A good way to end an epic adventure- Potter Polooza!

A magical end? Or a continuation of magical legacy? 
(Disclaimer: Some of my spelling of Harry Potter words may be misspelled- I was just too lazy to look them up!)

Sometimes it is hard to put into words how a series of books and movies can have such an enormous impact. Some "people" would be - enough Harry Potter or who cares? If those people cannot deny how J.K. Rowling has reach millions of people across the world, by the books and movies. What could be more magical than seeing a boy who hated reading devour a seven book series? Or seeing people united in a common culture of literature? What could be better than getting lost in a world of magic?
 
My love of Harry Potter came from the books. The characters, themes, and storyline can connect to anyone and transport you to a magical world. Now all the movies I don't love, but most of them do a good job. The last two movies are fanastic! As a true Harry Potter fan, I want to a midnight release party- Potter Pol ooza! It was true celebration for Potter fans.

 

Not Sytherlin, Not Sytherlin!

 Polooza time!
There was a Horocrux hunt- which was a blast with my friend Kathy! We had to hunt all of the horocrux with Harry Potter trivia. It was so exciting! We solved all the clues and found them all!
It was a magical journey to Hogwarts! There was Potion Owl (which was hard, but I passed!) Being sorted, Ravenclaw! (So worried that I would be Slytherin!) Quidditch practice, which I did pretty well- but I think my true talent would lay as a beater. In Care of Magical creatures I got freaked out by a giant spider and a HUMONGOUS snake. In Herbology I got Mandrake and Devil's Snare seeds. The treats were amazing! I LOVE butter beer! It was really sweet, and had a butterscotch flavor. I also sampled Acid pops, cauldron cakes, and pumpkin juice. (And I am eating a chocolate frog now)  I didn't not like pumpkin juice- it had the flavor of pumpkin pie, which I hate.

Accio Firebolt!

 I also got to watch Part 1 of the 7th movie, which got me psych up for Part 2! So needless to say by 12 I was one hyper Harry Potter fan. My friend Julie had to keep me under control! The movie did not disappoint! It has some differences from the book, but it is Hollywood. The crowd was great- people cheering, laughing, and then complete silence the last 1/2 hour. I cried the last hour of the movie, it was so moving. Then I cried at the end because it was the end ( I am even crying now writing about it!).

We then had a after party, which was ok. I did get a prize! I got a Hufflepuff wall banner, which is really nice. I am going to be Hufflepuff next year at school, so it going up in my room!

This was a great way to end the Harry Potter movies. Thank you J.K. Rowling for characters who touch our hearts, for story lines that enrich our lives, and for a world of magic that will never die.

Some more Potter Polooza pictures

Order of the Phoenix tattoo!

Professor Lupin! Too bad it turned out too grainy because he really looked like him!

The Death Mark! (It would really make an amazing tattoo!)

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Summer Adventures Continue Mesa Verde!

Mesa Verde! 

What could be cooler than touring Ancient Native American dwellings?
Maybe touring Ancient Native American dwellings that on a cliff!

So this was an awesome trip, and not just because I am a huge history geek, and I have always wanted to see it for like forever. It was a 7 hour drive, so it got pretty long. I did get to drive through some parts of Utah that I have never been through before- like Moab. That has been added to my list of places to visit- the red rock is glorious!

Anyway, we got to the National Park and set up camp. The campgrounds are so nice- if you are not a roughing it type of camper- this would be a great place for you to go! They had showers and flushing toilets. It was great! We had my favorite tin foil dinners and blackberry cobbler (dutch oven style- it was HEAVEN!).
My friend told me that I should add dutch oven cooking to my dating resume!

 We only spent 2 days there, but it was worth. We took a tour that took us around all the sites. It nice to get a sense of the history of the place, and how many people used to live there. It was crazy the huge population of people that lived on top of the mesas, and the cliff dwellings!

This was one of the cliff dwelling that we got to tour. The technology that the Natives Americans used was amazing. Not to mention the strength that they had to have to climb down into or up to the cliff dwellings. You can still  see the hand holds that they grooved into the cliff sides. Talk about some super ninja Native Americans!

Coyote is the middle at the back of the picture

Have a longing to see a deer? Mesa Verde is the place! We had deer visit our campsite each night. The deer upon was by my car. I said "Hey Bambi!" and the deer looked up at me! We also saw a coyote (the bottom picture) at lunch on our tour. It was so big, we thought it might be a wolf!

The trip was a success, and I would love to visit again. 3 days was really not enough to see everything. We did take the short drive down to 4 Corners as well. 4 Corners is out in the middle of no where, but worth the drive.

First Adventure

 First thing to know- I am more of fluffy teddy bear person, not your rock solid hiker of big mountains kind of person. The hike to the cave is not a leisurely walk around the block. It is pretty much a mile and 1/2 from hell, where I was huffing and puffing like the Big Bad wolf. BUT it was an amazing hike, and it was worth it.

 As you can see from the pictures, the view of the Unita mountains is AMAZING! At least the path is paved and there are benches. So as you are climbing up around 2,000 feet in elevation, and you feel like you are going to drop dead because you can't breathe- there is a bench! (I think they are there so park rangers don't have to scrape people off the path)

 It felt like you could just touch the clouds. It was nice to stop and take a look at all the glorious mountain scenery.

 Here are pictures from the cave! It is definetly worth the hike and the $7 to tour the cave. It is amazing how water can form these caves.

 This is the Heart of Mount Timpangos. There are several versions of a Native American myth that is tied to this heart of the mountain. They all involve love, sacrifice and death. It always ends with an Indian Princess jumping to her death.

 This is the view as you are coming out of the cave. You can see almost to the Salt Lake Valley.

Here is the proof that I hiked and survived the mountain! On the hike up, I thought I might have to be scraped off the trail, but I made it! It was all worth it. The hike down was so nice and easy.
Morale of the story: If you hike up to the Timp Cave, it is worth it, just remember as you think you are going to die on the way up.

Utah Adventures!

So- I have lived in Utah and I haven't done so many things! For the summer I am planning Utah Adventures!
Each week I am going to try to do something that I have never done in Utah before. Utah has so many cool sites and fun things to do.

 Here is my list thus far:

1. Hike to Timpangos Cave
2. Tour said cave
3. 4 Corners
4. Manti Pagent
5. Tour Sweet Candy Company in SLC
6. Go to Dugway and dig for geodes (shiny rocks)
7. 9 Mile Canyon and see the petrogylphs
8. Dinosaur Museum in Odgen
9. Utah Museum of Fine Arts
10. Clark Planetarium

So it should be a fun summer!

So I am by no means a pro at blogging, but it is a very nice way to express thought to the world, and you don't have to care at what people think. I mean I can have horrible grammar, and spelling (even though spell check should fix it) and not care. Because why does it matter? You don't have to read it, and if you do you should get over it.
Anyway, I was thinking about some rather obnoxious things people do, and thought I should make a list! But then I thought I should be positive too, because it is obnoxious to make list about things that bug you to begin with. Oh the irony.So here is a list of some postive and rather obnoxious things from this week.

Postive-
1. I turned on my turn signal to switch lanes and someone actually let me over! (I consider it a miracle)
2.It has not snowed again, which is nice for April.
3. In line at a grocery store, and only have a couple of items, and a person lets you go ahead of them.
4. Dropping stuff on the ground, and people actually helping picking it up.
5. Neighbors helping out neighbors by helping clean limbs out of yards from the storms we have been having. 


Obnoxious-
1. You put on your turn signal to switch lanes, and the car that is going 10 miles below the speed limit speeds up to not let you over. Then after you get behind them, they switch to your lane.
2. My arms of filled with bags, and heavy objects, and I am trying to get to where I need to go to put them down. A person comes and talks to you for like 15 minutes and does not offer to help or anything! So your arms about fall off....
3. At the gym, you have just seen this person sweat a pool, and they get off the machine and don't wipe down the machine. So gross- why would anybody want to be expose to the cesspool of sweat you just left behind?
4. You go to the dr office, and you wait for 45 minutes. The person who was there after you gets called in but you don't. Now, I can get charge for missing appointment, but why can't I charge the doctor for making me wait for 45 minutes?
5. When you go to the bathroom in a public restroom, and there is only a shred of toilet paper.
6. Making a list of obnoxious things.

So that is is for now, I hopefully will get used to this blogging thing and get better with time.

Classic Teaching moments

So I promise this blog will not be just about teaching, but I have just some awesome moments- that just need to be shared.
Some magical moments-

1st day of student teaching- finding a syringe in the classroom, some how they just didn't explain that in my classroom management class

still student teaching: having a 12 year old girl tell me that she thinks she is pregnant- thank goodness she wasn't but still....

 first year - having a teacher next door come and talk to you first period because you have a condom on your door

later on that same day...finding a condom on the floor during a 7th grade class:  (1) knowing that 7th graders are getting more action than you  and (2) having kids not even knowing what a condom is . . . . .

Recently- given students a quiz on Economics. Question: What is labor? Multiple students' answers: a woman during childbirth.