Happy Christmas!

I really love Christmas, and it didn't really feel like Christmas until I went home. My mom always has her house all decked out for Christmas, it smells good, and there was a butt load of snow. It was quite the adventure getting there. I didn't make it to the airport before their "secret" cut-off time, so I missed the flight. This really nice boy named Steve drove me home to Utah, went home early the next morning, then came back Wednesday night. He's pretty great. I had THE BEST time being home, and was kind of sad to come back to Vegas already. But I have much to do to prepare for the next few months of school, so hopefully I will be somewhat productive. We were supposed to have basketball practice today, but none of my girls showed up. Go figure. At any rate, here are some photos documenting the good times that we had during the week.


Brad and Rachael annouced they are having a baby! We're all super excited, especially grandma and grandpa :)


I got to go to lunch with my gf's from high school- Allyson, me, Annica, Christi, and Leslie. We really missed Anne and Tara.


Micahleen and Dave were in from Texas, and I was SO HAPPY to see my bff. I miss her.


Basketball Team: Steve, Jason, Brad, Mike, Coach, Andrea, and Ashley. We do love to play, even if we are out of shape!


Ugly Christmas Sweater party with Brit and Zane. People at the restaurant pointed and laughed at us, but we didn't care. We looked GOOD.


My Guitar Hero skills were refined to near perfection.


Steve and I went to Temple Square to see the lights and watch the Joseph Smith movie. I love it there- it's so pretty.

And that, friends, is Christmas for me in a nutshell. I hope you all ate lots of good food, played in some snow, and felt the spirit of this great holiday. Merry Christmas!

You have GOT to be kidding.

It's snowing. In Las Vegas. Right now, and for the last three hours. WHAT?!?!?! I thought I left Utah to get away from all of this! Actually, it made me a little happy to see some snow. It was raining earlier, and my students kept telling me it was snowing. I was like, actually that is just slushy rain. Not snow. Then it turned into snow, and I kept trying to tell them not to get too excited because it would not likely last very long, nor would it stick to the ground. They kept getting mad telling me that I was crushing their good spirits, but I thought for sure it was a fluke thing that would stop. But it kept snowing, and is still snowing outside. ALL games and practices were cancelled today, because they didn't want teams to travel. So I got off the hook for basketball which was a nice bonus for the day. It made me laugh that they cancelled EVERYTHING just because of a little snow. Apparently, it hasn't snowed like this in about 12 years. Which means the last time my students saw snow was when they were 2! They were SO EXCITED about the snow; it was cute. I had them raise their hands if this was the first time they had seen falling snow, and all but a few raised their hands. So it was fun to share in their excitement- it made me excited, too. I had to go out in the halls and make them all go to class, they were going crazy. It was fun. I heard talk that they may cancel school tomorrow because of the snow. That would be SWEET.



My neighbors were making snowmen... this is MADNESS.

*Update: I just got a text from my AP saying that school is indeed cancelled tomorrow. SNOW DAY!!!

I finally turned on the heat.

It's been in the 60's this week. BRR! I caved and turned on the heater. Other than that, life has been pretty much the same. My team had their first game this week, and got MURDERED. Literally. Okay, not so much literally but you know what I mean. It was 38 to 64. Once they pulled it together, they kept up okay, but the first half was pretty ugly. What can you do with a bunch of hot-shot freshman girls who really don't have a lot of talent? A lot of potential, but we have a long way to go.

School is good, I have gotten some pretty good compliments from my administrator and other teachers that have helped me regain some confidence to keep pressing on. This teaching stuff is hard work. I get discouraged easily because I am not always reaching the insanely unreachable expectations I place upon myself. But I laugh every day, come home exhausted everyday, and usually feel like I have done my best. I got a really sweet thank-you note from one of my students that nearly made me cry! If it so be that I should labor all school year and enlighten only one student, then my joy shall be great. And it is- I love teaching.

Thanksgiving was fun- we had the First Annual Boyack Family Turkey Day Ultimate Frisbee Bowl. I think that's what it's official title is. It was really just me, Mike, Brad, Jason, Ashley, Kimbie, and Kenz. And Rachael was the cheerleader. We had fun being outside playing together and played some elimination when we got sick of running after the frisbee because none of us could throw it right. Or catch it, for that matter. But it was a lovely time! We love being together, and always have a blast.