Crawfish and Iraq

I went to my first Crawfish Boil last weekend, and I didn't take any pictures. You wouldn't have seen my fingers messy with a plate piled high of crawfish though. I stuck with the fried turkey, and it was delicious. It was a great weekend in Conway, and I got to spend most of it with my best friend, Liz. Her sister is getting married in NYC this summer, and we had a shower for her on Saturday morning. Here's a picture of Liz and me...

My agenda slide at school today said "My friend, Liz" as one of the activities for the day. We talked about her recent trip to Africa and the Middle East with the U.S. senator for whom she works. They were enthralled with the picture of her in a bullet proof vest inside a blackhawk helicopter flying from Kuwait to Iraq. Liz had e-mailed us pictures of her in Ethiopia in the city where the Arc of the Covenant is supposedly held and of some of the U.S. military in Iraq. Before she went on this "8 countries in 7 days" trip, my classes "planned" her trip so that she would travel in the best order geographically. It's fun to have real-world connections to make when teaching.

So...11 more days of school. I can hardly believe that my first year of teaching is coming to an end. It has been great, and next year will be even better because I get to move across the hallway into a room with windows! Ahhh... It's been difficult living in a room all day not knowing if the sun is shining, if snow is falling, or if a terrible storm is headed our way.

Enjoy the weekend! It's going to be beautiful here!

Annie

I'm an aunt for the 5th time! At 12:38 p.m. on Tuesday, May 6th, my newest niece was born. I am in awe of how intricate and perfect God's ways are after observing the delivery of Annie. She is a sweet bundle of joy who I cannot wait to watch grow, learn, and develop a personality all of her own. Here's a picture of course!

A Big Week Ahead

This week will hold some big moments for a few special people in my life. My incredible sister-in-law will become a mother of 3, a great friend will deliver twins, and I will get closer to ending my first full year of teaching. Definitely the first two moments described above are way bigger, but I needed a third big moment in that sentence. Those are the big moments planned for the week ahead, but who knows?...a big moment that is not expected could come our way.

I got my first slight sun-kissed face of the year yesterday while camping at Roaring River State Park. The rest of my body was covered due to the very chilly temperatures and wind, but my face got some sun. And then today, I sat outside on our back porch painting some canvases and caught some nice rays. I absolutely love the spring and summer. I think I love every season at the turn of them because it is something new and I love change. However, the spring is special because the world becomes greener, brighter, and full of life.

Just because I love pictures, I'll close with one. These are our new hanging baskets that we treat like our children. We don't have kids or dogs...we have plants.