A Day with the Girls

Well, since I am by far the slowest blogger ever. Ari Anna and Chelsea blogged about this at least a week ago but at least I am getting it done. What fun to get together with two of my greatest friends. Chelsea and adorable little Karlee were in Utah for some family things and I was so glad that we were able to get together. Ari Anna and cute Hunter came down from Logan and we just spend hours together talking and laughing and catching up. They both are the cutest moms ever and it was fun to see them and their babies that are growing up so fast!
I really felt like I needed to hold something! It was so funny trying to get both Karlee and Hunter to look at the camera at the same time.

We just had so much fun. I love that I have great friends that even though we haven't seen each other for awhile, we always seem to catch up right where we left off. We lived together for so long in college and have made so many memories, it is weird to think back on all of that and where we all are in our lives. We have all come so far and have accomplished so many things but we can still come together and continue to create great memories as friends! I love you both and am so grateful for wonderful people in my life!

Camping, derby's and family vacations! What a great summer

To sum up the rest of the summer, here it is..... Wallace Lake! Beautiful, cold and small fish. Here we are getting ready to swim. It was so cold and it took Sara and I about 20 minutes to get in. It took threatening by Nate and Josh to get us in there. But we did it and it was great.
We did a bit of fishing. You can barely see the tiny fish that my dad caught! He was pretty proud of his catch!!! It was definitely a catch and release day! I attempted fishing and....nothing. Fish don't like me. I enjoy fishing but not the worm or touching the fish. It's a good thing I didn't catch anything!
Mom, Sara and I. Once fishing was over, we just hung out around the camp fire. Played a few rounds of intense PIT. Good thing we had no neighboring campers! It was great. To bed early and an early rise!
I was able to attend the Tooele Demolition Derby with some friends. We were late at buying our tickets and almost didn't make it in. But, some kids saved us and sold us their tickets. The line was so long but we made it in. I love events like this. I love to watch people and there are some very interesting people at these things!
My friend Steve and I. We had fun and played a game who could find the best "white trash" there. Steve won, hands down! I attempted and between the two of us, we had some good ones but who would have thought that the winner would be seated just a few rows in front of us!

Next up, a quick family vacation to Lagoon! Not far for me and because of church duties, went up late on Monday night. We camped at Lagoon Campground and then the next morning went to the Hill Air Force Base Museum and Lagoon.


My little brothers are not so little anymore. They are now bigger than me. I can't believe soon we'll have two missionaries out! Crazy!




What a great summer! I can't believe that it is over. Now begins football games (yea!!!), lesson plans, hormonal high schoolers, long nights at school, stomps, dances and many more good times. So, goodbye summer! It's been a great one!

And San Diego was never the same...

San Diego or bust!!! Me and my good friend Paige have been so excited for this trip since we found out we were coming. It was such a fun trip. Yes, there was a lot of playing (by far, more than any other school) but also a lot of learning. The reason for this trip was training for AVID, which stands for Advancement Via Individual Determination. It is a great program and I am so excited to be able to teach the 11th grade AVID class this year. So, a lot of learning and a lot of playing!

We had some of the best Mexican food in Old Town. It was delicious. I fell in love with fish tacos! So, here we are walking a long and I see this zoltar machine and freaked out!!! Immediately, I thought "BIG". So, of course I take a picture and then get my fortune told by the great and powerful Zoltar. It was freakishly very accurate! According to the Zoltar, I love a nice, big house and one day will have one of my own!!! Yea for one day having my own big house! Thanks Zoltar!
Sea World is pretty much my favorite place. It is way overpriced but getting to see Shamu twice, it was fine. And thanks to the Hotel guy for the discounted tickets! So me and three other HHS colleagues went to Sea World. One said is was like she had 3 children! I really felt like a child. It was very fun and we saw so much in the short time we were there!

Okay, so in the evening show, we sat in the soak zone! I was so ready to get soaked by Shamu....
Me and Paige pretending we got soaked by Shamu but really it was the Journey to Atlantis! I wish it would've been Shamu that got us wet but oh well. It makes for a good picture and story!
Pacific Beach. Five of us rented bikes and rode along the boardwalk. I loved it. We had such a great time. It is so beautiful there.
While waiting an hour and a half to eat in the best steak and seafood place in San Diego, we went and played in the water. And the sand.
The last day, we all got out of our meetings early. Being the history teacher that I am, I begged to go to the USS Midway. It was amazing! It was huge and if it wasn't so much money, I would have went inside. And, we didn't have a lot of time either. It was so cool
Probably one of the highlights of this trip was going to WICKED. It was amazing. Paige and I had the highest seats in the house. An usher actually asked if we brought our oxygen! It was funny. The play was amazing. I would fly to San Diego or New York or where ever to watch it again.

It was a great conference and a great trip in general and I am really looking forward to teaching the AVID class. I loved San Diego and loved getting to know better the people that I will be teaching with!

Coming soon...

Yes I am a huge slacker when it comes to blogging. But, that is going to change. When I get back from the gym in about 2 hours, there will be some new posts. My AVID trip to San Diego, a demolition derby, my trip to Salmon and an old reunion with friends. So, that is what is coming! Stay tuned!

Slugs, Robin Hood and a long plane ride

Yes, slugs. That is right. Before I start on my last post of my England trip, just a few thoughts. I am so glad that I could go back to England. I knew it was something I needed to do and I am so grateful for wonderful friends that I could share this experience with. There is no one I would've rather traveled with. So, to my friends, thanks for wonderful memories that I will have forever!!!

Ok- this has taken me a long time to do my trip so here is the end, in one big entry. Slugs!!! We left the Isle of Man and stayed with a mission friend and his family. Right as we were getting ready to get into bed (our bed being a few blankets and the floor) he told us about the slug problem. Lo and behold, there they were. And there were four of them!!!!

The reactions of my roommates were almost the best thing I have ever seen! Poor Mindy, bundled up and slept on the couch. The rest of us, smashed together in the dining room. It was an awful nights sleep but probably my best memory of the trip. We laughed for hours!!!
At this point, we are about halfway through our trip. From this point on, the trip was not quite packed with things to do and I think it was very good for us!
My friend Sheldon and his cute little family took us to some of the lakes in the Lake District. This is Lake Windermere. It is gorgeous. I love the Lake District.
After the Lake District we headed north to Carlisle. I served there for 4 1/2 months so it was fun to go back. While we were there, we went to Edinburgh, Scotland. I loved it. The castle was awesome. My favorite part was the dungeon where they held many American hostages during the Revolutionary War. Being a history teacher, I always look for stories like that and took lots of pictures where they carved American pictures and messages in the door. It was awesome and I loved it!
Hadrians Wall!!!! It was a muggy day and we took an adventure to find Hadrians Wall. The wall built to keep the Scots out of Britain. Oh- the great stories of the world!
I love fish and chips. And I think they tasted better this time around. They were fabulous and actually better for you than hamburgers, fries and pizza! So, eat it up!
Denise and Aimee Holmes. My favorite family! It was so good to see them and spend some time with them in Carlisle. They are wonderful and truly made my time in Carlisle very special.
Our travels brought us to York and a place called Castle Howard. I loved the gardens here. All the gardens in England are beautiful but here, they were incredible. Flowers everywhere and my first thought was that my grandma Jolley would have loved it. I am sure that she was smiling from above as I thought of her that day in those beautiful gardens. It was nice to hang back a little by myslef and think about her in a place that she would have loved. She loved flowers and I felt very close to her that day!
Next up: Nottingham. A very interesting experience in a hostel that was even more interesting. The area was scary and we couldn't wait to leave. The next day we headed to Sherwood Forest which was of course, Robin Hood land. Great photo ops and walks in the forest.
We had the opportunity to stay in the London Temple accomodation our last night there. It was a great way to end our trip. A nice shower and the temple. The morning we left Mindy, Melissa and I attended the temple and it was I think a highlight of my trip. The temple and it's spirit is the same where ever you go and it was amazing to be in the temple that day.

So, my friends and family who follow this sometimes crazy blog, that is my England trip. I loved it and can't wait for the next one. San Diego next week and then maybe.....Hawaii!!! We shall just see what opportunities life throws at me

Sticking it to the "Mann"

Oh how I love the Isle of Man. I spent my last 6 months there as a missionary and loved it. I had a great time serving there and it is fun to come back and visit. All the kids are growing up and friends are still around. All those delicious tea appointments came back to my memory and all the great moments I had....

It was fun to see things and do things that I didn't see and do as a missionary. I ate kippers which are smoked fish. I am not big into really salty things and kippers are very salty. I had a few bites and was done

One of my favorite places on the Isle of Man. Peel Beach. It was so clear and the weather was great. You could see England and Scotland from here.
This is Peel Castle. I was huge. I was trying to imagine it with everything still up and going. It was incredible. I was never able to see this because of the time I was there. Nothing is open between the months of October and May. Well, some things but not the touristy things!

I love the Douglas Promenade! I love to just drive or walk along and look at the waves coming in, seeing the horse drawn wagons pulling tourists along and the sun shining (or the rain falling and the wind blowing!!)
This the is the highest point on the Isle of Man. It is over 2000 feet. In this picture you can see Ireland. You have to look close but I promise it is there!
Chips, cheese and gravy. A new favorite of mine. I continue to have fabulous England food even here in the US. A baked potato and tuna fish, beans on toast, cottage cheese with my salad!!! Mmmmmmm
Leanne, a young girl I taught and saw baptized, and her daugter Madyson. It was very fun to see Leanne but it also brought tears to my eyes. She is beautiful and she has two beautiful daughters but she needs to remember her worth and how important she is to our Heavenly Father. She has a great spirit about her, she just needs to remember! It was hard to see but I know through prayers and the love and support of good friends, she will get back to church and take her daughters with her. I had a good cry on the boat leaving the Isle of Man because I thought of my time as a misisonary and what it was like to see everyone again.


The Isle of Man will always have a special place in my heart. The people, the places, the food, the smells.....It is a very special place. It was hard to say good bye but I was ready to get on with the rest of our trip!

Stonehenge to Liverpool

Stonehenge....one more picture of this amazing place!! I really just loved it there and had to throw in one more picture

After some more driving, we went to Bath. I loved it! I have decided that I would love to Honeymoon in Bath. So, I either need to make more money or marry someone who can take me there!!! : ) It was gorgeous just driving though. It's one of those secret places up in the hills that of course a lot of people know about but it is just so beautiful. These pictures are great but still don't do it justice.


We did go on a tour of Bath but it was really boring. We could've done the comedy tour of Bath for a 5 pounds or the regular tour for free. Well, what you pay is what you get. We tried to skip out on our free tour and got caught!!! Who does that??? They actually caught us! We were trying to eat at this restaurant which was the oldest house in Bath. The food was not great but it was all about the experience. We went on a little bit more of our tour and then told him that we needed to leave. That is what we should have done in the first place. It was a funny experienceWe left Bath about 10 pm. We had about an hour and a half to two hour drive to our hotel in Birmingham. It was a nice place and it was nice to be in a room where I didn't have to wear my flip flops everywhere! I liked Birmingham and would've liked to see a little bit of it but we left pretty early in the morning to go to Warwick Castle. Warwick (pronounced Warick) Castle is the best medieval castle in England. It was so fun. We could've spent all day here!
Me and Mindy in the tunnel of fear. It was very short and just a small walking space but we had fun going through it and pretending that we were scared!!
Taking my turn at being an archer. It's been a long itme since I've shot a bow and arrow. Maybe since Mr. Toynbee's Hunter safety class in 8th grade!!!


After some time in Warwick, we headed up to Liverpool. Once we got there (it was a bit stressful) we finally went and got something to eat and then walked around the docks. It was a really neat to think that there were thousands of early saints there getting ready to come to America. They sold everything they had to go just so they could be with other members of the church. It was awesome. Of course, I had some mission memories there too as when I was serving in the Liverpool Stake in Warrington, we would come to Liverpool for Pdays.

We missed the Beatles Museum but we did get into the Beatles Store. It was fun! At least we got to see something Beatles. Mindy and I ran to check the car in while Melissa, Kaylin and Allyson went to the Caveman Pub which is the first Pub that the Beatles played in.

The last six months of my mission I served on a tiny island called the Isle of Man. I loved it there and had some really great experiences there. I was excited to go back but a little nervous. We loaded our car and then got on the "Mannanan" a fast ferry to the Isle of Man. This is how they had us park our car. The guy told us to pull up and we were sitting at this funny angle and the car was still going and I was just waiting. Then he came up and said, "Mam, this is where you are parking" It was hilarious.
The boat rides are always fun. It was a little rocky but we had some ice cream, played Clue in Manx (an old language of the Isle of Man) and slept a little. Well, maybe five minutes. I read a little but it was quick getting there.
We were so happy to finally land and be on the Isle of Man. The Promenade was as beautiful as ever and I couldn't wait to get off that boat and go see everything again!