Dolly

Ever since Dolly got home from the hospital, (first she had a clot in her leg and we thought she would lose her leg, then she had a mini stroke, then she had fluid in her lungs), poor girl, I have been snapping all sorts of pictures of her. Thank heavens Dolly is doing much better. We are grateful for all the prayers in her behalf. Here are some of those pictures.

Sometimes the floor is just more comfortable.

Dolly agrees.
Picture courtesy of Jason.

Test. From my phone.

June 2011

I think I will just insert the family letter I wrote for this month instead of retyping it up.

Dear Family,

It has been quite a while since I have remembered to write a family letter before receiving one for the month, though the credit must go to mom Manwaring for calling and reminding me. A LOT has happened since the last time I wrote. In fact too much has happened since then to possibly write about... However I will say briefly that I had an amazing experience as a first year teacher, and am working hard to make year number 2 a more organized, and thus less stressful, one. As for June specifically, I can’t imagine a more emotionally draining one.

June started out with the end of the school year. I wouldn’t have believed as a high school student, but it is more work for teachers than it is for students. I am glad to say I survived. I am really grateful for a husband who is an amazing support to me in so many different ways!

June 2 was our 5 year anniversary. It was great to celebrate 5 wonderful years of marriage; however it would have been a lot more fun if I hadn’t had to spend 8 hour of it in department meetings. The next week was 10 hours a day of working to finish up data reports, and compiling an inventory list of things in my classroom. On the 9^th we got to have Nathan, Kendra, and James over for a quick overnight visit while they were on their way to Boise for Nathan to compete in a race. The next evening Jason, Dolly, and I left for our “vacation” in Utah. We left Friday night so we could be there to attend the Mount Timpanogos temple with my little brother who will be leaving on a mission at the end of the summer. That was a really nice experience. I am so proud of David, for living worthily to enter the temple and for choosing to serve the Lord on a mission.

The next week I had 4 long days of conferences. Monday and Tuesday I attended the Nutrition and Food Science conference at BYU. Wednesday and Thursday was full of the Utah Association and Family and Consumer Sciences Conference. This conference was a lot of fun. I got to catch up with a lot of the girls I went to school with, and a few of my favorite professors at the Y. While I really enjoyed networking, four straight days of conferences is really wearing.

I was also busy throughout the week trying to help as much as I could get ready for my little sister’s wedding. It is still weird to think of her as a married woman.  She got married on Friday June 17^th in the Mount Timpanogos temple. While I don’t know her husband (McKell Gomm) as much as I wish I did, he seems to bring out the best in Lindsay, so I am happy for her. The biggest project for me while I was there was to finish altering a bridesmaid dress to be modest. It turned out really cute. I will try to post about it on my blog soon.

Sunday brought with it the first Barney great grandkid’s blessing. After that there was a party in a park to celebrate my uncle, who has since deployed to Afghanistan.

Monday I got spoiled by my parents. They helped me pick out a new phone, and then my mom took me out shopping and bought me a brand new outfit for school. They also made us a wonderful dinner before we left. Pain de Gouda has been a family favorite for years.

Monday night we stayed with Kendra and James and we headed back home to Twin Falls on Tuesday.

We found out just after we got home that one of my small cousins nearly drowned on vacation and my Nana just found out she has breast cancer. Worst of all was Wednesday though.

Wednesday, Dolly started walking really funny. We took her into the Vet, and found out she had thrown a clot in her leg. We were really worried about her. But by Friday we were able to bring her back home. A couple days later she had a stroke. That was a really hard time for us. Dolly is part of our family, and we will always love her. Fortunately, she recovered from that as well. We’ve had some good snuggles with her, but unfortunately she is back in the hospital. She now has some fluid in her lungs. We were hoping that we could enlist your help in praying for her. The doctor says she should be able to come home in a couple of days, but we know the power of prayer can work miracles. Below is a picture of our favorite furry friend.

We love you all, and are so glad June is over!

Nicole, Jason, and Dolly Manwaring

End of School

I finished my first year of teaching and survived! I went to the TFHS graduation, and enjoyed seeing so many of my students graduate. I will miss my students! WE had a great year, with 2 wins at culinary competitions, advising 2 clubs, supervising the student run coffee shop and helping students discover their potential!

Valentine's Day / I turn 24

Growing up I always hated my birthday being on a holiday. No one except my family ever seemed to remember. School birthdays were often filled with awkward "gifts" of extra chocolates that were conveniently in my friends' pockets.

I hate chocolate.

...

Fast forward to this past birthday. Every year I have been married I have had the best birthday ever. This past birthday was no exception. School was fun, but Jason really made this year special. He borrowed a DVD on giving massages. After I got home from school, Jason led me to the bedroom which he had set up like a professional massage parlor, and gave me an hour and 20 minute massage! It was really, really nice.

Moral: I love being married!

I got a Job!

Alright, so most  of you already know this, but I got a teaching job! Remember way back when I posted about my "upcoming" interview at O'Leary Middle School in Twin Falls, ID? Well, that interview went really well. I thought I had the job in the bag. I got a call a couple of days later with an Idaho area code, and I got excited. It was not the principal of O'Leary, but it was a principal. The high school (Twin Falls High School) was also looking for a FACS teacher. I ended up doing a spur of the moment phone-interview with Twin Falls High School. I guess the principal at O'Leary had called the principal at TFHS and told him he should call me. I was not so sure I did very well. I hate phone interviews because you can't tell how the other person is reacting to what you are saying. I thought it was nice that he called, but I wasn't expecting it to go anywhere. They next day I felt like I needed to call the TFHS principal and ask if I could come up and meet him in person. So, I made a second trip up to Idaho. This time by myself! This was the first time I had driven for more than an hour with just myself in the car. The most impressive part is that my car had (well still has) no air conditioning. After meeting with Mr. Allen, the principal, and seeing the FACS classroom, I drove down to Hagerman and spent the night with the Hoffmanns. My cousin Heather and I went looking at houses the next day, (just in case).

The next week I interviewed in Bountiful. I was actually really excited about Bountiful, and had almost forgotten about either Twin Falls school. That afternoon I got a call from O'Leary Middle School, and they turned me down. I was a little let down, but I still needed to hear from other schools, and I was OK with it. A couple of hours later I got a call from the Twin Falls School District offering me the TFHS job! I was overwhelmed! I told them I would think about it and ended the call. I was really waiting to hear back from Bountiful, because it is closer to my parents. They called in the next 20 minutes and turned me down. I was a tiny bit disappointed, but not too much. I called Twin Falls back and accepted. And the rest is history. I have taught the past year at Twin Falls High School. I have learned a lot, laughed a lot, cried a lot, grown several grey hairs, and managed to just barely survive my first year teaching. I can't wait for next year!

Graduation

I guess the place to start is with my graduation from BYU. After 5 long years I have finally done it! Here are a couple of pictures from back then.

Jason's parents came down too, we just didn't get a lot of pictures.
I am a BYU Alum!

Wow. A whole Year!

How pathetic...
I have gone a full year without posting. I don't know where to begin recapping. Let me look through my past posts and I'll get back to you.

Nicole

Tag x 5

Favorite TV Shows:
1: The Simpsons
2: NCIS
3: Project Runway
4: Criminal Minds
5: Stargate SG-1 (yes I know I'm a nerd)

Favorite Foods:
1: Tuna Noodle Casserole
2: Cheesecake
3: Mango
4: Tomato
5: Wendy's Spicy Chicken Sandwich

Favorite Movies:
1: The Three Musketeers
2: Pride and Prejudice (A & E Version)
3: Ratatouille
4: Sense and Sensibility
5: Clue

Pet Peeves:
1: Disorganization
2: The lingering smell of smokers
3: Cupboard doors left open
4: Contention
5: Gum left on the underside of desks

Looking forward to:
1: Jason moving up to Twin Falls with me

2: Teaching!
3: Getting rid of student debt
4: Becoming truly independent
5: The third installment of the Professor Layton games to come out

TAG:
1: Tricia
2: Allison
3: Tawny
4: Ashley

5: Lisa

The 5th of July

Every year Provo throws a huge party centered around the 4th of July. One of the big things they do is the Freedom Festival parade. I have been going to this parade without fail for 20 years! Below are some of the floats that went by.

There were many stake floats that went by. The Wasatch stake did a great job on that temple!

The 4th of July just wouldn't be the same without dad. (And the rest of the family too).

I thought this float was kinda funny. It is the Republican party float.

This was the Tuachn Theatre float showcasing their upcoming Tarzan play.

This float was really cool.

This float is actually my home stake's float. They did a great job! Apparently my family spent one FHE pulling out last year's staples for 3 hours to get ready for this year.

Instead of going home to the traditional Barney nap after the parade, dad and I wandered around Colonial Days, the Freedom Festival and the car show down at the mall. I only took pictures at Colonial days, however, we had a great time all over the place.

This is a member of my home ward, Brother Scheetz. He built that lathe himself!

Of course I had to put this in. I told my dad he needs to make me one of these and one of the lap looms that we saw as well. Wouldn't it be so neat to spin the yarn, weave it, and construct something all yourself?

A tribute to those who have been killed in action this year.

This was in the printing museum. My stake spent several days "transcribing" ancient symbols onto these plates. When we did it they told us to randomly put the symbols on the page, since we did not know what the symbols meant.

This page is very important. Because...

It is the page that I did! (I don't know why Blogger uploaded it sideways, on my computer it's facing the right way). We were told that we could put our initials in the corner at the bottom of the page. This one page took my 4 hours to etch in all of the symbols!

Lesson Learned

So, my mother's birthday snuck up on me (June 12) and I HAD to make a cake. (Of course)! So I rummaged through what I already had in the house and came up with this. I am fairly embarrassed to share these pictures with you, as they are atrocious, but I wanted to share a lesson I learned.

1. The last 3-4 Betty Crocker brand cake mixes that I have made up have been extra crumbly and really hard to work with. I think I'll probably stick to Duncan Hines.(Pillsbury cake mixes also give a difficult texture to work with when icing).

2. DO NOT USE WHIPPED ICING FROM A CAN! I didn't have any powdered sugar, so I could not make my own, so I used the canned stuff. BIG MISTAKE! The texture is impossible to pipe with. It is too sticky to smooth out well, and no matter how much practice you take you will always end up with peaks on your piped letters. It just will not let go of the icing still in the bag.

Lesson learned recap: make your own icing!

Richard and Rachelle came to Provo!

We were so excited to see Richard and Rachelle and girls in the middle of June! It was so neat to see their newest Kayla, she is so pretty. We had everyone over for dinner. (Jason made some great food, of course)! While the adults were talking I dug out some of my boxed up toys. Elisa had fun with my Barbies, and James really loved my DisneyLand Mr. Potato Head.

We also had a lot of fun at the Bean Museum. James was my special buddy. I carried him throughout the museum. We had so much fun. I especially loved it when we would walk up to an animal with big teeth and James would cuddle up against me and hide his face. Here are some of the fun animals we saw:

Every time I see a hippo I am amazed at how big and scary they are.

This little creature made me think of Dolly when see is begging for a treat. (Her ears go all rigid).

This was just scary. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.

I had to put this in since I studied textiles. Angora wool is much sought after for textile products.

My friend James. I thought this picture turned out pretty good considering I had him in one arm, my purse in the other, and trying to take a picture at the same time!

The Job Search Ends

So, I didn't get the position at O'Leary Middle School. However, I did get the job at Twin Falls High School! I am so excited! I had a phone interview the week after Jason and I drove up to Twin Falls for O'Leary, and the next day I decided to call the principal at TFHS and ask if I could come up to meet him face-to-face. I guess that impressed him, because I got a call by the end of the week saying they'd like to hire me.

I had a lot of fun running up to Twin Falls again. That was my first solo road trip (Jason needed to stay home to work). I stayed at the Hoffmann's (my aunt Karen's house) in Hagerman which is about 30 minutes from Twin Falls. (Thanks again guys)!

I will be teaching Teen Living, Adult Roles, Foods and Nutrition 1, and Food Management Skills (which means I will be in charge of supervising the student-run before school cafe). I am a bit nervous for that, but otherwise I am totally excited!

This picture is from when Jason and I went up for the first job at the middle school.

Soccer Cakes with Karissa

My sister-in-law Karissa Garr asked if i would come over and help her decorate soccer cakes for her husband's work. (He works at Heritage School and manages a group of teenage girls who were in a soccer tourney). She needed to make 2 cakes to feed the whole team, so we each decorated one. They turned out great! I need to get this pan so I can make all sorts of fun ball shaped cakes!above: my cake. below: Karissa's cake on the left, mine is on the right.

Karissa and I. We had a lot of fun doing this together! Thanks Karissa!

Another Interview

I have another interview scheduled!

On Monday Jason and I will be driving up to Twin Falls, ID so I can interview with O'Leary Junior High School.

Wish me luck!

Not for the faint of stomach.

This week has been really gross.

Literally really gross.

Unfortunately, Jason and I got food poisoning early this week and it hit us HARD! Monday morning I was up at 3:00am vomiting. I don't think I have ever been in so much pain. :( For 24 hours I was so dizzy I couldn't even sit up for very long. I spent most of the night on the bathroom floor feeling miserable. Jason woke up feeling sick too. Fortunately, he does not vomit so easily, but he was totally miserable too. I think that was the worst part, knowing that he was so sick. I always feel better when I am sick to have a well husband willing to get me whatever I need. We are finally over it, but what a nightmare.

Sorry for publishing this yucky tale, but I felt I needed to get it out of my system, and sometimes writing is the only way.

4 Years ago me and he became we!

On June 2 Jason and I celebrated our 4 year anniversary! It was great! I am so lucky to be married to such a romantic man! Jason surprised me this year with beautiful wall art that I had wanted. Isn't it gorgeous?

We saw it at Tai-Pan Trading in the mall. I love that store! I said I loved it, and Jason remembered and bought it for me 3 weeks later! He also made me something! He made a cute little coupon book with various favors such as "5 free shaves" (he knows I like to kiss him best when he's clean shaven) and "5 free stop playing video games for any reason" (hooray!) and 10 free I'll make whatever you want for dinner" (Ok, so Jason almost always makes dinner, but this is still great)! As i finish each coupon I get another treat, Jason will take me out on a date of my choosing! The best part was that he took the time to make it himself. He used my "Create a Coupon" Stampin' Up! stamp set (retired :( ). He is such a sweet, wonderful man! We went to lunch at Pizza Pie Cafe, one of our favorite places to eat. We decided since this was a special occasion to order their mini monster dessert. It's something of a pazzuki (cookie base, ice cream pizza). It was really good, though it took like 20 minutes to get to our table! The manager came over and apologized for the delay though and she gave us 2 free mini monster coupons! Definitely worth it. The rest of the day we just hung out and had a lot of fun together. We played gin with the new deck of cards that I bought for Jason (we collect playing cards that have different backs on them) and Phase-10 (we play this every so often, but I have only ever won once. I'm surprised this hasn't gotten old after the 4 1/2 years we have known each other, but every time we play I get the feeling that "this will be the time I win." It never is. Oh well... I still have fun! I guess I should tell you what I got for Jason (besides the playing cards). He had to wait until Friday so I could afford it, but he didn't mind. I bought him 2 video games (I went into the store planning on buying just 1, but it was buy 1 get one 1/2 off, how could I resist getting more for my love)? This is what I ended up with.

and

Yes my husband is a nerd. That's part of why I love him so much!

I won't bore you with all the mushy-gushy things I could say in an anniversary post. Just know that we are absolutely, positively in love with one another, and we can't wait for an eternity of more anniversaries.

Another Concert!

This time it was a huge triple header. Kansas opened, and I have to say Dave Ragsdale was AWESOME. I have to say I love any band that incorporates a well played electric violin. So cool!

Foreigner was next to play.

They put on a really great show. This was my first time seeing them live, but I hope it is not my last!

The last to play was my all time favorite band: STYX!

I counted it up. I think this was my 9th STYX concert. They will always be #1 in my book.

The show ended with a bang. Just as STYX ended their last song in the encore, fireworks lit up the sky. Unfortunately, I was rushing away from the fumes of cigarette smoke and beer trying not to be sick, so I didn't get to see much of the fireworks, but still an awesome show!

Thanks again David, I never would have made it to the car without your help!

Insane Puzzle

Last year I went to the UEA (Utah Education Association) conference. The best part of this conference is all of the vendors that sell educational and personal enrichment items. It was hard to restrain myself, but I only bought 1 thing, this crazy puzzle. I am an avid puzzler, but this puzzle was really hard! You have to fit the pieces into a 4x4 square. You can rotate the pieces any way, and you can flip the pieces upside down. I finally found one of the possible solutions.