The Dirty Dash

Stephen has a co-worker who is going to work for this company in the fall. You have to watch this video, I am in love.

We ARE doing this race in September. Anyone interested let me know, the more the merrier!

Go Lyndsay!

Last weekend we got to go to Lyndsay's state track meet. It was such a fun time with my family and Lyndsay did great! Her team got second place in the 4x100 and a new school record. Here is the recording that Zac made for my fourth graders on youtube. I showed it to them Monday and they were all cheering and they were so mad when they came in second, it was so cute. Congrats Lyds!

The family watching in the stands...and getting the worst sunburns!

Lyndsay with her team, she is the tall beautiful model.

Finally Warm

I am loving this weather and Stephen and I have been outside a lot. Our first order of business was to tame our flower garden in front of our house. We inherited this awful grown over plot and it needed some work. Before....

And after....

Those little flowers still have a lot of filling in to do but the absence of weeds and flower monstrosities is a step in the right direction. 

The second order of business was outdoor recreation and I am now the proud owner of this beauty...

I am so excited about this new hobby! I've been taking spin classes for a long time and I have lots of friends who ride. What else is a teacher supposed to do in the summer but ride bikes and take naps and quilt? In the midst of all my summer fun though I have decided to try and sell my lovely cruiser bike, it will be hard to part with but it's just not very practical and I have too many bikes now. Let me know if you're interested!

I Left My Heart in San Francisco

Spring break was wonderful. Going back to school today felt like it was a new school year. The break was long and fun and I was well rested and ready to take on the dreaded CRT's.

What was so great about this break? Well along with going to Jane Eyre with my mother (amazing), quilting, napping, eating out with friends, and pleasure reading, Stephen and I went to San Francisco.

Stephen often travels to Palo Alto for work so I went with him. Wednesday-Friday we were there and Friday night through Sunday we were in San Fran, Oakland, Berkley, etc. I have never heard anyone say they didn't like the bay area and now I can see why.

We rented bikes downtown and biked across the Golden Gate Bridge into Sausalito....

We went to Ghirardelli Square 

(I think I could live there)....

And we got to go sailing in the bay thanks to our new friend Josh who Stephen met through work, he just happens to live there and be an avid sailer and willing to take us on this amazing ride around the bay...

Stephen's really rockin' the volume in this one...

It was just one of the greatest things I have ever done. All in all, one amazing week off of school and one amazing trip. 

Very Proud

I finished my first quilt that I have made all by myself! Ok, not all by myself. I had a lot of help my mom and the ladies at the Material Girls. Still I am very proud and glad that I went through the whole process and learned a lot, I think I will be able to do a lot more of my next one without so much help.

I gave it away today to Nicole, my sister-in-law who is having a baby boy in July. It was a fun shower and I was so excited to give it to her. Quilting has been a fun hobby for me lately and I loved making a quilt with a person in mind to give it away to, it makes the gift so much more special. Too bad I get so attached to my projects after the hours I spend with them, I just want to keep them all.

I am making one right now that will be my first full sized quilt and I will keep it but after that Stephen has kindly suggested that we have more quilts than anyone can reasonable use, I'll have to think of more special people to make them for! Here are some pictures of that ole' baby quilt:

March is the Month for Birthdays!

Stephen and I were both born in March so it's quite the month of celebrations for us. Not only do we get to celebrate our birthdays but my sister Lyndsay and Steve's brother Jake.  Thank you to all of our friends and family who made our birthdays great this year! This weekend we got to use Steve's gift from his dad for the first time, it was delicious. Thank you Mark!

Fresco Tomato and Basil Bisque

I got this recipe from a coworker and it's delicious! I love creamy tomato soups but have never made one fresh before. I highly recommend this recipe, obviously.

1/4 c butter
1 T salt
1/2 t black pepper
1 1/2 c chopped onions
2 c milk or cream (I used fat free half-and-half)
2-3 cloves of garlic minced/pressed
1 pinch red pepper flakes
4 c trimmed and cut tomatoes (or 2 cans of diced tomatoes)
1 1/2 T sugar
3 T uncooked rice
2 c water or chicken broth (I used broth)
1/4-1/2 c fresh chopped basil

In a large saucepan, melt butter and saute the onions. Add the garlic and the red pepper, saute for one minute. Add tomatoes, sugar, rice, and water/broth. Bring to a boil, then lower the temperature. Cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes. Add basil and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Puree this whole mixture in a blender or food processor (unless your machines are huge, I suggest doing this half at a time to save yourself the explosion and kitchen cleaning I may have gone through). Return blended soup to the saucepan. Add warm milk, salt, and pepper. Simmer 2-3 minutes and serve with toasted bread and parmesan cheese, veggie sandwiches, or eat it by itself! It serves probably 6-8, we had a lot left over.

Yoga

P.E. is the bain of my teaching week, I am bad at it and it is awful for me and the kids.  This week P.E. was wonderful.  I bought an app for my student's ipod touches called Pocket Yoga and let them play with it during P.E.  It was just one of the cutest things to watch them all, they have few inhibitions and if it's on their ipods they love it.  I felt like it was good enough for P.E. when some of my "tough" little athletic boys were saying it was hard.  I think we'll be doing some more yoga for P.E. this year.

Skiing, Quilting, and Reading

Over Human Rights Day, Stephen and I went up to Logan for the ole' annual Champlin family cross country ski.  We've had better snow in the past and it's always sad that Spencer isn't with us (mission) but it was fun nonetheless.

Then a couple of weeks later, Stephen came home with passes to the Park City resort from work and we got to spend the most BEAUTIFUL Saturday imaginable on the slopes.  After several years hiatus from downhill skiing I was quite pleased that I could keep up with Stephen and it was fun and not painful.  Stephen took this picture with the not-so-great camera phone but I thought it was kind of cool.

I've also started a new project that I am in love with...

Anywhere you see carpet in the middle will be gray and then I'll have some boarders and it'll be beautiful!  I will post pictures in the coming years when I finish it.  I got this far and haven't touched it because I'm reading the Hunger Games series and I am so roped into them.  I am just starting the third book so the end is in sight!

Mormon Housewife Blogs

Stephen came across this article written by a "young, feminist atheist who can't bake a cupcake" and loves reading mormon mother's blogs.  It's a really funny article.  If you feel so inclined...enjoy!

Click here to read the article (and don't ask why my links are no longer showing up as another color, of course I have no idea).