Do I smell birthday candles?

Tonight I decided to do a little baking.  I was just making some cookies.  I decided I was feeling lazy and didn't want to have to scrub a cookie sheet later, so I decided to use parchment paper.

Fast forward 6 minutes of baking time...

I was watching Psych (I know, I know...I make cookies and watch Psych on a Friday night.  It's been a long week, and this is exactly what I wanted to do tonight), and suddenly I thought, "Do I smell birthday candles?"  And then I knew right away...I grabbed the box of wax paper instead of parchment paper.

Dang it.

So now I have half-cooked wax cookies, a wax-covered cookie sheet, and a house that smells like a 50 year-old just blew out all of his birthday candles.

Overalls and Pipe Cleaners

A student asked me today what my favorite holiday is.  I asked him if my birthday counts.  He said no. Rude.

Obviously, I love Christmas.

But I'm pretty sure Halloween is right up there as one of my favorites.  I love the costumes.  I love carving pumpkins.  I love chocolate.  Minus the stupid horror movies, what's not to love?

Here's a reminder of costumes past...

2009

Spongebob

2010

Mike Wazowski

2011

Waldo

And here's the latest...

2012

Minion

I got the overalls on ebay (thanks to help from my friend Kelsey...the master of ebay...I even got a 2 for 1 deal).

I made the goggles out of nerd glasses and elastic.

The hair is pipe cleaners I hot glued onto the hoodie.

I may look like an idiot and definitely feel like an idiot, but it's awesome, right?

Pumpkin Carving...I love it!

So I don't think I carved a pumpkin last year.  I carved one the other night, and I'm pretty sure it was a lot of fun!  I forgot how much I loved it!  Plus I bought a carving kit, and it comes with the awesome scooper thing that gets the "guts" out.  Plus using the tiny knives it comes with is WAY easier than the 1-2" knives I've used in the past.  What was I thinking?

So it always causes me a little anxiety to decide what I should carve into my pumpkin.  I could go with a traditional face, because I actually do love them.  But I wanted to do something different.  Originally, I was going to do something Harry Potter-ish because...well...I love Harry Potter. :)  But I did that a couple years ago.  Then I thought I would carve Sully from Monsters Inc., because that's my favorite movie to watch on Halloween. :)  But then I saw a picture of the aliens from Toy Story, and I got really excited!

"You have saved our lives.  We are eternally grateful."

"A stranger."

"From the outside."

"Ooooooooooh."

Tyler was carving Justin Bieber.  He sketched it from hand from just looking at a picture of the Biebs.  Such skill!  Someday I'll be an artist (ha! Sometimes I think I'm hilarious)

 Now stay tuned for my Halloween costume.  It's going to be sweet!

The good and the bad of the SoJo

So I just ran the SoJo Half Marathon this morning.  As I ran, I spend some quality time making a list of the good and the bad of this race.  Here we go.  Let's start with the bad:

The Bad:

• And it kind of made me mad.  At mile 10, I started to get a major toe cramp in my right foot.  It would come and go.  This happened to me on my last half marathon.  By mile 11, it had spread through my foot and up my calf.  And it was in both legs.  It was so painful!  I ended up walking for a mile and a half.  I was so mad!  I wasn't as prepared for this half as I would have liked, so I knew my time wouldn't be great.  But up until mile 10, I was actually on my way to set a PR!  I was cruising!  Well, the walking ruined that.  As I sit here a couple hours later, my toe keeps cramping up.  It's killing me!
• There was also a marathon going on at the same time.  They started 30 minutes before me.  I got passed at the end by the 1st and 2nd place marathon runners.  That's embarrassing.  Stupid foot cramps.  I would have easily come in before them if I hadn't been slowed.

The Good:

• I finally got to wear my cute purple-laced shoes for a half marathon!  Who knows...maybe they brought on the cramps, but I'd like to say no because they're cute.  And I got a few compliments on them. :)

• It was a BEAUTIFUL morning!  The temperature was perfect for a morning run at about 50-55 degrees.  As I waited at the start line, I got to see an amazing sunrise!
• I got to run right by the Oquirrh Mountain Temple.  I wish I'd had a camera.  There were some trees in front of it with amazingly colorful leaves, and the clouds behind it just looked so picturesque!
• The Jordan River Trail is beautiful!  I want to go back and run on it.  That was at the end of the course, so that's where I was walking with the foot cramp issues.  To be optimistic, I'm glad I got to go slow to enjoy the scenery. :)
• I got a Chick-Fil-A sandwich at the finish line.  Weird thing to eat after a race.  I actually wanted to throw up after running, but it seemed like a fun idea. :)
• From the time I left my house this morning to the time I got home, I lost 4 pounds. :)
• I got a sweet medal (I got this from their website).

Small Appliance Love

My roommate Annie and I recently went to a party where we were watching an episode of the Cosby Show (which, by the way, is such a great show...sometimes I forget).  In it, Clair was teasing Cliff  about how he buys these shiny new small appliances in the kitchen, uses them once, then sends them to the "appliance graveyard."

Annie and I took inventory of our small appliances and realized we hardly ever use some of them.  We have decided that in the month of October, we'd like to use all of our little appliances in our kitchen.

So far we've used the quesadilla maker, ice cream maker, toaster (Toaster Strudel...mmm), heart-shaped waffle iron, George Foreman grill, popcorn maker.

The only things we have left are the pizza stone (not an appliance, I know...but still feels neglected), crepe maker (we used it a couple weeks ago...but not in October), Cocomotion, sandwich maker, blender, and bread maker.

It's been fun.  You should try it.  I should have been taking pictures along the way, though.

I'm a goal reacher

One of my goals at the beginning of this year was to run 520 miles in 2012.

I just did a little calculating, and I've already run 520 miles!

Well look at that...I actually accomplished a New Years goal!

Now on to catching up on the rest of my goals!

Lookin' Good

So let me start by showing you approximately what I was wearing at school today...

(oh, and don't forget the brown flip flops)

I know...not exactly what Stacy and Clinton would recommend for a teacher to wear to work.  But it was just one of those mornings where I didn't really care what I was wearing and didn't spend much time on packing a lunch (string cheese and an apple...what else do you need, really?)  And I grabbed the jacket at the last second because I knew it was a little chilly outside.

When I got to school, I was walking down the hallway, and a student stopped me and said, "Whoa, Miss Lacey!  Are you teaching PE today?"

Later in the day, I had a student ask me in class, "Miss Lacey, are you sick today?"

For the record, no I was not teaching PE.  And no, I'm not sick.

Apparently I looked frumpy today. And ill.  But my classroom is so stinking cold, so I had a cold, red nose and had to keep my jacket on.

Perhaps I should put a little more time into my clothing selections at work.

Or become a PE teacher.

No more regrets

Back in July, I was sitting in the Salt Lake Airport, waiting to board a flight to meet my adorable new nephew.  As I was sitting there, I saw this lady sitting near me who was wearing a red and white striped Harry Potter polo.  I had seen these in the shops at Harry Potter world in Orlando last year, but thought it would be silly for me to buy one.  But as I saw the lady's shirt, I was a little sad that I didn't have one.

I sent my friend Carie a text that said something like, "I only have one regret in life:  I didn't buy that Harry Potter shirt when we went to Orlando."

Fast forward to today when I went to dinner with Carie....

Happy Late Birthday to me!!! Complete with a chocolate frog, which she actually bought when we were in Orlando last year and saved it for my birthday.

I was so excited!  So great!!!  I love it!! :)

Messages from Luke

Somehow in the 12.5 short weeks since he was born, my nephew Luke has melted my heart over and over again.

Nothing makes my day better than getting texts from him.

Here's one I got last week...

Today I sent Natalie (Luke's cute momma) a text saying I was stuck in a long, boring meeting.  Here's what I got, captions and all...

"Luke's just wondering why you're so bored?"

"Now he's thinking about how he can help."

"He says, 'Hey, I know! I can give her a big smile!'"

"'Yes, I am so clever!'"

Oh, I just love him...and his momma who entertains me during 4 hour meetings.

Conversations and Circumstances

What?  Shannon wrote a blog post? Shocking, I know.  Don't get too excited, though.  My roommate Annie introduced me to the Conversations podcast (from the Mormon Channel) a while back, and I've been listening to them a lot in the past two weeks.  They interview General Authorities and other notable members of the LDS Church with interesting stories.  They talk about their lives and their testimonies of Jesus Christ.  If you haven't heard them, I highly recommend them.  They are entertaining and uplifting.

Anyway, this morning I was listening to a Conversation with Elder and Sister Holland.  Sister Holland shared this quote from George Bernard Shaw, and I loved it.  I just wanted to remember it...therefore, I blog. :)

"People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are.  I don't believe in circumstances.  The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can't find them, make them."

Well put, George. Well put.

Ireland: Saturday

Don't worry. This is the last day.  All we did on Sunday was sit on airplanes and in airports.  But before we spend great quality time with the airport, we go to have one more day of Irish amazingness!

We went to Blarney on this day.  It was beautiful!  The grounds and gardens were beautiful.

Secret garden door :)

We're funny.

But of course we had to go kiss the Blarney Stone!  I thought the Blarney Stone would be some rock in the middle of a field.  Nope!  It's actually built into the castle.  By kissing it, you get the gift of gab, or eloquence in speaking.  I can't say it's really helped me, but at least I can now say that I've kissed something that thousands before me have kissed. :)  The stairs leading up to the stone were so steep and winding.  It was pretty crazy cool.

The guy running the stone is hilarious.  You can tell he's been doing this for a long time.  You have to lean back over a ledge to kiss the stone, so he holds onto you and helps you up and down.

Kyle and Kristen got a good video of Marie and I going.

 

Hand sanitizer spread on our lips when we were done...not very tasty, but maybe it kept us from getting some disease :)

We then headed to the Rock of Cashel.  It was so windy and cold there, but the castle, cemetery, and cathedral were beautiful!

 St. Patrick's Cross.  They have a replica outside, but they brought the real one inside because it was falling apart.

We went into the town of Cashel to shop around for a bit.  They had a Wonka store!

 We ended our last night back at Aunty Lena's for more bangers and mash.  So good!

 Oh, back to the car.  Here was the damage.  Oops. :)  It could have been worse!

Ireland was incredible.  I'd highly recommend it to anyone.  I wouldn't be opposed to going back someday, but there are lots of other places in the world I'd love to go.  I have a big list.  I just need to marry a rich man who will take me to these places. :)

Thanks, Ireland!

Ireland: Friday

This day may have been the most eventful.  Keep reading down to hear about the great car incident.  It was pretty awesome (now it is...not at the time, though)

Ever since I was little, I would look up my name in the dictionary, only to have it tell me that it's a river and city in Ireland.  Well good news, everybody.  I went to Shannon!  It was just a quick drive-through to get a picture, but it was awesome!

We took a little ferry over to Inisheer, one of the Aran Islands.  The island is tiny and kept reminding me of my hometown in Drummond.  Everybody knows everybody.  There are about 300 people that live on the island.

We hired a guy and his little horse and wagon to take us around the island.  It was so fun.

The island was beautiful.  It's all split into pieces of land by rock walls.  I can't imagine building those walls!

There was an old ship that washed onto the island in the 1960s

Jumping pictures in front of castle ruins are always fun :)

 I loved a lot of signs in Ireland, but this was my favorite...

Then we went over to the Cliffs of Moher.  We could see them from Inisheer, so I was excited to make it to the top of the cliffs.  I was especially excited to go because they filmed part of Harry Potter here.  It really was only maybe a 10 second clip, but still! :)  The cliffs were incredible!

 

See the sign?  They aren't kidding.  We were up really high!!!

 

We're rebels.  We (along with everyone else there) ignored the signs and climbed over the wall with the danger signs

Cheerleading picture :)

Now the story you've all been waiting for.  So we were going to go to The Burren.  We stopped at a visitors center in a little town, but it was already closed.  So we were going to head out to find things on our own.  Have you ever seen The Office episode where Michael and Dwight drive into a lake because the GPS tells them to?  That kind of happened to us.  The GPS told us to drive down this tiny lane, and well...our car didn't fit.  We saw that we weren't going to make it between two rock walls, so Kristen got out and tried to direct us.  She then saw that we were about to roll off a little 2-3 foot drop-off.  We didn't see how we were going to get out, so we realized we'd just have to scrape up the side of the car.  So we went for it.  And well...we didn't fit.

This might be my favorite picture of the trip. :)

We had no clue what to do, so Kristen and Marie walked down the lane and just happen to find a car repair shop that was open!  Everything closes at 5 there, and this was at about 5:30, so it was miraculous!  The guy was so nice.  He came over and checked it out.  Then he went to get some buddies to help us out.

They used a board and a jack to shift the car a couple inches to the right.  While the guys worked on that, Kristen, Marie, and I chatted with one of the guy's wife.  She was hilarious!  I wish we would have gotten a picture with her.  She was my favorite.  Here's a great video of them moving the car over as we talked to the lady about the time she had to hide from the police after she had been drinking.

Thanks for your help, guys! (The guy on the far right was the mechanic.  The other two guys were just happy to help.  The balding man next to Kristen was my favorite.  He was so smiley and happy.  I'm sure they were just making fun of us!)

Kyle was thrilled after it was done.

Needless to say, we decided not to worry about going to The Burren after this.  We had an appointment for a Medievil Banquet at Bunratty Castle.  

It was really fun!  They didn't let us use utensils.  Chicken and ribs with your fingers?  Way fun.  Our servers were in character all night and provided music.

 It was a fun ending to a pretty wild and fun day!