Exciting News

So, I'm pretty personal when it comes to certain things. I don't really like to share everything with everyone. In fact,  some of my best friends and family members didn't even know that the past month and a half I didn't have a job for next year.

To make a long story short, budget cuts have hit my school district big time, and some pretty big changes had to happen at my school in order to accommodate them. With me being contracted as a 'temporary employee' because I am having to go through an AGONIZING process of getting my Georgia teachers license turned into a Louisiana teachers license, I got the boot.

Its wasn't anyones fault, it wasn't because I'm not a good teacher or anything, it wasn't like I was fired. Positions were cut at my school. Grades are going from 4 classes to only 3 classes next year, student class sizes are going to raise from around 20 to around 26. With me being considered temporary, I was the first to have to leave.

So when I was told I didn't have a job, Chris and I immediately went into combat mode. Thinking of everything we needed to do, what our options were. Throughout the mist, everything was looking real easy and lined up for us to head back to Georgia, even though we didn't want to move back. Job openings were pretty much handed to us, places to live were all lining up.

But our hearts just weren't in it. I didn't want to leave Nola. I just didn't want Chris to not finish school. Too many questions....

Seriously, why would God want us here, and then right smack dab in the middle of everything, call us back to GA?

We decided that with all our might we were going to stay in Nola. This is where we belong right now. Chris and I dedicated ourselves to here for a purpose: to get him through school. We decided that we would ignore everything that seemed like a good idea for Georgia, moving back just wasn't an option to us right now.

So I hunkered down and started job searching. I decided that after the current school year was over I was going to put in at Chick-fil-a, and then if I didn't get a teaching job somewhere by the end of summer, I was going to find another job to add on. 

Two job interviews later, and by unexplainable reasons that some would say are coincidence(but we say from God), a second grade position opened up at my current school, and I was offered the position.

My odds at the job were 1 out of around 40, and within that 40 were other school employees who were probably in similar circumstances at mine.

We are beyond overjoyed and excited! The past month has been horrible, but now the heavy burden is lifted off our shoulders.

I am very, very happy to be teaching 2nd grade! It is my dream grade, I feel as though its the perfect age of kids. Thank you Lord for always being there for us. He has a plan and a purpose for our lives, and Chris and I just want to do what is best for his glory.

Genu-INE Fresh

First thangs first, if you're a true southerner you don't pronounce it gen-u-ine.... no, no, no, that's ALL wrong....

It's pronounced genu-INE and rhymes with wine:)

A sweet old feller from our church in Amite, Mr. Stewart, has a fresh strawberry farm in his backyard. He just sells them on the side of the road to passerbyers.

(is passerbyers a real word?)

Just about every Sunday I ask Mr. Stewart how 'dem strawberries are a'lookin' and he usually has some kind of farmers garb to tell me about.

"Oh... I don't know... we've been gettin too much rain here lately.."

Or

"Well.... the weather has had too much of a chill... I'm not sure of they're any good.."

Yeah well, Mrs. Stewart finally brought Chris and I some of his genu-INE strawberries! A WHOLE FLAT to be exact! (why, yes that rhymes:)

Now we have so many strawberries that we have been eating them with every meal and snack.

I even gave some of them away because I don't want them to get moldy!

Thanks Mr. Stewart for being so sweet to share some with us!

Appreciation

This week is Teacher Appreciation week at my school. In art all of my sweet students made me a card that said I was special because....

This is my favorite card:)

I especially love how she wrote, "You taught me everything like how to slash the trash, jail the detail, get smart with the chart, and zap the map."

You might just have to be an educator to know what all those sayings really mean:) 

P.S. Next week we are going to HAVE to review the differences between you, your, and you're for like the millionth time this year!!