Thank You Doesn't Even Cover It

A little over a week ago I started reading "1776" by David McCullough. It's an amazing book about our country and our fight for independence. I thought it was going to be a novel with some kind of dramatic plot, but mostly it's just facts. I hope that doesn't make it sound lame because it it fantastic!! That's what they should have you read in high school instead of the lame-o text books!
Anyway, I was reading today about how when many of the troops enlistment time was up, most of them didn't plan on coming back (only about 1,000 of 10,000). An article signed by "A Freeman" was published in the New England Chronicles about the troops and I thought it awesome. I thought I would put it here because it really is a phenomenally tribute the men that fought for us so many years ago and the men and women who keep us safe today.

"Your exertions in the cause of freedom, guided by wisdom and animated by zeal and courage, have gained you the love and confidence of your grateful countrymen; and they look to you, who are experienced veterans, and trust that you will still be the guardians of America. As I have the honor to be an American, and one among the free millions, who are defended by your valor, I would pay the tribute of thanks, and express my gratitude, while I solicit you to continue in your present honorable and important station. I doubt not America will always find enough of her sons ready to flock to her standard, and support her freedom... Therefore every friend of America will be desirous that most of the gentlemen who compose the present army may continure in the service of their country until "Liberty, Peace and Safety" are established. Althought your private concerns may call for your assistance at home, yet the voice of your country is still louder, and it is painful to heroic minds to quit the field when liberty calls, and the voice of millions cries "To arms! to arms!" Never was a cause more important or glorioys that that which your are engaged in; not only your wives, your children and distant posterity, but humanity at large, the world of mankind, are interested in it; for if tyranny should prevail in this great country, we may expect liberty will expire throughout the world.
He that is a soldier in defense of such a cause, needs no title; his post of honor, and although not an emperor, yet he shall wear a crown- of glory- and blessed will be his memory!"

I don't know about you, but a lot of times I feel like just saying THANK YOU is not enough. And it's not that those two words are wonderful and appreciated, but they cannot express the amount of gratitude I feel for those people that have and are serving us all. I loved this letter because it is able to put into words some of the deep appreciation we should feel.
I would also like the thank the many wives/husbands, parents, children, grandparent, cousins, aunts/uncles, friends and neighbors that share their wonderful soldiers with us. What a sacrifice they are making for us all and again there are just not words to say how grateful I am for that!
I hope that as our country's birthday gets closer, we will all stop to think about about blessings and our freedoms that come because of these great men and women. Remember them and their families sincerely in all of your prayers.

"I'm proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free. And I wont forget the men who died who gave that right to me!"

Words Of Wisdom From A Piece Of Chocolate

It should come as no surprise that I LOVE chocolate!! I'm a pretty big fan of it in most any form, but Dove chocolate is especially fantastic!! I was at Target the other day on my lunch break, and it had been a pretty long day and I definitely needed a good piece of chocolate. So I bought myself a bag of Dove milk chocolate pieces and put them in my drawer. As if the silky-smoothness wasn't already awesome enough, they have the fun little sayings on them. Okay, I admit that a lot of times the things they say are pretty dumb and cheesy, but every so often they are pretty good!! The bag I picked up just happened to be one of those good bags.
Here's what I learned from my chocolate this week.

** Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die tomorrow.
** Count your blessings, not your worries.
** You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.
** One's best success comes after one's greatest disappointments.

I'm sure someone out there will probably think they are pretty lame, but they were really good for me this week..... especially the last one!!

And one last thing, here is a funny letter I found about quitting your job!!


"I resign. I am hereby officially tendering my resignation as an adult. I have decided I would like to accept the responsibilities of a 5 year old again.
I want to go to McDonald's and think that it's a four star restaurant. I want to sail sticks across a fresh mud puddle and make ripples in a pond with rocks. I want to think M&M's are better than money because you can eat them. I want to lie under a big oak tree and watch the ants march up its trunk.
I want to run a lemonade stand with my friends on a hot summer day. I want to think a quarter is worth more than a dollar bill because its prettier and weights more. I want to go fishing and care more about catching the minnow along the shore than the big bass in the lake. I want to return to a time when life was simple. When all you knew were colors, multiplication tables, and nursery rhymes. When I didn't know what I know now. When all I knew was to be happy because I was blissfully unaware of all the things that should make me worried. I want to think the worlds fair. I want to think that everyone is honest and good. I want to believe that anything is possible. I want to be oblivious to the complexities of life and be overly excited by the little things again. I want to live simple...... yeah..... simple again!
I don't want to day to consist of computer crashes, mountains of paperwork, depressing news, how to survive more days in the month than there is money in the bank, doctor bills, gossip, illness, and the loss of loved ones.
I want to believe in the power of smiles, hugs, a kind word, truth, dreams, the imagination, Santa and The Tooth Fairy, a kiss that makes a boo-boo go away, making angels in the snow and that my dad and Jesus are the strongest people in the world.
So here's my checkbook, my car-keys, my credit cards and the bills too, my 401K statements, my stocks & bonds, my collections, my insurance premiums, my job, my house, and the payments too, my e-mail address, pager, cell phone, computer and watch. I am officially resigning from adulthood.
And if you want to discuss this with me further, your have to catch me first cause....... Nah nah nah nah nah nah, "Tag" YOUR IT!!!!"

If only it were that easy!!! :0)

School Days

I still don't think that it has really hit me yet that I am actually done with school. I mean, I have had lots of summer breaks before. It probably wont sink in until September!!

As part of my last semester I had to do an internship for 12 hours a week. Due to some confusion and MAJOR miscommunication on my advisers part, there weren't any spots available for me at the UofU's preschool. So I ended up at the Christmas Box House in their Head Start Preschool classroom.

At first I really didn't like it!! The atmosphere was a lot different from the preschool classroom that I had just come from. It was also a lot less organized and structured, which was also really hard for me. But I think the hardest part was knowing the situations the kids came from. Head Start if for kids who are living below the poverty line. There was one little girl who would literally lick her plate clean almost every time. It made me so sad because I'm sure that school was probably one of the only times she got to eat. And then there were the kids who knew all about their dad's drug situations and that they were in jail. These kids are FOUR years old!!

But it really wasn't all bad. Like I said, these kids are 4 years old, so they are also hilarious. One of my favorite moments was when the teacher told a little girl to come over to the art area and help clean up. She took one look at the feathers, macaroni, glitter and paper that was spread all over, put her hands on her hips and said "Who made this big a** mess." Okay.... now I know as the adult and assistant teacher I should have told her we cant use words like that at school, but I couldn't hold it it!! I had to stick my head in the garbage can I was laughing so hard!!

Haha!! I think that is one reason that I miss it!! Preschool is also fun because the kids are so excited to learn and everything is new to them!! For my second solo teaching week the theme was butterflies. I was so excited about it and I even ordered live caterpillars from a really cool online website. We got to watch them grow from caterpillars, go into their chrysalis and then come out as butterflies (seriously on of the most amazing things I have ever seen)!! When the butterflies were ready and the weather got warmer, we were able to go out the the playground and let them go!!

Because the butterflies were so used to the noise and the poking of their net, they were really mellow and calm. Out of the nine we had (we originally had ten but my little "Nemo" wing butterfly died the day we were supposed to let them go..... I'm not gonna lie...... I was pretty sad about it) only two of them flew right away. The rest of them hung around so the kids could hold them in their hands and watch them in the grass. It was so much fun for all of us!!

When the school year ended, the teacher planned a party for everyone and she invited me to come. It was so much fun to go back and see all of them and it made me feel good when a bunch of them ran up to give me a hug!! I had fun chasing them around the playground (in my purple high heels no less) and eating Popsicles with them!!

Aww! I love my little friend Jackie!!! Except for the fact that she make me look super-duper white!!!

These two little boys are cousins!! The boy in the green always had a mohawk!! It was awesome!! And the boy in the red is probably one of the sweetest, most polite four year olds I have ever met!!

I feel bad that I cut Jack out of the picture!! Elyse is one of the funniest four year olds ever!!

This is London!!! She hadn't been at the preschool very long when I got there but she is super smart!!

This is Sage, a small, blond, ball of energy!!!

And this is Ernie!! Okay, he is flippin hilarious!! One day he told another little you, "You are naaaassstttyyyy!" HAHA!! I wish you could have seen the way he rolled his head and eyes!! He is also awesome because he was always complementing me!! He would say "Amenda, I like your hair!" Or, "Amenda, you look goowd!" Awwwww!! Why couldn't he be 20 years older!!

Going back through these pictures makes me miss them!! It also makes me think about wanting to someday have my own preschool classroom!! I hope that all these kids turn out okay! I hope that they continue to love school and make good choices!! They are our future!!

Things I Should Have Blogged About Awhile Ago.... And A Few New Things Too

Jeez I am lame!! When I first started this blogging this I was really good about getting one and posting any time something fun, crazy, boring, wild and interesting happened. I was also really good about keeping up on all of my wonderful friends blogs and commenting on every one of their posts. I honestly don't know what my problem is now!! I am horrible about keeping up on my own blog, let along other people's!! I am so so sooooo sorry people!!! So I am really going to try and be better, because now that I am done with school, I really don't have any excuse!!

First I want to so THANK YOU to everyone for commenting on my last post about my crazy lung stuff!! You are awesome!! I still haven't gone in for my CT scan so I don't have much of any update there. When I got sick, I was still on my parents insurance, and the test was going to cost almost $800.00. Because I am now working full time I have my own insurance (which didn't take effect until June 1st) and with my insurance it was only going to cost about $75.00. So I have been waiting for that whole situation to get figured out before I go. Also, if any one has insurance that deals with IHC and they have a good doctor they would recommend, I would love to hear about it!!

Second, I FINALLY graduated from the University of Utah!! Wahoo!! It only took me six long years!! Jeez!! I have a lot of picture and some fun stories, so I will leave all of that for another post! Along with school, my preschool internship is over! I honestly never thought I would miss it but I do! I went to a class party they had at the end of the year and it was a lot of fun! I will save that for another post too!!

Third, this is pretty old news, and I should have blogged about it along time ago, but here is comes now (two months late, haha). My brother got home from his mission in Seoul South Korea on April 3rd!He has been taller that me for a long time, but I swear he got a little taller while he was gone!! Not to long after he got home, he cooked us a Korean meal with food he bought at a Korean market downtown. It was pretty good actually, even though I was pretty nervous!! They eat whole pieces of garlic with rice, meat and kimchi on a huge lettuce leaf. I hate it all...... accept for the kimchi! You should see this stuff you guys!! It's in a clear jar and it looks awful! I was trying to be supportive, but I couldn't bring myself to eat it!!

He also brought back some really cool stuff and it was fun to look at all of it with him!! I got a really beautiful mirror, paper fan and a pearl ring!! I love all of it!! He also brought back an amazing Korean nativity set!! It's beautiful!!

It's also really interesting having him back home. It almost feels like he was never gone in some ways. It's also interesting how our relationship as brother and sister has changed. I remember telling my mom all the time when I was little that I hated him and she would tell me that one day I would love him and he would be my friend. I would NEVER have believed her then, but I do now!!

In work related news, I started working full time and am now part of our Indirect Lending Department. It's different..... and most of the days seem really really REALLY long, but I am hoping it will get better. There is a lot I wish I could say on here, but since my blog is not private, you just never know!! But most day I seriously just feel incompetent and lame. But what can you do..... you have to have money to pay bills, and I have LOTS of those!!

And the best thing that happened awhile ago that I should have blogged about but didn't is.... I GOT TO SEE WICKED FOR THE FIFTH TIME!!! It was just as wonderful the fifth time as it was the first!! I still get goosebumps when Elphaba runs out on stage for the first time and I still laugh when Glinda sings Popular!! I get chills during Defying Gravity and cry during For Good!! I LOVE it!! My next goal is to see it on Broadway!!

Well, I think that is about it for this post!! I promise there are a few more coming very soon and I promise to be better about commenting on your blogs!! I love getting on and reading what everyone is up too!!! :0)