What's in a Name?

Apparently, quite a bit of thinking, debating, discarding.......

Meet the newest member of our family.  We just got her yesterday from the Humane Society, and are already quite in love with her.  She's a 7 month-ish old pitbull-beagle (peagle?!), super sweet, calm, and has already interacted with about 30 of my high school kids since we're in Homecoming week and we had to set up for our Luau last night.  (Then she went home with Husband before all the hundreds of students showed up.)

Anyway, we're struggling to find her name.  We've rejected bazillions.  Okay, that was a slight exagerration, but at least a dozen have been thought of and discarded.

Who do you think she looks like?

Today I'm linking up with Emily and others at Chatting at the Sky, for Tuesdays Unwrapped.  I'm celebrating the cutest little peagle in the world, who is currently asleep at home, waiting for me to get there and take her for a walk at lunchtime.

Picture This: Coffee Company 9/24

Picture this:

Who: 20 - 30 high school boys and girls, myself, and Husband

When: Tonight and Tomorrow

What: sleeping over in the school, playing Sardines, having a dance party, cooking breakfast, and working on pre-Homecoming decoration stuff. 

That's right, StuCo is having a lock-in tonight.  We'll get together here tonight, play a bunch of fun games, be silly, and eventually, go to sleep (boys in one room with Husband, girls in the other with me).  Tomorrow morning we'll get up and cook breakfast: pancakes, bacon, cereal, and fruit are on the menu.  Once we've cleaned up, we'll head to the cafeteria where we'll start painting, building, and doing other preparation tasks for next week's Homecoming Dance.  The more we do tomorrow, the less we do next Saturday, when we're here again (minus the sleepover).

Wish us luck!  (Especially Husband - this is his first lock -in. :)

And, for those of you who had trouble "picturing this," I will try to get some real pictures today and tomorrow and share them with you all next week!

Coffee Company 9/17

Hi Company Girls!

I was thinking of writing a new post for today, but I decided I really just wanted you to read what I wrote yesterday.  Last time I wrote about all the plates I have spinning, and was relatively stressed.  The last few weeks I haven't had time to blog, but came to a realization yesterday, and want you to hear about it.

"I haven't much time to blog these days, it seems, even though blogging is quite therapeutic and, often, gives me perspective. It opens my eyes to my life, to the world, to God. It even often brings me clarity and furthers my relationship with the One.


Yet, just like my paper-and-pen journal, my blog-well dries up in times of busyness or avoidance or stress....."

Click here for the rest of the story, and to see a gorgeous photo that Husband took.

The Ink-Well

I haven't much time to blog these days, it seems, even though blogging is quite therapeutic and, often, gives me perspective.  It opens my eyes to my life, to the world, to God.  It even often brings me clarity and furthers my relationship with the One.

Yet, just like my paper-and-pen journal, my blog-well dries up in times of busyness or avoidance or stress.  I've been doing a really neat challenge with my friend Carly, called 24-in-24, where several women are striving to spend an hour a day with our Lord for 24 days.  I knew that an hour a day wasn't going to happen, but as she wrote us the other day, it's our heart and our pursuit that matters.  "God isn't concerned with our perfection as much as our pursuit," she said.  And so I have, although not nearly for an hour, been spending time with Him, reading, praying, writing, for some time each day.  Yet I find that I'm a little stiffled, dry, and, to be honest, not connected like I'm hoping to be. 

I have always known that when my figurative ink-well is dry, often so is my spirit.  It runs low because of stress, or busyness, or disappointment, or hardship.  Yet I am convinced that, if I push through the dryness, with the help of my Maker and of my people, the other side will be quite beautiful.  And so, I'm back to blog, although I don't really have the time, nor anything much worth writing about, nor anyone who really reads me. 

I'm back to blog (as I continue my efforts to do 24-in-24 in my journal and here), because I know that the dryness will not continue as I continue my pursuit of the One.

And when the dryness is gone, this is what will be found.

Photo taken by Husband in Rocky Mountain National Park

Coffee Company 8/27: Spinning Plates

Catching up today with my Company Girls.  I've missed you!

I know that if you've read me at all (or if you know me IRL), you know I'm always busy.  In fact, I don't even really like to say the word busy, because it's kind of lost it's meaning.  Saying I'm super busy right now is almost meaningless.  But regardless, I'm...

...Pretty sure this is me.

Okay, not really, but it's a pretty good analogy of how I'm feeling.

The new school year has begun (we're at the end of the 2nd week), and while I have not yet dropped a plate (that I know of), they are spinning fast and I'm working hard to keep them in the air.

What, you ask, are my plates, this year?

1. My three in-person Spanish 2 classes and my one in-person Spanish 3 class.  Planning, grading, interacting.

2. My one online Spanish 2 class. Planning, creating content from scratch each week (audio, video, assignments, lessons, etc.).  Grading, interacting.  Yes, we do have to have interactions even with online school - I have a "Class Live" session each week where we all simultaneously log in and video, audio, or text chat and I explain things through a "whiteboard" we can all see.  And we email A LOT.

3. My one don't-get-paid-for-it-but-still-have-to-plan-it-and-grade-it Independent Study Spanish 4 class with three students.  Never have taught Spanish 4, so I'm creating that curriculum as I go, and they come in during my planning period every other day for a real class.

4. My Student Council class, which involves planning of leadership lessons and activities, getting ready for our big leadership retreat next weekend, and, of course, coordinating and attending the events we put on at the school and help at.  I used to have a co-sponsor, and we did all the work together, but this year I'm on my own.  It's going great, by the way - I love the kids - but it is a lot to think of.

5. Youth group sponsor.  I had taken a year and a half off to do grad school, but got sucked back in when our youth pastor starting doing small groups, which I really resonate with.  That means Sunday nights, when I would love to just rest and gear up for the next week, I go to church and interact.

6. Club sponsor for a group called Friends of Rachel, planning and attending meetings.

7. Needing to keep my house in some sort of order.

8. Would love to find time to be healthy, exercise, cook.  (see my post at http://www.theskinnybs.blogspot.com/) to know read my failure at this.

9. Need to spend time with my family, as my parents are dealing with some really hard stuff.

10. Still taking care of my horse after he had impaled himself in May - it's going better, but he needs to be walked at least every other day.

11. Being in a small group where we're reading Francis Chan's "The Forgotten God" and doing life together.

12. Discipling two high school students from church, separately.

13. Spending time with the students I've had in previous years who hang out in my room at lunch and during all breaks because they need me and love me.

14. Oh, and it might be nice to see my husband once in a while.

I'm hoping that once I get into a better routine, I will find a little balance..... but for now....

Here's to not dropping any plates!

What is on your plate in this season? 

Love - Hate

Rarely do I entertain a love-hate relationship with anything - I'm more of a one-way-or-the-other kind of a gal (and I'm hard pressed to think of many things I hate...... it's more like I just feel strongly about them).

But today I recognized one significant love-hate relationship in my life.

I love-hate the first day of school.

I love it, you see, because after the summer, I'm ready to start teaching again.  I love teaching.  I love the first day because I see a lot of my super-cool high schoolers as they come up and are excited to see me, no matter whether or not they love Spanish.  I love it because soon, we'll get into the groove and really have a class-bond and be having fun while learning.

I hate it, you know, because on the first day kids stare at each other and you with this sort of dead-still tired from summer-I don't really like school look.  There is this weird silence and awkwardness accompanied by some sneaky whispers of the few people who know each other.  And I hate it when you don't know any of your students, because then the rapport isn't there and they aren't quite ready to embrace my kooky-ness just yet.... and all of my classes are new-to-me-students this year.

But I love it, because tomorrow we'll jump into things.  We'll start to get to know each other and laugh and be silly and be serious and work and play.  It'll be good. 

Oh, and I hate how exhausting the first day is!  Whew, I'm tired.  Thank the Lord for a comfy bed and hopefully a good night of sleep tonight.

What do you love-hate? 

Getting Going

I keep thinking today is Monday... I guess that's because my schedule has been all screwed up. Last week I went to our state Student Council camp, which was four intense, jam-packed, emotionally charged, laughter and tear-filled awesome days.  They were so packed, though, that each day felt like at least two days.  I felt like I was at camp for at least 7 or 8 days, then.  Saturday, then, my sister and I went up to a huge music festival called Heavenfest (nearly 100 bands, outdoors, noon to midnight).  Fun, but not a normal schedule thing.  And then yesterday, the real Monday, I went to a water park with our junior high and high school youth groups, spending the day riding the attractions and lounging along the lazy river.

So today feels like Monday.  But it's an okay Monday, I think.

I do have two meetings at school this week, but my main focus is going to be getting my house ready for the school year, because if I start out with it in disarray or dirty, it will be a bad thing.  I mean, a bad thing.  So rather than consider how bad, I'm going to get to cleaning and organzing.  Not in that order, probably.  I've made a list - which rooms I'll do which days - so I just need to get off the blog and go get started.

But first, this week I also want to jump start the other parts of my schedule that are super important - time with my Maker, and time getting exercise.  If I don't start those off on the right foot, it will be hard to get started later.  All summer I've thought, "surely I can get those things under control since I have more flexibility in my life during the summer"- but I guess I do better with some structure in my schedule, because I haven't gotten them figured out yet.

So here's to a schedule this week - may I stick to it and start with a happy house (which makes me happy and sane) and healthy habits.