“May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you're wonderful, and don't forget to make some art -- write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.”

-Neil Gaiman

We had an in depth "introduce yourself (to people you're already good friends with)" in my class with my cohort this morning. One of my friends shared this quote with her's. And it gave me goosebumps. And I like it. What a year we have in store...

Still Alive and Kickin'!

What has my life become???
I'm really not sure.
Gosh I have so much I want to say.
I'm having too many thoughts at once.
I'm sorry.
I spend the vast majority of my time with six year olds.
I don't know if that is an adequate excuse for being completely all over the place all the time, but I'm rolling with it.
All that to say, I am still very much alive and well (despite the looks of it based on this blog).
I l.o.v.e. what I do everyday. Love it. So much.
I love the first grade.
I love my kiddos.
I've mentioned this to a few of my friends, but it is SO awesome to know you are doing exactly what you were made to do every single day.
I was made to teach.
I feel so, so right and perfect to be doing it now. Finally.
But a lot of the times I am tired at night.
At least to tired to form words and sentence and put in the effort it takes to blog. Oops.
But I love it. Gosh, I love it.
Here's a little "picture walk" of my life in the first grade.
Seriously, y'all. I'm living my dream!

Meet Miss Crawford! Sometimes I still giggle when I answer to "Miss Crawford" 743 times a day.

Our itty bitty classroom. Obviously this is before it was completely set up. Now it's our cozy (still very tiny) home.

Here's a view from the door. Really I'm just trying to show exactly how small cozy it is!

This is our Word Wall. It needs to be updated too because there are now words we know under some letters! This week we learned "up" "down" "can"and "jump"!

Our door! The kids all have apples with their names on them on the other side.

And finally, some of their artwork. I feel like a proud mother. This is from when they drew pictures from our "short a" poem. Most of them decided to draw a "fat cat."

I'm about 97% sure that was of zero interest to anyone at all, but I've been so MIA recently, I had to give y'all an update. Oh, I just love it! (if that wasn't already obvious...)

This weekend I am off again! Headed to Louisville, KY. Actually somewhere in Indiana, but the goal is Louisville for........
THE IRONMAN!
I can't wait to be my most spirited self and cheer embarrassingly enthusiastically.
Really, I'm pumped!

Dear ______,

Dear Everyone, Thank you (for the 754th time) for everything. Thoughts, prayers, words, visits, food, candy, flowers, cards, stuffed animals, balloons, texts, calls, Facebook posts, e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g. Y'all are the best ever. Beyond thankful to have friends like y'all in my life.
Dear Addie, So proud of you. You are so strong, beautiful, loving, and perfect. I adore you.
Dear New Planner, Few thing bring me delight like you do. My need for organization is satisfied in you. Thank you for this.
Dear Last Day of Summer, Rainy and cloudy. 'Preciate it.
Dear FIRST DAY AS A TEACHER, We meet tomorrow! Ahh. I can't even type out any other words about this. 
Dear class of 15, One week and a day until we spend the next year together. Can't wait to meet you tiny humans!
Dear Olympics, I'll miss spending all day watching you. Thanks for getting me through the end of summer school.
Dear Summer School, SEE YA NEVER!
Dear Summers, Welcome back into my life. I'm sorry I've neglected you the past two years. It will never happen ever again.
Dear God, While watching my little sister cry in pain I remember thinking this is it: the point in life where people start making deals with you. I thank you for being the Ultimate Healer. I thank you for new mercies every morning. I thank you for your unending love.

Thank you

I wanted to include this in the last post, but it was already pretty lengthy and I wanted to try to make this as sincere as possible.
Thank you.
From the bottom of my heart I thank you.
Thank you for the cards, flowers, candy, posters, stuffed animals, magazines, games, visits, Facebook messages and "likes", texts, phone calls, and most of all prayers.
Thank you seems so, so inadequate.
I know without a doubt if we needed anything we would have it in minutes.
Thank you for this.
Thank you for making us feel so incredibly loved and cared for.
Once again, words cannot express how much this means.
Every bit of it.

I specifically want to thank my sweet, sweet friends. I truly have the best friends in the world. Time and time again they have proven this to me. Abby, Jenn, Cass, Jamie, Becca, Delaney, and Becca. I cannot thank you enough for coming yesterday. Y'all brightened up the room so much. And Addie loved seeing all of you (even though you probably couldn't tell). I wish there was something I could say to tell you how thankful I am for y'all. I know that no one wants to go to a hospital. But I am so, so, so thankful that you would come visit with us. More thankful for each of y'all than you can ever know!

I also want to thank Nathan. I am not one to blog about boys, and am not big on PDA even in social media, but I have to. I am SO thankful for this guy.
First of all, I had a great week with him, both here and in Memphis. Sooo much fun.
On Saturday he got up at 5a.m. and biked 112 miles. What a beast. Naturally, he was a little tired so I was driving us home. I got the phone call that my sister was sick, and all you who know me know that my immediate reaction was to instantly start crying. I handle situations really well- not. Nathan asked me to stop so he could go to the bathroom and made me get out of the driver's seat. He drove  us all the way back. 5 1/2 hours of driving on top of being 100% exhausted. Not only that, but he also made me laugh and smile the whole way home. We stopped by an engagement party (YAY YAY YAY for Sarah Hope and Matt!!!). And then, even though on the way home my mom promised me Addie would be okay for the night and told me that I should just focus on Nathan until he left (at 5 a.m. the next morning), he said, since it was officially all about him, that he wanted to go see Addie. He'd "really hoped to see her again before he left." So after we stopped by the party, we came to the hospital. At 11 o'clock at night. He drove me to the hospital and led me through the maze of hallways (that I can now navigate like a pro) and sat on Addie's bed and talked to her and to my parents and to me. After being up at 5, biking 112 miles, and drive across the state. So simple, yet it meant SO much. This guy is good. Really, very good. So, so, so thankful for him.

Some more of Addie's friends just stopped by. I am once again left speechless. Oh, how inadequate "thank you" seems!! I feel like a broken record, but I am humbled and amazed at the love and thoughtfulness so many of you have shown to my sister and my family.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

Please, please, please keep praying for my sister.

Meningitis

...confession. I did not even know how to spell that word four days ago. Now it consumes 98% of my phone calls, texts, thoughts, and time.
This is actually my second post on this topic. I typed out one but didn't publish it. It was nice to type and not have to worry about complaining too much or being overly angry. Which honestly, did consume much of the post.
So anyway, here's round 2.
My baby sister has Meningitis. Sweet, tiny, 12 year old Addie.
My favorite person in the entire world.
Just a quick recap:
Addie had been complaining of really bad headaches about a week ago. My mom took her to KPA, they told her to sleep more and to stop drinking cokes. They also gave her a prescription for potential ear infection that they thought could be developing. (Side note: I was in Memphis this whole time and my parents wisely kept me in the dark about this until I found out via social media on Saturday. Not fun. But I am thankful for their thoughtfulness in not wanting me to worry while I was gone). My family left for a mini vacay to Lake Lure. They only spent one night though because Addie was so sick. My mom called KPA and they said to fill the prescription. By Saturday the medicine was not working at all and Addie was feeling even worse. So my mom called KPA again and they told her that she hadn't given the medicine enough time and it sounded like a ear infection. Once they heard Addie crying in the background they suggested my mom take her in to Children's. (Here is where a lot of anger existed yesterday... I hope you can somewhat imagine. But it's okay... Everyone makes mistakes).
So since Saturday Addie has been in ETCH. She feels pretty crappy. The GREAT news is that it is viral meningitis, not bacterial. This is really good! So she is being treated for pain. She can have specific pain meds every 6 hours but they wear off after about 4 1/2. So the last hour and a half until she can get more has been really, really rough. She has terrible headaches and a fever. Light and sound have been killing her head.
This girl is so tough. She does not cry. She play competitive soccer against girls (and boys) three times her size. She is so athletic. Seriously, she is pretty darn close to perfect. And it has been awful watching her suffer. She lays in the bed and whimpers. There is absolutely nothing more helpless than watching your all time favorite person in the world weep while whispering "Chelc" and begging you to do something, yet not being able to do a thing. It is terrible.
So please, please pray for Addie. Pray that she will get totally better really soon. Pray that they will be able to better control her pain so she won't be suffering like this. And pray for my parents. My mom has been at the hospital the whole time and my dad has been balancing everything else. I know it's exhausting for them. Pray my little sister gets better today.

The toughest and best girl in the whole world.

Summertime Slacking

I've really failed at the whole blogging thing this month. Whoops.
Before I update you (whomever "you" are) on all my oh so exciting happenings of July and all the unique and unfiltered thoughts I've had, I wanna address the Thursday night tragedy first.
I've thought a lot about it.
And read a lot.
And watched a lot.
And this is the best conclusion I've discovered... Said by this lady who was in the theater with her daughters...

"God is always good.
Man is not.
Don't get the two confused." 

That being said, my heart breaks for the families of the people who died there, for the ones who were in the movie, for the friends, for the loved ones, for the kids, for the daughters, for the sons, for the mothers, for the fathers, for the shooter, for his parents, for the police, for everyone in that community... But I am so incredibly thankful that God is good. All the time.

So. My life these days.
Full of: grad school homework (THREE MORE DAYS), hanging out with the roomies (the bomb dot com), Bachelorette watching (the show I love to hate), Chickfila eating (I'm convinced I am the sole reason they stay in business), midnight premier going (the new Batman is a.w.e.s.o.m.e. being up until 4:30a.m. is not. but still. worth it.), counting down the days (one more sleep!), crafting (and by "crafting" I really mean "doing homework at the kitchen table while my roommates craft"), Saturday morning breakfast at Long's (being one of four doesn't put the odds in my favor for having time with just me and BOTH my parents, so this tradish is one of my favorites- reality: I love every tradition), getting ready to teach the FIRST grade!!! (what?!? I probably need to go back and reread my posts from my kindergarten days since these are the babies I'll be teaching. I am still in shock- because I thought I wanted fourth grade- but super pumped!), Big Ed's eating (note: we are officially too old to stick our hands under the glass for cheese), wedding attending (lots of weddings... insert "Season of Love" here), house building (thanks Habitat for Humanity for adding that to my resume and simultaneously making me realize there are at least 256 occupations I'd rather have than being the ones to put a roof on a home), workout videos in  the basement of Red Saile (sore muscles for us for a week), and constantly reminding myself that I am sacrificing this one summer to have summers for the rest of my life. Worth it.

I think that I am still recovering from going to see the movie at midnight on Thursday so no pictures for now. Use your imagination. Or click through Facebook and visualize all the good times we've had.

Over and out, Bloggies! 

Jesus knows me,

this I love.