Whitworth University!

New Whitworth University students and their parents began flooding the campus today, moving in and getting to know the beloved WU! It made me very nostalgic -- after finishing my degree two years ago, I love being on campus and I'd love to become a dorm mom!!

David started at Whitworth a few weeks ago, taking teacher certification classes. I'm starting on Thursday with "The Structure and Development of the English Language." I realized I only have ONE class to take to finish my Reading endorsement and eight classes to finish my English endorsement. Time to get cracking and make myself more marketable in the teaching field. The English endorsement would be for 5-12 grade so I actually could teach middle school and high school.

I still don't have a full time teaching job, but I do have a half day assignment on Tuesday at my favorite school in the entire Spokane area -- Ridgeview!

My parents are arriving on Monday afternoon and we're taking them to Anthony's for dinner. They're on their way to Wisconsin and parts of the US farther East. They'll be leaving the same time I leave for school on Tuesday. The poor beagle boys will have gone from having company for the past two weeks to being back in their crates for a half day!

Hope you have a great rest of your Labor Day weekend~ enjoy lots of coffee!!

Gratitude Friday

Hello! Whew, I made it with about 45 minutes to spare for my Gratitude Friday list. I am, in fact, drinking a Starbucks vanilla latte right now as I type this out. I can go get you one, too, if you'd like. There's a 24 hour Starbucks just a little bit away...what would you like?

My Gratitude list...

1. the ability to LAUGH! We had Mud Pit this week at camp and boy, did I get m-u-d-d-y! Stay tuned for pictures.

2. time to relax! While the rest of the camp was floating down the river on inner tubes, three of us floated on this big yellow float thing (it was round) and it took about an hour to go from the bridge back to camp. We stood up on it (and didn't tip!), we suntanned, we laughed, we just looked off into the distance and contemplated life or took time to be quiet. We decided we should do it every day.

3. my friend Robin! She was hired today by a school district in Anchorage. She and I have been friends since I started in the Whitworth cohort. Robin leaves on WEDNESDAY to start her new job the very next day. I will miss her dearly. She's been a great friend and support. Thank goodness for email and texting!

4. flip flops! I have been wearing different shoes at camp because of safety when we're doing the challenge course. I had some other cool slip ons that I LOVE when I'm off duty but I was getting a thick line of white on my feet. So I've switched to flip flops (good ones, not the 2.99 type!) to get a thinner white line. A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do to have an even tan line...white feet look funny.

5. time to look, in what seems "FOREVER", for a teaching job! If I had tons of major responsibilities around the house besides three cats, three dogs and a hubby, I wouldn't be able to spend this much time in front of the computer. I did turn down an international job in Baku (google to find out what country it's in!) because of lots of reasons. I won't say anymore but please pray that something opens up here in WA State. I am getting discouraged as it gets closer to start time for school.

Alrighty, it's been a pleasure to sip a Starbucks with you late into the late hours of Friday night. Hope you have an excellent weekend. I have NOTHING planned this weekend and since I've been experiencing a bit of vertigo and some other weird symptoms, I'm going to lay low. You can pray that the extreme heat hasn't made my MS flair up....I'm going to be bummed if this is what it's all about!

Share your gratitude list here with the group....check out the rest of Company Girl Coffee and see what Home Sanctuary has posted for us to do with the Small Things in Life.

ps Pictures are coming tomorrow!!

Gratitude Friday

Good morning, friends! Grab a big mug of hot Starbucks coffee and join me in Gratitude Friday. I will be doing most of the listening in our conversation today because I have a very non existent voice! I taught Kindergarten yesterday and between the full day of talking with kids & the allergy problem there's zero voice. I'll share on here, though, what I'm thankful for this week!

1. cousins coming to town! They actually arrive this weekend so we're scrambling around the house, making it guest ready. Jean and Geoff are from the Vancouver, BC area and we had so much fun the last time they were with us. I have wonderful memories with my cousins growing up! Glad they are visiting again so soon.

2. time off from teaching to walk the Beagle Boys. It's not my favorite thing to do, to have time off from work because it means no paycheck. But since I didn't have many jobs this week, I was able to take the dogs on very long walks, benefitting all of us. You can see pictures of our last walk if you scroll back a day or two! The weather has been so nice that it's been great to be outside.

3. stories in the Bible that remind me that everything is going to be okay! Getting older, I'm getting more in tuned with my body and that includes those dreaded monthly periods. I finally went to the dr about a month ago and I got checked out to see if I have fibroids because things have just been horrible for me each month. I started on a new medicine to help with the cycle and boy, has it messed with my system! I am starting to relate to the lady who bled for 12 years. If I just had faith to touch the hem of His garment! Time to make sure I spend time with the Great Physician, plus call the regular dr to see what we can do to make things go a tad bit smoother. Ever try to teach when you need the restroom about every hour?!

4. this morning, I'm thankful for my cup of coffee! It means I get to spend time with Company Girls, seeing what's new in their lives this week. It's also very frosty and foggy on this Friday so the coffee mug is warming up my hands.

5. the opportunity to go back to Whitworth University yesterday and share about my experiences as a guest (aka substitute) teacher! I think the neatest thing was to be able to remind them that teaching is our mission field, whether we get to share Jesus directly or not. But it's our actions and love that we show the kids which also shows Jesus' love. I reminded the soon to be graduates of the Evening Teaching Certification program that my motto is "If I give the best of me, that becomes my legacy!", no matter which class or school or school district I'm teaching in. I also shared that I pray for my students when I'm putting their chairs down or washing their tables off. It makes a world of difference to take Jesus into the classroom with me!

Time to get ready to teach Kindergarten again today! Remember, I have no voice so it should be quite interesting. Would you just say a prayer that the day goes smoothly? thanks!! be sure to leave your gratitude list so we can rejoice over your blessings, too.

This and That

It's a rainy Sunday night. I've had a busy day so I thought I'd share a smidge with you.

I had a super bad headache since Friday and when I woke up this morning, it was finally gone. I tried almost everything to get rid of it. I didn't even go to church last night because I knew that the beat of the drums and the bass would make my head hurt worse! Thank goodness for extra strength Tylenol and a nice comfy bed to snuggle into to sleep.

I took time this morning to go shopping. I bought clear storage containers for my walk in closet. I seriously need 9-1-1 Housekeeper or an Organizing Coach to help me with this "room." I have teaching stuff in there, Christmas, rubberstamping, all seasons of clothing, shoes, kids' momentos, pictures, etc. WHAT A MESS!! Plus the two dressers and David's clothes when I allow him the room! :)

The gym and I became friends again. I did three miles on the treadmill. My foot doesn't hurt at all so I think I might be okay for the half marathon. I loved being back in the gym with my new earphones, listening to great Christian music. Definitely uplifting!

I worked in the closet for a bit. It was a little overwhelming but I also got some items ready to take to Disneyworld. I am determined to have NO turtlenecks or heavy sweaters with me. If it snows while I'm there, I'm going to cry!!!!!

Then I zipped over to the mall to look for a new suitcase. Check this out....a Liz suitcase, orginally $200 and I got it for $19!! WOOOHOOO~

Robin met me at the mall and we had Starbucks at Barnes and Noble. It was nice to get caught up with her. We called our other two Whitworth girlfriends and left voice mail for them. I miss being able to spend time with each of them. So, I try to call at least once a week, email, or stop by their homes for random things.

Funniest thing tonight is that I stopped in at Victoria Secret's to browse...always looking for cute essentials. Anyways, I tried some lotion on my hands, not realizing that it has SPARKLES in it. I really like the lotion... it smells great!!!! I might just have to get some anyways and remember it's for at home only. ::::smiling:::::

Now that I'm home, I'm enjoying a glass of wine as I type this. It's a definite "this and that" type of blog posting.

Happy Sunday night, everyone! And in honor of Paul Harvey, "stay tuned for the rest of the story!"

Project 365 update!

Jan 19 Ian's new computer toy

Jan 20 frost on the cherry tree

Jan 21 Whitworth University on a very cold afternoon

Jan 22 a bit of spring inside my house

Jan 23 guest teaching classroom

Jan 24 Bear Paw Camp's view of the Pend Orielle River

What have you?

I always like the part of the staff meeting where the principal says "What have you?" Kinda like cleaning up house and what's left to say. It's my turn to talk! :)

Today's "what have you's" are:

• I made the phone call that was part of my homework from the series "One Month to Live". It was one of the hardest things ever. Especially since it was to my mother-in-law. I took alllll week to make the call. I finally picked up my cell phone when I was in the Safeway parking lot and knew I had one day left. (Did you know that I am a professional procrastinator?) I ended up just asking if we could start our relationship over again and be friends. I felt like she didn't like me and I've been part of this family for 25 years. She told me she had no hard feelings against me but never could put her finger on what caused us to be like strangers. I didn't go into exact details because there are definite reasons but this wasn't the time to share. I just wanted to take that first step. So, we've turned the page and started afresh. We'll see what happens in the mother-in-law/daughter-in-law arena next!


• Results from my 100th post giveaway: The winner of the Starbucks' card is JyLnC! Congratulations to you and send me your snail mail address so I can get it in the mail! Thanks to everyone for sharing your gratitude thoughts with me. I am thankful for you.


• I have continued to workout every day (2x each day!) at the gym. While on the treadmill, I have my MP3 player on and have the fast inspirational songs turned up LOUD while I'm running or walking. (fyi: slow songs aren't very good motivaters!) I wrote earlier that I'm at 172 lbs and not liking where I'm at. However, one of the songs by Big Daddy Weave talks about that He loves me just the way I am! He's ever patient, accepting me, committed to the process of making me more like Him. He loves me just the way I am, not just when I'm good enough, not when I clean up my act, not when I cross the line for the thousandth times. His grace is enough.


• Siestas Memory Team. I was sharing with Melissa about the verse we're memorizing for these two weeks. I'd told her that I've been writing down a daily verse, too, and it was amazing what I'm being shown each day. She posted this on my blog "The Word of God can really cut deep into our lives, can't it? After all, it is 'sharper than any two edged sword. It penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow: it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.' Hebrews 4:12" Thanks, Melissa, for sharing that verse with me! Exactly where I'm at....thoughts and attitudes.


• I think that's the bits and pieces of my brain today. Mr. York and I are headed to watch the Whitworth University men's basketball team take on Pacific Lutheran Univ tonight. It's Alumni Night so I'm excited to see friends and root on my favorite team! Go, Whitworth!!

Coffee and Friends!

Good morning, girlfriends! I am headed over to Starbucks this morning to meet with my beautiful friend Polly for a venti, non-fat, extra hot vanilla latte. It's an early morning meeting because she is headed to work. (and I'm headed to the gym!) It's been awhile since we've connected and I can't wait to see her. I'm so grateful for Polly and her friendship. She's a Whitworth University 2007 graduate just like me. I absolutely could not have finished my degree without Polly and the rest of my fantastic teaching cohort! Polly and I been through a lot together and she's always an encouragement to me, even when she thinks she isn't. We're both learning to trust in Him!

Take time today to reach out to someone you haven't connected with lately...you'll be glad you did!

2 Corinthians 3-5 (The Message) says "All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah! Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us. We have plenty of hard times that come from following the Messiah, but no more so than the good times of his healing comfort—we get a full measure of that, too."