blah

So, I'm feeling kind of blah today. I guess I can't have all super great days. I kind of know why I'm feeling this way, but I'm not sure I want to get into it here. I'm tired. Let's just leave it at that. Life is exhausting!

Is it the weekend yet?

i'm a survivor!

I survived the first week of school, YAY!!! Only 35 more to go...

Highlights from the first week:

*I love my classes! I have a great bunch of kids this year and even though I can tell I'll have a couple of challenging ones, on the whole they are awesome!

*I thought my 4th period on A days would be a problem (big class, lots of talkers) but I acted totally goofy with them yesterday and they loved it! I think we will have a lot of fun in that class, although it will still be a challenge to get them to stop talking.

*Only having one prep this year (Spanish II only) is going to be fantastic.

*My student council kids rock! They are super motivated and fun and it's easy to lead them because they basically lead themselves.

*My students are actually calling me by my name. They will start to say "miss, miss!" but then remember and quickly add on my last name. It's great!

*I have a couple of students who have already admitted that they love Spanish (non-native speakers). I'm looking forward to feeding into that for them.

*Even though it's been somewhat of a nightmare with the A/C problem, a guy from the district's maintenance team came out yesterday and he's going to make sure the problem is fixed. They are going to get rid of the silly window unit and put in a central system! Not sure when this will happen, but I'm encouraged that things are moving forward.

*I've had some fun surprises this week that I'm still smiling about:)

I feel so blessed right now! We'll see how I feel in another month or so...

no child left behind...

My co-worker was discussing the importance of learning a foreign language with her class. She asked, “if you are going into the military right now, what language would it be beneficial to learn?”

One kid raised his hand and replied, “British?”

school days...

I survived the first day back! Actually, my classes were pretty good. I'm really going to enjoy teaching all Spanish II this year. My classes are huge, but they seem well behaved, so far. We'll see how it goes as the year progresses.

The worst thing about today is that the A/C in my portable is not working. It was over 100 degrees today. This morning during 1st period, my A/C got the room down to 85 (still pretty toasty with 32 students in the room) but by 4th period, it was 91 degrees! My students were sweating and complaining, and I can't blame them. It was awful! We are trying to get the issue resolved with maintainance, but who knows when it will get fixed. I don't know what I'll do tomorrow...

The one good thing about it is that after 8 hours in a sauna, I won't need to go exercise! I'll lose all the weight I want to through sweating! Nice, I'm sure I am super appealing to be around right now...

Lau's painting

I thought you might like to see the painting Laurice made for me. Isn't it amazing!? It has so many aspects of Maracaibo that I love to look at and remember.

"I cannot live without books."--Thomas Jefferson

Patricia tagged me with this list, and it's actually one that I was excited about doing:) I'm such a book worm...the librarians at the public library in my home town know my whole family by name...by the way, it's kind of scary how similar Patricia, Karin and I are in our reading choices!

1. A book that changed your life:
The Bible, still changing my life!
Abba's Child by Brennan Manning
Changes That Heal by Henry Cloud, this is totally cheesy but I read it at a very important time in my life and it really did change the way I view my life.

2. Books you’ve read more than once:
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, this is my favorite fiction book of all time. I don't even know how many times I have read it!

3. One book you’d want on a desert island:
The Bible, can not live without it!!!

4. A book that made you laugh:
Anything by Donald Miller, he cracks me up!
The Princess Bride edited by William Goldman

5. A book that made you cry:
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherin Paterson and Donna Diamond, I was in the 7th grade when I read this book and it was the first time one affected me so emotionally.
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, this is one of my all time favorite books.

6. One book you wish had been written:
Yesh, I have no idea!

7. One book you wish had never been written:
Some of the boring text books I had to read for classes in college...
I also agree with the Josh Harris comment by Karin; his book just ticked me off!

8. Books you’re currently reading:
When Life and Beliefs Collide by Carolyn James (re-reading it)
Searching for God Knows What by Donald Miller
Persuasion by Jane Austen
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
These are all part of my "I'm going to read as much as I can because it's summer and I actually have time" list. I'm trying to finish these books up but with school starting tomorrow, I'm not sure that I will...

9. One book you’ve been meaning to read:
Just one!? So many books, so little time...Here's a short list.
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
Desiring God by John Piper
Stonewall Jackson by James Robertson, I can't find it anywhere here! I guess I'll have to order it online...
The Essential 55 by Ron Clark, did you guys see the movie on TNT? Really good! Almost makes me want to teach in inner city New York...almost. Then I remember that I kind of teach in an inner city school now and I come back to reality very quickly!
Lord of the Rings series by J.R.R. Tolkien

I know that several of my readers are also book lovers like me. So, what's your list look like?:)

beautiful day

Here is my beautiful friend Laurice. She is here in Texas for a 2 week training and I had the awesome privledge to spend the entire day with her today. I have known her for 7 years! We met in Maracaibo, Venezuela the first year I was there and have been friends ever since. She is just an amazing woman with a huge heart. We had a great day of shopping, eating at the Cheesecake Factory (yum!), and just talking. It is fabulous to hear Venezuelan Spanish again! The usual Spanish spoken here is of the Mexican variety and it just doesn't sing in my ears like Venezuelan Spanish.

Here are some of my fave things about Lau:
*Her smile! She can light up the room and make anyone feel welcome!
*She tries to see the good in everything.
*She has a desire to love those who others may deem as unloveable.
*Her artistic side! I have a fabulous painting that she made for me of Maracaibo hanging in my living room. When she saw it today, she said, "wow, I had forgotten about that!" It's one of my favorite gifts I've ever received.
*She is super intelligent!
*Her laugh.
*She was always willing to wake up super early to walk the 2+ miles to our fave bakery in Maracaibo for our discipleship times. Good times!

There are a million more, but those are the ones that instantly come to mind. !!!Te quiero muchisimo, Lolo!!!

Virginia is for lovers...

How can you not fall in love with these mountains?!

pics

Here are a couple of pictures for you. The first one is my SIL and me. The second is my grandma, mom, and adorable nephew.

hello

Wow, I have been quite the absent blogger lately. I don't even have the excuse of nothing going on because I just came back from 9 days in the beautiful state of Virginia. It was so great being home again! I missed the mountains and green just as much as I thought I did. I took a drive one day, just going down some back roads to take it all in. I got to see my beautiful nephew, too! He is so cute! I tried to upload some pics but Blogger isn't letting me right now, so I will try later.

Life is crazy right now. School starts officially next week so this week is filled with teacher in-services and other various meetings. Plus, I have to get my classroom ready which is always a lot of work. I have huge classes this year, too, because we only have 4 teachers for level 2, as opposed to 6 last year. I am looking forward to the year starting, though.

A few fun things that have happened recently:
*My beautiful friend Dawn came to visit her brother and sister-in-law who happen to live in Dallas so I got to see her too! It was much too short, but so sweet to spend the little bit of time we did together.
*Another beautiful friend, Lau, is in town from Venezuela for training for her job! I have not seen her in 3 years so I am so excited to be able to spend time with her this coming weekend!
*I was officially made head teacher of Spanish II. I know, this isn't too exciting for most of you, but I'm looking forward to the challenge.
*My school district just voted for a nice pay raise for teachers! Yay!

That's all for now, but I will try to get those photos posted ASAP:)

an amazing life

Please read this article on the life of Billy Graham, possibly the greatest evangelist in history. His life inspires me to live more full out for God's glory.