Shattered

I was 13 when Columbine occurred in 1999. I recognized the weight of the situation, especially because I started high school a few years after. But I didn't worry about it. The likelihood of it occurring at my school was slim.

I was a junior in college when Virginia Tech occurred in 2007. Again, I recognized the weight, and signed up for my college's text message system. But I didn't worry about it. What happened at Virginia Tech could never happen at Lindenwood.

But today. Oh, today. Today my heart is broken.

One of the reports I read said that the shooter's mother was a kindergarten teacher. Which leads me to believe that when he shot her, he shot her class. Innocent 5 and 6 year olds. Guys, I teach PRE-Kindergarten. Which means the kids I taught LAST YEAR are the same age as some of those kids. And some of the kids I taught in the 2s are in Kindergarten. When I read that, my heart shattered.  This. Hits. Home.

I cherished the snuggles I got this afternoon from my students. I hope you cherished the snuggles you got from yours.

Sevenly.Org

My girlfriend Kait turned me on to Sevenly this summer. They sell a different shirt each week supporting a different cause. The shirts cost $22 and of that money, $7 is donated to that week's charity. It's a great way to support charities I believe in while getting super cute shirts, and providing a conversation piece.

In June I bought this one supporting Feed My Starving Children. There was a huge effort in Colorado last summer to prepare food packs for children all over the world who live in hunger. I think this was the second shirt they offered after I discovered them.

In July they teamed up with Autism Speaks and I knew I wants a church because I love the charity. And because they matched every donation 200%. Which meant for a $22 shirt, $21 of that went directly to the charity. Oh, and it's my favorite color. ;-) (Yes, that is Paulie under the covers behind me.)

Today, October 5, I bought my third Sevenly shirt. This fulfills my 101 in 10001 goal (#101). Yay! 

The cause this week is breast cancer awareness. Five years ago I could honestly say I knew one person who was affected by this disease. Now I can say I know several. My aunt, my childhood best friend's mother, two women from my church... In fact, one of my best friend's mother died of it last fall. I'm affected now. And so I knew I HAD to buy a shirt. the National Breast Cancer Foundation's mission is to provide life-saving mammograms to women in need. Most types of breast cancer are not only treatable, but curable if they are caught early enough. Help save a life. Buy a shirt!

I obviously don't have a photo of me in the one I ordered today, but here it is on the model:

So, what are you waiting for? Go check out Sevenly and buy a shirt today!

Pinterest Success!

This makes Pinterest project #2, helping to fulfill number 5 of my 101 in 1001.

When I found this pin, I fell in love with the idea. Over the past year I have really gotten into necklaces and earrings and it was getting kind of crowded in my bathroom. Originally all of my necklaces were hung on 3 cup hooks behind my bathroom door. Which made for a lot of tangles in the morning -- annoying. I was desperate for a better idea to store my necklaces in a way that made them easily accessible and viewable.

This is my "pinspiration:"

The frame I used formerly housed a mirror. I unscrewed the back and pulled the mirror out...

...then I began the hunt for chicken wire. I like the squared wire the blogger used in the photo above but I could only buy it by the roll, and there was no way I was going to buy $12 of chicken wire when all I needed was about a square foot. So I drove. And I called. Seriously, I went to Home Depot, True Value, Lowe's, Michaels, Hobby Lobby, and a local farm supply store. At this point I had to go to a dentist appointment, so I called one other place: a local farm co-op. Success! They sold chicken wire by the foot. It took me a week and half to get to the shop, though, but it was worth it: I paid 44 cents for my chicken wire. Suh-weet!

I bought the dowel at Home Depot for 98 cents. So for roughly $1.50 (I already had the frame, and the hooks, and the spray paint I used to paint the dowel black), I had everything I needed. Then it sat. And sat. And sat.

Until today.

Isn't it gorgeous??

An End and a Beginning

...This summer has just FLOWN by, hasn't it? While I am a teacher, I don't get a summer break. (insert sad face here) Instead, we switch over to a sumemr day camp kind of program at school. We are more relaxed about what we do and we go on a field trip every week, plus swim lessons two or three times a week. Seriously, I think the fact that I used to teach at the Y is one ofthe biggest reasons I got this job! Needless to say, of the four days each week I work, I'm only at school all day for one of them. On one hand, it's very nice. On the other hand, it's totally exhausting.

Today was the last day of summer camp. 10 of my kids are starting Kindergarten next week. Sniffle. I get a new crew of kids the week after next. (We're having some remodeling done in some areas of the school -- 2 classrooms and the kitchen, and still will have 7 campers, so we're "transitioning" next week.) It's all very exciting. Sending home things this group of kids doesn't need anymore. Having them help us clean toys and area of the classroom. The owner of my school is on a remodel kick and we recently got shelves put in my office and our art room -- LOVE!

But I have to say good bye to what I think can fairly say is my first group of students -- I started 'em off in August and I'm finishing with 'em now. They've challenged me. They've loved me. They've joked with me. They even started picking up on my sarcasm and using it themselves! They're ready for Kindergarten and I'm ready to see them off. I'm ready to invite the new crew into my classroom and see how they will challenge me.

New school years are just as exciting for the teachers as they are for the kids. Last year's group was so different from this year's group and I can't wait to see what next year's group (who move up in 10 days!) will bring.

Changes are A-comin'

J and I have decided that we're moving to Chicago. He really wants to go back to school and eventually seminary, and has his eyes on Moody. We first discussed where we wanted to go to school in April, when he returned from a trip to Atlanta for a men's conference. He's taken on a lot of "mentor" roles with different people at church and while he originally went to school to become a history teacher, we're both feeling that God is leading him into ministry. So we did some research and Moody Bible Institute was a big one that stuck out in our search. We're going to visit it later in the summer, but I think we've settled on it.

I'm excited but also extremely anxious. We won't be moving August 2013, so it's a while away. But there's still the factor of the unknown. And I'm a planner, so hopefully I don't start overthinking this...

What's funny is I was thisclose to going to school in Chicago. My boyfriend in high school wanted to go to art school there so I started looking into schools up there. Elmhurst was my top pick and I had my paperwork all filled out and a deposit check in the envelope, stamped an ready to mail, when Lindenwood called and offered me a very generous scholarship. A whole lot more than Elmhurst was offering. So I took the offer and went away to school close to home. Which is probably the best decision I ever made -- that high school relationship didn't pan out, and I was able to get to know J and we all know how that ended up. =)

When it came time for me to student teach, J and I made the decision that I wasn't going to work  -- I still had scholarships for school so my room and board was paid for and all I had to worry about was gas -- so he dropped out of the community college and went to work fulltime at the hospital (where he still works). That gesture spoke volumes. We were engaged but wouldn't be married for almost another year, so that kind of commitment really meant a lot to me. Of course, that was always hanging over my head (not because he held it there but because I did), that I had a college degree and he didn't. But even that has worked out. It took him a few years to realize that he didn't want to teach. At first he thought he wanted to go into youth ministry, but over the last several months he's been giving serious thought to pastoral ministry. Hence the search into Christian institutions and thinking about going to seminary.

So I've been doing research: the best areas of the city in which to live (if we decide not to live on campus), how to transfer my teaching certificate to Illinois, grad schools for me. I even found a campus group called Student Wives Fellowship that is a group of women who are married to Moody students or are Moody students themselves. I've emailed for some more insight -- because we all know how much I appreciate insight. Ha.

My Braaaaand Neeeeeew Caaaaar!

Ok, so it's really a brand new to me car but still... Everything was kind of whirlwind, so here's the scoop:

My car was a 2002 Saturn SL that was originally my step father's. I bought it in 2006 after I totaled my 2003 Nissan Sentra (which I LOVED). SO I had it for six years and that little car just kept on trucking. Aside from an issue I had with the starter (when I took it in to replace it, first they put the old broken one back on, then they got a faulty one in there, then they clipped a wire... FINALLY the owner of the shop put in a BRAND NEW one and it's been fine ever since...), it's been a great little car. J is on his third car since I bought this one, and it was the car we took on all of our big journeys (so that I could also drive since I still don't know how to drive a stick shift), so it's been to Chicago, Memphis, Kansas City, and Branson. But.

My registration expires in October and to be honest I knew we were getting to a point where within the next couple of years we would be putting more money into her than she was worth. So we knew we'd be replacing her. Which meant another car payment -- not something I was looking forward to, considering we bought J's car last summer so we have 4 years of payments left on it. (We would be more than halfway through a car loan, but since his Sentra was totaled in Colorado last summer, we had to buy another one.)  But that's just what happens, you know?

But then the hail happened and the director of my school's car was deemed a total loss -- even though it was mechanically unharmed. All the damage was cosmetic. So they bought out her loan and she decided to sell the car and use that money, plus the extra money from her insurance check, as a down payment on a new (to her) car. So we got to talking and a few weeks later after I sold my car I bought hers!  Here is a picture of her:

Isn't she gorgeous? I'm excited that one of the "big" things on my 101 in 1001 list is checked off.