Birthday Season

Hello everyone. This one is gonna be long because I put it off a while. I will probably be very brief with writing so that I can get on with my life sooner.

Anyway, I got my hair done! This was before, during and after.

I know you might think that it looks the same, but the truth is that I had some gray to cover. I'm old now. And I did box dye with my mom in Utah that had faded a weird red color. So now I have a balyage/ombre thing that is much more intentional instead of mousey and faded. The girl I found is named Tiffany and she's cool because she was willing to come to my house to fix a little thing I wanted different after she did it the first time. 

I just thought this was funny and true.

It's birthday season for sooooo many people I know. Me, my mom, brother, Alan, Cody, Kaylynn, Dad, Dallin, Jamie, Elizabeth, etc. 

I sent this to my bro on his birthday and he promptly sent it to me two days later for mine. lol

Clearlink had thier grand opening. They had the mayor, the oversized scissors, and the ribbon, but no Miss Scottsdale.

Sheryl came to town! (aka Shelly. She loves it when people call her Sheryl.) Anyway, she helped me host my first dinner party and even got me new glasses for it. We went to the dog park and Jake met the biggest dogs he's ever seen before. lol it was pretty funny.

I got a new table cloth, place mats, napkins and napkin rings for my first dinner party. It was so adult-like :) This wasn't with all the chairs.

Shelly gave me cooking lessons. First time I've ever made a "rue" before. And the recipe ended up amazing!

We had the miller family over and it was a success!

After dinner Dallin was trying some artistic photography. 

This was on my birthday. It was that great of a day to be honest with you. The kindergarten class was straight up terrible. There was a student kicking and hitting me and screaming while I carried him to the office, 8 in tears at once, a fight between a few students, and I was in tears afterward. So that was great. Once Dallin got home we went to Red Lobster, so that was a little better. I'm waiting for the cruise to get my awesome birthday celebration. The principal gave me a present! It was full of all my favorite things!

The poor kids are still getting used to having a garage. They stare at the front door when Dallin is coming home instead of the garage door. Lol it always surprises them.

I thought it was cool that chewy.com sent me a hand written post card. Maybe it's because they saw me talking them up on this blog :)

Look how cute. Sleeping beauties :)

We went to top golf the week of the grand opening with the other managers at Clearlink. They rented us our own space and got catering and everything! It was sooo cool. I loved it.

And now we're in the perfect weather. We made it through summer! YAY! It's seriously beautiful all the time now. I'd say about middle of Sept it started feeling better.

BK posing with the club.

Jordan and  Michelle brought their daughter Mayzie.

Arizona has the most beautiful sunsets.

Mayzie and Me selfie :)

The men of clearlink 

There was another half day at school! Loved it. Caught up on pacer tests for those who didn't do them, came in late, got free lunch. Awesome. 

Cozy fall stuff.

Two students trying to hide behind the bags of PE equipment lol

A gift from a student. Although they can make me want to pull my hair out, elementary students can also make you laugh and warm your heart a lot too.

We went out with a bunch of teachers for Cindy Pate's birthday. She teaches Kindergarten. So this is me with all the other teachers, Elizabeth, Cindy, me, Caitlin, Melissa, Suzy, and Nicole.

We went to a bingo night at a casino, but it was really fun because there was also dancing and food and a dj and stuff. It was a blast! We played on these really cool tablets that mark them for you!

Joel won 600 bucks! This was him winning!

Me and Elizabeth were in a hula hooping contest and I prefer not to say the winner. ;) Look at the host's light-up shoes! He liked me so much he gave me a prize at the end of the night even though I never won anything.

Dallin and I tried a restuarant by our house and it was soooo good. Such a pretty atmostphere. The moon was really pretty.

We were just sitting there talking about how weird it is that we're here and how far we've come. I'm really proud of Dallin for everything he's accomplished. I'm happy for both of us that we're in careers we like and have a house we like and dogs we like. :)

The place had live music and it was just really chill.

My amazing dessert.

I got some plants! I named them Bert and Ernie. They're still alive. Granted, they're sick already, but still alive! (I put them outside thinking it'd be good for them to get sunlight and now they're all brown and droopy. But I'll save them.)

I also planted this little thing in the back. I'm hoping it quadruples in size.

Paint night!
We went to a pet painting class! You send them a pic of your dog and they sketch it out for you, and then they teach you how to paint it as you go along. This was before...

 

This was during...

Joel and Elizabeth during...

Dallin made Josie look like a vampire with huge black pits of doom for eyes. So he had the teacher fix it so that she looks like the sweetheart she is. We were laughing pretty much the whole time at how bad we are, but it was really fun. When I showed Shelly she said we should hang them up, but for right now they're in a closet.

The finished product. It was super fun, plus we found it on a groupon so it was really cheap!

Jake and Josie have a makeshift bedroom since they don't have their "cupboard under the stairs" for a room.

Josie is going through a phase where she wakes us up to go out at like 5. She used to wake up right when we do at 6 and sleep the whole night, so it's super annoying that this is suddenly happening a lot.

Shilo is in town for 2 weeks to help out in the Scottsdale office. This is the two of them at the gym!

The photo shoot that occurred after the gym. (To text Justin about Dallin's "swollness")

Last Saturday we went to float the river again only to find out that it closed. So instead, shilo, anthony, jacob, molly, dallin, and I went to the lake and just hung out at the beach! It was super fun still, and it was really good getting to know them more. 

Here we are! So picturesque!

When shelly was here she said AZ is ugly. After that I found a list of states in order by beauty, and AZ was #12! Nebraska was #41. Lol 

We had a baby shower at work during staff meeting. I think something's in the water because there are so many prego's.

The school carnival was last Friday. Basically, teachers set up booths to try and raise money for their classrooms. I had the help of the amazing Technology teacher Jaron, and I seriously could not have done it without him. Here we are at Elizabeth's booth before the craziness began.

It was a really good turn out. Sooo many people there. And I had a long line for my booth!

We did an obstacle course. We are giving big candy bars to the record holders from each grade. It was so fun to see them get competitive and keep trying. 

The dream team! We were able to make a decent amount of money and it was fun having a megaphone and being the sports announcer to add to the hype. 

I am now the official "health ambassador" for the school. Still don't know what to do about it yet. But anyway, AFC came and did health screenings and massages for the teachers so that was fun! They told me I have something wrong with my neck, but other than that very healthy.

The last two weeks have been throwing and catching stuff in PE. (Very eventful when you try to do it inside at the same time as lunch.) So far, no catastrophes. Dodgeball went surprisingly well, but probably only because I warned them not to freak out.

Now we are starting to get ready for the Halloween dance on October 22nd. This week and next we are doing lots of different dances to prepare for it. Needless to say, I am singing the electric slide and cupid shuffle in my sleep. 

Shilo and Dallin and Spencer went to Dave and Busters while I was at the carnival. They pooled their tickets and won this huge Pikachu. So that matches perfectly with the decor. 

We went to another Diamond Backs game! This time we were pretty close because there was a teacher discount on tickets!

Afterward Elizabeth and Joel took us to a place called 4 peaks, and it was sooooo good. We laughed and laughed. It was a good night with good people.

On Sunday morning we went to Starbucks and a guy thought we cut him off in the drive thru line. The weirdo gets out of his car in the pouring rain to pound on our window, curse us out, threaten to fight dallin, and insult our very existence. (Class act.) He finally got back in his car and as we were ordering he was flashing his lights, honking, yelling out the window, and driving his truck forward. After we left, HE FREAKING FOLLOWED US. I'm not kidding. We turned around a bunch of times and went slow and lead him all over town before calling the police. He must've figured out what we were doing because he finally drove away before the cops could get there. They said we did the right thing, and I was proud of Dallin for not losing his cool at the guy. 

That interaction got me thinking about the importance of my job. That idiot had teachers and parents who helped shape him into a man who thinks a 6 minute delay on his coffee is worth a physical altercation and stalking. Each month the school focuses on a different attribute to teach, and this month is integrity. I'm so glad that Dallin and I had parents and teachers who taught us the importance of respecting other people, and doing the right thing even when it's inconvenient. I want to be the kind of teacher that inspires students who don't have role models to be better and expect better of themselves. I think it all starts when you're young. You learn how to react to things, what's acceptable and what's not. What a sad life for a man who gets that riled up about something that small. I hope he learns how to find peace and respect for the world around him... if not he's got a lot of bad karma coming his way. 

So I guess that's the message I'd want to leave readers with. Be nice. Be a good person. Jaron helped me so much with the carnival and he doesn't want to accept his portion of the money. The principal tells EVERY student, even the behaviorally challenged students, that he loves them. I think general goodness and selflessness is going out of style, and really what would you want to be at the end of your life? The one who got your coffee first? Or the one with a heart full of compassion? 

Anyway, the rant is over. I just hope I can do what my intentions are with these kids. It's not the PE I care about, it's teaching them to be good people.

Over and out.

-Sydney