So long Chris.....

So I was right! That website I mentioned yesterday was accurate. Chris went home last night. I'm sad. I really did like him. However, there was one moment when I questioned if he was the Chris I thought he was. When Ryan asked him if he was surprised, with no qualms about it, he said "Yes, I am." Now, doesn't that sound a little cocky? To admit in front of his fellow contestants that he was shocked that he was going home as opposed to one of them? Wow - I don't want to think Chris is like that.

Now on to a much brighter subject. I've decided that I may like to marry Taylor. Would we not be perfect for each other? Oh my word......SOOOO, if anyone has any contacts and could put in a good word for me, I'd be delighted. HA HA HA!!!

P.S. Did anyone see Randy Jackson dancing with Paula last night during one of the performances? HILARIOUS!!!!

Let's join the SOUL PATROL!!!

If you haven't already guessed, the picture in yesterday's post was of my very favorite American Idol contestant - TAYLOR HICKS! I love him! Today is the dreaded day. Wednesdays are bittersweet. It's the day someone goes home but also the day which leads us closer to the end. I really believe Taylor will win it!

Okay, I'm going to let everyone in on a little secret. Rumor has it that you can go to dialidol.com and see the voting results. I went there just a little while ago and it says that Chris and Katherine are in the bottom two and Chris will go home tonight. Awwwwww- that makes me really sad. I think Taylor should win, Katherine get second, Chris third, and Elliot should be sent packing tonight. Elliot's voice is very good...I do agree with that. However, I just don't think he has the "it factor" that Simon refers to all the time. His voice is suited to be on an easy listening CD that you would find at Target or Cracker Barrel on one of those machines where you push the button to listen. Ha!!!! Regardless, it's not totally up to me. I did vote for Katherine about 15 times last night. I never could get in to vote for Taylor. It was always busy so I figured he was fine last night without my help!

So, we'll see if my predictions are indeed correct. I'd be happier if Elliot went home and the internet was wrong!!!

Guess Who......

You get one guess as to who this picture is. I'll let you in on the answer and some comments tomorrow. I would love to write more but there's a storm coming - literally. Any guesses????

Josh Willingham - Vote Today!!!

Isn't that precious??? For those of you that don't know, I went to school with Josh and Ginger. They have become some of my best friends in the world and I am thrilled that Josh has excelled in his dream of becoming a professional baseball player. He and Ginger try daily to use every opportunity they're allowed to show God to the people they come in contact with on the field and off. They're incredibly humbled by this experience and have managed to stay grounded when somedays even we can't! Josh deserves this success so please, please copy and paste the link below and vote for him to be on the National League All-Star team. You're allowed 25 votes so use them all! How exciting that would be!!!

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/events/all_star/y2006/ballot_pop.html?affiliateID=eMLBASG050106&partnerId=eMLBASG05010#

On a much more serious note, a teammate of Josh's named Matt Herges and his wife just had a new baby boy, Bryce. He was born with many, many life-threatening medical issues and is in critical condition. The doctors aren't giving them much hope and all they can do is sit and wait. Please take a minute to pray for this precious baby and for their family. Pray that Bryce will be healed and they will give God all the glory.

A lesson on patience-

So they say you have to build three houses before you know enough to finally build one that you're satisfied with. Well, even though I'm not technically building one of my own I feel like I am learning more about brick, doors and transums, windows, and cabinets than I ever knew possible.

Most of you know that my mom is living with me while she builds a house. We spent most of our spring break picking out things she'll need and checking off items on her to-do list. Did you know that you not only have to choose the kind/color brick you like but you also have to choose the color of mortar? Ridiculous - I had no idea. Here's a picture of what we're working towards. It's called the Savannah. I've been docummenting the entire building process. The pictures below are what we have so far. We're a long way from the picture above!




So it's all fun and games until you wait for three or four weeks and see no progress. The pictures you see above were taken Easter weekend. The only thing that has been done since is the plumbing (which is good) and the gravel has been poured to get ready for the concrete. That was done a couple days after Easter weekend. It looks exactly the same now. Supposedly, they got behind because of "all the rain." Call me crazy, but I can't think of too terribly many days lately when we've had rain. So, we're still waiting for the concrete slab to be poured. Once that's done, hopefully it'll go semi-fast. I'll keep you posted with pictures as the bulding progresses. Maybe soon I'll have others to post. Until then, we're just going to hurry up and wait. What a unique way for God to teach us patience!

Today I was the Student.

Scene I - Room 4; 12:35 pm
"Okay, if you had to choose only 10 coins to equal 90 cents, what coins would you choose?"

Student 1: 8 dimes and 2 nickels -"Very good. Can anyone think of another one?"

Student 2: 2 quarters and 8 nickels - "Great. Okay, there's two more combinations. If you know one raise your hand. Make SURE that you have counted the coins and are using only 10 AND that you do not say the same
combination that we've already used. The ones we've already used are 8 dimes and 2 nickels and 2 quarters and 8 nickels."

Student 3: 8 dimes and 2 nickels - "Did you hear what I just got out of my mouth? You weren't listening. I just got finished saying that we've
already used that combination."

Student 4: 18 nickels - "We can only use 10 coins. Did you hear me say that? Boys and girls, LISTEN!"

Student 5: 2 quarters and 8 nickels.........................

So was my day at that point.

Scene II - Room 4, 2:30 pm

"What can we learn from the story we heard in Bible today?"

Student 1 - That sometimes we can get frustrated if we talk to people about God and they don't listen.

Student 2 - That we need to be strong and not care if they like what we say.

Student 3 - God is what really matters.

What did I learn? I have found lately that I am slightly moody and can get irritated easily. Could it be that it's the end of the school year and there are a million things going on at work? Possibly. Could it be that I don't know how to control my emotions? Probably. Could it be that I lose track of what my focus should be and concentrate on things that really and truly DO NOT MATTER? Most definitely. Just as easily as I get frustrated during the day at school I can be turned around and uplifted by these precious children of God's. They know Him. They love Him. Just as I stand in front of them as the teacher, I find at times that the roles are reversed.

S.O.S.

The total and complete purpose of today's post is to beg and plead for help! I began this blog about a week ago and am now ready to add some things to it. I still can't figure out how to add a side panel with links, friends' blogs, books I'm reading, etc. I also can't figure out how to post pictures from the web. I've searched and searched using the "help" tab and can't find anything that really "helps" me! :) So, if anyone is out there and knows how to solve my problems, please comment! I would GREATLY appreciate it.

P.S. Meredith, you mean you haven't figured this out yet? :)