Snowpocalypse!

I am currently taking an English course titled "The Bible as Literature" in order to complete my coursework at Ashland. One of my assignments this week was to write my own parable. Therefore, the following "parable" is written in response to my student teaching during the past week and the current "snowpocalypse".

There once was a student teacher. The teacher had tons and tons of homework to do but instead all she could think about was summer break. Instead of completing her responsibilities like her coursework or coaching her local cheerleading squad, all she could focus on was her upcoming vacations. Visions of sandy beaches and sleeping in danced in her head.

On day, she was so focused on her daydreams of sunshine that she completely forgot her unfinished lesson plans for the following day on her desk at work. Hours later, it suddenly dawned on her that the next day was her very important observation day with her advisor. She panicked in fear knowing that the school was already locked and she had no way of completing her lessons.

Therefore, she developed a plan. She would wake up at five in the morning and meet the janitor at the front door. She would also pray for a snow day. Little did she remember that snow days are probably not appropriate things to pray for.

The next morning developed according to plan. She woke hours before the sun came up. She tiptoed around the bedroom in the dark in attempt to not wake her sleeping husband and dog. She managed to dress professionally without ever seeing herself in a lit mirror. Proudly, she ate breakfast AND packed a lunch, both of which she had rarely done before.

Pleased with herself and her fantastic problem solving skills, she opened the garage door and started the car in the garage. As she waited for the car to warm, she decided to check her emails with a fresh cup of coffee. When she looked down at her phone, it suddenly exploded with emails!

"What's this?" she thought. "I never have this many emails suddenly in the morning....particularly THIS early."

Just then, she looked outside for the first time. Though she could not completely see in the dark, she did see something shiny....VERY shiny. Seeing as though she had lived in Ohio her entire life and was holding an exploding iphone in her hand, she knew immediately what had happened.

She had asked God for a snow day. She knew God probably had better prayer requests to handle at the moment. Besides, she should have been focused at work anyway. God did not give her a snow day. Instead, he gave her an ice day (and days and days). He gave her ice that takes days to scratch off your car only to find more ice on the car. He gave her ice that makes the CNN evening news. He gave her ice that literally made the neighbor's kid ice skate (with real ice skates) on the driveway. He gave her ice that tears the power lines out and makes you think that someone is breaking in the house when ice falls off the roof at 4am.

That week, the student teacher learned two lessons. The first was logical; quit thinking about the beach and do your homework. The second was not as expected. Be careful what you pray and wish for. When you pray for a snow day, God will still hear you. Instead, he will laugh to himself and bring...THE SNOWPOCALPSE!

I'm Baaaack!

I have decided to start blogging again. I've noticed that when I keep up the blog, I am much more "in tune" with myself and I have no reason not to continue. Therefore, even though it is February, a NEW resolution!

So here goes nothing...

Today's Blessings

I feel so very blessed to have my best friend (Judd...though Lucy is right up there too. Seriously, look how cute she is).

We celebrated his birthday last week and lately I have been thinking about how blessed I am to have him in my life. Happy Birthday Judd. Love you.

The Wedding Chronicles: Part VI

The last wedding we attended was awesome for several reasons:

1) It was LINDSEY's wedding. Lindsey has always been a bit like a little sister to me. Of course it was going to be special.

2) It was LINDSEY's wedding: Logically that only means she is going to do something silly (I saw a picture of her toasting champagne in a wedding dress while resting on a closed toilet seat. Classy....yet not going to be included in this post)

3) I LOVE her and her family.

4) The last wedding in her family included her brother being introduced into the reception in a monkey costume. You know this one has GOT to be good.

5) It was at BRYN DU. Deja Vu? Yes. It had more simlarities to ours than differences...which obviously makes it insanely awesome.

All of my High School cheerleaders with Coach Vicki

(Logically Lindsey needed to start a plastic chair rock band during the reception. The only thing missing was a monkey.)

And thus....an AWESOME wedding. Congratulations Phillip and Lindsey!

The Wedding Chronicles: Part V

At this point I feel like I have been to about 124 weddings this month. Fortunately, Judd seems to be faring rather well and I enjoy every one of them. Keep 'em coming!

Ever since planning my own wedding and attending 548 others, I have realized that weddings will NEVER be the same again. I enjoy them for reasons that I never would have realized before. The little moments are so much more special. The details are so much more noticeable. I appreciate them and experience them instead of simply attending.

A few weeks ago we had the honor of attending the wedding of our good friends, Caroline and John. Judd and I had a wonderful evening celebrating with friends. (Judd would also like to point out that John and Caroline had the best wedding food EVER. I'm sure this made Judd's experience of the wedding exponentially better as well)

And to think.....We only have 846 more weddings to attend this summer! Almost there!

The Wedding Chronicles: Part IV

Wedding season is particularly special this year. I am so proud to announce the marriage of my brother-in-law, Clay, and my NEW SISTER-IN-LAW, Heather.

Besides the fact that my "new family" desperately needed more girls (hint here Brock), I am so proud and excited to have Heather join our family. I greatly look forward to making many, many memories in the future. Congratulations Clay and Heather!

Rita and I were so excited to be given the opportunity to coordinate this wedding. We both had a wonderful experience and enjoyed every moment of making Clay and Heather's day more special. It was such an honor to have that responsibility. (On a side note, I also learned not to give Judd all of our picture taking responsibilities. This is the single "okay" picture that was taken with our camera.)

Happy Memorial Day!

Happy Memorial Day!
This year I have been thinking a lot about Memorial Day. I love this video. Politics aside, it really puts the holiday into perspective. (Plus, our friend Brian is interviewed in it. Go Brian!) Enjoy!

Judd and I enjoyed the holiday by visiting with family and friends at a cookout and by attending and walking in the Grandview Memorial day parade. Lucy on the other hand, enjoyed the holiday weekend by stealing and eating the cookout hotdog buns, half a bag of chocolate chips, and about a quarter of a pizza.

Grandview Memorial Day Parade