today was a big day

yeah, you thought getting engaged was a big day.

or realizing you are in love.

or your wedding day (t - 75 days, well, at the time of me writing this at 7.20 pm on monday night, it's actually t - 74.5 days, not that we're counting or anything)

today was even bigger than all of that.

today,

at 7.30 am,

i,

heidi marie kendrick,

soon to be heidi hopper {isn't that so cute?!}

turned      in       my     TEACHER WORK SAMPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i am so happy.

i think steven is even happier than i am.

we are celebrating with...you guessed it...GOLDEN SPOON!

also, i ran outside in utah for the first time since november.  i ran outside everyday last year {okay, minus the sabbath and a select few other days}.  through rain and blizzards and freeezing weather.  all for that marathon.  oh, i loved that day.  

also, also, a student in my class got a ticket today.  tickets are bad.  just like tickets from cops are bad.  at least i wasn't the one that gave it out.  i am kind of glad this particular student earned this ticket.  yes, earned.  that's where physical violence and lying to the principal and blaming other students get you.  maybe things in the classroom will be a little better.  my poor new boy asked to move tables from this particular student after 10 minutes!

other events and happenings:

i'm getting married!

and going to the bahamas in 76 days.

and erin is getting married in 40 days!!

erin and i took this with my dad after i got engaged last sunday.

poor daddy.  he loves it.  and he loves steven and mike, so it's all good.

but that salt 'n peppa {not the rapper chicks} hair is turning more and more salty.

it used to be black.  and then he had erin.  then me.  then emily.  then dana.  and with each girl that popped out of the oven, it got more and more salty.

i loooooove my paparupa!

dress: ordered.


honeymoon: booked.


flights: booked.


temple: scheduled. {okay we did that before even getting engaged.}


reception place: scheduled.


hotels: almost scheduled.


registering round 1: tonight.


will be posting our story soon.  or you might have to wait until i make our wedding website and read it on there.  whichever gets done first.


we're making some good progress here.


and still, i'm so in love.

lots of things. please read.

in this post you will find:

1) more pictures of the proposal.

2) my kiddos reaction to my engagement.

3) some thoughts i'm having.

{one}

here are some pre-proposal pictures steven and i took while flying kites.  sorry, while he were flying and i was trying.

loooooove where i live.

{or where my family lives and i used to live.}

3 minutes pre-proposal.

{two}

i started off tuesday morning with some pictures of my weekend.

"just because it was so fun and so beautiful and i was flying kites!"

and then came the picture with steven on his knee.

"YOU'RE GETTING MARRIED!"

"i knew it!!"

no, you knew that steven and i were going to get married {thanks tedi for spilling the beans to miranda who gets so overly excited about everything. it was pretty hilarious.  she told everyone in our class during the inside recess. and that was about 3 weeks ago!}

after my announcement, my kids asked me a few questions.  one was, "what is steven's last name?"

"hopper."

"there's a heidi hopper in my book!  see?"

i'm already famous.

so on tuesday, i left the classroom to use the restroom right before cleaning up for lunch.  right before i left, miranda and joey asked to borrow my stapler. so i gave it to them and ran out before wetting my pants. {sometimes you just gotta hold it while you teach. and for some people, that is a potential disaster.}

i walked back into the classroom to, "she's here!"

miranda, amanda, ashleigh, justyn, jacob, and joey presented this book for me.

i found out later that it's my wedding gift. i said, "how about you make a sequel for my wedding and this can be my engagement gift."  {it's just too hilarious to not ask for another one.}

My rabbit

dedicated to Miss Kendrick

My rabbit's name is Hopper

like your last name will be.

My rabbit is my best friend.

My rabbit loves carrots.

My rabbit is beautiful.

I love my rabbit.

{yes, that is a heart with rabbit ears.}

how precious is that?  i will treasure that forever.  it is hilarious.

all day tuesday miranda hugged me and told me she loved me.  she also asked to look at my ring like 6 times!

today...

i got an email with a link to erin and mike's wedding/engagement website

{should steven and i make one?}

and clicked it during recess. mikalei and i looked at it for a minute.  and i said,"that's her fiance, mike."

"can i see what your fantaste (fan-tas-tay) looks like?"

"fiance?"

that's the best pronunciation of fiance i've ever heard.

my kids are SO thrilled.  all week during rotations and music and pe and computers, they told the other teachers.  

{three}

i have been SO incredibly blessed lately.

everything is working out so wonderfully.

erin and mike are getting married in 43 days!

steven and i are getting married in 78 days!

my mom is coming up in 6 days!

i am really tired.

i would rather wake up at 5 am to go to the gym before school than go after school any day, but sometimes i just get so tired.

i need to pick some chapter books for my kids to read in their reading groups.

my teacher work sample is 93% complete. i only need to assemble everything, which i will do tomorrow. and theeeeen...7.30 am on monday i will turn that sucker in.  and i will be done with it. so, completely done with it.

i'm getting married.

to my love.

i always say this to steven: steven. we're getting married!

and he always says: i know!

we're in love.

so in love.

i am so upset.  i just wrote this huge thing about my kids' reaction and put up some more pictures from pre-proposal on sunday.

AND THEN IT DIDN'T PUBLISH IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

so, i will have to do it next time i have time. perhaps, sunday. there is a lot to plan for a wedding!!

you're what?

 

engaged!

i'm engaged!!!

so here's how it went down.

but first, you should probably know that last thursday we called the newport beach temple to set an appointment for our sealing.

so, steven and i drove down to california for the weekend.

what you may not know, is that while he was in the temple at his friend's wedding, i was wedding dress shopping with mom, erin, dana, g.ma, and aunt julie {emily was there via picture texts and will be for all of the dress shopping utah in 2 weeks}.

it rained all day saturday.

boo.

we did some wedding stuff with my mom.

saturday night at midnight {okay, 11.45pm}, steven and i made a run to walmart for some kites. it was closed. whaaat? utah's walmart's are open 24 hours!!! what's up with that california!?

so theeeeeen, we came back. and mike and erin said, go to walgreens because it's open 24 hours. really? i'm tired.  okay, fine.  so we did.

we bought some kites.

then after church, i made us some yummy wraps and steven and i drove to the beach and ate them on the sand.

then we flew some kites.

little did i know, there was some paparazzi taking pictures of us for awhile.

my kite wasn't flying. steven had me fly his.  once we got it up there, he went to his backpack that he had to bring {i kind of made fun of him for bringing a huge backpack when we could've just carried our little lunch sack and the kites.} and got a drink of water.

he came back and stood behind me and told me he loved me a few times.

and i said, "i know."

and he said, "i really love you."

and i said, "i know. i love you, too."

and then he said some cute stuff and got down on one knee and said, "heidi marie kendrick, will you marry me?"

and i said, "steeeeeveeeeeeen! of course!"

and i kissed him.

and i said, "i would cry but i am just too happy to!"

and then i kissed him again.

and i was still holding the kite in the air.

and he grabbed my left hand a slide a ring on it.

 then he told me to look to the right and erin, mike, and dana were being the paparazzi.

erin and i are both engaged!!!
april 9th
and
may 14th!


my mom loooooves us.

so i had absolutely no clue.  steven told me the other day that the ring wouldn't be ready until monday. and i said, "whaaaat! why are you telling me this?  now i'm going to be waiting for this all next week!"

and he said, "well, i just didn't want you to get your hopes up and think it was going to happen when we were in california."

now, the ring was overnighted from provo to my house yesterday.

it came while the girls and i were shopping.

and steven asked my dad's permission during that time, too.

we are so in love.

my kids are going to go bizerk!

the book of mormon / tws

#1

we were getting ready for lunch today and my sweet little new boy comes up to me with his Book of Mormon and says, 

"{Student's name} says he doesn't read this that much." 

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah.  I read it every night.  I'm in Alma now!"

"Awesome, that's great!"

"Yeah, I love reading this book."

and then he put it back in his backpack.

my heart melted.

how tender is that?

i totally agree.  i love reading that book.

in fact, steven and i read from it every night.

#2

remember yesterday when i was complaining about my stress?

well...

my teacher work sample is complete.

okay, actually i have to put my appendices together, but i have a week and a half to do that now.

i won't have it looooooming over my head any longer!

i was hoping that'd make my hives go away and my eye turn back to the normal white sclera it should be, but that is not the case.  my eye is still red.  and i'm still itchy.

hopefully after this nice, long weekend in california everything will be better.

eye {am going crazy}

lately, i've been blaming everything on stress.

hives? STRESS.

lack of sleep? STRESS.

non-appearances at the gym {including my tie-for-first-place favorite yoga class}? STRESS.

carb cravings {and by that, i mean oatmeal.  except, v.day i had like way too much sugar, so in actuality, my carb cravings probably stem from that.}? STRESS.

and my stress?

well, that i blame on my teacher work sample.

AL.MOST.DONE.

at the current moment, i have 2 sections left.  just a few hours worth.

and then i assemble.

and it's not due until the 28th.

but i just can't have this looming over my head any longer.

along with all of this comes my inability to wear contacts right now.  is it the weather? perhaps.  is it my eyes' reaction to hives? perhaps.  is it my teacher work sample? yeah, i blame everything on that, too.

and this photo doesn't really show the fire red ring around my iris too well, but it's there.

i told my kiddies today that i wanted to rip my contacts off my eyes.

then one little girl asked me how i take them out, for reals. and i said, "well, i just scoop my eye out, peel it off, and then pop my eye back in." {with nice hand motions, of course.}

then she looked at me like whaaaaaaat?! and i said, "that's what i do!"

well, if it makes you feel any better, steven and i are going california tomorrow.

{another reason why i must get this teacher work sample done tonight.}

this is the last time we traveled together: arizona. but we flew.

steven hates this picture. well, i don't look that fab either. but it's just funny.

oh! my 10 minute break is up.

say a prayer i finish everything tonight.

oh shoot, i have to pack tonight, too!