The BZZZzzzzzzzy life of Stacie Bee

Sight Word Centers

2012-01-21T14:39:00.000-08:00

5 Centers for 5 Tables

Another Co-Worker and I created Sight Word Centers for our Kindergarten classrooms. Our students learn 4 sight words a week. Along with learning the words the students complete a worksheet that goes with the words. When the students complete the worksheet they then complete their centers.

Roll a Sight Word
In this center the students roll a big dice and then they record which word that their dice lands on each time.

Color By Sight Word
In this center the students use what they know about color words and color the picture that has their new sight words on it.

Write a Sight Word
In this center students use 4 different colors and write each new sight word in different colors.

Sight Word Search
In this center the students search for new and old sight words in newspaper articles.

Spell a Sight Word
In this center the students use magnetic letters and spell out their new words on flash cards.

Not sure if this is for me...

2009-02-04T18:11:00.000-08:00

So school started... This will be our second week going to classes. Though I'm not as excited anymore. When I first started I was so stoked and I couldn't wait for it to be here. The day that I found out I was accepted I was so excited and this was what I was finally waiting for but, now that it's here it's not what I dreamed.

For the first thing my friend and I were going to school together so I knew that I would always have her to be my back up and tell me that I CAN get through all the homework and that I CAN do this... But, after the first day of classes she had a change of heart. She decided to switch majors and move on to something else. The next day of classes I thought that I was just feeling bummed from her not being there but, this week I'm still feeling the same. The classes are so boring and I really don't know what I'm learning. It feels like all the teachers do is talk about the same things and just tell us about future projects and basically have us doing BUSY work...

So as of now I'm in a rut... I can withdrawl from my classes BUT... I won't recieve any money back. Though if I decide next semester that I want to move on to something else then this semester would be a waste... I've talked to some people and they all said the first block is soo boring but, it gets better but, I'm just not feeling it.. Something came over me that I was just unsure that I wanted to teach. I love little kids and I always have but, then I realized that when I teach dance to them, it's doing something that I love. I love dance... my friends are all taking dance again this semester and it's really getting to me that I'm not too... I miss it so much. When I took my class last semester that was the most fun that I have had in a really long time and when I got to be on the stage again it was so exciting! That's when I started feeling like I should be doing something that I really love. Maybe I should be going for my degree in dance so I can teach dance at a highschool or college... But, I'm just so unsure right now and I wish that I would have decided this sooner.

FINALS, FINALS, AND YUP More FINALS!!!!!!

2008-12-03T18:15:00.000-08:00

Well, to start off on a good note... in just about two weeks school will be done!!!!!! YAY!!!! BUT.... Along with the ending of school that means finals... UGH!!
Tomorrow starts the kick off of finals with Dance... we are only doing part of our final tomorrow and then the rest on the following Tuesday... Though I'm so nervous!
We are doing our across the floor final... normally I LOVE across the floor but, I seemed to have pulled something in my right leg so I can't kick it high anymore :( tonight and tomorrow morning I will have to do some serious stretching! And wouldn't you guess it that in our across the floor combinations we are doing fan kicks, which are where you kick your leg around like a fan, and also battemants which are where you just kick your leg straight up... If I just bite my lip I can manage to kick my leg up! But, not promising that it will look pretty! LoL

So I really hope that I do well, on the final and that I get an A... I have a high A in there right now soo anything lower than an A could drop it down! :( I will post pictures up tomorrow of me doing the final.

SICK OF BEING SICK!!

2008-11-20T18:55:00.001-08:00

Ughh... so the past week and a half I've been fighting off a stupid cold! :( Though I deserve to have the cold that I got because I went to Disneyland recently and I went on Splash Mountain 5 million times though that's a different story....
Anyways I'm just starting to feel up to par so I'm updating my blog! :)

TODAY...

2008-11-04T14:59:00.000-08:00

TODAY is SUPER Tuesday.... I still need to vote... UGH!!!

My friend went before class today and she said that she waited an hour and a half!!! So I can only imagine what the line will be like today for me when I go after I get off work here... I'm really dreading it!

Anyways today in dance we learned this really weird hard combo that starts on the left side all the time!!!! And I'm not much of a lefty sooo it's a bit difficult for me.. OH and did I mention that it's part of our final?!!? It will be very interesting to see me pull off this one!

I'm really tired now and I want to go home!!!

Hanging around the house....

2008-10-31T18:17:00.001-07:00

Sometimes it's fun to just hang around the house and do nothing at all....

Which is what we did the other weekend...

Orrin wasn't feeling to well but, that didn't stop the doggies and I from having some fun!!

Another Bridesmaid!!!!!

2008-10-31T18:08:00.000-07:00

This past September I was another Bridesmaid for my friend.

The wedding was nice though it was extremly hot outside!!!!!!!!! I thought that I was going to past out up there standing but, I held it together!

The reception was nice and the food was sooo good. It was some chicken served atop mashed potatoes with veggies and rolls.

Though the greatest part about the wedding was when I caught the bouqet once again!!!!! :) I didn't think that I was going to have any luck but, when I saw the bouqet coming my way I went for it... I remember before going out there Orrin told me if I caught another one he wouldn't know what to do with me but, it must have been tellign him something!! Because... he caught the guarder!!! WELL.... Actually all his friends moved so it was rigged for him to catch it but, still he caught it! :)

Our New House!

2008-10-31T17:57:00.001-07:00

Well,

I think that we are finally settled into our new house! There still needs to be some more decorating but, that will come with time. :)

We have a nice sized back yard that our doggies love to run around in... and might I add dig holes!!! Darn things! You would think that they were trying to get to china!

In our living room we have a nice big wall that is covered in Mirrors!!!!!!!!!! Now most people when they have seen it ask if we like it and what we would do with it to which I reply... I LOVE IT!!!!!! DUH i'm a dancer!! :) I always get a kick out of seeing myself hahahaha

Our kitchen has a weird selfy thingy that I don't exactly know what to do with it... but, people have given me some tips.

The only thing that I do not like about this house is that it has more stairs than our last one and also it has a lot of carpet!!! Soooo that means more cleaning for me :(

It's Been A While....

2008-10-31T17:50:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time since I have wrote on here... and I figured that I would give everyone an update. :)

School is going great!! So far I have all A's and I hope to continue to keep that up!! I recently just had 3 mid-terms and all those I Aced!!! :)

Our new house that we just moved into is great and I like it so much more than our other one!!

In a week I should hopefully be going to Disneyland with my dance company and I cannot wait!!

I will post up some new pictures in the next few blogs to follow this one...

Love,
Stacie:)

Always a Bridesmaid!!

2008-09-08T21:09:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday I was a bridesmaid for my friends wedding. It was really hard to believe that just a couple years ago we were making up stupid dances in my bedroom and making up stories about riding our bikes down the freeway! The wedding was soo gorgeous and a lot of fun. I only wish that we could do it again!!

The rehearsal we practiced walking in our shoes and making sure that we weren't going to trip on anything!

Kari and I before we went to the reception.

Us girls were not paying attention there was a lot of noise and commotion going on.

In the morning of the BIG DAY we all went to go have our hair and make-up done. It was so much fun and as the time got closer I got more and more nervous.

We all got really cute bags to carry around our bridesmaid necesities!! We had anything and everything from bandages, to advil, and lip gloss.

I look like curly sue here!!

My hair is almost finished!!

This is our group shot just before we walked down the asile. Right at this time we were all freaking out!!

Their reception afterwards was amazing!!!!! I even caught the bouqet!! Though when I looked at Orrin he was like oh gosh I don't think so!! haha

Fighting over the bouqet!!

I walked away with it!!!

Drinking with the bride!!

Mmmmm Margaritas!!!

We finally got him to take a picture!!

Wide Awake!!

2008-08-25T23:09:00.000-07:00

So it's about 11:15 and I'm still awake. School starts tomorrow and I really need some sleep!! So I started thinking of things to do....

I tried streching thinking maybe that would help relax my body... WRONG!! I ended up pulling a muscle and hurting myself even more! This is a great way for my to start my dance class tomorrow!! :(

To recover from hurting myself I tried reading. The reading made me a little tired but, I was still restless and couldn't focus on the book to read....

Next, I thought about watching some television...But, as always nothing is on!! Just the boring late night television!! Which makes you want to go to sleep but, everytime I tried closing my eyes I starting thinking about everying... school tomorrow, do I have all my books I need, what am I going to wear, and what time do I have to wake up in the morning...

So then I even resorted to counting sheep... let me tell you IT DOES NOT WORK!! LoL I dunno who the heck thought of the idea but, all it did was make me mad because I would forget what number I was on and then I would start all over.

Then that's when I decided to write on my blog... It's helping me a little I'm starting to get sleepy now so I hope that I may be able to fall right to sleep...

Things to do When there is Nothing to do!!!!

2008-08-05T09:54:00.000-07:00

Blink wildly and then close your eyes really tight for an interesting light show
(Amusement Potential: 1-5 minutes)
See a variety of blobs, stars and flashes. Try to make out shapes and see if your subconscious is trying to send you a message

See how long you can hold a note
(Amusement Potential: 4-20 minutes)
Not that much fun, but it sure passes the time. Play with a friend, or try to beat your own personal best. Inhale deeply and then try and make a noise for as long as you can. Earn extra points for making your partner laugh or ending on an amusing note.

Try to not think about penguins
(Amusement Potential: 1-5 minutes)
This is especially hard, because by trying too much, you remember what you were trying to avoid thinking of. If you try too little, you end up thinking about penguins anyway.

Look for ammo to load nerf gun to shoot co-workers with
(Amusement Potential: 5-15 minutes)
You can have fun finding the ammo though you will have even more fun shooting your victims with it. It's all fun and games though until someone gets hurt!

Pretend you're a robot
(Amusement Potential: 1-3 minutes)
Walk down the street with mechanical movements, adding 'zzzzzt' sounds with each motion. Pretending to have a motor broken in, say, your left hand can add at least 30 seconds more entertainment.

Scratch yourself
(Amusement Potential: 1-3 minutes)
Go ahead, scratch yourself now. Even if nothing itches, go ahead. Doesn't that feel pretty good?

Rate passers by
(Amusement Potential: 10-15 minutes)
Secretly award passers by marks out of ten as you go along, offering (unsaid) expert criticism over their clothing, hairstyle and footwear choices.

Repeat the same word over and over until it loses its meaning
(Amusement Potential: 1-3 minutes)
Pick a random word out of a magazine and say it aloud to yourself until it becomes a meaningless set of noises.

Pinch yourself
(Amusement Potential: 1-3 minutes)
What is pain? Why is it unpleasant? There's nothing physical about it - it's all in your mind. Plus, after pinching yourself for awhile, boredom will seem nice next to being in pain.

Try to swallow your tongue
(Amusement Potential: 1-2 minutes)
There's not much to say about this one. It is possible, but really stupid.

Pretend to be a car
(Amusement Potential: 5-10 minutes)
Make appropriate revving noises in your head as you walk along and add a racing commentary as you pass strangers in the street. Use blinking eyes as indicators for extra authenticity.

Get yourself as nauseated as possible
(Amusement Potential: 5-10 minutes)
Best achieved by looking straight up and spinning around. Try to be so dizzy you can't even stand up. This is also entertaining due to the "makes boredom seem a lot better" effect (see "Hurt Yourself").

Invent a weird twitch
(Amusement Potential: 5-10 minutes)
Adopt a bizarre twitch (e.g. flicking your head irregularly, twitching with eye or busting out sporadic cough noises) and try it out when you go shopping.

Make a low buzzing noise
(Amusement Potential: 15-30 minutes)
Hours of fun in libraries! Keeping a totally straight face and looking nonchalant, make a low pitch humming/buzzing noise and see who reacts.

Make prank phone calls
(Amusement Potential: 20-60 minutes)
Very entertaining, but requires discipline. Remember - vulgarities don't make a call funny, but getting the other person to believe a ridiculous story will. Try seeing if you can get them to make noises to 'test' the line. One to get you started off: Call McDonalds with weird complaints about their food.

THINGS YOU CAN DO WITH ANOTHER PERSON

Stare at the back of someone's head until they turn around
(Amusement Potential: 2-5 minutes)
This works on the "I have the feeling I'm being watched" principle. Conduct an experiment-does this really work?

Pour water in hand, make sneeze noise, throw water on back of person's neck
(Amusement Potential: 5-15 minutes)
Always a good gag. For an even bigger reaction out of the person, act like you're not sorry at all for what they think you did. Comment instead on how big that sneeze was or about how there was a lot of mucus in that one.

What's On and When - The New Fall TV LineUp

2008-07-30T15:56:00.000-07:00

After just getting back into the swing of things with all our shows the seasons came to an end. Having the writers strike really sucked and it's almost like we were ripped off at the end. Though after a very long summer with nothing on TV to watch starting in September we have our T.V. line-up back!!

Monday's
Can't wait to see your favorite heros back in action?? They will be back on the TV scene in September at 8pm on NBC.
Tuesday's
What has that doctor House been up to?? Will he start a romance with his crush Cuddy or will he find another love?? You will have to tune into Fox on Tuesday nights at 8pm.
Wednesday's
After not making a comeback after the writers strike we weren't sure if we would be seeing the beloved Dr. Montgomery again. Though she is back in action with an all new season on Private Practice on Wednesday nights at 8pm on ABC.
Thursday's
You can almost hear the tune playing in your head as you think about Meredith, Alex, Izzy, and everyone. They will have an all new jam packed season with all new twists and turns to keep us on the edge of our seat. Tune your TV to ABC on Thursdays at 8pm.

Hopefully this season of shows will not let us down again!!!

Some of the weirdest Phobias...

2008-07-28T09:50:00.000-07:00

BOO!!! Did I scare you?? Ok so probably not but, perhaps some of the topics that I will be talking about just might. That’s right I’m talking about Phobias!
A Phobia is an irrational and excessive fear of an object or situation. In most cases, the phobia involves a sense of endangerment or a fear of harm.

Ablutophobia: Fear of washing or bathing
Aerophobia: Fear of swallowing air
Ambulophobia: Fear of walking

Anablephobia: Fear of looking up

Anemophobia: Fear of wind

Anthrophobia: Fear of flowers

Arachibutyrophobia: Fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth. Arithmophobia: Fear of numbers
Aulophobia: Fear of flutes

Barophobia: Fear of gravity

Batophobia: Fear of being close to high buildings
Bibliophobia: Fear of books

Blennophobia: Fear of slime
Bogyphobia: Fear of the bogeyman

Cathisophobia: Fear of sitting
Catoptrophobia: Fear of mirrors
Chaetophobia: Fear of hair
Chionophobia: Fear of snow
Chromatophobia: Fear of colors

Chronophobia: Fear of time
Cibophobia: Fear of food
Clinophobia: Fear of going to bed

Cnidophobia: Fear of string
Deciophobia: Fear of making decisions
Dendrophobia: Fear of trees
Eisoptrophobia: Fear of mirrors

Eleutherophobia: Fear of freedom
Eosophobia: Fear of daylight
Epistemophobia: Fear of knowledge
Ergophobia: Fear of work
Ereuthophobia: Fear of the color red
Geliophobia: Fear of laughter
Geniophobia: Fear of chins

Genuphobia: Fear of knees
Gnosiophobia: Fear of knowledge
Graphophobia: Fear of writing

Heliophobia: Fear of the sun

Helmintophobia: Fear of being infested with worms
Hemophobia: Fear of blood

Homichlophobia: Fear of fog
Hypnophobia: Fear of sleep
Ichthyophobia: Fear of fish
Ideophobia: Fear of ideas

Kainophobia: Fear of anything new
Kathisophobia: Fear of sitting down
Lachanophobia: Fear of vegetables

Leukophobia: Fear of the color white
Linonophobia: Fear of string
Logophobia: Fear of words

Melanophobia: Fear of the color black
Melophobia: Fear of music

Metrophobia: Fear of poetry
Mnemophobia: Fear of memories
Mottephobia: Fear of moths

Nebulaphobia: Fear of fog
Neophobia: Fear of anything new
Nephophobia: Fear of clouds
Nomatophobia: Fear of names
Octophobia: Fear of the number 8

Ommetaphobia: Fear of eyes
Oneirophobia: Fear of dreams
Ophthalmophobia: Fear of opening one's eyes

Panophobia: Fear of everything
Papyrophobia: Fear of paper
Peladophobia: Fear of bald people
Phobophobia: Fear of fear
Photophobia: Fear of light
Phronemophobia: Fear of thinking
Pogonophobia: Fear of beards
Sciophobia: Fear of shadows

Scolionophobia: Fear of school

Sitophobia: Fear of food
Sophophobia: Fear of learning

Trichopathophobia: Fear of hair
Triskadekaphobia: Fear of the number 13
Xanthophobia: Fear of the color yellow

Do you....

2008-07-24T14:37:00.001-07:00

Do you ever think back to old times and then just start laughing?? Almost everyday I remember something incredibly stupid that I did or something that was really funny. They say that the things that happened in the past make you who you are today. I strongly agree with that because if you were to go back and change something you might not be where you are today. Some of my greatest memories happened with my friends and I would like to share some of them with you.

One thing that I will never forget is when my friends and I would dress up crazy just to go out to dinner. Not for any special occasion but, just to be stupid and have some fun. I must say that we got some really weird looks as we walked into AppleBees for dinner but, all in all we had a great time and this is one night we will never forget!

Think back to high school… remember when you had School Spirit week? That was my favorite week! It was a time where you could wear a ridiculous outfit to school and you were considered weird if you didn’t wear one.

Another time that I will never forget is when I played the part of the reindeer in Grandma Got Ran Over by a Reindeer!! I must say that I did make one fine reindeer and my dance teachers said that they could never fill my spot again. With my long legs leaping across the stage and my animated attitude I made for a pretty funny reindeer.

Oh the joys of self cameras!! I dunno how many times that my friends and I used self timers on our cameras or we just tried to aim the camera just right to get all of us in it. In most of our cases the pictures really are worth a thousand words!

You can’t do that at work… or Can you???

2008-07-17T13:35:00.000-07:00

Of all my days at work I can honestly say that the things that I have seen and heard here in my department are really out of this world!

Now let’s define work… Physical or mental effort or activity directed toward the production or accomplishment of something. Hmmm… this may be the definition of work but, it is definitely NOT the definition of MY work!! Something along the lines of silly, funny, non stop laughter, loud, annoying, rude, sad, bouncing off the walls, basically almost anything you can think of would describe my work. Normally when I’m at work I’m usually quiet but, I must say that working with my team they have brought out a different side of me!

Have you ever had one of those days when you hear something really funny and whenever you think about it you start to smile and even giggle?? That’s basically everyday hear at my work! Let’s say you’re just sitting down minding your own business and you hear “Take your pants off!”… Yes, you may think that this is a joke but, sadly it is not. Some of you may think someone should have been dialing in HR for sexual harassment but, if you only knew that this statement was given between two guys in our department you wouldn’t call HR but, you just give a blank stare.

Or what about if you heard “We’re having a dance off!”, no this is not a new hit show that I’m talking about but, the crazy place that I call work.

Or what about Batman on Drugs?!? Yep you heard right! Never would I have thought that I would have seen or heard that but, while in here I see it all!!

Almost every day, if not every other day we usually get a clip of a T.V. Show, song, or any type of media presented by one of the guys on our team! Take for instance, if you are familiar with the Television show Family Guy, this show is worshiped by members of our team! Ok so maybe not worshiped but, they do like to recite lines from it… like the character Herbert the Pervert, one of the guys on our team can do his voice better than anyone that I know! It will be so quiet in our room and then all of a sudden, “Cinnamon!”, or “I know what boys like, I know what they want, I know what boys like, boys like, meee”, or the ever popular “Call Me!”, Pretty funny the first few times right…. After awhile it’s just “OLD!!!”. :)

Another one of their favorites is from something they watched on you tube just the other day. Some guy did a comedy skit about hot pockets, so now every other day we hear “Hot Poookets”, yep you guessed it just like the commercial!

Though the saddest thing that I have ever heard them talk about and make fun of is about this sweet little cat called “Chase No Face”. This poor kitten apparently got into some horrific accident when it was 4 weeks old and survived. So very frequently we hear them talk about Chase No Face and laugh about it I don’t find it funny at all because I think it’s so sad.

Or else they love to sing JUST THE BEGINNING of Enrique Iglesias' song, Do You? So randomly throughout the day we will hear, "Do you, do you, Do you know what it feels like!". And another one that just started today is "MOMMA MIA!".

One of their other phases that they went through was when they received different gadgets through the mail. Their first delivery was when they got their carpet skates. Yes, you heard right… carpet skates! These are little Velcro slippery slippers that go on the bottom of your shoes and when you get a running start you can just glide across the floor. It literally sounded like elephants were in our department when they would be running and then glide across the floor. They used to have races to see who could travel the farthest while wearing the skates, and they would also place obstacles in the aisle such as the garbage can to try and jump over. Once again this was all very funny the first few times and then it got “OLD!”

Well, apparently they believed that it got old fast too because the very next week they got a new toy and this was a battery operated helicopter. Yep, this is another thing that you would not expect to see in a work environment but, the department I work for is Web marketing sooo some people are a little crazy. These helicopters had a really annoying sound that would just be buzzing in your ear and then you would hear it get really close and have to duck and cover for fear that the helicopter’s driver would loose control of it and it would then crash on your head!

Ohhh, but this wasn’t the only thing that you have to fear that will crash on your head. At the end of some of our team meetings we will throw a huge beach ball around the room called, “The Google Ball”, and this will go on for about 10 min give or take and usually stops when someone gets hurt! Ok so not really, they usually just let that person sob bit and then hit them again. Sounds like a lot of fun huh?? Sure it is but, let me tell ya it sure get’s… “OLD!”, after about the first few minutes.

While also being at work the boys of our team also like to catch up on their Spanish learning. So constantly we hear the phrases, “MIRADA!!” meaning “Look!”.

Or just the other day someone wanted to know how to say burn… so the remainder of the day we heard. “quernado”. Then for some odd reason that brought up the conversation about burnt almonds! So then how to pronounce burnt almonds in Spanish was then looked up… never in my life would I have thought that I would have heard “ hey guys did you know in Spanish burnt almonds is, almendras tostadas”. Why anyone would want to know that… I haven’t the slightest clue but, now you know too!

They also like to practice on words that they already know too. Like sausages! At random moments throughout the day I would hear sausages, sausages,SAUSAGES! And for the longest time I really didn't know why they were screaming it, until I learned that it came from a Budweiser commercial.

Another word they were very fond of was pancake. Although not pronounced like it normally should be... this would be in a very high pitched voice like PANCAKE-KEE!!

You also have to be careful not to make Jiff mad while at work or else he might just threaten your life! He not really being serious but, just to be on the safe side I try to stay low... because just the other day someone burned some popcorn and he screamed if you burn popcorn one more time I'll kill you!

Then he also likes to say randomly throughout the day that he wants to punch you in the throat!

Though I would have to say my all time favorite moment of being in this department was when two of our guys were play fighting back and forth through email and the most ugliest Halloween costume or I dunno what you would want to call it got sent. And then the response with the picture sent back was “Halloween 2006 was a hard time for me!”, I think that I about peed my pants.

It’s the things like that that help get me through the day and keep me laughing. This department can get crazy at times though it’s fun to say that we CAN do that at work!!! And I don't think that I will ever find another team that is as crazy as mine !!
P.S. I would like to give a special thanks to my team, for without you guys this blog could have never been created! :)

A new member to our Family

2008-06-24T09:48:00.000-07:00

We recently added a new addition to our family. A new baby husky!!! Her name is Roxy and she is now 7 weeks old. When I first brought her home our older husky, Thor, hated her! He snapped at her and bit her; I thought that they would never get a long. After about a week and a half he realized that the new puppy was here to stay. Slowly we started letting him get close to her to sniff her and get used to her but, the second he tried anything funny we took him away. As a mom to both of them I felt really bad because Roxy couldn’t play and I felt bad for constantly scolding Thor.

Just this past weekend we were able to start letting them play together! Thor doesn’t realize that he is so much bigger than her so he tramples over her every now and she will cry. Our trainer told us not to baby Roxy too much because then she will think that every time she cries someone will come to save her; that is so hard to do because they sound so sad! I’m so happy that Thor now has a friend to play with but, potty training our new puppy is already getting old. Because we couldn’t leave her with Thor when they first met we lost precious training moments because she would just go wherever she could. I must say that I have really got my moneys worth when we got the steam cleaner! Hopefully very soon we Roxy will start learning that she needs to go outside.

I love puppies but, I hate the potty training, Roxy is already growing so fast and before I know it she will be getting so big! Thor will be happy once she is bigger so he can play rougher with her but, I will be sad because then I can’t hold her anymore. I wish that they could just stay little forever.

Fun Facts of Disneyland…

2008-06-12T16:09:00.000-07:00

All recorded music and sounds that you hear in the rides and throughout the park constantly run. It is more costly for Disneyland to shut the sound off and restart the system every day. The only time sound actually gets shut off is when there is an Emergency stop or large system failure, ie a massive power loss, emergency shut down or other sorts of emergencies. Most notable is It's a small world - the dolls may stop moving, but the music still plays and the Haunted Mansion - The buggies stop and the animatronics still move and the voiceover says there is a ghoul in the system with no music, but the when music does resume after the voiceover, it has been playing on. There was no pause in it at all. Luckily for cleaning and maintenance crews, they can turn it down so they won't go mad.

Main Street U.S.A

1. In one of the original plans for the park Walt Disney had the entrance of the park so you would have to walk over the train bream using stairs then you would walk through the train station and back down the stairs and on Main Street.

2. The ground is red in the entrance to give a red- carpet effect, but the real reason is that Walt wanted guests to feel as though they were stepping into a movie and they were the stars. So, like in Hollywood, he made the ground at the entrance red.

3. Ever notice how when standing on the sidewalks, it's difficult to see the Castle because the trees are in the way? The trees are deliberately placed in that fashion so that you look into the shops, where you are drawn inside! Conversely, if you're on the Street, the trees should be blocking your view of the shops, so you keep moving onward towards the Castle (weinie as Walt liked to say)! Note too, that the pavement is black on Main Street (and only Main Street). Why? Black pavement gets hot, which keeps people on the move. The pavement changes to calmer, cooler colours in the other lands. The idea behind this, I've been told by Disney Tour Guides, is to get people into the park, rather than bottlenecking the main entrance corridor.

Adventure Land

Indiana Jones - The Indiana Jones Adventure Ride cost the Disney folks about $100 million to make and took 7 years to design & build. The ride is physically big. The carefully prepared and aged artifacts and all the high tech necessary to operate the ride are housed in a 3 story building, (mostly underground) as long, and as wide as a football field. You can see part of the green building from the parking lot. You have to walk 1 KM before you board the ride itself. They did this so you could get a feel for the ride before even boarding it. The Disney ImaginEARS even brought in old National Geographic magazines for design ideas. They had to make the ride believable, controlled, and make it so no one else knows how they did it. The Troop Transports- Every 18 seconds one of the 7 ton, 12 passenger troop transports leaves for the journey. Each Transport has its own personality. There are 24 speakers per vehicle, 2 per person. They can travel up to 20 feet a second (but never do), have high beams & low beams, travel on rubber tires, and are front wheel drive.

New Orleans Square

Pirates of the Caribbean - Pirates of the Caribbean was originally going to be a walk through ride substantiated in "Disneyland Inside Story" by Randy Bright. Walt originally wanted to make it a walk through attraction but everyone advised against it because no one would want to walk through the attraction. Also "It's a Small World" was also planned this way. Walt finally made It's a Small World a boat ride. And, when they built Pirates, they used the same flat bottom boats as Small World.

Haunted Mansion - Walt Disney wanted the story to be told by the ravens in the attraction, although a few of the imaginers’ decided and convinced Walt that children would remember a story rather than the objects popping up at them., and it would scare them too much.

Critter Country

Splash Mountain- Originally Splash Mountain was supposed to be a water tunnel, but that couldn't be accomplished. Michael Eisner really wanted it to be as dry a ride as possible and stated "This is not Knott's Berry Farm!" (Referring to their log ride and Big Foot Rapids) That is why you still do not get completely drenched on Splash Mountain.

Frontierland - Big Thunder Mountain actually has a storyline to it. The mountain received it's name from an old Indian tale warning that if anyone was to deface this sacred mountain, a huge disaster would occur. The beginning of the ride is to show the natural beauty of the mountain and it's caverns. Yet it becomes pretty obvious that miners have now taken over the once peaceful mountain. The Indians' warning becomes reality when a huge earthquake strikes. The same storyline follows in WDW, with a flood replacing the earthquake.

FantasyLand

Matterhorn- When Disneyland first opened the Matterhorn wasn't there. It was just a patch of orange trees. The 1/100 scale 147 foot tall Matterhorn at Disneyland is set in exact geographical alignment with the real Matterhorn in Switzerland.
There is a basketball court in the top of the Matterhorn (there's a room up there that's about a half-court big). The climbers who used to scale the Matterhorn took their breaks there.

ToonTown

Disneyland launches their "Fantasy in the Sky" fireworks from the top level of the parking structure in the Disneyland TDA building. That is why this area, and Toontown, is closed down every night in the summer at 8:45 due to the fireworks fallout. The TDA building is located a few hundred meters behind Toontown (to the north to be exact). The cast members working at the TDA (Team Disney Anaheim) building are required to stay indoors while the fireworks are happenning.

TomorrowLand

Space Mountain- Because of its enormous size, Space Mountain was built 15 feet below ground to make sure it would fit the existing scale of Disneyland park's other structures.
Space Mountain goes below ground level not to maintain a scale with the rest of Disneyland. It does so to adhere to the City of Anaheim building codes. To go below ground level is very expensive and Disneyland tried for a wavier, but was denied. Space Mountain cost $20M to build - it cost more than the original park in 1955 dollars.

California Adventure

The site of Disney's California Adventure was originally a orange grove. Then, it took on a new life, flat and covered with asphalt, as Disneyland's main parking lot. Now, the Disney company had transformed it again. It has come almost full circle now containing a forest area and a orange grove. To do this Disney spent more than $500,000 on 136 smog-resistant Aptos Blue and Soquel redwoods from the Santa Cruz area to give portions of the park an authentic forest look and even more for the rest of the landscaping.

Dog Troubles...

2008-06-04T08:47:00.000-07:00

Well, after a long day at work who really wants to go home to a mess? Now, normally my dog does really well, if I leave him home alone in the house he doesn’t eat anything that’s not his. And with our Arizona weather kicking in it’s too hot to leave him outside during the summer, and not to mention that he is a husky so he isn’t use to this weather. So yesterday I came home and looked around and everything seemed to be the way I left it, little did I know that when I turned the corner to go into the living room that I would want to scream! My lovely dog Thor decided that he would have some fun and eat our couch. Not just take a few bite marks to the legs of the couch but, literally eat our couch!! He jumped on the couch and ripped off a back cushion and started taking out the stuffing of the couch. We weren’t planning on getting a new couch anytime soon but, we can’t have guests over with the back of our couch missing! I can officially say that I will never leave Thor alone in the house again unless he is in a doggie kennel.

Salt River Tubing Experience!

2008-05-29T13:21:00.000-07:00

It had been about two years since my last trip to the Salt River so we decided that we should start the memorial weekend off right with going tubing. Well, little did we know that the days before we wanted to go tubing, it would rain! In the state of Arizona rain comes once in a blue moon. So on Sunday morning we left around 6am, it was freezing cold and we were wondering why the heck we still wanted to go tubing. So tiredly we shopped in wal-mart getting our last supplies for the trip. We stopped for a bite to eat and then we were on our way to the river!!

Now normally on a holiday weekend the river is packed with people. Though as we continued driving there, we saw no cars! We wondered if the river was even open today or if we were the only idiots that wanted to go on the river that day because it was so cold. Finally approaching the parking lot we were amazed to only find a total of 5 cars in the parking lot! You may think that I’m joking but, there were seriously only 5 cars. It at least gave us a little more hope that there were other idiots like us that wanted to go on the river. So while waiting for the river to warm up we smothered on the sun block, even though the weather was cold I don’t risk anything. A few of our other friends were going to be meeting us at the river as well so we waited for them to arrive.

Well, four wonderful hours later they decided to grace us with their presence and we were soon on our way to the river. We took the bus to the first point in the river and were soon on our way. Getting into the water it was super cold and it sent shivers up my body. Though about an hour into the river that summer sun was beating down hard and we wondered why we came in such hot weather! Before we left on the river the people had told us that a trip around the whole river would be about 6 to 7 hours I thought that was a really long time but, once you were on the river you understood why they said that. The beginning of the river was not so bad we were pacing along at a good speed, not even to a half way mark; we were stuck dead in our tracks. The river was not flowing, and it sucked really bad.

During our drift along the river we saw some interesting sites. Our first encounter was a girl that had passed out in her tube! Her members of her group were not paying attention to her and when they turned around they saw that she had tipped over in her tube and was drowning! So amongst our group of people we had 3 people that worked in the medical field so they pulled off to help her. Members of the drowning girls group were all drunk and didn’t care what happened to her they were saying things like who cares, lets just float down the river and give her some bread she will be fine. But, what they didn’t understand was that their friend was in serious danger and if they didn’t receive some medical help soon she could possibly die. We gave them the advice that at the next stop they needed to pull off and receive medical assistance but, we didn’t run into that group again so we will only hope that she got the assistance that she needed. Though the really big excitement that shook up our group was when our tubes hit the rapids. I had forgotten how fast you float over those and if you don’t lift your booty up you will get a nice little surprise in the rear! Well, after all of us screaming lift your bottom up one member of our group was not paying attention and she flew out of her tube and into the rocks she went. I could feel the pain that she was going through as her feet and back took hits on the rocks! While two men in our group kept her head above water, the poor thing was in a lot of pain. At the next rest stop that we saw we pulled off to let everyone take a quick break and regain themselves after that.

So after our excitements for the day my friend and I decided that we would be the smart ones and not drink anymore. It was better to be safe and cautious of everything around us than impairing our vision and thoughts. Well, we had been on the river for a good 4 hours now and we still had not reached the second stop. I think this was possibly the longest river trip that I had ever been on! Remembering that the last bus back to the parking lot left at six thirty we thought that it would be a good idea to leave at the next stop. Very tired and ready to go home and take showers we pulled off the river and made our way back home. After this trip to the river I think that I need some time before I set foot on the river again. My body is still recovering from the trip and the only good thing that came out of the experience was that I slept like a baby!

Baby Showers!!

2008-05-19T14:46:00.000-07:00

After this weekend I don’t think that I want to go to another baby shower! Well, at least not for awhile anyways. I don’t think that I have seen that many people before come to a baby shower! There had to be almost sixty people; this baby is well loved and she hasn’t even made her debut yet!

Anyways since this is my boyfriend’s sister’s baby shower I was in charge of the games. Though with that many people, it’s kinda hard to play any games. So I got put in charge of handing the presents to Melanie as she opened them and if they were really cute I was to walk around and show everyone. I think that by the time Melanie got done opening her presents baby Peyton had more clothes than me!! We will just hope that Peyton will be able to grow into her clothes and get to wear all of them and not sprout like a bean and out grow them all. I was very surprised that she did not get as many diapers as I thought that she would! But, she got a lot of really nice things that will come in handy.

Well, as the baby shower ended it was time to start picking up the mess. Which is always soo much fun! Some how I ended up getting stuck with washing all of the dishes, yay me, NOT!! There were so many bowels and platters to clean that were holding the food my fingers looked like a couple of prunes by the time I got done! Though finally all the clean up was done and we were able to leave. I never want to help throw a baby shower for a long time. Attending them is easy, you just eat and give your gift then be on your way, though when you are helping you get stuck with the clean ups! All in all it was a wonderful shower and I cannot wait for the baby to arrive!

What Ever Happened to…

2008-05-14T14:03:00.000-07:00

Do you remember a time when it was actually worth watching Nickelodeon? I think that it’s really sad that today’s kids will not get to experience all the great shows that so many of us grew up with!

I remember on Saturday nights when I used to want to stay home and just watch the television instead of going on. This was all because of SNICK. SNICK (short for Saturday Night Nickelodeon) was a two-hour programming block on the American cable television network Nickelodeon, geared toward general audiences, that ran from August 15, 1992 until mid-2004, Saturdays starting at 8 p.m. ET. In 2004, SNICK was revamped as the Saturday night edition of TEENick.

SNICK Line ups
1992-1994
• Clarissa Explains It All
• Roundhouse (TV series)
• The Ren & Stimpy Show
• Are You Afraid of the Dark?
Summer 1993 and 1994
• Clarissa Explains It All
• The Adventures of Pete & Pete
• The Ren & Stimpy Show
• Are You Afraid of the Dark?
• Roundhouse (TV series)
1994-early 1996
• The Secret World of Alex Mack
• All That
• The Ren & Stimpy Show
• Are You Afraid of the Dark?
Early 1996-late 1996
• The Secret World of Alex Mack
• All That
• Space Cases
• Are You Afraid of the Dark?
Late 1996-early 1997
• Kenan & Kel
• All That
• The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo
• Kablam
1997-1999
• Rugrats
• All That
• Kenan & Kel
• The Journey of Allen Strange
All these shows aired from 8 p.m.-10 p.m. with the ending having the big orange couch and above that a clock counting down until next week's broadcast.

My all time favorite show of this line up was Are you Afraid of the Dark. I remember some of the episodes used to really scare me! This show was about friends who would sit around a camp fire and tell scary stories. There group was called The Midnight Society. Each week a different person would have to bring a story to tell the group. I really think that they should put this show back on the air with new kids, because I think that it would be a big hit again. Today’s kids need to have something worth watching on television and not this garbage that they have on the air now! My hope is that one day Nickelodeon will have a back in the day type thing where all they do is air old shows… personally I think that it would be a big hit and it might just actually draw some of today’s kids into watching those shows!

My Last Final for the Semester...

2008-05-06T16:01:00.000-07:00

Well, after fourteen long weeks of school for the spring semester I can successfully say that I am done! Last night I took my final for Geology. Our assignment was to create a poster board choosing one of the topics from a list that was given to us. Then we were supposed to give a presentation on our topic in front of our class.

Not really knowing what I should present mine on, I chose Waste Disposal. Taking advice from my friend Ashley, I decided to do it on Disposable Diapers and how they affect our landfills. Who would have ever thought that the number of diapers in the landfills would equal the size of Texas?!

Very nervous I approached our classroom yesterday and dreaded giving my speech. Holding my note cards and reviewing what I would say to the class, I felt my body overwhelming with butterflies! Normally I’m not a nervous person and I don’t get shy in front of people but, the again I’m dancing when I’m in front of lots of people and not talking. Anyways our teacher came into the classroom and was like can I please have everyone display their boards around the room? I thought that was really weird but, I followed along. After everyone had their boards displayed, he was like alright I’d like to thank you all for being in my class and that’s your final! I think my jaw dropped to the floor. NO FINAL!!! I could hear the choir singing. For a minute I thought that he was just joking and that he would soon start making us present but, he said we could just hangout and relax for a few min before we left, that way it gave the school staff the idea that we were really having a final. Today after checking my school’s website, I saw that he had posted our grades. I got an A+ on the poster board and I passed the class with a B! I couldn’t have asked for anything better, well maybe an A but, passing with a B is just fine for me.

I’m normally not a science person so most of the time after I take a science course I never recommend it for anyone. Though I must say that having Mr. Randy Mc. Elroy, as my science teacher at, Estrella Mountain Community College, was a great benefit for me. He was not like most college teachers where they don’t listen and will not work with you. If I had a question or a problem with my homework, he would always be willing to help me and he was a very approachable person. At the end of the course, he made a once in a life time opportunity for me, so that I could take a test that I had missed. This really boosted up my grade and I am very grateful to have had a teacher that did that. I highly recommend this course for anyone who needs a science class, the course is called Geology 110 with Mc.Elroy, you will not want any other science teacher after you have had him. He makes learning fun, and does not boar you with lots of note taking and book readings. However he expands our learning by watching videos that give you the same information as in the book. So I say YES to taking a geology course you will not regret it!

The Never Ending Story...

2008-04-25T14:56:00.000-07:00

Meet Orrin...

While many people might have their ups and downs with children getting hurt and caring for them, I have the same problem with my “Big Baby”, otherwise known as my boyfriend, Orrin.

Oh where to start… well, we started dating my Sophomore year of high school, though we met my Freshman year, when he was a senior. When we first met we were just merely friends, and would always hang out. Well, at one party that we went to, he had just a bit too much to drink! Turning blue in the face and practically not breathing, he was rushed air evacuated to the hospital. While there, you would think that he would have learned his lesson to be more careful, haha that was only the beginning!

It had been almost a year later since his trip in the helicopter and I was very proud of him for not having anymore “accidents”. Although somehow I think that I might have jinxed him, because I received word that he crashed a “Go-Cart”, and broke his ankle, apparently he was not being smart and decided to race a “Go-Cart” down a mountain, and that’s when he crashed. Well, after this fall, it put him off of his feet for about six weeks, and $1000’s of dollars later.

Well, a little bit after his ankle had healed, we started dating. It was almost a year later from his “Go-Cart” crash, when I get a phone call from his brother telling me that he is in the ER. The only thing that I could think was (Oh great what did he do now!). THIS time he was goofing around with tractors, and he got ran over by a bulldozer! He was so lucky that he didn’t loose his leg, or worse his life. So once again he was off of his feet for another four weeks, for severe bruising. You would think that after this time, he would really learn his lesson and not want to be paying back medical bills all his life.

Well, spring turned to summer, and summer faded into fall, and before you know it, it was that time again! I bet your asking what more could he do to his body? Well, the answer is very simple what hasn’t he done to his body! This time I received the phone call, as I was leaving the dance studio. His mother told me that they were taking Orrin to the ER because he had cut his finger off! So there I am panicking thinking that he has a dangling finger, when I come to find out that his mom over exaggerated and it was only cut really deep. Once I again I asked him what stupid stunt that he tried to pull, and this time it was the old trying to cut a piece of metal with a dye grinder. I tell ya this boy will never learn his lessons.

Because, about two weeks later he decides to go riding on his dirt bike, which you know, is a normal thing that people do, but the only catch is it was on a track that they built. Well, he was supposed to be home by seven so that we could have dinner. At six thirty, I get a phone call from his friend that he was riding with that Orrin had broken his leg! I though it was some kind of mean joke that they were trying to pull on me. Nope it was all true! Knowing that it was too dark to ride his bike “one last time” around the track, he attempted to do his jump, which landed him with yet ANOTHER medical bill. This time his broken bone was more serious, because it was a compound fracture and his leg was practically dangling. Though just to top it all off he got another famous trip air evacuated, plus 4 nights in the hospital! I bet that he can’t wait for the medical bills to come piling in.

Dirt Bike Break...

So to end my wonderful little stories, I will leave you with this…

Two trips being air evacuated - $16,000
All the medical bills added up – Over $80,000
Having a boyfriend that always keeps me entertained – PRICELE$$!!

UPDATE: After this last incident with breaking his leg, he fell out of his truck and broke another bone! Don’t worry though this is a non weight bearing bone so they told him to “take it easy”, haha apparently they don’t know who they are talking to.

The Greatest Shows are back!!

2008-04-24T09:02:00.000-07:00

Back in November of 2007 the writers of many of the hit shows went on strike. This put a halt on any new episodes to be produced and also a lot of the award shows were affected by this. It was really devastating when I found out that Grey’s Anatomy would only be repeats and no new episodes would air until the writers got the pay that they deserved.

Though starting tomorrow ABC is all new, and the ABC Thursday block party is back! They will start the kickoff will an all new Ugly Betty, where Betty (America Ferrera) plans to spend her birthday with Henry. But those plans get derailed when Charlie -- who is Henry's baby mama -- shows up. Followed by Grey’s Anatomy, and then finally lost.

Grey's Anatomy picks up six weeks after Derek (Patrick Dempsey) and Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) ended their relationship, and Derek began dating Rose. But Meredith has something to occupy her. She and fellow residents Alex, Izzie and Cristina compete in a surgical contest. Bailey will act as judge. Meanwhile, interns George and Lexie adjust to their new apartment. And Callie finds an unexpected confidant in roommate Cristina's nemesis, Erica Hahn.

Finally, "Lost" is back at a new time -- 10 p.m. -- by picking up where it left off. Locke's (Terry O'Quinn) camp comes under attack and Jack (Matthew Fox) tries to discover the identity of a body that has washed ashore.

The only down fall to the new episodes are that the next new episodes will be aired two weeks after these. Somehow the producers of the shows think that by giving their fans a tease, it will lead them to eagerly want to watch the next show. Though I think that by waiting the two weeks it will either make the ratings go down because fans will forget, or it could bring a swing of the flow and ratings will sky rocket. So we will see what happens. All I know is that I am very happy that my Thursdays will no longer be boring and I cannot wait to watch the all new episodes!

School = Studying, Finals, Homework, Staying Up Late, and The Midnight Snack!!

2008-04-23T12:04:00.000-07:00

Oh how I hate anything and everything that has to do with school. This is my second year attending Estrella Mountain Community College. The school is kind of small, but I like it because it is close to my home, so I save a ton of money on gas. I am currently studying the field of Education, and I hope to very soon someday be teaching in my own classroom.

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I think that this semester has been one of my harder ones. So many things are due that it gets overwhelming. Not to mention that half of my classes are all online! I like the idea that I get to take the class in the comfort of my own home, but when I actually have to make a strategy of how to complete all of my homework in a timely manner it gets very frustrating. This semester I’ve had about two break downs where I said that I didn’t want to do school anymore! Though I have to keep my head up because this coming fall I will be graduating with my Associates Degree, I am counting down the days!

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Upon completing my AA, I plan to continue my studies at ASU West, where I will complete my teaching degree. Thankfully I have one of my very close friends taking classes with me, so that we can help each other along the way of our journey into teaching.

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How to Stay Hip with Teaching HipHop!

2008-04-22T09:50:00.000-07:00

For the past ten years, I have trained under the guidance of Rendee and Geri Parker at Desert West Dance Academy. This year, was the first time that I would be teaching my own classes! I was very excited when my teachers asked me to come and be a part of their teaching staff.

I have always worked around kids and I absolutely love every minute of it. But, when you are in charge of a classroom full of 15 little ankle biters everything changes. I remember the words of advice that my dance teachers gave me were, “You run the classroom, not them!” I comprehended what they had said though none of it made sense until the day that everyone was running wild! The kids were running around the classroom, some were playing on the gymnastics mats, and the other half were eating food. Right then I wanted to throw in the towel and say that I couldn’t do it, though I was not a quitter so I put on my mean teacher yell and got my classroom under control. Ever since that day I have not had a single problem since and my girls actually all listen to me.

Though my older girls are something else… At least with little girls their problems are with who cut who in line and name calling. With the older girls, everything is the end of the world to them. Sometimes I think that most of them come in there to socialize and not to dance. They will pick up their cell phones and text and even answer them while I am teaching! So now they must leave their phones in their bags and set them aside and are not to touch them until the end of class. Though I think that we have finally found our middle point and I understand them and they get where I’m coming from.

Our recital will be coming up on June 21, 2008. For the most part I feel confident enough that my girls will do well, in the recital but, there is still another part of me that thinks that they are not ready. Though I hope that all of my worries go away and that my girls will shine through!!

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Doggie Training Classes

2008-04-21T14:54:00.000-07:00

On March 1, 2008 I enrolled my energetic Siberian Husky, Thor, to his very first training classes at PetSmart. When we first signed up, I though oh great I will be the one getting most of the training while he runs around causing trouble. To my surprise though, the class are going very well. Just this past Saturday, my puppy learned how to shake! Now when I tell him to sit he automatically starts to lift his paw thinking that is what I'm going to ask him to do.

I have been also working on potty training with him. He just can't seem to give up going to the bathroom in our front living room! Though with the help and guidance of our trainer, he successfully has gone two weeks without having an accident, though I am keeping my fingers crossed that it will stay this way.

This coming Saturday will be Thor's last day of training class, and he get his very own graduation complete with a cap and all!!! I must say that I am a very proud mother. To further his pet training education, I have decided to enroll him in the Advanced Education next. I think that pet training is not only good for dogs to be better behaved but, it also bring pets and their owners closer together.