Who doesn't love free stuff?!

I really am giving something away! For free!

Isn't it exciting! If you don't know what I'm talking about, read yesterday's post very carefully. I feel like I'm evolving as a blogger!

At first I announced the prize as Thanksgiving-esque. I changed my mind though. I decided to just do something I'm loving right now. I bought a super cute clutch bag on etsy and I absolutely love it! I use it to keep my ipod in but it's the perfect size for anything.

I am going to end the give away this Sunday, November 23. Get yourself entered to win by then or you'll end up disappointed! Good luck!

101 Dalmatians

Pongo, Perdita, and the babes. Who didn't love them? One can't help but adore 101 precious little Dalmatian puppies. Let's be honest, we all cheered when the puppies worked together and ambushed evil Cruella De Vil. Classical. Disney did a lot of things right when they made this movie however the most brilliant part was choosing an odd number of puppies. 101. That just stands out. Imagine this: "The 100 Dalmatians." It just doesn't have the same flavor.

The point? This is my 101st post. Everyone celebrates their 100th post and how amazingly awesome their blog is. Well, I like to be a little different. I want how amazingly awesome my blog is to stick in your head just like the title 101 dalmatians. So... HOORAY FOR ME!


I realize how ridiculous this analogy is. I'm using is anyway!


I'm not one to post lots of emotional feel good type stuff here. Every now and again, my deep, sensitive, caring side comes out. I have that side of me, I really do. Today is that day.


It's Thanksgiving time. I'm thankful for a lot and have countless blessing in my life. So on my 101st post I will put 101 blessings I have in my life. I don't necessarily expect you to actually read them all. I just know it's important to reflect. I decided not to be vague with these things so I'm putting specific names and everything. If you aren't listed as a person I'm thankful for that seriously blows. Haha, just kidding.


In no particular order.

1. Mama Sullivan
2. Slim
3. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
4. The whole other Sullivan crew (Ry, Jac, the baby boys)
5. Katie Sue
6. Donna Joe
7. G-ma Dart
8. The Ranjo Fam
9. All my extended family (Aunties, Uncles, cousins, baby cousins, etc.)
10. The Super Buds (You know who you are.)
11. The High School Girls
12. Kimba (You fit in the Super Bud category too!)
13. Hannah
14. prayer
15. my condo
16. my car
17. The United States of America
18. the color orange
19. Diet Mountain Dew
20. warm clothes
21. blankets
22. heaters (I'm cold right now, can you tell.)
23. Sunday Family dinners
24. cell phones
25. computers and technology
26. my education
27. sacrament meeting
28. books and good literature
29. Chuck (start watching if you don't)
30. Survivor (still a fan)
31. The Office
32. my students
33. the example my students set for me
34. Anna
35. priesthood power
36. avocados
37. Chili's chips and salsa
38. laughter
39. sarcasm
40. peacemakers
41. ability to learn
42. President Thomas S. Monson
43. church leaders
44. my bed
45. my orange fuzzy blanket
46. social gatherings
47. Target
48. IKEA
49. Redbox
50. our country leaders
51. funny people
52. You Tube
53. thoughtful people
54. CALM
55. appreciation
56. my red couch chair
57. my upbringing
58. blogs
59. music
60. musical artists
61. sunsets
62. monkeys
63. colors
64. seasons
65. kleenex
66. birthdays
67. q-tips
68. hair brushes
69. keys and locks
70. my peep hole
71. I-Tunes
72. free download Tuesday
73. parent helpers
74. support
75. people who reciprocate
76. hilarious stories
77. when people are patient with me
78. weekends
    
79. days off of work
80. holidays
81. my parents willingness to open their home to friends
82. the pool
83. that I only have 20 more to go
84. High School Musical (1, 2, and 3)
85. Nice guys
86. restaurants
87. tivo
88. bookmarks
89. bathrooms
90. shampoo and soap
91. washer and dryer
92. car door remote accessibility
93. fireworks
94. babies
95. working wireless Internet
96. Advil
97. doctors
98. policemen
99. fireman
100. ipod
101. happiness

This may seem superficial but I didn't want to be too sappy. There is so much to be thankful for that this list was super easy to make. If you are still reading this let me know. Type, "gobble, gobble, wobble, wobble" into the comments. You will then be entered into a drawing for a free Thanksgiving prize. (It's a surprise present to you and me! I promise this is a real prize giveaway! Fun!)

High Expectations

Every day for 30 days. Really. That is kind of high expectations I put on myself.

It's been 18 days of NaBloPoMo. I can't give up now. Only 12 more to go. Look at that good math.

This is going to be such a lame cop-out post but I have to put something up. It's not that I'm completely out of material. I have some good ideas but I haven't had time recently to make it happen. Also, my Internet isn't working at my apartment so I can only post during class or at school. That makes things very difficult.

A few housekeeping items:

• I'm working on the Internet connection thing. That should help me out.
• I also just fixed my camera. I have some picture posts coming soon including pictures of my condo. Wahoo!
  
• AOTW is coming soon with a pretty rad twist!
• Spoiler Alert: A new installment of Miss Sullivan's Class Says the Darndest Things coming this week! I've been saving this up since September. I'm excited!

Thanks for humoring the lameness of this post. Here's something to end you with a smile.

I love when the underdog comes out on top! Happy Turkey Day!

Declaring Myself a Fan

I'm not a sports fan. Never have been. Football = painful to watch. Baseball = boring. Soccer = makes me tired just sitting there. The list could go on from there. I've always been found of watching DJ play lacrosse and actually consider myself a fan of the sport. What will happen though when the little bro is no longer protecting the goalies net? I probably will no longer be in the stands. Sad but true.


Over the past year however there has been one sport and sports team that has been creeping up on my tolerance scale.


The Utah Jazz.


Last year I kind of got into the play offs and "Caught The Fever." I was always interested in what was going on, where they were playing, if they could win away from home, etc. It was weird for me to care about basketball or sports at all. I picked up a few statistics about the team during that time and got to know the key players.


This year has been a continuation of the interest. I went to a game a couple of weekends ago with my dad and found myself wanting to know more. Asking questions. PAYING ATTENTION! I still talked through a majority of the game but I knew what the final score was! I knew who the highest point earner was! I knew who was on the bench due to injuries! It was a completely knew feeling to me.

Then came the real challenge. They went on the road. Was I going to find out how they did on their games that weren't here in Utah? Was I that into it? I DID! I knew which day their games were scheduled and I even looked up the scores and read articles about how they did. (Which wasn't that encouraging because they do so poorly on the road.)

So... Tonight I went with my family to the Utah Jazz game against the Phoenix Suns. It was AWESOME! I couldn't stop watching. I didn't get up the entire game because I didn't want to miss anything! I asked my Dad and DJ one million questions. Questions about the players, the rules, why Shaquille O'Neil was the size of a bus. That guys is HUGE! I can't seem to get enough. The game was incredible and in the last quarter they decided to just seal the game and take a twenty point lead. It was exhilarating! I was jumping out of my seat when Millsap had the best block in the history of the world! I was back out of my seat when Korver hit a three with thirty seconds left. I was screaming, cheering, jumping! It was the weirdest feeling ever!

To you, being a fan of a sports team may seem like no big deal. For me this is uncharted waters. Territory I've never discovered. It's completely foreign to me. I'm new at this and I don't knew how long it will last or how far it will go but tonight, right now, I am officially declaring myself the newest member of the Utah Jazz fan club!

Wish me luck!

I Would Rather

I presented the following Would You Rather questions about a week ago. My lovely sister Katie is the only one that took the challenge and answered. Thanks Katie! The rest of you failed. Slackers.

The answer in bold is the one I chose. My answers are exciting and enlightening I'm sure. Okay probably not. Whatev.

I Would Rather...

1. be able to stop time while you slept or never need to do laundry
I love to sleep. I'm perfectly happy not having 6 or 7 hours of my day because those hours are dedicated to sleeping. I'm cool with that. Never doing laundry again... sounds fantastic to me!

2. be born with a refrigerator on your back or have an elephant as a close personal friend
I want an elephant as a close personal friend! That sounds seriously awesome! Think about it. You walk up to your friends and say, "Have you met my friend Mr. Elephant. He's rad."

3. be 4'1" 0r 7'9"
Short is sexy.

4. have 3 eyes or have webbed feet
If I had webbed feet, I would be a much better swimmer. Also, think of the conversations you could have with people. Good conversation starter.

5. have an obscene nickname you hate or have nobody ever remember your name
I wouldn't be able to handle having people not remember my name. It would hurt my feeling every time. I could turn an obscene nickname into a joke. Even if something bugs me I can always try and make it a joke. That's how I deal.

6. always get first dibs or the last laugh
I don't mean this in a vengeful laugh at you kind of way. I think of it more as be the last one laughing because life is that funny, kind of way. Does that even make sense?

7. be forgotten or hatefully remembered
I don't like to be hated. I don't like even thinking someone is mad at me or that I've hurt someones feelings. I'd rather not be remembered which is sad too but not quite as bad.

8. skip Christmas for a year or skip your birthday for a year
I'm being selfless. Thinking of others. I'll let you have Christmas and sacrifice my own birthday happiness. I'm a giver like that.

9. become uglier or become stupider
I don't know. I like knowing stuff. I need my knowledge. I'm a teacher. I'm attractive enough that a little more ugly couldn't hurt. Ha.

10. drink blood or drink urine
I've heard it's actually good for you to drink your urine. A friend of mine has a twin sister that drank her urine for a school project. It really grossed me out then but hey why not?

Smelling Diaries Part 2

First of all I am very happy about the good responses to Part 1 of the smelling diaries. It just encourages me to keep going. Well done group.

I don't have very many fears that cause me anxiety or even second thought. Except one. I am extremely anxious that one day there will be a fire in my home, at school, etc. and something terrible will happen because I didn't smell it soon enough. It's one of those fears where my mind goes straight to worst case scenario.
I have nightmares about it. My extremely handsome future husband is out of town. Sadly, he works too much. I'm asleep in my comfy bed and once I'm asleep not much can wake me up. My adorable, well behaved future children with functioning smellers are asleep. The smoke detectors in my home stop working even though I check the batteries regularly. By the time I am awoken the smoke is so thick I can't see my hands. I run around frantically trying to find all the children. It never ends the same or even starts the same but the one thing that is always there is the feeling of helplessness.

I don't do helpless.

So image the panic I felt last week when this happened.
My students know that I can't smell but they don't really remember or understand what that means. Last week one day we were in our classroom just working away when one little girl comes and says,

"Miss Sullivan, it smells like something is on fire!"

Whenever I am presented with a situation such as this it is hard to decide how serious to take it. Yeah I can't smell and would have no idea if there was a fire unless I

a. saw the flames

b. felt the smoke

c. heard the fire alarm go off

so it's important that I analyze the situation immediately. However, kids sometimes exaggerate. For all I know someone near her could of farted with a smokey essence to it. That would be really gross.

I quickly turned to my other 20 second graders and asked if anyone smelled anything. The immediate yelled out responses I hear are,

"It smells like burnt cookies."

"I smell burning."

"Fire! Fire!"

That is when I start to panic. I run next door and the whole class is nowhere to be found. The other nearest class is also gone. So I decide I better get the kids out. I line them up quickly and grab my cell phone so I can call the school and see what is up and why the fire alarm hasn't gone off. We start marching outside. I get the secretary on the phone and ask her in a slightly possessed voice, "Is there a fire?!!!"

The reply, "Oh no honey, somebody burned some popcorn in the faculty room. It's not that strong of a smell though. It should be gone soon."

BURNT POPCORN!

All that panic, immediate anxiety, frustration, confusion. I have got to figure out a solution to this problem. An invention of some type perhaps. I would call it the smelltastic 2000. I don't know what it would do though. Any ideas?

I'm Still Counting This

***Disclaimer: I had this post all ready to put up yesterday and then my Internet connection got all jacked up and it wouldn't connect all night. Lame. So I'm gonna call this one a technical difficulty in which I still get credit for posting yesterday. I make my own rules! :)***

Tonight will be a successful Friday night. It will consist of the following items.

Comfy Sweat Pants

Fuzzy Orange Blanket

This weeks episode of Grey's.

No, I'm not stress eating. I just happen to enjoy ice cream. :)

Tissues.

We all need a night like this every now and again. It's therapeutic. I'll be back to normal and ready to play tomorrow. If I bailed on you tonight please understand...

I'm lame.

Things I Will Never Do Again

Wear flip flops in the snow.

Smell.

Kiss my home teacher. After the lesson. Yep, it happened.

Live in Provo. (Sorry I'm just done with the P-town scene, FOR-EV-ER)

Paint my bedroom bright orange. This doesn't mean I won't have an orange room in my house at sometime. Just not an orange bedroom.

Participate in NaBloPoMo. It's fun but it's harder than it looks folks.

Raft the Nile. Too life threatening.

Tell my friends about my dream to have a tattoo on my ankle of the word orange in the color purple or blue. They just make fun of me and judge.

Quit drinking Diet Mountain Dew. It makes me happy.

Buy the frozen grilled chicken strips from Costco. I'm a picky chicken eater. Why did I think I that was a good idea?

Take an ESL (English as a Second Language) methods class. I want my evenings back!

Lend someone a LARGE sum of money. It puts too much pressure on me and them. Awkwardness always follows.

Leave my cell phone on my bathroom sink. It was ringing/vibrating and it literally vibrated itself into the toilet! It was AWESOME!

The Smelling Diaries (Part 1)

I can't smell.

Really. I really can't smell. Not just today. Never. I never have the ability to smell. Although this is a common known fact about me it still puzzles people. Friends I've had for years will all of the sudden ask me a random question about my non-smellability. It's puzzling I know.

Lately there have been a few smelling "incidences" (Isn't that word mysterious? I love it!) that were definitely blog-worthy. However, I don't feel like I can really open up the Smelling Diaries without doing a brief question and answer period to catch you up to speed. So here are the top questions I am asked when someone discovers my lack of a complete functioning set of senses.

Q: You really can't smell anything?
A: Yes, I really can't.

Q: Can you taste?
A: No I just eat because I like what the food does does my body.
OF COURSE I CAN TASTE.
Do I have a normal fully functioning set of taste buds? I have no idea. I can't really compare my tasting abilities to yours. Think about it. Impossible. I personally believe that my taster is slightly broken. Food is more based on texture. I'm not really into meat due to the roughness. I don't do cookies, too crumbly. Cake, fits in with the crumbly category.
Lifesavers/Jolly Ranchers/Starbursts= all one flavor. I don't like brown beverages. In all reality they probably taste exactly that same to me as yellow, blue, red, green, even purple beverages but I'm racist against the brown beverage. Oops. One day remind me to tell you about "The Beverage Test". Actually Jason should tell it. It's his "back in the glory days" story.
In conclusion: I can taste it's just messed up a little bit.

Q: When did you loose your sense of smell?
A: I don't know that I lost it. It's kind of like when you misplace your cell phone. Did you ever really have it? Maybe. Maybe you didn't even bring it with you. You just really aren't sure.
I don't know if I ever had a sense of smell to loose. Maybe I had it and then lost it but maybe I didn't bring it with me. Get the metaphor?
Basically the answer is I can't smell and I don't remember a time I could. So I probably never had it. Confusing, right?

Q: When did you realize you couldn't smell?
A: I was the stinky girl in seventh grade. I was told by the flyer on my locker announcing to the school that I had BO. I didn't know I stunk. I then realized. All very Mean Girls-esque. It just kind of fell upon me after that. I took care of the stinky thing right then and became obsessive.
I stopped caring a few years ago. I think I'm the stinky girl again. It's cool.

Q: So you can't smell ________________ (cookies baking, fresh rain smell, hot guy cologne, a baby's bum)?
A: No, No, No, and why do people think that smells good but no.

Q: Do you realize how lucky you are that you can't smell _____________ (poop, farts, skunks, dirty socks, Slim)?
A: No not really but I think it's pretty funny when others suffer. :)

And now the number one comment I receive when the questions are over (generally given by a male).
Your husband is gonna love you! He can be as stinky as he wants an you aren't gonna care!

Did I miss any questions? Do you still feel unanswered and confused? Let me know. I can continue this sarcastic fest all day.

Let The Smelling Diaries begin!

Our Future Leaders

I am taking a masters class that is held at a middle school in my school district. This afternoon as I was walking into class I overheard a conversation by two boys sitting on a curb waiting for a ride. They were probably 12 or 13 years old. It went like this:

Boy 1: Hey check out my new ipod!
Boy 2: Sick man. When did you get it?
Boy 1: About a week ago.
Boy 2: I thought your mom took your other ipod away.
Boy 1: She did.
Boy 2: How did you get her to buy you a new one?
Boy 1: She didn't buy it for me.
Boy 2: So, where did you get it?
Boy 1: I found it.
Boy 2: Where?
Boy 1: In some kids backpack during math.
Boy 2: Lucky!

Boy 1 is the future Governor of Utah and and Boy 2 is his future lawyer. We have a lot to look forward to. Pretty awesome, right?