Summery

I'm excited about summer.

1 - It means a trip to Colorado to see Katie...I'm not sure why I'm SO excited about that...but I am


2 - I found a summer job. It's only 3.5 weeks...1/2 days...and exactly the pay I needed


3 - I'm going to work on my house...I'm hoping to close in LESS THAN 2 WEEKS?!?!?!?!?!?


4 - I want to just relax.


5. I want to pick up a hobby


6. I want to force myself to make new friends


7. I want to write - Not here necessarily, although maybe. I really want a place where I can just be....and open up to the Lord. I used to write a lot more. For myself. I NEVER DO anymore. When I do find 3 minutes to start...I just don't know what to say. So - I want to do that again. Even if it just means a lot of sitting before the words come.


Summer,

Hurry up will ya.

We've got big plans - that involve a lot of nothing.

I've never been so excited.

Today I love...

That I got an email saying I was always welcome in Ixiamas (Bolivia)...

AND THEY MEAN IT!

I have a place to go on another continent.

I can't express to the blogging world two of you who read the this how cool I think that is.

School

I haven't really been doing a good job of chronicling my school stories...So here's one. The assignment was to "define steepness" and tell me whether or not a ball rolling down a hill would go faster down a steeper hill...or a less steep hill.

Here is one of my sweet babies responses (spelling and grammar untouched).

"Well...from my knowledge if I was to tell What steepness means then I Would say its like a hill, With aWhole bunch of rock. in it Which makes it look cricket (crooked) or jacked up. So I Would say its like a jacked up area full of rocks. And if I Was to choose or answer a Question that says "Would a ball roll faster down a steeper hill then My ansWer Would be yes. And of cource if you roll a ball down its going to be faster because it has rocks Which makes the ball-bouncing everyWhere so it Wouldn't stop and keep on going fast - So that's What I think steppness means and that Would be the Way I describe it."

**WHY DOES HE CAPITALIZE ALL HIS W's"

My other favorite:

"I think a ball would go way much faster down a steep hill. A steep hill goes downer, or has deeper hill. While the ball rolls down it catches more speed so then yes I believe a ball would roll faster down a hill."

HOW DID I GET TO THIS PLACE...Way much faster...downer...??? Really?

I feel compelled to share...

There have been moments in my life that felt like hell.
There have been time periods in my life when the over arching emotion I felt was fear or sadness.
But honestly...they are small.

I was talking to a friend the other day and he was "aww the things you've had to overcome..." - and not in a bad way and I wasn't at all offended. It fit perfectly well into the conversation we were having. And so, I began to mull it over in my mind. He's not the first person to have said it...and lately when I've heard it, it's gnawed on me. SO - I thought about it. And, over all...while there are certainly things I'd change. I am happy...and have felt loved and supported on my journey.

It makes me wonder what little trivial things I've blown out of proportion.

When I began this post I thought I was going to list the terrible...but now I see I am not. Instead I want to talk about Catherine (not her real name).

Catherine was in 4th period and was called down to the office. She came back and asked me to step outside to speak with her. I did.
She began by telling me that someone had called DCS on her family. She said her sister told someone at school she'd been raped last night and she needed to go back down to the office because her mother was there. Then she cried.

I don't teach elementary school because I'm about as sympathetic as a rock. Not for lack of empathy, but because it's just awkward...but I wanted to cry with this child.

In the moment I could know her uncertainty and the fear she surely feels. Maybe there's more to the story than I could ever know.

All I know is that she is living a type of hell I've never known. So many of my students are living a type of hell I've never known.

I told someone the other day my life is great. I'm happy and content. And today I am affirmed. My life is SO GREAT!

Join me in praying for Catherine today...

Absent.

So I haven't posted in a while.

Why?

1. School has started.
2. Cheerleading has started.
3. Life is busy.
4. Cheerleading has started.
5. Football season has started.
6. Cheerleading has started.
7. My graduate classes have started.
8. Cheerleading has started.
9. Not much exciting has happened.
10. Cheerleading has started.

So you get the idea. Cheerleading takes over my life in the fall. Since the girls don't try out until the 2nd or 3rd week in August and the Fresh/Soph football season starts the last week of August of the 1st week of September I can't ever cancel practice...unless I have a meeting...which still means I work late.

That coupled with the fact that I don't have internet at my house = not many posts.

If anyone knows a wireless internet provider...that doesn't require me to get cable...and is cheap...please let me know. I've been unsuccessful thus far.

SO...

Let's talk about the fun stuff...

This weekend for example....

Friday night Stephen's parents took us to see Chihuly @ Cheekwood. If you live in Nashville. GO! It was so cool....and if you get a chance to be sneaky and touch the glass....DO IT! :)

Saturday was GEORGE and REBA! It was such a good show.
Le'Ann Womack opened up and was WONDERFUL.
Reba came out and was AMAZING!!!! She looks good to have been around forever, and she sounded amazing.
GEORGE was B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L. - His tight wranglers....starched shirt...black cowboy hat...velvet voice...and don't even get me STARTED on all the video they played of him doing the cowboy thing and riding horses....He's just a beautiful man....and if I were 30 years older.....

Sunday -

also. SO. FUN.

I did the Nashville Challenge with some girls from work. If you don't know about it check out www.challengenation.org and make plans to do it next year. It was a 3 hour scavenger hunt around the city. My teams one goal was to beat the other teachers...and we failed...BUT - We came in 18th out of roughly 65 other teams (i think)...and our time was about 88 minutes.

Some of the things we did...

• Took a picture on the Shelby Street bridge mimicking the batman building
• Took our picture out Ft. Nashboro
• Begged a man in a Vince Young jersey to throw a football to us.
• Begged a band to let us get on stage and act like rock stars
• Built a pyramid on the capital lawn
• Took pictures on top of the ruins of the capital columns
• Scoured town for a building built in 1895 (that would make the building HALF as old as Nashville if anyone is wondering)
• Took a photo with the picture of the part of the Aycock statue that resembles a rose...(p.s. NO PART of the aycock statue resembles a rose in my opinion).
• Successfully located someone with a drivers license from a state that begins with the letter "N"
• Sat on some map of TN and took a picture with Springfield (the city)
• Did a Charlie's Angle pose with a cop (and we found a friend!)

Some other things we did that were NOT on the list:

• Yelled at a woman in the lobby of the Hilton
• Asked every single customer in Hooters if they had a license from an N state.
• Asked every single person on the street if they were from Nashville
• Asked a woman in a skirt to squat as "low as she possibly could" to take our picture (she didn't...and we're glad)
• Chased a car down the road because it had a New York license plate
• Ran around the city
• Had lots and lots of fun with some really fun coworkers

Overall...It was a WONDERFUL WEEKEND!

I'm done...

AND SO ARE MY KIDS.

Sorry for the absence. 1 - I don't have a computer right now...and probably won't for a while.
2 - I've been busy 3 - S left for Colorado FOREVER (or 11 weeks...but that's almost forever right?) 4 - My kids at school have been CRAZY...They are so done w/ school...Not really, but they think they are. Which is worse.

INSANELY WORSE.

And, I swear they are just getting stupider. If anyone ever finds this blog I am going to get fired.

I need to double block my facebook...and make sure I never put my blog address on there. Except I probably will when I go to Bolivia.

Anyways.

Here is an example of how my kids have LOST THEIR MINDS. I swear...sometimes I think they are kindergartners in 9th grade bodies.

Me: Class- this is a test. Do not talk. This is a test. This is the test I gave you study guides for last week. Class this is a test.
Student: Ms. Singleton...you already gave me this.
Me: No I gave you the STUDY GUIDE for it
Student: No, I have a thing that looks just like it but w/out the multiple choice.
Me: I know that was the study guide this is the test.
Student: So when is the test.
Me: RIGHT NOW.
Student: You mean I have to take a test right now?

Does anyone even read this anymore? If there is anyone out there...comment so I don't think I'm talking to myself. I'll be more faithful when I'm in Bo-Town. I swear!

Not a full deck of cards...

NONE of my kids are playing with a full deck...

Baby girl walked in and says "Man...Ms. S, it's so cold outside today."

I said..."Hmm. No it's not. It was this morning, but I just went out and it's almost warm outside."

She says: "Oh yeah, it was cold outside on Sunday."

WHAT? It's Wednesday?

How did I get here teaching these people...

I'm on a roll...

Yesterday I was going through some old papers from a kid who was in the MAC (Making a Change) program. I send down a worksheet on Data Analysis and Probability.



Example Question:



"What is the probability you will flip a coin and it will land on heads?"



Example Answer:



"1/2...Because only one side of the coin is heads and there are two sides."



The above is what an answer should look like...This is what I got from baby girl...

• Q: If the probability of having a boyfriend or girlfriend in high school is .52, what is the probability of not having a b/f or g/f?


• A: There will not be a probability

• Q: There are 75 colored pencils in my desk drawer. 2/5 of the pencils are purple. How many colored pencils are not purple?


• A: There are not 4

• Q: A card is drawn from a standard deck of cards. Find the probability of drawing a heart?


• A: That's if your first card become a heart.

• Q: A card is drawn from a standard deck of cards, replaced, and a second card is drawn. What is the probability the first card drawn will be a king, and the second will be a spade?


• A: Because that was your first choice in spades was the last.

• Q: A die is rolled and a card is drawn from a standard deck of cards. What is the probability of rolling an even number and drawing a red card?


• A: That person gett's to keep the card. (WTH...Did she even READ the problem?)

MY FAVORITE

• Q: A die is rolled and a card is drawn from a standard deck of 52 cards. Find the probability of rolling an even number and drawing a red card.


• A: You lose your game.

With the end of course looming...I shouldn't think this is funny...but it is. Period.

CRAZY

The post is not about the picture...

Although I should post about the picture...and the two other ones like it that tell the story.

I can't remember if this picture is staged or not...I think it might be...But this is pretty much what happened when Cassie tried to cook dinner for me and Rachel one time...

Okay.

Moving on.

I have this dress. It is navy and white stripes. Think sailor dress for a little girl. Make it a dress for a grown up girl...and that's what I'm wearing.

Last time I wore this dress to church my sweet sweet four year old friend Anna Kay said "I like your zebra dress" She's 4. And I think her comment makes her pretty smart. It is very dark navy, so it might appear black...contrasting with white. Just what she's been taught.

But today, my high school student came in and said..."Ms. S, your dress looks like a prison uniform" and another kid says "no way, it looks like a zebra," kid one wavers "yeah, it looks like that too...I just can't decide."

WHAT? Nautical...Not prison (although...I'll go with that one) but ZEBRA. This kid is not AK. AK is 4. This kid is at least 14. Geeze Louise.

Then another kid comes up to me (he is 14) and gives me a lecture about how I was old...and old people should never show their legs in public so at the very least I should be wearing leggings.

WTH? I'm old?????

Have I mentioned my kids are crazy.

I guess I need to go give them tickets (we now have a raffle for the millions of dollars of candy I bought yesterday. I sold out. I'm giving into bribery. It makes my life so much easier.

UPDATE:
A firefighter was in the building and walked past me and told the principal to tell me he had hott teachers and he liked my stripes...I told the Mr. C to tell him he could fight my fire fighter boyfriend. BUT, @ least someone appreciates my dress.

In other news Stephen and I are going to Huntsville on Thursday...you should all pray my driving for several hours doesn't completely scare him off! :)

Funny Things...

#1. When I got dressed this morning my thought process was "this will have to do because everything I want to wear is in my car b/c it needs to go to the dry cleaners, wrinkled, or dirty."

All I've heard today is..."WoW! Why are you so dressed up?" or "You look nice today" or "Uh-Oh what did you do this weekend." or my personal favorite..."You must have a date this week." - I do thank you very much!

Moral of the story...wear the ugly grey sweater more often (seriously, I hate this cardigan I have on).

#2. I went through an insane amount of trouble to find out the blog address of my friend who is keeping it a secret. AN INSANE amount of trouble. Anyways...I found it out. Then felt incredibly guilty for knowing. SO, I haven't checked. I decided I would check one more time and If she'd started posting...I'd never look again. Delete the site from my history so she could have her own personal space to write. It's been 3 AND 1/2 WEEKS...and NOTHING. All that trouble I went through and all that guilt I felt for stealing the address...AND NOTHING!!!! RIDICULOUS! *If you're reading...sorry I hijacked your blog. I swear I'm not going back to it. So you could post.

#3. When it rains it pours. There's been a boy drought...now there's two. I'm double dipping...is that bad? Only for one more date though. I've just about made up my mind. Unless I can have two valentines day dates...but since I'm thinking about it...I probably won't have any.

#4. When I start dating them there is always a holiday or birthday coming up. Or like this one and the last on...A BIRTHDAY AND A HOLIDAY!!!! What's that about.

Ridiculous.

Hope you all have a wonderful day.

I'll post snow pictures soon. I haven't done pictures lately.

Beauty

Sometimes you just have to stop and blog in real time. Because it's just that good. At least to me. At least to my heart right now.

I often pass by the person with the sign "will work for food" or "need a ride" or "please, help" etc. and I'm ashamed to admit I often pass them by (I know some of you out there reading will think it's good I pass them up, but I don't).

Today, as I was having what I thought was the worst day of my life (bad class, cheerleader suspended, an hour at the emissions test play just to fail, 2 hours at the DMV for nothing etc.) It felt like the worst day ever.

Then I was leaving the DMV and this beautiful young girl asked me if I knew the way to Nole's road. I didn't. I got in my car, and I saw her ask someone else. I decided to ask her if she wanted a ride. She jumped in, and off we went.

It's a good thing she got in to, because after we headed that way we realized it was like 7 miles away. Anyways, enough time to hear about how she had just been released from jail. All her charges were cleared, and she'd been in for 25 days. She's originally from the Bronx, and has been living in Nashville for 7 years. No family here. When she was arrested, her 3 kids were taken and put into foster care.

And earlier I'd cried about my day.

I dropped her off on the corner closest to the address, she was going to wait until her friend got off of work (he worked at the hospital on the corner) to head to his house.

I don't know her name, but she was beautiful.

I hope she gets her kids back.

I hope she deserves them, and does right by them from now on.

People really are people if you stop and get to know them.

Beautiful People!

I kept thinking "How did I get here?" In this car, in Nashville with this beautiful woman. My life almost perfect compared to what she's been going through.

Thanks Lord.

How did I get here #2

This my friends, is a Bolivian sunrise. God made it just for me...and the thousands of other people who saw it. But just for me.

I said I was going to do more How did I get here's...and Oops....i forgot. My life has kinda gotten crazy lately. Have I mentioned I'm @ TFA institute?

Anyways...I just thought my blog is boring these days, no pictures you know. That led to me finding this picture, and remembering my How Did I Get Here's. So...this one is gonna be short and sweet. And I apologize in advanced that a lot of these will be related to Bolivia and Africa...but that's my heart...I'll find other ones.

I had a moment when I was watching this sunrise.

Three of us had taken a few days off at the internado in Bolivia and hoped a bus to the first "big" town, rurrenebaque. I'm using the word big VERY LOOSELY. Think the smallest town you know...then divide by 10. Rurre is probably still smaller. Anyways...We decide to do an overnight tour in the pampas, which are basically swampy jungle. The tour consisted of floating down the river. Seeing capabaras (the world's largest rodent...think about what a rat would have looked like in the movie Honey I Shrunk the Kids and you'll have an idea what that is), pink freshwater dolphins, monkeys of all kinds, birds of all kinds, and more alligators and cayman than I ever care to see again.

In the afternoon we went swimming with the dolphins. Which also means we went swimming with the cayman and alligators as well. (obviously we lived to tell the tale).

That night we met up with other tourists to watch the sunset and play soccer...and in that conversation we met a girl from Holland. Her name was Claire. The story is simply this. Claire asked what brought the three of us to Bolivia. We explained that it was mission work, yadda yadda ya...

Then Claire said she "wasn't a Christian and she didn't really get what that was all about anyways. If there is a God, he should just care that people are nice, not whether or not they put their faith and trust in Jesus"my paraphrase . Long story short...We got it all wrong. We gave her the wrong answer. We flat out told her lies (I'll take the brunt of that one). We were ill prepared to share our faith, and we did nothing to help Claire's along. In an effort to keep her from thinking Christians were pushy or judgemental, we failed, and we all walked away from that conversation knowing we had failed.

The next morning, seeing this sunset, I was reminded that "His compassion never fails, His mercies are new every morning" -Lamentations 3:22-23

And I wondered ...
"How did I get here?"
In a strange country,
With three people I barely new before I left the states
In the middle of the jungle
Talking with a girl from Holland
Who was fluent in 3 languages and learning a fourth
Was way smarter than me
and was asking me about Jesus
AND THEN...
Even after I failed and knew it...
The Lord painted that beautiful picture for me.
To remind me that he knows my faults already,
and has compassion on them
because my words couldn't have saved Claire anyway
Only my God can
and my God will send me another Claire
and He'll send Claire another christian.

Court wedding #1

It's funny how we get to these places...This isn't so much a how did I get here post? But kinda. I'll classify it that way anyways.

4 1/2 years ago, I sat at a football game with Cassie & Courtney and said "silk or lace" and Court said...."Silk I think...Yeah, I'm pretty sure I would rather have a silk wedding dress than a lace one." I was talking about lingerie...and we've been friends ever since. I like to embarrass her, and she enjoys it. I know this because she is marrying someone tomorrow who does the same thing (in a totally fun and she loves it kinda way).

It has been beautiful to see her life go from dreams of the wedding and wedding night, to it actually happening. Today has been a beautiful day...and I know tomorrow will be too.

Courtney, I'm so thankful for your friendship, and love and the fact that you have Austin in your life. I can't wait to see where the Lord leads you. And tomorrow night...it'll be hott! :)

It's just funny to think about HOW DID WE GET HERE FROM THERE. How did we get to Courtney's wedding day from the football game almost 5 years ago where we were dreaming of this day?

Pictures to come!!

How did I get here #1

I would start by apologizing for not posting in over a week, but it's my blog...and only 2 of you care anyways.

SO...onto more important business. I said I want to start going back and telling you all two about times in my life when I've had these WoW moments. You know...the kind that make you step back and go "how did I get to this place?" Mostly they are good, although I suppose they could lend themselves to being negative.

ANYWAYS-I though I was going to go back and post some big ones from before...and I still will soon this time next year when my life slows down. In the meantime...I had one of those moments this week, and there's no time like the present.

I got restless in Dothan early this week and headed to SIFAT to go hang out with the kids at the TP (trailer park). When I went up that way, I had no idea how much would be going on, but it made my time there much sweeter.

1st, the TP was awesome...I love the kids, and the counselors came out too, so it was great. Afterwards we did the slums for all of the field training students currently on campus learning some ApTech stuff. Then Thursday, I cooked breakfast and lunch for 20ish people. Sweet labor. I loved it.

But here's the WoW moment. Thursday night (I almost left...but I'm so glad I stayed), the Guatemalans came out for a cookout and friendly game of soccer. We were all kicking the ball around (OMG...I love soccer even though I'm not very good...I know I don't have any blog stalkers, but if some of you wander over and happen to be from Nashville and want to kick around a soccer ball with someone who has the skill level of a 4 year old...I'm your girl) , getting ready for dinner and having a great time. We break up the game...get in a circle...and pray. Suddenly I realize how AMAZING it is that I am standing in this circle, thinking about the baby calf that was just born in the next field over, with a Kenyan guy on one side of me, a kid from Jasper, AL on the other, a couple of guys from Haiti across from me, Guatemalans, Mississippians (is that a word), Floridians, a Filipino woman...and someone I used to think I loved was saying this beautiful blessing over the food, and I found myself happy for the love in his life, and unbelievably amazed at where God has brought me.

All I could think was "How did I get here?"

And the only answer I got was "I have plans for you."

*The picture is me cutting privet at SIFAT...Seriously, I love that place.