Earthquake #2

Yes folks, another earthquake. This one doesn't even compare to our first one... this one was so minute that Jared didn't feel it.

We were getting ready for a Christmas party Friday evening. We were suppose to be picked up at 8:15, but were running late. I was sitting at the desk when it swayed back and forth with rattling desk supplies. I rocked in my chair ever so slightly. I hollered to Jared and asked if he felt it. He told me I was crazy :-(

Saturday, while watching the news my suspicions were confirmed! An earthquake of a 5.1 magnitude occurred about 140 miles away! And I felt it! It occurred at 8:18pm Friday evening. No worries...we are fine.

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Something New I Learned in 5th Grade!

As you know I have been substitute teaching this school year. I am enjoying it because I learn new things each day! Usually I am learning new ways to better organize my files, or manage behavior, etc. But this week I learned something new in 5th grade math!We all know how to reduce fractions...you find a number that will go into both the numerator and denominator evenly and divide.

Traditional Example:
12
16

normally you would look at this and say 2 or 4 can go into both ofthese numbers evenly. 4 can go into 12 three times and can gointo 16 four times equaling =
3
4
The traditional method works well and may be easiest when dealing with low number you are familiar with. The Prime factorization method is better for larger number you are unsure of.

Prime Factorization: This method has you find the prime factors for both the numerator and denominator. This is done by asking yourself what two factors can I multiply to get the numerator? If the numbers are prime (a prime number has only two factors...itself and 1) you write them down. If they are not you continue asking yourself the factors until you get the prime numbers. Repeat this for the denominator. Then, you cross out any matching prime numbers from the numerator and denominator (there must be one from each side). Multiply the remaining factors and you are done! It is much easier than it sounds! I am really excited about this method!

Example:
12
51
I think in my head that 2x6 are factors of 12. 2 is a prime number so I write itdown (see ex. 1)

(ex.1)
12 2
51

Then I turn my attention to the 6. It is not a prime number so I find two factors for it.... 2x3 both of these are prime so I write them down (see ex.2)

(ex.2)
12 2 x 2 x 3
51

Next I do the same process for the denominator. Based on divisibility rules I know that
51 is divisible by 3. So...3x17 are my factors. Both areprime, so I write them down (see ex.3)

(ex.3)
12 2 x 2 x 3
51 3 x 17

Now I look at my numerator and denominator row. If there are anymatching numbers they are eliminated (see ex. 4)

(ex. 4)
12 2 x 2 x 3
51 3 x 17

(pretend the colored numbers are crossed out) Finally you multiply the remaining numerators together and the denominators together (see ex5)

(ex.5)
12 2 x 2 = 4
51 17 = 17

so our reduced fraction is
4
17

There you have it! I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did!

Parent's Thanksgiving Visit!

WARNING: This post has many pictures!

My parents came to California over our Thanksgiving break! They flew in Sunday evening. After a long day of traveling we enjoyed dinner in and a movie.

Monday: Today we went to the Ellen show! We made a quick stop for lunch at In and Out Burger (one of a few "musts" for my parents). We then spent roughly 2 hours waiting to enter the studio for the Ellen show. All the while Jared was hoping, praying, and fantasizing about the gifts Ellen would give away (he really wanted a Wii). We ended up sitting third row from the back. The studio was much smaller than I thought. The guest for the whole show was Beyonce. Ellen started the show off by giving all of the audience a $150 gift card to the mall! Ya!!! Later in the show, after hearing Beyonce sing 5 songs we received a gift bag from her clothing line. Overall, we had a great time. It was fun watching my parents dance :-) Pictured below from left to right- dad: wearing necklace from Beyonce, 2 cds, and her bag -mom: Beyonce t-shirt - Jared: gift card - Me: Beyonce sandals.

We ate dinner in Downtown Disney at ESPN Zone. We caught the fire works from Disneyland. When we got home my dad helped me make caramel. The poor guy spent over and hour stirring! It was good!

Tuesday: Today we got up early and drove about an hour south to Temecula (Southern California's wine country). We went to several wineries where we tasted great wine! The first picture is of the vineyards of one of the wineries. The second is of the barrel room. They store in French and American barrels.

Wednesday: Today we went shopping! The gift cards we received from Ellen could only be redeemed at malls owned by a certain company. The closest one to us was 40 minutes away. We decided to go shopping because the closest mall to my parents is Columbia, MO (not that close). It was a short trip ending with Jared buying his Wii!!!

We continued to day by traveling to Newport Beach. We got out and walked the pier. People were catching sting rays, and star fish....sad :-( We then went to Laguna Beach.

That evening I used my newly acquired cake decorating skills to teach my parents the proper way to pipe icing :-) We decorated a cake for turkey day!

Thursday: Thanksgiving! We started this rainy day with a walk in the park. Then Adam joined us for some Wii play. We went to an early dinner at Claim Jumper. It was tasty!

We returned home for some cake and more Wii playing. It was a lazy evening with all of us off to bed early. We had a lot of fun during my parents visit. Can't wait to see you again in 3 weeks!

Twilight

Friday was opening night for the long awaited movie, Twilight! I had heard, through some of Jared's classmates, that the movie wasn't good and the acting was bad. This brought my expectations down, but I was still excited. Jared and I, along with a couple of friends (the ones who got me hooked to the series), went to the 9:30 showing. We wanted to be able to sit together, so we arrived an hour early....NOT early enough. The line was wrapped around the side of the theater! To pass the time we played catch phrase...the girls won! Anyway, the movie was good (even Jared enjoyed it)!

Thanksgiving #1

Jared and I enjoyed a Thanksgiving dinner with some of his classmates. Each person or couple brought a dish. Jared and I made cheesy potatoes, which were a hit! To make it feel more like Thanksgiving (b/c the weather has been so nice...it doesn't feel like late November) Jar and I made some festive hats. After dinner we played Taboo. Dinner was great but the company was better!

Jess!

Saturday afternoon Jared, Elsie, and I went to visit Jess is Manhattan Beach. She was in town on business. Jared and I walked around on the beach until we met up with Jess for dinner. We eat and talked. It was nicing getting caught up! I miss you Jess! It was good to see you!

SoCal Fires

In the words of Jared...

So I'm not sure if you guys knew this, but one of the reasons Sarah and I moved to California was to check a few more natural disasters off of our list. So far we have: tornados, check; hurricane, check; flooding, check; earthquake, check, and the newest to our collection - fires, check!

Anyway. I'm not sure if this has been on the news in the midwest, but we are sitting on the edge of one of the worst fires this area has seen in decades. Fires are in Brea, Yorba Linda, Corona, and Chino Hills. We live on the fullerton/brea city borders, with mandatory evacuations only about 1 mile from our home. Fullerton is sandwiched between Brea and Yorba Linda. Thousands have been evatuated.

The day started as usual, with warm temps, and blue skys. We were watching the news and commenting on how close the fires were, but little did we know what our area would be like in a few short hours. By early afternoon, the skys were thick with smoke, and it was "raining" ash from the skies. We both said it seemed like how they portray volcanoes in the movies.

We had plans to go to Manhattan Beach to visit friend, Jess who was in town on business, so we decided to go anyway. To be safe we packed a bag of clothes, our valubles (very limited) and Elsie and headed out of town. Manhattan beach is about 30 miles from our place (and the fires), but it was still hazy, smoky, and ash was falling from the sky THERE too! It made for a great photo op with the sunsetting through the haze!

Attached are some pictures from our apartment. The first picture is taken (while we were "fleeing") from an intersection one street over from our apartment. It isn't a great picture, but look thru the fence and you can see how close these fires are. Our apartment sits right inbetween us in the picture and the fires on the hills. The pictures after that are some snapshots from our apartment. We decided to come back to the apartment last night because the Santa Ana winds calmed down, but the smoke is still thick and our apartment smells like a large campfire. The last picture is just a sampling of the nice coat of ash we have all over our place. Keep in mind when you are looking at the pictures that this should be a sunny cloud free day!

Ash covering the ground in front of the apartment.


Notice there are a bunch of glowing white spots in the photo - that is ash falling from the sky!
Elsie looking worried.

The Eyeball...a little optometry humor!

Fridayevening we attended the eyeball, a dinner and dance through Jar's school. We got all dressed up and went to the party with some friends, Stephanie and Ryan.

Birthday Fun!

To start off my celebration Jared made me oatmeal pancakes, eggs, and bacon. It was delicious!!! I was also surprised with a Starbucks pick-me up while breakfast was being prepared! Then we were off to Disneyland! I was given a birthday button, which ended up making my b-day even more special. I got more “happy birthdays” yesterday than I would have thought possible! Jared and I took the day to indulge in the finest of foods. After the wonderful breakfast we continued our fine dining with a corn dog for lunch. We were able to meet up with friends Neal, Angie, Royce, and Aubree! With the day winding down we went for Chipotle with Cheesecake Factory Chocolate cake! YUMMMMM! I was blessed with a fantastic day with my wonderful husband and many loving cards, email, and texts from friends and family! Thank you for making it a great day! Love you all!

Haunted Mansion

Sunday was the last day Disneyland was celebrating Halloween. Jared and I really wanted to see the Haunted Mansion decked out in “the Nightmare Before Christmas” theme, so we went! Jared was studying for his finals, so we went as a study a break for that one ride. It was great! We are both glad we made it!

Halloween

After Jared’s 1st final we spent Halloween night relaxing. We joined our friends Royce and Aubree at Neal and Angie’s place. Us girls dipped strawberries, cinnamon bears, pretzels, and candy corn in chocolate. We used the chocolate we had left over from the caramel apples. After our dipping fun we watched the Incredible Hulk (picked out by the boys). It was an enjoyable, relaxing evening!

And the final cake lesson was....Roses!

Thursday night was our last cake class. We spent the entire class practicing making roses. This was extremely difficult. The icing I had made was a little dry, so I added water...this made it too wet. Several others were having trouble with their icing too. The consistency of the icing has to be just right. Our instructor saved the day by purchasing some icing from the store. In the end I think my cake turned out really well! We received certificates of completion that we had to show off. And yes, I am the dork wearing the apron. :-)

Unidog!

I couldn't resist dressing Elsie up on Halloween. It just happened that my unicorn head fit her. Doesn't she make a cute unicorn!?

Halloween Party #1 and #2

Friday night we attended the SSA (student spouse association) sponsored Halloween party…I was on the planning committee ☺ Jared and I went as unicorns thanks to my wonderful mom! Doesn’t my unicorn husband look adorable?!

"Monster mouths" Jared and I made for the party


Our costumes


Butterfly and butterfly catcher (aka Angie and Neal)


Jason and Ami


Barbie and Ken (aka Aubree, Royce and Grace)


Nerds (aka Shonnee and Aaron)


Unicorn vs. Harry Potter (Jared and Chad) Saturday night we attended the Delt halloween party.