A Wonderful Holiday

It's been a while since I've spent this much time in Conway, and I've been doing some reflecting while here. It's interesting how I now have more than one home. When I'm in Bentonville, I am at my new home. It feels like home, looks like home, and when away (even in Conway), I feel a little distant because I'm not home. However, when I return to Conway (where Wes and I both grew up), the feeling of home comes back. It's a little different though. I live out of a suitcase, my domestic abilities and tendencies fly out the window (thanks, mom and Susie), and I feel like I'm kind of on vacation. I get to see and spend quality time with family, try to reconnect with old friends (sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't due to crazy schedules), and eat wonderful homecooked meals. Mom and I shop, my family talks and watches movies, I eat and play at the Walker's, and I drive around the town knowing all of the back roads. So I guess the reflecting started when I realized I've kind of been walking through this holiday week in a rather somber mood. I'm home with the people I love the most, but because it's not my "home" anymore, I relax a little more and just enjoy what goes on around me.
Christmas this year was wonderful. I enjoyed getting to come here a few days early so that I could spend more time with my brother who lives in California. On Christmas Eve, Wes came in around 5:00, we ate an incredible dinner, and then we went to church. The music at the service was beautiful as always. My grandmother who has dementia attended and really appeared to take it all in, as well as participate in communion. My family played Trivial Pursuit, ate/drank Boiled Custard, watched A Christmas Carol (George C. Scott version of course), and got in our Christmas pajamas. Christmas morning was a special time for the five of us. We exchanged gifts and then set off to get the rest of the crew in the house. This involves an intricate plan of wheelchair manuevering and car shuffling. After a few hours, the house was filled. We ate my favorite breakfast of the whole year and then exchanged gifts with the new guests. Tears were shed all morning and afternoon. As we sang Christmas carols around the piano, Pappaw mouthed the words to Silent Night, although not one word was spoken by him all day. Mammaw sang along to Jingle Bells. Patsy blessed the food with a very sentimental prayer. And Granny wrote each person an extremely meaningful note. I guess a lot of the somberness was encouraged by these events. I experience the cycle of life during the holidays, as I go from my family's house with several elderly grandparents to Wes' house with five children five years of age and under. Ok, enough reflection and rambling. All this to say, I'm here in Conway at my in-law's and loving being with family. I hope and pray you all had a wonderful Christmas. It's a joy to know that we can celebrate the meaning of the holiday all year long. May God bless you all in ways beyond our understanding.

Which doodle?

We need help! We have decided to get a puppy, and although Wes wasn't too pumped out the breed name (Goldendoodle), I think he is secretly really looking forward to getting a doodle. So here are the five choices...let us know what you think!!

Arun...the biggest male in the litter...medium dark hair


Barry...very curly hair...darker hair...medium size


Fargo...fairly curly hair...lighter color


Rosie...only female...darkest red hair...very curly hair


Sandey...the curliest...darker color...medium size

8 Things

This seems like a fun game...I've been tagged by Mandy to carry on 8 Things. And because my favorite number is 8 (it rhymes with my name and it was always my try-out number for everything), I'm happy to participate.

8 TV Shows I Watch:
1. Chuck
2. The Office
3. The Biggest Loser
4. 30 Rock
5. Meet the Press
6. The Today Show (only in the summers and on breaks)
7. Family Guy (Wes has it on so much that I end up watching it more than I would like)
8. Lost

8 Favorite Restaurants:
1. The Red Bar
2. Gordon Ramsay's Maze :)
3. Bonefish Grill
4. Cheesecake Factory
5. Common Grounds
6. Abuelo's
7. P.F. Chang's
8. Fish City

8 Things that Happened to Me Today:
1. I took 90 of my 8th graders to Fast Lane
2. I bowled 2 strikes
3. I played laser tag for the first time
4. I rode go-karts and came in first place
5. I baked cookies in the home-ec room
6. I played Apples to Apples
7. I acted as teacher/babysitter/older sister all at the same time
8. I did not sit down for the first 30 minutes of my spinning class this morning

8 Things I Look Forward To:
1. Tomorrow at 3:00
2. Hanging out at home this weekend with Wes
3. Shopping for Christmas presents
4. Going to see my parents and Allen on Monday
5. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with family
6. Starting a new year
7. Our next vacation/trip
8. Having kids one of these days

8 Things I Wish For:
1. All of my students to reach their highest potential
2. More time devoted to prayer and devotion
3. A puppy (Cavalier King Charles Spaniel or Golden Retriever--preferrably)
4. A fairy to come clean my house while I'm gone and take down the decorations
5. To switch to AT&T and get an iPhone
6. A merry Christmas for all of my friends, family, and students
7. A fairy to come clean and organize my classroom while we are on break
8. More communication with my girlfriends

Yep, that was fun! However, I kept thinking of other lists that would be fun to do. Some lists were really easy, but some were a bit more difficult. I am going to tag JB and Leslie!

3rd Annual

Last night was our 3rd Annual Walker Christmas Party, and we had a great time. Lots of good food--thanks to help from my wonderful friends--good conversation, and incredible friends. Although the temperature dropped from 65 degrees to 27 throughout the course of the party, our fire and apple cider kept us warm through the wintry weather. Here are several pictures from the party! (The one above shows the entries from our cookie decorating contest. Winner revealed below.)


The house is ready!

Hostess Kate

My wonderful friends from school.
I love my old friends from Fayetteville!
Rachel and sweet AudrieThe Burris Family

Trinity Grace folks
My greatest friend Betsy!Molly and Arden after decorating their cookies!

Michelle and me
And winner of the cookie decorating contest...#13...Dave!

My Helper

When I asked mom to come help this past weekend, I knew she had a great eye...but in all my years, I hadn't ever watched her decorate. She's wonderful at it, and she just gets it done. I have now recruited her to help me decorate for Christmas every year. This should be a fun tradition.

Christmas at the Walker house

With bagels and coffee in hand, mom arrived around 10:00 this morning to help get our house ready for Christmas. We got right to work decorating, as soon as I finished grading the last of the 100+ essays for school. We transformed the house in just a few hours, and Wes did a fantastic job on the outside hanging the fresh garland on the front door. Here are a few highlights: (Some are taken without the flash, thus the blur.)

FYI

Just so you know...I made it all the way to the gym today, through 45 minutes of cycling, the locker room shower, and then realized I forgot my makeup. Geez. Luckily, I've made a new friend this week during our early morning workouts and getting ready for work, and she let me borrow her makeup. She even uses most of the same kind I do! Whew!
And I didn't fall today. However, the kids haven't lived it down. They talked about playing charades this morning, and they wanted to imitate the teachers. They all said I would be really easy. They would just fall as they act out Mrs. Walker. I said, "What else do I do? Come on guys, I've only fallen once." They responded in agreement, "you talk." Sweet...I fall and talk too much. What a great picture they have of their English teacher.
Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday!

One Silly Day

I woke up this morning at 4:30, put on my gym clothes, brushed my teeth, got my lunch from the frig, picked up my bag, and headed out the door. About three miles into my drive to World Gym, I realized I had forgotten my hanging clothes for work. Still driving south, I tried to think of an outfit I could put together with the clothes in my car. No such luck. I had lots of tops, but no pants. I don't think that would be acceptable at school. So I turned around at exit 85 and just headed back home. Of course I would have been too late for my gym class, so I just went back to bed. Stink. I was going strong, two days in a row of morning classes at the gym. I guess I'll just pick it back up tomorrow...and this time, I'll remember my bottoms.
Next, I'm at school walking into homeroom. I went back to my desk to get an attendance sheet and while walking to the front of the room, I completely wiped out. Now, you would think that a simple fall wouldn't grab that much attention, but in a room full of 8th graders, I was received by a roar of laughter. I, of course, laughed back and became the target of all the jokes all day long. Kids would walk by me, flail their arms, and do a fake fall. Real funny. I think it will die down soon, but I was sure hesitant to tell them that I fell again alone in my room during lunch. It was a combo of slippery floor and slippery boots.
One silly day it has been.

Thankful for a Break

It's been a long stretch of time since my last break, and I am very thankful to be spending it with family. I haven't been counting down the days, and I'm also thankful for that.
So, enjoy your break, eat lots of good food, and know that I am thankful for those people who actually read this.

One Month Later...

I'm still just as busy...maybe even busier. However, I know this is not a good excuse for letting thekatebox go unupdated for almost a month! This past month has been a phenomenal one, with a couple of major events and numerous smaller moments.
To start with, my girlfriend reunion was just what I needed. It was refreshing, encouraging, challenging, and so incredibly comfortable. I LOVE these friends so much. We started the weekend with pizza at Guido's in Rogers, and then we moved the party up to my house for the night. The nine of us participated in our first "Share and Tell"-- a tradition that MUST continue. We each brought something that represented our past year to give to everyone, and then we all told about the year. We got an awesome So You Think You Can Dance DVD and a great mixed CD from LC, a copy of "The Heat" by Needtobreathe from Lindsdawg, a book thong (I had never heard the name for these little bookmarks before) from Ying, a beautiful scarf from LT, and a little bundle of LeeLee's "Favorite Things" including nail polish, hair spray, peanut butter M&Ms, perfume, and many other things. Brooke gave us all notecards, Beth gave us each one of her business cards as a real-life physical therapist, Lily brought an apple (the size of her baby that week) and some whole grain Goldfish, and then I gave everyone one of my school pictures, some trail mix with dark chocolate M&Ms, and we made little note pads as our craft. This "Share and Tell" took us way into the wee hours of the morning, and we finally headed to bed right before the sun rose again. Saturday morning was a little dance party to "Sanctuary" and then primping for our photo shoot. I'll let the photos speak for themselves on that section of our weekend. We then headed to Fayetteville to Marketplace Express for a late lunch before heading to Different Strokes to paint pottery. We watched the Arkansas-Ole Miss football game on TV at LeeLee's house, and then we came back to Bentonville to rest our eyes for a few hours. Sunday morning was Lily's surprise maternity shower, lunch with the guys, and then lots of tearful hugs. Man, these girls mean the world to me. At the drop of a hat, any of us would be there for the other.
The other big event has been taking place over the past week and half. JB and the kids are spending almost a month in Arkansas, and we have gotten to play a little and celebrate a family wedding in Little Rock. I love my families, and I just feel incredibly blessed every time I'm around them. Mom and I got to do a little shopping this weekend in Conway, and those times are so dear to me. It's a mother-daughter bond that Wes is starting to understand. :)
Let's see...other news. I started teaching an old school hip-hop dance to the cheerleaders today. They are performing it for the first basketball game in a few weeks, so my afternoons will be taken up for a while. I still love my job, and I am so honored to work with the people around me. I definitely have trouble keeping my head above water, but luckily, I don't let it get to me that much.
Thanksgiving is soon, and that means Christmas is around the corner. I LOVE "the holiday season." So I promise to post some pictures and other stories soon. I've decorated the house for Thanksgiving, and I really think it may be the first holiday decorated for in my house that no one will see but Wes and me. I'll take some pics and share so I'll feel like it served some purpose.

A Good, Busy Life

Well, I've been a little tied up lately. Teaching English is tough. It requires a lot of attention and time. Teaching 8th graders requires even more of both of those. Plus patience and a sense of humor. I believe I have been successful at most of it, but teaching, as many of you know, is a career where you always feel like there is more to do. I want to give more, understand more, challenge more, encourage more, love more, share more, grow more, the list goes on... I never thought I would be so passionate and concerned to get every one of my wonderful students to learn whatever it is I am teaching. And when you have 110 kids at different levels, that's what makes it tough.
Besides teaching in the classroom all day every day, I've stayed until 7:00 p.m. two nights this week for parent-teacher conferences and just got home from a downer of a football game. (I think I'm going to have to play encourager tomorrow morning when the players are still processing tonight's loss.) All of these events are, luckily, things that I enjoy. Getting to meet the parents of my kids and watching the passion in the guys on the football field are really cool.
So, my fall would be busy enough if I just had my job.
However, teaching isn't at the top of my priority list. I've gotten to spend great time with friends and family lately celebrating marriages, babies, and anything else we feel like making an excuse for so we can get together. My weekly Bible study has been such an awesome time, and I feel like God is really trying to work through me and teach me. This weekend is the 2nd Annual Reunion for my college girlfriends. I absolutely can't wait. This time is so incredibly special, and we all really are a little bit too excited. We have emailed over 75 messages in the past day and a half. Being the host, I have also spent 2 nights this week conducting cleaning parties. I borrowed Leslie's Dyson vacuum tonight, and I think I'm in love. What an amazing machine. Clearly, my life is busy, but I have no complaints. Ok, I'm probably rambling, and I need to make my lesson plan for tomorrow. (Perfect example of my life right now. Running on last minute pace, but loving every second of it. Just glad I don't get stressed easily.)

I've Been Tagged

Thanks, JB. The game of tag has been passed on to me, so now I'm it! Oh dear. This means that I have to share 7 weird/quirky/funny/random things about myself. Although it is not my goal, nor my desire, I tend to live my life as an open book. I just don't think before opening my mouth, so coming up with 7 things you don't know may be tough. Here goes...
1. I got to travel to Hollywood with my dad during 8th grade to help promote the movie Jack Frost, starring Michael Keaton. As you may know, my dad's real name is Jack Frost, and the production company invited all real Jack Frosts to come to Hollywood for a snowman building contest. Although my Jack Frost didn't win, we had an amazing trip one Halloween weekend 10 years ago!
2. I have pretty bad scoliosis which makes my pant legs uneven and causes a lot of other weird physical issues.
3. When I am alone and I hear a good beat, I find myself dancing and making up intricate routines.
4. I count calories...every day...and have been doing so for the past 5 years. Wes says I can't be accurate, but I always buffer my count with a couple of hundred calories in case of mistakes. And I don't even take it seriously. I don't even have a goal or limit anymore. It's just habit.
5. I secretly want to work for the Travel Channel...well, I guess it's no secret anymore. I would LOVE to host a show that sent me around the world staying in amazing hotels, going on incredible adventures, and experiencing different cultures. Ahhh...I can't think about it too much or I get antsy for my next trip.
6. I love to write artistically, draw, and letter things for people. Maybe it can turn into a major money maker one of these days. So far, I've just done a few real jobs and a ton of work for my two moms.
7. I eat a lot of cereal. I am actually kind of embarrassed about it.

Well, this was interesting. Hope you enjoyed these tidbits of information. Pretty pointless...but I guess that was the point.
I'm now going to tag Cat, Leslie, Keisha, and Cathy.

What It Is

Happy 26th!
At the first Razorback game of the season.
8th grade football.
Totally involved teachers.
Pappaw.

You know how you can sit for a while thinking of a title before even typing your post? Well, I do that...and I have decided to take some of my own English teacher advice and type the body before I come up with the title. But, I just don't know exactly what to say today. I realized it had been almost a month since my last post. And that's just not right, seeing how I tend to judge others who don't update their blogs on a frequent basis. So, here it goes...what I've been up to, what I've learned, and other fabulous things from the past month.
* I celebrated Wes' 26th birthday this past Sunday (and our 3 year anniversary of being engaged)!
* I've been a faithful follower of the Razorbacks despite some major disappointments. I mean, come on, they have a tough schedule this year. Playing top ten teams back to back to back isn't easy, especially for our rookie team.
* I've tried out my "mean face" to some of my 8th graders, and it doesn't work. They weren't scared, and it didn't settle them down at all.
* I've gone to way more 8th grade football games than I ever imagined, and I actually quite enjoy them. I even got to catch some of our next opponent's practice today after school...Thursday may be a rough one.
* God is teaching me a lot, and He is trying to bring me closer to Him. I'm just the stubborn one who thinks she can handle it all on her own. So, I've given up, and I'm trying to let Him take over and guide me. I want to make sure that I learn whatever it is He wants to show me.
* I've realized the shortness of life. My dad's parents have been moved to a nursing home, and things just aren't looking too good. One has a mental illness and the other, a physical illness. These are not easy things to deal with, and I just want to treasure the days God gives me now. This also makes me look up to my mom and dad even more...if that's possible.
* I want to be a better friend and call my favorite girls more often. Our friendships work without phone calls, but I want/need to stay updated way better than I do now.
* I have started to plan my next trip. Either Colorado or San Francisco...go figure!
*Ok, I think I'm just rambling now. I'm off to a quiet Tuesday evening at home. Wes is gone to BSF, and I'll grade some papers, maybe get on the Wii Fit for a while, and then just relax.
P.S. I don't think the title after the body thing really works for me. The first phrase that popped in my mind after I almost forgot to put a title won the slot.

Moving Out

Several VIP's in my life have moved out recently. Benton, JB, and the kids moved out to Colorado last weekend. It hasn't hit me yet that I can't just call JB and go visit her in Fayetteville anytime I want. It hasn't hit me that I won't see the kids at every single important event in their lives. But...it's definitely hit me that I miss them a lot already!
Two days before they left, my brother and mom headed out to California in the juiced up Crown Vic (a U-Haul was attached to it). Allen starts is PhD program later this month at Stanford. So, life will be different for me, but I am really looking forward to some fun trips to the Rockies and the San Francisco Bay Area. I guess the travel agent in me must get back to work!
However, during the last weekend of October, my best girlfriends are moving IN for a couple of days! The annual reunion is happening again, and we have some fun things planned. We are also looking for a photographer to take pictures of us during the weekend, but we don't have a huge budget. We would just like to pay for a sitting and then the CD of pictures...so if you know of someone, PLEASE let me know!

It's Nice to Say

It's really nice to be able to honestly say that I love my job, the people I work with, and waking up in the mornings excited to get ready for school. I am so glad I am where I am. However, I also love being able to say "It's Friday!" After a rough, almost heartbreaking/almost heartwarming first football game last night, the day today was a little more somber. We tied Elmwood last night, 13-13. Pretty good match I'd say. So this weekend is going to be nice. Wes and I help out tonight at rEcess, our friends' non-profit organization's monthly event to help families with special needs children. Tomorrow is going to be restful and relaxing with really not much to do. We have nursery duty at church on Sunday, and I may go up to do some work at school on Sunday afternoon. Maybe. I'm looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow, watching some football, and persuading Wes (or anyone else who would want to) to go with me to Cold Stone for a mid-afternoon treat. Have a fabulous Friday!

A New Era

The Bobby Petrino Era has begun at Arkansas, and although the game was a little too close for comfort, I am excited about the change in our coaching staff and stadium. I like the straightforwardness of Petrino, the new razorback in the middle of the field, and the new jerseys of the players. However, the red pants are not my favorite. I vote to go back to white ones, but I'm probably not the most listened to or respected fan. So, I won't really worry or complain about it. Anyways, I love the Razorbacks, the football season, and Fayetteville. Here's to a rough and challenging schedule ahead of us!

Arkansas Razorbacks vs. Western Illinois Leathernecks 28-24. It's a W!

The Life of an 8th Grade Teacher

Well, I'm a little more than a week in, and here are just a few of the things I have already done. I have gone to a football kick-off, the 1st volleyball game, and cheerleading practice, taught students to relate Facebook and MySpace to school multiple times, prayed that I would not be so sarcastic to my students on a daily basis, laughed hysterically with my across- the-hall friend Betsy way more times than necessary, and have compiled more hilarious stories than the entire year teaching 6th grade. That last one may be a stretch, but I definitely am on my way to beating my funny moments from last year. 8th grade is a blast. And getting to see my students participate in school sports teams for the first time is awesome. However, I must have expressed too much excitement because I now have been asked to form my school's spirit club, or as I like to call it, the student section. We want a name for t-shirts so students can wear them to all the games, posters for the hallways before games, skits for pep rallies, etc...and apparently, I am qualified. Not sure about that, but I said I would think about it. To wrap things up here, I will leave you with one of my homeroom student's first impressions of her teacher (me)..."My first impression is clear. Mrs. Walker is fashionable and professional." I'll take that!

Back to Normal

Ok, so my travels are over for a while. I'm staying put. These last few weeks have been full of great adventures, and the most recent weekend was one I will not soon forget. Our weekend in NYC for Mary's wedding was wonderful, and I am so thankful my flights on Sunday went as planned! (I had to start school the next day!) We did a lot of shopping in the city, and the wedding was out of this world. Wedding venue: Christ Church United Methodist/ Reception: Central Park Zoo. And of course the greatest part was getting to see my best friend!

But now things are back to normal. School has started, and I love my students. Fourteen year-olds are mysteries to many people, but I love to figure them out and really get to know them. Here are the perfect teacher pictures. Enjoy, and I'll write more soon!

In Bentonville

I guess it's about time to admit that I'm home from the big trip. I had great intentions to fill you in on our daily activities from city to city, but that just didn't happen. To use the internet in most places, I had to walk to an Internet Cafe, pay some Euros (or Swiss Francs), check e-mail and give updates to family before my time ran out on the computer. So...thekatebox got the shaft.

However, many of you by now have seen the 500 pictures on Facebook and could probably give a day to day account of the trip. For those of you haven't seen them or heard some of the stories, here are a few of my favorite pictures and places with captions under each one.In front of Kenwood House outside of London (remember the scene with Julia Roberts acting in Notting Hill?).
Seeing Wicked at the Apollo Victoria Theatre in London!
At the Louvre in Paris. The Eiffel Tower...and notice how well I planned my outfit to match.
One of my favorite foods--real pizza. Even though this was on a sidewalk cafe in Paris watching the end of the Tour de France, the pizza was real and incredible. I consumed much more pizza in Italy of course.

Watching the first cyclists come down the Champs Elysees on the final stage of the Tour de France!

It won't let me put a caption UNDER the next picture. This is in Gimmelwald, Switzerland...high in the Alps.Schiltorn peak. We took cable cars to reach it, and the views were unbelievable and so vast. That's Allen in the green and white striped sweatshirt!A night in Vernazza, Italy. We had just eaten dinner and were walking around this beautiful, small riviera town.

Main street in Vernazza.Reaching Manarola, one of the towns of the Cinque Terre.The hike was definitely a highlight of our trip. Wes and I took fresh pizzas to the rocks one night for dinner. This was our romantic setting.The view from our apartment in Vernazza.

On our last night, Allen and I went to the top of one of the hills surrounding Lake Como and ate dinner. We sat right next to the window, and this was our view.

Of course this is just a snapshot of our trip. We are so thankful for the opportunity to visit and experience these amazing places. The cultures and people we encountered really taught us a lot, and the scenery proved in amazing ways the beauty and creativity of our God. Thanks for your prayers along the way.