Dbacks Game

 Friday night we went out with some dental students (first and second years) and spouses to a Dbacks game in downtown Phoenix.  It was a blast, and the stadium was super nice.  AND, our seats were only $5 each, and were surprisingly good...I wouldn't even consider them the nosebleeds.  It was also fun getting to know the people who are in their 2nd year better.  

The whole gang

True Dbacks fans! 

Tyler feeding Carter

Tyler sick of me taking pictures of him :)

No pictures to prove it, but I did it!

I made Cafe Rio salads...with a lot of peoples' help :)  Tyler had a few spare hours today, which is always a treat (considering the whole weekend he was studying), and he was so awesome and helped me make the stuff for the salads.  I also had a couple of the wives (who came for FHE) bring the lettuce, guac, and salsa.  I did the rice, beans, chicken, and dressing.  Surprisingly, it wasn't that bad.  A little time consuming, but I feel like next time I do it, I will be much more efficient.  If you've never made these salads, and want the recipe, let me know.  It's totally doable (is that a word??) for anybody!

Waiting for Superman

A few notes I took from the film:

• Americans are #1 in confidence; last in math scores of 8 major countries
• 1 in 57 nurses/doctors are fired; 1 in 2500 teachers are fired
• DC has the lowest math/english proficiency scores in the nation
• The high kids have good programs, the middle kids usually get ignored
• Most freshman in CSU are not ready for their freshman year or a 4 year university 
• 50 years ago, students graduating high school were not all going to college...the schools now still do that and the world has moved passed that
• In 2010 the high tech world could not find enough employees with the unemployment rate at 10%
• In one neighborhood in Harlem, kids knew more people who had gone to jail than to college
• A lot of things in education is too much about the adults, and not enough about the children
• You can't have a great school without great teachers
• When you see a great teacher, you are seeing a work of art
• Michelle Rhee-doesn't agree with tenure; teachers are getting it too easily
• Prisons spend $33,000 per year on one inmate, and 68% of inmates are high school dropouts; Private schools cost roughly $8000 per year, which is only $32,000.  
• Private schools have to do drawings b/c so many students want in
• 2 out of the 5 kids in this documentary made the drawings for their chosen schools; 1 of which is going to a boarding school in Harlem
  
• "There are so many different parents out there, and they all want different things for their children..." quote by one of the parents 
• We have the tools to make a change, and there are people out there doing it...do we have the fortitude to make the difficult decisions?
• Education is not a way out

This movie is a real eye-opener.  It's sad that our country has so many students that are struggling, and it's even sadder that we have teachers-who are professionals- who don't care about the future of their students.  It makes me want to get back into teacher ASAP.  Just for everyone who doesn't know, I've been trying to get certified in AZ since April, and with my fingerprint clearance card, transferring my UT license to AZ, and submitting my subbing application, it has been quite a ride.  Once I get cleared to sub, I will do that until I can find a job as a permanent teacher.  

Girls Craft Night

A few weeks ago, some friends and I decided that we should do a girls night since the guys are always studying at night.  I've been gone for the last couple weeks, so it's been put off a while, but we finally got together last night, and had a great time.  I found a Halloween banner on pinterest, and that's what we worked on last night.

Josh's Birthday

We celebrated Josh's birthday while I was home with Sunday dinner & a red velvet cake (YUM!). 

The twins & Gregory were napping during dinner 

"Big hair" Lillee

4 Generation picture (Charlotte wasn't too happy about this)

Cute Baby Charlotte

I had the pleasure of going to CA for 10 days to be with Tiersha & Baby Charlotte, and my goodness we had a good time.  Charlotte is of course the cutest baby in the world, and I could love on her all day.  She's so adorable.  I had so much fun being there, and I love that I got to be there with Tiersha to help out so much.

Met up with Josh on his lunch break

She is seriously the cutest baby!

Family Pictures

Family pictures from August

September 11th a few days late

I've never written down where I was, or what I remember about Sept 11th so I thought I would now.  Nothing super moving, but I want to be able to tell my future kids one day, and I really enjoyed telling my students about it when I taught last year (we had a great lesson, and the kids were AWESOME). 

On Sept 11th I was in 7th grade at Serrano middle school.  I remember before I went to school I saw the first plane crash, and I really didn't think anything of it, except for how sad it must be for all of those people.  Then, I came into homeroom and my teacher was crying, and I didn't understand why this lady would be crying for something that was so far away.  I didn't understand the magnitude of what had just happened.  Not long after getting into homeroom, the second plane crashed.  The TV was on in homeroom, but I really don't remember much after that.  But, I do remember not understanding what was going on, and not really knowing that our country was under attack.  I mean, I was only 12. 

Last year when I taught my students about 9/11 they really didn't know much.  I think 5th grade is a good age to teach them about this kind of stuff.  It hit home for some of them, and they really took it well.  Most of my students were not even born when 9/11 happened.  Some didn't even know what it was.  It was neat to share stories and watch clips from that day.  I really hope that it taught my students to be united b/c that's what is important, and that's what our country needs.

The April after 9/11 my mom, Tiersha, and I went to NYC for a week during Spring Break.  It was a really fun trip, and included seeing "Ground Zero."  It was a tremendous sight.  The holes in the ground were huge, and extremely deep.  It was an emotional experience for many of the people on the tour bus.  I'm really glad that I got to see it though, and understand the depth of what had happened. 

We're an aunt & uncle!

 

Cute Baby Charlotte was born September 7, 2012!  We're so excited to be an aunt and uncle...can't even stand it actually :) I'm headed to CA on Sunday to see the cutie, and will post more pictures then!

Finding the creative side

I've been pretty obsessed with pinterest lately, as most of you can probably tell.  I have had a LOT more time on my hands than I am used to, which means I can do a lot of projects.  The latest project I found was creating your own canvas, and since today was Labor Day Tyler had all day to help me with a project :).  We have been searching and searching for a giant canvas/painting to go on our large, empty kitchen wall, and have had NO luck (unless we are willing to spend the big bucks).  Sooo, I saw a project for creating your canvas and liked it right away.  The whole thing took around 2 to 3 hours, and was pretty easy for the most part.  It's by no means perfect, but it's "perfect" for us because we created it together (and had fun :) ).  Enjoy the pictures...it's pretty "step-by-step."

Paint, brushes, and canvas cost around $25 or $30 total

Lay towels down so you don't get paint on your carpet :)

Tape the canvas, so you can paint different colors

Begin painting!

Paint 2 coats, and let it dry (it doesn't take very long to dry)

After it's dry, remove the tape

Once you're finished, you have a beautiful canvas!

Camelback Mountain

This weekend we journeyed all the way up to...(drumroll please)...Scottsdale!  A whole 25 minutes from us ha.  Even though it was close, it was nice to get away for a couple of nights to celebrate our anniversary/enjoy the holiday weekend.  We stayed at the Firesky Resort (Kimpton), which was awesome.  They had 2 really nice pools with LOTS of lounge chairs, and LOTS of sun.  During our stay we saw a couple movies, tried out Movie Studio Grill (we had a groupon from earlier), lounged by the pool a whole lot, shopped til we dropped :), hiked Camelback Mountain, and did more laying around by the pool.  It was all around a great weekend, and much needed...especially for Tyler who has been studying his brains out for the past 6 weeks.  

At the start

15 minutes into the hike,  and I'm already pooped!

At the top!