I came home to a surprise. (If you know me at all, you know how I adore surprises!) The fiance met me at my house after work... We walked into the living room with his hands covering my eyes. Flowers . White. Lovely. In my hand. On counter tops. In a vase near place settings. And candles. Music playing . Perfectly chosen. Entertaining. Mood-setting. Unobtrusive. Dinner . Yummy. Salad, lasagna, cream puffs. Haha, the man knows me! Easy conversation . Laughter. Smiles. Silly faces. Planning . The future. Talk of wedding reception choreography...which got nixed :( Time together . Priceless. I'm thankful. For him . And for his romantic side. 303 more days. Then... I get to be Mrs. --insert fiance's last name here-- :)

This past week, the staff and faculty at our school had inservice days. If you've never worked in a school, this may not mean anything to you, so I'll explain. Inservice days are days where teachers come together as one body and have meetings regarding such topics as, and in no particular order...dress code, discipline, the handbook, policy, communication, schedules, etc. Our inservice days, unlike many other schools out there, also included a devotional/message time, a time of reflection and prayer. Wednesday morning, we had the most incredible time of prayer, and I believe the Holy Spirit touched every person in that room. I love that I get to work somewhere that allows and encourages that kind of experience. Early in the week, we watched a video of Chuck Colson as he spoke at a Classical Education conference. Do you know who he is? I didn't. And then I was educated. Wow. Seriously, this guy messed up. Big time. And then? Well, if you have no idea who he ...

I belong to a gym that's part of a local church. I don't know if you would classify this church as a "mega-church," but it's pretty darn big (well...big enough to have a gym on their grounds). It's a really great environment in which to work out. The people there are friendly, the equipment does what it's supposed to do, the classes are fun and tough (oh Zumba, how I miss you!), the locker rooms are generally clean (except when they're not...), the price is not too high, and it's not noisy and packed like many gyms around here seem to be. But those things are not what I like best about it. My favorite part of exercising at this particular gym is the colored 8 1/2" by 11" pieces of paper that are scattered throughout the workout areas, the halls, and the locker rooms. These pieces of paper (well, the ones to which I'm referring) are not random bits of information. Nay . They all say the same thing, and they are changed eve...

It has been, what seems, a very long time since I last posted. These last four weeks have been filled to the brim. In one month's time, I got engaged, journeyed to Michigan (and Chicago while there), spent time at my parents' house on the way home, experienced a wonderful weekend in Galveston with my fellowship group, and made my way over to a little town near Livingston for a staff retreat this past weekend. This month has been filled with adventure, relaxation, sun, playtime, education, books, and a little tutoring on the side. Even if I had been full of wonderful thoughts and ideas about what to write on here, I wouldn't have had time to sit down at the computer and compile them all. I just glanced at the calendar, and I have 3 weeks before we begin inservice at school and 4 weeks until I get to meet the kiddos who will be in my class this year. The summer has passed swiftly by, but I'm not complaining. I feel truly blessed and grateful to be working at a scho...

After church, we walked to the baptistry...he said my parents wanted pictures... He asked... I accepted... It's official :)

Wow. It's been a while. I've missed this. By this , I mean jotting down ideas, editing, writing some more...then hitting that Publish Post button and putting my thoughts out there for all to read (and by all , I mean the precious 4 of you who read the things I post lol--love you!!). I've been in some sort of writer's-block-funk these last few weeks. I haven't had any new or original ideas that seemed worth writing about. I suppose I could write about the inordinate amount of Nutella I have consumed lately. It's ridiculous. And not at all healthy. And oh-so-yummy . I could write about the fact that school is out (can I get a " hallelujah "?!), I went home (my hometown) for a week, and I got to see part of my wonderful family and a few of my fabulous friends. I could write about how according to an application on my iPod Touch, the left hemisphere of my brain is most definitely dominant. I agreed with all of the reasons it listed up until i...

I am not superstitious. Really, I'm not. I'm cautious , but I'm not superstitious. I do, however, tend to not get my hopes up often. My sister and I are alike in this. We don't let ourselves get intensely excited about things or events coming up because we don't want to be let down if things fall through. I never thought much about that outlook on life until one day when I was talking to the boyfriend, and he said that was a sad way to think. And he was right. He was absolutely right. How can I, as a child of God, not have hope? I have a set of devotional cards on my desk at work, and I'm terrible about changing the cards. It's not laziness or lack of motivation; it's simply forgetfulness on my part. It sits right in front of me day after day (among the papers, the multiple stamps, the pink ink pad, the maroon stapler, the black tape dispenser, the daily planner, the whistle, the almost-empty jar of Nutella, the wicker basket of assorted writing utensi...