Thank you Thanksgiving Break!

Well, today I started Thanksgiving break and it has started out just wonderful! Unfortunately, this was my last night with Brett before he goes home for a few days but we definitely had a fun night together. Go ahead and get out the wine cause it's about to get cheesy. We got up on the roof of my house to star gaze. Haha. Cheesy? Yes. Do we do this often? Absolutely not. So is it okay? Well, I think so.

It was a bit cloudy but a beautiful moon!

Sweet boy set it all up for us!

Such a fun last night together!

What a lovely evening! I am also anxiously awaiting the arrival of Eric, Lindsey, and Virginia!! Ahh....I cannot wait to squeeze that little girl and take a million pictures of her!

Hopefully we will have more blogging over the next couple of days!

I hope your Thanksgiving break is starting out as great as mine!

Being Shaped...

Sorry for the lack of blogging. Can I just say that through my crazy, busy schedule, my tiredness, and the times I feel completely unfaithful to the Lord, He is so good. He always knows exactly what I need and He fulfills every single need. I am so undeserving. The past couple of weeks have been so busy and it is only about to get crazier. I begin my 20 solo days of student teaching this next week and I am so excited and slightly nervous. Not so nervous about the teaching part....just about how busy I will be. Anyways, God has really used student teaching to show me about my prayer life and how He answers prayer in His perfect timing. I am thankful that He hears me and answers me.

I have been studying through the book of Isaiah. It has been challenging and frustrating because Isaiah is a bit of a tough book to study all the way through....at least it has been for me. But, this week as I have worked through Isaiah 6 I have been so encouraged. One of the questions that was asked in my study was....."What are the words that you are speaking saying about your heart?" (something like that) They referenced the verse that says, "Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks..." This question was hard to answer. Honestly, over the past couple of weeks I have complained, whined, judgmental, torn myself down, and been discontent. It's amazing. My mouth gets me in trouble so often. Ultimately, what I say comes from the fact that I am not being fulfilled my Christ and not allowing Him to meet my needs. It has been convicting but sweet to see how God continues to mold me and teach me new things. Here is the first part of Isaiah that I have just found so encouraging.

"I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above hi were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.' At the sound of their voices the doorposts of the thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. 'Woe to me!' I cried. 'I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty!' Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, 'See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.' Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?' And I said, 'Here am I. Send me!' -Isaiah 6:1-8

Well, not much else going on. I will have a busy, busy weekend trying to prepare lesson plans and activities for the next couple of weeks. Pray for me over the next four weeks when you think about it! Hope all is well! Thanks for reading my ramblings!

Weekend Rambling...

Saturday night.....done with lesson plans....watching Alabama dominate. It's all good. Weekends are so nice...I mean really they are. This weekend is even better because guess who is here.....

Hello sweet girl! She is cheering on the Tide upstairs in her bed right now! It has been so nice to relax with family this weekend.

A few things I am loving right now......

1.) The weather.. It is so perfect!

2.) This book...I seriously cannot put it down!

It is so encouraging.

3.) All of the many fall decorations in our house. Thanks mom!

Seriously...I can't wait to get married one day and have my own house but my

mom makes our house so nice to come home to!

4.) Running.... Well, this is a love/hate thing but the weather makes it nice!

5.) The fact that it is OCTOBER! Mmm....

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

I've Got Sunshine....

Ahh....Wednesday....I love you.

This will be short and sweet but let me just tell you what can make a bad day better. When I am tired because I have been with 15 first graders.....When I am tired because I have not gotten near enough sleep....When things are tough because I have had to tell the same first grader the same thing over and over and over and over and over and over (not exaggerating) again....

The things that can make it all better are.......

When they finally get what I have been trying to teach them....When they run up to me in the morning dying to give me a hug....When they all try to grab my hand on the way to lunch or P.E. and at the end of the day when I look down as we are sitting at carpool and I hear the cutest, little boy who happens to be missing his two front teeth belting out....."I've got sunshine on a cloudy day! When it's cold outside, I got the month of May!"

Yeah.....it's the best.

two. days. till. the. weekend.

:)

Ah....Weekends

So even if you are an Auburn fan you will think this child is precious.....

Look how adorable....

I love this girl and can't wait to see her in 2 weeks! :)

A short update one me: This week was tough. I mean....tough. I think I cried at some point every single day. I can't really explain it but all I can say is, the Lord is good and encouraging. I am thankful for all that I am learning through student teaching and the good times and bad times..... Yesterday morning I received three baskets full of "teacher stuff" for my classroom. Back in the spring I received a scholarship from Alpha Delta Kappa. As if the scholarship wasn't enough of a blessing, they brought me baskets of fun things! I got crayons, markers, staplers, books, hand sanitizer, tape, sharpies, dry erase markers, enough paper to last me a while, and a million other little things. I could not be more grateful and while to most people this doesn't sound so special...for a teacher....it was like Christmas morning. It was just what I needed after a not-so-fun week.

I hope your weekend was more exciting than mine. I am thankful for rest though.

P.S. South Alabama beat their first D1 team.....Just saying. Bleed It Red!

Oh and Roll Tide!! (sorry Duke....)

Fall? Is that you?

Well, it certainly felt a bit like fall this weekend. I'm not sure if it was the football or the fact that there was little humidity in the air making it feel a little cooler but either way I liked it. It was actually a pretty relaxing weekend. I did have to do lesson plans and it took me a few minutes to get back in the mode of doing those loooooooong lesson plans that we are required to do. Other than that, it was a fun weekend. Brett's parents came into town. We rested and watched football. All. Weekend. I mean....I understand watching your team play but is it really necessary to watch most of every single game that is on? In Brett's mind it is. Oh well. We did head out to see the best team ever remain undefeated. Seriously....eat that Auburn and Alabama. Jk. I'm an Alabama fan but I go to South and must represent. It was a beautiful day for football!

Love him.

We got to hang out with this lovely engaged couple. Ballin. OH, and South dominated. It was a nail-biter at a final score of 56-0. Hey, we may not have met our competition yet but we are still undefeated. Studly.

I love this time of year. No, I'm not a huge fan of the fact that weekends mean non-stop football....but I still like it. Student teaching is going well. I will say, it has been a rough couple of weeks for me. I have felt like I am in such a weird place. I am basically working a full-time job but not getting paid so I'm not really in college. haha. I'm tired....a lot. However, I see the Lord continue to reveal how faithful He is. Oh, and how much I suck sometimes. He is so good. He has given me such a love for teaching and continues to bless me in ways I can't even explain. Life is weird but so good. I pray that I would be a woman who seeks His face first daily and one who truly radiates His love and grace. Sorry for the random blabs.

P.S. How awesome are 4 day work weeks? Yeah. Fab.

Have a good one!

Growing Up

This will be short and sweet. Hopefully I will have more exciting posts this weekend but I thought I'd check in. Student teaching is in full swing. I wake up at 5:15, spend 7-9 hours at my school, come home, maybe run, eat dinner, and am ready for bed by 8:30 at the latest. I seriously love it but boy oh boy....I miss my college class schedule. Oh, and I miss living on campus. I truly love South Alabama. Never thought I would say it but I do.

I have felt like I am in a very "in-between" place lately. It's not the most fun but I know the Lord has something great to teach me and show me. Unfortunately, I fail and do not trust Him as often as I should. Silly me.

Well, it is 7:50.....I'm thinking of bed. Old lady anyone? :)

P.S. Yes for a 3 day weekend! Maybe you'll even get a post with a picture. Wouldn't that be something? :)

This Weekend

After spending time with Eric, Linds, and Virginia it was time to head home to Mobile. I had so much fun with them but was happy to be getting back. I had a special guy follow me home on Saturday and it was so so good to see him. I swear....three weeks is a long time! We spent Saturday afternoon being lazy and playing in the pool.

Sunday was my 22nd birthday. Not feeling too much older although 22 sounds a bit old to me. I suppose it is because there will be lots of changes that this next year will bring. Anyways, I am thankful for another year and I hope and pray I will be able to look back this time next year and say that I am closer to the Lord than I was. With all that said, the birthday was a success. I received a new mac from my parents. I was shocked. Yes, I had been needing a new computer but totally wasn't expecting to get it yesterday! Thanks mom and dad! And......from the best boyfriend ever.....Carrie Underwood tickets! I was pretty much shocked about that too. How unexpected! He is too good to me! October 23rd cannot get here soon enough!! Thanks love! So I spent the day with family and it was so nice. Perfect day.

This post is short and sweet and without photos. My apologies. I will be back with my book for July which I can hopefully write about before Thursday. This week is busy. I go and meet my teacher I will be student teaching for on Wednesday and that night we are heading to Atlanta and then to CHICAGO on THURSDAY! I am so excited!

Happy Monday Everyone!

Fairhope Tradtion.....Take 4

During our freshman year of college I met a new friend. Well, Julie and I were already friends and then Julie met Sarah and they became roommates. Sarah, Julie, and I pretty much instantly clicked. During that year we started some pretty great traditions. Among our traditions was a trip to Fairhope the weekend before spring semester finals. We would go and get dinner at Gambinos and then head to the Fairhope pier and take pictures. We kept this tradition up.....until this year. They were graduating and I was heading to Africa so somehow....we just didn't have time!

Well, Sarah has decided to move back to the place she called home for 11 years, Kazakhstan. So clearly this means we will not be together for a very long time. Sarah is going to teach 2nd grade at a school there which is so incredibly exciting. Those kids are getting an amazing teacher! The plan is for her to be there for 1 year which is sad but I love it because Sarah is so confident that this is where the Lord has her. I am excited for her! With that said, we got to spend the last weekend together. All three of us spent the night together on Friday night and on Saturday our Fairhope tradition continued for the final time.

We had a lot of fun but it was definitely our most interesting night in Fairhope. We headed over and we were so excited about Gambinos. Unfortunately......when we arrived, we discovered that it was changed. There was a whole new name and we were not happy. Haha. We drove around for about 20 minutes and then finally decided to give this old place with a new name a try. It was basically the same! After dinner we headed to the pier to see the sunset. It has been beautiful every year.....BUT........not this year. It was still a pretty night but unfortunately, no sunset. It was just too cloudy. Strike 2. :) After taking a walk, taking pictures, and getting in the fountain, it was time to head home. Then Sarah says, "Oh my gosh. I don't have my keys." Strike 3. Luckily, she knew they were in the car and I had AAA. After about 45 minutes of waiting and singing every disney song imaginable.....he arrived and helped us open her car. Victory. We were on our way.

The night was so much fun. These two girls have been such huge blessings in my life. The year that we lived together was one of my most fun and memorable college years. We all had so much fun together and I know we learned a lot. Then I had the privilege to live with Sarah again. Those two years were filled with so much joy, some tears, good times, hard times, singing and dancing, a lot of learning, TONS of LAUGHS, and million memories that I wouldn't trade for the world. Luckily, Jules isn't leaving me yet! I love you girls so so much!

Here is a picture from each year of our little tradition. I'd like to think we grew up a little but I don't think I've changed much! :)

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Year 4

Recovery, Resting, and a Recipe

Well, the last week has been nice. After surgery I had lots of time to rest which was great and also frustrating. I don't sit for days at a time very well but I was pretty sore so I was a little more content to do so. I am feeling much better and hoping to even get to play some tennis tomorrow night!

On Thursday I finally felt like getting out a little bit and I guess there is something about sitting and not doing anything for several days that made me have an itch to get back in the kitchen. So...I pretty much cooked dinner on Thursday...Pork chops, mashed potatoes, and english peas. Yum.. Oh, and for dessert.....my mom found a recipe for Ice Cream Sunday 4 Layer Chocolate Cake. Love it. I thought I'd share the recipe because it was oh so good.

You'll need:

-1 box of Devils Food Cake Mix

-1 Small box of instant chocolate pudding mix

-4 eggs

-1/2 cup water

-1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil

-1 heaping cup of vanilla ice cream (or any flavor you choose)

-1/4 cup hot fudge sauce

-Chocolate frosting of choice

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place cake mix, pudding, eggs, water, oil, ice cream and hot fudge sauce into an electric mixer. Beat on low then medium for about 1 minute 30 seconds or until well combined and thick. Divide evenly into 4 (9 inch) cake pans that have been generously sprayed with cooking spray. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until toothpick comes mostly clean from center. Let cool completely, loosen sides with a plastic knife then remove from pans. Place bottom layer onto a cake stand, spread with your favorite chocolate frosting....repeat until 3 layers are frosted leaving the 4th layer on top. Frost the remaining top sides of cake with frosting. You can also use a vegetable peeler and peel a chocolate bar to get curls and then place the curls on the side. I used chocolate chips because I didn't have a chocolate bar to make curls with and it was great! Enjoy!! It is delicious but crazy rich!

Hope your weekend was good to you!