Happy 28th birthday to me!

It's been so long since I've blogged and I figure when better to blog than on my 28th birthday. Nothing like a birthday to make you evaluate your life. So here I am... well into my late twenties and seeing my thirties upon the horizon. Did I really just say that? Thirties on the horizon? wow. I just don't feel 28. No way. It also helps that I get carded anytime I order a drink. Anyone else get carded at weddings? Firm Christmas parties? Oh no, just me. and that's why I don't feel 28. But turns out I really am 28 - The age my mom was when she had me. And yes, she reminded me of that this morning. :) And Preston and Lauren G gave me a toast Saturday night - a toast to fertility. Weird. Maybe they're trying to send me a message or something. I don't know. I don't read well between lines. But Speaking of toasts....since I'm 28 I may as well embrace it so... I'll toast to 28. Here's to being 28 but feeling much younger. Here's to 28 years of family, friends, fun, travel, school, school and more school. Here's to being 28 - whatever it brings!!

And speaking of whatever it brings, I'm thinking about doing something special with my last 2 years of my twenties. You know what I'm talking about. One of those cheesy and overdone, "30 things to do before you're 30" list. But ya know what? I like cheesy and I like goals. and checklists. Man, do I love checklists. Sometimes I just write to do lists including things I've already done, just so I have something to check off. Makes me feel accomplished. So I think this would be fun. I thought about doing 30 half marathons before I'm 30, but that didn't feel special enough - and I don't think it's possible to do 30 marathons in the next 2 years. And after Sunday, who knows if I'll ever do a 2nd. So I'm still thinking about this. If you have any ideas, I'd love to hear them - So we'll see what comes out of this. Maybe it will be a short little check list of worth while things, but believe I'll add something I've already done so at least I don't have to start at 0. I don't want to feel defeated before I even start. We'll see what happens.

In the mean time, Happy Birthday to me! And a BIG Thank you  to my parents, my Brad, and all my friends who made it special. It was a wonderful weekend!

Cheers to being 28!

Vacation Part I: Israel

I could never put into words how incredible Israel was. And I'm sure I couldn't describe exactly how it felt to be there, but I'm pretty sure I'll never read the Bible the same. And what a blessing it was to be there with David and Teresa Ferguson. They're pretty amazing.

Hope you enjoy the pictures and soon I hope to create Jordan and Italy to finish off the trip. :)

Click here to see the slideshow.....
Israel

Our time in the Middle East

Our first week of our vacation is coming to a close tonight and I'm pretty sure I'll never be the same.

We spent 5 amazing nights in Israel. I cannot begin to share with you how incredible this time was. Brad and I watched the sunrise over the Sea of Gallilee, we walked in Capurnum, went to Nazareth, Bethlehem, Jeruselum, Jericho, and many small places along the way. We walked the path of Jesus ministry. And by walked, I mean drove, but drove just doesn't sound as dramatic :) Either way, it was pretty cool. 

I will not go into the conflict over here in the middle east, but it has definately opened my eyes to the conflict in Israel. My only question to anyone who has an opinion about the conflict over here would be "Have you had dinner in the home of a Palestinian?" I have and it has touched my heart. I'm no politician by any means and I offer no solution. But I've been touched by the friendships I've made over here and my heart breaks for the innocent people who have to live behind walls. It makes me grateful for my freedoms. No one tells me where and when I can't leave Houston. No one tells me how I can and cannot get there. This has been eye opening, to say the very least.

And then we spent 3 nights in Jordan and saw Petra.  So cool!!

I hope to post pictures when we return. But wow, this has been an amazing week.

Now, we're off to Italy...............

I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane.

Ok, so I'm not exactly leaving on a jet plane...more like a very old 99 mustang. but my bags are pack and I'm ready to go.


I just packed the last of my classroom things. I put my little personal copier in my backseat and closed the passenger door and as I did that, I realized this is it..... I almost burst into tears in the parking lot.


A few months ago I put in for a transfer to Jersey Village High School. It will cut my commute in half and I wouldn't have the extra responsiblities of team leader, senior class sponsor and planning prom, differentiation cohort, school leadership, or even 2 preps. I will be a Spanish I teacher and will have so much extra time and less time in the car. More time for me to work on my school work. Did I mention I'm going back to school? Right after I accepted the job with JV, I was accepted to a Doctorate of Education program at UH. Go Coogs??! I am excited about this new time in my life, but in Ross' words "Well...no body likes change." Change is hard for me and I truly will miss my time as a Cy Springs Panther.


I came to Cy Springs in 2007 largely because it was a high school Spanish job (and not math) and because I had a good friend from college that worked here. I had no idea what was in store for my 4 years here, but I wouldn't change a thing. It was here that I learned how to be a leader. Let me tell you, that was not easy and there were some challenging times, but if you know me at all, you know I love being in charge :) I grew as a teacher and as a leader and I think i'll always look back on these 4 years as the most formative year in my teaching career.


I sure will miss my kids. I almost didn't leave because of them. I absolutely LOVE my students. I hope I never forget the conversations or the funny things they said. Almost everyday someone did something that made me laugh. Whether it was the girls that called me Mrs. Michelle (because they thought I looked like a Michelle), or the girl that asked what store my husband worked at when I told her he woked in the Galleria. I'll never forget the students that callled me OroSnead when I got married or the heart to heart conversations with high school girls.


Good Bye, Room 2205, you've been good to me.

Texas A&M

Frequently, my students ask me "Why do you go for A&M?" They say it in exactly those words every time. What the are asking me, is why do I follow and support and hope for a team that constantly loses. Why do I choose them when I could easily follow the Longhorns who in the recent years have proved to be better and more consistent and who win. They ask a very good question.

I think I am writing this post to remind myself and my football loving husband why we continue to love them after they continue to break our hearts.

What my students don't understand is loyalty to a university. It's not like I woke up one morning and said, "What college football team should I choose?" My loyalty and love for the Aggies happened over years.

My loyalty to the aggie football team is not at all about the 11 players on the field or even about Sherman. (clearly) My loyalty is about what A&M has done for me. It's about the 4 years I spent there as a student. I'ts about my years on the big event committe. It's about that lady who Big event helped, Virginia, and how much A&M touched her life, and how in turn, she touched mine. It's about my years a Fish Camp counselor. It's amount all the hours I poured into decos. It's about the hours I spent painting banners and creating themes. It's about my freshman who to this day, I still remember. It's about all the hours studying in the library. It's about my 2 years at the 102. It's about my grad degree. It's about what I learned while I was there. And its about tradition. It's about taking our hats off in the MSC and not walking on the grass. It's about gigem and whoop. It's about the war hymn and swaying.

For me, that's what my loyalty to the Aggie Football team is about. We will loose a lot and hopefully win some and hopefully the football program will take a turn for the better at some point. But I still support and am still an Aggie because of everything else that A&M stands for and means to me.

School days, school days.

This morning my alarm went off at 4:40. i know, sounds crazy, but lets be serious, it was the first day of school. Ever since I can remember, i've never been able to sleep well the night before the first day of school. I'm always so excited about new planners, pencils, power points ...and the list could go on.

This morning as I was getting up, Brad played "School days." And it sounded very good over our surround sound, I might say :) Brads mom used to play it for them on the first day of school and he has passed on the tradition. You may or may not know it "School days, school days, dear old golden rule days. " And he left a note next to my coffee cup for the morning. Very very sweet.

So I went to work and got to work early, just in enough time to pick up my beautiful decoration that had fallen to the ground. It was very sad. So moral of the story - a hot glue gun did not solve all my concrete problems. But I fixed it and prepared for my class and was outside at 7 waiting for my kiddos. I actually think it might be back on the floor tomorrow morning. hahha Today went well and my new kiddos did well, but i think my favorite part of the first day is getting visits and hugs from old students. They just get so excited to see me and it encourages me.

Aside from the decoration that fell and had to be re stuck in record time, i think my room is the cutest its ever been . I actually got lots of compliments on it today. But then again, in high school, it's not hard to do considering high school teachers don't decorate as much as other grades. But I heart my room this year. oh and it has a couch. Thank you, Terri, for your bachelorette couch. It found another home. and my kids think its cool. First day was a success.

and first day of school happy hour with Cynthia was a success too. :)

now i'm exausted and my feet are tired. I will prop myself on my couch - just me, my bradley and a little DDD (Drop dead diva).

Here's to my 5th year of teaching.

Where did the time go?

Go Panthers!

Don't dance on ladders and other things I learned from buying my first home

This is a true account of random things I learned as a first time home owner.....

1. Don't bother reading the million papers you sign at closing. None of the contracts can be changed anyway. They will remain as is no matter what. Trust me, my husbands a lawyer.
2. Oil based paints stick on pine floors Wipe up immediately.
3. Water based paints come off all the time. Score!
4. Old houses are just that- old. They have charm and are beautiful, but are still old. Prepare mentally. Don't freak out when you find a new crack in the wall. The house is 80 something years old. Stuff happens.
5. Spackle works. There's something I never thought I would say. 3 weeks ago I didn't even know what spackle was and now I use it. Regularly. Big crack in the wall? No big deal. I got spackle.
6. Blue tape doesn't always work - just prepare for touch ups and move on. And when there is furniture, who will even realize the ceiling line isn't straight?
7. Buying a house does domesticize apartment dwellers. I learned about spackling and brad installed crown molding. Who knew that would happen?
8. Kids under 4 will think that the most exciting thing about your house are the closets. I mean who can blame them? What's more fun than an empty closet with accordion doors. [Shout out to Chloe and Hannah Trombley]
9. Queso and margaritas make everything better - maybe that's just me, but when I was stressed, it worked everytime.
10. Painting takes a lot of time. More than I ever thought possible. Don't expect me to change the wall paint. I'm not painting again. Ever.
11. Granite is invincible.
12. Marble, however is not.
13. When home depot says they will be at your house at 11 in the morning, they don't mean it. Just nod and smile.
14. Most workers speak Spanish. Brush Up on your words. Better yet, learn new ones because really who ever uses words like Beams and platforms anyway?
15. There is a learning curve for every new thing. And as a teacher, I should have known that. The first room I painted was hard and I almost gave up. The rest of the house turned out much better. And got alot easier.
16. Don't be afraid to ask for help. People want to help. We could have never done this with our friends and family. I feel like I'm accepting a Grammy.
17. Packing sucks - if you have the $, just pay for someone to do it.
18. When packing, do not read every letter your husband gave you or look through every scrapbook. It will delay packing. By alot.
19. Unpacking is just as bad as packing. My philosophy is just get it done. So don't open closets when you come to our house. It's not as organized as you would expect. But hey, at least my walls look great!
20. Oh and....Don't dance on ladders - just because brittany spears comes on, don't dance while on a ladder. Ever. need I say more?