Glimpses of Spain

This is the title of my new book. And when I say "book" I use that term loosely. It's not like I found a publisher to do it....even though I wish that were the case! In fact anybody, for example you, can make a book just like me. All you have to do is go to the Blurb website and begin any type of book you want.

I'm an up-and-coming amateur photographer (well I like to think that I am) and so I put all my best photos of Spain together into a book to show others the landscapes, buildings, and culture of Spain. Many of you know that I have lived in Spain a couple of different times. The first was in 2005 for just 4 months on a Study Abroad through BYU. I lived in Alcala de Henares (right outside of Madrid) with a Spanish family. We traveled extensively and my love for Spain was thus born.

My love for Spain then flourished when I moved back for a second time to work....to teach English more precisely....last year (2007-2008). This time I lived in Almeria, on the Southern coast in an apartment with 2 other Spanish girls. I was here for about 9 months and absolutely loved it. I did a little more traveling, but mostly all over Europe since I'd already seen much of Spain before. I used my time instead to really experience the culture.

Anyway, I wanted a way to show others just how beautiful a country Spain is and instill in the reader a desire to someday see it for themselves. I guarantee you'll love this book!! There are over 100 photographs!

Happy New Year 2009!!!

It's about time for an update. The last two weeks I spent my Christmas vacation home in Arizona with my family, minus my brother and sister-in-law who couldn't make it home. Anyway, it was just what I needed! A nice long break in the warm weather. Although, it actually did snow the day after Christmas here in Thatcher!! It was the highlight for everyone around here, let me tell you!

Drving down from Provo, there was snow almost the whole way, almost all the way to Phoenix, which is very unusual......snow in the desert!

So I was super excited this year for Christmas and New Years since I didn't really get to celebrate last year being in Spain. I LOVED it!! The anticipation was so much fun! So for Christmas, I gave everyone in my family a book that I had put together - pictures from all over Spain (You can see a preview and even buy one by clicking on the button on the right). Anyway, they all had to open them together so I didn't want them to all be the same shape and size....too obvious! So being the tricky person I am, I took some board games from the closet and emptied them of their contents, placing the books inside. So on Christmas morning (it was so awesome) everyone opens their "board games" and are like, "cool. thanks!" Then they realized there is something inside. They were shocked. I tricked 'em good :) Here's some pics from Christmas morning.

Notice the "fireplace" behind us...it's not Christmas without it!

My mom in her stylin' leather jacket-

Even the poochie got some presents-

I don't even remember what I did the whole break, but we did some fun things. My family played lots of games. Our favorites are Speed Scrabble and Yahtzee among others. I also went mountain biking, drove up to Fry Mesa to hike around, got to see an old Indian Cliff Dwelling, and went sledding - which I unfortunately crashed into a brick wall...ouch! I sprained my hand pretty good (I'm having a little trouble typing this as we speak, or rather read...haha) and tore up my back pretty good. It was worth it though!

So I wanted to check out the Indian Cliff Dwelling for my Winterim, which I will be teaching after coming back from Christmas break. Three weeks are set aside to teach whatever, so I'll be doing a segment on Native Americans during that time. It long was a long off-road drive through mud pits and rivers - one of the funnest roads I've been on in fact. Anyway, this is one of the best preserved Indian dwellings....




Here's some pics from Fry Mesa





Now I have a long journey driving back to UT tomorrow to the land of snow.....
Sure wish I could stay here in AZ....

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!!

Oh, the weather outside is frightful...
There are so many song lyrics that are so fitting right now. But, NEVER have I seen SOOO much SNOW!!! I am in disbelief and shock! I love it however, unless it prohibits me from getting home to Arizona for the Holidays.

I was joyful when the first snowfall hit, a little less than a week ago. It was a fun change, especially since I haven't seen snow in a loooong time. Then....the second snowfall hit and I had to drive to work in it. Yuck. So the snow is super fun to drive in when you have the whole road to yourself and it doesn't matter if you spin out or swerve all over the place. It's a completely different story when the roads are packed with people trying to get to work and the roads haven't been plowed yet. Let's just say I survived!!

Then the THIRD snowfall hit today after school. It's crazy I tell you, just plain crazy! I would have never imagined this much snow. Needless to say, it's been fabulous wearing my moon boots all over the place, even to school. My students got a kick out of it! One student told me, "If only we were friends Miss Anderson.....we'd have so much fun!"

The sad part is I haven't had even a second to play in it....even build a snowman, even sled down a hill, even throw a snowball at an unsuspecting person. And tomorrow I'm leaving....I have to say goodbye to this Winter Wonderland. I guess I won't miss the freezing glacial arctic frosty bitter icy cold numbness I feel every time I step outside. Even my car has icycles on it for goodness sake! Icycle....that's a very strange-looking word, don't ya think?

These are the views outside my school and apartment. I'll let you decipher which one is which...... And it IS snowing on both accounts!

"If you put a dent in my snowball....."

So I have a ton of hilarious stories from teaching high school. Even though my students can be punks sometimes, they always bring a smile to my lips and a hearty laugh. Such one occasion occurred the other day.....

I had parked my car in the student parking lot because it had snowed and was blocking off the back part of my school where I normally park. Well one student tells me, "We were throwing snowballs at your car Miss Anderson." Then he proceeded to say it was on accident, not on purpose of course. So I said, "you better not have dented it!" I told him he wasn't that strong anyway :) He said he could and if he did I owed him 20 bucks. Ha! Ya right! Then I said, and here's where it's funny, "If you put a dent in my snowball, you will have to pay for it!" Can you tell it's the end of the year? My brain is losing it's power! Last night I told the basketball players to be careful and not trip on the ice. The same student (who also plays basketball) said, "don't you mean slip Miss Anderson?" Haha. It's fun to laugh with them!

Anyway, so this student wrote this on the board.......
He just thought that was the funniest thing he's ever heard!

We Won our First Game!!!!

Not only did we win, but we killed the opposing team! I'm so proud of my girls! We played our fourth game today. They played extremely well and I was pleasantly surprised.

Ok, so sometimes I make my girls run in practice for certain things. How much they run depends on them....the more shots they make, the less they have to run. So......one of the girls came up with the idea of having me run. Her idea was if they win, then I have to run the number of laps that they win by. So I agreed to this to give them a little more incentive to win.

So we won today, right? The score was 53 to 20. Which means I have 33 laps to run (laps = baseline to opposing full court baseline). That's going to be a killer!!! Hahaha! It's pretty funny though. I never expected them to win by that much! Wish me luck.........