Love…its such a beautiful thing! One day I’ll experience the kind of love that many of my friends have and one of my best friends is experiencing. I’ve written about her before and I’m writing again. She is newly engaged! Exciting for her, yes I know…exciting for me too! Even though it’s not my turn, its so exciting for her and as a friend, it is so important to celebrate with those friends and be happy for them. And I couldn’t be any happier for her. I have seen this relationship grow and develop over time and in God’s timing. I have seen her want so badly to get married and have a family, wonder and question why God wouldn’t bring someone into her life and then, poof, out of nowhere, God brought someone to her. She wasn’t looking for that special “one.” She was just living life. It’s so neat the way God has brought those two together. I seriously couldn’t be happier for her. Of course then I wonder when it will be my turn but, you know what, it’s all about her now, and I love it. One day my turn will come, but for now, I’m gonna help her have the best engagement she could have, supporting her every step of the way!!!

I’m thinking about signing up for a running class. You know, a class that teaches me all the good stuff runners need to know. I really think that might be a hobby that I might want to get involved in and like i’ve said before, one day actually participate in a marathon…the white rock marathon and maybe one day the boston marathon or something big like that.

I also wanna take a photgraphy class to help me learn how to use my canon rebel to the best of my ability. I wanna learn how to take great pictures of people and stuff and maybe enter a photo contest and win a prize or something. Maybe one day.

I’m also thankful for the great sales they have on black friday! I got the camera I’ve wanted for quite sometime now and only because of the sale. I’ve already taken tons of pictures and I haven’t even had it for 12 hours yet. I guess I just love photography….so beware if you see me, I might have my camera and I might be taking a picture of you

Since tomorrow is Thanksgiving, I thought it would only be right to give a little pre Thanksgiving blog about the things I am thankful for. So here it goes.

1. My family…They are amazingly supportive in all I do. Both of my parents would do anything and do everything for me already. They do far more for me than I deserve and I love them dearly. They mean the world to me and I know I take them for granted. Then there is my brother….one of my best friends. He is truly the best brother I could ask for. He is there for me all the time unless it’s five a.m. and he’s asleep, lol! I don’t think I could ask for a better brother. When I was younger my parents told me that I needed to be thankful for my brother because one day when they were gone, he would be the only family I would have. Now I have come to realize a little more how important family is!!!
2. My friends near and far…I love them dearly and they mean a lot to me, especially K. I mean, they know me better than anyone, even my family. They are the ones who spent every waking moment with me in college. They are the ones that saw me make the transformation I have made since college and supported me every step of the way. They are all a blessing from the Lord. I know that the friends I have now will be the ones that will be there for me through it all. Even the friends that do not live right here…they are precious because we don’t get to see each other that often. I really do believe that absence makes the heart grow fonder. They have become even more special since college. I cherish each of their friendships.
3. My students…They really do keep me on my toes each day. They are the reason I do what I do. I love seeing them get excited and learn new things, learn to do things they didn’tknow how to do. I love watching them make new friends. I also love seeing my old students grow up before my very eyes. It’s such a neat thing to see. I really do appreciate each child. Children are precious!
4. My relationship with Christ….I must say that I have struggled this past year, had my ups and downs, but I know that without Christ I am nothing!

These are only a few things that I am thankful for but the most important in my life. I am truly blessed and could not ask for more!!!

I don’t usually have dreams that I remember but I surely did last night. It was quite interesting and surprised me! No details!

The latest exciting news in my life…..

I’m gonna sign up to try to be on The Amazing Race 12. This is the first time i’ve ever decided to sign up because its being taped in the summer, so I don’t have to take off work to do. So I thought well I could ask Chase to do the race with me but I asked him and he can’t get off work for that long. So I began to think of other people that might be able to get off work or that wouldn’t be working or that are teachers or in school. I asked chase who he thought I could ask and he gave me a few suggestions so I took them. I’m excited about it! I know there is a slim chance that we would actually make it far enough to be in the race with 11 other teams but it’s worth a try! I mean when you have a love of traveling like I do, you’ll do almost anything to travel to different exciting places in the world at the expense of others. Anyways, that’s my news…

some more randomness…..

7. I hate it when parents stand right in front of me and gripe out their children. It’s so awkward for the teacher to see that.
8. I like to bake and I love the smell of fresh baked bread. It reminds me of my grandma.

Controlled Chaos!!! Well I dont know that it was actually chaos. I’ll say that we were definitely prepared. It was about 2:45 and we were about to kill sometime before we left for the day. All of my students had their folders in there hands, and I just had one of my friends (my students) circle all of the words in the sentence of the day, when the fire alarm went off. My first thought was “oh no, let’s get the heck out of here and fast.” Fire alarms always scare me when I’m in charge of lots of little ones. Well then I thought, “oh no, they have assigned places in line and we haven’t talked about what to do in case we have a fire drill.” So I yell, “just get in line anywhere.” Luckily they followed directions and followed my lead and we headed out. Well it wasn’t 30 seconds later when they told us it was a false alarm and we could go back in. Well we had our stuff so we went to our pickup location while most kids still had a confused look on their face.

Ok, so i’m diagnosing myself with bronchitis. I feel horrible. I’m surprised i’m even up to typing this. I have a horrible gross cough and it hurts! I dont have time to go to the doctor. I’ve class Tuesday and Wednesday, and Thursday I’ve got conferences so i’m just gonna have to wait it out and see what happens and pray that i’ll get better. In the mean time i think i’ll go to bed!

Veteran’s Day reminds me of my papa. He was a great man that loved his family more than anything in the world. He always laughed when we were around. I’ll never forget the afternoons we would spend sitting at his house, on the special stool eating strawberries that he had bought just for me. The vague memories of him are all I have left and it’s been quite sometime since I have really thought about him a great deal. For some reason however, this Veteran’s Day I have been thinking about him. It’s been almost 17 years since he’s been gone and I wish he was still here to experience life with me. I definitely see him in my dad. Not only do they look a lot alike and have some of the same characteristics. They just care so much about their family. Both of these men are great men in my life! Both veterans who love and still love the things the Lord has blessed them with.

At the end of this week I will have finished another 9 hours of my masters. Exciting huh?!?! I think so. Then after Dec 11, i’ll have only 9 hours left. One really easy class and two harder classes. Regardless of how easy or hard they are, this time next year, i’ll be getting ready to graduate with my masters and with the way these days go, i’ll probably fall asleep one night and then wake up the next night and be finished. The weeks just move so fast. Someone reminded me yesterday that we only have 7 weeks left this year. We’ve got 2 weeks until thanksgiving, and then 3 weeks until christmas break! I plan on sleeping in every day possible during my break, which might be basically every weekday. Exciting I know! Maybe i’ll be doing some shopping for my summer vacation since shopping is what i tend to do best when i’m out of school. I’m glad you enjoyed a bunch of randomness And to end my blog here is some more randomness, i’m gonna follow in Ruth’s footsteps as I state a few random facts about myself…
1. I hate sleeping with socks on my feet no matter how cold it is.
2. My first alarm goes off at 4:45 am which would be the reason i go to bed so early.
3. I wish I taught pre-k and most people think i’m crazy.
4. I want to go to australia and antarctica.
5. My own family often asks me if my eyelashes are real, when in fact they are the same eyelashes I was born with and have grown to love over the past 26 years.
6. I can’t see how to drive at night very well.

***More to come…