so excited.

So I've decided that I really like surfing movies. I've never seen a bad surfing movie. I can actually only think of two at the moment but I really like both of them. So that's why I want to go see Chasing Mavericks. Cause it's about surfing. So it's gotta be good right? Go youtube the trailers, there are a couple I think. Or better yet, go watch the movie!

Also. I thought this was really good. I don't think I understood it all. I could probably watch it again. But I liked what she had to say and how she said it. It's 18 minutes. So find yourself some 18 minutes to sit down and watch it.





I am so excited for Thanksgiving!!!!!!! I was sitting at work. Scanning documents. Typing in A numbers. And I just got really excited. I love the feeling of the holidays. You know. That feeling. Of wintery family together sitting around the table talking and laughing holidayness. That feeling. It's a good one.

So this one time...

Oh hey there. It's me. Not doing homework. It's just soooooooooooooooooo hard to do something when its not due for 2 more weeks. Even if it's a 10 page paper that i NEED to be working on right now. Cause i will (already am) going crazy with all the homework that I have. Ya know? It's just soooooooo hard to find the motivation.

How was your Halloween. Really mine wasn't to exciting. I watched Rear Window. Alfred Hitchcock? Anyone? It was ok....It's like the original Disturbia. Which I actually happen to like. Oh and pizza. Little Ceasers is always great.

I haven't eaten dinner yet. I'm kinda hungry. The two pumpkin eggo waffles don't count that I had earlier. So frozen kit-kats it is.

Oh yeah. Rememer that one time I went to New York less than two weeks before a giant hurricane came through?? Well, it was awesome.






We ate lots of good food and did lots of exciting things. The 9/11 memorial was really neat. I'm so glad we got to go see it. There is two pools like that were both of the towers were.

 Can I just say this strawberry guava french toast was amazing. A-ma-zing. So delicious. It had cornflakes on the outside and the guava sauce on top was probably my favorite part.

 I got to see Mirna! She is from Puerto Rico. She was in my first and last area and she served a mini mission so we were actually companions for a week. It was so awesome to see her. And we got to see the Central Park Zoo for free!!

Times Square is always so cool. And they are doing stuff to St. Patrick's Cathedral but it was still cool.

And then we were really really exhausted from all the craziness of one of the coolest Fall Break's ever!!! Then we came home and I was still really tired but it was so very worth it!

falling leaves.

So I kind of wish I had a house. With a tree. So that I could rake up the leaves. Or maybe just a rake so that I could rake up someone elses leaves.

Last night I went to bed at 10. (and the night before too. Still recovering from New York City) But for some reason I woke up was pretty sure that it was around 6 am and that I would have to get up soon. I almost got out of bed. I looked at my clock and it was 1:00 something and I was SOO confused. I looked again because I was worried/convinced that it was wrong. Then I tried to see if Saren was in her bed. I couldn't really tell on account of the fact that I am kinda blind. I decided that she was. And that I should believe the clock and go back to bed. Then I was SOO excited to go back to sleep cause it was only 1ish. Usually when that happens it's like 5:47 and I have like 17 minutes to sleep. Which is the worst.

Oh yeah. I went to New York City! I will have to tell you all about it later. Cause I am determined to get all my homework done. Just know that it was totally awesome.

Thanks for listening about my strange sleeping habits. Cause yes. I kinda feel like that sorta thing is a habit. I am always waking up and thinking I should get out of bed for some reason and almost doing it before stopping myself. Or being paranoid about the time. Strange much? Yup.

Teaching Philosophy

 One of the main reasons that I wanted to become a teacher was really because I like to work with kids. I like interacting with them and help them to gain new knowledge. One of the things that I like best is when you able to see that a child has really learned something or grasped a concept or learned to love something new that they never knew existed. 

My plan for teacher is to try to help the kids learn something new that will be valuable to them in their everyday lives. As a geography teacher I want to be able to teach them about people and places and help them to think outside of their own lives or cities and how people are affected in different ways in different areas of the world. I hope that they are able to grasp the importance of learning and understanding new people and places and how it relates in their own lives.  

donde esta la biblioteca??

Can I just say that I am glad that I have never had to learn Japanese?? ok. thank you.

I am glad that I have never had to learn Japanese. Nor do I plan on ever learning Japanese. I am perfectly content with English and Spanish.

You should all go download the free iTunes song from A Fine Frenzy. It's a good one.

Also...

A few days ago I checked a book out from the library! Like the university library. So exciting. I also thought it was fun to go find the book. Like more fun than should be granted such an activity. Way more interesting than looking on the internet for stuff. Sad part. Pretty sure I left a paper that I needed at the check out desk. Sad day.

Also. I do not like the word activity. I can't ever spell it right. Especially when its activities. I had to write that word a bunch for a test I took today and pretty much spelled it wrong every single time.

Also. I'm feeling very much like today should be Friday. Don't get your hopes up. It's not. But almost.

Also. Did I tell you my brother is getting married? That's exciting right? I think it is. Sarah is awesome and I am so excited for them. (Yes. Her name is Sarah. Crazy right?) Daniel is pretty cool too I guess.

Also. It felt like fall today. As in a little to cold for my taste....So I celebrated by having tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch!!! I am pretty sure I could eat those 2 things every day and not ever get tired of them. So delicious.

Also. I am going to New York City over fall break!!!! 2 weeks from today. Awesome.

Had to do it.

Oh hey there. So I just got really sidetracked in the doing of the homework so I thought I might as well document it. So. It just happened like 7 minutes ago and I don't even remember. Ohhhhh I do. So I was watching a movie on Youtube and the ad was for One Direction's new song! That's right. Totally a fan of One Direction. So awesome. I tried to buy the song on itunes but they don't have it....sad. Don't worry I posted it so you don't even have to search for it. I'd have to say that I think the lyrics are kind of hilarious. Ok. I really have to get back to finding information on the indians of Cuba pre-Columbus. I know you're jealous.

just taking a break....

from all the insane homework that I have.

Oh. My. Goodness. SCHOOL HAS STARTED WITH A VENGEANCE. I won't go into particulars. But. Wow. And this stuff like actually matters. Ya know? Like learning how to teach and stuff that is important to know and I will need in my career. (not that the other stuff wasn't i guess it just didn't feel like at the time. plus it was separated by taking 2 years off of school and I officially remember like 13% or less of that sutff.) This stuff feels legit. It's important. So I feel like I need to read the whole chapter and actually comprehend the stuff that I am learning.

Work. Yes. I do that. Found a job. Well it found me. It's nice.

Tumbling? My PE class. Holy oh my gosh. I LOVE IT. Minus the fact that it is officially kicking my butt. Like hardcore. Every time I come home something else hurts. Today its the tops of my arms and shoulders that hurt. I didn't even go last Thursday cause I am pretty sure I did something weird to one of my stomach muscles. It was feeling better so I went today and it kinda hurts again....so. But I love it. So hopefully I won't incur to many actual injuries and I can work my way through the pain...And that sounded ridiculous but its true. But its sooooo very much fun.

Labor Day? I know you're all dying to know. It went good. Ate one of the best hamburgers of my life. I don't know why. It was just so delicious and juicy and cheesy and amazing. I want another one now. That is a picture at the park and I thought it would be good to put that up today.Yeah?

Hooper Tomato Days.

Hooper Tomato Days!!!! Labor Day weekend!!!!

This weekend is Tomato Days. It really is a very exciting thing to go to. You can go to the rodeo. Which I have never actually been too. Or dog races. Which I have never been to either. Although I imagine them being entertaining. Or go to the baby contests. Like Miss Pink Tomato. Which I have never been to either. But babies are cute. And there is good food. Which I have eaten. And games and booths and all that good stuff that is at celebrations like this. And the best thing of all. I will be there!!! ha ha ......Just kidding..... But I will be there helping the parentals all day long. I think that it will be fun and you should all come!!!! The end.

http://hoopertomatodays.com/ is the website with more actual real info.

school-io

Oh hey. School started. Did you notice? I noticed. My 18 credits have  definitely noticed. I also remember why I don't do my homework at home. Oh yeah cause I don't get ANYTHING done.
end. 

abojneldkfj.

Do you remember this and this?

Well PASSED and PASSED.

camping awesomeness.

Well the great Stringham Family Camping Adventure of 2012 went pretty well. These trips are really never boring...well most of the time.

Thursday. We left. Drove up into the mountains. All the good camping spots were gone. We got the last one. It was kind of crappy to be perfectly honest. Like super crappy. No trees. It was hot. bleh. We didn't spend to much time there. We got all set up and did camping things. The stars were soooo pretty. There were so many. We saw 6 satellites and one shooting star. The dogs came too. First ever camping trip. They were kinda freaking out.

Friday. We did campingish things in the morning. That afternoon the parentals had to go back home for some stuff. So the children went back to Logan and went to the movie. Nice camping trip huh? We saw the last Batman movie.....I've still got mixed feelings. It was creepy and Christian Bale has a nice face. The parentals came back and we went out for pizza and drove back up the canyon and slept in our tent. Oh it rained like crazy that evening and some of our stuff got wet. boo.

Saturday. We drove up to Bear Lake and got to play on the beach and went boating on my uncles boat that day. It was really fun. My other uncles family was all up there so it was fun to hang out with them. I love boating. Let it be known. I like to kneeboard. I wanted to try wake boarding but didn't get a chance. The little brother post gallbladder/appendix surgery gave it a try but was still to sore. But he did that surfing thing you do on boats.

Sunday. I left and went to church. Yay for camping again. Then I headed back up and we chilled and made tin foil dinners. Did you know if you put cream of chicken soup in them it makes them super yummy. I didn't know till Sunday.

Monday. Packed up and went home. Overall kinda crazy but still a great time with the fam. My family is great and they're pretty darn fun to hang out it with if I do say so myself.

 Also I just saw We Bought A Zoo. SUCH a good show. Sad but funny yet touching and just great. I have also decided that I should start writing movie reviews. As you can see from the two that I just wrote and the other one I recently wrote that I'm just super good at describing why I like or didn't like the movie. So that is going to be my new profession.

Seriously I love it.

Have you been watching the Olympics?!?! I have!!! Seriously I love it. Swimming, gymnastics, rowing, volleyball, kayaking, tennis, speed walking, synchronized swimming....I could go on. The Olympics are great. I have watched a lot of some and a little bit of others but it's all awesome. Makes me want to cry. I have been thinking about what Olympic sport I will be involving my children in when they are like two and a half so they can make it to the Olympics...I'll let you know when I decide.

Also. Step Up Revolution. Anyone? Came out July 27? Were you there? Cause I was! Seriously I love it. It was great. I thought it was so much better than the third one. The dancing was awesome. The story was just good enough to enjoy when they weren't dancing. Which was a lot. So good.

Also. The Hobbit? Seriously I love it. Anyone hear they are now going to be making three movies instead of two? In the very little research that I conducted I decided that it's true. They claim its not all for the money but that they have done a lot of back story of things aren't necessarily in the book but in other books that Tolkien has written. Which. Whatever. I'm okay with that. BUT. I have decided that I want to try to read The Hobbit and all The Lord of the Rings books before school starts??? Yeah? I have read The Hobbit twice and got all the way The Lord of the Rings until about 3/4 of the way through the last book....... Really not sure why I stopped. I was just done. So we'll see how that goes.

I'm pretty sure there was something else not related to movies or television...but its late so it will have to wait for another day.

done and DONE.

DONE. 2 of 2. Finished.

I won't be at all surprised if I failed miserably.

Currently de-stressing with some very loud music. love it.

almost there....

One down. One to go.

Just too the Geog praxis test. Feel pretty good about it. Spanish is on Wed...

Few lingering questions....

What is an isthmus and where the crap is Bangladesh?

Rain, rain, please please stay.

I LOVE THE RAIN. so much. And also cause it means that my apartment is currently under 80 degrees at 5 in the afternoon. Heaven. Normally its closer 90.

Saw Rock of Ages last night. Do not, I repeat, do not go see this movie. It was terrible in every sense of the word. Lots of good music but so not worth it. I had just seen the commercial awhile ago but never heard how it actually was. no. bad. awful. stupid.

I went fishing yesterday!! And caught a fish!!!!! I went up to Tony Grove with my padre and brother. The weather was sooooooo nice. The temperature was perfect and it was kinda overcast. I could have sat in that canoe all day. I gutted two of the fish. I'd have to say it was pretty hilarious. I'm couldn't really tell you why I was laughing so hysterically. Cause it was gross and....that was my way of dealing with the gross bloody guts and everything? I guess? Kind of amusing. Then we came back and ate the fish. Yum.

I am speaking in church tomaowuwowoeirw. I have been attempting to write my talk for the majority of the day............so in preparation I found this video that I love. (which does not have anything to do with my talk or the preparation thereof...............) But I love the song and it's cool.

right now...

You can buy bagged ice from McDonald's. only 99 cents.
Whistle by Flo Rida (Which I always read as Florida. the state.)
My apartment is 90 degrees right now. (its 10:05 pm)
So I am sitting on the floor drinking my smoothie.
I studied for two and a half hours today at the library. go me. 
Little Talks by Of Monsters and Men.
My flower pot is dying. This makes me sad.
THE BOX ELDER BUGS. I might have a mental break down soon.
Real soon.
I bought a papaya today. :)
I am reading a mystery book. I don't read mysteries. I like this one though. 
Commence mental breakdown in 3...2...1...
(there was just a very large beetle bug...thing on the stove....shudder)
I don't know how much longer I will be able to take this.

Operation Vacation Guatemala.

 So...remember that one time that I went to Guatemala and it was awesome? It was pretty much one of thee coolest and funnest things I have ever had the chance to do! I would highly recommend it folks. So here is a more or less brief explanation of what I did with a few photos. (hopefully different from FB.)

Day 1. On the plane. Bought a book at the airport...it was kinda strange.
Day 2. Antigua, Guatemala. Old city therefore lots of cool old things. And hair things! Look how many there are to choose from!

Day 3. Spent most of the day at the MTC in Guate the mission comp had to work so I just hung out. Oh and the day before I got to see several missionaries that I served with including another companion! It was hard to get a good pic of the whole temple.

Day 4. Sunday. Father's Day. Excellent home cooked Guate food (SO sad I forgot to take pics of the food!) and a visit to a market place to try more awesome Guate food. I love black frijoles! (Ok. Maybe I took a few pics of food...)

Day 5. The beach. Need I say more? Yes. I need to say more. Hammocks. Black sand. The ocean was sooo warm. I was not expecting that. And perfect weather, and a really bad sunburn.

Day 6. Traveling. Temple. Awesome hot springs where we spent the night.

Day 7. Lake Atitlan. Pana. Traveling back home.

Day 8. We went to see a relief map (I think that's what there called?) of Guatemala. It was cool see the layout and mountains and all that business. Next we went to the mall. It was a nice mall. Saw Madagascar 3 in Espanol. (we had a 5 year old with us okay? it was still good though. and during the week the movie is only like 4 dollars there.) Ate a chocobanano. Frozen banana dipped in chocolate. Delicious. Yes I know we have those here but they have little places all over with a freezer full of different kinds of frozen fruit that you can have dipped in chocolate. Kinda awesome.




 Day 9. Traveling. Saw cool ruins, a banana farm, big river, and stayed at the coolest place. It had a ping pong table, a lagoon swimming type pond place, hammocks!!!!! oh gosh. Let's stop a minute and ponder about the awesomeness of sitting in a hammock and relaxing for a very long time. mmm so wonderful. The food was way good, and cheap. My favorite was the cinnamon rolls. Not exactly the same as here but delicious none the less. And don't forget about the mosquito nets!


 Day 10. Tikal. Lots of ruins. Humid. Hot and sweaty but still amazing to see so many pyramid type ruins and buildings and statues, and so many big, tall stairs to climb up. They must have been in pretty good shape back then. We spent the night again at the same awesome place. It rained like nobody's business that night.

Day 11. Traveling back home. Stopped at Castillo San Felipe. Super crazy humid hot that day. And we stopped and ate these amazing tortillas. (Mine was a little smaller than this but I thought the bigger one was more impressive.)

Day 12. Thankful to have made it back in one piece. The driving there is crazy people. Really crazy. We had pretty much seen everything that was close by. We decided not to go to the capital to see the capital building and all that cause there were protests or something going on. And we didn't feel like protesting or dying or anything like that. So we went back to Antigua with her sister and kids and her other sister and I bought a few more things and got another braid and ate good food.

Day 13. Leaving :( We went to this yummy place for breakfast. Back to the airport. Security check, getting frisked. I had to go through the creepy body scanner things both times on the way there and back. I got all 3 seats to myself! Hung out in the airport and back to Salt Lake!

So if you made it all the way down here I hope you all enjoyed the trip as much as I did!! I'm so glad that I got to go!!

hmm.

Gosh. You leave the country for 2 weeks and come back and your parents have bought car.

Guatemala!

Yes! I'm going to Guatemala today! So excited. I've decided to conduct a small question answer session, which really. Is just an answer session...

Yes, I am going to Guatemala.
Yes, I hope my roommate remembers to water the flowers, they're so pretty! (see below)
No, I am not going to volunteer or build anything. Vacationing purposes only!
No, I have not yet finished packing.
Yes, I left my camera in Logan....
Yes, I have mosquito spray.
No, I do not want to get malaria.
No, I did not serve my mission in Guatemala.
Yes, I hope my ipod battery lasts on the airplane.
Yes, I should probably go now to finish getting ready!