CJ and I finally got our wedding album yesterday!!! We were both discussing how on one hand, it seems like our wedding was a lifetime ago, yet on the other hand, it seems like only yesterday we were saying our vows and becoming "Mr. and Mrs." for the first time. Regardless of how it feels, we will have been married for 5 months on December 28th, and it is so nice to have our highly-anticipated album to keep and look at over and over.

I was so disappointed to find out at 4:30 PM yesterday afternoon from Shannon Kotynski that Shine.FM called our name on the air to win the "6th Day of Christmas" prizes! Shannon called and left me a message at 8:35 yesterday morning, but my students were already in the classroom by then, so my phone was put away. Johnny Hamstra called CJ around the same time, gave him the number to the radio station, but by the time CJ called, he was 6 minutes too late. :( Poor CJ had no clue what was even going on...he doesn't listen to Shine.FM, and I didn't tell him about the contest going on. So when Johnny called him, he was thinking, "Huh???" Oh well, at least he tried! After being disappointed with the fact that I missed hearing my name and didn't win the prizes, I told myself that maybe the person who did end up winning yesterday needed the prizes a whole lot more than I did...and in that case, I would want them to have the prizes instead. It was still disappointing, however, because I never win anything!!! Oh well! Maybe next time...

So I'm down to 1 week before Christmas break begins! I'm taking off next Wednesday to get stuff done before CJ and I leave for Tennessee, so next week I'll only have to work 3 1/2 days. The Superintendent of my school is dismissing the students at 12:30 next Friday and then the Principal is serving us lunch afterwards! THEN...I am officially on vacation until January 8th. CJ will be on vacation until January 3rd...so we will definitely enjoy our time off together (most of it will be spent in Tennessee). We have a Bulls/Suns game to look forward to on January 2nd (go Steve Nash on the Suns). :)

This weekend is CJ's cousin's graduation from Indiana State University...maybe I'll have some new pictures to post from that. Our little nephew, Elijah, got all of his hair cut off, so I'm excited to see that and take some pictures. :) Have a great weekend everyone!!!

A few more BBall pics...

Unfortunately, CJ's team lost the championship game today, but they played a good game! They only lost by 5 points, and CJ scored a lot of 3's. I enjoyed being in the cheering section, and I look forward to his next league which begins in January at Purdue. GO CJ!!!

1st Christmas Gathering of 2006

~Leif & Adrian (and Baby Boy-to-be)


~CJ & Moi~


~The Happy Couple Again~


~Me & Adrian (and Baby Boy-to-be)

We officially began our Christmas gatherings for 2006! We enjoyed dinner at Adrian and Leif's place, as well as a game (CJ and I reigned as the champs), dessert, and early Christmas presents!!! We have a few more gatherings this season...we look forward to getting together with friends and family in the next few weeks!

Today's Thoughts...

Well, last week at this time, I was down in the dumps and feeling rather blue. This week some other comments blew me away, but this time they were good! Yesterday the kids got to go home at 12:30 while the teachers stayed and had meetings until 4. The teachers were all working with their grade levels while the Principal, Social Workers, Dean, and PE teacher were in another room discussing discipline. After the meetings were over, the PE teacher stopped me in the hall and said, "I just wanted to tell you that your name came up in our meeting, and a lot of nice comments were said about you by other staff members, such as how you really get along well with the students." She then went on to say, "You're very respected among the staff." I nearly cried again because of how much that meant to me...God knew just what I needed to hear after last week! I thanked her profusely and briefly explained my disappointing day with the kids last week. It just gave me that extra boost to keep doing what I'm doing...and doing it with the strength that God gives me each day. I definitely felt a lot better when driving to work this morning!!!

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So I was reading in my Christianity Today magazine about how eugenics has made a lethal comeback. The authors were comparing modern-day eugenics to the movement 80 years ago! Back then it was Darwin's theories and Hitler's actions that led to racism and discrimination among certain types of people. Today the thoughts and actions are resurfacing...scientists are using human embryos to find cures for diseases, women are selecting their artificial-inseminated babies' fathers based on levels of intelligence or gifts, parents are being pressured by doctors to abort imperfect fetuses, and one of the most disturbing to me: some ethicists are arguing that it's ok to kill disabled children after they are born!!!

"English scientists are attempting to create 'designer babies' by transplanting the nucleus of a woman with defective mitochondria into the healthy egg of another woman. It's the first step toward genetic engineering of human beings."

The article just infuriates me because this is obviously not God's plan. As the authors state towards the end of the article, "As we celebrate the Incarnation this month, we are reminded that every stage is precious in God's design." God help the world!!!

My Favorite BBall Player...

I love watching my favorite player play his favorite sport! It never gets tiresome, boring, or old! Now the NBA is a different story...but not when it comes to watching my man! :) CJ's been playing in a men's basketball league out in Hobart, IN on Sunday afternoons. Next Sunday (December 1oth) will be the championship game. Yesterday, CJ scored 20 points, and 5 of his shots were 3-pointers! He's my star. He will join the intramural season at Purdue Calumet in January...definitely more pictures to come in the future...maybe even a video or two of him in action!

Down in the Dumps

I felt rather blue by the end of the school day today. :( I reached my breaking point with the children (yes, we teachers do get to that point every now and then) and very calmly told them to clear their desks and get in ready position ("ready position" is sitting up straight, feet under the desk, and hands folded on top of desk). The students knew that I was not very happy, so they all did as told. As the students were putting away their belongings, I silently prayed that God would help me to know what to do next.

I began to have a heart-to-heart with them for about the next 15 minutes. I was very real with them, saying that I felt most of them could care less about education, the purpose of coming to school each day, and their future. I told them how much I cared about them and how it saddens me to see them wasting their time away each day. I got quite emotional during my speech to them because I really do care about all 29 of my kids...if I didn't care, I wouldn't be teaching. I have so many brilliant students that just waste their time and do not work to their potential.

Once I finished my speech, I allowed students to express their viewpoints/feelings. Boy, was I in for a surprise! One girl raised her hand and told me (in so many words) that she felt sometimes I seem to busy or rushed to attend to her, and that makes her feel like I don't care about her. While her comment completely took me by surprise, I did not make her feel bad for expressing herself. Obviously if she felt that way, there was something I was or was not doing to cause this. Well, the next thing that happened surprised me even more and made me feel so horrible. I asked the class, "How many of you agree with the comment that was just made?" About 6 or 7 hands went up around my classroom.

I could feel the tears welling up inside of my eyes as I struggled to hold them back. It was at that moment that I felt I had failed in doing God's purpose which He called me to do 21 years ago. I was at a complete loss for words, and I really felt that God was using that moment to speak to me about areas in my life that need some serious work! Never would I want to make one of my students' feel uncared for by me, yet in my busyness with 29 students, I somehow managed to do that to not just one, but several of my kids.

Since I am always telling my children that my classroom is a "No Excuses" zone, I told them that I was not going to rattle off any excuses to them and try to justify why they shouldn't feel the way they did. Instead, I promised each and every one of them that I would work harder and better each day than I did the day before.

I cried the whole drive home from work tonight! I know in my heart of hearts that I have love for these kids and they have love for me...and I'm glad that they were honest and truthful with me. Sometimes the truth hurts! CJ was so supportive and sympathetic towards me when I got home and cried to him all over again. We prayed together, and I know that God will help me correct my attitude and slow down enough to make each child in my room feel like they are the only one. It's just kind of "funny" that when I said that silent prayer while the kids were getting ready to hear what I had to say...God was preparing me for what they had to say.

May I work harder and better tomorrow...and only with God's help!

My Grown Up Christmas List...

This is my absolute favorite non-traditional Christmas song, sung by Amy Grant. I remember hearing it for the first time several years ago when I was not so "grown up." It really impacted me and made me think about the needs of the world I live in. I was raised to believe that Christmas is not what is wrapped in pretty paper underneath the tree; it's not the delicious feast that is prepared and eaten; it's not even the milk and cookies that is left for Santa to eat once we're asleep. Christmas is ALL about Christ and nothing else.

As I became older, I understood that the desires mentioned in Grant's song is everything that Christ himself desires. And it fills my heart with great joy to know that one day every Christian will experience this "grown up Christmas list." Heaven will be a world united as one; no lives will ever be torn apart, no wars will ever begin, everyone will be friends, there will be no wrong, and love will be eternal! And instead of unwrapping presents, we'll be unwrapping the presence of God forever and ever and ever! Won't that be the greatest Christmas ever? And it won't only last for a day, a week, or even the whole month of December...it will last f o r e v e r!!!

With that, I leave you...My Grown Up Christmas List.

Do you remember me
I sat upon your knee
I wrote to you with childhood fantasies
Well, I'm all grown up now
And still need help somehow
I'm not a child but my heart still can dream

So here's my lifelong wish
My grown up Christmas list
Not for myself but for a world in need

No more lives torn apart
That wars would never start
And time would heal all hearts
And everyone would have a friend
And right would always win
And love would never end
This is my grown up christmas list

As children we believed
The grandest sight to see
Was something lovely wrapped beneath our tree
Well heaven surely knows
That packages and bows
Can never heal a hurting human soul

No more lives torn apart
That wars would never start
And time would heal all hearts
And everyone would have a friend
And right would always win
And love would never end
This is my grown up christmas list

What is this illusion called the innocence of youth
Maybe only in our blind belief can we ever find the truth

No more lives torn apart
That wars would never start
And time would heal all hearts
And everyone would have a friend
And right would always win
And love would never end
This is my grown up christmas list

This is my grown up christmas list