We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures. ~Thornton Wilder

Well, according to Mr. Wilder, I am definitely alive today. On this, the eve of Thanksgiving, I am so very grateful for a few treasures in my life. (I am definitely thankful for more than the 5 shown here, but my phone can only send 5 pictures at a time so it was...convenient. Convenient gratitude? Will I get in trouble for that??)

1. The Temple. I was able to go through the temple this week. What an amazing experience! It was such a blessing to be there, especially with my family! I was able to be there with my parents, and all three of my big sisters. What a special time!

2. This Gannon-boy's leg! He had a bad femur break a few weeks back, but everyday he gets a little bit stronger. (He says when he eats his oatmeal he can feel himself getting stronger!). He is now able to walk by himself, and even go up and down a few stairs!!

3. My MOM! Yes, this is another temple picture, but I am SO GRATEFUL for my mom and that she could be my escort at the temple. It was so special to have her with me the whole way!

4. Brand new nephews - Sloan Morgan Egbert was born today! He was 8 lb 5 oz, and was 23 inches long! What a precious little boy. He was either alert, and looking around, or sleeping. He was so sweet and beautiful! I just couldn't get enough of him (during my turn of course. There were lots of aunts and uncles around to hold him!).

5. All my nieces and nephews! Really, being an aunt is such a great thing. Especially when you have such cute nieces and nephews like I do. Zak and Kara weren't able to make it out to Utah for the week, but if they could have (with their daddy), the whole family would have been together! We have been having a blast with the family that is here, but we would be having a bigger blast if they were here too! I just love all these kids!!

"Creativity is PIERCING the mundane, to find the marvelous." - Bill Moyers

Today was definitely a good SLP day. I got to spend a lot of it researching Velopharyngeal Insufficiency (do I feel a Ph.D. specialty coming on??). It is really so interesting! I have a little girl who has submucous cleft, a bifid and very short uvula, as well as VPI. Some of the options are: surgery, nasal obturator (temporary), palatal lift (I hate the idea of that for a little girl), and intensive speech. I have had a lot of fun learning about this with her, practicing new treatment (speech laying on the floor to allow gravity to help), new evaluations (yes we did have a straw up her nose), and lots and LOTS of research. Anyway, as I was looking for diagrams to help discuss this with her mom, I came across this. 

I was, am, will forever be, HORRIFIED! That looks so painful!! This person obviously doesn't have a gag reflex, or has had it desensitized. They are probably like me. Yes sir, I definitely hooked my finger around my soft palate in our voice class as we were all trying to find our gag reflex... too much info? Sorry.

Anyway, back to the ridiculous piece of jewelery in this poor little uvula... whats the point?? (Unless you intend to have your mouth open as wide as possible, all the time..?) So, as I was contemplating this, thinking that this is probably one of the worst ideas EVER, I came across this:

Whaaaaattt?? Why why why, I ask?? Can this person say the /k/, /g/, and /ng/ sounds at all? What the heck? Ehhh, this just makes me shudder. 

Anyway, after finding and saving these pictures, I returned to my previous endeavor (oh no, I used the oh-so-terrible word but I'm too lazy to backspace and erase it!!) of researching VPI and soft palate diagrams. That was much more interesting, pleasant, and satisfying. Really, its been fun to use and learn more about the medical side of speech. The school stuff is great, but this has been a very welcome change!!

"You live with your thoughts -- so be careful what they are."- Eva Arrington

Alright, here are some things that go through my mind on any given day. Some I am smart enough to leave in my mind, some I feel the need to share... :

"Yeah, I'll get up at 6:00 on Saturday, then I can have a nice long restful day..."

"Ooh maybe I should buy Hanson's new cd!"

"Maybe the guys at Jiffy Lube ate my sugar free chocolate covered cashews!"

"No, I do not have chocolate on my face. Those are just two brand new unfortunately located freckles."

"Dramas from the early nineties are really good...and have great soundtracks. Also, Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) was just so darn cute when he was little!"

"After vacuuming with a vacuum that works, I really just want to lay on the floor. Forever."

"Why did Kelly pick Zack over Slater in Saved By the Bell? His dimples are basically as good as it gets. (At least in the ABC Family Christmas movie I watched they were!)"

"I feel like a triangle head with this length of hair. Triangle head phase 2."

"I hate it when I am wrong. I hate it even more when I have known I am wrong all along, and now I have to own up to it..."

"It's kind of refreshing when you decide you don't like that one boy anymore."

"How can I make the process of getting out of Sunday clothes faster? Disposable tights? Less buttons and more Velcro??"

"I wish church and FHE were more than one day apart...then I could more easily recycle outfits."

"Okkaayy, So Zack is on ABC Family Christmas movies now too. What?? And I have to say, maybe I can see where Kelly was coming from..."

"Yep. The Lion King still makes me think of my dog."

"Hmmmm, the lead singer of Parachute really looks like Jared Leto I think."

"No no, it is definitely ok to stack the wet dishes three high. As long as nobody touches them, moves, or breathes in a 3 house radius they should be just fine!"



But on a more serious note...
"After making a good, big decision about your future, Satan really puts the pressure on. Then, once you have successfully put him off, he tries a new angle. Once you have beaten THAT, he tries the first way again. Either he isn't very smart...or he is..."

Countdown chain?

Oh, have I mentioned that I am excited for this yet?

I'll bet living in a nudist colony takes all the fun out of Halloween. ~Author Unknown

So just in case you were wondering, I know its been a a really long time since I've talked about my job, but I kind of like my job. Here are three reasons why:

1. “Are you an adult?” Yes, I’m a teacher. “Oh, you look like a teenager.”

I think my response was, "thanks, but, no..." This is probably what I get for vocally disliking teenagers...

2. “If you change blue hair to yellow hair and change your skin to yellow...would that be fair?”

Um...what? My response to this was: "Oh no, not fair at all!!"

3. “Tomorrow if you climb up on the fridge where your mom put the candy and its hers, and you eat all your candy, you would pupe. I hate puping. You have to cover your mouth if you pupe.”

Okay, the first thing you need to know, is that "pupe" is not pronounced like "poop." It is pronounced like "puke" but with a /p/. (In phonetics it would be /pjup/). Imagine the cutest little boy with the prettiest eyes and eyelashes you have ever seen, saying this (yes he did consistently mess up tomorrow and yesterday).

oh okay, and a fourth, are you surprised??

4. "I love being called sir!"

I typically call the boys sir and the girls ma'am. Apparently this one likes it.

I honestly could have stayed at work for an extra three hours today and been happy!!

**I would also just like to add, that I hate it when a good hair day is wasted. Shoot. **

Based on a true story

 "The men who push the limits sometimes discover that the limits push back."

I wish I would have known how sad this movie was, before I watched it! I mean, a little warning would have been nice...