Don´t get shot

When I started blogging, I made a promise to myself that I wouldn´t start my posts with some lame excuse for why it has been so long since I blogged. Well, I´ve changed my mind. I´ll at least keep it brief: my computer got a nasty virus and I lost alllll of my pictures from the past 6 months. I´m personally opposed to posting without pictures, and I really haven´t done much worth taking a picture of recently, thus the absence.

However, my wonderful husband has come to the rescue by sending me these super hilarious pictures of some Christmas cards some little kids sent them. They make me laugh every single time. Enjoy!

The holly is a very nice touch. Well done, Jake.

 

This next one is my favorite. It has some really solid advice. I mean, this is pretty much the meat and potatoes of what I tell Paul every time I talk to him. Smart kid.

There ya have it. I hope you giggled. And by the way, if you want to send Paul a card of your own, send me an email or something and I´ll send you his address.

Teaching tid bits

1. One of my 6th grade students was wearing a loose pleated skirt that was much, much, much too short. When she swung her backpack on, her skirt got caught under it, and she walked all the way down the hall with her entire butt showing. All of it. The good news? She was wearing tights. The bad news? She was not wearing anything under the tights. As far as I know, she never noticed. Pobrecita.

2. One of my (female) student's .................. middle name ................ is ................ (wait for it) .................. Rocketship. Seriously.

3. I'm taking the next few days off to do an early Christmas with Paul and the family before he leaves, so we had our class holiday celebration a bit early. I told the kids that I would bring in some crackers and fruit, and anything else they wanted they had to bring. Last night I went to Safeway to hold up my end of the deal and over heard the following conversation:
 "Oh, hey Sandy! What are you doing?"
 "Mike! Hi! Just picking up some treats. You?"
 "Same. Some stupid Spanish class fiesta tomorrow."
 "Me, too! Don't you just hate it..."
...and that's when I walked away. Quickly. I don't really feel bad because it's the first time all year I've done this, and it wasn't a requirement. But I also felt it was best that I peruse another aisle for a bit. Awkward...

4. I was in the middle of teaching a lesson the other day when one of my Dear Students dropped out of his desk and low crawled allllllllll the way to the front of the classroom. In the process, he crawled under 2 desks, a table, and my smart board. Then he low crawled allllllllll the way back to his desk. I said his name repeatedly during this journey, but he never looked up. When he was back at his desk, I said "Dear Student, uhh... what was that all about?" "What?" "Why did you crawl across the class?"  "Oh, I thought I saw something on the floor up there." Oh, right. That would be my mind. I recently lost it.

Family visit

For the first time since 2007, I got to spend Thanksgiving with family this year! It may have taken widespread flooding back in Washington (fun fact: did you know that WA gets more rain in the month of November than Tucson gets in an average year?), but my folks were finally able to make the flight south to come visit.

We spent Thanksgiving at my grandparents' house in Phoenix, which I have no pictures of because my dear husband may or may not have broken my phone on Thanksgiving day. But the food was delicious, the company was good good, and our activity level was minimal. Perfect.

Black Friday found us driving down to Tucson. Our tiny little 2-bedroom town house was full to bursting with all 7 of us, but it all worked out.

There are 4 people in this picture. Can you find them?

Friday night, the girls dug out and set up the Christmas decorations, while the boys fought an epic battle for world domination and ate junk food.

Ryan won, and couldn't have been happier.

On Saturday, we decided to celebrate a true American holiday by blowing stuff up. We nearly drove to Mexico, and I think my parents were getting a little nervous, but in the end, we got where we were going and it was only a little bit shady.

I was more happy than I can tell you to destroy our old dishes! Everyone helped!

Soaking up the sunshine.

The Marine showing us how it is done

Mommy obviously doesn't know how to hold a firearm =) One day, I'm going to do a post with nothing but pictures of my mom holding bottles of diet coke.

Ryan Todd

Ten years ago today, I came home from school to find my very pregnant mom laying on the couch, insistent that she was going to make it to Jordan's wrestling match that night. Not long later, I was on the phone with my dad and on my way to my grandma's. Jordan, Cody, and Hanna and I waited there anxiously for the arrival of our new sister, Taylor.

At the hospital, waiting to see the new baby.

When we got a call just a few hours later that a little brother had been born (woops!), we were all pretty surprised...with the exception of Hanna, who was just plain devastated. If my memory serves me, I think Hanna cried more than the baby that night.

Meeting the little guy for the first time.

Ry meeting his future brother-in-law

It was a little weird having a little brother born when I was 15. We didn't exactly  have a lot in common, and by the time he was a toddler, most people in public just assumed I was a teen mom.

But it turns out, being 15 years older than your brother is pretty awesome. Obviously I love all my siblings, but I don't really remember what they were like as babies because I was so young. I really got to enjoy Ryan when he was little, though. I got to help feed him, I got to see his first steps, and help teach him his first words. Mostly I got to enjoy how cute he was!

Now he is getting all grown up! It's really fun to get to see his personality develop. He is certainly turning into a pretty fearless kid. From the time he was little, Ry was looking for thrills. I remember waiting in line with him over and over and over again to go on the "Pecker Woody" roller coaster at Universal Studios.

Ry and Wyatt with the "Pecker Woody"

And just recently, he bragged to me about his cliff jumping escapades this summer.

He's also pretty funny. I know little brothers are the ones who are supposed to sneak off and read their big sister's diaries, but I managed to get a peak of Ryan's personal journal at age 7. Page one read:

"Ryan's svivr book
Day 1: I mest up sum stuf in my sistrs room"

And then, his masterpiece: a text to Hanna written on his gameboy. It read,

"Hanu you a ideeit."

My favorite memory might be when I convinced him he could change his name and he decided on "Dynaco Mater".

And now he is ten! I can't believe it. I will always think of him like this:

But before we know it, he'll be driving cute girls around...

And shaving...

And then off to college...

And then settled down in a cozy office job

Happy Birthday, kiddo!

Conquer the world!

 

Ten years ago today...

...Paul and I started "going out" for the first time!

Can't believe it's been so long!

 2001

 

At the "9th Grade Dance," 2002

Here's to the next ten, and then the ten after that, and the ten after that...

Dopplegangers

In the ten years that I have known Paul, he has been compared regularly to celebrities big and small.

The resemblance in some cases has lead to autograph requests and posing in pictures with complete strangers, and in other cases to inappropriate propositions of a different nature altogether (It's ok, I handled her the situation.) It's not always easy living in the shadow of such fame, but somehow I manage.

So who does he look like?

It's time to settle the debate once and for all.

I present to you:

Election Day 2011: Paul's Doppleganger

Here is what we are working with, folks:

And the contenders:

1. Josh Hartnett

The first celeb Paul was regularly compared with, this one dates all the way back to junior high and the release of Pearl Harbor (swoon!).

I think the resemblance here is all in the eyes and brow.

 2. Matt Damon

During the height of the Bourne movie series, there were a lot of comparisons with Mr. Damon. Let's be honest, there are worse people to look like.

There was also a certain lady in the airport who was so convinced that Paul was Matt that she insisted on an autograph.

If you can't decide who to vote for, might I suggest MD? I would love an excuse to think he is sexy.

3. Jo Wilfred Tsonga

I have no idea if this dude is any good at tennis, but I do know that his photograph made its way into our wedding slideshow.

4. Taylor Lautner

These days, this one almost goes without saying. Let me just say that my middle school girls are simply SO impressed that I married a Taylor Lautner look-alike. The pictures on my desk have been passed around class, shown off to friends in other classes during lunch time, and drooled over during inappropriate times in class many a time. I'm not quite sure how I feel about that.

It's ok for me to like this picture 'cause he looks like my husband.

5. Kris Humphries

The ex Mr. Kim K is the latest addition to the growing list of Paul's doubles. I can definitely see the resemblance in these pictures. Guess I need to start spelling my name "Kourtney"...

They even looked alike as kids.

So what do you think? Who does Paul most resemble?

And before you cast your vote, here's a quick quiz.

Who is who??

(Fun fact: Paul was unable to correctly id his own eyes!)

scroll down for answers

Alrighty, there you have it.

Leave your votes in the comments section!

(1 Kris, 2 Taylor, 3 Josh, 4 Jo, 5 Josh, 6 Paul, 7 Josh, 8 Paul, 9 Taylor, 10 Kris)

Grand Canyon, Day 2

Day two of our get away was spent hiking. The weather forecast called for rain and snow showers in the afternoon, so we got up way too early to get a head start.

It was a brisk 22 degrees when we started our hike, with winds gusting at 40 mph. That's a windchill of about 2 degrees. Needless to say, the trail was icy and slick!

 The view, however, was amazing!

Fortunately, the hiking gets better as you descend. The wind was blocked by the canyon walls, as as we dropped in elevation the temperature rose dramatically. The trailhead was at 7,000 feet, so it was nice to drop down into warmer temperatures, not to mention more oxygen.

Here we are 1.5 miles down the trail. We were still so high up!

It was so warm when we stopped for lunch that we took a little nap.

As great as the trip down was, the hike back up was not nearly as fun. Going down, the temperature kept getting better and there was increasingly more air to breath. Going up was just the opposite! But we beat the snow to the top, and that's what matters.

The very best part, though, was getting to spend time together. Since coming home in September, Paul has had to work almost every weekend, not to mention several weeks of night shifts. It was great to escape and reconnect.