I BOUGHT A CAR!!!

That's right! Shannon is now officially poor....but very excited! It's a 2009 Toyota Corolla. What's that you say? It's not even 2009 yet? I KNOW! :) I wasn't really planning on buying brand new like that, but with the amazing assistance of my friends Ryan and Katie George, he was able to talk them down (plus get me some free stuff like all-weather floor mats). It was also great to buy a new one because they had a killer deal on interest rates right now for new Corollas! Plus apparently these cars don't depreciate very much, so it wasn't much more for me to buy a brand new one over a used car with 30,000 miles! The color is "magnetic gray metallic" (fancy way of saying it's a dark gray...and it kind of has a pearly finish. It's so pretty) :) So basically I love it. Cherilyn, you're going to laugh, but I went to Brent Brown. :) Plus the salesman was cute and single...Ryan and Katie were trying to find ways to get us hooked up. :) Perhaps he will call me one of these days! Anyway, that's all! I just wanted to tell you how excited I am!!! :)

That's right...it only has 43 miles on it! Before the test drive, it only had 33 miles! I don't think I've ever seen a car with that few miles!!! But not for long...I leave next week for a trip up to Idaho and Montana to hopefully see some of you (Tessa, Sally, Megan, Mom, Dad)!!!!

Jackson Hole: Take 2

Here are some more pictures from my trip. Most of these were taken before church on Sunday as we drove around Jackson. You can watch them scroll through, or click on the pictures to see them in more detail...along with my commentary! :)

Jackson Hole / Grand Tetons!

Well first of all, SCHOOL'S OUT FOR SUMMER!!! I'm so excited! What better way to celebrate than to go with two of your best friends (Carie and Meagan) on a camping trip? We had so much fun and a lot of adventures! It all started off with a bang when we stopped at Walmart for last-minute supplies. After we left, I remembered that I needed to call Cherilyn. When I reached down to get my purse, it wasn't there! Naturally I was freaking out! Carie called Walmart, and I really nice employee went and searched and found it in the cart in the parking lot. Genius, Shannon. :)
The whole trip was beautiful! It made driving quite enjoyable. We even stopped in tiny Smoot, Wyoming...home of my good friend Jake...to take some pictures. :) We got into our camp ground late that night and had a fun time setting up our tent in the dark. We had a camp fire and roasted everything from bananas to carrots...I don't think we ever even roasted one marshmallow! By then we were exhausted and ready for some sleep. It was a little chilly, but not all that bad!
We spent most of Saturday in Grand Teton National Park. We went on a hike around Jenny Lake. It was SOOO beautiful! I don't know how many times Carie said, "I'm in heaven." It was true! We did a bit of the hike through snow. We got half way around the lake and someone told us that the other half was completely covered in snow. We ended up taking a boat across part of the lake as a short cut, but we still ended up hiking probably 5 miles.
After the hike we found a place to shower and headed into Jackson to see a play that our friend Emily was in at the Pink Garter Theatre. It was so fun to see her, and she told the cast to interact with the three of us...it was great. We also went to dinner that night. Other than our waiter being completely drunk, it was great fun! :)
Later that night we were so exhausted!! We went right back to our camp and fell asleep! On Sunday morning we visited with Emily again and went to church. We also had fun taking pictures around Jackson, but I'll have to post those pictures later when I get them from Carie. The ride home was so beautiful! We accidentally took a wrong turn and ended up coming down through Logan, but it was worth the view!
Enjoy some pictures! Click on the album to look at the pictures individually...

Tagged!

Thanks Sally. :)

Here's how to play: List 3 joys, 3 of your fears, 3 of your goals, 3 current obsessions/collections and 3 random, surprising facts about yourself. At the end of your post, tag more people.

3 Joys

1. Tomorrow is the last day of school!
2. In spite of what I may sometimes say about them, but my students bring me joy. As I type, they are creating outfits with scraps of fabric, and we have a bride, Santa, and a Broncos fan...they crack me up!
3. My family...parents, siblings, nieces, nephews, crazy distant relatives (I'm kidding...mostly), ALL of them! Though we may be far apart in both distance and age, we are still close! They all make me oh so happy!

3 Fears

1. An uncovered window when it's dark outside! I am always scared that someone will be looking in at me. I think it stems from a time when I was little and heard something out my bedroom window. I looked out my window and there was a big, black bull right there! Freaky! :)
2. Someone will break into my car again :)
3. My husband died in the war in heaven. :) I'm kidding! That's what Kristy used to say before she got married, and I've recently adopted it :)

3 Goals

1. Make it through tomorrow :)
2. Finish the several quilts I have started in the past few years.
3. Buy a car!

3 Current Obsessions / Collections

1. Hiking!!! Winter was really really long, and all I want to do is go hiking outside! I'm going to Jackson Hole this weekend to fulfill this obsession! :)
2. American Idol. I know it's over, but I LOVE American Idol! I cancel everything in order to watch. I was so torn this year between the Davids, and I really didn't care who would win in the long run. I love both!
3. Harry Potter. I love Harry Potter. I've read through all 7 books a few times in the past year, and I am currently resisting the urge to start them again. Though knowing me, I'll read them again this summer!

3 Random Facts

1. I share a birthday with Harry Potter (hence the obsession) :)
2. I get to teach a foods/nutrition class last year at school...only one class for one semester. All that work for a one time thing. :)
3. I love chips and fresh salsa! So good! (I couldn't think of any other random facts about me that ya'll don't know...I'm kind of boring)

Update

So turns out the thief has a soft spot. I said in my last post that they took my tool kit. Well it looks like they used it to remove the stereo, then kindly returned the kit to the back seat. Isn't that nice? The police officer who came to look at my car got a good laugh out of them when I told him. He said, "Yeah, sometimes these people aren't all that smart. Those tools were probably worth more than the stereo." :)

Also in the world of good news, I still have my MoTab CD! I had forgotten that I brought it inside on Sunday to listen to it. Tender mercies! :)

The hole that was once home of my stereo...at least they didn't cut the wires.

If you're going to be nice enough to return the tool kit, can't you at least tidy up the glove box that you tore apart? My car is messy enough as it is! :)

Dear person who broke into my car,

I am writing this letter to ask WHY? Why did you break into my car last night? Why did you take my stereo? Why did you get into my glove box and throw everything out in a mess? Why did you then proceed to get into my trunk and take the tool kit, gas can, and half a bottle of motor oil. And why oh why did you take my Mormon Tabernacle Choir CD? Honestly, can you feel good about that? That's really sad for you.

It's also sad for me that I get to drive around with an ugly hole in my car where the stereo used to be. It's sad that now when my roommate asks, "Can I borrow your screw driver?" I will have to say, "No, someone stole it!" It's sad that I was going to try to sell my car next week, but now no one will want to buy it since there is no stereo. It's sad that I live in a world where I can't trust anyone.

But I also want to thank you. Thank you for not taking the Rascal Flatts CD that Carie gave to me. Thank you for not breaking any windows. Thank you for letting me have a bad morning so I could get a sympathy donut from Heather at work...it was cream filled and delicious. Thank you for giving me gift ideas so when my mom asks, "What do you want for Christmas?" I can actually have an answer and say, "A tool kit."

Overall, I am very disappointed in you. I can get over this, and I hope that someday you will too...and preferably give my stuff back.

Sincerely,

Shannon

Where I spend my time!

Timberline Middle School My friend Mandy posted pictures of her classroom, and I thought it would be fun to post some of mine so you can see where I've spent my past 2 years. I've had people ask what my room looks like, so here it is! My kids did a deep cleaning on Friday, and you'll never see it this clean again! (until next year anyway!) My room is really long and has two long counters as "desks". The layout has its advantages and disadvantages. It's awfully easy for the kids to text message under the counters without me seeing. But I'm getting really good at recognizing the signs (both hands mysteriously hiding under the desk, guilty faces, a glow coming out from under the table, etc.)

The cupboards have little cubbies in them where the kids can keep their supplies. And no, I didn't make those cute signs. The girl who taught before me a couple years ago made them and I begged her to leave them. :)

Yes, that's a giant sewing machine on the wall. Isn't it awesome? :)

The machines pull out from under the counter. It's quite a sneaky way to store them, but they used tiny screws to attach them, and sometimes they tumble to the ground...not cool. It gets really crowded when you pull out all 39 machines...I'll have to get a picture of that sometime. It's a party :)My desk (I cut out part of the picture because that part hasn't been cleaned yet) :)

Supply closet...organized chaos :)
This is a letter student wrote for me. Before Christmas she asked what I was asking Santa for for Christmas. I told her I didn't have time to write a letter to him, so she wrote one for me. My kids are hilarious (especially since I only have 4 more days until summer break!) :)