CHEWING GUM--I love it and I hate it!

Q: What is worst then stepping in gum?
A: Unexpectedly putting your hand in it!!

This is exactly what happened to me today. I can almost always be found with gum in my car or gum in my purse. More often then not in both. All of it un-chewed of course. It was a rather warm day today and so at about 3ish when I drove to Lehi to unload some more of my school things, the gum hiding under a bucket of crayons had become quite playable. It was the last thing I grabbed out of the car luckily because as soon as I did a great big string of gum trailed behind leaving both my hand and the blanket in the back of the car very sticky. The origin of this gum is still unknown but I have cause to think that it may have come from the packing blanket put in my car by my mother. She doesn't chew gum but the blanket first came from my brothers truck. As you can tell some sleuthing has to be done to find the culprit. One thing can be sure, the gum did not come from me!:)

Coldplay in concert- Well worth the money

First Here's a little background:
Coldplay are an alternate rock band formed in London, England in 1997. the group comprises vocalist/pianist/guitarist Chris Martin, lead guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, and drummer/multi-instumentalist Will Champion. Coldplay have sold 33.9 million albums, and are also known for their hit singles, such as "Yellow", "The Scientist", "Speed of Sound, "Fix You", "Viva la Vida" and the Grammy Award-winning "Clocks".

I have Coldplay on my iPod and I listen to them every now and again but I have never been a die hard fan. When the Abel's had an extra ticket they were looking to sell I had to really debat whether or not the 85 bucks was really worth it. I could go listen to their music at home or even in my car for free. BUT... What the heck, I decided I would take a chance on it being worth it. After all, I always have fun when hanging out with the Abel clan, I like the music, and I had nothing else to do that night!

The day of the concert came and I was getting pretty excited to drive down to San Jose for the event. To make a very wordy story short, I got a phone call in the morning of the concert telling me that all the Abel's were backing out except for the one already down in San Fransico and even she was thinking about bailing. Disappointed? Yes! but, I already had a ticket and I did have a ride down there still so i didn't let it get me down, I went anyways. (I also called up Lindsey, the waivoring Abel, and threatened her into coming?)

The ride down to the concert was about 2 hours of fun. No really, it was a lot of fun. I rode down with Annett Udahl, her niece Meagan, and her daughter Matti. We laughed all the way down and I even ended up with a new friend via text message (Meagan has an older brother who is my age). So after they plotted to set me up we finally arrived at the HP Pavillion Center. As you can see by the picture we had pretty good seats:)

Ok, so I made that up. This was more like our seats. I wasn't able to get any pictures myself but, if I had, this is what one of the pictures might have looked like. Like any concert it was dark and loud! This was only my second concert so I am no seasoned pro. So far I haven't really made the concert sound that fun. Dark and loud, thats the best I can do?? You will just have to trust me that it was a great time! And my new favorite song is Viva la Vida!

4th of July Fun!

As is the recent tradition my family and I spent this years July 4th in Ashland Oregon with the Abel family and friends. We were able to spend 3 days in Oregon which gave us just enough time to make some good memories:) My highlights of this years Independence Celebrations are...

• Mints on my pillow (We always stay with the Abel's grandma Bounds and this year upon arriving we found mints on our pillows)
• As always... the 4th of July parade!!
• The naked lady on roller blades who rolled down the street before the parade started. (she was also announcing her presence by blowing a horn, good thing or I might have missed it!)
• Watching the big fireworks in the church parking lot.
• Hiking to the top of pilot rock. (this hike included walking straight up a mountain and then climbing up steep mountain boulders. We were sweaty and out of breath when we reached the top but we were proud of our accomplishment. That is until a Man in flip flops and 2 children under the age of 10 came trotting up right behind us:). The view was amazing and made the whole trip worth it.)
  
• floating in the lake on a blown-up raft.
• macaroni salad
• Walking through Lithia park
  
• Good company

The Graduates!

Since Brandon and I are about 4 years apart in age we are always graduating at the same time. I used to tell everyone that I felt bad for Brandon because I kinda stole his thunder each time. When I graduated from the 8th grade I had a big party with friends and family to celebrate but Brandon was still too young in school to care. When it was time for Brandon to graduate from the 8th grade it was like, that's nice Brandon but Sara is graduating from High School! Then it was time for Brandon to graduate from High School and it was like, that's nice Brandon but Sara just graduated from College! After attending Brandon's graduation party and watching as he opened all of his cards I decided he is not so hard off after all:)!

I don't really know what my mom and dad will do after all the kids are gone. There doesn't appear to be any signs of empty nest syndrome but there are also 2 German Shepard's who inhabit our house so it will still be far from empty even after the 2 of us leave.

The 2008 Viper!!

So I have been getting a lot of grief on the choice of my new car. Although I love the car I picked, the general consensus of everyone else is that it is "A TEACHER CAR!!!" Therefore I have just recently traded in my new 2008 Honda CRV for the new 2008 Dodge Viper! I was surprised to find that my car payment is about the same. Plus is comes in my favorite color! I don't really know how I will fit all of my art projects, papers to grade, or anything besides myself but man is it fast! If anyone wants to go for a joy ride call me up:)

If You Are Going To Be A Teacher, You Have To Get A Teacher Car!!!

Picture this...
My alarm goes off at 6:50am and I roll out of bed, eat breakfast and through on my clothes for work. I grab my big teacher bag full of graded papers and my purse before I rush out the door. The driveway is icy so I slide to my car door. I grab the handle and give it a tug only to realize that It is not going to budge. My fingers are stiff as I fumble for my keys. I thought I unlocked the door but maybe not. I turn the key again and give the door another tug. No luck. So I run around to the passenger side and voila, door opens! I through my bags inside and reach over to get the ice scraper. I run around the car to start scrapping the windows and I think "oh I should have the car running so it will be warm when I get in." I run back around to the passenger side and reach over to turn the car on. Then it is back to scrapping. Finally I have the car all cleaned off so I climb in the passenger door and shimmy my way across the center consul. I drive to work, park and as I start to climb back over the seat to get out I see two of my co-workers peeking in at me. I climb out straighten myself and say "Good Morning" as I run into the building.

Now anyone who knew the old Kia Optima knows that I was itching for an upgrade. My plan was to drive the Optima back to California after school let out and sell it ASAP. Then I would take the money I got from the sale and purchase a car there in Cali. My parents had agreed to help me out with a loan to get a car I really liked and so all I had to do was live with the Optima for a few more weeks. Don't get me wrong the Optima was a good car as far as getting me from place to place. I didn't even come close to loving it but I was OK with driving it until I could get my sweet new ride:) That was until... the door latch broke and I was no longer able to enter the car from the drivers side. I was just glad I was able to be the comic relief for my co-workers at school!!

When my family came out for Graduation they came to understand why I had been complaining about my car. My mom had a rash on her arms from climbing into the car from the passenger side. After my last softball game I came to learn that my father had been looking at the local car dealerships. I hadn't been expecting to purchase a brand new car but was pretty excited about the news. My dad had looked at a couple good cars and so the whole family went to look this time and even take a few out for test drives. I had narrowed my options down to a few but we still couldn't get the price we were looking for so after 4 hours of car shopping we went home to sleep on it. The next day we again drug the whole family out to look at cars again. Grandma Jo was an especially good sport sitting in the car to wait for the whole ordeal to be over. Brandon threw in his opinions here and there and was the official space tester (what with his long legs and all). My mom was moral support and a voice of reason and my dad of course was the business manager (wheeler and dealer). Buying a new car was not the best experience but driving my new Glacier Blue 2008 Honda CRV off the lot, PRICELESS!! I love love love my new car and it fits my new teacher persona perfectly.

I MADE IT!!

I can't believe I am a college graduate! I must say it doesn't feel any different. for most people graduation means that they are through with school. As for me, graduation means going back to the 3rd grade:) On April 25th I walked across the stage and moved my tassel to symbolize that I will turn from student to teacher.

Graduation was a great experience but the best part was that my family and friends were all there to support me. There are pictures of my friends from school who also graduated in elementary education. After spending everyday for 2 years together we all became quite close. There are also pictures of my family who flew out from California for the occasion.

After 2 long ceremonies and all the pictures, it was time to get some grub:) All the family and some friends got together for a picnic lunch in the park. I am so glad to have such wonderful people in my life and I want them to know that I couldn't have done it without them!!