1/2 Marathon Running Schedule

Monday-rest
Tuesday-rest
Wed-rest
Thurs-4
Friday-7
Saturday-9
Sunday-rest

the End is here!!

Found out this week that I will be finished with my Master's this August! This has been a long road, but my friends....the tunnel is in sight, the finish line is in my gaze, I will be FINISHED!!!

Vintage Cereal

Went to Target today to get the clearance on Valentine's candy for school and found these! Vintage cereal! They look just like the boxes from my childhood! Just thought they were really cool.

Good post on coaching and encouraging

Read this post today over at The Preacher's Wife. Knowing when to coach/encourage my husband has been such a battle. Sometimes after PRIME on Wednesdays I think of things to say that is constructive.....but is this the best time? I found out the hard way that after services usually isn't the best time! I think Holly gives some good advice on when to encourage and when to coach. Go check it out.

Speaking of coaching....here's a pic of Brett's all time favorite coach...Coach K. over at Duke. Brett says he likes him because he's a motivator, a teacher, an "Inspirerer..." Sounds like someone I can learn from....

What do you think? Is this a battle for you too? Do you find yourself coaching...or do you take a different approach?

Promethean Board

So this is the latest technology that every classroom in our school got thanks to a grant that helps Title 1 schools! (Actually we've had them about a year!) This is a promethean board...very similar to smartboards but they are loaded with millions of teacher resources, flipcharts, activotes, etc... Here is a pic of my students working on finding circumference and keying in their answers on the activotes! I love anything that makes learning more fun....trust me having this piece of technology in the classroom makes it lots of fun! My kids beg to do math with the activotes! Just thought some of you might be interested to see what the 21st century public school classroom has to offer!

online book club at across the hall

So I'm leading my first online book club at http://www.acrossthehallteachers.com. We are going through Kylene Beers, "When Kids Can't Read." I don't know why but I'm a little nervous.....I've led studies before but never online. There have been quite a few takers from work that are going to join us.

Any advice from people who are experienced with online book clubs? Good things to do...not good things to do?

Grammy Review

Got to catch a few min. of the Grammy's last week. Favorite performances....Chris Martin with Jay-Z....T.I. with Justin Timberlake. Not a huge fan of rap music.....but there's something about mixing it with performers like Chris Martin and J.T. and it's got an awesome beat/sound to it.
However, of all the performances I think I was amazed by M.I.A. the most! She was due on the night of the Grammy's.....reports said she was feeling contractions during the performance!! At first I thought, "That's just crazy!" But then I thought...if I were asked to perform at the Grammy's maybe I would consider performing at 9 months pregnant too!


Never been pregnant before....I'm wondering....do you think you could have performed at the Grammy's at 9 months?

John Mayer - Free Fallin' (Where The Light Is)

Right now I am listening to John Mayer and doing some work for grad school. Can I just say I would love to see him in concert!!! Problem is everytime I go to his site to see when he is touring...he ISN'T!! I can honestly say that I play his music all the time! On the weekends one of my favorite things to do is to open the back door (so sun shines through), read, and listen to some John Mayer. I especially loved that 12stone worship this morning included a John Mayer song! Doesn't get any better than that!

So if you hear of Mayer coming to town...let me know! Until then I guess this will just have to do! This is my favorite Mayer remake. (sometimes you have to click on it twice to get it to play).

Starbucks or Waffle House?

Read an interesting article today in Relevant Magazine titled, Starbucks or Waffle House?
A little lengthy...but I thought it was worth a post...Check it out:
Starbucks or Waffle House?-by Courtney Jones
In my Sunday service adventures, I've come across two types of churches: in my mind, I classify them as Starbucks and Waffle House. Starbucks churches are really chic. They've got all new sound equipment, a rockin'band, awesome praise and worship, and relevant teaching. No dress code is required, although most dress for success at this type of church. That may include the latest thrift store find and a new pair of Puma shoes, or it could be as dressy as suits and ties. It seems everyone has a fashion sense.

I love my Starbucks churches. Portrayed on the wall without fail are the words for the music on three huge screens and some nifty graphic background that pertains to the song. They always pass out a really cool, shiny bulletin, which is filled with upcoming mission trips, home groups and fun stuff to do. Some even have coffee bars. The church in itself appeals to all five senses.

Then you've got your Waffle House churches. These are naturally set in the country and often, it takes an hour to get there from any major freeway. Complete with a steeple (I almost forgot what those were!) and pews, you've always got your staple hymnal book to accompany the worship time. This worship time may consist of one piano player and a singer, or maybe just a singer and a tape deck.

The sermon is usually more to the point with the occasional country dialect and straightforward delivery. Someone may even talk about their weekend fishing trip to humor the congregation. There is always an altar call. The preacher will talk until he gets through. What's lunch? This is God's time. When God's ready to let you eat, He will let the preacher know.

I attended a Waffle House church today. You know what? It was humbling. Sometimes you just need the coffee and without all the foam.

I'm not stating that one church is better than the other. Personally, I like my Starbucks church. But, I think it's good to experience a different service every once and a while. I felt like I was in a different country. I was so blessed by the preacher's message. He was so on fire. I was blessed by the people who took turns getting on stage to sing their hearts out to God—and how communal it was; how simple and pure.

I know that God has no preference as long as we are concentrating on Him. We are all His children. I know that the delivery of Gospel has evolved for the upcoming generation, and I believe that's necessary.

It's still coffee. It's still fresh. It's just packaged differently.

My thoughts:
I am not ashamed one bit to admit that as a child I grew up in a quote, "Waffle House Church." I am also not ashamed to say that the church we serve at now is very "Starbucks." I grew up in a very tiny town....very country, but it was in this "Waffle House" church that God began a good work within me. I loved the Sunday school teachers who poured their lives into me and the choir who would sing Brooklyn Tabernacle songs as hard as they could. Has God grown me up and changed my view of culture and who He is since this time? Absolutely. Do I love my "Starbucks"? Absolutely. Would I take back any of the people, preaching, and singing from my "Waffle House"? Never.

Good article.

Veronica Mars commercial proposal

Saw this today.... He tried to buy a superbowl ad but didn't raise enough so he got a commercial and aired it during her favorite show. Thought this was so creative. Reminded me of B.....his proposal so sweet and creative. I love, love, love her reaction:)

1/2 Marathon training week 7

Week 7-1/2 Marathon Training

Tuesday-6 miles
Wed-Rest
Thursday-4 miles
Friday-Rest
Saturday-6 miles
Sunday-2 miles

Candida-Can I do it?

Starting a candida diet this week. Not doing it to lose weight...but hopefully to gain some energy back. I have done a good bit of research on this lately. Basically candida lives in our bodies and can kind of take over at times causing different infections and causing us to be super tired. Since I have dealt with both of these a good bit lately, I am doing the diet for at least 4 weeks to see if it helps. Although...I am thinking this is going to be hard. There is literally NO Sugar in it! I can have blueberries, strawberries, and green apples because they are the lowest in natural sugars...but that's it! I'm thinking the first two days could be kind of rough. I think it will be good though...I have already planned my meals for the week. Here's tomorrow:

Breakfast
organic plain oatmeal with blueberries, strawberries, and walnuts

snack-walnuts

lunch-spinach/strawberry salad and chicken with apple cider vinegar and E.V.O.O dressing

dinner-same as lunch (got to on the go b/c I have class from 6-10)

I'll post some meals and keep the diet updated.

Aquaterra

B. and I had date night tonight and had a gift card to Aquaterra, one of our most favorite restaurants. I've never gotten to eat downstairs though...until tonight! It was great food as always, but I loved the decor and strung lights....very romantic! Very cool restaurant if you live near Buford! Here's a pic of the downstairs area.

"The box" -just unheard of

Alright.....let me just get it out there...I am not a great cook. I try and do alright but let me confess...I do things out of "the box." For many this may seem completely normal, but let me give you a glimpse into my childhood: Mom is a caterer, grandmother cooks for the high school football team every game night, both of them would cook dinner for any and every social thing I ever went to, and the thought of making anything from "the box" was a deadly sin...just not heard of. I had never had mac and cheese from the box until I went o college and a friend introduced me! My mom used to get up early and make homemade biscuits for my class just because they all requested them so much. "The box" was just not used....I never had anything...I mean ANYTHING from "the box" and yet here I am: married, trying to cook, and all I can seem to understand and figure out is "the box." However, the other night we had small group over and I made my grandmother's (Mama June's) homemade pound cake. I was so proud. Mama June used to make one of these every week. I didn't use "the box" for this and it was just so pretty I had to take a picture...best part is...it tasted just like hers! so yummy! One more thing...there is a pound of butter in this thing people! A POUND!!! Can you tell I'm from Georgia? Anyways, here it is.

How about you? Are you "box" people like me? or homemade all the way?

New Service at 12Stone

12stone goes to 3 services at Hwy. 20 and Hamilton Mill! Hwy. 20 at 9,11, and 1pm....Ham. Mill at 9, 11, and 6pm. It's going to be a great day! I'll be at the 9am in Cornerstone Theatre with the Middle School and 11am Main service...can't wait!

Haute Heads

Got my hair cut today after school. Love it! I've been contemplating chopping it all off and I finally got the guts to do it. I do this every year.....grow it out, get the guts to chop it off, grow it out, get the guts to chop it off, etc....you get the point. I went to a new salon today...much closer to our home and I LOVE it! It's called "Haute Heads."

Small Groups-a necessity

Brett and I started a new small group. Our first session was this past Tuesday. I think my favorite part of small groups is obviously...the community. I love, love, love hearing people's testimonies and their journeys of how they got to where they are in their relationship with Christ. I don't know if every person is this way but I know that this kind of community is a necessity in my life.

Anyone else love small group? What's your favorite part?

Beach Day Celebration

Today we had our persuasive writing celebration. This was an interesting one. The kids are sick of staying inside of recess because of the freezing cold weather we've had so we all decided to bring the warm weather to us! Here are some pics on our Beach Day Writing Celebration (in February!). We had a lot of fun...A friend of mine brought some Hawaiian shirts for us to wear. Also, as you can see I had some ice cream! Gotta love Chocolate!

1/2 Marathon training week 6

Monday-4 miles
Tuesday-Rest
Wednesday-Rest
Thursday-6 miles
Friday-Rest
Saturday-7 miles

1/2 Marathon training Week 6...past two weeks were tough. Hope this one will be a little easier.

volunteers in las montanas

Had our volunteer retreat this weekend. It was such a great time with such wonderful people. Here's a pic. of where we were. It was so beautiful.