Picture Updates!

I wanted to wait for my next post until I could put up some pictures. I love reading blogs, but I also love looking at pictures. We've had a busy past few months, and the next few will only be busier! We got to relax this weekend, but this will be the last one for about a month. As much as I love relaxing, I also have lots to look forward to. Here's a quick glimpse of the last month or so...

Malia came over for dinner with her Mommy and Daddy. We love them and love spending time with them. Malia was born in July and she is growing up and gets more precious every time I see her! Dana (Mommy) is my best Cincinnati friend and I love spending time with her. I was telling Ty the other day that Dana has been one of the best examples of friendship to me that I have ever had-- I am sooooo blessed by her and by our relationship! Malia has the best mommy and our plan is that their second child and my first will either be the best of friends or get married someday. We'll have to wait and see, but I wouldn't mind having Dana and Corey as my in-laws someday. Okay, I'm getting waaaaay ahead of myself... :)

In early October, we went to the wedding of our precious friends, Zack and Libby. Zack was in our wedding and Libby has quickly become a close friend. I hate that we live two hours away and we are hoping that someday we will live in the same city. They are a great "couple"friend and their wedding was amazing. It was in the most beautiful chapel and Libby was a stunning bride. I'm sure her husband agreed. :) They are really special to us and we are always trying to find ways to see one another on the weekends. It looks like we may have to wait for a few weeks at least, but we keep up with each other. It's so great to have such wonderful, wonderful girlfriends. And for Tyler (and me!), guy friends like Zack! For the record, I realize I look like a total goof in the picture of the two of us, but aren't I married to such a handsome guy???

One day, I was feeling rather crafty, so I went to Michael's and picked up a few things and made some candle holders and stenciled some craft pumpkins. Even though I am an elementary teacher, craftiness is really not my thing. I can do things that are laid out for me in a book or from another teacher, but coming up with things on my own is really not my style. I truly wish it was, though. I bought some candy corn and candy pumpkins, filled up a Mason jar with them, tied a ribbon around the mouth, and placed a tea light inside. I painted two craft pumpkins and then stenciled deisgns on them. I took some pictures to show all of you who are interested. For the record, I stenciled a second pumpkin, but it wasn't dry, so I didn't photograph it. Maybe someday soon... :) I do love fall and fall decorations, so this was really fun for me. Enjoy!

My sweet little car, Cotton, hit 100,00 miles as well! (Can you tell that I am a child of my father due to the fact that this was a big deal to me?! Tyler didn't understand.) Anyway, I was pretty pumped and took pictures of the grand event. Here are two that documented the glorious morning. She is a great little car and has driven me to see so many people I love. It's good to have a sturdy and safe vehicle! And yes, that is a dog biscuit on my dashboard. My mom gave it to me to remind me of Georgie. Which reminds me of a hilarious story that no one else would laugh at except for Sara and Stephy, so if you are one of those two, I hope you are laughing. :)

And finally, we went to see High School Musical 3 with Dana and Corey, which I already wrote about. However, the movie/soundtrack was much better than I ever could have hoped. It was so much fun and I love that kids have these movies to watch. They're hilarious. We were in the same movie theater as one of my sweet students, and we sat right behind her. We even had the same favorite part. It was great. Dana and I even got the chance to take pictures with the cast!

Again, gross picture of me, but I mean, how lucky was I to get a picture with Zac Efron?? ;)

Make it a great day!

Fun Fours.

4 Jobs You've Had in Your Life:
Limited, Too (At that time, I was sixteen or so and could still fit into the clothing. Not so true anymore.)
Nanny (Three different families for six years. Best darn job of my life. Miss 'em like crazy.)
Kindergarten Teacher (Loved this job. Met the most precious kids.)
Sixth Grade Teacher (Loved the kids, but NEVER again.)

4 Movies You Could Watch Over and Over:
High School Musical 1 (Refer to my previous post.)
High School Musical 2 (Again, my afore mentioned post.)
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (Trust me, I've watched this probably around 20 times.)
Angels in the Outfield (Always hilarious.)

4 Things you Want to Do:
Go to Europe with my hubs.
Get my pilot's license.
Have a few kids.
Go on a tropical vacay with the Toolbox (aka three best girlfriends).

4 Costumes You've Worn on Halloween:
Yellow M&M (The only costume my mom ever made. It was awesome.)
A die (I lied before. My mom made this one too. Aunt M made Meredith's and we went as a pair-of-dice. We won the church costume competition. Booyah.)
A hippie (What kid didn't?)
A mouse (It covered up the layers upon layers my mom made me wear that night. It was COLD.)

4 Songs You Could Listen to Again and Again:
Glory by Selah and Nicole Nordemann
Gotta Go My Own Way by Troy and Gabriella (High School Musical... again.)
Gold Digger by Kanye West (I know, I know.)
Cinderella by Steven Curtis Chapman (Quite a variety there, huh?)

4 Websites You Visit Daily:
gmail.com (Email is key.)
blogger.com (I like keeping up with friends who are far away.)
facebook.com (Helps me try to stay connected to friends, again.)
people.com (Yes, I am that shallow.)

Your turn!

I've Been Waiting.

It's here. The event I have been waiting for for months. Years, maybe. Honestly... ever since the first movie came out two years ago. I have grown to know these characters and I love them. I love what they do and what they sing. They are awesome, and I will admit that sometimes, I wish I was one of them.
Let's be honest. Far more people love these movies then they care to admit. And now that one is about to hit the big screen... well, America is thrilled. I am thrilled. Dana is thrilled. We are dragging our husbands to see this movie tomorrow night and yes, we have already purchased tickets online. We talked about it for a long time today and are about as excited as the sixth grade girls at school... maybe more. I also downloaded the soundtrack tonight and am so excited to listen to it on my way to school tomorrow. It's definitely going to make me pop out of bed and get ready quickly. I am pumped. I love High School Musical and I will be devastated tomorrow at the end of the movie when the fun finally comes to an end. Oh, man, I can't even stand it.

On a side note, report cards are done. Phewf. The end of the quarter is always a long haul for me. I'm going to go and read myself to sleep. I've gotten hooked on the Yada Yada Prayer Group books. I'm loving them. I love to read in general, but I love when I find a series that just makes me happy.

Night night.

Third Grade Prayer

My favorite prayer request today?

"I want to pray for the people in Texas. There is a bad swarm of flies down there somewhere."

:)

Marriage.

This weekend, Tyler and I are going to a marriage conference with Dana & Corey. They went last year and it sounded like an amazing time, so we are going with them this year. It is at their church, so we won't have to travel (HALLELUJAH!) and we are looking forward to spending time with them. Dana is one of my best "Cincinnati friends" (and just plain friend) by far, and we're going to see each other next weekend as well, so I have LOTS to look forward to. We taught together last year, and this year she is staying home with her precious baby girl, Malia, so we don't see each other near as often. I am also looking forward to holding this darling creature tonight:

Be jealous. Be VERY jealous. :)

Watching the debates... or not.

I watched about 5.4 minutes of the debates last night. Why? Because they made me cry last time. They are so darn mean to each other and it kind of breaks my heart. We're still humans, after all, even if we don't agree. This brings me to my next point.

Barack Obama. He's much too "Rico Suave" for me. Maybe he should be a judge on America's Next Top Model as opposed to running for the next leader of the free world-- he surely seems better equipped for that. I'm just saying. I also don't find him to be worthy of much respect due to the fact that he supports abortion. A friend of mine directed me to a link that I thought said it way better than I ever could. It is a true (I checked thoroughly) email written by a Christian pianist named Huntley Brown and it shares his thoughts on why he can't vote for Obama. I agree wholeheartedly with him. If that brother was standing here with me today, I would surely shake his hand. If you would like to see what he has to say, click here.

All I can say that if Senator Obama does indeed win this election, he can count on my prayer support everyday, and that is the truth.

We have had many political discussions, or should I say total outbursts, here in third grade over the last few months. Most have been hilarious when looked back upon, but during the time of the actual riot, for lack of a better term, it's pure chaos here. Here is how the first throw down went.

Student A: I can't believe Barack Obama wants to kill babies when they are in their mommy's tummies!
Student B: Barack Obama does NOT believe in THAT! He believes in CHANGE!
Student C: My dad HATES Barack Obama!
Student D: I'm not voting for John McCain!
Me: (Furiously trying to "shhh" everyone in hopes that parents won't be calling right and left over the next few days asking what in the WORLD she is teaching.)
Student E: MY MOM SAYS BARACK OBAMA IS A TERRORIST!

Or, my other personal favorite.

Student A: Barack Obama is bad for letting babies get killed in their mommy's tummies.
Student B: That's not true! He said it wasn't true! He said it's a RUMOR!
Me: (Again, trying to make these children keep their opinions to themselves as opposed to getting phone call after phone call after email after phone call...) The next person who says anything about Barack Obama or John McCain gets their color changed!
Student C: Well, I think anyone is weird that votes for Obono. (Yes, he said Obono.)

Needless to say, Student C got his color changed. :)

And finally, I had one of my sweet little ones ask me this question yesterday: "I don't understand why [Barack Obama] wants to bring the troops home and why he wants to kill babies.The troops sign up to honor in the war and they don't WANT to come home and the babies don't have a choice to die. Why would he do that?" What do you say to that? I don't know, baby. I just don't know.

I didn't intend for this to turn into an anti-Obama blog and I'm sure I will meet with some adversity because of it. Let me just say, I do not, by any means, agree with everything John McCain has said or supports. I know some might say that I am naive for not supporting Obama just because he supports abortion, but there are other things. I just won't get into them here or now. I am passionate about this because I feel that God very clearly expresses himself in the Bible about abortion and I'm not getting the picture that He and Obama see eye to eye.

Here is a little something from my perspective on abortion, according to Scripture...

Psalm 139:13-16 The Message
Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
you formed me in my mother's womb.
I thank you, High God—you're breathtaking!
Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
I worship in adoration—what a creation!
You know me inside and out,
you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared
before I'd even lived one day.

And now, a delightfully funny political comparison. But please keep in mind-- this woman is my GIRL. And not just my American Girl Doll...

Oh, my.

Well, needless to say, I have not been bitten by the "blogging bug". No entries since July? July. Really, seriously, Rachel. Come on. One word: pathetic.

May I confess something? (Of course... I can confess whatever I want. It's MY blog. HA! Don'tcha love that sense of entitlement?!)

I want to be a blogger. I want to be one SO bad. I read these eloquent blogs from different people and I think, "I want to write like that!" Could I really do it? Probably. Not that I'm all that eloquent or articulate, but I do have funny things to write about. Like when one of my third graders yelled, "MY MOM SAYS BARACK OBAMA IS A TERRORIST!" I could write about the fact that I usually am on the brink of falling down the stairs at least once a day. Maybe that's not so funny, but it is if you are there and see me trying to balance three different bags, a purse, a lunchbox, sometimes a coffee and whatever other assorted items I may be trying to lug down three flights of stairs. I'm telling you, it ain't pretty. I have yet to fall down the stairs, but I assure you, it will happen. Stay tuned.

I digress...

Here's the deal with me and blogging. I am a huge creature of habit. I love the fact that I know what my schedule is everyday after school and it rarely changes. Not only do I love consistency and concrete plans, but I also am insanely busy. I feel as if I can barely handle teaching, my extra commitments, cooking, cleaning, and being a good wife to Ty. If things aren't planned or if they don't go according to plans, I fall apart. There. I admit it. Rachel falls apart. I think I'm doing better than I used to regarding with "going with the flow", but still, it's not pretty. Yuck. Nothing like admitting your own insecurities like writing them out for the whole world to see.

You're probably wondering, "What in the WORLD does this have to do with blogging?" Or maybe you've stopped reading by now. I wouldn't blame you. I have a tendency to ramble... as I am right now. Oh, Lord, bless those who are still reading for being my true friends... or for being truly nosy. ;)

Okay, blogging. Focus, Rachel. Here's what you've been waiting for... drum roll, please. (If you are not doing a drum roll on your lap, please do not read ahead until you have perfected that delightful sound. Thank you.)

I am not a good blogger because there is simply not time to do it and do it well.

There it is. Pretty anticlimactic, huh? Really, it's true. When I do things, I like to do them completely and I like to do them WELL. Examples, you ask? Well, I can't just vacuum the kitchen floor and leave it be. If I'm going to vacuum, I'm going to Swiffer, and then I will decide that the Swiffer doesn't do the trick (really, it's not a great product), so I will get the rags and the bucket and my Method floor cleaner, and I will was the floor on hands and knees. If I start a project at school, I will not leave until it's finished. I have been known to call my poor and unsuspecting husband (who thinks he is in for a pleasant and quiet evening with his wife) screaming and crying about the fact that it is 7:00 and I am still at school because I have so much to do and if he knows whats good for him, he will open that box of macaroni and cheese and eat ONLY half of it so that I will have something to eat when I get home. Poor man. He didn't know what he was in for when he took those vows.

Have you ever read the book If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff? I am that mouse in it's truest form. I think Ty could vouch for that. I do identify with that poor mouse. One thing does lead to another and before you know it, POOF, you are doing way more than you thought you ever would. For the record, that's how sin works too, but I won't get on my soapbox just yet. :) I'm afraid blogging would be like that for me. At this point, I think I have two options.

1. Delete this blog and never even THINK of reentering the blogging universe again.


2. Use it as an opportunity for me to get over this insane obsession of doing everything "right" ALL the time.
   

I think I shall choose option number two, unless anyone (and by anyone, I mean Ty) is opposed to that. Blogging is too fun when I choose to do it. I will shoot for once a week, maybe more, depending on my busyness factor and whether I feel like it. I'm just here to tell ya, if E! News is on, I probably won't choose blogging instead of paying attention to the latest news about Madonna and Guy Ritchie's divorce (seriously, was anyone REALLY surprised?) or the Jolie-Pitt twins latest pics. (I do confess that I love celebrity gossip and I check People.com on a regular basis... call it a guilty pleasure). If a new issue of Real Simple or Everyday with Rachael Ray has just arrived, please don't expect me to put those down to write in this blog. I'm a busy girl and yes, I am also busy doing things I want to do. But... blogging is something I want to do. I will try to get better and I will try to be interesting... try being the operative word. I can promise you one thing, though...

I will not give Ms. Numeroff material for her next book, "When You Give a Girl a Blog".