G-L-A-M-O-R-O-U-S

"We flyin first class up in the sky. We flyin first class livin the life"

Fergi couldn't have said it better herself. Today I flew to Miami via first class. My dad used his frequent flyer miles to fly me to florida for my cruise as a birthday gift. He surprised me by upgrading me to a first class seat. Now, first class has always been a mystery to me. What goes on up there that I don't know about? What am I missing out on? Well, today I found out. Flying coach will never be the same for me again.

1. BIG SEATS! Ahhh, nice comfy leather (pleather?) seats.
2. Our drinks were served in nice glassware (not those cheap plastic cups the rest of the plane gets)
3. They served us breakfast (omlette, biscuit, hashbrowns) and lunch (salmon and salad)!
Each meal was served individually with linens and silverware!
4. After lunch, they delivered a nice warm chewy chocolate chip cookie.
5. They really do bring hot towels around. Special thanks to Adam Sandler for his spectacular acting in wedding singer, otherwise I would have never known what to do with it! (and the towels are actually HOT, not warm, HOT!)
6. The flight attendants (FA) treat you like ROYALTY! Case in point, the FA dropped my neighbor's used hot towel in my lap and she was mortified. She kept apologizing. (I bet if I was in coach, she would have just laughed...) I told her it was no big deal...far worse things happen to me everyday in my line of work.
7. LEG ROOM! For the first time, I didn't have to dangle my feet into the aisle in order to make room for my legs. I was in pure awe.

There's many more amazing things about first class, but I'll just stop while I'm ahead.
Thanks, dad!

It's Summertime!

I finished my fourth year teaching today. I am still in denial that i've been teaching that long. We had a fun end of the year class party. I was in denial that it was actually the end of the year...and then it hit me after all my students left and I was cleaning my classroom.

Ok, I admit it. I made it through the whole party without crying (got choked up, but no tears...). Then the water works started when I was cleaning.

Parting really is such sweet sorrow.

the end is near...

today is my last full day teaching. After tomorrow, i will have completed 4 years of teaching. Does that boggle anyone else besides me? My staff and I were reminiscing about this year and just how wonderful our students are. We were all contemplating about where they would be in 15 years or so, which ensued this conversation...

Me: "Hey, Ethan, are you going to go to BYU?"
Ethan: "NO! I'm not 18 yet! I'm only 6! You have to be 18 first, Miss Bell."

silly me! I love how literal they are. I'm also glad to see that his parents are prepping him for college already. What a great year!

where life leads...

I never would have guessed ten years ago that I would some day be a guest speaker at BYU lecturing on how to potty train. That's what I did today. Who woulda thought!

I'm pretty sure that when I have kids, God is going to bless me with babies that are born potty trained as a blessing for all the potty training I've done in just a few short years. My future husband will thank me. :)

My KILLER Birthday Party

It's about time I blogged about my killer birthday party!

Natalie made me a killer better than sex cake for my birthday. So many candles!

Makin' a killer wish!

My killer present! Careful when you walk through the door...you just might get a dart!

Jon, my amazing friend and killer photographer! :)

adult time-outs

So last week, we talked about community helpers in my class. We had the students list different community helpers that they knew. Some answers were: Firefighters, teachers, mailman, bakers, etc. Now, when you asked an open ended question, you are bound to get some interesting conversations...such as this one...

student 1: "POLICEMEN! They put bad people in jail!" (Yes, laura, this was your child)
student 2: "What's jail?"
Miss Zani (hesitanting): "well, ummm...jail is like a time out, for adults."
student 1: "Yeah, if you're really bad, you go to jail!"
student 2: "how long do you go to jail for?"
Miss Bell: (muttering...) "About 25-life..."

We quickly changed the topic, as our students can tend to get fixated on subjects, and well, jail was one that I didn't want to have talk about for the next 2 weeks; however, I bet you can guess what my students are playing at recess.

Yep, "policeman and bad guys"

what a weekend!

This has been such a FUN weekend. Everything was spontaneous and random!

Friday night: my friend, Matt, called and invited me to dinner. We went to Old Spaghetti Factory (after realizing there was 1 1/2 hour wait at tucanos.) Then rented Kite Runner. Good, but deep, movie.

Saturday: Wonderful workout at the gym. Then my friend, Cassie, invited me to go up to the Gateway to go shopping. Then we met up with more friends and ate way too much chips and salsa and went to see Indiana Jones. Any movie with Shia is amazing in my eyes.

Sunday: Sat through a meeting for an hour with a member of the bishopric and two other girls. He proceeded to tell us how we are his favorites and if he were younger, he'd propose to us in a second. (Awkward!) The Haitian received his patriarchal blessing. I was honored that he asked me to take him and sit in and listen to his blessing. I feel so blessed to be a part of his life, watching him continue to grow in the gospel. He's such an amazing example to me!

Tomorrow: NO SCHOOL! As much as I LOVE and ADORE my class, I could always go for a long weekend.

Weekends like this just make me smile. It's the simple things in life and the dear friendship I make that I absolutely cherish.

oh, and five more days till I cruise the caribbean. Pretty sure life doesn't get any better than this.

Church is True

Today is Sacrament Meeting, we had the high councilman and his wife speak about endurance. The wife spoke first, and for twenty minutes, she shared different stories about cats and kittens. Then at the very end, she said, this relates because pets make us have endurance.

What did I learn? Ummm....don't have a cat.

*I don't think I've seen a congregation texting more than I have today.*

Fishin'

I took my students on a field trip to go fishing today. Talk about hilarious! My kiddos were so excited to pull their fish out of the water and take it home. I'm sure some of their parents were more than thrilled to have a dead fish brought home as well (you can't hear it but there is definite sarcasm in my voice...)

The day was just gorgeous. Perfect weather! My students (for the most part) were on their best behavior. We fished, we barbecued, we played. It felt like a Friday....and then I got back to school and saw how much work I still have to do and was slapped back into reality. Nope, it's only Tuesday. (Still a great day though...)

Bonfire to the Extreme

Saturday, me and the gals, Kristy, Kellyanne, and Jennie, went to a crazy bonfire. When Kellyanne invited me, I thought, "Sweet! I could go for a smore!" As it turned out, it was your typical bonfire. It was the "3 truck fulls of pallets" kind of bonfire. Then to top it off , the guys we were with brought tons of mini propane tanks and guns. They proceeded to throw the propane into the fire and shoot it, causing a mass explosion. Hence, it was a bonfire to the extreme...and I didn't get to make a smore.Yes, we look like we are devils burning in the fire. What! It was a big fire!

I shot this sweet gun! I actually hit my target. It was awesome!

Kellyanne and I warming our tooshies by the fire.

*Word to the wise...if you ever go to a 'bonfire to the extreme,' don't tell your mom. I learned the hard way. She banned me from hanging out those boys, until she realized she couldn't because I'm considered an adult now, even if I choose not to act like it.

Novel Search

With summer (and a cruise) approaching, I am on the hunt for some good novels. Does any one have a book or an author that they absolutely love? I'm in the mood for some light reading.

Holla Atcha Girl!

Tonight I went out with my girls, Melissa and Karissa. We have lots of great memories together...starting with me supervising them during their special education summer practicum. I half jokingly said on the last day of the program "Hey does anyone want to drive to CA today?" Mel and Karissa looked at each other and said, "Why not?" The girls in their class thought they were crazy for going on vacation with their supervisor...so did I. (oh, and that's my brother, Matt, who is cuddling up to me...yeah, we keep it in the family)

It was the start to a beautiful relationship...one field with many laughs and inside jokes...(don't even get me started).

So Karissa is going to be moving to good old CA in a month (ironically 15 minutes away from where I grew up.) We decided to have one last hurrah before she left P-Town. Girls night consisted of us going to do a session at the Temple and then going to dinner at Applebee's.

I must say, we've come along way from where we first started; memorizing the words to 'Promiscuous' by Nelly Furtado to a girls temple night. How did THAT happen?Karissa, Melissa, and I
(Thanks for the pic, Karissa!)

FHE Activity Part 2

Tonight we had FHE at my bishop's house. He's a counselor at BYU and pretty much amazing! Tonight we had a lesson on effective communication, which taught us how to use "I" statements instead of "you" statements.

So instead of saying "You are a JERK!" you should say, "I think you are a jerk." I'll have to remember that....

FHE Activity Part 1

I showered right after work, blow dried and straightened my hair (which means I wasn't planning on having to do it again for at least 2 more days) and then went to FHE where we had a bonfire.

Yep, pretty much I wasted time and water.

I'm gonna go shower now (again...)

Forgetfulness

I completely spaced it and I forgot to take my phone to work today. I actually remembered as I was at the gym this morning, and I thought about going back home to grab it before heading up to work, but I thought, "Naw, I can go a few hours with out it."

Apparently, I can't. It's been torturous. I never realized how much I rely on my phone! I use it as my watch so I know when to line my kiddos up from recess. I use it as an alarm clock to remember to get my kiddos off the bus. I use it as a calendar to schedule important events, and of course, to randomly text when necessary. I feel so naked without it!

My poor lonely LG is sitting on my bed. I bet it misses me as much as I miss it.

I'm so pathetic...it was only 3 years ago that I managed just fine without a cell. Oh how times have changed.

talk about good service

In the previous post, I described my night on the town with my nephew, Ryan. I didn't mention, however, about the waiter we had at Chili's. He was so good, I'm dedicating an entire post to him. When I told him we were out celebrating Ryan's birthday, he brought us a free appetizer before our meal came, AND free dessert afterwards. Then to top it all off, I had two free kids meal coupons. This is what I learned...

Appetizer: free
2 kids meals: free
1 adult meal: $8.99
drinks: $1.98
Dessert: Free
Batting your eyes and smiling at the waiter: Priceless

*needless to say, this waiter got a VERY large tip

My Hot Date!

My one and only nephew, Ryan, just turned 7 a couple weeks ago. For his gift, I gave him a card, which said I would take him and a friend out to dinner and a movie. When he read the card, he exclaimed, "Oh my gosh, I am freaking out right now, I am FREAKING OUT!" Apparently, it was a great gift.

So tonight was the night of the big date. He brought his friend, Brayden, along. We went to see "Nim's Island" and then went to Chili's afterwards for dinner. Here are some of my favorite quotes from the night.

Me: "I'm taking my class on a field trip to go fishing!"
Ryan: "That's....unusual..." (Not the response I was expecting to get)

Ryan: "My favorite part of the movie is when they were texting back and forth on the computer. (It's a movie about a girl and her adventures on a deserted island...there's one time that shows IMing...of course that was his favorite part...)

Ryan: "I like all my classmates but one. He's so rude. He farts a lot and doesn't say excuse me...and I have to sit next to him!"

Me: "So, Ry, did you have fun tonight."
Ryan: "Yes! I think this should become a family tradition."
Me: "Yeah, except next time, you're paying."

Ry, you are one of the best dates ever! Love ya, kiddo!