Recent Happenings....

Well, as many of you know.....we are now living in Canadian, temporarily for the summer! We were here less than 1 day and I already had Dish Network ready to install my T.V. I don't think Jaylee would have made it all summer without Max and Ruby! Ok, Ok, yes I needed TV too! Yesterday we made a fast trip to Amarillo, (it's like going to Abilene from Munday), to get some things to fix the vents on our trailer. For some, odd, stinky, reason, the vents were not working properly on the top of our trailer, so you would run the a/c and it would smell like sewage. Well, not only am I pregnant and hormonal, but I also can't stand bad smells.....so that was priority number ONE of going yesterday! We returned last night around 10:30 and Jeremy worked until midnight to get it them all to work properly! Now both a/c's work and it feels lovely in my house!


We also had to make a stop to return a TV that we had just purchased Sunday evening at Wal-mart. Being the bargain shopper I am, I settled for a display model TV on clearance instead of paying an extra $20 for the brand new, better brand, same size TV. Well, we get to our trailer Sunday evening and as I turned on a movie for Jaylee yesterday morning, it made this loud, obnoxious buzzing sound! Grrr!!! So that was priority number TWO of going yesterday was to get a different TV. As we encountered the service desk and Wal-Mart, one employee was very willing to work with us, being that we had the TV less than 24 hours, and the other employee was "Nope- sorry! Clearance means AS IS!" Well, persistent and pushy me insisted on them doing something, and they finally called a manager and she was going to do an even exchange... which was perfectly fine! I just wanted my TV.... I didn't need the box or the manual... I just wanted a TV! Well...as luck would have it...they don't carry that model anymore (DUH! That's why it was clearanced!) and I finally walked away and let Jeremy deal with it. The lady finally returned our money to us and my husband went back to the electronics department to buy the original one we set out to buy and paid the extra $20. So, my advice to all is sometimes it's just not worth saving a few extra dollars! That was a major pain in my rather large buttocks at the moment--- so don't always shop the red tags!


We then met up with our good friend who Jeremy works with here in Canadian. For protection, I'll remain anonymous with his name, but it was his birthday. We told him to meet us for dinner and we wound up meeting at Red Lobster. We had previously met at Cavendar's b/c Jeremy wanted to buy him something for his birthday, and he is rather picky, so we just let him pick out his present. We spent a little more than we intended, but something told me inside that there was a reason we bought those boots for him. As we started to dine at Red Lobster, he began to talk about how much he enjoyed Sunday lunch with our family and how he missed Jerry being there. (He admires Jerry--and had come home with Jeremy this past weekend--went to church and had Sunday lunch at Judy's house with us). As he went on to talk about his enjoyment of our family, he said how much he appreciated us buying us those boots. I told him that we appreciated him being such a good friend to Jeremy, etc. He then went on to tell me how his own father, whom he lives with, did not even wish him happy birthday. Then he then said that his own mother didn't even call to wish him a happy birthday. I wanted to burst out in tears right there.



God slapped me in the face so hard. I take so many things for granted, and I don't even realize it. I recently had a birthday to where I was spoiled rotten with many birthday blessings. (See post- My Many Birthday Blessings). I have all those people who went out of their way on my birthday to make me feel special, and yet, he had hardly anyone. I look at our life and see how Jeremy and I both have two mothers who go completely out of their way, bend their backs over, to make our birthday's special. And to not even have your mom or dad tell you Happy Birthday..... it breaks my heart. So, after having this conversation, I felt very blessed to have bought those boots for him and take him out to dinner. He needed us yesterday because he had no one. I am glad that God put us in his life and are able to bless him as others are a blessing to us.


"For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which god prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them"
Ephesians 2:10

Finally......SUMMER!

Summer is here and I am excited!!! I have been looking forward to this day since August 23rd! Yes, I do love my job and what I do within my job, but who doesn't love a 2 1/2 month paid vacation from your job. A time to spend every minute with your children and do things/projects around the house that you just don't have time to get completed throughout the school year! One of my favorite past times of summer is Reading. Give me a book during the school year and it will collect dust until Summer. I just can't seem to balance it all. So.... I save it all up for these next 2 1/2 months! I have 3 books on my list this summer, and although they are somewhat dated, they are definite must reads from what I have heard! The first one if to finish my Beth Moore book of So long Insecurity. I was halfway through this book last summer, then I went through my rejection phase and I probably should have continued to read it, but I couldn't. So I'll probably just start all over and tackle the thing that tortures all of us women- INSECURITY! Then-- my other two must reads are Josh Hamilton's book called Beyond Belief, and Heaven Is For Real by Todd Burpo. From what everyone has told me, both of these books are exceptional and I can't wait to begin!After I finish, I shall update my blog and give my thoughts!

Mmm!! Mmm!!!

Now THAT'S my girl! I never knew a toddler would love to lick a beater like my Jaylee Ray. Tonight I was preparing some fruit dip to take to school tomorrow for a joint baby shower, and she suprisingly waited patiently on me to finish, and as soon as I popped those beaters out of the mixer, she was waiting with open hands! I'd say she liked it!

It's that time of year......

Well, the time of year has come where the combines are loaded, trailer houses are hooked onto the service rig and pickup, and the boys are ready to pull out of town. I knew this day was coming, I just never knew it would hit me as hard as it did. I have known we aren't going on harvest for a while, but there was something about seeing it all loaded up, ready to go, and our trailer house wasn't there with the rest of them. Of course I am relieved to not be going for pregnancy reasons, but part of me feels lost. I never knew after just 4 years of going, that I would become so attached to such a different yet awesome lifestyle. I'm going to miss the weekend garage saleing, all the cooking and taking meals to the field, and getting to watch Jaylee ride in the trucks and combines with her boys!

I'll definitely miss the afternoon coke drive around town, trying to find the best ice in town! Oh and I for sure am going to miss all the "hand signaling" that goes on in the field day to day. I'm going to miss it all! Well, maybe not EVERYTHING. I don't think I'll miss moving day, and the bickering and arguing going on when we finally get to the next place and my trailer isn't level and I have to act like a not so nice person to get it levelled. I think more than anything I'm going to miss my mother and father in law. Both of them have been so good to Jaylee and I this past school year; we have become so attached to them! I know Jaylee will miss her Lolli and Pa! Hopefully the Dr will approve of us travelling a bit this summer and when Jeremy gets a weekend off we can go see them!

As for Jeremy,I know that if it's hard for me missing a year after 4 years, it has to be killing him inside. This will be Jeremy's 2nd time in 28 years that he will have not gone on harvest. So, although we are in a different place this summer, our hearts will be with Lowe Bros and missing (almost) every step of the way!

Success!

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths"

Proverbs 3:5-6

As many of you know, my school year started out with a much slump in my attitude. I was slapped in the face last summer with a big dose of rejection. I had truly never faced rejection as hard as I did for that situation. I felt worthless and unimportant. I felt that I was a horrible teacher and wasn't up to par to teach anymore. It was one of the hardest, most difficult times I had to face with myself. It was hard to go to the grocery store, post office, dollar store, etc just because I felt as if everyone in this town had labeled me with the same labels I had given myself. Not everyone in the public eye knew the dirty deal I was handed, but I knew there was a reason I had to go through that very situation. I finally one day, opened up my bible and just said "Lord-- I'm tired of feeling this way!" As I began reading....the above verse stuck with me. It's been my motivation from that day on. I knew that after dealing with that difficult situation, that something good and the understanding of why would come out of it, I just never knew when or what it would be.

It's been a hard past 10 months, with a very stressful class and load to handle. After 6 weeks of being completely stressed at work and at home since Jeremy was in Montana, on the Canadian border.... I also started to notice my frustrations being taken out on my child at home in the evenings. Everything was bothering me, I was an emotional basket case, and I wasn't being the loving, fun mother that I had aspired to be. So, I resorted to medication for OCD and what a lifesaver it became. I no longer felt worthless; I felt like a wonderful mother, wife, and teacher again. Lots of people are against medication, but I say that they make it for a reason, and it helped me wonders! But, along came another pregnancy, and I went off the medicine cold turkey. I still had no husband at home, still the stressful class, a terrible two toddler, and now hormone rages! But-- looking back I see that God handled it all for me. He wrapped his loving arms around our family and took care of us. God has been there for Jaylee and I this entire school year. Not many can deal with a husband being gone all week long, but somehow-- we made it. This is just part of my success out of rejection story....


So today came along and I knew that it was a day that probably wouldn't turn out well being that it was Monday morning, and knowing that Sunday night was the night that TAKS scores would be sent out. But I just told myself that no matter the outcome, I was still a good teacher and life would con tine to go on. My boss stopped by my classroom during our lunch session and said "I have your TAKS scores and they are AWESOME- AS ALWAYS!" I told her to "quit lying" because we had both prepared ourselves for the absolute worse this year. However, as I glanced at all the yeses and the few nos..... all I could do is remember that verse from back in August....... wow! He sure did show me the path..... he showed me today that I am still a good teacher, despite whoever thought this summer that I wasn't. I succeeded this year with 90% passing and 47% achieving Commended Performance (for those of you not familiar with standardized testing--commended performance is only achieved by missing 2 or less questions)! All day long, I have been so thankful and blessed for God showing me his path. He intended for me to continue teaching, whether it's here, there or Timbuktu! He showed me that something good truly does come out of something bad, it just takes some time to understand and realize. So I'll end today, with another favorite verse of mine....

"Give thanks to the LORD for he is good, his love endures forever" 1 Chronicles 16:34

Today's Devotional......

"Dear brothers and sisters; be patient as you wait for the Lord's return. Consider the farmers who patiently wait for the rains in the fall and in the spring.They eagerly look for the valuable harvest to ripen"

James 5:7

God has put dreams and desires in every person's heart. But most times, there's a season of waiting involved. But there is a right way and a wrong way to wait. Too often, when things don't happen to our timetable we get down and discouraged or anxious and fretful. That's because we aren't waiting the right way.

The fact is, we are all going to wait. It says we should consider how the farmer waits patiently and eagerly. We're not supposed to sit around discouraged; we're supposed to be hopeful, positive, and full of expectancy!



OK--- now for MY thoughts--- First off-- the person writing this devotional has NEVER been pregnant. Does he not know how hard it is to be PATIENT when your hormones are completely out of whack!? Ask my husband if I'm patient about anything, pregnant or not pregnant, and he'll be the first to straight up tell you- NO! Patience is something that I have struggled with my entire life. When I get my mind set to something, I won't quit working/doing until I get it done. Even if it requires help, I will nag the other person involved until the job is 110% complete.

Yesterday, we had lunch with a friend here in Canadian and I was still quite upset that I came "home" the night before to a dirty trailer house. I should have expected it being that I had not been here since Spring Break. However, I really really thought that since I was pregnant and hormonal, my husband would have went the extra mile for me, and made an effort to clean the trailer house- ha! WRONG! Anyways, during our lunch, the friend proceeds to tell of a horse/roping story from the previous evening, of which my husband was involved in. Well of course, this hit a nerve with me, and I proceeded to say that "oh so instead of scrubbing that nasty toilet, you chose to watch him rope instead?" Then my husband proceeds to lean over and tell the friend "Remember the pregnant and hormonal? Yeah- HEAVY on the hormonal!"

WHATEVER! I am not patient when it comes to not balancing out your time right and doing something that needs to be done! Am I wrong for thinking he could have been cleaning HIS nasty toilet or running a vacuum cleaner before we showed up!? He only had 3 hours to do so before we got there so time was not pressing! I know, I know, he's just a man! But when does that ever come into play for me as an excuse!? Do I ever get to NOT cook supper b/c I'm a woman? I'm about ready for us females to get to have some excuses and get out of things as easily as males do! So, as good as this devotional was to read.....it sure is hard to practice this when your hormones are completely out of sync!

Cantankerous Jeremy.......

So....if you were to look in the dictionary....and look up the word "Cantankerous" you wouldn't just see the definition in writing, you would also see a picture of my husband along with his father. These two boys drive me nuts with their cantankerous/crotchety ways. Just last week, my husband thought he might get a slight promotion to be the "main mechanic" for the company he works for. He was very excited and was somewhat reserved in case it didn't work out. But then, Monday rolls around, and they placed him at truck driving position instead b/c of a truck driver becoming ill and having to quit. So, he was the replacement, and no mechanic was hired. So he was grouchy, grumpy, griped all day Monday and Tuesday simply because, he can drive a truck on harvest and this wasn't what he wanted to do. I just kept telling him "be thankful you have a job in this economy!" So then.... yesterday rolls around...another day in the truck...started the day at 3:30 A.M. which made him even more grouchy, then he calls me yesterday evening and informs me that he just may have stuck his foot in his mouth! Upon asking what he was talking about, he informs me that they were standing around the shop yesterday evening, and he asked the boss who was going to replace the mechanic spot. The boss then goes to tell Jeremy that he didn't know-- and asked him if he wanted it! My husband said yes---he told him to be there at 8 this morning-- then he calls me all grumpy b/c he is the mechanic. CAN YOU SAY CANTANKEROUS?! Were we NOT just excited last week about this possibility of a promotion????? Then we get the job.....and now we aren't sure because "it's hot during the summer...it sure is nice and cool in my truck cab!"
OH MY HEAVENLY STARS! I just don't get him sometimes--- so--- I have just learned that he's "just like his daddy and his cantankerous ways!" As our conversation went on, I asked him what his plans were for this weekend. Being that we have an extra day this weekend at school, I offered to go see him.... but he then proceeds to tell me "Well I don't want to sit around the trailer house all weekend and no TV or nothing to do" I said, "OK--then come home Friday after work" He goes "But I don't want to drive home either....and besides...my trailer house needs cleaning" Well..... I was all fine and dandy with traveling this weekend to see him, until that last statement. I just said "We'll see you when you get home Friday" and hung up the phone! He wears me out some days! So..... stay tuned for Friday evening and I'll let you know who goes where this weekend.......