GO MAVS!!!

This past Friday night I went to watch the Mavericks take on the Hornets at the A.A.C. with my really good friend, Yates. She got me a ticket as a b-day and Christmas gift. I know, really great gift, right! Thank goodness we weren't at Texas Stadium because it came a down pour and was extremely cold weather. That's one thing great about b-ball is that it doesn't matter what the weather is like outside bc the game is played inside! Anyway, we had an AWESOME time!! Here's a couple of funny stories from Friday night: While trying to find parking, we pulled up to a lot that was a block away to discover that it cost $25 to park there- we were like yeah right! So we drove another block down to discover a $15 parking lot-we continued another block down to discover a $10 parking lot where we decided to park. At the time it seemed like an ok decision only to find out that after the game it was raining a little heavy-maybe we should have paid a little extra on second thought. Oh well, we had fun walking and getting all wet in the freezing cold, not to mention I could no longer feel my toes due to the fact that my socks had gotten wet! Inside, before the game started, we went to every fan shop trying to find that perfect Mav shirt that didn't cost $50 or more. I'm still hunting, but settled on a $20 shirt, which I'm still debating on whether it's a night shirt or night. I think I figured it out though-a night shirt wouldn't have a hood on it-so I definitely think that it's ok to wear out in public. Not sure I really like it all that much, though. The game was fun and we had good seats. Best of all the Mavs won and I got to spend some time with Yates!!
After the game, we were on a hunt to find the BIG Dallas Christmas Tree. We found it, but once we found it it was another story in how to get to it and where to park. The streets are so crazy in Dallas! Finally, after making a square around the block(like 4 times)we discovered where to park and how to walk up to the beautiful, big tree. It was a BIG, BEAUTIFUL CHRISTMAS TREE!! I wonder how they put all those lights on the tree and the star at the top? So glad that I didn't have that job!
Thanks Yates for the Mavs ticket and a fun night! I am so thankful for our friendship!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMES!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR AMY! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! CHA,CHA,CHA! Hope that you have a great b-day!

Here's my fav five things about my BFF, but the list could go on and on:
1. We can laugh about anything together, even stupid stuff!
2. Our talks! Your great wisdom, advice, and listening ears!
3. Hanging out and not doing anything-just being together!
4. Vacations together!
5. Your love for football!

Tis the Season...to have a Christmas Party!

Deck the Halls! I love Christmas time! I love listening to Christmas music every where I go! I love Christmas decorations and Christmas lights on houses! I really love Christmas parties, so last night my teacher friends came over to my house for a Christmas party. For dinner(since I'm known not for my cooking)I got fajita dinners from Rosa's. The food was a huge success! Though a little stressful on my part, not knowing if I had enough food for everyone, as it turned out we had plenty of food-thank goodness! We also did a white elephant gift exchange, which is always fun when you play with fellow teachers(fun to see all the gifts other teachers get from previous students that they really don't know what to do with besides set aside for this occasion). I ended up with something I actually kinda thought was cute and I might set out-a Christmas bear toothbrush holder and soap dispenser(I love bears)!It was so much fun spending time with my fellow teachers outside of school and seeing my long, lost teacher friend Amy Moore again! We all miss you at Westcreek Elem. Mrs. Moore, but we are glad that you are doing well at your new school!!
I feel truly blessed by God to have such wonderful friends and godly women to work with everyday! It's such a nice feeling to go to work knowing that I have a group of ladies who listen, support, and encourage me! Thanks for all that you do ladies and I'm so glad that we got to celebrate Christmas together!!

All the Craziness of Black Friday!!!

This past Friday, I must have been out of my mind, crazy!! On my b-day I woke up at 1:30 a.m. to leave Duncan at 2:00 a.m. to head to Wichita Falls, TX with my BF from high school, her sister, and mom to go shopping. I love shopping, but this was an entirely new experience! There are a lot of crazy people out at 4 a.m. Teri and her family have this Black Friday shopping thing down. On the road they had all their adds and were making a list of all the items and stores that we had to hit. I didn't come very prepared and the only thing that was on my list was to buy a lap top computer(I know all my closest friends are reading in amazement at this news-but I'm really trying hard to get caught up on new technology!), which I was planning to purchase at Best Buy, only to find out the line was like 3 blocks long and the store only had 3, and crazy people had camped out over night! So we decided not to even try. Our first stop was Kohl's. Then we headed to drop Amy(Teri's sis)off at Target where she waited outside in the cold for 2 hrs, while we headed to JC Penney's. Then we were off to Wal Mart, where I got a really good deal on a lap top and printer not to mention a new digital camera and a really cool digital photo frame. I know HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME AND MERRY CHRISTMAS, TOO!! After that we hooked back up at Target with Amy. The Target experience was the craziest of all! The line was like forever long and right before the doors opened a crowd of like 100 people tried to rush the door! We were at the front of the line, thanks to Amy waiting in the freezing cold, and then there was the crazy man ahead of us who I thought might kill someone who tried to cut in front of him! He kept on screaming to the door rushers "THE LINE IS DOWN THE ROAD" over and over again! As soon as the doors opened, I felt like I was cattle being driven inside. Good thing I didn't fall or I would have been trampled all over! We hit 5 stores in like 2 hrs. and had gotten everything on the list. We did good! The rest of the day was spent going back and forth to these same 5 stores getting good deals that weren't on the list! After all our shopping we headed to one of my favorite places to eat, Olive Garden! We arrived back in Duncan at 6 p.m. Talk about a long, fun day of shopping! I really had a great b-day getting to do two of my favorite things: spending time with my dearest friend Teri and going shopping! Can't wait to do it all over again next year-I'll come better prepared! Thanks Teri for making my b-day special!! Another BIG THANKS goes out to all my other friends who called or sent Happy B-Day messages to me! You are all the best and I feel so blessed to have such wonderful friends in my life!!

Fun Times with the Fam!

This past Monday I drove home to my home town of Duncan OK to hang out with my family for an entire week. Monday night was tons of fun at the Bailey house hold. My aunt, cousins, and their kiddos came over to eat pizza and play my all time favorite Texas game of Spinner. We had a house full, but it was so much fun getting together with all my cousins! My mom was the Spinner winner, my dad followed close behind in second. Spinner was a huge hit! I had so much fun spending time with my family. I feel truly blessed by God to have such a wonderful, loving, supportive family!!

GO ROMO!!!

Today was such a fun day! My dad came down and we went to watch a Dallas Cowboys game. So here's the story: a dear friend from church(Amy Williams) came up to me a couple of weeks ago at church and told me that her husband had been given 4 tickets to the Cowboys game, but they couldn't go, so she asked me if I wanted the tickets(knowing the HUGE ROMO fan that I am). OMG- I started jumping up and down and screaming right then and there and told her YES, YES, YES!! I was so EXCITED and called my dad right away! Originally, my dad, mom, and sister were going to go to the game with me, but that plan fell through due to work and not feeling well. So I ended up taking my dad, Cleve(my BF's dad), and Trey(my BF's brother-in-law) and we had the best time ever! So glad that you were able to come to the game with me Cleve, Trey, and Dad!! By the way, we had the best seats ever! We sat on the 50 yard line, row 33-we were so close! Before the game, I got to go closer and I made friends with the security guard. I was trying to get on T.V. because I made a really cool sign that said Romo is a FOX(bc FOX broad casted the game)! I just knew that I was going to get on, but it never happened-oh well. Elizabeth, you would have been so proud of my sign, though. Any way back to the game-WE WERE SO CLOSE AND MOST IMPORTANT THE COWBOYS WON AND I GOT A LOT OF PICS OF ROMO!! A BIG THANKS goes out to the Williams family for giving me the free tickets!! I've never set so close and probably never will again! Thanks, Thanks, Thanks!!! Go Cowboys!!

Happy Early B-Day to Me!

I just wanted to send a BIG SHOUT OUT OF THANKS to my dearest friends Amy and Elizabeth for wishing me a Happy Early Birthday! For those of you who don't know or maybe have forgotten my b-day is on the 23rd and for some reason I'm really not looking all that forward to it this year. But, thanks to my dearest girlfriends they have already made it a very special day(even though we celebrated a week early)!
On Friday morning, Ames brought me an early b-day breakfast before work. We had breakfast burritos and carmel apple ciders and got to catch up on life. She also brought me the most beautiful flowers! This is a tradition for us to do an early b-day breakfast because my b-day always falls around Thanksgiving and I'm always at home with the fam. on my special day, so we celebrate early. I love this tradition and hope that we continue to do it for a long time! Thanks Ames for making my b-day special!!
Then, after school I had a message on my phone from Elizabeth and Carly. It was the most adorable Happy Birthday song I've ever heard! It made me feel all warm inside! Thanks Elizabeth for making me feel so special!
God has truly blessed me with your friendships and I cherish all of our fun times together!! Thanks for being the best friends ever!!

HAPPY CARVINGS!

Last night I went to Yates Annual Pumpkin Carving Party! It's a tradition for us girls to all get together and carve pumpkins-minus Mels, who moved back to CO and couldn't make it. We miss you Mels and your creative pumpkin carving ideas, but it was good to talk with you on the phone! It was a night full of good friends catching up, eating pizza, and carving those pumpkins! Thanks Yates for having us over and getting us all together!! Happy Halloween!

HALLOWEEN HOOPLA!

This past Friday night Heather had her famous Halloween Party and the theme was dress as your favorite T.V. series or favorite actor/actress from a movie. I totally wanted to dress up as Sydney Bristow off of Alias, but then realized it was going to cost to much to buy the red wig and cool outfit to wear(bummer, my one chance to have cool hair, an awesome outfit, and try to do some cool moves). So, I ended up going as Meredith Grey(the intern doctor)off of Grey's. This costume was totally free thanks to my roomie, Rach, who totally hooked me up with stuff from the hospital. I know, not as cool as Sydney, but free and comfy work for me! As usual, Heather's party was a hit and we had some pretty elaborate costumes that put my doctor costume to shame. One of my favorite costumes was Frankenstein and his wife. See if you can guess who came as who? HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, SIS!

OMG-my little sister has been married for a year! Today, she celebrates her one year anniversary to her hubby, Rhyan Rhines. They are leaving tomorrow to go to Broken Bow to stay in a cabin along the lake for a week. Sounds relaxing and fun! Happy Anniversary!!

Over the weekend, I traveled home to visit my parents and sister. I hadn't seen my sister since Father's Day weekend-that's a long time for us. It was so good to see her, Rhyan, and my parents. The weekend was relaxing, which was much needed! Saturday, I stayed in my P.J.'s all day and watched football with my dad-it was great! My mom also pampered me with her home cookin. She cooked up a big breakfast of pancakes and sausage on Sat. and on Sun. she cooked eggs and biscuits-we are big on breakfast foods in the Bailey family. Sat. night Charity and Rhyan came over and she cooked my all time favorite meal of chicken fried steak, gravy, and mashed potatoes. She is the best cook ever(to bad I didn't take after her in the cooking department)! I had a great weekend with the fam!

Lions and Tigers and Bears and Hot Air Balloons!!!!

This past weekend my parents came for a visit. They also brought my cousin's three boys with them(my parent's adopted grandkids, since my sister nor I have provided any grandkids for them, yet). So much for a nice relaxing weekend! Oh well, who needs a weekend to relax and rest when my life is full of business and craziness during the week-I wouldn't know what to do with myself!! Anyways, I had a blast with my parents, Zack(who we used to call Zachary, but now that he is 7 yrs. old has out grown that name apparently),Cameron(also 7-they are twins), and Dylon(5 yrs.). They got to Cow Town on Friday night. We took the boys to eat at Chick-Fil-A, so after they ate they could play on the playground to release some of their energy! While the boys were playing and their Uncle Brent watched them, my mom and I did a Target run to get lunch stuff for a picnic and grab some coloring books to occupy the boys while they were at my house, considering I had no toys for them to play with. The jumbo coloring book was a huge success and the boys colored the rest of the night until bedtime! On Saturday, we took the boys to Crispy Creme to eat doughnuts and also to give them a some what educational experience in how doughnuts are made. They thought this was the coolest thing and really enjoyed their doughnuts. They were soo cute with their hats on and eating their springle and football doughnuts! Crispy Creme should definitely used this cute kiddos in their advertisement!! After doughnuts, we were off to the Ft. Worth Zoo. The boys were so excited and loved getting to see all the animals-we did soo much walking! After the zoo we had a picnic in the nice, cool shade. Then, we were headed back to my house to rest while the boys took a nap-we were exhausted! My dad and I got in a little OSU football time-way to go Cowboys! Next, we were off to Plano to the Hot Air Balloon Festival. The plan was to leave at 4:00 but we didn't get on the road until 5:00(it takes so much longer to do things when little ones are involved). As usual when the Bailey family tries to go anywhere we some how always find a way to get lost, so yes we got lost(just one time,though), but found our way to the park. The balloons did a launch at 7:00 so as we were in the car headed to the park the sky was filled with hot air balloons-so cool, but didn't look real, kinda looked liked something from a book! As we got closer to the park the traffic was horrible, so after sitting for about 30 mins. and crawling, we finally decided to pull over and park and walk-yes more walking. We ended up parking a mile away from the park. These boys were such troopers-we did so much walking!! At 8:00 they had a Balloon Glow, this was kinda cool, music was playing and there was a count down and then all the balloons would light up and glow for a couple of minutes and they repeated this all night long! Some of the boys favorite balloons were the colorful balloon, the pirate, and the cat balloon. After the festival, we were starving from all our walking so we pulled into Chile's to eat a very late dinner. Here's a cute story: The boys each ordered their own dinner off the kids menu. When it came to Dylon's turn he ordered his corn dog and the waitress asked if he wanted french fries with that and he looked at her with the sweetest face and asked if they had tator tots? She said sorry, but no, and I think both of our hearts melted and his face and the cute way he asked! We finally got home at midnight and we were so very tired from our crazy day adventures!! They headed back on Sunday afternoon. The boys were so sad to go(which made me feel good to know they had a good time),but I was ready to have a little peace and quiet and down time!
God is so good!! I didn't get a lot(hardly any)rest time this weekend and was dreading starting my week tired, but my kiddos at school were at their best today-what a great blessing!! We got lots of learning done and had lots of fun at the same time! One thing that God is teaching me right now is my life is not all about me, it's about being devoted to God and his purpose for my life! This has really changed my out look on life. Over the last 4 weeks I have been totally stressed out and not really enjoying my job that much because I have let the pressure and rigor of the academic side of teaching and my expectations I have for my students take joy from me. Today, I really tried to make it all about them and not me and the day went AWESOME in Ms. Bailey's classroom!

High School Football, Friends, and Ice Cream!

Last night I went with a couple of families(Thompsons,Williams,Ingles, and Petersons) from my church to watch a high school football game. We headed out to Aledo to watch the Aledo Bearcats take on the N. Crowley Panthers. The game was so much fun! Aledo ended up winning the game 28-7. After the game we all headed over to the Petersons for home-made ice cream! The ice cream was amazing-it was fluffy and yummy(I have never had home-made ice cream like this before-it reminded me of frozen custard)! I had so much fun at the game and I really enjoyed spending time with great friends and getting to know some new families from my church!!

Labor Day Bash!

On Labor Day, Rach and I, had some friends over from the GAP class(our sunday school class)to our house. We had lots of good food, played Spinner(my fav. game), and had a great time with friends! Good times!!

Runner Up Champs!

Over the long Labor Day weekend I went with the Thompson crew(a family who I babysit for and have gotten really close to)to Round Rock to watch Luke(their 6th grade son)play baseball. We left Saturday around noon for Round Rock. Luke's first game got delayed due to rain so we had some extra time and decided to head to the mall to do some shopping. Luke played 2 games on Saturday and his team won their first game, but lost their second game. We left the ballpark at 11:30 that night! Then we drove another 40 mins. to stay with Gayle's brother. When we pulled up there was a note on the door that said "come on in". They had already gone to bed-I would have done the same thing! The next morning we got to hang at their beautiful, big house. We had some yummy breakfast tacos! Gayle's brother builds motorcycles for fun, so he showed me one he was working on and told me all about it. I really liked it because it was a purple bike! Gayle's brother, sister-in-law, and their two kids are great! That afternoon we all headed to watch Luke play baseball. He won his first game, but lost the Championship game. His team played so good! Luke is such a great player-when he wasn't playing pitcher, he was catching!! Sunday afternoon, between games, we grabbed dinner at Whataburger,(my first time to eat there)it was pretty good, but not as good as Braums! We also had time to do some shopping at IKEA,(my first time in this store, too)OMG-it's HUGE AND SO COOL! I could have spent a lot of money if I had my own house to decorate. I had such a great weekend with the Thompson's and I really enjoyed watching Luke play baseball! Thanks for asking me to tag along!!

Family, Friends, Good Food, and Baseball!

So this post, too, is a little late-sorry! About 3 weeks ago my parents and their friends came down to visit me in Cow Town. We started the weekend off by eating dinner Friday at Joe T's(my favorite)and then headed to a Texas Rangers Baseball game. It was the Rangers vs. Seattle and my dad totally hooked Yates(close friend)and I up-we had the all time best seats-we were so close to the field-it was AWESOME!! The Rangers ended up loosing(can't even remember the score-so long ago)but it was fun to hang out with family and friends! On Saturday we were off to Dallas to do some shopping at Sam Moon. We girls had a blast and we got some really cute stuff while my dad and Johnny deserved 5 gold stickers for following us around! They were great sports!! After our shopping spree, we were hungry so we headed to Burlison to eat at this really good fried chicken place Babe's. I had never heard of it before, but Johnny(my dad's friend)had eaten there before and wanted to take us. OMG-SO GOOD!!! We had fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, biscuits, gravy, and corn-some good home cooking! For those of you who read this and live close bye, I totally recommend Babe's-the food is good and it has a fun atmosphere! I had such a fun time with my dad, mom, and their friends! Good memories!

So Long, Farewell...

So this post is a little after the fact, but my life has been extremely busy lately, and I just wanted to say so long, farewell to one of my dearest friends Melanie. She is now in her beloved, home state of Colorado. I'm sure she is enjoying the nice, cool weather along with the beautiful mountains. Before Mels left Texas, we(our group of 5 closest, girl friends)got together and ate at Cheddars-it's our favorite spot! We had such a great time!! I miss you Mels, but will cherish all the wonderful, fun memories of the past and look forward to a girls trip out to CO to visit you! I wish you the best in CO and keep in touch!!

A Weekend Full of Birthday Celebrations!

I headed to OK after my espanol final on Thursday for a long weekend of family bonding time! This was my first visit back home since Father's Day(I know some of you are saying that's not so bad, but for me this is a long time and my family,mainly my mom,and I sure were feeling it). Any way the trip was good and I enjoyed being pampered by my mom! My lil sister's birthday was on Saturday-HAPPY 27th BIRTHDAY!! I can't believe that my lil sis is 27-that makes me feel so OLD! We also celebrated my dad's b-day(21st) and brother-in-law, Ryan's b-day(28th)since we were all together. My mom, being the excellent cook that she is, cooked pretty much all day on Saturday because we celebrated all the August b-days that night with a b-day dinner. We had steak, baked potatoes, a broccoli and cauliflower salad(my mom's known for this AWESOME salad), and for dessert home-made red velvet cake topped with home-made ice cream! I ate so much food that I was groaning afterwards-but it was yum-o! I had soo much fun hanging out with the family-good times!! Also, over the weekend I found out that my best friend from high school is pregnant!! Congrats Teri and Chris-I'm soo excited for you guys!!

No More espanol...(atleast for now)!

Sorry, I haven't blogged in a while, but all my time lately has been taken up with learning a second language-espanol. I was taking a Spanish I class at TCC and it's officially over as of last Thursday-yeah!! I had my oral exam(Estoy muy nerviosa.- I was really nervous, but pulled off a 93)on Wednesday and my written exam(not sure what I made? El exam es muy facil.- but it was fairly easy)on Thursday. This was an intense class due to the fact that it was a summer session. I wouldn't advise taking a foreign language class during the summer, especially, if you are really wanting to learn the language! I've decided to wait until the Spring to take Spanish II because I need time to practice and really grasp what I've learned and basically my head cannot take any more new info. when it comes to espanol!
For those of you who enjoy lists, well here's a list of 5 things that I can say in espanol. See if you can figure them out?
1. Me llamo Amanda.
2. Vivo en Texas la ciudad de Ft. Worth.
3. Hace mucho calor!
4. Me gusta correr en el parque.
5. Me gusta muy comer el helado!

TAG You're It!

Well, I'm usually not one to post a list of things; however I don't want to let my dearest friend, Ames, down so I thought I would give this listing thing a try. So here goes...

Four Things You May or May Not Know About Me
A.) Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. Babysat the Hemphill boys in High School.
2. Lifeguard/worked b-ball games at OBU.
3. Counselor at Kanakuk Kamp.
4. Labor work for Halliburton(I had to paint and dust in the heat)worst summer job!

B.) Four movies I would watch over and over:
1. Father of the Bride
2. Pride and Prejudice
3. Sweet Home Alabama
4. Finding Nemo

C.) Four places I have lived:
1. Duncan, OK
2. Shawnee, OK
3. Ft. Worth, TX
4. Who knows where the future holds?

D.) Four TV Shows that I watch:
1. Anything on the Spanish channel.
2. Spanish pretty much takes up all my time-don't have time to watch anything else!
3. Can't wait for the season premiere of Grey's!
4. Can't wait for the season premiere of October Road!

E.) Four places I have been:
1. Hawaii
2. Guatemala
3. San Diego, CA
4. New York City

F.) People who e-mail me(regularly):
1. Amy D.
2. Elizabeth
3. Yates
4. ? Someone else needs to start e-mailing me regularly!

G.) Four of my favorite restaurants:
1. Joe T's
2. Olive Garden
3. Rosa's
4. Bill's Catfish(Waurika,OK)

H.) Four places I would rather be right now:
1. Hawaii
2. Oceanside,CA
3. In the pool!
4. Duncan,OK

I.) Friends I think will blog this:
1. Elizabeth
2. ?
3. ?
4. Someone please surprise me!

J.) Things I am looking forward to this year:
1. A new school year with a new group of kiddos!
2. Football Season!
3. BSF(Bible Study Fellowship)
4. Time with family and friends!

So, if you're reading this and haven't made a list of your own, you should definitely give this listing thing a try!! TAG You're It!!

L.I.T. Sleep Over or Lack of Sleep!

This past Friday night I had my L.I.T. girls over for a sleep over. We had so much fun, but hardly got any sleep! The party got started around 6:30 at my house. For dinner we had pizza delivered-what's a get together without pizza! After we got our tummies full, the teacher in me came out, and we had craft time. We decorated picture frames. The girls really did a great job on their frames and we had so much fun decorating them! After craft time we moved on to game time. One of the girls brought Scene It Nick. I was horrible at this game because all the questions were from Nick programs that I've never heard of or for that matter watched. But the girls were AWESOME at this game and loved it! Here's a funny story from game time: the only question I got even close to answering I answered in Spanish. My question was, what did the sign say that was above the desk? My answer was "el copo". At this all the girls burst out into hysterical laughter! The correct answer was the city police. I think that they should have totally counted my answer, but since I failed to say "el copo de cuidad" they said it was wrong-whatever! After game time, we were all hungry again, so we had cookies and ice cream(my favorite)for dessert. Thanks to Mrs. Amy(an L.I.T. mom and my wonderful new friend, who volunteered to stay the night with us)for making the delicious cookie cake and bringing the ice cream!! Next, we got our p.j.'s on and got comfy. We watched The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants(one of my fav. movies). It's a great friend movie-kinda sad though! Around 3 a.m., yes 3, the girls finally decided that sleep would be nice-yeah!! The girls all slept in the den, on couches and the floor, and I went to sleep in my nice bed. The next morning we had cinnamon rolls for breakfast(easy for me since I don't cook). Parents came to pick up their kiddos around 10 that morning. I had such a great time with my girls, but realize that I'm not as young as I used to be and not going to bed until 3 a.m. really took a tull on me-I was totally exhausted and couldn't wait to take a nap! A BIG shout goes out to all the parents of my L.I.T. girls for having such wonderful girls and thanks again, Mrs. Amy, for joining in on all the fun!!

Mother, Daughter Bonding Time!

On Friday, my wonderful mother drove down to Ft. Worth to pick me up so we could take a girls road trip to Houston to go to Jenny's(a friend from high school)wedding. Before we left Ft. Worth we grabbed lunch at Olive Garden(our favorite place)! We had their salad, bread, and soup-yummy! Then, we hopped in the car and our three and a half hour road trip began! We actually stayed with an old, neighbor friend Nelda who lives in the Woodlands(really beautiful with all the trees). Growing up she lived across the street from us. Then, once I got into high school they moved to Texas. I have wonderful memories of Nelda baking cookies and cakes for us and my sister and I were always running back and forth from our house to hers. She has two daughters, Brandi(4 yrs. older than me) and Amber(6 yrs. older than me). Brandi is married to Jimmie and has a six year old daughter Jayden(such a beautiful little girl). Amber is married to Chris and they have twin girls(Carly and Kate)that are 4 years old and full of tons of energy! My mom and I had such a great time catching up on life with Nelda and her girls and remembering funny memories from the past!! Here's a couple of funny memories: Nelda would hold me down on her couch and pop my toes(when I was little)and I would be screaming and she would be laughing at me! Another story is that I was terrified of her older daughter Amber and thought she was mean because she would always scream at me for ringing the doorbell and not just walking on in! Those where the good ol' days!!
Saturday night was Jenny's wedding. She got married at the Burkeshire Plantation. It was a beautiful outside wedding and Jenny was a beautiful bride! The food and dancing were great, too! A couple of Duncan girls that I went to high school with were there and my mom had a couple of ladies her age from Duncan that were there, too. It was fun to catch up on things with them! The coolest part was dancing with my mom and all her friends!! Congrats Jenny and Michael as you start a new chapter in your lives! May God bring many wonderful blessings your way!!

Some Where Over The Rainbow!

Earlier this evening, Mother Nature, decides to bring a little shower to Ft. Worth. Which was nice because it cooled everything off and after the rain we got to witness one of God's beautiful creations and covenant with man-the rainbow. It was a beautiful, full rainbow. I haven't seen a full rainbow in ages. I went outside and set on my porch and stared at it's beauty for a while! I took a picture of it, but it was soo big that I couldn't even get all of the rainbow in the picture! The down fall to the rain this evening was an hour prior to that I got my car detailed. Should have known that would bring the rain-I hadn't washed my car in like 3 months!! Oh well, I got the beautiful blessing of seeing a rainbow tonight! I'm still waiting on my pot of gold!!

Girly Afternoon with the Thompson Girls!

On Tuesday afternoon, I had a date with Claire and Gayle Thompson. It was Claire's idea to go get pedicures at a place called Pearl Nails in Burleson. On the way we stopped to get the best Cherry Limeades at a place called Diary Twins(by the way it was right next door to Diary Queen). I was all for some pampering until the Asian guy giving me my pedi decided to perform toe surgery(on my left big toe)to take out some ingrown toe nails(which, by the way, didn't even know I had-which means they were probably ok staying right in my toe)! This was the Asian guys exact words, "You have ingrown toe nails. I take out. I make feel better." He didn't make me feel better! In fact, he was bringing me a lot of pain in my toe, so I asked him nicely not to dig on my big right toe. I was very thankful when he didn't! After he finished my toe surgery, the rest of my pedi was relaxing(not painful)and he did a wonderful job! Claire's pedi went fine(they didn't dig at her toes) and she got pretty flowers painted on her toes! Gayle told me she didn't care to much for pedi's(didn't know why), so she didn't get one. Now I know why she doesn't care to much for them! I told her she needs to try my place-they don't dig at your toes!
After that we had the best pizza for dinner! Gayle ordered pizza from this place(forgot the name) where they put fresh toppings on your pizza and then you take it home and cook it. We had a veggie pizza that was to die for!! While our dinner was cooking we played Wii(an interactive video game)Bowling and Tennis. This was too much fun!! I'm sure we were a sight to see(ha,ha,ha) because we were bowling and playing tennis right there in the living room!
I had soo much fun hanging out with the Thompson girls!! We need to do it again soon!!

Busy, Busy, Busy Me!!

I apologize now for the late up date on what's been going on in the life of ADB, but I've been sooo busy that I haven't even had time to type a new post(how sad is that). So, here's an update on my crazy(but good), busy life!
For those of you who don't know, I'm learning a second language-espanol. Me llamo Amanda.(My name is Amanda.) Estoy un poco cansada.(I am a little tired.) Mi favorito de color es morado.(My favorite color is purple.) Muy me gusta el helado!(I really like ice cream!) Today, I had my first exam-I feel pretty confident that I did muy bueno! I should, lately I feel like my life is espanol!
Also, last week I had Upward Basketball Camp. I coached a Kindergarten-1st grade team. We had camp every night from 6:00-9:00, this made for a long day, but was well worth it! I had 9 enthusiastic, eager, little ones! I coached two of them last summer, so it was fun to have them on my team for a second time. As far as b-ball goes my kiddos came a long way as the week went on in their skills of the game. I had a couple of all-stars(Samantha and Maggie) on my team! The rest were doing good to run down the court, dribble the ball, shoot the ball in the right goal, and get back down the court and find their person to guard(they had great defensive stands-looked so cute)! I was so proud of my team when it came to our scrimmage times-they out scored the other team every time(no one kept the official score-but I kept one in my head)! Also, I was impressed with my kiddos knowledge of the Bible. The majority of my kids had already accepted Jesus into their hearts and attended church some where-Praise the Lord! Our devotional times were so good and the kids did an AWESOME job at learning their memory verse(they all knew it by the end of the week-hand motions and all, too cute)! The highlight of the week happened on Friday night when two of my little boys(Daniel and David) accepted Jesus into their hearts! That right there makes camp worth it and is what it is all about!! Here's a funny story from camp: I had the cutest, little, Asian boy on my team and one night he looked up at me and asked "are you Asian"? I looked at him and couldn't help but laugh and said "no, why do you think I'm Asian? I'm Native American". He said, "you look Asian in your face". For the rest of the week every time he saw me he would always tell me I'm Asian, but I would always tell him no, I'm Native American. Kids are sooo funny!!
I had a great week at camp and God truly used these little ones to bless my life!

My Trip to Cali...Elizabeth(Liz)You are the BEST!!!

Elizabeth, thanks soo much for being the hostess with the mostess!! Thanks for picking me up and taking me back to the airport! Thanks for cooking for me! Thanks for letting me crash at your casa for a week! Thanks for planning a different adventure daily! Most of all thanks for being the sweet friend that you are! I had soo much fun hanging out with you and your adorable daughter,Carly, for a week and miss the both of you like crazy!!!
So, here's the short version of my trip to CA-see Elizabeth's blog:www.fischpond.blogspot.com for an in depth daily report of all the fun we had!
I left for Cali on July 1. It was a very long day of travel. My flight was to depart at 2:30; however, due to a storm that decided to come through, I had to sit on the plane for an hour before we actually took off. It wasn't that bad because I got to watch a movie. As a result of my flight not leaving on time, it made me miss my connecting flight in SLC, so I had to wait in the airport for 2 hrs. Very long day of travel-did I mention the fact that I was already extremely tired because I had just gotten back from a mission trip the day before! Anyway, I got to San Diego around 8:30 that night. Pretty much all day Monday was a rest day-it was so nice. I got to go on a nice run around the base-perfect running weather! Then, Tuesday all our crazy adventures began. We took the kiddos to Old Town, the Aquarium, and the beach to see the sea lions. Wednesday we went to the Outlet Mall(I think that I bought out the GAP store), went to a 4th of July barbecue and tried to watch fireworks that night(this was hard due to a HUGE CLOUD). Thursday, we took the kiddos to Sea World and what a day that was!!! Friday, we went to the San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park-way cool. Later, that night we got a baby sitter for Carly, and Elizabeth and I went to the San Diego Symphony Summer Pops for an outdoor concert along the bay. We had such a good time!!! Saturday, we went and ate breakfast at one of Elizabeth's favorite places-Pannikan. It was the cutest place and the food was yummy! Then, we walked along the bay and looked at all the really BIG BOATS. My trip finally came to an end when Elizabeth dropped me off at the airport. So sad! I had such a great time! I can't say the same thing about my flight home. About 30 mins. before my flight landed in SLC we ran into some bad weather and I got really sick on the plane!! I was so glad for that plane to finally land. Luckily, I had time to grab something to eat and feel better before I departed for DFW. I arrived back in Ft. Worth(my home sweet home)on July 7th around 8:30 p.m. I need to send a BIG THANKS OUT to my dearest friend Yates who took me to the airport and picked me up-THANKS SOO MUCH!!! It's soo good to be back!

L.I.T. Mission Trip to San Marcos!

Two weeks ago on June 23-30 Travis Avenue along with Wedgwood and Godly churches took their 5th and 6th grade L.I.T.'s(Leadership In Training)on a Mission Trip to San Marcos, TX. I started L.I.T. this past January and was a small group Bible study leader-4 out of my 5 girls went on the trip. It was really amazing to see my girls in action and to see how God was working in their lives and using them to minister to the children of San Marcos!
The trip kinda started off on a bad note-it took us forever to get there! So here's the story: We left Wedgwood around 1:30 on Sat. Kevin(L.I.T. Director)drove a church van full of boys while I got the privilege(wasn't too thrilled-made me extremely nervous to drive a big, long van around)of driving the other van full of girls. We weren't even to Waco yet, when Kevin gives me a call and informs me of how to handle the scary situation of getting a flat tire! My heart immediately starts beating faster!! He informs me not to slam on the breaks, but to gradually slow down and pull over. I think him for this nerve racking peace of information! Here comes the kinda funny part now: 5 sec. later the tread off one of his tires comes off and his van totally gets a flat! I told him that he totally jinkst himself! The neat part is this guy pulled over to help us and his parents go to Travis and he used to go to church there, too. Then, once we got to Waco, his van totally all together stops working and we have to leave it there to get fixed. We pick it back up on our way home Sat. So, a 4 hr. trip takes us about 5 or 6 hrs!
Back to the mission trip part: The week was totally amazing! This was a typical day: I woke at 6 a.m. and I got the girls up at 7. We had our daily devotions and went to breakfast at 8. Then, we were off to morning worship and mission preparation at 9. Around 10:30 we headed off to our apartment sites. Each church had a different site and our site was Champions Crossing. Each day we had between 15-20 kiddos from the apartments. Basically our L.I.T.'s were in charge of doing everything-the adults had to just sit back and watch, this was harder than one might think! The L.I.T.'s started off with recreation and games outside to draw all the kiddos in, then we moved inside the main offices to have Praise and Worship, a Bible Study, a counseling time, craft time, and a memory verse time. God was truly at work here, because the lady who was the manager was doing all she could to help us out and wanted us to be able to use the inside facilities! She told us that she used to go to Calvary(the church we were working with)and drive a bus for them. She even had tables set up so we could feed the kiddos lunch before they went back home. The L.I.T.'s did an amazing job! It was amazing to see them in action!! At our site 12 kiddos came to know the Lord-praise God!!! It was so neat to see how God used our 5th and 6th graders to minister and share the good news to their peers. We had debriefing from 1-1:30 and rest time from 1:30-2. Then, from 2-5:30 we had afternoon activities which included: swimming at the public pool and river, going to Wonder World(the activity I planned that was a huge success-thank goodness!), and going to Austin to a game place that had race cars, bumper boats, Lazar tag, etc. Dinner was at 6 p.m. and praise and worship started around 7 and followed by a prayer time that lasted until 11 or 11:30 most nights. The praise and worship and prayer time each night was truly amazing!!! Each night the Holy Spirit filled this room and the hearts of children and adults were being brokened and humbled. This time truly touched my heart! Lights were out after this time of prayer and then everything started over the next day. Sounds exhausting(it was), but soo much fun! Friday night was our Kidz Blitz at the church. All the apartment kids came to the church for a time of puppet ministry, praise and worship, drama and skits, and a Bible story time. The L.I.T.'s from all 3 churches were in charge of everything. They did a SUPPER job!! All together 50 decisions were made throughout the week-God is truly AMAZING AND WAS AT WORK IN SAN MARCOS, TX!!! PRAISE THE LORD!!! We headed back to Ft. Worth Sat. morning. I was really sad to be leaving, but at the same time was so tired and worn out. This trip really spoke to my heart and challenged me to get out of my comfort zone. If God can use 5th and 6th graders to share the gospel then with His strength and boldness I should be able to do the same thing! I look forward to going back next summer and I already miss seeing my girls every day! They are truly a blessing from God in my life!!

Wives and Daughters

Yesterday I got to visit with my wonderful friend Mindy! A few girls met at her friend Jennifer's apartment to watch an English film called Wives and Daughters. We missed you Ames and hope that you are feeling better, but OMG you have to watch this one-you will love it! Of course to go along with our 5 hr. marathon movie we had yummy finger snacks and beverages! This made English film #2 that we've all gotten together to watch, previously we watched Our Mutual Friend(also 5 hrs.-but good). Hopefully, in the future we will get together and watch many more English films-I can't think of any better way to spend time with friends, eat yummy snacks, and waste 5 hrs. of my time(not a total waste)!
It was sooo good to see you Mindy and spend time with girl friends! Thanks Jennifer for hosting-your place is too cute!

HOME SWEET HOME!

It's soo good to be back in Cow Town-minus the hot and humid weather!! It's also great to have slept in my bed for longer than one night in the past two weeks!! I have been out of town on a mission trip and then I was visiting my wonderful, full of all kinds of energy friend(Elizabeth)and her cute daughter Carly in beautiful San Diego CA. I'll post another blog about those events later when I have all kinds of time to go into great and lengthy detail. It's good to be back in Ft. Worth, though and back to a regular schedule and routine-whatever that means-I'm a teacher and it's summer vacation time for me!

However, today was my first day of Spanish class. I'm taking Spanish 1 from TCC this summer. My class is a Monday-Thursday class from 11:20-1:20 plus 20 hrs. of lab. I think that I'm going to really enjoy this class and hopefully with this class plus many more classes I will become a fluent speaker of espanol! So, if you see me out and about or hear from me ask me to tell you what I'm learning in Spanish bc I need all the practice I can get. Hola! Como estas? Me llamo, Amanda. Como te llamas? Muy bien!

So long Summer School...Here I Come San Marcos!

Yeah!! I'm officially on summer vacation. Today was my last day of teaching! Summer School went great this year and all 15 of my students worked soo hard! They deserve a little break, too. Hopefully, they won't forgot everything that I have taught them.
If you don't see a blog from me for a while it's because I'm headed to San Marcos for a mission trip(June 23-30)then I'm home for like one day(seriously)then I'm off again to see one of my best friends Elizabeth in beautiful San Diego, CA! Back to the mission trip part- my church is taking our L.I.T. (Leadership In Training) 4th and 5th grade kids to work with Calvary Baptist Church in San Marcos, TX to do ministry with children who live in nearby apartments. I'm really excited to have the opportunity to go and serve the Lord in this way and to see my L.I.T. girls and boys in action-sharing the Gospel with other children! If you have time this week please lift us up in prayer. You could pray for the following: safe travel to and from(I have to drive one of the vans), that God is already at work in the hearts of everyone that is going and preparing the hearts of the many children that we will be ministering to, a time of growth and unity among our L.I.T. kids and adult sponsors, energy, and that we will have an awesome time serving the Lord! I can't wait to see what God does in San Marcos!! Be on the look out in weeks to come for a full report.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY, DAD!!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY TO THE WORLD'S GREATEST DAD!!! This past Sunday I celebrated Father's Day with my dad. I am so thankful to have such a wonderful dad. My dad always supports me, encourages me, and shows me love. He's the best!! We started the day off by giving him his gifts. Charity and Ryan won the award for best gift, but my dad liked all his gifts! My mom got my dad an OSU cover for his grill and a singing card that sang Wild Thing-my dad loved the card and kept listening to it over and over again. Charity and Ryan got my dad a Lionel Train Lamp(way cool). In case you don't know my dad, he loves trains and collecting anything that has to do with them!! They also got him a singing card that sang Can't Touch This. It was hilarious watching my dad sing this song!! I just got my dad a normal card (guess I didn't get the memo), some money, and a picture of myself(a free 8x10 from the church that turned out pretty good, so thought it would be a perfect f-day gift). After gifts, we took my dad to eat at Golden Corral (we didn't really have a lot of other choices in the big town of Duncan). It was pretty good. Then we were off to the the show to see The Fantastic Four movie. If you haven't seen it yet you should. I really enjoyed it, but have low expectations! I had so much fun hangin out with the fam and I have the coolest dad ever!!!

Wedding #1

Saturday night I attended my first wedding of the summer. Last summer I went to a total of eight, yes, EIGHT Weddings-THE SUMMER OF WEDDINGS! I really thought that this summer I would like have no weddings to go to because almost all my single friends are now married, but I already have 2 on my calendar. Any way back to the wedding, it was my dad's best friends daughter who got married. Her name is Becca (she's a twin) and my sister and I used to babysit her and her sister Sarah. We grew up with these girls. I feel so old-they are now 22 years old-all grown up and beautiful. I never in my wildest dreams thought that one of them would get married before me(whatever, still waiting on God's perfect timing...anytime God), but I still hugged her and told her Congrats!! It was a beautiful wedding and the funniest part about it all was that my sister was my date-her husband was out of town working. I had sooo much fun with my sister and haven't laughed so hard in a long time!!

Brunch with the Girls!

This past Saturday Kyna (childhood friend and roommate for 3 years) had all the girls over for a wonderful brunch at her new house. Her house is too cool and the food was amazing! We had fruit, muffins, breakfast burritos, and this really good Brunch Punch. It was so fun to get together with the girls! We need to plan a brunch date at least once a month. Thanks Kyna for your wonderful hospitality!!

Way Too Much Six Flags!!

I have been to Six Flags a total of 3 times in my entire life and two of those times have been within the last week. If you don't know me- I'm not a roller coaster kinda girl. I have a weak stomach and I'm scared of heights- not a good combination for an enjoyable day at Six Flags! However, this past Sat. I went to have some fun (I think-yes) with friends. Due to my free Book Club Reading ticket I got from school(thanks to my students for reading and joining the club)I was able to get in for free,yes free! I would never pay full price bc I don't really ride roller coasters and it would be a total waste of money for me. Any way I took my Bonine(motion sickness med.)and was good to go. I rode more rides than I ever have before-which isn't saying alot. We started off with AqauMan(water, bridge, soak and wet),then rode the Mine Train, did the BIG Tower, the Rapids(also a wet ride), the Bob Sled Ride, Log Ride, Old Cars(more fun when I was little and couldn't drive), and Runaway Mountain. I totally got tricked onto this ride-thanks Rach, Scott, and Eric! Runaway Mountain is a coaster, inside a tall mountain, that you ride in the dark. They told me that it was fun and that I would like it. WRONG!! WRONG!! WRONG!! Remember, I don't do roller coasters and this was a roller coaster with the big drops and twirling curves and it didn't help that it was in the dark bc I still had my eyes closed and I still didn't like it at all!! Luckily, that was the last ride for me on that day bc it really got my stomach and I probably wouldn't have trusted them on the other rides. After I left Rach, Scott, and Eric went on the scary, big rides like Batman and Mr. Freeze-their crazy!!
Day 2 at Six Flags was this past Thurs. I went with the children's ministry at Travis. Thank goodness that I went earlier in the week bc I was in charge of a group of five girls and it came in handy knowing my way around the park and knowing ahead of time what rides I could ride and those I shouldn't. I had a great time with my girls and they weren't that crazy about riding roller coasters either, so we enjoyed the same kind of rides-little, non-scary, not fast ones. We did ride the AquaMan like 5 million times and got totally soaked!! It was great!!
I had fun on my two outings to Six Flags this summer, but I think this will be my fix for the next five years or the rest of my life!! For those of you who are roller coaster people you don't have to worry about me being ahead of you in line!

HAPPY BELATED B-DAY TRASEY

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY TO YOU! I am the worst friend ever! I forget my good friend Trasey's b-day-sooo very sorry!! Tonight Ames and I met our friend Trasey to celebrate her b-day that we both forget at the Olive Garden. We had a great time catching up on things and laughing over memories that we already had made. Here's a funny story about our friend Trasey: Last time we got together with Trasey we ate at Don Pueblos. We were walking out to the car and Trasey sees a Starbucks cup and rears back and gives the cup a kick with all her might(think she had some frustration she needed to get out), well the cup was full of coffee and it splattered all over Amy's car. Amy was on the other side so she had no idea what Trasey and I were laughing about hysterically. Amy walks around to the other side and sees the mess, but the funny part is Amy thinks that Trasey did this on accident. Trasey tells Amy that she kicked it on purpose thinking nothing would be in it. We were laughing sooo hard!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!! I had such a great time with my girlfriends-can't wait until we get together again!!

Sports World

This past weekend was full of sports! It all started on Friday night when TABC (Travis Avenue Baptist Church)had a softball game. The team started off strong-we had a 16-4 lead; however, the other team gave us a run for our money and the final score ended 16-11- TABC on top!! This was our last game of the season so it was great to go out on a win. Hopefully, TABC will be back next year even stronger!!
Then Sunday night Rach and I had some friends over to watch the NBA Finals. Most everyone was going for the Spurs(my vote since the Mavs are out)but we had a few(the Dantzlers) who were going for the Cavaliers. The Spurs ended up pulling off the win-yeah!! This makes the record 2-0. Go all the way Spurs!

Good Bye Mrs. Moore

Thursday afternoon I got together with my teacher friends and we threw a going away party for our former co-worker and friend Amy Moore (not to be confused with my BFF Amy Moore, now Amy Dantzler). We loaded up and headed out to Cleburne to Mari's beautiful house in the country. Thank goodness I wasn't driving and rode with Amy and some other teacher friends. I would have been totally lost. Once we got there, we ate tons of food. We had yummy sandwiches, chips, fruit, and the best cake with strawberry filling inside. The cake was so cute-it had a teacher and student on it. I also, introduced all my teacher friends to my all time favorite game of Spinner. Everyone loved it and Amy was the SPINNER WINNER. I thought this was fitting since it was her going away party. We all had so much fun. Thanks Mari for hosting.
To: Mrs. Moore,
I can't believe that you are really leaving Westcreek. I don't think that it will really hit me until the first day of school when I look across the hall and see Ms. Cooper in your old room or until we have our first drill and I look your way to see where I should take my kids. What will I ever do without you?
I really have enjoyed working with you and getting to know you as a friend. You are a great and wonderful teacher and person. You have encouraged and helped me in so many ways. You will be greatly missed. Good luck to you as you start a new school year at a wonderful school.
Your Friend,
Ms. Bailey=)

P.S. I tried to make this post more exciting and fun by using exclamation marks, but for some reason it wouldn't let me. Stupid computer. Can anyone help me with this problem? Is there some kind of button I can push? What am I doing wrong?

An Afternoon With My Parents!!

My parents came down to Ft. Worth this past Sunday to visit me and drop off some shelves they built to go in my bathroom. The shelves are a perfect fit and even though my parents aren't big carpenters they did an awesome job! Way to go Mom and Dad!!
My parents treated me to luch at Salt Grass. I tried to treat them in return for the awesome shelves, but like most parents they would not have that! Next, we were off to do some shopping-my favorite thing to do. My Mom and I got a couple of pairs of cute shoes. My poor Dad just sat on a bench outside of the stores waiting patiently(like most men)for my Mom and I to finish up. After that we headed to the beautiful Botanic Gardens. We wanted to go to the Japanese Gardens but they were closed due to Concert In the Gardens. I've wanted to go to this since Ames lived at her apt. on 7th Street. Hopefully, I'll get to go sometime this month. We also wanted to walk through the rose garden but that was closed to due to CITG. Must be a pretty awesome concert!! Wouldn't know, though!!! So we ended up just walking around the grounds. We still got to see some pretty flowers, though. After being out in the heat we headed back to my house to have a nice, cold glass of lemonade-it really hit the spot! Then my parents headed back to OK. I had a great time with them!! Thanks for building me some shelves.

School's Out for the Summer!!

Well, another school year has come and gone. I have finished up my 5th year at Westcreek Elementary. Oh, my gosh, I can't believe that I have been teaching for 5 years! I feel so old!! This has been a great school year, but I really didn't get all emotional about my class leaving and moving on like I have in the past. Don't get me wrong I had a good class and got close to a few kids and their parents, but over all my class was different this year. I think this was due to a couple of major discipline problems I had to deal with. I guess I will have classes like this from time to time. Hopefully, I touched each one of my student's lives is some way, I know that each student touched my life and will hold a special place in my heart!
After the long, last week of school, some teacher friends and I went to Pappasito's for Happy Hour to celebrate the ending of a long school year! I had such a fun time!It's so nice to have good friends that you work with-I feel so blessed!
Well, I do have to report back to work on Tues. to close up my room, but no kids will be there. Then, I have Wed. off and Summmer School will start on Thurs. I am teaching K- S.S. I really enjoy S.S. bc it is half a day from 8 to 12-which means in the afternoon I can still lay by the pool, I have a smaller amount of students that I work with, it's only the month of June(I think I would get bored w/o it), and not to mention the pay is great!! I love being a teacher!!! I love my summer vacation time!!!

Some Good Ol' Home Cookin!

Thursday night, my friend Scott, invited us over for dinner. He prepared a good ol' home cookin meal of chicken fried steak-my all time favorite, mashed potatoes, green beans, and home-made gravy. The Dantzler's brought some yummy peanut butter cookies and I contributed a bag of store bought salad. Scott gave me an easy job that I could handle being the non cook that I am! It was a great dinner and I ate way tooo much food! After dinner we played our usual game Spinner. I know, I played this game already one night this week but I can never get too much of Spinner-I love it! Amy was the Spinner Winner-way to go Ames!! Thanks Scott for the fabulous home made meal!!!

L.G. - Fun Times!

Life Group was at Rach's and my place on Monday night. We had a delicious lasagne meal with salad and bread-yum-o! After dinner we had a game of Spinner- my all time favorite game to play! We had eight players playing so it turned out to be a long game. The Spinner Winner went to my roomie Rach-way to go!! We had a great night of food and fellowship.

An Eventful Weekend!

Friday night I had a softball game. The GAP class put together a team-which I think I am a part of; however I have only been to 2 games. Well, we actually won our game! The score was 17-3. I had sooo much fun!!
Yesterday (Sat.) I had Summer School Training from 8:30-3:30. Not how I wanted to spend my Sat. However, I did get paid for it so I guess I should be thankful. Five days left of school and then schools out for the summer-yeah! Yes, I am teaching K summmer school again the month of June, but I really enjoy summer school because it is half a day, I get to work with a smaller group of kids, and the pay is great!
After training Rach, Yates, and I went flower shopping all over town. We got some really beautiful flowers and planted them. It is so nice to have a front and back yard to make beautiful with flowers! Hopefully, my flowers will last at least a couple of months and not die right away. My friend Elizabeth totally got me in the mood to plant some flowers. How are your tomato plants doing E.? I hope that I have better luck than you=). I had a great weekend! Here are some picks of my weekend.

To Be Continued...

Thursday was like the never ending day! After school Kasey, Yates, and I jumped in the car to take a short road trip to Dallas. Kasey left her phone at Chip's the night before. The short road trip turned into a long one because we hit Dallas traffic-yuck. We had fun though! Later that night Yates and I went to her nephew Hunter's t-ball game. We got there just in time to see him hit the ball and just stand at home plate while everyone is yelling for him to run! He is sooo cute!!
What a great day.

College Day

Thursday was College Day at Westcreek Elementary. All the teachers and students got to dress in their favorite college t-shirts. I graduated from OBU-go Bisons! Heres a picture of my colleagues (friends) and I.

Time With My BFF

Today was a good day in Ms. Bailey's kindergarten class-my students listened and followed directions-only a few had to pull cards. The day even got better. After work, my best friend-Amy Dantzler, who just got married, stopped bye to spend some quality girl time with me. We ran to pick up Allen's guitar, which came in early, and then stopped at Sonic to get some cool drinks and catch up on life. I had such a great time hangin with you Ames-thanks. I am so thankful to have great friends.

Mother's Day Weekend in OK

Last weekend I went to "Big D" and I don't mean Dallas. I went home to Duncan to see my mom for M-Day. Saturday morning my mom, sister and her husband, and I went to my cousin Michelle's little boys soccer game. Cameron, Zachary, and Dillion are my parent's adopted grandkids-which is great because it takes all the pressure off my sister and I to have kids.
We celebrated M-Day Sat. night. My sister and Ryan came over for dinner. We had steak, baked potatoes, and strawberry shortcake for dessert-yum. Afterwards we all played the famous Texas game-Spinner. Ryan was the Spinner Winner.
A Funny Goat Story
Background info- Parents are trying out goats on their land to eat the grass and poison ivy plants. (mom is allergic to poison ivy) Here's the story- Sunday morning my mom and I got into my car to go to church when we noticed Annie (the goat) out in the back yard eating grass and my mom's flowers. She jumped her pen. So my mom and I called Charity and Ryan to come over to help us catch her. My mom, Charity, Ryan, and I were all chasing the goat around the yard for an hour. How many humans does it take to catch a goat? Finally, Ryan dove and tackled Annie to the ground. You would have thought that Annie had been shot-she made this awful, loud goat cry. All I could think about was Matthew Kelly's goat cry-pretty close to Annie's. Needless to say, my mom and I didn't make it to church. Hope this story brought laughter into your day, and sorry if it didn't-guess you had to be there.

Mentor and Friend!

Last Thurs. night I meet Betty's daughter, son-in-law, and two grandchildren (adorable). They are great and wonderful! Then Betty and I headed off to dinner at Johnnie Carinos for some food and fellowship time. I recommend the Bowtie Festival- it's yummy!