You color my world

I missed valentine's day with my class here in Germany while I was gone. I was awful sad about this because it was always one of my favorite school holidays. I love to watch the kids give each other valentines. I love watching them get excited to see who brought what kind of valentines. I saw an idea on beloved pinterest about making crayon hearts using a heart mold and melted crayons. I decided I wanted to try it. So a while back I ordered a heart mold online that came well before time. We also switched out the crayons in the workstation spinners not too long ago so I held on to the extra for this cause. So basically this project only cost me the cost of the mold, which will undoubtedly get used for other things. It took a lot longer than I thought it would but they turned out really cute and I proudly presented them to my students today even though I had missed actaul valentine's day!

The next big school assignment coming up: the 100th day cake!! YES!!! I am sooo excited about this one. While I was home I found a pretty cool cake pan that allows you to make any letter and number you want so I will be making a 100 cake for our 100th day of school coming up soon.

Side note: pictures and info about our homegoing are forthcoming...promise!!

Took a Fall

Haha, as I sit down to update this, poor little Cash just fell off the couch! Haha! Sorry, I guess it was that huge gust of air that just came through that just knocked him clear off the couch! ;)

*January 16th~ Cheese biscuits anyone? YUMMM! I have been meaning to try out this recipe I have for cheese biscuits that are like the ones at Red Lobster. I have to pat myself on the back here a little bit- they were pretty darn close. Jonathan hogged all the leftovers though! :( He took the leftover biscuits with him to work that night and I never saw them again! Guess I need to whip up another batch. Jonathan informed me after these were made that these would be included in his IDEAL MEAL! Basically his dream meal. In case you are wondering other things that have been put in the ideal meal hall of fame are the rice from the chicken and rice dish and cheeseburger macaroni. :)

*January 17th~ So my first online class for the spring began Monday. In the first week I have three chapters to read and a quiz on each chapter! Whoo hoo!! So my MLK holiday off work was dedicated to reading! :) Aren't I just a lucky girl!! haha. Jonathan saw me highlighting and just shook his head about how that never worked for him because he would just end up highlighting everything! Haha! Anyhow, as of today (Saturday)  I have finished chapter 1 and 2 and passed both quizzes. One more to go!

*January 18th~ So Tuesday was a special day because both Jonathan and I were off. Now, he is still on his strange sleep schedule so it doesn't mean quite as much time together as past days off but it was still a nice treat. We hung out as much as we could watching movies, being our goofy selves, and just enjoying the company in general! Jonathan was rocking my 2011 shades. I love this man!!

 *January 19th~ So back to work for me after a few days off and this is what I cam home to. It was a long day filled with semi-stressful situations, not to be confused with full blown stressful situations- not that serious people! Anyhow I had to stay later than usual because I was having difficulty closing up and could not get in touch with anyone for about 30 minutes! ARGH! Anyhow, My sweet hubby helped calm me down and make me feel a little better, along with with my good friend Tylenol! :)

*January 20th~ So this was in the wee hours of the morning for me but this is the time babe is up when he is off. Well my dear sweet love decided to put some more food in Cash's bowl for him. Cash usually stays in the bathroom overnight so all of his food and water is in the bathroom. We have a plastic container for his dog food that you can see in the background of this picture that slides very nicely into the bottom of the bathroom closet shelf. You do not really have to pull it out to get some out but Jonathan thought you did so he slid the container out some after getting a scoop and before he could even finish turning around was met with the sound of puppy food crashing to the floor! Haha. Jonathan made sure to note the next day that this was AFTER he has cleaned up some already! Hahaha!

*January 21st~ So Friday was my first solo adventure. I had to drive to Heidelberg for a training course for work. It is not too far, about 20-30 minutes. One of my co-workers was sweet enough to lend me her GPS and I was eternally grateful because it definitely put me at ease. Anyhow, while on our lunch break I drove out to get lunch and found myself across from one of the largest playgrounds ever with the most tunnels EVER!! This is one of those times where you think, "Man, where were these when I was a kid?!?!"

Anyhow, not much else going on our end. I got the invite to my sweet nephew's one year old party the other day and am soooo sad I am going to miss it!! I REALLY wish I could go but will not have enough time earned off yet for work. I feel like I do not even know my sweet Sam because he has grown and changed so much!! Just one of those things I will have to get through I guess.

Pool and Packing

Well it has been a little while. We are down to a miniscule 24 more days. That probably seems to a lot to those of you that see their hubbys on a regular basis but trust me for us 24 is not a big number at all. I have been cleaning, packing, and catching up with friends so far this week.

Monday my sweet friend Becca came by. Becca and I played doubles together my freshmen year at Emmanuel. She is one of the sweetest people you will ever meet and it was wonderful to catch up with her and hear about her new house and the many adventures she has had this summer. She got to meet Cash and he did his best to charm her.

Tuesday afternoon I met up with my cousin Russell to play tennis but it was so miserably hot that we didnt play for very long. He has more of a baseball style to his tennis playing that makes it quite interesting. Haha.

Today Cash and I met up with Melanie and Hudson at the pool. We caught up and basked in the sunshine. We both were forced to take frequent dips in the pool in order to stay cooled off. Cash took a couple of swims but for the most part just enjoyed running around playing with his buddy Hudson. Both boys were worn out and Melanie and exchanged phone photos of the pups passed out in the same position. Too funny!!

I got some shoes and clothes packed up that will be staying here. I am trying to get Cash accustomed to be on his leash when we got out now because he will have to be when we get to Germany. I have also been looking into the online masters program at Liberty University. They have some great discounts and options for military and spouses. I am getting very excited about possibly starting it soon.

2 Years Down

Well I have officially finished my second year of teaching and I must say I definitely feel like I knew more what I was doing this time around. I was by far much more organized than I was last year and that is always a plus!! Hopefully that organization will continue to grow over the years. Our last day of school was Friday and I must say it was little bittersweet knowing I would see students walk through THAT door for the last time, taking my kids to lunch for the last time, and seeing my bus kids off to their buses for the last time. I know I will have many more students to teach throughout my career but it was more sad than I thought it would be doing it all for the last time at Hartwell Elementary. I think I am destined to be even more emotional this week during our three days of post planning. I love all the wonderful teachers and friends I have made there these past two years. They already feel like a part of my family and some of them have seen me through a lot. They were there when my grandfather died, they were there to hear about the engagement, they were there to help me out when I was crazy getting stuff ready for the wedding, and they have been there to love on me and support me in this time away from Jonathan. They are all amazing people and the Lord blessed me tremendously the past two years to give me that family. I will never forget those people and will miss them all dearly.

Cash is doing pretty well. We had a scare a week ago when I took him to the vet for a vaccination. He had an allergic reaction to it and within ten minutes of me having it home his whole face was two times its normal size and he looked awful. He was absolutely pitiful. After rushing him back to the vet for a shot of benadryl and two small doses of benadryl later that night and the next morning he was back to his normal self and far less pitiful. It was definitely a freak out moment for me and Jonathan assured me I was doing everything I needed to do for him and it gave us a glimpse of what parenthood might be like for us. Me- freaking out, Jonathan- trying to calm me down...seems about right!! lol :) He is up to about 4 pounds now and he doesn't seem so small to me but I know it's because I am around him all the time. I know when I put him down outside in the grass it becomes VERY apparent how tiny he is!! lol.

Well we are down to 75 days, 11 more weeks until Jonathan gets home. I am oh so excited but also planning on living up my summer spending as much time as I can with family and friends. My sister, in particular, to my joy is planning on keeping me busy with my nephews this summer. I am very happy to spend as much time with them as I can because I am going to miss out on so much with them! My sweet lil Sam won't even know me when we get back! :( Well, I am talking to Jonathan now so I am going to go ahead and end this update, see you next time!!!

Here Comes Cash

So sorry that it has been a while, Laura! ;) Things have been super busy with school wrapping up and Cash coming. Last Saturday I went to McDonough, Ga. and picked up my sweet lil guy. He is a 2 months old miniature daschund that is choc and tan. He has the biggest ears I think is possible but that just makes him even cuter. I can't wait for daddy to get home and meet our sweet baby. He has done pretty welll so far. We have had very few accidents thus far, so good job for sweet little Cash! This past Saturday we went to the Marigold Festival with mom and dad and he had a lot of fun getting loved on by his mema and getting lots of "awwwws" and "he is so cute" statements from many of the festival attendees. Right now he is regularly sleeping in his kennel at night and while I am gone at work. This was difficult at first but he has gotten better. I can't wait to spend the summer with him.

The school year is quickly coming to an end. I have two more weeks to get my babies ready for first grade. I feel like this year has just flown by. It is going to be especially hard to let my little ones go this year because I will not be able to watch them grow next year. I am also going to miss all the sweet and wonderful people that have become part of my work family over the last two years. I have had the wonderful opportunity to work with some amazing people that I will never forget.

Jonathan is at about 13 weeks, 90 days, as of right now. That seems like forever but I keep reminding myself that it is one less day than before. I know that this time has made us stronger in a lot of ways but it has also been difficult to really connect in ways. It is very hard to feel so distant from someone that is so close to your heart and not be able to do much to fix it. We are both ready for this time to be over and truly start our lives together. Christ has been so faithful to get us through this time and I know that we can get through anything with Him in our lives.

Just a Dream

Well, once again it has been a while. So sorry. Well not a whole lot has happened. I have been trying to spend more of me weekends with family since volleyball ended. We had our volleyball banquet last night and it was great to see everybody again. I love all those girls and I am going to miss them so much next year. Well I will once again be busy in the Spring because I will be coaching the tennis team at the high school. It should be a lot of fun but I am really rusty so I better start working that out. lol.

Jonathan has started night shifts now. He works from 6pm-6am so most of the time I don't get to talk to him on the days that he has to work. I still get to talk to him on his days off, so not too bad. He makes it easier on me by making sure the times we do have to talk he reminds me how much he loves me and I get to see more and more why I love this man God sent to me.

My students are still keeping me on my toes. They are amazing kids, all in their own ways- even if they do drive me nuts sometimes. I am still trying to figure out how to reach a few and praying that God will show me how.

I am getting more and more excited about Christmas break coming up because it is looking like I will be spending it in Cuba and that makes it way easier right now to think I only have one more month before I get to see him and spend Christmas and New Years with him. I am sad that we won't be toether for Thanksgiving but I know I have a lot of awesome family to spend that time with as well. I am super excited!!!

Halloween Happiness

Well this week was very crazy. It was Red Ribbon week at school. This is the week where the kids can kind of dress up and there is a focus on staying drug free. Well I didn't particularly appreciate the fact that they did this the week before Halloween. The kids were already hyper. However, the week went by rather quickly. We had a very eventful Friday with testing, Book Character Parade, Cumulative Review, and Witches Brew. Needless to say by the time the kids left Friday I was EXHAUSTED.

Friday after work I drove up to my mother-in-laws house. We had planned on going to the corn maze but mother nature had different ideas because we got rained out. So we stayed in and watched movies.

Saturday morning my sister-in-law and I got up and drove to Hartwell for the Fall Festival at our school. My parents came by ith Jack and he wore his turtle costume. Some of my students were asking if Jack was my baby, well at least they asked instead of assuming. Haha. He looked very cute in his turtle outfit and he got to go fishing, played mini golf, threw the football through the hoops, picked a duck, and won bean bag toss. It was great. After the game playing we were all hungry so we headed to the hot dog hut for some lunch.

After we finished eating we headed back to my apartment to hang out and watch the game. Whil the game was certainly less than thrilling to watch, the company was wonderful. Jack was a lot of fun and had a great time with his new friend Ashley. I fixed tacos for dinner which we ate at half time. All in all great day with family.

Ashley and I watched a scary movie after the parentals and Jack went back to pop and meemaw's house. She was so funny to watch because she had never seen it before. We are going up to Helen today and going to church up there with Rena's family. So I must go get in the shower and get ready.

Jonathan finished third in his board competition on Saturday so pretty good considering he only had a week to study. He plans on going back in December.

Christmas in Cuba

Well it has certainly been a long time. I am sorry I am not very good at this but my sister is usually the only one that reads it anyway. Well as of late, volleyball is now over and I have much more time to dedicate to my work and I finally feel like I am getting organized which is wonderful!! I still have some planning to do this afternoon though.

We went on a field trip last Thursday to Denver Downs. The students all got to pick out small pumpkins, go through PART of the corn maze, feed the goats, and play in the hay barn. They had a blast and wore worn out by the end of the day. They were still tired on Friday. It was funny on the way back to school they saw a UHaul truck with a picture of a zebra on it. The kids thought that meant that the truck carried zebras to the zoo.

Yesterday I carved the pumpkin to go outside our apartment. I hated that Jonathan wasn't there because he is so artistic that he can do anything. I finally came up with a design but it took forever to do and I am honestly not sure it was worth all the time I put into it. It is done now though. I will try to put a picture up.

The biggest news I have gotten so far is that I will probably be getting the chance to spend Christmas break in Cuba with Jonathan. I am so excited that I am going to get to see him and spend our first Christmas and New Years together as a married couple. I am of course sad that I will be spending it away from the rest of our family for the first time but I am so happy about getting to see him, I miss him so much.

We have gotten yahoo messenger set up so that now we can see each other and that has made things a little easier now that I can physically see him every now and then instead of just talking to him. He goes on night shift soon and I am nervous about when we are going to be able to talk once that happens but we will figure it out like we always do- one day at a time.

I will try to do better about keeping this updated.

He's Coming Home!

Well sorry it has been a long while but I have been overwhelmed with school and wedding stuff. I have worked three 11-hour days at school this week and I am quite burned out. It has been an interesting and frustrating week at school. I am working with being at peace with certain things. I got to meet most of my students Wednesday night at orientation. I still haven't met two of them. This year will be good but I have no doubt it will present challenges and obstacles of its own different from last year.

Even though I am exhausted I am excited because Jonathan is coming home today. He will get here late tonight and I couldn't be more excited!!! I am sad it is only for a little while but I will definitely take what I can get. We have a busy weekend ahead of us. On Saturday we are eating lunch with his mom's family, then we are heading to Athens to get him fitted for his tux. Then we will probably eat with my parents and get dad to take a few pictures to use for the reception.

Jonathan has to go back Saturday night to his mom's to go to church with them and eat with more of his family. I will be at Winterville Sunday morning where they are having their shower Sunday afternoon. Jonathan and I are going to meet back up later that day to drive to the airport to pick up his dad and Karen. We are going to eat dinner with them on the way back to their house. Then after spending a little bit of time there we will head back towards my apartment. Then Monday is the first day of school. So I need to find some energy from somewhere to get through this weekend and next week.

Getting Closer

Well yesterday I went to do a trial run with my hair do with Cassidy, the girl that is doing my hair for my wedding. It looked good and if I can ever figure out how to put pictures up on here I will put a picture of it up. I have not showered yet this morning so it is still a lot of curls going everywhere.

I am about to shower and get ready to go to a shower, not mine. My good friend and old roomie Bray is getting married in September and I have a shower for her today in Athens. So I am looking forward to seeing her! I haven't seen her in so long. I get to see her two weeks in a row! Melanie and Bray are both throwing me a shower next week, it will be my first one! YAY! I am excited that everything is getting close. It makes me nervous that everything is not ready but I know I have done all I can do right now.

We will be starting back in school soon and I am trying to do my best to get everything ready so I have less to worry about once we get back. I have most of my bulletin boards started but I still have to put all my posters and everything back up on the walls.

Jonathan will be home in two weeks and I am more excited about that than anything! I read my sister's blog about anticipating Josh getting home and I wish I would have only had to go a week! It's ok though, I know she misses him! I am just excited that Jonathan will be home soon, even if it is only for a little while. I love him so much and can't wait to be his wife! Well I have to go get ready for Bray's shower.

Home Stretch

Well I am in the home stretch with both school and seeing Jonathan! We have three more days of school left and I am so excited about all the fun stuff we have planned for the last week but also sad to see it all coming to an end. I am going to miss those rugrats more than I think I even realize right now. They make me crazy and make me laugh all within one minute. I love them all so much.

Well after today I am down to only 8 more days before going to see Jonathan! I am so excited that it is so close. I feel like this has been the longest two and a half months of my life! I got to talk to Jonathan a lot yesterday. They got their phones on Memorial Day so that was a nice treat I wasn't really expecting! I love him so much and I think this has strengthened our relationship more than I ever thought it would. I still picture saying goodbye to him like it was yesterday. Of course, it feels like a lot longer than that. I still can't believe I haven't seen him since March 19th. I am so proud of all that he has accomplished during this time and I can't wait to give him a huge hug!

I spent this past weekend with Jonathan's family in Helen, Ga. His mom's family had a big family reunion on Saturday and it was fun. I hung out with Ashley a lot, Jonathan's sister. It was good to see all that family again and I love them so much. His family up there just makes you feel so at home.

Today will be a fun week at school. Today we had bubbles and bubble gum. Tomorrow will be pizza and pop, Thursday we are makign ice cream sundaes, and Friday we are watching a movie and eating popcorn. I am stressing about their end of the year projects though. We were going to make place mats with pictures I have taken all throughout the year. So I am trying to order my prints online to print at the Walmart in Hartwell for me to pick up so I can get them before tomorrow. However, Walmart's website is not cooperating because it keeps saying under maintenance everytime I try to submit it. So please pray that all works out!

2 more weeks!

Well not counting today I only have two more weeks until I see Jonathan! I am so way beyond excited! It is so wonderful that it is getting so close but harder at the same time. I miss him so much. I just feel so imcomplete without him here. I have just felt like part of me has been missing the past two and a half months. It has been absolutely dreadful! I know I am my own person outside of Jonathan but I love him so much that he is already so much a part of me. It is just the strangest feeling to not have him here by my side and not even being able to talk to him everyday! I love him so much! Okay so I am sure you are tired of hearing about Jonathan!

I went online to look at some cakes and as soon as my awesome sister shows me how to put pictures up on here I will show you some of the ones I fell in love with. I am trying to find something for Jonathan's grooms cake if he decides he wants to have a grooms cake.

6 more days of school and I thankfully got everything worked out with my leave request without having to take "sick days" or taking days without pay. My superintendant has agreed to allow me to come in after post planning and make up the two days which is fine with me because I would probably have to do that anyways to finish getting everything packed away! Well, that is pretty much all for now!

16 More Days

Since today has come to a close I now only have to go 16 more days without seeing my fiance! I miss him so much. Jonathan was not able to call last week so of course I expected him to be able to do so yesterday, Sunday. Well 7:00pm came around and I still had not received a phone call. Needless to say last night was a very rough night for me! I wanted so desperately to just talk to him. Well he did not get to call yesterday but to my pleasant surprise he was able to call today. I almost missed it because I was still at work. It was after the kids had already left but I hadn't turned my phone off silent. Well luckily I was able to get to talk to him for a little while. It was definitely good and it will make getting through another week much easier.

Wedding details are starting to come together more and more. As of today, all my bridesmaids have ordered their dresses so another task checked off the list! YAY! I am going to start calling the flower and cake people this week to set up appointment soon. All of this is going to be so much easier when I can at least talk to Jonathan on a normal basis. I miss him so much. He was telling me today that his graduation will be at 8:00am Thursday and that will be the first time we see him. So basically I have to control myself the whole graduation and the whole time they do their marching thing. I don't know how I am going to keep from bursting! I can't wait to run and give him a hug and kiss!

Well we are in the second to last week of school so there is a lot going on at school, some of which we don't find out about until the day of! Nice huh? Well anyhow, the kids are ready for first grade and I am so proud when I think of how far they have come, all of them! Even my students that are struggling have accomplished so much!

Dilyn, my summer roomie, and I went running today. Dilyn is a friend of mine from Emmanuel. She plays soccer at Emmanuel. She is taking summer courses at Emmanuel so she is crashing with me for a couple months. It has been fun so far! I like having someone here when I get home because it is not as easy to be lonely! Well, that is all for now! My sister hinted it was time for a post so there it is!

Picking Strawberries

Well today we had our field trip for the year. We went to the strawberry patch in Canon, Ga. The kids got to pick their own strawberries straight from the patch. We also got to walk through a lot of the greenhouses they also have their, because we have been talking a lot about plants lately in science. The kids really enjoyed going through and looking at all the different plants and flowers. As we were leaving they surprised us and gave each student their very own tomato plant. We were very thankful for their generosity. We went to the park not too far away and ate our lunch and enjoyed the nice weather. We played at the park for a little while before venturing back to school. Overall the day left me very tired but glad that all the kids had fun.

There is a total of 12 more school days and as I find myself coming close to the end of the year I find myself facing a big challenge with some of my parents of students I strongly feel and know are not ready for first grade. I realize that no parent wants to hear that their child needs to repeat kindergarten but unfortunately a lot of my parents do not understand how much different kindergarten is now from what it used to be. A lot more is expected of our students at the end of the year and I would change that if I could, but I can't so I have to work my butt off to get them ready and when they are not ready- they are not ready. I hate saying it more than anyone because I feel like I have failed them in some way but I know there is only so much I can do. Please pray that my parents that need to see the light will indeed see th light.

On a brighter note I am only 24 more days away from finally seeing Jonathan! He is nearing the end of his training and I am so excited about getting to see him on June 4th. These past two months have been so hard but it will all be worth it in the end. I can't wait just to feel his hand in mine again! It is those simple little things that I miss the most!

Well wedding details are coming together. I got two of my girls all fitted for their dresses, 4 more to go! I am going to start tackling more seeing as how it is getting closer! Got to get my flowers and cakes part taken care of, or at least begin the process! Well that is the update for now and I promise I am going to start trying to get better about updating!

One week down!

Well, let's start off with the good news first- I got my contract renewed! SO YAY FOR THAT! I still have no idea what grade or really what school in our county I will be teaching but at least I know I have a job! That is more than enough right now!

On a lesser exciting note this week was SOOOO forever long! I finally got my first week done without Jonathan. I haven't talked to him since last Saturday when I talked to him for 6 min and 53 sec. Exciting huh? I know right! It was definitely the shortest 7 minutes of my life! I miss talking to him so crazy much. This whole thing would not be as difficult as it is if I got to talk to him at least! I am sorry, I think that is just crazy that you can only call people like once a week and apparently only get like an hour! RIDICULOUS! I have already made a mental note to talk to his drill sargent that this is just not going to cut it! ;) If only it were that easy! Anyhow, hopefully I will get to talk to him this weekend and that will get me through another week.

Well anyhow, this is the first weekend I intend to spend at my apartment in a looong time. I need to do some cleaning so badly it is sad! I am trying to get rid of some clothes I know I never wear or don't even like anymore. My mom got me a new comforter set for my birthday last weekend and I LOVE it, it looks great! I have to load the pictures and everything. Well, that is about it for now. Just keep praying for me while Jonathan is gone!

Just Starting

Well just starting out on this thing! I enjoy reading my sister's and decided I wanted to try one of my own. I guess just the basics right now would be neccessary. I am in my first year of teaching which always provides for interesting stories. I have a class of 15 kindergarten students. I just recently got engaged to the love of my life, Jonathan. He makes me happier than I ever could have imagined. He is leaving soon to go to basic training in Missouri and I won't be able to talk to him so I am NOT excited about that!

My birthday was yesterday, I am now 23 years old. That doesn't look like a very high number but it sure seems like it to me. I had so many friends wish you me a happy birthday and I am so grateful for all the amazing people I have met in my life. My little kids, my students that is, sang to me. It was beautifully off key but very sweet! Jonathan came to see me at work and brought me a rose. He hung out with us for a little while and all the kids were really excited he was there. It was difficult making some of the understand what a fiance is. One of my little boys kept telling that he liked me new husband! Haha.

Anyhow, this will basically just be a place for me to post thoughts and stories. I will do my best to keep you updated on happenings! Thanks for reading!