Thanksgiving break 08

I must say this week has been SO amazing. I am very grateful for my teaching job. It was so relaxing last week that I could rest in the fact that I didn't have to get up at 6am...to know that I didn't have to go to meetings, AND I didn't have to discipline kids! (Well, I guess maybe I did a little with Jordan..j/k)
The other great thing about last week is that b/c Jordan is still in school he ALSO had the whole week off. We had such a great time together....we were sort of 'forced' to be together every day b/c almost every one we know was either really busy with family or out of town! ha, so that was a nice thing (ask Jordan he might say different...=)
We were able to cook, clean, go Christmas shopping together(NOT on black friday), take our dogs to the vet and on walks, put up our Christmas decorations, go out to eat, SLEEP in, and see MOViES=) We love movies and we hadn't been since the HULK came out, so we went to the movie theater 5 times!! It was great.Thanksgiving was such a blast with all of the family together...we had Thanksgiving at just my parents house b/c Jordan's family was in Ohio with their grandparents all week. I got to see my Aunt, grandparents, siblings, nieces, nephews=it was awesome.
I am so excited now about Christmas break. I know that sounds bad b/c I just had a week off-but I'm excited that I will get to have that time with my family. In the past I've had to work retail jobs that have no regard for family time; and it really takes away the joy of Christmas when you're trying to get that last person to buy that diamond neclace on Christmas Eve at 5:30. So I will be VERY thankful this year to have the 2 weeks off to spend with family!! Not to mention I won't have to work on my BDAY-woohoo!!

But, I am nervous about this next 2 weeks coming up b/c of the Christmas program coming up-its my first one and I hope the kids didn't forget ALL the words over the break-yeesh. I guess we'll find out!!

Hope your week was enjoyable=) The pics above are 1. My brother matt and his family (Alethea, Peyton and Madeline)
2. My other brother Josh w/ his gf Jennifer 3. Is Jordan getting out MANCALA game ready-we played it a million times this week together-it's a lot of fun!! 4. Jordan and I on Thanksgiving 5. The doggies at my parents house! 6. My mom and I cooking in the kitchen for Thanksgiving! and 7. Is Jordan and I at Victory Park eating before we go to the STARS game=)

the woes of teaching?

Ok, so I'm starting to get angry about this, but I just keep telling myself-2 days till Thanksgiving...2 days till Thanksgiving. What am I angry about?? oh, just the fact that I had just started to feel much better this past Sunday and up until Wed morning when I feeling SICK as a dog, again. Same symptoms as before. Luckily I got to sit all day and observe another teacher (which was a lot of fun and very helpful-it made me feel a LOT better about the things I'm already doing in my classroom) but then when I got home, I felt SO tired and worn out, and sick-and I didn't even do anything! I couldn't do anything but lay down and snot everywhere (sorry for the graphic image). Anyway-very frustrating....I just need to make it through 2 more days of school and HOPEFULLY after the wonderful resting time of Thanksgiving I will feel better!
Ok, now I feel better I got all that off my chest!=)

worship @ youth retreat..

Ok, so honestly, I NEVER know what to put as my title...I am so not clever with that kind of stuff...so sorry, I could not think of anything. anyway, Jordan and I's weekend went really well!! It did not start out as well as I would have liked, but it ended up ok=) On friday I woke up very sick and that was NOT fun. I actually went home sick from school (there's a first time for everything) and I made it to the doctor who gave me a wonderful antibiotic shot-which kicked in about Saturday morning. So friday was SLEEP time, and good thing b/c Saturday we had 3 different worship sets we had to do at a youth retreat for Ben's (jordan's cousin) church. We were really excited about it and we think it went well! We were very tired vocally and physically, but it was well worth it. I took a few pics (and that's what the ones from below are from) The other members in the band are people from our church that play with us on Sunday morning.
I am so excited about Thanksgiving break! Having extra time to relax, get things done around the house and spend time with family sounds really good right about now. I wish ALL of our family was going to be here, but, maybe next time.
Anyway-enjoy the pics!!
1st Pic-Me and my wonderful hubby!! (we sang and played together-what fun!)
2nd-is of the whole band for the youth retreat!!
3rd-Jordan playing and singing...he's really into it=)
4th-Me being goofy at the piano
5th-Jordan and his cousin Ben (this is his church, and I forgot to get a pic with Abby!!)
6th-Just a candid shot of people walking around at the youth retreat before one of the services started...

my heart is yours

Jordan and I feel like this is SUCH a crazy week. We have Jordan's grandparents in town and we are eating dinner with them tonight after all our work stuff...then Wed we have Bonnie's bday celebration we are doing with them (which will be fun) but you know how middle of the week activities can really poop you out?=) Then thursday night Jordan and I will have a LONG and late worship practice b/c we (and a few other band members) are playing at a Youth Retreat this weekend for someone else's church. We played at this same retreat last year-but it was JUST me and Jordan...and no sound system, very acoustic. This year we got a whole band together and we are gonna ROCK out for God-its going to be awesome!! We are so excited and thankful that we have these opportunties to do stuff like this together=)
We are most excited about the fact that we "stumbled upon" a new song that has really touched our hearts and we feel it will really touch the hearts of the many m.s. and h.s. kids that will be at this retreat....It is challenging for us to play while we sing b/c the vocal parts are kind of difficult/taxing..but we love the message of the song so much it makes it rewarding to sing.
If you get a chance, check out the link below and listen to this amazing song that is based off of Song of Solomon!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3spvQYlB-I
Please be in prayer for Jordan and I as we have a busy week and mostly for the youth that will be attending this retreat this weekend...that they will see God and know Him-especially those that do not know Him.

party time!

The weekend was pretty fun! I still cannot believe how HOT it is outside, but I'm not going to complain=) Friday night was Halloween, and as you can see our little doggies dressed up! ha, it was so cute=) Don't worry, I didn't torture them for too long! They had a blast riding around at the Harbor in Rockwall in their Doggie 'cart', if you will. They like the fact that they won't get trampled on...Bella was a little devil (of course) and Zeus was a skeleton. We ate dinner at the Harbor after we walked around there for a while. The next day was busy with little Joey's one year bday party! I had to put a picture of the decorations b/c they did such a cute job!! It was a safari theme=) Then we went over to the Carl's house and hung out with them for a while-busy busy day. Sunday was a nice day for relaxing and getting things done! I cannot believe it is only 3 weeks till Thanksgiving! This year has blown by. I am ready for the break for sure though!=)
PS> I am so thankful for the fact that we live by both sides of our family. I know not to take that for granted b/c it might not always be the case...and I love that almost ALL of our family (excluding only jeff and becca=( is only about 30-45min away. I WISH we could see all of them more, but, at least we get to see them as much as we do!=)