Golden apple

Today in the middle of my math lesson I was surprised by my principal coming in the room with a camera man!  She said I had won the Golden Apple Award.  One of my fantastic students from last year wrote in to a local news program and nominated me for the award! I was so shocked and overwhelmed!  During the whole filming process I was crying!  They are playing the piece tomorrow night.  Here's a picture of the nomination essay and the basket they gave me.  This totally reminds me of why I love teaching:  being able to make a difference in kids' lives.

New Years resolutions update

I thought I'd take a look periodically to see how I'm doing on my goals for 2012!  Some of them are just tasks that I want to finish, but if I don't keep looking at this list then I won't get them finished!

1. Decorate and paint the laundry room. nope
2. Decorate and paint my bathroom.  started painting my bathroom grey today
3. Begin a new classroom management plan so that I can go less crazy. (I already picked one out. More on this later.) Done! It's going ok.
4. Blog  Doing pretty well at this, haven't blogged everyday.
5. Clean the garage and paint the inside wall. Did the first part!
6. Lose lbsssss (and go to the gym). Been going to the gym and eating better, but no weight loss yet
7. Fix up my lighthouse picture frame so that it better matches my living room colors. Nope
8. Finish my current Beth Moore Bible study and at least one other one. Nope
9. Save $$ each month for a new car. Nope
10. Use more green/homemade cleaning stuff. Made my own clothes detergent, bought spray bottles to make cleaning spray

 Not too bad for only being 17 days into the new year! I'll keep working on it!

In Asheville, part 2

We had such a great time together in Asheville. It was a perfect kind of getaway and a way to celebrate Kristen's birthday without being sad.  We saw dragonflies everywhere and we were constantly saying, "what would Kristen think of this?" and "Kristen would love this!"  It was fun. 

I have to share one story that perfectly illustrates our relationship (me, mom, kelly)!  Saturday morning we were headed out to see the Biltmore.  I was driving Karlie's XTerra, which she can't use because she's a freshman at college.  First, I had to do about a 13 point turn in the snow and ice to back out of our cabin parking spot.  So we start driving toward Asheville, following mom's trusty GPS. We get about 3 minutes down the road, and I start getting hay fever, you know when the top of your mouth starts itching?  Then, my nose starts itching, and I tell them that it feels like I'm inhaling cat hair! (I'm really allergic to cats.)  So, I'm driving and I start hacking and sneezing and my mom is telling Kelly to be ready to do a trach on me.  It was getting really bad and we couldn't figure out why I was having such a bad allergic reaction.  So I pull over at the next exit and we pull in to a really sketchy looking gas station.  Before I could even get my car door open, mom was at the door of the gas station. I don't think I've ever seen her move so fast!  Unfortunately,  all that store had was bendryl (which would put me right to sleep) and drug paraphernalia. (I'm serious!)

So mom made Kelly drive and we got back on the road. At the intersection, Kelly yells out, "Which way?? North or south?" and for some reason I adamantly yell, "North!" Which of course wasn't the right way.  So we had to turn around at the next exit.

Eventually we got some daytime allergy medicine for me, I felt better, and we got to the Biltmore! But not before mom told me her plan if I actually did stop breathing (she was going to stab a pen into my neck to create an airway.)  Such adventures!

In Asheville

So this weekend my sister Kelly and her fiancé rented a cabin north of Asheville! They invited my mom and me to join them and we drove up today. It is Kristen's birthday. She would have been 30 today, so likely Aunt Donna said, she really is forever 29! But this is a fun way to celebrate her birthday! Here are some pictures of the cabin and the area around it! We are REALLY in the boonies! And there is actually an outhouse! Thank goodness we don't have to use it! Well, it seems like I can't upload pictures on my iPad. So I'll have to upload them when I get home. It is beautiful out here!

Currently

olw - one little word
I got this from Farley's blog! 

It's been a year

I can still see it so clearly...

She walks in, hair wind blown, of course, from having her windows down. (No matter how hot it is - that's the way to drive she says.)  Her huge smile graces her face showing bright white teeth.  She hugs me, teasing me at the way I don't squeeze very hard. So she squeezes harder, giving me a little back scratch with her short nails. I squeeze back, giggling.  I notice how warm she is, from having the windows down and the sun shining on her.  She's holding a cup, seems like she always walked in with a cup.  Don't know what was in it ;)  She talks of her latest love:  scuba diving, tattoos, cooking, gardening, making soap from scratch, whatever it may be.  She's got her phone with her, ready to text back with her help if the restaurant is having a problem.  She raves about whatever we are eating.  She uses the word, "awesome."  She glows.  She radiates.  She shines. She's lovely, she really is.

And I miss her. So much it hurts.

(This is something I wrote last year about my sister Kristen.)

By Emily Dickinson

I SHALL know why, when time is over,
And I have ceased to wonder why;
Christ will explain each separate anguish
In the fair schoolroom of the sky.

Dog pictures and more going green

Sorry but I just have to share some more pictures of my adorable dog!  I got a new lens for my SLR and it makes me feel all artsy when I take pictures.  And this picture of Kelly and Toby is so pretty I hope she doesn't mind me sharing it!

Also, earlier this week I talked about how I worked on canceling my subscriptions to several catalogs that I get in the mail.  Today, I worked on canceling some junk mail.  I get Bank of America junk mail EVERY WEEK.  You would think they would get the point by now:  I'M NOT INTERESTED IN YOUR CREDIT CARD!  :) Here's the website you can click on to get out of these mailings:  Stop Bank of America Junk Mail.  Another credit card company that has been very persistent is Chase!  I get so many offers from them! I'm pretty sure I get one per week. Here's the link for them:  Chase Mailing Options.  I'm so excited to see how this actually works and hopefully save some trees. 

(One suggestion I didn't take but thought was funny is to take the postage-paid envelopes and stuff them with your junk mail and send them back to the company.  How good is that?!)

Zumba

Quick blog tonight because I'm TIRED!  Did Zumba for the first time in a long time...it was fun!  Here's an example if you've never heard of it.

Oh yeah and I looked NOTHING like those girls while I was doing it! :)

Two days down!

I'm proud to say that my sister Kelly and I have completed TWO, yes TWO, days of working out!  And I have also spent two days eating very healthily.  Last night I had a dream (after my amazing workout) that I had already lost a ton of weight and my pants were lose. Then I woke up and remembered that I had only completed one amazing workout and even though miracles have been know to happen they didn't happen for me last night.  I'm pretty sore tonight thanks to a machine that Kelly and I call the crazy bike.  This thing is really crazy and I'm sure I look pretty manic when I'm using it!

School was GOOD today.  I know! It was so great I was wondering who had replaced my kids??!  Well, I did have one kid scream out "what the f..!" when I asked him to put his homework in his bookbag, but you can't ask for perfection right?

I also spent some time watching Passion again tonight and it was so good.  I watched Francis Chan preach and he is so passionate and real that I just love listening to him.  One soundbite from his talk:  "I'm going to BEG you to read this book (Bible).  Be consumed by it. Read it for yourself."  It reminded me of something that is said a lot at my church that is the answer to so many questions:  "It's the Word. It's the Word. It's the Word."  I forget that but it is true.  Every time I open the word I realize how true it is.

I found a new blog today:  Equip and Empower.  She said that things are hard to do when you say that you HAVE to do them.  For example, I have to workout.  I have to do my Bible study.  I have to go to church.  They are much easier when you say that you WANT to do them.  I want to be healthy.  I want to grow to be more like Jesus. I want to spend time with the Lord.  So, I'm going to work on changing my thinking.  Instead of HAVING to do things, I'm going to WANT to do them.

Some totally random thoughts

• I started watching Passion tonight.  "Is there something in you that to be brought back to life again?" Oh yeah.  Thanks for asking.  "Jesus has the willingness and power to raise  the dead!" That is so what I needed to hear. It's actually taking place in the Georgia Dome right now.  They are SOLD OUT at the Georgia Dome. That is amazing to me. Well, it has been such an encouragement. I was texting Melody and telling her that I feel so out of it because it is for college students!  But it is so good!  One thing they said is that 27 million people are actually in slavery right now.  That is more than double the American slave trade in America's history...they are trying to raise a million dollars to work on saving the people who are in slavery.  I have a feeling that I will have a lot more to say about Passion after I watch more.
• I worked on canceling my subscriptions to a lot of catalogs today.  I have never requested them but somehow I get sent about a dozen a week which is such a waste of paper.  All you have to do is google "unsubscribe from catalog pottery barn" (or whatever catalog). I canceled 5 tonight.  Some of them you have to have your customer number from the back of the catalog so I will have to wait for the next ones to come in to take care of them.
• School went okay.  I started my new token system and the kids seemed to be motivated to earn their tokens.  But they are so hard to keep under control.  Really, one off topic call out from one the kids can get the whole class going and then I have to stop everything and get control again.  Which doesn't sound bad until you do it over and over again! I'm praying for a better day tomorrow!

Tomorrow is the big day

Back to school, back to school...I feel like Adam Sandler on the first day of school.

So I'm all ready with my new token system and my Smart board presentation. My lesson plans were finished 2 weeks ago. Copies made 2 weeks ago.  Let's see how it goes and if I can remember what the heck I was talking about on those lesson plans!  Here are some pictures of the Smart board I made. I'm going to spend a while tomorrow morning going through these procedures and explaining the token system.

By the way, why did I decide to do 30 straight days of blogging?  Couldn't I have done 3 times a week or something? ;)

On my mind

my Ishy...