Hallelujah, Praise the Lord, Sound the Alarm!

Ladies and Gentlemen, I have done what I previously thought was the impossible: I've completed this school year.  It was painful, slow and painfully slow, but I'm happy to say that I've done it...and I've learned a few lessons in the process.  Some things I've learned (that I've always known but I didn't know how true they were until I had the constant reminders this year):

*Change is hard and changing jobs is hard especially when you loved your old job and you really didn't    want to leave it.

*Children need structure.  C.O.N.S.T.A.N.T.L.Y. I knew this, but I didn't realize the huge difference between the amount of structure a child from a broken home needs versus a child from a home where mom and dad are both investing in them.

*I should never put things off. EVER. Do you know how many times I was up until 1-2am working on report cards that had to go home the next day?  Everytime Actually that never happened ;).

*My "to-do" list will NEVER be completely done; I shouldn't hold it against myself when I go to bed at night and there's not a "check" next to even item.

*I shouldn't let the way others treat or view me change the way I view myself.

*People are hard to love - all the more reason to try (who doesn't like a good challenge???).

*The job of a teacher is NEVER done (until summertime that is).  Actual teaching only represents about half of what's expected of me.

*I need more sleep as a teacher than any other job (except motherhood) and it actually hinders me from getting sleep (hmmm...starting to sound like this is motherhood...)

*I have infinitely less amount of patience when I'm tired.  infinitely.

*Living intentionally and working in an intentional manner is far better than flying by the seat of your pants - especially when teaching. (not that I've done the latter...)

I could keep going and going but I'm feeling a little sleepy and Catching Fire is catching my attention...you know, the book I bought LAST SUMMER but didn't have a second to read it during the school year - yeah, that one.

I Live In A Zoo...

...and not the kind of zoo I'd like to live in (although I'm unsure of what kind of zoo that would be!)!
On Friday, after school, Princeton was outside after I had gotten home from work. All of a sudden I started hearing him go nuts. He was barking his head off, a loud and quickly repeating bark. I know you're thinking, "yeah, he's a dog, big whoop." But Princeton's not a barker - it takes a lot to get him to bark, and at this time I started to wonder what in the world was going on. I got up to check things out and as I looked out the back door, I saw Princeton barking furiously AT the back door. What in the world?! I knew then that my dog had officially lost his mind. That's until I opened the door to go out and see what in good gravy was going on. I was still thinking Princeton had lost it until I saw the most horrid thing out of the corner of my eye...
A big ole snake. Uggggggghhhhh! I immediately started freaking out, P-ton style. I called Stephen and insisted he come home as soon as his car could get him there! I then proceeded to watch the snake and follow it until Stephen got there. There's something you should know about me: I live in the camp of snakes came straight from hell. In fact, I'm fairly certain my Bible tells me that.
Stephen came home and got straight to work hunting down my arch nemesis. He spent an hour pretending he was Indiana Jones before he accomplished the inevitable. He then proceeded to bring the dead snake (he did have the decency to bag it up) into the house to prove to me it was indeed dead...SICK! Who does that?!?!
So with all that being said, I've turned into a skiddish freak in my own backyard...here's to hoping I've seen all the snakes I'll ever see in this lifetime!

Thankful for Old Friends

When I was a senior in high school, one of my good guy friends started dating this girl from another school. This said girl happened to go to UK, which is where I went to college, and despite the fact that she and he broke up, she and me became great friends! This girl happens to be my friend, Traci.  Traci is one of those friends who is laid back and loves you no matter what.  She's one of those friends who you could go awhile without talking to (although I hate it), but as soon as you have a conversation with her, it's as if no time has passed.  Traci and I lived together for 3 years in college and then remained close friends after that. I had the privilege to be in her wedding back in 2005 and I was honored when she agreed to be a part of mine in 2009.

wowzers.  Here's a throw back to 2005...yikes.

Traci's wedding - March, 2005

My wedding, 2009

Needless to say, I was over the top excited last Spring/Summer when Traci told me that her and her husband were expecting a baby.  I immediately told her that I wanted to throw her a baby shower as well as make her baby bedding (if she were interested, I'm not into forcing people to take baby bedding ;-)!)  I couldn't wait to celebrate Traci as a mom and I wanted to do it in every way I could.  You can imagine my surprise when Traci told me a couple of weeks later that she wasn't expecting a baby, instead her and her husband were anticipating the birth of their BABIES in November/December.  Yup. Babies with an 's'.  All the more reason to celebrate! 

Here are some pictures from Traci's shower in October:

I picked these invites up at Target and then printed them off
at home.  Too bad I forgot to add my address and my mom
had to help me write it on the back of each envelope so her guests
would know where to go for the shower.  Oops!

Pregnant Traci and her "pumpkin"s as well as me and her Aunt Gail (the other hostess)

The desserts - cake, pumpkin spice balls and pumpkin spice mini cheesecakes

A close up of the cake - I used the same method as here and here.  

A few short weeks later, those 2 cutie pa-toots came into this world: Hudson and Kate are some adorable babies!

3 roomies together again, this time with 2 little babes :)

Here is their birth announcement picture - how cute are they?!

Here is a more recent picture - I can't handle how adorable they are!

And then this week I had the opportunity to catch up with Traci and the babes again.  I'll never turn down a good dinner with a great friend and baby snuggling time!

I love Traci and I love those two babies!  I can't wait to continue to be a part of their life and see how God uses them to share his Glory with others.  Here's to great friends!!!

Randomness In Numbers

It's been waaaaay too long since I came on here and promised you I'd be back...I wasn't lying - although I was very slow at my return.  Apologies.  I know your life has been on hold while you've been checking my blog feverishly on a daily basis (I kid, I kid!).  There's so much swarming around in my head - so many thoughts, projects, feelings, ideas, stories...today just seemed like an appropriate "random" day.  What better way to share with you what's been going on, than through a random post - with numbers?  Here we go!

5 - the number of school days left with students....I am so ready for this summer break.

1 - the number of new students that I got today....5 days left into the year.....that don't speak a word of English.

3 - the number of custom baby bedding orders I'm currently working on - are you pregnant, or know someone who is???  Change that number!

2 - the number of dead birds my dog has brought me over the span of 2 days.  He was incredibly excited and thrilled by his offering.  Too bad my anger and disgust really threw him off.

6 - the hour of the morning that Stephen and I awoke on Saturday to find ourselves still in our Friday clothes, on the couch, with the dog, and the t.v. on...ay yi yi!

4,567,921 - the number of projects I have on my mental list of things to do this summer.  Will they all even be possible???

2 - the number of students who called me a "snitch" on Friday - to my face.  Please refer to my first random number.

4 - the number of nieces and nephews I have that I've been able to see on a weekly basis now that Stephen and I live in Louisville.  There's nothing like seeing your baby nephew so often that he smiles when you come into the room!

582 - the number of recipes I have pinned on my Recipe Pinterest board...someone better get cooking!

4 - the number of recipes I have actually tried from my Recipe Pinterest board - at least I was pleased with every one of them!

1 - the number of baby pools Stephen and I have purchased in our lifetime.  This baby pool was not for our baby (considering we do not have one), but instead for our dog - in a last ditch effort to keep him out of our pool in the backyard.

20 - the day in June that I have to take time out of my summer break to drive to Bowling Green for a Conference for school.  PTL for family in Bowling Green - let's get some good family time out of the random work day during the break!

3 - the number of times that Stephen has converted into a 5 year old little boy while he's explaining to me what Bear Country is in South Dakota and how much he can't wait to visit (a trip we have planned this summer)!

4 - the week of Couch to 5K I'm getting ready to start this week...here's to hoping I'm more consistent with my runs this week than last.

6 - the number of pictures I have to share with you to make this post even more random, but less boring :)

Princeton - or P-ton, as we like to call him, enjoying his new pool!
Here's to hoping this keeps him out of ours!

Cakes I made for a friend's baby's first birthday.  That
homemade fondant is just so good!

P-ton sleeping on the couch...he's hard not to snuggle,
which then leads to waking up next to him at 6 am.

The lilies we have growing in our pond in the backyard -  they are gorgeous!  This was
not our doing, we're just reaping the benefits of the previous owner's plantings.

Exhibit A of why living in Louisville is nice. Randomly celebrating a
handsome man's pre-school graduation is always a good time!

Exhibit B.  This little guy is just too much fun!