Dear Elder (Round 2)

It seems like just yesterday I was sitting at my computer typing this same post for a different brother. Little did I know, the Church would make a major announcement in the next General Conference that would have me writing this post an entire year before I thought I would. 

My little brother Tommy recently got his mission call to Novosibirsk, Russia! What an exciting day that was! Russia was completely unexpected (ask my mom, she was on the floor), but absolutely inspired. Tommy is going to be an excellent missionary serving the people of Russia. 

Some fun facts: The Russia, Novosibirsk mission is currently the largest mission in the entire church, geographically. It's about the size of the United States to give you an idea. It takes in the ice-cold area of Siberia, and also part of Kazakhstan. Tommy will also do a lot of traveling - Russia requires people serving there to renew their visas every 3 months, so he'll be flying to other countries often during his mission. The time spent in the MTC has also recently been cut, so Tommy will only be spending about 8 weeks there learning the Russian language. I know he'll be blessed with the gift of tongues in order to accomplish that!

Tommy reports to the MTC tomorrow, July 17th. I can't believe how quickly this day came! I am so proud of him and the choice he has made, but I am really going to miss seeing my little brother for two whole years.

Tommy, thanks for being my partner in crime. We've shared some amazing memories together over the years - jamming to rap songs, inventing the "grandwich", having a sleepover at our place, our hilarious daily picture/text message conversations, freaking out over the latest episode of Breaking Bad, late night Wendy's runs, watching movies together after Sunday dinner, and going on a million other adventures because you were always up for them. Recently, it was so fun for Daniel and I to go shooting with you for a whole day! I'm so lucky to have a brother with such an amazing sense of humor, and that I have so much in common with.

Tommy, I want you to know how much I love you! Things will not be the same without you around, but let's hope someone else in our family can step it up and be the "Responsible One" while you're away. Thanks for being an example to me of obedience. When you realized your mission was going to come a year early - you didn't miss a beat. Instead, you doubled your efforts to prepare and showed us all what it means to be a disciple of Christ by following His commandments. I am so proud of you! You are going to be an amazing missionary! The people of Russia are so lucky to have you.

Love you, Teej! We're gonna miss ya!

Much love,

Manders

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10 reasons why being a teacher is fantastic.

1. You get to wear your hair like this for crazy hair day.

2. Jack Sparrow might show up at your 5th grade play performance.

3. You get to take your children outside for science and watch them get tangled in hula hoops.

4. You get paid to explore the Museum of Natural History.

5. Your students give you owl-themed gifts.

6. You can grade papers with these babies.

7. The faculty room is legitimately labeled like this:

8. Your students set leprechaun traps, and you get to set them off, steal all the gold coins, and eat them yourself.

9. You get to read hilarious things like this:

10. And last but not least, things like this will happen to you:

The other day, one of my students brought a bowling ball to school in his backpack. Yes, you read that right. A bowling ball. When I asked him what on Earth would possess him to do something like that, he claimed that it was his "good luck charm."    .......... Umm, what?!?

After confiscating the bowling ball, another student complained that his hand was hurting. It turns out that before school started that day, he had been joking around with the bowling ball student and had punched his backpack. By lunchtime, the second student's hand was so swollen that I made him call his mother. Turns out, he probably broke his hand.

Better than reality TV, I tell you. Much better.

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that time i let my sister talk me into going to a concert.

Somehow, I let my sister Allison talk me into taking her and three of her friends to the Ed Sheeran concert a few weeks ago. Since I didn't want to go alone (you KNOW those girls were going to ditch their poor chaperone), I dragged Lizzie along with me. I owe Sarah and Lauren Bradley (who were also at the concert!) big time for getting me a copy of his album a few days before the concert so I wasn't stuck knowing only "The A Team."

And, since it is customary, here are a handful of blurry concert photos.

And this last one features the silhouette of the drunk lady who was getting in all our pictures and spilling her drinks everywhere and generally and ruining our lives. #notreally #iloveconcerts

Long story short, it ended up being a ton of fun! We stayed up way too late for a school night, but everyone survived. And, it turns out, I really like this Ed Sheeran guy! His music is pretty fantastic. Go get yourself a copy of his album and love your life. You can thank me later.

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winter blues / jackson hole

Lately, I've had a pretty bad case of the winter blues. Like pretty much everyone else in this city (except maybe Kimi and some avid skiers and snowboarders), I'm ready for January to leave. And to take all of its bitter cold temperatures, dangerous-looking icicles, and indoor recesses with it!

Luckily, I have yet to share some summery photos from the road trip my family took up to Jackson Hole this past summer! (P.S. If you go on a vacation but never post photos of it...did it really happen? Food for thought.) 

cooking up some tootsie rolls on the dash (gotta have them nice and soft...)

quick stop in Lava Hot Springs for some platform diving and waterpark adventures.

Hiking the Tetons

downtown Jackson

where we ate elk and buffalo and it was fantastic.

and some rock climbing for good measure.

And if that doesn't help bring a little bit of summer back into your life, I don't know what will. Oh wait, yes I do! How about seeing these numbers on your classroom thermostat when you walked in the door last Friday?

Yep, that'll do it.

FYI: My heater was broken (wouldn't shut itself off) and it is finally fixed now. But we had a few tropical island days in my classroom for a minute there. Bikram yoga, anyone?

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