I'm in a funk called Blanding

I am in a little bit of a funk when it comes to living in Blanding these days.  I wish, wish, wish that we lived by family.  We haven't lived by family for awhile now and when it comes to the weekends I feel the isolation.  Everyone in Blanding has family around them.  And I'm talking about a LOT of family around them.  That's why if you are from Blanding you can't date anyone in Blanding :)

City is growing up pretty darn quickly.  He is such a sweet puppy.  He hasn't mastered "off" yet and loves to jump up on everyone.  It's not much of a problem now, but when he is full grown I can see how it could be a major 40 lbs. problem.  It is amazing to see how happy he is when we get home.  The love of a dog is something I've been craving for awhile!

We tried out Hovenweep National Monument today to get out of Blanding.  It's located in Colorado and includes Pueblo ancestral ruins from the 1200's.  It's amazing to see how long these structures have lasted in the desert.  We were also able to take City on the trail with us.  He had  BLAST!!!   

We finally got our side yard weeded today!  I have been waiting to see what has been hiding underneath those weeds.  We found chunks of concrete, rebar, a water meter, garbage, and lots of holes.  Its disheartening to see what a mess the CEU builders left in our yard.  I wish we had found a house that came with a yard, but we have the endless options to think about!!

 This is an image of the end product!  It doesn't seem much, but its an amazing difference overall.  Now we have the task of burning all of those weeds.  

Randi came down last weekend to visit!  It was a lot of fun to go to Arches with her and go on a few great hikes.  This picture is probably the most random picture we have of the two of us, but its my favorite!  

Funny things in our lives...

I have been wanting to blog for a few weeks now, but the time seems to escape me somehow!  I have also wanted to take pictures of the house (inside) to show everyone, but once again time seems to escape me somehow.  Instead I thought I'd take a few minutes to tell about some funny happenings at the Merket household.

1.  The other day in my honors class a student told me she wanted to knock on our door on Sunday and make us go to church.  Only in Blanding would this happen.

2.  On accident I pronounced "sex" while slowly pronouncing successor in class today.  (The funny kind of stops here.)

3.  City continues to make us laugh every other minute.  He is such a funny puppy.

4.  We are trying to get used to having our new roomie.  The lack of privacy isn't bad because he is rarely home. I get a little irritated when the window is open 24/7 and we are paying to heat the house.  Malia is awesome and its fun to go on weekend getaways around Blanding.  They share a lot of the same attitudes towards Blanding.  I'm thankful we have them.

5.  Malia found this video on youtube.  On our honeymoon Chris and I took a foods tour.  At the end they asked us for a video.  We had completely forgotten about this video until Malia brought it to our attention.  Apparently she searched for "Utah Luaus" and this was on the results page.  I laughed when I saw it.



6.  I have rearranged my seating chart in 5th period about 15 times to accommodate the students who cannot manage to keep on task.  I even got 2 extra desks from the basement of ARL to put in my classroom.  I have one student sitting right in front of my desk and a student in the very back of the room.  I also have a student who sits by the pencil sharpener in the front of the room.  It's very similar to babysitting... BUT IT WORKS!  Now I am rearranging a few students so the races are mixed a little more evenly.  Its sad to say that some students will stop talking when they are placed next to a Native American or a Caucasion.

7.  We are excited to decorate our house for Christmas.  I'm going to really try to get into the Christmas spirit.  Its been a few years since I've really tried...

New Home!!!

This is a picture of our NEW HOME!!!  We closed on it last Friday and were able to move in that night.  It was a little stressful, but we did it just fine.  We have been living in outr gorgeous new home for a week now and its heaven.  I am glad that my mom came down with her Realtor friend Fay!  If they hadn't, we wouldn't have found our first home. It was stressful at times and I still wish we had used a Realtor for the entire process, but its over now and we are ready to start playing house.  As you can see we'll be putting in a yard soon enough... one day in the future.  We'll be weeding the yard tomorrow :)  

I'm still beating... thankfully

I'm still here, alive, somehow! Its been a crazy week. I learned (the hard way) about a SPED student. I finally met with the SPED teacher to address the students I have in class and feel a little bit more confident about my students. However, this confidence doesn't extend far... I feel like I need to step it up quite a bit. I've been getting to my classroom early enough in the morning, but I need to put more time in at night. I get done with volleyball and just want to go home! It's hard for me to mentally push myself when my brain activity is at an all time low. To add to the inactivity, I was introduced to a new book. I absolutely LOVE The Hunger Games. Thanks to Tina I have been able to see what all the hype is about. I have only been spending 30-45 minutes a night, but its taken away from my prep time. I have only 1 more day till the weekend! Pray that I'll make it!!

Modern Day Chivalry

I realize we are no longer a part of the Medieval times (thankfully). We have science, education, and history to help better our lives in every single aspect; however, I believe there is something to chivalry. You might find my existence a walking contradiction since I have feminist tendencies, but I'm willing to set myself up to express my opinion in this matter! Many of you know that we are buying a home in Blanding. We are very excited to purchase our first home! We've been able to rely heavily on my mom as far as opinions and adult expertise lie. That being said, my mom is always acting on our best interest and does not do the things she does out of selfish gain. In Blanding there is one mortgage company, Chris and I decided to use their services instead of going through a credit union. We didn't gain anything by using the local company... NOTHING. In fact we were quoted a slightly lower interest rate and were always handled with the best customer service by the credit union, but we went local feeling that the act would start us out on the correct foot in such a small town. My mother has been communicating with the company throughout the process and has been surprised by their "customer service."

.... At this point in my ramblings I feel like I should share a memory with you. I have a very vivid memory of my mother being yelled at by an obscure neighbor and his son when I was a teenager. These two men were tall, well built, and very loud. They towered over my 5'4" mother and were relentless. They were upset about my brother's loud car and driving speed. (Mind you their home is located 3 houses down from ours and my brother would always brake before approaching our home... putting two and two together leads me to believe that his driving speed was around 15-20 mph.) I was shocked to see a mature adult male yell, use profanities, and try to intimidate my mother. It has always upset me....

Back to my ramblings. The local mortgage company's representative has been very rude over the phone to my mother. He has been courteous to me (home buyer), but shows his true colors to my mother. I realize my mom is very passionate, but I know she is always honest and respectable while on the phone. She would never stoop to the level of yelling or being abrasive to a client. This representative, unfortunately, does not have the same mentality. It bothers me first because we are customers and secondly because my mother deserves more respect then was shown to her. I feel the urge to tell him to shove it where the sun don't shine, but we are in a small town where word travels. I'm back to age old dilemma concerning family honor. When this whole process is done with I will be happy, no ECSTATIC, to not have to deal with him ever again!!!!

One Down!!

Day one is done! I can finally check that off my list of things to be nervous for. Looking back I was very nervous for the unknown. My fear had also stopped me from planning for more than just my first day. I don't know why my brain shuts down at key points, but it's the sad reality. Now I need to start planning for more than one day at a time.

The students were great... I'm becoming more and more familiar with what 7th graders look like. I think it'll be a struggle for me to remember that they are in fact still working on maturing a bit. Tomorrow I am going to be helping with volleyball tryouts!! I'm pretty darn excited about that :)

Overall I think we are going to like Blanding! Good luck to all of my friends who still have their first days to check off their teaching lists! You can all do it! I know you'll be amazing!

Skyping~

Chris really likes to joke around while skyping with Larry and Roxy. The only difference with this last call was the snapshot button. We saved these few gems :) Enjoy!

The picture that started it all :)