moving......for real this time

I am posting this at the risk of sounding like a person crying wolf. I am moving for real this time. It is no farce. I kind of have to make this one stick because student housing is giving us the boot. I am not sure why, but for some reason when you graduate they want you out of their housing, go figure. So, my roommate and I kind of had this moment about 2 weeks ago when we realized we had a month to find a place to live, sign a lease and move. we looked into a couple of things and some didn't work out and then we found the perfect place. We were driving around, looking for rent signs and calling numbers and we found this little duplex house in the TCU college neighborhood. There were so many criteria a place needed to meet, not because we are picky, but because of where we are at and this place met them all. It is very close to where we live now, but it is in a better location for work for my roommate and I. It is very cute inside and out. It has a two car garage, a driveway, a fenced in back yard for the DOGS we will get!!!!! It is 2 bedroom with a washer and dryer and more importantly we were able to sign an 8 month lease. So in what will surely be a crazy event, we are moving this weekend! We might be dumb because we are in the hard push towards the end of school, but oh well, we are almost done.

Some things I will miss about Carroll Park Apartments
1. CHEAP rent- dirt cheap...its almost like stealing
2. the safety of seminary housing
3. seeing people I know (not know well, just know)
4. its the only place I have lived during this stage of life
5. I have a lot of memories in that house

Some things I will NOT miss about those apartments
1. the paper thin insulation and feeling my bought air slip right through the cracks
2. not being able to have a pet
3. the dwarf size appliances, closests and pantry
4. sharing washers and dryers with people who love to monopolize them
5. some very strange neighbors

greater things are still to be done in this city...

This song is the banner I think Christians need to be under on a day like today. We are not Republicans, we are not Democrats, we are not of the world, just in it. This is not our Kingdom, it is not our home. However, God has placed us in a certain time and a certain place, so that we might seek Him and find Him and lead others too Him. There is a lot of work to do that is not dependent upon who wins today's election.

You're the God of this city
You're the King of these people
You're the Lord of this nation
You Are

Bridge:
For there is no one like our God
There is no one like our God

Chorus 1:
Greater things have yet to come
Great things are still to be done
In this city
Greater things are still to come
And greater things are still to be done here

Verse 2:
You're the Lord of Creation
The Creator of all things
You're the King above all Kings
You Are

You're the strength in our weakness
You're the love to the broken
You're the joy in the sadness
You Are

Chorus 2:
Greater things have yet to come
Great things are still to be done
In this city
Where glory shines from hearts alive
With praise for you and love for you
In this city

- Chris Tomlin

Some final hurdles

My roommate had this fantastic idea to create a list of every task that stands between her and graduation, so that every task she completes she could mark off and find herself one step closer to being done with Grad school. I decided to copy her idea...so here it is...

1. Church Budget Project
2. Delegation Group Project
3. New Testament Exegetical Paper
4. Youth Talk
5. Student Culture Notebook
6. 6-year youth ministry strategy
7. New Testament Final Exam
8. Admin Leadership Final Exam
9. Lots of Reading

So, when I complete these tasks, one-by-one I walk one step closer to having my Masters degree, one step closer to completing Seminary, one step closer to closing out this chapter of my life, one step closer to a very uncertain future. I think I will always be glad I had this experience, but I would be lying if I said I was sad it was drawing to a close. I am weary of the fragmented life, of a life lived with my hands in 10 different things (school, part-time jobs, etc.) and not roots to speak of. I am ready for the Lord to move me to a place, a city that I can "build a house, plant a garden" in other words a place, I can invest in and focus my energies in. Though I have no idea where that place is, I trust that as I mark items of the above list, God will lead me in the right direction.

Change we can believe in...

My roommate's family was here this weekend to celebrate her birthday. We talked a good bit about politics, because two of her family members are still undecided voters. At one point her dad made a comment that really stuck out to me. We were talking about the policy differences between the two candidates and all of the areas of society that Obama is pledging to make changes in (education, health care, poverty, etc.) and he said, "It doesn't matter what kind of program it is, the government will find a way to screw it up." I immediately thought about all of the well intentioned programs I knew of that were government initiatives gone bad....welfare....No child left behind are two that came to mind. Welfare was supposed to help people for a short time until they could get back on their feet and instead it has spoon-fed many to the point of crippling them. No child left behind was originally supposed to make sure that no kids were slipping through the cracks in the education system and that schools and teachers who were slacking and not doing their job had some accountability and standards and instead the program has refocused teacher's energy into teaching to a test so that their schools don't "look bad" and lose funding. I spoke with a teacher at my school about this just Friday. She was so frustrated with all the extra stuff she has to do and how she can't teach her kids how to read because she spends all her time teaching them how to pass a reading test. She said, "The way No child left behind was designed to work, is not how it actually functions." And socialism and communism, hasn't it been said over and over that they, "Look good on paper." But in the end they turn into corrupt systems? So what is the problem? They are run by man and man is corrupt. So, what is the solution? Do we forget about poor people and do nothing? My mind was swirling with this question today. And then it hit me. What Melanie's dad said is true. It is not possible for the government of a nation this large, to hand down some fool-proof policy that works to fix a specific problem across the board. No child left behind didn't work because it can't work. The only thing that can fix education is people, individuals working together in grassroots efforts to change things. Who can change education? Individual school districts, school superintendents, school teachers and last but not least parents. If the leaders of a school do not find the drive and desire within themselves to work together and change an individual school for the better the government can hand down any kind of program it wants, but nothing is going to change. Change is like a throwing a small pebble into a pool of water; the ripple starts small and circles out....it never starts out and circles back in.
This is the same for poverty. If we want to help people out of poverty the government can't pass down a program that effectively fixes the problem. Individuals have to make changes.

Obama can campaign under the banner of change and maybe he can do some good things as the President, but there is no government program for changing individuals. The country is ready for a change. The media is rallying for a the next President to work his magic and fix this all and the moment they realize he can't they will hate him for it. We will point our finger and rally, with just as much vigor as we did when we were cheering our candidate to victory, and blame him for not changing anything. We will blame the democrats and we will blame the republicans and we will blame the ex-President George Bush, but we would never place the blame where it belongs......ME. If we want this country to change we have to change.

The Lord sends Jeremiah to writer a letter to the Exiles of Jerusalem in Babylon. He knows they are depressed about where they are and that they are wanting God to change their situation and instead God tells them:

"Build houses and live in them. Plant gardens and eat their produce. take wives and have sons and daughters. Take wives for your sons and give your daughters to men in marriage so taht they may bear sons and daughters. Muliply THERE; do no decrease. Seek the welfare of the city I have deported you to. Pray to the Lord on its behalf, for when it has prosperity, you will prosper." Jeremiah 29:4-7

The Lord says, I have placed you here for a purpose and you will plant roots here and you will seek out the welfare of this place andn bring my name there and push back what is dark and effect change in this city.
On Tuesday, when our country elects a new President, let us not forget that the earth is the Lord's and everything in it.

The new age of electric wheelchairs

It was a fantasticly, beautiful evening yesterday when I got off of work, so I decided to go for a run. I was moving good and feeling good about myself. I got towards the end of my run and I noticed these two ladies going down the street on those Electric Wheelchairs. I noticed that their wheelchairs were really moving fast and I started thinking about how amazing that technology was and how much better it must be to press a joystick as opposed to use your arms to turn the wheels every step of the way. I also thought how thankful I was that I could walk and run....AND THEN it hit me.... "A.J., those ladies are PASSING YOU. You are running and the ladies in the wheelchairs are passing you." Maybe I was wrong and they have it right.....electric wheelchairs are the way to go. How embarrassing! All I could do was laugh.

Archeologist finds 3,000-year old Hebrew text

These pictures are from an article on CNN.com about an archeologist that finds a 3,000 year old Hebrew text. The text dates back a millennium before the Dead Sea Scrolls to the time of King David. This is a pretty exciting find. I do not believe that God will ever give us massive amounts of physical evidence to back up the words of Scripture. He requires our faith. However, things like this make the Scripture come alive and remind me that its not some fairy tale, its not just a story, these people were real just like you and I. They walked the earth, lived, breathed, ate, drank, loved. The evidence is plain, it is right before our eyes everyday. We do not need pottery shards with Hebrew to believe, but we serve a God who is gracious enough to give us these tiny extra glimpses into his reality.

Casting the Ballot

I performed my American duty this morning-I cast my ballot. I cast my ballot and I took an eternity to do it. I cannot recall the last time I was so conflicted about something as I was about this decision. This is the point where every staunch Baptist gasps and exclaims, "Are you serious? Didn't you know that if you're a Christian there is only one acceptable ticket to vote for and it starts with a "Re" and ends with a "Publican" I think that's the reason I am most conflicted...why is a republican ticket the "Christian ticket?" I can promise you I am not just spouting off ideas I have not thought through or things I have just heard other people say. I have agonized over this for months, wrestling with both sides of every issue in my heart since the tickets were announced. I have had endless conversations with people on both sides and people on the fence all of whom I respect very much. I think most Christians cast their ballot based on two key issues (both of which are important issues): abortion and marriage. Now lets look at this for a second. We want the government to regulate laws in these two areas that prevent other people (most of which are not Christians) from doing these things. We want the government to regulate Christian morals and tell people what they can and cannot do and yet what are Christians doing to protect the sanctity of marriage and the lives of the unborn? Christians have as high a divorce rate as the secular world. Christians, rather than suffer the shame of admitting they are pregnant or that they have a child who is pregnant will sneak in the cover of night and "take care" of the problem. If we as believers are motivated by neither law nor our salvation through Jesus to act counter-culture, what nerve do we have to expect the government to make laws that force others to do we do not do? Now I realize this is an over generalization, but this is still a real issue to consider. When have laws ever changed anyone? I mean we of all people should know that. We have the life of Israel right before us in the Word we hold dear reminding us that the law can't and was never meant to change hearts....Jesus changes hearts. And unless hearts are changed people will find a way. Do we want the government to regulate these things so that we can sit back and wring our hands and say our job is done? Do we want this so that we do not have to love our neighbor as ourself?

In many of my conversations with others more informed than myself or even others on the other side of the issue (and this is important because what good is it to only converse with those on "your side" of an issue) I have been asked, "What of the importance of helping other people? What about giving to the poor? What about building up a city and fighting for people's jobs and their health? Doesn't it seem as if these things line up much more with what Jesus spent his entire earthly ministry teaching about? Which candidate would we vote for if these things were important to us?

And if we were being honest with ourselves and we really were voting for a candidate based on morality, would John McCain be the best choice? Which candidate has been divorced? Which candidate left his wife for a much younger woman? Which candidate seems like he upholds "our family values"? I am not trying to judge the candidates, I am only trying to provide myself and others some honest perspective.

After reading this it may seem that you would know who I voted for, but you won't. I am not solid enough on any of these things, they are simply things I have been truly wrestling with. You want to know why I think most Christians have very little passion or conviction or knowledge about issues? Most have simply regurgetated what we have heard from someone else and never explored the other side with an open mind.

Ultimately the Lord is in charge of all of this. Paul is clear, "there is no authority except from God, and those that exist are instituted by God. For government is GOD'S SERVANT."

Birthdays

My roommate's birthday is just around the clock and I could not be more excited. What a funny and gracious thing, to take a day to celebrate the life of another human being. Birthday's are one of those sacred things in life that make us feel significant and valued. They are a chance for friends and family (and due to the introduction of Facebook even acquaintances or strangers) to take one full day and acknowledge and celebrate your life and value. We should do this more, ya know? We should celebrate others, celebrate their lives and their existence. Once a year we are reminded that we are alive, that we were born and that that is significant.
So in honor of this birthday we are taking an exciting trip. We are headed to my sweet East Coast. Tomorrow morning we are flying out to Atlanta to stay with my sister and Trey and from there we will head to South Carolina to the Clemson game in hopes the Tigers can turn things around for Melanie's birthday and my pride. It is going to be so fun. Melanie has never seen a Clemson game and she has never seen a true Fall season. We will tailgate, tour Atlanta, eat good food, play with dogs, and walk around the campus that I love so much and haven't seen in two years.
Here's to celebrating the life of another!

the weight of relationships

This is an excerpt from C.S. Lewis' The Weight of Glory. It is a heavy, thought-provoking idea that he presents on the weight of human relationships. It will make you evaluate every relationship you have ever had and every way you have ever acted towards another.

"the load, or weight, or burden of my neighbor's glory should be laid daily on my back, a load so heavy that only humility can carry it, and the backs of the proud will be broken. It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in the weight of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilization-these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit-immortal horrors or everlasting splendors. This does not mean that we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of that kind which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously-no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption. And our charity must be a real and costly love, with deep feeling for the sins in spite of which we love the sinner-no mere tolerance or indulgence which parodies love as flippancy parodies merriment. Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses."

I like this song. It reminds me how fleeting earthly things are, how important, yet how difficult, earthly relationships are. Everything about our experience here on earth is coming to an end, its not a matter of if, but of WHEN. This is true of human relationships, the same as for anything else. They are the stuff that a good and full life is made up of. There is something deep and spiritual about them....knowing someone, being known, sitting with them, taking in life with them. For me this song reveals the difficultly of human relationships: the preciousness and value they add to life, the joy of being known and the awareness that if it were otherwise life would not be as good and then the flip-side of letting them go when it is time.

They were sitting
They were sitting on the strawberry swing
Every moment was so precious

They were sitting
They were talking under strawberry swing
Everybody was for fighting
Wouldn't wanna waste a thing

Cold, cold water bring me round
Now my feet won't touch the ground
Cold, cold water what ya say?
When it's such…
It's such a perfect day
It's such a perfect day

I remember
We were walking up to strawberry swing
I can't wait until the morning
Wouldn't wanna change a thing

People moving all the time
Inside a perfectly straight line
Don't you wanna curve away?
When it's such…
It's such a perfect day
It's such a perfect day

Now the sky could be blue
I don't mind
Without you it's a waste of time

Could be blue
I don’t mind
Without you it’s a waste of time

Could be blue,
could be grey
without you I’m just miles away

could be blue
I don’t mind

Without you it’s a waste of time

Mouseketeer Part II

After the daring rescue of mouse 1 a few weeks ago, the coast has been clear. I began to think that things were safe and that the mouse and his friends had heeded my advice, but alas, no such luck. I was sitting at my desk yesterday when I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. I looked up to find a mouse scooting across my floor toward the bathroom. I jumped up, grabbed my tupperware container (because thats what the pros do I'm sure, to trap mice) and ran towards the bathroom. I looked everywhere...no mouse. It was like he disappeared into thin air, or a mouse hole maybe. The janitor brought me another one of those dang sticky traps, but I refuse to use it. I need to find some of those no kill traps. I will not pull another mouse off one of those things. It was tragic. I hope for the mouses sake that it is not the same one.

TV's 'Mr. Clean' dies at 92

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- House Peters Jr., a TV actor who became the original Mr. Clean in Procter & Gamble's commercials for household cleaners, died Wednesday. He was 92.

Peters died of pneumonia at the Motion Picture and Television Fund Hospital in Los Angeles, said his son, Jon Peters.

The elder Peters' most memorable role came as Mr. Clean -- a muscular man with a bald head, a hoop earring and a no-nonsense attitude toward dirt and grime. From the late 1950s and into the early 1960s, Peters Jr. helped advertise the famous household cleaner with the trademark jingle, "Mr. Clean, Mr. Clean."

Just trying to keep you udated on what is happening in our world!

The "Real World"

I have entered the full-time work force. I have lots of jobs, in lots of place, doing lots of different things, but I have never had a 9-6 Monday through Friday. What an adjustment! I accepted the Supervisor position for the after-school program I have worked at for two previous years. This is also the longest I have worked for one place. How did I get to age 25 and never work somewhere for more than a year?
Anyway, I am working between 30-35 hours per week. This has been an adjustment. I have said so much the last year or more that I am tired of this fragmented life; this life lived in sectors....ya know, the school sector, the part-time job sector, the friendship sector. I have been in school my whole life and I am ready to be able to have a career and put all of myself into one thing and plant roots in one place, working with and investing in specific people. This is still true, but man it is nice to have free time during the day between classes, to go and do, to run errands, to relax. A full-time job pushes that out the window. I have no idea how parents do it. When do they do anything for themselves? I have a whole new respect for my Mother!
Though I am not a school day teacher and I am not employed by Morningside Middle School, it is as if I am a school day staff member. Working at Morningside for two previous years has given me a great foot in door with relationships with school day staff. It has also proven to be very effective in leading the kids that come to our program. The after school program is designed to influence kids in a positive way during the time of day the stats show they get into the most trouble. I am so excited about this opportunity and I see more and more the vision that God has for my life and the gifts that He has given me. I have loved this ministry. I have loved working with inner-city kids and I could really see myself doing this kind of "youth ministry."
We have started off so well this year. I have two great returning staff, and two great new staff. We are busting at the seams with kids, almost to the point where we cannot take anymore.
Though the program is funded to keep kids out of trouble, we hope to change kids lives for here and eternity. I will keep you updated on how that is going!

a true mouseketeer

My first day back into my office was in the middle of August. I came up to the school to check on things. As I walked around I noticed one of our bookshelves was covered in this powder substance and a whole lot of mice remnants. When I say "a whole lot" I mean A WHOLE LOT! Apparently a bag of flour was placed in a garbage bag and put on the shelves for summer keeping. First off, if a mouse can chew through the flour bag, he will find the garbage bag a joke. So, anyway, all of these clues alerted me to a mouse problem in my office. So, last week I asked the custodian for a little mouse trap, which I placed on those shelves with a piece of granola bar. The trap went untouched for over a week.
Then suddenly, yesterday I was working at my desk and I heard a noise. I looked to my left, where we have this large metal file cabinet and a metal cart. Out of the corner of my eye I catch the back end of a little mouse jumping down off the cart and running in between the cabinet and the wall. I lept out of my chair and started the hunt. I had nothing but a round tupperware dish and my keen eye sight. I tore the room up and found nothing, so I decided to move the sticky trap to that area on the floor. I came in the office this morning reluctant to check the trap and sure enough there was Mickey, stuck as could be. My first instinct was excitement and my second was total sadness. It was awful to see him stuck to that death trap. He was so tiny and he was trying with all his might to pull himself off, but he couldn't. So, I knew I couldn't just let him die that slow miserable death. I picked up the trap, put it in this box and carried through the school to find the janitor to help me get him off the trap without killing him. Of course the janitor's response was, throw him in the dumpster! This was not an option, I was determined to save the little guy. So, I took him outside to a field and tried to get him off with a stick...this was a total failure. Suddenly I knew the only way that thing was coming off was if I grabbed him myself and pulled him off. You more than likely thinking at this point, "What is wrong with her? Please tell me she didn't!" Well folks, I did. I took my fingers, grabbed the little mouse and pulled without hurting him until he came off, which wasn't easy by the way, those things work. I sat him in the grass and he buried his head in a little ball as fast as he could. He was so tiny and so scared and I felt like an evil human. I understand we can't have rodents infesting buildings, and if it had been a large scary rat I might have done differently, but after watching the poor little thing struggle I just couldn't.
Call me crazy, call me gross, call me weird, I don't care. The little mouse lives another day!

Plane ride conversations

I got to fly to Atlanta afterall this past weekend. I had an amazing time with family for my sister's birthday. She is fantastic. She turned 23 on Saturday and it is hard to believe. I couldn't be more proud of her. She is married to an amazing guy, she has a beautiful house, a full-time job and two dogs. In most ways she has entered the adult world much faster than I have and I am learning a lot from her.

Other than a great weekend I had the neatest experience on the plane ride home. When I check in I always check to see what seat I am in. I was in the way back by the bathrooms and as fun as that sounded I decided to change seats to one closer to the front. I sat down next to this guy and we began talking. It turned out he is a camera guy for NBC The Today Show. I have become a pretty regular Today Show watcher so I was super excited about this encounter. He was on his way to Texas to try to get as close to the Ike aftermath as possible. They were supposed to land in Dallas and drive all night to Houston to set up by 3:00 am. We talked the whole way to Dallas about all kinds of things. He showed me behind the scenes photos of the conventions and McCain's exclusive interview, the Gustav aftermath, etc. He told me stories of being in Afghanistan after September 11th. I told him what I did and what I wanted to do. It was awesome. You never know who you are going to meet on a plane.

Hurricanes and Life Interuptions

There are many things I did not know about Texas before I moved here. I imagined hot and dry weather on miles and miles of dirt land and rolling tumbleweed. I admit it was a naive stereotype, but I just didn't know. Who knew Texas got hurricanes? I mean I am from the South East coast...hurricanes are a part of life there. Who knew Texas got spring storms that spawn of tornadoes as much as rabbits have babies? I certainly didn't know.
My roommate was supposed to be the Maid of Honor in a wedding in Lake Jackson, TX on Saturday. Lake Jackson is a coastal area near Houston. So the poor girl and guy had a shot-gun wedding last night and are now spending their first day as a married couple evacuating. Talk about a rough start.
I had a trip planned to Atlanta for this weekend to see my family and celebrate my sister and Mom's birthdays, but now that is up in the air.
My roommates family is evacuating with the pets up here to Fort Worth today. they live in the South East Houston area. IT should be an interesting weekend.
Of course Global Warming (which indirectly means President George Bush) is blamed for this. This is absurd of course to any rational, thinking being, who realizes that our need as a culture to place blame somewhere is ridiculous. When will we realize how little control we have? When will we realize that we are like flowers, that whither and fade? When will we realize that we are not in charge of this world? If people have managed to make it to adulthood without realizing these things it is likely they never will.

Cheap furniture 101

There are moments in life that make you feel good about being you. Ya know? Those moments when you know the answer to a question and nobody else does. Or those times where something is going wrong and you sweep in and with charisma (and humility of course) provide the solution every was looking for. I always enjoy the moments where someone asks me if I am in college and I get to say, "Why, I'm not in college. I am in Grad School" and I search the askers face for a sign that they are impressed.
There are also moments in life that make you feel like you should be back in kindergarten learning the basics of coloring in the lines. You think, "there is no way I'm in grad school" and "thank the Lord, nobody saw me do that." I feel as if I have more of these moments than the former. Today I set out to put together this bookshelf I got from Ikea, the world's leader in foreign, trendy, cheap furniture. They give you step-by-step instructions and they are really very simple. Its a bunch of boards, some wooden pegs and a screwdriver...a child could do this, really. So, I put this thing together, at a lightening fast speed. I took it into my room, set it where I wanted it and gasped as I saw my mistake. I had put not 1, not 2, not 3, but 4 pieces on wrong, with the colorless backside facing forward. So, now I have two options 1. take it all apart (which i don't think is possible) 2. buy some paint. So much for easy assembly.

Animal lover

Maddie

Bailey

Maddie and Bailey

I have always been an animal lover, but recently I have noticed a drastic increase in my desire to be a pet owner. Maybe its from being out on my own away from my family pets, maybe I'm just getting older or maybe I'm just obsessed. I want a dog, but not just A dog...I want every dog I see, and cat for that matter. Every time I see a dog I say things like, "Ooh a dog" or "Look a dog" or "can I have that dog" and a myriad of other phrases. I start talking to it like its a baby. Is there something wrong with me? My sister and mom both think I should forget about youth ministry and open a dog shelter (though the two are similar in some ways, just kidding). I, along with millions of other Americans, was outraged by the Oprah special on puppy mills and decided I needed to adopt a dog and I needed to do it now. Of course I cannot because the seminary doesn't allow it, though they should. I am a frequent visitor of the Fort Worth Human Society, which is a dumb idea because I go and of course I want dogs, all of them and I can't even have one of them.
One day I will have a dog...let me rephrase...I will have lots of dogs. I think people should adopt dogs...not buy them, but adopt them. There are shelters all over the country that have pure breeds if that is what you want. Too many perfectly good dogs are being killed everyday. And the thing that gets me fired up the most is how many of the dogs in shelters are there not because they are strays, but because their owners gave them up. Why are people dumping their dogs? On Craigslist there is a whole slue of dogs being surrendered by their owners...why? Dogs are part of your family. They are a member, entrusted to you. Why would people do that to their pets?

Anyway, I want to rescue dogs from shelters. My sister and brother-in-law recently rescued a dog to add to their family. They had one Basset named Bailey and they rescued another one from the National Basset Hound rescue named Maddie! I was so excited! This dog that didn't have a home and had been shuffled around all over the place, now has a loving family. Dogs are wonderful gifts! I am itching for my chance to saev one!

Colorado and New Mexico!

The Miraculous Staircase

The Native American Market

The Oldest House in Santa Fe

Random Elk

Rocky Mountain State Park

Say "No" to School

The moment has come. The summer is ending today. Though the official season is not ending, school starts tomorrow and to me, that is the official ending. I cannot complain, however, it was an amazing summer. It was the first time I got to choose the things that I would do with my time and that was a weird experience. Although, I still feel like I am deciding what I want to do with the time and it is already over. I had a lot of fun, ate a lot of good food, traveled and relaxed. Here is a list of my summer's top happenings.

1. Colorado/New Mexico Trip with the Stuff family. I visited 2 new states (Kansas and New Mexico)
2. Watching my friend Katie Hogue become Mrs. Mark Smyers! I love them both dearly!
3. Going to the beach in Galveston, TX
4. My Birthday....the Whole thing made possible by my roommate!
5. Going to the Concert in the Botanical Gardens
6. Watching seasons of 24
7. 4th of July cookout, Catz baseball game and amazing fireworks with Melanie, Adam and Donald
8. Snow Cones....lots of snow cones
9. Six Flags and Hurricane Harbor with my students
10. Reading Books not required by school!


As school begins there are many things to look forward to and here are a few of those.

1. Being the Supervisor for my after school program
2. Houston for Labor Day!
3. Going to Atlanta to see my family on my sisters birthday!
4. Going to a Clemson game for Melanie's birthday!
5. The Coldplay Concert in Dallas!!!!!
6. Thanksgiving with the Stuff's
7. Graduation with my Master's degree!!!!
8. San Fransisco with my roommate!!!!!