Wow time flies. A lot has happened, and I can't ever seem to find the time to update my blog. It's been a tough month. My friend Kassie left for a mission to Costa Rica a week and a half ago. She's in the MTC until December. I've been adjusting to living in her house all alone, but haven't noticed much since I'm hardly ever home. Though I say that, I am missing her like crazy. She has been my best friend here in Gunnison and my confidant. Hopefully my independent nature will get me through all the silent meals and quite evenings home.
The end of first quarter is here and I'm inundated with papers and grading. I think I'll take a mental health day this week to get caught up with my life outside of school. I'm in serious need of a day to do my laundry, sleep in (my eye has been twitching and I dedicate that to lack of sleep), and clean parts of the house that need it. Plus, I haven't really had a weekend to myself since school started. I need a day to rejuvenate and rehabilitate :) Maybe that will be my birthday present to myself.
For Halloween I got to take the GVHS speech team to a tournament at Snow College. I've also been busy coaching my debate students on a volunteer basis. My public forum (I know most of you have no idea what that is, but it is team debate) team took first place at a tournament with 14 schools most of them 3a-4a schools. I'm uberproud. They make me look good :)
I've seen some family in SLC recently. I posted pictures of a picnic evening with 'smores. Also, mom and I got to watch Faye while all the boys went to a football game so we headed to Gardner's Village for some fun. To our surprise it was the Witch Weekend or something. Hundreds of ladies were dressed as witches. We had so much fun watching all the activities and participating in some of it too. Faye and I danced to lots of the music and shared some cookies. I'm thinking about making it a tradition next year. So, so much fun.
My birthday is coming up this weekend. My mom is coming down to Gunnison for the Boutique shopping weekend at Mistletoe Mall. And then sunday is Laney Olsen's baby blessing. Should be fun.
I'll tell you how the mental health day goes. Happy Halloween
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Octombre
One of the reasons I like living in Gunnison comes from the laid back attitude. We don't have the rush of a city, only the rush of our many responsibilities keeping us busy. The last few weeks of my life have been busy. Nothing really substantial on their own, mostly just school stuff in fact. I have been coaching a few debaters. I got three students to sign up for Lincoln Douglass (the debate I did in high school). I am finding out that I am out of practice, but still know how to speak my mind. I might try it more often.
Kassie and I started taking a Spanish class at the high school. Our local teacher teaches once a week for eight weeks (just in time to get over for basketball season because he's the coach). Already we've learned a lot. In fact we read the first chapter of the Spanish Book of Mormon and we were able to understand it with just a little help from the English version. Exciting!
Kassie is also 10 days away from leaving on her mission. We're both freaking out a little about what needs to happen before she leaves, but we're working through it. I got her to help me clean the garage yesterday. It's beautiful. Recently the edges have been creeping closer and closer to our cars. We had to squeeze in and out of vehicles, and my bike was parked outside. I'm happy to say there is plenty of room for all now, even the bike. I was really worried about cleaning the garage by myself. There is no way I would be able to put everything where it goes because I don't have a Brown gene to know where everything should go. We spent the rest of the day inside. Kassie went through enough mail to last a life time while I did laundry, cleaned the fridge and microwave, and got bedrooms ready for the Brown family coming next weekend for Kassie's farewell. We cleaned from 9 to 9 and it shows. I woke up this morning a little sore and it took some time to figure out why. House work sneaks up on a person that way. We only have the basement left and I'll feel good about living in the house alone after all is clean. That means I'll only have my own messes to deal with I guess. I'll finally see just how clean or cluttery I really am, but mostly I'm going to miss Kassie a lot. Though, I'll leave my ode to Kassie blog for latter. I still have 10 days to figure this out.
School is going well. The speech team, yearbook staff, and creative writing and arts club are keeping me plenty busy. I hardly have time to grade any papers, but somehow I assign them anyway. This year is going pretty well. I somehow worked it out for my reputation to change. Instead of being the young, fun teacher, I've turned into the teacher who expects a lot- a reputation that takes years to build. I'm pretty excited about that change. It means people are finally taking me seriously. I feel good and we're a quarter of the way through almost. Plenty of drama is yet to come my way I'm sure. I'm sure I'll post pictures from Kassie's farewell. It will be my last photo opp. Until then . . .
Kassie and I started taking a Spanish class at the high school. Our local teacher teaches once a week for eight weeks (just in time to get over for basketball season because he's the coach). Already we've learned a lot. In fact we read the first chapter of the Spanish Book of Mormon and we were able to understand it with just a little help from the English version. Exciting!
Kassie is also 10 days away from leaving on her mission. We're both freaking out a little about what needs to happen before she leaves, but we're working through it. I got her to help me clean the garage yesterday. It's beautiful. Recently the edges have been creeping closer and closer to our cars. We had to squeeze in and out of vehicles, and my bike was parked outside. I'm happy to say there is plenty of room for all now, even the bike. I was really worried about cleaning the garage by myself. There is no way I would be able to put everything where it goes because I don't have a Brown gene to know where everything should go. We spent the rest of the day inside. Kassie went through enough mail to last a life time while I did laundry, cleaned the fridge and microwave, and got bedrooms ready for the Brown family coming next weekend for Kassie's farewell. We cleaned from 9 to 9 and it shows. I woke up this morning a little sore and it took some time to figure out why. House work sneaks up on a person that way. We only have the basement left and I'll feel good about living in the house alone after all is clean. That means I'll only have my own messes to deal with I guess. I'll finally see just how clean or cluttery I really am, but mostly I'm going to miss Kassie a lot. Though, I'll leave my ode to Kassie blog for latter. I still have 10 days to figure this out.
School is going well. The speech team, yearbook staff, and creative writing and arts club are keeping me plenty busy. I hardly have time to grade any papers, but somehow I assign them anyway. This year is going pretty well. I somehow worked it out for my reputation to change. Instead of being the young, fun teacher, I've turned into the teacher who expects a lot- a reputation that takes years to build. I'm pretty excited about that change. It means people are finally taking me seriously. I feel good and we're a quarter of the way through almost. Plenty of drama is yet to come my way I'm sure. I'm sure I'll post pictures from Kassie's farewell. It will be my last photo opp. Until then . . .
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Okay, okay
Okay, So it's been a while. Sometimes I think that my life is only exciting during the summer and maybe I'm right. But whatever. I've been home a while now, and it's about time I posted all the things I've been meaning to post. I'm going to try this fast, bullet style.
* Recently after returning from Santa Fe, I joined up with a family from town and Kassie to hike to Coyote Gulch. I've never been, but remember stories from brothers. I don't remember well enough I guess from those memories to have discouraged me from ever going to The Gulch. In retrospect it was a lot of fun. We hiked in and camped near Jacob Hamblin's Arch. It was beautiful. The next day we hiked to Stephen's Arch and back. That was sort of the crappy part. Don't get me wrong. Beautiful scenery, but not really worth some of the death defying rock sliding we had to do in order to see the arch. Also, the 16 miles in one day was a little tough to recover from. In fact (I am absolutely not lying) I got blister/rub marks from my Chaco's and the sand that day and they are still healing. I'm hoping for low scar damage, but we'll see. We hiked out the next morning and Kassie and I spent the next few days limping around and popping the IBs. Pictures are in the slide show.
* Then, school started and my adventures kind of stopped. I am really enjoying my classes this year. Students seem up to the challenge, and my yearbook staff is starting to get the picture of what it is I think they have the potential to create. We'll see though. They usually talk a good game and then whine when work needs to be done. Teenagers . . . :)
* I attended the County Fair the last weekend of August. I love the fair. Two nights of rodeo and one night of smash 'em up derby madness. I had four students (past and present) participate this year. One (who is actually the nephew of the people I live with so I know him pretty well) won$500 for being the most aggressive driver in the Derby. He drove in the mini car heat with a tiny Festiva. He did awesome. I also worked in the concession stand one rodeo night for my old dance company (I actually still clog with them). I haven't done that since high school. As an adult now, I got to help customers at the windows instead of making burgers nonstop for 5 hours. I guess that's one of adulthood's advantages. Pictures will come soon. They are on Kassie's camera.
* I got a new niece. Cody and Kim had a daughter on Sept. 3rd. She looks tiny in photos, and I can't wait to see her in real life. Relief Society duties have kept me in town on the weekends, but I'll be making a trip north this weekend to hold the little one. Oh, her name is Laney Snow Olsen and she resembles her brothers. Photos to come.
* Saturday, I helped run a 15 Stake Fireside here in Gunnison. We are trying to get all the single's ward together a couple times a year, and we decided to take the initiative to get the tradition going. It was a great experience. We've been planning for months and it is finally over. I had to conduct the meeting (nerve racking) but without fail, my old speech persona kicked in and I did a pretty good job. We had Margaret Nadauld and her husband speak to us. Their messages were excellent. Elder Daniel M. Jones of the Seventy was also there. He coached me through the conducting procedures before the meeting and we had a good talk after. Great man. But now that is over, and we have other things to plan. The work is never done I guess.
Mostly I am really busy with school. I'm helping yearbook staffers learn to use our new, awesome camera. It's Homecoming this week so I have pictures to take, assemblies to participate in, parade floats to supervise, and games to watch. I love this week as a spectator, but as a teacher it's pretty hard to keep anyone's attention. I'll report on this events later.
Now that I've accomplished the catch-up post, I'll hopefully update again soon. Until then . . .
* Recently after returning from Santa Fe, I joined up with a family from town and Kassie to hike to Coyote Gulch. I've never been, but remember stories from brothers. I don't remember well enough I guess from those memories to have discouraged me from ever going to The Gulch. In retrospect it was a lot of fun. We hiked in and camped near Jacob Hamblin's Arch. It was beautiful. The next day we hiked to Stephen's Arch and back. That was sort of the crappy part. Don't get me wrong. Beautiful scenery, but not really worth some of the death defying rock sliding we had to do in order to see the arch. Also, the 16 miles in one day was a little tough to recover from. In fact (I am absolutely not lying) I got blister/rub marks from my Chaco's and the sand that day and they are still healing. I'm hoping for low scar damage, but we'll see. We hiked out the next morning and Kassie and I spent the next few days limping around and popping the IBs. Pictures are in the slide show.
* Then, school started and my adventures kind of stopped. I am really enjoying my classes this year. Students seem up to the challenge, and my yearbook staff is starting to get the picture of what it is I think they have the potential to create. We'll see though. They usually talk a good game and then whine when work needs to be done. Teenagers . . . :)
* I attended the County Fair the last weekend of August. I love the fair. Two nights of rodeo and one night of smash 'em up derby madness. I had four students (past and present) participate this year. One (who is actually the nephew of the people I live with so I know him pretty well) won$500 for being the most aggressive driver in the Derby. He drove in the mini car heat with a tiny Festiva. He did awesome. I also worked in the concession stand one rodeo night for my old dance company (I actually still clog with them). I haven't done that since high school. As an adult now, I got to help customers at the windows instead of making burgers nonstop for 5 hours. I guess that's one of adulthood's advantages. Pictures will come soon. They are on Kassie's camera.
* I got a new niece. Cody and Kim had a daughter on Sept. 3rd. She looks tiny in photos, and I can't wait to see her in real life. Relief Society duties have kept me in town on the weekends, but I'll be making a trip north this weekend to hold the little one. Oh, her name is Laney Snow Olsen and she resembles her brothers. Photos to come.
* Saturday, I helped run a 15 Stake Fireside here in Gunnison. We are trying to get all the single's ward together a couple times a year, and we decided to take the initiative to get the tradition going. It was a great experience. We've been planning for months and it is finally over. I had to conduct the meeting (nerve racking) but without fail, my old speech persona kicked in and I did a pretty good job. We had Margaret Nadauld and her husband speak to us. Their messages were excellent. Elder Daniel M. Jones of the Seventy was also there. He coached me through the conducting procedures before the meeting and we had a good talk after. Great man. But now that is over, and we have other things to plan. The work is never done I guess.
Mostly I am really busy with school. I'm helping yearbook staffers learn to use our new, awesome camera. It's Homecoming this week so I have pictures to take, assemblies to participate in, parade floats to supervise, and games to watch. I love this week as a spectator, but as a teacher it's pretty hard to keep anyone's attention. I'll report on this events later.
Now that I've accomplished the catch-up post, I'll hopefully update again soon. Until then . . .
Monday, August 2, 2010
Hasta luego Santa Fe!
Well, that's it. My summer session at Santa Fe is finished. I got back to Gunnison last night, talked to a sleep-deprived Kassie, and saw the Otten clan before bed. I've had an excellent adventure. Before I left Santa Fe, however, I did some more fun things that need reporting.
The last week of Bread Loaf was really low key. Mostly we hung around at night and talked. Wednesday was graduation and most everyone cleared out that day. But, there were five stragglers who were waiting around to either stay in Santa Fe a bit longer or who were waiting to drive home. We went out for dinner and frozen yogurt. It rained most of the night, but we came back to St. John's College and swapped teacher stories until late arrived.
I got up the next morning, packed my car, picked up a friend and headed to Albuquerque. I dropped my friend off at a hostel and I went to the ABQ temple. I was by myself, but the session was small enough that I got extra attention from the temple ladies. You can see it's a beautiful temple.
After that I picked up my mom from the airport, and we drove back to Santa Fe. It was fun to show my mom some of the stuff in Santa Fe. We spent most of Friday downtown walking in and out of galleries, shopping for souvenirs, eating good food, and people watching on the plaza. It was a good day. We went to see "Dinner for Schmucks" that night. It was funny and awful at the same time. The next morning we went to the Farmer's Market, toured St. John's campus, and left Santa Fe for good. I can't describe the feeling I had driving out of town. I looked in the rearview mirror and realized I wasn't just going on another field trip. I wouldn't be back for quite some time. I got sad. But I was also really anxious to get home. We stopped at Taos Pueblo on the way out and took a tour. I love the rich and long history of the people of New Mexico. They have some incredible stories and traditions. Pictures are available in the slide show of the pueblo.
The drive was beautiful. I don't know if I've ever seen anything as incredible as a stormy Northern New Mexico/Southern Colorado. We drove through lightning and thunder and torrential down pours the whole way. It was off and on, but the storm system was either huge enough to cover all three states or followed us along the way.
But, that's it. I had my first school dream last night, well more like a nightmare. I hope yearbook isn't that bad . . . But maybe I'll see people before school starts up again. Though I am looking forward to staying home for a while. I sure missed Gunnison.
The last week of Bread Loaf was really low key. Mostly we hung around at night and talked. Wednesday was graduation and most everyone cleared out that day. But, there were five stragglers who were waiting around to either stay in Santa Fe a bit longer or who were waiting to drive home. We went out for dinner and frozen yogurt. It rained most of the night, but we came back to St. John's College and swapped teacher stories until late arrived.
I got up the next morning, packed my car, picked up a friend and headed to Albuquerque. I dropped my friend off at a hostel and I went to the ABQ temple. I was by myself, but the session was small enough that I got extra attention from the temple ladies. You can see it's a beautiful temple.
After that I picked up my mom from the airport, and we drove back to Santa Fe. It was fun to show my mom some of the stuff in Santa Fe. We spent most of Friday downtown walking in and out of galleries, shopping for souvenirs, eating good food, and people watching on the plaza. It was a good day. We went to see "Dinner for Schmucks" that night. It was funny and awful at the same time. The next morning we went to the Farmer's Market, toured St. John's campus, and left Santa Fe for good. I can't describe the feeling I had driving out of town. I looked in the rearview mirror and realized I wasn't just going on another field trip. I wouldn't be back for quite some time. I got sad. But I was also really anxious to get home. We stopped at Taos Pueblo on the way out and took a tour. I love the rich and long history of the people of New Mexico. They have some incredible stories and traditions. Pictures are available in the slide show of the pueblo.
The drive was beautiful. I don't know if I've ever seen anything as incredible as a stormy Northern New Mexico/Southern Colorado. We drove through lightning and thunder and torrential down pours the whole way. It was off and on, but the storm system was either huge enough to cover all three states or followed us along the way.
But, that's it. I had my first school dream last night, well more like a nightmare. I hope yearbook isn't that bad . . . But maybe I'll see people before school starts up again. Though I am looking forward to staying home for a while. I sure missed Gunnison.
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