Korea Korea!

Hello, bloggers! Sorry it's been SO long since I've posted! (We are currently internet-less at our house so with only phone access, keeping up on the blog is a bit difficult) But the last few days we've been spending a lot of time at my parents' house because they have some Korean girls staying with them AND our washer is broken at our house so they've been nice enough to let us bum theirs (Dan's parents too! Thanks!).

So the girl next to Erin is Heejin Moon and the next one is Minji Kim. They are here to attend some classes at SUU and will be staying with my family for 2 weeks. It's been really fun to get to know them. They are the same age as Collette! Kind of. haha I say that because in the United States age is different than it is in Korea! HERE they are 17 and in Korea they are 18 because in Korea, they count the time in the womb as their age so when they are born, they are considered 1 year old. I thought that was kind of cool!

Other things we learned:
-They don't get driver's licenses until they are 20 years old so they were amazed that Collette could drive haha
-They love s'mores!

Things we've been introduced to:
-Korean pop music! They had us listen to a popular boy band from S. Korea called Big Bang and they're actually really good
-Korea's version of string cheese.... uhm.... yuck. haha it tastes similar to bologne... or something. Yuck. (But don't tell them that! They love the stuff!)

Collette and Erin love having them here! It's like one big teenage party at my parents' house all the time now haha lots of screaming and giggling. It's lovely.

In other news, Dan and I find out what our baby will be on August 2nd!! AHHHHHHHH!!! I'm dying! I can't believe I'm already almost to 17 weeks! The pregnancy is going great so far. I'm over the nauseous part so that's great. BUT my hip is hurting like I have a pinched nerve which is not so great. It's ok though because I know it'll all be SO worth it in the end! Dan and I are over the moon excited to be parents and to meet our little "bundle of joy" (seriously though!).

Also, I met with Trish Adams from North Elementary (who I'll be subbing for this school year when she has her little girl) and Lori Bunker (the teacher I did my practicum with) today and I'm starting to get really excited for the school year to start! It'll be like I have my own classroom to start the year off. 5th grade! It's going to be so much fun!

Firework

Well, last night was the Utah Summer Games Opening Ceremonies and I think we worked our last one! We went to dinner at Winger's with Candace and Steve before and then Dan and I sold tickets like always at our usual gate (SE corner). That's the gate that all the athletes line up at and march in. There were SO many soccer teams this year! haha But seeing all those athletes made me nostalgic for when I was participating with my swim team.

I told Dan that our kids WILL BE participating in sports and our girls will do dance. He said "If they want to, then sure!" and that's when I told him, "I'm making them!" haha Yeah, I'm one of "those" parents. It was fun.

The entertainment this year was Recycled Percussion from America's Got Talent. They were actually really cool! They play drums on random things like trash can lids and ladders and they are speedy with their drum sticks! It was like they were on fast-forward mode. haha But of course, the best part of the evening was the fireworks. The Summer Games does the best fireworks... WAY better than the 4th of July. Serious!

In other news, I went to lunch with Amber today to The Pizza Factory. It was so fun to chat and catch up! AND she's currently 30 weeks pregnant with her second baby (a little boy!) so it was nice to be able to talk baby and being pregnant with someone who's "in the know". It's been FAR too long since we last got together!

Tonight we're hitting up the rodeo with Collette! Yeeee-hawww!

InstaTuesday #6

/Submitted my application for the 11 elementary ed. teaching positions for ICSD. I hope I get an interview! I can't believe the time is here! I'm almost a college graduate and I'm applying for "adult jobs"! Eee!/

/Caleb turned 12 on April 10th! We had dinner and played games at my in-laws for it and I brought him a balloon stuffed with a rice crispy treat for his present!/

/Apparently it was National Sibling Day this last week so I did my own post! I love these people! I'm so lucky to have them all./

/Fader by The Temper Trap has been on repeat these days. I love it./

/Love that I've had some time to scrapbook! Isn't Dan a cutie?!/

/I don't want to brag or anything but I've been able to sleep in almost everyday this week since I'm out of school. Ah, this is the life./

/Dan and I got to play with Jack on Friday! We loved it! He's our favorite nephew hehe/

/One day I'm going to clean up our backyard patio and put a table and some chairs so we can do dinner outside for summer. Also, I need to pump up my bike tires so I can hit the road!/

/Saturday we played night games at Park Discovery with Ryan, Bryan, Mickel, Steve, and Lauren. I couldn't see very well in the dark so I admired the view of Providence Center. Aren't the lights looking over Wal-mart beautiful at night?/

/After night games, we went to Denny's. I like these people./

/The relief society lesson on Sunday was from the teachings of President Lorenzo Snow on perfection. I loved this quote. I need to remember this./

/After church we went to Canyon Park for a picnic with Dan's family. It was sunny and beautiful. I love this boy./

/Just another Polyvore creation. Lovely./

/Found this recipe on Kraft for chicken pot pie so I made dinner... it was divine!!/

/Don't these look so yummy? I posted the recipe for Rolo Cheesecake Squares on my facebook page and my old assistant manager from Megaplex, Alicia, made them for me! I love her! haha/

/It has snowed pretty much all day today. Gah! April, what are you doing??/

Watermelon Day Dreams

Everyone has that one person who they can go weeks, even months without seeing but who, everytime they see them, without fail, they can talk to for hours about absolutely everything and absolutely nothing and have it feel like no time at all has passed since they were last with you. Ya know??

Well, even if that made no sense at all, I'm sure you all have a best friend and that's kinda what I'm describing, so you know what I mean haha...

My one person is my cousin, Melissa. That girl! Ahh! She's great! 

Lucky for me, she came down this weekend and we got to play for a few hours before she had to head home. We chatted about everything and we chatted about nothing. We went to dinner at Wingers and had some awesome sticky fingers, shared a delicious meal of cajun mahi mahi with coconut rice, and devoured a cookie zookie in a matter of minutes! Yum! Then we traded music loves while looking at old pictures. It was the absolute best! Honestly. 

Also, she introduced me to Tumblr soooooo, follow me. And like it! ---------> lizjohnson23.tumblr.com

Evil Cougars

Well, thanks to H&R Block and Dan, we have our taxes done! Phew! Aaaaand it looks like we're actually going to get some money back! Yay, us!

Oh! And, apparently there was an earthquake "'round these parts" today. And I totally missed it. I must just be used to feeling off balance haha No, but I was teaching math at the time so I was too into that, I guess. I'm betting the kids weren't, but I was!

Speaking of student teaching, I'm down to the single digits in my first placement now. I go to the high school next and I'm kind of looking forward to that BUT I'm not ready to leave my 2nd graders! They are so fun! They give me hugs every day and make me laugh. I've finally gotten onto a really good schedule with them too so I'm going to be so bummed to have to leave! You can bet your bottom dollar, I'll be going back to visit those little cuties!

Yesterday they played "wild animals" at recess and some were wolves, "evil cougars", and one girl was a duck... because she brought a duck caller to school. Yeah, it was awesome. They crawl around on the ground and chase each other. It's really cute haha I'm going to take a wild guess and say that they won't be playing "wild animals" at recess in the high school haha I'm going to miss that.

Anyways, tonight I'm cleaning my house and doing some laundry so Dan can go on the Klondike tomorrow with scouts and I can have my sisters over for a rockin' sleepover! It will be so fun! We're going to dress Erin like Ke$ha haha... yeah, exciting!

Oooo! The song, Free by Zac Brown Band just came on my Pandora... oh, it brings back memories of when Dan and I were dating and riding in his truck ♥ Soooo glad I'm married to that guy!

Skatin'

Yesterday, Dan was off work so we slept in and watched our show on Netflix. Then we went shopping for new pants and shoes cause we both needed them badly! When we got home, we made strawberry milkshakes and Dan made me breakfast for dinner. It was yummy! He's such a sweetheart to me.

At 9pm, we went to the roller rink here in Cedar for a tribute concert for Dan's cousin, Kelly, who passed away in November. Everyone rode skates or blades around the rink all night and listened to music played/sang by friends and family of Kelly. It was fun to get together with Dan's family and remember Kelly. AND it was fun to see Dan out skating around the rink. He was pretty good at it! He even skated around with our nephew, Jack, for awhile. It was a good day!

Worst Ever

Oh! Good morning! Or should I say, "Are you freaking kidding me?!"
It's a beautiful, F-F-F-FREEZING Monday morning here at 6:06am. This girl doesn't have to be awake to get ready for a very long school day until at least 6:30am but at 5:45am when Dan left for work, my body and brain decided it was time for me to get up.
I tried to go back to sleep. I shut off every light in the house. I curled up in my blanket and shut my eyes. I tried SO hard to go back to sleep. If only for another 30 minutes. But my brain was like "Ain't gonna happen, Liz!" in a mean, country-western voice... I'm serious!
You'd have a hard time sleeping too if you were trying to go back to sleep for a few precious moments and your brain was on instant replay of ONE PART of the horribly sad song of Whiskey Lullaby by Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss because you heard it in the car last night on your way home from Sunday dinner at your parents. I mean, COME ON!!
It's official. I hate that song now.
I guess this is punishment for procrastinating writing my lesson plan on animal life cycles until last night when it was due today. I thought staying up til 1am to finish it and then having to wake up at 6:30am was the punishment but noooooooooo.
Kill me. It's going to be one long day. Plus, it snowed like a foot. Wish me luck.

In other news, I got a calling yesterday! I'm the new cub scout leader for our ward!
For those of you new to scouting since you only have sisters like me, cub scouts is the 8 to 10 year old boys and they come to your house every 2 weeks to do an activity that gets them ready for the "big leagues" of scouting as an 11 year old. haha
I'm totally excited!

Also, on Friday, I had my first experience being "the mean teacher".
I had to tell a boy in my class, numerous times (when I say 'numerous', I'm not kidding) to stop talking, making weird noises, or touching/bothering his neighbors while teaching math on the rug. I gave him plenty of warnings and finally said that if he did it again, he would make the choice to go finish his math time down at Mrs. Sorensen's (Skills class. Dun dun dun!).
Well, the poor kid did it again so I told him he needed to make his way down there. Instead of doing that, he decided to throw a fit on the rug and blame those around him. When that didn't work, he started crying and wouldn't move off the rug.
I told him that he could choose to walk down to Mrs. Sorensen's by himself or he could go into Mr. Heaton's office and wait for me to get the other students working on math so that I could walk him down there.
He just sat on the rug, crying.
So, I finished up what I was doing with the other kids and then had them head to their desks to work on math. I told the boy having the problem to head into Mr. Heaton's office while I got the others started and he went in there and hid in the corner crying.
As soon as the others were working, I went in there to have a "heart to heart" with him about what he did so that he understood that I wasn't doing it to be mean, I was just trying to teach him. I said, "If Mr. Heaton was here and he'd asked you to stop doing those things and you didn't, would he have done the same thing?" He replied with a yes so we walked together down to the skills room while he cried.
When he got back to go to P.E., he handed me a note. It was cute. haha I think we're on good terms now.
He really is a good kid but boy, do I hate having to give the "tough love".

Something New

Ever since my Grandma Smith passed away, my family has changed our Christmas traditions just a little. Instead of getting everyone (Smith's, Dennett's, Henrie's, and Barclay's) together for Christmas eve at my grandparents' house, we all meet at his house on my grandma's birthday (December 22nd), which is also my cousin, Alex's, and we eat food and have cake and ice cream. We sing "Happy Birthday" to Alex and chat then we all head to the cemetery to visit my grandma's grave. My grandpa usually puts out poinsettias or something (this year we put up a mini Christmas tree) and then we sing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" and go home. My grandpa comes to my parents' house for Christmas eve festivities now but this is a fun tradition to kind of remember my grandma at this time of year as well. We always did a big dinner, nativity, and musical numbers at her house every year for Christmas eve and my grandma always made sure everything was put together so beautifully. We all miss her dearly, especially my grandpa, so it's a nice way to remember her and celebrate our family.

Repeating Dates

12. 12. 12. 
This is today, people!
These repeating dates won't happen again for a long time. It's been pretty cool to see them for the last 12 years; 01-01-01, 02-02-02, 03-03-03, 04-04-04, 05-05-05, 06-06-06, 07-07-07, 08-08-08, 09-09-09, 10-10-10, 11-11-11, and 12-12-12.
I'm pretty sure that a few of my friends got married on some of those dates.
Plus one friend has a baby due today.

In other news, my family drew names for Christmas gifts this year.
I have Erin, but I'm having a hard time trying to decide what to get her for Christmas.
She's 12 (almost 13).
I think I'm going to make her a mix CD of songs she likes to go with her real gift but, there in lies the problem; what to get her?

Any ideas would be appreciated.

P.S. Aren't those pictures of Erin great? She's getting so grown up and beautiful. (Great job on the pictures, Bec!)

Dirty Laundry

Well, good morning, world. 9am is here. I don't have classes today so I shouldn't be awake. Buuuuuut, the hubster is up and gone. Cutting wood. So here I sit. Wide. A. Wake.

I guess I should be grateful because it's keeping me from being cozy lazy in my bed. Laundry is on the agenda this morning (unless someone wants to come do it for me...) along with a shower and some homework/studying... maybe. Oh, and a diet coke and some cold pizza for breakfast. Aaaaand a little blogging (obviously), Facebooking, and Pandora listening to fill in the cracks of open time. (A Day to Remember and Taking Back Sunday are keeping me company. Yeeeeeesss!)

It's basically freezing around these parts so I hope it snows sometime. Just not this weekend cause we're going up to Salt Lake to see my grandma for Christmas. But suuuuriously, it's winter... not to mention, Christmas in like 15 days. I am grateful that it hasn't snowed yet for the fact that Dan has still been able to do some landscaping and wood cutting to make us some moola. Dan is the most hard working person I know. I love him for taking such good care of us (and for a BUNCH of other reasons ♥ ).

Speaking of Dan, I hate when he has to leave for work early in the morning. Can't we just all quit our jobs and never have to work again?? haha I know I'm being silly and pout-y but that just means I like him, right? I'm entitled to some selfishness. It shows my love ;) haha

Better

This last little while has been kind of rough on Dan and I. We've both been working non-stop and life just seems to always get in the way of us having any real time together. Other things have become a priority in our lives and the other night we both realized that wasn't how we wanted things to be. We are both constantly stressing about money and time and have had no time to even help each other de-stress because the only time we can talk about anything during the day is the 15 minutes between the time we get home from work and the time we go to bed. Which only made matters worse because the time we spend together shouldn't be all about complaining and trying to cram in talk from a whole day when we're both so tired.

So, we sat down and talked. We talked about what we could change and how we could make our marriage better; to bring it back to the way it was before we let other things come first. And then we made a list. A goal list. Things we both wanted. Things to make us better; to make US a priority. Promises to each other to be the best we can so we can make each other better. And then we signed it and I framed it. Yes, we signed it and yes, I framed it. If it's written down, you've signed it, and it's framed in a place you can see everyday, it's cement... right? RIGHT!

And let me tell you, these last few days have been wonderful. We've both been making a conscious effort to make more time for each other and to make each other's life a little easier and less stressful. It's been wonderful! Tonight was the best yet. We both worked full days today (Dan cutting wood and delivering it for 12 hours and me working at the theater for 9 hours) but when 8:00pm came around, it was our time.

I got home from work just as Dan was getting home from the store. He had picked up some eggnog, chocolate milk, cookies, and muffins for a night of decorating our home for Christmas. We took our tree and the food inside and I turned on the Christmas tunes. We both got in our pjs and headed to the living room to set things up. We decorated the tree together while we listened to music and talked and then we both set into writing our talks for sacrament meeting tomorrow so we could watch a Christmas movie together afterwards.  It was so nice to have a fun and creative, stress-free date night with my amazing, thoughtful, and sweet husband. I really do have it good!

Now, I need to finish my talk so I better shut up! haha Wish us luck! ...we may need it haha!

Twi-hards. Oh yeah!

As I sit here listening to some Florence & The Machine in between class and practicum, Pandora so graciously reminds me that Breaking Dawn part dos comes out tonight and that I get to work until 2am. I'm not looking forward to working that late BUT I'm actually kind of excited to see the crowd this movie brings AND to see how our new "reserved seating" does with a big movie where people would've normally waited in line for hours upon hours. Apparently there will be a DJ there and I will have an unlimited amount of Cherry Coke at my fingertips so it'll be good haha

I, myself, only made it to movie #2 of the Twilight series soooooo... yeah, it'll be fun to see what an opening night brings for those "twi-hards" haha

Anywho, back to Pandora. Can I just say that I'm loving me a mix of the following stations? Yes, yes, I can.

-Five For Fighting
-Fun.
-Gavin Degraw
-Imagine Dragons
-Imogen Heap
-John Mayer
-Lifehouse
-Matt Wertz
-Rob Thomas
-The Goo Goo Dolls
-The Kooks
-The Script
-The Temper Trap
-Train

Uhm, yeah, basically that mix is gold. GOLD, I tell you. The Temper Trap and Imagine Dragons kill me with goodness.

In other news, someone "borrowed" my credit card number to purchase some stuff for $40 on iTunes. I'm not very happy about that. I had to cancel the card and a new one will have to be sent to me. It's a bummer, really.

BUT, on a brighter note, Dan's birthday is on Sunday. He will be the big 24. I already gave him his birthday present like a month early haha because I just couldn't wait! It was a new wedding ring for crying out loud! Who could wait for that?? Now I need to decide how we'll celebrate though... So any ideas, guys? Sundays are hard to plan birthdays on... that guy deserves some serious partying though cause he never ceases to make my days better. I am so happy with him ♥

Long Day

Thursday nights in Cedar during the summer have become reserved for a little thing the Parks and Rec department set up as "The Concert in the Park Series". Each Thursday they have a different band or singer come in and perform under the pavilion at the park on Main while a few awesome peoples sit on the lawn to watch them. My family has gone to every one so far but last night was my first experience with it and it was wonderful! (We even got a pic with the lead singer, Jodi!)

The original plan was to go with my parents, Cole, Erin, and Christina but my dad got sick with something just as we were getting ready to go (poor guy!) so I took Erin and Chrissy. We set out our blankets on the lawn just a ways in front of the band (The Shaker's) and sat and laughed and listened. Cole met up with us a little bit after we got there and the four of us had such a good time! The band was really great and we even had a little picnic after walking over to Hermie's for some food. Yum!

The best part of the night had to have been watching these enthusiasts dance to the music right in front of the band. And when I say "dance to the music", I don't mean swaying back and forth or anything small like that. I mean arm swinging, head banging, and hopping from foot to foot. It was hilarious haha

We left a little before 9pm so Cole and Chrissy could go to a regional youth dance and so Erin and I could go pick up Koda to show to a family. We went to my house and picked up Koda then walked him up to my parents' house to play in the backyard while we waited for them to show up.

The family that came to look at him was actually a lady from my SpEd classes this last year named Mindy Lister and her son and two little daughters. They were looking at him specifically for her son, Josh, who is 16.

When I met Josh, he told me how his friend has a Boxer so he's been searching for a Boxer because he loves his friend's so much and that he used to have a dog as a kid but it had been hit by a car and he has wanted another ever since. As soon as he layed eyes on Koda, his whole face lit up and you could tell he was excited. His little sisters (probably around 7 and 5 yrs old) ran right over to Koda and started playing fetch with him and petting him. It was great!

I told them all the great things about Koda and Josh asked things like "Do you think he'd ride on a 4-wheeler with me?" or "Is he an outdoor and indoor dog so I could have him sleep with me at night?" I knew then that this was the family for Koda.

We've been hoping to have him go to a family that had kids he could play with and a place where he'd get the attention he needs. He is the best dog and he deserves to be treated wonderful and loved. So a short bit later Josh had paid me for Koda and we were loading his things up in my car to follow them to his new home.

Giving up Koda was the hardest thing! A lot harder than I thought it would be but I feel really good about where he's at and I know this is the best. Erin cried when the family bought him and my parents are really sad about it too. It's good to know that my family loved my dog like Dan and I did.

After the whole thing with Koda, I went out to see Dan. He'd been working all day yesterday on putting in sprinkler systems and landscaping for two yards for Inifinity Home Builders. And when I say "all day" I mean it! When I went over there it was 10pm! He hugged me and let me cry about Koda a little bit and then I watched him finish putting the final touches on the sprinkler system with Jeremy, Caleb, Brandon Terry, and Jared Rhoton. I can't believe they got two systems put in in one day! He is such a hard worker!

When we finally left around 11pm, we dropped off Caleb at his house and headed to Wendy's for a late dinner which we took home and ate in bed haha Then we watched Grey's Anatomy until both of us fell asleep. I'd say that after a long day, that's the best thing to do.

Dreams

I had a dream last night that I was shopping with my mom and sister, Stephanie, in the most gorgeous clothing and shoes store.
All I really remember about it is that there was the cutest red heels there that I really wanted but couldn't quite get to fit and that Steph kept trying to try on the same pair and I kept saying "Well, if you are getting those, then I just can't so take them off!"
The dream was also mixed with scenes from Charmed where I had magical powers and the ability to kick some a--. I attribute this to the fact that I've recently watched quite a bit of this show on Netflix. Shows from the late 90's and early 2000's were awesome haha
Needless to say, the dream was interesting...

In other news, today, I'm listening to shuffle on my pandora station that ranges from Imogen Heap (yes!) to Four Year Strong (Yes!). It's an extensive list involving about 44 different artists. Glorious!

I'm busy selling tickets for the Summer Games Opening Ceremonies today and then it's house cleaning time, cookie baking time, lawn watering time, Liz and Dan time, and mom's birthday cake celebration time! Happy birthday, Mom!

Speaking of birthdays... I can't believe my birthday is in a week! I seriously almost forgot about it this year.
So far, I have zero plans. Dan just got moved from 3rd counselor in Elder's Quorum to 2nd counselor so he'll be helping plan and carry out the 'Chip and Put' our ward men are holding on that day but that's in the morning so... who knows? Maybe the afternoon and evening we'll some grand birthday plans.
I've got to have some sort of plan seeings how this is my "golden year" - 23 years old on the 23rd. You know.

Anyone have any ideas?

Swing Low

This weekend we...
-braved 40 mph winds to go camping at Sand Hollow with Bryan, Mickel, Brandon, and Kristel on Friday and Saturday
-rode four wheelers non-stop (Sand dunes on Friday and Saturday with friends, Three Peaks on Saturday with Dan's family, and Cabin on Sunday and Monday with my family)
-had dutch oven chicken and potatoes (mmm!)
-lost Dan's wedding ring out of the four wheeler bag going over a small bump on the sand dunes

-helped a guy get his trailer and truck out of the sand using 3 big trucks to tow it [Dan and Brandon]
-walked in on a million people going to the bathroom or showering at Sand Hollow (NO ONE knows how to lock a door! haha)
-camped on the sand

-swam in the freezing water
-rolled the four wheeler going over a dune and possibly broke a hip [Brandon and Kristel]

-roasted marshmallows at the cabin
-played horseshoes [Dan and Dad]
-had fire roasted sweet pork burritos (mmm!)






-did a little dancing and singing [Becca and Cole] -- I said I wouldn't Facebook it. Never said I wouldn't blog it... haha
-laughed our guts out
-watched The Big Bang Theory and fell asleep for a moment while holding boiling hot chocolate... successfully spilling it on his lap and burning himself (ouch! Poor kid!) [Dan]

-worked Sunday and Monday afternoon at the movie theater [Liz]
-did a little landscaping [Dan]
-ate way too much pizza from Papa John's while Dan went four wheeling with Jeremy on Monday night [Liz]

Overall, it was pretty great!

All Growed Up

These last two weeks have been concert central for my families seeings how school for the young'ns is out this weekend for summer.
Last week was Erin's 6th grade orchestra concert and Cody's choir concert at CVHS.
This week was Collette's choir concert at CHS.
It's been fun to be able to watch and listen to the talents that all my awesome siblings have!

I, also, had the opportunity to babysit cute little Chloe (my good friends, Amber and Dan's, little girl) on the night of Cole's choir concert.
It was so fun; that girl is sure cute!
AND it gave me a small taste of motherhood... car-seats are NOT my friend and calming small fussy children during choir concerts is tough stuff... I need some practice haha

P.S. It's official. I'm an adult. I got a car loan all by myself in my name (with Dan's help haha)! So, Dan and I are now the proud owners of a newish truck! Woo Woo! Dan loves that thing... Isn't it awesome?