TWO BIRTHDAY BEAUTIES

(I'm sad to say, no pictures for this post. So sorry Kristyle and Maria, but I still love you just the same!)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO KRISTYLE (aka my mom)!!!!!!

Any of you who know my mother, know how incredible she is. She is one of the most selfless, charitable, hard working, loving, patient, funny, spiritual person I know, and I feel so lucky to be her daughter. A few things you may not know about my mom that make her the BEST:

-She makes the most wonderful homemade Chicken Pot Pie. To die for. Just ask Megan Woodley.

-She has run 7 marathons, and who knows how many half marathons. She runs nearly everyday of the week, rain or shine.

-My mom teaches middle school English and enjoys it. She is the bravest person I know, who would want to teach that age group? She works so hard for those kids and loves them regardless of how onery, rude and disrespectful they can be.

-She in the most noncompetitive loving person.

-My mom loves to write poems and she actually very good at it. This skill came in very handy when it came time to asking boys to dances.

-Deep down inside I think my mom would love to be an opera singer!

-Sunday afternoons when cooking in the kitchen, we would put music on and dance and sing! I miss those days. :)

-She is always putting others before herself.

I could go on and on. Every day I strive to be more like her. I'm so blessed to have her not only as my mom but one of my closest friends. Happy Birthday Kristyle!


ONE MORE....

Happy Birthday to Maria (aka Katherine)!!!!

I think everyone that has met Katherine loves her. Katheine is loyal, compassionate, giving and SO SO SO FUNNY. Seriously one of the funniest people I know. Katherine is my older sister, and has always looked out for me and has been there for me. We've always been close, but since moving to Chicago, I feel like our relationship has grown even more! I'm so lucky to be your sister Katherine. Here are some things that make Katherine so wonderful:

-She is so funny. Her humor is witty, quick and clean. She makes everyone laugh!

-She is always positive. Katherine looks at the bright side of life and helps others do the same.

-Katherine is an amazing photographer. Check out her blog and you will see what I mean. She is so talented.

-Katherine silently serves. There are so many things she does for others that goes unnoticed. She's so good at finding ways to help others around her. Whether its making dinner for someone, stopping by to visit, or making sure kids at church have things to entertain themselves, she reaches out to others to make their life better.

-She is a great mom and has the most adorable daughter.

- She has traveled all over the world! Africa, China, Europe....

-She would do anything for her family and friends!

Once again I could go on and on. Katherine is someone I have always looked up to. I'm glad to know she is there for me whenever I need her. Thanks for being a wonderful sister Katherine! Happy Birthday!

Be sure to leave a shout out on my comments if you would like to add or say something to these two phenomenal women!

A Thanksgiving of FIRSTS

This Thanksgiving was a Thanksgiving of FIRSTS for Mike and I.

(This is long, with lots of pictures. I apologize.)

FIRST: PIE NIGHT.

Some people in our ward get together for a pie party the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving. They figure you are usually so full on Thanksgiving you don't get to enjoy the pie, so why not eat pie the night before so you can truly enjoy it? We enjoyed eating all kinds of pie without being too full from a turkey dinner. What an INGENIOUS IDEA!

FIRST: My FIRST Turkey Trot.

Mike's FIRST road race, and ever running 5 (8K) miles in a row.

It was a lovely 32 degrees with wind chills in the 20's and snow flurries. You can tell we are so excited to run the Turkey Trot. We had a blast running the race, but we realized runners are CRAZY! Why do runners get up early on their day off to run in the freezing cold and snow? I guess because we love it!
Our hot shirts from the Turkey Trot. I think we've established a new tradition of running a Turkey Trot every Thanksgiving morning.

FIRST: First time eating Thanksgiving dinner with friends.

We've always had Thanksgiving with family, but since being with family wasn't possible this year we were blessed to be invited to Thanksgiving with the Hunts.
The meal was delicious! Tara was an amazing cook! We felt so lucky to spend Thanksgiving with them. Although we missed family we felt "at home" being with the Hunts.

FIRST: The Lighting of the Christmas Tree downtown Chicago.

Friday night Mike and I decided to go downtown for the big Tree Lighting Ceremony at the Daley Plaza. We had no idea what a big event this was!

The tree lighting ceremony had a choir, the news was there, the mayor spoke and there was even a Christmas queen. The tree was spectacular!

There were even fireworks! (So sorry for the nostril shot)

FIRST: Caroling at the BEAN.

After the Tree Lighting Ceremony we made our way over to the famous bean sculpture for caroling. Every Friday night a different choir sings at the bean sculpture, people are invited to sing along and enjoy free hot chocolate!

The choir was excellent and it was so much fun to sing along with them!

A cool shot of us at the bean. Although it is blurry, there is a neat reflection of the city on the bean.
Just a random picture of the busy life of Chicago.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. We missed family but felt blessed to be surrounded by friends! We are really looking forward to being at home for Christmas. Less than 4 weeks!!

Makes it all worth it

I love my job as a second grade elementary school teacher, but at times it can be overwhelming and frustrating. I spend so many hours preparing and planning, some days the kids just don't seem to listen, some days I feel more like a nurse, police officer, or a psychiatrist than a teacher. Which makes me wonder, is it worth it?

This is a copy of an email I got from a parent of a little boy I have in my classroom. It confirmed the answer that regardless of how hard my job can be sometimes, IT IS totally worth it!

Hi Laura,

I hope you get this so that you can tell your friends and family about it.

We had my daughter Sophia's friend over for dinner (she is actually a first grader at Bannockburn).

As the children where discussing school she asked how he likes his teacher in second grade, he said to her: "she is like an angel that came down from heaven".

I thought it was really sweet and wanted to share that with you.

Have a Great Holiday weekend.


Kids can be so sweet sometimes.

A Very Hungry Caterpillar and Handlebars

One of the reasons why I enjoy teaching elementary school is because I so often get to be a kid again! It was Book Week at school and on Friday we got to dress up as one of our favorite characters from a book. I decided to go as the Very Hungry Caterpillar, from the book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. I got to wear sweats all day! It was fabulous.

I'm not sure what character the person on the far left is. Then there is me in the green. Remember in the book where the caterpillar eats through all the fruit and leaves a hole in the middle, I tried to recreate that by putting large paper fruits around my waist. Next is Professor Trewlaney from Harry Potter, Waldo from Where's Waldo, and my friend Lauren on the end is Skippy Jon Jones. It was fun to be a kid again for the day.

Mike is in STUDY MODE. Which means he is inside all day, in our basement, studying like crazy, for his second round of BOARDS. This is a huge test for Mike. He has been so dedicated to studying and preparing for this killer test, I'm so proud of him. But because he doesn't leave the house for most of the day, he gets to be a little loopy by the end of the day. When I got home from work on Friday this is that I can home to:

How did I ever get so lucky?

Any Takers?

Kristyle, aka my mom, is one of my greatest inspirations! She is one of the hardest working people I know. She seems to do it all, and do it all perfectly, and humbly. My mom is a runner. She has done 7 marathons, (I think, sorry if I got that wrong Kristyle) and goes at least 4 times a week, rain or shine. She runs because she loves it, for the sheer joy of RUNNING! My mom has done a lot of races in her day and one of her favorite races is the Moab Half Marathon. She just received an email yesterday informing her she is now part of the Moab Half Marathon 10 YEAR CLUB, which means she has a guaranteed entry in the race! I'm so proud of her!

To celebrate Kristyle being in the 10 Year Club and since she has a guaranteed entry in the race, I think I'm going to fly out from Chicago and run the race with her March 8, 2008! I have done this half marathon before and thoroughly enjoyed it. So my question is, do I have any takers? Anyone else interested in running the race? Let me know!

Check it out

Mike and I saw this movie a couple of week ago and LOVED IT! One minute I was crying the next I was laughing. It was a real treat.

Better Late Than Never

Mike and I love Halloween. We plan our costumes weeks ahead. Seriously we do, we're a little bit lame like that. This year for Halloween we thought we would switch roles. I would go as the DOCTOR and Mike would go as the PATIENT.

My costume was a little dull, however I was comfortable all night. Mike on the other hand was so stoked about his patient costume. Every opportunity he got, he stuck that bum right out.
Another great shot of the bum.
Mike and I at our Halloween party with some friends. They had great costumes as well, but I think Mike's takes the cake! See what I mean about every opportunity sticking out his bum? He's such a hot dog.