The One and Only, Mr. Downs

Mr. Downs and I

If I had to say one thing that I missed about school, the first to come to my 

mind would be this man.  I had him for English Honors in 10th grade and AP English in 12th grade.  Luckily, my last year 

of high school was his last year of teaching.  I am fairly confident in saying that he is the best teacher ever.  He truly 

cares about his students and teaches them well.  I always enjoyed going to class to hear 

him tell stories and interact with the students.  Except for those days when our political issues paper 

or explications were due.  But even then I knew that as long as I did those assignments I would get full credit.  

Most days this is how class went: 

Bell rings to start class, talk, maybe tell a story today about his first dance or about his job in the orchard growing up, keep telling the story--students asking him to tell something else--so he'll talk about articles he has written and have been published, his family and how he only got sons because his daughter would've been called Epiphany, twenty minutes left in class now, pass around one of our daily paper assignments and evaluate each other, bell rings to end class, pass out new prompt for a paper due next period.  

He had a little retirement party the night of Spring Fling and most in the group had him so we went to see him before 

going to dinner.   It was fun.  Especially being dressed up like we were going to Gatsby's party.

Spring Fling 2013 group with Mr. Downs

You gotta love Mr. Downs.

Spring Fling 2013 --The Great Gatsby--

I did something that I never thought I would do.  I went on a blind date, and I asked him.  Let me just say that asking Michael to this dance was one of the scariest things I've done in my life.  I had never seen him before and I wasn't sure how the whole date thing would go.  As it turns out, it was a fun experience and I am glad that I asked him.  Funny though that when he answered me he had to give me his number :).

We made our very own flapper headbands!

The day of our day date was kind of rainy, so we started out at my house and then went to the park.  We played games, badminton, ate food, and enjoyed each other's company until one boy asked when the date was going to be over.  Little did we know that he had work; we definitely made fun of him and his poorly phrased question.

Pictures were taken at the Provo Library by my mom, and then we stopped off at Mr. Downs's retirement party since most in the group have had him and will miss him a lot.  We went to Pho Noodle House down in Provo and it was super delicious and fun.  We were at dinner for so long that we got to the dance with fifteen minutes left.  After the dance was over, we came back to my house for some Martinelli's and relaxing under the stars.  

Front row: Chelsea & Elija, Eva & Seth, Ali & Jordan, Claire & Aaron, Parker & Lulu.
Back row: Abby & Michael, Andrew & Melanie, KayAnn & Michael, Max & Olimpia, Oscar & Angie.

Prom 2013

I went to Prom this year with my friend Max.  He is such a nice guy and is super easy to talk to.  For the day date we went up the canyon for a picnic and game of croquet.  Max's mom took our pictures at the Duck Pond by BYU and we went to Gloria's Little Italy for dinner.  The pasta was delicious and we tried some of their gelato.  I got pistachio and lemon and it was really good.  After dinner we went to the dance, which was at Sleepy Ridge, and had root beer floats at Seth's house afterwards.  We had an awesome group and all of us are good friends.  Thanks Max!

Richard & Maddie, Max & Abby, Ali & Jake, Olimpia & Parker, Seth & Melanie.

Preference 2013

We played our own version of Battle of the Sexes for the day date and it was a blast.  The boys had to dress a doll, paint our nails, and braid our hair.  The girls had to hammer a nail into wood, shoot baskets, and tie a tie.  Parker and I won first place and then we had lunch.  My mom took our pictures and I think they turned out very cute.  We had dinner at Applebees and we went to the dance. Afterwards, we came back to my house and had ice cream.  It was so much fun and definitely one of my favorites!

Janae & Ethan, Olimpia & Andrew, Abby & Parker, Ali & Jacob, Caitlyn & Alan, KayAnn & Arturo,
Melanie & Jake, Karen & Eric

Sadies 2012

I asked by forking his lawn and he answered with a satellite dish.  For our day date we just played games and had tournaments with foosball and ping pong.  I am proud to say that Lars and I beat everyone at foosball!  My mom took our pictures and they turned out wonderfully.  Then we went over to Ali's house for dinner with a variety of soups in bread bowls.  It was a super fun dance and it was a great group!  

Janae & Oscar, Melanie & Parker, Lars & Abby, Michael & Ali, Angie & Max, KayAnn & Jake

Homecoming 2012

Our day date was breakfast in our pajamas and I loved having it in the morning.  All the boys made the food and we just sat around the table and talked.  

For dinner the boys, again, cooked for us.  They grilled steak and made potatoes with cupcakes for dessert and it was so stinkin good. We ate under someone's backyard porch where little white lights were hung and music played in the background.  We talked and laughed for a few hours before we went to the dance.  My group was so much fun at the dance and everyone was comfortable around each other.  After we went to Wendy's to get water and then we went home.  It was such a fun dance and now me and Nate are much better friends :)  

Nate & Abby, Scott & Melanie, Jake & Ali, Beth & Chris, Camilee & Taylor, Cozette & Kennen 

Prom 2012

One day, Seth came up to me after school and asked me if I wanted to go to prom with him.  My dad always says that boys should ask in person and it was actually really nice.  It may have been a little awkward, but I liked it a lot.  For the day date we went couching. I had never heard of it before but you take an old couch to different places and get a picture of everyone sitting on it. We even made it to our favorite teacher's house, Mr. Downs.  We also went to the library, to the baseball fields, Orem High, and the park.  I got ready and Annette did my hair for me.  Jake's brother took our pictures and then for dinner we went to the Bombay House.  Melanie's grandma was super nice and offered to make all of our beautiful flowers for us.  I loved everyone in our group and Seth was a perfect gentleman!

Couching at the house of Mr. Downs!

Seth and I.  My arm is sunburned and splotchy.  Nice right?  I guess that's what happens when you're trying to tan your arms and fall asleep instead.

Seth & Abby, Claire & Max, Angie & Jake, Richard & Olimpia, Parker & Melanie

Spring Fling 2012

I asked Cameron to Spring Fling and it was so fun!  We started the date off with spray painting our shirts.  The theme was Lion King or something so we all had different animals.  Cameron and I chose the rhino and our shirts are definitely the prettiest I've ever seen! We played games, had a pizza dinner, and went to the dance.  We came back and I think we had dessert and watched a movie afterwards.  Very fun dance!  Although, I did have a near death experience driving to the dance.  We were stopped at the red light and did a Chinese fire drill.  We all got out and ran around the van and hopped back in.  I guess I didn't close the door all the way because as we turned the corner, my door opened and I almost fell!  So scary and good thing I had my seat belt on!

Tyler & Allyse, Braxton & Madi, Katelyn & Tanner, Cameron & Abby,
Zack & Mikayla, Jake & Kristee, Tessa & Avery 

Sweethearts 2012

My friend Michael, who is in my ward, asked me to Sweethearts!  He asked with starbursts and I answered with a candy bar poster. We had a huge group but it was fun.  We went power tumbling for the day date and dinner was at the Old Spaghetti Factory.  It was a lot of fun going to the dance with Michael and getting to know each other better.  Did you know that he only read the first page of Hunger Games because it was written in first person?  Luckily I convinced him to finish it!  Haha jk :)

Preference 2012

In 2012 I asked Chance to Preference. We went "starburst bowling" for our day date but ended up just eating all of the starbursts.  For dinner we went to the Pizza Factory and then we went to the dance.  I think we may have gone to my house after but I'm not sure...it's been while.  Overall, it was a lot of fun!

Wilson & Katelyn, Reinhard & Jessica, Mikayla & Jack, Chance & Abby, Alexa & Jordan

Sadies 2011

It's been a while but I am going to blog about all the dances I've been on.  I started with Homecoming and that is all I finished.  So here it goes!

In 2011 I asked my friend Jordan to Sadies.  We've gone to school together since Elementary so we have known each other for quite a long time.  For the day date we went to the park, played games, and had a marshmallow fight.  For dinner we came to my house and my family made us a yummy alfredo dinner.  We went to the dance and came back to my house for dessert.  We made cake batter waffles with ice cream.  It was a lot of fun and we had a great group!

Jorgen & Melanie, Kevin & Katelyn, Katelyn & Erik, Wyatt & Mikayla, Kelsey & Dallen, Lindsey & Nathan, Jordan & Abby

Homecoming 2011

I know I am a little behind...but back in September, I went to Homecoming with my friend Matt.  In fact, we are in the same ward.  He is incredibly talented with computer stuff and making movies, and he used his talent to ask me to the dance.

I received a letter saying that whoever was asking me to Homecoming has been detained and to say no to the man in the black mask.  A few days later, the man in the black mask came to my door and asked me to Homecoming.  I said no and he handed me a DVD.  I watched it and it was amazing!  Matt had made a cool little movie and my whole family thought it was so cute.  Even my nephew Conrad wanted to keep watching it.

After being asked in really cool way, I couldn't do something that would be mediocre.  So what I did was I found out some of Matt's favorite treats and I got an alarm clock.  I went to his house and set the alarm for about 1:00 A.M. and hid it in his room by his favorite treats with a note that said,"It's time to tell you that I'd love to go to Homecoming with you!"

We had an awesome group and luckily one the of the boys had a 12 seater van. We went power tumbling and it was surprisingly fun!  I have never done anything like that in my entire life but I liked it.  We decided to make a trip to Wendys and got frostys, fries, and spicy chicken nuggets.

One of the best parts of the day, though, was going to Brick Oven that night. Matt and I shared a pizza, but before we could finish the last half of it, one of the boys accidentally spilled my red cream soda on it.  Unfortunately, pizza soaked in red cream soda isn't very tasty.  But we were okay and it gives us something to laugh at now.  A balloon guy was working that night and he made something for each of us.  We got monkeys, unicorns, a mace, leprechauns, Tarzan, and I even still have my yellow flower.  We stayed at Brick Oven until about 9:30 so we were only at the dance for an hour.  It was a very fun night and I am so glad that I went with Matt!