CRUNCH! and stitches!

**Warning--Nasty pictures below!!**

Read the title and you will have a summary of last week for Pret and me. It was a crazy week and we are glad we have moved on to a different one that has things looking a little better for us.

Last week Pret was stressing about whether to try to take a test on Friday, but in the end decided to wait and study over this week, which is his spring break, and take it instead next Monday. Then, I was stressing because it was parent-teacher conferences and report cards were due and we were really not ready for them. We both had our own agendas and they didn't go together very well, so we really didn't get to spend any time with each other until after 10 p.m. on Thursday.

Ok, now that you are bored of reading without any of the good stuff, I will proceed to explain the title. I managed to make it almost 7 years without an accident. Those of you who have never gotten in one, count yourselves lucky and get knocking on some wood! Thursday morning on my way to work, I was noticing a house that was for sale and wanted to take a closer look. Traffic was already slow as there was a stalled car up ahead of us. As I was trying to examine the backyard of the home through a fence, I noticed that the car in front of me was moving forward. Unfortunately, I didn't notice that it stopped VERY soon after--hence the CRUNCH! (I have determined that the only time "crunch" has a good sound is when you are eating a Nestle Crunch bar (and that's only when you like them, which I don't) or crunchy caramel popcorn (which I really like!) or playing in fallen leaves. Any other time, it usually means something is getting smushed or broken: glasses, toys, important papers, etc.) The two funny things are 1) I hit a newly restored 1967 Mustang with duel exhaust pipes, so it did minimal damage to his car (just a new $100 bumper) and 2) I was literally a block and a half from my house. Pret was really nice about it and we are now trying to decide what to do with our car. It is perfectly drivable, so it just depends on what we want to do about insurance.

Next, Pret's stitches. We volunteered to help out our old singles' ward with a "Mystery Dinner Cruise" on Saturday night. It was held at the Jordan Institute building where we attended church and other activities for over two years. Pret went to go talk to someone out in the hall, but as he opened the door, he noticed it was dark. Thinking he knew the way, he ventured out, mis-stepped, and was seeing stars. He immediately realized he had cut his chin and would need stitches.
Luckily, we were literally across the street from the hospital, so we were there in minutes and had no waiting time before he was admitted. The whole process took about 2 hours and ended with Pret receiving 5 stiches in his chin. He is still swollen and in some pain (the worst being when we make him laugh!!), but luckily as mentioned before, he is on spring break and was called off of work this morning, so he is getting some good rest.

Oh yeah, and I got my ring back, but it was all wrong, so we are waiting, yet again, to have everything just right on my wedding ring. I feel so naked!!

Thus ends our tragic week. Hopefully this week will result in a more positive post.

Pret's Quiz

Here is the quiz about Pret. We both got 100%, so I guess that means it is ok. Good luck!

http://www.quizyourfriends.com/quizpage.php?quizname=070301172843-923131&

A Quiz About Megan

So I am bored at work and don't really feel like going to do anything that I should be doing, so I thought I would make-up this little quiz about myself. Some of them are pretty easy, especially if you have been reading this blog. I will try to get one up about Pret, too, but I wanted to do this for now.

http://www.quizyourfriends.com/quizpage.php?quizname=070301171639-136303&

Pounce

For those of you who are not familiar with the topic of this blog entry, you may know this fast-paced card game by "Nerts" or even some Italian version of the game. It is hard to describe for those who have not experienced the game, so about the closest thing is Skip-Bo mixed with Solitaire, but playing against other people.

I was first introduced to this game in high school by my friend Lauren and her family. They used Rook cards as they provide four different colors/suites without using face cards. So that is how I learned how to play. When we got to BYU, Lauren and I taught it to all of our roommates, who taught it to all of our friends, who taught it to their friends and soon we had a group of about 15-20 people who would get together and play it on Sunday nights. It was crazy fun!

After our freshman year, our group of friends broke-up a little and we didn't have a whole group who would play much, so we maybe played once a month or so. Then, when we were all no longer roommates, we kind of forgot about the game. Then we got together in December and played again for the first time in years. It was the introduction to the game for Pret, and Sarah's husband, Eric, had only played a few times, so it was fun to have them play for the first time. Pret really enjoyed it, so it was on our minds for the next few weeks.

We next played it around New Year's with a group of friends and were able to introduce it to many of them, this time using face cards, as Rook cards were not available. They all enjoyed it and we will have to play it again with them. We were talking about it with my cousin Jordan and his wife Alison as well as my sister and brother-in-law, Shannon and Michael. Jordan and Alison have played a version before as Nerts, but we quickly converted them to our way of playing Pounce as we taught it to Shannon and Michael and we have been getting together monthly since then to play it--forgoing all of the other games on Shannon and Michael's "Wall of Games."

Finally, we got together with some friends, Ariana and Jordan, last week and were planning on playing games. We happened to bring up Pounce, and they were unfamiliar with it by name, but had played the "Italian name" version (sorry I don't remember it...), and we altered our version to play theirs for a bit. We ended up playing much past our bedtimes, but good times were definitely had by all!

Anyway, thus ends my narrative on Pounce, but I hope it doesn't end the fun of playing the game. I am sorry that this is another boring entry with no pictures--I will try to take some the next time we play--maybe even a video of the game in process. (Hopefully we won't have to edit any language or actions--it get to be slightly violent and vulgar. But all words and bad feelings are left at the table.)

95, 96, 97, 98, 99,...100

We made it to the 100th Day of school! The kids have been looking forward to our party since the first day of school, so this was quite an achievement! It is cute when the kids think that either 1) there won't be any more school after this, or 2) that they will be in first grade after today. Unfortunately for me and them, I still have them for another 80 or so days.

We are doing the midterm assessments for the students to give parents an update on where they are in their learning. It is so much fun to see how much the students have learned since the beginning of the year. Some of the kids come in not knowing anything and now they are reading words and sometimes even books! After working with one that I know has made tremendous growth, it almost makes me cry! I love kids.

Speaking of working with kids, I have a new calling for those who don't know. I get to combine two of my greatest loves--kids and music--to be the new Primary Chorister. I am very excited about it, but I have to remember to actually prepare things ahead of time. I like the songs that the kids are learning, and this will hopefully help me learn more families in the ward.

Finally, I have gotten back into reading and it is wonderful! Recently, I have read Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (a non-scary/gruesome book about vampires) and it's sequel New Moon. Also, I am about half-way through The Secret Journal of Brett Colton by Kay Lynn Mangum (a cheesy, but very cute LDS teen fiction book about a girl who finds her older brother's journal after he died 14 years before.)

Pret is just about to take his second test in Pathophysiology. He got an A on the last one (I don't remember whether I told you all about that or not) and we are hoping he does as well on this one.

That is about all for our family. Love to all!

So it's been a while, sorry...

I anxiously check all of the blogs on our list every day to see if there has been an update and am disappointed when there isn't, so I apologize for not updating recently. I really have been trying to do work things during work time (what a novel idea!) and have been busy after school, so I haven't had a lot of time to do some updates.

Pret has started the nursing program with a Pathophysiology Class. It is pretty intense, so they have planned it as a class all by itself. He meets with a study group a couple times a week and then does plenty of studying on the side as well, so we enjoy our time together even more now. He took his first test a week and a half ago and got an A on it, so we are very happy! He is such a dedicated student that he will continue to do well throughout the program!

In school we are approaching the mid-term time so are testing the kids to see if they are improving. I am happy to say that they are all doing very well. I think this is one of my brightest classes overall. It is great to see them actually start to read and comprehend things! They are always cute doing fun things. Here is a picture of them singing their favorite song, "A-Tootie-Ta."



I have been working on a little movie with my students in it, so I will try to get that posted when it is all finished.


We have been to a few different parties over the last few weeks. One was our friends' little girl's first birthday. Cozette was a little tired, but it was cute watching her. They also have a little boy who will be three this month, Ethan. He is a cute boy and is starting to talk in sentences, so it is fun to try to carry on a conversation with him.






Finally, the neighbors came over for a party with their 2-year old girl, Morgan. She talks a storm up and has a perma-smile on her face. She was quite infatuated with Pret, especially when he was pretending to talk on her "phone." Tim, our friend and the father of Cozette and Ethan, got into with Ethan on the floor. It is times like that that Pret really looks forward to being a dad (no announcement intended there...)








Then last night we had an Non-Super Bowl Super Bowl party. Shannon and Michael, Jordan and Alison, and Pret and I don't watch football save BYU/UofU games, so we boycotted the superbowl and just played games and ate treats anyway. It was a lot of fun. We started with a round of "Pirate's Dice involving James and Ben as well. I was a fast looser on that one! For those who play the game "Pounce/Nerts," we are thoroughly addicted. We mixed up teams every round and no one person was able to claim champion. We enjoy our time with them and have decided to start a First Sunday game night tradition. Hopefully they will end a little earlier than last night so I won't be a "First Monday" zombie all the time!

Pret will never grow up!

Now that I know how to do this, I am going crazy. Sorry about all the wind noise. It is still cute to hear them all speaking in Czech.

Photo and video editing at onetruemedia.com

Oh, Go Jump in a Lake, Pret!

This was back in August, but I just barely figured out how to get the video online, so I hope this works!

Photo and video editing at onetruemedia.com

Christmas Pictures

Ok, I finally got my camera back from Pret's car, so here are a few of the pictures of our first Christmas officially together.

We started the holidays with the annual Dahlgren family party. Ricqelle's, our sister-in-law, grandfather had died that week, so Troy, Ricqelle, Riley, and Brynlee were able to join us. It was fun to be with the kids and share in their excitement! Dave also brought his girlfriend Lacey, and it was fun to all be together. Thanks, Riley, for the great butt-shot!












Christmas Eve we ate dinner with Pret's parents again (thanks Dan and Brenda for taking care of us!) I attempted our Roberts Family traditional Christmas Star Jell-o, but it flopped, literally!! Oh well, hopefully I have many Christmases to practice!




Then, it was Christmas morning at our house. Pret knew he was getting Star Wars LEGOS, but I think he was still a little excited...what do you think?

A "Meme" from my cousin...

I got this idea from my cousin, so here goes. The first part is just explaination...

A meme is a unit of cultural information, such as a cultural practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another. The word meme was coined by an evolutionary biologist in 1976. In blogland, a meme is an idea that is shared and passed from blog to blog, such as a question that is posted on one blog and then is somehow answered on other blogs. There are lists of meme's on the web that can be answered by anyone. Here are some websites, among many unlisted ones, that give examples of meme's: Meme's list, The Daily Meme, Friday's feast, The Thursday Threesome, and Unconcious Mutterings.


1. Flip to page 18, paragraph 4 - of the closest book to you, what does it say?
There was only one paragraph on pg. 18, so I went to pg. 19.... "Late in the afternoon of November 26, Carter made a small hole in the doorway. He lit a candle, and put it inside to test the air. Then he made the hole bigger so he could look inside. Carnarvon, who was standing beside him asked anxiously, 'What do you see?'" This is from Tutankhamun: The mystery of the boy king by Zahi Hawass.

2. If you stretch out your left arm as far as possible, what are you touching?
There isn't anything there as I am sitting at my desk at school (it is after school, as I have tried really hard to do school stuff on school time today...). There is a plastic bag filled with stuff for the "house" here and my computer bag sitting on the floor underneath my arm. And of course, my desk is covered with papers.

3. What's the last program you watched on tv?
Man vs. Wild, a show on Discovery about a ex-British special ops guy who gets dropped in the middle of nowhere and has five days to survive and meet up with civilization (a road, a boat, etc.) It is pretty cool!

4. Without looking, guess what time it is?
My guess is about 3:15. (It's 3:20).

5. Except your computer, what can you hear now?
The air cirulation system in the building and a few random voices from people in other rooms, the hall, or kids outside.

6. When was the last time you went outside and what did you do?
If that means stepping more than 2 steps out the door, than this morning for recess duty at 10:15.

7. What are you wearing?
My gray work pants, a pink polo, a scarf and my cream sweater jacket.
.
8. What did you dream about last night?
I don't usually remember my dreams, but I actually do remember last night's because it was so weird!! I dreamt I was back in high school and we were getting ready for a choir concert. It was also around Prom time, so people were asking people and I got asked by a really popular guy (I don't remember who it was) but I didn't really want to say yes to him because I was really hoping a couple other people might ask me (subconsciously, I wanted Pret to, but at the same time, I already knew he was my husband, or at least would be eventually, so I didn't want to go with anyone else...) I woke up before I decided. But for those of you who know who these people are, Kendall Jaussi asked Morgan Olsen and she said yes!! How ironic is that!

9. When was the last time you laughed?
I chuckled about an hour ago at a blog I was reading.

10. What are on the walls of the room you are in right now?
Way too many things to describe. Just try to remember what your kindergarten classroom looked like and let your imagination go wild (for those who haven't seen my classroom...)

11. Have you seen anything strange lately?
Not necessarily strange, but really cute. My students were supposed to be copying down sentences (yes, we do that in Kindergarten.) They were copying, "I like my bike," but instead of the word "bike," there was just a picture. They were supposed to draw the picture and then sound out and spell the word bike. One little girl was trying her best and got the first letter, but the rest is what made me laugh: BMW!

12. What do you think of this Meme?
It is a little long, but fun, too. Different than all the other "chain mail" things I used to get all the time. I always enjoyed, those, though.

13. What's the last film you saw?
That depends. If it is just movie, that would be Rocky IV with Pret yesterday. If it is movie in the theatre, that would be Work and the Glory III. I actually was not a big fan because I think it was the most anti-climactic movie I have ever seen!

14. If you became a multimillionaire, what would you do?
That is a tough question. First, I would pay off our car so we could be debt free. Next, I would buy my mother a Land Rover (or whatever car she would feel most "safe" in, my mother-in-law a Jeep, and any other siblings reliable cars that will hold all their children. Then I would put enough money in our account that we wouldn't have to worry about making all of our bills for the next two years while Pret is in school. Then I would buy a cool house that would last us for a few years. Then I would save enough that Pret and I could go on a mission later in life (about $50,000). Finally, I would pay off debts that our siblings and parents owe and put the rest into savings, with a special savings that can be spent on whatever we want/need whenever we want/need it. I would definitely keep working until we decided we are ready to have kids, then I would start a really awesome pre-school that would be open to anyone, regardless of ability to pay!

15. Tell us something that most people don't know about you?
I had a crush on one of my student's father. He was married and I was single, but I think it was mainly because he reminded me of my brother (not that I have a crush on my brother, but that it was something familiar....)

16. If you could change one thing in this world, without regarding politics or bad guilt - what would it be? That every parent had the opportunity to be involved with every child every day. I feel so sorry for some of my students who have to spend time with only one parent a day due to work schedules, family situations, or lack of concern/involvement. There is such a difference for those who are involved!

17. Do you like dancing? I love it! I used to make up dance routines of all kinds with all of my friends when I was younger. I still love to go to dances. Now, if I only had a husband who would dance with me--he still owes me our wedding dance!

18. George Bush? I try not to get too involved in politics, especially individuals. It is much safer in my families that way.

19. What do you want you children's names to be, boy or girl? I have always love the name Michael and it tends to run in the family. :-) For a girl, I love the name Meggie, but it is too close to my own name, so I figure I will go with Maggie, but no one seems to like Margaret....

20. Would you ever consider living abroad? I plan on it at some point, if for no other reason than to serve a mission. I have lived in Saudi Arabia and New Zealand, my husband in the Czech Republic; so we both have some international living experiences and look forward to it again.

Well, there's a little bit about me. Sorry you don't get both sides of the story...

We're Losers!

Just wanted to drop a note here and say sorry we're such losers and don't have any kind of a cute picture to put up or send out. Getting Pret to take a picture with me is like trying to pull teeth. Maybe we will get some taken over the break and I will get them up after the fact.

Hope everyone is doing well and has a great break. I won't have internet access on a regular basis over the break, so my entries will probably be more sporatic. But I look forward to hearing great updates and fun stories!

Love to all!

Internet Down

Ok, so this will be really quick, but it was a major thing in my life! The last two work days (Friday, Monday), the internet has been down at work/school. You wouldn't think that this would be too big a deal, but you try going four consecutive days without the opportunity to check your email or do the things that you are used to doing on a regular day.

It was really quite interesting because I actually had to find other ways to keep myself busy at school. It was a big wake-up call that I spend way too much time during work doing my own personal stuff. I need to be better about doing school stuff during school time and saving my personal stuff for non-contract time. I am usually here long enough to get everything done, but if I was better about that, I wouldn't have a pile of papers to grade sitting at home in the same place it has been since I took it there almost a week ago (sorry Pret!).

Anyway, I guess it would be a good thing for me if the internet were down all day during school, unless I was actually doing something for school, then I could flip a switch and let myself on. In other words, I have no self-control when it comes to being on-task. I really will try to be better about this and maybe my students will improve and I will have more free-time at home! Let this be a lesson to all (unless you are much more disciplined than I...

Mocking "The Shane Company"

Ok, I assume most of you are familiar with "The Shane Company" and it's radio ads featuring Tom Shane. Well, a few months ago, I heard an add on the radio for "The Scooter Lounge," located in Orem. I laughed the whole way through it as I realized it was totally mocking The Shane Company's ad. I only heard it once or twice, and then it disappeared. Today, I was doing not too much of anything which on lunch and found that if you go to their website, you can listen to the ad from The Scooter Lounge.

Here's what you
1. Go to www.thescooterlounge.com. (I couldn't get the link button to work, or else I would have made it a direct link from here...)
2. On the left of the page, there is a link that says, "Check out our radio spot we did a few months back" with a "here" underneath it; click "here."
3. Laugh away at the creative writing of some people at "The Scooter Lounge."

I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did!!

Christmas Music

I have given in! As I was searching for music to listen to as I cleaned off my desk at school and sat down to update the blog, I saw my list of Christmas music. This includes about 50 songs (about 30 of them being my favorite Mannheim Steamroller selections). I hope that I won't quickly be sick of them, but I will try to keep the ones at home and the ones at school separate so that I don't overkill either group of them.

I am actually kind of proud of myself for holding out until post-Thanksgiving to begin, as opposed to the radio stations (and some insane listeners) who started playing/listening to them on Halloween!! One station said they actually start getting requests for Christmas music in August!! Ok, I realize it is never too early to be in the "Christmas Spirit;" that should be kept all year-round, but come on folks!

I was priviledged to hear Adam Sandler's "Thanksgiving Song" once this year and look forward to hearing his "Hannukah" song a few times. Stand-up people like that amaze me with their talent, and I think he does a good job of helping people recognize Hannukah as one of the December "holidays" instead of focusing solely on Christmas, whether you do that secularly or religiously.

Ok, just another rambling in the life of Megan. I will try to get Pret to put a word or two on here sometime, but don't hold your breath...

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and traveled safely wherever you ventured!

Comments Ready

I have hopefully changed it so people can comment, so comment away... Sorry about not having that going the right way before.

A Good Ending

Ok, after reading my cousins' blog, I realized that I need to acknowledge the wonderful things that my husband does as well.

Last week I had parent-teacher conferences which are very draining, emotionally, physically, and socially (basically working 22 hours in 2 days and trying to act happy about talking to all parents and telling them that their child is wonderful, even if they really are NOT! (Although some really are, so that's not really fair to say.)) Anyway, before we started Round 2 on Thursday, the faculty was enjoying a very good lunch when one of the newly-wed teacher's husband walked in with a huge bouquet of flowers and a kiss. Everyone "ohhed and ahhed" over it, including me, but I know that Pret loves me anyway. I did get him to come and eat a free, very good lunch a little later, but only got a few kisses and nice hugs from him with a promise that we would enjoy our morning off the next day. I was really fine with that, so enjoyed what I got.

When I was finally done (about half an hour behind schedule) I went out to my car exhausted and not looking forward to going to the gym and working out, but definitely looking forward to the dinner that my mother-in-law had cooked for Pret and me (Pret having eaten earlier as he had a meeting to go to before I would be home). As I sat down in the car, I was very pleasantly surprised to see a small, beautiful bouquet of three roses. It was accompanied by a sweet note expressing love and appreciation from my husband. I almost started crying as I realized that he truly is in-tune with my needs and emotions. What a great guy! Hopefully I honor him as much as he does me.

Pictures of our Trip

Well, I was told that our blog would be boring without pictures, so I will try to get a few up. They are not really in an order, sorry. I am also not so familiar with working with the pictures, so sorry about the long display and not having the descriptions more like captions.

The top one is a palace called Cervena Lhota, which literally means "Red House;" fitting, don't you think? This was Pret's favorite place.

The next one down is the coolest "new" castle (Hluboka, outside of Ceske Budejovice) we saw--unfortunately is was only from the outside, but it was amazing!

Under that is the view of Prague Castle from the Charles Bridge. Thanks to Tanya for her photography skills in capturing this beautiful picture (I forgot my camera at the Johnson's the day we went out in Prague... :-( )

Next, we have a picture of where the Berlin Wall ran through Berlin. It was pretty impressive to see this, which is their "memorial" to the wall. We followed the path and also visited "Checkpoint Charlie," the boarder checkplace between American-occupied Berlin and the Soviet-occupied portion. A little further down we also saw one of the the few remaining portions of the wall-pretty powerful!!

Below that, Pret and I posed for a picture below the Hrad (Castle) Konopiste. This was one of the places where Archduke Franz Ferdinand lived and had his huge display of hunting trophies. There was a huge lake that it looked over and we thought it was very picturesque (is that spelled right?)

Finally, this is Jeff and Tanya (our friends and traveling partners) with us and Pret's "Czech Grandma," Babicka Jelinkova. We stayed with her for a couple days and she fed us until we were sick and introduced us to apple tea that is amazing!

Anyway, that is just a sample of the 2500 pictures and short video clips we have. If anyone is interested in more, just let us know. Sorry about the descriptions not being "captioned"--I am still learning how to do all this blogging stuff...

ERASED!!

I almost had a post done with pictures from our trip and I had to shut down my computer before I could save it. Hopefully I will have some time to get one done again, but I at least wanted to have a little bit of something new for you to read.

Life is pretty crazy between visiting with family and friends, getting ready for Halloween, preparing for parent-teacher conferences, and working fulltime!

We are getting excited for the upcoming holidays as we make our Christmas lists and figure out what family gets us when! :-)

That's all as I barely have time to sneak this in! Talk to you later.

He made it!

We just wanted to let everyone know that Pret was accepted to the ICH/SLCC cooperative Nursing Program. With this, he will have tuition paid for with a committment to work for IHC for three years following his graduation. We are very excited for this new adventure to start in January. Most of all, we now know that we will be staying in the SLC area for the next few years and look forward to the opportunitites that will bring.

CONGRATULATIONS PRET!

We're Back!

Ok, so I know that not too many people actually read this, but for those that actually do, we are back and I will hopefully get back into the grove of writing.

For those of you who don't know what I am talking about, Pret and I went on a two week vacation to the Czech Republic. Why the CR, you may ask (as many people have...)? My husband served a mission for our church there, returning three years ago. We decided to save some of our money from our wedding and then I taught summer school so we could go this fall as Pret is not in school. It was amazing. We had the opportunity to go with our friends Jeff and Tanya who have much more experience with world traveling, so that was great. Tanya took her laptop so we could download pictures. This was a great blessing and allowed me to shoot to my hearts content. Unfortunately they are still on Tanya's computer and she is awaiting my last load of pictures, so I don't have any of them to share at this point. I will probably post more than you will care to see, but it will be fun to get them on there.

The CR is full of castles, palaces, and wonderful people! We were able to explore all of them, as well as the beautiful countryside, so had some times we will never forget!

Keep checking back for the chance to see some of our trip through pictures...