Ready for Week 2

Well, last week pretty much knocked me on my bottom, but it's not gonna keep me down! I'm feeling rested tonight and ready for week 2 of being a professional. Lots of things in my lifestyle have changed in the past week. No time for blogging, no time for running, not even much time for eating. I was so blessed this summer to be able to relax and do all kinds of leisure activities, but it was such a drastic change from what this past week has been. I've really enjoyed meeting all my kiddos and their parents. I still trust that this is the position in which God placed me. I'm just really starting to understand what life has been like for Ross the past two years in which evenings and weekends are so precious.

I hope to blog more soon when all the beginning of the school year madness calms down a bit, but for now I need to go spend these last few hours of this weekend with my husband! ;)

blog slacking.

Oh, I know it's been awhile and I even have good posting material...I've just been so overwhelmed and exhausted the past 2 weeks. Have no fear though...my blogs will return. In the meantime, please say a prayer for me as I'm starting my first job.

I hope you are all doing well and for those of you in in-services this week...I feel your pain. Keep hanging in there...I know it will all be worth it when we start seeing our little kiddos!

We all float on okay.

Well, my final days of summer are wrapping up. I start my first job on Monday morning bright and early! The first week of work is spent doing staff development type work...going through school procedures and policies, trainings, meetings, etc. Since it's my first time working there, I'm actually looking forward to learning more about the ins and the outs of the school. I've mentioned before that I've been working on my room a bunch and I promise there will be pictures soon. It's really coming along nicely, I just want it to be completely finished before I share the pics.

This week I was really starting to feel overwhelmed. I started doubting myself and felt incompetent at teaching these kids. I started to feel pressure of making sure my kids progress and succeed and I began to really stress. Praise God though because soon after all these negative thoughts started flowing, He reminded me that not only did He place me in this position, but I can do all things through Him....with an emphasis on THROUGH HIM. He reminded me that's it not all about ME and I just need to lean on Him and trust Him. Where I am weak, He is STRONG! So, thank you Lord for convicting me of getting wrapped up in my world and forgive me for forgetting that You have brought me to this place and prepared me for this.

He has blessed me so much through this process of finding a job. And just recently, He reaffirmed that Oak Hill is where He has called me by bringing my good friend Taylor to work right across the hall from me in the half-day pre-primary program! I am so thankful to be working so closely with another SLP! Taylor and I worked together for the past year in a preschool for kiddos with autism, so we have a lot of the same clinical experience and techniques. It will be so great to have her there with me.

Ross and I leave tomorrow afternoon for a wedding in Champaign/Urbana, IL. The town of our alma-mater. We are so excited to be visiting our campus for the first time since we graduated 2 years ago. Ross will be playing the drums with the band during the ceremony, so I'm very excited to hear him do that. He used to play drums in college, but since we've moved to TX he's mainly been mastering the bass. Another bonus is that we get to stay with one of my dear friends who also just got married, so I'm excited to catch up with her.

I hope all of your summers are wrapping up nicely as well and that you have a beautiful end of week and weekend. :)

Dragging my feet.

I mentioned awhile back that I have started running again and lately my runs have been few and far between. I really am trying, but I have a lazy summer mentality going on and if I don't make plans to meet someone, then I either don't go at all or I run a measly couple of miles at a seriously SLOW pace with several breaks. It's kind of pathetic. I'm not sure what the problem is. In the past I've been able to get really excited about whatever my goal happens to be and I'm able to use that as prime motivation. But this time, I feel like I'm just dragging my feet. Anyway, I really think this week is going to be different. I started off today with a really nice 3 mile run followed by a 3 mile walk and it felt good. I have plans to run 2 more times and swim 2 times this week with Molly and then a 6 AM Saturday morning run planned with Robyn (because that's what time mom's run on weekends...CRAZY :). Anyway, if all that works out I'll have about 12-15 miles under my belt for the week. Here is a link to my training log that I try to keep up with at Runner's World. It has several of my workouts for the past couple of years.

http://traininglog.runnersworld.com/profiles/2b6b1d447e3d4f6a9d9a4e85234fa9ab

As you can see, it's pretty pathetic considering I've been trying to build up mileage this summer. But anyway, I thought it would be good for me to share that with you in hopes of motivating myself to improve my mileage (since there's a chance someone could be checking in on me). If you are a runner (or swimmer/walker/biker) and you like tracking your progress over time, this training log is a great tool. You can find it at the Runner's World website which is also one of my favorite magazines and websites. There's so many tips and motivational stories and articles. I really enjoy it and would recommend it to anyone who likes being active.

Hope you all started the week off to a good step and I hope to hear from you and your blogs soon!

Sisters. Sisters.

...there were never such devoted sisters.

This past week I've had the pleasure of hosting my little sister, Dana, here in Dallas. It was so nice to have her down here for a solid week. Since we're both on summer vacation we were able to just spend each day relaxing and doing whatever we wanted.

Dana and I have become best friends over the past few years. We talked about how it's so crazy that most of our lives we spent either fighting or ignoring each other. We shared a room and a bed growing up...so we were always close...physically...which led to a lot of bonding but also a lot of arguing over space and privacy. Then I went off to college and she started high school and we both had our own lives going on, and sadly, left each other out of them. We think that in the past few years we've both matured a lot and come to realize what an amazing bond we have through being sisters and sharing so many experiences growing up that no one really can understand but us. It's nice to finally be able to talk to each other and talk about our lives growing up and discover how each of us processed different experiences that we had.

We kept busy the entire week with fun activities. We saw 4 movies!!! (Two in the theater and two at home. ) Of course, we saw "My sister's keeper" and cried through the whole thing. We had both read the book as well so we were both thrown a loop by the movie's ending. It was a good movie, however extremely sad. The book was definitely better, but I think they did a great job with the movie. We also saw The Proposal (and Ross was able to join us for this one). It was a fun and lighthearted movie. Ryan Reynolds, Sandra Bullock, one of the Golden girls, and Oscar from The Office had me rolling with laughter at several points. Then at home we saw Gran Torino (amazing, but lots of bad language) and Crash (a great movie bringing up issues of racial stereotypes and racism). They are both 2 of my favorite movies and I would definitely recommend them.

The other big event that took place while Dana was here was THE YARDSALE! So, Ross and I decided that we wanted to have a yardsale with our friends Molly and Andy a while back to get rid of a little junk we had and a LOT of stuff they had. We were also able to sell a lot of Ross' parents and sister's things as well. A lot of work went into it, but overall I had a great time. It was so fun to make deals with people and finally at the end of the day let people fill up an entire bag for $1. I was surprised how busy we were! There were people at the sale non-stop from 6:45 am until just past 3pm!! Finally, we packed up the remaining items into a few boxes and bags and took it all to GoodWill. The sale was definitely a success. We got rid of a ton of stuff and made some extra cash.

This trip was extra special because Dana is going to be studying abroad in Italy in the Fall. She leaves September 1st and this was our 2nd to last visit with each other before she leaves. The next time she visits though is just a short visit for the Hillsong United concert in August. The same week I start work and just 5 days before she leaves for Italia. I don't even want to think about how much I'm going to miss her and how sad our goodbye will be. Ross always gets a little nervous and sensitive towards my feelings on the days that Dana and I have to say goodbye because Dana and I both get pretty teary-eyed. When I was getting ready to depart for Dallas after our wedding , people had to pull us apart. We were both bawling like crazy and wouldn't let go of each other. Then I cried the entire plane ride to Dallas and poor poor Ross had to sit there and console his new wife. I can only imagine what people were thinking. I was wearing this little tanktop that said "Just Married" and here I am crying my eyes out on a plane to Dallas. Pretty comical picture now that I think back on it, but at the time it was really not funny.

I am so blessed to have a sister that's also my best friend and I feel like God just keeps bringing us closer and closer to each other and for that I'm so thankful.

Deep in the Heart of Texas.

This weekend we traveled with our good friends Molly and Andy to Molly's hometown of Katy, TX to stay and visit with her parents. We had a sweet time of fun and fellowship and were so blessed by the Paulsen/Parker clan. One of the highlights of the trip for me was spending time loving on the dogs. Meet (from left to right) Bailey, Jonah, and Boots. Boots and Bailey belong to Molly and Andy and Jonah belongs to Mr. and Mrs. Paulsen. They were with us every minute of the trip and I enjoyed bonding with them as you can see in the pictures.

What's really on my mind to blog about is running...or lack thereof. It's officially been over a week since I put my feet to the beat and I'm so frustrated with myself. However, that frustration didn't get me out of the door once again this morning. What I need is determination...and that is hard to come by in the morning for me. I don't mind waking up, fixing Ross lunch, making good strong coffee, reading, computer time, etc...it's just the part where my body has to move and I have to sweat and my heart rate has to increase...that my mind just can't get in the mood for. Summers in TX are hard for running (IMO). My sister in IL just went for a mid-afternoon run yesterday and it was a mere 75 degrees out. How unfair is that? Well...it's time to stop basking in my pity party and get some determination. Tomorrow morning I will set out to run and I will keep going. There is talk of a 10K at the end of August now...so I have to get ready for that. Maybe I just need to wake up earlier...we all know that JOY comes in the morning!

Come on feel the Illi-NOISE.

I spent the beginning of this week in my home state of Illinois. All of my family from Florida was visiting and so I felt it was a good opportunity to see as much family as possible in one visit. My cousins are a bit older than me and all have children and it's fun to see them all growing up. When I was younger I LOVED spending time with my cousins. I absolutely adored them and clung onto them every time we were together. I looked up to them like they hung the moon. Of course I still love spending time with them...I'm just not as clingy I suppose. However, I feel like now the roles are reversed with their kids. Now I'm the big cool cousin to them. My cousin Rob lives in Naples, FL with his wife Terry and their 4 kids (Brett, Kacie, Brian, and Courtney) and my cousin Ellen also lives in Naples with her son Bobby. You can see them all (minus Courtney) in the picture below posing with Abe Lincoln's family.

We all spent Monday in the state capital, Springfield and toured the new-ish Lincoln museum. It is very cool if you ever get a chance to visit. We saw his tomb as well. That night I drove back with them to Pittsfield and and after winning a game of dominoes (family tradition) I spent the night with my grandma at her farm.

On Tuesday, my grandma's best friend's husband, Don took me and a few others on a backroad tour of Pike County in his big truck. It was so fun to see all the land our family and Don's family owns. It is so lush and filled with green trees and crops and creeks. Something I've always loved about Illinois is seeing the lush green grass juxtaposed to the striking blue sky and cotton ball white clouds. The land there is SO beautiful. We also drove through the villages of Pearl and Nebo where my family originated, however the population there is dwindling so much and hardly anyone lives there now. It's really crazy to see an empty town. That evening we drove up to Mt. Sterling to visit some more cousins that I don't see that often either. My cousin Joanna and her husband Toby live there with their 2 sons, Jesse and Tanner (wild boys, but they don't make kids any cuter than them!). Jo and Toby own a hunting outfitters there. If you don't know, this area is world renowned for the massive amounts of deer. Toby is an entrepreneur with many enterprises. He does all kind of hunting/fishing and his newest endeavor is Aerial Bowfishing. Look it up sometime...it's the craziest thing I've ever seen. I also got to see Jo's brother, Cole and their parents, John and Cookie.

All in all, it was a wonderful trip. I love spending time with my family. They are awesome.

In the foyer of the Lincoln Museum. (Bobby, Brian, Kacie, and Brett)

Bobby rubbing Abe's nose for luck.

Bobby and Courtney-little angels born only 8 days apart.

My grandma's barn overlooking the farm. This is the most beautful land you'll ever see.