a weekend!!

The weekend started early on Thursday with a Neil Diamond concert. The concert was at the Hollywood Bowl. They have a bus that comes and picks you up at the Lakewood Mall. We had such a great time. This is a picture of Debby and my mom on the bus before the concert.



I was a little nervous that I was not going to know any of his songs. I was right, I didn't know many but I really rocked out to Sweet Caroline. Eventhough I didn't know many songs, I thought that Neil Diamond put on a good show. Maybe it was because I was hanging out with 11 girls. : ) This is a picture of Julie and Jeana at the concert.

Then on Saturday.....I think it might have been one of the best nights of my life since I am not married and don't have kids. Jeana, Anthony and I went to the Dodger playoff game. We decided because it was going to be so crowded at the game to take the metro link and the free trolley bus the Dodgers offer. This is a picture of the trolley bus that picks you up at Union Station. Isn't it cute?

This is what it looked like inside. Full of Dodger fans.

We took the metrolink to Union Station. The metrolink is the LA version of the subway. We were a little nervous because it goes through some areas that are not the greatest but we figured that there were three of us so we would be fine. We were. We felt completely safe except for the some harmless characters dressed up. This is Anthony and his friend Charlie.

This was the best part of the night. If you didn't hear, the Dodgers swept the Cubs in the first round. It was soooo amazing being a part of it. Dodger stadium was absolutely rocking. The atmospere was unlike anything I have ever seen. There were 56,000 people singing the song We Love LA.

This is the Dodgers celebration after the game. They showed all of the celebration on the big screen so we could see all of the champagne being sprayed. Many of the Dodgers came back out after the celebration to address the crowd and say thanks.

And finally, this is Jeana and I doing our own celebration after the game. We had such an awesome time. I only hope that I can blog about the Dodgers two more times.....

GO DODGERS!!!!!!!!

They did it!!

Those of you who know me, know that I am a HUGE Dodger fan. If you didn't hear, they clinched their division yesterday which means I will be at Dodger stadium next weekend for playoff games. I am soooooo excited. Lets hope this year they can make it out of the first round.

On to # 2

So I finished Twilight(500 pages) in three days and am now on to book # 2. Happy reading!!

You got me!!

I can't believe that you did this to me. I started reading Twilight yesterday and could hardly put it down. I can't wait to get home after school and continue to read. I was so hesitant about reading this series because I am not much into stories relating to vampires. Kim, Angie, Paige and Jessica, thanks alot. I woke up twice in the middle of the night last night and almost started reading again. As I am teaching math today, I am wondering how Edward is doing. WHAT? I feel like a teenager again. It is ridiculous. To top it, I looked at Angie's blog today and saw what Edward is going to look like in the movie. I was so disappointed, I didn't want to picture him because I knew it would ruin it. Edward is way better than that.

I'm back.....summer recap!

I'm back to blogging. I truly am the worst blogger ever. I have no kids and am off for the summer and have blogged twice. I will try to be better. Not that it is a great excuse but my camera broke on my first trip so didn't get to take too many pictures since.

I have had a very fun filled summer. This is the first time that I have not worked summer school so I tried to take advantage and I think I did. The last time I left I blogged about going to see my cousins in St. Louis and then New Hampshire. We had such a great time. Here are some pictures from that trip.

While in St. Louis, we had some time in between Ethan's game to go and visit the arch. I have been to St. Louis with Jeana to go see the Cardinals play but never made it to the arch. It was so amazing. I am extremely happy that we had a chance to go up to the top. Christy is afraid of heights so waited at the bottom for me, Emily and Ethan.


This is a picture of us before we went up.

For anybody who has never been to the top, to get there you have to ride in a little 5 person bubble with no windows. It is extremely small and takes 4 minutes to get up. I am a little claustrophobic so had to take some deep breaths on the way up. It was definitely worth it. This is the door you went through to get in. Yes, it was really that small. You have to duck under to get in. I thought that I was a part of Alice in Wonderland.

This is us crammed in the bubble. You can't see, but there are two people across from Ethan and I touching our knees.

This is us at the top. You can see behind Emily that they are very tiny windows you look out. You had to lean on a ledge to see the window. It was pretty scary because you felt like the arch was going to fall over.

On our way to New Hampshire, Christy had the idea of stopping at Niagara Falls. It was only about 30 minutes off the highway. I figured that we had to do it because I don't know if I will ever be back there. I was so thankful that she had the idea because it was absolutely amazing. If you ever have a chance to go there, I highly suggest that you do. These pictures don't do justice.

We decided to take a boat that goes between the falls. As we were getting on, they give us ponchos to wear. This is what you look like when you don't wear your ponchos right. Ethan and Emily were soaked.

This is a picture of us right when we got on the boat. Notice how dry we are.

This is the point in the summer where my camera broke so I don't have anymore pictures of the trip. When we got back to the Shultz's house in New Hampshire, we took a day trip to Boston. We rode on one of those trollies that takes you all around the city. It was a great day.

The rest of the summer was kind of a blur. It felt like we were going and going. If you read my sisters blog, you pretty much know alot of what my summer looked like with family.


These last few pictures are of last weekend. I borrowed my moms camera to take them. Me and some friends from high school went to Casino Morongo for the weekend. We had a blast. This is a picture of us getting ready to got out for the night.

The best thing about Morongo is their pool. As you can see, they have a slide for all ages.

They also had a lazy river. This was my favorite part. We pretty much lounged around on these inner tubes all day going around the river.

Just another picture of us in the lazy river. Me, Annette, Laurie, Kaycee and Shannon.

What a great summer this was. Sorry that the post is so long. I was going to break it up into two but decided to get it all out at once.

Only one more week until school starts. BOOOOO!!!!!!!