Shannon's Stories

#95 CHECK!!!!

2012-01-23T17:02:00.000-07:00

I'm not going to lie...I was a little nervous to check off this goal because it required some purging, both physically throwing things out AND emotionally purging some things. I'm happy to say, though, that I have (for the most part) checked off...

95. Go through all my old photo albums, journals, and mementos and purge some things

...and boy was it needed!

Since long before I got married I have kept journals and photo albums of almost everything in my life. Friendships, difficulties, relationships, family issues. All have been cataloged and kept in boxes. Thousands of pictures. Around 7-10 journals. All telling the story of my life. While these pictures and journals held a lot of fun memories and crazy experiences, they also held a lot of pain and sorrow. I'm not sure why I held onto many of these things for so long but needless to say, having been a pack rat since I was a small child, I still had them all when we made our most recent move.

As I made my 101 List Round 2, I decided that it was time for me to get rid of some emotional clutter still hanging around in my life. Even though I lived through and dealt with most of the more difficult parts of my pre-married life before last month, the constant presence of reminders of those times was unnecessary.

So, over my winter break from work, I purged! I'm going to be honest that there is still a box or two in the garage that hold some items from high school that I could probably get rid of, but it was the box of photo albums and journals that were my intent when I set this goal.

It only took me about 2 hours to go through everything in my boxes (a lot less than I expected). As I began to read through journals and look through photos, it became easier and easier to toss things into the throw out pile. I thought there were be a lot of emotion to relive some elements of my 20s especially, but there wasn't. It was fun to feel the healing that I've experienced through Jesus Christ and I really didn't feel connected to a lot of the items I had been saving for all these years. There were many photos that I kept (mostly from my childhood) because they are just plain awesome. I was kinda a cute kid. But other than that, it left my house and I love it!

TRASHED IT!

KEPT IT!

If you're holding onto memories that are probably not the most healthy to be holding onto, I would highly recommend making this a goal of yours. Whether you're married or not, holding onto reminders of painful memories is not good. Get rid of it and let God build new memories into your life. Totally worth it!

#78 CHECK!!!

2012-01-07T01:07:00.000-07:00

This was a goal that carried over from my first 101 list. Sadly, it's a really easy goal to accomplish but takes a little time and money to complete. Thanks to Shutterfly's free photo book code though, I am officially able to check off...

78. Create a coffee table book of fun personal photos

It was really fun to put the book together and go through all the fun adventures we've had over the past few years. I'm super excited to get the book soon and proudly display it on one of my coffee tables. Until then, you can check it out below.

Click here to view this photo book larger

Shutterfly photo books are the new way to preserve your memories. Create your own today.

#82 CHECK!!!!

2012-01-04T00:33:00.000-07:00

I know that I still haven't blogged about our new home, but that will come in time. For now, I'll give you a glimpse into one of my joys of our new house (and #82 on my 101 List)...

82. Make a red bathroom

Before we even moved in, Greg and I decided to complete 2 painting projects: Greg's man cave and the half bath. Greg chose to paint his cave a dark brown...very manly. And I decided to make another red bathroom. In my first house that I owned, my realtor came up with the idea to make my half bath red and she bought me this really awesome mirror in Mexico. Sadly, the mirror had to stay in the house when I sold it, but the idea of the red bathroom, that was stuck in my head for good.

Greg and I went on a little adventure to Home Depot and decided on our paint colors and the supplies we would need. The next day when I was at work, Greg got the whole bathroom taped and removed all the hardware so that I wouldn't have to do any of that. So awesome! Then the painting began.

I was super lucky to have Morgan come and help me. We took turns on the ladder cause it was wicket hot up above those bright lights.

Finished with our first complete coat...it looks a lot better in the picture than in person. Red is really difficult to paint with and make look even. This was the first of MANY coats.

Coat #2 made the situation better but it was DEFINITELY not even yet.

After another 2 coats, lots of touch ups, some traumatic tape removal that took some paint with it, and decorating, my red bathroom is ~~finished~~ almost finished. There are still some touch ups that need to happen from the tape trauma but overall, I am so in love with the results. It's just fun to have such a bright and beautiful room for people to use when, well...you know.

Final Results:

The pics definitely don't do it justice so feel free to come on by and check it out yourself.

#1 CHECK!!!!

2012-01-01T15:43:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of 2011, Greg and I had made a goal to complete a new study that our church was doing with couples called "ReEngage." We had the book but weren't in the small group study and that proved to be our undoing. Needless to say, we did not complete the study in the time we had given ourselves.

So, when a few couples from our regular small group threw out the idea of doing the ReEngage program, we were totally in! We split from our small group for 19 or so weeks and checked off my very first goal...

1. Complete “Re|Engage” with Greg

I think that the ReEngage process is a fantastic program for married couples that are struggling or going through a rough time. The study is definitely designed for couples in crisis, which made some of the questions difficult to answer for our group full of couples just looking for a small tune-up or looking to grow stronger. It provided some great opportunities for discussion as a group and discussion as individual couples. It was good to actually talk about marriage with our friends, a topic that all too often gets ignored.

All in all, ReEngage was a great experience and provided us all with some great laughs and good discussions with our dear friends. I'm excited to get back to our regular small group this month. Thanks ReEngage!

#74 CHECK!!!!!!

2011-12-29T17:00:00.000-07:00

When I made my newest 101 list, I decided to get more practical with some of my goals, especially when it came to home goals since I knew we would be moving soon. One of the things that Greg and I really enjoy doing is cooking but we didn't get any pots and pans for our wedding (we got lots of other RAD stuff), so we were stuck using my hodge-podge mix of pans that didn't match and didn't exactly lay flat. Hence...

74. Get new pots and pans for our kitchen

This goal was actually checked off by my dad instead of me this Christmas. We had Christmas with my dad on December 21st and he surprised Greg and I with an AWESOME set of pots and pans.

He also gave us an extra large frying pan to complete the set. Greg and I were so excited to have some nice pots to cook in and I was the lucky one to use them first. I made Christmas Eve dinner (see my previous post about my Chunky Chili) and really enjoyed using the new pans. Can't wait to cook in them more. Thanks Dad!

#66 CHECK!!!!! - Chunky Chili

2011-12-29T01:26:00.000-07:00

So, I've been in the holiday party spirit with all the parties we've been having in our beautiful new home. With each party, I've been stepping out of the box and trying some new meals. It's awesome because it's helping me check off #58 - Cook 10 new dishes. I was so busy keeping track of my new meals that I didn't even realize I had checked off...

66. Make a crock-pot dinner

Officially, I checked this off with the last meal I posted, but I figured I would officially check it off with the meal I made for Christmas Eve. This one was a big hit and I liked it a lot better than my previous crock pot meal. Here's the awesome recipe (complete with Weight Watchers points thanks to the recipe builder on Weightwatchers.com):

Chunky Chili

PointsPlus Value: 8 points per serving
Servings: 4 (1 1/4 cup per serving)
Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 5-6 hours
Level of Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

1 pound ground turkey (93%)
1 medium onion (chopped)
1 tbsp chili powder
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
2 cans (16 oz) diced tomatoes
1 can (15 oz) pinto beans (drained and rinsed)
1/2 cup prepared salsa

Instructions:
Heat large skillet over medium heat. Add beef and onion, cook until beef is browned and onion is tender. Drain fat.

Place beef mixture, chili powder, tomatoes, beans and salsa in slow cooker; stir. Cover; cook on LOW 5 to 6 hours or until flavors are blended and chili is bubbly. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with cheese, onions, and olives (if you choose).

Scoop up and enjoy! If you like your chili with a little more kick, add some more chili powder. That's definitely what I will be doing next time. Otherwise, it's delicious. And it's the crock pot so you dump everything in there and then you don't have to worry about it until it's time to eat. Excellent!!!

Thanks Rival Crock Pot Slow Cooker cookbook!

Introducing...Katniss Evergreen!

2011-12-23T23:16:00.000-07:00

After a wonderful experience last year with Justin Trieber, Greg and I decided to go with a real Christmas tree again this year. Instead of getting it Thanksgiving weekend though, since it was SUPER dry by Christmas, we went about 2 weeks ago to pick her out.

We found a lovely tree at Home Depot and thanks to my mom's nice SUV, we took her home and set her up.

Introducing our 2011 tree...Katniss Evergreen.

We decided to give our trees fun "pop culture" names each year...hence Justin Trieber last year. This year, in line with our love of the Hunger Games books, we chose to name our tree after the heroine from the series, Katniss Everdeen. But we made it a little more tree like, obviously.

I was super excited to have my tree finally and I, of course, made Greg take some AWESOME pics with the tree.

I love Katniss!

Greg's giving Katniss a high-five.

After cleaning up all of the lovely needles that fell in the house as we brought her in, I went about the fun task of decorating the tree. I love this part because I get to go through all of the fun ornaments that I've collected over the years. Some of my favorites:

Made by Morgan last year.

Rockin' the old school ornaments...1991!


Baby Jack's first ornament...one day we'll have a child and we won't be so weird about our cat...hopefully.

Isn't she just lovely! Can't wait for all the family festivities around good ole' Katniss! Merry Christmas!

Three-Bean Turkey Chili

2011-12-19T23:25:00.000-07:00

In an effort to continue my goal...

58. Cook 10 new dishes

I made Three-Bean Turkey Chili for Morgan's graduation party this past weekend. More on Morgan's graduation later.

This was my first real attempt at using the Crock-Pot I got for our wedding 4 1/2 years ago. We've used it unsuccessfully in the past but this time I wanted to make something that would be easy to serve at the party.

I looked through my cookbooks and found my Rival Crock-Pot Slow Cooker Recipes cookbook.

As I looked through it a couple of recipes stood out but Morgan and I ended up deciding on a turkey chili that looked good.

After some very minimal prep work on Saturday, I threw everything into the Crock Pot and let it do it's thing. Best invention for cooking ever!

It turned out great, everyone enjoyed it, and it was super easy! Here's the recipe if you're interested in trying it out:

Three-Bean Turkey Chili

Ingrediants
1 pound ground turkey
1 small onion, chopped
1 can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can (15 ounces) chick-peas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained
1 can (15 ounces) kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (15 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
1 can (about 4 ounces) chopped mild green chilies
1 to 2 tablespoons chili powder

Instructions

Step 1: Cook turkey and onion in medium skillet over medium-high heat, stirring to break up meat until turkey is no longer pink. Drain; place turkey mixture into slow cooker.

Step 2: Addremaining ingredients and mix well. Cover; cook on HIGH 6 to 8 hours.

Makes 6 to 8 servings

Mmmmm...so good!!!!

Giving Thanks

2011-11-24T20:37:00.000-07:00

Happy happy Thanksgiving! I realized today that it's been over a month since I last blogged. I haven't really had much to say is the true story behind that. Life has been in fast forward crazy mode since I returned to work after October Break. Working most days until it's dark outside and then coming home to pack/move...oh, we bought a house, by the way. More on that later.

We are officially moved in now and with it being Thanksgiving, I thought I would list some of the things I'm thankful for (in no particular order):

1. Greg - My husband is one of the most caring, loving, and sacrificial people I know. He is an amazing pastor and a wonderful leader for our family.

2. Morgan living with us - Morgan has been living with us for a little while now and will be staying with us until she heads off for her master's degree. I was worried that it would be weird or uncomfortable to have another person live with us, but it's been so much fun! Greg and I both love having her around and she's a great roommate.

3. Soft water - Our new home has soft water and it is so wonderful! My hair is softer and my skin is so hydrated. Ah, the little things.

4. Courtney - My beautiful friend is such a wonderful example of vulnerability and perseverance. She has done so well living the life of a military wife and is really strong! I love that she pursues a continued friendship with me after all these years. I love her so dearly (and I can't wait until she lives in AZ again)!

5. Urgent Care - Today I am thankful for urgent care being open. After babying my right foot's big toe after a bad "toenail lifting" incident, it finally came off today when my nephew ran right into my toe. So, Greg and I had to spend some quality time getting my toenail pulled off and cleaned up. It was painful and sad but it only took about an hour. Thanks Urgent Care!

I hope that everyone is having a wonderful Thanksgiving day and taking some time to really think about the many things we all have to be thankful for.

Spaghetti Squash Marinara

2011-10-12T20:50:00.005-07:00

I started working on one of my Fitness/Nutrition/Health goals tonight but can't actually check it off yet...

58. Cook 10 new dishes

Tonight I completed ONE of my 10 new dishes for this goal. Yesterday my mom and I headed to the local farmers' market to check out the produce. As were walking around we came across some acorn and spaghetti squash. I had heard about spaghetti squash before but had never made it or seen it cooked. As we stood there, I grabbed my phone and looked up a recipe on my Weight Watchers app. It seemed pretty easy so I grabbed one and headed to the check out.

Tonight I actually followed through on my idea and made dish ONE of my 10 new dishes. Before I give you the recipe (complete with pics) to try for yourself, let me tell you that it was GOOD! The squash was really tasty without having all the added carbs of pasta. I'm looking forward to using it again in other recipes.

So without further ado...

Spaghetti Squash Marinara

PointsPlus® Value: 2 (for those of you who do Weight Watchers -- if you add the chicken, one chicken breast is another 5 points)

Servings: 4

Preparation Time: 15 min

Cooking Time: 40 min (the squash bakes in the oven for 40 minutes so you can do all the other prep work and cooking during that time)

Level of Difficulty: Moderate (If you've never cooked, this recipe is moderate. But if you do any cooking, this was actually pretty easy.)

A classic Italian-inspired recipe with one delicious and waistline-friendly change: spaghetti squash instead of pasta!

Ingredients

1 medium Squash, spaghetti, raw, (about 2 1/2 lb)
1 tsp Oil, olive
1 small Onion(s), uncooked, chopped
1 tsp Garlic, fresh, minced (We buy minced garlic in a jar that can be used over and over again. Almost any recipe is better with some mined up garlic!)
14½ oz Tomatoes, canned, stewed, cut up (I would probably add one more can to make it extra saucy)
1 tsp Seasoning, italian
¼ cup(s) Cheese, parmesan, grated (This is just to sprinkle on before eating.)

Things I added to make it extra special...

1 Red Bell Pepper, chopped
Sauteed mushrooms
2-3 Chicken Breasts, grilled (I used the George Foreman), and seasoned
Dash of crushed red peppers
Dash of ceyenne pepper (or whatever seasoning you like to add an extra kick...I like spicy)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.

2. Halve squash lengthwise and scoop out seeds. Place squash, cut sides down, in a large baking dish and prick skin all over with a fork. Bake until tender, 30 to 40 minutes. (Cutting the squash in half was definitely the most difficult part. Once it's cut, it's all easy from there.)

Once I put the squash into the oven, I began the chopping process.

Once everything was chopped up, I put all the seasonings together and grabbed the olive oil and garlic.

3. Meanwhile, to make the sauce, heat oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic (and bell pepper) and sauté until tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and Italian seasoning; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, stirring often, 5 minutes or until desired consistency. (I also sauteed the mushrooms in a separate pan at this time -- Greg really doesn't like mushrooms.)

Once the sauce was simmering, I went to work on the chicken. On a George Foreman grill, it takes 9 minutes to cook a chicken breast, so I put them on there when there was about 10 minutes left on the squash.

Since I was still "technically" grilling the chicken, one of my favorite things is the Weber grill seasonings. I used the garlic & herb seasoning for this recipe because it went well with the italian theme of the sauce.

Once it was cooked, I cut it up to put on top of the sauce.

4. To serve, carefully rake the stringy squash pulp from the skin with a fork, separating it into strands that look like spaghetti. This part was so much fun! It really does scrape out looking like spaghetti!!!

Spoon sauce over squash and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese (mushrooms and chicken). Yields about 1 1/2 cups of squash, 1/4 cup of sauce and 1 tablespoon of cheese per serving.

#29 CHECK!!!

2011-10-09T18:18:00.001-07:00

While on vacation this last week, I was able to check off another fun goal (besides the vacation, of course).

29. Go to a wine tasting (make MacKenzie take me somewhere good J)

I still plan on doing this goal with MacKenzie since she is a wine lover and knows some good places to go. But while it was raining for an entire day on our vacation we tried to find stuff to do inside. When Robert and Lindsay had gone to the same hotel on Robert's sabbatical they had gone wine tasting. We thought it would be fun to do it again, but this time with no Baby Emma. :)

We headed to the Carruth Cellars and had a fun time trying new wines (many of which I did not like). But it was still fun to hang out and try some wines. We learned a little bit about the wines too.

Now that I've done this, it makes me want to go to a winery in Napa to REALLY try some wine. Next trip!

#23 CHECK!!!!

2011-10-08T15:44:00.002-07:00

I am very excited to already be able to check an item off my new 101 List! This past week I was able to check...

23. Go on a vacation with Greg (no church students!)

Now, granted I set some goals on my list that I knew I would be able to easily check off, but that's what makes a good list. You need to see success early to help motive you. I knew that we were going on vacation when I made my list, but to my credit, this was something that I was wanting to do for a good long while.

Greg and I have been a lot of places in our married life. South Carolina, Honduras, Indiana, Michigan, San Diego, Navajo Reservation, Dallas, Colorado. Each of these times though have been for work, camps, moving, or mission trips.

And I have been a lot of places in our married life. Chicago, Virginia, LA, Rhode Island, New York, Maryland, New Jersey, Connecticut, New Hampshire. All of these times I was traveling without Greg.

Together though, without students, the last time we actually "vacationed" together was our honeymoon. And that was over 4 years ago. We love to travel and we love leading students but there's nothing like taking a trip just to relax and spend time together.

This past Monday, we left for San Diego with our besties, Robert and Lindsay. They have 3 kids so getting away without children is quite a feat for them. I'm just so happy that they had awesome family and friends who made it possible for them to come with us.

We stayed in a great hotel that gives pastors a discount on rooms. Aside from the money saved though, was the incredible view.

It was so much fun to be in such a beautiful location and just laugh, eat, and relax with Greg and our friends.

Linds and I got in some beach time before the rain while the boys were deep-sea fishing.

The boys spent some of our time on the beach doing what boys do...competing by throwing/skipping rocks.

Cute friends!

Trying to plan an adventure...the storm the day before stopped our attempt at kayaking.

My view from one of our "do nothing by read and sleep on the beach" days.

We were even able to fit in some time to catch up with old friends. My friend since junior high, Stacy, lives in San Diego. She was sweet enough to drive up to where we were staying and have dinner with us. It was GREAT to catch up with her and hug on her!

Our final night we went for a hike up to Torrey Pines, saw how neat nature is (hehe..."neature" - only some people will get that...sorry), and watched the sun set from the beach.

Taking some sunset pictures.

After our hike we got a little fancy and headed out for our last dinner.

Our hope had been for a fun, relaxing, and easy vacation away from all the craziness of life and jobs. And boy did we accomplish that! We had such a wonderful time getting away from everything and we loved getting to spend so much time with Robert and Lindsay. I'm glad that I was able to check this goal off early, but I had such a great time that I might have to check it off again. :)

101 in 1001 Days - Round 2

2011-10-01T23:02:00.027-07:00

In October of 2008, I created my first 101 Goals in 1001 Days list. It was such a daunting task at the time. Creating 101 things that you hope to accomplish in 3 years. One thing I learned during that process, though, is that it's hard to think about where you will be in 3 years and what will still be important to you at that time. One thing I LOVED about the process was being challenged to accomplish things that I normally wouldn't have thought to do.

As a result, I decided to go through it again. After listing the goals that I didn't accomplish the first time around that I still want to do and stealing ideas from random 101 Lists over the internet (and from my beautiful friend Tyah), I have created Round 2 of the 101 List.

101 in 1001 Days
Start Date: October 1, 2011
End Date: June 28, 2014

Marriage Goals

1. ~~Complete “Re|Engage” with Greg~~ -- Completed 12/19/11

2. Go on a date to the Phoenix Art Museum (on the monthly free night, of course!)

3. Go on a picnic with Greg and fly a kite

4. Get Greg a new wedding ring

5. Go back to the Pointe hotel and stay for a more than the 4 hours we stayed there on our wedding night

6. Commit to a weekly date night with Greg for 2 months straight

7. Surprise Greg with a random gift for a random reason

8. Get a matching tattoo of our family verse

9. Have a dinner date by candlelight

10. Maybe get pregnant by day 1001

11. Make a will

Family Goals

12. Take Mady on a girls’ date!

13. Hold my new nephew…granted this will happen anyway, but it’s nice to have goals that are easy to check off.

14. Get Ryan, my cousin, to come visit me in Arizona

15. Have Greg’s parents over for dinner and games

16. Have our nephews stay overnight

17. Host a Suiter family game night

18. Take Ann on a fun girls’ day

Travel/Culture/Entertainment

19. Meet Colton Soules (either visit IL or convince Matt & Lauren to visit us)

20. Visit Lana and John in CA

21. Go to Disneyland (preferably with Tiff, Chris, Mady, and future baby)

22. Take a girls’ trip with my mom (probably to their cabin)

23. ~~Go on a vacation with Greg (no church students!)~~ -- Completed 10/7/2011

24. Take a girls’ vacation with Lindsay

25. Go to an ASU football game

26. Visit Courtney in VA again

27. Go to Magic Mountain

28. Go on a fun trip with Morgan!! (accomplished this already but the first 101 List was already over…guess we’ll have to do it again)

29. ~~Go to a wine tasting (make MacKenzie take me somewhere good)~~ -- Completed 10/5/11

30. Visit San Francisco and Alcatraz Island (and my brother and sister-in-law)

31. Attend a Cardinals’ football game in the new stadium

32. Go to the Grand Canyon again

33. Watch 15 movies of AFI’s top 100 movies list (No more crap movies like “Taxi Driver”)

34. Go skiing in Northern Arizona

35. Go to a Switchfoot concert again

36. Have a movie theater marathon day (3 movies in a row)

37. Go to Canada (never been before)

38. Go to a drive-in movie

39. Go snorkeling

Reading/Writing/Learning

40. Join a women’s bible study

41. Finish reading the Harry Potter series

42. Read a Phillip Yancey book

43. Spend an entire day in bed reading and watching movies

44. Memorize one of the letters of the Bible

45. Take a history class at a local community college

46. Read a classic novel I haven’t read before

47. Read the books of the Bible I haven’t read before

48. Visit Arizona Science Center

49. Visit the Heard Museum

50. Join a book club

51. Write a short story

52. Send a hand written card once a month for 6 months straight

Fitness/Nutrition/Health

53. Take a zumba class…just to see what that is like.

54. Take a yoga class at the gym

55. Go to dinner at a new restaurant

56. Donate blood – if they’ll let me after being in malaria land

57. Become CPR and First-Aid certified

58. Cook 10 new dishes (#1 - Spaghetti Squash Marinara...#2 - Three-Bean Turkey Chili...#3 - Chunky Chili...)
59. Hike Picacho Peak and take pictures for teaching

60. Cook Hilah a vegetarian meal

61. Hike South Mountain

62. Cook a meal using only vegetables and herbs from our own garden

63. Work out 3 days a week for 2 months straight

64. Bake a Diet Coke cake

65. Get allergy tested

66. ~~Make a crock-pot dinner~~ -- Completed 12/24/11

67. Get a facial

Career

68. Attend an Arizona Centennial Event

69. Take my students on a history related field trip

70. Start my masters degree

71. Go through all my school materials and “clean house”

72. Create a team instruction notebook

Home/Finances

73. Buy a house

74. ~~Get new pots and pans for our kitchen~~ -- Completed 12/21/11

75. Get a bed frame for our giant king mattress

76. Sell our DVDs to help pay off debt

77. Organize a dinner party in our new house with appetizers, drinks, main dish, dessert, and fun conversation

78. ~~Create a coffee table book of fun personal photos~~ -- Completed 1/6/12

79. Pay off student loan debt (Greg’s…not mine)

80. Pay off our credit card debt

81. Blow up prints of some of my favorite shots to hang around our house

82. ~~Make a red bathroom~~ -- Completed 11/2011

83. Help Greg start a garden

Random Personal Goals

84. Go to the shooting range

85. Complete another cross-stitch

86. Finally beat Guitar Hero on “Hard” – The stupid “Raining Blood” song is still dominating me.

87. Buy a keyboard and try out for the worship team at church

88. Send out Christmas cards

89. Babysit the Watson kiddos so Robert and Lindsay can go on a date

90. Donate not-oft worn clothes, purses, etc. to Goodwill

91. Go to a Dobson High School homecoming football game (and make Christy go with me)

92. Spend an evening looking at Christmas lights

93. Go on a day retreat alone

94. Make a birthday cake for someone

95. ~~Go through all my old photo albums, journals, and mementos and purge some things~~ -- Completed 12/2011

96. Don’t log onto Facebook for an entire week

97. Pay for the person’s meal behind me at a fast-food restaurant

98. Learn how to play Call of Duty so I can play with Greg

99. Watch a sunrise

100. ~~Finish my 101 List~~ -- Completed 10/1/11 (Didn't even need any help. I'm growing.)

101. Blog about each of my 101 goals with pictures

What kids can do...

2011-10-01T11:33:00.001-07:00

This is my 10th year teaching and for 9 of those years, I've worked in junior highs with 12 and 13 year olds. One of the things I know to be true about most people is that they don't look favorably on 12 and 13 year olds. They don't really contribute to society, they can be a little annoying, they don't listen to authority very often, and they are very awkward. I see all of these things on a daily basis, but this week I was blessed to see something a little different.

A few weeks ago I received an email from my principal to come and see him when I had a few minutes. After I calmed down and realized that I hadn't done anything recently to be in trouble for, I headed down to his office. He showed me a letter written by three 8th grade students (2 of which were on my team last year) asking him to consider letting them do a coin drive to raise money for the famine currently taking place in Africa. These girls had seen a story on CNN Student News about the famine and drought occurring in the Horn of Africa. Over 30,000 children have already died from this and that fact did not sit well with them.

My principal asked me if NJHS (the club that I am an advisor for) could help them organize this drive, but with only 3 weeks left in the quarter, it just wasn't going to be possible. I agreed to think over their proposal though.

About 2 weeks ago, I told my principal that while NJHS could not help because of the short notice, if the girls wanted to go ahead with their idea, I would be the faculty member they could work with. The idea made me feel a little stressed with all the other things I had on my plate: giving a test, finalizing grades for the quarter, ordering our team t-shirts, meetings, and somewhere in there sleeping. But I just felt so bad saying no since they were so passionate about it.

The girls emailed me and were so professional. I told them that I would handle the announcements for the drive and inform the staff about their responsibilities but they had to provide the containers to collect the change and handle the collection and counting.

This past Monday the Coin Drive for Famine in Africa began. The girls had gotten containers donated by Sam's Club, cleaned them out, cut holes in the lids, and created awesome labels for each bucket. The parents had decided to award the class that raised the most money with a pizza party so we started announcing the drive with a ton of hype. The girls made posters all on their own and hung them up around campus.

Yesterday, the drive ended. I helped them get all the change organized so they could take it to get counted. As it turned out, at the end of the 4 days our school raised almost $1200. The top 3 classes (2 of which were from MY team) raised almost $600...half of the total amount raised by the school. Combined with the elementary school that the girls organized a coin drive for, today they were able to take $3000 to the Feed the Children event.

After my class was told that we had raised over $170, I had the privilege of talking with my students about the good that they had done. In four days, my class had managed to find change, con their parents into giving money, and sacrificed their own allowances to help change the world. I told them how much money the 2 girls who organized the coin drive had raised. I told them to never doubt that they can change the world, no matter how old they are.

And yesterday, I had a wonderful day being a teacher and challenging my students to, "Never let anyone look down on them because they are young."

Wrap-up...101 List...#101 CHECK!!!

2011-09-18T17:30:00.000-07:00

Three years ago I copied an idea from my friend Melissa and created a list of 101 things I wanted to accomplish in 1001 days. At first, the list seemed impossible but I quickly started checking items off and then it became fun. As time went by, I quickly realized that the goals you THINK you want to accomplish at one point in your life can lose their importance as time goes on. Overall though, checking off these items and making the point to do things I wouldn't normally do was such a fun experience.

Here's the recap of my first 101 List:

38 = The number of goals our of 101 that I completed in 1001 days

4 = One of the goals I'm most proud of accomplishing. I was very determined to read all of Jodi Picoult's books since I love her writing. She came out with 2 more books after I made this goal so she was definitely making it difficult on me. But I did it.

12 & 43 = Goals I did not enjoy completing. Both were physically demanding goals and at the time, I did not like doing them! I do enjoy running a little more now but I DO NOT enjoy Bikram Yoga. No good.

17 = Goal I most regret not accomplishing. I really want to get my masters' degree but the circumstances surrounding it haven't quite been good enough. I also need to make a final decision on the exact degree that I want to pursue. Hopefully this will get done soon.

1, 7, 21, 33, 34, 41, 58, & 70 = Goals that I started in some way but didn't finish before the time alloted for the list was done.

I really enjoyed working on my 101 List and blogging about all the different goals that I accomplished. So, in my final "check" from my 101 List, I officially check...

101. Blog about each of my 101 goals with pictures.

Thanks for following my journey through my list. I'm in the process of creating a new list and I'm excited to start setting new goals for the next few years.

Happy Birthday to me!

2011-08-24T20:51:00.000-07:00

On August 7 2011, I officially became someone in their 30s. Last year was all exciting because I was entering a new decade. This year, just 31. Luckily, I have always loved my birthday so it was still tons of fun!

The celebrations began the Friday before my birthday with a wonderful Suiter family dinner at Serranos. Gotta love that bean dip and salsa. I also received some fun gifts from my students (but the real fun was coming on Monday).

I know that I did something on Saturday but for the life of me I can't remember it. If it involved hanging out with you (one of my MANY readers), sorry about that. :)

Then came Sunday. The day of my birth. August 7, 2011. And what a glorious day it was.

I happen to share my birthday with two of my favorite students at church, Nate and Devin, and we had been planning to share in our birthday festivities for a while. We met up at church and made our first stop at Krispy Kreme donuts (before they stopped giving you an entire dozen for your birthday).

We then stopped off at Party City where I got us all sashes and crowns (it WAS our birthday after all) and we headed back to church for some baptisms. After church the three of us, plus Greg, went to Joe's Farm Grill for our free lunch. We were all about the free stuff.

After lunch we dropped the birthday kids off and had dinner later at my mom's house. I got some good gifts...especially the cutie cards from my awesome nephews!

Then came Monday. Monday brought some fun. I ended the day with dinner at my dad's, which was another awesome family celebration. But the way the day started was what was really notable about Monday. This is what I walked into when I got to work on Monday...

There were cups everywhere! It was insane! As soon as I turned on the light and stepped into my classroom, my teammate Nikki popped into the room and yelled, "I was in charge of cups!" If you know anything about the show "Friends" (a favorite of mine and Nikki's), you know that Phoebe was in charge of cups for one of Rachel's birthdays and it turned out very similar to my birthday. I had a good laugh and then proceeded to spend about 25 minutes cleaning up cups. Happy birthday to me!

I am so thankful for all of the wonderful people in my life who made my birthday very special. I felt so loved and feel very blessed to be so "rich" in my 30s.

Lana got married!!!

2011-08-21T22:15:00.000-07:00

I have been to a lot of weddings in my day. I do work for a photographer on the side and all. But last weekend, I had the privilege of attending a very special wedding. On Friday, my beautiful friend Lana got married!!!!

Lana is one of the sweetest and bravest people I know. She and I became quick friends after meeting at the summer camp my church attended up in Big Bear. Once she graduated from college, she took a huge leap of faith and moved from California to Arizona. I couldn't have been happier. After living here and blessing my life for two years, Lana made another leap of faith to move back home to California after her father's death. She stepped up to care for her family and allow them to care for her in the face of great loss.

In 2007, she blessed me so greatly by being a bridesmaid in my wedding. We kept in touch over the years since then...sometimes consistent, sometimes not so consistent. Through it all though, Lana is one of my dearest friends. When she called to tell me she had met a wonderful man and they were planning to get married, I couldn't have been more thrilled! And he is indeed wonderful! Their wedding was so much fun and such a beautiful celebration of their love and commitment to each other and to God.

Morgan and I made the trek to California on Friday. It was much more fun to drive out with a friend than alone like the last time.

We checked into our hotel, got ready for the wedding, and headed to the church.

One of my favorite things during the processional is to watch the groom see his bride walking towards him. I love that excitement and anticipation!

And boy was John excited! He almost ran down the steps to get Lana (even though it wasn't time yet). The pastor had to hold him back. So cute and funny!

The ceremony was very personal and sweet. Their love for each other and for God was so evident.

After they were officially married, they participated in communion as a married couple.

John is an archaeologist so when the pastor finally pronounced them husband and wife, John's best man pulled an "Indiana Jones" hat from behind his back as the theme song to the movies began to play. It was such a cute moment to watch them laughing and just enjoying their first walk and a married couple.

Immediately after the ceremony, there was a dessert reception with a receiving line so people could congratulate the happy couple. Everything looked so cute, including the awesome banner they stood in front of.

After that, family and close friends headed to a local restaurant for dinner. Lana's friends and family did such an amazing job getting everything put together and the whole room looked awesome!

After dinner we headed back to the hotel and pretty immediately fell asleep. The next day we attempted to find this awesome Rainbow Sandal store but mistakenly traveled into LA. Whoops. After doing a little more research with our handy iPhones, we figured out where the actual store was. All in all, we did about 3 hours of driving to make it there. Totally worth it though!

After buying some cheap sandals, we headed over to the beach to enjoy the waves for a little bit.

I even got in some cute sand writing to send to Greg. I'm a nice wife.

Thanks for making the trip with me, Morgan. And CONGRATULATIONS Lana and John! Love you guys and it was such an honor to share in your wedding.

A little bit of random...

2011-08-14T22:35:00.000-07:00

So much to blog about, from school starting, to the end of my 101 List, to my birthday, to Lana's wedding. So much! In lieu of writing about those things though (since I'm really tired and want to go to bed), I will instead share 2 bits of randomness that I was thinking about today:

1. "Don't Worry So Much About Kids' Happiness" - Read this article if you are a parent, a teacher, or even just know some random kids. It's very interesting...and written by my high school English teacher. Bonus!

2. Check out this blog invitation to an awesome event coming up this Friday. Will and Karly are adopting 2 little girls from Uganda and they are in the final stages. This Friday they are having a dinner/auction to raise funds to get out to Uganda and bring them home! Great cause, great good, and great people (Greg and I are going). Check it out!!!!

#13 CHECK!!!

2011-07-31T22:13:00.000-07:00

My 101 List has actually been "done" for a month now, but before my time ran out, I did complete one more goal.

13. Visit Lana in California

I was so very excited to cross this one off the list and am sad that it took me three years to do it. Lana and I finally found a few days where we were both available to just hang out and relax. And lucky for me, she got engaged a few months before my trip so I was able to meet her fiance while I was there too!!!!! I guess the engagement part is lucky for her as well.

It had been a while since I had been to California so I was a little excited to head out there. Had some fun with the camera on the way (which will make Morgan mad...and Greg...they hate when I take pictures while driving). In my defense, 5 hours alone in the car can get REALLY boring.

Welcome to California!

A little caffeine to wake me up...

It was 6:50 in real time...I was so close!

Lana lives in Grand Terrace so I was super excited to see this sign.

And finally, I arrived at Lana's super cute house!!!!!!!

Lana's fiance, John, was there when I arrived and we were all able to hang out that evening. The next 2 days were just spent hanging out old school girlfriend style...which includes hours of Alias, talking, laughing, shopping, and the beach!

My friend is so pretty!!!!

Ready for some shopping!

It was such a fun and relaxing trip and I'm so thankful that Lana found a few days to spend with me. This was a great final goal to check off my 101 List. I'm also super excited that I get to go back in less than 2 weeks for her WEDDING!!!!!

Coming soon...my 101 List wrap up...

Pawley's Island 2011

2011-07-23T20:17:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, Greg and I returned from Pawley's Island, South Carolina. We, along with Josiah, took 13 students to South Carolina for our underclassmen mission trip. It was such an awesome week! If you would like to read more about it, please check out the post from our mission trip blog.

We returned...IT ROCKED!!!! - Suiter's Back to Pawley's blog

Hume SD 2011

2011-07-01T21:42:00.000-07:00

We just got back today from Hume SD (San Diego) 2011 -- the high school camp that we take our youth group to each year. It's such a fun experience -- my second one at this camp since returning to Arizona -- because as a high school student, I attended Hume Lake 3 times. I was also a counselor twice up at the lake. Since then, Hume Lake Christian Camps has expanded to San Diego and is setting up a camp somewhere on the east coast as well.

My first time at Hume SD was 2 years ago and I was a counselor. It was so fun but last year I decided not to go since Hume was RIGHT before my trip to Honduras. Didn't want to be away from home for 3 weeks. Soon after camp though, my great friend Lindsay found out that she was pregnant with their 3rd baby. As we talked about this year's camp, we thought that it would be super fun to go but just take care of the three Watson kiddos. And that's exactly what we did!

Lindsay, Robert, Gabe, Corban, Emma, Greg and I all kicked it at Hume in our own little apartment for the past 5 days. While the "big boys" (Robert and Greg) did a bunch of camp things -- chapel, hang out with students, go on coffee runs for the leaders -- Lindsay, Emma, the "little boys" (Gabe and Corban), and I did our best to take in camp while keeping the kids on a "normal" schedule.

Here's some of the highlights:

pushing the stroller up A LOT of hills!!!
walking down & back up the the stairs -- hundreds of stairs -- while holding hands with one (sometimes two) little boys who go at very different speeds.
waking up to Emma's sweet smiles in the morning -- she's VERY happy in the morning right when she's woken up.
playing "hi & bye" with Corban as he opened and shut one of the doors in our apartment.
catching sand crabs with Robert & Gabe at the beach and watching Gabe run into the ocean deeper and deeper, losing his fear.
video-taping the whole Watson family (minus Emma sleeping on the beach) playing in the ocean. One of my all-time favorite families!
hearing the boys before anyone else and getting some early morning play time with them in their room.
reaching back to rub Gabe's hand while were driving home and having him not let go of my hand for the next 5 minutes. Such a sweet boy.
spending time with Lindsay and just laughing and enjoying her sweet/crazy/awesome kids.

I am so very tired after this week but it was filled with so much joy. Lindsay is one of the most patient, loving, cute, fun, sweetest moms I know and I am so blessed to have spent the past week getting to watch her in action. I can only hope that I will be this same kind of mother one day.

Why am I afraid of teaching???

2011-06-16T00:22:00.000-07:00

If you know me, you know that one of the biggest loves/stresses of my life is being a teacher. I am about to begin my 10th year of teaching (in just a little over a month - one silent tear is falling at how soon that will come - silly short summer) and I L-O-V-E being a teacher. I love hanging out with junior high students on a daily basis and I love helping them learn to really enjoy history.

It takes a lot for me to get nervous when I'm in front of a group of 12 year olds. I'm even doing better at speaking in front of adults since I had to do that A LOT this year in faculty meetings.

So, where would I encounter a teaching experience where I felt afraid? High schoolers. That's where.

I've taught in high school before and when I'm in my own classroom, in my own element, I still feel a little nervous. I think my high school teaching experiences have been a little traumatic and while I love hanging out with high schoolers, teaching them is something different.

So, when Greg asked me to speak with Cindy in front of the high school group at church, I was nervous. Excited! But nervous.

High school students can be a rough audience. Junior highers are easier to manipulate and be made to think I'm witty and smart. High schoolers, not as easy to manipulate. Luckily, I was going to be speaking with Cindy who is both amazing, loveable, funny, and authentic. So, at least I wouldn't be up there alone.

Last Sunday we spoke for the second time. Our first speaking experience was in the "Purple" series about dating. We spoke on Godly Womanhood and were both so passionate about our topic. It was such a great experience to speak on something that we both value and love so much. This past Sunday we spoke on finding your value and worth in Jesus alone. It was a very vulnerable talk in some ways and I think that made it a little more difficult for me. But again, I was so blessed to be up on that stage with Cindy and I'm glad to have another teaching experience under my belt.

One thing I do know for sure, I do not envy Greg and Robert having to do that every week. Being afraid = extreme dehydration for both Cindy and I. So, it will be great to have a break before we have to do that again.

Cats v. Babies

2011-06-11T18:51:00.002-07:00

A year and a half ago, Greg and I decided to adopt a little Russian boy. We named him Jack and he has brought tons of fun and joy to our lives. And he's just so cute.

((sometimes inappropriate))

This decision to adopt a cat was one that Greg had been wanting for a while. I was a little hesitant though, being that I was quite enjoying not being tied down to something. Besides Greg, of course. The idea of having a creature that was completely dependent on me, one that we would have to ~~pay~~ care for, something that we would have to find someone to watch when we left town...that was a little much for me. Lame, I know.

Finally though, Greg wore me down. Truthfully, he tricked me into wanting a cat by promising that we could name it Sydney (after Sydney Bristow from Alias). It apparently doesn't take much for me to be manipulated.

We went on our journey to find our cutie little black girl cat and instead I fell in love with this adorable little gray boy cat. As I looked at him through the glass, he peered up at me with his gorgeous green eyes. Then I found out that he had already been adopted by a family who had given him back because he wasn't "cat-like" enough for them. Apparently he scared easy and their toddler child was terrifying to the poor cat. I was mush then. We just HAD to have him. He needed a family that would love him no matter what!

As we've adjusted to being "parents" of our little Jack, I've come to realize that while I think of Jack as my "baby," he has definitely NOT been good at preparing me for eventual parenthood. Here are some of the ways that Jack has not done a good job of helping me parent a real baby:

We feed Jack every other day or so. He free feeds so we fill up his bowl and after about 2 days he'll follow us around and meow incessantly until we feed him again. I'm pretty sure that's now how often you feed babies.
When we buy Jack new toys, we will often spray/fill them with catnip to help "entice" him to like his new play-thing. Essentially, we're giving him kitty-crack so that he can't help but play with the toy. In regards to a real kid, I've actually seen news stories where parents have gone to jail for giving drugs to their children.
We love going on mission trips and camps for Greg's job and when we do, we always find someone to come and stay/play with Jack. But if it's just an overnight thing, we'll often leave Jack home alone to fend for himself. Some states call that "abandonment" when it's done to a small child.
As many people know, cats are not huge fans of water, so instead of bathing Jack I wipe him down with these cute little kitty wipes that come out of a bottle similar to Clorox wipes. Then I push him around on the floor to brush all sides of him. I've seen babies get baths before and I'm pretty sure that parents don't use Clorox wipes on their children...although that sounds awfully convenient.

As you can see, we might need a little more time before we're "child-ready." Jack though has no complaints and I think he's very happy with his loving parents.

Memorial Day 2011

2011-05-30T13:03:00.001-07:00

Last year, the history teacher in me dominated the blog with a little lesson on Memorial Day. This year, I would just like to leave you with some thoughts on the sacrifices made to preserve our freedoms.

“True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.” ~ Arthur Ashe

“A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.” ~ Joseph Campbell

“Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened.” ~ Billy Graham

For love of country they accepted death... ~ James A. Garfield

Thank you for serving our country and being willing to accept death for my freedoms.

JC Wolfe (my dad)

Barry Suiter (my father-in-law)

Joe Loomis, Jim Hefti (my uncles)

Wendell Suiter, Scott Suiter, John Suiter (Greg's uncles)

And all the many friends, acquaintances, and strangers who have and are placing their lives on the line.

Thank you.

Rez '11 - A little overdue...

2011-05-28T18:42:00.001-07:00

So as I was looking through my blog this morning, I realized that I never blogged about our Spring Break mission trip to the Navajo Reservation. It was a great 5 days of serving, laughing, and bonding with a completely random group of students from our high school ministry.

We partnered with a pastor that has been working on the Navajo Reservation for over 20 years. He works to address the poverty of the reservation and to bring the good news of Jesus to the people there.

While I have taught about Native American communities in the past, there were many things about the Navajo people that I did not know. Like many Native American groups, the Navajo are very traditional. They have customs and traditions that have been done for generations. The community in general is very family centered and those who are the youngest in the community go out of their way to care for the oldest. In fact, most of our time there was spent cutting up trees for firewood that could be delivered to the elderly of the community.

Unlike many Native American groups though, the Navajo refused to give into many of the negative cultural aspects of the Europeans who infiltrated North America in the 1500s. The Navajo Nation is a dry nation...meaning they do not have alcohol on the reservation. They have also never had a casino on the reservation until a few years ago. The Navajo people saw how devastating alcohol and gambling was to the European settlers and the neighboring Native American groups and they refused to be effected in the same ways. I think that's a pretty amazing part of their history!!

Our first few days were spent sorting food and cutting up firewood. Our last work day, we divided into multiple groups. My group was sent to the community center to clean up a room that had unexpectedly flooded. It was pretty rough but we had a great time!

Spending a little time with white Jesus. :)

On our way out of the reservation, we did some hiking and it was beautiful!

Small Painted Desert

On our ride home. Cuties Nate and Jonah.

Even though I didn't originally want to do any trips during my Spring Break, I am so glad that God had other plans for me. It was a great trip!

***As an added bonus, enjoy this little video of Nate and Jonah singing to each other on the ride home. Those crazy boys. ((Sorry it's sideways...don't really have a way to fix.))

Another one bites the dust...

2011-05-27T22:19:00.002-07:00

Next Wednesday the 2010-2011 school year will officially be over. It's hard to believe sometimes. I have to really think hard about some of the months I lived through this year as they seemed to fly by. Despite that, I can clearly remember the first few days of school...meeting my students...starting off the year with my procedures and expectations...feeling really excited for how fun my new students seemed.

Now it's 10 months later and I still get excited about how fun and cool my students are! Since we are only doing team activities next Tuesday and Wednesday, today was the last day of our regularly scheduled classes. Along with giving out funny awards and having the kids complete an evaluation on my class, I also gave them my end of the year talk. One of the things I was able to tell my kids today was that in 9 years of teaching, I have never had a group of students that I liked or enjoyed as much as this group. While there were many things that were frustrating or difficult about this year, once I would get into my classroom, shut the door, and just be a teacher to these young adults, I had the best time! It was really great to be able to encourage them and tell them how much I enjoyed teaching them this year.

It will be very sad to say goodbye to these funny kids on Wednesday. While I'm excited for the break, it will be hard to start next year knowing that these kids won't be there. I trust that God has amazing things in store for next year as well and I pray that I have made a positive impact on these students' lives and the lives of those coming into my room next year.

Long week...funny stuff

2011-04-15T22:47:00.002-07:00

First with the funny stuff...

1. Yesterday I planned to have my students read a story about the CCC (New Deal program) and decided that I was tired of being in my classroom. We've been taking AIMS this week and it was driving me crazy! So, we went out into the courtyard to read the story. The first class that went out, no incidents. The second class that went out, we hung out in a different area of the campus. As they read I sat in the shade reading my own book. After a few minutes I felt a "splat" on my shoulder that I knew could only be one thing. That's right internet friends...a bird pooped on me.

I tried really hard to not freak out immediately but did make 2 of my students inspect my hair to make sure there was no poop in it. I told all my students my awesome adventure when they were done reading and when we made it back into the classroom, proceeded to scrub my shirt like a crazy person while gagging in the back of my room. Good times. My friend told me it's supposed to be good luck to have a bird poop on you. It means you are going to come into some money soon. So, I'm really looking forward to that.

2. This morning while getting out of my car, my beloved big purple water bottle slipped from my grasp and landed on the ground. I've dropped my water jug before but it's survived. This time though a tiny little crack opened up on the bottom. I didn't realize this though until I had a giant puddle of water on my desk threatening all my beautiful copies. I saved the papers but all that kept running through my head was Ross' line (Friends) when all the shampoo and conditioner bottles he stole from a hotel exploded in his bag, "Why do BAD things happen to GOOD people?!?!?!?" And I giggled all day as I attempted to stop the leak with painters tape and proceeded to leave little wet spots all over my carpet. It's the little things that get me through the day.

Then there were the not so funny things that happened like two of my kids getting into a fight and being suspended for five days. Or another student plagiarizing a paper straight off the internet. In both of these cases the parents have tried to create quite a stink in "defense" of their children. I would understand if in both of these cases their kids had been wrongly accused of something. However, in the fight there were multiple witnesses who saw both kids punch each other. In the cheating incident, the kid turned in the paper and we found the web site where it was copied. Both parents are trying to pawn it off on anyone but their child.

"You can't prove that my kid hit the other one."
"It was their brother who copied the essay and they didn't know when they turned it in."
"I want all the witnesses re-interviewed."
"You should really give them a chance to redo the paper so they won't have to miss out on sports."

What I wish I could do is sit these parents down and have a little heart-to-heart with them.
"Do you even realize the lessons you are teaching your children? By challenging the standard discipline procedures you are teaching your child that the rules don't apply to them. They don't have to suffer the natural consequences to their bad choices. By being so rude and disrespectful to their teachers and administrators, you are showing them that they don't need to respect the authorities in their lives - which is being proven by their awesome attitudes this week. You are allowing them to get away with poor choices and you are DEFENDING them instead of teaching and guiding them."

Yeah, that's what I would say. With all our testing this week, I've obviously had some time to think that through. Sadly, I will not be able to have that conversation with those parents so here will have to do.

I guess it could always be worse. I could get pooped on.

Wait a minute...

Raindrops on Roses...

2011-04-08T22:43:00.001-07:00

...And whiskers on kittens. The past few weeks have been so crazy busy with getting back to work that I figured I'd just get caught up on some of my favorite things from the last 2-3 weeks.

First, the inspiration for my title came from a super fun night with my friend Jihae and her two cuties, Lily and Topher. One of the kids new favorite movies is "The Sound of Music" - one of my all-time favs! Cutest thing though is that they both know the songs and will sing them randomly. So as we were all sitting on the couch, Topher (3) starts singing "Do Re Mi" and even let me sing along with him (something the Jihae said he doesn't let people do). It just warmed my heart to see such a great movie infiltrating a new generation.

Second, last Sunday my friend Cindy and I spoke in the high school group on Godly womanhood. We were so incredibly nervous (pretty sure I completely dehydrated my body by nervous sweat). It went really well though and I think the students tracked with us and heard what we were trying to get across.

School, of course, has provided many smiles and laughs these first 2 weeks of the final quarter:

Cutie Megan (one of my favs) - "Thirteen is just such a great feeling. It's like, wow, I'm a teenager."
Ben (one of the funniest kids I know) - "Mrs. Suiter, after staring at this pink paper, when I look around the room everything is all green." - Me - "Yeah, I know." - Ben - "This is WONDERFUL!"

My team has been trying to plan a field trip for our students for many, many months now. We figured out the whole plan for the day and then our transportation was denied because we were going to get back too late. So then we had to change the entire plan for the day to accommodate for the time change. Once that was figured out, we reapplied for our transportation, got approved, and found out that it would cost almost $700 for transportation. I had been asking parents the last 2 months of 2010 to donate tax credit money to our team for our field trip but had only heard from 2 families. So, when I went down to the office to see how much tax credit money we had to apply to the trip, I wasn't expecting much. The only thing I could hope for was that we would only have to charge students $2 or $3 for the trip. Well, I found out that we had $800 in our account!!!! Praise God!!! I was so excited I actually jumped up and down in the office. So, now we can take our entire team on a really fun field trip for FREE! So excited!

Finally, this moment really warmed my heart...especially since it is the moment that stands out the most from the first couple days back at work this quarter. One of my students came to us in the middle of last quarter because he was placed in foster care. He's a sweet kid but you can see that he's hurting. Each month every team is expected to send home "Good News" cards to students to stay positive and encourage students and their families. Any time a new kid joins our team, I always send them a "Welcome to our team" card. Well, on Wednesday of last week, I was talking to the class and I looked down at this student's notebook to see the card I sent him tucked into the cover of his binder. It's good to know that the little things we do are cared about by our students.

Looking forward to many more fun moments over these last 8 weeks of school. Hopefully I'll maintain my sanity through all the fun moments. We'll see.

Happy Birthday Madelynne!!!!

2011-03-26T00:35:00.002-07:00

Today my beautiful, smart, sweet, adorable niece Madelynne turned ONE!!! I can't believe how fast the year has flown by and I can't believe how much joy she has brought to our family. She is such a funny little person and has an awesome personality. I can't wait to see the person she will turn out to be (although I can definitely wait because she's growing up too fast as it is!). I am so blessed to be her aunt and to have known her from the first day she was born.

Love her so much! Happy Birthday Mady!

Dancing on the job...

2011-03-23T23:19:00.003-07:00

The last big topic I taught about before Spring Break was the 1920s. One of the things that the Social Studies teachers at my school like to do is a Fox Trot competition since the Fox Trot was created/very popular in the 1920s. So, after teaching about the decade, the last week of the quarter we took the entire 7th grade outside, taught them the Fox Trot, paired them up, and had a marathon dance competition.

It was super fun teaching them some basic dance steps and even more fun to watch how uncomfortable they were having to dance with each other. Oh, the joy that comes from embarrassing 13 year olds.

Not a bad deal when you can spend almost an entire week of work playing around outside with some fun kids, dancing to some Frank Sinatra, and laughing with other teachers. Just one of the many reasons I really do enjoy my job.

If you really have nothing better to do, feel free to watch the cute video I made of our Fox Trot adventures. :)

High/Low

2011-03-04T23:24:00.006-07:00

Feeling reflective tonight so I figured it would be a good time for another high/low adventure. Here are my highs and lows from the past few weeks.

Highs

This past Wednesday we put on our annual talent show at school. It was so much fun and such a great show. My team of teachers was the only complete team who was there to watch and 5 of my students competed in the show. Three of them took home prizes. It was a great night...except for when I said the first place girl's name wrong. She's my student. I know her name. My brain just freaked out for some reason. Oh well.
"The King's Speech" won the Oscar for Best Picture! This movie was so amazing and I was so glad to see a fun historical film get such great recognition. Also, I participated in a little Oscar poll on our friends' web site, Simply Knot Photography, and WON! I was the only one to guess their chosen categories correctly. Scored me some movie tickets!
My niece started saying "Nannon" which I started teaching her for my name. The "sh" sound is hard for babies so "Nannon" it is. It makes my heart so happy to hear her sweet little voice say my "name."
Greg and I took dinner over to Robert and Lindsay's three times since Emma was born which means we have been able to spend a lot of time with the Watson clan. We love them.

Hmmm...what could another high be recently...oh I know...

5. GREG WAS HIRED ON FULL TIME!!!!!!!! After almost 2 1/2 years, Greg was asked to come on as a full-time pastor at Sun Valley. We are so excited for this new opportunity for us in ministry (and a little scared) and can't wait to see what God has planned for us.

Lows

This past week was exceptionally long and draining and I'm sure there have been a handful of things that I could list as a "low," but one thing stands out in particular. About a week ago, the 1 1/2 year old brother of one of my students from last year drowned in their pool. Last year his birth was such a big event for our team and this student and her family are really great. Yesterday he died after being removed from life support. It's just so heartbreaking, especially knowing this family and having walked through his birth with them. My heart aches for them all for everything they are and will be going through in the days, weeks, and years to come.

That's all I have for now. I'm thankful that my highs outnumber my lows again and I hope you can say the same.

Weekend Away

2011-02-21T00:19:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, Greg decided to head up to Show Low for a little away time before Robert went on his sabbatical in February sometime. He went and stayed in my parents' cabin for a few days and then I headed up on Saturday so we could spend some time together too.

It was so much fun to get away from the normal stuff of life here and just relax together. We went for a little nature walk at the lake near the cabin and had some fun goofing off with ducks and camera timers.

Greg was very proud of his silly walking stick. So it made it in a few photos.

Greg "checked in" at the lake on his phone. He's such a nerd.

Greg tried to lure the poor ducks out of the water with rocks...

Then he chased them away.

Try #2 - they came all the way up to his hand.

Sadly, there was nothing in there for them. He's a mean man sometimes.

#49 CHECK!!!

2011-02-13T17:02:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to post this for a while now but had to keep from checking this one off the list since it was a secret. Finally though, I can take the following goal off the list:

49. Complete another cross-stitch

This past fall, I decided to check this goal off by making a cross stitch for Lindsay and Emma (see previous post). I was super excited to make something for Lindsay and selected a cute cross stitch that focused on footprints.

Once Emma is born, I will add her birth date under her name and then Lindsay and I will put Emma's footprints in the middle with the fancy paint I have. Once it's completed and framed, I'll post a follow-up shot, but I just love how it turned out so far.

Lindsay's Sprinkle

2011-02-12T13:41:00.000-07:00

One of the reasons I was so sad to leave Chicago was because of the friends that we had made in our time there. I didn't know how it would be to come back to AZ and who God would bring into our lives to take those places of our dear friends.

Thankfully, God has greatly blessed Greg and I with some wonderful friends here. We have been ESPECIALLY blessed through our friendship with Robert and Lindsay. This is them...they're special. :)

Lindsay is pregnant with their 3rd child in 3 years (they are a little bit insane). When I found out she was pregnant, I immediately ~~claimed control~~ requested to throw her a shower if this baby was a girl. Lindsay's first two cuties are boys and I just had a feeling that this one was a girl. I can say that now since she is a girl. :)

Anyway...on January 15th, my plans were set into motion on Lindsay's Sprinkle (just like a shower but more focused...for example, I only asked people to bring girl clothes & diapers since Lindsay has most everything else for a baby).

I have thrown a lot of showers, both baby and wedding, and I have a few things that I love to do at each one.

Jihae was a HUGE help creating all of our dessert treats. She is extremely talented and her cupcakes looked so cute!

I also enlisted the help of Lindsay's mom Christina, her sister Melanie, her mother-in-law Barb, and our friend Lainey. They all helped with the decorations and food to make this shower a big success! Lindsay received so many adorable clothes and my mom's house was PACKED with wonderful women who came to "sprinkle" Lindsay and Emma with love.

I can't wait to meet Emma (hopefully ASAP) and am so excited to watch Lindsay with her little girl!

Fun Times...

2011-02-04T23:38:00.000-07:00

Just some moments from my job that make me smile...

"Mrs. Suiter, if you have a magic bullet on Sunday (meaning my fruit smoothie that I drink most mornings) the Packers will win this weekend. But if you don't have a magic bullet, they won't win. Ok?"

Former student talking to me about my current student - "So, I totally ruined things with Billy."
Me - "Oh no. What happened?"
Student - "I told him that I don't like him as much as he likes me."
Me - "Ok. Well, I'm sorry to hear that."
Student - "Don't worry. We'll still date when we're older."
Me - "I'm sure you will."

"Why is she called Giant Brittany? (from a story we were reading) Is she tall or just fat?"
Me - "Well, I guess you could say both. She's a big girl." BTW, Giant Brittany in the story represented Great Britain.

Me to new student as they walk up to my class - "Hi Chris! I'm Mrs. Suiter. Do you go by Chris or Christopher?"
New Student - "I go by Nico actually."
Me - "Ok. Sure."

Joey - "Hey Ms. Margul?"
Me - "Yes Jimmy?"
Joey - "Why did you call me Jimmy."
Me - "Oh, I just thought we were calling each other wrong names."

And my favorite...

A new student asked to use the restroom and when he left he turned the wrong way down the hall. We saw him turn and go the other way before the door shut.
Student - "He always goes the wrong way in this building!"
Me - "That's ok. He's still newish." (As I walked to the front of the room)
Mumbling behind me...
Student - "Did you just say it's ok because he's Jewish?"
Me - "NO! I said he's newish. NEWISH! Not Jewish! Please don't go home and tell your parents I'm racist."
Then we all had a good laugh.

It never gets old when you teach 12 and 13 year olds.

High-Low

2011-01-14T23:20:00.001-07:00

When I had my high school small group, we would always end our night with "high-low." You share your high from the week and your low from the week. I've heard them called "Roses and Thorns" and "Kisses and Disses" but "High-Low" has just stuck with me. It helps that I mentor Hilah AND she was in my small group so every time we do high-low, I say, "High-low...Hilah!" And then I laugh. I'm pretty sure I'm the only one laughing, but that's ok.

So, anyway...since it's the end of the week and I'm just sitting here listening to Greg play Call of Duty, I figured I'd list some highs and lows for this week.

Highs

1. I've started attending Weight Watchers meetings instead of just doing online and found out that I lost over 5 lbs in my first week. That was pretty much awesome.

2. My kids were spreading the love this week with comments like, "I never liked social studies until your class," and, "Why does this class always go by so fast?" It was cute.

3. Jack got all set up last night with his big eyes and butt wiggle to attack something. As Greg and I watched him intently, he lunged at his prey. It was me. And it was hysterical!

4. Lindsay's Sprinkle is FINALLY here and I can't wait to see everything all put-together.

5. I got to see Mady dance this week. She could turn her head to the side and I'd think it's the cutest, but her dancing is REALLY cute.

Lows

1. So sleepy all week. That stupid alarm seems to go off earlier and earlier.

2. Courtney was in town (that's a high!) but I only was able to see her for a few hours (LOW!).

3. Found out today that a student on my team had to change to a different team because of bullying in her elective class. Sad and lame.

4. Had to change three boys seats this week because they kept making fart noises with each other during class. Seriously.

I tried to think of a 5th Low so that everything would be even and then realized that it's a good thing for my highs to outnumber my lows so I stopped thinking. Hopefully your highs outnumbered your lows as well. Happy long long weekend!

#11 CHECK!!!

2011-01-08T00:48:00.000-07:00

Over Christmas Break from school, I decided to get a little ambitious and complete #11 on my 101 List...

11. Hike Camelback Mountain

Now, for some people, this is no big deal. And 10-15 years ago, not a big deal for me. But in the past decade or so, I have not been the biggest hiker...or worker-outer...or active person in most ways. So to step back into the hiking life, I decided to conquer one of the most difficult mountains in the Valley. Good choice self. Good choice.

Luckily, I asked Morgan (the liar and motivator extraordinaire) to come hiking with me since she was also off for break. She is in MUCH better shape than I am and was very skilled in telling me, "We're almost there," and, "I think the top is just up after this next sheer cliff of rocks and doom." Even though I knew that most of the time she was totally lying, it was easier to believe her and hope that she was being honest.

There was one moment where I actually sat down on a rock and thought, "This is as far as I can go. And that is still good. I'm going to turn around." But the competitive side of me just couldn't stop there. It was a competition with myself and as Monica Geller said, "That's my favorite kind!" So we continued.

We made it to the summit in an hour and fifteen minutes, which is not great but not terrible. When we got there, we found a little surprise waiting for us and the other crazy people hiking that day...

Christmas decorations! Very cute and festive.

Then we began the dangerous trek back down. That was much easier and I only slipped down the sheer cliffs of rocks and doom like twice. Not too bad.

I'm very happy that we accomplished this goal for a number of reasons:

I've wanted to hike Camelback my entire life living here in good ole AZ.
I've wanted to get back into outdoorsy type things for a good long while now.
Camelback has set me up for some fun success with my future hiking adventures. Morgan and I also hiked out at San Tan and the "extremely steep and trecherous" portions of the trail (according to the map) were quite easy.

So, thanks Morgan for helping me make it and for being such an encouraging (albeit annoying) hiking buddy! Love ya!

And just to end this, a sweet pic of what I watched for most of my hiking extravaganza. Never could actually get in front of her. That girl is fast!

So long 2010...Why Hello 2011!!!!

2011-01-02T00:29:00.000-07:00

That time has come again when I get to sit on my couch alone (Greg's already asleep...as usual) and look back over the past year. While I know that not a ton of people read this here blog, I love being able to look back on it and remember what was going on in my life at certain points. It's like a super nice journal with pictures and stuff. Quite handy. Last year I recapped the top 10 happenings from 2009 and that sounds like a good plan for this year too.

So, in chronological order, here are the 10 things that stand out in my mind from 2010:

1. We got Jack!!!!

Jack Bristow Suiter came into our family on January 9, 2010. He is such a sweet cat and brings so much laughter to our little family. I was super nervous about getting a pet and having to be responsible for it and stuff, but he's been awesome. Except for that whole kitty asthma thing, but he's over that now so it's water under the bridge!

2. Morgan turned 21!!!

Morgan is such a special and important person in my life. I have known her for years through church, but she and I really started our relationship when she was 15. It has been such a joy to watch her grow up through high school and college into an amazing woman. She will be graduating from college this year, taking the MCAT (which blogger wants me to change to SCAT...I think that's funny), and applying to medical school. She is one of the smartest people I know and I am so happy to call her my friend.

3. Visited Courtney TWICE!

This year I was so lucky to be able to visit Courtney twice in good ole Virginia. My first trip out was in March for my spring break and my second was in October for my road trip with Melissa. I love Courtney so much and I'm so sad that she lives so far away from me. I feel really blessed that despite the distance, I've been able to go out there twice and she's able to come home for work sometimes as well. It makes the distance somewhat bearable.

4. MADELYNNE was born!!!!!

On March 25, 2010, Madelynne Kay Ecklein came into the world. She is the most beautiful, sweetest, smartest little girl there ever was! She has brought endless amounts of joy to our family and I love her dearly. She and I were able to spend a couple of days together over my break and I don't care what anyone else says...I'm pretty sure she said "Nannon." Which TOTALLY counts for "Shannon." Don't tell her dad though. She hasn't quite said "Dada" yet, but I'm pretty sure I heard that too. So, we're good.

5. Finished my first year at Payne

Every year of teaching is special for it's own reasons. This past year it was special mainly because I was at a new school, teaching the kids I love the most (junior highers), and leading a team of fellow teachers. It was a tiring year with so many great lessons learned (I can sound all loving and calm about it because I'm a good 6 months removed now). I was glad to have made it through the year without injuring anyone...if we're being honest. As I look back on it now though, it was not as bad of a transition as it could have been and over all, I'm so thankful to have a job that I truly love, that gives me opportunities to laugh on a DAILY basis, and provides me with so many opportunities to travel and support my husband in his job.

6. We moved...AGAIN.

(Not our real house...can't find a good picture for it though...so this is what you get)

In the first 3 years that Greg and I have been married, we have moved 4 times. I moved to Illinois a year after Greg, we moved back to AZ and into my mom's house, moved from there into an apartment, and finally into the house where we currently reside. It's been so nice to be in a house with so much room and neighbors. We feel exceptionally blessed by how God worked to get us into this home and have really enjoyed "house" living (without having to fix things...we're renting). Our small group meets here, Greg's sophomore boys small group meets here, we had a real Christmas Tree, Jack has so many places to lay and run around, and Greg has a man room (I have a room too, but it's used for storage of things that I don't know what to do with). It's super great!

7. HONDURAS!!!!!!!

In July, I was part of the upperclassmen team that went to Honduras for 2 weeks. It was such an amazing trip with so many unique challenges and celebrations. I loved it!!!! Honduras holds a very special place in my heart and while I'm sad that our high schoolers aren't headed back there this year, I believe that Greg and I will be at some point.

8. We turned 30!

Greg and I both turned 30 this year (me with a little more fanfare than him). Greg was an amazing husband and threw me a surprise party and I was an amazing wife and kept his celebration low key. We know each other well. So far, 30 has been pretty good.

9. We celebrated 3 years of marriage!!!!

On August 18th, Greg and I celebrated 3 years of marriage. We set aside an entire weekend to just BE together and it was such a great time of laughter and reflection. We have managed to pack in a lot of stuff in the past 3 years and we are so thankful for everything that God has given us and allowed us to do. I started this blog right before our wedding and as I look back over it, I can't believe how blessed I am. Greg is such a thoughtful, caring, and loving husband who is always working to better himself and our relationship. I'm just so thankful.

10. Going back to Pawley's!!!

Greg and I decided that this coming summer we are headed back to Pawley's Island, South Carolina. We will be heading up the underclassmen trip for a week. I am so excited to be leading a trip with Greg, getting to know the students on our trip more, and being back in Pawley's. It's going to be an awesome experience!!!! You can find out what and how we are doing in this adventure on our new trip blog: teamsuiter.blogspot.com

Along with all of these awesome things, I also checked off a lot of goals on my 101 List. I only have 6 more months left on the list and a lot left to do. I'm excited to start thinking through a new list soon as well as making some awesome new memories in 2011. I hope that you all enjoyed 2010!!!!

Onto 2011...

Merry Christmas!!!!

2010-12-25T19:52:00.001-07:00

Merry Christmas everyone! Right now I am sitting on the couch watching a holiday movie, Jack is playing with his new toy from Grandpa JC, and Greg is playing with his new pedal board for his guitar. It's been a great day!!!

Celebrations actually started for us on Thursday night at my dad's, but for some reason, I have no pictures from that. I can show you how excited Jack is about his new toy though.

Doesn't he look thrilled?!?!?!? He actually hasn't stopped playing with it since we brought it home. It's a furry thing that's long and has a fuzzy ball on the end. Sounds strange, but he loves it!

My dad spoiled us this year with an awesome game set, the Magic Bullet, many other gifts, and a great steak dinner. It was tons of fun and a great way to start the season.

Christmas Eve has been the Suiter/Arthur/Brashear Christmas celebration for a while now. We started off at church where my nephews were the first two kids on the stage when all the kids were asked to come up and sing "Jingle Bells." So adorable!

And look at those two sharp dressers in the front! I just love seeing large groups of cute kids gathered together and knowing that I'm not responsible for them. :)

I stayed for one more service with Greg's family and then headed to my mom's for dinner and many, many presents. There are 5 kids in our family and they made out like bandits this year! I love seeing how excited they get with every present. It's a really fun experience.

This morning Greg and I had a very upsetting start to the day when I woke up sick at 4am. My amazing husband woke up to my sniffing at 5am and promptly brought me medicine and tissues. He laid awake with me for a while until we could both fall back asleep. We still managed to get up by 8am and head over to my mom's again for breakfast and round 2 of presents. This time it was just Ann, Jay, Jon, Joel, Dick, my mom, Greg, and I.

Some awesome early morning pics!

And of course, Mattie.

My mom's cute expression when she realized that Dick had indeed gotten her a new computer.

Finally, we headed over to Greg's parents' house for Christmas lunch and Mady's FIRST CHRISTMAS!!!! It was so much fun to watch her open presents for the first time and she did such a great job!

After opening, she decided sitting on her gift was the next logical step.

I love Uncle Greg's expression in this next one as she excitedly looks up at him. So adorable!

I LOVE this face!

And yes, she did get a giant horse! Lucky little girl!

I hope that everyone's Christmas was full of joy, fun, family, love, and the remembrance of the reason for this day, Jesus. Love to you all!

Silver Surfers!!!

2010-12-25T00:02:00.001-07:00

That's the name of my team at school. We operate in interdisciplinary teams so there are four teachers who all share the same kids. One teaches math, another science, the third language arts, and finally social studies. I love my team because they are always up for anything and will let me con them into all kinds of stuff! I also love them because we are all on the same page when it comes to discipline and focus and all that jazz.

Last year was my first year at Payne and on my team and while the Silver Surfers were awesome, we definitely had some things to be improved upon. One of those was our team bonding. We finally managed to orchestrate a team day at the end of the school year last year. It went so well that we though it would be a super idea to start of the year with a team day and then keep that up all year! So, the beginning of last quarter, we had a team day where we watched "Miracle," talked about teamwork, and then tried to kill all of students by running team building games outside in the 110 degree heat. (One student did throw up from heat exhaustion, but we don't need to talk about that now).

It was a great start to the year and we were super excited to do it again in the second quarter. My math teacher, Nikki, knows (and by knows, I mean dates) a marine so we asked him and his marine-type friends to come in and have some fun with our kids. The last day of the quarter, three marines came and spoke to our students about discipline, respect, and goal setting among other things. It was SO AWESOME!!!! I actually missed the talk the marines gave because I was holed up in my classroom with all the really special kids who failed a class and therefore, were not allowed to participate in team day. But my students came back and told me all about it and they were excited, so that means the marines did a good job.

We sent our kiddos off to lunch and when they returned, we escaped the rain in the cafeteria to do some fun relays and games (original plan was to do them on the field...not so much as the skies opened up and poured forth a great rain).

We did some partner relays...

And some individual relays like the crab walk.

Then our students challenged the marines to a push-up contest. Not even lying, a few of our kids beat them. Now, if we're being honest, our kids weren't doing the best push-ups ever, but they still beat a marine. And that's something they'll remember for a long time.

After our games, we headed over to the end of the quarter spirit assembly. Our team has a bit of a reputation for going all out in assemblies. Since we are the Silver Surfers, we take some time to get all silvered up before all major school functions. It's so much fun!

(That kid in the blue sweatshirt...he's my favorite. Don't tell anyone...)

Even our principal (unknowingly) was showing her Silver Surfer pride!

Such a great day! It's been nice to have a little break from kids, but when they are this fun and cute, it's not too hard to go back either.

Oh, how I love her...

2010-12-12T00:51:00.000-07:00

I have been an aunt for almost 9 years now and there are few things better than loving on my amazing nieces and nephews. This post though, is dedicated to the newest addition to the nieces and nephews...Madelynne. She is such a joy to be around and I love how her little personality has been developing. The other night we went over to Greg's parents' house. Greg's grandpa was in town from Tucson so we had a family night.

It was the first time that Great-Grandpa had met Mady so we had to do the generation shot.

Then, while the men (minus Chris) talked about living-wills and other super fun things, Mady and I had some play time. These are some of the gems that came out of that.

Attempt at a cute shot together...FAIL.

Try two...cuter, but still FAIL.

We also had some fun with videos. This first one shows how big and independent Mady is getting and how stinkin' funny she is.

And my favorite, this video shows how skilled Mady is at her favorite game: "Let's see what I can get the adults to do." She's very good at this game and we fall for it all the time. Gladly.

Back to Pawley's - New Blog!!!

2010-12-02T22:52:00.001-07:00

Greg and I are officially heading back to Pawley's Island, South Carolina this summer! We will be leading a group of freshman & sophomore students in July 2011. If you'd like to follow our adventures as we go through training and the trip, you can do so on our Pawley's blog!

Suiters Back to Pawley's!!!
http://teamsuiter.blogspot.com/

You can find out how to donate to our mission, find specific ways you can be praying, and sign up for our email updates. Thanks friends!

Introducing...Justin Trieber!!!

2010-11-28T00:58:00.005-07:00

In the 3 1/2ish years that Greg and I have been married, we have moved 4 times. During our one Christmas in Illinois, we sort of decorated for Christmas but our apartment was pretty small, so not a ton of decorating happened. Our first Christmas back in AZ, we were at my mom's house, and last year we just didn't really take the time to decorate. That brings us to this year...

Greg has wanted a real Christmas tree since we got married and each year we (more "me" than "we") have had a reason not to get a tree. That is, until this year! This morning Greg and I picked up my mom's Explorer and headed out to a Christmas tree lot. We found a gorgeous Douglas fir tree that fits wonderfully in our house.

Greg was so amazing and laid underneath our sappy tree for a long time getting it all secured in it's stand. The result was great! All that it needed now was decorations.

Tonight Morgan came over to help me decorate. She kept me motivated all night while we unpacked decorations and packed up the non-Christmas stuff. After another trip to Lowe's for more lights, we finally achieved success!

Greg has decided that each tree we get will be given a name to represent pop culture from the previous year. So, with that in mind let me introduce you to...JUSTIN TRIEBER!!!!

Isn't he lovely????

Some of my favorite parts though are the decorations I've taken from my mom over the years. Along with decorations I've accumulated over the years, I have the decorations my mom made when I was a baby so that I wouldn't hurt myself by grabbing or biting them. They are so cute!!!!

Come on over if you want to see any of this in person! We'd love to have you!

#16 CHECK!!!

2010-11-20T20:15:00.003-07:00

When I was making my 101 List I wanted to put things on there to challenge me, like hiking Camelback Mountain, but I also wanted to put things on there that I just wanted a reminder to do. Like this goal...

16. Re-read The Mark of the Lion Series by Francine Rivers

I first read this series about 8ish years ago (and once more about 5 years ago) and it quickly became some of my favorite books EVER! Since then, I've read almost all of Francine Rivers books and her writing is so real and touching. She takes matters of the heart and spirit and writes them unlike any other. I've wanted to read the series again but haven't made a point of doing it...hence the goal.

These books especially take you to a completely different time in history and on a journey through the lives of Christians unlike any other story. You are taken on a path through the lives of Romans, gladiators, and slaves in the Roman Empire after the fall of Jerusalem, about 30 years after Jesus' death.

A Voice in the Wind

This first book follows the story of Hadassah, Marcus, Julia, Atretes along with other awesome characters. The journeys they all go through are so touching and heart-wrenching. The story draws you in quickly and doesn't let you go. Hadassah is such an amazing example of faith and obedience regardless of circumstances and I loved reading every minute of her journey, even the third time around.

An Echo In The Darkness

This second book continues the journey of many of the characters from the first book but I really can't say more. If you've never read them, DO IT and then we can talk about what happens in the first two books. It's awesome!

As Sure As The Dawn

The third and final book follows the story of a gladiator named Atretes (whose story line was not continued in the second book). As he searches for his own path (again, can't give too many details) we are introduced to an amazing woman named Rizpah. Her heart for the Lord is so true and her story is so easy to relate to. I just finished the final story on Thursday night and it warmed my heart all over again.

I'm so happy to have this goal checked off and have enjoyed going on the journeys of these characters again. If you haven't read these books, I'd highly recommend them. If you have, TELL ME so we can talk about them!

Life

2010-11-16T20:36:00.002-07:00

This is one of those weeks where the emotional side of me is trying to reign. Frustration, sadness, regret...they are all pushing through my joyful side. There is so much that can be frustrating and upsetting in life and it can be so easy to slip into depression and emotional turmoil.

Just a few of the things I've been struggling with lately:

It's been hard to look back at friendships in my life that didn't turn out like I'd hoped. It's hard to invest your life in someone and have that end in ways that you never intended. It's also difficult to desire friendships with people and not see those work out like you had hoped.
I care for my students so deeply and I want to see them happy and successful in my team. It is so sad to watch students that could be amazing people be negatively impacted by their families or friends. I wonder all the time how different some of my students would be if God had placed them in different families. I know that God loves them so much though and he holds them in the palm of his hand even when life isn't going as I would hope for them.
The issues that our family has been dealt over the years can become very heavy on my heart. I pray for my family every day and I just want to see God touch their lives and their hearts in a special way.

Thankfully, I have the Holy Spirit to remind me of the truths of His love and compassion.

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance."
James 1:2-3

Sometimes it's necessary to put my burdens out into the universe. There is so much in my life I am thankful for: my amazing and loving husband, my great family, my Morgan, the awesome friends that God has put into our lives. Despite the more difficult times in life, I'm thankful for all of God's blessings.

Thanks for reading and understanding that sometimes you just need to vent. ;)

#20 CHECK!!!

2010-11-07T22:55:00.005-07:00

One of the things I've learned about myself is that I function best in relationships when they are one-on-one. I love leading small groups and doing camps and church trips, but I feel like God has really blessed me with some great one-on-one relationships that have been very impacting. There were a number of girls that I was close to when I attended my childhood church. Probably the two most important ones involved Morgan and Libby. It's been over 6 years since I started mentoring those two. Morgan is a year away from graduating college and Libby just got married TODAY!

When I made my 101 List, it was very important to me that when we moved back to AZ I was purposeful in investing in a high school girl's life. That is why I made the following goal...

20. Start mentoring a high school girl.

I am happy to say that I checked this one off this past August/September. This is Hilah.

She was in my small group last year and "technically" isn't in high school anymore, but I'm still counting it for my goal. She and I meet every other week and are going through a great book together. I just love her and I'm so happy to have this time to get closer with her and help her navigate this first year of college.

Poor Sick Kitty

2010-11-01T20:18:00.004-07:00

This is Jack. He is our adorable little kitty. For the past few weeks Jack has been struggling with a runny nose (by the way...it's extremely funny to watch a tiny cat have a sneezing fit). We finally took him to the vet and it turns out that he has kitty asthma. Crazy! He's just like his daddy!

Our vet is awesome and they want the animals to feel comfortable while they are getting all fixed up. So, they are fine with letting the cat just roam around and check things out.

Where's Jack???

He's all balled up between the used needles and cotton balls! That's where!

As is normal with Jack, it didn't take him long to get comfortable.

He's so inappropriate!

Luckily, he's feeling better now and we only had to promise the vet our first born as payment for this little adventure. This cat better do magic or something else cool. I'm just saying.

#22 CHECK!!!

2010-10-28T20:16:00.004-07:00

When Greg and I were dating & engaged, we lived across the country from each other. For an entire year we were separated by about 1800 miles. That kind of distance makes it hard to "spend time" together so we realized quickly that we needed to be very deliberate and purposeful when we talked. One of the ways we decided to do that was by scheduling "date" nights every Tuesday. Even though we couldn't go on a physical date, we would set aside at least an hour to talk on the phone without interruptions.

On our dates, we started reading books together that could help us better understand each other and deepen our relationship. We read books like "For Men Only" & "For Women Only," as well as "Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts." It was such a valuable experience for us that we committed to trying to read one marriage book a year. With that committment in mind, I made this a goal on my 101 List:

22. Read another marriage book with Greg

It took us more than a year, but this summer we finished (and by we, I mean that Greg finished it sometime in April and I finished it this summer) "Love and Respect" by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs. It was such a great book and I'm so glad that I finally finished it.

This can be a difficult book at first, especially for women because there's so much emphasis on respecting your husband. It almost comes across in the beginning like he's saying that all marital problems stem from a lack of respect by the wife. Quickly though I realized that he wasn't trying to guilt wives or put them in their place but instead was trying to empower and bless wives with this awesome truth: God made men and women with very different and very specific needs. Women need to feel loved and cared for. Men need to be respected...which is how they feel loved.

So many times, women tend to go out of there way showing touchy-feely love to their husband but will then turn around and pick at everything they do or express frustration with their husband's attempts at showing love or caring for their family. That type of behavior doesn't show men love and in fact, can really cause great hurt for them. Once I started to grasp how much respecting Greg makes him feel like I truly love him, it became such a blessing to love him in that way. God made us on purpose and when we respond to Him and to each other in the ways he designed us to, the blessings are amazing!

There's so much more I could say about this book, but instead I'll say that if you're married and you haven't read "Love & Respect," DO IT! And go into it with an open mind. Paul wasn't just blowing smoke when he told the Ephesians, "However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband." ~ Ephesians 5:33

NEERT!!! - #2 CHECK!!!

2010-10-24T22:43:00.018-07:00

((This is a long one...be warned...))

One of the things I L.O.V.E. about teaching is the breaks. Working in Chandler, we are on a modified year-round schedule so we get 2 weeks off after each quarter. This last break during the first 2 weeks of October I was able to check another goal from my 101 List...

2. Take a road trip with Melissa and BE in pictures of cool places along the way

Melissa, Lizzie, and I decided to head to the East Coast for NEERT...the New England Extreme Road Trip. 10 Days...8 states...1 wedding...NEERT was quite the adventure!

Our trip started out in New Hampshire where we spent a few days enjoying the beauty of the fall leaves.

I definitely enjoy the beauty of nature but we spent A LOT of time looking at leaves because the amazing photogs I was traveling with REALLY loved taking pics of all the pretty leaves. So, after I took a few pics, I started turning my camera on them. :) And on the fun stunts they pulled, like crouching in the middle of the road to get some great shots.

After our time in New Hampshire, we headed down to Mystic, Connecticut where Melissa had an engagement shoot so Lizzie and I had some fun taking pics (of course). Mystic is best known for the movie "Mystic Pizza" starring Julia Roberts. Their pizza is very good, by the way. But it turns out that the town is super cute and was a great time for Lizzie and I to play in the rain and enjoy all the beauty. We also managed to fit in some apple picking time which you can read about on both Lizzie's blog post and Melissa's blog post.

Next up for NEERT was New York City! We saw "In The Heights" on Broadway, explored Central Park, and took a carriage ride with Melissa. Then Lizzie and I struck out on our own while Melissa did another engagement shoot. Lizzie and I navigated the NYC Subway and made our way to Ground Zero, went to the Hudson River to view the Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island, and then proceeded to successfully find all the major filming sites from "You've Got Mail." It was so much fun! You can see all of the fun we had on Lizzie's blog post, "Stalking: You've Got Mail."

This is the mini-park where Meg Ryan & Tom Hanks' paths cross while they are walking to work but they don't know each other yet. Please ignore the man ruining the picture.

After NYC, we drove a LONG drive down to Fredericksburg, Virginia for the awesome wedding of Danielle & Vinny. Such a great couple and a fun wedding. I was able to have a little date night with Courtney and then we headed into Washington D.C. for our last stop. I absolutely ADORE D.C. and would jump at the chance to live there if it ever presented itself. All the history is so amazing and I really think the city is so beautiful and unique!! We spent our first day just walking around taking in some beautiful sights.

Lizzie makes me laugh so much...

The second day included a tour of the Capitol Building and the Supreme Court. We found a fun Thai Restaurant and then Lizzie and I headed for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Such an incredible experience. The rest of our day was spent stalking the filming of "Transformers 3." We managed to find where the cars were parked and saw the set-up of a scene that night. We had to head back to the hotel before the filming actually started but it was still SO COOL!!!

All in all, it was an exhausting but fun adventure! Thanks for all the great times ladies! I don't think New England will ever be the same. :)

#63 CHECK!!!

2010-10-24T15:43:00.005-07:00

Over my October Break I went on a road trip with Melissa and Lizzie. More info to come on that soon.

One of the things that I really wanted to do since we were going to be on the East Coast was check off a goal from my 101 List...

63. Go to the beach

While we were in Connecticut, I managed to get the ladies to the beach, even though it was only for a few minutes. It was very windy and the beach was extremely small so we didn't spend too much time in the waves. Even though it was short, I loved standing in the sand and water again. I really like the Atlantic Ocean so much more than the Pacific and I loved being there again.

Funny Day

2010-10-22T22:46:00.000-07:00

Me: When we talk about assassination, it's just a fancy word for murder. It's usually used for more important people, like presidents.

Student: You're important Mrs. Suiter. If you were murdered, I'd say that you were assassinated.

Me: Well, that's one of the sweetest things someone's said to me in a long time.

**Another reason I love teaching junior high.

Travel Brain

2010-10-11T19:49:00.003-07:00

My big fear every time I've traveled (which is a lot) is that I will forget something super important that can't be obtained wherever it is I am going. One trip it was my medication. Luckily it was only a 2 day trip but it still messed my body up a little. Another trip it was socks. Found some of those at Walmart. When I go out of the country it's super dicey because there's a really good chance you WON'T find what you left behind.

This trip, I thought I was doing so good. I had all the books I needed/wanted to read. I had my computer AND the cord for the iPod to charge and all that other junk. I even had 4 different warm weather coats/sweatshirts for the varying levels of cold we might experience. And I was super excited to be able to blog as we went along since we were doing so many cool things.

But...

I forgot the cord that I need to take the photos off my camera and put them on my computer. Semi-handy when you want to blog photos. Not life-threatening by any stretch of the imagination, but somewhat inconvenient. Stupid cord.

So, no pictures or updates now, but very, very soon since I'm heading home on Wednesday. Until then, this is what I plan on blogging about:

Washington D.C. (again)
Visiting the ocean (101 List)
Broadway play action & the hunt for "You've Got Mail" sites in NYC
Apple picking
Kickin' it in Mystic, CT (home of Mystic Pizza, the quality movie starring Julia Roberts)

((P.S. I spent most of this post spelling cord like "chord"... as in a musical chord. Luckily, I realized this before I hit publish but felt the need to share it anyway. I think I might need to get some more sleep before I start blogging again.))

What I have learned...

2010-10-02T21:07:00.004-07:00

I have officially been alive for 30 years now and while I've never minded getting older, turning 30 has definitely caused me to think back on my life. I like to think that I'm a fairly successful adult. I have a good job. I've owned and sold my own home. I'm married to a wonderful man. I have a great family. And in my 30 years, I feel like I've learned a lot. In honor of the big 3-0, here are 30 of the lessons I've learned, in no particular order.

1. Mac-and-cheese can make almost any situation better.
2. Being an aunt is so much fun!!!
3. It doesn't take much to be married, but doing it well takes a lot of work.
4. Working hard at your marriage is TOTALLY worth it!
5. Teaching is an extremely rewarding job.
6. Teaching is an extremely exhausting and draining job.
7. I have the most amazing mother in the entire world.
8. I love to travel...but not with everyone. I really only enjoy traveling with certain people.
9. Managing your money is very freeing.
10. Driving across the U.S. is really fun...but there are big chunks that are super boring.
11. I am awesome at video games...except Madden football.
12. Scary movies are not quite as scary when you watch them at 9am.
13. Winter is more fun with snow. Spring is less fun with it though.
14. Driving fast at night with your windows down is a great stress reliever.
15. So is hitting something.
16. I am extremely competitive and it has caused more fights that I care to remember with my husband.
17. I may or may not have an unhealthy love for movies and TV.
18. It's really hard to tell someone they are not good at something...which might explain why so many not talented people try out for American Idol.
19. A relationship with Jesus is the most important thing you can possess.
20. Some people just need medication to function normally. And there is nothing wrong with that.
21. Some people make unhealthy connections to medication. There is something profoundly wrong with that.
22. There are few things more heartbreaking than seeing someone in pain and not being able to do anything about it.
23. Some of the funniest people around are 12 and 13 years old.
24. Blogging is a great release of thoughts and feelings...regardless if people read it or not.
25. My husband is THE funniest person I know.
26. I am like my dad in a lot of ways...especially my knack for sports. Definitely didn't get that from my mom.
27. Holding onto hurt doesn't do anyone any good. Especially the person who is hurt.
28. Everyone can benefit from a little counseling. And sometimes a lot of counseling.
29. It is worth it to hold onto friendships from when you were very young. Even though you change over time, those are the people who know your history and that connection is priceless.
30. Dr. Pepper is the best soda on the planet.

Switchfoot...again!!!!!!

2010-09-29T16:26:00.004-07:00

I was a very lucky girl for my birthday this year because Greg bought me tickets to go see Switchfoot again! Sadly, they were only in town on a day that Greg couldn't go, so Morgan ended up being a very lucky girl as well. :)

Switchfoot was opening for The Goo Goo Dolls (who we did not end up staying to watch). It's always a different experience when a band is the opening act instead of the headliner, but they were AWESOME as always!!!!!

Thanks to my wonderful husband for getting me such an amazing gift. I'm only sorry that you couldn't make it. But Morgan and I had a great time!

30 years down!

2010-09-25T21:45:00.007-07:00

Last month, I turned 30. It was totally bizarre and completely fun! Greg worked so hard to make my birthday amazing and he did not disappoint. My birthday was on a Saturday but the birthday fun started on Thursday. Greg had put together a family dinner with my mom before she and Dick left for Show Low. So, my mom, Dick, Greg, my in-laws Barry and Terri, and Morgan all gathered at Olive Garden to celebrate. Friday at work my team posted notes all over my room from the students and the kids brought me presents (mostly Dr. Pepper). So fun! On Friday night we got to hang out with my dad as well, which was great!

But Saturday...well, Saturday was the BIG DAY! I woke up to my wonderful husband cooking me breakfast in bed. I got a call from my mom before and then on the exact time of my birth so that we could open my presents "together." Greg and I spent the morning together hanging out and then my surprises started. Greg had made plans for me to hang out with Melissa for dinner and she had planned a surprise massage (SO AMAZING!!!).

What I didn't know was that while Mel and I were at dinner, Greg and Morgan were setting up the house for my surprise birthday party. It was so fun to walk into my house and have all my friends yelling at me!

Greg had put together a "Friends" themed party which included Friends Scene-it!

Greg had printed out some of our favorite quotes from the show and put them up all over the house.

It was so much fun spending my first day as a 30-something with so many people I loved. It ended with one last Friends Scene-It game with Morgan and Greg and then off to bed.

To Greg: Thank you for putting so much thought and love into my birthday. You made it so special and you made me feel so cared for. I love you with all of my heart and I can't wait for many more birthdays together!

Autism Walk 2010

2010-09-19T20:48:00.003-07:00

This coming Saturday, September 25, I am participating in my second walk for autism. I am still on team "We Love Noah & Elijah" but we are doing the Zoo Walk for Autism Research this year.

The proceeds we raise will go toward the Autism Research Institute (http://www.autism.com) - a national charity that conducts and sponsors practical research into the causes of autism and how to treat it, and toward the local ASU research program (http://autism.asu.edu). The ASU research program is doing some exciting studies that are revealing practical treatments that are being implemented to change childrens' lives NOW.

I am telling you all of this for 2 reasons:

Our team has a huge goal of raising $2500. We are almost there and need YOUR help to reach it. Please consider donating to our team and to the awesome cause of Autism Research, an epidemic that touches 1 in 91 children. Please click the following link to donate: DONATE TO THE TEAM
We would love to have you join us for the walk. If you've ever thought about participating in a fundraiser for autism or the cause has sparked any emotions in you, please come out and walk with us. There are so many amazing families that participate in these walks and it's a great time to see autism up close and make an impact. Let me know if you'd like to join us!!!

Thanks so much for reading and considering donating to this great cause!!!!

3 Years Ago

2010-08-15T21:51:00.004-07:00

3 Years Ago...

...I was 3 days away from my wedding.
...I was living in my mom's guest room because all of my stuff was already in Chicago.
...I was spending my last few days with all my Arizona people before I moved to Illinois.
...I was finalizing last minute details for the wedding.
...I was wondering what I would do for work after I got married.
...I was anxiously watching the path of Hurricane Dean, headed straight for my honeymoon locale.
...I was packing for my honeymoon.
...I was still Shannon Wolfe.

Now...

...I'm about to celebrate 3 years with an amazing husband, a wonderful spiritual leader, my best friend, and the funniest person I know.
...I love my job teaching silly 7th graders.
...I'm living in Arizona again.
...I happily respond to Mrs. Suiter instead of needing students to say it 2 or 3 times before I answer.
...I can't wait for our anniversary on Wednesday!!!

Happy almost anniversary Greg. I'm so thankful for you and for our marriage!

Why I Love Teaching...

2010-08-13T19:26:00.002-07:00

There are so many reasons why I love teaching...especially in junior high...

...They bring me gifts for my birthday and Christmas (only in 7th grade though because they are still in the elementary mindset where you bring your teacher gifts a lot).
...They think I'm pretty funny...except for those few kids who are WAY too cool for me and my lame jokes.
...I'm almost always smarter than them.
...They will do almost anything for a piece of candy or a sticker.
...They are still just the right amount of afraid.
...And they will yell "hello" at me across the courtyard even when they are surrounded by their friends (except for those dumb kids who also think I'm not funny).

Recently though, I was given a new reason to love what I do.

The end of the first week of school, one of my students asked me on her way in to class if she could speak to me later. I told her to come talk to me at the end of the period.

After teaching and running activities for 70 minutes (no...you didn't read that wrong...our classes are 70 minutes long), this student, we'll call her Mandy, came up to speak to me. Here's how our conversation went.

Mandy - "Mrs. Suiter, I've noticed that Billy (a boy in our class) has some disabilities. My brother has disabilities too so when we change seats if you want to sit me next to him, I could help him out during class and stuff."

Me Out Loud- "Wow Mandy, that is so nice. I will keep that in mind for when we change seats later."
Me In My Head - "Where did YOU come from????" And then my heart melted.

It's moments like this that I need to commit to memory for when the more difficult moments start to overwhelm me. I really do love my job.

The Big 3-0

2010-08-06T19:12:00.004-07:00

That's right my wonderful readers. Tomorrow I am turning 30. Ever since I was very little I have loved my birthday. It probably has something to do with being an only child and my parents loving me to pieces and making my birthday a MAJOR deal. But that's just a guess.

Over the years I have had some very obnoxious birthday behaviors. When I worked at a law firm during college I used to start the countdown to my birthday one to two months before. They were all super patient with me but I'm sure they hated hearing how many days until my birthday from the beginning of June until August. They were such nice people.

I'm trying to tone down my obnoxious birthday behavior but I still make sure that people know when my birthday is coming. On the first day of school I made sure that my students knew when my birthday was. I keep a birthday calendar in my classroom for all the students' birthdays so I was sure to put MY birthday on there. But really, that's about it. Ok, ok...I also made sure to put it on all of my team meeting notes that get sent to my team, the 7th grade counselor, the dean of students, and the principal. Don't blame a girl for being excited. This is a BIG birthday!!!!

Needless to say, I was very excited for work today. And my team did not disappoint. I love my teammates! And my students are really growing on me. When I showed up for work this morning, this is what I saw...

The math teacher on my team, Nikki, had the kids write me birthday messages on stickies this week. Then her and Joe (science teacher on my team) snuck into my room this morning and put them up ALL OVER THE ROOM. And when I say all over, I'm not kidding. They were on the walls, they were on the projector hanging from the ceiling, they were on the ceiling, they were on the filing cabinet, they were on my computer, they were in my drawers.

It was so funny and cute! I spent about 15 minutes just walking around my room reading my birthday notes and laughing out loud at how stinkin' funny my students are. This was one of my favorite "birthday messages."

It was such a fun way to start the day and made me feel very special. The kids loved seeing their "hard work" up around the room and I got a lot of fun presents from them. I saved all the notes so that later on this year when the days are not as fun as today, I can go back to read them and smile.

Happy day-before-my-birthday to me!!!!

Mission Honduras 2010

2010-07-24T21:46:00.004-07:00

On July 3rd, 3 adults and 13 high school juniors and seniors embarked on a mission trip to Honduras for 2 weeks. We dug trenches, laid brick, mixed concrete, poured concrete, played with cute kiddos, let cute kiddos climb all over us, got sick (probably from some cute kiddos), encouraged each other, took care of each other, and grew spiritually with each other. Hard to believe we were only there for 2 weeks.

I am so proud of how hard these students worked and how open they were with the team during this trip. More lives were touched and changed by the time our team spent in Honduras than we'll ever know. And I am so very thankful that God blessed me by letting me be a part of it.

Here's what some of those 2 weeks looked like:

The trip started off with A LOT of flying!!! Lindsey and I passed the time with some crossword puzzles.

My plane buddies were the best!

We finally made it to Honduras but had to stay at a hotel the first night. The next morning we got going on La Providencia's really awesome bus!

Honduras is such a beautiful country.

But it is so damaged. On our drive up to Siguatepeque we came across a bridge that had been damaged by a recent earthquake. Earthquakes and hurricanes have caused so much damage to this country and they are continually struggling to come back.

When we finally made it up the mountain, I got my first glimpse of the clinic that Greg and I had worked on for the summer of 2008. It was such an amazing and emotional moment to be back where God had taught me so much 2 years ago.

So fun to see the work that we had started all finished now.

Our first work day was quite eventful. As I remembered it, rain was a pretty common thing during the summer but not until around 5:00pm. Apparently, God decided on a different plan as the downpour began sometime around 10:00am.

The kids were absolutely amazing though! No complaining. No quitting. They just kept on trucking!

In fact, most days it seemed like the adults needed more breaks than the students. I just wanted them to feel like they were working hard...yeah, that's it.

Our first job included digging an extremely large trench so we could eventually lay cement for a drainage box. It's a long explanation but in short, our box would help direct the excessive rain away from the roads so the compound would stop suffering flood damage on the roads.

Here's the first task we accomplished...digging.

Next came the cement.

During the first week we were not only starting our work project but the students also ran an awesome Sports Camp for the kiddos in the neighborhood.

They taught the kids fun games like kijabe-can-can (sp?), kickball, ultimate frisbee, and capture the flag. They also played some soccer and were schooled by Team Honduras!

The ministry team (Megan, Cheyenne, and Tianna) who ran the camp not only planned some awesome games but also put together some great Bible stories for the kids with skits and songs. Robert even relived his glory days by performing a little magic (took me back to our high school days when he would perform a little magic).

Heather and I even stepped up to show off our performing skills in one of the skits. We were the oft forgotten doves in Noah's Ark. And boy did we rock it.

I'm not trying to brag but we were told that we should be nominated for the yet-to-be-announced oscar category, "Best Performance of an animal in 3rd world country VBS skits."

After our first week of work and sports camp, we headed to a fun jungle for some hiking and waterfall watching.

I just love these girls!

The first hike was pretty rough. So humid and the altitude didn't help. Heather and I decided that this was probably a good sign that we needed to work out more. Whatever.

Our first hike finally ended on the top of hill which had an amazing view. We then had to hike back down a different way to find the waterfall. We crossed over a fun rope bridge and then the waterfall finally came into view.

It was so beautiful (and cold) so we couldn't help but go play in it. So much fun!!!

On Sunday "the sickness" (as we affectionately called it) started making its way through our group. Almost the entire team ended up getting sick at some point during the last week. Even with that struggle, our team worked so hard with whoever was able to work each day. We ended up finishing our initial project of building the drainage box as well as starting two other projects: two new drainage trenches to feed into the box.

Greg showed up too (the same day as "the sickness" in fact). I don't think there's a connection. It was so nice to have him there though, especially as another worker.

I was so excited to be back in Honduras. It was so much fun to see so many of the people that God had brought into our lives 2 years ago. Honestly, I was a little nervous to be back there but not be on the Leadertreks side of the trip. I shouldn't have worried though. It's hard to put into words how amazing this trip was and how awesomely God worked through the students we brought down there. My prayer is that the lessons on leadership that they learned during the 2 weeks are not quickly forgotten. They are all such amazing young adults and God has gifted them in some amazing ways! Thanks to everyone who helped financially to get us back to Honduras. And thank you to everyone who covered us in prayer while we were down there. It was truly the best part of my summer.

Honduras Girls Fun Day!

2010-07-24T14:37:00.005-07:00

Before we headed down to Honduras, all the girls on the trip wanted to get together for some fun bonding time. While we couldn't all get together (we missed you Linda, Lindsey, & Megan), the 7 of us who could attend had a great time! The day started off with a small visit from a boy...Greg. He gave us some good laughs, got uncomfortable when we talked about "girl stuff," and then was kicked out before the movie time. Here's a little glimpse of the "boy time."

We had some fun trying to take pictures of our little group. Some were definitely better than others. Here's the progression. :)

First shot was pretty good.

So we decided to try a funny one but I forgot to use the timer so they were definitely not ready. :) Hehe.

Much better.

Another regular shot but Chey wasn't so much ready. Nor was Jacque now that I look at it closer. :)

Ah...beautiful girls!

After picture time we popped in "A Knight's Tale" and had some amazing girly movie time. :)

Thanks girls for a great afternoon! It was so fun to spend time together before heading out of the country. Love you!

#4 CHECK!!!!!

2010-07-23T00:00:00.004-07:00

In looking at my 101 List, there is only one goal that I was working on when I created my list and have yet to complete...that is until July 3rd! On the plane ride down to Honduras I officially completed

4. Read the rest of Jodi Picoult’s books.

When I made my list of goals, I had read (I believe) 4 of Jodi Picoult's books and I loved each of them. She has made a habit of releasing a new book every year since 1993 so I had my work cut out for me. And in an effort to really frustrate me, she came out with 2 new books since I made my goal list. Boo.

It doesn't matter though because I am officially DONE!!! Here I am right before I finished her latest book, House Rules.

Since my first Picoult book, The Pact, I have loved Jodi's writing style (I figure since I've read all of her books, I've earned the right to be a little personal in how I refer to her...hence "Jodi"). She is so creative in how she tells stories. She doesn't just pick the same old story line and her characters are very real and many times very raw. And most importantly, in my awesome opinion, she is so knowledgeable. When she starts writing a book she spends a huge chunk of time researching whatever topic she is writing so that her book is authentic and real. I LOVE that!!!

If you've never read one of Jodi's books, I would highly recommend it. However, not all of her books are phenomenal, so I've created a little helper to guide you in your choice of reading material. Enjoy.

Amazingly Awesome Picoult Books (a.k.a. MUST READS!)

The Pact
My Sister's Keeper
Nineteen Minutes
Handle With Care
Plain Truth
House Rules
Perfect Match
Salem Falls

Really Good Picoult Books (a.k.a. If you really enjoy reading and like her writing style, these stories are still great but not phenomenal)

Change of Heart
Keeping Faith
Picture Perfect
Second Glance
The Tenth Circle
Vanishing Acts

And...Not the best Picoult Books (a.k.a. Unless you have also made a goal to read all of Jodi Picoult's books...AVOID THESE! Not good stories.)

Mercy
Harvesting the Heart
Songs of the Humpback Whale (I feel the title really says it all here)

So, there it is. Another goal checked off. I feel so free to just read whatever I want now. I know that Jodi (my pal) will be coming out with another book probably this coming spring, but I feel good checking this goal off and just looking forward to another book someday. For now, I'm reading whatever I want...currently that is Hunger Games. And it is GOOD!!!

Mady...Just keeps getting cuter!!!

2010-07-20T18:48:00.004-07:00

Before Greg and I flew off to Honduras and SC, Mady wanted to come for a visit. And when that wasn't enough, I went to visit her as well. She is growing up so fast and is so much fun to play with. She likes to play a little game called, "What can I get the grown-ups to do?" It's quite a funny game to watch when you're not the adult doing the silly thing to make her laugh. But really, I don't know how anyone could resist wanting to make this little face laugh...

On my visit to her house, Mady's momma (my amazing sister-in-law Tiffany) had just received Mady's new jumper chair. While Mady is still a little too short for it (we had to put a pillow under her so she could actually jump) she thoroughly enjoyed exploring all the fun toys.

It took a minute but she eventually turned to her left and found a whole new set up toys.

She hadn't quite discovered the set behind her before I left but I'm assuming she's found those by now. She's very smart, you know.

Leaving on a jet plane...

2010-06-27T21:13:00.005-07:00

Honduras

Pawley's Island

Next Saturday Greg and I will be jetting off on our summer mission trips. Greg is returning to Pawley's Island, South Carolina with freshman and sophomores from the high school group. I'm heading down to Honduras again with juniors and seniors. After Greg's week in Pawley's he will head down to Honduras to join up with our team.

We are both so excited to be going back where we served with LeaderTreks. And we can't wait to see how God is going to use and change our students on these trips. LeaderTreks is so wonderful at developing leadership characteristics in students and these trips are a really great classroom for our students to learn. I'm excited to see how our students are impacted by what they experience.

A huge thanks to everyone who helped us with the financial burden of these trips. We really wouldn't be able to lead our students in this way without your generosity and sacrifice.

If you would like to pray for us as we head out on our trips, here are some specifics:

Traveling - Both trips are leaving on Saturday (Honduras Trip at 8am, Pawley's Trip at 10pm)
Visas - For the Honduras team, going into another country always has its complications. Please pray that our passage into and out of the country is smooth
Planning - Pawley's students have been putting together a camp for the kids there. Please pray that their planning gets finalized this week and everything falls into place once they are there. The Honduras team is running the entire trip, from food to the work project to the sports camp we will be hosting. Please pray for their final preparations this week and for them to learn a lot about leadership in their individual roles. Please also pray for all the leaders to lovingly teach our students when they inevitably struggle and fail at some of their tasks.
God's will - Through my studying this past year about God and His love for His people, I'm learning more and more that my desires are not always in line with God's will. I learned that in a huge way the last time I was in Honduras when I suffered a huge allergic reaction that required medical attention. While I was in immense pain and had to miss out on one team's trip to the waterfall, it provided me with an awesome experience to love on and minister to one of our interns. So, as a result of that experience and what I've been learning, I'm not going to ask that you pray for health and safety (though those are definitely desires of mine), but instead will ask that regardless of our own desires that God's will be done on each trip through both comfort and difficulties.

If you'd like to read about our previous experiences in both Pawley's and Honduras, check out the posts linked below.

Pawley's Island

I'm in Honduras
Second Week
Honduras Photos
Another Trip Ends
Last Week in Honduras
Stonebriar Photos
Greg is Home

Beautiful girl

2010-06-17T23:39:00.002-07:00

Mady and Tiffany came to hang out yesterday. It was so much fun to play with Mady and chat with Tiff. Mady is almost 3 months old and is smiling all the time. She is so strong and can stand up while holding onto your hands. She ended up taking a nap while laying on me yesterday and I just can't think of a better way to spend the afternoon. I love my niece!!!!

I Heart Switchfoot

2010-06-17T01:09:00.000-07:00

Switchfoot is an amazing band.
This is a great video with a great message.
You should watch it.
I'm just saying.