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Saturday, September 26, 2009

Quick Trip

Last weekend I made a quick trip to Georgia. The family was getting together to celebrate Grandma's birthday. Just like Papa, Grandma wanted to get together with family and friends and just sing. So, after supper everyone met at Central's fellowship hall for an evening of singing. All but one of my aunts and uncles were there along with Mom, my cousin Josh, my sister Emily, and myself. Many of our family’s friends also joined in. We sang for hours! My Aunt Cheryl even recorded us. Around 10:30 (I think) we headed back to the house and spent the next few hours just visiting and playing games (something our family has always loved to do while at Grandma and Papa's).
Saturday morning the family joined back up for a pancake breakfast! It was SO much fun just to spend time with family (sometimes I really miss being close by). My cousin Heidi and her family were able to come. I love getting to hang out with them...especially her little boys!


Here is E with his car track. He was so proud of it!

E also got in on the Bananagram action! When his daddy got there they played against Mommy, Aunt Cheryl, and Mimi (my cousin Heidi's mom, my Aunt Nancy). O wanted to take pictures with me.




If you haven't heard...my big sis is expecting! You can really tell in this picture, but in person she is an adorable pregnant lady. After we took this picture, we headed to Target with Mom to get her registered! Baby Gill will be here around March 20th!


Like I said earlier, this trip was VERY quick. On my way to Georgia Citty, Brendan's grandmother, passed away after a long battle with cancer. I headed back home Saturday afternoon, but not before picking up a nail in my tire. Thankfully I found a tire repair place where both of the men that helped me were from south Alabama! Couldn't believe it!
Once I was on my way I dealt with some heavy downpours, but safely made it home around 8pm cst. Brendan and I spent Sunday afternoon getting ready to head to Louisiana for Citty's funeral. I'll save that for another post.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Whew...

What a great Lord's Day! College Avenue hosted the local Area Wide Devotional this evening. We held it at Camp Wiregrass. Eric Lyons came and spoke. We usually have around 150 teens and chaperons at these monthly meetings...but today we had a total 230 attend! Praise be to God! What an uplifting time! I was too busy to take pictures (well, besides 2). Sorry. Hope all have a WONDERFUL week!

Busy Busy

This past week was, again, busy. As much as I loved having Monday off, 4 day work weeks are so hectic; you still have to get all the same stuff done that you normally do in 5 days. However, I did like how fast Wednesday got here!
I always appreciate Wednesday evening Bible study, but I especially appreciate it when the week is so full. God knows we need to slow down and spend that time with our brothers and sisters in His word. Right now I'm doing a study with the girls using the Girl to Girl devotional book. For the first two weeks we've talked about how to strengthen our commitment to God. And lets just say, I'm am one of those teachers who learns by teaching. What a blessing it is to be apart of their lives. Soon I'll be doing a study with some ladies around my age here at home. This will be every Tuesday. I'm getting excited about that time too!
On Friday evening Brendan and I went to the Enterprise football game. It's nice to spend that time with him. We sat with the Enloe's, a great family from College Avenue. This was the first high school game Brendan and I had been to since he was on the sidelines with Coach Strunk. I did find myself really missing Kathy and Jana Beth.
Yesterday Brendan and I worked to get things ready for today's Area Wide Devotional that College Avenue is hosting. He and I will be leaving in about an hour to go out to Camp Wiregrass for this big activity. We've shopped and are preparing to feed between 150-200 people! Brendan was able to get Brother Eric Lyons to come and speak. We've gotten LOTS of help from families at College Avenue which is such a blessing. I'll do my best to take some pictures to share. As of now there is a 50% chance of rain. We're optimistic that this will decrease (it already has once!) and if it doesn't...we'll I'm sure we'll still have a great time spending time with Brothers and Sisters from around the area, worshiping God, and eating some good food.
In other news, please be in prayer for our families. As many know my grandfather, Fred Shields past away July 5th of this year. Well, my grandmother, Sibyl, will celebrated her birthday this Wednesday. She's been a bit lonely and I'm sure should would love the extra encouragement as this day approaches. I will be going to Atlanta to spend time with her and other family for this special day. Also, my other grandfather, Gerald, passed away Sept. 1st. My grandmother, Joan, has been grieving his death while battling her own health problems. Lastly, Brendan's grandmother has stopped her treatments for Leukemia. His mother has gone to be with her while we wait for her earthly departure. With all that said...please keep all of us in your prayers.
Must run now...

Monday, September 7, 2009

Football!

We were so excited about the new year of college football starting. We were able to have Daniel, Leigh, and Madeline (their dog) over to grill out and enjoy some Auburn football this past Saturday. Here are some pics from the day.

New School Year

School started back around a month ago. It's been hetic, but gone pretty well. I have 16 students this year; 10 boys and 6 girls. By the end of this month, I'll have one less. That's what happens when you live and teach in a military community. I'm almost done with my 1st 9 weeks required conferences which is a relief. I'm getting the swing of the new room, new schedule, but not all my new responsibilities. I was named our grade level chair, a member of the BBSST which in turned put me on the ELLC, and was named the AMSTI Math Lead Teacher. Not sure what my responsibilities will be for that last one, but a bit anxious to know.

Here are a few pics of our AMSTI Science Soil investigations so far:

Please excuse the blue mouths in this picture. We had some cupcakes brought in for a birthday treat and EVERYONE ended up with blue teeth, mouths, and some even ended up with blue faces!

Why is it?

Why is it that I feel I can only do something right when I give it 100% of my time? And then I feel as though I'm slacking on being/doing something else? Is this my biggest character flaw? Maybe so. Saying that to say this...I'm going to blog about the small things in life. I did name my blog "Enjoying Small Town Living" for a reason. One of the best things about small town living is all the small blessings!