No Power, so fun!

We didn’t know, but apparently in Missouri City you need to have a permit to the electricity turned on.  So moving weekend, we have the power turned off at our old house, and there’s no electricity hooked up yet at the new house.  We were refugee’s at a friends house for a week!  Thanks so much Kristin and Christiana!  

We are officially homeowners!

After school today we went to the title company, and signed our life away.  We are now homeowners to a lovely house.  Eventually we will get the boxes unpacked and be all settled in, and have a house warming party.  We will let you know.  

First days of school

We started school!  My first week went well, we learned about lab safety, 16 times.  I’ve went from teaching two classes to teaching 16 classes once a week for 45 minutes.  More updates to follow. 

Everything changes

Things never stay the same.  God is constantly changing us and moving us from our comfort zones.  As a teacher I’m constantly learning to be flexible.  My first year teaching I taught at 7th grade science, and 8th grade math in Corpus Christi ISD.  This was such a tough year, teaching two different grades, and teaching middle school students in general was such a challenge.  My second year teaching I taught 5th grade math and science in Missouri City which was another tough year, but not as hard as the first year.  I liked having the younger grades over middle school.    

This year is going to be my third year as a teacher and I was told at the end of the year that I was going to be teaching 4th grade math and science for this school year.  Well things have since changed, and now I’m going to be the science lab teacher, teaching 2nd - 5th graders once a week.  I’m still not quite sure what this new job will involve, but I’m ready for anything.  I love teaching and getting my students excited about learning, yet I’m still scared, because I’ve never done a job like this before.  I’m meditating on this verse from Philippians whenever I feel nervous.  

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” 

Camping Brazos Bend State Park

On Thursday we set out for our first family camping trip.  We decided to go local and camp at Brazos Bend State Park, in Needville, TX, only about 45 minutes away from home.  

On our first night there our tent was raided by a raccoon who decided to steal our dog food, (which we didn’t even realize was in the tent!) while we were out on a short hike.  I guess since they had already gotten into the tent once, they realized they could do it again because when we went to bed, there was no sleeping going on. Poor Selah, our dog, paced the tent all night long trying to protect us.  All night we heard the scurry of little paws outside our tent, and at one point looked out the screen window and saw a raccoon with our tent zippers in his paws trying to get in.  

Well we took our lack of sleep and fear of being invaded again as a sign we needed a change.  The park also offered screened shelters, and we said yes please!  Our next two nights were much more peaceful staying in a shelter where we could lock up our things and didn’t involve raccoons trying to invade our personal space, at least not while we slept.  

We had more raccoon fun the next night after John finished cooking dinner and we were sitting down to eat and a raccoon came wandering up, trying to get some dinner as well.  I never realized how persistent raccoons could be, and how little they fear humans.  He kept coming back, even though we chased him away with a broom many, many times.  Eventually we chased him away to another campsite and then he bothered them for the rest of the night.  

Overall the trip was so much fun, despite the raccoon encounters.  Brazos Bend offered so many trails on which we saw armadillos, alligators, and tons of birds.  We thought maybe this could become an annual trip, going every summer before we start back to school.  Neither of us come from camping families, so this trip was a huge accomplishment, showing us we really could do this again.

The trip also provided us with some much needed quiet time.  It’s amazing how the lack of computers, cell phones, and television really help you to focus on what’s important. 

Sweaty John Mayer Concert

We bought tickets for this concert back in April.  It didn’t seem like it would ever really happen because it was so far away back then, or at least that’s the way it seemed when school was winding to a close and the unending summer was on the horizon.  Well the concert came and went it was fun and entertaining.  The best part about it is that we went with our friends Will and Abby, who we love hanging out with by the way.  It has been a blessing to have them nearby.  

We sat on the lawn seats, battled the rude security guards, and coughed as one of our neighbors tried to “secretly” smoke pot, and then laughed as he danced and swayed to the music.  It definitely made us realize how sinful we all are, and how much we need a savior.