Who Am I? (Sung in Jean Valjean's voice)

Kelsey Brady.  Wore weird things and thought she was hot stuff.

So Wednesday my buddy Kara and I went to our weekly Zumba class.  We usually go on Mondays, but sometimes we have to re-schedule.  The Wednesday teacher is HILARIOUS.  She way more in-your-face that our Monday lady, and since the classes tend to be smaller on Wednesdays I feel like I have to impress her.   (Because that is Kelsey- always seeking approval from outside sources.  Why, you ask?  Because I'm so great, you say?  Oh, stop it...  but don't really...)  So anyway, last time we did a Wednesday class she singled me out and praised me for my booty-shaking skillz.  This, of course, made my week.  This most recent time we were in her class, she actually had me come up to the front of the class and shake my junk.  It was hilarious and embarrassing and validating and terrible and odd and just darn funny.  I don't think it would have been as entertaining without my Zumba buddy there.  It just reminded me of how much fun I used to have at dances with my girlfriends where we would act ridiculous and overly "sexy" then laugh at how silly we were being.  (Now Nathan at this point would say something about me being an uber-tease when I was younger.  Whatevs) I used to looooooooove going to dances or just dancing, full-stop.  Now I have a new outlet for my pent-up sweet moves.  And I feel like I've re-gained a bit of my former self.

Kelsey Snow.  Has adventures with her  Sweetie.

I've noticed (more like read on their blogs) that almost every single one of my married friends feels at one point or another that they've lost who they were before they were wed or started having kids.  I can say that I've felt that way a lot.  It's not that I'm unhappy with the life change, it's just that after so many priority shifts and responsibility additions, not to mention the new person/people's needs and wants to consider, one can feel like they're a completely new person.  Would Kelsey Brady have been happy to spend her Friday night on the couch watching episode after episode of Battlestar Gallactica(Provo was Doctor Who.  Bristol was also Doctor Who), eating popcorn and cuddling?  I'm thinking probably not... But Kelsey Brady Snow is sad that we finished the show already and can't wait to find the next thing on Netflix that she and her hubby can devour.
Like I said, I'm not unhappy with my change in lifestyle, but I've found that I tend to be much happier when I incorporate some KB flava back into the Snow household.  Like Zumba!  Like camping!  Like girl time!  Which leads me to this next section called: I've got a girl date!
I'VE GOT A GIRL DATE!  I was most excited to move back to Utah because I remembered that I had a friend here in St. George!  Since I've mostly forgotten how to make and keep friends, I liked knowing that I already have at least one in town!  So, since we've been here I've seen Miss Katie Houghtaling once when her school put on a show (she's the drama teacher), but that's it.  I'm determined to be a less socially-awkward married lady.  I WILL have friends again!  (And then we'll move in a few months and I'll have to start all over...  but at least I''ll be a pro by the time we leave!)  So we're hanging out today and I'm super-pumped.


Last night I babysat for Katie (different Katie), a girl in my ward that's super cute with super cute kids that I adore.  She had a date, so of course when she came back I just wanted to talk and talk about boys and clothes and hair and stickers and ponies and Myspace.com!  (Family Guy reference)  Most of my closest friends were guys (insert here another comment from Nathan saying how they all wanted to get wit' me) and my girl friends weren't really girly, so I never saw myself as one of those gabby gals.  Being around only one guy all the time does that to a lass I suppose.
Oh, I also have to mention that I have a beautiful sister-in-law that lives here and has been a great friend and confidant.  She's about 3 days away from giving birth and she needed a girly day so we got pedicures and gabbed.  I'm SO glad we get along, because that's the thing with family.  Just because your husbands are brothers, doesn't mean your going to be besties.  I think the hardest part of moving is going to be leaving Adam, Joanna, little Lyddie Bug, and my unnamed nephew.
So thank you Zumba, Kara, Katie1, Katie2, and Jo for making me feel like myself again.

Oh and I think this side of me will never leave: singing show tunes with my sibbies (I can't just say sisters now, I'm hoping baby boy Adam James will add a male voice to our troupe).

My SuccessMaker Classroom!

In case anyone was curious, I work at Sunset Elementary School as a computer lab tech.  I'm in charge of a specific program called SuccessMaker.  It's pretty sweet, kids play reading and math games and it scores them.  Teachers can go in and check the students scores to see where they are and what specifically they need to work on.  So I'm there to make sure the program and computers run smoothly.  I never thought I'd have such a techie job!  But really, this is the solution to 99.9% of the problems that I get:

I love it.  I have my own classroom and I've been able to relate to my Mom about working in an elementary school!  And I also may have loved decorating the room... a lot :)  (The pics are from my phone, so forgive the low quality.  I'll get a smart phone... someday).

Behold the before:

And all of the afters:

I share the room with an after-school piano class, so the middle of the room is full of keyboards and  my computers are around the perimeter.

Meet Chameleon... he's a Chameleon.  He's one of the many characters in the SuccesMaker universe.

And this is Hamster!  He's my favorite :)  

"Today is a great day to learn something new!"

Ditto

This is Parrot (the names are so clever)

"Will you succeed?  Yes indeed, yes indeed! (98 3/4% guaranteed)" - Dr. Seuss)

I used string and staples to write some of the words.  I like how it came out!  It was a pain though...

Here's my teacher/"I see you on YouTube..." face.

And now, here are some super cute pictures of my little brother form Easter:

Carrying the banner

Little angel at the D.C. Temple

Puzzle Till Your Puzzler is Sore

I like Puzzles.

More Camping Stories

I LOVED the camping stove we borrowed from Adam  and Joanna!  We made hot dogs, breakfast sandwiches, and it  warmed us up in the morning!  We gots to get us one o' these!

It might have been a little on the freezing side at night...  or maybe a lot... but we survived!  And we took hot showers in the morning... oh yeah that's roughing it.

We saw petroglyphs and several chipmunks and lizards.  We took some time to admire the flora and fauna, but BEWARE.  If we learned one thing from this trip... we learned that the soil was ALIVE and if you stepped off the path you'd be killing the bacteria in the dirt and the mountains would crumble before you and it'd take 200 years to rebuild itself yadda yadda yadda.  Apparently the worlds' most important dirt lives in Moab.

 My husband is cute.  I gave him an Indiana Jones hat the night before we got married and he hasn't really worn it (it's more of a collectors thing) but I suggested that he wear it when we went hiking and he was totally into it!  They shot parts of The Last Crusade here, so... why not?  :)

The Nargley Tree Gallery

I've come to find that I'm really obsessed with taking pictures of gnarled old juniper trees.  I call them Nargley, but you have to say it like Luna Lovegood.  You know... when she talks about Nargles.  Don't ask me why... cause I don't have an answer.

 The infamous bowl of death:

This was a view from the REAL path we were supposed to take.  The black line across the bottom is the ledge we were walking on... See?  Not much better for a gal afraid of heights.

Oh look, it's Indiana Jones.  Finding stuff for museums probs.

Broken Arch

Yay for still being alive!

   

I thought this looked like huts on an alien planet.

Giant Sandcastle

 Spot me!

Two!  Two arches ah ah ahhh...

Don't hate, lady

 The end.  I would like to add that Nathan and I have a wonderful marriage and it should go to our everlasting credit that we didn't bicker ONCE.  Not on the ride up, not setting up camp, not deciding what to do or eat, not with directions, and not on the way back.  Booyah.