Favorite Christmas Tradition

My favorite Christmas tradition involved reading of course!  My mother started reading to me when I was VERY young.  I owe a lot to her for my current love of literature.  One of the most memorable books I can recall from the Christmas season was Trouble with Trolls.  Even though it doesn't sound very Christmassy it makes me think of home and cuddling with my mom.  I love her so much!  If you are looking for a book to add to your collection you can take my word that everyone will love this one!

Christmas Time!

It's almost Christmas and we are so excited to share our first Christmas in Blanding with the Merkets!  They will be here before we know it.  In preparation for their arrival we have hung the lights, decorated the tree, and unpacked some necessities like pictures!  

Chris was kind enough to brave the weather November 28th to get these bad boys up!

My entry way table displaying both of our wonderful families! 

 Some hand-me-down decorations my mother willingly parted with.  Our first Christmas in our home would not have been as wonderful without her help.

A slightly blurry picture of our adorable home.  We wanted to keep it simple for our first year and we are both a fans of the gold/white Christmas lights.  Chris hung the lights while it was snowing and they turned out wonderfully.  There is even a star above our door.  It's the perfect touch to finish the job. 

 Our Christmas tree that we picked up in Moab.  We weren't sure if we would be able to buy one in Blanding.  I'm glad we were able to pick it up so early in the season because we've enjoyed Christmas for a while now already!

 My FAVORITE wreath in the world.  I actually bought this for my mother while I was in Logan and couldn't part with it.  We have taken this bad boy to Idaho Falls, Salt Lake, Houston, and Blanding.  It has survived the many boxes and now adorns our door.

 This is the beautiful decorating my advisory did at school.  We only had 25 minutes to pull this masterpiece off.  Even if we didn't win the Spirit Stang, I believe we did an amazing job!  Half the work was to get everyone involved.  The Christmas tree on the blue paper is the product of one difficult to motivate 8th grader.  I don't think I have made an impression on him at all... but I did get him to cut out a Christmas tree and fringe a fleece blanket this holiday season.  I find that to be a success!

We hope you and yours our doing well this Christmas season!  If we get to see you over the break, our holidays will be even better!

Thanksgiving in Salt Lake

We were able to drive up to Salt Lake for Thanksgiving.  I'm VERY thankful that we were able to see my mom and Larry and Roxy.  We enjoyed a delicious Thanksgiving feast (that I somehow did not get any pictures of). We were also able to go to a USU men's basketball game.  Overall it was a fun mini-vacation!

My mom is also redecorating her bathroom.  My favorite aspect of the re-do is her luxurious shower...

... and her tall cabinets.  She chose an amazing granite to finish it off as well.  Her bathroom is beautiful.

City got fixed over the break as well.  He had to wear this silly cone for 2 weeks.  He became one stinky dog.  

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 :)

School Starts Soon!

It's sad to say, but this picture has more confidence in its small statement than I do in my entire body!! School starts this WEDNESDAY!! I can't believe it's almost time to be a professional teacher. I found out a few things that are very scary: 1. I am teaching my loan processor's son, 2. I am teaching the district ESL director's son, and

3. I am teaching my Principal's son!!!

I realize I decided to come to a small town, that I am working at the district's only middle school, and that I would actually have students, but I never realized I would know so many of the parents on a social/personal level. I feel a little bit better running this dialogue through my mind, "Well the principal wouldn't have hired you if he didn't think you would be successful for his own son." I cannot believe school is starting so quickly and how under prepared I feel 4 days before school starts! I realize everyone says first years teachers all fail to some degree, but I feel like I'm the exception... I am one of those teachers who will fail starting from day one all the way till day 183!

On other news we are scheduled to close on our home on September 3rd! Yay! I am really excited about it! I can't wait to start playing house :)

Blanding holds a little personal history for us... There once was another Merket that taught for San Juan School District. His name was Mike Merket and I met his daughter in law Audrey up at USU. They pronounce Merket with such finesse and poise (Mer-ket) while we pronounce it with the Utah in us (Merkit!). I have had to clarify that we are not directly related (Mike Merket was my father in law's adopted cousin) to several people already. I was interviewed with other new teachers by the Blanding newspaper and included that gem of information. Hopefully it'll clear up any confusion for us!

Evidence!

Here is a random video I shot outside our rental today. The washer was on spin... can you hear that? Sorry its sideways.

BLANDING!!

We made it to Blanding! We got all of our stuff unpacked at the ABF terminal in Salt Lake on Monday. Chris and I continued the journey with our UHAUL the same day and, with the help of our new ward, were moved into our rental by 8 pm that evening. It was a really long day, but all went well in the end! Our new house has its charm... Realtors would title it a "charming fixer upper!" The house is just SO old that it can't help but having a few weird quirks to it.

For example this hole is in the kitchen floor. After investigating for awhile we have decided it must be the old dryer outlet... all the air and dryer fluff (technical term) ended up in the basement I guess...

This is our extremely creepy basement. There is one door into it and out of it. I hope to never be forced to enter it. Chris said it isn't that bad... but he often lies to placate me.

This picture is of the washer hookups that are also in the kitchen. I really wanted this rental for the simple fact of washer/dryer hookups so I shouldn't complain about the condition they are in! The only reason why I complain is to voice my concern over the stability of the floor under the washer. When our washer is on the spin cycle the kitchen floor MOVES A LOT! The years of water damage have most likely taken a huge toll on these floors. Our washer just might become a new addition to the basement :)

Here is the view of our home. It has a beautiful English walnut tree out front and apricot trees on the side. Our landlord is really nice and the house overall is great...

...but what if we could buy a home? The home pictured below was built by the college CEU, which means it is a good deal for a brand new home in Blanding. Since labor, transporting materials, and lack of contractors adds to the price of homes in Blanding, this is a steal of a deal. We never thought we would be buying a home at the age of 23! As a first year teacher without tenure I am also nervous about my job, getting used to Blanding, and Chris' future career. What if something takes us away from Blanding and we struggle to sell the house (something we've been told isn't hard to do)? What if we HATE Blanding and want to move? What if I suck as a teacher :) and I am not offered another contract next year? What if, what if, what if...

We put an offer in for full asking price with the seller paying closing costs last week. We just found out that they rejected our offer... It is so stressful making such BIG decisions!

Yesterday we made our first trip to the closest Wal-mart. It's in Cortez, Co which is about 1.5 hours away from Blanding. The drive going to Cortez wasn't bad at all, but the drive home was horrible. We got there in the evening and had to drive home during the sunset. We saw beautiful skies and rolling hills, but we also saw all of the deer crossing signs warning us we were driving in a deer migration area. We saw 2 dead deer in the middle of the road on our drive home alone! I was really nervous because I didn't have my glasses, but we made it home safely! I don't think we'll be making it to Wal-mart again for awhile.

All I want for Christmas is a good night sleep!

I used to be able to fall asleep quickly and sleep for a long period of time. Nowadays I can rarely fall asleep within 2 hours of going to bed. Tomorrow is an important day. We are loading our Uhaul, loading the ABF Relocube, getting our break pads replaced, and cleaning our entire apartment. On top of that we'll be camping out on the floor of our apartment tomorrow night. I don't do so well with hard surfaces ever since dance screwed up my back. I wish my body would tune in to what my mind is thinking and just fall asleep already. To top it all of Chris falls asleep every night before me now. Our roles have been completely reversed! I have half the mind to just wake him up and have a suffering partner, but I won't.

Honest Abe

I have been watching a lot of "Home and Garden" TV shows on Hulu lately. Hulu is great for me because I'm productive with packing while keeping my sanity all at the same time. Although I have seen this commercial several times, I still laugh at it. These are the moments in life I truly treasure. Those extremely awkward moments that you wish you could openly laugh at while you are in them... do you know what I mean?

Mistakes

I don't know why this is underlined... oh well. After reading over some of the posts I have made, I have realized I often misspell words and make mistakes while typing. I don't know why I don't catch the mistakes before I post on my blog. It's a little embarrassing because I'm an "English Teacher" and because it is evidence that I am a lazy writer. I usually don't care to read over everything before I'm satisfied with it. I guess that something I should think about :)

For now I can only express my deepest regrets for creating writing riddled with mistakes!

Any Ideas?

Meet Stanley the fish. We received Stanley as a wedding gift from a generous couple in my home ward. Its a hand crafted serving trade made in India. He's cute in his own way, but we don't serve often. We have moved Stanley from Logan to Idaho and from Salt Lake to Texas. Should we take him to Blanding with us? I think we could get some money for Stanley, but where do we attempt to sell him? I'm sure some crazy Texan women with large blonde hair would love to get her hands on Stanley. If only fate would bring us together! What are you ideas for Stanley??

How We Joke

Chris and I love to joke around with each other A LOT! With the addition of our new phones the joking hasn't stopped. (I feel silly talking about aspects of phones, but it is needed for explanation purposes) With our droids you can download free wallpaper photos that range in many different categories. Basically you can get any type of picture that fits your fancy. Remember when cell phone companies would charge you?!? Makes my blood boil! Anyways, I love to change Chris' wallpaper picture to girly, lovey-dovey pictures like this BEAUTIFUL heart shaped ring sitting upon pink, "true love" M&Ms. It makes me giggle to think of him catching something so pink on his phone.

Chris decided to play the game and changed my wallpaper to this creepy picture. If you know me you are aware that I don't watch horror movies or like haunted houses because I don't like being scared unnecessarily. He also left to run an errand after changing the picture. It was night, he left me home alone, and there was odd bangs and booms going on downstairs and outside. I picked up my phone to call Chris and inform him that I was scared when I saw that evil picture. He also locked my phone with a different password so I could not change the picture or call anyone. It was an excellent move on his end, but it freaked me out. I imagined some crazy Texan hiding in our closet whose first serial killer move was to change wallpaper pictures.
The bangs and booms were fireworks going off... go figure :)

A Healthy Mental Break

I realize I just posted about the little time that we have left before our move, but I wanted to post about the current weather in Houston since we won't be experiencing it for much longer. Hurricane Alex is in Mexico right now so we still haven't truly experienced a hurricane yet... which I am pleased about rather than overly disappointed, trust me. This is our current level of experience with hurricanes.

At least it isn't a thunder storm! They are so ridiculously loud here.

Time's Up!!

I can't believe our Texas time is almost up. We have finally nailed down our departure date to Friday the 23rd of July. Therefore we have exactly 3 weeks to pack all of our stuff and take it to ABF. The stress of moving is upon us once again and we still don't have a place in Blanding. My mother volunteered to head down and see if she could find a place for us (I hope she can) next week. Our money is riding on her! Wish me luck as I begrudgingly get off my toosh and start to work :) Happy 4th!

FYI (Roxy...that means for your information)

I enjoy having Chris as a cuddle buddy every night, but I have learned some valuable lessons.

1. Don't let Chris fall asleep on his back because he'll start snoring.

2. If Chris drinks the snoring is basically a guarantee.

Last night I threw out all of my rules and got this as a result. Enjoy!

The Paperback Swap

Check them out!

So I was told about a great service online called the Paperback Swap. All you do is sign up, post books you no longer want, and order books you want to read. The site was developed to promote book sharing rather than excessive spending on brand new books and for other "green" reasons. I've been a member for a couple weeks now, sent out a few books, and already received 3 that I've wanted to read for awhile. Its a great site and all you have to do is pay for postage when you send a book. Check it out and if you join list me as a reference (marissamrkt@gmail.com). Thanks!!!

New Orleans!

We recently celebrated our anniversary and were thrilled to find out we could run over to New Orleans for two nights. We stayed at a hotel in the Garden District which used to be the "American" side of New Orleans when the French/Spanish/Creole citizens ran the show.

The best aspect of our hotel room... the luxury bathroom.

Chris and I standing on the observation deck on top of the hotel. In the back ground is New Orlean's skyline including the Superdome. That is where the survivors of hurricane Katrina stayed.

The observation deck was really nice at night as well, except for the cockroaches that were EVERYWHERE. We thankfully didn't see any inside the building, but Chris stepped on at least 4 while we enjoyed the view for 5 min.

This is the Natchez on the Mississippi River. It was fun to see the river for the first time and to find out that New Orleans is actually an island (who would have guessed, unless you looked at a map). It is surrounded by the river, a lake, and swamp lands.

Us standing in front of a Mardi Gras statue. We tried to stay away from the obvious tourist traps, but got stuck in the Riverwalk shopping complex. It had pamphlets in our hotel talking about how great it was, but it's just a mall.

This was the funniest form of business we stumbled upon in New Orleans. Its predominantly a LAUNDROMAT that also serves as an entertainment source. You can do your laundry while sipping on a beer, eating a burger, and playing a game. If you can read the tiny print, the awning will tell you everything you need to know.

We went on an educational walking tour of the French Quarter. We saw the authentic 1850 house (named for the year it was finished). The original owner was the Baroness Micaela Almonester de Pontalba. She was such a strong female! She was in an arranged marriage to a distant cousin and bore 5 children. Her father-in-law wanted her property so much so he shot her 7 times. She survived and lived to the age of 78 with 2 of the bullets still lodged in her chest! She even gained a legal separation from her husband in the French courts (unheard of at that time). She preserved two blocks of building in the French Quarter known as the Upper and Lower Pontalba Buildings.

An example of the architecture. We learned the difference between wrought vs. cast iron, gallerias vs. balconies, and if it is a veranda. People still live in the apartments on the 2nd and 3rd floors of these building.... that would be a fun experience.

This is one block of the preserved Pontalba buildings.

This is an order of beignets. They are fried square dough covered in powered sugar AKA the French doughnut. They were delicious! We also got to taste some local cuisine at a Gumbo restaurant. Chris got the meat Gumbo and I got a po-boy (delicious sandwich). The look of gumbo scares me... all that unidentifiable meat stewing in rice and broth - YUCK! However, Chris swore it was delicious!

This is some Jazz music we were fortunate enough to enjoy before we left for Houston.

What fills the sunny hours...

Right now I am without a part time job and family/friends nearby. I struggle to fill the hours with productive activity while Chris is at work. I tried to work on the logistics of our move, but found the landlords in Blanding to be ready for rent already. That is something our bank account cannot handle on top of the pricey move coming up. I haven't worked at a paying job since DECEMBER 2009!!! We have faith that the lack of appeal of location will help our chances at finding something that will work. In the mean time I have a long reading/prep list which includes teen novels such as: Stargirl, The Giver, The Outsiders, Call of the Wild, Christmas Carol, and Tom Sawyer. I am making progress on the list while also enjoying some entertaining reads.

Next on my list is to fold this massive pile of laundry (yuck)

and to start filling our banana boxes furnished exclusively by Wal-mart.

A New Face to the Jetta

I have always been extremely blessed when it came to my father's generosity. My car is one such example. I am grateful that my father had the means and the desire to provide a great car for me when I was 17. I remember how much in love I was with the Jetta. It has been a great car. When Chris and I got married we had a patch of minor fixes that drained our meager bank account and we grumbled, but it's lived through several moves including our move to Houston. Without this car we would be HELPLESS! Today, after driving the car downtown to a doctor's appointment, I noticed our Jetta was missing a hubcap. Normally I wouldn't care about such a fickle thing, but my car now looks ghetto! Oh well, what can you do? I will continue to love our ghetto car. We might even start treating it a little better. We currently have 72,000 miles on it and we were informed that at 50,000 we should have replaced the shocks. One day soon my car will get its much deserved shocks, and the Texas heat will no longer piss it off.

Surprisingly I never named the car... any suggestions?

Grateful

I am really grateful right now. If you had talked to me a week ago, I would be shouting another tune. It's crazy how things can switch so quickly. I am grateful that we have a sense of direction in our lives again, that we will be closer to family, and that we'll have health insurance once more. I feel extremely grateful that we are healthy... After receiving great news within the last couple of days, we have also heard about friends who have received devastating news. I feel so much sorrow for these families. Both have little kids... man it makes me want to cry. I am going to try my hardest to be grateful for the blessing in my life. I hope these families will receive good news, and that their loved ones will be fine. I will pray for them and I will thank my Heavenly Father that I have a healthy family.

I Got A JOB!!

I am happy to announce that I am now employed by San Juan School District in Utah. I will be moving from the 4th largest city in the U.S. to a TINY city in Utah. That's right! The Merkets are extremely unconventional...

It really does make me laugh to think about the places we have lived while married. We started dating in Logan, Utah and complained about the size of the valley. Then we moved to Idaho Falls (larger than Logan) and complained about EVERYTHING Idahoan. We had a brief stay in Salt Lake, and I complained about Wal-mart. Finally we risked everything and came to Houston. I tried my best not to complain, but it was a culture shock. After I got over it (when my student teaching was completed) I was able to enjoy Houston and especially Kingwood. I love the greenbelt trails, the plants and greenery, and the people we have met. I was really stressed about finding a job and wasn't having any luck in Houston. That's when I started applying everywhere. I even applied for a small school district in Utah. I never would have guessed that I would find a job and be moving there soon. I am really excited about it and so is Chris. We will be able to settle down for a while and perhaps start a family. That's what I'm going to look forward to... a family.