Friday, August 29, 2008

I'm Sore

So Paul and I have been working out together lately...more like he has been my personal trainer! :) He got me going on crossfit. If you haven't heard of it you should definitely check it out. It works out your entire body and afterward you feel like you got kicked by a mule. Seriously, I was so sore this week that I couldn't climb down our stairs normally. I had to go down backwards (facing up top) and literally crawl down.
My legs weren't the only part of me that was sore. My arms felt like I left them at the gym clinging to the pullup bar. Putting clothes on has never been so difficult and even stupid little things like sitting down required much contemplation to figure out the least painful route.
You may be wondering what excercise caused so much pain. With crossfit you do everything as fast as you can while still having good form. This circuit contained:
1 Mile Run
100 Pullups
100 Pushups
150 Squats (these are the ones where your knees don't go in front of your toes - try it)
1 Mile Run
By the end of the circuit - which took one hour - I was so exhausted I felt like losing my lunch and I was also getting very faint. However, when you leave the gym and you feel that tired - and worse the next three days - you know that you did something worthwhile.
Tomorrow Paul and I are heading back to the gym...I am honestly hoping to see results but to feel healthier as well.

Show Me The True Blooded Aggies..!

This Monday Paul and I embarked on yet another year of college. Paul is now a senior and I am still a lowly Junior. :) Paul is taking 18 credits while I am balancing 17...this can be a little much for us at times.
Paul has two upper division Econ classes, a Philosophy class, a Military Science class, a Personal Finance class, and sewing. Yes, you read that right....sewing. He is one of two guys in the class and it was quite hilarious that the teacher told them the first day that they would be better than the girls since a sewing machine was a large power tool and the girls would be intimidated. I had to laugh thinking about the welding classes that I have taken...those girls don't even know the start of large tools...
My classes this semester are going to take a lot of time with required readings and study. They are all above 3500 level classes (except for CHEM) which reinforces the fact I am a Junior. I have Turf Grass Management, Soil and Water Conservation, Genetics, Chemistry, American Literature, and we both are taking Ballroom Dancing together. We thought it would be fun to learn together and just goof off at home with it later on. So far it is quite fun and very good for our communication skills. :) Paul has to lead and I have to follow (I have been working on my end a lot lately). This is actually a really good comparison of the married life. Maybe I will expound one day...
The first week of school has to be one of the best...that is for freebies!! Monday we got Aggie Ice Cream for free. It wasn't just a little taste either; it was about six dollars worth if you went and bought it at the Ice Cream Shop. Tuesday brought free Scottsman Dogs. I have to admit that these are remarkably good and not at all what I expected. They are cheeseburgers that are shaped into a hot dog and served in a hot dog bun. So Good...
Wednesday it was Day on the Quad. This is the day to stock up on all the free candy, pop, water, pencils, ice cream, etc. There has got to be over fifty booths giving away prizes while advertising their club or group. I met Paul between classes to run through really quick and we came out with an ipod Nano, 3 frisbees (don't ask me how we will use them all at once), balls, drinks, fat boys, creamies, popsicles, etc. We didn't even manage to make it through entirely but were pretty happy with our loot!
Thursday at dark USU played Iron Man out on the HPER Field on a gigantic blow up screen. This screen was seriously the size of a regular movie theater screen too. We lugged our bean bag chair, popcorn, blankets and sweatshirts (it has been getting down in the forties at night) to the field. There had to be over 600 people in attendance!! It was great...even though we didn't get home until midnight because of the late showing.
Friday....well today isn't the best day of them all. They had free Otter Pops in the TSC but that was about it. Tonight is an 80's dance that the ASUSU is hosting. Needless to say we won't be going to that...
With all the happenings the first week of school, ya gotta get in the Aggie Song from time to time. It has such a catching tune that you can catch Paul and I humming it from time to time...
Show me the Scottsman who doesn't love the thistle,
Show me the Englishman who doesn't love the rose,
Show me the True Blooded Aggie from Utah,
Who doesn't love the spot where the sage brush grows!!

Monday, August 18, 2008

Last day of work and...BOISE!!

Today is my last day of work with the internship that I have in Cache Valley with Sky View High School. These last few months I have learned much in regards to my major and have been given such a great opportunity to get hands on experience. I really appreciate my advisor's Mr. Dave Erickson, Ms. Kris Thompson, and Mr. Clint Aston. They have taught me so much and have helped continue to push my drive towards teaching. They gave me free reign to complete my visit's with my students and were always there to help if there was a problem. They were so nice to include me into their summer planning and leadership events like I was part of the team. I felt so welcome and because of that I was able to put in my small input to help further their program. I am excited to start school next week, however, I am sad to be done with this program. I have put in over 360 hours since June and have drove many hundreds of miles visiting with numerous students and parents in the Cache School District.
To those of you who have no idea what my internship entailed...
I was hired by the state of Utah's Department of Education. From there I was filtered down to Cache Valley's Sky View High School where I reported to the three Agricultural Science Teachers and the principle. Sky View High School had over 380 students registered for an Ag related class (Ag Biology, Welding, Small Engines, Wildlife, Leadership, Plant Sci, Horticulture...etc) for the next year. We recieved all these student's information and were trying to recruit them to participate in a summer credit called a Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE). The SAE consists of three parts where the student only needs to fullfill one area to recieve the credit. They are:
1. Work for someone in an Ag related field
2. Own your own business
3. Research/ Exploratory...experiments or new related data.
The student has records that they must keep that relate to the area they are completing. My job is to make sure that they are filling out the correct paperwork and help them complete their project. I visited them at least three times and took pictures of their projects. Some of them are quite unique and were very interesting to learn about. It also made me appreciate how many students are hard workers around here. Out of 96 students that I was over this summer, only a handfull (maybe ten) didn't have a summer job and that was because they were in a sport that didn't allow them to take the time to get a job or because they were gone for over a month in another country. The rest had one and about 1/4 of them had two jobs. Many of them even had their own business' and we are talking about high schoolers here!! :)
I also helped with the county fair...and for the ignorant few that think that entails picking up poo or "this one tastes like it got into an onion patch" you are wrong. Sorry, One pet peeve of mine...don't laugh at my expense when you have no idea what it is. Pretty ignorant.
Anyways... In four days I put in over 60 hours of helping record data, helping with the sale (taking money), setting up arenas for the next day's exhibitors, giving out awards...etc.
I also got to drive down to Lehi with the chapter officers to go to the Chapter Officer Leadership Training. I left at 5:10 in the morning and I didn't get home will 10:15...that was another long day but fun none the less.
I also went on a two day Leadership Retreat with the chapter officers and the advisors to Bear Lake where I helped with their yearly planning. We went to the beach and I planned some team building activities to help them come together and work as one unit. We went to a play at the Pickelville Playhouse and also stayed the night in a beautiful cabin that was giant.
I hope that gives you a little idea what I did this summer...
Paul and I are leaving today to go to Boise before school starts. We will be back in the Cache Valley on Friday evening in time for Paul's Officer Function the next day in Salt Lake City. Please pray that we will have a safe journey as sometimes we get complacent with the familiar road to Boise although it can be long (around four hours). I will post pictures and what we did in Boise upon our return.
Until then...

Saturday, August 16, 2008

WELCOME HONEY!!


My husband, Paul, just started his own blog. So if you are interested in seeing what we are both up to...check it out!! It is found at the following address:


Between the two of us, hopefully you all will be able to keep up with what we are up to in Cache Valley!!
Happy Reading! :)

Friday, August 15, 2008

YOUTH RALLY!!

Tomorrow night is our church's youth rally. Paul and I are helping out with it and would ask that you please pray that some teens and young adults will be able to come and hear the gospel. We are having a quaret come from West Coast Baptist Bible College and a young couple that are their chaperones for the trip. The young man is going to preach to our group.
We are going to play "Who wants to win a bunch of chocolate" and "The ugliest creature in the world". Top that off with all you can eat pizza and soda and it will be an exciting evening!!
The youth leader, Gary Stonehouse is very energentic and reminds me of our old youth pastor at TVBC (Mr Doty). We are hoping that it will be a good turnout but mostly that there will be "quality". You know the saying...quality not quantity.

Saturday, August 2, 2008

New Guy!

Paul and I really enjoy Brian Regan's comedy. He is pretty clean and does some pretty funny stuff that is so true to real life situations. Below you will find a clip of some of his work. I am still new to this so I can't figure out how to insert the youtube video. Please bear with. :)

Walkie Talkie

The new guy that a good friend, "Mrs. Rohmance", told us about is Tim Hawkins. This guy is super funny and is a Christian. He homeschools his kids and has a pretty funny video about that too. It is pretty refreshing to get a clean comedian every once in awhile.
Enjoy!