Thoughts...

I was reading today from this website.



I was particularly moved by this passage:



In Our Lord's life Jerusalem was the place where He reached the climax of His Father's will upon the Cross, and unless we go with Jesus there we will have no companionship with Him. Nothing ever discouraged Our Lord on His way to Jerusalem. He never hurried through certain villages where He was persecuted, or lingered in others where He was blessed. Neither gratitude nor ingratitude turned Our Lord one hair's breadth away from His purpose to go up to Jerusalem. (emphasis mine)



I particularly like the bold part. He never hurried when persecuted: Okay, I get that. God endured what he needed to endure for the good of humanity. I got it.



The part that is beautiful to me is he never lingered when blessed.



I think it is easier to not hurry than it is to not linger. I like to linger. I like to linger in places that are comfortable. I like to linger in places that are familiar. I like to linger in places where I feel blessed. So my thought for today is....Could holding on to good things be a sin? I think yes. Good is the enemy to Great. And I believe today that lingering in good places keeps us from experiencing the GREAT THINGS God has for us.

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 don't ever want to care...

There are just some things I don't ever want to care about.

I don't ever want to care if all the blinds in my house are open to the same level.
I don't ever want to care if everything in my house matches.
I don't ever want to be jealous.
I don't ever want to REALLY care what people think about me.
I don't ever want to care about test scores.

But Mostly...

I don't ever want to care if all the blinds are the same level.

I just listen to people talk sometimes and I don't understand why they care about the things they care about. I'm sure they feel the same way about things I care about (owning a copper kitchen aid mixer for example).

I care if I have a house...and if other people have a place to live.
I care that I can afford to keep my house clean and liveable.
I care that I am loved.
I care that I don't hurt others.
I care that my students learn to be productive...and learn to be happy.

I also care about my feet and copper kitchen aid mixers....but those things make me sound shallow!

Stream of Consciousness

SO...

I'm getting ready to start the year.

And here are my thoughts.

Teaching takes way more time than I gave it last year.

I read a news article this morning that says that the state is going to announce Proficient and Advanced scores this week. I am hopeful that my kids still make significant gains.

I can't help but feel like this is important.

I know some non-TFA teachers who think test scores are dumb. And I do to when I'm feeling pressure...but I also think that if your kids are learning they WILL pass the state tests.

Passing tests does not equate learning...

BUT -

If you learn you past tests....

I'm on the fence.

I'm finding that I'm on the fence about a whole lot of things lately.

I hope I'm not becoming less opinionated.

My dear crazy friend is starting a new food fanatic crazy thing. Some of it I agree with...Some of it I think is in excess....I think that it is all good. Just not all necessary...but, the problem is that I'm just SO ON THE FENCE about all of it. Even after reading a lot about it.

I'll be back to talk more about raw milk and real meat.

Sorry for the random stream of consciousness.

I probably shouldn't post this...

But I've had a lot of thoughts today.

You see...I was suppose to leave today for Ixiamas. A 24 hour bus ride. Lots of time to think. Instead I've been out and about in LaPaz, and spending some QT at the Hotel Sagarnaga with my thoughts.

About love.

You see, it's facebook's fault really.

I've been contemplating two of my friends recent engagement.

I would call them both friends, because they were both dear people to me at different critical times in life, but I've lost touch with both of them. Save for facebook, I would have no idea of their impending wedded bliss.

BUT - and here comes the insanely shallow, i'm almost too embarassed to post it part - here goes...

They are both marrying people who I feel are...umm...not very attractive (judge me if you want)...I am sure that they are both deeply attracted to and in love with their fiances...BUT, are they. These girls are GORGEOUS.

Really pretty people...Sometimes I wonder...and I think this is way off base...but I'm afraid there comes a point were people settle.

Let me start by saying that both of these women are WONDERFUL and have both had the opportunity to be in relationships with very attractive men....I hope they wouldn't settle.

I don't know their fiances.

But it brings me to this question...

What is love?

Really.

I would say I've been "in love."

I would say that "I love."

But what is love. And not just romantically.

I love Ixiamas, and Chas (the monkey) and chas my friend for that matter...I love my family...the griswold's...my roommates and friends...a hot bath....a cold glass of milk...being in charge...feeling important...my mom's dogs...a beautiful sunset...my new short's from J.Crew...the long pretty lingerie thing I tried on before someone's bachelorette party (Ha!).

Anyways...You get the point. The list could go on forever.

Let's take Chas. I will miss him deeply when I leave him...So is love missing deeply?
Bath's...It's a taken for granted pleasure...Is that love?
My mom and dad...I'd die if anything happened to them...Is deep sorrow over potential loss love?
Griswold's...I've learned much from them...Do we love that which teaches us?

My J. Crew shorts and the ligerie dress thing don't fall in any of the above categories...but I love them too.

ANYWAYS. I've gone on a tangent.

How important is the physical attractive quality. I'm attracted to my boyfriend, but can that be expected to last forever? Will I forever be attractive in anyone's eyes? I hope the answer is yes, but somehow I think that maybe it's no.

Is having fun with someone where you draw the line...We say it's the person you "can't live without"...but let's be honest...we can all live without. We just choose not to.

I've gone on a tangent. All I mean is...I'm glad my friends have fallen in love with their fiances. It has made me think.

My conclusion is love is not an emotion.

Voddie Bauchaum defines love as

"An act of the will, accompanied by emotion, that leads to action, on behalf of it's object."

When do you act?

I think it is less about the attractive factor (at least I hope so) and more about being challenged...being pushed...laughing...crying...being a better you...worship...life.

If you are still reading...How do you define love?

If you left in the middle of my rambling, I don't blame you. :)