The crazy experiences of the glorified babysitter!

My First Technical

2012-01-23T13:25:00.000-08:00

I've been coaching basketball for almost 8 years now. I've had some great experiences and some not so wonderful. Lots of wins, lots of losses and a few awesome comebacks. However this weekend I got my first technical. I don't know if it was enough for a coach to get a technical or not, but nevertheless, I got "T'd" up!
Here is how it went down....
During the middle of the second quarter one of my students took a wonderful charge on an opposing player who lowered his shoulder and bulldozed him over. But we got called for a block. I said a few words with the official. Our next possession one of my posts went to set a screen for the wing, and as he was trying roll off the screen to the basket, he was knocked down and the ref called a moving screen. My athlete looked at me raised his hands and shoulders in a "what did i do?" gesture and the ref game him a technical.
I then called the same ref over and asked him why the moving screen and why the technical. A short conversation took place and ended when the referee stated that "it is a judgement call coach!" I responded with, "then you have poor judgment!" TWEET!!
I thought it was pretty weak, but my team fought back after being down by 24 in the 3rd quarter and we only lost by 4.

Catching up once more

2011-11-29T13:27:00.000-08:00

I think once every 6 months is enough! Geezer, I'm terrible at keeping things up to date on here. So lets see, I left off in June. In June, I coached basketball, took a trip to Moab, made some new friends and went jeep crawling, went kayaking on the Flaming Gorge and never caught a fish, golfed almost every day and got schooled by a 89 yr old man! In July, I spent the 4th with the fam, attended the family reunion, avoided the dreaded reunion flu, went fishing a few times, rode 4 wheelers in the mountains and took the boat out. I also had a girlfriend in July and spent a lot of time with her going to concerts, hikes and shows. August, August was an interesting month. Busy was more like it. I went to Casper for a coaches clinic, went to Mr. Harders wedding, went home again, got 2 flat tires and had to run 5 miles to get help in bear infested country, and started school.
I still can't believe this is my 4th year of teaching. Its crazy to think how many times I've taken attendance along with all the other monotonous things teaching consists of. I decided I would try something drastically different this year for one of my classes. Some students are always asking if we could do the p-90X workout for a class. I thought this would be hard to do since we didn't have the equipment needed for the actual workout. Luckily there is another workout similar to p-90X that doesn't require any equipment. It is called the INSANITY workout. It's acutally insane! My 1st quarter students were ecstatic to start the program but their excitement quickly dwindled within two weeks. So I revamped the program but still the excitement lasted only a few days. Oh well! This quarter the insanity class is a lot smaller and all of the students are working hard and pushing each other. Exactly what I was hoping for!
Basketball season has now started and we have our first games this weekend in Sheridan and Gillette. This is by far the most difficult test of the season so we might as well get it out of the way! I'm hoping for one of our 3 teams to win atleast one game on this road trip. We are all winless in the last 3 years. :( Wish us luck!

Graduation Speech

2011-06-06T14:06:00.000-07:00

I was chosen to give the Graduation Speech this year. It was a lot more difficult than I expected it would be. I kept it short hoping the students and audience would appreciate getting out of the hot and muggy auditorium sooner than we did last year. If you would like to read the speech, here it is....

These students were given the opportunity to choose their speaker for tonight. So first, they thought they would ask the most comical teacher, but they were turned down. So second, they turned to the smartest teacher, that teacher also turned them down. On to the third, the most athletic teacher, that teacher said no as well. Then they thought they could count on the best looking teacher but sadly they were rejected a 4th time. Feeling a little discouraged and disappointed they thought they would try one last time. So they asked the most inspirational teacher, and that’s when I began to think, I can’t turn them down 5 times! So here I am.
Members of the school board, administrators, faculty, Graduates, family, and friends, it’s a privilege to be with you this evening. I want to thank Steven, Shawnya and Tabatha for their remarks. I’ve never seen students so excited to speak at their graduation. These students had their speeches written several weeks ago! Thank you for being prepared and doing such a wonderful job.
To begin, I would like to take a minute to conduct a survey. This survey is for the audience. Graduates, please pay attention.
How many of you in the audience remember your high school graduation? Raise your hands and please keep them raised.
Out of those raising your hands, how many of you specifically remember a little of what was said at your graduation? If you don’t remember anything, lower your hands.
Of those left with hands still raised, how many of you were so inspired by a remark made by any of the speakers… that what they said, in some way shaped your life? Keep your hands raised…..
Graduates, please take notice that there are very few hands still raised.
With you, I’d like to change that. Tonight I hope to say something that you will remember and that what I say…. may positively impact your life now or in years to come.

Class you have a special meaning to me. My first year of teaching was the same year some of you first attended EA. I’ve been able to watch you grow, physically, mentally and socially. I’ve had almost all of you in my classes. I’ve laughed with you, shared stories, experiences, knowledge and believe it or not, I’ve even cried with a few of you. I’m pleased to see that you have stuck with it through thick and thin.
As a teacher we have the privilege to watch you grow. I would like to share with you a story that relates to what you may have gone through the last few years. It may seem a little juvenile, but the message is valuable.

There was a farmer who had a large garden. Twice a day, the farmer would grab two pails, put them on his shoulders and walk down to the stream. He would fill them up and walk back to his garden to water his plants. Eventually, one of the pails developed a hole in its side. The pail, recognized this and thought to himself,
“Why is the farmer still using me to carry his water even though I only carry half of what I should?”
Days and weeks go by, and still the farmer carried the weakened pail. Curious and surprised by his continued use, the pail broke his silence and spoke to the farmer saying,
“Mr. Farmer, why do you continue to use me to water your garden? Because of the hole in my side, I am capable of only bringing up half of the water you need. What is stopping you from throwing me away and getting a new pail?”
The farmer listened intently to what the pail had to say, then he felt compassion for the pail, and decided to share with him, his secret.
He responded to the pail with a simple task,
“Dear Pail, when we walk to the stream this morning, I want you to look at the side of the trail. When we arrive at the stream, tell me what you see.”
The pail agreed and the farmer routinely threw the pails on his shoulders. On the way down to the stream, the pail watched the barren ground pass by. The whole way down, he saw dirt, rocks, and few plants that could only survive in the desert.
Confused, the pail wondered how staring at the ground was going to answer his question. Once they arrived, he told the farmer exactly what he saw. The farmer nodded and then replied with another task for the pail,
“On the way back to the garden, I want you to look at the ground once more and when we arrive, I want you to tell me what you see.”
Again the pail agreed, and up to the house they went. While he was watching the ground something was dramatically different. There was neither dirt nor rock to be found. Pleasantly surprised he saw flowers of vibrant colors, luscious green grass, and many kinds of small shrubbery.
The pail happily told the farmer what he saw and the farmer smiled, nodded and replied,
“Weeks ago, I knew you developed a hole in your side and so I decided to turn your disadvantage into your biggest strength. Twice a day, you have given me the pleasure of viewing a beautiful flower garden that you have watered for me. This is why I did not give up on you.”
Just like the pail, many of you came to EA looking for ways to strengthen yourselves, which in time through your hard work, perseverance, dedication, and the help of some farmers…. you have become strong!! And you have given us the pleasure of seeing your smiling faces upon this stage tonight.
Some of you, may have never realized, that you could be sitting here on this stage. The funny thing is, most people never know what they are truly capable of.
Speaking of capabilities, the musical group, “The Eagles,” sang something profound in their song, Already Gone, 1974. Some of the lyrics read,
“So often times it happens that we live our lives in chains
And we never even know, WE have the key!”
-Your chains have started to loosen; you need to continue to utilize the keys you have obtained. Some of you may wonder what keys I’m talking about. It’s not just the Reading, Writing, Math, Science, or History. These keys are different, they will help you function at higher and higher levels. They are;
Ambition and Motivation, Creativity and Responsibility.
There is no other way to say this, BE AMBITIOUS! Be motivated to continually better your lives. Chase your interests, your dreams, and hunt them down.
Your next key should not be wasted! Use your natural creativity to bring happiness into your life and into the lives of others.
Lastly, Responsibility. It is now YOUR responsibility to USE these keys.
Graduates, you hold the keys to your own future. Put your keys to work and unlock your chains to live the life of your wildest dreams and continue to be successful!!
Congratulations! And Thank You!

Busy Bear Lake

2010-08-15T08:58:00.000-07:00

This is for dad to show him how busy the beaches and lakes can get in Utah, especially on the weekends. This video makes me glad to have lived in Montana growing up where there was tons of space on the beach and tons of space on the lake to play.

Catch up! Not Ketchup

2010-05-11T09:59:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I really slacked off. So here is a quick catch up for the last several months with very little detail.
My basketball season ended sadly with only 2 wins this year. We lost two games in overtime.
I ran in my first 5k with Brooke and Jared and placed 15th. Not bad for a sprinter.
I went to a basketball coaches clinic in Las Vegas and met lots of well known college coaches.
I lucked out and was given an opportunity to install a rock wall at Expedition.
I found out I will be spending my whole day at Expedition next year. There are some definite benefits to that!
I bought myself a begginers kayak and have taken it on the lake a few times.
I continue to get bad colds and lose my voice often. I'm blaming the surgery.
And school is almost over. It feels like this year screamed by without even saying hello. I'm sure I'm forgetting a few important big events in my life but this will have to do as the bell is about to ring for class to start.

Before and After

2010-01-17T21:45:00.001-08:00

So here are some photos of the basement bathroom which was finally finished this fall. There was lots of work to be done, including; taking out two dumb walls which were making the space for the tub smaller than it already was, jack hammering the basement floor to move the pipe out of the center of the tub, replacing the water pipes and putting them in the proper place and some sheet rock, tile, and a door.

So there you have it. Now for the new bathroom pictures.

Outsized and just plain out matched!

2010-01-08T22:03:00.000-08:00

Does anyone want to guess the final score?? ha At least we came up to their shoulders.

My gift!

2009-11-27T15:03:00.000-08:00

So I finally did it. I'm tired of wanting one and talking about it so today I went to the Nissan dealership and bought myself a truck. A Nissan Frontier to be exact. Even in the color I wanted! And no, its not black, but close. Here it is! Say goodbye to the family car and awesome gas mileage!

Still Remembering

2009-11-21T18:17:00.000-08:00

Toward the end of July, I was talked into bumming a ride back to Montana with 3 little kids and a newborn. A few hours into the ride I was able to take a nap, but a few hours later, I vowed to never again bum a ride from a growing little family! It wasn't all bad, and it was nice not having to drive by myself, plus sometimes the kids would say some pretty funny things.

When we got home, I requested to sleep in the suburban instead of the couch or on the floor in the basement. At first I think mom and dad were a little worried about me not wanting to sleep around the family, but after the first couple of nights in the suburban, family members were begging to trade me spots so they could get a good nights rest. Lucky me! It was also refreshing to be able to wake up in the middle of the night and see the big starry Montana sky. You know you're in Montana when you can see the shape of the Milky Way.

My best memory of being at home for the family reunion was either playing with matches and lighting off all the illegal Wyoming fireworks and scaring the kids to death, or fishing with grandpa Heagy on the Diversion Dam Reservoir. Being able to be in grandpas canoe, trolling with the little electric motor and catching little trout him was one I'll always remember and want more of. The water was so calm. The fish were jumping everywhere. A few drops of rain would hit the calm water. It was so quiet you could hear the canoe cutting through the water. I always started smiling when grandpa would hook a little trout and then started to do his excited laugh and giggle. I hope we get to do that again sometime soon!

About a week later, I hopped on a red-eye flight to New York City. I wasn't feeling well when I left and I probably felt worse when I arrived. I may have had the swine flu, and then added on air sickness when Brooke and Jared picked me up. They were living on Long Island, so I thought it would be a quick ten minute drive to their apartment. After 15 minutes I asked how much longer it would be. To my suprise, Jared responded with, "a good 40 minutes!" Little did I know that Long Island was so BIG. I thought it was only about 7 or 8 miles long and a few miles wide. Nope! Near 118 miles long and almost 23 miles wide.

After I recooperated a while, Brooke and I hit the Yankee game and enjoyed the professional baseball atmosphere. However, we didn't want to miss the train and have to deal with the thousands of fans so we left a little early. I think that's what the Yankees wanted, because as soon as we left they hit a huge homer and also scored a few more runs.

Brooke and I hung out for a few days on Long Island, and even went to the beach on a cold day! It was cold almost the whole week but I thought it was a good time to be in a city of solid asphalt. A couple days later we made it back to the city and took a tour bus to see all the popular sites, even the "Soup Nazi" restaurant from Seinfeld. There is so much to see, but so many people, its claustrophia city! An artist in the park offered to draw Brooke and I in a cartoon picture so here it is. Look at those pointy ears!

The final day I was in New York, the weather finally turned warm and Brooke and I went to the beach. I had never been to an ocean beach where the water was actually warm enough to actually jump in. Yes, the water was borderline filthy and you came out with a sticky, smelly, coating on, but it was fun playing in the waves and trying to pick up sea shells with your toes. Plus, the thousands of people on the beach was interesting!

Re-Cap

2009-11-18T11:10:00.000-08:00

This last summer was an awesome one! During my 4th quarter health class last year, I was having the students decide on goals they wanted to work on and eventually accomplish during the 9 week quarter. After all the students had decided on a goal, they also encouraged me to make a goal as well. I couldn't come up with one that I could accomplish during the quarter but I told the students I would travel to the 4 corners of the United States; Washington, California, New York, Florida.

My Journey started as I left Montana and headed to the old mission stomping grounds. I spent a few days there seeing a few favorite sites as well as a few families I've kept in contact with. From there I went south to Darcy and Perry's. This was a new experience for me as I had never been to Oregon before. Darcy enjoyed showing me all the fun things to do and see in Newport including a few coveted beaches, a shopping mall, and her massive back yard and shelter.
It was fun to see her little ones running around, playing outside and begging to be fed all the time! lol

I think my favorite parts of Oregon were the cold misty nights out on the trampoline and crabbing ith Perry. It was a litte creepy at times on the trampoline with so many trees and the fog but I kept reminding myself that all the wolves were back in Montana and Wyoming! My other favorite part was crabbing on the 4th of July with the whole family. Perry and I got started with baiting the nets up with turkey and chicken legs. I have to say that we were the only ones who were pulling up tons and tons of crab. Lots of keepers too. Turkey legs are the key to a successful day of crabbing!

After we lit off fireworks and scared all the kids to death, I headed south on the west coast highway. Highway 1! Just a little ways south of Newport is the Sea Lion Cave. There were quite a few sea lions but what amazed me was how rough the water was and how big the waves were crashing on the surrounding cliffs. During the drive the only thing I remember was how curvy and slow going the road was! It took me almost all day to go a couple hundred miles south to the Giant Redwood forest in California. All I have to say about that is.... the trees are GINORMOUS!! So there I was in the northern part of California. Two locations done on my goal sheet, two to go.

I spent the night in Susanville, CA about 80 miles west of Reno in some crappy hotel for a ridiculous price. When I left in the morning and reached Reno, I saw signs boasting cheap hotel rooms at a fancy resort, so I decided to stay. It was well worth it!

As soon as I unpacked my things I came down to the casino and put $100 on black! Winner! So I decided to walk away and down to the pool area. It was an amazing pool with lots of great scenery just like the Giant Redwoods, GINORMOUS! haha because I had won a little money that day, I got a big discount on the Prime Rib Buffet, $7.49. After I pigged out I didn't have a whole lot to do, so I walked around the casino and found an open Texas Hold em tournament with a 50 dollar entry fee. I thought it would be a good way to spend a couple hours having fun and not losing a whole bunch of money. Little did I know, that my table nickname was going to be the eliminator! At the first table of ten I eliminated all 5 of the 10. At the second table I eliminated 4 more. At the final table, I eliminated 2 others and took 5th place out of 40 contestants. Too bad it didn't pay, but that's pretty good for a first timer! The bad thing was everyone at the tables could tell it was my first time! Thanks grandma and grandpa for teaching me to play cards at such a young age!

Nose and throat reconstruction

2009-10-08T20:45:00.000-07:00

I've been having so many problems the last few years with having tonsilitis and sinus infections that I decided it was time to get things straightened out! And that's exactly what will happen Oct. 16th Happy Birthday Duke! lol

I will be having a tonsilectomy because my tonsils are full of holes, are always swollen and producing puss. I will also be having septoplasty surgery on my nose. Ever since Jake purposely smashed my nose with a hammer, I've had bad nasal problems. Today I found out why. I had a CT scan done on my face to check out what damage has been done to my septum. The septum is a thin bone that runs down the middle of your nose separating the nostrils. An unharmed persons septum is suppose to be straight, mine is so crooked it is touching the outside of my nostril almost completely blocking it off in one place. I included some of the X-rays for you to look at. the septum is always in the middle of the picture. If your having trouble finding the septum, its the object that goes somewhat straight almost until the end and then has a big sideways ">" shape.

There are also two balloon looking things on each side of the septum, (turbinates) which control airflow through the nostrils, they are suppose to be equal in size, but because my septum has been bent out of shape for so long, one has decreased in size and the other has increased to an enormous size making it even more difficult to breathe out of one nostril.

Also at the top of one of the pictures is a big black hole or open space. That is one of my frontal sinuses. There should be 2 "two" of them!!! My right side has one but my left frontal sinus never developed and is missing. No big deal, some people have none at all, and that is why I rarely get sinus headaches like Darcy had.

I hope you enjoy the X-rays and learn something new about your own nose.

Key West

2009-09-02T20:19:00.000-07:00

On the ocean

2009-07-02T15:22:00.001-07:00

Tuesday morning I headed up to Whidbey Island, my first area during my mission. I started out on top of Erie Mountain where you could see all of Whidbey Island, some of the sound and the other side of the sound. During my mission we used to meet the other missionaries on top and we would play capture the flag. Some missionaries would take it to the extreme and wear camoflauge. If they were still enough you could walk right past them and not even know they were standing there. Camoflauge really works!!
The last time I was on Whidbey Island there was an earthquake that hit Seattle. Wouldn't you know it, there was an earthquake yesterday. It was only a 3.0 but still!!! I'm staying off that Island!

It was an extremely nice day so I decided to stop off at Deception Pass Park and walk around on the beaches for a little while and then go over Deception Pass Bridge. The walkway on the bridge was scary because on one side was over a hundred feet down with turbulent water. The other side of the walkway was the highway, which only gave you a few feet to walk. When passing people on the walkway it was hard to decide which side to pass them on....the water side?...or the car side...where you could get hit.

After grabbing some lunch I drove to the south part of the island and took the ferry across the sound back to Everett. It was a very scenic day and once again saw lots of green. I guess I shouldn't have wore green!
When I met up with my friend back in Seattle we headed to the beach in Kirkland and walked around checking out the girl scenery. I have to admit, the beach scenery was a lot better than Whidbey Island. After we had our eye candy for the day we headed to downtown Redmond and played some poker with his friends and then sang some Karaoke. Save a Horse Ride a Cowboy was the favorite! Fun day! Great night!

My little journey

2009-06-30T09:19:00.000-07:00

Its been quite a while since I've been back to visit my mission. Many things have changed, kids have grown up, houses have been developed, but the traffic is still the same! Terrible!! Coming to a dead stop three times on I-90 between Quincy and Seattle, for over a half hour each time is very frustrating! Especially when you need to use the bathroom and there are no exits to be found!

The first traffic jam was caused by a small hay trailor which had caught on fire. How it happened? Who knows, but I've never seen the traffic backed up in the middle of the desert for over 4 miles.

The second was a boat that had become detached from its trailor and was sitting in the road. And I still don't know what the third one was caused by. So frustrating! However I made it safe and sound and ready to see some old friends. I headed up to Lake Stevens first thing in the morning and stopped off at the Christensens house. Karen didn't know I was coming but it was a nice suprise for her to see me and catch up on what has been going on in our lives.

The next stop was Big Four Mountain. The big four has a large glacier which produces ice caves during the summer from melting snow underneath the surface. I was a little disappointed because it was a late season and the caves hadn't started forming yet. But it was a nice hike to the glacier and a good change to see SO MUCH green!! After living in the red desert of Wyoming for several months you begin to appreciate plant life more and more.

I came back to Lake Stevens and visited a few more families and also got to see the little man who was named after me! Davon Duke Elliott. During my mission, a recent baptized family was going to have a baby and couldn't decide on baby names. I suggested mine! I never thought they would actually go for it, but it sounds pretty good.

This morning I'm off to Whidbey Island, my first area and also the largest island in the lower 48 states. See you tomorrow!

When the kids are away

2009-05-01T14:13:00.000-07:00

Thought I better say hello since I have no students in my last hour class today. That is correct, they are all absent. It was a good hour to clean things, get organized and plan for next week. I couldn't ask for a better end to a Friday!

This was a recovery week for me. Last weekend in Utah I decided I wanted to get really sick and miss Little Mac's baby blessing. So I slept most of the day Sunday trying to feel better, no luck. On my drive home, just after Park City, I decided that I'd had enough. I pulled over, went to the other side of the car and gave the cars passing by the best show of a sick man ever! I even got a few honks as I was bent over on hands and knees.

I felt much better Monday and Tuesday but we had a new teacher dinner on Tuesday night at the China Garden. Lets just say I was really hungry and ate way too much and got sick again. So now I've repeated the cycle, I feel great, and its Friday. I'M OUTTA HERE!!!!!!

Almost Over

2009-04-15T09:53:00.000-07:00

The school year has been speeding by and its been quite a while since I've updated this thing, so lets get caught up!

The first couple weeks of teaching in Green River was great! The weather was perfect for teaching outside, no rain, no wind, just perfect! I was even able to play with the students the whole day, which keeps me in great shape. I only have two classes at Green River High School this year but I have 3 classes at Expedition Academy, the alternative high school. I love my schedule and I like that I get to teach a variety of subjects, from strength training, health, team games and lifetime activities.

In addition to teaching, this fall I was asked to be the SECRET school mascot. Every home football game I would sneak into my own special locker room and change into the extremely hot wolf. The suit got even warmer when I did push ups for every point we scored. This was a bad idea because we had a championship team and averaged almost forty points a game. The best part about the mascot suit was bringing it back to Utah to show little Boston and Cooper. Boston was unsure of the outfit and what was going on, but Cooper loved it so much he fainted and then started crying! Ha I'm glad I'm still his favorite Uncle Gook.

The New Place

2008-08-22T20:37:00.000-07:00

The papers are finally signed and I now owe an arm and a leg for my new place. Its in a great location! I can take the 3 minute walk to school every morning just across the street and football field or walk several blocks to Smiths to fill up the fridge. The last few mornings I've even been able to watch football practice from my bedroom window.

This morning was "new teacher" orientation. They briefly taught us how to use the online grading system as well as some of the new features on Microsoft Outlook. Out of the thirty or so new teachers in the district, there was only one single female and she had a few more tattoos than I would prefer! haha I was suprised how many older teachers joined the school district. The District Administration is a fun group and very personable. They made it easy to feel welcome and I now feel exceptionally happy to be employed here!

One of the new teachers I met was Clay Rodgers from Gillette, WY. He is a big fella and an assistant football and wrestling coach. He was fun to talk to, especially when the administration started informing him of the moving allowance we have as new teachers. He had already moved and not saved any of his reciepts, no reimbursments for Clay! Then he found out the technology dept. forgot to register him into the computers. At lunch he was the first to order and the very last to be served, the wrong meal! It was fun joking around with him and drawing attention to our boisterous corner.

This afternoon I went to Home Depot, bought a few gallons of paint, and ordered some new carpet. Big Day!!! Its going to be a busy fall, with new improvements and buying new things for my new place.

My First

2008-08-16T11:28:00.000-07:00

Jackie, I'm taking your advice! I'm creating a blog to let everyone know whats happening in my life while teaching in Green River, WY. Actually, I'm only taking a break from creating lessons. HA! I honestly didn't think it would be this difficult deciding what to teach to high school students. So many standards and requirements need to be met, its hard to organize everything to make the semester go by nice and smooth for myself as well as the students. I now believe what people have been telling me, "the first year will always be the hardest!"

This summer has been one to remember. It went something like this.......a couple weeks at home irrigating, fencing, playing and listening to Mom and Dad pray for me every meal and family prayer to first, find a good job and secondly, to find a wife! It didn't take long for me to get the hint, so off to Utah to I went, "applying for jobs," which really meant, "find a wife!" I did apply to a few places around the western states but the only school interested was Green River, WY.

On Thursday, June 12 when I rolled into Green River for the first time, I thought the town looked like a cross of Great Falls and Browning. Not impressed!! I thought to myself, "I DO NOT want to teach here! This interview will be good practice since its my first ever." I stayed at the Super 8 that night very relaxed and careless. On Friday morning I waltzed into the interview room acting like myself, carefree. I made them laugh a couple times and the interview was over.

Little did I know that making them laugh was the wrong thing to do because on Monday, I got the call. I knew it was them making me an offer so I didn't pick up, I let them leave a message. I listened to the message and had to think hard if I actually wanted the position. I knew I wasn't having much luck anywhere else and this might be the only opportunity for a long time! So I thought I would call Mom and let her know. When Mom answered, I asked her if dad needed me to come home for the second cutting of hay because there was no way I could make it because Green River offered me the job. Mom screamed a couple times and then she said, "hold on, I need to go outside for a minute." Then she screamed "Wahooooo" a couple times and then started crying. That will be a moment I will never forget!!

Since then, I've bought a townhouse very close to the schools I will be teaching at. My position requires me to teach a couple classes in the morning at Green River High School and then I get to spend the rest of my day at Expedition Academy, the alternative high school. So here I am, creating lessons and trying to buy into dads new saying, "your wife will be a teacher in Green River!"