Oops.

Once upon a time I had the most terrifying experience of my life. . . .

 

There I was being all domestic: my asparagus was baking in the oven, my alfredo sauce was all ready to be heated up, my chicken was defrosting, and I was ready to add my fettuccine noodles to the boiling water. Dinner was going to be ready when Joshua got home from school! And that's where our ideal evening went up in flames. Literally.

 

As I dumped them out of the box, a couple noodles missed the pan and slipped under my bright red, electric burner. And quickly caught on fire. I grabbed the long noodle and threw it in the sink. I moved my pan and turned off the stove. I grabbed a potholder and tried to grab the burner (dumb idea — my burnt finger was proof of that). I turned the stove fan on. About this time, my fire alarm started frantically blaring. Obnoxious thing. I ran to throw the door open to let some of the quickly accumulating smoke out. I did have the knowledge that you're supposed to smother stove fires, so I threw some kitchen towels on it. (They were handy. And I made sure to use the ones I didn't really like. Good excuse to buy new ones.) Well at least the flames weren't leaping up to my microwave anymore. But the fire alarm was still going off, and the wind had made my door slam shut. So I ran to open the door again, open the living room window, and fan my fire alarm a little bit so I could maybe think clearly. I ran back into my kitchen, pulled out my flour and dumped a bunch on. Awesome idea, huh? (Says the person who didn't realize flour is extremely flammable.) It didn't make much difference. Now I was running out of ideas. The fire was pretty much under control, but hadn't stopped. So I did what any girl does when she needs advice on household matters — I called my mommy. She said to smother it with a pan lid. Great idea, but my kitchen towels were already there. She said to dump baking soda on it. So I did. (I even made sure to use my older baking soda first. It's funny the things you think about in an emergency.) I had dumped it on top of the towels, so I started shaking them around to get some of it underneath and actually on the fire. Did I mention that this whole time my apartment was completely full of smoke? And the fire alarm was still incessantly going off? It was a little bit hard to breathe, let alone think. So the fire still hadn't gone out all the way, and when I moved the towels around the flames leaped up again. My mom suggested that maybe I just use the fire extinguisher. I moved all the stuff away from my stove. I grabbed my fire extinguisher . . . and for the life of me couldn't figure out how to pull the pin. My mom even found her fire extinguisher to explain it to me. Oh well. I checked the fire under the towels again and it was pretty much out. So I shook my baking soda around some more. Then I threw my pile of towels in the sink and ran them (and my finger) under cold water. And walked to the window where I could take some deep breaths.

My mom suggested that next time I'm in a situation like that maybe I call 911. They wouldn't have to come put out a stove fire for me, but they sure could tell me how to put it out. And they'd be certain to answer. Good advice, Mom. I'll have to remember that.

I can already look back at this night and laugh. When I picked Joshua up from school that night I was still in tears and very, very upset — but I was picking him up so clearly everything at the apartment was fine. Are you ready for the great part? When I told Joshua about the fire, he was afraid that I'd thrown his books on it or something. He just didn't quite understand why I was so mortified. Seriously, I may be dumb (flour on a fire . . . ) but not that dumb. It helped lighten the mood. So maybe I'm a little unnecessarily dramatic. But I truly thought it was the most terrifying experience of my life up to that point.

Later, I discovered it was all the broken, little noddle pieces that were the real culprits. And we still ate chicken fettuccine alfredo for dinner that night. I just made Joshua finish it when he got home. I think I had good reason to be afraid of the stove. 

Field Trip Day!

A lot of times I think to myself that I'm pretty sure people should be jealous of my job. Because I'm not gonna lie . . . it's awesome. We decided the weather was nice enough we could go on a field trip this month! We only got to go on one in the fall (to the fire station) and I don' t know about the kids, but I've sure been looking forward to going on another one!

This time we walked to the public library. It was chilly, but relatively nice outside (for Rexburg in March anyway). We got to sit in the children's room and have our own private story time with the children's librarian. The kids colored pictures, and then the librarian gave us a tour of part of the library. After that the kids each got to go pick out a library book! We spent some time reading their books to them. Then we checked out all their books, and I got to be the lucky one to carry a bag with 18 library books back to school. . . .

We made it back to school just in time for snack and it start POURING outside about 5 minutes later! Talk about perfect timing. I am so glad we didn't get drenched. That would have made for some very unhappy preschoolers and probably grumpy teachers too.

The parents that went with us were so helpful! Seriously they were great. And we got super duper lucky with the weather! Field trip days are so fun and easy. Check out our schedule: opening circle, lunch, FIELD TRIP, snack, and sharing chair for closing circle. Basically, field trip days are my favorite!! Each child shared their book for sharing chair and it was really cute. They told us "what the book was about" and showed a picture they liked. haha. . . . I wonder how many of the books were actually about what they said. Oh well. Gotta love preschoolers! And be jealous of my fun job.

Alfie Boe

...was amazing in concert!

Honestly, neither Joshua nor I had ever heard of Alfie Boe before Joshua started seeing advertisements for his concert on campus. But after checking him out Joshua knew it was a concert we had to attend! Boe just played the lead role of Jean Valjean in the 25th anniversary concert performance of Les Misérables, Joshua's favorite musical.

Boe is an incredible tenor! For the first half of the concert he sang opera pieces. The second half was show tunes. Though I could tell he was awesome and liked the concert, my enjoyment was hampered by the fact that I couldn't hear anything out of my left ear. (It had been like that for a couple days.) Lots of sounds coming in my right ear was kind of overload. Lucky Joshua got to truly enjoy the whole concert!! It was fantastic! His favorite was the closing number, "Bring Him Home," from Les Misérables.

Not only is Alfie Boe a great singer, but he was really entertaining. He seems like a down to earth kind of guy. And he has a new CD out. We want it. If you haven't already, you should check out Alfie Boe here.

It's Official!!!

I'm a college graduate!

It's about time that fancy piece of paper came in the mail! I think I did a little happy dance after finding it in our mailbox. Waiting for Joshua to get home so I could open it was kind of torture. But really, I'd waited months already...what was another couple hours?

Don't you like the most expensive piece of paper I'll ever own??

Joshua even found the cover and put it in for me!

I think it's pretty. :D

A Quarter of a Century

That's how old Joshua is now - the big 2-5!

He didn't want a party so we just planned to celebrate alone on the Sunday before. His present was a well-kept secret and surprise. (I was pretty proud of myself for that.) I couldn't stand the anticipation and his feeling his present and guessing anymore (though his guesses were nowhere near what the present really was) so I even had him open his present on Sunday. I might have been more excited than he was.

Drum roll please....

It was a tent! Something he's wanted but never asks for. :)

I'm not sure why, but I love that he always
smells his presents after opening them.Enjoying our delicious dinner:
steak, mashed potatoes, asparagus, and root beer!I have to add that this was my first time making fresh asparagus.
I baked it and it was soo good.

Joshua's actual birthday was on Tuesday. I made him goodie bags full of 25 things each (chips, M&M's, animal crackers, etc.) and tried blowing up 25 balloons for him. But I was sick and only forced myself to make it to 5. Oh well. Also since I was sick Joshua didn't want me to make his birthday cake. It was going to be an ice cream cake. (Eventually we just ate the ice cream...wonderful Ben & Jerry's... and Oreos on their own. Basically the same thing, just not as pretty.)

After I was done with work I took Joshua some dinner, ate with him on campus, then he went to take a humongous test. He finished around 10:00 and we headed over to Applebee's. We met some friends, Matt and Ryan, there and celebrated his birthday with pina coladas and some of our favorite appetizers! Minus that huge test he had a good birthday!

Valentine's Day

A few weeks before Valentine's Day I found out that the CPR/First Aid Certification my work was paying for me to attend was on Valentine's Day. Lame.

Neither of us care a whole bunch about Valentine's Day, but it's still nice to do something. So on the weekend before, Joshua and I went and got some 5 Buck Pizza (great place!) and treated ourselves to something we wouldn't usually get - Cocoa Bean cupcakes. They're like a little piece of heaven. There are so many kinds to choose from!

We ended up going for a Snicker's cupcake and a Better Than Whatever cupcake, both to share. We took them home to enjoy! And probably watched a movie. Because that's just what we do.

Scrumptious looking, huh? (This is the BTW)

On actual Valentine's Day Joshua was at school and doing homework all day. I went to work, then rode with a co-worker to Idaho Falls for our training, and got home around 8. Joshua's a pretty great husband and since I was starving he made me heart-shaped white chocolate chip pancakes! It was a fabulous ending to a really long, boring day.

A Terrible "First"

I recently had a new first experience. (Disclaimer: this is a really long story! But maybe slightly amusing.)

Let me give some background as to why it was more terrible than it would ordinarily be. There are a few times each year at work that are more insanely busy than usual - Parent/Teacher Conferences and Home Visits. We have lots of paper to get done before we can have them, and then there’s the actual scheduling and time to fit them all in.

So I show up to work one ordinary day (during home visit time) and notice one of the morning teachers’ cars isn’t in the parking lot. Weird because she NEVER misses work! Turns out she was sick and the afternoon teacher, Connie, who I work with was taking her place in the classroom. So I was given the chance to fill in for Connie’s scheduled visit and do my first home visit on my own that morning. No big deal. I thought I could handle that.

I drive the 15 minutes it takes to get the house in Hibbard, and I decide to leave my purse in the car since I already have papers and stuff to carry and wouldn’t need it anyway.

I go in and spend close to an hour doing the home visit. When I leave, my keys aren’t in my pocket, and the mom has already gone ahead to show me the way out. I pause, feel around in all of my pockets, and then turn back to check for them on the couch and around where I was sitting. There’s no sign of them so I follow her out to the door. Feeling totally unprofessional and a bit panicky, I tell her my keys aren’t in my pocket, but I’m sure they must be by my car or something. Maybe they fell out of my lap when I stood up.

I walk out to my car and don’t see them. All the cars doors are locked. What to do, what to do? I go back and tell her, and she helps me search around the couch for my keys. I check the path between the house and where I parked. Nothing. I look in all of my car windows to see if I can spot them. I could swear there’s no possible way I left them in the car. But really, where on earth could they be?

I don’t really want to go back in and admit that my keys must be locked in my car, but it’s the middle of February in Rexburg (so pretty much the dead of winter still) and I can’t just hang out by my car. I finally go back in and she says I can stay there until I figure something out. I text Joshua. He’s in class and doesn’t write back, but it’s not like he could do much for me anyway since I have the car. I try calling Rose, my manager. I’m not sure what I’ll tell her, but she doesn’t answer anyway. I try calling my co-worker, Lacey, the only other one who might answer her phone right now. Nope.

The lady whose house I’m at finds a wire coat hanger so we can try to break into my car. Neither of us know what we’re doing and obviously none of my car windows are cracked (remember it’s still the middle of winter). We quickly give up and go back inside.

She apologizes for not being able to drive me back to work. Her van is in the shop, and her husband has their other car at school. She would at least offer to take me back when she drops her daughter off for school, but she’ll be late since they have to wait for her husband to be done with class. I’m the teacher. I can’t be late for school.

I try calling Rose and Lacey again. Nothing. The mom has Rhonda, our cook’s, kitchen phone number so she tries calling her. She answers! Rhonda finds Rose and Rose says she’ll send Lacey over to pick me up after she’s done with the home visit that she’s on. (The house I'm at is essentially in the middle of nowhere…Lacey is the only other person who knows where it is since you can’t even google the address.)

In total I spend an hour after my home visit ended hanging out at this house. I spend the whole time feeling totally awkward and stupid.

Lacey calls me when she gets there, and as I go out I can see that Lacey’s laughing before I even get in her car. She tells me it happens to everybody, but I insist that it’s never happened to me before! I get back to work just in time for the afternoon class. Naturally everybody laughs at me. Connie thinks it would have been more worth our time for her to reschedule that home visit so I could have stayed and done paperwork. She’s absolutely right.

I leave both Joshua and Ryan, our friend who continually helps us out in times of need, messages on their phones. While I’m at work they talk and figure it out. Since Joshua has to stay at school for classes and tutoring, Ryan picks up Joshua’s keys and picks me up after work. He drives me forever out to the house where our car is, and waits to make sure I can get in.

Sure enough, I find my keys in our car! (Good thing because otherwise I’d have NO clue where they ended up!) Apparently I dropped my keys in my purse before getting out and before I decided at the last minute I had no need for my purse. Good one.

Let’s just say I won’t be making that same mistake anytime soon! I make sure my keys are on my person before locking that door and closing it.