decor update

for those who may remember, i mentioned a very smart method of hanging a picture frame collage on the wall a few weeks ago. i attempted this method but had to wait a while for the pictures to come in. well, they came in and now they are finally up on the wall!
also, the cooler weather rolled in this morning which means it actually feels like fall around here! my thought is if it feels like fall outside, it should look and smell like fall inside. therefore, out came the fall decor tonight...thank you, aunt beth, for the fall decorations as birthday presents last year! we do not have a table right now so i improved and spread my fall table runner out on the counter...is that ok, decorating friends? :) (i feel the dish of pretzel m&ms completes the look). i also added this delicious-smelling candle and its fall wreath to our end table. combine that with a tasty cup of hazelnut coffee tonight, and i would say fall started off just right.

quite possibly the craziest student quotes ever

this is a very similar shirt to the one i wore to school on friday. you know, just supporting my team...no biggie, right?!

crazy quote #1
4th period student: your shirt is missing the O.
me: what?
same student: your shirt is missing the O. you know, the O in obama.
all students then erupt into hysterical laughter.
me (pointing to the alabama flag on my wall): it's bama. as in short for alabama.

crazy quote #2
6th period student walking into class walks all the way around me (i'm standing on the other side of the door from where she walks in) to read my shirt and says: "oh good, i was making sure you shirt didn't have an O on it"

i guess i need to get a new shirt that fully spells out ALABAMA.

the most wonderful time of the year

no, not christmas. the other best time of the year. fall.

fall means football and changing leaves and my birthday and cooler weather and even better reasons to go to starbucks. well, as i mentioned last year the two about cooler weather and changing leaves never really happen here in houston until somewhere around december.

football, in particular, is something we both really enjoy and enjoy watching together. when we are not at kyle field in college station cheering on the aggies, we are watching as much as sec football as we can on saturdays and the texans (and others) on sunday or monday. such a great sport!

last saturday was our first saturday in college station together (lee went to the first game but took no pictures). lee's dad was also in town so we all met up with katy, tiffany, and aaron for lunch. later, we headed to campus for pre-game festivities. i had never experienced "step off" where the people follow the band from campus to the stadium, but katy, tiffany, and i met up with the garretts and did just that. first, there was a loud cannon and then lots of people trying to follow a loud band...very interesting experience.

the aggies did a really nice 9/11 tribute and a sweet flyover before the game began. thankfully, the aggies pulled out a pretty significant victory despite quite a few fumbles on special teams. we left at halftime and got to watch most of the second half of the bama game!

roll tide roll

due to unfortunate circumstances and living several states away, the 2009 football season was the first season in almost 10 years that i had missed an alabama football game in person. that streak did not continue for two years.

i made it tuscaloosa a few hours before the first game of the season. i met up with my family, spent some time on the quad, saw some friends tailgating, and got to see the crimson tide take the field against san jose state. i know, just a no-name team, but it was still alabama football. i will not be able to make it to any other game this season so i took it all in.

fans waiting for the "walk of champions" to begin outside bryant-denny stadium

my beloved denny-chimes standing tall over the tailgaters

the newly-finished endzone upper deck, bring capacity to over 100,000

i also got to spend the weekend with my sister. yes, for the first time, i spent the weekend with her. we had a great time, and she was a wonderful hostess...making biscuits for breakfast and letting me invade her apartment for a couple of days.

as much as i enjoy taking pictures, i completely forgot to take pictures with all of my wonderful friends i got to catch up with. sunday was a wonderful day for my soul with the opportunity to worship at calvary (a place always dear to me) and step into our former small group, spend time with the hendersons at their new house, and visit the proud parents-to-be and beth (also known as the weeks) at their new house.

rachel and i ended the visit with breakfast at panera and shopping in the bama stores for me to find a flag to represent with in my classroom. silly us realized we had not taken a picture together all weekend so remedied that quickly before i left. love you lots...thanks again for letting me stay!

update

just to keep you posted on our life, lee was hired to teach 5th grade at a school in new caney this week! thank you so much for your prayers during this process.

for those of you not in texas, new caney is right next to kingwood, where we live now. it is a different district than where i teach but still very close to where we live.

keep him and his soon-to-be students in your prayers next week as they start a new class together!


(more posts are coming very soon!)