A child of God educating other children.

I've had a couple funny things happen to me the last couple of days. They actually didn't really happen to me, more so things I've done that kind of surprised me, but made me laugh a LOT! :)
Today I had an interview in a school district in the Dallas area. So I drove to my aunt and uncle's yesterday evening.

I drove my Geo, which the air conditioner doesn't work well in, so I drove with the windows down the whole way. I didn't want my hair to be one big knot by the time I stopped driving, so I fumbled around and found one of my dad's caps behind the seat. I looked in the mirror and had a great laugh at my new hickish look. About an hour into my drive I looked behind my shoulder and noticed part of my car flapping in the wind. The convertible gets a lot of wear and tear, and this one part was barely hanging on. I keep duct tape in my car for little mishaps with having a convertible, mainly keeping water out. So I figured instead of pulling over and trying to fix the panel I'd just duct tape the strip to the car. That lasted for about a whole of 20 minutes until it couldn't stand up to the wind. So there I was driving along with my dad's cap on and my car duct taped together. What a sight! :)

My other thing that I had a good laugh at myself was at my interview today. I was nervous, although having a great time talking to the principal and assistant principal, but still nervous. I think what makes me the most nervous about finding a job is that teaching is what I want to do for the rest of my life, and it means a whole lot to me to be able to teach a classroom of kids.

Anyways, so at the beginning of my interview (50 minutes long) I noticed a nervous mannerism that I was doing. When I was finished with a thought, explaining something or whatever I would touch my shoulders. I don't remember ever doing this before as I talk, and even caught myself the first time I did it today, but for some reason couldn't get myself to stop until about the third time it happened. I was so embarrassed about touching my shoulders, 'cause I could just imagine that looked pretty silly. I guess they didn't really seem to care though, because I got a call about 30 minutes afterwards offering me the position.

I need to pray about this. I know it will be a tough position to teach. I'll be working with inner city kids pretty much, and a lot of ESL students. I'm still praying about the position at my school I student taught at. The district approved for them to have the 4th grade class, so hopefully I can talk to the principal tomorrow and get an interview in tomorrow as well. I asked for a couple days to think and decide about the position at the school I talked to today. So we'll have to wait and see what happens.

Posted in: on Wednesday, June 21, 2006 at at 3:22 PM 3 comments    

The first month of mine and Tim's engagement was busy getting all the main stuff for the wedding planned and taken care of. Then I had a lot of time to sit back and relax. Now things are starting to pick up. I've got an interview for a 5th grade position on Wednesday. I'm gonna go tomorrow night to stay with my Uncle Mark, Aunt Wanda and Cousin Erin. I'm excited to see them. It feels like it's been forever since I've seen them, so I can't wait to catch up on everything going on. Before I leave I need to work on tidbits of wedding stuff, work on things for our youth mission trip next week, call some more schools, and meet with our church's organist to go over the music for the wedding.
I'll also get to see Tim and hopefully the youth when I come to town. Tim is going to let me borrow his car for my interview, and I'm hoping to make it to youth group afterwards. Then back to Mark, Wanda and Erin's, and home on Thursday. I feel like I've been busy working all day today, but I've got a lot more work to do tomorrow. I need to get to bed soon.

Posted in: on Monday, June 19, 2006 at at 7:36 PM 1 comments    

It's amazing to see and feel how much my love for Tim has grown so much just within the last couple of months. I've always heard that your love for someone grows over the years, and I am so excited to experience that for the rest of our lives. I just saw Tim yesterday and I already miss him like crazy. I get to see him Friday for our last pre-marital counseling session, so I'm looking forward to that. 5 more weeks until the wedding. Although it sounds like a long time to me right now, when I start thinking of everything we're doing between now and then it's just the right time. We've got counseling, pick up my dress, bridal shower, bridal portraits, my hurricane relief mission trip, Tim's mission trip to the Ukraine, finish wedding decor, get marriage license, lingerie shower and probably a few other things I'm forgetting. Oh, and hopefully finding a job in the midst of all of this. I'm hoping everything will keep me busy to not think of the time left we have, but I pray that I wont get stressed out 'cause not getting to see Tim every day makes the stress more than it already seems.

Posted in: on Sunday, June 18, 2006 at at 9:25 PM 2 comments    

Things are going well.
I taught my first Sunday School this summer on Sunday. I think it went well, I'm still trying to figure out where the youth are with their faith.
I got to see Tim this weekend. That was great. It was really hard going 2 weeks without seeing him. I am going to need a lot of prayers when he goes to the Ukraine and I can't even talk to him for about 12 days.
Sunday my dad's church also put on a bridal shower for me. God has really blessed Tim and I.
And I have been working on finding a classroom to teach in. I'm still calling some schools for the first time, and faxing in my resume, and I need to start making follow up calls soon.

Posted in: on Monday, June 12, 2006 at at 8:38 PM 1 comments    

I rarely buy magazines anymore. The only ones I'm sort of interested in are fitness magazines, my top choice being SELF magazine. I even stopped buying those though. My purpose for them is to see if there are any new exercise moves that I haven't seen or heard of to try out. So instead of buying the magazine I'd sneak a quick pick while waiting in the check-out line. Well this time the newest SELF magazine was in a plastic bag, so I couldn't open it up and see. The headlines caught my eye, which they're suppose to, and so I splurged and bought my first magazine of the year. Yes I have gotten bridal magazines, but those have been given to me.

Anyways, theres a section of tear-out cards in the middle of the magazine with a few different ab excercizes with the exercize ball. Luckily they also have a video online showing how these exercizes work because just one picture of one position of an exercize doesn't really tell all. They give a description of what to do, but I'm not real bright when it comes to exercize moves, so the videos helped a lot.

It was kinda fun to try out these ab work-outs. My only thing, a couple of them were pretty hard 'cause I'm not good at balancing on the ball. Good thing no one was around to watch. I'm sure it was pretty funny. :)

Posted in: on Tuesday, June 06, 2006 at at 6:46 PM 0 comments    

This morning I was feeling pretty sluggish so I forced myself to get up and work out to my favorite work-out video. It's got a great drum rhythm in it, which apparently our bird liked. She would first study the moves I was doing to the video then started trying to do them in her own bird-like way. I don't think I got as great of a work out as usual to this video because I was so distracted wanting to see what Charity was doing with each move I did. Took my mind off of the hard work of the work out though, which was nice.

I really recommend Crunch Fat Burning Pilates to anyone who doesn't have bad knees. It's a great workout that I feel tons better right after doing it. It really energizes you! Another favorite thing I like about it is you get a total body stretch while exercising, which makes sure you're not sore afterwards. Of course...the first week I ever did this excercise video I was sore...mainly 'cause I hadn't worked out in a long time and my body wasn't use to it. But after that I haven't been sore since after doing this workout.

*The picture above is what Charity looks like. She's a Quaker Parrot.

Posted in: on Thursday, June 01, 2006 at at 10:48 AM 0 comments    

I am totally loving this whole registry thing. Although Tim and I were kinda burnt out after spending a couple hours in each store and ready to just get it over with...it's fun to go back and look at the registry and see everything we might get. The other night I was bored and decided to shop some more online and started choosing a few odds and ends that would be fun/nice to have.

It's still kinda weird thinking that I'll be living with a male in 2 months. He'll be my husband, it just seems kinda weird 'cause it'll be a whole new experience.

Target
Home Depot
Bed Bath and Beyond

Posted in: on Monday, May 22, 2006 at at 5:06 PM 0 comments    

Tim and I got our engagement pictures taken today. We had a lot of fun. I am real pleased with the photographer we have. He's a man in my dad's church and was great to work with. His wife came out also and helped. They'll be a great team to work with more.

Posted in: on Saturday, May 20, 2006 at at 7:13 PM 1 comments    

I enjoyed reading when I was little, but when I got into junior high and I was required to read for school, and books that they picked out for us, I quickly lost interest in reading. I'm always amazed by people who love to read and spend their spare time reading. So last summer I got myself back into reading and love it!

I just finished reading "Hoot." It's out in theatres now, but I wanted to read the book before going to see it. I absolutely loved the movie "Because of Winn Dixie," I saw it 3 times. And I recently got that book too, but I'm having such a hard time reading it since I've already seen the movie and know what to expect.

I didn't want to do that with Hoot since I have heard it is such a great story. And it is! The book kept my attention the whole time. There are a couple of curse words in the book, and then it'll just say, "So and so said a few curse words." I'm hoping that they use no language or little if necessary in the movie. I just think it's unnecessary to get a point across. You can describe someone's anger without using fowl language.

The story l ine is great, and I hope the movie captures it just as well as it is written by Carl Hiaasen. Tim is coming in town today so maybe I can get our family to go watch it before he leaves Saturday evening.

Posted in: on Friday, May 19, 2006 at at 7:34 AM 4 comments    

In the midst of all of the wedding excitement and stress my mind and heart has not been able to leave one of my kindergarten students. He shows up in my dreams and I think about him every day. I didn't realize how much these kids really find a home in my heart. I have been praying for him and thinking about him so much. I emailed my cooperative teacher today to say hi and ask a favor and to see how he is doing. She doesn't know right now. He has missed a week of school. She said she would let me know how he is when she sees or hears of him next. My heart feels broken right now as I sit here in tears for fear of what he is going through right now. A five year old should not have the rough life he has, but he does. The teachers classroom should be a safe place for students to go to and forget about their worries of their hard lives. This child has not had that opportunity this week, and that breaks my heart. He doesn't have his loving teacher and friends to see and share a hug and smile with every day. All I can do is pray for God's protection over him, and trust that God will take care of my little soldier.

Posted in: on Wednesday, May 17, 2006 at at 8:31 PM 1 comments    

Mom and I ordered the wedding cake and groom's cake today. We don't have a picture of what it will look like, we kinda picked and chose things from a couple different cakes that we like and the people are going to make it for us.
So the cake will be a surprise on the wedding day along with the bouquets. I know it'll all look beautiful.
Invitations should be going out tomorrow. We have one more thing to add to it, then put them in the addressed envelopes and they're good to mail.
Tomorrow I meet with the photographer and talk about what all he can do and what I want.

Posted in: on at at 11:07 AM 0 comments    

A lot has been going on lately. I've been engaged for 3 weeks now. We've got well over half the wedding planned. I am in the middle of sending out invitations, and I'm meeting with a photographer on Thursday. I'm praying that I really like his work, and that he's got an art of photography, 'cause that would be a huge prayer answered. And it's a big plus that he goes to our church and my family knows him. Besides wedding plans, my family met most of Tim's family on Thursday. That went really well. Dad keeps telling me how much he likes Tim's family. And then Saturday I graduated! So now I just need to continue with wedding plans and keep on top of finding a teaching job also. I need to apply to a few more school districts this week.
*The random butterfly picture is just to brag on my great photography skills this weekend. :) I really did take that picture!

Posted in: on Sunday, May 14, 2006 at at 7:25 PM 1 comments    

Mom and I paid for all the flowers we'll need for the wedding. I don't have a picture to show for my bouquet or my bridesmaid's bouquets, but I have a picture that we worked from with the florist to make smaller bouquets. They'll be really pretty, but it's hard to describe. I showed her this picture and she was amazed by it, but was truthful with the pricing. The girls will have 1 pink hydrangea with 1 cream gerber daisy in the middle with little white daisies around it and some greenery. Mine will have 2 pink hydrangeas and 5 cream gerber daisies in the bouquet and 3 cream gerber daisies cascading from the bouquet with some lilly grass...or something like that. And then the little white daisies all through with some greenery.

Posted in: on Tuesday, May 09, 2006 at at 3:09 PM 0 comments    

David's Bridal Expressions Collection in Pool.

Posted in: on Sunday, May 07, 2006 at at 1:54 PM 3 comments    

I moved back home for the summer last night. I wanted to be able to go with my family to get my sister's bridesmaid dress...and I am sooo glad I did that.

I got home around midnight, talked to my family for about 5 minutes then went to sleep. I woke up about 9, took our time getting around, then went to Bossier City, Louisiana which has the closest Davids Bridal to us. We found the dress and in the size that Katelin needs, just not the color. The lady helping us went to check the date of when the dress could be in the soonest...and the date is July 29th. A week after the wedding! Ummm...not gonna happen!

So I called the Davids Bridal where I got my dress, and they didn't have the dress in store, and I was bummed and about to hang up, when the lady stopped me real quick and gave me 2 numbers to Davids Bridals that are showing they have the dress in the store...exact style, color and size we need. I tried the first number which was another Louisiana store, and the number wasn't a working number. So I called the Colorado store she gave me...and they have the dress!!!

So on Monday they should be mailing the dress home, and then Mom will find someone to alter the dress for Katelin.

God has really been generous with this wedding. I fall in love with the most popular color for weddings this summer. Try to do a wedding in less than 3 months, and am told that it will take that long for the dresses to be ordered...but God worked it out so that my 4 bridesmaid dresses that my bridesmaids like can all get in, in time for the wedding. Amazing!

Mom and I searched for pictures of bouquets online tonight. We'll probably go to a florist Monday or Tuesday. I also searched for photographers in town and found a few of them with websites and emailed them for rates and if they are available the day of the wedding. So I'm praying for that and waiting for replies. Dad is also going to check with people at church if they do photography or know someone who does a great job.

I got an email back from Kym about the wedding bands. I need to look at the ones she suggested. It looks like the wedding bands are more difficult than I thought they would be.

I think Tim also reserved our honeymoon place today. So that's all taken care of.

All of this wedding stuff really drains me. It has been a super long day with it being all about wedding. Hopefully it wont take much longer to figure everything out, and then I'll have some time to relax. I've been engaged for 2 weeks and I've worked on wedding stuff every single day. We do have more than half the wedding planned though, so at least we're getting somwhere!

Posted in: on Saturday, May 06, 2006 at at 7:25 PM 2 comments    

I get my color choice of bridesmaid dresses! We are going with "pool" from David's Bridal. Glory (Tim's sister) set up an appointment to try on dresses on Monday and ordered her dress which will be coming in on June 12th. Grace and Nancy (Tim's sister and mom) looked at dresses and ordered one for Grace on Tuesday, and it's coming in on June 15th. I just ordered Brooke's (my sister-in-law) dress today and it will be coming in on June 14th. Now I just have to get Katelin (my sister) a dress, which will get done this Saturday.

I'm moving home for the summer on Friday. I was planning on going on Saturday, but I want to be there when my sister tries on bridesmaid dresses.

I am so in awe and amazed with how smoothly everything is coming together. I can see God's hand in every step of the planning. Tim and I settled on wedding invitations and I'm about to order those so we can get them out in a timely manner. I was super nervous last week about if we'd have enough time to get everything together, but July 22nd seems ordained by God for Tim and I to get married then. The road blocks I thought we've hit have just been little bumps that God has flown right over. And God has even had things done that I wasn't even planning to happen...such as my wedding dress. How amazing it was that I didn't even plan to get one so early, but God knew how much time I would need for it to be altered and ready for me...and it was the right time and place to get the one I love.

Also today Nancy (Tim's mom) called to tell me the good news about the rehersal dinner. She called around town today to figure out a place for them to stay while they are down for the wedding, and also for places to cater or go for the rehersal dinner. She found 3 deals, 2 of which are great and would be awesome for either way she chooses.

Tim and I are almost set on a honeymoon place also. We're down to about 3 different places to choose from.

I am amazed with how great and fast things are coming along. Praise God for His mighty hand and moving mountains for all of this running smoothly.


Next prayer requests:
*I still need to apply to a couple more school districts for jobs.
*I can focus on my schooling/job application process and get that out of the way...or to a place where I can relax and rely on God. This means taking a little time off from wedding plans.
*We can find a dress for Katelin on Saturday or that one can be ordered to come in the middle of June.
*Invitations get to us in a timely manner so we can send them out in time for a heads up for out-of-towners (which is pretty much everyone).
*That Tim and I find time to do wedding registries before I move home on Friday.
*Tuxedo/suit choices will not take long and that we can get groomsmen measurements and the tux/suit we decide on.
*I can decide on flowers for the wedding. I haven't even started looking into that yet.
*That we can decide on the honeymoon place in time to book it far enough in advanced.

Posted in: on Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at at 5:58 PM 0 comments    

I have 2 more days of student teaching. Tomorrow will be my last full day student teaching. Tuesday I may have a sub for the first half of the day, and then the second half will be spent with the students saying bye. I learned a lot of discipline strategies with kindergarten 'cause thats mainly all kinder is.

Wedding stuff:
We've got the date set: July 22, 2006 at 2pm.
We've got the church and reception place: Dad's church.
We've got the pastor.
I've got my dress paid for and will pick it up on June 23rd.
We've decided on our wedding party.
We're almost finished with our invitation list and invitations.
We've only been engaged for 8 days now. And are getting married in less than 3 months.
It's a short time to plan a wedding, but so far things are falling into place.

My new prayer request for the wedding...
Bridesmaids dresses.
It takes 12 weeks for the dresses to come in if we order them. The wedding is in 12 weeks. Er goes a problem. So this is what I'm thinking. I'm sticking to my color. My bridesmaids are going to go try on the dress style they want in the size they need then we will call and search every Davids Bridal necessary to get the dress. If all else fails we'll switch the color and go with whatever we can get our hands on.
Pray that God will lead us to the right dresses.

Also pray for my stress level and emotions. I am super emotional...excited, happy, nervous, and frustrated all at once. Last night I developed a headache while sleeping and figured that it's probably because I was stressing about the wedding in my sleep. Don't know what I was dreaming about, just know that it made my head hurt.

Schooling...
I went to my first job fair on Saturday. I think it went okay. I don't know really 'cause I have nothing to compare it to. This Friday I have another one, but it's a different format, and I'm really hoping it works out well 'cause I would love to teach in the district I'm in now. But again, God knows what is best for Tim and I, and He has the plans already worked out, so I'll go with the flow, and see what comes out of all of this.

Posted in: on Sunday, April 30, 2006 at at 8:59 PM 2 comments    

Ahhhh!
Debra and I went to David's Bridal to show her the color of my bride's maids dresses and she talked me into trying on wedding gowns. We picked out 5 of them on account of me liking them and the price being reasonable. And we found one that I fell in love with and it's Debra's favorite of them on me also. The ladies at the store were shocked to find out that I hadn't gotten a dress yet and my wedding is on July 22nd, but then understood when they found out I've only been engaged for one week now.
I called Mom and Dad today and asked if I can buy the dress tomorrow 'cause I need to send it in for alterations and cleaning, which will take 6-8 weeks to get back. And they said yes! The dress is discontinued, so I can't show people pictures online...plus I can't let Tim see it. Tomorrow Debra and I will take more pictures of the dress so I can show my parents and a select few. :)

God absolutely has this wedding in His hands. I can already tell by how well things are coming together. Now I need to definately make sure my brides maids get their dresses so we can make sure they get to us on time.

All of this is so exciting and wearing me out! I have never been so excited for such a long time. And I have a feeling I'll be excited for the next 2 1/2 months as everything comes together.
Lots of things to do!

Posted in: on Saturday, April 29, 2006 at at 7:56 PM 0 comments    

The more I try to think of things for the wedding, the more clueless I find out I am. I don't know where to start.
We've already got our first conflict. We're wanting to get married July 22, 2006 (this Summer). But, Tim is suppose to be at a camp in Knoxville the week of the 22nd and be done on the 21st...but that's not early enough for him to make it for when his family comes to town early for the wedding. So we're waiting to hear back from someone tomorrow to see if they will be able to take Tim's place so Tim can get married. I know God has everything under control...I just hate to wait.
I've been looking at brides maids dresses. I like David's Bridal where I can pick the color and then the bridesmaids can pick the style. Their dresses are pretty expensive though. I'll have to look around some more. Is $130 too much for a bridesmaids dress...or is that normal? I figured I'd get the bridesmaids dresses under way first and then worry about my own dress. The color that I am leaning towards is called "pool." I don't want to do pinks or periwinkle or red. Those have all been done or want to be done by family. I like the advertisements that David's Bridal have put out using pool. I like the bright splash of color. I'm still not completely sure though. Feedback on that would be nice.

I've been getting to bed really late with all this wedding stuff on my mind. I need to wake up extra early tomorrow so I can get to school early and set up for us to make Ladybug Hangers. I need to prep the hangers and make circle die cuts in the morning. It'll be fun!

Posted in: on Thursday, April 27, 2006 at at 7:33 PM 2 comments    

I'll tell you my side of the story tomorrow hopefully, but until then here's Tim's recap. He also has more pictures of the proposal on his site too.

Posted in: on Monday, April 24, 2006 at at 7:31 PM 7 comments