Oh, I forgot one more thing...

I'M KNOCKED UP!!!

Wooohooo!!

I'm almost 14 weeks. Baby is due mid April.

If you've been on Facebook I'm sure you already knew, but just in case I thought I'd mention it here too.

Since it's been almost 3 months since I last blogged...

...it's probably time for a quick update.

I started my new job (music specialist) at my new school (North Point Elementary in Lehi) and just like I expected.... I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!!!!!! There are some things I miss about 6th grade, like having my own class and the unity and the relationships... but my new job is just so amazing and PERFECT for me!!! Tuesday through Friday, 9 to 2ish... very little planning/prep, no grading, no report cards, no parent-teacher conferences, no angry parent drama.... It's like a dream come true!!!

Topher is getting so big! It's kind of crazy how fast he learns and grows. Since he's two and a half, his daycare teacher (who also does preschool) put him in her three year old preschool class and she constantly tells me that he is the smartest one in the group. He says and does things every day that make Jay and I laugh.

Speaking of Jay, October 9 was our anniversary. We've been married for 7 years. That's basically an eternity. Wowzers, how the time flies!!! Soon we'll be old fogeys arguing over which brand of branflakes to buy. I'm amazed that I still like him after all this time. :)

It's late. I'm exhausted. If I think of anything else *important* to say, I'll possibly be back to post again in a few days.

Summer.

Summer is going by too fast. I don't know how that always happens!!!

I haven't blogged since March and so much has happened since then. There's no possible way I can catch up on everything, so here are a few random highlights.

*We went to Disneyland for a week in April with Jay's family. REALLY fun! Topher absolutely loved it.

*I got a new job. Leaving my amazing 6th grade teacher position at Sandy Elementary. I can't even begin to describe how heartbroken I am to be leaving the place and people that I love. But my new job will be awesome. I'm the Music Specialist for North Point Elementary in Lehi. It's part time and closer to home, and I get to work with K-6 and be the fun, wild, crazy, loud music lady! So yeah, it totally fits me.

*I tried hardcore potty-training Topher. He was NOT having it. So still in diapers.

*My 10 year high school reunion is this weekend and I'm in charge of it. I'm terrified that no one will show up, or that some people will show up and be bored and regret coming. Eeek. Trying not to stress out about it. My friend Todd told me just to say whoever comes, comes, and it'll be fun no matter what. So that's what I'm trying to think.

*We've spent a lot of time on the boat. We spent a week at Lake Powell with Jay's parents and we went to Jordanelle with friends last weekend. Next week we're going to Yuba with more of Jay's family. You'd think I'd get better on that stupid wakeboard, but to no avail. I still suck.

*Spend a weekend on Cedar mountain at my parents' cabin with my fam. REally fun just chilling, riding four wheelers, not stressing.

*CURSE YOU, KRISTIN PARSON, for introducing me to YOGURTLAND!!! I'm completely obsessed! I find excuses to go to Orem just so I can go there! I've been three times in the last week!!! So so so so so so so yummy!


Okay, I'm sure there's lots more, but I'm done thinking for right now.

Songs.

Is it weird that:

I love love LOVE "Just the Way You Are" by Bruno Mars
but I strongly dislike "Grenade" by Bruno Mars?

I love love LOVE "Teenage Dream" and "California Gurls" by Katy Perry
but I strongly dislike "I Kissed a Girl" and "Firework" by Katy Perry?

I love love LOVE "Tik Tok" by Ke$ha but HATE all other Ke$ha songs I've ever heard?

I take lots of pictures...

...but I never download them until months later! I still haven't gotten pictures off my camera from Christmas!! So I am promising that in the next two weeks I WILL have new pictures to post on here.

It's almost March, and...

...I'm STILL eating Valentines Day candy!!! Eeeek!

I love shopping the day after a holiday. I get all excited and buy all sorts of stuff because it's 50% off or whatever. February 15th was not a good day for my diet (and every day since then).

I am sad. My gym membership is up in mid-March, and since I broke my toe I haven't been to the gym in weeks. I'm having HUGE exercise withdrawls, I'm gaining weight like crazy, and I miss seeing the bright shiny face of my trainer Matt. I'm not renewing my membership.... unless Golds announces that they're building a gym in Saratoga Springs which is unlikely. I'll be fine once my foot heals and it gets warm and I can run outside, etc etc but I will definitely miss my Matt.

Lots of stuff crammed in a short blog.

Topher is two. Yikes. I have a two year old.

Spent last weekend in Cedar with the Phis. Red Dress Gala. Love those girls.

PACKERS WIN THE SUPERBOWL!!!!!!

I got so excited at the end of the superbowl that my victory dance went terribly wrong and I broke my toe. Have to wear a boot for a month. Ouch.

Jazz vs. Bulls game tomorrow night. SOOO excited. I'm 93% sure I'll get on TV. Just wait, you'll see why. It's going to be epic.

Jay asked what I wanted to do for Valentines. I said get take out and stay home. Boring. But that's life right now.

I can't believe my baby will be two years old this week. I can't even attempt to wrap my mind around how fast time is flying. Topher is definitely the coolest, funniest, happiest, best little boy in the world and I can't imagine what I did right to possibly deserve him in my life.

Happy Birthday, Toph-Diggity!

Today is a fantastic day to be a GB fan!!

MY PACKERS ARE GOING TO THE SUPERBOWL!!!!!!

WOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

"You NEVER blog anymore!"

Thanks, friends. I know. It's not like this is news to me. I realize that most of my blogs start with "I am such a slacker!" or "I haven't been on here in forever" or some other lame excuse/apology. Now that I think about it, many of my blogs end with "I swear I'll do better!" or "I'll definitely blog more from now on!"

Confession:

LIES.
LIES, I SAY!!!!


Truth: I am a compulsive liar. I can't help it.

So while I honestly wish it were the truth, that I would pledge every spare second I have to the upkeep of my semi-pathetic and usually unexciting blog, it's just wishful thinking. REALITY CHECK: I go long periods of time without blogging. Deal with it. And actually, it should make us all more thankful for the blogs that I actually do write. So I'm going to go play xbox360 Kinect with my Jay until Topher wakes up from his nap. Then we're going to Walmart to buy dinner for family coming over tomorrow night to celebrate our birthdays. Life will go on, whether I blog about it all or not.

Now I realize I might sound like a Blog-hater. You might be wondering why I even bother. Answer: occasionally I love blogging. It's documentation that I'm still living life. Rest assured, friends, I don't hate blogging; I just hate the PRESSURE to blog. So I am choosing to be over it. Starting. NOW.

And I am CELEBRATING the fact that I can end this blog without one of my usual "I'm so sorry, I'll try harder, blah blah blah" nonsense. Hip Hip HOORAY!!!

Happy Holidays! Happy New Year! Don't know when I'll be back here! And I'm okay with that!!!

My favorite song right now is...

"When I See Your Face" by Bruno Mars. It makes me instantly happy the second I hear it. I want to switch it to my ringtone. It's the sweetest song ever. I don't consider myself a romantic person, but I hear that song and I turn to mush and it makes me realize that I truly believe that every girl in the world longs for a guy to say those things to her.

No Christmas.

There are always some 6th graders who don't believe in Santa.

This year I have some who REALLY don't believe in Santa. As in, they can't. As in, their religion forbids it.

I don't know a lot about the Jehovah's Witness religion; all I know is that 2 kids in my class who are Jehovahs Witness don't celebrate any holidays. No birthdays, no Halloween, no Thanksgiving, no Valentines Day, no patriotic ceremonies...

...and sadly, no Christmas.

Which, as a teacher, really puts me in a bind.

I have THE ABSOLUTE CUTEST, COOLEST, BEST Christmas activities for math, reading, writing, etc. But I feel like I can't really do them because of those 2 kids.

Other teachers have told me to do what I want to do and just give those 2 kids an alternate assignment. But that sucks because there's SO MUCH I wanna do! They'd be doing a million "alternate assignments" for the next week and a half!

I've been holding off on all my fun holiday stuff because I'm struggling with the decision. It makes me super depressed to stare at my pile of Santa Persuasive Letters, Christmas Tree Factors & Multiples, "Green Tree Green Tree" books, daily Christmas journal entries, and all my other awesome activities. Normally I would have started these already, but I keep trying to hold off and it just makes me sad.

I am trying to be religiously-tolerant, but honestly, it KILLS ME that these kids don't celebrate ANYTHING!!! That must be so hard for a 12 year old to miss out on so much. And selfishly, it makes it hard for their teacher, too!

ARGH. Merry freaking Christmas.

So whiney right now.

Normally I'm a total grammar freak, but right now I just don't give a crap. So please excuse any grammatical errors you may find in this rant.

I don't wanna go to school tomorrow. You'd think that after a whole week off I'd be ready to get back. But I'm not. Not at all.
Don't get me wrong; I LOVE my job. I absolutely LOVE teaching. But it's been so nice being able to focus just on being a mommy and wife and NOT a teacher. Once I get there tomorrow and the bell rings and I see my kids I'll be fine. But right now just thinking about the early morning, scraping ice off my windshield, going back to work is not a fun thing.

Topher threw HUGE temper tantrums tonight. Our version of time out doesn't seem to be working anymore. Why oh why do the terrible twos have to come early for my kid?

Thanksgiving was dysfunctional. My family is sort of a big mess. Gotta love 'em.

I'm getting fat again. After working my arse off all summer long and dropping 25 pounds, now I'm gaining it back. I've gained 5 pounds over Halloween and Thanksgiving. NOT happy. Time to get my flabby rear end back in the gym and actually start paying attention to the crap I shove down my throat.

To anyone reading this, sorry to be such a downer. Don't worry. I'm sure I'll be back to my usual, hyper, happy, spazzy self tomorrow. But hey, I'm only human, right? I deserve a day or two every so often to just freak out. I'll just be sure that I don't make a habit of it.

Still alive.

Worst. Blogger. Ever.

Sorry. I suck. I know.

Here's the super-fast, totally condensed version of what's up:

1.) School started. Good 'ol 6th graders. I have a few tough cookies to crack this year, but overall I LOVE my kids. I have some really REALLY super cool kids this year. TONS of fun. Plus I love my team teachers. They are like family to me.

2.) Topher's 2 year old molars have come through. Awesome. It totally hasn't been bad at all. I just noticed a couple weeks back while brushing his teeth. Other than drooling all the time, he hasn't been fussy or anything.

3.) Thanksgiving! WOOT! We were going to leave for Cedar tonight, but it's a blizzard outside. So we'll leave tomorrow. Hopefully the roads will be clear. I am so excited to see my fam and eat lots of yummy food. I had to bring pies this year and after much coercing from Jay, I decided to make them myself. So far I've made fresh strawberry, carmel cheesecake, and banana cream. Still have to make chocolate and pumpkin then we'll be all set. I'm totally proud of myself that I haven't burned down the house yet.

4.) A few weeks ago my dad got in a motorcycle accident. He thinks he's Evil Kinevil. He broke some bones in his neck, his shoulder, and his collar bone. Yikes. In the hospital for a few days, and on house arrest for a few weeks. Soo lucky he's alive. Doctors said if he hadn't been wearing his helmet and chestplate and all his gear he would be dead.

5.) Just went and saw Harry Potter & Deathly Hallows part 1. LOVED it. So glad I reread the book beforehand. I hadn't read it since it came out a few years ago and didn't really remember much. I finished reading it like a week ago, just in time to go see the movie. ECLIPSE comes out on DVD next week, and now I can't wait for Harry Potter part 2 and New Moon! YAY!

I'm sure there's a BAJILLION other things. But I'll try to get on here more often and catch up on stuff. Not making any promises, but I'll try.

VOTE for me!!!!! PLEASE!!!!

My 99 Day Challenge is over, and now it's time to vote!!! They have actually narrowed it down from 10 people to 3!!! It's just me and two guys!!! I have a one in three chance of winning the trip to Florida!!!

But now it's all up to you, my friends. Go to http://www.my995fm.com/pages/99daychallenge/ to view the before and after pics and vote!!! Voting starts July 8 and ends July 18!

Friends, I love you and appreciate all your support throughout this entire journey. Could you do me a huge favor? Could you help me spread the word? Tell your friends, family, neighbors, strangers at Walmart, whatever! Post on Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Blogs, emails, anything!!! I'll take all the votes I can get! Thanks!

Hottest Guys on Earth (besides my husband, of course!)

Here they are, in no particular order...
Well, naturally I had to put Taylor first, but other than him, no particular order!


Taylor Lautner


Jake Gyllenhaal


Mark Salling


Shane West


Kyle Korver


Zac Efron


Jared Padalecki & Jensen Ackles from Supernatural


Jude Law



Paul Walker

Nervous for tomorrow.... digging through my closet...

Tomorrow is officially the last day of my 99 day weight loss challenge!! I have to be at the radio station at 10am to take my "after" picture!! I can't believe how fast the 99 days flew by! Sometime soon they'll post everyone's pics online and open voting to the public for a week. I will let you all know when and how to vote. I would LOVE to get the most votes and win the Florida trip, but even if I don't, I've already won something awesome... I fit into my college clothes again! I'm down 25 pounds!!! I about cried today when I tried on a pair of shorts that were three sizes smaller than what I've previously been wearing and THEY FIT!!! WOOOOOO!!!! I still have like 20 more pounds to go before I'm at my goal, but I feel like I have accomplished so much over the 99 days and will just keep on going! Anyway, so I'm pretty nervous right now. Searching my closet. Trying on EVERYTHING. Trying to find something that makes me look super skinny from every angle. I am exhausted, thinking I'll just go to bed and see what looks good in the morning. WISH ME LUCK!!!! Send some good picture vibes!

...and the award for Worst Blogger goes to...

...ME!
I haven't blogged in over 2 months!!! Holy Geez! Sorry friends. I royally suck. After having three different friends tell me I suck at blogging, I decided I better get my butt in gear. So here's some fun random tangents:

*I LOVE summer! School got out like June 4 or 5, I can't even remember! I've put it so far in the past! HA! I miss my school kids, but I L-O-V-E summer and being home with my Topher Gopher.

*Next week is the end of my 99 day challenge. I've lost a total of 24 pounds and am now wearing clothes that I haven't fit into in like 10 years. LOVE it. I still have about 20 more pounds to drop before I'm back to high school weight, but I can do it! I have to go in to the radio station next Tuesday to take final pics, then everyone will get to vote. Hopefully I get a lot of votes so I win the Florida trip!

*I gave Topher a haircut. Yikes. BAD. He looks like a monkey. Unfortunately NOT a cute monkey. A funky monkey. Hopefully it won't look too bad in a week or two.

*Topher is teething. Sigh. He's getting his fangs. I hear those are the worst, most painful teeth to cut. So it makes sense that he's been a complete beast the last couple days. Poor kid. Hopefully it's just about over.

*My brother Russell and his wife Cindy and their three year old TJ came to stay with us last weekend. We went swimming at the Lehi Legacy Center and went to the zoo and had tons of fun. Pics to come later.

*ECLIPSE. Twice. Went on opening night at 9pm with my friend Karen and her family. Then went the next night with Jay and my friend Kristin. I am ridiculously obsessed with Jacob. It's scary and sad and wrong. But I don't freaking care. Bella is a total moron. Nothing against Edward, but seriously... I'd choose Jacob in a heartbeat. I've always been Team Jacob, ever since I read New Moon for the very first time.

*My house got attacked by our neighbor's trampoline. Like 90 mph winds blew it over the fence and crashed into our kitchen windows. Crazy and scary. Sooo glad Kristin was there so one of us could stay calm. I was a mess. Jay was gone and my neighbors were out of town, so I just ran next door and screamed for help. It's all good now, we got our window fixed and bought a new light fixture (the other one got ripped off). How many people can say they witnessed a trampoline attack? Now that it's all in the past it's pretty funny.

*My friend Natalie had her baby!!! YAY!! A boy named Camden. She was three weeks early! Wasn't due until July 22! But baby is healthy and all is good. Can't wait to meet him! My teacher friend Melissa had her baby too, on June 22, a boy named William. It must be baby season! :)


That's all I can think of. I'll try to blog more often, but I'm not promising anything.

Blogging takes time and energy...

...and lately I haven't had either of those. Sorry it's been so long. Life is good. Topher is learning new words everyday; so far he's really good with mama, dada, uh-oh, nanana (banana), and he's close to getting the word up.

We've been out of town for the last three weekends, so my house is a mess, we have no clean laundry, but we've had lots of fun!

We spent Easter weekend in Cedar and St. George...
We spent last weekend in Mesquite for the Sigma Nu White Rose Formal (leaving Topher overnight for the first time ever, and I didn't even cry!)
We spent this weekend in Spanish Fork...

It's good to be home.

School is in the busy-freakedoutteacher-phase, so who knows when I'll have time to jump on here again, but just know that no news is good news and all is fine.

I've taken a bajillion cute pics lately; I'll post more someday. But for now, enjoy the cute one of us with the Easter Bunny.

99 Day Challenge Top Ten "Before" Pics!

I went to the radio station last Thursday to take "before pictures". I am the biggest girl in the competition! I couldn't believe it! I actually think that's a good thing for me, because I'll be able to make a really drastic transformation and my AFTER pic will be amazing and maybe that will help me get more votes and win the Florida trip!!!

To see all the "before" pics of the ten contestants, go here:

http://www.my995fm.com/pages/99daychallenge/

I'm the very last picture. Not very flattering, but it's my "before" pic so it's not supposed to be cute! My "after" pic is the one that counts!

Guys, I am SOOOO EXCITED!! I went to the gym yesterday morning and worked out, and signed up to meet my trainer Monday morning at 5:30!! You all know that I am NOT a morning person at all, but somehow this competition has made me be able to overcome it! I know it's only day 3, and I still have 96 more to go, so hopefully I'll still be this enthusiastic the whole way through.