Mountain Man Rendezvous

Last weekend, Mike & I joined Rosie, Mark, Mom, Dad and many of Mark's family to go to the Fremont Mountain Man Rendezvous near Richfield. I had never been to a rendezvous before and it was fun! There were two areas for camping, one pre 1840 (the canvas tents and the tepees) and one tin tepee (modern day anything.) It was a little chilly (during the night) a lot of fun and a nice relaxing break from life.

I was amazed at how many people were wandering around in their gear. Little kids in pioneer garb, adults walking around with wolf heads on their heads, all mountain man. I love having a 'spy mode' camera. Just pop on my telephoto and people don't know that I am taking pictures. There was black powder rifle shooting, thanks to Mark's dad, anybody in our group that wanted to participate could. Mike did a really good job at aiming for the clouds in the sky, which happened to not be visible! Chase did a really good job at shooting branches off trees instead of hitting the targets that those branches were holding.

In the afternoon, we went over the the Fremont Indian Museum. We got to see the remains found in the archaeological digs. I love looking at things like that, I know, I am kinda weird. We ended up running out of time to do the Celestial Walk that Mark says anybody going to that area needs to go on, but that is what next year is for, right? We even got to go down into a replica of the Fremont dwelling, which is a pit dug into the ground. I had to remember that these Indians were much shorter than I was, I couldn't stand up straight.

The Parrot that Caused the Tetnis Shot

Have you ever had to have a Tetnis shot? I have, they really aren't very much fun. I had to get another one tonight. It all started with scouts. We are trying to get a count of how many scouts will be able to go to day camp, so when one of the mothers came to pick up her son, I ran to her car to talk to her about that. She had this huge parrot sitting on her chest. The conversation went something like this:

"You have a parrot?"
"Yep."
"Can I hold him? Can he come out of your car? Will he fly away?"
"Oh no, you can hold him!"

As I am then reaching my hand into her car to try to hold the parrot, she says, "Oh, he bites," just has his sharp little beak clamps down on my left index finger. Pain. That is what I was feeling, as I am trying not to say anything that shouldn't be said in front of my scout and his little finger, so I respond by saying, "Oh yes, he sure bites." While I am thinking that maybe she could have said, "Well, he bites, but if you want to risk it, than you may hold him," I was suddenly trying to not to let any foul (no pun intended) language out of my mouth.

It hurt. Really bad.

I was then left standing at her car, with a throbbing finger, trying to finish my conversation about day camp, trying to hurry so that I can give into my pain.

Finally, the conversation finishes and I am able to walk back up to my house, where I start shaking my finger (as you all know, this technique is very useful in just shaking the pain right out) and finally twisting my face into the grimace of pain that I had felt. Haruko (my co-den leader) and Mike immediately started to ask what was wrong. My finger had two nicks in the top which were showing as bright purple. After going in and washing the bird beak germs off my finger, I put some anti-biotic ointment on and a band-aid. Is it ironic that we talked about and demonstrated first aid in cubs, only to practice the first aid on myself shortly there after?

At this point, my finger was still throbbing, but the main pain had dissipated. I went over to my parents to see if Mike could borrow my dad's wood burner, and thinking that I could get a chuckle out of my mom, told her I had been bit by a bird! She immediately asked me when my last Tetnis shot was, (before my mission) and then informed that I may need another one. I then called the doctor's office and they confirmed that yes, I did need another Tetnis shot.

Lovely, I get bit by a bird and now I need to get a Tetnis shot. Could this be like the first Tetnis shot that I remember getting where it caused a concussion? (If you wish to know this story, please let me know and I will show how these two items can correlate.) Mike and I made the trip down to the doctor's office, where I had to listen to Mike's jokes, and got my shot. It was over and done with rather quickly. I must admit that I am glad I am not the man who got brought in with a dislocated pelvis from being thrown from his horse. I will take the bird bite any day over that. Besides, how many people can say they got bit by a bird and had to get a Tetnis shot because of it?

President Monson

Mike & I truly appreciate President Monson's wit and humor and we continue to be excited about the opportunity to have him as our prophet. For those of you who haven't seen this, we thought you may enjoy it, as it fully showcases the wit and humor that President Monson is famous for. Please enjoy!

Girl's Night Out

With the end of a semester, there are always huge projects due, and for some reason, they all are due at the same time. This is something that any college student can attest to. So, this is the week that I have everything due and I have been working hard to get it done. I have finished my unit plan which had to include 5 lessons and an assessment, I have finished a 4 page philosophy of teaching and I have been working on a 5-6 page paper and a 10 page paper. The 10 pager is what has been causing me the most stress.

Knowing how much work I have to do this week, I was a bit apprehensive when Rosie invited me to go hang out with the girls. I first said yes but than I started to think about how much I still have left to do and got a little stressed. I finally made a compromise, I would see how much of my 10 page paper I could get finished before the time came when the girls were going out. If I felt that I got far enough (more than the 1 page I had finished Monday night) than I would go. At 5 PM, I had 7 pages (and 4 lines!) done and felt that I could afford to take a break from writing so off I went.

Rosie and Erica picked me up and we met Amanda in Lehi and we went up to Sweet Tomatos. This is one of Rosie's favorite places to go, but I have never been there before. It is a salad buffet type of place and it was good. They had the theme of lemon week or month (not exactly sure which) and they had a very delicious green salad with a lemon dressing. Yummm....They had a lemon cake, lemon muffins etc. But they also had a ton of soup options (I would suggest the chili, it is very good.) It was fun and good to get away from the stress of getting everything done, sitting around and just talking and laughing.

I was able to get up this morning and finish my paper. Whew, that is done (not really, I still need people to proof it for me) and now I just have my 5 pager and studying for a couple of finals. Funny how you get things done and you think you are really done until you remember all the other things you have to do. Next Thursday...that is when I will really be done, at least until the following Wednesday when it starts all over again.

So, thanks Rosie, Erica and Amanda for a fun night out and a chance to put it all out of my mind for a bit.

Orientation Meetings

Don't you love it when you are told that in order to do something, you need to attend a 2 hour, mandatory orientation? This is what I was told I had to do before registering for any education classes. Of course, there was only one time for the orientation, and it happened to be right smack in the middle of my work schedule. So, what do I do? I found some awesome people to take part of my shift and I went to this orientation. Well, it wasn't the 2 hours they said it was going to be. It was only 40 minutes. So then I have some free time before taking the truck in for a recall on the brake lights and I still can't register right away for my classes. I have to wait until they process the paperwork that we turned in showing that we submitted the request for background checks and what-not. Ah the waiting game, I have been playing it for 3 weeks already so what is another 3 hours, right?

On the bright side, it is looking like I can apply for my student teaching by August 8 (which means that I also have to take the Praxis exam this summer) and then be done next April, student teaching and everything! Oh how nice it is when the end is in sight!

Book Tag

Rosie tagged me.

Here it is:

Pick up the nearest book.
Turn to page 123
Post the fifth sentence
Tag 5 friends.

For the reader, the work is what is not something objective, existing independently of any experience of it, but is the experience of the reader.

Sorry all, the book that happened to be closest was my literary theory book for my literary criticism class. I will look forward to the day when I can pick up books that I want to read and that don't make my brain smoke!

I tag: Jennie, Caitlyn, Miranda, Lindsey & Rachel!

Secondary Education

Happy, happy day! Today I got some eagerly anticipated news. On Friday, I interviewed to get into the Secondary Education program at UVU. It was a little odd, it was a group interview and while I felt that it went good, I wasn't exactly sure what to think. We were told that we would hear back in about a week. Even though I knew it would be about a week, I eagerly checked my e-mail everyday and today it paid off. This is what I found in my in-box:

On behalf of the Admissions and Retention Committee, I am pleased to inform you of your acceptance to the Secondary Education program!

I screamed! Mike asked why I was so worried (he is wonderful in that he has no doubts at all!) and we celebrated! The end of school is in site, what a wonderful feeling!