Out with the old, and in with the new!!

Well, another year (another decade for that matter) has come and gone. Seriously, is it really going to be 2010 in a few short hours? A lot has happened in the past decade that has been amazingly memorable, but I will spare you the highlights of the past 10 years, and focus on 2009.

Cameron got to go to Mac World in January for work. Not only did he get to spend a few days away from the Gateway store spreading the Apple love to thousands of people, he got to do it in his favorite city....San Francisco. I will be honest, I was a little jealous that I couldn't go with him, but am so happy that he had the chance to go and get paid for doing what he loves! The icing on the cake would have been seeing his "man crush", Apple CEO Steve Jobs. Maybe another time.



Gramee and Poppi came home from their mission in Germany January 31st. We are glad they had the opportunity to serve the youth in Germany, but are sure happy they are home.



I decided if I was going to get a Masters' Degree, now is the time do to it. I began working on Masters' of Education, focusing on School Administration, through an online program offered through Grand Canyon University in March. 8 months down, 12 more to go! I have had my ups and downs with it, but am really glad I am doing it.



Cameron turned 23......he gets more handsome every single year!



Karine, Lauren, and I were able to go and see Wicked when it came to SLC. All of the hype surrounding the musical is spot on!!! I loved every minute of it! I am going to have to see it again someday!!



We went to Las Vegas over Memorial Day weekend with Greg and Karine. We had a fantastic time!! I loved seeing Cameron's face (it was his first time ever in Vegas) every time he saw something bigger and better than what he was just amazed with. He also discovered how truly lucky he is (he won $250 playing penny slots, I mean who does that!!). We saw KA while we were there. All I can say is WOW!! It was amazing!!!





Celebrating our 2nd wedding anniversary......I've posted many of our wedding favorites before, so I will spare you this time.

We went to McCall for some good times at the lake with the Gehrke side of the family. It was a fantastic time, as usual!




We moved to our new apartment. WE LOVE IT!!! We do miss living downtown, but love our new digs!! It is close to school for Cameron, and close to work for me.


(No this is not "our" apartment.....I don't have any pictures of it, but this is the model.....it looks pretty much the same as ours.)

Matt came home from his mission in Brazil! Greg and Karine were able to go down and visit Brazil, and to bring him home.



Cameron began nursing school at SLCC. After waiting, and waiting, and waiting, he was FINALLY able to start his final 2 years of school! He had a rough start.....but naturally I think anyone would have a hard time working with senior citizens in a nursing home.......but pulled through and had a FANTASTIC first semester! Isn't he just a doll in his scrubs?!?! I am so proud of him, and all of his accomplishments. 1 semester down, 3 more to go!!!



Mom, Susan, and I teamed up to support Tayler as she rode in LOTOJA. We sucked at feeding her, but she pulled through and took 2nd.....with no help from us! Super proud of my super-rockstar-athlete sister!!!




Matt and Sharlene got engaged in October. They haven't set their wedding date yet, but we are super happy for them.



I turned 25....yes, I am officially a quarter century old. And, I got a phenomenal birthday cake from Nikki and Nancy! Love them!



We had a wonderful holiday season!! Thanksgiving, and Christmas came and went......and I have no pictures to show for it. Lame......We had a great time with family and friends, and enjoyed some REALLY good food!!! We had yummy prime rib with the Gehrke side.....a family favorite.....but only comes around once a year because of the lack of nutritional value......



And, to continue with tradition, we had the seafood extravaganza with the Romero/Boam's on Christmas eve. The highlight of the night.......KING CRAB LEGS!! My very favorite food of all time!!!



Probably the highlight of our holiday season was choosing a family from my school to do a Sub for Santa for. We chose to do the family of a student of mine, and were able to provide this family with a wonderful Christmas. Christmas is about giving, not receiving, and I will never forget how I felt doing this for this wonderful family. This by far has been my most memorable Christmas to date. So many people heard about what we were doing, and wanted to donate food or money to help this family. It made me so happy to be able to provide this family with food, warm clothes, and a few toys, all because so many people decided to give, rather than receive this Christmas. I can't wait to do it again next year!!



We did however receive some wonderful things this Christmas.....especially our trip to Las Vegas!! Greg and Karine paid for us to stay at the New York, New York for a few days, and my Mom and Wes gave us some fun money to spend while we were there. It was just the little getaway we needed!! We relaxed, gambled, ate delicious food, and had an all around great time. Thanks everyone who helped to make our trip happen!! Next year, I think we will fly down instead of drive.....we got caught in a NASTY storm yesterday that added 3 hours to our drive home......not so fun!



We have had a great year, and are looking forward to what is to come in 2010. Here are a few of my goals for the upcoming year.......

~ Get closer to graduation (for both of us).
~ Reading more......I am looking for suggestions, if anyone has any.
~ Blogging more.
~ Taking more pictures of our life adventures!!
~ No longer being a provisional teacher.....just a few more months, and one more official observation!
~ Trying new recipes, and refining my cooking skills.
~ Being more healthy.

Wishing all of our friends a family a very Happy and safe New Years!! Bring on 2010!!!

Look Out Sin City..........

Here come the Romero's!!!



Watch for an update on all of our adventures, as well as our holiday recap!!

We Wish You a Merry Christmas!

And a Happy New Year!!



Love,
Cameron & Lindsey

Have you ever felt like this?

Well, after the day I had today with my little people.......I feel like this. I guess because today is December 1st......it means the "Christmas Crazies" are upon us. Can I handle them for 15 more school days with the crazies? Let's hope so!!!!

Believe It, Be It

It is no secret that I may be one of the BIGGEST fans of the show The Biggest Loser. My DVR is religiously set to record each and every episode every Tuesday night. It makes me laugh, cry, and motivates me to become a better person......not just a skinny person, but a better person in general. The only other person who may like the show as much as I do is my Mom. We text throughout the entire episode, and have to recap what we saw on Wednesday morning through email. Well, in true "mom" fashion, she heard the Ali Vincent (the first woman Biggest Loser from 2 seasons ago, and my very FAVORITE contestant EVER) wrote a book about her experiences before and after being on the show and bought it for me for my birthday. I finished reading it yesterday, and I LOVED IT!!!!! I would recommend it to anyone who might have the slightest interest in it......in fact I would ever let you borrow my copy of it. Not only is it a motivator for health, but also for living and believing in yourself. It was just what I needed in this point in my life.....that little boost I need to keep me on the right track to reach all of my goals. All you have to do is believe it......be it!!

Let's Be Thankful........Part 2

Today I am thankful for Cameron. He has been my go to guy for almost 8 years. We started out as co-workers, quickly became friends, and well, the rest is history. Not only is he my husband, but he is my best friend. He is a hard worker, and never gives up no matter how hard a task may be. We have always had a plan for our life together, and he helps to keep me focused on those goals we have set together. I am so excited to see what fun, and exciting adventure life has in store for us in the future.

Let's Be Thankful........

I absolutely love this time of year! Good times spent with family and friends, and let's not forget about the delicious food that comes with Thanksgiving (which I am looking forward to after having eaten like a rabbit for the past month)! At school, we have been talking about being thankful, and surprisingly enough a good majority of my little people didn't know what it meant to be thankful for something or someone. I guess it is a good thing we are going a program for parents this week all about being thankful!

I really do have a lot to be thankful for, and often forget to express my gratitude for those things. So, from today until Thanksgiving, I am going to express my gratitude for people or things in my life.

Today, I am thankful for the opportunity I have to be an educated person. Not everyone in the world has the opportunity to go to school, learn to read and write, and learn a trade that they love! So many important people in my life helped, and continue to help me reach my educational goals, and to them I am forever indebted! I am thankful for the sacrifices you made for me to become an educated person.



Along with being thankful for my education, I am also thankful for my opportunity to educate others. I can honestly say that I LOVE my job! I wake up every morning knowing that each day will be different from the last, and that my little class of 20 kindergartners are excited to see what I have in store for them. For many of them, I am the one stable influence in their lives, and for that I am extremely thankful. I am also thankful to work with so many great people. From my principal, fellow faculty members, to our support staff, each person that I work with is there to work together, and to make each other better. I could not ask for better people to work with.

Guess What I Got For My Birthday?

You guess it........My cake!!! I had a fantastic birthday thanks to all of my fantastic friends and family!! I love you all!!

It's Almost Here!!!

Although I am now an adult, I still get incredibly excited for my birthday. So, mark your calendar because my 25th birthday is in 1 month from today!!! And, anyone who would like to make me a cake that looks like this one, be my guest!!!!

Team RW Lawncare Takes 3rd.......

Really, they should have taken first place in the Murray Education Foundation Golf Tournament, but the person keeping score obviously couldn't count!!

Thanks for playing in the tourny Dad and helping to raise money for Murray Schools!! Every little bit helps!! Next year, I am sure you'll take first!!

I need this on my answering machine......

Frustration

So, I don't normally use my blog to rant and rave about issues that bug me, but today I have reached my boiling point. I was in a store after school today, and happened to still have my name tag on that I have to wear at school. The man checking my out asked me if I was a teacher, and what grade I taught. I told him I teach kindergarten, and he went on to laugh a little. I asked him what was so funny, and he went on to say "well there really isn't a whole lot to teaching kindergarten". I WAS ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED WITH HIM. Normally, I would have brushed it off, but since that is the 3rd time in the past week I have had someone make a comment like that, I couldn't keep my anger inside anymore. So, I let him have it!! I am so tired of people not taking my job, or kindergarten for that matter, seriously I had to give him a piece of my mind. Kindergarten is not all about coloring pictures, nap time, an graham crackers and milk. The kindergarten core curriculum is HUGE, and involves a lot of complex skills necessary to developing early reading and numeracy skills. It actually is a lot like what 1st grade was when I was in elementary school. If kids don't go to kindergarten, and mind you kindergarten is still not mandatory in Utah, there is no possible way they can be as successful in school as they could be if they went to kindergarten! They miss out on learning so many vital skills, and have a difficult time catching up with their peers as they go through school.

Ok, I am done now. I just had to let it all out!! I feel better, and hope this is an eye opener for those who don't realize how important early education is for kids. Thanks for letting me rave!!

September in Review

So, as everyone knows I am possibly to worlds worst blogger. But September may be one of my busiest months with the start of the new school year! So here is what has happened in the world of the Romero's in the past month.

The most momentous event of note this month was Cameron starting nursing school!!! He has spent so much time waiting to be accepted and actually start the actual nursing program, we were so excited for the day to finally come when he could get working!!! He has worked so hard so far this semester!! He passed off all of procedures in the lab, and staring Tuesday he will get to practice them in real life at the nursing home. He will have so many stories to tell about the people he treats!! He is excited about getting the hands on practice, but not about going there at 5:30 AM.....he isn't really a morning person! I am super proud of him!! He works so hard and studies so much!! He is just a natural!!! And, doesn't he just look so cute in his scrubs? He sure does look official!!! Stay tuned for stories from his nursing home experience!!


As many of you know, my sister Tayler is a rock star cyclist! She took up the sport about a year ago, and has made quite the name for herself in the cycling world here in Utah and beyond. This year, as crazy as it may sound, she decided she wanted to ride in LOTOJA, a 206 mile bike race from Logan to Jackson Hole Wyoming. Crazy, I know!! Well, on long races such as this one, the cyclists need support crews and my mom, aunt Susan, and I were nominated to be Tayler's support crew for the race. I will admit, I was very skeptical about doing this at first since it happened so early on in the school year, and with grad school and all of my other adventures, I am pretty busy. I also don't know the first thing about cycling, and thought I would be absolutely zero help!! So, after being talked into going, I decided that I would be the driver (since that is something I can do). We headed to Logan on Friday the 10th to check into our hotel room, go to a support crew meeting on campus at Utah State, and get some dinner with the fellow riders we knew who were racing. I also hoped to spend some quality time with Liz and Josh while I was there, but with our hectic schedule and Liz working, that didn't happen. Next time....right Liz?!?!? Well, we went to dinner at a delicious restaurant....Hamilton's. IT WAS SO DELICIOUS!!! Steak and seafood.....is there anything better? After that, we went back to the hotel room to get the feed bags (I laugh every time I say that....horses eat from feed bags, not people), and paint our "Team Tayler" t-shirts so we would be very visible to her in the feed zones.

If you know my mom, she is not a crafty gal. She did do a fantastic job painting the letters on our shirts!!

Mom and Tayler! Tayler should have been in bed getting rest for her 206 mile race....but we were having way too much fun!!!

The finished product! PCIM is the team Tayler races for (Park City Iron Man). Susan actually free hand painted the LOTOJA cyclist art. Very impressive!!!!

This was race morning! We woke up at 5 AM to to get ready, and cut fruit up to put in the feed bags. We also wanted to get a final game plan set for the feed zones, and had to make sure we lathered Tayler up with sunscreen.....since she would be riding pretty much all day long!! Doesn't she look excited?!?!?!?!

Here I am stuffing food in her pockets for the first 8o miles of the race, while sporting my fantastic "Team Taylor" t-shirt!!

Her official start time was 6:58 AM. In true Lindsey fashion, I left the camera at the hotel, so I got no pictures from the starting line. So, here she is somewhere between Logan and the first feed zone (which was 80 miles into the race). I managed to steal this action shot from zazoosh.com....they are the race photographers. Don't mind the watermarks :).

I was the designated picture taker at this feed zone, because we knew she would stop to get her goods because it was a left handed feed, and well Tayler hasn't mastered that just yet. Aren't Mom and Sue lookin good while waiting for Tayler?

This is Matt, Tayler's man friend. He too is crazy enough to race in these long races. He came through this feed zone about 30-40 minutes before Tayler....but she is a rock star and managed to catch up to him and actually finish the race before he did....even though he had a head start on her :).

We did a great job feeding her the first time.....which happened to be the only time we fed her. We HUGELY underestimated her speed, and well missed her in Afton, WY (where we just so happened to be eating lunch...yes I know, we are lame.....we decided to eat rather than wait for her at the feed zone. Nice, huh!?!?!). And, since we waited for a bit for her there.....we missed her at the next feed zone.....which was the last one we were able to feed her at. So, needless to say, we may have been the WORST support crew ever!!!! She rode 180 miles without our food and water. Luckily, there were neutral feed zones where she could get new water bottles and a little food. There were also some fellow racers who were nice enough to share some of their food with her. So, you can imagine how we felt....TERRIBLE!!!! Since we were so late, we thought we missed her finish as well. Luckily for us, we made up some ground and were able to see her finish!!! This is my favorite picture from the whole race!!! I even took it while yelling at her!! It was an encouraging yell might I add as she was nearing the finish line!



Here she is crossing the finish line.......in 2nd place!!!!!! Go Tayler!!!!

Here are the post race shots!!! She did so great!!! I would have crawled into a little ball on the ground and went to sleep!! She still had energy!! Crazy child!! And, most importantly she didn't hate us for being a bad support crew and failing at our feeding responsibilities!!


Now, for one of the funny stories of our trip. After the race, we checked into our hotel, which happened to be hosting a tour of senior citizens as well as many racers. Well, at around 12:30 AM, not long after we ventured to bed, we woke up to the sound of someone pounding on our door. It was someone from the front desk telling us there was a fire and that we needed to exit the building immediately. What a wake up call!! So, we wandered around the room in a daze for a moment trying to decide what to take with us. We got out of the hotel, just as the fire alarm started to go off. It may have been the worst sound I have ever heard in my entire life!!!!! We got in my car and waited for about an hour and a half before we were let back in. We began hearing that the fire fighters found a smoldering log in one of the room. Are you kidding me? What the heck!?!?! So we went back to bed. We were under the impression that someone decided to build a campfire in their room, without a fireplace, but we were wrong. One of the cyclists....who happens to race for Skull Candy (Matt's team), decided to build a fire in the fireplace in their room because his wife was cold. All was good....except for he forgot to open the flew....sending all of the smoke into the room, and the halls leading everyone to believe there was a fire. Needless to say, it was an interesting experience. I am glad it happened post race, since the poor cyclists may have run out of gas a lot earlier had they not gotten enough sleep before the race. So, I say "Thank You Skull Candy Man.....for keeping our night intersting!"


The awards ceremony was the following morning at Jackson Hole High School. Here she is standing on the podium collecting her 2nd place award!! She should have been in 1st place since the lady who won was a cheater and raced with a group she wasn't supposed to!! Oh well, there is always next year!! I am super proud of Tayler!! I know I could NEVER in a million years do what she does!!! Love you sister, and make sure you give us a chance to redeem ourselves being a support crew!!

Other than that, life is the same for us. We work, do homework, and try to keep up with the day to day activities life throws at us. Hopefully.....someday.....life with calm down for us and we might get to do some traveling again! But until then, we will keep on keepin on!!!