buh-rittany

Roommates

2011-10-20T20:41:00.000-07:00

This time of year I get to thinking about all of the roommates that I have had and I am extra grateful for all the people who have change my life in unexpected ways. Some of my best friends were once my roommates and for the most part those are the people that I still keep in contact with.

The other day as I was sitting in my chair, covered with a blanket, not feeling well, and watching Monk, my mom called me and asked me if I would consider getting some roommates. I told her that I would definitely have to meet them first to see if they could come and live with me. She told me that arrangements could be made.

Yesterday I went and met a set of sisters and we got along so well that they are now my new roommates....

In case you were wondering, yes I am a sucker for a really cute face, they are sisters, and I have not named them yet...any ideas?

News

2011-07-28T22:32:00.001-07:00

I have two bits of news today.

1. I found my camera cord, so now you will be over-loaded with posts from this year...that's right, the posts will cover January until August...make time.

2. I ate pudding today and under the lid was an amazing surprise.

THE PRINGLES MAN!!!

Life is amazing...

Some news.

2011-07-03T16:18:00.000-07:00

A disclaimer: I have not told anyone this, so you may not be offended because I did not call and tell you personally.

The news: I bought a house. In Alaska. You may come visit any time. Pictures will be posted after I close on the 31st.

On a different note: I will post pictures of all my vacations when I have a chance and find the cord to download all my photos onto the computer. Please be patient.

Ahhhhh...

2011-05-27T18:32:00.000-07:00

Summer is here. I am currently looking for a lounge chair to put on the deck, a good book, and some sun screen...and yes, I signed a contract for next year.

My experience at the grocery store.

2011-04-13T21:24:00.000-07:00

So I just got back from the grocery store where I was picking up some strawberries, bananas, and milk with my dad. The following is a true story, and all conversation is completely accurate.

The scene: We are checking out and there is not a bagger, so rather than wait, I start to bag my own groceries.

The characters: Me, my dad, the bag boy (we will call him BB for short)

BB: Uh, ma'am I can do that for you.
Me: I think I just finished, thanks
BB: Oh, uh...you wanna job?
Me: I am already employed, but thanks
BB: Well this job has benefits
Me: I am a teacher
BB: OH. Where do you teach?
Dad: (the name of the school was given here, but shall not be shared.)
BB: Spanish?
Me: uh-huh.
BB: I need help with my spanish....

At this point I felt it was time to leave. I think I just got hit on by a bag boy who could not have been more than 17...

To all former roommates

2011-02-20T18:55:00.000-08:00

Please come up to Alaska. I miss you.

Brittany

The question of the day, and a few random lines

2010-11-14T10:29:00.000-08:00

A question to ponder: Do you know Whak Fun?*

Some one liners worth repeating:

"She wretched across the table for the bread."
"Miss Pierce, what's your last name?"
"She was salitude and alone."
"When yo dun yur hw, yae has mor time to play!" (you may be thinking I exaggerated the spelling errors on this 7th graders sentence, but I did not.)

Thanks for reading, may you have as many funny moments in your own day.

*The answer to this question was procrastination

The wrong place to pause.

2010-09-29T17:47:00.000-07:00

A conversation with my 7/8th grade students (ages 12-14)--

Me: "today you are going to design posters on this worksheet. You are going to work on your own. Tomorrow you are going to get a partner and reproduce...."

Class: laughter

Me: "Sorry, wrong place to pause."

The first week of school

2010-08-29T21:14:00.000-07:00

So we have completed a whole week of school. It was uneventful and eventful at the same time. Here is a summary of all the fun events that happened in my classroom.

1. Meeting all the students--I am excited to have this group of students. They are going to be a lot of fun, and I expect that this year will be full of adventures
2. The first Friday--I was lucky enough on this Friday to have no voice. As in zero. I was about as loud as a whisper. The students joked around about it, as did the teachers. I was just glad that it was on a Friday in which it had already been planned for the whole middle school to meet together. That meant that the other teacher got to do all the talking on that day.
3. The first 2 hour staff meeting of the year...yeah...
4. Exploding Coke using Mentos. This experiment was done because the students were learning about writing labs, and using the scientific method. The question was asked "How many Mentos would it take to cause coke to explode 6 feet?" The question was never answered, but it was fun to do.

Finally...this was my favorite thing to do so far...
5. Teaching 6th graders how to open a locker.

The end. Well really this is the beginning. Who knows what other fun things we have to look forward to in the near future. We will find out tomorrow when Monday comes again.

Oregon week 2

2010-07-22T15:46:00.000-07:00

I think it is now appropriate to post the pictures from the second week of our vacation.

Dad and I were able to play with my newest niece, as well as Savannah, Margaret, and Guy Smiley. We had a fantastic time as we went hiking, to museums, and played. We got to meet and play with the kitties. We were also able to sneak up to visit my Grandma and Grandpa. All in all this was a second fun filled week. We love you all and say thanks for all the smiles and laughs. Hopefully we can get down to see everyone again soon.

Oregon week 1

2010-07-20T15:10:00.000-07:00

I had the opportunity to spend two weeks in Oregon with my Dad, visiting with my two eldest sisters. Now that I am home, I wanted to share some of the fun times that we were able to enjoy. I thought I would split it up between the two weeks and just give a small view of what we were able to enjoy.

We were able to visit the rose gardens in Portland, hike, visit the beach and enjoy beautiful weather with Missy and her family. We were also able to celebrate my birthday. We went swimming, on another hike, and we all laughed more than once. A fun filled week.

I would like to thank my sister and her family for making this week one full of memories. The pictures are better than any words I could possibly write. Love you all.

Yeah!

2010-06-20T09:15:00.001-07:00

It's official. I got the contract in the mail yesterday. I am officially the newest teacher at Fronteras Elementary.

I intend to have a job

2010-06-05T11:42:00.000-07:00

Last Friday I received a phone call regarding an interview that I had had at one of the schools here in the valley. I got the job. At least they want to hire me. I went in to the school on Tuesday and signed a letter of intent. This stated that I intend on taking the job and they intend on hiring me, but it is all based on approval by the school board. So if the school board says yes, then I officially start on August 16th. If they school board says no, then there is still a chance that I go teach English in Uruguay.

What did you learn at church yesterday?

2010-05-03T19:33:00.000-07:00

The first Sunday of each month there is an opportunity in our church for members to stand before the congregation and share their testimonies. These are usually about the reality of Christ, or the Atonement, the prophet Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, or other principles of the gospel. This is what I heard in my testimony meeting yesterday...

"Hi, my name is A***********. I am 27 as of 5 days ago. I am currently unemployed. I am an engineer, and I did have a good job before I decided to quit. I own a house and a car, and I am planning on more education. That being said, will you marry me?"

Don't you all miss going to a singles ward?

The Cruise...

2010-04-05T12:11:00.000-07:00

I went on a cruise. Let me explain a little bit. My friends Kyla and Brenda and I decided that we were not going to stay in Alaska for Spring break, and so we booked a cruise. Since I have been back, there have been many requests and reminders for me to update this blog with pictures. I have not done so, mostly because I do not know where to start. Kyla was the documentor of the cruise (aka she was in charge of taking the pictures), and she took 1600 pictures. No that is not an extra zero. So I really did not know were to begin. After some good advice, I have reached a starting point. 10 days, 10 pictures. Please know that this has been VERY difficult to narrow down.

We landed in Orlando, and with our spare travel day, we went to Universal Studios. We had a lot of fun just messing around and exploring. My friends and I were all super excited to be on vacation somewhere warm.

On Sunday we got on our ship, the MS Ryndam. We spent Sunday exploring, and going to church and figuring out that we were the life of the cruise party. The average age on our ship...72. The cruise was still lots of fun.

On Monday, we were in Key West. There we had a great time walking around town, taking pictures, and taking a Kayaking adventure. It's a good thing the water was only 7-12 feet deep at the most and an average of 1-2 three feet usually. We kayaked in the Mangrove trees and I learned that I am not really good at making the kayak turn on my own. I did not (thankfully) tip, but I did run into the trees a number of times. Kyla and Brenda laughed each time it happened.

Tuesday we were on ship all day, so we thought we would participate in all the on-ship activities. That included line dancing with DJ Casey. We shared all the dances learned at the last singles ward dance. Everyone was impressed.

Wednesday, we woke up in Honduras. Awesome. We drove on a bus to Copan, which was a rare treat. The cruise ships do not ususally dock long enough to be able to see these ruins, but they were inredible. In the picture above, I am stanting in front of a statue depicting two dragons eating each other. I do not remember the symbolism we were told, but looking at the detail work alone was worth the trip.

Thursday, Guatemala. This was by far my favorite port, and I could see myself going back to explore this country in more depth. The ruins were awesome, and the surrounding countryside even more so. This port alone made the trip worth taking. So if you get the chance, head to Quirigua.

This is also in Guatemala. After the ruins, we took a small river tour and we saw this cool spanish fort. We did not get to explore, but like I said, next time...

Friday we were in our last port, Mexico. These ruins were the best preserved, and we could climb all over them. So we did. The guide in these ruins was the best, and we learned a lot about the relationship between the Maya people and the people from the Book of Mormon. Our tour guide was a member of the Church. These ruins were the easiest to access, and if I get the opportunity to return to mexico, it would be a place I would like to spend more time in.

Saturday, we packed to get off the ship. Instead of a sad picture of that, I included a picture of one of the temples at Chacchoben in Mexico. Sunday we disembarked the ship, went to church and headed back to Orlando and our flight home.

On Monday, we had enough time to go to SeaWorld before we had to be in the airport, so we did. It was fun, and an experience since Kyla and I had never been. Tuesday morning found us driving from the airport back home, with the knowlege that we had to be at work the next day. All in all, the trip was awesome. Are we planning another, yes. 12 months, 16 days....(just kidding, the exact dates have not been established yet.) If you would like to hear more about the curise, I suggest you come and visit me, and then you can read the book. Yes there is a book.

I love winter

2010-01-17T10:40:00.001-08:00

I love to be outside. And I love the snow and the winter. So I was excited when a friend of mine loaned me three pairs of snowshoes. I was able to convince my parents that this would be something that could be fun to try. We drove up to Hatcher Pass. Strapped the shoes on our feet and we set off. We had the perfect weather. It was a nice mid twenties, and the sun was shining down. The trail was quiet, and the mountains were beautiful. Since it was our first time the trial we chose was an easy, relatively flat one, but worth every step.

Here we are at the trail head, ready to go. Right after this picture Dad took off, while mom and I tried to adjust our poles so that we could follow.

With confidence about what they were doing, the parents were naturals.

I decided that it was important to climb a tree at least once on the trip. I was a little amazed at how hard it was with snowshoes on. It was something that I had not counted on, but I made it work, and I eventually was able to sit in the tree.

Making snow angles is almost a must when you are out having fun. Also a much harder task with the snowshoes on. I t is amazing how stuck your feet get...I was still able to convince mom to make one. Dad passed, because he didn't want to get back up, but he did take most of the pictures for us.

Mom wouldn't just fall backwards, she decided she needed to hold onto a pole. So she got Dad on one end and then she started to lay back.

Then Dad let go and she fell. She also ended up with the pole which was poor planning on Dad's part because it got thrown at him.

It was beautiful.

We returned home because the sun was going down, but it was an adventure that will for sure be repeated soon.

bloggable

2009-10-22T19:18:00.000-07:00

I usually have at least one thing make me laugh each day in my classroom, but this was actually worth writing about. I think this is something that we all wish we would have done at some point in our lives, or actually did (patience?), but the ending is something you would wish would happen to someone else. Okay here goes nothing.

I am in the classroom calling roll... (by the way, the names are all changed, because I don't remember the actual name of the kid.)

Me: "Anthony?"

Kid: "Que pasa hombre?"

Me: "What?"

Kid: "Oh, Uh, no hablo inglis."

Me: "Esta bien, hablo espanol."

Kid (with an appropriate expression of disbelief on his face): "Well, in that case..."

Class: Laughing out loud.

Tough break when you try and tell the teacher you don't speak english and they don't fall for it. Don't worry, I gave him tips at the end of the class hour about how he could actually get away with it next time. Such as...don't call a female teacher "hombre". Got to love sophomores.

My little brother...

2009-10-13T21:52:00.001-07:00

My brother has had a lot of things going on recently. For example, yesterday was his birthday, and just a short time ago his wife had a baby, and well it wasn't that long ago he got married...you get the picture. So since I got to go to BYU with him when he was just starting, I thought I would share some pictures that you might not have seen of Ian. Happy birthday Ian.

Only in Alaska

2009-09-13T20:00:00.001-07:00

I was coming home yesterday from somewhere and while driving down the road my mom and I saw a disabled 4-wheeler. That is not unusual, what was however was the driver who was trying to fix it was wearing high-water, blue checked pajama bottoms with brown water boots, and a heavy winter coat.

Only in Alaska...I laughed the rest of the way home.

Summer

2009-08-21T11:29:00.001-07:00

This summer was full of sunshine, friends, and family. I feel blessed that I have all three. I know from the friendly reminders that I haven't posted in a while, so I thought that I would just give you a glimpse of what happened to me in July. I spent the fourth of July in a cabin with my parents, my sister, and her family. We had lots of fun and you should all see the pictures posted on her blog. After the fourth was my birthday.

For my birthday, two of my good friends and I went swimming. (yes Tiffany, 78 is hot enough to jump in a lake) We waited about 10 minutes after we got out of the water to decide that we were also hungry and then we went to IHOP. Good friends, good food, good memories. After this celebration on my real birthday, I took a day off of work in the middle of the week and took my mom hiking. We headed up to one of my favorite spots ever, Reed Lakes.

We started are hike at about 9:30 and by lunch time we had made it to the first lake. The photos are good, but you should have been there. The lake really was that turquoise blue color, and the day was perfect. The sun was shining, and we were some of the only people on this popular trail. That was probably a good thing for mom since I made her pose for pictures. One of my favorite pictures is the one of the Marmot posed on a triangular rock. I defiantly learned that to balance on a point lots of fat hanging over both edges is important.

The sun has been shining, and the summer has been wonderful. August was a month full of family, but I didn't take the pictures, so you will just have to see if one of my family did.

I look forward to whatever adventures await me in the fall, and if I take pictures, then I promise to post.

An encounter with a mother

2009-06-20T13:52:00.000-07:00

So as some of you know, I am now back in Alaska. The trip was good and we saw lots of bears. As others of you know when in Alaska, I spend my Tuesday nights doing this:

Or in other pictures, this:

For those of you that have no idea what this and this are, I go hiking. It is one of the things that I look forward to most each week. This last Tuesday a group of us went up Wishbone (in Sutton). My mom and I were the first up what is known as the chute and so due to the narrowness of the trail we continued on ahead while the rest of the group headed up. We were on a ridge-line of sorts, and were not really talking. I was going down the trail first when I came upon one of these:

I immediately pointed it out to my mom, and we both started talking. She to me, and me to the moose. Here moose, moose, moose...in a very conversational polite tone. I asked the moose to please let us past as we were not going to hurt it in any way and we were almost at our destination. While talking to the moose, we kept walking. The moose just looked at me. Then the moose started to paw the ground and huff and puff at me. She put her head down and was giving every sign of unhappiness at my position.

I turned around and said to my Mom, we should go that way, and we should do it fast. I pointed to where we had just come from, and then proceeded to help her along with my running into her. The moose just watched. We got a safe distance away (aka I could keep my eye on the moose and she could do the same for me) and waited for the group. They caught up, and I again walked toward the moose, and got the same results. Then I saw one of these:

That explained all. We ended up bushwhacking our way around, giving her plenty of room, and then continuing on our way. An adventure worth having, and one more thing that I can now say I did.

By the way, the 360 degree picture at the top was worth every huff and puff from both me and the moose. Oh and my Mom is coming with me again next week.

A sigh of relief...

2009-05-20T19:28:00.000-07:00

I just finished grading the third of four finals, and it looks like everyone will pass this year. Tomorrow in celebration I am going to bring root beer floats.

2009-05-18T15:33:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, we got the day off on Friday. So instead of using my time and packing and getting ready for a week in the car, I decided to go and see Santa. And as you can tell I did. I even went in his Christmas village.

Okay so truth be told, I did not just go to see Santa, it just happened and well any time I can get a word in with him before Christmas, things just seem to happen. In reality I went to hang out with George, Tom, Teddy, and Abe.

Yep, I went to Mt. Rushmore. It was awesome.

They had a rock tunnel that you could go into to get the picture above, and well I almost didn't leave it was really incredible.

This was my first ever view of what they call a mountain sculpture. Who grows up thinking that is what they would like to be when they grow up? I also learned that Rushmore was named after a lawyer who happened to be passing through at the right time. He asked the sculptor what the mountain was called. The reply was that it was not yet named, but would now be known as Rushmore. It kind of makes me want to ask questions.

Anyway Rushmore was a cool mountain, but on the recomendation of some friends, I also went to see Crazy Horse. It was even larger. But maybe not as impressive yet cause it is not done.

The story behind this monument is almost as impressive as how Rushmore was named. This one was commissioned by the Lakota chiefs. After finding the scultpor to do the work, it has been worked on for like 50 years. As you can see it is not done. That is because this is not a national park and all the funds come from dontaions and the door admission. The mountain will some day look just like the white statue, but since they will not take federal money, I do not know when it will finally be done.

Just to give you some prespective on size, the hole that you can see that looks like a tunnel is large enough to fit a 10 story building. Yeah, I was shocked too.

So my words of advice to all who have a long weekend...go and see something that you have never before seen. And for all that are wondering, yes this was definitly worth the 6.5 hour drive.

The updated countdown

2009-05-09T15:18:00.000-07:00

Today there are 14 days left. Tomorrow, only 13...which means on Monday I can change the countdown to 12...

Countdown

2009-04-25T09:26:00.001-07:00

The end of the school year countdown has begun...28 days.

Leaving you thinking...

2009-04-25T09:21:00.000-07:00

One of my students on accident shut my finger in a door. As He was walking out of the room, I couldn't help but mention it one more time. This was his response.

Him: "Miss Pierce, you can't be upset or mad about that."
Me: "Why not?"
Him: "Cause when I was 5, a spider crawled up my boot and bit me on the ankle. And now I am scared of spiders. So you can't be mad."

Then he walked out of the classroom. So just think about trying this technique the next time someone is getting angry or annoyed at you, just tell them they can't be mad because of a totally unrelated event and walk away. Believe me it works. I am still thinking about this story and it happened on Tuesday.

One day...

2009-04-15T19:29:00.000-07:00

impulsive
adjective
1.	proceeding from natural feeling or impulse without external stimulus; "an impulsive gesture of affection"
2.	without forethought; "letting him borrow her car was an impulsive act that she immediately regretted"
3.	having the power of driving or impelling; "a driving personal ambition"; "the driving force was his innate enthusiasm"; "an impulsive force" [syn: driving]
4.	determined by chance or impulse or whim rather than by necessity or reason; "a capricious refusal"; "authoritarian rulers are frequently capricious"; "the victim of whimsical persecutions" [syn: capricious]
5.	characterized by undue haste and lack of thought or deliberation; "a hotheaded decision"; "liable to such impulsive acts as hugging strangers"; "an impetuous display of spending and gambling"; "madcap escapades"; ('brainish' is archaic) [syn: hotheaded]

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
Cite This Source

I decided to include the definition for the word that describes my weekend. I decided since I had Good Friday off, that I was not going to spend my time doing nothing. Instead I called Ian. And then I drove to Utah.

I had a fantastic time. It was not really a bad drive and who knows, maybe my next day off will find me driving once again across Wyoming. Or maybe Mt. Rushmore...

Thanks for all those with whom I got to visit.

Heard on the Radio

2009-03-27T16:35:00.000-07:00

So we had a blizzard, and school was canceled so as I was listening to the radio this morning, I heard that in England they have stopped teenagers from loitering by using a pink light that highlights acne. I am just wondering what would happen if they did the same thing in Middle and High school hallways? Would student want to go to class? Maybe I'll suggest it at the next staff meeting...

Spring Break Part 2

2009-03-27T15:22:00.001-07:00

Welcome to Philadelphia! I met one of my old roommates Carolyn in Pennsylvania for an adventure. It was cool to travel to a place that neither of us had been before, but that had so much history it kept us busy. I would say that we probably could have spent another 3-4 days and not seen all that there was to see. So I will probably go back again. We had a hotel that was right in the middle of it all so we did not have to drive which was nice because after about 2 minutes neither of us wanted to drive in this city. We were content to walk and explore.

We just explored the city on our first afternoon and we got down to serious touristing on Thursday. We had talked to someone that was working in a gift shop, and she helpfully circled all the things on our map that we just HAD to see. So we went with it. That meant that the first stop the next day was to the Second National Bank. This was a beautiful building that is only open to tours twice a day. Carolyn and I were the only people on the tour, and well it was more like a wander. The tour guide was not really very helpful, or friendly, and well he just kind of followed us around until I asked questions such as, "Is the pink color authentic?" The inside of the bank was pink, and well it was a good question. As it turns out it is authentic as is the clock which is only right twice a day. The bank itself is modeled after the First National Bank, and so I feel like we got to see both even though one is closed. One thing that I thought interesting is that all of the historic sites we went to are declared National Parks and so the guides are all park rangers. Odd huh? Anyway, on Saturday we went to the display called "Money in Motion" at the Federal Reserve building, so it was kind of like money then, money now. Interesting.

What do you get when you put two people in a gift shop with odd things? Carolyn and I could not resist trying on the "Ben Franklin glasses." We had a couple of flashbacks to "National Treasure," and were a little disappointed that neither of us thought to bring a copy to watch while we were here. Oh well, what do you think of the glasses? I felt a little like I was back in the 7th grade, but the frames were not pink...

Standing in the room where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were signed was incredible. We took a tour of Independence Hall as it is now known, and except for the grumpy tour guide it was more than I imagined. This is the actual room, and if you believe everything I heard, the chair is original. It is the same one that George Washington sat on to sign both historic documents. I have taught United States History to my 8th graders this year, so it was cool to know the history before I saw what was in the building. I never realized how much history there was in Philadelphia before going. I do not think that I saw everything that there was to see, so I might have to go back sometime so that I get to explore some more. I did not take pictures of some of the places that we went, but we also went to Carpenter's Hall which is where the First Continental Congress met and sent their petitions to King George so that they would not have to go to war. I am sure that Carolyn was tired of the history lesson, but at least she listened which is something that I am not sure my 8th graders did. When I told them where I had been, they had no response. Oh well, someday when they visit perhaps they will remember that I tried to teach them how cool this place was.

While visiting the Liberty bell I was extremely grateful for the liberty that I have. It was one of the artifacts that I had not realized was in Penn. This bell has been the symbol of liberty for more than one cause, and just reading a history of the bell makes me think of what our ancestors must have sacrificed to bring us Liberty and Freedom. I was even more grateful when I thought of all the people that do not have the same privileges. We visited a museum dedicated to liberty called the National Liberty Museum. I kind of hate to admit that we went in because it had a display of jellybean children. Once we got in the museum however, we were able to learn about all of the rights that we have and all the people that sacrificed so that we could maintain those rights. It was interesting, and yes the jelly bean children were there although I did not take any pictures.

We visited the grave of Benjamin Franklin. It is in a beautiful cemetery that is one of the oldest in America. It was in Christ Church Cemetery. Along with Franklin there are 3 other signers of the Declaration of Independence. We enjoyed walking around. Weathering and a weak marble means that you can not read most of the grave markers impossible to read, so we spent some time speculating on the people that must be buried in that location. We did ask who was the last person to be buried in the cemetery and were interested to learn that they still use it for family vaults. And they are building a crematorium on the grounds. I do not think it will work well, but hey.

To please Carolyn's brothers, we walked to the Rocky statue. I have never seen the movies, nor have I any desire to do so, but I figure, I walked 2.5 miles to see this, I better take a picture. So I did.

Show your love.

Okay because it takes forever for pictures to post, I think I will just give you some brief highlights on the rest of trip. We visited what seems like everywhere. We went to the Betsy Ross home, the congress hall where John Adams was inaugurated 2nd President of the U.S., the National Archives, the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the home of James Madison (we didn't go in someone lives there), the Independence visitor's center, City Hall, Welcome Park, Penn's Landing, Sonny's (home of a delicious Philly Cheese stake), and Darling's Cafe and Cheesecake Boutique (home of the original Philly cheesecake--YUM!!!!). In short, we had an awesome time and it was amazing how much we were able to see in just three days.

I am fully converted to spring break. Who knows where I will be next year at the same time.

Spring Break Part 1

2009-03-27T14:42:00.001-07:00

Welcome to Florida! I was really lucky to have one of my friends and her husband decide to move to Florida. So when spring break rolled around, I asked and they agreed to let me come and visit. I was able to have a lot of fun, new experiences, and even fulfill a dream. I left for Florida on a Friday and got into town that evening. On Saturday we went into the Everglades and went looking for Gators. We ended up waking one of them up and then we all took pictures and watched while he tried to get away. On Monday, Tiffany, Tyler, and I went to the beach. I spent lots of time in the ocean. It was the perfect temperature. I would have stayed in longer, but I was getting all wrinkled. So I got out. I also got a nice sunburn. Yes I had on sunscreen. It is fine now, and after my students realized that I just had a sunburn, they stopped looking to close. On Tuesday we went and visited Butterfly World. It exceeded my expectations. I loved the beautiful plants, the colors of the butterflies and being surprised at every turn. The following pictures are from my trip. And they are backwards. I do not feel like putting them in order. I am sure that if you are looking, then you do not mind too much. Finally just a tip, but Tiffany is much better at taking pictures, and well she has some great ones on her blog. She is listed under my family and friends as Tiffany and Tyler. Enjoy Florida!

Part of the display at Butterfly world was all about birds.

A display of passiflora was worth the trip. There were flowers of every shape and color. It was really beautiful.

Every kind of butterfly, every shape and size, and every color. I felt like I was in some sort of movie. It was an unusual experience to see butterflies of all colors and not just yellow. And I understand about the eyes on the back of the wings.

One of the dreams that was fulfilled here in Florida was my dream of seeing an Alligator and touching it. I was able to do both. I would do it again without hesitation, and well, I would suggest everyone try it someday. This is actually a photo of us looking for a Gator. Here gator, gator, gator...

Thanks to Tiffany and Tyler for the awesome first time experience in Florida. If you want to see more pictures of the gator (one where I am holding him) and the beach since I did not get any pictures of either events, you can visit Tiffany's blog on under my friends and family. It is called Tiffany and Tyler. She really did get some good pictures. So check it out.

Disneyland

2009-03-06T17:11:00.000-08:00

I was lucky enough to catch a break on a ticket and have a sister who was willing to let me tag along with her and her family on my first trip to Disneyland. We had lots of fun in the sun, and even if we were the whitest people in the park (check out those legs!), we probably had the most fun.

Jamila and I were lucky to be in the right place at the right time. We were standing by a fence while Patience and Ethan were getting cotton candy, when Goofy came. So we got to be first in line to get our picture taken. When we were visiting California Adventures we both got our picture taken with Goofy again, so we were the luckiest Alaskans on the trip.

We went through Chip n' Dale's tree house at the request of Chloe. When we were on the way down there was a rock, and well it was impossible to keep these three off the rock. Kanani and I actual went through the tree house another time, as did the other girls, but she did not want to get on the rock when we finished the second time.

Train! Train! We were in line for the Casey Jr. and Mateo and Kanani were trying to push the gate open. Sad enough it didn't work, but we did get on the train and we got to sit in the "Wild Animals" car. It seemed appropriate.

This is the silly picture of Mateo.

Kanani loved it so much she wants to go again I am sure. I loved it too, but mostly cause I got to be with fun people. Thanks for letting me crash Disneyland.

Photography by Kanani

2009-03-06T13:58:00.000-08:00

Each morning while in California with Patience and her family, the girls and I would wake up and Patience and Ethan would still be asleep. So we would tell stories or play with quiet toys or other such entertainments until parents finally woke up. Well one morning I was looking at some pictures I had taken and I asked Kanani if she wanted to take one. Well one turned into 35, but this is just a sampling of her "pictures".

I am afraid...

2009-01-21T15:51:00.000-08:00

I am not afraid in the typical sense, I am however that my students think and act like the following clip from Junie B. Jones Loves Handsome Warren.

Junie B. has just finished telling everyone how she stayed on task during class for the whole afternoon when she says,

"Also I drew a sausage pattie on my arm.
Only that wasn't even an assignment.
That's called working on your own."

And that is my students. I will for sure update this again if and when I see sausage patties.

New Year and New adventures

2009-01-11T16:05:00.000-08:00

So I wanted the first post of the year to be something good, so it will be pictures. On the night before I got on a plane, Mom, Dad, and I were in Anchorage and we stopped to take some pictures of the ice sculptures.

Some of the sculptures were really cool. I enjoyed the both bears. For the bear that we are sitting on (yes we were allowed), you will notice that I am sitting on my hands, which had gloves on which was smart of me. Dad on the other had was sitting on the ice. BURRR! It was 13 below after all. I am grateful for the cold snap however because it meant that we had really good ice sculptures.

The reason that you do not see Mom, is because she sat in the car with the heat on.So this is me wishing everyone a happy new year, and may I say, I LOVE ALASKA!

Reaon to be thankful

2008-12-27T15:56:00.000-08:00

I do not really know exactly how I would like to start this post, so here it goes. I have lots of reasons to be grateful this Christmas.

1. I am grateful for Justin and Melissa. They picked me up from the airport at 2:30 am when they were not expecting me and then took me back to the airport the next night and didn't go home until they knew I was on a plane. They are great.

2. Mom and Dad. They were nice enough to pick me up from the airport after I finally made it into Anchorage.

3. Daniel S. This is the ticket agent who "cheated as much as he could" to put me as number 1 on the standby list for the flight to Anchorage instead of number 20. May you be blessed all you life.

4. The thought that I will not be as sad if I get stuck for longer on the way back to Colorado. It just doesn't seem like it will be quite as huge of a problem if I am stuck in Alaska as it would have been being stuck in Colorado.

5. It is Christmas. That means I get a break, I get to come home, I get to be with family and friends, and I have earned the name nit-nee. Thank you Mateo.

Now for the story. Yes like many of the holiday travelers out there I got stuck in the mess trying to get home for christmas. It began in Denver, where I was just a couple minutes to late to catch the early flight to Salt Lake. Had I been just 30 minutes earlier none of the madness would have happened. As it was however, I was not 30 minutes early and well that is where the story begins. I was sitting in the airport waiting for the flight to take off. I was really early so I was reading a really weird book. Then what to my wondering eyes should appear but a notice saying my 6:45 flight was delayed until 9:40. Not good news since my connection inSalt Late was supposed to take off at 8:50. So talking to the ticket agent she said she would put me on standby for the 5:05 flight that was for Salt Lake. Unknown to me she did not put me on standby, she just confirmed me on the flight. That would have been fine, until about 4:30 when the announcement came on the loudspeaker that they did not know where the plane was, that it had not landed in Salt Lake, and they were trying to find the plane. They did reassure us that they still thought they knen where the plane was, but that the flight for now was just delayed until 7:40. I was still okay and could still make the connection if all went well. Especially since the AK flight was delayed until 10.

Well life does not always work perfectly, and instead of ever finding the plane, they just canceled the flight. I thought I was still fine since I had a ticket on the 9:40 flight, but apparently the ticket agent who had put me on "stand-by" instead confirmed my seat, meaning that I had to be put on standby for my origional flight. I was very blessed to make it on that origional flight, and after another delay on the runway, we took off for Salt Lake, where I called my brother casue I had for sure missed my plane. Getting into SLC, I stood in line to talk to an agent about getting a flight to AK, but the agent kept on leaving. Finally tired, hungary, and yes, rather grumpy, I went to find my bag. During this whole time I had fun talking to Justin about when I was going to be in SLC. He of course was just laughing. Making my now moring better, I found out that I had to wait in another line to find my bag. Then another 35 minutes for them to go and get me my bag once alerted to the issues of me needing it. So at 2:30 am I went to Justins.

The next day I felt really good about putting myself on the now 20 person standby list. Justin now sure that I would be spending a couple more nights with them kept telling me that it was no use. But once I got to the airport a nice ticket agent listened as I told him what happened (except I couldn't remember which airport I had flown in from), and he did what he could to make me the most important person on the standby list. It worked, and after pacing in front of the screen that shows the standby list and the cleared list for what seemed like forever I was on. what a relief. It is amusing to see me on the standby list because it shows up PIE/B.

When we landed in AK, it was a relief to see mom. She was waiting. And then we got to wait for another hour for my luggage, so at 2:30 am we were home. Yeah. I love Christmas.

Thank you to everyone who helped me get home and I hope everyone out there had a very merry christmas.

Why I love teaching middle school and nursery

2008-12-06T12:24:00.000-08:00

I was reading the different blogs that I keep track of, and I realized that it was time for me to post. It also just happened that I have two experiences that have made me laugh.

Middle school:

Student: "Miss Pierce, can I go and get a band-aid, cause I am bleeding?"
Me: "Where are you bleeding?"
Student: "Right here (showing me a finger tip that is NOT bleeding)."
Me: "You are not bleeding."
Student: "Yes I am."
Me: "No, you are not bleeding, you might have been bleeding before, but your finger is not bleeding."
Student: "I am still bleeding under my skin!"
Me: "No."

Nursery:

We were learning about the 10 lepers, and being thankful for all our blessings.

Me: "Today we are going to learn about 10 people who were really sick that Jesus bless and helped."
Child: "I know this story."
Me: "You you this story?"
Child: "Yeah, I know what happens."
Me: "Well do you know why these 10 people were really sick?"
Child: "Uh-huh, they were all really sick because they ate to many sandwiches!"
Me: "Oh."

Da Vinci Days art

2008-11-16T17:59:00.001-08:00

I had my students complete art work as we were studying Da Vinci. I told you I would post pictures of the completed art, so here they are.

I especially like the expression on the "stroke" face.

What do you think, any of the students have a future as famous artists?

I'm a winner!

2008-11-16T17:32:00.000-08:00

So down here, there is an annual contest among all the sixth graders and all the sixth grade teachers. It involves the Conservation agency, and all of the different types of energy conservation. Each year they sponser an energy conservation poster. This year the theme was "Water is Life" and we had to create posters on this theme. Each of my students was supposed to participate, and all of my students submitted posters for considerations. The prizes for this contest was money, and so all of my students put lots of effort into completeing this poster.

Well my students all told me that I was not going to win because the teacher who was in Stratton before I, was also going to be in the contest, and he was "really good at posters." So I told my students that I would not give in and that I was going to win. Well you probably guessed it, but yes I won. That is what the picture is, my winning poster.

The most boring post ever

2008-11-02T18:15:00.000-08:00

This is not going to be a long post, due to the fact that there is really not much to update, but I am feeling a little like Justin about posting so infrequently. Anyway, here is the news.

In 8th grade we build a rollercoaster, and I even took a picture of it, but I cannot post the picture because my students all jumped into the picture. The photo, showes exactly what they are like, but you are going to have to take my word on it.

In 7th grade we learned all about Da Vinci, and what he did. They spent a whole week drawing like he did, and I will have to take a picture of their art. It is hanging in the hall, so I can take a photo while they are all in other classes. Look forward to that on a different post.

In 6th grade we are almost finished with Biology. I am really excited. We all had to create posters for the department of conservation, and they are going to be judged later this week. The people in the conservation office told me that I also had to make a poster, and so I did. If I win the contest than I get 50 dollars and free dinner. I do not know what I would do with all that extra cash, but it would for sure be something exciting.

That in reality is life. Sorry that it is not more interesting. Maybe later this week it will be better.

Over heard at the volley ball game

2008-10-14T19:07:00.000-07:00

This is the conversation that I heard, and I will admit to laughing out loud. Luckily for me, I was in front, and so they did not hear and they were not offended. When you read this conversation, please make sure you do so with a mid-west/farmer accent.

Jack: Girls, you need to move your feet!
Grandma: Jack, you can't say that, you're not the coach.
Jack: Well, they do!

The field trip of the year

2008-10-06T15:19:00.000-07:00

In this particular school, they take one field trip per year. Yes I know it seems funny for all of us who were on the unlimited field trip plan, but that is just they way it goes sometimes. Anyway this morning bright and yearly at 6:30 am, the students were on the bus and we were on our way to the museum of Nature and Science. Our special tour was to start at 9:30 where we would see the dinosaur exhibit, and then following that we were going to see a planetarium show about black holes. I was excited, but then again I had never been to this museum before.

To recap the trip for all of you, making this a much shorter post, the students had all been to the museum before. I got to see almost all of the exhibits, and it didn't take much time at all. I also was not allowed to stop and read any of the signs, do any of the activities or ask questions of any of the members of museum staff. The 7 boys that were assigned to me, just wanted to see all their favorite things. So we took about 1/2 hour to see the dinosaurs, then we listened to a presentation on liquid nitrogen for about 15 minutes, we went through the space odyssey exhibit in about 10 minutes, then it was off to the gems and minerals. I took about 5.3 minutes to get through that exhibit because I was trying in vain to keep up (there were some of my students that went through twice in that time), and in the last 15 minutes of our time before the planetarium we went to find some illusive memory exhibit. Well turns out it was closed, but I was lucky enough to listen to an explanation of what the exhibit will look like next April (I was definitely abandoned for that), at which point they determined they wanted to see the mummies of Egypt. So off to the mummies we went. By the time I got into the exhibit, they were done, but I told them that they couldn't leave until I got to see at least one thing. It didn't take long because we had 5 minutes of time left, and we were done. So we went to the animals exhibit. Where they spent the next 3 minutes riding on non moving wooden llamas. I am still surprised at what will interest the students.

To let you know what I learned, it was actually a lot considering what time we spent in each exhibit.
1. I need some liquid nitrogen
2. Stegosaurus got embarrassed and his spikes probably turned red
3. The largest topaz stone is over 10,000 carats and was donated by Dali
4. The legend of Orsis
5. Some middle school boys do not do mummification well
6. I need to return to this museum on my own so that I can take my time
7. If I ever need a job, they offered me one
8. Sitting on a bus for 5 hours to be in a museum for 2.5 is not really worth it.

What a day. The planetarium was really cool. It was huge, a big plus, and I didn't have to sit next to the students, a relief, and the presentation was awesome. Even the students liked it. They were all talking to me about the movie after it was over. All in all this was I feel a success, and as a bonus, I now have a whole bag of plaster dinosaur teeth. Wanna know what you're getting for Christmas?

The 2 hour conversation....

2008-09-27T20:33:00.000-07:00

Unlike what you might think, I do not really enjoy talking on the phone all that much. Which is why having a 2 hour conversation with the people from Orbiz, the bank, and Alaska Airlines was not a happy thing.

Needless to say I have learned a very important lesson.

Never book a flight through orbiz.

By the way, I still don't have a ticket home...

July or October

2008-09-17T20:50:00.001-07:00

I was talking to Patience and her family on the phone the other night, and this story was told. In her comments on the last teaching experience she says that I should let you all in on this fun way to start a school year. So here it is.

In one of my classes on the first day of school, the students took a "teacher test." This is really a use-up-class-time type activity, but it can be fun too. What they students do is to take a test about their teacher to see what they do or do not know. Since I was a new teacher in the school, the students did not know anything about me. I was sure the responses to this test would be worth the time they would waste, so I went ahead with the questioning.

One of the questions on the test was "How old am I?"

The students tried to get me to tell them, but I wouldn't. Finally one of them asked me what month I was born in. Since this was not something ath would give anything away I freely told them.

At this point one of the students stopped and said, "wait, I thought you were from Alaska."

I responded that I was, and then he said, "Yeah, but I just didn't know that there was July in Alaska."

I couldn't help but let him in on the secret that the month of July is world wide, and that it doesn't really matter where you are from. He was stunned, but willing to laugh with the rest of us.

The best part of this story is the conversation I had with patience. I say this because I got to talk to all of her children. I happened to ask Chole what she wanted for her birthday. Patience told me later that Chole asked what month it was where I was at. She seemed a little stunned that it was September like in Alaska. Patience told me she had to explain the world wide concept to her as well.

So if this is news to you, let me be the first to tell you that no matter where you are, and where I am, the month is probably the same.

What people really think of me

2008-09-17T20:50:00.000-07:00

I was covering a class for one of the football coaches yesterday, and the students and I got into a discussion in which I learned exactly what they thought of me. It went something like this:

By the way, these were the students I have in my normal class, so this wasn't all that odd for them to know who I was or for me to know them, but back to the story.

Them: "Miss Pierce, how old are you?"

Me: "How old do you think I am?"

Them: "I think you are 19, cause you don't look any older than that." "No, I think she is 20, are you 20 Miss Pierce?" "20, you have to be kidding, there is no way she is 20, if she is not 19 then she has to be 18." "I think she is probably older that that, so maybe 21, but no older than 22."

Me: "I am not 18, 19, 20, 21, or 22."

Them: "Well how old are you?"

Me (after some argument from them over this somewhat astonishing news): "I'm 26."

One of them: "Well you don't ACT 26!"

Thanks guys.

And the credit goes to...

2008-09-16T19:26:00.000-07:00

As a first post on this new site for you to visit, I thought I would explain the name of the blog. The credit for the name should be shared. Justin gets credit for actually naming the blog, but it was Savannah and her need to say every vowel for creating the name in the first place.

Thank you both.