"Falling" into the Season

I looked at my last post where I was so excited about planting my mums. I do not know what I did wrong but all of my blossoms died. I don't get it, everyone else has pretty mums. I have made such progress with plants. I have 4 living in my house. Believe me, that is progress. So why can't my pretty mums be ok? I used plenty of water and placed them into good sunlight. Alas...my pretty blooms lasted merely a week. I see some more buds starting so heres hoping they make a miraculous recovery. :)

It has been such a strange, exciting, stressful, and busy couple of months. Life is so unpredictable. I learn everyday that I am not in control. Sometimes realizing that makes it easier. Sometimes that makes things hard to accept. I have been working so hard lately which has been stressful. My brother was robbed which was sad, scary, and stressful. My grandmother's house caught on fire which thankfully turned out ok. Family members have gotten sick and some have prayed for hope. I have prayed a lot this month for patience and understanding in all of these areas.

Yet this Fall has also come with a lot of really interesting and exciting changes:

Derek and I found a Sunday bible study class we really enjoy! We also started volunteering in the 2 year olds ministry at church. It feels good to be involved in a place where I feel so much love.

Marty is getting doggy training. After months of trying to calm the wild thing on our own we called in for some reinforcements. We are using Bark Busters here and it is really working! It is such a relief to see that our puppy can be really good and not just crazy and cute :) We are still a work in progress, however I have been amazed with the results we have achieved in such a short amount of time.

I have been reading a lot more in the evenings. I love reading and I am happy to make time for it regularly. I have been reading a couple of adoption books. One was titled "From Ashes to Africa" which was a really interesting story of a couple's adoption journey. Now I am reading "Adopted for Life" by Russell Moore. I love learning about adoption. It makes me so excited for the future.

I baked my first apple and pumpkin pie and both were a success! I also went to Huber's Orchard in Indiana. We went on a Saturday so it was a little too crowded for our taste but I enjoyed just being outside on such a nice day and enjoying a big caramel apple. Yum.

It has been a season of learning, loving, and accepting. With the good and the bad I am thankful for all that I have. When I was feeling overwhelmed the other day I came across this wonderful passage "³³"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 33:16. I am so loved even though I do not deserve it. Happy Fall :)

Fall is Approaching

Fall is almost here officially. In the great state of Kentucky we have already experienced a night in the 40's. While I am not so much a fan of winter or super cold temperatures, I have recently begun to love Fall. Such beautiful colors in flowers, trees, and decorations. Apple picking (which I have never actually done this time of year but plan to), pumpkins, and being able to walk outside without sweating or freezing to death are among the reasons I have developed a love for Fall.
I am so excited that this year I actually got to plant mums. I have a couple of burgendy mums in pots and yellow mums planted near my sidewalk. I LOVE them! One thing I have been dreaming about while still renting an apartment was to be able to one day plant my own flowers. I adore flowers.

My husband and I have enjoyed weekends together so much. Beginning a new school year has been very draining to say the least. I am looking forward to pumpkin and apple picking this year, trying to learn more about football and actually enjoy it, and hopefully beging able to still spend time with loved ones.

The First Days of School

I made it...second year teaching! Even after having to move back into my classroom in one day after summer renovations. I made it! Let me tell you the first few days of school are so chaotic...busing issues getting to school, paperwork, busing issues, school procedures, getting to know so many kids, busing issues, oh and did I say busing issues? Haha I guess that is what happens in such a large school district. Everything has gone really well though and I love my students!

But wow, my body and my brain need some help getting adjusted to the new schedule. It is SO weird to go from doing NOTHING but leisurely activities (ahh goodbye paradise) to one of the busiest weeks of the whole ENTIRE year. In all seriousness though, this week helps me to appreciate the summer break I had so much more! I am so thankful to have had that kind of time to relax and enjoy life. Ironically enough, for the first few weeks of summer I was "bored". Now I want to reminisce about the days of sleeping until 8 or 9, shopping in the afternoon, and reading novels, crafting, or watching Lifetime all day long. :)

Now to hope and pray I can adjust quickly to the steady pace of a 5th grade teacher.
I will be posting classroom pictures soon, (hopefully).

6 Other Professions I Dream About

I really enjoy my job. Especially now that I am getting ready to start year 2 and I feel more prepared (well, somewhat!) for what is to come. Yet everyone has those days when you like to think about your other interests and dream of new possibilities. These are my top 6 "jobs" I dream about. I say that loosely because I feel like most of them are hobbies.

1. Cook/Chef - I LOVE to cook. I love watching the Foodnetwork and I love trying new recipes. If I am bored, I usually want to cook something. Being on the Foodnetwork looks really cool :)

Giada De'Laurentiis

2. Cake Designer- another profession in the cooking field. I am such a sucker for really awesome wedding cakes, party cakes, themed cakes, you name it! I love to be artsy and crafty so most of my dream jobs involve creativity.

Wedding Cakes

3. Florist-I always used to say that if nothing else worked out then I wanted to own a flower ship. Whether for happy or sad occasions, flowers are such a comforting symbol.

We

Wedding Bells

4. Nurse-because I play the "what if" game I often wonder what being a nurse would be like. I always wanted to help others in some way. I really admire nurses and those in the medical field.

5. Photographer- I have never tried beyond my simple little digital camera but there is something I love about photography. What a beautiful career...being able to capture he most precious moments in the lives of others.

6. Stay at Home Mommy- I hope to add this to my official resume one day, at least for a few years. I love children (hence being an elementary teacher). So now there is much budgeting and saving to be done now in order to enjoy this in the future. Maybe I can practice some of these dream jobs on the side during this time period. One can dream right?

Teacher Week-Must Haves

I found Babbling Abby's blog and she is hosting a teacher week for blogging. Yesterday was teacher "must haves' so I am a day late in posting. So here is my list of 10 things I couldn't do without in my classroom.

1. My computer- the district where I work provides us with laptops to use in our classroom. They are tablet computers so I can download worksheets to my computer and write on them with the "pen" that is attached to my computer. I plug it all up to the projector and voila, my students can interact with my computer and we can use it as if it were an old school projector.

2. Dry erase markers- I know they make better chalk these days, you know, chalk that isnt so gritty and skretchy when you write with it on the chalkboard. However I just love dry erase markers. There is something kinda fun about them. :)

Suppies

3. Bandaids- If I didnt get asked at least once a day for a bandaid I don't think I would know what to do with myself. Students are always getting these itty bitty cuts they "need" bandaids for. So I just buy the cheapest kind and keep them in stock. This saves on a lot of trips to the office that would be unnecessary and it keep everybody happy.

4. plastic bags- I think any kind of storage is a necessity for teachers. I keep materials in plastic bags for the classroom and as well as give them out to my kiddos when they lose a tooth :) They love having a mini plastic baggie to carry one of their few remaining baby teeth in.


5. baskets- any kind of (preferably plastic) basket. Especially the flexible plastic baskets that won't break. I love grabbing items like this up at target in the $1 section. I use baskets for books, markers and crayons, or distributing materials to students. You name your task and a nice basket is there to help you accomplish the task.


6. My clip board. My clipboard is attached to my hip. It comtains my to-do list, info about kiddos I need to remember for the day, my lesson plans, and notes to myself because I can't remember anything on my own. I love clip boards.


7. Post-it notes- come on, am I the only teacher who LOVES Post-it notes? Especially all the cute little cut outs and designs that stores carry now. That makes it so much more fun to use them. I like ot give my kid's little notes of enocuragement on them sometimes.


8. My Brother brand label maker. I just got this last year for Christmas but am so looking forward to labeling everything in myclassrom with this little beauty. As a teacher I think we could all agree we love to have our materials organized.

www.imagesupply.com

9. Pretzels- weird maybe but I always keep pretzels in my room. I get so hungry during the day. My lunch is the last one of the day because I have 5th graders. So by 9 or 10 when I haven't eaten breakfast since 6 am I am pretty hungry. Pretzels are such a great, low fat snack to keep around. It is so easy to grab a quick handful and keep going.



10. Finally, I love the notepads that contain templates for notes to go home for students. They have carbon copies so I can keep a copy of everything I send home. It is very covenient for record keeping.

School, School, School

Oh how life (and mine imparticular) seems to revolve around school much more than I'd like. I guess when I chose teaching as a profession I should expect that, right?

School will start for me in two weeks and I am just starting to mentally prepare. It will be very hard to prepare my classroom since our school is being renovated and my stuff is packed in many many boxes all put in various storage units. The fact that we wont be able to get into our building until a couple of days before school actually starts really stresses me out.

Not only will be career start back up, but I have to take the GRE and apply to grad school so that I can also go back to school. More fun! This stresses me out because grad school is sooo expensive!! More stress.

I was so looking forward to the summer time because I felt I would get to spend more time with my husband. He works part time because he is in SCHOOL to get his MBA. He usually only has classes 2 nights a week, but guess what? He has busier this summer than ever before. He has had a couple of Saturday classes, a weeklong class, then he had to make up work for missing during that weeklong class, etc.

Can you see how school might play a huge role in my life? Im praying that I will not stress over preparing for school in a limited amount of time and that I will be refreshed and ready to meet my new students. I pray that I will not be stressed about the cost of grad school. It is necessary and God has blessed and provided for us all along, so why should I doubt in Him now? I pray that I will treasure all of the time I get with my husband, family, and friends because we all know time is too precious to waste. As easy as it is to be stressed about these things I am greatful to be employed , to be able to persue a graduate degree in an area I am excited about, and thankful my husband has had the same opportuity!

Two Years as Mrs. Jones :)

Monday will be our 2nd wedding anniversary. I can not believe how quickly these two years have gone by. I love remembering our wedding day. It truly was the happiest day of our lives. After years of dreaming and months of planning it was more beautiful than I expected. Not because the decorations were really elaborate or because I had all the perfect songs picked out. It was so wonderful because on that day we had everyone we loved so dearly there with us, to celebrate with us. At what other time in your life do you get to experience that? Most importantly, because we were starting our lives together.

To my wonderful husband, I love you more everyday. I am so proud of all you do for us. Im so thankful to have a husband who has brought me closer to Jesus. Im so thankful to have a husband who can walk with me and hold my hand through the good times and the bad. I love having someone to eat dinners with, pray with, watch re-runs of the office (or whatever show we are currently into) :), and discuss our dreams for the future. Thank you for being my best friend :)

Our very first picture on my 21st birthday :) Derek with long hair.

Our 1 year dating anniversary

Engagement night