Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow...

Its official. With my 20 oz. Coke Zero, 16 oz. of Organic Mexico down, and a half eaten bag of Gardetto's (the dark rye ones are the best!), I'll be finishing finals today. TODAY! This has been the stinking longest semester of my life, no thanks to an amazing but tedious sociology course on racism. I can look ahead at the week before Christmas and breathe a sigh of academic relief. Until Jan 12 when it starts all over again and the countdown to certification starts back.

I've done some fun things over the weekend. I ran a Christmas 5-k with our Waco Loopers running club and dressed like the leg lamp off the Christmas Story. That was our theme and it was amazing. There are more pics on facebook if you want to go to Ty and Marie's page:









I call her friend for so many reasons...


Serious runner

Here are a few things I'm thinking about as Christmas draws nigh:
1. Amanda and Mary are coming back into the states soon!
2. Ashley is going to get hired at Ashland (look, I'm already well wishing for you!)
3. Ty and Marie are moving into their new home over Christmas which very well could be our new home if Chattanooga stays in its economic death bed!
4. Julie is going to go to Nashville but not stay in Nashville (right?)
5. John is going to get back to a normal schedule!
6. Grant is going to pass math!? (i'll let you know)
7. Jeanne and Summer are going to be my running partners over Christmas Break?
8. I'm going to read for pleasure over the holiday break.
9. I will get my house picked up and laundry done while on holiday.


Hooray for finals being over!!!!!!!!!

hey, hey, do the brand new thing...

Dear blog,
It's been a while. Halloween, working, school, home, running, it all seems a blur. How do I catch you up. Let's prioritize! Ok, 5 weeks of this semester and off to methods! Wooooooo! It has to be easier than what's happening now. And Ella and Molly made straight A's and Grant (no straight A's) is doing awesome in school and all the teachers love him. If I'm told once, I'm told a thousand times, "You're son is so funny". I'm still running and trying to decide to do the Nashville 1/2 in April. I never thought I would be scared to train like that again, but it really is some work to do. The country music and free food could carry me through.

John is helping his family open a new clinic so he is busy, busy, busy. We are also making plans for him to go to Brazil this summer to serve there for 10 days, Lord willing. I'm finding it increasingly hard to find someone to help me along spiritually in this season of recovery so John is doing that. He actually reads to me at night because I'm so inconsistent. He quizzes me like a theology student sometimes too, which is challenging, but good. Julie is holding me accountable in prayer and vice versa. Not having a church family close proves its disadvantage, but the Lord provides, doesn't he. This is still such a weird season of unknowns but my amazing small group leader, Johnny, tells us only deal with obedience for the day. I can manage that.

I want to spend the holidays away from Ky by going someplace warm. I don't think its even a possibility, but I want my little family to be together. We do have a blast when we're all home together. They get their chill out skills honestly from me. I'm looking forward to the break. Not the holidays, just the break.

Oh yeah, Molly had this amazing birhtday party and I thought I could show pictures but I didn't put them on my flash to get that done. Next time. So I put a fun picture of her on the side. She is 10! Time is flying. Don't deserve the sweet family I have, but am so glad that I get to steward them for a time. Molly had a prom for her birthday. It was crazy. I'll post pics this week.

Dr. York is finishing the ten commandment series and I urge you all who read this to go to Buck Run's sight and download. I can't say enough about how the Lord has blessed him with the ability to orate God's word. Truly something.

Ok, now to superficial stuff, my new favorite thing to do on Sunday nights is to sit and watch Extreme Home Makeover in the floor. I was crying so hard by the end of last Sunday nights show (i mean full on ugly cry) I thought I was going to have to take medicine for being stuffy. I LOVE that show. Uh, as Julie says, its like 4 Lifetime movies at once. My birthday is in a few weeks and I'm hoping to have an Extreme Home Makover show kind of happening where we cry and its awesome and the whole town is in on it and Grant jumps up and down and cries and the girls are hugging and John is running around in circles because I made it to 35!!!!!! maybe need to back off the reality t.v. some...

we're all in this together...

I'm kinda failing at my blog right now. I think about it. Like a long lost friend who is waiting for me to hang out so I'm doing that now. At 12:30 a.m. with Jay Leno in the background and my last online midterm behind me. Awesome. Tonight Julie came over and shared my weekly Office time with me and John (he fell asleep, poor thing) but we caught up and talked of Peru and gynecology in third world countries (oh, crazy health ed. grad students :) I appreciate her ability to be able to drive out to my house because I have children that need to go to bed around 10. I also appreciate her ability to help me with abstract work on health disparities. All friends should be like this!

Title of the blog, let me explain. High School Musical 3 is coming out this weekend and my girls are dying to see it (and deep down maybe I am too, well not dying like I want to see Jim Gaffigan in Louisville Dec 12 in case your looking for a gift idea dying, but a real WANT). We have even got Tyler and Marie excited? last weekend by sitting through High School Musical again. Dorky? yes. Fun? totally. Spontaneous singing and dancing is always appropriate for every situation. I've been explaining to Molly this movie is a spin off of the musical Grease. It was our High School Musical back in the early 80's. There's never an original thought anymore, is there?

I'm beginning to work at Starbucks Monday. I'm selling out to corporate coffee and cheating on MyTime purely based on a need for health insurance. Did you know one of my dreams is to own my own place? No really, I've always wanted a tea or coffee house. I want to visit with regulars and share their lives and have music and art and kids drinking hot chocolate. I would decorate for all holidays, including Columbus, MLK,and Labor Day. If the post office people are off they need a place to come! I have a name and everything. Maybe learning from the Blockbuster of the coffee industry will bring this to fruition. It really blows that there's no artwork there. I like the neutral decor, and don't forget the insurance, but truly the only really cool thing about it is the cool coffee mugs they sell and the $1,ooo coffee machines. I'm sure there will be fun stuff to tell from the coffee shop. I'll keep you posted.

I ran a 5k last Saturday and still haven't posted the pictures. Ella came in 2nd in middle school age division and one of my running partners came in 3rd for women. Our school won the overall prize for most people attending which was really cool. I'll post those and I'm going to update my blog pictures too. Maybe my music, as well. I'll do that at Starbucks. That's what you do at coffee shops, right? I'm also really trying to get back to reading a Proverb a day based on the days date. You will essentially read the book of Proverbs every month and the wisdom books are such applicable reads. Not reading much else, well health journal articles. Blah. Only 2 semesters to a certified teaching career...

I'm on the top of the world looking down on creation...

This was the #1 song the year I was born, 1973. I've been getting the most random emails with stuff like this and I delete most of them, but was curious on this one. I really thought it was going to be something like "Dirty White Boy" or "Double Dutch Bus" but no, I"m a lot older than those songs apparently. I don't care. I'm growing wiser. Wise is beautiful!

Which leads me to noticing things about beauty. I am on campus during the day with many college girls who are wearing 3 1/2 inch heels to walk across campus. I'm so not exaggerating this either. What is wrong with these girls?!!? I remember when I barely brushed my teeth to go to class when I was their age, (well, come to think of it I haven't showered today or brushed my teeth and I'm on campus so maybe I'm just gross...popping mint now...)but times have changed. These girls look like they are going out to dinner on a Weekend. I was even Greek back in the day, but saved the dressing for meetings and mandatory dress up days(which we all HATED). This shouldn't bother me, but it so does. Heels? Really? Heels at 8:00 a.m.? Do you not read anything but US Weekly or InStyle? Have you not heard how detrimental that is too your feet? At 8 a.m? Oh, you don't exercise either? Good thing because your feet are going to fall off from your Achilles Tendon being shortened. No heel striking during running for you, missy! Just grates at me...

Here's something else I love on campus, the awkward too-many-people-in-the-elevator feeling. You know, everyone is looking down (especially the girls in 3 1/2 inch heels, they can see the tops of our heads) and you barely want to tell me what floor your going to. I love that. I'm taking the stairs today, enough of that.

Spoon Bread Festival is this weekend and I'm going to work the KiS golf table for some extra cash. I love Spoon Bread. Berea is always good people watching, too. The folk art stuff there this weekend should be great!

Going to class...