2 Write 2 Teens

I've been thinking about something again... It's an idea that pops into my head every once in a while.

I'm thinking about writing a devotional book for teens. Or like, "The survival guide to being a teenager" with little anecdotes from my adventures in my teenage years with lessons I learned about the Lord. But then I thought that not many teens like to read, well, they surf the net probably more than read books.

So, I might also like to write online for teens. My first thought was to create my own website. But then I thought that might be to difficult to market, so why not write articles for an existing website/organization? So tonight I've been looking at what's out there.

I probably would have trouble getting kids to read my own website. I barley can get people to read my blog!

I just miss writing and would really like to use my talent to minister to teenagers.

I do know I want to write a children's book. It's about a Princess. Josh will do the illustrations :).

I feel accomplished today.

Josh and I did some work around the house. He got the swamp cooler ready and patched some things on the roof and in the bathroom and we both put a few flowers with some nice mulch and a little wooden fence around the front of the house. It looks MUCH better! Wish I would have done it weeks ago...
But, we're getting the house ready for the people to move in. We signed a contract last Wednesday and should be closing in two-three weeks! We're so excited!!!

Last night we went on a double date with some new/old friends. (My old friend from high school and her husband that Josh and I just started hanging out with within the last few months.) We had a nice dinner at a Mexican restaurante and then saw the new Indiana Jones movie at the theater. Woo-hoo! Even though it was well done, unfortunately the movie didn't have the Christian undertones like the previous movies. They always have a supernatural part to it, but instead of being something like the Ark of the Covenant it was about Aliens...

Well, I'm already packing. Just need more boxes. This summer is gonna go by fast! June will be moving month and July will be get-ready-for-student-teaching-month, and then August, well, after a first Anniversary and my birthday, school will start! So it's more like two-two and a half months off instead of three...

And I love Josh very much and am very blessed to be with him. We have so much fun together! And I like making big decisions together. It makes me feel like we are unified and doing the "becoming one" part of marriage.

Love you all! Take care!

And for pictures of the new house, check out Josh's blog: whenistepback

Graduation...

is tomorrow.

I'm tired. But ready. It's gonna be hot, sweaty, long, but it's my graduation day! I've already got some financial gifts :) I bought a new cell phone with some, bought a graduation dress and shoes with some more, and will take my husband on a date with the rest :)

Well, sweet dreams and I will be busy tomorrow!

Food, Glorious Food!

I need to eat less. Well, I at least really need to watch what I eat. I'm realizing I probably consume more calories than I really need. Like, a couple days ago, I decided not to eat lunch because I wasn't hungry. Usually I'll eat lunch anyway cause I think I'll be hungry later. I ended up being just fine!

And today, since I ate so much yesterday, I decided to skip breakfast. I made it to twelve without feeling hunger pains.

So, there you have it. I need to quit putting so much weight on food. (no pun intended.) I mean, I love food. I love cooking and baking and eating. Especially sweets. And I allow myself to eat whatever I want. I used to be pretty self-controlled. I used to never eat pizza, hamburgers, or drink pop. Now... I eat/drink all three of those. It's not like I eat all three of those every day! I just think they are things to stray away from and there are fruits and veggies that would be a much healthier option.

I even look at photos of myself and think, well, I'm not fat, but I have extra "stuff" that doesn't have to be there. And I'm a short, small gal and don't have many places to hide extra stuff.

I envy people who can stop when they are full... or who can say no to a brownie if they're really not feeling like it. I would like to be that person. Today I'm really gonna step forward to healthier eating and less caloric intake. I can do it. I don't need everything I put in my body. My body is God's temple and needs to be taken care of. And someday I really won't be able to eat whatever I want. I better start a healthy lifestyle now before it's too late.

Countdown: One week of class. Two weeks til graduation

Church was pretty good today. I mean, all of us in leadership, like on the worship team and youth group etc..., really think the Lord is trying to do something. All of us think that something is happening, but we don't know what it is... I guess that's how it is with the Lord... he doesn't always tell his secrets until it's the best time, you know?

The worship team is steadily moving into a creative unit...since Josh and I haven't been on it officially for long. We've been working on new songs and sounds and the theme really is us trying to worship the Lord in spirit and truth ourselves first so that the congregation will follow. We do want to sound good and pleasing to the ear, but we want to be so much more than that.

Today's theme and sermon was "Give us clean hands." Repentance and righting relationships.

On another note, I can tell it's the end of the semester. My brain has officially reached it's knowledge capacity and I am ready to relax and...basically read the material I want to and not have homework.

I just have a few projects left, including teaching a lesson tomorrow for the 8th graders. We've been studying the Holocaust and I wanted to think of a way to make it more relevant for them today.

I'm showing parts of the movie Mean Girls with Lindsay Lohan. I'm skipping over the inappropriate parts and showing them what discrimination and prejudice looks like in high school in 2008. My last lesson this semester. I'm gonna miss those kids. :( I went hiking with them all on friday...it was fun! Nice day. A bit windy, but nice.

I'm so ready for my own classroom, though. Well... I know I'm not perfect as a teacher being a rookie, but I'm ready to at least try. There's a dilemma in the works with WHO I'll be student teaching with next semester, which will be my mentor teacher, so please pray for that.

And another note, on Thursday I took Chris out of the classroom. The teacher really didn't want to deal with him and was like, "Ashley, take him out in the hall and have him read the assignment silently." Oh, boy, it was so great! Chris is a low-level reader and I was able to coach him and help him figure out the meaning of words and connect parts of the reading to itself and to him... and he got it! He even did the writing assignment on his own... I gave him the assignment sheet and said, "Be right back." And when I came back, he was nearly finished. I think this kid has been one of the hardest yet most rewarding student I worked with this year semester.