Today is a good day

I decided that today is going to be a good day. Why today, you ask? Well...

1. It's Tuesday - which means I have the luxury of THREE conference periods. If you are a teacher you understand the joy in that.
2. It's like a perfect 70 degrees and sunny outside.
3. I went and got a Starbucks during one of my lovely off periods and the girl gave me a grande for the price of a tall (on accident, I think, but I'll take it!)
4. There are only 35 work days until Christmas vacation...and more importantly my trip to New York with Matt!
5. I had a wonderfully quiet lunch in my classroom while doing my Bible study. Refreshing.
6. Next week is November which means all the retailers are about to be Christmas-decked-out. And Christmas just makes me happy. :)
7. And irregardless is anybody really reads this (seriously...does anybody read this?) I'm posting this to remind myself that I choose for today to be a GOOD day. :) And it should be for you too.

Camping!

This past weekend Matt and I ventured to a nearby state park to go camping. I love the outdoors, so this is something that I have been wanting to do with Matt for quite a long time! After having to reschedule several weekends due to illnesses, rain, etc - we finally made it...us and hundreds of boy scouts. Yep, we chose the place that was hosting every single boy scout and child between the ages of 5-14 from the Houston area. We were unable to make a drive to a more remote location - so I guess those type of consequences are expected. But either way...we have a great time! The weather was perfect! Just cold enough for a fire, but not miserable. We made burgers over the camp fire. Ate one too many s'mores. Talked. Laughed. Listened to small children scream. Had a couple camp fires. Hiked every trail that Stephen F. Austin state park has to offer. And relaxed. I love to just get away and enjoy nature and nothing else. So refreshing!

And sadly I actually remembered to bring the camera, but it was dead. So these are the few off of my phone...

Our tent :)

(I had to fight Matt from bringing the mattress from our bed at home!)

My wonderful husband making fire #2
so I could enjoy some much needed HOT coffee.

Mission accomplished!
(I don't have the patience to make fires, so I'm glad he does.)

Personality Type?

I love analyzing and learning - especially when it comes to people and personalities. And since Matt is out of town and my family who came to visit me already left :(, I had nothing else to do but watch re-runs of Seinfeld and take this free personality test I found on a fellow blogger's blog, based on the Myers-Briggs personality test. The good thing is that my personality doesn't really change based on the test (I think I've taken more than enough of these!)...maybe I need to find a hobby. But for those of you who read this and care, my results are as follows:

Introverted (I) 86%
Sensing (S) 68%
Thinking (T) 70%
Judging (J) 64%
Extraverted (E) 14%
Intuitive (N) 32%
Feeling (F) 30%
Perceiving (P) 36%

This personality is explained here, if interested. :) Or just take the test and enjoy (it's super short).

Happy surprise for a blah Monday

Have you ever had one of those days that you just feel blah? Nothing seems to go right, the world seems against you...and it's Monday? Well, today is one of those days.

BUT (yes, thankfully there is a but)

I'm sitting here during my one and only off period today taking a breather and thinking about when to take my next "sick day"...when I got a call. Now on Saturday, Matt and I stopped by a teacher supply store (*note: this is the only time I have ever been during the school year. I usually go once a year at the beginning when they give us our gift certificate. Don't worry, I don't intend to call myself an overachiever teacher.) Anyways, while we were there they were having a drawing for all the people who came in that day. I submitted my slip with name and number, not expecting much...but they called me today to tell me I won! I never win anything. That's right. I will be treating my wonderful husband to a movie with my newly acquired $25 gift card to the movies. Thank you teacher supply store!

It brought a smidgit of joy to my day. :)

And I think I might take my sick day on Wednesday.

Bright Idea

Upon noticing the iPhone on my desk, one of my students expressed his jealousy and informed me that "my dad said I have to weigh 88lbs before I can get that phone".

I think that's genius. Especially since his size is on the smaller end of the class. :)

Perspective

Since I started back up working, life seems to be restricted to the following regime: early rise, work, gym, eat, spend a little time with Matt, sleep, and wake up to do it again. Nothing says a fruit-filled life like routine. :)

The school year has started off to be challenging (more to come on this later probably). I had high hopes for a great year and was determined that God wanted me to return to my current school. So here I am. But it is not completely what I expected nor hoped for. There have been ups and downs, but each day I wake up and know I need to spend time with God before I go to work (something I've never routinely been able to keep up in the mornings) which has been such a blessing. I can tell by my thoughts and immediate responses when I start the day with eternity as my perspective and days when the five feet in front of me is my limited perspective. I have to take each day at a time and chose to be content with my circumstances. I've been continually reminded that God put me in my job for a reason and I need to rejoice in it and look for the opportunities available to me while I'm here. He's growing me and reminding me of the mindset I once had not too long ago, about the joy found in life despite circumstances and situations - about focusing on God alone and finding my rest and peace in Him.

This past week, a friend and co-worker, was telling me about a high school friend who at age 26 had just passed away from a 2 year battle with melanoma, leaving behind her husband. Her blog is an incredible example of God's work through an individual - www.fisherags.com. Gregg Matte did the memorial service and spoke about it on Sunday during church. What a reminder of how short life is. What a conviction about the reality of the small problems that I think are so big and complain about. What an example of the way Christ can work through someone in such hopeless situation. What a reminder about the joy available to us.

I feel like I have been learning a lot recently, and being convicted of even more. I've decided transitions do that to me. Maybe that's why I like change so much, because it makes me grow. But I guess staying at the same job for 3 years is also making me grow, so God is not limited. Anyways, here are a few areas that the Lord has been teaching me:

• what it is to be a godly, loving, selfless wife (obviously, a work in progress)
• how to be patient when I have 26 8 year olds not paying attention...again
• how to be a good friend while being married and learning to balance my time appropriately
• what it is like to not be my own anymore, but the joy of sharing life and decisions with the man that God gifted me with
• that my job is not just where I have to spend the majority of my day, it's a ministry and I need to allow Christ to reflect in my attitude
• year after year (going on now the 6th year...) that God's plan is bigger than man's and He has a purpose for every decision and timing of freedom
• that the circumstances provided are exactly what God is using to shape and mold us and we need to rejoice in that, whether it is true suffering or not

Lessons in Home Ownership

When Matt and I tied the knot, I contributed a dog and Matt contributed a house to the marriage. There are definite wonderful characteristics of both, but we are each having to learn to adjust to each of our "gifts". For example, about a week before we were married I discovered that Mocha had somehow contracted heart worms - and they had gotten pretty bad. For those of you wondering, it is quite expensive to treat and very hard on the dog :(, so make sure you are consistent with the heart worm preventative! We just finished up with the treatments last week and Mocha is back to her peppy self - yay! I figure Mocha is good practice for when we decide to have kids.

But as Matt learns how to take care of a dog, what I am having to learn is how to take care of a house. My whole adult life, I have always rented out a room. Never having to deal with the maintenance. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE living in a house that is ours, but I have also learned a few things - tips, if you will - along the way the last couple months.

1) Paint can do wonders to a room. An easy, cheap fix. But be warned, if you decide to paint a room red be prepared to do at least 3-4 coats. And make sure they dry in between coats or you'll get clumps of paint and dripage in random places. And it is very frustrating. (Thank goodness we decided to only do the bottom half!)

2) If you discover that you have a spider problem, they have things called 'spider bombs'. However, unless you want to take all of your nicely organized kitchen out and any or all furniture/decor throughout your house, return it and purchase a secondary spider spray. It is yet to be determined if it works, as just yesterday I killed 2 spiders. Oh well.

3) A big yard is a nice addition to a lovely home. The problem lies in how long is takes someone to maintain it and make it look nice - and it has to be done once a week! So my tip #3 is as much as I don't like yard work, be willing to help in order to spend more time with the hubby. Yes, I mowed last night while Matt weed-eated. Isn't it pretty? (and freakishly HUGE!?)

4) My forth tip is dealing with hidden fees. Did anyone realize how much they have to pay in taxes on a house each year? Geez. That's all I got on that one.

5) It's amazing how dirty it gets with just two people living in it. Even the back bedrooms which hardly get used need cleaning all the time! My tip is be prepared to vacuum often if you are like me and are slightly OCD about clean living quarters.

6) And my last tip - be prepared for the house to creak and make a lot of noises. So, if your husband is gone, let's say on a trip to London for work, just turn up the radio and tune them all out. You will sleep better that way. :)