All In a Day's Work.. Or Something :)

So, for the past few months, I've been working a few days a week as a substitute teacher.  A few days, mostly because it's kind of hard to get jobs and even harder after snow days!  I thought I would share a little about how that's going.  I'm not quite as mean as that teacher in the picture, but there are times when I'm close to that.  ha ha.  Actually, the first day I subbed was probably one of the worst days of my life.  Seriously.  

My Facebook status after that day was: 

"So I survived my first day of substitute teaching yesterday. Started out being called a sweetheart by one of the boys.. & then, it changed to "you don't like us very much, do you?" With about an hour left in the day, the entire class was in timeout. Ended the day being the target of a paper gun shooting. Took it away & the kid started destroying the room. All in a day's work, I guess."

I was pretty floored that a group of 1st graders could be so devious and manipulative.  And I'm a school psychologist, which means I've had a role in schools where I've heard a lot of crazy things.  Anyway, at the end of the day, none of the children were hurt, and even though most of their work didn't get done, it didn't really matter.  One of the biggest issues was that they also locked their in-class bathroom, and I've never seen so many kids need to go the bathroom.  Or so many upset stomachs.  Or so many children needing to go the bathroom badly.  I also didn't know that children with asthma had special needs to go the bathroom.  I finally started refusing to let anyone go to the bathroom.   These kids also kept getting in little arguments and fights over the smallest things... and were tattling on someone using profanity about every five minutes.  At the end of the day, I was so tense that I had to cry it out.  Not because I took it personally... but more because I had just been fighting 18 little monsters all day.  No exaggeration.  I really thought I might need to throw a piece of furniture or something... and I'm not sure if I've felt like things were so out of control!  :)  


Anyway, since then, things have been a little easier, give or take a few hard days in there.  I'm never going to that classroom or school again--hah!    


Oh--and going back to the picture, I do have to use my frownie face a lot.  And yell.  And with some kids, I just have to "out mean" them.  It's not really a desirable strategy, and it makes me feel so sad because I know that these kids must be so mistreated at home.   But I just have to do what works for a short time.  Oh well.  Hopefully, they have regular teachers that can give them the love they need.  


      

2010: Reflections

This will probably be boring, but I think that with the start of every new year comes a time for reflection of how the past year went.  It seems like so many people I know are ready for 2011.  I'll admit that this year has gone much differently than expected, but I think I can appreciate the lessons during the hard times.  [Last year's reflection]

The biggest celebration that happened this year was, of course, finishing my graduate degree.  3 years and 71 hours later, I have a diploma and a School Psychology certification and no job.*  While I knew that there was a possibility that I wouldn't get a job, I didn't expect for most of my interviews to go really well and then not get offered a job because of thesis delays that were out of my hands.  Or to be faced with the choice of going for a job that would require about 3 hours of driving a day.  I also had no idea that my not getting a job would be an issue of concern for so many people or that I would have to work on my heart and feelings toward being a stay-at-home wife.  In the meantime, I applied for 20-30 jobs in a period of about 6 months and finally was hired as a substitute teacher a little over a month ago.  Wow.

I have to be honest and say that although I began to really treasure staying at home and just being a wife, it was better for us financially if we had more than one pay check.  It required a lot of faith to try to stay positive, especially when we were trying so hard to live frugally and then were faced with hundreds of dollars in medical fees for J's injury and surgery.  I'm humbled and so thankful that we have insurance; otherwise, we'd owe about $30,000 in medical fees.    

I guess, if I had to sum it up, I had no idea that it would be so difficult for me to accept the circumstances of my life as part of God's sovereignty and that I would be so burdened by worldly views.  I don't and never have looked down on wives who stay at home, but I treated myself differently.  I had worked so hard for a career, and it felt like such a waste of hard work.  I really didn't feel ready for the job, either, and I'm not sure I really wanted to start working such a job so soon.  I just felt like I had one chance and was also tired of being asked about my job status all the time.

But in the end, things worked out for the best.  J & I have gone through a rough patch and have come out on the other side.   Our marriage is stronger because we relied on faith to get through the trials.  It's still not over.  I'll have to start re-applying for jobs soon and go through the interviews and job searches for the 3rd year in a row.  

This is getting pretty long so I'll wrap it up.  Overall, I'm still processing the past few months of life and trying to be okay with transitions and uncertainty.  And trying to endure substitute teacher.  Wow.  There are some mean children out there... but maybe I'll tell more about that on a later date.

*If you'd like to read my thesis, you can go here!  I'm sure all of you will jump right on that.  I will note that it's related to moral development, which is kind of interesting and pretty understandable compared to a lot of topics.

Memories :)

A few weekends ago, J & I met my family at our alma mater for its Homecoming weekend.  We had such a great time!  My brother and his family met us up there.  It was the first time that they had been up there for a homecoming.  I've included a few pictures from the day and a video of my sweet little nephew (nicknamed Beefy!) cheering for the team!  He'll be 4 years old in April.  The boys both got t-shirts to support the team... and lasted through half of the first quarter of the football game.  hah.

My best friend Julianne also met us up there.  We had so much fun reliving our college days and visiting our old stomping grounds.  It was like old times.. except we're older.  :)  I feel so fortunate to have so many great memories from college.  It was so much fun, and I miss it sometimes, even though I know it wouldn't be the same if I went back again.  It is nice to up there every once in a while and catch up with old friends.  

Beefy cheering on the team!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our friends and family!  Many blessings to you on this day of thanksgiving!  We hope that you have many blessings to celebrate.

This is our fourth Thanksgiving together as a couple--third as married peeps.  Each year, things are kind of hectic between traveling and trying to be there for both of our families.  It's a lot of fuss upfront, but at the end of each day, there is always a feeling of thankfulness for the love that we do have for each other and for our families. 

We have so much to be thankful for, and this chapter in our life has been humbling in that a good amount of our monthly income was taken away when I didn't get a job this year.  I have a post in the works that addresses some our feelings on that, but the main lesson that we learned is that we have been given so much... and even when we feel bummed because we don't have extra spending money or something unexpected comes up that we have to pay for, we still have so much more than so many others.  That's kind of a hard lesson to remember in the midst of a gimme world.  So, in the end, we are so thankful to remember that regardless of what happens to us in the world, there is a much larger eternal picture.  :)

"Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power
and the glory and the majesty and the splendor,
for everything in heaven and earth is yours.
Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom;
you are exalted as head over all.

Wealth and honor come from you;
you are the ruler of all things.
In your hands are strength and power
to exalt and give strength to all.

Now, our God, we give you thanks,
and praise your glorious name."  

1 Chronicles 29:11-13

Happy Thanksgiving!


Love--
J, Lauren, & Bruce :)

A Day in the Life of Me and our Cute Dog

A friend from college, Lacy from Tatum Tales, asked her blog readers to do a Day in the Life blog.  I thought... well, it's usually just me all day long.  How boring will that be?  So, in order to jazz it up a little, I included pictures from Bruce the beagle's life, too.  :)  He mostly sleeps all day.  I hope no one thinks that I'm weird for documenting his life, as well as mine.. but he keeps me company.  And well, he's so sweet.  Just so loving.  :)

So here goes...


7-7:30ish-- I wake up to try to spend a little time with J before he goes to work.  I appreciate how hard he works, but it always makes me feel a little sad to see him go.

When J leaves, I usually go to the kitchen to find that he's left a cup of coffee prepared for me.  It's a sweet little gesture that he does most mornings.

8ish-- Usually, I have to go and get Bruce up out of bed.  That boy likes to snooze!  He goes to the back door to wait for me to let him out.  While he's out doing his business and "hunting" (especially if it's earlier in the morning!), I usually pour his food into his bowl and catch up on the local news on the internet.  Bruce usually very loudly lets me know that he's ready to come in to eat his breakfast!

Wake up, little buddy.

Waiting to go out!

Where ya at, MOM?  Hungry dog here.

After dawdling on the internet for a while, I usually eat breakfast around 9 or so.  Cereal or toast or whole wheat waffles.  I sometimes will turn on the television for a little while.  After breakfast, I usually either start working on chores or work on some craft project.  I am good friends with Mr. Dishwasher and Miss Washing Machine.  We stay regularly acquainted.  Sometimes, I check my email and then spend a lot of time on allrecipes.com trying to plan our meals for the week.  I like this website because it has a feature that makes a shopping list for me! 

Currently, I've been working on a felt rosette for my sister's Christmas present and a Christmas wreath for my sister-in-law... so I make a mess on our coffee table!

Messy mess.

Work in progress!

12ish-- Typically, I remember that it's about to eat lunch and/or take a shower!  I almost always have some leftovers to eat from dinner the night before.  On this day, I had leftover corn chowder.  I'll post this recipe soon--it's delicious!

12:30ish-- Bruce is snoozing away.  If I haven't already, I usually send J an email to let him know how my day is going and to just have an excuse to tell him that I love him.  :)

I also go outside to get the mail.. and I'm going to use this as excuse to post pictures of our pretty flowers.  Prettiness, thanks to the gardening husband of mine!

1ish-- I either try to go back to my chores or succumb to cuddling on the couch with Bruce to watch television.  Lately, I've been watching a lot of Law and Order: SVU. 

Love this little face.

Around 2:30, I usually let Bruce out again and try to get back to work on stuff around the house.  A lot of times, I'll use this time to bake muffins for our breakfasts or start making dinner.  I think I might be the world's slowest chopper so sometimes, I'll chop ahead of time so that I don't have to use such a long chunk of time preparing dinner.

Around 3:30, I remember that J will be coming home soon so I start to prepare for that.  Usually, I pick up around the house.  I also open the front door so that Bruce can watch for J to come home.  Or I'll take Bruce for a quick walk around the block.

Waitin' on my dad!

"Bowing" for a treat!

4:45ish-- J walks in the door!  Most of the time, I'm in the kitchen whipping up a fabulous meal.  ha ha. :)     

We usually eat around 6.  Sometimes, we'll eat while watching Jeopardy.  We've been really into watching it lately.

Our evening time routine varies.  Sometimes, we'll go run a quick errand or just stay at home and do the same thing.

9:45ish--  Typically, we start getting ready for bed.  We almost always read before bed.  J's been reading the last Harry Potter book for the second time.  I've been reading a book called The Zookeeper's Wife.  It's probably not the best bedtime story, since it's about a family who lived in Warsaw, Poland during WWII and who helped thousands of Jews hide in their home and on the zoo property.  It's pretty astounding how that whole thing happened less than 100 years ago and how horrific the whole thing was.

10:15ish-- Bedtime!  Getting ready for another day! :)

Fall Wreaths!

I have to admit that I'm getting a little anxious over my Christmas wreath.  Mainly because I have so many ideas that I want to try!  But my sister-in-law on J's side asked me to make her a Christmas wreath so maybe I can make more than just one for me! 

I'm getting ahead of myself.  I have made a few fall wreaths for myself, my mom, and another sister-in-law (my brother's wife).

This first one is the one that I made for our house!  Two little fall lovebirds! :)

My brother and his family just moved into their house a few weeks ago so I wanted to give my sister-in-law a housewarming present so I made up this little guy.  God totally blessed me with a fantastic sister-in-law!  Love her!

 

And my mom's...  Terrible picture quality. :)  My mom loves butterflies!

Burlap Wreath

I stumbled across a burlap wreath tutorial on I Need More Glitter (also at Tater Tots and Jello) and thought it looked like a fun project.  I think it turned out pretty well, although it took longer than I expected.  I made it as a gift for my friend, Julianne*.  I missed doing something for her birthday (which, embarrassingly, was in July) so I thought this looked like something fun for her and her new apartment!  Julianne is a great, great friend and deserves to receive gifts any time of the year!  :)

Supplies:
Styrofoam wreath shape (I used a 12-inch round styrofoam, but you can use the squared round ones, if that makes any sense! hah!)
Burlap (about 1 yard--or borrow from your art teachin' husband)
Scrap fabric ( the more the better!)
Hot glue gun & glue sticks
Ribbon for hanging
Upholstery tacks (optional--or any other type of tack)

The first thing that you do is to wrap the foam wreath with strips of burlap.  I used white burlap, but you can use brown.  Then, you get your fabric and start making your fabric flowers.  This takes quite a while!  The easiest thing that I found was to work on a flower at a time.  I cut the circles myself without any circle templates so some of them were a little uneven, but it really didn't seem to make much of a difference once I put the flowers together.  The hardest part is gluing the flowers together.  Be careful with the burlap because that hot glue goes right through it onto your fingers!  Ouch!  One wise crafter suggested using a popsicle stick to work with the burlap. 

This picture just shows a close-up of the flowers.  I really need to work on better picture quality.  :)

And here's the finished product!  J wasn't home so I had to try to hold it up by myself, hence the off-centered picture.  hah.  I'm kind of embarrassed by my pictures.  

 Anyway.. I thought it was cute and fairly fun to make!  Pretty messy and time-consuming, though!

*I met Julianne during college orientation.  Almost immediately, we found out that we had so many connections that it was almost weird.  And we hit it off and have been such great friends since.  She's so funny, caring, sweet, and generous!  She really exhibits so many godly characteristics--it's a blessing to have her as a friend, and hilarious how many people think we're related because we look alike! :)