A Lesson in Palm Reading...

So I am sitting at work right now with all of my Student Teaching papers scattered around me. I have two weeks of lesson plans that I should be writing right now, and even more organization that I could be working on. However, my brain is on vacation and I absolutely can NOT force myself to do something as productive as write lesson plans. (Truth is, i'm a little intimidated to be writing real life lesson plans for real life kids in a real life classroom.) But, David has promised that as soon as we get off work we can pick up a little Caesars Pizza (with FREE Crazy Bread, complements of the Big Blue Coupon book from the Bookstore), go home and watch a movie! We just signed up for Netflix and we are LOVING it! I already watched a movie today while I was cleaning up the apartment. It was one of the movies you can stream right to your computer. "The Man with One Red Shoe." That was the title and it was fabulous. A young Tom Hanks stars as a man who gets mistaken for a CIA agent in an airport because he is wearing one red shoe and one brown shoe. I really liked it. I love that I have hundreds of PG movies right at my fingertips. Netflix is even learning what we like to watch and suggests movies it thinks we would like.

The other day we watched a movie called "Only You." Its about a girl who believes that the man she will someday marry is named Damon Bradley. The reason she believes this is because a Ouija Board told her the name when she was way young, and then when she was in high school had her fortune told by a Gypsy at a carnival who said that Damon Bradley would one day come and sweep her off her feet (okay, so she didn't say it quite like that. It was more like "I see a name... David... no... DAMON Bradley...." and that was it. But it had the same effect.)

You are probably wondering why I am rambling about this movie. Well... when you sit at a computer for long enough and you are desperately trying to avoid doing anything productive, it is very probable that you may start googling random things. Because we had just recently watched this movie I ended up googling "palm reading". And I found a quick course to the art of reading palms. :)

Here is what I found:

It appears that I have a very long life line, a strong heart line, and a very pronounced "head line" (What is a head line anyway? Do I have a big head? Am I destined to make the front page of the newspaper?)

Unfortunately I do not have a health line or a success line. I'm a little worried. Apparently I will live a very long life with little success and no health. But people will know about me either because of my newsworthiness or my big heart. :)

Hows that for being productive?

How to eat an elephant...

DID YOU KNOW:

• The elephant is the largest of all land mammals. (A fully grown elephant can reach a height of 10 - 13 feet and weigh about 16,500 pounds)
• A group of elephants can be called a 'memory of elephants', although a herd is a more common collective noun
• September 22nd is Elephant Appreciation Day (just seven days after my birthday)
• Elephants spend about 16 hours a day eating
• They consume as much as 495 pounds of food per day.
• The elephant is my favorite animal

Elephants are basically huge, amazing creatures. I love elephants. I always have. I remember once when I was in elementary school we went on a field trip to the Bean Museum in Provo and I begged my mom to buy me a tiny glass elephant as a souvenir. I remember losing it on the bus on the way home and being devastated. Naturally, I enlisted the help of everyone within five seats of my to stop what they were doing to look for it. Needless to say, I cherished that thing. I have also loved each and every stuffed elephant that has had the good fortune to come into my life (as presents, or just as mere acquaintances while passing through a gift shop.)

You may be wondering why I am talking so much about ELEPHANTS. Don't worry... I haven't gone off the deep end. The thing is, David and I have bitten off a little more than we can chew. This semester is looming before us like an elephant just daring us to step forward. Not a cute little baby elephant like above. A really big mean scary elephant like this:
(Amy- please forgive my lack of real pictures of elephants. When you go to Africa next week you will have to take some good pictures for me.) 

David has just started his Masters Program here at USU. He will continue working at the Controllers Office, but will also be taking on two more jobs. He is a Graduate Research Assistant to one of his professors on campus, and has just been offered the chance to be a Quigley Scholar (he will get to promote Utah State and especially the School of Accounting) Both of these are really great opportunities for him, but will keep him very busy. Plus, taking care of me is a full time job!

As for me, I am in the midst of preparing for student teaching! I went to parent teacher conferences last night, and met my Cooperating Teacher for the first time. (We were supposed to meet before Christmas, but then she was diagnosed with Lung Cancer. She is doing well, and we are both looking forward to a great semester together. I think that the situation will be good for both of us.) I observe tomorrow and then start teaching in the classroom next week! Wish me luck! On top of that, I will be working 20 hours a week in the IT Computer Labs and will continue to move forward with my business, Red Ladder Design.

David and I have a lot of 13 hour days ahead of us.

But you know what they say...

The only way to eat an elephant is

ONE BITE AT A TIME.

The thing is:
I love teaching and can't wait to get into the classroom. I have so many good ideas, and can't wait to start implementing them. I love my job and am blessed to be able to work on lesson plans while I am there. AND I absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE designing wedding invitations. (I spent an hour or so today working on a design for a client who really likes unique stuff and I loved every second of it.)

All I need to remember is that I love all these things and that if I just take it one step at a time, everything will work itself out.
One step at a time.

After all, America eats 350 slices of pizza each SECOND. (That is 100 acres of pizza each DAY). And that, my friends, makes eating an elephant seem like eating a bite-sized candy bar.

Gone Private.. for real this time...

Well, you may have noticed that I have finally set my blog to private. I am getting closer to having my business website done, and have started sending some people to the website. I figured that now is as good as time as ever to make the transition into a private blog. I'm sorry if this inconveniences any of you... but we would eventually be going private anyway. Remember to add http://peadenpreblog.blogspot.com/ to your blog rolls so you will be able to see when we update!

David and I are doing really well, we are just trying to prepare for next week when David will start his first classes as a graduate student and I will start into my student teaching. It's kind of a crazy, but we are both really excited for the challenge.

David and I are incredibly grateful for your continued love and support. As I was going back through all of my comments to find all of the e-mail addresses (to invite you to view our blog) I was filled with gratitude about all the nice things that were said and how many people truly care about us. Thank you again for being such wonderful friends and family. Good luck with the beginning of the new year!