Cool Pics

The Week in Pictures from Today is sooooo cool. Here are a few of my favorites from this week.

Thankful

Last year at Thanksgiving I posted ten things that I am grateful for and wanted to make it a tradition. I have so many blessings in my life, it's hard to limit it to only ten. Here's a few:

1) Family. After spending the last year alone in Southern California, I realized what a blessing it is to have a loving, wonderful family. Anyone that knows my family, knows that our house has always had an open door policy. There is almost never a time that my parents house isn't hosting at least 5 extra kids. I love that we pray together as a family daily, I love that my siblings are my best friends and that my parents are such wonderful, amazing people. I am so blessed to have these people in my life. I love you!
2) Gregor Greiner. I am in love with this man! I can't believe that I've finally found my Prince Charming. I am constantly amazed at his kindness and generosity. He's an honorable priesthood holder, a loving brother and son, and my best friend. He is so patience and loving. I love his seriousness, but that he has a silly side, too. He makes me excited for the future and along side him I feel like anything is possible! Thank you for loving me, sweetie!
3) Friends. I have the awesome-est friends ever! I love that they are supportive and loving and funny as crap! Every friend I have makes me laugh and I love it! They are always there, regardless of the situation, to give a hug or a smile and make my day better. I love you all!
4) The Gospel of Jesus Christ. Thank goodness we have the Good News of the Gospel in these crazy last days! I am so grateful for my Savior who performed the Atonement so I can have the opportunity to live with Him and my Heavenly Father again eternally. I am grateful for the blessings of the Temple and for the ordinances performed there. There is such peace and joy in knowing the Truth, I am grateful for that blessing everyday.
5) My job. Even though it's not the greatest paying job in the world, I am so grateful to have it! I have the opportunity everyday to spend time with some great kids and hopefully help them become a little better than they were yesterday. They make me laugh on a daily basis and cry occasionally, too. Most of my kids don't have the greatest situations at home, and I am so proud of them for coming to school and courageously trying to make better lives for themselves.
6) Running. I've gotten really into it in the last couple years. I love it! I'm not a marathoner quite yet, but I'm training for one and I've done a few 5 and 10k's. My fastest 10k to date is a 47:30! I was so stoked about it! Its been a huge stress-reliever and my legs have never been stronger! I love it!!!
7) Good books. I read a lot. Barnes & Noble, Borders, Seagull Book, Deseret Book, Waldens, and even Target have a lot of my money due to their book collections. I'm grateful that people take the time to share personal experiences, write good fiction, and/or do tons and tons of research to provide me with such fabulous entertainment. Thank you!!!
8) Our Nation. My sister and her husband, along with my little brother, Kyle, are in Mexico this Thanksgiving giving service to people. They are building houses, renovating churches, collecting food and teaching the women to sew clothing. I am so grateful to have the comforts that I have. A roof over my head, a warm bed to sleep in, food on the table and clothes on my back. We really are truly blessed here in the United States.
9) My Car. Last February I got in a pretty big accident and totalled my little Hyundai Accent. It was never the safest car on the road, but it got me from point A to point B and had awesome gas mileage (40 mpg, yeah I know you're jealous). I was visiting from California for the weekend and then all of a sudden I was out of a car and out of money to purchase a new one. I have the greatest grandparents ever who stepped in and helped me purchase not only a new car, but one that is safe, gets good gas mileage, has a warranty and power windows!!! My little Cobalt has been such a blessing to me and I'm so grateful that I have it!
10) My pets. For some reason, Heavenly Father has blessed me to know some of the sweetest animals on the planet. Oakley, my dog, has been the greatest companion I could ask for. He literally saved my life in California, I felt so alone a lot of the time. He's always good for a snuggle session or a belly rub and his crooked face makes me smile. I am thankful for Princess, my parents dog, and for the friend that she's been to Oakley. I know he drives her crazy, but he obviously loves her very much. I love Scotch the cat and Peaches the bird for their sweet and unique personalities.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Riddle

In hopes to get more people to leave me comments, I'm posting a riddle today. Whoever gets it right first, wins! I don't know what you'll win though, really. Maybe a sense of accomplishment, or a million bucks. I don't know. If you want to try, leave a COMMENT!!!

Recently, Snow White's 7 Dwarves met up with 3 of their friends to go see the movie, Bambi. What order did they stand in line if:

Grumpy was in front of Dopey. Stumpy was behind Sneezy and Doc. Doc was in front of Droopy and Happy. Sleepy was behind Stumpy, Smelly, and Happy. Happy was in front of Sleepy, Smelly, and Bashful. Bashful was behind Smelly, Droopy and Sleepy. Sneezy was in front of Dopey. Smelly was in front of Grumpy, Stumpy and Sneezy. Dopey was in front of Droopy. Sleepy was in front of Grumpy and Bashful. Dopey was behind Sneezy, Doc and Sleepy. Stumpy was in front of Dopey. Smelly was behind Doc.

GOOD LUCK!

I AM, I AM!

I did a version of this post about a year ago and thought it would be interesting to see how much I've changed in the last year. I am, I am!

I am - Kendall. Who else would I be?
I think - about Gregor all the time.
I want - to be done with my Masters and have a better-paying teaching job.
I have - the greatest family ever!
I wish - that I could go to Europe tomorrow.
I hate - when my ADHD 7th graders don't take their Riddlin.
I miss - California. Not my job, but a lot of the people there. And the beach. Oh, i miss the beach.
I fear - drowning. Seriously, for a swimmer, that would be the worst way to die.
I feel - super excited and happy about the future!
I hear - My students daily anecdotes on junior high life.
I smell - Sensual Amber lotion on my hands.
I search - for cookie recipes and ideas for Christmas presents.
I wonder - when everything's gonna go down...
I regret - swearing in front of my siblings. I'm working on that.
I love - Gregor. My family. My friends. My job. My religion. Myself.
I care - about my students. I want them to understand the importance of education. A lot of them just don't get it. It drives me CRAZY!!!
I always - workout. I have to. I need the endorphins mega bad.
I am not - apathetic.
I believe - people can change. Especially myself.
I dance - with my siblings in my parents kitchen. We turn on the radio and go crazy!
I sing - all the time. That's another thing I love about my family. Last night we sang "Baby" for the millionth time and I still love it.
I don't always - get things done on time. I do my best, but I'm a procrastinator big time.
I write - lists. I have a to do list everyday and I make lists for events and ideas, etc.
I win - Nothing, really. I don't think I'm very lucky like that.
I lose - My drivers license annually. It's getting old, but for some reason, it just disappears.
I never - allow myself to be negative for more than an hour. Hopefully I'll someday get that down to never allowing myself to be negative period.
I listen - to pretty much any music I can get my hands on.
I can usually be found - at American Fork Junior or up in the mountains somewhere.
I'm scared - I won't reach my potential.
I read - everything! I love to read and always have 4-5 books I'm working on at a time.
I'm happy about - being in love with the man of my dreams!

FRIDAY

Sissy cussing

Welcome to Utah! Some people swear here, but really most people don't cuss a blue streak too often. Teaching junior high has brought some funny phrases to my knowledge and I thought I'd share them with the blogging world.

"Holy Flip-mother!"
"Fetch" or "Fetcher"
"Crud"
"Crap"
"Poop"
"Shizzle" or "shiz"
"Legitdectight"
"Duce"
"Garbage"
"Shart"
"Fut"
"F"
"Freakin"
"Be-otch"
"Beach"
"Biz-nazz"
"Damage"
"Rape"
"T-bag"

These people are amazingly creative. So great that we're promoting such language skills while these kids are so impressible. Great.

Month in Pictures (Sort of)

A lot has happened from 10/10/09 to 11/10/09, so even though I don't have a camera, I've got a few pics from friends and family from this crazy month!
The bridemaids and the Groom at C&L Peterson's wedding. We are HOT!

The whole fam-damily. Its crazy we added one more kid! Ha!
Me playing Kirst Farrell's guitar in October. Such a nice instrument!
This is my sweetie and me after stake conference, we had to take a picture for his mom.
Phone pictures aren't the best, but Gregor's cute so it doesn't matter.
A sunset over the city. Pretty cool.
Back to the wedding. My grandma ALWAYS pats us on the butt. I love that even a wedding doesn't change that!
I don't really know what's going on here, but this is a great example of how we siblings are with each other all the time.
Kate is SO PRETTY! I've got a gorgeous family.
The sibs minus Carly at the Mt. Timpanogos Temple. I love these people, they are amazing!

Good Music

I am a music junkie. I listen to every genre out there and my iTunes is pretty legit. I thought I'd compile a list of the top 10 albums I'm listening to right now...Here ya are!!!

1) Snow Patrol - Eyes Open. You're All I have and Chasing Cars are my favorites right now. SO AMAZING!
2) Taylor Swift - Fearless. You Belong With Me. 'Nuff said.
3) Love Happens Soundtrack. This album is an awesome mix of goodness.
4) Muse - The Resistance. Uprising and United State of Eurasia. USoE reminds me of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody.
5) Coldplay - X&Y. I love Coldplay, they have this U2-ey sound but their own style. Fix You. Simply wonderful.
6) Evanescence - Fallen. This is an older album, but I've recently rediscovered its awesomeness.
7) Twilight and New Moon Soundtracks. Holy cow, I'm not the biggest fan of the books or the movies, but dang Gina! Stephanie Meyer can pick some good music. Highlights - Muse, Linkin Park, Paramore, Lykke Li, etc. Fabulous!
8) James Taylor - New Moon Shine. Another old album. JT is da man! Shed a Little Light and The Water is Wide. Beautiful music and powerful lyrics.
9) Kanye West - Late Registration. Even though he's kind of a tool, this album is pretty sweet. Get the edited version and you're smooth sailing. Gold Digger...she ain't messin' with no broke, broke.
10) Imogen Heap - Speak For Yourself & Eclipse. This woman is incredible. Her trans-like music is fun and interesting and totally gorgeous. Both of these albums are chill and have a retro feel to them.

I love getting new songs and hearing about new artists! Anyone with any suggestions, let me know, I'm totally down!

I HATE MONDAYS!

Did you see the movie Shrek 2? Remember the part where Shrek, Puss, and Donkey are sitting in the Poison Apple and Puss is like "I hate Mondays"? Yeah, I hate 'em, too.