Long Time No Blog

So, I hesitated to start a blog, because I really didn't want to be one of those people who starts and blog, writes for a while, then just stops....and that's just what I did, but only for a few weeks and I've still been reading all of your blogs faithfully:)

Here's what we've been up to the past few weeks:

*HUGE highlight for Keith--he got to go the NCAA Final Four basketball games in San Antonio and cheer on the Memphis Tigers with his dad. This was such a dream come true for Keith. His favorite team made it to the final four, which just happened to be within driving distance! He LOVED every minute of it--except when the Tigers wimped out and lost the championship game in overtime:( I really need to get pictures of this from my sweet FIL!

*Having a slumber party with my parents while Keith was at the Final Four.

*Hanging out with good friends: Lauren and Nick, Whitney, Kina....too bad I didn't take pictures of any of these lovely people:(

*Playing putt putt! Abilene has a new place called Primetime and it's so cool...it's got putt putt, bowling, go carts, and video games and rumor has it they may even add a waterpark and resort...in Abilene? you ask....and the answer is yes, we just get cooler all the time;)

*Hanging out and working out with my sister.

*Watching great television like The Biggest Loser, American Idol, and The Office. Grey's comes back this week as a birthday present to me:) YAY!

*Seriously pondering for the first time in five years if teaching first grade is really the job for me since I cannot get my crazy kids to stop talking for more than two minutes.

*Visiting the home of one of my students and having my eyes open to the reality of her little life.

*Wondering and hoping that the time I spend with these sweet children each day is enough to make a positive difference in their lives.

*Going to school, getting lots of big hugs, sweet pictures, and kind words reminding me that teaching first grade is the perfect job for me, even if they make me crazy and want to pull my hair out sometimes:)

*Working on the t-shirt quilt.

*Jury Duty: This was a first for me, but they ended up settling without a jury, so it didn't get too dramatic!

*Getting out of jury duty early this morning and going to Walmart at 10:00 am. This was seriously wonderful. The best Walmart experience of my life. No one was there, but it wasn't like when I go at midnight to avoid the crowd and am surrounded by stockers either...just calm and wonderful:)

*Booking a condo in Gulf Shores, Alabama for a VACATION this summer. We are so excited to celebrate Keith's graduation and almost five years of marriage! The condo looks fabulous, the beach looks gorgeous, and there is a lot of fun stuff to do there like playing in the waves, fishing, dolphin and alligator watching, outlet malls, playing games, watching movies, and going on dates!! I'm ready to go right now!!!

*Counting down til Keith graduates. Only 18 days and one paper to go!

Spring Break 2008

We had a wonderful spring break! We had a good combination of playing and relaxing, with a few chores mixed in here and there.

We got to go visit Jacquie, Spruce, and precious Lynlee for a few days. We had a great time hanging out, talking, playing games, eating lots of good food, visiting their church, going to a church picnic, painting pottery (Keith, Spruce, and Lynlee didn't participate in that:)), and playing with sweet Lynlee! She is growing and learning so much! Jacquie and Spruce are wonderful parents!

When we came home I cleaned out our closets, packed up sweaters and unpacked tanks tops and bermuda shorts!!!! I'm excited that spring is here! I made a pretty decent sized stack of stuff to get rid of and am considering having a garage sale when school is out. I also pulled out all of Keith's college t-shirts so that I can make him a t-shirt quilt for graduation! (This will be a new project for me, and I have no clue what I'm doing, but I've already had tutorial number one with my mom, since she's already make one for my sister and I both!)

I spent a lot of time hanging out in my pj's with the kids from Tree Hill High and the girls from the sisterhood of the traveling pants...I'm sure the target audience for this TV show and book series is MUCH younger than me, but that's okay, I had fun anyway:)

Then, I got to hang out with my sweet sister-in-law, Laura. We had fun getting pedicures (umm...it really doesn't get any better than a good foot massage for me:)), playing at Target, and visiting PYOP (Paint Your Own Pottery). We didn't have time to paint, but we are most definitely going back...it is SUCH a cool place--yay Abilene for having a cool place like that:) Laura is lots of fun and we enjoyed doing girly stuff together!

I did other exciting stuff like getting my hair cut and going to the dentist...and yes, I have two cavities:(

Then, our sweet friends Mark and Tara came to visit. We always have fun spending time with them and enjoy a yummy Q basket at Harold's!

Sunday was a happy Easter for us with worship at Highland and family get-together with sammies and an egg hunt at my parent's house.

two words: SPRING BREAK!!!!

I am thankful for my Mama and Daddy! They are wonderful! They have always been loving, supportive, and encouraging! On Monday they will celebrate 29 years of marriage. They love each other, take care of each other, and have fun spending time together. Their marriage has been a great example to Keith and I for the past 4.3 years! Thank y'all for all that you mean to us! We love you and hope you have a happy anniversary!

Funny...anyone who knows my dad knows how much he hates wearing ties, and I just realized that I chose three tie pics and it wasn't on purpose:)

Maryneal

Today we said goodbye to our sweet church family in Maryneal. Maryneal is a small community about an hour from Abilene. Keith has had the opportunity to preach there for the past two and a half years. Keith preached his last sermon, we had a yummy potluck meal together, enjoyed a time of singing, and then Keith "handed the reins" to Ben, a new graduate student who is going to take over the preaching at Maryneal.

During our time at Maryneal we have been so blessed by these sweet people. They have loved us, welcomed us in their homes, encouraged us, been patient with us, laughed with us, and fed us lots of great meals. They've allowed Keith to practice and grow as a preacher and have helped us learn how to minister together. We've gotten to know them really well, since there are only about 25 members. After church, each Sunday afternoon, one of the families invites us into their home to have lunch and spend the afternoon together. We have thoroughly enjoyed this time with each of the families. They are wonderful cooks and have fed us well. They've shared lots of recipes and cooking tips with me! After lunch, we've enjoyed visiting, playing games, watching ballgames, doing crafts, grading papers, and taking naps. Then, we go back to church for the evening bible study and worship.

Today, we appreciated being able to have a time of transition as we're leaving and Ben is taking over. Everyone was really sweet and encouraging. We got lots of good hugs! We will miss them so much, but we're excited that someone else will have the opportunities that we've had. They let me have the quilt that I bundled up with every Sunday morning as a memento. They have a basket of quilts for cold-natured people to use during church--such a great idea in my opinion and something I will miss for sure!

We will always treasure the friendships that we've formed and the things that we've learned while we've been a part of this sweet church family.

I'm thankful for SNOW!!! Twice in one week--woohoo!! It has been sooo pretty and so much fun to get excited about it and with my students...we even had a snow ball fight at school...is that allowed;)

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

"I would not could not in a box. I would not could not with a fox." You gotta love Dr. Seuss! He wrote and illustrated 44 books for children. He wrote fun books specifically for beginning readers during a time when all most children could read were the Dick and Jane books, and although these books are nostalgic for a lot of people,"See Spot run." isn't exactly a page turner:). Did you know that Green Eggs and Ham only has 50 words and that all but one of those words has only one syllable? If he were alive today, he would be 104. My class and I had a great time celebrating on Friday! I know you're all jealous of our yummy brunch:) My favorite Dr. Seuss book is Horton Hatches the Egg. I have a hard time not crying when I read it:) Do you have a favorite?