Two of My Favorite People

Today I'm thankful for: #1- Another great day in 3rd grade. I have all the kids' names memorized and have enjoyed getting to know their little personalities. Raegan has a fun little group of kids. 

#2- Quade. Today was Quade's 30th birthday. He is a dear friend. Sometime our lives are busy and we don't get to do things often but I always really enjoy my time when I do get to spend it with him. Earlier in the week when I texted him and asked when I could take him out to eat for his birthday he said we could go Wednesday if I'd go to the KSL Coach's show with him. Now I just love all things BYU so I was more than delighted to get an invite. Here's something else about Quade- it's his birthday and instead of me feeling like I'm giving to him (which is how it should be) I felt like he was giving me a great gift. I want to be more like him. He knew it was something I'd really enjoy so he invited me a long. I thought he'd have a few friends from his ward or something but I was surprised when he'd invited another friend from high school Stephen and his brother - in - law Eric. Then I felt really special to be able to hang out with the guys for the evening. So Quade is a wonderful friend who allowed me to share in his birthday fun. Thanks Quade as always I think you're pretty great. 

#3- LaVell Edward's Stadium and Coach Bronco Mendenhall. We were in Provo with plenty of time to spare but we went straight into the stadium and headed up an elevator. The show is broadcast from the President's Guest Booth which I wouldn't mind watching a game from there - maybe some day. Since we were early we got to take a tour of the press boxes. Again pretty cool. Then we took our seats and waited for the show to start. Now I know I'm a bit fanatical. I do love to watch football but what I think I love most about BYU football is anytime I hear Coach Mendenhall speak he makes it clear that at BYU football isn't the top priority. Sure he talks about the keys to the game and he talks about what went well last week and what he hopes goes better next week but also talks about his players as people and a program that is destined for so much more than just winning games. And to me that is pretty cool. We really enjoyed the program. It was fun to be a part of a live audience and to not just be listening to the radio show but to also watch the interaction and facial expressions of the guest. Just a whole lot of fun. Then when it was over Bronco stayed around to sign autographs and meet the guests. Again, I'm very impressed with this man. He so genuine. I had him sign a Y to put up in my classroom. He asked me what grade I teach, how long I'd taught, and if I liked it. I told him that I love what I do. Everyday I'm very excited to get to go to work. He replied with there's a lot of people that search their whole life and never find that. And it's true. I know I've found where my passion lies. Then I asked him if I could get a picture with him because I take a picture each day to document my life. (I'm pretty sure he thinks I'm a pretty weird person especially when he asked me how long I've been doing this and I told him almost two years. But it's for my personal history so weird or not I love it.) I wanted Quade in the picture too because it was his birthday. Quade handed his camera to Stephen and Eric had mine. Now I know better than to have two people take a picture at the same time but I didn't want to make too big of a deal because Bronco is a busy man and well he probably wanted to get home to his family. So my picture isn't the best one but really it makes me love it because it makes me laugh. Bronco and Quade posed for Quade's camera and I posed for mine. Classic. Also I love how Bronco just sort of leaned over the table. The whole scene makes me smile every time I see the photo. 

#4 Dinner. We went out for sandwiches to end our evening and it was fun to continue to catch up with Stephen and visit with Quade and Eric. Thanks again Quade for inviting me and for being a wonderful friend!