Oh no, here she goes again with another one of those speeches..

"Hello Good Friend, I want to be next to you.." 

-The Rocket Summer

I have realized more and more over this past year how much I have taken for granted those people I know in my life..

I am sure a lot of people may think I talk a lot and I have a lot to say about myself (making me a super dramatic person..ha), but I promise I do listen to what others say. Sometimes I forget to find out what is going on in other's lives.  Forgive me though, because I am kind of a spacey person and I am definitely NOT a multi-tasker.. :) It is definitely something I need to work on more, but I promise I strive to be the best I can be.

I have realized that no matter what anyone has gone through in their lives, I still try to be there for them as much as I can. I have SO many people that I associate with that are the biggest examples to me, and they may not know it, but I look up to them and strive to be just like them. You want to know who these people are? Well, if you talk to me at least once a week, or hang out with me, then you are one of those people. I make sure that I associate myself with those around me who I know will lift me up in life, and those who I can try to return the favor for. 

And yes, this includes everyone who I associate with, even someone who I kneel down by my bed to talk to.

It just makes life so much more wonderful when you keep yourself high up there with those good people.

I have had too many let downs in life, too many flakey people that just don't seem to care enough to want to be with me, or make me a part of their lives. Those people can sit on the back burner in my life, and stop trying to tear me down, because babe, I ain't leavin this spot!

Happy Halloween to everyone! Bryce Avary in The Rocket Summer.. THIS FRIDAY!

Not Like the Movies

Thanks to Cassidy, I am in LOVE with this song, for many reasons! Check it out if you haven't heard it. And to Katy Perry, thank you!

Dates of Magnificent-ness

October 5th: Anberlin in concert.
October 13-17: Disneyland.
October 31st: Halloween.
November 4th: So You Think You Can Dance on tour.
November 5th: The Rocket Summer; "Bryce Avary, his instruments and your voices" show.
November 13th: Cartel and Hey Monday in concert.

Need I say more? Life is good, if you make it good.

P.S. "Magnificent" was one of our vocabulary words this week. I encourage my students to use them in their daily language.. so this is me, setting a good example for them.

She is who she is.

This week at school, there were some complaints made from some of the other teachers about how loud  Miss Rindlisbacher is after school, and even during school. Man, this is news to me. I had no idea I was so obnoxious! No one has ever told me that before in my entire life! Ha... If only that were actually true.

However, when the principal approaches me saying, "We love that about you!" then alas, I still have my job, and I don't have to start faking who I truly am at my job.. Thank heavens. Good news for everyone! Except for the teachers who have to listen to the obnoxious third grade teacher everyday :)

The Best Time of the Year..

This is Halloween. This is Halloween. Halloween.. Halloween.. Halloween.. Halloween!

My favorite time of the year. Man oh man, I get so excited just typing about it!

Ever since I was a little girl, I have always loved the season when my mother breaks out the Halloween decor and decks out the house with witches, pumpkins and ghosts. Even with the Peanut characters that go in front of the house in their pumpkin patch! This is the time when My siblings and I would watch The Nightmare Before Christmas, every year for Halloween and we still turned out normal as adults.. HA! Such a psychotic movie..

As I grew up, I was always a witch for Halloween. For some strange reason, that was just what I always wanted to be. Mom probably loved the fact that she did not have to buy a new costume every year for me. I have had the same witches hat ever since I was five years old.

And I still wear that same hat to this day :)

When I was in Logan, I started to branch out and have had some great costumes over the years, from a cowgirl, to Cat Woman, to Dracula (Which NO ONE could tell it was me.. ha), to being a Geisha, which was my absolute favorite of all time.

Brother and I. Halloween 2008

The Geisha. Halloween 2009

All through college, with my dear roommates, we would decorate our apartment on October 1st to get it ready for the season. We would always sing and dance to The Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack while we did this, making it look like we were a little satanic,  but we did not care. Thank you Steph and Crystal for those great memories.

The pirate wench, Cat woman, and Pocahontas. Halloween 2006

Reading Halloween stories. October 2007

I would also read Halloween books to my roommates every night in the dark as I wore my witches hat. Now, I get the opportunity to read them to my own students. Love this.


This year, my students saw that I had brought my Halloween decorations to school a little earlier than October 1st, just so I could store them in the classroom. They then asked me if we could please put them up before October. I was more than delighted to put them up a few days early, as I can't get enough of this fabulous season.


Not only do I get to celebrate Halloween here in Utah, but I get to go to Disneyland as well! AHH! I am so excited! My favorite time to go there is of course during this month when the entire place is decorated in pumpkins, filled with Jack Skelington and all of the villains of the Disney world. Some friends in Salt Lake and I are going and we even get to Trick or Treat with the characters.

The girls in the family. Disneyland October 2006

Jack Skelington in pumpkin form.

Now, it is time to start thinking about my costume for this year...

Happy Halloween!

To Teach = Love.

I have recently had the opportunity to talk to at least three or four different people who are going into elementary education, or at least thinking about it, who wanted to know all of my thoughts and opinions and such about it. I don't know why it all happened this week, but maybe it was meant for me to remind myself how much I take for granted the amazing blessings that teaching brings in to my life.

I love my career. I love it. It is not just a job for me, it is my career that makes me excited to get up each morning, even though I am dead tired, I know I need to be there for the 8 year olds. They count on me to be there standing at the door when that bell rings in the morning, just like I count on them to make me laugh on a daily basis.

I love living at my school. I can be at my school from 7 am to 5 pm until the janitor comes and kicks me out when it is time to go home.

I love my faculty. I could not ask for a better group of people to work with. Particularly my team and those educators who we call the "newbies" that make me feel like I actually know something as a 2nd year teacher. That confidence level makes life so much easier this time around as a teacher!

I love teaching about addition strategies, teaching about friendship, and figuring out how to encourage my students to love reading. All it takes is finding the right forte for their young minds.

I love to see those hands raise up in the air to answer a question, waiving them frantically because they want to share their answer SO bad. I can see their love for learning.

I love the individual personalities of each of my students. Even if they clash with mine, that just means I need to work twice as hard to help them and give them my attention to learn in my classroom, and hope that we can get passed that barrier we have.

You know you are doing something right when your students choose to become a teacher for a school project called "I can be what I want to be when I grow up."

“Teachers teach more by what they are than by what they say.”


On a different note:

You know, I think I am finally winning. I am finally in the lead of this long race I have been running in life. I can see the finish line coming so close. Can't wait to cross it!

The Song of the Week

The lyrics to this song. Amazing. Just what I needed in my life. Thank you, Bryce Avary. Have a listen.

Never settle.

Those two words above, mean more to me now than ever before. That is all for this post.

The Coolest People in The World!

Can I just tell you a little bit about the AMAZING people I know? Well here we go! Don't be jealous, but I have quite a few fabulous people in my life. Even if you do not get a spotlight in this post, just know that you are still loved by me, and I appreciate EVERYONE in my life who has given me a minute of their time in the day. If you are one of those people, thank you for being a part of my life. These are just a few of the marvelous people who have been there for me through the thick and thin parts of my life, who I can't ever thank enough:

You guys rock. I can't say it better than that.

Summer.. Please stay a little bit longer..

I sit here on my bed, thinking about how I should get up and go to my classroom.. but then I continue to waste more time because it is SUMMER! I am supposed to be relaxing!

Why do all good things come to an end?

This summer, I had to change classrooms, so I am currently trying to piece it all together again for year 2 of teaching. I have not even had a chance to think about planning the first week of school since I have been trying to get a "working classroom" again. I mean I could just leave it how it is, but I don't think the students would appreciate boxes all over their desks with nothing on the walls on the first day of school. Not to mention the books and school supplies that are not neatly organized on top of their desks ready for learning.

My principal also just asked me to take on another huge role in school.. drum roll.. I will be the new Safety Patrol Advisor! For those of you from Logan who have no idea what that is because you didn't have safety patrol in elementary school, basically it is an elementary version of crossing guards. The older students are in charge of helping the kids get to school safely and to keep the school grounds safe, before and after school. Yup, little miss 2nd year teacher here, gets to be in charge of organizing that.

So, as I was so excited to start a school year where I actually knew what I was doing, I will be starting something else that is new, and I only have 3 weeks left before the school year begins.. Should I be a little stressed? Naw, I am SUPER STRESSED.

Wow, summer was way too good to me..

I still have one more trip planned next week. I will be going to San Diego with Erik and some other friends from my singles ward, which I am way excited for. So until then, hopefully this classroom can help get itself put together (Or at least my mother and Kayla will get it done for me.. Ha) because the countdown has now begun!

August 23rd, how I dread your arrival.

Here are some pictures from the summer, SO FAR, since summer is still not over:

Backstreet Boys Concert in June. SO great to relive the teenage years

Erik and I on our trip to Southern Utah

Friends at Taylorsville Dayzz

The twins at Real Salt Lake

4th of July races!

The fabulous class officers at the Taylorsville High Class of '05 Reunion.

Family vacation to Vegas and St. George

At the Cardinals game during my trip to St. Louis

With Halie at the Arch in St. Louis

Stephy is home from Haiti!

The dreaded D word- Determination

It is pretty funny how sometimes you are struggling with certain things in life, and something comes to you at the right time for the right reasons. You read something that helps you out personally and gives you that new awakening. I say this because
my friend Lauren recently posted on her blog about the word "Resolve."

The definition of Resolve in this situation: A firm determination to do something.

Resolve: Something I will be working on for the rest of my life! I tell ya, it is not easy, and I still struggle with it. For example, lately I have been realizing more in life that I am "more talk" than anything. I have SO many things that I do not follow through on. I am a very dependable person for others, but when it comes to my own personal life, I do not accomplish those goals like I say I will. I am very good at accomplishing goals for others and meeting the needs of others (I can do this so easily for a class of 27 third graders), but when it comes to meeting and satisfying my own needs, things just always fall through the cracks.

This last weekend, there was a bike race that I was planning on riding in, so I began training and riding. It was 25 miles long and I knew it was going to be a challenge for me, but I was determined. The day before the race, I just did not feel ready, so I bailed and gave up. I had been planning for this race for over a month!

I gave up.

This summer, my friends Lisa, Heidi, and Kristen have started a book club and our first book to read was "To Kill A Mockingbird." I started reading and was supposed to be done this last week.

I never finished the book.

To work on resolve, it requires a mental dedication, that I am still working on as a 23 year old. Just like when it comes to reading your scriptures everyday. You have to remember that great feeling and remember how much more blessed you are in life if you set those goals and do what you are supposed to do in life. For some reason, remembering this feeling is hard for me to motivate myself into accomplishing those goals.

I think of my dear friend Stephanie and how she can run marathon upon marathon, and how determined she is in her life to keep up that training and to be able to run each race and finish with that feeling of accomplishment.

I may never have resolve with running (Ha ha!), but I would love to start feeling more resolve in my personal life in other aspects.

So as I work on my so called "laziness" and work harder to focus on my resolve, I will remember how it can make you a better person in life and help you to truly feel happy in life to work at something and reach that finish line, even if it may be 25 miles away.

(Thanks, Lauren for your post)

Oh Summer.. How I love thee.

So yes, I can officially say.. IT IS SUMMERTIME! This blog is dedicated to Summer and the amazing love I have for it. Real Soccer games, Bee's games, fireworks, BBQ's, swimming, biking, frisbee, laying on the grass at night, blowing bubbles. Man, it feels good to be back in this phenomenal season.

Because I am a teacher, I do get my summers off of school. Many people have asked, "Morgan, what are you going to do this summer? Don't you think you are going to be bored?" And My response includes throwing back my head and laughing.. because, I Morgan, am never bored. To prove this, my dear friend Lisa and I have a list of things we are planning on accomplishing during the summer (She is also a teacher) before we go back to school in August. I will give Lisa the credit for typing up this list, and allowing me to post it on my blog (She doesn't know yet that she gave me permission to do this..)

I edited some of the things, because her list has a few different goals than what mine would have:

1.) Biking, get ready for the Tour De Riverton!
2.) Sleep in the backyard.
3.) Read: classics - any suggestions? "To Kill a Mockingbird" is up first. Our book club has officially started!
4.) Hike: Ensign Peak, Donut Falls etc.
5.) Do something active everyday: Tennis, racquetball.
6.) Minimize sugar intake. Maximize the consumption of fresh fruits and veggies.
7.) Catch up with old friends, write my missionary letters etc.
8.) Go to a cool (clean) reservoir and spend a day floating on an inner-tube with a paddle. Or kayaking.
9.) Minimize driving. Ha.. not possible with my trips to Logan all summer.
10.) Find free concerts and entertainment around town.
11.) Farmers Market
12.) Learn something new.
13.) California: Attend "Annual U.S. Open Sandcastle Competition" on August 7-8 at Imperial Beach Pier, San Diego. (Great idea. Lisa!)
14.) Learn to play the piano
15.) Re-learn to play the flute.
16.) Index weekly on Family Search.
17.) Write in my journal.
18.) Park City Alpine slide.
19.) Work on spinning on my head from a headstand.
20.) Temple trips weekly.
21.) Go rollerblading.
22.) GEOCACHING!
23.) Play some Ultimate Frisbee.
24.) Trip to Vegas.
25.) Tour the garden on top of Conference Center.
26.) Go to Keys on Main a few more times for some great entertainment.
27.) Swimming, often. Work on this tan for summer.. Ha.
28.) Stargazing.
29.) Real soccer and Bee's games, of course.
30.) Tville Dayzz.. 5k run maybe?


Anyone is invited to participate in any of the activities. Just hit me up and you can come along!

Now, I might be editing this list often, and adding more ideas/goals, so if you have any, let me know and I will add it to my list. Other than that, I am going to be pretty busy this summer, also with a trip planned to St. Louis/Chicago to visit my dear dear friend Halie! Can't wait! I will also be going to Logan quite a bit to see Erik, and my brother, and everyone else up there for the summer. Oh and did I mention, I still need to make time to set up in my new classroom? Ha.

And you think that I will be bored this summer.. Heh.

My new bike, ready to go for the summer!


Real Salt Lake games.. YES!


Bee's baseball games.. Love it!

California Gurls.. For Two Days..

So I did not blog about our random weekend trip to California. Steph and I decided one weekend to take a trip to the beach, because we were SICK of being stuck at work in cold weather. Here are a few pictures from our trip May 20-23.

1600 miles in three days. Can't get better than that!

First stop: Vegas!



Huntington Beach






Beach outside of Santa Barbara




We were definitely California Gurls for two days.. (Thank you Katy Perry)

Thank you, from ME.

Today, this post is dedicated to YOU. Yes you, the one who is reading this right now. Thank you. I thank you for your love and support. I thank you for making me smile and making me laugh, and for being there when I needed you the most. I may be a very happy and content person in life, but there are still times in my life when I am having the worst day ever. You were there when I tried to cover up my frown with a smile. You knew what I needed to make me feel loved again. So thank you for being a part of my life and for always being there for me.

I have the best examples, friends, and family who are a part of my life. My association with others is a BIG part of my life. I have the best fans in the WORLD! Thank you for continuing to cheer me on through the race.

Thank you, thank you, thank you. Now go buy you some Red Mango and give yourself a pat on the back. You deserve it!

Love,
Me

Do I have an obsession? Or not? Living like I am a teenager again..

I know Erik is going to kill me for this one.. But I just had to reminisce on the many times I have met my dear friend Danny from the band, The Audition.

Yes this makes me look like I am 15 years old when I was obsessed with Nick Carter from The Backstreet Boys, but I just had to do it. Don't judge, just embrace the fake relationship I have with a lead singer from a band.


Picture #1: May 2007



Picture #2: February 2008 (The day before my 21st birthday)



Picture #3: June 2009 (I tried to make Danny kiss me)



Picture #4: February 2010 (Not my favorite look on Danny)



Picture #5: April 2010 (My favorite of them all!)



I promise I am not a creepy stalker.

So I decided to also post other pictures I have with band members to make it not seem as crazy.

I love me some good music. That is all.


I debated posting this picture.. but yes this is the man, John Allred. October 2009




My favorite! Stephen Christian, the lead singer from Anberlin. December 2008



My friend Mike and I with the lead singer from the band Mae. Oct. 2009



Joe, the guitarist from The Audition. Feb. 2008 (He is no longer in the band)