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.

A Great Phase of Life

So it's almost been a month. I'm not sure what has changed, but I'll give an update. Life has turned from birthday parties to baby and wedding showers. We had several birthdays in a row for a while which was so fun, and now showers are taking over for a month or so until those babies and weddings actually take place...and then it will be wedding season and visiting new babies time. I'm in the middle of those two phases of life...and I love it!

My brother is finalizing his graduate school plans and just spent a week on the west coast visiting Stanford and UCLA. I'm so incredibly excited for him to be so much closer than Hong Kong. Communication is way easier when you live in the same country. He'll start in August...and I'll be heading out west to visit as soon as possible.

My college girlfriends and I pretty much had a surprise reunion last weekend when one member of the group fell off a cow and got hurt pretty seriously. She will be ok, and she's already making fun of it...but it was so cool to see how best friends can drop anything and come together when needed. Only one of us couldn't make it...and we made sure to call her and keep her updated as often as possible. God is so good to bless us with such wonderful people in our lives. The reunion, as it wasn't in the best of circumstances, was a great encouragement to me. Every time we get together, I am reminded of how lucky I am. Thanks, girls.

I think that about does it. I'm going to try to do a better job at posting more frequently. Until next time!

Driveways and Lawn Chairs

So I thought when I started this thing that I would be writing everyday and would have to tell myself to stop because people probably wouldn't be checking it daily or really care about all of the little things I had to tell you. Well...time flies in my life, and I rarely give myself the time to sit down, ponder, reflect, and share. So here goes...the last few weeks have been busy and wonderful. We have celebrated at Whitlee's 2nd birthday party (while wishing my dad a happy 58th on the same day!), we have gone through some illness (I stand alone as the only Walker whom sickness has not touched), and we have enjoyed the crazy weather that included a sunny, warm weekend followed by a snow day 2 days later.

I just got inside from an hour long driveway and lawn chairs talk with the neighborhood ladies. Two are stay-at-home moms with several little ones running around and another has a little boy and works in a corporate job. I got home from school and with the sun out and the temperature at 75 degrees, I went outside to swing on the porch, and noticed the driveway across the street beckoning me. I have a sense that these driveway and lawn chairs days are just beginning. I would invite the crew to come to my porch and swing or sit in the adirondack chairs, but my driveway is a little too daunting for 2 year-olds on bicycles. The weather is getting warmer, Spring Break is in 2 days, and I just love this time of year.

My Job

My mom has been a teacher for many years, and she has given me a piece of advice that I will always remember. Teaching is like laundry. You try to get everything done, and just when you think you've conquered it all, a few more shirts and underwear get thrown into the pile. I must surrender to the type of job that I have...I'll always have more to do. So with that said, I almost always leave around 3:30, and I leave my work at school. It will be there for me tomorrow, and I'll always get done whatever is needed to get done. I give 100% while I'm at work, and then I go home. I stay sane, I continue to love my job, and I'm never exhausted. Of course there are those rare days when I bring home several crates of papers to grade...like today. Oops!

The First Box Post

You may be wondering where I got the name "Kate Box." Well, after many failed attempts at creative blog names (I must be getting into this rather late in the game because all of my ideas had already been claimed by some other blogger), I remembered the nickname my dad uses for me--Kate Box. I don't have a clue where it came from, but I like it. Plus, Wes won't mind his name being left off of the blog title. He doesn't like to be recognized in the blogging/social networking world anyway.
I'm pretty sure that most of you reading this know who I am, so I don't feel the need to explain myself. However, I will give a quick update...married a little over 2 years, living in my favorite house in NWA, and teaching 11-13 year olds about American history and why being a good citizen is important. It has been so wonderful getting to build solid friendships with folks from church, and I try really hard to keep up with those older, incredibly wonderful friendships from C-town and college. Boy, how I wish I could see them more often, but we have something special that allows all the time to instantly slip away once we get to reunite in person or talk on the phone! I've been learning a lot about grace and mercy, and I'll just say that I am blessed. Wes and I couldn't be happier at this point in our lives. We look ahead to the future with excitement and intrigue, but we are living our lives here and now with great joy. Who knows where God will lead us and take us, and we pray that we constantly seek His will for us.
As for today, February 21st....I'm home due to "inclement weather" that never really came. I'm assuming that some of the northern, hilly parts of my school district got ice this morning and they became dangerous to drive. So I watched the Today show, went to school for a little while, and then played/shopped on the internet. That's when I thought about starting a blog. I told Wes when he came home from lunch, and he gave me the thumbs-up. Enjoy The Kate Box, and I'm sure you will be hearing from me soon!