Gustav Update

Instead of planning class today, I thought I would write a little hurricane update for those of you who may be wondering. Saturday they issued a mandatory evacuation of most of costal Louisiana...including Lake Charles. So once again, my dad finished up some things at worked, prepared the house (as best as you can) and then left early Sunday morning. (My mom is already in Utah visiting my grandparents.) He said that the traffic was heavy for the first hour or two and then it was normal. He got to my brother's house in Denver Sunday evening. Carson was very excited that Grandpa Smith had come to play with him. Nathan and the boys had put up a tent in the backyard and slept in it Saturday night. When they called Carson told me that his mom told him that Grandpa wasn't going to sleep in the tent, he was going to sleep in the basement. But then he asked Grandpa and Grandpa said he would sleep in the tent. So Carson was very excited to have a new addition to the tent!!
Gustav made landfall just west of New Orleans and then travelled northwest. (I'm sure you've seen the maps!) Lake Charles got a lot of wind and rain and there are some trees down and debris, but it was on the tailend of the storm. Right now, the concern is the branch in Jennings which got hit a lot harder. The mandatory evacuation was lifted about 10:00 a.m Tuesday. Dad should be home sometime today and will be able to see the damage first hand.
Note: This is the third Smith Family hurricane evacuation. (Two of them dad has done solo!) Saturday night, when I was checking the progress of the hurricane while waiting for people to gather at my house, a girl from the ward said, "Why would you live where there are hurricanes?" One of my friends promptly responded, "Why do you live in California where there are earthquakes?" But if I thought they'd move by me I would push that question!!!

Miss Smith

Classes have offically begun and I am once again, Miss Smith. Actually as of right now, my students are still barely recognizable faces and I am "the teacher." But over the course of the next few weeks I will learn names and faces and we will somehow create classes together. It is interesting to be teaching two classes now. Everything that I mess up in the first class I can correct in the second...well not everything. But seriously, it is nice to get to do the class sessions twice because I think about what is going on more. Too bad once class has to always be the trial run. Today in my first class I had to tell two kids to wake up and participate...it will be interesting to see how that pans out. I also have a potential heckler in my second class. I hope he's just the class clown type. We were joking about how I am an English teacher and I can't spell. Ah the joys of teaching!

Eating Watermelon Naked

I've started to write this post a couple of times and each time I've started with one of those tried and true phrases about homes. You know the ones like: home is where your heart is, or there's no place like home. But none of them really expressed the sentiment that I was looking for. However, as you can see, with a little help from Maegan (who tells the world all my secrets) I have found out what a new home means.

Closets that are bigger and better!

The Master Bedroom! Let me tell you it is very nice to have that much space.

A messy kitchen after a dinner party!

A living room with cable tv! (Finally!!)

But the most important thing about my new places, is the people that I share it with. They are the kind of people who love you enough to let you sit on the couch and eat watermelon naked. (And by naked I mean a huge t-shirt and knit shorts.) Check out Maegan's blog for a few more pictures!

My love affair with....

I recently spent a week visiting my brother and sister-in-law. The one with the boys. (I won't be able to say that much longer!!!) These boys are in love with trains, and since it has been way too long since my last visit to their house, they have gotten these motorized trains called Geotrax. This has improved my life immensly, now instead of endlessly pushing the trains around the tracks I only have to fix my train when it derails and one of the boys are usually happy to help when that happens. So basically I just have to start and stop the train and watch it go round and round. During my visit, I learned a few new things about trains:
1. When one train gets tired, it has to chug up the hill and park itself at the top of that hill and all the other trains have to stop while the tired train recooperates.
2. As the batteries wear down, the trains go slower. When trains are assigned if you get the fast train you will have to stop when your train over takes the others. If you get the slow train then you have to stop when the faster trains catch up to you. And if you get the middle train (there were three of us) you have to stop every time the other trains stop. So as you can see the majority of the afternoon has more to do with resting, stopping and starting then watching the trains on the tracks.
3. You have to get really excited and exclaim, "It's chugging!" almost evey time that you train starts again. Or if you are the aunt, you have to respond each time the boys get excited and exclaim that it's chugging. (Remember that number of times that the trains are going to start and stop...if I have to do the math for you I will!)
4. You have to be sure to use specific pieces each time that you build the track...and sometimes you will be asked to add more pieces after you finally get them to all match up.
5. You can build a track outside on the grass...even if you don't want to. You can play trains one more time...even if you don't want to. You can always switch cars and engines and cargo...even if you don't want to and more times then you can possibly want or need to.
6. After a week of endless train playing your emotions will verge on train loathing...However now that I have been away for almost a week I can honestly say...I wish I were playing trains!!

One more note before I run off!

So - after I posted my lost post, I was just reading the comments and I wanted to say...thank you for leaving them! And thanks for reading my blog and looking at my pictures. I miss you all!!!

Cultural Enlightenment!

Since moving to California I have developed a love and -dare I say it- addiction to Sushi. There is nothing more marvelous than all my favorite ingrediants wrapped up in seaweed and rice. One of the things I love about sushi is the different levels of "ew" avaliable. There are tempura rolls for the schwemish where everything is completly cooked, and some topped with baked fish, then those topped with raw fish, and finally the fish eggs. (I haven't tried the eggs yet or the big slabs of raw fish that are not on top of a roll.) But the other night was the culmination of my new obsession when I learned how to make sushi for myself. Here are some pictures!

You need to chop the ingrediants that will go in the roll. In this case it was cucumber and avacado. Maegan is best at chopping! And her knives are even better. Thank you Maegan!

This is me spreading the crab and cream cheese mixture on the rice....

I spared you the picture of me adding the vegetables and then rolling it because it wasn't that great of a picture...and I'm impatient and it takes a while to load each picture. So after you roll it then....

The final product of deliciousness!!! Add a little Mr. Yoshida's and my mouth is very very happy!!

The monster that I have created.....

Recently, I have been credited with making my friend a blogger. I'm not sure how this happened, because if you look at my blogging history, I haven't been the most dedicated blogger around. So please check out her blog if you want to see what I've been up to lately. It's Maegan...on my friends list (which bytheway if anyone knows how to fix those side bars so that they are up at the top of my page please fill me in...I don't know what happened!) Now don't worry, I will continue my blog as well, because I want to and I've recommitted myself, but just in case I lose the negotations to blog about an event, or she does it faster than me, because she's an adict. I'd also like you to note that I am credited for getting her addicted to spider solitare as well...I'm not sure what it means when you cause other people's addictions. Maegan, I'm just excited that I get to share a few things with you, even if it can only be spider solitare, because you are everything I hope to be when I finally grow up! I love your talent, your wisdom, your love, and the way you embrace life head on, with you I'm learning how to tear down my box!!

Seattle

I recently went to Seattle to visit Matthew and Megan. I kinda suck at keeping in touch with people, so it was really fun to just hang out together and talk. In between the important stuff we also went and saw some really fun places.

I really wanted to buy some fresh fish and flowers, but I don't think the people next to me on the plane would have been too happy about that!
But, we found my Mecca

And I picked a trolls nose!

So all is well!!!

A preview of Summer

A couple of weeks ago....okay fine it was March 8th (my dad's birthday) I went with some friends on a picnic on the blossom trail. It is basically a road that runs through the orchards south of Fresno. It was a really fun day and as you can tell, the trees were beatiful!!

Yes Rachel, I am alive!

I promised my friend Rachel that I would post an update. But then I realized that I haven't taken many pictures of me in Fresno, so I'll get on that. To tide her over though and to pay homage to me week at the Ramada I thought I'd post this picture of me in front of my second hotel room. Another picture taken a while ago....but at least it's new for you.

My Nephews

This was taken in late Aug. right before I moved to California. Me and my favorite little boys! Doesn't Colter look excited!

New York

Over the 24th of July, my friend Traci and I went to New York for the first time. Traci has a friend that is going to school there so we went to visit her. I love New York because every section of the city is just a little bit different but it's all still a short trip away.
While we were there we went to see three Broadway shows: The Lion King, Wicked, and Mamma Mia. They were each so different but all fantastic.
As you can see in this picture we had one day of rain, but the weather was beautiful the rest of the time. I hope you recognize this building. Hint: I met some friends there and talked about nothing.

We visited most of the New York touristy things! Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Times Square, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Met, and Central Park. I thought Central Park was so beautiful. I would hang out there if I lived in near it! As you can see we were walking around Central Park on the only rainy day - I must have offended the weather Gods that day.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY COLTER!

July 4th was Colter's 1st Birthday! I sure miss this little guy. Love you Cole!

July 4th!

For the 4th of July, I had dinner at my Grandma and Grandpa's in Heber. Spencer rode his bike without his training wheels for the first time!! (Yea Spencer!!!) By the end of the night he was already riding like a pro. Then we went to Spencer's house in Midway to watch the fireworks. He has the best seats and the best caramel popcorn in town.

Here I am with almost all of my Horner cousins, Dalon, Tom, and Kissy after the fireworks. I can't believe how they've all grown up, but I still have as much fun as ever when I'm with them!

Lake Powell

Colter (my nephew)and Grandpa (my dad)

Amanda and Carson (my nephew)

Carson and Spencer (my cousin)

In the middle of June, my extended family and I spent a week in Lake Powell. It was a blast! (Thanks Nile and Ann!) The best part was that almost everyone was able to be there most of the time. (We missed you E and Steph!) We had good food, the best company, and tons of water-skiing!!

Disneyland

If in California, must go to Disneyland! Fresno is only about 4 hours away from LA, so we flew into LA (much cheaper) and then drove to Fresno and then drove back to LA. That way, we were able to spend Saturday in Disneyland.

Here we are in front of the Peter Pan ride. It was my favorite ride as a child. Now my favorite ride is Space Mountain...and here I am there!!

We had such a great day. The lines weren't too bad and I'd never been to California Adventure before. So now when you all plan your vacations to Disneyland, let me know and I'll come see you!!

Fresno

As you may or may not know I have been accepted to California State University Fresno, otherwise known as Fresno state, in their creative writing MFA program. So my friend Rachel and I went to check it out. According to Wikipedia, Fresno has an approximate population of 480,000 and is the 6th largest city in California. When I got there it was a lot different than I expected. I love the campus. It is very open and green and you enter each classroom from the outside. Here I am in front of the building that houses the English Department.
The campus is in the northeast corner of Fresno and borders on a farming community called Clovis. So the area around the campus is a little bit more rural, has a nice small town feel, and is close to everything I’ll need on a regular basis. (Except I don’t know where the Costco is yet, here’s hoping it’s close!) I’ve been told the Clovis farmer’s market is amazing. You’ll know where to find me on Friday nights!