Sunday, August 31, 2008

1st Week of School


Well, I survived the first week of school. For the first few days, I had them looking at number patterns and sequences in math and nature. I really had a fun time showing my students how patterns are everywhere. I had my dean bring in some pine cones from her back yard and then we looked at their spirals. It all relates to the Fibonacci Sequence and the kids were totallly into it. I have a great group of kids this year and I am very excited to be teaching them. For the most part I'm around 25 students, but one class has 43 students. We all just squish in the room and do our best. This year I didn't start with any rules or procedures, I just went straight into math. And I think that is the best way to do it. I can teach procedures as I go along. They don't need a full day of "do this" and "do that". For the most part, they know how to behave. I wanted to get them from the start doing math so they knew what my class was about - MATH. I haven't even given them a chance to misbehave because we've been so busy learning. Hopefully, that will set me up nicely for the remainder of the year. I've almost learned everyone's name (except my big class).
I've been staying late at school to try and get everything done and I haven't been to the gym to work out. That's been bugging me a lot. I did still manage to lose one pound last week, so that has kept me going through this week. Thankfully, I have Labor Day off and I can go in the morning like I used to. I'm still trying to work out a schedule so I can work out, go on my RS visits, and be an effective teacher. It's quite the balancing act!

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Week 5

True to Biggest Loser, we had our make over day. We did this during week 4. We spent all day getting our hair colored, cut & styled. We had our eyebrows done and got new make-up. It was so much fun. I really like my new style. It is easy to work with and yet still keeps the length.


Well, here is the final weigh in picture. After 5 weeks of workouts, we weren't as happy with the results as we had imagined. I did lose some inches and a few pounds, but nothing like the show. I went down a dress size and am tanner, but other than that, not much has changed. We are at the part of the show where the contestants go home and try to keep losing on their own. We will have another final weigh in hopefully over Labor Day weekend. Lorrie and I are still working out on our own and are finding it much more difficult. We've both slacked off on our first week (I was in AZ, that's my excuse). We will just have to support each other from a distance. Your prayers are definitely welcomed.

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Heidi's Wedding


I had a fun time being Heidi's photographer for part of the time. I took these pictures when we went to the Mesa, AZ temple. She was so easy to photograph, especially when she already knew what the poses she wanted. Such an easy bride to work for.

Arizona Visit


Heidi is getting married today. I've got a few minutes and thought I'd post. I came down to Gilbert, Arizona to be with her this past week. It is so nice to see her so happy; Bryce is an excellent man for her. It's been nice to catch up and have our girl talks before I lose her forever. . . to a man! Now all my girlfriends are married, and I'm left a lone single woman. Who would've thought? Anyways, we've had some good times this week. Some friends from her work threw her a bachelorette party. I've never blushed so many times in one night; it was so much fun. Needless to say, we both learned a few things that night. We also had a day of luxury thanks to Bryce. Did I say he was a great guy?? He paid for Heidi and I to enjoy a half day spa treatment. We both had 1 hour facial, 1 hour massage, manicure and pedicure. On my pedicure, I had a salt rub and hot stone massage. Very cool (oh I mean HOT). I've never stayed so long at a spa before; we were there for 4 hours. It was pure relaxation and contentment. Ahhhhh.