A Little of This and a Little of That

I have so many things I've been wanting to blog about lately, but it's the first week of school.  I'm either being a busy bee or sleeping soundly.

I didn't have my room completely finished and ready to go until Saturday night.  I am so pleased with how it turned out.  I strongly believe that your classroom should be an enjoyable place.  Not only for students, but we teachers spend quite a bit of time there.  I want it to be a happy place.  If you are interested in seeing my room you can check it out over at my teaching blog.

Not only is this the first week of school which is always crazy busy and chaotic, but I somehow added to the craziness of it all.  My friend and I are planning on taking another big trip this year with students.  We are going to California this year and couldn't be more excited.  This means we have hit the ground running with fundraisers.  That means a dance Friday night.

On top of it all, the hubby has been gone since Friday.  Though he doesn't really "do" anything, I miss not having him here my first week of school.  He is my biggest supporter and it's hard when he is gone.

We are going to have a very exciting weekend when he comes home.  Saturday we are driving a couple hours north to adopt a new puppy.  We will have a little boy again.  This is our sweet boy.

Sweet boy is tiny.  He is around 6 weeks old and weighs about 5 pounds.  We are not sure about a name yet.  We are those people who want to meet him and spend some time with him first.  His current name happens to start with an L.  We know for sure that he will be an LB!  I cannot wait to go pick him up and love on him.

Switching back to school...I am LOVING teaching English.  I almost feel sorry for my students because I am so stinkin' excited about it.  I had the best time today reading with them and talking about books.  When I stop and remember that I get paid to do that I tear up.  God has truly blessed me with my dream job.

I have a student who is already trying to convince me to read Harry Potter.  He is so stinkin' sweet, it makes me want to read it.  It might be next on my reading list after I finish the series I'm currently working on.

I had my first manicure last week before school started.  I did regular nail polish the first go around.

Though I loved them, the polish didn't last long at all before it was chipping off.  It was driving me crazy so I went back and tried shellac.

Can you tell I'm obsessed with the fad of having a "different" finger.  Love the pink shellac.  It is holding up really well.  And the best part is that I have stopped biting my nails.  Yay!!


Happy Wednesday!

Game Day!

I try very hard to enjoy the current season and to not wish it away.  The crazy high temperatures this summer haven't really bothered me because I've had the blessing of enjoying the AC indoors all summer.  I haven't had to be out in the heat.

Lately though I've been dreaming of fall.  The husband called the other day to let me know he bought us tickets to the two Razorback games in LR.  I was so stinkin' excited.  I ask for tickets every year, but this is the first year he has bought them.  I couldn't believe it.  I asked him if he was serious about ten times before I finally believed him.

I instantly started planning my Game Day outfits.  It's very important.  Normally I'm a t-shirt and jeans kind of girl.  I don't know how those girls stand wearing cute dress shoes for the entire game.  But this year I want to be all girly.  I'm going to try it the first game and see how it goes.  I may be back to tshirt and jeans for the second game. :)  So far I have found several things that I LOVE, but none that I can afford.  Who knew Game Day dresses were so expensive.

Between the excitement of the first football game being right around the corner and my new Carrot Cake scent in the scentsy, I am ready for fall.  Bring on the crisp weather and boots!

He Never Lets Go

The first text came last night.  Someone was praying for me this week.

The second text came today.  Someone was praying for me.

Nothing serious is going on.  Haven't shared any big prayer request with anyone lately.

Worry sank in.  Why did people need to pray.  Was a big test or some sort of hardship on the way?

Driving home from work a song came on the radio.  It was a song that is very familiar.  Not a new song.  Have heard it many times.  Have sang it many times.

Oh no, You never let go

Through the calm and through the storm

Oh no, You never let go

In every high and every low

Oh no, You never let go

Lord, You never let go of me

There in the car on the way home, I just broke down.  God used that song today to remind me that He is with me.  In the highs, in the lows.  In every day life, God is with me.

When things are going good and I'm living my everyday mundane life, I sometimes forget that God is in even that.

Today I was reminded of how much He loves me.  Of how much He care about me. Of how much He gave up for me.

No matter how far or fast I try to run sometimes.  No matter how much kicking or screaming I do.  God never lets go.  He never stops loving me.

And He never stops loving you.  There is nothing you can do to earn that love.  There is nothing you can do to stop that love.  God loves you because God is LOVE.  He gave his only son to die a painful and humiliating death for YOU and for ME.

That is so powerful.

I once heard in a Bible study that the gospel is just as much for Christians as it is for sinners.  I need to remember where and what God saved me from.  I need to remember that I need God's love, mercy, and grace just as much today as I did then.

Thankful that He NEVER lets go!!

Susie Homemaker

Okay so I probably don't qualify as a Susie Homemaker quite yet, but we're moving in the right direction here at the Weaver house.

Something I didn't mention about my trip to Virginia was the huge blessing that I came home to.  Liberty has been having some issues with her paw, so the husband took her to the vet right after I left on my trip.  It was nothing serious but she was on some type of medicine that she had to take 3 times a day for a week.  AKA -- Big Pain.  The husband ended up having to leave on a business trip the next day leaving our sweet sister & nephews to take care of Lib for us.  I cannot tell you how much I appreciate them going over three times a day to feed her, let her to use the bathroom, and give her the meds.  Huge blessing to have family that are willing to help out like that.

But that's not the blessing I'm talking about.  While she was here, Joy Beth cleaned our house.  I'm sure she couldn't stand to go anywhere near it as it was pretty gross. :)

I had asked the husband to please clean up before he left because I knew people would have to come over to take care of Lib.  When I asked if he had cleaned, his answer was "kinda".

The first thing I noticed when I got home was the kitchen.  I thought, man he did a good job for "kinda".  Then I noticed our floors were all shiny and clean.  I knew it was Joy Beth when I saw that even the baseboards were clean!! :)

I immediately text her and asked if she had cleaned.  She just wanted to be a blessing for us.  And she SO was.  I cried all day that day as I looked around my newly cleaned home.  I was and still am so thankful that she did that for us.

It presented the perfect time to find a cleaning schedule and stick to it.  I found three or four on pinterest and merged them into a schedule that fit our house.  30 minutes a day Monday - Friday.  I can handle that.

My sweet husband helped me tonight.  He actually started on tomorrow's list while I did today's list.  Pray we can keep this up.  We do not like cleaning.

I've decided this is both the easiest and hardest time to clean.  It's easy because things are clean and it doesn't take long.  It's hard because I look around and think it is already clean so why should I clean it. Ha!!

So far we are two days in and it really isn't that bad.  We'll see how I do once I'm back at work in a few weeks.

Family in Virginia

Last week I had the opportunity to travel to Virginia with my Mommom, Aunt Tammy, and cousin, Shawna.  My older cousin, Adam, recently received custody of his two kids.  They haven't been in our lives very much and have been burdened with a very hard life.  Our trip allowed us to spend some time with them.  It was the first time I had ever met his daughter, Cierra.

We took our time getting there.  We left early Wednesday morning and drove to Knoxville, TN with A LOT of shopping a long the way.  We stumbled upon an outlet mall where we spent a couple hours and lots of money.

Mommom & me

We finally made it to Virginia late Thursday night and stayed until Sunday afternoon when we started heading home.  We finished the trip off Monday.  It all went pretty smooth until we were just east of Memphis.  The interstate was closed and we had to take a detour which involved us sitting still for an hour.  That put a little behind.  It was almost 1 AM when we got back to my grandmother's house.  I drove 20 minutes to my mom and dad's and crashed on their couch for the night.  I knew I didn't need to drive home that late.

While we were in Virginia, we enjoyed some yummy yogurt while out shopping.

We celebrated Kyle & Cierra's birthdays.  They were so sweet.  I've never seen such appreciative kids.  After every gift, they would get up and hug the person that gave the gift and tell them thank you.  Precious!!

A few family pictures....

I am so thankful for this time that God gave me with my family.  I was already missing Kyle & Cierra Sunday night after we left.  They are so sweet and well adjusted, especially for what they've been through.  It's hard when I don't know when I might see them again.

The time with Shawna was so special to me.  I've never really got to hang out with her to the extent that I did on this trip.  She is absolutely hilarious!! She made us laugh so hard.

There was a lot of laughter on this trip.  We would get back to our hotel each night pretty late and it was like a slumber party every night.  We would lay in bed and just giggle like four little girls.

I almost didn't go on this trip because of the time it meant I couldn't work on stuff for school.  I am so glad I decided to go.  All that stuff is still here waiting to be done and now I have these wonderful memories of time spent with family.