Thursday, April 8, 2010

opp..I did it again :)

I have to say that I have thought a lot about what I was going to write in February, March, and well then I looked up and it was April. SO...the adventures of grad school have been just that, an adventure! I can't believe that it was almost a year ago when I started this blog, and I also can't believe that I am almost finished with grad school! I am in awe in how fast this year has past and how much I've learned in the last few months! Besides being able to explain theorist, the reading process, assessments, interventions, and book talk more books than most libraries carry I have learned about myself.

For instance, my love for writing has blossomed (while you wouldn't know because I have neglected this blog). But seriously, my writer's notebook is full of, what I would consider, amazing ideas for books, characters, plots and so on.

I have also learned that life is predictable, but God is not. Just when I think that I have it all figured out and I know exactly what I am going to do with my life, GOD steps in and shows me that my will and His will aren't always the same, and I have to trust God that he will lead me to where I am supposed to be. The author of Ecclesiastes wasn't kidding when he said in chapter 3 that there is a time for EVERYTHING!

I have also learned that I am not perfect. While this might come as a shock for some, it is something I have known but haven't really accepted before my time in grad school. I have learned that as I reflected on my journey, the events that have happened this last year, and where my life is going is that God is the only one who knows the answers and Jesus was and always be the only perfect human being. Francesca Battesttli wrote a song called Free to be me, and well I think she wrote that song about me and while perfection can be my enemy, when I trust God I am truly free to be me!

While Grad school has had its challenges, so will life and I can't wait to close this chapter of my life and open the next one..hopefully it will be called the adventures of a first year teacher!

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Welcome 2010..and I am already behind....

Well it has been a few weeks since I blogged, mainly because I wanted to blog about all of my Christmas break...little did I know that a LOT of stuff was going to happen over this break, So here is a little break down:
1st: We got a CAT! To many this may not be very exciting but I have been petitioning for a cat for a long time. It finally happened..literally right before I got home my parents picked up our new cat. His name you might ask is.....RICO! Rico belonged to a family friend who was taken from this world way too early but we know is in a better place. Rico was her cat but her parents, who had rico, are allergic to cats so my parents decided that if we were going to get a cat we wanted it to be special. And special cat he is..with a lot of corks and quite the personality...I mean a lot of personality. In fact as he has gotten more comfortable with us he has made it his mission to take on the dog, which for those who don't know, is a German Shepard.

2nd: Andrew and Whitney came to visit for a pre-Christmas event. I must say that this year was much more fun when opening presents with Eden because she likes opening them and everything is a great surprise like she won a million dollars.




3rd: Robert, Amanda, Carden, and Jeneveve came for Christmas. They got here at about 1:30 in the morning and you should be proud of me..I stayed up to wait for them which is quite a feat for me, since my normal bedtime is 10:00! I had so much fun playing with Carden and Jeneveve! They tried on Great-grandpa's hat, and had more fun putting their faces in the air of the ball popper than putting the balls in the ball popper! I enjoyed listening to them babble with each other and having their twin talk time! They left the Sunday after Christmas and suddenly the house got much quieter!










4th: I committed a crime, but I wasn't the only one that did that this break..but we will get to that soon enough. So over the break I babysat for the McCoulloughs (I was their nanny one summer) and the girls wanted to go to Target. I never decline a trip to target and while we were their we looked at all sorts of Christmas things including the Christmas CD's. Well the girls had more fun pressing the different buttons and dancing in the aisles than anything. Well they kept listening to the Disney Princess CD so I thought I should get them that for Christmas, but I didn't want them to know. Great plan!!!! Well we got to the checkout and I was trying to get them on the other side of me so I could put the Cd on the conveyor belt, but the cashier decided to talk to the girls and we got all distracted and she told me the total and we paid walked out got to the car and I looked down. Guess what was in my hand...the CD...and I really had to think about whether I paid for it or not. I thought surely I did because the alarms didn't go out, but my total was a lot cheaper than I thought it was going to be so I checked my receipt...I SHOPLIFTED! I know it is bad and as I sat in the car I went through all my options and decided that I needed to go back in. So I got the girls back out of the car and went back into target..where the alarms did not go off again. With a red face I went to the customer service desk told the girl, who was surprised I came back, and paid for the CD. But it doesn't end there, I felt so bad that I put a $10 bill in the Salvation Army bucket....and I felt better. That was a first for me and hopefully it never happens again...lol..

5th: It snowed! We had a White Christmas and New Years, which was wonderfully gorgeous, but made for some interesting driving conditions and something that probably won't happen again until I am 40..scary!


6th: the prior note leads me to my last interesting thing that happened while home for Christmas break: My mom hit a mailbox.....I mean a full 360 swerve going about 5 mph and straight into a mailbox...don't worry no one was hurt everyone is fine but it made me laugh really hard because we left in a hurry....so technically it was a hit and run, which makes my mom a criminal too. But don't report us yet, after my dad got off work he went by the scene of the crime and turned us in...lol...ie gave them our number and told them to call us with the damage...Fun times!

7th: TAEYLN arrived the weekend before I came back to Searcy! She was born January 8th, weighed 7lb. 10oz and was 19 and 1/2 inches long! She is gorgeous, I haven't seen her since she was born. I was supposed to go home this weekend, but that didn't happen because it decided to be winter and snow, but I will see her in a couple of weeks!





Last but not least, I thought I would share a picture of what I have been doing during my LAST SEMESTER of GRAD SCHOOL!!!!

Well, that sums up the main points of this break so far, but I still have a few days for more adventures to occur!