a reminder to my future self

this post is a reminder to my future self to never travel without taylor.

why?

because I am possibly the most obsessed and clingy person in the world.

i am shamelessly addicted to my husband.

taylor is on a scout campout tonight and everything was fine and dandy while I was out running errands.

and I got so much done on a friday night!

gym

library

jiffy lube

super sonic car wash

grocery shopping

+ mall shopping ;)

but then as soon as i got home and stopped moving...ugh cue incredibly pathetic sadness.

and so now i am making comfort food--chocolate chip cookies, reading my book, and trying to pretend like i'm not scared in our home all by myself, whilst also ignoring the fact that i don't get to go to sleep next to taylor tonight.

i am a mess.

once upon a time i went on a cruise without taylor. HA

and i missed him an incredible amount the entire time.

and every time i leave him for a vacation or whatever, i always think, "okay, well we aren't newlyweds anymore...I'm sure I won't miss him like I did last time..."

WRONG.

so dear future kelli:

you are an obsessive addicted mess.

don't willingly leave that boy ever.

hoping you all have someone to snuggle this friday night!

...because boo me. i don't.

three pictures are worth about 80 words.

signing yearbooks today like it's my job.

oh wait..it kind of is.

 and HI to the last day of work for three months.

and HI to SUN and SUMMER and sitting by the pool every single day!

there are no words for the emotions right now...I mean how would you feel if you got three months paid vacation? exactly.

it's pure bliss.

but also. a little sentimentally sad that I won't see my favorite 16 year olds for three whole months!

but eh.

mostly. I'm thinking about tan lines.

it's great to be a tiger!

a letter to my students

this morning, i am sitting at my desk looking at my students take their us history final.

and suddenly, my eyes are filled with tears.

until i quickly blink them away.

(theirs might be filled with tears too...but probably because they didn't study enough. ha)

because, man.

I love these students SO much.

...even though right about now 30 of them really hate me. 

they are taking a 110 question final.

buuuut, I told them I would do everything in my power to prepare them for this test.

and if I did my job, it should be easy.

I'm happy to report, that so far (out of two classes), the average is a 91%.

I'm calling that a solid win. 

anyways, these students!

they are so special, so good, so kind.

and there are so many things I want them to know.

One of my goals throughout the year is to try to show them how much I love them.

because, I really do.

I often look at them and think, "man, when I have teenagers, can you come teach them to be as awesome as you?"

At the end of every class period, as they are headed out the door, I yell the same phrase: "Have a great Monday! (or Tuesday, or Wednesday, or...you get the gist. ha) I love you all!"

The first couple of times I say it, they all give me weird looks and kind of giggle awkwardly.

But as the year progresses, I hope they know that I truly mean it.

On every assignment that I hand back, I choose about three papers per class to write a little message on.

sometimes the messages are simple: "I'm so impressed with your work, John!"

Other times they are long and detailed, and I write what I feel like that particular student needs to hear.

I've sidetracked.

I just want these kids to KNOW how good they are and how much potential they have.

And when I look out into the world, I am scared for them sometimes.

The world is always telling them they aren't good enough, smart enough, pretty enough, funny enough.

But then I see a small interaction in class--like the whole class cheering on the student with autism when he gets an answer right.

And I am filled with hope again.

these kids have so much power to do good.

and so, here are a few words of wisdom to the students I will always care about and forever think about.

To my lovely students,

I want each of you to know how much I care for you personally.  I constantly think of you, and will continue to think of you after this class ends.  I care about your failures, your successes, and most importantly, your tries.  I hope that you find happiness in life, that you never settle, and that you work for your dreams.  If you ever feel disheartened, discouraged, or alone, just remember that I believe in you and I will always be rooting for YOU. As F. Scott Fitzgerald said, “I hope you live a life you’re proud of.  If you find that you are not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again.”

My greatest fear is that you will not realize your potential.  I know I’m just your teacher, but I see your potential.  I see how amazing each of you are.  Think what you can do if YOU believe that, too!  Do not let ANYONE tell you that you aren’t worth it, that you can’t do it, that you will never become it.  If you want something, go for it.  I have seen what an incredible group of students you are.  I have faith that YOU can help make this world a happier place.  My two cents of wisdom to you: if you have the power to make someone happy, DO IT.  The world needs more of that.

Keep in touch with me! Share with me your dreams and accomplishments.  As a teacher, I take great joy in seeing what you have gone on to do with your life. 

I really do love you (in the most appropriate way I can).  And I believe in you.

May your heart be kind, your mind be fierce, and your spirit be brave.

Love you all,

Mrs. Gilbert

With today being the last day of classes (yearbook day tomorrow, graduation on friday), it's easy to say that I'm a little sentimental and emotional today.

but right now, i'm gonna be creepy again and stare at these kids i love for just a little longer.
oh, and the answer to #40 is B.

three days, people!

on saturday morning, taylor and his dad forced me to go to the gym with them at 7:30 in the am. why would anyone choose to get up that early on saturday!?

but, then, wait. 

it was 10am, and I had finished working out, finished the laundry, ran to target, and still had the entire day!

it was magic. 

and suddenly. 

I was sold.

so on monday, a HOLIDAY, I woke up at 7am and went to the gym with them again. 

and mayyybe i took a two hour nap at 10am, but still!

 i had my to-do list done by 10am! 

i never knew this life existed.

but don't worry.

today I did not wake up early.

in fact, I slept through my first period prep, since it's the last week of school.

but I am possibly sold on this whole "wake up early during the summer" idea.

i mean, i have allll summer to do nothing but sit by a pool, right?

right.

the rest of our weekend was filled with three canceled camping trips (ha!)

(we were supposed to go with my brother and friends but then taylor had a scout campout, so we had to cancel. then, very last minute, his scout campout got canceled, but everyone had already gone up the night before and we had given up our spots. but suddenly we were invited to go on another camping trip last minute, until it started pouring and then that seemed like a bad idea. sooo...canceled.)

but that's okay.

we snuggled up to a few movies.

talked about big plans.

went on long walks.

had BBQs.

ate yummy food.

saw good friends.

watched the bachelorette with two of our favorite people.

...our husbands like to pretend like they don't like the show.

but while me and emma were in the kitchen making cookies, we secretly watched as our husbands were both completely zoned into the show.

oh, and also.

taylor got peed on by their dog.

that was the best part of the night.

and also, i feel like we've been in this weird phase.

where big decisions are happening + fun things every night + always forgetting to take pictures + never being able to decide if we feel like grown ups or kids.

and in two weeks we will be in my homestate soaking in the california sun.

so life doesn't get much better.

and even though this was a pointless post with no pictures, forgive me.

because the only thing I care about is that there are three, THREE, more days of school!

clearing the brain

i can't seem to get my brain straight lately--there is so much going on lately.

so, instead of letting another MIA blog day go by, I decided to try to piece together all of the fifty million things that have been running through my head as of late.

1. SUMMER TIME

okay, not officially.

but it's really starting to feel like it.

we even went and got our first shaved ice of the season--from the best shaved ice hut around.

taylor looked online to see if they were open for the season yet, and we were so excited that they were!

so we decided to walk to the one about a mile and a half from our house.

but when we got there?

there was no hut set up.

upon looking a little closer to the online details, we found out the one in provo was open, but not the one in orem.

so we walked all of the way back home to hop in the car and drive to provo.

there was no way we were missing out on that shaved ice!

but seriously.

they have the best shaved ice around.

and also.

summer time means i'm finally starting to get my california tan back!

hihihihi SUN!

AND we go to california in just two weeks!!

2. FRIENDS

we have been having so much fun with all of our couple friends lately.

we are so blessed to have so many good friends.

friday nights + saturday nights are always full of good times.

and tonight, I am going with my dearest friend, kate, to get the first pedi of the season! 

wahoo!

AND one of my greatest friends, chelsey, moved back from new hampshire last week.

just babies in this picture.

...she might be the friend I almost got arrested with once?

ha. we die every time we reminisce about the time that the police yelled at us to get on the ground.

maybe i should tell that story at some point?

regardless, she's back and i'm happy!

3. THE BACHELORETTE

thank you for coming back into my life.

and andi, i love you!

and YAY for viewing parties with lots of girls and husbands who pretend not to like it but secretly love watching every episode.

4. MY DAD IS MY INSPIRATION

my padre made a new goal a couple of months ago to work out every single day.

no excuses!

he's three months strong, and that is so inspiring to me!

so I made a goal towards the end of april to do the same.

and I'm happy to report, I am on week 5 of not missing a SINGLE day.

cardio + jillian michaels.

and literally, just before I was about to post this, I got this text from my dad!

(I had texted him my part yesterday.

 oh and just ignore our little nicknames. very old inside joke. ha)

see? we motivate each other!

I'm usually great at getting in 4-5 days a week, but some days I'd just give in to the excuses.

but now, being five weeks in, I want to see how long I can take this!

and p.s. it is so hot when I run outside now. ugh

also, how did I just discover the free hydro massages at the gym yesterday?

i am doing this every day. for the rest of my life.

5. TAYLOR ROCKS

he is just awesome in all walks of life.

6. THE END OF SCHOOL

Tuesday was my last day of teaching.

The next four days are finals days.

(so we are done at 11:45 every day!)

and then friday is graduation!

so basically, I'm done.

it's summer.

andddd I love these kids and will miss them SO much.

but, man.

I'm excited for no work for three months. ha!

7. FOOD

i have been a food junkie lately.

you know those days where you can just eat anything and everything and still want more?

that's me.

ice cream, cookie dough, candy--i am craving all of the foods that are going to kill me.

sooo maybe when three of my students bribed me with m&ms today to let them run to the store really quick, I agreed too quickly?

but--these little colored spheres are just so yummy.

and hey!

supppaa excited for memorial day weekend.

lots of friends, parties, and good times!

i confess

+i confess that i look really orange in the picture above? not sure what happened there.

+ i confess that on two separate occasions yesterday, taylor and I opened up a pack of oreos, poured some milk, and pounded those oreos. (proof from the picture)

+i also confess that we ate a whole pack of oreos yesterday...

+i confess that i currently have the ugliest chipped nail polish. and taylor tells me how much he hates it every day (one of his worst pet peeves)

+i confess that i laugh harder at my own jokes than anyone else does

+i confess that i am beyond excited that today is the last monday of the school year!

+i also confess that i am so sad for school to end. i love these kids and the chemistry that each class has created. it is always such a bittersweet feeling.

+i confess that for one of the first real times, i am struggling to get along with someone. and i don't know what to do about it.

+i confess that i was extremely distracted during church yesterday. and i tried really hard not to look at my phone every three seconds--but man, i was struggling. dreaming of those oreos...

+i confess that i slept in until 11:30am on saturday.

+i confess that i really hate all seafood. (and yesterday taylor ate 50 pieces of shrimp. i wanted to vomit.)

+i confess that i am watching way more netflix than i should be. and i really miss reading. but i've just got to finish this dumb show! and then i'm swearing off netflix.

+i confess that taylor snuggled up to me on saturday morning while i was asleep, and for the first time i can remember, i pushed him off (half-asleep). then i felt bad, but was too tired to do anything, and just fell back asleep.

+i confess that all of my laundry baskets are EMPTY right now! but when I told taylor yesterday, "the laundry is done!" he said, "have you folded any of the clothes?" and when I said, "no..." he said, "then, no, the laundry is not done. close, though." dang it.

+i confess that taylor ALWAYS beats me in our nightly board games. ugh.

+i confess that taylor and i are signing up for dreamdinners this week. no more cooking or grocery shopping? SIGN ME UP. and also. i have probably lost all respect from all of the awesome wives out there.

+i confess that i LOVE sleeping with the window open. but taylor hates it.  so in the middle of the night, i secretly open it. why am i so selfish? ha.

+i confess that while singing hymns in church yesterday, i used baby words the whole time to try to make taylor laugh while singing. he laughed...but i laughed harder. again with the whole thinking i'm really funny thing.

+i confess that i have a secret goal to get a six pack before i'm pregnant.  i've heard that if you have abs, you prevent a lot of problems, your belly is smaller, you have an easier time pushing, and you recover (weight wise!) faster! i'm believing webmd on this one.

+speaking of pregnancy...i confess that i am scared of falling into the "eating for two" trap.  i do not want eating more to be an excuse when i'm pregnant--i fear that pregnancy-weight-gain like you wouldn't believe!

+i confess that today is going to be an awesome day!

one of those days.

yesterday was just one of those days.

the guest speaker I had scheduled to come into one of my classes canceled last minute.

I drove home during lunch so I could start our crockpot dinner, only to find out half way through mixing the ingredients that I was missing one crucial ingredient.

since I was on a time crunch, I didn't have time to do anything but huff and puff and throw my half-made dinner away.

then, when I got back to my classroom, I realized I had left my lunch at home.

(I had originally intended to eat it at home after preparing the dinner.)

wahoooo no lunch for me!

while on my run, my phone died.

awesome.

no music.

no runkeeper.

I thought it was the cherry on the top of my bad day.

oh, but wait.

little did I know that in the next 30 seconds, I would accidentally drop my iphone during the run.

helloooo shattered iphone.

I was trying to unplug my headphones, but I pulled too hard, and my whole phone came tumbling down.

and the phone just magically fell out of its case during the fall.

then I wanted to call taylor and cry about my horrible day.

but, oh yeah.

my phone is not only broken, it's dead, too.

by the time I got home and finished my run, I decided I would make a really simple dinner:

german pancakes!

halfway through making it?

you got it.

I'm out of flour.

that was realllyyyy my last straw.

I threw the bowl into the sink, grabbed a box of chocolate teddy grahams, fell into the couch, and sat there and ate those teddy grahams with a pouty face the entire time.

oh, I should also mention that my jillian michaels DVD was paused on the tv, so I sat and told her how much I hated her while I stuffed those teddy grahams into my mouth.

so, I'm now the proud owner of a shattered iphone, 3 extra pounds (thank you, teddy grahams), and a broken bowl...that is still sitting in the sink.

luckily the end of the night got just a little better thanks to an evening walk with taylor, plus the swimsuit I had been waiting for came in the mail.

while laying in bed last night, I was complaining over my shattered iphone, and taylor said, "I cannot believe you broke two phones in four months. You're such a loser."
and for some reason, we just could not stop laughing.
yep, I'm a loser.

dear wednesday: please be good to me!