Thatcher, AZ

Ryan Shupe….again!!

So if you have been reading my blog, you’ll know that I went to a Ryan Shupe concert a few months ago. So it was perfect timing...meant to be. They had a concert tonight in Thatcher! So of course we had to go! They never cease to amaze me...such talented performers. And this time we got a picture with ‘em!! I got to stand next to Banjo Boy...bahaha!

Snowb and I went with my parents and on the way home, just as we turned onto our street my dad got pulled over by a cop. Sonya and I were laughing the whole time cause my dad just chuckles and my mom says she’s going to walk home. Oh man.....haha! That would sure look good! Turns out the cop was a friend of the family (that’s the good thing about living in a small town, but bad thing for the cop) so he just told us to slow it down. Great ending to the night!

Squeak Squeak Squeakity Squeak

I’m hoping now that I’m back in Arizona where there is warmer weather my voice will have a chance to recover a bit. It’s been awfully squeaky lately, but is bound to get worse. So sometimes when I’m talking a certain word or phrase comes out in a high pitched squeak. The weird thing is that this only happens in the winter….the colder it gets the squeakier my voice gets. This has been going on for years. It’s not the best situation for teaching or coaching basketball either. The other day in practice a girl asked me if I was losing my voice….. nope, not at all! At least I can laugh with them!

So here’s the story…… Five years ago I went to Mexico with my older sister to study Spanish for 3 weeks. We were living in Cuernavaca, right outside of Mexico City. Well, I got a cold while I was there and after that I have been squeaking ever since. The Mexican air must have done something to my vocal cords ;) Kinda strange…..

Home for a Week

I get to be home a whole week for Thanksgiving! There’s no school Wednesday through Friday of next week so I just decided to take off Monday and Tuesday as well. I was badly in need of a break from everything. So Snowb and I flew home Friday night to Thatcher, AZ. Unfortunately our plane was delayed an hour (we always get the luck…) but we made it home. I’ll keep you posted on the goings on of the week…they should be fun fun fun! I know some of you wonder what ever there is to do in Thatcher….. just you wait!

First Basketball Game

Yesterday was our first basketball game of the season and my first game to coach. In honor of the big event, my lovely roommate Allison made me a basketball pumpkin pie! Check out how cool that is!

So the big game was in Price, UT about a 2 hour bus drive each way. Every Friday I will have a game with us playing first and the boys after us. Compared to us, the boys are way better. We lost our game last night 53 to 22.....they didn't play very well. We have lots of work to do! I wish that we had been able to start practicing much earlier. Plus, we only have practice for an hour and a half 3 days a week.....not much. I'll take what I can though. I'm really loving it!

My Students' Imaginations.....

I love seeing what my Spanish 3 class comes up with. The other day we learned the Conditional tense (what would happen) and so I had my students write a Presidential Speech on what they would do if they became President of the United States. This was my personal favorite:

"Si fuera presidente, los estados unidos tendria divertido. Pintaria la Casa Blanca todos los colores. El nombre de la Casa Blanca seria la Casa del Arco Iris. Explotaria Antartica para divertido. Explotaria la luna para hacer fuegos artificiales. Todo el tiempo seria una fiesta. La bandera tendria mi cara. Todas las casas serian pequenas pero mi casa seria muy grande. Seria el presidente del mundo."

For those of you who don't speak Spanish:
"If I was President, the United States would have fun. I would paint the White House every color and it's name would be the Rainbow House. I would explode Antartica for fun and explode the moon to make fireworks. There would always be a party. The flag would have my face on it. Every house would be small but mine would be huge. I would also be the President of the world."

I thought this was a crack up. It was more funny when he was up in front of the class reading it!

Here's another favorite part of one. This particular student isn't as far ahead as the rest and mostly just likes to speak Spanglish. He likes to add "o" to the end of everything. So this is what he said for "signing a peace treaty" - "signo un peaceo treatyo." Guess you had to have been there when he was saying this outloud in front of everyone.

And no worries, I'm not making fun of my students.....I thoroughly enjoy it with them!

Tagged....5 things

10 years ago...
1. I was still taller than all the boys :)
2. I was clueless about everything
3. I had bangs! They rocked...ok, not really...
4. My age of doing dares began (maybe I shouldn't admit that...)
5. I was still a pretty picky eater...now I'll eat anything (see #4)

5 things on today's to do list
1. Catch up on Grading
2. Lesson Plans for tomorrow
3. Grocery Store
4. Return some phone calls
5. Go to the gym

5 snacks I enjoy
1. cheese crisp (if you don't know what this is....well, too bad! Delicious!)
2. yogurt
3. chips & salsa
4. cereal
5. celery w/ peanut butter

5 places I have lived
1. Thatcher, AZ
2. Provo, UT
3. Cuernavaca, Mexico
4. Almeria, Spain
5. Alcala de Henares, Spain

5 favorites
1. Being outside
2. My family
3. Playing sports
4. Exploring new places/things
5. the Beach

5 jobs
1. Pharmacy Technician
2. Spanish Teacher
3. English Teacher
4. Basketball Coach
5. Walmart Vision Center

Come on, Give the guy more credit....

So he's not perfect, I mean who is? We can't pinpoint certain problems all on one person, especially the problems of a whole nation, some 300 million people. It's just not logical. Although President George W. Bush doesn't have high approval ratings, there is something to be said for him. After reading this, you'll know what I mean. He has stood strong in the face of attacks on all fronts and not changed his mind or policies like so many other less than caliber politicians. He has integrity, which I undoubtedly admire even though I haven't always agreed with some of the things he's done. As was pointed out to me, I think all the "hate Bush" sentiments is everyone just jumping on the bandwagon. This says it all.......

The Treatment of Bush Has Been a Disgrace
by Jeffrey Scott Shapiro, Opinion, The Wall Street Journal

Earlier this year, 12,000 people in San Francisco signed a petition in support of a proposition on a local ballot to rename an Oceanside sewage plant after George W. Bush. The proposition is only one example of the classless disrespect many Americans have shown the president.

According to recent Gallup polls, the president's average approval rating is below 30% -- down from his 90% approval in the wake of 9/11. Mr. Bush has endured relentless attacks from the left while facing abandonment from the right.

This is the price Mr. Bush is paying for trying to work with both Democrats and Republicans. During his 2004 victory speech, the president reached out to voters who supported his opponent, John Kerry, and said, "Today, I want to speak to every person who voted for my opponent. To make this nation stronger and better, I will need your support, and I will work to earn it. I will do all I can do to deserve your trust."

Those bipartisan efforts have been met with crushing resistance from both political parties.

The president's original Supreme Court choice of Harriet Miers alarmed Republicans, while his final nomination of Samuel Alito angered Democrats. His solutions to reform the immigration system alienated traditional conservatives, while his refusal to retreat in Iraq has enraged liberals who have unrealistic expectations about the challenges we face there.

It seems that no matter what Mr. Bush does, he is blamed for everything. He remains despised by the left while continuously disappointing the right.

Yet it should seem obvious that many of our country's current problems either existed long before Mr. Bush ever came to office, or are beyond his control. Perhaps if Americans stopped being so divisive, and congressional leaders came together to work with the president on some of these problems, he would actually have had a fighting chance of solving them.

Like the president said in his 2004 victory speech, "We have one country, one Constitution and one future that binds us. And when we come together and work together, there is no limit to the greatness of America."

To be sure, Mr. Bush is not completely alone. His low approval ratings put him in the good company of former Democratic President Harry S. Truman, whose own approval rating sank to 22% shortly before he left office. Despite Mr. Truman's low numbers, a 2005 Wall Street Journal poll found that he was ranked the seventh most popular president in history.

Just as Americans have gained perspective on how challenging Truman's presidency was in the wake of World War II, our country will recognize the hardship President Bush faced these past eight years -- and how extraordinary it was that he accomplished what he did in the wake of the September 11 attacks.

The treatment President Bush has received from this country is nothing less than a disgrace. The attacks launched against him have been cruel and slanderous, proving to the world what little character and resolve we have. The president is not to blame for all these problems. He never lost faith in America or her people, and has tried his hardest to continue leading our nation during a very difficult time.

Our failure to stand by the one person who continued to stand by us has not gone unnoticed by our enemies. It has shown to the world how disloyal we can be when our president needed loyalty -- a shameful display of arrogance and weakness that will haunt this nation long after Mr. Bush has left the White House.

Gila Valley Arizona Temple

Well here it is! I was in Spain at the time I found out there was going to be a new temple in my hometown for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I was shocked! The Gila Valley (Thatcher, Safford, Pima) is such a small community but we are ready for it! For those of you who know the area, the temple will be built where the ball fields currently are. At first I felt bad for the ball fields, but they don't even compare! The South fields will stay there however. Work begins in January to begin building it. I'm so excited!

First SNOW!!

Today it snowed! And it was freezing too. I didn't get around to taking any pictures, so sorry. I'll take some soon. My car was entirely covered in snow this morning though. This is the first time that I actually don't have to walk to school in the snow - that's the worst. So I must say I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was a bit disappointed on my way home from work to see that most of it had melted....

So to celebrate this fine day I had pancakes for dinner, broke out the Christmas music and listened while enjoying the warmth from my space heater, and last but not least watched Elf with my roomies, which I must say is like my favorite movie ever! Couldn't get any better....

Coach Anderson

Yep, that's me! Last week I started coaching the girls basketball team for our high school. I've never coached before, but it's something I've always wanted to do so I'm super excited. We already have games in a couple of weeks. There's a few challenges that I need to overcome - these girls have no fundamentals, only a few have played competitively, there's not enough balls for every girl, and we only have practice 2-3 times a week. That's the downside to working for a brand new up and going charter school I guess. I'm looking forward to a great season and I'll keep you updated from time to time. I love it so far! If you have coached before and/or have any suggestions, please let me know!

School or Work?

So most of you know that I teach High School Spanish. Well.....when I refer to my job, I never know if I should refer to it as "work" or "school." Essentially it's both because I work at school. Maybe that's just what I should say from now on - "So, today at work at school......." No, definitely too confusing! Mostly I just call it school since I have my own homework to do too - preparing lessons and grading papers. It's a ton of work though! Ok, so mostly I haven't made any progress with this post........hahaha! Any thoughts?

Halloween

This was my costume for Halloween this year. I can't really say exactly what I was, but I had fun with this dress. I was looking through Lisi's costume stuff trying to find stuff to be a pirate, but when I found this I just knew I had to wear it. And of course it's not complete without the moon boots!

I wasn't going to dress up for school either because only the teachers could and students weren't allowed. But I went to school like this and everyone loved it! Most of the other teachers dressed up too, so I didn't feel quite so conspicuous.

On Halloween night a huge group of us all dressed up and went out to eat - so fun! Then Lisi had a party at her house. I'm sad Halloween is already over.....

So here's a good story for you -
When I was about 14 or so my friends and I all went trick-or-treating. So we got to this one house and I go up and knock on the door. As I say trick-or-treat, the lady tells me I'm too old and refuses to give me candy. Well, what can you do? Then my friend who is barely over 5 feet tall comes up after me and says trick-or-treat. The lady goes right ahead and drops a few pieces of candy in her bag! This upset me because we were the exact same age, but since I was tall I didn't get candy but she did since she was short. Not fair! It makes for a funny story, but needless to say that was my last year to go trick-or-treating.....