My Summer Project : The Finished Product.

     Like all good things summer has come to an end. Fall and a new school year are once again upon us (TWO DAYS PEOPLE! BAH!).... However this means that you all get to see the final product of my classroom!! Blood, Sweat and (many) Tears have gone into this classroom as well as too many hours to count.

 I would like to say that I was so creative and resourceful that I did everything in my room myself.... but that would just be a big fat lie and we all know it ;) Thank you so much to all of the people who helped me put this together, especially my wonderful husband, my parents and Christi (who made all of the amazing decorations! She is amazing!).

  So without further adieu I present to you Captain Reid's Second Grade Room:

Captain Reid's Crew! (Outside our door)

Captain Reid leads her crew

Welcome!

My management board. Don't walk the plank!

First Mate Brandon trying on the Captain's hat

Birthday wall

Word Wall

Shiver Me Timbers It's Calendar Time!

Pirate Passes

The Crews Duties

Literacy Conner

Our Treasure Map (I'm going to add jewels with each of the student's name so it will be a little more colorful). Also Outside our room for everyone to see!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our First Date - (how things really happened ;)

As I previously mentioned it was getting close to Thanksgiving break when Brandon finally asked me out for our first date . However I still wasn't completely sure how I felt about him (to me he was still the weird guy who tried to scare me). I did believe that every boy deserves a chance and so I agreed to go out with him.

 Like he mentioned he first asked me out to Color Me Mine but later mentioned that there was a BYU basketball game that same night if I wanted to go to that. I secretly wanted to go to the basketball game for a couple of reasons 1. I love basketball or any BYU sports for that matter, so I knew I would be more comfortable there. 2. There's not a lot of small talk that goes on at a basketball game which made me a lot less nervous because I've never been very good at chit chat with people that I don't know. 3. Probably the biggest reason I wanted to go to the game was that I had my own BYU all-sports pass so I wouldn't be making this guy (that I wasn't sure I was interested in) spend lots of money on me.

Brandon picked me up at my apartment and we walked over to the game, we were going off the stairs to the Tanner building when I slipped on a patch of ice, and being as graceful as I am, fell flat on my face! I was totally embarrassed but I thought I was cool and played it off (apparently I was so wrong on that). Anyway when we got to the Marriott Center the first thing I see are these two guys call Brandon's name and slide down the railing. *For the record Brandon DID NOT tell me that his friends were going to be there.

When I realized that we were going to be hanging out with his friends all night my heart sank (I had had bad experiences in the past where a guy took me to a basketball game with his friends and ignored me the entire night). However I soon realized that this was going to be a much better experience. The whole game Brandon would talk to me about different players, their stats, etc, which I thought was really sweet of him. (I learned later that this had more to do with his obsession with basketball rather than being a gentleman, but whatever works right?).

After the game it started snowing and Brandon invited me back to his apartment for some hot chocolate. Normally this is the part of the date where I get all awkward and self-conscious. But it was different with Brandon, the conversation just seemed to flow and I didn't feel any need to try to impress him and could just be me. As weird as it seems I think that it was so much better that I didn't 'like like' him just yet, because I  figured if this guy didn't like me for me then who cared? I mean it was just a date right? Little did I know that it would be my last 'first date' ever. :)

Our First Date

I asked Jenna out on a date for the first time in November 2010.  I still didn't know her very well yet, so I didn't know what to plan for our date.  I gave her the option of going to a BYU basketball game or going to Color Me Mine.  She said that either one sounded good, so I flipped a coin and it ended up being Color Me Mine.  However, she called later and asked if we could go to the basketball game instead.  I told her we would meet up with some of my friends when we got to the game.

We walked to the Marriott Center and on the way Jenna tripped on a step and almost fell on her face.  I could tell she was really embarrassed, but I didn't really care that she tripped.  When we arrived at the Marriott Center my friends were waiting at the stairs in front.  Unfortunately they had the bright idea to slide down the rails.  I felt really stupid because my friends looked like dorks and what does that say about me if they're my friends?

In the end, the basketball game was a much better choice.  We were both more comfortable there than we would have been at an artsy place.  Also, this was during Jimmer Mania and any BYU student that knew anything about basketball was in love with Jimmer.  She had a good time at the game, probably because Jimmer was so awesome, but I think she mistakenly thought it also had something to do with me.  We both had fun on our first date and we were open to going on a second.

How we first met.... (Brandon's Version)

I first met Jenna in my BYU singles ward.  However, I knew she existed long before she new I existed.  I saw her at a ward 'Break the Fast' activity and thought 'She's cute'.  I started seeing more of her when Erin and Nathan became closer.  I decided that I needed to try to make her like me.  To a guy this means I need to act stupid and try and scare her during a movie, as well as force her to go to Denny's in the middle of the night even though she didn't want to.  After I spent time 'getting her to like me' I decided I should ask her on a date.

I wanted to ask her on a date for a while, but it was complicated.  The ward set up 'tie dates', where a girl picked a tie from a pile and then got a date with whomever the tie belonged too.  Of course I got paired up with one of Jenna's roommates.  I knew that it would be bad manners to ask Jenna on a date when I was supposed to go on a date with her roommate.  So, I had to wait longer before I could ask Jenna out. Finally, I got my chance to ask her on a date...

How It All Began..... Our Story (Jenna's Version)

    As we celebrated our one year wedding anniversary this past weekend it made me reflect on just how far we have come and how I have never officially documented how Brandon and I met, our first date etc. So here it is, better late than never right?
    Brandon and I have a similar story of how we met as many couples at BYU do, that is we were in the same singles ward together.  However, I like to think that our story has a little bit of spice and is just a little bit different. In fact, the beginning of our story really doesn't have very much to do with either Brandon or myself ;)

  It was fall semester of 2010 (I can't believe it's really been that long!) when I moved into Cox apartments and in the  BYU 117th ward. I was a sophomore at BYU and was looking forward to having a fun, laid back year that included school, friends and lots of boys :) I had lucked out with the best roommates in the world and was having a good time. Well, as in any LDS ward our apartment was assigned two hometeachers  who would come visit us girls each month and share a spiritual lesson with us and see if there was anything that they could do to help us.  Well it just so happens that we had two very awesome hometeachers who got along really well with our apartment. We got along so well in fact that to make a long story short (because it doesn't have much to do with OUR story) that a couple of months into the semester one of my roommates Erin became really good friends with and eventually began dating one of our hometeachers Nathan. Because of this she would often want us (the roomies) to go to the his apartment with her to hang out with him and some of his roommates. 

   Being the loving, supportive roommate that I was I would often go along with her. My motives weren't exactly pure however, because I happened to have a crush on one of Nathan's roommates (who will remain nameless, all you need to know is that it was not Brandon.)

    In fact I didn't even know Brandon existed for the most of that fall semester.  It wasn't until Halloween when our whole apartment was over at Nathan's apartment that I even noticed Brandon and not in a good way. We were all watching a scary movie, (I was trying my best to put on a brave face so I didn't look like a wimp in front of the guy I was crushing on) when a particularly scary part of the movie came up and this guy sitting behind me leaned over and spooked me. I thought I was going to pee my pants! Well you guessed it, that weird random guy turned out to be Brandon and let me say he did not make the best first impression by doing that. 

   We ended up running into each other a couple more times throughout the month at different ward activities and would always make polite small talk but there was never really any spark there for me. Plus I still had a pretty big crush on his roommate and he was really busy with school that semester. It wasn't until nearly Thanksgiving break that we went on our first date and things started to change......

Time Flies When You're Having Fun

       Where has the time gone? I can't believe since it's been an entire year since we keeled across the alter and were sealed together for time and all eternity! This has truly been the greatest year of my entire life! I love waking up each day and knowing that I get to be with my best friend, someone who has seen me not only at my best but at my worst as well and still loves me. Someone who I can joke with, laugh with, and be a complete dork around! It's wonderful!

   Brandon planned a romantic weekend to celebrate our first anniversary as husband and wife. ( I swear I had no part in any of the planning so all the credit should be given to my amazing hubby!!) Since our anniversary was on a Sunday this year we did most of our celebrating on Saturday.
 
   Saturday morning Brandon told me to put on some comfy cloths and to hop in the car where he drove us up to Neffs Canyon in Sandy and we went on a beautiful morning hike. Afterwards we came home rested for a couple of hours and got showered we got all dressed up and went out to dinner at Oliver Garden (which is my favorite restaurant) After dinner Brandon got back on the freeway and headed north again. I had no idea where he was taking us but decided that it was best to just go along for the ride.  :)

  He pulled up to this really cute bed and breakfast called Castle Creek Inn which looks just like a castle.( I always felt like Brandon treated me like a princess but this time I really felt like royalty). We stayed in the Canterbury Suit which was decorated in an old English style and Brandon had made special arrangements to have the room extra romantic (i.g. rose petals everywhere, and sparkling cider in our room). It was really a great place!

   Sunday we broke out our top layer of wedding cake that had been waiting patiently in our freezer for the past year and celebrated together by sharing a piece( which was so much better a year ago) and talking about our wedding and our lives since. 

Before the hike.

At the top.

Look at that view!

Beautiful

My sexy hubby

our room

The Canterbury Suite

My Knight in Shinning Armor 

The grounds around the inn

My castle!

This is what happens when you put a cake in the freezer for a year and it gets pushed around.

Brandon cutting the cake

Califonia Here I Come.....

   Since my classroom was going so well (more pictures on that to be posted at a later date) I decided to head down to California for a week for some sun, surf and sand. Unfortunately Brandon wasn't able to come since he had to stay for work. I caught a ride with my parents who were heading home after a short trip to Provo.

  It was sooo nice being back in California and in Yucaipa. Growing up I would have never of thought that I would miss Yucaipa but there's really something to be said about coming back to a place that is so familiar and with so many memories.

 Anyway it was a great week. I was able to spend a lot of time with my parents which was really nice, see some old friends and of course most importantly hit the beach!!! Oh how I missed the ocean! Provo is nice with it's towering mountains but there is nothing in the world that can compare to just laying back on the sand and looking out at the ocean that goes on forever.

  Anyway one of the great things about this trip was that I was able to combine my favorite place with my favorite people (minus my hubby of course). My aunt and uncle were down with all of their kids and I was able to hang out with my 'second family' for a couple of days, which was awesome. We went to the beach and then hung out at their hotel for a couple of days which was really fun. This was such a relaxing vacation.

Kendra and I soaking up some sun

Justin liked that idea so much he decided to catch some rays too!

Surfs up

Some of my favorite people

Beach weather makes Kendra look even more beautiful and me look like I have an Afro!

Perfection

One of the beaches we went to

She is ALWAYS Gorgeous!

Love it!

Dad and Kara got in some ping pong at the resort.