So if I really put my mind to it, I could probably find more wonderful times of the year, but I love March. Not only do I get to have my birthday (the 28th for those of you interested in getting me a present), but it's also March Madness time!
I'm not quite sure why I love a basketball tournament so much, but I do. And if I had to make an educated guess, it would probably be "the brackets." For those of you already sold, here's the link to join our tournament group:
March Madness Tourney
Ever since my Freshman year at BYU I've been hooked and it gets a little worse every year. I'm just grateful I'm not a gambling man because let's just say my Statistics degree doesn't compensate for my lack of college basketball knowledge. But it's fun anyway. And somehow, Christy enjoys it too. Go figure.
You think you've got what it takes to beat an amateur like me? Well, we'll just see about that.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Lately...
So, February flew by super fast!
Last week I started my second practicum in 5th grade. Before it started, I was very nervous because there are higher expectations and more work. I had no idea that I would love being in the 5th grade. The kids are way more mature and the content they are learning is much deeper. Now, don't get me wrong, first grade is great too, just in a different way :)
A couple of the girls in my class, brought me these little treats! How cute!!
Yep, I do like 5th grade :)
Last week I started my second practicum in 5th grade. Before it started, I was very nervous because there are higher expectations and more work. I had no idea that I would love being in the 5th grade. The kids are way more mature and the content they are learning is much deeper. Now, don't get me wrong, first grade is great too, just in a different way :)
A couple of the girls in my class, brought me these little treats! How cute!!
Yep, I do like 5th grade :)
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Procrastinators Unite! ... Tomorrow
Why do today that which you can put off til tomorrow?
No matter how you look at it or justify it, procrastination is stupid! I can't think of a better way to live in constant stress and anxiety, fearing the moment that the axe drops and you have to actually do what you are putting off. Sure, it seems logical that you might actually work faster under the gun of a deadline, but is the worry and stress worth it?
Well, you'd better consider these musings me talking to myself rather than a lecture, or I'm definitely a hypocrite. Because instead of working on my brief that is due tomorrow, I'm procrastinating it and blogging about procrastination instead (I guess that still makes me a hypocrite, but oh well).
I think everyone has at least one thing in life that is so torturous to do that it gets stuffed into the far corners of their mind and calendar. I could think of at least a dozen things that could fall into that category: washing dishes, applying for jobs, studying for a test, etc. But the thing that easily tops my list is writing (obviously excluding blogging). And every time I have a new paper coming up, I try to avoid the last minute stress by blocking out time to work on it and really trying to put it first. But inevitably, as soon as I sit down with my laptop open, my motivation is gone. It doesn't matter how bad I know the night before the due date will be or how much time I'll waste by not working on it when I clearly could be. I still can't do it.
Well, today I came up with a brilliant plan. I would motivate myself through music and get in such a good mood that I couldn't help but want to be productive. So I went to a quiet spot in the law library, put in my headphones and cranked up "The Final Countdown." Of course I had to also put in a game of Spider Solitaire...or two...or three. And now here I sit, listening to the exact same time for at least the 8th time in a row and I've written a total of six words for my brief. Oh well, at least I'm in a good mood. And even better, I am being productive (if you can consider blogging productive - I suppose it beats out Spider Solitaire at least).
So to my fellow law students and other co-procrastinators, here's to stress and anxiety...later.
No matter how you look at it or justify it, procrastination is stupid! I can't think of a better way to live in constant stress and anxiety, fearing the moment that the axe drops and you have to actually do what you are putting off. Sure, it seems logical that you might actually work faster under the gun of a deadline, but is the worry and stress worth it?
Well, you'd better consider these musings me talking to myself rather than a lecture, or I'm definitely a hypocrite. Because instead of working on my brief that is due tomorrow, I'm procrastinating it and blogging about procrastination instead (I guess that still makes me a hypocrite, but oh well).
I think everyone has at least one thing in life that is so torturous to do that it gets stuffed into the far corners of their mind and calendar. I could think of at least a dozen things that could fall into that category: washing dishes, applying for jobs, studying for a test, etc. But the thing that easily tops my list is writing (obviously excluding blogging). And every time I have a new paper coming up, I try to avoid the last minute stress by blocking out time to work on it and really trying to put it first. But inevitably, as soon as I sit down with my laptop open, my motivation is gone. It doesn't matter how bad I know the night before the due date will be or how much time I'll waste by not working on it when I clearly could be. I still can't do it.
Well, today I came up with a brilliant plan. I would motivate myself through music and get in such a good mood that I couldn't help but want to be productive. So I went to a quiet spot in the law library, put in my headphones and cranked up "The Final Countdown." Of course I had to also put in a game of Spider Solitaire...or two...or three. And now here I sit, listening to the exact same time for at least the 8th time in a row and I've written a total of six words for my brief. Oh well, at least I'm in a good mood. And even better, I am being productive (if you can consider blogging productive - I suppose it beats out Spider Solitaire at least).
So to my fellow law students and other co-procrastinators, here's to stress and anxiety...later.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Big News!!
Brandon got his first semester law school grades back yesterday! And lets just say that he will be more than likely keeping his scholarship!!
Yay!! SO, HAPPY :)
Yay!! SO, HAPPY :)
Friday, January 8, 2010
"Provo Drivers, go back to...Utah"
I know that everybody always says that "[insert your place] drivers are the worst!" I've heard it for California, Idaho, and especially Utah. In fact, I often find that I'm the one saying it. But after today there is a clear winner: "Provo drivers are the worst!" And I would even go so far as to include pedestrians in that sweeping generalization. Let me explain:
In an average day, I drive less than 10 miles and today was no different. In those short 10 miles, 3 cars managed to make a left turn in front of me through an intersection forcing me to slow down (and it was clear that each of them did in fact see me). One car pulled out of a driveway and stopped so that he was blocking my lane, forcing me to swerve around him. Two groups of pedestrians clearly disregarded a traffic light and forced me to wait for them while I had a green light. I mean, come on people! I understand that everyone has places to be and seems to be in a hurry. I'm okay with speeding and even slightly reckless driving, but this is just wrong.
Ok, now that I've got my soap box out of the way, I can finish my woeful tale. Christy and I went to pick up a movie from redbox and after leaving, we had to turn left through a bizarre Provo intersection (notice our piece of junk car in the diagram below). The guy in front of us, however, seemed clueless as to what to do (as if following the green arrow was really difficult). He hesitated when he went through the first light and then acted like he was going to stop on the yellow light in the median area. We both could have made it through, but I figured that if he wanted to stop on yellow, so be it. And then at the last second, the guy decided to run the red light and go through anyway, leaving me stranded to watch the cars go by until I finally got to complete my left turn a few minutes later. I was tempted to turn my brights on to blind the passing drivers just to get even with all of the terrible drivers this town seems to produce.
Well, I figured my torment was over when not a minute later a huge truck pulled up behind our tiny Corolla. And he just happened to have those annoyingly bright blue headlights that flooded our car and forced me to avoid looking at any of my mirrors in order to keep my eyesight intact. I guess I can't really blame the guy for his driving, but seriously...who needs a truck that big and why do the headlights need to be positioned in the perfect place to blind all drivers who are unfortunate enough to have cars with tires less than 5 feet in diameter? It's ridiculous!
As a disclaimer, I feel I ought to clarify 2 things: 1) My driving experience rarely involves this many morons in a single day, and 2) My road rage isn't usually this bad :) - but if you cut me off in Provo from this day forth, prepare to face my vengeance!
In an average day, I drive less than 10 miles and today was no different. In those short 10 miles, 3 cars managed to make a left turn in front of me through an intersection forcing me to slow down (and it was clear that each of them did in fact see me). One car pulled out of a driveway and stopped so that he was blocking my lane, forcing me to swerve around him. Two groups of pedestrians clearly disregarded a traffic light and forced me to wait for them while I had a green light. I mean, come on people! I understand that everyone has places to be and seems to be in a hurry. I'm okay with speeding and even slightly reckless driving, but this is just wrong.
Ok, now that I've got my soap box out of the way, I can finish my woeful tale. Christy and I went to pick up a movie from redbox and after leaving, we had to turn left through a bizarre Provo intersection (notice our piece of junk car in the diagram below). The guy in front of us, however, seemed clueless as to what to do (as if following the green arrow was really difficult). He hesitated when he went through the first light and then acted like he was going to stop on the yellow light in the median area. We both could have made it through, but I figured that if he wanted to stop on yellow, so be it. And then at the last second, the guy decided to run the red light and go through anyway, leaving me stranded to watch the cars go by until I finally got to complete my left turn a few minutes later. I was tempted to turn my brights on to blind the passing drivers just to get even with all of the terrible drivers this town seems to produce.
Well, I figured my torment was over when not a minute later a huge truck pulled up behind our tiny Corolla. And he just happened to have those annoyingly bright blue headlights that flooded our car and forced me to avoid looking at any of my mirrors in order to keep my eyesight intact. I guess I can't really blame the guy for his driving, but seriously...who needs a truck that big and why do the headlights need to be positioned in the perfect place to blind all drivers who are unfortunate enough to have cars with tires less than 5 feet in diameter? It's ridiculous!
As a disclaimer, I feel I ought to clarify 2 things: 1) My driving experience rarely involves this many morons in a single day, and 2) My road rage isn't usually this bad :) - but if you cut me off in Provo from this day forth, prepare to face my vengeance!
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Christmas BreaK!
Well here we are, a new year, a new semester, and Christmas break already over!! I can't believe how fast time flies. We spent most of the break up in Salt Lake with family. I got some pictures but not near enough to capture everything.
The annual Neilsen family Christmas party.
We ate a delicious dinner and then Santa came and gave all the grandkids a gift. This has been a long time tradition and is a lot of fun.
A couple of days before Christmas we went downtown to Temple Square to look at the lights. This is one of my favorite Christmas activities. It was a pretty chilly night, but definitely worth going :)
Christmas Eve day we spent the day with my family, and then we spent the night with Brandon's family. Sadly this is my only Christmas eve picture.
Christmas Morning at 7am
After the chaos/ fun of opening presents, Breanna and I built this beautifully, handcrafted gingerbread house. Aren't we fabulous?
Christmas day was pretty busy and lots of fun. We saw all of our grandparents and some cousins and then ended up in the evening at my family's house to open more presents. We were pretty spoiled :)
And once again I am so sad that this is the only picture we have, but I was a little more into the presents and having fun than thinking about taking pictures.
This is Brandon trying out his new shoes and racket.
We got a lot of fun games for Christmas, and spent alot of our break playing them with family.
It was a great break and I can't wait for next year, especially because I will graduate next december. Yay!!!!!!
Well, we hope you all had a fabulous Christmas and wish everyone a Happy New Year!
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