Family Time...

We had such a wonderful Thanksgiving with our family. Ben and his family came up on Thursday to spend a couple of days with Nana and Papa. The boys are growing up so fast! They both have such a fun personality. Amazing how they take after their favorite aunt! :) It is always good to be together. Ben and Theresa are going to see her family in Dickson, TN for Christmas, so we had to take advantage of our time together. I love my family soo much! The Lord has been so good to us.

I hope you all are doing well. Sorry I haven't kept up with posting, but our internet is down at the house. I love hearing from you all!

Tribute to Chester...

Sir Chester Qualls (the best dog ever) went to doggy heaven yesterday. He was 13 years old and such a huge part of our family. Those of you who know me well know that he was just like one of us. :) We are going to miss him so much!!

Long Time No Post...

Sorry for not posting the past few weeks...it has been super busy here. Everything is going very well. We are getting ready for the mission conference. It is hard to believe it is that time of year again...but it is such a wonderful and exciting time. I know the Lord has much in store for our church family. I am most excited to see what the Lord will do in the hearts of my students.

Believe it or not, I had planned to post several different times and I have taken so many pictures...but I do not have them with me at the moment. Beware when the pictures come...there are so many they will probably take up the page...and I will probably be too lazy to organize them. :)

I hope you all are well. I appreciate your friendship and sweet comments. The Lord has truly blessed me with the dearest friends.

Until next time...

Cathleen Angela...

Six years ago, the Lord placed a wonderful person in my life...my best friend, Cathleen Henschen. We are extrememly different, but that is what makes us such good friends. Cathy grew up on a farm in Ohio and she is the hardest worker I have ever known. I am so grateful that the Lord placed her in my life and has given us such a precious friendship.


Today is Cathy's birthday! She turned 25 years old...a quarter of a century. We started the celebration on Saturday with a surprise party at PF Changs. She was shocked! She thought Mary and I were just taking her out for an early birthday dinner...SURPRISE! Then, the second grade suprised her today with a party at lunch. Her students are so much fun! We had such a good day...I say we like it was my day too. :)


I love you Cathleen!! Your favoritest pal...Sarah Lauren.




Cathy's family at PF Changs...

So, I am not a UT fan but...

Yesterday, Cathy and I were just sitting at home when a friend called and said he had two extra tickets to a UT game. Neither one of us had ever been to a game before...it was a blast!!


We ended up parking about a 30 minute walk away...
this is what we saw for the entire walk.


Don't we look like orange blooded UT fans??


The marching band was awesome...as you can see...




Me...pretending to have a clue about football.


Our good friend Joe. We met him at the game. He is from Virginia and drove down with his wife and his daughter's family. We were sitting between Joe and his wife...and so were several other people...and offered to move so she could be with him, but he said it wasn't good for their relationship to sit together at games. :) We soon understood why. Haha!! Don't sit next to Joe when UT isn't doing well...just a suggestion.


The stadium after it got dark...can't you see how packed it was? The wave went around like 10 times, it was awesome!


The Pride of the the Southland was blocking the entrance to our seats during halftime.


Cathy and I at halftime, already exhausted. Right before halftime we walked to the other side of the stadium to see my uncle John who is and usher there. Then we walked all the way back to the student section to see Amanda Lapp and Nicole Sitter during halftime.

We had such a great time! My dad said it was okay for me to cheer for UT even though he is a Georgia Bulldog. Sorry, dad...not only did I cheer, but as you can see, I wore ORANGE!

By the way, UT won the game. :)

New Pics...

Here they are as promised. The cutest boys around...

Hiya Everyone...

Well, I have officially survived three weeks of school. I am stuck at home right now with strep throat. Two of my students were out with it this week...so it is definately going around. My class is so fun. I am enjoying my students and getting to know them so well. I have spent 112 hours with them, so it seems like we are family. :)

My brother's family will be here tomorrow. Get ready for lots of pics of the nephews. I just know they are so excited about seeing me...well, at least I like to think so. My parents just sent me the cutest video of Lucas talking on the phone. Of course it is just jibber-jabber, but it is adorable.

Here are some pics of my class...they are so fun!!!

A Quick Note...

Hello dear friends!! I hope you all are well. The Lord has been so good to me...just wanted you to know. School is still going great, I still wake up everyday and think..."is this really my life?" It is amazing.

Tonight, we had jail ministry and it was so good. Unfortunately, there were several ladies there who got out last spring...they got into trouble again. It is sad, but it is good to see them. We had a wonderful service together. It is funny how I go and pray that the Lord will use me and help me to be a blessing...and everytime, as I am leaving I think about how much of a blessing it was to me personally. I have much to be grateful for.

So, there is a rumor going around in my family that my brother and his fam are coming for a visit!! He is supposed to be here on Labor Day weekend...August 2 and 3 cannot come soon enough!!! This is definately something for the somewhat obsessed aunt to look forward to. :)

Well, until next time...

I am a teacher!!!

Okay, just thought I would write a quick note to let all of you know that I absolutely LOVE the first grade. The first two days have been wonderful. I still have a hard time believing that this is my new job! The students are precious and such a joy to teach.

Mary and Cathy have had a great time as well. It is so fun that we are all three teaching. They have been a great help to me...I don't really know what I would do without them.

Thank you everyone for praying for me. On my first day, I received so many sweet emails and text messages throughout the day. I am thankful that the Lord has given me so many friends who love me and are concerned about my life. I am truly blessed. :)

The Boys...

My brother Ben and his family moved to Columbus last week, so mom and dad went to help them settle in. They are now 2 hours away from one another...my mother's dream come true!! Gotta be close to the grandkids. :) Dad sent us a few pics of the boys. It is amazing how much they have changed since we saw them a month ago!! Oh, and just so you know...the can Lucas is drinking out of is empty...

First Grade...Here I Come!!!

Well, much has happened in my life...I am going to be teaching first grade at the Temple Baptist Academy this year. I am so excited. I love teaching children! Tomorrow is my first day of orientation. I have spent the last 3 days getting ready for school. Today, Cathy and I went to the teacher's center. We spent hours and hours scheming and creating...don't have much to show for it...but my intentions were good. I am planning on doing an aquatic theme throughout the classroom. I created this huge ugly octopus that is wrapped around a submarine...thought it was going to be soo cute...hmmm... Anyway, I think I am going to use if for my good work board.

Thank you all for your comments on Mary's post...even you Mary! I have never had so many comments. :) Yes, everyone loves Mary.

I hope you all are well. Till next time...love ya!!

Mary Elizabeth...

There is someone I can always count on in life to bring a smile...it's my sister Mary. Mary is my older sister...sometimes my mother (always looking after me). I just realized that I have not had any pictures of her posted and very rarely mention her in my posts.

Mary and I are 17 months apart and are pretty close...most of the time....well, you know the whole sibling rivalry thing. :) I can trust her with anything and know that no matter what, she will be honest with me. Our personalities are completely different, but our mindset is the same. I can look at her from across a room and know exactly what she is thinking.

The part about her making me smile...she is hilarious. Mary has a GREAT sense of humor. One of the funniest things about her is her lack of affection. When I was in England this past spring, I missed her sooo much!! One day, I decided to make a declaration of my heartache over a text message...telling her how I just felt like crying cause I missed her. Her reply was... I AM HUNGRY. Yes, that is my sister...Miss Affectionate. It made me laugh so hard and miss her even more.

For those of you who know her, you must agree she is completely crazy. Yes, crazy, but someone I respect greatly. She loves the Lord and has a great desire to serve Him with her life. She teaches fourth grade at the Temple Baptist Academy. She loves teaching and loves her students.

Mary, ummm....if you ever read this, I love you...and hope you don't mind the pictures I put up. :)

Yes, I am still alive...

Sorry it has been so long since I have posted. Honestly, nothing eventful has taken place in my life. Just waiting for something to happen I guess.

It is Pastor's College here and it has been a great week. Next week is teen camp...love teen camp. Brother Pauley is preaching and I haven't heard him preach at camp in a couple of years.

Cathy is coming back on Saturday. She has been on the farm for a month now. It is so weird with just Mary and I at the house...although we have had fun together. :)

I'll post as soon as I have something to write about. Love you all!!

A couple of years ago, I had a really bad day and I was talking to a friend about it. She encouraged me so much, telling me that it was a clay day. Clay days are days when everything seems to be going wrong no matter what you do...or when you have a humbling experience. That is when the Lord is molding and fashioning you into the Christian that He desires you to be.

Yesterday was a clay day for me. :) Not too bad...but it all started with the burnt cinnamon rolls that I made for my bus workers. Well, they weren't burnt, just a little more done that I would normally desire. From there, it was all downhill. Things didn't start to look up till later that afternoon. It is good for me to have hard times though...reminds me that I just have to rely on the Lord. I am so grateful that the Lord is still working in my life. He has a perfect plan in it all.

I am so ready for Cathy to come back to TN! I keep encouraging her to come back a week or so early, but to no avail. She is working hard on the farm. Miss her so much!

Tommy Sexton is here for teen camp this week. I am so excited! He is my favorite! Should be a great week.

Hope you all are well...

Hello to All...

I am at Mamaw's tonight. My parents are even here with Chester. Funny, just spent 1.5 weeks with them...and here they are again. Always good to spend time with them though...just glad this time Mary and I are in our territory. :) So glad that we have the 4th of July off. After two days back in the office...I needed a break! Just kidding, it has been so good to be back.

Pre Congress activities began on Monday. Two of my bus kids are coming for the whole week. They have had so much fun at the activities for the past two days. They also went to camp this summer and it is wonderful to see how the Lord is working in their lives.

Oh, funny story...in my teacher's club on Sunday, one of the girls taught about Samson and Delilah. Her name is India and she has only been to the club two times I think. Anyhow, she did such a wonderful job! She had studied the story so much and did such a good job at keeping everyone's attention. She was talking about how Delilah never really loved Samson, she just wanted the money from the Philistines...she said "girls, Delilah was just a golddigger!" It was so cute. We all laughed so hard! Really, I think the Lord is going to use her in such a great way, she has a strong desire to teach God's Word.

Well, I have rattled on long enough. Thought I would put up more pics of Lucas!! He is such a cutie. Oh...notice the new picture of Lance on the blog. He is adorable!

Till next time...

Pics

Okay, so I forgot my camera...well lost it actually. I had to borrow Mary's everytime I wanted to take a picture. Then I had to change it to my card...it was a little annoying...so I don't have very many pictures. They aren't that great either...cept the ones of Lucas. Poor Lance, didn't take any of him...whoops. Anyway...probably won't leave this post up very long since it takes up so much space. Love you all...and miss you lots!!!




Warning...the following are the most precious pictures on this blog!!!