The Big Night

I have been very stressed lately because our company was taken over by a foundation.

This is a great thing, I am actually really pleased because our mission and DNA remains the same, we just have more resources behind us now. It was just tough because of all the uncertainty that it brought with it.

I have a new title that has the word "senior" in it. Except no on is really junior to me, so I am not sure what it means. It sounds good, though, right? I am having a hard time saying it, like I feel funny saying "Hi I am SENIOR coach..." It seems like I am trying to say I am important.

Anywho, I kind of led an effort with the ideas behind a campaign to generate buzz Mon-Wed and then Wed evening to let our teachers all know that we have a new name and the structural changes. We were having a couple of bigwiggers (our chairman of the board, the former CEO of AOL and our new CEO of the foundation) I was so nervous that I hardly ate at all for a few days. I think I lost about five pounds this week just from stress. But then I just ate a huge steak and am halfway through a disgusting brownie that I somehow feel obliged to inhale.

Here are some pictures to describe the campaign:

The shirts I designed:




















The plan was to send out some tweets that there were free T-shirts for the first five participants who went to the registration desk. I was super worried about that part because we had just introduced people to our twitter name and I didn't know if people would think the shirts were weird or if they would even want them. OR worse, not follow us. But guess what? First tweet out and they were gone in 4 minutes. Success!

After doing this all day, we had about 100 people wondering around wearing the shirts (about 25% of our conference!) The best part is that they had no idea what they were actually a part of! It kind of got me choked up that people were willing to follow us because they believe in what we are doing in spite of having no idea what we were up to...

Then we had the banquet:


























I didn't catch a pic of it, but we had these little pots with soil and a seed (they were sealed) and they were silver with our new logo on them.

We had a keynote who posed this great question:




















And then we had our two bigwigs. Also, this guy sent in a video because he was busy. Recognize him? Yeah, I know, people are largely ignorant of non-elected politicians:





















Former Secretary of Education, Bill Riley. He probably signed your high school diploma or something. Anyway he said he loves what we do and he is excited to see us scale-up. Like get bigger.

Then here is the little speech I wrote for our team. It was kind of cheesy, starting with a reference to the little seeds and how they were going to grow. Each person was going to start the cheesy part by saying "I am a part of it..." or "are you a part of it..." but then someone had the genius idea of saying "My name is _______ and I am a part of it..." Just adding the name bit was good because then the schools were cheering for the coaches after they said their names.




















I put myself last in case the cues didn't work and I had to ad lib but then I got super emotional and couldn't really put it together quite right. The guy next to me on the end is my former team teacher from three years ago and we just hired him to work full-time with us. He had a line that said "if you look up each one of these balloons represents a student who has graduated from one of our schools... 2000."




















Note the new logo. Then I had a line about how many more students will now have the opportunity to succeed because of this new opportunity. I really stumbled over my words and felt like I ruined it but there really was a lot of high emotion so hopefully no one noticed.

So the cue was for the balloons to drop as soon as I said that and a slide show would roll. The balloons dropped and the slide show started, but the A/V guy at the center didn't cue the music. My big question: So aren't balloon drops kind of rare? And he only had to do one thing!

Gratuitous balloon shot:



















The music finally cued, like 4 minutes later. Lame. BUT afterwards everyone was hugging and crying, at least from our org, and the teachers were really cute. All the brand new teachers (like starting their first year in the fall) were like "I am a part of something!" I had a several teachers say that they were really inspired to go back and continue being a part of it.

I have such an amazing team and I am so thankful for my wonderful job and the opportunity to affect social change.

Sorry for the self-indulgence. It was an amazing evening and I wanted to record it here.

I am now going to go to sleep for 12 hours and then get on a plane back to Utahr. Hope to see peeps in Nevada on Monday or Tuesday and then back home for two days before going up to Norcal.

--From Grand Rapids

Me, this week

Training.

Wish me luck for my big event on Wed.

-From Grand Rapids, MI.

Vail for Lunch!

This was before they started fighting.

She May Look Nice but…

Right before this picture she said to me "Wait you think I am putting
sloppy joes on whole wheat bread? No. We are doing this landee style."

Westin Hotel in Napa

Fancy soap is one of my job perks. You know you're jealous.

Maybe I Should Move to Utah

Because not every state can pull off a baked mac and cheese of this proportion (plate to show scale)...



























have friends who have lived in other neighborhoods with us in other states relocate here...


























hold two temple open houses in the same summer (Mount Oquirrh Temple pictured below)...



























multilingual college friends who are more beautiful than ever after 15 years...



















And provide communal living with our favorite family with the cutest little redhead on the planeta.

























I had some gratuitous haircut photos with sticky hands, a lollipop and little hairs floating around but I have a policy never to post semi-naked pictures of other children here. But believe me, it was cute.

I am always surprised by how much I enjoy it here when I come. Not pictured: Kneaders, Chick Fil A, visit with Freighbor, and 4th of July festivities.

What percentage of our friends from California come to Utah to visit relatives, even those who are not from Utah or have never lived here? Its up there.

The only downside is the high temps. Since I am going to Sacramento tomorrow, I guess I should be prepared for even higher, right? I am going to be at the old house from 2-6 for anyone in the area to stop on by.

Sactown Update and Dilemma

I called to verify my potential renters' claim that they have been faithful in paying timely rent with their current landlord and two things happened:

1) The number for the landlord was disconnected

2) When I called to verify the number (after all she gave it to me in Spañol and my numbers get mixed even in Englisho sometimes) her number was disconnected

So... the last time I talked to this lady I told her that if all went well with the reference we would move her in on Sunday evening (the only day I can be in Sac since I am going to Napa Monday for work). What if she shows up on Sunday? I figure if she has $2000 in hand to pay me deposit and first month's rent, it would be hard to say no to that, right? If she shows with less, then what, I have to be the bouncer?

If she doesn't show, I guess I will cruise the streets looking for a new renter... If you know anyone, here is our posting on Craigslist

BYU Night out

Steve and I decided to go on a little date since we had some free trustworthy sitters here. We started at a cute little Italian ristorante called La Dolce Vita. We really liked it:


























See how much he looks like Gillian?


























I had to show that this is more of his default--the smirk that I love so much. I asked why he was mocking me in every picture but he says he wasn't. I love that smile tho.

Some nice walks down campus lane:



























Look at those flowers! We happened upon not one but TWO teenage dances. One was a dance of the BYU Dance camp. They were not really dancing too much, which is kinda weirdo. We also saw a curtain indicating an "Especially For Youth" dance. The music had a definite BYU flava--"Everybody Dance Now" was on. They did play something by Chris Brown however, so they are sort of updating.


























The Tree of Life statue

























And some classic Honor Code Propaganda:

























And some Varsity Theater Cine

























On the way home we happened upon the Harry Potter line. This was not one of the two others we saw where people were dressed up, so I kind of blew my opportunity, but there was some good stuff here.



























Good times in Provo.

Trying to Trim it Down

I have been trying to go to some Zumba here and there, some hip hop here and there, and do some at-home workout stuff.

Not as consistent as I would like but better than in the past.

The other night I was doing a little youtube workout video with one of those huge exercise balls and the kids came in and were narrating what was happening on the workout vid so I didn't have to strain my neck (to see over them of course.) They would say things like "okay so turn on the other side" "no, straighten up your leg" stuff like that. It was fun and it was a good workout.

I did a 13-minute video and since I was on a roll and the kids were having fun, I looked up another one really quickly and started to get down to business.

It became evident in a matter of seconds that this video was a lot tougher, more ab work and I could barely complete some of the exercises. At one point the kids were like "wow this is really hard!" Then Gillian looked at the very fit blonde girl on the screen and then back at me and said:

"I think.... I think she is too... I think you are too..."

Then she pinched her sides and said "She is too skinny."

That is exactly right Gillian, it isn't me, it is her.

You can see my training on body image is coming along just fine.

Utah Party Life

Sorry, Markie did not accompany us on the bowling trip, he just recommended it. It would have been fun though! Markie did not volunteer up his services as our guide but he was there in spirit.

We have been having fun due to the cool factor of the people that we know here. Interestingly, today we spent most of our day with people from Santa Barbara.

First up, the Allens, some of our favorite people who moved from SB to Albuquerque. Funny that we see them in Utah, I know, but that is one great thing about this place, so many of our friends mecca here regularly enough that there is always someone fun in town.

Here is a pic with my great friend Amanda who just had her fourth. Though unlike me, she actually has her act together and enjoys having an amplified family:






















This evening we went to a baptism and then crashed a family party for the Dornys, our good friends who live in SB. Here is our friend Alexis with her son who is the same age as Bridgers:



























Isn't she adorable? She has five kids, and this is her number 4. He is such a cute kid. Her oldest son who is 17, played the guitar and sang for his grandpa's 64th birthday (When I'm 64 by the Beatles) and Gillian was totally into his guitar playing. She cried when we left because I didn't agree to buy her own little guitar though I did say we would check into it.


























See the little skirt she is wearing? Wrap skirt from Kenya, c. 1978. Steve's oldest sister wore it when they lived in Nairobi. She and Bridge wore matching ones to church today, so cute.

Thursday we will see more SB friends but we hope to get our Utah friends in there somehow. See you soon!

Thanks Markie!

Fun times at the BY.

Happy Birthday Gills!!

My baby is 5 today:







































My third born was a shy little babe...






















And she wanted to be in my arms a lot--she was always the most excited to see me when I got home and wanted me to pick her up.













Her little joyful face brings me so much happiness:


























AND she has a little wild and crazy streak too:





















One of her most famous poses is the shoulder shrug:





















She calls herself "yummins" sometimes and you can see why here:


























It is kind of blurry but this was the first moment in which she saw her baby sister and it still makes me cry when I look at it:


















Her favorite song is from High School Musical Two "I Can't Dance" which is from a scene on a baseball field. Here she is with the bat as a prop dancing like a crazy person:


























I didn't want to have a child at the time when I got pregnant and it was a really hard time when I was expecting her--I was pregnant with her when my mom died and surely some spirit matter crossed in the eternities when Gillian was born to bring with her some of the love of my mother to me.

I love this little girly girl so much and I can't believe I ever imagined a world without her.

Cow Appreciation Day

New Blog (seriously)

As part of the need I feel to stay connected to a broader education community I started an Ed Blog. Hopefully this will prevent boredom from those of you who see my posts and are like wha?

It is linked at the top of my blog here but if you are on google reader you can access it here. I will be reposting a few things that I have already done over here but feel free to comment over there.

And, to finish of the last post (or two since I duplicated) here are a few more pics of our canyon bbq with the in-laws. Good times!

I need to spend more time around campfires and along rivers up canyons. Once Meg is old enough that is...

Rock Climbing Up the Canyon

Pt 1

Rock Climbing Up the Canyon pt 1

Bring a Random Relative to Remodel Day

Okay quick catch up post on the house in Sac...

My cousin, who I have only seen a few times since high school, was available to help us fix up the house to make it available to some new renters we are going to be welcoming on the 19th of July. The previous tenants we asked to move out since they were delinquent for the 3rd time and surprisingly, not only did they leave but they cleaned it very well. The walls were in bad shape-o and they had a few holes in the doors, etc. (and they drove into the garage and knocked it off the runner) but the house was clean.

Some weirdo stuff about the house includes a very ugly bathroom situation in which the walls were caving in around the faucet. I was going to get rid of the tub and refit the whole thing with a surround wall, etc. but my cousin said it would be way easier to just tile it up--so we did! Here is my cuz:


























And here is the bathroom torn apart:













































Here he is putting up the tile:





















And the completed tile:














































The amateur paint job that would have taken us another week if it hadn't been for the paint sprayer my cousin loaned us.... here are the befores:






































































































And the afters:





















































































You can't really tell here, but believe me, it looks WAY better. Then I have to give a shoutout to my floors. The original hardwood is in the house, which I assume you can tell by the pictures, but in the kitchen and dining room we had a friend of ours replace the very ugly linoleum with vinyl laminate when we first moved in five years ago. The laminate brand is Wilsonart and he really pushed us to go with that even though it was more expensive because he felt the quality was so much better. We stretched our budget but did it and it was soo worth it. Of course I have nothing to compare it with but check out this situation... spilled paint, streaked all over the place:


























After about 2 minutes with a scratchy green 3M sponge:


























Gone!!! It looks brand new. Also note the indoor grill in our dining room. It was one of the features that sold me on the house, that we could Q in the winter. And we did.

After being in the house we missed it so much we wanted to move back. My cousin said we should tear down the bonus room because the wood underneath is damaged due to poor construction (it was done without a permit and the construction is really crappy apparently) and we were sad about that because we really fixed up the bonus room and made it liveable, but he fixed it enough to last another couple of years and then we will see what we decide.

We are considering moving back in a year while Steve works on his dissertation but if we have great renters we might just stay by the beach. Here is the outside with our beautiful tree. And our fixed garage door: