Hike to Powell Lake

Yesterday I went hiking with Kelly, the science teacher that was next door during my first two years of teaching. She was invaluable to my those first two turbulent years- she listened and gave advice, all without being judgemental. And I miss her a lot at my new job, because there isn't anyone like her! But we still get together from time to time to go hiking... a common hobby. Yesterday we did a four mile hike to Powell Lake. It was a pretty moderate hike and we even had to cross snow at times. The best place we passed was "Burst Rock," which, according to a legend, a pioneer woman gave birth on. Ewww. Not so pleasant of a place now. At least it had great views. Check it out below!

The picture below this one is to the right of me here

Burst Rock

Wildflower amongst the rocks

Snow tunnel

Powell Lake

Kelly and I at a vista point

And here's  video clip of the Burst Rock area from the Flip Video camera that Justin's parents got us for our anniversary! Click on the expand button to see it bigger. Just hit escape when it is finished playing.

Men's Fashion Mistakes

I thought this slideshow and article was just too funny about things that guys wear... or shouldn't wear. Just click on the link here and be ready for a good laugh. (Thank goodness that my husband has a decent fashion sense! :)

What do you know about America?

Hopefully you know more than most of these people. It is just shameful. I do disagree with the author of this article that it is the fault of public education. I'm a teacher, and I know that they teach the facts in U.S. History classes. Kids, who grow up to be adults, forget them. It's just not the priority in the me-me-me society that we live in.

Take a look at the clip:



And brush up on a related topic, you own Constitution knowledge with this quiz:

Click here for a Constitution Quiz

Saran Wrap

Tonight we had Mexican food for dinner. Taquitos (so not homemade though!), fried corn, beans,  and rice. It was pretty yummy! Plus I like arranging the plate, but I'm sure the due from Hell's Kitchen wouldn't approve. I don't really care- my husband liked it!

I tried putting bacon in the refried beans like I had at Chevy's. Mine weren't as tasty, but I think I would cook it in a skillet next time and then mix the crumbled bacon and grease into the beans. It does give a pretty good flavor, if you like the added texture. I'm sure Chevy's has some other secret ingredient...

Then we had Brownie Cream Cheese bars for dessert- my mom's recipe. For a twist, I put them into muffin tins for serving size pieces. You see, Justin and I always fight over who gets the inside pieces, so this made things more fair. They were wrapped in saran wrap.

After dinner, we're cleaning up. Justin packs his lunch with the leftovers, and I start packing everything else up. When he had finished, I asked him to saran wrap the small bowl of chopped tomatoes. He holds up the previously used saran wrap from the brownies and says, "this'll work, right?"

I said no. "We can definitely afford to get a new piece of saran wrap for the bowl of chopped tomatoes," I said in desperation.

"Times are tight with the economy and everything," he starts chuckling at his joke.

Not that tight. Not as tight as a second hand piece of saran wrap!

Time Slows. Heart Stops.

Today I, or should I say Justin, had quite a scare. This morning, Justin was working outside pulling some weeks. It was getting hot by about 11:00 today too.. in the '90's. I was inside scrap booking and pretty oblivious to anything around me. After a bit he came in to cool off and set down at the table where I was working, and proceeded to browse the web. All of a sudden, he collapsed onto the floor.

Then time slowed painfully. My heart stopped.

I jumped up and knelt on the floor beside him. He was passed out and laying on his side. I rolled him over and called, "Justin, Justin!" I was so grateful that he came to in just a few seconds, but it took me less time than that to start tearing up. When you feel totally unable to help, it's horrible. I can't imagine losing him. I don't know what I would do, and I don't even want to think about it.

In just a minute he sat up and leaned against the wall. I got him some water and then wiped his forehead with a cold, wet cloth because he was perspiring and had scratched his forehead somehow when he fainted. It looks more of like a rug burn, so hopefully it will go away soon. (I told him that until then, I can put some concealer on- I'm not sure if he'll like that too much though!) Apparently, he hadn't drank anything except a glass of milk this morning. And as we traced our way back, he realized that since he had been so busy at work, he hadn't been drinking much water during the day on Friday. We also had went running last night, and he had only had about half a cup of water after that. So luckily, the cause was found- it was dehydration.

I've been shoving water and kool-aid at him all day. He's starting to roll his eyes at me now, but hey, I just can't handle that kind of scare again. Not to the man I love so much.

So just a warning to everyone out there in this hot weather: drink up!

Face Recognition? Yikes!

I heard about this the other day- Facebook can automatically tag photos using face recognition technologies. Maybe I'm paranoid, but I just don't like it. In this article from cnn.com, they claim the technology isn't really that good yet, so we don't have much to worry about. Sure, the sci-fi futuristic movies make the technology look much more advanced that it really is in real life. (Hello, people, don't get caught in tv land or movie world!)

I just don't like the idea of being tagged in some picture that I don't know about. What if you have weird look on your face? What if it's a silly picture from a high school spirit day? What if you just don't want to associate with people anymore that were with you in the picture? Now, I would assume that you are notified when you are tagged, and that you can still un-tag yourself. But goodness, all that work? Anyways, I have yet to log on to Facebook and see what has changed. I'll try to update when I do!

On another note, VBS ended well! It was our first VBS ever for our church, which I think I noted in a previous post. Overall I was please, though I would have hoped to have some more unchurched kids too!

That's all for now!

Vacation Bible School!

Day two is already done of our first VBS! It is exciting to see all of the kids come out. It really does take everyone working together though! I thought the best thing to do would be to just post some pictures of the actions. Hope you enjoy!

Opening Assembly

Lesson Time

Games

Snacks

Crafts

And the fun underwater scene that everyone can be apart of!

Twilight: Eclipse

Just got back from watching Eclipse. My husband said that hands-down, it was way better than The Last Airbender, which we saw this past weekend. Now that is kind of funny for a guy to say. I did read somewhere that unlike the past Twilight movie which had a 80/20 female to male turnout, this one was 65/35 female to male turnout, which is interesting. I explained that the young girls read it and become instant fans, which in turns leads the moms to read, thus producing Twi-moms. Search that on Google and see what you find! And now the next phase happens- the boyfriends, husbands, and brothers get dragged to the movies and start having an interest in it. (Can you believe my husband said that he wants to read the books?)

On the positive side, I like that this movie can make me feel emotion. I feel awkward when Bella and her father have those weird parent-daughter talks. I feel angry when Bella is an idiot for not choosing Jacob. I feel sympathy for the newborn who has to pay the consequences to the Volturi. So in that sense, I enjoyed much of the movie.

I also thought that the movie was paced well. I didn't ever have to ask: "Is it over yet?" That is a big sign that it is dragging, and Eclipse definitely wasn't.

I could do without the smooching scenes, really. And I could do without the dismembered newborns (and Victoria) looking like broken mannequins. (Was their budget low in the special effects department?) It's not that I wanted to see gore or anything, but I just thought that it was really cheesy. Yes, I know the vampires are cold-blooded, but they're not ceramic, so why did they look like it after the fight scenes?

Tent Scene: It wasn't as good as I was expecting. I thought that Jacob was going to be a little more snuggly. I did appreciate the dialogue between Edward and Jacob though.

At the end, I still think Bella is an idiot for not choosing Jacob. He loves her so much and wants to really take care of her. At the same time, I would say that Edward has a more mature love in realizing that Bella should have a chance at a normal life, and he is willing to step away (and did in New Moon) if she would desire. The problem is that he is a slave to her, so if she says she wants to become a vampire, he will do it. While I think he is weak in that area, I do appreciate his moral stance to waiting until marriage for intimacy, even while Bella is constantly trying to coerce him into compromising positions. Perhaps this is why I don't like her character that much. 

By the way, the books are always better. Always.

Hmmm.... that's all for now. I'm just waiting to see my husband reading Twilight while curled up on the couch. That'll be the day!

Happy Fourth of July!

I love Independence Day! I love America. God bless it as long as we rely on the Bible and follow him!

I saw this a list of 100 Great Things About America. While I don't agree with all of them, it was still funny to read!

America is a great country, and I'm proud to be an America. Here's a picture of Justin and I from our church barbecue. (This was before I was blasted in the face with a water balloon- more on that later!)

While I was waiting for that picture to load, I found a great link that explains the names for different types of fireworks. Check it out! Click here.

Breathe, Pant, Pant... Breate, Pant Pant

For some reason, I'm under the impression that summer should be relaxing. Mine has been quite the opposite though! Most of the busyness has been in a good way though I suppose. Wednesday I worked on helping paint backdrops for VBS, then had class, then left class early to make it to church. Thursday Justin had the morning off and we got my car checked and had dentist appointments in the morning. Then I wrote two papers in the afternoon before class. Class actually lasted until 8:10, a little later than normal. But it was the last class, so I guess that was ok. I did enjoy the classes and feel like I learned quite a bit! And then yesterday I was at church pretty much all day finishing the mural I started. In the evening, I knew I needed to not think about things for a bit so Justin and I went to see The Last AirBender in 3D. Today I will be back at the church again for more decorations.

To do a very quick review of The Last Airbender, I have to say I was disappointed. I guess that I have come to expect a lot from M. Night Shyamalan's films, and this one just didn't have the edge. Justin and I both agreed that the concept of the four nations staying in balance was intriguing, but how it playing out in the movie wasn't as interesting. I just kept expecting something more, and then the movie was over. We did watch it in 3D, so I was probably expecting a lot from that too. It was neat in a few places- it really feels like the movie is jumping out at you and gives a lot more dimension- but wasn't all that different. (Maybe another movie in 3D will change my mind, but right now I wouldn't pay $13 again for 3D!) On another note, as a Christian, I have to notice that the world of the benders is focused on the "ying and yang"- more of a eastern philosophy- and not on the God of the Bible who is sovereign over the world. This is problematic as Christians should be careful not to let another worldview creep in unnoticed.



That was a quick update. More later!