I Love Math

I absolutely love math. I think it's so fun! I know I'm crazy beans, but I would have loved to double major in English and math teaching. Too bad I've already taken so much time to finish one degree. But if I ever went back to school to get another bachelor's (not likely), it would definitely be in math education. I used to be so good at math! 

What inspired this post? Well, I observed a high school math class today and wished that I had math homework to do like those kids. Basically, for the first time in my life, I realized that the education that's free for us from age 5 to 18 is awesome! We get to learn so much! You'd think I would have learned that by now since I'll be providing that education to lots of people, and maybe I did already know it, but I was reminded of it today.

It's basically my life's dream to go back to Troy and teach English. I received such a good education there and I would love to be the one to pass that on to other students. Anyway, there are days when I question my career path, but today was one of those days that remind me of how much education really means and what a great profession I've chosen. Go teachers! Yay school! I might have a different attitude this weekend while I'm writing my two twenty-pagers, but for today, I love learning! I think I really will miss the constant progress that you experience when you're in school when I graduate, but hopefully I'll still get some of that from teaching.

Countdown Update!!!
1 days until March is over
2 days until General Conference
3 days until Mallory arrives in Utah
4 days until my BACHELORETTE PARTY!!
5 days until my two huge term projects are due
7 days until Eric and Gini's BIG DAY and Quinn and I drive to CA
8 days until my wedding dress fitting
9 days until Vance and Melissa's BIG DAY
10 days until we drive back to Utah
12 days until my temple recommend interview with the bishop

13 days until my LAST DAY OF CLASS in my undergraduate career
14 days until I pack up all my stuff and clear out of my house
15 days until I go blonde
16 days until my first final of the semester
17 days until my temple recommend interview with the stake president

18 days until Mallory arrives in California and my last day of work
19 days until I take my LAST FINAL (ever) and move to California
20 days until I go through the TEMPLE and my BRIDAL SHOWER
21 days until bridals/groomals
22 days until Sammy, Chase, and Kelly (and Devin?) arrive in California
23 days until the BIG DAY

Live in the Now!

Oh, March. I have never been a big fan of March. It feels like the longest and least eventful month of the year. I suppose that if my birthday were in March or I loved college basketball or I had some kind of strange love of St. Patrick's Day, I would feel differently, but it seems that March just always drags on for me. This year, it was the worst. I've been counting the minutes until March is over because it's been a hard school month for me, but more importantly, we're getting married in April, so March just meant that there was at least a month left. But luckily, we're finally on the right side of a month away from the big day! It's pretty awesome. Sometimes it feels like we're not actually getting married in three and a half weeks and other times, it feels like we're already married. It's weird being engaged. I've been over it for a while, and I know I'm not alone in feeling this way. Almost everyone I've talked to has told me that being engaged wasn't really their favorite thing. It was fun getting engaged, but actually being engaged is just kind of a weird, less desirable time. But thanks to March being on its way out, our wait is also on its way out.

Quinn and I decided to adopt the moto of living in the now (originally from Wayne's World) a few weeks ago because we just found ourselves (mostly me) constantly counting down and wishing time would go faster. The moto really worked! I started having a much better attitude about everything and we had good days almost every day because if you're living in the now, you can't really have a bad day. We've been pretty good about continuing to live by our moto, but with the wedding so close, it's become increasingly tempting to slip back into the countdown mode (especially since every time I blog, I update my countdown--ha). But, starting today, I'm going to live in the now again! Oh, Garth. He's like the smartest man alive.

Countdown Update!!!
1 days until my last visit to the classroom this semester
2 days until March is over
3 days until General Conference
4 days until Mallory arrives in Utah
5 days until my BACHELORETTE PARTY!!
6 days until my two huge term projects are due
8 days until Eric and Gini's BIG DAY and Quinn and I drive to CA
9 days until my wedding dress fitting
10 days until Vance and Melissa's BIG DAY
11 days until we drive back to Utah
13 days until my temple recommend interview with the bishop

14 days until my LAST DAY OF CLASS in my undergraduate career
15 days until I pack up all my stuff and clear out of my house
16 days until I go blonde
17 days until my first final of the semester
18 days until my temple recommend interview with the stake president

19 days until Mallory arrives in California and my last day of work
20 days until I take my LAST FINAL (ever) and move to California
21 days until I go through the TEMPLE and my BRIDAL SHOWER
22 days until bridals/groomals
23 days until Sammy, Chase, and Kelly (and Devin?) arrive in California
24 days until the BIG DAY

Road Trips

In the next month, we will travel from:
Provo to Fullerton (10 hours)
Fullerton to Provo (10 hours)
Provo to Fullerton (10 hours)
Fullerton to San Diego (2 hours)
San Diego to Fullerton (2 hours)
Fullerton to Fresno (4 hours)


Over the summer, I will travel from:
Fresno to Provo (11.5 hours)
Provo to Fresno (11.5 hours)
Fresno to Provo (11.5 hours)


My poor little car! 


I have quite a few road trips ahead of me, so if you know me well, you know that I'm a very happy girl. I love road trips! I'm not really sure why exactly, except that they mean I'm not in school or working and they usually mean fun and they usually make me feel like I'm exploring or like I'm alive or something. But whatever it is, it is. I just love them! Even though they can be boring and are hard on the car and cost money, there's something magical about a road trip. I never got sick of them, even last semester, when I was taking one at least every other weekend. I continue to look forward to road trips like most people look forward to Christmas. But anyway, the point of this post is not to tell you all how much I love road trips... which I do! It is actually to get some recommendations for making road trip CDs. It's my job, as usual, to come up with at least one new mix for the trips that we'll be taking, so hook me up with your favorite jams so I can make the most amazing road trip mix(es) known to man. Thanks!


Countdown Update!!!
3 days until my last visit to the classroom this semester
4 days until March is over
5 days until General Conference
6 days until Mallory arrives in Utah
7 days until my BACHELORETTE PARTY!!
8 days until my two huge term projects are due
10 days until Eric and Gini's BIG DAY and Quinn and I drive to CA
11 days until my wedding dress fitting
12 days until Vance and Melissa's BIG DAY
13 days until we drive back to Utah
15 days until my temple recommend interview with the bishop16 days until my LAST DAY OF CLASS in my undergraduate career
17 days until I pack up all my stuff and clear out of my house
18 days until I go blonde19 days until my first final of the semester
20 days until my temple recommend interview with the stake president21 days until Mallory arrives in California and my last day of work
22 days until I take my LAST FINAL (ever) and move to California
23 days until I go through the TEMPLE and my BRIDAL SHOWER
24 days until bridals/groomals
25 days until Sammy, Chase, and Kelly (and Devin?) arrive in California
26 days until the BIG DAY

Bowling

My blog used to be a lot more witty and I truly apologize for the lack of wit lately. It's just that I've been preoccupied with wedding stuff and school and haven't had a lot of time to think of witty things to say. I know it seems like it wouldn't be hard, but according to the fictional Cheech from one of the latest episodes of The Simpons, "Comedy is hard work, man!" And since I'm not actually that funny, it's even harder for me. Unfortunately, I still have few to zero witty comments to share with you today, but I felt inspired to blog. Just kidding. I just felt like it because it's better than the alternative (which is what?--you'll never know). But anyway, I guess I can tell you the story of the bowling alley hottie that we met last night. She was cute and stuff and I'm sure she's lovely, but I think she found her destiny working at the bowling alley. She was sporting some pretty cool (I'm actually not being sarcastic) glow-in-the-dark lightning bolt earrings and greeted us with a "What's up?" instead of a "How can I help you tonight?" How do you answer that? "Uhhh.. I want to bowl?" She was cute though. She even spelled Quinn and Devin's names cute: "Mr, Green" and "Deven." I just wanted to put her in my pocket. But when I really knew it was her calling in life was when she started bowling in the lane next to us and she got so into it, she had to start shedding layers. I must say, I would probably bowl a few on my break too, but she was just bowling alley hardcore. I love the people we see and run into at the bowling alley. On another note, I have a new form for bowling. It's pretty intense. Let's just say I end up on the ground... and so do the pins.


Countdown Update!!!
1 day until the Festival of Colors!
6 days until my last visit to the classroom this semester
7 days until March is over
8 days until General Conference
9 days until Mallory arrives in Utah
10 days until my BACHELORETTE PARTY!!
11 days until my two huge term projects are due
13 days until Eric and Gini's BIG DAY and Quinn and I drive to CA
14 days until my wedding dress fitting
15 days until Vance and Melissa's BIG DAY
19 days until my LAST DAY OF CLASS in my undergraduate career
20 days until I pack up all my stuff and clear out of my house
22 days until my first final
24 days until Mallory arrives in California and my last day of work
25 days until I take my LAST FINAL (ever) and move to California
26 days until I go through the TEMPLE and my BRIDAL SHOWER
27 days until bridals/groomals
28 days until Sammy, Chase, and Kelly (and Devin?) arrive in California
29 days until the BIG DAY

Wedding Announcements, etc.

With one month left to go, wedding plans are coming right along. I had a long list of things to get on Saturday and I somehow managed to do all of them! It felt amazing, but I didn't get any homework done, so hopefully this weekend I can balance the two a little better. Anyway, I found a guest book that I'm going to pimp out with picture of me and Quinn so that it looks less boring. It's green, which doesn't really go with my colors, but it goes with my new name, so I think it works. :) I also found shoes for the big day and I really like them. I still need to grab some more comfy shoes for when my feet start to bleed, but these will do for pictures, etc. Then I found that rose that I'm either going to attach to a clip or just bobby pin in my hair and I found the garter at Hallmark and I'm going to glue gun a small metal skull on it because it's really the only thing that I can have a skull on for a wedding. I'm pretty excited about the garter... and the shoes... and the guestbook... and the flower... and getting married.... 

and the announcements! We finally got them finished and sent out on Monday! I think they turned out really well and I was able to meet my goal of making them about the same price as postage--stupid stamps are so expensive these days. But hopefully you'll be getting yours soon. If not, you'll have to give me your address so I can send you one. :)

Countdown Update

4 days until the Festival of Colors!
10 days until my last visit to the classroom for my practicum
11 days until General Conference
12 days until Mallory arrives in Utah
13 days until my BACHELORETTE PARTY!!
14 days until my two huge term projects are due
16 days until Eric and Gini's BIG DAY and Quinn and I drive to CA
17 days until my wedding dress fitting
18 days until Vance and Melissa's BIG DAY
22 days until my LAST DAY OF CLASS in my undergraduate career
23 days until I pack up all my stuff and clear out of my house
25 days until my first final
27 days until Mallory arrives in California
28 days until I take my LAST FINAL (ever) and move to California
29 days until I go through the TEMPLE and my BRIDAL SHOWER
30 days until bridals/groomals
31 days until Sammy, Chase, and Kelly (and Devin?) arrive in California
32 days until the BIG DAY

Restless

I woke up this morning to my alarm going off at 6am and then actually got up. It was weird. I don't get up when my alarm goes off on weekdays when I'm supposed to be getting up. Why today? I think it's probably because I have so much to do that my body won't let me over sleep. It knows somehow. Probably because it's part of me.  Either way, it was crazy nuts. So I woke up and should be getting things done and here I sit blogging. Typical. Oh well. Time to start doing things that need to be done. :) Have a wonderful Saturday everyone!

The Final Countdown

This week is driving me crazy. It's been insane. For an example, you can read my picture of the day post from yesterday. I took two midterms this morning--one that I was ready for and one that I wasn't, but I think I did alright on both of them. But because of said midterms, I missed a different class and have quite a bit of reading to make up because of it. I also have tons of homework to do tonight and am teaching bright and early tomorrow morning and then am going to be on campus until 6pm. Then I have to do all the make up reading from today. Friday won't be so bad and I have the weekend to work on wedding stuff (which I'm way behind on) but I have a feeling that the rest of the school year is going to be a lot like this week. I have at least three major papers due plus all the regular school work I've been doing and then I have finals (which are actually the least of my worries right now). In between all of that, I have a pretty hefty list of things I need to do before the wedding and I'm going to need to pack up and move all my stuff... to Fresno. I like being busy, but this might be a little much even for me.

To be honest, I kind of did this to myself so that I wouldn't go crazy waiting to get married. It's better for me to be busy than to be sitting around waiting for things so this is good. And it makes life exciting, so there's that. I just hope I can at least maintain my GPA this semester so I can hopefully get some scholarships and not pay tuition next year. That would help a lot. Anyway, my plan to distract myself is working perfectly. The weeks are flying by and I'm being as productive as ever, which is always a good feeling. March is already half over and once April hits, I'm pretty sure my life is going to feel like a whirlwind and I'll barely have time to breath, but that's the way I like it. :) Just as long as I don't get sick or break a bone or something, I think I have a good month and a half ahead of me.

Ever since I can remember, I have found great joy in countdowns for some reason. When I was young, I would count down to EVERYTHING: my birthday, all my family member's birthdays, Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and most especially Christmas! Every time something good is going to happen in my life, I make myself a good countdown. The most recent example of this is the paper chain I made for Mallory's arrival to Utah around Christmas. You can probably guess that I have a countdown to my wedding--I always know how many days and weeks until we tie the knot. So, because I know all of you care about my schedule just as much as I do, here is my countdown to the wedding day (and lots of other stuff):

1 day until St. Patrick's Day!!
2 days until I pick up Quinn's ring :)
4 days until Spring begins FINALLY
5 days until we send out wedding announcements
10 days until the Festival of Colors!
16 days until my last visit to the classroom for my practicum
17 days until General Conference
18 days until Mallory arrives in Utah
19 days until my BACHELORETTE PARTY!!
20 days until my two huge term projects are due
22 days until Eric and Gini's BIG DAY and Quinn and I drive to CA
23 days until my wedding dress fitting
24 days until Vance and Melissa's BIG DAY
28 days until my LAST DAY OF CLASS in my undergraduate career
29 days until I pack up all my stuff and clear out of my house
31 days until my first final
33 days until Mallory arrive in California
34 days until I take my LAST FINAL (ever) and move to California
35 days until I go through the TEMPLE and my BRIDAL SHOWER
36 days until bridals/groomals
37 days until Sammy, Chase, and Kelly (and Devin?) arrive in California
38 days until the BIG DAY

Song of the Day: Superstar

I wish I could embed this, but click and enjoy.

Lupe Fiasco - Superstar: "The Cool [Clean]"

Thank You!!

Thanks for all your suggestions on making announcements! I really appreciate it. :) I came up with a design that I really like and we're going to be making them this weekend so I'll post pictures soon. They're simple but they will still probably be a little bit of a pain to make. But I love them so I'm excited still. No pain, no gain. :)

Next step: making my garter :)

I Need Help

I've started realizing lately just how quickly our wedding is coming up and just how much we still have to do--mainly announcements right now. We got our engagements taken by my cousin Rachel, who did SUCH a good job! So we have the pictures and we have a couple that I think we've chosen to use for the announcements, but we don't know what to do about making the actual announcements. I thought it would be easy, but I honestly don't know where to start. Does anyone have any ideas about a relatively inexpensive way to get our announcements made or to make them ourselves? We're going to do just one picture separate from the announcement, so not postcard style, but we could really use some help here with suggestions. I figured my blog was a good place to ask for help since most of the people who read it are married, or at least girls who might know stuff about this. Thank you!!!!