Thanksgiving Break

I think I appreciated this break more than normal. I don't know if I needed the break from teaching or I was excited for Travis to come visit, but boy was I ready for it.

My break started on Tuesday with a predicted blizzard. My principal sent us all home as soon as the kids left. I planned on staying to get some stuff done so I wouldn't have to over the rest of the break, but I left not wanting to get snowed in. Later in the evening, I regretted my decision of leaving as my roommate and I made fun of our "blizzard." It flurried a little...not even enough to stick to the ground. But let me tell you, the stores were crazy. It was like the world was coming to an end.

Wednesday was pretty relaxing. I slept in until 8. Cleaned my apartment. Watched Aspen. Planned a little for the following week. Then went over and helped Bradford prepare his turkey to be fried the next day. While I was over there, I got to see what his new house will look like and their lot. Then I don't really remember what I did the rest of the day. I just know it was the longest day of my life because I didn't have work to keep me busy and Travis wasn't getting here until late that night. Finally I went and picked him up at the airport. His flight was delayed so he didn't land until about 12:00. We stayed with his brother for a couple days in Farmington.

On Thursday I slept in again. After getting ready, we left to drive to Logan to have Thanksgiving dinner with his Dad's side of the family. They actually got some snow there and it was freezing. Dinner was good, but nothing compared to good ole Southern Thanksgiving dinners. I missed my fried turkey, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, mac and cheese and pecan pie. They did have cute little turkey favors that they made for everyone. After lunch, we went and saw Travis' dad's grave. It was pretty cool because he doesn't get to see it very often. That evening we went back to Devin and Kati's house. We watched Toy Story 3 and had dessert.

On Friday, we went shopping. This is the first time that I have ever gone shopping on Black Friday. It was crazy! We got up at our own leisure and didn't even get to the store until 11ish. Travis even took the time to play a game of ping pong with Devin. I couldn't believe how many people were there. I ended up buying a camera! I have been wanting one for a long time and I was given some money as a graduation gift to buy a camera, and I finally got around to doing it! I am really excited about it! It was a hard decision and it took me about an hour to decide even though I had done lots of research prior to going. Since I got a camera, of course we had to take some picture! By the time we finished shopping, ate dinner and charged my battery, it was too late to take pictures outside so we decided to go on a carriage ride to look at some lights at Thanksgiving Point instead. We got lucky because we missed the big group ride so we got our own little carriage. It was freezing, but I had a lot of fun. It was my first carriage ride ever!

First picture with my new camera. I like it a lot! (the camera and Travis)

Us in our personal carriage!

Me with our horse named Jody.

On Saturday, we finally got some pictures! Travis and I drove up the canyon to find a pretty spot. Unfortunately there was no snow, but we still got some fun pictures. Travis is a good sport to let me take pictures of him and to take some of me.

I voted this as the most artistic picture of the day.

After getting some pictures, we drove down to Jeff's house to watch the BYU vs. Utah football game. That's all I will say about the game. A bunch of Travis' friends came over to see him. After, a bunch of us went to the mall and the out to eat. (I feel like all we did was eat while he was here) It was exactly a year ago that Travis, Jeff, Caleb and I went to eat at Applebee's. It was a memorable night. We have decided to make it a tradition to go out to eat every year on that day. Then Travis and I left to go watch Tangled. He thinks that Rapunzel looks like me. It was pretty cute.

Travis, Caleb and Jeff after the BYU game

It started snowing Saturday night and I was praying for a real blizzard so Travis' flight would be delayed, but sadly it didn't. I took him to the airport at 5am. It was a sad parting, but it is only 3 more weeks until I see him again.

I will have to save another post to tell you about my drive home from the airport in the snow/ice. It was pretty exciting, so you will have to be on the lookout for it.

Teacher Help

Just because I haven't posted in a little while, I thought I would tell you about a funny/odd experience I had today. After school, a mom came up to talk to me. I was a bit nervous because I thought she was upset that I made her check her daughter in late instead of just letting her come into the classroom. This mom speaks little English, so in her broken Chinese accent she said, "teacher, I need your help. Tell (student) to sleep." I was so confused. I asked her if she meant go to bed at night. She said, "yes, I hope she listen you. She need sleep in bed." I asked a couple more questions and finally figured out that this student still sleeps in bed with her parents and not in her own bed...at 5 years old. The mom thinks that maybe her daughter will listen to me. I have had some weird requests before, but never one like this.

I Have a Baby...Kind Of

So, I moved into a new apartment back in August. It is a little 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom place in Pleasant Grove. I debated whether or not I wanted to have a roommate or not. After looking for a little bit, I couldn't find anyone to move in with me, so I gave up. Then after getting my first paycheck and realizing that teachers don't get paid as much as I wish, I decided it was time to start looking again. My friend Missy is moving in at the beginning of January so I posted online that I was looking for someone from September to December. Within the week, I had several interested people.

I made a verbal agreement with a girl named Alisha, she gave me money, I gave her a key, and I didn't see her for the rest of the month. In October, she came to pay rent again, she moved in a bed frame and a couple boxes, and I never saw her again. So, I have been living by myself and getting paid...a good deal if you ask me! For September rent, she paid it early and just left it on the counter. Then this past Monday, I got a text while I was at school letting me know that she was moving in and not to be scared when I get home and people are there.

Monday was crazy! I thought I had a lot of stuff! I think she has me beat! And...did I mention she has a baby? So guess what that means? I feel like I have a baby. I look in my apartment and I see my table, then I see a little kiddie table. In my living room I see my stuff, then I see a box of toys. Monday night was the worst. I woke up 4 times to a crying baby. I wondered what I had gotten myself into. Come to find out, it was because she was getting sick.

Well, it is now Sunday and my thoughts have already changed. Although she does cry when she has to go down for a nap, and sometimes there is a toy in the hallway, I love having her around. Today Alisha helped me cut out lamination and Aspen just played and loved being with the big girls. Then when she had to leave the room to go eat, she started to leave then came back to give me a hug first. It was adorable. Or she loves to just help me do the laundry or wipe off the table. Even though I am around kids all day, it is fun to come home to a kid you can pick up and hug. (plus, I don't have to do the dirty work like change her diapers!)

So, I guess what I am saying is, having a baby isn't so bad, but then again she isn't really mine.

How Many Kids do you Have?

The other day, I was meeting with a financial adviser to set up my retirement plan. He asked me a bunch of information to help me figure out which plan was best for me. This included mostly personal information about myself and my finances. We finished and I decided on a plan, so I began filling out the papers. As I was doing so he asked, "How many kids do you have?" I answered, "I am not married. I don't have any." He chuckled and I was a bit confused. Then he said, "no, how many kids are in your class?" Apparently our brains were on two different tracks. I replied, "I have 27 in my morning and 28 in my afternoon, so I have 55 altogether." So from now on whenever people ask how many kids I have, I know my answer...55!

Like most mothers, my "kids" are my life right now. I don't really know if I am supposed to, but here are my classes. These were taken on our "color" days. I love these kids! Aren't they adorable?!

Ohio

After a long anticipated trip and a much needed vacation, I flew out to Ohio for Fall Break. The trip started out with Travis picking me up from the airport and taking me to his apartment. (Of course he had flowers waiting there for me.) After taking the grand tour, and seeing the great need, we went to pick out a couch for his new place. After going to about 5 different stores, we ended back up at the first one to buy a couch. We ended up getting one of my favorite ones. He said my favorite one was too girly.

On Friday, I hung around his apartment all day while he was at work. It was actually pretty nice because I was able to catch up on some sleep and get some school stuff done (yes, I did school work on my vacation). After he got home, we went and picked up the couch. We had dinner, did a little shopping, and headed to THE HAUNTED CAVE. This cave will be in the Guinness Book of World Records this year for being the longest haunted cave. I normally don't really like scary things, but this wasn't too bad. We were at the front of the group, so I think we missed a lot of the action. There was one part where we were in "hell" and the "devil" was talking to our group and he said he was going to pick someone to sacrifice. Of course he picked me. I was probably the most innocent looking one there. Then all of the sudden the chainsaw guys came out. In past experience, the chainsaw guys are the people that actually scare me. I just grabbed on to Travis and hid behind him. It was really well done though.



















Saturday was our outdoor adventure day. We went to Hocking Hill Parks where there are all sorts of sites to see. There were tons of people there because it was a beautiful day (and there is nothing else to do in Dayton). Travis describes this place as an outdoor playground. There were all sorts of bridges and caves and tunnels. We stopped to take lots of pictures. We went to a place where there was supposed to be a waterfall, but it was sadly all dried up. Funny story, a man stopped us and asked where we were from because he heard me talking and thought I had an accent. He thought we were from Switzerland. I wish! He was really nice and told us some places that we should visit in the park.
































After we explored this section of the park, we decided to head over to the repelling area. Travis was excited because he LOVES rock climbing and repelling. I don't have much experience with repelling. Once we got on the trail, it split in three directions. We choose the one most traveled, hoping it would lead us to the right place. We got to a rock wall that we thought could be it, but we weren't sure because it was so small compared to what we are used to out west. Travis went to ask a group of people if that was the only place to go repelling. The guy's response was, "yeah, this is where most people go, but if this is too tall for you the wall is shorter a little ways down." I almost laughed out loud when he said that. If he only knew that Travis climbs and repels hundreds of feet and this wall was about 60 feet. So, Travis decided this was a good wall for me to practice on. We did it a few times before heading back home.






























Sunday was the worst day. I had the same sort of anticipation of flying back, but this time it was because I didn't want to come back to Utah. I was getting ready for church and I broke down crying. It was horrible, but Travis is so patient with me. He just let me cry on his shoulder. I think that it was harder to leave this time than the first time. At least this time it will only be a month before I see him again. We went to church and then headed to the airport. On our way, we stopped at a little park to take some pictures because all the leaves were changing colors. It was beautiful! (Warning: There may be a kissing picture)





























I had a great time and I can't wait until Thanksgiving when he gets to come out here to see me!

Candy Grams and Crushes

At school, the 6th grade is doing a fundraiser by selling candy grams during lunch. My classes have not even heard of them because we do not go to lunch, so it came as a surprise to me when someone came to deliver a candy gram to my classroom. She handed it to me and it took me a minute to realize who it was to. It was for me from "Harvey the Hawk," our school mascot. I couldn't help but laugh because of a couple reasons. First, my name wasn't quite right. Second, there was a period after Miss. Third, it was elementary school writing. So do you know what that means? I have a little elementary school crush. It made my day. :)

Speaking of crushes, there is a little boy and girl in my class that have started showing interest in each other. They hold hands while sitting at the carpet. I actually think it is adorable because they are two of my favorites. The funniest part is that another little boy saw them and it tickled him that they were holding hands and he let out the cutest giggle. I couldn't help but laugh. I love those kids.

As for my crush, I leave tomorrow to go out and see him. I can't wait! We have a five day weekend, so I am flying to Ohio! It has finally started getting easier being apart, so this may make it more difficult again, but it will be worth it! He has the whole weekend all planned out already. I will make sure and take some pictures to put up.

Apples and Bananas

A couple weeks ago in class, we read a book that had a picture of a little boy handing his teacher an apple. One student asked why he was giving her an apple, so we had a discussion about how children used to give their teachers apples to tell them thank you or to say they liked you. After the discussion, one of my students raised his hand and said, "Miss Broadhead, tomorrow I am going to bring you a banana because I LOVE bananas." I kind of chuckled and told him I would love that. Then about ten more hands shot up wanting to tell me what they wanted to bring me. Here we are, almost 3 weeks later and I am still getting apples and bananas and roses and anything else you can think of. Kids just make me laugh with their creativity and their desire to make others feel good. Max loves bananas, so that is what he wanted to bring me...not an apple. Now every time I get something, I think of Max and how excited he was to share something he loved with me.

Conference Weekend

Sometimes in life we look over all the little moments that we have to be grateful for. This blog is to help me remember all the little things that make up life...sometimes good and sometimes bad. In the end, that is what makes it worth living for. I hope you enjoy sharing with me all my little life's experiences.

Let's start with this weekend. It was absolutely wonderful!!! I am actually going to start my weekend early. I left work early on Thursday (not really early, but early for me) to go boating with some co-workers. I think this is the first "fun" thing I have done for myself since school has started. I got to go wakeboarding for the first time since before my mission. I was so proud because I got up on my first try. The water was perfect and no one else was out on the lake. One of my co-workers took a turn and did some pretty cool jumps, but he is a guy, so they are always better. Then we got out this huge tube. I seriously thought I was going to die. The teacher driving said that this is how she gets out her frustration, and I believe her! I took another turn on the wakeboard, and guess what I did this time? That's right! I jumped! (Don't tell anyone it was an accident) It was a blast, but now I feel like an 80 year old lady walking around because I am so sore.

Friday made the weekend even better. I had my mission reunion and my mission President and his wife were there for the first time. There were so many missionaries there! It was so much fun seeing everyone! It brought back such great memories!




The weekend kept getting better and better. I had the chance to go up to General Conference with my brother and one of his friends on Saturday afternoon. We barely made it there on time. We drove around the parking garage 20 minutes before I finally moved a parking cone so we could have a spot to park. Then I had to run to keep up with long-legged Nathan to get to the Conference Center. Thank goodness I saw my old roomie Brittany so we could sneak into line with her. Later, I had a girls night with Jessica and watched Conference with her family on Sunday.



We are so blessed to be able to listen to the words of the prophets! If you didn't get to hear Conference, or you don't know what it is, check it out at lds.org