Man hands & Girly lotion

Dear Trevor (the dude that I'm next to),

Thank you for serving on the Institute Council. We will miss you as you go down South. As a parting gift we gave you some girly lotion (aka scenty, fruity, flowery) so that you could smooth that over your rough man hands when you ride your motorcycle. The Institute Council will not be the same without you. Oh, and now our girl to guy ratio is 4:1. Typical...and lame.

Love,

Melissa, Susie, Teresa, Whitney, and Eric (he hates girly lotion though. Yes, you are the better man)

And I wore a red bandanna the entire weekend...

So people wouldn't see my greasy hair...

5 out of 6 siblings (missed you Kath) + "the voice" + cribbage + "hiking" around + tents + Paul making Dutch oven delights and us not helping + random inside jokes ("to the trees" & "hey you guys") = A fun-filled weekend at Zion National Park.

Gotta love my family. Here we go...

We are so beautiful...

The troops...We are quite the sight.

Teen nieces and nephews. Weird.


The bandanna continues...

Rock building
Future daddy-o. All the teenage girls swoon.


Kiddos.

Arab baby.
Exhausted from hiking a paved walkway! Come on!

Oh hey....

Chrissie: What's back there? Deoderant on my shirt??
Julie: Check out my huge bicep. Raar.
Susie: Wow, I sweat a lot. (Disgusted look).
John: I could sleep in my armpit....
Steve: I could smell this armpit all day...ahhhhh.

Just doing what he's good at...at least it wasn't a heating vent.

Beauty.
I am woman.



The bandanna lives on.

What a great weekend! Thanks family for the laughs and the memories. I love you. Me.

Spring Breakin' it. Grand Canyon style.

Cross this site off the bucket list. Reaction? Incredible. Definitely a must see.










Thank you Jenny and Steve for taking me!

He's Just Not That Into Me

This is inspired by some recent get-togethers that I've had with some boys. Here we go...

10 Signs that boys are just NOT that into me:

1. They talk about themselves...A LOT. Their problems, their issues, their frustrations with life and I am their therapist. grrreat.


2. Gentleman-like behavior goes out the window when I'm around them. Ok, maybe it's not that bad, but you could still open my door for me, right?


3. Their compliments consist of: You rock, you are awesome, you are fun. Can we be more vague???


4. We hug and there's almost a Book of Mormon between us. Wait, are we 14 again?


5. When we do talk about my life, they suddenly become preoccupied with the last discussion that just passed...which was about them. So somehow my life in DC reminds them of their 20something mid-life crisis.


6. When broaching the subject of friends making the best kind of girlfriends (and potential wives), they shake their head with..."but my friends just aren't cute enough for me to be attracted to them."


7. They want to do something with me but they are totally content with doing the least amount of work. So suddenly, I am the one driving 30 minutes to see them.


8. They text me every 2 months and want to hang out. Sure, they may pay for our catch up dinner, but where were they the 2 months that I did not hear from them? Can I say lame?


9. They have to be reminded of important dates, people, issues and accomplishments in my life. "Oh yah, how did that turn out Suz? I totally forgot about that" becomes the regular question of the evening.


10. They are not consistent. Period. They may think I'm great, but when we face the hard core truth people: He is just not that into me.

Am I missing any other signs?

Why do I subject myself to this treatment? I think it's time for another purge...

Devine Intervention

This is my "ode to my student teacher post." I wouldn't feel right to not address the impact that my dear student teacher, Ms. Devine (hence the misspelled blog post. Nice play on words, huh?) had on me and my classroom. For 3 months I had the privilege of working with Aimee, watching her teach and nurture my students. To say that she will be missed is a complete understatement! She has been a huge blessing in my life and in the lives of my students. From Socratic seminars, meet and greets, feudalism simulations, assemblies, dance parties, computer labs, field trips, proctoring, vocab poster creations, and the dramas of the consecutive fire alarms (4 in 1 day), she has stood by my side and has been a most agreeable, fun, interesting, and easy-going companion/friend.

Thanks, Aimee, for a wonderful 3 months! I hope you will be "devinely" placed in the same school next year.

What becomes of the broken hearted?

Have any of you ever suffered from a broken heart?

I hear a unison "yes" coming on...

I have only felt it a few times in my life, in varying ways with varying circumstances, but it's not fun. You feel empty. You feel incomplete. You feel a deep burden of something you can't control. You feel like everything you try to do to be happy still is not real happiness and you find yourself faking it till you make it.

I am in that fake mode right now. Remaining optimistic about life, yet feeling like I don't know how things will ever work out and how I will ever be truly happy. You wonder why the Lord can't just make the broken heart go away even though you pray mightily for it every night.

So my question to all of you is: What becomes of the broken hearted? How have you overcome your broken heart(s)? Mine still feels like it's shattered to pieces, but I know that they will be put together again and that my heart will be whole. Is it just a matter of time?

Thoughts?

A you tube video worth posting.

So this is my friend, Sheryl. She is in my ward and is also an inner-city teacher (though I wonder if her job may be a bit more challenging that mine.) She is awesome and thought that this video is definitely blog-worthy. She is just one example of the amazing people that I surround myself with out here in DC.