Can you turn on the lights so I can count my mosquito bites?

This year has started off to a pretty good starts. I am enjoying just teaching sophomores and freshmen. They keep me laughing by the things they say. For example, the other day I had the lights off in the classroom because I was using a Power Point. During the presentation I had the kids work on something, but I kept the lights off since the light switch is in the hallway and you have to use a special key to turn it on and off. One young man came up to me and asked if I could turn the lights on so that he could count his mosquito bites. Pretty random, but that's freshmen for you.

My New Apartment

I recently moved into an apartment in Greeley, CO. I am now about 15 miles south of my school and an hour south of Cheyenne. The commute is definitely a lot better, but I miss Susan's cooking.

My very first walk in closet.

Here is my desk and computer. My family all chipped in to by the parts for this computer and then Owen assembled it for me. Owen also got me the printer.

I actually have been pretty good at making my bed. I think this week I am 6 for 7!

My living room. My friend, Stacie, gave me her old couch and chair. I bought a coffee table, two end tables, and an entertainment center. It is cozy. I have enjoyed unpacking and displaying all my souvenirs from other countries. I call my living room the Museum. Although most of my artifacts are from Germany. I still have a few more things to hang before I open the museum to the public.

I know this shot didn't turn out well, but this gives you the perspective of my living room from the front door. The door in the far right hand corner goes out to a balcony. I have a little storage room off the balcony.

Here is my kitchen, well part of it. I have a little pantry next to the fridge.

Well, if you are ever in Greeley, CO you always have a place to stay.

Snowbird

The foolish man built his house in the ground...

On the way home from work yesterday it was raining so hard that I had to pull off the road a 1.5 miles from home; I just could not see. For those who don't know, I live in my parents basement! Anyway, I came home from work and went down to my room and noticed that water was pouring in from the window well! I called to my butler, a.k.a my dad, and we discovered that rain was coming in the TV room from another window well too. Well, so much for a nice dinner, panic erupted. My dad and I went outside and covered the window wells with plastic, while my grandma and Susan tried to use plastic to divert the water into a bucket instead of the carpet. Finally, the rain stopped and left us with the mess of soaking up the water from the carpet. Thankfully, my dad was able to borrow a wet vac from someone in our ward. Before we got the wet vac we were using towels, which is a very slow process. So, we moved furniture and went over the carpet with the wet vac for about 3 hours and set up fans to try and dry the carpet. We were not the only ones that were affected by the storm. There were several families in the ward that had flooding basements. I must say I am very impressed with how quickly families were called and help was provided by other ward members. At one point I was dumping water off the front patio, when all of a sudden a speeding minivan came to a screeching halt in front of our house. Out jumped a ward member to make sure we were doing okay. I thought my siblings would want to see the pictures since they know what the basement looked like before "the rains came a tumbling down."

My bed use to be underneath the window!

We moved the dresser into the hallway

The Wet Vac "Manna from Heaven"

The TV room

Throughout today, I was constantly reminded of all the blessings that we received during this crisis. For example, I usually kept my books on the window sill, but I had put them in a box a few days before. They would of been ruined. Or, we could of discovered the water much later and had more damage. I am thankful for the Lord's tender mercies.

I told the parents if they were thinking of rearranging furniture, now would be the time :)

Professional Boogie Boarder

Here is a picture of me boogie boarding. It is soooo much fun. It is a neat feeling to have a wave carry you. There are few things that I could do all the time, but boogie boarding is one of them. Well, if the Pacific were warmer!