SURPRISE!

So today is my mom's 50th birthday...old I know, haha...just kidding mom if you're reading this...But anyways, last night we had a surprise birthday party for her.


This is the birthday hat I made for my mom, haha.


And here's one of the party decorations that my mom appreciated.

For dinner I made ribs which are my mom's favorite and we also had chicken and potato salad for those in the family that didn't want ribs.


Here's mom with the left over of her ribs...okay, okay her's and David's ribs, haha.

I also made a yummy chocolate cake, and Neil and I thought it would be funny to put on 50 candles. We wanted the cake to be an extra surprise so we hid it in the laundry room and I said I had to use the bathroom and I went and started lighting the candles, but after a few minutes Neil came to check on me and I had only lit like 6 candles so he took over.


The flaming cake, haha.


Mom blowing out her flaming cake...the fun was digging out the candles that had melted down so that they were in the cake haha, but the cake was still delicious if I may say so myself.

Gifts were then opened. My brother got her a gift card to Deseret Book that she loved and I know she will gladly use that, she loves Deseret Book.


David got her a Willow Tree...she loves those as you can tell, haha.


The card Neil and I got and modified for my mom...she loved it, haha.

After the presents were opened and the cake was eaten and the dishes were put in the dishwasher we then played The Great Dalmuti...well about four rounds of it, and then Neil and I noticed it was 9 o'clock so we were gonna head home.

BUT THEN we started hitting the 25 balloons that I blew up for the party back and forth and then an all out brawl broke out of Balloon Volleyball and it was so fun, haha.





There were even casualties-the birthday girl, haha. We played for like an hour and a half or two hours, and I'm thinking it should become a birthday tradition because it was seriously so fun!

Neil and I were again going to get ready to go and then Joseph, my little brother, started putting balloons in his shorts and shirt and ran around talking about his "Badonkiedonk" which caused a few more laughs and a slight chase between Neil and Joseph, haha.





We then decided to stay a little longer and watch the end of the Jazz vs. Nuggets game-the Jazz dominated-and then we got home at like midnight, but it was a way good time.

Oh, and yesterday was mine and Neil's four month anniversary, YAY!

Thank You :)

Life is so awesome! I'm so glad it's spring and that the trees are starting to turn green and that flowers are blooming and the days are longer...I could go on forever. It's so nice to just sit outside and enjoy the weather with Neil.


Neil is also glad that the weather is warming up as you can tell, haha.

We continue to jog and we also hike...imagine that. Okay, okay, so we hiked up a mountain trail once but it was fun so we are going to do it more often. Draper really is beautiful I love living here...but sadly the day will soon come that we must move...BUT we're moving because I got a JOB!!

I will be working as an Early Interventionist at a company based in Orem, Utah called Kids on the Move!




I am so excited! I will be starting June 1st, and I'm so excited because I know I will love my job. For those of you that don't know what an Early Interventionist is, it is someone (ME!!) that works with infants from birth to three years old that either have a disability or a developmental delay, and this place also works with at risk children. Typically I go into the home and work with the children and their families, but at Kids on the Move they also have play group type things where the children come in to the office and receive intervention services as well.

Knowing that I have a job definitely relieves a lot of stress because I have a difficult time being patient, haha.

Hm...what else has been happening..OH! Joseph, my little brother...well I probably shouldn't say little because he'll be 20 in August...but anyways, he is playing church basketball with the men. If any of you have met Joseph or seen a picture of him you might understand what this is such a big deal. But for those of you that don't know him he is 19 and shorter then I am, haha. He's so cute and is so excited to play church basketball. Ya'll should have seen him before the game...he was running suicides and doing push-ups, haha.


Joseph playing defense!


Joseph dribbling the ball...he didn't make any baskets but he shot three times and was really close all three times...and their team did win!


Joseph on the bench with his much bigger team mates, haha

With Neil and I, we have almost been married for four months...haha I know that doesn't sound like long, but it's honestly been the best four months of my life. Neil is my best friend and I love his guts! :)


I'm so excited for the upcoming months, years and eternity with him!

p.s. sorry to get all mushy at the end I just can't help it :)

A Wonderful Weekend

This has been such a good weekend! On Friday, Neil surprised me with tickets to the Utah Arena Football game-The Blaze, and the halftime performer was DAVID ARCHULETA! You should feel honored because Neil said he personally wanted to write about the football game, so he will tell ya'll about that and I will tell about the rest of the weekend. So, Friday was the football game and oh yes, I also make my first tuna casserole because Neil was craving something with tuna. Now, don't get me wrong I love tuna fish sandwiches, but I don't really think tuna should be eaten with anything other than bread, but I made this delicious tuna casserole and it was so easy too, everyone should try it!


Here's the recipe:

Ingredients
* 1 (12 ounce) package egg noodles
* 1/4 cup chopped onion
* 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
* 1 cup frozen green peas
* 2 (6 ounce) cans tuna, drained
* 2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup
* 1/2 (4.5 ounce) can sliced mushrooms
* 1 cup crushed potato chips

Directions
1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook pasta in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes, or until al dente; drain.
2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
3. In a large bowl, thoroughly mix noodles, onion, 1 cup cheese, peas, tuna, soup and mushrooms. Transfer to a 9x13 inch baking dish, and top with potato chip crumbs and remaining 1 cup cheese.
4. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until cheese is bubbly.

I also added like a cup of milk so it wasn't so dry, and it was dang good, no joke...so if you're craving tuna you should try it. Putting potato chips on top sounds kinda strange but it was dang good I wish I put more on there. Oh and I also didn't put a full cup of cheese on top, I mixed most of it into the mixture and put a little bit more on top, but most of it was just in the overall casserole and I thought that was good.

On Saturday it was really nice so we again went yogging at the park, and then we went up into the mountains and shot some of Neil's guns. The place we went is usually full of junk to shoot but someone must of cleaned it up because there was nothing except some pieces of wood, plastic bottles, and a bike haha which Neil loved shooting. It was so nice to be able to spend all day with Neil and just have a good time this weekend, and it was so beautiful out so we were outside most of the day which was also nice.

Then today we had church which was good. Our primary class was a little bit crazy, but that's probably because we had General Conference last Sunday so they were kinda out of it, but we still loved teaching them.

After church we were way hungry so we made Pizza Bagel Bites which were amazing!


We just cut a plain bagel in half and put pizza sauce, cheese, and pepperoni on it and put it in the oven on broil for like 5 minutes and it was dang good.


Oh, Neil also put banana peppers on his because he loves those things...


He also had a nice pizza sauce smile at the end of eating his bagel pizzas, haha.

We Dabble in Yogging

So Neil and I have recently decided we were going to get in shape. Originally we were waking up at like 6 in the morning to go on walks around the neighborhood and on the trails, but it was cold and we were sleepy so that lasted for about three and a half days...BUT, since it's been getting so nice we have began to yog (jog).



We aren't professionals yet, we just dabble, but it does feel nice to get out in the fresh air and spend time together and such. We are really lucky though because Draper has really nice trails and the weather is starting to get nice so hopefully we'll keep this up.

So, today on our yogging adventure we were being two healthy, responsible, Draper citizens when all of a sudden we saw these two dogs running in the middle of the road crossing over to our side of the street and we thought to ourselves: "Selves, what would two healthy, responsible, Draper citizens do in this situation..."



We decided to call the dogs over to us so they didn't get hit or anything...so we did. We're also pretty dang sure that everyone that had to slam on their brakes thought that the dogs were ours and were secretly cursing at us, but we were just trying to be healthy, responsible, Draper citizens. After traffic returned to it's normal speed and we had the dogs by us we looked at their collars and noticed they had a phone number on their tags, but since we were yogging we didn't have our cell phones...so, we went to a house and knocked on the door to ask if we could use their phone, but they weren't home. So, we went next door to a church (pretty sure it's the only non-LDS church in Draper) and saw there were people there so we asked if we could use their phone. But, right as we were about to get a phone the dogs ran away into the middle of the road and there was more slamming on brakes and honking and such. There were also more people thinking Neil and I were dumb, irresponsible pet owners...when in reality we were only striving to be healthy, responsible, Draper citizens.

The dogs were then never seen again, but we also didn't see any of their splattered remains on the road either, so we only wish for the best for those two dogs.

Since it had been such a crazy yog we decided to relax and eat Taco Bell...



But hey, ya gotta start somewhere right?

Graduating!

As you have noticed my background has changed because I'M GRADUATING!!

Student teaching is over! It went by so fast and I really did have a blast...I honestly just love children. Now, I just have to figure out what I really want to do. Another first grade teacher at the school I student taught at is retiring, and therefore there could be an opening there which I would love. Crescent Elementary is such a good school and I love the first grade team and the principal...but we may eventually be moving closer to Orem in the future and I don't want to work at a school for only one year, but that is a possible option. Plus, I loved teaching first grade, they're still young enough to be cute, but old enough to know how to listen to directions.

Here's a cute story I have from the first grade restroom, haha.



So I had to use the restroom REALLY badly, and for some reason the faculty restroom is on the other side of the school so I went to the first grade bathroom that is right next to my classroom. After I used the restroom I was washing my hands and a girl from my class and another first grader from another class came into the restroom. The girl that wasn't in my class looked at me and stopped where she was and began staring at me. The girl in my class stared to for some reason so I told her to hurry and use the bathroom and get back to class. So both of the girls went into their stalls and then the girl that wasn't in my class said to the girl in my class "Do you know her?" and she was like "Yeah, she's Mrs. Wheeler, she's in my class." The girl from another class then said "Wow, she looks like she should be in fifth or sixth grade" haha. And the girl in my class wasn't even like oh she's my teacher, she said "I know!" and then they talked about how I was the roundest first grader they know haha...it was cute until they called me round, haha.

So yeah, teaching first grade is a possible option which has pluses and minuses. Pluses-I've already taught there and gotten to know the school, I know the team and I like them, I like the principal, and the community, good pay I think haha. Minuses-Long commute, dealing with the school system.

I also had an interview on April 1st with Alpine School District to teach in their preschool program. The interview went really well, and I really would love to teach preschool because at that age they're just fun!

Oh, and on April 13th I have an interview with Kids on the Move to work as an Early Interventionist which is where I would go into families homes and work with their infants that either have a disability or are low-income which I would also love to do.

Haha, I love how I'm talking about all of these options as if I've been asked to work at all of these places-which I haven't, but since I'm finished with school I don't have much else to think about other then what I'm going to do after graduation.

I would truly love to have any of those three jobs, and I'm sure I won't get asked to work at all three places, haha, Heavenly Father knows I wouldn't be able to make up my mind, haha, plus I'm not that good. But it has got me thinking about what I really want to do...

As for Neil and I we are doing so well :)
Being married to him is the best...he is so sweet and he loves to spoil me haha. Here's a picture of us at the Elite Eight game in Salt Lake...we love going to any type of sports games



Something else we've been doing a lot of recently is watching Star Wars. I'd never seen them, but after I completed my final project with student teaching we decided we would watch all 6 of them. Don't worry, not in one day, haha. I didn't think I would like the movies because I'm not usually in to things like that, but I love them! Yoda is my favorite character of course...



He's so freaking cute! And he and I are a lot alike you know...we are short and we like younglings :) aka babies...he trains the young jeti's you know? And they're called younglings and I decided if I teach at a school I am going to call my students younglings haha. We've also been talking like Yoda since we've been watching the movies so much which is actually fun haha and we found out that there is a wikipedia for Star Wars called wookieepedia so you should google it and read about it, haha.

Let's see oh yes, in our new ward Neil and I are Primary Teachers we teach a class with twelve 7 and 8 year olds. It's fun being able to teach with Neil but it's weird because I get more nervous teaching in front of him then I do when my University Supervisor would come and observe me, haha.

Pretty much life is amazing! Neil and I have been married for 3 months which I know isn't that long but everyone keeps saying the first year is the hardest and I hope it is because it's been amazing!

Now just everyone cross your fingers that one of the jobs asks me to work for them haha because we are saving up for a house and those things are expensive...I've been looking into all the stuff about down payments and mortgage and stuff and it's intense...I don't know how anyone buys a house now a days.

Student Teaching Update!

I'm pretty much half way done with student teaching and I haven't even mentioned it once while blogging I don't think...pathetic I know, but I have really enjoyed student teaching.
I'm student teaching at the lovely Crescent Elementary School in Sandy, UT. It's really nice. The faculty is lovely and the principal is great as well.



I'm currently student teaching in the resource room, but only for another week, and the seven weeks are really flying by. My cooperating teacher, Mrs. Barton is really nice. We have way different teaching styles, but I have learned great things from her. The kids are great also, of course I have challenging days where I lack patience, but I still adore the kids. I have found through this experience that I enjoy working with younger children rather then older children. Actually it's kind of weird...so I would love to teach younger children, like preschool, kindergarten, or 1st grade, but older then that I can't handle for some reason. But, there I do enjoy working with the one fifth grade class we have for 45 minutes. The kids are fun and it's fun to joke around with them, but there's something about 2nd-4th grade that I just lose my patience with...that's probably not good to admit, but it's true. I love the 2nd and 3rd grade students I work with they just seem to have more attitude..but if they were my students and I wasn't just a student teacher I think it would be different, but who knows.

Student teaching has been a great learning experience, but I'm so excited about having my own classroom...I feel ready now which is way exciting! After I finish student teaching I'm going to continue to work at Crescent Elementary School as an aid in the resource room and then it would be GREAT if I could get hired there for the next school year and have my own classroom, but I'm not sure if they'll have any openings, but keep your fingers crossed!

Happy 1 Monthiversary

Okay so I've sucked at blogging recently, but I can explain! So...we don't have the internet at our house, we occasionally can borrow/steal internet signal from BattistaNet, but she is very temperamental and often doesn't work well enough for me to blog, so we go to the library instead and hit up the free stuff.
We also don't go to the library very often, only when I have to do homework involving the internet, so much of my internet time is spent doing that, lame I know.

But anyways, being married is pretty much the coolest thing ever! The wedding went really well, my NeeNee (aunt) and Grandma flew out from Virginia to be there, which was way sweet...and they even brought a cake out with them, which blew my mind, haha. I still don't have wedding pictures, my NeeNee and mom took them, and they haven't shared them with us yet, but as soon as I get them I'll put some up fo sho. Oh and here's a picture of mine and Neil's rings :) Haha I know it's kinda ghetto because I took it, but it's all we got haha



The honeymoon was delightful! We didn't take a picture of our hotel room, but it was amazing! It was double the size of our apartment haha, and the view was great!



It was so fun spending our first Christmas together, just us, and we had a lot of fun on Christmas too! In the afternoon we went to the Bellagio Hotel and they had a Christmas themed Botanical Garden thingy in there that was really pretty :)



We then ate at The Top of the World restaurant which is on top of the Stratosphere, where we stayed. Pretty much it's the coolest restaurant EVER! It's 850 feet in the air and it rotates, which was kind of trippy, but the view was amazing! This is us at the restaurant :) I'm wearing my wedding dress..just so ya know :)



And this was the view...



And us on top of the restaurant :)



While we were in Vegas we also decided we had to do two things: eat at a buffet, and see some kind of show..and we accomplished both of those things..in ONE day!
We were going to eat at the Bellagio's buffet, but the line was forever long, and I was starving, so we went to the Planet Hollywood buffet instead, and it was delicious...except we ate ourselves sick. Here's Neil after the buffet..




And here's me after the buffet...



Haha I felt so sick that I had to lay down and undo my belt. Neil wanted to walk around to feel better, and while he was walking around a security guard came up to me and said "Are you alright, Ma'am?" and I just looked at him and said "Uh...I just ate at the buffet." And then he told me I couldn't lay on the couch so I had to sit up..lame I know.

After the buffet party we went and saw a David Copperfield show and it was amazing! After we got seated someone from the show came up to us and asked us if we would be in the show, and we said yes of course, haha but then we got really nervous and regretted saying we'd do it. But we just had to go up on stage and then the stage crew just dragged us around..the highlights of being on stage were: Neil touched my butt, Neil hit a steal plate with a mallet, we shook David Cooperfield's hand a few times, and that's about it haha, but it was awesome!



And being married has been the best ever! I have loved being able to be with Neil all the time and not having to make that dumb drive from Rexburg to Draper to see him.

It's also been fun because we've been able to hang out a lot with our friend/cousins/some type of relatives, Ian and Kristen, which has been fun :)
For example, right now we're at Ian and Kristen's watching Biggest Loser aka Fat People and we had Taco Tuesday and yummy milkshakes created by Kristen :)
I'm excited for the rest of the good times I'll have with Neil and our new life together! :)