Howdy

I hope that everyone has had a great last week and your new year is off to a great start.

Things at school are getting back to routine after having been out for 2 weeks. We are beginning to get back into our morning routine here at home too. It's weird how you really dread getting up early, doing the same things every day, but then when it gets messed up for a while, you long for that routine or some sort of routine in your life. I guess that's the teacher part in me coming out. We are routine creatures of habit, at least most of us anyway.

I have been terrible about updating this blog mainly because I think it's more therapeutic than widely read. It gives me something to do when I don't want to do something I need to do or I have a lull in my chores around home or school work.

Speaking of which, I just remembered I have a big stack of Geometry tests that need to be graded. Yuck.... Grading is not fun most of the time for me! I'm getting lazy since my student teacher is doing some of the grading already so he won't be bored to tears. He actually gets started teaching a class this upcoming week. I will hand over the reins and let him have at it. There's no better preparation than just getting into a classroom and trying it out. It's scary at first, takes lots of practice to get better at it (by the way, I AM still practicing myself!!!!!), and lots of patience that only God above can give to you, but it's a great job. It's rewarding (yes, even high school kids can make your day) and it's exhausting, but I can't imagine myself doing anything else. I have never imagined myself being anything other than a teacher, until I was a mother. Now I'm beginning to contemplate if I can be teacher AND mommy and do a good job at both. THAT, my friend, is an entirely different post!!! Maybe, I will post about it in the near future.

Anyway, I felt bad when I saw that everyone had updated recently and I just kept putting my blog off. So, my blog therapy will conclude with this short paragraph. Maybe it wasn't too boring!!! :)

Have a great weekend and week! Love!

Christmas Break - It will soon be gone!

We had a great Christmas!! It was stressful (Christmas day was), but other than that, we had a great time. I had to pray all day pretty much to keep myself from going ballistic at times. It's hard for me to relax when my child is tired, she won't eat, she hasn't had a nap, people want to visit with you, and you would rather be at home, BUT it turned out not be as bad as I thought it would be. We acquired many new and exciting gadgets and gifts. Andy is most proud of his GPS unit that I got for him. It got it at a serious deal the day after Thanksgiving at Target! It wasn't really all that expensive compared to what it normally is.

I have been soaking in every minute with Callie these last two weeks. She's been the sweetest most loving thing ever! She'll just raise her arms up to me and say mama, and then when I pick up her she will hug me SO tight around the neck! It is the sweetest thing! She'll even say "love you" after I say it to her sometimes. It is precious. She's been entertaining me and keeping me busy around the house cleaning up after her too. :)

We had our traditional New Year collards and cornbread today. We opted out of the black-eyed peas because I'm not to fond of them, and plus I already made a crockpot full of pinto beans this week! Anyway, the collards and cornbread were WONDERFUL! I would dare say that it was one of the best pawns of cornbread I ever made and the best collards I have ever made. Of course, they cooked almost all day yesterday and last night, so all of that TLC better be evident in how they taste! :)

I have been cooking a lot this week with the crock pot and cooking a lot in general. It's not been too bad since I have an on-site designated dishwasher to help out! Andy's been washing dishes, and it's been so nice. He's done well too!

Well, I better get something done that's productive around the house. I need to work on some, dare I say it, school (cringe) stuff!

FYI - I will have a student teacher this semester. I hope and pray he's a good one! Pray for me as I attempt to "show" him how I do it, and maybe help him to somehow miraculously transform into a good teacher? Don't ask me how that's going to happen! I feel really unqualified to be mentoring someone else in my profession since I am NO WHERE NEAR where I wish I was, but God has put this little teacher-to-be in my life for some reason! I just hope his experience is as great as mine was! I had a good student-teaching experience, unlike all of the horror stories everyone told me!

Have a great day and a VERY Happy New Year!
Love!

Christmas Time's a Comin'!

While I have obviously NOT been updating my blog, I've been getting ready for Christmas. Shopping, decorating, cooking, cleaning (ha!), caroling, and doing various Christmas things at church. It's been very busy around the Brown household with a basketball coach living here, a teacher whose ready to be out for Christmas break, and a now 18-month old sweet little Callie!

Callie is getting so big. She's gone pee pee and poo poo in the potty numerous times, and she is learning something new every day. She never ceases to amaze me, and I feel like I love her more every day - no joke!

I'm so glad we are out for Christmas break! I needed a break from school, and I'm going to try NOT to think about going back until I absolutely have to. The year is already half way over; that's hard to believe, but good too at the same time!

Christmas is just around the corner now, and I believe I'm almost finished with all of my shopping. Andy has a few more things he needs to get, and I think I still need one more thing for my loving brother-in-law, but I haven't gotten around to getting that yet! I am running out of time too!

We are getting ready for an EXTREMELY busy Christmas day as usual. We will kick off our long list of stops on Christmas Eve with a get together at 6:00 with the Brown side of the family. Then, on Christmas day, we celebrate here at home together, then it's off to Moma and Daddy's, down to Maw Maw's for lunch, then over to Flora and Fred's for the afternoon, and finally Andy's parents for that night. It is exhausting, and I hate to say it, but it makes my Christmas so stressful and less enjoyable than I feel it could be with all of the running around we have to do. I'm also preparing for the food I'll take to almost every stop we make. It's hard to think so far in advance to me when it comes to cooking. I'm a good planner in most areas except the food department.

Oh well, I'm trying not to let the busyness of this season stress me out, but I have already truly enjoyed the Christmas season in my heart. The sign at Rock Springs Baptist Church says something to the effect of you haven't celebrated Christmas until you've experienced it in your heart. I hope that this Christmas, God will bless you with that experience and your heart will overflow with joy at the celebration of the birth of our Savior, the one true HOPE of the WORLD!

Merry Christmas

I'm still here

Some of you may think I've gone undercover since my blog hasn't been updated in ages, but I'm still here. I've been busy as usual, and every time I think about updating, I'm either not in the mood, or I don't know what to say. So, I've been avoiding updating for those reasons.

We are all trying to get ready for Thanksgiving around here, and we are gearing up for Christmas too. After walking through the stores with their Christmas decorations every where and since some people I know have already started to decorate around the house, I decided to put up my Christmas tree this past weekend. It took Callie a day or two to realize that she just can't walk up to it and take off ornaments (all plastic) and play with them. As you can expect, she was all excited because there was all this NEW stuff around, and she had never played or messed with it before. She was excited about it.

Also, I bought an 8 foot inflatable snowman last year that is sitting in our yard. It was one of those 1/2 price after Christmas sale deals. Callie LOVES it! She wants to go outside and touch it when it's freezing and dark! He lights up; so you can see him in the dark. It's too cute. It looks like it's waving at you the way his little arms are made to stick out of his body, and she'll just look up at the snowman and wave at him like he's a real person. It's adorable. She is just too cute, and I love seeing things from her perspective. I believe it keeps be grounded and reminds me of some things that I take for granted and some things that I think are so important and get worked up over are really not that important at all.

Tomorrow is my Friday since we are getting out for Thanksgiving break this week! Woohoo! Talk about ready. It's a break that's been long overdue I think!

Well, I have officially updated my blog, and just want you all to know that the way it feels these last couple of days/weeks is how cold it was in Wyoming this past summer when everybody here was having a HEAT WAVE! We were freezing our rear ends off in Yellowstone while everybody was praying for a break here! I've thought about that several times since it's turned cold. I loved that Teton Mountain Range! I believe I could use another summer in Wyoming! This time, I think we need to wait a few more weeks before we go though! Since I've been reminiscing about my Wyoming trip, I'll leave you with some of our vacation pictures below. The climate in the picture looks more appropriate now than it did back in June!

Callie - Definitely a TREAT! not a trick!

Okay, so I must admit Halloween is my LEAST favorite holiday of the entire year. I'm not a fan of trying to be all spooky, scary, and all of that stuff. But we were able to have fun with Callie this Halloween. She was an adorable duck. She liked her costume. She wanted to hug it when it was hanging on the hanger in her room. She had fun getting candy and visiting with our families. We decided to just go and visit a few people. It still ended up taking a total of about 2.5 hours though, including driving time! :)

Enjoy the pictures. Tell me about your Halloween experience!

Much love!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kri8G-lGYfg

This video made me cringe. Barack Obama - God help him! Literally!

It's easy to fret and be anxious about this upcoming election, but remember that worrying doesn't "add one cubit to your stature" just like it says in the book of Matthew. It's still God's election, and He is still in control. Let that be what you're resting on this election and may God answer our prayers and by answering our prayers help keep someone in office who shares our morals, values, and loves this Country that God has so richly blessed.

I'm so disgusted with how some people are so consumed with Obama's view of how he can make everything better. The Devil is a smooth talker, hence the reason he runs so many people's lives. Temptations galore... So, why should we believe Barack Obama has all of the answers and can really "change" our country for the better? His smooth talking and list of promises makes him so suspicious and untrustworthy in my eyes.

Sorry to turn my blog into a political mess, but I'm concerned about our country! We need to stop letting our country be ruled by minority. That's who we cater to.

Just today I was listening to Jody Hice on 90.9 and he spoke of a Colorado high school valedictorian who was nominated by her class to have the last 30 seconds of the graduation ceremonies to speak. During her short time, she mentioend her relationship with Christ, and she was immediately hauled off to the principal's office and threatened to not get her diploma for saying the things she said. Are people so afraid of being convicted that we can't even speak the name of JESUS??????? His name is so powerful and convicts so many! The Liberty Counsel is defending the girl now, but it's sad how "religious freedom" has turned into religious persecution and an attempt to silence the true Christian!!!!! Ruled by minority, not by majority!

"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In ALL thy ways acknowlege Him and He will direct thy paths." Prov. 3:5 - 6.

God help us during this election and may your divine will be accomplished! Come quickly Lord Jesus! We need you!

GO Palin!

Besides the fact that she's a conservative Republican, who in their right mind could say Sarah Palin is NOT qualified to be Vice-President? I mean, come on people! She's been a governor, that's more than Obama or Biden can claim!!! Just had to get that off of my chest!

Remember, God is still in control, and it's still HIS election! Please pray for our country and pray that people will vote for their values instead of some vague "change" that Obama claims he will bring to America!

God Bless America and may God see fit to put John McCain and Sarah Palin in office for our sakes!