another snow day...so you get more pictures

I finally got my computer to cooperate in uploading pictures. These are from the fabulous weekend Brent and I were able to spend at home. My commentary will be sparse, as my computer froze in the middle of uploading these to my blog [after I spent about an hour editing them], so I had to restart the computer [which takes forever...], anyway. Moral of story: We need a new computer. And I need to work on taxes, therefore my commentary will be sparse.

We threw mom and dad a bit of a surprise congrats party for this reason. So proud of them for standing strong through such a long battle! Aunt Linda even brought brats and we got a delicious ice cream cake!




All of my mom and dad's "girls" were able to be there! So much fun. From Left to Right: Kali, Avree [babysitting girl of mom's], Torri [ditto], mom, dad, Brent, me, and Paige [ditto]

Kali wanted me to capture some of the many "Caroline faces"... and boy did she perform. She was yakking away in these pictures which caused for some very humorous moments and faces. You might also be able to tell just how smitten her Uncle B is with her too :-)

ABSOLUTE FAVORITE!

Super baby...

Too cute

I also was able to shoot a couple pictures of Hawkins, my nephew. He is getting so big but still has such sweet baby blues. I couldn't resist picking up my camera while he had on his cowboy hat. He has grown up with a camera in his face [thanks Beth], so he is quite photogenic:

on the side of the road

[dedicated to Aunt Linda who shares this bewilderment as well]

On the way home from work today I saw a boot on the side of the road. A boot. ONE boot. A SINGLE boot. One ... of A PAIR.

I see this a lot. ONE shoe, sprawled in the ditch, or helplessly laying in the median, or maybe even lifelessly laying barely off the interstate.

How in the world does this happen?

Could someone possibly take just one shoe off and accidentally let it fly out the window whilst going 70 mph down the road? Or maybe there was a marital spat, and the wife reached down and ripped of her husbands shoe...just one...and to spite him threw it out the window.

Or maybe, just maybe, a man was just finishing a long day of work. He quite possibly was taking off his work boots when the guys he carpooled with that day began to start up the truck. He knows they will drive off without him, so he simply has no choice but to jump in the truck, leaving the one shoe he managed to take off on top of the cab. This inevitably flies off.

I don't know. I really don't get. How could just ONE shoe end up on the side of the road?!?!

Just think about it. It's strange.

How do YOU think it happens?!

Wordless Wednesdays: Courtwarming/ the grown up GG and Beaner [backwards...sorry]

teachers and their snow days

In honor of the snow day I have been enjoying, here is an email I received from a coworker [if you are not an educator, you may not "connect" to this like the rest of us do!]:

It is 5:30 A.M, and I have been up for nearly 45 minutes. I have showered, eaten breakfast, enjoyed a cup of coffee, and watched my good friends tell me about the news and weather of the day. This morning, however, I will not be rushing out the door as normal to my wonderful job. I will not be checking to make sure I have copies, sending emails, finalizing lesson plans, or going through the mounds of papers that I have strategically placed on neat piles around my desk. None of this will occur because in Central Kentucky it is a snow day.

For all you adults out there who don’t work in the school system, I ask you to go back into your childhood for a brief moment. Step back to the days when you were a lad in school. When you would run to the window then to the T.V. and wait patiently for the Snow Bird report. Do you remember the feeling? The feeling of glee, the feeling of excitement, the feeling that the world was yours for the taking and nothing could hold you down. I can tell by the smile on your face that, yes, you do remember. Now take that feeling and multiply it by 25. This is what a teacher experiences.

The buildup for teachers begins days ahead of the predicted storm. I accredit this mostly to the fact that, unlike students, teachers usually watch the news on a regular basis and therefore understand how the seven day forecast works. Being a Wednesday that the schools are closed means that talk of what they were predicting began on Monday during a faculty meeting. The prior knowledge of what could happen sets in motion what I like to call “The 7 Stages of a Teacher Snow Day.”

Stage One: What?....Really!

The initial rumor of snow ignites a momentary glee that cannot be contained within the soul of a teacher. Much like the feeling you get when you win a raffle, you are excited and can’t believe that it could actually happen to you. You smile, skip around, and begin thinking of what chores and errands you will catch up on if you are so lucky.

Stage Two: The Decline

In stage two the educator, still excited about the possibility, thinks back on all the times forecasters in Central Kentucky have been wrong. This begins to make him or her ask more questions about the report. How much are they calling for? What’s the anticipated high and low temperature? How warm will the ground be? This is immediately followed by the checking of various long range weather reports on-line and speaking with other teachers to see, “What have you heard?”

Stage Three: The Professional Emerges

Somewhere after stage two, reality sets in, and the old school marm that lives in the depths of every teacher begins to show her face. The fact that they have a very serious job to do comes to mind, and they are reminded that there are state tests quickly approaching for which their students are not yet ready. It is during this stage that teachers lie to their co-workers and families and tell them that it would be better if they had school. This way they won’t fall behind schedule or have to redo plans. Please note that this is purely a self-preservation stage just in case school is not cancelled.

Stage Four: Excitement sneaks back in.

It could not be suppressed for long. You are now closer to the anticipated wintry mix, and the forecast still looks promising.

Stage Five: Anger

This is a very common stage. Once again the enthusiasm has been snuffed out and replaced with the thoughts that there is no way we’re getting out of school. You begin to get angry at the transportation director for being willing to risk the safety of our students, the school board for not being willing to compensate us for unused snow days, and that blankety-blank weatherman for getting our hopes up to begin with. I am warning you to stay clear of any educator you may believe is in this stage.

Stage Six: Cautious Optimism

You are preparing for bed the night before what could be a day off. To the common observer everything looks normal. Lunches have been packed, clothes laid out, and alarms set. You avoid discussing it with your spouse, and you tell your children to go to bed at their normal time. Everyone knows that the slightest bit of hope could jinx the whole thing and you will wake up to sunny skies with a high well above freezing. You slip in your bed say a last silent prayer. Being prepared for the worst, you very quietly to yourself hope for the best.

Stage Seven: Uncontrollable Enthusiasm.

You spring from your bed and race to the T.V. You find the first local news channel and look for those wonderful county names scrolling across the bottom of your screen. You flip from channel 2 to 4 to 5. You even take a look at Fox. Your mission is to find the channel whose scrolling ticker at the bottom is closest to your county. Finally, you find one and you know yours is coming up. There it is …and….and… ____County! Thank you, Jesus, YES. YES, YES!!! You jump around your living room as adrenaline shoots through your veins like a bullet. You smile, you dance, you thank God for his unbelievable kindness to you. However, in a moment of sudden panic you are jerked back to reality. You begin to think they got it wrong. It could be a mistake, you say to yourself. Quickly you search for the remote which went flying out of your hands earlier. Finding it behind the sofa you look for another station to verify in fact you do not have to go to work. Once again you see it, and the ecstasy and elation starts all over again.

You think about going to get back in bed, but if you are like me you are now much too awake to even dream sleep. Besides how could you waste even one second of this glorious day off? Instead you pour your coffee into a real mug instead of a travel one. You slip on your house shoes, grab a blanket, and once again soak up the delight of knowing you are a teacher, and it is a snow day in Central Kentucky.

And all of this is true for me except the not going back to sleep part. Are you kidding me?!

a well kept secret

For those of you that don't know, Brent and I flew home this past weekend in order to surprise Paige and Torri, who were both candidates on the Courtwarming court. Kali and Caroline also made the trip, and it was a great time [this was one of the things I wanted to mention in my last resolution post, but didn't. I knew I would regret not going, found a great deal on tickets, and instead of worrying about money just did it. We are so happy we did. Balance feels good!]

I am working on uploading pictures which may take a little while on this slow machine, so in the meantime, enjoy these two of Caroline. Check out those cheeks! :

Grandma's

[I wrote this several months ago but thought it would be neat to post on my Grandma's birthday. Happy Birthday, Grandma Ann...love you!]

Childhood play, a treasure hunt, a race, a word written in petals of petunias. A safe haven, a lawnmower ride in grandpa's lap, a splash in the inflatable pool under the shade of a big oak tree. A dream come true, "I dos," a reception, a cutting of the cake, a wave goodbye to family and friends.

My happily ever after began in my grandparents' backyard long before my wedding ceremony was held there on that sticky hot day in June. It began with cookies on the back patio and Easter egg hunts in the Christmas tree patch. It was spending a thunderstorm under a blanket on the porch with a flashlight, Grandma, and our giggles.

It was after I outgrew playing "Wannaberts" in the hallway and began sharing a love for the same books as Grandma. Even after I outgrew eating ice cream from the carton while sitting on the counter, it was helping prepare an evening meal by stirring the green beans and pouring glasses of water.

It was conversations that changed from school to VBS to world politics.

It was always feeling safe and loved.

It was only logical that I dreamed of having my wedding in the garden where I used to drop rose petals pretending to be a flower girl. It just made sense, and I knew I was supposed to have my wedding there like I knew how to say my own name. It was an "of course...," a "well obviously..." It was like a memory from long ago bringing me shelter on a rainy day.

I could get married there because it was there I was taught to drink tea like a lady and crawl through the muddy creek bed with adventure in my bones. It was there I ate scones and played library and went on walks with a fudge-pop in hand.

I could get married there because it was in my Grandparents' backyard that I grew into the lady Brent fell in love with.

wordless wednesdays

[Note: Most "Wordless Wednesdays" will be just that- posts without words. However, in an attempt to explain this more-than-likely-obvious idea I will break the rule just this once. I came across another blog one day of a lady who simply posts a picture, or pictures, every wednesday. No captions. Just pictures. Usually the title helps for those who are struggling to connect the picture to something relevant. I thought this would be a great way to encourage me to take more intentional photos. So here is the first attempt. And please let me know what you think of this idea.]

Title: loved well

middle school

It is a place of endless torment and questioning; a place where you don't know who it is that is walking around in your own shoes.

All you know is that when you wake up in the morning you pray that the outfit you have on will go unnoticed. Yes, unnoticed. For unnoticed is better than to be noticed for the wrong reasons.

You cinch up your belt, wondering why you aren't able to cinch it just one notch tighter. One more notch, Lord, & I will feel prettier.

As you brush your teeth you look at your reflection and wonder why that zit above your left eye just won't go away, even though you've scrubbed it for hours the night before.

You slip on your coat, grab a poptart, and head to the bus. Here goes another try at it... you think to yourself as you slink into your seat, popping in your headphones before someone can have any human, and therefore most likely humiliating, conversation with you.

Once at school you begin to question the way you did your hair, but more than this you question your friendship with her today. You wonder if she really meant it last night when she texted you and said, "Don't worry I would never talk about you behind your back..."

You walk into class, wondering if the teacher would even care if you were absent for the day, and wondering if you remembered to put on deodorant.

Then she walks in and looks perfect and her hair is the exact style you wish yours was, and then he walks in and you know he's going to look at her and not you. And you think that maybe tomorrow when he laughs at her jokes it won't cut you like a knife like it does today.

And then it's lunch time, the most dreaded of all, as you must choose who to sit by. You can't sit too close to him or he will wonder about things, and she will think you're betraying her. And you can't sit next to her because she told four people last week that your haircut was dumb. And if you sit by her then they might think you're not cool enough to ever have a chance to sit at their table. So you end up sitting by your cousin-- who won't exactly earn you cool points but won't get you shunned either. You push around your chicken patty and survive another lunch period.

You make it to the end of the day, only managing to trip over your own feet once. You throw your coat back on, being careful to let one shoulder hang loose to blend in with the crowd, you text her: can i come over l8r? it was 1 of those days...

And you wake up the next morning, ready to do it all over again...