Things will Slow Down... two years from now.

I enjoy blogging. I really do. And that is why it is at the bottom of my to-do list.

I HAVE TO PRIORITIZE PEOPLE! Between teaching, grad school, church, Beta Club, and other time consuming yet obligatory (but not bad, necessarily) activities, the hobbies I have been indulging in daily the past three months (reading, writing, blogging, sleeping) get relegated to the back burner. Trust me, folks, my blog isn't the only thing taking a hit here: the enormous zit on my chin will tell you (it's been telling people all day, actually) that skin care is not something I am going to have excess time for either. I will try to post weekly, but I make no guarantees. However, if anyone would like to provide me with a free housekeeper and/or personal chef, then I may be able to bump it up to two posts a week.

All that aside, it was a good week. I have good group this year (as far as I can tell), and I was pleased with their first-of-the-year essays. I have been praying that God will guide me in my teaching, and that I can instill in them a love of poetry, literature, writing, and standardized testing.

I am a little nervous about the coming week, as it is the first week that I will be both teacher and student. Jason also begins classes this week. We appreciate your prayers!

Ten Things Tuesday

This is a little different version of TTT, but the meaning is the same. Here are ten things that have made me smile recently:

1. Niece Lucy says "supper". I grew up in California, where we said "dinner". Hearing Lucy say "supper" socked it to me once again that my nieces have a Southern accent. It's way cute though!

2. My husband surprised me with living room furniture! You read that right-- living room furniture. We've been looking for a while, and I found a set I loved, but Jason wanted to keep looking. I had kind of forgotten about it, and I was hurrying in from WalMart Friday afternoon, and it was sitting in the living room! I was more surprised than when he proposed! It's beautiful and I love it!

3. Jason and I shared a friend ice cream blast from Sonic. Oh my goodness, YUM! The things they call "cinnamon crunchies" are actually just Cinnamon Toast Crunch pieces, and so it tastes like cereal ice cream, which are two of my favorite yet forbidden things.

4. The kids down the street found and are taking care of this TINY calico kitten. I don't love cats, but this one is a sweetie!

5. Bailey, the 65-pound Labrador, cowered and bellied up to the aforementioned tiny kitten.

6. We had a beautiful evening, and Bailey and I went for a very peaceful walk.

7. I am entertaining an idea (inspired by a book of course) that I really like.

8. The baby boom continues at church! So happy for Ryan and Joanna!

9. During our classroom preparation time, I ended up teaching some technologically-challenged teachers how to text. Oh fun!

10. I finally got around to seeing Juno, and I LOVED it! I watched it twice.

I've been in in-service a while now, but the kids start back on Monday. I am praying for my kids and the year ahead. Here we go!

Ten Things Tuesday-- The Daily Edition

There are certain things I use on a daily basis that I don't want to take for granted.

1. Coffee~ Oh, how I love coffee. I consider myself a coffee snob, and I am very picky about what goes into my mug. Jason grinds fresh beans every morning at home, and if we get coffee out someplace, I get a triple (three shots of espresso) vanilla latte. I will steal this saying from a mug one of my students got me: I teach, therefore I need coffee.

2. Carmex~ I always have a tube within reach. I'm addicted. I don't even own lipstick.

3. my '98 Corolla~ My car may not be fancy, but it's reliable and gets great gas mileage. It even has all four hubcaps on right now!

4. Sonic Ice Water~ Many, many people have made fun of me for this one, but I can justify it! If you know me, you know I only drink coffee, unsweet tea, and water. I go to Sonic everyday and get a large ice water for $.44 ($.22 cents if it's happy hour!). That's half the cost of a bottle of water for about twice as much water. Plus, they load the cup with ice, so I refill my cup a time or two during the day. There, justified.

5. my Bible~ I am kind of an all-over reader, and it seems that no matter where I turn to on any given day, I am in the right spot. God is so sneaky that way! I am amazed at Him every day!

6. the computer~ I prefer the computer to the TV.

7. Yoplait Light yogurt~ my favorite flavors are lemon and banana.

8. my phone~ I used it to communicate and to organize. It's a must-have.

9. hand soap~ silly, I know, but I wash my hands A LOT, so I am thankful for soap.

10. Post-It Notes~ I carry a small journal around, but more often than not, I end up jotting down thoughts and lists on Post-its.

My Calm Place

At yoga class, we're frequently instructed to got to our "calm place". I used to dread these words, because I couldn't think of my calm place. I would say to myself, "I'm at yoga. This is my calm place!" Then I would start thinking about how unhealthy it was to not have a calm place, and wondering what everyone else's calm place was, and things would just go downhill from there. The instructor must have noticed my internal panic one day, because she came over and told me, "Think of a place where you have nothing but warm feelings for. A place that glows like a candle in your memory." And there it was. My calm place.

Jason and I moved into the West Married Apartments at Harding about 2 weeks after our wedding. I think the actual date was somewhere around August 9th. It was HOT, and it was just the two of us moving into our second-floor place. I can remember how happy we were, setting it all up, arranging our things into our place. It wasn't new, or fancy, but it was our first place, and recalling our time there is like taking a long bubble bath: warm, deep, and so tranquil it almost hurts.

We lived there for two years, and so I know we fought there. I even remember throwing a hair clip at Jason one time. But I don't remember any of those fights. I remember staring out the balcony window, watching for him to come home. I remember the look on his face the first time he broke one of our plates. I remember the pet turtle we kept on the balcony. Sundays after church, we'd crawl into bed to take marathon naps, the deep naps of two married college students who each worked 40 hours a week. When I got off work on Saturdays, I would come home to a sparkling clean apartment and a delicious meal. For a time one summer, we ran together every night. I went all out with Christmas decorations, and even though I know now how hideous it looked, I thought it was beautiful then. Dancing in the living room, laughing as we did the dishes... it was such a place of joy for us.

The joy of that old apartment extended to our friends and family as well. I remember our friends, always in and out, eating, playing DDR, playing Cranium. Talking/crying with Lydia on the couch. Walking across the street to spend the evening with my best girlfriends. Taking Matt and Lydia's pictures there the night they got engaged. We had Ashley and Michael over for dinner, and I remember that not going so well. Throwing Lydia's shower. We kept Baker, Teen's dog, a time or two there. We also had Lucy there for a day. I know right where we were sitting when Kevin called and told us Lucy was going to be a big sister. I threw our first, and so far only, Christmas dinner party there. I can remember both sets of our parents and their first visits to our apartment. My family gathered there the day I graduated, and I love to recall all of us there, drinking coffee and taking pictures.

I recall standing on the balcony one day, watching Jason walk home on foot. I looked in the opposite direction, and saw a guy on what looked like Jason's normal mode of transportation, his bike. I watched them head for each other, and I looked on as Jason grabbed the bike and threw the thief off of it. He was so brave, and I was so proud to belong to him. I still am.

So that has become my calm place, and now that I have found it, I go there often. Not that I don't have other happy places (my parents house, my grandparents Munsee house), but my calm, warm, tranquil place will forever be West Marrieds A16. I travel there when I can't fall asleep, or when I am feeling overwhelmed. I think a part of me is always there; our life there seeped into the walls, and the memories, anecdotes, and stories belong to the apartment as much as they belong to us. Other people lived there before us, and just one couple since, but that will always be our apartment.

Ten Things Tuesday

Let me just say, I love doing this each week! Here is my list of thankfulness:

1. I got to meet my new niece Caroline on Saturday! Lawsy mercy, she is beautiful! Jason and I took turns holding her all day, and we loved it! And we had a great time playing hide-and-go-seek with Lucy and Lauren! Here they are:

2. We got a check for $165 dollars from our mortgage company for an escrow overage, whatever that means. But woo-hoo! Unexpected funds!

3. I'm on a fresh fruit kick, and I have loved the blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, nectarines, and cherries that I have been finding at the grocery store! Yum!

4. Every time I venture outside this time of year (which is not that often, obviously), I say a prayer of thankfulness for air conditioning.

5. For years, I have wanted to take my clothes to a consignment shop. Today I finally did, and I think it's going to be a good thing!

6. None of our loved ones were hurt in the earthquake in California today, praise God!

7. I am one of the Beta Club sponsors at SHS, and my co-sponsor and I had an excellent planning meeting together today! Yay organization (which I credit mostly to her)!

8. I was told the workshop I am starting tomorrow was three days, but it is actually only two days!

9. I got a pair of Fitflops! I read about them at The Fashionable Housewife, and decided to try them. I have only had them for about 6 hours, but so far I like them!

10. I am thankful that I got to help Jason in his 6th grade Sunday school class this week~ I loved watching him interact with them! He is so great with them, and they really respond well to him.

Have a great week everybody!

Four Years Ago Yesterday

Our four year wedding anniversary was yesterday, and we spent most of our night reminiscing about our wedding day. I thought it would be fun to share some of our favorite memories from that day with all of you. It's the behind-the-scenes look at our wedding!

* I loved the morning of my wedding, because it was so laid-back. I woke up early and went alone to have my hair done, which was the quiet time I had requested. When I got back to my parent's house though, I spent the morning laughing with my parents and brother and sis-in-law, and Lucy, who was still so little. Good times!

* As we were about to leave for the church, my maid of honor called to tell me that traffic was backed up on Bear Valley Road, and to take the interstate. I got in the truck with my parents, and as we neared the on-ramp, we saw... stand still traffic. Apparently, some sort of equipment had fallen off of a truck and caused all sorts of delays and closed streets. We were stuck for a long time, but I remember it being kind of fun. I had my veil on already, and people were honking and waving at me.

* During the traffic, my maid of honor Christine called back to tell me they had taken advantage of the traffic to stop and wait it out at Starbucks. She wanted to know of she could bring me a coffee. I told her I wanted my usual~ an iced grande three-shot vanilla latte with nonfat milk. When we all finally got to the church, she handed me a venti two shot latte and said, "You don't need three shots today." She was right.

* Jason tells me that while he was waiting for the wedding to start, he was in the church kitchen, "surrounded by Del Taco food". Several people brought food for the boys, and it was everywhere. I was also handed a taco, but never got to eat it.

* Jason told me he was super nervous, and when he heard the first of the music, he got a little nauseous. But then he saw me, and he said he was all better. Aw!

* I wanted to ride in Jason's truck to our reception, but my dress barely fit! It was fun though, because people were honking and waving at us.

* Neither of us ate a piece of our wedding cake. Just the bite we fed each other.

* Our friends and family attacked our truck with decor, and even infiltrated our honeymoon luggage. We cracked up! There were so many surprises to discover!

* We stopped at In n' Out on the way to the hotel. We were so hungry!

It was a perfect day for us! I only have a few pictures on this computer, and they are below!

At the reception

Sweet Daddy gives me away.

Look how little Lucy was!

Ten Things Tuesday

I'm trying to get back in the habit...

1. I am thankful to have this week with relatively no schedule to follow. This is my last week before all sorts of school stuff starts , so I am enjoying every minute.

2. I am thankful that we had a safe trip to California! God guided us safely all the way there and back!

3. I am thankful for the time we got to spend with family on our trip! It goes too fast though!

4. I am thankful for our parents, who spoil us so much! We love you guys!

5. I am thankful for Jason's Uncle Bill and Aunt Claudia in Oklahoma City, who are always hospitable and fun to be with!

6. I am thankful that my sweet new niece Caroline is here, healthy, and pink!

7. I am thankful that I got to spend an entire day with my cousin/BFF Christine and her sweet baby Braelyn. It was such a treat to spend time with them both!

8. I am thankful for my sweet husband. I know I say this almost every time, but he really is the absolute BEST. We have so much fun together.

9. I am thankful for sweet, juicy nectarines. And bing cherries. And (unsweet!) iced tea!

10. I am thankful for rain showers, because they cool the air and smell so lovely.