{ monday funday }

December 8th started out like any other Monday.
Long.

After lunch recess I knew that I only had 45 minutes until the AM kids left. As I went to go get my kids from recess, a coworker randomly said to me, "let's get out of here early today."

I thought, "We have meetings until 4pm..."

I walk into my classroom and half of my kids are already in there F R E A K I N G out. Like, they were all screaming at me. On my desk there were pink, frosted, sugar cookies and a Diet Coke.

Kids were yelling, "A guy left these on your desk and then left!" "But it wasn't Breck because he didn't have a mustache!" I love that they automatically assumed it was him. Finally one student said, "I thought I saw him go into Mrs. Donithorne's class!"

That's when it hit me. Was it him? Breck had Mrs. Donithorne when he was in 2nd grade (cute huh), and had been in her class a time before this year.

I tried to calm my kids down (impossible at this point) and said whoever it was might be back. To be honest, I also thought it could have been a parent or sibling dropping off a birthday treat because my class had a lot of birthdays.

Within a few minutes, they were screaming again, "HERE HE COMES!"
And in walks Breck :)
Surprised? You can say that again.
And his fishy-ness from the night before was all making sense.

That night we went to Temple Square with my family and then to Cheesecake Factory for dinner #nomnomnom

My Monday > yours

{ Son of a Nutcracker }

One faint memory I have with my Grandma Johnson is when she took us Johnson girls to the Nutcracker Ballet at the Opera House. I remember feeling so grown up that I was able to go. I don't remember much of the actual ballet itself, but loved going with my big sisters. 

This year I decided I was not going to let Christmas pass me by. Meaning, I wanted to take full advantage of embracing the spirit of Christmas. One of the ways I was going to embrace the Christmas spirit was going to The Nutcracker with my girlfriends and sister, Lisa. 

Besides breaking the Nutcrackers arm, the little girl sitting in front of Lisa and I who couldn't sit still, I'd say the night was an overall success. 

{ Thanksgiving in Salem }

If you know me, you know I have mad love for The Pacific Northwest. Even though my parents want to live closer to their kids and grandkids, I am still so happy they live in Washington so I can go visit. Selfish? Maybe.

Adrienne and Scott will live in the Northwest for life. Scott is from Grants Pass, Oregon and Oregon is where they have decided to settle down with his podiatry practice. Not even mad.  Now I will always have an excuse to go to the Northwest. Currently, they live just south of Portland in Salem.

I was so excited to get out of Utah and spend some time with my family in Oregon. Especially see Tommy and Savannah! They grow up so fast and I hardly get to see them. Scottie drove down from Rexburg and we flew out together. When we woke up the next morning, the weather was perfect. You can see Mt. Jefferson clearly from Adrienne's house. However, later that after rain clouds started in and never left. It rained the ENTIRE rest of our stay. And not even the drizzle kind of rain. Pouring rain. For four whole days. Gave me a little taste of daily life on the west coast.

Thanksgiving morning, Scott, Adrienne and I ran a 5k at the Keizer Turkey Trot. It was a fun way to start off Thanksgiving. I finished in 31 minutes which was great considering I hardly trained. Meaning, I didn't train at all. My bad.

The day after Thanksgiving my family and I went to Lincoln City, Oregon which is on the coast. It was freezing but so fun to see the ocean. We went shopping (naturally) at the outlets and to the beach.

{floppy hats or bust} 

{The boys. The entire drive.}

That night Breck text me saying, "What if I just drove down tonight?" Of course I wanted him to come down, especially because it was only a 4-5 hour drive from Washington. However, Breck likes to tease me so I entertained the idea for a second but then came back to reality and thought, "he's just messing with me." Finally he text me and said, "Just left." Eeek! I was SO excited. He didn't get in until 1am. The best part? I might have not told him Salem was an hour south of Portland until he was an hour or two into the drive. Does that make me a bad person? Anyway, when he finally put the address into his maps he said, "Wait, they live in Salem!?" Whoops. Luckily, he still came!

Saturday Breck and I were able to go to The Nike World Headquarters in Beaverton. His cousin works for Nike and gave us a pass to go shopping at the Nike Employee Store. This store is legit. You get the newest Nike merchandise for 50% off. Imagine any Nike outlet you've ever been to, times that by 10 and that's how big it is. Plus, no tax in Oregon #winning

 {It's a known fact we match everywhere we go}

{heaven}

After that, we went downtown Portland and met up with my family. The line was too long for Voodoo Doughnuts when we got there, but my family had already gone through the line. Those doughnuts are the bomb!

How we kept Portland weird:

It was FREEZING by the time we got downtown Portland. Rain. Wind. 

Breck and I got Mexican food at a food truck and since everything was wet and there wasn't anywhere to sit, we decided to go eat in his car. The backseat of his car to be exact. Totally fogged up the windows and we were a good 3 feet away from each other. We kept giggling about that. It was hilarious. The best part? We were parked directly under the "Keep Portland Weird" sign. So yes, Portland, we tried our best to keep our experience weird. 

Needless to say, it was a perfect Thanksgiving.

{ Thanksgiving in Utah }

Two Thanksgivings? How did I get so lucky? Breck was able to come home the week before Thanksgiving so we were able to celebrate with his family. Last Thanksgiving is when Breck and I met. November 23rd to be exact. The second time we hung out we had their family's Thanksgiving leftovers. And this year instead of getting leftovers, I upgraded to the actual meal!

Highlights from Thanksgiving in Utah:

• Christmas lights at The Riverwoods
• The Grinch at Capitol Theatre in Salt Lake
• Dinner at the Little America
• Headbandz with Lisa, Scotty and Gillian
• Some much needed QT with that man with the mustache

{ courtney kicks cancer }

Courntey has come such a long way in 2k14.

Ending Chemo.
Growing her hair back.

Her poor body has been through so much. I am amazed as I go through pictures her transformation throughout it all. Looking through pictures of her starting chemo blows my mind. She really does look so sick. But now? You would never know that her body went through so much in just one year.

Make-A-Wish foundation is so amazing. The fact that they go above and beyond to grant a child's wish is inspiring. I've heard of a kid getting signed to the Utah Jazz for a day, Disneyworld (which most kids choose) to meeting a celebrity of their choice. Make-A-Wish spoils kids with cancer (as they should).

Courtney's wish was to go to Disneyworld. So yes, the entire family got an all expense paid vacation to Disneyworld. They had the time of their life and what a fun memory for the Simon family.

After the trip, Courtney got to raise a stained glass star which will forever be in the Make-A-Wish building here in Utah. They threw her a little party with cake and ice cream, had cardboard cut-outs of her favorite princesses and then she raised the star. We are so blessed that she is happy and healthy! Because unfortunately, some kiddos aren't so lucky. About 3 months before Courtney was diagnosed, a boy at my school was diagnosed with cancer. A happy little 1st grader, who got done playing at his soccer game complained of his side hurting and not being able to breath so well. His parents took him in and come to find out he had spots on his spine. Last winter, he was off chemo and healthy enough to come back to school. What a school celebrity! The kids loved little Owen. We had done fundraisers for him and his family and the kids at school were his biggest cheerleaders. However, Owen being at school didn't last so long. Soon after his return, they found his tumors had spread. Back on chemo he went. This past fall his family was also able to make the Disneyworld trip (they have on-site support and medics for treatments). After he came back, things went downhill quickly and the little guy passed away in November. My heart broke for that family. What a fun last memory that family had going to Disneyworld though and the fact one child's wish came true before passing on. 

Cancer? Don't ever come back. Like, ever.

Week of Halloween

The week of Halloween was wild, but fun. My favorite part of the week was definitely a present a student gave me. All week long my class learned about Halloween in other countries, in particular in Ireland. One tradition they have is to eat this special bread as a way of telling fortunes. If you find a coin in your bread, it means you will have good fortune and will be rich. If you get a ring in your slice of bread it means that you will be married within a year. So what did I get from a student?? A doughnut with a ring in it. Can you tell they are so concerned with me getting married. Love it.

I also went to Thriller. So fun! I am not coordinated (slash can't sing) but it was awesome. 

Oh and Halloween? I was a Spelling Bee Champion. I will say I was pretty proud of how my costume turned out. I mean, I wanted to be a Queen Bee or should I say Queen "bey" (beyonce) but I had to remember I needed to be at my 9 and 10 year olds level. Halloween at school FLEW by, it's pretty much a wash of a day but is so fun for the kids. As for me, I wanted a nap when the day was done!

My fourth grade team. They are the best. 

What did the ghost say to the bee?

BOO-BEE!

(Pretty sure a student told me that...haha)