Not making fun of Nate

I just posted a comment on Amy's blog and I will post it on here too that I was not meaning to insult Nate with my comment on the Birth Control post. Just for the record, I was making fun of people who think that married people need to have sex all the time. :)

Yay!

Lisa and Kortnie are here! Need I say more? :)

More later.

O Christmas Tree

Nate and I got a Christmas tree. After going to Galveston for the afternoon a couple of Sundays ago, we drove to Target and bought a fake (a first for me) three foot tree in a "decorative pot with the lights already on it". It is sitting on our small end table next to the couch with all my my ornaments on it (Nate doesn't have his here yet). It looks quite nice.

Awww...our first Christmas tree.

Lights

The popular thing to do here in the city during Christmas time is to decorate the trunks of trees and some low branches by wrapping lights around them. I don't remember this being a practice of the midwest, but maybe my memory is going. It is quite common to see this and it looks kind of cool.

The end is near

This is the last week of school for me! Tomorrow the kids go to a retirement community and the mall to sing, Wednesday I am having them write their own Mad Libs, Thursday we are going to do A Case of Red Herrings (solving mysteries through critical questioning--they love it!), and Friday is there class parties. Each of the fifth grade rooms is decorated like a different country--mine is Italy, Staci's is Germany, Suzy's is Mexico. I'm sure they will have fun.

Today we finished watching A Christmas Carol with George C. Scott. It's a good version of it--one of the many I've seen. The one that sticks out the most is one where the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come takes Scrooge to a funeral procession that is more like a celebration. A man is dancing on a casket (Scrooge's casket) and singing, "Thank you very much, thank you very much. That's the nicest thing that anyone's ever done for me." That's the only part I remember, though. :)

The part I found most interesting in the movie was when the Ghost of Christmas Present showed Scrooge the two pitiful looking children named Ignorance and Want. At first I didn't get what he was saying and had a hard time explaining it to the children, but then I realized what that part was all about. The Ghost was saying that it is because of mankind's own ignorance and want--and mostly ignorance--that the fate of the children is "doom". Some of my kids couldn't believe that there were children in the world who looked like that and worse.

Worship

I'm in the middle of reading this article called "Unceasing Worship" at tedeum.com and wanted to share a particular paragraph with y'all. The article itself is about how we all (both Christians and non-Christians) are worshippers--sounds interesting, eh? You should check it out. :) This paragraph helped me to stop and think for a minute about what worship is:

"Third, the definition stresses the reality and foundational importance of continuousness. That is, worship does not stop and start, despite our notions to the contrary. Once we place emphasis on specific times, places and methods, we misunderstand worship's biblical meaning. Worship may ebb and flow, may take on various appearances and may be unconscious or conscious, intense and ecstatic or quiet and commonplace, but it is continuous. When we sin, worship does not stop. It changes directions and reverts back to what it once was, even if only for an instant. Repentance — the turning from and (re)turning to — is the only solution."

Names

With the baby talk going around, I'm tempted to list some of our favorite names just for the fun of it (pay close attention to the last six words of that sentence--we are not having a baby and don't plan to any time soon, unless God has a surprise for us)

Girls:
Emma Grace
Abigail Joy
Jenna
Julia
Mckenna (one of my favorite's, not Nate's)
Arden (middle name)

Boys:
Ethan Jeffery
Elijah Nathan
Cameron
Benjamin

Those are all I can think of right now. I think there may be more, but I can't remember them at the moment.

Adverbage II

I'm so proud of all my kids. They are really starting to get adverbs and adjectives (I think). Most of them can point out the adverb in the sentence, tell me which word it is modifying, and what question it is answering (where, when, or how). This may sound quite simple, but it's really not. Take for instance that last sentence--there are three adverbs in it: quite, really, and not. Did you get all of them before looking? Quite describes simple and tells how simple, not describes the verb "is", and really describes not and tells how it is not. They can even tell me why you would need to use an adverb or adjective in a certain place. Now, they aren't perfect at it, but who is? They were struggling so much before break, but have taken off with it. I'm so happy that they can explain their understanding of it too. It shows that they truly understand the material.

Killing time

I came to lab with Nate tonight because we weren't sure if anyone would show up, which would allow him to leave early. But people showed up, so I decided to stay and kill some time on the computer.

We tried a new restaurant tonight. It's called Tortuga--kind of a Tex-Mex place. I had enchiladas, tomales, and a taco--way to much food. Why are serving sizes so big at restaurants? It's no wonder so many people in America are overweight--we think we have to eat all the food given to us at the restaurant, when it's really enough to feed 2-4 people! Anyway, the restaurant was fairly good. I realized after we got there that I wasn't in the mood for Mexican. At that point it was too late, though, because we had gotten our food. :)

I had good company, though, so it was a good dinner. :)

Over the river and through the woods

I have a minute to write, so I'm taking advantage of it. My kids are in Spanish class right now.

Nate and I flew up to the great slightly white North over Thanksgiving break. I had the whole week off of school; Nate joined me on Tuesday night. It was so nice to be in a place that is familiar. In some ways it was like I had never left. As Lisa and Kortnie said, it felt complete to have the three of us together again. It was great to spend time with Kate, Andy, Meesch, Mark, Laura, Jess, Annie, Angie, Andrea C., the Healeys and my family. I'm glad we went.

More later...Spanish is over. Back to class.

Happy Birthday

It's my Pake's birthday today--that's my grandpa (my mom's dad). Happy Birthday, Pake! See you soon.

Yeah

I leave in less than two days for Michigan! I'm so excited! Who is coming to Lisa, Kortnie, and Angie's place on Sunday to see me? I am sad that I have to be away from my wonderful husband for three days, though. I'm sure we'll be fine, but I don't like being away from him. I hope that never changes.

Adverbage

One tired teacher.

62 tired fifth graders.

Trying to teach adverbs to 62 tired fifth graders for the first time in your life the week before Thanksgiving break.

Yeah, it doesn't work very well.

Any ideas for how to help kids understand adverbs? Today we played a game where I had a stack of cards. On the cards was something like "Neatly write your name on the board" or "Loudly clap your hands." (Note: this is not my idea--I got it off a website yesterday, but I can't remember where. So, I give whoever thought it up the credit for a great game!). Then I had a student come up, read the card, and act it out kind of like charades. The class had to guess it in 3 tries. If they did, they got a point. If they didn't, I got a point. They really liked the game. They have a pretty easy time guessing adverbs like that, but finding it in the sentence among adjectives, nouns, verbs, articles, pronouns, prepositions, etc is very difficult. I guess they are only in fifth grade (I didn't learn this stuff until middle school), but I just want them to get it at least a little bit.

Where's the Theology section?

Are there any Christian bookstores left that don't sell Cosmo cover Bibles, checkerboards with Scripture verses on them, and a bunch of other useless and cheesy merchandise that people so shamelessly market to the average church-goer? And where is the theology section in the small catalogue I just received from Hage's Chr. Supplies--you have your Christian accessories section, your Rick Warren section, your cheesy figurines section, your 5 steps to [fill in the blank], your Power of a Praying _______________ but no theology section. I mean there are some things in there that are worthwhile, but most of it can go.

Ok, I'm done. :)

Oh, but if Nate and I ever start a book store that sells "Christian" mercandise we will have the biggest theology section around. And a computer science section (I'm just waiting for someone to come up with a "Christian" programming language--heh). And a comics section, a teacher section, a Sci-Fi section, a children't books section...hmmmmm, maybe we'll just open a regular bookstore with a kick-butt theology section. :)

Bragging on my husband

I just have to tell y'all how wonderful Nate is for a moment. I was suffering from major bad cramps today and he was such a great caretaker. He rubbed my arm to distract me from the pain, set up my heating pad, got me pain reliever and water, grilled the steaks (his first time--and they were perfect), cleaned up all the dishes, kept coming to check on me, and much more. I love being married to him. It has been a good four and a half months.

A bulwark?

I know I had looked it up before, but this morning as we sang "A MIghty Fortress is Our God, A bulwark never failing," I still wondered to myself--"Just what is a bulwark?" So I looked it up again and this is what it said:
--A solid wall-like structure raised for defense
--A strong support or protection.

God is our never-failing bulwark. Now you know. :)

What is the focus of your Christmas celebrations?

Nate and I have talked a bit both last Christmas and this fall about what our Christmas time should look like. I recently had my students write a journal about a Christmas in their past. As I graded them tonight, I was reminded what the focus is in the minds of not only children, but adults too at Christmas: did I get what I wanted, what should I ask for this Christmas, what good deals can I get, give me more. Don't get me wrong. I don't have a problem with the idea of gift giving, I just don't think it should be the focus. Nate and I are working on what to do to help it not be the focus. The options include, using the money we would use to purchase each other's gifts and instead buying gifts to give away to those who have less than us. Or, purchasing one practical gift for our home, but trying to focus in our actions, hearts and minds on God's gift of grace in Christ to us. There are other options, I'm sure--doing missions, donating time, etc--but these are the two we are looking at for now.

Again, please don't misunderstand me. I don't mean to make you feel guilty for giving gifts. But I do mean to make you think about what you are focused on this and every day as the most important thing: God's gift to His people of Christ, through which we have every spirtiual blessing (Eph. 1:1ff).

Matrix stuff

Well, I saw it. I'm not going to say much about it right now since there are many who haven't seen it. Go to Nate's blog to the post "The Matr" to link to the abridged parody script for Matrix Revolutions. It's pretty funny and points out many of the holes in the plot.

Going to see the Matrix

After a dinner at Goode Seafood Company, Nate and I are heading to the movies (something that only happens once every 2-3 months) to see Matrix Revolutions. I'm kind of excited, kind of just hoping I'll understand what goes on in the movie better than I understood the second one, and kind of feeling relieved that I get to focus on something other than school for a couple of hours. Oh, and I get to sit next to a hot guy while I watch it.

Hungry?

While my class and I were going over some Language Arts exercises in our books yesterday afternoon, I just happened to glance over at one of my students as he put five or so pages in his mouth and took a bite out of them. For a moment I was just speechless. Then I said, "I can't believe you just did that. Don't ever do that again." A few students asked what he had done--only one had actually seen him do it--but I did my best to move us along. Until I had to stop again to tell another one of my student's to not use his pencils as toy guns. Unbelievable!

Visiting soon!

The tickets are bought and we are coming. An email will be going out soon to K-zoo people on when I will be in the area. In fact, I'm going to go write it right now. I hope to see y'all soon!

A long overdue thanks

I wanted to thank Kristen for her teaching suggestions way back in September. I forgot to acknowledge them. It's always helpful to hear what other teachers are doing.

Lone Bonneville

Nate and I own one of the three Bonnevilles in our city. Mostly I'm on the road as the lone one, though. It's strange after coming from a state with so many of them. Around here there are so many more foreign made cars.

Blogging Slacker

At least that's what I feel like I am. Maybe I'm not so bad.

Today was a bad day. In fact, Nate and I are both having rough days. He has a massive number of tests to grade and a graphics project due tomorrow night. I pretty much just don't want to go to school tomorrow. My kids were disrespectful to me today and the schedule didn't go quite how I planned it. I know that I have to be flexible, but it's hard to be flexible when your students aren't listening and are very talkative.

I don't want to act like teaching has been horrible lately, though. It has been good. I'm just worn out and tired and have had a bad day.

A follow-up on my last post

Just to clarify, since I didn't explain myself clearly.

I don't think Te Deum is out to condemn certain Christian artists or to call certain ones spiritual or unspiritual. I think their purpose is to offer suggestions and editorials on choosing Christian music that is also Biblically sound. Helping to educate us on what is worth listening to. As Christians, aren't we supposed to point out what is not speaking the truth?

Thinking about music....an interesting concept

Antithesis.com has started a new sight called Te Deum. It's all about music and distinguishing between good and bad Christian music (yes, there is good and bad Christian music). And I don't mean telling you what just sounds the best or is the most popular, I mean looking at the music from a Biblical standpoint (imagine that!) and judging whether is it Biblically solid and sound or not. You may notice that most of the popular Christian music is not recommended (although, Caedmon's Call's "In the Company of Angels" is--a very good CD), but you may just find something else that you like.

Sweet

Nate and I watched "The Italian Job" last night--sweet movie, cool cars (even I thought so), good story line and twists. Overall, a good flick. I was amazed to see a scene where Stella (the beautiful safe-breaker) was being consoled by the handsome main character without any attempt of him to have sex with her. A tasteful scene. I'm tempted to watch it again today, but have too much to do.

One thing that stood out to me overall, though. Awhile back I read a book called Hollywood Worldviews suggested to me by one of my IV staffworkers at WMU (Go Broncos!). The author talked about the ability of the movie producers/directors/writers to get to you cheer for characters that are doing morally wrong things--i.e. stealing as in "The Italian Job" (although I have to admit, it's pretty cool how they plan to do the stealing). And that's what Nate and I were doing last night--cheering for the lesser of two evils in our eyes--the "good" thieves over the double-crossing evil thief. Just makes you think about thinking a little when you watch a movie instead of watching it purely for amusement.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly?

I read this article, "What Should We Think of the 'Carnal Christian'" from Antithesis.com because I've been thinking lately about how we tend to classify Christians. I've especially seen this at work. A couple of my students have said things like "She's a huge Christian" or "My family and I are big Christians" (I know Jerry, Dave and Melissa are getting the visuals going on that one :) ). One of my fellow teachers said, "She's a phenomenal Christian" about Mary Lou Retton who goes to her church. This all started me thinking about how I speak about my fellow Christians. I know I have used wonderful, good, great, etc. in front of "Christian man/woman". However, if there are good/great/godly/wonderful Christian men/women, there must also be bad/carnal/stumbling Christians too. But no, there aren't. The Bible does not teach of categories of Christians. We are either in Christ or not in Christ. A new creation or not a new creation. Alive in Christ or dead in our sins. Of the flesh or of the Spirit. Etc. (/Romans 8:1-9, Galatians 5:17-24, 2 Corinthians 5:17).

Nathan and I were talking about this the other day on our way home from work. We were trying to figure out how we communicate what many of us (those who do not agree with the carnal Christian teaching) are trying to say when we put some adjective (the English teacher in me :) ) in front of "Christian". We are trying to show that that person is growing in the Lord, becoming more spiritually mature, and obviously showing signs of santification. We could say, "I can really see the work of the Holy Spirit in that person, sanctifying them." Or "I can see the fruits of the Spirit in you/him/her/them." Or "That person obviously loves the Lord because of ......". A saving faith should not be without deeds or fruit coming after it since salvation not only brings forgiveness of sins, but a changed heart.

I hope I've been somewhat clear in this. If not, first try to read the article above (I agree with what it is saying) and then zip off a comment to me so I can be more clear in my explanation.

Interesting

It was a wise saying of one of the church fathers, 'If you have one Scripture only on which to base an important doctrine or teaching you are most likely to find, on close examination, that you have none'.

This was from an article that I reference above.

Things that make you go....ewwww

One of the other fifth grade teachers and I both have puzzles out for the kids to work on when they get done early. Mine is of the Declaration of Independence with the Statue of Liberty in the background (it's very cool!) Suzy had one of those photo mosaic puzzles of a flamingo. I think thought those were cool too--until today. Suzy has magnifying glasses out on the table to use with the puzzle. She was wondering why the boys were spending a lot of time looking at the box on not working on the puzzle. She found out today when a student came and told her that some of the tiny pictures are pornographic (I don't think the student used that word). They have a few pictures of nude women and people having sex. I couldn't believe it until Suzy showed us. Needless to say, that puzzle was removed from the puzzle table.

What kind of people put nude, pornographic pictures in a photo mosaic puzzle? There should be a warning on the box or something.

For sure

Lisa and Kortnie have plane tickets to come down here in December! Now I can get my hopes up. :)

Flight deals???

Does anyone have a great idea for getting flight prices for under $400? We are flying up to Michigan for Thanksgiving. Our flights up to Indy this coming weekend (yay!!!) cost about $630 together, but everything following that weekend seems to be way more expensive. It's crazy! I guess we'll do what we have to to get up there.

A rough weekend

I've been fighting a bit of food poisoning this weekend. Yesterday I woke up at 5 a.m. feeling sick and was down all day in bed. I didn't get to go to our school talent show last night :( because I was still not feeling well. I finally got up last night to lay on the couch and watch "City of Angels" (such an interesting movie--quite a mixture of different worldviews--an interesting conversation to say the least). Fortunately I felt well enough this morning to go to church (we are currently in a three-sermon series on the Holy Eucharist). Nate and I napped for quite a while this afternoon. My stomach is still not too settled this evening. I might be subsisting on Saltines and Gatorade tomorrow just to keep myself going.

Um, you're kidding, right?

At the book fair on Friday during Grandparents' Day, I was hanging out in the gym (where all the books are--my personal heaven) with some of my students when the librarian came up to me and said she had something to tell me. Uh oh. The first thing that came to my mind was, "which one was it and what did he or she do?". I was thrown for a loop when she told me that someone had anonimously donated $100 for me to spend at the book fair! I kind of stood there speechless for a moment, then snapped back into reality. One of my students and I spent the next 15 minutes or so picking out $100 worth of books. How fun! More books for my classroom library. :) I was happy.

Tornado

If anyone wants to see images of the damage done to our middle school and the story, it's here.

We're okay

If any of y'all keep up with the weather in the Houston/Sugarland area of Texas, you might have seen that we had tornadoes today. Yes, we did. I don't even know if that kind of news even reaches the far North (Michigan, IN, IL). I just wanted to let you know that we are okay.

At around 9:30am our school receptionist got on the intercom to tell us we were having a tornado drill. It was kind of odd and random. We had the kids sit in the hallway for awhile. It turned into a little bit longer than usual, and I soon found out that a tornado had hit the middle school and they were worried about it heading toward our school. I started praying right then for us and for the kids at the middle school. We were soon allowed to go back to our rooms.

Thankfully we were saved from the sorrow and tragedy of having lost any students or staff from the middle school, and were relieved that the tornado did not come by us. It did do some damage to one of the classrooms and the atrium (the students got out literally two seconds before it threw a computer across the room--one student was pushed into the student in front of him because of the force of it).

It's strange living in a place with no basements even though they have many tornadoes. And I'm really not too keen on being on the second floor of a building. Anyway, that's my long version. We are okay.

Longing

Everyday I think of how much I miss being by the water. All we have here are these horrible fake ponds in the subdivisions. After you've lived next to Lake MIchigan, a man-made pond just can't compare.

I can't wait until Thanksgiving when, Lord willing, we will be up in the Great Lakes state!!!

Sigh

There is absolutely no reason for having television in a vehicle. I don't care if you are going on a long vacation and say you need it just for that. The television will, without fail, be used for quick trips to the grocery store. Give them a book, a Rubix cube, a travel game, but please don't let them watch TV in the car. I'm okay and I grew up with no tv in my car.

It's no wonder half of my kids can't concentrate in school. I can't change topics nearly as quickly as the television with which they are used to being entertained.

From the mouth of babes

I was working at the puzzle table last Friday (I have this sweet puzzle--it's the Statue of Liberty with the Declaration of Independence on it. You'd have to see it) with a few of my students. Here's how the conversation went:

Ryan: Can I play checkers with someone?
Me: No, science lab is starting in two minutes.
Julie: I hate science.
Matthew: Julie, you don't like anything.
Me (while desparately trying to keep my composure): Matthew, that is a very true statement.

Oh, I have one

I was asking one of my fifth grade classes if someone could give me an example of an imperative sentence. I had taken quite a few examples and thought I was done, when I saw Price with his hand still up in the back. Before I could call on him, he said, "Mrs. Froyd, I have one-- 'Hush now, chile'"

Needless to say, it's become a household saying. :)

All alone at home

Nate is currently working with his partner at school on his graphics project. We're both very stressed right now and yearning for some relief. The worship service this morning at our church was helpful to us to focus our attention back on what matters. Please pray that we find good quality time to spend in studying the Word of God, prayer, and conversation with one another.

We are going through the introduction class at church right now in order to become members there. This morning we talked about a lot of things, but one thing I had not heard emphasized so well and strongly in the past was how important it is to attend worship at church regularly. From the packet from the class:

"We are creatures built for worship and God has provided one day in seven to set apart for gathering together as the church to worship him. Worship on Sunday should become the priority of our week--and we must take into account its importance when we plan trips, leisure or athletic activities, or even how late an evening we will have on Saturday."

We may worship God all week long with our lives (Romans 12:1-2--be a living sacrifice) and maybe have a quiet time or six during the week on our own, but Sunday is the only day in the week set aside where the church comes together to worship God--we are part of the church of Jesus Christ. My trust in Christ for my salvation does not only mean that I have a relationship with God on my own, but also brings me into the family of God in which I have brothers and sisters with which I worship God each week.

A long due update

My mom just commented yesterday, "You haven't blogged since the 16th. You must be busy." Yep. Definitely. Oh yeah. Nate and I are in one of the labs at Rice (a very sweet lab, by the way--with plasma screens, comfy office chairs, pivoting flat screen LCDs, etc.). Nate has a major poster due in about 48 hours for his 590 project--the Call Stack Profiler--so we came here to work after going out for dinner. The grad student life has finally hit and we are struggling to find time to spend together--it stinks.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to teach fifth graders parts of speech? It's not at all easy to teach them this, as I once thought it would be. Sorry to those who like the A Beka curriculum, but I'm not a fan of how they teach the parts of speech. Then again, I'm not a straight workbook curriculum fan anyway. There is another curriculum that I am going to be looking at over Christmas break and the summer called "All Write". I'd like to see if maybe we can use that instead. Anyway, I could go on about this for awhile, so I'll stop for now.

My feelings about school have been up and down. This first year is definitely difficult. I keep hearing that it's just my first year, so I should give myself a break. But I can't help thinking that it's my students' only first and only year as fifth graders.

Busy

I would write lots, but it's late and I'm tired and busy. By late I mean 10pm.

I need a vacation!

Correction

Jonathan--I corrected my last post. Nate didn't make a post about stretching. My friend Mark did.

New blogger

My friend Mark has started a blog. He is seriously one of the best places to go for fitness advice. And he's my old roomie--he didn't really live with us, just was over a lot and bought us toilet paper and water filters when we ran out to do his part.

Anyway, he was the one who got me started on my current lifting workout that I have now passed on to Nate. I just have to say that I did not put Mark up to his current post on how good stretching is for you. I promise, honey. It must be a sign ;).

Answers

I forgot to write about this at the beginning of the school year.

I was going through my student's summer reading assignment. They had to write 3-5 sentences about what they learned from reading a certain book. Here are three of the answers:

"Now I know how to make my brother wet the bed."

"Don't lie, but only when you really need to."

"Never trust in somebody who is trying to eat you."

Thank You

Nathan and I have both had wonderful weeks. I am feeling much more hopeful and less overwhelmed--back to knowing that I am to be a teacher. I am sure that this is in part to God's faithfulness and your prayers. Thank you so much for praying. Please continue to keep us in your prayers. We know there will continue to be up and down days and weeks, but God gives us the reason and the strenth to make it through. Also, please pray for my kids to treat each other with the loving kindness (hesed) that God requires of us.

On another note, God does redeem certain situations as he has done with the phone call to the parent that ended in her telling me I'm angry toward my students. Even though I knew she wasn't right, it did cause me to reevaluate how I interact with them--how much positive and negative interactions I am having. It has helped me so much this week in how I treat them. It's been a good week

Easy schooling

Apparently I have a bachelor degree in electrical engineering from Western Michigan University. At least that's what the Alumni Org. from InterVarsity thought. Yeah right, engineering and I are not friends (especially since you need lots of physics, circuits and math).

My student

Since my comments aren't showing how many there are, I'll just post a response back on here.

The call back from the grandparent went pretty well. My student seems to be showing some improvement in her attitude toward work. At least she has been working or trying to get on task.

Yesterday, though, I had to call another parent about a note she sent me. After seeing that I wouldn't budge on the late policy decided by my whole fifth grade team and okayed by my principal, she proceeded to attack my character and the way that I treat the kids. It was so hard to hear that even though everyone hear at school including the kids are telling me differently. I was better by the end of the day and Nate continued to encourage me last night.

Nervously waiting

I'm waiting for a grandparent to call me back about her daughter, a student in my class. My student doesn't seem to care about school or grades or responsibility and I need to alert the grandparents (because she lives with her grandparents) about it to see if they can help.

Okay, she just called back. It went pretty well, but not as productive as I wanted it to be. At least she didn't yell at me or anything. :)

Big pink fish

Kortnie and Lisa claim I'm going to turn into a big pink fish with all the salmon we eat (we've only had it three times since we've been home)--so that's where that came from.

Nate and I had a guest over last Sunday--Gerhadt. He tells everyone to call him "Jerard" (that's how it would sound). But in South Africa, it's something I can't even spell. That's where he lived for most of his life. He's originally from the Netherlands where his father attended the Reformed Theological Seminary in Utrecht, but his father was in the Parliment in South Africa and helped to pass a lot of the anti-Apartheid laws (I hope I'm getting this all correct). Anyway, he was a very enjoyable person to have over. We had interesting conversation about politics, religion, geography,etc.

And yes, we had salmon! :)

Our new friend

Nate and I have been entertaining a guest off and on for the last two days. Another resident in our complex has a cat that is more of a community cat. He's quite the charmer and will willingingly slip into your apartment and take whatever you will give him. His owner says he always comes back, but just loves to visit everyone. HIs name is Lucky and he's already got us hooked--Nate's going to buy cat treats today. :) It's much easier to enjoy other people's cats than pay for your own. :)

Ah yes

I balanced the checking account this morning and it's now perfectly balanced to the penny! What a good feeling. :)

Reasons

It's really hard for me to ask for any help personally (I'm a lot like my dad). I just want to deal with it and push through--mostly because I don't want to burden everyone else, but also because then I can say I did it all on my own. I do ask Nate for help quite a bit, but that's mostly been forced upon me (like when he tells me he will do the dishes or won't leave me alone until I tell him what is wrong--I don't mind him doing this. It's part of why he is so good for me.

Anyway, I know that God's word tells us that we are to share our burdens with one another. In Galatians, I think, I remember Lisa pointing out to me once that we are to carry one another's burdens in the family of Christ. What a beautiful thing. So, I have that in mind as I humbly admit my inability to survive without your prayers and God's strength working so powerfully within me.

Work has been hard. I know the first year of teaching usually is, but for me it's also my first time this far from home (Michigan is still my home at heart), far from close friends and family, and starting a new family with Nate (just the two of us--no more yet). It's been overwhelming to say the least. And I'm just about at my wits end. There have been many days these past two weeks that I just don't want to go back. Work takes up the majority of my time and energy and I have little left for Nate.

So, to my point. I'm asking for your prayers. Here are my prayer requests if you would be so kind to help me carry these to the Lord:

Pray for quality time with Nate and the growth of our marriage.
Pray for refreshing time with God during my quiet times.
Pray for wisdom in helping some specific students have a positive fifth grade year.
Pray for a call I have to make to a grandparent regarding a student who just doesn't care and is being disrespectful.
Pray for my fifth graders to be amazingly loving and kind to one another (this would be a miracle!) :)
Pray for some good relationships to start forming between us and some other people/couples.

Thank you all. We value your prayers immensely. I know that God is growing strong character in both of us through our struggles.

It just keeps going and going and going...

Tricia meets Nate

Tricia finds out about this cool thing Nate has called a blog

Tricia secretly starts a blog (she doesn't want anyone to think that she started it to impress Nate or anything because she really does think it's a cool idea)

Tricia finally tells Nate she has started a blog

Lisa and Kortnie start a blog on the same night

Lisa friends from work--Annie and Carrie start blogs

Meesch starts a blog with a very cool title (Meesch Unleashed)

Tricia's parents decide to start a blog because of her mom's surgery

All right, who's next? :)

And it all started because Tricia met Nate

(*Note: I know, it would have been cool to put links to all of their blogs, but I'm too busy to do that)

A quick note

I'm not trying to ignore or forget about all of you who are so dear to me. I know no one has said anything, but I just wanted to let you guys know that I am thinking about you, praying for you, and wishing I had the time to contact you. I've seriously never been so busy in all my life and at the moment am just trying to find time to spend with Nate, eat, sleep, exercise, etc. I will try to get in touch with people soon. Please pray that I don't lose my mind! (P.S. Nate is wonderful and has been such a supportive husband--it's worth saying again. :) )

Yeah biking!

I just got back from biking outside in Texas for my first time. I was getting sick of riding my bike on the trainer in our apartment, so tonight I decided to brave the humidity and go for it. It wasn't that bad--it's actually cooler today--in Houston term's at least! I rode down to Nate's school and rode around the bike track they have right next to the football stadium. Now I just have to get a new battery for my sportswatch and I'll be all set.

I did some major planning today and yesterday for the next two weeks of school. Tomorrow the busyness starts again. It's hard doing planning all in one shot, but I have no time during the week to do it.

Bookkeeping

Elizabeth had a interesting point in her comment left in the post on checkbook registers (Aug 17). She said her dad balanced the register when she was growing up, but most of the women responding who are married are the ones who do it instead of their husbands. I'm not saying this is a bad thing or anything (I enjoy keeing the checkbook balanced--for the most part). Nate is the one who writes a lot of the checks for the bills and he put together most of our budget. Growing up, my dad was the keeper of the finances--although my mom balanced her own checkbook. It's just interesting how that seems to have changed.

Quick break

I have about ten minutes to write in here. I have to go downstairs soon to meet with the insurance guy. School insurance is great!

It's Friday and I'm very happy about this. Two weeks worth of lesson planning and other school work waits for me this weekend, but that's okay. Homework in high school/college/middle school that I used to have is nothing compared to the amount of work I have now. It is never-ending. I hope the second year of teaching will be a bit less overwhelming.

I am enjoying the fifth grade. I never in my life thought that I would like to teach fifth grade, but I'm loving this age so far. They have their moments--which are many--but I really like how I can relate to them a little bit. I can remember how I was in fifth grade. And I like how they get jokes and can make them. It's so fun. There is more I could write, but I should get downstairs.

Busy busy

I just wanted to quick post. I'm so busy. My priorities have been a little switched around lately since I've started my first year of teaching. It is going well. I want to write about it, but don't have time at the moment since it's Nate and my date night and that is the more important thing. :) Just know that we are doing well, just trying to get through these first few weeks of school. More later.

Yay!

We finally got our digital camera--the Canon A70. Pictures will hopefully be up on the Yahoo Groups page within a week or so.

Cell phones

We are looking into a different cell phone company. We need opinions from y'all, please. Which cell phone company would you suggest that would give us unlimited nights and weekends, clear reception, and free mobile to mobile. Our choices are Sprint, Cingular, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless...

Vindication, please

Nate doesn't believe me that I'm not the only one to keep a check register to the penny for my checks and debits (withdrawals from my checking). Could you please help and leave comments to tell him that you do it too? I know I at least have some fellow register keepers in Lisa and my dad.

Visiting family

Nate and I are visiting our parents who live nearby (Nate's parents) and his sister Cara for part of this weekend. We were going to help Cara move into her dorm at her college, but decided that would be too much driving. We just needed to get away from the apartment for part of the weekend.

Good news

God is good (and would be anyway even if I was reporting some less happy news to you)--my mom's surgery went very well. The nurses and doctor's are happy with her progress in her recovery. She is even sitting on the side of the bed. Please continue to keep her in your prayers and go here for additional updates. We value your prayers. And we give glory to God for His sovereign hand in this whole thing and all things.

Please pray

Again, just for y'all who didn't know, my mom is having surgery tomorrow. Please pray for peace for her and my dad, and for the doctor's to do their job well. She is in God's hands and no matter what happens, I know He is good and I trust Him. For updates on the surgery and more specifics, visit my parent's new blog (it's so contagious! :) ) here. Hopefully, one of them will be posting.

Countdown

It's only hours now before this classroom is filled with young ones. I'm so nervous! I know, show no fear, and I will try my hardest not to do so. I'm not afraid of being in front of them, just afraid of not having stuff for them to do. Nate has been so wonderful in telling me that it will all work out okay, and I appreciate it so much, but I still can't help but be nervous. I know I'm supposed to be here, that God has brought me here to this point and I keep holding onto that.

Please pray for me. For real, I have so much to take seriously when it comes to teaching fifth graders. I want to have fun with them, but I know it is also a great responsibility to teach them--especially Bible. I pray and will continue to pray that I speak the truth of God each day to these kids.

Going away

Sadly, I am leaving my husband overnight for the first time. Tomorrow I am going on a retreat with FBBA, my elementary school for one night. It will be strange not to sleep next to him. I'm sure he will enjoy some extra time to play Dark Age, though. :)

In addition, that means no posting until probably Wednesday.

Thanks, Mom

My mom sent me my bike helmet in the mail. Yay! I can bike outside--once it cools down. It's been near and into the 100s. Finally the unbearable Texas weather that everyone talks about.

If y'all could pray for my mom. She is having surgery this Thursday. Please pray that it goes well and that she has a good recovery. It's hard being so far from family when things like this are going on.

Convert

Yes, it's true. I'm getting to be quite a fan of using Linux (an operating system for those who don't know what it is--just like Microsoft Window--except very much not like Windows and free.

That's Texas for you

Some more observations about Texas:

They do everything big--even their thunderstorms! One showed up today out of no where. I went in to get groceries and it was blue skied and sunny. Walking out of the store the trees were blowing, it was thundering like large cannons and missles (according to Nate), the lightning was fantastic and I got my second shower of the day with the huge downpour.

Some of the phrases/words I've heard down here:

Now then (mostly from guys)
Bless your heart (mostly from women)
Y'all (of course)
I'm just tickled (mostly from women)
I'm fixin' to...

I'm still trying to work "Y'all" into my vocabulary. It's quite a useful word, but it just sounds strange to me with my Michigan accent.

MIA

It has been quite a busy week for me. That's why I haven't been writing. I've thought about it everyday, but I've been too tired when I get home and working too hard at school to take a break and blog while eating lunch. I still miss home (as in my hometown) and my friends and family there, but it is good to be busy so that I can at least tolerate this hard time of adjusting. Nate and I were supposed to go to a housewarming party tonight, but I'm a bit worn out from meeting people this past week and meeting a ton of new people tonight. Sorry we didn't show.

Everyone at school is so nice and helpful. I've enjoyed meeting the other teachers and staff. Nate was so wonderful and came up to school with me last night. He helped me a ton--taking inventory of my books, stuffing pencil bags, etc. I felt much better after we left last night.

La cucaracha

Cockroach has now become a bad word around our apartment. Yesterday I was going to get a back for the recycling and freaked out when I saw one on the door jam of the closet. Nate was my hero and killed it for me. He was going to Windex it (ref: My Big Fat Greek Wedding), but ended up Tilexing it instead and hitting it with a shoe. I know, I live in Texas and they are going to be down here, but it's still upsetting to have one in your apartment. Our apartment manager said it's a tree roach, so we shouldn't have an infestation. The exterminator comes next Tuesday.

I was reminded of Kortnie's "Here bear, bear, bear" experience in Alaska when I walked out of the bedroom this morning saying "Here cockroach, cockroach, cockroach"--doesn't roll off the tongue nearly so well.

Ugh

I woke up this morning at the time I will have to leave once school starts (6:30 am) and it almost killed me. I don't know how to get adjusted to early morning rising. I've never been a morning person. Nate was a sweetheart this morning and got up with me even though he didn't have to be anywhere anytime soon. During my quiet time I was trying to remember what God promises about meeting with him in the morning. I was still falling asleep. What am I going to do?!

More on what's going on down here later.

My excuses

We had a visitor over the last couple of days, so that's why I didn't write. Cara, Nate's sister, came to stay with us from Wednesday to Thursday. Cara, Nate, Joy (Nate and Cara's mom), and I headed down to my school Wednesday afternoon to finally get all the boxes out of Sydney and the apartment. They were so helpful and I appreciated it so much.

Wednesday night Cara, Nate, and I had burgers on the grill (after a few casualties--the grill claimed part of our burgers), then Nate cleaned up dinner (I put that one in there because he was so wonderful to do that for us), then the three of us went to Jamba Juice for smoothies and came back here to play Fast Scrabble. I love that game and so did Cara--we played four games of it! Very fun. Cara tested out our new blow-up twin mattress that night too.

On Thursday Nate went to work and Cara and I went back to the school. She was very helpful with setting up my classroom. It's starting to look like a real, working classroom now. I can't believe I'll be teaching kids in there in less than two weeks! Yikes!

The doings of my husband

I thought I'd let you know how proud I am of Nate. Lately he's been working on this program that records where other programs are spending their time and how much time they are spending there. He has come up with multiple good ideas for working his way through the bugs of the program. He and some other people in his department who are part of this project will be heading to New Mexico to Los Alamos Nat'l Laboratories in October for a conference. He's doing a good job at his work. Nate's also been reading, playing FInal Fantasy IX, programming, and spending time with me trying to make me smile and forget my homesickness.

Random messages to people

Gram: Sorry I haven't written in a couple of days. I'm still doing fine down here in Texas. I promise to catch up on my writing now. :)

Kortnie: I'm impressed with you and Lisa's planning for the Colorado trip. I wish I was coming too! :(

Lisa: Work that rotator cuff! :)

Kortnie: You are going to be a wonderful roommate for Lisa. Just make sure not to turn off her alarm for her in the morning. ;) Make sure you guys have a guaranteed night out once a week too--that was always something I looked forward to with Lisa--every Wednesday (okay and every Thursday too--can you say "Qdoba" *in sing-song voice*)

Lisa and Kortnie: I wish I could be there for Coast Guard--enjoy the fireworks for me. I just wish I could be with you guys period. I miss you so much!

Nate: I love you. Oh and work that rotator cuff!

Good article

I just read most of a chapter from Antithesis.com written by John Piper on why it is important that we do not abandon the imputed righteousness of Christ (meaning that we who trust in Christ as our Lord and Savior have been counted righteous in God's eyes because of His life and death on the cross). It is a fabulous chapter. If you have any extra time today, it would be well spent reading it. If you don't have that much extra time or don't feel like reading the whole thing, at least read two sections of it: 1) For the sake of my family: marriage; and 2)For the sake of my family: Children. They are two short sections that are worth the read--then maybe you will be tempted to read the rest.

It made me realize how important it is that I am in the word of God everyday. It made me realize some other things too to do with my marriage to Nate and to do with teaching children, but I'll let you read the article to get your own thoughts. You can find it here .

Exciting new things

Our apartment complex just got new grills. I'm so excited since the old ones were dirty and crooked. Yay! I love grilling!

Yum

Nate and I celebrated our one month anniversary (not to mention our year dating anniversary, I just realized!) by going out to dinner at Collina's--a local Italian restaurant. I had this calzone that ended up being the size of half a pizza (yay, leftovers! :) ) and Nate had a Mahgerita pizza with sausage, tomatoes, and basil (yay, more leftovers!). We had a nice dinner. I can't believe it's already been one month. I am very blessed to have married Nate. He is a wonderful husband--I've enjoyed laughing with him so much lately and seeing our friendship and marriage grow. Awwwww. :)

My dad's baby

Almost every time I call home, my dad asks, "How's my baby". I know, how sweet right? He cares about his daughter and wants to know how she is doing--well that is true, he does care about me, but the baby he's talking about is the car Nate and I now own. It was his favorite car--a 96 Pontiac Bonneville. It is a good car. Anyway, that point of all of this is that Nate and I were having a hard time coming up with a name for her. Finally, after installing the license plates this weekend, we decided--her license plate contains some letters that helped us come up with her name--Sydney or Syd for short. Now it's a lot easier to talk about her instead of just saying "the car".

Tax-free days

When I was at Old Navy yesterday, the guy who helped me at the register asked me if I was trying to miss the crowds for tax-free days. "Tax-free days?" I asked, kind of confused. He told me that this coming weekend there is no tax on clothing and the stores are just packed. I looked online and sure enough, this is tax-free weekend coming up for Texas. I've never heard of such a thing. If only the tax-free extended to such things as books, DVDs, video games, and electronics--now that would be something to get excited about!

Power shopping

Today I went to Old Navy because I realized a couple of days ago that I am lacking in the clothes I can actually wear to school. I think I have about two or three tops and one or two pairs of pants that aren't too big for me--I would have more clothes if I lived in MIchigan because it is cooler, but I need some fall clothes that would be appropriate for a summer in Michigan. Anyway, I was there for an hour and found everything I needed--two pairs of pants, one long tan skirt, four shirts, one sweater jacket (it does get chilly in my school). Ooo, and it was an outlet store, so I got each item for an average of twenty dollars. I'm so happy to be done because I really don't like shopping all that much.

Another weekend gone by

This past weekend, Nate and I went to his parents (aka the parents who live nearby :) ) from Friday to Sunday before church. We both got our rings resized down to smaller sizes and otherwise just relaxed and visited. Oh yeah, we did finally put on our new Texas license plates--they have front and back plates, so we had to drill holes in the front bumper (sorry, Dad). After many tries, some WD-40 and a mallet, Nate and I finally got the hitch off the car--we're a good team.

Sunday after church we went out to lunch with a couple from church--David and Erin. Erin is also a fifth grade teacher. It's very strange to be hanging out with married couples. Nate and I both very much feel more comfortable with our single college/post-college friends and newly married friends. Not that we would give those friends up once we started feeling more comfortable. Adjusting is hard and we are in need of prayers for good relationships to form with people down here.

Speaking of lunch after church--that's something I've been thinking about lately. I'm not sure how I feel about it. I don't know if I could ever say that it's definitely wrong, but I do think that it may be better not to do lunch. I've only had conversations with myself about this :) so you'll have to forgive my lack of reasoning. I guess I was just thinking about Sunday being the Sabbath--the Lord's day. When did it become okay to do all of these other things--stores, movies, restaurants--on Sunday? I mean, especially if you come from a family, like I do, that discouraged going into work on Sunday--how can we then justify making other people work for our leisure? I'm not suggesting legalism toward how we view our activities on Sunday, but I do want to be wise about how I spend this day. God must have made it the Sabbath for some reason, so I want to be careful to not just turn it into any other day of the week.

Italian Zucchini Crecent Pie

Per my mother's good suggestion, I have decided to put the recipe on my blog. It originally came from the Pillsbury Bake-off. Enjoy--it's really good!

Serves 4-8
Cooking Time:18-20 minutes
Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Cook and stir: 4 cups (3 worked for us) thin-sliced zucchini AND 1 c chopped onion (a few shakes of minced onion works just as well) in 1/4 c margarine (I used a little bit less margarine and it worked fine) until tender--at least for 10 minutes, we did 15 and it was even better.

Stir in: 1/2 c chopped parsley OR 2 T parsley flakes, 1/2 t salt, 1/2 t pepper, 1/4 t each of garlic powder, oregano, and basil.

Combine and stir into pan mixture: 2 beaten eggs and an 8 oz package of mozarella.

Prepare pan (10" pie): Spray pan with a cooking spray. Pat 8 crescent rolls (skinny point toward center and wider part on the edge) sealing to form crust. Spread with 2 t prepared mustard (? we didn't do this and it tasted good--maybe someone could let me know why to do this). Bake as above 'til tests done. Let stand 10 minutes. Enjoy!

:(

I had a big case of homesickness today. Nate is so great--comforting me and being concerned. I've learned that homesickness is one of those things I just have to go through--it's best to sleep it off. That's what my dad always says, "If you don't feel very good, you need to go take a good nap". It is hard being so far from the home and friends and family that I know, but I know this is where God has me now and I'm praying He will help me be content and at peace and even joyful and happy. :)

Fun stuff

I got to ride a Segway today. Now I'm as cool as my husband. :)

Zucchini pie

Nate and I made a dish we had gotten from his mom (who had gotten it from Grandma Froyd? or vice versa?). It's basically a pie made from crescent rolls for the crust, and zucchini, mozzarella cheese, beaten eggs, onion, and lots of yummy spices. It was sooooo good. If anyone wants the recipe, let me know.

Frustration

I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed this morning at the prospect of finding a new doctor, dentist, hair stylist, etc. Fortunately I can ask people from church and we also have the grad student yellow pages from Nate's school that gives reviews of many local shops, restaurants, stylists, doctors and dentists, etc. Hopefully that will help.

I'm also a bit frustrated about getting my driver's license and my name changed. I wish I had a step by step list in front of me of how to go about all of this, but I don't. I have to find it on the internet and through phone calls.

Thanks for listening to my venting. :)

Quiet weekend

I didn't blog much this weekend cause Nate was around and we finished rearranging and decorating, and the rest of the time I was reading the fifth Harry Potter book and spending time hanging out with Nate. My stiing is all healed up, thankfully, and I have met no more wasps or bees (except for a few yellow jackets at the recycling center).

Nate and I made salmon on the grill on Friday night--or should we say slightly blackened salmon because the oil caught on fire. It was still very yummy along with the mashed potatoes, spinach salad, and french bread. Yummmm.

On Saturday we checked out some digital cameras in the midst of our other errands. We are looking at the Canon Powershot A70--a 3.2 mega pixel camera, but are open to other suggestions (we prefer to stay $300 or less). We thought having a digital camera would be nice since so many of our friends live so far away and we could send out and post pics.

On Sunday Nate played Final Fantasy IX and I read Harry Potter for a lot of the day. I just want to finish it so that it won't be distracting.

Today I had a meeting with the head of my grade at the academy where I will teach. I got my keys to my room and got to see it. It is pretty cool. I am sooo nervous though.

I'm off to do some more stuff on the list. :)

Getting educated

I looked up some info on bee and wasp stings this morning. I don't know what stung me, but I'm guessing it was a large wasp--maybe a Cicada killer wasp. Anyway, here is some useful info on being allergic, reactions to a sting, want to do, and how to prevent stings: Bee and Wasp Stings

My traumatic evening

Well, it finally happened. Lisa said that it should just happen to me so I wouldn't be so fearful--and so I would find out that it didn't hurt nearly as much as I thought it would. Well, it happened, and it hurt way more than I thought it would. Nate and I were heading out to the car this evening to get a memory card for the PS2 and some other householdy things. We were at the car and I was about to hand something to Nate when my left pointer finger felt like someone had taken a knife and sliced it. Then there was a flutter of wings, I dropped everything and gasped. And it continued to feel like someone was slicing my finger. This stupid wasp-like bug stung me. Nate threw everything in the car--he was so wonderful--and quickly walked me back inside as I was sobbing uncontrollably. Once inside, he got me ice and held me as I kept freaking out about it.

So, I've finally been stung. I can't say it's made me any less fearful. If anything I am more fearful because it was so painful. But fortunately I am not allergic (my grandfather is and I was worried I was too). Obviously I am well enough to type with the finger even though it's still a bit swollen. I'm so thankful Nate was there to calm me down and comfort me.

:):)

Thank you Jonathan for my husband's new obsession with getting a memory card for our PS2.

I'll admit it

I didn't want to, but I had to face up to the fact that my husband really does have more books than me--even if you include all my children's books. I may have more, but the majority of my books would take up less space than his do. I'm sure he will be happy to know that I only used one and a half of my two allotted bookshelves in our new bookcase.

Trying to resist the urge

I was only going to read my new Harry Potter book for an hour, but it's been nearly two since I laid on the couch to begin it. I'm having trouble focusing on the screen and my back is all stiff....but oh, was it worth it. I'm in the chapter called "The Order of the Phoenix". This book was good right from the first chapter. I can barely put it down. I can see why Lisa said that I shouldn't take it on our honeymoon if I actually wanted to have interactions with my new husband. I would have been buried in that book the whole trip. I promised Nate that I wouldn't be buried in it, so I'm trying to read it while he's not home.

On another note, I just found out our maintenance guy's name--Sammy. He's been around here for awhile. He just stopped by one more time today to check if our tub faucet was leaking. He said that he wouldn't be able to sleep tonight if he didn't check. I'm trying to learn the hospitality of the South. I think it's such a neat thing that we lack up North. Most of the people I've met down here are very people-oriented, and I'm hoping that will rub off on this task-oriented Michigander. As my dad says, "I have Dutch disease--I just can't stop working!" It's a good thing I have a laid back husband--I'm hoping we can balance each other out. :)

Words to song

Here are the words to the song my brother was so cool to write for and perform at our wedding. I know I had a hard time understanding some of them the first time, so I hope this helps you too:

Waterfall

Words and Music by: Justin Drooger

Performed for Nathan and Tricia Froyd on June 28, 2003

When just one singe glance can feel like eternity

And we both share this feeling between you and me

It’s the way you feel, when words just ain’t enough

When a look in her eyes, can say more than a talk

The sound of her voice, sends shock right through your all

The only word that we have… is a waterfall

When just one gentle touch can heal the deepest pain

And all my eyes well up when your lips speak my name

It’s the way you feel, when words just ain’t enough

When a look in her eyes, can say more than a talk

The sound of her voice, sends shock right through your all

The only word that we have… is a waterfall

I feel like I'm on a blogging marathon--I never blog this much!

New books

I can't take my shower after my biking yet because a leak in the tub is being fixed, so I'm going to blog instead. :)

Nate and I made use of the gift certificates to Waldenbooks we received from the Sobota's and our friend Rachel Keift last night. I got the fifth Harry Potter book (Nate is almost convinced to read them), the fifth grade version of Brainquest for my students, and we bought a Calvin and Hobbes book It's a Magical World --very funny. Nate got a few books too, but I'll let him tell you about them. We still have more gift certificate money to spend there, but we are pacing ourselves :) --plus, neither of us is sad about having to go back to the bookstore again. :)

Qdoba cravings

Nate and I went to Freebirds today for lunch--a burrito place. It was actually very good, but not as good as Qdoba. Lisa, I miss our weekly Qdoba outings. Maybe I should start a Qdoba franchise down here. :)

Yay!

Our living room is almost completely rearranged. Nate's computer just has to be moved off of our dining room table. We ate off of these two wooden crates that Kortnie's dad used to have in his hammock/Jimmy Buffett store last night. It was great! I wish we had a camera. It feels good to have a living room again.

Things I've observed about Texas

1. Horizontal traffic lights are good because they don't blow and sway nearly as much.

2. Some of the sewage openings on the curb sides look like they could swallow small children.

3. I like frontage roads (the roads that run parallel to the highway and give you access to it). I think they are a super good idea.

4. Texas has the best ice cream--Blue Bell mint chocolate chip.

5. Even though it rains a lot, it's still humid.

6. People talk about hurricanes, tropical storms and flooding instead of tornadoes and heat waves. I don't think there is such a thing as a heat wave in southern Texas.

I'll think of more. I have to start writing these down.

Tetris musings

While packing the Uhaul trailer I commented on how I like packing the trailer because it's a lot like Tetris--you see a space and try to guess what will fit best in that space. "Except," I continued, "when you complete a row, it doesn't disappear." :)

Unpacking

We have been unpacking things now for about four days and it's finally starting to look like an apartment again. It helped when I cleared out the cardboard that was taking over the apartment and brought it to a recycling center. Yes, I'm even recycling down here in Texas--I've taken my obsession with it down here with me.

We got a PS2 today--we used the money from Target gift cards to get it. Yesterday we found Tetris Worlds at Target for the PS2, which is so cool because Tetris is my favorite game ever! Nate is setting it up right now.

There is so much more I could write, but I would like to eat dinner and participate in PS2 set up, and to visit with Nate since he's been gone all day.

More later.

My alphabet game complex

My husband has given me a complex when it comes to the alphabet game. I haven't played a game against him since somewhere around the Louisiana-Texas border. I know he will eventually post about it because he is quite proud of himself. I would like to say though, that I am still ahead of him by one game--and I will hold on to that. :)

Slow going

So, we towed a Uhaul trailer (a 5 by 10 foot) down filled nearly to the top with wedding gifts and my things. We realized from the start that we would be passed by many things on the road at our constant speed of 55 mph, but it was extra humiliating when we were actually passed by a house while going through one of the larger cities! I think we passed three vehicles total on our way down.

Long overdue posting

But not as long overdue as someone else--some other people have noticed this too. I'm sure Nate and I will post some of the same things about our trip down, but they are good enough to post twice. Read on, I'll try to get caught up.

Leaving tomorrow

Nate and I finished packing the U-haul (mostly except for some rearranging) this morning and are getting to relax this afternoon. It's nice since we have been doing a lot of packing and preparing to travel stuff.

It is good to be married to Nate. :)

I can't believe I'm leaving tomorrow. It won't sink in until we are in Texas.

Honeymooning

Nate and I are having a wonderful time up in northern Minnesota. Just wanted to let y'all know that we have arrived safely and are very much enjoying being married to each other. :)

It's almost here!

Nate gets here tomorrow night--finally--I miss him so much.
My two best friends get here on Thursday.
My other very dear friend and bridesmaid gets here on Friday (or maybe Thursday:) )
Jeff, Joy, and Cara Froyd get here on Thursday.
The rest of our wedding party arrives on Friday.
And on Saturday I marry the love of my life (and get to see and meet lots of cool people).

All I have to say is "w00t". :)

Comments

I'm so excited because I got comments today. I had a few issues with inserting the code into my template, but Nate was gracious enough to be interrupted at work to help me.

Hanging out

Kortnie came over yesterday evening to help me finish packing. I'm about 85% finished and it's wonderful. Not so much wonderful that I'm leaving my friends and family, but wonderful that I am packed. And wonderful that I'm marrying my best friend who just happens to live in Texas.

They're on the way

I will soon have comments on my blog. I just have to go through my remaining money and what I have left to spend before getting them. I know, $20 isn't that much, but it is when you are just graduated, don't have a job, and all you are bringing is college debt and a toaster oven into the marriage you will enter into with a wonderful man named Nathan in 8 days! I know I bring more into the marriage than material things, but I do want to continue to be a good steward of what God has entrusted to me to use. So, not to worry, they are coming soon.

Some good news

An update on my mom--there was no diagnosis from the Cat scan, which is a bummer. However, the doctor did rule a couple of things out--Diabetes, MS, and he found no mass on her ovaries. They are now looking at her uterus for the problem. It would just be nice, especially for her, to have a diagnosis soon, but we are trying to be patient and trust God and His timing. She will have an EMG on Monday, so please pray that it will bring some answers. Please also pray that her disability and insurance will all work out all right. Thank you so much for you prayers. :)

Ma has arrived

Our first exchange student, Marina (Ma), arrived from Brazil yesterday. She has come for our wedding and to visit my family and her friends. It is so good to see her. Besides looking two years older, she is still beautiful and the same old Ma--funny and kind of wacky. :) Look for her at the wedding--she'll be one of the two Brazilians there. The other one is our current exchange student, Paula Guerra

Please pray

My mom has a doctor's appointment this morning to get the test results on her CaT scan (is that how you write it?). She has been suffering from a numb and raw left thigh and tight muscles on her left side for over a month now and the doctor was concerned about a growth on her ovaries. We are all trying not to be nervous or worried, since that doesn't help. Please pray that the doctor would have good things to say and that whatever she has would have an easy solution. Also pray that my mom and family would be comforted in this time.

The suprise by which all other surprises will now be judged...part 1

I say part 1 because I don't have much time to write and may have to continue later. Okay, here goes the promised "something wonderful":

For about a month and a half Secret Agent Iamthefunnyone (aka Lisa) and Secret Agent Hairofmypants (Kortnie) have been collaborating with the Supreme Mother (my mom) to pull off the impossible mission of kidnapping the package (uhh...me!) and wisking it off to an undisclosed location. Others aware of the mission were Secret Agent Ireadengineeringbooksforfun (Nate), Secret Agent Rocksinmylandscaping (Kelly), and Secret Agent Whileyour'eupcouldyougetmesomething (Grandpa W.) who almost blew his cover in the beginning of the mission.

On 6.14.03 S.A. Iamthefunnyone and S.A. Hairofmypants arrived at the first location at 19059 Sioux Drive to pick up the package. The Supreme Mother had been gathering the package's clothes for a few days and passed them off to the Secret Agents while the package was outside walking the dog. Still unaware of what was about to happen, the package allowed herself to be blindfolded and stuck in the transporting vehicle (aka Kortnie's Mitsubishi Eclipse). SA Hairofmypants used her secret agent skills to throw the package off in her attempt to decode the location by taking strange roads to the final destination. Finally, they arrived at destination 125-364 (aka Kortnie's house) where the package was again thrown off by eating breakfast inside (she thought they were going to the beach).

Following b-fast, the secret agents again blindfolded the package and started toward the actual destination--UP-MI. The package, still unaware that she was being whisked hours away from home overnight, happily chatted in the front seat. After reaching White Cloud, Secret Agent Iamthefunnyone allowed the blindfold to be removed and gave the package the second clue...

...That's when I realized that I wasn't going to the wedding I had planned on attending. You see, I had planned for a breakfast on the beach and then to attend the wedding in the afternoon. But Lisa and Kortnie had sneakily planned this road trip with my mom and she hadn't even RSVPed for me! By Grayling, MI, they gave me clue number three--telling me we were going to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, which is one of my favorite places. Right before the Mackinaw Bridge they gave me clue number four--that it wasn't Cedar Campus, but we were going to have to leave our car and go to an island--which of course meant Mackinaw Island!

I have never been so surprised in my whole life! We had such a blast! After going through some of the shops in Mackinaw City, we grabbed a bite to eat in St. Ignace and then went to our hotel. The room we stayed in had a great view of Mackinaw Island. Kort and I read out on our balcony (after being attacked by gnats down on the grass) and Lisa slept. Then we went to dinner at the Marina Pub--a great restaurant--I highly recomment the clam chowder and Caesar salad. There we met a nice older couple who has lived there for 37 years--Walt and Sally--he was a Michigan Senator. Pretty neat. To end our evening, we went for ice cream at Java Joe's--another cool place--then Kort and I walked on the beach, I called my wonderful fiance to chat for a little while, and we all relaxed in the hot tub.

On Sunday we took the Starline Ferry across to Mackinaw Island--I know, mem-or-ies (said with a slightly high-pitched sing song voice :) ). It's the same ferry that we took over last summer when SLT went over to the island. On the island we did lots of cool things, but by far the coolest was renting bikes. We patronized (?) Island Bike Rental and got these older style 7-speed Schwinns with comfortable seats and wide handlebars. It was so much fun! If you ever go to the island, you should do that. We also bought fudge (of course), walked to Arch Rock (finally, Kate and John and I never made it there during SLT), looked through stores and ate at this great restaurant called the Irish Pub. At 3pm we took the ferry back to the mainland and left for home.

It was all perfect. I could not have asked for a better one last road trip with my two best friends. I will miss them so much. Thanks guys for everything you did to make it so good.

That was long, I know, but I hope you made it through to see how cool Lisa and Kortnie are for pulling that off. I guess there will be no part 2 since that was it!

Ugh

I went to the dentist today. I hate going to the dentist. However, I do enjoy the feeling of my teeth afterward.

I have something wonderful to write about tonight--I hope to get it done.

Some fun wedding facts for you

I saw this linked off MSN today and thought I might share it. I've heard of the reasons for some of our wedding traditions, but this one explained quite a few: "Evil Spirits and Bridesmaids' Dresses"

And now for my favorite things

I know that Paula (our exchange student) says that I always am saying something is my "favorite thing", but I really do have a few favorites that get to be noted for today:

1. Marrying the love of my life in less than 20 days.
2. Hot bubble baths with a candle and some soft music--I took one tonight.
3. Fans--c'mon, it had to make the list. Nate was not too pleased when I told him yesterday that one was coming on our honeymoon. :)
4. Being outside on a beautiful day/night and looking at the sky.
5. Laughing with friends--just laughing in general makes me pretty happy.
6. The smell of freshly cut lawns, campfires, bread baking.

There is more, but I just looked at the clock and it's time to call Nate! Yay!

These are a few of my not favorite things

1. Getting stressed out less than three weeks before the wedding--I'm not allowed to get stressed out until the week before!
2. The plastic they put around CD cases that you have to somehow pry off just to get to the music you bought.
3. Scanning around 70 pictures with only a little break.
4. Having to stop my weight lifting because one of my muscles is not happy with me.
5. Being so far away from the love of my life.

More quoting

Nate: "There, you've been tongue stuck out at."

What?!

Useful mottos for the father of the bride

As said by my father when asked what he does for the wedding:
"I slit my wrists and bleed green"

Today's was my favorite, though:
He said: "There's three things I have to do--shut up, show up, and pay up" :)

We're getting married!

Nervousness, anxiousness, excitement, joyfulness, giddiness, scared-out-of-my-mindness, why-can't-it-get-here-any-fasterness--those are all the feelings running through my head lately. :) If you haven't visited Nate's blog lately, you may have missed that the days to go have slipped to under 20!

I'm so glad I'm getting married to Nate. :)

Something to check off the list!

My mom and I finished up the party favors today--211 little Jelly Belly filled, ribbon tied party favors. I think we may have eaten more than we wrapped up! Kortnie, Lisa and Paula also have been helping me with them over the past couple of days. I decided to stop at 211 because we ran out of tulle to wrap them in--no other big reason why 211 is the lucky number.

Becoming more official

Yesterday I headed down to the county clerk's office and applied for our marriage license. Yay! It was quite easy to do.

My dad picked up eight extra copies of the newspaper from two Saturdays ago--Nate and my engagement picture was in the paper. It was quite a nice write-up. It makes it feel more real.

Poor Justin

Every year, my poor younger brother gets his birthday overshadowed by Father's Day, graduation, sickness, trips. This year is no different--Chad graduated from 8th grade and I am getting married (w00t!). In order to be more efficient, my mom baked only one cake--a bundt cake--and on one side she wrote "Congrats Chad!". Then you turned the cake around and the candles spelled "Happy Birthday" and then she wrote "Justin" on the side of the cake. All of this would have been slightly okay had the following two things not happened. First, my grandma decided that because I won't be here for my birthday, she would make it my birthday too and give me my present three months early. Then, since the happy birthday candles have already been used once, by the time Justin blew them out, only three out of the 13 candles were still burning. Actually, it was quite hilarious!

Absolutely ridiculous

Today my dad and Kortnie and I were talking about the whole Sammy Sosa cork bat saga while Kortnie and I were assembling party favors for the wedding (only a little over 20 days to go!). Dad said that he heard on WGN that Sammy has a bat supply of his own containing 72 bats. In order to make sure that none of his other bats that he has used to hit his numerous home runs is a cork bat, they are going to do MRIs and Catscans on all of them! Kort said that one MRI for a shoulder costs $3000 to do. Unbelievable! For a little bit of the story, you can go here.

On a mission

Sorry to keep everyone in the dark about what's been going on. I have started sleeping upstairs, so the computer is right outside my door, but it's just slipped my mind to blog at all. I'm back, though.

I was wedding woman today. I got lots done, so I'm very happy. Actually, I'm pretty happy in general lately, which is good. About a week ago I was not very happy at all. God has been gracious to give me some peace and contentment about marriage and the wedding, though, and I am doing much better. I've promised not to start freaking out until the week before the wedding. :)

Two of a kind

Tricia: Are you pensive?
Nate: No, I'm just thinking.

While talking to Nate about working out:
Tricia: Since I'm self-conscious about myself...that was kind of redundant.

I gave in

Just because I want to be like Lisa, I took the online quiz to see which XMen character I am. I don't usually do these, but I just couldn't resist. :) I am Storm.

Wow!

Kortnie and I went to see XMen 2 last night. It was so good! I need to see it again because I feel like I missed a lot of it. There was just so much going on with the three different subplots--looking for Nightcrawler, visiting Magneto (sp?) and then the Cerebro thing, and the attack on Xavier's School. Plus, they were all connected and that was pretty cool. I hope to see it again soon.

Waiting for a special arrival

I'm heading to Grand Rapids around noon or 1 p.m. to get some errands out of the way before Nate arrives at the GR airport. Yay! I am so excited to have him here!

Have you seen my little dog?

I started tanning on Tuesday--just a few times a week until the wedding. This will not be a permanent thing because I know how much damage it does. As I was waiting for a bed to be open, I sat and watched people come in to the tanning shop. I was surprised to see that at least half and maybe even 2/3 of the people who walked in were guys. Very interesting.

Oh, and if you don't get this blog post title it's probably because you've never had a Brazilian exchange student. I would explain, but it won't make any sense without you being able to see me.

Reasons

I haven't been writing on here lately because everytime I bring up the Blogger website, I have trouble using my mouse. Granted, I don't need my mouse to navigate and blog, but it was just annoying so I decided to let it go for a bit. Today, my mouse is working again and here I am. :)

You're a good man, Charlie Brown

My sister Paula and I went to Chad's (that's my brother) spring musical put on by the middle school students at his school. I felt like I was watching a bunch of comic strips sail past me as the kids performed on stage. They did a magnificent job. I loved it!

I need your prayers

I am currently reconsidering the fifth grade position I have taken for the fall. This is very hard for me because I am so excited to actually have my own classroom and be at such a supportive school. However, I am trying to figure out if I agree with everything I would have to teach to my fifth graders when it comes to Bible class. I want to make sure that I can honestly teach it. Please pray for wisdom for Nate and me to make a decision and as I look over the Bible curriculum they will have me teaching.

One more day

You couldn't pay me enough to teach middle school. I am looking forward to tomorrow being my last sub job in the middle school section. I'm in the fourth grade on Monday, but that shouldn't be that bad.

Four of the five classes I have at the middle school are watching West Side Story. And do you know what that means? I get to watch the same segment four times a day. I was being tortured by the song "Tonight" sung by Tony and Maria running through my head on the way home. I'm not a big fan of musicals--yet, at least.

Paranoia

Nate has successfully made me paranoid enough to change all of my major passwords so that they will be harder to guess. Now if I can only remember them too!

I got 'em

I went to Dunham's and got my weight set! I can't wait to start using them tomorrow! :)

No thanks

I was all ready to order my new weight set: a Marcy 100 lb weight set from fitnessrus.com for $45--what a deal!. This is an exciting thing for me. I went to the online checkout on the website and put in all my info. Then I went to put in my credit card info and looked to see how much the total was after shipping. My mouth literally fell open when I saw that shipping was $61.39! That's more than the actual set itself. How is this a good deal? I'm not sure, but I promptly closed the window and resolved to go to Dunham's to purchase my weights.

It's a what?!

I was voicing my frustration with all the annoyances of retitling cars and getting a marriage license by saying "What a pain in the butt!", when I started wondering if they have something like that in Portuguese (sp?). So, I asked Paula, our exchange student from Brazil if they have something like it. She said that they do, but it's a little different. She said they say (and I quote) "It's like a foot in the men's body part". I know my male readers are not thinking that's too funny (and I know it's not a funny thing to have a foot placed in that part of your body), but it struck me as extremely funny. It was just so funny to hear her say it.

Slow down, no speed up

Everytime I visit my fiance's blog, I can't believe how few days are left on his counter until our wedding. It makes my to do list that much more overwhelming. Less than fifty days to go! At the same time, I so wish to be in the same place as Nate, so I'm glad for it to go quickly. Regardless, I just want to enjoy this time and not go insane because I have so much to do. Ahhh!

A job!!

I sure hope I've told everyone that I need to before I go post this on here. I think I have.

I accepted a job in Sugarland, TX, (about 10-15 miles Southwest of Houston) at Fort Bend Baptist Academy. I will be a fifth grade Language Arts teacher! I'm so excited and very nervous too. I have very little experience with anything over second. I've been subbing in the older grades recently and trying to observe some fifth grade classroom. I think it will be a good experience. Let me just say, though, that I'm not going any higher than fifth. Middle school is definitely not where I am gifted.

Detentions all around

I got so angry at this sixth grader last Thursday. He was making fun of another kid in his class and I found out after he finally made this other girl cry. She had been standing up for the kid he was making fun of, so he turned on her and started making fun of her. Ugh, I could have strangled him for what he did, but I kept my cool, got right in his face and told him he would get a detention if I ever caught him doing that again. I just don't understand why kids bully other kids. I know I need to help the bullies too, but I need to learn how to do that yet. Kids older than second grade are a whole new ball game for me.

I ended up writing a note to the girl telling her how she did the right thing and trying to encourage her to keep it up. I hope she does.

Mmmm...bacon

Last week I subbed in a sixth grade class and during science we were talking about producers, consumers and the food chain. I asked everyone what kind of a consumer they were--one who eats meat, plants, both. Then we got on the topic of vegans and vegetarians. One of the girls who was sitting closer to me raised her hand and softly said that she was reading in the Bible that we can only eat fish and winged fowl. I acknowledged her thought and kind of said "oh". I didn't want to go into it there.

A little bit later I went up to her and mentioned that I knew what she was talking about. She goes to a Wesleyan church, which I'm sure doesn't teach that you can't eat meat. I told her that God gave that law to the Israelites in Leviticus in order for them to be able to remain clean and be in his presence, but that in Acts it says that Peter had a vision where God told him he could eat meat. I wasn't quite done, but at this point she called her friend Diane over and said "We can eat meat because Peter had a vision" Oops, not quite my point. I attempted to restate why we could and tried to leave out the vision part this time and instead to include something about Christ and his work to make us clean instead of the law. I ended with telling her that basically it's not a sin to eat meat and you can do that as a Christian. She looked relieved and said to me, "I'm so glad, because I was having a really hard time giving up bacon." :) I love it!

Grrr...

My parents have their office upstairs on the second (third?) floor. We have a cool set-up for the most part because it has a balcony that overlooks the living room and makes the whole place feel very spacious. However, I can't stand it when I go upstairs to work on the computer and someone turns on the TV. It's extremely distracting. I'm looking forward to living in a place where the TV isn't watched so religiously.

I can't say that I don't like TV at all. I enjoy an occasional (sp?) movie and I really like Law and Order, but I think that most of the things on TV (minus the Discovery Channel, History Channel, etc--I'm speaking of the major networks, and MTV etc) have a lot of junk on them and aren't worth my time.

I take that back

So, I might have to take back what I said about fake flowers because I've been noticing all of these great looking fake flowers lately. I think the thing that really disappoints me about them is when I go to smell or touch them and realize that they are imposters. As long as I can keep them at a distance and pretend they are real, I can enjoy them.

Bad blogger, no cookie

I haven't been keeping up lately. I have been subbing at WMAAA where my brother goes to school and it is difficult to get up here at the computer. Plus, they don't have computers in their classrooms--a definite bummer. I'm back, though.

Fake vs. real

I was thinking about silk/fake flowers the other day and I don't think I really like them. I know they are good for a lot of things: they don't wilt, they are less expensive over time because you don't have to replace them, people who are allergic to flowers can enjoy them without being bothered. However, I would prefer not to have them in my decorating. I do like dried flowers, though. I have two dried roses in a vase in my room. They have retained their shape and are very pretty.

I guess, I really just like the real thing. Even though the silk ones can look more perfect, there is no replacement for God's good creation in nature.

Big decisions

I have a big decision to make in the next two weeks. I will let you all know more about it after I share it with those who are close to me via phone. Please pray for wisdom and clarity in my ability to make a decision and honor God with it.

Mas Fiestaware

Nate and I received a generous gift of four Fiestaware place settings from his Uncle Greg for our wedding. Kortnie, you will be happy to know that we are joining you in the ranks of multi-colored dishes. We are catching up! He gave us a plum, a persimmon (Nate thinks you pronounce it with the stress on the first syllable, we all think it's on the second), a white, and a seamist (this is Nate's favorite).

Other new and exciting getting married soon stuff includes a leather chair given to us by his parents, a bedroom set given by mine, and my favorite is our new apartment. Well, technically it is his for now because he is on the lease and living there. The apartment is cozy, but very nice. Our window looks out on a fountain in the courtyard (it's my own little Lake Michigan :) ). There is also a pool, some very cool lighting in the living room and dining room, a microwave above the sink and a look over bar counter from the kitchen. Most of all we are just thankful for God's provision of a safe and affordable place to live.

But that is not all, oh no, that is not all (I think that's from a Dr. Seuss book, but I can't remember which one). Nate and I are making sure to work on the most important part of getting married--the preparing to love and serve each other as husband and wife part. In order to help us along, first and foremost, we have been praying. We are also starting to read a book by Bryan Chappell called "Each for the Other" . It is such a good book so far. It has a wonderful way of looking at Biblical headship in marriage and comparing it to Christ's love and service to the church. Biblical headship is so far from the idea of a superior, dominating head of the household who expects everyone to bow down to him, that it's ridiculous. God knew what He was doing when He said what He did through Paul in Ephesians 5. I recommend that you check it out if you are at all confused about what it looks like for the husband to be the head of the family. I hope you can find it because it is out of print, though.