Where in the WORLD have I been?

Thanks for calling me out for my lack of blogging, Hope!

It's not really like me to go more than a couple of days or so without blogging, but I guess the end of my summer has just been crazy chaos!

Where have I been and what have I been doing, you ask?

Well, here's an attempt to summarize the end of my fantastic summer...

I was so happy to get to spend some time with this friend in Tennessee! 

 She's a school counselor, so we both were able to enjoy having the summer off!

...Oh...and while I was there, I decided that I needed to follow the feather trend (I guess Shannon brings out my "funky" side!).  Even though I've been told that I'm too old for it, I'm still loving it!  Judge me if you want (but please don't!).

....I was also so happy (obviously!) to get some time with "my" little man on the coast.  What a honey pie he is!  He's at such a fun age, and I love every second I get to spend with him.

....I also got to hang out with these cute girls

at Deep South Pout!  I started out just a customer, but by the end of the summer, I was working a  little at the store! :)  Haven't been there or visited their website yet?  If not, then it's time you do!  I love them AND their store!

I went here 

where I attended an Autism conference with some co-workers.  Great conference and such a FUN place to visit!
And finally....

about school...

a good bit of the month of July was spent here...

I'm getting ready for my new class!

My first day back was today (already exhausted!) and my 23 babies come Monday! 

Now, you know I love LOVE what I do, but I'd be lying if I said I was too thrilled about my summer ending. 

Oh well....all good things must come to an end I suppose.

Here's to hoping for a good start to the 2011-2012 school year! 

Pray for my students, will you?

Orange Beach, Gulfport, and New Orleans!

You've probably noticed the beach ticker I've had at the top of my blog for the past few months. It's been counting down to my annual beach trip with my friend Heather! It's something that she and I look forward to every single summer. Of course, once it's come and gone, it's always a little sad, but we're just going to go ahead and start counting down to next year's trip! (Click here, here, and here to see my posts from each trip!)

Here are a few pics from our week of heaven!

This picture was taken at Cobalt--a fabulous restaurant in Orange Beach. The atmosphere was perfect there! In the area? You should definitely go and have their shrimp and grits! YUMM!!!!!

...view from the balcony taken the first morning we were there. Drinking coffee on this balcony is one of my favorite things to do while I'm there! Heather and I enjoyed having it to ourselves for a few days, but we were excited when Heather's husband Tom and little boy Thomas Brodie joined us on Thursday!
I think he loves the beach already!

I left Orange Beach on Thursday, and drove to Gulfport to get a visit in with Heather, Trey, and Jones. Rob had a tennis tournament on the MS coast, so he, Kristen, and Henry were also staying at Heather's for a few nights.

On Friday, Heather, Kristen, and I took the boys to the New Orleans Zoo. To say that H&J had fun is a total understatement! They loved everything about it!

Can't you tell?
The boys also enjoyed playing in the sand at the beach there in Gulfport! I can't wait for Kristen's little girl (whose name will be Noelle Adams Fyke!) to be born in the fall, but what in the world am I going to do with a girl?! :)
I just love, LOVE my boys!

Wordless Wednesday...

In just a few short days, I'll be relaxing with my friend Heather, sipping something cold and fruity, and enjoying THIS view...

Sweet summertime.

S.U.M.M.E.R.

Any other teachers out there feeling a little like this right now?:

I have NO clue...

...who is going to win this thing!

I usually have a slight intuition as to who will win the title, but I really just don't know this year.

Before tonight, I was kinda thinking it would be Scotty (after all, his idol is George Strait!), but did you watch the show tonight? Lauren totally rocked it.

So, not only is tomorrow my very last day to report to school until August, but it's also the season finale of American Idol!

I can't wait.

Lauren? Scotty? Hurry! It's the last chance to make your predictions!

Top 3 and a hobby maybe?

I love Haley. I love Scotty. I love Lauren.

I'm not sure what's going to happen here. If you had asked me 2 hours ago, I would've told you that I was convinced that Haley would get the boot after tonight, but did you see her performances? She just has such a unique voice, and I like her.

Now, Scotty? He's the cutie pie country music singer. I'm a sucker for artists like Jake Owen and Josh Turner. There's just something a little sexy about a guy who can reach those low notes. Whether he wins this competition or not, he'll be successful. No doubt.

And I would have to say that out of the 3, Lauren has been the most consistent. I fell in love with her when I first saw her audition. While her voice is amazing, I'm worried that she may not have that unique touch it takes to win the competition. Still--she was amazing tonight!

I have been unable to vote, because if I did, I would probably have to vote for them equally, and that just doesn't make much sense, now does it?What's going to happen tomorrow night?

Aren't you excited about the season finale next week? I am!

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Now, what is this hobby that I speak of?

Well...that's where I need your help.

You may recall my previous post: 30 things I learned in my 20s. Number 20 on my list stated that I think everyone should have a hobby or 2, and I mentioned that I wanted to turn over a new leaf now that I'm 30. I think I'd like to step out on a limb and learn how to do something new this summer. I am pretty active, so I'm not really wanting to learn how to play a new sport or anything that requires physical activity. (Plus, I'm pretty sure I'm too old to take up soccer or gymnastics).
I'm actually leaning more along the lines of something "crafty"--like sewing, knitting, monogramming (though I'm afraid it may be too expensive), etc. --- or possibly even something musical. I'm no singer, nor do I own any musical instrument, but I do think that it would be fun to learn how to play the guitar or re-learn how to play the piano.

I just want to find something that I enjoy doing during any free time I may have during my summer. I'd like to find something that is relaxing and fun and NOT anything that's too stressful! :) I also can't afford for my "new hobby" to cost too much money, so I'm sure that's going to put a limit on some things too.

How can you help me decide how to spend my summer?

Wordless Wednesday.

Everybody at my school-including me- is going crazy. I'm just not sure I'm going to make it until next Wednesday. You care, don't you?

Ooops. Sorry. I forgot it was supposed to be "wordless".

so long, farewell!

Don't fret....I'm not going anywhere, but my summer is! It's barely August and still 1 billion degrees outside, but Mississippi says it's time to start school again! (Whatever happened to starting back in the FALL?!). I've expressed a few concerns I have about the upcoming year, but despite the many challenges I will most likely face, I really am looking forward to getting back into the routine, meeting some new little faces, and seeing my teacher friends on a daily basis again!

Kristen, Henry and I (and Max!) loaded up Friday and headed to see Heather and Jones! Trey was on staff for the Happening this weekend, so we decided to keep H and J company while he was away. It was perfect to spend my last weekend of the summer with 4 of my favorite people in life!

Here's Henry "holding" Max while on our way to Gulfport! Despite Max's facial expression, I think he really did enjoy sitting with H!

My sweet boys. I couldn't believe how much Jones has changed even since I last saw him!! Oh, and I'm not really sure what kind of pose Henry decided to do here, but I thought it was kinda cute...

...of course we took a ton of pics of H and J together, but you can imagine how difficult it is to get 2 little boys to cooperate for at least a couple! I liked this one though. It wasn't exactly the pose we were hoping for, but I thought it was cute and funny nonetheless!

Here's Kristen and her little man...

...and Heather and hers (don't I have pretty sisters?)...

...and...of course I had to have one with both of my boys!
I'll leave you with my favorite picture from the weekend.

Jones was in his crib and I walked by to see Henry "reading" to him! It was the sweetest thing! Henry is so adorable with his "Baby Jones."
Adios friends! I'm off to bed and NOT looking forward to that early am alarm clock! I hope you all have a wonderful week and if you think about it this week, squeeze in a little prayer for teachers EVERYWHERE! :)

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! :)

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!