A Change Will Do You Good!

The Longs on their wedding day!

My hair was getting long and fussy and boring so I cut it. Yep, you read that correctly! Yes it was on a whim. A pure spur of the moment let's make it happen scenario. Let me rewind and set the scene.

It was about a month ago when the hubbs and I were visiting another couple-friend of ours: the Longs (Adam & Kathryn). Back in college, Kathryn and I both wanted to be teachers, she wanted to teach elementary and I wanted secondary; so we had the whole education connection AND we were RAs together during the 2007-2008 school year. So needless to say we've become good friends.

Short and Sweet!

Anywho, we decided that it would be nice to have a weekly get together, mainly because Kathryn and I need some socialization as well as a break from school work in the evenings. Trust me, if you knew what kind of schools we worked in you'd completely understand! So long story finally coming to a close, Kathryn took cosmetology in high school and is able to cut hair, and she's pretty darn good at it! So after eating dinner and chit-chatting, I asked, she cut, and now this is my new look and it has done me good. Thank you Kathryn!

Mr. Opportunity, Welcome Back!

 Remember when I blogged about Mr. Opportunity here and here? Well if you remember, Adam and I have been praying for God to show His will to us. We know that change is in the air, we both feel it's coming and are trusting God. We have also shared these opportunities and bits of information with others, especially our parents, siblings, and close friends who have all said that they are praying for us as well! Well I now have an update.

The position for the upcoming history teacher at Mathews High School (Adam's hometown) was not approved in the budget and this evening I received an email from my old high school history teacher basically stating that another Bassett High School (from my hometown) alum has a master's degree in administration and will more than likely be offered a contract. As far as I know this is only contingent upon the remainder of this school year, not the next, but you know how these things usually turn out...I'm still hopeful that perhaps this is not the case and that it's only for the time being because goodness knows I would love to be near my family again!

And even though we'd both like the chance to be near my family, we're still interested in the possibility of the Air Force, we've simply hit some bumps in trying to get in touch with the Air Force recruiters. I'm not taking that as a sign we're not to talk to them, but to remain persistent and persevere. Please note however, that for someone who enjoys having a "plan" this is driving me nuts, I would love nothing more than to know where we're headed but as a friend of mine recently said, "Where's the fun in that?! "Somehow I feel that the subliminal message God is trying to send my way is to be patient. Oh if that were easier done than said! Anywho, as always please continue to pray for us and God's will as we know that above all else He is #1 and is to be glorified always!

Rejuvenation? Yes, please!

This week has drained me of any energy, which I truly need! With the changing of the time on Sunday, my body has had a hard time transitioning. On top of that, our car died Monday, and Adam was stranded in West Point. We were supposed to meet the Air Force recruiter that night but Adam got off work too late so the recruiter said to come back the next evening. So, we decided to make some last minute plans and meet with a friend of ours, Marcus. Along the way we decided to meet up instead of driving two cars out to his house. Adam parked at Nick's and I met him there. Well needless to say when I finally got my stuff outta my car and hopped into his,  the thing wouldn't crank! We spent the rest of Monday night trying to fix it, but left discouraged.

Last night, Adam and his dad (who drove all the way out there as well) were able to take off the starter and sure enough when they got to an Advanced Auto to test it, it was dead. So my husband bought another one, drives all the way back to West Point, gets the "new" starter on there only to find that it too doesn't work. He was able to take it back, but they said they'd have to order a new one. So now we're patiently waiting for the new starter to come in. So minus the fact that my body is not well rested, and now that our finances and time aren't either, I'm just ready for some rest, relaxation, and rejuvenation.....is it the weekend here yet? Hope your week (and Wednesday) are better than mine!

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

Courtesy of www.girlscouts.org

Last week one of my students stopped by a little after the bell rang to end the school day and dropped off some much awaited yet much forgotten Girl Scout cookies! These little sweet treats are such a delight for me because growing up, I was a girl scout--I almost reached senior status, but left the troop I was in once I started high school and realized I couldn't cope with a million and one activities, so it was left behind.

Looking back now, I wish I had had the nerve to stick it out and not give up so easily. I know my mom tried to convince me otherwise, but I simply would not budge and chose to leave. If I were smart I would have stayed in it and earned the respect of my peers as well as achieve something many women do not. Anywho, these have always been a special treat for me, and should you see a couple of girl scouts trying to earn some money for their troop and/or earn a badge be sure to help 'em out!

Let's go back to Thanksgiving!

Appetizers

It felt crisp outside today, a little cooler than usual. It reminded me of the feeling of fall and how much I missed it! Because I am such an awesome horrible blogger, and didn't blog much up until this point, I never shared the photos I took during the holidays. Ergo I am correcting my ways! Oh and by the way, sometime in the next few days I'll share with you the uhhhhmazing homemade apple pie I made, but for tonight I'll simply recap my favorite holiday, Thanksgiving! Now don't get me wrong, I love Love LOVE Christmas, but there's just something in the simplicity in the gathering of families and food together whilst remembering what we're thankful for that is special to me.

Mom & Adam making Chex Mix

In my family, we always sleep in then start the day with turning on the tube and listening to as well as watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. Next, dad will usually get the appetizers ready and we munch on those all day long. Mom and Adam have come to love making their own version of the beloved Chex Mix. Then throughout the day, Mom and I will prepare and make all the traditional Thanksgiving fixings with the addition of a new recipe or two.

Anywho, all of this is to say how wonderful it is to remember what we're thankful for throughout the year, not just at Thanksgiving. Normally these "I'm thankful for" lists go on and on and there's only three things that I wanted to mention today:  (1) how great it is to know the I Am (it is extraordinary to serve the God in whose image we are made of, and in who's power we were created. There is no better realization that without Him my life would be meaningless). (2) I also want to thank my brother for standing up and not looking back after taking the plunge of faith. You're an inspiration to me and I'm proud of you. I am thankful for all the memories we share growing up, even the times we fought and couldn't stand to be around one another. We may be miles apart but you're no more than a thought (or phone call) away! And lastly (3) I'm thankful the Lord has placed me where he has at Charles City. I seem to have forgotten the opportunity I have to share who the Lord is and to be a positive light to my students. So I'm thankful for being pushed out of my comfort zone and strengthening me through the experiences I have had there! I'm not quite where I should be, but I'm much farther and better off than where I once was!

So in return what are you thankful for? What have you forgotten to remember and praise the Lord about since Thanksgiving? (Please feel free to share!)

Teaching is the....

The door to my classroom!

Student's desks and my ActivBoard

best job ever! Now grant it, those of you who know me well, know that my experience at Charles City has been tough, and I haven't thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. Of course each school district will have its problems, that comes with the territory, so I'm not so much as naive to believe that any other district will be perfect. I do however, love my job! I enjoy preparing lesson plans, looking for new material, but most of all I enjoy the impact that I can have on students, as a Christian! Day after day students come up to me telling me their problems, asking for guidance and time and time again I always point them back to the cross, to Jesus Christ. Because without that relationship everything else is minuscule and futile -- exactly how teaching WOULD be if it weren't for the fact that the Lord has called me to do this.

My desk and bulletin board

Bookshelves/Closet

Chalkboard/TV

I don't blog much about my career. I guess I'd always been afraid of the idea that someone from the district or school would see it. But after stumbling upon some of my friend's blogs and realizing that I could blog without invading privacy I think I'll be more open to the idea. Of course if I ever do blog I will not use the real names of my students (if I use any names at all) and I will not post pictures of them. However, I do want to share with you what my classroom looks like. These pictures were taken at the start of the school year so ignore the bulletin board, it has since been updated and is a beautiful spring picture with a rainbow and a leprechaun chillin' with a pot of gold at the end. You'd think that by that description I teach at the elementary level, but in actuality I teach high school history.

About a week ago I posted about opportunity and the fact that Adam and I are looking for direction. Well not too soon after that, I actually had received notice that there's an anticipated high school history position in Mathews County and yesterday (I'll tell you about this later) I discovered that there's an opening at my old high school for a history position as well. I can hardly believe that both schools have anticipated positions open. Adam and I had already been praying about Mathews and now we're praying about Bassett, too. We would just ask for you to be prayerful with us, that God would blatantly open or close the door where we should or should not go because above all else we want to remain faithful to Him. Let me leave you with my favorite verse:

Psalm 25:4-5 (New International Version, ©2011)

 ⁴ Show me your ways, LORD,
   teach me your paths.
⁵ Guide me in your truth and teach me,
   for you are God my Savior,
   and my hope is in you all day long.

Banana Nut Bread

Lately I had a hankering for banana nut bread! Yum! So I went to my handy dandy and most cherished cook book - Better Homes & Gardens New Cook Book, the red plaid cover. If you yourself have been fortunate enough to this book then you'll be even more delighted that you're just a few pages away from sheer joy. If you open to the Bread section, you'll notice the Favorite Banana Bread recipe on page 130. This is the recipe I used for my banana nut bread.

I realize that not everyone may have this cookbook so I'll share with you this particular recipe:
Prep Time: 25 minutes        Bake Time: 55 minutes
Oven Setting: 350 degrees Fahrenheit  
Makes: 1 loaf (16 slices)
Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg 
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (5 medium)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup cooking oil or melted butter or margarine



Lumpy Banana Nut Bread Batter

• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Steps:

1.  Preheat the over to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease bottom and 1/2 inch up the sides of one 9x5x3 inch loaf pan; set aside. In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Make a well in center of flour mixture; set aside. 
2. In a medium bowl combine eggs, mashed bananas, sugar, and oil. Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir just enough until moistened (batter should be lumpy). Fold in walnuts. Spoon batter into prepared loaf pan. (See photo)
3. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near center come out clean (if necessary, cover loosely with foil the last 15 minutes of baking to prevent overbrowning). Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan. Cool completely on rack. Wrap, store overnight before slicing. 

Yeah I didn't follow that last part. As soon as it cooled down from the oven, I sliced and lathered on with butter a piece for me and a piece for my father-in-law. Wholly goodness. Yum. Try it!

Pets

Woodrow

Winnie

I promise I won't go on and on about how awesome my cats are, psh..it's not like I'm some crazy old lady surrounded by 'em or anything....but seriously how awesome are they?! I'm writing this post with the realization that 1) you may possibly hate cats 2) had a horrible experience with them and/or 3) had a bad experience with one at some point in your life and have allowed that one experience to ruin a possible infatuation for this animal. And let me admit, I am also a dog lover, we just don't happen to have one right now because my husband isn't overjoyed with the idea of having one so close to a busy road and I can't say I blame him. So what's the point I'm getting at? Well when I moved out on my own (before Adam and I got married) it was ooberly nice to have those felines around to keep me company and not freak out over every little noise that woke me up in the middle of the night. Not only did I feel a tiny bit safer, but I also enjoyed getting to know their personalities.Our three cats are Woodrow (as featured above to the left), Winnie (yes she actually climbed up and got up on that curtain all by herself!) and last but not least is Pippin, whom I don't have a recent picture of, but I have added a  ridiculous video of hi. He is the oldest of the three, this was taken this past summer when Adam and I noticed he had a strange inkling to get his paws on something smooth.... maybe he thought he was on a treadmill or something?! My favorite part is when he looks up at the very end!

It was an itsy bitsy thing called a virus...

Adam is was sick today yesterday. Like really sick. I will spare you the details as to what was going on with his body, but it's the first time he's truly been so sick, which meant, yep a visit to the doctor. The men in Adam's family, are pretty adamant about not going to the doctor, because it's frowned upon, like you're a wimp or something. Needless to say, when you're hovered over a trashcan or toilet and your body is wrenching from the pain, a visit to the doctor doesn't seem so bad.

Well obviously at this point Adam did concede and go to the doctor, and thankfully the nurse took a swab in his nose and discovered that the swab tested negative for the flu--praise God! She did however say that he does have a viral infection, she's just not sure which strand since our area alone has seen six different kinds over the past 6-8 weeks. And that the one she has seen most recently take people 4-6 days to get over, yikes! Thankfully, and boy do I mean thankfully, despite the fact that I work in the public school system, I have yet to get sick--knock on wood--and it's been a blessing! I will continue to keep good hygiene practices in my classroom and make sure that wherever you are, do the same. Make sure you wash your hands thoroughly with warm/hot soapy water for 20-30s and sanitize anything that carries a higher risk of spreading germs!

Now did you really think I'd end this post without updating you on Adam's progress?! Adam's doing much better and his fever broke a couple of hours ago! He's keeping liquid and food down. He still feels weak and probably won't go in to work tomorrow, but praise the Lord he didn't suffer from dehydration and is well on his way to getting back to his old wonderful self!