meeting finn

congrats, beth and roy!

he's adorable and we love him!

a few pictures about my saturday

video will come shortly.

more pictures from nicole's trip

mostly, i just needed to get that hideous picture of myself off of there. pictures of kitchen hardware to come probably tomorrow - garrett's still working right now.

the fake lei

me & my real lei. oh yeah, nicole, too.

many people know that i lived in Hawaii for a few years during college. yes, I am a proud graduate of Brigham Young University - Hawaii. loved my time there. loved the beaches. loved the lifestyle. love the friends i made there. i was a pretty preppy, uptight girl when i moved there. i was walking onto campus my first day in doc marten sandals & i quickly learned that you don't wear anything more than slippers there. i also learned many of the local customs... and became irritated with mainlanders who cheaply mock some of the hawaiian ways. for example - the fake lei. i had hawaiian roommates and we often got a beautiful lei for special occasions. boy, do they smell delish.

last week, one of my friends, nicole came to visit. she is hawaiian. when she came, she brought me a lei. it was gorgeous & smelled heavenly. and it made me beyond homesick for hawaii. she noticed that there are a lot of fake lei's hanging from people's rear view mirror. now, i can't stop noticing them. and i can't help but think they're tacky & cheapify people's cars. if you've got one - they don't look good, i promise.

labor day campout: part 4... when bradley napped

labor day campout: part 3... when i got lazy & decided to do a slideshow for a while to show some of the pictures

"Picnik Show"

Create a free slideshow with Picnik!

up big cottonwood canyon

jared and liz invited us to go up big cottonwood canyon tonight for a picnic dinner. it was a delightful evening. even though a bug attacked me when i was trying to take a picture of me & the boy.

we enjoyed a little nature...

madeline was taking anyone she could get on special walks to "sneaky holes"

bradley was being sweet and talking lots. he even gave me some kisses.

this is where the bug attacked me. i was just trying to take a picture - as demonstrated on the right - but on the left, the bug went in between my sunglasses & started crawling on my eye area. i kinda freaked. but i was so entertained by the picture, that i had to blog it. garrett was flipping through the camera and burst out laughing when he saw this one...

waiting forever for this reunion

saturday night we were able to get together with one of my old friends. my second year at Ricks, i had an fhe brother that became one of my favorite people. his name was/is Joe. the summer i moved here, joe got married. the last time i saw him until saturday night was 8 summers ago on his wedding day at his wedding reception. i didn't mean to lose touch with him, but it happens.

so for the last 8 years, everytime i talk to old Ricks people, i have said, "do you know where joe is?" to the point of bugging at least one person. [he irritatedly said, "if i ever find joe, i'll tell you. until then - shut up about it!"

good ol' facebook reconnected us a few months ago. so saturday night we all had dinner. me, garrett, joe, his wife & their 3 little girls. i really liked his wife, too. since this was only the 2nd time i met her, i wanted to like her so that we could all be friends & luckily for me, it worked out great. [i mean, how could i not like her - she married one of my favorite people, she's gotta have good taste, right?] plus, their little girls = darling.

i had my camera with me & had intended to take pictures, but unfortunately forgot. maybe next time.

ode to kimmy

a couple of years ago, i became friends with a new teacher at my school. well, really we didn't become friends until her second year here, but i kinda scoped her out for a while. she seemed slightly cynical, slightly sarcastic, hardworking, hilarious, and like the kind of teacher i wouldn't mind being associated with. [yes, it is true, if i don't respect you as a teacher, i don't want to be friends with you so much. i am that rotten. and there are plenty of reasons i won't respect another teacher, but that's not the purpose of this post.]

kim gets my sense of humor. she cracks me up on a daily basis. she's an incredible listener. she's generous. she's one of the few people in my life that don't bug me, and in fact never has. sadly, that is a rare trait with me. there are many other characteristics about her that i'm sure i'm forgetting right now. just know that she's wonderful.

today she helped me out of a pinch for something i forgot to do at school. it was a small little favor, but it was incredibly helpful to me. it reminded me what a great friend she is & that i'm thankful i have her in my life. this summer we've spent lots of time together at the pool, while we were both off at the same time. it has been so much fun for me. since i got married, we haven't spent nearly as much time together & it has been refreshing to have her comments making me laugh til sometimes i lost control of bodily functions.

i hope everyone has a kimmy in their life.

a quickie get together

last week, shelley was in town. we were able to last minute meet up for a little lunch at the cafe rio. garrett was even able to come & meet my old friend.

of course, pictures were taken.

of course, i was an idiot.

it stung like a violent wind

the concert was awesome. i'm not going to lie - there was a point when they first came on stage that i fought back tears. i choked it back, cause come on - but it was everything and more than i wanted. they didn't disappoint in the least. i love musicians who are simple & talented. there wasn't some big show - they just played & sang and momma surely did likey. but to me, death cab is one of those bands where i like all of their music. sure, i have a few favorite songs - but i can't think of any that i don't like. i'm going to tell us all that i was just having an emotional "i'm so happy & in love & excited that i'm here with my favorite person to hear one of my favorite bands" moment. [and i'm sure that warrents some mockery from at least jared & holly, but just you wait until no parents are around & then i'll dish out my defense.]

mostly, i realize that the quality of the video isn't the best & that probably no one but me, maybe garrett & maybe jamie will watch any of these videos, but i wanted to put them on here anyways, so deal.

[mom - i can easily give you a cd next time you're here of a little mix of some of my favorites, i know as soon as you figure out that death cab is a band, you'll be wanting some of their music. you'll likey, i promise!]

thanks again, jamie! it was a fantastic evening.

lagoon wrap up

on saturday, we were able to go to lagoon. jared and liz were able to make it up there for the day, too. it rained like crazy though. we stayed under the pavillion for quite a while after lunch during a huge down downpour. so we stayed slightly drier... for a few minutes. we ended up not staying as long as we had originally planned - the longer it rained, the colder & wetter we were. but we did hit a few rides, including the: ferris wheel, the samurai, the roller coaster, wicked, bumper cars, cliffhanger, and my personal favorite - the rock-o-plane. it was nice to finally come home and warm up. oh, garrett's winning a ds lite at the luncheon wasn't too bad, either. let's just say that i think garrett's work rocks right now.

adventures of a saturday afternoon

saturday morning - garrett went to weight watchers. where he managed to bring his total weight loss up to almost 40 pounds. (less than a half pound to go...) i am so proud of him. slightly jealous, too. cause while i'm not tracking points like he is, i have been cutting back, eating better and drinking so much water. and i'm not seeing any results lately. poop. anyway... that's a whole 'nother dilemna. so we already had plans set to go to dinner and a movie with tib & adam. but as we were trying to figure out what to do on a cold, semi-snowy sort of day, we both expressed the desire to just watch movies. and since we'd already agreed to see Ghost Town with Tib, we decided that we were still allowed to go and see the Duchess. and boy oh boy, am I glad we saw both.

both movies, in their own way, were fantastic.
The Duchess - i love historical fiction, especially English. especially anything in the Jane Austen era. this isn't a Jane Austen movie, but I daresay if you likey those guys, you'll like this. anyway - i loved the movie. i highly recommend going to see it! Ghost Town was definitely hilarious. i love Ricky Gervais. he played Steve Carell's character in the BBC version of the Office. he is outrageous. I love him. this movie is entertaining - definitely one i would recommend if you're looking for a whole bunch of laughs.

but the best part of the day, was the laughs that Garrett and I had on our own. We decided that if we were going to live it up for the day, we were going to do it right. so we bought a large marge popcorn & super sodas. i got my cherry coke refilled at least thrice. so you can only imagine that by the time we were done watching the Duchess, I really had to tinkle. as we're walking out, garrett was carrying the popcorn and his drink. i was rushing out so i could go... when all of a sudden i hear, "Hayley - help!" his pants were falling off of him. that's how much weight he's losing. do i help? eventually - after i regain composure. i laughed pretty hard. you know - the kind where you're doubled over, silent laughing. yep, that was me, while he mooned any and everyone behind him. good times. then... in between movie & dinner, we had about 45 minutes. just enough time to hit the target. i'd drained the bladder once, but by the time we got to the car, i hadda go again. i was still holding the drink and popcorn & as i got in, i noticed i had to tie my shoe. so i hand my drink to garrett and say, "can you hold this while i pee?" cause i was very preoccupied with that, apparently. this time it was garrett who was laughing his butt off. i needed to tie my shoe, you see, not pee in his front seat. i couldn't stop laughing either which only made the pee situation worse, i kept just saying "i'm going to pee my pants!!!" so in we go to the target to purchase garrett some pants that won't fall off his butt. we had a hard time finding his size. so while he was in trying on a few pairs, i found a pair of jeans that were the right size. didn't pay an ounce of attention to the style or cut - just took them to him. a few minutes later, i get a text from him saying "are these skinny pants?" and out he walked to show me. i almost peed my pants again. they were the trendy, super skinny, don't look good on anyone including teenage girls, skinny jeans. oh, boy - good times. obviously, we went with a different pair of jeans for him.

so we go meet tib and adam for dinner... good times. you can read tib's account of the evening here. on our way back to the theater, a dream car of mine was parked next to garrett's. i used to be such a freak about cars, i love them - makes and models... well this guy was a porshe cayenne & i said something along the line of "ohhh, if i were ever rich - that'd be my car," when garrett tells me he doesn't know that car. i unreasonably yelled, "IT'S A PORSHE!" cause i guess in my wierd mind, everyone should know and recognize porshe's. when i came to my senses, i realized how ridiculous i sounded & we laughed some more.

i love the silly, ridiculous laughs we share. and i'm also glad that he can handle my loud voice. we laughed so much on saturday - it was an awesome day.

spazziness induced by boxing on the wii

i am a maniac, i know.

thanks brookey for sharing!



and i don't know what's wrong with my voice. sorry - i think that was the laughter and excitement of the wii...

wiped

no, i'm not reporting on a recent trip to the bathroom... i'm reporting on my physical strength level at the present moment. and my mental capacity.

school starts monday. tomorrow is a holiday here in utah & my principal decided not to open school on friday for us. so - today was my last day of preparation. i started the day off feeling super - super prepared, super positive, super excited. then, right before lunch - i got slammed with the information of having another kid added to my list. i was done with all of the student stuff. everything was labeled. everything was passed out. everything there was supposed to be done. i had my afternoon set aside to finish up this big planning project for the whole year. well one more student just threw me for a loop & my afternoon was spent trying to catch up. i am almost positive i've got everything covered, but heaven only knows i probably don't.

i'm excited about this class. i hear they're low, but i also have taught siblings of almost half of my students before. that's cause this'll be my 8th year. 8TH YEAR. back in the day, my kids thought i was in highschool... they'd go home and tell their parents they had a highschool teacher. parents would show up nervously to check me out. now, they assume i'm at death's door. ha. not really. but they might think me preggers.

ok. get this. garrett has me concerned. i was pretty convinced that he doesn't do drugs. but i just heard from brooke that he thinks we might need to head downtown for the parade tomorrow around 4 or 5... now... i'm fairly certain he smokes dope. heavily. (mom and dad, that's a joke) maybe its time to let him see middle of the night hayley. he says he aint scared... this might be just the lesson he needs. (middle of the night hayley isn't grumpy too much, just not a real looker) i'm thinking we'll have to try more like 7. maybe 6:30. that's sane, right?!

well... i'm off to relax tonight with the tibster... we're gonna catch a movie. she's been feeling a little neglected lately. i'm excited to catch up with her, she does make me giggle. and blush. a lot.

in conclusion - i wish i had a recording of last night's conversation/singing/dancing with kimmy in the work room. we were both there late. we were both exhausted. we were both beyond slap happy. we were doing our best mexican accents. there were tears involved cause there was so much laughter. then we discovered that a brand new teacher was out in the hallway & probably heard most of our retardation. didn't stop us! we kept right on going. but don't worry, today i avoided eye contact with that newbie. she probably thinks i'm completely off my rocker. that's what all of these 10 hour days at school are doing to me. making me looney. haha

kim's my hero

she's a tough one, that girl. i'll get to that in a minute. let me set up the scene for a minute though.

kim picked me up this morning. we went to church. we laughed and mocked our way through it. her singles ward is special. yet, we keep going back. that must say something about us - but we'll forget about that part. after church, we hung out. we may or may not have been poolside. you decide what you're comfortable with knowing - then go from there. if you think we'd be horrible sinners if we went to the pool, then we didn't. if you're ok with it, then good. later on, she was going to go home, but we just got to talking... then, next thing you know - its time for dinner. i made baked potatoes. then we watched a movie. she gets up to leave a little before nine. its still light out...

a minute after she leaves, she sends me a text, "i've got a flat tire!!! this sucks!" well, she hadn't been gone long enough to get very far, so i go flying down the stairs... see her out the window, in the parking spots outside my house. i get out there, she's emptying out her trunk (teachers never have empty trunks) and we dig out her spare. it was "piddily" we laughed so hard at the little tire. don't know why. then, what do i do? why, call my dad of course. he walks us through it - even though she knew what to do (and got out her manual)

so kim is tough (back to my original story, right?!?!) and she changed her tire. while i sat on the curb cracking jokes & talking to my dad. how typical is that???

here's the source of the problem: (love the camera phone. know it was dark. i had to photo edit)

can you see the nail??! it was huge!

we laughed really hard at the dent, when she got the tire off & rolled it over to the curb. i don't know why...

really though, she had the stuff to fix it, she caught the problem quickly, and it was still light out. by the time that she was able to go in & wash her hands afterwards, it was pitch black out.

so - thanks again dad, for your help & emotional support. and whoa kimmy! you're my hero. (she didn't freak out/spaz as i would've. and she just did it)

oh, and speaking of hero's - you should see the bag of goodies that tib dropped off for me last night. she set this teacher up! thanks tiburon! you're the best.

could life get much better?

this is what i've been doing for the last few days. holly's backyard has a fabulous salt water pool. for some reason, i really like salt water pools more than chlorine pools. (something to do with less stank) if you were a fly on the wall at hojo's this week, this is what you'd see me doing. that, or stuffing my face - cause i've surely been doing plenty of eating. or holding one of the boys. cause they are even more scrumptious than holly's homemade chocolate cake! will actually crawled up my lap today and kissed me - after he heard me begging for one from connor & saw connor obey. it melted my heart. that baby is so sweet.

too bad for me i have to go home tomorrow. i'm already on the verge of tears at having to leave these babies. waa.

an example of my karma

there are 1.5 days left of school. yesterday, brooke and chris came to school to help me move furniture & we got that all done. my room is completely switched - the one thing i needed to do by tuesday. and i'm planned for the last day and a half. then we sat around & talked for a while because i felt guilty. but then i got over it & we left school. not a problem for brooke and chris - they're not being paid for "planning time." i, on the other hand, was. but seriously, i would've just sat around & wasted time. (in the time wasting, i did help sue print her report cards. that should've undid my negative karma!) anyway... we hit the my pool. and i used sunscreen. but not on my whole arm. and not on my shins. so, i've got a partial body burn. which is way better than a full body burn, but the shin burns - ouch! it kinda hurts to stand up and walk. that's karma for me.

luckily marge joined us & we had a fun evening having dinner & hanging out...

i'm a lady with a corsage

tonight tib, jamie & i went to go see Maid of Honor. it was... good. i love mcdreamy. beautiful scenery. i wish i wasn't so jaded though, cause i find myself thinking "that doesn't happen in real life" and can't just enjoy the romance + the comedy. but the entertainment was fun. there was laughy guy in front. there was absurdly young, obnoxious kid behind us - who fell off his seat when he fell asleep, so of course jamie & i both had to pick up our purses. my purse weighs at least 20 lbs if i like dr pepper. we both got a little fresh with his kicking of our seats. goodnight nurse. if i ever have kids, i'll break its toes before i let it sit there & kick someone's seat. and tiburon giggled like a school girl over his burp. sheesh!

so. i have a question for you... what would you do with a corsage that wasn't a wristy & didn't come with a pin. here's my answer. you stick it in your cleavage. yep. tib bought me a corsage tonight, cause she was taught that when you take out a lady, you bring her a corsage. (i'm supposed to be the lady here. stop laughing everyone) she really brought me a corsage. i LOVE that girl. she's ballsy.

ok. thanks girls for a fun night. sorry you had to see my hair - that was post oatmeal bath mess. i'm off to drug myself into slumber & rub some cortisone on my itchy bits. haha. not really... i'm not sure who - maybe nicole - but someone once called a rotten who-ha "itchy bits" - that's not specifically what i'm referring to here, but i've been secretly calling my whole body my itchy bits these last few days & laughing inwardly. hey - its better than tears.

monday morning guilt

i wish i had juicy details of something scandalous to share. but i don't. my guilt is very school marmy. (i don't know the correct spelling, but hopefully you can figure out what i'm trying to convey here) did i grade any of the papers i needed to grade this weekend? nope. not a one. and i was already two weeks behind. ug. i hate getting in a paper grading rut. it doesn't end pretty. it ends with some tears. ok, maybe it doesn't. but this time it might. why oh why am i such a procrastinator?

i had a great weekend though. i didn't just sit at home and twiddle my thumbs. i got to hang out with lots of friends, ate a couple of delicious meals, and even managed to watch a movie or two.

did i work out? nope. so that's two failures for the weekend. oh well. i'm here this morning. that's what really counts. and maybe during music, i'll at least get some spelling tests graded. but don't hold your breath.