Mariachi and Mexican Puppets

So this is what Lisi and I do at night when it's late.....bahahahahahaha!!

I got these puppets out to take to my Spanish class the following day, but I think we had more fun with them than my students ever will! What a riot!

¡Feliz Cinco de Mayo!

Better late than never, right? That's what I told my kids (and I refer to my students) for their cinco de mayo fiesta we had yesterday and today. It was a three day process. Day 1 - Paper maché piñatas. Day 2 - Paint piñatas. Day 3 - Fill with candy and bust open. It was super messy but super fun. It's just so entertaining watching my students blindly swing at the piñata. Hey, but I had to do it as well. It kind of makes you feel like an idiot. Here's a few pics of some of my classes with their beyond creative piñatas. Notice the Beatles?

History of Cinco de Mayo-

Most people believe that it's Mexico's Independence Day, but I'm here to correct that myth. After the Mexican-Spanish war and a few civil wars within the country, Mexico was in debt. They owed France, England and Spain money, but they refused to pay it - they said they would pay in 2 years. Well, these other 3 countries didn't like this so they decided to invade Mexico. Except that France not only wanted their money, but also to take over. England and Spain didn't agree so they withdrew. France invaded the city of Puebla with 7000 troops while the Mexicans only had 2000 troops. Mexico defeated the French with a bold victory. Even though the French came back and eventually established their monarchy in Mexico, the Mexicans were given hope and courage by winning the battle of Puebla, which took place, oddly enough, on the 5th of May. It is now mostly a celebration that has been very americanized and commercialized.

Today's the Day....

I start my Master's program today through the University of Phoenix. It will be in Secondary Education. I'll drive up to SLC once a week for classes and it should only take me just over a year to complete....shouldn't be too bad. I'm actually excited to go back to school (I already wrote my first paper in who knows how many years?), but it's going to be crazy busy for the next year. Teaching school and then going to school with coaching on top of all of it equals B-U-S-Y. But hey, it'll be so worth it. So wish me luck!

Arizona & Utah Sweetness

Last week was my Spring Break - kind of late, I know. But now I only have 6 weeks of school left! So Lisi and I drove home to AZ for the week to enjoy the warmth. I heard we missed a big snow storm in UT...or something like that :) We were home just in time for Easter Sunday. The Easter Bunny even came to visit me! I think I ate one too many jelly beans.....

So most of the time at home I spent outside (running, hiking, biking) and also reading. I read 4 books in 5 days: The Alchemist, The Screwtape Letters, The Tipping Point and Tuesdays With Morrie...all really good books and I highly recommend them.

So we picked up a friend of Lisi's in Phoenix on the way back up and the 3 of us spent 2 FULL days driving back to UT. We made many numerous stops along the way to play a bit and fully enjoy the outdoors.

Stop #1 - Besh-Ba-Gowah, Globe AZ. These are old Indian ruins that we have driven by a million times so Lisi and I finally decided to stop and see them. They're pretty rad and you can even explore inside. All you Thatcherites, you need to see this!

Stop #2 - Montezuma's Castle, Camp Verde AZ. We didn't actually see it because you had to pay $5 and you didn't even get to explore. It's an old Indian cliff dwelling. We just decided it wasn't worth the five bucks.

Stop #3 - Sedona AZ. We basically just drove through because we didn't have much time, but I've always heard how spectacular it is. I want to come back and hike/bike around. It's comparable to Park City I'd say.

Stop #4 - Sunset Crater, Flagstaff AZ. This is an old volcano that I thought you could hike in and around the top, but you can't. Go figure. There are some pretty cool lava flows all around it though.
Stop #5 - Wupatki National Park, Flagstaff AZ. Many of you know that I absolutely LOVE to explore old ruins. Well, after teaching my Winterim on Native Americans, I really wanted to see these Indian ruins. There were old pueblos in several different places located pretty close together. They were amazing!

Stop #6 - The Grand Canyon, AZ. I hadn't been here since I was about 8 or so years old and I've always wanted to go back. It was a bit of a detour, but well worth it! We got there about dark so we stayed in Tusayan. The next morning we spent a good amount of time at various viewpoints, then we also took a short hike down in to the Ooh-Aah Lookout Point. Ooh Aah - Look at those views! There's also a pretty sweet old lookout tower you can climb up in....

Stop #7 - Lake Powell / Glen Canyon Dam, UT. We wanted to stop and swim, but we just ran out of time, plus the water would be a bit chilly. So we stopped at the dam instead - great views!

Stop #8 - Dinosaur Museum, Page UT. Isn't this a great picture? I love it. So I didn't even know it, but they find dinosaurs bones all the time around the cliffs of Lake Powell. They've found over 100s of species and just 5 weeks ago they found a T-Rex!! Sweetness!

Stop #9 - Coral Pink Sand Dunes, Kanab UT. This was our last & final stop. Running around on the dunes and getting sand everywhere.

My First Time Stung by a Bee!!

So this is a great story! Lisi and I went hiking out in the desert yesterday and climbed this mesa (it was sunny though). Except when we got to the top, all of a sudden this bee came out of nowhere and attacked me! It stung my forehead without any warning. I hit it away, but then it and another bee were still attacking me and they landed in my hair. I starting running around and screaming (oh, if only you could have seen me!). As I was running I kept hearing the buzzing and I thought they were chasing me, but then I realized I had 2 bees in my hair, and not just in my hair but stuck in my hair! I was definitely freaking out. So I stopped and Lisi tried to help me get them out, but they were really stuck. She finally got my hair tie out and then I shook my head back and forth relentlessly trying to get them out. Finally, they came out, but then they started attacking & chasing Lisi! Now it was her turn to run around and scream like a maniac! Oh man, I’m laughing even as I write this. I was in a high state of panic, but it was also really funny how we reacted. If only you could have seen us….

So today I have this ginormous bump on my forehead right where everyone can see. Hopefully it goes down soon….. The bee fortunately didn’t get his stinger into me though. I can only imagine what that would have done!

Here's a picture of my deformed face....notice my right eye (the eye on your left), all swollen. I look like the dude from Goonies...haha!