This is Home

This weekend has been full of fun. Friday I went to school and made up last Tuesday. It was a long day but it was Friday- so you cant have that bad of a day. : ) They are having a pumpkin contest for their school and the theme is The Cat in the Hat. My teacher didn't want our pumpkin to be just the cat (which we figured everyone else would do) so we made ours into a fish bowl. She put me in charge of the paint and fish. We painted the bottom of the pumpkin blue and the top white. The kids made some fish that look like Dr. Seuss fish and then we attached them to the pumpkin. I got a blue pipe cleaner and stuck it in the top of the pumpkin then attached one of the fish so it looks like one is jumping out of the bowl. Then to add the finishing touches I painted in some bubbles coming from the fish mouths. It turned out super cute. I didn't have my camera so I will take a picture of it on Tuesday... after school I helped set up the book fair till about 5 then came home since Justin & Carla both were already almost to College Station...For dinner, me, Justin, Kason and Carla all went to Gatti-Town and were fatty's with the pizza buffet. : )

Saturday brought an early morning. Mom and Dad got to the house around 9 and we hurried so we could catch step off. Dad & Justin dropped me, Carla and mom off on the quad while they tired to find somewhere to park. Mom had never been to an Aggie football game let alone step off. We got there just in time. They formed up and the cannon went off. Justin and Dad still hadn't found a parking spot at this point. We headed toward Kyle field to meet Justin & Dad then decided to just head on into the stadium to get our seats. It was much hotter than we all had expected but it was a good game. The Aggie's held their own and went into half time with the lead. However, I don't think they ever came back from half-time because after that it was a downhill spiral.

Gig' em Daddy! (This game was very special to me and my daddy. In 2004, my junior year of high school Dad and I came to the A&M vs Tech football game and I knew then I wanted to go here. So my first Aggie football game was A&M vs Tech with my daddy and now my senior A&M vs Tech game was also with my daddy...very special)

Justin looked purple on his arms as did my shoulders by the time we left. We stayed until the middle of the fourth quarter then headed home. This is me and mom in front of Kyle field waiting for the boys to come and pick us up. Everyone came over after the game. Justin and Kason went and got food for all of us. I was glad that my parents and Justin's family got to interact some more. I love it when we are all together. It seemed like everyone was laughing and having a good time. All the families headed off around 6ish and sadly I passed out shortly after....

This morning I woke up early because I had gone to bed so early. So while everyone was sleeping I snuck away to sit in the Shipley's Donut line for 30 minutes. : ) After we ate we all hung out for a little while before me and Justin got started on the lawn. I mowed and he edged. The yard looks better than it ever has I am pretty sure. Megan and I just went on a mile walk with Pip and Shiloh and they seemed more tired than us by the time we got back. Mom is on her way here now. Justin left a while ago to go get some errands run and do his laundry.

Another week is about to begin, however, Justin isn't on his way back to Dallas right now, he is simply up the road which makes every week from now on not seem that bad : )

Announcing Nala & Rajah...

Announcing Nala & Rajah

Lexie's baby girls.

Nala (the white one) was born before noon today and Raja (black one) was born at 2pm. The disney names were on purpose. : ) Lexie is doing good and the puppies seem to be doing well and getting the nourishment they need. I went over as soon as I got done with class.
I keep thinking back to seven months ago when Pip was that little and fit in my hand, now just his head fits in it. Anyways, I was looking through Pamela's pictures on her computer and found some really cute ones of my baby...thought I would go down memory lane since new babies are here, Pip is no longer the baby.
A few hours old...already loving on Mommy
Pip & Carter in the church at the flower shop
Family Picture: Lexie, Jackson, Pip & CarterCarter & Pip in a flower pot at the flower shopThis is what my little baby looks like now...cute as ever. Gotta love him...

Happiness

Life is just so wonderful.

Monday afternoon Justin came back to college station and we just hung out, ate dinner with Kason, and went to Wally World. It was so weird. I do not know what it is like to have a boyfriend in the same town- AMAZING!! I just kept smiling and I was just in the best mood. Its crazy- he is finally here!!

Tuesday I went to school and it was the first day of self containment. Which I was actually very happy about. I have really been wanting to see how all the subjects were taught, not just math & science. It was a good day overall. I don't know if it is because I was so excited that Justin was going to be here when I got done so it made me look forward to the end of the day and the day went by so fast.Last night Pamela, Cole & Lexie came over to give Pip a haircut, or should I say a butcher job. I feel bad for the little guy. Her clippers were messed up so he looks rather odd.

Lexie is so preggers she couldn't even walk to my house. She rode in the basket under the stroller. It was cute.
Justin played with Cole while Pamela and I tended to Pip. He is so good with him. Cole immediately wanted to play with Justin and could care less about me.
Kason on the other hand, came over thinking it would be quiet an he could study...haha. I should have captured him "studying" a few moments later with his head tilted back and his mouth open...hmmm sleeping or studying? you decide.
Today I went back to school where it was a very rainy day. Rainy school days are never very fun. I was just ready for today to be over. We had a faculty meeting this afternoon and then I came home, then decided to come over to Pamelas- which is where I am now. I tired to take a nap when she went to get Cole but Lexie, Jackson and Pip wouldn't stop barking at Amber the cat. Now she is fattening me up. I have eaten Halloween oreos, chips & guacamole, graham crackers and she is cooking lemon butter chicken, rice and a veggie. I need to come over here for dinner more often : )

Big News!!!!!

I have been thinking and praying on this and I feel at peace telling you all, I am moving to Kingwood in December to do my Student Teaching. I have been extremely anxious and unsettled about staying here. In Kingwood, student teachers are a luxury very few teachers get and I think this will be best for me. I am going to get an apartment in Town Center (close to home) so that I will still have a life of my own and a place of my own. I have talked about it with Justin and he will be gone from February-June and wont be in College Station anyways. Once I walked myself through it a couple of times and have confirmed that I will not have to live at home : ) I feel at such peace about it. I just think I am making the right decision and that my experience will be wonderful in Kingwood.

Even living in a apartment I will still be saving money compared to staying here, also Pip can stay with my mom during the day (free doggie day care which mom loves), Brenna will be in Kingwood also (so I'll have a friend), Mom will be close enough for if I need her yet far enough for me to go home at the end of a long school day....

I am really excited and really feel confident in my choice to move to Kingwood. After my student teaching is done, I will see where my life takes me... (hopefully back to college station to be with my one and only)

I believe....

For one of my classes we had to write an essay on what we belive...mine is as follows:

I believe…that each of us has a place in this world. It is up to us to find it. Some people never find their place, what they are meant to do, that thing they are passionate about; others seem to find it right away, like it is was a given from their first breath! Michael W. Smith wrote a song that fits these emotions perfectly. The songwriter states that he is roaming through the night to find his place is this world. He asks a key question. He asks, “Is there a vision that I can call my own.”

I always hated trying on clothes as a kid. I saw something I liked, and bought it. I think I hoped that finding my place in life would be just that easy. I would just be able to choose a career, a man, a path to happiness, and “poof” my Cinderella place in this world would be done!

I wondered, when I was a teen, what people meant when they said, “You won’t appreciate it until you have to work for it. “ Now I see that in order to find our path in life it has to be something that we work towards, and work hard at perfecting. Something we want so badly, we can taste it. Something that no matter what some negative person in our life says, we will continue. I have been trying hard all through college to make sure my career will be the right one, my boyfriend will be the life changing one, and the choices I’ve made will be the ones to lead to my happiness. Now that I am a senior, I am looking toward the light at the end of the tunnel, and I see the career I have chosen coming closer. As I prepare for my last semester, I pray I have found “my place.”

For me, that place in this world is to be part of the future and to teach. I am beginning to realize that that is a huge amount of responsibility, helping to shape young lives. It is also a huge amount of work. I see how many hours a day teachers plan, organize, implement, plan again, and implement another way! And I think I get it, I have to be so passionate about what I do that I will not mind the work; the work will feel like fun!

That is my place as far as my career goes. I still have to figure my place in the other areas of my life. However, I understand that I am not alone trying to figure out my adult life. All of us are out here, looking for our place, and we have to answer the question as to where that is, what we will be doing, and who will be our soul mate all by ourselves. There is a time when no one can live your life for us; we must step out in faith and find our place by ourselves. I am sure that each of us has our place, and I believe that if we carefully look at the paths we pursue, our place will become clearer to us.

Pizza Ranch

Wednesday was a big day at my elementary school.

FIELD TRIP!!!!!!

We got to go to Pizza Ranch. It was quite a day. They ventured to each "slice" of the pizza. We started with the chickens. They had baby chicks that had just hatched. Everybody got to touch one while they chirped away. One of the little boys in the bi-lingual class raised his hand and asked, "How does something so small get such a mighty voice?" It was cute. Another child asked how they got from there to the grocery story and how they got rid of all their feathers. The speaker tried to answer it as nicely as possible by telling them they "put the bird to sleep" then put in a bath of boiling water!!!

The next slice we went to was the meat slice. This speaker was a cattle rancher. She brought in a heftier and two steers. She taught the kids the differences between each one. The kids loved the cows because they kept moo-ing so loud and they wouldn't stop. She also brought with her two little piglets.

The next slice was about tomatoes. This is Cleo-Tomato- they went through the history of tomatoes and set the kids straight on whether it is a fruit or a vegetable (its a vegetable according to the supreme court)

Next they got to watch a video on tractor safety. And then play on a John Deere. You know they all loved that! They all got a slice of pizza and a water for lunch. There were other stations "slices" they went too and a good time was had by all. They even got to watch as a cow got milked. I took pictures of that but they didn't turn out very good. I came home and was in a good mood. It was the first time I had come home from school and was in such a good mood.

Now tomorrow I have to go back to school because I went home early on Tuesday therefore I will have a full day at school tomorrow....It is award ceremony day so that will be good for me to get to see! Then it will be a wonderful relaxing weekend...I can't wait.

Diagnosed

Early Tuesday morning when the rain was pounding on the windows and the lightening felt like it was in my room I woke up to not be able to breathe. My throat felt like it was closing and I couldn't keep my eyes open. I figured I was freaking out but that once I fell back asleep eventually I would be fine. I woke up and got ready suppressing the feeling of awfulness and went to school. Once I arrived at school I stood up for quite some time seeing as how teachers don't normally sit during the day....I asked if I could go to the nurse because I felt horrible all of sudden. The hotness, the throat closing along with the nausea. I went to the nurse and lay down just in time. I felt like I was on a boat about to go overboard yet I was laying on a children's nurse bed. She thought it would be a good idea if I called someone to come and pick me up.
Once home, I called my mother who had already talked to the doctor and they said they would call her with final results that afternoon. So I have been diagnosed. I have Neurocardiogenic (Vaso-vagal) Syncope. Basically my vagal nerve is keeping my blood from getting to my brain therefore I keep having these fainting spells. They have given me a list of 4 things I must follow and hopefully it will go away on its own. Apparently a ton of young girls have this and if I follow these things it will go away.

1. Drink TONS of water (I'm trying 3-4 water bottles a day)
2. SALT EVERYTHING (My blood pressure is extremely low. The only thing to higher it- SALT- too bad I don't like salty things that much, I prefer sugar)
3. Walk 30 minutes everyday (I have been really good at this. Pip and I have gone every day this week) and exercise 2-3 times a week
4. Wear support stockings. (awful right, I know! Have yet to buy these.....)

So that was my Tuesday one last episode (hopefully) and now I am on my way to healthiness : ) Thank the Lord it is nothing serious and I can follow these simple things and nothing drastic besides my lifestyle of laziness has to change...Thank you all for your prayers!