Disneyland! The happiest place on earth. :)

I just found these pictures from our small camera from Disneyland.  We didn't take very many, but I think these sum up how we felt about the whole experience:  Way too happy, tired, a little too excited, and finally relieved...that the laundry was done?

I was bored waiting in line and Shem had my earbuds, so I decided to play with the camera instead. :)

He was very tired and Pluto was nice enough to let him nap for a while. :)

The Hotel Del in Coronado.

I've seen pictures of this place that this awesome photographer in Califronia has photographed families near and I told Shem that I had to go too and take some pictures.  This place is just awesome and it costs a pretty penny to stay a night, but maybe someday when Shem and I make millions as teachers he'll take me for a special occasion or a not so special occasion and just because. :) 

We had to take pictures in front of it just in case we never come back.

Photo recipe: auto focus and one strong long arm + two people who don't really care how the picture turns out.

What Shem sees through the lens...okay, i photoshoped myself, but who wouldn't?  I like the tones and the contrast in texture.  Too bad my lips are pale.  A little color would've added some depth and pretty tones around my mouth.

San Diego Zoo

We loved the zoo.  I highly recomend going to a big zoo like the one in San Diego.

Flamingos.  They're the first thing you see when you get there

My buddy.

My best friend. :)

A turtle's behind...I didn't take this picture on purpose either.

Hippo love.

I'm not sure what this is...I'll look it up.  (I always say that to my students!)

The elephants were my favorite to see.  I love the wrinkles on their bodies.

I love blogging!

I really should be grading my last class of papers because I promised to give them back to them tomorrow...the day before spring break, but you can probably guess that I'm just ready for a break!  I read a lot of my friends blogs or read their status' on facebook and sometimes they just seems so exhausted and I feel like I can relate with out even having kids of my own.  Teaching 9th grade takes a lot out of you!  But there are moments that make it so worth it. :) 

This post isn't about work though!  I'm a day away from vacation and I need it!  This post is however about my love. :)  What is my love you ask?  Well it's none other than YOGURTLAND!  (should I have said Shem instead? ha ha. :))  Yes, I have a 2nd love and it is Yogurtland and I will seriously pay someone whatever I can to open a franchise here in Seattle.  I think it could do well in the U-district. :)  Here are some pictures of my love.  And yes, I will blog about this because well, someday I will make a book of my blog (it's our family journal) and I will want to immortalize this post in that book forever. :)  I'm just so happy right now!  *does happy-dance.  I also fixed my iTunes library yesterday and I have all of my fav tunes back also.  Okay Okay, I'll get on with the pics now.  (I really hope people read this because I'm talking to myself at this point.)

My favorite yogurt to get is plain tart and then I top it with fresh fruit like, stawberries, kiwi, blueberries, and banana.  I then like to pu some white chocolate chips in for an added bonus.  I went 4 times while we were in California and I loved it everytime!  I love my husband for taking me there and for smiling as I blissfully partook of the best stuff on earth. :)

My life...Shem says: "Ditto x 5 = my work load"

I'm home today, but I'm not sick; just over worked with too much to grade, so I'm taking a "mental health day" in order to catch up.  My Day started at: (that's the time it was after I had washed the dishes...I can't grade in a ditry house, EVERYTHNG has to be clean and tidy.)

(P.S. Don't mind the wall...I picked out paint colors a few weeks ago)
I've completed this much work:

And now all I have to grade are the dreaded Spanish essays.  It's not that I don't love reading my student's work, but they take forever to go through!  I can hear my students now..."Mrs. Thompson if you don't want to grade it then you could just not have us do it!"  Not on your life!  A few hours of pain on my part will do you some good! :)

I do plan on rewarding myself around 3 or 4pm and going for a 3 mile run and then when I get home I'll probably work until 10pm tonight...I can't wait until these are done!

Shem also has a lot of grading to do, in fact this is his most busy time of the school year, but he's so busy/stressed that I haven't taken any pictures of him yet. :)  Maybe later.

1/2 marathon

When I was in high school by 10th grade I had planned out the rest of my life and I had figured that I'd go to school out west, meet a guy, get married, and then have kids and be a mom...well, I've done so much more than that and my life hasn't gone completely as planned.  I walk into my classroom everyday and plan my lesson, write the agenda on the board, and greet my eager 9th graders and I still think to myself: "how did I get here?" 

Recently I've tried to plan my life out in regards to having kids and that hasn't gone according to my plan either which has interfered with my other goal of running a 1/2 marathon.  But now I'm taking charge of my life once again and when we're blessed with a baby I'm not going to let it stop me from running.  So I've signed up to run another 1/2 marathon on June 26th here in Seattle.  I'm really excited for this one and I have a good feeling that my training will go well since Shem has comitted himself to running with me. :)  He's not the kind of person to just go out for a run because it's fun either, so I'm super excited to have him with me because it's a sacrifice for him and it shows me now much he loves and supports me in all of my goals.

So, here's to running, rain or shine and to working hard to reach goals!  After I have my first kid I've decided that I'm going to run a full marathon...but for now I'll focus on the 1/2.

no more private

Last night I decided to change my blog settings back to "un-private".  I'm not sure why, but I was happy to see that some of my friends have found my blog again.  :) 

Since I'm here I would just like to vent and then update a bit.  *BIG SIGH*  Righ now it feels like spring in Seattle, and today it showed with my students!  I love teaching them and most of them are great students and they work hard, but it only takes a few ADD, hormonal, blurt-out-every-answer-kids to make the day, week, month really stressful!  I've had more behavorial problems in the past 2 weeks than I've had all year and I'm so sick of it!  On the bright side I've had lots of practice in dealing with these kids, and I feel like I can really crack down when I need to, but I really wish that I didn't have to.  It's all about not taking their behavior personally and making sure that they don't see your frustration as well as putting the responsibility back onto them.  It always needs to be about them, they need to solve their own problems.  Anyway, it's going to be a long spring considering the wather today on the 1st of March...pray for me and if you have any ideas I'd love to hear them! :)

Aside from work Shem and I have had some fun recently.  We went to California for winter break about a week ago and we had so much fun!  We spent a few days down in San Diego and went to the zoo, the beach in La Jolla, Yogurtland (I love that place!), and Balboa Park.  We stayed with Shem's Uncle Craig and his Aunt Gay and they were so nice to us and treated us to some very good food and company.  We of course visited Disneyland and I must say that I loved it so much more at 28 years of age and married than I did when I was 18 with an attitude. :)  Shem and I walked through the gates on a sunny Friday and we both agreed with smiles on our faces that Disneyland is truly the happiest place on earth. :)  I totally felt like a kid again and I immediately said that we had to ride on space mountain since I had been waiting for 10 years to experience it.  :) 

We also enjoyed going to Ryan Barry and Rachel's wedding while we were down there.  Ryan and Shem have been friends since high school and it was a lot of fun for Shem to be a part of their wedding.  It was a fun wedding on a boat off of Newport Beach, CA.  I too some cool pictures too which made it fun for me.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from Balboa Park and the beach in La Jolla.  I'll post more from the wedding and the zoo later. :)