March was exceptionally warm which was a welcome change, especially after our bitter-cold winter this year. It was great to see spring emerge! February is always so ugly with the yucky-colored old snow melting and the brown, muddy earth visible under it. The earth responded well to the heat in March, and everything seemed to start to turn green and flourish! These two photos of different sides of the #7 green at the golf course, were taken within 3 days of each other, and show how much life March brought! The first was from March 8, the second from March 10 (when all the snow on the course was finally all melted and Josh put the pins in the greens for the first time this season).
There were still just a couple of small snow patches at our house: one pile in front where all the snow from the roof was piled on the ground after Josh shoveled it, and one pile in the yard on the north side of the house where the sun doesn't directly shine. We were antsy to bring life to our backyard; it was looking so unappealing after the winter with all the deer droppings, Tiki's meal remnants, and dead spots, so Josh raked the snow in the grass and got to work de-thatching it and mowing it for the first time on the 11th.
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| You can see Josh in the background with the de-thatcher behind the mower. |
We discovered the first blooming flower of the season on Sunday the 12th: a little crocus in our flower patch along the backside of the house. It was so pretty and Josh and I were in love with it! By the end of the week, there was a whole bunch of them blooming! Unfortunately, they don't bloom for long, but they are a pretty sight to see (all the other flowers we have planted are just barely budding out of the ground at this point).
All winter long, I had summertime yearnings and cravings for camping and motorbike rides! I was SO glad when Josh and I were able to take our first motorbike ride of the season on Sunday evening, the 12th. It felt wonderful to be riding with Josh on his street bike again! I missed it!
I finished my student teaching in March. During the two weeks of March 6 - 16, I completed my solo teaching (when the Host Teacher is not in the classroom). It was a lot of work, but I enjoyed it! On the last day of my solo teaching, we had a class party that the students had earned (they have a marble jar where they earn marbles for good behavior, and when the jar is full, they get to have a party). Since it was the day before St. Patrick's Day, I brought leprechaun-themed treats! It was so much fun!
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| Pretzel/chocolate shamrocks and limited edition Lucky Charms (which I had to get at WalMart, because they were NOT available in Salmon!) |
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| Green rice krispies and Leprechaun poop (just like angel or unicorn poop, but with green sprinkles and mini rainbow m&m's included in the mix) |
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| My Host Teacher loves chocolate, so I made this thank-you gift for her |
Josh took his first therapeutic dirtbike ride of the season on Friday the 17th, while I went to the High School musical "Into the Woods". We both had a good time!
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| Eli and Ethan were hilarious as the princes. This is during the song "Agony". |
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| I love this song at the end as the Baker is singing to Jack, and Cinderella sings to Little Red Riding Hood: "You are not alone, no one is alone..." |
Josh worked on the boys' motorbikes over the weekend (they usually need to be cleaned out after sitting all winter). Jonah's bike had severe engine problems last fall, so Josh went through it and realized that it needed intense work done. Jonah opted to buy another motorbike, and they found a local one being sold. It's a 125 (the same size as Micah's, and slightly larger than the 100 Jonah was riding before), and was perfect, so Jonah purchased it on Friday. On Sunday night (the 19th), Josh and the boys went for a ride together; he just loves going on motorbike rides with the boys!
The high school musical "Into the Woods" (one of my favorite musicals, btw) ran two weeks and had 8 showings. I helped Darcy again at the front door with ticket sales. I was able to assist every night except one: I couldn't do the first Thursday night because of Dinner & A Book and a required class for one of college courses. Usually I go to most of the showings, but due to my student teaching, I was unable to go to any but one of the 5 showings the first week. I watched two of the three showings the second week, but didn't go on closing night. The twins went with me on Tuesday, and Josh and Ammon even came with me on Wednesday to support Eli on his birthday. The kids did a fabulous job and I enjoyed every performance I saw!
My last day of student teaching was Thursday, March 23. Josh surprised me with a dozen fire-and-ice roses. They are my absolute favorite, and he hasn't given me a dozen of them since he proposed to me 19 years ago! They were gorgeous and I was ecstatic when I saw them at school! He's the best! Some of my friends took me out that night to celebrate (after I was done taking money at the play). Gina, Hailey, and Camille took me to dinner at the Bistro and we had dessert at the Mexican Restaurant afterwards. Then we went to watch the movie "Beauty and the Beast" at the theater. It was such a fun celebration with friends to end my student teaching!
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| I love these flowers SO much! It was the best possible gift Josh could've given me! Thanks, babe! |
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| Mrs. Centeno and I on my last day of student teaching. I enjoyed my time with her and working in her room. |
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| John and I unknowingly matched that night! John was a great mentor when I taught music. He pushed me to get my degree, and he supported me all through my college journey. |
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| Hailey and Amy gave me some cute gifts to celebrate, too! |
On Friday, March 24, Josh and I left for a weekend trip alone together to celebrate both the conclusion of my student teaching as well as our upcoming anniversary. We drove to Pinedale, Wyoming that afternoon. Neither Josh nor I had ever been on the highway past Ririe, but it was a very scenic drive. We passed the Palisades Reservoir and Dam, which neither one of us had ever seen. It was HUGE and still iced over, but so pretty! When we got to Pinedale, we checked into our hotel and took a drive to Big Piney on a gravel road that passed by the Wopeka Ranch--a company that's building a golf course this year. We stopped in Big Piney and visited Kristi Hibbert at the high school. She gave us a tour of the school; it was so nice and HUGE for a small population town similar to our own! Before heading back to our hotel room, I convinced Josh to eat at a Chinese restaurant with me for dinner (he doesn't like Chinese cuisine) back in Pinedale. We were the only ones in the restaurant, which was nice, but the food was just decent--Josh actually liked his meal more than I did! The next morning, we woke up to snow falling! The elevation of Pinedale is much higher than Salmon, and I couldn't believe there was still snow on the ground and that more was coming down, too! It would be hard to live there with such long winters! We checked out and began driving back to Idaho; at Alpine, we turned left and drove a different way than we had the previous day. We went through Freedom and followed a small highway back to Soda Springs, then we drove to Pocatello where Kimi's baby shower was that afternoon. She'd actually given birth earlier than planned, and had delivered her adorable daughter Taribi the previous week. She was SOOOO cute! It was fun being there with Kimi's family, and I'm so glad I was able to go! I loved seeing her with her new little one; she'll be a fabulous mom! Josh went shopping while I was at the shower, then he picked me up and we went test-driving vehicles for the fun of it. I loved not having a definite plan, and doing whatever we wanted! We drove to Idaho Falls and ate at Texas Roadhouse for dinner. Josh loves their prime rib, and I love their rolls and honey butter. I'd reserved a room suite at the Holiday Inn Express for the night. Usually, we go to themed Bed & Breakfast suites for our anniversary, but the two B&B's in Idaho Falls and Pocatello don't offer full-service breakfasts anymore, and I have 3 criteria for anniversary hotel stays: King size bed, in-room jacuzzi, and a good breakfast. The suite at the H.I. Express had all 3 and was even cheaper than the B&B's, so we thought we'd give it a try. The bed and tub were awesome, and the breakfast was super delicious, but there was a high school ballroom dance team staying the night there and they were running up and down, screaming in the halls all night, which was annoying. Now I realize that another beauty of staying in B&B is that they're quiet!!! On Sunday morning, we slept in and ate breakfast. We hung out in our hotel room until check-out time. Josh read, and I worked on a college assignment before driving back home to Salmon. It had been a wonderful anniversary trip with my husband!
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| Our first view of the Palisades Reservoir |
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| We thought their city's motto was funny! The snow falling over spring break, however, was not! |
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| Baby Taribi (prounouned Taw-ray-bee). They'll call her Tari. |
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| I love Kimi! She loves elephants, so her mom found this cute elephant baby doll to give Taribi. |
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| I love this handsome man of mine! |
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| We loved this hotel room! It was definitely worth staying in a suite! |
Our spring break from school was the following week. We had ten days off altogether, and it was heaven! I finished my Portfolio college class on Monday and Tuesday, finished my Cohort college class on Thursday (my FINAL class!!!), and spent the rest of the week deep cleaning areas in the house, pruning trees outside, exercising with Josh, and relaxing. It was the best! I got so much done, and it felt amazing! Josh loved having just one job all week (since he didn't have to drive bus every day, too), and he and Ammon got a lot done at the golf course, which Josh was grateful for.
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| These roses lasted just over a week. I admired them every single day! |
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| The twins helped me prune the apple tree this year! Kanyon begrudgingly took the branches we trimmed to the burn pile. |
