Water World

Kari and I had a fabulous day today. We took the day off from work and went to Water World, which is voted one of the top ten water parks in the US. We had SO MUCH FUN! It was way better than going to work. Duh! There were several rides that were "adrenaline" rides. They really got our blood pumping and our heart rate up. We tried almost all the rides in the park, but there were three rides that we did over and over and over again. One of them was a slide that was literally straight down for five stories. Kari did it first, and I was too chicken to go. But once she did it (and lived to tell about it), I decided I couldn't be out done by her, so I did it, too. Then I wanted to keep doing it. There was a also a ride that looked like a half pipe. We sat in a double intertube. You drop straight down and then go up the other side. We did this one about five times. It made our stomach drop every single time. The other ride we really liked was a racing ride. You race seven other people down a winding, dark tunnel and then speed to the finish line where they have a timer to show your time. You lay on your stomach on a pad. Kari won the first time, but I beat her the second time.
If you ever come to visit me in the summer, we HAVE to take a day and go to Water World.

Answer Your Dang Phone!

My brother, Collin, and his wife, Katie, are quite the comical couple. They are exactly one day apart, so if you believe in horoscopes, I don't think one Scorpio is supposed to marry another Scorpio. They are too much alike (according to the horoscope). But Collin and Katie manage just fine. It's hard to believe that my little brother will have three kids by age 26 and was married at age 20. I'm going on 28 with no husband and no kids, which Collin never forgets to remind me about.

I learned a lesson from them today. Katie is training in Denver this week, so she left Collin at home (Loveland) with the little boys so she could enjoy a week of work, silence and relaxation. After she got off work yesterday, she tried calling Collin several times. No answer. She texted him. No reply. She texted me to see if I had heard from him. Nope, my brother doesn't answer my calls or reply to my messages. So this morning (over 16 hours have gone by), Katie still couldn't get a hold of Collin. By now she was starting to worry. She emailed me to see if I had heard from him. Again, refer to my comment about my brother not responding to me. Since she was in meetings and training all day, she asked if I could keep calling him. I called him a few times, until at last he answered my call. I was so shocked that he answered my call that I was lost for words for a moment. Then I remembered why I called. He's ok. The boys are ok. Carson turned his phone on silent yesterday afternoon, and Collin didn't realize it until 11pm last night. Why do I ask? I told him Katie is worried about him and about to call the National Guard (well, not really, but it makes the story better).

He says, "Oh, brother. I'm perfectly fine and there's no reason to worry."

I emailed Katie. "He's ok."

She replies back, "Thank God! I was about to have my mom go to the house to check on him."

Moral of the story: Collin was as happy as a lark taking care of his children. Katie was worried to death because she couldn't see or hear from Collin. Do you think we're like this with God? God is happily taking care of his children. We're so far away from Christ doing our own thing (work, school, fun stuff) that we don't realize God is right there taking care of us?

I sometimes wonder if God would put us on silent if He could. It would give Him silence to complete His awesome work in our lives without us getting in the way. But like my brother who called Katie to tell her he was okay, God has a way of reasuring us that everything is going to be okay.

Things You Don't Know About Me

* I am very quiet in school. Always have been. I'm not one to go around voicing my opinions or thoughts to people I don't know very well.

* Cilantro is the worst food ever created. I can't stand to eat anything with Cilantro in it.

* I drink a cup of coffee every day on my way to work.

* I wear a mouth guard when I sleep because I grind my teeth so bad.

* I hate going to the doctor, so I find myself enduring the pain rather than finding a solution for the pain.

* I've never broken a bone but I've had three major surgeries.

* I've lost 45 pounds in the past year and I'm still losing.

* When I visit my parent's house, I love to sit down at their piano and play. I took lessons for years, so I like to pretend that I can play the piano.

* I have a pretty decent voice. I can harmonize like none other.

* I want to write a book someday.

* I want to adopt a child from across seas.

* My biggest desire (apart from getting married and having kids) is to travel to Africa.

* I have a beta fish named Princess Sparkles. He doesn't like the name, but he's just happy to be alive at this point.

* It takes a while for me to open up to people.

* I never drank a drop of alcohol until I was 21 years old.

* I'm very stubborn, so if I set my mind to something you can gurantee I will accomplish my goal. For example: MS150.

* I hate my legs. Ugh.

* I snore.

* I drool.

* I only shave my legs every other day in the summer. In the winter, it's reduced to about once a week.

* I hate hiking, but I'm about to climb a 14er in a week. I'm only going because a cute boy might be there.

* I am so organized it's sickening. Everything must be in perfect order for me to concentrate on the task at hand.

* Ice cream is my downfall. And Peanut M&Ms.

* Going in to Target makes me very happy. Spending money at Target makes me giddy.

* I'm really weird. More than the average joe. When I'm with my family or by myself, I sing really loud, really off key. I like to sing Opera.

* I have a hard time getting rid of my fat clothes for fear that I might need them again some day.

* I like to talk about me. Hence the blog.

My Favorite One Year Old

Isn't he about the cutest little baby you've ever seen? He has red hair and fair skin, so he for sure belongs to my red headed sister. Little Case is a doll and about as sweet as they come. He just started walking in the past few weeks, so he loves to get up and GO, GO, GO! And man, he can put down the food, but you'd never know it because he only weighs 20 pounds. He eats more than Carson most of the time.

He loves to say goodbye to me each morning when I leave for work. If he's up, Shan will put him on the sofa so he can see out the big window. He'll stand there and wave and blow kisses until I'm out of sight. It's a good way for me to start out the day. He also loves to stand at the top of the stairs by the baby gate and look down at me in the basement. He'll shake the gate as if saying, "Let me down there so I can watch you."

Case loves to cuddle, especially if he's tired. He'll lay his head on your shoulder and just relax. He also loves to give open mouth kisses. If you're the one to receive them, you'll have baby slobber all over your face.

Case has been a special addition to the family. He loves his older cousins and can't wait for the day to be able to keep up with them. Case and Kye are still learning to share with each other, but they all love to play together. I love you, Baby Case. You're a joy to have in the family.

My Favorite Four Year Old

The mohawk speaks of the attitude this little guy has. Carson, my oldest nephew, is a super fun kid, but he has enough attitude for both him and his brother. My brother and sister-in-law took the boys camping this weekend. Carson was so excited to play outside. At the end of their camping trip, Katie asked Carson if camping was as much fun as he thought it would be. Carson replied back, "NO!"

His newest thing is to call his dad "Collin" (rather than daddy). Collin gets so mad (in a joking manner).
He says, "I am not Collin. I'm your daddy!!"
Then Carson will say, "Where's Kate?"
Collin will say, "Don't call her Kate. She's your mother."
Carson will say, "Well, Collin, you call her Kate so I can call her Kate!"

Carson is super smart. He has an incredible memory and often reminds us of things that us older adults can't even remember. He can give us directions to certain places just by remembering how we got there before. He's going to outshine all the others once he starts school.

We love having Carson in the family. He doesn't let us often take pictures of him, but when he's willing he sure does become the cutest little model. His eyelashes are about an inch long, and his beautiful brown almond shaped eyes can win anyone over. I love you, Carson. I'm so glad you're a part of our family. It just wouldn't be the same without you!

My Favorite Two Year Old

My nephew, Kye, is a blast. I love him dearly, and I can't imagine my life without this little blonde headed cutie. He didn't start talking until he was two, but now he just jabbers away. He loves to repeat everything we say. He doesn't know his colors yet, which cracks me up. I'll show him a yellow banana and ask him what color it is. Confidently, he'll say, "Blue." Not quite!

His newest thing cracks us up every single time. It never gets old.
He loves Uncle Jeff, so he'll say, "Hey Jeff."
Jeff will says, "What, Kye?"
Kye will reply back, "I don't know."
And then he'll keep doing it.
"Hey, Jeff."
"What, Kye?"
"I don't know."
Now Jeff has started doing it to Kye, who finds it hilarious. Kye just laughs and laughs when Jeff does it back.

Kye is also a walking disaster. Everything he touches turns in to a giant mess. My sister, Shannon, has a water purifier sitting on their kitchen counter. The other day, Kye walked over, turned on the switch and just stood there as the water poured out all over the floor. Shan had quite the mess to clean up after that. We let him outside the other night to play in the backyard. Katie, his mom, went outside to check on him and found him covered in grease. He had found his daddy's bike and thought it would be fun to play with the chain.

After ten minutes of scrubbing with soap and lemon juice, his hands were finally clean.

Our family is so blessed to have "Baby Kye" in the mix. He never fails to bring a smile to our face. Love you, baby!

Interesting People

I've been working on my Master's degree for over a year now. The cool part about my program is I have been attending classes with the same group of 12 people, and we've all become really good friends. Let me tell you about them.

Rob-a real Rocket Scientist. He's probably the smartest man I know, and even better, he's so much fun! He's a father of one boy, and he loves his wife so much. Rob is our joke teller and is going to make an incredible teacher. He's going to be teaching science (chemistry, physics, all those smart classes).

Courtney-a stay at home mom of two girls and works at her church part time. Courtney is great. She'll let you know how it is. No BS with Courtney. Her and I are tight. She's really smart with computers and business.

Rich-sells decks. Rich and I have become good friends. He is a father of one cute little two year old boy, Peter, and I've met his wife, Jenn. Rich is the sarcastic one and the best brown noser you'll ever meet. We sit by each other and write notes back and forth during class. Courtney usually joins in, too. Rich is going to teach business and Spanish.

Jen-works at a hotel in Vail. She drives over two hours one way to attend class every week, and she wins the reward for best participation in class. Jen and I have the same degree and we'll be teaching the same thing: English and Journalism classes. She's from Jersey, which you can tell by her accent.

Erin-stay at home mom of three boys and substitute teacher. Erin is also very smart. She's going to be teaching science (chemistry), and she's the quiet one. She's so sweet, and a good person to have as a friend.

Jared-service advisor at Kuni Lexus. Jared is the youngest person (25) in our group, and he's also very sarcastic. He's a lot of fun and got voted the best dressed male in our group. He'll be teaching science classes.

Matt-owns his own painting company. Matt is married and a father of one little girl. He's the funny one in the group, and always has a comment to make us laugh. Matt wants to teach PE and be a coach.

Christina-elementary school para. She'll be teaching world history. She doesn't pay attention in class, as she's always on the internet.

Maria-her husband has been in Iraq for over a year, so she is a single mother of four children. Maria is so sweet, and I admire her a lot. She not only is working and raising four children, but she's been working on her Master's as well. She'll be teaching computer classes.

Chris-lawyer and former judge. You can tell Chris is a lawyer by the way he can out talk everyone. If you get him going, he can talk for hours without stopping. He's going to teach social studies.

Tom-ex marine and cop. He's interesting, to say the least. He sure does know his history and can tell you what happened on July 26, 1847, if you ask him. He'll lead his classroom with an iron fist. Enough said.

Shiloh-rents cars at Enterprise. Believe it or not, I don't talk a lot in class discussions. One teacher told me I had great ideas and thoughts but I needed to speak up and voice my opinions. I'm just leaving room for Rich to suck up.

As you can see, we come from all different backgrounds and jobs. We range in age from 25 to 50, and no two of us are alike. Some will make amazing teachers; others will struggle through their first year. The amazing thing to me is that a rocket scientist, a lawyer and a cop (among many other occupations) are all giving up their salaries and comfortable positions to teach the future of America.

We all report to our classrooms in the next couple of week, so good luck to you all. I can't wait to see you in a week as we begin our fall classes.