Mis Hermanos

Last Sunday my family all got together for dinner and games. We have SO MUCH FUN when we all get together. Let's just say we all had a little too much energy. We should do it more often eh, Dexter, Duran, Lisi, Artisto, and Snowb?

We played Cranium and a few card games.....definitely lost track of the time! If you haven't played Cranium, you should. It's super fun and has lots of variation. Anyway, here's some pictures from the evening.

Our question was How many teeth are in the human mouth, including wisdom teeth? This was our way to ensure we got the right answer....counting! (You can see my splint on my broken right hand....)

Dexter's amazing sculpture creation - a platform shoe....haha!

Artisto's amazing picture....drawn with his eyes closed folks!

Evidence of too much sugar.....

Winning Streak

My girls basketball team is doing soooooo good! They have improved TONS! In fact, they are currently on a winning streak. We've played 7 games - they lost the first 3 and they've won the last 4. They haven't just won.....they've killed the opponent! I couldn't be a prouder coach! Hopefully they keep it up and continue to play well and have good teamwork. The next game will tell. We play Paradigm, which we've already lost to twice, so we'll just see how good these girls are....they better beat 'em! That's all I've got to say!

So I LOVE coaching! It's fun and rewarding, not to mention a good way to unwind and de-stress after teaching all day. The girls are amazing and so fun to be around. We have games once a week - every Friday - which pretty much blows my Friday nights, but there's no where I'd rather be! It's fun to watch the boys play as well. We usually play one right after the other.

Some of my girls think it's their mission to set me up with one of the refs at every game. It's kinda funny. Last game they were taking pictures of me on their cell phones any time the ref even got close to me (I was keeping score for the boys' game). Haha. You know how those high school kids can be..........!!!

I Get All The Luck......

I found out this week that I have a broken hand....a broken RIGHT hand. There is spiral fracture along the front of my pinky finger, which is also angulated. You might be asking yourself, What the heck does that mean?! Well, it means that my pinky is at a slight angle. So when I got my finger splinted (yes, that's right, a lame splint) it hurt in a whole new way it was set straight again. At least it got set straight. My family has a history of crooked pinky fingers - haha! Snowb and Dexter especially.

So I have a splinted right hand. It looks pretty pathetic, hence no picture. I think I'd rather have something exciting & snazzy like a bright pink cast! With a pathetic splint on a broken finger no one believes you when you tell them it's broken. Ha! "Miss Anderson, what's wrong with your hand?" That's what I get about 10 times a day from my students. Instead of repeating the same thing over and over and over, I like to make it interesting. I got into a fight and punched someone in the face so hard it snapped my finger. Someone shut my finger in the car door. A really fat person sat on it. I went golfing and swung the club too hard. You know, I could really get creative with this..........Any other ideas?

The REAL story is I went sledding when I was home for Christmas. I was going down backwards and nearing a brick wall. So my instinct was to put my hand behind my back to protect it. Well, as I slammed into the wall at full force, I crushed my hand pretty good. I couldn't even move it for a whole day. Well for the last 2 weeks I just thought it was sprained pretty badly. I played croquet, basketball, and who knows what else....all with a fractured hand.

Then just a week or so before that, I'm pretty sure I broke my nose - it was tender and sore for the following 3 weeks or so. That happened playing basketball. As I went up for the rebound, this dude arms came crashing down onto my nose, giving me a pretty bloody nose as well. You see, I like to play basketball with the guys to show 'em up :) Guess I didn't that night.......

So you see, I get all the luck........

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....