This n' That

I've had a lot of things I've been wanting to blog about lately, but school, work, and my husband have been getting my attention lately instead.  So, I have a few things I want to talk about...

A few weeks ago, a friend of Jake's passed away from cancer after only a month of finding out he even had it.  A few days later another one of his friends died because he got buried by an avalanche.  His name was Garrett.  Garrett, along with his wife and several other expert skiers were skiing after one of our latest big snowstorms.  They took all the precautions needed to check the avalanche danger of the area.  They decided conditions were too risky to proceed their ski day.  As they were leaving, the ridge broke and caused him to get buried.  He was under for 20 minutes.  He died the next afternoon.  Garrett married a cute girl named Molly just about a month before Jake and me.  I've only met Molly once.  When I first heard of the accident, I thought wow that's too bad.  I felt sad but it's kind of hard to know what she is going through.  We didn't really talk much about it.  Well a few days later Jake and I decided to rent 127 Hours.  If any of you have seen it, it's an emotional roller coaster.  Such an incredible movie, but I think for both Jake and I, it really triggered a lot of emotions.  After the movie I think we were both feeling the same way- a little  lot bit shook up.  (We didn't really sleep that night either so I would recommend NOT watching it on a week night). We began talking about Molly and what she must be going through.  I put myself in her shoes.  Married about the same time as Jake and I to the love of her life, and now he is gone.  As Jake and I went to bed, it really hit us.  We both started crying. (Jake don't kill me for posting this because I know you RARELY cry).  All we could do is think about the hurt Molly is going through.  This was such a humbling experience for both of us.  It made us stop and think about what is really important in our lives.  I felt like lately we had been worried about buying a new lawn mower, what we need to do to spruce up the house, planning our next vacation, wanting a new camera, etc.-all things that aren't important.  We immediately stopped talking about those things and remembered the suffering that Molly is going through and what she is dealing with is incomprehensible.  I barely know Molly, but I want to thank her for humbling me through her trials and helping me remember what is really important in my life.   I have no idea what Molly is going through, but I can't even imagine her hurt and pain.  Life is so precious.  It's important to not let the small stuff get in the way of the big picture.

Ok, sorry if that was a bit on the sad side, but I wanted to share.  Here's a few things we've been up to.
I survived parent teacher conferences.  Always a joyous time in my life.
Last weekend while the boys went to priesthood, the girls went to Color Me Mine to paint dessert plates for Andrea (my future sister-in-law is getting married to Jake's brother Kyle).  If you haven't ever been to this place, you should.  We had a blast painting.  We even got graced with Uncle Jordan's presence.  Jake's hilarious awesome uncle.

Don't read the words on the plate.  This is a small dose of Uncle Jordan.  He is the greatest. 

Jake's cousin Anna, sister Alex, cousin Elizabeth, Me

Our private party room

My "love birds" plate

On Tuesday, Uncle Jordan took all the married cousins to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse.  Such a fun night, great conversations, and good company!  Thanks for a wonderful night Jordan! 

After months of begging, Jake finally cut his hair.  He hasn't had a full on hair cut since our wedding.  He "trimmed" it in December so it's been a while.  Gross.  Does anyone else have this problem?  A teenage husband who won't cut his hair and all I get is "Babe, I look good and when you look good, you feel good.  He's a jokester. 

And FINALLY, we got a new couch on Tuesday.  It's SOOO comfy.  I love it.  It's dark brown corduroy with leather on the sides and back.  

The cushions are a little disarrayed, but this is the only pic I have.

Yes, I know I just posted a lot of stuff, but now I'm good for a few more days right?  

Oh, one more thing...

This is the funny thought of the day.  Yesterday I was talking to my students about taking chances and taking risks.  If you take a high risk, you get high payoff.  So if I say high risk, they give a little fist pump and say "high payoff".  It's pretty funny.  I was mainly just trying to get them to take bigger chances at answering questions and that it's ok to get it wrong, but if you get it right you feel good about it.  So one of the kids in my class has a broken arm with a cast on it.  He came in from recess excited that he took a "high risk".  He said, "Mrs. Larsen, I took a high risk.  I went on the monkey bars!"  I thought oh no!  What am I teaching them!  Luckily, he didn't get hurt!  I felt so bad haha.  I had a little chat with them that we can take high risks, just not at recess or if it causes us to get hurt.  Hopefully they don't take everything I say into the wrong context?  First grade is the best.  I love my job.  I have the cutest class and I absolutely adore them!

Weekend Highlights

Jake and I had a wonderful weekend of being "parents" to my three nephews while their parents were in Las Vegas for a convention.  We got to play games, ask them for three hours to pick up their toys, and we even got to see the Oscar Meyer wiener in real life on the freeway!

 This little angel also got blessed today. This picture is really small because I stole it from my sister's facebook page.  Cute kids.

Jake and I had fun with the boys for the weekend.  They are adorable.   Anytime I think about having kids though, I'll just go babysit for the weekend.  Good birth control :)

I have to brag about my husband for a minute.  He produced this amazing video for his work.  The Huffington Post wrote a great article on it within just a few hours of being posted.  You can read about it here I watch it over and over and get so mesmerized by the music and the creativity every time I watch it.  Jake is so talented in what he does.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!


iPad 2 gets Destroyed in Slow Motion from Jake Larsen on Vimeo.


I hope you all had a great weekend.  My blogging gets a bit skimpy when I go back on track for school, as I am focused on work and don't have as much spare time.  So I apologize for that!  I'll be better!

March came in like a lamb and is leaving like a lion.  I hope April is pure bliss because I am ready for warmth.  The tulips in my yard are starting to bloom.  I love it because I haven't lived here in the spring yet so every day is a surprise to see what pops up.  Every day I come home to a new patch of mini tulips and it's fun to see what colors they are!  I can't wait to see what the big ones bring!

Happy Spring!

Soup to Warm Your Soul...

Last week I made the yummiest soup ever!  I am posting this because I think everyone should make it, and I thought it was pretty easy; not to mention I finally got to use my lovely green pot to cook it in!

You can find the recipe here.  Cut zucchini in bite-size chunks, chop up an onion, and chop up some fresh parsley.  I actually used my scissors to cut up the parsley.  I think it worked better than a knife. :)

Add a little butter and melt it in the bottom of the pot.  Add the zucchini, onions, fresh parsley and basil. (I used dried basil because that's what I had) Saute the veggies...and continue following the recipe.  I also used organic chicken broth because it has about half the sodium than regular and I used a can of fat free milk.  I love this soup because it is broth-based.  Creamy soups are always so yummy, but very fattening.

And here is the finished product!  It was de-lish!!! I ate the left overs for about 3 days after that.  

I also made this very easy "Peasant Bread" from the Ivory "Favorites" cookbook.  You can get the books here.  If you don't have these cookbooks, I HIGHLY recommend them! They are my fav! 

The bread isn't perfect looking (yes, I am a rookie) but it was so yummy right out of the oven.  

I can't wait to make this delicious, hearty soup again!  It was just what the Dr. ordered for these cold, dreary days.  Mels Kitchen Cafe is the best website for cooking.  I have another one of her recipes in the crockpot right now-pineapple salsa chicken.  Can't wait to try it out!

Lights, Camera, Action!

Yesterday, our house was magically transformed into a movie set.  I'm sure you're all wondering how this came about.  I have a good family friend who directs commercials.  He does a lot of work for Coca~Cola (mainly the Lagoon commercials).  He called my dad up looking for a specific house to do a commercial for a mortgage company.  My dad described our house, they came and took a look, and it was just what they were looking for.  They told us there was a location fee, so I thought sure! Sign us up! We got paid to have people film at our house.  It was pretty cool.  The night before I didn't really know what to expect.  I didn't know how many people there would be.  I thought maybe around 7-10.  Well, 7:00 a.m. rolls around, and the masses started to show up.  They had a wardrobe girl who had a giant rack of clothes in my room, then a make-up artist for the actors, the producer, directer, lighting guy, set designer, electrician, project manager, assistant director, assistant camera man, assistant to the producer, two actors...and a couple of neighbors wandering in to see what was going on.  My whole house was being used.  Even the garage where there was a little snack station set up.  I always knew a lot went in to film making and commercials, but yesterday I got a big dose of what goes on to make just a short commercial!  It took the entire day.  7:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. last night.  Jake and I had to be somewhere at 6:30 so we left them there.  I was a bit worried at what we'd come home to at the end of the night.  As we pulled in to our driveway, I thought, gosh I hope our house isn't a disaster.  I opened the door, looked around and our house was EXACTLY the way it was before they got there.  Everything perfectly back in its place.  (They had to move all the furniture).  They took pictures of everything before they moved it so that when they were done, they could move it all back to the same place. They even sent cleaning ladies to clean my house today!  They are cleaning as we speak.  I had such a fun time being in on all the action yesterday.  It made me appreciate all the hard work that goes into film-making.  I can't even imagine what a big movie would be like.  Here are a few pics from the day.

The pictures aren't very big.  I took them with my phone, but you get the idea.  

~Feathers~

Last Monday I went to work and about a half hour into the day, a little girl in my class said, "Mrs. Larsen, what's in your hair?" I replied "Feathers.  I turned into a bird over the weekend." She had a very confused look on her face.  (Then I told her what they really were.  It was pretty funny.)  My cousin had a boutique at her house last Saturday, and a lady there was doing feather hair extensions.  I thought, you know, just because I teach first grade doesn't mean I have to be completely conservative ALL the time (when you have little girls watching your every move and every outfit, you have to be careful) so I said what the heck! And I got two little feather extensions in my hair.  The hairstylist that did it said she just got back from a hair show in Long Beach and said it's the "new hot thing".  So now I am a little bit bohemian, a little bit trendy, and I feel kind of good about that-because I never feel trendy.  I think everyone needs a little spunk in their life.  I only paid $3-really cheap.  I know professional salons are doing it for between $9-$45 depending on how many feathers.  I've washed them, dried them, curled them, and flat ironed them, and they do whatever I want them to do.

I have two- a turquoise one and a white one.  Jake asked me what Indian Tribe I was from. 

~I'm Back~

Just a few updates...

I've been a little under the weather the past few weeks and blogging hasn't been a priority for me.    I finally caught the common cold that more than half my class has had and I have been under the weather for a few days.  There are three things that have been keeping me good company though:

The first is this little corn bag my mom made me.  You heat it in the microwave for three minutes and just like that, you have a little heater!  I put it in my bed to get it warm at night or hold it when I'm cold- which is 24/7.  Thanks mom, this little "princess" bag has saved my wagon.  In fact, it's sitting on my lap right now!

Next is this stuff I got at Whole Foods called Olbas Oil.  A little something to clear up those stuffy airways. It has a whole bunch of oils combined like eucalyptus, peppermint, juniper berry, wintergreen, and a few others.  I put a few drops in some hot water, dipped a wash cloth in the water and made myself a little compress for my head.  It felt great and I was able to breathe again for a minute.  Ahhh, I love Aromatherapy.

And third is my wonderful husband who loves to take good care of me.  He deserves a few medals for being there at my beck and call! I'm one lucky duck.

Also, we have a new little bundle of joy in our family.  My sister finally got her GIRL! She was born January 21st and she is as cute as a button.  Her name is Claire Eliza (Eliza was our great grandmother's name).  All I want to do is hold her, but this cold is not permitting with RSV being so scary for the little ones!

I don't really think it gets much better than this.   Snug as a bug.  Natalie, you finally get to dress your child in PINK! 

By the way, I am itching for spring like crazy, and I know I'm not the only one.  I am so done with winter, dark and dreary days and this horrid inversion.  We are going to Phoenix over President's Day for some warmer weather, shopping, and golf.  Can't wait for that!

We went and saw The King's Speech on Friday night.  I really liked the movie, but it was a bit on the slower side.  Geoffrey Rush is really good in this movie though.  (He plays Captain Barbossa in the Pirates movies.)  I also LOVED Queen Elizabeth's 1930s wardrobe.  Her fur coats, gloves, dresses, and shoes.  So fancy.  

Well, that's all for now.  Until next time...

~Sometimes~

Sometimes you just need to vent a little.  This is mainly for me and to remind myself how "wonderful" my week has been, so I can come back to this post in a few weeks and laugh.

1. Being a teacher can be very rewarding, but very stressful as well.  I am glad that my class makes me giggle.  They say the funniest things, and thank goodness for that!  Their sense of humor always gets me through the day!  I love my little class.

2.  The fact that I was at work at 7:45 this morning and had to go straight to my ESL class after school-getting home at 7:30 tonight.  I don't like long work days, BUT I am learning some interesting things in my ESL class.  I miss learning in college so to me, it's kind of fun to keep learning and to interact with other teachers.  :)

3.  Not feeling too great on Monday (girl stuff) and random people asking me if I'm pregnant.  Really? I just got married.  Come on people.

Enough venting for tonight.  Oh I feel so good.  I don't think I can sleep without talking about the good things that happened this week though...

1.  An amazing husband.  Yesterday I came home from a stressful work day/week and went to spin class.  As I was driving home, I was worried about all the homework I had to finish for my ESL class and what I was going to cook for dinner.  As I walked in the door, my awesome husband is standing there, an oven mitt on each hand, table set, and dinner all ready.  I am so thankful for a husband who knows when his wife needs a little TLC!

2.  A butt kickin' spin class last night.  There's no better way, (well I think anyway) to end the day with a hard workout to burn off the stress.  It hurts so good!

3.  I am thankful for a new year.  Jake and I have made many great new goals for 2011-and no they don't involve having kids.  Sorry.  I have to say it because people ask me questions like that.  I teach school and I'm around kids all day.  Isn't that enough?  I don't know if it can beat 2010 though.  New job, new house, new marriage, awesome husband?  What can be better than that?!

4.  Three-day weekend.  Thank you MLK!  I found this video and it made me a bit emotional.  I couldn't imagine living in a time where blacks and whites couldn't drink out of the same fountain, use the same bathroom, eat in the same restaurant, etc.  If you haven't read the book The Help I highly recommend it.  It's about African American maids working in white households in the early 1960s.  Definitely a "feel good" book.