Happy Anniversary

Just wanted to give a "shout out" to my sister and her hubby!!! They were married 4 years ago today! They are expecting their first child that I am predicting will be a BOY!

Rocky

Ok - so today at school I definitely did not bring my "A" game. More than likely it wasn't my "B" or "C" game either. Which, you know...you win some and you lose some. Thing is, everyone gets to have a bad day at work now and then. I think it keeps me humble and also is a reason to keep trying really hard. Anyway, so having a bad day stinks, especially in teaching because then your kids suffer. Well, it stinks even worse when you are having a bad day, your kids forgot to bring their brains to school, AND your reading coach decides to come in and watch you teach. For those of you who don't know...at my school, at any time during the day any number of people can walk in my room and usually they are caring a clip board to keep a check and make sure I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing. SO, all three of those things combined make for a pretty rotten day at school.

Getting to the title of this post:

I got home tonight, after a meeting at school, and sat down on my couch completely depressed. I was flipping through the TV channels and after watching the wipe out election, I stumbled upon the movie Rocky II. I watched it for a few minutes and was immediately inspired to "be a better person" and "never give up". I'm pretty sure that the writers of this show placed those messages throughout the movie secretly so that whoever watched it would be brainwashed into thinking they could overcome anything. Conspiracy Theory? Guess it worked. Exhibit-A. MOI!

"You Can Vote However You Like"

This is a video that Jenny (friend from school) found. We decided to atleast show it to our kids and had toyed with the idea of having our kids actually do it. My class and Jenny's class would have done it serious justice! The video is actually a great way to teach kids about the different parties and candidates! Watch out - it will play in your head :)

Morgan Faith Howard

My good friends, Clint and Sara, just had their first baby! Morgan Faith was born Oct. 21st. Mom and baby are now doing wonderful! After a few scary events with Sara especially, things are starting to get much better. They were finally able to go home Saturday night and are so happy! They said she has Sara's eyes and everything else looks like Clint. Welcome Morgan!

What do you find when you come home?

I walked into my apartment after a long day at work only to find a wondeful surprise from Abby. Before you start looking at the evidence, please remember that she is 6 months old and still very much a puppy. She has a wondeful habit of ripping apart anything and everything she can get her hands/paws on...and then some. Today, she found a blue highlighter on the table and proceeded to "do her thing". So, enjoy the entertaining pictures and think of me as I scrub away on the couch AND my dog.

"What did I do?"

Close up

"And...how is this my fault?"

More Pictures...

So, I just thought you would enjoy another picture of little Elayna :) I envy (vocabulary word last week for my 3rd graders) Diane and my mom because they get to go see her in a few weeks and I'm left home throwng a fit in silence. I can't decide who she looks like more, Ryan or Gloria. I guess it's good you can see both of them in her :) Anyway, enjoy the picture!

My New Niece....Elayna

I wanted to introduce everyone to my new niece, Elayna Vaye Mabry! She was 9 lbs 13 oz and 21 1/4 inches long. HOLY COW GLORIA! Way to go! I can't wait to meet her and I have to wait FOREVER! Mama and baby are doing wonderful. Dad is proud. What a wonderful family!!

Visiting Weekend

This weekend I am dogsitting for Krista and John. They have a yipper dog. Now, most of you know how much I struggle with a positive view of yipper dogs (hence the nick name, "yipper"). Anyway, sometimes I make an exception like in John and Krista's situation, also in Jessi and JW's situation, and Tony and Tanya's situation. SO...Bailey is staying with Abby and I this weekend. Well, besides the howling all night long and hating my dog, things are going relatively well. It's actually pretty hilarous to see the three of us try and fit on the recliner in my livingroom. Just ask Jana. She stayed with me last night because she has to take her Reading Praxis tomorrow at Harding. She was so sweet and gave me a small break last night by entertaining the "girls" on the couch. (See picture). Well, long story short...we are having a blast playing together and for Abby, learning boundries of personal "dog" space and also manners about playing with others. Sometimes - it can be a pretty hard lesson...

My Friends

Abby and I went home for the long weekend and had a blast. We got to actually relax on Sunday afternoon instead of dreading that long drive back to Searcy. We still had to dread that drive but got to delay the feeling for atleast one more day.

While we were home, Abby got her first real experience with horses. I took her too the barn on Saturday afternoon but had just planned to show her the horses. She was hilarous. She didn't quite get the whole "kicking" 'thing and spent half her time right under their feet. I hate that she will have to find out what that means the hard way. Such is life - some lessons are harder than others. Anyway, I ended up getting on this black horse just to play around a little. She didn't quite know want to think of me on top of this huge four-legged thing. She just did circles around and around us until I got off. It was pretty funny to watch. She did well though - I was proud. Then, on Sunday afternoon mom and I decided to go out and visit Belle. She's out at the Richardson's Place while mom and dad get the land ready for their new house. So, we took Abby out there to see more horses. She and Samantha had a blast to the least. I was able to take a few pictures of Abby's adventures and her new found friends :)

Meet Abigail

Hello to all of you! I wanted to introduce you to my new puppy, Abby! (Obviously short for Abigail. She is gorgous and so sweet. She's almost 4 months old. The guy said that both her parents are yellow labs, but I have my doubts. She "points" like a bird dog, has a coat like a lab, and looks like a Weimaraner in the face. I actually don't care what she is 'cause I love her and she's MINE! I got her from a shelter that was outside of Pet's Mart in Paducah. Renee called me and told me that there was all types of puppies in front of the store, so my mom and I went to check it out. One hour later - we were headed home with my little Abby. She had to stay at my parent house for a few weeks until I could move into my new apartment. We are now in our new apartment and doing fantastic! She's getting used to being in a new place, and I'm loving the company! I thought you all would enjoy some pictures of her!

Preaching...

I decided to blog about something disturbing I overheard at Bible Study tonight. Now, normally I'm not even in Searcy during the summer very much, so Bible Study on Wednesday during the summer is usually just where ever I am that week. Anyway, so I'm sitting there tonight waiting for class to get started, and I hear this conversation between two women. I'm not sure what all was said except what caught my ear. Here's what I heard, "See, I don't understand why we even need preaching. Why can't we just come and praise God through our singing, praying, and have some testimonies." The lady she was talking to obviously didn't agree with her because all she was doing is saying "uh huh" and having this uneasy look on her face. You also have to understand I don't know either of these women. The church has about 1200 members, and I know about 10 people. Please keep that in mind.

So, now here is why I decided to blog about what I heard. Obviously being a "preacher's kid" my view on preaching is slightly different. It's kinda like having a dad who is a doctor and when to school specifically to help people get better, and then listening to all his patients, who went to school to be a flight attendant, constantly complaining about the treatments he prescribes. In a nut shell...it's irritating. Not just because of my dad and the tendency I have to be bias for the need of preaching, but because I was raised to understand my faith in God not just as a emotional high every Sunday but as an intellectual reasoning that is not based on my emotions alone but through study of the scriptures and respect for the purpose for being a Christian. Not to just get a great feeling when I leave worship, although that's not necessarily bad, but a feeling of growth spiriually in knowing more about what I believe and why I believe it. What better way to learn about how to be a better Christian than from a man whose whole job in life is to study the scriptures. I think our culture bleeds into so much of our persepective of this idea of "experiencing God" because it is easier and more comfortable and would be content to do away with any thing that requires them to think deeper than what they feel or sit longer than it takes to hear an entertaining story. I think the key is balancing the importance of an "intellectual understanding" of God and just "experiencing God". I'm gonna go out on a limb and call it...FAITH!

What do you think?

...AND WE'RE BACK!!!!

Now don't everyone have a heartattack! I know, I know...it's been like....a year or something like that. Maybe a little more than a year. But, let's not focus on the negatives - right?


Ok - so I figured I would come back with an update and pictures of my recent vacation to Canada. I think a blog about my visit to another country would be appropriate return.

Lets start with what I did when I got back from Togo. I actually went on a fishing trip with my dad and some family friends of ours last year in the middle of July. It was great to just spend time with familiar people. After I got back and went and visited my sister and my brother as well as making frequent trips to Searcy for job interviews. Long story short, I got a job at Augusta Elementary School teaching 7th/8th grade Reading and GT. Which, turned out to be wonderful and a huge challange all wrapped up. I did however end up teaching with one of my really good friends from college and grad. school. Ironically we didn't even know we had both gotten a job at Augusta until after we were hired. Amazing how God provides for you!!! Anyway, I am returning to Augusta as a 3rd grade teacher in the fall and can't wait to meet that new challange! They say that if you surive your first year and you don't want to quit - then you are suposed to be a teacher. Well, I'm sill breathing and am willing to try it again so - I guess I'm suposed to teach.

So - that kinda roughly gets us to my present situation. Currently, it's summer time and for teachers - it's our favorite time of year. It means you get paid for all the work you did that you felt was "over the top" and left you consistantly saying "I don't get paid enought to do this" during the school year. Seeing as this is the first summer - it's looking good so far. Anyway, this summer I have been keeping Wendy's baby, Ava, while she teaches and does some consulting for the area co-ops. She is so sweet and for your viewing pleasure, I have put a picture on here.

The most recent trip I took (as stated earlier) I went back to Canada on a fishing trip with my dad, my brother, and two other guys that are extremely close to being family! We had a great and very eventful trip! Bascially we go back in the middle of no where in Northern Ontario and camp for about 6 days. All we do is fish and enjoy great quailty time together. It's a wonderful experience that makes youu so greatful for what you have and also for what God has created! It shows his power and creativity in so many ways. It's also a great escape from life for about a week and a great time of fellowship. I put some pictures on here. Hope you enjoy them!