Fun February

I've realized that I post about once or twice a month. Is that a big no-no as a blogger? I don't really know what the appropriate amount of blogging is. Is it just supposed to be consistent? Well, if that's the case I guess I should meet my February quota...wait February is over, you say??? Argh. Well, I will dedicate this post to the second half of February, since it was a wonderful whirlwind.

Ross and I were able to host 3 sets of visitors in February. Ross's roommate from college and his fiance from Chicago visited us for a weekend. We were able to hangout in downtown Dallas and visit the Nasher Sculpture Garden, Dallas Museum of Art, and the Crow museum of Asian Art. We hit up all of our favorite restaurants and coffee shop, The Pearl Cup. Can you say yummmm? :) If you frequent the Pearl Cup, don't you just love the vibe there? So chill, funky, and artsy all wrapped into one! The Pearl Latte is to die for! It's apparently a special/secret recipe and if you haven't tried it yet, you absolutely must!

One of the sculptures in the Nasher garden: "Walking to the Sky"

Mid-month we were graced with a visit from our friend Guillaume from Paris. This is Ross's buddy he met while studying abroad. We ate 3 full meals of Mexican while Guillaume was here and had a "Crepe Party" in honor of his French-ness. We had a blast showing him Texas. He was only upset that we didn't make it to a shooting range so he could fire a gun. He felt that would be the ultimate Texas experience.

Guillaume and Ross making crepes for the party.

This past weekend, my lovely sister flew in for a short weekend to visit us and run in the Cowtown 10K with us. We also had a blast even though we were sore and exhausted for most of the visit. Besides the experience of running 6.2 miles with my sis, the other highlight was having her come to school with me on Friday. It was so fun having her there to meet my students and get to know them. She LOVED them and thought they were so sweet and adorable. Obviously, they had her fooled. Only kidding!!! I think they are precious too.

Our other exciting news from February is that we started a small group/bible study at our house for young married couples at our church. We've been a part of a small group/bible study for the past couple of years and our group recently decided to split up into 3 groups in order to accommodate the growing number of young married couples in our church. So, Ross and I decided that we could take a group. We were sad at first to disband our group that we had grown to love so much, but we are excited for this new venture. Both Ross and I felt led to do this in order to reach out and connect with other couples at our church who may not feel as connected to the body. We were blessed so much with rich and genuine friendships by being able to be in a couple's small group and hope that we can provide that opportunity for other couples who are looking to connect with others in the church and work on their marriages at the same time.

And, there it is...the month of February all rolled into one blog. How'd ya like that?

Prayer in School

Since Ross and I were in Illinois for Christmas we missed the white Christmas in Dallas, but little did I know we would have a White Valentine's Weekend!! And yes...I am starting the weekend early because I was just informed that our school is cancelled for tomorrow, yippee!! No school Friday and no school Monday for Presidents Day!

I just want to share a cute little story about something that happened at school today that just made my week. :)

Today at school we showed our parents how much we love them by having a "We Love our Parents Party". Strange name for a party, I know, but I didn't come up with it...it was school-wide. The kids and I had been preparing crafts and snacks for this party all week. We had the picture frames painted, the Valentine Hearts made, , our special song was perfected, and the sugar cookies were all ready to be iced. All we had to do now was pass the time until 2:00 when the parents were supposed to show up. I decided about an hour after lunch that we needed to take a little quiet/rest time so we wouldn't be too restless for the party. As we all cuddled up together (my 5 little boys and I) for a rest, one student asked if he could say a prayer for all of us. Of course, I said "that would be a great idea". And he proceeded: "Dear Lord Jesus, Thank you for my mommy and daddy and for letting them come to my school for the party, Amen.". And as simple as that was, it was the most precious and unexpected thing! All of the students got quiet (very unusual) and listened. Then another student said can I pray now? Then he bowed his head, and said some prayers under his breath and ended with a resounding AMEN! (As you are reading this...remember that I don't teach at a Christian school.) Then each of the students asked for their turn...however the rest of the "prayers" started with "Once upon a time..." and ended up being about Scooby Doo and Mario and Sonic. Nonetheless, they all just made my day! How precious are my little preschoolers??

Have a wonderful WHITE weekend!

The big things in life.

Hello bloggers. Once again it's been awhile to say the least, but I'm trying and that counts for something.

This has been a pretty crazy 2 weeks for me and my family. We started off our 2nd week of the new year with a bang at church with our Annual Corporate Fast. Since Ross and I have moved to Dallas this has always been a cherished time as we attempt to start the new year off on the right foot, evaluate our lives, and get things in order. The word for the week at Trinity Church was EMPOWERED. How awesome is that. We don't want to live mundane lives and call ourselves "Christians" just because we go to church. In the days of the early church, people didn't even call themselves Christians but they were called that by the people who saw them live their lives. It was apparent that those in the early church were followers of Christ...not because they attended church...but because their lives were empowered as they lived out the gospel. Throughout this week we started thinking about what it means to "tear down the walls" of the church and actually BE the church. Anyway, God is showing us some things about himself that are changing us...but that's for another blog another day.

Moving on to Saturday, the last full day of our fast. I woke up around 7 am because I planned to go serve at a place that helps women who have been victims of human-trafficking. I was going to be giving facials, pedicures, and manicures to these women who have been rescued, however God had a different plan in store for me that day. I woke up and was totally sick with a bad head cold among other issues. Shortly after waking I got a call from my mom explaining that my dad had just had a heart attack but was currently stabilized and waiting to be taken by an ambulance to another hospital. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. This type of thing happens to other people...not to my dad. The word "stabilized" just kept ringing in my ears. I decided to forgo the mani/pedi giving and stay at home where I could be on the phone with family members and hear each update as they received word from the doctors. I was able to find a flight home that evening which left me in Dallas and away from my family for the remainder of the morning and afternon which turned out to be the best situation. I was able to start interceding for my dad's physical health, emotional state, and spiritual state. I was able to get healing over the head cold and pray for God to use me once I got home. It was an amazing time of prayer and God gave me such peace that my dad was going to be ok and that he was going to use this incident for his glory. As I departed Dallas, I felt totally empowered to whatever it was God had in store for me in Illinois.

There is so much more to this story, but to keep things short...when I got to the hospital I was able to talk with my dad about God's plan and speak faith over all the fear he was dealing with. For the first time in my life, I prayed outloud with my dad and laid hands on him. I am so thrilled at the way God is moving in my family's life. I can see that God is softening my dad's heart to Him and that he truly does have a plan for my dad's life. I am just clinging to the verse that says that 'your entire household will be saved' (paraphrase).

Thank you Lord for moving mountains and for upholding all your promises. "Ask and it will be given to you, Seek and you will find"

This experience (with the help of my Aunt Jan) helped to remind me that there are Big things in life and there are small things in life. This was obviously a "big thing" and after you experience the "big things" you can start to see how the "small things" aren't really all that 'big' afterall. I just love finding pieces of wisdom when you least expect it. :)

Keep praying for my dad! For God to continue softening his heart both physically and spiritually and for my dad to be free of any fears and anxiety from this experience.

Pondering races for the new year.

It may be just a little early to start talking about new year goals, but a little planning never hurt anyone, so, yes, I am already thinking about what races I want to accomplish in the coming year. I know that I would like to do a 10K this year, since I've never raced that distance before. Additionally I would like to do a spring half-marathon and a couple 5K's. The big question for me is this: Is this the year to complete my lifetime goal of running a full marathon? Hmmm. Now that is something to ponder. Such a big decision and lifestyle of running. I know it takes a lot of dedication to complete a half and to double that distance is pretty gutsy. Is that really something I could do? For now, I think I'm going to go about my training for the 10K and the half, just to see how that goes and if the training becomes too much to handle with my job.

Any suggestions for some fun races?

I am thinking about the Cowtown in Fort Worth for the 10K. Ross has run the Cowtown 5K for the past 2 years with his corporate team. This year his supervisor has the idea that we should round up a team to run the 10K and actually try to win it. I, of course, won't be contributing to the winning result, however I can still be a part of the team.

As for the Half, I am conflicted. The Rock n Roll marathon is in Dallas on March 14, which is SO exciting and I've always wanted to do a Rock n Roll race, however it's the same time as my spring break from school and I really wanted Ross to take me to San Diego for a few days. (We won a 2 night stay at a Hilton in San Diego at his Southwest Holiday party and it expires in April). So, we'll see how that works out. There's always the Go! St. Louis half-marathon in April. That was the race that I first completed 13.1 and will always hold a special place in my heart, however do I really want to do it again? Maybe if my little sis would join me...hint hint.

I've also debated trying a triathlon at some point in my life. I don't know though...swimming is hard and bikes scare me. It would take a lot of convincing for me to attempt this feat. It may be just the thing to prevent the monotony of training. I tend to get so sick of running after training for a big race. Any tips?

In closing, I want to share my favorite Christmas song of the day: The First Noel sung by David Archuleta. Wow. If the birth of Christ alone, hasn't gotten you into the Christmas spirit, this should help. (disclaimer: Jesus really is the only reason for the season, however David may just help you remember that.)

And breathe...

Wow, has it been an eternity since I've posted!? Time really flies!

Well, I've made it half-way through my first year of being a teacher. A few things changed over the past semester. I took a hiatus from two things that I love: blogging and running. When things started getting busy at work, I had to cut some things from my life and those seemed like the only negotiable pasttimes to cut out. However, I am hoping that during the second semester of this school year, the newness of everything won't be so overwhelming and I'll be able to reincorporate both running and blogging into my life. :)

In other news: Christmas is in 3 days! Holy cow! I am so excited. This has been the longest duration of time that I have been away from the homeland (Illinois). Ross and I are flying up north tomorrow night. We'll be spending part of the time with my family in Carrollton and good ol' Nebo and part of the time with his family in Hardin and up on "the hill" at his farm. I am sure this will be a very special Christmas full of fun new memories. I am looking forward to hanging out the morning and afternoon of Christmas Eve with my Pohlman family. Everyone will gather in my parents home and eat a delicious potluck brunch. My favorite is the egg casserole that my aunt Jan brings each year. Buttery deliciousness. :) Christmas Day we will travel over to Pike County to have Christmas dinner (lunch) with my Grandma Sue. I am so happy that Ross's parents are going to join us as well. Then I am guessing that the evening of Christmas day will be spent with Ross's grandparents in Hardin and with Stacy, Jonathan, and Ani when they arrive by car sometime that evening.

I am positive that the highlight of my trip to Illinois will be the time spent with my beautiful sister, Dana. She just arrived back to the states from Italy only yesterday! We have so much to catch up on since we had limited communication over the past several months. I am really looking forward to some late night talks that we are known for having.

I hope that you all have a very blessed Christmas vacation!

A sigh of relief

This Friday I had my first round of Parent/Teacher conferences. I about made myself sick the couple of nights prior just thinking about them and stressing over them. Not only am I responsible for updating the parents on their child's speech and language status and progress, but also their math, reading, behavior, organization, and social skills! I was very nervous to say the least. I basically would just lay in bed praying at night for the Lord to cast out all these negative thoughts and help me to just dwell in Him to get my head to stop reeling. I know that He was definitely looking out for me because everything went pretty smoothly on Friday. I was happy with how things went and know that I will be even better in our January conferences now that I know what to expect and I hopefully won't be as nervous.

Next week we have our first field trip and I'm SO excited! We are going to Owen's Spring Creek Farm in Richardson for a little pumpkin picking, hayrides, and petting zoo action. I LOVE fall and everything that comes with it...except for all the dreary rain days we've had lately. Pumpkins, colored leaves, fresh cool air...mmmmm. Anyway, I think my little nuggets will have a fun time there. I can't wait to take them. :)

Today Ross and I slept in and laid in bed all morning, then went and got Krispy Kreme and coffee and sat out by the pool to soak up some much needed Vitamin D and C. It was amazing. I just LOVE living with my best friend. Today we have a few little errands and tasks to do, but right now he is practicing WICKED (the musical) songs on the piano for me. If you don't know, it's my all-time favorite musical and I enjoy singing the songs all the time. If Ross can learn these songs how much more fun will it be to sing them!! My mom sent me this piano book in the mail today...I think with the intention that I would be able to play the songs. (It said "easy piano" on the front of the book). I guess "easy" is still too hard for me, but I can still practice and in the meantime let Ross learn them. Singing is more fun for me anyway.

Hope you all have a fun filled Fall day!

Ah Ah Ah Ah Stayin' Alive, Stayin' Alive.

That's right, I'm alive. I just survived what may or may not have been the swine flu, but definitely the worst flu I've ever had. I woke up Saturday feeling a little off. I couldn't quite pin it at first...a mild headache and my body just felt a little different. But within a couple hours of being awake, I knew what was happening. The flu was in me and slowly multiplying. Of course, I thought I could fight it off with Vitamin C, Airborne, and green tea, but by that evening I realized it was only getting worse. We canceled all evening and dinner plans, I continued popping vitamins and herbal supplements but to no avail I ended up in bed very early. Sunday got worse and I spent the whole day in bed. Then Monday I succombed to the fact I probably had the flu or something else bad and realized I needed "the drug". So I looked up PrimaCare locations/protocol on the internet. I have heard of these clinics and have always seen them around but never thought I would use one. I actually hate going to the doctor, and therefore don't have a primary care physician. Anyway, I needed some urgent care, since "the drug" is supposed to be taken within 48-72 hours and I was pushing it. So, I checked-in online and showed up to this facility. I watched "Hook" for an hour before getting called back to find out I have Type A flu OR h1n1 since they are indistinguishible with the test I was given. However they are treated the same way, so no big deal I guess. It wasn't until midday Tuesday that my fever finally ceased and I started improving at all. I had a fever over 102 for over 2 days and totally felt like I was continuously being run over by a truck. Well, praise the Lord that all things come to pass, and I can say I survived the flu! After taking 3 days off from work, I was able to return to my little bundles of joy today! I was actually terrified to go back. I didn't think I would be able to handle my class, but the Lord never gives us more than we can handle, and I only had 4 kiddos today. (Thanks again, Lord). So we made it through the day and tomorrow is Friday!!!! And I can tolerate most anything on Fridays just knowing that the end is near. :)