I'll admit...I'm an awful teacher

I'm an awful teacher.

It seems I have told a lie.

An awful lie.

But it promoted a child to stay in school, thus furthering his education.

Yes I may be justifying it.

Here's the story....

It was recess. Miss C. and I tend to meet up and chat for a brief moment before heading off to mold young minds, when all of a sudden my fantastic little Colton comes up to me with a half convincing smirk on his face and says "Mrs. Lamb? I'm not feeling so well. I think I need to go home."

Mrs. Lamb thinks quick and says: "Oh man? That's just too bad! You're going to miss our banana split party? Dang!"

Colton: "Wait, what did you say?"

Mrs. Lamb: "Well, ya! We're having a banana split party but I guess if you don't feel good then we should go call your mom?"

At this point Miss C. and I started to rave about this wonderful banana split party we were going to have when Colton starts rubbing his tummy and says:

"You know, I think I'm starting to feel much better and so I think I should stay?"

As he heads out the door to enjoy the last few minutes of recess, Miss C. turned to me and says.

"So what are you having a banana split party for?"

Mrs. Lamb "We're not! I can just tell a faker when I see one." :-)

Whoops?

A Few Fun Facts about My Valentine

Full Name:

Merrill Scott Lamb...but I just call him Scottie

Place of Birth:

Paige, Arizona

Place of Schooling:

Valley High School Class of 2000

Dixie State College-Associates Degree

BYU-Masters of Accountancy 2010

Served a mission in:

Tirana, Albania

When and where did you meet?

April 21st, 2006 on a blind date while he was on leave from Iraq

How long did you date?

Dated about a year and a half...if you don't count the breaks in between

How long have you been married?

Two years and five months on the 21st

First kiss?

When we were watching a movie on our first date after he returned from Iraq. He just leaned over and nailed one on me about fifteen minutes into the movie....guess he couldn't wait till the doorstep?

Favorite thing to do as a couple:

Play our own version of "Don't Forget the Lyrics" in the car on road trips....it gets pretty heated.

What does he do that surprises you:

When I come home and he's cleaned the house, when he rents chic flicks to watch, and when he makes me breakfast.

What's your favorite feature about him?

His mole on his right cheek, his flat fingernails on his thumb and that he is four inches taller than me

Favorite quality about him?

He is one dependable man, He never lets me down. He can make me laugh at the drop of a hat!

Nickname?

Scottie, lovers, or babes

His favorite food?

Bananas, My creamy Pasta with veggies and a smoothie in hand

Least Favorite Food?

Yams, Chinese food and fish

Biggest accomplishment?

Serving in Iraq, running in the Saint George marathon and soon to be a college grad with a Masters in Accountancy! Oh and marrying the girl of his dreams??

His biggest pet peeve about me?

When I'm late, and when I say I will do something and then forget about it...like calling about the cable, or ordering our wedding pictures. They will finally be here in the next couple of weeks though?

His Hidden Talent?

He can throw me around on the dance floor. Oh and the fact that he can entertain a child with a shoelace and floss, he's pretty creative.

How old is he?

A charming 28

Does he pay the bills?

Most definitely....we'd be in bad shape if it were my job. But boy would we have a nice wardrobe and a fine fancy house?

What side of the bed does he sleep on?:

He sleeps on the right. He once had this grand idea of switching sides but that lasted about three days.

Who mows the lawn?

He would if we had one. Hopefully by the spring...and it will most likely be him but I'll be there with the lemonade.

Who's a better debater?

Really? That would be him. My debate skills are quite depressing and beside the point and I get too emotional

How many siblings does he have?

5

Who does the dishes?

Scottie ALWAYS does the dishes well...95% of the time.

What do you admire most about him?

His spirituality and financial savvy mind. He can always make me laugh and I can never be mad at him for more than five minutes.....oh and the random games that he can come up with in the blink of an eye!

Happy Valentine's Lovers!

I love you from my head to my toes!

Love, Me

Holiday Cheer

I love the holidays for several reasons.

One, I'm done with school for a bit so I get to spend more time with my honey and my family AND make gingerbread houses...









The big man himself always comes around...















and I get to be Santa's helper...



and best of all, seeing these little kiddos get so excited!









Happy Holidays!

Dryer Malfunction

This morning I was in quite the rush to make it to my team meeting. I knew that today was the day that the city would be pouring the cement for the sidewalks that were ripped up yesterday. We were suppose to park on the street but there was a perfect strip just long enough to get in and out my driveway so I parked in the garage instead. Since I knew they would be coming at 8:00 sharp, I thought I'd be out just in time to get out of their hair. In the process of getting ready I realized I was running late...as always and I ran into my closet to find something to wear. I grabbed a shirt out of the clean laundry that hadn't been folded yet, and ran into the laundry room. Upon my arrival I found the dryer door open with clothes inside. I threw my shirt in to relive it of its wrinkles and went to finish getting ready. As a left the laundry room, I looked out the window to see if I would be trapped in my driveway due to the cement truck that would soon be approaching my house to fill in my sidewalk. Luckily I was okay. I still had time. Seconds later I heard something that sounded like clunky shoes in the dryer. What could it be? I was in such a hurry I almost ignored it and walked past the laundry room to put on my mascara. Once again I was VERY curious as to what would be making such a loud noise so I went back into the laundry room to see what was the matter. As I opened the door to the dryer the first thing I heard was a very sad and serious "MEEEEooEEEEwwW" You can probably just picture my face as I very soon discovered that the loud noise was not shoes....it was MY CAT!!!! I have never felt so horrible in my whole life!! Please don't report me for animal cruelty. It was most definitely a tragic mistake! Not only that but my poor cat was limping and very disoriented from her wild morning ride. I scooped her up hoping that she wouldn't suddenly give up the ghost and intantly began to pamper her to let her know that I was sorry and that this was not going to be another re-run of her previouse abusive owners. I feel as if she may never be the same! Please don't judge me. From now on I will always check the dryer to be sure it is free of house pets. You should to....I was mortified. But in case you are wondering, Lemons is going to be just fine

:-) PHEEEWW!

Pinehurst Drive or Crenshaw Way???

Last May Scottie and I set off on a journey looking to buy a home of our own, a place to lay roots. We were still deciding if it was the right time for us to buy. When we heard about the $8,000 tax credit to first time home buyers we knew we couldn't pass it up. We started out looking at DR Horton homes. We LOVED these homes. The real estate agent that was helping us that day even walked us through her own home. Instantly we fell in love with her home and wanted to build one just like it. There was even an empty lot in back of her where we could build. After walking out of her house we looked to the house left of hers. I really liked the outside and asked the agent what model it was. She said it was the Hartford but it was bigger and of course....pricey. Since we knew we had till the end of the year to seal the deal on something and get the $8,000, we then thought that going the short sale route would be in our favor. We didn't have any contract or house to sell, plus the fact that we had all the time in the world to wait out a lengthy short sale so we started looking.

When we started looking at short sale homes, we found a home that was close to the school that I teach at and in a neighborhood in which I already knew a lot of people. The home was on Pinehurst Drive and I thought it was absolutely the best house I had ever seen! We called the listing agent and asked to see the house. It was beautiful on the outside but when I walked in all I could see was atrocious pink walls with black light switches, vents, and outlets. ....Ugh. As we continued touring the house, I started to see things about this house that made me not like it. AT ALL. I hated the fact that the master bedroom was tiny and it had a long hallway leading to the closet. There were windows on the wall where the bed should go. Which is nice, but problem was they were too close together so a headboard would be covering the windows. The other wall was covered in windows. All the rooms had funky bookshelves built in the wall that didn't look finished and it would need a total overhaul of a paint job. The yard would need a lot of work since it hadn't been taken care of since the house was vacant.

The second we left the house I couldn't wait to get in the car so I could share my thoughts on the terrible house with Scottie. The second I shut the car door I began to go off about how much I did not like the house...at all. On the other hand, Scottie absolutely loved it. Scottie continued to tell me why he wanted this house and at the price it was going for, who wouldn't want it. I demanded that we see other houses. If this was the first, then there must be PLENTY of other houses in the sea for me.

After we got home we talked it over with my parents and wanted to show them this house plus look at some other options. We called the real estate agent on the house and he agreed to show us several others we were interested in plus take us to see the house on Pinehurst for a second time.

As we looked at other houses I became quite worn out. Every other house we wanted to see had at least 5-10 offers, already under contract, or it wasn't what we wanted. Then we went back and looked at the first house we had seen. I have to admit the first time I saw it I hated it but the second time looking at the house was like looking through rose colored glasses! I couldn't believe I had completely ripped the place apart before! It was beautiful (besides the ugly pink walls that you would see in a cheap Saint George motel.) I had looked over the great things about it and focused on the things that could be changed to fit my taste. I even thought of ideas to make the master bedroom workable. I instantly was picking out paint colors and moving my furniture in in my mind. Did I mention that I pictured what rooms would be my little girl's or boy's room one day? Ya I'm pathetic! I had completely gone too far. The house wasn't even ours yet! We were sold and decided to make an offer and wait it out, knowing that it would be at least three months or more before we'd here back or not.

When we made the offer, we were just about to leave to go to Europe. The bank had a set asking price that they would accept right away. Knowing that we were going to be in Europe we put in a lower offer and hoped that it would take longer so we could put down a bigger down payment. The agent even took it off the MLS so that we'd have no competition. We were set for success in the home department.

While we were in Europe we got an email from our agent saying that someone else had put in a higher offer! Not only did they put in a higher offer, but they put an offer in for $10,000 more than the asking price! I was sad that this was not going to be our house. But we were still hopeful.

As time passed we grew anxious! Knowing that it was a short sale we knew there was a possibility that we might not get it and that the bank might not accept our offer. We waited anyway but also continued our search for a home in case it didn't work out. Eventually the other people who had made an offer on the house withdrew their offer and bought a different home. My hopes were high and we continued to wait. I was just sure that the house was going to be ours. But because there was always that chance that we might not get it we continued looking at other houses. Every house we saw I didn't like and Scottie of course did. After looking at the MLS a million times and walking through billions of houses I didn't like. It looked as though we were getting closer to finding out about the home on Pinehurst. I was getting excited.

September came along and since we knew that the home on Pinehurst would be going into foreclosure September 5th, the agent started calling the bank to find out what was going to happen. When he called the bank, they told us that they were not going to let it go into foreclosure since we had an offer in on it and that we would hear back anytime the next week. When the following week rolled around, our agent called and the big news was....

THE HOUSE HAD GONE INTO FORECLOSURE!!!!!!

We had waited so patiently since May and we were devastated. We were now going to have to find another house since the chances of getting this house were VERY slim. I started to think that we would not be buying before the end of the year. I was not very happy about looking at more houses. My heart was set on the Pinehurst home. I was sure that that was the place I was going to live, raise kids, and grow old...ok maybe not grow old but anyway...

The tedious process of house hunting continued. I was positive that we were not going to find anything. I knew that I had seen pretty much every house that was for sale in our area of interest and time was running out. It looked as if we would be staying where we live for another year, Scottie would have to continue his calling as Elders Quorum President and I'd have to finally get around to organizing my kitchen and bathroom and all the things that I planned on organizing when we moved.

The next day Scottie began looking at homes online and reverted back to the DR Horton homes we looked at in the beginning. In fact they were in the process of building a house on the very same lot that we originally looked at in the beginning and good news was it was the Hartford, which was the house that I liked in the beginning but was WAY out of price range. The price had also been reduced. We agreed to go see it.

When we pulled up to the house, it was nothing close to my what I had pictured living in. it still had all the scaffolding on it and it wasn't going to be my place of residency....I knew it. It just didn't look like "my house". It was rather plain for my liking (probably because it wasn't done) and I wasn't in love with it like I was in love with the one on Pinehurst. After walking through it I became more depressed and grew teary eyed at the fact that someone else was going to live in my house on Pinehurst. I did not like the house. In fact I was desperate to point out everything that this house did not have compared to the one on Pinehurst. Scottie of course liked it but I wasn't sold. We went back and talked to the DR Horton agent and discussed with her our problem. We still wanted the Pinehurst home but we weren't sure if we would even get it. We also didn't want to pass up this home that we could have right away, no waiting required, no more bidding wars! If we decided we wanted it, then it was ours. But I still wasn't sold so we told her we'd think about and she agreed to hold the house for us over the weekend.

That night we went over to my parents and discussed the housing dilemma we were in. Should we wait to see if we could still get the Pinehurst home and take a chance of not even getting it? Or should we go with the brand new DR Horton home and get an additional $4,000. It was stupid of us to even question it but I still did not like that house. I ripped that house apart from top to bottom rattling off all the things that I didn't like about it. I was positive that this was not my home.

After much thought we went a second time to see the house and low and behold, I actually liked it! A lot!! How could I have hated it so much and then grew to like it over night? We decided to make an offer and I was content about our choice. I was also excited that I wouldn't have to paint and it had a spacious master bedroom and a better layout. Not only that, but it was the end of DR Horton's fiscal year and they had significantly dropped the price of the home in order to sell it fast. I thought we had wasted all this time on waiting for this home on Pinehurst when actually it led us to an even better home that we'll will be much happier in down the road! We were the luckiest first time home buyers in the state of Utah because after we had signed the papers on the house, we found out that they had raised the price of the other homes. We really did find the perfect home at the right time and we couldn't be happier to move into our very first house, a place to call home, lay down roots and settle down, on Crenshaw Way

!

Now we just have to get ready for the big move!!!

No Soliciting

The first thing I'm going to do when I move into my new house is install one of these pretty little babies...

...ok maybe not that extreme but, whether I paint it on my front door, hammer signs in my front yard, you name it, it must be done. I'm tired of being taken advantage of because I can't say no! Allow me to explain.

Two weeks ago I get a knock on my front door. As I went to open the door I knew I shouldn't have done it. Much to my surprise there was a particular person standing on my porch who started babbling off words in which I could not understand no matter how hard I tried, due to her southern ebonics or whatever you'd call it. She then began telling me that she could clean the wax from last years pumpkin fest, off my front porch with just a touch of her magic cleaning, non toxic, all natural, smells good, won't bleach, smear, whatever you name it formula. Just then she decided to prove to me just how out of this world this green potion is and then took a sip of it. What??? Well if that wasn't enough, she worked her way into my house by scrubbing the grout in my entryway. I guess because of the look on my face she could tell I still wasn't amused and decided to stick her hand in my toilet to scrub the hard water ring that has formed inside the bowl. Oh, did I mention that she then found a stain on my carpet and took it out too? By then she had worked her way into my kitchen and scrubbed my stove, sink, fridge, and toaster. Would you then feel bad for not buying the stuff? Ya, not only that but my conscience then started to kick in and I felt that if I were to deny her green magic potion then she would hold it against us Mormons! I finally gave in and bought the crap.

Two days later I'm home making dinner and I get ANOTHER knock at the door. This time it's some little high schooler who is selling cookie dough. But you'd be proud. I lied and said I had just bought some yesterday! Clever I know. I then shut the door being proud of my white lie but then guilty inside thinking that maybe he had some strange disease and I just shot down his one opportunity at life. Poor guy.

Then today I get, yes you guessed it, another knock on my door. This time it's someone trying to get donations for an anonymous source (I won't say). They then hand me a form and ask me if I'd like to donate one of the amounts listed. As I skimmed the list the minimum amount you could donate was...hold your horses....$2oo. Are ya kidding me? Bless these men that came to my house. I know it wasn't them asking for that much but I couldn't say no and wrote a check for don't worry...$10.

Now that I've vented I feel bad. I don't not want to help those in need but it's really getting out of hand. My husband has now labeled me the sucker that can't say no (haha). That's why I now feel as if I have officially joined the no soliciting club. Anyone want to join?

Self Reliance

I must have slept my way through home-ec. I don't think I know half the skills that it takes to be a descent housewife. My poor mother. She raised me well, but I was probably oblivious to the wonderful example that she was. If only I was half the homemaker she is.

I can't sew, stay on top of my blogging, or even preserve food at it's finest stage to last throughout the year.

All of this emotion has been triggered mostly due to the fact that I missed enrichment night. The theme you ask? Bottling Salsa.

How am I ever going to call myself a descent housewife if I don't even have the slightest idea of how to bottle food?

This fear of me falling through the cracks is what lead me to have my wonderful mother teach me how to bottle...

PEACHES!!!



We blanched and peeled, sliced and diced, bottled and enjoyed the fruits of our labor.



Now if I can only remember come harvest time next year....



Thanks mom, for sharing your mean canning skills! Love you!

26.2

This past weekend we set off to Saint George and cheered on Mr. Lamb while he ran his very first marathon.

We cheered him on at mile marker 17...




And then raced back to the end to see him cross the finish line!



Finishing time: 3 Hours 52 minutes



I'm so proud of all his hard work and waking up at 4:00 on Saturday's to do his long runs.



As for me....I'll stick to the sidelines and cheer him on

Way to go babe!!!

Backyard Cookin'

For the past few weeks we have been trying to get together with our good friends Gabe and Mellisa Miles. Unfortunately both of us have been really busy but this week we finally pulled it off! We went up to my parents house and make tin foil dinners and had a fantastic little dinner party in the backyard fire pit.

Mellisa and I showing off our finished product


Scottie and Gabe being the boy scouts that they are, getting the fire nice and toasty



After about fifteen minutes we pulled them out to see if they were done. I know what your thinking. Fifteen minutes? How could the potatoes be done in fifteen minutes? Well, that's because Mel and I were starving after an hour of trying to find everything in the new Walmart's crazy layout, so we decided to pre-cook the potatoes in the microwave! Clever? Yes! Tasty? Indeed! And no.....this wouldn't have happened if we were up the mountain.

Here we are enjoying the fruits of our labor



As if we were still hungry after eating massive amounts of meat and potatoes, we roasted up some yummy s'mores






Mel and I roasting our marshmallows...I mean buns


Then, because we were still wanting to eat more, we went inside and whipped up some smoothies and watched Prison Break




Thanks Gabe and Mel for hanging out with us! We NEED to do it again!

Testing anxiety...

For the past week I have been studying my brains out in order to prepare for this beautiful test I so easily forgot about, due to the wonderful summer break I'm experiencing. You see, since I teach FIRST grade, and I will now be approaching my fourth year of teaching, the time has come for me to renew my level one license to a level two license. Peace of cake right? How hard can a test be when all you teach is first grade? Well if your line of thinking is parallel with mine then you'd be astonished to find out that YOU'RE WRONG!! Like I said, I teach first grade but apparently I am suppose to be able to know and recall information that I never use and haven't even thought about since my early days in high school. For example....world history was one of the major topics of study. I was required to know all major and minor aspects of math, language arts, science and social studies/world history. And I'm talking EVERY SINGLE LITTLE PIECE OF HISTORY from the beginning of man kind. Practically dated back to Adam and Eve. Really people? The furthest I go in social studies in first grade is north, east, south and west! So, Friday night I went up to my parents house for a little one on one help from my dad. Now, let me tell you. My father should be the next Jeopardy contestant. This man in a fountain of knowledge!! Thanks to my dad and his wonderful love of history, he pretty much summed up my entire high school and elementary school curriculum combined in one night. That night I went to bed. I had my calculator, proof of ID, my admission ticket for the test, and three #2 pencils sharpened and ready to go. Since the test was at BYU in the testing center I was a little worried that I'd get lost and not be able to find the building, so my wonderful husband offered to wake up at 6:45 and drive me himself to the testing center and wait for two hours while I took the dreaded test (how sweet). As I walked inside I recognized a friend of mine from college who was in the same boat as me....only thing is that this was her FIFTH time taking the test in hopes that she would pass. Okay, so maybe it was just her but what you don't know is that I had talked to several other teachers who had to take it a minimum of three times just to pass? My hopes were diminishing by the second. After waiting in line for the testing center to seat us in the room, I finally approached the front of the line. As I handed her my ID, she then realized that it was expired! My drivers license had just barely expired by about a month. She was not going to let me in! Now, did I mention that I had to pay $150.00 to take this stupid test? I was getting through the doors whether she liked it or not. Another lady came along and pulled me aside. She asked me if I had any other form of ID. Of course I didn't because I was planning on getting in with my drivers license. Fortunately I had an old school ID, with my maiden name that was also expired but don't worry that for some reason it was more legit than my recently expired drivers license with my new name? Go figure.

After finally getting in and seated, they passed out the test. As I started I grew nervous knowing that if I didn't pass then I'd be back in this same boat taking it again. I started taking the test and by golly I felt like the most uneducated person in the world! Really? Could this test really be that hard? Did they really expect me to know all this crap!? I was screwed! Thank goodness for my father who had given me the crash coarse on world history the night before? It was the only stuff I knew! Finally I finished, just in time and rushed out to me my patiently waiting husband. On our way home he told me we had to stop and drop off the study book he had checked out for me from BYU. That's when I realized that we were no where near BYU and we were pulling in to Jamba Juice. It was so nice to finally be done with the test and enjoying a wonderful Aloha Pineapple delight. Thanks babe for all your support! Now I just have to wait four weeks to see how stupid I really am, when my test scores are finally mailed. Wish me luck! Good thing I have a second job.