Heart Examination

I'm sitting here at my computer, contemplating the events of the past few days and listening to my new Fray CD that a friend of mine gave me Sunday night. I've pretty much been listening to it non-stop since then. It is awesome. Actually, it is a copy of thier old Cd, but still a very sweet gesture.

Guys are actually pretty sweet when girls let them. Sometimes I think girls pressure guys to be something they are not. We force guys to put on this tough show because when they do show some heart, we misread it. As the woman of God that I hope I am and strive to be, I hope I can encourage my guy friends toward God's best in their lives, to be who He created them to be...men of God who aren't afraid to show a little heart. Not the jerks that guys can so often be portrayed as or even accused of being. This is something I've been examining in my life and something I wish more girls would think about.

Church on Sunday night was really good. Trent's message was on the busyness and hecticness of our lives and the distractions we face that lead us away from the truth. Lots of good thoughts to ponder. Will write more later.

Officially a Coloradan

My car looks weird with Colorado license plates on it. I put it off for as long as I could. I can now say that I have insurance in Colorado and CO registration. And, my registration cost much less than I figured on. :) There are advantages to not having a mountain vehicle. I know it is dumb, but I think I somehow neglected to change my plates earlier because it was part of the mourning process of no longer living in the Midwest. As long as my Iowa plates were on my car, I felt like that was my home. But now I have roots here, I love it here, and if God wants me to I could live here forever. It feels good to be settled.

Friday

- Slept in until 6:45.

- 4th grade chapel this morning...everything went well. Instead of taking on the music myself, I had the middle school band play. They did an awesome job.

- Teach...spelling, math, and vocabulary.

- My kiddos wanted to wish my dad a Happy Birthdays so we called him...They sang. It was cute, especially when they asked him questions about "pigs". Last year my class was obsessed with jello. This year, our strange obsession is pigs.

- Half day of school...NCA teacher-inservice this afternoon.

- Going to department of motor vehicles to finally get my car registered in Colorado...it's a sad day, giving up my right to be an Iowan.

- Working out...hopefully going for a walk outside if I get home early enough! I live by some pretty cool trails.

- Meeting up with some friends at a restaurant at 8:00.

- Going home and sleeping in tomorrow morning. :)

Adventures with Pudding

I am eating pudding for lunch right now. Chocolate pudding with a plastic spoon. Definitely a step down from pudding with a regular spoon. Maybe even a step further down because it is the kind of chocolate pudding that comes from a plastic cup and it is almost too chocolaty. But it was easier than packing a lunch so it is my own fault if I’m not having a better lunch. Chocolate pudding and a crispy cream doughnut. Aren’t I eating healthy today? My eating habits have not been the best this week. I just don't feel like packing a lunch and I've been waking up as late as possible.

I’m on break from kids at the moment. Ten more minutes to eat my pudding and recover from lunch duty. I have lunch duty every Thursday and today was awful. I never leave the lunch room without a headache. The kids were much louder than normal today. One of the 4th grade boys put pudding all over his face, squished chili in his hands, and thought the whole thing was really funny. Then the boy next to him started throwing food at kids when I had to go talk to some of the 5th grade boys who thought it would be cool to bring an ipod to lunch (they aren’t allowed at school).

And after all of that, I still love working with kids.

Sad Day In Denver

Yeah, so the Broncos lost. They played horribly and now the whole city is crying. Honestly, had I not been a Broncos fan BEFORE I moved to Denver, I'd never like them now. This city was nuts this weekend. Overly confindent, and wouldn't ya know what happened. I think I'm going to have to stick up for the Seahawks now. Go Seattle!

I just got an awesome email from one of my best friends who lives in Chicago. She and her husband are thinking about coming to Denver for Spring Break! That would be just way too much fun. Hopefully things work out. :)

I have a busy week ahead, but I just thought I'd drop in and say hello.

Ta-ta-for-now. Let the rat race begin!

The Daily Dose

I am going to be productive tonight. Yes, I am.

Somehow it is hard to convince myself of that. It is always hard to get back into school after a break, even if we only had a day off. Today allowed me to be in a bit of a funke because my students had art, p.e., handbells, and an assembly this afternoon. All I had to do was administer a test and teach Bible. What a great day!

Chapel planning is currently underway for next week. This is the second and last 4th grade led chapel this year and the only one I have ever planned on my own. I'm trying to be creative with the resources that I have. Honestly, I don't have many resources apart from the Bible. But that in itself is pretty cool because the Bible should be the center of chapel. The activities/dramas/music/ect. are secondary to that. I think I'm continuing the topic of the treasure of God and am going to focus on what to do with that treasure. This is a follow up of another chapel a teacher did last week. I'm contemplating whether I should have the students do drama or if I should teach an object lesson. I already have to take on the music, which is fine, except that it is going to take a little extra work. I haven't played piano in a really long time.

Not long ago I realized that I have pretty much been teaching at Denver Christian for two years already, counting student teaching, and minus a month and a half of student teaching at HMS. How is that even possible? I really can't believe it!

I should go. I have a staff meeting in eleven minutes. There is today's daily dose. I kinda like this writing more often thing, even if I don't have anything profound or of particular interest to say.

Zombie

I’m feeling like a zombie today. Tired. Muscles hurt. Having a hard time focusing on the task at hand. Maybe writing will help me jump out of my stupor.

I had a fabulous weekend. I loved every minute of it. Snowshoeing on Saturday. Hiking Sunday afternoon. Snowboarding yesterday…What more could you want? No wonder I’m still wishing it were the weekend.

Yesterday morning I woke up at 5:30 to drive up to Copper with Kim, Karen, Cynthia, Tiffany, and Julia. It was a great girl’s day. Half of us went skiing, half went snowboarding. And yes, I tried out snowboarding for the first time. I stink at snowboarding. It is twelve times harder than skiing, but is something I can see myself becoming addicted to. It was hard to learn how to even get up on the board, much less learn how to turn and balance my body. And, did I say that I hurt today? A lot. Every square inch of my body hurts. I can’t even laugh, it hurts. But it is a good hurt. The painful kind of hurt that comes from knowing that you earned it. I’m ready to go again. Anyone care to join me?

Mountain Girl At Last?!?

I decided to do what I can do to get back into my habit of writing. Not because there is a legion of people out there waiting to read this. I've only told a dozen friends about my blog and most of them are not bloggers. I write because I can. And because, at least for awhile, it will be a priority.

After an evening of shopping for snowgear with David and Tiffany last night, we spent the day snowshoeing with some other friends and new acquantances from our church. I now feel like a mountain girl at last! These are the months of the year that I love being in Colorado and wouldn't want to be anywhere else. In the past week and a half I have dropped a small fortune on snowboarding pants, hiking boots, a fuzzy winter hat, warm wool socks, ski goggles, and my personal favorite my new plum colored polarized shades. I am also now officially a member of REI. I had to drop $15 for this priviledge, but I've heard they treat customers who are members exceptionally well and give good discounts. We'll see if that comes in handy. So far I have no complaints about my purchases.

The trip was good. We went up to Berthoud Pass and almost climbed up to the tree line. It was warm, 50+ degrees in Denver. Not sure how much cooler it was up there. It was beautiful! My hands got a little cold, but other than that it was a great time. I'm looking forward to waking up tomorrow with pain in my calves and rear end. Great workout. Maybe I should invest in some snowshoes and go more often. I love being in the mountains.

After the descent on the pass we went to Beau Jo's which I personally believe to be the best pizza place in Colorado. It has this amazingly thick wheat crust that you dip honey onto like a dessert. It may not sound promising, but I think it would be entirely worth at trip to Colorado to try out. Carl joined us for the ride back. Crazy Carl, interesting fellow yet oddly a good friend. We talked about differences in the Presbytarian church while David and I sang and harmonized to The Fray's entire album. I absolutely LOVE this group. Give them a listen. They are like Switchfoot in the sense that they are a Christian band out there on secular radio. Only they is still mostly in Denver. I don't think it will be long until they are all over the country.

I'm watching part of the Bronco's game tonight while I do some grading. Trying to find this perfect balance between the people I love to spend time with and my work life. Hopefully I get enough finished tonight so Tiffany and I can go snowboarding on Monday. Yes, me, snowboarding. And yes, this would be a first. I don't know anything about snowboarding but it has always intrigued me. I think it would be a lot of fun.

Until Later, my friends.

Love,

Julie

Personality Tests

I've just wasted nearly an hour reading blogs and changing my settings. Like my new template??

The week is over and we have Monday off of school! I am so incredibly excited. This week has been tiring trying to get report cards out, but now that is over and they are in my students' hands. I'm happy!

One exciting thing that happened this week is that I got a new computer! I've been saving up little by little for a long time and over Christmas break I decided to splurge. It is a Dell notebook. Already I can envision myself sitting around random coffee shops in Denver doing my work, emailing, blogging, and a bunch of other stuff. One thing I realized this week is how much I miss writing. I LOVE writing! Last year I actually missed sitting in classes just so I could write those ten page papers that everyone hates to write. Well, I don't like to write research papers, but ask me to sit and type and reflect on my life and what I've read and I'll do so gladly. Maybe now I will write more. We'll see. Like I said, I really do miss it. My introverted self has in some ways become more extroverted.

One of my friends gave me a personality test a little while ago that said I'm a combination between a otter and a golden retriever. Wouldn't that make an interesting animal? What does that mean? I'm a randomly dependable person? I'm an expressor but I'm also a reflective soul? Seems a little contradictory. Another test said that I'm an idealist. Apparently I "believe in possibilities"...and "I'm a hopeless romantic who won't give up on the quest for seeking out the beauty and potential of life in myself and others?" Shouldn't there be a simpler way of wording the way we analyze the human personality?

I Miss the Bean!

i miss the bean. starbucks is just not the same.

busy week ahead. tonight i had the semester planning meeting for young life. glad i went. only five leaders showed up. although it was a bit of a sacrifice to be there. report cards are due tomorrow so i think i'll be pulling an all-nighter. a first. my life is increasingly feeling like college again

good things are ahead this year. the tragic and shocking events of last week have really challenged me to re-evaluate my life and grasp each day for what it has to offer. this year is god's, from tip to bottom. so cool. oh the places we will go.

i have no resolutions this year. my only aim is to grow with god and i have a ton of room to grow. just when i think i've been stretched as far as i can be, and i've given up everything i have to give, he gives me grace and shows me areas where i have been failing him.

Heaven Bound

I've been crying a lot lately. I hurt. Especially when it hits close to home.

Last night my parents called with some news as I was heading back to Colorado. News that a neighbor had died. Like the stupid person I can sometimes be, I almost shrugged it off, thinking..."It's probably one of those neighbors I don't know," because a lot of our old neighbors have moved away. But that wasn't the case. My life-long friend Katie's dad, neighbor, and member of my church in Iowa passed away from a massive heart attack while visiting her on the ELIC program in China.

I don't know a lot of the details. I am currently out of the loop. I've never been homesick for my church in Hull, but right now I am. The body is hurting and I want to be there to hurt with it. But I can't because I have students to teach, so instead I am hurting and crying at a distance. This has all made me tired, my eyes hurt, I can't really even think about anything else. I don't think anyone is ready to loose a dad at the age of 23. I know that I'm not.

God keeps providing me with reminders that life is not forever. Unexpected things happen. The timing is His, not ours. And he has a greater purpose than any of us can even imagine. May this be a wake-up call. Petty things don't really matter. Life is so very precious!

I am changed.