Mtn. View vs. Timpview

JV Mtn. View played Timpview yesterday at Mtn. View. I was able to get there at the 2nd quarter and had to leave with 4 min. left at the end of the 4th quarter. Tyler only played during the 1st quarter so I didn't get to see him play. The score was 36 (T) 27 (M) when I left. Mtn. View was slow to start the 1st half but really played well the 2nd half. From the second half Mtn. View was certainly the better team. I was really impressed. Timpview also played well. On average their players were bigger than Mtn. View's. On one play it took two Mtn. View players a few seconds before they could bring down the Timpview player. The other advantage I noticed was height. Timpview players were also taller which helped in passing. Tyler is really a good team sport. He is always encouraging the other players. What a Sweet Boy!

Of course high school here is nothing like high school football in the south. The players here all look and play like teenagers. In the south they all look like adults and are extremely aggressive. Games are played on a much higher level in the south. I loved watching the game against Gaffney and Boiling Springs last year. You can see why there is such a huge crowd that comes out.

Homecoming 2008

Here are some of the pictures from Ty's Homecoming dance. One of the parents took the pictures instead of them purchasing them at the dance. The nice part is there are a lot of pictures. The negative is some of the pictures didn't turn out great. Ty's dates name is Katelyn.

Home Sweet Home

For those of you who never come see me - I decided one Saturday to paint my bathroom. I ran down to Home Depot and looked over the Ralph Lauren paint and just picked one I liked. I didn't go home and hold it against the wall or anything. I just had them mix it and began taping. I hate taping. Painting is bad enough but the taping takes forever. I liked it when I was done and felt motivated to begin painting my room. That soon led to every room in the house being painted or repainted. Luckily Michael and David came over to help, especially David. He painted the hall and living room and helped me with the kitchen. Thanks David! The green in the kitchen turned out a little lighter than I had wanted but oh well. I had new flooring put in and new carpet in the bedrooms. I then had to buy rugs for all the rooms. I painted Tyler's bedroom and bathroom the same color (luckily I had kept the paint cans) and finally added the trim. He got a new Disney bathroom set for his birthday which is gray and black and looks really nice. Thanks Michael and David.

Just Like Garfield

I checked out Garfield the Movie for Tyler. He started watching it yesterday and I went in his room and glanced at the TV. Garfield is in England and he and Odie are at Buckingham Palace. Garfield is explaining to Odie that the guard will not move no matter what anyone does. Odie proceeds to go up to the guard, lift one leg and well you know what happens. Garfield is all, "Not the American thing." So he and Odie go running down the street with the guard chasing them and Garfield yelling, "The British are Coming, The British are Coming." I thought it was funny. Then Garfield is catnapped by a chauffeur and yells until he is dumped in the back seat next to a huge pie which he immediately hugs. Tyler turned to me and said, "you are just like Garfield." What can say? I ate so much candy yesterday that left work sick and on a sugar high. I am such a snacker. One weakness I just can't seem to manage. It's not like I go and grab a bowl of carrots.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzLequwPhWQ

Driving Ms. Daisy

I finally got my act together and asked Tyler the other night what he wanted to do about getting his license. He was really excited last year when he first got his permit but after running into the mailbox the second day never wanted to drive much. I never pushed it thinking it would be better if he waits and personally didn't want to teach him. I am not a very good driving teacher. Ask Kirsten. I taught her how to drive a stick. We were out driving and she kept stalling it at a 4-way stop sign by Orem Elementary. Of course cars honked and went around us. I finally changed places with her and stalled it myself until I realized it was in third. Okay, the car was a piece of junk which didn't help. Anyway, Tyler said he wanted to do it so we committed to him driving every morning to school and going driving every evening when I have time.

I have him say a silent pray each morning before he drives. This morning we had our family prayer and then left early so he could get to school and practice ballroom. We got in the car and he immediately said his prayer. I wasn't going to do it since we had just had family prayer but it certainly helps and things thus far are going really well. He should be ready to test in a couple of months.

Football

Tyler got another new shirt yesterday from Football. I have never seen so many clothes with a school sport. He of course was pretty excited and went home and tried it on. He never gets this excited when I buy him clothes. All his nice clothes hang in the closet taking up space and occasionally he pulls something out; Some he has never worn. He has like 80 t-shirts which is all he usually wears. It took me a while to figure it out so now I don't buy nice shirts.

Parent Teacher Conference

Last night was Parent Teacher Conference at Mtn. View HS. I went over after work and started making the rounds without Tyler as he was still at football. He has all A's and one B in Ballroom. The B is because he was absent two days with the flu and lost 40 participation points. He now has to do some extra credit to make it up. All his teachers had great things to say about him (He is of course a Sweet Boy!). They said he is a good student, always well behaved, social but knows when to not talk. His Health teacher mentioned he had received 11/10 on his Health quiz. He was one of the few who got the bonus question correct. His Physics teachers also mentioned that he is understanding the concepts and doing well. We are shooting for all A's for the 1st quarter. I took a picture while we were waiting for seminary. Of course Tyler had his phone out texting. I am really proud of him. I know he is a good student and very capable.

He is currently reading The Maine Woods by Henry David Thoreau in English. I have found another author I do not like. I cannot even describe how unbelievably boring his writing is. No dialogue and all about a trip in Maine. He writes two pages all about sitting on a lake fishing. One sentence would be enough. After you read five pages you couldn't even tell someone else what you just read. And I thought Wuthering Heights was painful. My three least favorite authors: Thoreau, Edward Abby and Emily Bronte.

4+4=8

Roger wanted some theatre popcorn for a meeting so I called down to Provo Towne and spoke to someone in the office to see if they would sell me some. She said to have them put it in a garbage bag, which is what they do at night when they take it home.

I drove down and went to the snack counter where the 16 year old asked what I wanted. Having purchased popcorn before I knew if you purchased a large it came with a free refill. I explained to him that I wanted 4 large with 4 refills and if he could please put it in a garbage bag for me as i was purchasing it for work. He kind of looked at me a second and then got a bag and after some further instruction to fill a large bag and dump it in the garbage bag he proceeded to do so. After four large bags the garbage bag was full so instead of getting another bag he hands me the one refill in the large bag. I had him dump it in the garbage bag which now I couldn't tie. He handed me the bag and so I told him again that I had wanted 4 large with 4 refills so he asked if I wanted the large bags and handed them to me and told me to enjoy my movie. Why would I take a garbage bag of popcorn into the movies? By that time I just took it and left. Would someone please teach the 16 year olds that 4+4=8. I paid $25 for the popcorn. I don't know. Maybe he thought giving me the extra three bags would break the bank.

Entertaining

On the 13th I was helping Michael paint at my parents when a foreign (unknown) car pulled up. I of course made my mom answer the door and it was her cousins from Germany, Rolf & Sabine. I haven't gotten the picture off Michael's camera. They are from the former East Germany. They visited us the last time they were in America and their daughter also stopped by with her husband a few years ago. They were married on the Star Trek ship in Vegas, which I thought hilarious. Nothing like dressing up as an alien and getting married.

My mom asked me if I would cook dinner. I love entertaining although not a great cook (Kirsten, no comments about my waffles) but I kept it simple and with a little prayer everything turned out great. My mom had purchased some beautiful steaks at Sam's Club which I grilled and made some roasted red potatoes and roasted asparagus and a salad. You have to try this salad. It is one of my favorites. I got it from Barefoot Contessa. It was a big hit. Even Tyler eats it and he doesn't like salad. Try it - http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/red-lettuce-with-balsamic-onions-recipe/index.html.

I do a lot of entertaining at work but usually call a caterer or work with a hotel. The pictures are from an event we did with a caterer a few years ago. I love working with them because I always get some great ideas. Now I just need some time and a food processor. I saw Tyler Florence make the Ultimate Texas Chili last night but need a processor to make it. Finally thought of something I want for Christmas.

For our recognition event this year I did the food myself. We made pulled pork which was really easy. I had to plan on 250 guests and people kept asking me if I was stressed. I usually don't get stressed. I have learned that it is all in the planning but a lot of work.

Spring Haven

I went with Lynn to check out Spring Haven Lodge which is owned by BYU for a work meeting. I have been looking all over for a meeting place and have not been able to find anything. I was hoping to hold it at Zermatt Resort in Midway but they were booked on the day I needed. I had never been out to Spring Haven before but it is a beautiful lodge. Lynn had taken his BYU ward there on Saturday. It is located up Springville canyon. There are some huge homes up there on large pieces of property. All of them are gated and private. Spring Haven is about a 30 minute drive up the canyon and almost at the end. After we toured the property Lynn wanted to show me a house at the end of the canyon road. You can't see the home from the road. It is secluded behind a hill. All you see is the guest house and pond. I had to laugh though. On the fence is a sign for the school bus to turn around (not a big area) outside the gate. Come on- you live in a multi-million dollar property (I am going to estimate low at $10 million) and you cannot drive your kids to school but make the bus pick them up in an out of the way location!

I think this will be a great location for our meeting. Now all I have to do is convince Roger.

Remember When

After I had such a great run last week (haven't been since), I looked through my childhood scrap book and came across this picture. It is one of my favorite pictures probably because it is one of the few of me at a gymnastics meet. I think I was seven. Check out the yellow leotard. It brings back a lot of good memories. The saddest day was in 6th grade when my mom told me I could no longer do gymnastics. It was at least an hour drive to Rock Hill, S.C. from Gaffney. We left right after school (had to do homework in the car) and didn't get home until after 10 p.m. My mom could no longer do it.

I loved doing back flips out of the swings at school. I would swing as high as I could and flip out backwards while releasing the swing. Of course I usually got into trouble for it if I got caught by one of the teachers. My favorite thing to do was tumbling. I was small but had a lot of power.I remember doing back handsprings and the more I would do the faster I would get. We had one competition to see who could do the most. I think I did seventeen before I stopped, mainly because I was dizzy. Favorite memory: Winning the vault with a 9.45. I wish I could have seen it. I wish I could go back to that time. I also wishI could have trained with Bela Karolyi. Probably my one regret - that I couldn't continue.

After gymnastics I grew a lot in one year and would have become too tall anyway. I started playing tennis which I still enjoy doing. Kirsten started swimming which was better for her.

Good Times!

Two Things

Responding to "Two Things" from Kirsten's Blog:
Two names you go by: Duchess (Usually Michael gives the full title of Her Royal Highness the Grand Duchess) or Heid

Two things wearing right now: red casual shirt and long brown shorts. Both dressy - I am at work.

Two things want in a relationship: Support and respect

Two of your favorite things to do: Reading and shopping

Two things you want very badly at this moment: lose 10 lbs. and be done with school

Two things you did last night: Went to the temple, laundry

Two things you ate today: Pizza, pina colada - now you know why I need to lose 10 lbs.

Two people you last talked to: Tyler and Craig Christensen from work

Two things you are doing tomorrow: shopping for homecoming and cleaning

Two longest car rides: South Carolina to Utah, Utah to Disneyland (we now fly)

Two favorite holidays: Halloween and Thanksgiving

Two favorite beverages: Water and water. Usually all I drink during the day

Two jobs I have had in my life: Wells Fargo Admin. Asst, McDonalds swing manager

Two movies I would watch over & over: Devil Wears Prada, McClintock

Two places I have lived: Germany, South Carolina

Two of my favorite foods: Cereal, ice-cream

Two people I think will respond: Kirsten (she started it so already have it), Michael

Two things you want for Christmas:Really don't need or want anything

Running

I went running last night for the first time in a couple of years. I had started walking with one of the managers from work a few months ago. She is unable to run because of some back problems but I was able to convince her to walk the Provo 1/2 marathon. She had never entered a race before so really exciting. We did it a few weeks ago in 3:22, which I thought was a good pace for walking. Afterwards her son left for his mission and she went 2 weeks to Pacific Coast Banking School and is too stressed now to go so I haven't even been walking lately and the pounds are piling on. Last night I finally got out my Asics (agree with Kirsten - my favorite brand) and took off. I was a little concerned whether I could do it not. I didn't dare wear my St. George Marathon shirt. I knew someone would see it and wonder if I had stolen it or was just too unworthy to wear it.

I selected a new course that starts up hill, and it is a sharp climb. That hill is my nemesis. I am determined that I will one day run it without stopping. It is like mile 8 in St. George just not as long. I made it about a 1/4 of the way and had to walk the rest but the rest of the run felt amazing. I can't believe I have waited so long to start again. There is always this fear that I won't make it. I only ran 1-2 miles as I didn't want to push it. I could feel it in my legs the last 300 yds and am a little sore this morning but it is such a great feeling. The only negative is it gave me a headache. I started seeing bright lights in my vision which made reading difficult. Luckily we listen to a tape of the Book of Mormon. I hope that is not an ongoing thing. I get enough headaches that I don't need more from exercising.

Halloween

I stopped decorating my desk this year because I always buy chocolate and sit around eating all day. Not that I don't do that anyway considering my junk closet. I couldn't resist getting out my Halloween stuff as it is my favorite holiday and time of the year. I love it when the weather cools down. "It's not to hot and it's not too cold. All you need is a light jacket." I need to get out my Mickey Mouse halloween lights that I got in DisneyWorld last year. I love lights and have some witch hat lights for my desk that I found at Target a few years ago. I was in Costco a few weeks ago and they already had all the Christmas stuff out. Anyway, if you are around stop by desk and trick-or-treat.

School

It's that time of year again. Tyler is a junior this year at Mountain View, my old alma mater. I only went there my senior year. He is taking ballroom, x-country, football, and I think a PE class. He has to have the fitness class to graduate - so stupid. I wish they would stop trying to cure obesity by having all kids take a PE class. He is playing lacrosse and running track in the spring. He has adjusted well to both jr. high and high school which has been nice.

I started another class on the 18th of August as well for my MPA (Public Administration). Luckily my classes are only 6 weeks long. After two weeks I am ready to be done and move on. I have one more class I am taking this year. Next year I am not planning on taking any breaks so I will hopefull have by MBA at the end of summer and my MPA by the end of fall. My plan is to apply for a doctoral program at the Y in educational leadership. We will see what happens and where I get in to a program. I am not 100% decided on the program.

New Table

We purchased my mom a new kitchen table set and bar stools. My father had built the old table with benches when we were children. We had it for over 30 years. I can't express how much I disliked those benches. Well, my mom has always wanted a white kitchen. The cabinets are white, appliances are white, counter-tops white. She decided to have my father paint the table and benches white. Well, he of course ruined it. He put some kind of sealer on it and it turned the table yellow. I was looking at JCP.com one day and saw this table set that I really liked and thought would look good in her kitchen. It was aptly called "Sanders Cove." I loved the black and asked Michael what he thought. He liked it too so we decided to just do it. We didn't tell Mutter. JCP called to make sure someone was home when they delivered it and Mutter just told them to put it on the porch. She thought it was just a small box. She had no idea it was a kitchen set. David had to go home and let them in. She was really surprised but a little concerned and didn't think she would like it since it wasn't white. David and I put it together one evening and she loves it. I can't believe what a difference it makes. She can't stop talking about it. I had just gotten out of a six week class at church about not going into debt, but it was so worth it for this.

X-Country

The Start - MV on the far right
Waiting to Start
The teams camped out on the hill
Around the track they go. I missed Tyler in the pic.

Tyler had a cross-country meet at BYU on Saturday. They run a 3.1 or 3.2 mile course. He ran it in 21:59.9 (7.04 min/mi). Mountain View took 2nd place. I thought it was a good time and he looked good running. He is doing a better job at keeping his chest up. He was passed right at the finish by another runner. The time is slower than his last run by over a minute but he doesn't get to train every day because of football. He is taking a cross-country class where they practice and then goes to football after class. He usually doesn't get home until around 6:00 p.m. He usually showers and then we eat dinner and he does his homework and then it's time for bed. He is mainly running for exercise, like he needs more, so I don't worry too much about his time. He does have a goal of breaking 19 min. He has plenty of time to run seriously in college. I keep teasing him I am going to make a marathoner out of him. I've always wanted to go to the Olympics. If only he would cooperate.

The course was awful. Doug Padilla was there and I am sure he figured out the course. They started on grass next to the outdoor track and ran up by the baseball stadium, came back around the grass field and over to the track where they had to make a sharp turn onto the track, around once and then up in the grass and around the course 3x. Padilla has no vision and cannot organize races and I wish they would stop having him do it. He picks the worst course he can find. I know he ran but that doesn't make him an event planner.

Football

Tyler is playing football for the first time this year. He has asked me for two years to play and I have always discouraged it. Honestly, I never thought him big enough and always considered it a dumb jock sport. A lot of the kids who play are huge. Well, the coach asked him to play this year and I finally gave in. I'm so glad I did. He is really enjoying it and loves team sports much more than individual sports. I am the complete opposite. I never liked team sports. He has told me a couple of times the positions he is playing but I can't remember them. I think one position is "safety." I guess on defense it is the last stop. Nobody is supposed to get passed you. I keep wondering what he is going to do when a 300 lb. player comes toward him. I just see him grabbing onto the legs and being dragged down the field.

They had a JV game on Thursday (4th). I got there just as it ended so got a few pictures of Tyler. They lost 0-35 which was a little disappointing but still a good experience. Tyler throws the ball really well, which surprised me since he has had little football experience.

One morning when I was dropping him off he was grabbing his football gear and a father dropping off his son, who doesn't play, looked at Tyler and just grinned. He started asking Tyler about their game that day and if he thought they would win. You could tell he wished his son played. Football really is good for self-esteem. The players are noticed.

Homecoming Sept 13

I am going to try and post a couple of pictures from past dances. They were scanned so don't know how well it will work.

Ty had asked a girl out to Homecoming using all the Peanut M&M's. I didn't know whether to be happy he stopped me from eating them or sad because he stopped me from eating them. Unfortunately she was asked by someone else the same day. He decided not to ask anyone else because Homecoming is the same day as the BYU Football game against UCLA and he and David have season tickets. Luckily he is taking ballroom this year and his teacher told him he should ask a girl in the class named Kaitlin, who has totally been flirting with him. He asked her Tuesday night and she said yes. Here goes another $150 for a dance. I think I would rather buy a new dress each time. Thus far he has not asked the same girl twice to a dance which I think is great
His friend has been rejected 9 times for Homecoming. That has to be discouraging and it is his first dance. Come on girls, it's not going to kill you to go out with someone. He's not asking you to be his girlfried. It's just a dance. No excuse for rejecting a guy unless you already have a date or are Amos Gorski. In Junior High he asked Rhonda (can't remember her last name) to something. Hello Amos, we were in the south and you asked the 9th grade queen and cheerleading captain out? I believe she was dating the football captain. I did mention it was the south.

Eagle Scout

Tyler completed his Eagle Project in October of 2007 but we didn't have his Court of Honor until this year. I'm so glad this is done - 18 months for the project and stopped counting after that before the Court of Honor. For his project Tyler helped RAH, Recreation & Habilitation, build a pavilion for the disabled. I have worked with RAH for a number of years through United Way and the Day of Caring. RAH has wanted a pavilion for over 10 years and Tyler was finally able to make the dream a reality.

I was trying to decide what he could for a project when inspiration hit and I felt impressed he should help RAH build a pavilion. I had no idea how we were going to to do. I contacted United Way and when I spoke to RAH found out that BYU wanted to help as well. Amazing how groups have the same thoughts to get things done. We got BYU on board to help with the plans and write grants. I was also able to get a grant for the project through work. I didn't realize how expensive it would be. Let's just say we would never have been able to do this on our own. Lots of groups came forward and donated. Truly amazing. After about a year Utah Valley Homebuilders joined and that really helped to finish the project as they had the skills and labor we needed.

Tyler helped design a plaque that was placed in stone and has his name on it along with everyone else who helped. RAH put my name on the bottom without my knowledge. I am really proud of Tyler. He had to do a presentation to Provo Parks & Recreation and attend numerous meetings and help out. Truly a great service.

Negative comment - I know I'm ruining it at the end but personally not a big fan of scouting. In my opinion it is more pride than service. It is all about who you know and who your father is in the ward. Would someone please explain the difference to scouts between service and an Eagle project. Just saw another scouts project of collecting white shirts and ties for missionaries. First, how do you get 70 hours out of that? Second, how did it get approved. Tyler had to rewrite his project proposal to show more leadership.