Lincoln memorial

Arrival in D.C.

When we arrived in D.C. Erik drove us around in circles looking for parking. It was pretty ridiculous at the amount of traffic and expense of parking. But eventually we found a place to park and made our way to the Washington Monument, WWII Memorial, and Lincoln Memorial.

We also had the pleasure of walking by the Reflection Pool in which we saw this funny squirrel trying to avoid being photographed by a lady...so of course I snapped a quick shot of him hiding on the tree.

Now we are off to the mall and going to get some dinner. What an exhausting day.

Ocean City Beach

This morning we got up early to catch the sunrise...and barely missed it. The view was gorgeous though and the crab in the picture was definitely sad he missed the view. We gathered rocks and shells for jewelry and a picture frame. It was such a beautiful morning, we even saw dolphins swimming! Now we are off to D.C. for sightseeing.

Beach Day

Today we came to Ocean City. It was a four hour trip from Hagerstown. In the four hours I managed to lose my wedding ring down a crack in Amanda's car
Erik and Daniel had to fish it out. Lucky thing Erik has slender wrists.

The overcast day turned into a pretty wonderful beach day. We all jumped in waves and Amanda and I were pummeled by the waves. It was fun except for salt water in the eyes and nose. Yuck!!

Amanda and I picked through the sand and found shell treasures for a picture frame. It was a lot of fun wading through the sand and water searching for shells.

We found an Italian restaurant, Antipasto Restaurante, within walking distance. It was not worth it. We ended up splitting a steak. But it was outrageously priced and not that great. Anyhow, we walked down the beach and boardwalk forever. We ate some delicious ice cream and had the best fries. I'd never had fries with vinegar, but that's the way they do it here and it wasnt horrible.

We saw some neat sand art. And eventually we made it back to the Casablanca Inn. I've never had sand in so many places....

My bee crank flashlight

This is so cute I just had to share! It's the flashlight Daniel got me at Retro Metro. It doesn't need betteries, all you do I'd crank and it gets so bright! Love it!

Krumpe's Donut

Today we had our first two Krumpe's donut. We stood in a long line on DoNut Alley. The smell of grease and dough overcame you as you walked through the door. We ordered an assortment of flavors. I enjoyed the glazed cake donut best. Daniel likes the chocolate cake donut the best so far. Overall the cake donut lived up to the rave...the original glaze was not as good as the Krispy Kreme donut originals that melt in your mouth.

A Day in Baltimore

I woke up to Kitty knocking on the door. Sadly I responded thinking it was Erik or Amanda.

When we finally woke and prepared for our day, Daniel noticed a huge ground hog hanging out on the shed window. He was so cute, I even snapped a picture of him hanging in the window sill.

The drive to Baltimore was long. The navigation led us through a scary neighborhood. I snapped a picture of this door cemeted off. Crazy!!

We finally reached Inner Harbor and began our search for lunch food. We originally started looking for a nice seafood restaurant...but after looking at several menus we realized $35 a meal was too much for lunch. Daniel settled on Johnny Rockets and the rest of us ate Phillips express seafood. It wasn't bad, but I kind of have a tummy ache now..

The Baltimore Aquarium was cool. We saw lots of amazing animals. My favorites were the dolphins and jelly fish. I have some great photos to share once we get home, unpack our computer, and upload them. Hooray for today. I am so tired...I Ned to get into bed as soon as we get to their house. ZzzzZzzzzz

Arriving in D.C.

My mom dropped us off at the SLC Airport July 29th. She witnessed a very scary car accident only moments in front of her. Luckily she was not harmed in any way, just very shaken up. We flew out of SLC without any delays. Daniel is my lucky charm because usually we get stuck somewhere, but thus time everything went smoothly. At the Houston Airport we thought we were getting lucky and that we were going to get to D.C. early, but it wad not the case, the flight was a different one, nearly identical to ours. But we did eventually make it to D.C. And after we gathered our bags, we headed to Hagerstown, Maryland. It took us 2 hours because Erik navigated wrong because of the barely visible signs....hahaha....we managed to pass a toll Booth three times. It was pretty funny to me because at this point it was about 1a.m. and I was exhausted. But we did make it to their house and Amanda had yummy cupcakes waiting for us, a birthday banner, and flowers the Kitty had knocked over. It was good, and eventually we headed to bed.

We slept in the next morning. We went to Erik's school and I saw my very first groundhog. It was so cute and fat! I wished I could have seen it closer! It was neat looking. I guess a family of them use to live under Erik's class in the portables, but now he has a cute room in the building.

We ate at the Bull and Bear downtown. It was much too cold, but pretty tasty.

Amanda and I finally convinced the boys to play Settler's of Catan with us after some yummy smores. The best part of smores was when Erik brought out the lightening racket to kill bugs. It zaps bugs when You hit them with it. Erik intentionally touched it and was zapped. Daniel accidentally grabbed onto it and was shocked. It was pretty insane.

The caravan extension they have for Settler's was tons of fun. I was close to winning tonight, which was a total miracle because You go in order of birth year so it always goes Erik, Daniel, me, and Amanda. Usually Amanda and I do bad...but that night I was one point away from winning.....so close! Oh well, I am learning to be a better sport.

Crystal Grottoes

Today was such a beautiful day. We woke up to perfect weather, packed a picnic, and headed to Crystal Grottoes, a cave with more formations than any other cave in Maryland. The cave was cold and beautiful. My favorite formation was the one shaped like shark's teeth.

We went to Fredricks for a picnic and sat by these beautiful bridges. It really was such a nice day....We did get a little sweaty walking around, but overall not as bad as I thought it would be. We went to this store called Retro Metro. It was full of all sorts of great stuff. Daniel and I got these cute penguin hot pads we've been needing to replace our burned up rabbit oven mitts. Daniel got me this super cute wind-up bee flashlight. It is absolutely adorable!

After visiting this cute little down town area we headed to the bead store. I bought beads to make a necklace for our night at Mary Poppins which is at The Kennedy Center. I am excited!

We came back to Erik and Amanda's house: swam in the pool, prepared dinner, and ate. In the pool Daniel tried to bombarde me with a cold water filled splash ball. Most of the time he was kind enough to squeeze the water out...but a few times I was splashed with cold water. I felt pretty bad because I made Daniel fall off his little inflatable matress a bit and more into the water. Sadly, someone left these soft eating mango licorices Amanda gave me on the ground....ants helped themselves to a delicious treat while we sunned. It was a sad moment for us all.

The BBQ chicken was made with this great Frank's sweet and chili sauce, soy sauce, and garlic. It was so yummy!

We found ourselves at the best buy after dinner. Daniel and I convinced Erik and Amanda that they needed a blue ray player. While the boys played Amanda inteoduced me to the world of 5 or less...I think that's what it was called. But it wad tons of gray stuff for $5 or less. We got headbands to make cute flower bands, and Also got flowers. They are going to be awesome!

We had ice cream at a place called Friendly's. They were not very friendly, but the ice cream was spectacular. I got a nut of caramel and Daniel got tons of peanut butter stuff with peanut sauce. I was stuffed.

Amanda and I made our jewelry while the boys put together the blue ray player. I made a three strand necklace, ring, and bracelet. It wad tons of fun sitting and talking with Amanda. I have truly missed her.

We bought our tickets for Baltimore Aquarium-
$25 each!!! Can you believe it?!?! As long as we get to sit in the splash zone at the dolphin show it will be worth it! Gotta get some sleep because I'm waking up in less than 6 hours.....

Fourth of July

I feel really blessed to be an American. Since Daniel has been home I count my blessings he made it home safe, however my heart goes out to all the families that still have a deployed love one, or who has lost a loved one while they were protecting our freedoms. I am so proud to be an American, I love our country and am so thankful for all that we have and are able to do, due to the sacrifices of many. I hope we will always stand tall and make our country proud. May lives and time from family not be in vain...do your best in all you participate in. God bless America!!

I found the song I was looking for!

This is one of my favorite songs! I couldn't think of what it was earlier, then all of a sudden it hit me, so I found the lyrics to share with everyone.

Oh Lord, My Redeemer

And the Roman soldiers laughed
When they saw their pris'ner stumble.
He did not revile them back.
And wondering, I asked,
"Who was this man so humble?"

And a woman at my side
Choked on her reply.
Though she struggled not to weep,
The tears poured down her cheek,
Her heart breaking as she cried:

"Oh Lord, my Redeemer,
Thou has done so much for me!
Oh Lord, my Redeemer,
All my love I give to Thee!"

And the crowd went pushing on.
I felt compelled to follow.
I knew that they were wrong
How they mocked Him all along.
Suddenly my heart felt hollow.

For they nailed Him to a tree
On a hill called Calvary.
While I stood there filled with wonder,
The heavens roared with thunder,
And again I heard this plea:

"Oh Lord, my Redeemer,
Thou has done so much for me!
Oh Lord, my Redeemer,
All my love I give to Thee!"

I could not forget His face
As I wandered from that place.
With the questions ever burning
I put myself to learning
And each answer came with grace.

And I knelt in earnest prayer,
His memory still there.
And the more that I'd enquire
The hotter burned the fire.
I found joy beyond compare.

And the day turned into three.
Morning found me in a garden
Where the gentle April breeze
Returned me to my knees,
Pleading for a pardon.

And I can't say when or why
I opened up my eyes
But his feet were there before me,
But His hands were open o'er me,
And His face I recognized.

"Oh Lord, my Redeemer,
Thou has done so much for me!
Oh Lord, my Redeemer,
All my love I give to Thee!"

Park City Weekend:5/21-5/23

My fabulous sister planned a family get-together in Park City. We took a plane up to SLC and we spent over 6 hours waiting in the airport due to inclement weather in the East. It was pretty disappointing, and by the time we got to SLC we were pooped. My dad picked us up in his new Jetta. The plastic hadn't even been taken off of the back seats! We drove through the rain and snow up to a rented condo in Park City....and did we fear for our lives? YES! I sometimes wonder how my dad has made it as a driver....but we somehow survived....although slightly frazzled...

When we arrived we were happy to see my mom, sister, cousins and aunt. My cousin Emigh and Raymond have the cutest kids! Below are just a few photos from the weekend. My favorite is when Olivia was singing this Hello Kitty song. She has a hard time saying K's, they usually sound like T's, but by the end of the weekend she had smartened up, and shockingly her K's were sounding much more like K's than T's.

Angelina also had a lot of fun putting mustache's on all the girls....here's pictures of the mustache club....

Olivia's Mustache.

Sidney looks great with a mustache!

...But Sophie's is the best.

This is us hanging out with the girls. Shockingly I'm the one with my eyes closed, instead of Angelina.
Now this is one of my favorite pictures. We played rock band into the late hours of the night...and well at one point Olivia wouldn't share the microphone with Ang and me, so we decided to use her braids...she didn't like it very much.

Angelina with Sophie eating dirty carrots.

Sophie holding Sydney, what a funny sight! Sydney is practically the same size as Soph!

We went to Olympic park in Park City to ride the bobsleds, but while we were there the weather turned snowy and wet, so they shut the course down. =( We didn't get to ride the real bobsleds, but we are going to try to some time. However, we did go walk down town and go to The Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. For those of you who know not what I speak of, I speak of the most magnificent place to go when you have a sweet tooth....the caramel apples are so amazing and they have such a huge variety of things to eat that it's almost overwhelming when you go in.

Olivia, Me, and Daniel in a bobsled at Olympic Park in Park City.

YIKES! Would you seriously want to ride in one of these? I think not!

Olivia and Daniel playing a fun game at Olympic park.

This video is kinda funny. It really shows how fun and spunky Olivia is. She's a cutie...however, she got too smart for us! She wouldn't say Kitty after the first time....even if it meant she liked going to bed more! (Which she doesn't!)

Anyhow, Park City was a great adventure, despite the waiting at the airport and crazy weather. It was fun seeing family and just hanging out. Hopefully we will get to do it again real soon!

March 14, 2010

So, if I understood Daniel correctly on the phone....March 14, 2010 is the day that he should be heading back to America. He has a bunch of tests he has to get done so he has to come back before his unit. Then from that point we will figure out a date I guess? Who knows, it's a miracle Daniel has a date for that. SO, HOORAY!! HOORAY!! HOORAY!!!

STOP CALLING ME A KID!

I understand that as a young teacher, you'll always get remarks about your age. It seems however, that there is this persona about what a teacher should look like and apparently how old they should be. Yes, I am younger, but I am by no means a kid. A kid in my mind is someone under the age of 18. In fact, I don't even refer to people older than 13 as kids, but as teens. I am an adult. And just because I don't have kids myself, it doesn't make me a kid. Just because I am youngER, doesn't mean I'm a kid. Just because I'm younger than YOU, doesn't make me a kid.

Ever since I entered the teaching profession, people have been commenting on my age. In fact, the first comment I received while touring a school during an interview went something like this:

Teacher: Hi, I'm So-and-So. Who are you?
Me (New Teacher): I'm Jessica Tsu, I'm interviewing here for a job.
Teacher: What!? Are we hiring high schoolers now?! (Smirks, then walks away)

And ever since then, I have gotten comments every year about my age. I've been told that ONE DAY I will be "thankful" for these types of comments, but to be honest, I don't understand how age is such a huge issue?! Honestly, I've never understood why people feel the need to comment on MY age. Go ahead and comment all you want about YOUR age, but leave me out of this. AND what bothers me more, is that I am relatively close to the same age as many of the teachers around me, but for some reason I am the one that these sassy remarks are directed towards. Who cares if I don't have kids yet? Who cares if I am younger? I went to college. I got great grades. I aced all my testing for teaching. And hey, I have enough energy to keep up with my students. AND I have extra time to spend on class work because I don't have kids...so what is the big deal and why do people mention it so often? I'm not sure. If you figure it out, let me know.

Classes, craziness, the thing I call life...

Right now I'm listening to Jack Johson's, "Better Together," the song Daniel and I danced to at our wedding. Simba is laying on the ground whining, wishing he had my food. I'm finishing some work on the computer and eating one of my favorite cereals, PB Captain Crunch, and wondering, How did it come to be eight o'clock already!? Oh wait, it's cause I had Smartboard class until 6:30. Time sure flies!

Today just flew right by too. And I can't believe it has been almost a year since Daniel left. He will be leaving his base in Afghanistan this week. Then he'll go to another base, and keep moving like that until he comes home to the good ol' USA. YAY! I'm so glad he will be home soon. Living alone is horrible. And living alone with a dog is WORSE!

I'm looking forward to the next three weeks, even though they are going to be crazy. I'm going out of town Friday for a top secret mission. Then next week I'll have a sub for half a week and I'm off to this awesome CUE Technology Conference in Palm Springs, CA. Then the following week we have CRT Testing. The weekend following CRT testing I go to Fallon for Smartboard training. *SIGH*. This Tuesday I am having the missionaries over for dinner and I'm wondering what to make. I asked them for suggestions because I hate coming up with a menu and they said they like rice. Which makes me want to make Chinese...maybe postickers, stir-fry, teriyaki chicken? OR, possibly Panda Express? LOL....I wouldn't stoop THAT low. But I am getting a little worried. OH WELL. I'll make it somehow. Maybe I'll just serve rice?

Going out of town is always hard for me because I'm BAD at unpacking my stuff...UG. Not looking forward to it or being in a car for that long...actually, I'm a bad car rider too! I just fall asleep!

Anyhow, that's the craziness going on right now. Until next time...

Crutching around....

Today was a typical day. My friend's daughter texted me wanting to walk dogs together. I willingly obliged. In fact, I enjoy walking with them. Simba and Ruffy have fun ignoring us, and we talk about random things that make me laugh and appreciate I'm no longer in Jr. High. Simba pulled hard and disobediently today so we decided that we'd break the law and let them run around for a while. It was great until a lone figure appeared out of no where. We snatched up the leashes and began running in the opposite direction. By now the sun began sinking under the horizon and the grayness started to engulf us. Simba, extra jovial tonight, pulled and tugged at his leash. I obliged and began running with him through the grass and dirt, the remains of a once beautiful golf course. To my surprise I found myself crashing down to the ground. SNAP! I heard a horrible sound come from my ankle. I couldn't move. The pain permeated from my ankle into my thigh. Laying on the ground I couldn't think about anything except for a conversation I had with Laura just last night, it was about how someone had broken their leg and they had to be helicoptered out of a camp site. I had said I would NEVER do that, I'd hop out. BUT the few seconds that led to me laying on the ground made me almost laugh. There was no way I'd be able to make it. The sharp pain radiated from beneath my heel. Eventually I made it home, Simba wouldn't let me ride him, although I tried to. And now here I am in a fake cast and crutches. I have to go to the doctors AGAIN in the morning because the xray tech wasn't in. I'm just hoping it isn't broken or torn....I hope it's just a BAD sprain.......*cross fingers*

What's been going on

Daniel will be coming home in April. WOOT! WOOT!! I will no longer be alone!! YAY! It will be a refreshing break to solitude. His unit has been preparing to come back, they will slowly turn gear in, and move base to base in a month. Then they'll be on their way home! YAY!

I've been sick. I have had a major sinus infection that turned into a horrible vocal infection and was moving into my chest. I woke-up Thursday not being able to speak. Horrible, horrible, horrible!! My mom finally convinced me to take Friday off since I couldn't talk and she didn't want me getting all my kids sick. Very true, true, true. Especially since I hate when kids come to school sick, I decided I better not be such a hypocrite and stay home. It was a good thing I did, I was exhausted and slept almost all day! I woke up at around 4pm and are some food, emailed, showered, and went back to bed. It is amazing how I could sleep forever. I feel like I'm the type of person who will never be a morning person and continually needs at least 10 hours each night. *SIGH*

All these chronic things led up to me FINALLY buying these really cool and unfortunately, expensive, air purifiers. YAY! We will see if they help me and my allergies. I think they will. My little ionic breeze helps and it's only one filtration system, the ones I bought are a 5 step filtration process!! CRAZY! So I'm excited to have clean and purified air, no dust, no dog hair, no allergens! Woot! Woot! Don't worry, I'm not putting all my eggs in a basket, I am prepared for failure or success.

My Smartboard at school is installed and I've been trained Level 1 and 2 Smart Ready! YAY! It's so much fun! I feel like I am really excelling at it as well. I feel like a sponge when I'm learning, it's so great! I love learning, but technology has been so fun for me lately. I've been trying to decide what I want to get my masters in, but I think that this year has helped me realize I want to get a masters in technology. Oh yes, more good news for school! I am also probably going to get iouches for my class!! There is a grant that gets an itouch for each student and a laptop cart with 16 laptops and 1 mac. Should be fun. Our whole fifth grade is probably going to get the itouch. HOORAY!!! =) Anyhow, it's so much fun learning how to integrate all this technology with the kids. The kids love it just as much as I do, maybe even more?

At church I've been called as the Young Women's Camp Director. I'm excited and scared all at the same time. I told Aunt Sandy and she asked me if she should congratulate me or cry with me and it made me laugh. Looking back on my childhood, I was never really that active in church for long periods in my life, but I always found my way to Girls' Camp. AND, I always LOVED it. I'm excited for Girls' Camp and I hope that I can make it a memorable experience for all the girls in my ward. It feels good to be back at church and help the youth. I feel so inspired when I am with them. They are amazing, strong, and talented! I feel very blessed to get to work with them and learn from them.

Overall, life has been good to me. I have bad days still, but I've been trying some herbal remedies that have been doing wonders. This passion flower and St. John's Wort for stress has really helped me. Now all I have to worry about it taking care of my registration citation, if only I knew what it was for. *SIGH* Will the madness ever end? I hope so. 2 months. =)

New Year's Resolutions

Every year I make new goals for the year. I've been thinking a lot about these and here's what I've come up with:

1. Get fit and eat right!

2. Get organized! Reorganize my house until it looks like one of those magazines. =)

3. Do things that will make me happy.

Hooray for the 2010! A time to make a new start (again)! Hip-hip-hooray!

Blue

I'm a wreck. I kept myself together enough for the holidays, but I haven't been feeling like myself. It's so hard with Daniel gone, all I want to do is sleep. But most the time I can't sleep and so I end up feeling like I do today-crappy. I didn't do anything exciting last night, I just got back into town and was so exhausted. I laid and laid and laid until 9am this morning. It is horrible, my head is still feeling the after affects. Anyhow, I just haven't felt like myself all year, I've been so negative, grumpy and completely irrational at times. I feel like it's time to get medicated. Bah-humbug.