Post Graduation

Last I had posted I was unsure of where God was leading me, and I was still student teaching. So to catch you up, I ended my first placement of student teaching on October 3rd and started my second placement on October 6th. My second placement was at Graham High School with Mrs. Peggy Scott, teaching U.S. History to juniors. I was apprehensive and nervous about having an older group of students, but as the weeks flew by, I loved every minute of that experience! It was such a joy and blessing to work with everyone at Graham. My students were great, Mrs. Scott ever helpful and encouraging, and the faculty/staff friendly and eager to share stories as well as give helpful advice. Of the two experiences, I am so thankful that I had the worst first and the best second. God definitely blessed me in that situation!

Student teaching taught me so much. There are so many experiences that showed me how to better reach people, as well as how exciting it is to see students learn and get excited about History! After completing all the requirements for student teaching, I finally, after all the hard work of 3 1/2 years at college, graduated with honors (Magna Cum Laude) on December 13, 2008 alongside some of my greatest friends :-) It was such a joy and honor to graduate from college. I felt proud and thankful that the Lord had taken care of me and allowed me to do so. He is good! And I'm especially thankful for all the support of my friends and family. They have made these some of the best years of my life!

Surprisingly, I was ready to graduate. I thought I'd never feel that way, but God's timing is indeed perfect and I'm happy to say that it felt right to finally be done. However, do not be misled, for I truly miss all the wonderful people I have come to know and love at Bluefield College! And although I have graduated, I know that this will not be the last time I see or hear from them; just as I have kept in touch with other Bluefield Alums before me. The friendships I made in Bluefield are the kind of friends that I know I'll keep in touch with for the rest of my life. Their friendships will last far beyond my days in the dorm of Rish, or Wednesday mornings spent in convocation, and fun-filled nights spent in the SAC.

Now, nearly three months have passed since graduation! The holidays were split between time with my family and time with Adam. After the new year, on January 10th, I moved in with the Davis family and have been staying with them since then. Some may see this decision as impulsive and rash, but it has turned out to be a wonderful blessing--not only in my relationship with Adam, but in my relationship with the Lord as well. My parents, whom I thought were ready for an empty nest, proved otherwise and this move has made me value them even more since I see less of them now. *I do hope that within the next month I'll be happy to make a trip out there to see them* Despite our nation's economic crisis, I have put in applications in five different counties and have been subbing for Mathews County only. Though my licensure to teach is in 6-12 History, I have subbed at the local elementary school three times and the middle school twice. I am hoping that I will be called more often, but we'll see how things go! I did put an application in at the Mathews Yacht Club, and praise the Lord, I got a job there as a waitress/hostess/kitchen staff! I start this Friday and am eager to begin, so for those of you reading this, please keep me in your prayers!

Doors & Windows

With graduation, and student teaching approaching the half way mark, I've been thinking more and more about my future and God's direction in my life. I'll admit I am a bit nervous and scared, but oddly enough, not worried. For some reason I do have this peace that whatever happens will work out. There is beauty in thinking that it's just a BIG adventure about to take place and if I just take it one day and step at a time God will "make my path straight" (Proverbs 3:5-6). He opens and closes one door and another window one day at a time.

For me, I believe that one of three things will happen (although God has proven me wrong before and the following may or may not occur). Ok so there are three options or directions I feel that God could lead me. First off, as soon as I graduate, I'll be moving back home to help my parents fix up and sell their house so they can move to Roanoke, and my mother won't have to drive so far and so long everyday--plus it'll help them save on gas! I plan on putting a few applications in for substitute teaching in a couple of the surrounding counties and hopefully between fixing the house and substituting I'll stay pretty busy. But then what happens after that? Well (1) I could apply for teacher positions and get a job and start my first year teaching next Fall (2) I could apply to grad school at Virginia Tech--get accepted and attend next fall (still no idea what I'd go into) or (3) join the Peace Corps and serve in that for two years--the plus side of that is I could teach while I'm in the Peace Corps!

So considering those options, I'm not really sure where I'm headed. But, believe it or not, I'm really at peace with whatever door He opens, I'm just anxious to find out which door it is! I'm so excited for whatever the Lord brings. I know His plans are better than anything I could imagine, so I can't wait to see where I'm gonna go, who I'm gonna meet, and how my life will turn out! Please be in prayer over this decision for me. I currently go to a Bible study on Wednesday nights and the book we're reading is "Chazown" and it's about finding God's calling and direction! It's been such a huge blessing and help for me, so just continue to pray God will lead and I'll follow! And may you be so bold as to let God lead you as well!

Student Teaching

Ok so this is long overdue, but in all fairness I have been extremely busy as of late! First off let me say that the rest of summer was amazing! I was able to go with the SUB and Residence Life on their fall retreat to Claytor Lake and Carowinds! It was so much fun! I was afraid that I would feel out of place amongst them, but thanfully I did not. After returning from the fall leadership retreat, I left the van only to hop in Marcus' car and head back down to Mathews to see and spend time with Davis family. Again, that was such an amazing trip! Of course those days flew by and I had to come back to Bluefield, but this time Adam came back with Marcus and me, which made the trip go by even quicker (well minus that HUGE detour we took to swing by my house--thanks guys :-) ) Once we got back to Bluefield time with my friends was limited as I had to start preparing for student teaching.

We had to be there at the beginning for all the back to school meetings which started on August 18, but the students didn't arrive until that Thursday, August 21st. What a whirlwind of a day! I have 160 students to keep up with! And it wasn't until this past week that I finally remembered all of their names and faces. Overall student teaching is going much better than I thought it would. I'm with Mrs. Blevins teaching 8th grade Civics/Economics. I was a bit unsure of teaching this subject because this is my weakest area in History, but surprinsgly I feel very comfortable with it (at least for now). I love all of my students. There are a few trouble makers and a couple of students that are just crying out for attention, but overall they are a great group of students and I can already see how difficult it will be to leave them when I switch to my next placement. One thing I'm especially eager and looking forward to getting to the SOLs dealing with politics and the election coming up. I'm so proud of my students because they've been keeping up with each the Democratic and Republican Conventions. I was able to watch a bit of each, but I must say I'm sticking to my Republican roots and will be voting for McCain/Palin! Sorry Obama, although I will say that I have been keeping up with him just as much so I will be well aware of what his agenda will be if he's elected President. Ok so next week will be very interesting! Mrs. Blevins is handing over all her classes to me so I'll be teaching Periods 1-5 and 7 (6th period is our planning). So hopefully this time next week I'll be updating on that experience, just pray and hope it goes well!

YEC & Kings Dominion

Wow! What an incredible week and weekend! From July 30-August 1 I was asked to help at YEC (Youth EnCounter) for the college. The trip down flew by--I rode with Jacob and DT--we stopped and had lunch in Roanoke and then Jacob and I watched "Van Helsing" until my computer died. Once we got to Richmond we went straight to the RIR -- Richmond International Raceway where we helped set up the Bluefield College tent/exhibit. That night everyone helping with YEC had dinner at O'Charleys. It was no nice to be surrounded by people I hadn't seen that often or not at all.

By Thursday we helped out and ran the exhibit all day! It was so hot and muggy. I helped greet people as well as set up the pins for human bowling. Poor Luke & Jacob had to buckle and roll the people in the "bowling" ball--the sure did work hard but were wiped out by the end of the day! I was actually asked to speak and give a short message/testimony/encouragement during session 1. About an hour before I was really nervous, but once I was able to listen to Sonicflood and the comedian Thor Ramsey I felt more at ease and ready to go. My little message was short and to the point---about being "Driven" (which was this year's theme) and how I'm driven by serving. I don't think I did all that well, but it sufficed. After all, it was for the Lord and those youth, not me! That night we were asked to hold signs for those to follow duing the invitational and afterwards we were able to hear Grits and Sanctus Real perform. It was great! After a long day we were all wiped out. By the time we got back to the hotel we all crashed!

Friday was amazing! The last session was held that morning. It was also the morning we gave away scholarships and some cool prizes (Wii and Ipod Touch). After cleaning up our tent/exhibit and holding up the signs once more for another invitational we left and made our way to Kings Dominion. I must add here that we ate at Sheetz for lunch and much to my embarrassment I was in line waiting for my order and a man had come and set his really huge drinks behind me that I just happened to knock over and all over the place! I was mortified. Well not so much mortified as I was scared that the man would yell at me. But thank goodness he was nice and helpful! Ok so after Sheetz we went to Kings Dominion where we all nearly died of a heat stroke becuase it was so hot! We rode Shock Wave, Drop Tower/Zone, the Grizzly, Fear of Flight, Ricochet, Rebel Yell, the Volcanoe, the Crypt, and the Hurler, and of course we hit up the water park! It was so much fun! I hadn't been to an amusement park in a while so it was nice to feel like a kid again (what was even better is that the school paid our way in)! Not only was it "fun" but I was able to spend more time with great people: Luke, Sharde, Kris, Jacob, Brinton, Brittany, Sarah, Tori, and Mark. After our adventures were over and before we made our way back to the hotel for the last time we stopped and had some Italian ice cream at Gelatto's. All in all this was a great trip and I'd give it a rating of two thumbs up!

May 27-May 31

This week was very quiet with Kelly gone. She left with a group of other staff/faculty members for JAM -- a Jenzebar conference. Thankfully the week turned out great! I was able to start workstudy in the Registrar's Office. What a treat it is to work up there with those ladies! I loved it! They are so friendly and upbeat--it was so nice to work with them all week! If I didn't have that job I have no idea what I would've done! Luckily, in the evenings Sharde and I were able to spend some time together! On Tuesday she and I watched, well began "The Little Mermaid" which we failed to finish because we were so busy talking--we literally talked over three hours and did not stop until after midnight! It was so great though, we were able to talk about life, what we felt, what our futures may hold, traveling, and other girl stuff. Wednesday I was able to catch up with my favorite Clarke family, whom I had not seen in over a week for they too were in Richmond, but they were visiting the Brackett family! On Wednesday & Thursday Sharde and I started going back to the gym. I'll admit it was a challenge at first, but it felt so good to not worry about time and just have a good workout. Unfortunately, the reason why the workout was more intense was becuase I discovered via my father (Mike) that I did not pass my worrisome Praxis II History test. I made a score of 152 and the state of Virginia requries a passing score of 161. Nine points can defeated me and my good day pretty quick. I was so mad and frustrated, but more importantly I didn't understand. I had studied as much as I could, and prayed before, during, and after the test. I know that God doesn't always give us what we want, but this time it would've been nice. That text costs $140 to take, so that was ultimately money down the drain. I hate that so much, but I know that I'll just have to try harder and trust harder next time. Angela called me on Friday and said, "Girl you've passed all the other tests, so God had to make you struggle and trust Him somewhere." Well if that's the case I surely hope that I pass this next time!

My week finally ended with a small trip back home. I went home on Friday because my mom was supposed to fly out to California, but her trip got cancelled, which ended up being a blessing because I got to spend more time with her and my father, too. It was weird coming home though because the house is a wreck from where my parents are tyring to fix things up so they can eventually sell the house and move closer to Roanoke. Our dog, Simon, was just as happy to see me as I was to see him, as was our cat Chanel who pranced around like a miss-priss all night/day. Sadly though, our oldest cat Sophie, whom I love, but still not too fond of was very different. She seemed to cling around the house more and layed around more so than ran or hunted. But I guess when you get older that's what you do. Just relax. Also I went home for one of my best friend Jessica's bridal shower (I'm actually in her wedding in less than 3 weeks)! The wedding shower was decorated with green and pink all over the place and with tons of gifts that her and Philip will need in their new house! Oh how wonderful God is to my friends. I am so thankful that they have been blessed and I am praying that they have a long and happy marriage which they each deserve!

Sadly I had to leave the shower a little early as I had already committed to spend some quality time with Amy Abs (who is about to leave for China on a month's mission trip), Miranda, and Amy's cousin Jamee (who was in from Florida)! We got all dolled up and went out to Macado's for a late dinner, then headed to Walmart to shop and get ice-cream which is ironic because we ended up not getting any ice-cream, and finally we spent the night at Miranda's and watched "The Wedding Planner" one of my all time favorites, then drifted off to sleep until the wet lick of a dog's tongue kissed my cheek the next morning! Church was amazing! Pastor Scott preached on "Giving" and it was wonderful! I am so blessed to go to a church that I love where I feel free to worship and be with believers that encourage and uplift me, but are also real and genuine and have gone through the same sort of struggles I have. Sunday ended up being lazy and good to get some Art homework done. All in all this was a wonderful weekend and I look forward to this upcoming week!

Memorial Day Weekend

Thursday finally arrived! Kelly and I left Bluefield at 9:00am (I was very proud that I left on time and was not late)! We had been on the road no more than an hour when one of Kelly's cats, Fluffy--who isn't very fluffy--got the runs! Poor thing! Her stomach couldn't handle the jostling and motion of the car. After making a pit stop at a Food Lion in Christiansburg we were on our way again! Approximately thirty minutes later we arrived in Roanoke, where we had lunch with my mother (Berta) and brother (Nathan) at CiCi's Pizza at Towers Mall. It was so nice to see them! At that point it had been several months since I had seen my brother! Lunch was great, we all chit-chatted about random stuff in our lives, but had a wonderful time! After lunch Kelly and I began the rest of our trek east across this lovely state, and finally a few hours later arrived at her parent's house in Montpelier, VA! Her house was so cozy. It's tucked away in the woods right off the road and cats were everywhere! My favorites were a black pregnant cat that was about to pop, and another gray calico whom the family calls "Cinco." He's named that because he has one too many toes on each foot, but even though he has six, it's just a nickname for him. The rest of my day included Kelly's amazing parents taking me along to celebrate Kelly's brother's (Stephen's 30th) birthday with them Kelly, Stephen, and his wife Angie! I had ham with crab--it was a scrumptuous albeit expensive dinner from a local restaurant called "Tavern on the Rail." It was a great place, and I recommend it to anyone--it's in a crazy small town called Bumpass, VA--good luck with the pronunciation!

Friday morning Kelly & I headed off to Richmond, VA to meet up with our friend Angela Turpin who attends VCU and lives in the heart of the city. Kelly's GPS on her new Blackberry was a bit confusing, but we finally made it to Angela & Dave's (her husband) apartment. It's a clean and modern apartment that suits the two of them and their two cats--Lucy & Texas. After chatting and catching up, we made our way to Primrose School where Angela works and then made our way over to Panera Bread, one of my favorite restaurants! The sandwiches and soups are yummy! After lunch we made our way over to the local mall where we shopped for a little while. I found a lovely white, green, and blue striped with silver lining dress from New York & Co. for $10! I actually wore this dress to Lindsey & Derrick's wedding! After shopping we stopped by the Cheesecake Factory where Kelly bought well of course, a piece of cheesecake. Before leaving the mall we made a pit stop in this store called "Not of this World" it's an amazing Christian store that just opened! The owner of the store even asked us before we left if he could specifically pray with us! It was so amazing! Oh how I pray and hope this store minister's to people that desperately need the Lord! Finally after our busy yet blissful afternoon we went back to Angela's where I indulged the ladies with pedicures! Since Kelly didn't live to far away she went back home, but Angela and I continued to have our girls' night--going out to dinner @ Tarants, watching "P.S. I Love You," eating ice-cream, and finally falling asleep after talking past midnight!

Saturday finally arrived! I got dressed in a hurry and Angela drove me over to JMitch's house to meet up with Kelly, JMitch, and Sarah for the drive down to Lindsey & Derrick's wedding in Chesapeake. The drive flew by and we made it to the wedding with an hour to spare! The wedding itself was in a gorgeous white Baptist church that shined brilliantly due to the wonderful warm sunshine. Inside the sanctuary was a light blue and the front set up for the wedding to take place. At exactly 2pm the bridal party was ushered in and the preacher began the ceremony of vows, exchange of rings, and of course, the kiss! The ceremony itself lasted about 20 minutes, while the reception lasted nearly if not close to 3 hours! What a reception! Two tables were actually taken up with students from Bluefield College. At this point I would love to post some pictures from the wedding, however my computer "crashed" and I lost the pictures I had and I had already deleted them from my camera. But Lindsey was absolutely stunning in a white A-line dress with a teal/turqouise ribbon tied around her waist. The bridesmaids had matching color dresses and the groomsmen had matching teal/turqouise vests and ties. The whole esemble was beautiful! Back to the reception, it included delicious food--chocolate fountains, a beautiful cake decorated with the colors that matched the bridal party and a silver "W" sitting at the top, seafood, fruits, vegetables, and an assortment of crackers, meats, and so on! Lindsey & Derrick danced together and then with their father and mother. Music that really defines who they are as individuals and as a couple was played and of course the cutting of the cake and tossing of the bride's bouquet was done as well. Unfortunately, a little 8 or 9 year old caught the thing; I'm afraid there's not much hope for the rest of us! ;-)

That evening as the wedding came to a close, we saw Lindsey & Derrick off with a car covered in saran wrap, and writing, along with three cans dragging behind as they made their way to Charlottesville for their honeymoon. After the wedding our car decided to help take back some of the gifts, as well as chip in for the $630 TV the couple had registered for but did not receive! (What a great surprise they would come back to in Bluefield!) As we made our way back to Richmond we ended up spending some time with our friends that were in town--Sara Hubble (who is in from South Africa), Kristen Clarke, Amy Montgomery, Brad Shockley, Amy Abshire, Sara's family, and JMitch. We all went out to Sara's favorite Chinese restaurant and had a relaxing and wonderful time. I can't remember laughing so much in my life! Kristen, Amy M, Brad, and Kelly kept cracking me up! I love good times like those! Oh how I love summer but do miss my friends :-( but I know that they are well and I pray and hope God blesses and takes care of them everyday they are not in my life.

Ok so now the blog is getting sad. But all good things must come to an end. Kelly and I left Mechanicsville and made it back to Montpelier a little after midnight. The next day we took our showers, got dressed, and went to Kelly's parents church. It was so adorable and cute! It's a gorgeous red brick Methodist church that took my breath away. The actual preacher was out on her honeymoon so they had a lay-speaker preach and his sermon was about "Serving the Lord." It was interesting to say the least. But after church we had subs at Subway and then made the long trek back to Bluefield leaving the cats and our friends behind.

On the actual "Memorial Day" Kelly prepared for her trip to Nashville and I relaxed and enjoyed reminiscing about the veterans in this country, as well as tagging along for TLC's "John & Kate plus 8" show. Our day ended with a miniature cookout attended by me, Kelly, Michael Gullion, and Rachel Russo--but having a small group to entertain and feed was splendid. When dinner was finished I found myself meandering around campus and eventually received a phone call from a good friend of mine, Brad, whom I was able to talk to for a while. It was nice to just catch up and sit outside before the sun went down. All in all it was a great weekend, and I'm so thankful I was able to see my friends, and I'm so happy for Lindsey & Derrick. I say bring on the blessings Lord :-)

Before Memorial Day Weekend

Last week was absolutely wonderful! One of my bestests, Lindsey Hazelwood, came up on Monday and we were able to hang out until Wednesday (well at least until I left for Richmond/Chesapeake on Thursday). Lindsey was such a blessing because I was working on my hall theme for the summer, which happens to be "Penguins at the Beach," and desperately needed some help so it was such a help for her to be here! While she was in we went bowling with some of the greatest people I know: Leah, Jacob, & Joe Woodrum, Kelly Somers, Michael Gullion, and Miranda Linkous :-)

On Tuesday Lindsey and I worked on the hall theme all day. Around 4pm Lindsey left for the Clarke's and an hour later, Kelly & I left with Adam McAllister to go on the local television station, WVVA, for the announcement of the winners of the Fitness Challenge. Much to our surprise, we met Jared from the Subway advertisements, who by the way was nice, but not very friendly--we all felt that this was just another thing he had to do. It was during the live broadcast that we learned we won 2nd place in the competition! Yay! We won $1500 so that spans out to $300 each! It was a little awkward being on television because we were given no direction or instructions as to what to do, so our team just stood there, smiling every now and again. After the broadcast we went to the Clarke house, where Lindsey was busy making tater cakes--and they were delicious! We stayed for their Bible study time, in which we learned about John the Baptist, and our consciences, then ate some warm chocolate chip cookies (whcih are the BEST ever!) and finally headed out around 11pm.

On Wednesday Lindsey and I continued to work on the hall theme, and when we finished Kelly helped us put it all up! Boy does this hallway look good! After getting the hall theme up, we went to mall, where I picked up my bridesmaid shoes at JCPenney's. After picking up the shoes we meandered over to the food court where we met up wtih Jacob & Leah who had just got off work. After talking with them the three of us headed over to Chili's for dinner! It was such a treat because Lindsey treated me, and after dinner we made a pit-stop at Starbucks and Kelly treated both Lindsey and me to White Chocolate Mochas! Hmmm....good! Finally to finish off the night we went back to Rish, where Jacob, Leah, and Sarah met up with us and watched "Steel Magnolias." Well the girls watched what they could before they left, but Jacob tuned in to the Spurs vs. Lakers game. All in all up to this point the week was wonderful!