interesting conversations with students

two algebra 2 students on my first day...

student 1:"where did you teach before you came here?"
me: "well, i actually moved here from alabama so i haven't taught anywhere in texas."
student 2: "so that's why you talk that way...?"
me: "what way?"
student 2: "that way."
(i am sure some non-native alabama readers just got a nice laugh out of this)


sometimes, students ask me how i like living in houston. one of the first things i mention is how warm it is here and how i know it will not be very cold during the winter to which i received this comment one day...
student: "oh, it gets cold here! it will get all the way down to 40 degrees!"


PUH-LEASE! 40 degrees barely justifies a scarf!



i can imagine there will be more blog-worthy students comments to come. who knows, maybe lee will even chime in with some of his! he has elementary students that almost always have something hilarious to say.

through the eyes of children

last weekend we had the wonderful opportunity to share our home with walter, emily, jonah, and emma. emily had the great idea of combining the need to shop at ikea with a weekend trip to houston, and we were thrilled with the idea!

the main event of the weekend for us was a trip to the zoo. jonah and emma were ecstatic...in fact, jonah could barely sleep the night before out of pure excitement of everything that might happen at the zoo.

we could not have picked better weather for our day at the zoo...i think God knew it would only make the day more perfect for the kids and the rest of us.

we soooo got our money's worth and more at the zoo. no turn was left untaken, no stone left unturned, no exhibit left behind. we saw most, if not all, of the animals, hung out in the children's zoo, and even caught the sea lion show to top it all off.

i hope these pictures do justice to the great time we had at the zoo. i really loved seeing it through the kids' eyes. everything worked out in our favor. the happiness on their faces all day was a wonderful reminder of how we should live every aspect of our lives...excited about what awaits us around each turn and thankful for the opportunities we are given.

by the way it was "zoo boo" the day we were there. check it out if you have kids & live in the houston area...everyone likes trick-or-treating :)

also, i tried to tell lee, emily, walter, and the kids that elephants say roll tide, but they all spell go g-e-a-u-x so that didn't go over very well ;)

football and family makes a great birthday weekend

last weekend we took a road trip to prattville for my birthday weekend. we sandwiched the trip with time in louisiana that included the office wedding with the morrows and allens on the front end and even more hang out time with everyone on the tail end. we love the time we get with both of our families, and this trip was no exception.

we arrived in prattville just in time to grab some mexican for lunch with my mom, dad, and sister....because that is what you do when you live in texas, right? go out of state and grab some mexican when we have the best of the best right here?!

anyway, we spent friday night at tyler's football game. we braved the rain and helped cheer the generals to a victory. tyler is #50...he got to play on both sides of the ball and special teams. tyler, we are so glad we got to see you play!up until shortly after my 11th birthday, i was the only one in our family whose birth month was october. that changed for the better when my cousin, hannah, was born. we shared our family birthday parties for many years, but we have not been able to have our parties together for a few years. thankfully, that all changed this year! we combined our birthday party with all of our family and a full day of football (a&m and auburn, then alabama, and then lsu). everyone was so excited about partying & watching football all day, especially tyler. don't you think so?!

yay for shared birthdays again!

thanks to rachel (who is an auburn fan, by the way) i can represent bama in houston when it gets cold with my new houndstooth scarf! even if that means only wearing it for a week, i will wear it proudly!

hannah got the awesome gift of a snuggie for her birthday! it is the first snuggie i have ever seen in person and totally lives up to its hype. plus, it came with a free booklight. be jealous. be very jealous.
the long weekend was such a great time to see everyone, and the perfect celebration of my birthday/the end of my unemployment/the beginning of my new job :)

math, anyone?

as most of you have heard and for those of you who haven't, i am officially employed! i was hired as an algebra II teacher on monday and start on tuesday, october 13.

i know this might seem a bit surprising to some, but after realizing that my job search was not providing any results, i knew i needed to broaden my search to include what i am qualified to do. this decision quickly resulted in a job!

an added bonus to my new job is that it is in the same district as lee's school so we will get to ride to work together! the biggest downside to the job is that my school days will start at 7 which means i will have to be there even earlier than that, and those of you who know me well know the early morning stuff is not my favorite. oh well! guess the workforce doesn't always start when we would like it to... :)

one last note...thank you to all of you who have been praying for us during this time. God's timing is always perfect, and He has taken care of us over the past few months and will continue to do so. i so appreciate the wonderful support system we have through friends and family, and i hope you know your prayers and thoughts have not gone unnoticed.

fall

football

cooler weather (which we are still waiting on in houston)

colorful, changing leaves (again, still waiting here)

caramel apple spice at starbucks...thank you, shauna :)

decorations of pumpkins, scarecrows, cornucopias and more are everywhere you look

alabama football

caramel green-apple suckers on sale in stores for their once-a-year appearance...yay!

birthdays

our anniversary

new seasons of our favorite tv shows

time with family

the first cool night that requires long-sleeves and a warm drink

football :)

...these are just some of the things i look forward to this time of year. i can't wait for all of them to actually happen (specifically, the cooler weather in houston).

to those of you already enjoying a true season of autumn, enjoy it for the rest of us and send any extra down here!