Happy 4th of July!

Well... we finally made it! Craig will be home any time now from work and then we will get ready for a nice long weekend at the Lake with our friends! We are so lucky to have access to Lake Harmony. It is a gorgeous lake in the Poconos and our friends' parents have a place right on the lake! They have been willingly allowing all of us to us their place free of charge for years. This will be our first 4th and we have already been told that the fireworks on the lake are amazing! Lots of time in the sun, on the dock, and on the boat ahead! The best part of all will be seeing our niece, Keeley! We haven't seen her since January. She will be 1 in a couple weeks so those months without seeing her make a huge difference. She wasn't even crawling last time we saw her and now she is walking and getting into things. I just want to squeeze her! There will be pictures this time. I promise! Happy Fourth everyone!

Big Changes

Well... my cousin and her brood have come and gone. It was quite an experience. I think that it is going to be very different having our own children and dog roaming the house. It's always strange having people stay with you. Even if it is just for one night. BUT... I'm so happy they were here and I can't wait to see them again.

I took a big step last Monday... I resigned from my position at the church! I am no longer the Coordinator for Senior High Youth Ministry at Lord of Life... it's kind of bittersweet. I know that I did the right thing. There is absolutely no regret, but I do love my kids and I am going to miss them something awful! I will still see the majority of them at my job in the local high school, but it is very different to not be such a huge part of their lives and having them as a part of mine. I'm going to post a few pictures of some of the cool stuff we did this year. You know... just to make me feel a little guilty!

It's been a while

Well... I have been rather delinquent in my posting recently! A lot has been happening in our lives. My mom has been diagnosed with breast cancer, had a double mastectomy, and is currently halfway through her chemo treatments. I have had to worry about losing my job in a NJ public school because of budget cuts, and I have simultaneously had to care about all of the minutia that goes into working with special needs students without letting them know how much my world has been turned upside-down.

With all of this behind me now, I have seen that I really am much stronger than I ever knew. Amazing...

I have the greatest friends and family for support and guidance. So many of them have been great at listening or just helping to distract me when I start to get a little manic. The best friend of all, though, has been my husband. He really has been great at talking me through all of this (his mom had cancer about 5 years ago) and keeping things in perspective. He is one of the few people who knows the best way to talk me down from the ledge, so to speak. I love that man!

But now on to happier things! My cousin is coming tomorrow with her two girls!!! Abby has grown up so much since I last saw her in July. Evan is only a few months old so she is going to be a totally new experience for us in the house. I have done everything that I can think of to baby proof (or in this case toddler proof) the house. You never realize how dangerous you house is until there will be a curious 1.5 year old roaming around! I can't wait! SO for now, I will leave with this happy thought and hopefully have some pictures to post soon of all of the fun we'll be having this week!

All I Can Do is Pray!

So... I'm trying to pay it forward still.... Today my neighbor's burglar alarm went off and when no one shut it off, I called 911. I take this pretty seriously, especially since the hubster and I were robbed this year. I guess it's a start. In the meantime my professional life is in a tailspin! Education is taking a hit hard this year and the outlook is grim. A lot of my coworkers (and possibly myself) could be jobless! I have to remember that all I can do is pray and remember that everything happens for a reason.

Paying it Forward

It's amazing what an act of kindness can do to lift your spirits! I have been dealing with a very rough week, including a majorly flooded basement and several late nights at work. This morning there was nothing that I wanted more than a hot coffee to help me get my Friday morning started right. Of course, the fates were against me and my debit card was refusing to swipe. There was money there... it wasn't being declined... the line behind me was growing longer and longer and I was ready to abandon my lovely coffee and head to work before it was too late. All of a sudden, behind me I heard a voice. A very nice man handed the cashier $2 and told me taht he would help me out a buy my coffee... WOW! I didn't realize that these kind souls existed outside of the realm of fairy tales! I want to find a way now to thank this man by carrying on his act of kindness. Remember the movie, "Pay It Forward" ? I want to help three people with a random act of kindness the same way that this man stepped in and helped me. He doesn't even know how his simple act made my day! Thank God for good people!

Census-schmensus

Did you know that there is constantly being a census done? Neither did I... When I received a letter telling me that the hubster and I were living in one of 55,000 houses chosen for the census, I figured it was just a more in depth version of the paper one that we all do every 10 years. Wrong-o! The census lady was just here and she informed me that there are multiple censuses going on all of the time. We were picked to answer questions about our employment so they can tabulate their statistics for NJ's unemployment rate. There are also censuses for crime and other things that they feel they must compile statistics about. Who knew? She was nice enough... a little chatty, but I guess it's better than having her be miserable. Can you imagine... it would be like having the DMV come into your living room!
Now, mind you, I was in my sweats and make-up-less when she decided to ring the doorbell at this little slice of heaven. Normally I would look like the professional I am... or at least have brushed my hair... but I was tasked with staying on top of the continuing water problem from our Nor' Easter from this weekend. After my wonderful husband took care of it for three days and two nights on literally 3 hours of sleep, I figured I should step up and take a turn... Let's just say that 4 hours of sleep is not enough for anyone to feel civil.
As I sit here waiting until it is time for me to go back down to the basement to sop up more water, I am praying that we can BOTH manage to get at least 6 hours of sleep tonight... we shall see!

The Rain Rain Rain Came Down Down Down...

Well... The snow is finally all gone and the basement had dried up. For some reason the weather saw fit to dump 4 inches of rain on our little share of this earth. Basement is flooded again and the hubster spent the night switching between sleeping on the sofa and vacuuming water from floor. We should be used to this by now, but every time we think we have it figured out, the water comes in somewhere new... this time it is creeping into the finished part of the basement. My poor husband can't take it anymore and he is making threats against anyone who even tries to tell us that we have drought conditions this summer. I think that we need to plan a vacation... soon! Here's hoping for warm weather and sunshine to dry up the ground enough for us to finish the waterproofing this weekend! In the meantime... I'll pretend that I'm in a happy place... where even when it rains, happiness abounds... and my basement doesn't flood.

The Beginning...

Well... let's just make this clear right now! I'm new to this whole blogging thing. I have been thinking about it for a while now, but I never knew what I should write about. I mean, who really cares what I have to say. Besides, there are so many blogs out there already about food, families, and just plain weird stuff, that I thought, "Why bother!?!?" Well, here I am... blogging! Maybe I should begin by telling a bit about myself. Happily married for nearly 3 years to my husband and the mother of a wonderful little ball of fur, named Spencer. I work for a local high school and I am the youth director for my church. Both of these arenas give me the opportunity to meet a lot of new and interesting people... the most interesting of these would be the kids!

You know... kids really do say the darndest things! I am learning that more and more everyday. It doesn't matter how old they are. There is always some new, funny thing coming out of their mouths. I am blessed to work with a great group of kids with multiple disablities at the high school. The 12 of them (at least that's how many we have right now) are always ready to regail you with a story of their latest and greatest adventures, or their saddest feelings. It's endlessly refreshing to work with people who are so genuine all of the time... you rarely realize that people can have such innocence and compassion anymore!

I have also been blessed to work with the Senior High Youth Group at my church. These kids certainly keep me on my toes! Comprised mainly of teenaged girls in their Junior year of high school, I am the confidante and big sister that many are lacking. They're tough shoes to fill, but I do it because I, absolutely, love these kids! Don't get me wrong.... I have bad days. I want to quit, no one listens to me, I hate my job, I'm tired, I'm PMS-ing... whatever! But somehow, these kids keep me coming back for more.

Who knows what direction this blog will take from here? Maybe I'll tell you (whoever you may be) the tales of my students and youth group members... or I can brighten your day with the daily mishaps and missteps of a 20-something married woman who is still figuring it out... We shall see!