Mads' World

Talk about FOREVER!

2011-02-04T12:29:00.000-08:00

So it has been a LONG time since I blogged last. I moved home...Lorin got a job at Barrick in Elko...we bought a house...we got married...and we just celebrated our month anniversary! Wow...LOTS! :D I work for the school district as an ASL Interpreter, which has been very difficult, different, and rewarding. It has been easier since Lorin and I have been married, but still an adjustment. I do love him so much though! :D Makes it fun :D I'll post more later :D

Turn in Keys--Check!

2010-06-07T19:14:00.000-07:00

This last Friday was rather emotional for me. I finished cleaning out my classroom, took a picture of it in all it's nakedness, and turned in my keys! I cried all the way home. I didn't think I would, but its like turning the last page of a book in a series called "life". This last year was a MAJOR change and experience in my life, and it is like saying goodbye to all of that. I am ready to move on, and to press forward with faith, but it is still hard. I move back to Elko in a couple of weeks--probably Father's Day wknd. Hopefully I'll get a job that can atleast sustain me for the summer, if not through to December.

Mother's Day

2010-05-09T15:56:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day!!! :D This weekend has been wonderful! Lorin came down for my b-day wknd and I always love spending time with him. We went to SubZero on Friday, Hiked the Y, went to Bajio's, and watched Iron Man 2 last night, and then we went to church and ate dinner here at home today before he left. It has been wonderful! Lorin gave me an early b-day present: Star Trek! I love that movie! :D

The Gym

2010-05-05T07:01:00.000-07:00

So I've started going to Anytime Fitness here in Lindon, and I am actually really liking it. I have never been one to enjoy a treadmill or anything like it, but the elliptical has been amazing! When I first started on it I only went 6 minutes on a level 4. Yesterday I went 3 miles in 45 minutes at a level 5 or higher! That's 340 calories burned. It has been a great feeling and I am feeling so much better physically. I'm not at the weight I want, but I am feeling more fit, which is really important to me.

3rd Grade Track Meet

2010-05-04T13:43:00.000-07:00

Our class did a WONDERFUL job running in the track meet today. None of our class won overall, but they all competed in their events 100%! They all behaved very well, put forth their best effort, and had such great fun! I forgot my camera, so hopefully I'll be able to post some soon from the other teachers. Great job, everyone! :D

Weight Watchers--Lifetime!

2010-05-03T15:04:00.000-07:00

So, I don't know if you know what 'Lifetime' status is, or how you get it, but I must say I LOVE IT! Ok, so first, you have to loose 10% of you starting weight, maintain for 6 weeks (or loose in the mean time) and then you can be a lifetime member. Once a lifetime member, you can weigh in for FREE, instead of the usual $9 a week or whatever it is now. Sooooo I have lifetime, from a couple years ago. I started up again because I want to fit the wedding dress I want. Good reason, right? Yeah, so I went and I am sooo close to my lifetime goal weight that I am hoping to be there by this week. K--starting weight this time is 172. My current goal is 152. This week's weigh in was 168.6! I don't know about you, but I think 4 lbs is pretty good. I'm getting there-Wish me luck!

Graduation Surprise!

2010-04-25T19:00:00.000-07:00

After Friday's commencement ceremony, we (G'ma & G'pa Maddox, the immediate fam minus Caleb, Lorin and I) went to Jim's Family Restaraunt in American Fork for Lunch. It was great because we could get right in! We figured it would be best not to choose somewhere in Provo because everywhere would be packed! Then we went home and Lorin and I bought our first set of hair clippers! The teacher that I am made the choice quite easy: we got the color coded clippers! Haha, yeah, he made fun of me for it, but I love it! Then I gave Lorin my first haircut ever! I was soooo scared, but it actually turned out rather nice. Next time, I'd cut the sideburns a little lower--I accidentally turned the mini clippers too much, so it was a little above his ear (about a millimeter, but still!). Lorin told me he had something amazing planned for us for the weekend, and Friday we didn't have to be there until about 6:30, but we wanted to leave around 3:30 so we didn't miss our reservations in SLC by getting stuck in traffic. I asked him what I should wear, because I have NO idea what we are going to do. He said casual is great. We are barely passing Jordan, with SLC in our sights and he asked if I had my ID. I told him that I didn't because I left my wallet at home. I figured he was buying, lol! Anyway, he kind of freaked out. Not on me, but in the way of 'oh my goodness, we need that!' way. Fortunately my dad was able to get it to us. So, as we are driving, we are getting to SLC and I ask him where we are going. He hands me the paper that says is a printed email from my dad that says "Madeline's ticket", so I start reading down the computer garbage stuff (the email was 3 pages, so it has all the forwarding addresses, etc on there). I get the part of: Departure SLC, Arrive LA. I was shocked!

"What is this?" I asked.
He said,"You really don't know?"
"A plane ticket to LA?"
"Yeah! What's in California, Madeline?"
"um...DISNEYLAND?!?!?!"
"Yep!" He said with a HUGE grin.

Yeah, I KNOW! I was totally blind sided. My mom and Mariah had packed everything I needed for the weekend. My parents had helped get everything planned and organized so we could have a weekend getaway. It was SOOOOOO amazing! I didnt' have my camera because it was out of batteries, but I had my Flip Video Cam, so we took TONS of video. I'm going to compile it together soon. I was totally shocked and wildly excited all at the same time. We had a wonderful time--got a lot of sun, and I am now ready to head back to work tomorrow, lol!

This pic isn't one we took, but it is still a good one! :D

Multiple Sclerosis Walk

2010-04-25T18:32:00.000-07:00

Kristina and the fam walked for MS in SLC this Saturday. I was going to join them, but was surpised with a crazy grad gift which required me to not be in town. I'm so glad the family was able to participate and to raise funds and awareness for MS. Go Tina!!! :D If you want to read the article, click here!

COLD SORE-YIPES!

2010-04-20T10:18:00.000-07:00

I know, right?! Graduation this week, Lorin coming into town, my whole family here, pictures, life, and I get a HUGE, BLISTERING COLD SORE in the middle of my upper lip! Well, that's what I get for stressing, right? Oi! The last one left a scar the size of Texas on my lip. Oh Boy.

Spring Break

2010-04-06T11:25:00.000-07:00

YAY!!! I love Spring Break! A week with little obligation and spending time with the one(s) I love--namely Lorin. :D We are having a grand time.

Flip Camera!

2010-02-25T17:19:00.000-08:00

For Christmas, Lorin got me an amazing little video recorder called a Flip. It has been the greatest thing to have in my classroom! It is so fun to document the things we do in class, and it is easy enough for the students to use. We have made a few small class videos, and they are a blast! I can't wait to make more! I am planning to record a little bit everyday until near the end of the year and then make a DVD for each of the kids. They'll love it, and I will always cherish it. :D

Engaged?! Say What?!

2010-01-04T18:42:00.000-08:00

YES!!! Crazy, I know! I can't stop smiling, giggling, and laughing outloud with happiness. Lorin took me for a ride around Provo, and eventually made it to Rock Canyon Park by the Temple. We had a picnic on our first date there, so it was fun to go and remember great times. We got out and walked around in the snow (in our sunday clothes, so I was in heels!!!) When we got to the spot we ate at, we held each other in warm embraces and chatted happily. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, he lets go and get's down on one knee!!! I was soooo shocked! I really didn't expect him to propose right then. I mean, we talk about getting married all the time, but I was still surprised. He looked so handsome in his Sunday best, down on one knee looking at me with the most sincere eyes I've ever seen! Then, he reached into his inside pocket and pulled out a beautiful white box, fumbled to open in, and then looked at me and asked me to marry him! I was in such shock I stood there for a sec, then leaned down and hugged him so tight, and of course said YES!! It was definitely the happiest moment of my life. :D

Just after he proposed!

Similar pic, but with the ring in it!

A pic of the ring from online--doesn't do it justice, but still amazing! :D

Life is Good!

2009-12-21T17:18:00.000-08:00

I have been taking atleast one pic a day, but I have not had the chance to upload them to the computer yet so I will be posting them soon!

Lorin was baptized this weekend! YAY! It was a very beautiful meeting, and he just glows. It was so great to be there! We will be going to Elko tis week for Christmas, and then back to Provo to pack up my apt and move over to Grandma's. Then he'll head back up to Boise. :( This year might be a bit long, but it will be sooo worth it! Life really is good! :D

Picture A Day Challenge. . . Again!

2009-12-17T15:06:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I decided I am going to do the picture a day challenge for reals this time! I started doing it, and loved it, and then I just stopped. I am going to be posting them on here so maybe I'll remember to take them ;) Yay! I'm excited :D

Crazy weeks of Excitement!

2009-12-15T15:07:00.000-08:00

Our 3rd grade Christmas program is/was today! We performed for the school this afternoon and will be performing for the parents tonight. They look so cute on the stage in their red and white! I was worried there for a bit, but it definitely came together beautifully! I look forward to tonight. :)

Tomorrow night I am going to dinner with the RS Presidency for the last time! This will be a bitter sweet dinner, but I am excited to spend the time with them. It has been a fun 'semester' with them!

I am sooo busy getting everything in order to leave Friday night/Saturday morning for the break! I am working on sub plans, which are almost finished, my Teacher Work Sample (TWS) for school, and seeing Lorin for his baptism!!! I am soooo excited for him. It has been amazing to see the light he has always radiated grow ten-fold, if that's even possible!! He is such a powerhouse it is incredible.

♥ Pics of Lorin and I ♥

Yes, it has been a LONG time!

2009-12-03T18:43:00.000-08:00

Wow, I have not written for a LONG time! I am now teaching, dating the most amazing man of my life, and am celebrating the most wonderful time of the year! Things really couldn't be much better--except maybe slower and faster all at the same time ;) Lorin is getting baptized in a couple of weeks!!! I am sooo excited. It'll be a year after that until we can get married, but it is sooo worth it. :D Life has such a way of changing abruptly, but working out so perfectly. I love it! I definitely wasn't able to count all of my blessings this Thanksgiving because there were too many to count! :D

Picture Challenge!

2009-04-29T20:07:00.000-07:00

I was on facebook (who does that?) and saw that one of my friends took a challenge to take a picture a day. Needless to say, I am stealing it! Starting today, I am going to take a picture a day of my life. Hopefully it will encourage me to bring my camera everywhere and take pictures more often to document the events in my life. I can be very camera shy, so my goal is to be in as many as I can with those I love and care about! :D I am excited to see what comes of this project!

Zion's Adventure-April '09

2009-04-29T01:03:00.001-07:00

School's out for summer, so what do we do? Go to Zion National Park! We had a great time-we being myself, Reece, Trav, Meg, and 'Hot Dog'. Haha, Us four were driving down to get Howie, so Trav called him when we got close. When he answered, Trav said, "hey 'How Dog'" and Meg and I heard 'Hot Dog' so for the rest of the trip, that's what everyone called him, lol!

Well, there was major communication blunders about the trip, and the canyon we were supposedly going to hike & repel was a much bigger adventure than we bargained for. Meg and I had never been repelling before, so with something like 9 repels down the slot canyon, and the last two totalling about 300 feet together, we decided not to do it. Reece was sweet enough to stay behind with us, while the two other boys went up. We hiked Angel's Landing-which was very different not covered in snow and compacted ice! It was very beautiful, and well worth our time. We weren't in a rush, so round trip it took us about 4 hrs for that hike. We hadn't heard from the boys yet, so we took our time driving through the canyon and then hiking to Canyon Overlook. I was surprised at how simple and short the hike was for the incredible view that we had at the top. Very, very beautiful! We ran into this guy and his brother from Mexico at the top. The brother was enjoying the view from high points he could climb--he was very quiet. The other one though was very talkative. I was very impressed by his english. Sometimes it was hard to understand, but for probably learning english in Mexico, it was very impressive. He talked to us about a few missionaries he had met, and of a guy that he had talks on tape of (who was a member of the church, but he couldn't remember his name). He said that this guy had "something special" when he spoke, and that he could say things very precise and clear that most people cannot even put into words. We think its probably an apostle, but who knows. Anyway, this guy and his brother decided they were going to take a trip to Salt Lake City to see the temple! He is sooo ready for the gospel! It was an amazing experience. :) When we were done up there, we made our way back down to the car and as soon as we were in service range, we got a call from the boys.

They started their adventure at 1pm, so we figured they would take about 7-8 hrs to do the whole thing. When they called, they had been out for about 7 hours, so we figured they were done...nope! Come to find out, they had had a wonderful day until they finished their second to last repel (about 135 ft.) and when they went to pull the rope down, it was snagged on something. They ended up having to ascend the rope to unsnag it, repel back down, and then do the last repel (about 165 ft!) We were sooo glad we didn't go up there with them. While we waited, we found a nice ledge for Meg and I to learn how to repel. It was really windy, which made it pretty cold, but it was worth it! We did that until it was almost dark, and then headed over to where the boys would be coming out when they were done. We called to check up on them, and they were still ascending the rope. They said if we came over to the Emerald Pools trail head, we'd probably be able to see their headlamps. Sure enough, we drove to the trailhead, parked the car & turned off the lights, and straight ahead quite a bit up the mountain we could see two little specks of light. It was going to be a LONG night! We decided to sleep if we could--having only averaged about 3 hrs of sleep the night before. It was not a solid sleep, because we had so many interuptions, what with calls from Trav & Kara (Hot Dog's gf), and the ranger stopping in to see what we were up to. Needless to say, the adventure that would have taken them about 8 hours, took a lot longer. Four hours longer,in fact, and they made it back to the road by about...1am! It was crazy! We drove back to Cedar that night and slept solid from about 2:15/2:30am-8:15/8:30am--a marvelous 6 hrs! We were sooo sleep deprived this wknd, but by golly, it was fun! We all made it to our different homes that night--Payson, Elko, Fallon, and Alaska! What a way to end the semester! :D

Old Blog Posts

2009-04-29T00:51:00.000-07:00

I found these posts I did about a year ago on a blog I forgot about!

Post #1

Home Town Fun
Last night was the epitome of my home town life! For FHE, after the lesson, we drove out to middle of nowhere in the desert that is Nevada (so we didn't have to go far) and we had a bonfire. So much fun! I brought marshmallow guns and "flour bombs" (which are really little balls of flour-filled nylon) and we had a grand ol' time. We even got a bit of country swing dancin' in there. This is why I love home. Everyone in jeans and tees and sweatshirts playin' in the dirt.
Originally Posted by Madeline at 11:35 AM

Post #2

...So this poem is entitled "BOYS" by an unknown author. I don't think it could have been put any better than this...you ready? Ahem...

BOYS

A heart is not a plaything, a heart is not a toy,
But if you want it broken, just give it to a boy.
Boys, they like to play with things to see what makes them run,
But when it comes to kissing, they do it just for fun.
Boys never give their hearts away; they play us girls for fools,
They wait until we give our hearts and then they play it cool.
You'll wonder where he is at night; you'll wonder if he's true.
One moment you'll be happy; one moment you'll be blue.

If you get a chance to see him, your heart begins to dance.
Your life revolves around him--there's nothing like romance.
And then it starts to happen: you worry day and night.
You see, my friend, you're losing him, it never turns out right.
Boys are great, though immature; the price you pay is high.
He may seem sweet and gorgeous, but remember, he's a guy.
Don't fall in love with just a boy; that takes a lot of nerve.
You see, my friend, you need a man to get what you deserve.
So when you think that you're in love, be careful if you can,
Before you give your heart a way, make sure that he's a man.

originally posted by Madeline at 11:28 PM on Aug 29, 2008

Technology Assignment

2009-04-29T00:45:00.000-07:00

I had to make a photostory for one of my classes. I ended up writing this silly picture book--illustrations and all! It took a lot of work for how short it is!

My Digital Photostory--Basket's New Friends

Another Semester Down...

2009-04-20T22:52:00.000-07:00

Wow! It feels like yesterday I was a senior in HS, reading my acceptance letter to BYU, and now I am finishing up my 6th semester here! Its kind of a mixed bag of tricks. I won't be taking a "normal" semester from here ever again. I have 2 summer terms I am going to take--one this summer, and one next summer, and I'll be teaching this coming fall and winter semesters. I graduate a year from August, but that seems like nothing. Life as I know it is changing, and for the better I am sure. I am so scared to jump off the security blanket of school--for it is all I have known since I was 3! That being said, I am super excited to be starting new adventures and transitioning into an adult. Yes...I am almost 21, and technically am an adult, but I sure don't feel like it! Growing up is so darn scary! :(

I'll be moving home this next week for spring term. I will be working for those 6 wks, chillin' with the fam, and going to YSA! I am honestly really looking forward to it, but am rather sad to be leaving Provo. It has become my home--this year more than ever. I will miss it.

INTERNSHIP!!!!

2009-04-01T16:37:00.001-07:00

So, Monday at 1:00 was my interview with Nebo School District in south Utah County. It was kind of scary, but exciting as well! There were two rooms with at least 12 interviewers each. The tables were set up like a square, with only me on the 4th side! Very intimidating. They asked some basic questions like: "tell us about yourself," "why Nebo?" and "what is your favorite children's book?" Harder questions included: "How do you feel about balanced literacy?" "What is your management plan?" and "If we were to call your parents, what would they say about you?"

After Jerri (my teaching partner this semester) were finished, we got in the car, and screamed! SOOO many emotions all at once--it was crazy! Then the anticipation started all over again. The interview was done, but now to wait and see if we got the job or not.

Around 5:30, I got a call from the principal of Riverview Elementary offering me a 2nd grade position!!! I had to keep myself from screaming on the phone in excitement! I am sooo excited to have the job. I went to the school with my mom that night around 7, so of course it was closed. We were able to look in the windows though, and see the layout of the general classroom. Sooo amazing! Then today, I was able to go back during school hours and meet the facilitator and principal in person and tour the school. There is a slight possibility I will be asked to teach 3rd instead, but I am happy doing either. :D I can't wait!!!

Zion's Adventure

2009-01-21T15:38:00.000-08:00

So this last weekend, I was asked unexpectedly to go to Zion's National Park w/a few friends, and it was sooo much fun! I had never been there before, so everything was new and exciting. Reece is a friend I made over the summer through work and church, Travis is his roommate/cousin, and Megan is in their ward. It was so fun to get to know her better. I met her once before, but this was the first time I really got to chat w/her and spend a couple days with her. I love making new friends!

We took a ton of pictures, but they do not even come close to capturing the full experience. It definitely was an adventure I will never forget. :D

Inspiring Quote

2009-01-16T10:18:00.000-08:00

I love this quote. When I am down on myself, or when I see others down on themselves, this is a one that I always think of.

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." --Marianne Williamson

Winter 09 Semester--Week 2!

2009-01-14T00:50:00.000-08:00

Wow, I can not believe how fast life goes by! I am half way through my second semester of the year--I am now officially a 'Senior' credit wise. After this semester I will have about 6 classes left to graduate. I am splitting them up among 2 summer terms. This fall I will hopefully be interning at a school in the Wasatch School District (Heber/Midway area). I will find out in March--prayers are welcome! The application is due this Thursday, so I have been stressing about getting everything done for it as well as keep up on all readings for class. This college stuff is hard work! I did not do my best last semester--do not worry, I did pass--however, this semester is going to be stellar! Well, it is mighty late (or extremely early) so I am off to bed!