A Girly Saturday

My fun times with female friends are few and far between. All of my best girl friends live 50+ miles away. However, when we get together it is that much more special because of the meaning behind finding time to get together. That is the way I like to look at it anyway. Today was one of those special times. I went down to Jennifer's house to meet with Sarah and our new mommy. Today was the day I ( and Sarah) got to meet Miss Emma Grace Rayburn.

She was wonderful. Holding her I felt so much love for her. I am so proud of Jennifer for how she just seems to have eased into motherhood. Seeing her with Emma Grace today, feeling what I felt holding Emma Grace and having thought about some things recently in relation to work and becoming a mom..... it has definitely made me think about my attitudes toward becoming a mom. It is a happy thought in my future. Nothing right now but it is a happy thought.

Anyway, it was definitely girl fun today. Awwing over our first baby to the friendship, touring through my honeymoon pictures, talking about Sarah's new house, eating a country cozy lunch, sharing two desserts among three friends, chatting it up.... SO GREAT! We are looking toward the third week of June for another visit. I can't wait and I know Emma Grace will have changed so much.

Last night and today without the husband have been hard. I don't think I expected it to be this hard. I couldn't bring myself to watch The Devil Wears Prada without him ( even though we recorded it on DVR for me) because I didnt want to do that without sharing it with him, I went on our nightly walk and felt alone, I chose to sleep on his side of the bed and I still felt a void. He has been calling and he found his note I tucked away in his bag.... but this is definitely another great sign that I am with the best and right person for me. I am kinda just lost without my best friend. Not in a sad , pathetic kind of way but in a healthy sigh kind of way. This house is not home to me without him. Can't wait til he gets back...but in the meantime I will go assemble wedding invitations tomorrow with Nicole and have fun.

I will post a pic of me with Emma Grace soon but my stupid dialup is acting up and won't accept it right now :0(

Four Days on the Other Side of the GRE

I took the GRE on Saturday and am proud of my performance on it. I got a 550 on the Verbal and a 660 on the quantitative. This is funny because the quantitative is the part I stressed out about so much. I also think I did well on the Writing part.

Good News: I get to see Jennifer, Sarah and Emma Grace on Saturday.
I get to see Nicole on Sunday and assemble wedding invitations.
One week til little Carter Dillard is to make his appearance.

Bad News: My husband leaves to go to Panama City Friday afternoon for a gig at a Disciple Now weekend at a church. It will be an awesome chance for kids to be fed spiritually and for Brad to connect with young and inspiring believers. However, I am a little sad that I can't go too. I miss working together spiritually with youth. Plus, it will be our first night(s) apart since we got married and I think the bed will feel a lot more noticeable empty now that I know the comfort of sleeping with my partner and soulmate.

Here's to focusing on the positives of this weekend though.

Four Days Between Me and the GRE

Sigh, that test is ruining my life. Actually, yesterday it wasn't. And today it is. The thing I am figuring out about the GRE as I practice for it is that it is a whole lot like gambling or a lot of board games. There is no real way to make sure you do well....it really just depends on what they hand you on the day of the test. I mean I can practice strategy all I want and if the words they give me in the Verbal section are not words I know, then I don't stand a very good chance of doing well. However, I could get lucky and they could pull words that are familiar friends of the Griswold/Dillard vocabulary. That would make my day! The sad thing is the verbal was not my initial worry....the Math was. I have not taken a REAL Math class since the days of Gifted PreCalculus in high school junior year. Then yesterday I took my first two Math practice tests and got a 11 out of 20 but I could see where my mistakes were and then a 16 out of 20 (Whoo hoo!). I felt like I could actually do this thing. Today brings with it a 10 out of 20 and a 13 out of 20. Sigh....I am starting to think GRE stands for Gamblers and Risktakers Enjoy!

While I was taking my practice tests tonight, I heard hail coming from outside. My loving hubby called to make sure I took the right precautions of going in the bathroom on the lower level of the house if it got bad and to make sure I took measures to get informed of the approaching weather situation by turning on the tv. I decided to do quite the opposite when I saw how big the hail was upon looking out the window. Check out the size of that hail! While I was outside, I also tried to take a picture of a frog who tried to get in my house as I was coming out to take pictures. However, I failed. Unlike me, the frog had sense enough to run for cover quick in a weather situation like that.

Another set of triple letters that brought happiness not trepidation to my life today was DVR. Brad called Direct TV today and they are coming out to set up service for us on Friday. It is actually going to be cheaper than regular cable. Yay!

Friday Minus One

Good morning!

As promised, here is a picture from my horseback riding adventures with my kids this weekend:

Is it the end of the week yet? Not quite I suppose. I am excited to see the fifth grade play today. This is a Norton tradition. Last year, I had my first group of students in it and I was such a "proud mother" as I watched approximately seven of my kids dazzle me from the stage. One of the Griswold alumni was even the Music Man. I do know that one of my girls has been cast as the Wicked Witch of the West.

Last night as Brad and I laid in bed ( and subsequently fell asleep before it was time to), I admitted to him and myself that I am feeling somewhat relieved that I will not be able to take summer classes for my Masters. This year has been such a whirlwind with changing jobs, starting my Masters,getting engaged, planning a wedding, moving out of an apartment, moving into a house etc that it will be nice to slow down. I am excited at the prospect of being able to simply focus on being a wife (and an aunt). I am awaiting eagerly the chance to get out my stand mixer and bake and cook for my husband and to be able to personalize our home. He is so selflessly supporting me through these stressful situations and pushing me to rely on God. It is an amazing opportunity that God has given me to focus on my husband and our relationship together and with Him this summer.

Proverbs 14:30 " A heart at peace gives life to the body...."

Proverbs 12:4 " A wife of noble character is her husband's crown..."

Newlywed Fun

Brad and I are trying to keep fit ( or get more fit). Sometimes that includes taking a walk around the neighborhood when the evening sets in with cooler temperatures. Last night was one of those nights.....but with a new twist.

We typically take 2 laps around the neighborhood. We have measured it out with a pedometer and it is 1.5 miles. Last night, we were too close to Dancing with the Stars start time to make two laps so at the end of one lap we headed back up the driveway to find....

We were locked out of the house!

Brad had grabbed the wrong set of keys. Luckily, we had the car key and had not closed the garage. We drove over to Jack and Christina's house with our heads hung in shame ( not mine so much as my hubby's) and got the spare, said hello and good night to our furry nephew Marley and went home.

I think this is one of those things we will be able to laugh at later. I think it is pretty funny now. But one Mr. Dillard didn't find the humor in it.

Sometimes Its Worth It

So with only seven days left with a group of students that I have mostly had for the last two years, I am STRESSED because I have to move classrooms again, have a lot of paperwork to do and little to hold my students accountable for(grades are due Wednesday). I am also emotional because I have given so much to these kids and right now it looks like they may be my last homeroom. But I have received some moments of relief and worth lately that remind me that sometimes its worth it.

- Saturday I took six of my students horseback riding. I loved being able to give them that experience. They loved it and were full of pride and appreciation! Malik even proved to be a natural. It was nice to spend an out of the classroom moment with these kids and give them a memory that will last them a long time. Pictures will be posted soon.:-)

- I read Kristin's blog today and was inspired by her. She reminded me that even as I do this job when loaded with stress, I need to remember that this was my dream, teaching. I am living my dream. I should be thanking God for this chance. Everyday I have with students should serve as an outlet to show how thankful I am to Him for trusting me with the lives of new miracles. So I stopped wading knee deep into paperwork and responsibility and had a multiplication bingo championship with my kids today. We had a good time. That is the side of these kids I want to remember and the side of me I want them to remember.

- Last but not least, Thomas ( my child genius who went horseback riding with me and is the author of the Captain Chocolate Bar comicbook series) came up to me while I was writing this entry during bus call:
T: Ms. Griswold, what is that?
Me: A blog.

T: What's a blog?
Me: A web journal.
T: My brother has something like that on gmail, is that on gmail?
Me: It is through Google.
T: When I get older, I am going to chat online with my Nintendo DS.

I just love him and I am so thankful that I will get to teach him for a third year as FOCUS teacher next year.

Wedding Pictures

So I finally heard from the wedding photographer this week and my photos may very well be on their way to me. I can't wait to see them. This is the only one he sent me in email. He said it was one of his favorites. I think it is a weird one to pick as the only one to send the client. Brad thinks it is a good picture of me but weird of him. Feel free to leave your feedback.

My Friends and The Influence They Have

So I love my Sarah and Jennifer.....what does that have to do with this? Well, I wouldn't be a blogger if it weren't for them. They both have a blog, and I have become so addicted to finding out about their lives that I have decided to keep them equally entertained by starting one. We went to college together and lost touch. MySpace brought us back together (which was such a blessing) so I guess I have a sense of faith that following them in this technological excursion will reap positive benefits too. :0)
Then I think to myself, what could be so interesting about me that I would need to have a blog? Here is what I have come up with ( by the way this is my planning time at work....on task, aren't I?)
- I just completed my first month of marriage with the most wonderful man God could have blessed my life with
- I am wrapping up a year of what was a new challenge for me (fourth grade) and heading toward a year of new experiences ( teaching FOCUS)
- I am about to become an aunt
- I am about to go on summer vacation
- I am about to take the GRE to make it a possibility that I could progress further in my Masters studies. I am petrified of the math portion seeing as eleven years have passed by since I took a REAL Math class.

So I guess, I could turn out to be pretty interesting, but if not you can blame Sarah and Jennifer for giving me the idea. And if you still have a need for an interesting blog, go read theirs :0).