A year ago, as of yesterday, I married the most wonderful man I know :-) Last year this time, we were honeymooning in Hot Springs, NC in a quaint log cabin. Here we are a year later and this past weekend was interesting to say the least. We were on our way to Garth & Kristen Runion's wedding when a deer crossed onto the highway and ran into us. So the front right light on our car is gone and the hood is bent underneath itself. Needless to say this wasn't exactly what we had planned in our anniversary weekend. Despite my sour attitude, with the encouragement of our brother Luke, we continued to go on to the wedding.
At the wedding, I was able to catch up with some friends of mine from college and it changed my sour mood immediately! (Oh how I miss those wonderful friends of mine!) The wedding and reception were absolutely beautiful! Kristen was stunning and Garth was beaming! After the wedding, we drove north to Charlottesville and stayed the night there. The next day we slept in late and meandered around the city until we saw all we could on a last minute dime and then finally went home. We did not exchange gifts; although we did swap some sweet anniversary cards and Adam did find the disposable cameras from our wedding and we have taken some to get developed :-) It may not sound like the grandest anniversary weekend and it certainly wasn't if you consider the deer incident, however, despite that one minor detail, it was PERFECT and I loved nothing more than spending time with the man I love and cherish! God is always so good!
I had the opportunity to watch, on the eve of my father's 61st birthday, the movie "The Book of Eli" starring Denzel Washington. It is perhaps the most inspiring movie I have seen in quite some time. While I do want to say what exactly inspired me, I don't want to give any spoilers away. However, I do feel that once you have seen the movie you'll probably see what made it inspiring.
I truly hope that everyone would consider watching this movie. It is most definitely NOT for children, however, it ultimately takes you out of the cookie cutter reality that many Christians have come to accept and helps bring a new sense of urgency in knowing God's word, spreading, and sharing His word -- something we ALL need!
Yippee! I am so very very thankful that I made it through my first year of teaching! I'm not sure I could even thank all the people that helped me get through this year, but to any of you who read this blog, thank you! Before I continue in my ramblings I would like to say that I ended up receiving a 79% pass rate on my SOLs, which was a little disappointing, but again this was only my first year and it can only get better! And I must say that while the SOLs do limit what the kids can learn, I'm glad I had some sort of a guide to follow. I'm not sure we would have covered or "touched base" on everything had I been able to do as I wish. I do think with more time and experience I'm sure I'll change my mind. I will say that I do hate how focused schools are on just one assessment, it's not fair to the kids, but that's life.
My last week of school went relatively well. I spent most of my time cleaning and organizing my classroom in preparation for this upcoming fall. As I was organizing and going about my business I found myself saying oh this would be great for next year, this would be a fun project, and oh I'm gonna handle this situation like this next year, so if my college adviser were to ever read this I hope she'd be proud of my "reflectiveness." While I'm not saying that I'm eager for school to start up again, I will say that I am looking forward to starting over and doing a better job! As a final note about school, I did return my contract to central office with my John Hancock signature saying I'll be coming back next year, so unless if Adam gets this freight train conductor job then my plans are to return with more gumption and ambition!
I know I said I was finished with school but I will say that I worked among some of the best teachers! I enjoyed getting to know all of my colleagues and I can truly say I've learned something from all of them! The relationship amongst the faculty and staff was encouraging and even upon getting ready to leave a group of us decided we'd go to the Courthouse Grille for lunch as one last "hurrah" you could say. And for those colleagues leaving us I wish nothing but the best of luck in their future! I hope it's filled with even better opportunities for them to succeed! So finally I leave with this parting quote from Pink Floyd, "School's out for summer!"
*My last post was supposed to be from this past April, but somehow I logged on to an old post that never quite got posted so that is why the date is wrong.
As most of you know, I am currently in my first year of teaching at Charles City High School. Well thankfully, with all praise to the Lord, the SOLs are history....no pun intended! I say that because 1) the course I teach is World History II and 2) my students were finally able to take their SOL tests after some much awaited technical problems were fixed! I'm still waiting for the final passage rate, but overall I'm just thankful to have this behind me! This year has been especially tough, but praise God in His mercy I've somehow made it through....well almost....we still have 15 more days of school until we're officially finished, but I'd say it's close enough to say done. And I am eager to see what all summer has in store!
I've already made a list of goals that I hope to accomplish, including finishing my Europe scrapbook, reading through several novels, starting and finishing our wedding scrapbook, visiting friends, visiting family, traveling, volunteering at the Holocaust Museum in Richmond, and starting and finishing the Insanity workout program. Finally, with fingers crossed, I will most definitely catch up on some much needed sleep, relaxation, and time with my wonderful husband!
As for tomorrow I've got a lesson I need to prepare so my 16 year olds don't get bored and into trouble ;-) So until summer officially arrives, you'll hear from me later!
Wow! It has been incredibly too long since I last posted! I failed to post much due to the stress and overtake of my life because of my job: school! I got a job teaching World History II, Government, and Sociology at Charles City High School in Charles City, VA. It's located 30 minutes east of Richmond and 30 minutes west of Williamsburg. The school is extremely small; there are roughly 50 students that make up our senior class, altogether there are 298 students in the entire school! Because this is my first year teaching it has been more than stressful with the addition of having planned a wedding, too! However I don't think, well I know I could not have survived the rest of this year without my husband! (Catch up time on marriage is coming up shortly)!
Teaching has taught me so much about myself as a person, and it has truly pushed me out of my comfort zone. I remember thinking last summer that I would love for God to use me, and well He's definitely brought me to an area that needs His light. I am by no means perfect in attempting and facing this challenge, but it has been quite the challenge indeed and hasn't been the most pleasant experience. My students have toughened me up; I am no longer "fearful" of putting students in their place and writing referrals. But I have also learned to think WAY outside of the box so that I can bring new strategies to the table of differentiation. I so much desire to be a teacher that at the end of the year has students discussing how much they learned and enjoyed my class, but only time will tell. And thank the Lord above we only have 40 days left of school! I am overjoyed at the thought of having uninterrupted time to myself this summer without the worrying of creating lesson plans, developing and creating activities, etc.
But before I continue daydreaming of summer, as a little reminder or notification for those who do not know, SOLs are coming up in the next month so needless to say I'm a little anxious. I want all of my students to do well and pass 1) for themselves so they do not have to repeat this course and can earn an advanced diploma and 2) so it'll be a good reflection on me and all the hard work I've done this year! So please pray that on May 18th my students will not be intimidated and will achieve exceedingly good scores or simply put: will pass! What a joy it is to share my concerns! Until we catch up again, be blessed and rely on the Lord!
I guess I’ve been avoiding typing up everything as of late. In fact, it’s been months since I last actually posted, again. I regret that I have not been more consistent in keeping you informed of my life. I suppose the best place to start is to pick up right where I left off, except skim over some of the hogde pogde of the everyday. I had had a horrible week and a horrible time deciding if I should accept an interview back in Henry County for a teaching position. I had already been there once for one interview, and just felt deep down inside I wasn’t gonna be given the position (which I did not receive—no surprise there), so when it came to going down a second time I wasn’t completely sure it’s what I should do. Given the situation, stress, and worry of this decision, I did all I could, pray. Surprisingly, praying didn’t make me feel better. I prayed and asked that if God wanted me to move back home, even if it meant taking me out of my comfort zone and making me uncomfortable, as long as I felt peace then I would do it; however, I didn’t feel that way at all. I did not feel any sort of peace. So the future that I thought I had planned out became one of uncertainty. I was scared and unsure; this all having developed over the period of two weeks. I needed a break.
My break came when after working at the yacht club, on Saturday, June 6, 2009 I got off, read, and simply caught up on more prayer. Around five that evening I received a text message from my sweetheart, Adam, stating that he was cleaning up and would text me to figure out what we were doing later that evening. Well assuming I had free time on my hands, I read some more, not keeping track of the hour, and then decided to talk a walk down the lane.
As I got near the end of the driveway, I heard the familiar sound of a beat up muffler coming down the lane. It turned out to be Adam. As he pulled to a stop, at the corner of the lane and the driveway, he stopped the car and waited for a few seconds before stepping out of the vehicle. When he did, he caught my breath. He looked pretty doggone handsome in dark jeans, brown K-swiss shoes, a gray t-shirt, and ¾ sleeve button-up striped blue/yellow shirt I had bought him a few weeks previous to this night. Unbeknown to me, Adam, a week and a half before, during Memorial Day weekend, went across the river into Yorktown and shopped for an engagement ring! So back to the driveway, it took him a minute to nearly get out of the car because he was trying to hide the ring! He had brought it with him and wasn’t expecting to find me in the driveway/lane out for a walk, so he did the best he could and quickly stuffed it down his pants. :-P As he stood and walked over to me, the ring (which was in the box) fell to his ankle. Now remember, I had no idea any of this was going on, so when he got out of the car, my initial reaction was, “Wow! You look awfully snazzy! What are you doing all dressed up?” I know you’ve had a hard week and we haven’t been out on a date in a while so I’m taking you out,” he said matter-of-factly. He melted my heart and I’m sure you could read it all over my face as it broke into a smile. J I was still undeterred by this announcement and wanted to finish my walk so we ended up walking the lane together. Yet again, unbeknown to me, poor Adam was struggling and trying to make sure the ring wouldn’t fall out of his pants. He later said that he kept turning his head and looking around as well as adjusting his pants leg to check and make sure the ring was still there and hadn’t fallen out!
After the walk we hopped in his car and he drove us down the driveway to his parents’ house where I decided that since he looked so good for our date that I had to, too! I went upstairs and changed clothes while he ended up taking the box the ring was in and stuffed it down into his sock so it was sure to stay put. As we made our way across the river nothing seemed out of the ordinary except when he got a text message or two and fussed at me for trying to answer it for him. When we finally got in to Yorktown he took me to Red Lobster and told me I could order anything I wanted! Well of course its Red Lobster so what did I do? Order snow crab legs and a lobster tail; after all, it’s not every day you have seafood! We each had a delicious meal. The only setback: the freezing cold air that came out of a vent above our heads kept my feet cold all night long. (Be sure to keep in mind where the ring is at this point!) So he graciously wrapped his feet around mine, which by the way, did keep mine nice and warm. However, at his end of the table he was freaking out thinking I would hit the ring (which I did) but thankfully I never had the slightest idea.
After dinner, we meandered through the mall as it closed and then back to Borders where we each briefly glazed over magazines and books that did the least to catch our attention. After leaving the mall Adam suggested going to see the movie “Up.” However, since I had to work the next day, I chose to opt out of the movie and enjoy the rest of the evening by playing a game with his family. As we crossed over from the Gloucester into Mathews County line, Adam called his roommate, Marcus asking him if he wanted to hang out. I thought this was silly because, first of all Adam & Marcus rarely discuss their plans to meet up and hang out, it’s just something they do. I thought it odd, but again nothing too strange to make me think otherwise.
Finally, we pulled in the lane and Adam asked me to close my eyes. At this point I definitely knew something was going on. He parked the car to the left of the house, and made his way to my door where he helped me out and lead me over to the red bus which was a few feet away. *As a side note, to those of you who do not know, the bus is actually an old yellow school bus that Adam and his brothers, Luke and Joel, and best friend Kyle bought in high school, painted red, and refurnished as an RV—and p.s. Adam loves this red bus!* So as he pulled me along behind him, we climbed the stairs and stood on the bus and he then asked me to open my eyes.
The bus had been filled with tea candles all over the place as well as rose petals, a dozen roses (which sat upon the counter) and a Michael Buble CD playing in the background. It was all so beautiful and romantic! (Adam, with the help of his roommate, brothers, and family had the bus set up which is why things seemed a little odd with the cell phone and then again with the phone call to Marcus.) I guess for any typical proposal, he said some of the sweetest things (i.e., most beautiful girl in the world, perfect for him, couldn’t imagine spending his life with anyone else, etc.) and then knelt on one knee and asked me to be his wife, to which I replied, “Of course, yes!” So there you have it, the story our engagement J In all of this, God has been so very good, and I cannot help but give him praise and thanks for bringing me Adam. If you don’t mind, please pray for us as we are making plans and taking the steps to start our life together. Oh and p.s., the wedding date is November 14, 2009!
"Love is not proud
Love does not boast
Love, after all, matters the most
Love does not run
Love does not hide
Love does not keep locked inside
Love is a river that flows through
And love never fails you
Love will sustain
Love will provide
Love will not cease at the end of time
And love will protect
Love always hopes
And love still believes when you don't
Love is the arms that are holding you
Love never fails you"
This is "Love Never Fails" by Brandon Heath. I've had this song stuck in my head a few days now, and felt I should share it with you. With it's mellow tunes played from a cello, acoustic guitar, violin and subtle drums, this song is an encouraging melody to remind you of how aMaZiNgLy good is our Father in Heaven.
