Four Places at Once

TA DA!!!! The seemingly impossible is made possible at Four Corners. Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, and Colorado all meet together in one spot where you can twister it up and be in four places at once.

Cross off number 23!!!!

Prison Food

There are some things in life that are just too good to pass up, and that is why when my roommate and I were driving by the prison and saw a sign that said, “Serving Time Café-Open to the Public” we immediately decided to plan lunch there with our other roommate. Thoughtfully, we decided not to disclose the location to her and gleefully blindfolded her and drove to the front of the prison.

We pulled up facing the prison declared we were here and took off her blindfold.

She took one look at the prison and exclaimed, Um. . .Oh. . . we’re at the prison, ah. . . hmmm. . . “ Yes, all the secrecy was worth the look on her face. Then laughingly, we turned the car to the building next to the prison where the cafe was located. She seemed to have a few reservations, but we assured her that we had read only the best of prisoners can work there. A friend also told us they go through the culinary arts program at the prison as well. We walked through the door and were welcomed with a white board displaying delicious specials and a sign on the wall that said, “Please do not leave tips, we cannot take them.” I smiled loving the place already. The servers/prisoners greeted us with warm smiles and yummy food. Seriously, yummy. Guards, staff from correctional services, and people wanting yummy food littered the room, all happily munching. We liked it so much we went back for breakfast another day and loved it then. What can be better than fluffy pancakes for $2.00 and this sign on the white board?


I've always believed that the best food comes from random, little places, and I don't know a place more random than the prison.

Crash!!

Last Monday was my first day off track, I usually spend that day sleeping in. However, instead I found myself driving back on the freeway from a doctor's appointment in Provo. As I was coming around the mountain, I noticed the flashing lights of a patrol car off to the side of the road, and some tire debris in the road. I suppose this is what caused traffic to slow, because the huge truck in front of me slowed, and so like a good driver, I slowed, and the driver behind me, well . . . . I suppose he did not slow. Because bam like a rocket with a thundering boom, my whole car was propelled into the other lane? Which was miraculous considering that I should have been pummeled into the huge truck in front of me. I guess my head hit the back of the seat something fierce and my clippy shattered into a million (ten) different pieces. Once my head snapped back up, I prayed something fierce and swung my car off the side of the freeway. It all seemed like a fuzzy dream. I'm not sure how I wasn't hit by a million (ten) different cars. Off to the side of the road, I said a prayer of gratitude and then with all the natural instinct of an insurance agent's daughter, I grabbed my accident report guide, information, and shakily stepped out of the car. A new policeman pulled onto the scene and had me come sit in his car. It was there in his car with the paramedics and firetruck racing onto the scene that I had my next three thoughts. My first thought was "Oh no, how am I ever going to get my paper done for class tonight?' Which was followed by, "Hmmm . . . I wonder if my professor will give me another day, since I've been in an accident?" Which was followed by, "What in the world am I doing thinking about a paper, when I was almost killed?" Yep, I was honestly thinking about a paper, as the paramedics were knocking on the window. This was a small indicator to me that my priorities may be slightly off. And so while my car is pretty banged up, and I'm still waiting to hear its diagnosis, I'm okay, and I'm determined to take what I learned from this crash to get my life back in balance, so in moments of craziness I am thinking about what is most important.

Blackberry Kisses

"As she approached the corner of the barn where the sugar maple stands, she plucked a few blackberries from a stray bush and popped them into her mouth. She looked all around her-back at the house, across the fields, and up into the canopy of branches overhead. She took several quick steps up to the trunk of the maple, threw her arms around it, and kissed that tree soundly."
Walk Two Moons
"Oh I just loved that part." one of my girls gushed. "Me too!" another one giggled. And so when deciding on which kind of treat to bring in to share with them at the end of our book group, I knew I had to bring in blackberries. What I didn't know was how much they truly loved this book. As I laid out the blackberries, the girls began to gush,"Oh, Miss R, Oh, can we kiss a tree with the blackberries." I started to laugh. However, they continued to gush about how they would always remember this, and how every time they came back to visit they would look at the tree and try to find their blackberry stain. Of course, that got me right there, because I am a sucker for memories. And so while the rest of the class was down eating ice cream at a party, my small girl's group took big bites of blackberries, rubbed them on our lips and kissed a tree outside of our classroom soundly. We came back in giggling, and then the girls begged to finish our discussion. We went back to our favorite moments from the book, and of course, as I started to read mine, I began to cry. I do it every time I read this book,(it is one of my favorites) but as I looked around the group, I noticed their eyes were all glistening as well. The next little girl began, "Please excuse me if I cry," which immediately set me off into tears again, and then she began her part, her voice shaky, her eyes wet. We strained to hear her soft, shaky,beautiful words. When she finished, I looked around at these girls who begged to stay longer in our group each week to read together, who asked for their reading group to be moved up so we could discuss earlier, and who giggled, swooned, cried, questioned, and learned throughout this book. I started to tear up again, because it is moments like this that every teacher lives for. Moments when you see this light click on, where they have found a love of reading and learning. And just like that blackberry stain that lingers on the tree, I hope that they will always remember this moment, this book, this experience. Like they say in the book, Huzza, Huzza!

The Last to Know

I found out the other day, that I'm engaged, again. It happens every year, except as always, I'm the last to know. This year, just as class was getting ready to start a teacher came in my room all smiley. I looked up and smiled at her, she skipped over, "Hey, what's new with you?" I assumed she wanted to know about my leg, because that is the important topic, so I smiled, "Well, my leg is doing so good. Look at how well it can bend." She kept smiling, "Uh huh, anything else?" "Um. . . I just found out I graduate this summer." She just smiled, so I smiled, then her smile got larger. "Is there anything else going on?" She then began to giggle. I stopped smiling. "Um. . . .nope." I tried to smile again, but suddenly I felt very uncomfortable. "Well" she began, "I heard you've been kissing Math Boy ( a friend who comes in to help me with my crazy math antics) in the hall, and that you two are in engaged." Suddenly, the little rumor makers in my room are very busy. I roll my eyes and sigh dramatically. "Nope, not true at all." I look out on the sea of students who swear they've seen UFO's, killers, and bloody claws in their chicken nuggets, and I'm shocked someone actually believed them. I assume this is the end of the rumor when the next day, a former student who is now in college, comes in to visit. He walks in and smiles, I smile. His smile gets larger, and I immediately stop. He beams, "So, I hear you're engaged." Once again, I roll my eyes and sigh dramatically. "Nope, not true at all." I respond. He shakes his head, "But everyone is talking about it." I roll my eyes and sigh dramatically, "Just because everyone is talking about it, doesn't make it true."(Spoken like a true teacher) A few nights later, I am slipping into the middle school for a former student's big acting debut, when all of these 8th graders come rushing at me. "Oh, my goodness it's so good to see you" they shout. We rejoice in our reunion, until they are smiling even larger than usual. I back away, they cheer, "We hear you're engaged!" People start turning their heads, I roll my eyes twice, and sigh extra loud as I repeat," Nope, not at all." I've decided it's tough being engaged, especially when you are the last to know.

Physical Therapy

Once again, I find myself learning how to walk. I'm praying this is the last time in a long, long while. I spent the two weeks before surgery trying to shake a cold that wouldn't go away. I repented of dairy products and spent all my time drinking an insane amount of liquids, soups, and anything with Vitamin C. I even found myself with a Neti Pot in my nose. ( I was desperate.) The day before surgery I was just a tad stuffy, and so they gave me the green light. I don't know if I've ever worked so hard and been so excited to have surgery before. I even brought my own crutches to the hospital, I was ready for this surgery. I however, wasn't ready for the after part. I remembered my last ACL surgery and the crutches for a month, and struggling in therapy for weeks and weeks to be able to roll an exercise ball and bend my knee. It was the most nauseous, sleepless, and painful summer of my life. However, this surgery with a graft from a donor was amazing!!!! I was able to eat and sleep that night, and the pain hasn't been that bad. I went to physical therapy two days after surgery (seriously two days) we took off all the wrappings and my knee looked so good, (well that might be debatable, but I thought it looked good) my therapist started moving it, which I thought would be impossible but it moved, it moved. I think I said, "Oh my goodness ," and "Wow" a million times. My therapist was equally impressed and he even had me start putting weight on it. Wow!!! Oh my goodness! Surgery was two weeks ago and after therapy today, I found myself crutchless, and braceless. It is a miracle! Now I'm just working on my physical therapy, which if you have ever had physical therapy may look easy, but is really sooooo HARD!!!!! Last week, my therapist, who I actually like a lot, had me put an exercise ball behind my back and do squats, which might not sound hard, but oh my goodness! He smiled and said, "Can you feel that you are favoring your right leg?" I smiled, and said through gritted teeth, "Yeah, that is because my left kneecap feels like it is going to explode and my whole leg collapse." My therapist smiled back, "Well just as long as you're aware of it." Yesterday, he had me walk around the gym in a figure eight backwards with one eye closed. That is right, figure eight, backwards with one eye closed, it is as difficult as it sounds. Each rotation he also made me change which eye was closed, which made all of the other people in the gym think I was winking at them as I stumbled around. However, I'm all for anything crazy, because with ever lopsided figure eight, my knee is getting stronger and I'm on my way to walking normally.

Bear Lake

Presidents' Day Weekend I was sick. However, for some reason, I still decided to go up to Bear Lake with 20 other girls. I spent most of my time asleep, or blowing my nose. However, I still loved being with so many friends in a beautiful cabin in the snow. I should probably also mention there was also a chocolate festival. Chocolate covered raspberries, seriously, that alone was enough of a reason to go.
These are some of the other highlights:
On the way up we stopped at Gossner's Cheese Factory. How can you not like a place with flower boxes and squeaky cheese?



I also liked this place because it's very unpretentious with signs like this:



Ummm . . .Root Beer flavored milk, who makes Root Beer flavored milk? And who could resist buying some? Not me, although, I still haven't tried it, well, because it's Root Beer flavored milk, and ummm. . . .I'm saving it for a special occasion.



If you look closely you can see the beautiful lake, it is a gorgeous place.



Coming home, how could we not stop for Aggie Ice Cream, which may not be good for a cold, but sometimes you have to live on the edge.