It's been awhile...

...since I've had the time to post!

Things have been absolutely nuts the past few weeks. Between school (teaching), Grad School, Preparing for my Jazzercise audition, various meetings at work, and all of the other random "hiccups" in life, it's been hard to sit down and write about what's going on.

First of all, my audition is 11 days away. I'm nervous! I know that if it is in God's plan for me, and I work hard I will pass. Ann has been great (my instructor) at letting me teach routines in front of the class. That has helped take the nerves out of getting in front of people. I had to write a fat check to Jazzercise and book a hotel room in Nashville at the lovely MICROTEL. Let's hope it's "nice." Ha. Anyway, in a few minutes I'll be rehearsing!

I finished the hardest of my Grad classes to date. I have four more to go. This class was educational research. Had to write a research paper, which was surprisingly easy to do. I thought I was out of practice, but I ended up with an "A" on the paper. Luckily I have this next week off of Grad school because the next class does not begin until after Labor day. It will be nice to not have to think about it for a week.

I also still have NO AIR at school. Up until Friday I had been able to turn it off and on until the air would finally cut on, but on Friday it finally gave out. Luckily on Friday the air man showed up, he knows what the problem is and is supposed to fix it tomorrow. I'll keep my fingers crossed on that one. Thank God for the beautiful weather this week which makes it more bearable.

My class this year is really a unique bunch. Right now I have 16, and I suspect that we are going to have to close a section of 2nd grade and fill our classes up. I'm still praying that there is a way to keep our numbers low. It is so nice to have a small class. I feel like I'm able to accomplish so much more! I thought I'd post a few pictures of my kids from two Friday's ago. They made cupcake aliens because the story for the week was about space. Here are a few of my kids.

Kingston and his cupcake.
Gabrielle and her cupcake.

Jai and his cupcake.

Kourtlyn and her cupcake.


An upclose look at a cupcake (sideways, sorry!)


This past Friday they had a dance for the kids to celebrate a great first three weeks of school. I got some cute shots of my kids during the dance.

Here are three of my boys. From left to right, Jai, Robert and Nacarious.

Another funny shot of them dancing. From left to right, Jermya, Jaida, Robert, Gabrielle, Amiya and Makenzie.

So as you can see, I have some cuties this year. Please pray for us to have some air conditioning so I won't have anymore crabby children and they won't have a crabby teacher!

Alright, well it's off to go practice, practice, practice and then work on school work till I hit the bed tonight. Hope ya'lls week is great!

Happy blogging!

What a week!

So the first week of school is behind me now and I can say I feel pretty positive about this year. Unfortunately, I still have no air conditioning. I got excited on Monday morning because I heard it running outside the door of my room but when I opened the door it was just pooooooouring hot air in. I guess he "thought" he fixed it. I've been told that a ticket has been put in to have my air looked at again, but I know a teacher at my school who went two year without air. I think I'll have to do something about it before it goes on that long. I actually have gotten a parent on my side and she has said she will go to the board for me if she has to.

Anyway, right now I have 15 students, but I anticipate more creeping in until Labor Day. That always seems to be what happens. I have a great little group this year. They have some good personalities. I also have a really LOW group this year. Aside from maybe 3 or 4 really bright students, I'm going to have an up hill battle ahead of me. That's ok though, because I they all right now seem to have awesome attitudes. If we can all remain positive I think great things can happen. I plan on taking some picture with my class just as soon as it cools off. Hehe.

In the meantime, I have also been working my butt of getting ready for my Jazzercise audition. Ann (my instructor) has been really great and has let me start teaching some routines during class. I actually taught 4 in a row on Saturday. The more that I do it, the more comfortable I am with being in front of people dancing, talking on a mic, and queing the moves. It's quite a challenge, but I'm getting there. Yesterday I ordered my Jazzercise top and exercise pants that I'm going to wear to the audition. Ann and I both though it would be a good idea to wear the logo to show that I'm interested. Here are pictures of what I ordered.
I liked this hot pink top because of the back, the logo really stands out, and it matches the pink on my workout shoes. Also I have a really great sports bra that will be totally hidden by the razor back straps in the back.
Here are the capri's I ordered. They are wide leg and flare which are my favorite kind. Hopefully this will help my efforts!!! I can't wait to get my order in the mail!

Anyway, thanks to all who have been encouraging me through this audition process. You guys have been amazing. Just taking the time out to mention that I'm doing a good job is helping me become more and more confident.

Well, between school, grad school, jazzercise practice and just life in general things are kind of crazy. But I'm trying to take every moment I can to just breath. I will try to post more this week and update everyone on how things are going. Hope everyone has a great week!

Happy Blogging!

School Starts Tomorrow!

Isn't it funny that I used to be a little kid nervous about the first day of school, and now I'm the teacher and STILL nervous. I'm nervous about the new grade, new group of kids, and the possibility of still no air conditioning! We were told that the "air man" was going to be working in our school all throughout the weekend to have all units functioning by Monday morning. Graves Elementary was put number one on the priority list because we had 15 units out. The maintenance department at MCS was claiming they were doing the best the could, but the truth is it just took a little pressure from the administration at the board. (THANK YOU WILLIE RHODES!) When Mr. Rhodes found out that we had that much air out my principal received a call 5 minutes later! Well, as of Friday of in service I still didn't have air, but I'm not going to loose hope. Pray, pray, pray for some air conditioning! Anyway, in service week went well. We were able to get a lot of things done, but last minute on Friday we were given a list of things to complete. I didn't leave my school until 6p.m.

Saturday was a great day! We had some visitors to Jazzercise class, Katie (Grisham) and my other friend Megan came to try it and loved it! I think Megan is going to join the YMCA and come to Jazzercise regularly. So awesome! I'm nervous about Jazzercise too because I'm going to slowly start teaching some routines in my class. Ann is so wonderful though, she is doing an awesome job of getting me ready for the workshop. I've been praying a lot about the workshop too. I know I'll make it through if being a Jazzercise instructor is what God has in His plan for me. After Jazzercise my super sweet boyfriend changed the oil in my car, wash and waxed it, and then went out to dinner. What great guy!

It's been awhile since I've blogged and I'm affraid that as the school year starts it will be harder for me to with school back in. Although with a new group of kids will come some pretty great stories! To all of the teacher out there, good luck with your new start to the year!

Here's just a funny picture that I wanted to share with y'all. When I got home from work last Thursday one of the neighbor cats that loves staring at Izzie and Tux was asleep on the patio. It was hilarious!

At first I was worried about him, but he was just really zonked out! Have a great week y'all!



Happy Blogging!

A little PATIENCE and the TIGERS.

So today at church (Hope Pres.) Eli preached about patience. Those of you who know me well, know that I tend to worry needlessly over things that I can't control. Eli brought it all back to perspective for me that my worrying goes back to not being patient. Sometimes I'm waiting for answers from God and when I don't get an answer RIGHT THAT SECOND it doesn't necessarily mean "No" it could just mean "Not Right Now." How true is that?

He preached about worrying about things that are out of our control, people who won't change, and problems that are unexplainable. It's so true. I've found that in my life here recently, no matter what I do...there are certain people, problems, and things that I just simply can't change. So it's up to me to move on and live in MY MOMENT. He had some great scripture that went a long with this message also.

"An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up." Proverbs 12:25

"But these things I plan won't happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, do not despair, for these things will surely come to pass. Just be patient! They will not be overdue a single day!" Habakkuk 2:3

I just love hearing Eli preach. I love Craig too, but I guess not getting to hear Eli all that often just makes it that much more special.

So, I got to church early this morning to bust in on the Men's Ministry inviting the new head coach of the Memphis Tigers basketball team, Josh Pastner, to speak. Of course Hope had an overwhelming amount of women who wanted to come so they allowed us in too! ;) It was really great hearing how he came to Memphis, what he has been up to since he's been hired, what to expect as far as a recruiting class for this year, and how our exsisting players are doing. Eli introduced me as the "craziest Memphis fan out there" to Josh. Is it bad that my preacher knows what at Tiger fanatic I am? Anyway...he was a breath of fresh air to listen to and I'm super excited for this upcoming season.

I love the fact that Pastner focuses on STUDENT athletes. He also never once said "my team" he referred to it as "our team." He understands that Memphis Basketball is one of the only positive things we have going for us.

So even after he met the "craziest Memphis fan out there" he was still willing to take a picture with me.

What a great day! Now on to work on a little grad work, do some laundry, and prepare myself for going back to work tomorrow.

Happy Blogging!