It's Official!

I checked the mail on February 13th and inside my mailbox I found my diploma. I have officially graduated with a Master's of Education degree from the University of Illinois. What am I going to do now? Pretty much whatever I want.

Valentines Blues

I know Valentines Day was 3 weeks ago, but I am a little behind with posting about our events. This year for Valentines day, I wanted to do something a little different. I feel like I have been on Bruce's case a lot about getting things finished up with his schooling so that we can move on. I had to do my best to show him that I still love him.


So I did the 12 days of Valentines. I gave him a small present for 12 days in February, and each day I wrote him an original love poem. I hid the poem and present somewhere in the house, and wrote a 4 line poem on an index card that gave him a clue as to where to find the valentine. I placed the index card on his pillow before I left for school so that he would find it when I was already gone. By the end of 12 days, I was pretty much out of rhymes and I'm glad Valentines day is early in the month. Not that I wouldn't write Bruce a love poem everyday, I just thought that my poems started to get more and more silly as we got closer and closer to Valentines Day. These small gifts ranged anywhere from a singing Valentines card, to a fancy pen, to homemade sugar cookies, to small chocolates, and homemade peanut butter cups.

In return, Bruce got me tickets to a St. Louis Blues hockey game. (Hence the title of the post.) The man who sang "Oh Canada" and "The Star Spangled Banner" probably had the most amazing voice I have ever heard. Another man's job was to play short songs on the organ during timeouts or breaks. I wouldn't mind having that job; of course I would have to practice a lot more.
I love watching hockey. It always amazes me that not only can these people stand up on ice skates, but they can skate in every direction at any given time, turn around on a dime, and stay on their skates when someone slams into them. The Blues played the Toronto Maple leafs and won 4-0.

Our seats were almost at the very top, but at least we could see the entire ice rink. There were only a couple of really lame fights, but otherwise the excitement of scoring goals and the atmosphere topped off the experience. The Zamboni machine is so much fun to watch. It reminded me of when my dad and I would ride the Portland city bus to a minor league hockey game. Every time we saw the Zamboni machine, my dad would sing this song by the Gear Daddies at the top of his lungs.

Well I went down to the local arena
Asked to see the manager man
He came from his office, said, "Son can I help you?"
I looked at him and said, "Yes you can..."

I want to Drive the Zamboni...hey
I want to Drive the Zamboni...Yes I do!

Now ever since I was young it's been my dream
That I might drive a Zamboni machine
I'd get the ice just as slick as could be
And all the kids would look up to me

I want to drive the Zamboni...hey
I want to drive the Zamboni...Yes I do!

Now the manager said, "Son, I know it looks keen
But that right there is one expensive machine
And I've got Smokey who's been driving for years."
About that time I broke down in tears.

Cause I want to drive the Zamboni...hey
I want to drive the Zamboni...Yes I do!

That weekend we also spent some time in the temple. It was a great!

Lame attempt at exercising this week

I went running 1 time this past week. Once! That's horrible. I didn't even lift weights. My one time running, I only ran 1 mile. I justify that by saying that my 1 measly mile was run in 8:36, but still!! Once! And I call myself a regular exerciser and a marathoner! HA!

Bruce ran 24! Way to go!

Polar Plunge 2010

If life isn't the number of breaths you take, but the moments that take your breath away...then life must be the number of times you jump into freezing cold water!

I'm taking the plunge this year with my friend John Braun if anyone wants to sponsor us go to Special Olympics Illinois - LETR Events - Bruce Richards's Fundraising Page

A Half a Score ago...Huesca

This is Ainara and her family. They had a huerta
(little house in the country) where they would go on the weekend.

This post is dedicated to Elder Taylor, (Happy Birthday!) who was my companion for 5 months in Huesca, Espana. I was surprised to be transferred from Mataro after only 1 month of serving there. I'd never heard of Wesca (that's how I imagined it was spelled, that's how it's pronounced). Everyone told me it was cold there, they were right.

When Elder Taylor and I arrived to Huesca, it had been months since missionaries were assigned there and there was only one active member of the church, Ainara Rubio, and another member whose husband prevented her from coming to church, Esperanza Escartin. All we had to guide us around the town was a map. We walked everywhere.

I had to include this picture of me in front of Aldi in Huesca for those of you who shop at Aldi's in Urbana.
Because there were no other priesthood leaders, my companion served as branch president and I was counselor, secretary, music chairman, and quorum instructor. We met for Sunday meetings in a conference room at a hotel. You'll notice a TV in the picture of me in our apartment. Most missionaries are not allowed to have a TV in their apartment, but because our apartment also served as headquarters of the church in Huesca, we had all the supplies for Sunday meetings in our apartment, including a TV and VCR.

I spent Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine's, Elder Taylor's birthday and Carnival in Huesca.

In Spain, the day after Halloween is actually the holiday. It's similar to Memorial Day in the US, when everyone visits the cemeteries and remembers their dead. Thanksgiving of course isn't celebrated in Spain, I bought some sliced turkey breasts to eat in honor of the holiday.

Christmas day we spent in Zaragoza, about an hour from Huesca. There were two branches of the church in Zaragoza and 10 other missionaries there. Presidente Amigo who was president of one of the branches there invited us to dinner and then there was a talent show at the church that evening. For the children the real excitement of Christmas doesn't come until January 8th when the "tres reyes magos" (three wisemen) arrive. They are the ones that bring the presents. Their arrival is celebrated with a great parade called "carbagata". For Christmas my grandma sent me some money, and my companion had some saved up, so we went out and bought Barce jerseys for the futbol team in Barcelona.

For Carnival everyone dresses up in costumes. One lady who saw Elder Taylor and I thought we were pretty clever to dress up like the Mormon missionaries. She was embarrassed when she realized we really were Mormon missionaries.

One of my favorite parts of serving in Huesca was riding the bus to Barbastro (about an hour away) to visit Jose Luis La Farga, a member of the church who didn't attend meetings on Sunday. He was always amable (friendly/nice) and fed us delicious cake and chocolate. He even ended up coming to church a couple times.

There was a young man who lived in Huesca who befriended the missionaries, who fortunately for us had time and a car, so he could take us out to see castles that we otherwise wouldn't have been able to see.

One of our good friends in Huesca was Isabel, (pictured below with Elder Taylor and I) we always bought pan (bread) from her panaderia. We gave her a Book of Mormon and told her that there was someone with her name in it. I refused to show her where, partly because I wanted her to be motivated to read the book, and partly because Isabel was a harlot in the Book of Mormon.

Antonio was a young man who we taught while in Huesca. He felt the Holy Ghost as we taught him and as he read the Book of Mormon and prayed. When he read in the Doctrine and Covenants he saw revelations given through Joseph Smith the prophet to individual people and he wanted to get his own revelation telling him he should be baptized, so he wrote to President Hinckley, the prophet and president of the church, in Salt Lake City, Utah. Because the church is much larger now than in the days of Joseph Smith, the president of the church cannot respond to each person who asks, therefore a letter was sent to the local church leader, President Mask (our mission president) asking him to respond to Antonio's request. So, President Mask arranged to come out to Huesca from Barcelona and have a meeting with Antonio. Following their meeting, Antonio decided to be baptized. President Mask arranged his schedule to come speak at the baptism. Members of the church from Zaragoza and Antonio's mom, brother and sister came to the baptism as well (pictured above). What a special day it was to see Antonio make the choice to follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by immersion by someone holding priesthood authority!

Serving together for 5 months bonded Elder Taylor and I together like brothers, though there were times I wanted to catapult him. Two things I enjoyed about serving with Elder Taylor were homemade bread and back adjustments after a hard day's work. We did get some company the last month we were in Huesca when Elder Macdonald and Elder Nielsen were assigned to Huesca as well.

Serving a mission is tough work. President Mask teased me when I started getting gray hair that I had been serving in Huesca too long. It is hard to know how big a difference we actually made to the people in Huesca. However I know what a difference it made in my life to work hard in the service of the Lord and have a "glad attitude" even when things were tough.

All Naturaal!

I am a very animated teacher. I almost have to be in order to keep the attention of a bunch of 12-14 year olds all day. Even after a long school day, I go to practice and run wild with the girls demonstrating the proper techniques and skills for certain drills. Some may describe me has having a lot of energy.
Before our volleyball game yesterday, I was trying to buy a drink from the vending machine, because the 3 water bottles I bring to school were already empty. I tried all of the Gatorade's first, but they were all sold out. I choose a bottle of pink lemonade instead. My 7th grade volleyball team were watching me, and when the lemonade came out, I had the following conversation with a girl on my team.
Whitney: Is that carbonated?
Brittney: No
Whitney: Then why is it all fizzy?
Brittney: Because it was just dropped from a cold machine. Wouldn't you be fizzy if the same thing happened to you?
Whitney: Oh! I was just wondering.
Brittney: (Reading the label) No carbonation, and no caffeine - just the way I like it!
Whitney: What? You don't drink caffeine?
Brittney: Nope! I have never had a caffeinated drink. I don't drink caffeine.
Whitney: You seem like the kind of person who would drink A LOT of caffeine.
Brittney: Nope! This energy that you see seeping from my body is all naturaaal!

Whitney and the rest of the girls started laughing. But hey - she chose me to play on her team at practice today because of all my energy.


I recently started a new exercise program that has been working out for me pretty well. I get up each morning at 6:00 and head over to the fitness room at the community "clubhouse." Monday, Wednesday, Friday I run on the treadmill (avg. 3 miles) and Tuesday, Thursday I lift weights or do circuit training. I thought I would be way too exhausted to continue this routine and I could quit. However, I found that quite the opposite is true. Not only do I feel like I am getting into pretty good shape, I also have tons more energy. My muscles are not sore and tired, I am much more alert and awake (even on my late nights at volleyball games), and I have much more stamina to get through the day. I almost look forward to my workouts. The best thing is, by the end of the day I am tired enough that I can actually go to sleep and sleep through the entire night (I used to wake up frequently during the night.) Exercising is great! I must admit that I am not perfect in my routine. Since the beginning of the year, I have missed 3 days (2 of them this week :( ). I try to make up for them with more intense workouts when I do. There are some mornings when I still have to motivate myself to get out of bed and do it!!

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

As Bruce made reference to in his last post, while we were visiting his brother in Virginia we went to a play. The play tickets were part of our Christmas present. If we arrived early enough, we had a chance to be a part of the cast.
Of course.... I was in! I have only been in one play in my entire life, but I really wanted to make this one my second. I didn't even know what the play was called or what it was about, but that didn't sway me from signing up when we walked in the doors. 5 minutes before the play was supposed to start, the director asked if someone from our group would volunteer to be a part of the cast as well. I eagerly volunteered Bruce and he agreed. By this time, I figured that we would be asked to participate in a spelling bee. Although I am an English teacher, I sometimes struggle with spelling so I must admit that I was a little nervous; I didn't want to misspell a simple word. We were ushered into a separate room to receive "instruction." We were told 9 simple rules:
1) We were to sit in our normal seats in the stand, and they would actually call us down to the stage by name. Someone would point to where we were supposed to sit.
2) When it was time for our line, we needed to raise the microphone up to our mouths and do our best at spelling the word. We were not to miss a word on purpose to try and be funny.
3) We had two lines to memorize: "Can I have the definition please?" and "Will you use that in a sentence."
4) We were not to start up a conversation with any of the other actors or actresses on stage. They might miss their cue or something.
5) Even if we knew the songs, we were not to sing them. (It was a good thing they told us this because I kind of felt silly sitting on stage while everyone around me was singing. I may have tried to "pretend" I was singing the song too just to "fit in.")
6) We were to be escorted off by the grievance counselor when we spelled a word wrong.
7) We were still part of the audience even though we were on stage, so it is okay to clap.
8) You may have to sit still on the bleachers for up to 45 minutes. (This last rule almost made me want to say that I couldn't do it. Anyone who knows me knows I can't sit still for 45 minutes at a time, especially not on wooden benches.)
9) We may be asked to dance on stage so gear up for that.

The play began and I was super excited - here was my big debut. One of the actresses mentioned that 4 spellers had not yet registered for the spelling bee, and if they were somewhere in the audience to please come forward. She proceeded to call both my and Bruce's name.
The spelling contest began. The actors and actresses were getting some difficult words - this made me a little nervous because I figured I would be the first one out of the contest.

Bruce's first word was hoarfrost. When he asked for the definition and sentence, they were trying to trick him into spelling the word incorrectly. They wanted him to spell it whorefrost. Bruce was smarter than that.
Soon it was my turn.

Announcer: Mrs. Brittney Richards. Ms. Richards is currently writing an opera in braille. (Yes, they randomly made up facts about me) Your word is Cow!

The real cast was outraged that I would get such a simple word. I was laughing at what was going on around me and I almost forgot my lines. When I finally did remember them, I felt silly asking:
Brittney: Can you give me the definition please?
Announcer: A cow is a cow!
Brittney: Can you use it in a sentence please?
Announcer: Please spell the word cow.
Brittney: C-O-W Cow!
Announcer: That is correct.

One of the real cast members got out and they sang a song called "Life is pandemonium." For this song, we were instructed to get up and dance with them. We turned around in a circle in the middle of the stage and various other dance moves. It was real pandemonium.

Bruce's next word was Xanthippe which means an angry women. Bruce spelled it Z-A-N-T-H-I-P-P-Y. When he got out, the cast members sang him a song, gave him a juice box and a spelling bee participant ribbon, and he found his seat.

By this time, it was near the end of Act I and I was the last audience member still on stage.

Announcer: Ms. Brittney Richards. Ms. Richards got kicked out of the girl scouts for giving cookies away to the boys. Your word is Knochie.
Brittney: Can you give me the definition please?
Announcer: A Japanese decoration.
Brittney: Can you use it in a sentence please?
Announcer: My grandmother always used a knochie for her lamp.
Brittney: K-N-O-C-H-I-E
Announcer: That is correct!
When I returned to my seat, all of the actors and actresses told me great job! Then immediately...
Announcer: Brittney Richards. Please spell the word rhino________.
(This word was so bizarre that I don't even remember what it was).
Brittney: Can you give me the definition please?
Announcer: A word that has 6 silent letters.
Brittney: Can you use it in a sentence please?
Announcer: rhino_______ is nearly impossible to spell.
Brittney: I spelled rhino, then I started adding random letters (making sure some of them were silent)
Announcer: What is the last letter you used?
Brittney: e
Announcer: I'm sorry that is incorrect.

Drat! I was out. I was the last audience member to get out and was therefore given the opportunity to be serenaded on stage with the song "Prayer of the comfort counselor" It was kind of awkward to have a strange male serenade me on stage, call me a spelling babe, and tell me that I was the best speller. He then gave me a hug, a juice box, and a ribbon. I excited the stage and the auditorium because that was intermission.
When I was trying to look up the word Knochie in the dictionary before I wrote this post to make sure I remembered what he said for the definition; I couldn't find it anywhere. I am pretty sure that is how I spelled it, but it might be made up. Does anyone know for sure?

I found out later that the rhino____ word was made up. They needed to get me off stage. I wasn't even supposed to get the word before that correctly, but I did. I completely guessed at the spelling, but it must have matched what was in the script; otherwise I would have been escorted off after that word.

With this play, audience participation is a common thing. You can check it out at Wikipedia. I wasn't allowed to take any pictures - so you can't see me in action.
During intermission, other audience members asked me if I really was from the audience. They thought I was part of the cast and did a good job. It was really fun! I have thought about possibly seeing what community plays they are putting on here and trying out for them. Maybe my next calling is on stage.