06.20.12

I was sitting in the parking lot of the thrift store eating my lunch from Chick-fil-A when this little guy decided to come say hello. He hung out with me for a good twenty minutes and was still on the windshield when I went inside.

I have a lot weighing on me right now and this new friend was a nice break from everything. He gave me a reason to smile, stop and text Nate and take my mind off things for a few minutes.

When I came back to the car he was gone, but I'm glad we had the time we did together. :)

06.19.12

I haven't posted in a VERY long time, but I thought I would start back since school is out and I have some more time on my hands. I've decided to go with a new format for each post - a picture from each day and a post to go with the picture.

I've recently started decorating our house, which has been a ton of fun. And it's been really nice to finally have somewhere that feels like home, somewhere to make OURS. We've moved around A LOT the past couple of years and haven't been able to plant our roots anywhere.

I went thrifting yesterday, which is one of my favorite ways to spend the afternoon. And I found a couple things for the house. Along with a pretty awesome shirt. One of the things I found was this pitcher, which has initials carved in the bottom, which makes me think it was handmade. We have this huge bookshelf from IKEA that is a pretty huge disaster zone right now and it looks perfect on one of the shelves. And it is slowly turning into something we can stand to look at every day.

It's the little things that make a house a home.

packing boxes!

Hey guys! Life has been extremely crazy and I've kind of fallen off the blogosphere. I've missed y'all! I just wanted to update everyone and let you know what's been going on with us lately.

I've been working hard at school. And Nate's studying hard and working hard. He took a test the weekend before last to get certified in Business Analysis and passed on the first try which was super exciting! He had put so much time preparing for it and put so much energy into it, so I'm super proud of him for passing.

We're also getting ready to drop off our Operation Christmas Child boxes. I haven't been blogging about this as much as I've wanted because things have been so busy, but we're almost ready to drop everything off now! Our goal was 50 boxes originally. Due to some changes we made in our budget, we ended up cutting our goal back to 25, which we met! We had a lot of help from our family and friends and have managed to exceed that goal! My parents helped us purchase a TON of things to put in the boxes. And our AWESOME friends Ben and Heather contributed two more boxes. And then Nate's mom and sisters filled ELEVEN more boxes. The wonderful Laura and her husband over at unpunctuated life. are also filling boxes for OCC. So even though we had to cut our goal in half this year, we still ended up almost reaching fifty with the help of everyone who joined in the cause! And it was so great to work together with everyone and see everyone help out in their own special way! :)

 

Here I am filling boxes.

And here's the assembly line Nate made!

And here is Chloe "helping out." Really, she's inspecting what's going in the boxes to see what she can sneak back into her crate.

This has been such a great experience and we've learned a lot. We definitely want to do it again and we know much more about how to do things better and more effectively next year. We're really excited about dropping off the boxes so they can make their way off to the children!

I'm going to try and start posting some more. And hopefully I can get another "Thrifting Thursday" post up again this week because I found something AWESOME I want to share with y'all. Hope everything is going well with everyone! Miss you guys!

fill in the blank friday - FOUR!

So, it's 'fill in the blank friday!' But first, here are some sneaky pictures I took of Nate after one of our nightly tennis games this week at our apartment's court. After we play, while I'm cooling down he likes to do all sorts of tricks with the balls. And while he wasn't looking, I snapped some shots of him playing. ;)

That's my hubs! And now for filling in the blanks...

                 

1.   My favorite color is       green. Not lime green. Not dark green. I'm talking full on bright, happy GREEN.

2.  My travel destination of choice is    small towns with character. Whether on the coast or in the mountains, I just love going somewhere cozy where the people are friendly and where I can find things I wouldn't find anywhere else. I also think these places are where you can truly experience the culture of an area.

3.  My favorite  food is    pineapple and pepperoni pizza. Specifically, from Bellacino's.

4.  My happy place is   the bathtub. I know a lot of people think baths are gross and unsanitary. But there is nothing I love more than a long, hot bubblebath.

5.  My favorite saying is      "Worrying does not take away tomorrow's troubles; it takes away today's peace." I get very anxious about things and I need this reminder daily.

6.  My dirty little secret is  that I don't buy ribbed takes made for women. All my tanks/undershirts are Hanes and come from the mens department in WalMart.

7.  Something friends might say about me is that I    am really bad about calling people back, probably! I am the biggest flake when it comes to that. I try SO hard and then I always end up forgetting.

If you want to join up, go here to 'the little things we do' and follow the instructions. And have fun! :)

big and messy!

So. I just have to share this burger that Nate had for dinner tonight. It was gi-freaking-NORMOUS. I didn't get to snap the picture until after he had already snatched it up and had a bite. But it was called 'The BIG and MESSY' and it came with a GIANT knife stabbed in it. And he ate the whole thing.

After that dinner, we definitely had to go play a game of tennis to even attempt to counteract the bajillion calories that was in it. But, oh, it was worth it! Let me just say that those onion strings were AMAZING. And I was not at all sad about going to play tennis since we hadn't played in at least a month and a half because of Nate's back problems.

Speaking of his back, I guess I need to update y'all on the issue. He went to the doctor this past Tuesday and for now - NO SURGERY! Thank God! The disc seems to have healed itself for now; he has just taken quite a few layers off it as this isn't the first time it has been herniated. The doctor wants him to come in and get steroid shots every few months for the pain. And he's going in sometime soon for an MRI to get everything checked out. The doctor also said the reason Nate was having so much pain in his leg was that when he hurt his back so badly there were chemicals in his body leaked onto his nerve, which caused a good bit of damage. They can go in and clip the damaged nerve, but we're not taking that route right now. Maybe in the future if we need to, but we're going to see how things go now that he has a good doctor and some sort of plan.

So thanks again for all of your kind words and thoughts and prayers! It means a lot to both of us! And we're very glad to know what's going on now.

ALSO. I just entered this INCREDIBLE giveaway on Rose à la Mode's blog. She is giving away, not one, but TWO pairs of Hunter boots (one for you and one for a friend!) to celebrate her one year blogiversary! So you should totally stop by her site and check out the giveaway! You should also check out her blog because she has awesome style and can show you how to be creative and look great without totally draining your bank account. :)

We would love to return the favor. So please leave a comment and let us know anything we can say a prayer about for you!

i carried a watermelon.

So, how was your Fourth of July weekend? What did you do that was special?

Nate and I had some craziness; but overall, ours was pretty good.

On Thursday night, Nate and I were on the way to get dinner and run some errands when we experienced some pretty serious car troubles. We had to call our friends, Ryan and Steph, who were AMAZING and came all the way to the mechanic's to pick us up. But it was a blessing in disguise because we got to go to dinner with them when we hadn't seen them in at least a month. :)

On Friday Nate got a call from one of the guys at the shop. Me, being the GENIUS that I am, locked the car using the security system and didn't leave the key FOB with the key. So of course, when they tried to get into the car they couldn't. So Nate had to come all the way back home to get the rest of the keys and take them over to the shop.

After that trip, we went to our new favorite spot - JASON'S DELI!

Nate is in LOVE with their salad bar.

And I am absolutely addicted to their Chicago Club.

smoked turkey, bacon, provolone, organic spinach, roma tomatoes, smoked red pepper cilantro aioli, herb focaccia. <3

Pretty yummy.

We went down to Columbia this weekend to see the family.

On Saturday morning, Nate and I shared a watermelon that was quite delicious.

chloe jumped in my picture.

nate loves his knives.

After our tasty breakfast, we spent the day with Nate's family. We went shopping with his sisters. He actually came too! I got a pair of silver sandals from Payless for only $6 and a pair of nude flats from Target for $12. Which was SUPER exciting because I love love LOVE shoes, but don't like to pay a lot of money for them. And you just can't find shoes as cheap as you can find clothes.

We were supposed to go to my grandma's house with my parents for dinner on Saturday night, but her power went out, so we all met and went out somewhere instead. After dinner we got to go by my parents' house and look inside! They're doing a ton of renovations and aren't living there right now and we didn't think we'd be able to go in because the hardwoods had just been redone. But we did - and it looks great! I can't wait to see the finished product! :)

On Sunday we went to church and lunch with Nate's family. His sister, Jen, and her husband brought their little girl over so we could give her the birthday present we got her. We had to miss her third birthday party because it was the day Nate's back went out and we had to rush to urgent care. :(

Being the teacher that I am, I have to get her a book every year. This year was Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss. And we just happened to find a floor puzzle to go with it on clearance!

opening her gift!

working on her puzzle with aunt "smeshmie"

all done!

We also had a belated birthday celebration for Nate. And his mom baked his absolute favorite. Carrot cake. It was AMAZING.

After all of that, we packed up all our things, loaded up the dogs, and headed to my grandma's house for our second try at dinner. Everything worked out and she fixed a wonderful meal consisting of roast, string beans, squash casserole, homemade rolls, tomatoes, and quite a few other things. And for dessert?

homemade cherry cobbler!

We came home Sunday night and spent our Fourth pretty low key. We had some stuff to figure out regarding the car situation and we were exhausted from our long weekend with the family so we ended up heading to a small farmer's market and getting a ton of fresh, local fruits and vegetables and then finishing up our grocery shopping, fixing dinner and eating together and spending a relaxing night watching Cosby reruns.

But we had a great weekend full of family, friends and celebration. We had watermelon, ice cream, cake and cobbler. We got to worship freely in a church of our choosing. I'd say we had the perfect celebration of our Independence Day. :)

chloe says bye! :)

gettin' crafty.

I am NOT a crafty person. I love art, fashion, interior design. But I don't do crafts.

BUT we did get the dogs a new food and water holder the other weekend at the farmers market.

And I actually decorated it for the puppies!

And that, my friends, is probably pretty close to the extent of my craftiness.

Before I take off, I would like to say CONGRATULATIONS! to Heather and Ben, wonderful friends of ours. They just recently got engaged. And we are SUPER happy for them. :)

That's all.

our new favorite show.

So, I know this is my third time posting for the day. But I HAVE to share this video.

Nate and I have recently rediscovered The Cosby Show on Netflix. We don't have cable because it is just SO expensive so we watch a lot of reruns on the internet. Plus, let's face it, a lot of television these days really is lacking in quality. That isn't to say I don't enjoy my reality TV. Because I do. But anyway, we were watching this episode tonight, and the last few minutes were HILARIOUS. And Rudy is so stinkin' cute!

So start watching at 1:25. And enjoy! :)

little successes!

Normally when I try a new recipe I pair it with something I know I'm not going to screw up.

But tonight I got brave and made, not one, but TWO new things.

(sorry the picture is so unappetizing. i took it with my iPod touch.)

Balsamic chicken with mozzarella and roasted tomatoes. And orzo with parmesan and basil.

The chicken didn't come out quite like I wanted, but I'm pretty happy with the end result. And I know what to do differently next time. Nate ate it and he's taking the leftovers to work tomorrow. And I actually loved the pasta. Definitely making that again. And it took me FORTY minutes total to make it all.

So yep. That's all! Just wanted to share because I was pretty excited!

surprise.

Check out the trust30 challenge here. I'm on day thirteen and it's been a pretty enlightening experience.

I will not hide my tastes or aversions. I will so trust that what is deep is holy, if we follow the truth, it will bring us out safe at last. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Think of a time when you didn’t think you were capable of doing something, but then surprised yourself.  How will you surprise yourself this week?

(Author: Ashley Ambirge)

This one isn't going to be very interesting. Or seem major. But I think it might be for me. May actually be life-changing. We'll see how it goes. I'm going to surprise myself this week by getting up and working out before I go to work this week.

I'll let you know how it goes.

On another note, our eldest (Abigail) has apparently inherited my OCD. She tore up "Lobster" and this is how we found his legs:

Now it is time to finish lesson planning. The theme is ice cream this week! And go to the grocery store. And iron clothes for the week. 

How will YOU surprise yourself this week?

wait for it...

Nate and I started the day off with a giant greasy breakfast at Hardees that was in no way good for us but it was SO GOOD.

Then we headed to the flea market and antique mall where I found a pair of Tiffany blue lamps that I thought were gorgeous but couldn't get because:
     1. We don't have a house in which to put them.
     2. Apparently mine and Nate's tastes do not agree, because he thought they were hideous.
     3. They weren't in our budget for this week anyway.
So, c'est la vie! Right? I DID manage to find a lampshade for the lamp we have that's been missing one for AGES. Anyone who has visited our apartment knows exactly what I'm talking about. So anyway. Here it is!

After leaving the flea market, we headed over to the farmer's market. For the first time since we've been up here. And we've been up here over a year now. Which is pretty crazy. We'll definitely be making the trip more often now that we've finally found it and made it out.

I found some heirloom tomatoes and was SUPER excited. And the woman who was running the booth had one sliced so I actually got to try it. I had been wanting to for a long time now. And OMG. It was DELICIOUS. I normally can't eat tomatoes by themselves, but I could definitely eat these with nothing else. And I love how unique they all look.

So what did we bring home from the farmer's market?

We got red, yellow and green bell peppers. And some romaine lettuce. And we'll be getting much more the next time around!

We also got a handmade food and water holder for Abs and Chlo. I'm going to paint it for them, so I'll post another picture once I've finished it. I'm going to try and work on it tomorrow if we don't have too much else going on.

And we ended the day with TACOOOOOOO NIIIIIIIIIIIGHT! Then took the puppies for a ride in the car to look at houses. And now we're about to curl up on the couch and watch The Cosby Show on Netflix.

So pretty much. In the words of Barney Stinson, today was legendary.

a good day. :)

Today was a good day. :)

I made it through my first week as a real live teacher alive and with no injuries. There were some crazy times, but nothing can beat the hugs and having the children hold up their work, beaming, saying "Miss Stephanie! Look at what I did!" It's a tiring job but it's worth every ounce of energy spent. And there is nothing in me that wishes I had chosen to do something else with my life.

Nate and I had a Mexican night tonight! Fajitas for two! Which is more like fajitas for about six - SO. MUCH. FOOD.

After dinner, we took the dogs for a walk down to the dock at our apartments. The weather was perfect. And there was nobody down there but us. It was so nice to have some time to relax together. :)

beautiful view from the dock.

watching the boats.

abby LOVES her daddy.

:)

her favorite place to be.

And here is a wonderful video of what happens when you try to get Chloe to do a trick.

Absolutely nothing.

 Most people say she's stupid. I prefer to say she does things on her own terms.

Anyway. Now it's 8:00 and we have the rest of the night ahead of us (and I have a four day weekend ahead of me). And it has been a good day. We are definitely blessed :)

Oh, I almost forgot. Nate just reminded me. We went to Carowinds yesterday for the bajillionth time so far this year and rode the Intimidator. And Nate took his iPod ON THE ROLLERCOASTER and took video. So here it is. In case you can't tell from the video, my anxiety level was through the roof because I thought he was going to drop it. I was seriously having a panic attack. I'm glad we have the video now, though. So yeah. Here it is. Enjoy. :)

I'll try to get to work on my trust30 post later on tonight. If not, it'll be posted in the morning.

What is something you've been blessed with today?

come alive.

This trust30 prompt was a tough one.

Life wastes itself while we are preparing to live. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

If you had one week left to live, would you still be doing what you’re doing now? In what areas of your life are you preparing to live? Take them off your To Do list and add them to a To Stop list. Resolve to only do what makes you come alive.

Bonus: How can your goals improve the present and not keep you in a perpetual “always something better” spiral?

(Author: Jonathan Mead)

I don't think I put myself out there enough. I think I have big plans for that, but I'm constantly telling myself that I'll do better tomorrow. I just need more motivation, more confidence, more time. But I guess the thing is, I'm really not guaranteed that time - am I?

I'm a big to-do lister. Just ask Nate. I make list after list after list. I'll add things I want to do and I honestly plan on doing with every good intention. But most of the time, they never get done.

I think that in order to truly put myself out there, to truly get things done and make a difference, to truly LIVE I need to start putting those things that are hardest for me and that I know deep down at the end of the day aren't going to have a line through them at the top of my list. And I need to force myself to complete those things before I even touch anything else. Because once I've faced what I think can't be faced, it becomes just a little bit easier and I can begin to live just a little bit more each day.

I have to thank Nate, in part, for these revelations. He's been placing some of these ideas in my head bit by bit for awhile now. ;)


And as always, I open the topic up to the readers. Any ideas on this topic?

today.

Today's Prompt for the Trust30 challenge:

Your genuine action will explain itself, and will explain your other genuine actions. Your conformity explains nothing. The force of character is cumulative. – Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-Reliance

If ‘the voyage of the best ship is a zigzag line of a hundred tacks,’ then it is more genuine to be present today than to recount yesterdays. How would you describe today using only one sentence? Tell today’s sentence to one other person. Repeat each day.

(Author: Liz Danzico)

Well this is going to be a quick one.

Today pushed me just a little bit farther outside my comfort zone - as a teacher, as a wife, as a runner, as a Christian - and it wasn't easy, but now that it's over it feels good.

How would you describe your day in one sentence?

yummy yummy in my tummy!

I'm only working one job now and my life is once again manageable, so I've been able to start cooking dinner again. And I found this chicken recipe the other day that Nate and I both absolutely LOVE. So I thought I would share it with y'all. Let me know if you try it and what you think! And please be honest! My feelings won't be hurt if you hate it - I promise!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 3/4 cup dry bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 8 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - pounded thin

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat, and cook the garlic until tender, about 5 minutes.
3. In a shallow bowl, mix the bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, Cheddar cheese, parsley, oregano, pepper, and salt.
4. Dip each chicken breast in the garlic butter to coat, then press into the bread crumb mixture. Arrange the coated chicken breasts in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Drizzle with any remaining butter and top with any remaining bread crumb mixture.
5. Bake 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.

Anyway...enjoy! :)

baby steps.

Since I haven't been blogging like I should lately, I figured I would ease back into this with truth number seven.

6.  Someone who has made your life worth living.
So my answer for this one is probably pretty obvious. But I'm not going to try to make up something original just to be different. It's not worth it. And it also wouldn't be true.  In the past six years Nate has been a part of my life, I have been able to make some big decisions and some drastic changes. And they probably wouldn't have happened if he wasn't there to encourage and support me.  He helps me get through the darkest days, and he is the person with whom I get to share the brightest moments. He isn't my reason for living, but he definitely makes my life worth living. And I wouldn't want to share it with anyone else.

And now I am going to go attempt doing some laundry. Because after spending two whole days moving from the couch to the bed to the couch to the bed gets old after awhile. Once I'm over this sickness and have more energy I'll be back.

Who makes your life worth living?

bring on the rain!

So I know I've been AWOL for about a month now. And I am going to work on that. But not tonight. Tonight I am going to catch up on all the American Idol episodes I've been missing, do laundry and go to sleep earlyyyyy.

But I just had one thing I had to share because I am SUPER excited! Nate surprised me and got me RAIN BOOTS! And I wore them for the first time today!

They're navy and white and make me want to go be a sailor. And that's all for now!

there's no place like home for the holidays.

So this holiday season has been pretty wonderful.

Nate and I have been blessed with his new job. We discovered that we're a little over a month away from paying off another student loan, meaning there will only be ONE left. I got to spend extra time with my three amazing kids the week before Christmas. Nate and I got to spend three days in Columbia with the family. We got to see parents and siblings and aunts and uncles and cousins and grandparents. We were blessed enough to be able to afford to give gifts and cards to everyone. We enjoyed a lot of good food and good times with family. It even snowed in COLUMBIA the day after Christmas - and the snow stuck!

Now I am taking my day off to recover from the past weekend and get everything in the apartment back in order.

And I figured I'd move on to truth number six since it's been awhile...

6. Something you hope you never have to do.
I hope I never have to move somewhere north of the Mason Dixon Line. I HATE cold weather.

Chloe, on the other hand, LOVES it. Abby? Not so much. Last year, Abby was the one running through the snow and playing in it while I had to hold Chloe just to keep her warm. This year was the exact opposite.

Now it is time for me to do some more housework and get some running in before the hubby gets home. I will leave you with some pretty insightful words that were on Dave Ramsey's Facebook today:

"Not until the pain of the same is greater than the pain of change will you embrace change."

What words of wisdom have had a great impact on your decision making and how you live your life?

Also, I got a Barnes and Noble nook for Christmas. So if anyone else has one, let me know! I want to figure out this whole book sharing thing.

migraine update.

So I figured I'd give a little update on the migraine situation. And after this weekend I'll get to posting about everything else that has been going on.

I went back to the neurologist a few weeks ago for a follow-up appointment. The blood pressure medicine I was on was not helping my migraines at all really. And I was having to use my nasal spray way too often because I was still getting sick so often.

Sooooooooo...he gave me something called Amitriptyline (brand name: Elavil) to try instead. It's an anti-anxiety medicine, so we figured it would help with my anxiety/stress related headaches and help to relieve all the tension I have in my neck and shoulders from stress. It also makes you very drowsy so we also figured it would help me get more than 4 hours of sleep tonight, which was another major reason for the migraines. (I'm also taking melatonin nightly for the sleep issue.) I've been on it for 3 1/2 weeks now and it has been AMAZING. I'm down to one headache a week. I also don't have any pain in my shoulders or neck anymore. I used to clench my jaw (which was doing very bad things to my teeth) because of stress/anxiety and that has stopped. Plus, I've slept all the way through every single night since I've been on this and the melatonin.

I'm pretty sure I've finally found something that really, truly helps. Along with no longer drinking caffiene. My body feels better. I feel more awake. I sleep normal hours. I have energy throughout the day. I'm learning how to better manage the headaches I do have and not let my migraines dictate my life and keep me from doing things I want and need to do.

If any of y'all suffer from migraines as well and haven't gone to see a neurologist (or migraine specialist, if you can find one) I highly recommend that you do so. There is no reason for you to have these headaches keep you from living your life. None at all.

playing catch up!

So last weekend ended up being GREAT.

We couldn't go visit the family because I thought I was going to have a crazy work schedule. But then my therapy session on Saturday morning was cancelled, so Nate and I got to make a road trip up to a corn maze and spend the day together. It was our first time going to one and was a ton of fun!

Then, I got a random phone call from a school I had interviewed at like 3 months ago. They had needed a teaching assistant and I was one of the top three candidates, but they ended up going with someone else. She had to leave the position, though, so they called me in for another interview. I went back in and the next day they called and offered me the job. So I started last week and I have now been working there for a week and a half! This job has been such a blessing and answer to prayer. And I love it! So thanks to all of you who were praying. It means a lot.

This past week and a half has been pretty crazy. Between the new job and my job doing ABA and driving to Columbia and working on weekends and trying to visit the family I've barely had time to stop and breathe. On top of all that, Nate has had a lot going on with work. He has been super busy and it's been very crazy. We have barely had time for each other, much less for family and friends. So if y'all want to be praying for that, we'd GREATLY appreciate it.

We did get to spend the weekend in Columbia this past weekend, though. And we got to see family members we hadn't seen since Mother's Day. Which was nice. And even though we couldn't be with my mom on her birthday, we did get to come down for the celebration with the family. It was a weekend jam-packed full of things to do, but getting to spend time with everyone was completely worth it. We really hate that we can't spend as much time as we want with all of our family. But we definitely try our hardest and have learned to treasure every moment we get with them.

And on that note, here are some pictures from our weekend in Columbia!

The most adorable pirate EVER.

Me, Nate, Jenny, Matt and Alexa on the hayride!

Nate and me with Alexa!

Nate made me play basketball.

I love this little girl! :)

My mom and me at her birthday celebration! :)

Blowing out her candles! :)

Chloe hanging out at her grandparents' house!

And the end of our trip...Abby was READY to be back home and sleep in her own bed!

And now I will end with truth number five.

5. Something you hope to do in your life.

There are a lot of things I want to do in life. And it's really hard to pick just one. But I think one of the biggest for me is that I hope to be able to make as much of a difference in the lives of the children I work with as they make in my life. No matter what each child is like, each one of them teaches me something. The ones who are slow to learn teach me patience. The ones who are full of compassion teach me how important it is to care for others and always be willing to lend a helping hand. The ones who are dismissed by others because they might be aggressive or say mean things teach me to look deeper because there is usually a bigger issue there. These children brighten my day when I'm feeling crappy - whether it's through a hug or a smile or an "I love you Miss Stephanie." And I hope and pray everyday that I can be the teacher, guide, helper, friend, advocate, comforter... that they need me to be. It really is amazing how you start off wanting to teach and then you realize how much you are really learning.

What do YOU hope to do in life?