Striving To Be Bold

If You'd Never Existed

2009-01-04T21:59:00.003-05:00

On Christmas Eve, I was watching "It's a Wonderful Life" while wrapping gifts with my mom. Mom was in and out of the room, but once when she walked in, she glanced at the television and asked me,

"Have you ever thought about how different the world would be if you'd never existed?"

To be honest, at first I said, "eh, nothing would be different..."

But then I got to thinking, and it's been on my mind since that evening. Truth be told, there are a few things that could be different:

- My school would not have a webpage

- My old co-teacher wouldn't have a neighbor close by to walk with

- Elizabeth & Joe perhaps wouldn't be married. They are a couple that I set up in 2002 and now have a son...

- My family's dynamics would be different with someone else as the oldest

- Two of my friends who are close wouldn't even know each other

- Elora, the young, blind girl I led to become a Christian in Belize would probably not be Christian!

- A few porch roofs in New Orleans wouldn't exist...or at least, wouldn't be built so perfectly ;)

- My sister Rachael wouldn't have a doting oldest sister

- My sisters Rachael and Lily wouldn't have made gingerbread cookies yesterday, or a gingerbread house recently

- The kiddos at school would not have a cool new calendar each month ;)

- The kiddos at school would not have a teacher to show them how to make snowflakes

- My brother Bryan wouldn't have a pocketknife from Switzerland...

- My friend Lexi would have no one to chai tea search with in Big City

- My friend Bobi wouldn't have had anyone to go to the Office Convention with

Have you ever thought about it? What would be different? A lot, I'm sure you'll discover. Something to think about :)

2009-01-03T22:52:00.004-05:00

Tomorrow I head back to Big City.

Away from family,

lifelong friends,

lazy days,

the countryside,

the comfort of "home"

Back to crazy drivers,

city life

wild kiddos,

a job I love,

newer friends,

stores close enough to walk to,

awesome co-workers

and sadly, most of all,

3 hours away from the emotional, slap happy 8 year old Rachael,

who's had me wrapped around her finger since the day she was born.

Sometimes, just every once in awhile,

I wish my parents' countryside home

was closer to Big City.

2009-01-02T14:51:00.002-05:00

I love lazy days.

I hate feeling guilty for being lazy on days like today, though.

Catching up on Psych episodes, movies I haven't watched in forever, reading a few books, listening to my favorite songs, enjoying holiday cookies and egg nog...that is my today.

I refuse to feel guilty for it, for a week from now I will have completed five days of work and have a full weekend of babysitting ahead of me. I am thankful that I was sane enough in mid-December to ban myself from babysitting over this break. Even still, I got two phone calls, a text, and at least three emails asking if I could babysit. I guess I don't need to worry about a lack of babysitting jobs in '09!

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T22:26:00.002-05:00

Hope you all had a fantastic first day of 2009!

I spent New Year's Eve with my family. We watched some family movie that my Dad and I picked up from Redbox. It was a movie definitely not worth watching again and truthfully I don't remember the name of it! We watched the ball drop and about two or three minutes following the beginning of 2009, our electricity went out, for seemingly no good reason! Rachael was clinging to me, crying, as Bryan tried to convince her that aliens were out to get the world, that Y2K was indeed happening- just 9 years too late, and so on. It came back on in the middle of the night some time, but I tried to make it a fun adventure for Rachael in the meantime, although she wasn't too thrilled!

Today I spent a while figuring out the bills from before Thanksgiving. I went way over on all my budgets in December (I knew ahead of time that was going to happen), mostly because of Christmas presents, eating dinner out with friends, and slicing my finger. I resolve to get back on track in January as best I can. I already have 2-3 babysitting jobs lined up for the month, hopefully I'll have a few more in the coming weeks.

~~

I don't know what this year brings. I'm sure there will be surprises, both good and bad. Perhaps a date or two, although I refuse to center my weeks/months/year on that.

In 2009 I will try:

1. To attend at least one more speed dating, just for the fun of it.

2. To go to the park a few times a week to walk before work- more in the spring and summer.

3. To cook more, even if it just for me. Leftovers can be used for lunches, but enough of the frozen crap.

4. To attend more of Grace Heart's events. I've been slacking.

5. To explore Big City's chai tea offerings with Lexi.

6. To travel to see my old town friends at least 3 times in 2009. I had a wonderful time with them last week!

7. To travel to a state I've not been to yet.

8. To use my spring break to have FUN-- Florida, maybe?

9. To pay off at least 25% of my debt- and not incur any more.

10. No credit card use!

11. More veggies and fruits...

12. To thoroughly enjoy every day, be it a 10 hour work day followed by babysitting or a lazy Saturday spent reading a novel.

I also started a new blog-- this one for baby name games. Lots of my friends on a baby name board enjoy these types of games and I can never seem to get enough so I thought I'd just put them online and then I can complete them over and over. Most people just think I'm weird, but making lists and lists of baby names has been a part of me since about age 8. When asked in elementary school to write a story, my "story" would list a family- mother, father, and 10-20 children. Most of the times, the kids had 2-3 middle names...I'm going to have an awful time actually naming my children when the time comes! :)

Books read in 2009

2009-01-01T15:09:00.004-05:00

The Perfect Life-- Robin Lee Hatcher-- I enjoy most of RLH's books but I had a bit of trouble getting through this one. I immensely enjoyed the first 3/4ths of it but towards the end I was anxious for it to end...not sure why 1/2/09

Blue Heart Blessed-- Susan Meissner-- One of those books that kept me reading for an unknown reason 1/2/09

Walk With Me-- Becky Melby and Cathy Wienke-- Such a fast read, really enjoyed 1/3/09

At His Command-- Brenda Coulter- It took me a while to get into, but once I got absorbed it was a pleasure to read 1/7/09

The Other Side of Darkness- Melody Carlson- Okay, this book was STRANGE and dealt with a lot of religious and otherwise OCD. It got to the point where I wanted to stop, but also wanted to finish 1/9/09

The Candidate- Susan Wales and Robin Shope- A mystery that I thoroughly enjoyed and sped through 1/11/09

Movies in 2009

2009-01-01T15:02:00.004-05:00

Deja Vu-- action/thriller-- kept me on the edge of my seat but I enjoyed it 1/1/09

Last Holiday-- comedy/drama-- Has Queen Latifah on it, but watched it with my parents and sister who'd never seen it before, and they all (surprisingly) liked it 1/1/09

Sweet Home Alabama-- comedy/romance-- I've seen it a few times but like to watch it once in a while 1/2/09

Freaky Friday-- comedy/family-- from 8 to 50s, my family mostly laughs through this one 1/3/09

21- drama- I enjoyed it...I was doing a million other things though 1/9/09

Cadet Kelly- family/comedy- a Disney movie, so geared toward a younger crowd but I like those ;) 1/8/09

Yes Man- comedy- eh, it was okay but dragged a bit. I'm not a fan of Jim Carrey though 1/10/09

Flushed Away- family/animated- cute family movie! 1/11/09

The Wedding Planner- comedy/romance- one that I picked up from 1/2 price books- sweet, fairly clean romance chick flick 1/11/09

2009-01-01T13:09:00.002-05:00

FREE PRINT FOR YOU by artist David Bowman!!!

OFFER ENDS Monday, January 5 @ 12 pm

I got this info from Trying2StayCalm...

I wanted to share these beautiful pictures and what the artist has to say about each one of them! You can ALL win a FREE signed 8x10 print of your choice (out of the three prints), by copying and posting to your blog or website this whole post! After you post then send an e-mail to David (contact@bowman-art.com) with your website or blog address telling him you posted it and that you read about this offer on my blog. Also send him your name and mailing address and he will send your signed 8x10 print of your choice!

David Bowman: has had a passion for art ever since he could pick up a pencil. He loves creating images of the Savior that inspire and uplift. Along with his Christian fine art, David has also written and illustrated a series of scripture storybooks for children titled "Who's Your Hero". Check out his website at http://bowman-art.com/indexFineart.htm to see more of his precious art.

"Innocence" ↑
The Savior tells us we need to become as little children to inherit the kingdom of God. I've often wondered what it is about little children Jesus loves most, and I think its their innocence. They are clean slates, seeing the world and others through untarnished eyes. Their hearts are pure, without the baggage of cynicism and self-doubt. In this piece, I've tried to imagine how a child would act upon meeting the Master for the first time. Without reservation or inhibition, I think he would simply want to play with Him. He would be at complete ease, allowing his pure little heart to soak in the love and laughter of His pure, infinite heart. Its no wonder Christ delights in these little ones and sets them up to be our examples.

"Security" ↑
One of the greatest human needs is a sense of security. In all aspects of life, we naturally gravitate towards anything that makes us feel safe. In this piece, I wanted to convey a sense of complete peace and calm like only the Savior can provide. It's a security that allows us to rest assured, without fear or worry, when we put ourselves trustingly in His arms. Little children have that inherent kind of trust in their parents, so it's fitting that the man and girl who modeled for "Security" are actually father and daughter. They generated the exact feel I was looking for.

"My Child" ↑
This piece conveys an intimate, up-close-and-personal feeling of the Savior's love. Notice how all the lines draw your attention and point towards Jesus' face in the center. I chose the name "My Child" because the only thing that could compare (even remotely) to Christ's compassion for us is the love of a parent for his/her child. This image is also intended to put things in perspective. Above all, we are God's children first. He allows us the privelege of experiencing parenthood for ourselves and we are entrusted to be the mothers and fathers of His.

HURRY and do it NOW so you can get one of these amazing prints for FREE!!! The hardest part is choosing which ONE you want!!!!

2008: By the Numbers

2008-12-30T22:12:00.007-05:00

Posts in 2008: 266

Biggest blogging month: March (47 posts)

Smallest blogging month: July (2 posts)

# of comments: 656 (WOW!!)

Post with the most comments: Favorite pics

Visitors arrived from: USA, Canada, UK, France, Philippines, India, Israel, Brazil, Korea, Singapore, Spain, Turkey, Netherlands, Germany, Greece, Croatia, Australia, Serbia, Malaysia, Argentina, Jamaica, Hong Kong, United Arab Emirates, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia

Ways people found my blog:

bettytheegg (my 1st email address)

stats of being single vs. married

free prayers for safe travel (gotta say, ALL prayers are free around here!)

co-teacher advice (wasn't advice but that's okay!)

One rainy Saturday morning Bethany sat in the nursing home (it wasn't even raining!)

Am I going to be bold if my grandfather is bold (aww..)

We need things to look forward to (so true!)

Why credit cards are bad (seriously, especially since I didn't ever GET the stinking ipod...)

Met Angela Kinsey (ohh yea I did!)

Is life busier today than it was 30 years ago (hmm)

Not ready

2008-12-30T21:37:00.003-05:00

I am not yet ready for a new year. Not even close! I've really been enjoying my break immensely...reading books, creating crafts and cupcakes with my younger sisters, traveling to visit friends who are like family, watching Psych with my family, creating an entirely new sleeping pattern...

I'm not ready to go back to the Big City, although I desperately miss my kiddos and co-workers! I DO NOT miss working on the website, as I had to login to change a few things today and got a feeling I'm going to be updating it a lot in January. I do not look forward to dealing with the roommate and her boy, although there is a bright light at the end of that tunnel. When my lease is up, I hope to get my own place. No roommates unless it's a sibling. Basically, I don't look forward to leaving the comfort of my parents' home. Although, when I start to ~~fight~~ hold heated discussions over dishes with my parents like the ~~teenager I am~~ adult I am not ...it's about time to leave.

2008 has been a weird year for me. My first date, which I was kinda hoping would lead to ~~a wedding~~ something in early 2009, but yea, that's not going to happen. Lots of moving cities and houses and apartment complexes... roommate situations, Belize, feeling more rooted in Big City. Money and car issues, although they seem to apply every year.

And so...the sun sets on yet another year.
What will 2009 bring???????

Last Road Trip of '08!

2008-12-26T17:04:00.004-05:00

Tomorrow morning I'm venturing out past state lines for the first time this month! I LOOOOOVE to travel, so I'm looking forward to the trip. I'll be back in a few days, just in time to celebrate New Year's somewhere or other...not sure where yet!

:)

P.S...just realized I lied. I have been out of state lines last week for Christmas shopping with my mom. I just forgot, and the states blend together a bit out here. Haha...

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T00:00:00.001-05:00

Traditions

2008-12-24T10:22:00.003-05:00

Our 2008 Christmas tree

I love traditions, especially around the holidays but I am realizing this year that as with everything, each year brings changes to this so called "tradition"...
Pretty reflection

It used to be tradition in my family for my whole family to drive to a tree farm after Sunday Mass and saw down a live tree, followed by a busy evening of putting up the tree "Is it straight??", "a little more to the right..." etc.

I haven't been a part of the tree-getting tradition in years. My youngest sister, now 8, probably doesn't even remember going to get the tree with me, ever...that makes me so sad. This year, I think Mom, Amata, Bryan, Lily and Rachael retrieved the tree. Lily and Rachael put up a few ornaments before our party, but other than that the tree is bare.
Each of us three older girls has one of these. Although I'm not sure where they originally came from, we've had them for about 20 years and each one holds our birth stone.

A few things have stayed the same, though...

We always go out to eat around the holidays. As a family of 9, eating out is a HUGE treat. We usually try and go on the 26th, to celebrate my parents' anniversary (Yes, they got married the day after Christmas and all of us children are forbid from doing so!). This year, between Shae's new job, Amata's mission trip, and Sam's social life, Monday night was the only available time for everyone. We enjoyed a leisurely dinner at Cracker Barrel and most of us ended up

Some ornaments are special to each of us, and only that person can put them up. For some reason, as a young girl I fell in love with a Dorothy ornament, from The Wizard of Oz. Everyone knows that ornament is not to touch the family tree until I come home, even if I arrive a day or two before Christmas!
My Dorothy ornament

This ornament reminds me of my mom, a former nurse. It's an adorable ornament!

I'm not sure if it's because I'm the oldest, but I seem to have charge of most of the Christmas traditions around here. Perhaps because I was a bossy older sister, or maybe due to my parents' ruling, I am the only "child" allowed downstairs on the main floor of the house, and only then to wake my parents and alert them that we're all ready to begin opening stockings and gifts! My dad used to torture the younger kids by telling him he was going to take a shower before the gift-exchanging could begin...they'd probably still hate it!

One of my favorite, very simple traditions is that I put up the stockings before our annual party. I'm not sure how any of these traditions began, although most especially this one. The stockings sit in a box until I arrive for the Christmas holiday, and then my younger sisters help cut the string and hand me the correct stocking for each place on the stair railing.
Glass ornament...fragile as a snowflake

Going home

2008-12-23T22:31:00.003-05:00

It's so hard for me to come to my parents' house, to this town, for longer than a few days. I was thinking back to the party we had this past weekend, and since none of my friends attended, I hung out with a few random people and my mother's friends (not that there's anything wrong with that, I love them!).

However, alllllllll of my "friends" from high school and college are either engaged or married and most/all are pregnant or have a few children...which is always where I thought I'd be at my age. So, when people arrived at the party, people I only see about once a year, the conversation is forever turning to their child's marriage/ children. Which is fine, but it makes me feel sad, unaccomplished, way behind in life, and a tiny bit bitter. Some of these people didn't even want to GET married or have kids, and yet they are living the life I've dreamed of since I was a child. I try to be happy for them, and most of the time I succeed, especially living in Big City.

But when I come home, it's inevitable that I will run into lots of these people, especially around Christmas. They will tell me all about their life, filled with husbands, children, school plays, toddler get togethers, cute things their kids say or do...

And me? All I have to contribute, yet again, year after year after year, is "No, I'm not dating anyone", "No, there are no prospects", "Yes, it's hard", "No, I don't have any more ideas of how to meet guys", "I'm just working, but thankfully I like my job"...

Sometimes I feel so worthless. I *know* we are not supposed to try and compare our lives with other people's or be jealous. But sometimes, I fail.

Reviewing TT

2008-12-22T22:18:00.002-05:00

*Scheduled post*

I was looking over the TT I made a few weeks ago and thought I'd see how my December compares so far....

1. December 19th has come and gone. Longest week of my life and yet super busy...

2. Oh yea, well live-in boyfriend wasn't there that day, but it's when I cut myself lol...

3. Cara never did come over...we were both too busy. Darn!

4. We had our annual Christmas party on the 20th and I think around 90 people came. We counted 90, but probably missed a few as my sisters and brothers invited people that I'd never seen before and didn't get introduced to...either way, it was a success! I didn't really have anyone to hang out with though, so that was a bummer. None of my friends ever come to the party, not sure why. :(

5. Aniya and I did have dinner together, which was a lot of fun. She's still dealing with a lot of crap from her car accident back in October. She came up with a plan for me to get a date a month in 2009 though, that should be fun...haha.

6. Babysitting jobs: complete!

7. Uh yea. School was just nuts. No comment, or I might have to swear.

8. The new computer arrived on the 6th, I think and I love it...SO FAST!

9. Christmas is only a few days away!!

10. Not sure what's up with the extended fam's visit. I'm going to visit friends in our old hometown after Christmas as long as the weather cooperates and I seriously CANNOT wait. We're going to have a blast, as always!

11. The website is up! We had some "small" issues regarding the publishing but it's up as of 2 am on the 20th. Not that I'm paying attention or anything, but I am proud of the way it turned out, especially regarding the program I had to work with. It made everything 5x as hard as it should have been.

12. I have about 20 books out from the library and finished my first this morning. I think Wednesday is my next "free day" sooo we'll see how that goes! ;)

13. Yea...the month's gone a bit differently than I thought it would...

Ah, December...

2008-12-21T21:29:00.006-05:00

Where have you gone?

I began the month of December a calm, excited soul eager for the Christmas holiday. The children were calm at school, I was set to begin making Christmas candles to hand out to co-workers, had a few Christmas ideas planned for my family, and life was looking rosy!

Then I sliced my finger, 15 minutes into making the candles the very first day I started. I was more mad at myself than anything else, but the cuts should have sent me to the ER for a stitch or two. Instead, I listened to my nature-minded, former Boy Scout father, who said "Ah, you'll be okay." And the finger is still attached to my hand, so I guess I'm alright. It has an odd feeling to it, and I ended up needing to use liquid bandages on the top cut because it just wasn't closing, but at least the finger works, right? As a result, however, my apartment's bathroom turned into a medical center, filled with band-aids of all shapes and sizes, gauze, medical tape, liquid bandages, hydrogen peroxide, butterfly bandages, steri strips, antibiotic cream, kitchen gloves so that I could still shower...

It made the weekend and following weekend interesting, since my finger was wrapped in gauze and drew questions from everyone, everywhere. I have one photo of myself from that week, and only because the kiddos at school were borrowing my camera daily at lunch. I was teased (by other teachers) that I looked constantly ready to shake hands... funny, but true!

In addition, I finished up my babysitting jobs for 2008 last Saturday. I babysat two one-year old boys and a 4-year old girl in a hotel room from 5p-2a. There's really not much to do with kids in a hotel room, in case you were wondering. At one point, I was holding cranky, screaming baby A on one hip, talking to his mother on the phone, trying to keep happy baby B from sticking his fingers in the light socket (hotels don't have electrical socket covers!!!), attempting to sign my name on the food bill, and listening to the 4 year old yelling, "Is that our pizza? I'm hungry! Who's on the phone?" and this was all at once, so it was a bit crazy! However, since the family knew it was going to be a late night, they got me my own hotel room and it was HUGE!

That same weekend, I got back to my candle making and the kitchen was soon taken over by the craft. I made over 50 candles of various sizes and scents (apple blossom, gingerbread, cinnamon roll, vanilla, boysenberry)
and also tried my hand at a new, simple craft my secretary showed me-- using an embossing tool to melt tissue paper onto a candle. I created five of those with snowman tissue paper and I think they turned out pretty cute!

The last week or so of school went soooooo slowly. The kids were extremely wild all week...to the point where most of the teachers were beginning to re-think circle time, at least until 2009. LOL.

In addition, I had to substitute for one of the teachers on Wednesday morning. That was a wild day, but I already wrote about that!

Rough Wednesday

2008-12-17T21:10:00.001-05:00

I knew today was going to be a rough one when I spilled juice ALL over my kitchen floor...and I was right.

I left my warm apartment well before 8 am and literally slid over to my car, slid while trying to scrape 1/2 inch of ice off of it, slid out of the apartment complex (we had freezing rain last night)

Then I arrive at work, ready to sub, only to find out that the teacher I'm scheduled to work with is stuck in a town 20 minutes away on a country road where she's house sitting and I have to get her classroom ready, do her circle, get the kids going on their work (usually we just go with the flow of the other teacher in the classroom...lol). It wasn't really too bad, but I just wasn't prepared to be the sole teacher at 8 am. Gah!!!

To make things more complicated, our secretary told me that our boss would like to have the school's webpage up by Friday. the 19th. In TWO days. I've been working on it for two months, at my boss' pace but now she wants things sped up...WAY sped up and I have SO much to do for Christmas but told her I would try and do what I can tonight at home and maybe even go in early tomorrow to help out. As I'm finishing what I can do at school without my computer, she informs me that she wants to add another page to the website.

I'm sorry I'm just having a rough day and need to vent.

So, how was your day?

Thumb Adventure Continues

2008-12-08T23:50:00.003-05:00

Seeing as this is how my hand has looked for the past 2.5 days...

I got a lot of questions from the co-workers, students and parents today at school. The thumb is doing okay...I'm not moving it (hence the white gauze) because if I do, it'll start to bleed again. I took the bandages off tonight since they were only sticking by blood anyway. I cleaned the cuts, explored the skin underneath...it's kinda gross and cool at the same time, if that makes sense! I'm really hoping these cuts heal-- right now they are still pretty wide open. Luckily neither of them bleed much when touched, but then again the finger doesn't have much feeling still/yet. I don't know if it will get the feeling back, and that's weird!

In other news, I am borrowing my secretary's embossing tool for a few days and tried out this easy, fun project- putting tissue paper on $1 candles. Eventually, I might try and melt the tissue paper onto candles that I've made, but not right now. Soooo easy!

2008-12-06T12:01:00.002-05:00

Well, that was fun. I got up early this morning, prepared to make tons and tons of candles as Christmas gifts. I took most of the ones I made last night out of their molds and am happy with them. As I began shaving and cutting old wax small enough to melt in other containers, all was well. I grabbed a dark green evergreen candle and a knife and went to work. Somehow, and I don't really know how, I sliced my left thumb in two places. I immediately grabbed my alumnae tie-dyed t-shirt that I was wearing and hoisted the finger, wrapped tightly, above in the air. It didn't hurt at first, but began to throb, and was still bleeding. I thought I should probably go to to ER, since after 5-10 min it was still bleeding heavily and blood was soaking through everything, so I called Cara, but she didn't answer her phone. I knew I couldn't (or at least, shouldn't) drive myself to the hospital, so was trying to think of who else to call. I settled on my parents, not to drive me as they are three hours away, but for some "should I go/not go" advice...my dad's a former EMT/boy scout and my mom a former nurse. My dad asked me a few questions and I ended up taking a picture, blurry because I was shaking but good enough that he could see where the injury was. I eventually temporarily closed the cut with bandaids and grabbed a clean washcloth, then ran to the closest store where I stocked up on gauze, bandages, hydrogen peroxide, and antibiotic cream. Now the finger is all wrapped up so that it can't bend and bleed again. My day's plans are shot, so I'm trying to think of something else to do. I think I might go with Christmas cards...

TT: 12/4

2008-12-03T21:14:00.003-05:00

Thirteen Things I'm Looking Forward To In December...

1. DECEMBER 19!!!! Is the last day of school before Christmas break--- and we don't have to go back until 2009!

2. This Saturday, my roommate will be in Indiana, and I'm sincerely hoping her "live-in" boy decides to evacuate the premises so I can relax and enjoy my weekend without the stress of having them here.

3. Sometime this month, Cara is going to come over and we're going to bake Christmas cookies and swap artsy Christmas ideas

4. December 20th, my family will have their 8th annual Christmas party-- and pending any horrible weather, I should be able to attend and catch up with family and friends I rarely see!

5. In a few weekends, my old co-teacher Aniya and I are going to have dinner together and catch up, which should be fun!

6. I have about 5 more babysitting jobs coming up before the 19th...so it will be busy but extra $$ for Christmas...

7. School- even though sometimes it's nuts (ahem, yesterday!) we really do enjoy ourselves and the kiddos. Plus, we'll be doing lots of holiday activities with them- we've already started a few crafts.

8. December 5th is the day my new computer is supposed to arrive...pretty exciting!

9. December 25th is well, Christmas, which will be spent with my crazy, loud, large family

10. Our extended family will be in town December 28 & 29, always good to see the cousins

11. Crossing my fingers that my boss and I will be able to finish my school's website before Christmas break...

12. I am also looking forward to reading lots and lots on Christmas break...I love books :)

13. Seriously, just this month in general. I am working on not worrying about the weather since I can't control it anyway, and just enjoy the month- the kids at school are so HAPPY and excited, and it's rubbing off on me!

What are you looking forward to this month??

Thursday Thirteen

Tuesday

2008-12-03T09:31:00.002-05:00

Soo I was going to write this whole long post about how yesterday was *such* a trying day at work...seriously one of my hardest days ever there...and how I had to take nappers out of our *nap room* (what a joke...at least yesterday) every 5 minutes...and how even AFTER nap, the room was crazy. And I needed lots of chocolate. And I'm not even a chocolate person...

But...I'm running late for work. I have to be out the door in exactly 26 minutes and I am still in bed. Lunch is not made, library books due today are hiding, keys are in an unknown location- so, I will leave you with this:

I am Charlie Brown's...what are you?

Just for fun...

2008-12-03T09:27:00.002-05:00

A funny youtube video... (Christmas related)

We heard this song on the radio the other day at school and I had to look it up and download it...just too funny!! ;)

December already!!?

2008-12-01T09:30:00.003-05:00

HOW is it already December? I was compiling my Christmas card list last night as well as beginning to create a letter to send to relatives explaining what I've been up to this past year... I had to go through my planner, because there were so many things I'd forgotten!

A year ago, I was living with a girl I hadn't known when we moved in together-- and we ended up as great friends. This year I moved in with a friend and now it's like we don't know each other. :(

A year ago, I had probably never even heard of Belize, let alone had a thought in my mind that I would go on a mission trip there for two weeks!

A year ago, I hadn't yet joined the Grace Heart young adult group-- I've made so many wonderful friends through the group, and can't imagine not knowing them or being a part of their group!

A year ago, I would have been devastated to see my paternal grandfather in the state he is now in.

A year ago, jury duty probably sounded pretty cool!

A year ago, I had no clue I'd be spending my spring break with a bunch of high schoolers much brattier than my 3-5 year old students (because, face it, my students aren't bratty, hehe!!) attempting to build porch roofs for New Orleans residents. We did manage to have some fun, too!

A year ago, I would have laughed if you told me 2008 would bring both a blizzard AND a hurricane to Big City, six months apart.

A year ago, I never would have gone speed dating. I might go for the 2nd time this week. Yes, I am pathetically, eternally single.

A year ago, I never would have guessed 2008 would bring my first ever date-- even though it didn't lead anywhere, it wasn't a bad first date by any means!

A year ago, I wouldn't have dreamed of teaching two children with Down's Syndrome-- and yet, Igo and Lana brought me some of my greatest joys (and frustrations!)

A year ago, I never would have guessed that my co-teacher Aniya would leave me...that I would have to step up and be a lead teacher (STILL scary, lol!) or that my new-coteacher would be someone as wonderful and easy going as Cara!

How has your life changed since last December??

Christmas Break

2008-11-30T21:00:00.002-05:00

Now that Thanksgiving is over and done with (although as I write this, I am still enjoying the break!) I've been thinking about my Christmas break. We have 15 full days off of school and in some ways, I'm already looking forward to it. Thanksgiving was the first time I'd seen my family for more than 24 hours since moving back to Big City in August and it will be nice to spend a week or ten days with them. However, I plan to play the rest of the break by ear. I might go up east and visit family/friends, or head back to Big City early just to relax. Maybe I'll take a road trip to DC, Nashville, or NYC, Chicago. Because of the way that last year's Christmas break went, I don't really plan to make any concrete plans past December 25th.

What are your plans for Christmas? Do you get a lot of time off work for the holiday?

Why Credit Cards Are Bad...aka No Self Control Lately...

2008-11-29T22:20:00.002-05:00

For some reason, November has been an extremely challenging money month for me. I have taken in extra money with my babysitting jobs, which is wonderful. I've also been diligent about using coupons and applying for free items (gum, lotion, etc.)...also a plus. Gas prices have gone down, and I didn't see my family often, so I saved on gas. I didn't buy food unless I was definitely going to eat, and to help that out I had the flu and didn't eat for 5 days...haha. I gave a gift of money to support my old nanny family's Down Syndrome walk and also for my sister's mission trip in January. Great, right?

Except that my phone's battery was failing, fast. If I didn't charge it nightly, even if I didn't use it during the day, it was dead. Not good when you're trying to arrange babysitting jobs and extra subbing work. Sooo, I bought a new phone. Truthfully, not a big deal because it was only $30 and should be a wonderful phone as well as an organizer.

Then I went to my parents' place for Thanksgiving, and my sister had her new computer. Now, my laptop is three years old, so not really a spring chicken. And I LOVE electronics, especially new ones! The batteries are basically dead on mine (work for 15 minutes MAYBE), has been running slowly, random green screens, some buttons missing, usb drives decide not to work most of the time... and I began to browse laptops on Dell. Being that it was Thanksgiving, they had some fantastic deals and I got $500 off a laptop. Umm, yep, I bought a new computer. Again, a worthy investment and one I'll have for a few years, and yes it will be fun... plus, my "old" laptop will likely go to my mom who could really use it for homeschooling the kids and hopping online quickly during the day. It'll work well for her basic needs, right?

And then comes my third big purchase in like 10 days...an ipod. Truth be told, this purchase is the one that I gave the least thought about. I really had been thinking about getting a new phone and computer recently, but not an ipod, since I have a 2 year old one that works fine, even though I run out of space on it. My 13 year old sister was wishing that she had something that played music, so I offered to my mom that I would buy a "new" (used to me!) one with more disk space if she wanted to give Lily mine- because M & D don't have much money, Mom appreciated that idea. In addition, I can get my brother Bryan an mp3 player as well with the gift card I recieve from Dell from buying the computer.

Anyway...if I complain about money at all in the next few months, just refer me back to this post...I hope I can enjoy my new purchases without feeling a lot of guilt. Gah!

13 Thankfuls...

2008-11-27T10:58:00.003-05:00

Thirteen Things I'm Thankful For

1. My family- and the fact that we are all able to celebrate Thanksgiving together this year!

2. Friends- even though my friend group is drastically different this year from a few years back, I'm thankful for them all

3. My job that I LOVE

4. My boss/co-workers- I've really been enjoying them these past weeks. I really am blessed to work with such great women!

5. The kids at school, no matter that they make me go crazy some days

6. That the weather cooperated enough for me to get to my parents' house last night- they've gotten so much snow already!

7. The continued health of my family- I had a the flu a few weeks ago, and it was awful. Luckily, it passed over the rest of my family and all are rarin' and ready to eat lots of turkey today!

8. Photos to relive the wonderful memories from past years

9. The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and coffeecake- they go hand in hand at my house on Thanksgiving morning :)

10. My Subaru Forester-- LOVE it, now that it's behaving again ;)

11. Texting-- while I don't do it too much, I enjoy staying in touch with some of the younger generation

12. Igo & Alana, the two little children with Down's that I worked with this past summer. I saw Igo a few weeks ago and he was as thrilled to see me as I was to see him!

13. God-- without him, where would I be? Yes, organized religion is still a struggle for me, but I have no doubt God exists!

Thursday Thirteen