What a Day

Yesterday, I had the great privilege of hanging out with my good friends; Alex, Reagan, Jordan, and Meagan. I've mentioned before how much fun these kids are and yesterday did not disappoint.

We started out kind of early and headed to Grapevine to see ICE! at the Gaylord Texan Hotel. After much discussion the kids agreed that they felt more comfortable calling the hotel the Happy Lord. They referred to it this way most of the day. Here they are in front of the Happy Lord Hotel:

I think the highlight of the day for Alex and Reagan was the door:

Once we got inside we had some fun exploring the big atrium. It reminds me of the River Walk in San Antonio, except cleaner and a lot less humid. We made our way to ICE! and the kids were starting to get nervous about how cold it was going to be. Not to worry my friends, you get a really cool gold knee-length parka to wear:

The highlight of ICE! was getting to go down the slide! I was amazed at how patiently the kids waited in line (at least 20 minutes). They found lots of ways to entertain themselves, like seeing who could hold their hand on the ice the longest, or putting their faces behind the ice and laughing at how they looked. Here's a short little video of them sliding and entertaining themselves:

I let the kids decide where we were going to eat lunch and I told them they could go anywhere they wanted. Drumroll, please: their choice was CiCi's. Excellent, because I know right where a CiCi's is in Grapevine! The iPhone led us astray and we had quite the time actually getting there. Our adventure did allow me the opportunity to show the kids one of my favorite places; the airport. I don't know why, but I have always been fascinated by the airport, the kids didn't seem that impressed :).

After a delicious lunch we headed home! It was a very fun day, full of laughs and interesting occurences!

They brought gifts of Jumbo Jacks, Egg Rolls, and Curly Fries

My sister is the keeper of all family traditions. She keeps record of every holiday activity, food, and memory. Every year there is one tradition that is debated for a good couple weeks before Christmas, the Christmas Eve meal.

I honestly can't recall what we did for dinner before Christmas Eve 2000. We always go to church and then come home and we each get to open one present. That year, however, was different. We were going to be flying to California early on Christmas day so "Christmas Day" was going to happen on Christmas Eve. We went to church and in order to give my parents a few minutes to "prepare," Josh, Ashleigh, and I stopped at Jack-In-The-Box to get dinner. And that, my friends, is how a Christmas tradition is born at my house. According to Ashleigh, it just wouldn't be Christmas without our traditional Christmas Eve meal.

So, while families all over the world will gather around the table tonight to enjoy a special meal, we'll be having Jack-In-The-Box. :)

Merry Christmas! I hope yours is filled with fun, family, and many thoughts of the real reason for the season!

Painball...oops, I mean Paintball

Just kidding! I really enjoyed my first ever paintball experience. It was especially great because it was in celebration of one of my favorite kid's birthdays! Happy Birthday, Reagan! I will admit that I was very nervous about what it would feel like to get shot with a paintball and I won't lie to you, it does hurt. The pain did go away quickly though. I didn't run into any wild animals or hunters, but I did have an encounter with some nasty thorns. And, I don't remember that being included in the "Waiver of Liability" paperwork. All in all, it was a very fun experience. Thanks Reagan for having a birthday and letting me play too!

Now, on to some other news. This afternoon I knocked out a huge chunk of my remaining Christmas shopping. There really is nothing like waiting until 4 days until Christmas to get with it. Everything was going great until I decided to go to the mall. Believe me, this is a place that should probably be avoided this time of year.

Anyway, while I was out today I noticed that new tanning salon is opening up on the other side of town. Now, I'm not going to try to act like tanning is bad or anything. I've certainly done my share, but I don't think what I saw today is a good idea.


I don't know if you can tell from the picture, but this place has about 10 tanning beds. The problem, they are all out in the open. I just don't think that's right. I mean, it's one thing to go in a little room and have some privacy, but I can't imagine being comfortable in this situation.

Now, I realize that they probably just haven't built the walls yet, but the thought of this place opening up as is, made me laugh.

Where do I sign?

This Thursday I am going to do something very exciting and kind of scary at the same time. I am going to get to play Paintball for the first time. While I am aware that there is some level of risk associated with being shot with a high-powered ball of paint, I wasn't quite prepared for what I read in the "Release/Waiver of Liability and Assumption of Risk. I found #2 to be particularly eye-opening:

"The Undersigned...is aware of the possibility of risks of injury, including, but not limited to, falling, tripping, being hurt by a wild animal, snake bite, heat stroke, heart attack, hypothermia, getting lost in the wilderness, being shot by hunters, insect bites & stings, poisonous plants, improper use or operation of equipment by the undersigned or any other player and others not following the safety rules. The possibility of permanent disability or death does exist."

Great! Where exactly do I sign my life away?

Ok-seriously, my brother, the lawyer, would tell me not to sign this sort of thing. But, I really am looking forward to the paintball experience! If you haven't heard from me in a couple days be aware that I may have suffered from hypothermia, I may be lost in the wilderness, or (my favorite) I may have been shot by hunters!

Look, Mom!!

We had a guy come to school today with all different kinds of reptiles to show us. He had lots of different snake species, a couple of huge turtles, and even some alligators. All the kids got to "pet" both a giant snake and a little alligator. It was pretty interesting.

Now, for as long as I can remember my Mom has hated snakes. I'm not even talking like just a little bit. If there is a snake on TV, she has to turn her head. I can only imagine what she might do if she were to actually run across one. Since I had the opportunity to get my hands on a snake today I thought it might be funny to give my Mom a special Christmas gift this year. I was going to frame a big picture of me holding the giant snake. I just know she would love it. :) I won't do it now, because she is probably reading this and I don't want to get coal for Christmas! But, I thought the picture turned out funny.


I was actually looking at the camera and smiling, but then the lady shoved the snake's head right at my face, and that is the moment that was captured! It was just a bit frightening!

My iPhone commercial

Have you seen the iPhone commercials where real people tell us why the iPhone has made their life so much better? Everytime I see one, I think to myself, what would I say if I ever had the opportunity to shoot my own commercial? I wouldn't want to admit that for me, one of the best benefits has been that I can check my "home" email from school, or maybe read a few blogs.

Today, however, I feel like the iPhone may have saved Christmas! There are two items that I spent the better part of today searching for. I went to Target, Best Buy, another Target, Toys R' Us, Walmart, and another Best Buy and struck out at all six places. I know that today is Saturday (a busy day for shopping) and I still have 10 days until Christmas so there is a high probability that one of those stores would have my items in stock at some point before the big day. I just don't have the time to check their inventory daily.

I was truly enjoying my adventure of hunting down a highly sought after gift, but I decided I better not take the chance of not ever finding them. So, after my second Best Buy did not have what I was looking for, I went back to the car and ordered the items online from my phone. Normally, I would have just waited until I got home but I didn't want the internet to be out of them either! As if the internet is a store! :) Now, I just get to sit on pins and needles and hope they arrive in time!

Four calling birds

I've never really given much thought to the words of the Christmas classic, The Twelve Days of Christmas. Never before this year anyway. A week ago today, I received a Christmas Tree candle as a gift from a student. My first thought was, Wow - it's early to be getting gifts! Then, the next day, from the same student I received 2 Christmas ornaments. It took me awhile but I finally got it. I was experiencing my very own twelve days of Christmas. The third day was three gift bags, the fourth was four pieces of fudge, the fifth was a $5 Sonic Card, and today I got six bows. It has been very fun to receive a gift each day.

The experience got even better when on Monday another student began their very own daily gift-giving. Monday I received a Starbucks card, Tuesday I got two Dove chocolate bars, Wednesday I received three candy cane pens, and today was the funniest thing ever. I opened up the little package and found four bird ornaments:



Do you get it? It's four calling birds! Well, two of the four calling birds. They're on the telephone. I think this might be one of the best gifts I've ever been given. It obviously doesn't take much to make me happy!

Kids are funny

One of my favorite parts of my job is having conversations with kids. They say the funniest stuff without even realizing it.

Wednesday I was eating lunch in the cafeteria with my class and we were all enjoying our chicken nuggets. I think every single one of my students bought lunch that day. Here are a couple conversations I had at the lunch table:

Me: (speaking to the boy on my left) I need to remember to bring my lunch tomorrow! We are going to have fish sticks. (I do not enjoy the fish sticks, from my own oven or anyone elses).

Boy: Me too! I only like regular fish, the kind without the sticks.

So, I'm not sure what kind of fish sticks he's been eating, but I don't remember the fish sticks I ate as a child actually having sticks in them.


Just a few moments later I had this conversation with the girl sitting on my right:

Girl: Can you write with your left hand?

Me: Sort of. I mean, I can do it, it just doesn't look very good.

Girl: I can write with both hands. I've been practicing a lot with my left hand. I just feel it's important to be able to write with my left hand because you never know when your right hand will stop working.

Me: That's a really good point. Way to be prepared!

She said it as if your hands have some sort of writing limit, once you reach it, that hand is no longer of any use to you. As long as I can read her work, I don't care which hand she uses, but I wonder what she'll do if both her hands reach their limit?

Randomness

I have had several random (or are they?) thoughts lately:

Randomness #1
It is no secret that I spend way too much time thinking, worrying, dwelling on things. Sometimes this is not a good thing and sometimes I get something out of it.

Last night, I was talking with a friend about a couple situations where two seemingly happy, healthy people had their entire lives changed in an instant. We're talking major, difficult, painful life change. Not like a new job or a new puppy kind of life change. I tucked these situations into the back of my mind and they have been at the forefront of my thoughts for the better part of this afternoon. I have been blessed abundantly in my life and while it has had its challenging moments I can honestly say that I have never had to endure such an extreme experience like these.

Thinking on this led me to this conclusion: I have spent way too much time lately complaining or worrying about other people's actions and other stuff I have absolutely no control over. I have not spent nearly enough time worrying about my words, actions, and reactions. I have not spent enough time enjoying the people and things God has put in my life. And, I have not spent enough time enjoying God and His goodness. Here's to hoping that begins to change!

Randomness #2
Baylor hired a new football coach this week. His name is Art Briles and he comes to us from the University of Houston. This seems like a really smart hire and once again pride in the Baylor Bears has been restored. Here's a picture of Coach Briles being introduced at a basketball game the other night. There are three things to note, the first being Art Briles shirt, what a cool guy to put on a "Bear Pit" jersey before his big introduction. Secondly, it appears that he has already been practicing his "Sic'em Bears." Lastly, check out President Lilley's shoes! Those are so cool, I definitely want some. Now I can't wait for football season to begin again!


Randomness #3
I think this is one cookbook I don't want to see when I visit someone's house for dinner. It totally cracked me up though.


Randomness #4
My outside Christmas lights are complete. I know the anticipation has just been killing you, let the drive-bys begin! :)