No Questions, Just Answers

Well, the 2010 school year has begun and I'm just now catching my breath! I have a classroom full of sweet baby 2nd graders. Yes, they are still baby 2nd graders, but growing up a little bit every day.

As always, I have a few characters in my room that crack me up every day. There are some days I just have to turn my head or walk out in the hallway to laugh for a minute. Sometimes I just laugh right there in the middle of whatever is going on. The kids think it is hilarious when I crack up.

On one of the first days of school, my kids were all sitting on the rug with me. I had just given very detailed directions about an activity we were about to complete. I had literally walked through each step, demonstrating and exaggerating every single little detail. Believe me, that much detail is MORE than necessary for the first few weeks of school. The entire time I'm giving the directions, a little boy, we'll call him JT, had his hand up in the air. When I finished my extensive directions, I said " JT, do you have a question?"

His reply was priceless: he paused for a moment and then said "Well. . . no . . . but I do have 2 answers!" It completely caught me off guard and made me laugh. No questions, just answers. And by the way, his 2 answers had absolutely NOTHING to do with the activity we were about to complete.

I was thinking about little JT tonight as I left the campus of A&M. I was feeling VERY overwhelmed with everything that was presented and discussed in my Education Finance class tonight. I feel like I have SO MANY questions, when I wish that all I had was answers. After talking it out with Craig tonight, I felt much better.

I always find that I enjoy challenging myself. I like the fact that not everything is always easy and I like to see what I can accomplish when I push myself. This is definitely the case this semester. With 2 grad classes that both require numerous papers, projects, reviews, etc., training for a marathon- which has me running an upwards of 20-30 miles a week, teaching 2nd graders all day, and trying to be a good wife and mother (to my 4 legged babies)- to say I'm feeling the challenge is an understatement.

Good thing I've got a good support system! And JT, of course, to give me all the answers! ;)

I used to think a wedding was a simple affair. . .

Boy and girl meet, they fall in love, he buys a ring, she buys a dress, they say I do. I was wrong. That's getting married. A wedding is an entirely different proposition. -George Banks, Father of the Bride

My sister married Jeremy on June 5, 2010. It was a beautiful day and everything was perfect down to the tiniest detail. Abby has only been planning this day for, oh, her entire life. In high school she bought bridal magazines and made idea notebooks. She would have Mr. Fields, the choir director at BJHS, play wedding songs in class that she wanted to have at her played at her wedding. (Mr. Fields played and sang at both of our weddings!) When I planned my wedding, she had all the info I needed on anything I was thinking about. Barbara Ingram was the brains behind the production. She is the owner of Barbara's Wedding Shoppe and takes care of everything. At this point, she and her husband Bobby are more like family. She did my wedding, and several of my friends before doing Abby's. She is A-MAZING.

I don't know that I could ever write the words to describe just how beautiful and special this day was. Abby was a stunning bride. Jeremy's Grandpa Al performed the beautiful ceremony. Abby's wedding party was all of her sweet friends that she has been close to for years. The reception at The Depot was so much fun and a great celebration with friends and family.

Here are just a few pictures taken by the most talented photographer ever- Alyson Clemons. She was so much fun to work with that day and captured the entire wedding weekend with some fabulous shots.

Yes, Abby did MY eye make up that day. :)

This picture makes me think of a preview for a new "family" sitcom on ABC.

My sweet parents- love this picture!

The Graham Girls

The wedding party at the Depot.

The AOII Circle Song

The father of 2 brides! He survived!

An Alabama Send Off!

A weekend getaway-

This past weekend my sister, mom, and I spent the weekend in Atlanta with my Uncle Jeff. It was a great relaxing weekend full of shopping, laughing, and GREAT food! We had the best time!

This picture was at Haven restaurant which was to die for!! You can't tell we're related, right?

Tuesday marked the start of my 18 week training schedule for the St. Jude Marathon in December. Heat + Humidity = not a very fun run. At 5 am the temps are a little more bearable.... It just so happened that the first day of training was the first day back to work for me as well. Talk about rude awakening. Not only did I have to miss The Today Show, I had to eat breakfast in the car! (back to normal. . . )

We had a great inservice at BJHS and I even got to enjoy lunch out with my teacher friends. Lunch is so much more enjoyable when you have longer than 20 minutes to eat.

Tomorrow is Open House and I am looking forward to meeting my class. It is always exciting to start a new school year. Pretty soon my now quiet and clean classroom will be buzzing with little ones and will no longer be so clean! I can't wait!

One down, four to go. . .

I officially became a grad student this summer at A&M and made it through my first semester!! WooHoo! I am getting my Master's degree in Instructional Leadership and hope to finish the program next December. I wanted to get a degree that would offer me an alternative to the classroom. Going back to school was tough, but after I got used to the schedule it wasn't too bad. A&M is VERY different from Alabama, so that was a bit of an adjustment. . . .Let's just say that all the stories you've heard about A&M are most definitely true. Nevertheless, I survived, and actually enjoyed the 2 classes I took.

If all goes accordingly, I will graduate next December. Go Bulldogs! :)

The cake, the dress, and THE earrings. . .

Craig and I spent this past weekend in Hamilton, Alabama for Leah's wedding weekend. I need to give Craig a big shout out (like he reads this, but whatever) for being such a GREAT sport- and I'm actually not being sarcastic.

We started off our trip on Friday afternoon. I flew in from Connect3 with barely enough time to shower after a morning of skating, throw a few more things in my bag, grab my bridesmaids dress and hit the road. We barely made it out of town before a storm blew in. I was hungry and irritable when we hit the road, so after a stop for snacks the trip became a little more enjoyable! We needed to be in Hamilton by 5 for rehearsal, and we were pushing it. But, we made it with a few minutes to spare. Rehearsal went well, or as well as expected when 2 groomsmen are absent. Craig had to fill in for one- which happened to be the one I was paired with. Being his funny self, Craig got the groomsmen around him all riled up, and got "shhhh-ed" by the wedding director. Classic. He wasn't even in the wedding party!

After rehearsal we headed to Dolly's Country Kitchen, a cute little restaurant in Hamilton, for the rehearsal dinner. We ended the night at Leah's sister's house to spend some time with Leah, the wedding party and her family.

Bridesmaids & Paula at Rachel's House

Bridesmaids with the bride

The next morning, I headed off for the Bridesmaids' Brunch at 9, leaving Craigo alone all day. He may say he was bored, but I think he secretly enjoyed the down time.

Our gift- cute houndstooth bag, robe, and fabulous earrings!

Leah had her hairdresser come to her house to do everyone's hair, so our afternoon consisted of hair, make up, helping set up a few things for the reception, saving the groom's cake ;), and trying to keep Leah's dad from killing the florist for being a little (ok, 2 hours) late. It was like we were in the movie Father of the Bride! I loved it.

The groom's cake being "altered" by one that shall remain nameless. . . the green flowers HAD to go.

Our earrings were beautiful and literally weighed 5 lbs. EACH.

THE CAKE! It was SO Leah and tasted as great as it looked!

The wedding was beautiful and went wonderfully. We got to see Tim and Heather- which was wonderful treat. The weather cooperated and the outdoor reception was beautiful. We had a fabulous time!

AOII Sisters

Tim & Heather

My Favorite Guy!

Loving learning how to use my new camera. Here is my "artsy" shot of the night! :)

The Leahs!

Last Friday, I went to Birmingham to celebrate my dear friend's last weekend as a single lady. Leah Wood has been one of my best friends since freshman year at Alabama. We met at Bama Bound the summer before we started school in the fall and then both ended up pledging AOII. Turned out we had a lot more in common that just our names. We laughed, we cried, we celebrated, and became best friends during our four years in Tuscaloosa. Oh the stories that come to mind when I think about the things we did. . . The Leahs!

I consider myself lucky to have her as a friend. She has her own fabulous & unique style (her wedding cake is going to be zebra print) and she has a beautiful voice. She sang at my wedding and was a bridesmaid. AND- she did my make-up. She's got it all!

Before dinner Friday, we had a lingerie shower for Leah. We ate dinner at Chuck's Fish in Birmingham and I definitely recommend it. It just opened near The Summit. We at there all the time in Tuscaloosa because it was Leah's favorite. It's owned by the same guy who owns Harbor Docks in Destin and the seafood is A-MAZING! Then we ate this delicious cake- with zebra print, of course.

I love this girl and can't wait for the wedding this weekend! Bart is a lucky guy and Leah will be a beautiful bride!

West Virginia

Today we went to the White Family Reunion at Montcove Lake Park in WV. This is Craig's family on his dad's side and it is the 2nd summer we've been able to come. Montcove is beautiful and the weather was absolutely perfect. Here are a few pictures from our day--

Craig and his Uncle Miles

Bethany, Abbey, and me taking a little ride on a paddle boat

Abbey, Bethany, and Rylan

Craig and I

my favorite picture of the day . . . .

Happy 4th of July!!