our last hoorah!

Hi. It's me, blogging for the first time in, what? Like 2 weeks? Sad.

Summer is officially coming to an end. I must say, it's been fantastic and I hate to see it end! I know I say it at the end of every summer, but it really did just go by too fast. I may not have traveled to really far away places this summer, but I pretty much covered the entire state of Mississippi (from Hernando to Gulfport to Oxford to Jackson) and into Birmingham too. Visiting good friends is completely underrated to me.

I'm fortunate to work with some really fun people, and I've missed seeing some of them this summer, so it was fun to get together at UMI tonight for a little Habachi.

Seriously...YUM.

We have to be back at work on Monday, so I had mixed feelings when we went our separate ways tonight and said "well...see you on Monday!"

We have professional development Monday-Wednesday next week and my 25 (that's right...25) students will grace me with their presence bright and early next Thursday morning! I'm always excited about a new start with new students, but I'm finding myself a little anxious this year. Not only am I teaching more students than I've ever had, but this will also be the first year I haven't had an assistant! I know that God doesn't give me anything I can't handle, but I'm still finding myself a little nervous about what lies ahead of me this year. I've quoted Philippians 4:13 a lot these past few weeks, and I'm sure I'll continue to do so for the next few weeks! I want to ask you to pray specifically that God will allow me to meet the needs of each and every one of my students this year and that His love will shine through me. I have no doubt in my mind that, through the challenges I may face, God is going to teach me something this year (and I kinda hope my students learn a thing or two, too!)!

Tomorrow, Kristen, Henry and I are heading to spend my last weekend of the summer with Heather and Jones.

I can't think of 4 other people I'd rather spend these days with.

Thanks for hanging in here with me during my blogging "lull". I'm proud to say that these blogging breaks are few and far between!

Note: I realized not too long ago that the html code for my blog button on the right wasn't working. I'm almost positive it's working properly now, so go ahead and grab my code and add my button to your blog! :)

ugh......

My apologies.

Between working in my classroom, helping other teachers paint at the school, cleaning my house, dog/housesitting for my sister, tutoring, working on information for my upcoming students/parents, trying to help out with a sick nephew AND grandmother, ordering and addressing invitations for an upcoming baby shower, and trying to maintain somewhat of a social life;), I've put blogging on the backburner this week. And I've missed it. Just give me a few more days, and I'm sure I'll come up with something really fantastic to blog about.

I really, really will.

sweet summertime...

First of all, I want to say that after posting about Mexico Tipico yesterday, I found out that the driver of the car underwent a medical emergency while driving, which caused the accident. Had I known that, I would've never posted about "Poor Tipico." The focus should obviously be on the driver, who apparently is in the hospital being treated for some sort of medical problem. Prayers are with her and her family!

Now...

Have I told you how much I love having Kristen back in Starkville? I do.

She and Rob had a cook out the other night at their house with some fun friends. Among the families there, there were 5 cute little boys (and one on the way!) and ZERO girls!

Here are the "adult males" in attendance (minus Wesley Ferguson!):

Tom Simmonds, Kane Overstreet, and Rob...

And the females (minus HEGS who refused to be photographed!)

Katey, Kris, and me....

and...

Emily Ferguson

The boys:

Camp and Paxton Overstreet

Tate and Hayes Ferguson

Henry

(Thomas Brodie Simmonds who will be here in December!)

look at these cute ones...

(LOVE that one!!!)

Sweet, sweet summertime!

poor Tip.

So...you know I love Mexican food and you may recall that my favorite Mexican restaurant in Starkville is Mexico Tipico. YUM.

I'm sad to say that somebody, somehow, managed to drive SLAM their car into it the other day! Supposedly the driver was sober which was shocking to me because this looked like something only an intoxicated person could've done! There were customers sitting at the booths in the window, but thankfully nobody was hurt!

Here's to hoping Tip recovers quickly!

say it ain't so!

Please explain to me how the show can go on without Michael Scott's character!

I'm not happy about your decision, Steve, and I'm not promising I'll be able to continue watching after the upcoming season.

Sad.

this and that!

I got to see Shannon in Oxford last week! She lives in Nashville (as you may remember), and I haven't seen her since my half marathon last year! RIDICULOUS! Although we only got to hang out for a day, it was fantastic. She's just the best.(Not particularly the best picture we've ever taken, but I had to document our time together, right?)

The next night I spent some time with Henry as he entertained me while running through the sprinklers! He thought it was the best thing ever.

(Not too sure what's going on in this one...)

On another note, I began working in my classroom this week. I truly have mixed feelings about this time of the year!

Only a few more precious weeks left until I'm back to "the real world"!

pray, pray, pray!

Perhaps you recall this blog post of mine from last Christmas. God has blessed this family SO MUCH since that post, and right now, their baby boy Bennett needs prayers big time! Born July 3, at just over 26 weeks, this sweet little miracle only weighed 1 lb 4 oz. Miraculously, he's fighting for his little life and it seems as though he's making progress! Praise the Lord!

Of course ALL babies are miracles, but click here to better understand the struggles this sweet family has had and the journey they've been through. Isn't that amazing? This little baby is beyond a miracle.

Please join me in praying for this sweet angel and his family, will you?

my sweet, sweet boys...

If God blesses me with my own family one day, I'm not quite sure how I'll possibly be able to love my own children the way I love these boys...Thank you, dear God, for blessing me with my sweet nephews (their mommies too!).

My life will never be the same!

4th!

So happy to spend the day with my Mom's family in Meridian!Happy 4th to you and yours!

"Then join hand in hand, brave Americans all! By uniting we stand, by dividing we fall." -John Dickinson

They're here!

Kristen, Rob, and Henry have officially moved to Starkville! It would be a total understatement for me to say that I was "excited" about having them here.

They moved on Wednesday, and since then I've been over there helping unpack boxes and get things organized (I've pretty much been their favorite person ever!). Now, things are, for the most part, unpacked and put away!

Henry loves his new house.

Here he is eating on his new kitchen table at his new house.

His favorite part about the house is probably the swing set in the back yard. He'll play on it even when it's 3,278 degrees outside!

Here he is playing on his swing set in his new back yard at his new house

I'm so excited about being able to see this precious face more!

Kristen starts work in August at the Women's Clinic, and Rob will be teaching Science at Starkville High School.
Yay!

Happy 4th of July weekend to you!

How well do YOU know Thursdays?

In case I've failed to mention before, I am absolutely addicted to this site. Take a look, spend some time playing (any type of quiz you could possibly imagine!), and I bet you'll be addicted too!

Being Thursday, I thought that it would be a good time to share a quiz I just took:

Can you name the TV shows that have been a part of NBC's Thursday night lineup (1981-2009)?

I scored in the 88th percentile (not too shabby!).

How did you do?
Note: to see the percentile in which you scored, simply click "See Most Missed" after completing each quiz.

Have fun!