THE BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!!!

My birthday was AMAZING!!!! I started out the day by playing the last game with my co-ed team....I am so sad! They were so much fun to play with! My cousin, Karen, and two of her kids came to my game and brought me balloons! Little Emma was yelling at me from the bleachers as soon as the game was over, "cousin Marla! I have something for you!!!" It was the cutest thing! My team had a pizza party after to celebrate the end of our winning season! My teammate, Karen Wunderli, made these yummy "gooey bars" and brought candles and they sang happy birthday to me! When I came home, there was a beautiful bouquet of flowers sent to me by my good friend, Kass, from California! They are so pretty and I love having them in my apartment! Then my good friend, Tim Goodman, surprised me and took me to a place called iFly. It is located in Ogden and its sorta like this skydive simulation type place. You learn the correct way to skydive, then you are put in a wind tunnel with your instructor and you are completely airborn. I can't figure out how to upload the video onto my computer, but there are pictures on here. They aren't very clear, but you might get the idea from them. What was so cool was my instructor had been staying on the floor with everyone, and in my 2nd flight, he grabbed the back of my suit and the back of my leg and he went horizontal in the air with me and made us go around in a circle up higher than I had been before! Tim told me that he didn't do that with anyone else! It looks so cool in the video!!! When I got back, a few friends came over for dessert. We just chatted and it was so fun to hang out with everyone. A few people had the whole group rolling in laughter! It was just an awesome day! Thanks to everyone who was a part of it!

The Secret Meaning of My Name???

May I preface this by saying that...I don't agree with everything in here...and neither does my roommate! It was still fun checking it out though. Let me know if you agree or disgree with this!!!

What Marla Means

You are confident, self assured, and capable. You are not easily intimidated. You master any and all skills easily. You don't have to work hard for what you want. You make your life out to be exactly how you want it. And you'll knock down anyone who gets in your way! You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection. You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive. You have the classic "Type A" personality. You are wild, crazy, and a huge rebel. You're always up to something. You have a ton of energy, and most people can't handle you. You're very intense. You definitely are a handful, and you're likely to get in trouble. But your kind of trouble is a lot of fun. You are relaxed, chill, and very likely to go with the flow. You are light hearted and accepting. You don't get worked up easily. Well adjusted and incredibly happy, many people wonder what your secret to life is.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

Back in the Swing!!!

I was just hired to coach a Girls U-14 club team in Salt Lake! The girls are a little less experienced in soccer, which is really exciting for me because that means I can teach them a ton and help them improve! I will also be training a girls U-9 team for the same club once a week. So I'm adding this to teaching, coaching track, tutoring, proctoring tests, and playing for 2-3 teams this spring! Do you think I'm sending myself into social siberia? Oh well, if my friends (or a guy) can't catch me, they better run faster!!!!!

HELP! I'VE BEEN OVERTAKEN BY TWELVE 8 YEAR OLDS!

The above title is no joke. I have twelve 8 year olds in my primary class. Individually, they are darling, but together as a group, let me put it this way...I do not want to have children. It's great birth control and I am now motivated to be single FOREVER, teach for the rest of my life, and help other families raise their children...but not in primary (in reality, I really wouldn't act on this, but sometimes the thought comes to mind!). There are only 2-3 of the kids that actually want to learn, and they keep me sane. Today, I swear I had the WWF in my primary class. The two boys who are part of the triplets (the third of the triplets is a girl) were wrestling with another kid who is a total spitfire and I couldn't get that kid to calm down. When I finally got them sitting in a chair, they were poking, punching, pulling hair....with the sound to go with it all. I attempted to separate the three boys, they wouldn't budge....and honestly, I really can't grab them and put them where they need to be because knowing Alpine, I'd probably get sued. Three of the girls all wanted to share one chair, and when I asked them to sit in their own chair (telling them that they could still sit by the window), one of the girls started to cry and told me she didn't want to sit in her own chair and stayed put. This is not the first time this has happened. One girl even grabbed another chair to sit in, so there were three chairs and the girl who was crying still wouldn't sit in a chair! I ended up telling her that we needed to go find her mom to come in and sit with her, and she happily packed up her stuff and said she was glad she didn't have to come back. She walked out the door, and luckily, a member of the bishopric was standing outside the door and took care of her for me. I tried to put the kids in assigned seats, but the boys don't want to sit next to girls and the girls don't want to sit next to boys, but if I keep boys and girls together, its absolute chaos. I thought about making two rows, but who knows if that will work. If it wasn't snowing, I probably would've sent them on a lap around the church--kidding, I know that's not church policy. I tried singing a song before prayer, the whole attention getter activity, something to do during the lesson....nothing is working!!! My team teacher called me a month ago and told me that she wasn't teaching anymore and a new person would be called. From what the primary presidency told me today, it will be awhile before someone is assigned to teach with me so I need to try and find a parent each week to come in and sit with my class while I teach. I'm sure every parent is just dying to come babysit for two hours instead of going to their own meetings....and what about the parents who have callings in primary, YW/YW, Elders Quorum, etc???

Does anyone have any advice, suggestions, activities that you've done that have worked for you? I have tried doing games with them, but they get out of control when we play (Book of Mormon Jeopardy seems to be the only game that works), when I try to get them in the scriptures in some fun, creative way, they don't want to use their scriptures, and if I have them read straight from the scriptures, they still don't want to use their scriptures and they go nuts. So please, HELP ME!!!!!!!!!!

My Mom and Texting

So this morning I took my mom to the doctor's office....first, let me tell you that my mom is feeling so much better. The reason I know she's not "acting" like she's feeling better is because I had the wonderful privilege of transferring ALL of her hair and makeup products downstairs so she could do her hair and put on makeup this morning and most likely every morning. She was very excited when I brought in the box ...yes, the box. Those of you who know me well know that my array of hair and makeup products could fit inside a quart size ziploc...The doctor said she is looking good and she just has to be careful that she doesn't mess up her back (bending, twisting, lifting, falling, etc) because if she does, the damage will be ten times worse than what she was dealing with before. The only scary thing for me is that if she stands for longer than 5-7 minutes, she gets light headed and feels like she is going to pass out. So she is still pretty weak, but getting stronger each day.

Can someone please explain texting to me? I have become friends with one of my teammates (yes its a guy, but don't get excited, his intentions are purely "friends") and all we do is text...it gets a little frustrating sometimes because its nice to talk on the phone, there's all sorts of ways to read into what is said...or what isn't said, but other times texting convenient for me because I always have something to do and can get those things done inbetween texting, but I am pretty old fashioned...I definitely like to chat, not text. And he is the only friend I have who likes to just...text! It's very strange to me...maybe because it is different. Apparently its the new way of communication. My high school students definitely like texting over calling. But I will admit, when my phone makes that sound to tell me that I have a text, its kinda fun. Anyway, if anyone has any insights about texting...please...share!!!!!

Latest on my mom...

My mom is doing better and becoming stronger everyday. Yesterday she got up four times to walk with the help of the walker....then she got back into bed and slept! I teased her a little and started running and dancing in circles around her while she was walking and singing the horse racing tune...is that even what it's called?...I don't think she was very happy with that but it made her laugh. There's an elderly lady in my mom's ward who is in a walker and we are going to call her to see if she wants to come over and "walk" with my mom once or twice a day...maybe even race each other around the house..won't that be a sight!

The last three days at the hospital, it has been very hard to rest. Everytime we try to take a nap, someone comes in, wants to check her for something, she needs to move around, etc. The last two nights, the nurses have been waking her every two hours...I will probably be doing the same this week. She has to move frequently to keep up her circulation and so she won't stiffen up. My brothers have been preparing the downstairs and luckily, because of my nieces and nephews, we have a set of "baby monitors" that we can use. Having those baby monitors will help me get her busy with something or know when she wakes up from a nap, and in the meantime I will be able to get other things done around the house! Thank goodness for modern technology!

The great thing about this emergency surgery she had is that the pain she had going from her back down to her right leg is gone! My mom can walk normally (well, as normally as you can with a walker and a 6" incision in your back), and she can sleep on her back and right side for the first time in months! If she can stay disciplined for the next 5 months, this surgery can only benefit her!

Many of you know that my brother Kevin is not able to fly in until the 16th, so we were trying to figure out how to care for my mom the week after I leave. Thankfully, there are several options and thank you to those who have been so willing to step in at the last minute!

Thank you to all for your prayers. We will continually need them over the next few weeks. Everything, so far, is going well and my family has been strengthened and blessed.

Update on my mom

I am writing this post as I sit in my mom's room at the hospital. She has this nifty computer that has internet and music and TV. She is sleeping right now. She told me a little bit about her surgery when I arrived this morning. Not only were there cysts around her nerve, but also around her spine. When they cut out the cysts, the 4th vertabrae slid out of place, so the surgeon put in two rods to hold the 3rd, 4th and 5th vertabrae in place. She looks pretty good considering the circumstances. When her doctor came in this morning, he said, "boy were you a mess!" And then proceeded to tell her all they had to do. She has a long way yo go. 5 months of no lifting or bending. She will start physical therapy later today. Her physical therapist's name is Raul. He's a big guy! I'd be scared if he were my phyiscal therapist!!

What is the meaning of....FAMILY

What is the meaning of FAMILY? I don't know about the rest of you, but in my family, we have this family mission statement that basically says, in a nutshell, that we support each other, care of each other and look out for each other in every way possible. My parents always taught me and my brothers that your parents and siblings come first until you have a spouse and family of your own, who will then be first when it comes to family.

Last night, I received a phone call that my mom was in the hospital. She has had back problems for quite some time and it started to effect the way she walks, the amount of time she can sit, stand,etc. She has been in pain 99% of the time for several months. Last week, she went in for a MRI and yesterday went to get the results. Now here's the part that gets very unclear for me...she was given an epidural for the pain and the pain got worse, then was given more pain killers which made her sick. She also couldn't put any pressure on her legs. She was taken to the emergency room, then admitted into the hospital. I told my brother that if I was needed at home, to let me know and I would be there...though he didn't even have to tell me to come home, I was already preparing and packing. This morning, doctors decided that it would be best to do the back surgery that is needed to relieve my mom of the pain she has been in, so today my mom had surgery on her back. I'm not quite sure what they did...I do know that they compressed a nerve and also had to cut out cysts that had formed around the nerve. They did something to three vertabrae that involved three titanium screws and some type of bone graph around the vertabrae. The surgery went well and she is now in recovery. The only concern now is how to help her handle the pain. She has had some type of reaction to everything the doctors have given her, so I'm not sure what will happen with that. Last night I was a little nervous for the situation, and when I called a couple people to just get it off my chest, they blew it off like it was no big deal. Thankfully, a family of a current soccer player and two former students (yes, I've had three of their five children so far) lives just down the road and took me in at 11pm last night, fed me, nurtured me, the whole bit. The dad also gave me a priesthood blessing which immediately calmed me down. Let me put it this way...coming home was the right thing to do.

Today, I taught my classes then I left school at 12:15. My T.A.s were instrumental in helping me get everything prepared for a substitute and my drive home. I brought my laptop to school and my first period T.A.s put a couple music CDs together for the drive, while my 2nd period T.A.s looked up the weather for this weekend and next weekend, mapquested the hospital for me, and straightened up my classroom (they also saved half their bag of Reese's Pieces for me to eat on my way home!). From school, I drove to Provo to get my car serviced, then made the drive home. I was going on four hours of sleep and got a little more tired than usual. Thanks to several people who let me call and chat so I would stay awake, and a special thanks to my friend Sheldon, who stayed on the phone with me for the last two hours of the drive so I wouldn't fall asleep, I made it safely home and will head out to the hospital tomorrow morning.

I will be here for 10 days to take care of my mom when she comes home from the hospital, and then Kevin will fly in the weekend I leave and take over. The reason I didn't fly home was 1. too expensive for a last minute trip...and 2. with all the driving to and from the hospital as well as the different errands that will need to be run, I thought it be better to have my own wheels than rely on someone else's! The drive actually helped me unwind, release some stress and prepare myself for coming home. My family is all pulling their weight in one way or another to help my mom through this. She will be laid up for weeks and for the first 2-3 weeks she is home from the hospital, someone needs to be with her 24/7.

So here is the reason for my question at the beginning of this post...I had a few people actually question my decision to come home by saying that my brothers and sisters-in-law should handle it and not me because I am out of state...now I can understand if I were married with children, it would be a little difficult to drop everything and come home to help ASAP. I'd have to plan a little more before actually making the trip...but when I'm single with a job that allows me to take time off work when needed, why not come home and help?! Why not be here for my mom and relieve some of the stress that is being put on everyone else? What are these people thinking?! What are families for?!?!

I had to try it!!!!

My friend C.C. did this and I thought it was kinda fun...so....why not give it a try?!