Summer 2011

Wow...what a summer! Where did it go?

I knew this summer would be a short one with all the days we had to make up for weather, but I feel like it has only been about two weeks.

Some highlights for Summer 2011:

1) Summer Break - This would be the first week I was off and pretty much the only downtime that I had out of the last 7 weeks. I slept in, chilled out and recovered from the crazy school year.

2) VBS Inside, Outside and Upside Down on Main Street - What a great week! I taught 5th/6th VBS at FBC Cabot. We had a great time, learned lots about Jesus and serving others, and went to several cool places including Joyland Skating Rink, the Cabot Police Department and jail, the Lonoke County Courthouse, Beebe Nursing Home, and the Swimming Pool. We sweated a lot and learned. I love VBS, but it wore me out.

3) Anniversary Cruise - The Sunday after VBS ended, Daniel and I left for Mobile to go on a cruise for our one year anniversary. We arrived Sunday afternoon (our anniversary) and set out to find somewhere to eat in downtown Mobile. We went to a cool little seafood place. The walls were covered with quotes and sayings. It was fun. We stayed in a nice hotel overlooking Mobile Bay and enjoyed watching the ships and trains going in and out. The next day, we boarded the Carnival Elation and set out for a week of fun and cruisin'. We enjoyed some awesome food and great excursions. Our first stop was Cozumel. We went on the Atlantis Submarine and went 100 feet under the water and enjoyed the sights of Chankanaab reef. We spent the afternoon shopping in Cozumel. Our next stop was Calica were we spent the day at Xcaret floating down the underground rivers and looking at the exotic animals. A few rocky days later (due to Tropical Storm Arlene) we arrived safe and sound in Mobile and headed home.

4) Children's Camp - W0w, what an adventure! I headed out with 70 kids and 12 adults from FBC Cabot to Lonestar, Texas for 4 very full days of heat,, fun, and learning about Jesus. We had a great time. The kids swam in the pool, played in the lake (including the infamous Blob), made crafts, played on inflatables, ziplined and so much more. It was an exhausting but awesome experience. They went nonstop from 7 in the morning to 11 at night and walked dozens of hills all day long. It was a lot of fun and a nice end the summer.

Since then, I have been attending Professional Development workshops, visiting family, and finishing up the last few tasks I intended to accomplish this summer. Overall, it was a fantastic summer.

Cruisin' 2011

Daniel and I just got back from a Western Caribbean cruise on the Carnival Elation. This is the same cruise we took for our honeymoon last year. This time I have to say I had twice as much fun. That probably has to do with the fact that we were both so exhausted from the wedding and wedding planning last time that we didn't enjoy it nearly as much as we should have. This time we took advantage of as much as possible.

We left Arkansas on Sunday (our anniversary) and headed to Mobile. We spent the nice in a nice hotel overlooking Mobile Bay. We had a great view and it was neat watching the comings and goings of the port. We ate dinner at an interesting little restaurant called Wintzel's Oyster House. It definitely had character. It reminded me of one of those places that Guy would go on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. The walls were covered with little cards with sayings. It was interestting.

On Monday, we got up and lounged around until it was time to catch the shuttle to the cruise terminal. We stood in line awhile and we on the boat a little after 12. The gangway had been damaged in a storm so we had to go an alternate path to get on the ship. That was interesting. We enjoyed some lunch on Lido deck and then headed to our room to get settled once they opened the doors at 1:30. We spent the rest of Monday and all day Tuesday at sea taking in some of the fun and shows on the ship.

On Wednesday, we docked in Cozumel. We headed out to meet our excursion group and went on a water taxi to the Atlantis Submarine. We spent an hour or so about 100 feet below the ocean's surface looking at the Chankanaab coral reef and wildlife. It was pretty cool. Then we headed back to Puerta Maya and did some shopping.

Atlantis Submarine

On Thursday, we docked at Calica, Mexico which is about halfway between Cancun and Playa del Carmen. We got off the ship (which is literally docked by a sandpit) and headed to the bus to Xcaret. If you ever have the opportunity to go to Xcaret, do it. It was so neat. We spent about 6 hours there and barely saw half of what was there. We spent the morning floating down some the underground rivers that go through some caves and come out at the ocean and the afternoon looking at some of the exotic animals. It was a great day, but we were beat when we got done.

We spent Friday at sea and went on the Behind the Fun tour that Carnival offers. It took us on a tour through the parts of the ship you never see as a guest. It is amazing what it takes to run a cruise ship. We toured the galley, the engine control room, backstage of the shows, crew quarters, and the bridge. It was a lot of fun but I think we walked about a million flights of stairs.

We got back to Mobile on Saturday morning. We had a great trip other than some rough seas from Tropical Storm Arlene. I don't know what my luck with June hurricanes is, but we got in the middle of Alex last year. Overall, it was a great trip. After a long drive home, we are back in the swing of things. So long, vacation.

Summer

Finally...I didn't think it would ever get here.

This has been one crazy year. Since getting married a year ago, things have been a whirlwind.

I got back to school last year only to discover I was teaching 3 different preps and had no prep period. Yep...that's 7 classes with no break except a 30 minutes lunch. Needless to say, I spent a lot of time "off the clock" (if that exists for a teacher) working on lesson plans and grading papers. Doesn't look promising that things will be much calmer next school year, but on the upside I am supposed to have a prep and we are moving into a new building. I am so excited to not have to walk through a ditch to go to the bathroom or make copies. PTL for that! Just keep your fingers crossed that it is done so we can move in before school starts and aren't moving in everything the day before school starts.

Married life is going well. Just super busy. Daniel and I had the opportunity to go the Kirk Cameron Marriage Conference at our church last weekend. It was a great time of learning and worship. Daniel and I rarely have the same schedule and almost never have a weekend off together. After teaching that extra class this year, I need a vacation so that is exactly what we decided to do. We are going on another cruise for our one year anniversary. Other than that, the summer is going to be busy with church, VBS, vacation, professional development, and getting a little rest when I can. Overall, things are going well.

Grateful

There are those days when I am reminding of how big God is and how awesome that it is that He knows everything. Today is one of those. I woke up a little before 2:00 to the Code Red weather warning call. It said Torando Warning for your area. Daniel rolled over and went back to sleep when his phone went off but I decided to get up and turn on the tv. I am not easily spooked by storms, but I've lived in Arkansas long enough to know that you shouldn't ignore tornado warnings. Too many close calls in my life. When I turned the tv on, I realized there were 4 tornado warnings for Lonoke County. Crazy. These were from 4 different cells. Luckily they stayed south of here, but they headed straight toward Lonoke with one moving just north of town and one moving just south of town. After some crazy hard rain and some hail, I went back to bed since the tornado threat had passed. It was only this morning that I am reminded of how blessed I am. Our house is fine. LHS is a mess. We are actually out today due to no power and trees and powerlines down all over town. Other than that, everything appears to be intact. Stories of tragedy and survival always come to light in the daylight after the storm. They are reporting at least 4 fatalities and tons of devastation. Here I am looking out the window and other than the small lake in my yard, there is no sign of the storm. None of this is a surprise to God. He knew it was going to storm. He knew I'd be out of school today and that I needed the time to recover from a cold and a really rough week. He knew. He always knows.

Snow and Spring

It has been one crazy winter here in Arkansas. We aren't much for snow and cold temperatures around here. Personally, I like one good pretty snowfall and just enough cold temperatures to make you appreciate spring. This winter we've had 4 good measurable snowfalls, three or which have been in the last week. This past Wednesday, we got the most snow I've seen in a long time. Probably since I was about 4 when we got close to 2 ft. Here in Central Arkansas we got about 8 inches. My parents got about 10 inches and my sister got almost 2 ft. Arkansas shut down for a good 3 days. Today the only memory of all the snow is the snowy patches in the shade as the 60 degree temperatures this afternoon melted it all away. I for one am glad. I love a good snowfall. It makes the world look so different, so pure. But seriously, bring on the sunshine, green grass and flowers. I love Spring! I'm looking forward to getting our new house looking nice and well kept. Since we moved in late October, we didn't get much done in the yard. I'm also ready to get school going. We've had one 5 day week since we came back from Christmas break. I don't want to be in school when we have to start back to school. For now, I am going to pretend it's spring since the temps are supposed to be near 70 at the end of the week. Bring it on!

The End of 2010 and Looking Forward to 2011

2010 has been a great year. I finished my second year of teaching at Lonoke. Adjusted to teaching in a trailer (aka Portable Education Unit). Had a fantastic but hot experience teaching Saddle Ridge Ranch at VBS. Daniel and I got married. We had a fantastic wedding and several showers with hundreds of family and friends. Took a fantastic cruise to Mexico. Got to see the beautiful ocean, fantastic beaches and even the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza. Came home and began adjusting to married life. Started my third year at Lonoke. Meet a whole new group of kids. Survived a whole semester of teaching 7 classes straight of three different subjects with no prep. Celebrated the holiday and several birthdays including Daniel's 30th with family and friends. Got my traditional Christmas cold and now enjoying the few precious hours until school starts back. We ended 2010 with dinner with my inlaws and watching some tv. Went to bed early but were awakened by tons of fireworks at midnight. Going to bring in the New Year quietly as Daniel has to work and I am still under the weather. Think I will put a Pot Roast in the Crock Pot and enjoying the last few quiet hours before a crazy week begins.