It has been a long...Long...LONG TIME!

I know that I have not written since February but I will try to catch up on all of the latest! I truly don't remember what I did over Spring Break in March, but I think I went to Houston to visit my parents. Oh...I did go to Houston and Tupelo to visit my best friend Melody. While in Tupelo, Melody, Waverley, baby Waverley, and I got really sick. Not fun...but at least we were sick together. I also went to a Beth Moore conference in April that was wonderful! I went with some family friends from Tylertown and my best friend Jennifer. In May, I sang a duet with my dad at his church in Houston. It was neat because we sang together almost ten years before that exact date and on that day ten years ago we sang In Christ Alone. This past May, we sang a newer version of In Christ Alone. It was the first time I have sung in my dad's church in Houston, and I had a lot of fun. School ended great! I had great kids all year and I am proud of them for all of their hard work. The last two years I have taught an intervention class and have worked with students in small groups everyday to help them improve their reading skills. I have really missed having my own class and so I asked to have my own class again. Several people say I am crazy for wanting this but I just miss having that relationship with the students and having my own control and teaching them my own way. Anyway, the principle told me in March she was going to put me back in the classroom! I am so excited! I am ready to get my room organized but at the same time I do NOT want to wish my summer away worrying about that. :) My summer started off busy. The weekend I got out for the summer Jennifer, Jonathan, and the baby came to visit and go to a wedding. Then on Monday, I left and went to Tylertown and Lousiana to visit friends. In Tylertown, Elizabeth, Megan, and I watched several scary movies and just hung out. I returned on Saturday, then church and my sister moving in on Sunday. (My sister is moving in because her roommate is getting married.) Monday of this week we started VBS at my church and I am picking up two little girls early in the morning, taking them to VBS, teaching swimming lessons, and dropping them off with their parents at 5:15 every afternoon this week. Needless to say, I have not rested since I got out of school. I am ready to rest. I also have missed not spending time with my best friend Lindsay the past week and a half. We have texted and she did come eat lunch with me and the girls today, so that was fun. Anyway, I will try to do better with my posts this summer but that is what is happening so far. :)

Fun weekend!

I was very excited to have my best friend Melody come and visit me this weekend. I have been friends with her since we were in college (9 years or so). She and her family just moved to Tupelo several months ago so we see each other at least once a month. I have gone up there several times so she said she would come here this time. I met up with her husband, baby and her family to eat at Cheddar's on Friday night. Melody and I then left, not before stopping at Bop's, and headed back to Clinton. We stayed up late Friday night visiting and then slept in a little Saturday morning. On Saturday afternoon, we got ready and went to visit my sister who works at Ann Taylor. I also had a gift for Melody there. We then headed to the theater in Madison to watch The Uninvited. We absolutely love to watch scary movies when we get together. The movie was okay but we have seen scarier. We then came home and watched another scary movie called Mirrors. It was okay as well, but very gory. We love to watch the spirit type of scary movies not the gory so it was an interesting experience. Sunday morning it was hard to get up. I also learned something about my self. I am a VERY deep sleeper and have been known to sleep through my alarm. I also do not hear really well in one ear so that is a problem at times. Anyway, Melody said my alarm went off and, in my sleep, turned over on my good ear so I would not hear my alarm. No wonder I sleep through my alarm sometimes. Thank goodness, I set my alarm 30 min. ahead of time so I wake up on time anyway. We then got up and went to church. I was excited that she got to sing in the choir with me. :) We then came home and ate a roast and vegetables I had cooked. She left soon after lunch. I was sad after dropping her off with Waverley. I teared up several times on the way home. I wish I got to see her and her family more. The good thing is that I will see them in 3 weeks during spring break! YAY!

Gulfport

Jennifer, Christian, and me


Jonathan and Me playing Guitar Hero!


Several weekends ago (Martin Luther King Weekend), I left school about 30 minutes early and went to Gulfport to visit Jennifer, Jonathan, and Christian. I was there from Friday until Monday afternoon. Friday when I arrived, we ate with Jonathan's dad, step-mom and granddad. On Saturday morning, Jonathan and I played Guitar Hero. It was a lot of fun. I am able to play the medium level, so it is exciting and as you can see in the picture I concentrate really hard when I play. We took pictures at the beach on Saturday and went to Jonathan's mom and step-dad's to eat supper. Sunday was church and Monday we just laid around and then I had to head back to Clinton. Christian is growing. I love playing with him. He loves it when I throw him in the air and dance. He laughs so hard when I do those things. The next weekend I did absolutely nothing. I literally had my own Walker, Texas Ranger marathon with old tapes where I had recorded the show all day long. It was fun. I will be writing again soon. I just wanted to give an update. :)

End of the Christmas Holiday

During the last week of the holiday, I went to Tylertown to visit my extended family. I got home from Houston on Saturday and left for Tylertown on Sunday. I know it is a little crazy but I would rather do all the traveling at one time and rest at the end. On Monday, Megan, Elizabeth, and I went to see Twilight because Elizabeth was about to have a fit for me to see it. It was pretty good but I wasn't freaking out like Elizabeth, who I might add, has seen the movie 3 times and is reading the books. She is just a smidge obsessed. On Tuesday, Elizabeth got her wisdom teeth cut out. While she was in the recovery room, I was standing there listening to the nurse explain how to take care of her. She was talking about how she had blown an IV and how they put it somewhere else in her hand. Now, if you know me, I CANNOT STAND NEEDLES! (And yes I wanted to be a neonatal nurse for a semester of my freshman year of college.) Yes, I get blood taken every six months for my arthritis, but that is about it! I tried to ignore her comment. I had also already noticed that the room had that weird hospital smell in it that had made me feel weak before. I start looking around to distract myself while at the same time listening to the nurse. I then notice a box of needles. That pretty much ended it. I started to feel hot, tingly, and weak. I immediately saw a wheel chair and sat down. The nurse looked at me and asked me if I was okay. I didn't want to distract from Elizabeth, so I said I am okay I just feel like I am going to faint. She said it happens all the time but usually to the mother of the child being operated on. Well, I am definitely not the mother but I guess I am pretty much like a sister. The doctor came in to check my pulse. Mrs. Jamie thought it was sweet that I felt like that. She also took me to get something to eat right after. That day and New Year's Eve, Mrs. Jamie and I cleaned out the girls rooms. We had a big supper on New Year's for Mr. Wayne's birthday and I came home on New Year's day. I then pretty much did nothing the rest of the week. I traveled 925 miles over Christmas break. Oh, but I did watch Ole Miss beat Tech!! YAY! That was an exciting game. I know this is long but I will write back soon. The kids come back to school tomorrow. So, I need to rest up. :)

Christmas

On Sunday, Lindsay, Ella (her dog), and I left for Tupelo and Houston for Christmas. Lindsay's family lives in Tupelo, just forty miles from Houston. I was also going to visit my friend Melody in Tupelo. The funny thing is that one of Lindsay's sisters did not know Lindsay was coming home. Lindsay's whole family knew except for her sister and her sister's children. The plan was to sneak into church late and Lindsay's dad, who is a preacher, would say, "I would like to welcome our guests from Clinton, MS." Lindsay's sister would then turn around and see her. Well, her sister and her family were late for church. Lindsay, her dog Ella, and I rode around for a while and parked at a baseball field wondering what to do. Just then her other sister sent us a text and said her sister was fixing to be there. We (including the dog) hid in a back room of the church and waited. Because we had traveled three hours, we ran down the hall and hid in the restroom. Her sister and her family walked in and we quietly walked behind her and slid into the pew with her. When she turned to see if her husband had sat down beside her, she saw Lindsay and burst into tears. It was great. After church, we then went to Lindsay's parents house and ate supper and hung out. We also watched movies way too late. On Monday, we just hung around and went shopping a little. At 5:00, Melody got off of work and I went to her house. On Tuesday, I babysat Waverley while Melody and Waverley were at work. He is so sweet. We had a blast playing with his toys. I taught him how to build a ramp for his toy cars. (He is only 1 1/2 but he had fun with the ramp.) Tuesday night, I went to Houston to visit my parents. Wednesday, we all went to Kosciusko for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. My parents, Mee Maw, Rebecca, Ryan, Uncle Micheal, Paula, and I were all there. On Christmas Eve, we opened presents and on Christmas day we woke up to see what Santa brought us. We had a great time watching each other open gifts. On Thursday, Mom, dad, and I went back to Houston and just hung out. Saturday, I went back to Tupelo to pick up Lindsay and we shopped a little while before heading home. We had a great time. I love Christmas! Tomorrow I may be traveling again to Tylertown. I will let you know. :)

Christmas

Well, Lindsay and I decided to exchange Christmas gifts tonight. We were like little children that couldn't wait any longer. I got her a pair of Sperry's that she had been wanting and NEEDED seeing that she had worn her favorite shoes to smithereens. She was so excited she wore them the rest of the night. She gave me two pieces of my Vera Bradley, a Thomas Kinkade puzzle, and a jar thing (It's hard to explain.) I was quite excited. She tricked me big time. She actually bought the Vera Bradley in front of me but said it was for her sister Becky. It is hilarious to hear her tell the story because I went shopping with her and she kept asking me questions about the pieces she picked up. I would comment, but I thought they were for Becky and didn't think much of it. I would hold several bags and say, "Yeah, I think she will like that." and keep going. Lindsay said it was hard to keep my attention because I was all over the place. Then, I saw someone I knew in the store and she knew she had lost me. I was proud though because she did a very "Brooke" thing. She bought my present in front of me just like I have in front of her and Melody on several occasions. I bought part of her birthday present in front of her in November and said it was for Melody. She had no idea. She did good being sneaky. :) I am so excited about my new things. Little does she know she has another one coming. :) I can be sneaky too.

A long time.......

This is a picture on one of my best friend's Melody. :)


This is a picture of one of my best friend's Lindsay. Yes, we have on the same shirt. Great minds think alike!! :)



It has been a long time since I have written on my blog. Well, let me think what has been going on. I am now in a bunco group. We meet once a month on the first Tuesday of the month. It is eight of us that get together and play. We are all teachers at my wonderful school. It is a lot of fun. I got bunco 3 times this month! I was excited to be able to wear the crown. I have also been to Houston, MS twice to visit my family. The first time I went my friend Melody came to my parent's house as well and stayed with me there. It was a lot of fun. The bad news though was that I got sick Saturday and was running fever. I was still in good spirits though because Melody was there and I was trying to be strong. Although, I ended up getting upset because it was slowing me down. I ended up having a really bad sinus infection and had to miss school for two days. I was not happy to miss school. Although, I am a firm believer that God will slow you down when you don't rest and that is just what he did. Then I went to Kosciusko and Houston, MS for Thanksgiving. We met at my Mee Maw's to spend the night and eat Thanksgiving dinner. My parents, sister and her boyfriend, and my aunt and uncle came. We also took Christmas card pictures which is always an adventure. That Saturday we had Thanksgiving with my mom's side of the family. There were 61 of us there. It was a lot of fun. School has been good. My students are doing well. Lindsay and I have been Christmas shopping several times since the last time I wrote on my blog. We are pretty much through shopping. Well, I am fixing to have to go back to school. We are testing this week at other schools in the district so, I have been able to come home for lunch. :) I will write back soon and let you know what is going on. I am excited about the possibility of SNOW tomorrow! YAY!! I am going to get a good picture of my family and post it soon.