changes

well, keith is going to town on his bathroom, it will look so different when he gets done, can't wait!

we are also going to take up the carpet in the living room and eventually getting new furniture for that room, again , can't wait!

we went and looked at counter tops for the kitchen, very nice new counters coming soon, again can't wait!

we are finally starting to put in the new windows, very exciting!!!

we are hoping to get the buffet and china cabinet that goes with mamaw's dining room table and chairs to elizabeth soon, just waiting for her to let us know whether to send it with her folks or if she will get it or we put it in storage until she can get it. it will give us some much needed room in the living room and the dining room. it's tough having your furniture and someone else's furniture too:)

i feel like we could be on flip this house, ha-ha

talkin' and walkin'

you can talk about being a christian all you want but if what you do in your life doesn't match up to your talk then there is a huge disconnect. what you say matters and what you do matters but how you live your life for Christ says more about you as a Christian than just mere words~

this was the explanation i gave for the quote "your talk talks and your walk talks but your walk talks louder than your talk talks"

labor day fun

we had a blast at lake allatoona with matt, tasha, and bj.
we had a fantastic picnic. oma had given me a picnic basket and i also have a neat backpack that has plates, cups, utensils, napkins and even a cheese board! i packed sandwich stuff, pickles, chips, homemade pound cake, cookies and other snacky stuff. we ate at the top of a hill overlooking the lake. we had that place all to ourselves, shady and cool.
we then walked a little way on a wide trail to a spit of land that jutted out into the lake and swam and sat around in our chairs and just had a relaxing time. keith and tasha read while the guys and i swam and skipped rocks.
we ended by going back to tasha and matt's where bj changed clothes and headed to work while we headed to dunkin' donuts and home.
it was one of those picture perfect days!

sad

it is always sad to sing or play for funerals but it is especially hard when it is for a friend. our friend max hughes died on friday after a relatively brief but severe illness. we just weren't ready for him to go. his story is one of amazing grace. linda, his wife, when she and max married would ask max to come to church with her or they could go where he wanted to go. in the meantime one of our deacons had been inviting max to come to our church. one sunday morning max asked linda if she meant what she said about going with him to church. she said yes and he said that he wanted to attend morganton.

what is amazing grace about this was that max had a very bad reputation. keith told me that he was the kind of person that people warned you to stay away from. his cousin spoke to me the other day and asked me how i knew max. i told her that he was a yolkfellow at our church. that he was a wonderful christian. she was surprised, to say the least! her comment to me was that she was glad he was in church! he was so much more than just a pew sitter.

the song i sang at the funeral was "when it's all been said and done" and basically it was about the fact that what really counts in this world is what we have done for Christ and that all our sins are forgiven when we trust Him. i thought that was appropos for max.

we will miss him but we will see him again and in the meantime i know he is enjoying being with his Lord.

nothin' much

well the summer has flown by as i knew it would. we have been busy all summer but have had some days just to kick back and rest.

we went to texas to see nathan, kayla and brenna bunny. my how she has grown. while we were there keith put together the swing set that sharon and dave bought for her. we saw their new home which is beautiful! so happy for them! bj got to go with us and spend a couple of days so we had fun. i think nathan was glad to see his big brother : )

matt and tasha have been doing ivf and we are all praying for them. tasha and i have been going to school for the last of our specialist degree. we have seen quite a bit of each other this summer, ha-ha. i absolutely could not have gotten through this without her. it has been a good experience for both of us but we sure are glad it is over!

bj has been very busy at work. big pie is a happening place, if you will excuse a throwback to the 70s~ they absolutely make the best pizzas and calzones in the world! it's always good to see beej when he has time off.

we got to go and see dad and mom this summer too. wish we could have stayed longer. we always have so much fun and relaxation when we go to virginia! wish it hadn't been so hot, we only got to sit on the deck one night. it was over 100 every day we were there, we thought we had gone to texas again, ha-ha! loved watching movies with them, what fun : ) we'll see them at christmas which if time flies like it did this summer will be here tomorrow, lol

we loved all the nice things we brought back! love my mom!!!!! we have used the pasta pot several times but funnily enough not for pasta, ha-ha since we brought back the larger glasses we haven't even used our everyday glasses, we love the new ones so much! i even took one to church sunday morning : ) love, love, love the coffee maker, it makes a really good cup of coffee and goes so well with my kitchen. like i told them, they have corrupted me. i have coffee at night now! lol can't wait to use the roaster.

it was so neat. today the mission team that's here this week is working next door and had to come use our bathroom b/c the lady whose house they are working on left and locked the door! they all said what a beautiful home we had. that is oma's influence. i try to have my house as nice as hers and daddy's. i think i'm getting there: )

in and amongst all of the traveling we have had all the normal activities at church. this is the first year i haven't done vbs in a loooong time. i forgot to mention that i had arthroscopic knee surgery in late june and had a cortisone shot in the joint at the base of my third finger on my right hand for trigger finger. that hurt more than the knee surgery! thankfully it seems to have done the trick. i'm still hobbling around from the knee surgery. matt calls me hop along, tee-hee. i was on complete bedrest for 3 days. i'm not normally one that takes lying around easily but i have to admit it was kind of nice to be "out of commission" for 3 days.

we leave with our youth group for missionfuge on monday. i'm so excited to see what god has in store for our group this year! we return home late, late, late friday night and then i have class on saturday. it is the very last class of this degree. nathan says i'm just putting off the inevitable doctorate. we'll see, but not now, i need a rest!

i guess the next post will be after school starts, it just doesn't seem possible. i still have so much i wanted to get done this summer. but, i guess we'll do it along and along, ha-ha

i did do one thing that i am proud of. thanks to kayla's inspiration i got busy and painted the trim in the bathroom by myself. i also painted a picture frame and am about to tackle the kitchen after we get back from missionfuge. thank you kayla!!!!

school's out for summer

it is so hard to believe that this year is over. i absolutely love teaching middle school. i knew that if i could just get there it would be where i was supposed to be.

i am blessed to be on such a wonderful team. and i am blessed to work at such a good school. it was a crazy year what with the weather and all. we had to make up 40 hours of work. that was a lot of time spent before and after school but i really do love snow days!

our efforts paid off this year, we saw some good crct scores. i also had the privilege of having many of my former students this year. for some of them it was my 3rd year with them. they wanted to know why i wasn't moving up with them to 7th grade, ha-ha. i think some of them thought i would just go right on through high school with them!

well, it was a good year but i am ready for summer break~

easter weekend

a wonderful easter weekend...

i took friday off b/c daddy and oma came down from virginia for easter and i had a dermatologist appointment. we left at 9 and got to ellijay for breakfast at, where else, starbucks. we got to the doctor's and waited of course. he took one place off for a biopsy and removed 2 other places.

we left from there and went to big pie in the sky for lunch and to see bj. we got home and saw daddy and oma. they rested up from their trip and then came to the house for supper. keith and i made steaks, baked potatoes, salad, corn, ciabatta bread, and homemade pound cake with strawberries and whipped cream for dessert. we also skyped with nathan and brenna so daddy could see why we want them to get a laptop with a webcam. it was fun to see their faces when they got to see and talk to brenna. matt will help them shop for a laptop at the end of april and set up skype and facebook for them. after daddy and oma left for the hotel keith and i stayed up, cleaned, and i made homemade blueberry muffins and egg, sausage, grits, cheese breakfast casserole for saturday brunch at matt and tasha's.

we got up early, for me on a saturday it was early, and met up with daddy and oma and went to matt and tasha's. they have done so many nice things to the house. they added curtains to the living room and guest bedroom. they put tile up around the top of the shower, got a round shower curtain for the front bathroom, put up some nice sayings on the walls in the living room, kitchen, and painted the deck and got some patio furniture and outdoor rug. they also worked on the landscape around the house, all in all, very pretty! we waited for bonnie and jim and jayden to get there. when they arrived we had my casserole, matt and tasha's cheesy grits, biscuits, muffins, fresh fruit, bacon, sausage, coffee, and juice, good eats!

after breakfast we hurried to matt and tasha's church for the easter egg hunt. they had 40,000 eggs for all the kids! they had different divisions, we'll post pictures of jayden soon "hunting" for eggs, quite cute : ) they also had a petting zoo, bouncy sets, about 6 of those, they also had a velcro climbing wall. tasha and i wondered if we could get one of those for our classroom! you will be still and learn because i am velcroing you to the wall today!! LOL

after that everybody sorta scattered. i went with bonnie and jim and jayden to bath and bodyworks, keith went to matt and tasha's to help put up a fan in their computer room, and daddy and oma went back to the hotel. bonnie and jim took me on home after shopping, keith went to the church to open it up and check on everything for the concert tonight. matt and tash got to the house and we met keith and oma and daddy at the restaurant for dinner at around 5:15. keith and matt and tasha and i left and got to church at 6:30 which is when the concert started! i literally ran in the back door jerked my jacket off, put my music on the piano as the band played the first opening measures of the first song we were doing and i jumped in! i don't know if i've ever cut it that short before, ha-ha

the concert raised $489 for the mission trip,ptl! well before dinner oma realized they were losing pressure in one of their tires and sure enough it was going flat. thankfully it stayed ok til they got to church and after the concert we took it to chad's, god bless that good man, who found the leak and repaired the tire. we then left and went and i showed them my classroom. we met up with matt and tasha at the motel so i could ride with them to the house b/c keith was having dinner with the watkins' family who performed tonight. we are fixing to go to bed because it has been a long but happy day.

tomorrow we have a wonderful service in the morning that i don't have to be to church early for! matt and tasha and bj spent the night tonight and we'll all go to church together in the morning but since the watkins' family is here i don't have to plan the music for tomorrow's service. all i have to do is play the prelude, offeratory and postlude for which i have practiced all week. after service tomorrow daddy is taking everybody to longhorn's and matt and tasha will go home from there as will daddy and oma.

a busy but wonderful easter!!

10 things that a teacher will never tell you

i've been reading these in reader's digest for the last couple of months so i thought i would create one of my own. so here goes: 10 things teachers would like you to know-

1. most of the time the problem is not the student but the parent!

2. all teachers have their favorite students but the great teacher will never let anyone, especially the students, know who they are.

3. i love my job, which is teaching.

4. i hate all the other stuff i have to do, paperwork, meetings, etc.

5. never met a teacher yet who thought "the test" measured anything that the students actually learned while they were on her/his watch.

6. administrators need to know that we need some specific praise just like the kids do.

7. when we are out on break we are just as excited about missing school as the kids are : )

8. we cry over our kids b/c we love them.

9. we spend our own money not only for class supplies but to buy girl scout cookies, be a sponser for a student in a beauty pageant, buy a student paper, pencil, dictionaries and any other supplies they need, and the list goes on.

10. we are mom, dad, grandma, nurse, counselor, confidant all rolled into one.

offeratory disaster

oh my what a mess! this morning i had put my music for the lord's supper on the piano out of the way b/c i was sharing the piano this morning. i had also put my offeratory music on the shelf that is beside the piano. now i have 3 books plus the song book i'm playing from for the first song of the morning worship at the piano.

well, we sing the first set and the second set where the band played this morning, which was awesome btw! then as the prayer is being said before the offering is taken up, i pick up my music that i'm going to play for offeratory at the end of the prayer. i pick up one book open it to the first page and it's not the right song so i'm thinking, ok, i just picked up the wrong book. both of the piano books remember are on the piano. i pick up the other book, open it to the first song, it's not the right piano piece either!! so now i'm thinking i just have the wrong page. at this point the prayer is winding down! i frantically begin to search the book in my hands for the song! it's not there. i pick up the other book and search... nada! now i'm really in a panic! the deacon says amen and i got nothin'!!

i tell keith to say something, anything! my drummer looks at me and i tell him i can't find my music, he looks on the roland to see if i left it there when i played with the band, nope! so as keith is talking i begin to look for something else to play. i find, here i am to worship. i'm thinking, ok, i've played this at home, i know this one. NOOOOOOOO! WRONG VERSION! but now i'm already into the piece and realize i have never played this version in my life!!!

it sounded like something the cat would play with his paws. it was awful! anyway, i struggle through, humiliated. when i sit down and keith starts to preach i begin to go through the 2 books ( remember i said i had 3?) i thought my piece was in. it is no where to be found so now i'm thinking i have lost my mind or have had a blackout and we need to get to the emergency room for a ct scan of my brain!

when church is over and i'm gathering up my stuff i look over on the shelf beside the piano and what do i see? there is my music with my piece in it.

i will play this piece for church tonight, lol!

50 questions

50 of the most random things you probably never needed to know about someone. REPOST WITH YOUR ANSWERS

1. whats your name spelled backwards? arbeD nnA yngiveS senoJ

2. What did you do last night? watched it snow! had a paninni for supper, watched a little bit of a movie

3. The last thing you downloaded onto your computer? pictures

4. Have you ever licked a 9 volt battery? No. duh!

5. Last time you swam in a pool? last summer

6. What are you wearing? houseshoes, sweatpants, sweatshirt, socks

7. How many cars have you owned? Personally owned 1, every other car has been owned with my hubby : )

8. Type of music you dislike most? ANY southern gospel or country

9. Are you registered to vote? Yes, since 1971

10. Do you have cable? Yes

11. What kind of computer do you use? laptop hp, at school pc acer

12. Ever made a prank phone call? yep

13. You like anyone right now? my husband : )

14. Would you go bungee jumping or sky diving? skydiving if i had the chance

15. Furthest place you ever traveled? france and england

16.Do you have a garden? Yes, several flower gardens, vegetable & flower patches

17. What's your favorite comic strip? pearls before swine and zits

18. Do you know all the words to the national anthem? Yes

19. Shower, morning or night? never in the morning, yuck! bath or shower at night

20. Best movie you've seen in the past month? haven't been this month
21. Favorite pizza toppings?white pizza with extra cheese

22. Chips or popcorn? chips, fritoes to be exact : )

23. What cell phone provider do you have? ATT

24. Have you ever smoked peanut shells? uh, no

25. Have you ever been in a beauty pageant? Nope

26. Orange Juice or apple? OJ.

27. Who were the last people you sat at lunch with? - or + 116 6th graders

28. What is your favorite chocolate bar? it's not a chocolate bar, it's mercier's truffles, champagne or grande marnier

29. Who is your longest friend and how long? mr. b

30. Last time you ate a homegrown tomato? If you count canned, in the last week. Raw on a sandwich, middle of last fall.

31. Have you ever won a trophy? yes, teacher of the year

32.Favorite artist? monet

33. Favorite computer game? word drop or any word game

34. Ever ordered from an infomercial? No.

35. Sprite or 7-UP? Usually Sprite

36. Have you ever had to wear a uniform to school/work? Yes. Not school, but work.

37. Last thing you bought at Walgreens? Rented a movie from the Red Box outside.

38. Ever thrown up in public? Yes, don't need to detail, ha-ha

39. Would you prefer being a millionaire or finding true love? I found my true love. Definitely superior to being a millionaire, or even billionaire.

40. Do you believe in love at first sight? yes, i'm living proof : )

41.Can exes just be friends? i think so

42. Who was the last person you visited in the hospital? heather

43. Did you have long hair as a young kid? yes

44. What message is on your voicemail machine? the one that i keep forgetting to change!

45. Where would you like to go right now? virginia to see my daddy

46. What was the name of your first pet? of all things, a dog named fluffy seeing as how i am a cat person

47. What kind of back pack do you have, and what's in it? black satchel; pens, pencils, notebook, book for school

48. Last incoming/outgoing call on your phone? incoming, oma and daddy, outgoing, jim to talk to bonnie

49. What is one thing you are grateful for today? too many to name, i am one blessed woman!

50. What do you think about most? keith, family and work, always work....

BONUS Question added by EKJ: What's your favorite hobby or similar activity? reading, cleaning ( although my family says it's an obsession), cooking, playing piano with new music

snow days

snow days! most people up here don't like them but when you are from the deep south like i am, i can't get enough of them! i had never even heard of such a thing as a snow day until i went to college. i love them and nobody will make me change my mind, ha-ha!

i will watch movies tonight, sleep late in the morning, linger over breakfast and have a second or third cup of coffee in my pajamas. the house is already clean so tomorrow is a treat : )

LOVE ME SOME SNOW DAYS!