Summer has arrived!

Yes, I know that summer is not official until the middle of June, but as a teacher summer starts the day I get out of school!!! This last Friday I said goodbye to some great friends at work and cried a few tears. There are a few people I am going to miss dearly, but I am very excited about my new adventures as a first grade teacher at Harbins! The last few days at work I spent a lot of time with two of my best friends, Chrissy and Connie. We shared many laughs, and I know our dinners out will not stop!

One of the saddest things was leaving my parapro, Claudia. We have worked together for all 4 years that I was at Magill and we truly were a team! I am grateful for our friendship! Here is a picture of us during the last week of school!



Now that summer is here I am looking forward to spending more time with Rando! The last few weeks have been very busy for both of us as I have been packing up a classroom and he has had basketball tournaments. I am also looking forward to time by the pool at mom and dad's. I decided this year to not do the tanning bed to save money and my skin. I need a tan and am excited about getting started on it as early as tomorrow!

I am also looking forward to more Braves games. This is always our favorite part of the summer. Last Friday we saw an incredible game (even though we froze) and we are looking forward to the next!



Have a great Memorial Day! Thank you veterans and current members of the Armed Forces for fighting for our freedom! Let us remember the price that has been paid!

Spring Training at Disney

WOW! 2 weeks ago we had the time of our life spending time together sharing in a mutual love for baseball! For the last few years we have both talked about wanting to go to Braves Spring Training and we decided this was the year to do it! God blessed us with great fellowship together, incredible baseball, fun at the parks, and beautiful weather. In 5 days we went to 4 Disney Parks, 3 Braves games, 1 evening at Disney Quest, met all of our favorite Braves, and most of all enjoyed spending time with each other! The parks were so empty that we got in all 4 of the parks and Disney Quest in 3 days saving 2 days on our tickets for the future (the plus of purchasing not expiring tickets)! I can't believe I haven't mentioned eating like royalty for 5 days! The Disney dining plan kept us full.

As you will see below in the slideshow we not only saw Braves' stars, but also NBA, NFL, and ESPN stars while at ESPN The Weekend at MGM. Jeff Francoeur and Tim Hudson got on Tower of Terror right in front of us (that will explain the picture of the elevator in the slideshow). We had so much fun we plan on doing a shorter and less expensive Spring Training trip every year that we can!

I cannot say enough how blessed I am to have a wonderful husband. God knew the exact one for me! The fact that we share a love for sports is just icing on the cake!

Enjoy the pictures!


Spring Training at Disney 2008

Change can be good!

It has been so long since I have posted. Life does not seem to slow down! Since before Christmas I have known God was paving the way for some changes in my career. At the beginning of the year I thought I would be at Magill for this year and next. After a rough first month of school I realized that may not be the case. We lost 4 kindergarten teachers due to not having enough students and if we had lost 5 I would have been gone (to another school). I did not want to this happen in the future and now I was at the bottom of the totem pole (even though I am grade chair and a leader in many areas of the school). Every thing is based on years of experience in the county compared to the others on the grade level.

After eating dinner with 3 great friends in December on the way home I just knew God was calling me to transfer. I had not told them at dinner, but I realized that the reason I was being hesitant towards transferring was these friendships. After Christmas I shared with my principal and she was 100% behind me. She was so kind and encouraged me as a leader and in future leadership endeavors. On Feb. 15th I put in for a transfer to a Dacula area school (Dacula, Harbins, Alcova, or Mulberry). Just this last week I got an interview at Harbins and was VERY impressed by Dr. Truett and the school.

All this to say.. I am going to be a Harbins Hawk! I am extremely excited about coming "back home" to the Dacula area. Harbins has the old town Dacula feel and the community is wonderful! God has truly blessed me with this opportunity.

The funny thing is the thing that was once holding me back is now an ironic situation. Out of my 5 closest friends at work none of us will be at Magill next year. We will all be somewhere different.

The hardest thing is leaving my parapro. She is wonderful and she will never be replaced! We have become very close friends! I am excited for her as she will be going to Rosebud Elementary (the new school Magill is losing staff and students to).

God is so good to us, and He has been faithful in showing me His will!

Holiday Wrap-up

It seems like this wonderful Christmas season flew by. I feel like I just got our Christmas decorations up and now I have to take them down. This was the most relaxing and enjoyable break in a long time! It was so nice to spend so much time as a couple!

Christmas Eve we worshiped with our church family as we reflected on what Christmas is all about. We then enjoyed Long Horn with my family. That night we opened stockings and Noodle loved her new treats that she found in her stocking. Christmas morning we got up and did our gifts sitting by my favorite Christmas tree. We later went to my parents for the annual gifts, Christmas game (Let's Make a Deal was this years game), breakfast, lunch, and fun! The favorite gift of the day was the HUGE alarm clock we gave Adam so that he will wake up when his alarm goes off. Of course this was the favorite gift for everyone else b/c I am not so sure how much Adam actually liked it. Later that afternoon we drove to Rock Springs to spend a few days with Rando's parents. Rando enjoyed learning about his new rifle and going to the range to shoot it. I enjoyed relaxing and having little to no responsibilities!

Saturday our great friends Mark and Christi came to spend the night and go to church with us on Sunday. We got to see their 9 month old, Natalie, all grown up (last time we saw her she was 2 weeks old). She is a precious baby, but I must say it was very eye opening to us as we realized how big of a commitment children are. I think after the weekend we both agreed that as much as we love Natalie and the other babies in our lives we are still okay that it is just us in our family. Of course there is always Noodle too :o). Noodle wasn't too sure of the baby. She was very patient with Natalie and became more comfortable as the weekend went on.

This New Years was the first since 1999/2000 that we spent the evening just the 2 of us! We usually get together with all of our friends from Rome, but this year we have scheduled that for February. We enjoyed a wonderful evening of just spending time together playing GameCube and Rummicube.


As 2008 begins, we are ready for all that this year will bring. 2007 was such a wonderful year for us, but we are ready for what God has ahead of us! Along with the usual get fit resolutions, it is my goal to not work as much and find ways to spend more time with Rando.

We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends and families! We pray that you are blessed this year!

Is it really December?

Oh my! I can't believe it has been over 2 months since I posted. Life has absolutely been crazy. We went straight from having softball about 2 nights a week to having Christmas parties and other seasonal activities several nights a week. Hopefully after New Years things will settle down. I have to run cook (I don't get to do that too often anymore), but I wanted to post our Christmas letter (one of the drafts anyways) for those of you we do not have addresses for. I usually do a letter b/c we have so many family members that we do not see and they are always asking what has been going on in our lives. We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!

Letter:

Dear family and friends,
It is hard to believe Christmas is already upon us! This year has flown by. God has been so good and has blessed us in so many ways this year – as always! This year started off as a hectic one. Rando was in the process of interviewing and waiting for background checks, and I was working diligently on my Masters. Last Christmas was so busy that we were unable to send out Christmas cards much less letters.
In mid-January we were thrilled that Rando had been offered a job at Hebron as Associate Pastor of Recreation. This brought a mixture of feelings. We love our students at Walker and miss seeing them weekly, but Hebron is family to us! I am blessed to be able to worship and sit with my grandparents, sister, and my best friend and her family every Sunday morning. Many lifelong friendships have been rekindled! This has truly been a blessing!
Rando loves his job! He enjoys working with a variety of people in the church and community. He also loves the friendships and working relationships he has with the pastors and staff. It is truly a fun and rewarding place to serve! Of course with Rando being a recreation pastor we have gotten ourselves involved in the leagues. Rando played in the men’s softball league while I played in the women’s. We will not discuss how those seasons went, but by the time we got to coed softball we were back in shape (well, kind of)! Rando also just wrapped up playing flag football. He stays busy organizing adult softball and basketball leagues while assisting with the youth leagues. It has been enjoyable for both of us as we get to serve our Lord through one of our passions – sports!
Again this year we enjoyed many sporting events. We ended last year by splurging at the last second (40 min. before game time) on Chick-fil-A Bowl tickets! What a night! We had fun cheering on the Gym Dawgs for Valentine’s Day. We enjoyed learning more about hockey at Thrashers’ games, and of course we spent many spring and summer nights at Turner Field. This fall we have enjoyed Bulldog Football. Rando got to go to Vanderbilt and THE Georgia/FLORIDA GAME! Yes, I am a little jealous, but he deserves it. Not to mention one of us has to stay home and work. Chip (Rando’s boss and good friend) was so nice to take us both to the UGA/W. Carolina Game. We had a great time and even got to visit Adam’s dorm. For Thanksgiving, Rando took his parents and Aunt Debbie to the Falcons/Colts game – or should we just say the Colts game! They had a great time!
This summer was exciting for many reasons! Rando spoke at the college/career retreat in Ft. Walton, and we were able to spend time with some incredible young adults. While we were there we visited with our great friend from college, Josh Vess. A few weeks later I finished my Masters! What a relief! We then spent a relaxing week in the mountains at a beautiful cabin known as The Blessing! The name says it all! We are so grateful for our friends who opened this home to us for much needed refreshment!
Our family is doing great! Noodle, our 4 legged baby, is as sweet as ever. She even loves sporting her UGA jersey and her flashy red toe nails (thanks to our new groomer)! Rando’s parents are serving on staff at Oakwood, Rando’s home church, and they continue to see lives changed. They stay busy leading ministries at the main campus and several satellite campuses! My parents are busy serving at Hebron as God continues to amaze us! Just the other week we saw over 10,000 people come onto the HBC campus over a 3 night period for a wonderful family event – Christmas on the Corner (the live nativity and marshmallow roasting were our favorites)! This year dad rode his bicycle to Jacksonville, Fl for the UGA game, and mom has been busy as an Assistant Principal at Riverside Elementary. Dana graduated college in May and is spending this Christmas season helping make sure boys and girls across Gwinnett County have a wonderful Christmas. God is using her mightily! Adam is a sophomore at UGA and is serving on the BCM (Baptist Collegiate Ministries) leadership team. He also loves cheering on the DAWGS! Our grandparents are also doing well. I was blessed to get to see my grandmother in Florida for Thanksgiving and her birthday. We are so grateful for such godly families who love and encourage us daily!
This coming year promises to be a busy one! Please be in prayer for Rando as he prepares to travel to China in April! We love you all and are so grateful for your friendship and prayers! You have all touched our lives in a special way! We hope you all have a Merry Christmas!

Rando and Amanda

Busy!

Well, as you can see we have been very busy! Rando has been busy working and playing ball. I have been busy with school work, my ESOL endorsement class, and playing ball. We are enjoying playing coed softball together! At least we are together at the ball fields instead of having games on different nights and only passing each other.

Our weekends are full with watching or attending GA games, cleaning house, family things, or date nights! In September we went to the UGA / Western Carolina game. Chip (Rando's boss and friend) gave us the tickets! We had a great time hanging out with Chip and then getting to go to Adam's dorm afterwards! Last weekend, Rando and Chip made the drive to Nashville to see UGA take on Vanderbilt.

Update on things at school:
Things are finally settling down. My new students have adjusted well and are in the swing of things. After a scare that she was going to be teaching at another school, my friend Chrissy got a job in 3rd grade at our school (replacing a teacher that left). I know the teachers that have been displaced and in transition appreciate the prayers and support of the county. Most everyone is finally getting settled into the new jobs and making the best of things for the remainder of the year.

Well, hopefully it will not be as long between posts. It took a friend reminding me how long it had been since the last post.

Have a wonderful week!

School has gotten the best of me and I have neglected our blog!

WOW! It is hard to believe that it has been 3 weeks since I last posted. So much has gone on since then.

First, we celebrated Rando's birthday. Somehow he always manages to get a whole weekends worth of celebrations (but he deserves it)! On Thursday, the 30th, the two of us enjoyed a quiet dinner at Texas Roadhouse. On Friday night, we enjoyed a Braves game with his parents. We had a lot of fun. It was his parents first trip to Turner Field! His parents were able to spend the night. Mrs. Acres spoiled us with a cake and all!

Tito and the Gunshow - Live (The guys who wrote the Mark Texiera tribute)



Enjoying the game



Rando's parents after their first (and hopefully not their last) game at Turner Field



I returned the favor and ordered fireworks for Rando's birthday. Wasn't that nice of me?



Rando's birthday cake - Those of you who know me well, know I didn't make it. I never even think to buy birthday cakes.


Saturday, Rando went to lunch with his parents and then we watched the first UGA game at the house and relaxed. Sunday, we went to Fogo de Choi with my family to celebrate Dana, Adam, and Rando's birthdays. We ate enough for a week. We also saw Yunel Escobar and Brayan Pena (pictured below). The valet parking guys said that Edgar Renteria was also in the restaurant. We have learned the Braves love to eat meat because three years ago when we went we saw Julio Franco.

Brayan Pena at Fogo de Choi - Notice our dinner in the window!



Labor Day, I enjoyed one last hot day in the pool and then we cooked out with my family.

The last week and a half have been a roller coaster ride. First, I was honored as a finalist for teacher of the year which was a BIG surprise (our wonderful Media Specialist won). Then, we learned we were losing 4 kindergarten teachers and 4 kindergarten parapros (along with 6 other staff members). First, it looked like it wouldn't be me. Then, it looked like it was possibly going to be me. Finally, I learned that I was safe by only 13 - 15 days. My interview date was May 14th and one of the other teachers interviewed the end of May. It is so hard to see our friends have to pack up and leave. Two of my closest friends, Leila and Chrissy both had to leave kindergarten at Magill. Leila has to go to a new school. Chrissy will be able to stay at our school in another position, but it is said to be temporary. I am praying that Chrissy will be able to stay. She is my biggest encourager at school, and we do so much together! I know watching the news it does not seem like it is a big deal, but when you watch your friends hurt and have to wonder what is going to happen next it is a big deal.

This coming week will be hard as we transition. I will get new students on Thursday. Please be praying for all of the Gwinnett County teachers affected by the under projection. Even though all were promised jobs many are not working in positions they feel comfortable in. Some teachers will now be working in schools across the county and away from their own children. There are also a lot of students who are having to move to new classes. This can be scary for many of them - especially our young kindergarten students.


I hope you all have a wonderful week!