Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas everyone! I haven't posted for a very long time, but with this nice, relaxing break I finally have time to :-) Not too many updates with us, I spend most of my time with teaching and Jirik is actively searching for jobs. He just graduated this December and is excited to be done with school. He's figured out he has celiacs disease and so now is on a gluten-free diet. I'm still working on learning how to cook gluten-free (no wheat, barley, rye or its derivatives). I still eat gluten, but am working towards removing it from my diet as well. We want to be a "gluten-free family" because celiacs and autism are both partially genetic and so our kids will have a higher chance of having one/both and should be on gluten-free diets if they have either one. We're hoping Jirik will become a lot healthier in 2010 without the gluten and maybe even gain some weight!

We've tried to be a bit more social this year and have had regular game nights with friends every weekend for the last few months. Jirik and I both love board games and I need the adult time :-) Hopefully wherever we move we'll always find friends who love games.

Jirik and I have had a nice holiday together. We've treasured sleeping in and enjoyed playing games on weeknights. I tried to surprise him with some out-of-print games from his childhood (he's way nostalgic about movies/games he had when he was little), but he guessed what they were so I gave them to him early. I then tried to surprise him with the Lost seasons, but he eventually guessed that too. He is the only one home during the day and so he sees the packages as they come. He doesn’t open them, but based on the size/shape and who it’s from he can make a pretty accurate guess. He has a very analytical mind so it's so hard to get anything past him :-) I'm not that way at all so I am easily surprised. My new favorite show is NCIS so he got me the seasons. It was actually way cute, he hid each season in the house and I had to follow clues on an NCIS script that he wrote. Good job Jirik!

For the rest of break I plan on relaxing and resting up and maybe doing a few things here and there to help make it easier for me that first week back. I'm thankful that both sides were ok with us staying here this holiday. I especially needed the break. I was sick to start off with (you'd think by now I would have been exposed to all germs 7/8 year olds carry, but I guess not). I am now almost better. My immune system does not handle traveling well, so it's been nice to actually recoup in a timely manner.

It's been a few Christmases since I've been with my family and so I wanted to include in this post why I appreciate all of them. They all are very supporting and loving even though I live the farthest away and don’t get to visit often.

Mom: My mom cares so much about everyone. She has a wealth of knowledge of all things food/ health related. She's really helped me and Jirik figure out this gluten-free thing and how to better implement healthier habits. I miss all the bonding times we had when I loved at home. The lunches and shopping trips were very special to me. I really appreciate all she does for all her kids.

Dad: My dad also has a great wealth of knowledge, but with technology. He always keeps me up-to-date with new things. He loves to share his knowledge and I enjoy that we share it as a common interest.

Lisa & family: Lisa and her family are the ones that live closest to us, but it's still a good distance away. They are always so welcoming and accommodating when we come visit, even though it's usually a short stay. I was super young when they got married and mom always told me to find a guy like Scott (Jirik is by the way, he takes very good care of me). Lisa's kids are so well mannered and fun to be with. I was so happy we got to spend some time with all of them this summer.

Brett: Brett keeps to himself mostly, but he's my comic relief. I remember when I was in college (it was so long ago, haha) we went through a phase where we constantly sent picture texts to each other back and forth, mostly of funny things we saw things to keep each other updated. He sent me pictures of the cat and I sent him pictures of BYU vending machines....haha.

Cathy & family: Cathy was like a second mom to me growing up and we have many of the same interests now. I sooo miss shopping with her (clothes, decorative items, makeup, etc.). I also love being around her boys. Alex has been growing into a fun (and super tall) teenager. Cameron has more energy than I can imagine having, but is so sweet. I wish I could see Brandt grow up like I have the other two, I can tell he's also going to be an adorable boy.

Dana: Dana is the most giving person I know. She is always thinking of others and loves to make others happy. She has been great to me and always surprises me with the sweetest things.

Jirik: My new(er) family. I feel like I made the best choice I could have made. He is so loving and caring. We’ve had hard times, but also some of the most fun. I’m excited about our future and feel very lucky to be with him.

Merry Christmas to all of you and lots of love!

Bzzzzzzzzzzz

We were finding at least 5 wasps daily in our condo whenever we ran our swamp cooler. Not fun, these suckers were big! We found a nest on our deck so we sprayed it and sealed our sliding door better (we have to have it open to run the swamp cooler). Our swamp cooler didn't even seem like it made our condo much cooler, and we were dying in the heat. Yesterday, after finding some majorly huge wasps Jirik asked our neighbor if he knew anything about them. He volunteered to come over and help us. He got a ladder and climbed on our roof and looked into our swamp cooler and found 1 massive wasp nest and 3 smaller ones. He sprayed them and killed over 40 wasps. He also told us our swamp cooler didn't have water in it (the water is what cools the air). Apparently when the sprinkler guy shut off one of our valves during the flooding incident it happened to be the same one that allowed water to go to the cooler. So this whole summer it has been a sauna in our place because the swamp cooler didn't have water. We turned the valve back on and now we have COLD air blowing through our condo!! It's amazing! And now wasps don't fly into our condo everyday! We are so grateful that our neighbor is a handyman and is so willing to help!

Almost Done Packing...

Jirik and I are going to go on our first road trip together! We're almost packed and hoping to head out today. Jirik has to get to a certain point in his work, then we are off! We're going to Meridian, ID --> Hockinson, WA --> Bend, OR --> Meridian, ID --> Rexburg, ID ---> back home to Provo. I will get to see all of my family! It's been a year since I've seen them! Yay! I'm so glad we have a nice, reliable car and gps!

Arrested Development

Arrested Development is one of my favorite tv shows. I really wish it aired more than 3 seasons! The summer Jirik and I got married we watched the whole series. I think it was Cathy who introduced the show to me when I was bored in bed after having my wisdom teeth pulled. I was just looking through our movies and saw the dvds and thought about rewatching this most entertaining show! It's definitely a show you can rewatch over and over... It's very quotable! My siblings and I used to constantly share our favorite Arrested Development quotes with each other over facebook...good times :-)

Boo Airlines

Dear American Airlines,

Why must you make us check in and board the plane only to cancel it. Here's some advice: If you know you will be canceling a flight (because you've had to cancel all flights to that airport due to weather conditions) the customer prefers that you cancel it when you know so that us customers have a chance to get a new flight in a timely manner. If this would have happened we could have made the 10am flight out. We boarded our flight before 8am, but then had to collect our checked bag and stand in line for a couple hours trying to find another flight out today. The earliest flight to Virginia we could get is 6:40am tomorrow. I was so frustrated at the airlines! They were starting to board another flight to Dallas (the airport they had to cancel our flight for) and the people behind the desk said they were most likely going to cancel that flight too. Then why oh why board the flight and make people check in, go through security, board the plane, just to cancel the flight, have people get off the plane, claim baggage, stand in line to get a new flight, and frustrate them to no end. Not cool American Airlines :-(

Sincerely,
Frustrated Customer

As you can tell, I'm not a big fan of airlines today. It was such a huge inconvenience! I woke up at 3am (3 1/2 hours of sleep) to get ready and pack last minute things (I have anxiety when I travel so I have to give myself plenty of time), we drove to Salt Lake, parked, then had all the airport trouble, paid for parking, drove back to Provo, went out to eat (we threw out most of our food so it wouldn't go bad), only to have to wake up even earlier tomorrow morning and try it again. This time we'll be going through Chicago, so hopefully there won't be any problems.

To Jirik

So Jirik and I decided that since we have 2 blogs that I will write this one and he will write on our other one. I know that's random, but it's entertaining for us. Jirik's will definitely be funnier because his writing just seems to emit sarcasm and humor. Mine will still mostly be updates but i'll try to play his game sometimes too :-)

Grilled Pineaplle + Pasta + Salad + Glorious Meats = Happy Caitlin

So I had the best food today... seriously. Jirik had been to Tucanos before and so had pretty much everyone out here in Provo. Jirik surprised me with lunch there today to celebrate the beginning of summer (big deal for a worn out teacher). Tucanos = ammmmazing food! Mom and dad, you would love it! Especially dad! If you ever come out again we are going to take you! They have a great pasta and salad bar to start off with, then they bring out a variety of different meats on giant sticks and they cut you off what you want. The meats were the tenderest, juciest, most flavorful cuts I have ever had. So good! It's buffet style so I got to try all the different types of meats. They also have grilled pineapple and vegetables. The pineapple is to die for! We even requested more of it because we just couldn't get enough of it! Jirik and I believe if you're going out for something special you can splurge if it's only every once in a while. So I got a fancy little smoothie drink and we both got dessert (they don't come in the buffet). Jirik got an orange creme cheesecake and I got raspberry cheesecake. We just got back and I am so content and pleasently full :-) (and about to watch "He's Just Not That Into You" because we bought it this morning -- I've been dying to see it, I used to LOVE the book).

I survived!

It's official....summer is here! My last day with my students was last Friday. It was bittersweet because I really need the break, but I am really going to miss those kids! I've grown very attached to all of them over the year. They are all so loving and I got lots of hugs! My little gangsta boy came up and hugged me and told me he loved me and that I was his best teacher ever. I mean c'mon, doesn't that just make your heart melt! I also received a lot of compliments from parents which was nice. Teaching is hard, but way worth it! I won't have kids during the summer, but most of my time will still be spent planning and preparing for next year.

The last day we had a dance festival. Our little second graders danced a Hawaiian dance to "Under the Sea." It was way cute! Jirik brought me flowers at the end of the day...talk about a sweet husband!

I think surviving my first year of teaching can be my milestone for 23. At 20 I was engaged, 21 married, 22 graduated with my Bachelor's and started my first year teaching, and 23 survived the first year. It's been a monumental few years for me, but life is beautiful...

Water Party

6 more days of school!!

Today we had a water party for those who met their reading goal. The kids brought swimming suits and water toys and had a blast. Teachers went up to the roof and sprayed the kids with hoses/buckets/water guns. If you know me well you know I'm terrified of heights. However, I told my students I would be up on the roof and they were super excited so I didn't want to let them down. I didn't think too much of the height problem until I saw the ladder. You can ask my dad, I don't do ladders. I don't think I've ever gone up more than two steps on a ladder, they just totally freak me out. For some reason I thought there would be nice stairs leading to the roof, but that was not the case. I'm proud t0 say I faced my fear and climbed the big ladder to the roof! I'm glad I did, it was fun to spray the kids and see them so excited!



I don't have any pictures of me on the roof, but I took these so you know I was there!

On a completely different note, I wanted to say what a great husband Jirik is. I've really wanted to get in a habit of exercising a little more, hoping that would help me be more healthy. In February he surprised me with a Wii Fit, which I absolutely love. I got off track doing it because I kept getting sick, but now I've been trying get back into it. Yesterday a new game came out called Active that works with the balance board that comes with the Fit. I mentioned before that I really liked the Active and suggested I maybe could reward myself once I meet my goal on Fit (you can set weight/BMI goals). Jirik, being super thoughtful, surprised me with the game last night! I tried it out and love it! It has pre-designed workouts and came with resistance bands to help you get even more out of it. The workouts focus on different muscle groups and it has a 30 day challenge that rotates you throught the workouts. You can also keep a journal on the game to record other activities you do and how well you're eating. I tried it out last night and really like it. If I try to workout to videos I get lazy with doing the actions the right way, but the games call me out if my squats aren't low enough or if I'm doing something wrong. It also keeps track of how many calories you're burning during the workout. I think I'll now alternate between Active and Fit (the activities/workouts are way different between the two) and hopefully keep up a good regimen this summer and get super healthy!

Sometimes after a hard week I look up quotes for a little uplifting inspiration. Here are some I stumbled on that I really enjoyed:

"Think about your particular assignment at this time in your life. It may be to get an education, it may be to rear children, it may be to be a grandparent, it may be to care for an relieve the suffering of someone you love, it may be to do a job in the most excellent way possible, it may be to support someone who has a difficult assignment of their own. Our assignments are varied and they change from time to time. Don't take them lightly. Give them your full heart and energy. Do them with enthusiasm. Do whatever you have to do this week with your whole heart and soul. To do less than this will leave you with an empty feeling."
— Marjorie Pay Hinckley (Small and Simple Things)

My life right now basically consists of my work. When I read this it made me feel ok about that. I feel that this is my calling right now: to help these little children feel nurtured and loved while teaching them all the academics they need to succeed. It really does consume my whole heart and soul. It's pretty much what I think about all the time. I think I've become a mediocre conversationalist because teaching's really all I have to talk about!


"Be kind. Everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle."
— Marjorie Pay Hinckley (Small and Simple Things)

I also related this to teaching (see my conversations always relate to teaching...). I sometimes get overwhelmed with 27 very needy students. They all want so much attention, whether it be telling me long stories or tattling that someone made them feel bad. Nothing tries one's patience like this! But these kids really are fighting hard battles, definitely harder that anything I even knew about when I was their age. This week we had parent-teacher conferences and one of my students said she didn't know if her dad would be able to come because he might be in jail that night. My heart breaks with what these kids deal with and I hope that the Lord can help me reach them in the way that they need.

NCLB

End of year testing starts this Tuesday :-(

I hate putting little kids though such long tests!

Class Website

At school we are encouraged to keep up a class website for parents and students. At my last new teacher training in meeting in March we got the software (Adobe Contribute) and 2/3 of the training on how to edit our site. Each teacher has a section off of the main school website. I've only had the software and training for a few weeks, but it's coming along well. Some parts of my site aren't updated because I need the last training to know how to do certain things. It's been lot of fun for me though! I love designing and adding things to it! I wanted to show my family pictures of my kids and I just added some under the section "photos." Click here or on the picture to go to my class website and check it out!

Build-a-Bear

Last week was a really hard week at school so on Friday Jirik took me to Build-a-Bear for a little fun and relaxation. Since I have a jungle theme in my classroom I made an elephant dressed in a police uniform. The reason last week was hard was because I wasn't feeling very well and my class was not behaving well. I figure I'll use the little elephant cop in my management plan to help remind the kids to follow the rules :-)


I'm taken two sick days this week (my first so far this year) because of a really bad sinus infection. I never thought sinus infections were that bad, but I've been pretty miserable with it. The whole right side of my face has been causing a lot of pain, especially dental pain. I'm going back to work tomorrow and I'm on an antibiotic now, so hopefully I'll feel better soon.

Flowers

Today was a frustrating day with the kiddos as far as listening goes. Nothing has tried my patience more than teaching 27 young, needy students. I try so hard to give them all the love and support they need, but it's emotionally draining. They require so much individual attention and I am just one person. Jirik totally made my day today though! School had wiped me out and I was totally exhausted, and he surprised me with roses after school. It made me happy :-) I have an awesome husband!

Little Rant

So my students are pretty much always sick but still go to school and I keep getting sick...argggg! It's so frustrating! It's cheaper for parents to send them to school than take a day off or get a babysitter. When kids are sick keep them home!!

It's Official

So most of our family already knows we were pretty sure we were going to stay in UT another year, but I wanted to let you know that is is official now. Jirik canceled his April graduation and will be continuing school and adding a minor or two. Also I submitted the preliminary paperwork to return to work next school year. While this wasn't our orginal plan, we know it is the best decision given the economy. Most of the companies Jirik would want to work for are having hiring freezes, but my job is secure. He definitely has more earning potential than I do, but my job pays the bills and I'm grateful to have job security. I'm glad to be able to stay at my school because I love it there! And I wanted to teach more than just one year. I feel very blessed to have graduated when I did and to have the job I have. It's hard, but good! On a tangent, I'm up to 28 students (crazy, I know!). We also got our tax return (we filed it a few weeks ago). That's all the updates for us!

Kids Say the Darndest Things

Work is often stressful and my patience is definitely tried more than ever before, but some days I just end up laughing because 7 and 8 year olds say the funniest things. I hear so many great quotes in a day! It's sometimes what keeps me going when it's been a hard day. Today as we were going to lunch one of my little boys showed me how his sideburns were getting a little shaggy and said, " Look Mrs. Hynst, I'm starting to grow a beard!" I think he thought that that's how a beard grows (from the sideburns down). It was pretty darn funny! First off, he's 7 (not the usual age you start seeing facial hair). Second, he's Chinese (not usually tons of facial hair). My class was really chatty in the afternoon and every time I found myself getting frustrated and losing patience I thought back to this incident to give myself a little laugh :-)

Wii Fit

So I tried it out the Wii Fit yesterday and I love it! I've never been good about exercising before so I don't know what I'm doing on my own. The Fit tells me if I'm doing the exercises right or not and how to improve. There are 4 areas: yoga, aerobics, strength training, and balance. It helps you set up a goal and track your progress with body tests that measure you BMI among other things. I'm not one that is confident enough to go to the gym and workout and we don't have much space in our apartment for lots of equipment, so this little gem hopefully will do the trick. It's actually pretty fun and does make me sore (which I assume to be a good thing:-)). It also makes you want to workout because it deposits the time you've spent working out into your "fit bank" and unlocks new exercises. You also earn scores for how well you do on each exercise and it keeps a top 10 list for all the users. So I can compete with Jirik which will be fun. I'm hoping exercising more will help my health improve and also drop some of the pounds I've gained since I got married!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I feel like this year I got to celebrate Valentine's Day twice. Yesterday we had our classroom celebration, and Valentine's is so much fun with little kids. They are all so excited about the holiday and there is none of that drama like with older kids and teenagers. Everyone gets each other valentines and it seems to be a day where they all get along. They were all so happy, it made me happy too! It's also fun to be the teacher! I got chocolates and roses and heard throughout the day how much they loved me, it's a pretty good confidence booster :-) I made little valentines for all my students describing why I thought they were special, which were well received. They loved them! I have a hard class this year, but they are very sweet kids. Even my little gangsta has been sweet recently (for the most part:-))

Today obviously is the real Valentine's Day, and I'm so glad it's on a Saturday so I can actually spend the day with Jirik. Weekdays I don't get to see him as much as I like, so it works out well this way! We are having a chill day just enjoying spending time together. I kinda ruined his surprise for me because I walked into the store as he as checking out (I think it was the first time ever I finished looking at my store before he was done at his, lol). What was the surprise, you ask? A Wii Fit!!!!! I love my husband! I've been wanting something that will make it a little easier to exercise at home without taking up space (someday I want a treadmill and eliptical, but those don't exactly fit into our small condo). The Wii Fit is perfect! It's been sold out every time we've gone to look for it, so I'm thrilled he was able to find it! I think I will end right here because I want to try it out right now!

Finally!

I finally got new glasses today!! So I'm not one that is picky about my glasses, but my frames had been broken for about 6 months. Not just kinda broken, but full out they randomly fall apart throughout the day broken. I had electrical tape holding them together, but within this last month the tape wasn't holding so much anymore. My glasses were also really old because I had been primarily using contacts (until the dry UT weather made that impossible for my dry eyes) so my prescription wasn't that accurate. Overall I'm happy that my new glasses are not falling off my face and that I can see clearly. Yay!!

**Edit: Picture as requested
Random funny note of the day: Many of you have heard stories of my little gangsta second grader, who I'll refer to now on as "Little Gangsta." Well, I have another story. Today we watched part of Obama's Inauguration Address in class. They didn't really understand anything that was said, but to some degree realized its significance. Little Gangsta came up to me during the address and said, "I really want to hit someone." This is not entirely unusual, as this is one of his steps to cool down (when he gets angry and is about to become violent he is supposed to take deep breaths, walk away, tell me about it, and refrain from hitting). The reason this story is more entertaining is his answer to why he wanted to hit someone. He responded, "Because they are talking when Obama is talking!" He was pretty outraged and upset. I found this hilarious because he is not one to respect anyone enough to not talk just because they are talking. He was really serious about it though and I had to watch him closely to ensure he did not act on it.

tonsils = the enemy

I went to the doctors today and surprise surprise: Strep again! I knew I had it before I went in, but I needed to get tested to get the antibiotics (which I got in a shot this time by the way, convenient yet painful). I'm getting pretty good at self-diagnosing (sad, huh). Basic gist: my tonsils are my enemies.

Parent-Teacher Conferences

I just wanted to say I'm glad parent-teacher conferences are over! Monday and Tuesday of this week involved long hours putting report cards together (in addition to the everyday responsibilities of teaching my 27 students) and Wednesday I got to school at 7-something in the morning and got home around 9pm (9-2 school day, 2:15-8:30 conferences with a 30 min. break for dinner). So much work! I have to say I'm wiped out and it's once again taking a toll on my health.

I'm grateful for my job though, especially in this economy. I know our district has put a hold on hiring any new employees for the most part. As a classroom teacher I'm safe, but as other employees leave we do not rehire anyone for that position, but fill it internally. We're still hoping Jirik will be offered a job (his earning potential is much higher than mine), but it's nice to know I have my job secured for next year if I want it.

Back to parent-teacher conferences though, I have to say I'm definitely learning to be a better parent in regards to my (future) children's education. I realize what's annoying and what's helpful in parent-teacher relationships. I hope that I will be able to be a better parent with my experience teaching in the classroom. My BYU classes taught me a lot, but experience is a much better teacher!!