The Saga Continues . . .

This song should be sung to the tune of “I Like Balloons.” I don’t know where this tune came from, but if you’re lucky enough to know it, take it away! Go, Krystle! (I think she taught me this tune, somewhere in my mind).

Oh, I love blue shoes
Oh, I love blue shoes
Oh, I love blue shoes
I love blue shoes

I love blue shoes
I ordered a ½ sandwich
And got a whole one
I love blue shoes

I love blue shoes
‘Cause they are comfy
And they are blue
I love blue shoes

Wearing those blue shoes
I got a deal on tires
Free is quite the deal
I love blue shoes

Oh, I love blue shoes
Oh, I love blue shoes
Oh, I love blue shoes
I love blue shoes

I love blue shoes
Sometimes they’re lucky
Sometimes they’re not
I love blue shoes

I love blue shoes
Through broken ankles
And 12 hour scenic drives
I love blue shoes

Oh, unlucky blue shoes
Oh, I love blue shoes
Oh, unlucky blue shoes
I love blue shoes

Yes, I know I’m ridiculous. And, yes, this is the end.

Bird Walking

The other day, Misty and I took a trip to Target to buy groceries. Located just down the road from my apartment, we decided to walk there and back (This decision was based on the fact that if we walked, we wouldn’t buy as much because we would have to carry it home). On our way, we passed a couple taking a leisurely walk. As we approached each other, Misty and I noticed that the man had a bird on his shoulder. It was a multi-colored bird, like a parrot, but smaller. It was just sitting on the man’s shoulder as the couple walked down the street. It looked as if they were turning and going into Starbucks located just on the corner.

On our way back from Target, we again passed the same couple. This time the woman was carrying the bird on her shoulder. What a funny sight! I don’t really understand the concept of taking your bird for a walk, but let’s just hope that they don’t run into someone “walking” their cat or dog! Good luck, bird walkers!

On second thought, I guess one could say that the bird was actually walking the humans. .

SILENCE!!!

Silence—I want it! Sometimes I just love the sound of nothing. It seems that some days my life is so busy and noisy. Teachers talking, kids chatting, bells, whistles, traffic, and even the hum of a computer are all noises that I sometimes need to be rid of. So, on a night like this, I usually come home, close the blinds, and rest on the couch in the dark. Sometimes I read a book or listen to music. However, often times my sweet silence is interrupted by the roaring engine of a jet landing or taking off from Hill Air Force Base. The base, not even a mile from my house, is definitely not a bonus when it comes to looking for housing. The noise wasn’t that bad until about a month ago when flight patterns were changed. Now, if a jet flies by, I can’t even hear someone sitting next to me. The worst part is that the jets usually begin flying at ten or eleven o’clock at night. It’s insane. I sometimes think that because of this noise, rent should be cheaper in this area. Alas, it is not. I guess it’s as they say: Silence is Golden.

I Heart Quilts

I love quilts! Blankets, throws, quilts. No matter what word you use, I love those things that you wrap up in to keep yourself toasty warm at night. During college, I had no less than 7 layers on my bed at a time. Maybe this is because it was sometimes cold. Maybe it’s because I like the weight of the blankets on me, or maybe it’s because I’m ridiculous. Whatever the reason, I love them.

Some people may think having so many quilts is strange, but nobody ever goes without one when it’s cold, when we’re watching a movie, or when staying over. Maybe I have this need to feel prepared. Some people have a cannery in their basement. Others have 72 hour kits for the neighborhood. Me, I have oodles of quilts. Maybe they’ll come in handy if we have a disaster and for some strange reason everyone’s naked. ANYWAY, point being—I love quilts.

Here is a picture collage of all of the quilts that I own. Some of them I bought, others were given to me, and some were made by me. Enjoy, and always remember to bundle up!

The Write Obsession

So, I have an obsession with pens. Really, the obsession is with office supplies in general, but pens come right at the top of the list. This obsession is also common among a few of my family members, so I figure it’s an inherited thing. Ask Kevin or Michael where they are hiding their pen stash.

Why pens? I always am carrying a number of writing utensils in my pocket, whether it be a whiteboard marker, pencil, pen, or crayon (Hey, what do you expect from an elementary school teacher?). I transport them between my home, car, and class like they’re going out of style. Counting my classroom and apartment, I have no less than 8 containers that hold utensils of the writing kind. I know--it’s ridiculous!

Every once in awhile, I’ll go through them, throwing out the bad ones and keeping the good. But sometimes I save them because I think that they still could be good. It’s like I’m afraid of throwing away a pen. Funny thing is---sometimes no matter how hard I look, I can’t find one. For example, like when I’m at the bank trying to make a deposit. Everyone’s been there—digging around in your car or purse for a pen. It’s ridiculous!

My favorite type of pen is a blue ink then black. I hate red pens, and I really don’t care for colored ones either. With this obsession, you would think that I would have a set of really nice pens. Nope, not the case. I hate those, too. My favorite type of pen comes in a pack of 10 for .98 at Wal-Mart. Cheesy but true. They are ball point pens, medium, with blue or black ink. What can I say? They consistently write the best out of all the pens that I own. But for some reason . . . I can never seem to find one when I need it.

Ace of Cakes

I consider myself a pretty craft person, and as Rosie says, “Crafting and cooking are the same thing, just using different materials.” (Well, she said something like that on Rachel Ray the other morning). Some of my crafty adventures include quilting, painting, scrap booking, crocheting, and dabbling in oil pastels and watercolors.



More recently, I have decided to try my hand at making cakes. Now, these aren’t just your average out of the box cakes. Okay, yes they are, but with more bling. I’ve made a couple in the past that came out pretty disastrous. Well, this weekend I decided to make a cake to take to a BBQ in Logan for my Master’s graduation and Matthew’s (my sister Kristin’s husband) graduation.



I slaved over a hot stove for hours . . . or made cakes from a box (you decide), and put them together. Then, I bought everything I needed to decorate the top. Making cakes is expensive! When the cake finally came together, it was a masterpiece of perfection. Okay, okay. It wasn’t perfect, but looked eatable. So far in my cake-making excursions, it’s the best one yet! I’m no ace of cakes, but pretty close.

DID I MENTION . . . I left the cake at home. Yep, right there on the counter. I was too far away when I remembered. So, my friends and I enjoyed cake later that week . . .

Blogorrhea--Diarrhea of the Blog

This is just to say
I'm sorry
For the the sudden, quick blogs

I've been saving them up
for when I have internet access

No apologies . . .
They are so funny
And in some way, meaningful.

U G _ Y

I want to make note of something that was recently pointed out to me by my friend. Very often, towns or cities will paint a letter on a hill to recognize a sports team, high school, college, or city. Now, with that knowledge in mind, let's check out the Wasatch front.



I often find myself driving along this stretch of I-15, and now I only think of one thing: U G _ Y.

Starting in Salt Lake, we have the U on the mountain which of course stands for the University of Utah Utes. Traveling further south we then next see a G on the mountain for the town of Pleasant Grove (at least I think that's what it's there for). Finally, in Provo we come to the home of Brigham Young University, which displays its school pride with the Y. And so, in that order, from North to South we have the letters U G Y.



Now, all that needs to be done is for the town of Lindon, located just south of Pleasant Grove, to add an L to the mountain. Yes, we would have UGLY spelled out along the mountain range for all to see. It's probably no coincidence that this hasn't been done already.



Just a little trivia for your thoughts today--and every day that you're making that drive along I-15.

Unlucky Blue Shoes

This is the story of the unlucky blue shoes . . .

I saw them in the store and was instantly attracted to their suede and corduroy shell. Trying them on sealed the deal; they fit my feet like a good, comfortable pair of socks. The blue tennis shoes of my dreams. Little did I know . . .

While wearing the blue shoes at Lagoon, I had a misstep and all but broke my ankle. Wearing a boot for six weeks is definitely not good luck, and so they became the "unlucky blue shoes."

Now, I was willing to give them another try, so I wore them while hunting for trilobites in the west desert of Delta. While there, I slipped two times, bruising bones, causing knees to bleed, and basically injuring all four of my limbs. I blamed it on the shoes.

However, the other day while wearing the blue shoes, I did have a bit of luck. While at the tire store, I was able to get two of my tires fixed for no cost. That's definitely lucky! My past history with car repairs has been anything BUT lucky. So, I figured that the unlucky blue shoes were working their way back to being just the "blue shoes," no bad luck attached.

This weekend I went camping with a friend to Capitol Reef. She wanted to go on a "short drive to see the scenery and the places marked on the map." Although I wanted to go on a hike, I agreed to go and see what beautiful wonders of erosion that Capitol Reef had to offer. Well, to make a LONG story (and I mean long) short, here's what happened.

We ended up missing the turnoff for the road, and had to backtrack about 34 miles. The road was very rough, and it took us until almost 5:30 to get to the end of the loop. Just as we came around the bend (about three miles from the main road), the road ends and we see--yes, a river! The road has been taken over by a river. So, we had to get back in the car and drive the 54 miles back the other way. Not a big deal, but when you're so close, as we were, and had been driving since 10 that morning, it was very depressing. Upon seeing the river, Misty said questioningly, "Where did the road go?" while I cried, "Noooo! Look. The road's over there." Anyway, so we ate a few cookies, had a debate whether to ford the river or not, and turned around. 3 1/2 more hours and several closed roads later, we were finally back to the main road. As we were driving back to camp, Misty says to me, "Michelle? What shoes are you wearing?"

Yep, you guessed it. Unlucky blue shoes!

Better luck next time . . . OR remember to read the signs.

Who is This FICA Guy?

So, I can honestly say that sometimes I'm appreciative of taxes--like when you come home froma month in Peru to paved roads, freeways, parks (ones that you can actually walk on the grass), etc. However, at a time like this, yes--Tax Season--I find myself asking--Who is this FICA guy, and why is he taking all my money. Taxes are just frustrating and one more way to get even yet more money out of a person. Who knew that a grant would be taxed . . . That's supposed to be like free money. "Free money" doesn't exist, I guess. Just another punishment for attending graduate school. I consider myself a bright person and have filed my taxes by myself individually, but this year I just became a little overwhelmed with all the paperwork, so I decided to use TurboTax. About 2 hours later . . . and let's just say a lot of disappointment. I think I'm going to take a tax class and start saving EVERY receipt in order to get all the deductions possible. Oh, and one other thing while I'm on the tax rant--check out this website and see just how much our government wastes each year. Yep, those taxes--that 33 percent of your hard earned moolah--hard at work, again. http://www.cagw.org/site/PageServer?pagename=reports_pigbook2006 . Here are a few of my favorite ways that my tax dollars are being spent:
"$450,000 added by the House for plantings on the eastern front of the Capitol. This will allow members of Congress a chance to “stop and smell the roses” before they proceed with plunging the country deeper into debt."

"$950,000 for a parking facility at the Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha, Nebraska. The museum, built by the wife of prominent businessman George Joslyn, profits from donations, as well as $7 tours, $25 lectures, $45 memberships, and $220 art classes."

"$300,000 for the Oquirrh Institute. According to the Institute’s website, “The Oquirrh Institute was founded in Salt Lake City, Utah, during the 2002 Winter Olympic Games. The Institute's mission is to shine early light on public policy dilemmas and establish innovative solutions. The Oquirrh Institute is currently involved in four areas of concentration: Moving to Competency-Measured Education, Improving Environmental Management, Advancing Health Information and Research and Enhancing Governance Through Technology.” According to USDA testimony, “The principal researchers have not yet determined a completion date on this project.” A total of $500 has been raised from corporations and foundations. Taxpayers have “contributed” $550,000 to Oquirrh since 2004."

I hope that the Oquirrh Institute can research better ways to spend our taxpayer dollars. Until then, I will say goodbye. I'm done with my rant on taxes and must finish getting them mailed and filed. Until next time, remember to "manage your money, or it will manage you."

My New Favorites

These are a few of my favortie things . . . or I guess you could say favorite people! Here is little Axton Fifield sleeping away.

The baby boy cousins together. Dante and Axton take a rest on Grandma's bed. Dante is 3 weeks old and Axton is about 7 weeks old.
Here's Dante sitting on my lap, taking a nap. I think I have a picture exactly like this of Zoe when she was a baby.
Zoe is so good to Dante. She is so sweet with him and loves to pat his head and kiss him.
Here is Zoe holding her eggs she found on the Easter egg hunt. What a cutie!

Zoe and Dante posing for a picture for me. This was a good one!

Money, Money, Money

Yes, money is a motivating factor in just about everything that we do in life. It may be sad, but it's true. This week I got a roommate. Why? To save money. I think in the long run that it will be good. It's only for a few months. I think that overall, roommates are good--you know, it's all that sharing that goes on and teaches us to be more patient people--but sometimes the thought it just overwhelming. It's hard being a single girl in the city! Such is life. This has been a crazy couple of weeks. I've been interviewing around Salt Lake and Davis school districts, finally deciding to take a job at Syracuse Elementary (in Syracuse) teaching 6th grade. It will be a challenge, but I believe it will be worth it. Syracuse is a year-round school and I will start teaching on July 21. I will be rotating classrooms every 9 weeks with the other teachers as we go on/off track. However, I will have from Thanksgiving to after New Year's Day off, which is a definite bonus. Also, I will have an hour of prep time each day with a classroom aide. Right now, it sounds fabulous. Why did I change? Well, there are many various factors . . . one being money. :)

Goodbye . . . Hello

Goodbye, Dee . . . Hello, Syracuse!

Goodbye commuting, hello short drives

Goodbye traditional, hello year-round

Goodbye 3rd grade, hello 6th grade

Goodbye tattling, hello hormones

Goodbye South America, hello Mesopotamia

Goodbye no-walled school, hello own brick room

Goodbye no time, hello prep time

Goodbye old friends, hello new friends

Goodbye Dee Dolphins, hello Syracuse Stingers

They're Crazy, They're My Family, and I Love Them!

Here is the most recent photos taken of the family. We had these taken in October, right around Zoe's second birthday. We then gae these to all the parents for Christmas. Group Picture: Back row: Scott, Michael, Sean, Kevin; Tony, Jennifer, Zoe, Michelle, Kristin, and Matthew

Just the Boys . . .

And the girls . . . (and unborn boys)

Zoe's two year old pictures

Life with Zoe

I've never watched so many "Dora the Explorer" episodes in my life!

Tomorrow starts my week of Spring Break from elementary school, and believe me, the teachers need it just as much as the students! Yesterday, Mom and I drove down to Richfield and visited with Jenni, Tony, Zoe, and baby Dante. The baby is growing so fast, but is still as little as can be. He is such a cutie! After we had lunch, Zoe came back to American Fork with us. Mom and I are going to watch her for the week. It's been fun so far, but she's a little demanding (being almost 2 1/2 and all). We've been potty training her, (only 2 accidents in 2 days!), playing her favorite game--The Fishy Game--and watching her favorite show, the aforementioned Dora. I can understand why Jenn goes a little crazy sometimes. The Dora chant is now permanently embedded in my mind. I think the DVD will soon be "broken," if you know what I mean.

The weather here is crazy. Zoe spent a little time with uncle Scott at the park, but the snow and wind are now coming down extremely hard. March is sure coming in like a Lion this year!