The Very Best Year

Today is the very last day of 2013 and I have to say, I'm a little sad to see it go. 

I think it's safe to say that 2013 was the best year of my life thus far. It wasn't without its struggles, of course, but it was filled with dreams coming true and joy and love and success and overcoming obstacles and I just don't think any other year will match the greatness of 2013. 

In 2013, I...

1. Got engaged

2. Saw Bon Jovi in concert (thanks to my old job)

3. Quit my job and started looking into certification programs for special ed

4. Got married

5. Welcomed another member to the family (Ringo the kitty)

6. Traveled to Cleveland, OH for a work conference/honeymoon

7. Got into USU's ATP program

8. Got a teaching job (!!!!!)

9. Spent lots of time with family

10. Saw Deep Love again with the one I deeply love

11. Spent thanksgiving in Arizona with T's family

12. Spent 2nd Christmas in San Diego with the Nations of Jorgensen

See what I mean?! I don't think any year can top 2013, but I am very excited to see what's in store for us in 2014! 

Happy new year! 

you belong to me, i belong to you.

i feel like i've learned a lot about myself in the past year. 

i've learned that...

i have a really hard time not laughing when my kids curse, 

i can fall asleep at the drop of a hat (and often fall asleep with the bedroom light, tv, and T's laptop on), 

i am still the master procrastinator,

and i bake a heck of a brownie.

now, here's something i learned about myself a long time ago, but may not be something the interwebs know.

i have a deep, abiding love for 90s R&B slowjams.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/UXxRyNvTPr8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

a little while ago, T and i were talking about music and how certain songs are tied to certain memories. i mentioned a couple songs from my childhood that reminded me of different experiences. about a week later, i heard this song and immediately remembered sitting in one of my friend's rooms in hawaii and borrowing her sister's walkman and mariah carey tape. i completely ditched her (at her own house, mind you) just so i could listen to it over and over and over again.

now, a good 17 years later, i find myself driving home from work/class and listening to these songs on repeat and singing them at the top of my lungs. i really think that my fellow drivers would laugh if they only knew what that crazy girl was singing along to.

this song is my new favorite and, thanks to a boyz ii men cd i got at savers a few months ago, i can now listen to it WHENEVER I WANT. i'm pretty close to having the mid-song monologue memorized. 

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/zDKO6XYXioc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

listen to this song.

if you don't get goosebumps at the end when they really strip it down to the vocals and clap track, you are a robot.

the day before we got married, i was trying to find a first dance song for t and i to dance to at our reception. kari and i were sitting at the kitchen table, looking at different possibilities when she suggested this song.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/DXvMT_mVbqw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

i laughed in disbelief when she suggested it, because it brings up memories of awkward middle school dances, but as we listened to it, i couldn't help but sing along. with emotion, even! 

we didn't end up dancing to it at our reception (we chose this song instead), but whenever i hear it, it makes me happy. 

so, dear reader(s)... what is your favorite 90s slowjam?

i really would like to know because i'm in the process of making a spotify playlist. 

Our First Apple Pie

My beautiful mother makes the most beautiful and delicious apple pies. Last Thanksgiving, I decided that I was going to help my mom bake all of the pies so I could learn from the master. I did an okay job, but didn't feel that baking a pie was too difficult.

Until, that is, I tried to bake one without her.

Man, that was a challenge!


The story begins with an apple orchard. T's parents have an orchard in their backyard and when we visited them over Labor Day weekend, we were given a box of apples. We borrowed our sister-in-law's dehydrator and dehydrated a ton of apples, but then decided to bake an apple pie with the rest of them.

I was feeling pretty confident until it came time to roll out the dough and place it in the pie pan.

I've never been so misled by such easy-sounding directions!


T and I both tried multiple times to roll the dough out to the perfect thinness and place it carefully in the pan, but we failed every time.

After an exasperated phone call to my ever-patient mom, we made a decision to just press the dough into the pan, fill it with the apples, and throw the top crust on it.

It sure looked ugly! But it tasted pretty good!

It looks like we need a few more lessons from the master pie-baker!

Somebody pinch me!

Sometimes I wake up in the morning, get ready for the day, head to work, and walk into my classroom and feel completely awestruck.

I just can't believe that I'm a teacher! A real teacher! My dream has finally come true!

I have to say, I love every minute of it. My kids are amazing and hilarious and adorable and I love seeing their faces every morning.

Most of my students have pretty tragic histories and it's heartbreaking to look at their files and read about all the terrible things that have happened to them in their short lives, but, as my aide told me my first week, "You love them while you have them. Make this classroom a safe place where they know they are being cared for."

And that's my goal with this class. I think I'm doing a pretty good job! I get a lot of hugs and compliments each day and it warms my heart to know that they like having me as their teacher.

I think my favorite part of the day is journal time. Each morning we write a journal entry from a prompt that one of the students has come up with. Today's journal prompt was "If I could be a dinosaur, I would be a..."

Needless to say, we got some pretty amazing answers.

"If I could be a dinosaur I would be T-Rex because I can paly videogames with my tiny arms."

(If you look closely, you can see that the T-Rex is playing a T-Rex themed video game. Awesome.)

"If I could be a dinosaur I would be a T-REX. I would go to the market but I'll try to hide and fit in the meat selection because people will FREAKOUT! And they are GIGANTIC! The market would be WALMART."

It's official! I have the best job in the world.

Summer Recap!

T and I got married three months ago and it was the most beautiful day! 

The day after our wedding, we decided to add a new member to our family, a beautiful kitten we named Ringo. He and our other cat, Reesee, are total BFFs now.

We had a wonderful summer with each other and even got to travel to the exotic land of Cleveland, Ohio for our work conference/honeymoon!

Now that summer's over, it's back to real life for both of us. I got into USU's Alternative Teacher Preparation program which is a certification program that lets me earn my Special Ed teaching certificate while I teach. I have classes twice a week in SLC after work and those days are long, but I really enjoy learning more about Special Ed. It's nice to finally feel like I belong somewhere and to know that Special Ed is the right place for me. I am really doing what I love and I've never been happier! I am currently teaching an Emotionally Disturbed (ED) unit in an elementary school in Lindon and I sure love it! My little kiddos are so wonderful and I love going to work each day. 

T, on the other hand, has decided to do some contracting work as we're saving up for our own place. He's been super busy taking over for another contractor and has had a lot of late nights, too, but he's really enjoying his work. 

We've had such a fun September so far! We spent Labor Day weekend celebrating T's dad's birthday and helping out with his parents' new addition to their house. The following weekend we were able to go to Bear Lake with some friends and that was pretty awesome, too. The weather wasn't very good, so we didn't get to go to the beach, but we loved being able to just relax and hang out with our friends. 

Since the past two weekends have been so busy, we spent this weekend taking lots of naps, spending Saturday evening in Sugarhouse, eating at Mazza, and watching Die Hard 2 at home with our kitties. In other words, it was the perfect day! 

Even though life is crazy busy right now, we sure are happy together. It's great being a Lake!