Merry Christmas Eve!

Awesome-2 days in a row of blogging, and it's Christmas Eve!! I hope today is full of joy and family time! Mom is not feeling too well, she has a crick in her neck so I have taken over the kitchen and all the baking/cooking details for the day, which I am quiet excited about. The picture is from our apartment, our very first tree before we packed up all of the gifts to take to Memphis and then Dyersburg. Drew and I love our tree-the ornaments are mostly ones that we have gathered over the past year or so as well as some special ones-including a mini converse and "g" that are serving as "our first christmas" ornaments...off to check the lemon buttermilk pound cake that is in the oven...

...let all you do be done with love.

wow, has it really been this long?

so it has been so long since my last post. my life over the past few months has been unbelievably crazy and in so many different ways, my first year teaching, my first observation, getting married, taking several days off, still fighting sickness and constantly being tired, setting up a new home, the amazing Thanksgiving and Christmas time, turning 23, so many things have hit at once, and then right after thanksgiving break we were hit with another change at school-that because of our lower than desired test scores and horrible transition times we would be going self-contained in january. this means that I would keep my "set of kids" all day and teach them all subjects-not just reading, and language arts...so a HUGE change and apprently this school has known nothing but huge changes in the middle of the year. it will be different but i think there are some positive points to it, just like with everything-there's always going to be a positive side and a negative side-i just choose to look at the positive side and make the best and most out of whatever negative side there may be...as for an update on the wedding and what-not we don't have the official wedding pictures yet but i will post some of the pictures that i have...and i will post later about my new years resolutions-i know that it's still a little while off, but i am going to start early-so that maybe i can stay on track...enjoy the pictures and...

*on the honeymoon in disney...waiting in line for The Yeti-best ride!

*Drew and I at Becca and Chris' wedding-only 2 weeks after our own!

*most of my girls, ginger ran away before we took this picture...

...let all you do be done with love.

so there have been so many things going on over the past month or so...so many changes, so many trials, several triumphs, just so many different things and it's so hard to believe that in LESS THAN 50 DAYS I WILL BE MARRIED...it's so hard to believe. last weekend drew's parents came down to jackson and helped us move a few of drew's things into the apartment-mainly the washer and dryer (THANK GOD!!!!) they also helped me clean and get some stuff on the walls. the apartment is looking so nice and put together I can't wait for drew to get the rest of his stuff (or maybe not) and more importantly him into the apartment. i will have to post some pictures after we get everything done, it's slow and a little bit at a time mainly because with school right now i don't have much time for anything else-including myself.
the last couple of weeks have been rough on me, i am not going to lie, they have been all but hell and i am not sure what i would have done or if i would have made it through these weeks if it hadn't been for my family and drew. they have been such a great support system and i cannot express to them how much they mean to me...
yesterday i went to this training for school, it was a promethean training and really the only reason i went was because i would get paid $130 for going and sitting through it and listening to my cooperating teacher talk for a few hours...fun and easy way to make money and i even learned a few things...was a pretty easy way to spend my saturday morning (minus the whole 7 am thing...) then after that we headed to memphis to goto the pink palace crafts fair and this year was one of the first years where i went without my mom...kind of sad. but she has been working so hard to help me that she just didn't feel like going. after the crafts fair we met mom at wolf camera and ordered engagement pictures!!!! it was so much fun going through them and we ordered some "big prints" that we are going to mount on foam core board and use as decorations at the reception-really excited about that. we also just ordered some regular size prints to hang here at the apartment and that will be nice to actually have pictures in picture frames.

off to write more lesson plans and grade the GIANT stack of papers that are sitting on my coffee table.

"let all you do be done with love"

the only words i have right now...

Praise You in This Storm
words by Mark Hall/music by Mark Hall and Bernie Herms

I was sure by now,God, that You would have reached down
and wiped our tears away,
stepped in and saved the day.
But once again, I say amen
and it's still raining
as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain,
"I'm with you"
and as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise
the God who gives and takes away.

Chorus:
And I'll praise you in this storm
and I will lift my hands
for You are who You are
no matter where I am
and every tear I've cried
You hold in your hand
You never left my side
and though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

I remember when I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry to You
and raised me up again
my strength is almost gone how can I carry on
if I can't find You
and as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain
"I'm with you"
and as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise
the God who gives and takes away

Chorus

I lift my eyes onto the hills
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth
I lift my eyes onto the hills
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth

Chorus

so it's been FOREVER since I posted last and I would like to apologize to the maybe 5 people that even look at my blog...sorry it's been boring and you haven't had anything new to read. i will try to make up for it with a longer post and maybe even some pictures-hope that helps.

*school is getting ready to go into the 4th week--holy cow, 4weeks of school already! i have progress reports to start filling out-they go out a week from wednesday, we have our first "short" week next week thanks to Labor day, we have already taken our school pictures-boy did i look like crap! we had our first "fun friday" last friday and i had the kids who didn't earn the reward and that was an experience. i have had my first parent conference with the parent, mrs. c, and the student-that was interesting, i have my first "big girl" observation scheduled for the start of my tenure...i have had my first big huge cry in front of the instructional coach while my students were taking a bathroom break, i have had my first "this is what you should be doing" talk from the assistant principal-some of which i don't believe will work with my kids, but i will take the advice...i have given 3 reading tests, 2 spelling tests, learned the art of letting papers stack up and then having to grade 2 weeks worth of work, school is such a new experience, it still hasn't really hit me that these are MY KIDS, these kids will take TCAPS and their scores will reflect my teaching, these kids are my responsibility from 8 am-3 pm, these kids are influenced by me and i am influenced by each of them. i am learning that kids rely to much on technology today and that they are still "testing the waters" to see how much they can get away with in my classroom, i have cried and cried and cried, i have gone to bed before 7pm just because i had a HORRIBLE day at school, i have had a kid just walk out of my room and completely ignore me, i have watched another student do the same thing to mrs. c, i have watched a male teacher try to tell me that a baby garden snake was a baby cotton mouth-he was wrong, i have begged for agenda books and threatened to take a box of them from the hallway just so my kids can finally have the stability of an agenda book, i have learned all about intervention folders and teaching students of all different abilities in one classroom, i have learned that some students-even thought they are in the 6th grade-still think they need someone to spoon feed them everything and come behind them and fix their mistakes, i have learned that whoever designed the desks that my students have to sit in was not the smartest designer ever...i have learned sooo much and we still have so much to go, so many things to learn, so many more battles to fight, just so much more to go. please pray for me, the students, the school, the administration-everyone.

*i know that i have already posted about the wedding weekend, but i figured that i should add a few pictures from the weekend...let's see if i can make a collage of them and put up here...ok, i tried the collage and i have no idea how to do that so i will just post a few of the favorites...








*drew and i have a possible lead on a house...yes a house here in jackson. my uncle has a house that he built here several years ago and now he is not living there and is wanting to sell it or rent it or something to get it off of his hands and we are talking to him and our parents about this. we would love to get this house. granted we don't want to be in jackson forever, we would much rather be in a house than an apartment. plus with this house we would have 3 bedrooms, a really nice fenced in backyard, a nice garage, a fire place and just a house. yes it would be more responsibility and more work but it would be ours. we could paint, we could fix things that we want to fix and we wouldn't have to worry about the neighbors and everything. send up some prayers for this. if it does happen it won't happen until at least after the wedding and closer to the first of the year.

going back to lesson planning and my "kiddie" movie marathon that has included free willy and now high school musical...
"let all you do be done with love"

whew!

what a long day...today was such a long day and tomorrow is going to be just as long. didn't have as many problems with students but there were def. still some sticky situations-sent a kid to ISS after being in my room for maybe 10 min...called another parent and did a lot of "lessson teaching" but not book lessons-lessons to a certain homeroom that was horrible for a second day in a row. these certain kids caused enough problems during activity that the principal was called into the room and he "chewed" them out...it's insane!! i am soooo tired, and all i want is a break, i posted a while back on wanting some time to breathe...just breathe but it just doesn't seem like i will have time to do this before november...this weekend will be no different, drew's grandfather passed away earlier this week after being very sick so we have the memorial service this weekend so we will be heading down to the memphis area for that, so yet again, a weekend away from my apartment...i think tonight that i am going to head to bed early and get some extra sleep...we'll just see how soon i can make myself get up and go crawl in bed-hopefully very soon!!

good night all!
"let all you do be done with love"

engagement photo link is posted on the wedding blog...

so i think i am going to nix the idea of the "teaching" blog...mainly because it's such a huge part of my life that without it i don't ever have much to talk about. so i will just delete-or actually just stop up dating that page so that i can keep this one going...so if you don't want to hear about my adventures at east intermediate then just skip on by this blog!

week #2 began today...holy cow! my second week of teaching started today!!! it's been an incredible, stressful, busy, fast, insane, overwhelming, incredible first 2 weeks...i have some pretty great kids in my homeroom, it's the other class that is giving me trouble and i am having to learn how to teach them each and every day. i am having to learn how to make specific accommodations as well as having an assistant in my room at 2 different times during the day. i am learning how to actually write lesson plans and keep up with the standards. i am learning what it means to use different types of media in the classroom...it's just a huge learning experience that i wouldn't trade for anything!

totally changing the subject, engagement pictures have been posted and they are great! i am waiting until i get my cd with the proofs on them before i put them up on here so when i get that i will post pictures on here and facebook.

that is all for now, i am going to work on some paperwork and possibly head off to bed early tonight...

"let all you do be done with love"

i just need time to breathe...just a little bit of time to myself to breathe and catch my breath. these last 3 1/2 weeks have gone by so fast and the next ones will go by even faster and before i know it i will be mrs. samuel andrew goldsby...i just need time to breath. time, please stand still for like 3 days and then pick back up again.

i pray for the energy to continue and the patience to survive

"let all you do be done with love"

so this whole posting with a full time job thing is not very easy. yes, full time job-so hard to believe that I have a full time job now, that comes with insurance options and regular pay checks that go direct deposit. you may ask, how were my first few days...well go to my teaching blog...and i will update there, including pictures, very soon.

today drewby and i went to nashville to go "book shopping" i had a decent stack of "upper level" books, but not enough so we headed to mckay's used bookstore where i had just over $100 to spend because of the other books i sold back. i ended up spending more than that but got a huge selection of books-including some "teacher resource books" that would be much more expensive had i gotten them from a teacher store or regular book store. i have to stay away from this store...its too amazing and we ended up spending almost 3 hours in there...they opened at 10 and we were waiting outside the doors at 9:55 this morning. i ended up with 2 of their carts full and walked away with some great books-including hard back dictonaries for like 3 or 4 bucks as apposed to 20something that i would have paid if i got them somewhere else.
then drewby and i went on an expedition to find the mellow mushroom pizza place in nashville and drove around for a while until we found that, then we went to the nashville farmers market because drew had never been and we walked around there for a little while. we eventually made it to one of the teacher stores so that i could look for a big piece of notbook paper that's laminated so i could use it for the proper heading and some other things in my room. we headed back to jackson via highway 70 and boy was that an adventure. drewby and i end up going on adventures way too much and this time ended up in montgomery bell state park. we explored there for over an hour and it was so awesome!

not going to post much more, got to get up and get to dyersburg by 8:15 in the morning. we are going to church with drew's parents and we are going to hear gary preach!

"let all you do be done with love"

my hands are shaking...
my stomach has a million knots in it...

...all because the school year starts today.
...not because i am a student.
...but because i am the teacher
..........because I AM THE TEACHER.

holy cow!
this is really happening.

i will def. post this afternoon.
"let all you do be done with love"

new post on my teacher blog...go check it out ;)

anyways, we had huge storms again today, and memphis got hit yet again with tornadoes, including the khols out by wolfchase-like apparently part of the building collapsed-so scary. but one very good, amazing, wonderful thing that happened today was that good ole' willie is gone, as of 12:00 he will no longer be the mayor of memphis-THANK GOD!!

with my new addition of a steady work schedule (again see other blog) i now, soon, in the near future, will be able to get a puppy!!!! i am soooo freaking excited about this new addition! i want to wait a little while to get my feet planted in school-since i have very little time to get prepared-and i want to get the apartment a little more in order so that i have space for a kennel and i can "dog proof" things a little more. but i can't wait to get a 4 legged friend to run around here with me until my 2 legged "friend" moves in in novemeber!!

oh, btw. got my first suit this week, like matching pants and jacket and wore that for my interview and felt so confident and professional. maybe that's one of the thing that got me the job...

finally got all the cds burned for the sr high treehouse kids...that week i took over 1400 pictures and after deleting some i got all of them burned onto dvds and tomorrow i am going to mail them!
also, got a parking ticket yesterday--in my own parking lot of my apartment...apparently i am supposed to have a "city sticker" on my car-have never heard of this in my life! so tomorrow morning before i head to central office i am going to goto the court house downtown and talk to someone about this. plus no one else had one, so why did i get one and no one else did. also the ticket is in my mom's name b/c the car and the apartment are both in her name, so i am hoping that they will let me do something about it.

also, anna's graduation from preschool is tomorrow and i hope i can be there, she will start K soon and it's so weird...drew and i have been together almost as long as she has been born...ahhh!!

anyways, going to bed, gotta get up early.
"let all you do be done with love"

click on the pray for stellan button on the sidebar and read about a little boy who is having to fight for every breath, every heartbeat. this little boy i only know through his mom's blog, but he is such a precious little one and he is having to fight for everything. pray for stellan so that his heart and his body can fight and stay strong. pray for stellan's parents, pray that they have the strength and the stamina to stand by their son's side. pray for his siblings as well as other family members. pray for the doctors and nurses, they need the strength and a clear mind to know what needs to be done and how to do it effectively and safely.

pray.
pray.
pray.
pray.

"let all you do be done with love"

my weekend was amazing! we had so much fun and it was just a good chance to get away from everything. a weekend to get away from the stress of trying to find a teaching job and nothing coming from it. a weekend away from school for drewby, who is still waiting to hear if he passed his certification test or not. just a weekend to connect. for the most part everyone knew each other before hand. of the 13 people in our wedding party-not including drew and me, everyone but 1 person was a "lakeshore staffer" so it was just a great weekend to hang out, tell stories, play on the boat and get excited about novemeber. on saturday we took the boat out and drove around, went to the waterfall and some of the boys jumped off, the girls just played in the water and watched. we got to watch some teenage girls freak out up there and that was entertaining. we then headed to goat island to feed the goats and apparently i turn into a 2 year old around them cause i get so excited. i even got off the boat so i could hand feed them-so much fun!!! after that we ran back to the boat house to grab the tube and knee board to go have some fun. after 2 runs on old "bertha" she, and her rope decided they didn't want to play anymore and the rope snapped. drew, john, and i were sitting in the back of the boat and the 2 boys got hit with the snapped rope. luckily no broken skin, just a scare with john's eye, but he was ok! so during lunch tres and ginger went to the store to pick up a new tube, and this is what they came back with ...

oh how, intimidating was this thing riding on top of the suburban. when we headed back out katie and i volunteered to be the first to ride this monster and it was sooo much fun! we spent the rest of the afternoon riding around and eventually knee boarding. dinner came next and we went to hagey's catfish hotel in shiloh for dinner...sooo good! we had to wait a bit, even with reservations but the wait was so worth it!
over all the weekend was a great relaxing getaway with some great friends and i can't wait for each of them (and the ones that couldn't make it) to stand with drew and i when we get married.
we love each of you so very much and thanks for hanging out this weekend!
"let all you do be done with love"

fun friday

so no matter how discouraged i get today about the lack of a teaching job i vow to have fun!! this evening starts our wedding party weekend at pickwick and i absolutely cannot wait! of our 13 person wedding part, all but 3 are going to be able to make it for at least part of the weekend and i cannot wait!! the jet skis won't make an appearance but we plan on hanging out and playing on the boat all weekend-good weather willing! i will update and post picture at the start of next week, maybe!

love.
be safe.
"let all you do be done with love"

"When I See an Elephant Fly"

*still nothing on the job front...I am mailing my stuff to the Humboldt City Schools system today. My plan was to drive it by there this morning because there was an elementary opening posted on-line, but when i called she said the position had been filled, but one of mrs. sarah's friends works at HCS and said there might be a few spots opening. so i frantically filled out the application last night and made contact with mrs. d and my cooperating teachers and asked them to fill out the ref form. so lets hope and pray yet again that something will come of this!

*yesterday i worked hard on getting the apartment cleaned and organized. and i got quite a bit done, i still have the entire front bedroom to work on, i am just waiting on my big bookshelf and desk to get sanded and repainted in dburg and once i get those back i should be able to clean that room up quite a bit!!

*going to memphis to do the "decor planning" for the wedding and i am SOOOO excited!!! i will hopefully do a great big post on the wedding blog to explain and maybe even post some pictures...just maybe!

...hate to cut this short but i need to go shave so i can get ready and head to memphis.
"let all you do be done with love"

so i am tired....just tired of this whole finding a teaching job process. i have been checking, e-mailing, calling, tring to go by, everything to get in with the system and nothing seems to be working. i finally got in touch with the principal at issac lane-the one where i had all the connections and she cut me off in the middle of my "introduction" to tell me all the positions have been filled and then she hung up...so i cried for a minute and then started calling other schools, and either the principals were still not there or the position was filled or i left a message for the principal to call me back-we will see if that happens. i am just so ready to get a job, ready to get my own classroom, ready for it to be my turn. its so frustrating hearing about people getting jobs, and someone that graduated a year before me from harding and went to school somewhere else got a teaching interview here in jackson...like i have been looking for and searching for a job...and trying to get in touch with principals even with them being on vacation, i have called, sent emails, left messages and everything but apparently the morning they get back, like 8:45...she has already filled the positions and never responded to me...i am just tired. people keep telling me that my time will come, that God is picking the perfect classroom for me and that i just need to be patient and wait for this position to open but i don't know what i am going to do, insurance will run out in november when i get married, i won't have a constant pay check, i don't know what to do, i have checked the surrounding counties and hopefully something will open up...

prayers please.
prayers please.
prayers please.
prayers please.
please.
please.
please....

so the waiting continues...

so i had my first "big girl" teaching job interview on friday afternoon...and before i continue let me note that i had less than an hour to prepare for this interview. anyways, i got a text from my cooperating teacher from my first placement (mrs. pat) asking if i wanted to come in for an interview, and obviously i said yes! so i have to run around, shave, attempt to straighten my hair and get ready for an interview...so i get ready and get to the school eary and the interview starts. i think it went over really well for the fact that i had very very little time to prepare. it was an interview team of 4 women, the principal, the instructional coach-who knew me from when i student taught, my cooperating teacher-who obviously knew me from when i student taught, and then one of the other 4th grade teachers. they were all really nice and it was a pretty smooth interview. i left and got ready to head to memphis and on my way i texted my cooperating teacher to just thank her for the text message and the opportunity and her response was your welcome and we will talk later...could be a good we will talk later or a bad, didn't know. anyways on my way to memphis i get a call from mrs. pat and basically i didnt get the job. out of the 8 they interviewed, i was in the "top 3" and got beat out by someone who has more experience with think link-one of the tests they do to monitor students' progress. so major bummer and i am starting to freak out about the fact that school will start in the next 2 weeks and i have no idea a. where i will be b. if i will be someone or c. what i will do if i don't get a teaching job...the principals start back from their summer breaks tomorrow so i plan on calling the principal at one of the other schools where i have some major connections and apparently the principal already "knows my name" from some of these connections. hopefully God will stop letting me hang here and freak out and point me in the right direction! i also have my stuff in at all the surrounding counties and will send my stuff into Martin schools tomorrow-another friend has some connections up there!!

anyways, off to work on the apartment for a little while!
"let all you do be done with love"
m

it's been a while...

so it's been a while so to catch you up i am just going to post some new pictures, and hopefully i will get back to my "normal posting schedule" soon.

still waiting on an e-mail

...so i know that the principal's need a summer vacation, but really, the day i found out about 2 job openings and the connections that i have with this school and principal is the day after the principals going on summer vacation until towards the end of july--really, of course, this would be my luck!

i want nothing more than a job possibility, an interview, a job, my own classroom, a chance to prove myself and prove that i am a good teacher even though i never seem to get the recognition for it while i was at lambuth. i am trying to be patient, trying to understand that she will get back to me, understanding that it will all work out, but this isn't easy at all, this isn't fun and i don't like it, not one bit at all!!

to get my mind off of the whole lack of an e-mail and waiting i have been working on planning stuff for watersports-which is NEXT week!!! as well as some wedding planning via e-mails with the girls...

i am off to work on watersports stuff, almost done with worships and theme times, note the keyword is almost, i also have to do morning watches-which shouldn't actually be that bad, i already have one done, still have to work on the other ones...so i am off to work on those while starting my harry potter movie marathon, which will probably happen more than once before the new movie comes out soon, CAN'T wait (never thought i would be this addicted to HP, and probably swore not to get so addicted, but what's done is done!)

oh, and i made the best lunch today, i took 2 thin chicken breasts and sliced them and flopped them around in some bread crumbs and mrs. dash and then put them in egg, and then back in the mixture. the put them in a pan with hot oil for a little bit and then in the oven for a few minutes...paired this with some roman noodles that i fixed but didnt' put much of the seasoning in it-too salty! pretty good!!

oh and the rents have power again, THANK GOD!!

"let all you do be done with love"
-m

quick post before i fall asleep...or my computer dies.

*PRAY PRAY PRAY I am taking my resume to a principal at Isaac Lane Elementary tomorrow...my cooperating teacher from JCT texted me on Saturday and told me that they have 2 openings and that she would call for me and put in a good word, turns out I also have another friend that used to teach there that will put in a good word, and turns out one of the kids that i taught at JCT, his mom is a teacher there so that's another good word...and finally, found out tonight that the principal was william's fifth grade teacher and that his mom was pretty good friends with her, so yet another good word...

SO PLEASE SEND UP SOME PRAYERS, i would rather have the 3rd grade position, but i would be happy with kindergarten as well...so yea, ill update when/if i hear back!!

"let all you do be done with love"

looking back on today (and the past few days)

...so i have been working on this post for a few days...

*so jenny and j.d. are married, jackie is next-in august, and then it's my turn, and i cannot wait! jenny was sooooo freakin beautiful on saturday and she was so gracious to let me tag along for most of the events from the weekend.

*drew and i have been working on stuff for watersports a bit at a time...and i have found out that drew isnt much help with the planning, sorry drewby-but it's the truth! long, giant, huge list of things i have to get done before camp starts. oh and we are finally getting to go camping with some friends, we've decided to go the weekend of the wiggins classic and the weekend before drew and i are at camp for watersports...so it should be lots of fun!!

*had a dermatologist appointment today, she looked at a few spots on my back but left them alone but took biopsies for 2 that i had on my stomach...wasn't too bad, i just hate needles and numbing stuff...

*my apartment is getting clean and organized, drew and i finally put together the over the toilet organizer thing and it works pretty well in my bathroom. i still have to anchor it to the wall but that will happen eventually.

*oh and i have decided that the new "i'm a celebrity get me out of here" movie is absolutely awful! horrible! stupid! and any other negative adjective to describe it.

*going to take care of phillip, truetts nephew at his parents house for the next few days. heidi and james are moving to jackson and i am going to "help" take care of philip not sure if i will be the only one at the house or what but it should be fun and some income to be set aside...

*and i know this sounds really awful and stupid but i have been watching days of our lives again and sami's daughter grace died on the show and it just reminds me of all the blogs i have read on here about parents who loose children and have children with health problems and its just really sad, the shows portral of the 'loss of a child' story line doesn't seem very "real" and it just makes me sad because so many families go through that every single day and it runs sooo much deeper than a soap opera's actress portrayal of the devastation that one would have with the loss of a child...

*my goal is to loose 10 pounds by jackie's wedding in august-and tone up my arms and legs!! i have to get the dress taken in quite a bit so i won't be able to loose a whole bunch of actual weight but i would love to tone my arms and back as well as my calves again!! plus i have to "condition" myself for watersports, walking so much and up and down the wilderness hill in just over a week and a half, i have to get busy!!!

...i will post pictures from jenny and j.d.'s wedding, eventually, you know me!!

"let all you do be done with love"

-m

wednesday to do list

*un-pack lamps for living room
*clean up living room so the charter guy can hook up my cable
*finish the kitchen
*load of dishes
*change my address with the post office
*return some stuff to wal-mart
*MUST FIND COASTERS (any suggestions?)
*finish putting away clothes
*take empty tubs to the garage
*bring up 2 small book cases from garage
*(drewby) put together the over the toilet organizer thing for my bathroom
*organize my bathroom

--i think this might be it for now, oh how i need to get these things done!

love.

"let all you do be done with love"

the new apartment...

so i am almost completely moved in...at least i am done with the old apartment!!

i moved into a new 2 bedroom apartment that is across the complex from drew's and here's the story why...so my lease was up on sunday(yesterday) and i wanted to get somewhere here in jackson so that i didn't' have to put all my stuff in drew's garage and my parents storage shed so i was looking for an apartment and originally i was just going to find something for a few months and then drew and i were going to move into a different apartment in his complex in november and stay here since his lease isn't up until march...well short term leases jack the prices up---WAY UP, so we started talking and i called a few places and the 2 BR here were cheaper than other places so i signed a 13 month lease and drew "referred" me so he gets $250 bucks and that will help pay for the fact that he will have to pay extra in november since he is moving out of his own apartment...it's a good deal all around. plus i get my very own garage!!! anyways, i am in the middle of cleaning and organizing, i will eventually post some pictures...

"let all you do be done with love"
-m

so i am a dork...and i am sitting here watching the spelling bee...BLAH!!! it's fabulous! i so need to be working on packing and cleaning, but nope, sitting here watching this and drinking coffee...so i am a lazy dork now...

dad will be heading up tomorrow to help me pack up and move. were going over to sign the lease as soon as the office opens up and then i think we are just going to move the necessary things into my apartment and the rest into the garage--YES I GET A GARAGE, for FREE!!! wahoo!!! drew and i want to paint the master bathroom and the living room and dining room-oh did i tell you that this is where drew will move into when we get married and it's in the same apartment complex where he and josh live now... wierd. but anyways, ill try and post some pictures before we get everything moved in, but they are having to fix the floor by the patio door-theres MAJOR water damage and literally a hole in the floor...anyways, i really need to get off my butt and pack and get stuff organized so that i know what i want to take over there when dad gets here tomorrow morning.

GOOD NIGHT ALL.

Oh, p.s. my sorority grandmother, aka granny on my side bar here is in labor up in alaska...so please keep christie and aaron in your prayers and welcome baby harper into the world soon...i don't really know the official time difference, so baby harper might actually be in the world now, either way--PRAY hard!!

"let all you do be done with love"
-m

note to god...

so these are the lyrics to the song that Charice sang on Oprah a couple of weeks ago and i absolutly love the lyrics to it and i just wanted to post them, possibly working on a theme time or worship idea for watersports with this...

If I wrote a note to God
I would speak whats in my soul
I'd ask for all the hate to be swept away,
For love to overflow
If I wrote a note to God
I'd pour my heart out on each page
I'd ask for war to end
For peace to mend this world
I'd say, I'd say, I'd say

Give us the strength to make it through
Help us find love cause love is over due
And it looks like we haven't got a clue
Need some help from you
Grant us the faith to carry on
Give us hope when it seems all hope is gone
Cause it seems like so much is goin wrong
On this road we're on

If I wrote a note to God
I would say what on my mind
I'd ask for wisdom to let compassion rule this world
Until these times
If I wrote a note to God
I'd say please help us find our way
End all the bitterness, put some tenderness in our hearts
And I'd say, I'd say, I'd say

Give us the strength to make it through
Help us find love cause love is over due
And it looks like we haven't got a clue
Need some help from you
Grant us the faith to carry on
Give us hope when it seems all hope is gone
Cause it seems like so much is goin wrong
On this road we're on

No, no no no
We can't do this on our own
So

Give us the strength to make it through
Help us find love cause love is over due
And it looks like we haven't got a clue
Need some help from you
Grant us the faith to carry on
Give us hope when it seems all hope is gone
Cause it seems like so much is goin wrong
On this road we're on

If I wrote a note to God

another 5 school districts applied to...yes, i am putting in my application to 5 more school systems this time in the Jackson area...i think drew and i have decided to "stay in jackson" for now, with the possibility of drew getting a job with jackson-madison county school system we have just decided to stick around here for now...blah, so a whole new search for a teaching job as well as a "summer job" so that i can stay here in jackson. and with this summer job i need to find one and an apartment by the 31st or i have to move home until i find a job--SHOOT ME PLEASE!!!!

...back to the applications.

so i haven't put pictures up here in a while mainly because they were all still on my camera, but i finally uploaded them to my lap top, so here is just a taste of my past semester...

trying to contain my excitement

so i am trying to contain my excitement and not get my hopes up, but i just got an e-mail back from one of the principals that i e-mailed and she said that she can't do interviews before May 22, but to call on May 27 to set up an interview...HOLY CRAP, maybe this hard work and countless e-mails has paid off, maybe i will get an interview and from this possible interview, maybe a possible job--oh prayers prayers prayers please!!!!!!

now, off to lunch with katie soon-to-be-landers then off to JCT to hang out with them for a little while for their end of the year party, and then to nova to hang out with them for a little while for their end of the year party, then back to the apartment to work on packing stuff up. and i am probably going to head to nashville tomorrow to fill out some applications at some places in hopes to get a summer job up there, then i am going to camp to help emily grill out for the first time, so please send up some prayers for peace on my part and peace on emily's part-i know she is nervous about cooking all summer, so hopefully she will gain the much needed confidence on thursday!!! then drewby and i are headed to the lake for part of the weekend...finally!!!

anyways, i have to go get dressed for lunch.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE SEND UP PRAYERS ABOUT THIS POSSIBLE INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITY!!!!!

"let all you do be done with love"

saturday morning cartoons...

no, i am not watching cartoons, i am watching the travel channel and it's shows about food, weird food, nothing like weird, nasty looking food to keep you from eating something....

anyways, on to the real point of this post, THE JOB HUNT!! ahhhhhh it's making me go crazy right now! For the time being i would love to just find a summer job, a job that will allow me to make the move to nashville, a job that will allow me to start making real connections in nashville, a job that will allow me to move and get a new-Nashville address that, i believe, will help me in the teaching job search, a job that will get me closer to the schools and school systems that i want to be in, a teaching job that will get me over the river and into the foothills of the mountains, a job that will allow me to really start this new chapter in my life, a job that will allow me to get an apartment so drew and i can move our couch out of storage and into my apartment, a job that will allow me to get an apartment and move my bedroom furniture from my bedroom in memphis to an apartment in nashville...this one summer job will do wonders, it will literally launch me in the direction that i want to go and all i can do right now is pray!!!! and pray hard, and then pray harder....last night, on friday night i looked online and got phone numbers for school/teacher supply stores, craft stores, scrapbook stores, and even some tutoring places in the nashville area and i am going to call on monday-unless some openings at the Y open up, and find out who might be hiring, i know the hobby lobby here in jackson is hiring, so maybe possibly the ones up there would be as well...then i may make a day trip to nashville this week to fill out applications to the places that are hiring, and taking 2 boxes of books to mckay's to sell and hopefully get a few bucks, but yet again, we will see. i also have one of our advisers who lives and works at a law firm in nashville to ask around to see if someone is possibly looking for a babysitter or nanny for the summer...but we will see!!

-off to go try and find some appropriate shoes to wear to TOOTIE'S WEDDING that is tonight--ahh, so happy for them!!!!!!! Ill post pictures, eventually...

LOVE.

"let all you do be done with love"

-M

zip a dee doo dah

*almost through my first week as a college graduate...holy cow!! my week has been easy, lazy, stressful, and so many more emotions it's not even funny. i have started to pack up my apartment and that's no fun, i have decided that i have wayyyy too many books for my own good! my room is such a reck it's not even funny-my bookshelves are almost completely empty, part of my "wall decor" is gone, my closet is beginning to get cleaned out and packed up...i don't like this not knowing, i don't like this idea that i might be possibly moving back home, i just want to know!!

*took my car in this morning to get worked on...it needs an oil change and they are going to look into 2 other problems, when/if i take my hand off the steering wheel for just a second, my whole car starts to drift to the left, and then when i apply the breaks after going fast-like getting off the interstate the steering wheel shakes really bad, so hopefully it won't be anything too big and won't cost too much money and that they can fix it today so i dont' have to drive drew's truck too much...

*tootie and matt are getting married tomorrow, so send up some prayers for not only this weekend, their wedding weekend, but for the new journey they are about to start on!!

*i applied/sent my resume to 2 more principals last night, only these were to 2 schools in sumner county for 3 different openings, so lets hope and pray about these...just one door needs to open, one door that is for me, one door that God has opened and i just have to walk through...

*drewby and i went to the midnight showing of this movie last night, or should i say this morning and it was AMAZING!!!

I personally think it was a better movie than The Davinci Code, but drewby liked TDC better...whatever! it's long, but there wasn't any part that i was ok with missing to get up to go pee, so that's a statement!! it's emotional, graphic, and so engaging it's not even funny!! i want to go see it again...but my favorite quote was from towards the end and it goes something like this, "religion is flawed because man is flawed" or something like that and i absolutely love this quote, we are all flawed and that is what is "wrong" about religion, but if we were all perfect then there would be no religion...

*so i was given the opportunity to go up to camp next thursday to help emily, the new puf, help cook for orientation. troy asked me yesterday and said that if i was available and wanted to that i was welcome to come up and help, and my response was if emily wants me there i will be there, but if she doesn't then i won't be up there...i dont' want to step on her toes or try and take over her job, because truthfully, it's hers now...i am just and "alum" so i asked emily and she was so welcoming and open to the help so i get to go up there next thrusday and hopefully help her get her mind at rest for the job that she will have to do 20 more times this summer...send up some prayers for her as well as the other staffers, they are going to need it this summer!

i am going to take a quick nap...

"let all you do be done with love"

-m

miranda...

...didn't get the job.
...has no idea what she is going to do now.
...is back in jackson.
...is so ready for november 21.
...wants to hear back from nashville like, yesterday.
...is sad, it's really hitting me today, i am not going to be at camp this summer.
...is happy for all those who will be working on that holy ground touching the lives of kids all summer long.

for those of you living within driving distance to memphis...

...check out this link to the pink palace musuem. right now, through may 31, they have free trial memberships that you just sign up for, get a temporary card, print it out and it's good for 2 people...

http://www.memphismuseums.org/trial-membership/

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms, soon-to-be moms, and future moms out there!!!

Mom, I love you so much and could never thank you enough for all that you have done for me over the past 22 years. You are an amazing role model and I couldn't have asked for a better role model and mom!!!

I am graduating in just a few short hours, HECK YEAH!!! It has been a long, and some-what disappointing road, I have worked my butt off-right along side people that partied and skipped classes and didn't do their best and yet they get "Latin Honors" and I don't get jack-**it! It was awesome and frustrating and disappointing yesterday during practice, sooo many people got these honors and i didn't' get anything, well, except for my diploma, but it's just frustrating because i feel like my hard work and dedication has gone without any kind of appreciation...but whatever, this part of my life is very close to being over and i will get to start on a completely new chapter and hopefully a job will open in nashville and i will be able to just move up there and start fresh.

Please pray for all of the graduates that have graduated and will graduate in the near future.

Please pray for all the moms out there...

"Let all you do be done with love"

Love

-M

...darlin...

*spent the weekend + monday in memphis and it was good. drewby and i went to music fest on friday and sunday and he went on saturday with josh and daniel. i got to see matt nathenson(sp?) and he was AMAZING! i also got to see James Taylor-who wasn't as good as i hoped for, i got to see Jerry Lee Lewis and that was awesome-for a man as old as he is to still be able to get up there and play piano and sing and to love it...just amazing

*we looked at wedding invitations...should post this on the wedding blog, but i am lazy tonight and this update is as good as its going to get. back to the shopping, drewby and i went to a few different places and found a few different ones we liked, some were WAY out of our price range while others just looked really-really-really cheap, so we still have to keep looking. oh and we are officially scheduled for our engagement photos-on July 12 at camp, ahhh can't wait! oh and it's almost completely official that we are going to walt disney world for our honeymoon...heck yeah!!

*i have a job interview tomorrow for a day camp counselor position this summer at a private catholic school here in nashville-btw, i am in murfreesboro right now-and i can't wait. i hope the interview goes well and that this door will stay open-if i get a job then i can move up here as soon as i get an apartment secured up here....so lets keep our fingers crossed but more importantly the prayers headed to the big man upstairs...

*graduation is on sunday...graduation is on sunday...graduation is on sunday...graduation is on sunday....holy crap!!

*oh, last night when i was getting cover letters and addresses ready to take to different schools in the metro nashville school system i counted the number of schools that i have emailed and will have taken my resume by since this job hunt started, and after tomorrow the number will be over....40 different schools! and still nothing, blah!! i am still hoping and praying that something will come through very soon and that i can start not only physically preparing but also emotionally prepare for a giant move and new step in my life...

...going to go back to getting ready for tomorrow...

"let all you do be done in love"

love

m

*update*

so i now have another job possibility for murfreesboro...possibly at sylvan learning centers working as a "teaching assistant" it would be an amazing job, it could even last through a school year and even further on and for years to come...ill update when i know something!

"oh my doodness!"

so first of all this is a quote from drew's niece, anna, from over a year ago, she's the cutest thing...anyways, back to the whole point of this blog....i am asking for prayers, lots and lots of prayers...i have an interview next wednesday for a summer job in nashville. it would be working at a day camp at a school in the city. and i am hoping to possibly have a teaching job interview for a school in murfreesboro...pray, cross fingers, do whatever you do so that i might just possibly impress someone just enough to get #1 this summer job, and then hopefully #2 a teaching job...

i'll update later, oh and i only have 2 days left at JCT....

walking through the fire

really the title has nothing to do with the blog, it's just the first song that came up on itunes and i made it be my title for my bulleted blog...so anyways.

*it has been a LONG LONG LONG week...i only have 4 more days at my placement and i am soooo happy about this. friday was the first day EVER that i have actually said that i am not sure i want to teach, but then i calm down, and i see that this is just an experience, these aren't my kids, they aren't my rules, etc. i just can't wait to get my own classroom where i can have classroom management be my way, and hopefully have some administrative help.

*went to memphis last night to hang out with the rents while drew and josh went to a concert in midtown...that was good, got dinner out of it, got music fest tickets finally-the boys couldn't decide if they wanted to go or not so by the time they decided the ticket prices went back up, stupid boys. watched some tv with mom and just to hang out, it was really nice.

*my e-portfolio is due on monday...AHHHH MY EPORTFOLIO IS DUE ON MONDAY!!!!

*amanda is throwing tootie and i an "alpha gam bridal shower" this evening and i am kind-of excited about it, the apartment is actually clean, she's got stuff planned and food prepared, i am excited!!!

*i have applied at several different places in the middle tn area and i am waiting to see what happens, hopefully on monday i will be able to make some contacts and hopefully try to secure a job for this summer so i can start building back up my savings account...i really need to. i want to figure out what i am doing in may, we have to be out of the apartment by may 31st, so i have to figure out where i am going to go then, if i have a job for the summer then i can hopefully move up to middle tn and then work a little bit harder at finding a teaching job, hopefully open up some contacts and make connections...keep the prayers flowing and fingers crossed!!

*i am going to go clean my room and bathroom for the shower tonight, have a great saturday!!!!

"let all you do be done in love"

long weekend/short weekend

so this weekend has been both very long and very short...and to explain, this blog will probably end up being a b.b., so just be prepared.

*first of all on friday i took my 1 free day from student teaching to get my stuff ready for saturday--which i will explain next. so i woke up, went to school, helped out with tcaps and left school by like 10:15...wish i hadn't had to take the day off, but i really needed it...
*now for why i took the day off, i went to the rutherford county school teacher fair thing in murfreesboro yesterday and that was an experience. i got there about 20 minutes early and there were already probably close to 200 people there to fight over talking to principals of the schools in the rutherford county school system. i got to talk to a few, wasn't as promising as i had hoped but a few schools were going to call to set up interviews within the next week, so that is still an open door, just not as open as i had hoped.
*found this AMAZING used book store in nashville that will become my new favorite place to shop-taking the place of goodwill...i got sooo many teacher books as well as children's books for less than 7 bucks a piece, and some for only 50 cents!!! it was a fabulous find in nashville and i plan on heading back!!
*then formal last night...my last agd formal as a college student, full of drama of course, but entertaining.
*now today...i have sooo much work to do, so i will leave this here and go work on that, hope you all have a great week!

"let all you do be done in love"

i am an AWFUL fiance...

so it just occurred to me that i never wished drewby a happy birthday on here...his birthday was on the 11th and i never wished him a happy birthday...so...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DREWBY!!!!!!

so i just read the summer staff list for the 2009 summer...and i have mixed feelings, happy for those that were given the honor, praying for those who were turned away, and ready to see what God has in store.
as i was creeping on someone's facebook page, actually the new puf's facebook page it really hit me, my time as an activity staffer is over, my time as puf is over, that part of my life is done and it's time for someone else to take it over, it's time for someone else to enjoy the perks of the job and suffer through the pain of the tough parts.
i sit here and try to compose myself and get myself comfortable with the fact that my time as program utilities facilitator is over with...whoo much harder than i thought. i have been pretty ok with today, until now. it's not that i don't think she will do a good job, because i think she will, there was something in her that they see-just like they saw in me...and that's good enough for me...

this chapter in my life is officially closed, and soon another chapter will be closing and it's just hard today to really face this and be happy and confident in what is to come. please keep me in your prayers as well as all the newly hired staff people so that they may see you and work for you this summer, and nothing else.

good morning!

so this will be short because #1 my breakfast is almost ready and #2 i have to leave soon...but i just needed to write. interviews are this saturday, and ill be up there on friday to goto mrs patsy's funeral and it's just starting to hit my that i am not going back this summer. i know that i have to grow up and that my role at camp has changed-camp isn't gone for good, my time isn't completely over, things are just changing-i apparently just don't deal with change very well. i get the opportunity to dean a watersports with my favorite person in the world and future husband, i will get the chance to just "pop in and visit" my time isn't over, it's just changing.
please pray for all the interviewees as well as the interview team-there are a whole bunch of people who applied so saturday will be a tough day!
pray that the right choices are made, people feel confident in those choices and that this summer staff will be able to provide the best summer camp experience ever!

have a great day!

"let all you do be done with love"

Mrs. Patsy

1952-2009

Loved Lakeshore Kitchen Lady

so earlier this week i got the sad news that mrs patsy had gone on to heaven. i worked with her the 2006, 2007 and part of the 2008 summer. she was always so excited to see me and loved her job and her kids. her funeral will be friday...good friday and it's fitting, a true woman with a true faith will be buried on the day that we celebrate the fact that jesus died for us. she is in heaven, with NO pain and with the loving arms of God wrapped around her!
Mrs Patsy, i love you...and i miss you. camp will not be the same without you and the next puf will never know how amazing you really are. Love you and see you when I get to heaven!