Stick Figure

Some of my students decided to draw me a picture haha they know me so well!

Sad Day

Today was my last day of student teaching. I honestly didn't think it would be that hard to walk away from it, but I'm actually really kind of depressed about the whole thing. I have come to love my kids so much, and they have helped me learn alot of things that I will take with me as I continue teaching. The kids were all pretty sad to say goodbye today, they kept telling me that I had to go back and visit them alot next semester. I'll definitely try to make it down there a few times to check up on them and make sure they aren't giving Mr. Olsen a bad time! Haha, I sent around a notebook and told them that if they wanted to write me a note they could. . . here are some of the classic remarks I got

"We need to ball it up cause I would own you in basketball. Haha"

"Mrs. Gibbons, you're a Gangster!" I don't know what that is supposed to mean, but I found it hilarious!

"You are a balla! Thanks for helpin me with math!"

"Thnx for teaching math so I understand"

"Boo BYU sucks!!!" haha

"I am the guardian of the sacred words, NI, PING and NEWEN" LOL I have no idea what this is but it's funny!

"Hey guess what....................................... YOU ROCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (ha sorry to make it long)"

"I can't believe you are leaving me, I think I might shed a tear for you! I know how much your going to miss me so its okay if you don't express it vocally if you don't want to. . . but if your heart desires it you can." haha stated by one of my favorite kids

"I freaking love you, you are so awesome. I am so going to miss you. Come back and visit some time (I will make you a cake) you rock!"

"Thanks a ton for the wonderful teaching you provided for us. I love your personality in teaching us."

"Why are you so cruel?!?! WHy are you leaving us?!?!?" Haha, this class kept telling me that I hated them because I was leaving them

"Thanks so much for being a great teacher. You don't know how frustrated math was for me, but I feel a ton better and now that my grades in math have changed a ton, my parents are happy too! I hope I see you again. Continue with what you're doing"

"Some people are like slinkys, not really good for anything, but they bring a smile to your face when you push them down the stairs :) Don't worry Mrs. Gibbons, your not one of those people!" Ha

"Mrs. Gibbons guess what? I am better than you at basketball!"

"Mrs. Gibbons, I know you loved me and that you will never forget that!"

"I LOVE the way you teach! It's made math a lot easier for me this year. I'm very sorry for sometimes disrupting your class!" Said by another one of my favorite kids

This last one is written by a girl who was in my toughest class. When I first started teaching I seriously thought this girl was out to hate me. She was really tough in class and wouldn't shut her mouth for more then 2 minutes at a time. She was super disruptive and straight up belligerent with me at times. I remember driving home one day after school and thinking how much I disliked this particular student, and that I didn't care if she hated me. I feel bad now for having thought those things about her. I kept working hard to try and make her feel comfortable in class and to help her in any way I could even though I knew she didn't care. Eventually things turned around and she actually started paying attention in class and her behavior improved a ton. I had had a few conversations with her mom about her behavior in class, so when she started getting better I called her mom and told her how much I appreciated her daughter. Her mom told me that was the first time she'd ever had a good phone call about her daughter. Sad to say I wasn't surprised, but I was grateful that I had made the call. After that this girl was never a problem in my class and we actually became pretty tight. This is what she wrote to me

"Thank you so much for teaching us! I really appreciate it! I'm sorry I wasn't very nice sometimes and I was loud, but that's just what kids do! :) You really are a really great teacher. You're going to be a good teacher when you find a school! I'll always remember you cuz I have NEVER had such good grades in math in my whole life and YOU helped that happen! You are a great teacher! Love your favorite student"

And that's why I love my job

Jared's Website

So the past couple of weeks have been extremely busy for Jared. This past weekend he spent an entire day programming his website. He's not completely finished with it yet, but here is a link if you want to check it out

www.jaredgibbons.com

It's a place where he can post his portfolio and show off the different projects he's been working on. Way to go babe, so proud of you!!

Thanksgiving Week

What a week we've had! Jared and I got to spend part of the week in STG with my family and then we spent yesterday and today up here in P-town with Jared's family, so we got the best of both worlds. Here's a brief run down of the week. . .

Monday- Jared and I got to watch our nephew Drake (a.k.a Drool Bucket, Mr. Big, Biggie, Poopy Face, Big Little etc.) for the whole day. It was kind of fun to play parents until he started blowing out his diapers with large amounts of nasty poop! Overall it was very fun though!





Have you ever seen a cuter baby then this kid?!

Tuesday- It was Jared's Birthday! We celebrated with birthday dinner in his honor. . . BBQ Beef sandwiches and spice cake! Then he got to open presents. He got a pretty stash this year. Of course my dad got him a tool set, which Jared loved, and I got him a few other things to open, just random stuff. . . see pics below



Kind of ironic that you would need a screw driver to get into the tool kit!


Some of his favorite treats and then an inside joke with the Lego set!




Wednesday- My parents, Jared and I all woke up really sick, which was a freakin bummer. We all had flu symptoms and we didn't do much of anything except lay around and try not to move.

Thursday- Since we had all been sick the day before we didn't know if we'd even have Thanksgiving Dinner. Luckily when we woke up we were all feeling better so we had a relaxing day with a full blown turkey dinner that night. Jared and I scored great with the leftovers since it was just the four of us. (We didn't want to pass our sickness on to anybody else so my Whit's family didn't come over) My dad, the gem, put up christmas lights for my mom so we had a lighting ceremony after dinner.

Friday- My mom wanted to go door busting with me and Jared, but we wanted nothing to do with it! Instead we slept in for a while and then went over to my sister's house to hang out for a little while before heading back to Provo. Whit had an extra Christmas Tree (a fake one) so she gave it to us and we packed it up in the car and cruised home. We headed up to SLC and met Jared's family at some shops. We found some cool ornaments there. I got a basketball one, of course, and Jared got a cute little snowman. We all went to a movie later, that 2012 movie. It was. . . interesting, and I'll leave it at that! On the way home from Salt Lake, Jared and I stopped at a Wal Mart and got some more ornaments so we could decorate out tree!

Saturday- We went out to lunch with Jared's parents and Mikell. When we got home we decided to go to the mall since Jared had some birthday money to spend. He totally lucked out and got a pair of jeans, two dress shirts and a nice tie for only 100 bucks!! We watched the BYU vs. Utah game, and can I just say that Max Hall is seriously the most inconsistent QB! He seriously drives me crazy, but at least they won. . . miracle. . .


Our cute tree!


Observe: Jared is wearing Vans!! Also, his tie is amazing (I picked it out!)


He was so excited to show me his new outfit, looking pretty good baby


My sweet basketball ornament!


My hair is short! I got it cut a few weeks ago, but these are the first pictures I've taken with the new cut. It's grown on me, I like it now.

Happy Birthday!!

I happened to be blog stalking one of my sister's friend and on the birthday of loved ones, this girl happens to list off 100 things about the birthday girl/boy. . . I thought that was a great idea and since it happens to be the birthday of my most favorite person in the world, I figured I'd do the same! So here's 100 things about Jared

1- He was a super cute baby/little boy (I've seen pictures!)
2- He ran cross country in high school
3- He only went to one school dance
4- He is the youngest boy in his family
5- He gets along with all of his siblings
6- He doesn't loose his temper very often (but look out when he does! ha, just kiddin babe)
7- He refuses to drive more then 5 mph over the legal speed limit
8- He is obsessed with riding his bikes. . . road bike and mountain bike
9- He loves to do things outside
10- He likes to go trail running
11- He has a fetish for sweater vests
12- He has smelly feet
13- He can't stand showering in hot water
14- He is extremely patient in almost all situations
15- He is a hard worker
16- He likes to hold my hand
17- He has a cute laugh, and if he laughs really hard his eyes start to water
18- He swears by Miracle Whip (which causes problems in our household since I don't touch the stuff!)
19- He likes to watch HGTV with me
20- He reads his scriptures every morning, and gets up extra early to do it
21- He rides his bike to school every day so I can take the car
22- He has a fun sense of humor
23- He likes to watch movie trailers on the Apple website
24- He always tells me about the cool things he learns at class everyday
25- He leads by example
26- He is the most considerate person I know
27- He loves wearing Chacos, even when it's freezing outside
28- He loves to snowboard
29- He is sad that his brother Blake moved away so they can't go skiing together this winter
30- He will eat anything I make
31- He tells me I'm beautiful almost every single day
32- He has very long eyelashes
33- He has very light green eyes
34- He loves spending time with his family
35- He loves our niece and nephews
36- He always makes our bed every morning
37- He does the dishes without being asked
38- He's OCD about vacuuming
39- He makes sure to spend time with me even though he is SO FREAKIN BUSY this semester
40- He refuses to go to the gym. . . he thinks its lame
41- He went to school in Hawaii for a year before his mission
42- He served his mission in Vera Cruz Mexico
43- He likes to speak Spanish whenever he gets the opportunity
44- He makes funny noises when we are by ourselves
45- He is really good at ultimate frisbee
46- He is not so good at any other sport that requires coordination
47- He is a good listener
48- He doesn't like being in large groups
49- He doesn't like being the center of attention
50- He thinks before he says anything
51- He can be very stubborn sometimes
52- He pays attention to detail
53- He is somewhat of a handy man
54- He is amazing at graphic design
55- He is very humble and doesn't give himself enough credit for the amazing things he does
56- He has to wear glasses sometimes
57- He likes to sing to songs even though he doesn't know the words
58- He talks to himself when he's working on his designs
59- He talks to the TV at times. . .
60- He can't stand "Utah" drivers
61- He gives himself haircuts
62- He has a cowlick on the back of his head that makes his hair stick up like a five year old! haha
63- He doesn't like to dance
64- He doesn't like confrontation
65- He is quick to apologize
66- He usually has something to say about everything
67- He is a happy person
68- He loves to eat chips and salsa
69- He loves to get his back scratched
70- He is very picky about his ties
71- He doesn't like to go shopping
72- He is picky about shirts/shorts/shoes/pants etc. which is why he doesn't like to go shopping (and why I can't stand to go shopping with him!)
73- He checks the weather about 10 times a day
74- He is very loyal to his friends and family
75- He is a good writer
76- He is dependable and follows through on his word
77- He has bowed legs
78- He can't stand fo-hawks and thinks all boys who have them are dumb
79- He doesn't wear cologne, but he still smells really good
80- He will forever be skinny. . . he hasn't gained an ounce since we started dating and I feed him all the time!
81- He gets into these design frenzies where he'll bust out a huge project in just a couple of hours
82- He is a strong person and handles stress well
83- He makes everyday a good day
84- He is a very optimistic person
85- He doesn't let his frustrations linger
86- He is someone that people can count on to get things done
87- He is easy to talk to
88- He always gives me a kiss goodbye
89- He is very kind and genuine
90- He almost got kidnapped when he was 7
91- He is going to be a very good dad
92- He wants to have 10 kids ha
93- He is ambitious and excited about the future
94- He is very talented and good at everything
95- He is always considerate about my feelings and wants me to be happy
96- He always looks really cute in the morning
97- He likes to tell stories
98- He is goofy and doesn't care
99- He tries to help me cook and it cracks me up since he's a pot watcher
100- He is the best husband/son/brother/uncle ever!

The Latest

The past couple of weeks have been a bit crazy for Jared and I. As the semester is coming closer to the end, Jared's school has gotten extremely busy, and I've been getting more antsy to get done with my student teaching. As much as I love teaching, and my students, I'm still looking forward to being done with it. I haven't anticipated a Thanksgiving break as much as this year!! Jared has been designing some pretty cool stuff. He's in the process of creating a website where he'll post his portfolio, so when he gets it finished we'll let everybody know. Other items of importance that have happened

- I chopped off a couple of inches of my hair (sorry no pictures yet) I haven't had it this short since high school, but now that I'm used to it, I really like it.

- Jared bought his very first pair of VANS the other day, it is truly a miracle!!! :)

- Some of my kids in Geometry class figured out my first name, and now think it's the funniest thing in the world to call me "Ms. Stacie" outside the classroom

- I played in a Faculty vs. Students flag football game yesterday at school yesterday and I totally juked some of the 9th grade boys so now they think I'm cool

- I beat some kids in a friendly game of Horse the other day after school, so I'm know known as a "Baller" with the boys basketball team

- Jared's birthday is coming up on Tuesday, so I went shopping and got him a pair of jeans, a shirt and a tie. . . I'm really lame and couldn't wait to give it to him so I already let him have it even though the big day isn't till next week!

- I'm playing intramural volleyball with some other couples in our ward (Jared was lame and decided he didn't want to play with us!) its been really fun so far, we're playing in the tournament now and it's going well!

- I got called into the Relief Society presidency in our ward a couple of weeks ago. It was a little overwhelming at first because I felt like I didn't know anybody, but it's really been fun and I've liked getting to know more people.

- Jared has been checking the weather religiously the past week (like seriously 10 times a day!) and he loves to tell me about some mountain in Washington that "Already has 4 feet of snow!!!!!!!" (I honestly don't care all that much about snow, in fact I actually hate it, so it's funny to me that he still has to give me the weather update every half hour!)


Anyway, I've been having flashbacks to high school basketball days since the college basketball season has started and I've been watching lots of games. I decided to pull out some of my old high school pictures, and here are a few of the good ones I have. . . Ha, we were so tiny! Most of us are married now, and a few already have kids. It's crazy to think how much has changed since we were at good ol' PV


We were definitely a goofy group!!


Our varsity team, I was #5


I have huge hands, but it's still freakin hard to palm two balls at the same time!



Playin some D


At a tournament in Arizona


Haha, that's my game face!


Three Ball!


Warmin up


We always went on a team hike at Zion National Park every year

Oh man good times with all my girls! Sometimes I wish I could go back for like a week, ha I probably couldn't handle all the drama much longer then that! It's crazy how basketball consumed my life during high school, but I really wouldn't trade it for anything. The things I've learned from playing on a team has made me such a better person.

(Haha, I'm going back through these pictures and I was seriously so HUGE in high school. . . I've probably lost 20 pounds since I graduated, and now I have no muscle and I'm a wimp!)

Crazy Videos!

Haha, these are old videos of Jared and I. . . we are weird!


As you can see, I am very obsessed with Guitar Hero. . . I even played it one time last year with my headphones in so I wouldn't disturb my roomies who were "supposedly" studying. . . Kell caught me on video


The one and only time you'll ever see Jared dance. . . totally worth it!

For Poots

Jared and I are not the kind of people that go all out for Holidays. . . Jared doesn't even like to dress up for Halloween (sad i know) which means we really didn't have any big plans for this Halloween. The only family tradition that I can even remember regarding Halloween was doing "Dinner in a Pumpkin" every year. Don't worry, it's not like we really cook our dinner in the pumpkin, my mom would make stew and then put foil in a carved out pumpkin so we could serve the soup from it. Anyway, I didn't think it was that of a deal, or technically even a tradition, at least not until I got a nasty message from my dear big sister who told me I was a disgrace to the family if I didn't carry on the tradition of dinner in a pumpkin (ha jk Whit, it really wasn't that nasty and I know you still love me!) Funny thing was, Jared and I had gone to the store just that morning to get some groceries and I had bought the ingredients to get soup because I thought a nice hot dinner during this cold fall of doom sounded nice. Anyway I called my sister back and she convinced me that I needed to buy a pumpkin so we could have dinner out of it. . . So here's some pictures for you Poots, hope you are happy I have carried on the family "tradition"!


My amazing pumpkin carving skills!


Jared's version of "artistic photography" which in reality is just a bad angle of my face!


Dinner is served!





He looks so happy about it baha :)


Jared being geeky


Me being geeky


I don't like carrots

Monster Mash

This is awesome and hilarious. . . starring Jared, Stacie, Whit, Weave and baby Drake!

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

This is video is what happens my cute husband gets bored. . . lol

Fridays. . .

When I was in middle/high school I lived for Fridays. There was always something to look forward to on Friday night, whether it was a game, a party, or just hangin out with a few friends, there was always somethin fun going on. School always seemed to drag on those days, but luckily our school was amazing and we were let out at 12:40 pm on Fridays which we all loved.

Now that I'm back in a middle school (in a completely different role obviously) I wish that our school let us out at 12:40 on Fridays. Not only would it be great for the kids, it would be great for the teachers too. . . This past Friday was a crazy one in my 6th period class. 6th period is my "tough" class to begin with, but Friday turned the kids into little crazies! I seriously couldn't get them to settle down the whole class period and there are only 16 kids in the whole entire class! Haha there were a couple of funny moments though. . .

At one point I asked the kids a question, don't remember what it was, but as I was asking the question I folded my arms and kinda leaned against an empty desk. One girl stands up and imitates my posture and says

"Mrs. Gibbons, why do you fold your arms like this? It makes you look like a Gansta"

Haha, I dunno why I thought it was so funny, but at the time it was just hilarious!

A few minutes later they were starting to get a little out of control and so I had to quiet them down, and I said something like, "I can definitely tell it's a Friday." and this kid says something like, "I know Mrs. Gibbons, how can you expect an entire class of attention disabled kids to function normally on a Friday?" haha, I shouldn't have thought this was funny but it really cracked me up, they just say the most random and funny things sometimes, I don't even understand!

Anyway, those are my funny moments from this past week, gotta love ninth graders. Jared and I have been staying pretty busy though. Jared's classes are starting to get very busy and he has been working on projects non-stop for the past two weeks or so. I feel bad that he has so much to do in his classes, but then I recall how busy I was during my semester of classes and I don't feel as bad for him, at least he's taking fun classes, try taking multiple upper level mathematics theory class (aka, a proofs class of doom!) in one semester. . . it's not fun! We didn't do a whole lot this weekend. We watched some of the BYU game, but I am ashamed to call myself a fan of that football team, they straight up pathetic I tell you! Who gets beat like that at home?? They drive me crazy!

Ha, we got a little reprimanded at church today by our bishop. For the past couple of weeks we have been a late to church (our ward starts at 8:30 am, so its really not that hard to be late!) which is mostly my fault because it takes me way longer to get ready than Jared, but we stayed up till midnight last night so you can't really blame me can you?? Anyway, we got to church and luckily there were several other couples there who were late as well so we didn't have to walk in late alone. Sacrament meeting was good, but towards the end, our bishop got up and told us all that we needed to make a better effort to be on time to our meetings on time and all that.

Anyway that's about it, we're just havin fun here in P-town

Fall Break

For the first time since being at BYU, I actually had a Fall Break!! Thank goodness for student teaching, and for having my schedule on line with the public schools! I got to spend the long weekend down in STG with my family. It was great because my grandma was in town from Ohio and I hadn't seen her since my wedding back in May. We spent most of the time just hanging out at home, making good food, and playing with my sister's baby. He's such a cute kid, except he smells like spit up all the time! His favorite thing to do is puke everywhere!

The little chow hound

Haha, I love his little pot belly

and the fact that even though a huge box of toys,

he'd rather play with books

Pictures!

Well here they are. . .

This is my "nerd" day get up!

This is "Hero" Day. . . haha

I went as a Guitar Hero of course!

And this was "Clash" Day

My kids got a kick out of

my shorts!

Jared's run in with the tree left him with

a bloody head. . . ouch!

Sweet!

Ha, the last couple of weeks I've been thinking alot about high school and all the fun times I had with my friends (most of the memories involve my basketball girls!). I think this is due to the fact that I am around middle/high school kids all the time now. Anyway, I'd been thinking about all of these friends I have, who all happen to be married and having babies, and wishing I knew what was happening in their lives. . . Thank goodness for blogging! I didn't used to blog all that much, but I dunno, ever since we got married I've gotten way more into it, and tonight I happened to blog stalk into like 8 of my closest friends from high school! I know Jared thinks I'm crazy for staying up late to catch up with everybody's lives, but I was just so stoked about it!

Just a quick update. . . this week was spirit week at our school and I've dressed up for "nerd" day so far and tomorrow I plan on participating in "hero" day. . . I've got a good one for that! The kids have all been fun about it though, they crack me up so much! Jared had a bad run in with a tree yesterday that left him with a gash on his head. Don't worry there will be pictures coming soon of all the events of this past week!

Tidbits About Us

I saw this question survey thing on one of my friends blog and decided it would be fun to fill it out!

1. What are your middle names? Wade and Joyce

2. How long have you been together? Well we started dating about a year ago and we've been married for 4 months now

3. How long did you know each other before you started dating? Um. . . I think it was like a week and a half. Although we technically didn't go on our first date until a week or so later (Jared put his arm around me one night and he considers that the night we started dating)

4. Who asked who out? After we had started dating, Jared admitted that he wanted to ask me out right after we had met for the first time, but he chickened out and he waited until after we cuddled to ask me out officially! (I rail him about this regularly!)

5. Who made the first move? I would say it was somewhat mutual, Jared would say he made the first move

6. Did you go to the same school? Yep, we have the same boring BYU story as everybody else!

7. Are you from the same home town? Nope, Jared is from Yakima Washington and I'm from STG

8. Who is the smartest? We are smart in completely different ways. . . I'm good at math and Jared is good at design. . . I'm probably more book smart, but Jared is more street smart. . . I know how to cook, Jared knows how to make me happy (meaning he is really good at cleaning! ha)

9. Who majored in what? I'm finishing up my Bachelor's in Math Education and Jared just got into the Graphic Design program (Way to go babe!)

10. Who is the most sensitive? I am just a girl, so that automatically makes me more sensitive, but Jared is very sensitive about my feelings and for how he treats me

11. Where do you eat out most as a couple? We actually don't eat out that much, but we both like Tucanos

12. Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple? We went on a Caribbean cruise this summer which was amazing!

13. Who has the worst temper? I dunno, we both get bugged at things, but we can't stay bugged at each other for more then 5 minutes

14. How many children do you want? Jared wants 10 but we're only going to have 2 (haha just kidding babe, maybe we can have 4, how's that?)

15. Who does the cooking? I really like to cook so I do it most of the time. Jared makes breakfast more often though

16. Who is more social? Me

17. Who is the neat-freak? Jared

18. Who is the most stubborn? We are both really stubborn when we want to be

19. Who wakes up earlier? Ugh, I do!

20. Where was your first date? Ha, neither of us even remember! That is sad

21. Who has the bigger family? Jared does, he's got 2 brothers and 2 sisters. . . I've only got 2 brothers and 1 sister

22. Do you get flowers often? I'm not the kind of girl that needs or even wants flowers, they just die! But he's gotten me flowers a few times and he's really cute about it :)

23. How do you spend the holidays? We haven't been married long enough to know yet. . . When we were dating we did Thanksgiving in STG, and I went up to Yakima for part of the Christmas break

24. Who is more jealous? We've never given each other a reason to be jealous

25. How long did it take to get serious? Not super long, it was kind of a crazy situation when we were dating because I had a mission call and was planning on doing that before I met him. . . But I'd say it was a couple of months maybe

26. Who eats more? Jared eats like a horse!

27. What do you do for a living? I am student teaching this semester so I'm not working alot, but I do private tutoring and work for one of my professors a little bit each week. Jared does graphic design for one of the departments on campus.

28. Who does/did the laundry? We trade off

29. Who’s better with the computer? We are both pretty savvy, but I'll give this one to Jared

30. Who drives when you are together? Jared does, but he drives like a grandpa!!!

31. What is "your" song? "Everything" by Lifehouse

Field Trip

Well today I had my first taste of school activities from the perspective of a teacher. Today there was a little field trip for all those kids who have good citizenship. . . it was going to be epic, an amazing visit to the IMAX Theater at Thanksgiving Point where the kids got to watch a dinosaur movie! Turns out the movie wasn't all that cool, but the rest of the trip was pretty funny. I volunteered to go as a chaperone (or whatever you want to call it) so that other "real" teachers could stay with their classes since today was only for the 9th graders who were eligible to go. Anyway, I was in charge of Bus 5. . . which happened to be deemed the party bus, and let me tell ya, we were rockin the whole time! Bahaha, just imagine me, another student teacher, forty five crazy 9th grade kiddos and one very cool bus driver! So we get on the freeway to head up to Thanksigivng Point and Bob the bus driver pops a CD in and out blasts "Eye of the Tiger" I honestly didn't know if the kids would hear it over their chatter, but not 10 seconds later, all 45 of them start belting out the lyrics at the top of their lungs!! LOL it was seriously so funny, me and my friend (the other student teacher) were laughing so hard, it was great! The next song was "We are the Champions" and we were treated to some very dramatic karaoke routines by the girls on the bus. Oh man, totally made my whole day, I couldn't stop laughing, they were so funny.

On the way home Brittney Spears came on and I was very surprised at how many boys were hitting the notes "I must confess, I still believe, still believe!" Haha, overall in my opinion the movie was worthless, but being on the Party Bus made the whole trip!

Photoshop. . .

So I'll be honest, I think photoshop is a pretty sweet little program. And I'll admit that I use it quite a bit because I just like fiddling with all the cool gadgets on there. Well this afternoon I came across this video (there is a link you can click on the word "video") and it actually made me a little sick. If you don't want to take the time to watch it, here's the reader's digest version. . . Nothing you see in a magazine or on a billboard is real. I'd heard of it all before, how pictures of models are all airbrushed and how they can take off extra pounds and whatnot, but I'd never seen it in action before until today. It seriously makes me so sad how people (especially women) compare themselves to something fake and will literally kill themselves to try and look like the things (I can't even call them models because they are so fake) in the magazines and in movies. . .

Well being the photoshopper that I am, I decided to see what I could do some pictures

Before

By the way, my nephew

is the cutest kid ever!!

After

Hmm. . . lost about 10 pounds

Got a nice nose job

Cheek implants as well

and I have smooth skin

Before

After

About the same as above

Before

After

It's amazing how loosing

some pounds makes you look

a whole lot taller as well

Haha, poor Jared thought I was having self esteem problems when he saw what I was doing on photoshop, and I'd be lying if I said the "Before" shot Stacie looks better then the "After" shot Stacie, but I could honestly care less about trying to be something I'm not. Yeah I'm just like every other girl who wishes they could change something about themselves (I happen to be cursed with a German nose from my mom's side of the family!) but it's not worth it to me to constantly compare myself to other people. If I am on a downer, I like to remind myself about the things I like about my appearance. . . green eyes, long dark eyelashes (which means I get away without mascara whoot!), somewhat straight teeth, dark hair, a proportional body etc.

I don't know what this post is really about, but I just hope people can be confident in their own skin, and not feel like they aren't good enough, pretty enough, skinny enough, buff enough and the list goes on and on. Everyone has something special to offer and the more we try to mold ourselves into perfection, the quicker we will loose sight of that special part of us.

Star Wars

Haha, I still can't get over how hilarious my students are! Yesterday Mr. Olsen was getting ready to teach the kids a new concept, but one that built on what they had done the day before and he wanted to encourage the kids that they could take on these more challenging problems. Now Mr. Olsen is kind of a funny guy and his favorite thing to do is make stories apply to his lessons in any way he can. Well he decided to use a Star Wars theme yesterday. . . . little did he know that he had one very big Star Wars Junkie in class! So he proceeds to remind everyone how Luke crashed his ship into the pond when he was going to find Yoda. . . and as part of his training, Yoda makes Luke raise it out of the water. Well I knew we were in for some real entertainment when our Star Wars Junkie says:

"The ship was called the X-Wing"

Mr. Olsen goes on to mention how Luke wasn't able to raise it out of the water at first because it was too big for him and then asks the class:

"Does anybody remember what Yoda told Luke?"

Star Wars Junkie replies in a very Yoda like impression:

"Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size do you?"

LOL I was sitting in the back of the room and I straight up started busting up laughing, I couldn't help it. . . it was just too priceless! I wish I had a voice recording, it was so hilarious! Throughout the rest of the lesson everybody kept answering in Yoda fashion like "25 the answer it is" and such haha. To top the period off, Star Wars Junkie leaves class with a "May the force be with you Mr. Olsen!" bahaha, I love middle school!

Second Lesson

Well two lessons down and only thousands more to go in my teaching career! Today's lesson went pretty well I guess. . . probably not as good as my last lesson, but today I was teaching my "tough" class so it's understandable. The kids in this class aren't quite as motivated as the last class I taught, really, it's like night and day! But it all turned out alright and I'm happy with how it went. We played a game and it's amazing how a little bit of competition can kick kids in the butt and get them participating.

This past weekend we went down to STG to visit my family, and so I could go to a baby shower for one of my best friends. It was really cool to be able to see some of my friends from high school and to catch up with what they are doing. Alot of them are starting to have babies which makes me sort of want to start having babies too which is really weird because I've always been the one to say that we aren't going to have kids for like 5 years! But I know in reality we aren't ready to have kids yet. . . I'd like to enjoy just being married for a little longer before we strap ourselves down to being responsible for another human being, I'm not mature enough for that! :)

My Hubby

I'm usually not a huge blogger. . . yeah I keep up every couple of weeks, but never twice in a day, but Jared is busy working on some designs, and I've been thinking the past couple of days about how luck I am to be married to such a great guy. So here are some reasons why I love him, definitely not all of them, but just some

1) He is super quirky when we are alone. . . He likes to make funny growling sounds!

2) How he sits at the computer hour after hour working on his designs, he squints when he is really concentrating and its so cute! I don't even care if he's busy on the computer, as long as I can sit on he couch near him, that's all I need.

3) He still sings random songs all the time. . . and it doesn't matter if he doesn't know the words, he'll sing anyway

4) He makes me lunches sometimes, and leaves me cute love notes

5) Speaking of the word "cute" he refuses to tell me that I'm cute. He claims he can't use it because he is a man, instead he tells me I'm "funny" instead.

6) He always prays at night, and initiates our couple prayer since he knows I'm a slacker

7) How his hair sticks up in the morning, so adorable

8) He let's me use pet names on him like "babe, baby, sweetie, love, lover, jare-bear, jrod etc."

9) He tells me that I'm beautiful even when I'm in my pj's with no make up on and my hair is in a nasty ponytail (I really must have him brainwashed because I can be downright haggard sometimes!)

10) He does the laundry, washes the dishes, vacuums the apartment, and makes the bed every single day without me asking him to do any of it

11) He lets me cuddle with him whenever I want

12) Whenever I call him, he answers with an affectionate "Hey You"

13) He has a really bad biker tan line on his arm and he's proud of it!

14) He let's me buzz off the hair on the back of his neck (I'm a dang weirdo and can't stand neck hair!!)

15) He scratches my back before we fall asleep at night

16) His voice gets all high when he gets excited or worked up about something!

17) He gives really good hugs

18) He makes me feel beautiful

19) He uses funny phrases like "dang it all to betsy!" and "Well craaap"

20) He is constantly complaining about "Utah Drivers" which just cracks me up

21) He watches HGTV with me, and likes it

22) He has really big muscles (You wish babe! ha!)

23) I think he's extremely good looking, but that's just me!

24) He is super affectionate and tells me he loves me all the time. . . usually this is how it goes Jared: "I love you" Me: "I love you more" Jared: "I love you most" Me: "Dang it!" or vice versa, we are funky and have "I love you" battles back and forth with each other

25) He doesn't care if I pick my nose in front of him! (we all do it so don't try to pretend you've never done that!)

26) He is really great with kids

27) He has the more patience then anyone I've ever met!

28) He likes to watch movie trailers online for fun

29) He has confidence in me

30) More then anything I love him because he loves me and we work together to make our marriage a good one!

He picks his nose too!

The biker tan line

He's my mountain man

So good looking!

Love you babe. . . you're all I need, you're everything