grateful...that's all.

sometimes God brings people into your life to make himself more evident and more known. interestingly enough, he has his perfect way of doing this, and sometimes it's through the most unlikely unexpected people in the most normal of situations. for this i am thankful.

shortly before going to inacol, i went out with some girls from work and we had the craziest of conversations. within the conversation, we discussed church, which was what led to this post. so when i said i texted a friend, i actually texted an acquaintance, who has since become a friend-which i am going to attribute 100% to God and his great wisdom and grace. every once in awhile i meet people outside of kamp, whom i truly wish could have experienced it because they would fit in, hands down...prime example. these are the times i wish my worlds could collide because i hate that friends from both realms don't get the opportunity to appreciate each other, as i know it'd be a freakin' awesome get-together!!

but i digress...living in dallas over the past three years has not been easy, and certainly not much fun. when alisha and bmayes moved away...and the oklahoma crew dispersed, life became much more solitary. while i do need alone time to recharge, when there is absolutely no one apart from the boys, it was getting old, monotonous and borderline melancholy. so the idea of having people around to play with-who actually enjoy several of the same things-makes all the difference.

like i said before, God has a better understanding of what i need than even i do...and he has used it to draw me closer to him. how, you ask? well...i'm a little ashamed of the fact that ever since i moved over to this side of town, and further away from lakepoint, i haven't found a church. i'd visit a few here and there with nika and bmayes from time to time when b was in town, but nothing that ever stuck. and once she was gone, and nika was super involved in a megachurch (which really didn't appeal to me at the time--remember that outgoing introvert thing?)...i really had no desire to go looking on my own. so, finding someone who really does desire to go, who loves music and worship, and who really desires to know God more is a godsend. here's to exciting new adventures-both church and non-church related! 

not only that, but an added bonus: exercise accountability, and trying new things!

yes, please, on a bed of spaghetti squash!

thank GOD my grandma didn't look like this! but also, thank God i've been introduced to this hot chocolate, because it is so like the chai tea i used to sit in the garage drinking while watching the storms roll in! nostalgic.

that said, it was an added bonus to be able to get to spend some time with nicolette and nafia during our time at inacol. i expect that we will be having some authentic conversations and fun adventures in the future!

by the pool-trying to get work done...

so...about a month ago, i agreed to take on a project to help work with curriculum, standards and alignment for a group that is working against the clock to try to pull together some college courses for education. i agreed because of the allure of doing something challenging, and making some money at the same time. the problem is that i didn't realize how involved it would be, and i had little context and zero direction-i came to a point at which it was really consuming me. every time i was with friends and wanting to be fully present, this burden was weighing on my mind. it was so difficult for me to swallow my pride, in part because i didn't want to let them down, after offering to take it on.

the truth is, i felt under-qualified and without having someone close to bounce ideas off of and get immediate in-the-moment feedback to point me in the right direction, i was beyond overwhelmed-especially because i hadn't taken into account how busy things would become over the next few weeks. i bowed out of the project, and in almost the same moment that i hit the send button, my heart and head were just a bit lighter. i knew it was the right decision.

i need to begin making choices from the lens of: life is short-moments count, friendships don't just happen-they are built by intentional acts and people are important-which i want to be so apparent after interacting with others, but sometimes i fall way short (opportunities for growth!).

with only one more day of school before the thanksgiving break, i look forward to spending time with friends-if it all works out as planned. i am thankful for much. i have much more than i need or deserve. one of the gifts that i am most thankful for is the gift of written communication. i speak not of blogging, mind you, i speak more to the art of the handwritten letter. i have said it before, and i say it again because my thoughts have not changed on this: there is nothing more endearing than a handwritten letter, as it holds so much authenticity! i do not write to receive letters, i write to reveal myself, so when i do receive such treasures, my heart melts a little, because it's the sharing of self-i absolutely loved being on the receiving end today-again, God in his wisdom-

one from a kamp friend, one from a classmate. #happyheart

may gratitude overwhelm you as you realize how blessed you are-
jrob

came home to find the older sibling of my baby nutribullet

i was at school the other day and caught some dude working on the elevator. it wouldn't have been all that interesting, had i not watched LEVERAGE on netflix recently. so i got close enough to kinda' look at what was going on, and get an idea of what it might be like to ride on top of the elevator to pull off a huge heist. which of course wouldn't occur here at our school...unless you were trying to heist construction paper, kleenex or crayons.

slightly blurry because i didn't want elevator dude to think i was spying on him.

 and we were so excited to have jeri back! she took a long vacation across the ocean, and it was so fun to partake in the morsel that she brought back! yum!

thank you, Spain, with a hint of anise! wish i'd had some coffee to go with that, but i was much too impatient!

 so...things have been a little crazy around campus-as expected. so i have decided to join the crazy and maybe for halloween do a little kitty art...tbd

i have indeed been trying to eat paleo again, and loving it! found a great site that offered some paleo brownies! they were not bad!

http://paleogrubs.com/best-paleo-brownie-recipe

and back to green shakes for breakfast on weekdays-it's quicker and easy cleanup! which means i've been giving my nutribullet a workout, so once again...when i turned on the t.v. saturday morning, i was riveted to another paid infomercial! STOP! it was the big brother of my handy-dandy little guy...i had to have it. it's the RX...and it makes hot soups too! YES!

so it's been a busy week- i was off campus on monday and tuesday locked away in a prison off campus at one of our middle schools, working on some curriculum guides. it was a good exercise, in that it gave us an opportunity to dive deeper into the standards. then today i passed on going to a 'changing the odds' conference because i'd gone last spring to a mini-conference and wanted someone else to have an opportunity..and so in staying on campus, i was able to see how the 'skype-for-business'  could work on campus. it has potential. then, after school today, there was a homecoming parade.

when i arrived at the high school, there were about 3 students there with their parents. so i kept looking for more peeps from our school, and they began trickling in-it was almost nerve wracking waiting and looking for the 'float' and everyone who was supposed to be present! but as the time drew closer, everyone was assembling, and the float made it! so we lined up and prepared ourselves for the march! it was fun to see the kids excited-the cheerleaders in their outfits and they knew their cheers! so proud of them! they kept the noise up pretty much the entire parade! great job cabell!! AAAANNNNNDDDD...i got a free jeans day pass out of it-totally worth it.

proud of our PTA moms that went to work last-minute to get a float put together! bigger and better next year!

when i got home from the parade, i was not expecting it, but there was the package at my door! my nutribullet rx! i can't wait to make a soup and some other fun blends!

so...i may have already gone in and tabbed about a zillion gazillion pages already that i want to try!

and the most exciting little part was the alfalfa brush! look at that single little bristle! i guess that's in case you want to paint? and the single bristle is for the micro tiny line.

i mean...please look at this beast. can't wait-meals for a week! seriously though, the other great thing about it is that at the push of the button on this one, it will do its business and stop when it's good and ready. and as i mentioned before, it makes HOT soup! it's the smart machine. i have to watch the baby...

i may have gone into walmart the other day with intentions of only getting a couple of food necessities, but then i meandered over into a section i never should have gone to..and i had no choice. i had to purchase the cute stationery and pens...

i've been using both types, and i am preferential to the pastel set-finer point gels. and as for the stationery, i've already sent out a few good letters on it! in fact, i am once again out of stamps...down to one batman (refer to previous post).

in other news, i should know better. bruno was out of sight for a bit, and then not too long afterward, out of my peripheral vision, i saw bruno trounce up his ramp toward the couch and a little something rolled down the ramp; he turned around as if he had dropped something and was going back to get it, so out of pure intuition, i said in a harsh tone, "bruno! no!" then i looked up and my gut was right.

it was a little poopie. jerk. why does he insist on this???

the boys do seem pretty excited now that the weather has cooled enough to actually go on walks! i've been doing my best to get up early and go for a walk around the pond in the mornings before school. in fact, they've gotten to the point that as soon as i put my shoes on, they are jumping up on the couch and running around in hopes that i'll grab their leash off the hook by the door, and if i don't take them, they pout.
but last saturday, we took not one, not two, but THREE walks! we drove over to vitruvian park for our long walk, and as difficult as it was, chaco didn't bark at anyone!

this happens a lot when i try to get a good pic of them...they stand looking in opposite directions..is this an 'i don't like you' stance, or a guard-post stance? not entirely sure.

mid-pant, bruno looks like he could almost be pretending to be a vicious piranha. 

alright, so that's really all i got-i shouldn't wait so long next time because details seem to get lost.

found another pallet...let's get creative!

last night i finally turned off the t.v. and took some time to read my book about project based learning-very good read, helpful as we enter into this new year-especially for the science! i cannot wait to get started! so this morning i left the t.v. off for a bit and pulled up the curriculum guide to check some things out and begin making some decisions.

something different-now i need to start preparing materials

 then after i'd finished feeling slightly productive, i turned the t.v. on again, and sure enough, the olympics were still on, and i got to watch...wrestling. gross. so i switched the channel-not much on, so i naturally divert to the news. that got old, so i decided that i really needed to take action on the brilliant idea i had going through my head right before i went to sleep last night. i was thinking about how i really could make some great artwork. and my thoughts kept going back to using pallets. i made sure to write it out before i fell asleep and forgot it! (note to self: must get mini recorder for bedside).

so i figured i would stop by school to see if they had any available...

they did! the only problem is that it barely fits in my backseat!

so i got it home and drew up some quick mock-ups of some of the ideas that were going through my head last night before i fell to sleep. they are rough ideas of possibilities, but i decided instead of leaving it see through like the last one i did last time for my headboard, to put a canvas across the back (it would be kind of like a shadow box) and paint it to contrast or compliment. remember, it will be about 3ft by 3 ft 10 inches...so, here are some possibles...which style-ish (even if not exactly-these are marker, the actual product will obviously be painted) do you like best?? please post comments, because i seriously would like some feedback.

#1 Spiral and straight combo

#2 off-centered daisy

#3 giant partial rose

#4 ocean/sunset-ish

#5 random

#6 colorful more geometrical lines

i'll probably keep collecting pallets and make some more...i was actually thinking it would be cool to make an over-sized coffee table-using glass or plexiglass over the top, and drawer-like legs at the corners-or ends- for storage...

thank you ikea...great ideas

anyhoo, lots of ideas, wish i'd had them a little earlier in the summer. boo. oh well.

well, back to looking at some plans for starting up school again...
julie

if only chocolate relieved backpain!

this has been my life the past 48 hours...

yesterday and today have been a little rough-we've gotten together to work on our curriculum calendars for school next year, and it's actually been kinda' nice for pre-planning purposes. we've met at starbucks yesterday and today-which has been nice to keep the caffeine flowing. it's also been great just to have adult conversation!  today was especially nice because we went to maria's house for a home cooked meal (and who doesn't love that?!); and it was fun just being around family interaction.

tomorrow we'll hit panera and hopefully grind out another couple weeks done. it really is a pretty grueling process trying to figure out how we can work together creatively throughout the year, especially knowing that things will probably have to change by the 2nd half of the year anyway. i like panera for the free-flowing coffee! (they used to have this german chocoalate danish that was heavenly, but i haven't seen it in awhile).

the unfortunate part in all of this is that a terrible back pain has returned. the last time i had it this bad was a couple of years ago and i literally had to roll out of bed and and drive to the clinic to get a shot from the doctor. well, it's 2 years later, and the doctor i went to left her practice, so she referred me on to the doctor who worked with her. i never went to him, and actually one of my friends at school said she used to go to him and their family didn't like him-rude, terrible bedside manner (not that i plan on EVER being in a bed near him).

so yesterday and today i was walking slowly and stiffly like frankenstein's monster. in fact, i was thinking about investing in a cane because it hurt so badly! i've been walking like an 80 year old, trying to figure out how to do it inconspicuously-which is a little difficult-i'll stop and look at art-work or out the window, or whatever, but i'm afraid the expression on my face betrays my actions.

i just watched extreme couponers and WOW! that was crazy-nuts! i cannot believe how much they save!!! i'm intrigued (uh oh). now tiaras and toddlers is on, and it is ridiculous! it actually makes me slightly queasy to my stomach and a lot annoyed by the way these parents let their daughters act, dress and walk all over them! yuck. chaco just called them something that only a dog can get away with saying.


don't be a pain-there's already enough to go around~
 julie