9 months of wedded bliss today. We are so blessed.
It's Spring Break. We're about to head out for a little getaway at a fabulous hotel!
I got to sleep in, and now my honey is cooking me breakfast while I lounge on the couch in pj's.
I love my life!

Josh wrote a blog last night, which got me thinking that maybe I should do the same.

I thought I'd share with you what has been entertaining me lately.

Music: We listen to Pulse FM on our commute - love their morning DJ. Through a special deal they were having, we were able to get cheap tickets to see Amy Grant & Micheal W. Smith in concert this week. When I first heard they were touring, I thought it was neat. When I heard they were playing their old school music, I wanted to go!!! I knew all but maybe 5 total songs between them both (4 being Michael's music). It was a walk down memory lane as I had seen them in concert during her Lead Me On tour back in '88! It was so much fun!! As an added bonus, for the encore they donned 80's apparel from previous album covers! Smitty wore this argyle sweater, and Amy wore this awesome blazer from her Unguarded album.

Movies: Last weekend my family & I saw The Grace Card. The acting started off a little shaky but got better. It told a good story and preached a good message. I would recommend it.

TV: Well, our tv decided a couple weeks ago that it was no longer going to access ABC or Fox, so that leaves us with NBC, CBS, and the WB. We've been watching The Office but not really finding it humorous anymore. Yawn.

Books: I continue to read middle school literature. I am almost finished with a book called Gideon's People. It is set in 1911 and shows differences and similarities between an Orthodox Jewish family and an Amish family. It's been really interesting! No idea what I'll read next.

Games: I am addicted to Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook. I refuse to accept applications on facebook though, so I play on Josh's account.

Beyond the entertainment, work continues. This year is flying by! The 3rd tri is going really well! I had some changes in my schedule, and things have been just dandy!

We have trimesters at school. I think it's kinda weird, but oh well. It is nice to have some change. So, Monday begins a new trimester, and I have a lot of new classes to adjust to. In fact, only one class is staying the same.

My day will begin with Science (ugh) with my most challenging student - the one who makes it a daily habit to yell at me, call me names, and tell me to shut up and shove it (this is when I remind myself of two blissful words: Summer Vacation). This will be with a teacher whom I have yet to meet. Up next will be Art. This should be good but also challenging as it is with a physically handicapped child. Then PE (really? Another trimester of PE? For ME, the one who dreaded PE in junior high and high school!!!) with a different teacher than 1st & 2nd tri PE, but with my same student from 1st & 2nd - sweet kid! Then I'll be doing study hall and then the last lunch period. What's good about this is two-fold: I won't have lunch duty (that cafeteria is *unbelievably* loud!!), and I'll get to eat lunch with my husband! After lunch will be a new math class and then my standby English which I adore.

Art with my physically handicapped student is upstairs, so last week I had to go to "sling training" so I know how to transport the student down the stairs in case of a fire drill when the elevator is inoperable. I don't know why, but I inwardly freak out during any sort of drill. Fortunately I've been able to keep it all inside so far. The worst is the lock down drills. I guess my mind is just too active, my imagination too vivid. I can't help but think about times when lock down procedures are used that are NOT just for practice. Even now if I think too much about it my mind transports me into the worst scenario, and I hate to dwell there, so I'll change the subject.

I can't believe the year is already 2/3 over! The year has gone by quickly. And the days fly by, especially compared to my last job! I love that fact! Drama practice has started, which means more evenings spent at the school. The next couple months are gonna get insane here! I'm doing dinner out with a co-worker friend this week, so I'm looking forward to that!

It's been awhile. Life's been busy but seemingly not blog worthy. Does that make sense?

I won a cool giveaway on my friend's blog which prompted me to make some updates on my blog assuming I may get a few new visitors from the contest. I updated some information about me (interests, occupation, etc.) and added a picture. I hope to get a new header made in the near future, but we'll see.

My life lately consists of work, commute, - Maybe I should pause here; I'm allowed to interrupt myself. I started a new job in September. I'm working with special needs 6th graders. Zowsers, is it a challenge!! But it's a good challenge. For the first two months of work I continued working part-time at my old job, which just about killed me. I literally got to the point of being physically ill trying to keep up with both. Anyways, the cool part is that I'm working at the same school as Josh. We carpool, which is good, but it also means that his before and after work commitments sort of become my commitments as well. So we spend a lot of time at school, or at least it feels that way.

We just (re)joined a gym. It is hard to have the time to work out, but we force it into our schedule whenever we can.

We are in a growth group through church. We see family and friends occasionally. And that's pretty much life lately.

When we're home, we're all about downtime! Right now we're watching "Save the Last Dance." Brings back memories. Fun movie. :)

Over and out!

• I love not watching tv with my husband. Our tv is rarely on, and that makes me beam.
• I got a new cell phone. This one's gonna take me awhile to learn. It matches my purse, and that makes me happy.
• I'm reading classic older kids literature. Anne of Green Gables was first. Now it's Secret Garden. I can't wait to see the movie after I finish the book and see how it compares.
  
• I get to attend a special pizza party at school tomorrow. This should make my husband happy - one less lunch he has to make for me.
• Yes, my husband packs my lunch AND makes me breakfast every day. I am so lucky! Seriously, how did I get this lucky???!!!
• Christmas Break is almost here! Counting down to many good things!!
• We got our wedding pictures from our photographers last week - about 1,200 to absorb and remember and cherish. This makes me all mushy inside.
• In the last week, 3 friends have gotten engaged! It's so fun to celebrate with them and remember our engagement one year ago!

So many days I get tired of dealing with the kids (oh, by the way, I'm teaching now) who don't care for my help. They want the answers. Some don't even care about that.

I have to teach them to be grateful for my (or other teachers') help.

I also have to learn that I can't always help those students who don't want or aren't ready to admit their need for help from a more experienced, more educated person.

This morning one of our rough kids (yah, this kid likes to fight with ya, but I can tell deep down he's worth fighting for) was pleading for my help in math. He expected me to give him the answer, but I knew he had to learn it for himself. I taught him what he needed to do to figure out the problem and find the solution. Once he knew the answer was right he couldn't wait to get out of there.

Feeling used, I started pondering about which next student I can help who will actually hopefully, maybe appreciate it. All of the sudden, as he walked past me out the door, I heard him make a sound which echoed in my head, "Thank you!"

It literally took me a couple seconds to process it was so unexpected.

If I would have already moved on to the next student I probably wouldn't have heard it. I would have missed his expression of gratitude if I wasn't listening for it.

How many times do we run to our Father above hoping for a quick and easy answer and so often forget to express gratitude for His unending mercy, His patience, His guidance, His wisdom?

May we never forget to express our thankfulness, and may we shout it from the rooftops for the rest of the class to hear!

With that, I boldly express my gratitude this Thanksgiving season...

• my HUSBAND
• my husband's family
• my family
• our family
• our jobs
• our affordable and adorable apartment
• our two working cars
• the opportunity to serve others
• our health
• good, restful sleep
  
• our opportunities to travel
• Thanksgiving Break
• God's faithfulness
• God's patience
• my husband's patience
• coffee
• friends who travel life with you so much they become family
• new beginnings
• date nights
• starting new traditions
• sunny days
• the gift of salvation through no work of our own

Looking forward to being with family this week. Lots and lots of family. I am blessed.

I miss blogging. I hope to return to you soon. There's so much to update!