Housing update

Since my last post over a month ago we have lived among boxes and waited for closing day to arrive. Tomorrow's the day! We had hoped for last weekend...but after Saturday's all day downpour we realized it would have been a miserable moving day.

We'd appreciate prayers as we spend the next few days getting settled in our new home.

BIG birthday present :)

A little over a month ago Matt asked me what I wanted for my birthday. We both laughed as I said "a house." Here we are a little over a month later, on our way to buying our first house :)

We met with a realtor a few weeks back and thought it would just open the door to allow us to look at houses that we liked. 2 days later we looked at 3 houses. 3 days later we were putting an offer on the house. That evening our offer was accepted. Things have been moving along quickly as we look ahead to moving in the end of October.

View from the kitchen into the living room

Entry way--and a view into the dining room (which we'll probably make an office for now)

Living room

That's the big news for us :) We're excited to be entering this new adventure in our life.

first day

Overall, it was a wonderful day. I have a great group of students who are already showing eagerness to learn and excitement for 3rd grade. Their eagerness and excitement began to dwindle as the day wore on. Normally, I may take this rather personally...however I realize it was the near 95 degree temperature in the room that brought about the droopy eyes and sleepy heads. Tomorrow is looking to be more unbearable, although I think the ice pops I bought tonight may help :)

About 20 minutes after the students had arrived and were hard at work one of the boys called me over and told me in a soft voice, "Mrs. George, Thank you for our morning work. Thank you for being so nice. And, you are beautiful."

About 2 hours into the morning, after we had practiced our fire drill line up I gave my students about 5 minutes to go play on the playground. One of my girls ran up to me with her arms held out wide, looked right at me and proclaimed, "Has anyone ever told you that you are the greatest teacher EVER?"

Well...how can I not be excited for what this year has in store? I pray that God can use me to change the lives of each student whom he has entrusted to my care. Please pray along with me this year as I will undoubtedly face great challenges and even greater successes.

my classroom

I spent last week in my classroom preparing for the year ahead. Between last year being my first and the year's rocky start I never really felt good about the set-up of it all. This year I love it! Thought I'd share some pictures of where I spend a lot of my time...

This is the area to the right when you walk in the door. It is my writing center/sign in table/small reading carpet. I think this corner is my favorite space in the room :)


This is just a better view of my sign in table. I especially like my $2 fake plant :) There's another one by my desk.


This is the carpet area, straight ahead as you walk in the door. This is probably my 2nd favorite place in the classroom. Notice a trend? I enjoy the comfy reading areas :)


This is my desk area...I've still got some work to do here. But you get the idea. I have a window view :) Can you find the other $2 plant?

I have one more day of preparation before the kiddos come Thursday :)

why I do what I do...

http://vodpod.com/watch/970676-dalton-sherman-%E2%80%94-dynamic-speaker-extraordinaire

This is why I teach.

It's a longer video...but well worth watching. This boy was gaving the opening day convocation to 20,000 Dallas teachers.

Old Time Base Ball

Last Sunday we joined John and Amy for a day of base ball. It wasn't baseball the way we usually think of base ball. It was 1865 rules and attire.

I especially enjoy the touristy cooler :)

Amy and I enjoyed watching these two boys who would have fit right in with Laura Ingalls and her antics :).

They even had the little kids changing the score and outs.

a year ago...

Yesterday Matt and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary :) It is hard to believe that it's already been a year! This year has been filled with blessings, challenges and growth. I love going through life with my best friend beside me...it makes all of life's moments extra special.

This weekend we were able to get away to celebrate our year together. We were so blessed to have found such a wonderful bed & breakfast.
We arrived Friday evening to find the hosts and another couple sitting on the porch enjoying the view over Seneca Lake. We quickly settled our stuff and joined them for some porch sitting. We soon learned that the hosts were originally from Rochester area then moved to their vacation area to build this beautiful home. We also found that the husband was a former RIT baseball player. The baseball conversation took off as we continued to enjoy a relaxing evening. We woke up Saturday morning to the amazing smells of breakfast. The 4 guest couples gathered around the large breakfast table as our hosts served omelets, french toast, fresh fruit, scones and endless coffee. Matt and I mentioned that we were planning to go kayaking that day and before we knew it our host had already called and made kayak reservations for us.

We spent the next 3 1/2 hours enjoying the views of Seneca Lake as we kayaked a total of 8 miles. We were sore, but the time together, the beautiful views and the workout were totally worth it!
Sorry about the last picture...you do what you can when you need to use a pile of rocks for your camera stand and the only view of the lake looks directly into the sun.

We headed back to the bed & breakfast for some more porch sitting and a round of ladder golf before we headed out for an early dinner. Our hosts had suggested a restaurant on Keuka Lake with a beautiful view. They were right...it was a beautiful view...however, the food could have been a little less greasy. By this time we were ready to crash for good after our busy day. We went back for an evening of good conversation with our hosts and a few of the other couples.

Sunday morning we woke up to another amazing breakfast: egg casserole, pancakes, fresh fruit, banana bread and coffee. The weekend was perfect. If anyone ever needs a nice get-away place let us know...we'll gladly pass on the information. You can't beat the incredible hospitality and relaxation we enjoyed.