China

Some cool pictures of our time in China! (They're not in any particular order.)




Shanghai financial district



Throne room in the Forbidden City



Dad catching rings with his head in the park of the Temple of Heaven



Me, on the Great Wall

Mom and Dad on the Great Wall

Kim and I in Tiananmen Square (Yes, Mao's picture is still there)

Kim and Kiki (a lady on our tour with us) in a Rikshaw

A giant panda in a tree, he climbed up there just for us!

There's more but I just don't have the patience to wait for them to upload again, sorry.

Hello from Texas

Here I am "deep in the heart of Texas." I'm visiting Lynette and Anthony for a week and a couple days. So far, I've driven from San Antonio to Corpus Christi and then today I drove with Lynette from here to Houston and back. I'm tired.

Still Alive

Just so you know, I'm here! I haven't dropped off the face of the earth completely. But it is summer and I tend to retreat into a reading haze. Also, I've done some really fun kayaking with my roommate, Kim. I don't have any pictures yet, but I'll try to remember my camera/phone one of the next times.

Oh, I have also had a great time with this summer's TV shows. Burn Notice, Royal Pains, SYTYCD, Good Guys, In Plain Sight, Flashpoint, Lie to Me, and last but definitely not least Leverage. And in the next couple weeks: White Collar, Psych, Warehouse 13, and Eureka (I think that's all of them).

Ride

As you can see, I have a new car. I just love it! I usually have a reason for getting a new car (even if it is only so that I can have cruise control and power windows, right Lynette?), this time's no different. I decided that I needed an all-wheel or 4-wheel drive vehicle for the commute to my school during the winter. If Utah ever canceled school due to snowfall, I probably wouldn't worry about it so much but Utah follows a strict never, never, NEVER cancel school policy (at least along the Wasatch Front). Because of this, I had a great reason to purchase a car: a 2008 Subaru Forrester, L.L. Bean edition. Don't worry, I paid cash for it so I don't have a payment. Isn't it cute? I never really thought that I'd buy a blue car, or a two tone car, but I really like this one.

Yapple Dapples

My visit to Arkansas was a success! While at the Battlefield we found a ton of Yapple Dapples. Well acutally, that's not their real name but we couldn't remember what the name was so Shawn came up with a new and I say better name.





I had a great time in Arkansas! I love it there! Thanks for having me, Bills!

Not in Greenland!

Guess what? I got a job yesterday! I'll be teaching fourth grade during the morning and I'll be the Math Specialist in the afternoon. The math part is somewhat undefined as of yet but should be a good program to get up and running! I will be working at my old school, Westland Elementary, in West Jordan--yes, that's in the Jordan School District. And yes, I interviewed yesterday morning with the new principal and after being home for about an hour, he called and offered me the job. Yesterday was my hire date and I will have students on Monday! It's been pretty great to be back with all of my friends at Westland--I love the feeling of being liked.

Back in the States, with Friends and Family

I know that I have been shockingly remiss in updating my blog for the last four months. I've been to Paris, London and surrounding areas, Scotland, Bountiful, St. George, Bear Lake and Lava Hot Springs. You might say that I've been living it up and you'd be right. I have thoroughly enjoyed sleeping-in, staying up late, and in general doing a whole lot of "nothing." Here are a few pictures, in no particular order. If you want to see more, you'll have to come on over and I'd be happy to treat you to a slide show!

Louis at home in the woodshop at SLCC.

Veronica

Roxanne

Jane

Jenni in front of her new home.

Kim and I at Stonehenge.

Standing in two hemispheres--The Prime Meridian.

In the Catacombs of Paris--how scary!

And the Eiffel Tower, just lighting up for the evening.