Officially on Break

Today officially starts my Christmas break! Yah! I slept in until about 11 am which I did not feel guilty about at all, then I met Bryan for lunch, and shopped in the pouring rain all afternoon. This evening I have been wrapping presents and baking fruitcake cookies. (I always bake fruitcake cookies for my dad during the Christmas season.) It has been a wonderful day! Bryan, Sophie, Bella, and I are leaving for Jackson tomorrow to spend a few days with our families.

Reindeer Fun

Last night we had our small group Christmas party and we had a great time! We had a wonderful dinner and then we played "Dirty Santa." Last year there was a metal reindeer tealight candle holder that was introduced into the game and Jo Ellen and I battled over it until she finally succeeded in getting it. The reindeer is so silly and odd that it is actually somewhat desirable. Well, last night the reindeer appeared again. It was stolen from Bryan by Kelly and then I stole it from her and then Bryan stole it back from me. I think he has also grown attached to the idea of having it for a year. There is only one unspoken requirement about this strange object. It has to stay out all year because that was what Casey and Jo did and then it has to reappear next year. I think a small group tradition has begun! Here are some pictures:

Here is Jo and her farewell to the beloved reindeer.

Our Small Group

The reindeer in its new home.

Owl Patrol

Early yesterday morning as I was getting into my car to leave for school I heard an unfamiliar bird call. I am used to hearing the birds sing every morning but this one call I had only heard on tv or on the internet. I heard an owl. Now I absolutely love owls to death, but I also know that owls that live near your house can be very bad for small pets. I looked around at all the trees and saw nothing so I got in my car and left. When I returned home it was almost 4:30 so the sun was already setting and it was getting dark fast. I got out of my car and decided I would stand in the driveway just to listen for any more hoots. All of a sudden I heard one right after the other and I glanced up to the tree behind our fence and there were two very large owls sitting on different branches. This was very cool but very bad. I have heard about several people losing their Yorkies because owls came and snatched them up. With Bella being smaller than a rabbit, I figured we needed to go on owl patrol. As soon as Bella and Sophie were out the back door wandering around I began to keep a close eye on the owls. They were just glaring down at my girls. I hurried them into the house and for the rest of the night went with them outside to protect them. I tried to capture a picture of the owls but it was already too dark for my camera to get a good shot. You can see two blobs in the picture. One is pretty apparent but the other one is near the bottom of the picture and is a little smaller. If you click on the picture I think you can zoom in on them more. I will try to get another picture earlier this evening that will hopefully be higher quality. I am afraid the birds are going through a mating ritual and might be around for a while so we are going to call animal control to see if they can help with the situation. We want our dogs to be safe in the backyard and have the freedom to go out unattended to play. My dogs will always come first, but it also sure is neat to see one of the coolest kinds of birds in the backyard.

Winding Down

The semester is finally winding down and thankfully I only have one small assignment left to do. I have worked very hard this weekend on completing two huge assignments and I am now finished with them. Bryan's parents came to visit us Friday evening and Saturday. We enjoyed a nice dinner at Montana Grill, one of my favorite restaurants. Today, Bryan went to the Titans game today and game back feeling horrible. I think the change in weather, a long ride in the back of a van, and too much junk food at the game made him sick. I have been trying to comfort and help him while I have been working on my assignments. Luckily he gets the day off tomorrow because he has to take another vacation day. He gets to have from the 20th until the 2nd off because he did not take any vacation days this year. I am excited because that is the same vacation I have from teaching. I don't know what we are going to do with all that time off together but I know it will involve as much relaxing as possible.

Our house is finally decorated for Christmas and for those of you that are unable to visit us for Christmas this is what you would see if you could drop by:

The Annual Water District Christmas Party

Last night we attended the annual Warren County Water District Christmas party. This party is held every year at the Convention Center and is usually pretty nice. When we first started going to these parties, they were a little boring because we did not know anyone. Over the past three years we have made many friends and they aren't quite so bad anymore. The evening usually starts with some mingling and then dinner, followed by an awards ceremony, and then dancing and more mingling. We had a good time and we even danced one song. I like to dance, but Bryan, not so much, so one song was all I got out of him. I was only able to get one picture and it just so happened that Bryan was just finishing saying something so he wasn't actully smiling. Imagine that!

Thanksgiving in Branson, Next a Week Without a Voice, and Finally Trying to Finish a Semester that Thank the Lord is Almost Over

Well, first I would like to post some pictures of our Thanksgiving in Branson. We had a good time spending time with Bryan's family. We stayed in two very nice places and Bryan captured some lovely views of the scenery. The first place was a resort called Paradise Point and then we moved on Friday morning to a complex called Branson Landing that was right in the middle of a shopping center. It was so cool! The second place had a cool water and fire show every hour.

The view from Paradise Point.


Our room was one of those on the left.

The water show from our room.

The big water and fire show during the evening.

While I was gone, I forgot my medicine for my sinus infection. I started to feel really bad on Sunday and took my medicine as soon as I returned home. I went to school on Monday and noticed I was losing my voice. My throat was not sore anymore but I seriously was sounding like a man. Tuesday morning I woke up without a voice at all. I could not even whisper. It was very strange. I had to get Bryan to call into school for me because a teacher is not much good without a voice. Wednesday I still had to whisper but I returned to work and used a lot of hand gestures and the kids were actually very good. They were all very concerned and it was so sweet. Thursday and Friday my voice would go in and out and at times I was very squeaky. I have never lost my voice before and now that I have, I never want to do it again. People look at you weird if you whisper everything to them. I still have some sinus issues but the medicine is helping more and more each day.

I am thankfully drawing my semester to an end. I have been working on all the big assignments that are always due near the end of the sememster. I have never been more excited about a winter break than I am right now. I have about four more assignments to do and then I will be done. Yeah!!!!!

Behind in my Blogging

Well, around half of a month has passed since my last blog. I am definitely behind! There is no way to catch up and tell all the things that have been going on, but I will fill you in on some of the details. I have been busy with school as usual and I have officially switched from a non-thesis Master's degree to a thesis degree. I know I am crazy but I have had some conversations with my professors and believe it is the right choice. I have always truly wanted to work at the college level and also do research but once I started looking into the Literacy program at WKU, I thought I would not be able to go beyond a Master's degree in that area. Although that is true, I have two other options for a doctoral program. I could either pick up everything and move to Lousiville to pursue a PhD in Literacy, which is not going to happen, or I could drive to Tennessee State University and attend seminars on weekends to obtain my degree. I am planning on that one for now, but the other night I found out something even better. TSU is looking for instructors in the area of Literacy and if I am teaching there I would get a break on the tuition. As soon as I get my Master's degree I can apply to work there and luckily I have already really been blessed with some great connections to help me get a job there.

I am currently sinking in pool of homework. It would not be a big deal if I was not teaching full time, working part time with adult readers, and trying to be a good wife, but I am making things work. I had to take my first personal day this year just to catch up on my Master's work. I got caught up for one day. :) I actually stayed home today too, but I had a doctor's note. I went to the doctor yesterday because I had a sore throat. It ended up being a sinus infection but I had a bump inside my nose. My friend had MRSA staph infection from a bump in her nose and so when I told the doctor I had been around her, she gave me a really strong antibiotic and told me I shouldn't go back to school until after the weekend. I am supposed to watch the bump to see if it gets worse, but so far it is still just the same. It is sore but I am not too worried about it. I was very thankful for the doctor's excuse though. I have just taken a break. I am going to be busy for the rest of the weekend trying to get as much homework done so that I can somewhat enjoy our Thanksgiving break in Branson, Missouri. Although I will be trying to do some work during the break, I hope to enjoy getting away for the first time this year. I absolutely love Thanksgiving!

Bryan is doing really well with his photography business. I can't believe how successful he has become just doing a hobby. He is staying busy which is good because otherwise he would just be sitting at home alone a lot. He has also really been trying to help out around the house. I think our Tuesday night marriage study with our small group is helping. We have also been reading a book called UnChristian together which has really been great. I read it out loud and he listens and then we discuss what we have read. We have done this before with required readings but not just with a book we both wanted to read. It has really been great. We don't get to read as often as I would like, but we try to read a little bit every few days.

Last weekend I experienced my first tailgating ever and my first WKU football game. I was a little unsure of what exactly I was supposed to do while tailgating. There were people everywhere. We visited and chatted with some of our former small group friends that were visiting for WKU's homecoming and then we hung out with two couples that we knew from Bryan's work. I was fascinated by the football experience. I hate sports, but I like the environment at sporting events. I like observing all the people and the things that are going on. We ended up losing the game, but it was a great first football experience at WKU.

I hope to post more often, but just in case it is another half of a month, I will try to take notes. :)