Being tested...

About a week ago I was reading in Proverbs and came across Ps 139:23. It says
"Search me, O God, and know my heart;test me and know my anxious thoughts." I then asked God to test me. How often do I ask to be tested? My prayers are usually something like this "Dear God, help me to have a great day. Be with Steven as he's at work. Watch over him and my family, etc., etc., etc." I don't ask very often to be tested but when I did, God brought it!
It was the first week of school which is always extremely tiring. Especially when it's a full 5 day week. It consists of teaching the students the rules and procedures of your classroom and the school if they're new, doing lots of getting to know you activities, no breaks throughout the day because there are no resources the first week, and lots of extra time spent after school discussing curriculum with team members. I'm exhausted every day I come home and as you can probably guess extremely tired by the end of the week. Not only is it a tough first week for everyone I felt extra pressure with my class and curriculum.
My principal called me this summer and wanted to know if I'd like to teach a 2nd/3rd grade combination class. She said there were a lot of very bright 2nd grade students and I would basically be teaching 3rd grade curriculum throughout the year. I thought it sounded like a good idea. I've never had a class with all bright students so I thought it would be a change. I usually have one or two IEP's or EC students in my classroom who need extra help and resources to grasp the curriculum. But later I find out I can't teach just 3rd grade curriculum because these 2nd grade students aren't set on going to another combination classroom next year to learn 4th grade material. So then I'm told I will be doing thematic units. This sounds like a great idea to my principal but for someone who has taught 3 years at the same school where you shared lesson plans and everything was done by the book it seemed like a big undertaking to me. I didn't even know where to start! How was I going to be sure I would cover all the standards needed? How would I know it would be on a grade appropriate level for my students? How would I find the time to plan all of this? So I went to my principal with my concerns and she stated that it might not be happening anyway because there were more 2nd grade parents that wanted their students in my class and 3rd grade parents who wanted their students out. The 3rd grade parents didn't think it would be accelerated enough for their children. Which is understandable because the 3rd graders are smarties too. So then I was told I would do a 2nd grade AG or gifted class but still teach on themes. Now, as you may have noticed before that was my main concern on teaching these kids. I didn't know how to make themes. I'd done a few in college but that was 4 years ago and it's not like it was really all that good. So I asked my principal if I could just teach the 2nd grade regular curriculum at a faster pace and then use themes and accelerated materials at the end of each 9 weeks. She said it sounded like a good idea. So the plan was to give my 3rd graders to the other 3rd grade teachers and gain a few 2nd grades from the 2nd grade teachers. That's how it was left yesterday afternoon.
But wouldn't you know, my ADD principal (and I mean that in the kindest way, I really do love her!) tells me this morning that we're sticking with my classroom the way it is and themes! *sigh* What's a girl to do? It doesn't seem like anything is stationary. It's all up the air all the time, my job, Steven's job, etc. So my principal and I talked after school and together we're going to do our first theme on the Beijing Olympics This begins in 2 weeks. And you might ask what do we have planned? Nothing so far! So here it goes. I'm sure it will all work out. I asked to be tested and I am definitely being tested. I never thought it would be with my job. It's usually with the Army but it's always in God's hands. I just have to keep the faith and know that things will work out! How about you? Have you ever asked God to test you?

Speaking of Steven's job. He's almost 100% sure that he will deploy to Iraq at the end of November for a year. Now being 100% sure in the Army is about 75% sure in civilian life but right now that's what we're planning for.

Friends

Since Steven's been gone I've been trying to keep myself busy with things to do. I've enjoyed having time to spend with my friends that I usually don't get when Steven's around. Not saying that he doesn't allow me to have girl time, it's just that I want to spend time with him when he's here.

Since Steven left my friend Lindsay has been staying with me. It's been nice having her around. Especially in the evening time when I get the most bored. We've had fun cooking together, going on walks, decorating the house, and watching "High School Musical: Get in the Picture" on TV. Well it's not like I could watch it if Steven was around! I don't want to put words in Lindsay's mouth but we both secretly enjoy it.;)

LIndsay and I with our deployment message to Steven

Yesterday a couple that Steven and I are friends with, John Mark and Bethany, moved into a house. Bethany was there to help Steven and I out when we moved so I was glad to help them move and paint their house. From that experience I've learned that no matter what you're doing, if you're with a group of people that you really enjoy and respect you're going to have a good time. I tried my hand at painting their bedroom but realized it was not for me. Thankfully I realized that before I started to paint my own house so that makes my decision final on getting a professional painter! The only thing I felt remotely confident at was painting around the trim. I'm not much of a roller girl. Emily and I also helped Bethany put some of her kitchen supplies away. Even though I had done it only a few weeks earlier, I envied her for the fact that she gets to make the decision of where she wants her things and how to set it up. It's a fun process to go through!

After helping the Benson's move and paint I went home to get ready to babysit for the Hardins. Scott was our realtor for our house and Deanna, his wife, is a teacher's assistant at my school. Since Scott was so helpful with our house, Steven and I got them a gift certificate and a free night of babysitting. They decided to take us up on it very quickly.;) I've been babysitting for them for the past 3 years. They've got 2 boys, aged 8 and 4. The boys are great and no trouble at all. We played a couple of games of hide and seek, watched a little bit of TV and then they went to bed. It was a pretty easy night.

John Mark, Stu, and Luke painting

All in all, I'm grateful for the extra time I am allowed to spend with my friends. I miss my husband dearly but am thankful for the people around me.

And I'm back!

Now I know I promised that I wouldn't be gone for a long time again but who would've thought we wouldn't have internet at our new house for 2 weeks? Not I. So here's what's been going on over the past few weeks.

Moving In!

Steven and I were able to close on our new house and move in all in the same day. We had some friends come over and help us all throughout the day on the 24th. We started moving around noon on Thursday and were finished by 8:00. Moving is not fun. Granted it's great to come to a new house but packing up and moving and unpacking, not fun. But I'm glad it's all over with. The next day I worked on putting away kitchen supplies and putting other things in their correct place. Steven worked about half a day at work because most of his guys were already in Louisiana for their JRTC training. On Saturday he did some yard work, mowed the lawn, used the weedeater, while I was still putting things away in the house. I tell ya, going from a tiny 2 bedroom apartment to a 2,200 square foot house is quite a difference. I don't' think I'll have enough to fill up this house for many years but that's alright. I'd rather have too much space than not enough.
That Saturday night, the 26th, I took Steven to Fort Bragg to leave for his month long training in LA.
Since then I've been decorating, getting things set up like phone, trash, internet, etc. There are so many more things you need in a house than you do in an apartment! We don't have the best signal out here so we decided to get a land line phone. We also thought we were going to need dial up internet but I found a USB Connect device from AT & T that is working fine for now. It's quicker than dial up but not quite as reliable. It tends to go in and out quite a bit. So we'll see how long that actually lasts in our house.

New Roomie!

Since Steven left my friend Lindsay has been staying at the house with me. We have an alarm system so it's not that I feel scared, it's just nice to have someone else around. It's pretty boring in a house out in the country by yourself. And when the closest Wal-Mart is 20 miles away, it's not like I can just pick up and go whenever I want to. So having someone around has definitely made it easier.

Dentist

I also went to my first dentist appointment here in North Carolina.:) Actually, I don't know why I used that smiley face because there was nothing to smile about. I went for my appointment on a Monday. They told me that I have 2 cavities and a wisdom tooth coming in. That's not good! :( Fortunately I was able to make an appointment for that Wednesday to get my cavities filled. Unfortunately I had one on each side of my mouth so trying to eat, smile, and talk the rest of the day was quite the test. I then made an appointment to have my wisdom tooth pulled the following Monday. They said it didn't need to come out anytime soon since it wasn't bothering me and I had plenty of room in my mouth for it. But, being frugal, I decided I better do it now while I was still under Steven's insurance since he might be out of the Army in the next couple of months. So I went in to the dentist's office. He gave me a couple of shots and 5 minutes later the tooth was out! It was hardly painful, just bled a lot. And I really didn't have any pain even after the shots wore off. I was pretty blessed.

Myrtle Beach

I was able to go the beach this summer. Friday, the 1st my parents and the Hoovers came to my house on their way to Myrtle Beach. It was so exciting to be able to show my house to actual family members. They all really liked it. It was also nice having my dad and Rex around to help me hang things! My mom and Liz put some of my wedding gifts away that they had brought down. Now I have room to store and use them! The next morning we left for Myrtle Beach. It was a little over a 2 hour drive to the beach which wasn't too bad. I stayed with them Saturday night and came back on Sunday evening for my dentist appointment the next day. When we got there Saturday we went out to eat, took a walk on the beach, and then played some games of golf and Dutch Blitz. Sunday we took a walk on the beach and layed out for a little while. There were quite a few people out there. The water was so warm! It was nothing like California ocean water. That stuff was cold. So we swam in the ocean and also hung out at the pool. We then got showered and went out to eat for dinner. I really didn't want to leave but knew I had to because of the dentist appointment. Thankfully I was able to go back down to the beach from Wednesday to Friday evening. I wasn't ready to leave the first time so I was glad I could go back down to stay with my parents and the Hoovers. I never realize how much I miss and love my parents until I spend time with them and have to leave. I'll tell you, being with them really made me question why I was living so far away but I know that this is where God wants me to be right now. I also think that coming back to an empty house made it harder when I knew that I could be with my parents who love me. But I cherish all of the time I do get to spend with them. I look forward to seeing them again in October for my grandpa's 90th birthday celebration.

Baby Shower

Yesterday I hosted a baby shower for a friend,Hannah, from my Navigator's Bible study. She and her husband recently came to Bragg and she is due next week! I wanted to do something to show her our love and support so I thought a baby shower would be a great idea. She was very thankful and I was glad I could do it. She received things she would need for the baby such as diapers, lotions, medicine, stuff new moms don't always register for. It was also nice that there were other moms there so they could talk about their experiences. It was a great time to share with ladies of faith, young and old. I also really enjoyed the fact that I could host a shower because I now have the space to do it. I was able to use some of my new dishes and make it a really fun time!

I Mowed the Lawn!

Yep, my first lawn mowed. It was actually not too bad. I kind of enjoyed it. Don't tell Steven though.:) After I figured out how to turn it on and get it out of the garage it was a breeze. Weedeating is a different story. I haven't tried that and I think I'll leave it up to Steven to do.:)

I think that's about all that's been going on in my life for the past few weeks. Sorry again about not staying on top of it but I'll do my best to keep updating at least weekly. As long as my internet holds out I'll be here! Thanks for listening to the boring blog and let me know what's been going on in your world!:)