Ghost of Adventures Past

The Ghost of adventures past is haunting me. I went to the library to get some things done I couldn't escape! Maybe it is a mind game or something, but I am getting that itch for another adventure. I know, I know, a little rediculous considreing I got back from Israel only 3 months ago, but I am not kidding when I say this happens to me every 3 months. Is there such a thing as travel addiction? Well, as I was leaving the library to go get some dinner, I noticed that I was walking past the isle of books about the Holy Land. I of course pull all of them down and flip through the pages. Then I found a novel about a Palestinian child that looked really interesting. So, i decided to check it out. But then I felt a little guilty that I was being bias, so I picked out a book about a Jew, just to be Kosher. As I checked out my books and walked out of the library, but not before being stopped once again by the Ghost of Adventures past. Every month the library does a feature on a genre of book. This months topic...Travel! I flipped through the book of Petra, the one of the Holy Land, and another of Jordan. I am seeing it as a sign from heaven. It is my Holy calling to travel. All donations are accepted...all in the name of divine calling of course.

My favorite commercial

I just saw this the other day. Maybe I am the only one who gets a kick out of it but I always laugh when it come on. Enjoy!

Talon told me the other photo was not good enough so here are some not from my camera on my phone.

This sums up my wonderful weekend
Two boxes that this girl loves to see.

Spoiled Rotten (but the good kind of rotten)

Shhh...don't tell all the single people out there, but Valentines Day is so much more fun if you are not boyfriend challenged. Yes, in my 22nd year of life, I finally had someone to share Valentines Day with. I have never really cared much about never having a valentine becasue I always had Dad to take care of me. I mean, he does a pretty darn good job of it, so why would I want to give that gig up? Luckily for me, Mom and Dad will always pull through whether I have a fish on the line or not. Well, let me tell you about my first non-single V-day-

I got to Utah on Friday and met up with Nathan at a place where parents of children with disabilities can drop off their child for a few hours on the weeked so they can go out on a date. All the services are volunteer, so it doesn't cost the parents anything. The little girl Anthan and I got has a chromosomal deletion and is only the 8th known person in the world to have this. We had a blast playing her and the other kids, and we were the last ones to leave. When I came home Friday night to T-Bone and Annies, there was a beautiful box of Sees candy sitting on my bed (cute tag provided by Annie). I guess that as luck would have it, Nathan ran into Annie as he was going to get the box of chocolates and he was able to kill two birds with one stone and have her take it home and plant it. In the morning, Nathan called me to wake me and tell me to come over for my favorite meal of the day...Breakfast! We made eggs and bacon and toast. Oh how I love breakfast. After breakfast, we socialized with his roommates for a bit, then watched Iron Man and just relaxed. I had no idea what our evening plans were so I was in no rush to be getting things done. 3:30 rolled around and Nathan lit a fire under my briches because we aparently needed to be on the road at 4:30 to get to where ever we were eating at 5. All he had told me was I needed to dress nice. I hurried and threw myself together and we were off. Pretty soon, we were up in the mountains at Sundance Ski resort. He had made dinner reservations at the Tree Room resturant...Classy! I loved it! It was the type of place where you check your coats in at the door. The resturant looked like an enourmous log cabin with a crackling fire, indian rugs, and kokopelli displayed throughout the room. I felt right at home! We had an amazing dinner. I got the artichoke fettuchini and he got elk. After dinner, I had an amazing dessert of berries and a creme sauce. I could really go for another one of those right now. After dinner, we got back into the car and I started saying my one million Thank You's. You would think after a day and dinner like that the kid would be done...nope. He still had one more surprise for me. I love surprises! We went back to his place to supposedly go get his other jacket. Instead he brings out a bag and hands it to me. He kind of hid it behind his back and then handed it to me. It was an American Eagle bag and so I was thinking, "What is the world could he have gotten me at American Eagle in such a little bag? Underwear?" Sorry mom, I know you raised me better, but I did say to him, "I swear, if you bought me a pair of underwear" and then I started laughing. I don't think he thought it was very funny. I look in the bag and there was something wrapped up in white tissue paper. I unwrapped the tissue paper and there was a little blue box. Not just any blue, Tiffanies blue. Thats when I about had a heart attack. He didn't know until I told him afterwards, but I got really nervous, really fast. This was definitely not underwear. I opened the box and there was a little blue pouch inside. Inside the pouch...a beautiful silver necklace. The more I look at it, the more I love it. It is circular but had a little dip in the top so when it hits the light right, it looks like a cresent moon. The thank you's started all over again and he explained to me why he had picked that necklace for me. I am spoiled rotten! There is no denying it. And to top the night off, we just sat and talked about how much I love my brothers and sisters (poor kid) and shared a box of McDonalds fries. Now that is the way to my heart

Can I go back yet?

Today I jumped over to my old blog and started looking at my posts from my time in Jerusalem. Oh, I just want to go back! I just want to do it again. Is that possible? I miss it so much. I can't even begin to explain to people why it is so amazing. I think it might be one of those things you just have to experience. If someone were to call me up right now and tell me I was going back, I think my heart would pop with joy! Don't get me wrong, I love waking up every morning and opening up my window to the sight of snow and ice as far as the eye can see, but it just doesn't have the same effect as waking up to the prayer call and the dome of the rock. Am I sounding like a spoiled brat yet? That's what I am going for.

JackPot!

For one of my classes I have to create a folder full of resources to give to families once I enter the work force. I have actually been pretty excited about the project because it is something I kind of already do on my own, and I can actually see the use of it. We have to pick one state we want to do it on and I have chosen Utah since that will be where I am doing my student teaching. I have been browsing around when ever I get done with my other homework but feel guilty that there isn't more to do (a very wierd side effect from several semesters of pure hell, to a relatively less stressful semester). I have printed out applications for WIC and found some other pretty unoriginal resources but couldn't seem to nail down any good programs or resources....until tonight. A whole book of Disablilty resources with all the information required for my project...SCORE! It is amazing! I know, I know, something very silly to get excited about, but really it will be an amazing resource to share with families. check it out! http://www.utahparentcenter.org/resources_book.htm

While I am being a nerd...I got myself mixed up in two organizations this week. One of Nathan's roommates is a program manager for the Special Olympics in Provo this summer. I was talking to him about it and he took down my email. He emailed me this week and told me he had been talking with his other managers and were wondering if I would help them out this summer. They want me to be over registration. Here we go again!
I made a new friend in one of my classes. She is 33, had 5 children, one of which is blind, and she is a single parent. She is starting an association on campus for non-traditional students. I don't quite fit into that catagory (I don't think) but she asked me to sign up anyway. Her exact words were "the church started with 6 people and I need six people to start my organization." I worte my name down and then we started talking about what she has already done to get it going and what she needs to do. She then asked if I would be interested in being over the division for students with special needs. umm...Yes! We will see if we can get this up, running, and helping students out before I leave this God forsaken place...JK. I guess my job will be to make sure we have opportunities to conenect students with special needs to the resources the University offers. Looks like I need to find out what the University offers...

Trailer Trash

The group of Jerusalem kids who went down for my roommates farewell in St. George

Trailer Trash: That is what I feel like right now. I never showered today because I have a two hour long PE class on Mondays and Wednesdays, and absolutely no time to come home and shower between classes on Monday. My toenails are in serious need of a new pain job. I have been sporting the old sweatshirt and jeans combo all day. Remember when school was fun?...Now that I think about it, not really. I don't ever remember enjoying school. I do remember having fun figuring out how to get around school. You know, tell Mr. Bickel I was going to find sparkles for our poetry project, then have the cowboy I made friends wiwth in the back of the classroom sneak me my backpack and never return. I think I did that three days in a row and my teacher never caught on. The other day in church some one encouraged us to think of the hymn "Have I done any good in the world today" each day and evaluate ourselves. Well, if slowing down at the crosswalk so pedestrians could cross even if I was running late to class counts, then yes, I have done some good in the world today. I promise, one of these days, I will be up to some good.

I applied for graduation today. Do you think it is about time? You know what would be a great graduation present? Put me on What Not to Wear. Just film me on days like today and I would be in like sin. Are you sick of hearing me complain yet? I am.