Christmas...

We finally had Christmas on Friday. They Meyer Nuthouse was here(my seester's family). It was an adventure as always. We had to, at the request of Rebecca, open presents as soon as they arrived. The pajama pants I sewed for everybody were a hit. Everybody wore them at least once during the weekend(by the way everybody had their own pair, they did not have to share just one pair like the last sentence may have implied!)! After we opened presents, we had a great lasagna dinner. I always get lasagna when I come home, I love it!

Yesterday and today we just hung out mostly. We did make a trip to the grocery store and to Goodwill yesterday. Good times. Last night, most of us played a game all together. It is always fun to spend time with family. We had a lot of laughs.

Today half of the Meyer crew headed back to Madison. I already miss the dog, Divot. Okay, I miss my nephews and brother-in-law too. Divot was a fun addition to our celebration. He was funny because he kept getting on the counter and stealing food. He loved to help "do the dishes" as you can see by the photo of him searching for treats in the dishwasher. I had fun playing pull with him and he took me for a walk yesterday. Yes, I did say that he took me for a walk. I was guided where to go by him and he even pulled me on the ice a few times. Adventures everywhere!

Today has been a quiet day filled with breakfast with family and watching the Packers win! Yipee. It as fun to just lounge around and watch and read my book as the commercials were on. I am currently reading Yes, Man. It is the real life story that the new Jim Carrey movie is based on. I am enjoying it. I do not know why I favor non-fiction, I just do.

Well, not much else going on here. The winter sunsets have been wonderful lately. At work two weeks ago, I made co-workers stop what they were doing and go outside to look at a fabulous sunset. The one here tonight was awesome too and I enjoyed just vegging in front of the computer and taking it in. Pausing and loving life in moments is very fulfilling. Try it sometime.

Well, until later: Cheers!

Meet Gabby!

This is a picture of my cousin's daughter. She made me smile and laugh quite a lot in the last few days. When Shannon told Gabby that she had to get ready to go to Nana and Papa's to go see them and Alice, Gabby said: "Alice won't be there mom, she lives in wonderland and wears a blue shirt." Shannon convinced her that I would be there anyway and it was pretty funny when they arrived and I actually was wearing a blue shirt. Funny thing, it was the only shirt I had with me on the trip at that time. Cool that it was blue. The funnier part of this story was when Shannon was getting Gabby ready to leave Gabby said: "We can't leave mama, people will miss me." Shannon then asked who would miss her to which Gabby responded: "Nana, Papa and Wonderland." This is really the first time ever that I have not been offended by somebody refering to me as Alice in Wonderland because it was just so honest and cute and new. Wonderland is a great name. I may, in fact, legally change it. I won't even keep my last name either because of all the misspellings and I will just go by one name, Wonderland. I will be a part of the elite group of people who go by one name: Madonna, Jewel, Prince, Diddy, etc.

Another cute thing about Gabby is that when she was about one and was being explained the concept of Christmas, she decided that for Jesus' birthday there must be "happy cake." Each year my aunt and uncle buy a cake for Gabby so they can sing Happy Birthday to Jesus and blow out candles for him. I would think this were a weird tradition if the kids weren't involved but I highly enjoyed singing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus yesterday. Here is a picture of the cake:

It was funny to watch as Shannon's other kid, Thomas, tried to blow out the lighter every time Shannon tried to light the candles, which said 2008. We did not help matters by all laughing at him when he tried this. He thought he was pretty funny and kept blowing the candles and lighter out about four times. So cute! I had a lot of fun playing with those kids while being in Green Bay. Really, when it boils down to it, I am sure I was supposed to be in Green Bay early. I honestly believe you are always where you are supposed to be. I really enjoyed seeing my cousin and aunt and uncle and of course seeing my Grandma Rita. It as a nice experience to have them all to myself for a change seeing I usually am sharing them with other family. It was a fun experience.

Enjoy a picture of my cute grandma when I surprised her the other day when my uncle went to pick her up for a hair appointment. She is so cute. I just want to fold her up and carry her everywhere with me in my pocket. Okay, so that is a bit morbid but I would like that thought, if we really could fold people up and carry them everywhere with us.

And here is a picture of the snow across the street from my aunt and uncle's, it was very high:

Well, I am off to have the family Christmas party in a bit. It will be so awesome to see everybody. I like that Christmas gets to be about a week long and not just one day. Good times! Cheers.

Green Bay Times

Today it was snowing. I think it does that a lot around here seeing the snowbanks are about at my waist in most places. Some are so big that the mailboxes look as if they were meant to be held up by the snow. It is weird. So, Utahns, you cannot complain about the little snow you have had so far(yes I know some of you are going: "but we just got six inches the other day"). The total here in Green Bay is about 36" and that is just in December alone! Crazy. I am regretting not bringing boots along.

Many of you did not get the end of my story of my flying adventure. I did get on a flight to Green Bay, obviously. The little ticket counter lady was very nice to me. I thought I would just come here seeing my parents had planned on driving here today. I figured I saved myself a bus ride(the only way to get to Rhinelander last night was to get on a chartered bus) and a car ride. The total of all the driving would have been about five hours. It was a good deal to get on a GB flight seeing that many flights were booked. My aunt and uncle picked me up and took good care of me. I am even without clothes because my luggage went to Rhinelander without me. Apparently, the luggage would fit on the later flights just not the people. My aunt and uncle provided me with pajamas and I just wore the same clothes today. It as nice to have an easy choice when it came to what to wear today! Ha.

I got to surprise my grandma because she thought I would be with my parents today. (The parents have not gotten here btw. They decided not to brave the weather and drive.) I went with my uncle to take my grandma to get her hair done. When she was getting in the car, I said: "Hi, grandma!" Luckily, that did not startle her and she was delighted to see me. Her appointment was in Walmart so it was convenient for me to go and buy a few things that I needed, like deodorant and a few shirts.

My cousin also came to visit with her two kids today. I had a fun time coloring with them and playing. They are so very cute. Unfortunately, I do not have my camera cord so you will not be seeing any pictures until that gets here. I am glad to know where my suitcase is but am frustrated about all the stuff I do not have. Sigh, oh well.

By the way, Happy Christmas. I hope that the warmth of the holiday is settling into your soul. I hope you feel the love of God and how amazing the gift of His son truly is. I hope you know that I know Christ is the Savior and that I also know that he still lives. He not only was born for us but the greatness of his life and the gift of his death was for us. I know that life's journey is all about learning and drawing closer to our Creator through Christ. Please take a moment and reflect on the true meaning of Christmas. I am saddened by the loss of that true meaning of Christmas. Some people might as well just call it Mas, because Christ is lost in all the presents, decorations, and food. I feel so blessed to know my Savior and to celebrate his birth at this time. I hope that all of you have a very merry Christmas and that you are surrounded by love and peace. Cheers!

The Traveling Alice Update

Here is the latest in the long saga. I read my ticket wrong and actually was booked on a flight to rhinelander for tomorrow. That would have made for difficult times because my parents are planning to drive to Green Bay tomorrow. Well I got on a flight going to Green Bay tonight at seven. My wonderful aunt and uncle are going to take me in for the night, saving me a five hour bus ride tonight followed by a two and a half hour car ride tomorrow. This is good news. I am hoping that this next flight will have no problems. If it does, I may just request a flight to Fiji and say sorry family...I got a better offer.

Here is to all of you having the Christmas spirit and to me getting it back! Cheers!

Alice's Hellish Traveling Tales

Here I sit in the Minneapolis Airport. If you were to talk to me about an hour ago, you would have encountered an optimistic traveler who was almost home. See yesterday I was supposed to fly out of Salt Lake and be in Rhinelander at ten last night. Obviously, that did not happen because my flight out of Salt Lake was cancelled due to "flight crew" issues. I was okay with that because I figured the snow was going to make me not fly anyway and I had mentally prepared for spending an extra night with the Bills.

I was excited to get to Minneapolis and see that the weather was clear and that my flight was on schedule. I was then even okay when my flight changed gates. Then I was completely angry when I found out that yet again my flight was cancelled. Looking back on it my mad panic was funny but I was not a happy camper. Luckily, I was quickly booked on a 9:15 flight to Rhinelander because all of the other people who were supposed to be on my flight were told that there were no flights to book them on until Christmas day. There was chaos everywhere and very angry people yelling at the counter lady. The Christmas spirit was high.

So here I sit after calling all the rental car companies and being told they have no cars available and finally accepting my fate to miss the dinner with friends from high school and blogging. Note to self: get pilot's license and a new plane soon!

Break Starts!

Friday was an eventful little day. It was the last day of school before Winter Break. We had a good time during our half day of school. The only class I had was Leadership. I really do love my students. Aren't they cute in their new sweatshirts? Each year it is a tradition at our school that our students are gifted a sweatshirt. For many of the students, it is their only present for the holidays. I really like the design this year. It is actually a zip up which is awesome. It is also not Navy like the twenty other sweatshirts I own.

After the students wrote some letters to former students who now serve in the military(also a tradition at our school), they then headed to the gym or cafeteria for some fun activities. I was over the basketball tournament in the gym. The students could also go watch a movie or play games. It was a fun time.

Then at 11:30 the kids went home. I went to lunch with some of my co-worker friends. At 2, we played a basketball game. We lost and only scored 3 points. It is turning out to be a frustrating season so far. The boys' team won though so that was good.

Last night, I got to go to dinner and a movie with one of my friends that I haven't seen in a few months. It is weird that you can live minutes away from somebody and not see them for months at a time. It was good to catch up.

I saw Four Christmases, which turned out to be a good movie. It is pretty funny. I didn't really love the morals that were taught at the beginning but it was an entertaining movie. I am hoping to watch a few movies while home too. There are always good ones out over the holidays.

Today, I got to sleep in which was glorious. I haven't been doing much of that on Saturdays thanks to basketball. I am about to get ready to head to the school to work on the sewing projects. It should be thrilling. I head out in two days and I am excited. Have a great Saturday!

Sometimes you just have to blog...

We are in Pac-Man right now.  This means I have five students in my Health classroom working on makeup work.  Pac-Man is the new name for OPAC.  OPAC stood for Operation Pass All Classes.  Pac-Man is not the video game but stands for Pass All Classes, MAN!  Silly huh?  But really this new program at our school has helped many of our students get their grades up.  Hopefully, we will see some improvement in our graduation rate as well.

Last night, I did some cleaning and got my laundry done.  I am trying to make my weekend a little less stressful, seeing I have to be ready to head to Wisconsin on Monday. I also have to get some sewing done so I will be a little sewing girl the next few days.  

It is snowing a lot today.  Man, when winter decides to show her pretty little face, she really gets it out there.  I am hoping that it will NOT be snowing on Monday when I head home.  I hate the whole delay stuff.  It does not make me a happy camper.

I really do not have a whole lot to say.  I am excited that today is the last day of real classes and tomorrow is a half day and then I get a two week vacation.  What do I plan to do with my time, you ask?  Well, I really want to spend a lot of time in front of the TV watching movies.  I like to do that.  I would also like to read a book that is always fun.  What else?  Hmmm.  I really haven't gotten that far.  I really do like spending time with my family.  They are cool cats.  I will also love getting to see my little grandma.  She is so cute and funny.  And seeing my favorite aunts and uncles is always good.  (see how I was sly to not say aunt and uncle...you gotta keep your favorites to yourself sometimes.)  

I also have plans to get together with a few of my friends in Wausau.  I have awesome friends all over the globe really.  Okay, so I don't know anybody overseas right now but coming in January I will know somebody in Denmark.  And next summer, I will know somebody living in England.  

I am just rambling.  Do you like these kinds of posts?  

I actually am enjoying the snow lately.  Part of this has to do with the fact that it is still a new thing for me right now.  Usually, by January, I am sick of snow.  I am going to try to be better about not being a hater of snow this year.  Wearing my wonderful pink jacket helps me to feel the love for cold and winter.  I will just have to start wearing it around the clock to have the love.  

I do not love how people drive in the snow, especially the first few snowstorms.  They are dumb...'nough said.

So, what are you getting me for Christmas?  I really would like a Wii.  I played Guitar Hero this morning and got the Wii itch back.  I would also like world peace but really I don't think that will happen for a long time.  Not until the guy we celebrate Christmas for come back at least.  Don't forget about Christ this Christmas.  Unless you are Jewish, then just ignore everything I just said.  I kinda felt like that was sacrilege there.  Really, I love Christmas for the reminder it gives me to be a little more Christlike.  I sometimes struggle with being nice to people.  Especially those that I find to have less of an IQ than I have.  Like those idiot drivers and my silly neighbors who still throw trash onto the law hoping the garbage fairy will come and take it to the dumpster.  Maybe I just need to carry a handful of candy around to throw at people.  Maybe that is not a good idea because even a nice gesture like candy can be ruined if you totally hit the person in the head hard!  I know that with drivers and neighbors that is exactly what would happen.  Then I would start buying bigger and heavier candy and would probably then be in the Utah County Jail instead of Rhinelander, Wisconsin for the holidays and I really don't want that.  

I would also accept any kind of iTunes gift cards.  I am addicted that that little iPod.  His name is Iggy and he pretty much is my husband.  Okay, so not really because that is sick and wrong but really I love him.  If he were a man I totally would marry him.  Don't tell my bike though, he will be jealous.

Really, you don't have to buy me a present.  Your presence is present enough for me.  Hopefully, I will get to see you this holiday season. If not, I really hope it is good for you.  I am hoping you also get to be surrounded by loved ones because that is really what the season is for.  I feel bad for people who are far from their families and don't get to celebrate properly.  I really am a blessed person and don't need anything.  Really, I have so much.  A good job, a warm(well at least everywhere but my room) place to sleep, enough food to eat(actually too much food), a car to get me places, great and I mean amazingly great friends, an education, mad driving skills, a testimony of my Savior(which is the most important thing and which brings me so many of the things that I am blessed with), a calmness(see previous), and many many many many many more blessings.  

So, instead of focusing on the things you want and lack this Christmas, reflect on the things that you do have and how blessed you are.  

Well, gotta head to teach.  I am not editing this right now so excuse any of the mistakes.  Later!

Two Days!

Well, well, well, here you are reading my blog again. I am picturing you sitting by a warm fire with hot chocolate in one hand and the computer right next store. It is finally winter. We have been having some wonderful warmer weather the past week or so. I have loved it. There was no snow here until this past Saturday. Now it is cold, cold, cold. I pretty much just feel like shutting down and laying on my couch under a blanket in front of the TV every night.

I did managed to convince a couple friends to go out into the cold with me on Monday night and partake of the lights at Temple Square in Salt Lake. It was so fun. I love that place, even if there are less lights than usual this year. My ward had a little get together with hot chocolate and donuts. I still don't know many people in the ward so it was awkward as always but it was well worth it to have some yummy hot chocolate and donuts.

We had our work party yesterday. It is weird to think that it is almost Christmas. I really keep thinking that it is still November. It is weird. Time is going by very fast these days.

Tomorrow is the last day we have real classes. Then on Friday we have our traditional half day where the kids go to their leadership class to start the day and write letters to military personal. Then they go and play in the gym and other areas of the school and then get sweatshirts as their Christmas gift(which to some of them is the only present they get) and then they head home. I like that day. We also have basketball games that afternoon. It will be a good day.

It really breaks my heart that these kids don't have stuff and really often don't even look forward to break because of it. One of my basketball players actually got caught shoplifting because she wanted to have presents for her family. It breaks my heart! I wish I were rich and could give them presents. Oh well. I guess the love will have to do it!

Well. Off to finish laundry. Have a great day or night!

Temple Square

Enjoy some pics from Temple Square.  The lights were pretty as always and I had great company.  I must go teach so more later!

SNOWY

Hi. This will be pretty short because I am being very lazy and am also very tired. I am about to head to bed and it is only ten o'clock. Go me!

This weekend was a very busy one which made it go very fast. Friday night, we had an away game for basketball. We lost but my team is improving so very much. I felt a little sick, so I just went to my house and slept on the couch at about ten when everything was done. Saturday morning we had another game. The girls again lost and it was a disappointing one because I truly think that if they were to play like they do in practice, they would have been able to pull off a win.

After the games were done on Saturday, I headed down to Lynndyl, Utah to spend some time with my friend, Moo. The drive was atrocious because of the snowy weather but we made it safe and sound. Unfortunately, it took twice the time it usually does to get there but we had plenty of time to eat good food and play games. It was a fun weekend down there. The favorite librarian came with me too. We got back to Provo about five this afternoon.

I spent tonight on the couch in front of the TV like most nights. It was nice to take a little nap and just chill.

Tomorrow starts the four and a half days of work before I go home. I am a bit excited for it. Awesomeness. I still have a lot of work to do on the presents for everybody. I hope I get get it all done before leaving.

I wish I would have taken some pics from the weekend to post on here but I don't have any. It was a pretty snow and I was actually excited for the storm. I wish I could keep that excitement throughout the whole season. Unfortunately, by the second storm I am already done with the snow and cold. At least I have a nice new coat that I love to wear and that makes my attitude toward the weather much better! Maybe I will take a quick picture of it to show you all. You will love it!

Have a great night and a good Monday!

Bored at Conferences.

I am writing this as I sit in the weight room at school for Parent-Teacher Conferences.  I have had about fifteen parents show up, and over three and a half hours that isn't much.  I have been pretty bored, actually.  I hope you enjoy the pic of me in the weight room.  I did get to have a fabulous dinner provided by the school so that is a bonus.  I do not know if it really makes up for the boredness.

I did have an awesome conference with one of the kids in my leadership class and her mom.  She has basically changed her story since coming to Independence.  Last year, she would hardly ever talk and she failed nearly every class.  This term she is passing on her classes and working on some make-up packets to catch up.  She is also so vocal and just cheery.  She basically said that I was a part of her motivation because I have gotten up in front of class and shared things and encouraged each student to be more open and not care what other people think of them.  It was very sweet to hear this come out of her mouth! :)  

Attitude truly is everything.  This year has been amazing at school thanks to me having a more patient and loving attitude.  I also have tried to remain positive.  (Granted, I am not always great at it!)

I did not sew at all during conferences.  I didn't think it would be too good of an idea.  I have done some grading and lots of wandering.  I am glad tomorrow is Friday but it will be a busy weekend again.  We have an away game tomorrow night and then a game here on Saturday.  Then I am heading down to Deltaish.  That means close to Delta, Utah but I can't remember how to spell where I am really going! 

Goodnight!

MIDWEEK!

"Hi....Happy Midweek!" I say that a lot to my classes on Wednesdays.

Today was kinda Blah! Just another day. I worked and that was cool.

After work, I worked on some sewing. I am making my family their Christmas gifts this year. I have not sewn since 8th grade. It is pretty much an exciting and new experience. I am getting better as I go, which is good. In the time it took me to do three projects tonight, the home ec. teacher finished about seven. Crazy. Slow is good though. With each stitch, love is pouring intp these presents.

Tomorrow is Parent-Teacher Conferences. This means it will be a really, really, really long day for me. Sometimes it is boring because not many parents show up. I have plans to set up a sewing machine in the weight room so I can sew in between visits.

Not much else here. I think that will be it for now. Only 11 days and I fly home. YIPEE!!

Sharing is Caring!

I love my job. I was just driving across town and I actually was almost in tears because I thought about how lucky I am to be coaching The Independence High Girls' Basketball Team this year! The group of ladies I am working with this year really are special and have so much potential both on and off the court. Today, they showed great leadership as they made the decision to not let one of the former teammates continue to play because she has missed a lot of practice and a few games, is not doing well in classes, and is not being honest. We had a little team meeting and they came up with good reasons not to let this girl play anymore. I then told them that I was not going to give this news to said girl because it was not my decision but theirs. I was so impressed with their leadership skills as they calmly communicated with this girl.

Well, I have been meaning to write a post requesting something of my readers. This is not something that I am expecting from each of you but if any of you are feeling charitable and would like to sponsor one of my wonderful basketball players, there is a need for your help. Each of the girls has to pay 50 dollars to play. A few of them can afford this, most of them cannot. Today I told them that I would like to have at least 25 dollars from each of them. One was very worried about just 25 dollars.

Anyway, for safety issues, if you would like to sponsor basketball player in need please shoot an email to: softballrita@gmail.com and then I will send you details of how to send the check. I just worry a bit about safety on here. Also, this would totally count as a charitable contribution so it is totally qualifies for a tax deduction. Yipee! Any amount would help by the way. Do not think you have to sent the whole amount to sponsor a girl!

Thanks guys. I truly believe programs like this help the troubled youth! :)

I Love Fridays!!!

I do have a pretty great job. Not only do I get to wear basketball
shorts and a t-shirt everyday to work but I also get to wear jeans on
Fridays. Sweet deal!

This has been an extremely good week. My students so far seem to be
stellar this year. I love when my job is easy because they do so well.
I was talking to another teacher this morning and I mentioned how I
have not made countdown chains to Christmas Break this year because
the time is going so fast that I have not even thought about it.
Crazy. Maybe basketball has kept me so busy that time is flying.

I will be pretty busy this weekend thanks to basketball. My girls play
tonight and again tomorrow morning. I will also be working on
Christmas presents for my family. It is kinda weird that I am going
all out and sewing. Weird.

Well, I must finish my day as teacher Alice. Happy Friday everybody!

Free Dinner is Definitely a Highlight

Time seems to be going very fast this past week. Tomorrow is already Thursday. Fantastic.

I think today will be summed up in a list. Here is what happened today:

1. Woke up at 5. I usually get up at 6:30, but because I went to bed early last night, I think my body decided it had the normal amount of sleep an hour earlier.

2. Got ready for work. The usual: shower, read scriptures, eat Frosted Mini-Wheats, watch Sportscenter.

3 . Went to Smiths to get eye drops. One of my eyes just freaked out this morning.

4. Drove to work. It takes about three minutes to do so, I am very glad for that seeing I was late, late, late.

5. Taught for seven hours. I like my kids this year. Highlight was my Boys' PE class. They were so very funny today. I don't know how to explain it. They were just silly and funny. Two in the morning humor explains it. Low point was when one of my students came to get work to take with him because his step-dad had died of a heart attack earlier in the day. My heart went out to him. He is one of my favorite students. He reminds me of my nephew Kris! I told him that he seemed to be taking it well but I thought he was just keeping his real emotions in because he was a boy and he said that was true. I then asked him if I could give him a hug and he said, "please." It was cute and sweet.

6. Exercised with a student. Two of my students and I have been doing the P90X exercises. We worked our arms and shoulders today. It was intense.

7. Went to the Provo Temple. I had a hard time focusing. I was sleepy for the first part and then I really had to go to the bathroom because I had drunk lots of water after exercising.

8. Went to Smokehouse for pizza and macaroni. It ended up being free because they burned our pizza and it took a long time to get the second ones cooked. Nice! MBC was with me.

9. Came home and talked with my friend, Marla, from back home. We are very excited for the holidays and being able to spend time with each other. I also called Kerri and we chatted for a few minutes. I really do have great friends.

10. Checked Facebook and blogged. Exciting isn't it?

11. Now I will head to bed. I like my bed!

Friends are Awesome!

My friend, Becky, heard that I did not have a Christmas tree and she decided to pack her five kids up and drive to Provo from Manti to deliver me a fabulous little tree.  I was so happy to see her and her family.  It had been five years.  Becky and I were roommates at Utah State and she really is one of my favorite people on the planet.  Her kids are also so very cute.  It was fun to have five little ones in my apartment and they were also very well behaved!!!!  I love the pick of Andrew and my sunglasses.  It is a classic!

I don't have much else to say.  Still getting over the fun of the holidays and trying to get back in the swing of things.  Luckily, my students rock and are doing as they should be today!  Yipee.