Archive for September 2011

3 months

this is our first photo we took as a couple way back when:)
today is a day to remember in so many ways. we did a great deal of 9/11 rememberence but we had to take a little bit of time to remember that today is our 3 month wedding anniversary:) i know, i know, three months, woohoo. BUT it really is a woohoo! it has been the best three months growing with zack. starting the school year together. making new friends. plugging into church. and the list goes on and on and on:) words will never be able to fully express just how grateful i am for this guy:)
God is good. Amen.

Sept. 11th- ten years

on friday, i had a student ask me why september 11th happened. my initial reaction was shock and from there i moved right along and explained it to her. globalization, terrorist organizations, all of it. as my day went on, i kept thinking about her and her question. i had this weird question mark in my head- i didn't get why i was being asked that question and soon, slowly but surely, it hit me. That horrible day was going to be having its 10 year anniversary in a couple of days. TEN YEARS. and all the pieces fell into place. my sweet student was so young 10 years ago. i was in high school, senior year, and i will never forget that day. we hear at home and at school, a great deal of our day went to different news stations. i will never forget the horror i felt in my heart. i was young too, but old enough to understand what was taking place AND more so, that hatred is such a real thing and such an ugly thing. i remember feeling so brokenhearted and even this morning as my husband and i are sitting here watching the ceremony that is going on, my heart is still hurting and i'm fighting back the tears and it feels like maybe two years have gone by since that day.
i don't know if it will ever really feel like it was 10 years ago, or 15 years ago, or 25 years ago. i don't know why, but with this one thing, it doesn't feel like it happened so long ago. it feels like it is staying really close to us, following closely or something. and maybe that is because we have a responsibility to keep it fresh and to remember and to share it with those who were young or perhaps not even there when it took place. it's a history thing. if history is cyclical, which i believe it is, we must remember things like this and pass it down and learn from them and do what we can to bring about change.
i hope you take a little bit of time to just remember those who lost their lives on such a dark day. one of many dark days in our history but more than deserving of a little bit of our time.
that's all. i know my thoughts may be a little bit incomplete but i don't think anyone out there really has complete thoughts about something like this. thanks for reading.

the new year!

it has been too long since my last post so i am going to try to give a quick summary of the past few weeks... i have tons of grading to do:) we made it through the hot florida summer and it is getting cooler every day, or so it seems. we are now in school and just finished week two and are both very grateful for a lovely three day weekend. i started my second year at MVA and the only thing that could make it that much better is that i didn't start alone... zack began this year with me...and our classrooms are in the same building:) how amazing is that?!
seeing the old faces come back and seeing the new faces has just been such a treat. there is chaos but it has just been so wonderful and i know it will just get better. zack and i are loving it all so much. we don't have very much time these days for anything but lesson planning and grading but we love that we get to do it together. i love, love, love so much that he gets to be a part of something that is so special to me. something that i tried to make him understand for so long and now don't have to anymore because he is living it with me. the only word that comes to mind is...BLESSED. cliche? sure but so very true.
sometimes we draw up pictures in our minds what life will look like and even if we think we have it right, we are most of the time wrong. but it's ok because our creator already drew up the picture and it is always so much better than anything we are capable of drawing up for ourselves. i would take where i am now over anything i could have imagined life like a year ago.
i have an amazingly supportive family at home, i work at the most amazing place with the most amazing people, i have the most amazing students...really, i am married to a man who loves me terribly and i him, i have the loveliest friends any gal could ask for...here and those i miss dearly at home, i have a sweet little home with two crazy little cats, and the list goes on and on. i am glad that i don't get to decide how life goes because it wouldn't be as good as what it is if i had my way:)
i love having zack here with me. it has been so fun getting to learn how to live with a boy full time. we are both so different and learning how to compromise may not always be fun but it sure is hilarious and when all is said and done...we are so good together:) zack cleans different, does laundry different, does dishes different, pretty much everything different....but i don't care because he does it:) i love that sometimes when i am grading, i hear the kitchen faucet running and know he is in there doing dishes. i don't ask, he just does. so i am learning that IT DOESN'T MATTER if it's different because it is from the heart and it is getting done:)
i love that we get ready for school together in the morning. i love that we have lunch together at school. i love that he tucks me in sometimes when i go to bed before him because i get sleepy first:) i love that sometimes after long grading sessions, we sit together and watch hey arnold! i love that last night he took me out on a date because we were lacking in us time. i love that he took me to see a movie that he knew i would love and took me to a mexican restaurant with mariachi men:) he is good to me and God is good to me for giving him to me:)
zack on his first day:)
and me too:)
my students are still working on the new name thing;)