Merry Christmas!

I have enjoyed this past week sooo much! We had a wonderful Christmas this year. I planned to host Christmas Eve for Justin's family. Days before I got all the food I would need to make Christmas Eve dinner with all the fixings, and I've been practicing the music for the Beal Christmas Eve Program for a month. I made rolls and bread days before so I'd have less to do on the day of.

Wednesday evening James and Bonnie rolled in from their long Idaho drive. We fed them dinner and then Justin told me he and James needed to leave for last-minute gift shopping. They were gone for what felt like an hour or so. When they got home Justin came into the family room all in a huff about putting Rocky in the office. Rocky is the dog we've adopted until next August. This annoyed me because Rocky wasn't doing anything to warrant such a punishment! I told Justin this and he firmly planted his foot down that Rocky needed to be in the office for a while. Rude! But fine...whatever. He was in there only a few seconds when I heard him crying. "Justin!" I said, "He's crying! Let me let him out!" But when I heard (what I thought was) Rocky cry the second time, I realized the crying wasn't coming from the office....I rounded the corner to the kitchen, yelled at Justin, "That's not Rocky!!!" and in walks James with the CUTEST black lab you EVER SAW!!! He had a red collar and a big red bow around his neck.

I. Died.

I stood there and cried/laughed for about 30 seconds until James handed him to me. Oh my goodness...my heart...we love him so much! His name is Jackson, and he is 8 weeks old. If you already have a dog, the puppy and other dog shouldn't meet for at least a day since puppy is still transitioning from losing his momma and siblings, so that explained why Justin wanted Rocky in the office (because I fought Justin on that, he didn't get a chance to set up the camera to record my reaction like he wanted, so I ruined that for him. Woops). Puppies can only hold their bladder for as many hours as they are months old...so we basically have a newborn in the house that gets us up every 2-3 hours in the night to pee. That part isn't fun, but he is just so cute and so so fun. Justin has already trained him to "sit" and "come." We are thrilled!

Christmas Eve I woke up to take out Jackson at 5:00 and just stayed up. The ham I made had been cooking overnight, so it was already done. I prepped everything else and Christmas Eve dinner was ready at 9:00 AM. Sound like someone you know? ;) I wrapped it all in tin foil and put it in the fridge until we were ready to eat at 5:00. We had a lovely meal, and then transitioned to the family room for the program. Justin's family were great sports about it considering most of them hadn't heard some of the music before. But it was great. We watched "It's a Wonderful Life" to top off the evening.

Our bishop lives in our neighborhood and he got his wife a new car for Christmas. He stored it at our house and asked us to drive it over between 11:00 and 5:00 Christmas Eve. I had insomnia around 3:30 so I got Justin out of bed with me and we drove it over for them. It was fun to be in on that surprise.

Christmas morning we headed over to Jon's to open gifts. We had a big breakfast of stuffed French toast and breakfast casserole. We opened gifts and had a lot of fun with all the surprises. Justin's parents got me an ice cream maker (woohoo!) so I made Dad's strawberry ice cream that night. It didn't quite freeze in the mixer, but I was too impatient to let it continue to freeze in the freezer before eating it - big mistake. It was waaaay too sweet. But now it's okay.










We had a baby shower for Bonnie the day after Christmas. The boys all had fun playing racquetball and eating at Five Guys. Most of the family ended up going to Star Wars that night and we stayed behind to babysit for Jon and Laura. This morning James and Bonnie joined us for Sacrament meeting, then took off for their long drive home. It was a lovely Christmas, indeed!

Star Wars

I made it! I survived! I can hardly believe it! HALLALUJAH! Two weeks of freedom from - as my sister in-law puts it - mini-Compton. It's a Christmas miracle I didn't swear at or slap any of the crazies we liberally call 'students.' Christmas break is ON and it is on BIG TIME. For example, I've already got my Netflix on with 'High School Musical 2' on in the background. And you KNOW I'm singing along. I plan on baking bread and rolls all day today. #winning.

Last week Justin and I went to see Star Wars. We ate at a nice Mexican food place beforehand. I bought the two of us sweaters to wear for the occasion, and we've pretty much been wearing them every day since. The movie was great, but what was even better was realizing how much Harrison Ford looks like Dad! Mind BLOWN! I always thought my parents look like movie stars - now I know it's actually true.

Saturday Justin's family came over and we decorated Christmas cookies.

I am so excited for this week. I am making Mom's Christmas Eve dinner, and if I get the ice cream maker I asked for (hint hint husband...there's still time...), I am making Dad's homemade strawberry ice cream! I got up early today and hit Winco before any crowds and got everything I'll need. I am ready for the holidays which means no dealing with crowds or traffic for me! I mailed out our Christmas cards this morning so people will probably get them after Christmas - oh well. Merry Christmas everyone! Have a great week!

Month in Review

It's amazing all the things that can happen in one month. After my last post, that Friday I took the Red Eye to Boise. Gabe graciously picked me up along with Chase and Rachel. We stayed the night with him and drove over early the next morning for Grandma's funeral. It was great to see all my siblings and a lot of aunts and uncles. Her funeral was very good - Aunt Karen, Dad, and Uncle Doug spoke and we had songs by all the grandchildren and great-grandchildren. The rest of the weekend we hung around Mom's house Beal style meaning lots of food and lots of chatting/laughter. I sure do love my great big family :)

The next weekend we finally made the plunge to buy a replacement car from the car accident. Unfortunately our car was declared totaled so we got a measly $200 to scrap it for parts. But, we now have a reliable 2014 Toyota Camry that will last us for several years.

For Thanksgiving, Justin and I flew to Boise and drove across with Chase and Rachel for a week in Arco. We LOVED it! Mitzi joined us for the holiday and Trisha made it out for the day on Friday. We helped Mom get the food ready on Thanksgiving and had our meal at 11:30 - we were ready for it! And it's lovely eating leftovers for dinner just a few hours later :) Mitzi brought a couple fun movies, and Thanksgiving night we played a roaring game of Rage. I loved just hanging out and resting the whole week - I certainly needed it! Chase and Rachel did their gender reveal and we found they're having a boy! Sooo fun. Saturday Chase and my dad went ice fishing while the rest of us chilled out and put up Christmas decorations.

Since then I have been in survival mode until Christmas break. We've had three teachers quit (two of them just a few weeks apart from each other), and our building is so bad it's nearly impossible to get a sub. I tried to schedule a day off for work relief, but because I didn't get a sub I had to cancel it. One. More. Week. I can do this!

Justin got his Senior promotion at work. His goal was to make Senior within a year, and he got his promotion at the end of October. Nice job love! The two of us have been called to run the stake youth conference for next year, and Justin just got called to the Young Men's program...church is keeping us busy.

In other news, our house is undergoing a few new makeovers. Justin bought me a new kitchen table for Christmas, and it came early because he got it off Craigslist. The placement of the table is currently on hold, however, because Justin is redoing our kitchen cabinets. I think Mitzi's kitchen project inspired him to finally just do it. We are almost done with the top half of all our cabinets. This week we hope to finish the rest.

Happy Birthday Justin!

Justin's birthday was last Thursday. His brother James came up for a job interview on Wednesday...so I surprised Justin by having a dinner get together that night. We met up at the Cheesecake Factory and had fun visiting with James, Jon, and Papa Jon. I ordered pork chops but they ran out, so I got a steak for free! Woot!

Thursday when we both got home from work I sent Justin out to get one of his "freebies" for dinner while I set up a scavenger hunt for him. Each clue led him to a different location around the house/yard where he would find a gift to open and a new clue. I cut out the clues, rolled them out, and wrapped them with string so they looked like little scrolls! I decked Justin out with new shoes, pants, shirts, and a leather jacket...he is not one to go buy these things for himself even when he desperately needs it, so when his birthday comes I go bananas and get him all kinds of new stuff. He is one handsome devil!

Even Rocky joined in the fun

A guy from the stake came to visit us on Sunday and asked us to run the stake youth conference for next spring, so that will keep us busy during the winter months.

***Reader discretion is advised***
In other interesting news, I've had another first and hopefully last crazy thing happen...one of my students masturbated in class. Not even kidding. It's passing period between 4th and 5th. Kids are coming into class getting ready to write down the daily objective... Then I hear a commotion and several kids start freaking out, "Mrs. Rose he's jacking off!" I look over and sure enough, there he is going at it. Oh my...I can't even! The first quarter ended last Friday...Thanksgiving come quickly!

Earlier this week I got the news that Grandma had died. Everyone agrees that we are so happy she is with Grandpa again. It's interesting to think I'm only 23 and have no living grandparents! I'm really grateful I got to see her earlier this summer during one of my visits. It will be good to see all my siblings at the funeral on Saturday. That's all for now.

Our Hectic Halloween

Wow...it has been a whirlwind of a week...So happy it's the weekend!

Wednesday morning on my way to school I was in a car accident. It happened at an intersection just a few blocks away from my school. So frustrating. Our car was towed away, and we're using a rental for the next week. The other car involved is a company use car, and since they are still investigating liability, that means we still don't know which insurance is going to cover what. What that means for us is we're having to pay for everything out of pocket and save our receipts, hopefully to get reimbursed later. It's a mess, but it's not THAT big of a mess. I was wearing my seatbelt, the car appears to only have body work damage (though we haven't looked under the hood yet...still at the towing company parking lot), and to my knowledge the other car didn't have too much damage. At least it shouldn't...it was twice as big as our car! The police officers were awesome - one of them ended up revealing he was LDS. He basically took one look at me and asked if I was Mormon. Ha! Yep! Love that. A teacher gave me a ride to school and I ended up only missing the first five minutes of 1st period. I am so grateful I was blessed with protection! The accident could have been a lot worse and we have faith this will all be okay. The majority of my students were extra-nice to me that day, so I milked that for all it was worth!

To make the day that much more eventful, at school I had a first: a student blatantly telling me I was mother f-ing stupid and that I should f-off. Wow. These kids are crazy. And that was about the 30th f-bomb dropped on me that day. A true record! After school we heard that Laura's water may have broken...oh my word! So we packed an overnight bag and transported Rocky to Jon and Laura's house to spend the night with Clara. Baby Eleanor was born that night around 10:00. It was quite the Wednesday!

Upon grading our most recent test, I found this cute note among written responses. Love my kiddos!

Thursday Justin and I did some last-minute shopping for the ward Halloween party on Friday. As soon as school was out on Friday I headed to the church. We had so much help and it turned out great! Major props to Justin - he organized the majority of everything. We had a costume contest and pumpkin carving contest. We had carnival games, face painting, a photo booth, soup potluck, and door-to-door trick or treating. Justin and I dressed up as Russel and Kevin from "Up." Almost everyone came dressed in costume which made it so fun. Everyone seemed to have a good time. Now I'm grateful it's over, and we can enjoy a quiet weekend!

We did door-to-door trick or treating to simplify. I didn't want people to be responsible to decorate a whole room, and I didn't want trunk or treating done out in the rain. We had about 20 doors for the kids to visit. It worked out great :)

Our photo booth

Cute decorations - thank you committee!

Behold my post-car accident, flu-infested demeanor. Definitely some tired eyes in this picture. Happy Halloween!

We just love our Rocky boy!

A classroom selfie from last week because #whynot

New Couches and New Pet

Monday we had the usual day of work and then in the evening Justin goes to play Ultimate and I go to my MK meetings. This week when Justin got home he decided enough is enough with the YMCA league. The people there are ridiculous to play with and so he's finally quit. Hallelujah!

Tuesday our school began the YMCA program. Kids come to different classrooms after school and do activities from 2:30-4:30. I'm running a few programs on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Tuesdays we play Ultimate and Thursdays I do "Mad Science" where we do science experiments for fun. Next week we're building hover crafts!

Wednesday we had another lock down at school. I was walking to the restroom during my prep, but when I got to the courtyard the gate was locked to get to the office. Then both counselors and the dean turn around the corner and tell me to go back to my room because we're under lock down. So much for my potty break! We were locked down for nearly an hour. I got an email with the subject THIS IS NOT A DRILL and to stay in the room until further emails. They didn't announce it because the 8th graders were taking a serious test, and they didn't want to ruin their concentration. But that fouled everything up because not every teacher read the email before the end of the period, so when the bell rang there were kids in the hallway! So I opened my door and had them come to my room. That was a mistake: I should've let them go to another classroom. They were hecka annoying. But the threat turned out to be fake. A "reliable" student said a man with a mask and a gun approached him on his way to school and said, "You better go home; there's going to be a shooting at the school today." So he went back home and told his mom who immediately called and told the police and the school. The police were at the school and investigating all over the neighborhood. They gave the okay to lift the lock down and I guess the kid came forward saying he made it up. What freaked me out was after school we had an emergency staff meeting where they told us all this, but I didn't doubt for a second that it was a real shooting. Good thing I always keep both doors locked at all times. It makes it annoying for kids who are tardy, so kids make sure to be on time to my class...and in the event of a real shooting, I'm immediately locked down. Crazy stuff!

Papa Jon came to stay the night. He took us out to Sonic for dinner. The past two weeks have been rough with just the one chair to sit on, but we survived. Thursday I had a training at the district building so I had a substitute. Most of my kids were awesome because I threatened them with chromebook privileges. 4th period was awful, so Friday all my other classes got chromebooks and they did not. Oh baby, they will learn my rules and expectations! I had a break-through with one of my students after we had a crucial conversation: a "come to Jesus" moment if you will. I just hope it sticks with her over the weekend #WishfulThinking

Saturday we got a new dog and our furniture came! Rocky's family will be living abroad for the next 10 months so he is our baby until they get back next August. He does NOT like the fence we put in for him, and he HATES to be left alone, so we're hoping he adjusts quickly. But we love him soooo much! And our couches are fabulous! LIFE IS GOOD when you go two weeks sitting on the floor and then have fabulous furniture delivered to your house.

I taught the RS lesson today on Leadership. Kind of an interesting topic for church but it was fine. We passed all kinds of sign up lists around to get people to help with the Halloween party. Apparently we're supposed to be calling it the "Harvest" party because people are offended by Halloween, but we are rebels and say, "If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, it's a duck!" It's costumes and trick or treating people -- get over it! But that's two weeks away and we're excited. Today I'll be working on my costume so I'm exctied :)  Lots of changes this week but thankfully they're all good ones!

Rocky! He loves to be wherever we are. He is super mellow just like Duke but he stinks way less.

New Furniture! It's AMAZING!

My mad scientists

I had them burn their initials in newspaper using a convex lens. But then the sun went behind a cloud. This kid got the best results with the burning.

Hey Folks!

Last week was a good one. Couple other kids were suspended so teaching was pretty breezy this week ;) I had a gal refuse to give me her cell phone and our security guy escorted her back to my room later in the day to fork it over. Another student couldn't play in his football game because he's failing my class. When I told him he needed to come before or after school to get missing work/print out summary of his grade (I wouldn't do it during class...hello, teaching over here...) he freaked out and threw my door shut, almost breaking the glass! Crazy kids. But the content I'm teaching right now has been fun. I did an "elasticity" lab where the kids measured sour and regular gummy worms. On Friday there was a pep assembly at the end of the day and most of my 6th period kids got released early to get ready for it. So for about 20 minutes the remaining kids and I played heads up seven up and ate gummy worms. Nice. I did a minute-to-win-it challenge during the assembly with a few other teachers. I had to put my forehead on a baseball bat and spin around it 10 times, then run to the end of the line. I got done spinning literally could not walk or even stand I was so dizzy. It was hilarious! The kids had a three-day weekend because teachers had "Waiver Day" on Friday AKA teachers come in and get to work all day in their classrooms day. It was awesome! Overall a great week of teaching.

I get to school every morning at 6:45. Friday morning as I parked a raccoon jumped out of the adjacent bush and started running across the parking lot. I was astonished at the size of it! This was the only picture I was able to get of him and it's terrible, but the strange blur in the middle of the picture is the raccoon. Only in Washington...

Friday afternoon Justin and I went to Spooner Farms in Sumner. It was fun to walk around all the harvesty things there. We went to Taco Bell and then saw The Martian. We both really liked it, and I was astronomy geeking out the whole time.

Crazy squash at the farm.



Spider Hay Bale :)

Saturday we got up early to get the house all in order, inside and out, and then spent the day in Silverdale. Judy made us beef stew and corn bread for lunch and we just hung out all afternoon. Just an easy relaxed Saturday.

Justin's view from his office :)
For now we are gearing up for our ward Halloween party. We are in charge and it is coming up! I'm currently working on our Halloween costumes, and we have our committee meeting this week. Also, this week we should get Rocky (five year hold chocolate lab) and have him for the next ten months since his family is going abroad. And our couches should get here this week...we definitely can't wait for that! More to come next week :)

Congrats Justin!

Last week in class I had my students do a kinetic energy lab. They really enjoyed the lab part, but not the "now let's use the lab to learn" part. But we ended the week with a test and they exceeded my expectations. I think I'll need to make my tests harder! Nice job kiddos.

12 year olds did a lab involving balls and wood and I didn't hear one sexual innuendo...once again, impressed!

Justin and I went to his company yearly awards night. They met in Tacoma at a place on the water. It was gorgeous! We had free dinner and played games with people from his work as part of the festivities. Once a year someone from his "village" (they talk about the people they work with like it's a family/village (weird I know)) is nominated to receive an award. Turns out Justin won the nomination this year! His boss was reading what others had written about Justin and it was really nice...I'm so proud of him! Justin is seriously a rock star at what he does. I remember living in Vegas he would get books at the library and teach himself different computer programming "things" (you can see I know what I'm talking about...) and now he is the SME (subject matter expert) for those programs. You go Justin! You go!

Justin and his new plaque...

After conference I helped myself to some leftovers. Justin asked, "Are you going to eat ALL of that?" I said, "I do what I want!"
We went out to sushi (still haven't liked anything as well as we like Blue Hashi in I.f...) and apparently I am 5 years old because I still ask for apple juice...

Thursday night we had our first fall league game for ultimate. I thought I was done playing, but we joined a league for the fall. It is way more competitive than anywhere we've played before, and I am out of shape. I kept wishing the other team would hurry up and win so we could be done! Plus the game started at 8:00 and I basically go to bed at 9:00 every night these days...don't judge me until you start getting up at 5:00 every day.

Saturday we enjoyed watching the morning session of conference, and after that we decided to look at furniture. We've been toying with getting new couches but wanted to get a good look around at what's available. We went to Crate and Barrel only to find it was way too rich for our blood. We ended up getting two couches and a coffee table at this cute furniture store in Sumner - The Old Cannery. We got a pound of free fudge that day too which we ended up throwing away most of it...the furniture will get here in 10 days, so we put our sectional up on craigslist and sold it today. 10 days of sharing the green chair until the new stuff comes...we'll just appreciate it that much more.

Bye sectional! You've served us well...

New furniture we'll see you in 10 days.

Sunday we enjoyed conference and staying home from church. I made funeral potatoes and we had Jon and Laura over to eat with us. Today I re-took my test to be a teacher and passed! I was thrilled. That thing was a beast and I'm so glad I didn't waste another $150 by failing. Go me!

Trees on our Sunday walk