I’ll take the blame

For 5 months I talked about how much I love home and can’t wait to go back and get out of the Hawaii rain. Well, jokes on me, it has rained every day since I have been home. Words cannot explain how much my heart hurts! In the last few days it has rained more then it usually does all winter. According to the news tomorrow will be the worst of the storm and then it will clear up for Christmas. I sure hope so! Despite the horrible weather, I am having a great vacation! It wasn’t exactly what I had dreamed it would be, but I do love every second!

Today I went shopping in LA with my mom. It has become a tradition for us. Twice a year, once during the summer and once for Christmas, my mom takes off work and we go to LA ,just the 2 of us, for a day of shopping. We were thinking about canceling today because of the weather but it turned out pretty nice after all. Since it was predicted to rain super bad, a lot of people stayed off the road so there was no traffic like there normally is! And since it was raining there was almost nobody shopping, so we got a lot of great deals because people were desperate for us to buy stuff. My only problem was my “waterproof” boots weren’t really waterproof so I walked around with wet feet all day. I wished I would have remembered why I had only wore those boots once before!

You know what the best part of being home is? Being with my little puppy!!! I doubt anybody will ever be as happy to see me as she was when I walked in the door. She has been by my side every second since I have been home. Right now she is asleep on my legs. I missed her so much and it’s going to take everything I have to leave her again. This is a picture of her right now.

Isn't she just so cute?! Anyway, I need to get to sleep. I have another busy day tomorrow! Peace out!

Honesty time…

Today I went to the store in the middle of the day to get milk for my family. Everything was fine, I got the milk, same stuff to make cheesecake and my celestial brownies and then I got in line to pay. The next thing I know this guy comes up to me, grabs my arm, and asks me what my name is. He was a lot bigger then I am, covered in tattoos and missing a few teeth. I made up a name and turned away putting my groceries on the counter, hoping he would leave me alone. Next thing I know his friends also come up to me and start asking me personal questions and touching my arm, totally freaking me out. Just when I was about to scream, a group of firefighters got in line right behind me and the guys went back to the line they were in still staring at me. I think the firefighters realized that something was going on because they asked if I was ok. I told them I was fine but asked if they would be willing to walk me to my car because I was scared that those guys might be waiting for me outside the store.

Maybe I’m over reacting about what happened but it really made me think about how grateful I am for the little town of Laie, HI. I know I give it a lot of crap. I hate the small town and complain all the time about how naïve everybody is. But the truth is, it’s great to feel safe in the town you live in. I know that Laie and BYUH aren’t the perfect place people make them out to be, but for the most part they have a nice environment. You can go months without hearing the F-word, smelling cigarette smoke, or seeing a drunk person when you’re in Laie. I don’t realize anything is different until I come home and something happens.

My friends in Hawaii always make fun of me for being paranoid and I always tell them they will thank me when my paranoia saves their life. While I was driving home I was thinking about what happened and how I doubt it would happen if I was in foodland and it made me really thankful for Laie. The funny thing is I grew up with crazy things like this happening all around me but I think the Mormons are rubbing off on me. Although I may still be paranoid about a lot of things, I feel really safe doing my day to day activities and that makes up for the fact that Laie is so small.

Things I do for my friends

I have this rule when it comes to books and movies. I will not read or watch anything that people dress up for and stand in line waiting for the midnight release. With the exception of Batman, Dark Night, which I absolutely LOVE and didn’t know people would dress up and watch at midnight, I have been very successful at following my rule.

AND THEN (cue the dramatic music)… My friends bought me the Twilight series for Christmas. I now feel obligated to read them. ALL of them! I don’t think I have ever read so many pages in all my life. My friends swear that I’ll become a HUGE fan but I don’t think so. No matter what I can promise I will NEVER be team Edward! That creepy, nasty, stalker dude is a freak! I don’t know how anybody could be team Edward. Team Jacob I can understand but you have to be smoking something to like Edward!

It might be a little easier to get into them because I just said goodbye to one of my best friends. Since she is a major Twilight fan I might want to read the books just so I won’t miss her as much. I tend to do stuff like that. I watch Dancing with the Stars because it reminds me of my mom. I love hummingbirds because they remind me of my grandma. I just might read Twilight to remind me of the awesomeness that was this semester and my great friends here in Hawaii.

On a completely different note I just google imaged “Team Jacob” to find a picture to go along with this blog post and my disgust for Edward, and OMG I could write a whole post just making fun of the crap that came up. Here are a few of the highlights (more reasons why I’m not a fan)…

I personally like the shirt I found a while ago that said, “Team Jesus, because Edward and Jacob can’t always save you!”

Anyway, if you know me at all you know that I like to take the words of songs and change them a little to go along with whatever crazy thing is in my head. You will also know that I like to sing these songs at the top of my lungs and dance to them, no matter where I am. (Lucky for you this is just a blog and you don’t have to hear me sing or be embarrassed by my dancing). As my friend and I were leaving from saying goodbye tonight I made up a little song that she wanted me to post here on my blog. It goes a little something like this. (Please feel free to imagine me signing and dancing to this!)

Three little Monkeys jumping on the bed
Alicia fell off and died
We all called the doctor and the doctor said
Sorry but now you only have two Monkeys to jump on the bed

Ok, WOW! That was super random and sounded a lot better when I sang it in the car. On another completely different note I sprained my wrist and it freaking hurts like crazy! I won’t say what I did because it’s not a good story but it’s killing me more then it has ever hurt before when I sprained it. And please don’t send me messages about how I should go to the doctor since its swollen, or any crap like that. I refuse to spend $10 for a doctor to wrap it up for me. I might not have gone to med school but I’m perfectly capable of wrapping up my own wrist.

So that’s all the randomness I have for tonight! Just in case you didn’t know I go home the day after tomorrow! Of course I’m not looking forward to it at all though! Goodnight!!!

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly!

This morning I was woken up by this phone call:

Me: Hello?
Mom: Are you still that sick?
Me: No mom, you called at the butt crack of dawn, I was sleeping.
Mom: I thought today was your day to wake up early.
Me: No today was the ONLY day I get to sleep in a little.
Mom: Well not anymore!! Funny story……

And just so you all know, it wasn’t a funny story and I couldn’t go back to sleep! So I have been cranky all day thanks to my mom!! If I was rude to you today please feel free to blame it on my mom. She is the one who always told the family to NEVER wake me up one second early, shouldn’t she know better?

(This was my face as my mom was telling me everything going on back home!)

Anyway on a good note, while I was up super early I checked my scores for the second part of the PRAXIS test and I passed!!!! I am so excited! I was worried I wouldn’t pass either but I passed both! Sometimes I wonder if I’ll be a good teacher and passing both tests gave me a little boost of confidence. I still have to take the special education portion to be certified in Special Education but I feel like the hard part is over.

And you know what’s even better? I’m finished with all my finals as of this afternoon! And you know what’s even better then that? I’ll be home in 3 days!!!!!!!! Not that I’m counting the days till I’ll be home or anything.

It's going to be a long night!

Its getting pretty late and I should be sleeping but that is impossible right now. We are in the middle of a big storm. The storm itself isn’t my problem though. It’s raining really hard, the thunder and lightning is much worse then I have ever experienced before, and half the town has lost power (fingers crossed that the power here will stay on). But I’m not really worried. My attitude is as long as there are no valuables on the floor, just in case it floods, everything will be fine.

The only problem is I am surrounded by stupid girls!! I HATE girls!!! They freak out over the dumbest things!!!! Every time the thunder cracks they scream as if they just got hit! HELLO, you are in your room on the bottom floor its not going to hurt you! And they are freaking out because they think that they are going to drown in their sleep if it floods! You have to be kidding me!!! You think you aren’t going to wake up when freezing water is pouring on you? And these are college students! How the heck they ever got into school here, I’ll never know!

My random thoughts…

Right now I should be writing a 10 page paper.
It’s due tomorrow.
I haven’t started it yet.
I don’t want to do it.
So I’m blogging.
But I have nothing to blog about.
Except, I passed the PRAXIS!
I’m super excited!
You can only take it twice before my school won’t certify you to become a teacher.
I passed it on the first try.
It saved me hundreds of dollars.
And a whole day's worth of testing.
And a bunch of stress.
Now I just have to take and pass the Special Education part.
And finish student teaching.
Then I’ll be a real teacher!
EXCITING!
I think this surpasses everything else I’m excited about.
I should stop procrastinating and write my paper now.
I hate writing papers!
10 more days until I’m home!
The End!!

I think I finally got it!!

Apparently being my age and not yet married is a crime. In fact, it might just be the biggest crime the world has ever seen. Rapist and murderers have nothing on a 24 year old, mormon, college student, soon to be kindergarten/special ed teacher, who isn’t married. Just ask around, anybody will tell you that.

Among the list of things I am excited for when I come home for Christmas I failed to mention my huge excitement for people asking me why I’m not yet married. In order to show them that I’m not completely evil I have been reading up on the best places to find a good husband. I think I finally understand where I have gone wrong! You can check it out HERE!

I would just like to tell all of my family and friends, you no longer have to worry about me, I’ll have a man in no time! Thank you so much Kristina for your great advice! You really did save me from a whole life time of unhappiness! And I hope that I can pass your wisdom along to all my other single criminal friends!

Just incase...

Just incase anybody was doubting my level of excitement to be going home in exactly 2 weeks from today, I made a list of specific things I’m excited for:

Being cold
Cuddling under a blanket
Playing with my little puppy
Looking at Christmas lights
Partying with my friends
Sleeping in
Reading a book that’s not a text book
Hanging out with my family
Eating a home cooked meal
Taking a bubble bath
Wearing heels and people not thinking I’m crazy
No lesson plans
Eating good Mexican food
Cuddling with my puppy
Shopping with my mom
Decorating for Christmas
Seeing new sights
Taking my little cousin shopping
Watching my favorite Christmas movies
No homework
Sitting in front of a heater
Wearing warm clothes
Taking my dog for walks
Going ice skating
Giving my mom her Christmas present
Being in a big city
Not having to drive 45minutes to get anywhere
Chilling in my pajamas all day
A day with out hearing “honor code”
Not being woken up by girls talking outside my window
Mom yelling at me for not putting the toothpaste away
Baking yummy desserts
New Year’s party
My Dog waking me up by giving me kisses
Talking to my aunt about teaching
Staying out late just talking to my friends
Eating at my favorite restaurants
Wearing the cute scarves my mom has made me
Listening to the Christmas record my mom plays every year and singing to “Santa Claus for President”

Those are just the few things that came to the top of my mind at the moment! It’s a lot for only being home for 14 days but I assure you there are so many more!

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas… Finally!!!

All semester long I have struggled to find motivation to do school work. I have always been a procrastinator but I hit an all time low. Everything peaked a few weeks ago when I found out I would not be done in May and I would have to do a whole other student teaching when the next school year starts… And then came thanksgiving and the start of the Christmas season!! I thought that my homesickness would kick in even more hard core and that my motivation for school would completely diminish. After all, that’s what happened last year, I was doing really good until the Christmas season started, then all I could think of was going home and I no longer cared if I failed out of school.

For some reason I had the totally opposite effect this year. Ever since the start of the Christmas season all I have been able to think about is getting all this work dune so I can go home and party it up San Diego style! In one night I buckled down and did a whole week’s worth of homework. When I looked at the clock and realized that I had to be up in 4 hours, I still didn’t want to stop. It felt so good! If only I had this motivation all the time. Who knows the things I would be able to accomplish, I would probably take over the world or something.

So now I have 2 weeks more left of school and only 2 projects to do. I am not stressed at all!! That has never happened to me before! This is about the time I normally start going crazy and stop sleeping. And these classes that I’m finishing are the last classes I am ever going to have to take! I am so excited!!

Unfortunately, the end of this semester also means graduation for a lot of my friends. Although I am so happy for them, I hate that this means they are going home and I don’t know when I’ll be able to see them again. The worst part of going to an international school is that you make friends with people from all over the world, and when you leave odds are you will never see them again. I am horrible with goodbyes and I can’t stand the thought of not knowing when I’ll see my friends again!

I could go on and on typing all night but I’m going to stop now and go watch a cheesy LifeTime Christmas movie as I fall asleep. Goodnight and Happy Christmas Season!!!

Stalkers

This weekend was pretty much amazing; I really can’t begin to explain it! The prophet came into town for the temple rededication and my friends and I stalked him until we were able to meet him. Its an experience I’ll never forget and of course a crazy adventure, but then again every time we go somewhere we end up on a crazy adventure. I’m so glad that I am able to be a part of all the awesome stuff that is going on right now at BYUH, I feel like this is why I needed to come. Here are a few pictures for our stalking adventure this weekend!

This is Lizzie and me in front of the pool we helped scrub to get ready for the temple open house. It was a lot of hard work in the hot sun, but we got to do it while sitting in a pool so it wasn’t so bad. And playing in a reflection pool was always something I wanted to do but my mom would never let me!

Today my kindergarteners surprised me with hilarious quote after quote. I try so hard not to laugh in their face because they don’t mean to be funny but sometimes it’s really hard. I’m having a really difficult time thinking of the moment of the day because there are so many to choose from, but I think I’ll go with this one…

Me: “You need to get started on your work.”
Boy: “I can’t I’m itchy!”
Me: “Way are you itchy?”
Boy: “Because little misquotes keep landing on me and sucking my blood.”
Girl: “Like tiny little vampires, like Edward?”

I don’t know why a kindergartener knows who Edward is but I think it’s hilarious to compare him to an annoying mosquito!

PS. I have some friends who love to leave me anonymous comments. They think it’s so funny because they know it drives me crazy not knowing for sure who wrote it, or trying to guess which one of them it come from. All I have to say to you people who think you are so clever, you guys all know I’m really good at scheming and getting my revenge.

WOW!

Yesterday I was talking to one of my friends about how ridiculous I am because even though I hate Peanut Butter, almost everyday I eat a PB&J because it’s fast, cheap and easy (please refrain from comments about how those 3 words also describe me!) Today I get a text, “Dinner tonight is on me!” and a few hours later I was introduced to Nutella.

I haven’t wanted to try Nutella because I’m against anything that millions of people are overly obsessed with (i.e. Harry Potter, Twilight, Lord of the Rings, Star Trek). But since my friend was so sweet I felt obligated to try it and WOW!! I now understand why a lady I know named her child Nutella! I am eating it from the Jar right now! Something that I’m also totally against! Do you know how many germs I’m putting straight into the jar right now? All those germs are multiplying at a million times a second and by tomorrow will become Super Melissa Killing Germs! But you know what’s even better, I don’t really care! Nutella is like Chocolate that I actually like!

So I’m giving up on the 30 days on thanks thing, I got bored with it and I don’t think it was very interesting to read about. But I will continue with my kindergarten moment of the day, speaking of which here you go:

The teacher was talking about words to describe things. She used the word “curvy” and then asked the children if they could think of anything on their body that is curvy. As most of the children started to call out; head, knee, bottom etc. one little boy yelled, “Your bobbies!”

I'm thankful!!!

I have a lot to be thankful for today and I would love to write all about them but I am so exhausted! I’ll save the wonderful detail for some other time but quickly before I pass out… the number one thing for today is working in the temple. Today was the last day of the open house for the Laie Hawaii Temple and I got to work right outside the Celestial Room. All I have to say is that it was pretty darn AMAZING!!! I’ll have to remember to post about how I manipulated the system and got the perfect spot.

Another thing I’m thankful for today is that I got the PRAXIS-II test over with. At least I hope so. It was the most difficult test I have ever taken and I’m sure will ever take. I really hope I passed so I don’t have to do it again. I still have to take the one for my Special Education major but I don’t think that one will be as bad. Or at least I hope not.

Anyway, I’m whole body is cramped from staring at a test all morning and then standing for 5 hours straight. I need to go to sleep right now or something horrible could happen! Enjoy this pic of the temple!

30 Days of Thanks #12

Kindergartener moment of the day:
Today we had a special visitor, Fredrick the pig. While Fredrick’s owner was telling the kids all about how Fredrick likes to take bubble baths one of the little boys raised his hand and asked, “Does Fredrick pee in the bathtub? I like pee in the water!”

A little later the owner was telling the kids that Fredrick will live to be about 20 years old. One of the little girls turned to me and asked, “Does that mean he will die when he turns 20?” I explained to her that we don’t know how long Fredrick will live but most pigs live till they are about 20 years old. She replies, “Ms. Tyler, when are YOU going to die?”

If I hadn't mentioned this already, I LOVE Christmas! This week they stared to put Christmas decorations up around the school. It makes me so happy to see them! So that’s what I’m thankful for today!

Not what I wanted to hear

Its official, I will not be done with student teaching in May like I thought I would be. It looks like I’ll be able to go home for the summer, but then I’ll have to come back for a whole new student teaching for special education. I am not too happy about this but I don’t really have another choice.

I’m sure when I look back the extra time wont be a big deal. But for right now it’s one of the most disappointing things that could happen. I’m pretty overwhelmed with everything going on and what was keeping me going was the count down till May when it will all be over. I guess now my count down is just until I can have a break.

I’m really sorry if my complaining about this has offended anybody. I know there are worse things in the world that could happen. I don’t mean to act like a total brat. It’s just not the news I needed to hear yesterday after I had been working nonstop for 12 hours and am so completely homesick. Just because I may have said I would rather quit then stay here in Hawaii doesn’t mean I’m not a team player or that I’m not committed to the program. I love teaching and I love the school of education program here. I’m sorry if my emotions and stress made it seem like I was a brat. I really didn’t mean it. I was just overwhelmed and freaked out to have my plans just change so fast knowing there was nothing I could do.

Anyway for my day of thanks today I am thankful for cell phones. I don’t know what I would do without mine. I think being able to call and text my friends and family may be the only thing that is keeping me half way rational

Little rant and then Thankful

I’m kind of stressing out right now although I know I should just calm down and wait to see what happens. But that just isn’t my style. I’m a stress-er! I found out today that there is a very good possibility that I won’t be done with school in May like I thought I would, thanks to new changes in the definition of a “highly qualified teacher” in No Child Left Behind. If that doesn’t make any sense to you, you are lucky, it means you are not an education major!

Basically part of the No Child Left Behind Act that was passed in 2001 requires teachers to be “highly qualified” and they are changing the definition of a highly qualified special education teacher. It looks like my choices are to either stay in Hawaii an extra semester (they say "semester" but it's really a lot longer then that) to do a whole other student teacher, or drop the special education part of my major. Everybody keeps asking, “How can they do that to you?” Well, the school really doesn’t have a choice, if they keep it the way it is right now I can graduate and everything like I had planned but I won’t be able to find a job do to the new requirements.

Part of me wants to just say forget it, I’ll just go back to a single major and get my degree and certification as an elementary teacher, but I hate to give up when I’m so close to the finish line. It just seems that they keep moving the finish line farther and farther away. I was so excited to be going home in May and starting my life, it seemed so close and I could finally see the light at the end that motivated me to continue through all the hard times. Now I feel like the light is gone and its kind of hard to find the motivation to keep on going.

I don’t want to drop my special education degree, I really do love it! But I hate the idea of going home for the summer and then coming back at the end of July for more student teaching. That’s more time of me not working and living on my own. Plus I won’t be able to find a job right away after I am certified because it will be in the middle of a school year. My mom says to just suck it up and do the extra time. She says when I look back the extra time won’t be so bad. I’m pretty sure that’s what I’ll end up doing and that it will all work out but for right now when I’m super homesick this is the worst news!

Anyway, that was my rant for today! I need to post about something I’m thankful for. I know that despite all my frustrations right now with school I do have a ton to be thankful for. After all I am going to school in Hawaii. How many people can say that? All of my friends at BYU Provo and dealing with the snow right now and here in Hawaii we are having perfect beach weather, not that I have time to go to the beach. So I’m going to be thankful for that today, being here in Hawaii where there is no snow EVER!

BYU-Provo:
BYU-Hawaii:
BYU-Idaho:


Where would you rather be?

30 Days of Thanks #9

Today I’m thankful for great teachers!!

Throughout my 20 years as a student I have had some really amazing teachers. I know that my life would be completely different if it wasn’t for them going the extra mile to help me. Now that I’m teaching I try really hard to live up to the great example these teachers have shown me. I can only hope that one day I can help a child in the same way.

While I was thinking about the great teachers who have inspired me I couldn’t help but also think of the teachers that I have had who set a great example of what NEVER to do. (How was that for putting it nicely?) I really should be thankful for them too. Without their example I wouldn’t understand the true impact a teacher has on their students. I would like to think that I would never be so ridiculous as to do most of the things these teachers have put me through, but I know that without their example I may have been naïve and made some of the same mistakes.
I know I will never be the perfect teacher but everything I do good for my students I either owe to a great teacher or a horrible teacher I have had!

30 Days of Thanks #8

My natural hair is not very nice looking. It’s not straight but not curly either. It is pretty much just a big mess of frizzy-ness. Which of course is why I’m so thankful for my day 8 idem, a hair straightener. I don’t know what I would do with out mine. This also brings me to being thankful for the fashion district in LA where I can get really expensive hair straighteners, curling irons and all other awesome hair stuff for ridiculously cheap! If you are one of my California loves and you haven’t been to the fashion distinct let me know and we’ll go when I’m home for Christmas.


This is what my hair looks like without a good staightener!!

(And just for the record because a lot of people don’t believe me, I do not dye my hair. Yes, I am a 100% natural blonde! )

30 Days of Thanks #7

I am all for using solar energy but not as the only source of energy when you live in a place where the sun disappears for days at a time. Everybody close to me knows that there are 2 things you don’t mess with when it comes to me, sleep and a hot shower! This week thanks to solar energy I did not get a hot shower all week!!! Yesterday I declared that if I had to take one more cold shower I might just explode!!

This morning when I woke up the first thing I noticed was the sun shining outside my window. My only thought was, “Does that mean I’ll get a hot shower?” And the answer was YES!!!! Anyway… this brings me to what I’m thankful for today… Sunshine and hot water!! It really is a miracle!

30 Days of Thanks #6

Today I had a great day!! I got to sleep in and then spend the rest of the day being random with my girls! So today I’m thankful for being able to get out of Laie and have fun! (And I guess I'm thankful for my girls too!)

Here are a few of our pictures…

30 Days of Thanks #5

Today I’m thankful for the perfect mixture of cold raining weather, cheesy romantic movies and a nice comfortable bed!

And let’s not forget classes being canceled!!
Oh and NyQuill!!
And Netflix!
Of course Fridays too!
And…. That’s it!!

30 Days of Thanks #4

Today I’m thankful for people like THIS, who remind me of what a shellfish little butt-hole I am and how great it is to be alive!

I wish I didn’t have to eat

I hate spending money on food. I almost rather not eat then waste money grocery shopping. To me it’s such a waste; in a few hours you are just going to be hungry again. I wish there was some kind of procedure you could have so you no longer had to eat. That would be awesome. And then maybe I would be skinny again. HAHA

I don’t mind spending money to go out to eat with my friends, in fact I love it. But I don’t really think about that as spending money on food, I think of it as spending money on entertainment. I love being with my friends and I love consuming large amounts of ridiculously good food. Even if it’s over priced not so good food it doesn’t bother me. But spending money grocery shopping for food you eat alone is the biggest waste ever!

Don’t take this wrong and think I’m going anorexic or anything like that, I’m fine, really! I was just eating my PB&J for dinner and thinking about how much I hate peanut-butter. Then I thought, why eat it? I remembered that I eat it because it’s cheap and fast and money and time are 2 things that I’m running short on these days. If only I didn’t have to eat. That would save me both time and money.

30 Days of Thanks #3

I don’t know what’s wrong with me but I keep on getting extremely homesick. I can’t focus on anything other than going home for Christmas. That’s really not such a good thing when I have so much I need to do. So today I’m thankful for pictures of my friends and family.

My room is full of pictures that remind me of good times. Sometimes when I’m having a bad day I just lie in my bed and stair at them. It makes me feel a lot better.

Kindergartener quote of the day:
“I wish you were a little chick so you could fly around going ‘tweet, tweet tweet!’”
(One of the little boys in my class said this to me as he ran around in circles flapping his wings. It was the cutest thing ever!)

30 Days of Thanks #2

Today I’m thankful for old school pop music! Is there anything better than driving with your friends and blasting one of these songs? Of course you also have to sing them at the top of your lungs and dance!

There are so many ridiculous old music videos that remind me of my days as an eleven-teen year old! I could keep posting videos all day, but I’ll stop and go to sleep now! Goodnight!

30 Days of Thanks

I know last time I did a 30 day challenge I decided I hated it about the 3rd day but I’m thinking this time will be different! Or at least I hope so. One of the blogs I stalk is doing “30 Days of Thanks” and I think it’s a great idea! So here I go!

Today I’m thankful for Bleach! I know it sounds like such a stupid thing to be thankful for but just think about your life without bleach…. Mine for sure would not be so good. I would have ruined the brand new white shoes I wore when I went to the pumpkin patch with my kindergarteners, plus about a million other outfits over the years. I’m sure bleach has also saved me from killer germs at least a trillion times! It’s a wonderful discovery and I’m thankful for it!!

*The rule of this 30 challenge, if you desire to do it, is you can’t use the cliché answers, family, friends, job etc. You must be creative!*

Kindergartener moment of the day:
Kindergartener: I went to the Haunted Lagoon! Did you?
Me: Not this year but I live right next to it so I hear it every night.
Kindergartener: You live at the Haunted Lagoon!!!
Me: No, I live next door; I have a lot of friends who work there.
Kindergartener: You are friends with Zombies!!

I fail!

I extremely disappointed my little kindergarteners today when I told them that I would not be dressing up as a Barbie Doll for Halloween. I thought one of the little girls was going to cry. I felt so bad! I wish I would have know that it was expected of me to be Barbie when I sold my perfect pink dress a few years ago. Dang! I really loved that dress too!!

I’m hoping that I can pass my fairy costume off as “Fairy Barbie” so they wont be so disappointed, but I have a feeling they are too smart for that. When I was a kid I had a “Barbie Fairy” and I thought it was the coolest thing ever!! You would dip the Barbie’s wigs in bubbles and then make her fly and bubbles would come out. Maybe I should bring a bubble blower… I’m thinking they won’t go for that either though :( What totally stinks is I went shopping for a costume with my little kindergarteners in mind. I tried really hard to get a cute costume that they would like. I had no idea they had an expectation for me. I failed! I’m officially a horrible teacher!

(With a stretch of the imagination I could be this no problem.)

I once modeled as a real life Barbie Doll making little girls dreams come true when they got to talk to me, “The real Barbie!” Now I’m just a big blonde disappointment! So sad!

I won't! I Won't!! I WON'T!!!!!

What do you say to a guy when he waits for you and asks if he can walk you home? Oh, I almost forgot… he is only 18 years old!

I straight up refuse to be a cougar! I have tried everything I can think of to scare off these little boys but they keep finding me. When they ask me how long I have been here instead of saying 2 years I say, “a really long time, I’m about to graduate.” When they ask me where I’m from I say, “San Diego, and I’m supper excited to be going back home in a few months after graduation!” When they ask me what my major is I make sure to include that I’m doing student teaching right now so they’ll know I’m just about done and therefore too old for them. I also make sure to compare them to my LITTLE brother and then add, “but he isn’t so little now, he’s 22.” What more can I do?

I would love to me like, “Back off little kid I’m too old for you!” But that’s pretty rude, and not to mention narcissistic. Despite what you horrid people say I wont give in, I WONT BE A COUGAR!!!

Anyway, to change the subject I had a really fun weekend with my friends! Here are a few pictures!

Can you see the croc purse? What the heck would posses somebody to make something so horrid? I’m convinced the person was high! What else could explain it? Or maybe they were possessed by the devil… (Dang you Alicia stop doing that to people!!)

Never to early

I know it’s only mid October but I’m getting so excited for the Christmas season! I love Christmas so much! Everything about this holiday is absolutely perfect in my opinion. I can’t wait to go home and decorate the Christmas tree with my family, cuddle with my little puppy in front of the heater, go ice skating with my friends, volunteer for my favorite charities and eat tons of delicious food!

Me at the homeless shelter on Christmas day a few years ago!

Tonight when I was listening to Pandora while doing my homework I decided to listen to my Christmas station. It made my entire week! I feel so much better after all the craziness that happened and I got so much done! Its midnight but I don’t want to stop working because I am on such a roll! I finished everything that I could do on my To Do list! It feels so great!! I think I owe it all to the spirit of Christmas. Me and my little baby with Santa a few years ago!

I know my friend ALICIA DEMPSEY (she told me I never use her name and I always just call her “friend”, so there you go!) is rolling her eyes because she hates Christmas! I know what the rest off you are thinking, how could anybody hate Christmas? Alicia is a devil worshiper, maybe not literally, but she totally does in her own little Halloween loving/Christmas hating way! Just think about it… Somebody who loves the celebration of everything dark, evil and dead and doesn’t like the celebration of the birth of our Savior? Dang, that person has to be the devil! We probably should all stay clear of her! HAHA!

Wow, this post is turning out to be way random! Anyway, check out my favorite Christmas song, unless you are a devil worshiper like ALICIA DEMPSEY!

You might not want to read this...

I like to think of myself as a pretty calm and easy going person who doesn’t get offended or upset easily. Things will annoy me and I’ll complain about them but I think its takes a lot to really frustrate me to the point where I’m upset. But when I do get to that point all hell breaks loose! And to be honest, I’m at the point right now and I have been for a few days!!

I hate feeling this way but I just can’t get passed it. Normally when I’m upset about something I just go to sleep for a few hours and wake up feeling a million times better, but that isn’t working. I’m so upset to the point where it’s making me sick. I can’t concentrate on anything else either. I have a huge to do list hanging on my wall which I was about to start and finish on Monday when everything blew up. In the last 3 days I have only crossed 3 things off the list, and one of them was something that it was to late to do, so I really only did 2 things.

Lucky for me this week is kind of a slow week. Although I need to do a million things none of them are do or die right now. I just need to hurry and finish them or they will turn into that (or just the die part when I run out of time to do everything). Maybe it would be better if it was do or die because then maybe I would get my mind off everything….

I’m probably sounding like a huge brat and I totally understand if you never read my blog again. I just don’t know what to do. I have never been so upset and frustrated in all of my life!

(This is my angry face!)

(Can you see the death coming out of my eyes?)

On a some what happy note I bring to you my kindergarten moment of the day:
Kindergartener: “Ms. Tyler, I want to see a movie so bad but my mommy won’t let me.”
Me: “What movie do you want to see?”
Kindergartener: “The first part is called ‘Jack’ but I can’t tell you the second part because it’s a bad word.”

Just to make you laugh!

Today I received this email and picture from my friend Mike:

Mel,

I saw this warning today and I had no idea that so many people were on to you. Stay safe!

Love, MB

I share this with you only because I know a few people who are in need of a good laugh and I know this will do the trick! But I would like to take a moment and set the record straight, I am NOT now and I NEVER will be a cougar! I think this little joke is getting out of hand.

It's time to move!!

People never believe me when I tell them that my family lives in the ghetto, but it’s true. My neighborhood wasn’t always like that was though. When we moved in it was just a quiet neighborhood full of old people. Little by little the old people died/went into a nursing home and it got more and more ghetto. We have been telling my mom for years that it’s time to sell the house and move out of the ghetto, it’s not like she can’t afford something better. But she hates moving and doesn’t want to do it until all her kids are gone for good.

Sometimes it can get a little embarrassing when people come over because we never know what the neighbors are going to do. But this week they hit an all time low! Check out the picture my mom sent me of their house.

Yes, that it a port-a-potty in their front yard! It has been there all week!! What would provoke them to do such a thing? We aren’t really sure. Maybe they got sick of having only one bathroom for the 20ish people who live there. Or maybe they are just remodeling. No matter what their excuse is for having a port-a-potty, they have no reason to keep it in the front yard! Come on? That doesn’t embarrass you just a little? At least hide it in the back. This has to be against some kind of zoning law!

Desperate?

I’m going to change my kindergartener quote on the day to kindergartener moment of the day because I realized that sometimes a quote just doesn’t suffice. Anyway here it is…

The teacher over me had a talk with the parents of one of the little boys in my class. Apparently the little boy told his mommy that his student teacher from BYU is prettier then she is. I didn’t know what to do when she told me. Luckily the mom laughed it off, so I don’t feel too bad. Oh, and now they want to set me up with somebody in their family. Hahaha! Am I really looking so desperate that even my kindergarteners want to set me up?

Also this week, a girl called me desperate because I made a guy a PB&J sandwich because he was complaining he was hungry and it was late so no food place was open. I think I offended her when I made a super sarcastic comment back about how the quickest way to a man heart is through his stomach and how he just had to ask me to marry him tonight after that sandwich! I felt bad for about 10 seconds and then I got over it.

Karma!

When I was growing up I knew this girl who was allergic to just about everything you could possibly think of. It wouldn’t have bothered me so much if she didn’t have a horrible attitude about it and get mad if everybody didn’t cater to her. I couldn’t stand this girl and would make fun of her all the time.

I feel like karma is slapping me in the face now as little by little I develop allergies to the whole world! It started out with just an itchy nose when I touched a cat and then it got worse and worse. My eyes started to swell up when there was some kind of pollen in the air, then waterproof mascara, after a while I would start waking up with a horrible pain in my lungs and the doctor traced it back to being hyper-sensitive to mold in the air. Next it was eye-liner, my eyes would itch and puss and swell super bad. And what is it now?... Band-aids! Crazy I know!

I had a band-aid over the hole in my flesh where they removed a mole a few days ago. Where the band-aid was it now red, swollen with little bumps and hurt like crazy!!! It hurts more then it hurt to get the mole removed! Who in the world is allergic to band-aids? That has to be the stupidest allergy ever! Pay back for sure!!!!

Quotes from a blonde

I don’t know what happens but whenever I get together with my friends something crazy happens. It’s always an adventure! My friends all blame everything on me but I don’t see how it’s ever my fault. One of my friends is starting a blog about all the crazy things that happen when we go out. It’s going to be a must read for sure! But for now here are a few quotes from our day together. Use your imagination as to what happened!

“OMG! Lock the door we are about to be gang raped!”

“I would date a pedophile before I would date a guy who works at Hot Topic!”

“I’m going to go to a jail, take a picture of a child molester and have it tattooed on my arm.”

“This is how horror movies start!”

“Congratulations! You have just been demoted to White Trash!”

Grateful!

I like to think that I’m a pretty calm person and things don’t really freak me out that easily. (Unless of course it’s involves death, which as you all should know I can’t stand to even think about!) Today on the other hand I had a little moment and now I feel pretty stupid about it.

The story starts off yesterday when I went to the doctor to have him look at a mole my mom has been telling me for a while to get checked out. The doctor told me that it is probably fine but it looks kinda sketchy so he wanted to remove it right away and get it tested. This didn’t scare me one bit. Ok, that was a lie; I hate needles and pain, so I was scared of the pain but not the mole testing part. Other then the hole in my flesh and a little bit of pain when I moved my left arm I was perfectly fine and not worried at all.

Ok, so fast-forward to today when I was in class. I get a phone call from a strange number. After class I check the message and it’s the doctor saying he needs to talk to me ASAP and to come by and see him or call back as SOON as I can. My next class was about to start, I tried calling but no answer. I went to class and at first I was fine, totally calm and composed, but after a few moments all the thoughts of what the doctor could need to talk to me about flooded my mind. For me there is nothing worse then not knowing something, that’s way I hate surprises. It’s so awesome to get a surprise but when somebody says, I have a surprise and you have to wait for it, it drives me crazy!

Anyway, finally I got a private second to ask the teacher if I could leave for a minute. (In the school of ed if you leave for too long for are late for class they drop your grade, not cool at all!) I practically ran outside, and I called the doctor. When he picked up the phone he was cheerful so I was pretty sure he was going to say everything was fine. After asking about how my wound was healing, he gave me the good news. The test came back negative, I was fine! It felt so good but then after a second I felt so stupid for getting all worked up! I was so worried that for a minute I was shaking like my little Chihuahua, (except she doesn’t really shake unless she is cold because she is awesome like that.)

(My little baby! She is so cute! In this picture she had just pulled her bed across the house to in front of the heater because she was cold! )

Now that I had time to think it over I’m so grateful! Being in that situation for just those few minutes helped me realize what a big blessing it is to be healthily. Along with the great blessings of a school that provides health insurance for the students, a doctor who cares and modern medicine. I still feel pretty dumb but I think this tiny scare was all I needed to be grateful, and maybe I learned it well enough that something big doesn’t have to happen to teach me!