Wednesday 27 August 2008

Tuesday (or Wednesday) Tell All

Tuesday Tell All is something I found through my friend, Sarah Coyne. It seemed like a good way to write about something random and make a bit of a personal history, although if I don't like the topics, I just might change them! This weeks seemed appropriate, though, as everyone seems to be thinking about school. Sophia starts 1st Year on the 4th September. Time just flies!


So, for the first Tuesday Tell All: What is your earliest memory of school, what did you love about the first week of school, who was your favorite teacher, subject, or playground game?

One of my earliest memories was in Kindergarten and I was sitting at a round table with about 4 other children. The teacher had instilled in us that you must get permission to use the toilet, so I raised my hand and the teacher just never called on me and I wet my pants...really bad. There was puddles, and one of the girls I was sitting with just kept looking under the table and saying, "Uh ohh!". I also remember in 3rd grade, our bathrooms were in the classrooms, and I was on the toilet singing opera songs at the top of my lungs. I thought I sounded pretty good, so the singing got louder and louder and more dramatic. When I came out of the bathroom, the whole class clapped for me! The boys thought it was hilarious, too, and kept doing it when they used the bathroom after that! I seem to keep getting bathroom experiences in my head, so I'll stop those with that one!

My favourite thing to do at play time was to play hairdressers. My name was always 'Vicky'. We had a babysitter named Vicky, and I thought her name was so cool! I also loved to twirl on the bars on the playground. I can't remember any favourite teachers. I pretty much loved them all! I don't have any school pictures with me in England, so here is the closest one I could find to being school-aged.

Ward Camp

This weekend we went to the New Forest near Bournemouth, for our Ward camp. It's a tradition that our ward has started this year. It was also our first experience camping as a family.



The New Forest was such an interesting place. It's completely wild and said to be the same as when William the Conqueror used to hunt there. There was wild horses and ponies everywhere. Chloe was obsessed with them, but one of the ones in these pictures charged at me and snapped at me, so she kept her distance after that! One horse opened a tent and went in for a sneak. It was mental.

We were pretty lucky with the weather b/c this year has been a complete washout. We only had one night of rain. The clearest night was also the coldest one, and I didn't sleep at all! It was also a bit nippy in the day time too. We went to the beach for one of the days and it was me and a bunch of English friends. Now, the English seem to have some sort of thermal protective skin that enables them to enjoy a cold, wet, windy day at the beach...for me (being an Arizonian), it was a bit more difficult. The last thing I want to do when it's cold is hang out on the beach waiting for the sun to shine. I'm just not built for it. I need my sunshine. It only made me miss Lake Powell and the warm rocks and water. I don't know how long I'll survive in this cold!

I did enjoy being with our ward, though. I love being in the Bath Ward. It feels like having a family to me. The people in our ward really do care about and love each other. We got to know each other a lot better, too. So, despite freezing to death, I am looking forward to going at it again next year.
I've not included a lot of pictures b/c they have my friends children in them and I haven't asked them if it was okay to post their children on here, so I had to not post a lot of the best ones.

Wednesday 13 August 2008

I've Been Tagged!

My lovely Aunt Pam has tagged me, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading her tag. This is a few things to know about Jaime.

My Joys

1-I've made one thing combine all the obvious things in my life, just so this wasn't 3 of the obvious things, b/c the obvious joys I have are also the most important to me (did you get all that?). I'm married to the most amazingly perfect and wonderful man and I've been blessed with 3 wonderful children to go along with him. I have the most supportive and loving parents, that live too far away. My awesome brothers and their families, all of my fantastic extended family...which, again, live too far away. I have some really wonderful friends. And, of course, having the Gospel is something that keeps me in awe every day.
2 - Chocolate. I love chocolate, especially Cadbury's. I'm not tempted by any other sweets. Only chocolate!
3 - Talking. I sometimes don't let others have a word in edge-wise. I just go on, and on, and on.

Fears
1 - Dying before my children are raised and Simon gets remarried (which he has had to swear he wouldn't do) and someone else raises my children. Call me juvenile, but this is seriously my deepest fear!
2 - The dark. I still can't go downstairs at night by myself.
3 - Someone hurting my children.

Current Obsessions/Collections
1 - Collecting costumes. My parents are burdened with most of them in their garage. I'm slowly getting them here. This kinda goes along with my obsession with fashion in general.

2 - The temple and family history. I love going to the temple and anyone that has spent any time talking to me knows this, too. I never shut up about it. The place is just amazing, and I've had so many wonderful experiences there. I wish we lived closer to one, but my goal is to have a Bristol Temple, someday.

3 - Missionary work. I am secretly, or not so secretly, trying to convert everyone! This goes along with my Bristol Temple goal. I am always looking for ways to share the Gospel.


Surprising Facts
This was hard b/c I'm such an open book that I think everyone already knows everything about me, so I tried to think of some things that would be somewhat interesting.

1 - I knew I was going to marry Simon before he ever even talked to me. This had my father seriously worried about me b/c I told my parents and they thought they were going to have to come to England and save me from a broken heart.

2 - I spent my teenage years being seriously obsessed with Def Leppard. My wall was covered with them, I bored my family by talking about them and singing their songs constantly! I even obsessed about marrying one of them and converting them all. I was a complete loonbag!

3 - I'm not a very tidy person, but my house is so clean you could eat off of any surface in it. I owe this to Bobbi Jo and my houseboat cleaning days. She taught me what clean meant. I also get really annoyed if anyone else tries to clean my house or do the dishes b/c they just won't do it as good as me!
Some things about the person who tagged me (I added this one):
My Aunt Pam tagged me and she is the funnest person, ever! She's always happy and positive. She's a great mother and has two of the most handsome, good boys. I try to be more like her.

People I've tagged
1-Sarah G.
2-Lindsay
3-Ally Pally
4-Sarah C.
5 - Maria