I really need to learn Spanish

Learning Spanish would be very beneficial to me as there are A LOT of hispanics in Athens. Sometimes I have little run ins with them where neither one of us can really get our point across and I leave the situation thinking how much I should really learn a little. Like today... at Wal-Mart... I was waiting to print off a few pictures and was in line behind a couple hispanic men who were taking their merry little time editing their pictures before they printed them. Finally they were finished and I went to start my order. And then realized that all the stuff on the computer was still in Spanish. And so I tried to get it switched back to English but couldn't figure out which button to hit to switch it because it was all in Spanish! So I asked one of them "English?" and pointed to the machine to which he gave me a blank stare like he had no clue what I was saying. By now two of their friends had joined them so there we were, four Mexicans and a white girl standing in a circle staring at each other. In the meantime, the computer ran out of picture paper so all of our orders were backed up and we continued to stand around awkwardly staring at each other. But the nice lady in the photo center came to our rescue and put some new paper in there. So our pictures were all printed and we all went on our way and lived happily ever after.
Now I'm waiting for Sara to call me back. Kerwin is on a work team in the Dominican Republic right now and we told her we'd love to do something with the girls tonight if she wanted a little down time. So we're going to do something, I just don't know what yet.
I'm starting to develop an intense dislike towards linens. Every time someone sleeps in the church, guess whose job it is to wash all the sheets and towels after they leave? Last weekend was great, but with six guys in the church and nine girls plus me and Jena in the apartment/fellowship hall, that makes for a lot of loads of towels and sheets to wash this week. Now, generally I don't detest laundry. Not my favorite, but not the worst. But doing laundry for 17 people is a little much. Remind me when I grow up that I don't want that many kids as it produces mass loads of laundry.
I woke up with a little bit of a sore throat this morning. I hope I'm not coming down with something. And if I do, I hope it waits to hit until Monday or Tuesday so that if it's bad enough I can take off work.
Superbowl party tomorrow at Mark & Bekah's. Should be a good time. I'm providing drinks. Good thing 2-liters are cheap.
Okay now has come the time in the post where I'm starting to talk about dumb things. So I better just go. Have a great day!

Waffle House and Beyond

Well where do I even begin? This weekend was great. I had some friends come down to visit and we had a blast. It started out being about six people coming and by Friday afternoon there were 15. Last year we went to Waffle House right when people got here sorta on a whim. So we decided to do it again this year. What a night. I'm sure some of the stuff is "you had to be there" stuff, mixed with being really tired and slap happy, but we sure thought the night was funny. Within the first five minutes of being there, a waitress was on the 911 hotline phone and when she hung up we heard her say "Phyllis! Just come over here. The cops are on their way and they'll take care of it!" And that's pretty much how the rest of the night went. We sat at three differnt booths and some of the girls sat in the booth that one of the trouble makers had been in. During the course of the scuffle, he had ripped off his shirt sleeves getting ready to fight the other guy. And then.....

When the girls sat down they discovered that he had left his sleeves on the table. I guess he didn't need them anymore. But it was pretty gross. At one point we had a man stop by our table talking about how he had money and he didn't have to work this week because all he has to do is kill a man and then get his insurance. I mean seriously- how were we supposed to react to that anyways?

Our table had the best vantage point. Mandy and I could see everything that was going on and Dustin and Tony could see in the mirror if anything was going on behind them. A very interesting experience indeed. But after a good nights rest, we were ready to go Saturdy morning.

There were 17 of us total. The group brought a 15 passenger van and a car. Rather than split up we decided to all pile in the van for the day. It was a tight fit, but it made for some good times and some great singing!

Unfortunately this is the only group picture I got. You can't really see who's all there, but there we are in front of Cathedral Caverns before our tour started. That's the third time I've been there now, but it's just a good thing to do when people come. Something they wouldn't normally do. The coolest thing though, was when we got to the end of the tour at the very back of the cave. First, they show you total darkness. Like put your hand right up to your nose and you can't even see an outline of it. But while we were there we asked the tour guide if we could sing a song. So we all sang "Amazing Grace" and it was beautiful. Just being there, seeing one of God's great creations, with really good acoustics... it was really neat. And that got us going and we sang for almost an hour after that.

I was so excited to have some of my cousins come along. Kristi and Dustin & Mandy. I had such a great time with them here.

Five of us were teachers so this is our teacher shot. It was fun talking all about kid books and kid stories with others who were just as excited about it as me.

For supper we went to Ryan and Hope's house in TN. We ate, sang and played some games. There were a lot of Athens people there and us and I think we had about 40 total. Maybe not quite. It was a good time but we were very tired and ready to go to bed by the end of the night.

I am so thankful for everyone who came. I really appreciate the effort they made. I know it's a long drive and it's really easy to make excuses why it would just be easier to stay home. But it was really encouraging to me to have them down here. Yes, there were a lot of crazy times, but there were a lot of things that happend that have left me feeling uplifted and rejuvenated. So if you came and if you're reading this, thanks so much! I appreciate you all!

I just wanna type

Well I don't have a whole lot to talk about right now but sometimes I'm just really in the mood to type. It's kind of theraputic. And now is one of those times. So, I'll talk about Kristi. Kristi's pretty amazing. I've been able to see firsthand some of the struggles and some of the great things that have been going on in her life the past couple years. We've gotten closer than ever before since I moved to Alabama. And now she's engaged to a really great guy and I couldn't be more excited for her. Except I'm a little sad that she's moving to Mexico, but I'll just have to go visit I guess. God's hand is so evident in her life and what he's done in the past few weeks with her is incredible. And even though she's engaged she's coming to visit me this weekend. There's a lot of people coming actually, but I'm pretty excited about her. It will be a grand weekend, I'm sure of it.

And now for a completely different, uh, well, here you go...

I love Erin too. She can always make me laugh. She may want to hurt me when she see's this but I couldn't resist. Love you Erin!

Coincidence? Prolly not.

We've been doing "Lies Women Believe" for our girls Bible study. We just started week 9, which is Dealing with our circumstances. It talks about the fact that our circumstances reveal what we are, rather than make us what we are. Like, I'm really a patient person unless the kids disobey and are bratty. But when they are bad, it doesn't take long to realize, maybe I'm not as patient as I like to think I am. So I did the first day's study last night, and then this morning had quite a rude awakening. Now, I'm a snooze hitter. If I can't hit snooze at least four times, my morning is off to a bad start. Well, this morning, about two minutes after I hit snooze for the first time and was back asleep, Jena was pounding on my door yelling that the toilet was overflowing really quickly. So I stumbled to the bathroom, and in a matter of about 30 seconds, the entire floor was covered with water. So I spent the rest of my snooze time mopping up the floor, wanting nothing more than to be back in bed until it was time to get up. And then today I was playing the role of teacher, director and cook. And it got pretty crazy. And just when I thought "Great. It's going to be a rotten day and I'm just going to be in a bad mood and everybody else will just have to deal with my bad mood", God put last nights Bible study right back into my head. And you know what? It made the whole day a lot better! Perfect timing for that particular topic!

Yay or Nay?

I have an appointment with the eye doctor tomorrow (finally) and will be picking out new glasses. Awhile back we were in Birmingham and we stopped at Lenscrafters and I tired a few pairs on. I found a pair that I liked and after asking the people I was with I have four yays and zero nays. So now I'm asking you. I'm hoping to find a pair a lot like these unless everybody else says nay. Then I don't know what I'll do. And, can someone tell me how to put the picture where I want it? I really wanted to put it under the writing but can't figure out how to make it go there. I uploaded it and that's where it ended up and it won't move.

P.S. When wearing the glasses in public I will make sure to remove the sticker from the lens and the tag hanging off the side, unless all y'all think it's becoming.

Back to Life, Back to Reality......

Does anybody else know that song? Anywho, KC was fun. Being with my family for one last shebang before heading home. And Haley. I finally had some time the past couple weeks to really start bonding with her. I've seen her a couple times before but always during a very quick trip home. So I love all the time I had with her. We ice skated Saturday night. I love ice skating. But not when it's freezing cold temperatures and the rink is an outdoor rink. So we didn't skate as long as I would have liked, but it was just too cold to keep going. We went to KC church on Sunday which was good. Saw some old friends I haven't seen in awhile. Then began my journey home. And let me tell you, KC is a looonnngg way from Athens. I'm glad I don't have to make that drive on a regular basis. We left the church about 1:30 and I pulled into my drive about 11:20. I ended up making better time than I thought I would, but it was still long.
Then came the morning. First thing when I walk in the preschool I get attacked by Miles. I wish I had a picture of him but I don't right now. In one long breath he says "MISS SARAH!!!!!!!!!! Miss Sarah we went to Indiana it was fun Indiana is a long ways away I played hockey I had fun at Christmas time I got a new toy I have big boy underwear on do you want to see I had a lot of fun in Indiana cause I like to play hockey and Miss Sarah, *very small pause* did you miss me?" Now, generally Miles does not rank as one of my favorites, but how could you resist that? It was fun seeing all the kids again although my very favorite wasn't there. Hopefully tomorrow he will be so I can squeeze him and kiss his chubby cheeks.
Then tonight Jena convinced me to go eat at Logan's. She thought we needed to catch up and during Christmas we each got plenty of gift certificates from preschool parents and such so we went ahead and used one of them up. And it was good.
But, now I'm tired and must go to sleep. I promise, eventually I will start posting pictures. I have some on my computer but I'm still trying to get organized and stuff. Ummmm.......... okay, bye.

Well, Happy New Year Everyone

So, I told a few people that I'd really like to do something low-key for New Years Eve. And that's what I got. It may have been about the lowest keyed new years party I've ever had. Except, of course, when we sand Auld Lang Syne. I've never sang it before but it sounded fun so I googled the words and made copies and then made everyone sing it. I'm pretty sure it was the best part of their night as well. So to all you who celebrated the new year with me..... it was great. Thanks. Even though half of them didn't even stay till midnight....... it was still fun:)
Now I need to start packing up. And I'm just really procrastinating because it's just a little daunting. We're leaving in the morning for my cousins wedding in Kansas City and then I'll go back home from there. It will be a good time, but it sure would be a lot easier just to be able to go home from here rather than running around the country first. So I sit here, on the computer, thinking about how I need to go pack. Generally I like packing because it usually means I'm going somewhere fun. And even though that's the case here too, I just can't make myself go do it.
I'm really sad. I forgot my camera. This whole two weeks I've wished I had it. But I don't. I was really bummed.
Umm.... lets see...... Jamaica is only two months and one week away. I'm really excited about it. Dad almost convinced me to go to Haiti with him this year. And I really want to go back there too, but I just can't quite not do Jamaica. So now that I decided that JA is where I'm going, I'm really really excited.
Okay I just really can't think of much else to say.