Life is sweet.

Danno studying hard for finals

Although the Utah weather is throwing us for a loop, Danno and I couldn't be happier. Danno just finished his semester and is enjoying a little break before he starts his summer semester and my work is getting a little smoother. Danno is looking for drafting jobs and beginning his life in a grown up job [sorry RL-red lobster-you just suck sometimes]. He also thankfully passed his marriage and family class. And work for me is getting better. End of year testing starts next week and I feel like I am finally making some progress with some behavioral issues with students.
Danno and I are also in contract for a home in Sandy near his parents. We love it and hope everything works out. We were supposed to close in three days, but due to a snag from the seller it could be a few more weeks. We cannot wait to have a little home! Plus a little home means a little puppy.
However, it has been a hard week for my little heart. If you watch Lost and aren't caught up-this is your spoiler alert so stop reading or skip over this.
I'm pretty sure I cried harder when Jin and Sun died than when my dog died. I love tv. I always have. I used to draw pictures of my family and I would include the tv. I would draw arms and legs on it and we were always holding hands. Call it what you want.

Mrs. Champion's the name, teachin' is the game.

My cute friend Suzi wanted to see my classroom and I realized I had no pictures of it! Sadness. Because I have tried really hard to make my little classroom cave happy and fun. There is also a picture of Owen, which is not part of my class, but equally cute and bloggable. I only have 8 weeks left until I have completed the dreaded first year. Here are my favorites about teaching:

1. Getting sticky little notes and hugs.
2. Seeing them improve and being proud of it.
3. Listening to their growing up stories.

Quotes:

• "You are so kind. No man-eating animal would ever eat you."
• "I got a number from a girl at the mall with a mullet."
• "Mrs. Champion, I wish you were my mommy."
• "Will you be my teacher forever?"
• "Sorry I couldn't answer you earlier. I had a huge mucous ball in my mouth."

Least favorite things: Dodging the huge booger my student flicked during gym.

Going Private

Hello all! I'm going to go private so if you would like me to send you an invite please send me an email with your address.

jchampasaki@gmail.com

Confessions of a MAF: Married Asian Female

Confession 1: Last week I went to my parent's house to kill some time while Danno was working. Suddenly I found myself rummaging through my old room. After discovering old notes from middle school, clog shoes, and too-short shirts, I found my wedding dress. Now I have been telling myself for the last two years that I should have had my dress taken in more through the waist because it was a little "roomy" when I got married. Call it delusion, whatevs, but I have felt skinnier than when we got married. Thus you would think the dress should have even more room. Negative. I decided to try on my wedding dress and I could barely zip it up. So I did what any wannabe bride would do. I sat and watched Dateline in my too-tight wedding dress.

Confession 2: I want to get a spray on tan. If I fork out the bucks I may be orange. But at this point, it may be better than my tranluscent skin.

Confession 3: The smell of stale cigarette smoke reminds me of theme parks, specifically DisneyLand. I kind of like it.

I hope this privileged information doesn't skew your feelings about me. Love, Janelle

Happy Easters All! [evonne come home]

This post is mainly for my sister Evonne. I want to showcase how much fun we have here in Utah. This is my feeble attempt to entice her to move back here. Texas has nuttin' on us. Come home Evonne...I'll even give you a dollar and a handful of loose candy courtesy of the Miyasaki Easter Egg hunt.

Happy Easter to everyone else! I hope this lovely holiday warms your hearts and reminds us all of the better things in life.

This is how we roll

We celebrated today by going to the Museum of Natural History and then eating fondue. Woo Hoo!

2 years ago today...

Danno asked me to marry him! I naturally said yes. Here is the story for those who don't know it.
March 29th 2008.
Danno and I had been dating since he got home from his mission and had basically decided we were getting married (ok, we had completely decided we were getting married). Thus I knew a proposal was coming. We went with his family to Zions National Park for Easter. I had suspected something was going to happen on this trip because I heard his mom ask him if he was still planning on proposing (I'm quick like that :) ). However, Danno was so cool and collected I thought he had changed his mind about the Zions proposal. We had so much fun and I just forgot about the potential proposal!
We began hiking Angel's Landing at 6:30 am with Aunt Cheryl, Uncle Datus, and cousin Ben. It was beautiful and a little scary. As we reached the top I saw Danno start to fidget and he kept touching his pocket. Then it hit me. I started to get all squirmy and jumpy! The others let us go ahead and Danno put his arm around me as we looked out off the top of Angel's Landing and he said, "So, do you really want to do this?" I promptly replied, "what?" Quickly followed by, "Um, get married." I love this story! Danno may feel embarrassed but I love it! Then he got down on one knee and popped the question with this rock.Due to nerves and the overwhelming nature of the proposal, Danno didn't get to say everything he wanted to but he more than made up for it in a speech he gave at our wedding dinner. It made me, my sisters, mom and dad all cry like babies.