walking next to you...

i know, three post in one day. i have to take advantage of the time i have because it is rare that i have time to post:) the crazy thing is, these past three or possibly for posts have been about sports...that is so unlike me. don't get too awfully used to it:) this week is MAIT and it has everything to do with basketball. i get to witness some of the most amazing high school basketball players in the nation. they are my students:) i am not saying they are amazing because i am trying to build up their esteem...they really are amazing....ask espn. they will tell you so:)

these boys are from all around. they live here in the dorms just like the soccer boys. and they are each other's biggest fans! i mean it. you will never not have chaos at a soccer game because the basketball boys will always be there hooting and hollering and making noise with these clapper things. and the soccer boys always support their friends on the court. it is just such a family here. these boys are brilliant. yes, on the court. but in the classroom as well. these boys desire education. they are hungry for it and that is what teachers desire to see in their students. i love being able to cheer for them in the classroom but on the court as well.

these boys are so brilliant and their coaches and all of us know it. purple and gold. i am just so grateful to be able to be a part of so much goodness:)

honored. proud. you name, i'm probably feeling it:)

rally! it was the most amazing pep rally i have ever been to...in my life. and i am not exaggerating. the lights, the smoke, the loud music, the glow sticks, the spirit talons, all of the purple and gold. it was pure brilliance and thanks to students like kelli keeler and so many other greats:) i went over with my lovely friend mindy and when we walked in, students were handing out school spirit goodies to everyone walking in. everything started shortly after. all of the teams were announced and the pep nband played and the cheerleaders and step team did their thing and after, the games began! the games, you say? oh yes, the games! there were get super dizzy and fall over games, there was tug of war, and there was pie your teachers in the face games. the students ate it up and it was just such a neat thing to not only get to witness, but the be a part of! everyone was there together and it was just such a family like thing and that made it nothing short of wonderful!

this was sort of the kick of to a really exciting week in which the basketball team will get to shine:)

get to know these faces. they are some of the greatest people:) i am so excited for tomorrow. who gets to wear hot pink tights tomorrow? i do:)

i want to talk about one other thing. MAIT is the thing i told you about in the last post and i have more to say about it but before i go there, i want to mention another special group here at Montverde. before i go there, just in case you are new, i got a job at one of the neatest places...ever:) and well, it is safe to say that i am super living it up:) and sometimes, i just have to talk about this place because i want those of you who i love dearly to see the goodness i am in:) so you don't worry too much about me...:)

this year soccer team is the best that Montverde has ever seen in its history. true story because this week, they were acknowledged for that very thing. i have a number of these guys in my classes and if there is one thing i can say about them, it is that they are not just soccer players. they are some of the nicest students any teacher could ask for. ALL of my students are but how many teachers can say they love even the students who play sports? i can:) easily. they don't expect to be handed anything. they work for their grades the same way they work on the field to be the best. and that is such a special thing. these boys know a lot about brotherhood too. because they are very far away from home. so they are like brothers and their friendships sort of make me teary sometimes. they live in the same dorms, they eat their meals together, they attend class together, they play soccer together, they laugh together, and i am sure they miss home together. they are no only teammates, they are like a million little and big brothers and i love that. and they are absolutely incredible on the soccer field. they may be in high school but boy oh boy, they are brilliant. the first time i saw them play, they looked like they were dancing on that field! they really are brilliant individuals that are so easy to admire. what a neat place to be. how blessed i truly am:)

i know you don't see much when you google Montverde....that's because it's pretty much the best kept secret around;) there is a student here who loves taking photos and he took these of the soccer boys recently:

i am so blessed to be here. i couldn't have drawn up a better life picture for myself. ever.

so this morning, i got into my classroom, dropped my things off, and headed for the caf to get a cup of coffee. on my way out, i decided to check my mailbox and there it was! what you ask? my MAIT shirt! this coming week begins a week of so much goodness here at Montverde and this year, i get to be a part of it! and i am so excited! MAIT is this neat little basketball tournament which actually isn't that little...i think it is the coolest thing in high school basketball nation wide...pretty amazing if you ask me:)

ryan minor is my friend. he is the husband of one amazing brittney and the father of one ben and one chloe. AND he is one of the most amazing musicians. what he creates... it is fire. if you know anything about me at all, hopefully my love for music is part of it. for ever and ever, i have just loved music. i have never prided myself in being the best or in knowing the most, but i sure do love the stuff. i love listening, imagining, breaking it down. well, i remember when ryan asked if i would record with him and my first reaction was surprise.... why? because i knew he played at church sometimes but had no idea that he made his own music. and when he sent me the first track, i sat there quietly for minutes in more shock. why? because it was brilliant. it was real, raw. boy oh boy, i was super excited.

he sent me the tracks and i was able to listen, love, and learn. and a few weeks ago we sat down and recorded and it was just wonderful. how do you listen? easy peasy:)

go here:

and listen!

and you know what else? it is a free download. so don't be silly just visit and download:) and if it isn't for you, well, it isn't. but it just might be so give it a chance:) happy day friends:)

week one has passed and what a week it was. i am still feeling a little bit exhausted and i am about to start another one:) but it is important that you understand that i enjoyed every moment of my tiresome week. being back in the classroom, meeting new students, seeing old students. all of it so wonderful:) christmas time was wonderful. there is nothing i would change about it, nothing. i was able to be with the people i love most in this world and well, if that isn't amazing...i think i might not understand the meaning of amazing if that isn't amazing:) my loved tank was overfilled and that is so good. i don't usually refer to anything as a love tank but what the heck. i was able to record one of the loveliest albums during my break. something that turned out so lovely and something that has begun one inspirational journey. it was just a beautiful time.

i must say however, it is so nice to be here again. i missed the place, the faces, all of it. and to be here again, it is quite nice, refreshing. i loved being in my classroom and students stopping in to say hello. i love preparing for my school days. i love being a part of mosaic. i love all of it. oh how my Father is faithful, amen:) i love being with chloe and toby. even though chloe is dreadful sometimes, i love her. this week, she gave me a fright and i hated it so much. i accidently smashed her tail in the door and i cried. she was just a disaster but rest assured, her tail is on the mend and will have a full recovery....phew! toby, he is just calm and there. chloe, she is crazy:) i like them both very much.

this past week has been so crazy but so exciting. so many good things are here and so many good things are to come! this weekend especially. i was on duty and i got to spend a lot of time with students. that also allowed for some wonderfully exciting skype dates since i was here all weekend. i am sitting in the gym currently watching students play basketball....and i think some of the boys are lifting a lot of weights or something because the weight room is loud.

tomorrow begins a new day but i am enjoying today. it's the little things, you know. the little things that make up our days. and we have to enjoy them and be grateful. it is the third week of this year. my third week as a prisoner of hope. cheers to this new year, this new week, this day. how good it is to be alive, to be loved, to be able to love, and so on and so on. more to come:)

do you ever look at a photograph and there is just something about it? you don't know what but there is. me too:) and they just inspire you or make you smile or feel something.

this one is because chloe and i, we work something like this...

and because this is the only way a car should float...

and because i imagine this is REALLY what people want when they seek water beds...

and because i am ok with being smaller than my imagination...

and because...well, self explanatory....

also, because there are few things better than buttons...

and because books are the keys to the world...

and because there is always a remedy...

and also because if books open up the world, where shall we sleep?...

and because we are meant to be travelers....

and because perhaps this is how we will get there...

and because there is nothing like a good pair of tap shoes...

and lastly, because i believe this. oh, how i do.

cheers to all the little somethings that make every day good.

with a new set of eyes on:) with a new mentality. with new vision. as ryan minor said, as a prisoner of hope. this year i decided to make it my year of being ok with having hope. and a few days ago, i sat down with ryan minor, for what ended up being the coolest recording session ever, and he said the words prisoner of hope and it clicked! that's what i was looking for to define the year for me. i am choosing to be a prisoner of hope. a believer in hope. i have been told that my dreams were too big in the past. there were times where i was made to feel bad or guilty for wanting to hope for and do big things. i learned quickly enough what nonsense that was and is. our God is so big and He isn't a liar. and well, who are we to think that if he wanted to move mountains with us that He couldn't? He totally could....if He wanted to:)

i'm glad that i am a visionary. some of my hopes are crazy but it is ok to hope. it is ok to want to reach things that are bigger than ourselves. and God's glory can shine so brightly when He actually takes us there and beyond! the beyond is key because somehow, His plans are so much bigger than our own and He always seems to exceed any expectations that we may have! THAT my friends, is crazy. but we serve a God that does some pretty crazy stuff....trust me, i know this for a fact:)

this year started off too crazy for words. days before it even began, things were getting so amazing and for my little mind, unbelievable. it was a trip i took just before the new year that confirmed my desire to make this a year of believing in hope. it was that same trip that made me break my rule of no new year resolutions. i don't really ever go there...because i would break them, i know:) well, this year i only made one. that i would live with hope this year. that i would believe in hoping for the big things. why? because, why not? if God is who He's says He is, and i am pretty sure He is, than i should believe that He can do big things. and have hope. and i am going to do my best to be there every day. i know this will come with challenges but it's ok. that is life in general. challenges are the things that grow us, so i'm ok with them.

on monday, i got to do something pretty great. i sat down with my friend ryan minor and recorded music for eight hours. and it was amazing. because i was able to spend time with him and his wonderful wife and my friend brittney, and their most amazing kiddos, ben and chloe:) he is a brilliant musician, lyricist, all of it. i felt so honored to be a part of it and last night i listened to some and seriously, God is awesome. because He gives us things like music. getting to know Ryan as a person, he and his sweet family, it makes sense to me that God would pour music into him. He touches people with music and that has to be one of the most amazing things. the fact that we can make such lovely sounds with objects like guitars and that our voices are capable of such sounds and that they can work together to be awesome. it was during that session that we talked about how hope is key. and how awesome it is that we can surrender ourselves and become slaves to God. which is way better than doing it on my own. because truth be known, i so suck at doing it on my own, i know this too because i have tried, we all have and do, and learn quick folks, in this case, just give up.

gotta go, lunch date:) when i get permission to post a song, i am going to. have a lovely day. this is a bit rambly, sorry! happy thursday.

today is that day. january 1st. it comes around once a year and it tends to be a pretty kick back sort of day considering the late night that comes just before:) it is a new day. but more importantly, it is the beginning of a brand new year. one that i know the Lord will mold into what He wants it to be. a year in which His glory will shine. yesterday has gone, today is here. this is the day we have, and we have the ability to live well in it, if we chose to do so.

cheers to the beginning of a new year, a new chapter in the book. something good:)