Christmas Video Collection

If you didn't already know, David and I are avid dancers. We've been practicing for weeks and put together two Christmas videos for you to enjoy. Vote for the video you like best by making comments on the videos! Enjoy!!

Charleston Christmas Video

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Christmas Dance Video

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

I don't like Charlottes!

Now I'm not a major fan of bugs. Some are intriguing and I will gladly look at them behind a pane of glass in a science museum or fair but having them up close and personal is just disgusting. So imagine my disgust when I came out of my house this morning to find half of my yard completely covered in spider webs! I'm not even exaggerating...over half of the yard was covered in webs all over the grass and since we're having such heavy fog, there was enough moisture caught in each web that you could see all of them! It was so nasty. Ali was with me and we took some pictures with her camera but I'm not sure if they turned out.

I went about the rest of my day disturbed about the webs but decided to just run the sprinklers (I haven't turned them on since the fires...it's been wet enough that it didn't need it) to get rid of the webs. So I went outside tonight after it was dark and moved the fake rock covering the sprinkler controls and was horrified to find a black widow! I've seen them in my yard a few times (David even pulled one off MY BACK this summer when we were working on the yard relandscaping!) but it's just nasty to know that they're out there. David has suggested getting the house sprayed for spiders since I keep finding them in the house (mostly Daddy Longleg spiders and those don't scare me--just annoying to be killing things all the time) but now I'm determined to call tomorrow and schedule a spraying. I will freak out if I find a black widow in my house! Yucky!! Now every little piece of hair touching my face or neck has me twitching and freaking a little. I hate Charlottes!!!

Sore!

Productivity = Soreness! I guess all that climbing into the attic and putting up Christmas stuff caught up to me and today my arms are killing me! It probably doesn't help that my adorable nephew weighs 20 pounds either (but he's totally worth it). I guess this is yet just another reminder that I need to be hitting the gym and working out. They say that working out stuff is actually good for you, ya know?

Productivity!

Today I have been so productive! I woke up at 7:30 and hit the shower. I got dressed and Tyler came over for some Aunt Jenny babysitting while Michelle was shopping for Christmas gifts. Tyler and hung out this morning and ran some errands (buying shampoo & conditioner, trip to Starbucks--Tyler loves Starbucks, took a walk, filling a perscription, and a visit to Katie's house) before coming home to eat lunch and take a nap (just for Tyler...I had work to do).

While Tyler was sleeping, I put up my Christmas tree and got all the lights working. I used to be strongly opposed to fake Christmas trees since I grew up with real trees but I love having a tree all month long and I avoid the falling needles and having to water it...and they make candles with the Christmas tree scent so I'm set. So my tree is up and all decorated and I put up our Maine Christmas village (Lighthouse, Lobster Shack, Fishing Rental hut, etc.) for Papa.

Michelle came and picked Tyler so then I vacuumed, dusted, cleaned out my freezer (did you know frozen food can go bad? Yeah, they put expiration dates on it and apparently food from 2007 isn't good anymore--gross, I know), did some laundry, and it's only 3:30 pm! Yeah, it's definitely been a productive day but I have to say that the side effect of it is that I'm absolutely starving! Off to go make some popcorn and drink Diet Coke.

Pictures from my High School

The school marquee and mascot close to the flames:

Fire comes up the drive way of the school:

Thankfully no buildings or classrooms were lost. Thank you to all of the firefighters who helped protect our school!

The Diva

Now I'm not one to brag but I have to say that I have the cutest neice ever. She just had her school picture taken and she made my sister, KB, straighten her wavy hair so she would be "beautiful." (I think she spent a little too much time with Aunt Ali this summer!) So anyways, here's her school picture:

I talked to her on the phone yesterday and made a point to tell her how beautiful she looked and her response was, "I know." Gotta love the confidence of little girls! ;) But seriously, isn't she adorable??

Fires

To be honest, it's not that suprising to me that California is having such horrible fires right now. We haven't had much rain at all this year (including last winter) and the dry conditions were met with Santa Ana (aka HOT) winds this weekend. I never trust weather people because they only seem to report the weather accurately on the 10 pm news (when they're discussing what the weather was like that day) but when they say the words "fire danger" they are actually right!

Sadly, California is just being ravaged by fires from Santa Barbara County, LA County, and down to Orange County. So many people have lost their homes or are currently evacuated because of the threat to their homes. I watched the fire reports all day yesterday and was sad to see the fire burning at my high school. Since my high school is surrounded by hills and brush the surrounding hills caught fire. Thankfully, the firefighters were able to protect the structure of the school but some storage units in the parking lot burned. School is closed tomorrow because of the mess left by the fires. However, not all were so lucky. The continuation school located just down the hill from my high school actually lost some buildings to the fire and those students will have to be relocated. A couple who attends my church lost their home in Anaheim Hills and others from my church were evacuated.

Thankfully there haven't been many fatalities as a result of the fire and my heart goes out to those people who are working so hard to fight the fire, those who have lost their homes or are evacuated, and those who are running evacuation efforts. Let's pray for them all!

Glen Ivy

For my dear friend Katie's birthday, we decided to take her to Glen Ivy hot springs for a girls day. I'd never been and was really excited to go. Our girls only entourage consisted of me, my sister Ali, Katie the B-Day girl, Laura, and Aubrey. Aubrey and Katie were the only ones who had been there before but I think we were all equally excited.

We started off the day by visiting the locker rooms and putting our stuff away. The lockers are like the ones at skate places or amusement parks with the little orange keys but the awesome thing about this place is you don't have to pay for them...they're free! Now that's class my friends! ;) So we change into swimsuits and then go to the mud pool to smear orange mud all over our arms and legs, let it dry and wash it off. I can't remember what it's supposed to do officially but it did make our skin smoother. When we were standing around smearing the mud there were two older women there (65+) and one of them looked at the other and said, "Clara, you are really white but this girl (looking at Katie) might give you a run for your money." LOL we all laughed

We pretty much spent the days going from different pools and spas to the next. They have freshwater pools and spas as well as salt water and even a sulfa spa. The sulfa is supposed to pull out toxins or something like that and Ali and I tried but just found the stink of rotten eggs not worth it.

At the end of the day, Ali and I went down in the Grotto (underground) where we were painted with a green moisturizer and spent 15 minutes in a warm cave rubbing it in. Then you go into a shower room and wash it all off. Then you towel dry and then go into a sitting room where you drink tea or water and eat apples. The whole thing was designed to look like caves so that was cool.

It really was a wonderful day but my only regret was going into a steam sauna. I love steam saunas but I tend to get sick after being in them (I guess too much moisture for my lungs) and the next day I came down with a cold. So now I'm battling my sinuses, asthma and a really sore throat. But hey, at least I'm relaxed! :)

TLC Shows

One of my guilty pleasures is watching The Learning Channel. They have such strange shows on there but I mainly watch it to watch the shows about the enormous families. There's a show called "17 Children and Counting" about a family of extremely right-wing conservative Christians who live in Arkansas who have 17 kids (and one more on the way). They live in a massive house that they built and spend over $2,000 in groceries every two weeks.

All of the kids have names that start with J (more than likely because Jesus' name starts with a J, shame that it starts with an E when translated into Hebrew...someone should have told them that). Their kids have names like: Josh, Jana, John David (that's a cheat--you know they just wanted to name him David), Jill, Jessa, Jinger, Jedidiah, Jeremiah, Johannah (another cheat), Joy Anna (cheat!!), Jennifer (there's a good one), James, Jackson, Justin, etc. All of the kids are homeschooled (I don't know how the mom does it since there's such an age range) and don't watch TV or use the internet. All of the girls wear dresses and everyone dresses very conservatively.

I think I find them so fascinating because they're so strange to me. Their kids aren't exposed to anything in the "normal" world and I just have to wonder what's going to happen to them once they aren't so sheltered. The parents don't believe in birth control so they're continually having kids and all of the older kids have a little kid to take care of. That's kinda sad to me. If you're going to have kids, YOU should be the parent...not another one of your kids.

Anyone else watch these shows though? Kinda embarassing to admit but that's why it's a guilty pleasure right?

Carmen Started Another Survey!

10 YEARS AGO I...
1. was enjoying my senior year of high school with a great group of friends (Alpha Omega!!)
2. was annoyed when gas prices were over $1.30 a gallon
3. had a huge crush on the boy that sat next to me in English class but never told him.
4. took photography as a fine art and learned how to develop film by hand (totally useless knowledge now)
5. thought I'd be married by 21...ha ha ha, that's actually really funny!

5 THINGS ON TODAY'S TO-DO LIST:
1. fold laundry
2. clean the kitchen so the plumber can come look at the sink that's leaking
3. print some political cartoons for my students to work on this week
4. take a bath to relax
5. wear my retainers to bed (I try to do this every two weeks or so because I'm paranoid about my teeth moving)

5 THINGS I'D DO IF I WERE A MILLIONAIRE:
1. donate money to charity
2. travel to Africa and Europe and China
3. buy a Honda that DOESN'T have a rattling sound!
4. buy a jacuzzi bath tub
5. completely redo the kitchen so nothing leaks or looks like it came from the 1950s (metal cabinets...'nuff said)

5 PLACES I'VE LIVED:
1. Long Beach, CA
2. Malibu, CA
3. South Kensington (London), England
4. Calabasas, CA (that place was cursed...always a fire or a flood, or a leaky ceiling, etc.)
5. Moorpark, CA

5 JOBS I'VE HAD:
1. Sears Sales Associate (I was 15 and this was a terrible job...selling purses and panty hose were not my life goals)
2. Disneyland employee
3. Nanny for Miss Mia in Malibu (she was so cute! I miss her!)
4. Curriculum Developer
5. Teacher

My Random Facts

Carmen issued a challenge to me on her blog to share 7 random facts about myself and since I, like most people, enjoy talking about myself, I have accepted the challenge! ;-)

1. I don't like magazines. I find them a pain in the butt to read with all of those advertisements and the articles are often too short (once I get into them, they're over). Plus, I hate all of the size 00 models and how society sees them as the standard for what a beautiful woman should look like. So I purposely don't read magazines because I don't like how they make me feel like I don't measure up to the standards of society.

2. I also don't like antiques. I find it upsetting that our culture doesn't appreciate the elderly in our society and we'd rather put them in homes than respect them for their life experiences and wisdom. So we reject old people but for some reason spend huge amounts of money on their belongings. I am just amazed that people spend HUNDREDS of dollars on antiques just because they are old.

3. I LOVE chocolate. I know most women enjoy eating chocolate but it's so far beyond "enjoyment" for me. I honestly don't know what I'd do without chocolate (especially dark chocolate!). I don't understand how some people don't like it. I don't really like cookies unless chocolate is involved (sugar cookies...what's the point people??)

4. I have a strange fear of having scissors near me. I use scissors at work but as soon as I'm done with them, I put them back in my desk drawer so they aren't around. I won't go to sleep if I left a pair of scissors on my nightstand. It just creeps me out.

5. I wish I were more adventurous with my eyeshadow colors. I tend to just wear browns and neutrals and it takes me a lot of courage to wear purples at night. I just don't feel like I can pull off a lot of colors. I've gone to make up counters and had them put different color schemes on me and it looks good but they're professionals and I'm not that great with make up so I'm not that courageous on my own.

6. I'm not a big fan of designer things: handbags, purses, clothes, etc. I could never really afford them anyways so I guess it's a good thing I'm not that into them. I do like high quality goods (I love FOSSIL purses but will only buy them from eBay so they're cheap) but I just can't justify spending $100+ on a purse. Plus I think that if I were to buy something really nice, I'd probably lose it, or it would get messed up and I'd be sad.

7. I wish I knew how to play the piano. I'm not a musical person at all and while I did play the violin as a kid, I was never cordinated enough to play the piano. My Nana tried to teach me a few times and while I can read music and know the keys, I don't have the coordination to get my hands to play different keys at the same time.

Okay, that's it! Thanks for reading!

Revelations from the Scale

So I stepped on my bathroom scale this morning and came to a very clear realization. I know weight is a major issue for women so I did what every woman in her right mind does when she steps on the scale...I took off all my clothes to see how much I weighed. Please note that I was about to jump into the shower so the nakey-ness was necessary. So anyways, I tap the scale to turn it on and wait for 0.00 to show up. I hop on and wait a few seconds for this little piece of glass and a dial to tell me how much mass I have and a few seconds later is when the realization set in. When I hopped on the scale this morning, I realized that I'm blind! (If you thought I was going to mention my actual weight, slap yourself in the face for being so dumb ;)

I had to wait for the dial to stop flashing before I bent down to see what the 1.5 inch numbers said. Now I'm not a tall person (my 6'5'' boyfriend reminds me of that) but apparently I can't read letters 1.5 inches tall from a distance of 5 feet. I can't wait to someday get laser surgery to fix my eyes but sadly I'm not a candidate for it and probably won't be for a few years. They want your perscription to be stable for two years before getting the surgery and mine is constantly changing. So since I can't get the surgery then I clearly need to get a scale with bigger numbers. ;)

I-HAULED my Birthday!

So this weekend I went to Reno to help David move some stuff from storage down to a storage place in L.A. I flew up on Friday night and he showed me around Reno on Saturday and then on Sunday (my b-day), we got up early and started our drive home in a 35 foot U-Haul.

It was definitely a rough morning as David was very sick after a bad reaction to the sushi he ate the night before (I ate chicken). David refuses to believe me that the ocean is dirty and so is everything that lives in it so he still eats fish and gets sick from it. The drive from Reno to L.A. is a little over 500 miles so we knew it was going to be a long day. Sadly, we ended up having to stop every 20-30 minutes because he was so sick and I just felt horrible for him. When we reached Fresno, I insisted on driving and letting him get some rest. I drove for two hours from Fresno to south of Bakersfield in a 35 foot U-haul truck. It was my first time driving such a large vehicle! Seriously, it was a little scary but it was cool.

Honestly though, I don't understand why people do road trips. I know some people like them and will drive all over God's green earth and enjoy it, but I feel that if an airplane travels there, then we should use them! Road tripping in a U-haul is totally the equivalent of the covered wagons on the Oregon Trail. I'm sure the brave men, women, and children who walked across the country, would have rather flown!

But anyways, the fact remains that I-HAULED my Birthday! Birthday wishes definitely can come true. ;)

Back to School Night

So here's an awesome story from my B2SN last night....

My mom and nana decided that they wanted to come and watch me (which is totally fine...I like that they're supportive of me and most of my student's parents are the same age as my mom so they didn't stand out at all). So they showed up and listened to my 8-minute spiel and then left. I called them on my way home to thank them for coming and then that's when I got the story.

Apparently they were a little turned around on the campus and walked into a few wrong classrooms but that wasn't a big deal because most parents are little lost on campus. Eventually mom and nana ran into a school employee on a golf cart and stopped to ask for directions to the car. The employee gave them directions but then offered to give them a ride and since nana has a bad knee, they accepted. The driver asked mom and nana if they were able to talk to their student's teachers, etc. and they told him that they were here to watch me as a teacher. Well, the employee knew me and they spent the whole ride to the car discussing me as a teacher.

When they made it to the car, my nana turned to the driver and said, "Well, thank you so much, what is your name." That's when the driver of the golf cart told them that he was the PRINCIPAL OF THE SCHOOL!!! So my principal met my mom and nana while they were there watching me give my B2SN presentation....awesome.

I haven't seen him since then but I feel like I need to laugh it off with him or else it might be awkward. What do you all think?

Floating Car

I was flipping through my pictures from our river trip and found the pictures I took of the car boat that someone had there. This man named "Captain Terry" (seriously, that's what he introduced himself to us as) had an old car that was built to be a boat as well. The undercarriage was sealed and the car has a prop in the back that moves it through the water.

He was taking random people around for free rides. Well, not exactly free since we paid him in cold water from the cooler and some red vines (he ate lunch with another group of people so he was already full and was looking for a snack). So anyways, here's the car both as a boat and coming onto the shore.

Boring

I have to say that since work started again, my life has been really boring but very busy. I know that sounds kinda strange in the same sentence but I since I find myself staying at school late for cheer practices or games, my personal life is boring. Some of my friends asked me out on Saturday night but I was too tired to go hang out with them! Instead I opted to stay home and crash around 10 pm. While 10 pm is late for a week night, I was kinda bummed to be that tired and miss out on girlfriend bonding.

So yeah, personal life is boring but work is crazy busy. For example, here's the schedule for next week and approximate times in which I plan to get home:

Monday: work, faculty meeting, cheer booster meeting = get home around 9 pm
Tuesday: work, Back to School Night = get home around 9 pm
Wednesday: work, cheer practice = get home around 5 pm
Thursday: work, JV football game = get home around 7 pm
Friday: work, Varsity football game = get home around 11 pm

I know that most people finish work around 5 pm but since I leave for work around 6-6:30 am, it seems like an 11 hour day to come home at 5. It's times like this that I wish I were paid by the hour and not on a salary!

Great Quote

I wrote down this quote a few years ago and just recently came across it again and wanted to share it with you all:

"We know that God is everywhere; but certainly we feel his presence most when His works are on the grandest scale spread before us and it is in the unclouded night sky, where His worlds wheel their silent course, that we read clearest His infinitude, His omnipotence, His omnipresence." Jane Eyre

Home from the River

I just got home from a few days spent in Laughlin with my sister, brother-in-law, my boyfriend, and two other couples that my sister knows. We were taking an end of summer trip to enjoy the river before going back to school but also to celebrate Michelle's 30th birthday. So we spent everyday on the water jet skiing around the lake and then came home to shower and then play around the hotel.

Since I'm a public school teacher, I only play penny slots so imagine how annoying it was to me when my dear boyfriend made $400 on penny slots in two days! I had horrible luck but did get to play the Wizard of Oz game and it was a blast! You actually watch little clips from the movie and hear the songs. Honestly, I think I was just playing to watch the game because I knew I wasn't really going to make money at it.

Speaking of making money, besides the $400 that David made playing pennies, we entered a drawing at the hotel and he won $5,000!!! Seriously?!? So needless to say, we had a great trip! I'll post some pictures from the trip later when I upload my camera but it was lots of fun. :)

Crazy Girl in the Mall

I was shopping with my Nana (Naner...for those who have met her) in the mall the other day and we walked into a clothing store. The place wasn't very busy and immediately after walking in a girl came up and asked if we needed any help. I chalked it up to her being bored and politely told her we were "just looking." I started picking up things that I wanted to try on and she rushed over again to see if she could start me a room. I was almost done so I politely declined, finished up, and headed towards the fitting rooms.

Like other stores, this store locks the fitting room doors. I find that extremely annoying so I turned to go find the girl to let me in and there she was standing right behind me. I was glad I didn't have to go wander through the store asking someone to open the door but it surprised me a little to have her behind me. I tried on my clothes and she came back a few times to see if I needed anything. I finally decided on a new pair of pants and when Nana and I went to check out, she ran up to the register and started ringing us up. Then the craziness started...

She kept stuttering and staring at me when she was talking to me and then finally looked me in the eyes and asked if I was the girl from Days of Our Lives.

I smiled and politely told her no. She responded with, "But if you were her, would you tell me? I know lots of starts lie so that they don't get hounded." I told her again that I wasn't her but that didn't stop her line of questions. It took her about 15-20 minutes to ring me up because she kept asking tons of questions because she apparently didn't believe me. Even when she was ringing up my Nana she didn't take her eyes off me. It was actually getting really creepy so I was thrilled when she finally finished ringing us up and we got to leave. Nana and I both booked it out of the store and when we got out, Nana said, "Well, she was strange." That was an understatement!

Olympics

Like most Americans, I have been glued to my television watching the Olympics in Beijing. It's totally awesome to watch these Olympians compete (niiiiice bodies on those swimmers!) but seeing bits and pieces of China has been awesome too. For those of you that don't know, I'm apply to go on an Asian study tour next summer with CSUF and I am really hoping the trip is to China!!

But anyways, I've noticed some random things about the Olympics and since I have a blog...that means I get to comment, right?

Why is gymnastics on so late at night? I know they say they're broadcasting LIVE but if the gymnastics doesn't come on until 10 pm PST...is it on at 1 am EST? I don't understand why they're on so late at night and I honestly don't think it's live...Anyone know how they work this??

Also, Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh are totally awesome. They make beach volleyball look easy but for some reason, NBC commentators are calling them the "Golden Girls." Really, is that a compliment??
I love gymnastics and Shawn Johnson and Nastia Luikin have been fun to watch. But I wish I were Nastia's friend because I love her name. I feel like I could say it "NASTI-a" and snap my fingers with a head bobbing attitude. That would rock!

Pictures from the Bowl!

On the Loser Cruiser (aka shuttle) going from the parking lot to the Hollywood Bowl...we were very excited!

Clare and Katie enjoying some wine in our box!

Jenn and Ali with the Hollywood Bowl stage behind us!!

Les Miserables in Concert!!

I am incredibly blessed to have a great group of friends and last night, I was blessed even more. My friend Katie invited me to attend the Hollywood Bowl's production of Les Miserables in Concert. We had box seats thanks to the raffle she won at work and Katie, her sister Clare, my sister Ali and I attended. Clare made a delicious dinner with appetizer, entree, and amazing desserts from a local bakery. We got there early to eat dinner in our box and enjoy the yummy food, wine, and conversation before the show started. We were so cultured!

The show was awesome and so many of the players had amazing voices. Melora Hardin (from The Office) played Fantine and Jean Valjean and Javert were incredible as well. Ali took pictures so I'll post some as soon I can but it was tons of fun and I'm so glad I wasn't the only one to cry at the end (Thank you to Clare!). It was an awesome show with wonderful people and a box at the Hollywood Bowl!

Accelerated?

I'm taking some online classes right now to finish off my teaching credential. Here's the deal: I have a preliminary teaching credential that expires after 5 years. When you want to renew it for the first time, you have to jump through some hoops for the state. The hoops include having 30 post-bac units, a current first aid certificate, 2 years of BTSA completed, and take a computer, health, and special education classes. I took a computer class during my Master's so that's done but now I'm doing the health and special education classes online before school starts.

Both of the classes are accelerated so I earn 2 credits in two weeks and 3 credits in three weeks. Sounds awesome but there are papers due every other day because they didn't cut down the number of assignments for the accelerated classes...they just smashed them all together in a smaller amount of time. I've been writing 8 papers a week as well as doing online discussion assignments. Thankfully, I am almost done with one class and have only one week left on the other.

Here's what's funny to me though--the classes are accelerated for the students but apparently not the teachers. We have to bust our butts to turn in 4-5 papers a week but the teachers still have 7 days to do the grading. If we're writing papers on a daily basis, I think it's only fair that the teachers keep up. After all, I am left to do the rest of the assignments without any feedback from the teacher. Am I on the right track? Am I following APA standards correctly? It's always nice to see how teacher's grade to write assignments to that meet their quirks. Why don't they have to keep up with us?

Jr. Cheer Camp

So my cheerleaders are running a Jr. Cheer camp as a fundraiser this week. We invited girls from 5-12 to attend 4 days of cheers, games, stunts, jumps, tumbling, and mingling with high school cheerleaders. While I hate waking up at 5:30 in the morning during the summer (I can hear all of you with year-long jobs groaning but suck it up...you should have become a teacher), it's been really entertaining.

The little girls are very cute to watch when they're performing a cheer or dance. Their arms are all over the place and they're concentrating very hard. Actually, some of our little girls are pretty good. We have quite a few that are already doing back handsprings and can stunt in tosses. One girl even did a "pretty girl" at the top of a toss. A "pretty girl" is the picture at the top of this post. Seriously, it's hilarious to see a little girl (about 6 years old) with one hand on her head and one on her hip like that.

One more day of Jr. cheer camp and then the weekend!

Getting Started

So after reading different people's blogs for years (well, mainly just Carmen's) I am inspired to create my own. I am horrible at keeping in touch with friends and with so much going on in life packing everything into individualized emails just isn't happening for me right now. Hence, my blog. This will be my means on communicating the daily activities of my life with the individuals that I don't get to see or talk to as much as I would like. I hope that it doesn't take the place of emails, phone calls, or cards, but I know that I need to be more dedicated to communicating and I see this as a means to do that.

I'm going to give this a trial run and if it works, then I'll continue it. If I find myself bored with typing up my life (goodness knows I can't keep a journal for that reason), then I'll call it quits. But for now, let's see how it goes!

Any suggestions for how to improve my blog or tips on how to stay on top of it would be greatly appreciated!

Jenn