Design a Whirligig!

My English 10 students are reading Whirligig by Paul Fleischman. In the text, Brent kills a young girl named Lea when he is driving drunk. He then travels around the country and makes whirligigs in memory of his victim.

The prompt: Design a whirligig to memorialize, celebrate, and/or commemorate a person who has influenced you.

Requirements:

• Must be 3-dimensional

• Must have a part that will spin in the wind

• Must be colorful

• Must represent the person

• Can be any size

• Can use any material – wood, cardboard, recycled materials, paper, etc.

I decided to make my whirligig in honor of my friend, Cassi Ann Ricks. Some people call her Cassandra. She has been on my mind recently because she moved to Colorado for grad school and I miss her face. On the stem of the whirligig are maps and flowers and images of Africa. I admire Cassi a great deal because she loves to travel, dares to travel, and finds ways to serve people from all walks of life. I have glued the cardinal directions to each spoke of the whirligig in order to represent the fact that Cassi is often going in a lot of directions but regardless of where she ends up I have no doubt that it will be somewhere lovely.

She has influenced my life because she has loved me unconditionally, without hesitation. When I have been crazy and strange and tragic she has let me and loved me still. She has been on great adventures with me, offered favors that are beyond the bound of friendship, and inspired me with her frank goodness.

Dress? Check!

Yep. Don't you worry. I have found a dress and it is lovely! To those of you who want to see a picture of the dress in this post, you will just have to wait until I am getting married because I am sure that I will look that much better if my hair is done, etc.

I would love to post a picture (kind of) but I happen to be marrying a man who is wonderfully traditional and also modern enough that he subscribes to my blog. Thus, he would see a post of my dress and be sorely disappointed.

But, I am willing to try it on at my home if you stop on by. :)

And, Jamie...I will get a picture for you ASAP! Why? Because I love you so.

The Shoes

I have found my shoes, and I love them. When I say my shoes, I am talking about THE shoes that I will wear with my wedding dress on May 22.

I have found THE jeans to wear with THE sweater for my engagement photos, which we are trying to take this Sunday. I am marrying THE man who brings me joy, and anxiously awaiting THE big day.

And I am glad for it all.

Now, I am losing sleep because I need to find THE dress. Aargh.

Of Course I Said Yes!

On Saturday night, I went to the high school production of The Importance of Being Earnest with Blaine and ShaNeil. The first act was enjoyable, but I was incredibly antsy because we had already watched two "dollar" movies earlier and I was a little tired of staring straight ahead.

Don't worry. It became more jazzy.

After Act I, ShaNeil rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and saw Blaine walking toward the stage. The lights were out and stage crew had changed the scenery for Act II, but Blaine just kept walking up there. I whispered, "Blaine . . . Blaine . . ." because I wanted him to turn around and come back to sit with me, but no such luck.

In my mind, I thought that perhaps he had seen stage crew drop something dangerous and he was going to fix it before the lights came back on. Instead, he walked on stage and a spotlight came on.

He announced, "We are going to have a quick 10 minute intermission. But first, I have a question for Krystle. Miss Cook."

I walked up on stage and he said, "Krystle, will you marry me?" It was magical. He took a beautiful, perfect ring out of the box and placed it on my finger and I may or may not have kissed him a dozen or so times. On the stage. In front of my students. In front of my principal. It was amazing. And I cried.

Students clapped and cheered and whistled and Blaine and I were given a standing ovation. Incredible.

If ever I have imagined a proposal, it was never so lovely in my mind as it actually was. Blaine. Oh Blaine. I love that man.

We have set the date for May 22. The temple is booked. The luncheon is scheduled. We are happily, joyfully, blessedly in love.

Flash Game

I know, I know. We are lookin' good. :)