Old Spice | Freshershist

I saw this commerical on tv a few months ago and laughing so hard. I had to rewind and watch it a few times. I couldn't believe how tacky it was. It took me a while to realize it was a guy's armpit! ha ha ha. enjoy viewing.

corn maze for blondes

(my lil' bro sent this to me. i loved it! ha ha!)

i HATE the words....

Compliant

Intervention

I hate those words. The admin at my school use those words like they are going out of style. When I hear either word my heart beats faster, my brain does spastic attacks, and my jaw clenches. It is like fingernails on the chalkboard while getting your face slapped at the same time. These are not positive words. These are not quality words -- especially in an education environment. No one wants to be told to "be compliant." I sure hope my ears don't have to hear these words for much longer. Crossing my fingers that it will only be another year.....

America's Poorest Cities

This email was forwarded to me and wanted to share it with everyone. I looked up the works cited and it is correct information.

William J. H. Boetcker, a Presbyterian minister, created a list of cannots that is also known as the "Americam Charter." (Many people believe that Abe Lincoln said this, but that is a falsehood.)

You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away people's initiative and independence.
You cannot help people permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves."


Poverty in Our Cities...
City, State, % of People Below the Poverty Level
1. Detroit , MI 32.5
2. Buffalo , NY 29.9
3. Cincinnati , OH 27.8
4. Cleveland , OH 27.0
5. Miami , FL 26.9
5. St.. Louis , MO 26.8
7. El Paso , TX 26.4
8. Milwaukee , WI 26.2
9. Philadelphia , PA 25.1
10. Newark , NJ 24.2
U.S. Census Bureau, 2006 American Community Survey, August 2007

What do the top ten cities (over 250,000) with the highest poverty rate all have in common?

Detroit , MI (1st on the poverty rate list) hasn't elected a Republican mayor since 1961;
Buffalo , NY (2nd) hasn't elected one since 1954;
Cincinnati , OH - (3rd)...since 1984;
Cleveland , OH - (4th).....since 1989;
Miami , FL - (5th) has never had a Republican mayor;
St. Louis , MO - (6th)....since 1949;
El Paso , TX - (7th) has never had a Republican mayor;
Milwaukee , WI - (8th)....since 1908;
Philadelphia , PA - (9th)...since 1952;
Newark , NJ - (10th)....since 1907.

A popular saying is "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

It is the poor who habitually elect Democrats---yet they are still POOR.

RESUME [Spelling Bee]

I have taught hundreds of students how to create a resume. And each time I laugh at the ways some of them decide to spell "resume." I make sure I write it on the board so they can see the correct way....and yet some students must think their spelling is way more accurate then mine. My newest fav way follows:

reza may

Yep. 2 words. Yep.
And no, he is not an English-as-a-Second Language speaker. He is not in a special education program. He is just a typical 9th grader. Yep. And he also thinks "you" is spelled "u". Yep. He would spell "u" all semester long -- no matter how much I informed him of the incorrect spelling.

Oh yeah -- and this is the kidlet that mom came in the 1st week of June to chat with me about his grade. She came in all nice and polite (needing to wash her stinky hair). While sitting next to her looking at his grades (and trying to not dry heave from the stench), she informed me that it was the counselor's fault and my fault that he was not passing this class. Yep. She started raising her voice and went on repeat with the same lines over and over and over again about how I am a bad teacher because he was flunking. After I interrupted her rampage and started talking to her, I learned that her job is an admin assistant at a hospital -- AND they have Microsoft Office at home.....umm....yeah, this kidlet NEVER did any makeup work at home. He NEVER came in after school or before school. Oh yes, in early May I called the mom and left a message about his grade. She never called/emailed me back.

My 1st contact with this mom was June 4th and she came to threaten me that he will not flunk and inform me that it was my fault and the counselor's fault. Oh me oh my. I've heard many stories about our American society placing personal blame on others, but I have never personally experienced it to this magnitude. Yep. It's all my fault. Not the kid. Not the parent. It is HIS grade, HIS work, HIS life and yet it is my fault. Sad, sad, sad.

S T O L E N p u r s e

I was highly requested by some friends to attend an 80's party on Friday night. So I met one of my friend's @ her apartment and then she drove me & her over to the party. I thought it was @ a friend's house, but in route I recieved notification that it was @ a house near U of W. When we arrived, I immediately wanted to leave -- I knew no one and I was bored. I also noticed that random people were coming off the streets and dropping in -- it is college housing area -- so of course random peeps are looking for hoppin' parties.....This is what I was concerned about. I brought my purse in, so I was carrying it around like another appendage. And then later on, a group of friends arrived and they wanted to dance, so I placed my purse next to my friend's bag and we went into the "dancing room." Two songs later, I head back to where my purse was suppose to be and it was GONE!!! I knew it was stolen. There were shady characters around and I knew I was an instant idiot.

I immediately went to the front porch and informed the people that my purse was stolen and asked them to look out for it. It was a hazy lil' mess from that point on. My friend posted up next to her car -- her car keys were in my purse and no way was she letting anyone steal her nice car. I borrowed a friend's phone and call the police. I walked around the house, the alleyway, and the sidewalks -- searching to see if the thief dumped the purse/belongings along their journey. I never had my purse stolen before and I was so sad. My sister from Everett came to pick me up and we got to her home @ 3 am. My friend & a couple of her friends stayed with her car until a tow truck finally came...they didn't get home until 6:30 AM!!!!!

Fast forward.......The plan was that my sister was going to drive me back to my place, get a spare house key from cousin, then get a spare car key, then drive me back to Bellevue for my car. BUT GUESS WHAT?????!!!!!! At 7:29 AM, a policeman called my sister's home for me --- and informed me that he had my purse!!!!!

After 2.5 hours in the North Seattle Precinct and my 3-paged police statement, I had my purse & all the contents....minus my cell phone & $12 cash. It was great knowing that almost everything was in there!!! How lucky/blessed am I???!!! The police also informed me of the story of how it was stolen.....

A UW 19-yr old white male resident had a friend call him and request for him to find some weed. The 19-yr old went out looking for "thugs" and found 3 black males (one is younger than 18 -yr old). He connected with them for his request. So they went on a journey for some quick cash/assets to obtain weed. Our party was their 1st stop. They had no such luck for weed there, but they did steal my purse. (Lucky me, my purse was the only one stolen.) Then they went to 2 frat houses and stole a laptop at each place. They ended up @ the boy's place. When the 3 guys passed out and were sleeping, the one boy realized that they stole $1,500 cash, an ipod, and other items from him! So that is when he called the police. At approximately 6:30 am, the police showed up and took the 4 guys. The boy worked with the police to retrieve most of the lost/stolen items. Their first stop: the house I was at. Because my purse was in the dryer! (nice hiding spot huh?) The boy informed the police that he witnessed my purse being stolen. One of the "thugs" sat down on the chair that was in front of my purse. He put his hoodie on top of my purse and then when he stood up and grabbed his hoodie, he grabbed my purse too. Then he went into the bathroom and rummaged through my purse. Then he dumped the purse in the dryer. They also then found my friend's car keys in the alleyway. (Her replacement keys are expensive so this was good!)

The police also informed me that the 3 guys are probably going to King County Jail! Yee-haw! (They had too many mishaps I guess.) I informed the police that one of my friends took pictures of those guys @ the party (she purposely did because they looked shady). Thus, the police contacted my friend and so she gave them the memory card for evidence. These shady characters messed with the wrong party and the wrong people. :) And I realize how blessed I am to not only recieve my purse and contents, but also to know "the rest of the story" on how my purse was stolen. It was crazy because my purse was hidden and yet there were purses littered all throughout the house and yet the thief chose MY purse. Creepy.

can't wait....

Why do a pile of new, great movies come out all @ once? I am excited to watch so many movies in the next month. And one that I am excited to see is [ TOY STORY 3 ]

It brings back memories of me being all snobby about the original Toy Story......

I was @ BYU and my mom (and sister(s)???? I can't remember that part) visited a little bit after this movie came out. My mom convinced me to go see it -- that I would like it. "Yeah right" I said. "Why would I like a cartoon movie? Lame. I'm a college student." Well, way to go Pixar because one of the first animated full-length movies became one of my favorite movies of all time. My pride crumbled in the beginning and I was laughing so hard. I wanted to watch it again when it was over. (I tried to not like it, but it sucked me in. No more coolness factor for me.) And now I am excited for this next installment in the hilarious Toy Story movies.

Yee-haw!!!!

He's my brother.

I got this story sent via email and loved it so much that I wanted to share it for ya'all to read. Enjoy.

Two young boys walked into a pharmacy one day, picked out a box of tampons and proceeded to the checkout counter.

The man at the counter asked the older boy, "Son, how old are you?"

"Eight," the boy replied.

The man continued, "do you know what these are used for?"

The boy replied, "not exactly, but they aren't for me.

They're for him. He's my brother. He's four.

We saw on TV that if you use these you would be able to swim and ride a bike. Right now, he can't do either."

200,000 miles and counting...

The time has come to post this unfortunate event in my lil' Mazda Protege's life -- the 200,000 mile mark. While driving to my parent's for Easter weekend I waited with baited breath for the rollover from 199,999 miles to 200,000 miles. (That would be the worst if I looked again and I missed "the viewing" of the grand 200,000 odometer count.) It came while heading down to Vantage. I have driven the majority of those miles...and if I wasn't driving, I was in the car for 95% of those miles. It only had 600 miles on it when I bought this car. In exactly 9 years I raked on that many miles. (That averages to over 22,000 miles a year. Over 1,800 miles a month.) It sure has been a really good car to me -- and I hope it continues to be a good car to me because I can't afford to buy another car just yet!

We have been on all different types of roadway and road conditions. I wasn't a fan of this car until it was paid off....then I realized that I like it (no car payments!). And it also dawned on me that it has been a strong car with little repair work needed. Go Mazda! And to all of you that have ridden and/or drove this car, I am sure you will attest that it is mighty powerful for it's lil' ole' self. This car and I have become buddies -- one of my favorite places to prayer, sing loudly, and drive me to fun locations.

ZOOM, ZOOM!

(yes, i took these pictures while driving. yep, i'm baller like that. yes, it kept me awake. yes, no one was harmed or scared from this event.)

ya wanna pickle?

Out of a whole grocery store and all the shelves and all the products to buy I think pickles have the most options. I realized this on a recent trip to my fav grocery store and I wanted to buy pickles. Golly gee whiz...I literally had to create a matrix of all my options and pray about my final decision of what perfect pickle to buy. In case you want to plan your pickle product purchasing here are some options...
tiny dill
sweet baby
snack'mms (that is really the name...i was shocked too.)
squeezable dill relish
hot dog relish
kosher dill spears
zesty dill
bread & butter
sweet pickels
sugar free sweet gherkin
country dill
garlic dill
cucumber chips...sweet
don't worry...there are even more options. And I bet your local grocery store probably has even more options. Did you know there were that many pickle options? I guess when I buy pickles once a year I never paid attention. I guess pickle eaters are picky pickle eaters.
Oh have fun pickle purchasing!

Will It Blend?

Have you ever heard of "Will it Blend?" Well, they try to blend random, crazy stuff -- you should watch some of the video clips. (www.willitblend.com) And I (accidentally) just tried my own demo....

I wanted to make a lil' orange julius for myself. I wondered where the clear cap for the blender cover was...I thought it must have been in the pile of dirty dishes -- so I blended up my orange julius without the cap--i just put my hand there so the lil' orange chunks wouldn't fly out. It sounded a bit chunky ("I must have put too much ice in," I thought). When I poured into my glass and took a big swig it tasted horrible! "The ice must be bad," I thought. It took me a couple minutes and then I realized -- I blended up my clear blender cap in the mix. :( Now I have clean the blender, remake a new batch, and order a new blender cap. UGH.

how do you spell "licious"????

So I was driving and saw this sign...there are actually THREE of these billboards within a 1.5 mile radius of me (maybe more...I haven't sniffed them out yet). I love the pink background, but the "licious" word bothers me...Shouldn't it be spelled "Bundlelicious"??? The way they have it spelled says "Bund-licious". I don't think Qwest wanted that. They should have asked me for my opinion before they sent it off to be placed on a bigillion billboards. Interestinglicious.

What do {YOU} think?

P.S. Don't worry...I was STOPPED when I took this picture.

How to write a church talk

I read this article in my BYU Alumni magazine and thought it was a great article to share. The Professor they interviewed, Randy Bott, is a popular mission prep professor -- his classes are always packed. I enjoyed his class & his books. enjoy! :)


HOW TO WRITE A CHURCH TALK
You’ve likely heard more than a few church talks over the years—some you have loved and some, well, that left a bit to be desired. You’ve also likely given a few church talks of your own—one or two of which may have fallen into the latter category. Every semester religion professor Randy L. Bott (EdD ’88) teaches more than 800 BYU students how to become masterful Sunday orators. The lesson is a signature part of Bott’s ever-popular mission prep course.

Q: How did you come up with your method for preparing a sacrament meeting talk?
A: It wasn’t until I entered the doctoral program in educational leadership at BYU that I was taught . . . the process of “four-folding knowledge.” It lays out the four elements every talk should have. [In his dissertation, Bott compared the effectiveness of the four-fold method with three other strategies; he found that people taught with this method retained more information.]

Q: What are the four elements a sacrament meeting talk should have?
A: Purpose, main ideas, expansion or validation, and testimony.

Q: How can I use these four elements to develop a talk?
A: Once a person has the purpose, the rest of the talk is easy. If someone gave me the topic of faith, I would immediately try to narrow the scope. For the purpose, for example, I would come up with a statement like “The purpose of my talk is to teach people how to recognize the power of faith in their own lives.”

I might have only one or two main ideas that support this purpose. One might be “Faith is the very motivating power that enables us to act.” A second main idea might be “I can increase faith by recognizing it in my life.” I would expand or validate the first main idea with stories, scriptures, or examples of faith. Then I would do the same thing for the second main idea.

The last piece is testimony. At this point I would honestly evaluate how strongly I feel about the principle I am teaching and then testify about that principle.

Q: You’ve said this method can be used to write any talk in five minutes or less. What’s the fastest you’ve prepared a talk?
A: When I served as a mission president in California, a General Authority asked me halfway through the rest hymn [in a multi-regional priesthood leadership meeting] to give a 20-minute talk; I guess I had a minute or less to prepare. I talked for 20 minutes, sequencing through the four elements described above, bore my testimony, and sat down. He then said, “You are a master at that!” to which I responded, “I am actually a doctor at that—that was part of my dissertation.”

Target coupons via {text}

Visit this link and you will be able to receive text messages from TARGET for Target Exclusive Coupons. No printing needed....just bring in your phone & the cashier will scan the text message on your phone. You will be able to stack the coupons with manufacturer coupons also. Yee-haw! I sure {enjoy} couponing!!!

Showtime!

I was able to attend two theatre events in December: White Christmas @ The 5th Avenue and The Rockettes @ The Paramount. I have never watched the movie "White Christmas" all the way through -- I have always fallen asleep. BUT the show was fun! It even "snowed" for us @ the end. :)

And the Rockettes was amazing because I was able to sit smack in the middle -- 5 rows in the front. That was entertaining! And it made me jealous...I want long legs. ha! :)

{FANCY} Holiday Party Crasher...

A friend invited me to her work Holiday Party. I was thrilled to attend because we were given the royal treatment! We had a hotel room in the Four Seasons Hotel in downtown Seattle. And we ate at (supposedly) the finest restaurant in Seattle: Canlis. (take a tour of Canlis)

The Four Seasons was fantastic! Valet service for car & luggage. Individual slippers and robes waiting on the bedside – with a lil’ mat on the floor to change into the slippers. A comfortable chaise lounge with a view of the Puget Sound (not the greatest view, but still a view). And my favorite part – the bathroom! When the valet service man was giving me a “tour” (that’s what he called it) of the hotel room, he mentioned the remote in the bathroom. (WHAT!!!!???? A remote in the bathroom????!!!) After he left, I scurried to discover this uniqueness….yep. There was a tv in the bathroom MIRROR!!!! A little 14” monitor was placed inside the mirror just above the sink. The coolest part – it was a mirror too unless it was turned on!!!!! Yee-haw!

I also fell in love with the soap in the bathroom. My friend and I were trying to figure out ways to steal more of the soap from Housekeeping. We didn’t have any brilliant ideas, so we ended up with just our little allotted portions. (Later, when I checked on buying that soap, I found that our lil’ sample size of 3 oz. was selling for $8 on ebay! Yikes!!! We should have stolen some soap! Ha!) It is made with rosemary, shea butter, and verbena lemon. yum! My new favorite soap. After we settled in, we were driven in a cab to Canlis. After giving our coats to the hostess, we went to the private dining room reserved for our party. There were about 14 of us so it was a small group. Everyone dressed up in their holiday finest, standing around making small talk while pretending it was the most amazing conversation ever. Have you ever had to make small talk with a bunch of strangers pretending you will see them again? Really, really awkward; but thankfully I have skills and I pulled it off. ;) I even made a Facebook Friend out of the evening. :)

We were given unlimited drinks and fancy smachy appetizers. (ever had a sliced fig with duck on top? It was alright.) After about 60 minutes of awkward, fake conversing we sat and enjoyed our 3 course meal. It was fabulous to watch the procession of waiters when they delivered the food….There was one waiter for 2 of us. The waiters would silently waltz in the room, stand between the 2 patrons they were assigned and then, with a quick nod from the head waiter, they simulatiously placed one plate down and then the other plate down. What an orchesated work of art! That was my favorite part of the meal. Unfortunately, the food really was not that spectualuar. I could have baked a better dessert – the molten chocolate cake was dry and not that fantastic to eat. (described as......"Chocolate Covered Chocolate: molten chocolate cake, pecan shortbread, and chocolate covered banana ice cream") After the meal, we were also informed by the Head Waiter Guy that we each were given a box of Fran’s Grey Salt Caramels. Overall, the experience was awesome!!! I mean really – where else have you gone to the bathroom and the paper towels are cloth-like feeling (I didn’t know if I should throw them away or if they wash them…just kidding, but they really are amazing paper towels.) AND the paper towels had CANLIS printed on every single one of them. Gee-whiz! The fanciest paper towels I’ve ever seen. And when we were leaving, the hostess remembered who had what coat. Are you kidding me!!!??? With all the patrons in the restaurant…I was duly impressed. We enjoyed our cab ride back to The 4 Seasons. (oh yeah, and have I mentioned that my friend’s work pays for this entire experience. What a sweet deal I got involved in! Thanks friend!!!!)

The next morning, we explored the spa area. It was my first time in a Steam Room. I love saunas, but I have never visited a steam room before. It was pretty glorious – except for the fact that I left my mascara on from the night before….mascara – combined with contacts do NOT equate into a pleasant experience in the Steam Room. I resorted to the sauna for longer spa-like treatment. My friend stayed in the spa area longer, but my eyes (contacts & mascara) were needing my attention so I mosied on up to the room.

Mind you – I am wearing workout shorts, a cotton t-shirt with random drippings from the steam room ceilings, and flip-flops. My mascara has ran down my face a bit and my eyes are red from the irritation of mascara flecks/heat/steam. (yes – I looked amazing) And guess what? The card wouldn’t work. I couldn’t get the room door open! After many attempts, I had to sluff my way to the lobby and request a new keycard. (You better be laughing right now, because I was – in dismay.) I couldn’t believe my luck of looking sooooo superb and that I couldn’t see that well….I casually walk up to the front desk and was greeted with a “Good morning Ms. Sabin, how may I help you?” WHAT?????!!!!! The guy remembered my name???!!!! Creepy. And AMAZING. With my most graceful-self, I requested a new keycard. When received, I promptly left with my water-spotted shirt and red eyes (I’m telling you – I looked amazing).

After our bout with the Spa Land, we then got ready and went to brunch @ the restaurant located in the 4 Seasons. Called Art. (visit their site.) Can I just tell you…they had the yummiest breakfast food! Lemon Ricotta Pancakes: pancakes infused with lemon and topped with blueberries and lemon crème. Yep. Amazing in the mouth. Awesome set-up from the placemats, to the salt & pepper shakers to the view of the Sound. Scrumptious! It was a great ending to the Holiday Party. Too bad teachers don’t receive parties like this….

When we went to leave, a valet guy asked me if I would like a bottled water while I wait for the car. "Sure!" (My savvy-minded cheap self thought: "this is perfect: a free water bottle to leave with also!"). He gave me the bottled water and when my friend and I were settled in the car, the Valet Guy tapped on my window. I rolled it down and he asked me if I would like another bottled water -- a different brand. I was confused...through the conversation, I found out that they have TWO brands of bottled water and this is a new brand that he gave me (it has their own private label on it) and he wanted to make sure I liked it. Oh me oh my!!!! I reassured him that I was fine and I liked the water. This people sure know about service. Unfortunately, as my friend confirmed, this type of service is common with this level of establishment. I guess there are way too many picky rich people....

It was a fabulous Holiday Party. By far the fanciest one I have been to...so far. :) Amazing memories and great experiences.