Gift Cards

Whoever thought of gift cards was a genius. I love getting them. I have received several from my students this past week and have really enjoyed getting them.

So, to you, I pose the question: If you knew someone was going to give you a gift card for $100, from where would you want it to be?

New Blogger

Has anyone switched to the "new blogger". I'm scared it might be like the "New Coke". Wow, that was gross. Let me know what is so cool about the new blogger. I would hate to switch to the "new blogger" and then have to switch back the the "Blogger Classic".

What's Your Magic Number?

As long as I can remember, I've never woken up and thought, "I'm so glad to be awake." I've always wanted to sleep just a little bit more, snooze 10, 20, 30 more minutes. I'm not a fan of waking up.

I've always wondered, what is the magic number of sleep hours I need to wake up and feel great? Well, the last two nights, I've gone to bed at 8:30 and woken up at 5:30. That's it, ladies and gentlemen. 9 hours of sleep and I feel great. I wake up and am ready to get up, eat breakfast, and be productive.

What's your magic number?

Jingle Bell Run

I ran again, however this time I had a head and chest cold. It wasn't quite as much fun because I didn't feel so hot. I had already registered and paid the fee so I went ahead and bit the bullet. Wasn't able to run the entire 3.1 miles due to hacking and coughing.

Despite feeling under the weather, the event was very festive. Santa was there and there was a d.j. playing fun Christmas music. (Robert and Shelly would have loved it!) One of the runners was dressed up like a Christmas tree and another like an elf. Lots of runners had on santa hats which added to the festivities.

If you would like to see pics, click on the link to Suzie L.'s Blog. She has our pictures posted. I've been having trouble posting pictures lately. Not sure why.

I'm a runner.

O.k., so really I'm a jogger. I ran a 5k today in a Turkey Trot in Frederick, MD. I am new to the whole running thing so my time is still really slow. I finished in 41:56. I know this is a lot of time, but I finished it still running and still alive. I also wasn't last which was my main goal. I had a lot of fun and hope to make this a tradition. Here are some before and after pictures. Notice my really red face in the after.

In December, I plan to do a Jingle Bell Run. In this race, everyone wears jingle bells as they run. I love the sound of Jingle Bells.

I feel like traveling.

I'm so wanting to go somewhere!!! We are not planning on going to Texas or Oregon until Summer, but the cool weather and holidays are making me want to be a tourist. I think Jason should take me to Philly. It would be a quick, inexpensive day trip. And besides, I've always wanted to try a Philly steak and cheese sub (never had one). If you think Jason should take me to Philly, then please post a comment on my blog saying so.

Thank you for your support.

Why I Haven't Blogged

5:45am -Wake up and get ready for school.
8:00am to 3:20pm- Teach.
3:20pm to 4:00pm- Attend boring faculty meeting. (They've got great snacks though!)
4:00pm to 4:45pm- Drive to go and tutor.
4:45pm to 4:55pm-Wait for student to show up.
4:55pm to 5:55pm-Tutor.
5:55pm to 6:45pm-Walk with my friend Jodie.
6:45pm to 7:00pm-Drive Home.
7:00pm to 8:45pm-Come home cook, eat, and clean.
9:00pm--Should have graded papers, but went to my friend Suzie's house. Will have to get up at 5:15 tomorrow to make up for not grading tonight.
10:00pm-Shower.
10:45pm-Bed time.

I'm sooooooooo ready for Thanksgiving Break!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Acne

Why is it that I am 30 years old and I am still battling acne? What's up with that?

GRRRRRR!

Giant Pumpkins

Every year, I am always intrigued by giant pumpkins. I love seeing the picture in the paper every year of the farmer beside his prized pumpkin. It seems unreal that a vegetable can get that big. Also, once you grow it, what do you do with it.

I was surfing and I found this picture of a giant pumpkin kayak race. Evidently, these farmers carve their pumpkins into kayaks and then race them. Pretty cool.

Sometimes it pays to be old

Last night, Jason and I went to Wal-Mart at 10:15. As we were walking in, the greeter told us the doors were closed and we couldn't come in. We went back to the parking lot and got in the car. As we were leaving, a car pulled up to the door and the passenger got out. She was an older lady with a cane. I couldn't believe it, but the greeter let her in. I told Jason that I am going to begin keeping a gray wig and a cane in my car so I can buck the system.

weather.com

I love weather.com. I check it at least once a day. My favorite is the hour-by-hour forecast.

Library Card

I have a library card!!!! I haven't had one in years. Since I am tutoring at the library, I decided to get one.

Here is my first check-out:

Portuguese Language Tapes--(hoping to better my portuguese)
Trader Joe's (a book on how the business came to be and the inspiration behind it.)

I'm off to read!!!!

Things that Amuse a Language Person

Since I love languages, it is very difficult not to read even when I know that what I'm looking at aren't words. For example, I always have trouble reading the signs that say POW / MIA. I always have a picture in my head of a cute girl named Mia that is getting beat up.

I also always try to pronounce the letters on blogs that are used for security verification. Sometimes they can be really funny. Here are a few for you to try. Let me know your favs.

Extra dough

I have a tutoring job 2 days a week. Woo Hoo! I little extra cash never hurts.

Let me hear you say woo hoo!

Public Restrooms and Cell Phones

I always feel a little weird going into a public restroom and happening on someone who is talking on their cell phone. It happened to me twice tonight.

Anyone else with me?

Voice Lessons

Today I am starting voice lessons. I'm only taking 2, 30 minute lessons a month from the wife of our pastor of Community Groups. I am sooooo excited. I've always wanted to take but never have had the opportunity.

Todd--I hope she'll help me perfect "Victory Chant". (Even though I don't know how it can get any better.) :)

The Taste of Food

So I read in this book once that if you want to get the most taste out of a meal then you should eat one bite of one thing and then eat something else on your plate. If you don't do this then after the 2nd bite or so of the same thing, your taste buds aren't suprised anymore. What do you think? Do you eat all of one thing before you move on to the next or do you like to mix it up?

Women's Retreat

I went on a women's retreat this past weekend and had a fabulous time. Sometimes it is a gamble going on things like this because sometimes they can be cheesy and too emotional. This wasn't at all like other women's functions that I've attended in the past. The speaker was solid and there wasn't a huge cry fest at the end. I loved it. I've attached a picture of me some others that were there. We look a little weary because we took an interpretive dance class. I fell more than danced. I just don't think I have what it takes.

Super Suppers

I'm so exited about this place. There is a new one in Hanover, PA (30 min. from my house). I happened to go by there and see they were having their grandopening. I pulled in and they were giving away 1 free entree. I got Parmesean Crusted Talapia. Mmmmm!

Check it out ladies. It might be putting the end to the question, "What am I going to fix for dinner?"

http://www.supersuppers.com/

A Day Off

I am out of school today becuase it is a voting day. All the polls are located in the schools so we can't go. Today I plan to work on a quilt that I started last year. I got bogged down because I ran out of a certain fabric and then we moved. I sent a swatch of the fabric to my mom and she found it. They have a huge fabric store in OR that has everything.
Well, I'm off to quilt.

Pizza Stress

Anyone else ever get really stressed out by ordering pizza? It all starts when the pizza guy/girl answers the phone almost out of breath: "Thankyouforcalling(pizzaplace)canIhelpyou?" In the background you always hear sounds like hammering and metal objects scrapping together while other phone lines are ringing off the hook. I can't even imagine why making pizza requires all that noise. Anyway, you can tell by the frantic voices and the noise in the background that you need to make your decision fast. To make matters more confusing, on your end you have people around you saying things like: "I don't like mushrooms!", "Anything but green peppers.", or "All we eat is Cheese." Then by the time you actually decide on the best deal and the type of pizza everyone would like, you have to figure out which kind of crust you want for each pizza, but that's not all. What about trying to calculate the most pizza for the least amount of money and wondering if your coupon is a good deal? Now comes the decision of which size pizza will feed your hungry group? And of course, the age old question "How many slices are in a large?" By the time your pizza actually gets to your house (at least 45 minutes) you are still too stressed out to eat? Usually in my experience, I spend way more money than I want and always get too much pizza.

One more thought: If the pizza guys are really working as hard as it sounds when I call, and I am being rushed so much to make a decision, why is it that it still takes 45 minutes to bring pizza only 5 miles to my house?

Bruchko

I just finished one of the books on my Summer reading list. I'm still reading the others.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. If you like missionary stories, this one is full of countless acts of God's faithfulness to reveal Himself to man. This book is a gem.

I know, I know I haven't blogged in a while. I couldn't think of anything worthwhile to say. I did have one really funny story to tell, but I couldn't tell it in this forum. It involved me in the bathroom at Wal-Mart. It is definately for girls only.

New Laptop

I have a new school laptop. I am soooo excited! My laptop case is a backpack. Woo hoo!

First Day Back

Well, I'm back at school. I got my teaching assignment for this year. I'll be teaching four classes of Spanish and one class of Reading. My class sizes are really large which is a little overwhelming. In my Spanish classes I will have about 37 students in each class.

My goals for this next school year:

1. Remember to take my class to the Beginning of the Year assembly. (I forgot last year and my entire class walked in 3 minutes before it ended. As soon as my students sat down, the pricipal dismissed everyone.)

2. Wear mascara everyday. (Last year I forgot to wear it 2 or 3 times. I look scary without it since my eyelashes are blonde.)

3. Get my work done at school and not bring it home.

4. Wear the same shoes. (Last year I showed up with one blue and one black shoe on.)

5. Pack my lunch the night before. (This will help me not to run late in the mornings.)

Four Days of Freedom

So I only have four days left until school starts. I am trying to have as much fun as possible between now and Monday. Today I went Letterboxing and hiking with the Burch girls. We went to Cunningham Falls. The hike was only about a mile, but once we got to the falls, we climbed up to the top of the falls. It was quite fun. Part of the way up you had to be on all fours. Chloe said that she was "doing climbing practice." On the way down we saw two deer. It was a beautiful day to explore.

Tomorrow I hope to go swimming. I have a friend who is house sitting so I am going to try and take advantage of the situation. You know how I love a good pool.

Friday, I am going to PA with a friend from work. She is going to take me to the farm where she grew up and also her neighbor's house who is Amish. It should all be interesting.

Saturday I am going to hang out with Hannah and Rachel and watch "Anne of Green Gables". We are going to order pizza and eat popcorn. :)

Sunday, I am going to hear the greatest preacher on the East Coast, my husband. He is preaching for the first time in the adult service here at our new church. I am so excited and nervous at the same time. His sermon title is "Confessions of a Recovering Pharisee."

North Africa Picture

Here are a couple of pictures from our trip this Summer. One is a picture of our team and our students and also there is a picture of me in a headdress. We didn't have to wear them while we were there, but I asked my students to show me how to tie them.

I love a good pool.

After being at camp and having a swimming pool at my disposal, I rediscovered how much I love to swim. I love the pool and all that comes with it (except maybe rowdy, middle school boys). I love the smell of chlorine and the burning sensation your eyes have after a long swim. I love the smell of sunscreen and suntan oil. I love the way chips taste at the pool. I love playing Marco Polo and Sharks and Minnows. I love playing chicken. I love it all!!!!!!!! I used to spend all day every day at the Nacogdoches City Pool when I was in middle school. I would have a season pass and there were some days I would go twice a day.

I think I should start raising money to build my own pool. Feel free to donate to my cause, however, your donations are not tax deductible.

Eureka!

So after I moved to Maryland, I couldn't figure out why I didn't get many emails that were the "Hi, how are you?" type. (If you did send me a personal email--I'm sorry for making a blanket statement.) What I've realized is that email is just for business. It's used to make dates and take care of day to day affairs. Blogging is so much more personal and I feel like I'm back in the loop. Why did this take me so long to figure out? I always wondered how Jason was keeping up with our old friends--he had a blog. Eureka!

Back to School Blues

I just am realizing that I only have 2 and a half weeks until I have to be back at school. I'm not quite prepared to greet students on the first day. Hopefully, something will click. It hasn't yet. I am still cringing as I walk past the school supply aisle at Wal-Mart.

Second Day Jeans

I realized today that I really like 2nd day jeans. They are always way more comfortable on the 2nd day. You can pretty much guarantee that your day will be great when you put on your jeans on the 2nd day. Everything just doesn't matter when you have them on. The world could be going to you know where in a hand basket and it wouldn't matter because at least you are comfortable in your 2nd day jeans.

What do you guys think? Whose with me on the 2nd day jeans.

Nada mucho

I'm going to be working at the church tomorrow during the day helping Amy set up the new nursery area. I'm so excited. I love setting up rooms and decorating.

Friday and Saturday, I'm going to Women of Faith. I'm going with an anticipation that God will give me a fresh look at Himself. At the same time, I'm guarded, mainly because I've been disappointed by so many women's retreats/bible studies. I hope I don't leave with just a bunch of tips and tecniques on how to be a better wife / mother. I just want to know how to know God and love others more.

I guess I'll go eat worms

After reading posts about who is linking whose blog and who isn't, I decided to look and see who had my blog link on their site. To much dismay I realized that my own husband doesn't have my link on his blog. I am so ashamed.

Thanks to Robert and Todd for putting a link on their site.

I'm back!

Well, I've been back for about a week and it has taken me a while to sit and write. We've had Brittany C. here and have been busy taking her around to see the sites. It has been a blast. We spent a day in D.C. and we also went hiking at Morgan Run. I always feel so free-spirited when I get to go hiking. That feeling was all lost however when I almost stepped on a snake in the water. It was quite scary.

Today after church, we picked berries on our church property. The blackberries and raspberries are ripe now. After our snake incident at Morgan Run, we decided to pick berries from the Jeep so we could get away if a we were to see one. I would drive up to a bush and Brittany would hang out of the window and pick. It was quite funny.

As for our trip, we had a great time in N.Africa. We did some prayer walking and also taught English. On one of the days, I talked about American Celebrations including Christmas and Easter. As I talked about our the religious significance of these holidays, the room was very quiet and you could tell it was the first time they ever had heard these stories. It was amazing. Relationships were formed during the week and email addresses were exchanged. I pray this will result in more correspondence and will lead to spiritual discussions.

There were a few mishaps on the trip.

1. Most of us came home with some kind of stomach bug.

2. I was followed to my hotel by this man who said some not so nice things. I think he must have learned his English by watching porn. Who knew that overweight, 30-year old American women were hot?

3. A full suitcase fell on my big toe. When we got home, I dropped my empty suitcase on it. Then, a little girl stepped on it at church. Jason stepped on it tonight. I'm afraid I'm going to lose my toenail. Now, for you guys that is probably no big deal. However, girls you know how important cute toenails are during the Summer.

Ear Wax

I overheard a little girl today say "Eweh! Ear wax tastes gross!" In my mind I said, "Yes it does." My friend then said, "How is it that everybody knows that it tastes gross?"

I thought this was hilarious. So, what do you guys think? Does ear wax taste gross to you?

I've been busy writing lessons for our trip. We leave on Friday and will probably not be posting from then until July 11th. Pray for us.

I love my church

Tonight, I went out to eat with all the staff ladies. We had such a blast. It is so great doing ministry with people you like and with people that like you. There are so many times I want to pinch myself because it seems like a dream. Can a church staff really operate like this? When is the bombshell going to hit?

When Jason first went into the ministry, I had all these ideals of how closeI was going to be with other staff wives. I thought we would get together and share our troubles and triumphs. I thought we would get together and shop or have girl getaways. I was so disappointed for the first few years of our ministry becuase I was disallusioned. However, being at this church and working with these people has helped heal my cynical heart. None of us are perfect and the church still deals with typical church stuff, but we are all on the same page and are all headed in the same direction. We major on the big things and let the little things roll off our backs.

This is such a gift. I know there are few situations like this and I am very thankful for the opportunity to experience life and ministry like this.

No lions, No tigers, and only 2 bears

I woke up this morning with no electricity. No big deal, I thought. I can still get ready but I won't be able to dry my hair. No big deal, right? Little did I know that when you have a well, you don't have water without electricity. So, I drove to Amy's house to get ready.

The Burch girls and I went to the D.C. zoo today. We had a blast. We saw the pandas and some cool primates. However, a lot of the exhibits were closed or the animals were inside and we couldn't see them. It was a little disappointing. The zoo just isn't as cool as it was when you were younger.

Letter Boxing

So I went letter boxing today, however, most of the day I called it "shadow boxing". I'm really not a wordsmith. Anyway, letter boxing has been around for about 150 years and started in England. If you go to letterboxing.org you can find clues to letter boxes that are hidden all over the U.S.

What is a letter box you might ask? Well it is a waterproof box that contains a ruber stamp and a notepad. You post clues on the internet and other people try to find it. When you go searching for a letter box, you need to bring a small notebook, a rubber stamp of your own, and a writing utensil. Once you follow the clues and find a box, you stamp your stamp in their book and their stamp in your book. You sign and date their notepad and tell where you are from. In your book you put the date and where you found their stamp.

I went today with our children's minister, Amy, and her girls. It was a lot of fun.

Let me know if you've heard of this or not. It is pretty cool.

Amy and I also made a cherry pie today. MMMM. It was good. While we were letter boxing we found a cherry tree. (At least we think they were cherries. If we all get sick and die you'll know that they were some other kind of berry.)

Computer Logged

So I've spent most of the day working on lessons for N. Africa. I've been trying to collect pictures that will help me teach idioms. (i.e. Don't cry over spilt milk.; It's raining cats and dogs., etc.) See if you can figure out which idioms these pictures represent.

What did you say?

Lately I've been realizing that I have a knack for singing the wrong words to songs. For example, I was singing along to Mercy Me's "Who am I?" and I found my self singing:

"You hear me when I'm falling,
"You catch me when I'm calling"

Then best one however was today in chuch we were singing a Crowder song (I think) and I sang:
"Praise Him mother hope and skies" instead of "Praise Him under open skies"

I'm so crazy.

Mr. Darcy the Perfect Man????

I think not. I saw the movie Pride and Prejudice tonight. Great movie. However, I don't think that Mr. Darcy is anything compared to Jason Fullen. Jason, "You have bewitched me body and soul." (great line by the way!)

O.K. so I'm getting a little sappy since he's been gone.

Flying Solo

So Jason is on his way to the other side of the world and I am trying to figure out what I'm going to do with a week all to myself. I plan to write lessons for our trip to North Africa where we'll be teaching English. I also plan on going with the Burch girls to the D.C. Zoo. Other than that I hope to read, relax, and do whatever I want.

Summer is here!

It has been a really long year. The move from Texas was much more difficult than I thought it would be. Adjusting to a new school where I had not a single Christian co-worker took a toll on my spiritual life. There were times when I felt I was in a dark cloud and questioned why I even believed what I believed. Spending time with God became necessary instead of hit and miss. I've always heard about being in spiritually dark places geographically, but I have never experienced it before now. It was more difficult than I had imagined it. On the bright side, God was faithful on those gloomy days to send small evidences of Himself. I am so thankful that He is willing to reveal Himself to me again and again.

Now that I am adjusted to this new life, I am loving it. I love the friends that I've made and I love our church. It is such a safe place to be yourself.

Last night, we just got back from vacation. We went camping at Cape Hattaras, NC ( one of the islands off of the coast of NC). It was so much fun combing the beach--to me that's the best part of it. The shells we found at the beach were the biggest I've ever collected. The beach was beautiful during the day, however it rained both nights we were there and water came into our tent. After the 2nd night of rain we decided to find a new camping spot, out of the way of Tropical Storm Alberto (I think that is his name. I know it started with an A--Alfredo, Alberto, ???). We drove all night for 8 hours to find that it was raining there as well. What fun! The sun came out by noon and all was well for the rest of the trip.


I am so excited that school is finished and I have time to read. Right now I'm reading Gold Cord by Amy Carmichael. I also have a reading list of what I hope to have done by the end of the Summer. We'll see what actually gets read.

True Spirituality by Frances Schaeffer
Bruchko by Bruce Olsen
Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis
Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis (still have to buy this one)