Quick catch up. Since Matt's Birthday.

Here is what has been happening in my life the last few weeks. Made salsa with my mom! Who knew canning could be so fun? Next time, Apple sauce, salsa even chunkier, and peaches!

Went to park city with mom, Erin, Jellsters, and Nikki. Shopping and playing all day is just as fun as it ever was!That same weekend the bathroom and the kitchen were finally finished due to the flooding a few months ago. It looks great compared to what it used to be.Went to see Inception with Matthew's cousin Heather on Thursday since this last week was UEA. Great, intense movie. Went to the races with Matt, Scott and Erin. We also hit up Nickelcade and Social Network. Loved Social Network, again Geeks rule! Today made some homemade raspberry, walnut ice cream and pumpkin cookies!

Manda

Happy Birf-day Cinderelly!

Ok it is not Cinderella's birthday, but it was Matthew's. I made him not one, but TWO cakes. The first was a practice for his families birthday celebration and the other was for his actual birthday. Can you figure out which one is which?
For his actual birthday birthday. I awoke him with a chocolate cake donut (thanks elder's) and a present. He went to work and came home to finish opening his gifts. Then we went to Famous Dave's and met up with 15 family members to celebrate. It was also my brother Scott's birthday so we celebrated together. Either way, it was a blast and a day full of so much activity. Matt came home and played on his new keyboard all night long, thanks mom and dad! I think Matt enjoyed it. :)

Manda

Brad Pailsey...Need I say more.

Went to the amazing and never fails to entertain, Brad Paisley with Matthew last night. He is still one of the most complex guitarists I have ever seen. Matthew and I once attempted one of his songs on guitar hero, we gave up before it reached 10 seconds. Th concert was great though. Darius Rucker performed (Both Darius and Brad were our wedding songs, how perfect is that?), also Justin Moore, a few others, but I remember Steele Magnolia from those others. It was great and very entertaining. Got a few pictures and will edit this post and upload them later when Matthew wakes up. The one of Matthew and I that I will post now, it is a cute one taken with my new mytouch. I love it.

Ok here are some more. So cute!

Manda

Wordle Practice

Made this in my masters class. Thought it was kind of cute:

Moons over my hammy!

So I came home from a late meeting at church and was just going to make scrambled eggs. Matt offered to make them for me. He offered-so I let him do it. Here is what he made.


I forgot to get a picture at first, I was so hungry! It was so good. You can see the melted cheese and how it pulls apart. He even made the toast on the oven top and cooked the butter into it! He is crazy!

I finally got everything changed over to my new last name. It official! Check it out:

Also put a picture on my desk. My kids wanted to see the picture on Wednesday so I passed it aroung. They kept saying we look cute together! I told them we better be!

Lastly, I am so happy to have married such a great man.


Thanks Matt for the surprise!

Manda

An update

First and foremost. The doctor appointments that Matthew went to turned out to be fine. Matthew is still cancer clean and incredibly helpful. Biggest relief of the year. We finally put the new dishwasher in and it is amazing. Silent and quick. I absolutely love it, I am sold on Kitchen Aid. The flooding problem was finally fixed but our home is still in pieces. I am frustrated with our HOA who is supposed to repair everything and their sluggish pace at getting it done. Hopefully all will be in good repair after this week. I will hopefully post some pictures of the damage before they come in to repair it all. Here is hoping....

Manda

This is for all my African kids at Escalante!

Found this video again. Reminds me of my Shukri, Hamdi, Hamadi, my new Mohaumad. One day I want to see Africa!

Manda

I hope this is me in 30 years!

Found this and got a kick out of it! I hope I turn into one of these ladies!

Manda

Hope ya know, I had a hard time

This week has been a really hard week. First our dishwasher was flooding our kitchen. Matt and I came home one night to a soggy wet floor. This happened a few months ago and we thought it was the fridge so we replaced it. A few months later it happened again after doing many at home test we determined it was our dishwasher causing the flood this time. As of lately we haven't been to good with our finances and were worried about buying a new dishwasher so we hired a repair man to come out and look at it and possibly repair the old dishwasher for 100 or less instead of buying one for 300 or more. He informed us it was done and over with as a dishwasher and it is either pay 300 to repair or buy a new one. We bought a new one last night a top of the line used Kitchen-Aid so hopefully it will take care of us for a few years to come.

Yesterday we also found out my neighbors have been flooding our condo again. Last time it was just a few days and only our bathroom ceiling was ruined. This time it is the kitchen, bathroom, and part of the living room. I am so exhausted and tired at this point. Matthew has a doctor's appointment tomorrow to get some problems he is having examined as well. I am just praying and hoping the lord will guide us and help our poor little home and family.

I am just waiting for Monday to come around and start a new week. Hopefully things will start going our way. We finally got our lives to where we wanted it to be, we were praying and reading scriptures together. We had a scheduled routine of gym, dinner, scriptures, TV/movie/babies/temple, prayer, bed. It was working so well, we only got it to work for a day because this came along. If we can get back to this schedule and not let this get in our way I feel confident the lord will bless us and let us continue to grow together. One thing that has given me some comfort through this is this video link below, very moving and reminds me to look at the big picture. We definitely need to look outside our problems and find someone who is in true and silent need.



Manda

A new co-worker!

I was so sad to leave 6th grade this year. I love that age and they seem to love me. It was time I guess for a change, plus my principal really needed my help (so he says). Anyways, I am moving to 5th grade and I am so excited, we just finished designing and wrapping up my new team and I am excited to get started and begin working with both team mates. They are so excited and ready just like I am! I feel they will pull their weight and be ready for what lies ahead. I have a few ideas up my sleeve and am ready! Hopefully, I will be smart and document as well as post my tricks that I have coming up. It is just hard when you can't post kids faces due to regulations! Well here we go!

Manda

I made a podcast!

Hey all!
I made this podcast with my friend Allison in our Master's class for technology. It took us forever and is really advanced, since we are the only ones that did 17 different audio clips. Anyways, we find it funny. Check it out! Oh yeah, if you listen carefully you can hear our instructor in the background.



Manda

10 Things That Make A Husband

Feel free to add to this list.

1. He opens your doors, simple, but so true
2. Holds your hand
3. Uses please and thank you
4. Smells good
5. Always over uses I love you's
6. Kiss in the morning, when you get home, and goodnight
7. Doesn't swear
8. Pays attention to the fact that the world is more threatening for girls
9. Cleans just because
10. Doesn't start eating until you sit down.

Manda

How I got my job

Told this story at lunch the other day. Grandma suggested I put it on my blog.

People always ask how I got hired at the school I student taught at. Well, it is actually very unusual. I told the principal ahead of time I was going to Europe. I wanted to interview, but needed to know when since I would be out of town for nearly a month! He never gave me an answer, just told me to keep checking. I came to the decision that I would just go and find other opportunities when I returned home. Little did I know I had someone else looking out for me (Howard Mitchell-my student teaching mentor).

I was in Germany when I came into our hotel for the night and we were to go get our keys and meet up with our group for dinner. Everyone was finding their keys easily and without a problem. I went up to the counter and couldn't find our room key. I finally asked, "Do you have a room key for Amanda and Jackie?" The front desk lady got that horrified look in her eyes and asked, "Are you Amanda?" I thought oh crap, someone died. She hands me my key with a note on it that said

MOM CALLED
CHECK EMAIL
VERY IMPORTANT

My tour guide starts freaking out and stops everything, the dinner, everything. We have to find a computer, we find one in a lounge but you must pay for each minute with your coins.

I finally get logged in to find and email from Howard, Dr. Aslett, and my mom. I open hers first, she tells me Mr. Mitchell has called the University, her work, and home to speak with her to get a hold of me to interview at Escalante. She had called a few times but we weren't in and left a note. I finally stop panicking and start emailing back everyone. A week later I interviewed over the phone in Switzerland with the Escalante staff. It was quite entertaining and they seemed to ask a lot about Europe instead. :) Came back a few days later, got a contract offer. I would definitely say with a little luck and help from friends, I ended up with a really cool job. Thanks Howard and Mom.

I must add, when I returned home I did chew my mom out about the note. Next time I requested she put no one has died, check your email at your convenience!

Manda

Me? Talk to University students about teaching?

This last week I received an email from a friend who came in a few times this year to observe my classroom. She asked me to come to talk to her methods class at the University of Utah this month and talk about what it takes to be a teacher to students coming in to the classroom this fall. I did this one year but with a group of students from my cohort. This is the first year I will fly solo on speaking to a class. This is also the first year I will have a student teacher from the U. I have taken them from other Universities in the past, but never a full time student teacher from the U. I am supposed to show them resources, talk about what it is like to work in a Title 1 school, how I developed as a teacher, pull some resources I have used, and give them a reality check. I'll admit I am a little nervous but ready to help. She offered to compensate me for my time, I declined politely, I just want us to produce better teachers. I go in July 26th we'll definitely need to see what happens here. :)

Wish me luck!

Manda

How did he pop the question?

Another famous question asked of newly weds, "How did he ask you?" Well this one is kind of unique and quite a long story. During December we had been talking about marriage and how we want to be married one day. We had decided to spend Christmas apart from one another since it would be one of the last times for us to be just with our families. This was a huge mistake, we ended up missing each other so much that we decided we REALLY needed to look into marriage. New year's day we went ring shopping. I told Matthew after we found the ring that he needed to give me time to adjust to this idea of marriage (I never really was the kind of girl to plan my wedding day or think that I would ever fall in love, so I needed to wrap my head around this). I asked him to wait 1-2 months, then give me the ring. This would give him enough time to ask my dad and plan a way to ask. We also decided that July 21st would be a good day to marry, since I would be out of school and we could have the summer and I could plan the wedding during my break. We eventually moved it forward to May 13th because as you will soon find out I am a quick planner.

Being the girl I am I just had to tell my mom. I called her up and told her the news and the whole story. She suggested we start looking for reception places to reserve since many people get engaged around Valentine's and it was coming up then they'd be booking around the same time as us. Make sense, right? Smart mom. Anyways that weekend we went looking at reception centers. I found my center after just looking at two places. I knew I wanted Silvercrest, so we booked it. Since we found my location so quickly, Erin (who came with, she is the best! Oh yes and Ellie my wedding consultant) and my mom suggested we look at dresses. I found mine by the second dress. Ok, place and dress, what's next? Oh, the cake. Yeah decided on that after looking at a few ideas on the wall. Three major items were accomplished in only a few hours! We left that morning at noon, were done with the cake plan by 3 (I am so not picky, it is the day not the "stuff"). So Matt calls to check in, I tell him all the things we accomplished his response,

"I thought you were only looking at reception places."
"I know but we found it so quickly, so we did the rest. Oh honey, I need the ring."
"I wanted to give it to you, but you told me to wait."
"Yeah, about that, I changed my mind."

I know, way to pressure him and put him on the spot. This day was Saturday, January 9, 2010. I told him though "I won't accept the ring until you get my father's permission." So Monday, January 11, 2010 he goes to ask my father. I knew he was going to ask so I set my sister Nicole up to be my spy. I asked her to go to her room when he gets there call me and ease drop. She did a pretty good job. ;) Although she couldn't hear too much she got the idea of the conversation and the important stuff, like my father saying yes. Oh best part about this, Nicole answered the door and what does Matt say, "Is HE here?"

We went to dinner after with my parents, Matt then went back to his house, told his parents "she wants the ring NOW," grabbed it and took me back to my condo. A few hours later he asked me to close my eyes (I heard him get up and close the ring box, so I knew it was coming :P). I opened my eyes, he was on his knee, and he asked "Amanda Kae Mantas, will you marry me?" The rest is history.

Manda

How did we meet?

This seems to be the most common question asked when it comes to Matthew and I so I better document it. We originally met online at ldsplanet.com. I know right, you never think you would meet and fall in love with someone online, at least I never did, but it seems more and more these day's people are meeting online.

We flirted back and forth for just a few days. Then one night I caught him online, we chatted quickly and exchanged numbers. Matthew sent me a text later that night and asked me out for the next day! Boy was he onto something. We met at Hollywood Connection and went mini-golfing. It was a blast, he had me laughing from beginning to end. We met November 11, 2009. It was of course cold and we brought coats. Cute Matt hauled them suckers around from hole to hole. Impressive, I thought.

After mini-golf we just sat and talked for hours about anything and everything. It was going amazingly until he told me he was a cancer survivor. Not that I don't like cancer survivors, but what are you supposed to talk about after that topic? How I stubbed my toe once? Needless to say unfortunately the date ended shortly after. He walked me to my car, I called him Michael, and he politely corrected me and said that his name was in fact, Matthew. We drove off, he left me in the dust with his sports car, and we having been talking everyday since.

Manda

Not sure my title works any more.

So the title let's talk "A-man-da-Man" tas won't work anymore since that is no longer my last name. I now need a new title? What to call it? Any ideas? New name Amanda McKnight, not that it needs to be a play on words, but it must be original and not an overdone title. For example, not really into Amanda and Matthew McKnight ( this works for many and if it comes down to it I may just go with it). I like it to be unique. Ugh, so difficult. Give me some ideas, porfavor. :)

Manda

Up to date

So it had been awhile and I REALLY need to update my blog. So here is what has happened this year:

Met a guy, married him.
Built a hoop house, built it again, and again. Gave up.
Learned that the current years class will always live up to last years class. EVERYTIME! Dang kids. :)
Finished the year with amazing scores, moving to 5th next year.
Started my master's, dying in the attempt to just keep up.
To date condo is in threat of being flooded by the season going from winter to summer, yeah no spring so it seems. So far we are ok.

Sadly, that is everything up to date. Maybe I will put more details on some later? Or start listing my favorites as I see my cousin Kyle is doing.

Manda