another teacher milestone

There are certain milestones in a teacher's career. One of those crucial milestones is the receiving of teacher-related Christmas gifts. You know, mugs that say "#1 teacher" or ornaments in the shape of chalkboards or apples. What can I say, I'm the prodigy of a teacher and I've seen a few too many of these in my lifetime. Ironically, I was always taught to just "hide these ornaments on the back of the tree".

Well, today I officially received my first teacher Christmas ornament....

a Snowman snow globe, complete with a light that changes colors.....Awesome!

So there you have it, my friends. I've reached yet another important teaching milestone....now if only I had a real tree to hang it on. 

a day of thanks

What a weekend it has been. As much as we missed being home for Thanksgiving with our dearest family and friends,we managed to keep ourselves plenty busy  this weekend. We are so thankful for our family, friends, and the people down here that allowed us to join their families for Thanksgiving. Here's a quick look at our weekend events

Wednesday: We started the weekend by heading to our weekend resort home....

just kidding! We housesat this beautiful house and took care of the family Shih Tzu,Priscilla.

Thursday: THANKSGIVING!

Even though we couldn't make it home for the holiday, we are blessed with amazing friends and co-workers who let us celebrate Thanksgiving with their families. We started Thanksgiving early this year, with a brunch with some of my sweet co-workers. We made my grandma's amazing crescent rolls and enjoyed the "Thanksgiving Brunch". After a quick stop to check on Priscilla and to grab our homemade pumpkin cheesecake, we headed to another friend's house for the official Thanksgiving meal...Mexican style! Our friends, whom are originally from Mexico, invited us to their Thanksgiving meal. Thus, we spent most the meal conversing in Spanglish and talking about Damay's upcoming quinceaneara. I must say, it was the most unique Thanksgiving we've had in awhile and it was a blessing just to be a part of other families traditions. Thank you Swope and Vieyra families! 

Friday: Picacho State Park with Carl & Sally

Not only do we have great friends, we also have great neighbors. Our sweet neighbors, Carl & Sally, invited us to join their family out a Picacho State Park for some "off-roading". Although their off-roading world is SO different from mine, I kindly accepted the offer and knew that Wes would love to opportunity to ride around the desert. We rode dirt-bikes, buggies, and quads all over the desert and enjoyed the amazing sunshine...in NOVEMBER!

my little dirt bike boy

it's hard to see in the picture, but this areas is called "The Names". Since the early 80's people have been using the dark rocks to write their names throughout the desert.

driving Carl's Samurai

Saturday: Christmas decorating and Duck game

We spent the morning decorating for Christmas. Wes worked on the outside lights, while I decorated the "tree". Wes was so happy that this year he would be putting up the lights in the beautiful sunshine. Such a different experience from years past, when he's had to brace the rain and cold.

Wes putting up lights. Is that the sunshine I see to his left? Why, yes it is!

funny story: While decorating inside, I peaked out the window to check up on Wes & this is what I saw. Welcome to Yuma winters!

Another funny story: I LOVE Christmas and decorating the tree. However, this year is a bit different, since we are nowhere near our beautiful Oregon nobles. Wes & I considered getting a fake tree from the store, but we just didn't feel like it would ever be the same as going up in the mountain and getting our own. We also aren't terribly rich right now and didn't want to waste our precious money on a fake Christmas tree, especially knowing that we'll be in Oregon in just three short weeks to enjoy the real Oregon trees. So.....this is what happened. I decided the "tree issue" wouldn't effect my Christmas spirit one bit, and decided to decorate the house plant....awesome. It's been to look a lot like Christmas?!?!?!

The "Christmas" tree

After a morning of decorating, we spent the late afternoon cheering on our Oregon Ducks. Priscilla joined in on the fun too.

Priscilla says "Go Ducks"

Go Ducks...and Happy Thanksgiving!

full of hot air

The joy of living in a place full of snowbirds is that the winters are filled with fun events. This weekend the Colorado River Crossing Balloon Festival is going on. The BLUE skies (that's right Oregonians, the skies are still blue and sunny) have been filled with several hot air balloons. 


My first balloon sighting was yesterday at school. The balloons happened to be leaving from the field just next to my school. Due to the fact that I go to work every morning at a god-awful hour, I was able to watch many balloons take off. Here's a few pictures from just outside my classroom window.

The balloon on the left is "Spidey-Pig", a Spiderman balloon in the shape of a pig. The kids LOVED this one, of course.

Second sighting: This morning Wes and I decided to wake up early and go to another one of the lift-offs. I think it was the first time we both officially felt "cold" in Yuma. Sadly, it was only a whoppin' 51 degrees. It was fun watching the balloons take off literally 5 feet in front of you....especially when the Applebees' one collided with the fence. Dang it, why wasn't my camera on the video mode. I could've had a Youtube hit. Here's a few pictures. 

If you look at this picture closely, you can see a ripped banner on the left side of the balloon. This was due to the collision with the fence. Suckers.

feliz cumpleanos wesley!

Yesterday was Wes' 28th birthday. Even though my body still unfortunately felt like death, I made sure that my favorite man had a fun-filled day. Here's an overview of his birthday in picture format.

8 am: Breakfast at Brownies

9pm-11pm: Veteran's Day Parade

what Veteran's Day parade isn't complete w/out lowriders (and mariachi music)?

2pm-6pm: Hiking at Picacho State Recreation Area. It was quite the trek into the park and Wes had the time of his life driving like a mad man on the rocky "roads". I simply had repeated heart attacks over ever bump and turn.

6:30 pm: Sunset. Ladies & gentleman, if you want to be spoiled nightly by ridiculously amazing sunsets, you must move to Yuma. This sunset was captured on our way home from the Cloud Museum (the only part of the day I forgot to document).

7:30 pm: Dinner in Los Algodones, Mexico. How cool is it that we can cross the border just to enjoy some authentic Mexican food and $2.50 margaritas?

9:00 pm: Due to my sickness, I didn't make Wes a homemade cake, as I feared my nasty germs would somehow make their way into the cake (great excuse, eh?). We stopped for some DQ and watched the Dogtown Z-boys documentary. Or should I say Wes watched the documentary? For those of you who may not know, I have an incredible skill of falling asleep literally 5 minutes into a movie. I think I get that gene from my Grandma Betty. Thanks Grandma! Oh, and happy birthday Wes! I LOVE YOU!!!!

welcome to teaching, newbie!

It is a well known fact that most first year teachers are blessed with a variety of sicknesses, thanks to their sweet yet germ-infested little students. And even though it is a whoppin' 70-something degrees everyday, the winter germs and sicknesses have infiltrated my classroom. Germs are especially prevalent in a kindergarten room, where most my students still don't know that a giant green booger means that it's time to start using tissues (oh yes, they'll just let them sit there. One of my little goofs even enjoys making the bubbles bigger. Yes. It is so gross.)


Anyhow, I'm not sure if it is just the fact that I'm daily surrounded by 5 year olds or simply the stresses of being a first year teacher, but my rather healthy body has managed to have quite the mix of symptoms over the last few weeks. Here's a quick run down:


2 weeks ago: I was convinced by other teachers to get the flu shot. Unfortunately, my body decided to hate this injection and I experienced every horrible side ache imaginable. You know that long list that they read quickly at the end of the commercials? Yeah, well that was what my life felt like. Fever. Chills. The sweats. Headache. Nausea. Vomiting. etc. etc. etc. Yet, I refused to call in for a sub. Stubborn Mrs. Bryant!


Last week: For whatever strange reason, my body decided to break out in hives at 2 am. I still have no idea as to why, but I was simply ithcy all over. Unfortunately these hives refuse to go away. The funny part of the story is that this morning, I simply couldn't handle the itchiness anymore and didn't want my kids to think I was a monster, so I took a Benadryl. Whoa. Talk about drowsiness. Note to self: Do not take Benadryl and attempt to teach. Bad decision. I was seeing double. No joke.

This weekend: On top of the wonderful hives, my throat decided it needed a little attention and began swelling, aching, and showing off some nice nasty bumps. So gross. Wes kept trying to get me to drink tea, but anyone who knows me, knows that I HATE HOT DRINKS. Finally, after 2 days of pain, Wes and I finally made a deal....I would drink a cup of tea, if he would cut off his stupid wristband from the car show we attended on Saturday. Deal. My feelings still stand: I HATE HOT DRINKS. I felt like vomiting after every single sip. 

So there you have it folks. Welcome to the life of a newbie kindergarten teacher.

On a funnier note: Today while saying the pledge, I overheard one of my students say this: "And a liberty and justice frog"

happy halloween

Halloween....really? Usually during the weeks leading up to Halloween, Wes & I are taking our little buddy Leila to the pumpkin patch, carving pumpkins, and prepping our ridiculously awesome costumes. 

However.......Halloween literally crept up on us this year and on the day of Halloween we hadn’t carved pumpkins, created costumes, or made any form of a plan. Perhaps it’s the fact that the weather is still in the 90s and our bodies and brains are forever stuck thinking that it is summer. 

Thankfully, our spontaneity shined through and we managed to pull off quite the Halloween. We threw on our best “old people” clothes and decided to be snowbirds. We pulled out the grill & sat in the garage waiting for our sweet trick-or-treaters. Wes drove me nuts by playing his Halloween character way too well and continually greeting the kids with a friendly,  “Howdy whipper-snappers!” How embarrassing. 

We ended the evening in classic Los Bryants style. We watched Home Alone just to be ironic & remind ourselves that some places in the world are experiencing something known as “cold weather”. Cold weather?!?!!? What’s that?

Happy Halloween ladies & gentlemen!