My First Blogger Award!

I am blessed to be nominated for this award by two of my favorite people! First, my amazing sister-in-law Bailey.  Bailey has just recently joined the blogging world and I have loved keeping up with her life as a newly wed to my brother on their blog; she is a very gifted writer.  Secondly, I was nominated by one of my oldest and dearest friends, Courtney.  Her blog is also amazing and reveals what a wonderful woman she is.  Thanks so much girls! Both you hold such a special place in my heart!  Here are the rules:

1-Thank the person who nominated you for this award.

2-Copy the logo and place it on your blog.

3-Link to the person who nominated you for this award.

4-Name 7 things about yourself that people may not know.

5-Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers.

6-Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.

7-Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they've been nominated.

Okay now it is time for 7 things about me that you might not know.

1. For the most part I do not enjoy being by myself.  I am very much a people person, and feel content when I am surrounded by people I love.  I do enjoy my "me moments"  I just don't like them to be every day.  This whole hardly ever seeing my husband thing is leaving me feeling lonely, but I am doing my best to keep a positive attitude.

2.  I love reading children's books.  A perk of being a teacher is that I have an excuse to read them all the time.  This summer I read a book picked out from my classroom library by each of my students last year.  Some of the books I read are now my favorites!

3.  I am not as neat as I would like to be.  Due to the craziness of life my house is messy and it is embarrassing!

4.  I have to have the bed made each morning.  If it is made I feel like my life is a little more together.  If it is not made I feel a little crazy and like I am all over the place.  It's crazy, I know.

5.  I want to learn how to decorate cakes.  I don't know when this will happen, but someday...

6.  I have always wanted to open a bed and breakfast in an old Victorian home, in some quaint location.  I think this would be a great post retirement activity that would keep me busy doing other things I love, entertaining, baking, and cooking. 

7.  I knew I was going to be a teacher when I was in 3rd grade, and did not change my mind once.  And yes,  I still want to be a teacher.  There is nothing more rewarding.  I was reminded of that this week when one of my buddy students made up a song for me and sung it beautifully out at recess.  It was so sweet it made me tear up!

Okay...I now for the 7 nominations.....

Krysta at Krysta Nicole

Sara at the Dean Spot

and everyone else I would nominate already has this award.... so there you have it!

I promise to write more about our actual lives soon!

Do you ever...

Do you ever say things like" This week I am going to work out every day." or  "From now on I am going to eat healthy."  or even something like "Wow, look at her. She looks so great, and she has everything together!  I need to get my life together like that."  These phrases are ones I find myself repeating nearly every week, yet nothing really ever changes.  The first two are the ones that really frustrate me.  I am not an "inactive" person, yet in the busyness of my life I have a hard time motivating myself to do these simple things.  Every week I say these things, and every week when nothing has changed I feel frustrated at myself, and find myself asking why I couldn't have just done it!!!

Lately, I feel as though I have been so wrapped up in what those around me are doing and bring the judgment hammer down hard on myself.  I know deep down this is not the right attitude, but it is the one I currently have.  In the midst of learning how to believe God, I feel God also tugging at my heart that I need to believe in me too.  I am trying to let go of the desire to do things right all the time, to embrace the life that God wants to offer me, a life that is free of worldly worries and full of grace.  I am trying to get there, but still feel like I have a ways to go. 

This week I am going to love me, love who God made me, do my very best to workout most days this week, to give the best of me to each of my students this week, be the wife Stinson needs me to be, and continue to seek the love of my Savior to lift these burdens I've been carrying.

Believing God with a Pumpkin Spice Latte in Hand

A couple of weeks ago I shared that I was joining a women's bible study with the hopes of making new friends and drawing closer to God.  I am stoked to say that both of those things are happening!  So far, the "Believing  God" study by Beth Moore has been so amazing!  It is really opening my eyes to a new way of viewing my faith and what it is that delights God.  My biggest revelation so far has been that what causes righteousness to be bestowed upon me.  It is not the WORKS that I do, but the amount of FAITH I put in God.  It is about believing God is who He says He is, that He can do what He says He can do, and that I am who He says I am.  God has been showing me that my "good works" are not necessarily bad, but the fact is they will not change anything or do anything to draw me deeper into my walk unless I actually BELIEVING GOD!   I am still in the process of fully wrapping my head around this one.

In addition to drawing me deeper in my walk, this study has enable me to begin building a few new relationships.  Nothing major to report like a new close friends, but I can see some great relationships beginning to bud.

Now it is time for the pumpkin spice latte part of the post.  I just know that God created this drink to comfort my soul!  I love to drink one while diving into His word and my bible study, or to start my morning off on the way to fun-filled day of teaching.  I know a pumpkin spice latte will also be my companion to many MNU football games this fall.

If you love pumpkin spice lattes, then I know you love blogs, and that means you may be looking for a new design, which means you need to check out one of my best friend Courtney's blog!  She is giving away a blog design by her sister (who designed this blog).  Check out Jenn's designs by clicking here.

Are you ready for some football?!

The feeling of fall is in the air.  The air is a bit crisper and the morning dew clings to the grass just a tad longer.  Another sign that fall is here is football.  Pioneer football kicked off the season Saturday night.  Under the stadium lights you could see the sea of red and blue filling the seats and wrapping down around onto the track ready to cheer on their team to victory.  The roar of crowd echoed from one side of the stadium to the other.  The energy being emitted by the players was contagious and fueled the fans cheers.  Touchdown after touchdown, I felt the familiar feeling of excitement returned.  There is something about football that makes me love fall.


Maybe football makes it feel like fall because football has become a very big part of my life since my relationship with Stinson began.  When you marry a football player and coach I think it might be against the law to not like football.  Being married to a football player has opened my eyes to view football in a different light.  I have a greater appreciation for what players go through and how hard they work to earn their spot on the starting roster.  Also, being married to Stinson has provided me with the opportunity to learn more about the ins and outs of the game.  Throughout our relationship he has taught me some of the coverages and routes that are standard parts of football.  There have even been opportunities for me to show off my knowledge and even impress a few of the guys.


Football also represents a sort of family to me.  There is a special bond between those who support and love a player on the team.  This fall I am looking forward to forging new friendships with girlfriends, wives, and mothers of the players.  One of the best parts of Saturdays is sitting in the stands with your football family around you, knowing that you understand each others joy and pain as well as share many of the same anxieties.  I am still looking searching for partner to cheer on the Pioneers with this season, but I feel God leading me towards a few others that look like they are need of friend too!


This Saturday was much less stressful than Saturdays from the past four years.  There was no worries about Stinson getting hurt, if he would play, how well he would play, or what people might be saying in the stands.  While I would not trade his football journey for anything, it is a gift to get to enjoy the players doing what they do best without the wondering or stress.  I do know being a coaches wife will bring new stresses as he moves up, but that is is the future.  For now we are both enjoying the coaching side of the ball.

 

P.S. The Pioneers won 56 to 13!  A great way to start the new season.

You know you're a teacher when...

I know some of you may or may not have seen some of these lists about all the ways you know you are a teacher, but I thought I would add one of my own based on my day today.

You know you are a teacher when... you teach half the day with a fever, head that is killing you, nose that won't stop running, and when a student tells you they have a "headache" you say "Just tough it out and let your parents know when you get home."  But what you really feeling like saying is "SUCK IT UP! Do you know how awful I feel right now?! You don't see me complaining or asking to go see the nurse!"  Oh the joys of being a teacher, nurse, mom, counselor and principle all in one day.

Here is a list that was once sent to me I thought you might enjoy.  If you are not a teacher, just know these are all true!

HOW DO YOU KNOW YOU ARE A TEACHER?

1. You can hear 25 voices behind you and know exactly which one belongs to the child out of line.
2. You get a secret thrill out of laminating something.
3. You walk into a store and hear the words 'It's Mrs. Dean' and know you have been spotted.
4. You have 25 people that accidentally call you Mom/Dad at onetime or another.
5. You can eat a multi-course meal in under twenty-five minutes.
6. You've trained yourself to go to the bathroom at two distinct times of the day: lunch and planning period.
7. You start saving other people's trash, because most likely, you can use that toilet paper tube or plastic butter tub for something in the classroom.
8. You believe the teachers' lounge should be equipped with a margarita machine.
9. You want to slap the next person who says 'Must be nice to work 7 to 3 and have summers off.'
10. You believe chocolate is a food group.
11. You can tell if it's a full moon without ever looking outside.
12. You believe that unspeakable evils will befall you if anyone says 'Boy, the kids sure are mellow today.'
13. You feel the urge to talk to strange children and correct their behavior when you are out in public.
14. You think caffeine should be available in intravenous form.
15. You spend more money on school stuff than you do on yourself.
16. You can't pass the school supply aisle without getting at least five items!
17. You ask your friends if the left hand turn he just made was a 'good choice or a bad choice.'
18. You find true beauty in a can full of perfectly sharpened pencils.
19. You are secretly addicted to hand sanitizer and finally...
20. You understand instantaneously why a child behaves a certain way after meeting his or her parents

It's a good thing it is Friday tomorrow and it is a 3 day weekend, so I have plenty of time to recover from whatever is plaguing me.