travel and world views

time at my parents was relaxing, as usual. we had a good time just being together-we always do. puzzles, t.v. and projects. while i was home, mom asked if i would eat the cranberries...i suggested making a cranberry salad and what i would add to it. she looked at me and said, "who did you come from?" my parents aren't super adventurous when it comes to food...you may or may not recall the time i got them to go to get sushi with me...that won't ever happen again. but back to the point, it was good to be with them.

favorite parents ever!

the day before i left, i was able to make it into nixa to get my chacos (the actual flip flops, not my dog, thank you kristi!) and visit with robin, chris's wife, their daughters, and martha, the rees matriarch (smile). it was good to catch up, as i feel like every time i'm in town, time just flies by and we never get to touch base. the weather was a bit treacherous that evening, and there were all sorts of warnings, as the rain was ridiculous. in case you need background, we were on the mission field together with the rees family, and carmen was probably one of my first and dearest friends when we arrived to tegucigalpa. and chris and david, my brother were besties too. can you say that about guys? too late...i guess i can.

the next morning, i made my way home in a full 8 hours of rain. yea. the dogs were troopers, because we couldn't get out to walk at any point-the rain was stupid. i had to get home for a dental appt. that was scheduled for today, and it's good to be home.

travel. it is the best time to think (at least when i'm not mentally-or verbally making harsh comments about rude drivers around me...hopefully the boys don't pick up on my bad habits). anyhoo...i've been reading a book: generation me, which mentions bobos in paradise, which i own and have been meaning to read-now i am even more inclined to read it...but it really is interesting, in that it explains a lot about behavior that i notice, but had never really thought too deeply about.

one of the things mentioned is that the culture has changed to being a very self-centered culture, deciding what's good for 'me,' and the basis of decisions comes from a self-determined set of principles. while this is evident everywhere i look, it seems like such an ill-founded concept.

it made me think about my world views, and i have come to the conclusion that pretty much all of my world views are founded within scripture.

wisdom: from the time i read/heard the story of king solomon being asked what one thing he wanted and it would be granted to him, he chose WISDOM...i knew that was important. also james 3:13-18
keeping promises: let your yes be yes, and your no be no- james 5:12
work ethic: whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men...col.3:23
service: though i am free and belong to no man, i make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible I cor. 9:19
humility: do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. phil. 2:3-4
peace (personal): through following God's laws- great peace have they who love your law and NOTHING can make them stumble psalm 119:165
peace-making: let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. rom. 14:19
friendship: actually, all of these things fall into the idea of friendships and relationships, but the stories that stuck in my mind from sunday school were the friendships of david and jonathan, ruth and naomi, Jesus, john, peter...
edification: therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. I thes. 5:11
generosity: the macedonian churches who gave generously even in their difficulties II cor. 8, the widow who gave what she had
sexual immorality: I cor. 6:12-20

i could go on and on, but the point is, my world views come from a higher standard. not having a higher authority on your basic principles seems problematic. am i where i need to be by these standards? by no means!  i have work to do in every area, and i'm okay with that...the bigger point is that i have these principles embedded in my heart, and i know that it is by the grace of God and nothing that i can do to reach further and continue to grow!

ok, so i need to finish this book so that i can move on to bobos, recommended by my dear friend nika, years ago!

field day-the race that turned into the eternal relay, new chacos and 2X proud alumna!

You know that it's the end of the year when field day comes around! and you know you've been a part of field day when your eyelids and every other part of your body feel sticky-dirty. so yesterday was field day and it was perfect weather! not too hot, no rain and a slight breeze-couldn't have prayed for better weather! my first group was third grade-they went fairly smoothly and without incident. we found that 10 minutes was way too long for spoon races...and so we had to manipulate the event and turn it into the never-ending relay: keep going! the winner is the student who is the most tired when time is up!

then came kindergarten. i kinda' gave up with them...no matter how many times i said, "no holding the tennis ball!" it faded in the breeze. kindergarteners aren't into rules. little cheaters.

then came prek and second grade and we were so ready to be done! i think they had fun, although they weren't out for very long (per grade-level). one of the teachers said it wasn't long enough, so i responded that if we'd had actual volunteers to help run the events, we might have been able to have more events, but when no one is willing to step up, whatcha get is whatcha get...sorry. maybe talk to your parents about volunteering next year instead of just standing around watching. just sayin....

i had so much stuff, and i didn't want to take it all inside..but i forgot my car keys. so i left my chair and cooler by the car, hoping that no one would walk off with it. when i got back out after school, i'd almost forgotten that i'd left these out there! most of the other cars were gone, but there were my belongings intact!

who knew?!

 we found out that our school was one of the 8 chosen for the exploratory phase of the Personalized Learning program! WOOHOO!! this basically means that we will have this next year to work with a team from the district to plan, visit and glean as much knowledge and vision as possible to prepare for next year, when the PL teams will be implementing personalized learning on their campuses. it is an exciting time, and i cannot wait to learn more and for our teachers to learn more!

it is especially exciting because the middle school that our students will feed into was accepted into this 'incubation period' as well! this means that we will be working closely with them, which will be really good for our students!!

so today i went to rei because of the memorial day sales...and i got 20% off! i needed to get a new pair of chacos. i have a pair that i need to send in to get re-soled, but i don't know if i will get them back before my trip. so these were exactly what i needed.

as you can see, the tread has been worn down on my first pair. they even have a long crack across the bottom. i'm excited to get them back, because they are my simple black.

today i was excited to watch a video of my high school (this one is partially in spanish), as it is their 60th anniversary. there is not enough i could say about EIS to do it justice..i learned so much there, and not a day goes by that i don't think about this beautiful campus nestled at the foot of the mountain, and friendships that continue to this day.  i also just saw a blog post by The Heritage Foundation about my college; although it is a small college, it is huge with heart! it is one of those campuses that is so beautiful and unforgettable! the first moment i stepped onto the campus, i was in love. and truthfully, i was blessed beyond measure with the friendships that i made there! humble, genuine and simply put: just what i needed! -SO PROUD TO HAVE BEEN A PART OF BOTH OF THEM!!!!!

it's a great night to be content!
julie

flowers, student cards and new shoes!

definitely went to the original pancake house today and LOVED it! best bacon...EVER! (even better than kamp!) poached eggs, bacon and 2 buttermilk pancakes! yummo! mom's banana/pecan crepe looked really good as well. and we finished up and got out probably before most of the kids at school finished their breakfasts!

I LOVE BACON!!!

then i decided to run by school so that i could try to get a few things done so that when i go back it won't be crazy times! i got a couple of things done, and had to stop in to ask maria about a couple of things (which was when ms. johnson and ms. sowe brought down some flowers and a card-what a great team!) they were beautiful-i should have surgeries more often..it's the only time i get flowers! smile.

i had to strap them in! safety first, safety last and safety in between!

i also got some sweet cards from the students. some are very basic, others are rather interesting!

isn't this a great package! so inviting!

i don't know if he thought i was on a vacation to hawaii, or what...(gigi)

are there actually horses at the zoo?

apparently this student understands the basics of back surgery!

i'm glad that i'm not considered hairy.

when i got home, i took a power nap and when i was woken up by the pzizz man, i decided that i needed 2 power naps! and then i went and got some new chacos for the summer because they were on sale! they will certainly get used! this year i hope to come away from summer with a chaco tan! (speaking of the shoes, not my pup)

excited to break them in!

and i just got the call from benefits that i have been cleared to come back to work! just in time for field day. (no exclamation point). what was i thinking...i should've stuck with her suggestion of next tuesday. oh well, less pressure to finish things.

back to the grind...nothing like the end of the school-year!!
julie

the chacos gave me away

today i went to the doctor and the prognosis is: possible degenerative disc disease, so as my friend clarissa mentioned on fb, they're sending me to physical therapy to learn exercises to build up those back muscles...hopefully that will do the trick. of course, the PT office has not called to set up any appt yet, so i went to the pharmacy to pick up the meds the doctor prescribed and it was a whole mess b/c they called them into the wrong CVS. so i had to make calls and they said they'd let me know when it was called in, so i came home and took a nap. 

oh, i almost forgot, while i was out at the back clinic, i had to sign a waiver because they were filming. somehow it came up that i worked at a christian sports camp. the guy filming was pretty young and asked which camp i had worked at, so when i mentioned kanakuk, he nodded his head and said he had worked at sky ranch, and when he saw i was wearing chacos, he had a feeling i was a camp person. shoes are a statement and mine say, yes, i'm an outdoors person. and?

after a delightful nap ( i ABSOLUTELY LOVE LOVE LOVE naps!), i went over to the cvs and picked up my drugs. then i grabbed a few things, including a dog toy that was in a clearance bucket 90% off. can't hardly beat that! so i took the toy out when i got home, and they were intrigued.

checking out the toy together

the standoff-chaco is in charge

you probably can't tell, but he was definitely growling any time bruno walked by or got close. rude.

chaco had it for about 4 minutes and had already pierced the squeaker inside so that it wouldn't squeak anymore and ripped off the nose. then they got in a fight which was ugly and i tried to separate them and got bit. nice. you'd better believe that they got an earful, toy taken away and guilt trips. then i got to explain the idiom: don't bite the hand that feeds you. and chaco said, "well then, maybe the hand that feeds me needs to stay out of my mouth."

good night!
julie