A NEW Bloggity Blog!

Well everyone...  I've decided to jump ship. 

...
I'm jumping ship on THIS blog, I mean.

This has been somewhat of a chronical (albeit quite inconsistent) of my life as a single woman.  I'm excited to start sharing updates about our new family-life with my husband, & wanted a new place, all our own, for that.

That said, I'm glad to announce a NEW BLOG, where you will find our Darby Family Fun!

http://www.ourdarbydaze.blogspot.com/

I decided to keep it private though, so if you'd like to follow Our Story as it keeps on going, send me your email address in an email, or post a comment, or send a text, or somehow let me know you'd like an invite, & as soon as I can, I'll get you hooked up!  ;o)

I haven't decided yet if I will let this blog fade to oblivion, or if I might still use it somehow, but either way I'm excited for the fresh beginning of our new blog!

Our Story - Bedtime Story Style

So, after not posting for so long, here I am, ready to post again.  Jonathan & I have had fun telling each other bedtime stories, & a LOT of them go a little something like this....


Once upon a time, there was a beautiful Princess who moved away from home.  She felt lost & alone, & a little scared, but only on the inside, because she was trying to have a great new adventure!  Then, on her travels she met a Warrior.  Now, this new land she called home was HOT, very very hot.  But the Warrior was hotter than even the hottest day.  He was strong & brave, & very happy to meet the new Princess.  And she was happy to meet him too.  The Princess was admittedly hesitant, having dealt with some major spells of heartache & several 'idiots in tin foil' in the previous year.  But she decided to give this Warrior a chance... or two.  As she kept getting to know him she began to fall in love with him, because he knew he loved her a long time before he told her so.  The Warrior fell more quickly & easily than the Princess, but he was patient with her.  She went away on a voyage to far away lands that she loved, & while she was gone, she began to understand the tender feelings in her heart for this brave Warrior who was already in love with her, (even knowing the good & the more difficult things about her).  When she returned from her voyage, she told him that she loved him too.  And when she did, he was so happy, that this brave Warrior's smile shone like the smile of a little boy on Christmas morning!  :)


He always knew what he would do next.  So late one night, he got down on one knee, told the Princess of his love for her & how it would last forever, and asked the beautiful Princess to be his Queen.  The Princess knew what the Warrior was thinking before he asked that big question, but she was still a little slower, dissappointing him that night, & requiring his patience again as she made him wait.  So while he waited, the Warrior prepared all his armor, as spiffy & shiny as could be, & took the Princess to a special warrior ceremony.  He took the Princess to a ball!  The Princess was so excited!  But... they didn't dance at the ball.  Good thing for the Warrior that the Princess was satisfied with dancing in her cottage, instead of at the ball.  In fact, it made her smile.


Then they went to a big, white castle.  They planned this voyage with the Warrior's visiting parents, & with a handmaiden or two.  The voyage was for all of them, but the Princess went with a special quest.  She looked forward to their visit to the great white castle, & decided that there she was going to answer that warrior's proposal, even though she wasn't yet SURE of the answer, like she hoped to be.  As they traveled upon the Warrior's white stallion to the glorious castle, the Princess kept seeking the guidance of her kind, wise Father.  Even as they arrived, the princess was seeking the answer.  


As they went into the castle to be instructed by the kind, wise Father, & the Princess was indeed taught!  First as they entered, one of the guards spoke to the Warrior of great blessings and answers to be found in the Father's castle that day.  Next, a kind guide in the castle spoke to the Princess & the Warrior of how he could see their sweet love, & how great it was for them to be visiting the kind Father that day with the Warrior's parents.  The Princess hear those words deep inside her heart, as his words stirred her tender feelings, & the Warrior held her hand.  The same guard also spoke with the Warrior's parents later, before the instructions were recieved, & the Princess again overheard, feeling sweet & tender feelings repeated as the guide spoke to the parents.  As they were instructed, the kind, wise Father spoke to the heart of the Princess.  Her emotions overflowed, & her tears made the Warrior worry.  But the tears weren't sad tears.  Not at all!  They came from being reminded of the kind Father's infinite & individual love, & from words that seemed to be spoken just for the Princess in response to her quest, by guides & helpers who didn't even know there WAS a quest.  


As the Warrior was waiting for the Princess in the Grand Hall (& worrying about her tears & what her answer might be), he talked with his parents, & the Princess tried to dry her tears so she could go talk with her Knight in shining, white armor.  When at last the Warrior & the Princess were reunited, they embraced, & sat together.  As the Princess laid her head on the Warrior's shoulder, she calmed down, & turned to whisper in his ear, one word. A simple word that would effect forever.  "YES."  She started crying again, & the Warrior wanted to shout for joy right then & there, but instead he just kissed the Princess & hugged her tighter.  


The Princess had a hard time containing her emotions, & at this point was worried she'd pass out from lack of nourishment... which brought her emotions that much closer to the surface.  The Princess & the Warrior told the Warrior's parents & they all embraced, then the parents left- the Warrior's Father strutting proudly from the room.  He was so pleased that everyone could see it.  As soon as they left the castle, they began to spread the word of their upcoming marriage!  Some of the carrier pidgeons though, weren't very fast, or effective, & some of the royal court became offended at their slow announcements.  Still they continued to tell their courts & handmaidens & neighbors, & friends!

But that, my friends, is just the BEGINNING.  ;o)

I'm Engaged!

It's been ages & ages since I've had internet, so I haven't blogged in that long & longer, though I do have a draft or two that got started sometime during bouts of internet connectivity, but I do have a connection now, & I have some news!......

I'm getting married!

Here's some of our story...

Jonathan is in the Marine Corps, & has been stationed in Yuma for a couple years.  

Earlier this year, I knew I was moving to Yuma, not really having an answer to the question I heard over & over "WHY Yuma??"

Jonathan & I met at a YSA activity, where we quickly became acquainted, thanks to Quelf, the game that is King of Random.  I don't have a picture of us, but it went pretty much like this.....

 Everyone had to take turns sitting on Jonathan's lap & telling "Santa" what they wanted for Christmas.

"I want a super deluxe tool kit."  hahaha!

Good to meet you!

Jonathan asked me out, but we actually kind of had our first date a night or two before that day came.  One night he brought over a couple pints of ice cream & we sat up all night eating ice cream & talking & watching TV.  When our date night came, we went out to a movie & then sat and talked over more ice cream at my house afterward.

Fast forward.   Jonathan & I are dating, though one of us is a little slow, & so we're not calling it that.  Jonathan had to go to Corporal's Course in Miramar for a few weeks, & I went for part of the weekend to visit.  We had a fun time playing at the beach.

Also on a weekend while he was at Corporal's Course we went to Mesa to go to the Temple & visit my sister & her family.  That weekend brought changes for us, & the next few weeks were a lot different.  We weren't dating anymore, but we were talking everyday, & getting to know each other more & more.  (FUNNY how that worked out....)

Just before Labor Day, Jonathan started talking about taking a trip to the Snowflake Temple.

I love northern Arizona, & I love visiting Temples, so when Jonathan invited me to go,  I decided it was a great excuse to visit with my family & with my dear friends, & so I went with him.  The brother of the friends that we stayed with thought that we were dating, & I just laughed.  But being in a car with someone for 12+ hours...  can get you talking, can open you up even more to each other, & for us it did.  Again our weekend getaway brought changes to our relationship, & within a day of getting home from that trip we were dating again.

We went to the Marine Corps Ball together, & by now Jonathan knew he wanted to marry me!

3 days later we went to the Mesa Temple, where we spent a little time with his parents & some friends, & where I was able to give him the answer he'd been hoping for .....

YES!

We're getting married!  We're getting maried! 

March 29th is the special day!

St. George, Utah is the special place!

We'll have a reception in Washington (where Jonatha is from), on April 2.

The next weekend will be our Northern Arizona reception, in the Prescott Area, on April 9th... (right, the 9th, or is it the 8th?) ;o)

We'll also have an open house in Yuma later in April, or maybe even in May, but we want to let our friends & ward families here celebrate with us! :)

That's the big news for now!

101 Things I Can Count On...

I've been working on this post for a long while, & it's been fun to think of new things to add!

101. Life is BeAutiful. (Even if it may not always seem that way-It is a Beautiful Disaster!)

100. The love of family.
99. I can do & be better. 98. I've been blessed with wonderful friends.

97. My puppy wanting to give (me) kisses.

96. You can't live life afraid.

95. Change is CONSTANT.

94. Reading old journals can bring back all the same emotions.

93. My friends being simply AMAZING!

92. People come for food.

91. Wanting to learn MORE.

90. Taking kids to a park is fun!

89. Falling in love is always a little bit scary.

88. Wanting to be a Mama.

87. Studying God's word brings answers & peace.

86. Kids saying the most wonderful things!

85. Learning more about myself.

84. When I pray, He hears me.

83. Always already Knowing at least part of the why when life feels CRazY.

82. Sunsets make me happy.

81. Seth & Croix make me SMILE.

80. Being "bold" can be uber scary.

79. Finding a new song that I LOVE.

78. Listening to old favorite songs brings those memories back.

77. Being an Auntie is one of life's great treasures.

76. Tomorrow will come.

75. I am awkward.

74. A good book reels me in.

73. Having "Besties" who I can talk to about anything.

72. The Gospel of Jesus Christ.

71. The Temple bringing joy.

70. Wanting to eat that piece of Chocolate.

69. Loving some hot chocolate in a mug.

68. Enjoying cuddling.

67. Things will be funnier when I'm tired.

66. There will be more laundry to wash, fold, & put away.

65. Music speaks to my soul.

64. Loving to sing.

63. My hammock making me happy.

62. Catching a gorgeous sunrise is worth getting up that much earlier.

61. Occasionally finding that competitive streak in me.

60. Cheese is yummy.

59. Hours can be wasted online, if I'm not careful.

58. Addictinggames.com can actually be addicting, given the opportunity.

57. Reading other people's blogs helps me keep up with their lives.

56. If something's scary, it might not be if I try again.

55. Sometimes what I want & what I need are not the same thing.

54. Lindt Milk Chocolate with White Cream is the best chocolate I've ever had.

53. Prescott holds amazing Christmas traditions.

52. Christmas will feel more like Christmas if I go to the Courthouse Lighting & the Walk Through Bethlehem.

51. Family brings happiness.

50. Family relationships can be tricky.

49. Tastes change.

48. A picture can be worth a thousand words.

47. Painted toe nails make me feel girly.

46. A hug can make it all better, at least for a moment.

45. Sometimes I just need to cry.

44. Some things, & some people, may never change.

43. Feeling inadequate.

42. Needing to change for the better.

41. "I can do hard things." (Even if I don't always believe it in the moment...)

40. The urge to "straighten" that desert.

39. Being stronger than I thought I was.

38. Finding joy in the journey.

37. The continual realization that I am a "work in progress".

36. RandomNesS can be so fun & exciting! & it makes me happy!

35. It can be surprising who your best friends are.

34. The people who pass through my life touch me & leave an impression, whether they're there for a reason, a season, or a lifetime.

33. God's hand is in my life.

32. Moving is a lot of work.

31. After night comes day, always a new day full of promise.

30. Flowers can brighten up a room, or a difficult day/week.

29. Someone LOVES me.

28. Life will be full of the unexpected.

27. People are beautiful, no matter their "body type" or the color of their skin.

26. Beauty lies in who a person is, & not in what they look like.

25. "I need more chocolate in my life."

24. Time is one of life's very best gifts.

23. Wanting to hike/run/etc, even though I'll probably end up wodering (again) WHY I love it!

22. Time goes so quickly.... When it's running out.

21. Sometimes when a day feels like a week, weeks race by like days.

20. Finding friends in random/unexpected places.

19. Wondering where that bruise came from.

18. Trenton helping me out without complaining.

17. Finding miracles every single time I look for them.

16. Wanting to buy new shoes, but having a heck of a time finding shoes I like.

15. My phone will eventually give up on me.

14. Laughter is the best medicine. I love to laugh!

13. Fighting the shy in myself when I'm in new situations.

12. Being able to get by just fine without TV.

11. Drinking ice water in restaurants with ceiling fans = goosbumps.

10. Recognizing all the beauty in the world if I stop to look around.

9. Going to church each Sunday helps me face the coming week.

8. Distractions. (They don't have to be evil to be effective.)

7. Never getting enough sleep.

6. Wanting to capture the moment, to keep it forever.

5.Learning, growing, slipping, repeat.

4. Being me, & knowing that I am good enough because I'm doing the best I can.

3. I am a daughter of God, & have within me all the potential which that implies.

2. Jesus Christ is my Savior, He loves me, & will always welcome me with open arms.

1. God is my Father, & Loves Me more infinitely than I can understand.

Photoshop Application Assignment 3

This is my favorite of our assignments...

It's just a few of the pieces of me...

Thanksgiving Dinner!

The Joy of New Life!

My Newest Nephew! :D

Croix James Maldonado was born yesterday, August 24, 2009 at 5:26 pm. He is perfect at 6 lb. 9 ounces & 20 inches long!

Terina, Brent, & Croix are such a happy beautiful family! Click here to see more of their pictures & Croix's story.

Blah, Blah, Blog

Nothing I've posted recently has been very important, or much of an update. So... Little as it may be, here's an update.

I've been taking 3 college classes. One was in person through Yavapai College, & (YAY!), it's done! The other two are online, & are prooving to be a struggle, since I have to work with a child for tutoring sessions. The best time so far seems to be pulling her during specials to work with her, since her mom isn't being entirely helpful.

At this point I am still VERY unsure of my job for next school year. I'm still trying to be hopeful that I will be employed, but I'm also putting out applications, & even had a job interview today. It went pretty well, but I think they don't want me, because I need to be in a high-poverty school in Arizona, & will take a position in that kind of situation before I would stay with the preschool. They sounded like they might hire me for a sub, but I doubt I'd have much work that way.

Every single one of my kids hit (or well exceeded) their end of the year Benchmark goals for their testing! We're having a party tomorrow with pizza & ice-cream to celebrate! Our entire Kinder grade level is at 99% benchmarked kid-o's, with only one left to be tested! That's better than ... pretty much EVER! :D

School is coming to an end- only 15 more days of school! In the meantime, we've got our pizza/ice-cream party, more "Flat Stanley's" coming back, a tie-dye shirt project, swiming day, report cards, learning-learning-learning & Celebrating, before Kindergarten Graduation on June 4th. That's also the day I'm supposed to have my classroom empty. :( It will be a terribly sad day. My kids have grown up so much, & are really, pretty much Amazing!

Right after school ends, I'll be heading up to Flagstaff! Friday June 5 is Laurie's HS Graduation! (Congrats to Laurie!!) I'm excited to see Dutton's, since it's been FAR too long since I've been able to spend some time with that great family!

And in Flagstaff on the 6th I'm taking the Early Childhood AEPA... WISH ME LUCK! I'm a little bit terrified of all the technical things I may or may not know/remember! :P I think I need to figure out some way to study before I have to take that test!

Seth is adorable, though I don't get to see him much lately. He doesn't talk a lot, but he knows a few signs- (most especially please, & food... "food please"), & is very effective at communicating what he wants, where he wants you to come, & yes & no. If you want to see him nod "yes"... just ask him if he's hungry (especially after he's been with his mom.) Or, when his diaper's wet, ask if he needs a new diaper. He'll tell you. :D He's just about ready for potty training... or, really I guess I'd say he seems ready NOW, but I'm not sure his daddy's quite ready. ;)

Bear is loving having 2 other dogs to play with. He also loves raiding their food bowls & has gained back all the weight he lost & then some. If anyone has suggestions on putting a big, fat, black lab on a diet, please share! Last night I (FINALLY) bought him a nice, BIG, new bed from costco. No pics yet, but maybe if I can get him to lay on it & pose, I'll get one up here.

Well, for now, that's a little update. Hope you enjoyed it!

Money Song!

Here's another funny! (it has nothing to do with the cute picture of Chelsea & Seth, I just wanted to put up a recent, fun picture of my boy.)
Tonight as we were leaving the store, I decided to show my Mom & Chelsea the money song my kids are loving right now. (for them, it came song AND dance, but you just get the words & you can imagine the silliness)

to the tune of "Mama's Little Baby Loves Shortening Bread"

"I like money. I use it at the store.
Money, money, money, I always want more!

Lincoln's on the 1 cent, Jefferson's on the 5.
Roosevelt's on the 10 cent. Washington's 25.

I like money, I use it at the store.
Money! Money! Money! I always want more!"

There are two more verses, but I'll spare you for tonight. ;)

My kids randomly start singing this throughout the day, or if I sing "I like..." they're in! Yay for learning $$!

1999

10 Years Ago...

• It was 1999, a different century!


• I was a sophmore/junior at Prescott High School.


• Daily life consisted of PHS & Seminary, & getting closer to some of the biggest changes of my life.


• I was seeing a strength in my Mom that I hadn't seen before, a strength that has been an inspiration to me ever since.


• With the exception of one small memory, all of my "home" memories were of the same house I grew up in, until we moved... 3 times THIS year...


• My family became "Homeless" (McKinney-Vento Act style, but not living-on-the-streets style).


• For most of the year I wasn't old enough to date yet, but I was already falling in like with the first boy who liked with me back.


• I went on my first date.


• My aunt took me to Williams, & I got my driver's license, after I passed the parallel parking on my fourth try.


• This was probably when I was really learning how your family can be your best friends.


• Change was not my favorite thing. It still isn't, but a lot of changes during this time of my life helped me learn to appreciate CHANGE!
  
  
• I would've liked the idea of staying in P-town forever. I'm glad I didn't stick with that plan!
• This year held the first anniversary of losing my Aunt Misty. Ten more years have passed, & I still miss her.
  
  
• We were still kids, & all of us kids were still together. The years have taken us apart to distant places, but I will always love the good memories from those times that brought us together stronger than before.

Thanks to Jodi for this idea! :)

Labor Day Weekend

The weekend has been good, & it's kind of only half-way over!


Friday after work, meetings, & preping- a little, I came home & spent a little time playing with my nephew before I headed to the Valley. I got to see my former roommates, & had a lot of fun. On Saturday morning, Amber, a few of her friends, & I went to Tempe Town Lake & rented kayaks. It was fun! This isn't a picture of ME, but this is the lake, & the kayak.

I also started reading Breaking Dawn, which I finished on Monday. I Love the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer, & I want to buy them all. I also want to read them all in a row, because I read 1-3 LAST summer, then earlier this summer I read the first & second books again, but didn't read the third one again before I read Breaking Dawn. My memory falters (to put it nicely), & especially with books & movies. I can read or watch again & again & have it be like the first time.

Another reason for visiting Mesa was to go to the Temple, & I was glad for that experience. It's a darn good place to be, especially when life feels crazy.

My plan was to come back on Saturday evening, but I was exhausted after rowing for miles in the sun, & playing the rest of the day, so I decided to come back Sunday morning. I did, & met Trenton & Seth at church!! YAY!

On Monday we decided to go out shooting. Trenton has a handgun (some of you may remember from an earlier blog enty...) & we went way out Perkinsville Road & found a place to shoot. I had to laugh, because when I've gone shooting with Mac, I'm GOOD. He even told me that with practice I might become better than him, but I couldn't hit ANYTHING with Trenton's gun! After a minute, he told me to just aim in the general direction we were shooting, & pull the trigger as fast as I could. He said it was great stress relief, & I guess he was right. It was fun anyway. I'll have to see if I can get pictures from Chelsea, because she was having fun taking lots of them!

Coming home, we had a ... pause, of sorts. We were driving back towards my Mom's house, when Cameron & Ethan, sitting in the back, found a centipede crawling around! We stopped the car, all got out, & Trenton & Cameron tried to find & kill the nasty little bug. They found it, but it went INSIDE the seat- in Trenton's brand new 4 Runner! We finally decided that maybe they'd hit the seat hard enough to knock it out, & that there was nothing we could do more without tools. We piled back in, but Mom & Chelsea didn't want to sit in the back seats anymore, & we didn't want to put Seth back there, so all three of them sat on my lap in the front seat. It was funny! Especially when Trenton reached down & tickled Mom's leg, & she thought it was the Centipede! She wiggled all over & screamed. Trenton laughed so hard he almost cried. It was an adventure, for sure! The sad part was that with our detour, I missed my good friend's birthday party! :o( That wasn't so fun.

Overall though, My long weekend, was a GOOD weekend!

Needing to catch up...

It's somehow been a long time since I've added anything on here! (I blame in part moving, another part to working on my classroom, & even more to internet that is sporadic at best since I moved)...

Moving really did happen, and I think I counted that this is my 17th-ish address in about the past 5 years! I'm ready to settle down sometime, I think. ... As long as I can still travel a little every once in a while. I guess starting out a career, with plans to stay in the same area for a while might help reduce my moving incidents. ... We'll see.

I need to catch up on lots of things that have been going on, but just as much, I need to catch up on some sleep. I'm beat.

But! Rather than make this be just a lame blog (like so many journal entries from my younger days: "I haven't written in a long time. A lot has happened & I need to catch up"... same thing next time a long-ish while later...) Well, here's a funny story from tonight!

I'm sitting here on the couch, wasting precious sleep time reading blogs about people I lost touch with years ago, when the doorbell rings. Mind you, it's 10:30 at night, I'm tired & sitting up alone since Trenton & Seth have both already gone to bed, & I didn't think we were expecting anybody.

Well, I went to ask Trenton if he was expecting anyone, thinking he would still be asleep since he can sleep through just about anything. Well, I opened his door, & he was right there. Not only was he standing right at his door when I opened it (not in bed like I expected), he also cocked his gun right as I opened the door.

I Jumped.
about a foot into the air!
I Jumped a foot in the air & practically stumbled backward.
After the jumping & stumbling, & confirming that this wasn't a visitor either of us was waiting for, I asked who was at the door.
It was Jake.
Trenton's little brother-in-law.
& his mom.
coming to see Seth.

Really late.

I was shaky from the whole sleepy, gun, door, late visit thing.

We laughed hard.
Trenton wished he could have recorded me jumping.

I'm glad he didn't.

Good-night.

A New Roommate!

So since I got the job, I'm moving to Prescott. And since I quit my illegal immigrant job, I'm ALREADY moving. It's change, & this one makes me sad & excited, but I still think it's good! With these changes... This is one of my new roommates in Prescott. I love him lots!

Team Marshmallow POOF

You might be wondering what the Heck Team Marshmallow POOF is all about...
Tonight my ward had an Iron Chef competition. The secret ingredient was lemon or pineapple.
Chelsea, Laycee & I made fruit & dip. It was really yummy, and we won a couple of awards!

In case you can't read them in the picture, our awards are: "Most likely to be seen at a Mormon event", & "Once You Pop You Can't Stop". Mom's Fruit Dip is definitely a winner!

I did it!

Yay!! It's been over a month ago now, but I'm just now getting around to blogging about my GRADUATION!! On May 9, 2008, I graduated from NAU with a B.S. in Elementary Education and a minor in Spanish!

Maybe there isn't a whole lot to blog about, but... I've got some FUN pictures! So... I'll show & tell a little bit.

This first, strange looking picture, is the view I had for all of graduation. The girl in front of me had bright, pink, feathers all around the top of her cap, and around her sleeves too. It was a little obnoxious if you ask me, but it made it easy to answer the text: "Where are you?" "Right behind the girl with the pink." ha ha... and we could see where we were on the giant TV screens, because of the pink.

And the on going text conversation with Mom during the ceremony. "Where Are You? Get up and Dance." "I'm right behind the girl with the pink feathers." "Good, maybe she'll want to dance with you." "ha ha" "No really, do it now or you'll miss your chance." ... Something like that anyway. It made me smile even more.

There was a big group of us from the Christensen Partnership. This is Barry, Devin, Ashley, Emily, me, & Andrea. There were a few more of us, but I haven't gotten a copy of the bigger pictures we took yet.

This is me with one of my Partnership Professors, Jeanne Dustman. She was a great support to me through the two semesters of death that preceded my Student Teaching.

Mom & I. We started celebrating all together when we got outside. Terina & Brent didn't get to stick around for the other celebrations, so this was the best we had with all of us.

This was a favorite, because Trenton was hiding, and Terina quickly ducked, & I snapped... & between our combined efforts I caught a really cute grin on Trenton, & a fun, cheesy grin on Terina. :o)

I really don't think I'm photogenic, but that it's better when I'm in pictures with other people, so... That makes this naturally a favorite, because ... it just is.

I've got more pictures of the parties... one in Flagstaff that day, and one in Chino Valley about a month after, but I'm REALLY tired for now, & I've got to get this posted & get some sleep. Tomorrow it's back to work!

"I'm so Awkward, Please forgive me..."

Yesterday I was at Terina & Brent's house, working on the dreaded resume & such, along with uploading a TON of pictures from the long & woderful trip to California & Flagstaff. Terina had to go work on some clients, & left me working & working.

At one point, I thought I heard noises downstairs. After listening intently, I decided that it must just be the dogs... OR just house noises, because if it was something ELSE, the dogs certainly would have made me aware. After a while longer, MORE working on icky job application stuff... I heard more noises downstairs. More intent listening, & I was pretty sure someone was home. I texted Terina to ask if she was home. ... No reply. I walked out to the top of the stairs & called out Terina's name, several times. ... No reply.

I went back & kept working, & melting my brain cells, when suddenly I was not left to wonder IF somebody was home, or WHO it might be.

Aparently right at the moment that my sister was talking with a client about how their husbands like to come home from work & get naked, and how awkward & funny it could be if someone was in the home, unbeknownst to them... that very scenario was playing out in my life!

Let's just say that I've never been so glad to have been so focused on a computer before, because it kept the show to an absolute minimum, as my brother-in-law came into his bedroom and wasn't alone like he thought. (I know, it's a perfectly normal thing for a person to be naked in their own home)...

I wasn't sure about sharing this story, but since Brent has publicly proclaimed to be "shocked that his siter-in-law saw him totally naked when she was using the computer in his bedroom without his knowledge."... I figured my story is fair to share.

There were several moments when I wondered if we would ever get past this awkward ordeal, but... then we were normal again, and I was invited to stay for dinner -probably with some intention of preventing permanant scar-age.

*As a side note, Terina DID actually text back: "No, why? what's up"... AFTER I had come to know that she wasn't home. ha ha Timing is everything.

*For Brent's version, go Here.

Done!

I Just Finished My LAST Undergraduate FINAL!!! Woo-Hoo! So I wanted to share the joy! Now it's on to Travis & Stef's Wedding, & then Graduation Here I Come!

After that, I guess it's time to find my place in the "real world".
Wish me luck!

Busy, busy BUSY!

I am ALMOST done! I'm almost done teaching already anyway, but I still wouldn't have imagined that these last few weeks could be SO busy. I'm finishing up my big senior capstone paper for resubmition tomorrow, I'm down to 3 more spanish classes & my final, Student Teaching is going to be over sooner than I know (and maybe sooner than I'd like with only about 7 days left!), I will finally be done suffering through my spanish 314 class at ASU, and maybe I'll have a minute to sit down and BREATHE! That is, AFTER Travis & Stef's wedding, the trip involved with that (and the fun yet to be had), and my actual Graduation. :o)

For now I'm still running around like crazy, and working on all I have yet to finish.

The Sweetest Baby

My nephew was born on December 1, 2007. Seth Lee Mcelmurry was welcomed to the world by friends & family, and especially by his proud Auntie Crystal-lynn. I just love this special, beautiful, baby boy. I've been dying to put pictures of him up here since I first started this blogging thing, but now I can. (Because today we celebrated Christmas, and I got a digital camera with computer connectors and everything!) These are pictures from this morning. Isn't he just the cutest!??