So thankful for a 3-day weekend!

Yesterday I cleaned. And then I cleaned. And then I...well, I guess you get it. I did chill out some with a couple of good movies (Bringing Up Baby and Philadelphia Story - it was Katherine Hepburn day on TCM) and I made a yummyish pasta something for lunch...or perhaps it was for dinner. Maybe Linner, or Dunch. :)

I got to teach Sunday School at church today, the lesson plan was for one of my favorite people in the Bible, Nehemiah. I was with the 6-7 year olds, and I got to have the Wright's new son, Andy in class with me. He did super well and seemed to have fun in spite of not understanding most of the words spoken. He is very smart though and it is amazing to watch how quickly he is picking up on things. He'll be fluent in English in no time!

Today is Katrina W's b-day, which we didn't tell the waiter at Monte Alban's since she threatened to wait a million years before she would forgive whoever told. If you have never been witness to or participated in a birthday celebration at MA's, you don't know what you're missing! ;)

Katherine (my baby sister) has packed up her entire room at my parents house and should be moved into town Monday or Tuesday at the very latest. She is so excited and I think this will be a positive thing in her life. Plus how much fun will it be having her in the same house as me again?!!!!

New Roommate!

Cam and I are finally getting a new roommate! Katherine!

Reunion

Well, I had so much fun today! Teaching was great fun - Mr. Corbin left me fun things to do with the kids and I really enjoyed it.
At the end of the last period, Abigail and TJ walked into the classroom. What a nice surprise! They didn't know that I was subbing. We had a nice little chat. It was so nice to see them again, since they aren't at the high school anymore.
BUT, right after I left I went to the post office, and who was in the parking lot???? Troy, of course! :) So it was a little mini last year's seniors reunion!
Then I went and worked 2 hours at the church and came home feeling like I was about to fall over since all I had managed to eat was popcorn and some M&M's and peanuts and raisins.

And to top it all off....it's Friday! My weekend is just beginning!

First day of school!

Today is my first day of school - ever! Public school, that is. But the twist is...I'm the teacher. Well, substitue teacher at FHS. Fun fun fun!

driving home. We had a very nice vacation in Ohio... I'm still not sure what town we were in, but we had a very nice quaint cabin and enjoyed driving around the countryside and being in each other's company. The Creation Musesm was interesting- there was a great lecture about the importance of the book of Genesis and having a Biblical worldview. they also had a fantastic swinging bridge...very fun to walk on...over and over :)

I once was on a bridge like this in Maui...

If you don't know that line, go watch George of the Jungle.

The Munger women on a suspension bridge

A fun bridge

What a cute baby!

The last we've seen of Katherine!

A lovely time

Me and mama on a swing at an Amish store.

Do you think that she's having fun?

Rummikub in Ohio

Dad's a little bored witi our game

Pickens Nose

After lolling around all morning, I drove down to Rabun to pick apples and go hiking with Daniel and April. I have neve been to Pickens Nose before, and I loved it! The rocks are so fun and we climbed down to the bottom of one. The view is pretty spectacular too.
Afterwards, we had dinner with Brian and MC, people who work at Daniel's school. We picked blueberries at their house. It was a great, relaxing afternoon. I felt like I was far away from Franklin, but it's only 20min away, so I can still sleep in my own bed.
It was so nice to spend some time with Daniel and April. They are doing so well.

I just packed and am getting ready to go to bed, we are leaving at 8 in the morning to spend the day with Ben and Keri in Dollywood.

Yee-Haw!

Fun sleep over

Last night was fun. The entire team was at the gym for our annual summer sleep-over. I was tired going into it since we had spent half of the day before fluffing and cleaning the pit (throwing all 10,000+ cubes out, vacuming the bottom and throwing them all back in). But I'm not half as tired as I thought I would be.
The kids are so resourceful and there are so many options at the gym that you don't have to entertain them at all. Not once did the words "I'm bored" cross the lips of any of the 18 children present. So all April, Kat and I had to do was make sure they stayed safe and played nice. Which included going to watch 11 of them in the pool at 2am (the 3rd swim time of the night).

So today I'm not planning to do much of anything.

New thought in unexpected place

So I was sitting in......somewhere, just waiting, when I picked up a Gideon Bible from the table next to me and started reading in Acts. Stephen is one of my favorite people in the Bible, and when I came to the part of his speech to the religious rulers, I was suddenly blown away, or, in the King James, blowneth away! As he gives the history of the Hebrew people, and specifically talks about Moses, I saw some new ways in which Moses life was a type of Christs'! Like when he talks to his Hebrew brothers who are arguing and assumes they know he is God's appointed one to deliver them from bondage and they reject him, saying "who made you ruler over us?" in the same way Israel rejected Jesus as their Messiah King. Or when Moses is on the Mountain for 40 days and they begin to say that he's dead and not coming back and have Aaron make a golden calf that they worship as their savior. That sounds a lot like the end of the age when the Bible says that people will say that Jesus isn't coming back and the beast sets up a golden image for everyone to worship.

I knew that there were parallels, like God using Moses to save Israel and the bronze serpent, but I hadn't thought about these specific aspects before.
It really took me by surprise, I wasn't expecting anything that exciting or interesting when I picked up that book to read. But the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any double edged sword. So
DON'T PUT GOD IN A BOX!!!!!!!! He doesn't fit. :)

Facebook failure

One more person I know added me as a friend on facebook tonight, so I thought I would log back in and see if I could get into it. After all, Anneke and Camila thoroughly enjoy it, rely on it even. After an hour of trying to find my way around and experiencing sensory overload from so much information and graphics, I decided that I'm still not that into it. Maybe because it reminds me too much of bygone days and I feel like I am trying to live in the past when I want to live in the present. But I did find out that one of my DTS friends is getting married. I wonder how gift registries work in South Africa...

Yea for Kat and camera phones!

I found this picture from Michael and Laura's wedding on Kat's facebook page.

As you expected, absolutely stunning. I will post the link when the professional photos become available.

Last 2 weeks of summer

This is the last week of summer gymnastics! Next week is vacation and then I jump into fall. The summer has been very full with weddings and trips and parties and just lots of good times and hard work. But I am very happy to be in the last week of summer schedule - I am looking forward to the change.

Something else taken from Jessica's blog!

I found this quote on Cam's distant cousins' blog and loved it...it's a lot of what I have been going through, this week in particular.

"Jesus defined real love for us when he died for us and we are to do the same for our brothers. For most of us it will not be one grand act rather, it will consist of a thousand small turnings of our will from its natural self-absorption to the self-giving ways of God. Without a vital living relationship to Jesus, none of us can sustain a life of artful caring for long. The human heart is riddled with selfishness. As the Holy Spirit brings us to new depths of wanting to give ourselves away for Jesus' sake, the battle of our sin nature rages inside us telling us to hold back, stay safe, and keep a tight grip of self-interests. We repeatedly come face to face with our utter dependence on God to transform us. We are drawn again to abide in Jesus, to learn from him, and to ask for creativity and strength to lay down our life for others, one person at at time."-Andi Ashworth

I was looking at Camila's blog, and realized it has been 5 days since I last posted, and while I am not on the bottom of the stack, I am quickly working my way there. (Although, with Scotty in the same list I should be pretty safe from dead last!)

This week has been so busy. Laura and Michael's wedding was absolutely beautiful. I will post a link to the professional photos when they are up. I managed to forget my camera at every event that weekend so I have not even one photo to post.

Camila and I are having fun playing mom to a teenager and 9 year old while the Wrights are picking up Andy in China. As a side note, I think I would make a rotten working mother. :)
I have really enjoyed reading Tales of the Kingdom at night as a bedtime story for Amber.

It's crazy late for me to be up right now. Camila and I just finished playing Canasta and listening to the Hairspray soundtrack. Camila pretty much slaughtered me in Canasta, but the rest of the weekend lays before us and anything can happen.

My 2 favorite dancers from SYTYCD season 4

Pray for China

2008 Women's Gymnastics Olympic Team

I know everybody probably knows this already, but I just looked it up online.

The members of the U.S. Olympic Team for women’s gymnastics are: Shawn Johnson of West Des Moines, Iowa/Chow’s Gymnastics; Nastia Liukin of Parker, Texas/WOGA; Chellsie Memmel of West Allis, Wis./M&M Gymnastics; Samantha Peszek of Indianapolis, Ind./DeVeau’s; Alicia Sacramone of Winchester, Mass./Brestyan’s; and Bridget Sloan of Pittsboro, Ind./Sharp’s. The three replacement athletes are: Jana Bieger of Coconut Creek, Fla./Bieger International Gymnastics; Ivana Hong of Blue Springs, Mo./GAGE; and Corrie Lothrop of Gaithersburg, Md./Hill’s.

Already?!!!??!?!

I can't believe it's August 4th already! These next 5 days are going to be the fastest of my life!!!

Thought of the day ~ Ephesians 1:15-19 (The message)

That's why, when I heard of the solid trust you have in the Master Jesus and your outpouring of love to all the followers of Jesus, I couldn't stop thanking God for you—every time I prayed, I'd think of you and give thanks. But I do more than thank. I ask—ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory—to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for his followers, oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him—endless energy, boundless strength!

The most amazing tunnel in the world! (in Detroit airport)

It's way too bad that my camera doesn't have an audio recorder. The lights moved in synchronization with the music.

Jumping Fountains

What I did for 2 hours at the Detoroit airport...

Fun at my favorite building in DC with my favorite friend in DC

Laura and I standing outside of the Library of Congress

Front of the Library of Congress

Beautiful fountains at the front of the LOC

Not me

Who'd have thought that Scotty would change his mind so quickly? Not me! Not me!
Who'd have guessed Aida would be back on the schedule so soon? Not me! Not me!
Who's the happiest and most excited about this new development? Me! :)