The Animal Kingdom is Going Amuck

Well, I don't know what all is going on in the animal kingdom, but things must be really bad. This morning on my way to work there was a suicide bunny and a suicide mocking bird that tried to sacrifice themselves in front of my car this morning. Also, during dinner, a kamikaze bee flew directly into my face. Not sure what's happening, but you guys might want to watch out. Things must be really bad out there for our furry friends.

I've been tagged!!!

I've been tagged in this questionnaire game by Mrs. Amy!
Here it goes:

What were you doing 5 years ago?

1. Teaching at Hudson High School
2. Working with students in Inside Out Student Ministries
3. Having the Wrights, Conns, and Burches over for homemade pizza and chocolate chip cookies.
4. Saving money to buy our first house.
5. ??? Can't remember much else.

What are 5 things on your to-do list today (not in any particular order)?


1. Run with my husband. We ran 10 miles. Whoo! Whoo!
2. Go to church.
3. Serve in the nursery.
4. Serve in Elevate.
5. Do laundry. However, I chose to hang out with friends instead.

What are 5 snacks you enjoy?

1. Triscuits and Cheese.
2. Nilla Wafers and Peanut Butter
3. Peanuts
4. Graham Crackers and Peanut Butter with Fresh Strawberries
5. Chips and Queso or Guacamole

What 5 things would you do if you were a billionaire?


1. Pay off my student loans
2. Go on more mission trips and pay for others to go as well.
3. Drill water wells in Africa.
4. Travel
5. Buy land and build a house on it. The land would need a river or stream which runs through it.



What are 5 of your bad habits?

1. Interrupting others.
2. Feeling like my life is in shambles if I have more than 1 loads of clothes waiting to be washed.
3. Procrastinating
4. Textin while driving....I know, I know. I shouldn't do it. Sometimes I can't resist.
5. Saying too much.

What are 5 jobs you have had?

1. Department Store Sales Associate
2. Bank Teller
3. Youth Intern
4. Snow ball maker
5. Teacher


What are 5 places you have lived?


1. Nacogdoches, TX
2. Lufkin, TX
3. Westminster, MD (with the Burches)
4. Reisterstown, MD

What 5 people do you want to tag?

1. Jason
2. Jodie Zorbaugh
3. Jessica Sallstrom
4. Jen V.
5. Danielle Jones

Anybody Out There?

Just wondering if anyone still reads this. Sorry it's been so long since I've posted. Things have been really crazy. I'm trying to wrap up the end of the year at school and I've been staying late at school each evening. Once I get home, cook dinner, and do some housework, there's not much time left to blog. :(

I guess the latest news in my life is that this next year I'm going to try to become a Nationally Certified Teacher. It is going to be quite a rigorous process, but the benefits at the end of 2009 will be worth it...that is, if I succeed. This afternoon, I sat down and downloaded the 400 page manual which explains the process. I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed.

So far, here are my summer plans.

Last day of school: June 11th
First week: Write curriculum for the World Languages Department
June 16-29th or 30th I'll be in Texas...reading the 400 page manual.
July 7-11th: I'll be at Youth Camp ...reading the 400 page manual.
July 27th -July 31st(ish): Going with Jodie to her family's cabin in New York. and...reading the 400 page manual.

I think I might name this summer, "The Summer of the 400 Page Manual".

Retraction

Well, I must confess that I have not yet learned how to play Texas Hold'em. Our friends canceled on us at the last minute, but we have a rain check. I felt like I should go ahead and confess this. I would hate to be lying to the whole World Wide Web. It would be too much for me to bear.

Road Names

Since moving to MD, I've seen some road names that have made me giggle inside.

1. Portia's Delight
2. Tracey's Store Rd.
3. Yeoho Rd.
4. Pretty Boy Dam Road (Sounds like someone tried to cuss and got it all out of order.)

IT'S FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!

Last year Jason and I bought half of a cow and put in in the freezer (after processing, of course). The meat tastes really good. The only downfall is that the ground beef isn't really that lean. I always drain it and rinse it to get as much fat off of it as possible.

Tonight we are firing up the grill and cooking steaks and ribs. Mmmmmm! It's going to be so good.

Later tonight, Adam and Nicole Hunsicker are going to come over and teach us how to play Texas Hold'em. They couldn't believe we were from Texas and didn't know how to play.

Hiking

I've been hiking twice for the last couple of days. The weather here has been absolutely beautiful. It has been so nice to get outside. Here are a few pictures from our outing.

Antshillvania

Did any of you ever listen to this record as a kid? I used to love it. The story is the story of the Prodigal Son. However, it takes place in Antshillvania (an ant hill). One of the ants named ANTony decides he is going to leave and become famous. Here is the song he sings before he leaves town.

I think it is a really funny song to sing when you find yourself in a conversation about making money or getting rich. Right when everyone in the conversation is convinced they are going to become "rich", I like to sing this song. I'm really weird, I know.

Chase vs. Tag

So the other day in my Spanish 3 class, I was totally made fun of for calling "tag", "chase". My students thought that was the craziest thing. One of the kids in the back of the room said, "So what do you call hide-n-seek?-- "go and find"? I thought this was really funny.

What do you call it? Chase or Tag?

Easter Dinner

I've decided to make Easter dinner for a few people and I'm still trying to figure out what to cook. Any of you have any good ideas? I'm taking suggestions.

Vantage Point

Going to see Vantage Point tonight. I'm so excited!!!!

What I Love About Jason

1. The way he can "belly-laugh" at a t.v. show or a video even when no one is in the room with him
2. His way of making me realize that things are never as bad as I think they are.
3. His smile
4. The way he cheers for football
5. The way he can move me from my selfishness to gratitude
6. His spontaneity.
7. The way he can actually lie down while sitting in a chair.
8. The way he goes from ride to ride at amusement parks. He practically runs from ride to ride so he can get the most out of his money.
9. His new found love for coupons and getting good deals.
10. The way he loves me and others around him.

Rachel's Schedule

Wake up
Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go,
go some more,
a little more,
Go home,
Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go,
Watch Lost or American Idol for 40 minutes, (no commercials!)
Go to bed.

What happened to Rachel?

Anyone wonder what happened to Rachel Ray? She used to be really cool and hip. Now when I watch her show she just gets on my nerves. She is so cheesy now and she does wierd things with her words. She always says things like "yummo", "delish", and "e.v.o.o." I used to like to watch her show but now I can't get past the crazy talk. She is beginning to remind me of Bob Sagett.

I know I'm being critical and I know that Jesus loves her.

Surprises

Well, Jason and I are going to get out of town this weekend. I have off Monday and Tuesday so we're going to leave after church on Sunday and come back on Tuesday. I'm not sure where we're going.....it's a surprise. I'm about to go crazy trying to figure out where we're going.

I have sort of a love/hate relationship with surprises. When I know there is a surprise coming to me, I want to know what it is immediately. It drives me crazy and I can't stop thinking about it. However, if I do figure out the surprise early, I'm disappointed that I found out.

"Rainy Days and Mondays Always Get Me Down"

I've always loved that song. I'm a huge fan of The Carpenters. The Lyrics of that song flooded my mind this morning as I entered the school this rainy, Monday morning. Luckily, the later part of the title didn't come to fruition or as my husband likes to say, "truition".

Today was a good day. Everything at school went rather smoothly. After work, I went to dinner with some coworkers to Ledo's pizza. Ledo's has now become my favorite kind of pizza. It has a super, thin, crispy crust with a sweet, tangy sauce, and is made in a square pan, thus---corner pieces!

After dinner, I planned on coming home and washing the sheets on my bed, but my wonderful husband had made the bed. Thanks to him, I get to go one more day without washing them. So, instead of worrying about housework, I'm going to curl up on the couch with a good book until bedtime. I just can't possibly think about doing any other housework if the sheets on my bed are dirty.

Music

Who is a music artist that you think is famous, but in your opinion lacks talent?

SNOW!!!!!!

It's snowing! I truly think snow is God's gift to me so I don't go crazy with the cold, dreary, wintry days. I really don't like cold weather, but when it snows I don't mind the low temperatures so much.

On snowdays I don't ever really get much accomplished. I find myself just sitting beside the window watching it. Sometimes I get up and think to myself, "I've got to get busy". However, if I do get up and go do something, I find that I just end up sitting in a different room staring out a different window.

Snowflakes are so amazing. When examined closely, they really do look like those paper cut-outs we used to make in school. And, no two are alike...so they say. Not really sure how that is proven, I'm sure glad that's not my job.

Why is it that I can be completely exhausted, but can't make myself go to bed? Anyone else put themself through this same misery?

Time Off

It seems I can always think of things I want to do when I am busy, but once I have a lot of time on my hands I have trouble getting motivated to do those things. I've decided to make a list of things I'd like to get done before I go back to school so I don't just sleep my holiday away nor spend too much time in front of the t.v.

1. Sew
2. Reorganize my baking cabinet
3. Read
4. Run
5. Organize Recipes
6. Spend time with friends