wanted...

...any of the men in this video.

Tiffany’s really is the key to my heart. I decided to sell my “tainted with Tyler’s love” Tiffany’s necklaces and buy myself a new one for Christmas. I love the heart ones, but feel like heart jewelry should come from someone else... I want to buy something simple, yet beautiful. Any suggestions?

untitled

November brought a lot of stress and homesickness. As soon as December 1st rolled around, things are already looking up! Here are a few things that are filling my heart with cheer this month!

Christmas lights. My favorite thing about Rexburg is the twinkling lights covering the trees up and down Main Street. It is SO beautiful! I also love going for drives to see the lights on all the houses.

Forgotten Carols. Last night I went to the Forgotten Carols for the 5th time. I almost didn't go, but I am so glad I did. I absolutely love it. It really helps get me into the Christmas spirit. I love the message and the music. I especially love Jordan Bluth’s voice and bought his Christmas cd at Deseret book tonight… along with Florence’s chocolate caramels, of course!

Jeff McLean is my all time favorite Forgotten Carols singer. He’s the one in this video singing one of my favorite Carols. It seriously gives me chills when they perform. And it takes every ounce of my strength to not stand up and start singing along with them.

Candles. I love candles all year long. But, the sweet Christmas scents are my favorite. I bought a new one this year called “Santa’s Treats”. I love how it tricks people into thinking I’m baking delicious treats…

The Nutcracker. One of the perks of being a teacher is the free field trips. The first and second grade classes are all going to the Nutcracker Ballet on Tuesday. I am so excited, I can hardly stand it! I have never seen it, but am really eager to watch it. We are dressing up in our nicest clothes to go enjoy the performance.

The Messiah. Next weekend I am going to the Messiah sing-along at BYU-I. Another event I am SO excited for! When I was in choir we sang some of the Messiah songs and I just love them.

Home. I will be home in 18 days!!!

Family

Ally

Gracie

I can’t wait for Christmas when I can see my fantastic family again! I hate living so far from all of them. I had a horrible week, culminating with the worst day ever yesterday. My parents were on vacation, so I couldn’t talk to them. I am so grateful for my WONDERFUL friends who are always willing to help and talk. My parents came home today and I spent about 4 hours talking to them and other members of my family. I just love my family so much and can’t believe I live in a different country than them. I am crazy! I am seriously counting down the days (maybe we’ll start with months at this point...) until I can move back.

Thanks for the pictures, Ave!

Yes, I am.

First of all, I can’t believe I actually signed up, paid for, and went to an event where I had to make a craft. I am so not crafty. I would much rather spend the money on a completed-by-someone-else craft. But I am so impressed with my amount of craftiness! My friend, Emily, and I went to my ward’s enrichment day. We both made these signs.


I am so glad I brought her! Not only was she great company, but she helped make a nice color. The only options for paint were fire engine red, black, or bright green. So we mixed the red and black to make this nice burgundy color. I really like the way it turned out. We painted around the edges with black, and then sanded them down. I would almost pay money for this craft. Almost...

chaos

This is what my table looks like right now. I am too embarrassed to show you the rest of my apartment. It is so hard for me to have a messy, cluttered home. I used to be so on top of things and organized. My classroom is one big pile of piles. I have been frantically getting 6,852 tests given and graded before the end of the trimester (which is today). Now I have two “work days” which really means one full day of meetings, and one day to clean up my mess, do report cards, finish my statistics, and plan for next week. That just isn’t possible. I’m so upset and frustrated by how crazy this semester has been. I used to be the teacher who would have everything clean, organized, and ready to go by the time 3:45 rolled around. I never stayed late, and NEVER went in on weekends. This semester I have had several late nights, and have gone in almost every weekend. And I still feel so behind. Everyday feels like a Friday in May. Wild, chaotic, loud, tired, etc. If I want to look on the brightside… I am learning how to ask and accept help. I realized I simply can’t do everything by myself. I have relinquished my control (against my will). I am so grateful for friends and parents (of the children I teach) helping in SO many ways. I don’t think I could function on my own. I hope it gets more manageable in January. Then hopefully my life can be simple again. Like how my table should look on a daily basis.


Instead of when I clean it up at midnight.

Go Stella!

Do I love the Twilight books? Yes.

Do I love the Twilight movies? Not even close.

Did I just buy my tickets for New Moon? Yes.

Did I buy them simply because my friends are going, and I do whatever my friends do? Of course.

Would I rather watch Firelight? Oh yes!

Dear Carrie,

Thank you for writing such a remarkable album. Play On is filled with so many deep and meaningful songs. It seems like you took the words right out of my head for the song, “Undo It”. You’re right, it is a mean song, but sometimes I have mean thoughts. I have been told that's okay. “Quitter” gives me hope that there is someone, somewhere (maybe in Brittany’s matchmaking books...) that will change my views on love. :) Carrie, you help me remember my one true love... country music. For that, I am ever grateful.

Sincerely,
Your number one fan,

You Rock, Taylor...

This is why I love her. Oh, and not to mention her amazing songs! Have you heard her new songs released on Fearless (Platinum Edition)?! They are absolutely incredible!

Tis the Season

If you were to ask me what my favorite thing about the holidays is, I wouldn’t say the beautiful snow falling from the sky as children happily build their clever little snowmen. I wouldn’t say a marvelously decorated Christmas tree with presents pouring out from below. I wouldn’t say watching the magnificent Forgotten Carols in Idaho Falls. I wouldn’t say the feeling of warmth and love that comes each Christmas season. I wouldn’t say the two short weeks off from work. I wouldn’t say the lights which brighten up Main Street. I wouldn’t even say spending time with my wonderful family that all live so SO far away! Nope. All of these would be on my list, but definitely not the top. I would say my favorite thing about the holidays is:




And yes, I ate an entire box in just a few short hours. Don’t judge me.

Happy Halloween!

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Good times...

Had a blast tonight hanging out with her:



Eating this:


And this:

Watching this:

And loving on him:

Pictures stolen from Michelle's blog...

Crazy Hair Day

Did you just ask me to do drugs??

I will NOT do drugs!!

I can be anything I want to be when I am drug free!

This is such a powerful message, and one that I needed to hear today. Enjoy.

Saturday is a Special Day

Sleep in.
Work out.
Tan.
Shower.
Clean.
Laundry.
Friends.
Read.
Sleep.

Oh how I miss the lazy Saturday.
I wish I had more of them.
But I will surely pay for it this coming week...

What time is it?

Giveaway time!

Want to win this?

Check out Just Cook Already.

And while you're there, find a new and delicious recipe to try!

How Firm a Foundation

I found out my ex is dating someone. True, it has been six months since we split up and he was most likely checked out way before that, but still! It just isn’t fair! I was supposed to be the winner in this whole relationship battle. And maybe I still am. I do have the education, job, looks, spirituality, etc. over him. Needless to say, that brought me back to crying. Oh I just wish there was a way to close the gate on my tears! I never used to be a crier, but lately, I can’t seem to stop. Now don’t think I am a depressed bag of mess, because I’m really not. I truly am happy with everything I’m doing. It just sucks to hear about him moving on. (Although I did hear that he looked like he had really let himself go, and she was ugly, so that makes me happier!)

The primary presented sacrament meeting today. It was so sweet, and something I really needed. My Bishop started the meeting by asking us to truly listen to what the children had to teach us, instead of just thinking, “oh how cute”. I really appreciated that comment. So naturally I teared up after a few of them said such simple and powerful things like “Heavenly Father loves me.” and “He hears and answers my prayers.” It made me realize that I am doing everything right and that if I just have enough faith, wonderful things will happen for me. I just wish I didn’t have to wait so long! For the closing song we sang, “How Firm a Foundation”. I bawled during the last verse:

“Fear not, I am with thee, oh, be not dismayed,
For I am thy God, and will still give thee aid;
I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,
Upheld by My righteous, Upheld by My righteous,
Upheld by My righteous omnipotent hand.”

What an amazing message! I’m so glad I have a day each week to be uplifted and inspired. With my busy and crazy weeks, I often lose focus on what is truly important. I’m so grateful for Sundays!

good times

I spent the week with my bff Emily. Her husband was out of town, so I stayed at her house for a few nights. We had the best time! We painted nails, ate delicious food, shopped, watched tv, and stayed up WAY TOO LATE talking and laughing. It was just like when we were roommates in college. Oh I miss those days!

This picture was taken when we were roommates in 2002. Before I learned how to tame my wild hair!

I GOT AN A ON MY STATISTICS TEST!

Going Public

“Going Private” is what most people do,
But for me, “Going Public” is what is true.
Signing in has been difficult for just a few.
(And mom, I am not only talking about you.)
For those of you for whom blogging is new,
Now, a bit of my life you can more easily view...

Things I Learned From My Parents Visit:

1. My pictures were hung too high. So we re-hung all my pictures and added the new ones from Tai Pan.

2. My parents not-so-secretly like Friends. All those years of saying, “You shouldn’t be watching this. It is so inappropriate.” have transformed into “Let’s watch some more Friends!” followed by hours of laughter!

3. My dad is a great business man and my mom gets what she wants. We decided to make a trade – they got my wedding ring and I got the rest of my tuition paid for. So we went to the jeweler and got my 1 carat diamond put into a new and BEAUTIFUL setting for my mom. She never had a really gorgeous and fancy ring, so she was really happy to get this:


4. My mom still has great shopping skills. She has endurance (7 hours of shopping) and the ability to find great deals (4 shirts + 2 pairs of pants = $50).

5. My dad is an astounding handyman. Just to name a few of the jobs he did for me: he showed me how to empty and clean the vacuum, fixed a leaky sink, and tightened my table legs.

6. My parents are incredibly grandbaby hungry. When Blaine, Michelle, and new baby Max came over, I didn’t even get a chance to hold him! My parents hogged him the whole time. I guess it’s a good thing I only live about a block away from them, and can hold him whenever I want!


7. As I get older, I realize I love my parents more and more. Christmas won’t come soon enough...

Well I am back by popular demand! (Thanks for your interest Pam!) I have a lot to update you with. So grab a cup of hot cocoa, curl up in your computer chair, and enjoy!

The Reason I’m So Busy

Fall Into Books

Birthday

Singing at Barnes and Noble

PS I know the pictures are terrible. My camera is broken, so I'm using my not so wonderful phone.

The Reason I’m So Busy

When I wake up in the morning I wish I could say,
“What fun activity can I do today?”
Unfortunately I often say with dismay,
“What fun activity must I skip today?”
My days have been filled with two types of school,
And it is a very good thing I think they are cool.
I love teaching first grade from eight until three,
But I wish after that I could be free.
Instead I go from study group to class,
In hopes that my Statistics class I do pass.
When I get home a little after eight,
I force myself to the gym to keep losing weight.
By then time I get home it’s after ten,
And I have to prepare to do it all over again.

Singing at Barnes and Noble

My school decided to have a Book Fair at Barnes and Noble this year. A percentage of each purchase went towards new books for our library. From 1:00 to 5:00 classes presented and sang. I was worried, because only half of the kids in mine and Mrs. Brown’s class showed up, but they sang THE BEST! The kids were super cute! And I heard our school made close to $1000, which is amazing! Thanks to Brittany and Kimber for the pictures I stole!







Oh, and Arthur showed up for a visit. Of course I got my picture taken with him!

Birthday

I turned 25 this year, and was not happy about it. Luckily it turned out to be a great day, thanks to my wonderful friends! I started out having to take the day off to go to court for my name change. Once that was finished, I got my new driver’s license and bank cards. For the record, I am officially Janae VAN ORMAN. And it feels so good...

Ok, back to the birthday. After that, Jessica and I went and got pedicures and lunch. Then I spent the rest of the afternoon with Michelle, and the best present of all – Max!

Max Blaine Watkins was born on my birthday!

Emily, Jessica, Georgia, and I went out to dinner at Jaker’s and spent the whole night laughing, talking, and having a great time. The next night I went to Jessica’s and ate the most delicious chocolate ice-cream cake in the entire world! Just talking about it makes me salivate...

I’ve decided 25 is going to be the best year of my life. I am going to keep getting thinner, prettier, happier, smarter, wealthier... It may have some difficult days, but I am going to LOVE it!

Fall Into Books

"Books fall open, you fall in, delighted where you've never been; hear voices not once heard before, reach world on world through door on door; find unexpected keys to things locked up beyond imaginings. What might you be, perhaps become, because one book is somewhere? Some wise delver into wisdom, wit, and wherewithal has written it. True books will venture, dare you out, whisper secrets, maybe shout across the gloom to you in need, who hanker for a book to read."

~David McCord

I once again went to the Literacy conference here in Rexburg. I loved it. The Keynotes this year were Lois Lowry and Eric Rohmann. I love it from a teacher’s and an author’s point of view. I desperately want to write and publish children’s books. I have two that I have written and am working on getting published. That is my dream. At the conference last year an author, Sam Beeson, spoke about how he wrote a poem a day. I thought this was too hefty for me, so I made a goal of one poem each week. I did pretty well with that, until recently. But don’t worry; I am getting back on the poem train. He also created GrammarPunk, which helps with creative writing. I will be breaking out my GrammarPunk for new, creative poems in the future. So stay tuned!

I really wish I had time to read for pleasure...

...and to write more creative blogs.

Tag

Yes, this is happening. For lack of anything else to say. Deal with it.

1. What time did you get up this morning? 5:40 a.m.

2. How do you like your steak? medium well

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? either The Proposal or Land of the Lost

4. What is your favorite TV show? Friends

5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? California... or anywhere warm.

6. What did you have for breakfast? chocolate/banana WellnessPro shake

7. What is your favorite cuisine? whatever I’m in the mood for

8. What foods do you dislike? fish, and most vegetables

9. Favorite Place to Eat? I can’t pick

10. Favorite dressing? ranch and caesar

11. What kind of vehicle do you drive? honda accord

12. What are your favorite clothes? sweats

13. Where would you visit if you had the chance? Hawaii

14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full? both

15. Where would you want to retire? who knows?

16. Favorite time of day? anytime that I don’t have work to do

17. Where were you born? Raymond, Alberta

18. What is your favorite sport to watch? none

19. Who do you think will not tag you back? I don’t know/care

20. Person you expect to tag you back first? see 19

21. Who are you most curious about their responses to this? see 19

22. Bird watcher? why would anyone want to watch birds?

23. Are you a morning person or a night person? I’m an 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. person

24. Do you have any pets? just an imaginary shi tzu named ki su ling II...

25. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share? Michelle WILL have her baby tomorrow… I just KNOW it!

26. What did you want to be when you were little? a teacher

27. What is your best childhood memory? Oh so so many to choose from! I’ll pick when I was suspended from school and my dad took me home, locked me in the garage, and went back to work. That was an awful day at the time, but absolutely hilarious now!

28. Are you a cat or dog person? dog

29. Are you married? no

30. Always wear your seat belt? sure

31. Been in a car accident? yes, because I am a terrible driver

32. Any pet peeves? too many to list, but after tonight I am adding this one to my list: People who don’t tie up their three dogs and let them chase (and bark and growl) after two sweet girls who are just trying to go for a leisurely walk!

33. Favorite Pizza Toppings? barbecue chicken

34. Favorite Flower? daisies, tulips, lilies, roses...

35. Favorite ice cream? anything chocolate

36. Favorite fast food restaurant? I don’t know... but my favorite fast food? hands down hot dogs!

37. How many times did you fail your driver's test? surprisingly, not once

38. From whom did you get your last email? Averley

39. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? So tough, because my credit card has a minuscule limit… probably Ricki’s or Tai Pan

40. Do anything spontaneous lately? No time for spontaneity, but I did buy zebra print flats. That was pretty spontaneous.

41. Like your job? 100% yes yes yes Especially this year — I have the BEST class!

42. Broccoli? Cucumber? cucumber

43. What was your favorite vacation? Despite the fact that it was for my honeymoon and I am still very bitter towards certain people… our cruise to Mexico! But on the days that brings too much negativity, I pick Disneyland when I was 10 (or 12?).

44. Last person you went out to dinner with? Jessica

45. What are you listening to right now? background episode of Friends

46. What is your favorite color? pink

47. How many tattoos do you have? 0

48. How many are you tagging for this quiz? 0

49. What time did you finish this quiz? 10:50 p.m. (Why did I stay up so late to do this? Good question...)

50. Coffee Drinker? no

oh dear

Dear Janae, I miss you! It has been so long since I have seen you. I know you are super busy with 1st grade, graduate school, institute, and your friends (both real and fictional). But please remember, I am your friend, too. And I only have your best interests at heart. Sincerely, Curves (and all other forms of exercise)

Dear Curves, The feeling is definitely mutual. I am doing the best I can. There are only so many hours in a day! Any advice would be very much appreciated. Sincerely, Janae

Happy Friday!

We’re only going to ask you once… put down the cats.

Find more great pictures here.

laughter

I found this button today:

It is so true! It has been so difficult the past few weeks. But you know what? There’s nothing I can do about it. I’m not moving until next year, I’m not quitting my job, and I’m not running home to my mom (which I REALLY want to do). I am sick of crying myself to sleep, so I am going to try a different approach. How about laughing myself to sleep? Last night I bought more seasons of Friends (they were so cheap at Wal-Mart!). Now I own all but two seasons. Just thinking about that show makes me laugh so much! I also have rediscovered how funny first graders are! Everyday they make me laugh so hard! Take this story for example.

I have a boy in my class who only has one ear, which gives him hearing difficulties and speech problems. I often have a hard time understanding what he says. Usually I can understand one or two words and figure it out, but the other day he came up to me and said something I really couldn’t understand. I asked him to repeat it as I got closer about three times. Finally he just pulls down his pants and says (what I now know to be) “I got new underwear!” How funny is that? He was very excited about his underwear!

Which is surprising because they were just plain gray… no superhero or cartoon character.

So hopefully with squeezing in episodes of Friends, spending time with my real friends, and continuing the most hysterical job I will laugh my way through the year.

Join me, won’t you?

a favor

Please check out Just Cook Already. It is a wonderful blog with amazing recipes and fantastic giveaways! (Great adjectives, right?) They gave away Williams-Sonoma spatulas, and now they are giving away these two awesome kitchen gadgets! Thank you.

New and Improved

The Truth

I’m not going to lie, it sucks being alone in Idaho. I loved it when I was in college, and I dealt with it when I was married, but it seems like the worst place to be when I am divorced. Maybe it’s just my own self-conscious thinking, but I feel like people are walking around judging me. Even if I don’t know them, I feel like they can somehow tell I’m divorced and they say to themselves, “Oh my, what a pathetic person to be divorced. How could she? Doesn’t she know that no success can compensate for failure in the home???”. Granted Rexburg is a bit more conservative (is that the right political word?) that way. I know when I move somewhere else, it won’t seem as bad. But living in a city with 378,561 young, “happy”, Mormon, marrieds sucks.

I hate that I always have to be dressed to the max whenever I leave my house, for fear that I will run into Tyler or his sisters. (You might be thinking how possible is that? The answer: very. I’ve run into his sisters a few times.) I wish I didn’t care, but I do. I want to be like, “In your face, look how hot I am!”, but I really can’t do that in sweatpants or without my bare minerals. So instead, I primp it up before I leave.

Luckily I will be busy enough with work and school, and I have a few really great friends to pass time by with (and soon a new baby to play with... hurry up Baby Watkins!). Before I know it, it will be summer again, and I will be moving back to Canada (crossing my fingers for Calgary!), or Arizona, or Vegas...

Now I am off to my classroom, because that place makes me so so happy.

The End Result

Click here to see the before.

Thanks to my wonderful friends, my storage unit is all unpacked! It feels so good to have everything in its place. It was so overwhelming to have millions of boxes filling my apartment. Now it feels wonderful!

I found my futon! It is finally available for anyone to sleep on! And it really is comfortable, especially with the memory foam on it.


Look at that beautifully organized bookshelf! Nice job, Jess!


Such a wonderfully organized closet! I can find everything now!

PS Something’s up with my camera. These pictures are awful. I think I need a new one.