Bérets and Penpals

Over the past several months, I have been pretty quiet online. I love reading about all of your lives, however, and seeing pictures of what you are all up to. Sometimes I miss connecting with people, though, and this blog was started as an attempt to connect up with old and current friends and acquaintances. Today, I felt like sharing just a bit of what I have been up to, especially with those of you whom I haven't seen for a while. This picture here is of a bubble machine. My little 1 year old just loves bubbles. Many of our lazy summer afternoons were spent on our porch, just simply enjoying the bursts of bubbles all around.

I have enjoyed being a mom to this little girl more than I knew I would. I always knew I would love teaching and taught school for a while before having a kid of my own. Now, I get to do both and that is the beauty of working part-time. I actually looked forward to going back to school this year as I believe I have really found my balance, though I do miss this little girl when I am gone. When I am with her, I try to make her life fun and happy. Here is a picture of her sitting on my mom's lap on the Chick-Fil-a train. She has a great time with my mom and I think we went on this train at least two or three times at the Highland Fling last month.

I think little babies are so cute in hats. My little girl has never wanted to wear a hat--she pulls them off right away. However, one day she got into my French stuff in the closet and she just loved a red béret that I had bought at a tourist shop in Paris. She didn't want to take it off. Her other favorite thing were some perfumes from a perfume factory. You can't see her hand very well, but she has one of those perfumes in her hand and doesn't want to let it go.

She is just fascinated by anything in the kitchen. Her favorites include the dishwasher, the popcorn machine and the mixer. Here, she helped make my mom's German chocolate birthday cake. I think she is going to really enjoy baking.

She is 14 months old, yet she doesn't want to walk. She much prefers crawling. I did finally get a picture of her standing up all by herself, though. Awe, it's so much fun to be with her as she makes so much progress and catch all these little smiles.

When it comes to teaching, I feel I have really hit the jackpot in French classes this year. I was a bit worried to have two classes of 40 kids on the first day of class. I felt like that was just asking for discipline issues. However, my first class of the day, French 2, which is often at a time when they are all still asleep, has been so fun and energetic. I have been teaching them for nearly a month and they are always on task, asking questions and truly wanting to learn. This past week, I set them up with penpals from La Réunion. La Réunion is a small island to the east of Madagascar. From what I understand, there is an active volcano there and it is just green and filled with waterfalls. This has been awesome because nobody seemed to have heard of La Réunion before this penpal project. Now they all want to travel there. I have added it to my "Must See" places and the English teacher on this French island has been awesome to correspond with!

I really feel that teaching is such a great job. Even if it isn't always easy, there are always kids who need teachers that love them and are passionate about their subject area. I feel so blessed to have a great mom and neighbors to take good care of my baby so that I can teach other peoples' kids and learn lots of new things myself. I also can't believe how much I truly love part-time. I have time to cook, go to the library and do all sorts of stay-at-home mom things on my off-days but I can really put 100% into teaching when I am at school!

Ladybug Birthday Party

Yesterday, my baby turned 1! Where has the time gone? It seems that not too long ago, she was so tiny and fragile and now when I see newborns, she looks huge! Sometimes it feels like she is growing up too fast and it makes me really sad, but other times, I see that this growing up thing can be fun! I love her constant giggle, her excitement when she can say a few words like "uh oh" and "kitty" and looks to me for affirmation. Nothing is more rewarding to a parent than having your newly-crawling baby (yes, she was almost a year before she started crawling) crawl past her brand new toys and straight over to you for a hug. I'm just having so much fun with her. Every day, I try to think of at least one new adventure that I can take her on for that day. Some fun things we have done the past few weeks are Storytime at all the libraries in Utah county, Summer Science experiments at the Orem library, visits to all the pools and splash pads around, a visit to the pet store--she loves kittens and calls every animal a kitty, trips to ShopKo, which is never crowded just to walk through the fun toy aisle. Being a teacher has worked so well because I can still do what I love--teaching bright high schoolers--and still have time to have lots of mommy and me time.

I spent the last several weeks, wracking my brain for a fun theme for her first birthday. I wanted to do something fun and creative. Last year at this time, I was going through some rough stuff and this year, things were great. As I thought, I considered every princess and pink theme, spent hours of her naptime on Amazon, Pinterest and blogs, scouting out all the cute ideas. In the end, I decided to go with a Ladybug Party Theme. I might have gone a bit overboard, but I definitely had fun. She had everything from a decorated Ladybug High Chair to a beautiful strawberry shortcake with ladybug stickers. Okay, the cake looked more like the melting cake that the three fairies made in Sleeping Beauty, but it was homemade and I was proud of it. I knew as I scanned Pinterest that I found the right cake when I saw it had 3 tablespoons of vanilla and a whole box of fresh strawberries! It was a lot of work and she didn't feel like taking a nap her whole birthday so I did some crazy tricks to get it made in time, but here it is! I told the guests to wear black and red, had tomatoes and olives as snacks as well as those little Costco cheeses turned into ladybugs. As I started to get frustrated at her lack of a nap so I could get the ladybug decals on the wall, I realized that much of the time, these "kid parties" are for the parents, or in my case, the mom. The best part about a 1 year old birthday, you ask? A baby smash cake! She started out with a taste of frosting and in no time, she was smearing it everywhere. She was ecstatic over the cream cheese frosting with strawberries. Awe, it was worth it.


The summer fun continues: next week I plan to take her on a ride of the Heber Creeper (do they call it that anymore?)! I am always looking for ideas of things to do with a 1 year old. I have tried taking her to the movies, but after 15 minutes, she just wants to get down on the sticky floor and crawl towards all the lights. My mom and I went to Puss n Boots last week and the baby did love the Mexican music but after a couple of minutes, she thought that searching for old popcorn off of the floor would be more fun. We left that movie after 20 minutes. At least it was only a dollar.

First Day of School

I am exhausted! Today was Back to School for Canyons School District. For some reason, ever since being in grade school, I have always had a hard time sleeping the night before going back to school. There is just too much to think about! This morning, I pulled myself out of bed at 5:20am, put on my new black and white striped Maxi dress and took off to open this amazing, brand-new high school that you see on your left. It was exciting to be part of the morning welcoming crowd: my student body officers handed out candy and greeted each kid with, "Have a sweet day," as they walked in the front doors. The mascot was outside, all dressed up in a Charger costume. The cheerleaders performed stunts. There was a great energy as the commons area filled with kids. Once the bell rang to begin class, I scrambled to get the student body officers organized in teams to read off the morning announcements, make posters and take pictures of this monumental day. The news station even came in to report on our new, beautiful (yet crowded) state-of-the-art school. http://www.ksl.com/?sid=26506967&nid=148&title=portable-classrooms-added-at-overfilled-new-draper-high-school&fm=home_page&s_cid=queue-1
If you think that is cool, Big Buddha is coming on Wednesday!

As we were planning the festivities for the week, the head custodian came into 1st period to greet the student body officers. He was very let down, though, to see a piece of gum already smashed into the carpet. "It hasn't even been one day and there is gum already in the carpet?? Come on, guys! Treat your school better than that!" How embarrassing. I don't understand kids mistreating such a beautiful place. I remember turning the desks upside-down at Copper Hills at the end of each school year and seeing them just covered in gum. Why is that a cool thing to do? Gross.

Once he left, we got out our school's fight song. We are teaching it to the student body at the Hello Assembly on Friday. We put on the synthesized instrumental music track for all 29 of us to sing. Student government is not really a choir class, but it turned that way today--we had an interesting group of voices, to say the least. Truly, we had a great time, laughing at ourselves as we all tried to pick up the melody and rhythm of this new song. I hope we're ready by Friday.

After student government, I taught two French 2 classes. I got many blank stares as I gave them simple commands in French like asking them to take out a paper and pencil. They said that their teacher last year never spoke to them in French, gave tons of book work and showed several movies like Ratatouille TWICE! Oh, I have my work cut out for me. The time flew by. I gave each kid a cracker with Nutella on it and we all ate it at the same time. They had to shout out, "C'est délicieux!" or "C'est dégoutant!" depending on whether or not they liked the Nutella.

This might sound silly, but my favorite thing today was just sitting at my desk once everybody had left, and admiring my classroom. I worked hard to put that together. On Saturday, I hemmed up my window curtains for three hours and they look so professional, if I do say so myself. I love all the posters of the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe and other French landmarks that I carefully placed around my walls. I am proud of my food package bulletin board with langues de chat and gateaux aux carottes wrappers. I reminded myself that even though this is an exhausting job, it is so neat to be able to be creative and share my passion with the upcoming generation. Tomorrow I get to face a French 1 class of 43 students. It sounds like a crowd. We'll have to see how it goes!

Soaking up the last of Summer

It's the same story every year: summer flies by much too fast! Just a couple of weeks ago, I spent the day at Payson Lakes, paddling a canoe, soaking up some sunshine and laughing with friends. There were no schedules. No set time to jump out of bed and no time to leave. Everything was fun and relaxed. This is my first summer in nine years that I did not get on a plane and fly anywhere. It has been quite interesting. I wondered if I would be sad to skip my routine few weeks out of the country, but surprisingly, there are quite a few awesome things to do right close to home. And now I have decided that I can put some of that saved cash towards new school outfits! Yes! Shopping!

Speaking of which, official meetings for school start in one week! I can't believe it! I haven't been in my new classroom to set it up yet and I am going to have students, sitting in desks and ready to learn French in just two weeks! None of these kids know me yet. This is exciting yet a bit scary. As long as I remember to bring in my regular first-day Nutella and crackers, I should be okay, right? I am actually really looking forward to going back to a routine and getting my students all set to speak French, to love French and to dream in French! (You can always hope:) )

So this past week, I participated in a French seminar at the U of U. It was quite interesting. We talked about French stereotypes and where they came from. Do the French smoke more than Americans? Yes! I am not a fan of smoke and it was always tough for me, being seated next to smokers when I visited cafes in Paris--the smoke just carried right into my food! Cough. cough. Another interesting thing is French swimsuits. Did you know that many French pools will not allow men in if they are wearing knee-length board shorts? This is hard for us Americans to imagine as most guys here don't go to a regular pool in a Speedo. The reason, as my French teacher pointed out, is that they want to keep their pools clean and they don't know if those guys wore their shorts all over the city before deciding to jump in their pool. Hmmm... I just remember taking students to France in 2007 and trying to shush their reaction when they saw our guide come out to our pool in a red-striped Speedo. Different culture, kids.

Another stereotype is that French women eat cheese, chocolate, pastries and butter, yet they don't get fat! Is this true? The professor told us that she wrote her thesis on this subject. Yes, French women are still statistically less overweight than American women, but the obesity rate is slowly going up. This fact could coincide with greasy fastfood joints constantly opening up all over France--something that many of them would rather boycott. But chicken nuggets are so tasty! The reason that French women might be in overall better shape is because they focus on quality of food whereas Americans, in general, prefer quantity. A few bites of any fresh dessert can only do good, n'est-ce pas? Also, the French walk much more than we Americans do. Many even bring their shopping bags on wheels to the grocery store and take them home in the metro. I don't think I could live without my car for a minute.

The Most Delicious Summer Drink

Today is my first official day of summer! Hooray! I spent my last three weeks working for BYU's French Camp. The French Camp was the perfect summer job. I got to make a little extra spending cash, meet some adorable kiddos and give away a few berets on the final day. With the camp behind me, it is time to really enjoy the summer before it slips away. This morning, I went to a Pilates class followed by an exciting Zumba class at the Rec Center. I really felt those endorphins and decided that today was the day to make the most refreshing and healthy summer drink! You should all try it too!

I know this drink by two names: Summer Citrus Punch and Better Than Airborn Drink. I think my mom got the recipe at a Maceys cooking class, back when Maceys used to do free cooking classes. There is nothing that could taste better or make you feel healthier on a hot day like today! Here is the simple recipe:
*2 grapefruits
*4 oranges
*2 tangerines
*1 lemon
*2 limes
Now simply juice each of these citrus fruits, pour them in a jar and... voilà, you have a great and refreshing punch! I have a juice attachment to my Bosch mixer, but you could try and juice them by hand, it would just take more work.

I plan on enjoying a glass of this delicious drink with my Homemade 12-Grain Bread tonight. I got his recipe from the Bosch store and it is also to die for! You get the crunch of millet, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds and freshly-ground wheat! This is better than candy! Email me if you'd like this recipe. Another thing that I am doing is putting every recipe that I cook this year into an online recipe book. I plan on printing copies for myself and family around Christmastime. Doesn't that sound like a useful gift?

La Belle Vie

It looks like we made it: another Monday can officially be checked off the list. Mondays can be tiring and after a long weekend, I often find it hard to pull myself out of bed and get moving for the day. Well, to spice up our Mondays (and Wednesdays for that matter), Casey and I have decided to speak with each other only in French on those days each week. It can be a little bit tricky when you come home after a long day of work and you can't come up with the the exact word to explain how stressed or disappointed you really are with the events of the day, but it can also be a fun activity. It actually makes me want to speak more than normal and share more of the little details in each story because, let's face it--life is more exciting when you are speaking French!

One thing we have been doing over the last week is visiting the Parade of Homes. It is pretty awe-inspiring to see all the work that goes into these 500,000+ dollar homes. A couple of them had an indoor basketball court. One had a drinking fountain to the side of the fancy home gym. Several had cool waterfalls in the backyard. The Home Theaters at these places were to die for! One house in Saratoga Springs was built right next to the shore of Utah Lake. They decorated it all in seashells and made it feel like I was on the coast of California. All I could wonder was what do these people do for work? How do they afford these mansions? And if I can't have one, how could I ever sign up to be their friend? Last Wednesday, Casey and I walked around speaking le français as if we were a French couple. I am sure we made everyone jealous (or annoyed, but I prefer to think jealous.) Lots of salespeople in the garages as we exited the houses approached us, trying to sell their solar paneling and other home gadgets. We must have looked like some well-off couple from Europe--minus the fancy clothes.

We are right in the middle of French Camp right now and those little chillins are making tons of progress. It's exciting to see them actually have the confidence to open their mouths and say more than bonjour. I teach the morning language classes to the advanced students. It is fun to have a class of kids who all want to be there and all want to speak French all the time! My friend Emily is the cooking teacher. She works so hard getting all the recipes together for mini quiche and French pastries. Today, the students made almond and chocolate-filled croissants. These are to die for, I tell you! Besides the fact that some kids have had issues reading a French recipe and put a cup of sugar in the mixing bowl instead of a tablespoon, most of them have turned out some amazing treats. This really is the perfect summer job!

Today, I taught them a French Canadian dance called La Bastringue. This means "The Gathering." It is a mixer dance and even though nobody said they wanted to dance, they actually all got really into it (including some boys who originally said they would be sitting out) and Voilà--a little group of dancing French teenagers! Who would have guessed?

$15 Waffle Mix, Oh My!

Hello again, everybody! I know--it's been over 6 months since I have written in my blog and I have honestly been going through withdrawals. I must say, life did get busy there for a while: I got engaged in December (yay!), then started planning my wedding right away (more work than I realized it would be, but fun to see it all come together), got hired at a new high school (can't wait!), packed up and moved houses and schools (threw away tons of junk like 5-year old Snickers bars, gross!)--you know, regular things we all get to go through sometime or another. My blog was neglected for a bit. The good news is it looks like life has finally settled down, I hope, and I am excited to be back! So, in those last few months, I have gone from Miss to Mrs., found some new focuses and hopefully have learned a few things that I can share with you all. I would love to hear your comments and/or receive the links to your blogs, if you don't mind sharing. :)


I got married on the bright and sunny day of March 28th and took off on an exciting honeymoon to Las Vegas and San Diego. As part of the package deal, we were granted three free nights in a deluxe resort hotel in Henderson, Nevada called the Ravella Inn. I had been invited to receive an award at a Teacher Conference down there, so the timing couldn't have been more perfect. One exciting thing about coming home from a honeymoon is opening the gifts. We invited our family over for pancakes and present-viewing and we got to share all the fun with them. It is neat to see all the creative and interesting ideas people have for gifts from first-aid kits to holiday cookie jars. People are also so very generous. We have been using gift cards each time we head out to Target or Home Depot and it has been so helpful. I am in the process of writing thank you cards right now, actually, and the saddest thing was to see a few gifts with no card attached. The card must have been either ripped off in the process of getting them to our house or somebody decided to remain anonymous. One awesome gift was a 3-foot Eiffel Tower with a bow tied on one side. How thoughtful for a French teacher! I posted the picture here. If that gift came from you, please let me know. It is one of our favorite decorations.


We also got some gifts from Williams and Sonoma, a fancy kitchen store. One such gift was a can of gourmet Blackberry-Lemon Waffle mix. A few Saturdays ago, I made us a batch of homemade sweet and tangy waffles using this mix with fresh blueberries. Yummy! I had never been to this store before, but we were in that area of Orem one afternoon so I decided to stop on by and see how much it would cost to get some more of that. The man directed me to the shelf of baking mixes: $15 Dollars!!! Can you believe it? I thought the price tag must have meant $15 for a case. No, it is $15 for one small can. I did the math and that equals about a dollar fifty per waffle! Who spends that kind of money on waffles?? No matter how tasty they were, I couldn't bring myself to buy another box of mix. This morning, I made up the last of them. It looks like those gourmet waffles will probably have to stay a nice memory.


Tomorrow begins the French Camp, my summer job for the month of June. Can't wait to meet all the kiddos!