Gila Valley Temple Openhouse

Alright... starting out with a preface...

Steve Pennington and I are dating and very happy in our relationship! The short story is that we really enjoyed being together in California for Spring Break and found that we had feelings for each other that had never really surfaced before. So, we decided to give this dating thing a shot (after being close friends for 5 years...) and it's working out really well so far! Here's a "funny" picture, taken almost 5 years ago... "Funny" because we look so young and different and probably had no clue that we'd take this long to finally end up together...

Disclaimer: I promise I'll update major courses of action (either positive or negative), so no need to ask me crazy things like "are you engaged yet?" or "when is the wedding?". It took us 5 years to get to this point, so who knows what the timing of our future will be like. So just chill. You'll know.

Ok, so now that your curiosity about my new boyfriend is out of the way, we can focus on the FANTASTIC day trip we took to Safford/Thatcher/Pima, AZ. We planned this a couple of weeks ago to take a day off work and drive out for the Gila Valley Temple openhouse.

The temple was beautiful, as expected. And the members volunteering as ushers and tour guides were so proud to show off their temple (and rightfully so!). Here's us outside of the temple after our tour:

We were only at the openhouse for about an hour, but since we made the 2.5 hour trip out there, we decided to do some more exploring. So, after our pizza buffet lunch at R&R Pizza, Steve just started driving us up Mt. Graham. We didn't think to bring a change of clothes, so we did a little hiking in our church clothes. That made for some fun memories!!

Memories like me hiking up my skirt a bit to climb up the trail...

...or trying not to get my skirt dirty (or flash Steve) for a photo op...

...or losing my shoe in the water when I took it off so I could cross the creek barefoot...

(Good thing Steve was there to capture the moment...)

...or Steve doing "interesting" things in order to trail blaze an easier path for me...

I'm pretty sure we were the only two people on that mountain, so we had to get a little creative with the automatic timer on my camera. Sometimes it didn't work out so hot:

(You can tell we're still having so much fun though...)

But we were able to get a few gems of pictures:

(Aww... so cute!)

The weather was gorgeous. The surroundings were beautiful. The day was perfect.

This was a much needed getaway for both of us... he's been stressed with finals coming up and we haven't been able to spend stress-free time, just the two of us, since California. Can't wait until the next getaway with Steve! :)

I ran a 5K!

If I sound super proud of that fact, it's because I AM!! I am in no way, shape or form a runner. And, in fact, I didn't even run the full 5K! The parts that were uphill I had to walk because it hurt my shins too much. (Body Attack training has done a number on my shins... and PS, I'm filming my certification video a week from Saturday!) But I think I did pretty well... it took me about 40 minutes. Maybe that's really bad. I don't know. But I'm still proud. :)

Anyway, my friends Jill and Kristen are involved in an organization called SHe (Singular Humanitarian Experience). They held a 5K/10K fundraiser and I decided to support it. However, I got lost getting to the location and I was so late that the 5K winner was finishing up as I pulled into the parking lot. I wasn't going to do it at all at that point, but then I realized that I was counting on the 5K as my cardio for the day and, gosh darn it, I pulled my hiney out of bed that early on a Saturday morning, so I was going to do it.

And I did. Last one to start. And definitely the last one to finish. Even all the 10Kers finished before me. Whatever. I got this cool green shirt for my efforts.

It matches my BFF Jill.
Shawn and Brooke: check the iPod arm band.... Sa-weet!

PS... Is anyone dying for details on this?

I bet you are now! ;)
Don't worry... I'll get to it soon. Promise.

She's Blogging, AGAIN??

Yeah, I know... crazy, right? Three blogs in one week? Who am I? Brooke? (Hint hint) ;) I guess I get so hung up in thinking I can only blog about my huge fantastic voyages around the world (or thinking about blogging about them because we all know I still have to get around to that...) that I forget to blog about the funny everyday happenings of my life.

Today, when I got to the parking lot after work, I found a glass marker and this on my car:

"Honk cuz Im Sexy"

Yes, my license plate is SPENDY... which makes me a dead giveaway (especially when I happen to be speeding or cutting people off...). I'm surprised nothing like this has happened sooner!

I believe that says "muah!" like a kissing noise.

And, my personal favorite:

"My eggo is preggo!"

In my 7 years of teaching, there have been a lot of student-started rumors circulating about me.

Rumors anywhere from
"Miss Spendlove is dating Mr. McNavish"
to
"Miss Spendlove is teaching an honors math class next year"
to
"Miss Spendlove was caught on campus smoking marijuana"
(laughable, isn't it?)

But never,
"Miss Spendlove's eggo is preggo"

Man, if that's true, I seriously missed something. ;)

St. Patrick's Day???

If you saw me at work today, you would have thought that I missed the memo that St. Patrick's Day is March 17th, not March 24th.

But the truth of the matter is that I get ready for work every morning without supervision (because Wendy's usually gone or still asleep) and sometimes what seemed like a good idea at 6:45 am isn't so much a good idea by 8:00 am. And by then it's too late.

So what's a dorky math teacher to do?
Borrow green accessories from her students
and laugh with them laughing at me.

And here's my little student aide, Adam Milkovich.
(Although at 6'6", I can't really call him little anymore)

He was wearing all red. So together, we were Christmas...
Although, at Mesa High, it was more like we were Mexico. :)

California Spring Break Adventures

Tonight, I have the Sunday night blues...

and they're worse than usual because not only is tomorrow Monday...

it's the Monday after Spring Break.

I hate having to work.
It is such a necessary evil.

So, to work off these blues, I'm going to blog RIGHT NOW about my vacation.
(I know... unheard of lately. You all are still wondering if I really did go to Australia or Puerto Vallarta. I did. I have bazillions of pictures to prove it...)

I originally didn't have any plans for Spring Break. But then I heard that my oldest brother Scott and his family would be visiting CA from San Antonio, TX and the "California Spendloves" would be getting together for a Disneyland trip. Since I'm only 6 hours away from Santa Paula, I decided that I count as a California Spendlove too! :)

My friend Steve Pennington, who is in nursing school, also had the same spring break as me, so invited him to come along for a much needed break. He drove the whole way both ways so it was totally worth it to have him along... I love being chauffeured to California! We had a lot of fun together and with my family. He did very well with the 18 Spendloves present. Brave man... we're an overwhelming crowd! Alright, here's the rundown:

Wednesday, March 17th: Road Trip Time!

Nice easy drive (especially for me...). When we stopped to get gas in Indio, CA we also stopped at a Walgreen's for Steve's sake and found these lovely popcorn shirts:

Steve is very comfortable with his manhood... Here's what these shirts should look like:

And, yep. That was Wednesday.

Thursday, March 18th: Coastal Drive Day!

After having a yummy breakfast at Allison's Country Cafe with my mom, dad and my brother Stuart's kids (mom was babysitting them while Stuart and his wife and new baby were in Utah), Steve and I set out on a California coastal drive. We, of course, had to start out with the beauty of Ventura. And what better place to do that than the cross!

Steve was totally impressed by the beauty of Ventura/Santa Paula. He thought that I lived in some wall to wall Southern California city... The Ventura area is a well kept secret. I love it there and I love sharing it with friends!

We then drove down the PCH 1 to Malibu to spend the day on the beach. The drive and day were absolutely gorgeous and we spent a good deal of time just lounging on some quiet beach in Malibu. Then out of nowhere, this fog/haze rolls in and destroys all visibility. It was weird. We took off after that and went down to the Santa Monica Pier. You can see the haziness here:

After that, we wanted to swing by the LA temple on our way home... but we totally had bad timing with traffic. I wasn't sure if Steve's sanity was going to make it through this mess.

But once he got a glimpse of Moroni on top of the temple, he got really excited and it made all the stress of getting there melt away. He loved the LA temple and was so impressed by how big it is and how much land the church owns right there. It's totally true... I hadn't really thought about it before. That's a crap load of land in a big busy city!

Right as I was trying to take this last picture from the temple lawn, the sprinklers came on on us and I almost got wet! Steve was literally on the ground rolling around laughing... he so wanted me to get caught in the sprinklers!

Our temple visit was a really peaceful way to end a good day. And it was the perfect way to wait out the traffic! When we got home, it was time to get ready for Disneyland for the next day! Which included getting these cuties showered and to bed:

When I was looking for towels for Nephi and Spencer (two of Stuart's boys), I found this old green velco waisted shaving towel of my dad's and thought Spencer would get a kick out of it. Look at that face! He loved it! And Nephi wanted one too... he kept telling me "I want pink pants!" So, I wrapped his towel around him best I could and we showed them off to Grandpa!

Friday, March 19th: Disneyland Day!

How's this for some Spring Break math: 17 Spendloves (Mom, Scott, Kari, Andy, Emily, Mitchell, Steve, Melissa, Ethan, Matthew, Rachel, Lauren, Sarah, Summer, Spencer, Nephi and me) plus 1 Pennington (Steve) = my 4th time at Disneyland in 15 months (and before that I had only been twice before the age of 11... I guess I can thank Greg for turning me on to Disneyland! :) So, the 18 of us, with a bazillion other people spent a beautiful day at the happiest place on earth! We did pretty well for a large group... rode some rides together, had lunch together, broke off into different groups. Here's some highlights:

Me and Steve on the Jungle Cruise

Grandma wth Lauren, Andy and Ethan on It's a Small World

The other half of the boat: me, Steve, Spencer, Mitchell, and Matthew

Look at the sheer joy on Nephi's face driving an Autopia car with Aunt Sarah!

And Spencer was pretty dang excited too! He had been asking to go on this ride all day and we finally got around to it in the mid-afternoon. He was my first car buddy... more on that in a sec...

Summer got to go with her crush, Steve... I so remember being a little girl about Summer's age and always falling in love with the cute friends Lisa or Steve would bring home with them. It was kind of fun for me to relive that through Summer! ;)

So then, this happened:

Grandma and Rachel's car kept stalling... to the point that they had to be pushed for a bit...

...and then serviced, until they finally helped the car all the way back to the beginning. It kind of stunk that happened, but it gave me some good picture taking time and they let us all go on the ride again without waiting in line!

Rachel... the culprit driver of the traffic jam!

Nephi just chillin'

Second time around, Nephi and I got to be buddies. He's such a cutie!

In my last 4 visits to Disneyland, I've never gone on Splash Mountain because it was too cold and not worth the wait. But we did it this time and loved it! Steve Pennington credited the ride as one of the times that he had the biggest smile on his face!

Sarah (who was the only one to get wet), Matthew, Summer, Rachel, me and Steve

Too bad Lauren didn't feel the same way Steve did... Her dad (my brother Steve) gave her a little hug right before the big drop and said her heart was just pounding. Poor little girl! Meanwhile, I think Ethan enjoyed it! (behind Steve)

Now, the moment you've all been waiting for (and didn't even know it...): Aunt Rebecca received the "Worst Aunt in the World" award later that evening. How? Well, we were waiting in line for Peter Pan and I was holding Nephi and he had been talking all day about wanting to see Snow White. So for some reason, I thought it would be a good idea to point out the scary wicked step-mother who peeks out of the curtains of the castle across the way. Well, Nephi fa-lipped! He bounced from person to person, so scared and saying over and over "Snow White's mom is scary!" And the poor little guy kept trying to look over that way to see it. Way to go, Aunt Rebecca. Anyway, he literally went from person to person in our group before settling down with my friend Steve. I think he felt comfortable in his strong hold... and then they continued to bond. Look how cute they are on the carousel afterwards:

And me and Matthew had some good Aunt & nephew quality time, as usual...

And that's all the Disneyland pictures I have from this trip. We lucked out and got a pretty decent spot for fireworks (which also happened to be the second moment that Steve credited to putting the biggest smile on his face). And we all were pretty much done after that. Oh, Disneyland, how I love you!

Saturday, March 20th: Lounge around with the family Day!

Slash "Recover from Disneyland Day". I didn't get a whole lot of sleep... I had to drive a car full home and then Nephi slept with me every night I was there, so I had the joys of getting up at a motherly hour of the morning (maybe I do want to be single the rest of my life... just kidding!) And Nephi was sick, so guess who's paying for it now? Oh well. Totally worth it to spend time with my family!

Nephi decided to give Steve's glasses a whirl. He found them in Steve's bedroom and then came out into the kitchen to model them. Doesn't he look dashing?

Lauren found Aunt Sarah's Cleopatra costume. I told her mom, Melissa, to seriously consider that hair color for Lauren... I think it's so striking on her! Makes her look more like her Aunt Rebecca! ;)

When we finally got around to doing something, Sarah, Andy, Ethan, Pennington and I left to go walk around downtown Ventura before meeting up with the rest of the family on the promenade by the pier. Steve and I took a little detour to the park by the Ventura Theatre so he could see this massive old ficus tree:

He loves big trees and was thoroughly impressed, I do believe!

All the Spring Break Spendloves at the pier (dad was in the car and Steve took the picture).

Me and Steve.

Well, that's pretty much it for my California Spring Break! Steve and I left Santa Paula about 6:30am this morning and were able to make it back for our family ward at 1:30pm. I'm feeling pretty dang sick right about now, so it's time for me to pop some good drugs and get to bed.

Life starts again tomorrow.

Oh how I loathe Sunday evenings.

Boo hoo.