Here At Last

Why I love Blair Garnett

2011-08-20T21:08:00.004-04:00

This was going to be a Facebook status, but the more I thought about it, the more I had to say and there are only so many characters they'll allow in a status. Sometimes, just a little note is enough to express my love for Blair. Other times, I feel like all the words in the world would never be enough to fully convey the extent of my feelings for him.

Often times, when trying to describe what something is, describing what it isn't is a good place to start. So here it goes:

I LOVE BLAIR GARNETT!!!

Not because he worships the ground I walk on
Not because he's perfect
Not because he does things for me
Not because he gives me stuff
Not because he takes care of me
Not because he's hot, funny, nice, etc.

I LOVE BLAIR GARNETT!!!

Because he worships God
Because he's not perfect
Because he wants to do things for me
Because he wants to give me stuff
Because he wants to take care of me and make sure that I'm okay and happy
I do think he's hot and funny and sweet. That's what hooked me in the beginning. But in the almost five years we've been together, I've learned that he's so much more than that!

Blair challenges me everyday to be the best me I can be. He wants me to be the best Christian, the best person, the best teacher, the best woman, the best wife, the best cook (wish list! haha), the best Jordan that I can be.

Blair is not perfect. Perfect for me. But not perfect. I'm not either, for the record. Being imperfect gives us room to learn and experience, and I love that he wants to learn and experience life with me.

Blair wants to do things for me and make sure that I'm okay. I love him for that because that is the man that God made him to be. He doesn't do those things just because he knows it would make me happy. It does, but that's not why he does it.

Blair is a good looking man. He likes to keep his hair short. He has beautiful blue eyes (I told him one time after we'd been together almost a year that we'd make pretty babies with beautiful eyes!). He has the hands of a hard working man, rough and calloused, but when he's holding my hand or touching my face, they are gentle and kind. He thinks his nose is big, but I think it's a perfect fit for his face and I love it. I could go on about how I think he's hot, but I don't want to bore anyone.

I just wanted to express that I love my husband, and not because I feel it. I certainly do feel it. I still get those butterflies when we kiss sometimes. But I love him because I choose to. Because he challenges me, because he wants to learn and grow with me, because he chooses to love me too. I thank God that I get to fall asleep and wake up next to this man, Blair Garnett, who He made for me. I also thank God that he finally realized that he was made for me. :)

I've got more... I could go on forever about Blair, but I'm sure whoever is reading this has better things to do.

Finally... the Wedding Blog!

2011-07-26T18:14:00.003-04:00

May 21, 2011 was a wonderful day in my life. It was long; started early and ended late, but at the end of it, I got to lie in the arms of my best friend.

After the rehearsal and the dinner the night before, I went over to the reception site and helped get things ready. This involved pouring candy and glass rocks and flowers into little square dishes to decorate the tables. That’s pretty much all they let me do that night. We were there until about 11, then I went home. There was one more project I wanted to do. Instead of fancy chair covers for the bride and groom, I got little wooden hearts and painted them brown and green with a J and a B in them to look just like our invitations. I had newspaper spread out on my bed, had my paint and brushes ready and turned on the TV to something… probably Say Yes to the Dress or Four Weddings. The hearts weren’t that hard to paint, but it took a while to do one coat, let it dry, do another one, make the letters perfect, and so on and so forth. When I got done with those, it was probably 12:30 or 1 in the morning.

Even though I was done with my last project, I still couldn’t get to sleep. I was laying awake, watching television until 4, yes FOUR, in the morning, knowing that I would have to get up soon and begin getting ready. When my alarm went off sometime between 7:30 and 7:45, I woke right up, like I’d had a perfect 8 hours of sleep. I walked into the kitchen to find my mom, dad and aunt up to their elbows in cabbage, which also covered the floor from one end to the other. The only thing I specifically asked my mom to do for the wedding was to make slaw. We were having barbeque and chicken, and there is no one’s slaw that I love more than hers. It was worth it! I left them to cut, chop, grind and mix, and went back into my parents’ bathroom where the big garden tub was waiting for me. I filled it with warm water and smelly-good bubbles and soaked for quite a while. I had my iPod and was playing Solitaire on it.

Everything was all good until I saw a spider fall into the water. I was okay until I couldn’t find it anymore to scoop it out. I drained the tub and washed it out and then had to refill it to actually bathe. It was really funny to me. I’d say that you had to be there, but it would be a little weird if people were in the bathroom while I was taking a bath. Just trust me. It got me off to a humorous start – I made myself laugh with the whole thing – it would have been worse if I was one of those people who freak out at the sight of a bug. But I’m not, so it was funny.

After my bath, I ate a handful of grapes and spent a few minutes browsing Facebook. I was surprised to have so much down time on such a big, important day. But all I had to do was get to the church and get ready. So I left the house and went to the church. There were already some people there getting things set up. I helped them with what was left and then went to my dressing room. A good friend went out and got me a strawberry-banana smoothie from McDonald’s and that was my breakfast, lunch and dinner for the day.

Brittany was my first bridesmaid there.

It was too early to get in our dresses, so we just sat in the room and waited for everyone else. I took out my iPod and played a few songs on it while stretching out across some chairs. Amanda showed up

soon after my brother got there with my niece, Cadence, the cutest flower girl ever.

I was standing outside the church talking to my brother, Jonathan, when I saw Blake’s big truck come around the corner. I knew that Blair was with him, so I bolted, mid-sentence, back into the church (when I thought about it later, I made myself laugh… again, for the second time that day). I don’t know what the big deal about the bride and groom seeing each other before the ceremony, or whatever that thing is. I don’t believe in luck. Blair said that we were getting married whether we saw each other or not. I just wanted that moment when I stepped out of the limo to be super special.

Also, before we parted ways the night before, I said to him, “The next time you see me, I’ll be in a wedding dress and we’ll be getting married!” It just had a nice ring to it.

Finally, all my girls were there

and all the guys were there and we were all getting ready. Well, I was waiting for my mama to get there. I figured she’d want to help her only girl into her wedding dress. Alas, she is my mother and was leaving the house (15 minutes away from the church) at 1:45, when I was already supposed to be ready so we could take pictures. I had to get ready without her. Bittersweet. But Amanda and Brooke, our fabulous director, helped me into my dress.

But she soon got there and I put her corsage on wrist and we had a nice mother-daughter moment. Yay!

Amanda put on my make-up and before we knew it, it was 2:10, time to get into the limo.

There was some kind of to-do with the direction we were going in that caused a slight delay in getting down to the pond. I don’t know what it was but it was a good thing it happened because I had left something in our dressing room. I looked down the line of girls and asked, “Did everyone get their flowers?” thinking of them and the guys (I sent Amanda and Brooke to boutonniere the boys). Then I realized that I was missing my own flowers. I had left them on the podium in the room we changed in.

Anna was closest to the door, so I yelled at her to run and get them. Slight panic, but not Bridezilla. While she was gone, the limo driver pulled us back around to the door so she wouldn’t have to walk back to where we were. Once she was in, we pulled off again, in the other direction this time. Instead of driving right down to the pond, we rode all the way around the church so that the limo would be facing the road, which worked out well.

As we rode down, we passed Marc Francis, Steve and Blair. Steve shielded Blair’s eyes so that he couldn’t see inside, which he couldn’t anyway, but it was funny to see.

I was thinking when I saw him, “He’s so handsome in that suit!” The limo was parked and we were waiting for the guys to walk down and take their places at the end of the aisle, and I started to hyperventilate and my eyes began to tear up. I closed my eyes and repeated to myself, “I’m not getting married, I’m not getting married.” My girls all looked at me, half with panic, half with laughter and asked what I was saying. I told them that I was starting to freak out and that as long as I told myself that it wasn’t me who was getting married I would be okay. I wasn’t backing out or rethinking it. All the pressure and stress of a wedding had just hit me. For just a few moments. We all laughed and I was okay again. No tears, no thoughts of running. My hands weren’t even shaking. I was all smiles and ready to go.

The limo was the best idea I had for the wedding. It allowed me to see everything without being seen. I watched all the guys walk their respective girls down the aisle. I could see all the guys standing down there with their shades on looking like Men in Black.

It was hilarious. I watched as Karla tried to get Cadence to do the bubble thing, which she wasn’t going for at all.

That was fine with me. I had decided that if she blew the bubbles down the aisle, it would be adorable, and if she didn’t, she’d still be the cutest thing that has ever happened at a pond wedding at Ridgecrest. I was right. She made me laugh and everyone was awww-ing as she wandered down the aisle. There’s only so much you can get a two year old to do. Looking cute comes natural to her.

Suddenly, it was time for me to make my grand entrance. I looked at my daddy and smiled.

I slid over to the door and handed him my bouquet. Then I gathered my skirt with one hand and took my daddy’s hand with the other and emerged from the air-conditioned limousine. It was really cool to see everything from the back. Everyone stood and I could hear my friend, Rob, singing “She’s Everything” as I walked down the aisle to the man I would from then on call my husband… among other names. J

There are many things I could say about the next twenty minutes of that day, but I’ll just say this: It was worth all the money and stress and craziness to stand in front of our family and friends and profess our love for each other and for God, and to join as one in a marriage covenant, one of the most holy of all holy sacraments we can do here, with each other and with God. A few highlights: braiding God’s Knot (gold represents God and keeping Him at the center of our marriage, purple stands for man who is the head of the household as Christ is the head of the church, and white represents the purity of the bride) while Rob sang “Love Never Fails,” one of my favorite songs and a way to get the “love chapter,” 1 Corinthians 13, into our ceremony without reading it;

my veil taking up with the wind and making me laugh; Amanda passing out (not her finest moment, but she’s cool enough that the very next day, we could joke about it… and revenge is sweet – they’ll be getting married next year!); and hearing Marc Francis announce us as Mr. and Mrs. Steven Blair Garnett Jr. The kiss was pretty fantastic too.

We got back in the limo and the driver took us for a little ride. We went all the way down Milton road to Roxboro road and came back up by Northern High and then back to the church. We laughed and kissed and smiled and took a few deep breaths. We were married! …Well, not until Steve and Karla signed the license, but for all intents and purposes, we were married and it was exciting! We stuck around the church and took some pictures while everyone headed over to the reception site. This part took longer than I wanted, but it was still good. Here are some highlight pictures.

We finally finished the pictures and Blair and I, and my niece Cadence, got into the limo and rode to Norman’s Stables for the party. I'm not sure how she worked that out, but it's hard to say no to Cadence!

The reception was a reception (check out the pictures on Facebook... It takes a LOT of time and energy to post pics in a blog!). We got there and I immediately okayed the feast to begin. The rest of the party wasn’t there yet so we couldn’t do the announcements and I didn’t want to make our guests wait any longer than they already had (an hour!). My friend, Amy, came down from Massachusetts for the wedding. She’s been a good friend since 7^th grade. She’s been my eating partner since 7^th grade. She was the first in line after my and Blair’s plates were made. I definitely did not want to keep her waiting any longer either! Once everyone was there and had gotten a little something to eat, we did the announcement of the whole party, starting with the wonderful parents. Then we have my brother, Jonathan, escorting my friend and maid of honor, Anna; Blair’s brother Blake escorting their sister Brittany; Blair’s best friend Mark escorting his girlfriend Amanda; and pulling up the rear is my best friend and maid of honor, Karla walking with my niece Cadence. After they were announced, we were announced. Mr. and Mrs. Blair Garnett. I love it!! Then we danced to “My Girl.” It was fun. The whole time, Blair was saying, “Is it over yet? Everyone is staring at me. Can I sit down yet?” He’s not big on being the center of attention. I don’t mind so much.

There was dancing and eating and laughing and celebrating. And then there was CAKE!! A beautiful cake! A delicious cake! A humongous cake that I still have pieces of in the refrigerator almost two months later! And yes, of course we smooshed it into each other’s faces. We wouldn’t be us if we didn’t. It’s okay though because then we cleaned each other’s faces off, like a good husband and wife.

I guess the next big thing was the Father-Daughter dance. It was unbelievably difficult to choose a song for this, but once I decided on one, it was like, “DUH!” It just made sense. My daddy and I have always been really close. I am the epitome of a daddy’s girl and that’s never going to change. And taking into consideration that I was a princess that day, the song just worked. Two days before the wedding, I finally decided on “Cinderella” by Steven Curtis Chapman. When one of the choruses played, my dad looked out to the people watching and said, “I’m dancing with Cinderella!” It was really cute. And that dance went very much like my first dance with Blair; there was a lot of “No, the song isn’t over yet. Yes, we have to dance the whole time. Quit complaining, it’s almost over. One more chorus.”

By this time, a lot of people had already left. My family got up and played anyway. My mom had been losing her voice for a few days and therefore could not sing, so she called me up and I sang instead. My daddy played his guitar like it was on fire. My oldest brother, Jonathan, played the drums while my other brother, James, played his bass. We “adopted” Bryan Dickerson to play the keyboards, and I sang. The first song is one of my favorite songs. It’s called “Big White Gate” by Grace Potter. She wrote it about her grandmother after she died. It’s about how it’s never too late for forgiveness and that the people in Heaven might like to hear her sing. It isn’t completely faith-based, but I still like the “It’s never too late for forgiveness” message. Steve later told me that he was walking out to the van to get something when the song started and had to turn around to see who was singing. It’s a great song to sing. It’s how I know I can sing just about anything. Anyway, the boys took over and did a few more before we ended with “Hotel California,” my all-time favorite song. I sang this one too and it was also awesome. After that, the Fabulous Hot Dog Daddios took back the stage. Deanna and a few others took our gifts and put them in the back of the truck before Karla headed up the truck-decorating committee. Brittany and I had the job of keeping Blair occupied and oblivious of what was happening to his truck. My mama and mama Cindy handed out the bubble tubes to everyone. When the truck was ready, the band announced our farewell. Everyone gathered outside and showered us with bubbles as Blair helped me into the truck… more like, he helped my dress into the truck. I blew kisses, got noggin from my niece, hugged Karla and then we were off. It was wonderful to finally be going home with my husband. We didn’t have to be in Charleston for our cruise until Wednesday, so we didn’t have to rush to get anywhere. We got home, got into pajamas, unwrapped our gifts and he made me eat some leftover pasta from the night before. We were home and we were married. It was a glorious day.

Update

2011-06-14T02:10:00.006-04:00

So I was doing okay for a few weeks there... and then life got busy and we moved into a house that doesn't yet have internet, so I haven't been able to update. So this is what's up.I finished my student teaching on April 19th. During planning that day, the teachers in the 7th grade threw Jessica (the other student teacher in 7th grade) and I a surprise lunch party thingy. If you are a teacher, you know how these things go! Of course, I ate during lunch with the kids because I didn't pick up on my teacher's hint not to eat, but that didn't stop me from eating some delicious goodies that the teachers made and brought! My favorite, other than the cupcakes, was the veggie pizza! It was the Pilsbury Crescent rolls with cream cheese/ranch dressing sauce covered with ... you guessed it, veggies! Light and delectable! And then, we got gifties! A couple of moms and the teachers chipped in and got Jessica and I each our own huge tote bags filled with teacher supplies.

One of my favorite supplies was a 12 pack of Yoo-Hoo!! That's right. Yoo-Hoo. Why did my teacher include that? Because they sell bottles of Y-H in 4-packs in the marketplace on UNCG's campus and I kept that stuff stocked in my fridge. I don't get up early enough to eat breakfast, so I'd grab a Y-H and maybe a Pop-Tart and go into school, chugging my delicious chocolate drink (it's not milk... more like chocolate flavored water... and I'm okay with that!). Many of my students would ridicule me... some of them would ask me to bring them a Y-H. But I guess it became something that identified me as me. I'm not complaining!!The students also wrote me goodbye letters. Many of them were really good. Some of them made me laugh. Actually, a lot of them made me laugh. I had really good students this year. I'm just glad none of them said, "Thank you for leaving!" Hahaha

On April 29, my mama and daddy came to help me move out of my dorm. That was pretty cool. It went a LOT faster than when I moved myself in!! Then, I went to a cookout for the middle grades team to celebrate the completion of our student teaching and upcoming graduation. It was a good time! My best friend in the program, Matt Meckley, told everyone that it would also double as a wedding shower for me. He had a nice little speech to start it. He said that we were all about to graduate and make a big step in our lives, but "one of us will soon be taking another big leap in her life." He said, "she took part in the other celebrations, but was quiet about her own big news, so I thought we should take this time to celebrate with her and show her that we love her." It was sooo sweet! He and one of our instructors had schemed against me to make sure that my favorite kind of cake was there. He sent me a text one day, asking me what it was because he was making his girlfriend a cake. I'm so dumb to subtleties sometimes. It's so not Matt to just up and make a cake. But I didn't think anything of it until Cassi pointed out that there was a big yellow cake with chocolate frosting there! It had to have been one of the best cakes I have ever had the pleasure of eating. I don't have any pictures from that, but it was a really good time. It was the last time we all got to hang out before graduation. These were people I have been close to, up late with, writing papers and lesson plans with, and through hell with for the past two years. They understand what I'm talking about when I start my School-Talk. They understand standards and pacing and classroom management and license and school districts and "they're cutting [blank number of] teaching positions so there is no guarantee that you all will have jobs by August." Five years ago, schools were begging people to become teachers. Now, we almost have to PAY to be teachers. Hopefully, I'll have a job soon. (I will most likely update when I get some good news!!)

What's next? April 30. My mama and one of our close family friends threw me a bridal shower! I don't have any pictures on my laptop, which I'm on now. And there aren't any on Facebook that I can steal (I just got distracted on Fb for about twenty minutes not finding any to post here). When I go to my parents', I'll post some!! Anyway, it was a lot of fun. My parents and both Tony and Deanna helped put together a Wheel of Fortune game! It was probably my favorite part! If you didn't know, I'm a Wheel of Fortune dork and it pains me horribly that I've never been on that show. I just think it's fun! Sometimes, people are amazed when I can solve a puzzle with just a few letters up, and I say, "I'm an English person, I love words!!" I was Vanna White and my mama was Pat Sajak. It was sooooo much fun!

On May 1, some of my favorite girls from church threw me another shower!! The first week of April, I didn't know of any showers being planned for me. That weekend, I had THREE!!! It was beautiful! Brooke, Christy, Tera, Beverly and Fran did a wonderful job of decorating and organizing! Check out Brooke's blog for pictures. It was a great day, made even better when my best friend, Karla, walked in. She left Syracuse, New York the day before and made it in time for the shower.

She totally made my day a little brighter!!

Moving right along... May 6. On my grand-daddy's birthday, I graduated and finally closed the door on my six-year college career. A proud day in the Wilson family... First to graduate college!! I was all good and thinking, "Oh, it's just another graduation, nothing to get all in a tiff about." But when they finally called up Middle Grades (we were next to last, of course!), and we all stood (and finally concealing the fact that my teammates can't count and the team behind me started down the next row before we realized that I was left without a chair - so an usher brought me a chair and I was the oddball sticking out of the nicely organized rows of chairs!!)... Where was I?? Oh. When they called our team, we all stood up and began walking toward the stage. It hit me. I'm graduating college!!!! I was shaking as I walked across the stage, but not too much that I couldn't pump my fist by my side after shaking the Chancellor's hand and getting my diploma cover. Yes!!! It was a wonderful day! Here I am with my school best friend, Matt.

May 7, there was a bachelorette party!! We rented a hotel room in Apex, Karla brought a bunch of snacks, made my favorite cupcakes and brought manicure stuff. It was just me, Karla, Anna (my two MoHs), Brittany and Rachel (little sister/bridesmaid and her friend). We had SOOO much fun. We went to TGIFridays for dinner... hilarity ensued! Then, we stopped by Redbox and Dunkin Donuts for milkshakes. We got back to the hotel, painted nails, enjoyed ice cream and more cupcakes, and watched a couple of movies. It was a great night, just what I needed!

May 14, Blair and I went to a wedding for a couple of friends. It was an outdoor wedding with good food and good music. It rained and we saw a little bit of lightening, but that didn't hold back the party for too long. It was also really cool to tell people that we would be getting married in just a week!

The happy couple, Richard and Jennifer, dancing back down the aisle!

And now, the day you've all been waiting for... May 21 - the day I married my best friend!! Stay tuned for another blog dedicated 100% to our wonderful wedding! I have many pictures and a lot to say about it!! Thanks for reading my long-winded, late-night/early-morning rant of an update. I understand if I were better at keeping this up, I wouldn't have to write long updates. But you know how I am... and the lack of internet at our house doesn't help matters. We'll work on it!

Rae-inspired Blog

2011-03-28T17:48:00.004-04:00

I love to read Rae Francis' blogs. She always makes me smile. This is why I also love to talk to her, travel with her and just know her in general. She is an wonderful girl growing into an amazing woman. I know that Marc and Joan are so proud of her! She is one of the people I am thankful for and this is my note to her (if you listened to Shay on Sunday, you know what I'm talking about). Thanks, Rae, for being a great example of what it looks like to truly follow God and for always smiling. It's infectious and I can't help but to smile when I see you. :)Rae's blogs often consist of lists of things she loves or quick "snippets" of her thoughts on a subject (or many subjects) or something along those lines. She usually includes fantastic photos of whatever she's talking about. But the thing I love most about her blog is that it's always positive. When I read it, I can really hear her saying these things in her upbeat and happy voice. And they always give me something to think about, whether it's a Bible verse or how to get more involved with my photography or that I should be more appreciative of what I have.

This last point is what I plan on doing here today. The last few blogs I've posted have been long ramblings about all the things I have to do and how it's stressing me out. Rae reminds me that I have so much to be grateful and thankful for. So this is my list:

I'm thankful for... Rae Francis and her infectious positivity and understated encouragements!

I'm thankful for... GOD! That He has a plan for me and

my life (something that I don't have to sit down on Sunday evenings to do myself). That He is patient with me and takes me back every time. That He loves me so much that He would send His one and only son to die for me. That He knows everything about me; every hair on my head (I often think of this and just cannot wrap my head - or hair - around it. I mean, I don't even know every hair on my head!!). That He hears me and answers my prayers (in His way, in His time). That He is here, no matter what, and He will always be here. Who else can say that?

I'm thankful for... the internet and its endless resources when I'm tired of thinking for myself.

I'm thankful for... my wonderful parents. They are supportive and caring and want the best for me. They love me for me, even when I'm being a pain. They remind me who I am whenever I forget. I'm getting married this summer (in less than 60 days!!) and I'm taking that boy's last name, but I will forever be a Wilson, and I couldn't be any more proud of that!

This is my 2nd favorite picture of me and my daddy. The first favorite is from when I was a wee little tot and I don't have it on my computer. :(

Most pictures I have with my mama now usually include microphones! She sings pretty! :)

I'm thankful for... Casting Crowns. My absolute favorite band. I don't think they've come out with a song that I don't love. Ironically, I still don't have any of their CDs. Weird!

I'm thankful for... K-Love for playing Casting Crowns when I need it! (and other great songs that remind me of who God is and what He's done for us)

I'm thankful for... my UNCG supervisor. If you read my last blog or have talked to me recently about my student teaching, you know that I've been struggling in it. Let me just tell you, if it weren't for my supervisor, I can promise you that I wouldn't still be a student teacher. I can't imagine what I'd be doing, but I know it wouldn't be this. He has faith in me and lets me (and everyone else) know it. He won't let me forget that he knows I can do this. He also doesn't accept my crap when I try to slack off. He knows when I'm doing my best and will only accept that. Great man, he is!

I'm thankful for... teacher workdays! Tomorrow is one. Our first break in a LONG time. We had a half day a while ago, but it was so long ago that I don't even know when it was. I'm still gonna try to get there when I usually do (around 8) because my daddy will be in town and I plan on having lunch with him. :)

I'm thankful for... not getting a parking ticket when I parked outside my dorm all last week. I hope I didn't just jinx myself because I fully intend on parking out there this week, as long as there is a parking spot.

I'm thankful for... Karla not dying in a car accident last week. She's my best friend, my soul sister. She's in New York right now, planning on being home mid-April. If I could drive up there right now and bring her home, I absolutely would!! I miss her and am so grateful that she wasn't hurt anymore than she was in the accident.

I'm thankful for... cheeseburgers. It's dinner time!

This is just INSANITY!

2011-03-24T21:00:00.004-04:00

There are many things that can be placed into the "insanity" category for me.

First and foremost, how long it's been since I've posted a blog. I'm terrible, I know. So if anyone still reads this, I so appreciate it! :)
Then, there's the fact that it's March 24. March. 24. Less than two months away from May 21. That would be my wedding day! I'm very excited, but beginning to feel the stress coming. I am naturally a procrastinator. Wedding planning isn't really the time you want to be a procrastinator. We only have a few things left to do, but they're pretty BIG things to take care of, that probably should have been done by now. They will get done. They HAVE to!
It's also March 24. Closer to April 15, which is technically the last day of my student teaching. Yay! I could devote an entire blog about on this subject. I'll keep it confined to a paragraph... or, really, a sentence (which may turn into a string of seemingly unrelated words that only fit together in the context of my head). Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!! Frustrated and excited and love the kids, even though they are weird and crazy, feel stifled, no confidence, ready for my own class, stressful, really enjoy the good days, like to freak the kids out by smiling at weird times or dancing. There is a chance that I may miss some of them right after I leave because many of them are funny and incredibly smart and downright cool kids. There aren't any that I genuinely cannot stand to be around, which is good. I will be happy to not have the part-time responsibility for them anymore. That sounds weird, but I am just ready for my own class and my own kids. That will suffice for this topic.
I could not be anymore frustrated with the house hunt situation Blair and I are in. We find something we like and something always happens. I know that if it's meant to be, it will be. I understand that. That's how I got him. :) I'm not frustrated with losing any particular house... I'm frustrated with searching and looking and clicking and being in Greensboro while trying to find a home in Durham.
There are 75 gazillion things that I'm supposed to be thinking of while I'm teaching. Content, management, motivation, remediation, rigor, extension, missing work, bathroom breaks, discipline cards, phone calls to parents, documentation, meetings, and so many more. There are 239 million things to think of when I leave school. Grading, house search, what shoes for the bridesmaids, how are we going to set up the stage for the ceremony, graduation announcements, breathe, flowers, cake, bridal shower and bachelorette party, when is Karla (MOH) coming home, am I going to see my parents this weekend, when will I see Blair, how am I going to afford gas this week, babysitting, eat dinner, what to pack for lunch, plans for tomorrow... I NEED A SPRING BREAK!!! Guess when Guilford County's spring break starts? April 20th. After I'm done teaching. How did I ever think I could get all this stuff planned and done and taken care of and paid for when I'm supposed to be teaching for 15 straight weeks with maybe two days off??
Are you there God? It's me, Jordan. I've been living in the Book of James since Metamorphosis. I don't remember how I stumbled upon it, but I decided Saturday morning of that weekend that I would read through James. Then, I realized why I was reading it. I'm living it.

Jordan, trials and tribulations test your faith. Tests of faith build perseverance. Ask for wisdom without doubt and I will provide it. Be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger. Jordan, there is a house for you. You will survive student teaching. Delegate wedding work. Be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger (frustration). Worry and frustration occur when you aren't trusting in Me, when you aren't praying and fully giving these things to Me. Surrender, baby girl. Surrender to Me! (Remember, God calls me "baby girl" when He speaks to me)

If you aren't exhausted reading this by now, you will be with this last point. I've also decided to work the 60 day INSANITY program, since my wedding is in less than 60 days. I want to be around where I was when I bought my dress (after a summer of working out - Insanity and Zumba pretty consistently - and 2 weeks in Slovakia, running around, sweating and a more healthy appetite - like, STOP eating when I'm FULL!). I'm not that far from my goal, so that makes me happy. But the workout certainly lives up to its name. I'm not actually doing it everyday yet. I've done it twice this week, Monday and yesterday. Tonight, I went to Zumba at the Rec Center, so I'm still working out, but I kinda have to work my body up to full time INSANITY again.

I was going to say more things, but my brain is fried and my eyes are tired. I guess the point of this blog was to say, "Sorry for not blogging for a while. This is what's going on. PLEASE pray for my sanity and the 37 ka-jillion things that I have to get done/think about every day and my perseverance and motivation to keep working out because I know I feel so much better when my body is in shape!" K thanks. I love you, whoever is reading this!! :)

Once again...

2010-12-01T20:31:00.004-05:00

I find myself here, catching up after long break... while there is something else I should be doing. But there is a reason I'm here. I was looking through some teacher blogs to do some research and I just found myself here! See. I am logical at times! So here's the quick run down on my update.I'm almost done with undergrad classes!! I'm so ready to be done with papers and quizzes and (required) blogs and homework and (required) reading and so forth and so on. I'm doing pretty well... averaging Bs, I'd say. I should be getting an A in one of those classes, but I haven't been putting forth my full potential. Definitely passing, so I'm all good.

I went on another wonderful trip to Slovakia this past summer. It was an entirely different experience from last year, but I loved it for sure!

I discovered that I suck at virtually every sport known to man but I had so much fun playing with all the kids anyway. Staying in the hotel in Bratislava with no air conditioning was preparing me for living in my no a/c dorm this year. And getting to know our missionary family, the Holloways, was an added blessing! I remember the last thing Sonya said to me before we left. She whispered in my ear as I hugged her, "Go, make a difference. And stop crying!" I probably didn't stop crying until we got on the plane. I was happy to come home, don't g

et me wrong. But there's definitely a large piece of my heart still in Slovakia. I hope to go back sooooon!!

I came home, had some good Chik-fil-A and the next day, Blair proposed to me! Oh, and I said yes!! Actually, after a few seconds of stunned silence, I said, "Yeah!" I had to convince myself that it was actually happening!

Ummm.... OH! I was all worried about living in a dorm (the one with no a/c) with a roommate that I didn't know. Turns out, she's great! Erin is an elementary ed major, so we already have a lot in common there. She's really laid back and chill. We've never had an argument, had a couple of bug scares (which is kinda funny when she screams), eat together a lot, and laugh a WHOLE LOT!!

Well, I guess that's it for now. I hope to update again soon, with more pictures. :) Off to schoolwork I go!

This is just ridiculous

2010-04-29T04:08:00.003-04:00

I have to rant for a bit... and it's 4 in the morning and there's no one I can talk to and get all this out, so here's a bit of entertainment for my readers...

I'm sooooo ready to be out of college. Again, I'll say that it's 4 AM. There's only one reason I'm ever up at 4 in the morning: I haven't gone to bed yet. And further, now in my "grown up" Christian life, there's only one reason I haven't gone to bed yet at 4 AM: School work... more specifically, usually writing a paper (although I do admit that there are those nights when I get on a TV show kick where I'll watch episode after episode of something - a few summers ago, it was Grey's Anatomy... earlier this semester, it was ABC Family's Greek).

Why, oh why, do I do this to myself? I'm been working on this paper since 11:15PM. It's due at 9:30AM. I finished 90% of the reading around 6:30 yesterday and I wrote a ROCKIN outline to make the paper-writing process much smoother. And yet, here I am, five hours after starting that process, just finishing the third page (required length is 8-10 pages including bibliography). If I wasn't so ADD, I'm pretty sure I could have knocked it out in about two hours. Alas, I've been on Facebook twice now... once, I clicked on Games, thinking that it would be a good idea to play a game of whatever Facebook games are. My computer, however, really didn't agree as it did not even try to load the page. FINE! I went and got my iPod and played solitaire, or attempted, rather. You'd think that a game, in which you are the only player, you're pretty guaranteed to win. Not so much, in my case.

Which brings me here. I haven't posted anything since February, and that was a sad one. Oh. Mama and Daddy got a new dog, by the way. Kinda weirds me out because they got the same exact kind of dog that Viki was. Miniature Eskimo Spitz. Her name is Cotton and she likes to attack me. Seriously. Her teeth put a dent in my fingernail. She growls and runs after me, barking. Read that sentence again. She runs after me. As in, I'm walking back to my room, minding my own happy business, not being threatening in any kind of way, and she runs up on me, barking and snapping those teeth. Scares the ever living out of me! Every time. She likes to attack me.

Totally unrelated (which I think is my new favorite phrase- I use it ALL the time... you know how random I can be), I'm making progress on lowering my BMI and weight. My goal is to be at a healthy BMI, around 22.8 something or other. I have 6 pounds to go! Having a definite date set for my goal is incredibly helpful. My bestest friend, Cecilia, is marrying her best friend on June 26th, just under two months from now, and I am her Maid of Honor, naturally. She picked out a beautiful dress for me and I ordered it and received it and tried it on and ... well, decided that I could stand to shed a few pounds. Not many, but just enough to fit into the dress comfortably. It was a little more snug than I would prefer when I got it. I have not tried it on again since then. Maybe I'll do that this weekend.

Man, I don't want to do this paper. BORING!!!

Okay, I'm done ranting about school and myself. I hope you at least got a chuckle out of reading this. If not, check out some of these pictures I took for one of my projects (Culture of a WiiMaster) :)
Bowling. My 2nd favorite (after tennis).
Doing some yoga to stretch and strengthen my muscles. Dance pose is still kinda new to me.
Skateboarding. I realized that I make a lot of funny faces when I'm Wii-ing. No one has ever told me this because no one has ever joined me since I got my own Wii for Christmas. :(
This is totally my favorite picture from this day! I was doing the flying chicken target game thing. Sooooo much fun! I bet you laughed at this picture. It's okay. I laughed too!

It is now 4:36AM.
Must. Finish. Paper.

Sad day for the Wilsons

2010-02-18T22:28:00.003-05:00

Some of you may know from Facebook that Tuesday night, my mama and daddy decided to put our dog, Viki, to sleep. She was 15 years old, had tumor masses on her bladder and spleen, and she was losing her sight and hearing. It was a difficult decision for my parents to make, but she was in such bad condition that she could hardly even move and she would only lay on the floor and whimper. It's easy for me to distance myself from the pain she was in because I didn't see her much, just on the weekends. I'm sad for the loss of our faithful friend and family member, but I'm also sad that my parents are so hurt and sad too. I had to leave last night when they started talking about her and tears began welling up in my mom's eyes. I could tell that my daddy was trying his hardest not cry too. I hope that I didn't come off as insensitive by leaving so quickly. But the one thing that I cannot handle more than losing someone in the family is seeing my parents cry. My parents are liek superheroes to me. When my daddy rear-ended another car, my mama was livid (money and insurance reasons--no one was injured, by the way), and I let out a quick laugh, but on the inside, I was sad. My daddy, my superman, is human and flawed. I remember the day mama told me that Viki had tumors. She could hardly speak she was so choked up. I felt the tears coming as soon as I saw her red eyes. It made me sad to know that Viki was sick, but even worse to think about how sad it would make my parents.

Dear Viki,
You were always a great companion, even when I didn't think you liked me or when you stared at me and it kinda creeped me out. You made Mama and Daddy immeasureably happy, usually when us kids made them angry. You were a great listener, mostly because you never interrupted or told me something I didn't want to hear or talked about yourself. In fact, you'd really just roll over and let me rub your belly when I was venting about my teenaged, adolescent woes. It was nice. You were definitely a great source of entertainment! Sometimes it felt wrong to be so amused by you and your lack of sense... not that I really have room to talk. I'm pretty sure I've run into that wall just as many, if not more, times as you did. The house will feel empty and quiet without you, and you can never be replaced. But to know that you are now running around without pain gives me comfort. I just hope that that will give me enough comfort and strength to take care of mama and daddy the way you did. I love you, fuzzy one!

Back in the Boro again!

2010-01-26T21:55:00.002-05:00

I wish I had some pictures to put up here, but I don't. Sad. But I did want to update this for my fellow blog stalkers! I'm back at school and back in my grandma's den (which is frigidly cold right now! brrrrr!!!) I started a new internship at a new school with a new teacher and new students. I'm in a 6th grade language arts class. The school is really new, like only 3ish years old, so it's full of new technology, environment friendly features, and carpeted classrooms. Cool!! I'm enrolled in a political science class that scares the ever-living out of me, an online class that I keep forgetting about and a sociology class that I absolutely love! The professor has the timing and delivery of a stand-up comic, so things are never boring! This semester, I'm in my Language Arts methods class to teach me how to teach LA. Last semester was social studies and it totally put a fire under my love for history, and now I'm thinking that I would love to teach social studies, maybe more than English! Hopefully, this semester will even it out and I'll be happy with whatever position I find myself in for the fall of next year! Oh my goodness, I'll be graduating next spring and out in the real world in only a year and a half! Time sure does fly when you're in college for five years! Hahaha
On a more serious note, I am, just like most of us, deeply saddened about the tragedy in Haiti. I've been thinking and praying, hurting and loving since I heard about it the night it happened. It's hard to remember our good and faithful Lord when so many people are in pain, suffering from hunger and thirst, longing for their lost loved ones, the destruction of their homes, schools, hospitals and churches. Thankfully, church isn't just a building. I was thinking last night about bad things that happen on castastrophic levels (because I'm currently reading through Jeremiah, in which God is raining down His wrath on the people of Israel and Judah). I remembered Haiti, Hurricane Katrina, the tsunami of '05(?)... Even through these disasters, we can still (and should still) praise God. I remembered how silly it is that we worry about things because He's got it all in His hands (didn't mean to reference the song, but it works). He makes these things happen for a reason. We don't know the reasons, but we have to trust that He's got it. It's heartbreaking, nonetheless. Losing friends and family is never an easy thing to do, and we have to believe that our friends in Haiti who lost their lives found themselves at the gates of Heaven.
.....I went all A.D.D. and totally forgot what else I was going to say. I guess my point is that God knows everything that goes on in this world. He makes the sun rise, the wind blow and the rain fall. If it's an earthquake He wants, an earthquake will shake the earth. But it's all to remind us of who is in control and that He is the most wonderful, merciful, wrathful, graceful, loving Father that we have ever known. We can only pray that the lost souls of Haiti find their way into the light of Christ, a place of forgiveness and comfort, healing and strength.
Remember: "We are to love one another, for love comes from God" ~1 John 4:7

Been A While

2010-01-03T22:49:00.005-05:00

It's been over three months since I've blogged. So much has gone on. I had a wonderful semester at UNCG (two As and two Bs), as well as a first internship at Guilford Middle School. I had an awesome OSTE. She is a third year teacher, teaching one language arts class and two social studies classes. My two concentrations. Awesome! She graduated from UNCG in 2007. She even tried out for the last cycle of America's Next Top Model when they allowed short girls to try out... we've never measured but I think I may have an inch on her, and it's hard to find people shorter than me! Anyway, we had a fun semester together. It's good to develop relationships early in the game to have plenty of resources later. I do admit that there were some days when I wanted to change my major because I thought that there was no way I could be a teacher. But I survived, and in the end, I love it. I love teaching and I can't wait to have my own classroom!!
The first weekend in November, I went to Boone with my wonderful Sunday School class. We rented out a beautiful cabin and had an awesome weekend, eating good food, playing catch phrase (girls, we have much work to do!), enjoying a good old fashioned Mountaineer butt-kicking football game, and just spending time in fellowship with each other. I didn't take a whole lot of pictures... Christy got a ton on her blog though. But here are a few.

The girls at the game
The view from the back porch
The upper back porch... yes, there were two porches... the bottom one had the hot tub that was definitely empty that weekend.
The beautiful sunset at the end of the wonderful weekend. I can't wait to do it again!

I had a great Thanksgiving! Everyone showed up at Memaw's and we had some gooooooood food! I love turkey!The Wilson clan

With the most recent addition, our precious baby Cadence
Jamie and Bobbie with her kids and Memaw
Jonathan and Amy with her boys, Cadence and Memaw
Me and Blair with Memaw and Uncle Randy... no kids for us!
The boys with Memaw
The girls with Memaw... love that smile on Cadence's face!!

December seemed to fly by! December 1st was another birthday for both of my memaws (grandmas) and the three year anniversary of me and Blair's first date. December 2nd was the second anniversary of my baptism and would have been Cecilia's little brother's 12th birthday. I always think about him on his birthday, even though I never got the chance to meet him. He has a large part in getting me where I am now with the Lord.
December 8th was my last day of the semester. It was a stressful day, but I got through it! On the 13th, I took myself off my mom's phone plan and joined Blair's... that's a two year commitment! We were having a conversation about it, he said something about it costing a hundred bucks or something to terminate my phone line and I said, "So in the eyes of Verizon, we're like married!" We're dorks. It's okay, though. At least we know it. The week after that, we started Durham Christmas Pageant rehearsals because the shows were on the 19th and 20th. I made it to both the rehearsals, but at 2am on the 19th, I woke up with a horrible cramp in my stomach. I went to the bathroom because I felt like I was going to throw up, but the cramp spread through my entire upper body and the pain was so bad that I passed out. Scared the ever living out of Blair. I came to and proceeded to throw up for the next five hours. It was awful! Needless to say, I wasn't in the Pageant that day. I stayed in bed all day, finally ate around 6, went back to bed shortly after and made it to both church and the Pageant on Sunday. Then, I couldn't believe that there were only 5 days left until Christmas. I worked and shopped and wrapped presents and actually got to go to a Christmas party (I had to work through the first three that I wanted to go to). Christmas came. Everyone made it to our house. We ate some good food, enjoyed watching Cadence stumble around in her toddler swagger and generally had a good time with each other. Of course, someone thought it would be a good idea to give the three boys Nerf guns on a nasty, rainy day... so they were running around, shooting each other and whoever or whatever else was in the way. That wasn't my favorite part, but other than that, it was a good day. Didn't take any pictures on that day... Mama did though. I'm not on her computer though... :(
New Year's Eve was nice. I worked until about 5, met Blair at his work and we went over to his friend's place for a while. We watched Burn After Reading (really weird, but Brad Pitt is HILARIOUS!) and then left around 10 to avoid all the crazies. We got to his house, watched tv until the ball dropped in Times Square, played Yahtzee, then he played his Xbox while I played a game on his computer. I went home to bed around 1. It was a nice and quiet evening. January 1st was officially me and Blair's third anniversary. We spent it by going out to lunch at Crabtree with Leslie, Cecilia and Bart, exchanging one of his Christmas gifts (extra soft hoodie!)... and then I had to work... Yay! I worked until about 4:30 yesterday and had to hurry to Blair's house and change clothes so we could get to his family reunion at the Homestead. We got there just in time to order! Good thing because I was starving!! We had a good time. We went to church this morning. It was an awesome message by Dr. Marc Francis (whose birthday is today). We had lunch with half of Ridgecrest at Bojangle's (slight exaggeration) then went to the mall to waste some time. I needed a new shirt for work and he wanted to stare at new tvs. He keeps saying he's going to buy a new one, but everytime he picks one out, he backs off and says that he shouldn't spend the money, which is true. He's got the money saved up though. He just doesn't want to spend it. Vicious cycle. It's a good thing. I tell him that he should be looking at houses, not tvs. It seems as though he may actually be listening to me. Anywho, just wanted to update the blog for my lovely followers. I'm a horrible blogger, I know. I'll try to be better. New Year's resolution! Happy 2010!!!!

4 less teeth

2009-09-26T10:20:00.002-04:00

I finally got my wisdom teeth removed yesterday. Three years after they started coming in. I blame Blair for that because they didn't start hurting until we started dating. Haha. He's really great though. He took me to my appointment, but had to leave before it was over to get to work on time. I should have asked if he could come in with me at least until I was well under the anesthesia (which didn't take long) because I started to freak out a little (until I was under). When I came to, which is a little fuzzy, I vaguely remember hyperventilating and then crying because I didn't know where I was or anyone around me. But then my mama came into the recovery room and I felt better! We went to pick up my prescription (and one for Viki, our sickly doggie), and some KFC cuz I wanted macaroni and cheese, mashed taters and a biscuit. Mama got some grilled chicken, which I ate a little much later. Kentucky Grilled Chicken is great! Who knew?
Well, anywho, I'm sitting here on the couch, catching up on all my DVRed movies and shows with an ice pack on my face and oxycodone killing the pain, which there isn't much of... because of the ice and oxycodone, I think. My parents are leaving here soon for the BarnBustin outdoor camping party thing that we used to go to all the time. My bestest friend will be coming over in a few hours. I haven't seen her in a few weeks and I miss her tons. And then, I get to see my wonderful boyfriend this evening after he gets done cutting grass and doing yardwork (and making me some money! Hahaha). He didn't come see me last night because he didn't get off work until 9:15, so he wouldn't have gotten out here until 11 or so, which is when i went to bed anyway. He's still wonderful though.
I wish Michael Buble could come and sing at my wedding.
Hahaha. That has nothing to do with my wisdom teeth except for the fact that I just finished watching The Wedding Date (cute movie) in which it ends with Michael crooning over the stereo for the bride and groom. On to My Fake Fiance. I DVRed ABC Family's wedding weekend. I love weddings! I'm a dork. And I think it's time for a nap.

~Jordan

Little of this, little of that, it's 1:30am... It happens!

2009-09-11T01:31:00.005-04:00

I could (should) be sleeping, or, at the very least, reading for my class tomorrow. Alas, I am here. It's been two weeks since I've been able to get on here because I can't set up a wireless network here (without it costing a $40 installation fee and an extra 10 bucks on the bill each month, not to mention the headache of dealing with Time Warner again). I randomly decided to try a network tonight and WAH-LAH, here I am!

So, I'm getting back into the swing of things at school (finally). I got my placement for my internship. I am in a 7th grade social studies and language arts class! This semester, my focus is on social studies, but my OSTE (on-site teacher educator) informed me today when I met her that she teaches both subjects this year. I'm really excited about it!! I'll be starting next week, going all day on Mondays and Wednesdays until I get a job (anybody know of any part-time jobs in the Greensboro areas??), so I'll get my required 100 hours done quickly, and having plenty over for extra points on my final grade (YES!). My communications class isn't as scary as I thought it would be when I first looked at the syllabus, and my sociology class is awesome (minus the fact that it gets a little depressing at times--Family violence tends to do that). One interesting fact (and yet, probably not quite surprising for those of you who really know me) about the soc class... it's my first one on Tuesdays and Thursdays and out of the six classes we've had so far, I've been late to six of them. I just can't seem to get out of the house and on the road when I need to. Next week will be better! (I say that every week)

I want to plug in a shout out of sorts (even though I know he'll never read this) to my fabulous, pain in the butt, boyfriend who had a birthday this past Monday. He got to experience having a birthday on a holiday, which meant that the banks were closed and he didn't have to work... something I'm quite used to :) So we went to Southpoint and did a little shopping and then went back to the house for relaxing (and probably napping). I took him out to dinner at Texas Roadhouse where one of my good friends from Tripp's now works. Happy birthday Blair!! I love you! By the way, he's 27 now, but don't make fun of him for being old cuz you'll be there one day too. Ha!

And I have permission to post a few of the engagement pictures of Cecilia and Bart, my best friend/sister and her fiance. So here are some of the favorites. Keep in mind that this was my first time doing anything like this, so any suggestions, critiques, comments would be greatly appreciated!

They do both have really pretty eyes! This was Cecilia's idea.She wanted to do something cool with the ring... This is what I came up with.
Beautiful moment captured forever!
This is one of her favorites. Mine too, but I can't decide if I like it better in monochrome or color.
Hands...Feet...Another moment caught...It was a great experience. I can't wait to do it again. Oh, and I have to credit Chad and Christy for letting me borrow their excellent camera. I have a digital camera, but not one for (semi)professional(ish) work. So a big thanks to them and a huge thanks to Cecilia and Bart for being my very first clients!

Back to the Boro

2009-08-24T21:37:00.004-04:00

School started today! I only had one class, but even that wasn't a whole class... It was a welcome to the education program, a little sparkling cider and a huge group picture (that I'm definitely getting a copy of whenever it comes out). We divided into our respective groups. There was only one group for middle school teachers, and our leader wasn't there, so we met with the dean of the program and he told us as much as he knew, which wasn't much. He did say that our internship won't start for two weeks, so unless our leader gives us something else to do during those times, I'll keep my happy butt at home... no doubt, doing school work and working part time. My work load this semester is going to be horrendous, and I'll probably cry many days out of the week, but I will survive because I've got a great team of supporters behind me!
So, it's great to be back. Things are much different from the past four years... namely, my bestest friend isn't here with me. It's weird, but she's doing awesome things in her life. And I'll adjust to the changes... I learned from a recent trip to Slovakia how to be flexible!!
I wish I had a picture of me at school or looking somewhat scholarly... but I do not. So I stole one from the school's website of my favorite place on campus, the Elliot University Center.
(that's where the food court is...) hahaha

Hunter's Hope Medical and Family Symposium 2009

2009-08-18T16:52:00.010-04:00

I just got back from the annual symposium that I've gone to since 11th grade with my best friend, Cecilia.

Back story: Cecilia's little brother, David Aaron, died in 1999 from a leukodystrophy called Krabbe (crab-A) Disease. It is an inherited neurodegenerative lysosomal enzyme disorder affecting the central and peripheral nervous systems. For more details about the disease, you can visit www.huntershope.org. They explain it way better than I can. Jim Kelly, former Buffalo Bill quarterback and Hall of Famer, and his wife, Jill, also had a child with the disease. Named for their son, Hunter, they started the Hunter's Hope organization to reach out to families to give them support and love, to doctors to encourage research and to the public to spread awareness. So, 12 years ago, they decided to bring everyone together for a symposium; to let the families meet other families, talk about their experiences and encourage each other, and to let the families and doctors all get to together to talk about the developments in Universal New Born Screening, and to just learn more about the medical side of leukodystrophies. So there's that.
Cecilia invited me to go with her so she wouldn't be lonely. I had been introduced to the world of Krabbe soon after we solidified our best friend status in 8th grade, so I already knew a little about it and had met a few families who had come into Durham for appointments at Duke. The kids dug a hole in my heart that has only grown since then.
The symposium is one of the ways that I have been able to get involved and lend my helping hand. For the past few years, Cecilia and I have collaborated and put together a slideshow of all the kids for the families to see. It's one simple way to remind everyone what they are there for. The parents, grandparents, and friends always appreciate it, though we can't rightly take credit for it. This year, one of the fathers asked us who did the most work on the project and Cecilia appropriately answered, "The kids." Because, again, they are who the symposium is all about. We just put pictures and names and dates and music together. I'm not sure if I would be able to post the slideshow on here, so if not, I'll add a link to google videos, where it will be posted shortly. I will, however, add some of the pictures that I took this past week.
This is our mandatory beginning-of-the-trip picture!

Here are the doctors in their meeting...Here they are, paying attention and taking notes.
The fabulous fireplace in the main lodge.
And one of the dining rooms...

Pretty flowers in the Butterfly Garden (but I never saw a butterfly...)

They have these swings placed all along the trails. On the other side of the hill is a beautiful view of the lake...
...which kind of looks like this.

The family room that Cecilia and I put together
The pictures are a little dark, but the Christmas lights wouldn't have the same effect the the overhead lights on...The 2009 Hunter's Hope bear, Beautiful and Baby Bella, sticking out of Cecilia's bagTwo super cute twins, sisters of a Krabbe boy who was unable to attend due to a bout of pneumonia.We had face painting... Two of the boys, John and Mikey, got green lizards on their faces.On Saturday, after families and friends wrote messages on the balloons for the kids who have gone before us, we released them and prayed that they reach them in Heaven.After the balloon release, we began our walk.Madison being pushed by her grandmother and followed by her mom.Dalton being helped by his step-dad and followed by his mom.Chance with his mom and grandmother.Sandrine being pushed by her mom.
Laura being helped by her dad, followed by her mom and sister.Laura coming down the finish line.Another view of the beautiful lake and the Lakeside Pavilion where we ate lunch and dinner.Villa de Cecilia e Jordan (I have no idea what language that is, or if it's even a language... it just sounds cool... I think)
It was a good week, indeed!

Why am I doing this again?

2009-08-18T15:08:00.000-04:00

Oh yeah... Christy talked me into it... It may take me a while to get it going, so be patient.
I don't have too much going on right now... I'm being lazy today because I just got back from my New York trip, and I don't have to work until tomorrow. School starts next Monday... I'm a little sad that my summer is coming to a close, but very excited that I got into the Teacher's Academy!! I've been trying to get my stuff together so I can get in for two years now! I still don't know where I'm living yet, I'm shopping for my books, but I can't buy them until I get my refund check. It's a little stressful, but I'll make it!
I'm gonna put up a picture here, just to see if I know how to do it...
That's my beautiful baby niece and I sleeping on the living room floor... but it's supposed to be horizontal.
But this one is right...
I don't get it.. Help?