Thankful Thursday

Wow!  That week went by so fast.

And to be honest I'm glad it is over.

 December 25th through February 13th is always such a roller coaster for me.  So many memories, so much happiness, and so much sadness fill those weeks.  

I am filled with relief and thanksgiving when I make it past February 13.  I feel like I can be normal again.  I'm sure Andrew is thankful for that too.  LOL.

The first chapter of my research paper was due Friday.  This semester has actually felt like I am in grad school.  That stinkin' research paper is kinda stressin' me out.  I'm thankful to have that first chapter behind me.  I feel like it has helped me start to figure out what I'm doing.

And I'm presenting for the first time ever at a conference next week.  I'm starting to feel a little better about that.  I am so thankful for all the people who have told me I'm going to do awesome.  That encouragement has been a huge blessing.

So yeah...I feel like everything hit all at once and I'm thankful to be coming out on the other side of this past week.

Speaking of presenting next week...

I have to bring my own projector and all the technology things.  This has me a bit nervous and I'm terrified that I will blank out and forget how to hook something up.

I borrowed a projector from school and Tuesday night Andrew gave me projector lessons.

I am so thankful he knows all about this stuff and is willing to help me.

He has been a huge encouragement when it comes to this presenting thing.

You can translate that as he hasn't let me cancel my plans to present.

Because there has been more than one occasion where I wanted to chicken out.

And on a totally different note...

The thing I'm most thankful for this week is a better than expected surgery outcome for my Daddy.

He had surgery on his left shoulder Monday.  

His shoulder was not as bad as they originally thought.  Surgery was pretty quick and recovery should be less painful than originally anticipated.

He is doing well and for that I praise God.

Be sure to hope over to Miranda's blog and read her post as well. :)

Life Lately

I looked at my calendar yesterday morning only to realize it is already the last week of January.  Crazy!  Where did the month go?

Last week Andrew had to travel to Oklahoma City for work.  Thankfully he only had to be gone one night.  I took advantage of it and had dinner with my Momma and Mommom.  Fun girls night out in the middle of the week.

I also got a little crazy while he was gone preparing for the 100th day of school which was last Thursday.  I made a little treat for each of my students.

It took a little bit of time to put EIGHTY of these things together.

Even with the extra help.

We spent this past weekend in PRIDE (foster/adoption) training.  I wasn't exactly excited about spending 14 hours of my weekend in training, but I really enjoyed it.  The time flew by.  There are three other couples in our class.  Two of us are pursuing adoption and the other two couples plan to foster.  The couples are all so sweet and friendly.  We spent two days getting to know each other.  We laughed together and cried together.  

We had a different teacher each day.  They were both volunteers for The Call and did a fabulous job.  

Throughout the two days we talked quite a bit about permanence and how kids need to feel some permanence in their lives.  Sometimes when a child enters foster care it is very sudden.  They lose all sense of permanence.  Their plans have been torn apart whether those plans are about what they were going to wear on next week's field trip or something more long term.

The teacher asked us to answer a few questions about our plans.  One of the question asked what you hoped to be doing one year for now.  I glanced over at Andrew's paper (not that I was cheating or anything) and he had answered that question "watching football with my sons"

Cue tears!

I love my husband and I absolutely cannot wait to watch him be a daddy.  Pretty sure I fell more in love with him during our training classes as I listened to him answer questions and explain how he would handle certain situations.  I think he is going to be pretty good at this daddy thing.

Our last day of training includes a panel of people who are or have been involved with fostering and adopting.  It will be a Q&A session.  I'm really looking forward to that.  The real life stories are my favorite part of training.  To know that people have walked this same journey and are blessed because of it.


Speaking of Q&A...I thought I would do a blog post answering your quesitons...if you have any that is.  Questions about adoption, braces, teaching, me, our family,...   Ask away in the comments and I will do a post answering the questions I can answer on Feburary 1.  :)

Teacher Talk Volume 1

Change is hard for me.  Even good change.  Even change that I believe lines up with God's will for my life.

I am excited to have "met" Nicole through her blog and twitter.  I don't even remember now how I stumbled onto her blog, but I know it was a God thing.  Nicole has such a beautiful heart.  I read her blog and walk away feeling a strong desire to spend more time with the Lord.  Her love for our heavenly father shines through every word.

That's why I knew immediately I wanted to be a part of the Teacher talk link up.  Nicole has organized a way for teachers from all over to encourage each other.

This could not have come at a more perfect time for me.  Though I only have good things to say about my new school and new coworkers, I'm really struggling with being there.

Some days I just want to pack up and quit.  I want to go back to HG where I felt like I knew what I was doing.

I'm being pushed outside of my comfort zone.  And yet I know I'm right where I'm supposed to be.

I believe this monthly link up is one way God is going to encourage me and help me not only survive this school year but thrive in it.

Today is the first day to link up with other teachers and share a little bit about ourselves.

So here it goes...

I'm Elaina.  I'm married to my best friend and biggest supporter.

We have two furbabies, Liberty Belle & Lincoln Baxter, and are praying God will bless us with children someday soon.

I have always wanted to teach.  I was the little girl who pretended my stuffed animals were my students.  I received a chalkboard easel one year for Christmas and it quickly became my most favorite gift ever!

When I graduated high school there was never any question about my next step.  I would go to college and get my degree so that I could teach.

One of my most memorable teachers was my 4th grade teacher, Mrs. Russell.  I can still remember her class like it was yesterday.  Because she made such an impact on my I always thought I wanted to teach 4th grade.

My first internship in college was in a self contained 4th grade classroom and I hated it.  I was miserable.  It really confused me.  I believed with everything in me that God had called me to teach, but it was nothing like I had expected.  I spoke with one of my professors about it and she told me to wait until the next semester and see how I felt.  The next semester was to be sent teaching an older grade and one content area.  It ended up being 6th grade English for me.

I loved it!!

After graduating college, I taught one year at a private school, and then was hired on at HG where I taught every subject at the 7th grade level.

I learned that I LOVE 7th graders!!  And I loved teaching science, which is something I never thought I would say.

My husband took a new job at the beginning of this year that required us to move.

I had to leave HG, a school that had become family to me.

I'm now teaching 5th and 6th grade Math.

I'm not even two weeks into the school year so it is a little early to make a judgement on this new grade level.  I think I will learn to love it, but right now I'm struggling with all the change.

This year is my 8th year to teach and I honestly can't imagine myself doing anything else.