Happy Birthday To Me

23!

 

Why my birthday was awesome:

1. Matt gave me an array of randomly perfect things that I have been wanting for awhile. You know the little things that you want to buy, but everytime you see it you think, "I'll pick it up next time," or, "I don't really need it," but never pick it up and you totally do need it? Well he bought them for me. All at once. Awesome.

2. My friends at work gave me presents, Kit Kats, and wrote a message on my board telling all of my students they better be nice to me on my birthday. The best part? My students actually followed directions.

3. Matt made me dinner (California rolls and fried rice) and did the dishes.

4. Mom Scott came to visit! Yes, she took me shopping at the outlet malls, but that's not why I was excited to see her. She's so much fun, can't you tell? :) We have really missed spending time with Matt's family. It's been great having her here and we're looking forward to them all coming for Thanksgiving! (2 more months, guys!)

It's going to be a great year.

Thoroughly Inspired

Every now and then I get in these really good moods where I feel thoroughly inspired. I think that's the best word to explain the feeling. Through and through, head to toe, inspired. There are various things that can trigger these feelings of inspiration. An uplifting church meeting, quality time with my husband, a trip to the bookstore, a needed conversation with a friend or family, being impressed by a character in a book/movie/show, delicious food, Boden catalogues, reading a blog, beautiful scenery, the perfect weather . . . I mean, some of this may seem silly, and everyone's "list" will be different, but this is me. You know what I mean? I hope you do. It's all the little things that, together, leave you feeling hope, happiness, and contentment, so strongly that you just feel happy to be alive.

 Now don't get me wrong, my life isn't all sunshine and butterflies. Just a few days ago I was breaking down in tears over a bad day at work. In fact I had broken down at work, not during class, thank heavens, and things definitely didn't seem as bright and shiny as they usually do. I cried all the way home, even. But those moments always pass, and when they do it feels like a breath of fresh air to sit back and be inspired by something. To allow myself to "feel intensely" as my friend Elliot says in her recent blog post.

Here are a few of the things that have inspired me these past few weeks:

My faith. A hymn that is particularly meaningful to me, and the book containing the truths that lay the foundation for my faith and for my life.
"Reverently and Meekly Now"
The Book of Mormon

These blogs inspire me to enjoy every second of my life and to fill it with the things and the people that I love.
Enjoying the Small Things
Eat Live Run
Andrew and Carissa

This short video speaks for itself. Magic.
Ode to Summer by Kinfolk

Planning out my future flower garden

I know this one is weird, but Downton Abbey! Matt calls it my soap opera, and it sort of is, but I love how poised and graceful these women are. I want to carry myself like Lady Cora and Lady Mary do, have the strength and determination of Anna, and the innocence of Daisy . . . you Downton-ers know what I mean :)

Books that uplift and inspire
Fire of the Covenant: The Story of the Willie and Martin Handcart Companies
Cooking for Mr. Latte

From the Ground Up

My Life in France

And, of course, this guy :)

Find something that inspires you. Have a wonderful week!

The Scott's Houston Restaurant Guide

One of the things about Houston that Matt and I were most excited for was the restaurant scene. Don't get me wrong, we loved Cafe Rio and Rancheritos as much as the next person, and the pupusas on Center Street? I think the people who worked there were starting to recognize us. But Provo's selection pales in comparison to what we've found here. Here are a few of our favorites:

Gatlins BBQ: The family who owns the place is so nice and friendly. True Texan hospitality. However, due to the location, this is probably a "be there in broad daylight" kind of place. And you may want to get your food to go rather than leave your car out on the street. . . but the brisket?! Oh my word. And the barbecue sauce?! Get out of town. The ribs?! Words fail me. Yes, it's that good.

Marini's Empanada House: "An empanada is a stuffed bread or pastry baked or fried in many countries in Western Europe, Latin America, and parts of Southeast Asia. The name comes from the Galician, Portuguese and Spanish verb empanar, meaning to wrap or coat in bread." wikipedia.com
Everything delicious, stuffed inside a delicious pastry, fried to perfection. How could you go wrong? The variety at Marini's is incredible, and we've loved every empanada we've tried (been there twice already). They aren't too greasy, and this place even has dessert empanadas. Yahoo!

La Pupusa Loca: "(Salvadoran stuffed masa flatbread) Pupusas are similar to corn tortillas, only thicker and stuffed with cheese, beans or meat. The pupusa originated in El Salvador, but it is also popular in neighboring Honduras. Pupusas are traditionally made by slapping the dough back and forth between greased palms. A tortilla press is quicker and easier for beginners." whats4eats.com

This little hole in the wall place is right by my school. Last year, Matt and I had pupusas at this market in downtown LA and thought we'd never find anything like them again. Hallelujah! We did. And they're cheap. And they're right on my way home. I knew we moved here for a reason :)

Thai Cottage: Once I moved to Utah I realized how spoiled I had been by the abundance of good Thai food in Southern California. But it's ok because now I live by Thai Cottage and I'm spoiled all over again! We went to this place last weekend and I've thought about it every day since. There are at least five more curries that I'm dying to try, and I've been craving a good mango sticky rice for the past two years, so we'll be returning to this place again very soon.

Taco Keto: The "Houston mobile food scene" is supposed to be pretty magnificent. The best trucks park downtown during the weekdays at lunchtime, so it's been hard for us to find any. Until last night, that is, when I stumbled upon Taco Keto on Yelp. This truck parks near University of Houston, and is the best, most authentic, Mexican food that we've had since moving here. We like TexMex as much as the next person, but a person can only take so much queso and sour cream, you know? These were legit, greasy, street tacos topped with nothing but cilantro, lime, and onion. Mmm. City life definitely has it's perks.

So come and visit us! And come hungry. We'll show you a good time :)

*all photos courtesy of yelp.com

Sometimes I wonder about these kiddos...

In my classroom, next to my desk, I put up a collage of some people, books, and works of art, that I think my students should be somewhat familiar with (Van Gogh's "Starry Night," Fahrenheit 451, Martin Luther King, etc.) Yesterday, in the middle of testing, one my students called out, "Miss? Is that a picture of you when you were little?" It took me a moment to realize that she was looking at this picture of Amelia Earhart:

Seriously??? It took all of my composure not to bust out laughing as I calmly replied, "No, that's Amelia Earhart. That picture was probably taken in the 1920s." She thought for a second..."Oh! She's the one who died, right?" Long pause. "Yes. Please finish your test and raise your hand next time if you have a question."

My job is never dull :)

"As long as it gets you there!"

 
The air conditioning in my car went out a couple of weeks ago. I try not to complain too much . . . but come now, it's got to be at least 100 degrees in there! So yesterday I'm sitting at a light and this guy pulls up next to me. His AC was broken too, all his windows were rolled down, and he looked just as hot and sweaty as I was. In any other state we may have nodded or smiled at each other and moved on. However, this isn't any other state. This is Texas. The land of frequent conversations with total strangers. He calls over to me, "girl you lookin' just as hot as I am!"(We're talking temperature of course). We commiserated for a bit, then he flashed a giant smile and said, "as long as it gets you there!" and drove off.

Funny story, especially since I've never had a conversation at a stop light before, but he made me think. Things could be worse. I'm grateful to have a job with a salary, and I'm grateful to have a car that gets me there.

What We've Been Up To

Matt: So after begging Matt to come write his own little blurb, he came over and typed two words, "Medical School," and refused to write anymore. Haha. I guess that pretty much sums it up! He started classes on Monday and is enjoying it so far. It's pretty overwhelming, and it's proving to be just as much work as he thought it would be (if not more), but he's ready to give it all he's got. One of his big classes this semester is anatomy. All of the students are assigned to cadavers in teams of three. Luckily, Matt really likes his team since they'll be spending a lot of time together. This week they began dissecting the back and looking at different muscles and arteries. Honestly it makes me a little queasy, but he's enjoying it and learning a ton.

Sarah: School starts tomorrow! I've been working 10 hour days for the last two weeks going to new teacher trainings, signing paperwork, attending professional development seminars, tech training, STAAR training, meeting with my "team" (the other 10th grade English teachers), creating lesson plans for the first couple weeks, decorating my classroom, and setting up classroom procedures. Phew! I am ready to teach! School is a weird place without any students. I love the other teachers, and I already have some really good friends (love my team!), but I love working with the kids/teenagers. It's going to be hard. Situations will arise that I don't feel equipped to deal with, and I'm curious about how classroom management is going to be. I know that I can do it though, and I feel like I'm going to grow so much as a teacher this year. I'll have lots of stories to tell. Stay posted!

And so it begins . . .

Tonight was Matt's White Coat Ceremony. It was a really cool experience. We were sad that his family couldn't be there, but it was kind of neat to share that together, just the two of us. He walked in with the rest of his class, a brass quintet playing super classy, regal music in the background, and I actually got a little choked up. I loved hearing all of the students repeat the Oath of Hippocrates, and hearing the Ethical Pledge, and watching everyone go through donning their white coats and signing the pledge book. It was very inspiring to see so many people ready and willing to donate their lives to public service. And that was my husband up there!

Matt has worked so hard to get to this point, and he has such a long road ahead. They say that while a typical undergrad course load is 16-20 credits, the required med school course load is the equivalent of 40 credits. Yikes! But he wants to be a doctor anyway. What a champ. He's so excited and ready to get going.  I couldn't be more proud of him. Doesn't he look good in white? :)