photographs.

the last four days, i have been consumed with taking pictures...so without further ado, i will let the pictures do most of the talking! (and apologies in advance for all the dog pictures...until we have babies, they are pretty much our lives : )

 

the next few pictures are from the most delicious batch of pumpkin chocolate chip cookies i just made...complete with cream cheese icing...unbelievable!



that pretty much concludes what i've done so far.  and yes, i still know absolutely nothing about how to work my camera other than in the auto modes.  also yes, my very talented friend sarah is giving me a lesson this week. 

i have soo much to learn yet.

thelandbetween.

i cried bawled today in church.  what an amazing message of hope, peace, and perseverance.  God works in  the barren land.  if the israelites would have thought their situation was final after a few months, they would have died in the desert.  i was so encouraged and challenged to realize this is not final.  i am where i need to be and God is here with me.  every step.  every day.  in every way. 

after this morning's service we had a great conversation with some friends, came home and rearranged two of our rooms (and by that i mean we entirely swapped the furniture from one room to another).  i feel good about my productivity...i wrote a paper, voice-overed a powerpoint, finished indexing 250 books, moved/cleaned/trashed various parts of the house, and  bought a freaking sweet camera.  see below.

best buy had their annual heroes sale (which includes teachers) and i was finally able to convince bradley that i wanted...rather, needed this camera.
the unfortunate part: not in stock.  so now i wait anxiously for the 15th so i can learn to take incredible (at least more incredible than i currently can with my 5 yr old nikon) pictures.

moral of the both stories: i am learning that the waiting process is an important one and i will cherish every moment with purpose and hope.

now...must...fold...clothes.

ahh.

i have had quite the enjoyable day that peaked even more when i saw this in meijer:

my favorite lime chips and salsa.  i seriously check these two items every time we go grocery shopping and have committed to only buying them when they are on sale and usually its either the chips or the salsa, but not today!  i spotted the orange and yellow stickers from 4 aisles away and darted quickly toward them as there were only two bags of chips left. so i sit here, happily blogging and eating this delightful snack...all the while avoiding my three papers due sunday.  ahh.

i have a feeling tomorrow shall be equally as good because it includes pajama day (the favorite day of all kindergarten teachers...well, maybe a close second to the day before christmas break because of the delightful homemade and thoughtful presents), halloween movie and popcorn in the auditorium, fall party with chocolate upon chocolate treat, the staff pitch-in complete with decked out spider theme, ballet class in the evening, and a late night dinner with good friends at the best little pub in town (their veggie quesadillas are exquisite).  all this and i haven't even mentioned that it will also be the last day of school this week.  oh my.

i'll let the thrill of the halloween season continue to help me put off the papers...at least until sunday afternoon : ).  then again, we have an obligation to pass out candy for cute trick-or-treaters, right??

something beautiful.

today was full of ups with a few downs.

ups:
- waking up early enough to get everything done that i needed to
- laughing at the dogs as they barked my husband out of bed at 5:30 am (they are not patient when it comes to their mealtime)
- following hubby to the local gas station where he bought me a morning coke...romantic, huh?
- wearing a favorite dress with my cute new (well, two wears ago new) pewter shoes
- singing silly songs with my kindergarteners
- sharing the excitement of the halloween season with 5 year olds in their first year of school!
- only working half a day
- feeling hopeful after a moment this afternoon that i was sure would be filled with tears and frustration
- listening to worship music and praying for patience, peace, and hope tonight (its been a long time since i've just sat in the presence of God and listened...so good for my soul)
- learning my nashville sister will indeed be joining us for thanksgiving!
- my first warm bowl of soup this fall season

downs:
- exhaustion at the sound of my alarm at 5 am
- a sad follow-up to a parent conference last friday...my heart breaks for this little one who is such a product of her unstructured, unstable environment
- field trip cancellation...no pumpkin patch tomorrow...more a bummer for me than the kids probably!

when i compare the lists, it leaves me no choice but to be thankful.  i have a God who makes something beautiful out of each moment of every day...even those that i dread the most.
in honor of that, i'll share this song i adore lately.  may it encourage you as it does me.

double whoops.

edit: i have bad ideas every once in a while, and this was one of them!

in other news:
crazy week ahead of us...basketball season begins in full swing along with a new class for me (which i've procrastinated homework on all day).  whoops.  time to finally get around to that.

help!

i'm not so crafty and creative, but i have two goals in the next year.
1. get a dslr camera and learn to take some fabulous pictures.
2. obtain a sewing machine and begin to make some cutesy things.
any suggestions/recommendations on how i should go about this?
i get overwhelmed when i think about beginning something so new...

a series of unexpected events

things i loved about this weekend.

1. the gorgeous weather

2. barktoberfest with cheap microchipping so now our dogs are guaranteed to return to us (under the assumption there are no casualties!)

3. date night on friday with my hubby.  our choices after we got home from school were either sleep or go browsing in a few stores.  we chose to go out for a little so that we didn't waste our night away and ended up staying out for nearly six hours.  a very un-anticipated way to start our weekend!

4. seeing some of the volleyball girls i coached last year.  i miss the sport and the relationships a lot but i am so thankful for the extra time in my already crazy schedule.

5. the chance to really clean our house.  we've been so busy i haven't had time to address the 5 loads of clean laundry piled on our guest bed that needed to be folded.  i can sleep in peace now that we lack piles of dog hair and wrinkled clothes.

6. colts! another unexpected event this weekend was the chance to go to the game (thanks to facebook and melissa!).  i happened to log on just at the right moment and we snatched a great deal.  happy for the victory but bummed the game wasn't more action-filled.

7. dinner with brad's family.  always laughs to share and good company.

here's to a great weekend and hopefully a wonderful (and very busy!) week.

happy birthday week!

happy 26th birthday to my amazing husband.  i thought about posting 26 things i love about him and then realized the sappiness might be just a little lot too much.  we were talking tonight while grocery shopping (such a great birthday event, huh?) that it is the 6th birthday of his that we've celebrated together.  it's hard for me to believe that...time goes so fast.

to my birthday husband: i love you and am honored to be loved by you.  thank you for showing me a love that is selfless, patient, and free of judgement.  also, thanks for being understanding of my shopping issues : )  here's to 26 years of your life...and an awesome rest of your birthday week!

for those of you who don't know this little known fact about me...i like to take a special event and expand it so it lasts as long as possible...birthdays last a week (sometimes more if they're mine!) and holidays should be celebrated for much more than a day!  after all, its impossible to fit all the festivities into one single 24 hour period.

for my hubby's birthday week, we began by celebrating a michigan victory over iu...go blue!

(ignore the iu fan in the corner obviously oblivious of the 72 yd. touchdown about to occur)

sunday we attended church, had a pre-birthday lunch out at a yummy pizza place i discovered recently, and then relaxed all day to football (a selfless present if i must say so myself ha.).  monday was a catch up on homework and class stuff followed by presents and dinner out today.  i can't give away the rest of the week, but plans are in the works to finish off a week of celebration.

happy day of birth, bradley!

grand opening.

kindergarten routines and procedures do not happen overnight (to say the least).  the class i have this year has needed a little extra time and support to get to the actual 'doing' part of kindergarten that comes after the routines and procedures.  after weeks full of hours of practicing centers (a.k.a. workstations), we had our Grand Opening today. 

this was an idea i came across last year to make the first day of this endeavor a little more exciting and continued it this year with a little more umphf.  we had a grand opening cake, balloons, and even a ribbon-cutting ceremony to start the day off. 

the kids had a blast and were able to almost effortlessly follow through with the tasks we have been praciticing for weeks.  wonderful day but i am exhausted beyond belief...now i'm off to watch last night's episode of glee!

shopping and therapy are synonymous...right?

ever have one of those moments where you feel slight panic and then lose all sense of focusing because the thoughts start flowing a million a minute?  this moment came for me today while i was typing an endless amount of journals for a class, while missing a day of work due to the craziness of what i must turn in this week.  i couldn't wrap my mind around the school projects (both graduate and teaching), to-do lists, cleaning, uncertainties in my personal life, and plans for the weekend -- after all, it is my husband's birthday week coming up.
here was my solution to the panic (which is usually always my solution to the panic):

shop. shop. shop.
check out these unbelievably cute fall items i found at 50% off. thanks hobby lobby and wal-mart.

love this litle turkey...$3.50!

the picture doesn't do it justice nor is it hung correctly, so just pretend!

again, the picture doesn't show the bronze finish and cute wire details but it looks fabulous on my cute little leaf runner.

i think i have some kind of sickness with my little shopping fixes here and there...but as long as i get great deals, i say i'm really saving money, right?  my husband says to tell that to dave ramsey.

i see you, i hear you.

a goal i have for myself over the next couple weeks is to become better at recognizing people's efforts and strengths.  too often, i go about my day so totally consumed in my to-do list and in survival mode that i forget to stop and recognize all the hard work others are putting in.

this occurred to me this week as i recieved several 'admonishments' of my own, and i walked away with a little more bounce in my step and more hope that i'm on the right track.  everyone needs to know that despite their frustrations and moment-to-moment failures, that people recognize that their hearts are in the right place.  as an episode of parenthood put it, "i see you. i hear you."

some words i was given were sincere, filled with true praise and encouragement (and those of you who provided me with this...thank you from all that i am.  it has been a stress tear-filled week and i appreciate your kind and thoughtful words).  other words were not necesarilly intended to be truly thoughtful, but i appreciated them nonetheless.

case in point:  as i pulled into the high school for a training today, i had to parallel park.  did i mention i hate parallel parking?  i think i may have hit one to many cones in driver's ed and my first accident came from pulling out of such a parking place.  everytime i need to do this, all muscles tense and my heart rate instantly increases.  needless to say, i pulled in (in quite a hurry due to lack of punctuality on my part) and quickly looked around to see if anyone had noticed my 10 point parking endeavor.  an older gentlemen began to yell at me from across the parking lot.  i assumed i had parked in the wrong spot or maybe he was going to make a joke regarding my technique.  all he said was, "i guess there are women who can parallel park...this is a first for my eyes."  meant as a simple joke, but taken to heart.  especially after i had just called my husband and told him about my loving bump to a concrete pole in the coke line this morning, resulting in this:

i'm thankful for people who speak into my life even though i know i don't say thank you or return the favor as often as i should.  here's to the coworkers, friends, random old men, and family who take the time to notice.  may i do the same in return!

tip toes and tutus.

regrets can take people to ugly places sometimes.  some live and dwell in them and always wonder what if.  others will step out of the comfortability of 'what if' and make those past longings a reality.

silly as it may be, some part of me has have lived in regret for 11 years for not continuing this:



so a friend and i decided to take a step (...more like lunge) way out of what we know and place our feet in these:

instead of wishing we were back in the studio, we would actually do it.  no time like the present, right?  we signed up for an adult class and left entirely frustrated.  though we are not near where we used to be, there is something to be said for 10+ years of technical training.  it sticks with you like you wouldn't believe.  at a hip hop class last night, i was invited to an advanced ballet class at another studio.  right.   i had always hoped i would be the foolish adult who still thinks she can dance yet gets sideways glances and under the breath laughs from the seventeen year old prima ballerinas in the room.

nonetheless, we took carpe diem to heart and ventured into more scary waters.  the text to my friend minutes before class said, "i'm here...hurry...i might vomit."  stomach in knots, we entered the studio and donned our pink slippers.

an hour and a half later, we left with legs heavy but heads held high.  not perfect execution, but pretty darn swell for an eleven year hiatus.  now let's see how my legs feel tomorrow after rond de jambs, coupes, and pique turns have some time to settle in my muscles.


next on the list of no regrets: set a PR in my 5k this weekend after not training for four months...anything is possible, right?

not your typical powerpoint.

have you heard of prezi before?  our supervisor for our internship suggested that brad use it instead of a powerpoint.  its way too cool.  am i out of the loop or is this tool not widely used yet?

thanks to this innovative gadget, i can now waste more time making incredibly neat things.

i love free stuff.

in lieu of working on my internship projects (of which i have hours ahead of me tonight), i made this adorable little banner for my classroom website:

banner template is free from http://www.thecutestblogontheblock.com/ (could spend hours here downloading free things!)

font is called 'crayons' and is free from http://web.archive.org/web/20060614075406/www.momscorner4kids.com/fonts/afonts.htm

(again, could spend the rest of my night downloading unique fonts -- must see for teachers, crafters, and moms who like adorable letters)

banner edited with photoscape...a wonderful little photo editing program that is free.

get it here:

http://www.photoscape.org/ps/main/index.php

(looks sketchy but my school district checked it out and has actually downloaded it onto all school computers because it has some very neat features)

now...keep playing or take inventory of emergency bags...?

delicious!

tonight we made 'veggie' tacos.  so easy, SO good.  it tasted like the somewhat healthier version of taco bell (if there is such a thing!).

for those of you who don't know yet, i have been a 'veggie' since february-ish of this year.  i can't remember the exact date because it was a slightly impulsive decision.  i say slightly because i ordered a few books, researched a little, and decided to take the plunge for my own curiousity.  i also wanted to experiment with this way of living because -- well, if you know me -- i have issues of the stomach-type.

i was pretty nervous initially because first of all, until i retrained myself through this new lifestyle, i never really looked at labels.  i now had to actually spend time in the grocery store comparing, google-ing ingredients, and buying things i have never bought before.  at first, it was a whole-hearted (even husband-hearted) endeavor that involved new recipes, weird textures, and completely meatless and barely processed foods.  some meals were excellent.  others were thrown entirely away after one bite (which was especially discouraging after i spent an hour chopping delicious veggies, roasting them, and then mixing them with couscous.  BIG mistake.  turns out i have a texture issue, at least with that).

i'm not sure if it was the lack of meat in my diet, or the transition to whole and unprocessed foods, but i did see a difference.  my stomach no longer cramped and i...well, i'll spare you the details!  i also lost a few pounds the first couple months which stayed off, but the weight loss lessened, especially after my 12 credit hour summer took a toll on my gym time.

i'm not sure what the next step is.  i don't see myself diving back into meat, because honestly, it kind of grosses me out now.  i'd like to try cutting out all animal products for a while, also for my own curiousity, but that takes substantially more effort.  for now, i'm focusing on cutting the sugar out and continuing to build meals around plants and whole grains.  i feel better and ultimately, that's what this change has been about.

for those of you interested, i recommend a 30 day trial.  what can it hurt?  if you hate it, eat meat again.  nothing lost, but perspective gained.  i also would suggest these resources:

a quick, easy read with some simple rules to live by when wanting to eat from a more holistic perspective.  michael pollen is not a vegetarian, so its an interesting read for even those want to switch to a plant-based diet.

another great book by pollan that explores the idea of plant-based eating more in-depth.

don't write it off.  it's a good read for those wanting to experiment with removing meat from their diet to those 'superheroes' who can eat a completely vegan diet.

she also has a neat website: http://www.thekindlife.com/ with interesting updates on a regular basis.

i'd like to continue learning, so if you have any recommendations, please let me know!

when hunger calls

when our lab, Mo, is hungry, there is no rationalizing with him.  matter of fact, this morning he decided he'd had enough of us sleeping in (therefore delaying the satisfaction of his hunger pangs) so jumped on our bed and started pouncing on us.  i came across this video of our daily routine around dinner time.  we typically get about twenty minutes of this...or however long it lasts until we give in and pour a cup of those savory dog morsels in his bowl.

oh my word, can you say darling.

i am in LOVE with these cutsie little reversible shoes.  check more out here!  and no, i am not looking for any specific reason other than the sheer cute-sy factor.

we made the paper!

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smile, you're on candid camera.

This weekend has been gorgeous beyond belief. 

Three days off school + beautiful weather + less pressure for my inernship and classes = a smile on my face and joy in my heart.

This is so good for my soul as the last three weeks have been hard.  God has been revealing Himself to me in new ways and I am so humbled by His love.  I'm praying my heart continues to fall more in love with Him and let Christ be my all.

Now the question remains...will I be able to keep this thing updated?

I'll leave you with someone we saw at the Toby Keith concert last weekend.  If you know who is in the background on the right, you're probably a teacher from Indiana.  I'll spare you if you don't! : )

Note Jenna posing so that I was not to look too suspicious snapping this candid shot...

bittersweet.

Last week was a sad one. RIFs were delivered to 26 teachers in our corporation. Several who received them were dear friends and they will be missed greatly both professionally and personally. I wish them the best and know God is in control of all, even when hope is hard to find.

It's a tough time for all. When the economy began its initial struggle and it faced an inevitable plunge, I thought education would be the 'safe' job. How could it not be? There will always be kids. There will always be a desire for knowledge. You'd think there would always be a push for quality education. Yet now we lay off 26 teachers, say there won't be increased class sizes, and decrease our resources incredibly. Needless to say, I'm a bit skeptical.

I still don't know where I'll be going yet. Placement lists are supposed to come out this week. I remind myself of the same thing I did to my friend last week who recently had a baby, husband lost his job last year and now works thirds nearly an hour from home, and faces uncertainty as I cried with her after she received a RIF letter...God IS in control.

yikes.

Yikes is the only word I have for my lack of writing. I would like to be better. So I shall try.
Beginning...next week after the craziness of due dates, meetings, exams and dog classes subsides.
Check back for quite the overdue update!