*sigh . . . *

I haven't slept in my own bed for 3 WEEKS!

Seriously, people -- isn't that sad?
I got home from Europe last Tuesday and still haven't slept in my own bed.

It's pitiful.

One of the GREATEST things about getting home from any trip is getting to sleep in your OWN BED.

No wondering. No worrying.

Just your OWN bed in your OWN room.
Complete. Utter. Bliss.

Before heading to Europe, I even put clean sheets on my bed so that when I came home I would have that added luxury.
(Girls, can we all agree that one of the most wonderful simple pleasures in life is getting into a bed with clean sheets and freshly shaven legs? Mmm . . . )

So then what happened?

RAIN

And what came of the rain?

FLOODING

And of COURSE it flooded my room.

But TONIGHT is the night. After sleeping the night in 7 countries and on 11 different surfaces, I'm finally on my way to my OWN bed!


Here's a list of where I've slept since last sleeping in my own bed:
June 7 -- Last time I slept in my own bed
June 9-10 -- NH Hotel in South Kensington, London, England
June 11-12 -- NH Hotel in Amsterdam, Netherlands
June 13 -- Apartment in Fussen, Germany
June 14-15 -- Marriott Renaissance in Munich, Germany
June 16 -- Apartment in Bad Mitterndorf, Austria
June 17 -- Hotel in Modling, Austria
June 18-20 -- Apartment in Paris, France
June 21-22 -- NH Hotel in Brussels, Belgium
June 23 -- Living Room couch
June 24-26 -- Alex's bed
June 27-28 -- Family Room couch
June 29, 2009 -- Clean sheets (check), shaved legs (check), own bed (check) . . .
BLISS!

Brownie is the royal dog of Belgium . . . and other things I learned in Europe

So while I was being a good girl in Europe and writing in my journal daily I started jotting down a list of funny little things I learned while I was there. For the most part, these are just random observations, but a few have stories behind them (ask what they are and I might tell you ;) ). I might add more to list later, but here's what I have for now. Enjoy!

• Tube strikes in London are a lot harder to work around and deal with than Metro strikes in Paris.
  
  
• The Netherlands are full of LARGE women. And by large, I mean tall.
  
  
• When the light turns green in Geneva you should already be moving. You will be honked at.
  
  
• You can't buy postcards -- or anything but McDonalds -- at night in Lichtenstein.
  
  
• McDonalds restaurants are EVERYWHERE! They are officially taking over the world.
  
  
• Utah's grid system ROCKS!
  
  
• Germans eat a TON of food!
  
  
• I can read every plaque and look at every item in a Museum before Mitch finishes a single room.
  
  
• Munich thunderstorms are awesome -- even though they are missing the thunder echoing through the canyons that we have in Utah and the torrents of rain we had in Thailand.
  
  
• Anne Frank's birthday is June 12. She would have been 80.
  
  
• Hallstatt really is a great resting point between Salzburg and Vienna.
  
  
• Good tomato soup is heavenly :).
  
  
• Peter and Monique Bearts are awesome.
  
  
• I ♥ Bad Mitterndorf.
  
  
• Despite all the pictures, Mozart Balls are NOT green inside!
  
  
• BILLA grocery stores have great sandwiches.
  
  
• The countryside between Salzburg and Vienna is made for sledding.
  
  
• I remember French better than I though I did.
  
  
• I still know my way around the Metro.
  
  
• I still prefer the Metro to the Tube!
  
  
• Living in Paris for 3 months supposedly means that I know everything about Paris/France -- from the population size to the name and use of EVERY building!
  
  
• When my mind starts shutting down, I can't decipher between French and English.
  
  
• They tell you that admission to the gardens at the Palace of Versailles are free -- what they don't tell you is that from April 1 - Oct 31 admission is 8 Euros/per person on Sundays.
  
  
• I found a really really good incentive to stay in shape.
  
  
• I'm "addicted" to the gym.
  
  
• If they reprint your boarding passes at the gate, prepare yourself for trouble.
  
  
• My dad has the best truths for "2 Truths and a Lie" EVER.
  
  
• My family is full of loud sleepers. Luckily, I'm not one of them.
  
  
• I've got a whole new list of reasons to get married!
  

You Know Me . . .

You know me.

I'm the one who's been there
. . . from the start . . .

w a i t i n g

w o n d e r i n g

. . . like the song . . .
you know the one.

You sang it once
behind me in the doorway.

Does it surprise you?

I think that sometimes
you forget that I'm still there.
Sometimes you forget me

. . . on purpose . . .

But it doesn't matter
I won't leave

. . . unless I have to . . .

I'll always be your friend.

. . . always . . .

Sometimes
you draw me in.

I don't know why.

Do you?

Does my presence confuse you?

Yes,
It confuses me too.


But for now
. . . I'll stay . . . and I'll try . . .
but not too hard

Because I care
. . . too much . . .

Is that possible?
To care too much?

Your well-being is more important
than my own

. . . that much I know . . .
just as you know me.


Do I know you?

♥

4 Years . . . Gone In A Heartbeat!

Today I am graduating from Brigham Young University.

Weird.

Happy Easter!!!

Don't forget about all the blessings we've been given on this glorious Easter Day. I love you all!

Life is Grand!

Can I just say that I LOVE MY LIFE?!? Seriously.

First of all -- I was home for the week (which is always relaxing) and Conference was AMAZING. As I was driving back to Provo after the weekend home, I was thinking about the talks and which one I would label as my "favorite" should someone ask. Well, I don't have one. There isn't even one that stands out more than the others because ALL of them were amazing, wonderful, and directed toward me. I think it was the first time in my life that I didn't even start to doze while watching. Wow. You can REWATCH ANY OF THE TALKS HERE!

Secondly -- I'M GOING BACK TO EUROPE!!! Wahoo!!! My parents told my three younger brothers and I that we're going to Europe for two and a half weeks this summer and I CAN'T WAIT! We'll be starting off in London on June 8th (been there) and ending in PARIS on June 23rd (OBVIOUSLY I've been there ;) -- and I can't wait to go back to my "second home") and we'll be hitting Amsterdam, Vienna, and Frankfurt in between . . . possibly more.

Thirdly -- Yesterday I was feeling all sorts of love from my friends. I have the greatest friends. Ever. Hands down. I also have the greatest family. And I'm getting a nephew in August! :)

Finally -- I had my LAST BYU observation yesterday. Don't worry -- I've really passed! (Not that I was worried) But it's done. Over. I teach a short day tomorrow, have Thursday and Friday off, teach all next week and then Graduate. Crazy.

I'll repeat -- I LOVE MY LIFE!!! :)

A Bit of My Crazy Life . . .

Ok, so I randomly decided to update you on my life. Now, as of right now, "you" (as far as I know) is Camille and Cody. So I hope you wonderful people enjoy this! If anyone else happens to read this, then I hope you enjoy it as well!

Life in Provo is pretty crazy, so back over Valentine's/President's Day weekend I took a getaway trip up north to Logan. I was fun to be able to spend a couple nights at Merica's apartment, hang out with Kameron and catch up with my B.E.S.T. :). I have the greatest friends!

Camille and I enjoyed the chance to talk and Cody was nice enough to allow us to reminisce on the countless sleepovers that we had growing up. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful best friend and sister! I'm so glad that she married Cody (he makes a great best friend/brother-in-law) and I am so excited for the arrival of Baby Cutler in October! (On a side note -- my brother and sister-in-law are expecting in August, so I get "2" neices/nephews this year! Yay!)


After the weekend, it was back to the real world -- lesson planning, teacher work sample, and my car in the shop. I did finally get my car back the last week of February after having driven my Grandma's car for over three weeks. (Yay!) While I love having the Volvo to drive around P-town, it will be nice to get a new car this summer. Hopefully I'll end up with something a little more reliable ;)

The rest of the craziness deals with the fact that I'm GRADUATING in a month. I love teaching! But working full time (student teaching hours are the same as those of a contract teacher) while still living the college life is a bit exhausting. Correction: it's a lot exhausting. My TEACHER WORK SAMPLE was due at 8:00am (at the school I'm teaching at in West Jordan) on February 25th. I finished it at 6:00am that morning. For those of you who don't know what a teacher work sample is, it's an intensive planning, execution and analysis of an academic unit. Let's just say that it's a good thing I only had 17 students' work to analyze and not the 29 that I have in my class now. Forty pages. Yeah. I'm happy to say that I found out on Friday that I passed it! TWS is now a thing of the pass and I will officially be able to graduate with my teaching licence on April 24th! At that point, hopefully I'll finally have the chance to catch up on sleep! (Gone from 7-5 everyday including 1.5-2 hours of driving and being on my feel all day is nuts. Good thing I love those kids!)

Here are pictures of the wonderful students I've taught. They are the greatest!

Mrs. Burch's 3rd grade class at Sharon Elementary
Winter 2008 -- 4 weeks

Miss Bybee's 4th grade class at Lindon Elementary
Fall 2008 -- 4 weeks

Mrs. Rosskopf's 2nd grade class at Midvale Elementary
1st Block Winter 2009 -- 7 weeks

Mrs. Bodtcher's 5th grade class at Riverside Elementary
2nd Block Winter 2009 -- 7 weeks

Oh, and just to give you an idea of some of the things I've done, at Midvale (with my 2nd graders and a class of 1st graders combined) I read the book THE RAINBOW FISH about the little fish who has beautiful, shiney rainbow scales which he gives away to be a good friend then we talked about what they could do to be a good friend and each student wrote/drew how to be a good friend on a 4.5 diameter circle of bright paper. These friendship scales I then put on a poster I made as the fish's scales. Here's the end result! (and yes, I drew it!)
Even with all the craziness, I still manage to have a good time. Two weekends ago I had a night out with Kelsey and Ashley. We went to the mall and tried on some crazy Chucks! Kelsey's were clear, Ashley's were knee-high, and mine were covered in glitter. I'm not going to lie, there was a part of us that wanted to buy them! We also had an ugly outfit photo shoot at Sears. Yeah. On Saturday I went to the final BYU Men's Basketball game then had a reunion with my Sophomore roommates. Oh -- and Kelsey and I opened the freezer to find the bottle of sparkling cider we'd put in the night before and forgotten about!

Last weekend we went to Kelsey's uncle's cabin for the night -- so much fun! We stopped at Smiths on the way up (in Heber) and the shorter roommates took a turn on the mini merry-go-round! Ash is my favorite -- haha! :)

I also got to go to AIDA at good ol' Viewmont High School last Saturday. Can I just say that my Alma Mater is amazing? Wow. It definitely made me want to go back and do another show. Check out some of the pictures (my friend was the photographer) from it HERE.

This weekend was another roommate reunion -- with the originals! I love my freshman roommates! It's crazy to see how much our lives have changed over the past coming-up-on-four years! It was great to catch up with them and see how close we still are. We were even able to grab Megan for a bit -- that old married woman ;). We missed Alyse though! (She's serving an LDS mission in Belo Horizonte East, Brazil)

Life is grand -- ain't it? :)