Heart of America :)

My third graders singing, "The Heart of America" by Teresa Jennings to get ready for September 11th. :)  Enjoy!

My new puppy Doodles! :)

This is my new puppy Doodles! Doodles was born on January 5, 2007. She is now 7 months old and full of energy. She is about 8 pounds and is a Coton de Tulear. She is has a cute little bark and loves to play. Her favorite thing to do is find her green squeaky purse and get it to take with her outside. She thinks that when I go to get my purse that she gets to go shopping too apparently. School started on August 6th and so far is going very well. I am teaching K-8 music once again and loving it. I'm excited to work on laundry soon so that is why I'm spending so much time procrastinating...ha ha! Enjoy the next pics of Doodles. Come and visit sometime! We'd love to meet you if we haven't already.

Spring break is where it's at!

Hi All!

So I'm on my spring break and I'm ready for a spring break from my spring break. ;) It's been a lot of fun. My parents flew in last Sunday morning at 6:30 and I picked them up from the airport. Then we went to church right afterwards and then to a social with people from Luther College. It was a lot of fun! I got a hug from the president of Luther and caught up with some old friends while there. They also met my friend Tom while we made burgers and just about caught them all on fire. We had a good time playing Taboo and spoons.

Monday dad decided he needed to do some homework for nursing school so mom and I went out and looked at some quilt shops. Mom loves to quilt so I helped her find them but didn't find the fabric that she was quite looking for. It was still fun to go with mom and check out Phoenix. We also watched Rudy that night I think and went to bed kind of early since mom and dad were a little sleepy.

Tuesday was a day that we slept in a bit and then went to my school. I showed them all around and dad took a bunch of pictures. Then I showed them the other school I'm at part of the time and we also went to Westgate, right next to cardinal stadium. We went to coldstone and had some yummy icecream. Next we went to Tempe Towne Lake which was just beautiful and walked around. We were going to go down Mill Ave but dad had a headache so we went to go have supper in Mesa. Organ Stop Pizza was the location. It was hilarious. This organ comes popping up from the floor and the guy plays anything from Phantom of the Opera to the Rocky Theme song. I personally thought the Titanic song was a little bit dumb. The organ was a Wurlitzer which is one of 14 in the country. I think you can check it out at www.organstoppizza.com I'll have to double check the website to make sure. Anyway...it was fun to see and lights lit up all around as the flag came down from the ceiling for God Bless America.

Wednesday was a morning of car repair. The check engine light had come on yesterday so we went to go get it checked out. We went to this small place and they said it was something to do with the axel bearings. So I got a new axel bearing and rotated tires and am running smoothly again. Thank goodness! Then we headed out to Scottsdale and checked out Scottsdale Fashion Square. I've been told that you have to put your nose up in the air to walk around in there. We looked at the cute puppies at the store there and then had some coffee. We decided it was about time for supper and headed out to Desert Ridge Marketplace and ate at Rockbottom. I had some kind of sangria with peach stuff in it. It was pretty good. Mom and dad actually had some kind of drink with coffee and other stuff. We walked around and dad took more pictures of the fountain and stuff. A beautiful mall area. We headed home and looked up places where I can take a class for secondary music this summer. I think I might be in Minnesota this summer for a few weeks to take something. Whatever works. It's been a great spring break so far and I'm looking forward to a slumber party with Julia and Deb this weekend in Casa Grande. :)

A beautiful day!

Wow can we say 89 degrees today? Whoo hoo! I love this state. It is so beautiful and my nose got sunburnt today just helping the kids get out to the buses after school today. I'm excited for this Sunday. My parents are coming out to visit me. I think the last time I saw them out in AZ was in October so this'll be nice. I'm not really sure what all we're going to do. We've done Sedona and the Grand Canyon. We were thinking of maybe going to Tucson again or something. Suggestions on things to do? My parents want to know if there will be flowers blooming when they're here. I think that's in April but I don't know.

COMMENTS? I'd love your feedback! Thanks much!

Missing Buttons

So I know I just posted but I have another thing on my mind. That's my little doggy Buttons who died in November. It's terrible for me lately. I know that in June I'm getting another dog but it seems like a long time to wait. It's so refreshing to come home to a little tail wagging and excited to see you. I find myself going to those malls with the little puppy stores and just looking at the little Bichon's that remind me of Buttons. I know I'm pathetic but it's just how I'm dealing still. I thought I'd be fine by now. I've gotten used to not having him around. The hardest thing was a few weeks ago when I finally took the cage down and put all the dog toys away.

I know that I shouldn't rely on an animal to keep me from being lonely. That's only a temporary fix and I've come to really rely on the Lord to take care of those lonely times.

My parents are coming down next weekend and that will be really good. I've made some new friends here and that's been a blessing as well. I'm just used to having lots of friends and never having a problem of finding people to get together with. Now I feel like I really have to search them out, which is ok but tough at the same time. Since I'm not married sometimes that's hard because I feel like I'd be a 3rd wheel getting together with married couples, but I guess it would be no different then getting together with my brother and his wife. I'm done feeling sorry for myself now. I just saw some cute pictures of my little one and had to feel sad for a minute. The pitty party is over :)

Life is good :)

After going hiking this weekend up the North side of the Camelback Mountains, I am definitely feeling it today. What a great workout. God has definitely shown his beauty all weekend. Through the sunsets, weather, and beautiful friendships that are being made in Arizona.

Sometimes I wonder what my mission here in Arizona is to be. God has been teaching me to wake up and give him my everything everyday. Whether that is through teaching, calling friends to chat, or working and doing my laundry. Ick! Speaking of;) My goal recently has been to refrain from gossiping. This can be a hard thing for many women and men too. So through the Lord's help I'm working on this. I basically gave up gossiping for Lent. Let's hope this carries on for the future. Feel free to leave comments anytime. This is just a place for me to unwind and speak my mind. I hope you speak your mind too.

Hello!

Hi all,

This is my first post!

Goal= To write which I miss doing

Your goal = To send feedback on whatever I write okay?

Thanks much and more to come soon!

My cousin Sara took this picture...I've got more to come!