On the Board Again

After about a year and a half, I got back on the diving board yesterday. And it felt so good! I really wish I would've started diving when I was a freshman or even before (when I wasn't so scared to try different dives) but it was a great two years and it's something very unique that I can say I've done. There's nothing like being that high in the air and having full control over how your body moves. And then the instant you hit the water and everything is silent.

I was way out of practice and probably didn't protect my head enough, but it was fun to get back into it for a couple minutes. I'm officially a pool rat and I really don't mind :)

What Time Is It?

SUMMERTIME!!!


Yes that was a high school musical reference. Although I've been out of school for a while, school at home is officially out and summer is upon us. I just hope the weather catches up with the season soon!

I went to the dentist today. Not one of my favorite things to do, but I don't hate it either. It's just kind of awkward when they try to talk to you and you have tools and what not in your mouth. Or when their head completely blocks the view of the movie you are trying to watch. But the good news is I have no cavities! Yay! I'm on a streak, it's been several years and it's good to know I do good brushing :) The only thing is my wisdom teeth need to come out in the near future...NO!!! I'm a little bit scared of the whole idea.

My t-shirt blanket is well under way and I CAN NOT wait for it to be done. I'm in love already! And it's gonna be HUGE!!! 63 shirts...ah yeah!

Swimming lessons start tomorrow! Finally! It's going to be lots of fun and I can't wait to be in the pool all day, minus the indoor part...

Adventures

Today I went to the King County Courthouse with a friend to get a speeding ticket deferred and let me tell you, it was quite the experience. I've never been to a courthouse before. In fact, really all I know about them is what you see in the movies and what I read in To Kill a Mockingbird. So when the judge came in and the recorder said, "Will everyone please rise" Wait, this is real life?! Ha, there were some interesting people there, and mostly men. Hmm...does that say something about the gender that gets the most tickets?

Anyways, I've never seen a judge before, but I'm pretty sure Judge Matthew Williams is the nicest judge on the planet. No joke. He was so friendly and was cracking jokes the whole time, but in a serious way. To begin, he informed us that if he was using his computer it was for legal purposes only and that he was not checking email, watching youtube, or blogging haha! If someone asked him how he was doing, he replied with answers such as, "Well, life is an adventure" or "I'm just chuggin' along". What a crackup! And he kept referring to the beautiful weather we were having today and how we were lucky that we were able to go out and enjoy it. In addition, if someone chose not to defer the ticket, he dropped the amount a lot for each person! What a nice guy!

I was kind of nervous to go at first, and definitely did not expect to be laughing, but it was a nice surprise! We also got to hear people's life stories about their 87 year old mothers and how when they learned how to drive people used to be courteous but has now gone out the window and exact streets and types of cars where the incidents happened. And that one guy had his first speeding citation but had several other things on his record...awkward!

I am officially a working girl and feel that my life is being consumed by work. But what can I say? The moula is much welcomed and needed. It's quite amusing to add up how many jobs I have. Yes, plural.
Para for the School District (3 1/2 days of school left!)
Lifeguard/Swim Instructor at 2 pools
Taking orders at the Farmer's Market every week
Babysitting

That equals one busy Mary in addition to my never ending list of chapter books I have to read and participating in Broadway Revue, plus being a Primary teacher!
Wow, that's a lot. But it's fun and it's good to be busy!

My mouth hurts a lot, I think it's due to wisdom teeth. I'm extremely scared to get them taken out so I'm hoping that my mouth can just cope and I can keep all my teeth without having any problems. Yay for tylenol!

And lastly, I decided it would be fun to do a Song A Day for the month of July so look forward to some great summer jams in a couple weeks!

Beating the System

Word on the street is people are slowing but surely having their facebook pages changed to "timeline". I am not one of those people...yet. Also, a while ago the blogger interface was updated. Except, I wasn't fond of it so I decided to change it back to the old one. A little message comes up every time I go on saying that the old interface will be removed in the coming months, but it hasn't happened...yet.

Change can sometimes be hard. Even for the simplest of things. So for now, I'm holding out and lovin' my formats just the way they are haha!

Best Friends

I laughed a little bit this morning when I saw that Chloe had changed her profile picture on facebook. If you take a look at both of ours, you could infer that we like to go to the temple together haha! I'm grateful for friends like Chloe and for all the fun memories we make. She's a great example and it's nice to be able to go to the temple with friends who share the same standards as me. I'm definitely looking forward to the rest of the summer! There is no one who can make me laugh as much as Chloe can. Love her!

Her picture:

My picture:

We are just so cute :)

Amazing

My sister, Kenzie, graduated from high school yesterday! It was definitely a deja vu experience being back in the Tacoma Dome, only this time in the stands. I even got to stand up when they asked for all the Curtis Alumni. I guess it's true that I will always be a viking and bleed blue and white! It seemed kind of unreal, but a whole year has passed and I'm excited for her and the new adventure she will begin at UVU in the fall.

I think McKenzie is quite amazing and I'm so proud of her and all the great things she does. Seriously, she is so outgoing and friends with everybody. She's just a genuine person and can get along with all different types of people. She's so athletic and as she would say "real". I think she is adorable and I love her hair. Every time I curl it for her, I get jealous. It's so long and thick. She has a cute smile and tons of freckles! She thinks she's pretty funny and can always make me laugh. She's extremely confident and popular, even though she would never admit it. Here's my proof...

Yup, she won prom queen. And as everyone at school said: She deserved it! She looked gorgeous and went all by herself and didn't even care. I could never do that! Then she got the most votes and won, just like I had predicted all week :) Yay for Kenz! You're the best and I'm so happy for you and all you've accomplished!

Oh and another talent I love of Kenzie's is her photography skills. She takes the best pictures!

Snail Mail

There's nothing that compares with the feeling you get when you open the mailbox and you have a letter with your name on it. Especially when it's unexpected, but it's still pretty exciting even if you know it's coming. People should use the postal system more often because it can be so much fun!

But mail can sometimes be frustrating. I guess that's why people have resorted to different forms of communication, however I still really enjoy handwritten letters sent through the old snail mail system. I love looking at other people's handwriting (even if it is sometimes hard to read haha), enjoying pictures they might have drawn, stickers they added, different colors they used, anything that adds a flair of their personality. It makes the letter original, whereas anything sent across the internet could be a copy of something or not really from the person.

Waiting for a letter can be so agonizing because it's unpredictable! You don't know if your letter got to it's intended destination, you wonder if the person will even care to write you back, and you wait and wait, hoping that it won't take yet another day to come to you.

I may or may not have become a mailbox stalker in the past 6 months or so, but you might find me asking, "Has the mail come today?" or having the window cracked so I can hear each and every car that drives into the cul de sac, anticipating the distinct sound of the mail truck.

At school, the mail man usually arrived at 2:00 pm, about 40 min. after I got home from class and I was lucky enough to have the mailboxes for the hall attached to the outside wall of my room. I would hear them being opened, then peek outside the window and watch the mailman go on to the next building, grab my key, and check. It was always an exciting part of my day, but the best days were when I couldn't wipe the smile off my face from getting a missionary letter or a package from my mom. And then there were the disappointing days when there only appeared to be bills or other unwanted mail addressed to people who didn't even live there! Into the garbage they went...

At home, it doesn't even come till at least 3:30 or 4.  If I'm working I usually have to wait another 2 hours after I get home till it comes. Which most definitely is not soon enough. Oh well, patience is a virtue and there's a 50/50 chance I won't get anything anyways, so why get my hopes up.

O mail man, why must you torture me so!

Happy Anniversary!

Exactly one year ago today I graduated from high school. Can you believe it?! I feel like this year has just flown by and it was definitely a great one. I'm so grateful for everything I've learned, the people I've met, the fun things I got to do, and the wonderful school I attended. Seriously, I've been so blessed and I couldn't be happier. I can't believe how fast time is flying, but the best is yet to be and I can't wait!

Hallelujah...

It's Friday! And after spending 2 days at the Jr. High, I am once again convinced that elementary school is where I'm supposed to be. It's hard for me to watch kids just not care, or complain, or be disrespectful to their teachers, or swear around each other. They don't have any determination or motivation to do well or learn. How can you not enjoy learning? There's so many interesting things in this world and even if it's not right up your alley, you can still gain knowledge and be well-rounded if you just open up your mind. You're not going to enjoy doing everything that is asked of you...sometimes textbooks are boring, sometimes an assignment is hard or may take a long time, but it's all for your benefit and most of the time there is always a purpose behind the work.

One student asked me why I wanted to be a teacher. And for me the answer was easy. I've always loved school and learning. I've had fantastic teachers that invested so much time and energy into helping us be successful and showed that they really loved their job. They made a huge impact on my life and inspired me to want to do the same. I want to make a difference in the lives of those I teach and hopefully inspire them to enjoy learning as well. But jr. high is just not the right age for me to do that, especially when half the kids are taller than me and think I look like a student.

I have officially finished all the picture books necessary for my Children's Literature class, yes all 33 of them. I  am now moving on to chapter books and in order to finish all of them by the end of the summer, I have to read 50 pages a day. Don't get me wrong, I love to read but at my own pace. Right now I'm reading Mary Poppins. It's always fun to read books when you've already seen the movie and compare them. As always, there are many similarities and differences.

It has been raining buckets that past few days and I like it. There's just something about listening to the pouring down rain.

One thing I miss about BYU is that everyone has the same standards. We're mostly all the same religion and so we just understand each other. You don't have to explain to someone why you don't go out on Sunday, you don't have to hear swearing as you walk through campus, you don't have to answer endless questions about why you do the things you do. You just live your life, and everyone gets it. Now I'm not saying that missionary work is hard or that being an example is too difficult, it's just that sometimes it's a blessing to be in a place where you can somewhat get away from worldly things.

Destiny

I think this quote was something I needed to read. And maybe, it will be able to influence me for good haha! It's kind of been in the back of my mind the past couple of days and I think I've done a pretty good job so far. 

Emily and I used to talk about this at school all the time because she is so good at getting ready every morning and making herself look the best she can before she leaves her room. I, on the other hand, am sometimes perfectly content with just rolling out of bed and not caring. She explained it to me one time how even though you have to get up earlier, it's your time just for you. You're getting your day started right and by making yourself look good, you then feel better about yourself. You don't have to get ready in the morning to impress other people, just do it for you. 

Now I don't want you to think I'm a complete slob all the time, because I don't think that's true. But this quote just made me realize that you never know what's going to happen throughout your day and I definitely wouldn't want to look bad for a date with destiny :)

So from now on, hair and makeup will always be done. And no more sweats (unless it's appropriate for the activity haha!)

Words

Yesterday my mom made chicken lettuce wraps for dinner. Kenz wasn't eating any so I asked:
"Kenz, do you not like the wraps?"
"No, it's like a bunny"
"But I thought you liked bunnies!"
"Yeah, but I don't want to be one"
HAHAHA maybe it was more funny if you were there, but I got a kick out of it!

My days are filled with little kids and I love it!!! I babysat all day today and had fun with two of the most adorable little girls on the planet.

I was working with kindergartners yesterday, helping them with their Father's Day presents. Their teacher had printed out this page with common phrases on them and blanks at the end. Such as:
Grass is greener on the __________.
Money can't buy you ___________.
Children should be seen and not ________.
You get the picture. So I read them the sentence and then they said the first thing that came into their mind. Let me tell you, this was hilarious! Especially because they had never heard these phrases before. Here's a couple of my favorites:
You can choose your friends but you can't choose your parents.
Look before you think.
Children should be seen and not spanked.
Money can't buy you bears.
And almost all of them said The grass is greener on the ground.

You could tell they were trying to think so hard and it was quite the challenge for a lot of them. And I had to try really hard not to laugh at them! Kids say the cutest things.

Today I got a letter from my favorite missionary. Yay!!! :) My mom even called me to tell me it came and I just couldn't wait to get home and read it! It pretty much made my day.