Summer Campout

When my dad was here visiting he and Tyson went for a little hiking, fishing and camping trip. They documented their adventures nicely so I thought I would share them!

Here they are beginning the hike.

A couple hiking shots along the way...

Eureka! A lake.

I am man.

Watch me fish.

Dad is an excellent fisherman.

So is Tyson.

The water looks so beautiful!

And the view was nothing to sneeze at either.




One final look at the lake before...

Dinner!

The Scrapbooking Expo...

Did not disappoint.

$21

The end of an era

Today Tyson finished his dissertation.

Now the process of getting his dissertation completely finalized isn't quite done yet. It still needs to be reviewed by several members of the faculty and then he needs to defend it in about a month when they've all had the chance to read it, and if you think that meeting won't include doughnuts you are sorely mistaken. But the research and the writing is done! Done done done!

I'm so proud.

Here he is with his masterpiece.

And look how thick it is!

In addition to that monumental accomplishment I will be applying for graduation this weekend.

Graduation! Eeeee! We are so close to being done with school that I can't even believe it. It is going to be so strange to no longer be students. I'm excited and sad about it although I already feel like I'm transitioning out of school now that I'm student teaching. I don't really see my school friends that much and I'm only taking one class so I feel more like a teacher than a student anyway. Ooh, speaking of that I was observed for the first time this week and it went really well (yay!).

Well, I'm going to the semi-annual scrapbook expo tomorrow so I'd better get a good night's sleep so I can dig for deals.

p.s. Melissa H! I don't know your email address but I totally want to be able to get to your blog so here's my address marissalowder@gmail.com And if anyone else wants to write to me that's totally cool too.

Lessons learned from Miss Mari

Dear Reader,

Do not heat chili in the microwave using an uncovered bowl. Your momma would not be proud.

Love,
Miss Mari

Honesty: a policy to be sure

Today one of my students told me he could tell I was tired from the bags under my eyes.

Yes my child, yes I am.

Thank you.

Well, it's official...

Tyson and I will be moving to ... (drumroll please)

Vancouver, Washington!

Yep, the offer has been extended and accepted so watch out Vancouver, here we come.

It was a close race between there and Florida but the hurricanes came down and the floods came up and Washington just kept looking better and better.

So if you want to come visit, feel free!

We will be moving in December after all our school work is done. We are feeling a little pampered already because we only accepted the offer earlier today and the movers have already called and e-mailed us. Wow. We're not outta here yet!

Now all I need to do is get through this last semester and life will be on to its next chapter!

That honky tonk badonkadonk

I've been racking my brain lately trying desperately to think of something interesting for you to read. Now that I'm so busy (and boring) I have a hard time coming up with stuff to talk about and I'm afraid my blog will crash and burn! So I asked myself "what do I like to write about?" and the answer came.

More embarrassing moments from the vaults of my memory. And this particular one is a personal favorite of mine.

Before Tyson and I met I loved to go country dancing at this youth center in Provo. I would go with some friends and we had a great time kicking up our heels and impressing each other with new tricks. Since I was short and light I was "lucky" enough to be the one to try new moves and therefore the one most often dropped on my head.

But that's not what this story is about.

Although I'm sure those bonks on the head had some sort of effect on me.

Anyway, line dances were almost always the most fun thing for me (no sweaty uncoordinated boys yanking me around the room) and as a new one started up I jumped to the front of the room to get in on the action.

"Ahh yes!" I crowed to myself. " '8 second ride', I rule at this dance"

And no joke my friends, I was on my game that night. And if you're looking for a "real life" application of the pride cycle, here it is, because I was feelin' fine and proud as I shook my booty on that line.

It was at the height of the song where you squat down and slap the ground when it happened.

My jeans which were loose enough for me to walk in, but apparently not much else, suddenly gave way and I still don't know whether I heard the rip or felt the draft first.

And you guys, I'm not even sure how to say this, or if I should but the underwear I had chosen for the night was, um, not very modest, and surely not appropriate for the eyes that were certainly viewing them.

I reached behind me and grabbed at the remnants of cloth as I ran toward the wall. Oh gosh, it was worse than I could have imagined. I had split my pants from the belt line to about 1/3 of the way down my thigh.

There was no saving the situation. I was now trapped with my hiney pressed against the wall, and no possible means of escape.

Reset your pride cycle circle to humble and smitten.

Luckily, oh so luckily one of my friends came over to see what I was doing, clearly he noticed the life of the party was missing, heh heh. I gingerly explained my situation without using visuals and to my ultimate joy he produced a plaid shirt that he had removed because it was so hot. I gratefully accepted it and tied it around my waist.

Using my new kilt as cover I was able to casually speed walk to my cell phone where I called my roommate and begged her to bring me a new pair of jeans. My largest pair, please.

She did and the night was saved.

All I can say at this point is thank goodness for Tyson. I haven't done nearly the volume of stupid things that I used to and I truly believe it's because he saves me from embarrassing myself a thousand times a day.
Love ya babe.