So, yesterday I had my 20-week ultrasound. For those in the know, that means that we found out the sex of our baby and we're having . . . a BOY! And he appears to be perfectly healthy. Here's a cute little picture of him:
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Baby Update
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Vouchers vs. No Vouchers in Utah
Okay, so I'm really, really sick of hearing about people who don't want vouchers for schools here in Utah. I believe that it comes down to parents who listen to teachers and the public school system rather than learning about it for themselves. I had a class at BYU where we discussed the voucher system and how it would change the school system, and so I feel I have better grasp on what would change if Utah adopted this system, and seeing as I will have a child who will be starting school in Utah beginning Fall 2013, I feel I should get to have an opinion about this.
- The US has just about the best University system out of the world. Why? Because the system is competitive. Schools know that to get the student's money, they have to have the best teachers, the best programs, and the best system for educating the students. It makes the students work harder so that they can get into the best schools in the country as well. So basically it makes the schools and the students better.
On the other hand, the US has one of the poorest public school systems compared to other countries of equal status. Why? Because there is no competition. Let me ask you, Who gets into Harvard, Yale, and other Ivy League schools? Are the majority of accepted students poor? Did they go to public schools or private schools?
Our public schools aren't preparing students to go to Ivy League universities, unless maybe they live in a rich area where a lot of tax money roes to schools. I, on the other hand, went to a poor high school. We had one AP class offered, no real high tech classes, and the community was so apathetic to the school that every year the levy had to be voted on twice to get it to pass. If it hadn't, we would have had to pay $200+ just to play a sport or participate in activities, which, in my opinion, would have probably led to there not being sports because not enough students would have been able to pay for it. Not only that, but the whole attitude of the school and the majority of the teachers was, "We don't expect you to go to college, so we'll try to teach you something you can use when you graduate." In that vein, we were offered auto mechanic classes, forestry classes, and classes at a local vocational school. Additionally, 90 out of 290 students of my graduating class did not graduate. This is what you get when you live in a poor community with not much money from taxes.
On the other hand, if we had vouchers, elementary and secondary schools would have the same competitiveness as our universities. Since the voucher system is based on income, it wouldn't prejudice those with less money, but would actually give them a leg up. These vouchers would be between $500 and $3000. This school year, taxpayers will pay over $7500 per student (information from (http://www.votefor1.org/whyvotefor1.asp). Assuming the average voucher would be for $2000, that would mean an average of $5500 less money would be spent per student who used a voucher, and at least $4500 less.
The result would be less crowding in schools, less students per teacher, and, according to Utah State University, $1 billion more for public schools over the next 13 years. For a good article about this from a BYU professor, see http://newsnet.byu.edu/story.cfm/64522. - Parents would have more control over where they send their kids. What if your child was interested in the arts. There could be a private school devoted to art education in addition to general education. They would get teachers that were more specialized in teaching art and they would complete the school knowing more about their interest. What if your child was interested in dancing, sports, math, bilingual education, etc.? There could be schools that cater to these specialties. Just as you go to colleges and universities whose programs are the best in the country in your specific field, these schools could specialize in these various specialties as well. Of course, all would teach the basics of math, social studies, English, science, and so on, but they would have these other special interests that would be geared towards their students' interests.
Not only that, but if you didn't like how they ran the school, or how your teacher treated your child, you could threaten to take your child out and the tax money with him/her. If they still didn't want to help, you could enroll your child in a different school. Can you do that now? Most parents feel powerless if their child is not getting the education they deserve. Now there is hope. - What public school systems are the best in the country? The majority of them are in areas with rich residents. In these areas, a larger amount of tax money is apportioned for schools. With the more money, the schools have better programs, facilities, teachers, activities, etc. Basically, the rich are getting better educated because of their money. With vouchers, students who would not have the opportunity to go to a better school, or who not have a choice of schools to go to, would now have the ability to go to a school that they would like better.
- Teachers would have to sharpen their skills and become better teachers to stay teaching. Have you ever had teachers that were just horrid? My sister's third grade teacher dumped her notebook in front of her class for the purpose of humiliation. And you know what? She was there 4 years later to do the exact same thing to my brother his third grade year. How did she stay employed after teaching like that? Because that is how theschool system works. Teachers aren't fired, they're "transferred" to another school where they can continue to be horrid teachers.
If schools had to be competitive, schools couldn't afford to have a teacher that no students want. They would have to get rid of that teacher. I'm not saying all the teachers would be wonderful, and I had my share of bad teachers even while in college, but it would raise the level of teachers overall. Plus, the teachers would get paid more, so they would have more incentive to get better as teachers, and more good teachers would stay in Utah rather than moving to other areas where they get more pay. - Look at the results of private schools. Why would a parent pay for a child to go to a private school when they're already paying for public schools through taxes if they didn't think that the education received there was better? The results of private schools speak for themselves.
- If you can't afford a private school even with the voucher, you still have the choice of sending your child to public school at no cost (although a lot of schools' tuition falls under the amount of the voucher in Utah, depending on the amount you receive).
But don't just trust my opinion, there is evidence out there including this study done at Harvard, which can be found at http://www.economics.harvard.edu/faculty/hoxby/papers/hoxby_2.pdf.
Other links can be found here: http://www.votefor1.org/research.asp.
Another place to go for a balanced opinion pro and con can be found here: http://www.balancedpolitics.org/school_vouchers.htm
Go to http://www.kcpw.org/article/4339 to listen to a debate about the issue between Richard Eyre, pro, and Carol Spackman Moss, con.
Those opposed to this are the public school system and teachers because it threatens their monopoly. To this point they had complete control over the education of children and how it all works, and they don't want to lose that control. But at what expense?
Whether you agree with me or not, please take the time to get educated on the issue and vote on November 6, 2007 on whether Utah should adopt a school voucher system or not.
If you need to register to vote, you can mail in a registration form found at http://elections.utah.gov/VoterRegistrationForm.pdf up to 30 days befor election day or present it at the County Clerk's office up to 15 days before election.
And don't forget to vote!!
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Monday, August 13, 2007
Day at Lagoon!
So on Saturday, my company had a summer party at Lagoon amusement park. It's my first time going, mostly because it's an hour away and it costs something like $36 to get in. But with my company paying and providing a free lunch, I figured I'd take advantage and see if the park is worth going to on another occasion. I came up with this conclusion: it would be pretty fun if you went on an off day, like a Monday or Wednesday or something. I could be wrong and it'd still pretty crowded on those days, but I bet it's only half as full. I also realized a Utah phenomenon: if you're not LDS, you can take great advantage by going on Sunday. I met someone in one of the lines that said the last time she came was on Sunday and there were hardly any lines. You wouldn't find that anywhere else. Elsewhere Sunday would be just as crowded, although I wonder with having two days rather than one if it would be more spread out, so not as crowded on Saturday.
Anyway, Aaron and I got there around 11:30 a.m. We tried to find a ride to go on before lunch and decided to ride the Bat. Let me tell you, it was not worth standing in line for a half hour for this. It was quite lame. After lunch we went to the Pioneer Village and walked around. It was pretty cool—basically a museum of pioneer with real pioneer structures and such. They had toys, carriages, furniture, guns, coins, and so on from the pioneers who settled Utah originally.
We were hoping the lines would go down, too. But even around 5 p.m., it didn't seem to be any shorter. We went on a couple of the smaller rides, including the swings, which I liked as a kid and mom was always worried I'd fall out of every time I rode it. This ride was nice because with almost 50 people being able to go on it at once, you never had to wait long in line. By then we were really hot and tired and disappointed because we hadn't gone on any real rides, especially a good rollercoaster because of the long lines.
We were almost going to go home, but then decided we'd deal with the long line to go on the new rollercoaster, Wicked. Boy are we glad we did. Although the line was really long, it went really fast--only about 40 minutes. And boy was it worth it! This ride is awesome. You start out inside a tunnel; you go around a corner and it shoots you forward at 55 miles an hour. Then you go straight up perpendicular to the ground and then up and over and straight down. I couldn't even open my eyes at this point—I was too scared. Then you're twisting and turning doing some more ups and downs extremely fast. And then it's over. It was a true rollercoaster and thoroughly enjoyable. One thing I liked was that it wasn't jerky like other ones I've been on. Some when you go around a corner, you jerk from side to side and it's uncomfortable; but this one is very smooth. The designers did a great job.
After that we headed home, only stopping along the hour-long ride to get dinner. We stopped at Wal-mart near our house to get a couple things and we could barely walk. I was completely exhausted by the time I fell into bed and slept for like 10 hours—still feeling like I needed more. Of course, I also woke up Sunday sick, so that could've been partly why I slept so much. I had to get someone to sub for me in Primary—I didn't want to get my kids sick, too. I think my husband was grateful for that because he was so sore, he could barely walk. I expected to be sore too, but so far I haven't been. Guess I'm in better shape than I thought! Today I'm feeling much better; luckily it was just a small cold: sneezing and running nose (though I did go through like 50 kleenexes yesterday).
So overall it was fun and worth going. But definitely if I ever go again, it will be during the week (and maybe in September. My kids would have to miss one day of school, but it'd be worth it to go when it's less crowded). I also found out they have a little waterslide park within Lagoon, which I didn't realize, so next time I'll bring a swim suit and towel so we can do that as well as the rides.
Anyway, Aaron and I got there around 11:30 a.m. We tried to find a ride to go on before lunch and decided to ride the Bat. Let me tell you, it was not worth standing in line for a half hour for this. It was quite lame. After lunch we went to the Pioneer Village and walked around. It was pretty cool—basically a museum of pioneer with real pioneer structures and such. They had toys, carriages, furniture, guns, coins, and so on from the pioneers who settled Utah originally.
We were hoping the lines would go down, too. But even around 5 p.m., it didn't seem to be any shorter. We went on a couple of the smaller rides, including the swings, which I liked as a kid and mom was always worried I'd fall out of every time I rode it. This ride was nice because with almost 50 people being able to go on it at once, you never had to wait long in line. By then we were really hot and tired and disappointed because we hadn't gone on any real rides, especially a good rollercoaster because of the long lines.
We were almost going to go home, but then decided we'd deal with the long line to go on the new rollercoaster, Wicked. Boy are we glad we did. Although the line was really long, it went really fast--only about 40 minutes. And boy was it worth it! This ride is awesome. You start out inside a tunnel; you go around a corner and it shoots you forward at 55 miles an hour. Then you go straight up perpendicular to the ground and then up and over and straight down. I couldn't even open my eyes at this point—I was too scared. Then you're twisting and turning doing some more ups and downs extremely fast. And then it's over. It was a true rollercoaster and thoroughly enjoyable. One thing I liked was that it wasn't jerky like other ones I've been on. Some when you go around a corner, you jerk from side to side and it's uncomfortable; but this one is very smooth. The designers did a great job.
After that we headed home, only stopping along the hour-long ride to get dinner. We stopped at Wal-mart near our house to get a couple things and we could barely walk. I was completely exhausted by the time I fell into bed and slept for like 10 hours—still feeling like I needed more. Of course, I also woke up Sunday sick, so that could've been partly why I slept so much. I had to get someone to sub for me in Primary—I didn't want to get my kids sick, too. I think my husband was grateful for that because he was so sore, he could barely walk. I expected to be sore too, but so far I haven't been. Guess I'm in better shape than I thought! Today I'm feeling much better; luckily it was just a small cold: sneezing and running nose (though I did go through like 50 kleenexes yesterday).
So overall it was fun and worth going. But definitely if I ever go again, it will be during the week (and maybe in September. My kids would have to miss one day of school, but it'd be worth it to go when it's less crowded). I also found out they have a little waterslide park within Lagoon, which I didn't realize, so next time I'll bring a swim suit and towel so we can do that as well as the rides.
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Life in General Is Good
Whenever I speak to family on the phone, they always want to know what is going on in my life. My sister has three kids with one on the way, so she always has things happening (whether stories about her kids, how her pregnancy is going, news about her husband, etc.). My other sister is in the middle of selling her home in Florida and moving to California, so there is a lot to tell about what's going on there. My brother lives in Beijing, so right there he has stuff to talk about (the Chinese culture, plus he's starting a jewelry business).
I, on the other hand, usually can't think of much to tell. I have my primary class so I sometimes have cute stories to tell about them, but pretty much other than that, I'm just working. My husband been out of school for the summer working on some projects, so there is not much to tell there either. Basically, I'm saying my life is boring. But don't get me wrong; in a lot of ways, I'm glad my life is boring. I'd rather have that than tragedy or whatnot. Still, it's why I haven't blogged much—there's not much to tell.
When I finished reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, I asked Aaron if he wanted to know what happened. He said not to tell him and I was like, "You're bound to hear what happens before the movie comes out since it will be at least two years" (if not longer). He hasn't read any book besides book 1, which we read together. I hoped that would get him interested. He's liked the movies fine, but he doesn't much read for fun because it takes so much effort for him. But he was like, "Well, then I'll read books 6 and 7." I was somewhat surprised. Then I was like, "Well if you want to read together, I wouldn't mind reading with you. Then I can explain when you get to parts that weren't in the movie." Having only seen the movies, which have to leave a lot out, I figured he could use it.
So every night for the last few nights, we've been reading the sixth book together. I just read it a few weeks ago, so I admit it's not totally fun for me, but I love it when he learns something new or when we get to a funny part that makes him laugh (and me too). I have also found I get a lot more from the books than I have before because, since we're reading out loud, I can't gloss over paragraphs or sentences like I do when I read. Like last night, I caught something cool that I hadn't before. Harry, Ron, and Hermione are in Potions class and Slughorn has a cauldron of Love Potion. Hermione explains that the smell is different to everyone depending on what attracts them. One of the things Harry smelled was a flowery smell that he thought he smelled at the Burrow. Then later when Ginny comes by at a meal to talk to the three of them, Harry smelled that same flowery smell. Ha! He totally likes Ginny (but wouldn't even admit it to himself at this point). I hadn't caught that on my previous readings.
Anyway, it's been really fun and a great activity we can do together, esp. since it's been so hot outside making it hard to do anything together outside. It's better than watching TV or a movie, too, because it's more interactive.
We also had a nice afternoon together yesterday. They've been doing road construction outside our apartment for awhile now, off and on (for like three weeks), and after Aaron having to hear it all day, he was ready to get away when I got home from work, since they wouldn't be done for at least another hour. So we went to Baskin Robbins, where we had gift certificates that his mom had given us. We each got some ice cream, enjoyed the cool shop, then went over to the Orem Library just a couple blocks away from Baskin Robbins to get some books. I was able to get a whole pile of books that I've heard are good.
It was just a nice relaxing afternoon spent together.
So maybe all that was boring, but that is what's going on in my life. A week from Saturday my work is having a summer party at the only real amusement park in Utah (that I know of), Lagoon. I'm looking forward to that. I can't remember when I was on a roller coaster last (and we don't have to pay the $36/person just to get in, which is the price for anyone 4 years old and up). So that's something exciting to look forward to. Yay.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Just Finished HP7
Don't read the cut if you don't want spoilers!!! And no, I did not read all night. I slept for 5 hours. I did!
Wow . . . Wow. I don't think that the series could have ended any better. It was great. The big war at Hogwarts was perfect. Neville getting Gryffindor's sword and killing Nagini was awesome (he really blossomed in this book. Ron really did too--stepped up and gained confidence in himself). I have to say I was really worried when Harry "died", but wasn't it great how he pretended to be dead for awhile and then came back? Awesome. And how it all worked out for Harry to be the true owner of the wand. And the redemption of Snape. And of course it was so great to see him in the future.
I was a little surprised. I saw a Daniel Radcliffe say in an interview that JK Rowling would never let Harry have a happy ending because he would be too affected by everything he'd gone through, but she did just that, didn't she? I kind of agreed with Daniel when I heard that, and really was expecting Harry to be a tortured soul, but I guess he redeemed himself of it all by defeating Voldemort. Yes, people died, but it was not in vain. He was able to protect them all by be willing to die, and then defeat him and his followers. Maybe that, and no longer having a piece of Voldemort's soul, helped him to heal.
It really was such a fantastic ending. There were just some wonderful parts to it. I have to say though, now seeing it from the parents' perspective, it was a pretty sad scene when Harry and Ginny saw their children off, knowing they would not see them much over the school year. It was good for Harry to have a place to go, but it must be sad for the parents to be away from their kids so much.
The character development overall, in this book and in the series, was just fantastic though. I wish Snape hadn't been so mean to Harry all that time, but it was cool how it all played out. I think this series will seriously be a classic like Lord of the Rings and the like.
Wow . . . Wow. I don't think that the series could have ended any better. It was great. The big war at Hogwarts was perfect. Neville getting Gryffindor's sword and killing Nagini was awesome (he really blossomed in this book. Ron really did too--stepped up and gained confidence in himself). I have to say I was really worried when Harry "died", but wasn't it great how he pretended to be dead for awhile and then came back? Awesome. And how it all worked out for Harry to be the true owner of the wand. And the redemption of Snape. And of course it was so great to see him in the future.
I was a little surprised. I saw a Daniel Radcliffe say in an interview that JK Rowling would never let Harry have a happy ending because he would be too affected by everything he'd gone through, but she did just that, didn't she? I kind of agreed with Daniel when I heard that, and really was expecting Harry to be a tortured soul, but I guess he redeemed himself of it all by defeating Voldemort. Yes, people died, but it was not in vain. He was able to protect them all by be willing to die, and then defeat him and his followers. Maybe that, and no longer having a piece of Voldemort's soul, helped him to heal.
It really was such a fantastic ending. There were just some wonderful parts to it. I have to say though, now seeing it from the parents' perspective, it was a pretty sad scene when Harry and Ginny saw their children off, knowing they would not see them much over the school year. It was good for Harry to have a place to go, but it must be sad for the parents to be away from their kids so much.
The character development overall, in this book and in the series, was just fantastic though. I wish Snape hadn't been so mean to Harry all that time, but it was cool how it all played out. I think this series will seriously be a classic like Lord of the Rings and the like.
Monday, July 2, 2007
Clean House, Cute Kid
Aaron's been doing a good job at keeping the house clean. Yay!
Yesterday at Primary, when I showed up one of the girls in my class handed me the picture below that she drew. It is so cute I had to share. I asked her if it was for me and she said yes. I pointed to the girl and asked, "Is that me?" and she said yes. So cute that she would draw me a picture. Maybe that's why she thought she could get away with running around during class *palm forehead*. Oh well. She's still cute and do you really blame kids for being antsy after 2.5 hours of church.
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