tis the season..............

it is quiet in the house as the girls are sound a sleep. today was a good and busy day. the girls had pratice at church for their play at church tomorrow, so i dropped them off at ten this morning and picked them up at four.

it was nice to have some time to get some christmas shopping done by myself. you know it is funny i have all these stores up here to shop in and i find myself going to the same old places. i needed a new pair of jeans because i can only fit into two of the pair i have, so where do i end up buying the new pair, target.

isn't that funny. however, i do love kolh's. that has become one of our favorite stores. anyway, i finished the girls stuff. i always save the best for last. my favorite part of buying for the girls is their stockings. i love buying things for their stockings. it is so much fun. i always try to put things in their that i know will delight them. it is so delightful.

i also found david this very nice casual fossil watch. its face is very unique. i hope he will like it. you can't imagine the lines up here. it is crazy. but it is also fun.

we have settled into a church finally. God is so amazing, but He is forever surprizing me. i would try to explain it, but i don't think i would do a very good job. i am praying that God connect me to some people, when ever He is ready. the girls really enjoy the childrens church. we are beginning to actually have conversations beyond the nice pleasentries. that is nice. it is very slow building relationships here. people are friendly, but that is about it. they seem to always have their arms extended so as not to get close. but maybe that is just me. i am praying that God help me be what they need.

it is so nice having david home during the week. he typically leaves on friday and gets back on sunday. sometimes he leaves on saturday and gets home on monday, but that doesn't happen very often.

we are gong to have our own little family christmas on the tuesday before christmas. we are going to have it just the four of us. i am excited about it. we are going to have it on tuesday and then go see a movie after the girls take a break playing with their toys. we are also going to eat somewhere that day.

then we will go home on wednesday for christmas. that way david will have a night home before he has to drive back for work on friday. but at least he will be home for christmas.

we have one more week before we get out for the holidays. i am so excited.

it is hard to believe that i have completed half a year here. wow.

ttfn..................

our house is decorated so pretty. i am really enjoying being in our new house.

My Wonderful Life.................................

My richest blessings

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggidy Jog...

* there is no place like home. there is no place like home. there is no place like home. i am so excited to be home. we came home on friday. had our pictures made by the ever so talented, jw. she is so talented. i can't wait to get the pictures. i will post some pictures later when we get them.

* we went to our home church on Sunday, and even though our favorite pastor was not preaching, it WAS SO GOOD TO BE AT OUR CHURCH. to hear our music, to be with my church family. i was so blessed. we then went to have lunch with our peeps. THAT WAS AWESOME.

* one of my peeps is leaving and i am so happy for them, but so terribly sad for me. however, i have never just let a friendship die, and this one won't either. even if i hae to travel to the ends of the earth for it. friends, true friends are too hard to come by, to just let them fall by the wayside.

* i have never been to that part of the country, so it will be an adventure to DRIVE TO IT. my peeps will understand the significance of that statement. they will definitely have to help me get there. hopefully i won't have to go through a.


* well i am so happy to be with my family. we have visited, eaten out, going to a movie. what a great time we have had. it has been so much fun. we are going to have such a great time this week. hey my hubby got a deer. i am so happy for him.

* tomorrow i am going to see my friends in miles. my great teacher friends, who i miss so much. the girls are so excited to see their friends.

* turkey day is coming soon. it will be so good. all of the wonderful food and family. tomorrow i am going to my sisters to cook. we always do that. cook the night before thanksgiving. we have been doing that for years. i make my pecan pies and she makes her cherry-o creme pie. she also asked us to make home made chocolate chip cookies. i love to make those. we have so much fun. there is nothing like my mothers dressing. she is such a good cook.

* what a blessed woman i am. i am sitting in my mother's house eating breakfast with my family looking at my beautiful daughters and feeling so much love inside for them. my hubby is with me and i have come to realize how precious our time together is. we are an incredibly blessed family. my oldest daughter is serving us. what a sweet young lady she is.


* HAVE A VERY HAPPY THANKSGIVING. oh by the way i am making my blog un-private. what is the fun of having a blog if none of the people i love and care about can't share my life.

A Canopy of Love........................

Jesus reminded this weekend that HE is my covering. He not only reminded me, He took the time to literally show me with an amazingly beautiful canopy of trees. It was a magnificent display of love towards me. The tree were so beautiful. As i stood under the canopy of trees, God reminded me that there is nowhere that His arms do not reach. That there is no place I can't feel His arms holding me.

I stood under these trees looking up at amazement of His love. Looking up at the branches that stretch far and wide, I was reminded that Jesus had always been with me, will always be with me and that He is as close as the mention of His name.

The colors were spectacular. The trees with their painted leaves beckoned me to spend time with my heavenly father out in nature. As I sat in the stillness of the outside, the wind would create a musical with the leaves that were falling from the trees. Just as Jesus would whisper love to me , the leaves would sing their special melody.

It was a magical time. I so enjoyed seeing my church family. I so enjoyed just sitting beneath the trees. I so enjoyed sitting outside with my friends and eating lunch woth them. What a blessed time it was. This weekend was about rest for me. Just sitting and resting. I so needed this.

Thank you for your covering Jesus. Thank You that You see tomorrow. Thank You for setting my feet on solid ground, even when I don't recognize it. I am such a blessed daughter of the King.


ttfn..........

the sun is coming up over the horizon.........

well it has been a difficult adjustment, but i feel like i am beginning to see the sun over the horizon. week is getting better. not only has this been a test of endurance, but a lesson in computer skills. i have gain more computer skills in the three months that i have been at this school, but more than i have ever had in 42 years of life.

i was so focused on helping my girls adjust, that i TOTALLY underestimated the change for me. i never thought for a second, that a different school was require such change. i have felt all of the feelings of loneliness, left out in the desert, elation, fear, dred, and so many other emotions.

i knew there would be a difference between city kids and country kids, but i never dreamed such a difference. wow has it been a challenge. but i do feel like my class is beginning to come together. it does make me feel better that my principal, comes to us on a regular basis to sympathize about how difficult our classes are. it makes us feellike it is just not us.

we had a kid on friday get caught stealing from another students desk. it is our policy that wehn we sign a kids folder, they have to call their parents. a bit extreme don't you think? but these parents want to be super informed. well so the kid call his parent and the mother asks for the teacher to be put on the phone, the mother proceeds to gripe out the teacher!!!!!!

she sayes how do you know what happened, did you see it exactly? how do you know it wasn't his? my partner proceeds to tell her that she saw him. the mother is so mad that she had her son call home, she called to assistant principal. can you believe that??? of course our ap supported her. did i mentioned the parents are harder to deal with than the kids are?


but it is getting better.

did i mention, we found a church. yea..... it is such a wonderful GOD ordained occurance. my girls love it. there are actually kids in the childrens church that go to school with my girls.. it is such a down home tender feeling, real people church. it is not much to look at, but God looks to the inside of a man, so i decided to do the same. we meet in a storefront building. in this church there are such real people.

DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD IT IS TO FIND A CHURCH, WHEN YOU MEASURE EVERYTHING UP TO PERFECTION? WE LEFT NOT ONLY A CHURCH, BUT A FAMILY THAT WE WERE APART OF FOR MORE THAN 10 YEARS. IT IS A PARALYZING FEAT.
I AM NOT JUST SAYING THIS BECAUSE ONE DAY OUR FRIENDS MIGHT STUMBLE ON TO MY BLOG THAT HASN'T BEEN UPDATED IN MORE THAN A MONTH.

WE LEFT A FAMILY. OUR FAMILY. OUR HOME. OUR HEART. these people will never measure up to our home church, but it is sure is nice to know that there are a few west texans up here. but God is faithful.

so for now, the sun is beginning to shine.

ttfn..................

TOO TIRED TO BLOG............

maybe toward the end of the year I will get caught up. oh by the way all I do is work. so you are really not missing anything.

YEA!!!!!! I'M COMING HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!

tomorrow after school, well actually, around 2:30, we are leaving school to come home!!!!!!! i so need to see my family and sisters. i have missed them so. it is not going to be a working weekend. yea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

we are going to celebrate mine and amy's birthday.and i get to see my new grand nephew. yea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i know this sounds crazy, but i am actually looking forward to sitting for 5 hours. it has been sooooooooooooo hectic and busy up here at my new job, i am looking forward to just sitting and listening to good music. my feet have really been hurting me, because i stand so much and have put on so much weight, it feel great to sit.

on saturday, my precious dear friends are going to meet up with me for breakfast. i can't wait to see them. it will be so much fun. i am so blessed to have these friends.

so i am so excited. i am adjusting, but i miss my home!!!!

this last monday, i went out for the second time with the ladies from the new church up here. it was alot of fun. sometimes i am so tired, that i have to force myself to go out during the week. but i went, and had a great time. i had about twenty women just laughing, when i was telling my story anbout truong to find the restaurant that night. nothing like a country bumpkin, trying to find her way around the big city. it was quite comical.

oh and also we find out tomorrow if hannah makes the all city choir. i hope she does. she sure does want to.

ttfn.................

A Singer, A Volleyball Player, and an Author............

i am so proud. my oldest is trying out for all city choir and is starting to play on a city volleyball team. i am so glad that the move has not dampened her quest for trying new things. she tries out for choir this saturday, and her new league starts this next week. the coach has already told us that we will practice this week on tuesday.

our first game is on the 27th of september. i am so excited for her. she is so excited and is adjusting so well. she already talks about the friends she is making. THAT IS SO COOL. i can't to see all of the wonderful things God has in store for her.

our school has its school dedication is happening. hannah is going to have a performance that day also. she is loving living here.

i also discovered i have a new budding author among our family. she has blonde hair and blue/green eyes. she loves to write and will sit and make up stories all day long. she also loves to read them to us. and of course we love to hear them. she wrote the cutest one the other day and read it to us. it was so sweet. this is a move from a seven year old's perspective:

I LOVE LIVING IN MCKINNEY
by REBEKAH POYNOR

It was hard moving to McKinney.
It was hard to leave my family behind.
but at least I have my two cousins I still have fun.
We swam together and we have barbeques at my cousins home.
and we play on the wii and well the grownups.
The End

makes a mommy proud. i just love that she is so excited about writing. sign of genius don't you think? well i do.


i do feel like my head is beginning to float a little above water. maybe its because it is thursday night. i will be sure to take pictures.

ttfn............................

A MUCH NEEDED VISIT AND A MUCH NEED MESSAGE....................

i just love the way God brings life into your old tired bones just when you think that you can't go on anymore.

what an awesome weekend it was. i truly felt rested when the weekend was over. the weekend got off to a great start when kelly and greg passed through here on their way back home. what a great time we had. it is so wonderful to see familiar faces in a new strange land. kelly and i went shopping most of the day saturday. it was so nice to hug and love on a dear sweet friend. i really enjoyed reconnecting again. her hugs and words and laughs were therapy for me.

greg and david just stayed home and watched college football all day. i know they both needed it. david goes so much, he enjoys just staying at home.

we ate great mexican food on friday night. there is nothing better than driving into your driveway only to find friends sitting on your bench outside your door.

on sunday morning they got ready to leave and we got ready for church.

the message on sunday was bracy's ( that is our new pastor) best so far. the message was to just come to Jesus and REST. how i needed to hear this. just REST. when i hear rest, think of just vegging out. bracy point out that it also means to surrender. wow. all you who are weary and heavy laden. i just played these words over in my head and heart over and over all sunday. JUST REST.

JUST REST.

JUST REST.

so Jesus, i surrender it all to You. i choose to rest in You. take all my new school worries and do what You will.

i just want to rest.

A BETTER PERSPECTIVE OF THE FIRST DAY..................

i promised my sister and my mom that i would post some pictures of our first day of school. here they are. we were all so excited and ready. don't we look just gorgeous!!!!!





This is Hannah in one of the outfits I let her choose from Justice. She was
so proud of it. Isn't it adorable. She is growing up so fast.







Hannah's new thing is to wear her hair up and all curly. If she lets it dry
naturally it is so curly. Every once in a while I get glimpses of what she
will look like as a teen.
Here is my big second grader. She was so proud of her "brief case". It
has Hannah Montana on the other side. I don't think that you can see
it from this angle. Where has the time gone.
All grown up and ready for anything, or so she thinks.


Mom and daughter

Mom and her oldest.

Don't we look like we are ready for a big day?
My classroom at Tadlock Elementary. I don't think
my previous 12 years of teaching quite prepared me for
what laid ahead this "special" day!!!!!




I AM SO GLAD THAT THERE IS ONLY ONE FIRST DAY OF THE YEAR!!!!!!!!!!! IT WAS A TALE TO BEHOLD!!!!!

A Rough, Rough, DAY!!!!!!

nuff said.

New Clothes, New School Supplies, and just maybe a New Church...............

well it is wonderful to be in a new city to go school clothes shopping. what a town to be in. i love kolhs, justiss, and stein mart. we had such a great time going school clothes shopping with the girls. we went last friday. we first met two of my past teacher friends for lunch with their kids. we sat and visited for about an hour and a half. we went to mcdonalds so the kids could play while we visited.

the first place we went to get some school shopping was kolhs. i just loved that store. we were able to get alot for them their. the price averaged about $10 per piece. not too bad. some of the stuff we got will also work for church. they were so cute. it was so much fun. we had a blast.

the girls also wanted to go to a specialty shop like limited too, for a first school day outfit. so we discovered a new store called justiss. the stuff was so cute. i will be sure and take pictures on the first day of school. i know i spoil my kids when it comes to clothes, but i don't care!! i just love it.


saturday i ended watching my nephew. the girls really had fun and so did i. we went swimming and then i worked on school stuff.

on sunday we decided to go to a new church. so after i got lost, we finally got there and it was soooooooooooooo big. the members were signing in with a credit card thingie. but i kept an open mind and we went into the sanctuary. the first thing i noticed was that the walls of the sanctuary were orange and blue. they also had strobe light looking things going. like a pinwheel made out of light. wow. not what i was expecting. but the music was so good we stayed, for two songs.

i finally looked at the girls and said do ya'll want to go? they both said yes. so we left and decided to go to bracy wilsons church. we have visited there before, but decided to visit other places. but this sunday there was different. i cried like i was listening to pastor david. it was very annointed. no one will ever replace pastor david, but maybe, just maybe this is where we are supposed to be. hannah went to childrens church. she loved it. we are meeting in a school cafeteria. now this church is a baby church so they do not have services on sunday night, not many of them do. but we decided we would rather get into a church on the ground floor and deal with the growing pains, than go to a church that are herding their members in like cattle. i realize this church won't stay this size for long, but maybe we can get connected while we can learn most of the members names.


we had supper with dan and teresa last night. it was so good to see familiar faces. david got to eat with us last night. he and i went shopping for a little while today. this is when we discovered stein mart. what a wonderful place.

he leaves again tomorrow and won't be home until sunday. maybe it won't be like this forever. i am going to a ladies thing tomorrow for our church. they are having a bunko fellowship. it is one of their small groups. i am so excited. then wednesday, i start full time with more district workshops. i am ready for school to start to keep my days full. we are having a small team meeting, tuesday.

well the girls are also ready to start school too. oh bye the way, i am getting old. i went to an eye doctor today, and he increased my prescription by another point. and then he said you need to get some reading glasses at the dollar store. he said a +1 should eliminate that long arms disease you are fighting.

ttfn...............

polka dots, bouncy colors, and a brand new challenge.....

i have begun setting up my classroom. all my desks are in order, and i have started to hang my bulletin boards. i decided to buy some new boarders and new letters for my new classroom. it is so cute. i absolutely LOVE polka dots. they are so fun. so are so bubbly. they are so cute.

don't you just love something new. i am so excited and a little antsy about all the new challenges that are laid before me. i think this is going to be a great but very new and different year. but i know that God has equipped me for this new task he has lead me too.

i have met all of the teachers that are going to be in the hall with me. they are from all over the place. i have never really worked with people that are from all over the united states. we have all been so busy getting our rooms ready for meet the teacher night.


i have my first official day in the frisco isd next wednesday. it is new to the district breakfast. i think that is a nice gesture. the district also puts on a convocation ceremony for all of the new teachers. i have never been to one of those. i really don't even know what it is. more about that later.


it is amazing all of the resources that are available in a larger district. they have a computer program where we get all of our scope and sequence from. it also comes with lesson plans and activities that you can use for the specific objectives that have to be taught.

we are beginning to get settled in our house. it is beginning to feel like home. i do miss my family and friends. but i know we will make more soon. i just have to be patient. i am glad i have school to keep me busy. i am so glad to have my girls.

they are starting to settle in as well. they are very excited to start school. it is getting to that time of the summer when they are starting to bicker and fight and get bored at home. they have met all their teachers. they all seem so sweet.

tomorrow we are going to have lunch with some of my teacher friends that i used to teach with at little elm. i am so excited. i have not seen one of them in ten years. her name alicia. she didn't have any children when i last saw her. now she has two.

after we eat we are going to buy some new school clothes. the girls are so excited to get to buy clothes in a new town. what a place to go shopping.


david is in honduras this weekend, he left today. i sure do miss him when he is gone. david's company has had another person buy into their airplanes, so they are in the process of hiring another pilot. maybe that will help relieve the flights on the weekends. david has flown for the last 3 weekends in a row.


we are going to try out a new church this sunday. i hope this is the one. i have discovered that i do not like trying to find a new church. to me that is the hardest thing about moving. it is hard enough to find a new church with your spouse, much less by yourself. but i know God is with me. sometimes it is just nice to have God with some skin. you know what i mean?



well i guess i will go for now. have a great weekend.

DO YOU THINK SOMEONE IS TRYING TO TELL ME SOMETHING????????

now, i have had some funny things happen to me, like peeing uncontrollably in front of people in a christian womens conference, totally sticking my foot in my mouth only to have it taken out with forceps, but........................ i think this one takes the cake.

the other night i was talking to a friend on the phone, while i was on the throne. you know the throne. does anyone else do that? talk while on the throne. sometimes it is the only place i can get some peace.

anyway....... while visiting with my friend on the throne.................
i heard a sound. now i know i have put on quite a bit of weight this summer. but NEVER, I MEAN NEVER DID I THINK THIS WOULD HAPPEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!






NUFF SAID........................................

OUR NEW HOME................

these are some pictures of our new house. i always seem to forget to put them in in reverse order. so if you know how to do that I would love you to tell me. if you want to start at the bottom and go up they will be in order. anyway, this is the place we call home now.

we feel blessed.


This is Rebekah's room.

This is Hannah's room.
This is the upstairs loft.
This is in the living room. Our new flat screen. We just had it mounted.
This is our living room. We spend alot of time in here.
Another picture of the living room. If you look close enough you will see traces of our other home. Some are in the decorations. Some are in just things that were given to us by friends.
This is part of the dinette. I love these valances. They are original to the house.
This is the kitchen. I love this room. I love dark wood furniture. It feels so homey.
This is the office. It sits to the right as you come in the entrance to the house.
This is the formal dining room. I got to get new furniture. I was so excited.
This is my new china cabinet. Isn't it gorgeous? My grandmother's china is in it.
The front entry way.
Beautiful plants I am trying to keep alive. This is in front of our house.
This is the front of our house. I drove up and was in love.
More beautiful plants. You can't tell but there are begonias in the front. They are so pretty.
I love the front of my house. I feel so blessed. What a great God we serve. Nothing is impossible for God.

a sprinkle of life.....................

* wow summer is going by so fast. so much has happened since i last posted. i went to my first workshop up here. not bad, pretty good, pretty much the same as any workshop any where else. the people were friendly one lady even helped me learn a new program that is essential to teaching up here. it is a program that you have to use for your lesson plans and your scope and sequence. for those of you that do not know what a scope and sequence is, it is a plan for what to teach, and in what order to teach it. the nice thing, is, that it also gives you activities to use for these lessons. that pretty good, in my book. i let you know at the end of the year if it is actually a good thing.

* i went home for a baby shower. it was very nice with a great turn out. it was good to see my family and friends again. i have only been away for 3 weeks, but it was still good to see people that I dearly love. it was also so nice to go back to MY church, with MY church family. it was so good to have an alter time. i loved that the praise and worship was more than just three or four songs. it has been such a long time since i have been a new person, in a new church. i think we, that attend church forget what it is like to be new. it is definitley a different experience. when you go to church the next time, remember that. it is hard to go into places where relationships are already formed. it is hard to go into a place where people are standing in their own little groups laughing and talking and all they offer is a quick smile and a hello.

* i guess God is trying to teach me a new lesson. i will try to learn it quickly. i guess i like the familiar, who doesn't? i know God will lead us to a new place. i am ready.

* next week i have workshops monday-thursday. then i will be going to school to work in my class and with my team members. i am kind of ready for school to start. i know that is odd, but i am.

* we brought a friend up here with us to spend a week with us. we took the kids to six flags and a water park. we had such a great time. this young lady us such a delight to be around. it has been such a blessing to have her here. she is going to help me post some pictures of our house.

* i don't really anything else. ttfn

Small Town Girl, In A Big Town World..........

*on tuesday, david was off so we went up to my class and got it totally set up. it is such a cool new room, i am actually excited to go back to school. ( will someone please remind me of that when it is march and i am ready for summer again.) every day that we go up to school, i meet new teachers that i am going to work with. here is what is cool about living in a big place, all of the people you meet are not from texas. i have met people from all over the world. my next door neighbors are from Belise. wow!!!! they are so nice.

* well my room is all set up except the bulletin boards. i will do those later. it is so nice to have everything new. i have never had that before. that is so exciting. i have already met one of hannah's teachers and two of bekah's teachers. they were very nice.

* we went to visit a new church on sunday. it was just a few minutes from our house. the senior pastor was on vacation so it was the youth minister that did the sermon. the church was alot like ours. people were wearing everything from shorts, to dresses and slacks. the building looks different from the outside, but is very similar to ours on the inside.

* the youth pastor, who did the service was very good, but i kept waiting for him to give the scripture so we could open the bible and read it for the sermon. that never happened, but he did quote alot of scripture. also there was no invitation and no alter time. so david and i decided to try the church again tonight.

* so we get dressed for church and we drive up there and it is 6:55 and there are no cars there, or there are only 5. we thought that was weird, but we decided to give it a try. we walk up to the church, and notice that there are only kids there. needless to say, they were only having a youth service. we spoke to the youth pastor, who was very friendly, and he said that they were in transition, and were in a building phase. the only service they had for adults was sunday morning. they also did not have anything for children on wed. i thought that was strange. but since david is going to be gone, we are going to give the church on sunday, just me and the girls. so if any of yall have ANY suggestions on where to go to church that may be close to here, just let me know. i really want the girls to get plugged in.

*on that front, the girls have already made neighborhood friends. they come out during the day, and they all ride their bikes and scooters up and down the street. it is so cool. i am so glad that they are making friends so easily.

* i have started walking again. we walked on monday night around 5:30. it wasn't too bad. i walked tonight at about 7:30 pm. it was much nicer and cooler. all of the subdivisions have large sidewalks around them, so i walked on that tonight. they make for a nice track. i walked for about 40 minutes. it was so nice outside. there seems to be a constant breeze here. which is nice, since i am not used to the humidity. nothing like getting out of the shower and having a thin layer of sweat all over your body. i wonder how long it will take me to get used to the humidity.

* well david has his first weekend trip this weekend. he leaves for honduras tomorrow. he will return sunday or monday. so me and the girls will venture out sometime this weekend for a shopping trip. we also will go swimming a couple of times. then we will go to church on sunday.

*i don't know much else so i guess i will say ttfn.......

THE BEGINNING OF A NEW LIFE.......

today we had a great day. we got up around 10 and then made our way down to my new school. it was so fun and i didn't get lost. yea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it took me about 8-10 minutes to get there. once i was there, i went in and met my new boss, again. i also met her secretary.

i went into my classroom. it was soooooooo cool. everything was new. everything was clean. we, me and the girls, organized my desks. it was awesome. we opened up some school supplies that were already in my class. it was so fun unwrapping all the new materials.

we stayed for about three hours. it is amazing how once you step into your class the times just flies. after we finished our objective for the day, we walked around the campus looking for any new staff the i could introduce myself to. we met several people. a fifth grade teacher, a third grade teacher, and a special education teacher. they were all so nice. and were all so glad to meet me.

after we went to the school, we headed off to the grocery store to get stocked up with groceries. There is this one store that is close to my house so we decided to go there. it is such a beautiful store. i really thought it would really be expensive, but it wasn't, it just looked like it. the name of the store is market place. we decided to eat lunch there, before the shopping ensued. we had pizza slices and three cokes. it was $11.00. but the slices were really like two pieces in one slice. the pizza was great.

it had been so long since i had been to the store for groceries, the bill was a little hefty. but over all not too bad. it was fun shopping at a new store. we then went home to unload the groceries.

we live in a community that has a community pool. so after we unloaded the groceries, we headed off to the pool. In the beginning, there was 7 people besides us there. after about 1 1/2 hours, we were the only ones there. it was so cool. it was like we had our very own swimming pool.

we then came home and i made shake and bake chicken and rice pilaf and green beans. it was so delicious. i loved eating the simple little meal in our new house. david got home from colorado about 9.

we then got bekah's room completely set up. now most of the house is set up. i still have alot of boxes to unload, probably stuff we really don't need. i figure i will set out to do 5 or 6 boxes a day. maybe by the middle of next week it will be finished. i hope, because then i have to set up my class.

well that was my day. pretty productive.

ttfn..............

Greetings From A Far Off Land..........

we are here.. we are here.. we are here... well we left early friday morning for McK. i drove the tahoe, david drove the big truck, and my mil drove david's truck, and bob, david's dad drove another truck to pull the trailer. we left at 7 a.m. and arrived in McK. at 12:10. it was a quick trip.

we had alot of family, mine and david's, help us move in this past weekend. david's brother and his bil, helped sooooo much. i don't know what we would have dome without them. it took us about two hours to unload the truck.

then the real fun began. my wonderful mother and sister jan, totally set up my kitchen. thanks mom. we just unloaded boxes after boxes. later that night, my bil, invited us to his house for hamburgers and a swim. we had such a great time visiting.

the next day, my sister and bil, came up. they helped us with more unpacking. then we all went to most spectacular mexican food restaurant, La Hacienda Ranch. what wonderful food. come up some time and we will take you there. when we got back, everyone was so tired we went to bed.

the next day was a hard day. everyone left. i cried many times that day.

today was a better day. i had a meeting with my teaching team members. they seem very nice. we met for about two hours.

i love my house. it is such a blessing.

now i am working on adjusting to living up here. we are going to visit a church on wed. that is right up the street from us. i am excited to get plugged in.

i miss you and i love you.

ttfn.....

Goodbye to old familiar friend...........

Today is the last day in my house. This house has been a dear friend to me. It has kept us warm in the winter time and cool in the summer. We have had some great times in this house. Christmases, birthdays, parties, gatherings, and many hours of laughter and even a few tears. It has seen good times and bad times.

Both of m girls started school in this house. Both of my girls lost their first teeth in this house. We have been so blessed by God here. We grew up here, David and I. We became parents of a second baby girl here.

We experimented with home remodeling in this house. Some turned out great and some not so great. It is odd to sit in your house with all of your belongings packed up. It is a weird feeling. The walls echo of distant memories. The resound the laughter that was once experienced. I look at the carpet and see not only carpet, but all the times we played games on the floor or had a pizza picnic there. We used to spread out sheets on the living room floor and have a pizza picnic. The girls absolutely loved it and we did too.

We are loading the truck tomorrow. I am ready to stop living in the middle and get a move on with the next chapter of our lives. It will be so good to have my hunny home more. And I know he is tired of traveling back and forth.

I am very excited about our new house. We will have to break it in with more pizza picnics. More game night and all of the wonderful things that families do to grow in love with each other. we will head out July 4th. We will be staying with family until we leave.

So goodbye dear friend. I pray that God peace continue to reside here for the next family as it did with us.

ttfn............

packing, packing, and uh wait, more packing........

this is what we have been doing for days. i pick one room a day and pack it up. really it has not been that bad. i have discovered that i do not particularly like living in disarray. but who doesn't live in some sort of disarray.

anyway time is drawing near. can you feel the myriad of emotions floating in the air? we are having a going away party for us at my sister's house tonight. how come we don't realize how important people are to us until we are about to leave them? are we so spoiled that we just take everything for granted?

i am learning how much i really love and miss david when he is not here. i have learned that i REALLY took him for granted for the past 19 years.

so here is the moral of the story. don't wait to tell people you love them and appreciate them. life changes in an instant. hug someone everyday. live life to the fullest. seize the day. laugh more than you cry. share a diet dr. pepper with some one. sit and visit like you might not ever have the chance again. savor every moment with the people you love.

ttfn......

WE SOLD A HOUSE, AND WE BOUGHT A HOUSE......

we sold our house and we bought a house. the latter was much, much, more fun. this week our house had it's inspection, everything passed but the roof. that was not a surprise to us. so this monday three roofers are coming to our house to give us three estimates. then our adjuster is coming out on thursday, to assess the damages from the april tornado. the roofers will begin on friday.

so on monday of this week, me and the girls went up to mckinney, where my brother in law lives, and we looked at houses. it was so much more fun to be on the buying end of the stick. we put a contract on a house in mckinney texas. they did not except our original offer, but they came back with an acceptable offer. we will close on it, july 1st. it is ten minutes away from the elementary that i will be teaching at. it is also ten minutes away from david's brother and sister in law.

i am so excited. i will make sure i post pictures as soon as i get up there. i am so excited to have my family under one roof. we got to spend 5 days with david and i sure realized how much i miss him. the girls are really starting to miss him too. i am ready to be a together family again.

when we got back into town, i saw that we had a sold sign on our house. i think it was more of a relief to sell our house, than to buy one. we close on this house in san angelo, the 30th of june. so we we have three more sunday's here, including tomorrow and then the 21st, and the 28th and then we will leave for mckinney. we will leave friday morning on the 4th.

i am excited and sad at the same time. my family is giving us a going away barbecue on the 21st. i am sure that will be bitter sweet. it will be hard to leave them, as it will you. i figured out the other day out of my 41 years of life, i have only lived away from this area for 4-5 years.

this is becoming real.


ttfn........

THE SHOUTING HEARD AROUND THE WORLD.............

YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WE JUST ACCEPTED A CONTRACT ON OUR HOUSE.


THANK YOU JESUS, THANK YOU JESUS, THANK YOU JESUS, THANK YOU JESUS, THANK YOU JESUS, THANK YOU JESUS, THANK YOU JESUS, A MILLION TIMES OVER, THANK YOU JESUS.

WOW!!!!

I KNOW THE PEACE SPEAKER, I KNOW HIM BY NAME. YOU RECEIVE ALL THE POWER AND GLORY AND PRAISE AND GLORY. EVERYTHING IS IN YOUR HANDS. I LOVE YOU SO, AND DO NOT DESERVE YOU. WHY YOU PUT UP WITH ME, I WILL NEVER KNOW. YOU KEEP MY FEET FROM STUMBLING. YOUR BLESSINGS ARE TOO MANY FOR ME TO COUNT. I AM ONCE AGAIN HUMBLED. I BOW AT YOUR MAGNIFICENCE.

we have to be out by june 30th. we are going up next week to put a contract on a house. i am excited to be on the other side of the fence.

Lord, guide our feet. show us the house You want us to buy. i know that there is a house up there just for us. thank you for hearing and answering my cry. thank you . show up the path that we should take. lead us guide us, let us feel Your presence while we take our next step in this adventure. show us exactly where You want us to buy. it is our greatest desire to please you. we love You. we are humbly at your service. we owe You everything.

Your daughter in Christ,
kimmie

New Face Lift and He is walks with me, and He talks with me.....

I decided it was time for a new face lift for my blog. I don't really know much. The few things I do know is :

*I REALLY NEED MY HOUSE TO SELL

* we are going to Frisco next week Tuesday or Wednesday to find a house and offer a contract

* I REALLY NEED MY HOUSE TO SELL

* i am excited to find a new house

* we are going to rent out our house if it doesn't sell

OH, DID I TELL YOU I REALLY NEED MY HOUSE TO SELL

the sweetest thing in the world happened last sunday, my baby grill got baptized. how cool is that. she stood up there, so brave in Christ. i was so proud of her. we went to lunch to celebrate. we had such a great day. what a blessed day it was. i told her nothing she could ever do could make me more proud than that. i was just beaming. what an awesome day. i love her so much. i decided i was going to get her one of those dolls that are like the american girl doll, but at the christian book store.

when we were getting her changed back into her dry clothes, she told me that she felt such peace this morning. does it get any better that? i think not!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

even in the midst of great stress and what ifs, i find moments of sweet peace that only Jesus gives. i know that He is control. if he wants us to rent out our house, then that is what will happen. don't get me wrong i have to fight to stay in Christ's peace. the word tells us that we are to pursue peace. i am discovering just what that means.

i am learning to pursue peace in the midsts of uncertainty. He is walking with me even when my stress level rises. when i feel like throwing a fit. He just lovingly watches over me. just as a parent watches over her child.

i am also learning to lean not on my own understanding. but truly trust in His wisdom, His timing, His purpose, His will. We will emerge victoriously. We are triumphant.

WE WILL SELL OUR HOUSE, IN JESUS NAME.

AAAHHHHH SUMMER!!!!!!!!!!!

SCHOOL'S OUT! SCHOOL'S OUT!!!!!
SCHOOL'S OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


LIFE COULDN'T BE SWEETER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Calling All Masses, Calling All Masses........

o.k. guys i am calling all masses to pray for our house to sell. now i have to admit that this is a lesson in HUMILITY for me. let me explain. when we were living in addison texas, we went to a church (a well off church) we didn't realize it until later. anyway sunday after sunday someone was praying for their house to sell. i remember telling david, why aren't they praying for ALL the starving children in the world, or the homeless, or all of the women that are beaten everyday, or all the people that are suffering with all sorts of terrible diseases, instead of a house that needs to be selling.


so one night i am praying to God tearfully that He help us sell our house and He gently reminds me of this. i remember trying to ignore this, like who me God are you talking to me. while all the while i knew darn good and well who he was talking to. i quickly felt so embarrassed, and bad for all the ugly comments i made to david about these so called "selfish" people that it just stopped me in my tracks. i couldn't go on.

i was immediately was filled with remorse and compassion for them. i was so humiliated that i didn't even ask to be forgiven. i then thought about all of the things that they must have been feeling and going through. jobs, schools for their children, future houses, hopes, dreams and all those other things that are put on hold while waiting for their house to be sold. husbands that might have been traveling far distances for their job, and having to be away from their loved ones for extended periods of time.


a few nights later, God gently whispered into my heart to blog about it and ask my blogging family to pray for us to sell a house. i was so filled with shame, guilt, embarrassment and a little lingering wounded pride that i just couldn't. a few nights ago the house selling began to just really get me bummed. why God? i began to cry. the first time. i think part of that was because of the stress of trying to sell a house and the realization of how close our move is really getting. it had all just built up.

later that night, i felt God whispering to me, You can either sit and pout and waste your summer worring about when your house is going to sell, or you can enjoy the EXTRA time i am providing you with, to be with your wonderful family and friends.

I am always faithful, always reliable, and always dependable. I ordained this move and I will not leave you or forsake you. You are my child, nothing takes me by surprise. Have I ever not taken care of you? i had to answer Him, "no."

God also told me to start praying for the house across the street to sell. they are military and they need their house to sell before yours. he HAS to leave before you. so now i am.

so not only am i callingall masses to pray for our house to sell, but also for Rob and Cindy's house to sell. SO I AM ASKING MY POWERFUL SISTERS IN CHRIST, PLEASE PRAY FOR BOTH OF US TO SELL OUR HOUSE QUICKLY!!!!! especially Rob and Cindy's. they are almost at the point of renting their house out which they really don't want to do.


thank you for your prayers,
kimmie

Not only my daughter, but now my sister......

last night at church something truly wonderful happened. hannah told pastor that she was ready to be baptized. i was so proud of her. she has been a christian for 4 years. but she was never ready to be baptized. she asked me if we could go to pastor before church and talk to him about it.

about one week ago hannah came to me and told me that she was ready to be baptized. i asked her how long she had been thinking about this and she told me, "about three months." i asked her how she knew she was ready. she said that God had given her a dream telling it was time to get baptize. that was so exciting to hear that she hears from God. she is so farther along with God at her age than i was. i am so proud of her. i know she is going to grow up to do incredible things for God. she has been prayed for for so long. i know she is learning and growing in God. i can just tell.

i love that hannah feels like she can tell me anything. i hope that goes on for a very long time. she was nervous talking to pastor. her voice was very quiet. but he was so gentle with her. she is going to be baptized in june, when her daddy is home. i would not want him to miss this.

i wanted to get her something special to mark this occaision. do any of you have any ideas? she already has a bible, necklace .

i love her so much.

my dear sweet hannah,
may you always hear the voice of God. may you always feel His presence in your life. always pray to Him about everything. lean on Him. trust Him. ask Him. love Him. He will truly end up being your best friend.

Love you,
mommy

I Was Destined To Be Your Mama.....

Ten years ago, I was given the best gift any woman could ever receive. The birth of my first born daughter. She had brown eyes, creamy doll like skin, and more affection in her eyes toward me than any other person has given me. I didn't know her yet, but time would take care of that. We were a stunning couple right from the start. She responded to my voice the first time a spoke her name. It was at that moment, that I knew I was destined to be her mama.

We had a lot to learn, her and I. But we were off to a great start. The second she looked in my eyes I knew I was captivated. The bond between us had been growing for nine months. I started singing to her, from the moment I knew she had been created. I remember the day I found out she was growing inside me, like it was yesterday. I shared my hopes and dreams with her. I talked to her constantly, telling her what a blessing she was to my life. How God had been so faithful.

We would go on long walks together just her and I. I watched in amazement as my belly grew with that precious baby. It was a miracle. It was promise of hope, the future, brighter sunny days. I was so excited.

After Hannah was born, I would just sit and hold her for hours and hours on end. Not only was she holding my hand as I rocked her, she was holding my heart. How beautiful she was to me. This precious gem. This little girl that I had prayed for for so long. I remember finally laying her in the little bassinet, only to sit up in the wee hours of the night just gazing upon her.

What a cuddle bug she was, this little girl of mine. I used to rock her and she would take her little hand and hold on to my hair, stroking it gently. I would sing to her of my love. Her little face would just light up.

She is ten now, and I can feel her trying to gain her independence. Ever once in a while sneaking a peek back just to make sure that she has not drifted off too far. Still wanting me, as she tries out her new found legs. I will be there my precious angel. For you see, there is no space between us. You are flesh of my flesh, and bone of my bone. You carry my heart with you forever. You are my truest part of my heart. I love you forever.

Three years and three months later, I was to be gifted again. What a surprise!!! What a shock!!! What a miracle. I discovered you, in late November. I will never forget that day either. I went and bought two pregnancy tests, just to make sure. But your daddy knew of you. He knew before I did. He was not surprised at all. What a blessing you were to us. My pregnancy was filled with sheer delight and joy. The time seemed to flutter by. I used to go into your room, before you were born, and rock in the rocker I spent hours rocking you in, just talking to you. I sang to you. I prayed for you. I reveled in the sheer delight knowing that you were there.

I have such vivid memories of Hannah placing her hand on my stomach, and saying to me,"Mama, when is she coming?" "Will she love me?" I would answer, "Yes my sweet."

Your arrival gave us a scare. But we were so protected by our heavenly Father. We did not get to officially meet until the next day. I really don't remember that day. They tell me you cried all night long, until they finally decided to bring you to me. I had tubes in my mouth. But they held you on my chest and immediately you stopped crying. You rested there for a long, long time. That was our first official meeting. Every time they took you from me, you cried. You had beautiful blue eyes and china like skin. The sheer joy I felt once I got to hold you in my arms. We had a bond that no one could ever break. Our lives rested in the hand of God. We had to stay in the hospital for one week, and then we were allowed to go home.

It was summer. Our days were filled with cuddle time, long gazes into each others eyes, and you were constantly carried by me. Like a rare jewel that I could never put down. I saw immediately that you had joy unspeakable. You were a very happy baby. My heart was certainly captivated by you. You were a mama's girl from the start. We were hip to hip all the time.

You remind me of a butterfly. You float through life. Your joy is contagious. People can not help but smile when they are around you. You fill our house with laughter.

I know there will come a time when you too, will try to gain your independence from me. I pray that that day will take a long time to come. However, I know the day is coming.My darling Rebekah, I love you with a love ever lasting. I will always be there for you. You are my joy. Heart of my heart. Bone of my bone. I love you forever!!!!!!!!!!!

To my baby grills:
I am so thankful for you. You have completed my life. You are the best thing I have ever been allowed to do with my life. You have made me what I am today...............

A MOMMY

Church Camp and the Nasty Hall......

This past weekend we went to Dallas for Matt and Mandy's wedding. It was simply beautiful. We really had a great time. The next day we had set up app. for looking at houses with our realtor. Anyway, on Sunday we decided to have lunch at one of our favorite restaurants right off of 380. We were eating our lunch just laughing and having a good time when we started talking about church camp.

Hannah was explaining to Rebekah about how the day goes and how much fun it is.
Bekah begins to ask questions about different things and then she finally leans over and says, "Hannah what do you do in the nasty hall? " All of us were like what are you talking about? She kept saying you know, the nasty hall? We were stumped. We had absolutely no idea about what she was talking about.

Finally she says you know the one you eat in. I am still stumped. I look over at David and he is laughing hysterically. He looks at me and says Kim, she's talking about a MESS HALL!!!!!!!!! I literally had tears of laughter rolling down my face.

A Teacher, A Principal, A Boss, A Mentor, and A Friend...

i recently went to a funeral. it was a very difficult funeral. my 6th grade teacher, my principal, my boss, my mentor, my friend passed away last week. what a wonderful person he was. i remember so many wonderful things about this man, not only from my childhood, but also as a boss and a friend. his name was mitchell west. he was born and raised in miles, texas. he lived there all of his life except for a time when he went to college at texas tech, and also was a military police in the military.
when he got out of the military he met and married his wife of 52 years and they settle back in miles. he was the heart and soul of miles elementary. he taught, coached, and was a principal there for 39 years. after he retired, just a few short years ago, he began subbing at the school. he just couldn't leave. and we didn't want him to. we all loved and respected him so much.
he had a loud booming voice and a gentle heart. he walked tall, but with a gentle spirit.
he had flaming red hair. he wore the same kind of pants that my dad did. i don't know why i remember that, but i do. he also carried a little plastic comb in his pocket.
i will never forget the day that he interviewed me about ten years ago. i walked in his office like i was still in the 6th grade going to see the principal. well i was wasn't i? the office smelled just like it did when i was going to school there. my childhood came flooding back to me. he greeted me with the biggest smile. he was so warm. imagine interviewing with your old teacher and principal for a job. i was nervous to say the least. i go in and sit down. i ask him if he wants to see my professional portfolio and he just grins at me and says lets just visit. so we did. he asked me about my parents and how they were doing. he made me feel so at ease. i imagined that he did that with all of the people that he interviewed with. he was the type of man you could see fishing with his grandkids. he also was a part time farmer. i can just see him sitting with his grandkids on the tractor.
i will miss you Mr. West. you were the heart and soul of our school. your funeral was jammed packed standing room only, in your little methodist church that you attend most of your life. you will be sorely missed. i know you are in heaven.
rest in peace in the arms of your heavenly father.

farewell....

I just wanted to talk about it....

if you read my previous post, you might think i am really upset or depressed or not managing very well..... but really that is not the case at all. i just needed to talk about it. i am the type of person if i can express all of my thoughts it helps release my faith and my attitude.

i ask myself sometimes if i am upset or sad or whatever. most of the time my honest answer is numbness. it is still such a large idea, that i still have trouble wrapping my mind around it. however things do seem to be taken care of even if it is not with the time table that i would prefer. david is not here alot of times to talk with and so sometimes i find myself with no one to talk to. it is just not the same over the phone. my company lately seems to be 8 and 9 year olds. i have to admit i am beginning to miss my best friend, my hubby. i miss not bouncing ideas off of him. most of the time i don't slow down until late and do not want to burden anyone.

but i know things will be fine, they always are. i just needed to vent.

ttfn.................

I JUST WANTED TO TYPE..........

i just wanted to type. i don't really know anything. i do know however that i really was nervous this morning, waiting to hear about a job today. i was so expecting to hear today.i was told in my interviews that i would start hearing something today. i was really nervous. i haven't felt that nervous in a very long time. maybe the first time i was waiting to hear back from david after a date. so finally i couldn't take it anymore and i called kathy to check on the status of my resume'. she said that they were told to wait another day or so in a principals meetig yesterday. GREAT!!!!!!!!

i wanted to have that area taken care of. i am so ready for all of this to be taken care of. how many times will i say that in this blog. when your life hasn't had a significant change in many years the anticipation of a change can be paralysing. just waiting, keeps you hanging in the wire. waiting for things to get started. waiting for the house to sell. waiting for april 29th to get here so that your taks for this year can be over with. waiting to see where you will live. waiting for just the right time to start packing your house, your class, places you have been for the last ten years. waiting, waiting, waiting

i have peace, but some days i can feel the peace wearing thin. where will i be? where will the girls and i live? where will we go to church? will we be lonely when david is gone on his job for weeks at a time? will the girls meet new friends, will i? i love meeting people, but sometimes the effort can be exhausting. i am finding in this stage in my life my energy for making friends is waining.

will the new ladies at my new job really like me? will they think i am funny? will i have anything to offer my students? will the people in the new area where we live love us? will we feel all alone? i am sometimes afraid. most of the time i am strong, i find my strenght in the Lord, but i am human. i fall sometimes, i crash sometimes, i don't want to get up sometimes, i just want to lay there and dissolve into nothingness. these are some of the thoughts that i think about sometimes. i am not good with uncertainty. i want things solved. but we don't always get that choice. i don't like living in the middle of uncertainty. but i don't think i am really ready to move. i have to admit that sometimes i think that we really won't move. how about that for denial. have you ever had your whole life planned out in your mind only to have it totally shaken up? that is how i truly feel. i am so excited for david, but feel totally at a loss for me and the girls. i feel lost.

all of this has been a true test of my faith. not in God, not in His faithfulness, but just a test. does that make since. i am so going to miss my family. it hurts.i love my sisters so much. i am going to miss my nieces having their babies. seeing my nephew raise his children. watching my younger nieces and nephew become Godly young men and women. i am so going to miss my friends. all of the fun times we had and all of the great conversations sometimes filled with tears we were laughing so hard. i know we will try to keep in touch, but it still is a loss. i know God can see tomorrow , for that i am so thankful. if i did not , i would not survive this move. i like the familiar.

will anyone that i care and love watch my girls turn into lovely young women of God? watch all of the incredible things they do in power of the Lord. who will watch them play sports and all of the plays that they might be in?

everyday the reality of the move gets closer and closer. it becomes more real. it is more real.
i will trust in the Lord for I know the plans He has for me. He will keep my feet from slipping. All things work together for good to those who love the Lord and are called to His purpose.

Peace, Peace, wonderful peace, flowing down from the Father above. Sweep over my spirit forever I pray...... in fathomless billows of love.

I know the peace speaker, I know Him by name.

ttfn...............

Foreign language....A turkey waddle....And milk through the nose......

we have really started to enjoy our dinners together as a family since david is not home all of the time. they have become a time of laughter and great fun. tonight we were running a little late so we just had breakfast for supper. we were sitting at the table just being silly and laughing, when i decided we should do something silly and out of the ordinary.

so i say to everyone, hold a part of the person to the right that you have never held before. so explained it couldn't be a hand or an arm or leg. i grab david's ear, hannah held bekah's knee and bekah reached up and held....................... my turkey waddle of a chin. then after she touched it she started to push it up, so as to give it support.

david laughed so hard he shot milk out of his nose. it landed on hannah so she started laughing so hard. i just shook my head.

then hannah started saying that she could speak french. she got this book she was reading and tried to start speaking the french language. david began to look over her shoulder to help her. we were laughing so hard. when david sat down, i looked at him and said, hey you can speak spanish.... remember nunca, nunca, secuda, a une bebe.....


i don't say it just like it is supposed to be said. i thought david was going to fall out of his chair.

thank you Jesus for the special little moments that You provide for us. may i never take them for granted.

My Stay.......

friday i have two interviews with two different teams of teachers. one of the schools that called is my first principal's school. the name of that school is ashley elementary. i will meet with a team of third grade teachers and a team of fourth grade teachers. this meeting is friday at 3:00 p.m.

then on saturday i meet with a fourth grade team for a brand new school. that name of that school is tadlock. i have interviewed with this principal and now i am meeting with the team. i am excited. i am nervous. i am happy and i am sad. it is finally beginning to come to fruition.

i know we have matt and mandy's shower saturday, i am sorry i will miss it. but maybe we can make the wedding. it would also be a great time to go look at houses up in the frisco area.

i would like to finally get the job situation taken care of. that would be nice. it would be one more thing that i could check off my list. i am excited to work in a newer school. but i will be very sad to leave all of my teacher friends at work.

i have discovered that saturday morning has become my favorite time of the week. last saturday i got to spend 1 1/2 hours just with Jesus. the bible study i am doing is phenomenal. i think it one of my most favorite.

the study talks about how we give up our backs for other people to walk all over. beth moore states that Jesus should be the only one we give our backs to. she said we could love one another without giving them our backs to trample on. i have never thought of it like this.

i remember sitting for about twenty minutes just letting this soak into my mind and heart. i also remember that she also stated that Jesus is our stay. just meditate on that for a minute.

looking for a job, Jesus is my stay. need to sell my house, Jesus is my stay. leave my life for a new one, Jesus is my stay. leave my home, family, friends, church, Jesus is my stay. need to find a new house, Jesus is my stay. finding a new church, Jesus is my stay.

not only does Jesus always have my back, BUT JESUS IS MY STAY.

ttfn............

On The Market........And Other Life Stuff.......

* Today we put our house on the market. Can you hear the thud of the silence? Is this really real? We are listing our house with Coldwell Bankers. Last week we did alot of updating to the yards, both front and back. I planted daisies in the front yard and we also dug up an old bush and planted three Japanese Boxwoods and two other flowering plants. The yard looks really nice. We have also had our guest bathroom fixed. Some of the tile around the bathtub had come loose and the soap dish that was affixed to the wall had come off. The guy that did our tile, did a great job. He also took out some of the old tile in our bathroom and cleaned them up and put them back up. He also did some re-grouting for us. Why don't we make these adjustments when we are living in the house so that we can enjoy them? The flowers are really pretty. At my next house I am going to plant some Gerber daisies. They are so nice. It is amazing what color a few flowers bring to a yard. Don't look now but I think I am growing a green thumb.

Now we have lived here for 9 years and not one house has gone on the market in that time. Well today, three yes, two houses within spitting distance are going up for sale right across the street from us.. WOW!!!!! David called our realtor and told him that that makes us very nervous. He said that it was o.k. because we are right in the middle of the prices of house and we have the most square footage. So I guess this is another area that we are going to have to trust God in.

*I would like to tell you that I am going through all of this with out any stress at all. But that would be a lie. If you notice that I am getting a little fluffier during this time, you know that is how (apparently) I am handling my stress. I guess food is my drug of choice. What a surprise? he he he Like that is news to anyone. Anyone that knows me, knows that I have had a love affair with food for a long time. I am also discovering that I have become rather forgetful, these days. But I am not going to worry about that right now. I am just going to take one day at a time and trust in the Lord.

* My kids took their final math benchmark today and out of 38 children I had 4 fail. One that missed it by one question and 2 that missed it by two questions. One of the students missed it by 8. I don't know that I can do much about that. I have 4 more weeks until my taks test. I will hold tutoring for four more weeks.

* My oldest had to learn a very hard lesson today. Maybe I will write about it some day, but for now I just can't. One of those simple little mistakes girls make when they are trying to be older than they really are. It is not life altering in the big scope of things, but for her it is. I felt so bad for her. I hope she doesn't suffer too much for it at school. Maybe no one will notice. It is tough growing up. I have discovered that it however, is much tougher to watch your children grow up. So many times of joy and so many times of heartache. Poor baby she just cried and cried. I felt so sorry for her and had to cover up my own grin. However she and I will laugh about it someday.

* Hannah is doing great with ymca volleyball. She really loves volleyball and practices it all of the time. She scored several points in each game this Monday night. She is growing up so fast. She turned 10 this week. I thin she is faking it. She is really just 5. We bought her a refurbished ipod for her birthday. She was so excited. She actually squealed with delight.

*Bekah is playing softball. She wanted to skip t-ball. So we moved her up into a higher league. It will be fun to watch her compete. She loves sports.

* David has gotten to stay home for about a week. Before that he was gone for a very long time. I have really enjoyed him being done. I have come to realize over and over how much he does around. We really got a lot done. Even though I told you how I am relieving my stress, I feel so much better now that we are beginning to get some things done. I just thanked David over and over again today for all of the help he gave me.

* Oh by the way I am writing this post from a new laptop we got today. We took down our other computer to stage the house for viewing so David found a good sale at Office Depot so he bought one. He gets his work schedule on the computer and I also have sent out so many resume's with my home e-mail address on them, we felt it was a good purchase.

* I will post some pictures of Hannah's birthday when I learned how to down load on this computer.

* It is late and I am tired so I will write later.

ttfn

Easter Dresses and Olive Garden....

yesterday i was planning to stay home and just have a day of chillin'. but my sister called and she asked me to come and help her buy some now clothes. she has a new job and has to come out of her comfy nursing uniforms.

so off to the mall we went. we were also met there buy my sister in law and my niece. of course we went to bealls my favorite store. boy they have some cute spring clothes out now. we spent 5 1/2 hours in the mall. i love helping people buy new clothes and coordinating them together. ( i think that may become my new business when i retire from teaching) i love making beautiful women feel awesome about themselves. anyway, we went to several stores. i also got to help my sister in law buy a new dress for a wedding.

while i was helping them, my daughters were looking for an easter dress. not that i was really prepared to buy them that weekend, but they found really cute outfits that will work nicely for easter. rebekah loves gouchos and hannah loves pants, hannah ened up with the long dress shorts and an adorable top to match. they were so cute. so i figures what would one weekend earlier make?

after that we ended up going to olive garden with the family. well most of the family. my little sister is sick with the flu. sorry baby girl. i missed you.

we just really had a great day. i love to shop with my girls. when we move to frisco, i am sure that there will be lots of stories about me shopping with my girls. we are going to have so much fun. just think of what i will be able to buy up there.

i know that this sounds very superficial, but i love shopping. i know you are used to more spiritual blogs, but sorry girls, this is it for the day.

anyway we had a great time yesterday.

ttfn................

OH, THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS FRIGHTFULL......

Well as you could probably guess, we did not make it all the way to Frisco today. We left here about 8:00 a.m. only to be stopped before Abilene. We also slid off the road in between Miles and Ballinger. After that, David decided to try to drive to Abilene. But we didn't even make very far past Jim Ned. There were times that we were going 15-30 miles an hour.

So I called the assistant principal at the school where I was interviewing at at 3:00, and she happily rescheduled for next Tuesday at 12:30. Even though I know God can see tomorrow, and He definitely had His hand of protection upon us, I was still disappointed. Thank you Jesus for guiding us safely home. I know He kept us from harm, however I still felt let down. I was just ready to have this interview out of the way. I am so ready for all of this to be over with. I am ready to have a new job, new house, and be settled. See A. I am great at giving comforting advise, but when the uncertainty lingers, it is easy to get unhinged.

I hear the Lord saying to me on more than one occasion, to keep my eyes focused on Him. Put him first, seek Him first, make Him the first priority in my life. Oh Lord I am trying to the best of my ability, but sometimes my ability really stinks. Can I just have everything now? Can we just be done with all of this now? What patience, wait on Me, really Jesus are you talking to me?

Today as I was driving home from work and picking up the girls, I put in the c.d. from the retreat. Boy did it minister to me. Just to sit at Jesus' feet. Rest in His arms, soak up His love and peace and mercy and grace until we are able to stand up again.

Oh well life goes on and so will I . I look forward to having a great interview next Tuesday. I know that You are preparing a place for us!!!!!!!!!!

Once again I remind myself to rest in my Father's arms.

ttfn..........

Small Town Girl, In a Big City Whirl.....

This weekend Kelly so generously drove me to Frisco Texas for a job fair on Saturday. It so much fun. Frisco is not the little city I remembered. I had many emotions as we were stuck in traffic on Friday afternoon. I felt excited, amazed, awed, intimidated and many other emotions. I do have to admit that I was excited. We got into Frisco around six in the evening. Kelly has a fantastic sense of direction. She was like super woman in that car just whipping it around to anywhere she wanted to go.

We got there and found our hotel. Then we went to eat at the best mexican restaurant. La Hacinda's. Man did they have the best chicken fajitas. We actually ate there twice. It was that good. After we ate, we found where the high school where i was to go for the job fair. Kelly mentioned that night that maybe i could find my way back to the high school in the morning so she could rest a while. You could have felt the panic rise in the car. But I was determined to do this with the Lord's help.

So in the morning I set out on my own. It was a massive high school. Beautiful and new. I saw my old principal and ran to give her hugs. She just hugged me back. The job fair went very well. I had four interviews (minor) with four different principals. My old principal told me she had my resume on her desk, and that she looked at it every morning. She also said that when all of the letters of intent had been turned in and that all of the internal shuffling had been done, she would be giving me a call. I left feeling pretty confident that I had a really good chance to get a job in about 3 weeks to a month.

I have to say that I did not like selling myself to these principals over and over again. It made me feel awkward. Imagine that, I love to talk. But that was weird. Even though they were very nice. It felt like a cattle sale. So many people, so many tables, so many teachers old and new vying for the same positions. Oh well, God's will be done.

We are close to placing our house on the market. Time is really whizzing by. Wow can you believe that it is already March? Where does the time go?

THANK YOU SO MUCH KELLY FOR TAKING THIS SMALL TOWN GIRL TO THE BIG CITY.
Love ya girl.

I will keep you posted.

ttfn....