Loooong Week

It has been the longest week! It may have something to do with the fact that most of the day Tuesday I thought it was Wednesday and then on Wednesday it really was so I basically had two Wednesdays if that makes sense. I was out of my room testing today and stayed busy all day making sure I finished so today went by quicker and tomorrow is Friday and I always find plenty for us to do on Fridays. A few times a year my grandmas sisters and their daughters, daughters in law, grand daughters, etc. get together for a weekend and that is this weekend. My cousin Shelby and I are just going for the day Saturday and I think we're going to this craft fair. I remember going with my mom and aunts and grandma to something similar, it was called Connie Hines, when I was very young but I haven't been in a very long time, unless you count Canton and you know I've been there plenty. Anyway, I thought I would just share some pics from my phone that I've taken lately (ignore the quality.) Have a good weekend!

A few fun things in my house right now-



My sweet across the hall friend Lauren married our PE coach a few weeks ago. They are loving married life and the wedding was beautiful! This is the picture I took to show my kids the Monday after the wedding. They thought it was way cool they were married!

Simple Woman's Daybook

Outside my window... ~dark and quiet sidewalks are wet from a sprinkler left on too long this evening in an attempt to save the herbs in our front bed from this drought

I am thinking... ~about a parent of a student I talked with tonight. Her situation makes me sad but her spirits are high. Lord please bless these sweet single mamas.

I am thankful for... ~God's faithfulness. I often wonder where this stage of my life will lead me but he will be faithful always.

I am wearing... ~plain blue Old Navy tee with a cami underneath, jeans, and Sperrys

In the learning room... ~things are ready for us to hit it tomorrow

I am remembering... ~friends from college I haven't seen in too long and fun times we've had together. It's been fun to talk over the last day or so as one of our own had the first baby of our little group

I am going... ~to shower and get in bed just in time to turn on the news and hopefully be out before the weather comes on

I am currently reading... ~Hostess With the Mostess
and other fun entertaining and decorating pages in preparation for a little Halloween party

I am hoping... ~for rain to wet our dry ground

On my mind... ~my sweet friend Kristen who had a tiny babe named Reid this morning. I have no words to describe how happy I am for her and Mark

Noticing that... ~ I'm not a morning person and my parents are right when they say my tone can be harsh and hurtful at times.

Pondering these words... ~none at the moment!

From the kitchen... ~take out chinese. It's been a low week for me in the kitchen. I've felt very crafty as far as decorating my home but not very creative with creating meals. Will start fresh Monday

Around the house... ~things are decently tidy. Knowing the landlord was stopping in for something today was my motivation to put things in their place this morning.

One of my favorite things ~is waking up to a cool room and staying under the covers dozing until time to get up


From my camera...~
Baby Reid!

For more daybooks visit http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/

Bullet Updates

I have so much to update that this is the quickest way. I'm afraid if I tried to write it out you wouldn't stick with me until the end.

*We're almost through the 3rd week of school. My class is darling! They keep me smiling and laughing most of the time and make me want to teach them and be with them. I couldn't say that a lot of times last year. I can already see with the changes I made from last year plus having a group that works a little better together that they are going to learn so much an do so well.

*My sister left for college (LA Tech) last Friday. Mom and Dad took her and got her set up. I hated to miss the day but could not leave my class so soon into the year. I went on Monday and saw her room and she showed me around campus and town. It was all very nice and she seemed to be doing really well. She is doing rush this week and has a few sororities she's interested in and classes start tomorrow.

*Chelsea and I have a new roommate. Aaron moved on to a new career venture and it made sense for him to be in the Longview/Tyler area. Mom mentioned to some friends at Elysian Fields that we had a room and they put the new ag teacher, Jessica, in touch with us. She came and checked out our room, liked it, we liked her and she moved in. We haven't gotten to spend a lot of time together yet but I'm very thankful to have her. Chelsea will be traveling most of the fall and I do not like staying alone so the Lord sent Jessica to us.

*This weekend my 1st grade team will be going to Ft. Worth for the bachelorette party of one of our teammates. It's been such a strange week after being out on Monday! We've had to squeeze everything into four days and are leaving as soon as the last kid walks out Friday afternoon so we won't have the usual after school work time. I loved my three day weekend and can't wait for our trip but will also be glad to start next Monday back in the routine we started last week.

*I am amazed at how well I feel after my surgery. I am back to 100% after recovery. Before the surgery I had several symptoms from the cysts and fibroid that weren't fun but that I was living with. It's nice for those to be resolved.

*That's all for now! Will hopefully have some pics soon!

Getting Well

Hey friends! I got a really random email today from a girl at some fashion message board site saying she had been to my blog and it was wonderful. I'm sure it was just a form email but I got to thinking that if she did actually read it that it's way behind and that I better get it caught up.

Some of you may have known that I've had a little surgery recently to remove an ovarian cyst and a fibroid from my uterus. It's really been a trying time for me because I was both anxious about having major surgery (they couldn't do it laproscopic) and really questioning God about why I was having these problems. I think God's answer might have been to a) remind me I'm not in charge of everything, even my body and b) to slow me down.

Earlier in the summer when it was determined that I did indeed need the operation it was scheduled for the very end of July, yesterday actually. I was a little anxious about it being so close to school starting but everyone told me that I should be fine so I was ok with that. Well in mid July on a Sunday evening I was at home watching tv and texting Mom and I told her that I was actually starting to look forward to the surgery because I was starting to have some pain from the cyst. I knew that was the cause of my pain because I have had cysts on and off since jr. high. I ended up calling the doctor on call that night because I was just nervous that if this cyst was so bad that it needed to be removed and was now causing me such pain like it never had before, I was worried what would happen if it were to be leaking or rupturing. I got the other doctor from my clinic that night (I love them both!) and treated it with pain meds and was to follow up with my doctor if I continued to have trouble. The pain did ease up and I was able to babysit Monday and Tuesday, even had my cousin and her boyfriend over for dinner Tuesday night. I was still uncomfortable some but assuming I just would be until the surgery and I was ok with that.

I settled in Tuesday evening watching Real Housewives and reading blogs like any normal night. I was getting pretty uncomfortable from some pain but was determined to watch my show. I called my mom when it was over and let her know that I was afraid something was up. It was much worse than the spell on Sunday. I ended up calling the doctor (bless his heart, it was late!) and he was much more concerned at this point and began to explain to me that the cyst could be turning in way that was restricting the blood flow to my ovary which would, without removal of the cyst, kill my ovary. Being a nearly 23 year old with no kids yet, this is not what you want to hear. He encouraged me to go to the er for an ultrasound to make sure this wasn't the case and to get some pain meds. Mom rushed over right away and we went. I was so uncomfortable that they gave me morphine and luckly the ultrasound showed normal blood flow. We were thankful but were also realizing we were not going to be able to stand me having random bouts with severe pain for two more weeks. I talked to my doctor the next morning and within the hour he had my surgery moved up to the next Monday.

We went in last Monday morning and got things under way. I went back quickly and woke up well enough to eat lunch and visit with a lot of sweet friends, while only having minimal pain thanks to my handy pain med pump. It's been funny to remember back on the visits I had during that time. They're a bit blurry in my memory! ha! Mom kept commenting on how I wasn't sleeping like she expected I would. I was very happy!

I went home to Mom and Dad's late Tuesday evening and they've taken great care of me. I can't thank them enough. It's been tough because I am independent and in charge and having to be cared for and not able to jump in the car and go to wherever I want isn't an easy pill to swollow. I reminded myself over and over how my sweet grandparents were both in this situation for much longer and in much worse pain. I was with them constantly during that time but having a little bit of a glimpse at what it was like for them gave me a much different perspective. Again, I'm very thankful for sweet friends who check on me and visit and my family who's taken care of me and put up with me being on their couch for all of this time asking for things.

I'm recovering really well. My mom has been back to work so I'm up and down during the day taking care of myself more and more. When I start huring and get frustrated I have to remind myself that I have a large incision and stitches on my ovary and uterus so there are three places trying to heal and it hasn't even been two weeks and overall I'm doing great. I've caught up on a lot of tv and have just relaxed.

Thank you so much those of you who kept up with what all was going on and visited, checked up on me, brought goodies, and prayed! It's been a great blessing to be loved on!

Next on my agenda- breaking out of this joint and getting to my classroom! I'm so excited for a fresh new year!!

Summer Update

So.... What's been going on?

Other than a work conference in Dallas and a quick trip to Abilene, summer has consisted of a lot of lazy days here in Marshall.

I've been keeping Henry and Jackson while Caroline is at camp. This weekend they will trade out and she will come home and Jacks will go. Hopefully I won't have to work so hard to get someone to go to the pool with me when my girl gets back.

So I mentioned my conference in Dallas. This was my view and the whole week consisted of a lot of talk about teaching kids to read, cold conference rooms and some room service.
After a quick day in Abilene I rushed home because I was scheduled to be Minnie Mouse at Daisy's 2nd birthday party.
I think the picture says it all. It was a precious little party!

Thoughts from a Water Park

Yay Summer!!

My summer started off in a rush as school ended and I headed to South Texas with Mom and Lydia. We've made a habit of sister/mom trips the past few years and they really are great fun.

We hung out around the river walk, did some shopping, ate goooood food but the biggest part of the trip was going to Schlitterbahn. We love water parks!

Mom and Lydia are big slide riders. I am too typically but on this trip I loved the tube river rides and laying out by the pools, because I'm the ultimate people watcher. Laying by the pool was where the thought for this post came about.

Here are a few random thoughts and questions from my lounge chair at Schlitterbahn:

Where is that mans wife and does she know he is wearing those goggles?

Roasted corn? Yes please.

Does the lady standing in the wading pool watching her kids play realize she's getting a little carried away with the dancing to Single Ladies?

That man does not need that turkey leg or ice cream cone!

More stairs?!

Hey! There's that guy again and his wife.... and he's still wearing the goggles!

And lastly, one more vacation observation that actually occurred at The Alamo:

Does the leash you have on your child really do any good when he's running so fast from you that you can't catch it?

Happy Vacationing!


PS: If you look to the right you will see a new widget that is the link to my "community." If you have no idea what Blog Frog is you should check it out. Tons of links to great blogs and discussions. If you're here because you came across me on Blog Frog, I'm glad you clicked over and hope you come back!

PPS: My in real life friend and blog friend Christina is probably the most educated person I know when it comes to food and she started a new blog just for that! Here is the link. I checked it out today and I know she'll have some great things on there!

Show us Your Life- Where you live: Marshall, TX

Months ago when I was reading over the Show Us Your Life schedule, I remember seeing there was going to be a week dedicated to your town and I thought to myself that I would definitely love to do that. I was really excited when I realized it was this week!

I live in Marshall, TX, a small town in East Texas with about 23,000 people.

The center of our town is the downtown square which is home to the historic Harrison County Court House. The court house was built around 1900 and although isn't currently used was recently restored and will be open again soon. On the square and streets surrounding the center of town are several cute shops and restaurants. There are organizations who are very dedicated to making Marshall a great place to be and you can tell they've worked really hard to make downtown nice.

One of the main tourist attractions in Marshall is the Wonderland of Lights in December. There is an ice skating rink, carriage rides, home tours and a lot of lights everywhere.

I love downtown but another one of my favorite parts of where I live is Caddo Lake. Caddo is the only natural lake in Texas and Caddo Indian legend has it that the lake was formed from a giant flood but other theories suggest an earthquake. I love the narrow waterways and the cypress trees.

(Picture credit)

Another fun and interesting thing about our area that most people don't know is that Ladybird Johnson grew up in a beautiful plantation home between Marshall and Caddo Lake.

(Photo credit)

There's so much more I could say about Marshall but it would take a while. If you're interested in history and traveling to small towns, you should check out Marshall. Lots of B&Bs and good hotels. It would be a perfect weekend get away!