Our 2010

I've decided to go public again. My friends keep telling me their invitation to view this blog has expired. Lame. So come one, come all, check out the awesome happenings of the Lees. Apparently I don't care anymore if everyone in the world wants to creep around and read Russ & Aub.

This month's post is a recap of our year.

January

We moved into Nana's basement and I started student teaching at AF Junior High. I had no idea all the challenges and hilarity that were in store for me when this picture was taken on my first day. We got called as primary teachers.

February

Russ made me a spectacular dinner for Valentine's Day and I learned that I love sweet potatoes. We watched a lot of cool old movies with Nana. I loved student teaching.

March

My good friend Spencer Ring came back from his mission and we had Asian Night, where we ate a ton of Japanese food, talked about Japanese culture, and made a huge mess of the kitchen. It was awesome, but it would have been even better if Tiffani-chan had been there.

April

I finished my student teaching and graduated from BYU. Russ was so supportive and the best cheerleader I could have asked for.

May

I went to San Francisco to train for my summer job, and Katie joined me at the end. We had the best time. I celebrated my 23rd birthday with strawberry pie.

June

While the rest of my family was in Disneyland, Russ and I watched this puppy. I started teaching for the Institute of Reading Development and Russ started working at the airport.

July

We lit sparklers, went swimming, and went to a ton of parades. All month long. It was fabulous. Happy Birthday America.

August

We hiked Timp. Twice. It was hard. We moved to Salt Lake and I started teaching at Midvale Middle. It was hard. We celebrated our 2nd anniversary at the Pie Pizzeria. I spend a lot of money on cardigans - a teacher can never have enough.

September

We went to a lot of farms and drank a lot of cider. Russ turned 25 and we bought a couch. I began to regret those bangs.

October

We carved pumpkins with Jared and Elle, and then spent Halloween watching Teen Wolf and eating pizza and hiding quietly when kids came to the door because we forgot to buy candy for anyone but ourselves.

November

Our car was rear-ended and we got an awesome rental car for two weeks. Russ worked hard at school and I worked hard at not strangling any students. We had a lovely Thanksgiving at the Lees.

December

We got to go to the Christmas concert with David Archuleta and loved it. We had a really fun Christmas with my family in American Fork. Russ finished his finals and we both enjoyed two weeks off. We filled the time with parties, movies, ice skating, caroling, eating, staying up late, sleeping in late, roller skating, and Limbo. I liked all of it except Limbo. We bought a car.

Things we are looking forward to in 2011:

• Me finishing my first year of teaching
• Having the summer off - I still can't believe that's going to happen
• Spring Break
• Saving our money and going on cool trips
• Russell's sister Erin's wedding to Sam
• Giving talks in church on Sunday

Update

Why is it that I impatiently wait for others to update their blogs, when I spend so little time doing so myself? Embarrassing.

Since my last post...

We got rear-ended and our car was thankfully totaled. Goodbye Jetta, I won't miss you and all your unreliable ways. We are now in that awkward stage where the insurance company can't justify us keeping the rental car while we search for a new one. So we take Trax everywhere. I love public transportation and I think it is grossly underused in Utah. I also like listening to the weird crazy bums that choose to sit next to me and lie about being a Marine in Afghanistan, an undercover cop that protects the homeless, and Dallin H. Oaks' nephew. Plus I get to stroll through Temple Square on my way home and it's so pretty, all covered in lights.

I pulled out our box of Christmas decorations last night and was disappointed to find that we only have three items: a small nativity scene from Diane, a Merry Christmas pillow sewn by Katie, and a Happy Holidays wall hanging I bought from Bed Bath & Beyond that got chipped in our moving process. We don't even have a tree! That is my goal this weekend: find a tiny tree and lights and ornaments to go on it.

We had a lovely Thanksgiving in Logan. My favorite dish was Konrad's creamed corn topped with Parmesan cheese. We went to the Nutcracker ballet and I loved it. I watched White Christmas for the first time and slept in till 11 every single day.

My experience in the classroom is getting better and better. My students are hilarious, and if I focus on that instead of their negative qualities, I am happier and it sustains me through the day. Yesterday a boy came in with Funyons. He had them opened only about ten seconds before their stench reached my nostrils and I ordered him to finish the offending chips in the hall and then throw them away out there. HA. But the smell lingered. Kids were complaining loudly and opening windows and then one kid named Eduardo said, "I'll take care of this, Madame Lee." He pulled a can of Axe body spray from his backpack and proceeded to spray it in every nook and cranny of the room. I don't know which smell was worse, the horrendous Funyons or the overpowering Axe, but it sure made my day.

Retail Therapy

Today was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. I didn't have time to shower and put on ugly clothes, including a turtleneck that attempted to suffocate me all day. I got stuck teaching calligraphy as a homeroom enrichment, and it's so boring I almost put myself to sleep. I dropped my lunch tray on the ground, scattering chicken teriaki everywhere. My chocolate milk exploded on me. The vice principal came in to observe my class. My students were absolutely rotten without a second thought to my sanity...or authority for that matter. I yelled at them and then felt worse. Russell couldn't pick me up until 6:00, which means I was stuck at the school in my ugly uncomfortable outfit by myself, correcting a mound of papers and watching reruns of The O.C. online.

But.

Then he picked me up and was sweet to me. He took me to get some dinner and then we went to a shoe store, where he let me get a pair of shoes I have wanted for a long time:
Bahahahaha. Just kidding. I got Oxfords, but I can't find a picture of them on the web.

But I LOVE them.

How Was Your Halloween?

Ours was perfect. We slept in until 11, went to the gym, and ate a late breakfast at Village Inn. We redeemed some coupons for free cookies and put up drapes in our house. We went to the grocery store and saw some appalling costumes. We had pizza and apple cider while watching "Teen Wolf."
The absolute best part is when Scott locks himself in the bathroom and is horrified by his sudden wolfish appearance. His dad comes to the door and tells him to open up and after awhile, he opens the door to see this:
So unexpected, and so hilarious.

If It Weren't For Him...

...I would still think that Chuck Norris was a character from a tall tale, like Paul Bunyon.

...My feet would never get rubbed.

...I wouldn't open my phone during the day to find texts like this: "I'm listening to Les Mis music and crying like a fool" or "Baby!" or "My boss isn't here and the riffraff employees are getting dangerously belligerent."

...I would never have such animosity for ESPN.

...Our toilet would still be clogged.

...There would be no one to eat all the weird leftover food I don't want.

...I would never know about great music like Sigur Ros and Arcade Fire and Pinback and Band of Horses.

...I wouldn't be such a harsh critic of movies.

...I would never have jumped off a bridge into the River Seine.

...I would never feel so loved.

Help

Russ approached me tonight and said, "Our babies are going to be malnourished and have scurvy and bow legs if your diet is just Ramen and fruit snacks."

I had no retaliation, because he's right. Not about the scurvy, but about my pathetic diet.

Those who know me well know that I can't cook. Really. My mom is an excellent cook, and somehow none of her skills got passed down to me. I've been married for two years and I can count all the meals I have made on one hand.

I need to be better. So I am asking you, if you have any pity, to send me your recipes. Easy ones. So easy an idiot could make them. That's what I am in the kitchen. Just to be sure, I asked Russell, "I'm not that bad am I?" and he said "I plead the fifth."

If you have anything good and easy that is more healthy than Ramen, email me at aubreylee21@gmail.com.

Thank you ahead of time.

Private? Good Idea

You know you need to privatize your blog when lots of your students mysteriously know way too much about your personal life.

Leave a comment with your email if you'd like to stay informed on our lives and still enjoy my once-a-month update. Haha.

Because no blog post is truly complete without a picture, here's one of Sammy.
Love him.