Saturday, May 31, 2008

Headed home...

Tired of conferencing... headed to IKEA and then coming home! Stayed out too late downstairs with other nerds... very tired with headache... hope IKEA is worth it.... Will post later...

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Austin, TX

I think I'm a nerd! I know this might be news to some of you, but I am just realizing it! My colleague/friend and I are at a UT Writing/Communicating Across the Curriculum Conference in Austin... and we are soooo having fun! This morning we learned about using technology in the classroom and we were taking notes like crazy. This afternoon we get to learn about assessment and rubric designs... and I am soooo looking forward to it! Seriously... I'm not being sarcastic!

Well, looking around the room, I may not be quite the nerd that I was thinking... my friend and I are actually wearing trendy clothes with shoes that match... unlike most of the people in here! I think the peeps from "What not to wear" should come to one of these things and show the academic world that cute clothes can be comfortable and that matching is impt! I mean, how distracting for some students if their prof doesn't match...

Ok, maybe I'm half-nerd, half-snot! heehee!

We finally moved all of our stuff into the new house... more on that later!

Friday, May 23, 2008

Moving

Sorry I haven't posted this week... I have had sooo much to do. We are moving now on Sunday instead of Monday, which means I have TOOOOO much to do before then. Not to mention I am supposed to spend some time today helping Krista (my friend whose house we are moving into) finish packing! AUGH! Just the thought of this is making my head hurt! Oh well... it will be fine... it will be fine... it will be fine! Sorry, just thought if I kept writing it I might calm down! ha!

Anyway, thanks for helping me pack today Holly! Appreciate it! I'll buy lunch on Monday when you help me UNPACK my kitchen! HEEHEE!

Have a great weekend and someone take a nap for me!

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Mexico...

Back from vacation and let me just say that everyone should go hang out on the beach for 4 days... We had a little bit of a rough start due to airport drama, but I'm trying to block that part out of my memory! Other than that the trip was awesome. We did a lot of nothing! We walked the beach, laid out on the beach, swam in the pool, sat around and smoked Cubans (one night), played cards, shopped, and sat around some more! We actually got to rest alot! Blogger will only let me post a few pics at a time, so here is round one!

Here is the front of the resort where we stayed. It is the Viva Maya Wyndam and it was great. Everyone was quite polite and the food was pretty good too! It is an all inclusive resort, so all food and drinks were included and there were quite a few activities to keep us occupied during the day. We did a few of the activities and watched a few more, but we didn't rush around to participate... we wanted to relax! :)














This next picture is the view of the ocean when walking down the beach front! BEAUTIFUL! I had never seen water so blue before! It was great! It was a little too rough to do some of the kayaking and canoeing that the resort offered, but since that sounded like work to me and Amy we were good with that!














Here you have Robert, Me, Amy and Matt. The resort had restaurants that you could make reservations at, but the guys had to wear slacks! We went to a different restaurant each night! The food was a little weird for me, but I found stuff to eat at each place and the rest of the gang thought the food was awesome... I'm just a little weird about textures and particular about taste!
















Here is a little of my hubby's personality! This is the Mexican restaurant on the resort and if you wanted to take pics you had to wear the hats! Fun stuff! And this pic was before the Mexican Coffee, which let me say is not your everyday coffee! :)















This final pic is right after we 'rededicated' our marriage to the Lord and recommitted to each other! For those of you who have been reading for a while, you know how our marriage almost ended last year... this trip was our first ever trip together in 12 yrs of marriage and it's purpose was to reconnect and to recommit. This was the final night at the resort... we went out to the beach and Matt and Amy each read some versus from Corinthians and Ephesians and said a prayer over our marriage and we recommitted to each other. It was amazing and quite beautiful!














As you can see we had a great time and I feel like it was worth the mucho money we spent! I'll post some of the wild animal pics we have tomorrow!

Monday, May 12, 2008

Way too much to do...

Is it possible to have too much to do before going on vacation??? We leave in less than 48 hrs and I have sooo much to get done! I probably won't have time to post again before we leave, but please keep my family in your prayers for the next week. We leave Wednesday night and fly out Thursday morning... we get back Monday night... that's a long time for my kiddos to be without their parents! BUT... I know they will be in good hands and Rt and I NEED this trip. We got married sooo young and had no honeymoon... we have been married 12 yrs and this will be the first 'kidless' trip to anywhere besides Ft. Worth! I'll post pics when we get back. Blessings to all...

Jess

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Graduation

I just completed my final task of the 07-08 school year... I sat through two graduation ceremonies all decked out in my gown on a stage that was hotter than blazes! Our students really should realize that the faculty are way miserable up there sitting in the lights with no air flow... it's kind of like payback for their final exams if you ask me!

This semester one of my favorite students graduated to the surprise of many of my faculty friends! This student is big, loud, opinionated, black, and 6' 2" tall. Most of the faculty members are scared to death of her, but she is one of my favorite people. She will tell you what she thinks, but if you take the time to talk to her she will also listen to what you have to say and really consider it. During the first semester that she was my student, she got into a fight and ended up getting stabbed... I was the only person from campus to call and ask if she was OK or if she needed anything. From that point on, I became some who she could depend on. She is from Oak Cliff... she comes from a family that has no male members (because they all leave)... her mother is an alcoholic and halfway through the student's jr semester the student had to bring her little bro and sis to raise... she was raised in chaos and chose to live with chaos around her for quite a while by choosing certain friends... But... despite what the girl had stacked against her... she graduated!

Oh, and lest you think she's still a hoodlum, after the stabbing I sat her down and we had a very long chat about the type of people we keep around us and how they influence our lives. She didn't want to hear it, but in the end those words helped her understand how the choices she was making now were going to affect her later on! Anyway, I'm quite proud of the girl! Just goes to show how a little extra time and attention can help a student go a long way!

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

I hate ITUNES!

Or maybe it is that I hate all things computer when they don't work the way I want them to. I want to be able to put my CD's on the compter quickly and them be organized... instead I look at the screen and it is a mess! Not to mention that my CD ripper from school is slower than molasses! UGH! What happened to the old days... we just carried our cassettes around with us, it was great, no scratches, no breakage... man, I miss the old days! hahahah!

Hope everyone is doing well... 8 days till MEXICO!

Monday, May 05, 2008

9 Days

9 days away... we are 9 days from leaving this town of our for the beaches of Mexico! YIPPEE! And to make matters better, I just called my family dr to tell him that I wasn't sure I could get my husband on the airplane and he called me in a prescription of Zanax! Now... how do I get him to take it! ha! Now for those of you thinking bad thoughts about a woman who would drug her husband, just know that I'm doing it out of love! He has severe anxiety and in most cases, beyond being a jerk, he can cope with changes. BUT... he has never flown and has no real desire to leave the great USA... so... in order to get him through the air port check points, I am afraid I will need the help of drugs to calm him down! Those of you who know him will completely understand! :)

The house selling/buying thing is moving along... so far! Fingers crossed and prayers lifted up that all goes smoothly til we move! ha! The stress of the 'what if's' is going to kill me... maybe I'll take RTs Zanax! ha!

The kids were out of school today, so I took them to see Nim's Island! Let me just it was great! There was, of course, some bad acting, but overall the movie was great for the kids! I recommend it for one and all! Oh, but Kali wants you to know it is a tad suspenseful! :)

Saturday, May 03, 2008

Prayers Please

Edit: The doctor came in and she really thinks that was Kenzie has is a head cold. Yes, there was fluid around her heart and lungs, but she wouldn't call it enough to be failure. They put her on Lasix to flush out the fluid and have Ashley scheduled for an appt on the 22nd with a dr who comes to Abilene to make some decisions. Kenzie has two holes in her heart and a valve that is jacked up, but again, the dr doesn't think that surgery is necessary right this second! So... as soon as Kenzie shows us she can eat every 3 hours we get to go home! Keep them in your prayers... we have a long road ahead of us medically with both her and her big sister Alyssa!


I am sitting at Cook's Children's Hospital in Ft. Worth right now with my little brother, his girlfriend and their almost four month old daughter Mackenzie who is in heart failure. We have known since she was born that there was an issue with her heart, but the dr's have been waiting until she gets older to do something about it. We are currently waiting for the heart dr to come in... and I'll post again when she does... but please start praying... here's what we need...

1. Pray for Kenzie... she's got a long road ahead of her! She was born with a chromosomal issue that we aren't really sure of in terms of long-term expectations (same issue her big sister Alyssa has) and the fluid surrounding her heart and in her lungs is only part of the issue.

2. Pray for Matt and Ashley. They have two children together, both special needs, and then they each have a child from a previously relationship. They have a lot of baggage and I got to listen to them bicker and fight for 2 hrs in the ER last night over everything from Ashley's mom to Matt's refusal to disclose how much money he has in the bank. I left the hospital last night thinking, how in the world are these two going to get married and make it work.

3. Pray for me. I got about 5 hrs sleep last night and my patience level with my rude little brother has about come to an end. He's just quite rude to Ashley and I am annoyed by it. Also, I forgot to refill the Prozac before I left town... so exhaustion and lack of Prozac are probably a bad combination... which will result in me saying what I think instead of what I should say!

Anyway, I'll post again when I have an idea of what's going to happen next!