30 day blog challenge-Day 28

Day 28-Something that stresses you out

I think I worry more than I stress, so honestly, there weren't too many things that came to my mind for this post.

I DO get stressed when:

1. ...I'm running late! I can't stand being late for anything, and if I happen to be riding with somebody who's running late, I sometimes feel like I'm going to have an anxiety attack.

2. ...things are unorganized! People who know me well will tell you that my house and classroom are very organized. I just like things to be in their correct places! Being a second grade teacher and understanding that it's almost impossible for things to be neat and organized all of the time, I do think I'm easing up a little on this. (But only, a little).3. ...I'm in extremely large crowds! This is a recent thing I've noticed about myself. Now, I don't mind speaking in public, but if I find myself just standing amongst a large number of people, I sometimes feel like I'm going to hyperventilate. Unless there's free food and/or good wine involved, I try to steer clear of big crowds.

What stresses you out?

Henry's 4th birthday party!

Henry turns 4 on Wednesday and insisted on having a "Tennis Party" this year! He was so excited and I think he and his friends had fun. :)

Here are some pictures from the party yesterday:

Happy Birthday to my dear little nephew!!!

30 day blog challenge- Day 27

Day 27-Pets

Well duh. This is a no-brainer of a post.

Say hi to Max.

He's the only pet I've ever had to myself and although he's crazy and neurotic at times, I can't imagine what my life would be like without this little guy!

Here are a few things I love about him:

1. He LOVES tolerated Santa long enough to get his picture taken with him. 2. He loves me. Sometimes he "shows his love for me" by not allowing others anywhere near me. Some find this trait annoying, but I take it as a compliment. :)
3. He hates Ole Miss. That's my boy!
What's not to love about a dog?

"If you don't own a dog, at least one, there is not necessarily anything wrong with you, but there may be something wrong with your life."

Roger Caras

30 day blog challenge- Day 26 and a nice GOLDEN EGG!

Day 26-Picture of your family

Here's the most recent one of all of us (and yes, I realize I just posted this one a few days ago!).

I will now be leaving you with this image.

Egg Bowl Champs 2 years in a row!!! Couldn't be more proud!!!

Have a wonderful week!

Egg Bowl time...

You've probably learned by now that:

a. I love LOVE college football

and

b. I'm a Mississippi State fan like none other.

Tomorrow is the annual Egg Bowl and honestly, I probably won't sleep much tonight in complete anticipation of this event. Even though, my bulldogs are predicted to win, it's being played at the very annoying school up north. And as many can tell you, when it comes to this game, you never can know what'll happen. The unpredictability (is that a word?) of it makes me crazy.

Anyway, a few posts back I was eager to hear some of your predictions. Leave a comment (if you haven't already!) and give me your take on: 1. Who you think is going to win, and 2. What you think the score will be. If you're correct, you'll receive a "happy" from me in the mail!

The only predictions I have so far are:

*Wade's World says:
MSU wins 24-14.

*My mom says:

The Bulldogs over the Bears: 28-13

*My friend Laura Mims says:

Bulldogs 30

Black Bears 14

*...and poor Tracy (it's all out of love, Tracy!)says

Ole Miss 24

MSU 13

What do you think? You have less than 24 hours to post your prediction!

GO BULLDOGS!!!!

30 day blog challenge- Day 25

Day 25-Put your iPod on shuffle, first 10 songs

"You are the Best Thing"-Ray Lamontagne

"Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing"- Sara Groves

"You Make My Dreams"- Hall & Oates

"Keep You"- Sugarland

"Single Ladies" - Beyonce' :)

"The House That Built Me"- Miranda Lambert

"Postcard from Paris"- The Band Perry

"Home" -Marc Broussard

"Sweet Caroline" - Neil Diamond

"He's Always Been Faithful"- Sara Groves

30 day blog challenge- Day 24 and a Happy Thanksgiving to you!

First of all, I hope your family was blessed this Thanksgiving! I'm beyond thankful for the many many blessings in my life. Thanks be to God!

And the challenge for today:

Day 24-Something you've learned

Honestly, if I were to create a list of things I've learned, I think it would be very similar to this list that I recently compiled. Feel free to click back to that particular post if your little heart desires.

What things are you particularly thankful for today??

30 day blog challenge- Day 23

Day 23- Favorite Vacation Place

You probably know that I can't just choose one favorite of anything. When it comes to a favorite vacation I've had, there are several. They're all favorite places I've visited for different reasons. Here are a few fun places I've visited (and LOVED!):

- Seaside, FL. Oh my gosh. Everything about that place is heavenly. We took a family trip there last summer and I've wanted to go back ever since.

-San Antonio, TX. I actually went there on a teacher conference a couple of years ago and loved everything about it (except maybe the meetings!)! We stayed on the Riverwalk and it was so very fun. I'd love to go back.

-New York, NY. This was another family trip taken during my freshman year of college. I love the busyness and "fun-ness" of this place! We did a lot of the touristy things when we went, but I want to go back and just have fun shopping and eating at fun restaurants.

-Colorado. I've actually been to CO at least 3 different times (Aspen, Keystone, Denver, Colorado Springs, etc), and it's just an absolutely beautiful place. I enjoyed snow skiing but that's honestly not something I necessarily desire to do again. I just enjoy the atmosphere of this part of the country. Who doesn't like wearing a sweatshirt, drinking hot chocolate, and watching it snow outside?

-Highlands, NC. I've been to this wonderful place twice (?) I think. It's by far one of the most beautiful, relaxing places I've ever visited. If you've never been here, you MUST. (Looking at this picture makes me want to go NOW!).

-Charleston, SC. This was another family trip. I've only been there once but like the other places I've mentioned, I want to go back so badly!!! I could definitely live in this beautiful city.
Where is your favorite vacation spot?

Get in the spirit!

I've got a new favorite Christmas song to share. If you like Dave Barnes and/or Hillary Scott (from Lady Antebellum), you're just going to love this one. And I absolutely love the cheesy cuteness of the video.

Love Love Love.

"Christmas Tonight"-Dave Barnes (with Hillary Scott)

30 day blog challenge- Day 22 AND my 800th blog post!

Since it's my 800th blog post, I'm going to take a few minutes to make a list of 800 things about myself:
........

Ok. Just kidding.

Happy 800th post to me though!

Onto the challenge for today..

Day 22-Favorite city

I've visited many fun, glamorous cities that are full of beautiful scenery, fantastic restaurants, and great shopping, but at the end of the day, my favorite city is my hometown, Starkville!

There are a lot of reasons why I love this town so. I've spent 27 of my 29 years in this town, my family is here, I went to high school and college here, and I now teach here! I don't expect to live here the rest of my life, and I know that when/if I do leave this town, I'm going to miss it!
What's not to love about this quaint, small college town?

So, what's your favorite city?

Heartbroken.

My beloved Bulldogs lost a double overtime heartbreaker against Arkansas last night. While I nearly suffered a heart attack and basically lost my voice, at least I was accompanied by great friends!

And I shouldn't go without mentioning the wonderful tribute that was given to MSU's #36, Nick Bell, who passed away only a few weeks ago. Here is the Famous Maroon Band forming a 36. Chill bumps.

Enjoy your week!

30 day blog challenge- Day 21

Day 21-Picture of yourself

I've skipped a few days with the challenge, but I'm back and since I'm OUT OF SCHOOL ALL WEEK, I plan to have plenty of time for blogging this week.

Today's challenge is to simply post a picture of myself (as if you don't already know what I look like). I just changed my facebook profile picture to this one, so I thought I'd kill 2 birds with one stone and post it here too! It was taken last night at the MSU vs. Arkansas game.

30 day blog challenge- Day 20

Day 20-Nicknames

I somehow acquire nicknames easily. I like most of my nicknames, so I'm happy to share them!:

LT (been my name as long as I can remember)

Laura T.

Miss T. ("teacher name," obviously)

LaLa (what my beloved nephews call me)

YaYa (coined by my dear Alexa)

LouLou (dad)

"T" (a dear friend's little boy is unable to say "LT," so it's just "T"!) Love that one.

Here are a few others that I either have no explanation for or not so much a desire to explain to you. ;)

DD

Turtleneck Tomlinson

RV

I'd like to hear what some of your nicknames are!

30 day blog challenge- Day 19

Day 19-Something you miss

When it comes to "things I miss," a few things come to mind.

I miss:

-being required to take a nap at school. I often tell kindergarteners that they need to appreciate their naps. (Either they disagree with me or don't understand what the word "appreciate" means. Hmmm... ). I would be quite content with a required daily 2:00 pm nap.

-not having to make decisions.

-having somebody do my laundry, pay my bills, cook my meals, clean my house, buy mygroceries, etc. (Mom, can I move back in?).

-the days when I didn't have to wear make up.

-being able to eat "junk food" without worrying about what my hips and skin will do the next day.

-a certain friendship I used to have.

-sleeping in the same bed as my sisters on Christmas Eve.

-my grandfathers.

- our previous President.

-new episodes of Seinfeld.

-TCBY (although Starkville's new Local Culture is prettyyyyy good!)

-the days when all of my friends lived in the same town.

-my first car, a 1988 Mazda 626 affectionately named "Dante." May he R.I.P.

-my subscription to PEOPLE magazine.

-my missing OPI nail polish from last fall.

-old school Nintendo. Nothing will ever be as good.

-the days when the word "stress" was not part of my vocabulary.

What's something you miss?

30 Day blog challenge- Day 18

Day 18-Something you regret

Unfortunately I have always been the kind of person who feels guilty very easily. Looking back on my 29 years of life, I'm able to think of several things I regret doing (or not doing!), but I'm slowly starting to learn that feeling guilty and living life full of regret gets you no where in life! The Bible reminds us this:

"..But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead"

Philippians 3:13

I came across this article recently, and it spoke volumes to me about guilt and regret. Here are a few key points from that article that stood out to me:

If you look back in life and regret choosing a certain path, or mourn for missed opportunities, just stop thinking that way the moment you catch yourself doing that!
It’s not fair to judge your past self based on the hindsight that you now have.
When you see missed opportunities, it means that you have become more mature, that you have made significant progress in term of insights and competence, and that you are able to achieve much more if you encounter similar situations again.
So the next time you see missed opportunities that you’d failed to see in the past, you should celebrate because it indicates that you have been growing. The more frequent and the sooner you spot missed opportunities that have passed you by, the more it indicates that you are rapidly improving and growing.
The optimal way to live is to balance speed and quality; accept imperfection and just go along and improvise. You will make mistakes, but reality is not going to wait for you to correct every single mistake before you deliver- reality has deadlines!
And don’t spend time mourning for the past, because while you are doing that, opportunities in the present will elude you too, fast!
In my college years, I developed a habit of regrets. I would often mourn for opportunities I missed, and soon developed stress and worries about the future ones as well. Now that I am more wise, I look back and see that while I had intensive worries and stresses, I often failed to see opportunities that were abundance.
For example, I wasn’t good at finding a job in the co-op program (A program that students find a full-time four month job after every four months of study), and I had to quit it. Although I quitted co-op, I still had plenty of time in school that I can start a part-time business- i.e. create my own job- such as blogging! I didn’t need to feel bad about my situation.
Remember, there are always opportunities lying around, you just have to train your eyes to see them.
If you’re struggling with certain sins in your life, but are otherwise a solid Christian, then you don’t need to regret.
How do you define solid? As long as you sincerely repent every time you sin, rely on God and walk with Him every day and hour, and is seeking knowledge of Him and doing what you know is the right thing to do (Deu 29:29), you’re solid.
If you keep up this way, in time you will grow out of the sins that you are struggling with, so don’t make things worst by regretting.
Regret is rehearsal. By regretting sin, you’re rehearsing it in your mind, reinforcing the memory. What you think will become what you are; You will get stuck with the sin you regret.
The Bible makes it clear that no one is exempt from sin, but if you confess your sin, you will receive forgiveness (1 John 1:8-9). True repentance leaves no regret! This is God’s promise.
Repent! Regret isn’t repentance. Regret only brings negative emotions and thoughts, but don’t confuse it with genuine repentance and humility.
What about sins that have major consequences?
Forgiveness doesn’t guarantee pardon. Pardon is a remission of the legal consequences of an offense. You can’t expect people to forget and treat you the same as before. You will have to live with consequences of sin, in some cases consequences could last for life.
Sins also produce natural consequences, such as damaged health, financial loss, broken relationship, and dishonor.
All sins have consequences, we have to accept them as reminder of our weakness and to humble ourselves before the Lord.
And, who knows? God might just heal you and remove the consequences of sin.
Conclusions: How do you get over regrets?
Here is the list:
Be successful now: No need for regret or mid-life crisis. You can have success now if you start meditating on God’s word and obey, because God had promised that we will prosper if we obey His commands and think about His words day and night. (Psalm 1:2-3, Deuteronomy 28:13, John 15:4-7)
Let God speaks to you: God is the giver of consolations. If you practice spiritual disciplines such as prayer and solitude, in time you will learn how to pay attention to God’s voice, and every time He speaks, He gently reminds and comforts. Although the Lord does rebuke us, He will never do so carelessly like humans do. I tend to have excessive guilt and regrets easily, but instead of forcing myself to be positive, I let God speaks to my heart. Every time I do that, my self-doubts and imaginary guilt will be gone.
Speed over stall: Most obstacles are psychological rather than real. Regrets breed stalls. You have to realize that it doesn’t take really long to really make real progress in anything, be it skills, academics, careers, relationships, or any other achievements. If the matter you worry about is mainly an issue of competence, please understand that competence can be improved very quickly if you just stop stalling and start taking action.

Forgive yourselves: If you keep beating yourselves up over past sins and the consequences of sins, you haven’t forgiven yourselves yet. The Lord make it clear that if you don’t others, He will not forgive you (Matthew 18: 21-35). This includes forgiving yourself! If you don’t forgive yourself, the Lord won’t forgive you!
Repent and Godly Sorrow: Don’t beat yourself up and create worldly sorrow. A Christian is to walk with the Spirit, so he or she should feel guilty only if the Spirit of God rebukes him or her, and bring his or her sins to light. It’s easy to become legalistic and perfectionistic.
Write Journals: You don’t know what your thoughts are until you write them down. Memory is unreliable; it is a subjective interpretation of what really happened. And the longer time passed, the more easy it is to twist your memory. To prevent imaginative regret, make journal entry regularly so when you doubt yourself in the future, you can always refer to the journal and check what exactly were going on in the past. This help you sympathize with your past.
Acceptance: Almost 90%+ of the outcomes in life have occurred because of your choices and character. In the future you are likely to repeat the way you have done things in the past anyway, so don’t spend your energy to regret the past, but focus on character growth and learning to make wiser choices now. No matter how imperfect you were, this was you. You have to accept yourself, knowing that you have been trying the best, with the resources and experiences that you had at the times.

So...you probably weren't expecting a deep response to my blog challenge for today, but isn't this a little more uplifting than if I'd compiled a list of all of my past regrets?

Instead of asking you to share your regrets today, I'm going to suggest that you to take time and read this article. I hope it's as encouraging to you as it was for me! :)

Jones's Baptism

(Or is it technically "Jones' Baptism"? Being a teacher, you'd think I'd get it straight!)

I was so happy to be in Gulfport this weekend to see sweet baby Jones get baptized.

What a special time it was!