Give me a break....

Well, where has the time gone? I can't believe I am nearly halfway through my first year of teaching. It has absolutely flown by, and it has been quite a journey. I have been extremely busy, which would probably explain this blog, or really, the lack there of, because I haven't written since after my first week of teaching. Now 16 weeks of school later, I am finally finding some time to write again.

This first semester of school has been pretty crazy! I have been so busy with keeping up with my school as well as having a life outside of school. School has been dominating my life, because it is demanding, and I have been enjoying it lately. But most importantly, Christmas Break came at the perfect time.

It is amazing how I appreciate Christmas break so much differently than I used to. As a student, for all of my life until this point, I looked forward to Christmas Break because I was tired of school at that point and just wanted to get away from it at that point. However, this year. I looked forward to some time to just truly rest, relax, and just get rejuvenated for my next semester of teaching. And that is exactly what I did. I took some time to go back home to Spartanburg, to see my family and enjoy Christmas and New Years with them. It was also great because I got to also see my 2nd family, my church Family at Bethel, who I miss so much after working there this past summer. I also got to spend some quality time with friends who I hadn't seen since I moved. It was a good time at home. It was also nice just to be able to come back to Charleston and enjoy some relaxing time here. Even though the weather hasn't cooperated with typical Charleston weather. We haven't seen a temperature above 50 recently. I wasn't ready for that, especially considering today is the first day me and Joey turned on the heat in our apartment!

Overall, it was a great break. It was truly nice to get relaxed and ready to go at it again. Before I know it, it will be June, and I will be done with my 1st year of teaching. I am looking forward to this next semester of teaching. I have definitely had some struggles this year with being motivated as a teacher, as it has been hard making adjustments. But now I really feel I am in a groove of teaching, and I have a pretty good grip on what I am doing now. It wouldn't be possible either without all of my co-workers. The Special Ed team at Pye Elementary is one of a kind, and they have been so supportive of me in my first year of teaching, and I have been so grateful for each of them. So here is to another semester of teaching! June, here I come!

In other news that has nothing to do with teaching at all, how bout my PANTHERS! It has been so awesome to see this team continue to build over the years and finally reach the playoffs! Their defense is incredible! I can't wait to watch them in the playoffs next week! Go Panthers! Hopefully they ride this all the way to the Super Bowl!

That is all for now. For anyone that still reads this, hope you enjoy!

My Top 5

Well, I just completed my first week of teaching. It was a pretty long week, but I absolutely loved it. i learned a lot during my first week, so I decided to write a TOP 5 things I learning in my first week of teaching.

1. Plan not to go to the bathroom all day long.

I had heard this about teachers, but wasn't sure if it was gonna be true. But, it really is. Even though I have a planning and a lunch, something always comes up, and there is always something to do, and I rarely make it to the bathroom. So just go ahead and plan to not go all day. Don't worry, your body will adjust to it. Haha.

2. Be prepared to eat your lunch in 10 minutes, or usually less.

Even though I have a 20 minute scheduled lunch, and I even have a duty free lunch, I still end up stuffing my lunch down my face. Because there are always copies to be made, or teachers to talk to, or something else to be done. And those 20 minutes will disappear faster than you can even imagine. So learn how to eat really fast.

3. Keep Calm and Teach On

Kids are going to get frustrated and maybe even begin screaming in your classroom. But, you just have to remain calm no matter what and remember what you are there for. Take time, solve the problem, and continue to teach on. Everyone gets frustrated at times, kids too. So just bear with them, and continue to do your job.

4. Be Flexible

This is something that I have definitely continued to learn while teaching. Being an Elementary resource teacher, scheduling is very difficult. I pull students into my classroom for small group instruction. And coordinating with the other teachers to make sure I am pulling them at the right time is hard. But, luckily the administration at my school has been working with me and helping me with my schedule and such. So I think we finally have it all worked out, and I am ready to continue with my 2nd week of teaching.

and the last one......

 5. Love

It is so easy to just love these students. But more importantly, its been so awesome how I have immediately been loved by my students. Some of my students were telling me how much they loved coming to my classroom after only 2 days of coming. How awesome is that? They get so excited to see me every day and it is so awesome. So love your students no matter what. No matter how mad they may be on one day, or how well behaved they are the next, love them unconditionally all the time.

I am absolutely loving my job right now. It is difficult at times, sure. But my school is awesome. It is such a family and I couldn't be happier being a part of that family. Everyone is so supportive of what I do and it make me feel like I truly belong. So I can't wait to continue to teach! It is going to be a fantastic school year! Below are a few pics of my classroom:

The Sign outside my door

My Bulletin Board

My Reading Corner

Computer Station

My Classroom!

A Summer for the ages...

As I sit here and write this blog post, tears are coming to my eyes. But they are a mixture of tears. Part of them are tears of pure joy, and others are tears of sadness. This summer has been one of the happiest and best summers of my entire life. When I embarked on the journey of being a BUMS intern for the second summer in a row, I really felt like I knew what I was getting myself into. I mean, I had done it last summer, so surely it couldn't be THAT much different.

BOY WAS I WRONG!!!!!!

Okay, part of it was the same. But part of it was very different. This summer, we didn't have a youth minister. Chad left Bethel back in April to move closer to his family in Florida. So me and Emily took over as the interns, thinking that would only be temporary that we wouldn't have a youth minister. Well, it actually turned out to be the entire summer. Never in a million years did I think that we would tackle the entire summer without a youth minister. But we did, and it actually turned out to be pretty awesome!

Here are a few of the pics from the summer:

Our group of 70 people that we took on our mission trip!

Enjoying a Philadelphia Pretzel!

At one of the Block Parties!

This summer was crazy! It was so busy! It seemed like we were always doing something. But I loved every single minute of it! Seriously, even as frustrated and stressed out as I was at any point this summer, I really would not trade a single minute back for anything else in the entire world! The BUMS are such a special group to me. I grew up being a member of the BUMS. They were my life throughout high school. And now I have had the pleasure of coming back to spend two summers with the group that changed and impacted my life so much. I can't believe its over now. I am so sad to be leaving this group. It has been such a huge part of my life. And as a move to Charleston, SC I just don't know how much I will be able to be active with them. But, the BUMS have taught me a few things. One, love is the most important thing in the entire world. I love this youth group so much, and I am loved right back by them. I mean, they put up with me for 2 summers! This summer also taught me that youth ministry is where I am supposed to be. I will not waste any time once I get to Charleston finding a youth group that I can plug into immediately. I cannot wait to be a part of that.

I also have to give a special shoutout to my co-intern, Emily Ward. She has been absolutely fantastic. I have to be honest, when we took this job together, I thought I would have a leg up on her since I did this job last summer. But that was not the case at all. Words cannot express how awesome of a job she has done this summer! She stepped right up to the plate and has worked so hard this summer. She has become one of my good friends and it has been a pleasure to work with her for the summer and I couldn't have asked for a better partner in crime! Hey Emily, if you are reading this, I just want you to know, you are AWESOME!

Anyways, I could continue to type on about how AMAZING this summer was. But then most of you would probably stop reading, so I'll close with this....

Thank you BUMS. Seriously, I couldn't have asked for a better group to spend my summer with. You guys are truly my second family. I love each and every one of you so much and all of you have a very special place in my heart. I will never forget any of you, and I will be back to visit as much as possible. I am going to miss all of you soooooooooooooooo much when I move to Charleston, but feel free to come visit at any time! My apartment door will always be open for any of you! Thank you for giving me the best two summers of my entire life! You guys are incredible, and you should be very proud of yourselves for the incredible things you have done this summer! Stay in touch, and good luck as the BUMS continue to move forward! I love you guys!

There has been a slight delay in your plans.....

So much for keeping up with this whole blog thing. Yea, I know, its been quite a while. But to be honest, I actually think about this blog quite often. But I have been delaying writing on it, for a couple of reasons.

Reason #1: Its incredible how busy I have been since graduation. I am currently serving as the Youth Intern at Bethel United Methodist Church along with Emily. However, we don't have a youth minister right now. So we are kind of running things. Its a lot of pressure, but it is going great! I am absolutely loving working here this summer alongside Emily and it definitely is encouraging me in my heart that Youth Ministry is something I could wind up in somewhere down the road. We actually just got back from our beach retreat, and it was absolutely incredible! We had a lot of fun and the BUMS really bonded together. Below are a few pictures....

Our Group outside of Medieval Times! The Yellow Knight!

 Adult domination at the Jello Straw Game! (with some help from a spoon). :)

The coolest and most fun intern I know, Emily! We call this one, Magnum. I don't know what I would do if I didn't have Emily working alongside me this summer. She is awesome!

Our group outside the Illusions of Magic Show! It was so much fun!

Reason #2: I have also put a delay on writing this blog for another reason. Its cause I haven't had a job. I've been searching and searching since January for jobs. I interviewed at 14 different schools. God really tested my patience on this. I had honestly almost given up hope on finding a teaching job and was ready to start trying other options. But, God's timing is perfect, and I am proud to announce that I do have a teaching job for next year. I will be teaching Special Ed Resource at an Elementary School in Ladson, SC. I cannot wait. I will be living with my best friend Joey in Charleston, and it is going to be absolutely awesome. I have no one to thank other than God for this job, because here is how it happened.

As I mentioned before, I had kind of given up hope for a job. Getting rejected by 13 schools is hard. So a couple of weeks ago while on my family vacation, it was a Saturday night, and I went for a walk by myself on the beach. Just to kind of clear my head and think some things out. While on this walk, I prayed out loud to God saying "God, Im tired of waiting. I just want a job. So here, I turn my job situation over to you. But I wish the right school would just call me Monday morning..."

I stopped right there. I wasnt sure if it was right to make this kind of demand to God. But God answers His prayers in His timing.

Monday morning, 8:45 am, my phone rings. Sure enough, its a school in the area I want, wanting to interview with me. I was just in shock. But of course I took the interview. I thought back to Saturday night, could this really be the school? I go interview, and it goes great. I loved it. So I once again played the waiting game. I went on the beach retreat with the BUMS, and had kind of forgotten about it. After a busy first day at the beach, I have a voice mail from the personnel director. I couldn't believe it. I called him back first thing in the morning, and was officially offered the job and accepted it immediately.

Isn't God's timing incredible? I had reach the lowest of lows, ready to give up on teaching. But God provided for me. He wanted me to turn the situation over to him, and I finally did. It took 6 months for me to give up my job situation to God. But I did, and it paid off. I couldn't be happier. God really tested my patience, but it was a lesson I needed to learn and I know I will be exactly where I am supposed to next year. Ill be moving down to Charleston August 4th after I wrap up my summer internship here with the BUMS.

There was a scripture that a friend of mine shared with me that really helped me through this situation.

Romans 8:28"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

I wasn't really sure what my purpose was. I had debated between teaching and youth ministry, and wasn't really sure where I was heading. But hearing this verse helped keep me on track, to fully trust in God, that as long as I loved Him, and trusted in Him, he would guide me where I was supposed to go. I had lost trust in God. But he guided me back to Him to put my full trust in him.

I would also like to thank all of you that have prayed for me and supported me through this time. I honestly can say I wouldn't have made it without each and everyone person who prayed for me. Thank you all so much. I am very excited about where my life is heading and I cannot wait to start this new phase in my life. August 4th will be here before I know it!

I kind of forgot this blog existed.

So yea, its been absolutely forever since I've written on this thing. And yea, there is a reason for that. I'M SO BUSY! Student teaching is so crazy right now! But it is so great. I love it, absolutely love it. Even after days like today, which was one of my most frustrated days I've had had working in a classroom, I still love it. It is such a joy to be able to work with kids on a daily basis and see the joy that you can bring to their lives as well as the joy that they can bring to yours.

A quick update to my life. I'm 37 days away from graduating college!!! Hold up, did I really just write that? Yea, I did. I can't believe it. But I am excited about that. I am ready to move on to the next stage of my life. I am ready to be out on my own. Speaking of that stage of life...

I am currently in the process of looking for a teaching job. I have already had a couple of promising interviews and I have a few more scheduled in the next coming weeks as well. It makes me feel like such a grown up! But as I stated before, I am ready for that.

As far as the summer, I will be returning to work at Bethel United Methodist Church for my 2nd summer as the youth intern. Now, unfortunately, this summer will be a little bit different. Chad Deetz, the man that has influenced me so much as my youth minister, is no longer at Bethel as he has moved to Florida to be closer to family and take another job. I know I am going to miss him and his family so much this summer. But I also know that God has his plan for taking them to where they are now and he still has a plan for Bethel and the BUMS. Bethel is currently in the process of looking for a new youth minister. I pray that they find one soon so he can get established by the start of summer. While it may be challenging at times, I look forward so much to getting to work with him/her and I know that God will have great things in store for us this summer. I am so excited to be returning (seriously, ask anyone around me, it makes it hard to focus on graduating I want to be back so badly.) It impacted my life so much last summer and I know it will again this summer. I will have the pleasure of working with Emily Ward this summer as my co-intern. I am excited to see the great things God is going to do through her this summer as well.

Other than that, life is just cruising. I'm so ready to graduate. But I know I will miss college so much after its gone. Anyways, some encouraging scripture that I really need to hear right now:

1 Corinthians 10:31- "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."

Isaiah 40:29-31 "He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."

I am very weary right now. I don't get enough sleep and I am just worn out. But I know that God will continue to provide me strength to get me through each day. And I am also a little confused right now. Confused about where my life is heading, certain circumstances and events that have happened recently in my life, and just confused about my life in general. As exciting as this time is, it's also very scary. I'm about to take a huge step forward towards the rest of my life. But I am excited to face all of life's new challenges each and every day. Until next time (which will probably be when I graduate), God Bless.

Winter Meltdown with the BUMS

I've been on a lot of trips with the BUMS, and this past week I got to have the pleasure of serving as a chaperone on their Winter Meltdown trip.  And it was an absolute blast. Each winter, the BUMS alternate between going on a Ski Trip to West Virginia one year, then going down to Warren W. Willis Methodist Camp in Florida the other year. So we headed down to the Sunshine State for a couple of days.

We did the drive down on Saturday, and once we arrive had a short devotion and then went to bed. Sleep was something that I didn't get a lot of on this trip. The camp we stayed at had a high and low ropes course that we hit early Sunday morning. We spent the morning on the low ropes course, which consisted of a lot of team building activities. It was great to see the youth work together. It was especially cool because the group I was with struggled at the beginning on one of their activities  However, they overcame, and ended up doing extremely well on the rest of the obstacles. It was great to see them continue to push through, even though they struggled. Then, after lunch, the students did the high ropes course. It was a lot of stuff that I knew I couldn't do, but it was great to watch the kids do awesome, and especially encouraging each other if they struggled. Our youth group truly is something special. They are a very close nit group. 

On Monday, we hit the parks early. We headed to Disney's Hollywood Studios on New Year's Eve. It was absolutely packed! But we still had a good time. We hit all the major rides like Rockin' Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror. It was a fun day. Around 6:30 that night, we left the park, and headed to the town of Celebration, Florida. There they had a band and lots of cool things going on out in the streets. The weather was absolutely perfect for the entire trip while we were there! So we stayed there till about 12:20 am, after an awesome fireworks show. It was a little over an hour drive back to where we were staying, so we arrived just before 2 am. Next came a very short night, because we left for the parks at 8 am the next morning. The day before, they had closed Magic Kingdom, where we were headed on New Years Day, at around 9:30 am because it was so crowded. So we knew we had to get there early. We got into the parks right about 9:30 am and it was crowded. But we had a good day, and got to cover most of the park and do everything we wanted to. We did Space Mountain, Buzz Light Year  Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and Haunted Mansion as well as many others. It was a really fun day. But we were absolutely exhausted from 2 straight days of being very busy in the park. So we headed out of the park about 6:30 again, grabbed dinner, then got back to the camp. We got some good sleep and then hit the road home. overall, it was a great trip. I had so much fun. Here are some pictures from the trip:

Before we got on the Tower of Terror!

The Band KattyShack at the New Years Eve Party.

The group I hung out with at Disney in front of Cinderellas Castle! Salt and Sugar! Haha

Cinderella's Castle

Cinderella's Castle at Night all lit up!

Our group at the Mickey's Phillar Magic Show. 

Our theme for the trip was making things new, making ourselves new. It was a great theme for the trip, especially considering the time of the trip. We always want to go back to our old ways. We always fall back into the traps that we had in the past, the same pattern of sins that we had. Yet God calls us to be new, to drop these old habits. This was a verse we used on the trip:

2 Corinthians 5:17-22 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 

. This was a verse we used on the trip: God has made each and everyone of us new. I was very thankful for the opportunity to get to experience this newness with the BUMS. It was a great trip. I love the BUMS so much. Chad Deetz does a great job leading the BUMS, and the group acts so much as a family. So thank you BUMS for such a great trip. I love being able to come back and just plug right back into this family that has always meant so much to me. 

Christmas Break is here!

I don't think I have ever looked forward to a Christmas break so much in my entire life! This semester was absolutely crazy! It was very busy, and required a lot of hard work. But, the good news is, I SURVIVED! It was a miracle, but I made it. Now just waiting for those grades to be posted!

Now, I only have one semester standing between me and graduation. Well, technically 2. At Erskine, we do something unique called J-term, or January Term. This is a "semester" where we take one class for the entire month of January, for 3 hours a day. Now to some of you, that may sound awful. But actually, its quite fun. Usually it is a fun class. This year I am taking Personal Finance, which should hopefully be helpful considering next year I'll be out on my own managing all of my own money. But last year, I took The History of Music Videos. It was such a fun class. Part of that class was we got to make our own music video. 

***You can watch it here..... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6jbGGbzIBo. ***

You should definitely watch it. It is hilarious. Its a parody of the "Party Rock Anthem." Anyways, this year I will be taking a much more practical class. But I am very much looking forward to J-term because it is a much more relaxed time in the school year. It gives you time to enjoy the other aspects of college, you know, the non-academic ones. It is a great time to just relax while having plenty of time to hang out with all of your friends.

After J-term, comes my last semester of my undergraduate college career. It is absolutely crazy to think about that. This last semester will consist of me doing my Student Teaching. I will be in a classroom every day all day, getting to work with students. I am very excited about this! It is going to be great, I just know it!

And after that, comes graduation. I can't believe its almost here. As cliché as this is about to sound, it feels like just yesterday I was graduating high school. Part of me is very ready to graduate, very ready to move on to the next step of life, finding my own job, having my own place, and taking that next step. But the other part of me is going to miss college a lot, always being surrounded by my best friends, and just having a good time. But I know that all good things can't last forever, so I am ready to move on. But first, one more semester of college.

This past semester was great. I did some awesome things, and I can't wait to do so many more fun things in my last semester of college. I don't want to let it waste away, because I know there will never be another time in my life like this. So goodbye first semester of senior year, and hello to second semester. Its going to be awesome!

Here are some highlights of my first semester:

Go to go to the Clemson vs. Georgia Tech Game. Even though my Yellow Jackets lost, it was still a good time!

Also got to go to the South Carolina vs. Wofford Game. Had a great weekend chilling with my brother, Kevin!

Got to be a part of my friend Bryan's, aka Beans Wedding! This was a great time!

Got to see Lee Brice in concert. It was awesome!

And went to the ACC Championship game, to watch my Yellow Jackets play. They lost, but it was an awesome time!

I got to march in the Greenwood Christmas Parade with some of my students that I have had the pleasure of working with this past semester! It was a very neat experience!

It was a great semester! And I am so ready for the next one! I can't wait to get to hang out with all of my friends at Erskine again! But first, time to enjoy Christmas Break and all the time I get to spend with my family!