today is obviously a monday

today has seriously been one of THOSE days.

I woke up a little late, my outfit just wouldn't work, and then my hair wouldn't cooperate.

I decided to jump in the shower last minute so I could blow dry style it--but I realized half through blow drying that today was a short day, and my first class started 15 minutes earlier than normal.

(I have first period prep, and since we got in from california late last night, I slept through most of my prep).

So I rushed out the door with half-wet hair. Awesome.

When lunch rolled around, I was STARVING (I didn't get a chance to eat breakfast), but then realized I left my lunch at home.

Of course.

So I rushed home, grabbed my lunch, and THEN realized I had just started my period

(seriously...I am way TMI on this blog...first poo stories, and then this? haha!)

So I had to change into yet another outfit, whilst rushing to get back to work.

And the universe wasn't done with me yet!

I couldn't find my keys and cellphone anywhere! I didn't know where I could possibly have placed them in the last five minutes.

I tore the house apart in 30 seconds.

My class was about to start!

And then...DUH! I left my car running because I was originally only running in to grab my lunch!

Ha!

So I raced back to school, ran into my classroom to let my students in...and then realized...my lunch was in the car.

UGH.

So here I am, snacking on protein bars and almonds, while my delicious lunch chills in my car.

The only thing that is cheering me up today is that one of my classes decorated my whole room for Christmas!

Last week, they asked if they could decorate my classroom before Thanksgiving break--I told them to go for it. 

And by golly, they really did!

I was in shock the entire time!

They even brought a Christmas tree!!

Take a look:

^hanging snowflakes!^

Man I love this season.

And...I really love these kids.

Happy Monday!

UGH

Just wanted to report that we got stuck in a snow storm in cedar city. 

Then it rained super hard for the next four hours of the trip. 

Our nine hour drive has turned into 12.5 hours

UGH

So tired. So done. Need to stretch. 

Peace and love. 

mini family reunion!

today, tay and I will be in the car driving to L.A. for my cousin's wedding!

I'm so excited because so many of my cousins & siblings will be there!

It will be a mini-family reunion!

I'm kind of dreading the 9 hour car ride--especially since we're coming straight back on Sunday. ugh.

oh well...we've stalked up on lots of car treats so that our stomachs will hurt the whole way!

Hey! at least we get to escape this snow and CRAZY wind for the weekend and be in the sunny sun sun!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!
peace out utah!
xoxo

michael buble concert!

Last night, I got to cross off a bucket list item of over eight years!

ATTEND A MICHAEL BUBLE CONCERT!!!

The greatest dad-in-law in the world got tickets for me and my sister-in-law.

We had SO much fun.

I may or may not have cried when he came out. 

We were dying.

Taylor even gave me permission to "kiss him hard" if I got the chance.

Taylor knows how in love with him I am...I swear when Michael was singing his "I just haven't met you yet" he was singing right to me. ;) 

But seriously, I'm in love with him.

Unfortunately, the chance to kiss him never came...or it would have been the first thing I said in this post.

I'll wait until next time for that kissy kiss.

Can I get permission again, Tay? ;)

My heart is still so happy.

 ^I just love him^

Friday tangents

 ^^see the cap?  When I took it off of my odawalla juice, the juice made a perfect heart inside the cap! I freaked out and showed my students because it's just cool.  I told Taylor it was a sign that we are truly in love. haha

 ^^I have the best mom-in-law of all moms-in-law.  Homemade bread with homemade honey butter? umm, yes please. I love her yummy treats!

 ^^the time has finally come in my running career when I have sacrificed fashion for comfort.  I got personally fitted for the best running shoe for my running style and feet.  And...they are hideous shoes...for quite a pretty penny.  But man! I could feel the difference right away.  It's christmas for my feet--just not for the eyes. Ohhhh welll. At least I will no longer have bloody toes!

^^because who doesn't deserve a giant ice cream cone after a seven mile run?

p.s. I'm so sorry that so many posts have been about running lately.

even so, I would like to brag about me and my cute running buddy.

We ran 7 miles in 50 minutes last night! That's an average of 7min and 14sec a mile!

We are pretty dang proud.

In just a few hours, Taylor and I are off to Park City for the weekend with our best friends:

i'm so excited I can't stand it.

The four of us are going to be little party animals tonight!

"training"

so I've been "training" for a half marathon the past couple of weeks.

big emphasis on the training part.

I kinda just thought, "half marathon? pshhh easy. I can knock it out no problem. give me four weeks to train." 

then yesterday happened.

I ran 12 miles.

And felt SO incredibly energized and motivated the whole way.

I was killing it!

My little running app talks to me every five minutes--and each time she'd tell me my time I did a little jig while running and thought, "gosh, kell, you're a rockstar."

oh side story, please:

about two miles in, I had to poo really bad. TMI? ha!

It just came--BAM.

Luckily, I was really close to my brother's house, so I "ran" or more like ran, and then skipped, and then grabbed my stomach and skipped some more, and then thought "oh, no, I will never make it," and then seriously considered just going right in my pants (who does that?), but I was in serious pain.

So I finally make it to his door and practically bang it down.  

I was so afraid he wouldn't be home...I even scouted out a good bush to squat in as I banged on his door.

He opened the door (clearly confused to see me standing there with probably the craziest look in my eyes), and I shoved right past him and said, "I've got to poo!" then ran to his bathroom and closed the door as I yelled, "thanks, I owe you big time!"

his face, man. priceless. I'm telling you.

but there was no time to spare for an explanation.

We had a good laugh after I emerged, feeling SO relieved.

As I headed back out on my run, I realized I had never stopped the timer on my running app, which was going to botch my split times. dang!

so when the app kept yelling in my ear telling me my average times, I was so excited that I was getting the average down to what I regularly am--even with the inaccurate 17 minute second mile. ha! 

okay, so here I am, running like a dream, just enjoying the scenery--feeling like iron woman.

I was originally only planning to run for about 8 miles.

I didn't want to eat right before running, so I just decided that I'd make something light when I got back home.

But since I felt so great on the run, I figured, "four more miles? why the heck not?"

and I kept going.

Let me tell you though.

Mile 11 was THE WORST.

I was so done.

My body was screaming.

And my stomach had decided to just cramp up--probably because I just burned 1,000cal with no food to burn. awesome.

The first thing I did when I got home was collapse.

rookie mistake 101.

While I laid there, I thought, "I should stretch. I should really get up and stretch. but ohhhh, this carpet is so nice, and I worked so hard, and I'm so proud of myself, and I'm a grown up and I can do what I want. so...stretching? what's that?"

And I laid there for the next hour.

And then...misery.

Cue massive stomach and leg cramps.

I knew I was hungry, but I was suddenly so bloated and crampy that the thought of food made me run to the toilet (taylor wasn't home, so I didn't have the option of just throwing up in the carpet and then having him clean it up for me. ...haha! dear taylor: I'm soooo kidding!...he has definitely cleaned up his fair share of carpet-vomit).

Instead of eating, I curled in fetal position in my bed and watched netflix (oh, and of course the first episode I watched had someone throwing up...why, world!?) 

I tossed and turned all night and couldn't believe how BLOATED I was.

This is when "hypochondriac kelligilbert" comes in.

As I laid there, I suddenly thought, "Oh myyy gosh. I'M PREGNANT!!  I've got all of the symptoms: cramps, my belly is huge, nausea---it all makes sense!"

And then I laid awake thinking about how being pregnant would affect my teaching career, and how I better call my doctor ASAP so she can take out my IUD, and "how should I tell Taylor when he comes home!?"

I finally fell asleep, clutching my fetus-filled-belly.
but when I woke up, I felt just as sick.
...and by golly, I was starving!
I ended up calling in for a substitute, because I was SO crampy--and how would I ever find something cute to wear when I was so incredibly bloated? (totally just kidding about that last part)
then I laid in bed until 10 (still hadn't eaten anything, folks).
finally, my good sense knocked in, and I went and had breakfast.
And of course, the next stop was to throw on a sweatshirt and head over to the drugstore for the pregnancy test--whilst crossing my fingers that I didn't run into any of my students while I was braless and buying pregnancy tests!

I peed on that little stick, and anxiously stared at it for the next two minutes.
of course, it said "no fetus."
so I kissed that stick.
(kidding)
and laughed at how stupid I was that I actually thought I was pregnant.
boys and girls! i have an IUD--it works miracles, remember? haha

Then tonight, I did lots of research about running and training for a half marathon.
I learned a few things.
(things that seem so simple. but simple-minded me has problems about thinking simple things)

1. for those who have never ran a half marathon, you should train for at least 10 weeks.
whoops.
2. on a run more than 6 miles, make sure to bring a water bottle! if you don't, you will feel massive cramping after the run.
whoops.
3. make sure to have a clean diet--nutritious with lots of complicated stuff I can't remember.
whoops.
you mean you can't run on m&ms and three bowls of cereal?
4. after running a long run, make sure not to sit down for at least 30 minutes. and make sure to stretch!
double whoops.
but I blame that one on my soft carpet.
5. make sure your shoes are at least half a size too big.
well, that explains my bloody socks!
(p.s. I LOVE my running shoes, and have never had a problem until I kicked my regular six miles up to 10-12 miles. guess it's time for new ones...)

And suddenly, after my research, I'm not feeling like such a rockstar after all.
In fact, I'm a little embarrassed that I knew so little and just went into it.
I originally thought, how different can 5-6 miles (which I can do pretty easily) be from 13 miles?
I don't know...I guess sometimes I think I'm iron woman or something?

So ladies and gents: this post is all about how little I know and how I'm still determined to put myself through misery to accomplish what I think I can do.

And hey! Don't forget to look for me on the streets of Orem--I'll be the one with bloody shoes who runs funny because she really has to go #2.
If I knock on your door, please let me in.
 because I'd really hate to ruin your rose garden.

this little piggy is proud.

I'm proud of three things today:

#1. this little gig from last night!

the longest I've ever ran before!

say whaaaa? 

#2. I slept in a house all by myself last night and didn't cry once!

like...I wasn't even scared!

this is big people--I'm growing up!

(p.s. taylor's on a business trip--he didn't high up and leave or anything ;))

#3. this little baby

this week's posts have really put me up there on the hot scale:

bloody feet

hipster faces

and ugly braids.

geesh. I'm killing it, I know.

hippiest of all hippsters.

a conversation with my TA today made my day:

TA: "So, Mrs. Gilbert, do you like Orem High better or the school you used to teach at?"

Me: "Orem High rocks.  I love everything about it.   The only thing I miss about my old school is being in a hall with a bunch of other young teachers. We had so much fun together!"

TA: "Yeah, but since you're the only young teacher at Orem everyone knows who you are.  You're like the hip teacher. The hippest."

Me: "Well, I'm always doing my best do be the hippiest of all hippsters."

TA: "No, seriously! Like every student knows who you are. Especially the boys."

Haha! I guess that's what I get for being 10 years younger than the next youngest teacher.

But hey, thanks for the flattery.

I mean, I'm always looking for approval from the 16-year-olds of this world.

it's my number one goal. I shoot high, ya know?

because, like seriously, look how hip and cute I am

you can't make this stuff up.

either you've got the hipster in you or you don't.

the little seeester.

Last night, the little sister and I got to hang out.

Taylor was working late, so we took the liberty of eating pizza whilst watching netflix.

we started a new series: the Killer. thumbs up so far!

AND tonight is round two.

TayRay is left on a business trip to seattle this morning, so we are going to continue our girl party/netflix/being lazy party.

On a more serious note, my brother-in-law's father (who was also my bishop when I was younger) passed away this Saturday.  Him and his family have been in my constant thoughts and prayers. It sure really puts life in perspective when someone you know passes.

Life is to be enjoyed, not endured.
Do not get mad over little things.

Love people. All people. because, why shouldn't you?

Head on over to my sister's blog to read the beautiful tribute she wrote to her dad-in-law.

xoxo

of course.

this is my "I'm about to cry" face

also known as "I cried five minutes ago" face.

also known as "not so attractive" face.

I was having a great day, until about five minutes ago.

I got an email telling all teachers that parent-teacher-conferences would be on the 20th.

you know what's also on the 20th?

a pre-showing of Catching Fire (hunger games) that Taylor and I have tickets for.

how do I ask my principal, "Um, boss? I really can't stay after school to meet parents because I want to go see a movie!"

I have been counting down to this day.

ugh, I am so annoyed right now.

just so so so so bummed.

good thing we also have tickets for a thanksgiving day showing.

still...not the same.

Yes, I'm mad today. over movie tickets.

gatorade and bucket lists

 My good pal Jadey and I are training for our half marathon.

Last night, on about mile five, we started talking about how good a Gatorade sounded.

then we couldn't stop thinking or talking about Gatorades for the next two miles. ha

So the first thing we did when we finished our run, was "run" over to target and buy some.

aaand...we stalked up for future runs. 

 

Then, to procrastinate our squat challenge (we are going to have awesome butts. I'll post a before and after picture. ha NOT) and other stretches, we took pictures with our gatorade.

don't mention it...we know how hot we are.

 ^^doesn't my leg look unattached?? ha^^

I guess this is how you know when you've ran a good run:

yep, that's blood.

my toenails were a little too long. 

how gross is that!?

it looks like I'm pretty hard-core though...don't worry, I'm really not.

three weeks to go until we get to bucket list this item!

we're thinking of signing up for one in January, too.

Who's in?

we'll share our gatorade...

love them.

On my way home from work yesterday, I noticed a pedestrian walking up ahead. Something about this person caught my attention. I can't really explain what it was, but I continued to stare as I slowly inched up on this pedestrian. My first thought was, "Man, the poor guy must be freezing!" He was wearing a very light sweater in 37 degree weather. Brave soul. As I got a little closer, I noticed that he had a slightly somber demeanor--he walked slowly, with his head down, his feet shuffling.  I pitied the person.  I was happily signing along with Miley Cyrus (judge me?), in my heated car.  Life was great.  What was getting this poor chap down?  I continued to stare.  As I inched even closer, I felt a pang in my heart.  It was one of my sophomore students.   

This exact student that I was unknowingly pitying was one that I had been "cursing" (I use the term lightly) just an hour earlier. This student is the epitome of all lazy students.  Always late to class, always chatting, always in trouble, always an excuse, always attitude. He's the student that makes you groan under your breath when you see him walk into your classroom.  Because you know exactly what he's going to say, "Why do I have an F?" umm...beats me.  Maybe, just maybe, because you haven't turned anything in? but what do I know? I'm just the teacher.  or "I wasn't in class last week because I was throwing up in the bathroom, so can you excuse the absence?" is that so? I'm pretty sure I saw you during lunch with a bunch of friends. The only thing you're throwing up is lame excuses. 

But as the realization hit me that this pedestrian was, in fact, my hard-to-love student, I saw something new.

I saw a young teenager who was walking home from school three hours after school ended.

Did his Mom forget to pick him up? Does he have anyone to pick him up? 

I saw a young boy who wasn't warm enough in the cold weather.

How far does he have to walk?

I saw a boy who looked lonely and beaten down.

Have I contributed to that?

I saw a kid who just wanted to be loved.

Have I shown any semblance of love towards him? 

Sure, I tell all of my classes I love them--but have I shown love specifically to this individual?

I saw a kid who needed someone to believe in him.

Did I believe in him? Truly believe in him?

My heart ached as these truths hit me.  

And then an even bigger truth hit me.

One that seems so simple.

The students that are hardest to love are the ones that need it the most.

Of course, it's easy to love the straight-A student that is always actively participating. 

Of course, it's easy to love the class clown who adds a bit of spice to your class.

Of course, it's easy to love the nice, shy student who has a sweet smile for everyone.

Of course, it's easy to love the sarcastic student who always laughs at your witty jokes.

But these are not the ones who need it most.

I was instantly reminded of an experience I had last year.

One that pains me to think about.

Because I was wrong, so wrong, in the way that I handled it.

This kid got the best of me.

He would never participate.

He would sleep during every class.

No matter what I tried to do.

Then, the next day he would come in and ask what he missed while he was asleep!

How annoying is that?

I tried everything.

He just didn't get it.

It was like in one ear and out the other.

He didn't even try on tests.

He would write his name down and then not answer a single question.

I tried everything for the first half of the year--and then sadly, I gave up.

He annoyed me like no other.

I admit, regrettably, that I rejoiced when he didn't show up to class.

About a month before the school year ended, I saw a report.

One that should have been shown to all of his teachers at the beginning of the year. 

But someone dropped the ball.

He was a sophomore in high school with a second grade reading level.

My jaw literally dropped.

Why wasn't he in special reading classes? Why wasn't the school helping him? How in the world did he pass through school all of these years?

No wonder why he had no motivation.

No wonder why he didn't take the tests or do the homework or struggled during class activities.

And, ohhh, how I wished that I had cared more.

If I had cared more, maybe I would have noticed before I saw that report.

Maybe we could have sat down for 30 minutes every day after school and just read chapter books together.

I know that sounds silly, but wouldn't that have helped him more in life than learning about history?

Would he have had more motivation if he had noticed that I cared?

As I looked at this report at the close of the school year, I realized that it wasn't him that failed.

It was me.

I had failed at being the teacher I wanted to be.  

I had failed at showing love to this student, even if he drove me up the wall. 

I had failed.  

When I think back to this particular student, a regret so deep washes over me.

I vowed to never let it happen again.

And yet, as I sat in my car yesterday, I realized I was doing it again.

I wasn't helping the student who needed it most.

I wasn't showing him how much I really did care about HIM as an individual---even if he drove me completely insane.

How could I be so careless, so judgmental, and so apathetic to this lonely student?

As I sat in my warm, heated car, with fun melodies in the background, I watched this young, shivering, lonely boy turn the corner and continue to walk away.

And I promised myself that I would try harder to love the ones that are hardest to love.

Today, I wrote a simple message on his paper that I passed back to him, "I'm glad you are in this class."

At the end of the class, he came up to me, refused to meet my gaze, and said four simple words, "You're a good teacher."

Then he put his head down and walked out of the classroom.

And I put my head down and cried.

Maybe, just maybe, I won't fail this year.

just a cool weekend, nbd.

We seriously had the greatest of all great weekends.

You know one of those days where you are loving everything about what you are doing right now but can't even wait for the next thing to start in a few hours?

did that sentence make sense? ha.

well, it felt like that.

EVERYthing was so fun.

Tay and I aren't huge movie-theater-goers. 

except for when it's like a must see--you know, hunger games, toy story 3 (still the best movie ever), the help, lincoln (okay, the last two were must-sees for me, not for tay. but now he loves them both).

but somehow, this weekend, we ended up at the theaters twice.

TWICE!

taylor bought tickets to see "the city of bones" last minute on friday night.

It was ehh, alright.

Entertaining, but kind of cheesy.

We went with my brother and sister in law.

Ryan and I took this hideously horrible picture at the theater to send it to the rest of the davis sibs--you know, to make them jealous of how hot we are.

Saturday was the best day.

I'm still training for my thanksgiving half marathon, so on Saturday morning, I went out and ran an easy six. Next saturday is a nine. ugh. haha

But I had the best thing to look forward to afterwards--an hour massage.

thanks to the best dad-in-law in town.

like seriously? he's the best. just called me into his office (I thought I was in trouble? haha) and asked me what time on saturday I wanted an hour massage. PURE HAPPINESS.

did I take a picture in the massage room?
yep, totally guilty. totes.

Then, Taylor, Seth (tay's brother...single ladies..who wants him? he's the cutest, funniest, and best!), and I went to an afternoon showing of Ender's Game. SO good.

And Bean looks JUST like a mexican version of my little brother. and ironic because his name is bean? ...it was funny in my head.  

After that, the Mr. and I met up with our best friends--the Mckees.

We went up to Sundance to ride the moonlift. 

(oh don't worry, just us and our asian eyes)

So...funny story.

At the beginning of the season, Taylor begged me not to do any "haunted houses/mansions/forests/mazes/anything"

He was very specific.

I think he made a list? ha.

We went to a bunch last year, and as much as I love my tall, strong husband, he is an absolute WHIMP.

And always, always made me go first. 

What's the fun in that? Isn't the girl supposed to hang onto the handsome man through the haunted stuff?

Since he was such a (semi) good sport last year, I agreed. No haunted attractions this year.

Liiiitttle did I know (I swear!), that the moonlift was a haunted moonlift in honor of Halloween.

At first, we just thought it was all cute and decorated...and then, people started jumping out, and banging shovels on our skilift. ha!

Our poor husbands were on the ends and were cursing us little wives the whole time.

They were positive we planned it.

Jordan even had his legs curled up in indian-style so that no one could touch them. ha!

It was possibly the funniest thing ever.

and they're still not over it. see?

(JM=Jordan, T=my tayray)

Afterwards, we went to the cutest hot chocolate dessert shop.


Hanging out with these two makes me SO happy.

We want to be neighbors and are plotting to make it happen.

They are US squared.

Happy November!

I am obsessed with fall.

Like seriously.

So it makes sense that one of my favorite traditions is to go up through the beautiful canyon, with a beautiful man, and eat some yummy food.

Last year, we stopped at subway, got some sandwiches, and then ate up in the canyons.

We had so much fun, we decided to make it a tradition!

We probably went just a few weeks late this year for optimum leave colors...but hey, it was still pretty and it was still fun.

So here we are this year!

 ^that smile. that style. that guy.^

see here for last years excursion!

Can you believe it's NOVEMBER!?

I am too happy, too excited, too in love with my life.

Happenings in November:

1. training for my half marathon! running this year with the cutest girl around! 

2. a quick california trip for my beautiful cousin's wedding. mini family reunion? oh yeah! 

3. thanksgiving with the gilbies this year.

4. another trip to park city. say whaaa?

5. um, just pure beauty and happiness all around? sounds good to me!