Summertime July 20, 2011

Wow. Is it really almost August?

The older I get, the faster time flies, and I’m not so sure that I like it.

As much as I love teaching, I can’t believe that in a month (actually, less than a month!) I’ll be back at JCS preparing my classroom for students once again. I’ve got a lot of work to do, as I will no longer be teaching 4th grade math but instead teaching 5th grade English/writing. The 4th grade teacher and I decided to simply teach every subject in our own grades rather than switch. We believe this will be better off for our students in the long run, even if it makes more work for both of us. I need to start brushing up on my prepositions, subjects/predicates, and punctuation! Just the thought of it is overwhelming, but I know it will work out just fine.

However, I don’t want to think about all of that right now. I want to simply sit back, relax, and enjoy the rest of my summer vacation! Looking back on my last post, there are several things that have been accomplished and others I am still waiting on. Let’s take a look:

#1: My last day of school! Friday, June 10th can’t come soon enough. I love teaching and love Jubilee, but I am more ready for summer than I ever have been before. Yes, this obviously already happened. It was a trying year, and I was glad when it was over, but I really do miss my kiddos and my fellow teachers!

#2: Only working 3 days a week this summer. I start my 9th summer at Summer Fun on Monday, June 13th, but after teaching all year and working all summer in 2010, I was mentally and physically exhausted when it came time for school to start again this year. I knew there was no way I could do that again, so I cut back on my schedule for the summer. I am looking forward to having the days off to relax. I think this is the BEST part of my summer! It has been such a blessing having a few days off every week, specifically 4 day weekends. I have been able to accomplish so much on those days, yet also find time to relax and enjoy the time!

#3: Pampered Chef. I am going to be a PC consultant starting this summer! I think this will be a great way to make some extra cash and have fun while doing it. The thing I love most is that I can work around my schedule, and I get to bake yummy food! I really do love being a Pampered Chef consultant! I was so proud of myself for reaching my 30-day goal of $1250 in commissionable sales – yahoo! I have already done 5 cooking shows and have 4 or 5 more scheduled. If you’re interested in hosting a show or purchasing products, be sure to contact me or check out my personal website! (http://www.pamperedchef.biz/kimread)

#4: Ben’s last semester of classes. He currently has only 6 or 7 weeks left of classes, then some finals, and he is DONE with classes at Slippery Rock! Next fall and spring he will be doing some clinicals, but no more late night studying or paper writing! His white coat ceremony is at the beginning of July as well. I am so proud of him! – WOOOO he’s done with classes!! I was such a proud wife at his white coat ceremony the beginning of July. He begins clinicals at the end of August, and then graduates in May – the end is truly in sight! Praise God!

#5: July 20th. This is my sister’s due date for my niece! I LOVE love LOVE being an aunt to Addison and can’t wait until I have a 2nd niece to play with and spoil! – She’s here! Karley Elizabeth Lucas is the cutest baby in the world – I can say that since Addison is no longer a baby, but a toddler 🙂 She was born on July 13th around 9:42 am. I loved spending the day with Addison and being there when she was introduced to her baby sister. I pray that they have the same wonderful relationship my sister and I did! Can’t wait to spend more time with Karley!

#6: Rehoboth Beach. While my family will not be going to Rehoboth this summer because of my future niece, we booked a trip with Mallory and Adam for the end of July. We found a cute little condo a few blocks from the beach and Rehoboth Ave, and I couldn’t be more excited! This will really be our first long trip with friends, and we are really looking forward to it. It’s especially fun since Mallory and I both have memories of Rehoboth from our childhood, so we can share in those memories together  – So, this is happening next week! We leave Friday night to drive to Adam’s in Cumberland, and then will drive the rest of the way Saturday morning. Can I just say how excited I am?? I think this is what I have been most looking forward to (well, 2nd to my niece being born!) this summer and it’s almost here! We are praying for sunshine, but we know that no matter what the weather is, we will have a blast!

#7: The Big Apple. After returning from Rehoboth, Ben and Adam will be off to the Adirondacks for a week-long camping trip. So what were Mallory and I to do? Book a trip to NYC, of course! We got tickets through Megabus for $1 each way, and plan to stay with her cousin in Manhattan. This means we pay for food…hopefully a Broadway show…shopping….and that’s about it! We’re not so sure how this whole Megabus thing is going to go, but we couldn’t pass up such a great deal. I have read numerous review about Megabus, and while many are negative for late buses or too much A/C or no working wifi or outlets, these things aren’t on the top of our importance list, so I think we’ll be just fine. – This is only a few weeks away! Can’t wait to see a show, go shopping, and live it up in NYC.

#8: My birthday. The weekend after NYC, Ben, Mallory, and I will be traveling via Megabus to Harrisburg where Adam will pick us up and we will head to Purple Door, a huge Christian music festival. While it’s not really my kind of music, I am excited to spend my birthday weekend with friends Hopefully Mallory and I have a positive bus experience the week before, so we won’t be dreading this one! – Obviously this hasn’t happened yet either, so I can still say I am the youngest of the group 🙂

#9: Spending time with friends. We have so many wonderful friends, both old and new, and I can’t wait to have time to spend with all of them! Hopefully we will take some trips to McConnell’s Mill, Moraine State Park, Pirate’s games, Kennywood, and other places around Pittsburgh, bust most of all I just look forward to the fellowship and fun times  – We have done lots of fun things with friends already and I look forward to more this summer! It’s been a blast having “girls night” every Monday; while the husbands watch zombie movies and drink beer, we watch “The Bachelorette” and drink girly drinks. Such a blessing to have these wonderful girls (and guys!) in my life.

#10: Enjoying the life that God has blessed me with. I am so thankful for all that God has given to me and desire to serve Him in all that I do. I pray that I can be a light to others throughout all of my summer adventures! – This one has been, is, and will continue to be the same no matter what!

Other exciting things that have occurred:

• We spent a weekend up in Rochester with Ben’s family! We enjoyed a boat parade at Lake Ontario, a yummy picnic at Hamlin Beach (despite my hand injury), delicious food from Taste of Texas (aka Texas BBQ Joint), and painting pottery at Splatters, as well as spending time with family and enjoying the fellowship!
• Mallory is going to be moving into our apartment building – what WHAT? Yeah, super pumped about that! No more lugging our scrapbooking stuff into our cars or driving over to save someone from scary raccoons…haha
• The Harry Potter midnight premiere was AMAZING. I can’t believe it’s all over. It was such a great movie and I am looking forward to seeing it again.

I’m sure there has been more, but right now all I can think about is getting to the beach this weekend…

How has your summer been? Anything fun to look forward to??

Summer Adventures May 24, 2011

This summer is going to be FILLED with adventures. And I truly cannot wait. Here are the things I am looking forward to:

#1: My last day of school! Friday, June 10th can’t come soon enough. I love teaching and love Jubilee, but I am more ready for summer than I ever have been before.

#2: Only working 3 days a week this summer. I start my 9th summer at Summer Fun on Monday, June 13th, but after teaching all year and working all summer in 2010, I was mentally and physically exhausted when it came time for school to start again this year. I knew there was no way I could do that again, so I cut back on my schedule for the summer. I am looking forward to having the days off to relax.

#3: Pampered Chef. I am going to be a PC consultant starting this summer! I think this will be a great way to make some extra cash and have fun while doing it. The thing I love most is that I can work around my schedule, and I get to bake yummy food!

#4: Ben’s last semester of classes. He currently has only 6 or 7 weeks left of classes, then some finals, and he is DONE with classes at Slippery Rock! Next fall and spring he will be doing some clinicals, but no more late night studying or paper writing! His white coat ceremony is at the beginning of July as well. I am so proud of him!

#5: July 20th. This is my sister’s due date for my niece! I LOVE love LOVE being an aunt to Addison and can’t wait until I have a 2nd niece to play with and spoil!

#6: Rehoboth Beach. While my family will not be going to Rehoboth this summer because of my future niece, we booked a trip with Mallory and Adam for the end of July. We found a cute little condo a few blocks from the beach and Rehoboth Ave, and I couldn’t be more excited! This will really be our first long trip with friends, and we are really looking forward to it. It’s especially fun since Mallory and I both have memories of Rehoboth from our childhood, so we can share in those memories together 🙂

#7: The Big Apple. After returning from Rehoboth, Ben and Adam will be off to the Adirondacks for a week-long camping trip. So what were Mallory and I to do? Book a trip to NYC, of course! We got tickets through Megabus for $1 each way, and plan to stay with her cousin in Manhattan. This means we pay for food…hopefully a Broadway show…shopping….and that’s about it! We’re not so sure how this whole Megabus thing is going to go, but we couldn’t pass up such a great deal. I have read numerous review about Megabus, and while many are negative for late buses or too much A/C or no working wifi or outlets, these things aren’t on the top of our importance list, so I think we’ll be just fine.

#8: My birthday. The weekend after NYC, Ben, Mallory, and I will be traveling via Megabus to Harrisburg where Adam will pick us up and we will head to Purple Door, a huge Christian music festival. While it’s not really my kind of music, I am excited to spend my birthday weekend with friends 🙂 Hopefully Mallory and I have a positive bus experience the week before, so we won’t be dreading this one!

#9: Spending time with friends. We have so many wonderful friends, both old and new, and I can’t wait to have time to spend with all of them! Hopefully we will take some trips to McConnell’s Mill, Moraine State Park, Pirate’s games, Kennywood, and other places around Pittsburgh, bust most of all I just look forward to the fellowship and fun times 🙂

#10: Enjoying the life that God has blessed me with. I am so thankful for all that God has given to me and desire to serve Him in all that I do. I pray that I can be a light to others throughout all of my summer adventures!

What kinds of adventures are you having this summer??

Classroom Fun #3 May 20, 2011

For about a month before beginning our latest project, our class collected empty boxes of all sizes – from furniture and TVs to cereal and Girl Scout cookies – and we had a HUGE pile of boxes in our classroom. We recruited the whole school to help us collect these boxes and ended up with way more than we needed (but hey, better too much than not enough, right?!).

Can you guess what the students did with these boxes? (hint: we were studying the Middle Ages…)

They built castles! The students were split into two groups and each group was given a large, flat piece of cardboard which would be the base of the castle.  I then allowed them to take turns choosing boxes they wanted to use for their castle.  This went surprisingly smoothly! I heard very little bickering or fighting over a particular box – probably because we had such an abundance to choose from.

For the rest of the month, the students worked for about an hour a day with their group to construct their castles with a roll of duct tape and all the boxes they could use. There were three requirements – a keep (the main part of a castle where the king and queen would live), a drawbridge, and a castle wall.  I was grading them based on their creativity, teamwork, and how well they incorporated what they had learned about castles.

At the end of the month, a parent came in to help me spray paint the castles to make them look less like a conglomeration of cereal boxes and more like true castles.  One castle turned out to be a dark grey while the other is more of a metallic silver, but they both look GREAT! The kids were so pleased with how they looked after the spay painting, but now they can’t wait to destroy the castles when we take them out to the dumpster. Kids will be kids…haha

All in all, the project was a success. The kids had a blast and were sad to see our medieval unit end.

Castle #1: (complete with an elevator from the ground floor to the top of the keep)

Castle #2: (complete with a working portcullis [gate near drawbridge])

What do you think??

Running April 28, 2011

I have never thought of myself as a runner. I mean, yes, I can run fast if something is chasing me, and I am a pretty mean tag player with my Summer Fun kids, but I am not a “runner”.

Growing up, I was always one of the slowest kids. Surprising, because I have always had long legs, but not surprising because I had some asthma that prohibited my lungs from letting me get full breaths of air like all those other kids. My least favorite day in gym class was when we had to “run the 600” which was, I think, 4 times around the tennis courts at our school. By the halfway point of my first lap, I was ready to keel over – definitely NOT my idea of fun.

Had I played sports, my running abilities may have improved over the years. However, sports weren’t really my thing. I was more into music, theater, and dance (yes, I know dance is considered a sport by some, but I wasn’t an intense dancer like some – just tap class and some ballet/jazz in high school). This did nothing to improve my endurance. I may have become more graceful and coordinated, but whenever I had to run, I had that “keel over and die” flashback to elementary school.

So, when I went to college and several friends from my freshman hall wanted to form an Ultimate Frisbee team, I was a little wary. I had seen our brother hall play this new-to-me game and saw how much running was involved – back and forth, up and down the field – and wasn’t so sure if I could do it. But I didn’t want to miss out on the fun, so I signed up and committed to playing. I definitely was NOT the best player by any means, especially since Ben had to teach me how to throw a Frisbee, but I had a blast! Yet despite all the fun I had, in the middle of every game, I felt it – the flashback to elementary school. My lungs were huffing and puffing to keep up with me, but I wouldn’t give up. By the end, I truly felt like the wind had been knocked out of me and had the hardest time catching my breath.

Despite this lack of oxygen, I got bit by the Intermural Sports bug. As much as I loved Frisbee, I loved flag football even more. My sorority formed a team, of which I was the captain several times, and I thrived on the feeling of running down the field, hoping to catch the football and get to the endzone. Our quarterback often handed the ball off to me when they needed a fast runner (my long legs came in handy!) and I loved helping my team. Sure, I still felt winded at the end of that run, but I overcame it when I realized how much fun I was having.

Enter graduation. Just when I was finally getting more lung-power. Leaving Grove City also meant leaving the sports I was having a blast playing. Nowadays, Ben and I go to the park and toss a Frisbee around, but it’s nothing like helping your team by making the winning touchdown, or watching your friends cheer for you as you run down the field.

Back in October, Ben asked if I would want to run a 5k with him. A what?? Seriously? You’re asking me? He knew that I had been thinking about trying to run a little, especially after he had run a relay in the Pittsburgh Marathon and it looked like fun, but I sure as heck wasn’t ready for a 5k. I didn’t even know how many miles that was, but soon found out. 3.1 miles. I don’t think I had ever run 3.1 miles before in my life. But what convinced me to sign up was the fact that this would be a fun race – it was called the “Freaky 5k” because it would take place on Halloween and costumes were strongly encouraged. Sounds like fun, yes? That’s what I thought.

Race day comes and I am nervous as heck. We show up, join the crowd at the starting line, and “BAM” – off we go. For the first minute or so, I was having a blast checking out everyone’s costumes. Then, that elementary school flashback drifted slowly back into my mind and my lungs started giving out. Seriously? I was only a minute or two into the race, and already wanted it to end. But here’s where Ben comes into play – he pushed me through cramps, through heaving, through huffing and puffing, and I could NOT have finished this race without him. When I saw that finish line, I gave myself one last push and made it through in a time of 30:30. WOW! I was so proud of myself for finishing in just about 30 minutes – for some, that may seem slow, but for a non-runner, I couldn’t believe it! I ran almost the whole race, only stopping to walk for one minute or so, and that feeling of victory at the end was what made me sign up for another 5k 🙂

So here we are now, present day, with the next 5k looming large in a few weeks. I will be running in the Pittsburgh Marathon 5k through the North Shore. As I thought about the Freaky 5k, I knew that I didn’t want to suffer the way I had during that race. Enter Mallory, who also registered for the Marathon 5k (YESSSS!). Mallory came up with a modified version of a running plan for us so that we would not be dying in the middle of the race. So every few days (or every day on some weeks, like this week), we go running together through Bellevue. We started out doing 90-second runs, and gradually increased to three minutes, then five minutes, and now we’re at eight minutes. Each time we do a longer run for the first time, we complain and complain. By the last time we do that run, we’re doing GREAT! Yesterday, we realized we could go further and ran nine minutes instead of stopping at eight. I have NEVER been able to do this before. EVER!  We will continue to increase until we get to 20, 25, 28, and 30 minute runs.

For once in my life, I’m starting to feel like a runner. Putting on my running shoes isn’t a dreaded task anymore. I am thankful for a friend to run with and a nice area to run in. I’m thankful that my lungs are adapting to this new way of life, and I’m thankful for how great (sore, but great!) I feel after each run. I’m thankful that I can run for eight, no, nine minutes without stopping. But most of all I’m thankful that the flashbacks to that dreaded “run the 600” day in elementary school gym class have stopped. And all of the glory goes to God for giving me the strength and determination to push through!

“I can do all things through Him who gives me strength” Philippians 4:13

Classroom Fun #2 April 11, 2011

During the month of march, we had a 5th grade March Madness tournament.  At the beginning of the NCAA tournament, I had each of my students complete a bracket. Of course, most of them had no clue who any of these teams were, but they had a good time making predictions. We talked about making an educated guess based on the teams’ records, although many still chose some good upsets (some of which actually did occur!).

I posted their brackets on a wall in our classroom where the kids could check them all month.  After each round, I would star each team they predicted correctly and cross off those that were incorrect. They were constantly asking when the games were being played and enjoyed checking their brackets each morning after a round of games had been played. I kept two score charts throughout the month as well – one with scores for each round (one point for each correct team) and one with the score totals.

It was a tight race all month between two of my boys, however one pulled ahead at the end. Unfortunately (but not surprisingly), none of my students predicted the final four correctly. Because of this, I had them make new predictions once the final four was determined in the actual tournament.  Several predicted the championship team correctly, thought it was pretty close.

March was an extremely busy month with our All School Unit on Italy, so we didn’t get to do as much with the tournament as I would have liked. But one thing we did do was talk about each college that participated and what state that college is located in. We kept a tally of how many participating colleges are in each state (do you know which state had the most colleges participate in the tourney??). We reviewed map skills by labeling a map of the US – a good review for both the students and me! The students then colored in the states with 5 colleges one color, 4 colleges another, and so on. We looked at where the majority of the colleges in the tournament were from and why that was so. They realized that very few teams come from north west/central U.S. (Montana, North and South Dakota, Idaho, Iowa, etc.) and we were able to talk about why that might be so.

The plan was to analyze the statistics of the players on the University of Pittsburgh team. I had printed them out for the class and we were going to find averages, make graphs, etc. However, time got away from us. I am looking forward to using these ideas again in my classroom next year!

Oh, and in case you didn’t know, Pennsylvania had the most college teams this year – Pitt, Penn State, Villanova, Bucknell, and Temple!

Classroom Fun #1 March 23, 2011

There are so many fun things we do in our classroom, I decided to use this blog as a place to show them off.

Last year, I was searching for an exciting way to teach my April unit on the Middle Ages.  When I was in elementary school, I would have considered this an extremely boring topic, and I didn’t want my students to feel the same way. After much research, I came across the site http://www.homeschoolshare.com/ where I discovered lapbooking.

Lapbooks are often used in homeschooling.  They focus on one  broad topic (such as the Civil War), and all of the information learned while studying that topic is made into mini books (such as generals of the war, a map of the battles, a timeline, etc.). Lapbooks are made by putting all of the mini books into two (or more) file folders taped together.

I decided that this would be the perfect time for incorporating lapbooking into my classroom.  I was able to find a few templates for premade “medieval” mini books, but the rest I came up with on my own.  Each day, I taught my students about a different aspect of the Middle Ages by showing a self-made PowerPoint.  The students then went back to their seats and I introduced the mini book of the day.  We worked on creating the book and then filling it out with the information learned during the PowerPoint.

I was curious to see how the students would do on their unit test at the end of the month, as some students had struggled with unit tests in the past.  They used their lapbook to study for the test, and I was so incredibly pleased by the results – the lowest score was a 93%! They were the best grades I had seen all year! This really proved to me what a useful tool lapbooking can be in the classroom.



This is the cover of our lapbook. I found a picture of a castle on the internet which we printed off, colored, and glued on the front of our lapbook.

This is our lapbooks opened up most of the way…

…and all the way!

The pocket book is for the steps to become a knight. The one on the right is the self-explanatory – parts of the armor.

The book in the top left is an accordion book which opens out to reveal a timeline of the Middle Ages. The top right book is an acrostic about the life of Charlemagne – each of the flaps opens up to reveal a different fact about Charlemagne that starts with that letter in his name. It also has a map of his empire on the front and how his empire changed when his sons took over. The wheel book in the bottom left is all about architecture – Gothic vs. Romanesque cathedrals. The cover of the wheel is made to look like a stained glass window. The last book in the bottom right is all about the Medieval Manor. The four flaps open up to reveal different facts about the manor, as well as a map of what a manor might have looked like.

Here you can see those four books opened up.

The next two books were about castles and guilds. The top book opens up to reveal three smaller books about castles – why they were built, defenses used in castles, and people in castles. For the bottom book, the kids each designed their own guild sign and wrote facts about guilds underneath.

Here you can see the castle book and guilds book opened up.

The last flap that opens up has the Feudal Pyramid flap book underneath. This topic was pretty much made to be a mini book, being that it’s called a pyramid!

Here you can see the first level,  the King, opened up.

This is the flap that covers the castle and guild books.  The kids each designed their own coats of arms using meaningful colors and symbols we had discussed. They wrote some facts about coats of arms underneath.

This is the flap that covers the “Becoming a Knight” and labeling the armor books.  We talked about a knight’s code of chivalry and the different aspects that were included.

So that’s about it! Since last year was my first year teaching this unit, I pretty much created the mini books as I went, so I wasn’t sure what it would look like when they were finished. However, the final product turned out better than I expected! I did give the kids a grade for their lapbook, based on how well they followed directions and neatness. They were so proud of their hard work and I still have some of my students from last year telling me how much they loved this unit!

This type of activity proves to me that, while sometimes it takes quite a bit of extra work in teaching to make a difference and help the kids have fun while learning, it is 100% worth every minute!

Random Thoughts February 20, 2011

• I have been scrapbooking a lot lately with Mallory, and I have been working on my ABT scrapbook for the 3 years I was a member. Let’s just say, it’s been a roller coaster of emotions looking through all of my pictures. There are a bajillion of them! Thank goodness I had sophomore and junior years printed out already…it took me so long to decide which senior year pictures would go in the scrapbook…and I still printed way too many! I miss my sisters SO incredibly much. Seeing these pictures has brought back amazing memories – from rush parties, pledge week, and spring formals to retreats, Greek Sing, and just hanging out. I miss the fellowship, the laughter, the joy, the encouragement, and most of all, the way these girls spurred me on in my faith. It was such a blessing and I miss it like crazy! I love you girls!
• Ben and I have made more friends here in Bellevue – yay! They have been awesome and so fun to get to know. We have gotten connected with their small group Bible study as well, which has been great!
• School is tough – I have a challenging group of kids. But I am grateful for my job, and for the fact that there are only 7 of them (there were 8 – one left after Christmas), and for how much it is making me grow as a teacher. And for how much they [well, most of them] enjoy school 🙂 Seeing their joy brightens my day!
• Did I mention that I miss my ABT sisters?
• My sister is expecting again! It’s true! I am going to have another niece come July 🙂 Yay!
• We have our beach condo booked for our week at Rehoboth with Adam and Mallory. It’s really really hard not to start planning for it now, but we are just SO excited!!
• I am trying to decide what I want to do this summer. Working at the daycare again full time is not an option…I was so completely and utterly exhausted and drained after last summer that I can’t do that again. Either part time there, or something else…ideas, anyone??

A Week of Thanks… November 23, 2010

Things I am thankful for…

• A wonderful husband who is working his butt off now to one day provide for our family in the way that I know he wants to while doing something he loves! His support, encouragement, and love is more than I deserve but I am so thankful for him. He amazes me with his diligence and perseverence. He recently began the “Insanity” workout and I really don’t know how he does it – I give up after the first part of the warm-up! But he has stuck with it so far and keeps going no matter what. That’s kind of how it is with our life too. We’ve gone through some challenging spots but he always pushes us through! His humor is another story – I’m SO glad that I have a husband who makes me laugh 🙂

• My family – they have been with me through thick and thin. They have seem me at my best and worst, at my highs and my lows. My mom showed me what it means to be a godly woman and wife. My dad showed me exactly what to look for in my future husband 🙂 And my sister continually amazes me with her wisdom, love, and support. They are the best!

• All of the wonderful friends that have come into my life. They are too numerous to name but God brought each and every one into my life for a reason. From my amazing ABTs and college roommates (also ABTs!) to my Lebo friends and newest friends, I can’t imagine my life without all of them. Thank you for being there, for being a friend, for giving me Godly wisdom, for showing me Christ love.
• My new town! I love living in Bellevue and I’m so thankful the Lord brought us here. He led us to the perfect apartment in a town that is perfect for us. Through living in Bellevue, I have also reconnected with someone from my past – a former youth leader of a neighboring church of mine from when I was in YG. This has led to a weekly Bible study with others in the area which was a MAJOR answer to prayer from a faith standpoint! Praise God!

• My job. I am so incredibly blessed to have the opportunity to share God’s love every single day at the Christian school where I teach. Yes it has its challenges, but what job doesn’t? I’m so thankful that God has given me the chance to work in this environment with my sisters in Christ and teach my students what it means to be a Christian and how to live a Godly life. I just pray that I make a difference in their lives, as they have impacted mine in so many ways.

Thank you Father for all You have blessed me with.

Still… November 3, 2010

Sometimes I just need to take time out of my busy schedule to be STILL. I find myself going through the motions and the business without giving glory to God.  While this is something I strive to do, it’s something I don’t do enough. There is so much going on at school, at home, with friends, that I rarely find time to actually do what this song by Hillsong United talks about – “When the oceans rise and thunders roar, I will be still and know YOU are God” (and I still get chills every time I hear this song…). Through all of the trials and tough times, I pray that I can remember to just stop and picture myself soaring above EVERYTHING with the Lord. I pray the same for you.

Hide me now
Under Your wings
Cover me
Within Your mighty hand

When the oceans rise and thunders roar
I will soar with You above the storm
Father you are King over the flood
I will be still and know You are God

Find rest my soul
In Christ alone
Know His power
In quietness and trust

When the oceans rise and thunders roar
I will soar with You above the storm
Father You are king over the flood
I will be still and know You are God

//

Oh Fall… October 31, 2010

So it has been too long. I was sitting in my living room watching football and checking out facebook when this blog popped back into my mind. Maybe there’s a reason for that. There’s a lot going on in my life!

First of all, this fall has been great. Ben and I have had so much fun together and with friends going to a pumpkin patch, carving our pumpkins, drinking apple cider, taking walks in the crisp fall air, baking pumpkin treats, and enjoying the beautiful fall foliage. I’m so thankful for the blessings God has given to us this fall.

We recently began attending a small group on Wednesday nights here in Bellevue. I was reconnected with a youth pastor from high school who opened a bookstore in town and he shared with us his desire to start a Bible study with young 20-somethings.  This couldn’t have come at a better time.  I have really been struggling with a lack of Christian fellowship, other than with the girls I teach with. There is no one our age at our church (the closest in age is my sister and her husband, who are 3 years older and have a baby) and I was really craving fellowship with other Christians in a small group setting. Praise the Lord, He knew my heart’s desire and this opportunity arose. Ben and I have been loving it so far!

Another wonderful thing that happened this fall is Mallory’s move to Pittsburgh. Mallory is wonderful. She is dating Ben’s best friend and frat brother Adam, and we grew super close since they started dating. And she moved to Bellevue in September! It has been such a blessing having her close. We look forward to our weekly Glee dinner dates – each week, we go to one of our apartments for dinner and Glee (sometimes Ben even joins us!). Lately we’ve also been getting into scrapbooking. Well…I should say that I am getting into scrapbooking. She has been doing it for quite a while, I am just starting back into it. So we have had a few scrapbook dates too 🙂 Once again, the Lord knew that I needed a friend, and a friend close by. It’s been wonderful! Now if only Adam would move to Pittsburgh…

Would you pray for me? I have been struggling with something that I wish I could share, but don’t really feel comfortable sharing for several reasons. Please pray for patience and a reminder that God’s timing is perfect. There are several events coming up that will make things much more difficult, so please pray for strength and peace, knowing that the Lord has it all in His hands.

I’m going to try updating regularly, however my life is extremely busy so we’ll see how it goes…