still here

I'm still here...I bet you thought I'd run away again, didn't you? We got a phone call last Monday morning that totally changed the way the rest of our summer looked. Most of you know that Steve's dad was rushed to the hospital, and we were on our way to Orlando quickly thereafter to see about him.

It was a long three days, but we came home since Steve's nephew, Eric, was coming down to take care of things for a few days. We are off again either tomorrow or Monday for I'm not sure how long. That means that I won't get to spend the week with my nephews, Sam and Jack, but we do what we must.

This coming week is registration for school around here....hate I am going to miss it, I love seeing all of the kids after the break! Luke will be registering for his Junior year...I can't believe it. This means that I have tons of stuff to get done before school starts back.

I have lots of blog fodder, but I'll have to get to it later. Keep us in your prayers, and will you also say a prayer for my friend and fellow preacher-wife, Mikki? She's been sick all summer, and just can't seem to shake it.

a new adventure

Well, today marks the day that Stevie begins her adventure as a Pampered Chef consultant. She seems really excited about it, and if you know Stevie you know that emotions are not her strong suit (or showing them rather). She's having her launch party today, and she's making veggie stir-fry and brownies. She was told to keep it simple, and she is.

She's been on the phone with her leader (or whatever she's called), doing online trainings, and working through the notebook to learn how to run her own business. This is actually the first thing she's been excited about since moving to SC. She still needs to get a "real" job and/or go back to school ~ which she says she is doing this fall, but haven't seen any real evidence of that yet. I am ready to get her off my payroll!

Anyway, I'll post some pictures after the party and let you know how she did. I certainly hope it goes well, I hate to see her discouraged this early in the game.

You can always help her out by ordering online should you need anything.

kindle

I have been opposed to ereaders, ebooks, emagazines, or e anythings forever. I didn't really think I would ever enjoy reading a book from a device. I'm old school, and I like having the actual book in my hand: feeling the pages, smell of fresh ink, and being able to see how far I am along! So, imagine my surprise when I found a used Kindle for cheap and bought it. I am now in love. I like not having to hold the book open or turn the pages.

Luke has a Kindle Fire that we got him for his birthday, and I like to play games on that, but still didn't think I'd want to read on it. He loves it, especially the "immediateness" (I don't think that's a word) of a book that you can download. Click purchase, and within minutes there it is.

Anyway, I just happen to see a conversation on Facebook that my SIL was having with some of her friends, and I chimed in. The next thing I knew I had agreed to buy her neighbor's plain ole regular Kindle. I got the device, cover and screen protector for $60 so I figured I could use it in the library or something. Once I got it, I downloaded a couple of books on it, and now I. Am. Hooked.

It still saddens me that the world of books may be disappearing, but I will still hold out hope that future children have that ability to hold, smell, feel, and truly experience a book. How sad it would be if they didn't!

band

We have had the worst luck with band directors since our kids have been in high school. Luke will be starting his junior year in August with yet another new director. Yep, this latest one quit! I don't really blame her. She was here all alone, her family and fiance lived away. So, there was nothing holding her here, and lately her dad had been really ill. However, we wouldn't have even known if I hadn't checked the KCDS website to look at the job openings and saw that it was posted. Supposedly, the principal has already hired someone who I'm guessing should be voted on in tomorrow night's board meeting. I, personally, hope it's a man; and that it is someone with a good sense of direction. This has gotten ridiculous.

How can a high school class that is fun have so much drama??? For Pete's sake, I don't think our school has as much drama as one would find in that one class!

Speaking of our school, it is time for me to get it into gear with the common core standards in reference to the library. It won't be long before registration, and from there it is downhill until the start; and that downhill slide is really more like an avalanche it comes so fast. But for now, I will enjoy what is left of the summer, and hopefully we'll get to meet this new director this week.

ugh

Well, after bragging about how well I was doing, here I am sick again. I knew that I didn't feel that great on Wed. because I slept a lot. I figured it was just middle of the week blahs since we had been pretty busy the first part of the week. So, no fireworks for us.

Thursday, I started running a fever. Friday, woke up to a leg infection that hurts like the dickens.....pretty much can't walk. I've already started the antibiotic so I'm hoping that walking won't be so difficult today (Sat). This has put a serious crimp in our walking/training. Luke made a comment about it tonight, but I just told him that even if we had to start over, we were still going to do it. I actually just plan on us picking up where we left off.

I am hoping to get to the Dollar Tree and Big Lots to buys some items for my next pinterest project. The girls and I made three things today. I had planned to take a picture for this post, but that will have to wait (until I find my camera!).

Hope everyone has a great day!

48 week challenge

Luke and I have taken the 48 week challenge put forth by Weight Watchers. The object is to walk a half marathon by the end of the plan set forth. We are currently on day 2......so we have a long way to go! However, it makes me feel good that I am not only doing something for myself, but for Luke as well. I enjoyed every minute I get to spend with him so that is motivation for me. We wait until 10 or 11 PM to walk so that it's not so hot.

 Steve is walking also, but on the inside on the Wii. He's done that before and lost a ton of weigh so now he is trying to build himself back up to where he was before.

The biggest factor for all of us is that we must keep at it for THE REST OF OUR LIVES! Yea, that's a long time (or I certainly hope it is). I want Luke to learn some good habits before he leaves for college in a couple of years because I know that after that I have no control over what he does.

The challenge for me now though, is to find a marathon to sign up for next summer. I want to sign us up so that we have a tangible thing to look to. Anybody else want to join us??

independence day

I am happy to live in a country where I am free to worship, work, and play without persecution. Today, I say thank you to those whose fight have kept us free, and our flag waving proudly.

pinterest

Are you a pinner yet? I adore pinterest. It's totally amazing.

What is it you ask? Well, it's a digital idea book. You find things on the site or on the www and you "pin" them to your own boards. There's all kinds of stuff to find. Into gardening? they've got it! Need to know how to paint furniture? you can learn that! Want some creative gift ideas for the upcoming holidays? yep, they've got that too! In fact, they've got just about any topic that you want.

Now, I am really not the crafty sort, but I can read. So, I am currently trying to make a few things that I've pinned under crafty (can't describe them bc two of them will be gifts if they come out well). I've pinned tons of ideas for my library, tutorials to learn how to do things I'm scared to do (like painting old furniture), and ideas for decorating when I finally own my own home again. It's really just so much fun!

Here are a few of my favorite pins:

This is just three from three different boards. If you haven't checked it out, you certainly should! It's fun, and if you are a teacher, you are not going to want to be left out on this one.

celebration

Today we went to a celebration party for some friends of ours who just adopted a little boy. I couldn't take my eyes off of him, he was so cute. They tried for years to have a baby, but instead God saw fit to give them this little precious gift.

I won't lie and say that it wasn't hard for me to attend this party and not feel a little jealous. I so wanted to adopt a little one of my own! As he was opening up his gifts (had he ever had gifts before?), tears came to my eyes when I thought of how his life will be different now. He won't have the heartache of the foster system, something that we see far too often in the public school system. He has a "forever" family who loves God and will share the most precious of gifts with him.

I am so happy for our friends, but at the same time, I thought that we would be having a party with our own little one. Obviously, that wasn't meant to be. I do wish, though that God would remove that small hole in my heart where it has broken. Of course, He can fill it with grandchildren......I think that would do quite nicely!

back in the saddle

Just about every night I go to bed thinking of a blog post that I need to write. I finally decided that I must now have things to say again since I couldn't stop thinking about it. There's been a lot to happen since my last post, and I won't even try to make you sit through that post....you'd never make it. I will, however, give you the quick run down for each family member.

Steve: graduated from Luther Rice with a masters of divinity degree (yes, he already h ad his masters, but he had to have like 10 more hours to get into the doctorate program and that left him with this additional degree) so, he is now a doctorate student.

Shea: lost a ton a weight and looks amazing! She worked out with a trainer for several months, and he really whipped her into shape. Still waiting for God to send her a man, and now a true "grown up" job. She's ready to get out of retail!

Stevie: just  today became a consultant for Pampered Chef. So, if you like the stuff, have a catalog party for her if you live far away. She can still help you out, and you can help her get her business going. She is really excited about it, and we are excited for her as this is the first thing EVER that she has pursued without any pressure or help from us. She still wants to go back to school...we'll see.

Luke: still amazing. He's moved up to number 4 or 5 (from 6) in his class at school. He wants to stay in the top 5. He is playing flute now, taking private lessons, and is really good! We bought him a truck so here's to hoping he gets his DL soon!

Me: I am on no lupus meds right now. I got tired of fighting them.....they made me feel worse than the lupus ever did! I am on weight watchers...again....but I do feel differently this time about it. I won Reading Teacher of the Year at my school. That was an absolute honor. I am suppose to be full-time next year, finally, and am looking forward to what I will be able to accomplish.

2012 so far has been good to us.

There's so many topics that I can't wait to talk about, but I shall stop for now.