Hmmm...

I enjoy medical shows about as much as the next person. I was hooked on House when it first came out, but have kind of lost interest. I don't feel as though it's as good as it once was and Dr. House irritates me to no end. I do, however, still enjoy Grey's Anatomy and have for a long time. It's one of my Tivo'd shows that I don't like to miss. Call me crazy, but I'm really sick of the whole McDreamy/Meredith story line. It's been too many years going and I would just like some true closure. I think this season is about the closest to "closure" that I've gotten.

Last year, Grey's aired a spin off show called Private Practice. It was pretty good and I really love Kate Walsh, so I would watch from time to time. This season, I have enjoyed it a lot more than last year. That is, until Wednesday's episode. Truth be told, I am still digesting it and trying to figure out what I thought.

The episode I am referring to is the one that was aired on Wednesday, December 5, 2008. In this episode, a new doctor decides to perform abortions. Most of the practice is okay with this, however, there are two doctors who are starkly against it. Throughout the episode, two of the female doctors admit to having abortions themselves. In the end, abortions are "okay-ed" at the practice and the first one is performed. At the very end of the episode, one the two doctors who was opposed to the abortion says, "A baby died here today." Ooooh, that sent chills up my spine.

Part of me wants to say that I appreciated that they presented both sides of the issue well. The female doctor who was against the abortion was also a fertility doctor, who stated that she believes "life begins at conception". The other doctors said nothing about where they believe life begins, which I have come to find is generally the case with people who are pro-choice. I was appreciative of finally hearing the pro-life stance on network television. I was also glad that they didn't choose to make it an "obsessive religious issue" as I have also seen before. I do think they did a good job with the pro-life side of the practice.

The other part of me wants to say that I refuse to watch a show that presents abortion as a viable and understandable option. May I be so bold as to say that I am pro-choice? I believe that every woman has her choice and it's made when you decide to sleep with someone before marriage (don't even GET me started on married women who abort babies for "health" reasons). That's where your choice ends and God's choice begins. He's in control of that baby's life and health and the mother's health. If you weren't asking for a baby, there are thousands of people in this country that want a baby who can't have one. Give the gift of life to your baby and to another family. Adoption is an amazing course of action that I have seen firsthand.

Back to Private Practice, though. I think I have come to the conclusion that I don't really want to watch a show that advocates abortion in any way. One reason I didn't vote for Mr. Obama is because he advocates partial-birth abortion and although he will be inaugurated in January, I don't have to support that particular belief. However, as a Christian, I believe that God has called me to pray for him and I do so faithfully. But, having him in office was not my choice. Watching a show is my choice, so I will choose not to watch.

Finally, I know that there are women who are put into awful and horrible situations and please, don't think that I'm judging you in any way. I ache for the pain you must have or are going through; I truly do. That is why I am so grateful for the option of adoption (didn't mean to rhyme just then, I promise!). It reminds me of Romans 8:28, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose." What an amazing promise for us to remember! God can work amazing and incredible things through the worst of circumstances. Now if only I could remember that one from day to day... :)

On that note, does anyone have any good show options for Wednesday nights? :)

Grapefruit & Britney

FYI, I did just squirt grapefruit juice IN MY EYE. I was sitting at my desk, working on grading while my students were oh-so-quietly working on their phonics. I thought I would enjoy my delicious grapefruit for breakfast because, let's all face it, a cup of coffee just does NOT cut it for breakfast... at least in my house.

Back to the grapefruit. I only had a few bites when some juice squirted directly in my eye. Instead of screaming out in pain like I wanted to, I turned around in my chair, covered my poor eye and whispered, "Oh. My. Gosh. OW." over and over again until I felt sufficiently better. I did not rub my eye, because that would have messed up my eye makeup and God forbid that would ever happen.

If you're wondering, my eye is fine and the grapefruit was delicious. I am still trying to gear myself up to go back for more. I'm not sure if I want to risk more pain/ ruined eye makeup. We'll see.

On a totally different topic, I am totally psyched about this.

If you know me at all, you know I have been a Britney Spears fan for a LONG time. Really. I promise. I bought her demo tape back when it came out. I even remember the sides of the tape. Side A: Baby One More Time and Side B: Autumn Goodbye. Wow, that's embarrassing. I know it is juvenile, I know it is shallow, but I am a fan. I always had faith in her while she was going through her crazy stage over the past few years. Through her shaved head, custody battles, hospital admittance(s), I've been rooting for her. I'm so glad she's back-- I knew this day would come! Doesn't she look GREAT? That's the Britney I love. Call me crazy, but I am not a fair weather Britney fan. Ask my girls. They'll tell you. And no, I am also not a 14 year old girl.

I'm most definitely buying that Glamour the moment I see it. Can't wait. Oh Britney-- you go girl.

Not Me! Monday-- Installment #2

Another Not Me! Monday is upon us. Now, unlike the stellar MckMama, I have not posted since last Monday. She amazes me-- mother to many small children and she can still blog and photograph to no end. Wow. Someday, maybe, I will have it all together like her! :) But until then...

I did not wear my favorite pants two days in a row last week, aka the only two days of school we had. I don't love them that much and I don't revel in just how cute and comfortable they are. I am also not posting about PANTS in two Not Me! Mondays in a row. That would be lame and I am not lame.

I did not forget my camera during our 3rd grade Thanksgiving party and have to resort to taking horrible pictures on my phone. I am much more responsible than this, I assure you, and would never walk around my classroom holding my camera/phone saying to each child, "Look at me, honey. Honey? LOOK AT ME! I NEED TO TAKE YOUR PICTURE!" That would be ridiculous and I am not ridiculous.

I did not wear my fleece lined Crocs to the grocery store last week with my work clothing. That would be a huge fashion no-no. They are absolutely not so comfortable that I would want to slip my aching, blister-lined feet out of my oh-so-cute-but-horridly-painful shoes to wear them out in public with my super cute work clothes. I did not see people looking at my strange outfit out of the corner of their eyes while I spent a long time at Biggs. That would be really embarrassing and I would never do anything intentionally embarrassing.

This weekend, I did not continually think to myself, "I will go running on Monday. I will go to my weights class on Tuesday. I will go running on Wednesday. I will go to weights on Thursday. I will go running on Friday," whilst STUFFING myself silly with turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, dressing, casseroles, desserts, etc. That would be obsessive and I am not obsessive.

I did not bawl like a baby when we left Michigan yesterday because I was going to miss my family, friends, home, church, life, etc. That would be childish and I am not childish!

And finally, I did not wear short sleeves today, in Ohio, in 30 degree weather, in falling snow, just because I wanted to wear my cute shirt-- my REALLY cute shirt. That would be vain and I am not vain.

Ahh, I feel SO much better now! What are some of your Not Me! Mondays???

Not Me Monday!

I have been following MckMama for only a few weeks now, but I admit it-- I'm hooked. She is so honest and real and that, my friends, is refreshing. I think I found her blog through Bring the Rain and now I check it pretty regularly. Not only is she hilarious, but her kids are so darn cute. I can only hope that my kids come out and grow to be that precious!

Anyway, she does this thing called "Not Me Monday" which is essentially free therapy blog-style. It's a time to be completely honest about things that I most definitely did NOT do this past week... or maybe I did. Let's leave it up to you to figure that out. :)

I did not force myself to put away my favorite pair of work pants for an entire week for fear that my colleagues might think that I don't own any other trousers. I did not keep them crumpled in the bottom of the hamper just so I could resist the temptation of wearing them. I also am not wearing them today, the first day off my "pants fast".

I did not stay up until 1:30 am on Thursday night in order to make all sorts of treats for my jewelry party the next day and I did not seriously contemplate washing the floor at 1:15 am. I most certainly did not want my guests to think I had it all together. Not this girl.

In turn, I did not pop in the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving movie 6 days early the next day at school so that I could get some grading done and not hear my name fifty thousand times in 4.3 minutes.

I did not buy cute and colorful key covers at The Container Store on Saturday just to try and put them on my keys last night and be too frustrated to continue. I also did not just throw them in my desk drawer this morning because I was done trying to put them on my keys. That would be wasteful and I would never do that.

I did not get giddy yesterday when my hubby asked to hold Malia voluntarily. I did not immediately start thinking, "Maybe he is ready! Maybe this is a SIGN!" I did not get so-excited-I-almost-peed-my-pants at the prospect of the fact that maybe, just maybe he was ready for a small one. Then, darling hubs did not turn to me and say, "Don't read into this." My husband does not know his wife.

I also did not seriously consider ripping the sleepy Malia from her daddy's arms during the service just so I could soak up that "sleepy baby" drug. I would never do such a thing.

And lastly, I was not bored last night watching the 24 movie and I did not download the "Are You Smarter Then a Fifth Grader?" game on my phone just to be sorely disappointed by it's poor graphics and the fact that I am truly not smarter then any fifth grader. Not me.

I hope you enjoyed my first "Not Me Monday". Hopefully I'll hear good feedback and be back for round 2 next Monday!

Happy Thanksgiving Week!

Sam's memorial service yesterday was incredible. His life touched so many and was so far reaching. What a privilege it was to know someone "who looked just like Jesus" as was said many a time yesterday. We were blessed to have Sam for as long as we did. Please continue to pray for his family as they bury his body today.

Proverbs 3:27-- Talk is Cheap.

A Great Man

On Saturday evening around 9:00ish, I received an "all call" from school asking for prayer for one of our teachers, Sam Dillard. We were asked to pray for him as he had collapsed from a brain aneurysm and was in the hospital. About an hour later, we received another call asking for prayer for Sam's life. I know that our entire CCS family prayed for healing through the night.

God answered those prayers in the way He saw fit and healed Sam completely at about 2:00 am on November 16, 2008 and took him to be in Heaven. Sam leaves behind his wife, Lianne, and two young daughters.

Sam was a great man of integrity who loved the Lord with his entire life. I had the pleasure of working with Sam on a few occasions and eating lunch with him once, where it was so evident that his entire life was about serving Christ and doing all work for the glory of God. His life just radiated Jesus' love. What an incredible example. I wonder if I will ever be half the Christ-follower Sam was; I can only hope and pray and follow the example that he left behind.

He was a teacher, a mentor, a coach, a friend, a husband, a daddy, and most of all, a follower of Jesus. He will be so dearly and tremendously missed. Our school is already a different place without him. He has left a legacy.

"Jesus has overcome
And the grave is overwhelmed
The victory is won
He is risen from the dead...

And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise... I will rise"

Sam, friend, we miss you already. Thanks for all you did for us and the legacy you left behind. You are loved. This is a picture of Sam that truly captures what he was all about. I can just picture him like this at the feet of Jesus. I am sure he was welcomed into Heaven hearing, "Well done, my good and faithful servant!"

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!