Website

Two days ago I launched my new website. It's not the most fanciest thing in the world, but my dad and I made it. I'm really proud of myself (since I have NO CLUE about HTML).

Check it out!

www.lookatyourpics.com

Surprise Party

Erick's Aunt Carol and I planned a surprise party for Erick's grandma's 90th birthday! It was so great! Brenda, Erick's grandma, had a brother come up from St. George. Randy, Erick's grandpa, had a brother come up from Provo. All of Erick's aunts and uncles from out-of-state were able to come! It was fantastic! And, best of all, Erick's grandma was SURPRISED!

I cooked all the meat... 23 pounds of sweet pork pull-apart (aka Pork Barbacoa). I had 6 crockpots in my kitchen, and I enlisted Erick and my dad for help. Erick cleaned every single crockpot (bless him!) and my dad helped me pull all the pork apart. I was pleased with how everything turned out.

Here's the sweet pork recipe for anyone who is interested:
3 lbs boneless pork roast
6 oz salsa
1 can coke (or diet coke, dr. pepper, pepsi... anything brown works great)
1 c. brown sugar

Fill crockpot about 1/2 full of water. Put in roast. Cook 6 - 8 hours.
Drain.
Shred with fork.
Put back in crockpot.
Mix in a bowl salsa, brown sugar, and coke. Pour over pork. Cook until heated through.

Serve with tortillas or buns.

Feel Good Music

I play the piano. I'm not as good as I want to be, but I get by. I have my own piano that I bought when I was a senior in high school.

My favorite composer is Jon Schmidt. I was playing on the internet today and I found this video. This song is not available as sheet music yet, but once it is I am going to learn how to play this... even if it takes me 3 years!



It is a mashup with "Love Story" by Taylor Swift and "Viva la Vida" by ColdPlay. It makes me smile!

Best Job EVER!

I have the greatest job in the world!

Funny story:
One of my students got in trouble today. He didn't want to miss his recess, so once we got him to sit down he started crying. Then all of a sudden we hear him singing/screaming "Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes." Then he screamed 3 verses of "If You're Happy and You Know It". Last of all, he screamed "How Firm a Foundation." At that point, we (being the grown-ups) could not hold in our laughter any more. My heart was breaking for this kid, but it so so funny to hear someone scream primary songs.

I ended up giving him a really tight hug (deep pressure). I asked him if he felt better. He said, "Singing songs made me feel better."

Now, I need to tell you that he is one of my favorite kids and I know him pretty good. This was not the first time he has brought his love of church to school... (for those of you who work at Spectrum... "Brother Stefie"! lol)

Social Skill Extraordinaire

I was watching Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern. I decided he has the BEST social skills I have ever seen!

I work with kids that have autism... Most of the kids I work with don't have social skills at all.

It is interesting to see how he can interact with all the different cultures around the country and around the world! I guess he may offend people that the Travel Channel does not air, but I am still amazed!

I could not do this job! He is amazing to try everything. I went to a Chinese Wedding, and believe you me... I did not try the sea cucumber.

Free Digital Scrapbook Stuff

I found this blog that has tons for free digitial scrappbooking stuff.


http://www.rebeccasscrapbookingsilliness.blogspot.com/


They're cutesy.

Charter Schools

I work at a charter school. Until recently I did not realize we are the "enemy" of the public school system. They say we take away their funding. We say we are giving parents a choice.

The way I see it, the public school system (well, maybe just in Utah, I don't know about other places) is broken. One size DOES NOT fit all. And people are too stubborn to do anything about it. The public school system did not work for my sister. If given a choice, I think my mom would have looked into different options because the high school in my neighborhood and a mentality that did not groove with my sister.

Come to think of it, the public school system didn't really work for me either. I was in the gifted and talented classes from 1st grade through 9th grade, minus 4th and 5th grade. That is a whole lot of time. I didn't have my associate's degree when I graduated from high school. It wasn't because I wasn't smart enough or not willing to work to get it. It is because I didn't know I could. I didn't know I could. Where was my high school counselor? I wasn't popular. I wasn't an athlete. I didn't have a 4.0. But given the opportunity to go to a school like UCAS I would have had my associate's degree.

Besides that, the kids that go to my school are usually a public school teacher's worst nightmare. With a classroom of 35 students, how are you supposed to help your one student with autism get through his meltdown? It's not the teacher's fault. They have 34 other students. Most of the kids that go to our school were in a public school, and they were not successful in that setting. We help the kids be successful.

The whole point of a charter school is to give parents the option to give their kids a place where they will be more successful than in a public school classroom with 35 students. Your kid is great at science? Well, look at this school that will teach him more about the things he already loves! You're daughter wants to learn how to use multi-media? Here's a charter school that will give her a head start to the classes she will be taking in college.