Date Night Surprise

Tyler and I were really struggling with plans last night. When he left for work, the only options we had were frozen yogurt or a movie. He told me it was up to me. And then I had an EPIPHANY! We were going to have a Camp-IN. I thought about calling someone to borrow a tent but then I created this little beauty.

And yes, that is a "campfire."

Even with my lack of experience and enthusiasm for this type of outdoorsy business, I came up with an excellent menu

Appetizers: Granola bars.. on toothpicks naturally

Main Course: Boy Scout Dinners :)

Dessert: Peach Cobbler.. the camping way, minus the dutch oven = adventure. Royalties go to Joan Madsen.

I warned Tyler there would be a surprise when he got home. He called me on his way home and I turned out all the lights besides our campfire and waited in the tent for him to open the door. His first comment was, "Were you bored?" I hear that frequently from him. But then he was excited when he realized that I had dinner waiting for him like the good little wife I am.

And this is us in the lair enjoying our fine cuisine. After dinner we watched "The Social Network" on his laptop because we were in the wild. Duh. It was a fun night and I awed him with my date-making-up skills. He said I was in charge of dates from now on but that's just too much responsibility for me.

We'll probably just get some fro-yo tonight.

(But really, we will.)

New-ness

So we're NEWly married. And we live in a NEW apartment. And we have NEW sleeping arrangements (cuddle for ten, then bum to bum for the rest of the night.. just in case you were wondering). And we go to a NEW ward. But what thing I'm really worried about is making NEW friends.

It's really quite silly because I'm good at making friends. I have best best friends. Alissa.Courtney.Joan.Kacie.Lauren.Natalie And I have friends at school and friends from my old ward. I was relief society prez last semester and an EFY counselor. {Disclaimer: Not the loud obnoxious EFY counselor.. I was the kind everyone appreciated because I was cynical and witty and not obnoxious} These things are supposed to translate into: Throw me into an unfamiliar situation and I'M GONNA SHINE BABY!! But I'm a little out of my element.

Some of these people have kids. And some people breast feed their kids in sacrament meeting {ew.} And some people have three kids. THREE OFFSPRING.

I'm not against kids. I want four-ish. But I'm a few years away and I feel like an infant compared to these experienced mothers.

Anyway.. I digress. I get nervous about not making friends. So much s

o that when it's my turn to pray at night I always include ".. and please bless that we'll make some friends.." Tyler makes fun of me because in his words, "We're not lepers!"

I went to a relief society getting to know you night.. by myself {scary} But right before I left, I ran home and there was a post-it note from my sweet husband... here it is.

.

He's good to me. And the Relief Society thing wasn't so bad... I made a couple acquaintances.

On the bright side, I got a bread machine yesterday.. and this cute birthday cake stand. It sings. And a jillion little tubs of make up from my awesome Mother In Law. My sister says I'm lucky cuz my Mother In Law is young. I am.

Oprah

I've decided that Tyler is the boy version of me. Mostly because he says that most ridiculous and unexpected things constantly. I'll give a few examples:

Example 1: I'm sitting on the couch using the computer as Ty attempts to steal it from me:

Ty: Give it to me now *cough cough*

Emily: Are you okay?

Ty: I need a drink

Emily: Well go get one then

Ty: My throat hurts from the monster noises I was making earlier.

Example 2: He's rubbing my shoulders as I whimper from the pain:

Ty: I watched Oprah today

Emily: and how was that?

Ty: It was the one where they went to Australia

Emily: hmm..

Ty: I almost cried three times

Emily: What?!

Ty: (sheepishly)... it was a really good Oprah!

Not long ago Ty also commented that while I was slaving away at school, he was watching Regis and Kelly. When I started to mock, he replied, "That Regis is a funny man!"

We also just stayed up til midnight to watch Betty White on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. I just don't where he came from.. but I probably hale from that planet too.

LDS Female, Extremely Literate, Brainwashed just a Titch

Disclaimer: This was for a class.. I generally don't devote entire posts to myself

LDS Upbringing

The LDS Church has been with me every single day of my life. From before I can remember I've been taught that I am a Child of God, that He loves me and that I can return to live with Him if I do well in this life. One of the most important truths I've learned and know is the eternal and divine nature that I have. I have the potential to become a goddess if I follow the commandments and endure to the end. As a member of the LDS Church, I also believe in Eternity and that there is no beginning or end which is why I chose to be married in the temple for Eternity.

One of the most comforting ideas to me in the Church is that I'll be with my family forever. Every member of my immediate family is one of my best friends and I get to be with them forever. The idea that we'll be together always has helped me to appreciate them but to also have an eternal perspective.

My Love of Learning

Since I was little, I've loved to learn new things. Especially when I can teach myself how to do them. Naturally, when my older sister started to read, I needed to read too. I couldn't stand to think that she would have access to things that I didn't. So I learned to read at the age of 4.

As a teenager, I would read all the time, sometimes finding it more entertaining that friends or going to the mall. I would read anything and everything. I was a TA for one of my favorite Literature teachers. I helped him move from one classroom to another. Each box I packed was filled with literary treasures and I wouldn't empty boxes until I had read everything in them. It took weeks to go through a box. Luckily for me, this teacher cared more about my hunger for literature than the organization of his classroom.

As a college student, reading is a treat. It only happens when I'm traveling or the rare moment when I have a fragment of spare time. It's so easy for me to get wrapped up in a book. I roll the words around in my mind and put myself there, following the main character as they blaze through the pages.

I read to learn. I read for fun. I read to be entertained. I read to be inspired.

My Hometown and High School

I thought I grew up in a normal Apple Pie American town. Richland, Washington. This is my school's logo. Please note the Mushroom Cloud behind the Richland "R."

About 70 years ago, Richland's government site, Hanford, was working hard on the Manhattan Project i.e. Atomic Warfare. Currently, the Hanford Site works on containing and destroying nuclear waste but during WWII, they were working on the Atomic Bombs. Specifically supplying the uranium and plutonium that massacred millions in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and ended the war. As a child growing up in this region, this was history. We learned about this from grade school up until our senior year where we were required to take a class called, "War and Peace," and would have more accurately been named, "War and why we are the best."

During high school, our link crew was called "The Bomb Squad." Our Pep assemblies were covered with mushroom clouds and bomber planes and fake bombs. At rival games, the student section chanted, "Nuke 'em! Nuke 'em!" I always heard comments about how we glowed in the dark from radioactive exposure.

This was normal to me. It wasn't until college when I was chatting with roommates about high school that mascots came up and after everyone had listed off some aggressive animal, I sheepishly added, "uh.. the Bombers."

I then had to explain what that meant and why it existed. And then I was told how terrible and racial and controversial that was. None of these things had crossed my mind growing up because the whole town accepted this as history.

What this means:

There are some things that we can see affect us very obviously, like growing up in a Church. There are other things that affect us and we don't think about them at all, like the town I grew up in. However, what we need to realize is that every experience we have shapes who we are, what are beliefs are, and what we will become.

Why I Married Tyler

Most people see my sweet husband as a quiet, shy guy. More of a background kind of a person who's really good at keeping me balanced. This is all true but what no one else knows or sees is how hilarious and DRAMATIC he is. Here's a few of Ty's statements-

I walk into Ty's apartment... 45 minutes late...

Ty: {Eating peaches straight from the jar} I'm eating peaches. You know how angry I get when I eat peaches.

Walking to the car after school...

Ty: Sometimes when I'm at work {at Costco} people pull out their Sam's cards and it's like a shock to the heart.

As we're grocery shopping, picking out some hot cocoa mix...

Ty: Just for the record, I like my hot cocoa with milk. Not water. Milk. Am I making myself clear?

Watching a movie...

Ty: Oh girl. I love you. {Completely unprovoked}

Emily: I love you too.

Ty: I love the way you make the Mac N Cheese.... I love the way you pour the milk

So there are just a few but I'm looking forward to many many more.

So We're In Love

This is what happened in the last six months.

We met on a blind date doing this:

Neither of us wanted to go but we did. We were set up by the one and only, Jenny Bush, who is the reason for three eternal companionships.

And then I went here:

And Ty went here:

And I thought maybe we wouldn't work out because many a relationship has been murdered by EFY. But we talked almost every night and then finally we were able to spend my week off together.

And we went here (Lagoon):

And here (Idaho):

But then I went back to EFY and after 2 days of that we decided it was too hard without each other, mostly because we loved each other.

But then I went here:

And though I love my family, I really missed Ty. And I told him that I was getting back two days later than I actually was. I surprised him and he hugged me so tight I couldn't really breathe.

And for our last summer hurrah, we went here:

And the Disney Magic really got to us.

So then we decided that what we really wanted was to be together forever.

FOR-EV-ER.

And on September 27, 2010, this is what happened:

And on December 18, 2010, this is where we'll be going:

So we can live happily ever after.

Blog #7

Farren, L. H., Olson, J.C., & Davis, D. (2010). Shrinking your class. Mathematics Teaching In The Middle School, 16(7), 386-391.

This article describes how bringing in hands on activities help students grasp a relational understanding of the concepts being taught. The school brought in grad students to teach students about scaling and ratios. They started with different toys spread out across the room and had the students guess to what scale they were being represented in comparison with its real life counterpart. After they got comfortable with those concepts, students made models of themselves using a scale 20 times smaller than themselves. They used aluminum foil, floral foam, bendy straws and toothpicks to construct themselves and then they were allowed to construct accessories to go along with them.

The article spent a lot of time explaining the specifics of the activity rather than the purpose or outcome of the activity. They authors almost sounded surprised that come testing, students were able to remember scales and ratios better than other concepts that were being tested. Of course students will remember the hands on activities better! They have experiences that will be able to remind them of the things that they learned. So I agree with the main idea of the article, I think the activity would be very beneficial in a classroom, however, I think the teacher and author were a little bit dense if they were surprised at the outcome.