Yellowstone Park with the girls :)

This last June I had the AWESOME priviledge of having my Mom and two of my sisters (Katelyn and Deanna) come up and stay with me for 3 weeks.  I tried to post this back in June when it happened, but couldn't make it work.  I stumbled across the pictures today and thought I'd share :)

Katelyn and I posing for the camera! Do you think maybe she was cold?

I guess I have acclamated a little to Idaho!!! :)

My mom, Kate, and I.  Can you see the steam rising behind us?

This is a picture of what it looked like below us where we were taking the pictures

Here is Dee trying to tickle Rusty :) He wasn't a fan, but it's his

little sister-in-law (how weird is that?!) so what can he say?! he he

Dee posing in front of the paint pots. (boiling mud)

Can you tell she's had her picture taken a few times?  :)

This is a little town in Yellowstone called Mammoth Hot Springs where,

as you can see, the elk like to come and "chill out" not really caring

about the THOUSANDS of tourists all around them :)

On our way out of Mammoth Hot Springs we came across a herd of

baffalo right in the middle of the road!! (not uncommon for Yellowstone).

I could have reached out and petted one if I wanted to, they were THAT close!!!

Later we found this GORGEOUS waterfall and decided it

was a perfect spot for a photo shoot!! :)

My WONDERFUL hubby and I in front of this beautiful waterfall :)

How romantic! he he :)

Here is Katelyn and my Mom!

That was our AWESOME trip to Yellowstone National Park!! I LOVE having everyone to visit!! Can't wait to do it again :)

What Do You See?

Working as a "clod picker" is hard work, but it does have its charms.  For example, you do often see some funny lookin' potatoes come across the table that, unfortunately, never make it to the gorcery stores.

So, gather the kids around and take a look at these pictures of different spuds and see what you think it is :)

Then scroll down and see if what you see matches what I do :)

Be sure and leave me comments on what YOU think my spuds look like :)

A Froggy! Ribbit, ribbit :)

A Hair Blow Dryer or a Gun :)

If you look at this one sideways, the top part looks like the playboy bunny :)

This one looks like a seal!

Can you say, "Moo" It looks like a steer head to me :)

"Quack! Quack!" said the little duckie :)

This is another look at it sideways picture.  If you do it looks like a Hunchback :)

Last one . . .

This one looks like a plain old bunny rabbit head :)

So I hope you have enjoyed the pictures and seeing something new in the food you eat! Maybe there's something there and maybe we were all just a little too cold and sleep depreived! Either way it's fun to see something different in something ordinary :) :)

Spud Harvest 101

As a newby to Idaho I had no idea what "spud harvest" was or even what a "spud" was.  I am now a bit more educated on the whole process and wanted to share my vast knowledge of the subject (ha ha) with the world because I know you care oh so much (he he).


First of all, a "spud" is Idahoan for "potato" so if you hear another person say "spuds" you will now know what it is that they are talking about. 


To prove how crazy we here in Idaho are about our spuds, some schools actually get a "Spud Harvest Break" from school, which, if your not working in the harvest, is two weeks of sheer bliss!!!

Unfortunatly . . .

I was not such a person because I decided to work in spud harvest for a local farmer.  Goodie!!! :)

There are six main jobs in spud harvest (I will start with the highest paid).

1.) The Farmer - he gets to call the shots and fret and worry about ALL that goes on
2.) The Digger - he gets to run the machine that digs the spuds from the gorund and 

     puts them into the semi-truck
3.) The Crossover - this guy runs the tractor that pulls the crossover (it digs up four

     rows of spuds and puts them into two for the digger to come behind and get)

4.) The Truck Driver - these lucky turds get to sit in a heated/air conditioned truck

     and haul the spuds from the field to the cellar

                      PSSST . . . I'm not jealous of their job AT ALL!!!
                                                       NOT

5.) The Piler - he gets to sit on a stool and move a conveyor belt that puts the spuds

                        into a big pile in the cellar (aren't we so original in our names) :)

LAST, BUT NOT LEAST. . .

6.) The Soil Elimination Engineers!! - a.k.a "Clod Pickers" we

      (including myself) get the prestigious job of picking out the dirt clods,

       vines, and rotten or cut spuds from among the good, sellable spuds.

Oh What Fun!!!  :) :)

So here's where it all starts:                      

In the field (who knew spuds had flowers when the grew! they're quite pretty and the color of flower tells you what kind of spud is growing underneath! Who woulda thunk it!)

Next, the spuds are dug out of the ground and loaded into the truck and brought into the cellar.

Then, comes MY job!!   (Drum roll please!)                    

Clod Picking!!!

(This is not me, but you get the idea)  :)

Next, are a few pictures from spud harvest last year.  I did work, but only part time, whereas this year I worked the WHOLE thing!!!

So the next time you go to the grocery store and buy a bag of potatoes think of us Idahoans working our tails off all for the love of a potato! :)

Supper Shopper!!!!!

Lately I have been hearing A LOT about women who are being FABULOUS shoppers and very frugal.  I have seen several blog posts where women have made a display of, oh say, 15 things and then tell the amount they paid for all of it . . . something ridiculously low . . .like . . . $3.00.  (I'm telling you it REALLY does happen!)

So, I thought I would try my hand at it.  I usually NEVER shop at Albertson's because I always thought of it as "the expensive grocery store."  However, I found that I could get lots of groceries for a VERY small amount!

Because I am NOT super-duper handy I don't have any pictures to show you, but I can telll you that I got . . wait for it . . . (drum roll please!)  . . .

35 items

$112.17 worth of groceries for . . .

$51.15!!!!

to give me a savings of . . .

$61.02!!!!!!!!!!!

PLUS . . .

I earned 5 cents of a gallon of gas up to 20 gallons!

(It just keeps getting better!)

So, in a nutshell I SAVED MORE THAN I SPENT!!!! That REALLY excites me!  Do I think I'm the shopper of the century? NO!  Did I get the most fabulous deal ever?  Maybe not, I'm not sure, but I was sure happy about it.

I know that there are A LOT of thrifty women out there, so if you know of anymore secrets or "good deals" let me know :) 

Also, I am now going to feature a section on my sidebar that has sites (mostly garneshed from my good friend Alyssa's blog.  Thanks Alyssa!) which offer cupons and GREAT advice on how to "catch the cupon craze!" 

Happy Shopping :)

Getting My Groove Back!

So, at the beginning of the school year I was VERY nervous about the chanllenges that I would face and was having a REALLY hard time getting back in the swing of things.

Over the course of my summer and through various breaks from school I have decided that I am a home body.  I LOVE to be HOME!!!!! So, this makes it difficult to want to go to school and teach everyday and really did NOT help in my needing to find the drive to "just do it."

Luckily, things change and I am FINALLY feeling like I can do this.  My "special needs" student is doing really well.  We have still had a few out bursts, but things are going well . . . mostly :) 

It seems that at the beginning of the year I always forget how bad my last year's class started out.  I only seem to remember how they were when they left me (well trained and well behaved), so it makes it a challenge when the new group comes in every year and you have to start over.  Things are coming along, but boy I forget how chatty kids are!!! Still love 'em though :)

There are still LOTS of things I need to work on, but at least I am FINALLY starting to get my groove back and be able to function like I should. 

YEAH for me!!!! And it only took me 5 weeks into school to do it!! (he he he)  :) :)

A SPOOKY Halloween Giveaway!!

I found this on a friend's blog. It is a WAY fun Halloween giveaway :) Click here to enter http://thepolka-dotdaisy.blogspot.com/2009/09/wanna-win-halloween-giveaway.html

Good luck :)

Finding the Hero in Me

Do you ever wonder if you can REALLY handle what is being dealt to you?

I do!

Tomorrow is September 1st. Not a significant date for most people, but for me . . .
Exactly one year ago on this day Rusty and I started trying to get pregnant.

The definition of infertility: Having sexual relations without any barriers for 1year.

Tomorrow, I am officially infertile

Some days I am ok with that fact and others, like today, I struggle to find the hero inside myself.

That person who is strong

That person who knows what to do in every situation

That person who suffers in silence and handles what is given her

That person who never lets show the anguish she feels inside

That person who doesn't let the tears fall

That person who remembers that she is blessed and doesn't ask for more

That person who doesn't complain

That person who allows the whole in her heart to be put on the back burner

That person who smiles

Some days I can be that person, but today . . .

I can't

I know that in a few days I will be able to be that girl again and life will be good, but today I morn the lose of something I have never had.

Today I found out that another friend is pregnant, while I am VERY excited for her and her husband, I can't help but feel the jolt of my current situation.

So today I will dig deep and find the hero in myself because the people around me need her!

I NEED her!!!

I'm Back!!!

So, it has been a crazy busy and somewhat eventful summer, but . . . it's OVER!!!!

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!

Oh well, what do ya do? So school starts back up next week and I am more than a little nervous this year. Ususally I feel pretty calm and confident, but this year I really worry because I have a special needs student in my class this year and I have never had to deal with this type of student before.

I just hope that I can continue to maintain a good classroom environment for both this special student and my other students. I am REALLY nervous so if anyone has any advice on handling this type of situation I would LOVE the help!!

I will update you all soon on my summer (since I haven't had internet all summer! Sad day :(

I'll update again soon :) :)