Goin Pro Dontcha Know

I love the holidays! I have always found it funny that after the first week of college, (and after all of Christmas break) we get a blessed three day weekend. However, I have this theory that being thrown back into school provides a bit of structural shock (since I never experience any structure during Christmas break) and, therefore, a break is well needed to help me "adjust" to being back in school.

The first week of school wasn't too eventful for me. I had student teacher meetings all day long on Monday and Tuesday. I met with my supervising teachers at Mount Logan middle and went to class on Thursday. The rest of the time I prepared for student teaching. Javan, on the other hand, had a full load of classes. Lucky him.

I am a little nervous for tomorrow. This week (and the rest of the semester), I will be spending all my time at the middle school. At first, I was frustrated that my teaching assignment was at a middle school (because of my own wonderful experiences in middle school). Now, I am excited to be working with this age group. They are still young enough that they aren't "too cool" to have fun (and therefore participate in my lovely activities), but they are old enough to write/say some pretty insightful things. Middle school is middle school...but I also think we don't give those kids enough credit. They are great. Another plus is that I don't have to worry about trying to figure out/understand the curriculum as I teach. The curriculum is so much fun! I get to teach material that I understand at least! (I guess the trade off with high school is that I have to work on classroom management a lot more...but once you train kids you don't have to battle them as much.) Mostly, I am SO excited to teach units on Sherlock Holmes, legends, superstitions, and personal narratives. I get to teach some rad stuff.

I will admit, sometimes I am so excited to teach that I could jump out of my skin! Other times, I think about all the effort, energy, and planning it is going to take and wonder if I chose the right major. Excitement outweighs the doubt for the most part. I know I am going to work hard, and I have the best cooperating teachers in the world! (This will help. A LOT.)

Now, I will return to a topic that has already been discussed....three day weekends. What is one to do when a holiday replaces school? Well, Javan and I planned to go skiing today. We got up at eight and were on our way out the door at 8:30. Our drive to beaver mountain was a little disheartening. The canyon doesn't have much snow in it right now. We could see more vegetation and dirt than snow. We hoped that the further we drove down the canyon the deeper the snow would get (makes sense, right?). NOPE. At nine twenty we pulled into the beav and saw slopes that had bushes sticking out all over the place. The main trials weren't even completely covered with snow. The layer of snow was scarce, and our desire to spend $80 for a crappy day of skiing (boarding for Javan) scarcer. There were some crazies on the slopes. Mess up my brand new pair of skis with rocks and bushes? NO THANK YOU. Needless to say, but I will say it anyway, we turned around and drove right home.

Just before we got home (around 10:20), I turned to Javan and said, "Little Big World." His reply was something to the extent of, "Yea! Let's do it." So, we got home, turned on our PS3, and played LBW. If you have never heard of the game, let me tell you it is awesome and slightly addicting. Lucky for us, it is a two player game. This means I get to enjoy this addiction with my husband sitting right next to me. (AWESOME.) However, this also means that we sometimes get caught up in the game and trash talk each other. These remarks may or may not be similar to the following:
"Hurry up. You are so slow."
"AHHHHH. I JUST DIED BECAUSE OF YOU!"
"STOP doing that."
"You suck."
"I hate you."
"I can't do anything because you always do everything!" (Guess who said that one! haha).
"You didn't wait for me and now I died!"
"Ya big jerk!"
"If you do that again, I'm not playing anymore!"
"I'm not playing anymore!" (haha. Ya. right.)
It may or may not also include a few dirty looks and some light, very light, hits to the arms and legs (given only when absolutely necessary). We do compliment each other at times. We say things like, "Good job" or "Yeah! You got it! Your amazing!" But things like that are too boring to blog about. Let me tell you, it is great. AND it is healthy gaming talk. It is healthy, because we get out our frustration and leave it all on the game floor when we are done. We are becoming pro LBW players. Last night, we played for two hours. Today, we played for two hours. This game includes lots of laughs and annoyances. We have so much fun...I don't think Javan and I have laughed harder than we did last night.

Now, Javan also has a soccer game and a shooting game he likes to play. Yesterday I went upstairs to take my Sunday nap while Javan played his soccer game. Every once in a while I would hear: "NOOOO. Oh my gosh." "YES!" "They won't pass it to me on the wing." "I was open!" "AHHHHH."

Oh, the joys of gaming. The joys of going pro. The whole process makes me laugh.

Well, once again, I have written way too much. Once again, you know WAY too much about our lives. But it was too good to keep in my head.

Javan is finishing his soccer game....maybe when he is done I can convince him to take me to Cafe Rio or some other place to get food.

I am hungry.

SPOON ME!!!

The last week of Christmas break we went on a triple date with Heather & Clint and Kat & Jon. We had so much fun!

The night consisted of dinner, ice cream, and a movie...oh, and of course lots of catch up talk! We love hanging out with these guys! Married friends are the best!

Here are a few pics of our night:











These were all taken at Spoon Me. It is one of our favorite ice cream places! The ice cream is so refreshing and delicious!

Alright, that's it for now folks!

Go get some Spoon Me!

Caution: Overload!

We know you all love pictures and we know you all love us; therefore, you will LOVE this post! Here are a few of the things we did over the break-->

Heather and her friends, Sara and Juje, got together for their gift exchange. It's a tradition they do every year! In the picture above, you can see the amazing aprons Juje made for Sara and Heather. Sara's gift would not have been appropriate to wear... ha ha. And, if this picture was a scratch-n-sniff, you would be able to smell the yummy stuff Heather gave.

These two silly dam pictures are of us enjoying the scenery at Second Dam. The top one is what happens when Heather tries to take the pictures! Doesn't she have beautiful eyes?! Javan's mouth is a little scary though....

This is a picture of Javan, Heather, and Heather's ex-boyfriend. I will never be able to compete with his rock-solid abs or his awesome soul patch, but Heather tells me she still can't stand his buck teeth. Ha ha ha, we got to see the Ballet West production of The Nutcracker at Christmas in SLC. It was beautimous!

We had a stellar time riding Brian Head with Heather's family. It was pretty cold and foggy all day, but the fresh snow made it all worth it. Of course right when we're about to leave, the sun comes out! Heather got new skis for her birthday and rocked them all day! Javan pulled some sick tricks at the park. He's not as good as he used to be, but he's still got a little steez left in him.

We've been practicing a fun chopsticks duet together. This was a mini concert we did at the Bowles's home. It sounds... pretty good. We'll master it though. :-)

We spent New Years Eve with the Bowles family. We fon-did it (past tense for fondue), played games, made noise, and enjoyed the best New Year's kiss! (Matching was not on purpose but was enjoyed.)

Our project over the break was sending out all our wedding thank-you cards. When we say project, we mean PROJECT! It wasn't that bad though because we were super blessed at our wedding with all the many gifts and donations to the H&J newlywed fund. We were happy to give thanks back to those who gave so much to us. This is a copy of the picture we sent along with our thank-you note. (The picture we sent was in color but we like the b&w version too.)

For now, this is it. Peace!

Something to do

Happy New Year!

I think it is going to take me a while to adjust the fact that it is 2010. I know I am going to write down "09" on everything for the next few weeks. It's going to drive me crazy!

Now, one of my new years resolutions was to get to bed on time (which also includes getting up at a decent hour). That definitely didn't happen today. Javan got up for work and left around seven thirty, and I enjoyed the warm comfort of our bed until ten 0' clock. I really had some great things planned out for today. I was going to work on student teaching applications, clean out the fridge, take a shower, work on thank you cards, and go shopping for food. Instead, I got up, watched a show, checked my email, and updated myself on my friends blogs. (It sounds even worse when I say it out loud). Just before 1:00, I heard a car door shut and footsteps approach our front door. All I could think was "oh crap" because I knew it was my husband. Poor Javan. As he opened the door, he walked in and saw a bed head wife, still in her jammies, lazing on the couch. I was caught. I looked a mess, and the guilty look on my face was quite obvious. Javan just laughed at me. I must be a very entertaining wife. Oh well, we all have days like this right? Luckily, I have the best husband in the world. No worries, I still have time to work on my new years resolutions, right?

On another note, Javan came home from work to eat lunch with me (happy day!) and to put together his new Christmas present. It is a super computer built for the purpose of being an entertainment center. He ordered it online, but it came late (over two weeks late). We use our t.v. as the monitor, so we can watch movies, online shows, play games, etc. and watch them on our t.v. SWEET.

I apologize for the lack of pictures. All our new pictures are on Javan's computer. So, someday, we will update you on what we did over the break (pictures included...I promise!)

Well, I guess it is time to go do something with my day. I can't wait until Javan gets home so we can play!

Catch-up (not to be confused with the tomato sauce)

Hello again! It has been so long since I have written that I don't know where to start! Here goes to playing catch up:

• Javan and I witnessed the beauty of Utah State beating BYU. I'll have to admit, it was a nail biting game that included adrenalin, mild heart attacks, and lots and lots of screaming. I should mention that Javan and I barely got into the game to begin with. Fans from both teams had been waiting for days to get in (not kidding). We, on the other hand, had a soccer game that day. This meant we only got to the game a half hour early. With some patience on our end, and lots of luck, we managed to be part of the "last 25." I say this because we were the last 25 USU students they let into the game. WOOHOO us. It was a game worth watching, and we were proud of our Aggies as they pulled a big win.

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• Speaking of soccer, Javan's men's team took first in the intramural futsal league (indoor soccer). Javan and I played on a team as well (co-ed). And, guess what? Our team took first too! Fun fun. We now get t-shirts that will remind us of our wins every time we wear them. What could be greater than that?

• I LOVE the holidays. We bought a 4 foot christmas tree that is decorated in Aggie blue. It looks great! I love having our own little tree!

• We recently got a rug from Javan's aunt. It was her wedding gift to us, and we finally got it! Best present ever! It adds a lot to our living room since we can't paint. It's a whopping 4.5 by 6 feet!

• SNOW: it has been snowing nonstop for the past few days. Now, some people might be upset by the cold and continuous downpour of snowflakes. Not us! We decided to build a snowman! He has ritz eyes, a carrot nose, and a pine-cone mouth. He is the most dashing snowman on the street (actually, he is the only snowman on the street). We were quite proud of our end product. (see picture below)

• Christmas Cards: the time has come for us to send out our wedding thank yous (or rather our thank you/Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays/Happy New Year cards....that could make quite a header!). Anyway, what better time to do this than Christmas time? Instead of paying a bajillion dollars (aka a large amount of money) to have our pictures taken, we decided to take them ourselves. We originally thought the outside of our apartment looked trashy, but our minds changed as we realized it could create a "vintage" look to our photo. Thus, we had our own photo shoot. This means we set the timer on the camera. Let me tell you, it was fun watching Javan set the timer and run to get into the photo. Oh, the joys of being poor and newly married. It is the best. I love it more and more every day!! Below, you will see a "sneak peak" one of our final products. THE final product will appear on our Christmas cards.

Thank you for letting me ramble. Javan's posts are precise and to the point....not mine. I feel like I need to update every second of our lives on this thing! It's a curse! I want to stop...but I can't. I will apologize before hand for the next post I write.

LOVE YOU ALL!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

love hapB and jB

Happy End of the Semester...

...and happy holidays! Due to our absence from the blogosphere, you can all understand how busy the end of the semester was for us. Of course, Heather and I are both overachievers with self-imposed busy schedules. So, it's mostly our fault, but we both feel that this semester has been a growing experience (in the right direction of course). We have learned lots from our classes. We also learned better time management so we could actually spend some time together. Those are the best parts of the day! Look forward to reading more posts and looking at more photos from us in the upcoming weeks and months. We'll get good at this.

"It's not a comeback, it's a return..."

The baby! Heather's sister Tiffany (and Kris) had baby Kasey on October 17. We got to visit them at the hospital the day after he decided to pop out. Needless to say, he is adorable. We plan on visiting him frequently!

This is the first grand-baby in the fam, and we are excited to be a naunt and a nuncle. Love this little guy. (If Heather could spend all her time in Salt Lake with him, she would.) Oh, another thing, he was born on Jacob's (Heather's brother's) birthday.

Next topics: There are many reasons why we haven't written in such a long time. One of these reasons is how busy our lives have become these last few weeks. Let us paint a small picture for you (since a mural would take too long). A couple weeks ago, both our cars broke down on the same day. Isn't the purpose of having two cars to ensure you always have at least one to take you from place to place? I guess not. Reeeeeally funny. :-( Javan's starter went out and Heather got a flat. Oh how we loved spending money on our cars!

On a lighter note, we were able to visit Zion National Park with Heather's family. Parts of Zion seemed to be on fire because of the amazing autumn leaves. We ate at the lodge and enjoyed tasty, tasty food.

Halloween was fun! After a crazy couple weeks of school and work (and we mean crazy stressful), we were able to enjoy some relaxing time together. The highlight of the day was seeing the production of Sweeney Todd by the USU theater department. All in all, it was very well done. The design was incredible (Javan's bro Chris would have been proud), the singing was great, and the acting was good. Thanks to our friends Brady and Kara for inviting us and feeding us yummy steaks.

Probably our favorite part of the week is playing indoor intramural soccer together. We are a rocking co-rec team that wins by at least ten points every week (if that doesn't give us bragging rights, I don't know what does). We had a cute wife/husband moment our first game when Heather made a dashing run up the right side, one-touch passed the ball to Javan who volleyed it in to the side of the goal. You should've seen it! We rock. :-) Afterwards, we gave each other a high ten and a pat on the bum. It was cute. :D We started a new tradition, or continued an existing tradition of Javan's, which involves getting Jamba's together after the game. Oh what a night Thursday night is!

That's all. Bye bye!

p.s. The first peoples to comment on what that title quote is from gets a congratulations.